Monday, February 27, 2012

Trade Dud-line

17 trades went down today and not one of them involved Rick Nash. Awkward.

Last week his GM Scott Howson asked him if he would be willing to waive his no-trade clause and he apparently gave the shortest list of teams possible that he might be willing to join. Then 3pm came and went and Captain Nash jerseys didn't hit the sale rack as expected since he wasn't traded. This isn't to say he won't be traded draft day this June but for now his season will end where it began: in Columbus. Maybe the Blue Jackets are looking to move Howson instead and find someone that can build a team around Rick Nash, James Wisniewski and newly acquired Jack Johnson, except that they are still missing that high scoring winger for Nash. Oh wait, they traded him to LA since he made it known he disliked being in the middle of nowhere since the day they picked up him last summer. So the Blue Jackets are almost back to where they started. Once again. It's gotta be like groundhog day there, year after year after year....

The best name and pickups made today have to be Daniel Winnik and TJ Galiardi to the San Jose Sharks. The trades are all right here.

Have to say hockey Christmas was disappointing this year. It was almost like your mom told you you were going to get a new bike and there was no bike. Wonder if this is how Nash feels right now. He was so close to leaving for a team with a chance of making the playoffs, but he's still so far...Maybe he secretly likes having from April thru August to play golf....

Hockey Christmas Once Again

Well it's finally here. The trade deadline for the 2011-2012 season is here. 3pm rosters will be mostly set barring any emergency call up and shuffling within the organizations own system. The AHL has moved their deadline for final rosters till March 5 to give the teams some breathing room in figuring out who to put where (so in this case the recent call up of the Baby Penguins goalie Brad Theissen; he can still head back to WBS through the 5th, so the Penguins can decided between him and Johnny if need be).

Last week we had our first big name player moved: Jeff Carter. I saw this trade coming a mile away and I'm glad they didn't make us wait any longer. Jack Johnson for Jeff Carter. Sorry for Johnson having to head to the Blue Jackets but I have a feeling Carter and his old buddy Mike Richards will be lighting up the place once again. Now they can sleep more soundly knowing they are not only in the same time zone again, but most likely in the same house. C'mon, you don't really think Richards is gunna let Carter sleep in a hotel room for the rest of the season? Isn't that why he has a guest bedroom? He's been waiting to be reunited with his bff!! Jackets got a good D but whats 1 more decent piece of the pie if you traded a good one away (though that piece made it clear he never wanted to be there). Kings win in this trade.

Nashville is reported to have just reunited the Kostitsyn brothers by bringing in Andrei from the Canadiens. His brother Sergei already plays for Nashville. Reunions are always nice, especially since your brother isn't going to make you sleep in a hotel...at least you hope not.

The New York Rangers are apparently out of the Rick Nash derby (thank god) but hopefully Glen Sather can control himself and not do anything potentially more stupid than selling off assets to bring in Nash; like selling of assets to bring in useless pieces that will hurt the cap. Sather, just sit pretty like Pens GM Ray Shero. Shero is rumored to be doing nothing today since he's not thrilled with the options out there. He knows the missing puzzle piece is already in Pittsburgh, just sitting on the IR eating hot dogs in the press box instead of dressing for games. He might be looking for a backup goalie, but he currently has Theissen up from WBS and he won his first NHL game last night. Theissen is also the reigning AHL goalie of the year. Could he stick up in Pitt for the remainder of the season to give Flower a rest? Interesting possibility.

More later after the deadline has passed...

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Starting to heat up

Since February ends in just over a week that means the NHL trade deadline for the 2011-2012 season is fast approaching. Before we know it we will be talking about off season acquisitions, who made the most of draft day and where the Stanley Cup got to travel to and what hijinks it managed to get into (along with it's player-babysitter). But before we get to that point, we have a deadline to adhere to.

Some minor trades have been made in the past week (here is a list on ESPN that is tracking all the trades this season), but the Habs trading Hal Gill signaled the beginning of the end of Montreal's season. They are now thinking about golf shirts and where to vacation sans a Stanley Cup on their arm. Dismantling mode is in full effect for the Habs. Gill on the other hand is continuing his tour of Eastern North America. Nashville is his 5th stop on the Eastern coast, having been to Boston, Toronto, Pittsburgh and Montreal already. Wonder if he has West Coast issues? Anyway, the U.S.S. Hal Gill has been docked in Nashville - for now.

Evgeni Malkin has continued on in beast mode for the Penguins and is making a case for a nice extension when he's due. James Neal was due for an extension and he decided to dominate all Penguins wingers by being the first in a decade to break the 30 goal mark. For this feat, he inked himself a 6 year $30million contract, averaging $5million a year. Nice raise from the under $3million he's making now. I'm thinking Mario and Ray bought themselves a bottle to congratulate themselves on picking him up last year. He barely cost a human since they received Matt Niskanen (D) with Neal in the package for Goligoski and Nisky has been much more reliable than the overpaid services of Paul Martin, who can't seem to decided which Paul will play each game. Now if Shero can do something about Martin's contract, he's officially the mad scientist of building hockey teams.

An unofficially kept stat is man games lost. The teams all track this but the league doesn't (you would think they would) and currently battling it out for the number one ranking are the Penguins and Canadiens who are ranked 1 and 2 respectively. Oddly enough these teams are on different paths with the Penguins doing everything to hold on to a playoff spot and sure up their roster, while the Habs are in selling mode. Obviously the biggest reason why the Penguins are up this high is Sidney Crosby who has accounted for a bulk of missing games. Imagine if Crosby was playing, Malkin was in beast mode and Neal was playing on his current pace? The Penguins would be going toe to toe with the Rangers. Maybe its a good thing they are not because I have always liked the Rangers having grown up watching their games mainly (till I moved to PA and had no access to MSG airings and had the Baby Pens in my backyard) and that would be tough to pick a team to root for harder.

One of last seasons biggest off season signings was the Rangers signing Brad Richards, but his story was one and done. He knew he wanted New York and New York wanted him. A few teams tried to make a pitch for him and he kindly listened to them but his mind was made up before Wayne Gretzky came on screen to tell him LA was the place to finish out the next 9 years of his career. He wisely went with his gut and suddenly the Rangers chemistry this season is off the charts. They have a lead over the league and have a goalie who looks to be on his way to winning his first Vezina. They have all the right ingredients and a coach who still thinks they can elevate their game, and they have all bought in.

The big question they are asking now is should Glen Sather mess with success and chemistry by attempting to bring in Rick Nash? Do they need Nash? No. Would be a great pick up? Yes. Will he mess with chemistry? Possibly. There's no way of knowing what a trade can do. In this case he can be an asset since he is a proven scoring winger that the Rangers want, but I'm not sold that it's that needed. Plus the Rangers have a history is screwing up contracts and then needing to buyout or pray someone retires to get it off the books. I say the Rangers need to stay out of this race. Plus if Zach Parise is available this off season, he's a better pick in my opinion if the Rangers decide to go that direction.

The second biggest off season trade last season was the soap opera of them all and seems to still be going on. This one almost made the Ilya Kovalchuk trade from the then Thrashers to the Devils look tame. This trade saw the Coyotes offload "I need parks" goalie Ilya Bryzgalov to the Philadelphia Flyers who had to in turn dump the salaries and personalities of Captain Mike Richards and his co-pilot Jeff Carter to the LA Kings and Columbus Blue Jackets respectively. Richards faced his fate quite well since LA parties are in a different league than a Philly party. Carter had a much harder time facing his fate. Ohio does not sound appealing and their team record is even less appealing. A year before he was on a team battling it out against the Blackhawk's for the Cup win and now he is somewhere in Ohio. He made it clear he was not happy to be in Ohio by not making a statement for days and not showing up for a over a week. He killed any chance he had of being liked by fans there before he even showed up since he can't fake happiness and now he might be on a one-way train out of town. I'm guessing he will attempt to be nicer to the next team immediately so he doesn't wear his 4th jersey in a 2 year period. Carter seems like a sure trade from the Jackets to any team willing to give them anything half-decent in exchange. His contract for $5 million through the 2022 season will scare away most teams before his attitude even came into play. A reunion with his buddy Richards in LA might be possible because the Jackets need a goalie and the Kings have one to spare.

So this trade seems to have been 2/3's of a disaster all around. Richards seems to be the only one adjusted and happy. Carter is Charlie Brown come to life and Bryz had a staring moment in 24/7 only to not star in the Winter Classic and drink tea from his thermos while watching the action on the heated bench. Bryz could have a tv show with his thoughts and my god would be he make a great dinner buddy but he's not exactly playing the way Philly imagined when they traded away 2 young guys that have proven scoring abilities. Since Philly needs help scoring, they are interested in entering the Rick Nash derby. Could they trade away Bryz and the remainder of his 9 year, $51 million dollar contract to the Blue Jackets for Nash? Doesn't seem out of the realm of possibiity at this point. It doesn't matter who is in goal for the Flyers these days, whichever Russian it is, they have a breakdown of some sort so why not trade away another disaster contract before he poisons the team and has little upside to any team. Right now you can say Philly wasn't a good fit, but another season or 2 and you've exposed him to just not being that elite goalie he was built up to be. Trade him while his stock is still decent. Maybe Philly should invent a league in which teams don't need goalies, they'd do quite well then. I think.

Teams interesed in the Rick Nash derby: NY Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs (he's from the area) and the LA Kings. The Jackets have some interesting options since they are shopping 2 high profile names. The Nash trade will be harder since he has a no movement clause that allows him to veto any deal he doesn't like, so if he has issues with say the city the team is in, he can stay put and not be forced to leave his death sentence in Ohio. Of course since he signed the death sentence I can't say I'd be shocked if he stays put.

Moral of the story: a trade does not always translate as well in real life as it does on paper. And when it comes to Philly, it really is goalie hell.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

And in other news...

In the 'what took so long' category:

-Mike Comrie announced his retirement. After undergoing his 3rd hip surgery in 5 years, he has finally decided to announce what everyone else realized last season, sometime around November, that his career was done.

-Rick Nash has finally realized he will NEVER win a Cup with the Blue Jackets. Only took 6 years.

-Zac Rinaldo of the Flyers was suspended. It seems he's been hitting everything that gets in his path these days so it was only a matter of time he felt the Shanan-hammer. He had ample chances to avoid it.


In the 'still waiting' category:
-Marc Savard to announce his retirement.

-Rick Nash to say these words outloud, "I would like to explore my options with a team that can compete for a Cup before my grandkids enter the league in 50 years"

-No real word on the future of hockey in the Phoenix desert, only the same mumble jumble. But the never-say-die Coyotes are making it difficult for people to not want to pull for them. Most GM's were hoping to dismantle the team at the trade deadline and feast on key players, but instead the boys are playing for their lives and hanging on to a playoff dream, which means they are not in a selling bodies off state of mind.

-Brian Burke for the first time might not have a fire sale of players before the deadline this year. He's still got 2 weeks to work some magic, but the Leafs seem interested in playing hockey and making the playoffs which could mean Burke won't sell off assets. It's nice to see a team grow up like this. But like I said, he's still got 2 weeks.


In the 'no surprise' category:
-The Devils plan on retaining Zach Parise till he's a free agent to get last bit out of him. They dream of resigning him, but their creditors have dreams of getting their money back. He's in a line for a payday that the Devils just can't provide right now.

-Rick Nash not saying he wants out of Columbus. He's too nice to do such a rude thing, but being nice will only get you so far. Like being stuck in Columbus for the next 6 years after having already been there for 6 years.

-The Jeff Carter experiment in Columbus has gone belly up and he wants out and they want him out. (He is everything Nash is not when it comes to voicing his opinions). The problem: That lifetime contract for over $5 million a year through the 2022 season. WTF. Contracts like that (you can thank the Flyers) should never be allowed to be moved, they should be stuck with the team that wrote them for life.

-The Capitals are hot mess and continue to spiral in ways no one has seen since they picked up Ovie and co. Alexander Semin is apparently on the trade block and if he doesn't leave town before March, he will be preparing for what his most likely his last spring in the nations' Capital. The Caps are not only in danger of not winning the Southeast which they have usually dominated, they might also miss the playoffs. Then again when your goalie juggles the puck into the net to allow a goal, maybe you shouldn't be in the playoffs.

-The Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman released a statement yammering on about supporting his head coach, Joel Quenneville through Chicago's recent struggles. This translates loosely to, "Joel, brush up your resume because it might come in handy this summer". Many coaches just a few years removed from a Stanley Cup winning season have been relieved of their coaching duties and the path Quenneville is on currently looking like a one way street to unemployment.

-The Philadelphia Flyers can't find a goalie that can win a game. They paid Bryz a handsome sum of money last off season to lure him to "goalie hell" from the desert and he's spent a fair amount of time warming the bench since Bobrovsky, his backup, had the hot hand. That hot hand has lasted for a hot second it seems since Bob is just as messed up as Bryz. A goalie tandem that can't figure out who should try to be the hero- which means nothing has changed in Philly. Nothing.

-The New York Rangers want a Stanley Cup. And they want it NOW. With their roster already reading like an All-Star lineup with names like Callahan, Richards, Lundquist, Gaborik, Girardi and Staal, they are poised for a deep playoff run, but bringing in Rick Nash could be a great addition. And wouldn't it be nice to see him play for a team with some real talent? This rumor has grown some legs since the Blue Jacket scouts have been roaming around the Garden and have made no secret that they want Brandon Dubinsky. Can you imagine, NYC could potentially have a second parade down the Canyon of Hero's in one year? Get it done Rangers....Where's Messier to make "the guarantee" part deux because we all know Captain Cally isn't stupid enough to do that like his predecessor.

And in honor of this utterly ridiculous holiday (Valentines Day: also referred to as the day before the candy goes on sale and 2 months till my birthday), Puck Daddy has some Valentine candy hearts, photoshopped with saying for various players. This is a rather good use of candy hearts since I think they are rather terrible tasting. Enjoy!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Super Bowl Sunday

Its the last Sunday of the football season and that means someone tonight will be hoisting the Lombardi trophy and another guy will be saying he's heading to Disney! Of course since its the Giants I'm even more excited than usual. From the game to the commercials to the halftime act, there's something for everyone. Of course Madonna singing some horrible new song this year will be highly debated since she has a collection of hits she could tap into, but I can always use this time to go to the bathroom since when else are you expected to go?

While reading articles this past week leading up to the showdown, I started to think about superstitions. Every sport and athlete has their own quirks about this stuff but do fans also have some superstitions? I possibly might fall into that category. I have a really cool Giants shirt that my step-dad had made for me but I wore it one fateful Sunday and guess who lost? That's right. The Giants lost and where has that shirt been on Sundays since then? The drawer. A bit superstitious? Maybe. But how can I wear it when they are on such a hot streak that has lead them back to a rematch of 4 years ago? I have my Manning jersey that I have been faithfully rocking since the t-shirt loss incident and will continue to do so today. Maybe next week I can safely wear that made for me t-shirt again when the champion will have been determined and my choice of clothing can no longer affect who will win. Nuts I know, but if I as a life-long Giants fan can have a thought like this, imagine what the athletes think and go through.

As we all know Sidney Crosby comes from Planet Crosby with his mile long list of superstitions that were featured in 24/7 but they left out the fact that he refuses to talk to him mom before a game. Mom is bad luck for him since he's been injured every time he's had a pregame chat with her. Yikesss

Here's some other famous guys with some of their quirkiness, er superstitions.

-Michael Jordan always wore his UNC baby blue Tar Heel shorts under his Bulls shorts.

-Caron Butler who played for the Wizards had a few strange ones. He would chug half a 2 liter of Mountain Dew before the game and the rest at halftime. He also liked to chew on straws, but they had to be McDonald's straws. Dollar store straws be damned!

-NFLer John Henderson would have the assistant trainer slap him on the face before games. That's one way to get pumped up I suppose.

-Former Yankee closer John Wetteland used the same hat season after season after season...I'm doubting it was allowed to be washed either. Gross

-Wade Boggs is another one with a list a mile long, but how about this; pre-game meal of chicken, exactly 150 ground balls and he could only enter the batting cage at 5:17 and then started wind sprints at exactly 7:17.

-Tiger Woods in a red shirt for the final rounds, as an ode to his alma mater Standford.

-NBA player Mike Bibby in college would sleep in his game day shorts the night before a game. When he made the NBA he started to bite his nails during the game until someone gave him fingernail clippers. Now when he hits the bench he is handed his clippers to work on his nail. WOW. Would he like some polish with that?

...and of course hockey players are the worst of the bunch.....

-Goalie Patrick Roy refused to step on the red or blue lines on ice and talked to the goal posts like they were friends.

-Another goalie (they are simply just nuts) Pelle Lindbergh, would only drink a Swedish beverage called Pripps in between periods but it had to be served just right: 2 ice cubes and it must be delivered by the trainer. He also made the team keep resewing his favorite t-shirt that he wore under his uniform when it got holes in it instead of getting a new one.

-Current Czar of discipline Brendan Shanahan should enjoy today's halftime show, since he used to rock out to Madonna before games.

-The Senators have a team superstition in hotels. They stay in the same hotel in each city and if they begin to lose to the home team too much, they switch hotels.

-Danny Briere rewards his sticks. He has 3 with him and if he has a good game, he gives that stick the night off.

-Joe Nieuwendyk eats 2 pieces of toast before games and they can only have peanut butter on them

Suddenly my t-shirt issues don't seem so crazy. But to keep myself sane, I'll wear my number 10 jersey. You don't mess with success do you?

Friday, January 27, 2012

Mid Way Point

All Star Break is upon us (how) and I suppose its time to make our All-Concussion rosters since last night the real All-Stars (minus many "stars") were divided into teams. There were more stars missing this year which I'm 99.9% sure is not the point of this game. Ovi (who never should have made the lineup to begin with) withdrew since he is in the middle of serving a suspension against Zybenek Michalek of the Penguins. If you ask me he never should have had the option of withdrawing, as a suspended player they shouldn't have the ability to even go to game, but it is what it is.

Before we get into the All-Star lineups that were drafted last night and my All-Star Concussion teams, we need to make some notes. James Neal of the Penguins replaced Ovi in the lineup (he deserved to be named originally over Ovi since he's had better numbers all season) and Kris Letang was named to the lineup to replace an injured D-man. The Penguins already had Malkin on the lineup from the original announcement so now they had 3. I for one would be mad if I didn't make the orginal lineup then made plans to head to sunny Florida or SoCal to be later told yes, your an All-Star. I would have passed and I'm starting to think the injury reasons and players asking to not be considered for the game are using this train of thought.

The NFL fixed the need to want to skip by moving their Pro Bowl to the week before the Super Bowl and just replace the All-Stars that are from the teams in the Big Game. Makes way more sense. NO risk of injury for the rest of the season and a chance to rest and relax for a few days. Plus the NFL pay for the guys to hit up Hawaii, not some random city every year. Last year the NHL held their festivities in Carolina where the weather is decent in January. This year they chose Ottawa. In January. Wouldn't you skip too if you had the chance? Per James Neal, no. He had plans in Florida and said his first ASG was more important. What about number 2 sir?

Here are 2 links to the actual ASG lineups. The first is a story about the lines that were drawn in the picking selection (interesting techniques) and the second a picture lineup of the teams because pictures make the world a better place.

There was of course another notable concussion suffered before the break to Danny Briere who hosts a rookie Flyer annually to live in his house and play with his kids (as we saw on 24/7) and needs to now be added to our never ending list. So without further ado, here is the All-Star All-Concussion teams. (Severity, length of time out and star power all played influential roles. Also not all teams have a player on this list since some teams love concussions much more than others. Last note, there are 6 forwards, 6 defensemen and 1 goalie per team. This is due largely in part to number of players to pick from that has suffered from a concussion)

For the naming of the Captains, I chose to pick 2 of the players that have been shelved the longest, thus we have a Savard vs. Crosby showdown (aka Savvy versus Crazy)

Team Savvy

FORWARDS
Marc Savard (he's been out for a year already!)
Nathan Horton (teammates gotta stick together)
Guillaume Latendresse (spelling and pronunciation class are now in session)
Evander Kane (he was forced to the Peg this summer from ATL, he deserves a trip to our imaginary game)
Tyler Kennedy (because he's call the President and everyone needs a leader)

DEFENSEMEN
Chris Pronger (he and Savvy can have a heart to heart about retirement options)
Jay Beagle (he can give his 2 cents on Ovi to rest of the league)
Brayden Scheen (he got a concussion before he scored his first goal. Gotta be a record of some sort)
Nathan Gerbe
Micahel Sauer (brother of Kurt)
Kurt Sauer (brother of Micahel)
Ian Laperriere

GOALIE
James Reimer

Team Crazy

FORWARDS
Sidney Crosby (leader of the crazy train)
Claude Giroux (I would so love Giroux to play with Crosby in real life so in pretend life I can make this happen)
Mike Richards (he needs to remind Giroux that he was traded to a team in SoCal and he's still in Philly in the dead of winter)
Danny Briere (it's a friggin Philly reunion- all aboard)
Milan Michalek (brother of Z)
James Van Riemsdyk (he wanted in on the Philly party and figured a concussion was the fastest way)

DEFENSEMEN
Kris Letang (Crosby needs his friends close)
Marc Staal (he can chat about his yougner bro Jordan with the Penguins
Victor Hedman (Crosby wants anyone who might try to injure him again on his team)
John Michael-Liles (sounds like he should be in a movie like 16 Candles)
Nicklas Backstrom
Zybenek Michalek (brothers gotta stick together!)

GOALIE
Ryan Miller (he and Sid will battle that final goal of the Olympics over and over and over....)

So we have 2 sets of brothers with one of each team. Didn't feel like they should play against each other since we already saw Eric Staal concuss Marc last season and we don't want any more bad Sunday dinner stories.

And though we are on ASG break, teams are still shopping around players and Jeff Carter who was a victim of the Flyers overhaul last season is on the block again. His 10 year contract for just under $6 million a season is not one many teams want to take on but the dying Blue Jackets can't really afford it anymore (since they are holding onto that number with pick with death grips and it's only January). Another notable name that could be up for grabs: Zach Parise. The Devils are financally unstable and they could lose him simply because they can't afford him.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

The Kid Skates, Glass Jaw heads for OR

It's almost like groundhog day in the NHL. Sidney Crosby has begun skating again. Rick DiPietro is going to have surgery ending his season. Mike Green is back on the IR with his groin injury. Brian Burke is trying to trade away his team before the deadline. The Habs are losers and continuing to lose in new ways. The ASG has been set (and how strange it is) and we have another concussed player to add to the mix.

Ray Shero calmly reminds everyone on Earth that Crosby not cleared for contact or games yet because he doesn't want anyone getting excited. The Penguins seem to have this concussion stuff down to a science. Crosby said he knows more of how he should feel and how to deal. The entire team donned a C (or K in the Russian's case) on their practice jersey in response to a ridiculous article about them not wanting Sid as their captain anymore. Ironically the captain himself didn't have a C taped his jersey. Maybe the taped on C's had some effect since the Penguins broke the losing streak and won last night. Kris Letang has begun light exercise in his concussion rehab. Full comments on Crosby and his view on life, captaincy, being a distraction and the league are here.

Rick DiPetro will once again (not shockingly) finish off his season on the IR. He will be under going sports hernia surgery shortly and they might have him back in April. For the end of the season clean out your locker party. Not the playoffs since a- they probably won't make the playoffs and b- he might fall to pieces if they did use him. "I'm almost bionic at this point" he told Newsday. At least he's honest.

RJ Umberger of the league losing Blue Jackets (with a whopping 29 overall points, good enough for last place with no competition) has been put on the shelf with a concussion. Cue his All-Star bid for the concussed team.

Mike Cammalleri was pulled from Thursday night's Habs game in the 2nd period, told to shower and go back to the Boston hotel the team had checked out of. He would stay there while awaiting further instructions and his luggage- he was being traded. Teams have since said they didn't know he was on the trade block and it's possible the Flames (his first team) and the Habs had been discussing the trade for some time, but why pull the plug mid-game is the question. In reality his 'loser' comments about the Habs probably had some underling tone as to why they did it. The Habs are still losers though since they have more issues than the Titanic did. They seem to be most worried about having a French speaking coach more than getting something going on ice. In this case the Flames who have been quietly making a case for a playoff run gained a 29 year old with much upside. Cam Cole of the National Post has a great write up touching on all the issues the Habs have going on.

The All-Star Game roster in Ottawa is set. It oddly enough features lots of Ottawa players (no stuffing the ballot-box though) and has left out an assortment of deserving players. Of course Ovi made the roster and considering how un All-Star like he's been playing (even by normal player standards) him making the team is quite questionable. Here's the roster. Here's Down Goes Brown take on All-Star snubs and their mid season review. Both are funny and quite accurate.

And in case you wanted to find out how Gary Bettman's New Years party went, here's DGB take on that also.

Till next time...

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Who Wants to Play for the Penguins?

It's about 4 players away from being a legit question. You may not lace up your skates in the 'burgh, but their entire farm system is on the verge of being emptied so I'm sure somewhere between WBS and Wheeling you can get yourself a roster spot. In fact when I saw WBS play in mid-December they had 20 guys on the game roster. If that's not a ominous sign, then what is?

In case your wondering, James Neal, Jordan Staal and Craig Adams have joined the party. Neal has a broken foot and is out indefinitely. Staal has a torn MCL and out is weeks. Adams re-injured his knee in practice this morning and is questionable. Lets just go with he's on a little vacation. Crosby I think fled the country, and Letang might have joined him. Of course since they have concussions, I wonder who is leading who. Aaron Asham also apparently wasn't interested in playing and has something wrong with him, but won't tell anyone. Dustin Jeffery (remember him) is still having knee issues from last season. I'm thinking at this point he's just scared he goes and plays one game and then he'll end up hurt again. He might as well just stay where he is with one injury. The situation has gotten so bad that Dupuis who typically is a winger (for the MIA Crosby) is playing center somewhere in the lineup. Where is the bubble wrap for the 3 uninjured players on the team? Wrap them up and ship them off to a vacation.

The team already has lost 250 man games to injury this far and it's January 8. Currently they are in first place in this category. They ended last season with 350 man games lost and at the pace they are collecting injuries as opposed to points, they could blow that number away by over 100 games. Glad to know they are good at something. I hope the trainers are being paid well because they earning their keep this season. Just for good measure, former Pen Mark Letestu has a Linkbroken hand. It's a curse.

Predators Shea Weber has been cleared to play from his concussion. Senators Chris Phillips has been diagnosed with one. Here's a great list of concussions (it has some suspensions also but still a worthwhile timeline for this season). I'm starting to wonder if the All-Star concussion team should be playing the starting lineup for the Penguins IR. Between the head cases and wonky knees, not sure if they could even last a period.

In some feel good news, Coyotes Captain Shane Doan scored his first hat trick. It only took him 16 seasons, 1,161 games and 308 previous goals to reach this accomplishment. With 38 games where he scored 2 goals, even he wasn't sure the hatty would happen for him. Talk about a jeopardy question.

The NHLPA voted against realignment on Friday. Many players cited reasons such as travel budgets, extra time on the road (longer trips) and how playoffs would look having 2 conferences of 7 teams and 2 of 8. Granted the 7 and 8 is a bit strange, but this solved so many issues and evened out the Western travel a bit by forcing Eastern teams to travel a bit more. The NHL said they are considering filing a grievance against the NHLPA. In case anyone was wondering, the CBA battle has unofficially began and it's not looking like it's going to be pretty. Also of interest, Winnipeg will still be a part of the Southeast division. Because that's not messing with their travel budget one bit...

The final episode of 24/7 this season aired Thursday night and boy did it blow last seasons out of the water. Thanks to the horrible officiating in the 3rd period and Torts being Torts and speaking his mind, he was fined $30,000. Hopefully he views this as the best $30,000 he has ever spent because unless you are blinded by your Flyers love, you know that those last calls were just bad. Torts will be gracing us as a coach at the All-Star game. Can't wait.

Till then, here are my thoughts and opinions on the final episode of Rangers-Flyers

-Sean Avery is a space cadet who was dropped into this world. Free refills on OJ, sunglasses at breakfast? Your not hungover and Brandon Prust is trying to be nice and sit with you. Really not sure if anyone on the team will ever miss him. Also Torts interview on the plane where he address' the Avery being sent down situation was perfect. Avery is more a character than a hockey player and when a guy like Marc Staal is ready to play, you remove space cadets in favor a real player. No questions asked.

-Bryz is on the verge of being an over paid backup goalie who is a loudmouth that goes against organization policy. When your winning, you get some lax and leeway but when your losing and being pulled in favor of your backup in an event like the Winter Classic, you might want to learn to control your mouth a bit. They have a kindergartener on their hands that is making $51 million dollars on a 9 year deal. I think Philly might really be cursed in the goalie position. The major plus for them about Bobrovsky is he still has no command of the English language and uses a translator. So he can't really speak out of line since someone else is really speaking for him.

-Brandon Prust at the bench saying he wanted to punch a Panthers player that sucker punched Michael Del Zotto but didn't because he didn't want to risk a Shanaban. Mike Rupp took over with no fear (and no suspension). This was great to see a player using his brain and realizing everything could have a consequence. Either he's really that smart or Shanahan has truly gotten his message across (at least to some players).

-The projector dying while Torts is having a film session in the hotel on the road was hilarious. You've got guys singing and Torts and company cursing like the Titanic just hit the ice burg. Wonder if they knew it wasn't that serious.

-New Years Eve and Dubinsky's grandfather tells them all to drink up. The family appearances
this season are priceless.

-"If your life is complicated with people in town, make sure you get rid of the people." Sure. No problem. Are we going Soprano style or what?

-Mike Rupp giving plain and simple advice to his teammates before the game. He knew how bad conditions could get (like last years pond) and managed to become the hero of the game with 2 goals. The chirping from the Flyers about him scoring the first goal was great since right after they said he scores once a year, he got the 2nd one on net. Brad Richards got the winner since he likes to constantly remind people that he was actually worth his 9 year contract for $60 million.

-Claude Giroux asking Lundqvist if he can just have one goal tonight. Henrik said no, but Giroux did in fact score on him later.

-The embellishment call on Callahan is still crap. Danny Briere penalty shot in slo-mo was cool, but the whole sequence never should have happened. Even Torts said so.

-They ended this season showing us smiling facing. They opened this season showing us faces of serious guys. No smiles allowed. The bookends to it tie it up in a neat little package they way we like things to be.

In case you wanted to know why the Rangers won the Winter Classic and why they are just on fire right now, here are the 8 reasons according to nhl.com. Good stuff.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

I Promise I Didn't Fall of the Face of the Planet

Sorry I've been MIA. Haven't really been feeling so blog like lately and have been doing all sorts of fun stuff in the real world, as opposed to the cyber world. Also this season is beginning to wear on me -how many MORE guys can get a concussion? Are we going for the Guinness Book of Records here? Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators has joined the All-Star rankings in concussionville. Awesome since we need some more d-men to chose from. Moving on.

Martin St. Louis has decided to grow up and wear a visor after a puck attacked his face. He admits that until you get hit in the face, it's hard to want to wear one. Yay. So next seasons epidemic will be facial injuries till the entire league wears a visor. Wow. I don't really know what to say. If you need your face to be smashed by frozen rubber as a reason to wear a visor you really have a mental block of some sort (but that's just my opinion).

The Winter Classic is tomorrow and the game has been moved back by two hours from 1pm to 3pm due to unseasonably warm weather and rain as opposed to snow. Don't know if anyone else feels this way but has the game reached its high point. The first few times were cool, but for the second year it's a team that's already played in one. Plus global warming or el nino or some wacky weather pattern is wrecking havoc on the winter weather that the game was supposed to be played in. The snow globe that was the first game in Buffalo hosting the Penguins: hell yes. Last years disaster of melting ice mixed with falling rain: hell no. Since we can't control mother nature, why don't we control the temperature of the ice a bit more. The game becomes bigger than itself when its played outdoors. But both teams are sacrificing a game that could affect playoff pictures. They are playing 81 games in a controlled environment and everyone else is playing 82. It's only one game, but with the playoff races so tight each season, that one game could be the difference and soft ice just sounds like a sad excuse when it comes to crunch time.

The best thing to come out of the Winter Classic very well might be HBO's 24/7 series. It's just amazing. The second and third episodes have aired and I have my thoughts on them below. Before I get to them, Bryzgalov announced today that he would not be the starting goalie. The $51 million dollar man will be warming the bench possibly drinking early grey tea with lots of sugar (per Bryz himself). Bryz fails to see the craziness of this situation, though the rest of the world has already addressed it. As the starting goalie, shouldn't he be playing on the biggest stage of their season? I guess its not a big deal when he's the NHL's leading philosopher since he'll have the most positive outlook on it.

Thoughts and highlights of episode 2

-Won't lie this episode was a bit slow. We saw NYR Dan Giradri's adorable son Landon showing up his dad with his plastic stick work. (FYI- No little kid will top Rhys Adams naming all the players in the Penguins hallway. Just listening to him was hilarious)

-The Flyers rookies talking about playing against Jagr in Sega Genesis. Can't get much better to show the generation difference between Jagr and the newbies.

-Bryz compares his Siberian Husky to a blonde haired hot girl. Watching it unfold was mesmerizing. Hearing it was unreal.

-Torts and Liam. It's enough to bring tears to your eyes. If you didn't get a bit emotional, as Jennifer Aniston would say your missing a "sensitivity chip".

-Claude Giroux looking more bewildered about Matt Carle's "flavor of the month" comment than he did when he was diagnosed with a concussion. Of course to be honest, I was just as confused as Giroux. Not the usual phrasing for an injury.

-The new catch phrase for when things don't go your way in a game is "Typical Montreal" per Flyers coach Peter Laviolette. Sure. We can make this work for any time. I suppose when they lose to the Rangers its "Typical Rangers". We can always flip this on them, those "Typical Flyers". Better you make a catch phrase you really need to ensure it can't be used against you in the future. Opps. Typical Philly. This could go on foreverrrrr.....


Thoughts and highlights of episode 3

-This episode went back to its crazy roots showing us the fun stuff we want to see. The guys chirping on the ice and how wacky they can get off the ice. If you need proof of off the ice hijinks, just look at the Rangers ugly sweater party hosted by Brad Richards. It was pretty epic. (Note: last season Flower hosted an ugly sweater party for the Pens but refused to let the cameras in his house so I'm sure we missed some goodies)
-Brian Boyle was WASTED and screaming lines from Elf while dressed as an Elf
-Ryan Callahan literally had everything but the kitchen sink on his flashing sweater, including sunglasses tucked in as Sean Avery would do (he said it)
-Brad Richards might not be worrying about the universe, but he's quick on the uptake,"It was supposed to be an ugly sweater party and it turned into a Halloween party it seems". I'm in full agreement.

-Claude Giroux coming back from a concussion and rocking the place. I like him a lot and I'm happy for cheer for him, just not the team he plays for. I'd love him if he didn't play for the Flyers. C'est la vie.

-Lumberjack Marian Gaborik throwing a Christmas tree over his shoulder and walking past a downtown elementary school to get back to his apartment. It literally sums up life in the city. Typical NYC living.

-Brian Boyle going home to the biggest family ever. He's one of 13 children. They should do a whole episode just following that family around for 2 days. It reminded me of the opening scene of Home Alone, complete chaos.

-Bryz was almost forgotten this episode. I think he peaked too early, but his dog ate the food off the dish, his kids decided who was more Russianier or Americanier and he had a duck for Christmas? Really I don't have any clue. Nothing will surprise me when it comes to Bryz.

And finally Brad Richards with the chirp of the episode (season maybe) to Tom Sestito, "One day in the NHL for you. Fantasy camp for you.” OUCHHHHH

Till the next and final episode. Happy 2012!