Happy Halloween, courtesy of some Habs, Flyers and...a random Leafs stalker.
Thanks to Vancouver Canucks Op Ed for this video. Frankly, this shows a whole other side to these guys that I'm not sure I'm entirely comfortable with. They're playing the Sens tonight, how much would I love it if they wore those wigs?
Not exactly the "starting line of the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers" is it?
Thanks to Vancouver Canucks Op Ed for this video. Frankly, this shows a whole other side to these guys that I'm not sure I'm entirely comfortable with. They're playing the Sens tonight, how much would I love it if they wore those wigs?
Not exactly the "starting line of the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers" is it?
Alex Auld is injured by an errant Belfour Water Bottle.
This after Eddie was finally starting to play well? I'm so sure it was an accident.
Because this is somewhat of a slow day for Sens-related news and reading about Joffrey Lupul's appearance at a local grocery store in Alberta reminded me of this particular clip, here he is playing what is supposed to be golf from who knows when. I wonder if he knows that his friends are posting clips of him on the Internet for all to judge and or squee at:
To be honest, I'm generally indifferent towards the guy both in the hockey sense and in the squee sense. This will probably have many, especially the fellas at the Oil Trust, wondering if I am actually a female with a pulse or if I possess any form of vision. I can assure you with confidence that both are in the affirmative...you'll just have to take my word for it.
Personally I'm glad he reconsidered that particular haircut. Little confused by the shirt though.
Coyotes sign Perreault. Thus solving all of Phoenix's problems.
Well, at least this gives the 'Yotes a better chance at being first in something.
Loss? What Loss?: Senators 1, Bruins 2
0 Comments Published by Sherry on Sunday, October 29, 2006 at 2:36 AM.
I'm not trying to be cute with the title or anything, but it almost seems like this game didn't really happen. This could be due to the fact that it was so boring that it really was going backwards, or that my audio feed kept on dying every 5 minutes because of my crappy, crappy Internet connection and I just ended up playing Spider Solitaire for the rest of the game. Exciting life, I know.
If you want an actual debunking of the game, I direct you over to Hockey Country where once again, Chris M does a much better job at making sense than I do.
They also got to finish the game this time, hourray!
Still, some quick hits from the game:
- Martin Gerber was stellar in net, keeping the Senators in it. Really, the score could have been much worse considering all of the chances the Senators let the Bs have.
- The defense was looking a little rusty with Tom Preissing and Joe Corvo both coughing up the puck at inopportune times. Daniel Alfredsson also continues to struggle and actually rolled his eyes "to the high heavens" [Thanks Team 1200!] after one of his shots went off the post.
- Bryan Murray showed a sign of deviously calculated genius when he sent Brian McGrattan out to pick a fight with Zdeno Chara on a Bruins Powerplay.
- Patrick Eaves must have liked the rush he got after his first NHL fight the other night because he was certainly in the middle of some rough stuff more than once tonight. Also, the penalties were being called left and right with the two teams being less than polite with one another. Usually when one says "Too Many Men on the Ice" one thinks the Bruins, but it seems like the Sens were having some issues with their line changes tonight.
- The Bruins' arena is not called "Scotiabank Centre", Scott Oake, it's called TD Banknorth Centre...or is it Garden? I know they're both banks, but yeesh.
- Your suck patch is still sucky, Tim Thomas
- Watched a bit of the Caps vs. Oil game tonight. Yeah, MAB is really kind of pretty terrible.
I usually hate it when Dan O'Toole of all people points things out to me but I'll give credit where credit is due. This is the back of Avalanche goaltender, Peter Budaj's mask. That must be why he's playing so well.
Also, I sort of think this picture is asking for a caption:
- I try not to read articles or interviews with Alexander Ovechkin because I know that he'll inevtiably crack me up. My irrational dislike for him comes from this one time when TSN was showing a Caps game and they went backstage and Ovechkin was totally having eye sex with the camera and it was just all around awkward for everyone (read: me) in the room. I picked up the All Access issue of The Hockey News and this part kind of made me smile:
"A chuckling Ovechkin asks [player representative, Susan] Goruveyn, in Russian, to explain, in English, why he always gets people to spell their names when asking for an autograph.
"A guy asked him if he could have an autograph and Alex said, 'Sure , what's your name?' Goureyn recounts, giggling. "The guy said, 'Phil' so Alex signed it, 'To Fill.'"
Silly Russian kid.
The Hockey News issue also has a behind the scenes feature on a Hockeywives article they did in '05 during the lockout. Yes, the wives they featured are all thin and gorgeous but the one thing that interested me was this:
From left: Brandy Blake, Angelica Bridges, Dina Arnott and Stacia Robitaille.
If the gentlemen in the audience are done drooling, you'll notice they're wearing jerseys that fit them. That are in their original colours. That aren't pink.
This is back when CCM was making the jerseys. Seriously RBK, is it really that difficult?
For those of you expecting fireworks, sorry, it was more or less a dreadfully boring game. Seriously, there were times where I swore this game was either in slow motion or just going backwards. But I am never going to complain about a win and I doubt the fans in Scotiabank Place who got pizza for the second straight game are going to complain either.
The first period was peppered with penalties although most of them minor infractions. Chris Neil was chirping in Darcy Tucker's ear at the beginning of the game, but Tucker actually did the smart thing and didn't bite. Every commentator I saw doubted that this was going to turn into an all-out gong show, and they were right. The game was pretty sedated for the most part. I figured it was because the refs were afraid of this turning into a circus that they decided to err on the side of "I love my whistle" and took no prisoners with their penalty calls.
Mike Fisher opened the scoring with a powerplay goal from his belly. It was an ugly goal but it was a powerplay goal, which it seems like once again needs some life support.
Dany Heatley must have been singing that new song by The Killers or something because he earned himself a hat trick. Joe Corvo, who many people were upset about because they were still smarting over losing Chara and the fact that he was unknown to them playing out west in the past season, rewrote the history books today with a record breaking 5 points in a night. Spezza also set a record with four assists in one period.
So the good news is the boys are back to form and acted out the perfect revenge for getting embarrassed by the Leafs at home last time. The home crowd must have been pleased...well at least half of them...sure were alot of Leafs fans in the house.
Ray Emery [His name is EM-ER-RY!!] was solid as well, robbing the Leafs of some great chances. The Leafs did put some good pressure on the guys in the third period, but once again couldn't keep up with the Senators' speed. Raycroft was getting no help from his defensemen once again. I don't know why they just didn't put him out of his misery after the second period. Bryan McCabe is proving once again that JFJ is a chump for giving him an immovable contract. It's not 15 years but it's still pretty dumb.
Shots were 31-40 in favour of Ottawa.
Notes of Interest:
- Brian McGrattan, Christoph Schubert and Alexei Kaigorodov were dressed but didn't see any ice time until late in the third. Schubie got a penalty and McGrattan was actually playing on the wing with Spezza and Heatley. Kaigorodov looked a little lazy out there, giving up on plays and not getting into any battles. Good thing it didn't cost them. Also glad to see Schubie and his two friends are okay.
- Glen Healey noticed this and gave me more reason to love my boys. On a powerplay, Corvo made a point shot than skated off for a change with Andrej Meszaros. Heatley scored off of the rebound from a scramble after Corvo's shot and Meszaros let Corvo back on the ice so the point would register for his plus/minus rating.
- Chris Phillips and Wade Redden left in the third with "lower body injuries". The breakup is looking inevitable now.
- For those of you worried that the Sabres should just get their Stanley Cup rings fitted already to save everyone the trouble, you might be relieved to know that all of the teams who won 8 or more games in a row at the start of the season never made it past the third round of the playoffs.
- A shortage of garbage cans in Boston? Classy.
I know this is supposed to be poetic or whatever but it sort of just made me laugh. One of their interns in the web department is obviously earning his paycheque.
- Ray Emery Sits down with David Amber of ESPN.
Tip of the Hat to Battle of Ontario for this link. I will warn you to swallow anything you're drinking and put down the cup before you listen to it so I don't get billed for a new keyboard.
His name is Ray, yo.
Personally it sounds like something I could drum up with my old Casio keyboard from the '80s. It's Emery, it needs some more gangsta beats. Maybe Pharrell can make a cameo. Is Pharrell gangsta? I don't know, I'm not down with the hippity-hop.
- Schubert got speared in the nuts last night, or as he calls them "his two lovely friends". Not that I'm disputing their loveliness or anything...silly German kid:
I didn't really trip him on purpose, I've got to be honest. I was falling down and next thing I see, I just got a stick in my two lovely friends.
How cute.
- Sergei Samsonov is not happy being on the Fourth Line:
I'm getting paid too much to sit on the bench and watch hockey games and, if that's the case, we'll see where it goes from here
Dude, I'd love to get paid to watch hockey games.
- Jobing.com Arena? The Coyotes are getting the butt end of everything these days.
Welcome Back, Baby!: Senators 6, Leafs 2
7 Comments Published by Sherry on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 at 3:35 AM.
Alternate title: Shut it, Tucker: Part 1 of Many.
There was much rejoycing in the house for the Senators' resuscitated powerplay. We knew you could do it!
Right out of the gate the Senators were firing on all cylinders, putting pressure on the Leafs and creating alot of scoring chances. Andrew Raycroft was absolutely hung out to dry by his defencemen with only Ian White actually bothering to do his job. I'm thinking that if Bryan McCabe is such a great offensive defensemen, maybe he should just be a forward because his defensive skills are extremely lacking. On the other end, Martin Gerber was back to form with 37 stops although the second goal was a little sketchy. It kind of took a weird bounce off of his glove and into the net.
The Senators kept their game simple and I was glad to see that they didn't think an 8-1 blowout allowed them to leave things on cruise control. Especially when it's the Leafs. One thing I had concern with about the Sens was their propensity to blow leads and I was glad to see that it didn't happen on this occassion...until the third period. Matt Stajan's second goal was disallowed because it was kicked in and if it had counted it would have re-energized the Leafs and caused some nerves on the Sens part a bit.
There were quite a buttload of penalties but most of them were actually majors for fighting. It consisted of the usual suspects of McGrattan, Belak and Tucker. But Patrick Eaves and Mike Fisher also decided to get in on the action. Eaves earned himself a Gordie Howe Hat Trick (Goal, Assist and Fight) with his first career fight against Tucker. Which of course he lost in the most embarrassing of fashion but I'm so proud of him for standing up for himself. Tucker is one of those guys where if he was on your team I'm sure you'd love him but he's nothing more than a little piece of [expletive of choice] when you're on the opposing team. I'm a little over protective of Eaves because he's one of those guys who will almost blindly plant himself in front of the net and go for those ugly goals even though he'll get a pummelling from the defensemen and a few whacks from the goalie just for good measure and frankly, we need more guys like him. Also, the guy apparently has enough trouble working an iPod, forget about fighting with anybody. Tucker needs to learn how to take a hit without bitching about it. Eaves and Tucker were battling along the boards for the puck and Eaves gave him a completely legal hit which caused Tucker to fall. I guess he didn't like to be embarrassed by a young'in like Eaves because he immediately reached out and challenged him while Eaves was skating away. Tucker also took exception to how Fisher was leaning against the boards during the break or something because he tried to start a fight with him too but Fisher kind of just pushed him off. It was glorious, although Fisher did end up getting two minor penalties later in the game for giving Tucker a hook and a face wash.
The Senators played hockey. Nothing fancy, just getting back to basics and being responsible with and without the puck. Hopefully they'll continue to work hard and put on a great performance for their next game against the Leafs on Thursday for a very enthusiastic home crowd. I'm going to bed happy tonight.
Random Thoughts
- Nealeism of the Night: "Ondrus is going to get a penalty for going to the net with too much enthusiasim". No, Neale, I highly doubt that's what the penalty is for. I know he's just trying to be witty but considering some of the other things he says, I wouldn't put it past him. Speaking of which those commentators they have for Molson Leafs Hockey on TSN are dreadful.
- My housemate and I officially love that Red-Headed Sens fan who was doing her little dance after the Sens scored. Ginger kids are people too!
- I almost dropped Wade Redden from my pool, thereby making the breakup official. However I kept him around in hopes that he'd get out of his slump. Plus there weren't any other defencemen available. He played much better today and even registered a point...but we're still on a break.
- Is Martin Broduer having a mid-life crisis or something? And Sidney Crosby has the daintiest dance ever, rivaled only by perhaps Rod Brind'Amour. Watch the highlights, you'll see what I mean.
- Shut it, Tucker.
I love "The Office" like it's my child. And since I would make a terrible mother, this is probably the safest option. I'm also convinced Steve Carrell loves hockey. He did the Dedicated Goalie skit on the Dana Carvey show a few years back when people were convinced that Dana Carvey was actually funny and then there's this clip from "The Office". His character, Michael Scott takes his underlings to the skating rink to celebrate his birthday and he explains why he never played for the NHL:
Dedicated Goalie:
- Now I'm a good Christian girl so I'm rather creeped out by the amount of hockey slash there is out there, but I suppose with headlines such as this courtesy of Sportsnet, some people just can't help themselves:
- Darryl Sittler came to my school for $30:
Apparently Mac is the alma mater of many hockey greats including the wonderful Roger Neilson, who is probably secretly chuckling to himself up in heaven over the recent turn of events in Philly.
Dedicated Goalie:
- Now I'm a good Christian girl so I'm rather creeped out by the amount of hockey slash there is out there, but I suppose with headlines such as this courtesy of Sportsnet, some people just can't help themselves:
- Darryl Sittler came to my school for $30:
Apparently Mac is the alma mater of many hockey greats including the wonderful Roger Neilson, who is probably secretly chuckling to himself up in heaven over the recent turn of events in Philly.
How the Sens got Their Groove Back: Devils 1, Senators 8
5 Comments Published by Sherry on at 3:59 AM.
You know what this means? Free pizza!
I just had to post the scorebox in all of its gloriousness. It took a couple of games but it seems like our boys are back with a vengeance. Everybody's been saying for awhile that this team is way too talented to be in a funk for too long and it seems like Martin Brodeur, of all people, was at the receiving end of their fury.
The Sens worked really hard right from the start, coming out with a 2-1 lead after the first and then proceeding to score 5 unanswered in the second and only allowing themselves to calm down a little bit late in the third with a cushy 7 goal lead. Brodeur was uncharacteristically yanked from net after the 6th goal and Ray Emery was stellar on the other end, stopping 34 of 35 shots from Jersey.
It sounds silly but I think the guys just forgot how to play the basics of hockey. They were known for their flair and creative play and were just trying to do way too much and forgetting that sometimes it is just as simple as putting the black rubber thing into the net. Their transition game was very impressive and Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley brought their defensive plays up as well. They won many battles along the boards which was something you didn't see much from these guys. Spezza was booed during the opening line-up announcements and he took it really hard the last time he was booed as well. He sure came back with a vengeance though, notching a goal and two assists. 14 different players registered points tonight, with 8 of them registering 2 or more.
A great cap off to my day since I got my two hardest mid-terms out of the way. Next up is back-to-back games with the Leafs. Hopefully they can ride this momentum and newfound confidence and give them a good ol' fashioned raking.
Hilarious NHL.com Sighting of the Day
- NHL.com never ceases to make me laugh. Today this is what caused me to giggle. It would be the first link to your right. I kept some of the scores as evidence that I did in fact see it on NHL.com:
I found it amusing because just the other day my mom was telling me that the reason I'm still single is because I love hockey and watch SportsCentre more than most guys. She's hilarious.
See? We have a Sense of Humour!
1 Comments Published by Sherry on Saturday, October 21, 2006 at 12:40 AM.
One down, two more to go.
When the Ottawa Senators launched their new site this season I wasn't a huge fan due to my irrational hatred for round edges [seriously, how can it be an edge if it's round!]. One of the things I didn't like about the site's previous incarnation was the lack of "extra-curricular" content it had and I was pleased to notice they added some more extra video clips to their media section outside of just game highlights. I didn't get to check them out until recently and all I have to say is, bravo, Senators organization, bravo.
Their "fun stuff" section include: a horrendously brilliant tribute song to "Mr. Goal Horn Guy" and "Senators Labs" videos done very reminscent of those horrible '50s Sci-Fi movies that would be featured on MST 3000 [gold star if you know the reference] about scientists trapped beneath the basement of Scotiabank Place who are forced to think of new hockey inventions. For instance, did you know that they not only invented elbow pads and skate laces, but also the wave? They're so fabulous I just have no words to describe their fabulous-ness so obviously you should just check them out yourself.
I also giggled a little when I saw this on NHL.com. Don't know how many people will be bidding on this one:
When the Ottawa Senators launched their new site this season I wasn't a huge fan due to my irrational hatred for round edges [seriously, how can it be an edge if it's round!]. One of the things I didn't like about the site's previous incarnation was the lack of "extra-curricular" content it had and I was pleased to notice they added some more extra video clips to their media section outside of just game highlights. I didn't get to check them out until recently and all I have to say is, bravo, Senators organization, bravo.
Their "fun stuff" section include: a horrendously brilliant tribute song to "Mr. Goal Horn Guy" and "Senators Labs" videos done very reminscent of those horrible '50s Sci-Fi movies that would be featured on MST 3000 [gold star if you know the reference] about scientists trapped beneath the basement of Scotiabank Place who are forced to think of new hockey inventions. For instance, did you know that they not only invented elbow pads and skate laces, but also the wave? They're so fabulous I just have no words to describe their fabulous-ness so obviously you should just check them out yourself.
I also giggled a little when I saw this on NHL.com. Don't know how many people will be bidding on this one:
Woe is Me: Avalanche 2, Senators 1
6 Comments Published by Sherry on Friday, October 20, 2006 at 3:49 AM.
Last time I ever make smack talk. That picture is just so sweet because it's Tyler Arnason, we all know how much the Sens hate Tyler Arnason.
You know what would have been even sweeter? A win. But that's what happens when the team decides to go on a coffee break in the second period and not come back. If the Evil Summation hadn't already killed me, I might have done something drastic given the absolutely miserable state of my mind studying for my midterms have gotten me into.
I love Joe Sakic though. I really do. He's just such a professional and plays with such heart. Whenever he's talking to the media he's so friendly and poised, you don't feel like you're awkwardly intercepting him and forcing him to talk when he doesn't want to. What really sealed the deal for me was when he was playing for Team Canada at the Olympics. He was playing against Switzerland and took a stick to the face. Even though his face was gushing with blood he didn't even react and sort of just skated to the bench. Just another day at the office.
Both teams played well in the first period and it was very entertaining hockey despite being scoreless. Martin Gerber came up real big in this game and Jose Theodore remembered that he was a goalie and robbed the Sens have a couple of great chances as well. The Sens really looked like they lost steam after their second penalty in the second period to Patrick Eaves.
Of course the real knife in the heart was the Avs second goal off of a horrendous Jason Spezza give away. He should have shot the puck but instead decided to make a pass which lead Brad Richardson to pick up the loose puck and make a beeline for the net. My housemate was sort of happy about this because she went to high school with Richardson when he played for the Owen Sound Attack.
Fun Tidbit of the Night
- Team 1200 has a new segment in their intermissions called "What's in the Bag", looking at the players equipments. Today they featured Dany Heatley and apparently his shin-pads are about 10-years-old and Easton doesn't even make them anymore. They used to belong to former Sens player Shaun Van Allen and Heatley liked them so much he decided to keep them.
- Wrote an entry about the Sens Looking at Yanic Perreault over at HLOG...and why Sportsnet hates me.
Nobody has officially argued the legality of Ryan Shannon's Spin-o-Rama shootout move against Dallas last week, and Darren Dreger has debunked it quite eloquently, but because I'm a glutton for punishment and I really don't want to study for my management statistics mid-term, I sifted through the 312 page glory that was the NHL 2006-2007 Official Rulebook to find what they said about Shootout/Penalty Shot goals:
And Now For Something Completely Different:
This isn't hockey-related but I thought it might be fun. Here is my contribution to the art world because it reflects my current state. It is entitled "Death by Summation". I warn you that it's a bit graphic and violent, so approach with caution if you're sensitive to these things:
The puck must be kept in motion towards the opponent’s goal line and once it is shot, the play shall be considered complete. No goal can be scored on a rebound of any kind (an exception being the puck off the goal post or crossbar, then the goalkeeper and then directly into the goal), and any time the puck crosses the goal line, the shot shall be considered complete.It's actually kind of an interesting read if you have 5 hours to spare. They've conveniently highlighted all of the rule changes in yellow
And Now For Something Completely Different:
This isn't hockey-related but I thought it might be fun. Here is my contribution to the art world because it reflects my current state. It is entitled "Death by Summation". I warn you that it's a bit graphic and violent, so approach with caution if you're sensitive to these things:
From Russia, with Rage. Lots and Lots of Rage.
3 Comments Published by Sherry on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 at 6:10 PM.
Magnitorsk Files Lawsuit Over Malkin
This coming a day after Yaroslavl's lawsuit over Andrei Taratukhin of the Flames and Alexei Mikhnov of the Oilers. They've retained the same legal representation in the U.S. courts and they're making the same arguements that the players violated their signed contracts with the teams and therefore aren't legally allowed to play anywhere else.
Malkin is also set to make his NHL season debut tonight and even though a lawsuit has been filed, it doesn't stop him from playing for Pittsburgh until the hearing actually begins. Depending on how the judge decides, he can probably still play until a preliminary decision says otherwise. According to the article, that could take close to a month.
The Russian clubs aren't looking for their players back so much as compensation in the millions range, even though most of the owners there are trillionaires. Really, if they wanted to prove there was a breach of contract in American courts, they could probably reasonably do so. The NHL will argue that under Russian Labour Laws, a contract can be terminated with two weeks notice. I could be wrong, but in American Labour Laws, at-will Employment Agreements can be terminated at any time, but the same stipulation does not necessarily apply to term contingent employment contracts, as with Malkin's one year contrat with Magnitogorsk.
Should I be concerned that Magnitogorsk never kicked up such a fuss over Alexei Kaigorodov? That's gotta bruise the ego a little bit.
Just a short post today because I have Finance and Management Statistics midterms coming up this weekend. Anybody want to write them for me? There's a pretty penny in it for you.
I'm a little frightened to think about how misleading the title will be when ran through a google search. For those who found my blog this way, hi! There aren't any pictures.
I try not to watch ET Canada, I mean really it's just a tabloid with overly perky hosts, one of them
being overgrown man-child Rick Campanelli who used to be on MuchMusic. In any case, their "Hockey Hunks" series they ran a couple of weeks ago interested me because it was hockey related and of course--hunks [although I'd argue Sheldon Souray and Ryan Smyth's inclusion in that select group]. Today they went behind the scenes for some of Sid the Kid's new commercials. One of them being a new RBK commercial and the other his contribution to the new NHL Game On! Campaign. Basically, he appears in the shower [fully dressed] and has that same dead expression he always has on his face before he walks out and gives the slightly perturbed man some props and flushes the toilet while he's in the shower.
Don't get me wrong, Crosby's a dynamic player and that can't be disputed. But off the ice? He's dreadfully boring. I would tell you guys what he said about the commercials but honest to God, I can't remember for the life of me because whenever he speaks I more or less zone out. He's a great asset to the game and definitely makes it more exciting to watch. It does make sense for the League to try to pimp him out to try to sell the game but Alexander Ovechkin can barely speak English and he's ten times more interesting [even if he makes no sense when the question was about Captaincy and he starts talking about Vodka.] Maybe it's the growing up in small-town Canada thing. We're supposed to be polite but we're funny too! I mean we have the best comedians until America steals them away with the lure of actual fame and fortune.
Really, it's not an indictment against Crosby specifically. Most hockey players are as flat as pancakes lest they be politically incorrect or incur the Wrath of Bettman [which they shouldn't, they could take him easily]. Even though Robert Esche says things that make him look like an asshole, at least people are interested.
Tying Up Some Loose Ends:
- For the people who found this page wondering about Jason Spezza and Steve Yzerman's middle names: Anthony Rocco and Gregory. And I don't know where Wade Redden lives.
- Philly got SPANKED. I agree with Jordi, someone stop these Buffaloes.
I'm a little frightened to think about how misleading the title will be when ran through a google search. For those who found my blog this way, hi! There aren't any pictures.
I try not to watch ET Canada, I mean really it's just a tabloid with overly perky hosts, one of them
being overgrown man-child Rick Campanelli who used to be on MuchMusic. In any case, their "Hockey Hunks" series they ran a couple of weeks ago interested me because it was hockey related and of course--hunks [although I'd argue Sheldon Souray and Ryan Smyth's inclusion in that select group]. Today they went behind the scenes for some of Sid the Kid's new commercials. One of them being a new RBK commercial and the other his contribution to the new NHL Game On! Campaign. Basically, he appears in the shower [fully dressed] and has that same dead expression he always has on his face before he walks out and gives the slightly perturbed man some props and flushes the toilet while he's in the shower. Don't get me wrong, Crosby's a dynamic player and that can't be disputed. But off the ice? He's dreadfully boring. I would tell you guys what he said about the commercials but honest to God, I can't remember for the life of me because whenever he speaks I more or less zone out. He's a great asset to the game and definitely makes it more exciting to watch. It does make sense for the League to try to pimp him out to try to sell the game but Alexander Ovechkin can barely speak English and he's ten times more interesting [even if he makes no sense when the question was about Captaincy and he starts talking about Vodka.] Maybe it's the growing up in small-town Canada thing. We're supposed to be polite but we're funny too! I mean we have the best comedians until America steals them away with the lure of actual fame and fortune.
Really, it's not an indictment against Crosby specifically. Most hockey players are as flat as pancakes lest they be politically incorrect or incur the Wrath of Bettman [which they shouldn't, they could take him easily]. Even though Robert Esche says things that make him look like an asshole, at least people are interested.
Tying Up Some Loose Ends:
- For the people who found this page wondering about Jason Spezza and Steve Yzerman's middle names: Anthony Rocco and Gregory. And I don't know where Wade Redden lives.
- Philly got SPANKED. I agree with Jordi, someone stop these Buffaloes.
No game until Thursday. How thoughtful, I have midterms all this week.
Perhaps what Dany Heatley needs to kick-start his offense is to sing The Killers again:
They have a new song out if he wants to change it up a little bit.
The Ottawa Senators are having these little getting to know the players features up on their website. Up first is PK specialist, Chris Kelly. Chris enjoys Creed and Hugh Grant movies and thinks Fez from 'That '70s Show' should play him in a movie. Yeah, I guess I can sort of see the resemblance.
Perhaps what Dany Heatley needs to kick-start his offense is to sing The Killers again:
They have a new song out if he wants to change it up a little bit.
The Ottawa Senators are having these little getting to know the players features up on their website. Up first is PK specialist, Chris Kelly. Chris enjoys Creed and Hugh Grant movies and thinks Fez from 'That '70s Show' should play him in a movie. Yeah, I guess I can sort of see the resemblance.
Sorry Jordi. Your chunky money still scored though.
I'm convinced it's the white jerseys.
No, seriously. The only two games the Sens have won so far have been the only two games they've played away from home. And I'm convinced it's because of the white jerseys. They just look so much better when they're wearing the white ones. I never liked how the red ones or the black ones looked. They never should have changed the logo to try to make it look cooler. I mean the old one was simple yet elegant and I actually think it's one of the best looking ones in the league. Of course, I'm one of those people that never understood the hoop-lah around the Chicago Blackhawks jerseys.
Anyways, back to the game. It's a good thing the Sens squeaked out this win because there would have been some sort of psychological warfare involved if they ended up losing another game. Really, I was concerned. Again, not being able to actually see the game, I only had what the commentators were saying to go on. It sounded like they played alot better today, but unfortunately their powerplay is still abysmal, even coughing up a short-handed goal on the Habs' first goal by Chris Higgins.
I may have jumped the gun before when I said to send Kaigorodov down to Binghamton. He played a much better game today playing on the wing of the fourth line even though he was pathetic at the face-off circle. Unfortunately, the top line of Alfredsson-Spezza-Heatley was still unable to get anything going offensively. Taking Eaves off the top line meant defensive liabilities, not to mention nobody willing to plant themselves in front of the net to get one of those gritty, ugly goals. Spezza's turnovers are way too glaringly obvious when he's not notching any goals, and it just sounds like he's trying to do too much and force too many plays.
Ray Emery had another solid game gaining some much needed experience and confidence. However, Martin Gerber is still the obvious number one goalie for the team but Emery's giving him some added pressure. For the Gerber baby that could either be a good thing or a bad thing since I have heard that his psyche is as delicate as his nickname might suggest.
Interesting choice by Murray for the shoot-out going with Antoine Vermette, Dean McAmmond and Mike Fisher with Vermette and Fisher each scoring. They're not exactly who you would expect to be chosen, but the third and fourth liners were the ones producing and this decision made Murray look like an undisputable genius.
Amusing Notes of the Night that made me go AHAHAHA:
- Did you know? Janne Niinimaa's a huge heavy metal fan.
- Komisarek and Eaves got into a bit of a tiff after the whistle was blown and one of the commentators remarked that they were hugging one another very tightly and in his words: "They're either very tired or dating." To which the other commentator [forgive me for not knowing their names] remarked rather offended: "No they're not dating!" and the other responded "Well, they might have a date afterwards, you never know." Clearly, he's been reading a little bit too much slash.
- Congratulations Mats Sundin on your 500th goal. I still don't like your team.
- Next game on Thursday against Colorado. Bring it on TL.
I'm convinced it's the white jerseys.
No, seriously. The only two games the Sens have won so far have been the only two games they've played away from home. And I'm convinced it's because of the white jerseys. They just look so much better when they're wearing the white ones. I never liked how the red ones or the black ones looked. They never should have changed the logo to try to make it look cooler. I mean the old one was simple yet elegant and I actually think it's one of the best looking ones in the league. Of course, I'm one of those people that never understood the hoop-lah around the Chicago Blackhawks jerseys.
Anyways, back to the game. It's a good thing the Sens squeaked out this win because there would have been some sort of psychological warfare involved if they ended up losing another game. Really, I was concerned. Again, not being able to actually see the game, I only had what the commentators were saying to go on. It sounded like they played alot better today, but unfortunately their powerplay is still abysmal, even coughing up a short-handed goal on the Habs' first goal by Chris Higgins.
I may have jumped the gun before when I said to send Kaigorodov down to Binghamton. He played a much better game today playing on the wing of the fourth line even though he was pathetic at the face-off circle. Unfortunately, the top line of Alfredsson-Spezza-Heatley was still unable to get anything going offensively. Taking Eaves off the top line meant defensive liabilities, not to mention nobody willing to plant themselves in front of the net to get one of those gritty, ugly goals. Spezza's turnovers are way too glaringly obvious when he's not notching any goals, and it just sounds like he's trying to do too much and force too many plays.
Ray Emery had another solid game gaining some much needed experience and confidence. However, Martin Gerber is still the obvious number one goalie for the team but Emery's giving him some added pressure. For the Gerber baby that could either be a good thing or a bad thing since I have heard that his psyche is as delicate as his nickname might suggest.
Interesting choice by Murray for the shoot-out going with Antoine Vermette, Dean McAmmond and Mike Fisher with Vermette and Fisher each scoring. They're not exactly who you would expect to be chosen, but the third and fourth liners were the ones producing and this decision made Murray look like an undisputable genius.
Amusing Notes of the Night that made me go AHAHAHA:
- Did you know? Janne Niinimaa's a huge heavy metal fan.
- Komisarek and Eaves got into a bit of a tiff after the whistle was blown and one of the commentators remarked that they were hugging one another very tightly and in his words: "They're either very tired or dating." To which the other commentator [forgive me for not knowing their names] remarked rather offended: "No they're not dating!" and the other responded "Well, they might have a date afterwards, you never know." Clearly, he's been reading a little bit too much slash.
- Congratulations Mats Sundin on your 500th goal. I still don't like your team.
- Next game on Thursday against Colorado. Bring it on TL.
DAMN YOU KIPPER! Flames 1, Senators 0
9 Comments Published by Sherry on Friday, October 13, 2006 at 1:12 AM.
First of all, I have to say that despite being on opposite sides of the fence, Hockeygirl and I had a great time chatting over this game. It included lots of fun gems, most of which were along the lines of "DAMN YOU KIPPER!" or "DAMN YOU EMERY!" For a game that didn't have ANY scoring in the first two periods, it was still pretty darn entertaining. Both teams came out flying with having alot to answer for considering they were both playing, shall we say, not well up to this point.
So I was listening to the game over the Team 1200 stream [while studying for my Stats and Finance midterms at the same time] and from what I heard, there was alot of physicality combined with glorious scoring chances for both teams but with both goalies standing on their heads. Kipper was outstanding as expected but Emery absolutely kept them in it by robbing the Flames of 3 or 4 really good chances.
Considering the Sens' potent offence, I would have expected them to have been able to score a couple of quality goals. But I underestimated the power of Kipper and had to suspend my love for him during this game because he absolutely stone-walled the Senators. But my love for Kipper is back and Hockeygirl assures me that he loves me still as well.
Jarome Iginla scored the night's only goal in the middle of the third. Offence is once again an issue for this team with Tanguay's white hero horse still in the shop. It's not typical for a team with such a lapse offense to do so well, so I suggest them to worship Kipper for the FREAK OF NATURE that he is.
This still isn't a win though, but the team played extremely well. Hopefully they'll be able to ride this wave into their game on Saturday and kick some Habs-ian butt. It's only 4 games in so I wouldn't hit the panic button just yet. Maybe have a beer to help you sleep and then wake up the next day with renewed optimism. 10 games in and we're still stinking, then we'll talk.
Shots on Goal: 28-33 in favour of Ottawa.
Team 1200 3 Stars:
3) Jarome Iginla
2) Ray Emery
1) Miika Kiprusoff
Hardest Working Senator: Antoine Vermette for his PK and hustling.
Amusing Notes of the Night:
- Dion Phaneuf absolutely layed out Denis Hamel a-la Scott Stevens but to Hamel's credit, he got right up and actually smiled. Caught the clip of this on the highlights tonight and Sid Sixeiro had this witicism to go along with it: "Denis broke his hamel tonight!"
- Can someone please tell me what the heck is wrong with Wade Redden? He has not been playing well lately...we may need to go on a break.
- I noticed that the Leafs were leading the Devils 6-3 at the end of the second and was wondering which alternate universe I had stumbled into. Of course the Devils battled back and won in a shoot-out. Har har. They're still ahead in the standings though, and that just HURTS.
- How exactly does the NHL justify posting news about Tie Domi's divorce on their website? I know he's no longer considered their employee but I fail to see how that's news or anything they should care about.
Sorry gentlemen, as I realize that alot has been made about this topic already, but can we talk about this for just a sec?:
Now I realize I may be a little bit biased here as pink and I have never had a good history. See, growing up as a tomboy, pink was your mortal enemy. It represented everything that you deemed unquestionably stupid. The girls who liked to play house and pretend their dolls were babies, without realizing that real babies have no control of what comes out both ends, liked pink. Girls who played house league hockey with the boys didn't like pink. Frankly, you weren't allowed near the gym during house league time if you wore pink [I know, rough neighbourhood eh?]
While I don't mind the colour as much as I did back then, still...LOOK AT THAT THING. Don't get me wrong, it's nice that the NHL is acknowledging the female fan base and the fact that we don't enjoy wearing jerseys we can swim in because we're shallow, vain beasts. Not to generalize or anything but us "real female hockey fans" will probably automatically assume that the ladies who do wear them know nothing about hockey and are just trying to impress their boyfriends, or worse, are the ever dreaded puckbunnies. Well, at least the puckbunnies will be covered up and not risk getting pneumonia.
I know the NHL is just jumping on the same bandwagon the NFL and NBA started, but my quesiton is this: when you're wearing a jersey, isn't the point sort of so that people can actually tell where your allegiances lie? Thus, wouldn't you need the teams colours in a pretty obvious fashion for people to be able to tell? I know the logo is on the front, but you'd have to be making a point to stare at someone's chest in order to make out what it's supposed to be.
Oh my goodness, I think I just cracked the league's evil plan. Well played, NHL, well played.
News From Away:
- I suppose it's some sort of poetic justice that the Columbus Blue Jackets won their game on Columbus Day in the States. And hey! Nikolai Zherdev is a pretty darn good player, who knew?
- Saw this on NHL.com today, sort of had to laugh because I'm 12. Good advice, that.
- The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos premiered last night. For those of you who don't know, I'm absolutely in love with Stroumbo even though he's a pierced, motorcycle-riding, bad boy. How can I not love a guy who's so outspoken, loves rock 'n roll and has a fondness for hockey? He has an interview with Saku Koivu [Montreal is his favourite team] coming up this week. Here is a funny video featuring him playing goal during a Leafs practice in, of course a Habs Jersey. I love how his last name is too long for the jersey and laughed out loud when Belak checks him and calls him a Douchebag.
- I seriously do not understand how pools are supposed to work. Sitting at 6th place right now but sort of getting my butt kicked since I only had one person playing yesterday. Made some changes to the line-up so now it looks like so:
- Practice Lines for the Sens today are the expected lines for their game against Calgary on Thursday:
Forwards
Heatley - Spezza - Alfredsson
Schaefer - Fisher - Vermette
Hamel - Mcammond - Neil
Eaves - Kelly - McGrattan
Kaigorodov
Defence
Redden - Meszaros
Phillips - Priessing
Schubert - Volchenkov
1st pp unit
Heatley - Spezza - Alfredsson
Redden - Preissing
PP unit #2
Schaefer - Fisher - Eaves
Mezsaros - Alfredsson
PK unit 1
Fisher - Kelly
Phillips - Volchenkov
PK unit #2
Hamel - McAmmond
Poor Eaves got demoted back to the fourth line. And will they just put Kaigorodov out of his misery and send him down to Binghamton already?
I'm assuming Hockeygirl and I will both be listening/watching. Things could get pretty heated...don't be expecting any chick fights though.
Now I realize I may be a little bit biased here as pink and I have never had a good history. See, growing up as a tomboy, pink was your mortal enemy. It represented everything that you deemed unquestionably stupid. The girls who liked to play house and pretend their dolls were babies, without realizing that real babies have no control of what comes out both ends, liked pink. Girls who played house league hockey with the boys didn't like pink. Frankly, you weren't allowed near the gym during house league time if you wore pink [I know, rough neighbourhood eh?]While I don't mind the colour as much as I did back then, still...LOOK AT THAT THING. Don't get me wrong, it's nice that the NHL is acknowledging the female fan base and the fact that we don't enjoy wearing jerseys we can swim in because we're shallow, vain beasts. Not to generalize or anything but us "real female hockey fans" will probably automatically assume that the ladies who do wear them know nothing about hockey and are just trying to impress their boyfriends, or worse, are the ever dreaded puckbunnies. Well, at least the puckbunnies will be covered up and not risk getting pneumonia.
I know the NHL is just jumping on the same bandwagon the NFL and NBA started, but my quesiton is this: when you're wearing a jersey, isn't the point sort of so that people can actually tell where your allegiances lie? Thus, wouldn't you need the teams colours in a pretty obvious fashion for people to be able to tell? I know the logo is on the front, but you'd have to be making a point to stare at someone's chest in order to make out what it's supposed to be.
Oh my goodness, I think I just cracked the league's evil plan. Well played, NHL, well played.
News From Away:
- I suppose it's some sort of poetic justice that the Columbus Blue Jackets won their game on Columbus Day in the States. And hey! Nikolai Zherdev is a pretty darn good player, who knew?
- Saw this on NHL.com today, sort of had to laugh because I'm 12. Good advice, that.
- The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos premiered last night. For those of you who don't know, I'm absolutely in love with Stroumbo even though he's a pierced, motorcycle-riding, bad boy. How can I not love a guy who's so outspoken, loves rock 'n roll and has a fondness for hockey? He has an interview with Saku Koivu [Montreal is his favourite team] coming up this week. Here is a funny video featuring him playing goal during a Leafs practice in, of course a Habs Jersey. I love how his last name is too long for the jersey and laughed out loud when Belak checks him and calls him a Douchebag.
- I seriously do not understand how pools are supposed to work. Sitting at 6th place right now but sort of getting my butt kicked since I only had one person playing yesterday. Made some changes to the line-up so now it looks like so:
- Practice Lines for the Sens today are the expected lines for their game against Calgary on Thursday:
Forwards
Heatley - Spezza - Alfredsson
Schaefer - Fisher - Vermette
Hamel - Mcammond - Neil
Eaves - Kelly - McGrattan
Kaigorodov
Defence
Redden - Meszaros
Phillips - Priessing
Schubert - Volchenkov
1st pp unit
Heatley - Spezza - Alfredsson
Redden - Preissing
PP unit #2
Schaefer - Fisher - Eaves
Mezsaros - Alfredsson
PK unit 1
Fisher - Kelly
Phillips - Volchenkov
PK unit #2
Hamel - McAmmond
Poor Eaves got demoted back to the fourth line. And will they just put Kaigorodov out of his misery and send him down to Binghamton already?
I'm assuming Hockeygirl and I will both be listening/watching. Things could get pretty heated...don't be expecting any chick fights though.
Hope your turkey is as tasty as he is stupid.
3 Comments Published by Sherry on Sunday, October 08, 2006 at 9:44 PM.
I feel sorry for Turkeys, they get such a bad rap.
In any case, I just want to say a Happy Thanksgiving to all of my Canadian friends celebrating this weekend. Because a quick google search of "Ottawa Senators + Thanksgiving" yields me nothing, a couple of sharks will have to do. It features Tom Preissing though, who is now a Senator, does that count?
Hope it's a good 'un!
In any case, I just want to say a Happy Thanksgiving to all of my Canadian friends celebrating this weekend. Because a quick google search of "Ottawa Senators + Thanksgiving" yields me nothing, a couple of sharks will have to do. It features Tom Preissing though, who is now a Senator, does that count?
Hope it's a good 'un!
Yes, we lost to the Sabres. Yes, I now HATE the Sabres but all things considered, I'm surprisingly cheery. I had to listen to this game because I live in the middle of Leafs Nation and CBC was airing the Toronto vs. Montreal game and I haven't caught the highlights yet. It seemed like the game was more or less out of hand when the Sabres were up 3-1 in the third period, but the Senators mounted a very admirable comeback attempt. Spezza scored at 15:22 in the third to bring the Senators closer, but no more than 30 seconds later, Jason Pominville [DAMN POMINVILLE] took advantage of Gerber being out of position and put the game even more out of reach. And then, because the Senators really like to play with my emotions, Spezza scored again 10 seconds later but couldn't complete the comeback.
So the good news is that the highest scoring team last season has not suddenly decided they got tired of scoring so many goals, and even though they got shut out by the LEAFS, of all people two days ago, they can still put the biscuit in the basket. It's also at least nice to see a fire lit underneath their butts. The bad news is of course that Gerber once again seemed shaky...am I being naive in thinking that he's still capable of carrying this team?
Alot of people put the Sens behind Buffalo in the Northeast Division and fourth in the conference anyways. It's a pretty slow start, but it's only the third game of the season. Sens won't be playing until Thursday, hopefully these next couple of days will allow the guys to get full on some turkey, and then get their act together in practice.
Favourite call of the night was after Spezza scored his second goal: "Oh, we're not done yet sunshine!"
Scoring Summary [Copied and Pasted directly from NHL.com. I'm lazy okay?]:
Other Ottawa Area Hockey News:
- The Steagle Colbeagles hammered the Ottawa '67s 7-3. Colbert will be so pleased.
So the good news is that the highest scoring team last season has not suddenly decided they got tired of scoring so many goals, and even though they got shut out by the LEAFS, of all people two days ago, they can still put the biscuit in the basket. It's also at least nice to see a fire lit underneath their butts. The bad news is of course that Gerber once again seemed shaky...am I being naive in thinking that he's still capable of carrying this team?
Alot of people put the Sens behind Buffalo in the Northeast Division and fourth in the conference anyways. It's a pretty slow start, but it's only the third game of the season. Sens won't be playing until Thursday, hopefully these next couple of days will allow the guys to get full on some turkey, and then get their act together in practice.
Favourite call of the night was after Spezza scored his second goal: "Oh, we're not done yet sunshine!"
Scoring Summary [Copied and Pasted directly from NHL.com. I'm lazy okay?]:
| BUF: | |
| OTT: | |
Other Ottawa Area Hockey News:
- The Steagle Colbeagles hammered the Ottawa '67s 7-3. Colbert will be so pleased.
After the trouncing the Sens got last night, all the Leafs fans decide to come out and rub salt into the wound as if I needed anymore reason to dislike Toronto. I'm no good at smack talk although PPP assures me all I need is practice. There was a sea of blue and white around campus today but I still wore my Sens cap loud and proud regardless. Well, proud...I'm not very loud. And I took it off after my first class since it was messing up my hair.
I apologize for the lateness of this post since it is Thanksgiving weekend and I was a little tired traveling back tothe land of evil, pergatory, limbo, suburban Pleasantville Mississauga. I checked out the Habs vs. Sabres game a little bit and they were 2-1 in favour of Montreal when I left the game. The Habs managed to kill off a 5 on 3 which included a 4 minute penalty to Cap'n Sak for high-sticking.
I've never participated in an official pool before, but my friends have somehow choraled me into joining their pool over at Yahoo. Using autodraft, this is what the team looks like as of today:
Oh yeah, how much do I love my goalie tandem? There are a few adjustments: I've traded in Conroy and Modin for Matt Cullen and Thomas Vanek while Nylander for Afinogenov is still waiting to clear waivers. I'm currently sitting pretty in 5th place out of 12. Not bad considering I didn't even know I was in this pool until, um...today.
News from Away:
- What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. If a hockey team actually ends up there, let's hope that's not the case. I actually saw Dreger do this piece during the Habs and Sabres intermission and his voice actually cracked when he said "$250 Million!" Jerry Bruckheimer is richer than any human being should allowed to be rich!
- For those of you in Canada, Tie Domi was on the Mercer Report this week in a sketch giving tips on how to make nice place settings for Thanksgiving. I know it's supposed to be funny but the whole thing just seemed like he was awkwardly reading to me. Which, he probably was. Yay! He can read! I am so sick of seeing Tie Domi and his mug everywhere. I need to move out of this city, stat.
- I apologize for the general pointless-ness of this entry but here's something that ought to keep you entertained. Stephen Colbert is somewhat of a hero in my house. Here's further proof he's a huge hockey fan from when the 'Canes won the cup:
I apologize for the lateness of this post since it is Thanksgiving weekend and I was a little tired traveling back to
I've never participated in an official pool before, but my friends have somehow choraled me into joining their pool over at Yahoo. Using autodraft, this is what the team looks like as of today:
Oh yeah, how much do I love my goalie tandem? There are a few adjustments: I've traded in Conroy and Modin for Matt Cullen and Thomas Vanek while Nylander for Afinogenov is still waiting to clear waivers. I'm currently sitting pretty in 5th place out of 12. Not bad considering I didn't even know I was in this pool until, um...today.
News from Away:
- What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. If a hockey team actually ends up there, let's hope that's not the case. I actually saw Dreger do this piece during the Habs and Sabres intermission and his voice actually cracked when he said "$250 Million!" Jerry Bruckheimer is richer than any human being should allowed to be rich!
- For those of you in Canada, Tie Domi was on the Mercer Report this week in a sketch giving tips on how to make nice place settings for Thanksgiving. I know it's supposed to be funny but the whole thing just seemed like he was awkwardly reading to me. Which, he probably was. Yay! He can read! I am so sick of seeing Tie Domi and his mug everywhere. I need to move out of this city, stat.
- I apologize for the general pointless-ness of this entry but here's something that ought to keep you entertained. Stephen Colbert is somewhat of a hero in my house. Here's further proof he's a huge hockey fan from when the 'Canes won the cup:
Ah, Fiddlesticks: Leafs 6, Ottawa 0
11 Comments Published by Sherry on Friday, October 06, 2006 at 1:47 AM.
[Hamilton, Sherry's house she shares with housemates. Leafs vs. Sens on T.V., Leafs up by 4.]
Sherry: Okay, I think this is a sign that I should go study finance.
Housemate: ...you're going to post about this in your blog aren't you?
Sherry: ...shut up!
So I caught the highlights on Sportscentre although I get the feeling I shouldn't have while my immune system is weak. I'm not going to debunk the game because Chris McMurty at Hockey Country does a much better job at that. Plus I didn't watch the whole game.
When Team Canada was shut out by Switzerland during the Turin Olympics [coincidentally enough, it was Martin Gerber in goal] I wrote a really lengthy break-up letter with hockey in my LiveJournal. I'm not going to do that here since it's only game 2 of the season. It just hurts that little bit more when 1) it's Toronto and 2) it's at home. But hey, Ottawa dismantled Toronto at the ACC yesterday so I suppose it's only...fair?
It looked promising because Ottawa came out with alot of energy, controlling most of the play in the first half of the first period. Then it was either fatigue or indifference because by the end of the first they were down 2 goals, a short handed and a power-play goal.
I'll make a deal with you Senators, I'm going to study my butt off for my Stats and Finance mid-terms this Thanksgiving weekend if you can figure out where the heck your hockey team went.
Yesterday Bryan Murray retracted his statement saying that Martin Gerber wasn't a phenomenal goalie. Well, clearly he needs to say that again because Gerber was very shaky today, letting in 5 on 24 shots before Emery came in and put him out of his misery. Some how I knew the home-at-home, back-to-back games were a bad idea. I know people are going to say Toronto was in the same boat, but they stunk last night so they had to be better.
Wozniewski of the Leafs and Schaefer of the Sens both got two minors during the first period. Wade Belak was surprisingly not bad on the Toronto forecheck during the first and him and Brian McGrattan decided the game was too boring and decided to go at it just for the heck of it.
To clarify, I live in a house with 6 other girls. All of them are Leafs fans save for one who already went home to see family for the long weekend. Meaning everytime I heard a roar of "YAY!" from downstairs I felt the need to plug my ears and "LA-LA-LA!" very loudly. Thankfully practicing how to calculate Weighted Average Costs of Capital of firms was enough to distract me.
That's how sad this game was tonight.
News Meant to Cheer Me Up:
- I haven't read Battle of Ontario in awhile so I was very flattered and honoured to see The Meatriarchy had given me a very nice shout-out on the blog. Everybody around the blog-o-sphere have been so nice, it warms this cold metal contraption in my chest that is supposed to be a "heart".
- The Team 1200, the sports station in Ottawa has a really cool feature on their website featuring the greatest hockey players by numbers.
- DIE MAPLE LEAFS DIE!
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go listen to some emo music until bed time.
Sherry: Okay, I think this is a sign that I should go study finance.
Housemate: ...you're going to post about this in your blog aren't you?
Sherry: ...shut up!
So I caught the highlights on Sportscentre although I get the feeling I shouldn't have while my immune system is weak. I'm not going to debunk the game because Chris McMurty at Hockey Country does a much better job at that. Plus I didn't watch the whole game.
When Team Canada was shut out by Switzerland during the Turin Olympics [coincidentally enough, it was Martin Gerber in goal] I wrote a really lengthy break-up letter with hockey in my LiveJournal. I'm not going to do that here since it's only game 2 of the season. It just hurts that little bit more when 1) it's Toronto and 2) it's at home. But hey, Ottawa dismantled Toronto at the ACC yesterday so I suppose it's only...fair?
It looked promising because Ottawa came out with alot of energy, controlling most of the play in the first half of the first period. Then it was either fatigue or indifference because by the end of the first they were down 2 goals, a short handed and a power-play goal.
I'll make a deal with you Senators, I'm going to study my butt off for my Stats and Finance mid-terms this Thanksgiving weekend if you can figure out where the heck your hockey team went.
Yesterday Bryan Murray retracted his statement saying that Martin Gerber wasn't a phenomenal goalie. Well, clearly he needs to say that again because Gerber was very shaky today, letting in 5 on 24 shots before Emery came in and put him out of his misery. Some how I knew the home-at-home, back-to-back games were a bad idea. I know people are going to say Toronto was in the same boat, but they stunk last night so they had to be better.
Wozniewski of the Leafs and Schaefer of the Sens both got two minors during the first period. Wade Belak was surprisingly not bad on the Toronto forecheck during the first and him and Brian McGrattan decided the game was too boring and decided to go at it just for the heck of it.
To clarify, I live in a house with 6 other girls. All of them are Leafs fans save for one who already went home to see family for the long weekend. Meaning everytime I heard a roar of "YAY!" from downstairs I felt the need to plug my ears and "LA-LA-LA!" very loudly. Thankfully practicing how to calculate Weighted Average Costs of Capital of firms was enough to distract me.
That's how sad this game was tonight.
News Meant to Cheer Me Up:
- I haven't read Battle of Ontario in awhile so I was very flattered and honoured to see The Meatriarchy had given me a very nice shout-out on the blog. Everybody around the blog-o-sphere have been so nice, it warms this cold metal contraption in my chest that is supposed to be a "heart".
- The Team 1200, the sports station in Ottawa has a really cool feature on their website featuring the greatest hockey players by numbers.
- DIE MAPLE LEAFS DIE!
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go listen to some emo music until bed time.
Ring the Gerber Bell! Senators 4, Leafs 1
6 Comments Published by Sherry on Thursday, October 05, 2006 at 5:29 PM.
Opening night! Sleek, Tapeleg and I had a great time boozing it up over at the opening night party on Jerseys and Hockey Love.
Before the game actually started, the brass at MLSE decide that it's totally appropriate to kill any momentum the players had during their warm-up and have a long, drawn out ceremony for their jersey retirements. Not to be mean or anything because Salming, Day and Kelly are great hockey people, but the thing took almost half an hour.
Funny moment of the night: when they were introducing the Leafs starting line-ups the camera took a big dip when they were showing Michael Peca. My housemate got a kick out of that. So tiny! She also said that she thinks Paul Maurice looks "So stupid" and also "an asshole". I actually like Paul Maurice so I claim no responsibility over anything she says. She doesn't normally watch hockey and even she had to ask "Why is Toronto so incompetent?"
I think the long ceremony really affected the players because both teams played piss-poor for the first period. Ottawa's defense forgot to show up but at least Gerber was there to bail them out. Sleek mentioned an amusing story about sitting near relatives of Gerber when he was playing for Anaheim who would always shout his name and ring a bell, thus, Gerber Bell.
I can appreciate Belak having a sense of humour about himself, but that doesn't erase the fact that he's a crap player. He got two minor penalties in the same period. I think this game also pointed out a question that has been plaguing Leafs nation since training camp: where is the scoring going to come from? The truth is that the team has alot of young talent, but it's still a pretty large fall from Sundin down.
The only Leafs goal came on a BS penalty shot call scored by Mats Sundin. Allow me to paint the picture for you: Sundin on a breakaway, takes a shot that goes high, Volchenkov hauls him down. Sundin goes sliding into the boards, Leafs Nation calls for Volchenkov's head.
I repeat: Volchenkov hauls him down AFTER the shot's taken. Meaning there should only be a penalty. The shot itself was a pretty close call too. It looked like Gerber stopped it and he too thought it was underneath his pads but it somehow trickled through and passed the goal line.
I have a pretty fuzzy memory of the rest of the game since I was also studying for my Human Resources Management test at the same time [anybody want to know anything about sexual harrassment?]. I will say that I've been very impressed by Christoph Schubert's play; him and Sundin got into a mini-scrap where both their helmets flew off. But that aside he hasn't been disappointing. Preissing got an assist on the first goal by Patrick Eaves and I almost regretted not taking him in my hot pool since the rest of Team Scarlett were left pointless, but was both comforted and panicked to hear that he left with a lower body injury.
Asides from the fact that the game in itself was rather luck-lustre, not a bad way to open the season. Hey, at least there's hockey right? Beggers can't be choosers.
Miscellaneous News:
- The New NHL Ads are up featuring Cheechoo and Forsberg. As Hockeygirl points out, they're much better than last year but to be fair, that's not setting the bar very high. The new Stanley Cup ones are out too featuring alot of players talking about how magical and great it is. They say Stanley Cup alot in case you forget what the championship trophy is called.
- Thanks to Paul Kukla for the link on NHL.com! I don't know how to check my blog hits or who's been visiting and what not so I didn't even notice it until Tapeleg pointed it out to me. Guess I'll have to limit my stupid posting quota now.
- In the midst of Anti-Trust lawsuits, Research in Motion has comes to terms of agreement for the sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Research in Motion is based in Kitchener-Waterloo and has offices in the Burlington-Hamilton area. I know because they're always on-campus recruiting people. While people are going nuts about the prospect of Sidney Crosby and the Hamilton Penguins coming to town, I ask again the question: Where the heck are they going to play? Because this craphole is already taken by the Hamilton Bulldogs [Montreal's AHL team]. The other option is to move it to Waterloo, a city known for its universities and the fact that it sucks.
- How freaking lucky is Darryl Sydor that he got that OT goal after putting his team a man down in the Colorado vs. Dallas game last night?
- Pronger's out with the stomach flu. Shouldn't have eaten that Edmontonian Fugu.
- Stephen Colbert is a genius. How cute is it that the Steagle Cobeagle also has glasses? And falls promptly on his buttocks. The OHL couldn't have asked for better promotion. Take note NHL, take note.
- Would anybody like to tell me about this sportspuppy.com site that's trying to recruit me and my ZERO credentials before I inadvertently sign up for a spam-bot?
- I forgot to add that Sleek coined the term "shoutout" last night as well to describe a shootout shutout.
Not that I should complain about a surplus of hockey, but how ridiculous is it that the Leafs and the Sens are playing a home-at-home, back-to-back? We'll see how many mysterious "upper/lower body injuries" result from it.
Before the game actually started, the brass at MLSE decide that it's totally appropriate to kill any momentum the players had during their warm-up and have a long, drawn out ceremony for their jersey retirements. Not to be mean or anything because Salming, Day and Kelly are great hockey people, but the thing took almost half an hour.
Funny moment of the night: when they were introducing the Leafs starting line-ups the camera took a big dip when they were showing Michael Peca. My housemate got a kick out of that. So tiny! She also said that she thinks Paul Maurice looks "So stupid" and also "an asshole". I actually like Paul Maurice so I claim no responsibility over anything she says. She doesn't normally watch hockey and even she had to ask "Why is Toronto so incompetent?"
I think the long ceremony really affected the players because both teams played piss-poor for the first period. Ottawa's defense forgot to show up but at least Gerber was there to bail them out. Sleek mentioned an amusing story about sitting near relatives of Gerber when he was playing for Anaheim who would always shout his name and ring a bell, thus, Gerber Bell.
I can appreciate Belak having a sense of humour about himself, but that doesn't erase the fact that he's a crap player. He got two minor penalties in the same period. I think this game also pointed out a question that has been plaguing Leafs nation since training camp: where is the scoring going to come from? The truth is that the team has alot of young talent, but it's still a pretty large fall from Sundin down.
The only Leafs goal came on a BS penalty shot call scored by Mats Sundin. Allow me to paint the picture for you: Sundin on a breakaway, takes a shot that goes high, Volchenkov hauls him down. Sundin goes sliding into the boards, Leafs Nation calls for Volchenkov's head.
I repeat: Volchenkov hauls him down AFTER the shot's taken. Meaning there should only be a penalty. The shot itself was a pretty close call too. It looked like Gerber stopped it and he too thought it was underneath his pads but it somehow trickled through and passed the goal line.
I have a pretty fuzzy memory of the rest of the game since I was also studying for my Human Resources Management test at the same time [anybody want to know anything about sexual harrassment?]. I will say that I've been very impressed by Christoph Schubert's play; him and Sundin got into a mini-scrap where both their helmets flew off. But that aside he hasn't been disappointing. Preissing got an assist on the first goal by Patrick Eaves and I almost regretted not taking him in my hot pool since the rest of Team Scarlett were left pointless, but was both comforted and panicked to hear that he left with a lower body injury.
Asides from the fact that the game in itself was rather luck-lustre, not a bad way to open the season. Hey, at least there's hockey right? Beggers can't be choosers.
Miscellaneous News:
- The New NHL Ads are up featuring Cheechoo and Forsberg. As Hockeygirl points out, they're much better than last year but to be fair, that's not setting the bar very high. The new Stanley Cup ones are out too featuring alot of players talking about how magical and great it is. They say Stanley Cup alot in case you forget what the championship trophy is called.
- Thanks to Paul Kukla for the link on NHL.com! I don't know how to check my blog hits or who's been visiting and what not so I didn't even notice it until Tapeleg pointed it out to me. Guess I'll have to limit my stupid posting quota now.
- In the midst of Anti-Trust lawsuits, Research in Motion has comes to terms of agreement for the sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Research in Motion is based in Kitchener-Waterloo and has offices in the Burlington-Hamilton area. I know because they're always on-campus recruiting people. While people are going nuts about the prospect of Sidney Crosby and the Hamilton Penguins coming to town, I ask again the question: Where the heck are they going to play? Because this craphole is already taken by the Hamilton Bulldogs [Montreal's AHL team]. The other option is to move it to Waterloo, a city known for its universities and the fact that it sucks.
- How freaking lucky is Darryl Sydor that he got that OT goal after putting his team a man down in the Colorado vs. Dallas game last night?
- Pronger's out with the stomach flu. Shouldn't have eaten that Edmontonian Fugu.
- Stephen Colbert is a genius. How cute is it that the Steagle Cobeagle also has glasses? And falls promptly on his buttocks. The OHL couldn't have asked for better promotion. Take note NHL, take note.
- Would anybody like to tell me about this sportspuppy.com site that's trying to recruit me and my ZERO credentials before I inadvertently sign up for a spam-bot?
- I forgot to add that Sleek coined the term "shoutout" last night as well to describe a shootout shutout.
Not that I should complain about a surplus of hockey, but how ridiculous is it that the Leafs and the Sens are playing a home-at-home, back-to-back? We'll see how many mysterious "upper/lower body injuries" result from it.
TSN Really Loves Hockey! No, really!
9 Comments Published by Sherry on Wednesday, October 04, 2006 at 3:10 PM.
What does Christoph Schubert and yours truly have in common? Well it looks like we've both contracted a virus somehow. Except he got his on a glamarous Carribbean vacation and I have no idea how I got mine. Maybe my brain downloaded spyware somehow.
In any case, after losing my third straight night of sleep to coughing fits and my housemates threatening not to let me watch the Sens vs. Leafs games tonight, I finally gave in and went to see a doctor. The good news: it'll clear up in a few days. The bad news: the Contac 400 I bought from Shopper's for $6.99 is useless to me. Useless I say!
It also affords me some ample time to give you a preview and review of sorts. Last night the Sports stations brought out their big guns and gave us shiny preview shows for the upcoming season. And because I love to procrastinate and using my illness as an excuse, decided hey, why not trying watching them.
NHL on TSN drummed up a two and a half hour concoction which featured profiles of all 6 Canadian teams and some fun bits such as: fishing with the GMs! Glenn Healey assistant coaching the Red Wings! Golfing with Alexander Ovechkin! That's all nice and everything except I got bored within the first hour and decided to do my finance homework instead. And when you make me willingly do finance homework, you know you're doing something wrong.
Now don't get me wrong, when it comes to amusing wittycisims and columns about jellyfish, Jame
s Duthie is my man. He's probably the one redeeming quality about the whole broadcast and the sad thing is it's only because he's very funny and entertaining...not so much that he has anything substantial to add. Darren Dreger is also a refreshing change since he isn't bursting with Torontonian love. He actually calls it like it is. Still, after more or less a life time of watching this cast of characters on TSN, it gets a little tiring. Pierre Maguire wants to marry Dion Phaneuf, Glen Healey was a really crappy goalie, Bob Mackenzie has a big head. Oh and did you know that their latest addition, Tie Domi used to play on the Leafs and got into fights? Like alot?
I caught the repeat broadcast of the NHL preview show on The Score featuring their real life wind-up doll, Steve Kouleas. Some people can't stand his loud-ness but I have to say, it certainly keeps me interested. Their preview show was only one hour but it still got enough information in. They profiled each of the Canadian teams, their field reporters sitting down with GMs and coaches. Their merry band of characters including Steve Ludzik, Pierre LeBrun and Mark Osbourne. It's not as entertaining in the way of special segments but it's more informative and certainly not as repetitive. Kouleas knows how to stimulate conversation and debate and LeBrun is one of the few hockey reporters that are actually reliable these days.
I didn't watch the Sportsnet one because I don't get that channel in the Hammer. Plus I can imagine it something along the lines of: Kypreos argues with Watters, people make fun of Darren Millard's hair, Chris Simpson has a very heart-wrenching piece about something. End scene.
Around the Inter-Web:
- Just when I thought John Buccigross had excellent taste in music, he pulls out a Jimmy Buffet reference.
- Season opens tonight! Jerseys and Hockey Love is having a chat party over at his blog and I'll be taking in the game with my laptop and a cup of tea. I was going to live-blog the game like I did during the Stanley Cup Finals, but lazy. And viral! I was also going to post starting line-ups for the game but...well ditto.
See you after the game!
In any case, after losing my third straight night of sleep to coughing fits and my housemates threatening not to let me watch the Sens vs. Leafs games tonight, I finally gave in and went to see a doctor. The good news: it'll clear up in a few days. The bad news: the Contac 400 I bought from Shopper's for $6.99 is useless to me. Useless I say!
It also affords me some ample time to give you a preview and review of sorts. Last night the Sports stations brought out their big guns and gave us shiny preview shows for the upcoming season. And because I love to procrastinate and using my illness as an excuse, decided hey, why not trying watching them.
NHL on TSN drummed up a two and a half hour concoction which featured profiles of all 6 Canadian teams and some fun bits such as: fishing with the GMs! Glenn Healey assistant coaching the Red Wings! Golfing with Alexander Ovechkin! That's all nice and everything except I got bored within the first hour and decided to do my finance homework instead. And when you make me willingly do finance homework, you know you're doing something wrong.
Now don't get me wrong, when it comes to amusing wittycisims and columns about jellyfish, Jame
s Duthie is my man. He's probably the one redeeming quality about the whole broadcast and the sad thing is it's only because he's very funny and entertaining...not so much that he has anything substantial to add. Darren Dreger is also a refreshing change since he isn't bursting with Torontonian love. He actually calls it like it is. Still, after more or less a life time of watching this cast of characters on TSN, it gets a little tiring. Pierre Maguire wants to marry Dion Phaneuf, Glen Healey was a really crappy goalie, Bob Mackenzie has a big head. Oh and did you know that their latest addition, Tie Domi used to play on the Leafs and got into fights? Like alot?
I caught the repeat broadcast of the NHL preview show on The Score featuring their real life wind-up doll, Steve Kouleas. Some people can't stand his loud-ness but I have to say, it certainly keeps me interested. Their preview show was only one hour but it still got enough information in. They profiled each of the Canadian teams, their field reporters sitting down with GMs and coaches. Their merry band of characters including Steve Ludzik, Pierre LeBrun and Mark Osbourne. It's not as entertaining in the way of special segments but it's more informative and certainly not as repetitive. Kouleas knows how to stimulate conversation and debate and LeBrun is one of the few hockey reporters that are actually reliable these days. I didn't watch the Sportsnet one because I don't get that channel in the Hammer. Plus I can imagine it something along the lines of: Kypreos argues with Watters, people make fun of Darren Millard's hair, Chris Simpson has a very heart-wrenching piece about something. End scene.
Around the Inter-Web:
- Just when I thought John Buccigross had excellent taste in music, he pulls out a Jimmy Buffet reference.
- Season opens tonight! Jerseys and Hockey Love is having a chat party over at his blog and I'll be taking in the game with my laptop and a cup of tea. I was going to live-blog the game like I did during the Stanley Cup Finals, but lazy. And viral! I was also going to post starting line-ups for the game but...well ditto.
See you after the game!
Lou Lamoriello: Ambulance Chaser
0 Comments Published by Sherry on Tuesday, October 03, 2006 at 3:39 PM.
Just so we're clear, YES, I did see the ET Canada Special. I've made my peace with it and now let us never speak of it again :P
Lou Lamorioello is no chump. It looked like that the salary cap, part of the new CBA that he was integral in negotiating, was about to pwn him in a magnificient fashion ever since somebody decided Scott Gomez was worth $5 million a year.
First he managed to get rid of Vladimir Malakhov's $3.6 million salary and in a loop-hole discovery that would make any lawyer proud, Uncle Lou has managed to prove to the league that Alexander Mogilny's hip condition is enough to qualify as long-term injury and therefore, his salary of $3.5 million will be counted against the cap but it pushes the roof of the Devils' payroll up to $47.5 million. However, upon further examination, $3.5 million really isn't that much considering the fact that the Devils are already pushing $46 million. They got to work fast though, signing Brian Gionta to a three-year deal worth about $4 mill a year.
Of course the other GMs around the league are throwing a mostly anonymous hissy fit over it. I imagine the reaction was something along the lines of "HAH! You wanted a salary cap and now you're getting screwed because--WHAT THE DICKENS?!"
It's true, Lou Lamoriello IS smarter than you.
Lou Lamorioello is no chump. It looked like that the salary cap, part of the new CBA that he was integral in negotiating, was about to pwn him in a magnificient fashion ever since somebody decided Scott Gomez was worth $5 million a year.
First he managed to get rid of Vladimir Malakhov's $3.6 million salary and in a loop-hole discovery that would make any lawyer proud, Uncle Lou has managed to prove to the league that Alexander Mogilny's hip condition is enough to qualify as long-term injury and therefore, his salary of $3.5 million will be counted against the cap but it pushes the roof of the Devils' payroll up to $47.5 million. However, upon further examination, $3.5 million really isn't that much considering the fact that the Devils are already pushing $46 million. They got to work fast though, signing Brian Gionta to a three-year deal worth about $4 mill a year.
Of course the other GMs around the league are throwing a mostly anonymous hissy fit over it. I imagine the reaction was something along the lines of "HAH! You wanted a salary cap and now you're getting screwed because--WHAT THE DICKENS?!"
It's true, Lou Lamoriello IS smarter than you.
I wasn't aware of this story until doing my usual blog stroll and Mr. Mirtle's blog brought it to my attention. It seems that a lawsuit has been filed against the NHLPA. The plaintiffs include Chris Chelios of the Detroit Red Wings and Dwayne Roloson of the Edmonton Oilers.
Normally this would be the type of thing I'd comment on but seeing as how I don't really understand all of the circumstances behind it and um, I'm good friends and housemates with a relative of Mr. Saskin's, I'll just let you guys read the article and interpret it for yourself. I agree with the first commenter on Mr. Mirtle's entry; if they don't trust the integrity of the new agreement, Chelios and Roloson will have a better case for themselves if they don't play under a system that they don't agree with. I will say that I think the league is better off with a salary cap and yes there are kinks that the new CBA needs to work out but the truth of the matter is that the league managed to survive the dark days of the lockout with a better product and a better system.
Normally this would be the type of thing I'd comment on but seeing as how I don't really understand all of the circumstances behind it and um, I'm good friends and housemates with a relative of Mr. Saskin's, I'll just let you guys read the article and interpret it for yourself. I agree with the first commenter on Mr. Mirtle's entry; if they don't trust the integrity of the new agreement, Chelios and Roloson will have a better case for themselves if they don't play under a system that they don't agree with. I will say that I think the league is better off with a salary cap and yes there are kinks that the new CBA needs to work out but the truth of the matter is that the league managed to survive the dark days of the lockout with a better product and a better system.
The good thing about losing a night's worth of sleep because you were busy coughing your brains into mush, that you don't even realize that the phrase "coughing your brains into mush" makes absolutely no sense? You get the next day off from school. Which makes me feel alot less guilty about missing classes, unlike those other times when I "accidentally slept in".
In any case, I never made it a habit of watching Kraft Hockeyville when it was on CBC because frankly, I don't trust anybody that's been on Beverley Hills 90210 [they wrote out Brenda! Who does that to Shannen Doherty?!] and I also had better things to do with my time. Which, I know is quite unbelievable, but I really did!
For those of you who don't know, Kraft Hockeyville was a contest to see which small town best represented hockey and community spirit. The winning town gets a NHL exhibition game played there plus alot of other prizes to boost their community hockey program. The winning city was Salmon River in Nova Scotia. Last night, CBC aired the game that they won which was an exhibition game between the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens. Sorry, they aired HIGHLIGHTS of the game in which the Sens got a proper trouncing from the Canadiens, 7-3. The program in itself was all right, your standard feel-good program about a community banding together by their love of hockey and people giving up their day-jobs to take care of the arena. Growing up in the cold-hearted city all my life, I suppose it was nice to see that not everybody in the world are bastards. And that Canada really really really loves hockey. Like REALLY loves hockey. No, I'm completely serious.
Highlights from the program include a visit to an elementary school by Wade Redden and Chris Higgins, which caused alot of "awwing" from the viewing audience in my house because "Kids + Good Looking Guys" will inevitably cause an "awww". They answered some questions about pets and I didn't really hear what Chris Higgins had to say because I was a little distracted with my housemate asking who the other handsome fellow he was with was. [It was Wade Redden. In a suit! A nice looking suit! Sorry, I'm back now] For those of you interested though, Higgins never really had time for pets and Redden used to have a big farm dog on his farm in Saskatchewan. You'll all be happy to know that my housemate approves.
Jason Spezza was miked up for the game and I was hoping that he would pop out more gems like the last time when he playfully bumped into Chris Kelly and wittifully retorted "There, my one and only hit of the year". Unfortunately, CBC has no sense of humour and probably editted out all of his snarki-cisms and we were left with him directing some of his teammates, complaining to the ref about a hit on Fisher, and commenting on the fact that Mike Ribeiro was a "slippery one". So slippery he's now slid on down to Dallas [Zing!]. If anything though, I think Spezza really understands the game well. He's very supportive of his teammates and was often giving direction on plays to some of the younger guys. The fact that he likes to play with our emotions with his DAMN BEHIND THE BACK PASSES aside, maybe he does deserve an "A".
Sens made their final roster cuts today. No surprises but the Kegger and Denis Hamel both made it. And I'm also pleased to announce that Richard Park has signed with the Islanders! I know I should be pitying him for getting caught up in that circus, but it's nice to see the Asians representing in my beloved sport. Charles Wang doesn't count.
Check out H-Log. Thanks to Jordi's initiative, the ladies of the Hockey Blog-o-sphere are banding together to create a blog that represents real female hockey fans and the woes they face. We'll be tackling such important issues such as: ...well I don't really know yet but I'm sure we'll have lots to say about how the NHL doesn't understand women and why we wouldn't want to buy pink jerseys.
In any case, I never made it a habit of watching Kraft Hockeyville when it was on CBC because frankly, I don't trust anybody that's been on Beverley Hills 90210 [they wrote out Brenda! Who does that to Shannen Doherty?!] and I also had better things to do with my time. Which, I know is quite unbelievable, but I really did!
For those of you who don't know, Kraft Hockeyville was a contest to see which small town best represented hockey and community spirit. The winning town gets a NHL exhibition game played there plus alot of other prizes to boost their community hockey program. The winning city was Salmon River in Nova Scotia. Last night, CBC aired the game that they won which was an exhibition game between the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens. Sorry, they aired HIGHLIGHTS of the game in which the Sens got a proper trouncing from the Canadiens, 7-3. The program in itself was all right, your standard feel-good program about a community banding together by their love of hockey and people giving up their day-jobs to take care of the arena. Growing up in the cold-hearted city all my life, I suppose it was nice to see that not everybody in the world are bastards. And that Canada really really really loves hockey. Like REALLY loves hockey. No, I'm completely serious.
Highlights from the program include a visit to an elementary school by Wade Redden and Chris Higgins, which caused alot of "awwing" from the viewing audience in my house because "Kids + Good Looking Guys" will inevitably cause an "awww". They answered some questions about pets and I didn't really hear what Chris Higgins had to say because I was a little distracted with my housemate asking who the other handsome fellow he was with was. [It was Wade Redden. In a suit! A nice looking suit! Sorry, I'm back now] For those of you interested though, Higgins never really had time for pets and Redden used to have a big farm dog on his farm in Saskatchewan. You'll all be happy to know that my housemate approves.
Jason Spezza was miked up for the game and I was hoping that he would pop out more gems like the last time when he playfully bumped into Chris Kelly and wittifully retorted "There, my one and only hit of the year". Unfortunately, CBC has no sense of humour and probably editted out all of his snarki-cisms and we were left with him directing some of his teammates, complaining to the ref about a hit on Fisher, and commenting on the fact that Mike Ribeiro was a "slippery one". So slippery he's now slid on down to Dallas [Zing!]. If anything though, I think Spezza really understands the game well. He's very supportive of his teammates and was often giving direction on plays to some of the younger guys. The fact that he likes to play with our emotions with his DAMN BEHIND THE BACK PASSES aside, maybe he does deserve an "A".
Sens made their final roster cuts today. No surprises but the Kegger and Denis Hamel both made it. And I'm also pleased to announce that Richard Park has signed with the Islanders! I know I should be pitying him for getting caught up in that circus, but it's nice to see the Asians representing in my beloved sport. Charles Wang doesn't count.
Check out H-Log. Thanks to Jordi's initiative, the ladies of the Hockey Blog-o-sphere are banding together to create a blog that represents real female hockey fans and the woes they face. We'll be tackling such important issues such as: ...well I don't really know yet but I'm sure we'll have lots to say about how the NHL doesn't understand women and why we wouldn't want to buy pink jerseys.
