I Think It's Time to Call It a Week

timberwolf1212 on flickr

My apologies for the lack of updates lately. It's been a hectic couple of days. I've been taking finals, moving out of my apartment and am headed to Las Vegas to cap it all off tomorrow morning. It's been a whirlwind to say the least.

I do have some good news, though. There are a great bunch of folks who have graciously volunteered their time to guest post over the next couple days. I'll be back on Saturday, but they'll take you through the week (their identities are a secret) until then. Ryan will be in and out as usual, including the Thursday drinking game. Many thanks to him for all he's done for the site in the last few months.

So yeah, I'm off to Vegas. I'm going to try my best to come back with money and a shirt on my back. I promise when I get back things will be back to normal. Except for the whole holidays thing. But if you don't like spending time with the in-laws, you know where to go... And that's here, just in case you didn't.

One last thing... This week only there will be a special Wednesday edition of Buys and Sells over at AOL. That's going to be the only other place daddy pops up this week. Except maybe Nevada. Anyway, have a great week and I'll see you all on Saturday!

An Unsolicited Letter to Sidney Crosby

Here at BMR, we're all for diversity and letting everyone have their two cents -- even though the economy isn't doing so good. To stay true to that, over the next few weeks we'll be showcasing some work from loyal reader and die-hard Penguins fan Mike, more commonly known as Malkin's Bodyguard. The following is his first submission.

Dear, Sid the Kid.

What’s up, man? I can call you that, right? Sid the Kid, I mean. I’ve always thought you’d be cool like that. Anyway, you don’t know me but there’s some stuff I gotta ask you. When you say you’re “not mad” at Marion Hossa, you’re joking, right? Remember when Alex Ovechkin beat you out in Rookie of the Year voting? It hurt, didn’t it? You thought you deserved it, didn’t you?

Well, why don’t you just say it?

Listen, I know ever since the end of the lockout the NHL has had a revamped sense of marketing, with a focus on promoting its young superstars. I also know that one of the best and brightest of those superstars is you; one Sidney Crosby. I get that. This is all for good reason, of course. You’re a young, good looking stud. The kind of kid my parents wish they had and my ex-girlfriends wish they dated. You’re always with the “aw, shucks” attitude and the “please,” “thank you,” and “you’re welcome’s.” It’s the kind of stuff sponsors dream of. Plus, you’re pretty good on the ice too. You’ve apparently done everything that has ever been asked of you, and the NHL couldn’t be happier. That’s terrific.

I, however, have a complaint. Every interview you give and every answer to every question you’re asked is starting to come off as the same canned response. Do you even listen to the question anymore, or do you just recite the next answer from the queue? For God’s sake kid, show some personality. We’ve seen the attitude on the ice so why can’t we see it off the ice too? I’m not asking you to call out a teammate or to let loose some sort of racial slur (ed. -- Wouldn't that be a fun exercise?), but the next time someone asks you what you think about Marian Hossa, say what you really think! You think he’s a punk, don’t you? You are dedicating this whole season to making him eat his words, right? Ovechkin won Rookie of the Year and now has his own Hart trophy too. Please tell me that this pisses you off. Please tell everyone that it pisses you off!

Just look at the responses you’ve given in your recent interviews. I'm paraphrasing slightly here:

They’re a good team. Give credit to them. They took it to us pretty good tonight. We have some things to work on, but give them all the credit. Some nights you go up against a team that is just better than you.

He’s a great player. He has world class speed and a world class shot. He’s got world class teammates. I’ve got world class teammates too, but give them credit. Those are some world class teammates. Plus, he’s a great player too.

I like lots of charities. I don’t like any better than any one better than any of the others, but I do like lots. There are lots of world class charities. Some of those charities are just great. All charities are good because they give charity, of course, but some charities are world class. That’s not taking anything away from non world class charities; it just means they aren’t world class. Yet.

You see what I’m getting at here, Sid? We get it. You’re a nice guy. You’re a likable chap that doesn’t want to offend anyone. Your parents raised you well and all that. That’s great, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t becoming a bit stale. Show some personality once in a while. Call someone out for a cheap shot. Let the fans know that, no, the other team wasn’t better and your team just stunk tonight. Please, please, please tell someone – anyone – that you want to end up with more MVP awards, more points, and more Cups then Ovechkin. There’s nothing wrong with that. You want to be the best and it is OK. We all know you could have just as easily won that Rookie of the Year award. Just say you know it too.

Above all else though, just one time, can we please hear you walk up to a microphone, clear your throat, then say: “Marian Hossa, get bent. We’ll see you in the Finals.”

Thanks for listening, Sid.

-Malkin's Bodyguard (Mike)

The longest post you will see here about the Wild

What a fancy logo. It's both a landscape and a cat's head!

Hey gang, Ryan here, much to your collective chagrin. I'm not sure why Kevin keeps tabbing me to pinch blog over here, but I'm going to be here tomorrow as well.

Anyways, I was going to put my Nick Bakay pants on and do some tail of the tape type post between the NHL and MLB trade deadline, but frankly, the Nick Bakay pants don't fit, and the post would have been boring. The difference is that there are a lot more trades during the NHL deadline. Similarities? Minnesota doesn't make any moves in either.

Hey! Minnesota! Since Kevin is always beating us over the head with Islanders crap (seriously, if I hear about Trent Hunter one more time...) (Second side bar, check out what islanders.com actually is. Hooray Polynesia!), let's rap about the Wild for a bit, eh? One question comes to mind. What the hell are they doing?

They knew going into the offseason that Pavol Demitra and Brian Rolston were likely gone, and indeed, they took off. Along with them Branko Radivojevic returned to Europe, and for good measure, they bought out Mark Parrish just yesterday. For a team that tends to struggle with things like "offense" already, it appeared that maintaining their high level next year was going to be a struggle. They had work to do.

They did some of that work. Here's a run down of the guys they acquired, either via trade or free agency:

Andrew Brunette - Old, was never much of a goal scorer. Replaces Rolston's 59 points with 59 of his own.

Owen Nolan - Just old.

Craig Weller - Punches people.

Marek Zidlicky - Plays defense, has a huge fan in the Czech Republic.

Mark-Andre Bergeron - Also plays defense. Popularity in the Czech Republic unknown.

Krys Kolanos - Sucks. Spells his name to reflect this.

Antti Miettinen - Finnish, adequately skilled offensively. Entirely unremarkable.

Not exactly an offensive breeding ground. Did Doug Risebrough want to go back to the days when the Wild would score 2 goals a week? Did he think they were more lovable then? To compound things, despite adding Zidlicky and Bergeron, the defense probably isn't that great, as Martin Skoula is out there pretty mch all the time.

Yes, the Wild are still young and those young players are likely to continue improving. The question becomes, if the Wild are this talented, why do they have to be so grueling to watch? I digress. At least we don't have to worry about whether or not we can get a good year out of Doug Weight.

(It should be noted that I'm not a Wild blogger, just a Minnesotan with a short attention span. For actual Wild bloggers, check out these lovely ladies, or perhaps this guy)

Pensbloggin' It

I've never had anyone illustrate one of my posts so well!

Turns out daddy kind of owes some money to some people. While I would love to spend time with you on a beautiful Saturday such as this, the fact is that daddy owes some favors. So, today daddy went and blogged over at the Pensblog so he didn't lose both his legs.

Don't worry. I haven't forgotten about you guys. It's just some good ol' guest postin'. And it's a Saturday in June, so I figure you all are spending quality time with real people or whatever it is you do. But yes, I did Pensblog it today. I hear it's what all the kids are doing. Coincidentally, Gary Roberts and Ryan Malone were traded by Pittsburgh today. That's a pretty bad omen. I hope they all don't take out their frustrations on me.

Calling it a day

Jesus is just all right with me

Well, that's going to do it for me today. Kevin rightfully gave me the reins for but one day, which is probably for the best, lest I start talking about goaltenders and their penchant for groin injuries. Nobody wants to read a post about Kari Lehtonen's groin. For being so good to me today, and to thank Kevin for letting me take care of his baby, I have provided the adjacent picture of everyone's favorite mustachioed Duck, George Parros all dolled up. Either that or it's a Doobie Brother.
But I'm out. Stop in and see me at the Victoria Times some time.

Pittsburgh is extremely popular with Europeans

Hey! I know someone from there! www.mapsofworld.com

Filling in at a hockey blog in the middle of June. Brilliant! Last time I filled in here it was February, when there was, you know, hockey. Right now on NHL.com the top headline is that Ryan Suter just signed a four year deal with the Predators. Somehow, I still find the NHL offseason more entertaining than the NBA Finals.

But if we're going to sit around and talk hockey, let's talk hockey. This is a question that crops up for me pretty much all the time. We're mostly aware of the East Coast Bias in most sports, what with most media outlets being headquartered out there. Additionally, talent seems to be attracted to certain cities across the Eastern Seaboard, and to a lesser extent, southern California because that's where the money (and attention) mostly is.

Why isn't this the case in hockey? I would expect the bias to be more pervasive, given that so much talent comes from overseas. Really, why would someone come from Slovakia to play in Raleigh voluntarily? Is that some sort of Slovakian dream I'm unaware of? I would expect many Europeans to try to get to New York or Los Angeles or Boston or, you know, a city their family had heard of. I'm not saying that Europeans are ignorant, but I doubt anything more than 25% of the European population has heard of Buffalo.

One of the prime examples of the confusion, for me anyways, is Niklas Lidstrom, who has spent his entire career in Detroit. How did that happen? Didn't he do any research on the subject before coming to America and set his sites on New York or LA? Again, I'm not saying that Detroit is necessarily a bad city, but it has a bad reputation. If anyone in the Lidstrom clan back in Vasteras had heard of Detroit, they probably feared for his life. I have to imagine that early in his career, he was receiving a lot of pressure from his Swedish friends to try for a more glamorous city (Being Swedish myself, I can assure you that the pressure was really passive-aggressive). Credit Lidstrom for realizing his title chances were best in Detroit, or, just as likely, finding Detroit a wonderful place to live. Believe it or not, Motown has suburbs too.

I think, too, many Europeans would like to see the melting pot of America. You know, the varying culture that one expects when throwing people from all different backgrounds into a large city. You've got your Chinatowns like in San Francisco, and your Little Italys like in New York, which only provide to the intrigue of these American cities, especially, I'm sure, to tourists and people from out of town. How did Marian Gaborik feel upon arriving in the Twin Cities the first time, only to find out that there was more diversity in Bratislava?

I'm mostly just thinking out loud here. I'm not trying to badmouth any smaller market cities. Quite the contrary; I think the NHL, if anything is doing more to establish a positive reputation for a lot of smaller cities in European minds. Hopefully, Lidstrom's willingness to stick around in Detroit leads to a booming Swede based tourist industry in Detroit. Maybe Austrians now keep tabs on news from Buffalo because of Thomas Vanek. Maybe Gaborik has realized that there is diversity in Minneapolis (both Swedes AND Norwegians!). Maybe a huge Marek Zidlicky fan just checked the NHL site from Prague and got really excited that Ryan Suter is staying in Nashville.

Happy Monday!

The Winnipeg Jets: still not in existence. www.winnipegjetsonline.com

Hey gang, how's it going? Kevin sort of slipped out unnoticed. If you check the bottom of this post, you'll see a new name, "Ryan". Go ahead, check it out. I can wait.
So yeah, I'm Ryan. I've written here in the past. Most days, you can find me toiling away over at the Victoria Times. Let me tell you, the commute from Victoria to Barry Melrose headquarters in Newark is brutal.
So, why am I here? Well, I've been asked to entertain you while Kevin is flying somewhere. I'm not certain as to where, but I hear he's going to Canada to see about buying out Mirtle. My sources aren't the best.
Anyways, this isn't my real post for the day, I'm just sticking my toe in the water. Before I get to it, I encourage you to talk amongst yourselves. An idea for a topic to get things started, (in the spirit of flying): What should the Winnipeg Jets do this offseason?

Guest Postin': Is 'The Love Guru' Actually a Hockey Movie?

The following is brought to you by SCF Pick 'Em winner and regular BMRer Loser Domi. When she's not trying to create a masterplan for Toronto Maple Leafs world domination she can be found at her blog, the Wonderful World of Loser Domi.

Justin Timberlake looks like a young Burt Reynolds. Creepy. IMDB.com

Howdy ho, cats and kittens! Even though I, Loser Domi, usually write about imaginary happenings, I'd like to take a break from that and write about something that's well, a little more like reality. Over the past few months there have been promotions for the movie "The Love Guru." Now, since this movie involves the Leafs and I am a Leafs fan with a blog, I've gotten an official sounding email about it (so have some other bloggers.)

I first saw a trailer for it around March (I think) over at Scarlett Ice (sorry Sherry, I forgot which post it was). It seemed much more hockey oriented, plus it had Justin Timberlake showing off his outrageous Québécois ahk-sahnt. However, the trailers I saw during the playoffs (and as a preview before "Iron Man") seemed to have almost no hockey in them. Seriously—aside from the odd shot of the Leafs logo in the background or someone getting hit with a puck, there was no hockey content. This got me thinking: does "The Love Guru" constitute a hockey movie? Judging solely from the previews I've seen, I'll have to say no, it doesn't.

As far as I can tell, the Maple Leafs are featured only because Mike Myers happens to be a huge Leafs fan. Much like "Happy Gilmore", instead of being about a hockey team, it is about a hockey player. This movie could have been about any other player in any other sport had the author been a fan of another team and yet remain almost exactly the same movie. For instance, had Stephen King been in charge, the team used would have been the Boston Red Sox (although I suspect there wouldn't be as many midget jokes.) Had Drew Carey written the script, the featured team would have been the Clevland Browns, except, I don't know, everyone would sing in Pig Latin or something. Jack Nicholson writes it and you get a movie about the Lakers. And so on.

Then again, I haven't seen the movie or done any further research on it. I could be totally wrong about everything I just said. No matter how this movie turns out, I have to agree with fellow Leaf blogger and generally awesome guy Pension Plan Puppets:

"If that movie doesn't end with the Leafs winning the Cup I'll want my $10 back!"—PPP

Amen, brother. And GO LEAFS GO!

(And since we're talking about a movie containing Jessica Alba, well, here ya go. - KS)

Flyer Fans, As You Might Expect, Do Not Take Kindly to Red Wings' Fleeces

Way back in March, we ran a BMR March Madness pick 'em pool. Hockey fans picking college basketball games. Go Figure. Anyway, the winning prize was a guest post here at BMR and, by virtue of his prognosticating power, Alex from Los Angeles beat us all and was awarded said guest post. His words follow the conclusion of this sentence.

FansEdge.com

It's been over a month since Kansas earned me the right to a guest post as winner of the BMR NCAA tournament pool, and ever since I've been waiting for the muse to strike so I could use that post. Today was that day, and it's about time...

So here's the story.

I live in Los Angeles, where hockey ranks somewhere between the L.A. Galaxy and yoga, and so my Flyers fanhood is not well understood. One of the few people who get it - or so I thought - was my boss, who, despite being a Rangers fan, is a good enough guy. He doesn't mind when I listen to Flyers games online at work. He's enough of a fan that he even flew back to New York for Brian Leetch's jersey retirement. He gives me crap about rooting for the Flyers, and I give it back to him about the Rangers. I kind of figured he understood the concept of team loyalties and rivalries.

That was until today.

This morning, a gift arrived in the mail for him from a friend who apparently doesn't know too much about hockey. It was a Red Wings fleece. For a Rangers fan. To my surprise, my boss wasn't immediately repulsed, but instead said he couldn't wear it because it was too big.

Then he offered it to me. I told him thanks, but due to the Flyers' sweep at the hands of the Wings in the '97 Cup Finals, I would never wear a Red Wings shirt. Ever. I had tickets to Game 5 of that series, too. Screw you, Fedorov.

It was a pretty nice fleece, though, so I offered to give it to a misguided soul I know who roots for the Wings. My boss, however, seemed a little taken aback that I had refused his gift in the first place, and decided that he would instead send it to another friend of his. Fine. Whatever.

Later on, he handed me the fleece and told me to put it in the mail. His friend is a Maple Leafs fan.

Sheesh.

***

Since I have this opportunity to post here, I'm also shamelessly going to plug www.uclahockey.org. Buy some stuff and support my old team.

And finally...go Flyers! Crosby's playoff beard is a joke!

It's Fun to Play in Other People's Sandboxes

Nothing is on fire yet! I swear! poster.de

So friend of the Blog, Ryan, put me in control of the Victoria Times today while he recovers from oral surgery. I didn't break anything yet and it's actually going quite well, but I did post that picture of the passed out polar bear again. What can I say? It's a personal favorite. Feel free to stop by as I desperately try and relate to people from a state I've never been to. Should be fun! Shenanigans!

...and also, I'll see you guys on Monday when we will finally be able to answer the question of "are the heads of Canadian people really not attached to their jaws like in South Park?"

In the meantime, Greg Wyshynski will be here to take you through the rest of the work week. You may know him from FanHouse, DeadSpin or the Fourth Period. Take your pick, really.

How the (pre-2004) Boston Red Sox Made Me a Better Leafs Fan

Right now, Kevin is on vacation in Atlantic City wasting countless sums of money at blackjack and poker tables. In the meantime, some of the best and brightest from the hockey blogosphere will keep things under control. Today, BMR is proud to introduce Loser Domi from The Wonderful World of Loser Domi as your linguistic overlord for the day, with a surprise guest to follow later.

When Kevin asked me to guest post here, I was stoked to say the least. Then I realized that I would have to actually write something more substantial than a picture of me holding a sign or YouTube videos.

Kevin mentioned in the email that he asked me because "The stuff on your blog is pretty neat, and it would be nice to get a pro-Leaf voice around here, if only for a day. lol" (thanks Kev, it means a bunch!) That line got me thinking about something that I've had in my back pocket for a while. Ahem:

How the (pre-2004) Boston Red Sox Made Me a Better Leafs Fan
By Loser Domi

Now I know what you're all thinking: "But baseball is slow and boring, Domi. What would that have to do with hockey?" I agree with you that baseball is slow, but bear with me—I work it all out. I'm not a baseball follower, but I consider myself a Red Sox fan simply out of respect for my grandfather, who died in 2006. He was a big fan of the Boston Red Sox, even though he slept through most of the games. He had an expression that went, "root for the Red Sox, but bet on the Yankees." After reflecting on that saying, I've come to a conclusion that it has a sense of healthy skepticism, humility and faith in it.

"Root for the Red Sox", that is to say that it would be great for the team to win and it would be a bright spot in a fan's day. However, "bet on the Yankees" suggests to me a self-realization that just because I support a team, it doesn't mean that team is the best right now. It's kind of like my post "The Realistic Fan"—just because I like the Leafs, it doesn't mean they are the best team. And, just because they aren't the best team, it doesn't mean that I don't like them.

I think that growing up in a region full of Red Sox fans pre-2004 helped steel me to be a Leafs fan. Hearing Habs and Senators fans taunt me about "1967! LEEFS SUCK LOLZ!!" doesn't faze me that much, mainly because I had to hear about eighty-six years between World Series for the Red Sox. Does it suck that the Cup hasn't come around in my life time? Hell yes. But that doesn't mean that it will never happen again.

I'm not sure if this is a Zen-type of thinking, mainly because my knowledge of Zen is skeletal at best. I suppose that if you wanted to, you could meticulously research any sports team and analyze their history, but it seems like a pointless exercise to me. Teams and players can change drastically in such a short matter of time as to make history a non-factor. A drastic change in your team can happen at any time—your star goalie could blow out his knee or a historically
under achiever can bloom into an unstoppable ass-kicking machine. Take, for example, Nik Antropov. At this time last season, I would have dismissed him as only good enough as a human speed bump. Now, he's one of the Leafs' better scorers (I'm too lazy right now to look
up the exact numbers.)

In a way, my grandpa's expression is kind of like the saying, "hope for the best, but prepare for the worst." It seems like a good plan for living in general and not just for sports. Yes, seeing the Leafs not win sucks like an Electrolux, but it isn't like I'm depending on them to put food on the table or anything like that. Then again when they win the Stanley Cup again—hopefully it doesn't take as long as the Red Sox did to win another World Series—I will be one happy Loser.

Whew! That was a long post! I feel like I should reward you guys for making it all the way through, like maybe with a picture of ice girls. Unfortunately, Toronto doesn't have ice girls. Instead, here's Inga Skaya, representing Canada in the Miss Universe pageant rockin' the Blue and White.

Ference Watch, 2007-08

Right now, Kevin is on vacation in Atlantic City wasting countless sums of money at blackjack and poker tables. In the meantime, some of the best and brightest from the hockey blogosphere will keep things under control. Today, BMR is proud to introduce Ryan from The Victoria Times as your linguistic overlord for the day.

Even Andrew Ference doesn't know if this is a current team photo Boston Bruins via Flickr

One of the things I like best about hockey, outside of a well executed power play, a bone crushing hip check and Brian Engblom's hair is how crazy everything can get with little to no warning. Everything about the game can be wonderfully planned and organized, but then it takes one incident to make things go nuts. GMs are no different. This is about the time of year that they go batshit insane.

This is the time of the year when GMs decide their struggling team needs to be completely blown up, and they need to make a 13 player trade. It can totally change the course of the season, or it can lead to some strange looking sights, like this. Many people claim they can't see it coming when the trades start flying, but it's easy if you just know where to look. The NHL trading season doesn't truly begin until a Ference gets traded. Last year, Andrew was involved in a four player trade, in which he was dealt to Boston. Two of the previous three years, Brad was involved in multi-player deals. I'm not exactly sure why this seems to happen, but I imagine the conversation goes like this.
"This trade doesn't seem even quite yet..."
"Got any Ferences?"
"Sure do!" And then you have a done deal.

If you've ever played any version of an NHL game over the past few years, and simulated an entire season, but without fail, the Ferences are even traded in the virtual world, for Vladimir Orszagh or a third round draft pick. When even EA knows to program a trade into a video game for realism, it's time to call that player a journeyman. Where are the Ferences now? Andrew is still with the Bruins, believe it or not, while Brad is toiling in the Red Wings minor league circuit. He's a prime candidate to get traded this year, probably to the Preds. No reasoning there, it just seems right.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't warn you about some other good indicators of when the active trading season is about to commence. Think of them as honorary Ferences.
Doug Weight: Just traded to Anaheim. He's working on his lifetime Ference achievement award.
Wayne Primeau: On a "traded every other year" plan. This is an off year.
Any number of generic French Canadiens. Look out if more than three Chouinards Bouchards Belangers or any other French name you've heard but can't put a face to gets traded.
Anson Carter: Unfortuantely, he's playing in the Swiss leagues right now, but there's still a chance Kevin Lowe accidentally trades for him.

Keep an eye on the TSN transaction page so you can be fully warned if and when the trading season heats up.

Never fear. Kevin should be back tomorrow, so long as he hasn't won so much money that he feels the need to keep going, or he lost so much money that he couldn't pay for his hotel and got a Gary Roberts style beating.

Bettman's Not Going Anywhere, So Let's All Move On

Right now, Kevin is on vacation in Atlantic City wasting countless sums of money at blackjack and poker tables. In the meantime, some of the best and brightest from the hockey blogosphere will keep things under control. Today, BMR is proud to introduce Sean Leahy from Going Five Hole as your linguistic overlord for the day.

Hi folks. Your fearless leader Kevin is currently "making it rain" in Atlantic City right now, so I'll be blog-sitting today (Wipe your feet!). While Kevin is probably sitting at a Blackjack table right now with his good buddy Jeremy Roenick, I'd like to share my thoughts on everyone's favorite Commissioner, Gary Bettman.

Yes, yes I know, you don't like Gary Bettman. Heard it all before.

"He's an NBA guy." Sure, yes okay.

"Bettman isn't in it for the fans." Blah, blah, blah.

Let's put this to rest right now people: Gary Bettman is not going anywhere.

Ok, are we done? Can we stop whining about him? I'm not a Bettman-apologist, I'm just a realist. I don't agree with many of the things that's happened during his tenure as NHL commissioner, but I've come to terms that ultimately, Bettman's status as commissioner is up the owner's, with whom he works for and not the fans.

If you are one of Gary Bettman's 30 bosses, you've got to be pretty happy with the little guy. He's seen revenues go into the billions and expanded into non-traditional markets which (so far) have worked for a number of years. Bettman also "won" the lockout for the owner's, implementing salary cap restrictions for each team, thereby allowing the teams to generate more profits.

The bottom line: Gary Bettman is making the owner's, his bosses, money and they have to like that.

Sure, during his tenure there's been two work stoppages, including one that wiped out an entire season, but there's no use bitching, because he will be commissioner next year and the year after and the year after and so on. As long as the owner's pockets are fattening, Bettman will still be charge of the NHL and there really isn't anything we as fans can do about it.

What we can do as fans is continuing supporting the game we love and continue throwing out ideas to improve the league and the game in general. Fans hated ties, so the shoot-out was born. Fans wanted open-ice hockey, so the red-line was eliminated. Our voices are being heard and the NHL is probably the most fan-friendly league out there. It's really up to us to help improve the game. If we want to see NHL'ers in the 2014 Olympics in Moscow, I think we could make it happen if fans were loud enough.

You may hate Gary Bettman to no end, but it's time to move past that. Time to concentrate on something feasible. Time to start picketing against those ugly new Canucks uniforms.