Devils’ End
It’s just about four weeks since the Devils’ season ended and I’m finally rational enough to write rationally about it. I think this was the most uneventful, non-season in the decade I’ve been a season ticket holder, and therein lies the problem. Lou signed Ilya Kovalchuk, but Lemaire couldn’t figure out how and when to [...]
Playoff Minion
Here’s a statistic you won’t hear Chico Resch cough up on a break in play: There are three Jewish players on three different teams in the playoffs for what may be the first time in NHL history. Jeff Halpern (Kings), Mathieu Schneider (Coyotes) and Mike Cammalleri (Canadiens) are all vying for a chance to make [...]
Pain and No Gain
I haven’t written about the Devils since mid-November because frankly, there wasn’t much to write about through the end of 2009. They were playing well, scoring goals, coming up big on defense, and Niclas Bergfors was making a bid for the Calder Trophy. A short stint as the best team in the NHL, a nice [...]
NHL Center Ice Package: I’m Sold
I broke down and ordered the NHL Center Ice package tonight. It was actually a Facebook conversation with a co-worker that convinced me it was worth the $172 for the next six months, or as he put it, less than the cost of going to two games. My interest started with a sincere interest in [...]
Ou Sonts Les Habitants?
OK, my French is horrendous, my high school French teacher wants to rescind the award that she gave me upon graduation for “excellence in studies” and L’Academie Francaise is going to put a contract out on my tongue. Quelle frommage. I don’t get the hockey writer’s negative sentiment about the Canadiens this season. Sure, goaltending [...]
Organic vs Inorganic Growth
The Hockey News has a great video interview with Mike Cammalleri, newest Canadien and likely linemate of Gionta and Gomez. He addresses his performance in Calgary as a function of having Iginla on his line, what life will be like on the under-six-foot line, and how the Canadiens will find their identity. The Habs are [...]
Free Agency Bubble in Montreal
Imagine this scenario: you buy a big house, because the market is hot and you had a good year over the past twelve months. And a year or two later, your income is down, the overall housing market is down, and you’re saddled with those mortgage and tax payments, and start looking for places to [...]
The Other Kippy
Kippy, the Flames goalie with a goofy nickname, has given up 3 goals on 9 shots tonight. One was on a power play and one was a misdirection that fooled all three Flames pretending to occupy the slot, but this isn’t good for those of us who wanted to see Mike Cammalleri do his thing [...]
Zajac the Younger
Bubba and I caught the Princeton-Union ECAC quarterfinal game last night at Baker Rink. It’s always a wonderful trip; the ice equivalent to a Wrigley Field or Fenway Park pilgrimage. Built in 1922, Baker Rink has been refurbished and re-introduced more times than David Cone. It has, and always will, hold a special place in [...]
Fanning The Flames
Calgary did better at the trade deadline than any other team. In addition to picking up a first-line center in Olli Jokinen, they grabbed D-man Jordan Leopold to add to a blueline previously defined only by the slightly scary visage of Dion Phaneuf. First game together as a line, Cammalleri-Jokinen-Iginla light up for 3 goals [...]