Fight Night in the 'Shwa!

by Jes

Who said fighting in hockey is dead? First, we got that massive Russian Superleague brawl, and now we get this after-the-game brawl between the Sarnia Sting and Oshawa Generals. Thanks to JP from Japers Rink for passing this linkage on.

What looks like ye olde typical post game celebration turns ugly ... w00t!

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On another note, Joe Pelletier has details about Dave Semenko's exhibition boxing match vs. Muhammed Ali. I never knew the two fought, but apparently Ali's people agreed to have his boy fight Gretz's bodyguard. All of this was put together by Mark Messier's uncle, proving there isn't anything the Messier's won't do for a buck.

Semenko apparently trained quite hard for the event, training under Rocky Addison, a former Manitoba middleweight champion. They watched video of Ali's fights looking for tendencies, and hit the gym for many hours. They held a one week training camp at the worst possible time for Semenko.

"They'd only just introduced Happy Hours in the lounges in Edmonton and the first think Rocky did was put me on the wagon. "Two for one sodas are not my idea of a Happy Hour on a hot June afternoon."

He gave up beer? Wow, that's dedication!

Canada Dominates "Stupor" Series

by Jes



As hockey-starved as I was this month, I just couldn't get up enough craving to watch too much of this "Super Series" between Canada and Russia.

In case you are American, or living in a cave, Canada whooped the Russkis 7-0-1 in the 8-game series, completely dominating the vodka drinkers in a lopsided pile of contests, and outscoring the Russians 39-13.

Just a few things ...

1. Canada vs. Russia doesn't have any mystique to it, anymore. Sure, beating up the Russians always feels nice, but it's no longer special. The Iron Curtain is gone, we've played the Russians many times, and there wasn't anything all that different from this game from previous Canada/Russia affairs.

2. "We wanted it more!" - This cliché was actually pertinent as the Russians didn't appear all that interested in breaking a sweat. The Canadians? Sutter had them playing with gusto from the first puck drop, and they just seemed to be a lot more interested in paying the price to win. The Russians? Their hockey media probably didn't give this tournament much coverage. In Canada? There is a lot more to lose, so to speak, with the media having little else to cover.

3. The only time the Russians seemed to care was in the last game, when they started throwing a few 'sore loser' cheap shots. Canada made them pay with Power Play goals. Nice try, Boris.

4. Kyle Turris - He wanted to prove that he's the real deal, and led Canada with 7 goals. Coming from the Junior "B" BCHL, Turris is one of the riskier top picks in the past few years, but he certainly was incredibly impressive.

5. Sam Gagner was the series MVP with 15 points. Omygaw, an Oilers pick that doesn't completely blow ... at least, not yet. Gagner had 6 more points than second-place Tavares, who should be allowed to enter the NHL 'early'. Arbitrary cut-offs suck.

6. Canada and Russia have generally been looked at as the top 2 hockey powers in the world. Well, we know that is a-changing, with the Americans producing many more fine prospects, and the Russians churning out ... not much.

Like Germany, Russia spends a lot of money on stars and foreigners, but little on player development of their own. Combine that with the lack of prospects who come to North America, opting to stay in Mother Russia, and you have a country full of players who won't be able to compete against North American hockey as well as they used to.

Certainly, stars like Ovechkin, Semin, and Frolov will continue to come out of that country and wow us with their puck-handling ability, but the depth just isn't there, any longer, especially on D.

7. "Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo-cheech!!"