Phightins

About 2 weeks away. I have never been as excited for a TV show as I am for the return of Lost.

Arbitration figures have been exchanged and teams/players are currently working out deals in an attempt to avoid arbitration hearings. A bunch of deals were worked out today. The big one we are all waiting for of course is Tim Lincecum. It will probably be record shattering.

This isn't Canadiens related, but what are your thoughts on Patrice Cormier?

I did see that. I also saw your other comment, which is more what I was referring to.

Unfortunately this happens way more than it should at games. The guys who work in the parking lots are just as bad. And Flash please don't start with this Philadelphia fan thing again, seriously. You have no idea what you are talking about.

Yeah. It was getting pretty old for a while, around seasons 5-6. But luckily this season looks promising.

This is the best start to a season they have had in a while. And Mary-Lynn Rajskub is a pretty good actress, IMO. The character Chloe is supposed to have a bland/boring personality, and she does a good job portraying it, it doesn't make her a bad actress.

That is sickening to watch. Gotta love stadium rent-a-cops.

http://www.nerve.com/CS/blogs/61fps/2009/01/facepalm.jpg

I'd say most people probably expected the Jets to get slaughtered today as well.

I didn't think Emery was too bad to be honest. He had some rebound control problems in the first period which I guess is normal for a guy making his first start in a month and a half. Also it didn't help that his first action was against arguably the top offense in the NHL. But 4 of the 5 goals were not his fault. The last one was an Ovechkin penalty shot, so enough said there. Also Matt Carle made one of the dumbest blind passes I have ever seen on a power play that allowed Brooks Laich to walk right in on Emery and he had no chance. Also it doesn't help that Oskars Bartulis and Braydon Coburn have essentially been replaced by revolving doors. I wonder what kind of value Braydon Coburn has around the league right now, he might be their best trade chip come deadline time.

This is probably the only time in the history of man-kind that I will root for a New York sports team.

Ray Emery will start this afternoon in Washington.

Nope. We have too many goalies as it is. And after seeing Turco play the last few weeks, he'd honestly be #4 on our depth chart right now haha.

He just donated $100,000 and agreed to match any fan donations from last night's game. If I were Haitian I'd care.

He [expletive]ing nailed Won't Get Fooled Again. I can say from experience that it's probably one of the hardest songs to cover on drums and he did it almost perfectly.

I know people say the Flyers "goon it up" so this may fall on deaf ears, but the Maple Leafs are a [expletive]ing dirty team. Colton Orr in particular.

Well, this game has been a dud.

You aren't allowed to take a run at a guy's head lol. That was so dirty.

Before I start, let me apologize in advance for the rant. I am sorry, but the events of this past week should be the last straw with Gary Bettman. Unfortunately I don't see him stepping down any time soon, but this man is turning the National Hockey League into an even bigger joke than it already is. There are three things from this past week that I am talking about, two of which were mentioned in other threads. The two mentioned on OTR previously (the Pittsburgh Penguins "review-gate" incident and the Alex Burrows/Stephane Auger incdient) are both kind of related. I find it kind of sickening that the league is sweeping both of these incidents under the rug and keeping their investigations "under wraps". These are both huge deals, in my opinion, and they both deeply involve the integrity of the game. For those who don't know, last week in Pittsburgh during a Flyers/Penguins game, Simon Gagne of the Flyers scored what appeared to be a goal, but the officials on the ice waved it off. It was close so they went to review. Apparently it is the home team's responsibility to send all camera angles to the "war room" in Toronto where a final verdict on questionable calls is made. On TV they showed an angle that showed the puck clearly over the goal line, but the Penguins and their TV station did not send that angle to Toronto, so due to "insufficient evidence" they let the play stand as a no-goal. An announcer on the Penguins TV network could be heard laughing and saying "we saved that one". Luckily the game was a blow out and this did not affect the outcome of the game, but if it would have the Penguins should have been forced to forfeit the game, and as it currently stands IMO they should be forced to lose a draft pick. This is serious [expletive], but of course the NHL is keeping it a "private matter". Yeah, way to lose the trust of your fans Gary, especially the ones who already buy into conspiracy theories. Speaking of conspiracies, before a game last week referee Stephane Auger reportedly told Alex Burrows of the Vancouver Canucks that he was going to "get revenge" for some incident earlier in the year. In that game, Auger made at least two horrible calls against Burrows, one of which arguably cost the Canucks the game. There is no proof of what Auger said to Burrows, but there is video of the two having a conversation before the game. Much like the goal review incident, the league is staying hush hush about this too. Both have a huge impact on the integrity of the game, yet they are being swept under the rug. I guess I shouldn't expect less from Gary Bettman, however. The third incident involves this hit that Sergei Gonchar put on Cal Clutterbuck (actually ECN sent me this video right after it happened): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTv2uSAiYx4&feature=player_embedded Actually this is a shot at Colin Campbell and not Gary Bettman, but Sergei Gonchar received no suspension for this, despite it being one of the dirtier hits I have seen this season. If he wears orange and black (or hell, if he wears the colors of any team that the NHL is not in bed with aka the Pittsburgh Penguins) it is a 5 game suspension at minimum. This league seemingly has two rule books. Anyway, I am starting to get disgusted with some of the stuff going on in this league. What do the other OTR hockey fans think?

Brad Lidge had more surgery today. It was just a minor knee thing though, and it doesn't really change his time table for this season. He is still questionable for Opening Day just as he was before this.

Tonight's game should be interesting. The Maple Leafs called up another goon who cannot play (as if they didn't have enough) and they clearly want revenge on Dan Carcillo for that throat slashing thing.

Somehow Dalembert was able to put up 12 and 21 with the earthquake on his mind and without knowing if some of his friends are dead. That was pretty cool.

To follow up on the Gagne "review-gate" incident, I think it is horrible that the NHL is keeping their investigation "under wraps". Well Gary Bettman is in bed with the Penguins so I guess it should not surprise me, but nonetheless it is a joke. This is a big big thing, IMO. Some guy said it on the radio last night and it's so true, but this really makes the NHL look like a "Mickey Mouse league". The Penguins should forfeit a draft pick, that is how big a deal I think this is. And with the way they are handling the Alex Burrows/Stephane Auger incident as well, they have really done a number on their credibility this week (if it was possible for it to get much worse).

Where have I seen this before?