HNIC Wrap-Up ~ October 31, 2009. . .

Again, belated, so apologies for that. Lots of hockey this Saturday night.

Hockey Tonight's Inside Hockey talked about goal masks, something very important this weekend for more than a few reasons, but something I've always had a unique interest in. (Childhood favorite - Stephane Fiset's "ice blocks.") They're just fun to look at.

The end of Inside Hockey showcases this guy who does over 80 masks a year, some commissioned by NHL players. During the show, he shared one for Carey Price. For Rememberance Day, it showcases poppies, pinning a wreath, the Canadian flag, and the poem Flander's field. Looks amazing. Even better, Carey Price, when he's done, will auction it off for money to help wounded soldiers. Find out more at www.woundedwarriors.ca

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On After Hours, the guest to speak of (no disrespect to Steve Yzerman, Red Wings great, that is) was Rene Bourque.

Before Saturday night, the only thing I knew about Rene Bourque was that he was the player whose neck was sliced open by Nik Zherdev's skate blade, when Rene was with Chicago, and Nik was a Blue Jacket.

Thanks to segments like After Hours, I now know a lot more about Bourque, and can think of some good things instead of remembering what was probably the most horrible time in his life and one he'd rather forget.

It didn't take long for Rene to have hosts Scott Oake and Kevin Weekes laughing. Literally, at one point they had a hard time continuing. Some of his more clever moments:

After being shown an image of his report card from youth hockey camp, with average marks in some categories, and signed by Ron Sutter, he said, "maybe the Sutter family had a late night the night before."

That had them laughing. For a while.

The next was when Kevin Weekes called him "Mr.-Everything" and said the only thing he hadn't seen Rene do was wear the Harvy the Hound costume. Rene's response:

"Maybe tomorrow night."

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Some other tidbits:

He grew up with sisters, one of them a twin, so he said he never had to fight for clothes or bathroom time.

He heard about Goals and Dreams through the NHLPA and wanted to participate. Gave out 50 sets of hockey equipment to kids in his hometown of Lac Li Biche, Alberta.

"It was like Christmas for them; it was very rewarding."

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Lastly, while he said he doesn't like to think about it, he watched the clip of the Zherdev incident with the guys. And he was gracious enough to speak about it. He lost over a liter of blood, and didn't realize at first how dangerous the injury was. He was in hostpial for 5 days, and the doctors, he said, looked like they almost didn't know what to do because it's such a rare injury. He was very close to losing his life, but thankfully, thanks to the medical staff and doctors, he survived. Still has a visible scar on his neck, a reminder for the rest of his life of how close it came to ending.


Overall, a very funny, humble interview with the guy who is leading the Calgary Flames in scoring so far this season. A guy to root for, that's for sure. I'm now going to.
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Oh and lest you feel cheated, in another installment of "Tips from the WEEKES' Beauty Bag" - Weeke's urged guys to bring cologne, and girls to bring perfume for after the game. You don't want to smell "like hockey," he says.

Kinda wonderfing how far this segment will go. I didn't get to write up on last week (not too much doing although there was a short Nigel Dawes interview) but Weekes' tip for 10/24 was to use shower gel.

Guess we'll see. Gotta love Weeksie, though.

HNIC Wrap-Up ~ October 10, 2009. . .

This will be shorter than usual, because my watching the 9 o'clock game prevented me from watching an entire HNIC game, but we'll focus on what really matters, won't we?

AFTER HOURS!

I adore Kevin Weekes and I can already tell he will be much better than Marc Crawford in the hot seat next to Scott Oake. No offense to Crawford - the coach only dogs can hear - and best of luck to him in Dallas, but...it took him more than half the year to feel half way comfortable. Weekes already seems like he's been doing this for years.

And their first guest of the evening was...

Scott Sco-Go Gomez. Which made me smile. Scott looked uncomfortable after the loss and the interview began pretty awkwardly.

While Oake didn't want to call the NY years a bust - even though I really think we should - he tried to get Gomez to talk about it.

And what was Gomez's real reason for last year's mediocrity?

He actually said it was injuries. He's like, I'm not making excuses, but...

I'm sorry. If that is the case he was injured, fine. Maybe he was. But it was his attitude that drove me crazy and what apparently Tortorella found unacceptable.

Yes, a hip-groin-leg-arm-neck-back injury can make you a less efficient player, but Scott, does it cause those "vacuous" passes to no one?

And how about those late nights of partying? Those were...rehab for the injury?

Yeah, sorry, not going to buy that one.

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The interview got better though. Gomez can still, at his best, provide a good interview. He talked about how it's odd being recognized on the street because he's never had that. And that when all is said and done - as careers do not last forever - how it'll be amazing to say he was a Canadien, considering the history of the franchise and those that have gone before.

I really hope he realizes that. I know if I were blessed enough to be a professional hockey player, I'd have certainly wanted that. I don't think that's why I am a Rangers fan, but it certainly gives me a sense of pride. Knowing that this team was around in the 1920s and that this team, barring something none of us can imagine, will still be around in another 100 years.


But back to Sco-go:

*In talking about his injury during the lockout where he was told his pelvis was broken, he said it was not so serious and got blown out of proportion. His answer, "I was on the dance floor a week later."

*New teammate Michael Cammalleri said that Gomez can't stay on the phone for more than 30 seconds but can text for hours. Gomez said jokingly that Cammo just hasn't realized he doesn't have anything to say to HIM. He also said he likes to work on his spelling, hence wanting to text more.

*But the BEST part of the convo and the part that did make me smile was when Scott Oake asked about how he, Gionta, and Cammalleri like being referred to as the Smurfs. Gomez said that was new to him but that:

"We're in the gym, trying to grow. Hanging on the chin bar for hours.

If there is a growth fairy, we are putting money under our pillows.

Maybe next interview I'll be 6'1"

As much as I like to rag on Gomez, I do it because it's fun not because I really wish badly for him. I mean I'd be silly to wish him supreme success after his attitude, partying, er...Injuries...kept him from being effective here even though he was the highest paid player. But I'd be a bad person to wish him failure in Montreal.

I'll just reiterate - I will love to hear him defend bad games, and love it even more when he's trying to do it in French.

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Moving on the the next guest, we have Mr. Hilary Duff - Mike Comrie.

Now, I never really had an opinion on Comrie either way, but after this interview I must say I do.

He gave really thoughtful responses to the questions - really thoughtful - and was not afraid to laugh at himself, talk about the tough stuff. And I admire him for that.

For the record, he mentioned a false rumor. I know about the contract holdouts. I'm guessing he was silently referring to the Salo incident. There are some things we'll just never know the truth to. (This wasn't the first, it isn't the last).

He talked about his mother dying from cancer when he was 10, about his father's furniture business, about growing up in Edmonton. A lot about what it is like to return and wondering if the fans will be supportive after how he left last time.

Hated and loved in his home province, that is the story of Mike Comrie.


But the interview wasn't all serious.

On of the funnier parts was how Weekes talked about his man purse or murse and how he carried it around in the lockeroom - his "bag of beauty" if you will. And how everyone made fun of him for it until they needed something for a date or to meet someone - to step up their game after the game.

Comrie for the record said he has never and will never have a man purse. He doesn't even wash his face, he just washes with soap.

And this guy is dating Hilary Duff. That made me smile.

=)

Oh but speaking of Hilary Duff. Apparently Comrie couldn't do a movie premiere, so Kevin Weekes stepped in instead.

No, not really. But that's what the good folks at HNIC photoshopped it to look like.

Love it!


*not sure how long it'll stay active on the site, but if you'd like to watch in all it's glory - here.

Sure It Feels Nice To Beat Them But. . .

I cannot, until I see how the Rangers play against Boston on Saturday, be sure whether it was Rangers utterly dominating the Devils last night, or a partial byproduct of the fact that the Devils were without not only their marquee goaltender, but half their team. I'm not sure. Don't get me wrong. After years, like seven or more years, of the Devils stomping all over the Rangers, I am more than ready to admit that the Rangers have the Devils number now. And I love it. Of course I do. But to assume they'd get five goals and look so (again) utterly dominant for the majority of last night's game against say Detroit or Montreal, I am not ready to make that claim.

That being said, it was a good win that showed some things. I'll be more apt to say, wow, okay, great, if on Saturday they are able to do the same against a very good Boston team. [Although if pattern stays the same, it'll be a 2-1, 1-0 game with those boys; unless we want to bring up the St. Patricks Day Massacre of 2007?]

The good things were that playing together Lauri Korpikoski, Dan Fristche, and Nigel Dawes all looked much improved. I've been the one saying that I think Fristche, being a bigger body, will do well if given a chance, especially on a team of mostly smaller people. And add a big guy in Korpikoski, and that's exactly what happened. Am I sure that Dawes and Fritsche would collect two assists every night? No. But they did last night for a reason. Again, to go back a day or two, to my comments, Prucha/Dawes/Drury are too similar and too small of players to be working on one line. But stick a small guy (be it Dawes, be it Prucha, or honestly even Drury) with two bigger guys who can win those battles more cleanly and I think that's why you'll see better results. As evidenced last night.

Now Korpikoski had gone into the lineup to replace Dawes on Monday. Fristche went in to replace Prucha. With Gomez unable to go last night, Dawes was reinserted into the lineup (honestly on some really flakey answer by Renney of how he'd be going back into the lineup anyway because the Rangers shootout didn't look good the other night against Edmonton and how Dawes plays well against the Devils - - all true mind you, but I think Renney has permanently forgotten who scored a ton of shootout goals for the Rangers back in the day and who had one on Brodeur last November 3rd of last season. #25. Look him up). Anyway, all that aside, my question is, so when Gomez, who frankly I'm very glad sat if he wasn't at least 90%, comes back, then who goes out? I'd find it hard to believe Dawes would sit, given Renney's undying faith in him. You're not probably not taking anyone else out. Or you shouldn't be. If Gomez goes back to the Naslund/Callahan line, (and gotta love Ryan Callahan. I keep saying, that guy plays every game every night), Drury presumably will drop down to play with Korpikoski and _____. I would hesitate to want to remove Fritsche from a situation where he looked very comfortable, on a team where they are struggling for size on a nightly basis. But again, I can't imagine Dawes will be pulled for Fritsche to get his own chance to play consistently. It's a shame for him really.

In the other 3rd line roulette/carousel/musical chairs news, yesterday Patrick Rissmiller was sent to Hartford on a conditioning assignment. So he is not subject to waivers, either way. My question. Can Prucha be given the same opportunity if he does not play consistently? What are the parameters for this? I'm sure Petr doesn't want to be playing in Hartford ideally, but, I think since he's the "good soldier" Tom Renney keeps saying he is, he'd at least rather go down and be playing somewhere. I know they need to have one healthy body, for I guess that is all he really appears to be to the team, sitting around, but when Rissmiller comes back up, can Prucha go down? I'm doing some research on this.

And we're going to get me to eat some humble pie here. Wait. Wait for it. Yes, Chris Drury is on a goal scoring streak. Yes I said it. A scoring streak. Goals in two consequtive games. And 5 in his last 4 games. Not bad, honestly. And all kidding aside, I'd be a horrible fan to want the captain of my team to not succeed. So of course, depite kicking, er, gently ribbin him when he was down, I have wanted him to succeed. Again, that $7+ million a year is not going anywhere. Why not have him be the guy getting goals and being, umm, clutch. Which so I heard, he once was. Again, this coming from the girl that was happy to get Drury and nauseated to get Gomez on Free Agent Frenzy Day 2007.

Even if Dubinsky isn't scoring, at least he's sticking up for his team. Again, if there is one major complaint I have about the team - - not including lack of goal scoring, lack of mental toughness, lack of cohesiveness, lack of consistency - - it's lack of personality. And maybe that's not fair. But I think it might be true. I asked my father, who on the team he thought had personality. And he said, besides Orr and Gomez? [For the record, I asked him the other night who was the Rangers most consistent players all year and we agreed on Hank and Callahan]. But really, some of the guys have a little spunk and that's great. But I need some character. And the Rangers have decisively less of it than before. Now, if they are winning, and playing well, I guess they can all be mindless statues and no one will care. But I'd like the whole package. A winning team, with a little heart and character. A little spunk. Dubinsky, has been, and can hopefully get back to, being like that.

Good for Niki Zherdev pocketing two goals. If he can get back on track, I'd feel better about the 2 goal pattern the Rangers had been getting into.

Oh but speaking of 2-goals. Apparently, and thanks to Home Ice XM204 and Hockey This Morning for this - - Hank Lundqvist's streak of 18 games against the Devils where he's given up 2 goals or less, is the second longest streak of its kind in the modern era. The other, Dominik Hasek against Ottawa has gone 23 games. Very interesting stuff.

On a side note, I was not happy with two things yesterday. One, that despite paying for Centre Ice and living in the Rangers home region, I was forced to endure Chico Resch and Doc Emerick on four channels. Sam and Joe were no where to be found. I missed the majority of the 1st period on the phone with DirecTV who told me that either it was blacked out entirely (which is false) or that the Devils, being the home team, had the right to say where and how the game was broadcast. I find that suspect. But I'll check into it, be assured of that.

And secondly, I would have been thrilled if the Rangers won 5-2 against anyone, but I had to feel a little for Kevin Weekes. His team did little to support. And he is a good, good guy. So with that, Marty, please hurry and get well soon. So the Rangers can beat you!

Brodeur, Modano, Semin, Crosby, and Other Random Around the League Rumblings . . . [updated]

As I've already beaten the Rangers talk to death yesterday. . . sigh. . . I will keep my chatter to talk around the rest of the league.

- Rumors are going around that Martin Brodeur is going to be out for four months. I have nothing to confirm this (will update when I hear more). But I am going to say a few things. One, I read somewhere Kevin Weekes said it looked like something he did once. And he was out for a lengthy time. Two, that Brodeur wouldn't talk to the media after that game. Three, he never seems to get injuried or leave a game. He must have really been hurting.

Now that being said, I am not a fan of Brodeur by any means. I credit him when it's due, and more often than not, I do credit him. He's arguably the best of all time. More importantly though, I don't like to see players go down to injury like this. I never do. Is he due, perhaps, after years and years and years and years of healthy seasons where he played 78 games? Maybe so. Did I want this to happen or am I happy it happened? No. I really am not. As a Rangers fan, I want to beat the Devils when they are playing their best. And they are their best with Brodeur in nets. For years the Rangers got their butts handed to them (7 years I think) and it was sad for me. It was sad to not have a rivalry be competitive. It was one sided. Last year definitley (and perhaps even for most of Hank Lundqvist's tenure in NY) the shoe was on the other foot. Did I think that was awesome? You bet I did! Because the Rangers were due. Their fans were due. That was the universe righting itself.

But. . .ideally, I'd like there to be some competitive balance. Not have one team win ALL THE TIME. Even if it's my team. It's boring. Again, I'm saying, last year, from regular season to playoffs was nothing short of sweet. Because it hadn't been that way in so oo oo long. But if that were every year, it would get boring. I'm sorry.

Whether he's out or not, let's explore something. I think most people would say, done, season over. But, maybe not. Their biggest problem - always - has been their greatest strength. Marty hides flaws. He does. He keeps them in games they shouldn't be. And sometimes if he lets in one goal, that might be one too many if their team can't score. Zach Parise is the only guy I hear scoring over there right now.

But their defensive consistency is in jeopardy. They haven't had to be tested with out Marty. Now, I'm a huge Kevin Weekes fan. And I'm arguing he's NOT going to be the problem here. His team was shellacked last night. Outshot 20-3 in the first period. They left Kevin Weekes out to dry. And he stood up. He stood up and only let in 2 and got 3rd star of the game honors. Will he be able to every single night? No. But he's a better goalie than almost anyone gives him credit for. (After all, he's the guy who beat Brodeur & Co in 2002 when was with Carolina).

Do not get me wrong. I am not a Devils fan and will not be rooting for them. But, I'm a Kevin Weekes fan. And I hope he does himself proud.

- Mike Modano apparently said a bunch of stuff after the Boston/Dallas game this weekend. Highlights were:

"Tonight, it was idiotic and stupid, it was one of the most embarassing things I've seen. If that's what we're going for, then they need to find me an off-ice job."

"It was dumb penalties, dumb situations, that's kind of been the trend all season," Modano said. "There's no mental toughness. We're allowing the refs to get involved in the game with and spending more energy on them than the details of winning the game."

As per tsn.ca ( http://www.tsn.ca/story/?id=254725) later came to talk to them about it and re-clarify what he was talking about. Credit Modano for being a man. But, you have to wonder, just how bad was it? Is it just not being used to Avery yet? I mean yapping to the fans? That is part of the package. Just ask Buffalo! I just wonder what he said to make Modano so...mad. Or is this just not in Modano's nature. And I'm sure it's not. I have long respected Mike modano and will continue to do so. I still hold true that it's early in Dallas. For Avery versus his team maybe. For the team itself - shambles right now. Damn me and thinking Turco was going to have a good year. ehhhhhhh. [note, I saw some of the scrums, but I didn't see the game, unfortunately].

- Speaking of the Sabres, I don't pick Ryan Miller for my fantasy team this year for the first time in probably 2 or 3 years. And Buffalo starts like mad! And Ryan Miller is playing awesome. I should really give up thinking I know how to play this stuff. There is no way to predict.

- Alex Ovechkin has returned from Russia and feels thankful he got the chance to go home and see his family. He feels re-energized and ready to go. Alright, go! Start piling up points now. :) I give you permission.

- A little dated but Alexander Semin took a shot at Sidney Crosby the other day:

"What's so special about (Crosby)? I don't see anything special there," Semin, who leads the NHL with 16 points, said in an interview with Yahoo.com. "Yes, he does skate well, has a good head, good pass. But there's nothing else. Even if you compare him to Patrick Kane from Chicago ... (Kane) is a much more interesting player. The way he moves, his deking abilities, his thinking on the ice and his anticipation of the play is so superb."

I think it's funny. Immediate reaction. Funny. [And we know I love Pat Kane!] But seriously. Let them fight it out. The Capitals/Penguins have no lack of animosity in their games. Ovechkin v. Crosby. Ovechkin v. Malkin. Add this one to the list. Semin v. Crosby. It's interesting. Do I agree? I mean, I don't know. I think I am apparently the poorest judge of whether a player is good or bad. I really am. But. . .while Crosby is definitely one of the best players in the league - Is he THE best? I don't know. I really don't know. And to Semin's point, the NHL focuses on Crosby as the next coming of Wayne Gretzky and the source of almost all its NHL Marketing. And I think that's narrow-minded and short-sided. The NHL has the best crop of young talent in a long time right now, playing night in and night out. They should embrace ALL OF IT. Is Crosby a part? - yes. The entire entity of the NHL? - he shouldn't be. Gordie Howe alluded to it at the NHL Awards - the league is in "great hands." Let it be. Let them be in great hands. And that is more than just the two belonging to #87.

- What would we do with out hockey? :)


***Updated: As of 12:35, Tony and PJ on the Team990 in Montreal say Brodeur will have surgery and be out around 4 months. confirmed on tsn.ca http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=254775&lid=headline&lpos=topStory_main **