Sunday afternoon brings feelings of family, home and comfort…
Laying on the floor – an old black and white movie plays in the background as you read the newspaper, play a game with your children or cuddle with your wife or husband.
What better time to reflect on a week in the NHL ?
Every Sunday, starting today I will provide a synopsis of the goings-on around the league and hopefully this will keep all you busy people up to date with your favourite sport.
This will also be a place where I will post links to favorite stories or antidotes that caught my eye during the course of the past seven days.Check with the other FanSided writers if the Montreal Canadiens are not your favourite team. They will provide a local perspective that you just cannot obtain from the major sport networks or the national news.
Sit back, grab a cup of coffee, a beer or a glass of wine and find out things that Ethel must wait for…!
Cheers!
The Grapes of Kovalchuk…
Paul Career -Ya – Ex – St.Louis Blues forward Paul Kariya announced on Friday that he will miss the entire season due to post concussion syndrome.He suffered a concussion last December and missed six games. in December and January. Six games…? Then he kept playin…? I am not sure that this is simply not just a way to remove himself from the game elegantly instead of admitting that he is finished. Kariya is a free agent and not too many teams are expressing interest.
…Speaking of crazy goalies –
was convicted of a drunk driving charge and he
may spend thirty days in the slammer. He must be on his best behavior during his jail time or he will be placed between the pipes of the Edmonton Oilers, hockey’s equivalent of the ‘hole’….Isn’t that the reason he drank in the first place?
Finally – the NHL Hockey Summit came and went and the only concrete decision to arrive was the commitment of 2 million dollars by IHL president Murray Costello towards woman’s hockey. (pending approval). The powers that be were not expecting to walk away with any handshakes regarding new rules or a deciding vote on sending NHL players to the next Olympic games.It astonishes me that people paid 450.00 to line the pockets of executives that are determined to make the game appear more foolish to an American population of which they are attempting to lure in the first place.Shoot-outs should not dictate a winner. If some child can kill 98 out of 100 zombies playing an Xbox game – that does not mean I want him defending my borders if Canada is at war. The players must take it upon themselves to play full out for sixty minutes even if the two team are tied with two minutes to play.Hockey was
played this way for many,many years. If Wayne Gretzky were playing in today’s league – would he be left on the bench during a shoot-out as he was during the Olympics with Marc Crawford behind the bench.Of course not because the line between entertainment and hockey is as blurred as a businessman’s eyesight after a night on the town. The G.M’s also voted unanimously to leave the icing rule in effect. Please do not let me hear you crying if Sydney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin tears up a knee chasing a clearing attempt by the defending team.We know Ovechkin would not be crying if this happens a he accepts the game and the way it is played. Crosby on the other hand will be in his crib, throwing rattles at Betteman and his cronies if anything were to happen to him or Malkin.Leave the rule alone and teach the players to respect one another. That is the answer to all the NHL problems – head shots, stick work and ‘pushing from behind’ penalties.Now play the game and start planting seeds on the parking lot.
There you have it – seven days…and eight tidbits from around the league.
Enjoy the rest of your day and have a wonderful week….! Always remember – keep your sticks between your legs…that way the other joker will get the ‘high sticking penalty!’
Rick