I can't even talk about this weekend.

Habs take 1 point out of a possible 4. yay.

Great job guys. Good penalty killing.

But it's not completely your fault. Good job NHL Schedulers... does Montreal get another week off for the third time in a row? You're spreading Kovalev's magic thin. It only works when he gets to play often. It keeps the magic warm.

The NHL scheduling team is killing Kovalev's magic.

Which is basically the same as a buzz kill.

Nobody wants to be a buzz kill.

Also it appears that Killer Kostopoulos will have his hit on Toronto's Mike Van Ryn looked at by the NHL. Van Ryn has a concussion and bled all over the ice. Killer Kostopoulos was ejected from the game.

And Jesus, Price (see the comma makes a big difference... take it out and it's Jesus Price, which is what I put for my religious views on facebook.) maybe you should go back to eating burgers and chocolate bars late at night... it seemed to work for you before.


And now for the wacky picture of the day...


This just looks plain crazy.

Duthie-isms.

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who couldn't possibly ignore the election. 


-I do love the wall of eight monitors we have in our studio. It’s hockey fan porn. Though it can get confusing. At one point Tuesday night, I got my fancy election graphics confused with my NHL Scoreboard and briefly believed Mike Fisher had been elected Senator of North Dakota.

-Does this mean Sarah Palin has been waived? Will we now see her dropping the puck in the East Coast Hockey League?

Obama.

Excuse me while I don't blog about hockey for yet another day.

But last night was history.

It's the polar opposite feeling to the one four years ago.

I spent my night twisting through Halifax's downtown, checking out different election parties for a story.

This is one of those things that people will remember where they were when Barack Obama became the President.

I was standing in the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame. Sidney Crosby's dryer was covered in empty drink glasses. There was a giant projection screen showing the results.

And I was amongst the black community in Halifax.

It was amazing.

Truly amazing.

They were so happy, joyful, tearful, jubilant.... relieved.

I had people telling me, that they never thought they'd see it happen in their lifetime.

People were in tears, and hugging, and just plain screaming. I had goosebumps.

So I leave you today with the story that came from that:

The election that lasted four years.

will finally be over tomorrow.
Here's my piece that aired on CKDU today at 5 p.m.

Is this the year?

No lead is safe.

Last night I was chatting online with a friend about the upcoming Canadiens game. The main concern was about Alexei Kovalev and Tomas Plekanec... and they're lack of doing anything this year. I personally blame the fact that Kovalev cut off his magical mullet.

We'll get back to that. First onto the game.

Quickly after my conversation about how I was worried about Kovalev, he scored 2 minutes into the game.

Annnnd then Mark Streit came back to haunt the Canadiens with a bullet from the point that deflected off of a Canadiens player and into the top corner. Oh Mark, we used to be friends... but something's changed. (Oh... it's the jersey. Right.)

Suddenly nearing the end of the second period and it's 4-1 Islanders. What the shhh... *click*

that was the sound of me changing the channel to the Pittsburgh game.

So the Penguins were playing the lowly Blues. The Penguins appeared to have quite a lot of jump in their step. But, whatever happened to Sidney Crosby did not look so good. He was expected to possibly miss last nights game due to an "undisclosed injury" but he took to the ice anyways. It looks like he has back spasms or something like that. Several times I saw him skate to the bench and I figured he wasn't going to come back on. Yet somehow he managed to get 2 assists.

This game started an hour later than the Montreal game so I was actually watching the first period of the game. Satan scored late in the first to make it 1-0 Penguins.

Ok. Ok. I feel bad... back to the Canadiens sinking ship, er, game.

*click*

Start of the Third period and the Canadiens are down 4-1. Oh boy. Smelling a comeback? It's the Islanders... it could be done.

The Canadiens actually do look very good in the third period. They're dominating the play, and buzzing around the Islanders net.

And then our dead man skating emerges. Tomas Plekanec scores two goals in two minutes. At this point, i've spilled chips all over the floor and i'm standing in front of the television clutching my last Propeller Pumpkin beer. The Islanders have already called their timeout after Plekanec scored his first goal, so that obviously worked really well.


Another four minutes and another goal. Chris Higgins puts one behind Yann Danis at 14:06 of the third period to tie the game 4-4.

You've got to be kidding me.

A little more than a minute later at 15:19, Kovelev returns from the dead. I mean sure he scored back in the first period. But midway through the game he took a high stick from noone other than former teammate Mark Streit. So he's got this bleeding gash on his cheek. This is just plain hilarious.

I kinda feel bad for Bill Guerin. He looks really depressed. I suppose I would be too, if I played on the Islanders.


The moral of this story. The Canadiens only have to play one period.



The other stuff.

The goalies are dropping like flies. Rick DiPietro is out 4-6 weeks because of knee surgery. And Martin Brodeur left the game last night with an elbow injury. Broduer was probably cursed since Hockey Night in Canada did a feature peice on him and how he's destined to break Patrick Roy's record.

The Toronto Maple Leafs scored five, COUNTEM, five third period goals to win 5-2 over the New York Rangers.

And Ottawa cannot seem to find it. They are sitting 12th in the standings after a shootout loss last night to the Tampa Bay Lightening. Good God, Tampa Bay??

And lastly i'd like to point out this craziness that is called weather in Halifax. Snow one day, 14 degrees the next:

filler.

I will post about the amazing come from behind victories of both Montreal and Toronto. But I haven't been able to gather my thoughts. So in the meantime... Duthie-isms.

-------------------------------------------


"11:12pm—As I write this blog, I contemplate whether I should name the cable company that is so smart, it doesn’t offer NHL Centre Ice. I decide that would be small and petty.

11:13pm—I change my mind. Aurora Cable. AURORA Cable. A-U-R-O-R-A C-A-B-L-E.

11:15pm—I feel better."


-------------------------------------------


-The following story requires no punch line. It stands alone. A nugget of information so glorious, so satisfying, the joy of it may just get me through the entire winter.

On November 6th, the country of Albania will bestow its highest honour on two native sons: Tie Domi and Jim Belushi. It was previously given to Mother Theresa. Domi...Belush...Theresa.

Extreme drunk driving.

From CBC.ca

A woman in Kingsville, Ont., has learned you don't have to be navigating a road to be charged with impaired driving.

The woman, 34, was arrested Thursday night after witnesses told police she was driving a Zamboni erratically at a local arena.

They said the ice-resurfacing machine struck the rink boards and missed sections of the ice.

At one point, witnesses reported the driver stopped on the ice and was slumped over the wheel.

The driver, who was described by police as being unco-operative, was arrested after guiding the machine off the ice surface.

The accused is due to appear in court in December on charges of impaired driving and having a blood alcohol level over the legal limit.

I wonder...

...if anyone told Alexander Semin that he's just having a streak?

Suddenly because Semin is tied with Malkin atop the scoring race, he thinks he's hot shit.

"What's so special about (Crosby)? I don't see anything special there," Semin said in an interview with Yahoo.com. "Yes, he does skate well, has a good head, good pass. But there's nothing else. Even if you compare him to Patrick Kane from Chicago . . . (Kane) is a much more interesting player. The way he moves, his deking abilities, his thinking on the ice and his anticipation of the play is so superb."

Well, all I can say is... Kane, buddy, all star game... don't drop the soap if Semin is there. I think he's in love with you.

Here's the rest of the crazy talk.

"I think that if you take any player, even if he is dead wood, and start promoting him, you'll get a star," Semin told the website. "Especially if he scores 100 points. No one is going to care about anyone else. No one is going to care whether he possesses great skill.

As opposed to the good players that score 100 points?

"Let's say you put someone in front of the net and let him deflect pucks in, and he scored 50 goals, everyone will say 'Wow!' and then hand him a $10 million-per-year contract. That's what they like here."

Hmmm, can't actually think of anyone who fits that description. Except Semin.

"In Russia people like beautiful hockey, and not dump and chase," Semin told Yahoo!.

Yes they also like players that whine about money (see: Yashin).

"I just don't get it, why when a player is skating up the ice and no one is attacking him, he dumps the puck into the offensive zone and then chases it? Why would you do this if there is no one forechecking you?

you mean backchecking, right?

"I understand that if there is someone coming at you and you don't know whether you can get past that player, then you can dump the puck, pass it or shoot. But if not, then hold on to the puck, skate forward, create a chance. Why would you want to dump the puck and then chase after it and crash into the boards? I don't know. But that's just my opinion."

create a chance at a concussion (see: Lindross).

Avery Interview

I posted about this the other day. Here's the full interview!

I've got nothing.

...except for this hilariously awesome picture of Martin Brodeur.


I don't think I need to elaborate.

From last night...

Journal entry: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 – 12:22 a.m.

I’m sitting in my living room. It’s absolutely quiet. And absolutely dark except for some tea light candles on the side table and the glow of my laptop as it runs on battery power. I’m writing this into Microsoft Word right now.

That’s crazy Jenn, Why would you do such a thing?

Well, earlier I was watching the Montreal Canadiens play the Carolina Hurricanes. It was in French, on RDS. I saw the opening ceremony. I saw a goal by Carolina to make it 1-0. I then saw quite a few close calls around the crease of Cam Ward. I then saw a goal by Alexei Kovalev to make it 1-1. As he was celebrating the television screen went black. The cable was out. Great.

Ok all is not lost. RDS streams their games on the internet. Oh… that’s right the internet is out too because it’s run from cable. Cool.

Our phone is also out as well. It’s run through the cable by the same company whom shall remain nameless (*cough cough eastlink*).

So I still didn’t have contact with the outside world by 11 o’clock. so I couldn’t even check the score.

Then the power went out.

I don’t know if you can tell. But I’m upset.

The weather is not particularly bad outside, definitely not bad enough to think the power would go out. But it’s gross enough to want to stay inside and watch the game.

Anyway, I finally got word from the outside world via text messages:

11:59 p.m. > “3-2 habs in a shootout. It was terrifying at the end when price put it over the glass with 2 minutes left in the third. Price was 3 for 3 in the shootout. Koivu scored the winner. Oh and tang scored on a pen(alty) shot earlier in the game. Was a good one for sure!”

Pretty good recap for text messaging if a do say so myself.

And so I suppose I should go to bed. I can’t charge my phone so I hope it lives through the night to wake me up.

End Journal Entry: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 — 12:38 a.m.

It wasn't a head shot.

First let's take a look at the hit in question.
Doug Weight hits Brandon Sutter:



Doug Weight does not lift his elbow or his shoulder. He is going for a normal hit. Brandon Sutter is reaching for the puck.

Why this is stupid:
- Sutter has lowered his head to shoulder height.
- Sutter is in the neutral zone. Has anyone learned anything from Eric Lindros?
- Hey Sutter! Were your laces tied? you were looking at them awful closely.

Doug Weight went in to stop Sutter from getting the puck and going for a skate. I don't think Weight expected Sutter to suddenly start reaching for the puck and stick his head into Weight's shoulder.

It's sort of like that time in a UFC fight when Rampage Jackson joked, "He really beat my hand up with his face."

It was a clean hit.

I wasn't going to post on this, as I thought it was pretty straight forward. During the television cast the commentators caught on pretty quick that Sutter lowered his head. And most others got it right away as well:

"Sutter, 19, spent Saturday night in the hospital after he was leveled by a hard, clean check from Doug Weight in the Hurricanes' 4-3 victory," said the Free Press.

"Sutter was hurt during Saturday's 4-3 win over Islanders after taking a hard but clean check from Doug Weight," said the Canadian Press.

But then I go over to TSN.ca and they have this piece of work using this Weight-Sutter hit as an example of how the NHL is ignoring hits to the head.

Todd Bertuzzi hits people in the head. Ryan Hollweg hits people in the head. When these guys do something f&%king crazy, go ahead and run this story. But there are hits that happen, and they happen to involve the head. Write your story tsn, but it should be about how players continually put themselves in these stupid and vulnerable positions.

Doug Weight is one of the cleanest players out there. I highly doubt he was head hunting. And if he knew Sutter was going to do what he did — he probably would've held back.


from TSN:

It was an all-too familiar scene for the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, when rookie winger Brandon Sutter went down with a concussion after a hit from former Hurricane and current New York Islander Doug Weight.

The Hurricanes have sustained four severe injuries in recent years, all resulting from shots to the head.

Sutter's concussion was the last straw for Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford, who suggested the league is paying lip service over its concern for players' safety when it comes to headshots.

"The league should at least stop saying it's concerned with hits to the head, because it's not," Rutherford told TSN.ca. "I've had four players - Erik Cole, Trevor Letowski, Matt Cullen and now Sutter - get badly injured on hits to the head and only one of the guys who hit them was suspended. So don't tell me the league is concerned about hits to the head because it's not."

"You can say it's a contact game and it is, and I'm fine with that," added Rutherford. "Just don't say you care about players getting hit in the head because you don't."

But policing becomes a complex issue with a part of a game that's technically not illegal and is deeply entrenched in hockey culture.

Many of these hits occur with a player getting caught with his head down so it's easy to preach against but not so simple to correct, given the pace of today's NHL.

The Montreal Canadiens, opponents of the Hurricanes on Tuesday, have their own story to tell, having lost Andrei Kostitsyn to a concussion last week.

Kostitsyn was injured when his head slammed against the glass and he landed face-first on the ice after being hit. by Kurt Sauer of the Phoenix Coyotes. He is awaiting medical confirmation to decide whether he will face the Hurricanes or miss his third game. The decision could come later today.

"They're trying to eliminate hits to the head and this was a hit to the head, whether or not it was intentional. He got him with his arm," Montreal head coach Guy Carbonneau said after the game.

Carbonneau wonders how long it will be before a player suffers a fate potentially worse than a concussion, such as former Hurricane Erik Cole, whose career and life were jeopardized.

Carbonneau suggests players need to make choices before hitting somebody in a vulnerable position. For the French press he drew a metaphor saying, "I've held a gun in my hand, but I've never wanted to shoot somebody."

Dispatch: from the front lines.

I'm writing this crouched underneath a table. I figure the sky will fall fairly soon.

The Toronto Maple Leafs beat Ottawa.

It's only a matter of time. Duck and Cover.




Hangover.

And that's what happens when you don't play for a whole week. The Canadiens haven't played since Monday. It looks like Carbonneau should've just played Tanguay for the whole game. Because he was on fire.

Jaroslav Halak started the game because Carey Price had the flu. But Price ended up in the net in the end.



Holy Hockey Batman.

All teams are in play tonight! I heard that this is the first time that absolutely every team is playing at once in a while. Something about the lockout was mentioned. Or 2005? meh. There's a lot of hockey tonight.

Strombopoopoobus.

"And he went after me when he was on Stopulopulus," said Don Cherry on Coaches Corner tonight.

He was referring to the comments made by Sean Avery when he was a guest on The Hour, hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos. Close Don... real close. (Actually it's a helluva lot closer than i would've expected. But I can't give you any points since you actually work in the same damn building as him.)


Bad Prediction?

Um, so far the Lightening are playing like the women's Italian hockey team. Apparently the team is in disarray. On the Satelitte Hotstove, Al Strachan even said that the players are not on the same page. He also said that the GM came into the locker room at intermission during the Europe trip.

They lost 3-0 tonight.

Palin injures Manny Legace.

Okay. Okay. She didn't injure him directly. But he did trip over her red carpet and suffered a "lower body injury". Palin, her husband, and entire hoard of children dropped the ceremonial puck at the game in St. Louis tonight.

Anyway T-10 days until the election. If there is any type of big dude with a beard in the sky... hopefully we won't have to deal with her much longer.


Now I'm the Magician.

Now that i've got that ridiculous story out of the way, I'm going to apologize for my long absence from the world of blogging nerd-dom (how do you spell that?). This was my first week in radio workshop at school. So there was a bit of a learning curve. You can check out past shows. Ok, it's not a great excuse. So there was this pack of wild dogs....


Ovechkin.

Last year's MVP is off to a super-slow start that has people wondering what's happened to the league's top player. The other day a wise person said, "stay off the drugs, stay on the booze."

Have some beer, man. I always do my best work half in the bag. Maybe it'll break your curse!


Duthie-isms

Being away for so long has also meant we're way behind on duthie-isms. We're basically up to our ears in them right now. I don't know why I say we, as if there's a crack team of journalists putting together this blog. It's just me. One day... one day. ummm, enjoy:

"When Torts eats pizza, he just looks so happy. Hard to believe it's the same guy whose post game soundbites have more beeps than a Roadrunner cartoon."

"“Hey Wilson, you need to turn those guys into a bunch of Wendel Clarks’!” Wilson, who majored in Sarcasm at University, responded: “Wendel was good, but how many Cups did he win?”"

"Hey, Sean Avery. Got a minute? Really sorry to bother you…hate to be a nuisance…but if it’s not too much of an inconvenience…I was just wondering if you might possibly…SHUTUP!

"It would provide me great pleasure if rookie Toronto rookie defenseman Luke Schenn married former world champion figure skater Lu Chen. Just say it aloud a couple of times. It’s endless fun for all ages."