Marian Hossa's Fighting Abilities Are What We Thought They Were

Last night we had a rare occurance in the Preds/Wings game -- Marian Hossa in a fight! That's probably music to the ears of Pens' fans who want to see him take a lick or two. Hossa fought Suter and while he didn't do badly, it wound up how you might have imagined it. If you're into imagining things like that.

When Hockey Fights Go Bad: Semin vs. Staal

This is going to be a YouTube post, so there's one drink for you already if you're playing along at home.

If you were watching the Caps/Rangers game last night -- which you probably weren't unless you're a fan of either team since there were 10 other games on the schedule -- you saw one of the oddest fights in recent memory. Mark Staal of the Rangers getting pummeled with what can only be described as 'slaps' by Alex Semin of the Capitals.

In the wake of Sidney Crosby fight-gate, I didn't think we would get another odd fight so quickly. And then we had Semin and Staal doing their best to totally confuse and bewilder us.

"...we have Semin who seems to have developed a strategy similar to the ones we all used to see in high school. You know, when Jessica tried to fight Nicole for kissing Josh behind the pop machine."

That's probably the most accurate description we're going to get, courtesy of Adam Gretz of FanHouse. There's a reason certain types of players in the league don't fight, and these two guys just proved it to us.

And yes, I did just tag this post as "Dance Fightning".

McKeon vs. Leonsis, Round 2: If You're So Smart, You Try It!

An artist's rendition of what Ross McKeon may or may not look like.

On Saturday I told you about a cute little war of words (no Tom Cruise) between Caps' owner Ted Leonsis and Yahoo!'s Ross McKeon. It was the usual media/owner banter.

You know how that is. One guy goes 'your team should be contracted' and the other retorts with 'why do you want children to starve?'

Yawn.

Usually feuds like this fade away. Either the owner has better things to do (likely) or the writer is so used to criticism he couldn't give a shit (also likely). But not this time. This time they may duke it out right in front of our eyes for our entertainment! We get to take on the role of excited onlooks oh-ing and ah-ing in the hope that someone gets curb stomped at the end of the night. That way all of us bloodthirsty villagers can go home happy.

So today, in a move I certainly didn't see coming, McKeon let loose on Leonsis over at Yahoo! The bloodthirsty villagers are getting what we want. McKeon started off by saying his original post was 'tongue-in-cheek' and went on to address Leonsis' points.

I'm not surprised [Leonsis] would be offended by the suggestion of League contraction. Although I highly doubt he would have said boo if Washington wasn't on my "list."

All of his points, those besides the personal attacks (who said I'm a freelance writer?) came down to money, which is his expertise considering the success he's had as a businessman. That's all fine and good, and might help to explain, too, why his team raised tickets prices for the upcoming season, some seats by as much as 10 percent.

It wasn't long ago Washington was struggling at the gate, and struggling mightily with season-ticket sales.

Oooooh! Sick buuurn!

But that's not the best part. Not nearly. McKeon decided to go the distance and start poking Papa Bear Leonsis with a stick -- issuing a challenge to the candid blogger/owner to write his own 5 Ways to Change the NHL.

But what I would like to hear from Leonsis -- since maybe we have his attention and maybe he's one of the few owners in the league brave and smart enough to really say what he thinks -- is what are your five ideas for change?

So, Ted, from an owners' perspective, what could improve? Let's hear it. And as we can all agree, that would certainly be more interesting and entertaining than reading about me.

Settle in folks and grab some popcorn. This could get really good. There's nothing more dangerous than poking the 500lb gorilla in the room with a stick, and I think that's what McKeon just did. The best part -- McKeon doesn't care. Journalists are impervious to criticism! What with their leather suits that reflect all sharply worded statements!

That's all from me for right now. Ryan will check in with you on Thursday. See you on Friday!

Naturally, Ted Leonsis Would Be Pissed if You Contracted His Team

On Wednesday, Ross McKeon of Yahoo! (exclamation point required by law) filed his copy of Wyshynski's "5 Ways I'd Change the NHL Series."

Not pulling any punches from the start, McKeon jumped all over the Southeast Division. Hey, it's the cool thing to do. All the kids are doing it.

1. Less is more: We're talking contraction here, fewer teams means better quality of play and so much more. Ding six franchises to get the league down to 24 teams (12 per conference, six in each of four divisions). Who goes? Atlanta Thrashers, Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals and Nashville Predators. Hey, look at that, no more Southeast Division.

Was it said jokingly? Well, doesn't seem like it to me. Decide for yourself on that front. Ross' five bullet points were all pretty serious, so I figure this one was too. As you can see, Ross isn't too fond of the Southeast Division and more or less decided 'fuck it, we don't need that trash.'

In a completely understandable reaction to McKeon's thoughts, Ted Leonsis, Washington Captials owner, was a bit peeved. Yeah, he was pissed that someone wanted to contract his team. Imagine that, right?

From time to time, you have heard me rail against media pundits for their lack of criticality; original thinking; creativity; and basic non-understanding of what they are writing about.

Well here is another rant. This time against Ross McKeon and his blog post mentioning contraction of six NHL teams including the Washington Capitals. Read it here.

First, the throw away notion of shuttering six major league teams is just mean-spirited. Those six teams employ thousands and thousands of people and support tens of thousands of families. I guess Ross wants us to lay off all those people in the toughest economy ever. And those teams generate dollars for their cities in taxes and they generate dollars to hundreds and hundreds of small businesses as vendor/ suppliers. All of that would go away and the benefit and glow of a major sports team franchise would leave those cities marked as second rate for a long, long time.

OOOOOHHH!!! FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!! I WANT BLOOD!! BLOOOOOOOOD!!!!

Sorry.

But yeah, how dare you want to destroy the lives of thousands Ross McKeon! You are so un-American you might as well be named Osama Bin Ross! Jerk.

Ted, while his points are fair, is a little overboard. The Caps aren't going anywhere and after the season they had we all know how rabid their fans are. Let's just calm down with all the Ross McKeon likes to destroy famillies and impoversh little children hyperbole. We all know that's not what he wants. Or maybe he does. Sick fuck.

To play Devil's Advocate, for a sec, if Team X is losing money, isn't it a burden to begin with? I'm a cynic and not ready to believe that all 30 teams are ridiculously profitable. Hell, maybe they are. But what do I know I'm a mediot (media + idiot). But if you're losing money hand over fist, for example, I can't see how you're exactly helping the children and their families.

So here we go with potentially the most predictable blog war in the history of the world. It's like Phelps winning a gold medal. You probably saw it coming from 10 light years away. But hey, gotta love a good fight! I still want blood.

h/t Illegal Curve

They're Dance Fighting on Ice... Or Something

I think this is an appropriate way to follow up the previous post. And just in case you were wondering, no we did not hand the blog over to Pensblog Charlie or Johan Holmqvist for the day. But I think it's safe to say Scott Parker may not approve. JR says that he can take these guys -- fighting or dance fighting.