One year ago today...

Who could forget?

I was alone in my house cleaning my room. I only saw overtime because I was too nervous to watch. When Crosby scored, I screamed "CROSBLARG! ARGH!" so loud the neighbours in their houses could hear me.

My friends were gathering for a postgame party, so I jumped in the car and listened to everyone in the stadium singing the national anthem on the radio. The most beautiful rendition of our National Anthem I've ever heard before, or since.

Deadline Day Recap

-_- Zzz
o_O What? Oh...

Well, that was eventful. This season saw as little activity between hockey clubs since the NHL Trading Deadline festivities of the 99-2000 season, which is fortunate for me because I can tell you which moves proved to be the most significant, idiotic, and surprising of all. Of course, I will be going by team; if you didn't see your team on this list, then they probably didn't do much, so they received a pass.

Special thanks to TSN and its Tradecentre for their concise, packaged information. If you are looking for the link to basketball stats, it's somewhere on that website...somewhere.

1. FLORIDA PANTHERS (PASS?)

Your team plays in a market with little hockey history, and almost as much interest in the sport since the glory year of 1996, Doug Maclean, a young rookie defenseman named Ed Jovanovski, and a few million plastic rats. Eight years removed from the playoffs playing in front of half-empty crowds in the Floridian city of Sunrise, you trade what little talent you have to your division rivals and a Western Conference powerhouse in Vancouver. I scratched my head when I considered what the Panthers received, and asked "What for?". It's bad enough they play in ridiculous uniforms with piping going in every direction, as if donning fake "heritage" jerseys will inspire greatness in your team. Now, with these trades finalized, I'm supposed to believe the Florida Panthers will be BETTER?

Yes, I am supposed to believe in the Panthers! General manager Dale Tallon is the answer. He forged a winner in Chicago, against all odds, with great drafting (Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Dustin Byfuglien!), key trades, and a management and public relations team that made the Blackhawks relevant in the Second City. However, to the surprise of the hockey establishment, the Hawks relieved Dale Tallon before he could see his dream fulfilled. FAN590's Bob McCown is right: The Florida Panthers are Dale Tallon's opportunity to show he can do it again, but against the backdrop of financial collapse of Sun-Belt sports franchises? Hmm...

2. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (PASS...for now)

Four points out of the playoff picture is a good position to be in. The teams in the top eight of the Eastern conference have the gun to their heads: Win and you are in. The Maple Leafs are the team no one takes seriously; only the Maple Leafs couldn't get out of their way to win since 1967. Do you build through the draft, or do you compete with the players you have? Leafs President and General Manager Brian Burke says "Yes". Nowadays, he can afford to boggle the minds of Toronto's beatwriters: Phil Kessel's recent string of good play earned Player of the Week honours from the League, the emergence of AHL backup James Reimer, and the defensive unit post-Kaberle coming together to rally the Leafs are all difference makers for Burke to make minor adjustments during deadline day. Making acquisitions in advance of the media melee of Trading Deadline Day also helps, too.

All will be forgotten if there is ticker tape and confetti falling from the windows overlooking Yonge Street this June. Yes, even the Kessel trade ^_^

3. OTTAWA SENATORS (EPIC FAIL)

FAIL. PLEASE FAIL. FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL! No, they don't get a logo here because they are a loco team! Nevertheless, the direction Bryan Murray wants to take this team is nowhere near where the Senators wanted to be after the 2007 Stanley Cup Final against the Anaheim Ducks. The impatient, former Leaf fans in the Ottawa region expect results so much that they want them yesterday o_O Keep in mind, when they jumped ship for the Senators bandwagon they didn't expect to look up at the Toronto Maple Leafs in the standings either.

How can a manager run down one team, sell its top notch players like Dany Heatley and Mike Fisher for close to nothing, play Russian Roulette with the league's goaltenders every year, and then get a do over with the hypothetical first pick in the 2011 NHL Draft in St. Paul, Minnesota? Well, I don't like this one bit >_< I hate the Senators, but now I'm concerned, and that is saying a lot.

4. VANCOUVER CANUCKS (FAIL?)

Canada's last best chance at a Stanley Cup is doing so fine-tuning, but I feel the knuckle sandwich of the West is coming over the hill. For the previous two NHL seasons, the sandwich came in the form of Dustin Byfuglien and the Chicago Blackhawks. Vancouver had NO answer for the defenseman turned powerplay center/specialist, and the Sedin twins played scared. Thanks to free agency and a trade with Atlanta the Byfuglien-less Chicago Blackhawks, like most of the Western Conference, are no longer a problem. If this is true, why acquire Maxim Lapierre and MacGregor Sharp from Anaheim, and Chris Higgins from Florida? If GM Mike Gillis knows his history, then this will be the year the Canucks exchange the knuckle sandwich for a sip from Lord Stanley's Cup.

No lousy 2-3-2 playoff format will save them now (Yes, I'm still upset about that one)!

Great News!

Joel Quenneville, who is the head coach of the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, had a series of tests at the hospital and they came back negative! He is also feeling much better! Thanks to Nick Kypreos' on the Twitter for the update.

Look what I dug up looking for a picture of Joel Quenneville!

Ooo...Grabovski! What a finish ^_^

Sorry Bruins fans, but #84 for the Maple Leafs had a monster game. I'm a little concerned about the two bodychecks he received from Boston captain Zdeno Chara though, nevertheless he had a great game with a pair of pivotal goals in the away win at the Garden (Is it still the Garden; some bank owns the naming rights, so shouldn't be the Bank, or the Vault?).

The celebration wasn't bad either, Mikhail Grabovski ;)

I went to see a fight, and a hockey game broke out!

It always starts when someone says "Beethoven was much better than Mozart." Then, the fists fly... -_-

The best part is the music ^_^

It's About Fights, er, Time

Whenever I play hockey games on the Wii, PS3, or PC, I always toggle hockey fights . However, I made sure to start a scrum after every whistle and jack up the Aggression level to eleven. Possibly the best part about NHL 2000 (PC) was after the whistle, Brendan Shanahan (me) would skate after the whistle towards Mike Ricci (com), shove him into the boards, and start a melee. Eleven two-minute penalties later, the score is 2-1 for Detroit, and I'm laughing hysterically on the floor.

Fast forward to being an adult, and the New York Islanders host the Pittsburgh Penguins for a Friday night regular season tilt. Without Crosby or Malkin, the Penguins are like convicts walking down 'the green mile' to the Islanders, but the players in blue & orange look similar to those in the bright orange jumpers at the state prison. Call it retribution for an earlier offence, but the Islanders want more than payback, never mind a reason for fans to come out to the Friday game.

Don't know what I'm talking about? Really?! Well, here you go...

Yes, the players fought and the NHL did hand down lengthy suspensions and heavy fines. You only need to type the keywords 'Islanders', 'Penguins', and 'fight' on any search engine or Wiki to find videos, responses, essays, and CBC mini-documentaries (?) on the subject! I can't help but think there are more hands covered with blood.

Any Islanders fan will tell you the Nassau Memorial Coliseum, which serves as home for the four-time Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders, is half-empty at best for NHL hockey games. Their eccentric owner hired and fired former general manager Neil Smith during ONE off-season, and agreed to sign their goaltender Rick DiPietro to a fifteen-year contract! With no new stadium on the horizon, rumours fly about the future of the team: Will it be sold, will it relocate, or would it...fold?!

The Pittsburgh Penguins coming to town is just what the doctor ordered. Penguins fans coming in for cheap seats, Islanders fans crying for blood, and minor-league call ups willing to do the dirty work. This microburst of anger and violence on the ice is not a one-time thing; you only need to see what NESN does during hockey broadcasts when a fight breaks out...or should that be fight broadcasts when a hockey game breaks out... o_O

I can't help but feel responsible for this. I am part of the current video game simulation, retribution craved, high-paced, mass violence culture demanding this stuff. We wanted the death of the "tie game", we got the "shootout", and as a result there are "three-point games", extended contests with no actual winning goal, goals in the NHL statistics that are unaccounted for, and skewed goalie wins, losses, and averages.

Three points for a win, tabulate shootout winners in players' goal totals, and let players play without fear of getting killed. Fights happen out of emotion and rage, I know, but leave the staged contract fights for YouTube. Speaking of Youtube...

You Can't Spell NONSENSE Without the SENS

I read this on the Yahoo Sports ticker, and it made me laugh. It's a blurb about a local Ottawa radio station reacting to the Mike Fisher trade. Keep in mind, though, the reaction from Yahoo repliers does cross the line, and some people lack good taste and proper nouns in their responses.

Typical nonsense coming from Ottawa. Impatient ex-Leafs fans overblowing the trade of a good old boy to the United States coincidentally to the hometown of the good natured, love of his life, pop star wife Carrie Underwood. If you google Mike Fisher, pictures of Carrie come up alongside his; in case you needed to know who Mike Fisher was...!

Ordinarily, I wouldn't talk about the Scum, er, Senators hockey club: The Low-Blow All-Stars in the pink satin and white lace jerseys with the purse holding the bribe money for the referees, and the yellow streak down the back. News like this about former players of this team going to new ones make me smile inside. However, throwing the country music star wife of a former player under the bus, because the Scum play like scum, is not cool at all.

Wow, if this is bad, then just imagine how the exit press conference would go...

Mike Fisher (sitting at table with plethora of microphones in front of him): ...I'm disappointed I have to leave Ottawa. I admire and respect everyone over the years...(Fisher tears up, grabs tissue, regains composure)...I promise Alf I wouldn't do this...(laughter from gallery)...but there comes a time when...when, umm...(Fisher breaks down, departs from table to sit in back row to cry, gallery applauds).

Hey Ottawa, WHAT DOES THAT SOUND LIKE?!

I must admit while my feelings for some Ottawa players are well documented among my friends, I did sort of like Mike Fisher (no sound on my computer? Why?!)...

Now that he learned from the errors of his ways, Mike Fisher will play for a new hockey team, which is the hockey team of Carrie Underwood's hometown...coincidentally. I wonder if Janet Jones Gretzky follows Carrie Underwood on Twitter?

All the best to one of my new favourite hockey players, and whatshername...lol