“I Might Just Be A Hockey Fan In California” is a feature that will be posted every Saturday here at the View From My Seats. There are plenty of things going on in the hockey world (and even the sports world); and you know everyone has an opinion. This is a place for some quick hits of the week that was.
______________________
I might just be a hockey fan in California, but:
- The almighty vuvuzelas have been officially banned from Phillips Arena for Thrashers games. Where the hell was this rule when those damned Thunder Stix were making me want to punch kittens?
- Don’t people understand? Gary Bettman loves Los Angeles and will do anything to make sure they’re successful. Don’t you remember the playoffs last year? Don’t you see the correlation now? Bettman obviously rejected Kovalchuk’s deal so the Kings could sign him and win 47 Cups in a row. /sarcasm
- If there’s ever a day when Leafs fans publicly admit they are going to have a bad year, I’m buying all the canned goods I can find and retiring to a bomb shelter.
- Stan Bowman probably won over hundreds of female fans in Chicago when he announced that Patrick Sharp would NOT be traded.
- The Ducks say they want Bobby Ryan back and Bobby Ryan says he wants to come back. I think that should actually read: “The Ducks want Bobby Ryan back for a 5-year contract and Bobby Ryan wants to sign the shortest contract possible with the Ducks.”
- When one of your solutions to remedy your salary cap problems is to trade Marty Reasoner for Jeff Taffe, I’d say you might be out of good ideas. Does the term “peeing on a forest fire” mean anything to you?
- Looks like Jeremy Roenick is one of this year’s inductees into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. Over/Under for acceptance speech time: 97 minutes.
- Here’s a reality check: A lot of people talked about how badly the Capitals needed to acquire a defenseman in the off-season. Even though they failed, they are still 1 to 9 favorites to win the Southeast Division. I think they’ll be fine.
- There’s a little confusion whether Simon Gagne waived his no-trade clause for ONLY the Lightning or if other teams were in play. Either way, it’s bad news for Kings fans. Either a) He was available and their management couldn’t beat a Matt Walker + 4th round pick offer, or b) There are players who still don’t want to play with the Kings.
- Leave it to Sami Salo to show that you can sustain a serious injury even during the off-season. The worst part about the story: It’s not surprising in the least.
- Before the hype starts (and the hype WILL start), just remember the 2011 Draft looks like it will be one of the weakest in years. Remember that if you’re rooting for your team to tank for that #10 pick overall.
- I feel bad saying this, but upon hearing the Islanders decision to move away from commentator Billy Jaffe, the very first thing I thought of was how cheap they are. Maybe he wasn’t renewed because they hate criticism, maybe they have some great analyst waiting in the wings, and maybe MSG is driving this train and the Islanders are only passengers. But for me, the first thought still came back to how cheap they are. Not exactly the best stigma to have attached to your organization.
- Henrik Zetterberg: You, my friend, are a complete win.
- You have to wonder if Sami Salo’s injury will give Kevin Bieksa a stay of execution in Vancouver. I’m sure contenders would be lining up for him at the trade deadline to add a little depth.
- I loved Paul Bissonnette’s Twitter thoughts—but when people know you because of your thoughts online and NOT because of your game, that’s not saying much about your skills as a player.
- Let me get this straight: Agents are saying that these long-term contracts should be legal? That’s like a 600-pound fat man saying it should be legal to break into Dairy Queen.
- When more teams are more concerned about an internal budget than the salary cap, what does that say about the owners’ insistence that salaries were tied to revenue? Either the system they shoved down the players’ throats is flawed or some of the teams are cheap. They can’t have it both ways.
- Have you seen the Anaheim Ducks’ current defensive corps? Tell me that looks like the defense of a playoff team.
- Here’s an example of why I love when people talk about trades in the off-season. People in Edmonton think Andrew Cogliano is worth more than he is. People in Colorado aren’t even sure they want him on their team.
- It looks like the Dallas Stars have locked Fabian Brunnstrom up for another year. Whew, at least that is settled!
- Gary Bettman is a pompous little person that needs to be fired for the good of the game. For challenging the Kovalchuk contract (and the ridiculous long-term deals), Bettman gets a respite from our usual closer.
_____________
Click here for our archive of past editions of our “I Might Just Be A Hockey Fan In California” feature.
Matt Reitz is the Editor-In-Chief here at ViewFromMySeats.com and former NHL Writer for ProHockeyTalk on NBCSports. 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.
