There's so many things to debate these days in the NHL. From visors, to Shananabans to realignment, what isn't up for debate? The December GM meetings are quickly approaching and everything of any concern will be voiced and put out on the table for all to hear.
Lets start with visors, because honestly this is fascinating to me. To be blind or not to be is the question? All fights I've seen, guys throw the helmet and gloves off before the first punch is thrown, wearing a visor isn't going to change this protocol. Wearing a helmet wasn't always mandatory but it has never stopped the guys from not removing it for a fight and the visors are attached to said helmet. This is more a psychological issue than anything. Doesn't the NHL pay for therapy?
Jarret Stoll of the LA Kings started wearing a visor this season for the first time. He tried a for a few training camps to use it but always gave up. This time he told the trainers to not let him quit, and after a 3 week period of adjustment, he is used to it. After a few almost injuries last year, he said his mom, girlfriend and sister all pestered him to start wearing one. Stoll believes that they should mandate the change and just grandfather people in as they did with helmets. “Change happens. Things evolve, you have to realize it could be you. It might be too late before you realize that," Stoll told ESPN. So here's a guy who grew up wearing one (he's only 29 and had to wear one in lower levels), gave up wearing one, and now is wearing one again. How come I feel this is going to fall on dead ears.
Chris Pronger apparently has decided Stoll might be wrong, and doesn't seem to have jumped on the visor train yet. He refused to say whether he will wear one, but the Philly team doctors have said they won't clear him without one. If you have blurry vision and need eye drops to relieve pressure and swelling, wouldn't you try to avoid this again? It's like saying you have a weak ankle and not taping it up to give some extra support. I won't view you as weak for taking every medical precaution offered. That's one of the greatest things about being in a first world country, you have access to the best medical options out there. Your livelihood is literally beating your body up for a living, therefore I think your ridiculous for NOT taking advantage of everything available to you.
Brendan Shanahan has a Sunday date and Monday date with more players to be suspended. This make his grand total 13 players as 11 have already been suspended, a few more than Colin Campbell had suspended at this point last year. Shanahan has added almost $600,000 to the players emergency fund and has been consistent in his rulings. It will be interesting to see as the season goes on if the guys are learning from his after-school specials on why someone was suspended for a play. It seems going after the guys wallets is when they start to pay attention more. No one wants to lose their salary for something they could have avoided.
James Neal ends his October in 2nd in scoring with 9 to Phil Kessel who managed to score his 10th. Kessel apparently decided this was the year to come and play hockey. Matt Cooke apparently decided he doesn't want a date with Shanahan and would like to be more productive on the ice so he put in his 4th goal of the young season. When did he become the goal scorer? He's got 2 more than Malkin. The Penguins have a league leading 18 points right now and they have yet to put out their entire lineup. The factory in Pitt is well oiled and Mr. Crosby hasn't even played a game. Rumor is he's "flying" in practices. ESPN has their trophy tracker up (already) and Disco Dan is in 2nd place (to F-bomb himself) for the Jack Adams.
The Habs fired assistant coach Perry Pearn in an effort to wake up the team and they won 2 games without him. Is this the answer to fixing them? No. Are more firings possible for them? Yes. They used him as a scapegoat since his power play was horrible but the power play was one of their three thousand issues.
The Coyotes GM is toeing the hardline with Kyle Turris and refusing him a trade since he refuses to sign with the team. I have so many thoughts and opinions on this I don't even know where to begin. Don Maloney won't trade Turris since the CBA gives them rights over players. If Turris hasn't signed a contract by December 1, he is ineligible to play this season. This is screwy on so many levels. First off Turris is only 22. He might not like the way the Coyotes have developed him, but if he just agrees to something for this season, he'll be on the first plane out of town when possible. On the flip side, Maloney is wasting his time leaving Turris in his system if he refuses to sign. Keeping a player that spites you just to spite him is really mature. A few teams have expressed interest in Turris and I think the Coyotes will benefit from trading him now and moving on. No offense to the Coyotes but your owned the league, I'm not exactly sure you should be playing hardball with players. I think the League is over owning this team and as much as they don't want to move the team, I have a feeling patience in NY is growing thin for a ownership deal that will keep them in the desert. I think Turris should sign so he won't lose a year and then another team will hopefully make an offer Maloney can't refuse. Of course if Maloney wants to really be spiteful and Turris does finally sign, he can chose to not trade him. But why would you want to keep a guy that hates your guts?
Realignment will continue to be a hot topic since Winnipeg is located in Western Canada which in case you failed geography is not located near the Southern East coast of America, yet the Jets are in this division so someone needs to move. The Wings claim they were promised in a future realignment they would be put in the Eastern conference. I think a full shake up will happen before the Wings move East, like this nifty chart shows. It will be interesting to see what is approved as 20 of the 30 votes from the board of governors must approve it, but word is its picking up steam in the inner circles. I also think where its DET/CBJ the Wings will be staying in the West while the Blue Jackets will get the East. The travel will lessen a bit for the Wings even staying West under this and they will always be a money cow. The Blue Jackets are just bleeding money and even a few less games further away might help them in the finance department. Those 747's are expensive transportation...
Finally the Flyers goalie who cost them half a team this off season (it seems that way) Bryzgalov seems to be a Russian quote machine. Everything is a bit left of center and lets face it, it began with his comments about needing parks when the Coyotes were on the table for a move to Winnipeg. But he just can't be stopped and I can't get enough of them, so I think I'm going to just start posting random ones (possibly every blog since he's a machine!). When was asked about how bad his loss to the Jets was he said "I was lost in the woods". Guy loves nature apparently, but after his most recent outing against the Hurricanes he found his way, or as he put it "I found a compass". Awesome.
Now if he can ever top Mike Lange that will be something!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Visors, Necklaces, and a New Owner?
So much to touch on so lets just dive right in!
No visor = stick to the eye. Chris Pronger of the Flyers will now miss at least 2-3 weeks due to not wearing a visor. I will never understand the arguments to not wear one. It's clear. Of course I am semi required by life to wear contacts or glasses every day and you do adjust to the glare (and I'm sure they can develop anti-glare visors if they haven't already). Apparently this should be another thing on the agenda for the NHL to police better.
Just like they did with helmets, grandfather the guys in and require everyone entering the league to wear one. I think this has unofficially become protocol to be honest since all junior players are required to wear a visor and the AHL mandates it also. Very few guys coming up now have NOT played with a visor but the Players Association feels mandating it takes away their freedom. Freedom from what? Being blinded? This is almost as ridiculous as guys not wearing the skate guards. That little blade can slice your tendons. Jordan Staal can tell you all about that since he sliced his during the '10 playoffs and missed the beginning of the following season rehabbing. (He of course missed the second part of the first half of the season after breaking his hand in a freak accident right before he was ready to come back.)
The Penguins are playing on the Island tonight and hoping to never relive last seasons fight night after the glass-jaw incident. Since both teams would like to avoid this, the Islanders are starting last season waiver hold-out Evgeni Nabokov versus Penguins Marc-Andre Fleury. I guess they really are trying to move on. Of course, guess who the backups are? Rich "Glass Jaw" DiPietro and Brent "Knockout" Johnson. Hopefully they will stay on the benches because Eric Godard is now in Dallas manning their benches.
Speaking of the Dallas Stars, they are so popular that they received exactly one bid in bankruptcy court. This was expected and should go smoothly since everything seems to be good. Tom Gaglardi who is the winning bidder it seems even has said he wants to keep the team in Dallas. So Dallas will be owner less for less than half a season and the Thrashers managed to not only find an owner, but a new town and arena in even less time. Your move Coyotes.
Alex Ovechkin has a wax statue at Madame Tussaud's in DC. It's even missing a tooth and has shaggy hair. No offense to those that enjoy these things but I've always found this a bit creepy and I have a feeling seeing a wax Ovi would be especially creepy.
Realignment talks won't ever end. Even after the Jets no longer play in the Southeast, this issue will never be put to bed, but at least some players have the right attitude. "...Nothing is certain at this point. I just hope we won't be realigned to the KHL," Red Wings star Pavel Datsyuk said in an interview on Puck Daddy. I like his attitude. Read the complete interview here and find out his potential Halloween costume and his plans for next season in case of a lock out.
Montreal Canadians coach Jacques Martin is the heavy favorite to be the first coach of the season fired. They managed one win and are off to one of the worst start in 70 years, many fans are not dealing with it well. Hopefully they find other ways to deal with their anger since I think Vancouver has dibs on that rioting stuff.
As the Rangers are heading to the City of Brotherly love to play the Flyers in this years Winter Classic, getting your hands on tickets is next to impossible. First off the game which has traditionally been on January 1st is being played on the 2nd to avoid competing with the NFL's last regular season Sunday. The alumni game will still be on the 31st of December and the AHL is throwing in an outdoor game for the festivities.....almost a week later. And if your a Flyers faithful, you will be paying a steep price. As a season ticket holder, you get first dibs but you do have to buy a ticket to each event. This schedule is sounding more like a tour schedule for a vacation, rather than a hockey game.
I can just imagine it: Welcome to our outdoor hockey extravaganza. I hope you brought at least 1 down jacket or parka since it is January in Philadelphia. Our week long festivities will being with watching the Alumni game on the 31st. After the game, I encourage you to roam the streets of our fair city for the ball drop. There are bars on every street corner in case you are frozen from earlier and cheese steaks are readily available. You will have the 1st to explore Philly or more bars to watch the NHL conclude it's regular season. On the 2nd, tailgating will begin at 12noon. Please bring extra blankets, scarves and hats because someone is going to lose something along the way. Around 8pm we shall begin the game. Pronger may or may not be wearing a visor. At the conclusion of the game, we ask you safely make your way back home or to your hotel. If it's not snowing, you may leave the area for a few days to do some individual sightseeing, but we ask you return on the 6th to watch our final game of this extravaganza as players you have never heard of would like to play on the now melted ice. I hope you all enjoyed our hockey tour of Philly and join us again next year at a location TBD.
BTW the tickets for the AHL game are about $40. I can get awesome seats at WBS for around $30 so WHY the hell would I pay another $10 per ticket to freeze my ass off in January when I can just chill indoors in a much smaller venue?
Of course if you are a Rangers fan and think you can attend this game, keep on dreaming. You won't be subjected to the tour of Philly (thank god!) but you must be season ticket subscriber from 1950 to have a shot in hell at getting a pair of tickets. The oldest subscribers are going to be asked first and then limited to 2 even if you usually have 4 seats. From one extreme to the other. Since the Rangers are the visiting team, they were already super limited on their allocation to allocate. Ya know where I'll be watching from? The couch. Without a parka, scarf, hat and gloves. Not only will I be comfortable, food and drinks will be easily accessible and won't require me to take out a loan.
"We sucked form head to toe," said John Tortella in an interview after the Rangers lost on Saturday night to the Oilers. This in my mind is a preview of whats to come out of his mouth on 24/7 this December. Can you smell the greatness brewing?? I can!
Finally jewelry and the NHL or any sport really doesn't go hand in hand in my mind, but apparently shop NHL thinks I might like a necklace with my teams logo as a pendant. Or maybe earrings. I suppose they are gearing up for the holidays with this stuff, but none of this is my cup of tea. This is like going down the road of pink jersey, which make me nuts. I understand the NHL having stuff in purple for their "Hockey Fights Cancer" campaign but the jerseys look creepy in purple. Their regular player t-shirts with the purple are acceptable in my planet but I will never understand their desire to make variations of jerseys that will never be worn on the ice. The Fair Isle jersey with its knitted look and their black jerseys that look like they should glow in the dark are also out of left field. View the goodies here. You will have to choose a team from here to really get the full picture of what strange things are made and I'd suggest you pick a more popular team as they will one of everything. Like a bikini. Never thought of shopping here for a bikini but I guess it limits your choices fast than a department store would.....I'll to my kid sized, regulation colored Crosby jersey, thankyouverymuch!
No visor = stick to the eye. Chris Pronger of the Flyers will now miss at least 2-3 weeks due to not wearing a visor. I will never understand the arguments to not wear one. It's clear. Of course I am semi required by life to wear contacts or glasses every day and you do adjust to the glare (and I'm sure they can develop anti-glare visors if they haven't already). Apparently this should be another thing on the agenda for the NHL to police better.
Just like they did with helmets, grandfather the guys in and require everyone entering the league to wear one. I think this has unofficially become protocol to be honest since all junior players are required to wear a visor and the AHL mandates it also. Very few guys coming up now have NOT played with a visor but the Players Association feels mandating it takes away their freedom. Freedom from what? Being blinded? This is almost as ridiculous as guys not wearing the skate guards. That little blade can slice your tendons. Jordan Staal can tell you all about that since he sliced his during the '10 playoffs and missed the beginning of the following season rehabbing. (He of course missed the second part of the first half of the season after breaking his hand in a freak accident right before he was ready to come back.)
The Penguins are playing on the Island tonight and hoping to never relive last seasons fight night after the glass-jaw incident. Since both teams would like to avoid this, the Islanders are starting last season waiver hold-out Evgeni Nabokov versus Penguins Marc-Andre Fleury. I guess they really are trying to move on. Of course, guess who the backups are? Rich "Glass Jaw" DiPietro and Brent "Knockout" Johnson. Hopefully they will stay on the benches because Eric Godard is now in Dallas manning their benches.
Speaking of the Dallas Stars, they are so popular that they received exactly one bid in bankruptcy court. This was expected and should go smoothly since everything seems to be good. Tom Gaglardi who is the winning bidder it seems even has said he wants to keep the team in Dallas. So Dallas will be owner less for less than half a season and the Thrashers managed to not only find an owner, but a new town and arena in even less time. Your move Coyotes.
Alex Ovechkin has a wax statue at Madame Tussaud's in DC. It's even missing a tooth and has shaggy hair. No offense to those that enjoy these things but I've always found this a bit creepy and I have a feeling seeing a wax Ovi would be especially creepy.
Realignment talks won't ever end. Even after the Jets no longer play in the Southeast, this issue will never be put to bed, but at least some players have the right attitude. "...Nothing is certain at this point. I just hope we won't be realigned to the KHL," Red Wings star Pavel Datsyuk said in an interview on Puck Daddy. I like his attitude. Read the complete interview here and find out his potential Halloween costume and his plans for next season in case of a lock out.
Montreal Canadians coach Jacques Martin is the heavy favorite to be the first coach of the season fired. They managed one win and are off to one of the worst start in 70 years, many fans are not dealing with it well. Hopefully they find other ways to deal with their anger since I think Vancouver has dibs on that rioting stuff.
As the Rangers are heading to the City of Brotherly love to play the Flyers in this years Winter Classic, getting your hands on tickets is next to impossible. First off the game which has traditionally been on January 1st is being played on the 2nd to avoid competing with the NFL's last regular season Sunday. The alumni game will still be on the 31st of December and the AHL is throwing in an outdoor game for the festivities.....almost a week later. And if your a Flyers faithful, you will be paying a steep price. As a season ticket holder, you get first dibs but you do have to buy a ticket to each event. This schedule is sounding more like a tour schedule for a vacation, rather than a hockey game.
I can just imagine it: Welcome to our outdoor hockey extravaganza. I hope you brought at least 1 down jacket or parka since it is January in Philadelphia. Our week long festivities will being with watching the Alumni game on the 31st. After the game, I encourage you to roam the streets of our fair city for the ball drop. There are bars on every street corner in case you are frozen from earlier and cheese steaks are readily available. You will have the 1st to explore Philly or more bars to watch the NHL conclude it's regular season. On the 2nd, tailgating will begin at 12noon. Please bring extra blankets, scarves and hats because someone is going to lose something along the way. Around 8pm we shall begin the game. Pronger may or may not be wearing a visor. At the conclusion of the game, we ask you safely make your way back home or to your hotel. If it's not snowing, you may leave the area for a few days to do some individual sightseeing, but we ask you return on the 6th to watch our final game of this extravaganza as players you have never heard of would like to play on the now melted ice. I hope you all enjoyed our hockey tour of Philly and join us again next year at a location TBD.
BTW the tickets for the AHL game are about $40. I can get awesome seats at WBS for around $30 so WHY the hell would I pay another $10 per ticket to freeze my ass off in January when I can just chill indoors in a much smaller venue?
Of course if you are a Rangers fan and think you can attend this game, keep on dreaming. You won't be subjected to the tour of Philly (thank god!) but you must be season ticket subscriber from 1950 to have a shot in hell at getting a pair of tickets. The oldest subscribers are going to be asked first and then limited to 2 even if you usually have 4 seats. From one extreme to the other. Since the Rangers are the visiting team, they were already super limited on their allocation to allocate. Ya know where I'll be watching from? The couch. Without a parka, scarf, hat and gloves. Not only will I be comfortable, food and drinks will be easily accessible and won't require me to take out a loan.
"We sucked form head to toe," said John Tortella in an interview after the Rangers lost on Saturday night to the Oilers. This in my mind is a preview of whats to come out of his mouth on 24/7 this December. Can you smell the greatness brewing?? I can!
Finally jewelry and the NHL or any sport really doesn't go hand in hand in my mind, but apparently shop NHL thinks I might like a necklace with my teams logo as a pendant. Or maybe earrings. I suppose they are gearing up for the holidays with this stuff, but none of this is my cup of tea. This is like going down the road of pink jersey, which make me nuts. I understand the NHL having stuff in purple for their "Hockey Fights Cancer" campaign but the jerseys look creepy in purple. Their regular player t-shirts with the purple are acceptable in my planet but I will never understand their desire to make variations of jerseys that will never be worn on the ice. The Fair Isle jersey with its knitted look and their black jerseys that look like they should glow in the dark are also out of left field. View the goodies here. You will have to choose a team from here to really get the full picture of what strange things are made and I'd suggest you pick a more popular team as they will one of everything. Like a bikini. Never thought of shopping here for a bikini but I guess it limits your choices fast than a department store would.....I'll to my kid sized, regulation colored Crosby jersey, thankyouverymuch!
Friday, October 21, 2011
It's starting to become clear..
..that some teams will never learn since the Jets (the former Thrashers) and Senators are among the bottom 5 teams. The Blue Jackets currently have the honor of the worst team as they are win less. It's still early and hard to truly judge teams since some teams like the Rangers and Capitals have only played 5 games, while the Penguins will play their 10th tomorrow, but eventually it will become clearer. The Pens have played the most games in the league. Break time? I would say so.
One person who might not enjoy a break would be James Neal. He has been on fire and scored 7 goals in 9 games and is currently tied with Phil Kessel for leading goal scorer right now. Of course it's October and history says he is "Mr. October", but we hope we can be "Mr. Every month I score crazy amounts of goals" so Ray Shero can't deny him those millions come contract talks. It seems an off-season to bond with the guys, move out of a hotel and get some quality time to study their system has done him quite well.
Those who might welcome a break in play would be the $8.7 million dollar men. Malkin has sat out the past few games because of soreness to his surgically fixed knee and Crosby can't get the contact he would like since practices are so limited. Of course when Crosby is cleared, we will see the lines roll out 3 big centers again and Crosby very well could have Mr. October on his wing. Another science experiment from the lab of Dan Bylsma. This already looks better than Staalkin did on paper, let alone the actual ice. Imagine Mr. October can play the entire year this way with Crosby. And everyone stays/gets healthy. And no meltdowns.....
Brooks Orpik and Dustin Jeffery both returned last night in the lineup and suddenly the line up is looking deep but is going to be an eventual logjam. When Kris Letang returns from his suspension, they will have to decide who will be the D scratch as they only dress 6 per game. The bigger question will be roster moves as they have 4 guys on IR right now but a complete 23 man active roster. When Crosby is ready to come back, someone will have to be waived and could potentially be lost in transit on his way to Wilkes Barre due to 24 hours of being exposed to the league to be picked up. That is unless someone makes their way to the IR which is entirely possible since its seems how they like to operate these days. Brian Strait, the call up to replace Letang during his suspension was hit and has a hyper extended elbow, which puts him on the IR. Not even sure the trainers knew how to explain it to Bylsma, since even he seemed a bit confused.
In non-jersey foul but seriously questionable territory, the IHL Fighting Falcons will be hosting Star Wars night wearing these jerseys. It's awesome and terrible all rolled up into one.
Jet's Dustin Byfuglien pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from his summer boating incident. He apparently passed the breathalyzer but the policeman wasn't happy with that and wanted a urine sample. Byfuglien refused and that was apparently against the law. Can't wait to see where this soap opera goes. His off ice antics are more exciting than the play of his entire team. Pathetic.
Brad Richards was the star free agent this off season and he's doing exactly what the Rangers wanted: scoring and making opportunities for Marian Gaborik. Since he's doing what has been asked, why are the Rangers still struggling? Seems the rest of the team is missing chemistry now. See saw much? Can it be the black cloud named Sean Avery who won't stop going on about being hated by Coach Torts and how he'd never get called up from the Whale. Imagine the drama we almost got to see on 24/7!! And the Oscar goes to....Sean Avery. He's done a lot this year. The police incident in LA, the talking crap on his now ex coach who controls if he ever sees the Garden again. Busy year for him.
And if anyone had any real question about how a few back to back concussions can affect your life, ask newly retired Kris Chucko, who is only 25 years old. A former first round draft pick for the Flames, he played mainly for their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat. Unfortunately his last game was a year ago when he suffered his second concussion after having missed a bulk of the previous season because of the first concussion. Problem is he isn't sure if he suffered others and never knew. Glad that he is taking control and realizing living with the pain is not worth it, but is this showing the league and all sports just how serious concussions can be? When a 25 year old decides he needs a career change because of how crappy he was feeling, that's saying something. Hopefully more and more people come forward with their stories and are honest about how bad it is.
Brooks Laich might think all this "awareness crap" is well crap, but since Sidney Crosby has made it trendy to say they are not robots, I have a feeling we will continue to hear more and more from various athletes in sports.
Finally a topic that I've been semi-following is the University of North Dakota who are nicknamed the Fighting Sioux and their battling to keep their name and mascot. Of course this goes back their nickname and logo being linked to Native American's and some are finding it offensive. The school estimates it would cost around $750,000 to retire their nickname and logo. This only includes changes to practice and game day uniforms for all sports, equipment, stationary and the website. The cost could skyrocket to $20million to change the logos and names at the privately owned stadium that they use. O-M-G. That's just insane.
My high school went through a similar ordeal when our logo was deemed to be offensive. They were able to keep the Warrior name (not entirely sure how, it is truly a mystery) but they had to remove the Indian head off of everything. For 98 years my high school was the Warriors with the Indian head, but for the past 9, they have been having an identity crisis. I graduated just when this was happening, so no class after me has ever had anything that said Warrior with our Indian head underneath it. 4 years after I graduated they finally decided on a Knight in our colors (a Knight??), but within a year, the Knight was essentially deemed unworthy. It appears only on the city's website for the school, not even the school's own site (that bad huh?). I think eventually they will drop the Knight completely and just be the Warriors with no mascot. They already seem to have given up on uniforms and just go with the school name on them.
At the end of the day, this was a high school who makes no money off apparel and is only known locally, not nationally, so I can't even imagine rebranding an established and storied university. It's not the just money involved, but it's the future students who wanted to be apart of the Fighting Sioux tradition and the alumni who have invested in the school after graduating because of their memories and nostalgia. Of course since it's a powerhouse in hockey (in particular) all those banners will still hang from the rafters with the Fighting Sioux name and mascot on them as a memory for all to enjoy. I personally don't have any issue with these types of names. Better than everyone being a Charger or Dog or a Duck.
One person who might not enjoy a break would be James Neal. He has been on fire and scored 7 goals in 9 games and is currently tied with Phil Kessel for leading goal scorer right now. Of course it's October and history says he is "Mr. October", but we hope we can be "Mr. Every month I score crazy amounts of goals" so Ray Shero can't deny him those millions come contract talks. It seems an off-season to bond with the guys, move out of a hotel and get some quality time to study their system has done him quite well.
Those who might welcome a break in play would be the $8.7 million dollar men. Malkin has sat out the past few games because of soreness to his surgically fixed knee and Crosby can't get the contact he would like since practices are so limited. Of course when Crosby is cleared, we will see the lines roll out 3 big centers again and Crosby very well could have Mr. October on his wing. Another science experiment from the lab of Dan Bylsma. This already looks better than Staalkin did on paper, let alone the actual ice. Imagine Mr. October can play the entire year this way with Crosby. And everyone stays/gets healthy. And no meltdowns.....
Brooks Orpik and Dustin Jeffery both returned last night in the lineup and suddenly the line up is looking deep but is going to be an eventual logjam. When Kris Letang returns from his suspension, they will have to decide who will be the D scratch as they only dress 6 per game. The bigger question will be roster moves as they have 4 guys on IR right now but a complete 23 man active roster. When Crosby is ready to come back, someone will have to be waived and could potentially be lost in transit on his way to Wilkes Barre due to 24 hours of being exposed to the league to be picked up. That is unless someone makes their way to the IR which is entirely possible since its seems how they like to operate these days. Brian Strait, the call up to replace Letang during his suspension was hit and has a hyper extended elbow, which puts him on the IR. Not even sure the trainers knew how to explain it to Bylsma, since even he seemed a bit confused.
In non-jersey foul but seriously questionable territory, the IHL Fighting Falcons will be hosting Star Wars night wearing these jerseys. It's awesome and terrible all rolled up into one.
Jet's Dustin Byfuglien pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from his summer boating incident. He apparently passed the breathalyzer but the policeman wasn't happy with that and wanted a urine sample. Byfuglien refused and that was apparently against the law. Can't wait to see where this soap opera goes. His off ice antics are more exciting than the play of his entire team. Pathetic.
Brad Richards was the star free agent this off season and he's doing exactly what the Rangers wanted: scoring and making opportunities for Marian Gaborik. Since he's doing what has been asked, why are the Rangers still struggling? Seems the rest of the team is missing chemistry now. See saw much? Can it be the black cloud named Sean Avery who won't stop going on about being hated by Coach Torts and how he'd never get called up from the Whale. Imagine the drama we almost got to see on 24/7!! And the Oscar goes to....Sean Avery. He's done a lot this year. The police incident in LA, the talking crap on his now ex coach who controls if he ever sees the Garden again. Busy year for him.
And if anyone had any real question about how a few back to back concussions can affect your life, ask newly retired Kris Chucko, who is only 25 years old. A former first round draft pick for the Flames, he played mainly for their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Heat. Unfortunately his last game was a year ago when he suffered his second concussion after having missed a bulk of the previous season because of the first concussion. Problem is he isn't sure if he suffered others and never knew. Glad that he is taking control and realizing living with the pain is not worth it, but is this showing the league and all sports just how serious concussions can be? When a 25 year old decides he needs a career change because of how crappy he was feeling, that's saying something. Hopefully more and more people come forward with their stories and are honest about how bad it is.
Brooks Laich might think all this "awareness crap" is well crap, but since Sidney Crosby has made it trendy to say they are not robots, I have a feeling we will continue to hear more and more from various athletes in sports.
Finally a topic that I've been semi-following is the University of North Dakota who are nicknamed the Fighting Sioux and their battling to keep their name and mascot. Of course this goes back their nickname and logo being linked to Native American's and some are finding it offensive. The school estimates it would cost around $750,000 to retire their nickname and logo. This only includes changes to practice and game day uniforms for all sports, equipment, stationary and the website. The cost could skyrocket to $20million to change the logos and names at the privately owned stadium that they use. O-M-G. That's just insane.
My high school went through a similar ordeal when our logo was deemed to be offensive. They were able to keep the Warrior name (not entirely sure how, it is truly a mystery) but they had to remove the Indian head off of everything. For 98 years my high school was the Warriors with the Indian head, but for the past 9, they have been having an identity crisis. I graduated just when this was happening, so no class after me has ever had anything that said Warrior with our Indian head underneath it. 4 years after I graduated they finally decided on a Knight in our colors (a Knight??), but within a year, the Knight was essentially deemed unworthy. It appears only on the city's website for the school, not even the school's own site (that bad huh?). I think eventually they will drop the Knight completely and just be the Warriors with no mascot. They already seem to have given up on uniforms and just go with the school name on them.
At the end of the day, this was a high school who makes no money off apparel and is only known locally, not nationally, so I can't even imagine rebranding an established and storied university. It's not the just money involved, but it's the future students who wanted to be apart of the Fighting Sioux tradition and the alumni who have invested in the school after graduating because of their memories and nostalgia. Of course since it's a powerhouse in hockey (in particular) all those banners will still hang from the rafters with the Fighting Sioux name and mascot on them as a memory for all to enjoy. I personally don't have any issue with these types of names. Better than everyone being a Charger or Dog or a Duck.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
'Im not here to score goals' and the Hammer comes down again...
My my, it's been a busy few days in the hockey world. I've also had a rather uncalled for frustrating day of dealing with customers that had an extra side of stupidity with them, so this should be lots of fun! Lets go to the video tape.....
Seriously though, head over to nhl.com and see the Kris Letang boarding video suspension. Shanahan dropped the hammer on Letang for 2 games. There's tons of chatter as to whether or not he deserves to be suspended but it's done with and not as if we can get the ruling overturned. As of 10am this morning the Penguins knew some sort of disiclpline was coming down because they recalled Brian Strait from WBS who just happens to be a d-man to meet them across the country for tonight's game. No way were they flying him to Minnesota just for the hell of it.
Who knew the first Penguin to feel the wrath of Shanahan would be Tanger? (If you guessed correctly you should be entitled to the $37k he is forfeiting for those 2 games.) Anyways, with Letang now suspended and Crosby, Malkin, Jeffrey, Orpik and Kennedy all tending to various aches and pains, there's somewhere in the ballpark of $25million unable to dress for games. Maybe this means part 2 of the season will be excellent because they are doing the opposite of last season. Of course that means Fleury will be having a mental breakdown in his cage somewhere around June just in time for the finals. Yikes.
When Jaromir Jagr came back to the NHL, he picked his team by choosing the GM which would pledge his bank account enough money and would be willing to play cat and mouse with him, but Jagr didn't come back to score goals apparently. Per Jagr in an interview he is quoted as saying "At my age [39], it doesn’t matter if I score. If the team wins and the lines score, that makes me happy. We got scoring chances. But it comes in cycles." Good to know the Flyers won the bidding war for the non-scoring forward.
The Zamboni driver from the Tampa Bay Lightning's 2004 Cup win is auctioning off his ring on ebay, in pursuit to raise money to drive around the world. Yes drive. About those bodies of water in between countries....
Every sport has their way of celebrating a great play. Football players make up crazy end zone dances, tennis players often fall to their knees, but hockey players love themselves some hugs. All you need is at least one other person, but the more guys that can get in on it the more joyous the occasion can be. Harrison Mooney wrote this awesome piece profiling hugs from this young season.
Down Goes Brown is a hilarious blog and up to their old tricks with this post about MLB vs NHL in honor the World Series that begins tomorrow. Too bad that unless you live in Texas or St.Louis, you probably won't be tuning in to the series.
Finally Rick Rypien was sadly one of the many hockey players to die this past summer and most people didn't know much about him, except he worked his way up and had battled mental illness. His former Canuck teammate Kevin Bieksa opens up about who Rypien really was on and off the ice. Very touching and it's nice to know he wasn't alone.
So the Pens minus $25million dollars worth of players (give or take) square off against the Wild tonight. If they can make it through this game without an injury or suspension, I will call this game a success. Wins and losses, need not apply.
Seriously though, head over to nhl.com and see the Kris Letang boarding video suspension. Shanahan dropped the hammer on Letang for 2 games. There's tons of chatter as to whether or not he deserves to be suspended but it's done with and not as if we can get the ruling overturned. As of 10am this morning the Penguins knew some sort of disiclpline was coming down because they recalled Brian Strait from WBS who just happens to be a d-man to meet them across the country for tonight's game. No way were they flying him to Minnesota just for the hell of it.
Who knew the first Penguin to feel the wrath of Shanahan would be Tanger? (If you guessed correctly you should be entitled to the $37k he is forfeiting for those 2 games.) Anyways, with Letang now suspended and Crosby, Malkin, Jeffrey, Orpik and Kennedy all tending to various aches and pains, there's somewhere in the ballpark of $25million unable to dress for games. Maybe this means part 2 of the season will be excellent because they are doing the opposite of last season. Of course that means Fleury will be having a mental breakdown in his cage somewhere around June just in time for the finals. Yikes.
When Jaromir Jagr came back to the NHL, he picked his team by choosing the GM which would pledge his bank account enough money and would be willing to play cat and mouse with him, but Jagr didn't come back to score goals apparently. Per Jagr in an interview he is quoted as saying "At my age [39], it doesn’t matter if I score. If the team wins and the lines score, that makes me happy. We got scoring chances. But it comes in cycles." Good to know the Flyers won the bidding war for the non-scoring forward.
The Zamboni driver from the Tampa Bay Lightning's 2004 Cup win is auctioning off his ring on ebay, in pursuit to raise money to drive around the world. Yes drive. About those bodies of water in between countries....
Every sport has their way of celebrating a great play. Football players make up crazy end zone dances, tennis players often fall to their knees, but hockey players love themselves some hugs. All you need is at least one other person, but the more guys that can get in on it the more joyous the occasion can be. Harrison Mooney wrote this awesome piece profiling hugs from this young season.
Down Goes Brown is a hilarious blog and up to their old tricks with this post about MLB vs NHL in honor the World Series that begins tomorrow. Too bad that unless you live in Texas or St.Louis, you probably won't be tuning in to the series.
Finally Rick Rypien was sadly one of the many hockey players to die this past summer and most people didn't know much about him, except he worked his way up and had battled mental illness. His former Canuck teammate Kevin Bieksa opens up about who Rypien really was on and off the ice. Very touching and it's nice to know he wasn't alone.
So the Pens minus $25million dollars worth of players (give or take) square off against the Wild tonight. If they can make it through this game without an injury or suspension, I will call this game a success. Wins and losses, need not apply.
Friday, October 14, 2011
"Awareness Crap"
This might be my new favorite phrase. "Awareness crap" was brought to us by our friend Brooks Laich of the Capitals. Apparently he's taken the stand of not enjoying the concept of "being babysat" in a quiet room with a doctor if you possibly suffer a concussion during a game. That's sweet of him to be a big boy, but maybe others like this protocol. Or maybe he needs to be knocked out to further understand what the league is doing by making you sit in a quiet room to readjust and evaluate yourself. Whatever. If you care to read more of his feisty opinion you can do so here.
Speaking of the Capitals they won in OT over the Penguins. And without some major DRAMA. Jay Beagle and Aaron Asham had it out. Asham said post game he regrets his actions after the fight. Seriously the most drama of this fight was how he acted after. I accept his apology since he was rather stupid and seemed to have realized it immediately. But at the same time, as Laich said in the ESPN article "We accept that there's going to be dangers when we play this game and you know that every night you get dressed." Moving on.
The Islanders have a $4.5 million dollar goalie that is currently the 3rd in line due to a concussion. I'm serious. Rick DiPietro has a concussion which he sustained in practice. You can't make this stuff up. Here's the major list of injures he's sustained....
Hip surgery: 9 games
Knee surgery: 60 games
Swollen right knee: 41 games
Various knee injuries: 36 games
Lower body injury: 1 game
Groin: 13 games
Neck injury: 2 games
Concussion: 1 game
Personal reasons: 3 games
Flu: 2 games
Headache: 8 games
Cracked Orbital Bone: 21 games
(swiped from the article here)
I can't even fathom how he gets out of the bed in the morning and he only JUST TURNED 30. Oh My God.
Finally if you were a rioter after Vancouver lost, you can get your nails or hair did for free if you agree to turn yourself in. This topic does not deserve anymore words or fame than its already managed so read what ESPN has to say on it.
Speaking of the Capitals they won in OT over the Penguins. And without some major DRAMA. Jay Beagle and Aaron Asham had it out. Asham said post game he regrets his actions after the fight. Seriously the most drama of this fight was how he acted after. I accept his apology since he was rather stupid and seemed to have realized it immediately. But at the same time, as Laich said in the ESPN article "We accept that there's going to be dangers when we play this game and you know that every night you get dressed." Moving on.
The Islanders have a $4.5 million dollar goalie that is currently the 3rd in line due to a concussion. I'm serious. Rick DiPietro has a concussion which he sustained in practice. You can't make this stuff up. Here's the major list of injures he's sustained....
Hip surgery: 9 games
Knee surgery: 60 games
Swollen right knee: 41 games
Various knee injuries: 36 games
Lower body injury: 1 game
Groin: 13 games
Neck injury: 2 games
Concussion: 1 game
Personal reasons: 3 games
Flu: 2 games
Headache: 8 games
Cracked Orbital Bone: 21 games
(swiped from the article here)
I can't even fathom how he gets out of the bed in the morning and he only JUST TURNED 30. Oh My God.
Finally if you were a rioter after Vancouver lost, you can get your nails or hair did for free if you agree to turn yourself in. This topic does not deserve anymore words or fame than its already managed so read what ESPN has to say on it.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Today's Date is Important for Many Reasons
It's Thursday October 13. This is vaguely important to my daily life since I sign papers all day at work and our system messed up majorly deciding to print the date as the 11th and 12th with no rhyme or reason. Talk about confusing. Today is also important because Sidney Crosby was cleared for full contact practice for the first time since his concussion. Want to know how the world found out?
The Pens tweeted a picture of him wearing a black helmet saying all the guys are wearing black helmets. Subtle. Much classier than Jeremy Roenick's rant about Crosby and his concussion coverage. (To be fair, he is right it was getting a bit wacky but the NHL is still not as big as the NFL or MLB and they need a player like Crosby.)
After their morning practice, Disco Dan has a media presser (shocking) and they questioned him about Crosby's return to full contact (even more shocking). Since they have a tough schedule for the next 2 weeks with lots of games and travel, practices are less intense and therefore have less contact. Therefore getting Crosby contact might have to be more forced. The man for the job in Bylsma's eyes: Ben Lovejoy. Ya know the one that reads to school children in his downtime....
"We’ve joked about it. Have you ever seen Ben Lovejoy in the morning skate on the penalty kill? That’ll be enough. Ben never stopped going when Sid was healthy. Sid and him always had battles as long as Ben’s been out there. So we’ll just put him on penalty kill during our morning skate and that should be enough for Ben to play 100 percent and give him some contact. I think Sid’s the type of player that he instigates contact. He’ll do something that will warrant that from a player. He’ll go out and do something, I don’t think anyone has to worry about that. There’ll be some jossling and some hitting going on, and during training camp when he’s been healthy there’s been jossling with a player or the ire’s gotten both guys, and that will happen again just because of the way Sidney competes. He’ll go after someone or go to the net. He’ll do something and there’ll be some contact there during the normal course of events." -Bylsma
So there ya go. Lovejoy is the man or Sid will cause someone to hit him. Totally normal. I've also seen Lovejoy knock a guy high into the glass when in Wilkes-Barre due to the power of his hit. I think Lovejoy is a fine choice.
The Penguins also resigned Chris Kunitz to a 2 year deal that begins next season. Another great signing by Ray Shero. When your over age 30 Shero is a 2 year type of guy and Kunitz knew that going in. He was happy with that wanted to stick around. He also admitted that having key players like Crosby, Geno and Staal like him as a person and a player helps.
Malkin after sitting out a practice is back in the lineup tonight. He and Alex Ovechkin did a ceremonial puck drop for the KHL's Lokomovtiv team that died in the plane crash. The league has been raising money for the families by selling bracelets at games. Game worn jersey's that have special patches in memorium are also going to be auctioned off. If Malkin wasn't in the lineup, he still would have been a part of the puck drop as he and Ovi were two of the key Russian NHLer's to work on this benefit. Very nice gesture by the league and players.
Realignment is the hot issue and is only going to heat up even more as December approaches (ekkkk). My head is spinning from all the options but if you have the brain capacity to attempt viewing any of them, here ya go. Legendary reporter Bob McKenzie actually gives you a bathroom break in his article, it's that long and intense. This one is a bit shorter and Puck Daddy to the rescue for the cliff notes edition!!
Au revoir for now
The Pens tweeted a picture of him wearing a black helmet saying all the guys are wearing black helmets. Subtle. Much classier than Jeremy Roenick's rant about Crosby and his concussion coverage. (To be fair, he is right it was getting a bit wacky but the NHL is still not as big as the NFL or MLB and they need a player like Crosby.)
After their morning practice, Disco Dan has a media presser (shocking) and they questioned him about Crosby's return to full contact (even more shocking). Since they have a tough schedule for the next 2 weeks with lots of games and travel, practices are less intense and therefore have less contact. Therefore getting Crosby contact might have to be more forced. The man for the job in Bylsma's eyes: Ben Lovejoy. Ya know the one that reads to school children in his downtime....
"We’ve joked about it. Have you ever seen Ben Lovejoy in the morning skate on the penalty kill? That’ll be enough. Ben never stopped going when Sid was healthy. Sid and him always had battles as long as Ben’s been out there. So we’ll just put him on penalty kill during our morning skate and that should be enough for Ben to play 100 percent and give him some contact. I think Sid’s the type of player that he instigates contact. He’ll do something that will warrant that from a player. He’ll go out and do something, I don’t think anyone has to worry about that. There’ll be some jossling and some hitting going on, and during training camp when he’s been healthy there’s been jossling with a player or the ire’s gotten both guys, and that will happen again just because of the way Sidney competes. He’ll go after someone or go to the net. He’ll do something and there’ll be some contact there during the normal course of events." -Bylsma
So there ya go. Lovejoy is the man or Sid will cause someone to hit him. Totally normal. I've also seen Lovejoy knock a guy high into the glass when in Wilkes-Barre due to the power of his hit. I think Lovejoy is a fine choice.
The Penguins also resigned Chris Kunitz to a 2 year deal that begins next season. Another great signing by Ray Shero. When your over age 30 Shero is a 2 year type of guy and Kunitz knew that going in. He was happy with that wanted to stick around. He also admitted that having key players like Crosby, Geno and Staal like him as a person and a player helps.
Malkin after sitting out a practice is back in the lineup tonight. He and Alex Ovechkin did a ceremonial puck drop for the KHL's Lokomovtiv team that died in the plane crash. The league has been raising money for the families by selling bracelets at games. Game worn jersey's that have special patches in memorium are also going to be auctioned off. If Malkin wasn't in the lineup, he still would have been a part of the puck drop as he and Ovi were two of the key Russian NHLer's to work on this benefit. Very nice gesture by the league and players.
Realignment is the hot issue and is only going to heat up even more as December approaches (ekkkk). My head is spinning from all the options but if you have the brain capacity to attempt viewing any of them, here ya go. Legendary reporter Bob McKenzie actually gives you a bathroom break in his article, it's that long and intense. This one is a bit shorter and Puck Daddy to the rescue for the cliff notes edition!!
Au revoir for now
Monday, October 10, 2011
Tis the Season for Hockey
Before each season begins, people often make their picks for who will rule the standings and who will tank based on changes from the off-season and injuries. Someone forgot to mention to everyone on planet earth that moving the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg wouldn't change who they are at the core. They are still looking like the Thrashers of yesterday with a new logo and name slapped on them. At least the moving trucks did in fact lose those ugly ATL jerseys on the long ride up north. Hopefully someone in the front office will wake up and make some type of personnel change by the trade deadline. Of course the people of Winnipeg are so damn excited they have a hockey team of their own again, they might not notice if they finish in the bottom of the standings a la the Thrashers of yesteryear.
Moving on. Goalie issues were a hot topic this off season and the Phoenix Coyotes lost Ilya Bryzgalov (to Philly and it's parks) and in turn named Mike Smith the starting goalie for opening night. No pressure since the teams current owner is the league and want to find a buyer like yesterday. Since there was no pressure, he let 6 goals in. Of course there was 52 shots on him since the entire team in front of him forgot the season began. Can't blame it all on the goalie. They can only go up from here. I think. I hope.
And in other goalie news, Islands long-term investment Rick DiPietro isn't starting the season. When he does start that season, that will be news. If he ever plays half a season, the Islanders might feel semi-good about having signed him till he retires and enough cash to sink the Titanic. In the meantime one of the underpaid and over worked backups will start. I think DiPietro technically could be considered the best paid backup goalie. Ever.
Coming back from season ending knee surgery, the Devils' Zach Parise made his mark known scoring 2 goals and trying to right the ship of the Devils and not begin this season like last.Brad Richards also got his first goal for the NY Rangers, showing everyone exactly why he was the prized free agent this off season.
Jordan Staal is having hydration issues per the Penguins, which means what exactly?! The next day it was reported his foot might be tweaked. Fancy way of hiding something or throwing people off their scent? Maybe, maybe not. The Penguins are like the international men of mystery at times. The newest rumor is Crosby should be cleared this week for contact after meeting with the doctors. After he's cleared for contact, I assume he will presume his mission of destroying NHL records which was abruptly ended thanks to David Steckel knocking him out in the Winter Classic.He's been on the bench for 10 months now, the longest time off the ice since he learned to skate (assuming here but it seems like it would be accurate). I'd guess nothing would make him happier than coming back better than ever.
Finally imagine one day your the Captain of the Buffalo Sabres and a few seasons later your the oldest player on an ECHL team. This is the life of Craig Rivet. After spending the last season in Columbus with the Blue Jackets, he made the choice to play for the Elmira Jackals (ECHL team names are strange to say the least) and they have welcomed him with open arms. At least he made the decision himself, but my god. Going from the top-tier in US hockey to basically playing with 18 year old kids that are trying to make a name for themselves. At least he will be a wealth of knowledge for them, like their own skating encyclopedia.
BTW, it's only Monday and I'm ready for the weekend. Going to be a longgggg week. Yikess
Moving on. Goalie issues were a hot topic this off season and the Phoenix Coyotes lost Ilya Bryzgalov (to Philly and it's parks) and in turn named Mike Smith the starting goalie for opening night. No pressure since the teams current owner is the league and want to find a buyer like yesterday. Since there was no pressure, he let 6 goals in. Of course there was 52 shots on him since the entire team in front of him forgot the season began. Can't blame it all on the goalie. They can only go up from here. I think. I hope.
And in other goalie news, Islands long-term investment Rick DiPietro isn't starting the season. When he does start that season, that will be news. If he ever plays half a season, the Islanders might feel semi-good about having signed him till he retires and enough cash to sink the Titanic. In the meantime one of the underpaid and over worked backups will start. I think DiPietro technically could be considered the best paid backup goalie. Ever.
Coming back from season ending knee surgery, the Devils' Zach Parise made his mark known scoring 2 goals and trying to right the ship of the Devils and not begin this season like last.Brad Richards also got his first goal for the NY Rangers, showing everyone exactly why he was the prized free agent this off season.
Jordan Staal is having hydration issues per the Penguins, which means what exactly?! The next day it was reported his foot might be tweaked. Fancy way of hiding something or throwing people off their scent? Maybe, maybe not. The Penguins are like the international men of mystery at times. The newest rumor is Crosby should be cleared this week for contact after meeting with the doctors. After he's cleared for contact, I assume he will presume his mission of destroying NHL records which was abruptly ended thanks to David Steckel knocking him out in the Winter Classic.He's been on the bench for 10 months now, the longest time off the ice since he learned to skate (assuming here but it seems like it would be accurate). I'd guess nothing would make him happier than coming back better than ever.
Finally imagine one day your the Captain of the Buffalo Sabres and a few seasons later your the oldest player on an ECHL team. This is the life of Craig Rivet. After spending the last season in Columbus with the Blue Jackets, he made the choice to play for the Elmira Jackals (ECHL team names are strange to say the least) and they have welcomed him with open arms. At least he made the decision himself, but my god. Going from the top-tier in US hockey to basically playing with 18 year old kids that are trying to make a name for themselves. At least he will be a wealth of knowledge for them, like their own skating encyclopedia.
BTW, it's only Monday and I'm ready for the weekend. Going to be a longgggg week. Yikess
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Off Season Memories
Since we can now count down in hours instead of days till the first puck drops on the 2011-2012 NHL season, a reflection on the off season that was is in order. From concussion-gate to retirements to “Shananban-ing 101” it’s been a unique off season for sure.
Sadly this off season saw the loss of more players than ever before. Starting with a lethal mixture of pills and alcohol that lead to the accidental overdose of NY Ranger Derek Boogaard and ending with the loss of the KHL’s Lokomotiv team due to a plane crash. In between we lost Rick Rypien who finally seemed to have gained control of his depression and was looking forward to starting over with the Jets, and Wade Belak, who was just days away from appearing on the CBC’s Skating with the Stars. Former Assistant Coach to the Detroit Red Wings, Brad McCrimmon, had just taken the job as head coach of the Lokomotiv earlier this off season and was on his way to his first KHL game with the team when the plane crashed. Many of the players on the plane had a connection to the NHL in various ways, being former stars while others where just young kids drafted and not ready to make the jump yet.
The Atlanta Thrashers played their last game unceremoniously and seemed to have disappeared from Atlanta like no one knew they were even in town. The people of Winnipeg welcomed them with open arms and christened them the new Winnipeg Jets. After a few details were sorted out (like how Bobby Hull’s retired number 9 could actually be worn again) they played in front of a sold out crowd to begin the pre-season. Now if they could find enough warm clothes, they might be onto something.
Mark Recchi won the Cup one last time and decided to hang up his skates while Nicklas Lidstrom of the Red Wings decided he was still God like and enjoys the game too much to retire. While Mike Modano signed with Dallas for a day to retire as a Star, Jaromir Jagr spurned the Penguins and Red Wings and signed with the Flyers, opening a new can of worms since ‘it wasn’t about the money’. In case the Flyers wanted to give the Penguins anymore motivation, they lured Max Talbot away which gave Evgeni Malkin more fuel to his fire and show the league in the pre-season the Conn Smythe winning Malkin of ’09 is back and better than ever.
Concussions still ruled the headlines and Sidney Crosby has kept his recovery carefully guarded. It seems he’s further along than most will let on, but 10 months later he’s still not cleared for contact. Many believe the Penguins are using Marc Savard as a model of what not to do. Savard rushed back too quickly and it’s looking like he played his last game. Thankfully the Bruins were able to petition to have his name on the Cup and managed to bring back almost their entire Cup winning team. Can they repeat is the question? The Capitals made their biggest off season moves in goal, but many believe they will still choke in the playoffs, as it is their tradition.
The NY Rangers named Ryan Callahan captain (finally) and won the golden prize in free agency that goes by the name of Brad Richards. They also decided they had enough of the Sean Avery show and have sent him to Connecticut since the entire league hates him and passed on gaining the NHL’s #1 pest. The Devils found a coach to named a new captain in Zach Parise. Hopefully they try to not repeat last season since they fired their coach by the holiday and traded their captain by the deadline. Baby steps for the Devils.
The Phoenix Coyotes are STILL owned by the league after a number of failed suitors. I wonder if people can start adopting them since finding them an owner who the City of Glendale likes might be as a hard as getting into The White House. Meanwhile the Dallas Stars declared bankruptcy in Delaware (don’t ask) and are in line to have new owners by November. Interesting. This time next year, I anticipate the Coyotes having had an owner for a day before filing for an annulment just because. Maybe they can send Paul Bissonnette to Vegas for All-Star break with a bag of cash to quadruple and he can buy the team himself. I mean he’s going to Vegas anyway.
This will also be the last season with the current divisions. Most likely when they move the Jets to the north, everyone will be shuffled. Can’t wait to hear how this goes because someone is still going to be upset. Ahmm Red Wings, I’m talking about you.
Finally Brendan Shanahan took over Colin Campbell’s Wheel of Justice for discipline in favor of fair and balanced rulings. Just from the preseason alone we have taught the players what is legal and illegal thanks to some boring videos breaking down each rule. Maybe the guys should be required to attend college for a year so we can be sure they can read their copies of the CBA BEFORE stepping onto the ice. Thankfully the video’s in slow motion seem to making an impact so hopefully we never have another person saying maybe Crosby should retire at the ripe age of 24 due to a concussion.
1 day....
One day before the puck drops on the 2011-2012 season. Since it's the day before the season begins some loose ends must be tied up. Like the Devils Captaincy and Sean Avery.
The Devils in a shocker named Zach Parise captain and Ilya Koalchuk and Patrick Elias as the alternates. This was almost as shocking as the Rangers announcements, except that Parise wasn't expecting it at all. Will it keep him in town beyond this season? Since he's never said anything about ever wanting to leave, I'm thinking he just wants a contract the shows his value. He's 27 and you can have him as a Devil for life, so I'm sure the Devils can find at least 27 ways to screw this up. Good god I hope they prove me wrong.
Apparently John Tortorella, head coach of the Rangers, didn't realize that HBO will be invading is rink come December and that NHL superp-pest Sean Avery was born to be on 24/7. Or maybe he did realize that HBO was coming to town and didn't want the rest of the country to be subject to the Avery show. Whatever his reasoning is, Avery will now be wearing the Hartford Whale sweater for the rest of his contract unless some foreign team picks him up since he rest of the league passed on picking him up off waivers. The Flyers really should have since they will also be featured in 24/7 and lets face it, Avery and Jagr together would be a ratings goldmine.
And in Shanahan news he released a highlight reel of legal hits from this pre-season. Most shocking, Trevor Gillies of the Islanders who tried to kill Eric Tangradi of the Penguins during fight night at the Colosseum last year was a legal hit highlight. Wouldn't you love to have Shanahan re-review that game and give us his evaluation of it?
1 day ladies and gents, 1 day.
The Devils in a shocker named Zach Parise captain and Ilya Koalchuk and Patrick Elias as the alternates. This was almost as shocking as the Rangers announcements, except that Parise wasn't expecting it at all. Will it keep him in town beyond this season? Since he's never said anything about ever wanting to leave, I'm thinking he just wants a contract the shows his value. He's 27 and you can have him as a Devil for life, so I'm sure the Devils can find at least 27 ways to screw this up. Good god I hope they prove me wrong.
Apparently John Tortorella, head coach of the Rangers, didn't realize that HBO will be invading is rink come December and that NHL superp-pest Sean Avery was born to be on 24/7. Or maybe he did realize that HBO was coming to town and didn't want the rest of the country to be subject to the Avery show. Whatever his reasoning is, Avery will now be wearing the Hartford Whale sweater for the rest of his contract unless some foreign team picks him up since he rest of the league passed on picking him up off waivers. The Flyers really should have since they will also be featured in 24/7 and lets face it, Avery and Jagr together would be a ratings goldmine.
And in Shanahan news he released a highlight reel of legal hits from this pre-season. Most shocking, Trevor Gillies of the Islanders who tried to kill Eric Tangradi of the Penguins during fight night at the Colosseum last year was a legal hit highlight. Wouldn't you love to have Shanahan re-review that game and give us his evaluation of it?
1 day ladies and gents, 1 day.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
4 days left...
The NHL season officially opens in 4 days and the Penguins FINALLY confirmed that Crosby would not be starting the season. A monkey living in the rainforest in South Africa could have told you this, but they felt it was important to let everyone know. They even wrote a special story about it for their site as did the NHL.com writers. Um, he still hasn't been cleared for contact in practice, so who in the world figured he'd be playing? Apparently some delusional folks in the world. Too much logic went to into figuring this mystery out I suppose.
Brendan Shanahan has been busy making lots of video's about suspensions and rule breaking hits and it's only the preseason. Ryan Malone of the Tampa Bay Lightening should get a prize for realizing before he left Montreal last night that he should wait by his phone for a call from Shanahan. He is well aware he will be facing some sort of discipline for hitting Chris Campoli in the head even though he didn't intend to. Maybe this is what Shananhan is trying to do. Make the players realize before he calls them out that they made a bad play or decision.
Sean Avery who is one of the most outspoken hockey players might be taking his talents to Hartford. He's one of 2 players up for the final cut from the Rangers to join the farm team. Avery is infamous for his "sloppy seconds" comments about a fellow hockey player dating his ex which got him exiled from Dallas. And of course this summer he threw a party in LA and allegedly punched cop. He's a bit of a PR nightmare when in the mood but Hartford, CT is a nice little city so I hope he doesn't poison it since NYC is pretty immune to his type of behavior. Since he's in the final year of his contract I don't see him being resigned regardless of where he lands. This could very well be his final season of professional hockey.
Don't think I ever posted this but forgive me if I did. Mike Comrie who has played for a string of NHL teams, but who is better known for his wife (Hilary Duff) and family's business (Canadian furniture company Brick) has decided to take the year off to recover from surgeries that marred last season. Since he was a last minute pick up for only half a million by the Pens right before camp last year, odds are his career is also done.
Finally players get hurt all the time and obviously another player is usually the reason for the injury, but players understand its the nature of the beast and deal pretty well with it. Until fans take advantage of social sites like Twitter that can let you basically have at anyone who doesn't block you. If I was Eric Nystrom, I'd be blocking the world right about because everyone has been attacking him for a legal play (that most believe shouldn't have been legal for years now) that broke Taylor Fedun's femur after they raced for the puck after an icing. Fans have been going after Nystrom on his mirco-blog for injuring Fedun. How Nystrom hasn't had a nervous breakdown from all these attacks is amazing because I'd be losing my mind. Tough skin for sure. And for the record, Nystrom said he feels terrible for what happened so it's not like he's unaware of the injury. People really need to give the kid a breather.
Brendan Shanahan has been busy making lots of video's about suspensions and rule breaking hits and it's only the preseason. Ryan Malone of the Tampa Bay Lightening should get a prize for realizing before he left Montreal last night that he should wait by his phone for a call from Shanahan. He is well aware he will be facing some sort of discipline for hitting Chris Campoli in the head even though he didn't intend to. Maybe this is what Shananhan is trying to do. Make the players realize before he calls them out that they made a bad play or decision.
Sean Avery who is one of the most outspoken hockey players might be taking his talents to Hartford. He's one of 2 players up for the final cut from the Rangers to join the farm team. Avery is infamous for his "sloppy seconds" comments about a fellow hockey player dating his ex which got him exiled from Dallas. And of course this summer he threw a party in LA and allegedly punched cop. He's a bit of a PR nightmare when in the mood but Hartford, CT is a nice little city so I hope he doesn't poison it since NYC is pretty immune to his type of behavior. Since he's in the final year of his contract I don't see him being resigned regardless of where he lands. This could very well be his final season of professional hockey.
Don't think I ever posted this but forgive me if I did. Mike Comrie who has played for a string of NHL teams, but who is better known for his wife (Hilary Duff) and family's business (Canadian furniture company Brick) has decided to take the year off to recover from surgeries that marred last season. Since he was a last minute pick up for only half a million by the Pens right before camp last year, odds are his career is also done.
Finally players get hurt all the time and obviously another player is usually the reason for the injury, but players understand its the nature of the beast and deal pretty well with it. Until fans take advantage of social sites like Twitter that can let you basically have at anyone who doesn't block you. If I was Eric Nystrom, I'd be blocking the world right about because everyone has been attacking him for a legal play (that most believe shouldn't have been legal for years now) that broke Taylor Fedun's femur after they raced for the puck after an icing. Fans have been going after Nystrom on his mirco-blog for injuring Fedun. How Nystrom hasn't had a nervous breakdown from all these attacks is amazing because I'd be losing my mind. Tough skin for sure. And for the record, Nystrom said he feels terrible for what happened so it's not like he's unaware of the injury. People really need to give the kid a breather.
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