Winter Classic - Sabres vs. Penguins

[Diabolical]

Yeah, Cappy and I were supposed to be going to the Spirit game on Saturday, but we're going on Friday instead.

http://saginawspirit.com/ss/home.nsf/pu ... FC007508FE

[Antropov]

Toskie, Toskie, Toskie...

[Diabolical]

Nothing says "Class" like the Roy family.

[Ran]

To follow up that video:

Roy suspended five games
Mar 25, 3:46 pm EDT

BOUCHERVILLE, QUEBEC (TICKER) —The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League has handed out lengthy suspensions to Patrick and Jonathan Roy following their involvement in a brawl during Saturday’s playoff game with Chicoutimi.

Patrick Roy, a Hall of Fame goaltender and coach of the Quebec Remparts, received a five-game suspension. His son, Jonathan, the team’s starting goaltender, was hit with a seven-game ban.

A 10-player brawl ensued during Saturday’s game in Chicoutimi, with Jonathan Roy skating to center ice. He ripped off the mask of opposing goaltender Bobby Nadeau and started pounding him, then made an obscene gesture to the Chicoutimi fans with both his hands.

Patrick Roy, who watched from the bench, insisted that he did nothing to encourage the brawl and denied he made an gesture for his son to go after Nadeau. Jonathan Roy later apologized for the obscene gesture not for the fight itself.

The altercation erupted late in the second period with Chicoutimi holding a 7-1 lead.

This is not the first time Patrick Roy, the NHL’s all-time leader in wins, has been involved in an incident with Chicoutimi.

Last year, he got involved in an altercation with a member of the team’s organization when Chicoutimi fans prevented the Remparts’ bus from moving.

Now for something completely different...

The Sabres really sucked the big one last night. The were winning 3-1 with 10 minutes left in the 3rd and lost 6-3. Philly, Boston, and Washington all won, so I'm betting the Sabres are out of the playoffs. I'm hoping the Caps sneak in just to see Ovechkin in the playoffs.

[Antropov]

The Sabres really sucked the big one last night. The were winning 3-1 with 10 minutes left in the 3rd and lost 6-3. Philly, Boston, and Washington all won, so I'm betting the Sabres are out of the playoffs. I'm hoping the Caps sneak in just to see Ovechkin in the playoffs.

The Sabres were fucking jobbed last night. They don't deserve a playoff spot after that mess.

The only problem I have with the Caps making the playoffs is that it would make an even stronger case for Ovie getting the MVP, even though Evgeni "Malk-a-mania" Malkin should get it hands down for taking the Pens by the reigns while Hockey Jesus was/is hurt.

[Ran]

The Sabres were fucking jobbed last night. They don't deserve a playoff spot after that mess.

The only problem I have with the Caps making the playoffs is that it would make an even stronger case for Ovie getting the MVP, even though Evgeni "Malk-a-mania" Malkin should get it hands down for taking the Pens by the reigns while Hockey Jesus was/is hurt.

I couldn't even bring myself to watch the highlights from the games last night. This would get me flamed on a Sabres message board, but I to the point where I hope they tank the rest of the season so they get better picks in the draft this year.

Another thing that's been pissing me off is all the talk about the Sabres not resigning Miller yet. Well, they can't even talk extension with him until July because he is signed for next season.

[Diabolical]

It's an article from last April, but still a good read. I agree with many of this guys points (except 6, 8, and 10 - and 9 kinda).

Top 10 Ways to Save the NHL

1. Eliminate the Instigator rule: The players hate it, the fans hate it and it just plain does not make sense. Let the men police themselves. If two willing combatants have an issue with each other they can settle things the right way; one-on-one! If some wing ding wants to fly around the ice taking liberties, he will quickly be approached and dealt with accordingly. Paul Mara had two Instigator penalties this season… yeah you read that correctly - Paul Fuckin Mara! During one of his final games with the B’s before being traded to the Rangers, he was about to get into a scrap when the ref reminded him he had 2 and one more would get him suspended. The puss bag who he wanted to go with kept goading him fully knowing Paul couldn’t do anything.

2. Suspend hit from behind offenders: There has been WAY too many of these infractions this past season. Forget giving them a 2 minute penalty, toss their ass out of the game and suspend them. I know there will be a gray area and all that but getting blasted from behind is just about the worst thing - unless of course you are My Better Half who seems to enjoy it.

3. Get rid of half shields: When was the last time a player lost their vision? I know it happens but that’s the chance you take playing professional hockey. These foreign players run around the ice with there shields on and sticks flying. Not in North America hockey boys. Put Robocop back on the streets of Detroit.

4. Get some Studio Hosts who have a heart beat for National games: I hate the Monday Night Countdown crew on ESPN but they sure do get me fired up for Football. The Bed Time boys from Versus and NBC need to go. Bill Clement is just not cutting it as a Studio guy. His strength is as an analyst calling a game. Keith Jones is flat out horrible in the studio. Whatever he is getting paid he should give it all back to Versus with interest. Ray “Chicken Parm” Ferraro is decent but he seems to be holding back as to not offend anyone. Brett “One Timer” Hull is growing on me and improving week to week. Get some guys in there with energy and passion, please!

5. For shootouts, every player on the roster needs to participate: No reason the same 3 guys should be going night after night. I’m tired of seeing Marco Sturm, Patrice Bergeron and Phil Kessel. Maybe they don’t have to use every player since the bottom of the roster has a good amount of turnover but at least they could make the top 2 or 3 lines including D participate. Once a player attempts a shootout, he can’t participate again until the other members on his team have gone. Basically, I’m looking forward to George Laraque coming down on Henry Lundquist followed by Colton Orr sizing up Marc-Andre Fleury for a deek move. Do you think that would make Sports Center? You bet your ass it would.

6. Swap the broadcasts of back to back home and home games: The announcers for each team will have one of those broadcasts sent to the other teams’ viewers. With each NHL team having there games broadcast by muppets who are being paid by that team, the broadcasts are weighted in that teams favor. Imagine HockeyTown getting the feed from the Avalanche and vise versa? What about Toronto getting Ottawa’s feed? Can you imagine how many TV sets would be broken during a Canadians vs. Bruins game with the Boston area getting the French feed? Au Revoir Messieur Sony Plasma. How about Montreal having to listen to Dale “I love Mr. Jacobs” Arnold yelling “What a save by Thomas” after the puck missed the net by 5’?

7. Partner with YouTube: Put together weekly highlight packages including plays of the week, goals of the week, saves of the week, hits of the week and of course, fights of the week. The popularity of this site with the younger generation is off the charts. The amount of hits they get per day is almost as much as Bob Marley took back in the day! The packages don’t have to be anything special, just show some cool shit that will get potential viewers interested. The hockey fans that are watching now will always be here. The NHL needs to grow and this is a cheap method. Lord knows Gary Bettman would like this as he is just about as cheap as Jeremy Jacobs… oh wait, no one is that cheap. Sorry Gary that was a low blow.

8. Get the 4th referee off the ice: There is no need to have 4 “extra” skaters on the ice. Have you seen how many times the refs are in the way of the game lately? Pucks are getting stuck in their skates as well as being ricocheted off their bodies. Two linesman and 1 referee can easily accomplish officiating today’s game.

9. Limit the amount of Europeans in the league: Look at Soccer in North America. Every kid plays the game growing up but the fan base for MLS blows. You know why? It’s not our sport and the best known players are almost entirely foreign. We can’t relate to some kid who grew up in Sweden but we sure as hell can relate to some stud from Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, Minnesota or even Southie. These foreign players sure are talented but let’s face it, do you wanna watch PJ Axelson for another 4 years or would you prefer some 6’3” monster from Mississauga tearing things up?

10. Implement Guest Announcing Night: For the local watering holes surrounding the stadiums desperately trying to lure back business, they should offer guest announcer night. Have 2 or 3 patrons sit in front of the flat screen with microphones and announce the game with no restrictions! Can you imagine the Harp during a B’s game with Chris and me at the mike? The place would be buzzing and so would we. Who needs the paid yahoos to tell us what we are watching. I’d rather listen to Joe fan, with a few beers in him, sharing his thoughts for all to hear.

I could go on and on - but I won’t. I want my Million Dollar Babies to be fans of the NHL when they grow up. If things continue as is, this game might not be around for them and that scares me to death. Today’s game is an eye sore for the “new” viewer the NHL is trying to lure in. I’d love to sit in on a Marketing meeting within the NHL HQ and see exactly what these brain surgeons have in store for us in the coming years. Check that: does the NHL have a Marketing department? I’m fired up for the playoffs, enjoy the games and let’s hope things improve.

[Diabolical]

Sean Avery has been a bad boy.*

Report: Avery's name in madam's black book

A Manhattan madam who was arraigned this week on money laundering and prostitution charges allegedly has New York Rangers star Sean Avery in her little black book, according to the New York Daily News.

Kristin Davis, who allegedly ran the high-end prostitution ring named Wicked Models, kept copious notes of her clients in a spreadsheet optained by the Daily News. Included in that spreadsheet was Sean Avery's name and his cell phone number.

The Daily News reported that it called the number and Avery did, in fact, answer. When told the paper had found his information in Davis' files, he responded, "For some reason, I highly doubt that."

In a later statement to the paper, Avery denied using Davis' services.

"This assertion is false and defamatory," he said. "I was never a client of Ms. Davis, nor of any prostitute."

Davis is currently being held on $2 million bail in New York. In addition to Avery, her clients allegedly included a professional poker player, doctors, lawyers, and politicians.

*I only post news stories to fuck with newsbot, the dirty cuntrag.

[jjreason]

Surprise of all surprises. There hasn't been a bigger asshole in the NHL than Sean Avery since, well, ever. :droolingretard:

[Diabolical]

Surprise of all surprises. There hasn't been a bigger asshole in the NHL than Sean Avery since, well, ever. :droolingretard:

Claude Lemieux.

[Antropov]

I hate Claude Lemeiux. Hate him. He should have his own little velvet-roped corner in hell.

But Sean Avery is the peaches of the NHL. Where Claude was absolutely blatant in his intentions, Avery will talk to you like a bitch and then take a dive to get you off the ice. Claude would just cross check you from behind into the boards.

Avery's only redeeming quality? He once asked someone, "Are those your teeth or is your tongue in jail?"

[jjreason]

I don't imagine that Claude Lemieux was nearly as big a cock as Avery. As dirty a player perhaps, but he was more like Darcy Tucker or Esa Tikkanen - just in your fucking kitchen ALL NIGHT LONG, a little stick in the cup here and there along the way... and a great checker. Fucking Avery can score a few goals, but everything he does seems CHEAP. He's a crybaby cunt, and I'll piss on his grave if I outlive him and don't have to drive very far to do it.

[Ran]

Suck it, Newsbot!

Six-time NHL MVP Gordie Howe celebrates 80th birthday with family
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Mar 30, 3:53 pm EDT

Mr. Hockey is turning 80.

Gordie Howe, a six-time NHL scoring champion who played 32 professional seasons, will celebrate his 80th birthday Monday surrounded by family and friends in Detroit.

It is another milestone in a lifetime full of them for the native of Floral, Sask., near Saskatoon, who was born March 31, 1928.

The Hall of Famer began his NHL career with Detroit when he was 18 in 1946-‘47 and went on to play a record 1,767 NHL games and another 419 games in the defunct World Hockey Association.

He also played one shift of a game in 1997, when he was almost 70, with the Detroit Vipers of the International Hockey League just to say he played in six different decades.

In his career, Howe won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player six times and was named to 21 all-star teams. He also finished in the top five in NHL scoring in 21 consecutive seasons.

Howe attended a New York Rangers try-out camp when he was 17, but got homesick and left. The following year, the ambidextrous Howe wowed the Red Wings at their camp by scoring two goals - one shooting right and the other left.

Early in his career, he was on the Production Line with centre Sid Abel, who would later be his coach, and left winger Ted Lindsay.

“Sid liked to coach and he just told me ‘When I’m in the corner fighting for the puck, I’d consider it a favour if you’d stay out somewhere in the middle of the ice so if I get it, I don’t have to look around where to pass it, you’ll be there,’ ” Howe recalled this week in an interview on NHL commissioner Gary Bettman’s weekly radio show. “I got my first goal that way.”

He went on to score 801 goals in the NHL - a record until Wayne Gretzky finally topped it with 894. He had another 174 in the WHA for a total of 975, which beats the 931 Gretzky scored in both leagues. Howe had 1,850 NHL points and 2,358 in all.

Gretzky grew up idolizing Howe and wore No. 99 in honour of Howe’s No. 9.

They were different players, though. While Gretzky used unparalleled vision and creativity to score, the six-foot 200-pound Howe was a feared physical presence along with being a superbly skilled player.

He once knocked out Montreal Canadiens star Maurice (Rocket) Richard with a punch, and some called him Mr. Elbows for his nasty battles for pucks along the boards.

In the 1950s, a New York sportswriter coined the phrase Gordie Howe Hat-trick - a goal, an assist and a fight - although Howe said it actually only happened once in his career.

After playing 25 seasons for Detroit, winning four Stanley Cups, Howe retired in 1971 due to a wrist ailment, but he returned two seasons later with the Houston Aeros of the WHL to play alongside his sons Mark and Marty. He moved to the New England Whalers in 1977 and finally retired for good when he was 52 in 1980.

NHL Network is going to show a bunch of Gordie Howe games all day. I'm hoping to catch one of the Stanley Cup games from the '50s. A little interesting tidbit I heard this morning was that Gordie Howe only had one "Gordie Howe" hattrick in his career.

If we were to start a vynsane.com Man hall of Fame, Gordie Howe would be my nomination to go first into the sports wing. He gives me a boner.

[Diabolical]

The Red Wings locked up the kiss of death tonight, also known as the President's Trophy.

[Antropov]

The Red Wings locked up the kiss of death tonight, also known as the President's Trophy.

I saw that. It was pretty bittersweet. You know its the kiss of death, but you can't fathom letting someone else win it, especially the Sharks!

Also, Hockey Jesus, Malkamania, BGL, U.S.S Hal Gill and company wrapped up the Atlantic. Is it bad that I'm actually way more interested in the Eastern conference playoffs this year? The only thing about the East this year is that Carolina is showing exactly why the division leaders shouldn't necessarily be the #1-3 seeds. Looking at points this morning, it came to my attention that were it not by virtue of being in first place, the 'Canes would be somewhere between a 6-8 seed in the East. Something needs to be done about that shitty southeast division.