Well, it is now official.  The Winnipeg relocation team is resurrecting the "Jets" team name.  Makes sense to me...now they don't have to spend money on "vintage" jerseys since the old logo is still in rotation.  But what will the new logo look like?  Who knows, but there are tons of suggested ideas floating around on the net right now.  With their first draft pick, the Jets chose Mark Scheifele  from the Barrie Colts.  What makes this pick special?  Scheifele's coach in Barrie is none other than Jets legend Dale Hawerchuk.  Lets just hope that Scheifele doesn't turn out to be another Jimmy Mann.  Yup, that's right.  I went old school for that joke.  Not sure who Jimmy Mann is?  He was Winnipeg's first draft pick when they joined the NHL.  Why Mann was chosen?  Who knows, but they passed on someone by the name of Kevin Lowe for him.

With the addition of the Jets, the NHL is going to have to realign their current division and conference set up.  Bettman made a suggestion at the Board of Governers meeting and he suggested going with Pacific, Midwest, East and South divisions.  Okay...if this is the perfect time to go back to four divisions, go back to the original four; Adams, Norris, Patrick and Smythe divisions.  Go back to the Campbell and Wales Conferences as well, and here's what you can do.  Realign all the teams in the division according to geographic proximity to the other teams.  Here is what I suggest:

Adams Division:                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Boston Bruins       

Buffalo Sabres

Montreal Canadiens

Ottawa Senators

Toronto Maple Leafs

New York Islanders

New York Rangers

Patrick Division:

Carolina Hurricanes

Florida Panthers

Philadelphia Flyers

PIttsburgh Penguins

New Jersey Devils 

Tampa Bay Lightning

Washington Capitals

Norris Division:

Chicago Blackhawks

Columbus Blue Jackets

Colorado Avalanche

Detroit Red Wings

Minnesota Wild

Nashville Predators

St Louis Blues

Winnipeg Jets

Smythe Division:

Anaheim Ducks

Calgary Flames

Dallas Stars

Edmonton Oilers

Los Angeles Kings

Phoenix Coyotes

San Jose Sharks

Vancouver Canucks

Keep in mind, I am just some moron sitting here in Northwestern Ontario trying to come up with a new realignment scenario.  The good thing is, it isn't my job to create one and implement it.  One thing that will always be a problem in the Western Conference is travel.  The teams in the Western Conference are spread farther apart than they are in the Eastern Conference.  As well, which team from the west would be moved into the East?  Detroit makes the most sense, but the hard part will be creating divisions with the same amount of teams.  I couldn't do that for this, but then again, remember that the fool proof plans are for the NHL to create and implement, and then up to us to pick them apart and mock their decisions.

Well, Philly may finally have found their goalie.  Unfortunately, Bryzgalov came at a large cost.  Bryzgalov dropped his old agent and picked up Rich Winter to handle the new contract.  Who is Rich Winter?  Winters was the guy that managed to get Hasek his big money deal, so you would think that Bryz was going after the same type of money.  Here's the problem; Bryzgalov is NOT Hasek.  The second that Bryzgalov starts to struggle, the fans in Philly are going to be all over him.  In order to sign Bryz, the Flyers had to move Richards and Carter...the fans aren't going to forget how much he cost them.  If things start to go bad for him, Bryz will realize that playing in Philly is nothing like playing in Phoenix the second he gets hit with his first trailer hitch.  But the thing is, the Flyers now have some cap room to pick up some more scorers.  Lots is going to be expected from the younger players like VanRiemsdyk and Giroux this year in Philly.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

Hotchnuts

I really don't know what to say about this.  The only guarantee that I was giving out this post season was that win or lose, Vancouver is going to be home to a riot.  And I was right.  At a time when I should have been feeling ecstatic and jubilant about the Bruins win, I was embarrassed for the decent Canuck fans.  Then you have the Vancouver media putting their own little spin on things.  For a city that was so well prepared and well behaved for the Olympics, this is an embarrassment for anyone in Vancouver.  Absolutely disgusting.  There is no other way to put it.  After the riots of 1994 and this year, I hope that Vancouver NEVER makes the Stanley Cup Finals again.  Meanwhile, fans in Montreal feel better about themselves.  They are no longer the biggest douchebag fans in Canada.  And yes, I understand that not every Vancouver fan was responsible for or involved in the riots.  The actions of a few stain the reputations of the many, or something like that.

However, this guy found out that karma can be a bitch.

Speaking of little bitches...I was amazed with the Canucks in one aspect.  After Luongo came out and criticized the way Thomas played in game 5, Shawn Thornton fired a puck and directed some comments towards Luongo.  And how did the Canucks react?  They didn't.  No one called Thornton on it.  Pussies.  Regardless of who it is, you don't let someone do that to your goalie in the pregame skate.  Do you think anyone would get away with doing this to someone on the Bruins? 

Probably not.  But then again, I highly doubt anyone off the Bruins would stand there and take it.  Well, maybe Kaberle.

This is another thing that the Canadian media is trying to put a spin on.  They are looking to lay blame for the Canucks loss, instead of putting praise on the Bruins.  Fucking give it up already.  It wasn't directly attributable to Kesler, the Sedins or Luongo not playing well.  Ever think that they were just outcoached and outplayed?  Quit trying to blame the thing up and admit that the Canucks were beaten soundly by a better team.  Not only that, but the media out of Toronto (TSN and Sportsnet) kept putting Brian Burkes fingerprints all over the Canucks team, saying shit like if it wasn't for Burke, the Canucks wouldn't be in the finals.  One word answer for that statement; BULLSHIT!  Taking over a team with Mogilny, Bure and Messier all wanting out and being able to swing deals for those three players doesn't make you a genius.  It means that you can answer a phone and say "yes".  Want to know what I think of Burkes legacy in Vancouver?  This guy.

Congrats goes out to the Boston Bruins.  They were by far the better team in the playoffs.  Their fans were well behaved and didn't act like a bunch of ass hats.  For me, this is the first Cup that the Bruins have won in my lifetime.  Their last cup victory was 3 months before I was born and I have been hoping for this day for a long, long time.  Next season looks promising for the Bruins as well.  With the majority of their players coming back for at least one more year, their chances of making the playoffs again next year looks promising.  Was I ever impressed with the play of Marchand.  He is a fucking rat that people will learn to hate and hate to play against.  Unlike other agitators in the league, this kid can actually play and contribute in a huge way.  It was nice to see Horton on the ice again, getting a chance to hoist the Cup. 

Fuck, puck drop for next season can't come quick enough.  Lets get this summer over with and get another season going!

Thanks for stopping by

Hotchnuts

Yup.  Mike Gillis should be pissed.  Not about the length of the suspension, even though it did set a new precedent.  But about how the length was determined.  It appears that in all his wisdom, Mike Murphy approached a former NHL disciplinarian to assist him with an appropriate amount of games.  Yup...Mike Murphy spoke with Brian Burke about the possible length of the suspension.  Lets look at the timeline and the background info between Burke and the Canucks and then we can determine if Burke would like to stick it to his old club one more time.

2003 - 2004  Brian Burkes contract was not renewed by the Canucks.

2005 - Close friends of Brian Burke, Aquilini Investment Group, unsuccessfully attempted to sue the Canucks Chairman.

2009 - The Canucks filed tampering paperwork against Brian Burke and Ron Wilson.  This resulted in the NHL fining Brian Burke and Ron Wilson.

2011 - Brian Burke gets an opportunity to fuck over the Canucks while they are on the biggest stage in the NHL.

Looking back at this information, it is somewhat easier to come to a realization as to why Rome was suspended for 4 games.  I was expecting 2 games since it is the Finals, and I am a Boston fan.  This just makes much more sense now.  Of course, Mike Murphy couldn't ask Colin Campbell since he is supposed to recluse himself from the game since his son is playing in the only games left playing.  Realistically, Mike Murphy should have kept his fucking mouth shut about contacting Burke, or maybe he shouldn't have fucking contacted him at all.

My award for douchebag of the week goes to Luongo.  Not only did Luongo get blown out in an 8-1 loss, he quickly followed that up with a 4-0 loss.  Then, he figured after winning a 1-0 game, it was time for some free advice on how to play net.  Unfortunately, Luongo was giving advice to Thomas, who has only allowed 6 goals in 5 games.  That's right....6 goals out of 171 shots as opposed to someone who has allowed 12 goals in 2 games.  What time is it?  it's 12 past Luongo.  Time for some highlights of Bobby Lou's career...

What the fuck is he so upset about?  Is he going to start crying?  Probably...fucking pussy.

Fucking pussy...have I said that already?  Shit...time to diversify my linguistic library...

That one should say it all.  Tie it in with the look on his face...not that there's anything wrong with that...

But there is a fuck of a lot wrong with this.  Have some fucking pride in the game you fucking pussies!  Last year, it was the too many men on the ice penalties that littered the playoffs.  This year, it is fucking diving.  For fuck sakes, get your shit together.  If someone like Burrows or Lapierre is going to get hit, it is safe to assume that they will overembelish.  How much?  Look at this when Burrows is approached by one of his teammates.  You would have thought he was shot.

Any other examples? 

That is fucking embarassing.  Everyone who has played hockey knows that if you get one leg taken out, you are most likely going to fall.  Will it cause both feet to leave the ground that easily while you are standing still?  Probably not.  Have some fucking pride you pussies.  And Max Lapierre?  Don't even get me fucking started.  This no talent ass clown is on his third team this season.  He must be a real likeable kind of guy.

Well, it is time for my Bruins to pull it all together.  After the first two games of the series, I thought Boston may have been in over their head.  Close games, but they still came out on the losing end.  And then they lose Horton.  I thought for sure they were done.  Instead, they come back and blow out the Canucks in Boston 8-1 and 4-0.  For the first game, Cam Neely was the honorary captain and the Bruins score 8 goals.  For the second game, Bobby Orr was the honorary captain and they score 4 goals.  Noticing a trend?  My suggestion to Sully was that they should make Bourque the honoroary captain for the next game.  But not wanting to seem greedy, I'll settle for O'Reilly as the honorary captain instead.  Know what I'm getting at?  Bottom line, big game for Boston tomorrow night and hopefully on Wednesday night.

Well, the Winnipeg franchise is slowly starting to come together.  But I had a question rolling around in my melon....who the fuck is Kevin Cheveldayoff?  I had to do a little research for that one.  He was drafted 16th overall in the 1988 entry draft by the Islanders and went on to play another 6 seasons in the minors before retiring from knee injuries after the 93-94 season.  Cheveldayoff went on to become the General Manager of the Chicago Wolves and has held that position since 1997.  That's pretty much all that I could find.  Aside from scoring 15 goals and 99 assists, there isn't really much about him.  When it pertains to the coaching position, Atlanta Coach Craig Ramsay hasn't been told very much, other than he should expect a decision shortly.  Personally, I think that they should hang on to Ramsay as coach and help the team transition into a new facility.  Give him the first half of the season, see how it is panning out and make a decision then.

Thong of the Week

Thanks for stopping by.

Hotchnuts

Yup.  The Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg is the top shelf hotel in the city.  Apparently, no one usually goes for breakfast in their robes.  But Hotchnuts did.

Well, it finally happened.  Winnipeg finally got their hockey back.  One thing that I enjoyed was seeing Bettman struggle during the press conference earlier in the week.  Authorizing a move of an expansion team that Bettman placed to a location that Bettman removed a team from, has to make him feel like somewhat of a failure.  Maybe it is the fact that he is faced with the grim realization that hockey below the Mason Dixon Line may not be all that it is cracked up to be.  Bettman stated that he would like 13,000 season tickets sold prior to the June 21 General Managers meeting.  As of Friday June 3, a total of 7,158 had been sold.  Funny thing is, the general public isn’t even allowed to purchase season tickets yet.  The first few days of the sale was only for current season ticket holders of the Manitoba Moose, and even then, there were only 2000 season ticket holders for the Moose.  The season ticket packages were being sold in 3, 4 and 5 year packages. 

When the tickets went on sale for the general public, the remainder of the season tickets sold out in 17 minutes.  Let’s clarify that a bit…the online queue filled up in 2 minutes and it took 15 minutes to get all sales processed.  There is quick, then there is fucking quick.  Now it is a matter of getting the sale approved from the Board of Governors when they meet later this month.  Let’s just hope that Winnipegers don’t let their team get away from them again.  However, with that being said, let’s remember that at the time the Jets were moved, the Canadian Dollar was about .62 cents US.  It was the state of the economy that led to the downfall of the relocated Cdn teams, not a lack of fan support.  One thing that Winnipeg is going to have to do in the near future, is look into a new facility.  The MTS Centre is a good facility in a great location, but it was built on the cheap.  It was built at a time when the Canadian Dollar was well under par with the US Greenback, and a bigger facility with a couple extra thousand seats may be needed.  However, if Winnipeg can keep the sale of season tickets going annually, they will be just fine. 

Wow…what a week it has been!  To coin a phrase I heard from Sully, I don’t know whether to scratch my watch or wind my ass…or something like that.  I have been hit in the head frequently over the years, and my brain isn’t what it used to be.  Could be worse…I coulda use ta been smart.  But I digest… 

Colin Campbell is finally leaving!  I cannot begin to explain how happy this news has made me.  I have been especially hard on Campbell over the years, and I honestly feel that it was justified.  Why did they announce it now and not wait until the end of the season?  Simple.  Campbell’s kid plays for the Bruins and Campbell would have to recluse himself from any supplementary discipline involving the final round of the playoffs.  Not to say he isn’t going to try and sway a decision still here and there, but by the books, he is supposed to be off the books.  Hopefully gone are the days of inconsistent and inactive consequences.  Now, we have Brendan Shanahan taking over.  This should be a good move, seeing as how Shanny was a far better hockey player than Campbell ever was and Shanahan has been more involved in the new NHL than Campbell.  Only time will tell how Shanahan will pan out in this new position.  But let’s be honest…he would be hard pressed to be worse than Campbell. 

I think I may have found a new training routine.  In the past couple of weekends, I have made sure I have had a good meal and a good nights sleep before running my race.  However, last weekend I may have found my niche.  A friend and I were in Winnipeg running the Air Force Half Marathon, and we definitely had a little too much to drink on the Saturday night.  We had good intentions at the start of the night.  We went to the Olive Garden for dinner and killed a couple bottles of wine.  Then, it was off to the Regent Casino for some gambling and drinking.  Once we wrapped things up at the Casino, we went off to a Boston Pizza for a few more hours of driving some draft and chicken wings into us.  Soon enough, it was 2 am and we had to wake up at 7.  So, when everyone is marshalling into the starting positions, Rob and I were wandering around asking where the 4 hour pace bunny was.  So, Rob and I took our positions at the very back of the pack and started very slow.  I wasn’t feeling too sober, but I ended up shaving 8 minutes off of my best time for a half marathon.  Now, I’m not too sure how the girlfriend will feel about joining me in my new training routine.  

As the weeks roll on, there is less and less to talk about.  But I have saved the best for last; the final round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.  The first 2 games were absolutely fantastic.  Even though my Bruins came out on the losing end, we can sit here and debate whether or not the goal was offside or if Burrows bit Bergeron in game 1.  Going forward, as a Bruins fan, I was very happy with the way that they played in Game 1 and 2.  Thomas played like their MVP, and I was happy with how Boston matched up physically against the ‘Nucks.  The Canucks are leading the postseason in hits, and Boston outhit them in game 1.  After game 2, this is shaping up to be a well balanced series.  One thing that is continuing to be the Achilles heel of the Bruins is their power play.  I hate to say this, but their power play was just fine before the addition of Kaberle.  Wasn’t he supposed to make their PP better?  Sure he may be one of the defensive leaders on Boston in terms of points, but I only remember the plays where he is weak on the puck and causes turnovers.  Kaberle is good if he has an opportunity to skate and engineer his outlet pass, but he hasn’t been able to do that in the last couple of rounds.  Both Vancouver and Tampa have played the fore check very effectively. 

I am going to be honest with everyone here.  One thing I cannot tolerate is an anti-Canadian stance.  That is my one hot button.  If I say that it doesn’t matter to me if the Cup comes back to Canada or not, I mean it.  The majority of each and every fucking team in the NHL is comprised of Canadian born players.  I can take solace in that.  So honestly, I don’t give a flying fuck how many years it has been since the Cup was won by a Canadian team.  The Cup has been to my hometown of 110,000 people for the last 3 years.  How many times has it been to other hometowns in a short period?  Enough of this shit from people that watch more competitive knitting and lawn bowling than they do hockey, and are only actively  involved in the playoffs as an opportunity to brag about how many of the recent Cups their country has won.  24 teams to 6.  I don’t give a fuck.  Don’t waste your breath here. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Hotchnuts

When did Glenn Healy become such a fucking douchebag? 

Fuck you Glenn Healy.  Your wheels were squeeling in reverse and Stevie Wonder could have seen your backpeddle.  That is the first thing you are taught in high school english.  Using I or we indicates ownership of a situation.  Then fucking knock it off with the "We've seen enough" shit.  As a result, the NHL has imposed some sanctions on the Green Men.  What exactly?  As it turns out, the Green Men are no longer allowed to do handstands or touch the glass surrounding the penalty box.  So, how did they get around these new rules?  I think they did it cleverly.  Keeping with their cardboard cutout motif, they simply created a cardboard cutout of themselves and had the cardboard cut out doing the handstand and it was the cardboard cutout that was touching the glass.  Personally, I get a kick out of these guys.  I think they are good for the game and the environment in the arena.  Plus, it takes big balls to go to Nashville in the Green Men suits and take in a game.

This is what they did after the new rules were imposed on them.

I love the fact that they even got Mike Fisher with the cardboard cut out of Underhill.  Much like last year when they had a cardboard cutout of Vince Vaughn in a Canucks jersey while they were playing the Blackhawks.  Comedic genius I say.  We need more of them.  It's not like they are the belligerent fans that are drinking too much and throwing shit on the ice.

By the way...what sound does it make when the shower water hits Glenn Healy during his monthly shower?   DOUCCCCHHHHHHHEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

Now, on to the playoffs!

Being a Boston fan, I am ecstatic that the Bruins are in the Conference finals for the first time since 92.  However, they have been dealt quite a serious blow with the injury to Bergeron.  Bergeron has by far been the best player on the ice for the Bruins this postseason.  Bergeron is leading the team in scoring, hits, shots, and is a spectacular 64.2% in the faceoff circle this postseason.  A prolonged absence by Bergeron will hurt the Bruins chances in the next round against Tampa.  Tampa has been playing solid defensive hockey so far in the post season.  Tampa has done a good job of employing the 1-3-1 system so far.  This series is going to be very low scoring, since Tampa and Montreal play very similar styles.  However, Tampa is much deeper offensively than Montreal, and Roloson has been playing like an elderly man possessed.  This is going to be a great series.

Nashville went into Vancouver last night and forced a game 6.  Last night was one of the few chances I have had to watch Nashville play this post season, and let me tell you how impressed I was with them.  They are getting contributions from all skaters on the ice, and I liked how they were facing elimination and went into Vancouver and forced a game 6.  Good job on Nashville.

In the other series happening right now, I liked San Jose's chances against the Wings.  It will be hard for the Wings to come back after being down 3-0, but as a Boston fan I am fully aware of how possible it actually is.  Game 5 rolls tonight in San Jose, and it is literally do or die for the Red Wings.  Given the veteran leadership that is on the Detroit team, you know that they are going to come out flying tonight.  Detroit has to get lots of shots on Niemi tonight, but more importantly, they have to make sure they have Niemi moving around in the nets and that they don't give him a chance to get set for the shot.  Watch for lots of one timers tonight.  It is going to be a great game.

And now, more side boob.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great week!

Hotchnuts