One Night Only! Colin Campbell Comes Boston

I'm a complete ass.

 So according to Eric Wilbur of the Boston Globe, NHL Head Disciplinarian, Colin Campbell, will be in town on Thursday to watch the Bruins take on the Pittsburgh Penguins. I’m sure Campbell intends on giving the lads a stern talking to about being good little hockey players and will later hunker down and will watch a 60 minute train wreck, like everyone is hoping for .  

Campbell has no one to blame but himself if someone gets hurt Thursday night. If he used that thing, that’s three feet from his ass and suspended Cooke when given the opportunity – I’m sure the calls for blood wouldn’t be as bad. Instead, there’s been talks about sitting Malkin, Crosby & Cooke for the game and it’s not fair for Cooke’s teammates to clean up the mess he made. 

I’m sure Campbell is going to pull Penguins coach, Dan Bylsma, aside and recommend he consider sitting the wonder twins for the night.  I mean, since it’s so close to the playoffs and after that rough game in Tampa Bay on Sunday(Hey Pittsburg, it sucks when it’s your guy, huh?) and let’s not forget they play the night before against the Devils – maybe it’s time for them to have a break. But if Bylsma is an honorable guy, he’ll put Cooke out there and Crosby & Malkin(providing neither are hurt) and keeps it business as usual.  

It’s been a week since Matt Cooke’s hit on Marc Savard and Bruins fans have been looking at this date like an expecting mother. When justice wasn’t served, that’s when it was crystal clear that the players were going to have to take the situation into their own hands and hopefully they do. But I’m not about to put money on it.  Would I be shocked if nothing happened and it was business as usual at the Garden? Nope, not at all. But it’s about time  the Bruins live up to their “big & bad” moniker. If I had my say,  Steve Begin would whispers “Prepare to die” in Matt Cooke’s ear in French, smile, kiss him on the cheek and then proceeds to gnaw off his face. But we don’t always get what we want.

 

Thanks to Puck Daddy for the heads up!

Olympic Hockey Recap: The Nobody Cares About Jarome Iginla Edition

“You like me! You really like me!”

After days of sitting through filler, all eyes are on men’s hockey in Vancouver and no matter how hard NBC tried to keep their viewing audience from watching the games, the viewing audience lucked out and caught a glimpse of what they can hopefully expect during the medal rounds.

Team USA kicked off the day by taking on the delegation from Switzerland. The Swiss team was anchored by Anaheim (Mighty) Duck goalie, Jonas Hiller. Prior to the Olympic break, Hiller posted a record of 5-2  and was having a little more success than Team USA’s goalie, Ryan Miller. The Buffalo Sabre, had recently hit the skids and was struggling as of late. Miller had only one win the month of February. But much like the playoffs, the Olympics are an entirely different.

The US were the first to strike 18:59 into the first period. Robert Ryan, not to be confused with Bobby Ryan of the Anaheim (Mighty) Ducks, scored the unassisted goal on his NHL teammate. The  Cherry Hill Giant will be holding his head a little bit higher today.

Bobby Ryan told reporters after yesterday’s win, “Once I scored, I was able to settle down and come back into my own a little bit.” US General manager, Brian Burke understood her team would be nervous and they had every right to be. “This is the big stage. This is Broadway.”

St. Louis Blue David Backes, scored 6 mins into the 2nd and that was followed up by Tampa Bay’s Ryan Malone’s power play goal half way through the second period. By the end of the 2nd period, the US was ahead 3-1 and were up 22 shots to Switzerland’s 15 shots.

Now, I don’t want to say the US mailed it in and didn’t give their 100% during the 3rd period, but they only had 2 shots on goal. TWO – count’em 1-2 shots on goal. It’s bad enough the US Women’s hockey team did it against Russia, but you’re there to win and you want to be intimidating. Enough of this sportsmanship crap. Kick some ass and show these other countries they can’t mess with the stars & bars. The US takes on Norway next.

The US’s next opponent lost last night to Canada in a shut out. Hometown hero, Roberto Luongo, blocked all 15 shots on goal. But the real star of the night was Jarome Iginla. The man who according to Sean Avery nobody cared about because he was too boring, captivated the crowd the with his hat trick – one of which came on the power play.

Dany Heatley followed up Iginla’s performance with 2 goals, Philadelphia’s Mike Richards(who Doc referred to as Washington Capital, Mike Green – Ouch! Burn!) and Ryan Getzlaf & Corey Perry of the (Mighty) Ducks each scored one. Canada’s #1 son, Sidney Crosby, had three assists for the night. Unlike, the US – Canada didn’t lay down in the 3rd period and led with 42 shots on goal. Canada takes on Switzerland on Thursday.

Finally the Russian Federation or Russia as I like to call them, beat Latvia 8-2. Washington Capital, Alex Ovechkin and AK Bars Kazan(not to be confused with the cinematic gem, Kazaam) Danis Zaripov each scored 2 goals. Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburg Penguins and Ilya Kovalchuck of the Atlanta Thrasers New Jersey Devils each scored a goal and recorded an assist.  Russia hits the ice next on Thursday and takes on Slovakia in a game we probably won’t be able to see because NBC are ass hats.

If you’re looking to fill your hockey fix today: Finland takes on Belarus, Sweden plays Germany and the Czech Republic takes on Slovakia.

The Third Most Famous Jack Jackson Is Staying In LA……For Now.

So if you remember about a week ago, The Score’s Steve Ludzik decided to spill to the world that Chris Pronger would be heading on his way down to LA for Jack Johnson(No, not that one. Not him either. Yes, THAT Jack Johnson). Johnson’s name was also being tossed around in a big Tampa-LA-Pittsburgh deal. But according to L.A. Kings VP, Jeff Solomon, that’s nothing but bullshit at the L.A. Kings ‘State of the Franchise’ meeting for season ticket holders and they seem to be happy with his announcement. Now imagine if they had a winning team and how the fans would re-act?

King’s President & GM, Dean Lombardi, shared Solomon’s sentiment and shockingly enough, said the media was getting it all wrong. Wouldn’t be the first time they were thrown under the bus. But for all you Kings fans out there, Jack isn’t going to be playing in Russia(sorry, Dad) and supposedly he’s not looking for an outlandish salary(you hear that, Phil Kessel?).

So now what? The Kings ended the season in last place with a record of 34-37 with 79 points and from the sounds of it, neither part(The Kings or Johnson) probably want to deal with the other one right now – which could be why no contracts have been signed. But what do I know? The Kings are fifth in the draft and could land, Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson(I’m sure they’ll have no problems fitting that on a jersey.) from Sweden tomorrow night. Imagine your their GM, what would you do if you were in their position? Me personally, if I was in charge(and thank God for them I’m not) – I’d use the pick as a bargaining chip. Anything is possible on draft day.

But if Johnson is shipped out of town,I hope his relationship with LA fans ends better than it did with ‘Caniacs. They’re still a tad bitter.