Winter Classic - Sabres vs. Penguins

[jjreason]

That's awesome! We're finally getting HBO and you guys are getting HNIC!!! Sadly, this will be the first year that our 2nd national anthem isn't going to be used as the theme song - hopefully no one down there will mind too much (since they likely haven't heard it before).

[Ran]

Watching the Kings-Flames game tonight. The game is in L.A. During the 2nd Period, the glass got knocked loose and fell out. Pat Sajak happened to be at the game and almost got hit by the glass.

[Diabolical]

Watching the Kings-Flames game tonight. The game is in L.A. During the 2nd Period, the glass got knocked loose and fell out. Pat Sajak happened to be at the game and almost got hit by the glass.

Suck it atheists!

[Ran]

[Diabolical]

The Lightning fired Barry Melrose yesterday.

[/sarcasm]

On a semi-related side note:
Recently being about an hour or so from the Tampa area I noticed that unless you follow hockey you would have no fucking clue that they even had a team in the area.
In every store that had some sort of sporting apparel or merchandise there was zero Lightning stuff.

[Ran]

It was a bad hire in the first place, but I don't see why they fired him now. Half of the team was new and you just can't expect all those guys to just start playing together. They screwed over the GM before they let him go, too.

I doubt they move the team because the stadium and adjacent property were part of the deal when the new owners bought the team.

[Ran]

Don Cherry

[Diabolical]

I want Don Cherry to adopt me.
After seeing that car I am now I am 100% convinced: The man is a pimp.

[Ran]

Code: Select all

NHL suspends Stars' Avery indefinitely 
Tuesday, 12.02.2008 / 6:04 PM / News 

NEW YORK -- Dallas Stars forward Sean Avery has been suspended indefinitely, pending a hearing with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, in accordance with the provisions of NHL By-Law 17 and Article 6 of the NHL Constitution for conduct "detrimental to the League or game of hockey," the National Hockey League announced today.  The suspension was imposed following inappropriate public comments about the personal lives of opposing players, and not pertaining to the game, made by Avery earlier today. 

The date for the hearing has not yet been scheduled. 

What he said was...

It didn't take long for Sean Avery to stir things up in Calgary.

One day after the Flames took the high road in answering questions about Avery, hockey's most out-spoken super-pest added his own brand of colour commentary.

"I am really happy to be back in Calgary, I love Canada," Avery told TSN on Tuesday. "I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don't know what that's about. Enjoy the game tonight."
He ignored further questioning, but it was the first of what could be many verbal salvos ahead of the Flames meeting with the Dallas Stars tonight. Avery certainly has a lot of potential targets.

The most obvious is Flames defenceman Dion Phaneuf, who is currently dating actress Elisha Cuthbert, who happens to be an ex-girlfriend of Avery's. That gauntlet has, apparently, already been thrown down.

Then there is Flames captain Jarome Iginla, who was labelled earlier this year by Avery as being a "boring" player the league should not be promoting so heavily.

And there are a couple of Avery's former teammates on the Flames, including Mike Cammalleri and Craig Conroy, who are bracing for Avery's worst.

The Flames actually took turns praising Avery's efforts as an NHL agitator on Monday, and Cammalleri even laughed at the prospect of what he and Conroy might have to endure out on the ice.

"As far as his verbal ammunition, that will be interesting," said Cammalleri. "If you see me laughing out there, it's sometimes entertaining."

Perhaps not so much for Phaneuf, but even he was stoic in his reserve when asked about Avery on Monday.

"He's an emotional guy and you know that he's going to be talking to you, but with saying that, our focus right now is on winning a hockey game against the Dallas Stars," Phaneuf said Monday. "That's the bottom line."

Now that Hurricane Avery has touched down in Calgary, though, the gloves just might come off. The Flames, however, skated before the Stars today and were not available to respond to Avery's latest comments.

Anyone here not want a piece of Elisha Cuthbert?

I figure that pissing off Phaneuf may be hazardous to your health in the first place. What sucks for Phaneuf is that he has to wait until February now to play Dallas again. But they play in March and April, too.

[Diabolical]

Hockey Jersey Foul Bill of Rights.
Click link for pics.

As anyone who has read Empty Netters for any length of time will tell you, hockey jerseys are something we are extremely passionate about. From our endless resistance to Reebok's reign of terror to fairly harmless faux pas by the general public, we take the business of wearing a jersey very seriously. Perhaps too seriously.

So with that in mind, we've decided to let you in on our little system of values when it comes to hockey jerseys. We call violations of this system "jersey fouls." A few of you have asked what exactly a jersey foul is while many of you have asked for clarifications to this system. Hopefully today's post will answer all these questions.

With no further ado, here is the Jersey Foul Bill of Rights:

1.) Getting Personal
Easily the most common of jersey fouls, a personalized jersey is a blight on humanity. No one cares who you are. If they wanted to see your name, they'd dig it out of a phone book. Additionally, a jersey like this sets you up for ridicule if you're on the road. Instead of simply being "that guy in the Crosby jersey" you're "that jerk Skolnick from Pittsburgh."

2.) Splitting Up
This is a practice that came into being during the 1999-2000 when Bruins legend Raymond Bourque was traded to the Avalanche in hopes of winning the Stanley Cup. It became popular wear a split jersey which was half Bruins and half Avalanche. Frankly, the idea of taking a pair of scissors to any jersey just sickens us. Then to splice them together Dr. Moreau style is just incompresible. Who are you to play God?

3.) Mistimed
A new phenomenon we've observed has been to get a certain style of jersey personalized with a specific player's name and number despite the fact he never played in that era. Just because Marc-Andre Fleury is one of the most dynamic players in the history of team, that doesn't give you the right to be historically inaccurate and insult the likes of Denis Herron.

4. eBay Watch:
Shopping for jerseys on eBay is like drafting a player out of Russia. Occasionally, you can get an Alex Ovechkin or an Evgeni Malkin for a good deal. But you can also end up getting an Alexei Yashin and having it blow up in your face. Sometimes the telltale signs of a knockoff jersey are fairly obvious such as in the above picture. Occasionally, they're a little bit more subtle. The font on the player's name and number can be a little off or the gold in a Penguins' jersey can be a little too "mustardy." Sure it's might be cool to get a deal for $20, but these little flaws really undermine your jersey street cred.

5.) Pitiful in Pink:
We understand and accept women have certain curves and body features which hockey jerseys really don't compliment well. But that doesn't excuse the abomination known as a women's jersey. Hockey jerseys are meant to big and bulky in order to fit over padding. They're not intended to show off the results from your Pilates class. That's why they came up with the little black dress.

6.) The Hiding Hood:
This doesn't really apply to anyone in a blank jersey but a sight like this is almost like an annoying canker sore to us. During our pregame travels around Mellon Arena, we run into plenty of quality jerseys that are obscured by hoods. Granted, hockey is a sport which is primarily played during winter months so you need to dress accordingly, but if you have a Kevin Stevens jersey, show it off. Don't hide his name. If your head is cold, buy a hat. This problem also plagues men and women with long hair.

7.) The Third Party
Something that is always a head scratcher for us is the presence of a jersey for an NHL team not involved in the game the bearer is present at. The above picture is of a Flames jersey we saw during a Flyers-Penguins game in March. The occasion of a hockey game isn't an excuse to wear something simply because it's hockey related.
There are many exceptions to this rule however. If one of the teams involved is a rival, the practice is acceptable. We remember seeing a Dave Keon Maple Leafs jersey at the Penguins' first playoff game against Ottawa last season. Since Ottawa and Toronto are rivals, that's cool.
Another exception is a certain player's jersey from a former team. (Example: A Miroslav Satan Islanders jersey or Tyler Kennedy's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton jersey.)
Also, international jerseys are acceptable assuming a player of that country is involved with the game. If you want to wear a team Russia jersey in honor of Evgeni Malkin, go for it.
The biggest exception to this rule is defunct franchises. If you're rocking a Uwe Krupp Nordiques jersey or anything with the Hartford Whalers, we will grant you jersey asylum.

8.) What's in a Name
Many fans are eager to show off how they respect history by wearing the jersey of an old-time player. But often times, they display ignorance of that history. Players like Maurice Richard never wore a name on the back of their jersey in their playing days. If you don't realize what the No. 9 on a Habs jersey means without slapping a name on it, you don't deserve to wear it.

9.) Frequent Flyer
Unless you're cleaning the restroom of a Shop 'n Save, there really is never an appropiate time to wear this poor excuse for a PennDot worker's uniform.

10.) The Self Explanatory
Some flaws stand out alone without an explanation.

So there you have it folks. Pending ratification from South Dakota and New Mexico, these rules will become federal laws in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. You know them. They're clear as day. Observe them. And feel free to contact you're nearest EN representative with any potential jersey fouls so we can correct the situation.

I would like to add:

11.) The Ill-Fitting Jersey.
Hey buddy, that ain't a t-shirt. A hockey jersey is supposed to be BIG, not skin tight. Before you leave the house take a look in the mirror. Now, lift your arms (as if your team just scored). If the bottom that jersey exposes your gut, stop at the ATM on the way to the game because its time to buy a new jersey.

[Ran]

If you haven't seen that video of Semin trying to fight this weekend, I'll try to post it later. He fights like Olive Oyl in some old Popeye cartoon. I could almost hear him yelling "Keep your hands off me, you brute!"

Sidney Crosby is really turning into a punk.

[Ran]

Here is the "fight."

[Diabolical]

I flipped to the Inside Hockey page of SI while waiting for my oil change and there was a small blurb about Red Wings GM Ken Holland. They said Holland was so impressed with the number of fans at the Winter Classic that in March (at some big meeting) he will propose that the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals be played at neutral locations in order to make the finals a bigger event and bring more fans to the NHL.
I'm assuming the other 5 games would be a 2-2-1 format.

A decent idea in theory, but I can't see any team wanting to give up that home ice profit. Then there are the fans that'll get really pissed because they'll be losing an entire game at home (which means one less game they'll have a chance to attend).

[Ran]

I heard something about a playoff home game is worth almost $2M. No owner would give that up, especially when you have teams like Phoenix bleeding money.

BTW, Moving the Coyotes to a different city isn't that easy because they have a lease they can't get out of.

[Slicker]

BTW, Moving the Coyotes to a different city isn't that easy because they have a lease they can't get out of.

That's pretty shitty. So the city won't financially help them nor will them let 'em go?