Tag Archives: NHL

Gaming

Brainteasers To Celebrate The Stanley Cup Final Series

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Attention all Stanley Cup hockey fans and puzzle fans. Let’s have some fun! Our friends at Gambling Zone have created a series of hockey-related brainteasers to move your mind and get you thinking and pumped for this weekend’s game one of the cup final. Apologies if you can’t find the Toronto Maple Leafs represented below- but let’s face it, they have been missing from the final rounds of the playoffs for so long now it would be cruel and punishing to their fans to create more brainteasers than they already have to deal with.

No. 1 – Vancouver Canucks Fans

For this brainteaser, we have taken a trip to the stands, so just how quickly can you spot the Canucks fans? Finding them is actually easier than you may first think with 69% of people finding them in under 10 seconds! Did you beat this time?

No. 2 – Hockey Pucks 

The hockey playoffs are in action and this weekend is finally the beginning of the Stanley Cup Final and one that will mark the longest travel distance between two finalist teams in the history of the NHL. So to honor that difficulty of travel, this next brainteaser is a tricky one, as only 25% of people are able to spot the hidden hockey pucks in under 13 seconds. How fast did you spot all 5? Please let us know in the comments below this article 🙂

No. 3 – Oilers Jerseys

Sports fans from across Canada have come together to support their teams. Can you find all of the Oilers jerseys in 10 seconds or less? Only 15% of people have been able to spot them this quickly.

Let’s See The Answers

No. 1

No. 2

No. 3

For the Silo, Grace Saunders.

Gaming

Legalized Sports Betting Is A New Job Market In The USA

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A few years ago, on May 14, 2018, the Supreme Court decided to back New Jersey’s bid, allowing any state in the US to legalize sports betting. The Supreme Court overthrew PASPA – Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 –  a law that was supposed to define the legal status of sports betting throughout the States.

However, PASPA didn’t ban sports gambling, it just didn’t permit the states to allow it. Passing the law ultimately resulted in creating an underground virtual monopoly over a multi-billion dollar industry.

Strong Case Against PASPA

The infographic below points out some facts regarding the illegal cash flow in the betting industry before the overturn of PASPA. As it turns out, the government of the state of New Jersey presented a strong case against PASPA, and it seems that participants of the hearings were worried that the law would restrain the States’ rights to raise revenue.

The American Gaming Association estimated that American citizens illegally wager more than $150 billion each year on sports betting. Until PASPA was struck down, Nevada was one of the only four states that permitted sports betting (Delaware, Oregon, and Montana also had an immunity). However, Nevada’s legally wagered money covered up for only a small portion of the total sum wagered on betting activities throughout the States (less than 4%).

Before PASPA was abolished, the Congress had the rights to mandate the forms that intrastate commerce states may regulate. However, by doing so, they didn’t manage to eliminate the sports betting market. They’ve just driven it underground.

New Beginnings Will Bring New Changes

On July 31st, 2018 ,Adam Silver, commissioner of the NBA, has teamed up with MGM, creating the first partnership between a major sports organization in the US and a gambling operator. The goal of this historic partnership is to preserve the integrity of the game and spread the global presence of the NBA.

MGM’s partnership with the NBA is only the next logical step in the development of this potentially booming industry. The process of accepting betting as a part of sports culture in the United States has begun.

The Cash Flow in Gambling is Tremendous

According to Oxford Economics, there is a lot going on under the table. Apparently, the numbers from the report project that the legalization of sports betting could increase the US annual GDP up to $40 billion.

Also, legalizing sports can help the US economy to keep the money within the States and help prevent domestic casinos to go bankrupt. Moreover, the newly-formed legal gambling system could create employment opportunities for more than 125,000 people.

When all of this is said and done, a typical worker in a reformed sports betting industry would have an average salary of approximately $48,000. In fact, this is only the beginning of economic benefits coming from legalized gambling in the US. Advances and technological innovations in online betting services will also have a strong impact on the economy.

A Bond Between Technology and Gambling

The United Kingdom has been the world’s leading online sports gambling market for many years now. UK mobile industry currently covers around 60% of the country’s sports betting market. The UK gambling market should serve as a blueprint for the future of sports betting in the US because mobile betting via smartphone apps would bring billions of dollars worth of revenue.

It is a known fact that technological developments make sports gambling far more entertaining. It’s much easier to place a bet for NBA Primetime Saturday game from your favorite recliner than having to drive to the casino at last minute.

It is only a matter of time before the mobile betting market in the US becomes the world’s largest. This somewhat bold statement doesn’t come as a shock if we take into consideration the potential influence of US powerhouse economy on the expansion of mobile betting industry.

To sum it all up, legalized sports betting in the US is a huge win for the US tax revenue, employment, and the entertainment business. Take a look at the nifty infographic below courtesy of our friends at NJ Games. For the Silo, Onur Unlu. 

Economic Impact of US Sports Betting NJ Games

Culture

Get Your Home Ready For Playoff Season With Solid Wood Furniture

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Whether you’re a hockey fan or a basketball fan – or even both – the luxuries that every sports aficionado desires to have in their living room are all the same. You want comfortable furniture, a large, high-definition television, good friends, and great snacks – including a refreshing beverage or two!

C:\Users\Morty Bliss\Dropbox\Dan\Woodcraft\Content\Linkbuilding\Edit\flat-screen-television-1201996.jpg

If you’re like most sports fans that appreciate the luxury of owning a fancy home theatre system so you and your friends can watch every game in style – not to mention the accuracy of high-definition picture and sound – then you’ve probably already invested a significant amount into your electronics. All too often, the living room setup boasts phenomenal devices on which to enjoy the game with very little else left in the room that is even remotely appealing.

Coffee Table

One of the most important parts of your living room is the place where you’re going to set all of your snacks. During play-off season, it isn’t uncommon that the coffee table becomes overflowing with delicious items. When this is the case, you no longer have room for your laptop or your feet. If you’re a sports fan that’s looking for a new coffee table, why not buy an item that can equal the impressive size of your television? 

If you’re interested in getting a coffee table upgrade but aren’t sure where to look, you can check out these gorgeous natural wood coffee tables for a few impressive options. 

Entertainment Unit

A quality built entertainment cabinet made of solid wood can really separate the men from the boys. A thrilling sporting event may cause you and your crew to occasionally act as rowdy as you did in college, but that doesn’t mean that you should furnish your home like you’re living on student loans. Watch the game like a gentleman and bring some class to your living room with a handcrafted solid wood entertainment unit. 

Buffet Table

Even the most impressive coffee table will occasionally overflow. If you want to build the ultimate game-viewing experience, include a piece of furniture that is wholly devoted to presenting your feast. This way, your coffee table won’t be cluttered and can be used as it was meant to be used. 

Custom Made Furniture

If you’re really interested in getting stylish, one of the best options you can invest in is to order your living room furniture to be custom made. With a custom made piece of furniture, you get an item that is absolutely unique. You’ll also be able to choose specific design choices, such as: 

  • Type of Stain
  • Variety of Wood
  • Live Edge Features
  • Texturing

The end result will provide you with an option that is perfectly suited to your personality and perfectly suited to your home. 

Play-off season may be just around the corner but after that it will be time to start watching a whole other league. You make good use of your living room, so why not invest in one you can be proud of – upgrade your furniture to handcrafted solid wood before the end of the season.

Featured image- Dundas Coffee Table by woodcraft.ca

Gaming

EA Still Making Winning Hockey Games After Nearly 30 Years

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As game franchises go, EA Sports produce some of the best and certainly some of the most durable. A video game often doesn’t stand the test of time too well given the advancement in technology, but sport is a constant in the lives of fans the world over and EA have taken full advantage. They have several famous titles with the Madden series for the NFL and the FIFA series for soccer, but their NHL franchise has been a hit ever since it was first released.

Why has it been such a success? Let’s take a look…

Hitting the early consoles

The first game in the series was released in 1991 on the Sega Mega Drive and received excellent reviews. It was, for many, the first time ice hockey had been placed firmly in their consciousness and people lapped it up.

Between 1992 and 1995 there were four more NHL titles from the team at Electronic Arts, all of which could be played on console. They were all given high praise from industry critics with NHL 96 getting top marks for the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System) version by Next Generation magazine who gave five out of five stars.

Enter windows

The first titles to appear on PC arrived in 1996 as Microsoft brought out Windows 95. The PC allowed the graphics to be further enhanced and these titles were a huge success. At this period in time, the Detroit Red Wings were the dominant force in the NHL winning back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1997 and 1998.

Just to highlight how times have changed, the Red Wings have NHL betting odds of +150000 to win a Stanley Cup in 2020, the longest odds of any team. The team in the late 1990s was full of stars, which contrasts with the current day and EA was able to render them with realistic graphical modelling – for the time – which delighted the fans.

The PC was competing with Sony’s PS1 and then, in 2000, the PS2, which meant graphics and gameplay became more and more life-like. The crowds also had an overhaul as did the sound effects which made fans feel as though they were in the arena but the next generation consoles took it further still.

Next-gen blows the mind

EA improved the features and control systems when Xbox was released and deke moves were conducted using the joystick on the controllers making them like an extension of the actual players stick.

The latest version have found it harder to get top reviews as fan expectation level continue to increase. NHL 15 was the first game to feature on the PS4 and Xbox One and these were not well received due to the rushed feel and missing features. GameSpot actually gave NHL 15 a score of five out of 10, which was hugely disappointing for EA.

The most recent version has seen much improvement thanks to the time which has been spent in development, generally tweaking the good features and remodeling those that didn’t work.

NHL 20 is like a different world compared to the very first release from the franchise and EA are still going strong after close to 30 years – here’s to 30 more.

Gaming

Summer Of Change Ahead Of New NHL Season

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The new NHL season is just around the corner and you can’t say it’s been a quiet summer for the league. Throughout the NHL, there have been twists and turns throughout the offseason, setting the foundations for another fascinating campaign. On the back of a thrilling 2018/19 season in which the St. Louis Blues lifted the Stanley Cup after an enthralling finals series, over half the league will feel as though they have a realistic chance of going all the way this year. 


So, ahead of the start of the new regular season, let’s take a look at the offseason’s biggest stories:


Fenton’s Fall

Undoubtedly, the story of the summer has to be Paul Fenton’s dismissal from his role in charge of the Minnesota Wild after one dismal year. While the decision to replace Fenton with Bill Guerin was understandable, to do so after the draft and free agency has been something many have questioned. The question is now whether or not the Wild will respond on the ice.


RFAs Still On Offer

It’s particularly strange to see so many restricted free agents still available at this point in the offseason. Mitch Marner (now signed), Mikko Rantanen, Kyle Connor and Ivan Provorov are just four unsigned RFAs, with many more still expected to hold talks with their franchises throughout preseason training, with some potentially remaining up in the air by the time the regular campaign gets started.  


Devils And Rangers Set To Do Battle


The division that has caught the attention the most throughout the summer has been the Metropolitan. The New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers could be set to rekindle their rivalry after picking up the top two draft selections as well as signing some top veterans – both now around 40/1 with the latest NHL betting odds to win the Stanley Cup. It’s been a while since these two were able to battle it out at the top of the Metropolitan, but that could change this season.

Managerial Merry-Go-Round

Having a Red Wings hero as a player, Steve Yzerman is back in Detroit this season looking to have a similar impact as a general manager after leaving Tampa Bay. The man he’s replacing, Ken Holland, will look to turn around the fortunes of Edmonton. In terms of head coaches, six teams will start the new season with a new man behind their bench. They may be two years away from joining the league but Seattle’s NHL team know former Pittsburgh, Carolina and Toronto man Ron Francis will be their general manager.

“Matt Duchene” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by 5of7

Predators Risk It All

There’s no doubt the Nashville Predators needed to solve the huge power-play issues they struggled with last year but they may have taken a big risk to try to achieve that. To make room for forward Matt Duchene, the Predators decided it was P.K. Subban who would have to make way for Duchene, with the defenceman joining the Devils. Now, we will see whether swapping one of the best defenders in the league for, hopefully, a game-breaking forward pays off.

Reviews

The Rocket Film Is Satisfying In Both Our Official Languages

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The Rocket snows the camera

The Rocket is a story about a man, a husband, a machinist and a hockey player; a man juggling a day job, a marriage and a passion to play “the game.”

His journey is classical and it has all of the elements of a Greek comedy, with the effect, just like in the Aristotelian tradition, of purging our souls of fear and pity- it is a catharsis. The fact that this is the story of a hockey player trying to make it in the the big time is something many Canadians can relate to: the quest has become a modern day myth in itself with legions of hockey parents secretly living the dream vicariously through their children.

Imagine, then, the impact that Maurice Richard had on an entire generation of francophones. During his playing years, many French-Canadians suffered through an undisguised social prejudice; Richard perhaps more than most. But this was a man who never gave up for long. Despite the stigma of being French, and a labourer; despite being viewed as “too soft, too small for the game,” Maurice Richard rose above and became “The Rocket”.  For the Silo, Jarrod Barker.

Playing on Netflix at the time of this writing. Watch for Shawn Avery the pesky New York Ranger left-winger in a casting coup.

C’est une histoire au sujet d’un homme, d’un mari, d’un machiniste et d’un joueur d’hockey.  Un homme jonglant un travail de jour, un rapport et une passion de jouer « le jeu ». Son voyage est classique et il a tous les Ă©lĂ©ments d’une comĂ©die grecque et a l’effet de, juste comme dans la tradition aristotĂ©licienne, purgeant notre âme de la crainte et le plaint est une catharsis. Le fait que c’est une histoire d’un joueur d’hockey essayant de faire le de premier rang est quelque chose beaucoup de Canadiens et Norfolkers peut se rapporter Ă  et cette recherche est devenu un mythe moderne de jour en soi avec des lĂ©gions d’hockey parents secrètement la vie le rĂŞve dĂ©lĂ©guĂ© par leurs propres enfants.

Imaginez alors l’impact que Maurice Richard a eu sur une gĂ©nĂ©ration entière de francophone. Pendant ses annĂ©es de jeu, beaucoup de Canadiens français ont souffert par un prĂ©judice et un Richard sociaux ouverts
peut-ĂŞtre davantage que les la plupart. Mais c’Ă©tait un homme qui n’a jamais abandonnĂ© pour longtemps. Contre les confins d’ĂŞtre un canadien français, contre les confins d’ĂŞtre un travailleur, contre les confins de l’visionnement en tant que « trop doucement, trop petits pour le jeu.

Maurice Richard est devenu le Rocket.

Maintenez une surveillance pour un garde forestier embêtant Shawn Avery de New York de gauche dans un coup de bâti.