..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.
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