Silver Nuggets: Bruce Springsteen edition

by Peter Raaymakers on Aug 17, 2011 12:00 PM EDT in Silver Nuggets

Sometimes, you've just go to spice things up. So today, I've added another dimension to our (sometimes) daily link listing: The Bruce Springsteen dimension. I certainly don't hide my huge respect for The Boss, but today I've hidden now fewer than sixteen references to songs of his in today's Silver Nuggets. There are no prizes for winners, aside from personal satisfaction, but the best things in life are free, aren't they?

If you don't want to play the game, just read whatever links interest you and pretend it's a regular-edition Nuggets!

Ottawa Senators links:

Daniel Alfredsson is back on the ice and getting himself ready for the upcoming season. It will be nice if we can see a full year out of the guy, because even if his glory days are behind him, when he's on he's really something to watch. (TSN)
It might be a case of living in the future, but here's a profile of Mika Zibanejad. (Eye on the Sens)
David Rundblad wants to play in the promised land of the NHL, but is willing to do his time in the AHL if need be. He also realizes that even if he's never going to be the hitter on Ottawa's blue line, he can compensate by playing really well offensively. (The 6th Sens)
Jason Spezza is on the hot seat this season, according to writers at the NHL. It might be a leap of faith, but I think Spezza's got one step up on a guy like Filip Kuba, who's going to be playing for a contract. (NHL.com)
Chris Kelly brought the Stanley Cup all the way home a while back, and shared it with Matt Spezza. I never realized the brothers look so alike, but this photo's pretty uncanny. (Sens Town)
A look at some of the guys who started last season with Ottawa, but will be elsewhere this year. Some are spare parts, some will be key contributors, and one was born in the U.S.A. (Senshot)

General hockey links:

Wyshynski takes a long hard look at "the crisis of faith on hockey fighting." (Puck Daddy)
A great piece on Rick Rypien. Definitely tougher than the rest. (Globe and Mail)
Milks says that it's still okay to be a fan of fighting. (Black Aces)
Isles fans think Al Montoya might be grossly underrated, but... I'm sorry, I just don't see it, he's a first round pick in a brilliant disguise. (Light House Hockey)
If you're working on a dream of working in the NHL, it's probably not what you know, but who you know. (Copper & Blue)
You know it was a tough season a couple hours north of Atlantic City when New Jersey Devils bloggers are reminiscing longingly on a particular goal. (In Lou We Trust)
On the streets of Philadelphia, some Flyers players are throwing some Kovalevian criticisms towards the local media, including Dan Carcillo. (Broad Street Hockey)
Looks like Sheldon Souray is dating the wrestler Kelly Kelly. I don't know who that is, either. (Puck Daddy)
They may have seen better days, but older goalies can still put up good numbers. (Copper & Blue)
A look at what Mike Commodore might have to do to get his career back on track with the Detroit Red Wings. (Detroit Free Press)

(Yes, it was a stretch for some of the song title references, but it wasn't always easy.)

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Comments

Interesting use of largely post E-Street Band songs...

Springsteen is one of the things I love as much, if not more, than the Sens. Losing Clarence this summer was very very difficult. In music as in sports, it’s hard to be without a Big Man.

by Amelia L on Aug 17, 2011 12:06 PM EDT reply actions

It was mostly based on what was playing in my Winamp playlist at the time of writing

So that certainly affected it.

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by Peter Raaymakers on Aug 17, 2011 3:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Haha good stuff

by Amelia L on Aug 17, 2011 6:49 PM EDT up reply actions

No pimping out your being quoted in the G&M's Sens preview?

Well done on that, by the way.

Canadian team preview: The Ottawa Senators

by B_T on Aug 17, 2011 12:13 PM EDT reply actions

...or I'm completely blind at missed it in yesterday's Nuggets.

by B_T on Aug 17, 2011 12:19 PM EDT up reply actions

Hahahaha!

It was featured yesterday, and thanks!

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by Peter Raaymakers on Aug 17, 2011 3:56 PM EDT up reply actions

I'd just read through yesterday's nuggets before posting this too

I think I got confused because the Montreal prediction from Monday was also in yesterday’s nuggets, and that’s the one I noticed. My mind made the leap of logic that if Monday’s article was in Tuesday’s nuggets, then Tuesday’s article should be in today’s nuggets.

by B_T on Aug 17, 2011 4:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Top 3 Springsteen albums... GO!

1) Nebraska
2) Darkness on the Edge of Town
3) Born to Run

Co-manager, Silver Seven

by DarrenM on Aug 17, 2011 12:33 PM EDT reply actions

I reckon his Greatest Hits album doesn't count?

1. Born in the U.S.A.
2. Born To Run
3. Nebraska

by Alexander Calloway on Aug 17, 2011 2:10 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm a sucker for his new stuff

1. The Rising
2. Devils + Dust
3. Nebraska

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by Peter Raaymakers on Aug 17, 2011 3:56 PM EDT up reply actions

I have 1 and 2 flipped

But really you can’t go wrong with any of those three, although there’s something great about Born in the USA (hint: I’m On Fire, I’m Goin’ Down, Darlington County, Working on the Highway, Dancing in the Dark). My favourites from Born in the USA were intended for Nebraska, so that probably explains a lot.

by Amelia L on Aug 17, 2011 12:53 PM EDT reply actions

... Souray & Kelly Kelly? Oh good lord.

A Goal Horn Haiku

Hoooonk hoooonk honk honk hooooonk
That's the sound the train horn makes
Suck it, Toronto

by Nightbreak on Aug 17, 2011 2:34 PM EDT reply actions

A girl so nice, they named her twice?

by The Tif on Aug 17, 2011 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions

"Working on a dream of working"

I’m still laughing.

A stretch, indeed.

Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs

by Mark Parisi on Aug 17, 2011 3:23 PM EDT reply actions

I am glad Rundblad didn't make those comments in English

I can just imagine the outrage stemming from a view that values defensive play as a fundamental requirement, while creating offence is just secondary.

Granted, he’s a defenceman, but if he creates more goals than he causes, then why would it matter if he has some defensive short comings. Having said that, hopefully Rundblad still works on them.

I just wish people would insist Chris Phillips or Chris Neil or whatever, also work on his offensive game too as much as they demand that of Spezza, Karlsson and eventually Rundblad.

An Ottawa Senators supporter in Toronto, Ontario. I am cool like that.

by Adnan on Aug 17, 2011 3:31 PM EDT reply actions

You bring up an interesting point

In general, that’s one of the reasons I dislike +/- as an evaluator—it doesn’t take special teams goals into consideration. Karlsson, for instance, finished the year at a putrid minus-30, but put up 4 PPG and 17 PPA. Those 21 goals count towards the final score of the game. Why should they not count towards our evaluation of his shortcomings? The kid isn’t ever going to muscle Lucic off the puck, but if he’s generating goals, why is that such a big deal?

But when you start talking about Phillips and Neil, I think there’s a fundamental difference. I think defense can be played much more through effort than offense can. There are multiple ways to separate a player from a puck, but there’s really only one way to score a goal. Neil and Phillips simply don’t have the skill to improve their offensive game beyond where it is now, while Karlsson and MechaKarlsson can learn to pokecheck or whatever if they can’t lay a guy out.

Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs

by Mark Parisi on Aug 17, 2011 3:59 PM EDT up reply actions

It would almost make sense if there was another metric that was +/- plus PPP

modsuperstar dot ca | SlideawayMedia

by modsuperstar on Aug 17, 2011 4:36 PM EDT up reply actions

That would be closer

But it still credits players with influence on goals they’re not responsible for. I think it was Condra last year who was only a plus-one in a penalty-free game where he had two assists in a 2-0 win. On the second goal, he fired the breakout pass and then went to the bench for a change—the result was that he got credit for the assist, but it wasn’t reflected in his +/- since he wasn’t on the ice by the time the goal was scored. That’s messed up.

Or if Kuba hops onto the ice and Big Game Chris own-goals. Kuba gets a minus despite not being part of the play at all. What the hell?

I’d like to see a stat that reflects specifically only the goals players were involved in. I’d care much more about that as an indicator than +/-.

Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs

by Mark Parisi on Aug 17, 2011 5:25 PM EDT up reply actions

Well for goals scored, you can look at just points

Or goals plus primary assists. Secondary assists are often just random.

Not sure how you statistically determine if a player was responsible for a goal against though without subjectively analysing every goal.

An Ottawa Senators supporter in Toronto, Ontario. I am cool like that.

by Adnan on Aug 17, 2011 5:41 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm not sure either

I guess that’s why I’m a blogger and not a hockey statistician. I guess you’d have to evaluate if the player’s assignment was involved in creating the goal.

Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs

by Mark Parisi on Aug 17, 2011 5:47 PM EDT up reply actions

And my music writing and hockey writing worlds have collided…

My fav three Sprinsteen records, when placed next to one another, will always be his first three – Greetings from Ashbury Park, NJ, The Wild the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, and Born to Run, because of the way they develop like an epic trilogy that culiminates in one of the all time greatest triumphalist rock albums. With GFAPNJ, Bruce was the heir apparent to Dylan with that urban, lyrical, complex imagery, but it was only that: images. They were disconnected, never coalesced into themes; they were evocative, but without depth. On WIESS, he started developing characters. He still used imagery to evoke spaces and cultural mood, but he tied them to chatacters you could care about, which gave the sensation of a lived space rather than a name checking. Then, on BTR, he simply refined both his arrangements and his lyrics, and focused both imagery and character to start telling stories. It was the first time he took characters from Point A to Point B in a song, had them develop and change over the course of a few minutes rather than simply describe a person or a place. He became a storyteller.

Nebraska is also incredible (and “Highway Patrolman” is my vote for best Springsteen song of all time), but all he’s doing is taking that inspirational narrative from BTR and flipping it to reflect the dark underside of his blue collar romanticism. It might reflect my tastes better, but it’s not the end result of an extremely ambitious songwriting evolution, so it gets squeezed out of the top 3.

I can’t stand most of his 80s stuff, especially Born in the USA.

Go Sens!

by Varada on Aug 17, 2011 4:10 PM EDT reply actions

ASHBURY PARK?!?!?!?!?!?

Sacrilege!

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by Peter Raaymakers on Aug 17, 2011 9:55 PM EDT up reply actions

Ashbury Park is awesome!

by Varada on Aug 18, 2011 9:32 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm sure Ashbury Park is okay...

But ASBURY PARK is even better.

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by Peter Raaymakers on Aug 18, 2011 11:23 AM EDT up reply actions

Seriously though

You’re making me think I’ve got to go out and get every album, listen to them in order, and wrap my head around the evolution of the artist, the singer, the songwriter. So that’s going to take a while.

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by Peter Raaymakers on Aug 17, 2011 9:57 PM EDT up reply actions