Episode 3 was by far the best of the series so far. The Pens/Caps game was done so well I wish they'd broadcast more hockey games like that all the way. Wouldn't you pay for an unrated PPV service that recorded an NHL Game of the Week with full disclosure micing like this? I know I would. Hearing the interactions between the players and their opponents, their teammates, coaches and the refs was riveting as hell. Honestly seeing how Sutherland managed the raging intensity of guys like Crosby/Ovechkin as they hurled F-bombs at him was impressive and gave me a new respect for the skating zebras. This series encapsulates what hockey players are all about better than anything I've ever seen or read. I love it and will probably not delete it from my DVR until the series comes out on DVD. Get to a tracker ASAP if you haven't seen episode 3.
http://thepensblog.com/pensblog-news/recaps/winter-classic-recap-fehr-and-loathing-pens-lose.html I'm definitely a huge pens homer. Went to the game, it was awesome beyond all belief. But I have to agree with tPB authors. When Bruce says stupid shit like this: "This is as close to the Stanley Cup as we've gotten and we're not denying that it was more than just two points." Coupled with how he acts in the locker room (evidenced on 24/7), you know the Caps will never win the Stanley Cup with him behind the bench. Also, that .gif of Ovie tripping over the blue line is hilarious.
My wife and I went to the game, and I was completely surprised with how awesome everyone was; cap fans, pens fans, random people on the street...everyone was just happy to out and about. It was just a completely different atmosphere than I had anticipated, I felt welcome in that city. The energy in Heinz field was off the map, and there was a nice sprinkling of caps / pens fans in the same sections. There was a shit ton of us Cap fans, I would estimate that it was a 35 / 65 split in attendance. One of the best sporting events I have ever been to. Completely blew me away.
Now if only the Heritage Classic could get that kind of coverage. I wonder how Episode 4 will flow to wrap it up.
Way to blow it Junior Team Canada! The stunned silence of those fans after Russia stole gold from them was as sweet a sound I've heard in HSBC Arena since those hyenas infested it two weeks ago. What a game.
Thoughts on the All Star fantasy draft last night? I thought it was a great idea. It's not like the ASG is some hallowed tradition that can't be touched. Shake it up and see what happens. That being said, the execution was...slow. I would have rather they not drawn out every pick and interviewed every guy taken. I know they wanted to make it an hour-long event or whatever, but it seriously lacked a flow and I think would have been better as a half hour deal to give it a faster paced "playground feel" the NHL said they wanted to go for. Maybe a quicker interview or no interviews of guys after the first 5 on each side were chosen until the last guy of course.
The fantasy draft was pretty good in my eyes. I'm glad at least one team had some goddamn brains when picking. The Lidstrom team picked so many good combos. As for the Staal team, I think he was a bit of an idiot about the whole thing. Like all the defensemen had to be picked by the end of round 15 and there was 1 left for him to pick at the start of round 14. He picked him that round. Why not pick a better forward and then make that defensive pick next round? I liked that Lidstrom and the boys spoke into the mic about their decisions. Happy to see Sedins split up. Can anyone explain to me why the fuck David Backes is in an all-star game?
That was a fun game to watch. I have a couple of friends that were there as spectators and a few that were working at the RBC Center and they've all said that it was an awesome time. My only beef? Fucking Clay Aiken singing the National Anthem. Really? That's the best you got Raleigh? Right now, I am 10 minutes from Chris Daughtry's house and that is an hour and a half from the RBC Center. I don't even like the guy's music, but he's much less gay than Clay Aiken. Then again, his schedule might be a little more busy than Clay's.
My favorite part about that fight was how Johnson fucked himself out of the shutout with 15 seconds left in the game by getting himself ejected. But anything that involves DiPietro getting his ass handed to him is great in my book.
Takes a real team player to say fuck the stats, I got my boys back. DiPietro's hit on Cooke was dirty. Goalie's can't expect to not be hit and do shit like that to players skating by during play. Johnson made a point for all the goalie's by doing that in my books. DiPietro was disrespecting the position and risking safe-guards that are put in place for the goalie's to begin with.
Holy shit. I was away for the weekend and just saw all the recap and fallout from the brawl between the Isles and Pens. I'd be embarrassed to be an Isles fan after that. Disrespectful and classless. Think the NHL really dropped the ball on that one.
I'd be embarrassed to be a Pens fan with Super Mario running his mouth and still signing Matt Cooke's paycheque.
Mario has never condoned any of Cooke's dirty plays. Yes, Cooke is an agitator, often aggressive and at times dirty player. I cringe and hate his dirty hits as much as the next hockey lover. That said, while Mario has some influence on the players signed by the Pens, it's not up to him to hire/fire players. Ray Shero addresses the situation pretty well in this interview: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_722897.html The Isles played like disrespectful chumps. You don't cheap shot a guy from behind. You don't continue punching a downed, injured player. You don't taunt and insult an injured player. You sure as shit don't go after the other team's goalie after you've been dragged out of a first fight, and all the players and refs are occupied. Sure, in the heat of the moment, tempers might flare, and I could let pass an isolated incidence. But I have never seen such a wholesale, flagrant disrespect across an entire team, coach included. The coach couldn't control his players (prob didn't want to), the rookie refs lost control of the game, and as a result multiple players are injured, and the entire league has this embarrassing blemish to account for.
So... Devils. What the fuck man. It's unbelievable that a team so talented that they can become the best team in the league over the past 15 games could have been so BAD, so PUTRID for the first half of the season. So now what? From 27 points out of 8th, they're now 12 points out of 8th place. With 25 games left, they stand at 23-30-4 for 50 points. Assuming 90 points as the threshold to make it to the playoffs, though Florida and Buffalo BOTH missed the playoffs with over 90 points in 08-09, the Devils need to go 20-5 over the rest of the season in order to have a shot at the playoffs. The way this team has been playing, it might actually be possible. The rest of February they have Rangers, Hurricanes, Stars, Lightning, Panthers. If they win all of those games, and the only real test is against the Bolts, though for whatever reason the Devils have won both meetings against Tampa this year (though, that was before Roloson came to Tampa) Then I'm going to be really optimistic about this. And to think, 2 months ago I was rationalizing to myself about how much money i'd save not getting playoff tickets this year....
I'm not getting my hopes up yet, but what's even more amazing is that they've done all of this without Parise. For the last month I've been hoping for wins for no other reason than to convince him that the franchise isn't going down the shitter and that he should re-sign. To think that now they've got even an outside shot of the playoffs after starting 10-29-2 is a fucking miracle. If they can pull this off, Lemaire is a lock for coach of the year. I know he's said he's going to, but I'll be really disappointed if he retires (again) after this year.
I think he has a really solid shot for the Adams even if they don't make it. As far as ZP goes, did you see Gulitti's interview with him this week? He really wants to get back on the ice and play with this team. If we win the next 5 games before the trade deadline, keep Arnott and maybe even try to swing a trade? Then by April we get ZP back for the stretch run, this team comes onto the playoffs as the hottest team in Hockey History with a fresh a rested superstar... Sorry. Pipe dream, I know. But just imagine...
I'm really interested to see if we do anything at the deadline. If you'd asked me two months ago, I would've said Arnott and Rolston were must-trades (although I'm not sure anyone would've taken them). But they've both completely turned things around and been instrumental in what the Devils have done in the second half. With Rolston putting up the numbers he has on the top line, I'm not sure if we can get rid of him as long as we're still in the hunt. And as much as I'm trying not to, I can definitely imagine. If the Devils can sneak in, they'll be facing a very nervous #1 or 2 seed. And Andy Greene is quickly becoming one of the more underrated defensemen in the league. Love the way he's been playing this season.
Holy shit, imagine getting Philly again? Only now, we don't have Langenbrunner, who I can pretty much say is totally to blame.
Not a whole lot of big news at the deadline this afternoon. As much as it sucks to see him go, I like the Arnott deal. He's a free agent at the end of the year, and no way we were going to bring him back with the type of contract he'd probably want. Steckel's a similar type of player, a big, physical center and he's one of the better faceoff men in the league. Once Parise's healthy, I think he'll be solid on the 3rd line and at $1.1 million, it'll make it alot easier to give Parise the type of extension he's looking for. Throwing in a second rounder next year just makes it better. Thoughts on some of the other moves today?