Thomas the Tank Engine

"I hope I win 20 games in a row and shove it up their you know what"

- Nemmy

Weekend Wrap Up OR "Wheeling it" means trying to take a girl home

The Oilers cannot catch a break. Friday night, Sam Gagner ties it up with a little over a minuter remaining. And fans start thinking, maybe, just maybe, this will get the Oil some much needed confidence. Nope. Because James Neal won the game for the Stars. In regulation.



The Rangers got shut out. Again. On Saturday. There were some nice goals from Canadiens. Cammalleri score 2, high glove. But my favorites are this tip from Poulet



And this sill backhand from Plekanic:




Daniel Carcillo, showing flashes of offense against the Hurricanes:


Tim Thomas always gives full effort, but sometimes, he looks patently ridiculous:



Maybe he should have just covered that puck up.

What did I miss?

-Bress

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 -

Weekend Wrap Up OR If you have to wake up in the middle of the night to poop, that can't be good

On Friday night, Tim Thomas broke his stick after a shoot-out loss. All is good in the world.

On Saturday night this hit happened:


Its a clean hit. A really really good, clean hit.

Ovechkin had 2 goals saturday night. This one is silly.



He had zero angle on that rebound and took a freaking slap shot!

This is a power move. Its from last nights Blues/Canucks game




What did I miss?

-Bress

Weekend Wrap Up OR Do kids these days know what a trapper-keeper is?

I've been MIA on this and some recaps the past few weeks. Truth is, I'm actually getting crushed at work. I never experienced that before, so give me some time to recalibrate. Also, I'm going on my first non-hockey-related since 2004 tomorrow, so the recalibration won't actually start until after Thanksgiving.

Onto the games...

Tavares' first goal Friday night is sneakier more impressive than you'd like admit.



Its the veteran savvy to wait for the puck to come down below the crossbar and then the sweet hand-eye coordination to actually pull it off.

And then there was this move:



Ok, its not a move, but impressive that Nash composed himself to finish. And the reverse motorcycle kick might have stunned Giguere.


So maybe Giggy was embarrassed, but not as much as Luke Schenn was here:





So, that was all on Friday.

Saturday, had the game of the weekend - Bruins v Penguins



Crosby going to the net opens up the passing lane and Guerin beats Thomas.


2 players had hat-tricks Saturday night - Zetterberg and Sedin (I don't know which one). None of the 6 goals were really "highlight worthy"

There were a few games yesterday - the best goal came from Maxim.

Its a great pass and a tough finish.




So, what'd I miss?

-Bress

Happy Friday

I'm just going to see where this one takes me.

I know many people are against the shootout to determine regular season winners. BUT if you spent money to go watch the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers battle to a 0-0tie at the end of regulation I think you deserve to see a little show at the end. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy defensive battles and scoring chances and goalie duels. But to think that some parent spent $200+ bucks to take their kids to an ice hockey game without Savvy and Black Booth and didn't see one tally makes the shootout okay with me.

So my boss and I were partners in a company-sponsored beer pong tourney for all the credit trading guys. Everyone else was in suits and ties at Down the Hatch - yeah. Negative 1,000. Anyways since they made us partner up and sign up we thought there would be a structure and brackets and maybe a trophy. Wrong! We might as well have been drinking in Somalia. So my boss and I dominate and lose one game to 2 guys who didn't use the whole pitcher to fill their cups. I'm still salty about it. Here's my point/question:

We were down 2 cups to 1 at our final game and my boss and I go back to back hitting the final 2 cups. Now the team across from us had one cup to hit and they took their turn and one hit the final cup thinking they forced OT. Shouldn't we have gotten something for hitting back to back on the final 2 cups? I thought we should have gone again because we brought it back and if we hit a cup it would have been a walk off. It really doesn't matter because we were ossified and looking to go home. Don't get me started on people leaning over the table. If your tie is in your beer you need to step back. Why are you still wearing a tie????

Chris Neil has 60 PIM already. With some luck he'll go 250+ this season. That's why I have him on my fantasy roster. Look at his steak head. He wants to fight your mother. Every roster needs a PIM machine like Neil. You know what the difference between you and Chris Neil is? If Neil was in your seat he'd have a casein/whey mix in in that file cabinet. He wouldn't be excited for the premiere of Lopez Tonight and he wouldn't be wasting his day reading shitty hockey blogs.

I just got this email from my fiance:

"i just remembered that i really liked this song in high school. do you still want to marry me?"


Yikes

Scotty told me that the rumor floating around is that Kovy, Ovy, Gonchar, Malkin, etc. are all taking their time with injuries because they are saving themselves for Vancouver 2010. I'm sure there's nothing to it but the fact that team Russia may be up to shady ish makes this rumor awesome.

I was going to make a big deal that 2Man buddy, Vinny Bruiser picked up Jeff "the Truth" Tambellini in our fantasy league because the truth is a 2Man favorite. Vinny dropped him 4 hours after picking him up.

Who will be the first NHLer with a leaked sex tape?

92.3 used to be an awesome station in the New York area. They used to play rock music and have Howard Stern in the morning. Now it's top 40 no guitar Long Island girls with platform sandals BarNone bouncers and guys with gel drinking Corona shit. I'm at the gym from 8-9:30 a few days a week and some guy named Chunky on "92.3 Now" plays the same shit over and over. I'm sure Chunky is a good guy but every time I hear the Black Eyed Peas and Britney Spears back to back I want to break my face open.

So this kid DuckDude8 has a ton of videos on youtube where he's scoring on some goalie that is probably his little brother. The video is short and there's not much going on but I love how the goalie gets beat and stays on the ground the whole time.



Look at our current goalie options for Vancouver:
Ryan Miller leading in Save % and GAA. Timmy Thomas is tied for the lead in shutouts and Craig Anderson is tied for the lead in wins. Anderson is making everyone forget about John Quick.

Can someone explain that bear pong issue to me?

- Nemmy

What you missed last night while you were cleaning your kitchen

It's Wednesday, so its time for mid-week Monsters!

Flames shut-out the Canadiens, 1-0: Dion Phaneuf - It would be easy to put down Kipper or Iggy as the Monster for this game, but Dion really did it all (besides score). He hit, ask Kopecky or Pacioretty. He put tons of shots on net. Great game Dion. Some good fights in this game, but I still don't understand the tackle after a big clean hit. Just wait a bit and then go get the guy.

Senators beat the Oilers in the shoot-out, 4-3: Alexie Kovalev - His game can be summed up in the shift in which he assistes on Cheechoo's goal (finally). I can't ever remember Kovalev forechecking, let alone hitting a d-man, then stealing the puck and feed the slot-crashing Cheechoo. There were other spots of briliance for Kovalev, but that stood out. And he scored in the shoot-out.

Wild win over the Leafs, 5-2: Nik Backstrom - Yea, he had plenty of offensive support, but the Leafs were kind of swarming last night and Backstrom made big and impressive and timely saves.

Blues roll over the Canucks, 6-1: David Perron - kid had a hat trick, enough said.

Bruins shut-out the Penguins, 3-0: Tim Thomas - guy had the shut-out. He can really thank his post as well. There was some sort of weird carrom off the glass that somehow defied the laws of physics after hitting the post.

Sharks beat the Predators, 4-3: Dan Boyle - He got the game winner on a ridiculous rush capped off with a rocket of a shot that went bar and in.

What you missed last night while you were making last minute adjustments to your halloween costume

Oilers beat the Red Wings in the shoot-out, 6-5:
I can't believe that
Howard didn't get pulled. I
guess Osgood ain't good.

Canucks beat the Kings in the shoot-out, 2-1:
Kopitar did all
he could, but couldn't score. Nucks,
do fine with guys hurt.

Lightning beat the Senators, 5-2:
No sophomore slump for
Stamkos. Can we call it a
Sophomore step up? Slam?

Capitals beat the Thrashers, 4-3:
As long as Ovy
keeps on pace, I am happy.
50 in 50!

Coyotes shut-out the Blues, 2-o:
If the Coyotes
make the play-offs and no one
comes. Does it still count?

Devils beat the Bruins, 2-1:
Both of the Devils'
goals literally slipped through
Tim Thomas' legs

Predators shut-out the Blackhawks, 1-0:
This is a score you
hardly ever see at all
anymore. I'm done!

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

What you missed last night because you were fundraising for a 3-day breast cancer walk

Red Wings beat the Ducks 4-3, (DET wins series, 4-3): Nik Lidstrom had a sneaky bad game. He didn't clear out the front of the net or make great break out passes. Datsyuk still didn't score. And you know what - the Red Wings still won. It took a sick goal with great hand-eye coordination from Dan Cleary, but they won. Chris Osgood played pretty darn well also.

Hurricanes beat the Bruins in OT, 3-2 (CAR wins series 4-3): Well, that sucked. First of all regulation was great. Joni Pitkanin's pass to Sergei Samsonov was superb, so was Sarvard banking it off the side of the net to Lucic, whose sneaky quick hands got the puck upstairs quickly. In OT, it didn't look like the Bruins had it, but I also didn't think that Scott Walker would knock in a rebound of mid air. Nice sprint out by Tim Thomas - guess he forgot about the handshake.


I'll have the updated standings and picks in a post later today

Seriously at this point....

First off...hats off to a godly Monday night game from the two superstars of the NHL. Caps off to the both of them. Steckel was the difference. Nice goal by him though too! To be honest I really don't understand how OVY drills those shots right in the zone from way out. Puts it on the net hard with that natural Russian Force. It's really quite remarkable...Federov hesitation, Kozlov banging his stick he wants it, even though it's a tight fit...grabs it and slaps it over to OVY and BANG! Than the 4th goal with the swerve in at the line, get the d's feet moving the other way along with Fleury looking the other way than Ovy, toewy snap, hop right, toewy in wrister wide jesus christ! Fleury was like, "Really?" Than the best part of the whole game. 1000!


You can't see it clearly here but you can see the makes of it. Right after he scores, OVY jumps so hard and far into the boards that I thought they were going to shatter all over those poor caps fans. One day...seriously, mark my words in his career, he will smash the glass, and I just hope no one including him gets hurt. So much energy is Alex Ovechkin.

The 2man is in a playoff fantasy grouping in which you choose a line from the east and one from the west. From the east, we have Thomas in net with Green and Gonchar at the points and Crosby, Staal and Ovy up front. We got like 10 points from that game alone last night. Just juicing. Out of the west we went with Bobby Lu in net, Lidstrom and Niedermayer at the point and Getzlaf, Franzen and Zetterberg up front. We were torn between Staal and Savard and we basically flipped a coin if you will but I think Staal is scrapping this playoff and will take this to at least 6 games so he serves as a beautiful hedge against Bruin drought as we saw in game 2. He pumped out a goal and an assist so call Staal your ultrashort. For example while long a certain number of us equities, I am long a little TWM and SDS which go up when the market moves down. Don't ask me why these things exist. Don't ask m e why Nemy won't watch a Bruins game with us. Don't ask me why Sue Sung is in fact Sue Sung. Just listen to Billy and get pumped for Tuesday nights games.


Why is it still raining in New York? I feel like I'm with Frasier in Seattle.

And dude if your going to swing your stick in anger please watch your goalie.

- Scotty

Back to Work

Yikes. Apparently the only hole in the Bruins lineup is Marc Savard's beard. Savvy is one of the most gifted passers in the league but has a playoff beard that looks like Bressler's lower back (minus the tribal tramp stamp). Should I give him shit for the Michael Jackson facial hair or do I appreciate the fact that he's giving it everything he has? I'm not sure.

Huge game tonight with the Bruins hosting the Whale. Hopefully the layoff made the Bruins hungrier and they'll have a first period like Vancouver had last night.

You know what I was thinking about? After the Flyers were eliminated last week I politely waited a day or so to text our buddy, and Flyer fan, Matty to give my condolences. He said something to the fact that he was upset that he felt as though he wanted it more than most of the guys on the roster.

My stomach hurt when I thought about that. I know the feeling of wanting to win more than the guys you cheer for and it's the fucking worst. It's the reason why the overpaid Mets always break my heart and why I've fallen out of love with the Knicks. I'm sure it's a big reason why some people prefer college athletics to their professional counterparts.

I don't ask for much as a fan. I know my teams can't win every loose puck or always make the postseason. All I want is to root for a team that wants to win as much as I do. I cheer and worry and yell and scream and I want to be rewarded by having my team compete every shift, every night.

That's why I love this Boston squad as much as any other season's roster. Yes they've been wildly successful in the regular season and recently bounced the Canadiens in 4 but it's the effort, intensity and compete level that really make me proud. Everyone blocks shots, everyone finishes checks and everyone wants it. Up and down the roster you have guys that scratch and claw and make their fans proud. Tim Thomas looks funny hurling himself at pucks but the man has never given up on a play. The way he jets off the ice after giving up a walk-off goal? Yeah, that's how I look after they lose too. I love that about him.

Anything short of the Cup would be a letdown for this Boston team. I'll will suck if they don't get there but I know they'll stay in the hunt. Because, fuck it, if they lose I know they'll go down swinging. That's been this team's calling card all year and we even saw it in the way they hung tough in last year's postseason. Win or lose they make me proud.

Game 1 is tonight at 7:30.

Not without a fight.

Thanks for stopping by this week. Feel free to join up with our Facebook group, the friends of the 2 Man Advantage. Join up and let us know what we're doing right, wrong or not enough of.

Have a great weekend and thanks to Cornelius and his fantastic site for letting me steal that picture of Savard's lesbian beard.

- Nemmy

Weekend Wrap Up OR The return of the confusing t2MA! playoff pick game!

First of all, for Islander, King, Thrasher, Lightning, and Avalanche fans, your one-day play-off is tomorrow for the 1st overall pick. Here is my guess - the Kings get the #1 pick, then Isles, Lightning, Avs, Thrashers.

In other news, The 2 Man Advantage will be participating in a Sportsnet.ca play-off fantasy game, thing with some bloggers. We were invited by The Battle of Western Canada, so follow it there. We'll update you as well.


Heres the simple truth about the playoffs right now based on the past weekends games (in bullet format):

• Washington looks like it could be the top seed to go down. Theodore is playing worse than a blind man in a poker game. Even though the Rangers couldn't score on midget in a soccer goal, Lundqvist is on fire and hot goalies rule all in the universe known as play-off hockey.

• Speaking of hot goalies, the Flyers don't have one. Thusly, they will be beaten by the Penguins in the first round. And even if Philly somehow makes it a series, they'll regret losing that home ice advantage on the last day of the season.

• If the Montreal/Boston series could be won by getting more penalty minutes, then the Canadiens might win. Tim Thomas is a beast while Carey Price will make 2 great saves, but still give up a softie.
  
  
• Does anyone care about the Devils/Hurricanes series?

• Sharks and Ducks series will be a bruiser. In nature, the Sharks would win easily.
  
• The Red Wings looked prime for an upset if they faced any other team then the currently awfully playing BJs. Only Steve Mason can save them now.... well and Rick Nash

• Will the Flames be able to have a full roster? Do cap issues affect the post season?
  
• The St.Louis Blues are the feel-good story of the league. Unfortunately, they are facing the shut-out robot 2000 aka Roberto Luongo.
  

Finally, we will be having our own game again this year. You pick the winner of each series and how many games it will take. You get 7 points if you pick the right team and games. Its a one point deduction for each game off you are. And you are awarded zero points if you pick the wrong team. Does that make sense? Put your picks in the comments. The winner will get a t-shirt!

Here are Bress' picks:

Boston in 5
Washington in 6
New Jersey in 7
Pittsburgh in 7

San Jose in 7
Detroit in 5
Vancouver in 6
Calgary in 7

The Writ of Habeus Corpus

So the 2man head to head league is heading into the homestretch in the final matchup with Bradly's team edging a slight advantage. I spoke with his opponent, team Spin-O-Rama and Trefo is upset over Bradly's consistent add/drop during the gentlemens weak of the finals. Me and Tanella laughed because he has no idea who he is up against. It is close, being tied through the first week and 6-5 currently going into the last weekend. Good luck to the both of you clowns.
In the video game parlor, the Spartans continue their seige on the league. 15-0. Mikey Heals has 8 shutouts and a 4 game streak going right now. Wendel has edged in points with 68 in 15 games with Bradly trailing by 5 or so. Nemy is leading the D pairing in points but Barbonus is crushing people. The best part is watching the computer try and even things out intra-division. Allow me to elaborate. I am in the southeast division so the computer sees my ranking based on the 5 starting players and how we have not lost. By the way to fill the roster, the rest of my team are players from the Japanese national squad. The computer gets frustrated and tries to cheat by stacking the other rosters in the southeast, which I don't mind because it fosters equality and competition. However, Carolina is running Ovy, Crosby, Datsyuk, Nash, Staal and Ray Whitney and couldn't even get a goal on Heals. We had a home and home with them yesterday and they grabbed a cloned version of Wendel to center the first line. Taking him fromt he free agent list, not obeying the laws of reality just in desperation. Our team is unstoppable. The king and his court. THIS IS SPARTA!!!!!!

I really think Detroit will win the cup. 7 games...no one beats that team. Barring poopyshawn from Osgood which may very well happen. Conklin isn't too bad either, so there isn't TOO bad of a last option for them.

After watching the Rangers game yesterday, I have decided that Montreal is neagtive. Not flat, negative. And Sean Avery is a major positive for New York when he plays like he can and did. Nemy kinda liked the move on Tim Thomas but thats just silly too me. If anything say stuff to him like Paul Newman did in Slapshot. She's a dike.....I know! I know! That's good stuff. I can't wait to see Thomas in net for the U.S. next winter. Nemy won't live it down that I built up a massive short position in Thomas a few years back only to cover for a murderous loss late last season. I made back a little of the loss going long T. Thomas this season. Accept the loss and move on. He plays a tight game. I enjoy tight and succinct.

Does everyone clearly remember Al Iafrate's hair? I mean really?
Just refresh yourselves.

Sometime the shark go away....sometime he wouldn't go away.
Get some...have some cuz its awesome. The island of what? Which ever it is, thats where you can find me and Nemy on Friday afternoon with a bottle of Sark. It's like the island of Tinney and Delahee.

This is a picture of OVY just juicing. We were discussing who is the best (equipment wise) looking player in the league. Who do you think? Is it boaty Tkachuk or Andrew Cuomo?

Remember to get that glow this weekend and explode when necessary.

- Zell

Avery, Thomas and JP Nuzzo

As much as I love Timmy Thomas, the Boston Bruins and the rules of our sport I can't seem to get worked up over Sean Avery's 'accidental' stick incident last Saturday.



It would be hypocritical for me to get up in arms when I pulled the same shit when I was playing.

Warning: we're starting story time now. JJ Putz just came in to protect the Mets 2-1 lead in the 8th and this story could really get away from me and turn into an hour long tale that goes nowhere. I'll start writing but there's no telling where we may end up. You've been warned.

In high school Heals and I played for a Catholic school that drew kids from the neighboring towns. Every team we faced was considered a rival because, for the most part, we would be playing against the home squad of at least 2 or 3 guys on our team.

Most of the time there were friendly rivalries where guys would battle on the ice and share a laugh after the game. You grew up in that town and played youth hockey with many of the guys we faced in high school so it never got too heated or too friendly most of the time.

Heals's hometown was different; Hamden, Connecticut hated Healey. I don't know where it got ugly but some of the kids that Heals used to call friends were part of the group that threw jars of spaghetti sauce threw his windows in high school. Some of the mothers that Heals's mom used to sit next to when watching their mites bump around the ice were the same mothers who would taunt and jeer her at the local grocery. Shit was so weird and personal when we played Hamden and, being his friend and teammate, it was impossible not to get caught up in some of it.

Playing in that Hamden rink was always an adventure for us. We knew going in that the crowd would be hostile not just because they hated Heals but because it seemed like the whole town had nothing else in their lives other than high school hockey. The parents who had kids took these games as seriously as their sons did and the people who didn't have skin in the game seemed even more invested in the outcome. The environment was awesome and completely frightening all the same time.

Anyways, while playing in Hamden's barn late senior year the crowd was getting on Heals during the warm ups. It wasn't anything out of line or anything we hadn't heard before but in a must win game for both teams this crowd was gaining an edge before the puck was dropped. Again, they were awesome and positively terrifying all at the same time.

We were used to big audiences and the venom didn't really bother us that much but since they were making it tough for my goalie to start the game I tried to turn things around on their guy. We had an ice cut after warm ups and when the doors opened to start the 1st I skated the length of the ice and slashed their netminder in the head as head stretched atop his crease.

I did it to shake things up. I wanted to pull the kid off of his focus and I wanted the crowd to get all fired up that some dirty scumbag slashed their goalie and the refs didn't see it. Most importantly I wanted my teammates to see that I was not going to let some energized parents and fans dictate the tone of the game. They paid the $5 to get into the door but they came to see my show. Any physical tone would be set by me.

Truth being told I actually liked the other goalie. We went to school together and he was one of the nicest kids you'd ever meet. I had nothing against him off the ice but I'd do almost anything to win including cheap shots and dick moves to give my team the advantage. That's why I can't fault Avery for slapping Thomas the Tank Engine's helmet the other day. He didn't go out to injure him, he simply wanted to shake up the goalie who was stoning his team back into the 8th playoff spot. If Thomas went apeshit, lost his focus and gave up a soft goal after the game you would all crown Avery as a master pest. Instead he did his job and it didn't work.

If Avery gets suspended it would be a joke on par with when the league punished him for a stupid press conference. Avery hits Thomas, Thomas goes after Avery they both get 2 mins and hockey is back to normal. They'll see each other again. Hockey has a great way of evening things out.

As for Avery's intent, I can't fault him. A dbag tried to stir things up with a dick move and it didn't work. This dbag sees nothing wrong with that.

-Nemmy

Putz, KRod = Yes. See you tomorrow.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Not sure if we are purposely holding off with the weekend wrap up but it might be a good time to get something up on the blog today.

Here's where we stand right now:

1 - Boston - 112 - locked and loaded

2 - DC - 104 - same

3 - NJD - 102 - about to wrap up the division

4 - Philly - 95 - Carter is still going crazy

5 - Carolina - 95 - playing out of their minds right now

6 - Pitt - 93 - post season bound; not playing great hockey

7 - Mon - 92 - wouldn't like to face them in the opener. OTT, NYR, BOS, PITT to end things

8 - NYR - 89 - 3 games before pencils down. MTL, PHILLY (2x) to end things

Florida - 89 - 3 games: at Philly, at ATL, DC = not impossible

Buf - 85 - 4 games left: DET, at TOR, at CAR, BOS = good luck with allll that.

1 - SJ - 115 - locked and loaded

2 - DET - 109 - same but with a 'different' Osgood than last season

3 - CGY - 94 - So many moving parts in the west. Great logjam in the middle here

4 - CHI - 97 - Nice to see Chicago back in the post season

5 - VAN - 94

6 - CBJ - 90 - Really rooting for this team

7 - ANA - 88

8 - NSH - 86 - This team too

St. Louis - 86 - feel good story of hockey right now. Last 3: at PHO, CBJ, at COL

Minnesota and Edmonton have 86 points, 3 games left and a chance to ruin the playoffs if they get in.

We'll do the whole playoff match up preview needfull when the dust settles this weekend. We'll do some half ass analysis, makes awful picks and maybe even include a video or two. Who knows?

Games tonight:

Det at Buffalo - Make or break for the Sabres.

Ott at Montreal - a few weeks ago I was talking about how great it would be if Montreal missed the playoffs in it's indulgent 100 year anniversary. Crazy.

LA at Calgary - I'll be asleep.

What else happened? Avery was a dick (on the ice), Crosby stuck up for Malkin, Tim Thomas still will make less then Lundquist, Turco etc, Ron Wilson will coach us in Vancouver, and the Isles look like they can secure that last spot in the league despite the sick play of Yann Danis (for real).

I was away all week so I missed a shitload. Apparently I had today off from work too but only found out when I saw my boss at 7am.

Help fill me in.

- Nemmy

What you missed last night while you were incorrectly identifying Julianne Moore while getting banana pudding

Its Friday. Its hockey haikus. You know the drill

Flames beat the Stars, 2-1:
I want Calgary
to face Columbus in the
first round of play-offs.

Ducks win over the Canucks in the shoot-out, 6-5:
This was one crazy
game of hockey. Comeback by
the ducks and the win.

Canadiens beat the Islanders, 5-1:
This loss will help both
teams. Isles get closer to top
pick and Tavares (?)

Sharks beat the Oilers, 2-1:
Oilers are closer
to "vortex of death."MacT
is closer to fired.

Bruins beat the Senators, 2-1:
Who will overpay
for Tim Thomas in July?
My bet is Toronto.

Blues win over the Red Wings, 5-4:
David Backes is
a fantasy playoff stud.
4 goals equals yes

Hurricanes beat the Rangers, 4-2:
Paul Maurice, coach
of the year? How did this team
get to fourth in East.

Coyotes beat the Kings, 2-1:
Al Montoya has
given up only one goal
in 2 games. Nice start!

What you missed reading about this morning because Bress was stuck in meetings (at least there was breakfast!)

Bruins beat the Flyers, 3-1: No surprises with a Bruins win. Tim Thomas makes some incredible saves. Lots of traffic to the net causes a few goals. Jack Edwards fellates Shane Hnidy.

Sabres shut-out the Maple Leafs, 5-0: Why keeping bringing up this kid Pogge just so he gets smoked? Speaking of smoked... Mike Van Ryn, uhh your breezers are still on the ice. My favorite of Vaneks trick was the breakaway slap shot.

Red Wings win over the Coyotes, 5-4: Osgood would be in the minors or on waivers if he played with any other team in front of him. How did Jovanovski get a breakaway?

Penguins come back to beat the Lightning in OT, 4-3: Malkin won that game for them.

Wild shut-out the Ducks, 3-0: Eventless game.