HOCKEY NIGHT IN AL STRACHAN’S FANTASYLAND
What will Al make up this week?
10:00 pm - Two weeks ago Al Strachan reported that Lightning co-owner Len Barrie was designing the team’s power play. Last week on Hockey Night in Canada the longtime hockey reporter said there was discontent on Long Island. Strachan discussed an alleged shouting match between Scott Gordon and Bill Guerin and mumbled something about the team - oh no! - having to do a pair of charity events. You can watch the segment here, if you have a few minutes to waste.
This is what Al Strachan does. It’s what he’s been doing since the invention of the goalie mask. That is, when he’s not making Nazi references about Jewish media relations executives.
Here’s the tried-and-false Strachan formula:
- Find a team that’s losing, preferably far away from his Toronto base so he can turtle.
- Cite an “unnamed source” - usually someone with about seven degrees of separation from the team, if not the voices inside Al’s head.
- Lather, lather, lather, report.
If it means throwing mud and doubt on someone like Gordon during the first dozen games of his NHL career, so be it.
I asked Guerin this afternoon about Strachan’s report of disharmony. The captain said there was one instance in practice two weeks ago when there was some confusion during a drill. From one end of the rink to the other, some loud, but neither insubordinate or profane words were exchanged. (I was there and can confirm Guerin’s account. It was fairly standard fare).
Otherwise, Guerin says the Islanders are a team that at times has been frustrated by the losses, but committed to finding solutions together. “The record is nowhere near where we want it to be, but we are a close team with a lot of respect for our coach,” said the captain.
He also had a message for Al Strachan. “Tell Al he should check his sources,” Guerin said. “I’m available to anyone who wants to get a story right. If Al doesn’t have my number, I’d like to think he has plenty of contacts who know how to find me.”
20 Responses to “HOCKEY NIGHT IN AL STRACHAN’S FANTASYLAND
What will Al make up this week?”
Please Wait
Al is terrible. good for guerin to speak up for his team
Excellent response by Guerin… respectful of his coach and his teammates while calling the guy out for saying something that isnt true. Well done!
Thanks for clearing that up, CB.
I can’t stand Strachan and I don’t know why a classy operation like HNIC continues to put him on TV. At the rate Al’s going, Milbury’s probably going to take one of his loafers to him before too long.
Laviolette tonight becomesthe winningest US hockey coach in NHL history…i hope some day to be fired/released/traded/ from the isles so I can go on to a successful career!!! You are in great company CB….this is the birth of your media empire!!..;-)
This guy is a dirtbag.
parrish scores first goal
Props to Guerin, who the hell is this Al Strachan? I never heard of him… Is he Eklund’s cousin?… I’m just saying
Parrish now with 2
then Parrish got 3
and Parrish with 4
6 goals for Parrish
Who cares? We still have 9 points… I’m just saying
Good for Parrish and all, but if people are going to post every time an ex-islander scores a goal this is going to get really annoying to read lol
Strachan may have gotten it wrong, however… During 3rd period of Isles-Thrashers as the team was imploding, MSG cut to a shot on the bench where Gordon and Guerin were in an animated and heated exchange. They quickly cut from the shot and the announcers said nothing. I’m just sayin’.
Its not just the HNIC people the Hockey News is the same way. Always seems to me that the Toronto based media are so frustrated by the inability of the Leafs to put a competetive team on the ice ( almost every year since 1967) that they find pleasure on dumping on the Islanders.
cb , this is where I start to get a little uncomfortable with you .
as I mentioned yesterday , I really like that you report things to us before it hits the news stands -i.e , Thompson out with groin for today
but I dont like it when you get too defensive when the media from other outlets pick on the isles .
Strachan is entertainment and in a way he’s alot like Avery .You love it when he’s bashing another team , but heaven help us if he picks on our beloved isles .
we all have to suck it up and take our deserves or not lumps from every direction until this team gets it right .
Good for you, CB, for calling Strachan out. This guy is the biggest hack going and really needs to be discredited. As Coach Melrose recently said down here about him, “Al is sort of like a spaghetti salesman. He just throws so much against the wall and hopes something sticks and it usually doesn’t stick. It’s BS and Al thrives on BS. It’s total lies.”
Off topic but I have a stupid question. I know the islanders are rebuilding but why did they not sign Parish to a two year deal. He is a proven goal scorer, an ex Isles all-star, and a fan favorite. I actually think he would have fit in well. Not to mention he scored a hat trick last night.
If there’s discord on this team, my guess is that Gordon stays and everyone else can shove off. Snow isn’t going to Bryan Trottier his personal choice from coach in the first few months of the season.
This Parrish stuff is really rich. The crying on this site was epic when they signed him to a minor league tryout because people were concerned he’d take ice time away from a rookie. Now Dallas deigns to sign the apparently-useless Parrish, he has 1 good game, and the crying is epic on the other side. Can we for once give it a rest and not whine about every single move this team makes?
^^ Spot on, Nick!
I fully endorse your story, CB, and kudos to Bill Guerin.
Al Strachan is an absolute waste of space as a reporter/media face. How this guy made the Hockey Hall of Fame as a media member is beyond me.
I wrote an article about him a couple of weeks ago about his report on how Len Barrie, owner of the Lightning, came down to the Rangers dressing while playing in Europe and began designing powerplay and penalty-killing strategies. His source? “One of the players”.
http://hockey-blog-in-canada.blogspot.com/2008/10/brian-burke-visionary.html
Both Len Barrie and Barry Melrose have denied this happening, so exactly who was this player?
Al Strachan is the TV version of Eklund - no sources, completely fabricated information, and zero credibility. And that’s an E5 comment.
you should be happy for the former islander.