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Tragically Hip to headline NHL launch event

Sportsnet | posted Tuesday, Sep 30th, 2014

TORONTO/NEW YORK – Canadian rock legends The Tragically Hip will get the party started ahead of the NHL season opener next Wednesday.

The Tragically Hip will perform a 45-minute set as part of the 2014 Molson Canadian NHL Face-Off event at Yonge-Dundas Square prior to puck drop between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens game on Oct. 8.

“For hockey fans, the first day of the NHL season is incredibly exciting. It’s a fresh start for all 30 teams and the anticipation, possibilities, and intense rivalries begin the moment the puck drops,” said Brian Jennings, NHL Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer. “The 2014 Molson Canadian NHL Face-Off is a great way for the NHL and our partners to be a part of this excitement, celebrating with our fans in the heart of Toronto and all over the world.”

“Like fans from coast to coast, our team has spent the summer eager for the puck to drop on the new season,” said Stewart Glendinning, President & CEO of Molson Coors Canada. “With the NHL and Molson Canadian teaming up once again, fans in downtown Toronto are sure to score a memorable moment before the Maple Leafs and Canadiens renew Canada’s oldest rivalry.”

The celebration begins at 12:00 p.m. ET at Yonge-Dundas Square, rain or shine, with live musical performances, prizes and giveaways, NHL Alumni and special guest appearances, merchandise available for purchase and sponsored hockey activities. The day’s festivities will continue into the evening when fans are invited to watch the Montreal Canadiens renew their Original Six rivalry with the Toronto Maple Leafs on giant outdoor video screens. The 2014 Molson Canadian NHL Face-Off will be produced by Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.

Across the League, the opening night’s four-game slate will feature teams from coast-to-coast. In Canada, fans can tune in to Sportsnet’s doubleheader featuring the Canadiens at Maple Leafs (7:00 p.m. ET) followed by Canucks at Flames (10:00 p.m. ET). Games also will be available on Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVE.

In Quebec, TVA Sports’ NHL coverage will debut with their French-language broadcast of Canadiens at Maple Leafs followed by a French-language broadcast of Canucks at Flames. In the U.S., NBCSN will also feature a doubleheader starting with Philadelphia Flyers at Boston Bruins (7:30 p.m. ET) for the network’s inaugural 2014-15 season Wednesday Night Rivalry, followed by San Jose Sharks at Los Angeles Kings (10:00 p.m. ET).

The evening will be highlighted by the raising of the Kings’ second championship banner in the past three seasons before facing their division rivals the Sharks.

Sportsnet unveils new Hockey Central studio

Sportsnet | posted Tuesday, Sep 30th, 2014

TORONTO — It’s big and it’s spectacular.

At 11,000 square feet with nine separate sets and 52 monitors, Sportsnet today introduced the largest, most innovative sports studio in the country, providing fans with a sports entertainment playground that places them in the heart of the action and brings the NHL experience to life.

The Hockey Central Studio, which debuts October 8 – opening night of the NHL season – features a rotating main anchor desk with a 360° open environment allowing cameras to shoot from any angle, an 11x38ft. ultra-high-resolution monitor – the largest ever in a Canadian television studio, and an LED floor that displays videos and graphics and leads into a giant video monitor wall. The studio also features up to 14 cameras that can shoot up to three live broadcasts for three different networks at any one time.

More NHL on Sportsnet:
Subscribe: Rogers GameCentre Live
Rogers Hometown Hockey | Broadcast Schedule

Sportsnet unveils its new state-of-the-art Hockey Central Studio, which debuts Wednesday, Oct. 8 and features nine separate sets and 52 monitors, including the largest in a Canadian television studio.”Our hosts and commentators gasped when they saw the studio in action for the first time, and we’re confident fans will as well,” said Gord Cutler, Senior Vice President of NHL Production, Rogers. “It’s cutting edge and allows us to showcase the game in ways never seen before that will keep fans on the edge of their seats.”

Designed by Jack Morton PDG, the company that designed the sets for Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium at Vancouver 2010 & London 2012, the set was eight months in the making, beginning with the design phase and coming full circle with the construction in mid-June and finishing in late September.

The studio is complemented by a new graphics and animation package, designed in-house by the Rogers Creative Group. It includes 10 different custom opening animations, 250 player animations, and more than 1,000 support animations that enhance storytelling and game analysis for viewers.

Hockey fans will hear fresh musical packages during NHL on Sportsnet broadcasts, with renowned Canadian composer Stephan Moccio’s enhanced version of the current Hockey Night in Canada song and Sportsnet theme music – both of which are performed by an all-Canadian 50-piece orchestra.

This season, the NHL on Sportsnet will deliver more than 550 national and regional regular season NHL games across nine networks, including CBC, City, Sportsnet (East, Ontario, West, and Pacific), Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet 360 and FX Canada. Sportsnet has exclusive Canadian broadcast coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Stanley Cup Final, NHL All-Star Game, NHL Draft Lottery, NHL Draft, and the NHL Awards.

Rogers NHL GameCentre LIVE will deliver more than 1,000 regular season games on tablet and smartphones for the upcoming season. Sportsnet is also the official regional television broadcast rights holder for the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs (including radio rights on Sportsnet 590 The FAN) and Calgary Flames (including radio rights on Sportsnet 960 The FAN).

By The Numbers Sportsnet’s New Hockey Central Studio

40,000 Feet of electrical cable

15,000 Feet of pipe used for lighting grids

11,000 Square feet of space in Hockey Central studio

554 Number of games NHL on Sportsnet will broadcast this season

500 Studio lights

360 Degree shooting area in studio

170 Individual panels that make up Goliath, the largest ultra-high resolution monitor ever used in a Canadian television studio

80 Inch touch screen monitor equipped with live, interactive states in the Rogers Tech Zone

70 Per cent of the lighting in the studio that is low energy LED lighting

52 Total screens

38 Feet long by 11 feet high – the dimensions of Goliath, the new Hockey Central studio monitor, the largest ultra-high resolution monitor ever used in a Canadian television studio

(4 times the resolution of a high definition monitor)

24 Wireless microphones

14 Cameras capturing the latest breaking NHL news and analysis

9 Distinct sets:

– Main rotating anchor desk

– 3 different regional sets, 2 of which are stacked on top of each other. The 3rd regional set will also be used for Coach’s Corner on Hockey Night in Canada

– George Stroumboulopoulos’s interview corner, with his signature red chairs

– Puck Wall, featuring a vertical monitor & accompanying wall containing 30 pucks for all 30 NHL teams. When a puck is placed into the cradle at the bottom of the monitor, associated imagery for that respective team pops up on the screen

– Rogers Tech Zone including a 90-inch touch screen monitor & live, interactive stats

– Demo area featuring LED video floor and monitor wall

– Cat walk bridge in front of Goliath

8 Date in October when Hockey Central studio is unveiled in 1st national NHL broadcast

7 Kilometres of LED light tape in the new studio

3 Live broadcasts that can be shot in the studio simultaneously for 3 or more networks at any 1 time

1 Only studio of its kind in Canada

The 5 best ab exercises. And the ones that are wasting your time

Alex Savva, B.P.H.E | posted Tuesday, Sep 23rd, 2014

A flatter stomach is one of the most common fitness goals, so it’s no surprise that there are more abdominal exercises and contraptions for achieving a tighter stomach than there are excuses to skip your workout. But not all ab exercises are created equal. In fact, many are simply a waste of workout time. A study conducted at the San Diego State University Biomechanics Lab examined the electromyography (EMG) activity results garnered by popular core exercises. Here’s how they stacked up:

Don’t waste your time with:

1. The basic crunch
Why: The basic crunch is just that – basic. Don’t waste countless hours on a less-than-stellar exercise that does little to fully engage your abdominal muscles and core.

2. The ab rocker
Why: The ab rocker was proven to be no more effective than the traditional crunch. Actually, it was shown to be up to 80 percent less effective! Yes, it’s super easy to do, and that’s why it doesn’t work. By supporting your head, this tool actually deactivates the muscles in the neck that would normally support it. This can lead to neck pain as your supporting muscles weaken. There’s a reason these machines are collecting dust in the corner of your gym.

3. The straight-leg sit-up
Why: This old-school exercise is responsible for many back issues. It puts a huge strain on the lower back by provoking you to hurl your upper body forward in an attempt to touch your toes. No thanks.

4. The standing dumbbell side bend
Why: Isolating the obliques in this way is not natural and can add unnecessary strain to your back. (How often do you bend straight to the side to pick something up?) Also, many people use the momentum that the dumbbells create and rock side-to-side instead of properly engaging their muscles. Avoid these unless you want to look you’re rocking to the oldies.

5. The seated twist
Why: Seated twisting machines are a waste of money and space in fitness facilities. They don’t train your muscles in a functional way and the path of motion is fixed and unnatural. They can also lead to injury if you don’t know what weight to use and how to control the movement. I’ve seen many people snap from right to left with some wicked momentum – ouch!

Opt for these five exercises to maximize your workout time instead:

1. The plank
Why: It stimulates more abdominal activity than a regular crunch and works the muscles in your back as well.
How: Supporting yourself on your forearms and the balls of your feet, bridge up and position your body in one straight line. Pull your abs in tight and hold for 30-60 seconds.
Kick it up a notch: From the plank position, reach forward with your right hand, hold for a count and slowly return to the starting position. Do the same with your left hand and repeat.

2. The bicycle crunch
Why: In the San Diego study, this exercise was the second highest in terms of EMG activity in participants. It also stimulates more abdominal activity than the traditional crunch including your lower stomach and obliques.
How: Lying on your back, bring your knees up to form a 90 degree angle and keep your hands by your temples. Crunch up and twist across the body while simultaneously performing a bicycle motion with your legs. For example, if you crunch up and to the right you should draw your right knee in and vice versa. Repeat for 20-30 reps total.

3. Side plank
Why: Side planks not only torch your obliques, they also stimulate and tone your glutes, quads, hamstrings, inner/outer thighs and your upper body.
How: Lie on your side with your forearm perpendicular to your body and one foot stacked over the other. Bridge your hip up and hold for 30-60 seconds while maintaining a straight line with your body.
Kick it up a notch: Raise your top leg so that it’s parallel to the ground (this full version of this is called Vasisthasana in yoga).

4. Vertical chair knee raise
Why: It stimulated 210 percent more abdominal activity in the study’s participants than the traditional crunch.
How: Use your upper body to hold yourself up tall while drawing your knees up and past your waist. Squeeze at the top and slowly lower your legs back down. Repeat for a total of 12-15 reps.
Kick it up a notch: Do a straight-leg raise.

5. Reverse crunch
Why: Engage your lower abdomen and obliques with this move.
How: Lie on your back with your hands tucked under your bum and your knees bent. Bring your legs up until they form a 90 degree angle from your torso. Do a pelvic tilt and pull your knees in towards your chest, squeeze and slowly lower to starting position. Aim for 15-20 reps.
Kick it up a notch: Hold a weight over your head.

Ripped abs plan:
One of the best ways to work the abs is to perform a series of core moves in one continuous circuit. Circuits are efficient and effective, allowing you to get the most out of your efforts. For optimum results, perform this core circuit at the end of your intense training sessions. You want your core strong and ready to back you up when you’re in the thick of a tough workout.

Plank tri-set (regular and sides): 30-60 seconds
Reverse crunch: 15-20 reps
Bicycle crunch: 10-15 reps per side
Vertical chair knee raise: 12-15 reps
Notes: Perform 2-4 total sets or circuits with now rest between exercises and a 1 minute rest between circuits.

Alex Savva is a sought-after strength and conditioning expert whose founded two supplement brands and the Toronto fitness studio CircuitFIT. Alex has a degree in physical and health education and is a professional member of the Ontario Kinesiology Association. He has more than 10 years experience in the fitness and nutrition industry, working with clients ranging from elderly beginners to professional athletes to transform their lifestyles, not just their bodies.

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