VFMS Podcast: February 2, 2010 (Click To Download)
The February 2nd episode of the VFMS Podcast is up for your listening pleasure. There are a few different ways to listen. You can either stream the show directly from your computer to your ears at BlogTalkRadio. If you’re into downloading or subscribing to podcasts for your iPod, all you have to do is click the handy iTunes link once you get to the show’s page. And if you want to download it, you can do that too. Of course, you can also bypass the site all together and go straight to iTunes.
We celebrate Bill Murray and Groundhog’s Day by making our triumphant return to the “airwaves.” In this episode, we get into the surging Anaheim Ducks and the trading of JS Giguere for Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake. Predictably, there were notes, comments and opinions all over the internet in the aftermath of the trade.
Ducks and Pucks talks about how it was just time for Anaheim to move on from the JS Giguere era (and his contract): Ducks and Pucks
Check out why Earl Sleek thinks that the Giguere/Toskala/Blake trade is a good thing for the Ducks: Battle of California
A quick look at why Jason Blake isn’t as good as his contract says he should be from Pension Plan Puppets
Absolutely AWESOME comment by TML Siege In Vancouver on the aforementioned article: “I’ve never witnessed a more ineffective Leaf than Jason Blake.”
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Here are some links for everything NOT Brian Burke related in the Pacific this week!
Ducks Assign Sexton To Manitoba from Anaheim Calling
Anze Kopitar had a huge week this week. But is he an elite force in the NHL?
The Kings recent 5-0 road trip was the first time in team history that they had ever swept a 5 game road trip. For anyone that is interested in reliving the trip in video form, Frozen Royalty has you covered.
James Mirtle has his latest edition of “The Playoff Push.” It looks like Western Conference teams are going to need about 94 points to get into the playoffs. He lists the records that each team will need for the rest of the season to make the playoffs. The Globe and Mail
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Also in this week’s episode, we take a look at some of our “make believe” mid-year awards for the Pacific Division. Who would win the Calder Trophy of the Pacific? Who would win the Norris?
Here were our nominees for each award:
Hart Trophy: Joe Thornton, Ilya Bryzgalov, Patrick Marleau, Drew Doughty
Norris Trophy: Drew Doughty, Dan Boyle, Scott Niedermayer
Vezina Trophy: Ilya Byrzgalov, Evgeni Nabokov, Jonathan Quick
Calder Trophy: Jaime Benn, Scott Parse, Dan Sexton, Jason Demers
Jack Adams Trophy: Dave Tippett, Terry Murray, Todd McLellan
Biggest Agitator: Corey Perry, Steve Ott, Scott Nichol
Pacific Notebook: Midseason Report. Player of the First Half, Coach of the First Half, Rookie of the First Half, etc. NHL.com
Doughty in good company: Terry Murray compares the young Kings blueliner to the likes of Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey, Scott Stevens and even *gasp* Bobby Orr. LA Kings Insider
The Anti-Lady Byng candidates
We don’t really get into the candidates for the Selke award this season, but Manny Malhotra certainly deserves some consideration. JibbleScribbits
Jamie Benn experiment at Center. Defending Big D
While you’re at Battle of California, you might want to check this article out by Rudy Kelly—especially if you think that Patrick Marleau should win the Hart or Lady Byng.
Lastly, we bring back our Tweet of the Week feature. This week’s winner perfectly wraps up the beginning of the NHL’s unofficial trade season beginning, as well as giving Wiarton Willie some love. Thank you @Steve_Dangle
“Famous groundhog Wiarton Willie saw his shadow this morning, which means there will be 6 more weeks of outlandish trade rumors.”
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Next week’s show will be at our usual time (8:00 PST / 11:00 EST on Tuesday, February 9th). As usual, we’ll give a snap shot of all the Pacific Division teams and delve deeper into some of the players and teams that play on the West Coast (and Dallas).
As always, you can find me on Twitter at @ViewFromMySeats and my co-host Jennifer Shaw at @gimmeapuck.
Blog Talk Radio: Episode Link
Blog Talk Radio: Main Podcast Link
Direct iTunes Link
You can check out previous podcasts here.
Matt Reitz
Matt Reitz is an NHL Writer for ProHockeyTalk on NBCSports and the Editor-In-Chief here at ViewFromMySeats.com. When he's not shoving a mic in the face of NHLers or explaining why home teams should wear white, he's usually trying to figure out what song to play next on his iPod. It's a never-ending job.
