It will never die as long as the Leafs have Toskala to bitch about haha.
A couple of surprises for Canada, at least surprises to me, no Phaneuf, no Green, no Bouwmeester, even Richards not making it surprised me.

but potentially Bergeron is out??? He sustained a hand injury in the Boston / New York game last night. He's out 4 to 6 weeks.

There's no arguing that my dead grandmother is a better goalie than Toskala. At the same time, I don't think the Leafs can pin all their woes on him.

I thought we were looking at a rally in early December, but then they lost it again.

Oh, well. Back to the unofficial Leaf's motto: there's always next season.

Agreed, one player doesn't make or break a team, the Leafs as a whole are just a heartless hockey team, they have nothing deep down, they're just a surface team.

Well it's been an interesting couple of days on the discipline front, first you got the Burrows/Auger situation, then you got the Gonchar hit on Clutterbuck.
First the Gonchar hit:
It seems Campbell likes to talk a lot about getting rid of headshots from the game, yet when an obvious one takes place like this hit, he says this:
Past history has to stop being a measuring point for if someone is suspeneded or not, Campbell better stop drinking while deciding these things, because he's making himself look stupid.

Then on to the Burrows/Auger situation, I really don't thik they handled this well, he basically took whatever Auger said as gospel and blamed the whole thing on Burrows. To see those penalties called kind of makes me wonder if Auger did in fact say that to Burrows, I know refs hold grudges, and those calls were both grudge calls in my opinion, here's part of Campbell on the NHL.com radio show
NHL's Campbell talks about Burrows fine - NHL.com - News

EDIT, just saw this on TSN, how is that not third man in on Bradley? Ovechkin clearly dropped his gloves as did Downie, Bradley should have been suspended for third man in.

just looked at that last posting Jay... Clearly Bradley should have been suspended. he skated the length of the ice to get at Downie. Plus we were robbed of a good tilt between Ovechkin & Downie.


SO..... some big trades in the NHL yesterday. Calgary gets some quality players from an Eastern Division team to bolster their firepower (Matt Stajan, Hagman, Mayers & Ian White) and Annaheim pulls the trigger sending their backup goalie (Giguere) to Toronto for Toskala and Blake.

Lots of traffic (oh ya, Toronto also got Phaneuf - a Brian McCabe redux?) over the past 24 hours. think it will make a difference to a team that can lose a 3-0 lead regularly?

The trades were a good start, they unloaded Blake's huge contract which is a great win for Burke, especially since no one thought he'd be able to unload it, and they got rid of Toskala who has just been a clusterfuck since he got to Toronto, hopefully JS will be able to find his old form, but that deal at least made them stronger in goal. I would have liked to see them get something for Blake, but I guess when his contract is huge and Toskala is a pylon you have to give up a bit more.

Phaneuf should help the defence if he can get over this hump he's been on in his development, he seems to have stalled, but he may have just got to used to Calgary. Now the Leafs have a big problem with salaries for the defence, almost half their cap is taken up on the point, Beauchemin, Komasarek, Kaberle, Schenn, and now Phaneuf, I reckon you'll see Kaberle traded before the deadline, probably for a goal scorer up front to make up for the loss of Hagman and Stajan's offence. Although I'd rather see Komasarek gone, they should have never picked him up, he's a big man, but he has no idea how to use his size and seems like a really weak man the way he get bullied around, also I've never seen someone so big be such a terrible fighter and hitter.

I'm going to miss White, he's easily been the Leafs best defenceman this season, and has probably been playing better than Phaneuf, he's a solid d-man for a guy who isn't the biggest player in the world, much like Blake, as much as I didn't like Blake for his lack of offence the guy had the heart of someone who is much bigger, Blake would always be the first in the corner and would never pussy out if he heard footsteps behind him.

As Burke said 'we're open for business', so hopefully a couple of more trades can at least turn the second half of the season around and get that pick the gave to Boston for Kessel out of the lottery.

This is why Campbell and Bettman are idiots, they seem to think Ken Dryden is a 'politician', which he obviously is, but he's also one of the greatest players to have played the game, and Campbell dismisses his opinion on the head shot debate?
Personally I blame the lack of respect amongst players and the shittly and inconsistent suspensions given out by the NHL, like the Richards/Booth hit, the NHL needs some consistency in the disipline they give out, rather than using the wheel of punishment as they seem to be doing now.

I think Burke did a great job pulling out these trades for Toronto. At the cost of 6 average to less-than-average players they've added 2 all-stars and an awesome prospect to boot. Although with the loss of Stajan I'm not really sure how the Leafs will manage up front. They'll need to pick up someone quick, most likely at Kaberle's expense.

They've also got I think it is four and a half years younger as a whole as well, which was needed.

Their first game in their Leafs jerseys and Giguere, Phaneuf, and Sjostrom all manage to pick up Hockey Night in Canada's Three Stars. Symbolic?

Regardless of the performance on their first night, this trading looks good to me.

I've been reading the Kaberle trade rationale, and it seems to make sense. I wonder who they could get for him.

I really don't want them to trade Kaberle, as he's easily better than Komisarek, who I think should be traded, he's a disappointment, at least to me for such a big man to be so weak on his skates, but he's hurt, or get the hell rid of Jeff Finger, what an awful defenceman he is, fuckin awful hockey player in general, no idea how he ever made it to the NHL, a scout must have been drunk, he's taking up like 3.5mil on the cap.

But trading Kaberle does make sense, they could easily get a first line center, and probably an early secound rounder as well, but who can they get, Kovalchuk, meh, don't really think he'd be a great fit, I'd like a Marleau to come to Toronto, he's a great playe and would fit right in, but doubt he's on the market, so in the end I don't know what will happen.

Yeah, I think that Kaberle is on the block because they need a forward of value. You can't trade a shitty defenceman for a decent forward.

lol so true,but you can trade a shitty forward for a good forward, remember Kordic for Courtnall haha.

Kaberle's best move is to go to Burke with a liest of teams he'd be willing to go to, if he waits until summer he's at Burke's mercy and where he wants to send him, I'd still like to see Marleau come to Toronto.

I can't believe Jiggy got back-to-back shutouts, especially against Ottawa (and especially 5 - 0).... a franchise first for debuting goaltenders.

He's playing great, hopefully Wilson keeps going with him, and what about Orr making Carkner all wobbly legged.

You happen to red this BG? Seems poor Vesa is bitter already.
Bold addmed by me.

Now he's right he isn't a back up, he certainly wasn't a starter, and he isn't even good enough to be a back up, he should be back in Finland doing something, anything but playing hockey. As for playing his best when he plays a lot, yeah we saw how well that worked out in Toronto, the guy is a joke.

I do like how they basically fucked him off though from getting number 35, it's like 'you're a piece of drift Vesa, take what fuckin number we give you'. As for washing out the Blue and White, I'm sure Toronto wants to forget the Toskala clusterfuck as well.

haha... Ya I saw JS wearing the #35, and wondered what he thought of the history of Toskala wearing that in Toronto.

At least he plays with confidence, I can already see the improvement in the way the team plays in front of him. Or maybe it's the fact that the team is different too.

JS & Vesa should have just traded masks. Save a bit of effort in repainting...

Well they said on that first night with the new players, the building was absolutely electric. It's the kind of thing the team needs. It'd be nice to see what a few more changes and a fresh new season will bring.

Oh, and they beat Ottawa 5 to 0. That's not supposed to happen. Not business as usual?

Yeah they are definitely playing with more confidence now that they have some good in nets. I mean it wasn't all Toskala's fault, but a team loses confiedence after busting their balls to get back into a game only to have an easy one cost them the game, which is someting Vesa did far too often.

...Quite possibly the craziest fight of all time, and I've seen some crazy stuff from oldschool hockey. I have no idea how Kyte got up from this.

Hey Jim Kyte, I used to teach at his brother Murray's hockey school when I was younger for about 5 years, Jim would always come and lend a hand for a week or so in the summer, what a nice man he is, always willing to help anyone out, always stayed behind to help the kids who were maybe not the greatest, he'd always stay with the instructors afterwards and play a game with us every night he was there, an all around great guy.

Another cheap shot tonight, Ryder on Comeau, pretty brutal hit, just another sign of the lack of respect shown by players, especially after I believe Lapierre hit last night, hopefully it's the same suspension 4 games, although if they want to start sending a message they should be getting 8 or 10 for these cheap from behind shots.

How many games should Cooke get for this? When are the players going to learn this type of shit is stupid.

UGH, yeah I was watching that game this afternoon, calling it disgusting would be an understatement. Considering his past I'd say a good 10 games seems warranted but I know that won't happen...actually I think the fair way to handle would be to have him sit out as many games as Savard does.

What really bothers me about this is it seems like the NHL is doing absolutely nothing to discourage hits to the head like this one. Suspensions seem haphazard at best and in this case it didn't even call for a minor penalty. Think about that, if a player accidentally gets his stick to high and busts a players lip he's in the box for 4 mins and rightfully so, its dangerous and can cause serious injury. Yet in this case a man intentionally charges across the ice and knocks a player unconscious with his elbow and he's still out there on the ice while the victim is being loaded into an ambulance. What a great way to discourage these kinds of hits NHL :shakehead:

I hope Savard is okay and back playing soon. Really after the season the Bruins have had this year this is just the icing on the cake.

If the NHL truly wants headshots to stop, and hits like this Cooke hit, and the cheap shots during touch icings, like during the Marlies game, they have to get serious about suspensions, give Cooke the rest of the season off for the hit, that would send a message that they won't be tolerated, this 4 game bullshit like Laperiere got the other night is well nothing but bullshit, 4 games doesn't send a message, they have to start getting serious, and knock off the double standards for suspensions, doesn't matter if he's a repeat offender, they do somethign stupid, first time or third time, they get a massive suspension either way.

I agree and honestly I think its going to take somebody being killed, paralyzed or left a vegetable before they really take a serious look and do anything about it. Although I have to wonder if that had been Crosby laying on the ice would they have finally taken it seriously? I dunno, its frustrating.

Today Colin Campbell was going on about how he didn't see an elbow so he's still evaluating how to handle it. Should it really matter if it was an elbow? His shoulder? His stick? The result of the hit should be what matters not what Cooke used to deliver it. From the sound of it they will probably give him a token 4 games and try to sweep another ugly head shot under the rug and hope the whole thing goes away. Sometimes I think the NHL is run by complete idiots.

Agree with you on touch icing as well. I saw the video package they ran on Coaches Corner last week and the whole time I'm thinking after ALL of that the NHL is still deliberating on what to do. Seriously...idiots, nothing else can possibly explain it.

hmm. this is out there, but why don't we just fire off an email to Betman. I'm sure he will consider it. After all, we are the paying customers.

/ naivety rant

Hey, Charlatan... take a look at this. You can enjoy HNIC on Yahoo now:

Yahoo to livestream Hockey Night in Canada - Digital Life

Yahoo to livestream Hockey Night in Canada
By Gillian Shaw 9 Mar 2010 COMMENTS(2) Digital Life
Filed under: CBC, hockey night in Canada, hockey, livestream

Yahoo! Canada will start livestreaming CBC’s Hockey Night this Saturday and continue delivering hockey online through the Stanley Cup championship.

Available at yahoo.cbc.ca, the service will include broadcasts live and on demand.

“It’s no secret Canadians love hockey, and as part of the company’s focus on delivering ‘wow’ consumer experiences, Yahoo! Canada wanted to make the experience of watching games even better,” Gina Cothey, director, audience, Yahoo! Canada said in a release announcing the new service. “Hockey fans can watch their favourite teams in action and catch up on all the news and analysis from the hockey world just by visiting Yahoo! Canada.“

That was my initial thought as well, had it been Crosby or Ovechkin lying there, things would be handled much quicker, but the players getting hurt aren't the NHL's poster boys, so it gets brushed aside.
Just saw that, Campbell is still deciding if Cooke will be suspended, well if he gets nothing or gets the token 4 games, we finally have someone to blame for the injuries. The players are begging for some clear definition of the rules about blindside hits, and headshots, they don't want the physical nature of the game to change at all, they love that part, they just need some sort of line drawn by the NHL executives as to what is allowed or not allowed.

I like to think this all goes back to the Richards hit on Booth, he got nothing for that, even though it was the definition of a headshot, not a single game, the Neil hit on Mitchell as much as I hate Neil, wasn't that bad, Neil could have made it much worse, and Mitchell as Grapes said, has to be more aware of his surroundings.

Then last night some guy gets tossed for 'hitting from behind' when it was clearly from the side, he gets tossed out of the game, for basically nothing.

I thought the 2 referee system was supposed to take care of these things, all we get though is the back ref calling a second rate holding or hooking penalty, and basically just getting in the way.
Oh it is run by idiots, between Bettman and his Americanization of the game, and Campbell and his lack of consistency in discipline, people don't know what's going on, they have to get rid of those two before the proper changes are brought in. First change, fuck off with the god damn 2 line passes, that's bush league cherry picking bullshit, second change, the shootout dies a horrible, bloody death.

Here's the Lapierre hit on Nichol the other night, tell me his intention wasn't to run him from behind, to me thats a brutal play, and should have got a ot more games than he did.

Good post, I think whats also frustrating is the whole thing makes the NHL look bush league and gives the casual sports fan another reason to think the sport and the NHL is a joke. You'd never see this kind of nonsense in the NFL or MLB, suspensions are usually handed out quickly and for the most part are very consistent....they also hurt.

Look at some of the head shots this year, Richards gets nothing, Lapierre gets 4 games, Neil no suspension, Cooke...don't know yet. Why is there no consistent and quick penalty for something the NHL says it wants to eliminate from the game? Such a track record makes them look both stupid and hypocritical, they set precidents and then ignore them. If the issue wasn't so serious it would be rather comical to be honest.

Here's an interesting article written last year during the playoffs, its a little Bruins heavy and written by the biggest Bruins homer alive, Jack Edwards, but he makes a great point about the NHL and its "dartboard" justice system. Rather a good read considering the topic and hand.

Dartboard Justice in NHL - Jack Edwards - NESN.com

Well it seems dartboard justice is at it again, Cooke gets fuckin nothing, nothing, I'm at a loss for words on this one, which doesn't happen very often, it's an embarassing day for the NHL that's about all I can say, and that Colin Campbell needs to be subjected to one of these hits just to see what they are like, I have they suck.

Excellent article Wes, and once again very relevant with this latest non suspension. I reckon Vinnie Lecavalier said it best about Coooke:
Lightning stars unhappy with lack of suspension for Cooke
Just found this as well, now if Campbell based it on the Richards/Booth hit, he based it on his own stupidity, as Richards should have recieved a lengthy suspension as well, it's just baffling to me, gonne be interesting to see the NHL when it's one of their golden boys sprawled out on the ice unconcious.
http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/arti...ins-matt-cooke

I heard this just before I took off for rehearsal earlier this afternoon and honestly I'm having a hard time getting upset about it, not because it makes sense or it was the right decision but because I already expected it. All you can really do is just shrug and shake your head I guess.

Does anybody remember Sean Avery and his sloppy seconds comment last year? He got 7 games (if I remember right) and was essentially fired from the Dallas Stars for that little comment, I don't think it needs pointing out how ridiculous that really is when compared to hits that could potentially kill somebody going completely unpunished. :shakehead: Its funny when Campbell finally gets somewhat consistent in his rulings he does so in the most ass backwards way possible, its really quite amazing.

What I'd like to know is what is the NHL doing to protect its players? The instigator rule takes away the players ability to police the ice themselves and in turn the NHL is almost refusing to hand out punishment to discourage dangerous hits and other monkey business. Their position encourages these kinds of hits by default, especially out of revenge. Like I said before somebody is going to have to wind up dead, paralyzed or left a vegetable before they take any serious action and that's a pretty sad commentary on the leadership of the NHL. Personally Jay I like your idea about Campbell being subjected to these hits, maybe if the hit doesn't do it it will jar that lump of shit he calls a brain loose and he might start using it.

I read that about the Lightening players just before I came here Jay and I'm glad to see some actual players speaking up about this kind of stuff. It made me think that maybe the players and not just those who are teammates of the victim, but all the players in NHL will finally get fed up and take action as one large group. Imagine if every single time Cooke (or any idiot that does something this stupid) steps out on the ice, in every game he plays, he has a target on his back. I bet he'd shape up pretty quick.

Yeah I guess in a way I expected Campbell to do nothing, but there was that little part of me that thought maybe he's use to this to actually take a stand on these types of things, especially from people like Cooke, the kids a modern day Ulf Samuelson, no respect for anybody on the ice with him.

Yeah, I can't believe Avery as much as I hate him, got 7 games for that yet Richards and Cooke get nothing, even though Booth missed 45 games and Savard is done for the year. It is amusing though, he uses a hit that should have garnered a suspension to decide the punishment for another hit that deserved a suspension, it's mind boggling where his sense of logic is.

Ugh, the instigator rule, that bloody rule gave idiots like Cooke, Jarko Ruutu, Dan Carcillo all carte blanche to be idiots, they need to drop that rule and watch those pussies fall lin line.

Campbell should be dishing out 10-15 game suspension for hits like Richards, Cooke, and al lthese other stupid moves like during icings, hit them with something more than 4 games, then they'l llearn oh shit maybe I shouldn't do this.

Cooke could have caught Savards body, but if you watch the replay he was aiming for his head, no matter what he says his intention was or wasn't, he knew he was going to catch Savard in the head.

Time has come to curtail hits to the head - NHL.com - Ice Age

There you go.

I was watching the Pens last night and heard about Cooke's hit, and the subsequent rules change. They should just make it a major unless it was clearly unintentional. That hit was pure bullshit and I have a whole lot less respect for the guy now, the Pens as well for having him.

It would be nice if the teams would take some responsibility for policing players. I think it would be a great thing if Lemieux would come out and say, NHL ruling be damned, that kind of thing has no place in professional sports and we're going to take it upon ourselves to fine and suspend Cooke.

Anyone happen to see the Recchi interview? He had the balls to say what the rest of us have been saying, a loose quote is, 'I have a feeling if that had happened to Sidney Crosby, the result would have been different'. He had some more comments about Cooke and his history of these types af actions, and also said that Campbell 'dropped the ball on this one'. I've always liked Recchi, and his being outspoken on this issue has made me like him even more.

Well, we had another dirty hit today, this time once again by Ovechkin, listen to McGuires comments and how he tries to say 'it was a little from behind, a little from the side, and how it demonstrates 'the power of Ovechkin'. Now I like Ovie as a player, but the kids a repeat offender, or at least he's done stupid shit like this before, after seeing it in replay, I say he eats 10 games, ho could have ended Campbells career, but the punishment czar Campbell will give him 4 is my guess, along the same lines as Lapierre from Montreal.

Anyone catch Coaches Corner last night? Hear Grapes talking about Cooke asking him if he had the 'guts' to say what he says about Cooke on telly to his face? Fuckin Cooke, it wouldn't take guts to sort Cooke out, the kid won't fight, hell I bet Grapes could still kick his ass, if Cooke didn't turtle that is.

Yeah I read the Recchi interview a few days ago and I was pretty impressed with it. I think its a great sign to have an older veteran of the sport speaking out against this stuff and calling it like it is. At the very least he's getting the idea out there amongst players, fans and journalists. Hopefully the talk keeps up, people don't forget and it forces the NHL to take real action.

Caught Coaches Corner late last night after I got home (only feed here for the Bruins game was Hockey Night in Canada on the NHL network) and I LOVED his rant on Cooke and the hit, very good stuff. I would have LOVE to be a fly on the wall when Cooke asked him if he'd say that stuff to his face...the look on Cookes face must have priceless. Good overall show except for the final score....Tukka Rask...gotta handle the puck better then that buddy. :shakehead:

I've been incredibly busy this weekend and I missed the Ovechkin hit (looks like that was today's game...how did I miss that?) I agree with your opinion Jay, great player, seems like a good guy but he's just too reckless. The NHL needs to grow a pair, sit him for a bit and use him as an example or at the very least show him that their will be consequence if he doesn't stop being so reckless. If they suspend a huge star like Ovechkin it would really help send the message...not that they will of course. I like hard hits as much as the next guy but somebody has to start doing something to limit reckless and dangerous hits.

EDIT: Looks like Crosby got a dirty hit to the knee this afternoon as well. Haven't seen it yet but it sounds like Downie took a run at the back of his knee...Honestly Campbell is this the NHL you want? Dirty, reckless ugly hits that could potentially end careers? By not taking action on this stuff its creating an environment for these kind of hits to thrive and its disgusting. Colin Campbell needs to go, now. Although the irony of this hit happening to Crosby (who appears to be okay) in light of Cooke hit last Sunday is pretty glaring. It almost makes you wonder if Downie wasn't trying to send a message to the league with this one.

Ovie gets 2 games, Laperiere got 4 games for the same basic hit, double standard much? Why all this Ovechkin support as well, Maxim never got that, no one said anything in favour of him, but because of who Ovie is, they're making excuses for him, I even heard one player say 'you have to be aware as a defenceman'. Now I played defence in some pretty good leagues, and Campbell knew he was there, what he wasn't expecting is to be shoved from behind into the boards. Everyone keeps talking about Ovechkins strength, now what the heck has that got to do with pushing a player from behind into the boards? It's nonsense.

Jay-

I think, in all honesty the NHL is just lost right now. They are sinking as a league here in the states and (I could be wrong about this) but I thought I read somewhere that viewership was down in Canada too. It almost seems that, from Bettman on down the league is just grasping at any thing to get ratings and keep interest up. Ovie factors into this, sitting him more then 2 games means he misses the upcoming Washington/Pittsburgh game. Without Crosby/Ovechkin the interest isn't as high, hence the weak suspension for a reckless, repeat offender. In other words players health and the integrity of the league simply don't matter, Ovechkin is a HUGE star and they need that star power.

Any other major sports league and Ovie, Lapierre, Richards, Cooke and others would have received quick, harsh, consistent suspensions or fines, the only real difference would be more games or money for repeat offenders. Nor would any other sports league continue to have such vague rules concerning dangerous hits...honestly this stuff should have been sorted out YEARS ago.

I don't know if you follow the NFL or not but you might remember spygate with the New England Patriots? At the time they were perhaps one of the most watched team in the league, Tom Brady was one of the biggest stars in the game and they were becoming a HUGE source of revenue for the NFL. The team is caught taping signals from the sideline...oops...and what did the NFL do? They came down hard on the whole franchise. Coach Bellicheck is fined something like 500,000 dollars and the team docked (I think) 2 draft picks. It destroyed the teams reputation and put a huge black mark on the upcoming (nearly) undefeated season that year, something I'm sure the NFL would love to have marketed with a team not labeled cheaters. Why am I writing about this you may ask? Because the NFL wasn't afraid to punish a team that broke the rules, popularity and revenue be damned, they broke the rules and had to pay the penalty.

Until the NHL learns to take that approach to handing out punishment they will continue to be the joke of the sports world, which is a crying shame because hockey is such a great sport.

I forgot all about the Caps/Pens game coming up, and it's probably on a Saturday on NBC as well, so of course Campbell can't give Bettman's cash cow too long a suspension..

I remember the Pats doing that, they got hammered by the league. I must say I do admire the NFL for that, they don't fuck around with suspensions, someone does something stupid, they're gonna get nailed for it. The NHL(Bettman) is too concerned with making the game more appealing to US viewers to come down that hard on anybody, but when they start with these non suspensions or inconsistent suspensions they start to alienate other viewers like the ones in this thread who want to see the same physical game, but without all the bullshit hits, and Cooke, Carcillo, Ruutu, Richards, and even Ovie cheapshots.

Agreed, the NHL is the joke of the sports world, especially when you factor in the actions of the commish and the punishment czar. What I've never understood is, they have possibly the greatest player ever to put on skates totally uninvolved in the NHL. If they were smart they'd be trying to get Gretzky into some type of job at the NHL head office, at least the guy played the game and understands it, I don't think Bettman has the first clue about hockey, well I know he doesn't, if he did he wouldn't still have a team in Atlanta where they have more players on the bench than fans in the stands, or Phoenix, but if he drops those his Southern expansion legacy goes tits up. They need to start making changes i nthe NHL and I think they should start at the top, and soon.

Love the Josh Gorges ingterview he did about the Ovechkin hit, he didn't pull any punches when speaking of Ovechkins style of play, I'll try to find it to post here.

EDIT: Round 5 of Orr/Carkner tonight, been some pretty spirited bouts, Orr has the advantage so far, he's won 3 out of 4.
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4

Well another questionable hit last night by Wisniewski, quite the interference penalty for sure, or charging, as watchig the video you can see him planning it from about the top of the circle, leaving his feet, I smell another suspension, BUT I bet he gets more for this than Ovechkin got for his hit from behind. About that hit from behind, is Boudreau the dumbest coach in the NHL? Hearing his comments about the Ovechkin hit from behind make him sound stupid and like he's an Ovie fanboy.
I love the announcers in this clip, must have been Ducks fans, calling Seabrooks hit 'high to the head', that was hardly a high hit, or a hit to the head, they have to look at the position of Perry's body on that one. Asking if Seabrook is 'selling it', yeah he's selling the hit with his eyes rolling back in his head, stupid announcers should be shot.

About the headshot rule a commentator on Sportsnet says 'what if Sydney Crosby does something totally out of character and gets 10 games, then you have the best player in the game missing 10 games'. Well if Crosby does something stupid and gets 10 games he deserves it, the announcer wants the rule directed at certain players, Cooke, Ruutu, assholes like that, my attitude is you do the crime you do the time, wether your name is Ovechkin, Malkin, Crosby, I could care less.

Go Habs Go

had to be said:)

I forgot to post this earlier as well from the Boston Herald, let's hope someone on the Bruins steps up and takes some revenge on Cooke, I know myself I'd be looking to land a sneaky elbow on the little bastard, or actually getting him to drop the gloves(which he probably won't do, he's a pansy anyways.) Some type of reprecussions has to come from this, had Campbell had half a brain we wouldn't be discussing revenge as Cooke would be sitting out the remainder of the year, much like Savard is doing now.
http://multimedia.heraldinteractive....r_03182010.jpg
And we have Colin Campbell and Terry Gregson in the stands to keep things under control tonight, wonder if Campbel lis smart enough to figurte out had he just done the right thing i nthe first place, there wouldn't be a shit kicking coming for Cooke tonight.

LOL that pic is so funny.

The NESN crew (Bruins tv station) actually did an interview with Campbell in the pre show and all I can say is wow...He shifted in his seat, stuttered, contradicted himself and generally sounded like he had no idea what he was talking about. I can't believe this guy still has a job...man if I were that bad at what I do I'd resign just to save what little dignity I have left.

This interview may wind up on you tube but I don't see it there and I can't seem to link the video from the NESN website but if you're interested just go to NESN.com and it should be on the main page...I don't know I'm a little disappointed in Mad Mike for lobbing such softball questions though I was hoping for a little bit more.

On a personal note I can't believe the Bruins mailed it in like they did tonight. Honestly I've never been so embarrassed of a team in my life as I was watching that performance. A staged fight between Cooke and Thornton, another with Chara and Rupp and just whole lot of nothing else, no heart, passion, fire or desire. Sad. This season has been pretty abysmal and lets face it they may sneak into the playoffs, but a team that scores on average 2 gaols a game isn't winning the cup. This game could have been a nice send off to the loyal fans after a terrible year and they completely and utterly failed in every conceivable way to deliver. If I was in the Garden last night I'd have been booing and throwing trash on the ice with all the fans that paid to watch this sad excuse of a team.

Worse still Claude Julien then makes this statement after the game "well I guess the fans got what they wanted". Yes Claude, we wanted to get shut out 3-0 and watch Cooke skate off the ice smiling and high fiving his team mates. :shakehead: He's completely lost the team, has no idea how to adapt to adversity as a coach, once again his "system" is falling apart after a single year and apparently has no idea what the fans want either. He needs to go an NOW, he's ruining this team in my opinion.

Wow, sorry about that...I think I really needed to vent.


Oh and on a different note since I didn't get to respond earlier. That shot to Seabrook is just brutal, he looked like he'd been hit by a heavyweight boxer...christ! I don't know if I have any more energy to rant tonight and I'm glad to see the NHL step up and hand out a real suspension for that hit but man is Colin Campbell an inconsistent bastard...where have these quick, harsh suspensions been all year?

Inconsistent is the operative word. I saw Wisniewski's reaction on SportsCentre this morning. He seems to be genuinely contrite, and I tend to be sympathetic to him. But 8 games for that compared to 2 games for Ovie? give me a break. the rationale was that Seabrook didn't have the puck. But watching the replay, and taking into consideration the speed of events, ya, it looked like the puck was coming to him. I would have given Ovechkin 4 games, and matched Wisniewski to that. Just to demonstrate that Ovie's hit was fairly reckless and Wisniewski's was over-zealous and therefore reckless as well. I certainly don't think he was being malicious.

On another note, yes the Bruins look pretty pathetic last night while the Leafs looked tremendous. Why do they do this every year? A season ending run that make the team look like play-off contenders but without enoug racetrack to finish the run????? Must be the loosey-goosey feel they get when the pressure is off. I'm getting tired of saying 'wait until next year'.

:(

The puck was coming to him yes, or going around the half boards and up the wing, but that isn't the point, the player has to have the puck before contact can be initiated, and just watch Wisniewski on the replay, he was coming from about the face offf dot, which is a charge, left his feet as well, and the hands were up in his face when contact was made. See I'm the opposite, I would have hit Ovie with 8 as well, 2 games for a hit from behind just doesn't seem enough to me, especially for a repeat offender.
Oh man, so tired of saying wait to next year, so, so tired of it. They did look impressive last night though, I'm hopeful they can aquire a big centerman in the off season, to add some size up the middle, Khadri will be there next year, my opinion is that kid should have been in the AHL this year, he has all the OHL experience he needs, he needs to be playing against men now, not other kids.
Campbell should retire, all the fans know he's a buffaoon, all the players must know with these recent calls that he has no respect for their safety. They need wholesale changes in the NHL front office and quickly, before these idiots kill our game.
Of course I was interested haha, went to NESN and checked it out, and your not alone in being disappointed with Milbury, that was pathetic, I wanted to see him nail Campbell's balls to the wall, but he didn't, totally left him off the hook. Didn't even think it was the same Milbury who I see on the Satelite Hotstove on CBC being boisterous, controversial, and just all around cool.
Yeah, once the coach loses the team it's time to go for sure, look at Pat Quinn when he was in Toronto. Can't believe the Bruins would come out that flat against the Pens and the guy who put their player o nthe shelf for the rest of the year. I did dig that Rupp fight though, fuckin hate Chara with a passion, he'd be fun to fight for sure, just got to plant the feet right from the start so he can't ragdoll you haha. Still can't believe that useless bastard won the Norris, what an embarassment to the greats who have won it.

On an unrelated note, can't believe Canada lost to Japan in sledge hockey at the Paralympics, what an upset for the Japanese. Really been enjoying watching sledge hockey, some great players in the tournament.

Forgot about this old video, shows the great shit talking that goes on between players, so hilarious, although if someone did this today they'd be suspended for something stupid.

Would somebody please beat Detroit in regulation?

St Louis is playing it's best hockey of the year down the stretch but unfortunately so is Detroit. Over the past 13 games St Louis is 9-4-0. Detroit is 8-2-3. So despite having 1 more win over the stretch we still lost ground overall due to those damn overtime/SO loses.

Sorry just needed to vent a bit. Times running out on the season and with just 11 games left I don't know if it's going to be possible to make up 6 points even if we beat them ourselves on Wednesday.

So the NHLPA is signing off o nthe new headshot rule for the remainder of the season, now all the NHL big wigs, Campbell, Bettman, GM's players keep saying that no rule enforced this, but I beg to differ with them on this one, I present Rule 21.1
Official Rules - Rule 21: Match Penalties - NHL.com - Rules
A match penalty also open them up to supplemental discipline from Campbell, at least it used to back when I played, get a match generally a suspension follows from the commish. So while a headshot rule is needed concerning the Richards/Booth, Cooke/Savard hits, ref should have nailed them with a match penalty for attempt to injure.

Now you know what it has meant to be a Leaf fan over the years. Have a beer, and look forward to next year!

:)

Yeah, it's pretty much over for this year.

Oh man, I hate saying wait until next year, although this isn't as bad as the 80's were to be a Leafs fan, the Ballard years were dreary.

I thought Cooke should've been out for a very long time for his hit. Ovechkins hit, was one of the few times where he should've gotten the benefit of the doubt, if he didn't have such a history with cheap hits. Cooke still needs someone to step up and ring his bell. Seabrook made a good hit and if Perry didn't fall down like he did, then it wouldn't have looked as terrible. But Wisnieski hits was bad, it had charging, boarding and hit to the head written all over it. He came from the blueline and somehow had to defend Perry because his hit looked bad? Plus the announcer on that Youtube video is an idiot, must be working at the NHL head office...

Ovechkins hit was bad, pushing a player from behind when he's in the danger zone of 2ft away from the boards is just a dumb move on any player ,and Boudreau sticking up for cheap shots is just ridiculous, same with Randy Carlisle, I lost a lot of respect for Carlisle after his comments about the hit. Personally I'd like the NHL to be more like the QMJHL, those fuckers are handing out suspensions like they're candy for high hits, Campbell should take a hint form their commish on how to deter dirty shots.

On to other things, David Booth took another big shot last night, this one all his own doing, now I'm all for getting cheap shots out of the game, but this was not a cheap hit, it was the definition of a defenceman stepping up on a forward who has his head down, it should be used to teach kids how to step up on the man. I mean Booth needs to keep his bloody head up in this situation, jesus you'd think the kid neer played body contact before, as for the cut on his face, thank the vsior for that, another reason to not wear one, they come back to bite you every now and again, hate wearing visors.

I wear a visor and I feel the same Slient Jay. I've been hit a few times when its gone into my face. If I could remember when I broke my nose, maybe it was the visor that hit my nose instead of the other guy, I was slightly dazed.

Spaceks hit was perfect, step up on the guy at the blue line. Nothing wrong with that play and the scrum that follows isn't needed. I remember that I smoked a guy once for having his head down and people were all over my ass for it. I never understood why but for some odd reason when someone gets hurt, there's no such thing as a clean hit in their minds. Although I was damn proud of myself.

I've only had to wear visors in one league and that was back when you could wear the thing on your forehead so it didn't really do any good, but as soon as I moved on the visor was tossed.

Haha yeah people hate a good solid hit for some reason, back when I played I never saw the need to fight if someone smoked one of our players, now if it was the 'star', then I'd have no choice, but just a regular old player I couldn't be bothered.

Anyone happen to catch Keep Your Head Up Kid? Quite an enjoyable movie, always been a huge Grapes fan so it was nice to get a little insight into the man behind the personality. The guy playing Grapes did quite the job, the old skates and gloves were great to see, love those old things.

Also what about Carcillo getting 2 games for that cross check? I hate Carcillo, I mean hate the guy, he's not a hockey player at all, but 2 games for that just seems excessive to me, although I suppose I shouldn't be surprised given who dishes out the punishments.
Had that clip had the whole incident you'd be able to see that Carcillo didn't drop the gloves once he saw Clarkson was cut, and even appeared to apologise, and give Clarkson a pat on the lower back. Ovechkin gets 2 for pushing Campbell from behind ino the boards and this also gets 2 games, just another example of how the NHL is fucked up. They should hire the Commish of the QMJHL to do Campbells job, that fucker wil lthrow out longer suspensions, maybe then the message will get across.

Wootttt can't wait for the playoffs to get underway. Anybody care to fathom any picks as to who will take the cup? I'm thinking a very likely Cup Finals could be Jersey vs Chicago, both are teams have some depth of character. Although, ideally I'd like to see Buffalo ride Miller to the cup. Buffalo and Boston is going to be a wicked first round matchup. Anyways here's my pics for the first round:

First Round
WAS vs MTL
NJ vs PHI
BUF vs BOS
PIT vs OTT

SJ vs COL
CHI vs NAS
VAN vs LA
PHX vs DET

Don't really see much chances for upsets except for I guess MTL...... although that's probably more just wishful thinking haha

And yeah tough loss for the Rangers today, especially considering how strongly they started out the year...

Henrik Sedin wins the Ross! Woo! Go Canucks!!
I'd like to see Keep your head up, kid. Missed it when it was aired on TV. I'll grab the dvd if/when they release it.

Not too sure if you torrent or not but:
Part 1
Keep.Your.Head.Up.Kid.The.Don.Cherry.Story.Part.1.HDTV.XviD-2HD Torrent - btjunkie
Part 2
Keep.Your.Head.Up.Kid.The.Don.Cherry.Story.Part.2.HDTV.XviD-2HD Torrent - btjunkie

Great movie by the way, loved it.

I'm surprised I haven't seen the video of Evander Kane knocking out Cooke.

But I'll stick with my wings for this playoff year, they had one hell of a run to get into 5th place.

Never even knew that happened, shows how much Sportscenter I've been watching, on a side note, funniest headline in hockey history
Pittsburgh Penguin tough guy Matt Cooke suffers on ice TKO | - MassLive.com My Wide World - MassLive.com
Cooke a tough guy? Cooke's a little bitch who should be kicked in the nuts every day of his life so the world isn't soiled with another asshole like him.

As for the video

Damn that was a close game in Buffalo.... this one's definitely going the length. Hoping the Habbies can pull off the OT upset, gotta get those Cap players out of the hockey pool haha

Looks like a pretty wild start to the playoffs. Glad to see the Caps taken down a peg in OT.

My Canucks won, but what a boring game. I want my 2 hours back.

Thoughts on the Sutton hit?
Personally glad no suspension will be handed down, I'm all for taking dirty shots and head shots out of the game, but players have to protect themselves, Leopold clearly had his head down, and got caught in the 'trolley tracks' as they say, and paid the price, Sutton never had his hands up, or as some Pens are saying a forearm, they must be seeing differrent replays than I am, for once a good call from the NHL in my opinion.

At the 1:19 mark, which is the 3rd slowmo replay, you can see what I thought last night was a forearm. But it doesn't seem to be intentional, and it is more because Leopald was bent over more.


Brutal play, but good playoff hockey. I think the right call was made.

---------- Post added at 07:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:10 AM ----------

:shakehead: I'm glad nobody went to my first post to point out the embarrasing prediction (typical of a Leaf fan).... Wait till next year I say. I'll root for Vancouver to get into the final.

I was watching live last night and from the look on FSN it appeared came with the elbow to the head, but not elbowing as it was down at his side. Leopold was bent over, but Sutton came up as he was coming into the hit. I've never played hockey and it appears legal but it looks like he was going for a head shot. May have been legal but was still a dick thing to do.

A dick thing to do? It's called body contact, if a player has his head down, he knows what could happen, they teach you the first time you start contact, keep your head up, or you're going to get hammered. I mean, what's Sutton supposed to do, give him a pass? No it's his job to hit him, and if he gave him a pass it would send the wrong message about the Sens defence, is it shitty Leopold got hurt, for sure, will he learn a lesson from this, definitely, what's that lesson, keep your fuckin head up.

As for Sutton coming up, the guys 6'6"/250lbs, and Leopold was bent over to begin with, had Sutton came up into the hit, he would have flown over top of him.
This is about the best pic I can get at the point of impact, look how low Leopold is, and the angle that Sutton is coming in at.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...tonLeopold.jpg
Hehe, Leafs fans like us are the same every year Leto, we always think the Leafs will be battling for a spot in the post season, I honestly thought they had a shot like you said for the final spot, but just a collection of shitty play, bad goaltending, lazy players, but hopefully the young guys come back with the same energy they had at the end of the year.
Oh and fuck me, as decent as Kessel is, what a waste of a first rounder that was, the Leafs have to stop trading away first round picks for unproven players, seems in this day and age one good year makes them superstars, without actually proving anything.

Glad to see some contact is being allowed for the postseason at least.

Also glad my Red Wings won one game in this series. I'm not expecting them to do much at all.

Watching the Vancouver / Kings game and discovered that it is being streamed live on CBC. I'm actually pretty impressed with all that the CBC web site has to offer. So even Charlatan can get his playoff fix way out there in Singapore...


Link to the live stream:

CBC.ca Sports - Hockey Night in Canada iDesk

No lag as compared to the tv beside me.

It's great CBCs streaming it, I don't have a TV so its the only way I can watch a game without having to head over to my buddy's. I just can't believe TSN somehow has the rights to the Capitals Canadiens series. Not very happy that I missed that game last night.

Hate TSN's coverage, they have the HNIC song, and I have to deal with McGuire, still hate that fucker.

They stream the games here as well, video quality probably isn't as good as the CBC streams, but it's hockey haha.
ATDHE.Net - Watch Free Live Sports TV

Look, I'm not saying it wasn't a clean hit, it was. You can hit a person cleanly with the intent to injure, which is what I see when I watch the replay. We probably aren't going to agree on this, but he could have cleaned his clock without going for the injury. I understand that he's under no obligation to not hurt him, but it's still a dick thing to do in my book.

As for not coming up, look at the clip at about the 1:08 mark, there is a spot there where Sutton is standing up; his skates are a foot off the ice and Leopold is still in mid-air.

You aren't trying to kiss them, you're trying to hit them, of course you're trying to hurt them, every person I hit throughout my career I tried to hurt, don't take it easy on them, because they sure as hell aren't going to take it easy on you, that's what I was always told, hit them so they feel it, otherwise it's kind of pointless to have contact if you aren't going to hit them hard.
Oh we aren't going to agree on this, I can guarantee that. Going for the injury? Leopold is to blame for his injury, how about putting some responsibility on the player skating down the ice in a game that has contact with his head down checking to see if his laces are tied up, I mean jesus, can't blame Sutton for doing his job..
As you said, you've never played hockey, and calling a perfectly clean hit 'a dick thing to do', shows that, had you played before, or knew more about the game, you'd see it otherwise, he did his job, head down, hammer him into the ground.
Yes after the time of impact he was in the air, after he had hit him, ever hit someone fro mthe angle he did and try to stay completely on the ice? It isn't easy, but he wasn't up before or during the hit, only after which is not a penalty, sorry.

I've played American Football and Rugby for more than 10 years, I know about hitting people who've put themselves into a vulnerable position. I also understand that there is a difference between hitting someone because it's a part of the game and hitting someone to end their season, regardless of the hit falling within the rules of fair play. You don't seem to think that distinction exists, which is fine, but I do. You aren't going to change my mind on that and I've said my peace about where I think that hit falls.

I'm willing to concede that Sutton may not have been able to prevent coming up the way that he did, I don't understand how being on skates changes the mechanics of hitting. My suspicion is it's not as much as you would have me believe, but I'm willing to concede judgement having never been on skates.

That's cool, like football and used to play rugby in high school years ago, only problem there is, neither sport is as fast as hockey and really can't be compared to hockey in any way, aside from them both allowing hitting.
Well let's see, Leopold coming down the boards with his head down, Sutton 6'6" 250lb defenceman coming up the boards to hit the man coming at him with his head down, how is that not part of hockey again? I mean I only played the game for 20 years as a defenceman so what do I know about a hit being part of the game.
I'm not trying to make you believe anything, it's the truth, after you hit someone fro mthe angle Sutton did, it's damn near impossible to stay completely on your feet, I mean watch the replay, Sutton fell after the hit from being off balance.

As for skates and the mechanics of hitting, it changes a lot, you have no idea how hard it is to hit someone and still keep your balance, which is why I say football and rugby have nothing in common with hockey, aside from allowing contact.

bottom line is the hit was clean, he just happened to get hurt. No big deal. 99% of the time the player bounces back up, just not this time.


by the way. Lets go pens!!! series 2-1

Pretty much rahl, it was clean hit, thinking it was 'a dick thing to do' is just wrong, it's part of the game, it's a contact sport, when you have your head down, and have a huge defenseman coming at you, you're going to feel it when he hits you, you won't always get KO'd like Leopold did, and most times you'll get back up, get the guys number and try to land your own clean hit. There is always intent to injure when hitting someone, you're hitting them for a reason, not to see if they smell nice, all this dick move and intent to end his season is adding to as Millbury puts it 'the pussification of the sport'.

Looks like Theodore won't be starting tonight, after he impersonated a pylon last game.

Are the Sharks preparing another collapse in the playoff, they event help themselve doing that last night.

Boyle scoring in his own goal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uHUg...ature=youtu.be

I don't know if you saw the game, but the only reason Colorado won was because of a few miraculous bounces and an incredible performace by Anderson. San Jose still has a good chance of coming back and taking this series. It's funny cause I have Boyle in my hockey pool, I'm under the impression that he should get credit for that goal haha.

I'm not too happy about the loss of Vanek, not looking good for the Sabres.

I can't believe the goal was wasn't allowed in the Canucks/Kings game, I mean jesus fuck that was terrible, and that is why I hate video review, I'd like to hear how they think the puck was kicked in. During the conference one of the refs had it right with his hand gestures, it bounced off the skate while Sedin was turning, I mean, that was pretty obvious, hell Stevie Wonder could have seen that, that's just a fuckin terrible call.

KABOOM!!!

wow. this is going to be a good playoffs.

When are players going to learn, keep your fuckin head up, I mean jesus, hockey has body contact, maybe their coaches failed them as kids and never taught them haha. Perfect play by Boychuk though, text book on how to step up as a defenseman, loved it.

Well I figured out why the Sedin goal was not allowed last night, Colin fuckin Campbell made the final call after consult with the officials in Toronto, everything that asshole touches turns to shit. Aside from that they need to revisit that rule anyways to actually clear things up, they have the distinct kicking motion portion and the propelling forward portion, it's an all around fucked up rule.

Chris Neil, what a cement head, gets a goal to possibly get his team back in the game after giving up 4 straight and what does the dummy do, pushes Letang after he scores for no reason and takes the penalty, this guy is a moron, he should be a minor leaguer for life, no way is he NHL material, not even in fighting.

Poor Ellis, keep your head up buddy.

Well, the Sens are out, the Nucks move on, and the Habs, well the Habs need to come up big tonight. No suspension for Hossa, which well, they've got to do something about that, a defenceman is going to get killed with the little shoves and shit that go on while racing for the puck, I mean he did shove him, so to me, he gets a game, or at least should have been tossed out of that game, but I mean, the way the referring has been this playoffs I don't expect much anymore, missed high sticks, blown calls, good goals being disallowed by the idiots in Toronto, I thought the 2 referee system was supposed to make the game easier to call, seems they're just a waste of space on the ice and they can go back to the 1 ref, 2 linesmen system.

The Wings looked like shit. Where oh where is McCarty and Stevie Y when we need some real passion for once?

At least the Killer B's give me entertainment.

The sens are out... it's a shame but they went down to the back-2-back champions ;)

Habs at least Halak had a big game. Game 7 who know what can happens, but Washington power play at 1 in 30 is bound to explode!!

See I was torn in that series, being from the Ottawa Valley originally I've hated the Sens since they came back in the league, they're fans seem to think they're some kind of storied franchise and should be thought of on a level as the Original Six teams, which will never happen.

The Pens, I don't hate them, but they have too many players who anytime they get touched even a little bit they automatically either throw their head back like they've been shot, or look at the ref right away to try and convince him to give them the call, and they have Matt Cooke, the litle abortion that got away, hate that bastard. Out of the two though, I was glad I suppose the Pens won, now as for back to back champions, never know, could happen again.

The Habs have to, have to stay out of the bloody penalty box, as you said, the Caps PP is going to explode eventually, and Halak can only bail them out so many times before something goes by him, so my hope is for next game the Habs get their shit together and quit taking stupid penalties.

I just want to see someone like Boychuk or Chara destroy the fucking shit out of Crosby. I hate that fucker.

That would make this the best playoffs ever in the history of EVER!!!! Boychuk needs to pull a Lucic and put Crosby through the glass, icing on the cake. :thumbsup: What a great series Pittsburgh and Boston would be considering all the history this season, Savard returning...yeah they might get swept but it should be pretty intense.

Anyway I was down at the Bridgestone last night for the Preds/Hawks...great atmosphere, fantastic crowd, awesome game but wow could the Preds have choked any harder this year if they tried? Blown lead in game 5 with 15 seconds to go then last night they come back from a 3-1 deficit in the first to tie it up then blow the lead 20 seconds later on a powerplay and proceed to do NOTHING for the next 40 mins. Sheesh.

Man I've missed coming in here and talking hockey I've been so busy the last few weeks I've barely had time to watch games let alone talk about them. Its been a great first round so far, I hope the rest are even better.

How can you hate Crosby? The man is awesome in every aspect of the game. He's arguably the second best player in the NHL and is a genuine class act. He has definately taken after Lemieux.

He's a love or hate guy.

I mostly hate him because he's the Tom Brady of hockey. Bettman and his cronies bend the rules and the calls to make sure he gets his way. He might have skill, but he's a pansy ass whiny little bitch and I seriously hope Boychuk puts him on his ass (if they meet) every chance he gets.

Fair enough.

And, I hate him because the pens took out my wings last year for the cup and the whole Olympics thing didn't help either ;)

At least my wings are killing it tonight so far. They are playing with passion tonight and it's refreshing.

I'd be all for a rematch! Let's go pens!!!!

So it will be a 2 out of 3 ;)

Oh boy, Montreal - Washington Game 7 was crazy... what a game!! Good to see Montreal with some good goaltending for a change. Halak has to be the future of this team, he played great in the Olympics too.

And silentjay I must thank you greatly for sharing this weblink... you truly are the king of kings

I am so happy to see the Caps knocked out. Living in the DC area it kills me to see all the fair weather fans around here. No one cared about the Caps when they were horrendous, but as soon as they start winning the fans all come out. Lets see how many huge Caps fans there are now.

The Caps have no one to blame but themselves. They continuously failed to get traffic in front of Halak and Ovechkin was just a speedster but didn't cause much damage. Do I even need to talk about the Power Play? Laughable.

Halak was brilliant. I won't take that away from him, and I'm glad that the Caps got bounced.

take it from me, if you support the team when it is bad, you get ridiculed. So it's almost better to be a fair weather fan. Ask any Red Wings fan when they spent 42 years in the desert with their "Dead Things" or Chicago fans who saw, what more than 50 years go by without a Stanley Cup? And of course the current 43 year drought being experienced by our Leaf nation.


So what is it with Ovechkin and his powerlessness in the big games? I like that Montreal out-worked the flashy Caps, but will definitely miss the dynamics of Ovie and his crew going forward. I think that Montreal can deal with Pittsburgh in a similar fashion. Can you imagine a Montreal / Vancouver cup final????