I was going to touch on this in the previous article, but this is an entity of its own. I know this took place a few days ago, but I thought this needed a little more spotlight. The media in Canada needs to get one thing straight: John Tortorella is the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks, and he's going to yell at you; deal with it.
This all started in a bought between the Vancouver Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers. Assistant coach Keith Acton's son dropped the gloves with Canucks stand out Ryan Kesler with 41 seconds left in the frame. That's right, Acton's son, like we're in fuckin pee wee's. Anyway, they dropped mitts probably because the Canucks were having their way with Edmonton, and pumped out two goals in 18 seconds.
Tortorella doesn't take kindly to his star players getting shoved around either (except Gaborik), so obviously he went the only path he could: Yelling at Will Acton's dad. Here is Acton yelling back.
HEYYYY YOUUUU GUYYYYYYYSSSSSSSS
He's a droopy eye and a couple teeth short of Sloth from the Goonies. Props to whoever made the comparison. Tortorella apparently was yelling at Keith Acton for talking to his players saying;
"He's yapping at my players. I can't just sit there and watch that."
Lets not forget that a week earlier, Patrick Roy was fined 10,000 dollars for yelling at the opposing team's players from across the bench.
If you thought this was the end of the feud, it wasn't. Tortorella didn't take kindly to comments made on CBC Canada about the game, and how he handled the situation, and this was the rebuttal by Torts:
If Glenn Healy had that look more often when he was playing goalie, he'd still be in the league. Lets be honest.. if he could play goalie in the first place he would have been around for longer.
It just comes down to this: You don't tell John Tortorella what to do with his team. All of us here in New York know of his heated battles with Journalist Larry Brooks. the fact of the matter is, he stands up for his boys, and he sticks by his players. I mean c'mon.. he had a lot to say about Avery, but always defended him when he wasn't in the wrong. I have no problem with what torts does, because he brings teams together. What Glen said about the guys in New York is a farce, I have never seen that team as unified as they were, under Tortorella.
The thing I like most from Torts is he's the one telling it the way it is. There's no BS, there's no fluff, its all out on the table, for the brief time there is an interview. His, "If i wanted any lip from you, I'd jiggle my zipper," attitude needs to be taken on by a lot of coaches in this league. Yeah he's got his faults, but the guy coaches, and he's a great coach. He brings teams together and makes them play better, that's what a coach does. So Glen Healy, shut up. If you want to know what's going on, be a coach, not an analyst.
Quick note: found this, thought it'd be good for a laugh. I wonder if he was class president?
Wahoooooo! We're off to the races. The Nhl's season is underway, which began last night, and was a very exciting night at that. Two come backs, two victories, and a blood bath in Montreal. Quickly before we jump into this awesomeness, Coffee Break tonight on blogtalkradio.com. Here's the link. You can also get there through the tab at the top of the page. Show starts at 11 PM out East, and 8 PM for sunny California.
Anyways.. 67% of the Canadian teams played last night, while there was a barn burner going on in Chicago. What a way to celebrate your banner raising night too, huh? Come back after giving up the lead and win it. Holtby has to have that last shot though, that just stunk. Although Washington lost, the plus side is Mikhail Grabovski looks to be working out, netting a hat trick and a helper, in his first game. He's going to be a great story this year, because he's hungry to play. The Leafs never used him to his full potential, and playing with countrymen Ovi-wan Kenobi will bring out the best in him.
Another great story is going to be Michael Frolik, the guy has just been waiting to be on a team that's not stacked to the nines with forwards, or Florida.. He wasn't being used to his full potential in other places, and I can see him meshing well with other guys in the room. The Jets are going to be sneaky this year.. people forget that they brought in Frolik, as well as Setoguchi. They also have young guys like Mark Scheifele, and Jacob Trouba that can make an impact. They did. The two rookies combined for three total points, and two goals. Trouba also netting the tying goal, in last nights come from behind victory against the Oilers.
The other two Canadian teams squaring off (literally), were the Canadiens and the Maple Leafs. This was a brawl, with 25 total penalties handed out, and 10 fights. Good 'ol North East hockey. Best part about all these fights.. We got to witness our first ever self inflicted knock out. Which you can see... here. Nasty fall.. everyone here at E2W hope's he's ok, but that's the nature of the business. If you're gonna go in swinging, you better believe you're gonna take a couple on the chin, just not from yourself. Leafs take this blood bath 4-3, and Mason Raymond scores the winner. Another funny thing about this game was, we saw two guys square off, and oblige each other to take off their helmets.. but neither wanted to be the first and get the extra penalty. So you see them talk for a second, and come to a mutual agreement on timing, and than proceed to beat each others faces. Side note: Travis Moen.. Prust can handle his own, down boy.
Speaking of the leafs, Mr. Irrelevant Phil Kessel signed his new contract, for 8 years at 8 million dollars per. Is he REALLY worth that? Yeah, in that neighborhood. Although he's been criticized for his lack of a defensive game, he's a monster offensively. He's fourth overall in points over the last two seasons, and 4 fourth overall in goal scoring over the last three. Maybe he's worth a little less because his defensive game stinks, but he's worth around there 7-8 mill a year. He was really starting to rev it up last year two, and without the lockout-shortened season, he would have had a career year.
Reimer started in net last night for the leafs, which is strange considering they traded for the promising young Jonathan Bernier. I'm sure Reimer will have a season ending injury within the next few days and Bernier will be in there in no time. In other goalie news, the Flyers are starting Steve Mason, not Emery for their opener. Not sure about this one.. the goalie situation isn't ideal in Philly, but if you're going to start someone, at least give the seasoned guy the nod. Unless Mason kills it to start the season, they're going to eat him up just like they do to every goalie in the city of brotherly love. Also, the Flyers brought in big boy Hal Gill to a one year deal. Kind of irrelevant.. but at least he'll bring some size to a mediocre defensive core.
Last thing before I run out of breath. Tim Thomas has decided to put politics aside, and start for the Panthers opening night. How happy is this guy.. he won a Stanley cup, took a year off, insults the president, and now he lives on the beach. On top of that he has a mustache that makes the Brawny man look like a 12 year old. He could be a nice little surprise for a franchise that could use a serious turnaround. Either way.. Thomas gets the nod to start, and play hockey, right near de beach.. BOY-EEE.
I bet All of you Gretzky Era, Edmonton Oiler fans are happy to hear that. Reports today from CBC Canada indicate that Peter Pocklington, is in fact, going to jail for breaching his probation. Pocklington, who was linked to a previous brankruptsy fraud case, failed to submit paper work for "hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting fees."
Lets put things in perspective though, with all the controversy surrounding the guy, something was bound to happen sooner or later. Who knew it would all start with Pocklington trying to weasel his fathers name onto the '84 cup. Seriously though, we're talking about the guy who TRADED Gretzky. The guy who made the un-tradeable player, tradeable. To speak on my behalf, this is what Edmonton businessman Ed Moroz has to say about pocklington:
"Six months is a long time," said Edmonton Businessman Ed Moroz, who for years was owed hundreds of thousands of dollars by Pocklington...
"...I would just simply say, 'Peter, you are going to have a long time to think about whether this was worth it, for your whole life screwing people over."
If thats how people in the business world felt about him, one can only imagine how he was able to run one of the greatest sports dynasty's to date. Pocklington will serve six months in prison, follwed by six months of house arrest. For more info check out the link below.
Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, It's that time of year again. I think we can all agree, that everyone is a little more excited for this season, than they were for last.. Either way, with the lockout shortened season, and the Olympics this year, we're going to have so much Hockey shoved down our throats in such a short amount of time that, Debbie does Dallas would ask for a cut scene. We've gone through a lot as a sports community over the last year. We were locked out of our favorite sport, some of our favorite players have come and gone, some of the most entertaining players are still entertaining off ice. So what better way to get this season kicked off? Team previews. For those of you who don't know, this is strictly a hypothetical guess as to where these teams will end up at the end of the season. All strictly based on my pre-season analysis, for those who don't understand that, or just plain disagree, you're entitled to your opinion, but I say this; Start writing.
West
1. Chicago- Psh... How could you not put the defending Stanley Cup champions as number one? They lost some key guys, but were they expendable? Yeah. Especially with the new cap situation. Dave Bolland, and Michal Frolik were both great players, but they were never going to get to where they wanted to be playing 3rd and 4th line minutes. They also lost sensation Viktor Stalberg, but the risk was more than capable of turning the puck over. Compared to their last roster dump, after a cup win, I think this one went a little better. Nikolai Khabibulin will be taking over the back up goal keeping duties, which in my opinion is an upgrade from Ray Emery (although he was lights out last year). Nikolai knows what its like to be a starting goalie, and has been there, so he should have no problem picking up back up minutes. They resigned Bickell, and youngster Jeremy Morin should compete for a roster spot. Their off season strategy was perfect; they kept their team together, and got rid of expendable players. Oh and we can't forget about this..
2. Los Angeles-
Another team that has been doing the same thing for years now. They have most of their money locked up on their core guys, but this is another team that didn't go out and make a big splash, because they didn't have to. The two biggest loses are Jonathan Bernier and Rob Scuderi. They lost their star backup Bernier in a trade to Toronto, but maintained a capable backup in Ben Scrivens. They also obtained promising prospect Mark Fratton, who acquired 10 points in 10 games before a season ending injury. Scuderi on the other hand, who was their anchor defensemen since the rebuild and cup run, decided to move back to Pittsburgh. These were really their two biggest losses, but boasting the best defense in the Western conference, and backstopped by all-star goalie Jonathan Quick, they should have no problem maintaining pace in the west. Lets not forget about how potent their offense can be..With the likes of Jeff Carter, Dustin Brown, Mike Richards, and Anze Kopitar, the Kings shouldn't have much trouble keeping their distance.
3. Vancouver-
The Canucks are an interesting story. They decided to trade what could have been their goalie of the future, in Corey Schneider, to New Jersey for the 10th overall pick in this years draft. It was an interesting call to say the least, considering Luongo's bitterness towards the organization and his contract. On top of that 'Jet like' media circus they hired the medias favorite post game interviewee, in John Tortarella, to spice things up. Acquiring Bo Horvat at the draft was a lackadaisical decision, because a team desperate for a goalie would have given up more than a #1 pick. They have kept the majority of their offense intact, and have a promising forward in Jordan Schroeder making his way through the system. Their defense is still as soft as ever though, and until they get a hard nosed, stay at home defensemen, they aren't going to improve. Cue Johnny boy; you know he's not going to stand for any BS in his defensive zone, and you can believe some of those guys are going to sit a few games. This could be a really good team, but it all depends on how they react to Tortarella's coaching. Side Note: Alex Burrows will be Tortarella's new favorite weapon (Chris Macri approved.)
4. St. Louis-
The past two playoff years have been a bit of a disappointment for the Blues. Upgrading their defense, and boasting some of the best defenders in the league, as well as the best defensive coach in the league had the Blues thinking a longer playoff run than they expected. We have been waiting for them to take that next step, but they haven't really improved their offense much. You can play the best defense in the world, and play one goal games, but you're eventually going to start losing some of those one goal games. Their goal scoring is always middle of the pack, but what do you expect when your top scorer is Chris Stewart? Until they start putting more focus on their offensive players they're scoring is going to stay where it is. That being said, there is still a lot of potential up front for the blues. With the breakout year of Vladimir Tarasenko, and newly acquired Magnus Paajarvi, the Blues have two solid NHL ready prospects to start turning heads. Paajarvi I particularly like because a change of scenery is exactly what he needs. Much like Bolland and Frolik in Chicago, Paajarvi was never going to get the minutes he wants (and should) play when he's competing with the likes of Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The goaltending tandem of Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliot has proved to be dominant, but you have to ask yourself; When is Halak going to come around and really take a hold of the #1 spot?
5. Minnesota-
The first smart move that Minnesota made was getting rid of those god awful road sweaters. Here's the new one:
What a stud. Get used to that face Canada. Just for the record, this pick is solely contingent on how Dany Heatly plays next year. If he returns to all-star form, this team could have one of the most potent power plays in the league. Losing Cal Clutterbuck to the Islanders in a trade, and Devon Setoguchi were big losses, but they have a few prospects (some of the best actually), that could eventually take his spot. The Hype behind Mikael Granlund was short-lived last year, but the Wild brass are %100 confident he will bounce back. Another prospect giving Granlund a run for his money is former BU standout, Charlie Coyle. Coyle, who clearly had the better season of the two, is poised for a breakout year with the Wild. There's not a lot of big name guys up front, but a lot of consistent guys, and a lot of young solid prospects. Their defense is much of the same, and they'll look to Suter and Ballard to coach these youngsters on the back end. A lot of people forget about Nicklas Backstrom in Minnesota, but that's mainly because he can't escape the injury bug. Don't forget that this is the same guy that competed with Henrik Lundqvist and Antti Niemi for the most wins in the NHL last year.
Dark Horses..
Winnipeg - Everyone is waiting for them to take the next step, and the team above provided them with an offensive player that is going to compliment Evander Kane nicely. Definitely a playoff team this year.
Edmonton- Just too much offense to forget about. The question is will it be mature enough to come around. Their goaltending is decent at best, but Devan Dubnyk is definitely capable of holding down a #1 job.
There you have it folks. For all intensive purposes, Vancouver is on this list just because of the talent on their team, sorry guys. The west is always a crap shoot, and any of these teams could be in any position, the competition is that tight. Hell, Edmonton could make a run for their division!.. lets not get ahead of ourselves.. Don't forget to check in later this week for the East preview, and our debut show on blogtalkradio.com, The Coffey Break. Join in this Saturday at 6 PM Eastern, 3 Pacific.
