The 50 greatest goals and...

A famous picture and Goal
If you are not old enough to remember the famous Bobby Orr goal in the 1970 Stanley cup final.You have certainly seen the picture, the video or have been told about it.
For St-Louis Blues fans,its a goal they would like to forget.It was the last time the Blues have reached the cup final.The Blues have reached the semi-final a few times since.In 1986,under Jacques Demers they were beaten by the Calgary Flames.
In 2001,under Joel Quenneville,they were beaten by the Colorado Avalanche.Quenneville has a cup ring with the Colorado team and added an another this past spring as head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks.Bleacherreport.com has an article about the 50 greatest goals.They include both regular season and playoffs.
The Montreal Canadiens, a superpower of hockey in the 1970's,had in its ranks,one of the best right wingers in the history of the NHL, Guy Lafleur, who scored his team's most important goal of it's history.I know Don Cherry is going to hate this one.Its late in the third period in game 7 against Boston.Cherry's team had just taken the lead 4-3,in a shell shocked Montreal Forum,a new hope came for the die hard Canadiens supporters,the Bruins get called for too many men on the ice.Well,Scotty Bowman was licking his chops at this one.He put his 5 best players on the ice.Lafleur passes it to Lemaire and he back passes it to Lafleur,blasted it past Bruin goalie, Gilles Gilbert.We all know what happened after that.Enjoy the videos.

If you think some teams are feeling a cap crunch this year,just wait until next season.Since it will be the last year of the CBA,teams will no longer have the cap cushion.In other words,they will not be allowed to go over the limit with bonuses.Example, let's say the cap limit next year is 61 million.You have a 23 player roster that cap hits add up to 59 million,but you have bonuses that come up 4million.Well, your going to have fit the 4 million in bonuses within the 61 million allowable cap space.As payable bonuses will not be able to be tacked on to the following year, like it was last season and this season.Benjamin Benya takes a look at the cap situation for all 30 NHL teams.

Bowman still enjoys the hockey life

William Scott ''Scotty'' Bowman,coached in his last NHL game in Detroit over eight years ago,as his Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup for a third time under his leadership.In the summer of 2008,shortly after seeing the Red Wings beat the young and upcoming Pittsburgh Penguins,he accepted a similar position with an another upcoming young team,the Chicago BlackHawks.The decision to move on to Chicago,was a personal one.Stan Bowman, at the time was as assistant-gm,but also had battled with cancer.A year later,the young Bowman became Gm.A chance to work with his son,who was named after the famous trophy, after Scotty won his first in Montreal,against the organization he had joined.In June,Scotty and Stan Bowman became the first father and son to have their names on the Stanley Cup the same year.

Scotty,just turned 77 in September.You would think he would be home enjoying a quiet life.No,his passion for the game is still there.Bob Verdi,an historian for the Blackhawks has a great piece on the legendary coach.Just when you thought you knew everything you needed to know about him, he has an another for you to learn.

That's all for now !

The home opener and ...

There was a time when teams that would be part of the home opening of certains teams,they wished they could trade places with someone else.The Montreal Forum was one of those buildings.It wasn't the building itself,they feared,but the team that played there.It was the home of the mighty Montreal Canadiens.The temple of hockey, house of legends.

Who could blame them.Les Canadiens could intimidate you just by taking the warm up.Then they would stare you down during the national anthem.Those were certainly the good old days.Other buildings also that kind of aura,but nothing beat the chilling effect of the grand old building at the corner of Ste-Catherine and Atwater, in the core of Montreal's downtown area.

Today,that is all gone, the newer building,the Bell Center does not have that same effect,neither does the team.The last home opener in the Forum was the beginning of the end of what was once one of the greatest hockey dynasties.On October 17th 1995,then President,Ronald Corey proceeded with a major house cleaning, that would have a domino effect that would last for years,even decades. To this day,the organisation is still trying to recover.

The new building,now known as the Bell Center,formely opened as the Molson Center.It has not been kind to its tenants.For a long time, you couldn't give tickets away.Of course that has changed since the end of the lockout in July 2005.In the five years since the 2004-05 cancelled season, the Canadiens have sold out every season,it most likely will again this year also.Against all odds, Les Glorieux,made it to the Eastern conference finals.The expectations will be high.In the six home openers they have played since the cancelled season, they have a 1-3-2 record.No Harry Sinden, the ghost haven't followed, but then again, you may want to get Bruce Boudreau's opinion on that one. By the way,in 14 home openers in the Molson/Bell Center, the Canadiens have 4 wins,5 losses, 3 tied games and 2 OT losses.

What to do on a rainy day ?

Since it was a boring day here in Canada's national capital,I decided to go thru some stats on the fastest starts since the end of the lockout by the six canadian teams.Fun uh ? It was.Well lets start with Les Canadiens,their best start to a season since the lockout, came in 2008-09,when they went 8-1-1 for 17 points out twenty in the first ten games.This tied the Vancouver Canucks record in the 2005-06 season.The Ottawa Senators had the best of all six canadian teams in the 2007-08 season, when they went 9-1-0 in their first ten games.So much for great starts,Marc Crawford,Guy Carbonneau and John Paddock where all fired later on, following those good starts.

All stats used,are from the good people at hockey reference.

Around the League

There seems to be a new owner coming to town in Glendale,AZ, to buy the Phoenix Coyotes.Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer is closing on the deal to purchase the team from the NHL,according to Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press. The purchase price is targeted at about 165 million,25 more than the league paid for it 2009 from bankruptcy court. The league lost 30 million while running the team.


That's all for now !

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1.03.01

There back and ...

The 92nd NHL marathon begins today

The puck will drop in Helinski,Finland in the game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Minnesota Wild.But we all know the official season starts in North America.This is the sixth season of the Salary cap era.

Besides the Helinski game,eight teams will be in action tonight.Two of the league's oldest franchises will meet in Toronto.The Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs will face off at the Air Canada Centre at 7 pm.The game will be broadcasted on the CBC and RDS for the french viewers in Quebec.As always, the expectations will be high for the storied franchise from Montreal,espacially after the surprising playoff run last spring.As for the Toronto team,its an ever lasting building process since the end of the lockout five years ago.After the Montreal-Toronto game,the CBC will head west for the battle of Alberta,between the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames.It should be an entertaining evening of hockey.

In the last few days,the experts,pundits and bloggers have made their predictions on the upcoming season.The late great coach of the Montreal Canadiens,Toe Blake, once said that predictions are for gypsies.I will follow that and more go on the lines of a possible scenario for each conference.I believe we really get a better picture of a season in January,which is the season's midpoint.

In the Eastern conference.Last season,the Capitals,Devils,Sabres and Penguins finished in the top four.I think the Penguins,Capitals and Sabres will be there again.So a dog fight could occur for positions four to eight.The teams that will be hunting for the spots are : Boston,Ottawa,Montreal,New Jersey,Philadelphia,Tampa Bay,Rangers and Carolina.It should make for some entertaining hockey.Like last year,we may have to wait til the last weekend of the season to find out who the last team or teams to make the playoffs.

In the Western conference.Last season,San Jose,Vancouver,Chicago and Phoenix finished in the top four.This season,Detroit will take back it's place in the top four and join San Jose,Vancouver and Chicago.I think Los Angeles has a good chance at sewing up fifth place.So contrary to the Eastern conference,only three playoff spots are up for grabs in the West.Phoenix,St-Louis,Nashville,Colorado,Anaheim and Calgary will be fighting for those spots.

As I mentionned earlier,we should have a better idea of the possible playoff pictures once the season hits midpoint.Other than staying healthy, and being consistant ip front, on defense and in goal,is there a formula in making the playoffs ? Yes, having good home and away records.In the eight teams that made it to the playoffs in the West,none of them where below 22 wins at home,while in the East,all but two teams reached that mark.Boston and Montreal had 18 and 20. Out of the eight teams with playoff spots in the East,only four won 21 games and more.Two of the teams below that mark had losing records going in to the first round.Ottawa and Philadelphia.In the West,three teams finished below the 21 win mark,Vancouver had a losing record.

Its was harder to make the playoffs in the West than in the East.Colorado made it with 95 points,while Montreal snuck in with 7 less points at 88.The first seven teams in the West had 100+ points going in to the playoffs to the four from the East.

We should be in for a good end entertaining season,folks.

Around the League

The San Jose Sharks have named Joe Thornton as their captain.DanBoyle will be wearing one of the A's as will former captain, Patrick Marleau.During the regular season,he will be good.His leadership will surely be tested come playoffs.Just like in Washington,the Sharks fans want a cup.The Sharks finally made for the conference finals last spring,but lost in four games to eventual cup champions,Chicago. Can he lead them down the path to glory ? We will find out next spring.

In its season preview show,TSN has predicted that the Detroit Red Wings will win the 2011 Stanley Cup.Here is quote by Bob McKenzie '' Everything old is new again.Zetterberg and Datsyuk are playing together, Franzen and Filppula are healthy, happy, and productive, and maybe it's a last hurrah for Nicklas Lidstrom." His collegue on the panel,Pierre Mcguire agreed with McKenzie. McGuire then added "They're just too much, well coached, rested, and angry with what happened to them last year in the San Jose series."

Coaches on the hot seat was also on TSN's season preview.Darren Drager listed the following : Todd Richards in Minnesota,Marc Crawford in Dallas,Ron Wilson in Toronto,Randy Carlyle in Anaheim,Alain Vigneault in Vancouver and Bruce Boudreau in Washington.I will add, Claude Julien in that group also.

That's all for now,enjoy the season.

Quebec fans send message to NHL and ...

Quebec fans want their team back

Quebec Nordiques fans by the truck load descended on historical Plaines d'Abraham to drum up support for a return of their team, who had moved to Colorado,following the 1994-95 shorten season.

The message was also clear that the canadian government should put up the money for a new building.It was also a message sent to the NHL brass,that this market must be given back a franchise.With struggling franchises in non traditional markets,the NHL's board of Governors can not overlook a good potential market like the one in Quebec city.According to hockey columnist,Yvon Pedneault,Gary Bettman has given a drop date for the franchise in Phoenix.If no owner is found by December 31st of this year,there is a good chance, the Coyotes will be relocated.No particular alternate market was mentionned,but with the demonstration yesterday in Quebec,it will be hard to pass by.The teams in the canadian market represent 31% of the yearly revenues for the NHL.

The hockey news recently polled NHL players and asked where the NHL put a team via either relocation or expansion.Quebec City got 33 votes,Winnipeg 18 and Las Vegas 12.

Should the league look in to the Islanders cap situation ?

Larry Brooks from the NY post thinks it should.The Islanders have been able to reach the cap floor because of the Yashin and Whitt buyouts,which total in a $6,088,400 cap hit.Brooks wonders why the league is not too worried about this,as they where with the Kovalchuck contract contraversy.

What's in store in the next CBA ?

Pierre Lebrun from ESPN,takes a look at possible points the NHL would like to change in the next round of CBA talks in two years.Lebrun mentions the following points as ones the league and the NHLPA may look over.

• Lower the percentage of the players' share from the revenue pie from the current 57 percent (which would obviously lower the salary cap).

• Explore the magnitude of the payroll range; the current gap is $16 million from the higher to lower limit (this season, it's $59.4 million to $43.4 million).

• Try to scrap salary arbitration, which has long been a thorn in the league's side, especially now in a cap system.

• Adjust the age for unrestricted free agency.

Records since the lockout

Eastern Conference

Team	Rank	GP	W	L	OL	PTS
New Jersey	1	410	240	134	36	516
Buffalo	2	410	230	136	44	504
Ottawa	3	410	223	144	43	489
NY Rangers	4	410	209	146	55	473
Caroline	5	410	215	156	39	469
Montreal	6	410	211	153	46	468
Pittsburgh	7	410	208	153	49	465
Washington	8	410	204	151	55	463
Boston	9	410	197	151	57	451
Philadelphie	10	410	194	165	51	439
Floride	11	410	183	167	60	426
Atlanta	12	410	188	176	46	422
Toronto	13	410	181	172	57	419
Tampa Bay	14	410	176	184	50	402
NY Islanders	15	410	171	191	47	389

Western Conference

Team	Rank	GP	W	L	OL	PTS
Detroit	1	410	257	101	52	566
San Jose	2	410	248	114	48	544
Nashville	3	410	228	143	39	495
Anaheim	4	410	219	139	52	490
Vancouver	5	410	224	146	40	488
Dallas	6	410	221	144	45	487
Calgary	7	410	217	146	47	481
Minnesota	8	410	208	159	43	459
Colorado	9	410	206	167	37	449
Chicago	10	410	195	165	50	440
Phoenix	11	410	193	186	31	417
Los Angeles	12	410	181	183	46	408
Edmonton	13	410	179	188	43	401
St-Louis	14	410	169	180	61	399
Columbus	15	410	175	187	48	398

That's all for now.

The Rocket and ...

It was 5o years yesterday,September 15th 1960,that Maurice ''Rocket'' Richard shocked the hockey world and announced that he was retiring from hockey after 18 season career with the Montreal Canadiens.

Richard had just turned 39 in August of that year.He claimed that his body had become fragile and that his reflexes weren't the same as they use to be and could no longer continue to play.

During his great career,Richard won the Stanley cup 8 times.He was the first player in NHL history to score 50 goals in a season and to reach the 500 plateau.He still holds the record for most career goals in the fabulous history of the Montreal Canadiens.One that may never be broken.

Richard passed away May 27th 2000,after a long battle with cancer.

A captain for the Canadiens ?

The biggest subject of conversation last season in Montreal,was captaincy of the Montreal Canadiens.General Manager ,Pierre Gauthier and head coach,Jacques Martin have mentionned that a captain will be known before the drop of the puck on October 7th before their original six meeting with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

A montreal based newspaper,LaPresse,mentionned that the choice had come down to Brian Gionta.Jacques Martin,mentionned on a popular french morning tv show,that is was just speculation.I guess we will have to wait an see.

No Federal $$$ for pro sports

Canadian Prime Minister,Stephen Harper,made it clear while on tour in Quebec city,that no money will be available for pro sports.But did mention,that the Federal government will be willing to help in anyway possible with the building of a new arena.As he put it, Pro sports “first and foremost the responsibility of the private sector”.I agree totally.

Harper,in his statement,was being consistant with himself, as the head of the canadian taxpayers Federation in 2000,when the Chretien government was considering provinding assistance to struggling canadian franchises due to the lower canadian dollar.

Lyle Richardson from spectorshockey.net, mentionned in his wednesday edition of the soapbox,that Pierre-Karl Peladeau of Quebecor,a company that owns newspapers,tv stations and a major cable company,should pay for it himself,since he had the capital put together to buy the Montreal Canadiens and the Bell Centre,before getting outbid by the Molson Family two years ago.It would be a risky project to go in to it alone when your not even guaranteed an NHL franchise.

It will be interesting to see what the outcome of all of this in the months to come.

That's all for now !

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1.03.01

An NHL return to Quebec ? and ...

A new Building for Quebec City ?

On Tuesday,the Quebec provincial government agreed to participate financially in a new modern arena in Quebec city.The provincial government will fork out 45 % of the estimated 400 million it would cost to build.Quebec city mayor,Régis laBeaume,expects the same participation from the canadian government.If you add it up,canadian and Quebec tax payers will be footing the bill for 90% of the cost.Before the canadian government can even think of what pourcentage it's participation will be,it will have to weather a fierce political storm across the country.Why you ask ?Well there is a team in Alberta that would also like a fancy new arena.Rexdall place in Edmonton,needs a facelift,but a new arena would be even better.If you give money to Quebec city's new building,we would like some also Prime Minister Harper.Afterall, it's Alberta that got you the job of Prime Minister,Mr.Harper.The people are right on that one,Prime Minister.

The new proposed arena for Quebec City,is not only to attract the return of an NHL franchise,but also to promote the candidature of that city's winter olympic bid and for concerts during the summer season.Of course an NHL team as the main tenant would make it a better sell.Legendary hockey writer,Red Fisher, says to all that hope a return of an NHL franchise in Quebec city, not so fast.


What taxpayers in the rest of Canada would like to know,what will be the financial participation of the Quebecor group be,other than owning a possible NHL franchise ?

Who will be the first to go ?

Yes I know, the training camps have yet to start,but its still something that can still be asked.Who will be the first coach,General manager or both to get fired ? Of course,nobody likes to see anyone lose his or hers job,but this is the NHL,where everything that is not normally suppose to happen,does.So here are my possible candidates for this season.

Randy Carlyle (Ana),Claude Julien (Boston),Ron Wilson (Tor) and this will surprise you,Bruce Boudreau in Washington.You probably spilled your drink on that one.You must admit,that with two early exits in three playoff appearences will come bite you sooner than later.Also, calling one of your players dumb #$&* on tv will not win you admiration in the dressing room.Mr.Boudreau will be walking on thin ice,if (A) his team has a bad record in the first quarter of the season or (B)Doesn't make it to the cup final.His margin of error is not big.

Why Julien ? One, he is in his fourth season in Boston, and knowing that the life span of coaches in the NHL, he becomes a candidate.Also, remember the meltdown in the series against the Flyers ? Hope you won't come out with the argument that they lost Krejci.Didn't Montreal lose Markov at the beginning of the series against Pittsburgh ? So a possible bad start at the of the season could be the end of Julien in Boston.

Here are the combination package possible candidates.

The Sutter Brothers in Calgary.Barry trotz and David Poile in Nashville,who have been in place since the beginning of the franchise.It could be time for a change of direction.Glen Sather and John Tortorella.If Sather had been in any other city,he would of been fired by now.You have to wonder why the Rangers ownership have put up with the Sather show so long.

Remember,I did mention possible candidates to get the boot.It's not a prediction.

That's all for now.

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1.03.01

Potvin,Ottawa and ...

Hockey legend Denis Potvin,will be joinning the Ottawa Senators broadcast team.Potvin who played his junior hockey in the Ottawa area,is coming back home.He captained the once powerhouse New York Islanders to four Stanley Cups in the early 1980's. He had been a color commentator for the Florida Panthers since their beginning in the league.

Speaking of Ottawa,the 2012 all-star could be held in Scotiabank place,from January 26th to the 29th.NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will be in Ottawa next week for a luncheon,according to aKukla's Korner blogger, he could that visit to make it official.Ottawa is the only canadian NHL city to not host the event.

Cap Issues ?

They are 8 teams that over the 59.4 million cap limit,but since these are off-season cap counts,where teams can be 10 % over the limit until the end of training camp.Some will have to be very creative in order to be cap compliant by the time the NHL season starts on October 7th.We will see some bodies moved for sure.

2009-10 Stats

We are less than two weeks from the beginning of the NHL's training camps,let's look at some numbers from last season.Which team delivered the most bodychecks, and who had the most blocked shots.

On the NHL's website,bodychecks are counted as hits.Seven teams had more two thousand hits last season.Here are the top ten :

	Team	Total: Hits	avg/game
1	DAL	2338	28.5
2	NYR	2330	28.4
3	PIT	2154	26.3
4	CAR	2139	26.1
5	LAK	2122	25.9
6	CBJ	2075	25.3
7	ANA	2050	25
8	DET	1972	24
9	OTT	1939	23.6
10	BOS	1935	23.6

Blocked shots get more attention during the playoffs than during the regular season.Here is the top ten teams in regular season games in 2009-10.

	Team	BkS	avg/game
1	FLA	1403	17.1
2	NYI	1379	16.8
3	MTL	1344	16.4
4	EDM	1305	15.9
5	PHI	1254	15.3
6	COL	1226	15.0
7	TOR	1218	14.9
8	OTT	1193	14.5
9	PIT	1182	14.4
10	CAR	1176	14.3

That's all for now !

Kovalchuck and ...Updated

We should know Friday, if the NHL has accepted or rejected the latest contract submitted to the league. according to northjersey.com,
''there were indications that the NHL officials did make a decision on Monday and that the verdict would likely be officially communicated to the team on Tuesday''

It's believed that the contract submitted to the league is a $100 million dollar contract with a 15 year duration.The Devils would be on the hook for a 6.67 million cap hit for the lenght of the contract.In the contract that was rejected last month,it was heavily front loaded and had throwaway years,where the salary was above the league's present minimum which raised eyebrows.

according to Nick Kypreos,the contract being reviewed by the league,it will pay Kovalchuck 90 million in the first ten years, and an average of 2.6 million in the following four seasons and 4 million in the final season.

If the league approves the contract,The Devils will have to move some salary to fit him under their cap.They have $56,441,666 in committed salary for the upcoming season.They will need shed at least 5 million by the end of training camp to become cap compliant for the beginning of the season.

Chelios retires

Future hall of fame defenseman,Chris Chelios has officially retired and will take on a front office job with the Detroit Red Wings.Other than his short journey in Atlanta,Chelios spend the majority of his career with three of the original six teams.Montreal,Chicago and Detroit.He was part of the last team legendary Scotty Bowman ever coached to a Stanley cup.

He started his legendary career in the mecca of hockey,Montreal.He joined the Canadiens after the 1984 winter olympics.The Habs had not had a good year and to give the team a boost,newly hired general manager and former member of the big three,Serge Savard, asked his buddy and former teammate,Jacques Lemaire to take over as coach,he did it reluctantly,as Lemaire knew how tough it was in Montreal with the omni present media.Through a team effort the Canadiens got to the conference finals,but lost the series 4-2 to the defending Stanley cup champions,New York Islanders.Two years later, the Canadiens won the 23rd cup of their history under the leadership of two future hall of famers,captain Bob Gainey and Larry Robinson, along with the strong play of rookie goaltender,Patrick Roy.

In the summer of 1990,Serge Savard traded Chelios to Chicago for hometown favorite Denis Savard, no relation to the gm.The bogus excuse given for trading Chelios,was a medical report saying his knees where in bad shape,which we can not true,as he lasted an another twenty years.The true reason he was traded, is that a few years earlier,Chelios got a bit rowdy and did his business in the middle of a Montreal street at 2 am in the morning.That did not sit well with then team President,Ronald Corey.I personally could really care less if had done that,as when he put on that Canadiens jersey,he wore it with pride,to me that is all that really counted.To this very day,I have never bought the bad knees theory.

Thank you, Chris !

We are less than 30 hours from the 3pm, eastern time deadline limit. All the major sports channels have been gearing for weeks for tomorrow's deadline.The question is : will everyone end up disappointed when the clock ticks at 3 New York ?

Richard Labbé from LaPresse newspaper has spoken to some of the most influential player agents in the league, and tells us not too expect big names to move.Mr. Labbé spoke with Rich Curran, whos stable includes the Staal Brothers,Jeff Carter and Jason Spezza.Curran mentions that '' If teams don't start moving at once, it could be a long day, and a major deception for a lot of people, including those in the media.''

With a lot of teams being restricted by cap space,Curran doesn't see big names being moved.

Don Meehan, an another influential agent, believes the big moves will take place during the summer. In the whispers heard, the cap that was set at 56.7 million this season, could drop to 52 million for next season. I guess that is why big names may not be moved until teams know what the cap will really be in 2009-10.


Sam Carchidi,has an interesting article at philly.com. He looks at the role the pro scouts will have in tomorrow's deadline day. No, they don't sit around eating popcorn in 1000$ suits. Check it out.

Pierre Lebrun gives his daily update on the possible direction the wind is blowing in the rumour mill with minus twenty seven hours til the deadline tomorrow afternoon.

More later folks !

Well folks, we are 3 days and a day shift from the tradedeadline. Contrary to other years, this year's available rentals is not deep, as a lot of sellers of the past, could become buyers.

According to Pierre Lebrun of HNIC's hotstove, The St-Louis Blues could become buyers in this deadline. The Blues as I write this are 3 points from the eight spot in the west, held by Anaheim. Here is the dinger, the player that the Blues would like to acquire is Chris Pronger. The may just keep Keith Tkachuk.Wouldn't it be ironic if the Blues knocked the Ducks out of the playoffs after trading their star defenseman ? Bob Murray would have a lot of explaining to do.

The Ducks have told UFA defenseman, Scott Niedermeyer that he would not be traded at the deadline.

Be sure to check out the rest of Pierre's article.

Squabbling in Chicago ?

Al Strachan mentionned on HNIC's hotstove last night, that Brian Campbell and his coach, Joel Quenneville are not seeing eye on certain aspects and that if a team came calling, the Hawks would listen. Fat chance. Sam Fels, a Hawks blogger has his say on the situation.

It should be interesting folks.

Rangers Fire Renney and...

According to Sporting News and TSN, the New York Rangers have pulled the reins of the team from coach Tom Renney. of course this is not very surprising, the team has been struggling for awhile, and the axe was due to fall.

No interim has been named as yet, but TSN's Bob Mckenzie thinks that his collegue on the NHL on TSN, John Tortorella could be a possible interim, but he is still under contract with Tampa Bay, and the Rangers would have to get persmission to put him in place. An another avenue could come within the organization,Jim Schoenfeld could also be put in as an interim.

Glen Sather,Rangers Gm,was questionned on Renney's tenure as coach, but in a Bowmanesque way deflected the question to an an another subject, and answered on Scott Gomez's possible cheap shot on Buffalo goalie, Ryan Millier, I will get to that later on.

Renney, like his three counterparts that started their seasons in Europe, all have been fired. If I'm coaching one of the teams slated to start in Europe next year, I would start to worry now, because it's almost as bad as trying to keep a doggy doodoo made puck frozen, stay that way on a sunny 25 degree celcius day in May. After awhile it starts to smell bad.

Who ever comes in for the Rangers, can he change their fortunes and save the season ? We shall find out come April 12th or before.

Gomez hit on Miller

The question did Scott Gomez run Buffalo's Ryan Miller in a chase for the puck ? Greg Wyshynski (aka Puck Daddy) has the video on his blog. After many viewings,I think he should of gotten a penalty and a suspension, like Montreal's Thomas Plekanec got a few weeks ago.If the league is going to be consistent in it's calls, they should review this and suspend Gomez, intentional or not, send a clear message, play your game, but becareful.

The Montreal Soap Opera

How can one write a blog about hockey and not have his say on the latest happenings in the land of ''Les Glorieux''. Checking different sites, a bombshell was about to explode in Montreal Saturday morning. The so called ''bombshell'' made the 1970 October crisis look like kids play. I'm not playing down the story itself, but the magnitude that the Montreal media made it sound like.Oh whoopy do,a few of the Canadiens players where at the wrong place at the wrong time. As if it has never happened to those so called brillant media guys ? Maybe the organization should start to put tags on them, and see how they feel when someone puts their nose in their personal lives. Not the same when the shoe is on the other foot hey guys ? There only fault, they have more money in their pockets than we did at their age, sounds like jealousy to me boys.

What I find the most interesting in all of this, is that, the ''big bad media'' in Montreal, most of them when they started their careers,it was at a time when the team was winning back to back Stanley cups,they were eating out of Scotty Bowman's hand.They befriended players, such as Lafleur,Shutt,Robinson,Savard,Lapointe,Tremblay, to make sure that their relatives had the best places for the cup parade. Of course they won't admit to it.

I find a bit weird, that when the team is going thru a slump,they find ways to blow the team out of the water, with such childish garbage like we saw. Oh this is the best part, come July 1st, when Bob Gainey is looking to bring in a top UFA, they will be the first to critize him for not being able to.Boys maybe it's time you look at yourselves in the mirror, because if those UFA's don't want to come, it could be that their getting encouraged not too with what their read. Ever thought of that ?

Players playing in the other five canadian markets, at least get the respect of how they conduct themselves off-ice, and are not tracked like prey, if they just happen to act human. You don't see journalist at their door as if it was a police sting, even the cops are more discreet when doing so.


Time for the Montreal media to make a difference between the player and the human wearing a red white and blue jersey. Once done, maybe, and say maybe, it might have a chance to attract a player or players, that want to come win there.

As born Montrealer,I want to see the Canadiens win games and the cup on a regular basis, but until the media stops it's hounding of players and their private lives, we could be awhile until we see the cup in Montreal again.

I feel much better now.

That's all for now Folks.