I just don't get the typical Hockey Pants. I really don't. They aren't even 'pants'

Why would you ever design and wear padded shorts for a game played on ice? Really, it doesn't make sense to me to wear big black diapers and then have to use half a roll of tape to make sure your stalkings don't fall down.

Why don't ice hockey players wear normally looking pants? Is there an actual reason why they continue to use this severly outdated design?

I know the Hartford Whalers experimented with 'Cooperalls' once upon a time, and they use stylish hockey pants in professional roller hockey.

With the talk of Reebok designing 'sleeker' uniforms, why not convert all hockey shorts into full fledged pants? You could do a lot, stylewise, to add to the look and design of your average hockey uniform.

Hockey players, especially Cale Hulse, have some powerful and shapely legs. Why not show them off a little? (/fanboy mode)

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Lance Hornsby and a few others are really feeling a little empty now, with the playoffs supposed to be starting now and all.

I dunno about you, but the withdrawl symptoms don't affect me any longer. I've jumped into my other drug(baseball), and I just can't feel 'anything' since the season was cancelled long ago.

Still, I found this line rather amusing:

The venerable hockey pools will go dry as well this month. Run from either the living room, office, internet or local bar, there will be no attempts to sneak in Vladimir Orszagh as a sleeper pick, or that smug feeling of projecting Carolina, Anaheim or Calgary into the final round.

As much as I love Vlado Orszagh, I can't imaging having to 'sneak' a guy like him into a pool. Would anyone else other than me and a few others want him? I don't imagine too many scraps have broken out over the rights to Matt Johnson, either.

Also, I'd think 'drunk' would be a more apt adjective to describe anyone who takes Carolina, Anaheim, or Calgary, or Vancouver in their playoff pools. (Does not apply to hometown fans)

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Sweden announced their roster for the upcoming World Championships, and they will count on Daniel Alfredsson and the Sedinbots to lead them victory. Oooooh, I'm soooooooo scared.

I hope they lose every friggin' game. Thank you.

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I know there's a grassroots movement to 'Free Stanley' from the evil clutches of the NHL. Now, they have actually managed to take this battle to court, where an annoyed judge can finally tell them that it's useless to resist the force.

I'd really like to see the next-best league (the AHL, in this case) award the Stanley Cup to their winner. Do you really think Jay Bouwmeester would fight harder for the Stanley Cup rather than the Calder Cup? Even if it's 'tainted', I would say 'hell yeah!'.

We are not privy to the trust agreement between the NHL and Lord Stanley's estate, so it's hard to say what the true arrangement is. I just doubt anything will come of it, and we'll be back to talking about the next round of unproductive CBA talks.

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Tom Benjamin of the Canucks Corner Blog has two thought-provoking posts on Illegal vs. Legal obstruction and also the CBA Negotiations. You should definitely go read them...because I said so!

One quick point on the obstruction: I see a lot of 'illegal' obstruction at the Giants games I go to, and I recall seeing quite a bit of it at the last Canucks game I went to and also when I watch NHL games on TV. I really doubt Booby Clarke's assertion that the NHL is devoid of 'illegal' obstruction.