LCS: Hey Look, We Can Read!

LCS: Book Review
Hey, Videos!
By Jennifer Chu, Book Reviewer

I'm the book reviewer among these parts, but this week I thought I'd stretch my multi- talented tentacles into the mutli-media domain. Instead of a book, this week I watched some NHL videos and reviewed 'em for your entertainment. Maybe now I should have my title changed from "Book Reviewer" to "Book-and-Video Reviewer" or something a little more creative.
As usual, I stayed away from the plethora of videos that are meant to teach people how to play hockey. I picked two new ones from NHL Productions: Ice Hot: The Best of the 1995-96 Season and Power Players: All-Stars of the Game. Both are available at your local friendly video place, or you can call 1- 888-NHL-VIDEOS. Getting them over the phone is kind of annoying because they always seem to be out of them, and you have to wait a looooong time. But then again, I ran to a million (ok, not a million) different stores to find them so perhaps calling might be a better shot.
Part One: Ice Hot -- The 1995-96 season saw lots of milestones--- from Mario's 500th to the Panthers making the Stanley Cup finals. This retrospective is hosted by John "he's got a long reach" Davidson. Aside from featuring all the milestones of the past season, the show also features a ton of playoff highlights. All the overtime goals, the good hits, the insults. There was also a funny All-Star Game feature with Martin Brodeur doing some narrating. If there is one reason to buy this video, it's to see Martin sing along to KC and the Sunshine Band. Aside from these laugh-a-minute highlights, the rest of the tape was a big bore. I don't know where they got the clips they chose. They counted down the top 20 goals of the past year. I'm sorry, but I watch a lot of hockey and I don't remember any of 'em, except for Chris Osgood's goal. A couple of key things were missing--Paul Kariya, bench-clearing brawls, really sad stuff like people retiring, Winnipeg leaving and NJ not making the playoffs, Paul Kariya, the big trades, Paul Kariya, the awards show, oh, and Paul Kariya.
Part Two: Power Players -- Before I even begin, I must point out some glaring ommisions---Paul Kariya (geez, that's becoming a theme today), Eric Lindros, John Leclair, more goalies, Paul Coffey (he's -only- the NHL's most prolific d-man of all time), and good ol' Jags. Maybe they'll put out a sequel.
Who they did include...Wayne and Mark (duh), Mario (duh), Pavel and Sergei (the Russian contingent), Brendan Shanahan, Brett and Chelios (the American contingent), Joe and Patrick (the Colorado contingent). For almost all the players except Wayne and Mark, the show featured a one-on-one interview and some old game clips and rare footage from non- game situations. They focused a bit on each players personal life--Chelios's restaruant, Pavel's injury, Sergei defecting...etc. Especially funny parts were pictures of Shanny getting his makeup done, and Mark when he had hair. What's good about the video is that it's pretty timely--made sometime in the beginning of the season, I think. The game highlights for each player were chosen really well. They really dug into the archives and dredged up some good stuff. Aside from old NHL clips (Mark and Wayne with Edmonton, Shanny with NJ), the video includes some pretty nifty junior hockey clips. Oh, and the narrator has a pretty good voice.
Bottom Line: Ice Hot sucked. I can only bring myself to give it two Cullens, and that's only because Martin Brodeur sang.

Power Players was pretty impressive. If only they included more players, or made a sequel. But for a first effort, they made some good choices. I give it four Cullens.