FRENCH HOCKEY & OVIE v SID

I started writing a big long piece on Sidney vs. Ovechkin, then I realized I don't care that much. Sidney does whine. Sidney has been known to dive. Sidney plays his game like it's a job that he doesn't enjoy very much.

Ovechkin is a caveman. He is arrogant but he plays like a kid at recess. And holy fucking shit, he has some sweet moves.

If you're not a Sidsburgh fan, it's hard to argue with Ovie's enthusiasm. I am not a fan of either team, but I find the Pittsburgh fans nearly as insufferable as the Boston fans. The Washington O.V. fans grate on me less so. Excepting the Pittsburgh fans, I think it's fairly given that Ovie is probably the most complete player in the league right now...Malkin is great, Sid is very good, but OV is the face of a very good Caps team and he can do it all.

On a somewhat lower level, I went to see French Division I hockey over the weekend. The Bordeaux ("The Boxers" - like the dog) team is currently 3rd in the league. They played the Jokers from Cergy; and I'll tell you, the Joke was on Cergy's goalie. The skill-level was probably equivalent to my college's hockey team (NCAA D3), but the goaltending - not some much. These guys (esp. the goalie from Cergy) probably couldn't play in a lot of Canadian beer leagues.

Needless to say, I used to be on the fence about ads on jerseys - yep, that's over. It is fucking hideous. No NO NO. Bettman, you do that and I will condone a sniper dropping your sorry ass. The Bordeaux team has so many ads, that 1) You can't see anything on the front, it's just this overload of graphics and 2) The players name is on his ass because there's no room up top. FUCK THAT!

The rink here has no side glass. I was a little afraid of that when we first arrived, because we were in the second row...But it turns out that the guys don't shoot that hard, so the puck never got up into the stands - still weird to only have glass behind the nets.

I haven't seen college or non-NHL level hockey in a long time, so it's tough to get re-accustomed the reduced speed, but it's still fun. No-touch icing is kind crappy. The refs handed out 5 minute fighting majors for simple gloves-in-the-face. The guys don't really check much and there were no open-ice hits. But overall, it's still hockey and there were 10 goals in 60 minutes (7-3 for Bordeaux).

I tried to take a few pictures with my new DSLR, but being this is the first SLR I've ever owned and I never was very good with the whole ISO/Apeture/Focal Length what have you, the pics weren't great. I've put up a few of the better ones.

GOALS OF THE YEAR: OVIE!!!!!!!1 (AGAIN) (2/18/2009)

I don't even know what to say any more, because this guy is ridiculous.

Yes, it's OVIE! scoring his Earth-leading 42nd goal vs. Jesus Price and the Habs on Jeffuary 18, 2009, which just might be the Goal of the Year.



He makes a great backhand pass off the boards to himself while spinning around to start the breakaway, and after being pulled down as he skates towards the crease, while sliding on his right side he somehow guides it in. "Unstoppable!" Indeed.

Okay, that's it, I'm dusting off my skates and playing some hockey again. (I'm not saying that I'd even be able to skate at all, but watching this guy makes me want to try.)

GOALS OF THE YEAR: OVIE!!!!!!!1

Yeah, it's Ovechkin.

Again.

This one was vs. Ryan Miller and the Sabres on 12/26/2008.



Wow. Just, wow.

This is a better quality video (OVIE's goal is at 3:39).

COVERING CRAP WITH A BERET

It's Thanksgiving in the states and for some reason this holiday is always the hardest one for me being away from the States. Julie's generally gone; in her old job she was always in the "pre-holiday" sales mode so she was away and today she's in Italy. Anyway, all that to say, the drinking will start early today in celebration of our murderous forefathers:

I was kind of wasting time on Youtube and happened onto some Richard Thompson videos. I like Richard Thompson, but imagine my surprise when I found this video.



I think it's pretty good. It's better than Dolly Parton covering "Shine" and much much much better than this.

Anyway, I may be challenging Jeff for Death Manager of the year. I picked up Khabibulin on Tuesday and in his first start he exploded his groin (or something). He did make 20-some-odd saves and only let in one goal, but I started him over game-winning-goalie Ryan Miller last night. FUCK! He better really be DTD. I don't really like the remaining goalies on the FA list. And Khabi's been playing decent hockey this year.

*OVECHKIN 21 points in his last 9 games. That's why he's the #1 pick motherfuckers. He may single-handedly win me that liter bottle of Johnny Walker Blue that Jeff put up as a prize for the OHBFHL champion, right Jeff? It's written on the interwebs so it must be true.

*Scoring an empty netter should count as a goal, but you should not be able to call it a "natural hat trick" It's a fucking gimme, damnit Maklin.

*BUFFALO SABRES on a one-game winning streak. They started 8-2-2 and they're 10-8-3 now...that's not how to play this game.

RANDOM YOUTUBERY: OVECHKIN CALLED UP

The Onion gets another hockey scoop today, covering Ovechkin's call-up to the "professional" Miami Dolphins.

Reggie, when Ovechkin started off in the NHL do you think that he ever dreamed he'd be able to play sports professionally?

Hockey is challenging, you're going up a bunch of guys that all want to make it to the NFL, or anywhere else.

It's a huge difference [playing in front a crowd], Michael, there's the cheering, knowing that there's actually fans who are depending on you; it's not just mom and dad anymore.

My wife tells me that skating is a great cardio workout; she's got a pair of those Rollerblades.

NHL Star Called Up To Big Leagues To Play For NFL Team

Congratulations, Bettman you fuck. You've managed to take the NHL from "that sport, you know, the one that Gretzky plays...ummm, with the hair...oh, oh and there's ice too" to the well-known punchline for so many sports jokes.

Reggie Greengrass; covering all things sports and hockey too.

WRIST SHOTS: OVECHKIN!

Ovechkin was at his Ovechkinest last night, laying out hits and scoring 2 goals in the 3rd, including the go-ahead goal on a breakaway, as the Kapital Komrades scored 4 unexplained goals to bury the Philthy Lyers 4-2 and force a Game 7. Dare I say that Number Eight was . . . considerably above average? No, that doesn't have a good ring to it. I'll call him "Alexander The Excellent".

Nothing brings out the clichés like playoff hockey. Kris pointed me towards this WaPo article oh-so-creatively entitled "Ovechkin Has One Goal In Mind" which has this deep and enlightening quote:

"If we win, then the next game will be the final one for both teams. And if we lose, we're done and our season will be over."

Although he was talking about Game 6, the second sentence also applies to Game 7 tonight. The last time the Philthy Lyers were up 3 games to 1 and lost a series in a Game 7, Lindros was lying on his side on the ice after having his brain temporarily disconnected from his body by Scott Stevens. Here's hoping history repeats itself tonight.

The Flames have been in too many Game 7 situations to even count. All I know is I've seen this video dusted off and blogified everywhere, so why shouldn't we? Caution: you can't touch a flame when it's RED HOT.



After watching that brutal video (seriously, that's worse than getting RickRoll'd), I say that the Sharks will win.

Speaking of red hot, is it really necessary to burn cars when you win the first round of the NHL playoffs? I'm going to be in Montréal in a few weeks, and I can only hope it's not during a clinching game. I think the douchebag mayor of Montréal should declare a "2 for 1" night at the contact strip clubs to keep the miscreants off the streets. I blame Los Expos leaving town for the restlessness of the Quebecois.

Rob pointed this out: "Wow, Habs have defeated the Bruins in 24 playoff series. Good Lord, and [Boston fans] hate the Yankees?" I think the Bruins are cursed -- the Curse of the Bourquebino!