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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 trying to figure out the post below

Maple Leafs beat the Ducks, 6-3: Now the only team without a win in regulation are the Islanders. Are the Ducks really that bad this year? What are they missing? I'm going to go with goaltending. Neither Giguere nor Hiller is playing at the level of last year. I bet both guys think that they deserve the starting nod and the focus of the competition isn't there anymore.

Canadiens beat the Islanders in OT, 3-2: Only good thing for the Islanders is Jeff Tambellini scoring. Nice sauce pass from Cammaleri to Hamrlik for the game-winner.

Rangers win over the Coyotes, 5-2: The sports section of NYMag has a great description of the Gabby hat-trick. A goal, an assist, and an injury. It was fun while it lasted ranger fans.

Hawks beat the Wild, 3-1: Pat Kane is this generation's Gretzky. Maybe, eventually, he'll score like Wayne, but its more in the sense that a guy that small could play so well. How does Kane do that? He scored a goal last night coming from behind the net and turning and tucking a shot short-side high. Sick! But how does he not get knocked around more.

What you missed last night while you were coming up with bad top 10 lists

Penguins beat the Hurricanes in the shoot-out 3-2: 2 best young goalies in the NHL + 2 fast, skilled teams = GREAT hockey game. This highlight sums it up:


Rangers beat the Kings, 4-2: Are these really the 2 hottest teams in the NHL right now? I smell a conspiracy - NY and LA, come on! It was an entertaining game. Gabby scored with his patented no-release snipe. Lundqvist is the Ranger's D.

Blackhawks beat the Oilers, 4-3: Khabibulin played well against his old teammates, but just couldn't get it done. Chicago's offense is a well-oiled machine. When they aren't scoring pretty goals, they get gritty a la Jack Skille's goal.

Stars shut-out the Predators, 6-0: Marty Turco uses the 2 pad slide very liberally.

Ducks beat the Wild, 3-2: Corey Perry scored 2 really really nice goals. The backhand, reachback move on his first was great invention. The snipe for goal 2 is just really really good skill.

Weekend Wrap Up OR The Islanders melt down as described in text messages

Nemmy is a Bruins fan, I'm an Islanders fan. Friday night, we were in separate locals watching the game. Here's how it went down:



Bress: ROOF

Nemmy: Who? Not watching

Bress: Sim on Rask



Bress: Be glad you aren't watching

Nemmy: I ssw everything since

Nemmy: The Bruins stink. Tavares is the real deal.

Bress: SNIPE

Nemmy: Boston is poop

Three Bruin goals later and the game is tied.

Bress: The Islanders are poop

Bress: Brutal

Bress: Terrible

Nemmy: I can't believe they won

Artem: Painful loss...

END SCENE

Besides that game, there was a lot of good hockey this weekend. Friday only had 2 games and to be honest, nothing stands out in my mind as impressive from either of them.

Saturday, however is a different story.



In the dictionary, this goal is next to "Ryan Smyth"



In front, and just keeps hacking away until he scores. I bet he hates LA and keeps his house at a chilly 54 degrees just so its more like Alberta.


The goal from Comrie here is nice (maybe soft on Price's part), but I LOVE the pass that sets it up.



This stands out from the Flyers/Ducks game:










Sick save by Emery with the pad.

I went to the garden yesterday to watch the Ducks play the Rangers. They were tired from last nights game (1 shot in the first period!). The highlight of the game for me was Gaborik ringing a shot off the cross-bar. Its not that he has a quick release. Its a non-existent release.


What did I miss?

-Bress

What you missed last night while you were angrily watching Jim and Pam's wedding

Its Friday, so its back to Hockey Haikus. There were a ton of games last night.


Flames beat the Oilers in the shoot-out, 4-3:
Khabibulin has
problems late in the third. He
is probably drunk.

Sharks beat the BJs, 6-3:
Heatley got the trick.
Joe had four assists. The Sharks
need the same in May.

Senators beat the Islanders in OT, 3-2:
Okposo had a
sweet goal. Pascal Leclaire's pads are sweet.
Does anyone care?

Penguins beat the Flyers, 5-4:
Would you really be
surprised if Hartnell does like
the taste of humans?

Rangers beat the Capitals, 4-3:
After Henrik's brain
fart, Gabby scores. When will his
groin finally break?

Thrashers win over the Blues, 4-2:
The commentator
call Tkachuk, "Big Walt." That's the
Best. Nickname. Ever.

Red Wings beat the Hawks, 3-2:
This game wasn't close
to being sold out. Detroit
has mad problems, yo.

Devils beat the Lightning in the shoot-out, 4-3:
Stamkos will not have
a sophmore slump. His release
is "lightning" fast. HA!

Predators beat the Avalanche, 3-2:
Nashville has a real
sneaky home-ice advantage.
Duchene is mad fast.

Sabres win over the Coyotes, 2-1:
Is there anyone
outside of Buffalo that
cared about this game?

Ducks beat the Bruins, 7-1:
"Perry scored off his
head. Boston sucks,"says Nemmy
in text from last night.

Kings win over the Wild, 6-3:
So far this season,
the Kings get big leads, then lose
them, but win the game.

Finally,

The NHL regular season begins tomorrow night with some really sweet games.

Boston v Washington - I can't wait to see Tim Thomas give up a goal and flip out.
Montreal v Toronto - I imagine that the Canadiens will have about 10 power plays to the Leafs 2
San Jose v Colorado - I probably would turn this off right after the Sakic ceremony, but now I want to see if Heatley will get a hat trick with Thornton having all of the primary assists. Does anyone know who is wearing the C, for both of these teams?
Vancouver v Calgary - I'll be staying up to watch this one.

Friday's schedule is a little strange. All the teams that are opening the season in Europe are playing. That means the start times on the east coast are noon and 3pm. Why? Why aren't they playing on Saturday and Sunday. Why does the NHL have no games scheduled for Sunday?

Here are more questions I have about the upcoming season (and my guesses):

Will Marion Gaborik play more than 51 games? No

Who will be the first coach to get fired? Randy Carlyle

What D-man will have a huge regular season and then falter in the play-offs? Bouwmeester, I'm not saying the Green will be good in the play-offs, I just don't think he will have a huge regular season.

What team will get the 1st overall pick? Islanders, but not because they were the worst team, they'll just win the lottery. The Avalanche will be the worst team in the League this year.

Who will hit 50 goals first? Heatley first, then Nash, then Ovechkin, but somehow Ovechkin will still win the Rockey Richard Trophy.


Nemmy (I think), has finally finished his team preview series. I won't go into any detail, but below are my play-off teams for each conference(in no particular order), what I think the conference finals will be, and then the stanley cup finals.

East:
Penguins
Capitals
Bruins
Hurricanes
Flyers
Devils
Rangers
Canadiens

West:
Canucks
Flames
Stars
Sharks
BJs
Red Wings
Hawks
Kings


Conference Finals:
Penguins v Devils
Flames v Canucks

Stanley Cup Finals
Penguins over Flames in 7

Crib Notes - New York Rangers

New York Rangers
Last season - 4th in the Atlantic, Collapsed in round 1 vs. the Capitals
Lost tough guy Colton Orr to Toronto via free agency
Lost Freddy Sjostrom to Calgary via free agency
Lost rentals Derek Morris and Nik Antropov to Boston and Atlanta, respectively. Not sure the Rangers even wanted these guys back.
Lost Paul Mara to Montreal via free agency
Traded Scott Gomez and some cats and dogs for Chris Higgins and change
Signed Donald Brashear to replace Colton Orr
Signed Ales Kotalik to replace Nik Zherdev (who was let go and has yet to sign with a team)
Signed Vinny Prospal and re-signed Ryan Callahan
Signed Marian Gaborik with the money saved from trading Scott Gomez.
Let Markus Naslund and Lauri Korpikoski go.

Questions going into 2009-2010:
How many games will oft-injured Marian Gaborik play?
Can Henrik Lundquist's keep this team in playoff contention even with a weak defense?
How will the team respond to a full season under John Tortorella?
Does the rest of the league realize that they can torch Hank Lundquist's glove hand by now?
Will Hobey winner Matt Gilroy and former 1st rounder Bobby Sanguinetti help the thin defense? What will happen to Brandon Dubinsky? Is he singed for 2009-10?
Which high-priced player gets booed in MSG first - Kotalik, Rosival, Redden, Drury or Gaborik?

Poised for a breakout season:
Chris Higgins. He's a Long Island native and NYC will love his game. 30 goals this year.

I'm sure he's a great guy but:
Joe Micheletti is a dreadful color analyst. Keeping him around is the worst mistake MSG has made since they stopped serving Bud Ice.

If you had to buy one Ranger sweater:
Blue Drury. It tells people that you are pretty reliable and always in a position to win.
I think Scotty found a white, misspelled, Straka jersey in his apartment this summer. I may have dreamed this.
I know his gf's parents bought him an Avery jersey for Christmas because they knew that he was a big hockey fan. They're from Kentucky so it was a good try and a nice thought.

Is this former Ranger Ron Duguay or rocker Jon Bon Jovi?



Player whose game you sneaky like:
Donald Brashear has a pretty good shot when he gets it off and has more a better stick than your typical tough guy. Plus he's a top 3 heavyweight.

Something that only interests me and a few others:
Roster hopeful Dane Byers is cousins with former Bruin badass Lyndon Byers

Old guys:
Brashear is 37
Prospal is 34
Drury is 33
Redden is 32
The "Potvin Sucks" cheer should have died 15 years ago.

Young guys:
Dubi is 23
Marc Staal is 22

Tough guys:
Avery plays tough, Higgins and Callahan finish checks, Voros is scrappy and Brashear is a beast.

Interesting:
The Rangers practice facility keeps cups full of cough drops on the bench because Jagr used to like to eat them while skating.

Nostalgia:
Either chubby Chris Drury pitching Trumbell, CT to a LLWS title or the 2Man interviewing Patty Riss in a bathroom.

NHL 94 players:
Messier, Gartner and Tikkanen starting up front. Beezer in net.
Brian Leetch rated 76 was a crime.

YouTube:
Our Penguin Ulf tries to steal a broken Lundquist stick and gets in trouble with Aaron Voros.


- Nemmy

What you missed last night because you were taken hostage by Somali pirates

Senators beat the Bruins, 3-2: Dany Heatleys rush that hit the post - Heater, cut and jumped in between 2 Boston d-men. When he was on his back he managed to lift the puck over Manny Fernandez's shoulder only to be denied by the cross bar. Also Sen's coach Clouston got extended for 2 years - so he'll be fired next January?

Rangers beat the Canadiens, 3-1: Drury's 1st goal - It was kind of a broken play and Drury just turned and fired it on net and the puck went by Carey Price. Price's reaction was priceless (sorry) as he couldn't believe Drury found room. It wasn't a snipe, but it just shows pure skill and instinct.

Canucks beat the Flames, 4-1: Iginla's goal - All the Nuck goals were of the ugly, bouncy variety. Jarome was behind the net, practically, got the puck off his skate and onto his stick and in the net in the time it takes to look at cleavage and then look away.

Kings beat the Oilers, 2-1: The fights - Super tall rookie Brian Boyle had a nice scrap with much shorter Theo Peckham. Penner fought Johnson - meh. Later Zach Stortini fought Ratis Ivanis.

Wild beat the Stars, 3-1: Gaborik's goal - Overall, Marian had a great game, adding 2 assists to his goal. But the goal was nice, because of the patience and pass of Andrew Brunnette.

Blues beat the Coyotes, 5-1: Tkachuk's goal - Honestly, Bryzgalov was brutal and he gave the puck away to Tkachuk. But Tkachuk didn't just fire it on net. He waited, found the room and fired it upstairs. It was Mr. W-esque.

Maple Leafs win over the Devils, 4-1: Taylor Hanson's first goal - Li'l Hanson drove to the net and got his first ever NHL goal. Got to love that.

Blackhawks beat the Predators, 4-2: Toews snipe - First of all it was bar-and-in. I love that. Second of all there are few players who if you give room coming over the blue line can beat a keeper with a wrist shot. I hope Toews turns into one of those players.

Penguins win over the Lightning, 5-3: Crosby's first goal - There was a great camera angle for this goal. Crosby's one-time were perfectly placed, just inside the post. Rammo had no shot.

Sharks win over the Avalanche in the shoot-0ut, 1-0: Peter Budaj - His best save was the one he had where he robbed JR. He moved across and then got the glove up enough to beat JR one-timer attempt in front.

Capitals beat the Thrashers, 4-2: Caps backhand goals - Both Kozlov and Semin had sweet backhand goals. Kozlov's was in tight and Semin's was on a breakaway.

Hurricanes shut-out the Islanders 9-0: Its not even fair to talk about this game, but Staal did have a hat trick.

Flyers beat the Panthers, 2-1: Hartnell's cross-check - Carter got the goal, but it doesn't happen with out the ref missing that call.

Leonard and his hunt for value down the home stretch

Feeling a bit betwixt and confused after his sizeable loss in natural gas futures, Leonard found himself one morning on a dirty lenoleum floor with zero recollection of his indulgences the night before. As usual after accepting defeat in his investments, Leonard would often grab a Stone Temple Pilots album and head south to the heartland to imbibe unhealthy amounts of spirits with his comrade Camille.
Forgetting about a saddlebags investment in a commodity, they engaged in heated discussions about value down the stretch. Many names were thrown around. It was here, in these discussions about the game of hockey that Leonard would find himself. They came up with the following certainties, that seemed rational at the time, however we will look at them a bit closer now in a more sober light.

Obviously hilarity ensued when Bill Nertin was brought up because, well because Leonard found it funny to say Bill Nertin. They agreed that Owen Nolan was playing well leading the Gabby-less Wild down the stretch. With Gaborik back, they concluded that Andrew Brunette's value along with Owen would receive a boost. When Koivu returns, this team gets into the playoffs.

Weak and powerless Nemy. Buy the dips people!

Camille made mention of recent volume up in Toronto. Mikhail Grabovski and his recent stretch of 5 goals, 6 assists in the last 7 games. More room now for this guy up front with no Dominic Moore. Even CUJO was tossed around with Gerber attacking referees, you could squeeze some CuJo juice out over the next few if you need a keeper for the head to head playoffs or something. Poopy but you know!

Leonard made mention of Sam Gagner with 15 points in his last 11 games and Camille threw up all over Leonard's cousin Allan Marcus who happens to be a British Op in town for a convention. He wasn't amused yet Leonard wet himself over what had happened.

Leonard's cousin Allan on a "supposed" secret assasination mission in the Falkan Islands in December of '05.

They got a good laugh over Brad Richards and his return to the IR after a brief stint of action. Sometimes you have to just hang it up. Camille explained to Leonard that had he cut his losses in Natural Gas, he might still have the Porsche along with a higher end bottle of liquor but Leonard did not believe in an 8% sell rule and bet the farm at the wrong time.

Jason Williams, came up and his peppering gamelog over the last 15 games could be a hell of a lot worse. Probably available in every league and may provide hairline value down the stretch.
Don't you find it funny that Billy featured here from the movie Predator, along with Jesse the body and Arnold Sioux City Schwartz are all politically elevated individuals now. Yes this man is like a Senator or something now. Crazy!

Tomas Holmstrom is fully back now and they are playing the Islanders tomorrow night. That might be free points if you pick him up for the night and drop maybe Rich Peverley or something because people, stop with Rich Peverley.

The meeting down south with Camille brought comfort, solace, reassurance and one of the nastiest hang-overs ever for Leonard. Those hang-overs, when you get up and get a meatball sub from Subway and feel sooo much worse after. Than you hit the pipe and pass out from inability to exercise even the slightest hinting of a coherent thought.

In closing, Leonard met up with Bridget Moynahan on his private jet back to Heathrow and they discussed international intrigue and hairline encounters. That led them to some chilled Chardonnay which pointed them toward the bottle of Patrone in the Captain's lockbox which well, we all know how the remaining 2 hours of the flight were spent.

- Narzell ( A fly on the wall in Leonard's travels)

Mario Lemiuex's Best Season was 199 points.

Nobody could find him that 200th point? Really? So Gretzky is the only one with that mark? Ahh whatever. Sidney Crosby in my video game season has 230 points in 63 games. Get some!!!!!!!


Alright, alright so I'm a Lebowski, your a Lebowski! On to other news. Finding value in a bear market correction. Where should you position yourself going forward into next season. Please have fun with these and don't put too much seriousness alongside it.


Well for starters, Vinny Lecavalier. Not even going to be points per game this year. Over 100 two years ago and 92 last season. You will be getting him at a good value and not too early in the draft. Vinny is Vinny! Tampa really cannot do much worse than they did this year so a nice little bottom may form with limited downside and massive upside.

AFAM - Almost Family Inc. Great nursing home play that was a favorite since the summer that has been pissed on as of late along with everything else other than gold, jeez. Might be starting another leg down but when and if the market continues some strength or the selling stops for at least a little bit you will have time to grab this thing because it won't move too closely with the overall market. Great revenue growth and old people will always need some help.

Danny Briere had 95 points two years ago and 72 last season. With that nagging injury he had, he will be taken freely om the open market at basement prices next draft. Don't forget him. Soooo much powerplay juice on that dynamic Philly unit. His flow is gone for this season but next season I think he grabs 70 points at the least.

MTN - Vail Mountain Resorts. A leisure time stock that without a doubt has gotten slammed from the recession. They declared a slow down obviosuly in their last call but I see potential, "POTENTIAL" double bottom in place around 14/15 bucks. Another stock that doesn't necessarily have to follow the overall market but with job layoffs and lower levels of money floating around the globe, people will go on less trips and so forth. The thing about Vail is it's customer loyalty and base of WEALTHY consumers. I mean yes the wealthy have been slammed but I was there a month ago and it was packed. I wouldn't grab it at 20 here but throw it on your screens.



Marian Gaborik - 66 points in 65 games three years ago followed by 57 points in 48 games the next season and 80 plus last season. This is when you grab Gabby. When there is NO downside after a season like this, if you can grab him 5th round and beyond you are robbing your league blind. Because at the worst is probably 60 points if he plays two thirds of the season which is highly likely but when you get him off a year like this when he is skiing in Vail with A-Rod nursing their injuries, you clean up and win leagues. brad and I will be watching each other closely next season to see who bites first and in which round. Bradly, I'll take him in the roto league, you get him in the head to head league so we hedge ourselves out.

JOYG - Joy Global juice, put on my map by Nemy awhile ago. Great company. Construction and machinery company that produces the equipment to extract coal out of the ground. EPS came in 3% better than expected by the street with year over year revenue growth of 40% which is huge in this doggard economy especially with construction and commodities. However with the fed buying America and injecting so much coin into the economy, Gold and all commodities in general should move up as the US dollar gets rammed in the ass. $20 stock that I feel could easily move back to the $40 area. Again, very tough to judge with the way of the overall market right now. BUCY, a competitor is even cheaper but I don't think quite as solid a company as JOYG but something to keep an eye on. This WILL follow the overall market so exposure is more dangerous but it has just been pampered.

Dany HEAT - 65 points right now in 70 games and is another victim of the credit crunch. Playing with Spezza, he is a lock next season for at least 45 goals and most likely will get back on pace with 50 goals. Soo much value next season with Heat. If you can get him in the second round you are outright stealing. Get some!

Heat Man from Mega Man 2



PG - Proctor & Gamble. You have all heard of this decaying titan. Probably could still get a little bit cheaper but has definitely come off a significant amount. Not as much value here as Dany Heatley will give you but again if the market even holds here, not even necessarily goes up, there can be upside. People will always need soap and toilet paper. It's a no brainer. Look for mainstay values at this point, I mean MSFT is at 17 bucks and GE is at 10. I'm too tired.


Jeff Carter - You have to talk about this guy. Looking at 80 points with near 80 pims and 800 faceoffs won at the end of this year. Will he duplicate this season? I don't think so but it will be close enough. Matty just sharted! To be honest, I am not taking him in the first or second round. I am going after Heat or Vinny or someone with a more proven track record. Plus Briere comes back for a full go next season and may take some juice away from him. Stay long Jeffrey Carter though because he is young and can score. He walked around Bergeron a few weeks ago like Matty would do in a St. Patty's Day Tourney to someone lesser than himself.
NFLX - I say you buy continued strength as you buy Jeff Carter however if we really need to be serious which we do because it's money, NFLX is at all-time highs and the market is poopy shawn. You have to say something about that conundrum. However many on the street see that as a sign of massive strength. Year over year revenue growth of almost 20%. If the market keeps up its bounce or begins an all out recovery, a strong stock through weakness is seen as a god. Personally, don't fight the trend but I feel that this is due for a rest. They offer a great product and I use their service. Blockbuster is finished apparently so stay long and strong if you must.


Barzell