Toe

The shorter play clock makes CFL games move quicker and more exciting. I still can't really get into it.

I thought, I can't be this lucky, so I went to check out TSN.ca, and well, it looks like he is finished. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=223731&hubname=nhl

I always saw it as Wahlberg's character, after seeing everything go down, saying "Fuck this!" and making the situation right.

NHL 08, to me, actually is hard on the higher difficulties. It makes the game frustrating sometimes, but overall very fun. The only thing I don't like is that, even with penalties on full, the computer only commits one a game on average, rarely do they ever take more then two.

Two years of not making the playoffs, and we get this team out of it. No, we can't keep our draft picks and pick Angelo Esposito or Cherapanov. No, we can't do something like that. Let's go out and get another goaltender who hasn't been a starter in the NHL, and throw him in behind a crappy, overpayed defence and a group of slow forwards. We lost 5 to 1 to the Coyotes. Glen Hanlon lost his job for a poor performance at this point of the season. Can we please get a new GM with some new ideas to come in? The sooner we make the moves, the more time he will have to change the roster and maybe even salvage the season. Toronto doesn't really have a budget, so if you just want Kubina or someone else off the cap, then just put him on waivers and park them in the minors if no one will bite for a trade. Seriously, this is fucking shit. Kaberle is the only guy on the blueline that is untouchable, and if we go into rebuilding mode, he might be the best thing we have to get a bunch of young prospects or picks to come our way. Guys like Tucker and Blake have no value right now as they are just treading water, Sundin will probably not waive his no trade clause (although I don't want him to go), and McCabe has the lame no movement thing. If McCabe was the only bad contract we had, it wouldn't be that bad, though. The McCabe deal, Kubina's contract, signing Jason Blake, the trade for Raycroft and the trade for Toskala are just some of the bad deals that Ferguson has made. This is his team now, there is no shadow of Quinn left to deal with. Ferguson has failed, taking a team that missed the playoffs by one point and not improving them. We are only a quarter way through the season, but Ferguson has not made any good deals that I can think of since the lockout, and I think it's time to move one. Maybe we can salvage the season that way, but more importantly maybe we can save next season, and the one after that. Toskala has been good when the defence has been there. If I was GM, my goal right away would be to move Kubina for anything, then bring in some good, defensively aware players to come in and help out. It will be hard for anyone to fix this team quickly due to all the no-trade clauses and large dollar and long term deals, but it is possible.

I want to see how fast I can have Toronto rebuilt while still remaining competitive. To that end, I have made four trades three days into the game. Jason Blake and my third round pick in 09 for Zack Parise from New Jersey was my first deal. Pavel Kubina was sent to Detroit for Cory Emmerton, straight up. Then I sent Raycroft, Ondrus and my 08 third rounder to San Jose for Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski. My last trade saw Staffan Kronwall and my 4th and 5th picks this season go to Chicago for Jack Skille.

I'd rather see the top players get into the All-Star game. The Rory Fitzpatrick thing was retarded last year.

Is the roster update available yet?

What the fuck? Toronto needs to play defensively like that all year. Seriously, they limited the high flying Senators to only 22 shots. Also, the Coyotes getting Bryzgalov is only good if they can get him signed. They are an awful team right now, and will only really improve after this season. It doesn't matter who is in net, although it can't hurt to have a good netminder, because they are missing every piece of the puzzle with, in my opinion, only Shane Doan being a top line player anywhere else right now. Jovanovski has just been awful, and while some of their younger guys like Michelak have impressed, the Coyotes just don't have a team this year that can compete.

Also, since this is a first time offence, it is likely that Bonds will have to pay large fines spend months or a year in jail. Still bad for Bonds, but not close to the maximum sentence.

Ilya Bryzgalov has been placed on waivers by the Ducks. Any team with goaltending issues should try to pick him up, as his cap hit for this year is $1.4 million or close to that, and then he is a free agent. The Leafs are still struggling in between the pipes, even with Toskala and Raycroft. Getting Bryzgalov may not be a bad idea. I could see Phoenix, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay trying to get him off of waivers. If he passes through, then you know that there was some sort of back-room deal between Brian Burke and the rest of the NHL GMs.

Fucking balls, letting a team that can't score get five goals is just awful. Let's just fire JFJ and get someone better in here, and let them use the rest of the year to change the team to their liking.

I decided to rebuild with the St. Louis Blues, but apparently, didn't need to do much. Before the season, I traded Manny Legace and Doug Weight away, getting Steve Bernier and a 1st round pick in return plus some other picks and spare parts. Tried to move Tkachuk and Kariya, but I wasn't going to get much for them, so I kept them. Stole Micheal Blunden from Chicago, and plan to plug him into the line-up in the 08/09 season. Anyways, Toivonen was a rock in the regular season, and although my team only got 87 points, we just beat the Kings for the final playoff spot. Kariya had 30 goals, Stempniak had 30, Tkachuk was awesome all year. The best player for my team, though, was Brad Boyes. He exploded, scoring 32 and getting 56 helpers in 74 games. My two year extension for $2,500,000 is sounding pretty good right now. Erik Johnson was in the minors for the year, but even with him I lack a true point man. My powerplay was 19th in the league, which needs to improve. I get to face the top ranked Minnesota Wild, and have a two to one lead over them in the series so far. I am hoping for an upset, because that would just be funny.

Fucking finally. Toronto lost in a shootout, but they were solid defensively. That was not a frustrating loss, that was just a close hockey game that I enjoyed watching.

I think Andrew Raycroft wants more minutes. Toronto played some sloppy defence but did well breaking up the Buffalo rushes, blocking shots and killing penalties. Andrew Raycroft made some highlight saves too, and timely scoring from McCabe and Sundin lifted the Leafs to a huge win.

~85%? 90% maybe? An opposing PP percentage of 10-15 would be a good result.

A powerplay of 25% is fantastic. A powerplay of I think 21% is average. A powerplay of 18% and lower needs some work.

Kyle Wellwood and Mark Bell both looked good. Bell looked pretty good on a line with Wellwood and Jason Blake.

Peter Budaj. Theodore is doing ok, but really, Budaj needs to get as much ice time as possible to continue his development as an NHL starting netminder.

I am in a mood now where I don't want to watch another Leafs game this season. It's 5 to 1 Ottawa, and Toronto hasn't done anything except score one powerplay goal in seven powerplays. Kyle Wellwood has looked good in his season debut - everything else has been awful shit.

Kyle Wellwood and Mark Bell are in the line-up for the Toronto Maple Leafs going into tonight's game against the Senators.

Is "Saturday Night" by Elton John considered a rock song? If not, then Nickleback's cover of the song with Kid Rock is pretty good, especially when played just before the Hockey Night In Canada theme.