David Krejci and I now have something in common

And no, it's not an unnatural love for Milan Lucic.

It was announced today by Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli that Krecji has tested positive for the H1N1 virus, aka the swine flu. I had mine a couple weeks ago, and you know what the absolute WORST thing about it is? Being isolated/quarantined. The unrelenting boredom and being really hot all the freakin' time.

Krejc joins other illustrious NHL players with the virus - Doug Weight, Ladislav Smid, Quintin Laing, and Peter Budaj.

Personally, I blame this guy:

Hockey stuff for sale - LOTS of Thrashers clothing!!

So, I'm losing my job in about a week, so I'm selling pretty much everything I have that's worth anything. Here's my hockey stuff up on eBay. Please buy my stuff. I'll be adding more as I can get the photos downloaded from my camera.


Atlanta Thrashers CCM Fleece Lined Vest

Size XXL
Starting Price: $15.00
Buy it Now: $30.00



Atlanta Thrashers CCM Fleece Lined Parka 

Size XXL
Starting Price: $20.00
Buy it Now: $50.00



Atlanta Thrashers CCM "Face Off" Hoodie 

Size XXL
Starting Price: $15.00
Buy it Now: $25.00



Sergei Kostitsyn Autographed Replica Canadiens Home Jersey

Size XXL replica
Starting price: $0.99
Buy it now: $70.00
Reserve: $60.00


Unforgettable Knights: 2005 Memorial Cup Champions

Collector's edition #'d commemorative coffee table book
Starting price: $0.99
Buy it now: $60.00
Reserve: $40.00



RBK Womens' Pink Pittsburgh Penguins Dominic Moore Jersey

Size XL
Starting price: $5.00
Buy it now: $30.00


More coming soon. And remember! The holidays are coming up and these prices are absolutely ridiculous compared to fair market value. Please help me keep a roof over my head.

To keep track of the other stuff I'll  be putting up, just check my seller's page.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

Halloween treats, and tricks.

TRICK: Pavelec honours Jacques Plant.
I might've given up on blogging about the Thrashers, but it is absolutely worth mentioning that last night, Ondrej Pavelec accidentally honoured the 50th anniversary of Jacques Plant storming off the ice and refusing to return without a mask. You know the part in Transformers 2 when Simmons is climbing the pyramid and is right beneath Devastator's swinging steel wrecking balls? Yeah, that's Pavelec. Had no choice but to take a shot, maskless, and made a shoulder save on it. Ondrej Pavelec, here's to you. Curious here, if he had stood up and moved from the crease, would the play be blown dead and/or the goal negated if one was subsequently scored? The Thrashers went on to, well, Thrash the Senators, 4-2. Well done,former team. Very well done!

TREAT: How's Looch doin?
Milan Lucic made a visit to the NESN desk to join Kathryn (irregardless is not a word, lady) Tappen and Barry Pederson this past Hallow's Eve. This might be the most charming and charismatic 21 year old I've ever ran across. Everyone calls/ed Crosby "poised" and "mature" but he's so wooden, as if saying his lines by rote. This guy has more than the standard 82 hockey cliches memorised. He's made up his own. Admirable, but the rapport with the press can be analogised as such; Lucic and Crosby equals Bill Clinton and Hilary. Looch glad-hands the cliches, I can't lie, but he adds in so much colour and humour into his answers. Check him out.

Also, two other semi-relevant points. #1 - Did anyone else see the "Big Mouth" segment where Jack and Brick joined the Philly broadcasters in the 2nd intermission of that painful loss? Jack and Brick were so natty and sharp-dressed-men in comparison to the Philly guys. And a lot more entertaining to listen to but I wouldn't know since NHL Network aired the Comcast feed. #2 - Looch is also so well dressed. He wears a suit well.

TREAT AND A TRICK: Pony shuts up the Habs cult.
The Habs were leading the Leafs by 2 (hardest lead to hold) with 4 minutes to go in the 3rd. The smarmy cult of Habs fans had begun singing the Goodbye song (na-na-na-na na-na-na-na hey-hey-hey, good byyyyyyye (one of the things I really do miss in hockey these days, I have to admit), when Alexei Ponikarovsky scored, and shut the fans up. The Leafs then promptly potted another, and the game went to OT. Then it went to the shootout. And the Leafs, being the Leafs, did not win. BUT! In their defence, how the hell are you supposed to focus on the shots you have when that butt ugly and dizzying striped jersey in front of you all night? I hate that jersey. That is THE WORST jersey in the NHL.

TREAT: Tuuuuuuks gets the S v Edmonton
A lot of people in the hockey world (although not Bruins or Team Finland fans) were really first introduced to Tuukka Rask when he lost his shit down Providence. Last night he tricked the Oilers and gave them a shutout for their efforts. The game was typical Oiler hockey, which is to say, fast, quick transition, constant line changes on the fly, few whistles, lots of hits, lots of back check, fore check and hip check! It was totally a game the Bruins were up for. As someone who's also a fan of the Oilers (OH GOD GATOR GET A JOB WITH THE OIL, SOB!), I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Bruins step right up and play in stride. A great 60 minute game with full effort.

TREAT: Wheeler and Sobotka are the shit
For what it's worth, Sobotka better stay up in Boston, and he, Wheels and Paille will be the Kessel-Savard-Lucic line of this season. The last 6 seconds of the 2nd period were breath-taking, heart-stopping, and fist-pumpingly awesome. In the most deliciously vicious cycle, Vladi made a point-blank shot on Khabibulin, Ryder sent the rebound to Wheeler, Wheels threaded it to Vladi, and again he shot on Twitchy. Three times in just seconds and the 4th one went in, popped the water bottle, and caused the fans to raise the roof in celebration. So loudly that few heard the period-over siren 0:02 seconds before the puck crossed the line. But Vladi and Wheels heard. And they made sure the next two counted. Wheel from Vladi, then Vladi from Wheels, and the Bruins sent the Oilers away with 0 points and a shutty.

Witty title here - B's and Leafs in review

First off, I would like to point out that I WAS RIGHT. Not too long after posting my rant about how Wilson is ruining Schenn by breaking his confidence, and how he pretty much sucks as a coach, a former player under Wilson, Jim Thomson, went on Off the Record, and said the exact same damned thing. 

Off The Record guest Jim Thomson, who played for Wilson with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks during the 1993-94 season, lashed out at his former coach on Thursday, saying that while Leafs general manager Brian Burke is a "good hockey man", Wilson was lacking.

"Ron Wilson is not a good coach," Thomson told OTR. "Where it breaks down is he can't motivate players, he doesn't know what to do with players when there's controversy and they are losing."

Thomson also took Wilson to task for his handling of young blueliner Luke Schenn, who struggled during the Leafs 2-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on October 6.

"When he calls out Luke Schenn three games into the season, a young player who's their future, and starts beating the hell out of him...You don't call a player out in the media, you go behind closed doors," Thomson stated.   "I watched him do it to Oleg Tverdovsky in Anaheim, and he ruined the kid's career."

I really want to gloat about how I was right, but case in point is, it's nothing to gloat about. This once again raises my battle cry to fire Wilson. Keep Zettler though! He's helping Luke find his game. And someone find Tim Armstrong and bring him in as head coach for the Leafs.

While on the subject of the Leafs, I was fascinated watching the last half of the game last night. This team DOES know how to play hockey. Why it took them 7 or 8 games to realise that, I've no idea. I couldn't tear my eyes away, nor could I help but be filled with glee that the 'Nucks hit the post 3x on an empty net. Fate? Only until they potted that last attempt.

Luke Schenn, if you happen to read this... I need to give you a quick education in fighting:

Kiddo, you keep holding your fist like that and it's only a matter of time before you break your damned hand. I was very pleased with the few great lefts he did get in on Glass (best last name EVAR for a fighter?), but that is a damned tragedy waiting to happen. Here is how to properly make a fist while punching someone:

Hand loosely curled, upper fingers tucked with the thumb over them, lower fingers flat, and you hit with your lower fingers. If you hold your thumb on the side of your index finger, there's nothing to keep your hand in position and voila - broken finger or hand or wrist. Watch Fight Club, or one of the many Lucic fights, for further illustration. You're welcome.

Moving onto the Bruins... I have to share this simply due to the hilarity. Last night I was flipping between the B's and Leafs, and I was captivated by the Leafs' ability to play hockey at the end of the third, and I missed the B's tying up the Sens. And this happened:

[21:32] me: i'd like to see krejci start doing something with his game.
[21:33] ****: ..... >:-(
[21:34] me: oh haha who scored? i was watching the leafs ACTUALLY PLAYING HOCKEY!!! IMAGINE!!!! the mind. it boggles.
[21:34] ****: fucking Krejci!!! :P!!!!
[21:35]: me: LMFAO NO WAI!!!!!

And what a beautiful goal it was. It's like I'm magic or something. Then I said in OT I'd like to see Sobotka score, and I believe he rang his next shot off the pipe. Thanks for the goal, Krejc. My fantasy team thanks you, and I thank you for a great win on my birthday!

The Bruins are playing surprisingly well despite the rash of injuries they're suffering through right now (and when I say rash, what I really mean is, their entire top line for most of last season is gone). They're still having a bit of a time delivering a full 60 minutes consistently, but they get down and dirty when it counts. And I can't complain, considering they're almost dead even with their stats from the same time last year. The biggest problems right now for them are goals allowed (2.9 v 2.4 last year) and the power play - 15%? Really? REALLY? I know Savvy was really their power play guy, but it shouldn't matter. Now that Krejci's gotten his first goal, I'm hoping he'll really step it up to be the QB on the PP, and get things going. Is 15% the worst in the league? That's just sad. Especially with Big Z on the point. Come on now, Bruins. Work it out.

I would like to thank Sean at my favourite Leafs blog - Down Goes Brown for making me follow up every mention last night of "Kyle Wellwood" with "is fat." Go give him a read if you haven't yet. He's possibly one of the best bloggers I've ever read, and that's saying something.

Six more days til Halloween - what are you going as?

Preorder Luke Schenn Mcfarlane!

So I got a Google alert about there now being a Luke Schenn McFarlane figurine - available for pre-order! It ships in 01/10, but you can pre-order now to guarantee you get yourself one! The best price I've found for it is $11.99USD + shipping, on BigBadToyStore.com - click the link to go to the details page. There's no photo there, but I managed to find one for you!

Badass, eh? There's also another Bobby Orr in that set (Orr 3), also available from BigBadToyStore.com for $11.99 pre-order.

You're welcome!

To be posted later - the Leafs get rough in a game of shinny, the Bruins hand the Preds their 6th loss in a row while only playing a 40 minute game, and Brad Marchand scores his first NHL point in his first NHL game.

Also, my fantasy team sucks. I'm destined to be in last place every year I play this dumb game. Clearly I'm a shitty GM.