Sportsology: NHL Awards coverage

By Rick Morris

Our good friends at Sportsology, fellow members of The 21st Century Media Alliance, sometimes syndicate material to The Lounge (as we do to them). In this instance, we bring you their coverage of the NHL Awards, in the different installments that appeared on the site over the course of the evening.


Live from the NHL Awards red carpet
By Jonathan West with help from Russ Cohen

Las Vegas -- JW is now chatting with two Hall of Famers, Mark Messier and Phil Esposito. We will have audio of the event posted in the next day or so. Messier is excited to be in Vegas. He hasn't been out there for 15 years! Jerry Bruckheimer said that the Vegas economy has to improve and there is a 50/50 chance that an NHL franchise will spring up in Sin City!

There are an estimated 500-plus media members on the Red Carpet and Patrick Kane is making his way down. Commissioner Gary Bettman just flew down, but he isn't talking to the media. Alex Ovechkin is walking the carpet with Vegas show girls and wearing big plumes! Pat Lafontaine said there will be a charity hockey game in Vegas next year!! George Maloof just told JW that he is thinking about letting go of his basketball investments and joining up with Jerry Bruckheimer to bring a hockey team to Vegas!


NHL Awards party
By Jonathan West

OK, so it's about 1:30AM on the West Coast- 7 1/2 hours and four after-parties later, and I broke away from my roving group of Canadians because I promised Russ this NHL Awards recap. And all this dedication in spite of beautiful women upstairs and an open bar is for my compatriots Russ and Shane, who sadly couldn't make it out to the "Desert of Excess."

As a true West Coaster and Vegas local, I can vouch that the Palms Casino Resort was the only place to loosen up a traditionally stiff NHL Awards show and show off the potential of Las Vegas. George Maloof- I say well done in 2009. From an incredible red carpet snaking throughout the casino floor to the intimate Pearl Concert Theater with the highest visual and stage production for any awards show I've seen, the Palms packs a punch and is highly recommended by this resident.

George even said on the red carpet earlier today he might go in with the Jerry Bruckheimer group to bring an NHL team to Vegas!For those of you who didn't watch the Las Vegas NHL Awards '09 on the tele, here is late night brevity in a recap:

^ Glenn Anderson probably said it best when he came out to present the King Clancy Memorial Trophy and confused this gathering for a Russian hockey awards show. Six out of the sixteen awards handed out went to Ovechkin, Malkin, and Datsyuk.

^ Jeremy Roenick seemed not to get enough of being on TV, asking live for a teleprompter do-over while wearing a sequened shirt. I don't remember that much candor pre-season at the NHL '09 launch event...hmmm.

^ Emotional, hug-the-one-you-love moments came early with the award presenter pairing of former Detroit and Russian teammates Igor Larionov and Vladimir Konstantinov- who suffered serious head injuries and paralysis from a limo accident 12 years ago. As he used a walker to get on stage, a huge applause followed.

^ Boston goaltender Tim Thomas meekly and humbly almost came to tears for his win of the Vezina Trophy.I have to again talk about the Russians, who in some ways stole the stiffness out of the show. Poor Evgeni Malkin had trouble with his acceptance speech for the Art Ross Trophy, and Alex Ovechkin showed compassion to "Geno" by instead calling out Pavel Datsyuk's slight grasp of the English language. "Ovie" wasn't through with the jokes, as he referenced the "stick on fire" incident earlier this season when he was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy.

^ And I can't forget to mention the NHL Awards '09 musical entertainment! Second- generation Canadian celebrity Robin Thicke (son of Alan) teamed up with Soul/R&B legend Chaka Kahn? Commercial breaks for the masses on TV meant for us in the seats a medley of Greatest Hits from the "I'm Every Woman" Diva. Delightful...but where was a rocker like Nickelback or BNL?

^ Please excuse me, but da$% East Coast broadcasts really put us Vegas folks out of wack. Red carpet at 3PM, Awards at 4PM, Reception at 6PM, then the night begins? OK...we've been handling it well. Of course me and the boys are playing the angles better than Tim Thomas- everyone thinks I'm a player for some NHL team and my buddy is telling folks about his "Prince Impersonator Gig" on the Strip (uncanny resemblance).It's now 2AM...and I just got a text that reads "Where the hell are u? we are headed to the bowling suite with 12 girls from Calgary". Sorry boys, duty calls.