In the studio on a Friday night...

Apparently you can stop him. For 4 months, actually. Torn ACL. Not good news for the Detroit Red Wings. Does this mean someone besides the Red Wings will win the division/conference. Hopefully.


Sad News

Former NHL star Theo Fluery says he was sexually abused by his junior hockey coach, Graham James. Fluery's account of the abuse is detailed in an autobiography called "playing with fire" that is set to hit shelves next week.

It's weird, I heard this news and it made me sad. But at the same time, I wasn't surprised. It's like knowing the answer to why Fluery had such a rough life.

Pat Quinn is still insane?

and is getting a $10,000 fine for his insanity?

Quinn was angry about an incident between Sheldon Souray and Jarome Iginla that lead to Souray being assisted off the ice.

"I don't understand the players of today," said Quinn.

"If that had happened in the old days he would have got hit over the head with a stick right after. It was a pretty dirty play in my opinion. He poked his feet out and then piled on top of him. Somehow they never deal with that ... and they won't let the vigilante stuff happen to deal with it. It's disappointing."

Actually I am sorta let down by the comments. I mean, that's not really that inflamatory. I'm sure if Quinn knew he was going to be fined he would've said worse.

Tonight.

The game is exactly 3 hours away.

Sweden is a tough opponent. It's obviously a grudge match, since the two teams faced off last year and Canada came out with the gold. And the Swedes have a lot of veteran players who were around last year for that bitter overtime defeat. And, let's face it, Canada has had a lot of trouble in the past few games.

PK Subban said in an interview that it's ok that they didn't play that well last game because they're a good team and good teams find a way to win.

True they do... But, Really? PK, buddy, let's have a heart-to-heart here. You played like an arse against the Russians. I would have benched you if I were the coach. Who do you think you are doing spinaramas at the blueline when you're the last man back during a semi-final against mother russia? UN-REAL. The first time it happened I can look past it. But you you did it a few more times. And it came back to bite you.

Also the goaltending has been suspect. For Canada's previous four gold medals canuck goaltenders have finished first in save percentage. Dustin Tokarski is EIGHTH! Are you kidding me Pat Quinn?

My question is... where is Chet Pickard. I know this is redundant. I've been asking this since Quinn decided to start Tokarski in the final game of round robin against the United States. And then again after Quinn decided that even though Tokarski got down 3-0 to the Americans in the span of 10 minutes, he would start him in the semi-final.

Am I the only person in the country that thought Tokarski looked extremely shaky and scary in the Semi-Final game?

"oh but he played so well in the shootout."

WHAT?!

One attempt hit the post. The second was a very lame attempt at the five hole. A child could've stopped that.

I wouldn't call that playing well.

A few people I was chatting with earlier today expressed concern over the goaltending, and wondered about Quinn's insistence of starting Tokarski. They did express that Quinn will look like a genius if Canada wins gold.

In my books, he'll look lucky.

CCCP.

Russia is having war of words in politics and now in Hockey as well. The KHL (Kontenintal Hockey League... they can't even spell Continental right...) is claiming that the NHL is stealing its players. And the NHL is claiming the same about the KHL. Can you feel the love?

"NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in the Radulov case, the IIHF, “lacked the courage and conviction to do what’s right,” by not ordering Radulov to fulfill the final year of his contract with the Nashville Predators. Despite still being under contract to the Predators, Radulov signed a three-year deal worth $13 million with Salavat Ufa of the KHL and has already appeared in several games."

For those of you who thought that the Russians starting their own league wasn't going to be a problem. Case and point. I think the NHL is in for it, especially when the KHL starts expanding into hockey-mad countries like Czech Republic, Sweden, etc. It's also going to be interesting to see what the KHL does to the Elite leagues in such countries.

I'm always down for a good Russian soap opera... especially the kinds that don't involve the demolition of humanity.

Hockey Canada named Pat Quinn the new head coach of the Canadian Junior hockey team. I like it. He's got Olympic experience. If anyone can whip those long haired hippies into shape, it's the curmudgeonly Patt Quinn. What do you call a 5-peat anyway? Oh yeah... Awesome.

Carey Price has dropped 25 pounds, the impressive thing is he still weighs 200. Apparently he managed the feat by giving up chocolate bars...

So much hockey.

So a tournament that has completely slipped under my radar is the World Under 18 tournament being held in Russia. I guess there are just too many distractions, including playoffs in NHL, and CHL, and the World Hockey Championships that will grace the Halifax Metro Centre in just a few weeks.

Anyway, unsurprisingly (is that a word?) Canada is off to the playoff round of the tournament after winning their final round robin game against Slovakia 6-0. Also something I didn't know, Pat Quinn is the head coach for Canada. *insert joke about how much easier this must be than when he coached the Toronto Maple Leafs*

If you are a morning person, are really hardcore about under-18 hockey, or you still haven't gone to bed after your bender on Saturday night you can catch the quarterfinal game on TSN at 6 a.m. (5 a.m. EST).