As somebody who grew up with Wayne Gretzky being Da Man in hockey, in a time where I deeply cared about hockey, this is a big deal to me. I mean, I was 9 when he first got with the Oilers. We played on the street, all doing as if we were him in the most important game. I don't know how to express it, but it saddens me to hear his name being linked, even loosely, to this kind of crap.

FM

On the one hand you're probably right.

On the other hand, I can't recall a coach (ass't or otherwise) facing federal prison time too often, so it seems fairly newsworthy if for nothing other than the unusual nature of it.

Ugh. Canes get dumped at home 4-3 by the Pens. First back-to-back losses in a while and they're a shootout win from a four-game skid. Naturally, this has lead to speculation that the Weight trade was a bad move, since that four game period coincided with his arrival. Me, personally, I am uncertain. There's something to be said for grabbing the brass ring and showing you mean business, but there's also certainly something to "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I think we need to see how they do coming out of the break to see whether we made the correct decision.

I think the Weight trade has introduced a double-edged sword and both are bad. With the addition of Weight, perhaps the other Canes are feeling overconfident and just think showing up would be enough for a win. Hopefully the gak-job against the Pens tonight will adjust any such mentality. The other edge is that Carolina now has a big-ass target on its back. We made a big move and announced we're competing for the Cup this year. No longer will teams just look at us as another team. They're going to come out and play better to prove they can beat us, especially playoff-calibre teams who want to send messages to us and other potential opponents. I'm not sure what can be done for this except to start living up to a much higher expectation than they had even two weeks ago before the trade. It's harder being the hunted.

I still do think we'll win the Southeast Division, but I think we're going to have to ride out Tampa to do it. It's a 14-point lead, but I wouldn't be surprised if we don't clinch until fairly late. We rode an incredible wave in January and we may be starting to crash a bit from that high.

God damn the Rangers are playing some great hockey right now. :)

Yeehah! Carolina beats the Sabres 4-3 in the shootout. Staal with the winner in the sixth round of the shootout puts Carolina at 82 points heading into the Olympic break, 14 up on second-place Tampa Bay.

Was listening on the internet radio and it sounded like the OT was absolutely crazy with serious end-to-end going on. Carolina got off a ton of shots, but couldn't convert. At least they got it done at the end.

Eric Staal is only shooter #6 for the Canes in a shootout?

Yes, actually. It was only his second attempt in a shootout if I read right. Canes have only lost once in the shootout all year (6-1), so the staff felt it unnecessary to change what's generally worked and that has meant Staal hasn't been needed. Odd when you can say that about your leading scorer, but there you have it.

Edit to add: "We've got a long list of guys there who do well in the shootouts," he said. "But it was good to see Staaly get in there and make the game." --Peter Laviolette on why Staal isn't seeing much SO time.

man, those Wings are a damn good team

It was nice to sweep the season series. I enjoyed that very much. The Olympic break is coming at a crappy time. The Wings are really on a roll right now and actually beating decent teams (e.g., Nashville and Colorado) instead of whipping up on bottom feeders like Columbus, Chicago, and St. Louis.

http://www.canadacupofhockey.com/can...me_rosters.htm

I'm sure somebody else knows a bit more about this. I didn't even know this took place. How the hell did they get all those players together during the NHL season. Was it in 2004 or 2005 like it says?

I think the inclusion of Jiri Fischer as having played answers this.

http://pbfc.org/ilas/060110dw.html

"Quigley followed Larionov around his hometown of Moscow for an on-the-ice and behind-the-scenes look at his swan song hockey game of Team Russia vs. Team World in December 2004."

Not really. If you considered that I thought it was a hoax, Amy and Bobby Fisher could have played and it wouldn't have made a difference. Thanks for the verification though.

sounds like a cool event, btw.

I remember something about this. It was during the lockout. Just an exhibition thing more or less.

Hockey's back, playoff drive is here, and the trading deadline is about a week ago. My Leafs are struggling in a bad way right now. Life and death to make the playoffs. I dont know if there's much we can do at the deadline, we just need some of the key guys to play better....BELFOUR....and yes, im pretty sure age has taken its toll on him

Johnny....it's best to just mentally come to grips now with the fact that the Leafs will not make the playoffs. It'll make the rest of the season a little less painful, night in and night out. :)

Nah, i would never give up on my team. Win or lose, playoffs or no playoffs, ill cheer just as hard.

With that said, I'm very concerned :confused:

Oh, I'm still going to cheer for them...but by lowering my expectations, I ensure I'll have more hair left come April. :)

The last time Sweden won a gold medal in the Olympics, the Rangers won the Stanley Cup. Just saying...

Rangers destroyed the Flyers 6-1. Interesting penalty line:

On that note, the Red Wings have won the Stanley Cup in the same year as the last two Olympics (1998 and 2002).

Well done, Donald. It's about time you made your presence known.

NHL Network coming to US

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=156945&hubname=nhl

Best news I've heard all day. Thanks, DD!

btw, it's March 3rd...and the Avs have a whopping THREE home games left in March. guh.

Vancouver has 9 (including a 5 game stand), Calgary has 6 and Edmonton has 8.
GUH.

there is a light at the end of the tunnel - they open April with a 5 game home stand against 5 teams currently on the outside looking in (Chicago, St Louis, Phoenix, SJ and Minnesota). Then a hellacious road trip - Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton - to finish things up.

I only hope it's not something half-assed (not that the NHL has a reputation for doing stuff like that).

if it's, say, 3/4 as good as the NFL Network, I'm going to be loving it.

Nice to see the Stars are hungry for the streach run.

Phoenix 6 - Dallas 2

:(

Agreed. I was obssesed with the NFL Network for months. I have sort of weened myself off of it, but that's only because the Lions suck so bad and I have lost TiVO capabilities during my move. As it gets closer to draft time, I will get back into it.

While old NFL games are not that exciting to me, old NHL games are. I remember about 6 years ago or so I watched the Ron Tugnut 70 some odd save performance on ESPN classic (or the like). I loved it!

btw, it's March 3rd...and the Wings have a whopping ZERO games left against the Avs. That makes me sad and unhappy. They were so much fun to play against this year! :D

Only 6 days to go until the trade deadline...

It will be very interesting to see what kind of action there is this year.

fixed. hopefully.

I agree with this. Hockey is the most exciting sport on the planet, and watching old games and learning about prominant players is a great way to spend my time. Hopefully, that's the sort of stuff they deliver, because the "Cool Shots" stuff get's old pretty quickly.

actually, HB, I have even better new than the NHL Network.

I'm reading more and more that the dreaded jersey redesigns for next season have been put on hold until 2007 as the owners and the league are having second thoughts (they've no doubt been receiving a bit of negative feedback).
Expected logo changes to Boston, Washington and Buffalo will apparently wait another year. Anaheim probably will still happen, since they've already announced the name change.

It's a TSN property, not an NHL property, fwiw.

It's not bad at all, though I can't say I've gone out of my way to watch anything on there. They have the nightly recap shows, classic games, and plenty of That's Hockey! (think TWIB, or NBA XL or whatever it's called on Sat. mornings ... profiles, tips, feature stories, etc.). It's a fun diversion every once in a while, but I doubt it'll be something anybody instinctively flips to every morning.

Yeah, one of the nice things about Columbus is the Doug MacLean show every Wednesday and he talked about this for a few minutes, saying exactly what you're saying here. The quote I loved was his from Reebok, stating that the players would move "9% faster with the jerseys tucked in vs. tucked out" which seems to be one of the biggest complaints. He wanted them to compare the tucked out vs. the old jerseys, but they didn't have the data. But overall, it seems like we will be waiting 'til 07.

I hear that. "Cool Shots" and "That's Hockey" (from how Simms describes it) do nothing for me in the least. I don't want to watch Alan Thicke and Alex Tribec skate around with a couple of NHLers. Old school. Good. Nightly re-caps. Good. Hip, coolest game on earth, nonsense. Nonsense.

I used to watch NHL2Night all the time back in the day. I liked the highlights and what not. I miss that. I would enjoy a show like that again. A good way to keep tabs on Fantasy goings ons.

I wonder if that Reebok guy watched any of the Olympics where the "old jersey" teams like, say, Sweden, did pretty okay agains the new, slicker Nike jersey teams (everyone except Sweden and Switzerland)

:)

Very good news! Your river over floweth today!

I'd be happy with anything more than the 45 seconds of highlights (75% of which involve either Crosby or Ovechkin) we get now on ESPN.

LaFontaine just had his number retired :D Now it's time to bury the Leafs!

Canes win again, but...Cole out 6-8 weeks.

Needless to say, this hasn't done much to endear the struggling Pens to me at all. Let 'em rot.

When NHL2Night went off the air, "NHL On The Fly: Final" started broadcasting in the UK, which I think is a TSN/NHL Network program.

It's the best highlight show I have seen for any sport, mainly because they use the original announcers when showing the highlights rather than letting morons in the studio talk over the action (like Sportscentre).

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Edmonton/2006/03/05/1473818-sun.html

Reasoner's good to go By ROBIN BROWNLEE -- Edmonton Sun

So, you think you're tough?

If he played baseball, he'd be out until April. A soccer player? See you in a month. A reporter? I'd be ready to pick up a notepad again about the time training camp opens next September.

Luckily for the Edmonton Oilers, Marty Reasoner is none of the above and was on the ice in the third period against San Jose at Rexall Place Friday with a bandage holding a right ear in place that Chris Pronger turned into chopped liver with a slapshot.

Reasoner is not a blood-and-guts guy by hockey standards, but the Oilers forward is tougher than you, or I, or anybody we know. It's the very DNA and culture of the game and what makes it our national passion.

One look at Reasoner's ear - purple and swollen with 30 stitches holding it together - yesterday only reinforced what we know about these guys, what we'll see again during the stretch drive to the playoffs.

No ear. I mean, no fear.

"It feels like turbulence," said Reasoner. "It just feels like it's blocked when you go up in altitude or something.

FIRST BIG SCARE

"My first big scare when I got hit was I heard a pop. Then, I couldn't hear anything and thought I might have done something to the ear drum, but my hearing came back. It was just a matter of stitching it up."

Reasoner looked like a soldier out of a civil war scene with his noggin wrapped in blood-soaked gauze after Pronger felled him with the frozen rubber in the second period.

Reasoner, who was coughing up blood after blocking a slapshot before the Olympics, will be back in his silks against Nashville this afternoon. What, he's supposed to sit out?

"It's just the mentality guys have," shrugs Reasoner. "You get caught in the emotion of the game and you want to get back out there as soon as possible.

"It's one of the things you just kind of grow up with. It's part of the game. Everyone is really competitive and no one likes to sit out, especially due to injury."

Playing through pain is part of the game in the NHL. That's no revelation, but it's awe-inspiring to see what players endure to get the chance to hop the boards for that next shift.

"Hockey moulds and reveals character," said coach Craig MacTavish. "The root of it is really built into the character of the person."

We already know about the cadaver-like pain threshold of Jason Smith, who returned from a broken toe against the Sharks.

Likewise that of Ethan Moreau, back for his first game Friday on an ankle so badly sprained he still can't walk properly.

Then, there's Igor Ulanov, who took a slapshot in the mouth at Madison Square Garden a few years ago and had to be forced by officials to get treatment. Igor wanted to stay on the bench and not miss a shift. It took more than 20 stitches to close him up.

"It has a lot to do with your competitiveness and your nature," says Smith, who played a playoff series with a broken foot a few years back, just as Pronger is doing now.

"Some of the guys come up in families where you're a blue-collar guy. You just want to get out there and get to work. It's something we love to do. It's better to be playing than watching."

CONCERTED EFFORTS

Team medical staffs make concerted efforts to protect players from themselves and the willingness to just spit teeth into a cup or shrug off a concussion and get back out there.

"It's going to be maybe the single most important factor in everybody's success," MacTavish said of a team's ability to overcome injuries down the stretch.

"What you can play with and how effective you can be when you're playing with injuries is going to be a real determining factor in who makes it, who gets home ice and who doesn't."

So, banged up or not, nobody wants to sit.

The stretch is what these guys play for. It's the same in every NHL dressing room. "This is the most exciting time of the year," Smith said. "This is why we all play. Dealing with injuries is a part of it."

Must...resist...urge...to...rile...Leafs fans :)

Seriously though, even naysayers (cough*Johnny93G*cough :)) must admit that it isn't smoke and mirrors now with Buffalo. They roll four lines that can all score, they skate like the wind, win on the road as much as at home and have killer special teams.

Oh yeah, the goaltending is good too! It's nice to be mentioned as a contender again, that's for sure!

Thrashers let another late lead slip away but recover to win 4-3 on Kozlov's goal in the shootout. Problem is that it won't matter at all if Montreal doesn't cool off soon.

The Habs just lost in a shootout to the Flyers.

Yeah, they were losing that about the time I was posting I think. But that's still another point, so they're still 3 up with 2 games in hand to boot. I wouldn't be completely surprised if Montreal passed Tampa & the last spot came down to Atlanta & the Lightning.

Jokinen scores again during a shootout. 9 for 9 and he scored on a penalty shot earlier in the game.

Thrashers 3-2 winners in a shootout, Hossa wrists one past Lundqvist in the bottom of the 4th frame for a 3-2 win (same final shootout & game score), surviving a 2-1 deficit in the SO.

Atlanta now trails Montreal by 1 pt for 8th spot in the East (Habs with 2 games in hand), trails Tampa by 4 (Lightning 1 game in hand).

Rangers played the shootout minus Jaromir Jagr who was caught with an illegal stick during the new pre-shootout measurement, after he took a 2 minute penalty for the same thing with 1:48 left in regulation.

:D I just noticed his absence in the box score for the shootout and figured he got hurt.

That's interesting...I was under the impression that there was no penalty for having an illegal stick during the pre-shootout measurement - you just had to change your stick to a legal one.

I like the fact that you are unable to participate if your stick is found to be illegal.

Unfortunately all I had for the game was Thrashers radio & the broadcast crew was fairly well confused about exactly what was going on but that's the conclusion they finally reached. The measuring process took roughly 10 minutes to complete, so long in fact that they brought the Zamboni out for a second trip while they were waiting. Apparently the delay had to do with Jagr's stick (so the announcers said) & after a discussion, the equipment manager headed to the lockerroom with two of Jagr's sticks & he took a seat on the bench after appearing ready to be their first shooter.

Meanwhile (in another rule that was apparently coming into play for the first time this year for Atlanta), Marian Hossa gets the game winner as our 4th shooter, becoming eligible to participate after the first three rounds. He finished the OT in the penalty box & apparently that makes you an ineligible shooter for rounds 1-3.

Um... and the Blackhawks are sinking ever lower in the standings. Tho they did hurt their chances with a win last night against Columbus to get within 1 point of 13th in the West in that race for the bottom:

13.	Columbus	62	50
14.	Chicago	61	49
15.	St. Louis	60	46

SI

not true at all.
Tkachuk finished up Tuesday's OT in the box - heck, he got the penalty with 8 seconds left - but was still the 2nd shooter.

and this stick rule was stupid enough before this shootout stuff. if they are going to measure sticks in the SO, they should record it as a no goal if they catch anyone stupid enough to actually try to sneak in an illegal stick.

great great game for Colorado last night.

They just completed a road trip against the slugs of the Western Conference where they played like dog doodoo - no effort. Heck, they played the Blackhawks the day of the deadline and the Hawks were short 2 forwards to start the game and they still just barely squeaked out a win.

So I was ready for a letdown yesterday with the start of the big home and home with the Flames. But it was like a different Colorado team. A playoff team. Calgary came out hitting...and the Avs hit back. They played solid defense, the worked hard the entire game, they scored on the powerplay, the scored shorthanded, they killed penalties. Hejduk, Tangay and Sakic each had a goal and an assist, and each looked simply terrific. And Peter Budaj? Holy cow he's looked good since the deadline. Now, their only in place by 1 point, and the Flames have 3 games in hand, so I'm not getting all goofy...but if they play like that in the postseason, they might have a chance to get out of the first round.

meanwhile, I've past JiMG temporarily for 1st place in the Yahoo Fantasy B-League (picking up Huet during the Olympic break has paid of rather well...)
It's a good day for hockey.

I'm in a bit of a conundrum about one thing, though. When should I start growing my playoff beard? I do it every spring, but I've never known exactly when was good protocol to start. Is it too early?

It's too early. The playoff beard should not be started until after the regular season ends. I used to grow one every year (until I got a job in an office that wouldn't really tolerate that). I would shave the last day of the regular season and then not shave it off until the Wings were out of the playoffs or won the Cup.

I'm not a naysayer, im a biased fan of one of your major rivals:D ....With that said, Sabres are playing excellent, Leafs, not so much, though i will never give up. Go Leafs:cool:

It's sooo nice to start looking ahead of where the Canadiens are instead of behind... 1 point up on TB and 3 points back of NJ with a game in hand on both. Huet with back-to-back shutouts, and I'm suddenly not very worried about TB tonight because, well... they seem to be playing Jose Theodore in nets disguised as Burke and Grahame... I'm now very happy we didn't ship Aebischer to Tampa after we got him...

The team now seems to know what they are doing... Gainey put in a system and everyone knows their role... 2 scoring lines, and 2 defensive lines seems to be working like a charm.

That mid-season slump seems worth it now that the team is playing so well.

I still like the idea of going with a platoon of Huet-Aebischer because Huet has started 15 or so straight games... let's just hope the Habs can knock off TB, play well against Carolina and go into the "easy" part of their schedule on a high note (2 games vs NYI, TOR, WSH and PIT) to end off the month.

:D Well, I applaud your optimism. In fact, I'd love to see another Buffalo/Toronto playoff series so I'll make a point of not rooting AGAINST your Leafs for the rest of the year. ;)

The playoffs are always better when Toronto is in.

So far, the Rollie The Goalie experiment has not worked out too well in Edmonton. This got me wondering: Are there any examples of a team picking up a goalie at the trade deadline and then going far into the playoffs with that goalie? I haven't though too deeply on this, but I can't think of too many. I know it's never worked for the Wings.

In other deadline related news, much like Mario Lemieux with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Cory Cross scored a goal during his first shift and on his first shot on goal in a Wings uniform.

So you shaved every day in the 80's then? :)

Dwayne. Roloson.

The loss against Colorado was all Kiprusoff's fault - he let in a goal. How does he expect the team to win if he doesn't get a shutout? :( Defence is fine but something more than 9 goals in 6 games would be nice.

Now you're just being mean.

You're right. I'm sorry. I take it back.

Cool. Now if only Doug Risebrough would :)

The jinx is on...:mad:

Canucks are looking great! 5 straight losses!

Anaheim can pull even with Edmonton and Vancouver in the West with a victory against Detroit tonight. ok, so that probably won't happen

Canes win 5-3 at home against the Rangers and Weight is finally pulling his...er...weight as he seems to be settling in finally with a pair of goals, his third in two games. The win also broke team records for wins, home wins, and points in a season. Now Carolina has to go on the road again for four more games against the Northeast Division, starting in Montreal Thursday, then winding through Boston, Toronto, and Buffalo over the next week. A tough grind of four games in seven days.

Anyone catch the Ducks-Avs game last night?

Wow, my Ducks are playing good. To get down 4-1, and come back to tie it, and then win on an overtime penalty shot? The Pond was rocking last night.

I can't believe it right now, but as it grades out, the Ducks have a terrific chance to finish fifth in the West. You told me that was the case three months ago and I woulda told you you were nuts.

Anyone who is not a hockey fan is missing out on these last few weeks. Six teams for four spots, five points total separating them all.

Shootout results from last nights Hawks-Stars game:



Chicago Matthew Barnaby shootout goal
Dallas Sergei Zubov shootout goal
Chicago Rene Bourque shootout saved
Dallas Jussi Jokinen shootout saved
Chicago Mikael Holmqvist shootout saved
Dallas Mike Modano shootout saved
Chicago Radim Vrbata shootout saved
Dallas Antti Miettinen shootout saved
Chicago Mark Bell shootout miss
Dallas Jere Lehtinen shootout saved
Chicago Dustin Byfuglien shootout miss
Dallas Niko Kapanen shootout saved
Chicago Mark Cullen shootout saved
Dallas Jason Arnott shootout saved
Chicago Kyle Calder shootout saved
Dallas Brenden Morrow shootout goal



I still like the shootout!

LOL @ Matt Barnaby shooting first.

I still don't like the shootout.

Of course Sachmo likes the shootout with him and his Jussi Jokinen character...

I've come out in favor of it. I just look at it in very simple terms. The 4-on-4 OT is over. The game is tied. Here are H_B's options:

A) Watch Datsyuk (or insert any other NHL player's name here) go one-on-one with a goalie.

B) Start watching another re-run of Law & Order: SVU (if I'm lucky) or some other show.

I will take Option A every time.

Detroit's first shooutout of the season came earlier this year against Columbus. All game the Wings fans booed Fedorov whenever he touched the puck (this pisses me off to no end and I don't understand it, but the same could be said of the majority of Red Wings' fans and their actions, but that's another post) and the shootout came down to Fedorov vs. Osgood. If Ozzie makes the save, game over, Wings win. If Fedorov scores, we go to the 1 and done shooutout. It was as loud and as rocking as I have heard/seen the Joe since the 01-02 season. It was a mad house. Ozzie made the save.

Two games ago the Wings lost a shootout against Nasvhille. But there were two great moments. The first was Datsyuk's move on Vokoun. It was amazing and made Vokoun look silly. The second was Yzerman's shootout goal. It was just great to see the Captain dazzle once more.

Those three moments are likely some of the highlights of the regular season so far. Without the shootout, we wouldn't have them.

LOL even harder that he scored.:eek:

actually, I could deal with the shootout. I still think it should be 5 shooters per team instead of 3. 3 just ends too early. And I still think that OT should be longer to try to resolve the game that way first - shootouts should be rarer.

I really am more and more becoming annoyed with teams getting a point for an OT/SO loss. We keep seeing teams gain points in the standings by losing, and that just isn't right. I'd like to see a 10 minute OT played and If it's still not decided, then the shootout. Winner gets 2 loser gets 0 just like all other games.

Jokinen has missed his last two! :D

I still say the way to go is no-limit OT. Just play til somebody scores. The shootout sucks.

I heard that the NHL is considering going to 5 shooters per team next year.

Boston just fired Mike O'Connell. It's about time.

Playoffs, yes. Regular season, no. 82 games + any 5 minute OTs is long enough.

What a weekend for the Blue Jackets, probably the 2 most exciting games I've seen in a while. On Friday, they play the most physical game of the year against Calgary, beating them 3-2. Klesla put Nilson into Calgary's bench with the best hit I've seen all year.

Then last night, coming back from a 3-0 deficit against Detroit in Detroit was just amazing to see. Its nice to see a team who's not in the playoff race still give it 100 percent and not give up on games.

and see, just after I riff on the 1 point for a loss thing, Colorado loses...and gets a point out of it, moving them into a tie with Calgary.

And if the Canucks beat the Kings tonight, they move into a tie with Edmonton, 2 points back of Colorado and Calgary. It's going to be a fun final 10 (or so) games in that division.

I can't believe we have almost 1 month left in the regular season. Well, 23 days left. That's a long, long time...

It'll never happen, but a 60 game season would be so much better.

No comment about Saturday's game?

(Please don't kill us too badly tonight.)

:)

A couple fluky goals but all credit goes to Toronto for their work ethic in the game - they deserved to smoke the Sabres that's for sure. Toronto played an excellent hockey game.

Buffalo is bound to get swept if they don't awaken from their slumber. That was as poor an effort as I've ever seen out of a Sabres team.

They get Hecht, Briere and Mair back for tonight's tilt and supposedly are scratching Vanek, who just isn't showing a consistent work ethic.

It's nice to see the Leafs overhauling things a bit...the kids look good. Too little too late though, I'm sure you'll agree.

Never say never. The kids look good, Aubin is on fire, and the team is playing with heart. If there's one thing we've all learned about the Leafs, it's that they have grit and determination and are never going to quit and just when advserity seems to have...

Ah fuck it, who am I kidding, they're done.

Some jerk wants to buy the Penguins and move them to Hartford.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2400450

Only if they're renamed the Whalers.

This whole deal with the Penguins could be so easy. Give Isle of Capri the slot parlor license, and they'll build a new arena in Pittsburgh and contribute money to revamp a sputtering area of the city. Isle of Capri has promised to do both of these things. The other casino companies are offering proposals that require taxpayer money, and they have no plans to help rebuild parts of Pittsburgh. What's so difficult about this?

Anyway, a new arena doesn't necessarily mean that the new Penguins ownership would keep the team here, but it'd be pretty silly to leave if there's a brand new building in town. The state and Allegheny County (where Pittsburgh lies) are fucking this one up badly.

Dola

I'm scared about my Devils playing Montreal tonight. :(

Go Sharks!

Actually it would mean they would stay. Lemieux stated that whoever he sells the team to will have to follow the same rules that he has. Which means if they get a new arena the Pens stay, if the arena falls through, the team is free to leave.

Sounds good to me. :) I'm not a Penguins fan, but I love having the NHL nearby. So why haven't they given the Isle of Capri this license yet? :D

There is talk that Gov. Rendell is getting kick backs from the other bidder. And what makes it even more fishy is how he hurried up and made a Plan B just incase the Isle of Capri falls through. Seems to me that he already knows who is getting it but doesnt want it to look like he didnt try to save the team.

Edit: I am not a Pens fan either, but I like going to watch the Flyers play 4 times a year

w00t.

talk about peaking at the right time.

still worried that we only have one scoring line, but they keep scoring. brodeur looked fantastic.

big game against the rangers tomorrow. catching the flyers isnt out of the question at this point. amazing.

This story cracks me up...

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=161766&hubname=

Based on that transcript, my score card has it Hayward 2, Avey 0.

I love Sean Avery. The league needs guys like this. Villians. He plays the role wonderfully. He has since he was in juniors. Don't get me wrong, he's an ass. A major, major ass. I agree with him, though, Hayward was never any good.

I think Avery should have a -1 because his "insult" didn't make sense.

I, of course, listen to Hayward all the time, and I also get a lot of opportunities to watch Avery. I like Hayward okay. He gets the job done, even if he won't be remembered much for it. He's a bit too much of a homer, but for some reason, I like that more with the Ducks than I usually do.

I also like Avery, his personality. He makes me laugh a la Chad Johnson.

All that said, Hayzie is spot on about Tuesday's game, which I also watched. Avery was a little bitch (as usual). He's like one of those medium-sized bullies who picks on kids, but he runs when someone his size (much less bigger, like Fedoruk) comes along. He deserved an ass-whooping and acted like a coward.

I might add that his stupid penalities and mistakes were the primary reason the Kings lost 6-2 that night in a game they absolutely needed to keep their playoff hopes alive.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/14310160.htm

Robitaille to Retire at End of Season

I'm going to miss Lucky Luc on the ice. What a terrific skater and scorer. The Kings have been great for him, too, in the long run, although I really feel they could have done better by him this year.

Adieu, Monsieur Robitaille.

Seriously!! A few weeks ago, one of the guys on Atlanta sports radio said the Thrashers had the best chance to make the playoffs against the Devils, who he thought would easily fade out of the picture. Wonder what he is thinking now :D.

I've always liked Lucky Luc. An amazing goal scorer. No player that I can remember has ever accomplished so much with so little. He was a horrible skater. He wasn't that big or strong. I have no idea how he scored so many goals. It's quite remarkable.