What a winner. Oh, did I spell that right?
Downie hacks Moen right in the mid-section. Replay shows how deliberate and iron-hawk it was. Man. Sticks are like email. They make people brave.
Carlyle is hiding his disappointment behind his ferocity.
We see a shot of the King bench and I don’t see a lot of silver glitter. The days of grainy gay and grey gretzky are done. It’s all matte and mute now. The uniforms look fat letter and thick font. They’re not bad but they’re not compelling.
Heatley is in. Uses the screen. One-on-two. Leans left. Shoots. High. Glove. The glove. The Pricey, dicey, smiling red gant glove. We loves it.
Canadiens win the faceoff on the glistening ice. Boston’s logo at centre ice, as I’ve said often, is compelling and tonight it is nearly majestic. I’m glad to return to a traditional rivalry with the usual suspects on a Tuesday night when only those who care about and understand the teams involved are watching. More or less.
Briere has a “my business here is done” look on his face as he settles onto the bench. It was done here a long time ago, bud. Now you’re just wasting everyone’s time. Must be nice. Four-gamer.
Stick to Price’s mask as he lies on the ice. And the Flyers jam at it like witch-hunters. And it goes in. Hartnell’s pitchfork was sharpest.
Demers talks about Neuvirth a bit. Then he references the NFL. He wants to know what the details are on injuries. Renaud Lavoie adds that in a serious league, we are told what is going on. Oh, get over it. In a league run by gambling interests, we are told what is going on. Be glad that this league, your NHL, doesn’t have the same type of transparency.
We get a brief shot of the Pittsburgh bench. The grey ash of the crowd is behind the players' winking white helmets. And a balding dude who resembles Rick Tocchet is behind the Penguin players. I wonder how bad it all smells. Hockey is one of the most unpleasant-smelling of the sports.
Bruins move it out. They are bent raster and dusty spider; confused offensive.
Canucks set it up. Pass goes to the slot. Sedin. For Sedin. I watch the back of the net. Old, haunted child reflex. It stays white. Whistle. Someone falls on Halak. Nothing else.
More Olympics-flavoured commercials. The experiment is a grand disaster already and threatens to be one of the great white elephants in Canadian history. It will be a worse economic blunder than the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. Felicitations.
Not good enough. How do we know Cormier is a good kid? Just watch this kid, Cormier. Take a look at how he carries himself in the future. And look at the tape; see how he carried himself in the past. And then decide for yourself. Lots of guys don’t have track records. And yet they manage not to commit these kinds of attacks. Is Cormier as good as those kids? Mistakes don’t happen at random. They happen as part of a pattern of behaviour.
We hear that Panther snarl over the PA system. If we didn’t have audio recording technology, somebody might have to provoke a panther after every goal. Another plus for technology. I guess they could provoke an ocelot or a very big housecat. All you’d need then is a megaphone. Hmm.
Bettman and the Governors should have to ref games. You know. Just like how state governors should be on the front lines in Iraq. Get going. Oh. And get back to work you others over there. You slum-rogues.
Then we see the rapidly declining Subway franchise try and convince us they are still cool and relevant. No. Maybe the odd location but as an entity, you have entered the Roman phase of your fast-food history.
Referee Bill McCreary has such an earnest, honest woodsman’s face. Healthy grizzly mustache to go with it. Or do you prefer moustache?
Crowd rises like yeast. The smell is bitter. The ice is cold. The action is froth. Whistle. Commercial. Not a beer one.
This guy in the Maple Leaf bacon commercial is a great actor. I can’t help but be creeped out by his “Mom, make me and my girlfriend some breakfast” shtick. This one isn’t dubbed and the French version features different actors and is more powerful than the English one. Because of this guy. Guys with curly hair have perceptual disadvantages (and advantages) that the rest of us don’t have.
Highlights. Sean Avery still has an NHL job. Well, nobody should complain about anyone else, then. Free passes for all. It’s interesting that Ovechkin’s celebrations get more anger than Avery’s antics. Measure it yourself. Google and count the hits. Or bring up the players in living rooms or pubs. See for yourself.
Highlights. Boston scores. And again. Krejci and Chara. A Czech cab-driver assured me last winter that David Krejci will be better than Jaromir Jagr when their careers are done. He was quite confident. He was about 49 years old.
We see that NAPA commercial where a female cop busts an elderly couple making out in some out of the way spot. Now why is it that cops feel comfortable knocking on steamy car windows with their flashlights? What purpose does this serve? What community-protection principle are they serving?
Latendresse paints the wall with a Flame. This slow version of the team is not good for turnover ratios. Gill, Laraque and Stewart are all puck-possession liabilities. They are each aggression assets, though. What horror when they’re on the ice simultaneously. I guess they’re our Boston-Philly antidote.
What follows is a thoughtful November 20th, 2008 post from "Haddock" of the HF Boards.
Theodore was ruined by this city. And Price is getting ruined. His confidence. How much pedestal and pillory can a person take?
This team is nothing without Mats Sundin. Those Toronto fans and media who criticized him for not waiving his no-trade at last year's trade deadline were a factor in his deciding to leave. Goose and the golden egg.
Islanders take another penalty. Blake Comeau. He hit Kostitsyn from behind. Could have been a payback hit but it looked chicken cheap. Strutting tough in the barnyard.
Sergei is also back. And he's with his best linemate match this season. His older brother. Andrei is flying from the word go. There is nothing like playing with his younger brother for the reserved Belarusian.
Can you imagine interviewing a surgeon while he operates? Or if that bothers you too much, how about if someone was interviewing the Canadian Tire guy while he fixes your brakes? Is that how you want it all to go down?