Ian Laperriere

When I watched the replay of Ian Laperriere taking a puck off his face in Game 5 of the first round against NJ I laughed a little. Here was a guy getting ripped right in the face by a puck and he gets up to his feet and tried to make it to the bench. Did he not realize that he just got a slapshot to the eye? If that shot hit any other NHLer his teammates would look like Jackie O picking pieces of skull off the back of a convertible. Ian Laperriere would be playing in the series but when checking for a concussion apparently the medical staff found some brain bruising. Brain bruising. He was willing to play through brain bruising. What an animal.

Boston is up 3-0 in the series with Philly. Barring a historic comeback it looks as though they will advance. If the Flyers still had Laperriere in their lineup there's no way the series is 3-0.



What an animal.

- Nemmy

Holiday Weekend Wrap Up OR Does anyone know where I can watch the daytime hockey games online?

First I'll review the last weekend of the NHL before the Olympic pause, and then I''ll talk Olympics.

I didn't anything of real interest happened Friday night, except for this sweet game-winner from Nicolas Bergfors:



And Dion falling back into his bad defensive habits:



Calgary HATED when he chased guys behind the net.

However, the Fridy Canadiens/Flyers match up did set up this:



I love a good opening face-off fight and Lapierre did some nice work. Jeff Carter was also happy


And then danny briere went at got a hat trick. I'm not sure he deserved a penalty shot for the 3rd, though.



Nice finish, nonetheless.


Heres some sweet backhand sauce, courtesy of Robbie Schremp:





As for the Olympics...

First of all, for all Team USA news go here: http://teamusanews.org



We'll be keeping that widget up for the remainder of the games.


Second - it sucks that the hockey won't be on the main NBC channel. I don't really care about exposure or audience size - I mostly just care about watching great hockey in HD. I don't know if CNBC or USA or MSNBC or HGTV have HD versions. If I'm the NHL, I'm pissed because of the numbers stuff. They shut down and then get put on channels that only do slightly better than Versus.

Speaking of Versus, if Comcast owns NBC now and has always owned Versus, why aren't games on Versus? Thats rhetorical - ad space is sold way in advance, yada yada, but shouldn't Versus at least do a nightly recap show of the hockey. Yea, that would be logical and helpful, so of course they won't.

Anyway, USA starts on their road to Gold (or bronze) with an afternoon game vs the Swiss. Where can I watch this online?

Thanks,

Bress

Question

Which guy has the worst nose?

A) Tim Hunter
B) Stephane Robidas
C) Ian Laperriere

- Nemmy

What you missed last night while you were

There were a lot of games, its already the afternoon, and since I want to mention Marty Brodeur, and because the Giants rolled the RedSkins last night, I'll name the "giant" of each game.

Devils shut-out the Penguins, 4-0: Martin Brodeur - I only turned on this game after it was already 4-0 and I just wanted to see if he would get the record. The last 2 minutes were interesting, with Pittsburgh really turning up the pressure. However, when it was finally over, the Pens crowd was classy, so were some pens players. whatever. Marty Brodeur owns most if not every important goalie record. He's played in 2 eras really, but been great in both. Nemmy still starts a team with Roy, but I think its no question Brodeur.

Panthers beat the Flyers, 4-1: Ian Laperriere - The guy fought three times and picked up 20 pims in the 3rd period alone. The Flyers are sicking and seem to think they can fight their way out of it.

Bruins shut-out the Senators, 2-0: Tim Thomas - This was a prototypical Tim Thomas shut-out. I don't think the guy made one save that didn't have a rebound, but in true Timmy fashion he just fought the puck all night and won.

Avalanche beat the Wild, 4-3: Niklas Backstrom - I think he's still getting used to his new/old equipment. There are some plays where he is completeley out of position. He looks like Tim Thomas before he knew to scrape up the crease. Thank god Finlad has Kipper.

Canadiens beat the Thrashers in OT, 4-3: Anyone who speaks english - This game was only in French on the center ice package. I guess it makes sense that the Atlanta station doesn't show it, but there has to an English speaking feed from Canada, right? Do they Canadiens sometimes broadcast only in French?

Sabres beat the Maple Leafs in OT, 3-2: Instant Replay - This game and the Canadiens game had the OT winners scored pretty much simultaneously. Of course I missed both of them live, but instant replay - old fashioned kind, not dvr - helped me out, so I could see Roy's backhand move.

Coyotes beat the BJs, 5-2: Mathieu Garon - Hitch made it public that there is no number 1 keeper and Garon makes sure that he lets everyone know that he's a back up.

Sharks beat the Stars, 4-2: Patrick Marleau - Guy just gets it done. 2 goals last night.

Rangers beat the Hurricanes, 3-1: Gabby or Henrik - I didn't watch the game and skimmed the highlights, but when the Rangers win its only because of either one of those 2.

Blues beat the Oilers, 7-2: The great city of Edmonton - Every time I come here it gets hard to leave. I bet they put something to the water.

Lightning beat the Islanders, 4-2: Dwayne Rolosson -