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!

---

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!

Video: 2 Man Advantage at The Winter Classic

by Jes
The dudes from The 2 Man Advantage are back with another video. This time, they headed to the Winter Classic and hung around with some of the zanier fans.



Beer and bathrobes in sub-zero temperatures? Only in the NHL ... only in the NHL

Video of the Day: 2-Man Advantage is Back!

The well-dressed boys from 2-Man Advantage are back from a long hiatus to bring us some more entertaining video.



Apparently, the boys have been hit hard by the Writers Strike, and that is why we had to wait so frickin long for a damn video

At long last we present to you our third video from Islanders training camp. We apologize for the delay but after a solid month-long holiday hangover we are back on our feet and ready to make a splash in 2008. The bad news is that we had to cross the picket lines and return to action without the help from our staff of 65 or so striking writers. Although the jokes may be less crisp going forward, at least we now know how to turn on the typewriter thingie and we crafted a couple of solid one-liners about backchecking. If Jay Leno and the Daily Show can get back to work then so can a couple of guys who drink beer and talk about hockey. We appreciate your support during this difficult time.

Live Game Recap: Canucks 5, Flames 3

By Jes

Last night's 5-3 Vancouver Canucks win over the Calgary Flames was my first live game of the season. It might be my last, too, unless someone wants to donate to my unregistered charity ;)

The play was sloppy like cafeteria chili, and the Canucks were out-chanced most of the night, but they won and that's all that matters.

Some random thoughts ...

1. Mike Weaver is below-average in just about every facet of the game. If you don't get nervous when he is on the ice, please have your emotion chip checked.

2. You HAVE to see Daniel Sedin's spin-o-rama goal. Nice!


3. Dion Phaneuf (what a dumb name, eh?) continues to climb my chart of people I want to see injured. Not only does he have that permanent sourpuss look on his ugly face, but he never finishes what he starts. At least Avery drops the gloves often enough.

4. The boos for Mike Keenan and "Keenan Sucks" chants would have brought a tear to my eye if I was capable of that emotion.

5. The new line of Pyatt-Raymond-Jaffray had some wicked offensive chemistry together. Do we *Gasp* have the makings of an actual second line? Sub in Morrison for Jaffray when Mo returns from injury and the Canucks may get some scoring from somebody who isn't Swedish

6. A big FU to the concession stand lady that gave my girlfriend a cup of Sprite that had about 90% ice in it. Talk about cheap ass.

7. When people fill out those credit card apps for the free T-shirt, do they actually give real information? Do these kiosks verify this? I'm tempted to sign up under a fake name and score myself some merch.

8. Remember when Owen Nolan used to be a great player? With Trevor Linden, we've seen his slow decline first-hand. With Nolan, it's different since we don't see him nearly as much. Before the lockout, he's good. After the lockout, he sucks eggs.

9. Canucks' mascot Fin (boo!!) is breeding. Ugh.

10. Alex Burrows, the Phil Bourque of the YouTube generation.
(I bet none of the YouTube generation will get that reference)

11. The Canucks are now selling carved beef sandwiches. Nice to see them expanding the menu, but I'm not paying $9.25 for a sub-standard deli product.

12. I very much enjoyed throwing popcorn at a barky Flames fan, and the peeps in front of me took it one step further and threw peanut shells. Then the ushers came, and we were scolded for being mean. Awww :( Don’t' be coming into our corporate-named building and get all squawky crow with us, ma'am.

13. Fan highlight of the night: Two girls were dancing and were caught on the in-stadium cam to win some prize. The final freeze frame caught one of them giving the finger to a Flames

Photo of the Day: Crosby Gets Pwned!

by Jes

Sidney Crosby isn't exactly great at penalty shots, and last night was no exception as Luongo stoned him during OT and in the regular shootout.

(Be sure to check out The NHL FanHouse for the video clip)

I love the reaction of Sid and the fans in this photo after Luongo stoned the kid :)


(c) Getty Images, 2007

Between my 'love' for Sid and my loyalty as a Canucks fan, I was rather torn last night. I'm glad both teams got at least a point.

Video of the Day: Gaborik can Fly!

by Jes

Marian Gaborik is looking to score a breakaway goal against Dominik Hasek, but the Dominator has other plays.

Up, up, and away!!!



I'm a little disturbed that Hasek could have taken out the knees of Gaborik and caused some injury. If a regular player slid-tackled Gaborik, they'd likely get a bit more of a penalty. I realize Hasek is a goalie and has the job of stopping the puck, so I'll let it slide.

Video of the Day: NHL Plays of the Week

It's Grey Cup Sunday up here in Canada, and Thanksgiving weekend down in the USA

So, take it easy and check out TSN's NHL Plays of the Week

Zdeno Chara Gives David Koci a Blood Bath

by Jes

David Koci is an absolute monster, and not somebody that I'd ever want to meet in a dark alley (not that I hang around in dark alleyways). The d00d has spent far more minute IN the penalty box than on the ice during his brief NHL career.

When I had heard Koci and Chara got in a fight, I had feared the worst for Chara, knowing that Koci has carved a path of destruction in the bigs.

Well, check out what happened.



Booya! Chara used his reach and strength and turned Koci's face into a good Hallowe'en costume.

Slovaks 1, Czechs 0.

Sidney Crosby, Revealed!

Cross-posted from The Sidney Crosby Show, by Snoopyjode:

It's been mentioned in the comments section that Sidney has a new show debuting on the Versus network on Tuesday, October 23. The people at Versus were nice enough to contact us to give us an exclusive sneak preview of the "Sidney Crosby Revealed." Check it out:


Wow. What a show that is going to be! It will air on Versus on 10-23-07 at 6:30pm Eastern. Immediately following the program, the Pens face the Rangers. WHAT A NIGHT!!! That's DEFINITELY must see TV. (Just as a reminder, I'm going to put a banner at the bottom of the page. Click it to go to the Versus website.) It's going to be AWESOME!!! BE SURE TO TUNE IN!!!

Milan Lucic's First NHL Fight

by Jes

Milan Lucic was, surprisingly, kept by the Bruins to start the NHL season, rather than be returned to the Vancouver Giants to captain their success.

The reason? He can chuck the knuckles with the best of them. Check out his debut fight from last night's Dallas/Boston game.



I'd call this a draw, with Lucic throwing a few good punches, but getting a lot of Dark Helmet in the process.


(c) Getty Images

Video of the Day: 2-Man Advantage

Our favourite goofs from 2-Man Advantage have now posted episode 4 of their unique show.

For this episode, the boys visit the "NHL GOT SKILLS" at The Aviator in Brooklyn.
They managed to score interviews with Adam Graves and Ryan Getzlaf (who lost his roommate, awwww).



Amazingly, the one d00d actually has a shirt on the whole episode (Though a Mike Modano sweater is barely acceptable).