5 greatest Blackhawks-Bruins moments of all time

BY PUCKS AND REC STAFF

Six seasons ago, Blackhawks-Bruins left Blackhawks-Rangers as the last Original Six matchup yet to occur in a Stanley Cup Final.

While each franchise has had its fortunes fluctuate since punctuating their modern resurgence together, they have hardly lost their renewed marketability. How else could they have become the first nonconference Original Six matchup in the NHL Winter Classic?

That is what they will do at Notre Dame Stadium this New Year’s Day. With that, Chicago will put in its unmatched fourth appearance at the league’s 11-year-old marquee outdoor event. The Bruins will take sole possession of second place with their third appearance.

In their entire chronicle, these franchises may have some catching up to do with their Original Six peers. With that said, the memories they have built in the salary-cap era have some quality company from prior glory days.

Assorted numbers define each of these noteworthy Blackhawks-Bruins cards from the 1940s, 1970s and 2010s. All playoff results are according to nhl.com.

5. 33 seconds

The 1974 Stanley Cup semifinals constituted the second of four Blackhawks-Bruins playoff sets in the 1970s. Based on how late in the tournament it occurred and how closely it ended, this one was easily the most compelling.

The teams split the first two games at the Garden before the Blackhawks took a 2-1 lead back home. But then the Bruins seized back home-ice advantage, and would hold a 3-2 edge when the series shifted to Chicago a second time.

With Cliff Koroll’s first-period goal, the Hawks were 40 minutes away from at least pushing the regular-season champion Bruins to a Game 7. Despite Don Marcotte’s two unanswered tallies in the middle frame, Len Frig converted a power play to draw a 2-2 knot early in the third.

Whatever momentum Chicago derived from that, however, would not last. Within the final two minutes of regulation, Gregg Shepard and Phil Esposito — famously traded by the Blackhawks in 1967 — scored 33 seconds apart. Their outburst spelled the difference in a 4-2 victory, giving Boston the series by an identical outcome.

 

 

4. Three overtimes

Before their first clash in the Cup final, the Blackhawks and Bruins had met in six previous postseasons. Five of the 22 games in those series went to overtime, all ending within the first bonus period.

To start its 2013 renewal, the matchup set a new high in its chronicle. After facing 2-0 and 3-1 deficits, the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Blackhawks rallied to force sudden death. But none of Boston’s 12 shots or Chicago’s eight in the first overtime sufficed. Neither did the 10 stabs apiece in the night’s fifth period.

Finally, after the game became the fifth-longest in any Stanley Cup Final, Andrew Shaw completed the comeback. He converted Dave Bolland and Michal Rozsival’s setup at 12:08 for the 4-3 victory.

By the end of the series, three of the six contests would spill into overtime (and another was less than a minute away from doing the same). But neither of the two subsequent sudden-death games matched the marathon of Game 1 on June 12, 2013.

3. One shutout and two squeakers

Two products of the same northern Minnesota town of Eveleth, Frank Brimsek and Sam LoPresti, got the nod for this 1942 best-of-three quarterfinal series.

Following America’s entry into World War II, both men would put their careers on hold to serve. For LoPresti, who was only in his second NHL season, it would mean relinquishing his big-league career for good.

The more seasoned Brimsek, who later finished his 10-season career in Chicago, would get the better of LoPresti. But the upset-minded Blackhawks gave the reigning champion Bruins a good sweat, thanks in no small part to their netminding.

LoPresti kept Game 1’s deficit 1-0 until Max Bentley put their team on board with 70 seconds left in regulation. Despite blinking in overtime, he bounced back when the series shifted to the Boston Garden. With the season on the line, he pulled off a 4-0 shutout.

But in the deciding tilt, another squeaker went the Bruins way, 3-2.

2. 80 saves

It is not often the regular season yields any card’s most memorable installment, but the all-Eveleth goaltending matchup is a stark exception.

By their March 4, 1941 showdown, the Bruins were on their way to clinching first place. But LoPresti proved that a goalie can steal a game for any team, at least when given sufficient offensive support.

The visiting Hawks were safeguarding a 1-0 lead when, after blocking 42 straight Boston shots, LoPresti finally blinked. He would face an additional 40 bids after letting in that equalizer, halting 38.

Together, that amounted to a still-standing record 80 saves within 60 regulation minutes. Unfortunately for LoPresti, Chicago could only put one more biscuit behind Brimsek, and settled for a 3-2 loss.

The Hawks would finish fifth and lose the postseason semifinals to Detroit, which Boston subsequently vanquished for the Cup.

 

1. 17 seconds

Besides the three overtime games in the 2013 final, two others were decided by two goals. The Blackhawks took a commanding 3-2 series lead by cementing Game 5’s 3-1 final on an empty net.

Based on that, Chicago’s bid to close out the series and Boston’s to force a rubber match did not disappoint. Depth forward Chris Kelly invigorated the TD Garden crowd with the first period’s lone goal. But Chicago captain Jonathan Toews countered with an unassisted shorthanded conversion early in the second.

The 1-1 deadlock held up through intermission, after which Milan Lucic buried his fourth tally of the series. The Bruins, who under sixth-year coach Claude Julien had never lost a series in fewer than seven games, were 7:49 away from preserving that trend.

But under fifth-year bench boss Joel Quenneville, the Blackhawks had been finishing their opponents on their first try more often than not. With 1:16 to spare, they regained their chance via Bryan Bickell.

Another 17 seconds elapsed before Bolland collected his second game-winning point of the series. He banked home a rebound that held up as the Cup clincher.

10 best one-off characters in Blackadder’s Christmas Carol

BY AL DANIEL

Seasonally enough, the standalone Blackadder’s Christmas Carol packs more trimmings in 43 minutes than its associate period miniseries did in multiple half-hour episodes.

As with all versions of the saga, there is Rowan Atkinson’s representative of the title bloodline. At his side is Tony Robinson’s marble-missing Baldrick.

Their respective ancestors and descendants show up in each Christmas past and yet-to-come vision. Ditto the Patsy Byrne, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Miranda Richardson characters from the second or third six-episode editions.

Besides those familiar faces, the special — which BBC premiered 30 years ago Sunday — enlisted 13 old and new ringers. Some loosely lampooned other figures from the teleplay’s Dickensian basis while others portrayed historical figures.

Given how underrated the special is in his country, this author shall take care not to spoil the plot. (Just know that it’s not exactly the same as the original.) With that in mind, let us honor the anniversary by ranking the best of the rest from Blackadder’s Christmas Carol.

10. Granny

Apart from “Thank you, sir,” this character speaks not a word, but collects the Prince Regent’s holiday offerings.

In this flashback scene, Edmund Blackadder, who has just manipulated his boss into a charitable mood, assumes the collector is Baldrick in disguise. Naturally, though, the granny’s grab of the bounty proves too good to be true. Her veiling attire and minced, subdued speech is authentic, thus more convincing than anything the dogsbody could pull off.

9-7. The Enormous Orphans

During Ebenezer Blackadder’s miserly phase, he barely shows more patience than Ebenezer Scrooge for “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen.” Whereas the lone caroler in the original musters one line, the troika and their teacher here get 30 seconds.

To lend the scene its absurdity, these vocalists put a puerile spin on the song with scant creativity. It may be “utter crap,” but no one needs to tell them, especially during the holiday season.

Leave it to Blackadder to say so anyway. Despite that, the Enormous Orphans can consider themselves lucky, as they are not the hardest hit of Ebenezer’s foils.

6. Boy

Played by an uncredited Martino Lezzeri, this character essentially counters the “To-day! Why Christmas Day” informant.

When trying to capitalize on Blackadder during the man’s generous phase, the boy derisively calls him “Slackbladder.” This insult would return a year later via Lord Flasheart in an episode of Blackadder Goes Forth.

5. Mrs. Scratchit

With a couple of letter changes to her own name and her offspring’s, this character represents a self-explanatory counterpart.

In this adaptation, though, the poor parent is the set-up woman for some of Blackadder’s most biting disses. Like the Edmunds who come before and after him, Ebenezer has a way with words at his acquaintance’s expense.

4. Prince Albert

Jim Broadbent’s take on Queen Victoria’s husband sympathetically suffers from First-World holiday stress. He cares so much about sustaining surprises for his wife and others that he ends up spoiling them.

Later, when the royal couple goes to offer Christmas greetings to commoners, Albert feels compelled to disguise his German nationality. He claims to be Scottish, but sets himself a trap that proves him comically out of touch with the culture.

3. Queen Victoria

There would have no excuse not to cast Miriam Margolyes in this role. At the time, she was already a two-time Blackadder guest star, and her overall repertoire stretched back 23 years.

With the versatility and seasoning she had demonstrated, Margolyes earned the requisite stripes to play the ruler of 63 years. In this project, she gives Victoria a playful persona as she tries to loosen her husband up.

2. Millicent

Where Scrooge had a poor-in-money but rich-in-spirit nephew, Blackadder has a comically irritating goddaughter.

Played by Doctor Who alumna Nicola Bryant in her lone Blackadder role, Millicent makes a trademark of her cartoonish laugh. Although no other incarnations of her appear, it is safe to assume Christmas is conducive to more of her mirth.

Of her two scenes, Millicent shares one with her fiancé, Ralph, played by another Blackadder one-timer in Ramsay Gilderdale. For what little we see of his character, Gilderdale’s cameo hints that Ralph and Millicent are perfect for one another. Whether that pleases anybody is in the eye (and ear) of the beholder.

1. The Spirit of Christmas

Robbie Coltrane, who previously played dictionary author Samuel Johnson on Blackadder the Third, returns as this version’s lone holiday ghost. Some have speculated his in-character persona inspired his later portrayal of Hagrid in the Harry Potter films.

As if that long-term nugget were not enough, Coltrane’s 1988 performance stands out for its immediate impression. Despite his mission promoting philanthropic behavior, the Spirit is not above indulging in “medicinal” beverages. The way he fills his breaks from strenuous work humorously humanizes the ghost and lets him cover more Christmas bases.

10 greatest WJCs by hometown NHL draft picks

BY PUCKS AND REC STAFF

Vancouver gets its second go-round as the World Junior Championship host starting next week. Ahead of the tournament opener, four Canucks hopefuls are expected to represent their country.

The last time Vancouver provided some or all of the WJC hospitality, it broke up the event’s 10-year hiatus from active NHL markets. In its first three decades, it had taken place once apiece in Montreal, the Twin Cities, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary and Boston. It also came through Winnipeg during the first NHL run of the Jets.

This year will be the eighth of the last 14 iterations to occur fully or partially in an NHL venue.

Between those previous seven instances, 34 NHL draft picks have had a chance to play before their future fan base. Either that, or before a future crowd of rival rooters in the case of joint Edmonton/Calgary and Toronto/Montreal tournaments.

In the previous century, a smaller smattering of junior prospects got an early glimpse of their future pro venue.

Regardless, no one should blame Michael DiPietro, Quinn Hughes, Tyler Madden or Toni Utunen for feeling added pressure or motivation. As previews of coming attractions to a given NHL franchise, these are the WJC performances they have to match. All statistics are according to Elite Prospects.

10. Carl Grundstrom

Drafted by the Maple Leafs the year prior, Grundstrom played the whole Toronto/Montreal 2017 WJC in Canadiens territory. With that said, he was productive in five of Sweden’s seven games, finishing third in team scoring with seven points.

9. Zach Fucale

Despite leading the 2015 tournament with a 1.20 goals-against average, .939 save percentage and two shutouts, Fucale had a lighter load than some of his peers.

Slovakia’s Denis Godla would earn the title of the tournament’s best netminder. He had stopped 40 of 45 shots while Fucale blocked all but one of 13 in Canada’s 5-1 semifinal victory.

With that said, the budding Habs backstop did blank the Slovaks in the round-robin opener at the Bell Centre. He then stopped 27 of 28 Finnish shots in his other WJC Montreal appearance (the playoffs were in Toronto).

 

8. Alexander Nylander

Fellow 2018 Swedish standout Rasmus Dahlin claimed the tournament’s top-defenseman crown in Buffalo. Five-plus months later, the local NHL franchise made him the top pick in the draft.

Since he was not yet Sabres property at the time of the WJC, Dahlin is not eligible for this list. But Western New York fans were already watching Nylander, their top pick from 2016, with AHL Rochester.

When he came over to represent the Swedes in Buffalo, the versatile winger co-led his club with seven points. His six helpers tied him with Dahlin for first place in that category.

7. Scott Arniel

Portions of the 1982 WJC took place in Winnipeg. By that point, Arniel was in the Jets system, having been the top second-round choice in the previous draft.

With 11 tournament points, the winger tied Bruce Eakin for Canada’s team lead.

6. William Nylander

Of the five skaters to break double-digit points at the 2015 Toronto/Montreal WJC, only one did not represent Canada. Nylander did, however, represent the Leafs’ prospects as the reigning No. 8 overall draftee.

All seven of Sweden’s games, and therefore all 10 of Nylander’s points, came at his future place of employment. He started with the tiebreaker and clincher in a 5-2 win over the Czech Republic. He later assisted on the equalizer and winner in a come-from-behind 3-2 triumph over Russia, improving the Swedes to 3-0-0.

Nylander would be held scoreless but once, as Russia took vengeance in the semifinals, 4-1. But he finished strong with his team’s first goal in a 4-2 bronze-medal loss to Slovakia.

 

5. Oscar Klefbom

Six months before Edmonton and Calgary shared the WJC, the Oilers selected Klefbom with the No. 19 pick in the 2011 NHL Draft. While Sweden’s Group A and playoff games were all held in Calgary, Albertans got a strong impression of Klefbom’s defensive prowess.

Despite mustering one goal and assist, Klefbom led the stingy Swedes with a plus-eight tournament rating. His lone goal proved momentous, as it sparked a third-period rally in the round-robin finale. He got Sweden on the board en route to a 4-3 overtime win after Russia had taken a 3-0 lead.

With Klefbom’s help, the Swedes would vanquish Russia again, 1-0, in overtime for the gold. Afterwards, he was named to the all-tournament team.

4. Marty Murray

In his second year as a Flames prospect, Murray made his second straight WJC, which was cohosted by Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer. He and his countrymen played one game at the Saddledome, edging the Czechs in a 7-5 barnburner Dec. 30, 1994.

With 15 points, Murray tied Jason Allison for the tournament lead, helping Canada to a perfect 7-0-0 run. But the IIHF would single him out as the most impressive forward.

3. Luc Bourdon

The late blueliner was the reigning 10th overall draft pick by Vancouver when he made Canada’s cut for 2006. At 18 going on 19 in his first 20-and-under tournament, he tied forward Benoit Pouliot for the team lead with five assists.

On the other side, Bourdon maintained a plus-five rating in six games en route to the gold medal. He would tie Cam Barker for the Canadian lead among defensemen with six points, but his performance stood out more overall. To that point, he joined American phenom Jack Johnson as the two rearguards on the all-tournament team.

2. Erik Karlsson

Team Sweden swept through Group B, then dispatched Slovakia in a 5-3 semifinal thriller before bowing to the hosts in the Canadian capital.

But besides savoring their home country’s 2009 gold medal, Ottawa fans saw their future award-winning NHL captain at his best. In his final amateur season and only WJC, Karlsson led the Swedes with seven assists and nine points. He also led his country’s defensemen with a plus-six rating.

For that, he joined Canada’s P.K. Subban on the all-tournament team, and was singled out as the best blueliner by the IIHF.

 

1. Casey Mittelstadt

Buffalo’s first-round choice in 2017 at No. 8 overall, Mittelstadt was the WJC MVP in 2018. Though his Americans settled for bronze on home ice, he amassed 11 points to tie Czech forward Martin Necas for the tournament lead. He also retained a solid plus-eight rating, easily the best among the event’s top 10 scorers.

As one testament to Mittelstadt’s value, his only scoreless outing was Team USA’s 4-2 semifinal loss to Sweden. Earlier, he may have salvaged their playoff ticket altogether in the third round-robin game against Canada.

Coming off a 3-2 loss to Slovakia, the Americans were facing a 2-0 deficit at New Era Field. They got on board, only to fall back behind by two late in the second period. But Mittelstadt completed a playmaker hat trick to force overtime, and the U.S. prevailed in a shootout.

Two days later, another three-point effort by Mittelstadt featured a game-winning assist in a back-and-forth 5-4 win over Finland. Without his productivity, the U.S. might have earned three round-robin points instead of eight.

AIC hockey as international (and competitive) as ever

BY AL DANIEL

Martin Mellberg (front) was part of a wave of overseas recruits committing to American International hockey within weeks of coach Eric Lang's (back) arrival. (Photo by Bob Blanchard)

The American International College hockey program has always had an ambassador in one of its school’s signature events.

With at least one senior waving the red maple leaf, a Yellow Jacket skater is consistently eligible for the Parade of Nations. The annual march lets every fourth-year international student brandish their banner, of which there are dozens.

But for the eighth consecutive year, hockey will have an unassisted Canadian goal in the parade. Then again, that shall change dramatically with the new decade.

Barring early exits, six student-pucksters from the class of 2020 will be eligible. Czech Patrick Demel, Latvian Jānis Jaks and Swedes Martin Mellberg, Hugo Reinhardt and Zackarias Skog shall join Canadian Kyle Stephan.

Together, when their turn comes, that quintet will constitute the first European AIC pucksters to participate in the parade since Slovak defenseman Tomas Benovic had his chance in 2011.

When that happens, it will fulfill a formality in alumnus and coach Eric Lang’s recruitment revolution. In the meantime, with another season-and-a-half between now and then, the program is savoring other milestones.

With 11 players hailing from seven countries outside the U.S. or Canada, AIC hockey is Division I’s most internationally diverse program. Count the Canadians, and there are 17 international students in Lang’s locker room.

With seven players representing five nations from across a given pond, Lake Superior State has men’s hockey’s second-most flags. Nine Canadians move the Lakers up to 16 student-skaters from outside the U.S.

Connecticut is the next runner-up in terms of European volume, with six players from five countries. Omaha matches UConn’s Canadian-European aggregate of 10, with one player apiece from the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden and Slovakia.

Among fellow Yellow Jackets, only men’s soccer compares in the nation tally, with 10 players representing eight foreign countries. With four of seven, women’s tennis is the only other roster of two players or more with an international majority.

The superlatives cannot escape the third-year man of the ice house, himself a 1998 AIC graduate.

“It’s a totally different place right now,” Lang told Pucks and Recreation via phone last week.

Three years after Slovak forward Jakub Siminek left early, Patrik Demel of the Czech Republic was AIC hockey's first new European commitment. (Photo by Bob Blanchard)

That goes for his extracurricular specialty, which upgraded from Division III in 1998-99, and the college in general. Under Gary Wright, who manned their bench from 1974 to 2016, the Yellow Jackets had only North Americans for their first six Division I seasons.

As it happened, two key arrivals coincided ahead of the 2005-06 academic year and hockey season. Yugoslav forward Denis Budai joined the Canadians in putting the “International” in American International College hockey. Meanwhile, Dr. Vincent Maniaci rose to AIC’s presidency, where he remains 13 years later.

“He’s a person who knows every single person who attends AIC,” said Lang. “He knows them by name, and that’s his leadership style.

“The people make the place, and that’s something our president has leveraged to our administration and right on down to the coaches.”

Uncannily enough, while the sport took time to take hold, hockey’s homeland was crucial to AIC’s founding philosophy. The Reverand Calvin E. Amaron, a French Protestant minister in Springfield, Mass., established the institution in 1885 with fellow French-Canadians in mind. They were an underserved demographic in the region, and their higher-ed haven would quickly open to more, including women and a greater variety of Europeans.

Minus a hitch via the two World Wars and the global depression they sandwiched, AIC rose to max its mission. But even in this century, the hockey program — one of two Division I Yellow Jacket swarms besides women’s rugby — has had some comparative lulls in reflecting the campus’ diversity.

For each of Wright’s final three seasons, Slovak forward Jakub Siminek’s exit reverted the roster to all North Americans. If anything, Lang suggests, it reflected slim pickings for global talent in the NCAA ranks.

“The population of Europeans in the NHL was not represented by the population of Europeans in college hockey,” Lang said.

Players were either rounding out their amateur days in their homeland, going to Canada’s major-junior system or being plucked by more privileged college programs. For 2018-19, 17 men’s Division I programs, including five of AIC’s Atlantic Hockey rivals, are still exclusively North American. (Two of those, including Lang’s former employer at Army, cannot help that, as they are service academies.)

With that said, when Lang replaced the retiring Wright in 2016, he and his staff “saw a window,” he said.

Besides reflecting AIC’s mission, Lang saw untapped overseas training as a potential perk-up potion for a perennial Atlantic Hockey bottomfeeder. He cited Sweden’s emphasis on learning over scorekeeping at early ages and the continent’s general sustained multi-sport upbringings.

“Our model is getting toward a little bit of that European influence,” he said.

As part of AIC's 2016 recruiting class, Zackarias Skog represented a resurgence of European presence in the program. Now, halfway through his junior year, he has the majority of the credit for the Yellow Jackets' best midseason record in their Division I era. (Photo by Bonnie Kennedy)

Lang wasted negligible time infusing that influence when he was hired on April 13, 2016. Three weeks later, the Czech defenseman Demel and Swedish goaltender Skog both signed on for the 2016-17 season.

Four days after that, Reinhardt was on board. An additional eight days elapsed before Mellberg committed. Jaks rounded out the revolutionary class two months after the coaching torch was passed.

With Tobias Fladeby (Norway), Luka Maver (Slovenia) and Vitaliy Novytskyy (Ukraine), the number of non-North American nations doubled last season. As of this year, Matúš Spodniak puts Slovakia back in the mix.

“First and foremost, for us, it’s created a very diverse locker room,” Lang said. “I’ve learned about a lot of different cultures. Taking the time to learn about one another has been an amazing part of the process for us.”

Past the halfway mark of the icebreaking quintet’s Springfield stay, the long-suffering scoreboard is getting its say as well. At the holiday break, Fladeby and Reinhardt were tied for fifth in team point production. Demel is second among the skaters in plus-minus, and Skog is playing the majority of the minutes.

Moreover, Skog’s 4-4-0 record reflects the team’s own .500 mark (7-7-1), its best at any point in any season since the first weekend of 2013-14. The only time the Jackets have had a winning record in Division I was after their 2002-03 season opener.

Now they are on their first four-game winning streak since February 2013.

“We certainly got a return on investment,” Lang said. “Our recruiting and our strongholds…have been outstanding.”

When Wright retired, AIC was No. 56 out of the NCAA’s 60 programs with 2.05 goals per game. It ranked dead-last on defense with 4.08 setbacks per night.

Under Lang, the Yellow Jackets ascended to 51st and 50th, respectively, on the NCAA’s 2016-17 offensive and defensive leaderboard. They were 33rd on defense by the end of last season.

At the current holiday break, they average 3.13 favorable strikes, ranking No. 19 in the nation. Defensively, they are tied for 40th with 3.07 opposing strikes every 60 minutes.

“The individual skill level is as high as it’s ever been in our program,” Lang said. “It’s a credit to these small countries and the way they develop their players.”

The defense is not the only aspect tightening up under this newfound overseas influence. “Sometimes I’ll come into the locker room, and they’ll tell me my suit is too baggy,” Lang said.

Lang, whose affinity for cultural melting pots dates back to his upbringing in the Bronx, welcomes all various playful and practical feedback. So much so that he tends to mute himself and let incumbent pupils do the touting for prospects.

“Our best salesmen at AIC have been our players,” he said. “I always say this is their program. I’m just kind of guiding the ship a little bit.”

The evolving culture is even appealing to those jumping more majestic, luxurious liners. Three Americans on the 2018-19 American International College hockey roster have transferred from Massachusetts, Providence and St. Cloud State.

The last of those three, Ryan Papa, completed his undergraduate studies early in 2017. With one remaining year of athletic eligibility to coincide with his MBA pursuits, he chose AIC over Northeastern.

“I don’t think we can compete with their resources,” Lang conceded. “But they’ve ended up on our campus.”

Besides chasing AHA banners for the MassMutual Center to match the Flag Room of the campus library, the next unchecked milestone would be a homecoming for at least one recruit. While there are currently no talks of involving AIC in an overseas contest, the ECAC/Hockey East Belpot in Northern Ireland generates a craving.

“It would be an amazing opportunity for our league,” Land said. “With our European background, I think it would be a novel pick to represent our league over here. We would be all for it.”

10 best narration lines from Stave One of A Christmas Carol

BY AL DANIEL

Wednesday is a definitive Dickensian dodransbicentennial, for it marks 175 years since A Christmas Carol was published.

The tiny tale of how Tiny Tim won a miser’s seemingly unwinnable compassion holds up in self-explanatory manners. While it modestly weighs in between 28,000 and 29,000 words, A Christmas Carol packs droves of quotable expressions. From the pre-reformation Ebenezer Scrooge’s callous comments to Tiny Tim’s generous prayer, those too require no primers.

The downside to that: Charles Dickens’ narrating alter-ego boasts a bevy of highlights himself, but these tend to be overshadowed. This is especially true in the first of the story’s five staves.

The first 11 paragraphs are devoid of dialogue. All characters cease to speak again for the stave’s final seven paragraphs. From there, Scrooge, the Ghosts of Christmas and the visions in their respective staves break up the virtual silence more.

Conversely, Dickens takes much of Stave One to set a tone, both for his audience and his main character. In accordance with that variety, he dishes up a few humorous visuals without losing focus on the setting’s dingy reality.

Before Jacob Marley’s heads-up kicks in, the Christmas Carol narrator keeps us engaged and a few steps ahead of Scrooge. The following 10 descriptive narration lines typify the novella’s solid foundational portrait that is Stave One.

10. “…conscious of a terrible sensation to which it had been a stranger from infancy…”

Between the sneak peek and the full-fledged phantom, Scrooge tries to convince himself there is no supernatural presence. But the narrator’s biographical angle lets us see through his wobbly wall of denial.

And because Scrooge is, at best, an antihero, we can take satisfaction in foreseeing reality before he uncomfortably arrives there.

9. “External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge.”

With this line and the passage it introduces, the two basic definitions of cold-blooded crop up in curious contrast.

Scrooge naturally fits the more metaphorical meaning with his unwavering misanthrophy. The vibe he emits with his attitude clouds the fact that, unlike real reptiles, he feels no impact from fluctuating air.

Yet because his approach even encourages seeing-eye dogs to steer their owners away, it is plain the locals see Scrooge as a different animal. With sparse exceptions, he could all but be a male Medusa, he is so off-putting.

8. “…you might have got a hearse up that staircase…and done it easy.”

Step by step, the narrator illustrates the waste of space that are Scrooge’s digs. In this portion, he injects a touch of comic relief, as the hypothetical visual accentuates the absurdity. The building could theoretically handle much chaos, yet barely anything ever stirs there (for now).

All of the unoccupied rooms and darkened hallways typify Scrooge’s penuriousness and its effects. For all of the money and property he has at his disposal, he makes scant use of it for himself, let alone others.

7. “The ancient tower of a church, whose gruff old bell was always peeping slily down at Scrooge…”

Despite coming off his defeat of two donation collectors, Scrooge can barely escape seasonal symbols. With an overcast, the naggingly lofty building of worship near his office may go out of site at times. But with its sounds, it does not stay out of mind.

The narrator’s choice of simile, “as if its teeth were chattering,” connects the bells with the destitute. But their periodic ringing intervals are clearly not enough to sway Scrooge. As such, a more forthright intervention will be required to instill any proper Christmas spirit.

6. “There were Cains and Abels…swallowed up the whole.”

If the neighboring church cannot grip Scrooge, a familiar face will.

Eight biblical individuals or groups of figures adorn his dwelling’s Dutch-designed fireplace. Yet, as Dickens establishes in this vivid scene, their seniority and strength in numbers cannot suppress Marley’s impending ghost.

After desperately dismissing it with his trademark interjection, Scrooge will spend another three nonspeaking paragraphs in denial. But any levelheaded bystander looking in from the outside knows better. There is an extraordinary apparition, one immune to all diversion and deflection, at hand.

5. “…taking off the bandage round its head, as if it were too warm to wear in-doors…”

This passage highlights a lengthy sentence affirming one of Marley’s great contrasts with Scrooge. One man feels the elements in death more than his ex-associate does in life.

Six paragraphs earlier, the narrator makes the same point by describing the Ghost as “agitated as by the hot vapour from an oven.” This despite the well-established coldness of his old residence, as kept by Scrooge.

Whatever the source of the heat is, one party will soon demonstrate his brimming sensitivity versus the other’s lacking.

4. “…it must have run there when it was a young house…and have forgotten the way out again.”

Had Monty Python done a Christmas Carol adaptation, this would have been Terry Gilliam’s moment.

In the second of 13 nearly-silent paragraphs taking us from Scrooge’s workplace to his residence, Dickens wastes no time scene-setting. While the house is superficially forlorn, the joking theory about it keeps the mood appropriately light. Scrooge has a long way to go before he can earn anyone’s full-fledged sympathy.

3. “…Scrooge had as little of what is called fancy about him as any man in the City of London…”

Give this narrative more advanced technology, and Dickens would be stopping the tape at this point. Before presenting Marley’s likeness in the door knocker, he offers a detailed heads-up on this vision’s unusual nature.

Besides Scrooge’s lack of imagination, the paragraph reaffirms that Marley was not heavily on his mind that day. As such, this initial apparition must be anything but a hallucination.

That notwithstanding, when the Ghost follows up by appearing inside and in full, Scrooge tries passing it off as a digestive side effect. Having gotten to know him as well as we have, however, we see the desperation and futility in his theory. Debunking an explanation after he built it up that high creates more room for a profound character transformation.

2. “…the Ward would have been justified in indicting it for a nuisance.”

Is this the first step in Scrooge’s conversion? Earlier that fateful Christmas Eve, he had wished imprisonment on the living poor. Now the narrator hints he deems it appropriate for his old partner.

Then again, this is a polar opposite of the Marley he had always known. Seven years before these events, Scrooge would likely never have thought what the narrator suggests.

 

Then again, the reason the Ghost howls is because he is a condemned spirit. Clearly not wanting to become what he shudders at, Scrooge may wish Marley gone and still accept the three visitations.

1. “Scrooge resumed his labours with an improved opinion of himself…”

An especially quotable dialogue sequence has culminated in the portly charity collectors’ surrender. As he retakes the floor, the narrator adds another layer to Scrooge’s unthinkably icy dimension.

But describing the aftermath of the conversation serves an additional purpose, one that packs a fitting dose of delayed gratification. As appalling as Scrooge’s pride in driving the gentlemen away on Christmas Eve is, the overnight conversion and payoff will be that much sweeter for it.

Then and only then can anyone agree that he does, in fact, have any “improved opinion.”

Pucks and Rec editor's note

Dear Readers,

As many of you know, and as some continue to bring to our attention, Pucks and Recreation's main website is dealing with suspected viruses. With that in mind, we are publishing all of our new content in this space and archiving some of our output from 2018, 2017, 2016 and our Along the Boards era while our home arena is "fumigated."

Think of this as the equivalent of when a blizzard damaged the roof of the Hartford Civic Center, and the WHA's New England Whalers moved to the Springfield Civic Center. The show must go on, and we look forward to having you here until our primary platform is back in business.

Thank you for your continued readership.

Best regards,
Al

Teddy Bear Toss endures test of time, NHL shutout

 

The Teddy Bear Toss that minor-league, junior and college hockey enthusiasts treasure shares some key common threads with The Nutcracker. Besides being Christmastime customs, their stories each have a happy ending despite threats via pesky muroids.

Wednesday marks 25 years since the widely accepted origin of the Teddy Bear Toss. The consensus points to the Western League’s Kamloops Blazers inviting their fans to throw donatable playthings onto the ice after the team’s first goal at a Dec. 5, 1993 game. As with all subsequent iterations, the discards become gifts for underprivileged locals.

Most lower-level promotions tend to stay synonymous with one team or league. They also rarely see action in the game’s highest ranks. In this case, the NHL can come across as a superficial Scrooge for keeping it out. Although, in fairness, a rat problem might have exacerbated the derailment of any big-time aspirations the Teddy Bear Toss may have had.

With that said, like an exceptional journeyman, it has made waves one step below The Show. In fact, no later than this year, the concept’s balance of association has shifted.

Three days before the custom’s silver anniversary, the AHL’s Hershey Bears set a new standard for this unique charitable collection. With a tally of 34,798 stuffed animals, they became the first team to break 30,000 in a single toss.

Until then, WHL territory had remained the now-global practice’s definitive region. The Calgary Hitmen held the previous record of 28,815 items, which Saddledome spectators combined for in 2015. Seven pickup trucks were required to transport the toys off the ice that night.

That mark eclipsed the Hitmen’s previous bar of 26,919, which they raised in 2007. A provincial and divisional rival, the Lethbridge Hurricanes, had held the preceding record, albeit for two days. In so doing, they surpassed yet another high major-junior mark set by Calgary one year prior.

In an e-mail to Pucks and Recreation, Bears broadcaster Zach Fisch noted that the Hitmen offered Hershey their kudos. “With that said,” he added, “they’re gunning to get the record right back and are pretty competitive about it.

“If they do, that’s not a bad thing at all. It means more kids in need across North America were helped and that fans in Hershey will just have to continue to up their game more next year, which means even more kids here happy too.”

From North America’s minor-pro, major-junior and collegiate ranks to some European circuits, the Teddy Bear Toss is tried, true and ever-growing. But it would not be a stretch to look back and wonder if it was once in peril.

Hockey’s big league brandishes what some might scorn as a big-brother attitude toward the Toss. Per ESPN’s Tal Pinchevsky in 2016, an NHL spokesman explained, “Player safety is an obvious reason, but so is fan safety. At NHL arenas, a high percentage of anything thrown from the stands would hit other fans.”

Incidentally, the Hitmen share their building with the NHL’s Flames, and usually sell it out for the Teddy Bear Toss. But outside of a player’s third goal, there is an explicit precedent against celebratory showers of merchandise. And it all began with another kind of toy in mind.

When the Teddy Bear Toss was two years old going on three, an overdone occurrence in Florida may have spoiled its hopes of trickling up to The Show. While no authorities have confirmed the connection outright, the Panthers’ “rat trick” phenomenon did lead to new restrictions.

Thrusting plastic rats onto the Miami Arena rink after Florida goals proved a one-year wonder in 1995-96. New rules, effective in 1996-97, were meant to diminish delays in the action. As with flurries of fuzz when lower-level home teams is shut out, it can only happen after the final horn.

When Panthers fans brought back the “rat trick” without permission in 2016, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman reaffirmed the regulations. As the Associated Press’ Stephen Whyno reported at the time, Bettman’s league would only make allowances for hat tricks. Anything else, the commissioner told the AP Sports Editors, is “disruptive to the game” and “potentially dangerous.”

But no such misgivings have taken hold in any of the development ranks. Other than caving to the embarrassing specter of being blanked, hardly anyone who has taken up the Teddy Bear Toss has seen a reason to relinquish it. If anything, higher-profile teams just shy of The Show are coming fashionably late to the party.

While the Bears, the AHL’s longest-tenured brand, set the world record this past weekend, the Chicago Wolves conducted their first toss amidst the team’s 25th season. Their version took place during the first intermission, a la Chuck-a-Puck.

Back in the presumed Kamloops epicenter, everyone is in the seasonal spirit of sharing. CBC News marked the Teddy Bear Toss’ silver anniversary by querying current Blazers personnel.

Booster club president Kevin Rhodes told the news station, “Good things go a long way. It’s good for the organizations that benefit in the community…People want to be involved in that.”

Those whose shots cue the bear blizzard are no exception. Blazers blueliner Montana Onyebuchi is a third-year WHL stay-at-home defenseman with a mere seven career goals. But when he was an Everett Silvertip, one of those white-elk tallies happened to bring on the bears.

Of that experience, he told CBC, “It’s better than scoring any other goal I’ve ever scored, ever.”

Why wouldn’t it be? It chalked up to 8,523 assists on a happier holiday for Everett-area residents.

And no major-league misers or Miami Mouse Kings could take that away. Nor is their lack of participation or explanation thereof likely to stop another quarter-century of the Teddy Bear Toss elsewhere.

Any chance you get to help kids and throw something on the ice without getting in trouble is a great time,” Fisch said. “The hockey community is special and full of so many good people. I am not surprised to see so many communities taking part in this event.

“It's really gained steam here, and many other places in the past several years. I hope it continues to grow. Safe to say, the world loves it.”