Gizmo

I can't see it... for starters I don't even think you can establish intent. I think that Mickey was likely correct when he said that it looked like Cleary was simply raising his arms up in an effort to try and make himself thinner in an effort to squirt by Sedin. The contact also wasn't that hard.

It's missing one thing: they forgot "The Malkin Rule"!!!

Nah, Bert was shoved into Luongo by a Canuck defender from behind.

Don't like the "left in the car in the sun" look, and the details seem too plain. However, I like the Orca/Raven artwork.

Part of me wonders if the Swedish road-trip is part of the problem. Anahiem had a similar slump in the start of their 2007-2008 season during, and after, their NHL road-trip to London. The defending Cup champions started their season out 1-4... including getting spanked by the BJs. I remember people asking "What's wrong with the Ducks?" similar to the comments uttered by the Versus guys last evening. I know the Wings are used to three hour time zone swings in their trips out West, but part of me wonders if these week-long good-will tours takes a toll on the teams that go on them.

Go Wings... Beat the Slugs!!!

If you purchased tickets for the 2010 Frozen Four at Ford Field, I got an e-mail today from Ticketmaster that the NCAA has thrown out their original seating plan (ice at center field with 66K seating all around). Instead, they are rotating the field 90 degrees and putting it in one of the end zones. It looks like they're gonna run a curtain down the 50 yard line and only use 1/2 the facility. ALL TICKETS CURRENTLY PRINTED ARE NOW NULL AND VOID!!! They say that "you will receive a new seat location that will be comparable to your original location based on the ticket price and order date recorded on your account." I got a great deal on center ice, top section, cheap seats... $40 for the weekend. I hope they follow through and I don't get stuck high up in a corner in a new restricted "cheap" section. Here's the text of the whole message: Here's the Press Release from the NCAA with the new plan map Can you imagine the amount of resale ticket fraud that having two sets of Ticketmaster issued tickets floating around is going to cause??? Update: Great.... I just checked and what I feared appears to be correct! The high center ice area is now part of a higher priced ticket area. Looks like I'm gonna be be "downgraded"!!!

Didn't Franzen block a shot with the side of his ankle during the 2nd last night, and got up rather slowly afterwards???

I had to leave the house with about 6 minutes left in the 2nd... what happened to Ericsson???

Here's the bottom line: Nobody knows nothing. I called Ford Field back and got a very nice sounding young lady on the line. She said that "they" are working on moving people's seats, but she can't see anything on her computer and that nothing will be known about individual reassignments before November 1st. She doesn't even known the process they are using to re-map seating. I expressed my fear that I'm going to be downgraded as the $40 section is now only on one end of the ice and one corner up high and she basically said that I was probably right. The $40 section now runs from Sections 332 to 340.

The official spin is that they wanted to give the fans better sight lines... but the real reason they can do this is because sales were well below expectations. The previous record for a Frozen Four was 19K... and they were trying to sell 66K for this one. Last I checked a couple of weeks ago, as they say, "There were PLENTY of good seats available!!!" The new layout will still hold 33K fans. UPDATE: I called the Ford Field number on the e-mail and it dumps you to voice-mail. So I called Ticketmaster as I see they're already selling tickets under the new plan. The customer service rep there just got a note about the changes, and Ticketmaster is referring all questions about ticket reassignments back to Ford Field.

I feel bad for him too... but he cooked his own goose when he pulled that "I want to be #1, or else..." stunt.

...I concur!!! I want to see that team broken and driven across the land, with extreme prejudice!!!

Yes, the Cheli and the Hasek jerseys were the real deal. I pulled one of my game worn jerseys to compare and the size of the letters and numbers were dead on. They also had some Hossa jerseys, but I think they were replicas and not authentics and the numbering and lettering was "off". I didn't eyeball the Hudlers, but I think they were authentics too. The Hasek from from the 07-08 season and was a RBK "Edge" jersey and originally ticketed for $330. The Chelios is a RBK from the style of the 06-07 season and was originally ticketed at $175.

Those weren't the shirts they had at JLA last night. The ones there were "mono-chrome" (grey shirt with weathered looking dish-water dark blue lettering and graphics). It had both team logos on it, "NHL Premiere 2009" (or some such), Stockholm, Sweden, and the date on it. I wasn't about to spend $35 on one, particularly when the "Clearance" stand was selling pro-weight w/ strap Chelios and Hasek jerseys for $75 (bought one of each)!!! When I left, they only had one of each left... but there were still a bunch of Hudler ones left! The original tag for the Hasek jersey was $330.

I thought the t-shirt they had at the game tonight looked nice, but it wasn't $35 nice.

Hold that thought!!! I'm still of the thought that we need to say lots of prayers that Ozzie stays healthy this season!

Yeah, "The Tater" is playing tonight!

I've been meaning to ask this, but please, please tell me his name is pronounced "Tater" and not "Ta-tar"!!! In addition to being a great offensive addition to the team, I'd love to root for "The 'Tater!"

Nuts, I have tickets for Saturday night and was hoping to see Ozzie in action. I assume it'll switch back to Howard and Larson for that game.

Lots of Bush League Factor points in those logos!

Back when I had access to such pre-sale codes, I found out that I could get better seats waiting and buying tickets when they went on sale to the general public. With pre-sales, they only release a limited number of seats. When the general sales starts, they throw open the flood gates and your chances are often better.

Man... that sucks! My heart goes out to them.

I took that as a likely typo or fractured English.... "I want to lead Dynamo on that level" makes more sense. I also wouldn't be too hard on Happy, it seems like 90% of all hockey players don't think they get the ice time they deserve.

IIRC, the stylized "USA" that we've used in the recent past is only considered an element of the USA Hockey logo and is not considered in violation of the IOC rules, whereas the Canadian jersey effectively used "the" Hockey Canada logo. I think the new Canadian design is pretty cool. I also collect Scout patches and they're using a technique on the interior of the maple leaf known as "ghosting". That's where you use a single color thread but change the direction of the stitching such as to change the way the thread reflects light to create internal designs that only appear when seen in bright light or when viewed from a slight angle. If the light is flat or dim, the "ghost" designs are "invisible"