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Loading ...DeCock: Sean Hill popped for 20 games for violating the NHL’s substance abuse policy.
Daaaaaaamn! See, this is what happens when I have to work all the time–I miss stuff like this until strange hours when I finally get home.
So, I’m now left to wonder if Hilly broke his brain at the same time he broke his face, way back in the Greensboro days.
According to the talking heads on XM, this suspension wasn’t a sudden thing–it had been a while in coming, and Hilly had been appealing and appealing and appealing. With his appeals finally exhausted, all that was left was to announce the suspension–and just in time for the Sabres to eliminate the Isles tonight.
(Guess the Sabres got lucky, huh? /rolleyes)
Moving right along: The Nashville Predators got bounced by the San Jose Sharks tonight, in a result that mirrored their series from last season.
I think that Uncle Dave needs to finally look at replacing Barry Trotz as coach. I like Trotz, I think he’s done a good job getting the team off the ground–but he just can’t seem to get them to the next level, even though the team has gotten progressively better with each season in the Music City. For the Preds to successfully build a consistently strong fanbase, they need to have somebody behind the bench that can get the team out of the first round of the playoffs. Long-term success for the Predators has to be measured in playoff-round advancement (as it was for the Hurricanes), not in “just getting there”.
And the Ducks’ series with the Wild took an interesting twist during last night’s game 5 (which the Ducks won to send the Wild to the golf course) when a fight broke out during warm-ups. Expect suspensions from that one soon (yeah as if).
Some guy is allowed to cheat for the first four games of a series, and the other team gets lucky when he gets thrown out for the fifth game? Not buying it. He never should have been allowed to play this series at all. Hope he enjoys being a 37-year-old free agent with a 19-game suspension hanging over his next contract. I can see the suitors lining up already.
OK, you need to just stop reading this blog, since you clearly don’t get sarcasm.
Sheesh.
Are you kidding me? This blog has become infinitely more readable since Chet started calling you on all of your Sabres-related crap. It was high time.
You mean his stubborn refusal to explain the Sabres record against the “weak” Southeast Division in 05-06?
Or his complete and total inability to explain why the Central Division–a Division weaker than the Southeast by far–gets a free pass while the Southeast is somehow deserving of nothing but scorn?
How about you, bigshot? Why don’t you step to the plate and take a swing?
Assuming, of course, that you can actually manage to come up with something more coherent than “DURRRR, GO SABRES!”
Trust me, I understand sarcasm. I also understand when someone is trying to use a backhanded comment (”/rolleyes”) to dismiss an argument they couldn’t get around any other way. You don’t want to admit that the Hurricanes got any breaks last year. They got PLENTY of breaks. A comparable break for the Sabres, as a whole, would go something like this: “The league decided to finally call the game the way it’s meant to be played, which turned a competitive but undersized lineup into a formidable scoring machine.” That’s something that was out of Buffalo’s control, and Darcy Regier was lucky enough to have a team that could take advantage of the “new” rules. But “Hill got tossed for cheating, what a break for Buffalo” isn’t even close to “Koivu went down on a high stick,” “The Sabres lost their top four defensemen to freak injuries,” and “The other team’s Conn Smythe candidate got tangled up in goal and won’t play again.” You’re trying to toss it into your blog like it’s similar, though. It isn’t.
And I think I shot down the “SE was strong” argument on the strength of numbers. Twenty games doesn’t carry nearly as much weight as 500. The Southeast simply isn’t very strong. Neither is the Central. The proof is in their performance against the other divisions in the league. Whether you agree with the math isn’t relevant. And I already said TWICE that the Central was weak, so I’m not sure how you misconstrued that. Not until I saw your hypersensitivity to the unjustified Preds-bashing, anyway.
And I think I shot down the “SE was strong” argument on the strength of numbers.
No, you didn’t.
And furthermore, the Hurricanes got just as many breaks last season as the Sabres are getting this season. They also had a team built to take advantage of the new rules–but heaven forfend you should actually acknowledge that in your haste to admonish me for giving the Sabres just as much credit as you and your fellow SlugThugs gave the Hurricanes last season.
Any of six teams could have won the Stanley Cup last season with the long list of breaks the Hurricanes got. And they lost eight games in the three series in which they got those tremendous breaks. Forgive me if I rate them among the 5 worst champions of the last 20 years. (Go ahead - put your hockey knowledge on display and pick 6 of the past 20 that were worse than Carolina.)
So stop with the “just as many breaks” crap. Unless Ottawa loses their top four defensemen PLUS Alfredsson AND the Western Conference rep loses their top goaltender, there’s no comparison.
[i]No, you didn’t.[/i]
Yes, I did. Your failure to understand math and the weight of statistics doesn’t change the Southeast’s status as the weakest division in the NHL last year. Look at the average points per game. They just weren’t good enough.
Yes, I did.
No, you didn’t.