Doug Stolhand is the co-host of the Puck Podcast, a weekly hockey podcast that discusses happenings from around the league every Saturday. He did not start as a podcaster though; just like a professional sports player, he had to spend his time in the minor leagues before hitting the big time.
“I really got into hockey when I went to college. The Fresno Falcons are a minor league team in Fresno; I went to Fresno State,” Doug said, “I started following them. I ended up doing play-by-play and color commentary in two different seasons for them on the radio. That's when I really got into hockey.”
The Falcons may have been the start of his love for the sport, but the Anaheim Ducks are what really seemed to keep Doug's interest. Living in Los Angeles, the Kings never seemed to entice Stolhand. The Ducks moved in to town in 1993 (then as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim), and Stolhand was drawn in almost instantly.
“I thought it was very cool to have the opportunity to follow a team from the very beginning and remember all the players and all the coaches from the entire history and eventually even watch them go from being an expansion team all the way to Stanley Cup Champs.”
As a fan of the game and a media member, Stolhand finds time to attend many Ducks games and watch all of the away games. Obviously, he has very sound insight into the psyche of the Ducks.
Doug feels that the Ducks will be “buyers and sellers” at the trade deadline in March, stating that “they're going to get rid of the guys whose contracts expire and who they don't have in their long-term plans, but I think they will not exchange those guys for picks or prospects. I think they want NHL talent in return.” He listed Nick Boynton, James Wisniewski and Kyle Chipchura as possible players that will be moved at the deadline.
The Tustin, California native also weighed in on the Olympics, which starts for the NHL players on Tuesday after a two-day break from their NHL club. Recent speculation suggest that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is leaning towards not allowing NHL players to play for their club in 2014 when the Olympics head to Russia. Many players, (including stars Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin) have stated they will play anyway, no matter what the NHL rules. Stolhand seems to agree with the players over the management.
“Its every four years and its not too much of a distraction. I think the pros out way the cons. I think being able to see the absolute best players in the world compete for their country in the Olympics once every four years is outstanding and thats worth whatever negatives happen to occur with the NHL.”
The biggest question going into Olympic Men's Hockey may be if the Russians play Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Ilya Kovalchuk on the same line or not. Doug sees this as being the biggest powerhouse line if it happens, and says that you cannot easily defend against the NHL all-stars.
“If they play on one line its going to take outscoring them because you're not going to shut them down for 60 minutes.”
“Forget about playing the man and trying to separate him from the puck and just worry about where you're supposed to stay on the ice and let your goalie see the puck.”
“You just gotta hope that they don't go crazy and get five or six goals a night.”
Doug also questioned Team USA General Manager Brian Burke's decision to name New York Ranger Chris Drury to the Olympic squad.
“If anything I might have gone with T.J. Oshie instead of Chris Drury just for the next Olympics if the NHL players do get to play again in 2014. Chris Drury is probably not going to be on that team (he shouldn't have made this team in my opinion), so why not get a young guy some experience so that he knows what to expect in 2014 and we can make a better run then.”
Stolhand then discussed Team Canada GM Steve Yzerman's decision to call in Jeff Carter of the Philadelphia Flyers to Vancouver in case recently-injured center Ryan Getzlaf cannot compete in the Olympic Games.
“If [Getzlaf]'s out, I would have gone with Steven Stamkos. I personally like Steven Stamko's offensive game a little bit more,” Stolhand said. “I would have liked to have seen a little more speed and a little bit more pure goal-scoring talent on the team as opposed to another big power forward.”
The Puck Podcast can be found on iTunes, or the show can be listened to every week on puckpodcast.com. Doug and co-host Eddie Garcia also are very active on Facebook.com, so they invite their listeners to become fans of the Puck Podcast on their Facebook group, as well as follow the show on Twitter.com.
The entire interview can be found on YouTube.com in a three-part series.
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZBsCnU33tc
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8oJNQG_ELU
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywq5qTTv6vk
Keywords: alexander ovechkin, anaheim ducks, brian burke, chris drury, evgeni malkin, fresno falcons, fresno state, ilya kovalchuk, james wisniewski, jeff carter, kyle chipchura, nick boynton, Olympics, ryan getzlaf, stephen stamkos, steve yzerman, t.j. oshie, team canada, team usa
