two for tuesday

We're going to cover a couple things in this blog. Yeah, we know. We're that good.

First a quick note on the Coyotes re-signing Lee Stempniak. Good, and relatively inexpensive two year deal for Lee who put up great numbers since being traded from Toronto at the deadline last year. The 'Yotes are shaping up to prove it wasn't a fluke last season. Although, there's still all the drama surrounding ownership and what not that it might not matter, since no one will watch them.

And in other news, what you knew had to come eventually, finally came. Chris Chelios is retiring...after 26 seasons! 3 stanley cups, 3 norris trophies. almost 1000 career points. The guy is a lock for the hall when he finally comes up for a vote. I think the only thing he's missing is playing until he's 50 so he could be like Gordy Howe. Chelios will probably go down as one of the best D-men to play the game. it'll be weird not seeing him out there after all this time. The only video i wanna post is of chelios getting his ass beat by ron hextall, but that's no way to summarize a career.

adjö Foppa. och tack för minnen

aww shit, we goin' bilingual up in this bitch.

So, for those of you don't hate to copy and paste into a translation website, the title of the blog is Goodby Foppa and Thanks for the Memories. As i posted on the facebook page earlier, yet another comeback attempt by Peter Forsberg has been sidelined by his ever persistent foot/ankle issues. At this point, I can only home someone in Sweden says the title of this blog and he decides to bow out. It's not because I don't like the guy, it's quite the contrary. My forsberg shirt has been well worn throughout the years, even after his being traded. I just don't want to see him come back and be any less than what he was.
Forsberg has had a stellar career featuring a Calder trophy, Art Ross Trophy, Hart Trophy, A Stanley Cup and two olympic gold medals. To put it bluntly, he's a winner. On every level he has achieved. He has averaged over a point per game (1.25 regular season and 1.13 for the playoffs) for his career. When healthy he was simply an unstoppable force. He was a big physical center who could play hard, but then make an incredible finesse pass to a teammate. He is what everyone hopes to get in a player. He could simply do it all.
Well, he could do everything but stay healthy. He has had some type of injury that limited his playing time for 8 years out of a 13 year career. Hell even during his MVP season (in which he also won the art ross), he missed over half a dozen games. And that could be considered a good season when looking back at his injury reports. I'm not trying to take away from his game, because try as you might, you really can't, just stating a fact. I can only imagine the numbers he would've ended up with if he wasn't plagued with the shittiest ankles on the planet.
I think what makes all this hard to watch is that all he wants to do is play. But he can't. At least not at the level he wants. Barring a medical breakthough, or him becoming Robocop on ice, there's no way he can play again. At least not at an elite level. That's what he wants. In other sports you're seeing former superstars wrestling with the idea of if they want to retire or not, creating drama that everyone in the sports world seems to hang on to like it's water in the desert. Here is a simple case of a guy who wants to play and can't. yes i understand we seem to go through this every year, but unless he's putting your team through the ringer, how can you not cheer for this guy? I also can't help but wonder what his career would've been like if he wasn't traded away, along with seemingly the entire team and philadelphia branch of the federal reserve, to the Nordiques. Alas, wish in one hand and shit in the other, right?
I know that most people, including myself, would be willing to have a less than 100% Foppa, providing he's healthy enough to play. But that's not how he wants to play, and i completely respect that. I just hope that he's willing to see that it's time to call it a day and accept whatever else comes his way.

Tack Foppa. Tack.


(how fitting is the song in the video)

Paul Kariya

If you haven't heard already, Paul Kariya is sitting out the 10-11 season with post concussion syndrome. One has to imagine now, that this might be it for Kariya. I don't think anyone would blame him. He's had a good career. He's just shy of 1000 career points, which might be a deciding factor in him coming back maybe in 2011-2012. The only question i have is who would be willing to take on an injury prone, aging winger? I'm sure someone will though.

this might be rather dick of me, but i can't help but think back to this punishing cheap shot from Gary Suter back in the late 90's.

Like I said, that's mainly me being a dick. whatever. Kariya has averaged a point per game over his career, and no one will doubt his abilities, if and when the time comes and he is considered for the Hall of Fame. His lack of a cup and generally lack luster playoff performances will hurt him. In his defense however, he has always seemed to play for teams that were on the verge of competing for the cup, but never could get over the hump. While he has played for Western Conference teams his entire career, so the eastern fans might have missed a good portion of his games, anyone who got to see him play during his prime would have to agree he was one of the best in his day. jesus i make it sound like he's 100. Anyway, who knows what will happen with Kariya. Now that i think about it (and as i write this out), i would like to see him come back and go for the 1000 points. It would be a nice milestone to reach for a guy that a lot of people would say has come up short.

potentially interesting

well my first attempt at posting from my phone was a bust, so this is technically an edit.

Now i'm trying to stay away from "reporting" rumors. well actually reporting anything, but this is pretty interesting, especially if it's true. I got this from hockeybuzz so take it as you will. Supposedly the canadians are willing to shop carey price around for another #1 and a Dman. Interesting demands for an underachieving goaltender. I can't see who will actually take this offer, but it's worth keeping an eye on.....if it happens.

K(HL)volchuk

really?! more pucking bullshit with this guy?! here's the link to the latest nonsense. i'd give my two cents, but i'm running out of things to say. there are at least 4 airports within 100 miles of the prudential center. i will gladly pick you up and drop you off at any one of them.

but if you do want the cliff notes version, kovy's russian agent set a 48 hour deadline for the NHL to get its shit together. that's ballsy. read the article if you actually still give a shit about this.

source: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=331738

in other news, willie mitchell signed with the Kings this week. If he can shake off the cobwebs from the concussion, he will be an excellent pick up for the defense. they still need some help up front, but are shaping up nicely.

more west coast drama, bobby ryan still hasn't signed with Anaheim. with lupul missing the start of the season with the blood infection in his back, the ducks need all the help they can get. if they can't come to terms with him, or trade his rights for another winger, it's gonna be a long season for the ducks.

Fehr weather fans

ugh. even i thought that one was a bit much. Anyway, as you have probably heard by now, the NHLPA finally has a new leader, and it's former MLBPA leader, Donald Fehr. Yay?

Sure, this is great for the union as this guy doesn't take any shit, but will this lead to another lockout after the 2012 season? The last union he was in charge of had a lock out if you remember. Ahh, the summer with no baseball. A blessing in disguise i suppose. But, and this is just my opinion, the NHL isn't quite as strong as MLB, and another lockout could prove detrimental to the league. Sure a work stoppage in any league is bad, but the NHL is coming off of a damn good season last year with both the Olympic tournament and terrific Stanley Cup playoffs. Hopefully the league can build on this popularity and draw in a larger, more committed fan base. "Faithful" readers, i assume you are already dedicated to the sport, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this wise ass's blog in the first place.
But imagine a world where hockey is front page of the sports section, and not just box scores towards the back. Well, does anyone still read newspapers anyway? Could you believe if hockey highlights were actually promoted on ESPN instead of filler between football and basketball? What about a better television presence too? Oh if only the league had more fans to warrant such an expansion! I guess the winter classic's excellent ratings and constant increase in playoff viewership doesn't count. At least we still get two games a week on Versus. Oh thank you hockey gods! Your bountiful gifts of two national games a week is more than we can handle. Yes i know there are packages you can buy through your cable/satellite provider, but that's not the point.

So yeah, new union president. He's got two seasons to make his mark and maybe, just maybe, avoid another lockout or shortened season. Mr. Fehr, show us what you've got.

Just Say Novalchuk

Or are we going to call him K(HL)ovalchuk? Like this wasn't so ridiculous already, there are reports of a 2nd contract being shot down. Honestly, at what point do you just say fuck it and walk away? It was interesting to see where he was going to go...two god damned months ago. Now, I couldn't care less. I just want him to be signed and be done with it. Kudos to the NHL for finally taking a stand on these ridiculous contracts, but too little too late. There are already deals in place that let this kind of shit go on. I also understand the arbitration ruling, that this contract is even more ridiculous than the others.
What i can't understand is WHY Novalchuk wants to sign for life with the devils. At the end of the day, the devils nearing the end of their glory days, if such a thing exists with three first round exits in a row. Brodeur is just about done, and there's no heir apparent in the farm system as far as i know. As much as people love to write them off year after year (scott burnside what?!), but they still manage to defy all the skeptics. however, there comes a time when you have to face the music. Martin will go down as the greatest goalie in history, but even the greats have a decline. And should he re up with the devils, they're going to have to make some sacrifices to keep Parise on the team when his contract runs out, which is in a year or two.
So personally, i'd love to see him sign and then cripple this team, but it doesn't make sense. The Kings were the other player in the moronic saga, and he could be a real good fit there. They have two excellent young goaltenders and a decent core of young guys to build around. The Kings are a team to watch come up, where as the Devils are a team to watch like it's the end of The Incredible Hulk.

source: http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2010/08/report-nhl-shoots-down-another-kovalchuk-contract-with-devils.php

World Hockey Summit

i was going to great you with a witty hockey pun, but decided against it since i really don't care enough to think of one. this week is the World Hockey Summit in Toronto, and today (well technically yesterday...or Tuesday, depending on when you read this), there was discussion of the NHL branching out into Europe. uhhh.....why?

The NHL has trouble keeping domestic teams afloat, so why on earth would they take on the added financial risk of creating either a second league in europe, or a european division. Logistically how on earth would this work? Having a home and home series with a team that's 6000 miles away just doesn't seem logical. or if every team plays in europe once, and the european teams come over and do a road trip. what kind of team would approve of having an empty arena for a month or more? That's just money being pissed away. Also there are several world class leagues already operating in europe, so why try to crowd the market? I get the publicity angle and marketing ploy of having teams open their seasons abroad. It creates interest in our game here. Bottom line is european teams/leagues play on olympic ice. Are we going to be so bold as to force every rink in europe to conform to NHL size, or will this super league have two different official ice surfaces?
I know that the NFL, a much more profitable league, plays games in europe and has/had what amounts to a developmental league there, but they are essentially kept completely seperate. the NFL is a much larger league in terms of revenue, so they can actually afford this. The NHL, while hardly destitute, certainly has its own precarious situations with teams being successful both on and off the ice. So again I ask, why do this?!
If the league is truly that hard pressed to get into europe, why not discuss using their leagues and teams official developmental leagues? Well for one thing, that would imply that their hockey is inferior to ours here in the states (and canada too....i guess). Please keep your eyes on the prize here NHL bigwigs. Create and properly maintain a league that is perpetually successful and relevant in the world of sports. Ratings are consistently improving over the last few seasons. build on it. make more people actually give half a fuck about watching it. There are far too many things to be done at home before you can even think about going abroad.

In other news around the league, the Aaron Asham Atlantic Division Express has made its forth stop. In Shittsburgh. I have no problem with him going to another team, especially when it was clear that we wasn't going to re-sign with the Flyers. it's the nature of the game. But Pittsburgh? OOF! Well it's only a one year deal, and then off to NY. The Rangers will be someone to play for Boogaard, once they realize they pissed away a few more million. Oh Rangers, you make me laugh sometimes.

this motherpucking kaberle situation

every year you hear about tomas kaberle and whether or not toronto will move him. every year he ends up staying. the rumor mill churns out ridiculous shit, and nothing. ever. happens. i'd rather sit around and watch paint dry or god damned grass grow than have to deal with this stupid shit for another year. thankfully his ass is in the final year of his contract and will more than likely walk away july 1.
what makes this whole fiasco "interesting" is that now his dad is putting his two cents in. i didn't know the lindros' influence was that far reaching. apparently kaberle doesn't like ron wilson and is willing to waive his NTC and get the hell out of dodge. I like the way Brian Burke tends to run teams, but at this point he really needs to cut this shit loose. i know he's looking for a top six forward to play with kessel, however, that shit ain't happening. take what you can get if it's gonna be draft picks or prospects or what have you. he doesn't want to be in a "rebuilding" stage, but they need help that can come and be a part of the organization long term. so for the love of god, trade him and let us get on with our lives.




Fantasy pick: Claude Giroux C/wing Philadephia. While we all know what Giroux can do in the post season, we're all still waiting on him to break out of his shell during the regular season. i'm willing to bet a roster spot on him for this year being the year. Last year's numbers are as follows 16 goals, 31 assists for 47 points. Not a bad season, but following the previous year's playoff run, it was a bit of a disappointment. He again enters the regular season after a strong playoff performance. i'm expecting him to break the 20 goal barrier, and reach 40+ assists. a decent projection of 20+ points. All would be career highs for his NHL career. he's going to be tricky to draft though because someone will probably take a flier (no pun intended) on him and draft him early, but that could be you. or play the odds that he'll be available in the later rounds.

I'm also going to throw ryane clowe out as a mid round selection. he's another guy who can finally break the 20 goal plateau. i think it's going to depend on how san jose fills out their roster defensively. if they fuck it up, the whole team is going to be in for a long season. still he's a solid player, and might be worth a spot.

Potential rule changes

So I was linked to an article on TSN.ca (Canada's ESPN...with competent hockey coverage) where they discuss some potential new rules and tweaks to the older ones. This was given to me by someone who read the first post. I'm not sure whether to be "proud" that people actually read this and give half a shit enough to contribute/suggest new topics, or if i'm already so bad at this shit people are trying to take over. what the fuck ever. Anyway, I don't know any fancy schmancy html codes so you'll have to copy and paste this shit yourself to read the actual article.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=330922

As I read some of these suggestive rule changes i can't help but think that the people in charge are riding the short bus to whatever arena or wherever they are dreaming up these proposed alterations.

for starters, why do we need even more face off locations? if i am not mistaken the league has already eliminated certain face off locations just inside the blue line. So why on earth do we need three more face off dots in the middle of each zone; although technically the neutral zone already has one. are they going to add one between each blue line in relationship to the red line? this one is just baffling to me. Also, if the goalie freezes the puck, it's already put into one of the face off circles in the defensive zone. would this new center dot be for frozen pucks in the dead center of the ice? On a scale of 1-10, where one is it's not completely moronic and ten is what the fuck are they thinking....i give this a 45. Having said that, it's not as bad as this gem. If a player is deemed to have committed a face-off violation, he will be required to move back and keep his skates behind a "penalty line" (1' foot further back) to take the faceoff. the what the puck factor of this potential new rule needs to be written in scientific notation. i guess i can kinda see the "logic" behind this possible change, but it's still fucking retarded. the system is fine the way it is.

there's talk of no-icing or "hybrid" icing rule, where the ref can blow it dead prior to the player touching the puck. what the puck? that's no touch icing. why are you trying to give it an even douchier name? Well i suppose if it's a close foot race they might not whistle it dead. I enjoy seeing dudes get creamed trying to get an icing call, but this rule makes the most sense to me...relatively speaking looking at this list. this would, in theory, cut down on blind side hits to the head, which the league is cracking down on, so go for it with this one.

they're also talking of making the crease 3 inches bigger in all directions. why? we've have a bajilloin different creases and no one seems to give a shit about any one of them. i mean ever since the amended the in the crease rule, have you seen anyone called for it? pointless bullshit. Alright, i've covered some of the more ridiculous ones on the list, but feel free to check it out yourself over at TSN.ca. honestly, it's probably the best traditional place for hockey news since ESPN treats hockey like the gay son they've disowned.


in other news, there's that lovely rumor that the flyers are going to persue Antii Niemi. my question is why? look at the dude play, he's not THAT good. yes he has won a cup, and he certainly earned it, but the 2nd coming of christ in net he is not. Yes, i know this may come as a shock to some of you, but there's goaltending issues in philadelphia. in other news the sky is blue. Michael Leighton has earned the right to compete for the starting role after essentially saving the season for the flyers. Yes boucher got them in, on the last day, but it was his play most of the season that practically eliminated them. A 9-18 record does not a starter make. they only thing i like about niemi over leighton is the athleticism. leighton won't make that ridiculous no pucking way save that niemi can, but he usually doesn't have to. the flyers also have a few solid prospects looking to crack the line up in a year or two. Niemi will be looking for a longer deal than that, and that's bullshit for this franchise at this point. Besides, the flyers are over the cap and haven't really expressed their lack of depth at the forward position. why have 4 goalies signed to deals? Who are we, the islanders? Let him sign somewhere else.

welcome motherpuckers

yeah, let's just get it out of the way. this particular entry will have a ton of horrible hockey jokes. shit happens. oh yeah, there will be swearing too. now to introduce this thing that most likely no one will read.

this is going to be a highly unprofessional and pseudo current blog about the greatest team sport on the planet. baseball is for mathletes, american football is boring as fuck, and real football....well no one cares about it in america. oh and basketball cuts in hockey season so it can suck a dick. there, glad to get that out of the way. I will be focusing on mainly giving my two cents about things going on in the world of the NHL and what not, and i may or may not dabble in some fantasy reccomendations. i'm relatively new to the game though, so my picks might not be sure things, but it's something else to think about. i'm not a journalist, nor am i a professional blogger (which let's face it, is a bullshit title). i'm just a dude who enjoys the game and feels like being an opinionated prick on the internet. but hey, who isn't.

So without further adieu (oohh french. i must really like hockey), let's get started. without diving into all the off season shenanigans like kovalchuk and the devils being idiots, and tomas kaberle not being traded...again, i figured i'd dive right into preditions and such for the 10-11 season.

Now a lot of people seemingly in the know are picking Vancouver to come out of the west right now. Now i will certainly give them the division title, past playoff performances have me wondering if they can really get over the hump. No doubt they have some potent offensive weapons in the Sedin brothers. Henrik certainly broke out of his shell last year with a 20+ add on to his previous personal high for points in a season, Daniel was sidelined with an injury that prevented him for possibly taking that leap as well last season. I'll go so far to say that Daniel getting hurt was actually good for Henrik because he got to show that he doesn't need his brother to be effective, and that he can carry the load if needed. I would expect them both to eclipse 90 points this coming season.

the Vancouver defense is also very strong, at least on paper, with the addition of Hamhuis (who is a raging douchebag by the way. as a flyers fan i thank you for the draft pick). The Kevin Bieska situation is interesting, as is where Willie Mitchell will end up, and Sammy Salo being accident prone, but it shouldn't be too much of a factor. my whole problem with the Canucks back end is Roberto Luongo. I know I know, I MUST be smoking crack to think roberto luongo is a weak link on this team, but hear me out. At this point, unless you live under a rock...or in the Vancouver front office, you have to see that he tends to flounder in big games. I present to you, the from 08-09 and 09-10 against the blackhawks where he got lit up more than a christmas tree. Sure, credit where it's due to chicago's offensive prowess, but he has to be better. We can also look at his performance in the gold medal game in Vancouver (lolinorite). While a deeper canadian squad walked away with the gold thanks to ryan miller falling asleep, Luongo looked incredibly shaky, but thankfully for his teammates he managed to hold out long enough not to shit a brick and let in a terrible goal and blow it for everyone who loves red and white. Am i being a bit hard on him? Absolutely. I don't care. the dude makes a boatload of money, and is the captain of his team. he needs to lead by example, not be a liability. I would rather see H. Sedin with a C on his chest than Luongo. Prove that you deserve it and get it back. There are other guys on that team to seem like they give a better effort night in and night out and deserve the responsibility of being a leader. Whatever, they're not my team, i don't give a fuck what they do. Just don't be surprised to see them choke again in April.

So in the west, obviously watch out for Vancouver, but also keep an eye on Detroit. It wouldn't be a season preview without detroit going for a division and/or conference title. they're like death and taxes at this point. Chicago should be fun to watch too. they're like a kid with hemophilia who just fell off the swingset. you don't know what's going to happen, but you're pretty sure it won't be pretty. I would also expect the kings to make more of a push to finish with a division title, but still are lacking in a few key spots to make it over the hump and be a true cup contender. Bernier and Quick will get the team as far as it can go though. maybe Kovy will come to his senses too and realize signing in NJ, who have an aging (albeit still very good) goaltender on the twilight of his career and a seemingly empty farm system replacement, isn't the best place to play out your career. you just left atlanta....why do it all over again. fuck the sharks because i can't say good things about them until they actually win when it matters. although, no Nocupov could be a big plus for that team.

Now we come to the east. This conference is pretty easy to pick, with seemingly the same 6 teams in the playoffs every year and then maybe one or two surprises for the bottom. It's going to be these teams come the end of the season, barring injuries or just shitastic regular season performances: Washington, Shittsburgh, NJ, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Ottawa, Boston. Then you have the "surprises". I'm banking on the islanders sneaking in at 8 this year. they have young talent and garth snow is slowly building a contender out there. If D(L)iPietro can stay healthy they have the chance to compete with any team in the league. Tavares and Okposo are good quality young players you can build around. Keep drafting smart, and with an owner who's willing to pay, it's a good place to be. Still, you play on lawn guyland, so that will always suck. part of me would like to see them move so they can demolish the coliseum and start fresh somewhere new. If Carolina can start better than they did last year they can challenge for a playoff spot. My true sleeper pick would be the maple leafs.....IF they can find a decent top six forward to play with Kessel and get consistent goaltending out of the Monster, who was incredibly inconsistent in his rookie campaign. JS Guigere (did i spell that ri....ah fuck it. who cares you know who i'm talking about) will be stable enough and with their D as deep as it is, they can definitely hang in close games, providing they can get some more guys to chip in and score some goals. Although, with the addition of Gagne, tampa bay has a deep front 6. Dan ellis was a terrific pick up for them, and i can see them making a move for a playoff spot too. should be interesting to see who will be the top line come the regular season.

If you didn't figure it out by now, i'm not focusing on a team for the east like i did for the west because, well....we all know what happens in the east. washington will run away with points, but lose in the playoffs because their D sucks. Gary Bettman will be jerking off Criesby all season long. Philadelphia will have goaltender issues. NJ will win the division, but lose after an exhausted brodeur can't keep playing at a high level when it matters. the rangers will continue to suck with redden's huge contract and glen sather being an incompetent douchebag. montreal is putting all their eggs in the carey price basket, and he's not that good. LES HABICANTS! fuck i can't wait for the regular season.


Fantasy pick: I'm gonna start with a goaltender. i drafted him last year, and while he struggled a bit early on, he came on strong towards the end. He won the starting position from a vezina winner and took a first round series from another vezina winner. Yeah, i'm talking about Tuuka Rask. This kid is legit. While tim thomas couldn't catch a cold last year, rask came in and really shined for the B's. His performance against buffalo was great. while i'm personally thankful he choked against philly, seriously how awesome were the pictures from game 7, i still like him. He's going to at the very least split the load with thomas, if not start outright. this is unless claude julien has a head on his shoulders and doesn't say "well tim thomas was our starter and will be again." make him earn it. in the meantime, go with rask, at least as a 2nd option.

Alright motherpuckers, until next time....if you decide to come back.