The Thank You Holiday

Well I've been here over a year now, and with well over a hundred posts since then, it feels like I'm finally starting to find a groove. Sometimes its work coming up with ideas and churning posts out and always time consuming but its a labor of love that we truly enjoy. I'd like to thank you all for reading, whoever you may be, and I encourage you to comment on here (good or bad) and other blogs, because we know full well that getting a response it the most rewarding thanks we could receive. So again, thank you, and comment some more fuckers.

I planned to be prolific this week, and with nine posts in the last week (that's a lot for me, STFU already) I think I accomplished that. I just finished up my unsigned copy of Theo's book and plan to get my thoughts out on it in the near future because of course I've run out of time. I'm heading out to Phoenix this weekend to catch the Coyotes and the Stars play on Friday night, which I'm pretty excited about. I figured I'd go see the Desert Dogs experience before it goes extinct, if in fact it does. But I wanted to take it all in so I can accurately write about my experience there, and how the Coyotes are perceived by the Phoenix sporting public.

In any case have a good holiday, drink up, be merry. Thanks again.

Unsuspecting?

Driving around I heard Bill Clement on NHL Home Ice this afternoon and he brought up an interesting point concerning head shots.

First off, he stated that the only way to truly eliminate head shots from the game is to eliminate hitting in the game. Nobody wants that, not the fans, not the GM's and not the players which he openly stated. But he brought up the wording in the recent Danny Briere suspension (which I think is a bunch of bullshit), as to how the League might re-structure the rules to prevent head injuries.

Briere was suspended for "a late hit on an unsuspecting opponent." Clement stated that if the rules prevent players from playing the body on an unsuspecting opponent that it might take the dangerous element of surprise out of the equation, and result in less concussions. Now, of course that will be a point of contention when it comes to disciplinary action if frequent injuries happen after a rule change like this is made, but how is that any different from today's 'Wheel of Justice'? How can you tell when a player is unsuspecting or not? Think about it, you can tell. You can see those situations in your mind if you've ever played the game.

Now of course this may take the unwritten 'keep your head up' rule out of the game, which is a rite of passage and a hard knocks learning experience to any kid who just entered Pee-Wee.

That reminds me of two things in Theo Fleury's book 'Playing With Fire'. First off, when he was talking about Eric Lindros and the skill he possessed, he said that he had a theory as to why he got so many concussions that knocked him out of the game. He thought that Lindros always skated with his head down through the neutral zone, something he had done since he was a kid. The difference was that in Juniors and before the kids were bouncing off of him, and in the NHL the guys were bigger and meaner, and knew how to hit (see Scott Stevens). And so time and time again, Big E would be down on the blue line with another concussion.

The second thing, and this might have been on the same topic, he said that Bearcat Murray used to say that the body responds differently when the mind knows it will be hit, it tenses up and braces for the hit. When a body gets hit unsuspectingly, it tends to be loose and flop which can result in even further injury.

It was interesting thought, and I know its debatable, but I thought it a valid post.

Western Conference Finals Preview?

Tomorrow night sets up to a big night of hockey with every team in the League playing with the exception of Columbus and Vancouver, for a total of 14 games. Most of the games are kind of ho-hummers in terms of matchups, but there's one game that stands out in terms of future implications. Chicago at San Jose. Lets take a look at each, shall we?

The Chicago Blackhawks

Currently the Hawks are in the middle of a six game road trip through Western Canada and the West Coast, and are riding a seven game win streak. They have earned six points in three games against Calgary (7-1), Edmonton (5-2), and Vancouver (1-0) with games in San Jose (11/25), Anaheim (11/27) and Los Angeles (11/28). They opened up the trip by offering a sound thrashing to the Flames, followed it up with an impressive win in Oil country, and played the Canucks in a hard-fought defensive game. Before they left the United Center, they handed the Sharks a OT loss in a great game that easily could have gone either way.

The Feathers

• Marian Hossa is playing for the Blackhawks for the first time since leaving Detroit via free agency. Hossa is now on his fourth team in three seasons, yet he's no longer a mercenary, signing a 12year deal to stay in Chicago long-term. Not to downplay it but the Hawks are very strong offensively already, adding Hossa makes them that much more dangerous. He doesn't have Kessel-type pressure on him, considering the arsenal that Chicago has, but there are high expectations for him, and the team in general.
• Jonathan Toews is a tireless workhorse, and I have no doubt that we will see him in Selke nominations in the near future. I thought the Mitchell hit would have slowed him down a bit, or made him fearful, at least for a little while, but that hasn't been the case, he's bounced back nicely. A well-rounded player and a perfect selection for Captain as one of the three faces of the franchise.
• Patrick Kane has allowed his offseason infraction to focus him solely on hockey. Either that or the kid's so goddamn gifted that it hasn't looked like its phased him whatsoever. Pure offensive threat every time he has the puck.
• Cristobal Huet has rebounded from poor performances to being solid in his last few games. He holds the fate of the Blackhawks destiny with his play this season. Of course Antti Niemi has looked strong in his relief outings, and earned the shutout on Sunday with his solid play against a very good Canucks team.
• John Madden has proved to be one of the best pickups in free agency this season. His play as a defensive checking center is unparalleled, and is just as good on the kill.
• Dustin Byfuglien's game as a power forward gets better and better every game. He's a big pest to the opposition and specifically their goaltender with his size taking up space around the crease. His shooting has improved, and when he doesn't have the puck he's going to the net hard every time on the rush. It would be sad to see him go as a casulty of signing the big 3, but that's the cap era for you.
• While I'm not convinced the D corp is flawless, it is pretty solid. Keith leads as a core member of the team, with Seabrook and Barker as solid hard-nosed defenseman, and Campbell as the puck moving, offensive minded defenseman. And then it gets hazy. Hjalmarsson has been a steady surprise, but Hendry is not ready, and the wheels are falling off of Sopel. They're leaning on the top four pretty hard, and it'll get harder in the postseason.
• The depth on the team is what amazes me most. Its a nicely assembled team with young skill guys (Versteeg, Brouwer, Bolland), and gritty enforcers/agitators (Eager, Burish). It will be hard to keep this roster together after this season with 10 restricted and 4 unrestricted.

The Blackhawks went to the Conference Finals last season, only to be knocked out by the previous Stanley Cup Champions the Detroit Red Wings. I'm a big believer in suffering a big loss in order to be hungry enough to want it the next season. To me, this is the best chance Chicago has at a winner, they are going to have to sacrifice too many lambs to keep their "core" and the lineup will be revised dramatically before next season. I don't see it getting better.

The San Jose Sharks

The Sharks are 6-1-3 in their last 10 games, are undefeated at home (7-0-2), and leading the Western Conference with 36 points (Chicago is 2nd). With 16 wins in 25 games played, you have to consider the Sharks previous season with 53 wins and 117 points, and then realize that they can have as great a regular season as they want, but the only question is postseason success. The Sharks know that they're going to be in the postseason, and all that this time in between determines is where they're going to sit. Last season they sat in first, played the eighth seeded Anaheim Ducks and got beat in six games. This is a team with something to prove.

The Teeth

• Dany Heatley is no-doubt an elite goal scorer with great hands and a hell of a shot. Heater, now paired up with Joe Thornton, the NHL's most elite setup man, have become the most dangerous combo since Hull 'n Oates. Heatley is a 50 goal scorer on his own, now with Jumbo, who knows what he's capable of.
• Patrick Marleau is one of the most capable all around centers in the game today. He can score, pass, win draws, play defense, kill penalites, and add skill to the power play. His speed creates so many opportunities, whether at even strength or short handed, he can easily scoot around the best defensemen. Doug Wilson won't know what he's lost until Patty is gone, if he doesn't hold on to him.
• Add those three together and you have a deadly line, McLelland's put them together once or twice.
• Evgeni Nabokov has looked very focused this season, even more so than last season, but once again it was in the postseason when the wheels fell off. He played in 62 games last season plus 6 in the playoffs, and more than likely was overplayed even though he would prefer to play every one. McLelland will need to pull the reigns back towards the end of the season when the post is assured.
• Setoguchi/Pavelski/Clowe is a solid, well-balanced line on its own, and still provides McLelland with plenty of potential mixes with the aforementioned three.
• Malhotra/Ortmeyer/Nichol a refreshed crop of veterans that has more skill and speed than last years third line. Ortmeyer and Nichol have chemistry carried over from Nashvillle, and Malhotra has fit in nicely to the lineup.
• Blake and Boyle are to the Sharks as Pronger and Niedermayer were to the Ducks in their Cup run. Vlasic is a solid young defenseman, and Huskins can play but the corp gets a little suspect after that. Doug Murray is absolutely atrocious on a pair of skates, so the Sharks will have to rely on Joslin and Demers as their third pair.

We've talked up the Sharks but we should calm down until we see what they're made of in the post. San Jose is the gang of grisly veterans running out of opportunites to obtain a ring, while the Hawks are a team of right now, with a bright future of promise ahead of them. We'll see if this game tells us anything about their immediate futures.

Monday Night Notes

Even though I was away from the glory that is my Center Ice package and my mini-fridge filled with beer, I still managed to take down copious notes as I surveyed the league through highlights and the third period of the Ducks vs. Flames game. Commuting sucks, what can I tell you. We'll skim through the first nine with more content on the last. And away...

Preds 3 vs. Wings 1

* Drew Miller looks as if he as a new lease on life after being dealt to the Bolts from the Ducks, put on waivers and picked up by Holland. His move to the front of the net was determined, getting the lone marker for the Red.

* Pekka is now playing for next year's paycheck like I knew he would. His roaming goalie routine with the sliding poke check was pretty sweet. My pick for the top FA goaltender at the end of the year.

* Nashville is on a six-game win streak going 8-2 in the last 10.

Isles 4 vs. Leafs 3 (OT)

* Rolosson made 58 saves on 61 shots. 61 Shots.

* Phil Kessel took 12 of those in case you were wondering. One went in, he now has six on the truncated year.

* Matt Moulson got another one for 11 goals in 24 games. Who the fuck is Matt Moulson? This is Matt Moulson, glorious, glorious locks of Moulson.

* After giving up three, Toskala decided to call it a night, told Wilson it was his groin. Gus finished, allowing the Leafs to climb back into the game.

* Nik Hagman absolutely pissed on Freddy Meyer. Who's Freddy Meyer? Fuck, I don't know.

Rags 7 vs. BJ's 4

* Jackets score first two. Rangers score seven. Jackets score two more. Yeah. Maybe I should add that after the Jackets got two, Torts called a TO and basically did one of his 'Hi I'm John Tortorella, I'm your coach, and I'm pissed, now don't you feel like an asshole, get out there and play' legendary verbal abuse ass kicks. Shit, it worked.

* Gaborik with 2 goals and 2 assists, and Avery with 2 goals.

* Del Zotto looked sharp on his goal, head up, take the lane if its given to you. Nice shot just inside the far post.

* Gilroy with a breakaway goal, made Garon look stupid.

Pens 3 vs. Cats 2 (OT)

*Nathan Horton's speed was pretty impressive outskating the Pens defenseman to get a scoring chance to no avail.

* The big debate today is on the Panthers jersey, Scotty Wazz, Puck Daddy minions. To me, its a pass considering that their normal jersey is probably the worst in the League, but it does looks a lot like the Pens third in color, and that similar logo style on the Wild home and Blues thirds.

Sens 4 vs. Caps 3 (OT)

* Mike Fisher is the greatest thing since sliced bread, after Underwood goes on the morning show circuit with Ellen and Regis & Kelly and talks him up. That and he actually started putting up points. Gets the OT winner, and the girl.

* Pascal Leclaire took a puck in the jaw while sitting on the bench, we'll see what that does to him. Ed. note: It did this.

B's 4 vs. Notes 2

*Lucic and Savard return to lineup and kick start Boston's locker room. Will it be enough, and will it last?

* Bergeron with four assists, I mentioned something about him finally returning to form, didn't I?

*Carlo Colaiacovo with a goal going hard to the net, and an assist.

Stars 2 vs. Canes 0

* Morrow and Gleason go at it right after opening faceoff. Something must have pissed them off.

* There was no one in the arena that night, I'm sure the stands filled up a little more after puck drop, but someone even left a comment in that video about it.

* Turco was flopping all over the place to preserve the shutout. Not like there was anywhere to go but up, it seems as if he's put last season behind him.

Avs 5 vs. Flys 4

* Colorado and Anderson have come back to Earth going 1-4-1 in the last 6, but played hard against a tough Philly team and got the win.

* Scott Hannan scored, alert the media.

* What is with the skill players on the Flyers getting into fights lately? Are they really trying that hard to fit in to the Broad Street mantra? Giroux got into it with Svatos last night, and Briere hugged it out with Vlasic last Friday.

* Speaking of Briere, he had two goals and two assists, Jeff Carter also had two goals for Philadelphia, David Jones had two goals and Paul Stastny had a goal and two assists for Colorado.

Oil 4 vs. Dogs 0

*'Wait, wait, pull what out?' This was a what happened here kinda game. Three goals in less than 12 minutes and the second and third goals were 7 seconds apart.

* Lombardi shoved one in his own net to help Edmonton, guess he still wants to play for Alberta.

* Dustin Penner has had some strong games since MacTavish left town.

* The guy with the biggest last name in the League (Drouin-Deslauriers) got the shutout.

Ducks 3 vs. Flames 2 (SO)

* Giguere looked like he finally got that kick in the pants he needed. He looked strong, making big saves behind a shoddy defense, to keep the Ducks in it. Stopped 43 shots and all 3 shootout attempts. All he needed was to 1. talk shit to the press, 2. do damage control after press smelled shit, 3. play like you deserve $6mil a year. By the way, that was his first win since March.

* Did I mention how shitty the Anaheim defense looked? I did? Well it was. Shitty. They were mishandling pucks, and getting beat left and right. Even Niedermayer looked out of place, making up for it with a timely stick check, but still what's the deal? Sick? Tired? Old? Last night's game looked like this could in fact be his last season.

* Glencross was dancing through the defense more often than not last night with one goal on three breaks. The goal was a ripper though.

* Artyukhin lined up with Selanne and Koivu? Are you sure Randy? There were several mentions of Arty's foot speed by announcer John Ahlers, and not in a derogatory way like they should have been directed.

* The Ducks have 21 of the next 30 games on the road. Yeah, that sounds like fun.

* Glencross/Langkow/Conroy is like this dreamy line that reminds you of days gone by. KowConCross.

* Oh, have I mentioned Iginla in October vs. Iginla in November? I forgot. Five game point streak, seven goals in those five, and 16 goals on the year. Dreamy.

* I was laughing my ass of with that little exchange towards the end of the game. Jokinen nails Perry into Kipper. Perry doesn't hold back and throws his arms out into the mask of Kiprusoff. Miikka starts smacking Perry. Phaneuf feels the need to help, he gets leveled by Boynton charging in. Iginla and Bobby Ryan are exchanging pleasantries with facewashes, and we end up four on four. Comedy, pure comedy.

* Did Olli look for Iggy or what?! What did I tell you?! Sure he had three Ducks on him, but normally he's taking that shot anyway. Jokinen is slowly learning to look for Iginla before he takes that normally obligatory shot. And as a dog biscuit to Olli for passing instead of shooting, Brent lets him take a turn in the shootout. Should have let Jarome go instead. By the way, that play was offsides, big time.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love hockey, (in my best Kanye West accent). One game tonight, but 14 on Wednesday. Yessssssssssss.

Awesome.

For all you hockey-loving, Rush fans (i.e. nerds) out there, get a whiff of this. Neil Peart, one of the best percussionist of all-time "will record a special rendition of The Hockey Theme, the iconic theme song originally written by Dolores Claman in 1968."

Rush fan or not, Peart is a bad ass when he gets behind a kit, and if you've got the nuts to tote around a set like the one above (not to mention play the shit out of it), then you've got to give respect where respect is due.

Best Canadian Drummer of All Time + CBC Hockey Night in Canada Theme = Kick Ass

A Movie Review? On This Blog?

This week I subjected myself to the tragedy that is 'The Love Guru,' (I know only a little over a year late, I held out as long as I could). I figured it was somewhat a hockey movie and therefore I'd have to watch it at some point and time, and don't even think of lying to me, (or yourself), that you don't see every single movie that has some inkling of hockey in it. From every shitty sequal of 'The Mighty Ducks' and 'Slapshot' to pieces of crap like 'Hockey Mom' and 'Airborne.'

For this masochist act, I settled in to my favorite ass dent of the couch, poured myself a picture perfect pint of Molson Canadian, (I think I'm the only guy in Southern California who drinks that heavenly nectar), and popped an artery clogging bag of corn.

I knew full well that the movie would suck, but I figured being hockey themed I might get some minute form of enjoyment out of it. Basically, it was a forum for the unused jokes of sex, dick, and fart jokes from the 'Austin Powers' movies. But the thing that surprised me most was Mike Myers' grasp of the hockey world in writing the movie.

Granted he grew up right in Scarborough, neck deep in Maple Leaf territory, but it was his use of the NHL and its traditions that kept a hockey fan like me chuckling quietly under my breath.

Playing off the sad saga that is Toronto Maple Leafs hockey, with the "Bullard curse," and the dozens of Cup-less years that plagues the faithful was funny to every non-Leaf fan, (and I'm sure a few T dots as well). Using the Hockey Night in Canada presentation with announcers Jay Kell (Stephen Colbert) and Trent Leuders (Jim Gaffigan) and their banter back and forth might have been the best scenes. And of course antagonist Jacques 'Le Coq' Grande (Justin Timberlake) as the French-Canadian goalie nemesis with his namesake third leg and love for Celine Dion had his moments as well.

But it all played off of Darren Roanoke, (Romany Malco) our hero as an African American hockey player in its passive aggressive attempt to callout the typical demographic of the game. I've seen enough 'Hockey is for Everyone' commercials for a lifetime, and in the League's "lets-grab-all-of-the-colored-hockey-players-we-have-and-shoot-a-commercial-to-expand-our-audience-and-sprinkle-a-few-white-players-in-so-no-one-figures-it-out" lousy marketing campaign, is just a little too phony to me, and painfully obvious. The final blow was Kanye West celebrating with Mike Myers in the stands as he screams 'I love hockey!' in his best caucasian accent.

After having watched it I feel like an 'ass-hole-face-man!'

Interabang... Look it up.

? One of the questions last night on NHL Network from Brian Duff to Dave Reid was 'will Stamkos hit 50 goals?' I guess its a fair question considering his totals up to this point, but my first reaction was, 'are you serious?!' The kid's definetely got it in him, but in the years ahead, if hits it this year I would be very surprised.

! Speaking of 50 goals, I would say Dany Heatley's got that well within reach and will surely be in the race between Ovechkin and Kopitar as to who hits it first, now that he's got magical setup man Jumbo Joe with him. How the hell did Thornton fish those passes through the Philly defense, not once but twice? Reid hit it on the head with his comment about Joe, ' the guy has no interest in shooting the puck.' Werd Dave, werd.

? Briere has eight goals? When the hell did that happen? Nowhere near the amount he should have considering the bloated contract that's been weighing him down the last few seasons. Either that or the groin, one of the two. Speaking of Briere, did you see his little tussle with mild mannered Vlasic last night? Pretty tame, probably their first fighting majors but I'm too lazy to look it up.

? How many quality chances does vanRiemsdyk get? How many does he actually put in? Time after time, I see highlights of this kid with great chances and missing the net. Rookie mistakes that he'll no doubt be burying as time goes on.

! Patrick Marleau has to be most dangerous guy in the League when the Sharks are shorthanded. It seems like every time I post comments I'm going on and on about this guy. Wilson's going to be making a big mistake if he lets him go, but I know, money's the issue too. But Thornton/Heatley/Marleau together on a line, scary. McLellan sent it out a few times last night too.

! Malhotra scored a goal for both the Sharks and the Flyers last night. Nice.

? Can you tell what game I watched last night? Catching the matinee of the Flames and Kings this afternoon, can't promise any notes from that one, even though I know you love it.