A cleaner look. But I'd like to have that Rockies jersey! Strange double color on the sleeves.... Avs blogger reactions: Jerseys and Hockey Love Jibblescribbits
Sharp.
Bye-bye bottom stripes. Almost makes it look too simplistic doesn't it?
Just had to post this for the laugh factor. I've seen a lot of freaky shit at Break.com, but this Britney Spears super fan has got to be the most disturbingly psychotic of them all. I think this guys' parent's need a kick in the teeth. You may think it's fake, but check out this clip of the same guy, and his stalker-like love affair of the pathetic pop star. I wish this whole Spears popularity would just go away. She is a pretty easy target to pick on though. Stupid Mousketeers...
NHL 08 Released Today in US and Canada Well, hopefully Canada as well. I am going to suck it up and buy a Playstation 3 through Amazon on Thursday hopefully as Amazon's price is still over $150 cheaper than what my hometown sells it for. And I'll have NHL 08 in my hands when the PS3 comes in. Can't wait. I am a mega fan of the EA Sports versions over the 2k series and am getting a PS3 because it will also play my old Playstation games. Yup, I am a PS guy for life I guess. One thing about these NHL games is the fans in the stands are absolute idiots. They don't visually react properly when a goal is scored, etc. Judging by the pics I've seen, that hasn't changed even on the 360 or PS3 versions. Too bad. I am hoping that the Stanley Cup celebrations are improved over the last few years as well. Oh yeah, and that Craig Simpson is taken out of the play-by-play. God he sucks. If you buy it and play it, let me know what you think of it, as I will be waiting about 2 weeks before I get to try it out. Ah, but Waiting is a part of this site isn't it?
Canucks reduce training camp roster by 10 Dave Nonis has announced today that the Canucks reduced their trining camp roster by 10 players and that 48 players will attend main camp.
The following players have been assigned to their junior clubs: Dan Gendur, Right Wing , Everett Silvertips (WHL) Charles-Antoine Messier, Centre, Baie-Comeau (WHL)
Goodbye Soaps, and maybe Jeff Friesen as well. Yeah yeah, I know it's Eklund giving the "Sopel to Detroit" an e4 rating, but don't give me grief over it. Sopel is out of the Canucks' picture now, as we are loaded on defence and in a sense, as much as he had brain farts on occasion, it was a terrific story when he was traded here at last year's trade deadline. Sopel was so ecstatic and wanted to finish his career here in Vancouver. It's almost too bad it didn't pan out. However, I would take Edler over Sopel any day, pricetag-wise and defensive-wise. Anyway, good luck soaps. It was good to see you in a Nucks jersey again even if it was for a short period of time.
And now Jeff Friesen is rumored to be soon signing with Leksand in Sweden, where Ed Belfour will be playing. Friesen was making $1.6 million with Calgary last season, but only scored 6 goals and 12 points in 72 games with the Flames. Actually, Friesen's offensive output has been taking a serious nose dive since the 2002-03 season with the Devils. Remember how he was a game 7 monster that playoff year. Sens fans know it...oh yes. Mr. Freeze was clutch that playoff run, scoring 10 goals and 14 points in 24 games. It's too bad. I always hoped Friesen's potential would be reached. He scored 118 points in 66 games with Regina of the WHL back in 1993 and I thought for sure he would be a great NHL players, with his hands and speed. Never really happened.
"I think there's a misperception out there that this is somehow inconveniencing us. And it's not. We want this player to return. The phone call we don't want is that he's going to retire. The fact he's undecided and this might stretch into the start of the year, this is not a crisis mode for us. This is good news. Because it means he hasn't made the one phone call we don't want him to make."
- Brian Burke referring to Scott Niedermayer's indecision about playing in the NHL.
"My preference would be to know right now and to start and be ready to go with the rest of the guys. It's not looking like that might happen, so we go to Plan B and the second best option, which is to come to a decision as quickly as possible. I don't want to drag this out any longer than I have to. The team has enough to worry about."
- Scott Niedermayer talking about his brain farting.
You can see the contradiction in what Niedermayer and Burke are saying. Is Niedermayer's indecision a distraction for the Ducks? I am somewhat torn on this issue in every aspect of it. Sure, Niedermayer has "done it all" in the NHL but quite frankly, so fucking what. That doesn't give him the right to act like Roger Clemens does it? (Thanks Hodge) It sounds to me like Brian Burke is just doing his duty in front of the media trying to squash any controversy over the matter while what Niedermayer said is more of the truth: "This team has enough to worry about." What worries? Well, maintaining a consistent level of hunger after winning the cup for one. Dealing with the loss of Penner. Adjusting to the new guys in town (Bertuzzi and Schnieder) while Selanne and Niedermayer remain undecided and inactive. Those 2 players are/were integral parts of the Ducks' success. And in a team game, their absences will weigh in on the teams' mind. It is a distraction. It does affect how the team plays. Young Duck players look up to these guys. While I can understand Niedermayer's indecisiveness somewhat, because I am an indecisive person myself alot of the time, he has had plenty of time to make a decision and find it within himself if the desire is still there to lace his skates for 2007-08. Maybe there are other personal factors at play here, adding to his dilemna. Who knows. Hey, I'll eat crow if the Ducks come storming out of the gate this season, put the "C" on Pronger's chest, and look like they have not missed a beat. But until then, this situation IS a distraction for the team and IS an inconvenience of sorts for Ducks management, even if they do flog Bertuzzi and/or Schneider if Niedermayer and Selanne come back to fit under the cap. What do you think?
Hurricanes and Wild unveil new jerseys The Wild turned their 3rd jersey into their official home jersey. The other changes are in the stripes, but minimal.
The Canes are celebrating their 10th anniversary and that is commemorated on their shoulder patch. Just in case you were ever wondering, the squares along the bottom of the jersey do have some validity, even though they don't completely appeal to my taste. They are actually Daytime Hurricane Warning Symbols. Didn't know that until today.
The Canes also "unveiled" their new Storm Squad. Yup, a batch of cheerleaders. The video of that can be seen here.
Don't expect many changes from the Avalanche and Devils jerseys, according to Tournament of Logos. And speaking of that site. If you haven't seen it yet, head over there and join in on the "Best NHL Jersey Tournament." Vote for your faves. It's in tournament style, obviously.
Ken Henderson is still creating masterful and comical hockey artwork at his site, including a great spoof of the new Penguins' logo and also a good mock up of the Canucks' logo creation.
Q (Kuzma): How do you convince Luongo that he might want to take the odd practice off, let alone the odd game?
A (Vigneault) Louie is a special person and a special athlete. We like his competitive spirit and as much as I thought last year we needed to rest him, it sometimes became issues. With the overtimes, he played 96 games and his best one was his last one. Fatigue shouldn't be a concern to anyone any more. We know he can take anything we throw at him.
There is a great interview with Alain Vigneault about the coming season at The Province today. Check it out. Looks like the staff is desperately hoping someone from the minors emerges at training camp.
NHL 2007-08 Predictions Ah! It's that time of year already where you can almost put your lawn mower away (up north anyway) and get ready for another NHL season. The hockey yearbooks are flooding newstands now and giving their bold predictions for the upcoming season. Early, yes. But they don't have a choice now, do they? So, below are predictions from 2 big time mags and I'll throw in my 2 cents afterwards.
The Hockey News
EASTERN CONFERENCE
1. Ottawa 2. NY Rangers 3. Pittsburgh 4. Buffalo 5. Carolina 6. Tampa Bay 7. New Jersey 8. Atlanta ___________________________ 9. Philadelphia 10. Washington 11. Toronto 12. Florida 13. Montreal 14. NY Islanders 15. Boston
WESTERN CONFERENCE
1. Detroit 2. Anaheim 3. Calgary 4. San Jose 5. Minnesota 6. Vancouver 7. Nashville 8. Colorado _________________________ 9. St. Louis 10. Chicago 11. Dallas 12. Los Angeles 13. Edmonton 14. Columbus 15. Phoenix
McKeen's
EASTERN
1. Pittsburgh 2. Ottawa 3. NY Rangers 4. Buffalo 5. New Jersey 6. Toronto 7. Carolina 8. Montreal _______________________ 9. Tampa Bay 10. Philadelphia 11. Florida 12. Washington 13. Boston 14. Atlanta 15. NY Islanders
WESTERN
1. Detroit 2. Colorado 3. Dallas 4. Anaheim 5. Vancouver 6. San Jose 7. Calgary 8. Minnesota __________________________ 9. Los Angeles 10. St. Louis 11. Nashville 12. Chicago 13. Edmonton 14. Columbus 15. Phoenix.
Just so you know....and to gloat...I have a few personal stats for you when it comes to predicting accuracy. Prior to last season, I predicted 18 teams (60%) 3 or less positions than where they actually finished in their conference.
The Hockey news had the same accuracy. The Score predicted 16 teams within 3 correct positions (53%) McKeen's Hockey predicted 14. (47%)
Face it, we all suck at it. But here goes my predictions for the coming season:
Eastern Conference
1. Rangers (I say their FA spending madness pays off) 2. Pittsburgh (getting better and better every year) 3. Carolina (A return to form for the former champs) 4. Ottawa 5. Tampa Bay 6. Toronto 7. Devils 8. Bruins _____________________ 9. Atlanta 10. Buffalo 11. Flyers 12. Montreal 13. Florida (oh no..not picking these guys to make the playoffs again) 14. Islanders (may struggle with identity after so much player movement) 15. Washington (sorry, Ted)
Western Conference
1. Vancouver (not being biased either. Just need one more top 6 forward) 2. Detroit (a weak division) 3. Anaheim (Cup hangover? A returning Niedermayer and Selanne?) 4. San Jose 5. Minnesota 6. Calgary 7. Colorado (late season push in 06-07 plus addidtions of Hannan and Smyth help) 8. St. Louis (I really like the direction John Davidson is taking this team) _______________________________ 9. Dallas (ballsy call, huh?) 10. Los Angeles 11. Nashville (too gutted) 12. Columbus 13. Chicago 14. Edmonton (the decline continues) 15. Phoenix (Gretzky loses his job)
New Flames Jerseys Unveiled Can't complain about the new Flames jerseys. They look pretty good to me. Love the Canadian flag patch on the left shoulder. For a complete look at the new duds, check out here.
For a video clip of the launch, see here. Notice the similarity of the intro to the Canucks' launch.
"Jeremy Roenick is a tremendous competitor and he has a great love for the game of hockey," Sharks GM Doug Wilson said Tuesday in a statement. "We feel he can add something to the talented group of players on our club and we feel that this is an environment where Jeremy can be successful."
The Yahoo Pool will take some preparation as it will be a live draft (gad I love live drafts) So let me know here or email me at zanstorm99@yahoo.ca if you are interested in joining.
I just can't believe that some people are drafting at Yahoo already!
ESPN also has about 10 different pics of the Ducks and the Cup in their gallery, including the shot below of Sammy Pahlsson taking Stanley to his private lakeside cabin.
Keep it simple. Don't change a good thing, right? Montreal Canadiens new jersey slideshow.
A cleaner look. But I'd like to have that Rockies jersey! Strange double color on the sleeves....
Sharp.
Bye-bye bottom stripes. Almost makes it look too simplistic doesn't it?
Mixed emotions about the Sabres jersey
Well, hopefully Canada as well. I am going to suck it up and buy a Playstation 3 through Amazon on Thursday hopefully as Amazon's price is still over $150 cheaper than what my hometown sells it for. And I'll have NHL 08 in my hands when the PS3 comes in. Can't wait. I am a mega fan of the EA Sports versions over the 2k series and am getting a PS3 because it will also play my old Playstation games. Yup, I am a PS guy for life I guess.
It's late. This is the best Photoshop image I could drum up in relation to this story.
Yeah yeah, I know it's Eklund giving the "Sopel to Detroit" an e4 rating, but don't give me grief over it. Sopel is out of the Canucks' picture now, as we are loaded on defence and in a sense, as much as he had brain farts on occasion, it was a terrific story when he was traded here at last year's trade deadline. Sopel was so ecstatic and wanted to finish his career here in Vancouver. It's almost too bad it didn't pan out. However, I would take Edler over Sopel any day, pricetag-wise and defensive-wise. Anyway, good luck soaps. It was good to see you in a Nucks jersey again even if it was for a short period of time.
Ed Belfour will be playing. Friesen was making $1.6 million with Calgary last season, but only scored 6 goals and 12 points in 72 games with the Flames. Actually, Friesen's offensive output has been taking a serious nose dive since the 2002-03 season with the Devils. Remember how he was a game 7 monster that playoff year. Sens fans know it...oh yes. Mr. Freeze was clutch that playoff run, scoring 10 goals and 14 points in 24 games.
The Wild turned their 3rd jersey into their official home jersey. The other changes are in the stripes, but minimal.
The Canes are celebrating their 10th anniversary and that is commemorated on their shoulder patch.
Can't complain about the new Flames jerseys. They look pretty good to me. Love the Canadian flag patch on the left shoulder.
The San Jose Sharks have signed the mouthy center to a 1-year $500,000 contract. 
On to more positive news. Rob and Scott Niedermayer took the Stanley Cup to Cranbrook recently. ESPN's Scott Burnside wrote a great piece about it a few days back. A great story indeed.
