There will always be cheap fans, regardless of economic status, but realistically, few noble ones can pay rising ticket costs, expensive parking fees, and inanely priced merchandise. Back in ’07, Detroit was having issues filling the Joe. Detroit. One of the Original Six. Michigan’s unemployment was 6.5 percent compared to the national figure of 4.4. Gas prices were at record highs and the Big 3 auto companies were cutting jobs.

Just this June, it was reported that 3 million acres flooded in Manitoba, costing the province an estimated $1 billion. Though Winnipeg’s economy ranked third of 25 city economies in July, this disaster is historic, according to agriculture minister Stan Struthers. It’s a blow to an area at least partially supported by natural resources and farmland.

I’m not advocating for consumers to opt for counterfeit anything, I’m simply pointing out that perhaps fans shouldn’t be alienated for not being able to afford the high price of loving hockey and their team. Who is anyone to say that parents should pay $65 CAD for an official jersey for their kid, when they also have to consider putting food on the table amid pay decreases at work?

[screenshot via nhl.com

Questions about his retirement haven’t gone away. The small (by NHL standards), 5’10″ 180-pound forward has endured at least four concussions in his career–including being flattened by Scott Stevens back in ’03–and at 36, he’s a year younger than a healthy Scott Niedermayer was when he retired. But as recently as summer 2010, Teemu Selanne (man, we mention him a lot here) pushed GM Bob Murray to sign Paul.

Ultimately, who knows? Anne’s recent spotting of him in a wetsuit with board in Huntington Beach could mean he’s either just relaxin’, or in town to work out a deal. Her text to me read: “Guess who we saw this am? OK. You’ll never, so I’ll just hafta tell ya. Paul [expletive] Kariya!!” She yelled his name out and he turned around with a scared smile and an expression that said, “yeah, busted.” The Orange County Register has whispered a little something about a Kariya comeback. I guess we’ll see.

Making decisions on suspensions is a thankless job because somebody is always upset by the decision. [...] Right now, there is no rhyme or reason to decisions and they just seem arbitrary. Just ask Aaron Rome or Max Pacioretty… —Brad Kurtzberg

As far as I’m concerned, the NHL needs to do two things. One, the league needs to figure exactly how to handle hits that occur to players in vulnerable situations. The major penalty for interference and game misconduct that Bruin defenseman–and captain–Zdeno Chara was given after slamming Canadien left winger Max Pacioretty into a padded stanchion was far too casual. Especially when Duck Bobby Ryan received a two-game suspension for trying to knock a puck loose from between the boards and Predator Jonathon Blum’s skates. Please. Suspension? Intent aside, Bobby’s actions were a far cry from breaking a guy’s neck and giving him a concussion.

In addition to the automatic fines and suspensions imposed under these rules, the Commissioner may, at his discretion, investigate any incident that occurs in connection with any Pre-season, Exhibition, League or Playoff game and may assess additional fines and/or suspensions for any offense committed during the course of a game or any aftermath thereof by a player, goalkeeper, Trainer, Manager, Coach or non-playing Club personnel or Club executive, whether or not such offense has been penalized by the Referee. —NHL rulebook

The second thing Gary Bettman and his team need to address is the silly notion of supplementary discipline, an actual rule in the NHL handbook. Bobby’s suspension was announced hours after the playoff game between the Ducks and Preds ended. Like Yahoo blogger Sean Leahy writes, “As we’ve said before, one playoff game is equal to two regular season games when it comes to suspensions in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and with the series tied 1-1, Ryan’s absence makes the NHL’s statement here even more serious.” If the officials don’t call it on the ice, that’s it, the moment is over with and gone and shouldn’t be up for discussion after the fact. And with the opinion of expansion teams being what it is, even more reason for the commissioner to not have a say.

I’m wondering, what the hell happened to the unspoken rule of not messing with the finesse players? I lost track of how many times Teemu Selanne got stapled to the boards the last coupla seasons, and really? There’s speculation that it may be time for Sidney Crosby to retire? Once upon a time, there was common courtesy, an understanding, among players that called for a line to be drawn before flattening guys like the Great One. Those who insist on playing a gritty game and anyone else be damned ultimately are hurting themselves. What if Pacioretty never skates in a game again, and what if Sid doesn’t come back? Where’s the financially-struggling league without a golden boy then?

Since migrating to WordPress and making a go of this blog thing completely on our own, it’s been tough keeping the site updated. As full-time journalists constantly pursuing assignments or trying to meet deadlines, too often it has proved easy to take a breather from generating another piece. But the thing is, we consistently had time to watch each and every game–complete with passionate yelling and arm movements–but apparently were too exhausted to put scrutinizing reports and reviews to laptop.

No more!

The Talking Ducks are getting back on track–with a slightly different focus on our beloved team and sport. There are more than enough blogs offering expert commentary and opinions (plus those by the players themselves), so we’re skating onto the ice ready to write about the stuff that really interests us: jersey sales, novelty hockey items, player sitings, and more. Though we may occasionally take to the web to rant about nasty hits or Teemu’s latest achievement, our approach will be less scientific and more…lifestyle.

Hope you like our fresh start.

But let’s recap the past week and a half, including the trades:

• 2/16: we fall 7-6 to the Caps; at nearly 10 p.m. that same night, we send d-man (hellooo) Paul Mara to the Canadiens in exchange for a 5th round pick in the 2012 draft
• 2/17: on a day off, we nab Jarkko Ruutu from the Sens, and it’s starting to look like we’ve been teleported to Finland (fine by me, he’s  been interesting to watch); Ottawa gets a 6th round pick in the 2011 draft
• 2/18: we fall 5-1 against Minnesota on the road; I’m not a happy camper
• 2/19: by the time our 9-3 loss is in the books vs. the Blues, for goodness sake, I’m livid
• 2/23: before we choke 3-2 hosting the Kings, we recall Ray Emery from Syracuse and send Pielmeier down
• 2/24: Curtis McElhinney is traded to Tampa Bay and we end up with Dan Ellis, on a day off
• 2/25: the team leaves Ellis to fend for himself and we fall, again, 3-2 vs. the Wild, which brings us to the present.

At this point, there’re 20 games left in the regular season, and we’re sitting in the 11th spot in the Western Conference. In order to make the playoffs, we’ll have to pass the current three-way tie between Chicago, Dallas, and Nashville, and also play some defense!

It was a bad deal because of what’s going on with our goalies now: Jonas Hiller is playing ping pong with the IR list due to lingering effects from a head injury sustained during practice in Chicago last November; backup netminder Curtis McElhinney, while mostly able, played only three seasons with the Flames before joining the Ducks in the ’09-’10 season; backup-to-the-backup Timo Pielmeier has never played in an NHL game; and recent acquisition Ray Emery, though more experienced than Pielmeier (and a former Flyer), continues to spend time getting into shape with AHL’s Syracuse Crunch.

Perhaps if we still had Giguere (and Allaire), we wouldn’t be seeing a repeat of the goalie mess that plagued us last season. J.S. may not have ever found himself in a slump had Allaire not left, we’d have fantastic depth in Hiller—who can be streaky, something fans and commentators accused Jiggy of, btw—and McElhinney, and Pielmeier could quit the ridiculous number of cross-country flights in order to work on getting ready to play for the Ducks a couple seasons from now. But hey, this is all rumination and speculation courtesy a fan highly irritated by what’s going on between the pipes, especially after an insane spectacle like last night’s game against the Caps.