Hossa

Hossa is a superbeast this season. The clip above is from Monday's 3-2 OT win over the Blues. Let it simmer for a moment and let's break down the nastiness.

1


I give Turco some grief for trying to do too much with the puck but this is what he can do for you. Down 2 in the 3rd Turco delivers a strike to Hossa with a better pass than half of the Dmen in the league can make.

2


Hossa catches a beat running like Randy Moss as the Blues are caught in a change.

3


Hossa is down 2 with less than a minute to go in the PP. I'd say 85% of the league's forwards would have put this puck either to the net or tried to crow bar the puck to the man in front. Hossa has too much swagger this season. Credit to the St. Louis dmen for both laying out to take away that lane and getting a body on the Hawk in front.

4


Hossa takes his time with a little deep Gretzky curl and sees a lane across the slot. The St. Louis PK box isn't as tight as they'd like as they were scrambling to get back into the play but that forward is trying to get his "active stick" in the passing lane. Eddie O would have a semi just thinking about it.

5


The pass makes it through. You get those bounces when you are playing with a full tank like Hossa. Now the guy with the puck has options. Walk in from the dot before young Oshie comes to lay him out? Hit Bolland who is geared up to unleash some serious torque? Throw one on net through traffic? How about he waits until Bull Hossa drives to the net and feed the hot hand?

6


Hossa wants it. He's a big dude and BJ Crombeem or whoever is not keeping him from a tally tonight. He's impressed me with his toughness. He's in the grimy areas and he's got his feet up on the good furniture.

7


Again the pass gets through and Hossa has a backhand layup. It doesn't happen if he's playing the perimeter just hanging around for a one-timer. It also doesn't happen if Roman Rolak doesn't poo his diaper and let that puck get past him.

Let's review:
1) Turco converts on 3rd and long
2) Hossa has room thanks to a Blues change
3) Hossa doesn't rush the play
4) Hossa nearly trips on his cock as he looks for an outlet
5) Bullrush to the net
6) Shake off the haters
7) Mazel Tov

If you don't think Hossa has that extra badass spark to him check out how he ties the game a few minutes later.



The guy wants it again this year.

- Nemmy

What you missed last night because you got head faked.

Like I said on twitter last night, everyone at the bar was either a Flyers fan (unlikely) or rooting for a game 7 (more likely). Nemmy said that when the Flyers tied it up there was no way the Hawks would win the game. He didn't count on Kane's mullet shake distracting Kimo and giving him enough space to beat Leighton.




Soft goal? Maybe. Its a quick shot thats probably harder to stop. Ask Ryan Miller.


Some final thoughts on game 7 and the series in general:

• Did Pronger get dirtier or did the refereeing become stricter as the series went on?
• Briere and Hartnell were the only Flyers to show up after game 4
• Matt Carle got walked by Hossa with like 2 minutes left in the 3rd. Leighton got his chest in the way of the puck.
• Does Niemi catch pucks in the weirdest way possible?

I wish this went to game 7. Now I have to go to a karaoke birthday party on Friday. Thanks a lot Kane!

8 vs 9

A year ago at this time the Bruins were doing coke with natural-breasted rippers on speedboats. What a difference a year makes as tonight they play the post trade deadline Atlanta Thrashers in order to stay relevant. Shit happens. Instead of sitting around wondering how the hell the Coyotes are the team to beat in the West let's watch a few clips of guys ripping slappers on penalty shots.



Chara gets in so close before opening up. Scary. We all know his shot from the high slot is over 100 mph. How fast was this one travelling? It's like when ESPN shows us how hard the 12 year olds in the LLWS throw and then give us the equivalent from an MLB mound. Whatever.



Vanek is sick. He really makes it look so easy. He seems to freeze Huet (or whoever) on his back swing. Very Ernie Els-like.



Hossa rips top shelf. Sorry for the remix video but it's all I could find of this awesome clip. Dirtiness.

Thrashers host Bruins at 7.
Boola-Boola




- Nemmy

What you missed last night while you were debating whether this past trade deadline was the worst or worstest

There's no point in analyzing any of the deals. None were game-changers, only game adjusters.

Canucks beat the Red Wings, 6-3: I don;t think you can really consider Burrows and Kesler "grind guys," but on Vancouver, they kind of are. And when they get going, the Canucks are hard to beat. Kesler scored a sweet goal, splitting the D and stuffing the puck in 5-hole. Burrows scored by going to the net and tipping a great feed from one of the Sedins. Also, Kyle Wellwood sniped a high glove breakaway goal and didnt celebrate. The Wings first goal of the night was a great example of winning the puck along the boards, then Zetterberg perfectly used body positioning to wheel away from the D-man and fed a perfect pass to Jason Williams who blasted a one-timer home.


Blackhawks beat the Oilers, 5-2: Its officially "tank" season for the Oilers. Chicago's good and did score some pretty pretty goals. Jonny Toews walked the Oilers D, Hossa fed a sweet pass over the Kane. Its all there in Chi-town.

Wild shut-out the Flames, 4-0: The Wild scored a beauty of a goal in this game. A great passing play from Miettinen to Koivu to Brunette. Kipper never even had his car.

Avalanche beat the Ducks, 4-3: Peter Mueller scored in his debut. That's nice.

Panthers beat the Flyers, 7-4: David Booth got a Gordie Howe Hat Trick. He fought Richards. At first I was disappointed that Booth didn't remove his bucket, because he wears a visor. But then I remembered the whole concussion thing.

Capitals beat the Sabres, 3-1: Green's game winner was the result of a him picking his cut to the net perfectly and great selling of the "shot" by Tomas Fleishman.

What you missed last night while you helped out the girl across the hall who got locked out her apartment

Senators beat the Sabres, 4-2: The Senators are playing very well and their best players are lighting it up. Spezza scored 2 ridiculous goals. The first was short side on barely any release and the second was sick shot to the top corner. And Alfie scored the other 2. Meanwhile, Brian Elliot is coming into form nicely. Ottawa has escaped that clusterfuck of teams all battling for the 3 play-off spots.

Flames beat the Hurricanes, 4-1: Eric Staal got his face beaten up this game - a high stick and then his own man's skate after Mark Giordano dumped the cane into the bench. If Curtis Glenncross scores a hat trick, you should be winning.

Oilers shut-out the Flyers, 1-0: Oilers scored with 16 seconds left - heartbreaking. Also, because the Flyers had like 17 on-the-doorstep opportunities that they missed.

Blues beat the Hawks, 3-2: The Hawks goal were beauties. Kane went top shelf on the backhand on a breakaway and the pass from Toews to Hossa for the 2nd was pure filth.

Ducks beat the Wings, 3-1: Who's the starter and who's the back up in Detroit?

1000

What you missed last night while your were playing FIFA 2010

Penguins beat the Islanders, 6-4: Even though the Isles lost, I'm glad that Malkin got out of his slump. It was a good attempt at a comeback by the Islanders, that was finally halted when Sutton hit Dupuis from behind. 5 and a game should be enough. Butch Goring was totally wrong, say Dupuis put himself in that position - its call protecting the puck and in every sport and forever in hockey, you put your body between the man and puck (or ball or whatever). If Okposo had scored on any of his 3 breakaways its a different game, but Brent Johnson stood tall or was long or whatever.

Thrashers beat the Maple Leafs, 4-3: Kovalchuk just rips slap shots. Seriously, he can do it from anywhere. And somehow, even though he has a full wind, it also counts a quick release.

Senators beat the Hawks, 4-1: Marian Hossa walked in on a breakaway and blew a slap shot by Brian Elliot. Elliot reacted like I do when I play roller hockey goalie and Zimm tears one at my head. That wasn't the nicest goal of the night though. The toe drag move-to-wrap around from Pat Regin was superb.

Rangers beat the Lightning, 8-2: Marion Gaborik did NOT have all 8 goals. Benson sent along this quote summarizing this game. I'm assuming its from Rick Tocchet, "The bus driver was the best thing we had.” I like Aaron Voros. The guy has been healthy scratch since last March. He gets in the line up and fights. Twice.

Flyers beat the BJs, 5-3: Jeff Carter's backhand is so good, he should just stop taking wrist shots.

Capitals beat the Red Wings, 3-2: Its like every game the Caps get scoring help from some one else. Last night it was David Steckel (jew?)

Ducks beat the Sabres, 5-4: The Ducks were up 4-0 in the first period, chased Lalime and and .... barely won this game.

Sharks beat the Kings, 4-1: Easy stat that will definitely be used during the next Sharks pre-game show: In the past 2 games the Sharks have outscored opponents, 14 to 2.

What you missed last night while you were finally finishing your crhistmas shopping

Since there are no games the rest of the week, today's recaps will be hockey haikus. Think of it as an early Christmas gift!

Penguins roll over the Senators, 8-2:
Lost in this blow out,
are Fleury's 45 saves.
And Alfie got hurt.

Blues beat the Flames in the shoot-out, 2-1:
On one play, Langkow
laid out Paul Kariya. The
Blues swept all the west.

Canadiens beat the Hurricanes, 5-1:
So, are all games that
the Canadiens play in
the southeast in French?

Islanders beat the Maple Leafs, 3-1:
Blake Comeau played great
He could be this teams, Selke
candidate. John scored!

Wild beat the Oilers, 3-1:
I think that Owen
Nolan should only be known
as Cowboy. He scored.

Flyers beat the Lightning, 5-2:
I hope the Flyers
improve after Christmas
for the Classic.

Blackhawks shut-out the Red Wings, 3-0:
They're not booing you
Hossa, they're say, "yoooooooou sucked
in the play-offs, jerk."

Coyotes shut-out the Ducks, 4-0:
If a team wins in
the desert and no one is
there, does it matter?

Stars beat the BJs, 3-1:
Fire Hitch? Trade who? What
are the Jackets going to
do to stop this slide?

Bruins beat the Thrashers. 6-4:
Boston looks like a
team hitting their groove. Kessel
who? exactly, right.

Rangers beat the Panthers, 4-1:
I was supposed to
go to this game, but glad I
did not. Gabby scored!

Capitals win over the Sabres, 5-2:
Ovechkin scored his
24th goal in his game
29. Dream's alive.

Weekend Wrap Up OR Will stable ownership undermine the Coyotes play-off run

There were some great goals this weekend. It all started with Bertuzzi's theres-no-room-up-there-but-ill-sneak-it-somehow overtime winner versus the Ducks.



He needed like an 85% wedge to get the puck up that quickly.

There were other sweet OT winners, like Havlat's goal. Kipper had a sick sick game, but who can defend a passing play like this?



Love the patience by Havlat.

Here's Kovy just doing what Kovy does. You can't give him time and space like this in OT. He'll win.





The great goal weekend ended on a nice note with Hossa catching a puck, then doing some infield practice on the Lightning keeper.




There were some saves too, but those are harder to find out youtube.


What did I miss?

-Bress

What you missed last night while you were pitching to Matt Stairs

Again, nothing.

Nothing new to report here. Of course Game 7 is on tonight. Thoughts on tonight's game:

Please let it go to at least one OT

I really want to see an overtime winner. The only thing greater than hearing the crowd EXPLODE when the home team pots one in OT is being able to hearing the guys scream and swear and go ape when the away team scores because it's so quiet in the arena. Really, nothing cooler than hearing that 6th guy jump on the pile screaming "Yeah, baby! Woooo!!!". I eat that up.

Chris Osgood is a sneaky badass

Bress always goofs on this guy because he looks like he could be working in the cubicle next to him but NHL goalies aren't always Adonises (think Belfour, Marty, Timmy Thomas. Not the best physiques). His stats are solid, he's way up there with total wins and he hung in there in that fight with Pat Roy, right? He's been real sharp in this series and has a chance to get another ring. We should kind of be applauding this guy instead of mentioning how bad he looked all season. Right?

Remember Ruslan Fedotenko's Game 7 a few years ago?

Tenk doesn't remember his 2 goals. How sick is that? Does he have some magic left?

The boys want to play a drinking game during the game

The idea is good if we were watching something I wasn't interested in like the Grammy's or another award show/event. This one I really want to watch and I don't want to sit and count everytime "Edzo" or "active stick" gets said (although I do anyway). I doubt we're going to order some new shot because Helm snuck a rebound past MAF. When you routinley blackout while watching hockey at your favorite bar you don't really need someone telling you when to drink.

The Subway Series kicks off tonight

Does this even matter anymore? Don't get me wrong I would love it if the Mets can go into the Bronx and beat the Yankees but the Mets have so much other shit to worry about than getting caught up in any interleague hype. Plus baseball doesn't really begin until hockey ends.

Does anyone really think deep down that Pitt will win tonight?

I think we see a 3-1 Detroit win. I know the Pens can win on the road but I don't know if Guerin and Co. has it in them. It's not good enough for just Crosby to have a game tonight. Everyone from Matt Cooke to Staal to the mascot needs to play well to beat Detroit at home. I'll say it again it's nice to root for a good game and not worry about anything.

How cool is it that Hossa may end up looking like a jackass after tonight?

I still say that he made the right move. Detroit is stacked! They had the best chance at repeating from day one. BUT wouldn't it be something if Hossa comes up short AGAIN? If Detroit loses at least Conklin didn't leave millions on the table just to end up in 2nd place again.

How cool is it that Guerin may go for worst to first after tonight?

This would be the equivalent of being lost a sea and eventually rescued by a Hedonism cruise ship. Either way good for him.

Draper gets the winner

God help us all if Guerin does it.

That's it. I'm pretty much braindead and all I want is to get some guys together, have some cocktails and watch the greatest Game 7 in the history of the NHL on tv. Please let it be a good game.

- Nemmy

Question

First off, thank goodness the Finals start this weekend and not next week like we originally thought. I just told Scotty how sick I am of reading countless articles about the Wings/Pens rematch. A week of being bent over and rammed with Marian Hossa stories would have been unbearable. The two best teams are in the Finals. Let's sit back and enjoy this one.

Now someone asked me this over Memorial Day weekend and I had about 12 different answers:

What's the best NHL city to play in?

Is it Detroit because they are the most talented team? Keep in mind that you'd be living in Detroit. Florida and LA have great weather but your team would be terrible. Toronto has the largest fanbase but again your team would be terrible and everyone (including certain members of the media) think they could do your job better than you. Weather, fanbase, locale, team strength - everything should be considered.

I can make arguments for and against every team. I didn't get into it too much with the guy who asked the question because he really wasn't a hockey guy he was just making small talk. I won't get into the whole thought process on this blog because I don't have 12 drinks in me BUT I think Dallas may be my city.

- Great town - drinking town
- Solid fanbase - not a hockey town per se but far from an LA, Florida or Long Island
- Talented team
- Better weather than Chicago or New York
- Closer to civilization than Calgary


What say you?

- Nemmy

Clean Sweep and Aramis Ramirez

Imagine if your name was Aramis? Imagine if I actually got into a fight out one night with a black dude who thought I was being racist because I said Billy Black Guerin and that shot was just sooo Blaaacckk! Nothing to do with the color of a person but I could totally see it being mistaken for that. Watch for Black to be black tonight and put the series away. Malkin has been simply hot Magenta and Crosby has been very Wawa-esque. I'd really like to see some lash-back from Carolina and win one or two but down by 3 to a team that has been playing solidly doesn't leave much room for a comeback.

Bress you good over there? I miss Bress.

People Detroit whooped Chicago without Datsyuk and Lidstrom? Oh man! That is brutal. Yea the goalie situation has just gone poopy-off-a-cliff over there but jeez! So a rematch of last year huh? Hossa on the other side? Did he make the right choice? I think both Detroit and Pitt are better barring Gonchar playing as well as Datsyuk and Lidstrom than they were last year. I said the other day that if Datsyuk and Lidstrom both did not play in the finals that Pitt could easily win. I mean Nikky Lidstrom goes out for 5 minute clips regularly. Despite Datsyuk not scoring much this playoff he provides space for Franzen and Zetts to get the job done as the Hossa/Datsyuk line gets keyed on. If Malkin scores like he has been, they will DEFINITELY win. He is magenta right now.

This week starting on a Tuesday...tits up!

11:30 game tomorrow without Lenti against a team I haven't beaten in over a year? What do you guys think?

2man pilot being picked up? 1000 (Barring Artem actually making it)

The Incredible Sliding Guerin - hmmm...


Yes to Mikey Douglas in this movie.

- Scotty "Barzus" trying to trade Generaal Motors

Juicing Scotty

Juicing Scotty came to visit Nemy on a lazy Sunday and vandalized his surroundings. This is what he looked like.Juicing Scotty might be necessary for the Hawks so that they can get back in the series. Darren Helm is the only reason it went to OT in the first place. Dan cleary is lighting the lamp which just leads me to believe that they are going to be so insurmountable. They rely on second tier guys like Samuelson and Hudler and Holmstrom to get scoring done when Datsyuk, Hossa and Zetterberg aren't doing it. Franzen is somewhere in between despite being a playoff meast but Cleary just makes it so hard to beat this team if he is scoring like this.

Juicing Scotty wants to to say yes to Memorial weekend. Yes to squats and hammer curls. No to deadlifts. Yes to back-hand snap toewys top shelf. No to men's league. No to saying they didn't receive my payment when I have the statement confirmation from Amex in my pocket. No to everything but sexual relations and the playoffs on Versus. Look at juicing Scotty's back muscles. Very real defined back muscles that Bress just loves. Hope your ok over in the east village Es?

This is Bress right now.

What you missed last night while you were miss-playing a line drive to left field

Canucks beat the Blues in OT, 3-2 (VAN win series 4-0): I finally got an OT call right. Anyway, the OT was probably the best (almost) period that the Blues played all series. If not for repeatedly shooting at Roberto Luongo's chest, they might have won that game. Chris Mason actually made the better of the saves, but was once again supsetable to the weak five-hole shot. Did you catch Burrow's celebration? Yea, it was the bow-and-arrow tribute to Luc Bourdon. Got to love that.

Penguins beat the Flyers, 3-1 (PIT leads series 3-1): Marc-Andre Fluery was the difference in this game. He got peppered with 46 shots and made 45 saves, some in that you might categorize as sensational. The Flyers played well, real well. Mike Richards was an absolute beast on the ice, but it came down to Fleury making saves and Biron, not.

Sharks beat the Ducks, 4-3 (ANH lead series 2-1): The Sharks persevered last night in spite of Evegeni Nabakov. He was kind of awful - Carey Price level soft goals. Scoring 4, should give the Sharks confidence, especially since it was their big guns doing the work.

Red Wings beat the BJs, 4-1 (DET leads series 3-0): Before the puck dropped, Fox Sports Ohio (or whoever shows the BJs games on Center Ice) gave the viewers a look inside the BJs locker room. Wow, they were fucking tense. Not one smile. Just a lot of guys saying cliches ("play our game," etc). Then the Red Wings killed the crowd with that early Holmstrom goal. How impressive was it, that Hossa got the rebound upstairs so quickly off his backhand? Anyway, story of the series, Nash a non-factor and Osgood non-sucking.

Hurricanes beat the Devils, 4-3 (series tied 2-2): What a comeback ruined! Devils fight back from 3-0. Score 2 in the final period and then let up the game winner with less than a second. This is when a short memory comes in handy. Does anyone else think Brodeur acts the same way he did at the end of this game as when some takes the last drumstick at dinner?

What you missed last night while you were dreaming about Doug Weight

Senators beat the Canadiens, 3-2: Alexei Kovalev is the mayor of Snipe City. He beat Gerber saturday night with a sick shot on the power play. And his quick release beat Auld to the far side last night. If Kovalev's the mayor, then Heatley must be the deputy sheriff of Snipe City. He walked into the wrister that was the game winner. Halak never had a chance. Tonight the Canadiens need the win versus the Rangers. Anyone know what channel that game is on?

Red Wings beat the Sabres, 4-1: Hossa got 39 and 40 last night. He is just having a superb year and should probably win the Selke. Osgood played very solidly last night except on the one goal he gave up, he kind of pulled the ol' statue of liberty hold up the glove, but I don't have the puck move. Reminds me of Pat Roy in the playoffs years ago.

Flames win over the Kings, 4-1: The Flames really, just kind of dominated the game last night. It was like they knew they were better and just played that way. A nice ugly goal from poor-man's Owen Nolan, Craig Conroy. Then a sweet one-timer from Iggy and a nice pass from Conroy to Moss who finished. When Calgary plays this well they will dominate.

What you missed last night while you were learning to sweep the leg

Its high-light of the night... day:

Canadiens beat the Thrashers, 6-3: Tanguay's night - 2 goals and three assists. He did have some sweet sauce passes, but his first goal was patience, hands, and a little bit of luck. He deked by 2 sliding Thrashers d-men, and another sort of took out goaltender Kari Lehtonen. Still, he had to control the puck in tight and tuck it far side.

Canucks beat the Stars, 5-2: The 2nd period - Ott was sent to the box for something and his time ran out just as Canuck D-man Kevin Bieska was rushing up the ice with the puck. A well timed hip check from Ott led to a skirmash. After that, Darcy Hordichuk put a pretty good body on Marty Turco and Trevor Daly decked him. Finally, late in the period Ott got laid out on an after the whistle hit by Willie Mitchell. I expected this all to escalate in the third, but the Canucks scored and ran away with the game. Did anyone else see the talent behind Dave Tippet? WOW

Maple Leafs beat the Capitals in the shoot-out, 3-2: Ovy's 51st - Recipe Ovechkin. Take the nice saucer pass down the wing. Cut in with speed (no one can catch you). Beat the goalie. Tuck in puck on the wide side.

Rangers win over the Wild, 2-1: Zherdev's goal - He had no angle and had to get it upstairs. One sitck handle and then the puck finds the little bit of available twine. Pretty play in an ugly game.

Ducks beat the Predators, in the shoot-out, 2-1: Shea Weber's game tying goal: Weber is a right-handed defensemen, playing the right side. He time his cut perfectly and recieved the pass in between the top of the circle and the dot and some how one timed the puck to the far side. That is difficult. I've only seen a few other super shots like that beating a goal wide, when you are on your strong side. If you play hockey, I'm pretty sure you get what I'm saying.

Red Wings beat the Oilers, 3-2: Hossa's GWG: The finish was nice a one-timer wrister that beat Rolosson low, but it was Franzen's work in the neutral zone and pass that made the play happen.

Lightning win over the BJs in OT, 2-1: St. Louis' GWG: Great pass from Stamkos through the neutral zone to a speeding St. Louis started the play. Now, Marty is cutting across opens up for the snap shot, but a tricky release fools Mason and he is beaten back on the far side. It defined sneaky.

Blues beat the Kings, 2-0: No highlight worth typing

What you missed last night while you were convincing Carla not to make sou-anything

Maple Leafs beat the Rangers in the shoot-out, 2-1: Tort's debut did not go as well as possible. Worst case for him - he can't even blame the goalie. If only Lundquist had let in the soft backhand by Blake that waltzed (Joe Betinati!) along the goal line. Anyway, TSN already has a poll up about what player will be in Tort's doghouse first. I vote for Dubinsky.

Red Wings beat the Sharks, 4-1: Hossa had a great goal. He protected the not-yet-his puck, with a nice post up move and then the quick shot beat Nabakov through the legs. He later got crushed by the guy he beat (Doug Murray) and left the game. Ville Leino (yes, another Scandinavian stud) scored a beaut by knocking the puck out of mid-air. And of course Zetterberg was so Zberg by scoring a spin shorty far side. Will the Sharks face the Wings in the playoffs? And if so can they beat them? Find out this May!

Penguins shut out the Islanders, 1-0: The chant "You are awful" could have applied to both teams. To the Islanders for the Jayvee style they played. And to the Penguins for only scoring once.

Flyers shut-out the Kings, 1-0: Ways in which the Flyers should determine their starting goaltender:

• % of owners who have the keeper in Yahoo! Fantasy leagues
• coin flip
• GAA during warmups
• open net shoot-out