Maurice fired.

Paul maurice was fired as head coach by the Maple Leafs today.

Did I just type that? Yes I did. seriously?! Ok I just checked again, there's a picture, it must be true. Ok, I know the team underachieved (which is ironically an understatement). But it's not exactly like this is a new thing. The leafs do that. They underachieve, it's what they do. They enjoy being mediocre, what else would Michael Landsberg talk about if they weren't mediocre? It's not Maurice's fault they're too busy out there taking naked pictures of themselves. (Sorry, I know that was low... but I just cannot help it.)

On a (semi) serious note, I'm not sure if firing Maurice was the best call. Maurice cannot help that his team can never be rebuilt due to the fact that any player of value is locked into a no-trade clause (there is apparently a high rate of dementia among the Toronto players). And he managed to handle the Toronto media without looking like John Tortorella. And really, the Toronto media is a bit more...(pesky, annoying, obnoxious? choose one.)...than the Tampa Bay media. Speaking of John Tortorella, why does he have a job? The 2007-08 Tampa Bay Lightening was probably the biggest underachiever since Alexandre Daigle, and yet not only does he have a job, he is the head coach of the USA hockey team at the World Championships. My final question is, how do you get fired by an interim general manager? It's so mind-boggling. Listen folks I have the solution. It's pretty simple. It'll solve all of the problems. Make Mats Sundin the General Manager, send all the rest of the Leafs down to the AHL. Bring up the Marlies in their entirety. Dig up Bill Barilko. Simple.

In summary,
- Maurice firing bad idea
- Tortorella having job is shocking
- not as shocking as a naked Jiri Tlusty
- real hockey resumes tonight (Dallas and Detroit)
- **edit** hockey does NOT resume tonight. Today is Wednesday. only wednesday. dear lord it's only wednesday.

canada beats usa. barely.

Canada faced their first challenge Tuesday afternoon as they faced the USA. Canada appeared to have control of the situation with a 4-2 lead but in the third the USA managed to claw back and tie the game. It wasn't until 46 seconds left that Dany Heatley came to the rescue, scoring an off balance snipe, sending the crowd in a frenzy (see my video below). The Canadians also faced a tough last 30 seconds as they were handed a penalty and with the US goalie (Craig Anderson, because Thomas is nursing a groin injury) on the bench, were down 6-4 men. Cam Ward came up huge in many situations and even though it was after the buzzer, he sent the puck down the length of the ice and into the net as the two teams skaters were discussing dinner plans over in the corner.

kovalev not fast enough.

Apparently Kovalev will not be playing for Russia at the World Hockey Championships this year. Check out this excerpt from his interview yesterday:

Kovalev said he was not invited and that he had received text messages indicating that he was too slow for the national team. "If you don't want to use players, I mean, don't say those kind of things, like I'm not fast enough or whatever,'' Kovalev said. "I'm not saying it's insulting but it's kind of crazy hearing that from your own country.''

Kovalev also added that he would go home and work on his skating. Although, maybe it's not that he's not fast enough... perhaps it's that he is just too awesome for Russia (see below).

all pennsylvania final.

The Penguins took their fans on a ride yesterday afternoon, needing overtime to win the series. The Penguins will face cross-state rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Looks like throwing the final game of the season to avoid playing the Flyers was to no avail. Jordan Staal triumphed over brother Marc for the second time, as the two faced off in Junior hockey as well.

The Dallas Stars placed the San Jose Sharks on the golf course and it only took them four extra periods to do it. Brendan Morrow scored the series-winning goal. Dallas moves on to face the Johan Franzen and the Detroit Red Wings in the next round (Franzen has 11 goals so far this playoffs, which is ridiculous).

And the Habs reflected on their playoff exit, but the team shouldn't dwell too long. The team really will not be losing any key players to free agency like some teams we know *cough cough Pittsburgh* and the playoff experience can only help going into next year. Of course you can't help but feel bad for Carey Price as he looked pretty tired after the loss,

"It's probably the worst moment of my career," Price said as he fought back tears. "I hate to lose."

go pens.

Montreal is out of the playoffs.

Point form.

It's Saturday, that bright shiny orb in the sky finally returned and... I'm at work. It's a bit busy here today (seems like a few people have the rum and coke flu) but a lot happened that just needs to be talked about, so we're going to do a quick run down.

World Championships

- Canada and Slovenia: score 5-1. Dany Heatley was back in fine form after a less than par playoffs with a hattrick and player of the game. But the real star of the game was Slovenia's goaltender Robert Kristan who faced 65 goals and let in just 5 goals, Kristan recieved a resounding standing ovation from the Metro Centre crowd in appreciation of his efforts.

- Latvia USA: score 4-0. Latvia played just like their fans cheered. Balls out. They lost, but it was exciting... mostly because of the loud, drunken fans, who cheered and banged giant drums throughout the game. I cannot wait until Latvia scores, I want to see what happens.

- Games today: Finland VERSUS Germany (4:30 AST) and Slovakia VERSUS Norway (8:15 AST)


NHL


- Carey Price will be back in nets for game five tonight. Tonight will be a huge test for the young goaltender, as he faces the pressure of coming back from being benched last game and facing elimination. It will be a goaltender's battle as Martin Biron has been playing extremely well and is one of the main reasons the Flyers are in the position to knock off the number one seed Canadiens.

- expect to see Guy Carbonneau's lucky, shiny, colourful, silk tie tonight.

- only 1 broom out for Round 2. The San Jose Sharks overcame a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 in overtime and live another day. Game six is in Dallas.


MEMORIAL CUP
The Memorial Cup is just two weeks away and there are a few teams that have already secured a spot.
- Belleville Bulls
- Kitchener Rangers(host team)
Two series are still yet to be determined the Western Hockey League finals (Lethbridge or Spokane)and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League finals (Rouyn Noranda Huskies or Gatineau Olympiques)

Jagr determined?

Jagr almost seemed magical last night. He just seemed...determined. That is a word I generally don't associate with Jagr, but there's a first for everything.

It all started after the Penguins took a commanding 3-0 series lead on the Rangers and Jagr was quoted with some bold predictions. It was almost like he knew something we didn't. (again, first for everything here).

"I have a very funny feeling about this series," Jagr said. "That it is not over yet."

"We are down 3-0. Fine. It's not where we want to be, but we can't do anything about that now. We played very well in this game. We can say, ‘We lost again,' or we can have confidence."

"It might be my last game. Let's make it special."




The Colorado Avalanche should probably be renamed the "light snowfall" after last night's feeble effort to stave off elimination. It was 7-1 after 2 periods and the final result was 8-2. Remember when Jose Theodore won the Hart and the Vezina instead of getting lit up like the Swedish Christmas Goat? Me either.

LATVIANS.

There are a 1000 Latvians in Halifax for the World Hockey Championships. Latvians? yes, Latvians. Check out a story about it here.

My goal for the next week has now grown to three:

1. Find Steve Yzerman.
2. Find Jonathan Toews's dad (Bryan) and give him a copy of our picture together in Sweden.
3. Hang out with Latvians.

karma is a bitch.

Pesty pest Sean Avery was "rushed" to hospital last night after the game three loss to the Penguins with a lacerated spleen. Rushed is in quotations because he apparently took a leisurely limo ride to the hospital, converse to early reports that the forward was in grave danger. Anyway, the "unfortunate" news today is that he is done for the playoffs (which, really, will probably consist of just one more game for the Rangers). Well Sean, no offense, but you're a jerk and this is probably the Hockey Gods telling you something.


Price will sit tonight.

Apparently Guy Carbonneau made his decision last night however he only told the other coaches, GM Bob Gainey and the two goaltenders. It was released at around 5 p.m. EST that Price would sit out for the game. Much was made of the point that Price is very young.

"He's 20 years old, we can't forget that," Carbonneau said. "We're trying to ask this kid to be a saviour for our club. But again, we had a 5-on-3 for two minutes. We had five of our best players on the ice. Maybe we should blame them also.

"I'm 20-years-old," Price told the media. "And i am finding out the hard way that the playoffs aren't easy."

My concern is, can you really really really blame the goaltender in this situation. Sure he's been a bit shaky on some plays and seems a bit "off". But what about the Montreal forwards? They had a ton of chances last game and failed to put it in the net.


Crosby and Clan took a huge 3-0 lead in their series when they visited MSG for game three last night. They're the only undefeated team in the playoffs right now, and by the way last game went they'll probably stay that way after game four against the Rangers. As Dan O'Toole would say, "the only battle the Penguins are losing is the facial hair one."



Brooms?
Since when do the brooms come out in the second round? All series except the Canadiens-Flyers series are currently sitting at three games to none.

owned.

The Canadiens dropped game three in Philadelphia after the Flyers got up 3-0 after the first two periods of the game. Montreal had a ton of chances to get themselves in the game including a five on three powerplay for a full two minutes. The Canadiens attempted to mount a comeback after Derian Hatcher took a five minute boarding penalty, scoring two goals to make it 3-2. But then with four minutes left, one of the referees (either Marc Joannette or Brad Watson) made a call that was whack at best. Too many men on the ice, Canadiens gained possession when the sixth player stepped on the bench. There was a valiant effort to get the tie-up goal but nothing came of it. series is 2-1 Philadelphia.

Doan named Captain Canada.

And what a good choice.
In case you forgot, last year Shane Doan was wrapped up into a Parliamentary debate during the 2007 World Championships in Russia. To sum up the drama quickly, basically it was alleged that during a game in December 2005 Doan uttered anti-french comments. Nothing was ever proven as nothing was caught on mic and Doan was not reprimanded by the NHL. However the Canadian Parliament thought that perhaps this was something they should take into their own hands... two years later.

The Liberal Party, questioned (publicly) whether Shane Doan should be representing Canada as the captain, because of his anti-french sentiments. This despite the fact that nothing has ever been proven. (if you want to see some press from the time click here). I have a couple of thoughts about this whole ordeal.

First of all, Is it really the place of the Canadian federal government to dictate who and who cannot play for Hockey Canada (a completely independent body)? This would be like the government dictating the posting of someone to the Canadian Cancer Society or editor of a newspaper, or a president of a business. Basically think of anything that is ridiculous and that is the situation we've got here. If the federal government has no business in the bedrooms of the nation, then it definitely doesn't have business in who gets to play for Team Canada.

Second, Don Cherry, love the guy, but he has blatantly voiced his opinions on french players... on national television. And not just any national network, the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), which is publicly-owned television. In other words, tax payers pay Don Cherry. Now i'm not saying Parliament should be debating whether Don Cherry should be on tv, i'm saying the opposite. If Parliament isn't arguing about the merits of Don Cherry's view on the french then why are the talking about Doan?

And lets go back to that whole thing, nothing has been proven. Doesn't perpetuating that he said this stuff even though no one can prove it, go against a fundamental Canadian principle? You know, that little one, "innocent until proven guilty".

Most of all, this happened last year. The alleged "slur" occurred three years ago. I don't understand why this topic is still coming up. It distracted the team last year, and they still won, let's not play with fire here and try it again. Especially when the tournament is on our own soil. Go Canada Go.


And in a fun note, a friend of mine sent me this last night after Johan Franzen scored a hat-trick in the last Detroit Red Wings win. Franzen has been on fire since late February.

Series is tied.

The Philadelphia and Montreal series are now tied 1-1. Anyone who thought this would be an easy series is crazy.

The first period looked a lot like the first period of game one. The Flyers got themselves up to an early 2-0 lead, off of a couple of goals Carey Price would probably like to have back. The first looked like a harmless shot that Price would normally have with no problem except Koivu was putting up a formidable screen for his goaltender and the puck found the top corner, Price didn't even move on the shot so he obviously didn't see it leave R.J. Umberger's stick. The second goal seemed to have eyes. Almost the same kind of play as the first goal, Jeff Carter was skating up the right wing and shot it to the top corner, however there was no screen, it appeared that Price didn't come out to challenge the shot enough as it found enough room over his shoulder.


Saku Koivu got a heart and soul goal on the powerplay at the end of the first, he had the puck behind the net, was knocked down, got back up and put the wrap around in. But then in the second period Daniel Briere, who had been getting booed by the Canadiens fans every time he touched the puck (see: players from Quebec who are Unrestricted Free Agents and choose not to sign with the Canadiens), managed to get the third goal and what seemed like the backbreaker. Andre Markov brought it to within one goal, but a scramble in front of the net late in the third period resulted in another Umberger goal and a 4-2 final.

Things are only going to get uglier from here, Game three is in Philadelphia on Monday night.

Carey Price story

Stumbled across this story that CTV's W-Five did on Carey Price. It aired shortly after the 2007 World Junior Championship in Leksand, Sweden where Carey Price partook in that marathon shootout and won a gold medal. (Have I pointed out that I WAS THERE, right behind the net during that shootout?) Two things from this video: Carey Price is calmer than a jedi, and I want his hat.

Duthie-ism fix for the day.

A few golden ones from Duthie's recent blog:

"I would sooner be Gino Reda’s back-waxer than be an NHL playoff scheduler."

"Seriously, if there was a night to do the chicken dance on the set in pink tights, this is it. (I’m talking about Milbury of course. He usually only does it in rehearsal.)" - on broadcasting Game six of the Philadelphia and Washington series while EVERYONE was watching Habs Bruins game seven.

overtime heroics.

Philadelphia came out and gave me that feeling I got in Game six of the Boston Montreal series... that "oh dear" type feeling. Well actually the feeling is potentially described with a few more colourful words than "oh dear" but let's keep it civil here.
As I was saying, Philadelphia built up a 2-0 lead after the first period, (this is after Andrei Kostitsyn missed a penalty shot and Brisebois got a goal three seconds after the period ended.

The Canadiens managed to tie it up by the end of the second period with a goal from Andrei Kostitsyn and Alexei Kovalev. Kovalev's goal brought a bit of controversy as it first appeared to have been put in with a high stick. But after some tense examination it was ruled that the stick was at crossbar level when the pick made contact with the stick. Then to start the third, the Flyers greeted the Bell Centre with a power play goal. Kovalev decided to keep it exciting by waiting until just 29 seconds left in the game. And then Killer Kostopoulous decided he didn't want to play overtime and scored 45 seconds into the extra period.