My girlfriend sent me this photo, and it gave me a good chuckle.

It basically looks like a religious situation, with the rest of the Caps worshipping their lord Ovechkin, and Ovechkin looking up to the skies in victory. All that is missing is the bright white light.



Well, all are worshipping Ovy, except for that one intense Cap behind him, who looks like he's trying to assassinate Jesus.

Labels: Alexander Ovechkin, photo of the day

Just when Nashville Predators fans were celebrating Martin Erat's new contract extension, comes this big fat NO! from the NHL's Head Offices of Doom.

Per TSN.ca:
Martin Erat's new seven-year, $31.5 contract with the Nashville Predators has been rejected by the NHL.

All that means is that it is likely to be re-jigged to conform to the CBA and re-submitted for approval.

Erat's contract was rejected because it violates a clause in the CBA that regulates year to year fluctuations in salary.

For example, if you take the first two years of contract, the higher salary in those two years can't be more than double of the lower salary. After that, the salary can't fluctuate up by more than 100% of the lower salary and can't fluctuate downward by more than 50% of lower salary.

On that basis, Erat's contract doesn't cut it on a number of levels.

For starters, the $5.25 million in the second year is more than two times the amount ($2.5 million) in the final year.

If the Preds and Erat re-allocate some of the dollars, the contract can be re-submitted for approval.

Contract Rejection:
Martin Erat – contract rejected due to violation of 100% rule from 2012-13 season to 2013-14.

08-09 - 3.50 NHL
09-10 - 5.25 NHL
10-11 - 5.25 NHL
11-12 - 6.00 NHL
12-13 - 5.50 NHL
13-14 - 3.50 NHL
14-15 - 2.50 NHL
No Move Clause (effective July 1, 2009)


I'd expect, like TSN mentions, that the contract will simply be restructured and life will go on.

So, why the hell was this clause enacted in the first place?

If the total salary is spread evenly for the salary cap hit, what does it matter if Erat gets $500,000 one season and $10.5mil the next? Obviously, Erat agreed to the terms, and the Preds want the contract to mimic Erat's expected production path.

I'm guessing the prime reason is that the NHL wants to control salary inflation. Take these examples

Example 1:
08-09 $3mil
09-10 $3mil
10-11 $6mil
11-12 $3mil

Example 2:
08-09 $3.75mil
09-10 $3.75mil
10-11 $3.75mil
11-12 $3.75mil

Now, the contracts are worth the same (not accounted for the time value of money, yada yada), but Example 1 could lead to problems.

Say a comparable player's contract is up for renewal after the 10-11 season, and he had the same exact stats are Martin Erat. Under Example 1, he could easily demand $6mil. Under Example 2, it would be much harder to demand $6mil, since Erat makes just $3.75m.

So, I guess this is simply the NHL's way of assuring that random-looking fluctuations don't lead to bigger contracts down the road.

Labels: CBA Stuff, Contract Extensions, Martin Erat, nashville

While the Nashville Predators gave the Wings some fits with their physical, grinding play, the finesse of the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars has allowed Detroit to easily roll into the Stanley Cup Finals.

Yes, I know the Stars/Wings series is not officially over, but the Stars have as much chance for a comeback as Hilary Clinton. It ain't gonna happen, as we all know.

Wayne, our Southern Correspondent, charms in:

Could someone put the Stars-Wings series out of its misery? I tuned to a hockey game, and a soccer game broke out...The only thing missing was the voice of John Paul Della-Camera (the second greatest soccer announcer ever)...No wonder Wings fans are staying home...

In a topic I've covered before, Wings fans just aren't coming out to pack Joe Louis Arena. Combine a bad economy with a spoiled fanbase, and you get empty seats.

Wayne chips in again:

Take a look at things right now: $4/gallon gas, homes being forclosed, layoffs in the white-collar/middle-and-upper management sector (the people who buy season tix and luxury boxes), make MLB, the NBA, and the NHL (especially the NHL) particularly vulnerable...I don't think people are going to be willing to plunk down $60/ticket much longer, especially in soft markets. All NHL teams are going to have to take a good hard look at themselves...

Well, Detroit certainly isn't a 'soft' market, and the NHL is probably going to realize that American fans might have to cut expensive NHL tickets out of their budget as food and gas prices soar. It's rather troubling that 'Hockeytown' (self-billed, I know) can't sell out a Conference Finals playoff match.

At least the Flyers/Pens series is entertaining, if not entirely one-sided. The Flyers' are getting punished for taking penalties, and Martin Biron is not the answer to the question, "What goalie is going to take us to the Stanley Cup?"

Labels: attendance, flyers, musings, Penguins, playoffs, Red Wings

Normally, I tune out advertising much like I tune out the ramblings of a street preacher, but I can appreciate advertising that is well done and unique.

For instance, take the Boston Bruins and their Gillette zamboni.


According to Gillette's marketing shill, the promotion is very 'cutting edge'. Yuk yuk

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Speaking of Yuk, YUCK! Here's a wacky story about Austria's rugby team.



The Austrian Rugby team has responded to their 48-0 thrashing by Lithuania on Saturday by staging a mass striptease in the capital, Vilnius, on Saturday night.

The team was captured on camera during the public strip and the video has ended up on social community website Virb. The video shows a group of about 20 men singing and stripping off their kit on a Vilnius street while people in a bar clap and cheer.

Labels: advertisements, Austria

Despite some of the things I've written on this blog in the past, I don't hold any ill will towards the people of Quebec. Hell, Poutine is one of my favourite guilty pleasures. Mmmm, cheese curds ... *drool*

That said, I cannot stand whiny separatist snobs who feel the need to force others to do things in French. You know, have a French-speaking captain on the Habs, have French signs for shops, have French fries with every meal, etc ... it's quite silly. While I understand that certain people feel their culture is threatened, it's quite another to constantly whine about it, and force people to cave in to the wishes of a vocal minority. It's not as if Quebec doesn't get a disproportionate share of federal funding, is it?

The latest whiner: Michel Brule, a fellow who is pooping his diapers because the Habs aren't playing enough French music at the Bell Centre.

A prominent Quebec publisher is calling on governments to force the Montreal Canadiens to spin more French-language tunes for the Bell Centre crowd.

Michel Brule said he was shocked the team's DJ played one French song during Game 7 of the Habs' first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins.

"We are not in Raleigh, (North) Carolina, we are not in Philadelphia, we are in Montreal and we are in Quebec," said Brule, publisher of Les Editions des Intouchables.

"Anglophones think the only language on the planet is English."

A single tear rolls down my cheek ...

Let's see ...

1. Has a petition EVER worked? Maybe once or twice, but that's it. You know the TV show FAMILY GUY? It didn't return to the tube after a petition circulated, it came back to the tube because people went out and bought a lot of DVDs. Speak with your wallet if you want some real change. If people stopped going to Habs games over this music issue (and they won't), then you might actually be doing something. Signing a piece of paper is simply an empty action designed to make people feel better about themselves, while not actually accomplishing anything.

2. The Canadiens are a privately held club, playing in a privately-owned arena, charging people money for the privilege of watching a hockey in this privately-owned building. Why should anyone be able to tell the Habs what music they can play?

If Brule wants to listen to French music, perhaps he ought to spend his money at a concert, instead. The Habs are a business venture, and they obviously feel it is in their best interest to play English-language music.

3. Snobby Francophones like this Crème Brule fellow seem to think that the world is divided into Anglophones and Francophones, as if the rest of the non-French speaking world is all the same. Come to Vancouver some time, and you'll soon realize that most 'Anglophones' aren't even 1% British, and many of them speak another language.

(Hat-tip to 'hockeychic')

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Playoff Predictions?

Well, I went 3-for-4 in the second round, which is much better than the 6-for-12 record I compiled for Round One.

Philly vs Pittsburgh is the must-watch series, and this will feature a lot of offensive chances, physical play, and bad blood. I'll take Pittsburgh in 6.

Detroit vs. Dallas is the must-not-watch series, given how both Dallas and Detroit can slow down the game to a crawl.

I know I shouldn't keep betting against Dallas, but I'll maintain that it takes a physical team to beat Detroit, and Dallas is more finesse than brutish. Detroit in 5.

Labels: playoffs, Quebec

Leafs fans can finally rejoice ... PAUL MAURICE HAS BEEN FIRED!!! W00t!

In a classic case of a new GM wanting a new GM, fossilized interim GM Cliff Fletcher canned 'Chairman Mo', opting not to wait for the new regime to come in and make a change.

Paul Maurice said his firing on Wednesday morning as head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs did not come as a surprise.

"I don't think, based on the season we just had, that this was a surprise," Maurice said, adding that his immediate plans are "to hang with my kids."

"I appreciate the fact it was clearly a decision they made and they didn't sit on it for a long time. I don't know that it was a shocker. It's a conversation you never want to have. The first [firing] is the toughest one. After that, you're in the fraternity," Maurice said.

As the Acid Queen would be quick to tell you, Maurice is one of the worst head coaches in the entire NHL. Take away his flukey run to the Finals with the Canes a few years back, and you get a long trail in inept coaching decisions and underperforming teams.

From our favourite Canes fan:

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Like I said months ago, I tried to warn the Leafs fans–I did, I really did. And all they did was laugh at me and bray about how I CLEARLY don’t know anything about hockey because otherwise I’d see what a great coach Paul Maurice is and how he’d make the Leafs great again.

Who’s laughing now, kids?

He’s a decent coach ... in the AHL. Nice guy, too–but as an NHL coach I really don’t think he’s up to snuff. Coaches have to be developed too, just like players, and Mo’s development as a coach was severely hampered by his being thrown right into the fire all those years ago in Hartford after a whopping six weeks and change as an assistant coach under Paul Holmgren (who now GMs the Pflyers). If he wants to salvage any kind of career at all, he needs to go back to the AHL or just be an assistant somewhere for a few years and learn how to do more than the same old crap he did for 8 years in Carolina and 2 years in Toronto.

To be fair to Chairman Mo, he didn't get any favours from the inept management of JFJ, who gave him a crappy #1 goaltender with a fragile psyche (Raycroft), and an overpaid blueline. Yes, the Leafs weren't a well-coached bunch, but it's not as if the team wasn't poorly constructed by the higher ups.
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Our Southern Correspondent has a couple of questions for us. One I can answer, and one I can't.

1. Once again the Red Wings won the President's Trophy (for whatever that's worth); I remember, at one time, the team doing so used to get a $100,000 bonus...Is that still true?

*Jes: Per Wikipedia, the Presidents Trophy winning team gets $350,000 to spread around*

2. Do the players on the winning Cup team get some sort of financial bonus? Players on the World Series winner get about $350K; players on the Super Bowl winner get $64K...

*Jes: I have no idea, but anyone who needs financial incentive to win the Stanley Cup if somebody I wouldn't want on my team*

Labels: Coach firing, Leafs Suck, Maple Leafs, Paul Maurice

Some weird news to report as CraveOnline, a Maxim-wanna be website, purchased hockeysfuture.com and HFboards.com. Obviously, Craveonline wants to reap in the young horny boy demographic and HFBoards has that in spades. This was quite a shocking piece of news, to me.

I have more details over at FanHouse, so I'll just use this space for personal musings. (Warning!! Rambling ahead)

As some of you know, I used to write for Hockeysfuture for a few years. I was with the site when it was still quite young and finding its feet. I recall the website used to be called something like Hockey 2000, although my memory is failing me in my old age.

I started out writing about the Florida Panthers, my favourite team at the time (Beezer!). I remember extolling the virtues of Dan Boyle, Peter Ratchuk, Chris Allen, Peter Worrell, Oleg Kvasha, Mark Parrish, and so one. Obviously, some of them turned out to be not much at all, but that's just the nature of the prospects business.

One of my first articles was about the signing of junior-phenom Ivan Novoseltsev. Remember him? Yeah, he didn't do much in the NHL, but he was their top prospect at one time, and a lesson in how risky the prospects game can be.

After some time, Mark Fischel, now a big wig within the NHL media division (last I heard), an actual guy from Florida, took on the Panthers area and I focused more on the Slovaks, taking over from the previous writer (whom helped me greatly over the years with information and getting sources).

Anyway, I never imagined that HF would become as big as it has, especially given that it focuses on prospects, and not mainstream hockey.

I remember when the Taylor brother sold the business, and then it was taken over by a group who wanted to aggressively expand the brand. Next came a magazine that failed miserably and cost a lot of money to put out.

It was at this time that I became a lot less active with the website, given the new ownership was focused so heavily on profits and I didn't like their overall attitude. It didn't help that they took good content and put it in the pay magazine. I wrote the stuff for the website, and I never received a cent for my work.

No, I never expected to get paid ... it was simply a hobby/interest of mine. Still, I never expected them to simply take and chop up my work into their magazine, a publication of which I never received a copy.

I know the site was then re-sold and stabilized in new ownership. Of course, I wrote less and less and didn't keep in contact with new ownership much at all. Finally, work and other commitments have lessened my interest in hockey prospects, so I'm really out of the loop these days except for a few Slovaks and some WHLers I can keep an eye on when watching Giants games.

Back to my original point, I am still amazed that HF grew as much as it has, mainly due to its forums. I never visit the forums, and part of my disgust with them led me to create Hockey Rants, but I can't deny their influence. Without the forums becoming as big as they were, HF would still just be a niche site, albeit a very influential and well-visited niche website.

Does this purchase help hockey become even more mainstream? Can a company like CraveOnline help hockey get more exposure among the horny young men crowd?

Labels: Hockeysfuture, media

I love it when the embedded microphones capture the raw violence (crunching hits) and tension (the shouting) of hockey.

Let's face it, hockey is a violent sport, and we know the players aren't swapping cheesecake recipes.

Proof? Mike Rupp calling Paul Mara very mean things during a Rangers/Devils tilt. W00t!




Kinda funny how the mics weren't turned off, despite the foul language. Either somebody was asleep at the switch, or they really wanted to capture the raw tension.

Labels: Mike Rupp, Paul Mara, video

As most people know, the NY Daily News, a tabloid known for misinformation and sensationalism, screwed the pooch reporting Sean Avery as having Cardiac Arrest when he really just had a ruptured spleen.

In the rush to get the 'scoop', the tabloid sensationalized the story, and went with the first bit of 'knowledge' they had, rather than do some further investigating.

What is even funnier than the sloppy cover-up attempts is the fact that the 'reporter', John Dellapina, is fighting back and claiming some mass conspiracy.

Finally, for all those from other media outlets and newspapers who have sarcastically dismissed our initial web story about Sean Avery's hospitalization since the Rangers refuted it Wednesday afternoon, I wonder:

Was your initial reaction that the story couldn't have been correct or did you simply race up to the MSG Training Center to get player reaction? And, did you call the hospital and/or Avery's representatives to get the real story or did your "reporting" simply consist of taking the team's word for what happened?

Fortunately, the intrepid men an women of the press who have exposed baseball's steroid problems didn't similarly regurgitate what they were told by people who understandably want their businesses viewed as beyond reproach.

So, is there a mass cover-up by the Rangers and other media outlets? Did Avery really have a heart attack, and the team wants us to think otherwise? Not bloody likely.

Dellapina would have us believe that the rest of the media is doing sloppy reporting, and he had the real story, in a lame attempt to cover his ass. Yes, how dare other media outlets try to get the real story, after the NY Daily News made some serious claims about Avery's health.

It won't work, stupid!

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Wayne's World!!

Our Southern Correspondent shares some thoughts.

First, I heard the news about Sean Avery about I left this library...It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy; I'd like to see him on a slab on "CSI: New York"...Now on to the other stuff:

Montreal has a player named Francis Bouillon; if he played baseball, his teammates would call him "Soupy"...

What is that song that they play over the PA system in the Walk-over-ya Center whenever the Flyers score a goal? I remember it being played last year at Anaheim as well...Sure beats the hell out of Zombie Nation or Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll, Part 2" (which should be buried once in for all in the desert outside Las Vegas, never to return)...

Darren Eliot, please STFU: You are the reason I turn down Thrasher telecasts to listen to Jeff Odgers and My Favorite Kamalian on the radio, and now you're boring people to tears on Versus...On the other hand, being boring and charisma-impaired may be a job-requirement at that channel (just look who they have doing the studio show)...

I knew the San Jose-Dallas game was gonna be a low-scoring snoozefest, so I warmed-up for the game by watching the UEFA cup game between Chelsea and Liverpool...was out cold before the end of the first half...

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Some banter between us FanHouse boys, and the realization that this could be THE END for many NHL legends.

From JP of Japers Rink

Don't know if anyone wants to make mention of it, but tonight could be the last chance fans get to watch the two active all-time points leaders - Sakic and Jagr - play (at least in the NHL).

3228 points, 4 Cups, 5 Ross Trophies, 2 Harts, 22 All-Star games, 2 Olympic Golds, etc., etc.

Throw Forsberg into the mix and the combined stats are even more ridiculous.

Don't forget about Jeremy Roenick and Brendan Shanahan. If this was the end for all of them, we'd be losing the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 17th active all-time scoring leaders. Catch them while you can.

Labels: Hall of Fame, mainstream mediots, playoffs, Sean Avery

Some strange breaking news this morning as Sean Avery, our 'favourite' son of a bitch, will be out for the remainder of the season with a broken spleen.

As JP (Japers Rink) remarked, one wonders why it took THIS long for Martin Brodeur to get out his Avery voodoo doll.

Sean Avery has a lacerated spleen and will be out for the remainder of the season.

The laceration was detected with a CT scan after Avery was taken to hospital directly following Game 3 with the Penguins.

"He's stable and everything is going to be okay," a team source told TSN.

Avery suffered the injury during Game 3 but the Rangers are unsure of exactly when it occurred. The winger's pain got continuously worse during the game and became more of an issue when play concluded. Team doctor, Dr. Andrew Feldman, suspected Avery had suffered an injury to his spleen and the pair were driven to hospital. Avery entered the hospital under his own power.

Now, I'm not going to be one of those patsy types who is going to feel sorry for Avery. Yes, I know the PC thing to do is to say, "Well, no matter how much of an asshole he is, I'd never wish this upon him."

To that, I say you are full of shit. Call this Karmic justice, or just desserts, because Avery is certainly the type of fellow that could use this type of humbling. Given how much of a shallow ass Avery really is, I'm not feeling one ounce of sympathy for him.

When Forsberg had a similar spleen accident, I actually did feel for him in some manner. As much as I dislike Forsberg's diving antics and hate him for killing the Canucks again and again, I can respect him as an individual and admire him for his courage and tenacity. With Avery, I feel none of that. He's an asshole, plain and simple.

Now, another twist to this story is the tabloid NY Daily News and their coverage of this incident.

At one point, they claimed Avery was not breathing (!), and then, as the morning progressed, kept changing their story as the REAL details flowed in. As per TSN's story, Avery arrived under his own power, and was not about to die, as the NY Daily News might want you to believe.

This screenshot was captured by FanHouse's Matt Saler. Interesting ...

Labels: injuries, Sean Avery