Archive for the ‘Berbs Blurbs’ Category
Ahhh… the sweet smell of the playoffs is in the air once again. 82 games in the books and only 16 teams left standing. Many hockey pundits have made thier picks and predictions on the upcoming post-season, so I guess I shouldn’t be left out.
THE GOOD
San Jose Sharks- This team looks poised to make a deep playoff run. Big Joe has had a stellar season and the boys in baby blue have rallied behind him.
Hey…if they can pull this off, maybe they can even have a parade instead of celebrating in the parking lot like their other California counterparts.
Either way, a Sharks Stanley Cup victory is still only destined to make page 6 of the sports page.
PREDICTION= Stanley Cup final appearance
Detroit Red Wings- Presidents trophy winners yet again, this is starting to get old. Another 54 wins, and of course, the best 50 year old goalie in the NHL that nobody cares about anymore.
Don’t forget a team full of names I can’t spell or understand. The only time I feel this dumb is when I am at a Starbucks trying to figure out the menu. Uhhh…I’ll have a Valtteri FILPPULA frappacino, or maybe a Chocolate iced MALTBY….ah nevermind..just give me a double MEECH expresso…What the heck are those anyways?
Ah heck, the Wings playoff run is going to be much like the Starbucks drink sizes…Strong, but Short and hard on the pocket book.
PREDICTION= Round 2 exit.
Montreal Canadiens- Most think this team has the best shot to bring the cup back to Canada for the first time since the last time they did it in 1993.
Their 104 point performance was tops in the east and an incredible turn around from last year. So why will they go to the Stanley Cup Finals this year? Well, someone told Alex Kovalev it’s still 1993! I mean, just look at his hair, he is trying to give Fabio a run for his money.
That, and the fact that Thomas Plekanec is doing his best Wayne Gretzky impression by wearing his stupid looking turtle neck game in and game out. However, the biggest reason this team has improved so much is because they are saving big dollars on expenses. The team no longer has to pay for flights…Carey Price’s old man just picks them up 4 at a time in his prop jet and takes them to games.
PREDICTION= Stanley Cup final appearance.
THE BAD
Boston Bruins- Congrats; you fought to the end and snuck into the playoffs. Hard work and determination got you here.
Too bad for the Bruins the Habs beat up on them a perfect 8 times year, have knocked them out of the playoffs the last 2 times they met, and have a 23-7 career record against the Bruins in the playoffs.
So, is there any good news for the Bruins? Sure….they will have plenty of time to watch the Celtics make a real playoff run from the bleachers.
PREDICTION= 4 and out.
Nashville Predators- These guys are still in the league? Who knew….Well at least they will get 4 games televised this year. Could you imagine if this team made a deep playoff run?
Ya me either……..Oh well, at least they were better than Vancouver and Edmonton.
PREDICTION= 5 and out
THE UGLY
Ottawa Senators- One of the worst second halvess to a season ever in the NHL after flying out of the gates. Let’s just say that limping into the playoffs is being polite. This team is horrendous. They scored about as many goals in the second half of the season as times Ray Emery was late for practice. Lucky for them they only have to deal with Hossa, Crosby, and Malkin in Round 1. No biggy right?
PREDICTION= 6 and out
- They will get 2 wins because Fleury will fall asleep at the wheel a couple nights.
In light of the last off season’s acquisitions, I offer this quote to the Oilers:
“You can’t go into a shop and buy a good game of golf” – Sam Snead.
Well that’s how I feel about things folks……fire away in the comments with your own playoff picks and predictions!
Berbs
I officially hate Sean Avery…And so should you!
The ultimate thorn in the side of the NHL has sunk to a new low by trying to call on guys like Zach Parise.
I’m joking right? Nope…not a chance!
Who’s next on his hit list? Maybe last year’s Bill Masterton winner Phil Kessel?
On top of that, he has the nerve to call New Jersey Devil David Clarkson a “bonehead minor leaguer”. Ummmm…isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black Sean?
Let’s be honest with ourselves here; we wouldn’t know who Avery was except for the fact he always has something ridiculous to say. He is the NHL’s version of Ann Coulter. They both peddle garbage and that’s why they stink so badly. Avery is lucky the talent pool is so watered down in the NHL, or he would find himself in the “minors” as he puts it.
Mouth Piece
What I find most funny (and a true indicator of how talentless he is) is the fact Avery is simply most well known for running his mouth, and nothing even close to on-ice related. He isn’t tough, isn’t much of a player maker or goal scorer, and doesn’t intimidate the other team. All he really does is talk a lot. If you don’t believe me…just go look at his stats.
When the reporter asked why he wanted to fight Parise, he said “is that his name?” Come on Sean…like you don’t know who Zach Parise is. Parise is the guy who nearly scored as many goals last year as you have in your entire career. Parise is the guy you will be watching on TV when you are out of work in a couple years because your so-called “tough guy” gimmick wore off.
Giving Grinders A Bad Name
Many consider Avery a gritty, workman like player. It’s funny, because I love tough guys and hard nosed players. I truly have respect for the grinders and workman type players. These are the guys in my mind are the biggest piece of the puzzle when it comes to going the distance that is the NHL playoffs.
With that being said; I have no respect for Sean Avery. If anything he gives the grinder a bad name. He spouts off to the media as if he is “Sidney Crosby like” and his antics during games have Semenko and Probert considering coming out of retirement to clean him up.
How To Solve The Problem
Sean should start watching out though. Broken jaws are not uncommon in the game these days and a broken jaw would be kryptonite to the Ranger winger!
A broken jaw would literally leave Sean Avery speechless…and everyone else happy.
In the 70’s it was Bobby Clarke, Dave “The Hammer” Shultz, and Ed Van Impe…the original Broad Street Bullies. Those were the tough, rugged, in your face hockey players that sent shivers down the opposing player’s spines.
In 2007, instead of tough and rugged, it’s more like cheap and dirty. The Broad Street Bullies are back and they are head hunting…literally!
Steve Downie, Jesse Boulerice, and now Randy Jones….already 40+ games in suspensions between Downie and Boulerice and just a matter of time before a few more are added on for the latest cheap shot Randy Jones laid on Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron this past weekend.
What’s going on in Philadelphia? This is the 3rd incident in less than two months where a Flyer has made news for injuring someone. First it was a cheap hit by Downie, next an awful crosscheck by Boulerice and now a shameful hit from behind by Jones.
At this rate the Flyers won’t have anyone to put in the lineup come March. What’s worse is that the on ice antics of three players is really taking away from the fact that the Flyers are a much better hockey team than last year. In fact, they are one of the top 5 teams in the league right now.
I’m all for rough and tumble hockey, but this is not the way to bring the Broad Street Bullies back to town. This type of hockey doesn’t intimidate other teams or send a message; all it does is give the NHL a black eye.
It gives sports writers who know nothing about the NHL more ammo to trash talk the league. Instead of showing highlight reel goals like the ones Rick Nash and Jonathan Toews scored last week, all we will see is Randy Jones crushing Bergeron from behind in the corner followed by replays of the Downie hit and Boulerice slash…over and over again.
Should Bergeron have protected himself going into the corner a bit better? Absolutely, but Randy Jones has to know better than to lay a check on a guy’s numbers. Hitting from behind happens way too much in the NHL. Just watch a game, your bound to see 2 or 3 questionable hits per period.
The bottom line is that this needs to be stopped or next time we will be writing about a player being paralyzed after being checked from behind near the boards.
Patrice Bergeron got lucky. But will the next player be so lucky?
If a game is played in the NHL and nobody watches it, does it still make a sound?
Should we be surprised that Americans don’t watch hockey? Not a chance.
In order to watch a hockey game in most cities you actually have to go out of you’re way to find a game on TV. This obviously excludes big markets like New York, Boston, Philly, etc.
The NHL television coverage wasn’t going too great even when ESPN 2 carried games. So, when they dropped their coverage and Versus picked it up, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to know the viewing numbers were not going to rise.
On top of it all…in some states, if you don’t subscribe to Versus or your cable company doesn’t offer it, you just don’t get any hockey. No NHL hockey at all…it’s as simple as that.
Last year in the U.S. only about 600 000 thousand folks tuned in to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Versus. A dreadful 40% decrease from 2 years earlier when ESPN showcased the Stanley Cup Final opener.
Versus’ All-Star game ratings saw a drop of 76% from 2004 when it aired on ABC. Is Versus doing that bad of a job? I for one actually think they do a pretty good job; they just don’t get into many households.
But that’s how it seems to be for NHL hockey in the United States. Stuck on page 7 of the sports section and hidden away on Versus. Every Wednesday ESPN generously gives viewers 4 minutes of analysis by Barry Melrose to make us feel better. But blink and you will miss it.
What you won’t miss is the World Series of Poker. You’re kidding right? No, I am not… Americans know who Greg Raymer is, but have no idea who Sidney Crosby is.
What a shame.
Take a look around. The Ducks won the Stanley Cup and it barely made news in Anaheim, let alone the rest of the country. However, when pitcher Curt Shilling gets a little blood on his sock its front page news nationwide!
Heck, even NBC cut away from a overtime playoff game last year between Ottawa and Buffalo to go to (insert drum roll here)……wait for it…Horse racing! And not even the actual race, just some lame pre-race coverage. If that doesn’t tell you something, I don’t know what will. American television networks would rather air poker and horse racing than hockey.
Hockey only makes the news when someone uses his stick to injure another player or a big fight breaks out. Unlike other leagues, the NHL just doesn’t have any huge scandals going on. The biggest off-season rumblings were when Eric and Jordan Staal had a couple too many beers and the cops showed up.
Compare that to the delinquent NFL who boast players like Michael Vick and Pacman Jones…the scum of society. Or MLB, where apparently anyone who played the game during the 1990’s was juiced up.
What a disgrace.
To all of my Canadian readers, this certainly was a weekend to give thanks…….
Thank you RDS for giving me an alternative to Bob Cole and Harry Neale.My French is bad, but RDS is a treat compared to those two homers on CBC. My only question is, “How the heck is Harry Neale going to talk about the Leafs during Buffalo Sabre broadcasts?”
Mike Comrie is thankful he is atop the NHL scoring race right now.I am thankful that,in about a week, we shouldn’t ever have to worry about Mike Comrie being atop the scoring race again.
Sheldon Souray is thankful as well. For the first time in 7 years he doesn’t have a minus rating. Then again…were only a couple games into the season…he has lots of time to give his atrocious -28 rating from last year in Montreal a run for it’s money.On a lighter note…Sportsnet.ca asked NHL 2K8 cover boy Jason Spezza which button in the new game undressed Sheldon Souray….At least you’re getting some press Sheldon!
Tim Horton’s is thankful they make great coffee because their hockey themed commercials are the worst on television.
Maple Leaf forward Mark Bell is thankful the NHL reinstated him earlier this week.Too bad he has a summer of lockdown to look forward to…..no turkey in the big house!
Poor old Brian Burke, he is so outraged over the Dustin Penner scandal he has decided he isn’t eating any turkey this weekend….instead he continues to just look like one.
And finally…….
Smack talking Shawn Avery isn’t happy.A grade 2 shoulder separation and knockout Elisha Cuthbert finally got smart and dumped him.Turkey for one please!!!
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!!
I’m Berbs and that’s my rant for this week!
If you love the NHL, you should be watching the pre-season. Sure there isn’t advertising on the boards, wins and losses don’t count and you don’t know as many players names.
I’m telling you…if you love your NHL team, the pre-season is for you!
NHL teams have just a limited number of spots every year. This creates intense battles for between 10 or 12 guys for those couple roster spots. For others, a great NHL camp can produce better assignments at the AHL or ECHL level. It’s intensity and passion at its peak!
So what does this all mean? Why should I watch games that don’t count?
Pre-season action can offer a glimpse of what is going on in the coach’s head. This is the time of the year where he can try his veterans out at spots they might not be accustomed to playing during the regular season, such as the power play or penalty kill. You will often see extensive mixing and matching of lines, searching for that perfect combination. It’s also a chance to see what the coaches have in mind for the future players of the club.
Check out those free agent pick ups! Did your team pick up a big name in the off-season? Here’s the time when you get to see the coach float him around different lines, trying to establish where he will contribute the most.
Check out the intensity of the games. For many players, the window to make a statement is extremely small…in some cases maybe only 3 or 4 shifts. As a viewer, you’re getting 60 minutes of hard nosed hockey; watching players going to the wall on every shift.
If you don’t believe me just watch some footage of the Sabres vs.Blue Jackets game
You heard it here first…….
Next time you’re scrolling past a pre-season game with your remote control thinking “It’s just pre-season” lock it on that game and you will be pleasantly surprised at what you see.
Enjoy the rest of the pre-season folks. I know I will.
Berbs