Who do you call at that point...has to be Gretz

How ridiculous does Bridget Moynihan look here. Tha might be the sexiest photo I have ever seen. Always liked Brady's pick there.

Let's start off with some Datsyuk sneak compliments of Branis's eye.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93bpmaBmYPg&p=AEB1C2D63CFC884A&playnext=1&index=51

sorry couldn't get the embedding with my browser but watch sneaky pavel with some behind the backness, gettin the joints loosy-goosy.

So last night I saw Ovy do such a sneaky thing, that I never thought about. In the NHL as in men's league for all us idiots you can't make a change when you ice the puck. I like this rule because it forces teams to deal with a break-out or gives the other team a chance to capitalize on a tired line in their zone. Ovy stayed out for an entire powerplay last night and should have gotten off with 10 seconds left in it when they broke it out, however he did not and they got caught in their zone. They could not get it out so Ovy iced it because he was dead tired. Now in men's league when this happens, I am like shit I am so tired and now I have to deal with clearing it or breaking it out and I am so tired. Ovy used his brain and realized, hey we need some more rest so they won the next draw and Ovy iced it again to give him and the boys a bit more time to re-group. They wound up taking a penalty anyway but a smart heads up (capacity utilization move) by OV to by some rest time. Really thinking outside the box.

Artem he does look like a Russian Mig fighter jet pilot out there from Top Gun.
There was a back to back Kyle Brodziak goal situation in the Minnesota game and the San Jose box score had a back to back Joey Pavelski assists from Heater and Marlenis.

Dany Sedin keeps throwin ppg's into the kitty and Kelsey Grammar's new girlfriend already mis-carried on a child. I love that man.

Sean Bergenheim had a breakaway goal and Dp played it perfectly and than had a short-handed situation against DP that DP said no to thank god. That would be the last thing we need is a win streak stopped because Doug Weight keeps getting roasted on the powerplay blue-line and a guy that never did anything for us comes out and scores a shorthanded game winner in our eye.

If any of you have not heard about or seen the Isles finish last night in overtime. Matty Mouls-juice is just being Matty Mouls. He may have 37 goals this year. Yes I have Gloria Estefan on while I write so hold on.

The isles are......well.....ok....but please this Doug Weight thing at the point...I get it but he is just too slow to catch people that break the other way. Remember when DP bailed out Dougy when he pulled Gaborik down and gave him a penalty shot. Dp bailed him out once at least with Bergenheim last night. I mean come on now. I love Dougy but we need at least another speedy D man that can cover when this happens.

Matt Cullen is a mule deer right now. An absolute minotaur. Well maybe he's not Arnold of the NHL right now, that may go to Hossa or the Kid or Stamkos but Cullen may finally have a break out season with all those sneaky guys in Minnesota.

We added hits to our fantasy leagues this year. Really puts much more emphasis on players that previously had been discarded in the trash can or places more emphasis on bruisers like Downie and Morrow. OVY is almost unfair in a league with hits because he gets 200 hits on top of everything else he does. I thought he was going to score 20 game winners at one point this season but Boston put him and the Caps in their place. BErgeron missed an empty net short handed goal in the first game for me. Come on dude. I needed that one.

Which brings me to my final point. The Isles goal in overtime went to video review. The longest review ever. If you saw the goal...it trickled off Ellis's back and he swung his glove around and caught the puck shoving it out of the net. It never actually hit the ground but it crossed the goal line plane in mid-air. I think they were consulting the hockey grail as to whether or not this counts as crossing the line. Who should they call in the event that someone had to make that precedent right than if there wasn't one. Does it have to hit the floor or can it just cross the plane in air without touching net and be pulled out? You woudl have to theoretically call Gretz no? He would have to stamp it as the supreme court justice of the land. Right? Maybe a panel of Gretz, Mess and Yzerman with Roenick cooking food in the background adding a little say.

Stay long Clark MacT and give him a chance to fully squeeze out all short positions against him this season. Stevey Sulls was interesting but I just can't tell. I'm long a little Tommy Kopecky playing with Fuegas Hossa right now. Buy the Kesler dip and pile into the Dallas Stars this season...everyone from Lehtonen to Jamie Benn. I have Steve Downie in all three of my leagues. He is going to just add so much value to your squad this season playing with Stamkos and collecting pims like crazy. He will re-define the word Arabian for me this year.

Remember the end goal of life is to sell someone this hard at least one point.

Thats enough for now.

Barzelli

Question

This one comes in from reader MPH who asks,




"Is it me or is Wayne Gretzky looking more and more like Tim Russert?"



What up with that?

- Nemmy

One week to go: A short wrap up

Real, meaningful, hockey games start in less than a week. I've been barely keeping up with whatever pre-season games are shown on TV.

Did anyone catch the Leafs/Sabres game the other night on the NHL Network. It was in Buffalo at HSBC Arena, but I couldn't figure that out for a bit, because the boards had no ads. They were stark white. Also, Miller and a Sabres skater were wearing helmet cams. Of course, I didn't see one replay from those vantage points.

I watched John Tavares' debut on Long Island, versus the Devils. He didn't unimpress me. He actually made nicer plays on the defensive end, instead of showing off his offensive hops. Maybe he's saving that for the regular season.

Last night after the U2 concert, I caught the replay of the Capitals/Rangers game. Brashear and Sugden had 2 fights, but round 2 was solid.



Also, Brandon Dubinsky made a great play to set up the eventual game winner. Smart move by both sides to end that stand-off.


Gretzky stepped down and Dave Tippet got the job. Great trade off for the Coyotes. Gretzky was a great name and a not-so-great coach. Tippet is a proven winner. He's just go to teach the kids and get an everyone is against us attitude in the locker room.

Wayne Gretzky's Helmet

I’m blogging later than usual because I was out all morning with an apartment move. I personally wasn’t doing any of the moving; I was in the supervisory role making sure that the two gentlemen from this moving company didn’t damage my limited edition Eddie Van Halen painting. Long story short: one of the guys was carrying out my street hockey stick to the truck and asked if I played pro hockey. Obviously this guy wasn’t a big fan of the NHL but I didn’t lie (though I really wanted to) and told him that we play old man hockey over at Chelsea Piers. Then, out of nowhere, this guy goes:

“Wayne Gretzky used to play on the Rangers. He wore such a small helmet”.


Wait what? I mean, yeah, he did wear that ridiculous Jofa that was so weak that I wouldn’t prevent a concussion from a cumshot but where did that comment come from? The subject of hockey comes up and he brings up Gretzky’s helmet?? This guy spouted out the first random hockey thought that popped in his head. I felt like I was hanging out with Scotty. It was fantastic.

But this got me thinking about that helmet. I mean that Jofa worn by Gretzky, Kurri and McSoreley among others was a complete joke. The doo-rag under Kelly Hrudy’s goalie cage offered as much protection as this thing. My father has one that he wears when he coaches house league. I tried it on one time and I gotta tell you I would feel safer wearing a yarmulke and some Dep. (I had to wiki ‘yarmulke’ for that one. Hope it was worth it.) McSoreley had to have some set of balls to get into fights knowing that he had only a thin layer of plastic between his head and some guy’s fist.

The sickest helmets are the old Coopers that Kelly Buchberger and Messier used to wear. They had those hard plastic wings on the side that would probably break your arm if you punched them.
Osgood still wears one when he’s in the net trying to sabotage the Wings’ season. The geniuses who made Tron featured these guys prominently. The difference between Messier and Gretzky’s brain protection was like the difference between Mark Messier and Joby Messier. Didn’t any of the Oilers say to Wayne, “Hey man, can you wear something a little more durable? You’re our best player and that Jofa scares the shit out of me”.

On the next level of helmet sickness are the lids that are tricked out to have the durable chin straps. Kris King, Jim Mackenzie and Tony Twist used to rock these back in the day.

These were regular helmets but instead of the weaker plastic loops near the ears they had thick –ass cloth ear and chin straps made out of the same material as the straps that weight lifters use. I have no idea where to get one of these but I imagine they are only for the toughest of guys who hate having their straps ripped off during a scrap. Do they have a name? Scrap straps? I just made that up.
Finally the most badass level of helmet sickness was the lid that Jim Cummins wore that was the Tron-style Copper joint with the leather straps. He drove the Humvee on his head and then got it up-armored for his style of play. If anyone remembers how Jim Cummins fought it’s not surprise that he needed this level of protection. He ate more punches than he gave out.

This picture is tits.

Randomness: Is David Volek’s helmet in the Hall yet? The retarded things that Mike Foligno and Lanny McDonald wore were in style back in the day but Volek’s lid was never cool. Volek stands alone and if his helmet doesn’t have its own wing in Toronto then we need to make some calls immediately.
Let’s go UConn. Get well, Calhoun.

-Nemmy