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Here at The4thLinePodcast.com, we like a good arbitrary scale to give context to how we’re feeling about something. Now that we’re nearly a quarter of the way through the regular season, I wanted share my thoughts on the Detroit Red Wings’ rebuild and in particular, head coach Jeff Blashill. To this end, I give you the Maxner – Bowman scale. It’s difficult to say who the worst ever coach was. The Red Wings, at times, have scraped the bottom of the proverbial barrel, but I’ve gone with Wayne Maxner. Maxner was behind the bench in the early 1980s, and his team was by no means packed withRead More →

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Known as ‘The Scourge Of Colorado’, Elias Pettersson is setting the league alight with his dazzling play. The Vancouver Canucks’ Swedish rookie has 17 points from 11 games and is easily the early favourite for the Calder Trophy despite already missing a few games due to injury. To put Petterson’s achievement into perspective, he’s only the 5th NHL player ever to score 10 goals in his first 10 games. But how does this compare to previous Calder Trophy winners? Since the lockout there have been 10 offensive players who’ve lifted that silverware. At time of writing, Elias has played 11 games, so we’ll set thatRead More →

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“I don’t even know who Craig Billington is, that’s a name you just made up.” – Joel. Here at 4th Line Towers, we answer the questions that other podcasts (and their affiliated websites) dare not. In episode #202, Carl made a reference to Craig Billington, a former Colorado Avalanche goalie that Joel believed to be a fabrication. While not one to usually question Carl’s knowledge about one of his beloved teams, I had to admit that I’d never heard of Billington either. Is Craig Billington Real? Yes. Not only is he real, but he also tended the goal of the Colorado Avalanche between 1996 andRead More →

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Like many sports, the NHL has some great rivalries; the Penguins and Flyers for example. The Islanders and Rangers, the Flames and the Oilers, Red Wings and Avalanche, all three Californian teams… Rivalries are formed for lots of reasons, many are down to geography, relative successes or because Claude Lemieux sucker-punched Slava Kozlov. Whether formed on the ice, or by broadcasters looking to add some tension, rivalries have become part of the sporting landscape. Rivalries are of course deeply personal, so I’m going to explore some of these across the different sports teams I follow. Hockey: Detroit Red Wings & Colorado Avalanche In the mid 1990s,Read More →

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In: Atlantic Division, NHL
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When Henrik Zetterberg announced he was retiring from hockey, the question naturally arose about whether or not the Detroit Red Wings’ captain has had a career worthy of the Hall of Fame. Furthermore should his number be retired and hoisted to the rafters? In episode #198, Joel and Carl discussed Zetterberg retiring, and after deliberation decided that he was not a Hall of Famer. Hall of Fame nominees have long divided opinion, and the organisation itself often faces criticism for the players it does, or more often does not, induct. There are no set guidelines for what makes a Hall of Famer for us toRead More →

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In: Metropolitan Division, NHL
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The tilt of the Earth’s axis slowly moving away from the sun can only mean one thing; fall will soon be here and we can all rejoice at the impending return of the NHL. Here at 4th Line Towers we can’t wait to watch some proper hockey again. This year we’re approaching our previews in a different way; the word count for each team’s preview has been dictated by the number of points that team scored last season. To further mix things up, we’ve divvied up the teams between our writers. Let the Metropolitan division preview begin! Our other previews are: Central Division 2018/19 Preview PacificRead More →

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In: Central Division, NHL
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As the arrow of time advances from summer to fall, we can all rejoice at the impending return of the NHL. Here at 4th Line Towers we can’t wait to watch some proper hockey again. This year we’re approaching our previews in a different way; the word count for each team’s preview has been dictated by the number of points that team scored last season. To further mix things up, we’ve divvied up the teams between our writers and some special guests. Let the Central division preview begin! Nashville Predators – Mike Laybourne 2017/18: 117 points For a good preview on the Preds, go read last season’sRead More →

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In: NHL, Pacific Division
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As summer drags its lazy backside into fall, we can all rejoice at the impending return of the NHL. Here at 4th Line Towers we can’t wait to watch some proper hockey again. This year we’re approaching our previews in a different way; the word count for each team’s preview has been dictated by the number of points that team scored last season. To further mix things up, we’ve divvied up the teams between our writers. Let the Pacific division preview begin! Vegas Golden Knights – Mike Laybourne 2017/18: 109 points Embed from Getty Images The sophomore season, the difficult second album… whichever way youRead More →

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As a Canadian born in December, Drew Doughty’s chances of becoming a first round draft pick were slim. Malcom Gladwell’s book Outliers isn’t a hockey book, but it does open with a chapter about hockey players and ‘relative age effect’. The point the chapter makes is that players born at the start of the year are more likely to be successful, because they’re closest in age to the previous year’s eligibility cut-off in junior hockey. This quirk of fate means that players will get more attention from coaches and as such will develop into better players For more insight into this, and how nothing has changed sinceRead More →

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The World Cup’s group stages are over and we’re now into the Round of 16. The last week has given us some surprises, some controversies and a few contenders for goal of the tournament. The Champs Are Out Only two teams have ever won consecutive World Cups, Italy in 1934 & 1938, and Brazil 1958 & 1962. Four-time winners and current title holders Germany were odds-on favourite to add their name to that revered list, but but instead fell at the final hurdle and failed to progress to the round of 16. Just like Italy in 2010 and Spain in 2014; the reigning champs couldn’tRead More →