Very cute.

Sore losers

The Detroit Red Wings just look like poor losers if you ask me.

After losing the Stanley Cup in game 7 to Crosby, Malkin and gang the Detroit Red Wings players complained that Sidney Crosby did not shake hands with the whole team... specifically Wings captain Niklas Lidstrom.

There seems to be a lot of comparisons of Crosby's extended post-game celebrations with that of basketball's LeBron James... who the eff cares?

He won. It went seven games. Emotions were high. They lost to that exact team last year in the finals. Crosby deserved to celebrate... not to mention he got swarmed by every media outlet and their dog after the final buzzer.

So it would've been nice for the Red Wings to cut the kid a little slack.

In Lidstrom's defense, he took it in stride and said that, "Sidney was probably caught up in the emotions and everything."

And in Hossa's defense, "After the game, when I start shaking their hands, I did not think, 'Who is there and who is not there?'" Hossa said. "After, I think about it and I thought that I did not remember shaking hands with Sid. I'm sure he was caught in the emotion and did not know where he was. I know him. He wouldn't do it deliberately. He is a great guy. I think he was just excited and caught up in the emotion."

But Zetterberg called it "disrespectful" and Kris Draper said, "Nick was waiting and waiting, and Crosby didn't come over to shake his hand that's ridiculous, especially as their captain, and make sure you write that I said that!"

Seriously guys, you would never know that you're part of the team that is supposed to be full of veterans. You lose and this is your response? I would expect this from a young team like Pittsburgh. I'm sure there are players that didn't shake hands after last year's final, but there was no uproar from the Penguins.

As for Crosby, "My intentions were to shake hands," Crosby told the Post-Gazette. "That we didn't wasn't me trying to avoid it."

And I believe that to be the truth. Crosby is not the type of player to not shake hands on purpose. More to that point, usually if someone doesn't want to shake hands, it's the losing side.

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....

Detroit Red Wings Win Stanley Cup

Triple OT.

I missed just about all of the game due to my own soccer game tonight. So, the Pens decided to treat me to a full game anyway. Triple Overtime. Petr Sykora. Back to Pittsburgh for game six. Game just got over and it's 2 a.m. here in Halifax. Cole Harbour Place is probably going mad. But i'm too exhausted to do anything but load this pic up and sleep.

Must win.

It's not like Game four is the end of the series, but if the Penguins lose, it pretty much is. If the Penguins can win this integral second home game they'll have the series all tied up at two a piece. If they lose they go down three games to one and then they have to go back to Detroit in that state. Detroit... a place where they seem to have the confidence sucked right out of them.

If you're keeping track, it appears the Penguins have put a few of my suggestions into pratice, 2.5 out of 5 ain't bad:

1. They've been unstoppable at home down the stretch and all through the playoffs, maybe it'll continue through the next two games. half completed.

2. Mario Lemieux suits up. comeoonnnnnnnnn

3. Michel Therrian will have a freak out, just like the last time the Penguins played like this (two years ago.) Obstruction, obstruction, distraction.

4. Someone will score a goal. finally.

5. Detroit defenseman trip over the blueline several more times, sending Pittsburgh forwards in on a 3-on-1, but this time they actually score.


And here's something I came across while checking out the stories for the upcoming game tonight. Spot the typo.

Crosby, Malking Making Impact For Penguins

Also some news about game five, which is a few days away (monday). Feisty Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams will be making the trip to Detroit to take in the game. Detroit Red Wing forward Dan Cleary arranged tickets for the Premier. Williams is one of the most hilarious Canadian Premiers, he's called the Prime Minister a liar, pulled the Canadian flags down off the poles, and walked out on a Premiers meeting... and he's more popular than any other politician. If anything we'll get a good soundbite.

Colby Armstrong is back! (yay!) The former Penguins team clown and close friend to Sidney Crosby is now doing analysis for Rogers Sportsnet for the Finals. Too bad Rogers Sportsnet doesn't actually broadcast the games.

Baffled.

Remember when everyone thought this series was going to be "delicious", and close, and fast skating? I was so excited! A Stanley Cup final I could get behind! Then the Pittsburgh Penguins started playing like a bunch of schoolboy bitches, and I started to lose my cool. My only hope for a decent series is that the Penguins will redeem themselves, and put up some sort of a fight. Here are some (im)possible things that may help:

1. They've been unstoppable at home down the stretch and all through the playoffs, maybe it'll continue through the next two games.
2. Mario Lemieux suits up.
3. Michel Therrian will have a freak out, just like the last time the Penguins played like this (two years ago.)
4. Someone will score a goal.
5. Detroit defenseman trip over the blueline several more times, sending Pittsburgh forwards in on a 3-on-1, but this time they actually score.

Karma was not on their side.

It all started when Tom Glavine of the Atlanta Braves (and you know my sentiments about baseball) said that he thought Sidney Crosby was a "Great, young American athlete."

Wait, wait, wait... what? Back that bookmobile up. Great? check. Young? you bet. Athlete? obviously... what was that third thing, again? American? nope. Someone hit the "YOU'RE WRONG!" buzzer. Poor ol' Glavine is gonna be feeling pretty sad when Crosby is tearing up the USA at the Olympics.

Then Joe Louis public address announcer Budd Lynch called him Steven Crosby. For a bit I tried to rationalize it... I looked across the room at a perplexed Garreth and said. "oh he's just old, I think he said Sidney... maybe". No I don't think he said Sidney, he definietely said Steven. Did he look at the wrong part of the page? Maybe he confused it with Steve Yzerman, who was coming out for the ceremonial face-off. Of course that would only makes partial sense because it's Steve Yzerman, not Steven. Awww, whatever he was born in 1917.


Before that, Marc-Andre Fleury fell flat on his face in front of the entire crowd in Detroit. He was attempting to do his super-run onto the ice for the beginning of the game, but instead did a face plant into the ice. It was slightly less embarrassing than when that anthem singer fell that time, but still embarrassing. I won't lie, I laughed.

But again... the karma. It's almost like the ghosts of Ottawa, New York and Philadelphia were cursing every step the Penguins took. (except when that goal got called back... more on that in a bit.) The Pens looked flat, were making bad passes, and they seemed to collectively trip just like poor ol' Fleury.

On top of it all, how many times were Detroit fans staring in horror as the puck sat idly in front of an open net with nobody on the Penguins able to pull the trigger. The answer is, A lot.

Back to that goal that was called back. If you didn't catch it, here's the recap: Holmstrom was in front of the crease and had his stick in "groin area" of Fleury. The Penguins, who seemed to be paying an ungodly amount of attention to the right-wing, didn't really notice Lidstrom pinch in on the left. The puck squirted over to him and he sent a rocket of a shot to the roof. The goal was called back because of "goaltender interference" and when a ref does that the rulebook states that the perpetrator must go to the box and feel shame for two minutes. So off paraded Holmstrom to the box and Mike Babcock looked like he might blow an artery.

I'm not saying that it wasn't goaltender interference, i'm sure any male would cringe in terror of the thought of getting smacked with a stick in the groin. But it's not like Holmstrom full out Chris Simon'd him. Let's just say if it was Henrik Zetterberg, they probably wouldn't have called it.

But I have to say I agree. In this case, I condone a double-standard. And before you hang me out to dry, let me explain. Holmstrom has a history of keeping his butt a little too close to the goaltender, and there's not really a rule against it becuase that toe-in-the-crease rule is thankfully gone. But, if you look at the replays of Holmstrom in front of the net, he is obviously obstructing the goaltender. A message needed to be sent, and sent early in the series. If you are going to call Sean Avery's shananigans a penalty than what Holmstrom does in front the of the net needs to be as well. There was a goal called back last series for the exact same reason, and he obviously didn't learn. My advice? Holmstrom, you're a big guy, just take a step forward. You'll still be screening the goaltender.

It's here!!! It's here!!!

The finals start today.

Now I know the number one of the burning questions is... who did the TSN hockey panel pick to win it all?

Bob MacKenzie: Detroit
Mike Milbury: Detroit
Pierre McGuire: is remaining neutral? Can you do that?
Darren Dreger: Pittsburgh
Geno Reda: Pittsburgh

So with those predictions, it's tied 2-2 because of Switzerland over there screwing up the tiebreaker. Well, what better to replace Pierre McGuire with than with a MONKEY!

Maggie picked Pittsburgh.

And now the real burning question. Who do I think will win? Pittsburgh. Why? Because I have a blind faith in the magic of Sidney Crosby.

Kidding. There are also some other factors. Anyway, talk about a situation that's been over analyzed, pundits have had nothing to do for like 5 days now. And for the most part, it seems most are picking Detroit to take it home. Most seem to cite the team's recent past of overachieving in the regular season and underachieving playoffs, making them somehow more hungry. Don't buy it. They also seem to be saying that Chris Osgood is the more experienced goaltender with a few Cups to his name. Last time I checked Osgood was riding the bench for those Cup runs. Yep, I checked again... still true. I will agree that Detroit has the edge in faceoffs, but as long as Detroit is soooo fast. Um, so is Pittsburgh. Detroit is sooooo dreamy. Ok, well maybe they didn't say that. You get my point, I don't think there's an underdog in this one.

Some other notes about tonight.
Gary Roberts, despite being cleared by doctors after his stint with pneumonia, and was even quoted as saying,
"The rest has been great for me and I feel like I'm ready to go."
Yet for some reason... he is a healthy scratch. Seriously? How can you healthy scratch Gary Roberts in the playoffs. He's a playoff monster. He eats other teams for breakfast in the playoffs. He crushes their spirits. That's pretty hard to do from the press box.

Also, Chris Chelios will sit out for game one, he has a "leg-area injury" although he apparently wanted to play. And scoring machine, Johan Franzen is still out with "concussion-like symptoms" but could possibly be back for game two.

no hockey, but we do have a duthie-ism.

"Let's see, four days of Stanley Cup Final preview anaylsis down, two to go.When you see our panel breaking down which team has the better stickboy...

'Mike in Detroit has really fast hands, but little Pete in Pittsburgh really organizes the rack well.'

...You know I will be sticking a pen in my eye very shortly."

Stanley Cup Finals.

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.