Missing the Party

I can't believe it. When were you planning on telling me? I just found out that you are having a Viewing Party for tomorrow nights game against the Predators. I have other obligations and it's too late to do anything about it. You're almost as bad as my family who would call to see if I'm coming over to Grandpa's house for Thanksgiving dinner after they already carved the turkey. Now I don't want to hear your excuses, I've heard them all before. "We didn't think you would want to drive the 800 miles. I lost my phone so I didn't have your number. I thought so and so told you. It's not you, it's us."

I'm not bitter though. I sincerely hope you have a fabulous party and everyone enjoys themselves. Just raise a toast to me, who won't even be able to catch the game on Center Ice as I'll be stuck in the second row of section 105.

No, Mr. Lamoriello, Thank You

My sincerest congratulations to Lou Lamoriello for being inducted into the Hockey Hall Of Fame.
Just in case you haven't seen or read these yet, here are some links:
Conference call
Induction speech
Spotlight by Tom Gulitti
Brodeur's thoughts

Lou Lamoriello is so humble and classy that he thanks everybody from Gary Bettman to his parents to the fans. Well as a fan, I just want to say, thank you. No matter if I'm going to a game at the friendly confines of the old CAA or the Prudential Center, a more neutral place like Hershey, or even hostile territory like Philadelphia, I can don a red, black, and white sweater with the NJ on the crest with pride.

Can It Still Be Called a Clarkaround?

Last year the Ookies made a very bold prediction:

It’ll be kickstarted by a coast-to-coast wraparound goal against the
Hurricanes. Mark our words. (Seriously, the Devils play the Canes on January 6.
You can mark it on your calendar in pen: Clarkson will get the goal of the year
in that game.)

So I went to the archives to see how that turned out. Not very well I'm afraid. Clarkson did not score a goal at all. The only marks he got on the score sheet were a 2:00 hooking penalty and a secondary assist on a too little/too late goal. I couldn't just leave it at that so I decided to watch every goal that Clarkson scored last season (regular and postseason) on nhl.tv and take some notes.

Let's toss out the statbities:
When in the game was Clarkson scoring: 10 goals in the 1rst period, 5 in the 2nd, 4 in the 3rd, 0 in OT.

How was he scoring: Slap shots-3, wrist shots-7 *, deflections-5, garbage(knocking in loose pucks/rebounds in and around the crease)-4, wraparounds-0.


That's right ladies and gents, there was not a single Clarkaround scored at all last season. I can assure you that it wasn't because there were not any attempts. If my memory serves me correctly, I think somebody (Zubrus?) scored a goal off of a rebound from a Clarkaround attempt. I can also assure you that Clarkson did not score anything that would fall in the "goal of the year" category. But what would be David's best goal of the year? After careful consideration, I would say it was this one:


Just kidding, that would be filed under: easiest goal. I'm the only one who would have wiffed on that gift. But now, without any further adieu, I give you my countdown of Clarksons top five goals of the 2008-09 season.


#5 - 11/15/08 vs Washington



#4 - 4/21/09 vs Carolina



#3 - 2/15/09 vs San Jose



#2 - 10/22/08 vs Dallas



#1 -12/17/08 vs Buffalo (GWG)



*I counted this controversial goal as a wrister even though it was fanned on.

Hat tip to John Fischer for his review of the previews that sent me to the quoted Interchangeable Parts Blog archive.

Braaaaaains

To pass the time during the hockeyless summer I have been playing a lot of video games. The newest game that I have become addicted to is Call of Duty: World at War. When it comes to bang for your buck, this game ranks in my top three. There is the single player campaign, cooperative campaign (play through the missions with others online or split screen, and many different kinds of online team based games (team death match, capture the flag, domination, etc.). It's your basic first person shooter set in the WWII era but the sick bastards at Activision included another type of game play that should be illegal in 34 states, Zombie Mode. I don't want to sound like I am bashing the game, in fact, this is a huge compliment. This is the first video game that has actually scared me. Between the night time setting, crazy glowing zombie eyes, and the perfectly matched background music, the zombie mode is just plain eerie. You start off in a room/building with all of the windows boarded up and your objective is to hold off the zombies for as long as you can.

Video Games Call of Duty World at War Zombies

XBox 360 Playstation 3 Nintendo Wii

Notice how the player in the video keeps frantically running back and forth to all of the windows. The very first time that I played zombie mode, I was at home by myself and playing solo. I actually jumped in my seat and probably screamed like a little girl when I turned from a window to see a zombie right behind me.

This mode also has multi player so that you can play with up to three other people, but it doesn't reduce the eerie factor by much. No matter how well you all play as a team, sooner or later, they are going to get you. The claw-like tally marks that appear at the bottom left of the screen tell you what round you are on. Each round the number of zombies increases and they get faster and tougher to kill stop.

Mad props to the programmers of Call of Duty. Zombie mode may only be a "mini game", but it's still ten times better/scarier than any other zombie type game I've ever played.

Next Stop: Tampa Bay

Ex-Devil David Hale is moving on to his fourth NHL team in as many seasons. The Devils traded him to Calgary on February 27, 2007. He finished off that season and the next in Calgary before signing as a free agent in the summer of 2008 with the Phoenix Coyotes. Yesterday, he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Talk about playing four corners

David Hale was never a fan favorite but his story is an interesting one. He was the Devils first round draft pick (22nd overall) in 2000. Back then, many were comparing him to Scott Stevens. Like most Devils' prospects, David would not turn pro right away but instead continued his development at the University of North Dakota. He would play there with his older brother, Ryan, a dream their mother got to see before passing away after a battle with breast cancer.
David's story of adversity does not end there. After losing the 2001 NCAA Championship to Boston College, he ran into health problems.

David was diagnosed with a condition called IgA nephropathy, a disorder
caused by deposits of a protein in the kidneys that interfere with their ability
to filter bodily wastes. Although there is no cure for the disease, proper rest
and diet can help minimize its effects.
“To this day, I still don’t fully
understand it,” David says. “It really acts up when I get run down and don’t
take care of my body as well as I should. I run a fever and get lightheaded.
It’s not that bad. I’ve gotten used to it. It recurs every once in a
while.”
The condition bothered David throughout much of the 2001-2002 season
and forced him to miss an entire series at one point.

Hale made the leap to the NHL for the 2003-2004 season playing 65 games for the New Jersey Devils aquiring only 4 assists, but a career best +12 +/- rating, and 72 penalty minutes. Due to the lockout, David would play the following season in Albany. Unfortunately, symptoms of his liver disease would resurface and cut his season short. He would start the 2005-2006 season in Albany as a result but eventually was called back up to the Devils. David has stayed in the NHL ever since except for a brief reconditioning assignment during the 2006-2007 season after missing 14 games to an eye injury. He never lived up to the high expectations though and was traded along with a 5th round pick to aquire a third round pick ending his career in New Jersey. Probably the most memorable thing about his time as a Devil for me though, was the great picture I took of him during a preseason game in Hershey.

Hale didn't produce much offensively in Calgary (2 assists in 69 games) but had a career year offensively with the Yotes last season (3 goals, 6 assists in 48 games). However, his +/- rating was a career worst -11. Well, at least he finally scored his first NHL goal, that's good, right?

Welcome to Burgerama

Word on the streets web today is that Sergei Fedorov is headed back to his native land and thinks that his NHL career is over. Fast food chains in America may now find it difficult to get good help.





Update: I see Fanhouse already beat me to it.

That Dog Just Can't Take It

Remember those old Looney Toons with Foghorn Leghorn? That mean rooster would smack the dog and then take off running and the dog would go chasing him. Then when the dog got to the end of his leash he would get jerked back violently.

Well, kids, be very careful when you are moving your laptop computer off of the coffee table when it is plugged in. If you happen to be standing on the power cord the computer may be violently jerked out of your hands as you lift up. This could cause it to crash back down to earth.



Besides the display, the thing still works. It does have a connection on the back for a secondary monitor so I can still use it, but that kind of defeats the purpose of, you know, having a laptop.