Yvan Cournoyer...

He was my first favorite hockey player...

I just loved saying his name...

eee-VONN...

Corn...

Y...

A...

It just rolls off the tongue...

He was speedy...

They called him...

The Roadrunner...

And because of...

eee-VONN...

Corn...

Y...

A...

The Montreal Canadiens were my favorite...

This was pre-Kings, mind you...

Just six teams from which to choose...

They were the Yankees of the NHL...

But I liked ‘em anyway...

Thanks to...

eee-VONN...

Corn...

Y...

A...

Say it again, dvt...

eee-VONN...

Corn...

Y...

A...

I could say it a million times...

However...

You have to be very careful...

When you Google...

eee-VONN...

Corn...

Y...

A...

There is an asterisk, I think...

Because you might get this....

eee-VONN...

Corn...

Y...

A...

When you mean to get this...

eee-VONN...

Corn...

Y...

A...

So be careful...

You might see sumthin’...

You didn’t intend to see...

If you get my drift...

Anyways...

I loved, loved, loved the Montreal Canadiens...

So it was kinda challenging...

Back in ‘93...

When the Kings met them...

In the Stanley Cup Final...

But I was a full-fledged Kings fan by then...

Parents had season tix...

I got to go to Game 3...

Cool...

Except for the outcome...

But the game that turned the series...

Was infamous Game Two...

The “Stick” game...

McSorley...

The momentum moment...

Kings had a one game lead...

And winning late in Game Two...

But like The Supremes used to sing...

“And then it happened...”

McSorley’s stick was declared illegal...

The Kings get a penalty...

The Canadiens get a power play goal...

And then another to win the game...

And never looked back...

Winning the Cup...

Four games to one...

Now it’s hard to write this...

Without sounding like sour grapes...

But...

If Roger Maris is worthy of an asterisk...

So are the Canadiens in this instance...

It’s one thing to see the suspicious stick on the ice...

But completely another to hijack the Kings’ sticks...

And measure them...

During the intermission...

That’s right...

The truth is out...

According to Curtis Zupke at nhl.com, “McSorley said that the Canadiens knew he had an illegal stick because they wheeled the Kings' stick rack into their locker room.

" ‘I think that [former Kings coach] Barry Melrose, [former player] Luc Robitaille, [former trainer] Peter Demers, different guys, have basically said what happened: We all know that they pulled the stick rack into their locker room,’ McSorley said.

" ’That's honest and that's frank. Am I sitting here complaining? No. But that is what happened.’ " (http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=632920)

Canadiens???

You’re a bunch of vacuum cleaners...

You sssssuhhh....

Well...

You know what I mean...

You do what vacuum cleaners do...

That’s dirty, Montreal...

I thought you were better than that...

Apparently not...

And...

In an interview on KSPN 710 in Los Angeles...

McSorley revealed...

That the Canadiens' staff...

Shooed away a Montreal police officer...

In order to perform the heist...

The officer said he had a tough time sleeping that night...

'Cus he knew what they did was wrong...

True that Montreal still had to win that game...

And three more...

Which had nothing to do with the stick...

But now they had the momentum...

Are you proud of yourselves, Montreal???

So...

I’m still an...

eee-VONN...

Corn...

Y...

A...

fan...

But as far as I'm concerned, Montreal...

You’re a classless organization...

And...

I am done with you...

dvt

http://www.heritagehockey.com/Portals/0/Players/Yvan%20Cournoyer/YvanCournoyer.jpg

http://yvancournoyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/cournoyer_crw_model_shots_252.jpg

​http://www.playerschoicesports.com/images/web/2006-06-21-yvon-cournoyer-the-roadrunner-4030.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrajELQjXpA

​http://bestvacuumcleanerreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/vacuum-cleaners.jpg

http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/lisafx/lisafx0809/lisafx080900084/3611735-police-officer-sitting-in-his-squad-car-with-a-box-of-donuts.jpg

Hello Gabbers Happy Thursday.

I just don’t have a lot today. We could always talk about officiating in an NBA game and ho it seems the league tries to micro manage their product. I really believe the NBA turns so hard to show it does have an image problem they are so concerned about worrying about perception that they have micro managed it to the point that they are killing their on product.

It’s everything from officials and what they want called to the perception of wanting the games best player in the finals. The league needs to let the games play out without trying to influence anything. What they are doing is creating  a bad image of the officials and a bad image of the league. Let lebron play basketball without helping him out. He is good enough without the league trying to make him the better because he is their signature player. Kind of like a golf course puts their most picturesque hole on  any advertising it might do.

The difference between the NFL and The NBA and yes the NFL tries to micro manage as well but the difference is  when it’s the product on the field they take a step back and allow the games to happen . If they need adjusting like the popular concussion safety rules they adjust. The NBA seems to do this on the fly. We can’t have LeBron foul out on National TV why not. It’s like saying it’s a Sunday Night game and we can’t have Brady get hurt.

I think these are accepted practices by the people in the league and have been long before Lebron. The joke back in the 80’s was Greg Kite or Kurt Rambis would come off the bench for the Celtics and or the Lakers respectfully. As soon as either guy would step on the floor he would have two fouls automatically. It’s like driving a new car off the lot as soon as the front tire touches the street the value dropped by $3,000. This has been a stars league for a long time and continues to be. It needs to change that everybody is equal but it’s about image and will always be.

The NHL Stanley Cup Finals kicked off last night with a nice overtime win by the Los Angeles Kings in Jersey. This was just a well played Hockey game with the intensity that we love in the nHL playoffs. You have to give the NHL credit. They put hell of a product out their during playoff time. The on Ice officials seem to have it down to a science when to let the boys play and when to tighten the reins. I’m looking forward to the rest of this series.  A little  interest in both teams. I think the Kings have been an awesome story throughout the playoffs. I also have some interest in the Devils for years going to their AHL affilate games until they packed up and left Massachusetts this past season. So basically I like both teams and don’t care who wins as long as I get to see some quality hockey.

The Tigers got screwed Monday when Mike Aviles  should have been out on a thrid strike foul tip. The first base umpire said it hit the ground to allow Aviles at bat to continue resulting in a bas hit and driving in a run which sparked a Red Sox rally.early in the game and the Tigers couldn’t bounce back. The Jim Leyland press conference was a classic afterwards. He didn’t call out the umpire that would have been a heavy fine. He called out the press told them to have some balls and write with the saw. He makes a good point. I’ll use Boston for an example. The media here use to be brutal on the Red sox if they didn’t perform now it’s too almost apologetic when the team is going well. But they are playing well finally got over 500 but are still in last place in the east which I find fascinating.

The AL east has become a very tough division with both Baltimore and Toronto playing competitive are no easy divisional games. That is making this baseball season a lot of fun,

That’s all for Today

Hey Gabbers. Hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. I also hope that mixed in with giving your thanks you had some good times and good BBQ. We had a mass of ribs and drumsticks topped with some Sweet Baby Ray’s sauce. The only thing missing was my traditional stuff jalapeno treat. I halves and seed a few peppers then stuff them with a mixture of cream cheese, sausage, and some shredded cheese for effect. I used to try to wrap them in bacon and grill them to soften the cheeses, but that is tough and a little time consuming. I’ve found that serving them chilled is just as good for most folks.

In the midst of all of this, I got to listen to a few Tigers games. Things started on a down note as the team got swept by the Indians that so many thought we’d demolish. I figured we’d at least get a win with JV on the mound, but our offense stayed quiet.

Of course, the Tribe and Tigers have something else to worry about (as BOB mentioned): the Chi Sox and a resurgent Paul Konerko. What’s more their number 4 starter Chris Sale has been about as good as most thought he could be this year. He’s currently 6-2 with a 2.34 ERA and 61 strike outs. Keep in mind, this is their fourth starter. His last three games have been real smooth with 3 wins, 2 earned runs, and 15 strike outs against Tampa on the 28^th. Of course, Peavy has had a bit of a rebound as he sits as the Sox ace with a 6-1 record and an Era just over 3. He’s been logging a lot of innings too with most of his exits coming in the 6^th and two complete games. Luckily the Tigers don’t see the White Sox again til the second half when hopefully we’ve figured out our hitting and bull pen.

For my own listening pleasure, things got better as of the Holidays. I was able to listen to the Tigers get a comeback win over the Twins. I could smile as I ate my ribs knowing that the White Sox handled the Indians. Of course, this series with the Red Sox hasn’t gone any good for Tigers’ fans. Leyland has been animated as hell of late, but it can’t get our bats going.

A few of us have mentioned the umpires as of late. They did kind of hurt the Tigers by not giving us that third out against the Red Sox Monday. It’s never a good thing when these guys get so much press. Jeff’s ideas can’t go into effect quick enough. We need to get these guys to air things out.

The refs are even taking over the NBA playoffs. Granted, I haven’t been watching much, but I was watching last night. I saw Doc Rivers get the first of what would be five (5!!!) technical fouls for the Celtics. What did Doc do? He just looked at an official after a tic-tac foul and said “Come on, Eddy”. I’ve heard worse. I know that ref has. Still, Doc got the tech. The Heat could have bagged potentially 10 unanswerable points from techs. The Heat won the game on their own; I’ll give them that, but that many techs can really slow a team down. While the Celtics have vowed to be more physical down the line, but it won’t do them much good if they keep getting those kind of fouls called on them. Stern’s gotta rein that crew in.

While you’d think the Lions were on Hard Knocks by the amount of bad press they’ve had it’s actually been revealed that it will be the Miami Dolphins who will star on the ill-fated HBO show. I bet that fan base is thrilled. Did we get any good free agents? How’d we do in the draft? HRRRMMMM…we got on Hard Knocks though? With the level of fan unrest you already have, will exposing that your players are world class douches (Cromartie style) really help the situation? I have a hard time trying to see why teams still agree to do this show. I would think it puts too big a strain on your team and makes camp unnatural. You need a strong camp to bring the boys together and get your chemistry started out. Last thing you need are camera crews and reporters all over. Miami just seems like much too weak of a team and in a rough place to try to fit this in. I know BOB is pissed.

Well, that’s it for me this week. I’d like to once again thank all of the servicemen and women and those here at The Gab who have served or have family members serving. I hope the weekend found them safe and able to communicate. I got to talk to my buddy Dave who is over in Germany and will be deployed to Afghanistan soon. In the meantime, he had his new wife over to Germany and has been enjoying some sight-seeing. He tells me he’s already bought a handful of steins. Here’s hoping the next weekend will be just as awesome but maybe with less rain/heat.

Oh, if you are a comic nerd like me and have enjoyed the music I’ve been sampling, then I highly recommend you check out the Old Man Logan stop motion comic on YouTube. Old Man Logan tells the story of what happens to Wolverine following the day that the villains team up and finally defeat all the super heroes. Wolverine, a broke and desperate farmer, agrees to see Hawkeye, now blind, across the remnants of the US (all of which are owned by various super villains) to deliver precious cargo to a resistance group. It’s a great story with spectacular art and a great sound track. Be sure to find the ones by ImOldManLogan. There’s about eight of them and they run about 9 minutes each.

I leave you with our word of the week.

holiday hangover, noun

God Bless all the Men and Women who served our Country!!

Here are images from this year memorial day:

To all that served, and all who are serving.. Thank You!!

That which is understood doesn't need to be explained.

To those who serve, have served, and - most importantly - have fallen: Thank You.