Category: Darren Eliot
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Eliot: Wings focused on internal changes, not schedule changes
By Darren Eliot – Hockey is finally underway in these parts. I know, the USHL and OHL began a couple of weeks ago and UM kicks of its season with a preseason game on Sunday. But, the NHL being officially back – on time, I might add, after last season’s lockout-shortened campaign – signals…
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Eliot: Preseason hockey has a different meaning for all parties involved
By Darren Eliot – Follow @Darren_Eliot on Twitter Training camps in the NHL have long since changed from opportunities for the players to get in shape to the league getting to preseason games as quickly as possible as revenue generators. Still, there are things to be gleaned from the “exhibition season”, some of which…
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Eliot: Top 10 reasons for hockey hype in Michigan
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By Darren Eliot – Follow @Darren_Eliot on Twitter With training camps right around the corner, and as you’ve read throughout MiHockeyNow.com, there are plenty of reasons to anticipate the upcoming hockey season. Here is my ‘Top 10’ list of players, events and developments to get enthused about: 1. Winter Olympic Games Hockey on the world…
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Red Wings’ youngsters look promising, but they still need a top-six scorer
By Darren Eliot – After a strong finish to the regular season and a fine showing in the playoffs, the Red Wings know more about many of their young players than they otherwise might have. In that regard, the lockout-shortened season may have hastened the organization’s reload process. The vets who didn’t play during the…
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Special DElivery: The game’s changes are in the spotlight this postseason
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By Darren Eliot – I don’t know about you, but playoff hockey always points out things about the game. For instance, the N.Y. Rangers insistence on playing the entire game along the boards is simply out of date. They break out ‘D-to-Winger’ almost every time. When they get it to the neutral zone, they get…
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Special DElivery: “He had his head down” no longer applies
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By Darren Eliot – The changing culture of hitting in the NHL continues to evolve before our very eyes. From “picking the head”, to “the head as the principal point of contact”, to “significant head contact” to what we’re witnessing in these NHL playoffs. If you take the interference hit by Eric Gryba of the…
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Special DElivery: Let the (CCHA) nostalgia begin
By Darren Eliot – The Miami RedHawks fell to St. Cloud State Huskies on March 31, 2013 in Toledo, Ohio in the Midwest Regional Final. At stake was a bid to the NCAA Frozen Four. In the end, it was the Huskies moving on and the the RedHawks ending their season and concluding the Central…
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Special DElivery: A message for all the new hockey coaches
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By Darren Eliot – As we congratulate all of the coaches wrapping up the fall/winter hockey season, it is also the time of year to welcome the new coaches to the game. After all, the interest in coaching usually stems from a parent getting involved because their son or daughter has shown an interest in…
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Special DElivery: A look at realignments past, and what this one means for Hockeytown
By Darren Eliot – Well, it is official: NHL realignment is set for the 2013-14 season. For the Detroit Red Wings and all you fans, this has been a long time coming – 20 years, to be exact, since the Wings were part of the Norris Division in the Clarence Campbell Conference. Yes, it was…
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Special DElivery: My CCHA regular-season ‘All-Eyeball’ Team
By Darren Eliot – My impressions of the final CCHA season were varied and wide ranging. Here’s what impressed me the most: Yost Ice Arena: I love when universities opt to spruce up older facilities instead of razing them. Yost is brighter, with natural daylight streaming in during the afternoon. The video board is spectacular…