On March 5, 2010, around 1:50 into the third period, Scott Nichol received a pass from Torrey Mitchell, rang it off the post, and then continued on his way, trying to set up for another chance. In no way was he endangering any Canadiens player, attempting anything cheap, or really doing anything except for trying to score a goal. Maxim Lapierre, following Nichol, slashed him, and then cross-checked him from behind. Nichol flew full-speed into the boards, hitting his shoulder, and crumpled onto the ice. He laid there for a while, his legs twitching (yes, twitching) in pain. When he got up to say some things I am sure are not suitable for a family atmosphere, he was holding his arm close to his chest, trying to keep his shoulder in place. He did not return for the rest of the game, and is now expected to be out for 7-10 days (in Sharks-speak, that’s usually 2-3 weeks at the very least).

Lapierre got no penalty, no beat-down from any of the Sharks players, nothing. The only penalties that arose were from the scrum afterwards, to Jay Leach and Travis Moen. Lapierre was actually smiling after it, if you can believe it.

Now, I admit, I’m incredibly biased. Nichol plays for the Sharks, and Lapierre doesn’t. But really, if Nichol didn’t twist his body so that he’d only end up with a shoulder injury, it would have been his head crashing into the boards, and his neck absorbing that force. There was a very real possibility that he could have been paralyzed or worse.

I can go on about how I think that’s a dirty cheapshot and something that should be completely removed from the game, as well as Chris Lee’s complete inability to see something so completely obvious 15 feet away, but that’s been dealt with. People have talked about it already and a 4-game suspension has been doled out.

The thing that gets me, the thing that really pisses me off, is the insistence by some fans – largely Montreal fans, but some other ones as well – that Nichol deserved it because of all the cheap shots that he has thrown throughout his career.

In short, to some, Maxim Lapierre has become Bernie Goetz.

They feel that the violent actions of one can be justified if the victim has committed crimes in the past, and could possibly commit crimes in the future. They feel that by physically hurting Nichol and keeping him out of the game for weeks will improve the NHL, and that Lapierre should not be indicted because he was doing a public service, or because it “would take 10 more of Lapierre’s hits to make up for all of Nichol’s cheapshots.” People are wishing injury on Nichol, and that’s just wrong.

Has the situation gotten so bad in the NHL that some fans are wishing for more dangerous hits like that on borderline-dirty players? Has it gotten to the point where fans no longer trust the referees and the NHL’s supplementary discipline, just like how New Yorkers had completely lost faith in their police force? The entire Sharks-Canadiens game was an example of a game that got completely out of hand, where cheap-shots were being doled out like AOL CDs back in the lates 1990s, but that’s just a rare occurance, right? I’d like to think so, but the reaction to the game and the hit itself is worrying.

There are jokes about Colin Campbell’s Wheel of Justice and, of course, DGB’s famous suspension chart. The thing that worries me is that the jokes are true. People were wondering if Lapierre would even get a suspension, which, for an obviously dirty play such as that (disregarding any outside factors such as the perpetrator, the victim, and how the rest of the game was going, it was unquestionably dirty), should not even be a question. And then add to that how people were commenting how it was a good thing – have I been transported back to the early 80s?

I like the hits and the fights that make up good, physical hockey. Douglas Murray of the Sharks is one of my favorite players, and is well-known for his ability to dish out huge and completely legal hits. Fighting to settle scores without resorting to cheap shots is, in my opinion, the best way to administer justice so that the players can feel satisfied. David Booth did it with Mike Richards, and for all intents and purposes, the score from Richards’s headshot has been settled. I am not advocating to take out the physical play of hockey – I just don’t want the players and the fans to feel like the only way to dole out justice is by cheapshots on players. I don’t want Lapierre, or any other player, to be Bernie Goetz.

I’ve posted stuff for the Miracle on Ice in the past – here is an essay I wrote for a college app once upon a time that examined the political and social implications of the game, here are wallpapers that I posted yesterday, and here are two banners from way back when.

What makes this anniversary so great and prominent, besides the fact that it’s the 30th, is because of an event that happened last night. It was a big event unto itself, no matter what the outcome: the Canada and USA men’s hockey teams were battling it out in the Olympics. Not in a medal game or an elimination round, but just the preliminaries that serve only to establish seeding. Basically, a meaningless game. But Canada was expected to win, and win big – and they didn’t. The US pulled out a 5-3 win on the back of two Brian Rafalski goals and some stellar Ryan Miller goaltending.

That was the celebration after an empty-net goal. No, seriously.

Second-most viewed hockey game in the US since the Miracle on Ice, and second only to the US-Canada gold medal game back in 2002. Pretty impressive, considering it was on MSNBC, which a lot of people don’t even get. Something like 30% of Canada watched it.

But really, this post wasn’t meant to be about last night’s game. As Brian Burke said (and I’m paraphrasing here), “You don’t win any medals from being first in the preliminaries.” Next Sunday is the gold medal game. It is only possible for one of Canada, Russia, and Sweden (the three favorites going into the Olympics) to play in it. This is going to be fun.

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When, in the course of television broadcasting, it becomes necessary for the target audience of 18-49 year olds to alter their television habits which have connected them with a network, and to assume among the powers of the remote, the wide array of other networks that their cable or satellite subscription entitles them, a decent respect to the network requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the boycott.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all time zones are created equal, that people are endowed by their viewership with certain unalienable rights, that among these are live, quality, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, Neilson ratings are instituted among networks, deriving their just powers from the television viewers. That whenever any network becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the viewers to complain or boycott it, and to switch to a different network, giving them the viewers and therefore the advertising revenue. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that networks long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience has shown that viewers are more disposed to suffer, while bad programming is sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, making the viewer pissed off, it is their right, it is their duty, to boycott such network, and to watch illegal streams and torrents of their programming. Such has been the patient sufferance of these viewers; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former viewing habits. The history of NBC is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over their viewers. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

They have refused to air the Olympic Opening Ceremonies live on the West Coast, despite the host city being in the same timezone, instead tape delaying the Ceremonies for three hours and allowing Them to be already posted on Youtube before those in the Pacific time zone could watch Them on television.

They have refused to air the Olympic events live on the West Coast, a practice that has not allowed the results of the events be a surprise.

They have aired the Michael Phelps races three hours later for West Coast back in 2008, despite the tape-delay making the races begin at 11pm or midnight instead of 8-9pm, which is a much more reasonable hour as well as being live.

They have ignored the effects of the internet on tape-delayed programming.

They have chosen to air the most anticipated of the men’s hockey group play games and one of the most anticipated non-medal event in the Olympics period, the game between Canada and the United States, on MSNBC and ice dancing on NBC.

They have repeatedly aired the footage of a man dying with little to no warning to the viewers.

They have chosen to have Boston and Philadelphia play each other in the Winter Classic, two teams that have little rivalry history, and who would be much better suited to play other teams.

They have decided to deny the Washington Captials in the Winter Classic, citing that the team would not attract good enough ratings, despite having one of the league’s most dynamic stars in Alexander Ovechkin.

They have refused to broadcast any Western Conference team other than the Detroit Red Wings or Chicago Blackhawks despite the West being an overall better conference over the past few seasons.

They have removed original scripted programming to install a fourth talk show in their nightly lineup.

They have broken Conan O’Brien’s contract just seven months into its term in order to reinstall Jay Leno to the Tonight Show despite Mr. Leno’s new talk show’s dismal ratings.

They have removed all of Mr. O’Brien’s Late Night video clips from Hulu and various other internet video websites.

They have strictly controlled all posting of their content on the internet and have not allowed a vast majority of it to be available to a viewer under any circumstances.

In every stage of these errors we have petitioned for change: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated mistakes. A network, whose identity is thus marked by every act which may define a wildly incompetent organization, is unfit to be a top network.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our fellow east coast viewers. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by the network to extend their sub-par and tape-delayed productions onto us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of their exclusive contracts with events and programs. We have appealed to their logic and sense of fairness, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common network availability to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our favorite programs. They too have been deaf to the voice of fairness and common sense. We must, therefore, refuse to watch their network.

We, therefore, the viewers of the United States of America, from our computers, appealing to the common sense of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people suffering through the programming decisions, solemly publish and declare, that these united viewers are, and of right ought to not suffer through inept decisions; that they are no longer confined to viewing the network for certain programming, and that all exclusive Olympic and NHL contracts between them and the governing bodies, ought to be totally dissolved. And for the support of this declaration we mutually pledge to each other our opinions, our rights, and our sacred honor.

This is it. We have passed the point of no return. There is no going back now, no chance to make things up. That’s right.

NHL Gamecenter has officially used the Sharks broadcast for fewer than half of the games this season.

The record, as of last night, is 10-42-3-1. For those of you not familiar with what that breaks down to, it’s Sharks Broadcast – Other Team’s Broadcast (also includes TSN and CBC, since they don’t really care about the Sharks) – Versus and NB-HAHAHA sorry, couldn’t even get through that without laughing – None.

So that means that the Sharks broadcast has been chosen 10 times, the other teams’ 42 times, Versus 3 times, and not broadcasted at all once (thank you to the cheapskates at CSN-CA and whatever Nashville’s regional sports network is). Granted, technically one of those other teams’ feeds was just a rebroadcast of the Sharks feed (I’m talking about the Sabres game, of course), so that should count, right? Well, for whatever reason, instead of choosing the feed where the commentary and video was originally from, Gamecenter decided to use the NON-HD MSN re-broadcast. Why? I don’t know.

Let’s see what the record would be when extended over 82 games. Since CSNCA manned up and said that every game for the rest of the season will be aired (and in HD), and we already know that Versus will pick up one more game and NBC zero (surprise, suprise), the last two numbers are set at 4-1. With my handy-dandy calculator, the record projects to be an absolutely abysmal 15-62-4-1.

To put that in perspective, if the Versus/NBC/none numbers were converted into the loser point, the Sharks would have 35 points. That’s only 11 more points than the 92-93 Sharks, who set a record for most losses in a season. Ever. (71 losses, by the way, if that ever comes up in Trival Pursuit or something).

I honestly cannot understand how there can be such a huge disparity between the broadcasts chosen. I understand if it swings a little bit one way or another, but Sharks broadcasts are only used a fourth of the time. That’s bullshit. And while I don’t mind other perspectives occasionally, there’s something to be said about listening to guys that don’t sound disappointed when your team scores.

But the highlight hands-down goes to Sharks play-by-play announcer Randy Hahn, who decided to acknowledge the Sabres fans watching the broadcast with an absolutely horrible impression of Rick Jeanneret.

Sorry for the horrible quality; I shot the video with my phone off of my computer screen. But I think it still manages to capture the spirit of the impression, don’t you?

The only image that comes up when searching for this game.

I have two posts that I’m working on right now, folks, but last night something happened that prompted me to post a little earlier.

9-1.

Just roll that around in your head for a moment. Say it out loud, let the words roll off your tongue. “Nine to one.” That was the score of the Sharks-Flames game last night, a game between two playoff teams that should have been a lot closer. A franchise-record eight different players scored for the Sharks in the rout. Every player on the second and third lines scored at least a goal and assist. Heatley was the only player on the top line to score a goal. Joe Thornton only got one assist. And Torrey Mitchell, Jody Shelley, Kent Huskins, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Evgeni Nabokov, and Thomas Greiss were the only players on the Sharks roster that did not get at least a point – and two of those players are goalies.

Just take a look at the box score:

1st Period
04:07     SJS     Joe Pavelski (10) Wrist Shot – Assists: D. Murray (9) & J. Ortmeyer (6)
06:20     SJS     Manny Malhotra (8) Wrist Shot – Assists: D. Boyle (30) & J. Pavelski (14)
14:34     SJS     Scott Nichol (2) Backhand – Assists: D. Setoguchi (6) & R. Blake (10)
2nd Period
12:36     SJS     Jed Ortmeyer (5) Wrist Shot – Assists: S. Nichol (7) & R. Clowe (22)
16:49     SJS     PPG – Dany Heatley (28) Wrist Shot – Assists: D. Boyle (31) & J. Thornton (51)
18:36     SJS     Ryane Clowe (11) Slap Shot – Assists: S. Nichol (8) & J. Ortmeyer (7)
3rd Period
04:48     SJS     Devin Setoguchi (13) Backhand – Assists: J. Pavelski (15) & M. Malhotra (10)
07:41     CGY     Robyn Regehr (1) Slap Shot – Assists: N. Dawes (15) & O. Jokinen (22)
14:06     SJS     PPG – Rob Blake (3) Slap Shot – Assists: J. Pavelski (16) & B. Staubitz (3)
14:39     SJS     Dany Heatley (29) Backhand – Assists: J. Leach (1) & P. Marleau (20)

That’s kind of awesome.

What also makes this game great is that after a ridiculously long period without secondary scoring (it was something like 10 games without someone besides the top line and Boyle scoring a goal), it comes in droves. Seemingly every player on the team “busted a schnide,” as Randy Hahn repeated over and over, probably the most repeated phrase, even more than “HE SCORES!” It became a drinking game, causing many a Sharks fan to become completely drunk by the time the game was over.

Some of the best moments (besides the scoring, of course), came from Randy Hahn and Drew Remenda and their hilarious calls. Drew’s best call probably was after the fourth goal, stating that “Devin Setoguchi’s haircut has released the dragon.” As Seto shaved his head to get out of a slump (which was ended by him scoring two goals against Edmonton), it seemed like everyone was getting out of a slump against the other Albertan team. Hell, even Robyn Regehr on the Flames got out of a 150-something game goal drought, a schnide that Randy Hahn described as one of “Biblical proportions.”

And hands-down the best goal of the night goes to the man whose haircut started it all:

The best line in the NHL. That's right, an absolute statement. Just try and refute it.

Delayed live-blogging time! I was at the Emerald Bowl last night, so missed watching the game. Because it’s a game against the Ducks, I knew I had to watch it. So, here’s my live blog that’s not really live. If that makes any sense.

“There he is, the guy who was simultaneously put on a show, stood on his head, and was unconscious.” (Nabokov)

I like that there’s a “Ducks suck!” chant only 15 seconds into the game.

How far has Setoguchi fallen… on the fourth line, along with Mitchell and McLaren. Meanwhile, Ortmeyer is on the second line. I think we might have entered the Twilight Zone.

OH CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN! Pass from Thornton to Heatley, who fanned on the shot, which Patty tipped in. It marks his 300th career goal. Now, this may be a bit premature, but I could see him hitting the 500 goal mark during his career.

Fight! McLaren vs. Parros. Frazer lost, but he’s a rookie and the fact that he’s frequently fighting heavyweights like George Parros – and holding his own – is a good sign for the future. Plus, he’s not that bad of a hockey player outside of the fighting.

Talking about how Joe Thornton might be playing too many games, and how he maybe should take a few games off. This is the guy that played an entire season with a broken toe. I don’t think he will ever miss a game if he can help it.

Hmmm, Joe Thornton double shifting, playing with Mitchell and Setoguchi as well while McLaren is in the box. Interesting.

Ryan tried to hit Murray. He fell down.

Murray lost his stick, but still managed to kick the puck out and start the breakout from behind Nabokov. Things like that are why he’s on the Swedish Olympic team.

Setoguchi’s hit on Festerling was very nice. I like to see it as payback from when Festerling boarded Roenick and dislocated his shoulder.

Wow, Patty when from gliding behind the defense to breaking away in about three strides. The guy is amazingly fast.

First and second lines are absolutely buzzing. So’s the third and fourth lines, now that I think about it.

That ref just tripped over nothing, and then the puck that was already shot hit him. Ouch. He must have had equipment issues.

Penalty on the Ducks, and then a bunch of Sharks swarm Chipchura. I like it.

Thomas Murray looks like an intellectual, nothing like the wall that is Douglas Murray. Must be the reason why Murray got into Cornell.

OH CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN! AGAIN! Yet another tip-in goal, off a rebound from a shot by Heatley. And Heatley celebrated way before the puck went in – he just knew that Marleau was going to get that rebound and Giguere would have no chance. Either that, or he’s psychic.

Wooo, Murray flattened Perry with just a little shove. Love it.

Ohhh, I thought that shot off the post was in. It was almost there – maybe a millimeter more and it would have been.

“Heatley’s got it, and he’s got Nichol with him!” It’s like the polar opposite of players, haha.

Nice pass by Mitchell to Seto. Too bad Seto couldn’t settle it on his stick.

END OF FIRST PERIOD
Great job by the Sharks, got out ahead early and just sustained the pressure. They barely let the Ducks have any legitimate chances, and when there was a chance, Nabokov was that to make the save pretty easily. Complete opposite of the Hawks game.

So, Marleau-Thornton-Heatley needs to be a line on Team Canada. Preferably the first or second line. I honestly don’t see how anyone can say no to it.

SECOND PERIOD

Eating some gnocchi, so won’t be commenting as much.

That was a pretty play with Boyle – too bad that it didn’t result in a goal.

Awww, Huskins. Stupid plays like that are why we don’t like you.

I don’t like this PK that much. But great shift by Boyle.

And man, Joe Thornton played some great D there. Forced that Duck off the puck and then shadowed him all

HEATLEY! He had two guys guarding him, and yet he was able to get two shots off.

Drew, that’s not a high stick, because any contact with the face as a result of a follow-though on a shot is defined as not high-sticking.

So now Joe’s playing with the third line as well. Interesting.

“Anaheim has eight players on the ice!” Ahh, what happens during a line brawl.

Joe Pavelski got a penalty for roughing? That’s kind of amazing. I guess no Lady Byng for him.

CLOWE! KIND OF! Wait, no, NEIDERMAYER! He shot the puck, hit Wizneiwskie, and then hit Neidermayer’s skate and went in. He’s just getting all sorts of crazy goals, isn’t he?

MCGINN! 15 seconds later, McGinn just rips a shot behind Giguere, that’s all that you really need to know. Oh, and Neil Young is there. He’s probably the Sharks’ most prominent season ticket holder.

Goos sign from the Sharks, that right after they score the goal the very next shift they score another goal. Either that, or a bad sign from the Ducks.

Ducks keep falling. I’m thinking that they all have equipment issues.

BOOO. Chipchura scores on a break after he pushes Huskins down and takes the puck. Huskins, this is another reason why we don’t like you.

END OF SECOND PERIOD
Three goals always makes for a good period. Yeah, the last-minute goal by the Ducks is kind of a deflator, but there was still a lot of good done in that period. Heatley’s goal was the definition of a goal-scorer’s goal – I doubt anyone else on the Sharks would be able to get two good shots off that quickly.

Woah, that Weinershnitzel commercial was just wrong.

THIRD PERIOD

McGinn off for hooking. He got a goal, so not too mad about it. Also, Sharks have been absolutely clutch on the PK in this game. Actually, they’ve just been clutch on special teams. 100% PP, 100% PK.

BOOO. Bobby Ryan scores five-hole right after the penalty ends. Now 5-2.

I admit, I know that this is the final score for the game, so I’m going tune out a bit.

Ducks really pouring it on now – it’s almost like they can sniff their next goal. Which won’t come, but still.

Ortmeyer really is having a good game. He’s getting a few breaks, really driving towards the net, and getting shots off.

FIGHT! Nichol vs. Chipchura! Nichol is much smaller than Chipchura, but he’s the only one to land anything. Win, Nichol. “Scotty Nichol makes this officially Boxing Day!”

Marleau off for high sticking. So the two Sharks least likely to take penalties both take penalties in this game. Interesting.

I agree with Drew – the fourth line has played an extremely solid game tonight. It’s more like a second third line than a fourth line.

FIGHT! Ortmeyer vs. Beleskey. Not much of a fight, Ortmeyer gets the takedown by Beleskey gets the win.

Giguere was trying to see if Carlye would pull him with a minute left. Carlyle would not. Makes me laugh a bit.

“DUCKS SUCK!” chant out in full force. Love it.

SHARKS WIN!

I love that stick lift at the end, especially when the crowd roars in appreciation.

Three stars: 3 – Heatley, 2 – Marleau, 1 – Thornton.

Haha, Joe always looks like he’s having such a good time after the game. He’s such a happy-go-lucky guy.

Marleau is always so awkward in interviews. But he cracked up when they mentioned the “Slappy the holiday elf/dummy” commercial. Or, at least, cracking up for Marleau. Which is a smile and a small chuckle.

Joe Thornton has absolutely dominated the Ducks this year. I don’t think he’s gotten less than 3 points against them in any of the games they’ve played.

Okay, so it’s only Christmas for around 10 more minutes, so sue me. Anyways, I decided to try and make a song parody and record my efforts for all to enjoy. And then I realized that my singing would probably bring the opposite of enjoyment, so I didn’t record it or make a video. But if you want to, go ahead! While the tune is a Christmas standard, the lyrics are not, so who cares if Christmas is over in 7 minutes.

You know Thornton and Seto
And Boyle and Heatley
Murray and Vlasic
And Huskins and Nabby
But do you recall
The most beastly player of all?

Marleau the hockey player
(player)
Scored a lot of pretty goals
(like shorthanded)
Whenever he’d try to score
(to score)
He would find the goalie’s holes
(like Tiger Woods)
All of the other teams’ fans
(teams’ fans)
Accused him of choking hard
(like a necklace)
They never held poor Marleau
(Marleau)
In a very high regard
(like Joe Thornton)

Then one sunny New Years Eve
Stevie came to say
(Yes yes yes)
Patty with your skills so tight
Won’t you join my team tonight?
Then Canadians loved him
(loved him)
And they shouted with a fuss
(Hoo-ah!)
Marleau the hockey player
(player)
You will bring the gold to us!
(like Joe Sakic!)

But if you want official Sharks Christmas awesomeness, click here. Featuring Slappy along with Rob Blake, Patrick Marleau, Dany Heatley, and Joe Thornton, it is simply hilarious. “That dummy’s brilliant.” Or, if you want to go vintage, there’s also the following video:

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

So, the Sharks won on Tuesday despite being outshot something like 274y6492-14. Okay, it was more like 47-14, but still. That set a new franchise record for the Sharks, being outshot by that much. In fact, the Hawks got off more shots each period than the Sharks had total. Well, the second period they only had 11 shots, but that’s only 3 fewer and they made up for it with their 21 shot (!!!) third period.

That incredible number of shots means only one thing: a companion to the “Marleau = Beast” series.

The shot disparity could also be explained by the fact that the the Sharks had played the night before, they got the lead relatively early and kept it throughout the game, and the special teams situation. And by the word “situation,” it means that there’s a rant coming on.

For the past three games, the Sharks had never trailed. Actually, once they gained the lead, they never lost it. Meaning that the other team would have to play more aggressive so they can score goals, which generally means that the team with the leading would be given more power plays. Instead, there was 84:10 between Sharks powerplays, during which the Sharks had 8 penalty kills. Somehow, the Stars didn’t commit any penalties in that game. Yeah, and I’m Marty Turco. There were several instances of Stars players committing infractions that were at the level of those the Sharks committed, except that the Stars didn’t get called while the Sharks did. And somehow in scrums, the Sharks were the only team to get penalized. That continued on a bit into the Hawks game, although I concede that the difference was not as great and the Hawks were controlling play.

Now, I’m not pulling a Wings fan or a Bryan Murray and saying that the league is conspiring against the Sharks, but the disparity between calls was absolutely horrible. One team should not get 5 power plays and the other team zero, unless the game is an absolute blowout.

Anyways, since it’s a Versus broadcast, I have a few observations:

• So, Hawks fans get to listen to Eddie O do the commentary on Versus, and Sharks fans get… I dunno, some Versus guy. I just know that it’s not Randy Hahn or Dan Rusanowsky, the Sharks play-by-play guys for the TV and radio, respectively. I get that Eddie O does analysis on Versus regularly, but if it’s supposed to be an neutral broadcast, try to not have one of the regular announcers for one of the teams, okay?
• Somehow in 37 games, the Sharks have become Dany Heatley’s team, despite him not leading the team in either goals or points (those belong to Marleau and Thornton, respectively). At least it’s different from perpetually being Joe Thornton’s team, I guess. And if they went by captaincy and we were really Rob Blake’s team, everyone would take at least one bad penalty per game. That would kind of suck.
• That font they chose for “HAPPY HOLIDAYS!” is absolutely horrible. Here’s a hint: generally, brush stroke-based fonts are not supposed to be in all caps. I think I learned that when I was nine, after seeing how ugly it looked. Brush Script Std looks so good when it’s just “Happy Holidays!”, why couldn’t have you done that?
• I don’t like the Blackhawks’ third jersey. Didn’t like it at the Winter Classic, don’t like it now. I liked their old one, where it was just a black version of their red home jersey. Why change a good thing?
• Vlasic leading the rush always looks weird to me, since he’s a defensive defenseman and all that.
• I swear, Scott Nichol has scored himself more than he’s scored goals this year. He just keeps falling into the net. Definitely not a bad thing, since he’s continually crashing the net, but it’s just kind of funny.
• WWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY???????????????
• If you were confused, Versus showed replays and kept talking about the infamous game before Thanksgiving in which the Sharks – pardon my French – shit the bed.
• I think they had the first Joe Thornton interview where he was actually wearing a shirt. Craziness.
• Versus decided that shots of Joel Quennville and Duncan Keith would be more interesting than shots of a violent scrum/brawl. I disagree.
• Um, by the way, Dany Heatley and Marian Hossa were never teammates. They were traded for each other. So yes, they both played for the Atlanta Thrashers, you got that right, but they never played together.