WRIST SHOTS: CALGARY'S SOCKS HURT MY EYES

The Islanders beat the Devils 4-3 on a Guerin goal with :03.7 seconds left in OT on Saturday. (Hey, didn't the Sabres win in OT with :03.7 seconds left last week? I smell a rat.) Meanwhile, Ol' Billy has been smoking so far, clicking early with linemates Fedotenko and Comrie. As Rob pointed out it's a long season and he's almost 37 so let's see how long he lasts. Personally, I can't even stay awake to WATCH a hockey game, let alone skate in one.

Scheduling question: the Islanders played at home on Oct 20, yet they don't play at the Mausoleum again until Saturday night--6 straight days of vacation. Why? Who fucking knows? It's not like there's a lot going on at the arena since they are THE ONLY TEAM THAT PLAYS THERE. I think it's a ploy by the NHL to try to get Islanders fans to forget they exist.

You have to love the Chicago Blackhawks' 19 year old rookies, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, the latter I already nominated for a GOTY. Hopefully, they can help get that team back to respectability; the NHL cannot afford to lose the support of this city. And gee, what a shame that Bill Wirtz had to die--can you believe that because of him the Chicago Blackhawks home games AREN'T EVEN ON TV IN CHICAGO? His son Rocky took over ownership and is already getting some of the games broadcast on Comcast SportsNet by November. It's about time. Now that the old miser is dead maybe this Original Six team can get some fans back.

I used to like Dennis Miller, back in college when he was more pop culture-centric and less political. Well, someone apparently found his incongruent, subreferential schtick on MNF funny, because now he has a new show on Versus where he talks about sports, and apparently not one of them is hockey or bull riding. How many failed shows can one guy have? And instead of spending money and time on this, how about Versus gets a nightly half hour NHL highlight show?

Colorado's Ryan Smith returned to Edmonton Tuesday night, AND THE CROWD MADE HIM CRY! Damn you, Edmontonians! As Kris points out, if you play for Colorado what are we supposed to call you? An Avalanchian? An Avalancher?

With only 4 losses in a row, and only 4 goals in that stretch, including two shutouts against marginal goalies (Fleury and Fernandez, the latter besting Henrik in the shootout), what is wrong with the Rangers? They haven't looked good since beating Florida on opening night. Will they break out against the Devils tonight at MSG? Hopefully, the next installment of RANGERS IN THE NIGHT will elucidate further.

Thanks to Cablefuckingvision/MSG for completely obscuring the Isles/Devils game the other night with graphics. Several times during the game, they had a giant blue bar across the bottom of the screen . . . telling you where to tune in to the game. Wasn't there a half hour Then there was a constant banner popping up on top with something saying "HUMMER CHALLENGE". If that means they're giving hummers to fans to increase hockey attendance, I might sign up for that.

I don't mean to sound like an insensitive jerk, but I seriously need to know this: what's wrong with the left side of Islanders' studio host Deb Kaufman's face? She's an attractive woman and speaks well, but the deadness on the left side of her face is distracting to look at. What's worse is that they put her on the right side of the screen (stage left) so when she turns to talk to someone to her right, the camera emphasizes it. I think they told Butch Goring to wear the brightest shirt/tie combination he could find (this week, a painful orange/tangerine pair) to take the focus off of her.

Ever since they changed the point system, the 5 minute OT has been pretty meaningless. Right now, once teams get to the extra session they automatically get a point, so there really isn't any incentive to score in OT. In fact, I don't care all that much if my team loses in the OT or the shootout, because they at least get that 1 point. I propose that if a team scores in OT, they get 2 points, and the losing team get 0; it counts as a true loss. If it goes to a shootout, each team gets 1 point, and the winner gets 1 extra point if they win the shootout. This way, not only does this make the OT more meaningful and potentially exciting, but a goal scored (or given up) the conventional way (4 on 4, not a penalty shot/breakaway) means much more than a shootout goal.

Since most of the new sweaters and uniforms are hideous, I think I will post an ugly shot of them every week to illustrate that fact. This week: wow, the new Calgary Flames socks hurt to look at.



In other words, Bettman sucks.