what you missed last night while you were flipping over taxis

Canucks beat the Hawks, 3-2: The Hawks had this game and then Willie Mitchell stepped out of the box and lit up John Toews. Clean hit, but unfortunate for the Hawks. It rattled the team and I guess goalie Anti Niemmi. The game-tyer and game winner were low stick side saveable shots (alliteration!). Cheesy line of the night from Ray Ferraro, after the play-by-play guy talked about the crowd cheering for Niemmi, "They're not anti Niemmi, they're pro-Niemmi." Meh.

Islanders beat the Hurricanes in the shoot-out, 4-3: I predicted a shoot-out loss for the Isles after the 2nd period when they were up by 2 goals. I guess I'm happy I was wrong. I really like Eric Staal's goal - making sure he put that puck in the open net. All three Isle's shoot-out goals were sweet and different: The Truth's snipe, the danish prince went top cheese on the back hand, and the future (patent pending) had a nice move, bar and in on the forehand.

Stars beat the Ducks, 4-2: Are the cameras at the Honda Center the farthest away in the league? I hate watching games on TV from there. It's like I'm pretty much overhead. Anyway, both goalies gave up goals by misplaying the puck.

Bruins beat the Predators, 3-2: This is the kind of game the Bruins are going to have to play with Savaard and Lucic out. All the goals were dirty, garbage goals. I loved it.

Sabres run over the Panthers, 5-2: Surprisingly, Bryan McCabe was NOT a minus 5 in this game.

Wild beat the Avalanche 3-2 in the shoot-out: How sweet are those Minny third jerseys? It was fun watching Boogard beat up Koci in one. It made the fight a bit more classy. Koivu's game tyer was a great tip, but I think the shot-pass was intended for the far post.

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

Weekend Wrap Up OR What I missed because my DVR failed to record any NHL: On the Fly

So even though I should have been able to see highlights from the 20 or so games this weekend, I only caught 2 full games instead. I watched the Hawks embarrass the Panthers in front of a less than capacity crowd of Finlanders. And The 2 Man went to the Islanders home opener and chatted with Brent Johnson (not on film), while the Islanders lost in the shoot-out.

For the Islander game, we lucked out with the weather. It was pouring as we crawled along in traffic on the LIE, but just as pulled into the parking lot, it cleared up (relatively) and we got some great footage.

Some thoughts from the game:

Sidney Crosby is great and again just wants to put his team on his back. He scored twice on Rolosson (once in the shoot out), by going five-hole.

Tim Jackman knows when to fight. This happened shortly after Crosby put the Pens up 1-0.



Tavares got is first goal. I'm sure he'll have many more from that about area. Watch Trent Hunter get the puck for him.




So thats all I really got for this first weekend wrap-up. Yea I saw Khabibulin's fuck up. And I learned you never, ever fight Milan Lucic.





Tell me what I missed.

-Bress

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.

Crib Notes - New York Islanders

New York Islanders
Lost backup goaltender Yann Denis to New Jersey via free agency
Resigned Blake Comeau and Doug Weight
Signed both Dwayne Roloson and Martin Biron via free agency
Drafted John Tavares #1 overall at last year's draft

Questions going into 2009-2010:
Will the Isles get a new stadium built?
Is owner Charles Wang bluffing about moving the team?
Are John Tavares, Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey enough to put bring fans back to Nassau Coliseum?
Will Rick DiPietro play this season?
If he is on his comeback schedule why did mgmt sign two potential starting goalies?
Can they do any worse than last season?
Will the Isles bring the 2Man back for another season of web video magic?

Poised for a breakout season:
Kyle Okposo was a bright spot last season. I expect this kid to make the a leap this year as long as he stays away from the bacon cheeseburgers.

If you had to buy one Islanders sweater:
Bress has a sick Pat LaFontaine throwback. Scotty has a few great ones including a dark blue Guerin and a (sleeveless?) pastel fisherman. I would get the blue throwback Weight jersey as soon as he gets named captain. I would tuck it into one side of my sweats and spend my day dangling.

Player whose game you sneaky like:
If I had a kid who was just starting to skate I would sit him down and make him watch every Richard Park shift. If the kid acted up I would make him watch the rest of the games as punishment.

Reason for jumping on the Islander bandwagon:
Team can't get any worse from here. Tavares, Okposo and Bailey will be future stars.

Reason for avoiding this bandwagon:
They might move once their lease is up. Kansas City Islanders? Queensboro Islanders?

Old guys:
Weight is 38
Park is 33
Andy Sutton and Brendan Witt are both 34
Dwayne Roloson is 39

Young guys:
Everyone else

Tough guys:
Joel "the Wrecker" Rechlicz, Jeremy Reich and Andy Sutton hit and fight. Hopefully Reich and the Wrecker make the squad.
Brendan Witt is old school.

Interesting?:
Fan favorite Tim Jackman was born in Minot, ND, the same town as Josh Duhamel, the guy from Transformers who is dating/married to Fergie.

Sneaky cool part of last year's training camp for the 2Man:
Nursing a hangover in the rink and having Eric Cairns come sit next to us to ask us about our night. All Scotty wanted to do was say, "who cares what bar we ended up at! Tell us about beating up Shayne Corson"

Nostalgia:
Garth Snow is the GM, Bryan Trottier, Ken Morrow, Dean Chynoweth, Mike Dunham, Eric Carins, and Steve Webb all have various roles in the organization. Somehow Scott Lachance is a scout for the Devils.

NHL 94 players:
Pierre Turgeon, Benoit Hogue and Steve Thomas up front
Vladimir Malakhov and Darius Kasparaitis on D and Glenn Healy in net.
David Volek was rated a 60 while his helmet tallied a 98.

YouTube:
The single greatest interview icebreaker in the history of tv. Seriously, the next time you are nervous at an interview or something just imagine your future boss hatching out of a garbage can.



- Nemmy

Late Weekend Wrap Up OR Its not a Free Agent Preview

Thank goodness the Islanders took John Tavares. I would have been happy with Victor Hedman, and I probably could have sold myself on Matt Duchene. But, it had to be Tavares. I'll call his stat line for next year right now:

32-41-73


I d0n't have much other insight into any other draft picks. It was fun to watch Burke being so pissed when the Kings took the younger Schenn. I was surprised that he (Burke) took Kadri, who's small and had a less than stellar year.

I really really wanted the Islanders to take Ray Ferraro's son in the second round, but they went with a goalkeeper, which I guess make sense.

The Pronger deal was the best hockey trade in a long time. Pronger is perfect for Philly and the Ducks just restocked for another run. Imagine what they'll get for Giguere. I think they are a sneaky pick for Western Conference champs.



Free agency opens tomorrow and I'm excited to see where players go, but have no high expectations for any of the tri-state teams.
I could make wild predictions, but I won't.

Who do you want your team to sign?


-Bress

What you missed last night because you were listening to Gary Thorne call the Frozen Four

Sorry for the delay, a bit busy on the desk this morning. Also, I really didn't watch any NHL last night, so these haikus might be random.


Canucks shut-out the Kings, 1-0:
A soccer score with
the captain having a shut-out.
Dangerous in May?

Bruins beat the Canadiens in OT, 5-4:
I would love to see
this as another first round
match-up. Lots of blood!

Rangers beat the Flyers, 2-1:
Rangers are in - great.
Flyers lost, but still party
at Mirage. Right Zimm?

Panthers beat the Thrashers, 3-2:
Say goodbye to the
Bouwmeaster. They needed to
beat the Thrashers more.

Predators beat the Red Wings in the shoot-out, 4-3:
No one wants to see
this as a first round match up.
Preds tease and then lose.

Coyotes beat the Sharks, 4-1:
Montoya has a
bad-ass mask and a sick goals
against already.

Penguins win over the Islanders, 6-1:
Long Island ladies
get ready to look up at
Mr. Tavares.

Devils win over the Senators, in the shoot-out, 3-2:
Is Marty back on
his game? The Devils went bust
to soon. Still cup faves?

Capitals beat the Lightning, 4-2:
Will Theodore be
able to carry the Caps
into second round?

Sabres beat the Hurricanes, 5-1:
No Buffalo in
this years play-offs. Are Canes still
hot? Only time tells.

Stars win over the Avalanche in the shoot-out, 3-2:
The next goalie to
face Ribiero should just come
out and punch him. BAM!