hockey
It probably happens all the time and we don’t even notice it. Journalists around the world file their stories, make mistakes and erase them before they go to air. Sometimes, if the viewers are lucky enough, we get to see the mistakes before they are fixed, or re-taped.
Poor Roger Millions. A homeboy from Manitoba, (slowly) rising up the ranks of the Canadian Sports Broadcasting world, he goes from Saskatoon, to Edmonton, to national coverage of the Flamers in Calgary. And then he goes and slips up like this. (Warning, explicit lyrics!)
According to Sportsnet big wigs, he won’t be losing his job. Does he get fined? Will he be on tape delay?
Well my favourite team, the Edmonton Oilers, ended their season by ending Vancouver’s. The Oilers were eliminated from post-season play last game by their dreaded Alberta rivals on Tuesday, so this game meant nothing, right? Wrong. The Oilers wanted to go out in style.
Despite the best efforts of the referees for the first 59 minutes, the Oilers prevailed. Mathieu Roy got a 5 minute major and a game misconduct for a play that looked eerily similar to what Matt Cooke did a few weeks ago penalty-free. The Oilers had a couple of softies called on them, which for some reason the refs evened out in the last minute of the game with two lame calls – hooking and slashing against the Canucks forcing them to end the game down by two.
The Canucks didn’t look terrible, but they didn’t come out with the urgency they should have had to make it into the playoffs. Luongo pretty much played by himself.
What’s really noticeable about the two teams is the direction they are going. The Oilers are deep in young talent. 15 of their players are under 25 years old. Forwards like Nilson, Cogliano and Gagner have an incredible future, Garon is looking like a full-timer, Gilbert, Smid and Grebeshkov are starting to gel on the blue line and third-liners Glencross and Brodziak are looking like they have a lot to offer. When the Oilers are healthy (leading scorer Horcoff, captain Ethan Moreau and big D man Sheldon Souray) they have nothing but great things in their future. With a deep-pocketed new owner, it is reasonable to assume that the Oilers are going to be able to keep most of these young guns around instead of being the league developmental team they were in the 90’s.
The Canucks on the other hand look old and tired. Although Linden was playing inspired hockey down the stretch, he’s like 54 years old. Naslund doesn’t seem to have much gas left in the tank. The sisters are great at cycling the puck, but don’t seem to be clutch when the Nuckleheads need them. Young players like Kesler, Edler and Bourdon are good, but enough? From what I’ve heard, there are a lot of RFAs to sign in the off season. Can Nonis offer them something to keep them around?
I guess I’m looking forward to next year.
What the heck do these guys think they’re doing? Duke University and the University of North Carolina are in one of the worst droughts ever. And in the middle of this drought they are watering their field hockey fields. Oh, and the fields are ARTIFICIAL TURF!! Meanwhile, while everyone else in the state is conserving water, not flushing their toilets, and letting their lawns die, Duke is getting it’s astroturf nice and spongy for practice.
No wonder our world is going to heck in one of those baskets. Sheesh.
I don’t much watch the Daily Show, but there was a hilarious clip from the other night’s episode I thought I’d include here. Raffi Torres plays a small part in the Mexican Invasion of Canada.
Well I’m no fan of the Vancouver Canucks. I cheered for them in their last cup run (waaaaaay back in ’94) but generally I don’t really care. I will admit, however, they’ve had a couple of sweet jerseys. The original stick in the box was awesome, I’d say top 5 of all time in the NHL. The orca C was actually very cool as well in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong. They’ve had their fair share of brutal logos too. The v was just gross, and the skate thing looked like something a kid entered in a contest. Now the ‘Nucks are going for their 5th jersey in just the last 37 years. That’s a little ridiculous, and I’d guess a pretty lame marketing ploy. Their latest concoction is terrible. Although it combines their two jerseys I like, I’d say it uses the worst elements of both. The green and blue colours and the C/orca symbol. Oh, by the way, the team plays in Vancouver in case you didn’t know where they were from. It’s nicely splattered over the logo. Why ruin a good thing? The third jersey was the best in the league. Are they hard up for cash?
Please read knowing I hate the Flames. Take this for what it is.
Of course by now you’ve all read this story. Isn’t Keenan just Sutter Part II? The Flames went through this already. You can only have this type of a coach for so long. Keenan and Sutter are cut from the same cloth. They’re dominant, type A personalities. They don’t take crap from their players, and they rule with an iron fist. Days after losses consist of bag skates. The players know their place, and they can hardly speak to the media. This is old school hockey. It works for a while, especially if a team requires a turn-around.
But the Flames have been there, done that. I listen to Flames radio alot on my drive to work (only because Edmonton’s station sucks). They’re constantly complaining after losses, and sometimes after wins. A lot was expected of the Flames this year. Jim Playfair did a decent job in the regular season. Of course they went out in the first round. I really think that the Flames just aren’t that good. Yes they have stellar goaltending. Yes Iginla is top notch and Phaneuf could be one of the greats on D. Other than that, they have hard workers and guys who buy in to a team concept. Maybe Keenan is the kind of guy who can whip them into shape. If nothing else they’ll be great at skating laps.
What is up with the federal government? Do they seriously have nothing else to talk about in Parliament than who Canada’s captain is at a hockey tournament? According to this story, Bob Nicholson, head of Hockey Canada actually went to Parliament to defend Doan.
Doan has been accused of uttering ‘racial’ slurs against French speaking players on the ice two years ago. The NHL did the right thing and dealt with it then. Guess what? Doan was cleared and that was the end of the story right? Wrong.
According to TSN: “The Doan controversy was considered closed by the NHL, even though it remained the subject of two defamation suits involving the player and Liberal MP Denis Coderre.”
It seems like even talking about this brings it attention it doesn’t deserve. I’m much more concerned about what the MPs are saying to each other, than what hockey players are calling each other on the ice. I don’t mean to excuse bad behaviour, but sometimes things get said that shouldn’t be. Just ask Zinadene Zidane.
Well, the Oilers have finally done it. They’ve lost a total of 17 of their last 18 games, and I guess the 17th was enough for even the thickest knuckle-headed upper management types to call in their ace – AHLer Robbie Schremp. Schremp, an OHL superstar, World Junior Player and AHL regular is about the 15th callup for the Oilers this season. With only a couple of games in the season, this move can only be looked at as a desperate attempt by Oilers brass to give the fans something (although a very small something) to think about over the summer. The Oilers are icing an AHL lineup already, and bringing up Schremp seems long overdue. He’s certainly as talented offensively as more than 3/4 of the team, and its hard to believe with the record the Oilers have put up lately that he’s any worse on the defensive end. I know there are only a certain number of games a callup can play before they consider him to have used up his eligibility year as a rookie, but it must be more than two. Well, hopefully he lights it up. We can still hope for a win over the Flamers on Saturday.
Well, truth be told I don’t. But I’ve been cheering for them of late. I even want them to beat my beloved Oilers. Aah the Oilers… remember this time last year? We were thinking, if only they make the playoffs, they could do some damage. I remember discussing with a Red Wings fan how Detroit should be afraid of the Oilers. They could roll 3 or even four lines, had traded for solid goaltending, and had a Norris trophy winner on the blue line. Not only that, but they were steeped in history. Had I only known they’d be heading to the final and I would have been putting some serious money on them.
Fast forward one short year. The Oil can barely ice an AHL caliber team. 9 different Oilers have scored their first NHL goal this year. This is not because they want to give all these kids a chance. They’re so rife with injuries they’re calling up kids from the CHL. After a disastrous trade for Lupul and Smid, the K-man traded the face of the franchise in Smyth, for prospects yet! Well all this is, of course, old news. Why post about this now. Well the playoffs are right around the corner, and if you ask any real Oilers fan and they’ll admit that the emotional love they have for their team is only slightly stronger than the hate they feel for the Flamers down south. It got so bad for me a few years back, I didn’t even want to go to the zoo in Calgary. Last night the Avalanche beat the Oilers 5-1 to move 4 points back of the Flames for the last playoff spot in the West. They play each other again on Friday. (I’m hoping the ‘Lanche win in overtime)
As I write this, Calgary is going into o.t. with Nashville. I’m starting to like the Pred’s too. If only these boys in red and black don’t make the show, I’ll feel slightly better about the disaster that is the current Oilers. What would be really sweet is if Edmonton had a chance to put the Flames out of the playoffs in their last regular season game against them. That would feel almost like winning the real losers version of the Stanley Cup.
I certainly won’t be cheering for Colorado in the playoffs if/when they get there. In fact I think I’ll just go for a 2 month walk. Well, there’s always next year….