The best and worst day of the year.

game 7.

how friggin giddy are you?

Because I am so freakin stoked I could.... do something really awesome. But i'm also a little sad as well...

Because no matter what happens tonight, hockey is over.

waaaah.

Along with most of the city of Halifax, i'll be cheering for Pittsburgh tonight. It's selfish really... I want Captain Sid to bring the cup here!

But here's what worries me about Pittsburgh's chances. First of all there's the disastrous outcome of Game 5 in Detroit (I missed that game because I was at a Tragically Hip concert in Art Park, NY... but i'll tell you I was happy I missed it after receiving the score update from a friendly dude with an iPhone in the bathroom line.)

Pittsburgh just seems unable to pull it together in the motor city. Although in Game 1 and 2 they were right in it, and save for a few bad bounces off those crazy boards behind the net at Joe Louis, they could've taken at least one game and it might have been a different series.

I mean, geez Detroit is 11-and-1 at home through the playoffs. And Sidney Crosby can't seem to score in Detroit... probably because he can't take a pee without Zetterberg lurking in the shadows behind him, which is all the easier when Detroit has the last change at home.

But that was game 1, 2 and 5. And this is game 7. It's a different animal. The Cup is in the building and it's getting awarded no matter what. And I would expect that Crosby and gang will turn it up a notch. And hopefully Fleury will be able to shut the door this game.

I would also like to see the look on Marion Hossa's face when he realized that he picked the wrong team. Oh the kharma in that... I think i'd cry with happiness. I would then call him up and laugh uncontrollably on his voicemail.

But it'll be a good game, regardless of the outcome.... the only thing is... i don't want it to end. Fingers crossed for some exciting Game 7 overtime action? Perhaps a few hundred overtime periods? Have the players signing their July 1 free agent contracts during intermissions?


Coaches, coaches, coaches.

Win: Sutters take over Calgary?

Brent Sutter stepped down as the coach of the New Jersey Devils with a year remaining on his contract. Rumours are swirling that Brent Sutter will land the job vacated by Mike Keenan in Calgary and join brother and Flames GM. The Sutters are awesome... Calgary should try to collect the whole clan.

Indifference: Marc Crawford

meh.

Fail: Jacques Martin

Not a good choice. The one upside is that Martin is considered an off-ice "drill sargeant" and may be able to curb the partying, oreo-eating ways of the young Canadiens players... doesn't really help with the under-acheiving parts though.


Jim-Balls

I really don't understand this at all. The NHL has owners like William (Boots) del Biaggio and they're concerned about Jim Ballsillie?

Also I've found a few columnists a little alarming recently... Particularly a Globe and Mail column by Jim Blair... "Just cut the cheque, Jim.
Try to carve out $5-million here or there if you want, fudge some numbers, spread it out, give the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres television money in perpetuity – whatever. Just cut the cheque. Join the club, and let’s get on with it. "

These people are talking like it's their money. Would you appreciate it if we told you how to spend your paycheque? Why should Ballsillie get screwed by the league? Was there a relocation fee when the team moved from Winnipeg to Phoenix? Is it really fair for the NHL to treat this entire fiasco as if it's going to be a detriment to the league...

Hmm, rich guy who was unanimously approved by the League's Board of Governors back in 2006 when he attempted to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins... moving a team that has not actually MADE money since it moved there from Winnipeg... to a place where there's ample hockey-mad population. Gee, this is going to bankrupt the entire goddamn league, Bettman. (see: intense sarcasm)


The Return of the Emery

For some reason (maybe i'm delusional from the imminent end of hockey season) i'm actually okay with emery returning to the NHL. I think it's time for another chance. Besides... it'll give something for Michael Landsberg to talk about besides Sean Avery....

Okay, Okay, I'm in. Let's talk fisticuffs.

Because suddenly it's the the cool thing to do. Like Livestrong bracelets or Twitter.

Being 'anti-hockey fights'.

Look through the latest columns as your evidence. Charles Gillis' recent column in Maclean's is a perfect example.

I'm not anti-hockey fights.

I've tried to stay out of the fighting debate for quite some time. Every time I hear an argument about fighting, I cringe and I almost bust out the laptop.

Well I'm finally caving — because I need to make some points I haven't really seen. There's your standard arguments that if you take out fighting, the stick infractions and cheap shots will go up.


Don Sanderson, a 21-year-old defenceman with the Whitby Dunlops, lost his life after hitting his head on the ice during a December fight.

But let's take it as it is. A freak accident.

Hockey is an incredibly dangerous sport. There's ice, there's sharp blades (which Richard Zednik can attest to), players carry big sticks, they wear armour, there's a very hard little pick that fits neatly in the orbital bone, and players are super-fit which means they hit harder, they skate harder and they shoot harder.

Freak accidents will happen.

What I think we're missing in this debate about hockey fights is the numbers. Someone needs to look at the amount of fights and figure out the percentage of player injuries resulting directly from fights.

I'd like to bet a good chunk of change that it's not very high.

I'd also like to bet a good chunk of change that the bigger cause of injuries are hits from behind. Or just plain stupidity (like skating around the neutral zone with your head down *cough cough* Eric Lindros ... take a minute to look at the wikipedia entry — it's incredible that he's still alive.)

Okay so people still want it banned.

Let's run with that theory of hitting from behind. That's banned ... per say. Do it enough and you'll be watching some games from the rafters. So implement a suspension for players who fight. So what?

Just like hits from behind, someone could get hurt, but you can't really stop it completely. It's the nature of the game. You'd have to take out hitting to stop that. And that's just stupid.

I've seen a few columnists bring up Todd Bertuzzi's sucker punch on Steve Moore and I cringe at their lack of understanding of the issue. You cannot even bring the Steve Moore and Todd Bertuzzi incident into the equation. That's stand alone. Bertuzzi is kind of a dummy (trying to be nice here) and it would've happened regardless of if there was a "ban" on fighting.

There's this argument that if you take out fighting, eventually the atmosphere and culture of violence will leave the game. HAVE ANY OF THESE PEOPLE EVER WATCHED HOCKEY?

Good god. I'm sorry about the caps lock. But I'm a little upset.

There are a lot of things plaguing the NHL and its players more than the fighting question.

How about behavioral problems off the ice. Give an 18-year-old who may or may not have even bothered to finish high school a million dollars and let him free into the world? Not everyone is responsible like boring Sidney Crosby. I think we know what we're talking about without actually saying it.

Back to my main point: Fighting will never fully go away in the NHL.
Unless players start getting charged for assault by the local authorities.

And that's a slippery slope that nobody wants to go down.

Good Sentence.

From The Canadian Press:

"Non-hockey participants in the recommendations included Football Canada, the NHL, the NHL Players' Association, the OHL, Ontario Hockey Association, Ontario Hockey Federation and a number of medical and therapeutic bodies."

Non-hockey participants, even though the word "hockey" or the initial that represents the word "hockey" is in the sentence five times. Good one.

Can't even function in Russia.

Obviously he's just still miffed about the hat thing. Good ol' Trainwreck Emery. It could only get better if he started dating one of Sean Avery's old girlfriends.

Oft-troubled goaltender Ray Emery has left his Russian hockey club, at least temporarily.

Emery did not report to Mytishchi Atlant following the KHL's break last week, and a source has told ESPN.com that the 26-year-old is upset about salary-related issues. The team has reportedly been using the wrong exchange rate on Emery's $2 million annual wage, and the goalie claims he has been short-changed about 33 per cent of what is owed to him. Mytischchi Atlant is allegedly upset that Emery did not report on Thursday and has threatened legal action.

The sometimes unpredictable backstop has had a very successful year with the team, going 20-6-0 so far with a 2.00 GAA and a .930 save percentage.

Emery made news for an incident in late January when he got into a shoving match with a team trainer who was trying to make him wear a hat.

The Hamilton, Ont. native originally made the trip to Russia after the Ottawa Senators cut all ties with him in June of 2008 following a series of behavioural and performance-related issues.

Emery's absence from his KHL team comes at a time when there is some interest in him from several NHL clubs. But in order for Emery to return to the NHL, he would first have to clear waivers - a condition that could prove complicated considering his strained relationship with the Russian club.

dear ottawa,

What in the EFF did I just tell you. You're like the puppy that pisses all over the floor.

You fired Craig Hartsburg? Really? After I just told you, you were doing so well. I take it back. No, don't try to argue with me. The damage has been done. You're such a jerk, Ottawa. He was perfect for you guys. You were losing, famously! And right before Valentine's Day... tsk tsk.

Just thought i'd let you know... this is very counter-productive. Firing the coach mixes it up. It usually rallies the troops (at least for a few games...) But even if it is just for a few games... you don't need your troops rallied. Why would you try to rally the troops?

I know that your owner thinks that in 35 games you'll be able to get your shit-show train-wreck back on the tracks, but he's obviously insane. There's no other explanation. I've spoken to Ottawa fans, they all secretly enjoy this spiral into the cellar, because they know the reward. Unlike those other fans who cheer for that team in blue and white, they know that losing now (and losing spectacularly) is the key to Hedman.

Brian Murray, I just want to point out that you are the GM of the Ottawa "pants-pooping" Senators. Not the Toronto "will-always-be-mediocre-and-will-never-get-that-coveted-top-draft-pick-because-they-keep-winning-enough-games,-but-not-enough-to-make-the-playoffs" Maple Leafs.

I hope you clean up your act Murray. Geez.


Top Ten Ways to make All-Star weekend better.
a little late, but written gold takes time people!

1. fire. doesn't matter what's one fire. but something should be.
   
2. always have it in Montreal.
3. free booze. since the game will now always happen in Montreal... this shall fuel widespread street brawling and looting. everyone loves hooliganism.
4. nhl vs. khl? now there's a gongshow waiting to happen. And perhaps some bench brawls if they let Emery come (see: Emery tries to murder waterboy. video at the bottom of this post).
5. Bruce Springsteen.
6. Maggie the Monkey.
7. no more commentators. make them compete in the skills competition. And secretly tell the players they get extra points if they injure one.
8. Fans are encouraged to bring an extra pair of shoes.
   
9. Someone force Sidney Crosby into a goddamn pair of skates.
   
10. remember that commercial where Jarome Iginla is running through a city dodging random flying pucks, which we eventually figure out are being shot from a roof by Markus Naslund (sorry folks, i couldn't find it on youtube... not that i looked too hard). That should be an event. Hmm maybe we could involve the commentators in this one. Ron MacLean versus Pierre McGuire. I like it.
    

Duthie-ism of the day.

Duthie had his own list of ways to better some of the events, I personally like this one a lot, let's add it as an un-offical #11.

"The shooting accuracy competition should replace its old-fashioned blue and red targets with pictures of Sean Avery's face. Dion Phaneuf, Jarret Stoll, their girlfriends, and any Dallas Star will be allowed to participate. Shooting accuracy scores will skyrocket."


Emery, just give up and become a UFC fighter.