What you missed last night because it was the first seder

I watched NHL on the Fly: Final this morning. I don't understand when they have game highlights, but without commentary. And why did they have the radio guy only for the Panthers game. At least I got to hear some of his awesome pop-culture goal calls.

Hurricanes beat the Thrashers, 4-1: In short, Cam Ward is back and played well.

Sabres beat the Bruins, 3-2: Its a good thing Nemmy is on vacation.

Predators beat the Panthers in OT, 3-2: Randy Moller called one goal by saying, "but look at his hair!" I don't get it either.

Ducks beat the Stars, 3-1: Selanne got a cool plaque for goal 600.

Wild beat the Kings, 3-2: That sound you hear is everyone jumping off the Kings bandwagon.

An even more boring summer work day

But the news today is the official retirement announcement of Burnaby Joe. What can you say but raise your glass of Pinot, Jack, Gin or Juice in high praise of this once mighty super power. In my opinion Joe Sakic represents the land of America when factories were booming during World War II. He represents all that is a mid-stride toe tuck top shelf. He portaits me mashed up with Wendel, Nemy and Mac pounding Absolut to our faces. What a player!

625 goals 1,016 assists and up there on the all time list. Put up a hundo even in his 37th year on the planet. That is sick. I wish the snowblower didn't fully ruin last season because I would have liked to see a 60-70 pt. final Joe run. Hoisted the cup twice, got some lady Bing action and was 1000 at all times. Remember the Colorado team that never was. Sakic, Kariya, Selanne, Forsberg, Tanguay, Hejduk. I wish that team was healthy for a full season.

Last night on the opposing team we played there's this kid that I thought...don't quote me but I am pretty sure he has called me this and I thought he said this last night again. He called someone a 'tit.' Like a real serious pasty mean quiet person. Good defenseman but weird in a weird way. I actually heard from someone that he rode the bench for four years at Michigan on their D1 squad. That's fucked up dude. I met some of my best friends forever by playing and bonding with them over my college tenure. The point of the story is that I asked him last night if I could use the phrase 'Tit' because I liked it. He was confused...Nemy just kept laughing on the bench. I was serious. He's the complete opposite of Burnaby Joe and what he stood for.

Congrats to Sakic on his accomplished career as an athlete. His combination of skill, class and leadership are a rarity in sports today and will always be remembered on the ice.

- Barbone

What you missed last night

Canucks beat the Blackhawks, 3-1 (VAN leads series 2-1): Hey, Chicago, you are allowed to score first. I just wanted to give you the heads up. Its kind of a problem, but another problem is Dustin Byfuglien being your best player. Brian Campbell did about 17 spin moves in the third period. How come only Shane O Brian laid him out?


Ducks beat the Red Wings, 2-1 (ANH leads series 2-1): Man oh man, do the Wings miss Rafalski. I'm not sure what Rafalski would add specifically, but I do know he could probably catch up to Teemu Selanne. Chris Chelios, not so much. Please don't call Scott Niedermayer a defenseman. Did you see how he scored his goal - crashing the net. He's a rover.

What you missed last night while taking the best naps ever on LIRR

As always on Wednesdays, I'll pick one thing from each game you needed not to miss.

Ducks beat the Oilers, 5-3: MacT's bonehead move - Taking a page from Ron Wilson's book, MacT tried to get a late power play by getting Teemu Selanne's stick measured. Yea, it was legal. MacT's move put the Oilers down a man, when they were already down a goal. Maybe Wilson will hire him as an assistant in Toronto.

Canucks beat the Wild in OT, 2-1: Henrik's GWG - Daniel led the rush and went parrallel to the blue line to make the drop pass to his brother. It seemed like the other two Canucks were crashing the net, so its a good thing the shot got through. I don't know where it beat Backstrom, but it did and the Nucks won.

Canadiens win over the Hawks, 4-1: Kovalev's first goal - It was an egregious give away by the Hawks d-man, but there was no hesitation from Kovalev when he put the puck in far side on the tight angle.

Panthers beat the Senators, 5-2: Cory Stillman's backhand sauce - It led to the first Florida goal, so its important. Stillman was on what appeared to be a solo rush down the wing, but with great vision comes great responsibility and when he saw Nathan Horton cruising the slot alone, he knew he need to get him the puck. And thats when the little flick of wrists caused the puck to jump and then land flatly for Horton.

Bruins beat the Lightning 4-1: Bergeron's pass to Chara - I know its a set play, but to find that seem so quickly is impressive. Also, Chara has to time it well. I also like how Chara has to get into a squat position to celebrate with Patrice.

BJs beat the Predators, 2-1: Nash's power move - He didn't score, but he consistently beats the d-man and gets a shot on net. Every d-man in the league thinks he has the angle on Nash, but then that big left leg comes about and you are done.

Stars beat the Kings, 3-2: No reason to watch this game.

What you missed last night while you were making some last minute changes to your bracket

Flames beat the Stars, 2-1: After pretty much sucking on their long-ass road trip, the Flames returned home with a win. Eric Nystrom had the GWG. The goal was a nice wrist shot, but the play to keep the puck alive and onsides was awesome. With one hand, Dustin Boyd swept the puck to Nystrom who beat Turco.

BJs win over the Hawks in OT, 4-3: Currently, the Blue Jackets sit 6th in the west, meaning if the play-offs started today, they would face Calgary. I don't want the BJs to be a one(series)-and-done team, so I don't like that match up. Anyway in last nights game all the young kids scored. Patrick Kane off a great feed. Toews out-battled the BJ defender in front. And Nash scored a silly goal, that was equally silly and impressive (watch the overhead replay). Antoine Vermette scored the game winner when he outraced Brian Campbell and got to a pass and beat Huet in the 7-hole.

Hurricanes beat the Devils, 4-2: Sports Illustrated talks about how Erik Cole really changed or made the same again the dynamic in Carolina. Granted the Devils were coming off an emotional home game, but the Hurricanes have a lot of jump and now depth.

Ducks beat the Predators, in OT, 4-3: Bobby Ryan had a great power play goal - he found the rebound and then a sneaky little drag to get room to roof the puck. Selanne had the game winner in OT, when he deflected, on his backhand, the pass-shot from Pronger