Your call

Working on a story about how to talk on the phone – this is how far down we have become – I realized that my phone habits are probably quite different from the average. Because I never call anybody that I can email.

Also, I’ve never worked in an office where this has been an issue. I thought offices were quiet these days.

Archives: Canadian coaches

Hockey is Canada, and Canada is hockey. Here’s a little something I wrote for iihf.com during the World Championship in Quebec City in May.

“The Canadian coaching training is excellent, and Canadian coaches are willing to learn new things all the time. I’m 60 years old and I’m still learning,” adds Goulet, smiling.

Yes, sir!

Read it here or continue reading below.

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The Cold War Is Back

About 15 years ago, the National Hockey League was a dynamic, outward-reaching league that had big plans for expansion. Not only to Tampa Bay, Nashville, and Columbus, Ohio, where it subsequently arrived, but also to the quirky and fascinating place a lot of the players seemed to be coming from.

“Europe.”

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B Nice

Almost exactly ten years ago, I was in St. John’s, Newfoundland, in Canada on a business trip. I remember being at the hotel room, and reading a magazine that I, until five minutes ago, always thought was the Rolling Stone. (I was trying to find a photo of the cover of that particular issue and became very hesitant. It might have been another magazine, like Fortune. I guess it really doesn’t matter where I was reading the story, but this is just a bad habit of mine, bear with me).

What made this particular article so interesting that I still, ten years after, remember it? It was a story about the MTV trendsniffers. Sure, they probably had a better title in the real story, but you know what I mean: the people who work at the MTV and try to see where the youth culture is headed.

And … in 1998, they said that the next big trend was … niceness. And it made me so happy. I thought that there was something I could not only buy into, but also pioneer.

Unfortunately, I think the MTV people got it wrong then. Sure, the Backstreet Boys were nice boys, and Britney used to be so cute, but all in all, I think nice guys and girls have had to step aside. Too bad.

Nice!

NHL.com: Winter Classic III

Hey, I just updated my NHL.com blog!

Leave it to me. Just leave it.

In my mind, I can see a real classic – a true battle, a cold war, if you will – where there’s more at stake than just decent ratings on network television and where retro jerseys won’t be the only thing that makes people talk. Everything must be upped: the rivalry, the venue, the whole meaning of the game.

Click here or read the piece below.

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