Coffee?

It's 5:30 in the morning and i'm watching the sun rise from my desk at work. Backshift is the best. And in this overtired state, what better time to stop in and say "hey!" from my long blogging hiatus. Sorry guys, it's the first summer in a while that the bright shiny orb in the sky actually came out and warmed the sodden souls of Nova Scotia. I also moved shortly before the Canada Day Debacle Holiday and destroyed my liver in Newfoundland.

Speaking of the Canada Day Debacle Holiday... July 1 has come and gone and Mr Sundin is still unsigned. I clearly remember (and there are few things that are clear from that day) busting the laptop out on the party patio to check signings and more importantly, to track The Sundin. It was looking pretty good for the Habs there for a bit after Bobbers Gainey took a hop across the pond to visit Sundin in native Sweden, but I believe he enjoys feeling wanted, so he's going to hold off on signing to hold on to that warm fuzzy feeling that he's never gotten from Toronto.

The Canadiens lost Ryder to the Bruins... and the way he was playing last season, good riddance. Although i'm sure he'll come back to haunt the Habs in some terrible, awful, ironic way. Also one of my favs, Mark Streit was lost to free agency. But they were able to sign Kostitsyn so I guess i'll live.

And the Lightening continue their whack management skillz by inking Vincent Lecavalier to an 11 year, $85 million contract. They also went on a signing spree on July 1... 11 more years of bad cap management, here were come!

And one of the most amusing stories i've seen actually has come from Futball (Soccer). Apparently Mr Christiano Ronaldo thinks himself likened to a "slave". Poor little bugger, i'm sure it's a fairly hard go when you're making £120,000 a week.

Eastern Conference Champions

Sit. Down. Flyers.
If anyone had any doubts about whether the Pittsburgh Penguins would win this series, they were silenced today.

Whilst Canada was getting their ass handed to them by the Russians at least something was right in the hockey world. Before I could even switch the television over to CBC after almost throwing something at it, the game was 2-0. Ryan Malone (a player rumoured to be hitting the Free Agent highway this summer) scored first and opened the floodgates that was Martin Biron's net. The opposite could be said for Marc-Andre Fleury, who made a few timely saves early in the game, and one huge one late to preserve his shut-out.

The entire team was running on what seemed to be all cylinders, getting points from ten different players. Marian Hossa (4), Ryan Malone (3), Sidney Crosby (2), Maxime Talbot (2), Evgeni Malkin, Sergei Gonchar, Jordan Staal, Adam Hall, Pascal Dupuis, Brooks Orpik.

And it was almost like Sidney Crosby said a big 'NO, YOU SUCK' to the fans that rode him all of game four. Sit down. Flyers. and double sit down, flyers fans.

The Penguins now await the winner of the Dallas and Detroit final in the west. And by the way the last game went, it appears the momentum is in Dallas's hands. Game six of that series goes Monday night in Dallas.




The Memorial Cup game is currently in progress. Apparently instead of showing the Kitchener-Spokane game, the main Sportsnet network decided to go with random programming while the Bluejays game was in rain delay (see earlier post on Baseball). So you can only get the Memorial Cup game if you've got digital cable, where you can pick up one of the regional channels. Dear Sportsnet, You suck.

Blockbuster signing.

MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens have signed Calgary Hitmen forward Ryan White to a three-year contract.

White, 20, recorded 28 goals and 44 assists with the Hitmen during the 2007-08 season and led the team in scoring the past three seasons.

The Brandon, Man., native was selected 66th overall by the Canadiens in the third round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

Breaking News.

Wade Redden has apparently rejected the offer from the Ottawa Senators that would see him take a substantial paycut. He said he has no interest in signing the contract and will reportedly test out the Free Agent market. Although the way he played this past season, good luck buddy.