HBO said that they can edit the episode up to about an hour before it airs sometimes and last night we were shown why that flexibility is important to making a series named 24/7 be just that. Claude Giroux was only JUST officially diagnosed on Tuesday with a concussion and that was shown last night. We got to see him entering the quiet room for testing, saw more testing the next day and then saw him with a sheet of paper that looked like some type of maze that he had to solve. At the end if this it was established he was concussed. Just think, we only saw a small portion of it and this protocol is done in full everyday to check on the status of a players brain. It was nice to get more of a feel as to what happens since the concussion epidemic is alive and well.
Other things we learned this episode along with Bryz wisdoms (he's a rockstar)
-Laviolette was the first to drop the f-bomb. The good people who unofficially track this stat said there was a total of 43 in this episode. Of the 4 coaches we have seen in 2 series, Bylsma is a boy scout.
-The f-bombs that were used were well placed and not just for the hell of it. I managed to understand what the coaches wants and they seemed to fire up the players.
-Max Talbot managed to 1-up his own ugly sweater from last year.
-Dan Bylsma made a cameo and ripped on Talbot for suddenly being a goal scorer now with the Flyers.
-Jagr has no clue whether his heart or his head made the decision to come to Philly (he said this summer his heart was in Pitt). He claims you have to follow your head not your heart sometimes and fully is aware that the odds his jersey ever hangs from the rafters with Lemieux's are slim to none since he signed with the Flyers. This was the fancy foreigner way of saying " I took the money and ran."
-Wayne Simmonds is one of twenty-eight black players in the league. There's a fact for you. He also concussed his teammate Giroux with a knee to the head. Another fact. Simmonds is going to be fact machine. Fact that I liked best: HBO refrained from playing hard-core rap music while Simmonds was driving through downtown Philly since the moment Simmonds opened his mouth he sounded just like a hipster. Have he and Sean Avery met?
-A group of Rangers took a group of kids from the Garden of Dreams program to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. They needed to wear 3D glasses. Why I would love to know. So glad I got to go before it got all wacky. Highlight for the kids: meeting the Rangers. Highlight for the Rangers: meeting the Rockettes.
-Ryan Callahan has the coolest 90 year old grandma. I hope they manage to fit in her and her fur every chance possible. Rock on grandma C.
-Bryzgalov is the greatest philosopher to ever lace on skates. He moved to Philly to tend goal while players told him Philly would be like "going to hell" and that's its a "miserable market for goalies". At least there are parks in this hell. He also said his son is his mini-me (future generations rejoice, you will still have a Bryz to receive wisdom from) and gave his two cents on the solar system and Russian liquor bottles. The solar system is "humongous" although it sounded more like hu-man-gous coming from him.
-Peter Laviolette believes Bryz "is different". You got that right sir.
Final Bryz quote, "Don't worry, be happy."
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Concussion All-Star Teams
“Crosby is an ambassador for people who have brain injuries and who have endured head trauma, " said Keith Primeau, a 14 year NHL vet said earlier this week. "The fact is, Sidney had the courage to speak up when something wasn’t right. Good for him. Maybe people don’t realize it, but that’s a true sign of courage. It really is.”
And because of his speaking out, being concussed is almost a cool thing to admit to (in a twisted way), so I bring to you the concussion All-Star team. When the actual All-Star teams are determined (by popular fan vote, not just on skill) I will then also make up 2 teams of the concussed (or formerly concussed) players that have earned All-Star distinctions in my book. The determinations will be based on length and star power among other facts that are honestly still to be determined. There's enough people going around that maybe we can even play a legit game (we have two goalies already). Any player who has suffered games lost this season are eligible for this pool. Below I have a assembled a list of players that is probably somewhat inaccurate since it seems almost anyone who plays in the league has visited concussion-ville this season.
Sidney Crosby (Penguins)
*Tyler Kennedy (Penguins)
Kris Letang (Penguins)
Zbynek Michalek (Penguins)
Milan Michalek (Senators- yes he's Z's little brother)
*Ryan Miller (Sabres)
Claude Giroux (Flyers)
Chris Pronger (Flyers)
Andy McDona (Blues)
Brayden Schenn (Flyers)
Mike Richards (Kings)
Marc Staal (Rangers- he was concussed by his own older brother Eric of the 'Canes!)
Jay Beagle (Capitals)
**Marc Savard (Bruins- was shutdown before the season even began)
Robert Bortuzzo (Penguins)
Jeff Skinner (Hurricanes)
Joni Pitkanen (Hurricanes)
Nathan Gerbe (Sabres)
James Reimer (Leafs)
*Aaron Asham (Penguins)
*player had a concussion but is currently back on the active roster and playing
**never played a single game this season
You'd think that with all the players concussed this season that the NHL would compile a running list to help us out at home, but alas they have not. A simple link for each week of the running injury pool would be of great help. But from here on out, I am going to do my best to write down every name I come across that has concussion attached to it.
Now to get ready for 24/7: Rangers-Flyers :)
And because of his speaking out, being concussed is almost a cool thing to admit to (in a twisted way), so I bring to you the concussion All-Star team. When the actual All-Star teams are determined (by popular fan vote, not just on skill) I will then also make up 2 teams of the concussed (or formerly concussed) players that have earned All-Star distinctions in my book. The determinations will be based on length and star power among other facts that are honestly still to be determined. There's enough people going around that maybe we can even play a legit game (we have two goalies already). Any player who has suffered games lost this season are eligible for this pool. Below I have a assembled a list of players that is probably somewhat inaccurate since it seems almost anyone who plays in the league has visited concussion-ville this season.
Sidney Crosby (Penguins)
*Tyler Kennedy (Penguins)
Kris Letang (Penguins)
Zbynek Michalek (Penguins)
Milan Michalek (Senators- yes he's Z's little brother)
*Ryan Miller (Sabres)
Claude Giroux (Flyers)
Chris Pronger (Flyers)
Andy McDona (Blues)
Brayden Schenn (Flyers)
Mike Richards (Kings)
Marc Staal (Rangers- he was concussed by his own older brother Eric of the 'Canes!)
Jay Beagle (Capitals)
**Marc Savard (Bruins- was shutdown before the season even began)
Robert Bortuzzo (Penguins)
Jeff Skinner (Hurricanes)
Joni Pitkanen (Hurricanes)
Nathan Gerbe (Sabres)
James Reimer (Leafs)
*Aaron Asham (Penguins)
*player had a concussion but is currently back on the active roster and playing
**never played a single game this season
You'd think that with all the players concussed this season that the NHL would compile a running list to help us out at home, but alas they have not. A simple link for each week of the running injury pool would be of great help. But from here on out, I am going to do my best to write down every name I come across that has concussion attached to it.
Now to get ready for 24/7: Rangers-Flyers :)
Monday, December 12, 2011
Videos, Jeopardy and 24/7
Shanahan has quietly cornered the market on NHL.com videos. He and his team of experts explain hits and penalties methodically, outlining the 5 W's and one lone H on what happened and what the punishment is and why it fits. But the NHL decided they needed to challenge for the video crown with this gem: The Video Rulebook. In theory this is a great idea that was executed horribly. After watching just 2, I was disappointed and felt like an intern did this to prove to his college that he really did something that didn't involve making coffee. It's just not NHL pro level; just video clips of the action that accompanies the rule. The rule is not given through a voice over, its written next to the video. Once you play the video, you can't see the written rule till its done playing. Good in theory, but bad execution. Shanahan you may keep your crown for now.
Crosby is out for the time being with concussion symptoms. He passed his imPACT test with flying colors compared to January's mess of results, but he won't play till 100% again. He believes that David Krecji's elbow in the 3-1 loss against Boston last week is what did him in. Bylsma had this to say, "It is obviously frustrating for Sid. Sid knows his body better than anybody else. He is not feeling 100 percent. He will return to practice and playing when he is feeling 100 percent." I'm thinking this is far more frustrating for Bylsma who is currently rocking a list of walking wounded that tops out at 9, with 2 listed as day to day. Of the 9, 6 are D men and of that 6, 3 were starters. If you check out the WBS transaction page, they have been one busy little team, signing guys off their ECHL team like they are candy since Pitt keeps taking the next guy on the depth chart.
The LA Kings are the next rumored team in market for a new coach. Winning one more game than they've lost on the season will tend to put a bulls eye on someone's back. At 13-12-4, something has to change and it's usually the coach. Ouch.
In case the Kings want some company in their misery, Mike Murphy of the Hurricanes boasts the strangest record in being the first goalie to lose a game while never having had allowed a goal. Brian Boucher, the Cane's backup goalie was injured so they called up AHL goalie Mike Murphy to replace him. When Ward was pulled, they were already losing 6-3 to Calgary and Murphy got to taste his first NHL action. He blocked 2 shots in 9 minutes but was pulled in favor of the extra attacker. With the net empty, Calgary scored their 7th of the night. Since Murphy was listed as the goalie, even though he was not on the ice when the goal happened, he still gets credited with allowing the goal. In conclusion, he never gave up a goal and stopped all shots he faced, but still has to take credit for Ward's disastrous 6 goal allowance. Awesome rule. This is totally going to be a Jeopardy question one day. Also under new Coach Kirk Muller, the team has gone 1-5. Wonder if that BBQ turned into a party....
Wednesday night marks the return of 24/7, this time featuring the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers. Having recently re-watched episodes 1-3 of last years series with the Penguins and Capitals, a few things stand out that I know I'm interested in seeing. Can anyone make practice seem more fun than Disco Dan and who could be more excited about ice cream at 9am than Bruce? We found that Sid is a coach in training and Ovi is learning the English language quite well. Well at least the one that includes curses thanks to a record number of f*ck's that fell out of Bruce's mouth in a speech. Green rides a Vespa and Rupp wore crazy Santa shirts. Sid is just all out crazy superstitious, while Talbot is an anything goes type guy and Ovi has an array of strange tattoos. The Penguins seemed to have been a cohesive group that shared the ups and downs, while the Capitals seemed more like a bunch of guys who just meet and decided to play some hockey.
Since the two teams being featured are a 2 hour car ride from each other, this will be an all out Atlantic Division war. Rangers coach John Tortorella might have the chance at beating Bruce's f-bomb count, though the Rangers are currently riding a hot streak so there might be less ammunition. Peter Laviolette's Flyers are currently without their Captain Chris Pronger who was suffering from a virus that turned into a knee injury that has since manifested itself as a concussion. Not confusing at all. Over the summer there were rumors that the Flyers locker room had a divide and it was Jeff Carter and Mike Richards versus Pronger and co. I wonder if part of the reason Carter and Richards were jetted off to new teams had anything to do with the fact the cameras would be catching every move this December and Ed Snider didn't want his team looking like fools. You don't tend to just trade players that you signed to crazy long contracts that had good stats. Well you do if your the Flyers and needed a goalie that held all the wisdom in the league I guess.
And in case you had any wonder about who will be providing some awesome quotes, look no further than goalie extraordinaire, Ilya Bryzgalov. This is what he told the media about leaving the game the other night. "It was an equipment issue. No, I'm a bad liar. It's an old boo-boo. It's still sore a little bit." Whatever you say Mr. Bryz.
Crosby is out for the time being with concussion symptoms. He passed his imPACT test with flying colors compared to January's mess of results, but he won't play till 100% again. He believes that David Krecji's elbow in the 3-1 loss against Boston last week is what did him in. Bylsma had this to say, "It is obviously frustrating for Sid. Sid knows his body better than anybody else. He is not feeling 100 percent. He will return to practice and playing when he is feeling 100 percent." I'm thinking this is far more frustrating for Bylsma who is currently rocking a list of walking wounded that tops out at 9, with 2 listed as day to day. Of the 9, 6 are D men and of that 6, 3 were starters. If you check out the WBS transaction page, they have been one busy little team, signing guys off their ECHL team like they are candy since Pitt keeps taking the next guy on the depth chart.
The LA Kings are the next rumored team in market for a new coach. Winning one more game than they've lost on the season will tend to put a bulls eye on someone's back. At 13-12-4, something has to change and it's usually the coach. Ouch.
In case the Kings want some company in their misery, Mike Murphy of the Hurricanes boasts the strangest record in being the first goalie to lose a game while never having had allowed a goal. Brian Boucher, the Cane's backup goalie was injured so they called up AHL goalie Mike Murphy to replace him. When Ward was pulled, they were already losing 6-3 to Calgary and Murphy got to taste his first NHL action. He blocked 2 shots in 9 minutes but was pulled in favor of the extra attacker. With the net empty, Calgary scored their 7th of the night. Since Murphy was listed as the goalie, even though he was not on the ice when the goal happened, he still gets credited with allowing the goal. In conclusion, he never gave up a goal and stopped all shots he faced, but still has to take credit for Ward's disastrous 6 goal allowance. Awesome rule. This is totally going to be a Jeopardy question one day. Also under new Coach Kirk Muller, the team has gone 1-5. Wonder if that BBQ turned into a party....
Wednesday night marks the return of 24/7, this time featuring the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers. Having recently re-watched episodes 1-3 of last years series with the Penguins and Capitals, a few things stand out that I know I'm interested in seeing. Can anyone make practice seem more fun than Disco Dan and who could be more excited about ice cream at 9am than Bruce? We found that Sid is a coach in training and Ovi is learning the English language quite well. Well at least the one that includes curses thanks to a record number of f*ck's that fell out of Bruce's mouth in a speech. Green rides a Vespa and Rupp wore crazy Santa shirts. Sid is just all out crazy superstitious, while Talbot is an anything goes type guy and Ovi has an array of strange tattoos. The Penguins seemed to have been a cohesive group that shared the ups and downs, while the Capitals seemed more like a bunch of guys who just meet and decided to play some hockey.
Since the two teams being featured are a 2 hour car ride from each other, this will be an all out Atlantic Division war. Rangers coach John Tortorella might have the chance at beating Bruce's f-bomb count, though the Rangers are currently riding a hot streak so there might be less ammunition. Peter Laviolette's Flyers are currently without their Captain Chris Pronger who was suffering from a virus that turned into a knee injury that has since manifested itself as a concussion. Not confusing at all. Over the summer there were rumors that the Flyers locker room had a divide and it was Jeff Carter and Mike Richards versus Pronger and co. I wonder if part of the reason Carter and Richards were jetted off to new teams had anything to do with the fact the cameras would be catching every move this December and Ed Snider didn't want his team looking like fools. You don't tend to just trade players that you signed to crazy long contracts that had good stats. Well you do if your the Flyers and needed a goalie that held all the wisdom in the league I guess.
And in case you had any wonder about who will be providing some awesome quotes, look no further than goalie extraordinaire, Ilya Bryzgalov. This is what he told the media about leaving the game the other night. "It was an equipment issue. No, I'm a bad liar. It's an old boo-boo. It's still sore a little bit." Whatever you say Mr. Bryz.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Greetings Once Again
Since I have successfully moved, the NHL decided they too needed a change and managed to vote on a realignment in an hours time yesterday. Yes, they did it in an hour (faster than my move took) and got 26 of 30 votes. It's still nameless and they say they will deal with the naming issues later. Will it become the names of 4 great players or something much more boring? For now, I've dubbed them all something- some are just boring and others have too many fun options)
Conference A (lets just call this the West because that's what it is)
Anaheim Ducks
Calgary Flames
Colorado Avalanche
Edmonton Oilers
LA Kings
Phoenix Coyotes
San Jose Sharks
Vancouver Canucks
Conference B (lets call this the "make Detroit happy conference since we won't let them be in the East")
Chicago Blackhawks
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dallas Stars
Detroit Red Wings
Minnesota Wild
Nashville Predators
St. Louis Blues
Winnipeg Jets
Conference C (lets call this the Eastern conference, or East part A. Snowbirds could also work thanks to very North to the very South travels)
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Florida Panthers
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Tampa Bay Lightening
Toronto Maple Leafs
Conference D (so many names, where to begin. It's really the East part B but technically its the old Atlantic Division with some new toys, or the "Gary Bettman needs to make us all happy because we are a cash cow", but really the best name is "The All-Staal Conference".)
Carolina Hurricanes (Eric is the Captain and Jared is in their farm system)
NJ Devils
NY Islanders
NY Rangers (Marc)
Philadelpia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins (Jordan)
Washington Capitals
I personally like this division of teams. It keeps many rivalries alive that Bettman and Co. can't afford to lose and of course harbors their love for the Ovi-Sid match-up more often (which vaguely still exists in the back of someones' brain somewhere). The Western teams draw of big name talent to warm all those arena seats still is there while attempting to make the Red Wings happy with central timed games and teams in the same travel circle, rather than all West Coast teams.
The travel budgets are going to inflate wildly as Eastern teams are expecting $500,000 to a $1million extra per season due to added expenses headed West that much more often. It does attempt at evening out some of the travel and a team could probably be relocated much more easily (Phoenix). Of course this whole thing began because Winnipeg is playing the current Southeast and they could have done a much more simple swap. 2 Florida clubs playing teams more North than their Atlantic counterparts just shows you how important that Atlantic area is to the revenue the league can make. Being in the same time zone though helps to alleviate the travel a bit.
In other news....
Bruce has settled in with his new team, the Anaheim Ducks (thank god they aren't on 24/7- can you imagine all the potential screw ups just waiting there for him?) and the Caps are slowly trying to find some wins with Hunter. The Hurricanes don't seem to know what happened when they got a new coach and are having a welcome to Carolina BBQ for him I suppose.
The Penguins must have a secret clause in this years agreement with the league to always have a concussed player and since Sid proclaimed that he did time, Kris Letang and Zbynek Michalek have stepped up to the plate. Tyler Kennedy also served his time this season already. No timetable of course. They also have a boatload of injuries: Deryk Engelland is day to day with some unspecified issue and Richard Park is day to day with something lower body (also unspecified). Dustin Jeffrey had a setback in his knee rehab, while Ben Lovejoy (broken thumb) and Brian Strait (elbow) are another 2-4 weeks per the club. Whose left? Has anyone managed to play every game thus far for the team? Wild.
Finally this past May at just 28, Derek Boogaard, a feared enforcer who was known as Boogeyman died of an overdose. His family donated his brain to science at Boston University and in October it was announced they found he had C.T.E. (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) which can be caused from getting hit in the head constantly. It bears many of the same symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Although the lethal drug mixture did kill Boogaard, they believe had he lived,he could have started to experience dementia by his mid-forties. The New York Times has a great (but long) 3-part piece on Boogaard. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
Conference A (lets just call this the West because that's what it is)
Anaheim Ducks
Calgary Flames
Colorado Avalanche
Edmonton Oilers
LA Kings
Phoenix Coyotes
San Jose Sharks
Vancouver Canucks
Conference B (lets call this the "make Detroit happy conference since we won't let them be in the East")
Chicago Blackhawks
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dallas Stars
Detroit Red Wings
Minnesota Wild
Nashville Predators
St. Louis Blues
Winnipeg Jets
Conference C (lets call this the Eastern conference, or East part A. Snowbirds could also work thanks to very North to the very South travels)
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Florida Panthers
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Tampa Bay Lightening
Toronto Maple Leafs
Conference D (so many names, where to begin. It's really the East part B but technically its the old Atlantic Division with some new toys, or the "Gary Bettman needs to make us all happy because we are a cash cow", but really the best name is "The All-Staal Conference".)
Carolina Hurricanes (Eric is the Captain and Jared is in their farm system)
NJ Devils
NY Islanders
NY Rangers (Marc)
Philadelpia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins (Jordan)
Washington Capitals
I personally like this division of teams. It keeps many rivalries alive that Bettman and Co. can't afford to lose and of course harbors their love for the Ovi-Sid match-up more often (which vaguely still exists in the back of someones' brain somewhere). The Western teams draw of big name talent to warm all those arena seats still is there while attempting to make the Red Wings happy with central timed games and teams in the same travel circle, rather than all West Coast teams.
The travel budgets are going to inflate wildly as Eastern teams are expecting $500,000 to a $1million extra per season due to added expenses headed West that much more often. It does attempt at evening out some of the travel and a team could probably be relocated much more easily (Phoenix). Of course this whole thing began because Winnipeg is playing the current Southeast and they could have done a much more simple swap. 2 Florida clubs playing teams more North than their Atlantic counterparts just shows you how important that Atlantic area is to the revenue the league can make. Being in the same time zone though helps to alleviate the travel a bit.
In other news....
Bruce has settled in with his new team, the Anaheim Ducks (thank god they aren't on 24/7- can you imagine all the potential screw ups just waiting there for him?) and the Caps are slowly trying to find some wins with Hunter. The Hurricanes don't seem to know what happened when they got a new coach and are having a welcome to Carolina BBQ for him I suppose.
The Penguins must have a secret clause in this years agreement with the league to always have a concussed player and since Sid proclaimed that he did time, Kris Letang and Zbynek Michalek have stepped up to the plate. Tyler Kennedy also served his time this season already. No timetable of course. They also have a boatload of injuries: Deryk Engelland is day to day with some unspecified issue and Richard Park is day to day with something lower body (also unspecified). Dustin Jeffrey had a setback in his knee rehab, while Ben Lovejoy (broken thumb) and Brian Strait (elbow) are another 2-4 weeks per the club. Whose left? Has anyone managed to play every game thus far for the team? Wild.
Finally this past May at just 28, Derek Boogaard, a feared enforcer who was known as Boogeyman died of an overdose. His family donated his brain to science at Boston University and in October it was announced they found he had C.T.E. (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) which can be caused from getting hit in the head constantly. It bears many of the same symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Although the lethal drug mixture did kill Boogaard, they believe had he lived,he could have started to experience dementia by his mid-forties. The New York Times has a great (but long) 3-part piece on Boogaard. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
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