Two more things

1. I buried Megan's post about the Avs...please read it.
2. Good on Columbus for getting their general shit together and pulling out a shootout after their fans pledged over 5 grand for charity if they won. The jackets will match. The team put it on their white board last night as incentive/motivation.



There is a bit more information and details on how this all got started here

Maybe the jackets need to be bribed to win games? Ron Wilson approves.

It's Friday.....ooh and a three day weekend

You know, I work as a government lackey and while there are not many perks in my line of work, Federal holidays are. WOOOT.

I am an avid reader of Puck Daddy over at yahoo and there are days when I find gems. The Jersey Fouls can easily go into my top ten favorite reads of a week. Not just for the photos but for the words that describe them.

Total, unmitigated, without-a-second-thought PASS. If only because we're pretty sure this guy is going to die with his sneakers on, in a room of other cult followers while a comet passes overhead one day ...

That was said about some oddball Kings Poncho style....thing. I laughed out loud.

I feel like hockey tonight:

Vancouver v Washington - ugh, can't they both lose?

Detroit v Columbus - fans have put "money on the boards" for their favorite charities if Columbus gets a win tonight. Good luck on that.

New Jersey v Tampa Bay - most. boring. game. of. the. night.

Philadelphia v Atlanta - rumor has it Pronger is back. Hide the children.

Calgary v Ottawa - I'd watch but that would involve watching Ottawa.

Colorado v Minnesota - I'll catch this one when I get home (lets hear it for the gamecenter dvr feature!). If Minny plays Colorado like they played the Pens the other night, I might have to make this the most boring game of the night instead.

Speaking of Columbus (No, really, I did, up there).... there has been some general bitching about why Rick Nash doesn't call more penalties. Nash, who personally I wish could be moved to a better team, is a big dude. I've seen him in person and you really don't get the impression he's that big on the ice (which I can't explain because on ice he should look BIGGER). He's also a big dude with gobs of talent and decent speed. So why isn't he getting the calls? Because he's Rick Nash that's why. He's quiet and doesn't bitch much to the refs... not that I condone it but I gotta think it makes a difference. The old adage of squeaky wheel gets the grease and all. Maybe the squeak/cranky player gets the calls? For what ever reason, Ricky will still take the abuse and not get the calls. That is, until he's out of Ohio.

Also on Columbus: I can't put a rational meaning behind this but it tickles me to no end that Mike Commordore has cleared waivers and is in the AHL. I used to really like him but it seems that he's been a problem for Columbus from damn near day one. The GM was quoted as saying something about [very paraphrased] they look at the whole player, how he is on the ice and off the ice and in the room and we made our decision based on that. To me that screams a diplomatic way of saying Commie was a cancer type in the room. So be it.

Holy cow! The sabres won! Ok, that's not nice but you know what? I blame a certain goaltender's recent announcement for ALL OF IT. Derek Roy has nothing to do with their downfall (ok, missing your leading scorer and having to depend on the likes of Tim Connley will not get you wins but still). Crunchy, you know what I mean.

two series are over, will there be a third tonight?

The Boston Bruins and Amy's Vancouver Canucks are through to the second round with pretty tidy sweeps (no pun intended) of their first round opponents. I think the Blues just had to push so hard to get in, they were worn to the quick (and I think their injuries throughout the season finally caught up with them). I'm not gonna lie (Amy, cover your ears and eyes), I was rooting for the Blues. Not only because their captain is a favorite of CaP, but darn it all, they are/were a scrappy team fighting when no one game them an ounce of credit.

And as for the Habs...did anyone really think they'd win 4 against Boston?

I wish the things I said about the Blues could apply to the Blue Jackets. Even if they manage to get a win tonight, I think, as they say, you can put a fork in them. I just can't see them winning four straight right now. Not with Nash not scoring (or anyone not scoring for that matter) and Mason looking very much like the rookie he is (which on a side note, he was nominated for Rookie of the Year and if there is any justice he will get it).

That leaves us with some interesting series. Chicago and Calgary. Man, that one is getting down right dirty. I LOVE IT! It's great playoff hockey and I hope it goes 7 games. Not in the way I hope the Craps and the Ranger$ go seven games. I'm actually enjoying the Calgary/Chicago series. I could give a rat's ass about the Craps or Ranger$ and hope for bloody long triple overtime games to wear them out for round two.

But since I opened that door, I might as well walk through it. Henrik has been stellar, no surprise there. He seems to play better in the playoffs. Granted, I have no stats to back that up with... it's just a hunch. Avery took a stupid penalty? I'm shocked! SHOCKED. Ok, not really, but I am sorta surprised that combined, Ovechkin and Green have one goal. I mean come on, OV has 209,732 shots. Well fine, 35 but still, since he's the greatest player EVAR, I'd figure he'd have more to show for all that. In comparison, Malkin has 4 goals on 13 shots.

More open doors: Pittsburgh has looked really strong in most of their games against the Flyers. I think Sunday's game was an exception really and they'll get back on track tonight to hopefully close out the series. Philly could surprise me, but I'm hoping not.

I'll save the California series for Amy to chat up (since I've been bang on with my prediction of "too bad I will miss most of it being in the Eastern time zone"; she at least can stay awake to see the end of the games). And hopefully she'll have some fun new clips to share too (she's so much better at finding that stuff than I am!)

Oh, did you know we (Amy and I) are both on Facebook? She's been there a while and I'm just joining the cool kids and started yesterday. Hit us up!

Until next time, happy hockey!

We're off to see the Wizard....

First I would like to give a big shout out to the Columbus Blue Jackets for capturing their very first trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Jackets and quite a few of their players are on the list of favorites here at Chica Central; and no one more than the captain, Mr. Richard Nash, who tied the game to give them that last point that they needed to clinch.

This is a picture I took of Ricky at the Draft two years ago when it was in CBJ; and Lisa and I drove down from MI so I could watch two of my Tips boys get drafted. It was big fun and if you're ever there, eat at Schmidt's Sausage Haus. Okay so it was the only restaurant that we ate at besides Waffle House, but I love German food and it was good. Anyway... here is Ricky...



Also going on this week is the last week of games for the AHL; as well as the ECHL will be opening up their quest for the Kelly Cup this weekend. Why is this important you ask? Well, there are a handful of former Tips are playing in the A and the E and we still love our boys here in Hooterville long after they're gone... just ask Mitch Love. :)

So tomorrow starts the series of Moises Guiterrez and the Elmira Jackals vs. the Trenton Devils; though our pal Mo is on the 30 day IR as of last week. I'm still trying to find out what happened, and hopefully he will be able to return soon. Then on Saturday is the Victoria Salmon Kings with Dan Gendur vs. the Idaho Steelheads. Danny's had a pretty good rookie season up in Victoria, which I'm sure is no doubt due to it being his hometown, and he probably gets to live at home with his mom taking care of him.

Then over in the AHL, it's still not quite decided yet for our pal Mitch, John Lammers and the Houston Aeros; but they have a good shot of getting in tomorrow night. They'll join Riley Armstrong and the Worcester Sharks, Zach Hamill and the Providence Bruins; and the favorite team here in Hooterville, the Manitoba Moose with Shaun Heshka and our good pal Taylor Ellington. Tay hasn't played yet for the Moose and may not in the playoffs, but it's good for him to be up there. The only former Tip that I know of that is playing in the A that won't be in the playoffs is Leland Irving. His Quad City boys have had a good run as of late, but they are just going to run out of time.

I love playoffs time... it's always fun when the playoff races are actually races; and you are rooting for teams to win that you'd cut your tongue out than admit you were rooting for, other than the fact that the team they're playing is neck and neck with YOUR team.

So, to bookend today's post with the Blue Jackets, I'll give you a little bit of funny with a former BlueJacket turned Atlanta Thrasher Ron Hainsey. Just watch it... it's funny. :) Have a good day kids!

MVP?

There has been a lot of talk around the league regarding the MVP. Ovechkin or Malkin? They seem to be the front runners right now. But I have another name to toss into the mix: Steve Mason, goalie for the Blue Jackets.

Hear me out - he leads the league in shutouts (ten shutouts backstopping the Jackets for crying out loud) and is a rookie. Watching him play on Sunday he was one turn over away from 11 shootouts. He's got a decent record, but what's more important to look at is how the team has done when he's not in net.

While I love Ricky and Rusty and the bunch, Steve has been their MVP and should, along with rookie of the year, get some serious looks come voting time.

But what do I know.

Meaningful games in April

In past years, April has been a time to fine tune their lineups for the playoffs: a tweak here, resting the key guys there, coasting until the second season starts. Boy that's been shot to hell this year. None of the standings are set and in both conferences there is wiggle room from top to bottom. Some divisions are secured, but other than that, nothing else is etched in stone just yet.

Buffalo: man, they lost a HUGE point last night to the Trashers (side note, I was watching a game on CBC or TSN and there was someone in the booth by his accent it was clear he was a Quebeccer and he kept pronouncing the Thrashers as the Trashers. I of course, loved it). They are not mathematically eliminated but the hill just got a few degrees steeper. Note to the Habs - stop frakin' winning.

Penguins: Very quietly they have tied for fourth place (as friend of Chuckers, Lisa, pointed out that Marty B was pulled for the Flyers last night - not a good night for goalies named Marty, eh?) with a shellacking of the Devils. Worlds Greatest Goaltender EVAR! ( /sarcasm) looked very human afterall. The devils owe their season to their third stringer goaltender AHL goalie, not Marty.

Again I can't remember where I heard this but it was said about the Wing: and their reward for finishing second is to play the Ducks. Yeah, no thank you. Once given up for dead, Les Canards are doing their best Phoenix (bird, not city) impression and making some noise. If things end up this way, I don't know if the Wings want that hot mess in round one. Come to think of it, no matter who the Wings get in the first round, they are going to face a scrapy team who are out to prove that they belong in the playoffs (the Blues, the Preds, heck, even the Oilers and Minny have a shot). This reminds me far too much of the year Edmonton went to the Final. Who did they beat? An over talented Wings team. Oh Jason Smith, how I miss you.

The Jackets decided to show up again. After having their collective asses handed to them by a charging St. Lou team, they bucked up and put down a Nashville team that's looking to do some damage. Turns out, the Preds are the ones who came out hurting. They lost yet another pretty key guy to their team. I don't think Stevie Sullivan can do it all boys. But this is the first time the BJs have had some purpose to play well in April (other than that usual response of "pride")

But you know, I've got one more thing. Watching the Guins game last night...it was 6-1 and Sid blocked a shot. He skated off in pain but didn't miss a shift. I gotta think had that been a lot of other 'super stars' that wouldn't be in that position but instead they would be trying to pad their stats.

That about sums up what's in my brain this morning. Until next time!

Despite the rumors....

I am not: dead (clearly); stuck under something heavy (Ryan's skinny after all); giving up the blog for good (again, clearly). Life around these parts has been very busy and honestly, I don't see it changing a whole lot in the next few days. Arg!

But some puck news to talk about:
Bluejackets - ok, dare I say it but this a legit playoff team. They dismantled the Flames last night and I'm not just saying that because the score was 5-0. From the probable rookie of the year on out, everyone had a strong game. They won face-offs, they took the body, they intercepted passes while making crisp passes themselves.... I think the score could have been 1-0; they were just that good.

Sabres - the beloved Crunchy Miller is back in net tonight after a month long absence. He's saying the right things like "I'm not the savior here". Ryan, I just hope you are back in time so your boys in blue aren't sitting out the playoffs again this year (yeah, see that, I did it. He is the savior; even if he doesn't get the support he needs).

Penguins - the flightless birds are in an odd spot. One point up they are in 5th, two points down, they are in 8th. They just need to keep winning.

Lord help me, but I'm rooting for the Blues to make it back into the playoffs. They have been a hard working team all year and they've had some wretched injuries.

I just checked my basketball bracket. I was in last place (out of ten) as recently as yesterday morning; now I'm tied for 2nd. Go fig.

The Frozen Four starts tonight. Read an interesting tidbit over at Puck Daddy that this is the first time since 1968 that neither Boston College, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Minnesota or Colorado College are in the tournament. That's a lot of big names out.

I can't decide who to pull for: Denver is a sentimental favorite that has nothing to do with the school and the rest of my family would appreciate some love to Michigan (then again, you gotta feel for Steve Kampfer - this kid has been in some shit situations that are not of his doing this year). Maybe I'll just root on Bemidji ..oh wait,they are playing Notre Dame; forget it. I'll think of someone!

That's all I have time for today - but stay tuned. You never know when I might show up next!

The weekend comes and I fall off the planet

With Amy out of town, the blogging ball was in my court and man, did I whiff or what?

Turns out that Vancouver pushed the hardest to get JayBo away from the kitties. From the Sun Sentenital:

Vancouver General Manager Mike Gillis was willing to give up winger Mason Raymond and a first-round pick, the Vancouver Province reported, but when Panthers GM Jacques Martin made it clear he wanted either defensemen Kevin Bieksa or Alex Elder, a potential deal was dead.

I gotta say I don't blame Gillis for not trading for him at that price. Again, I ask will Martin have his job if JayBo is in another sweater come fall?

I wonder if the Flames deadline sploosh will make a difference in the long run or not? The west is still a brutal division and it will be tough to get out it without a lot of banged up players. Their trades might make things closer out their way.

Considering I started this post three days ago, I can now toss in some hockey. Pittsburgh got a big two points last night. I watched the third period and it was some damn good hockey. I got the Cats feed and groan are they awful. I'm sure someone likes 'em but I'm not a fan. Granted Steggy and Bob can be a bit much but geeze. When you are scrambling as the Panthers were in the third, you're going to take some penalties. We they all heinous penalties? No. We they callable penalties? Yes.

I'm not gonna talk about the Philly game. I might start to cry. CRUNCHY COME BACK!

The Wings had to go to overtime against the desert dogs. A game I did not see one second of live and caught the highlights on NHL on the Fly this morning over breakfast.

Who is this team from Ohio and what have you done with the real Blue Jackets? Tenth shut out? Seriously? When you are 20th in the league in scoring, I suppose it's a good idea to have someone back in net who can stop the pucks (for the record, they are 8th in goals against). The 6th place Columbus Blue Jackets (that's still cool to say this late in the season) have a real shot at making some playoff noise and I'm just tickled about it. If I'm Rick Nash (I'd be tall, rich and good at hockey), I'm looking forward to the post season and hopeful the Jackets play Detroit - meaning they'd have to fall to 7th or 8th, but still, a first round playoff series is a real possibility for this team. Big win for them against Boston last night. Huge win (as both the Sharks and Wings got two points).

Who else played last night: Colorado? They were on the schedule but apparently forgot to show up. Shut out by Atlanta? Groan. Devils continued to roll and beat the Flames (guess those trades are not helping so much just yet), and in a game of "Who cares" versus "First pick overall or bust", Who cares....er, Toronto beat the Islanders.

That's all for now folks, you've read plenty!

random musings from the resistance

I have a car payment that is just a little less than $250 a month. I like my car, so I will continue to pay it. However, if I lived in the greater Tampa area, I could have season tickets to the Lightening for less than that. Tickets for an ENTIRE SEASON. Color me dumbfounded. I mean good for them citing the national economic spiral, but then again, would you wanna pay to see the 'Ning to play all their home games? Also, if you pay it off before some time in March, you get 3% of your cost back in "Forum dollars" for food and drink. I kid mostly about them being a bad team, and really kudos to ownership realizing that when you put a less than stellar team on the ice, you best lure folks to seats any way you can. This is definitely one way. More information about this can be found here.

Buffalo put up a damn fine fight last night in front of a sickly goal tender. Patty Lala was sick and he still played a heck of a game. Too bad they only walked away with a point.

Big win by the Kitties, BJackets, and Boston last night, but I really think teams in the East should keep an eye on East Rutherford. Marty is back and in apparently top form (granted, they beat up a Colorado team which is akin to kicking a kitten after you pull it's whiskers, but I digress). Not to mention they didn't collapse when he went out way the heck back in the beginning of the season. They are gonna bring a lot to the playoff race.

The Guins made a trade yesterday but I think Amy was gonna write that up so I'll be nice and not steal her thunder.

Just a few more days until the trade deadline. Do I remember this wrong, but wasn't last years deadline in February? Personally, I think it should be around the middle of January. But then again, I think each team should have to put a defenseman in the top three of a shootout.

Happily this month will end tomorrow and hopefully Spring will soon be on our minds instead of snow and ice. Hey, don't mock....a girl can dream!