akustyk

ouch.... good one, Emmerton!

it actually feels bad to see Kings playing that bad... this should be a decent team but somehow they suck very badly overall, and this game is utterly brutal...

dat wos kwick!

sure no, as it doesn't have the power of retrospective jurisdiction... and it takes time for the sheriff to deliver the message and change the culture of the game. not a single season, I'm afraid. not even two IMHO.

that's bad for him and the Flyers... as much as this SOB could be pain in Wings *, he is a talented and smart hockey player. hope he still has some hockey left in the tank...

that's 2500 USD for Mr. McQuaid. and no, you guessed it right, no suspension whatsoever... http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=382829 nooo... I'll not go into any conspiracy theory. I'll just say:... I told you...

looks like it indeed is completely out of context...

perhaps it's because they get away with murder, when other teams would have players suspended for same thing. see: Lucic. just to name most recent example.

I miss the times of guys like JR who just said what they think and sticked to it rather than back up with some BS explanation. apparently, nowadays if you want to say Canucks are classless divers and effin whiners, you need to wrap it up and the day after cry publicly with excuses that it was taken out of context and assure everyone you actually do love Canucks and it was just meant as a joke etc. I seriously miss the time when athletes spoke freely without PR geniuses dictating them what is politically correct to say and what not. and yes, I can't stand neither Canucks nor Blackhawks with their attitudes.

it's the Bruins. do I have to tell you what the punishment will be?

bad for Conner, he had a lot of steam last couple of games and looked like someone battling hard for the roster spot. nevertheless, I'm excited at the chance to see Tatar with big boys.

technically speaking, both Astana and Burabay are east of Ural Mountain which would make them Asian cities/districts. hence, yes, those are some tough as nails Asian SOBs, not European softies i agree with VM1138 though. kids shouldn't be encouraged to do such mess. I understand the emotions go high and they have short tempers, but come on... you'll have plenty of fights in your hockey career, guys!

on the other hand... at least it's not the one and only obvious choice, i.e. Sindy... but yeah, I agree, Toews would be better, if it had to be a Hawk.

I'm too lost in the decisions of Shanny. yep, I understand this is about changing the culture of headshots etc. but man... Lucic skates away with nothing, Tootoo gets 2, Fistric 3... I hope the players get whatever message is Shanny trying to convey. I for one can't say, that I really get it.

is it really already decided? if I understood Gary correctly, this very point is still subject to discussion... ditto on liking. what I'm not sold on is that the inter-conference rounds will emphasize shallow conferences, where only one team is of decent caliber - think: Bruins in their new conference: if nothing changes, and I certainly doubt Maple Laughs will introduce big change inb the picture, the Bruins will be perennial competitor in round 3 for years to come. and for another two conferences it may be a two dog fight (Wings/Hawks, Sharks/Canucks). there's still chance for an underdog winner and some playoff cinderella story, but the new format looks to be more prone to creating "dynasties"... I'm not sure I don't like the though (think: Bruins-Habs playoff feuds in recent years) but I sure did like the cinderella teams and upsets...

try again...

here's some data I calculated for the new conferences first three columns: average number of point of teams in the conference per year middle three columns: average number of points for all except two best conference teams (best in this 3 year span) last three columns: average number of points for all "non-playoff teams" (3 or 4 worst team in the conference throughout 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons) analysis: B is the conference that can potentially produce most diversity in terms of playoff teams. Wings and Hawks look like safe bets but remaining 2 seats can be filled by almost any other team. D on the other hand looks like fixed choice. as for conference "toughness"... D and A look like strongest of all, with the advantage to D. now let's take a look at another set of data - a score of playoff success of conference teams: explanation: PO total - scores for all teams in conference PO poteams - scores for 4 best playoff teams in conference first score is in the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 model (1 point for making playoffs, 2 for winning 1st round, ... , 5 for SC champ) second score is for 1, 3, 6, 10, 15 model (a model that emphasizes deeper playoff runs) analysis: teams in conference D had most success. for B it's the Wings and Hawks but these both teams run up the score significantly. for the rest... C looks like Bruins title to lose and A is Canucks vs Sharks, whoever is better at the moment. in short: it looks like West could be Wings/Hawks against Sharks/Canucks, while in East it's Bruins against whomever survives D... take it FWIW and don't read to much into the data...

I for one like this realignment. and am pretty impressed with the fact that Bettman got this so easily done. world is full of haters and the guy gets fair share of blame for everything starting from erection problems to starvation of malaysian flying ants... but this realignment is his huge success and will probably bring a lot of pennies to the NHL treasury. money to pay those Florida teams, among others. as for Penguins and Caps... if you look at the stats of 3 recent years, their conference will be the most competitive at this moment and it's never sure both of them will advance into playoffs at all. Bruins on the other hand...

just got mine today and started reading it... looks good so far...

according to Amazon, my copy of the book is right now in Belgium, so I should get it tomorrow or wednesday through my house door (that's how it works in Netherlands)... yes, I absolutely plan to read it ASAP. have to finish this one before, though: http://www.amazon.com/Our-Posthuman-Future-Consequences-Biotechnology/dp/0312421710/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1323072573&sr=8-8

rightfully so, if you ask me

I've him more under "builders" in my book, because he's the guy who's hired to mold young, talented guys into a decent team, and then is usually fired when the team reaches maturity and needs an SOB-coach to push it further into the playoffs. no, I wouldn't call him a players coach, or rather: a good buddy type of coach. Hitch is an a*hole, but one of those whose work is rather with building teams than leading them to ultimate prize. he did win his cup though...

they simply have to be shepherds, and most important - maintain the air of cool... sorry for the OT. but I kinda disagree with that. there's place for players' coaches and/or builders like Boudreau or Hitchcock and place for tough a* like Crawford, Ruff or Tortorella. truth being said, not all of those touch coaches are successful other than when they get hold of real sh*load of talent (see: Quenville, Joe, Crawford, Marc).

have to say, I'm impressed with the way Boudreau handled the situation. no bad words towards old employer, understanding about the decision which sure as hell wasn't (at least entirely) on him to blame. and now the guy gets new job within two days. I still hate the Ducks, but I wish Bruce good luck with them.

off all the things in Versus coverage Pierre is probably the least annoying guy. Olczyk is a biased moron without any shadow of the doubt and he doesn't add any value to the coverage. Emrick, probably the most impartial, is difficult to me to swallow with all his teenage-girl screaming and high pitch voice. I simply can't stand hearing him for the voice alone, nevermind the content he produces. truth being said, he can't really be blamed for being impartial when it comes to Sindy and this sh* candy-boys team. Pierre, as annoying as he can be, is basically doing his job, i.e. being a laughtstock for the viewer. but at times he produces good observations and when he forgets to be the broadcast-idiot, he can be pretty good. and yes, I love his creepy moments... as for the love for Blackhawks... well.. I turn TSN.ca this morning (that would be morning CET, thus 12 hours ago) to watch the video of Wings game of last night, and the first word to come out of the video clip is how Toews is god knows what... and for the moment I thought I clicked the wrong video... I don't get this with Penguins love anymore (whatever game you're watching, you sure as hell will hear man love towards Sindy) but Blackhawks are still news to me... and yes, it is unbearable...