A Game Diary To Remember, NJ @ NYI 1/13/07
July 12, 2007 by Schnookie
We remember tonight’s game all too well — and frankly, it should be played on the Islanders’ “15 To Remember” series, if you ask us (and if you overlook the OT). Anyway, the intro involves Steve Cangialosi telling us how both teams have recently demonstrated come-from-behindability. Yeah. Great.
Steve is also giving us the play-by-play; having to endure that is just one more reason we hate the VS and NBC national feeds that use Doc. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Steve sucks. He also tells us that this game was played on the day Marty and Raffie were named All-Star reserves. The Raffie thing still puzzles us.
FIRST PERIOD
19:16 Gomez? There was a guy named Gomez on the Devils? Steve tries to tell us the EGG line has been playing well lately, but frankly, we don’t remember (or believe) that ever happened.
18:40 FSN gives us a stats screen showing the EGG line’s recent production (Steve says they’ve been good in the last few games for a “GAG”, or goal a game, and Chico chuckles as if he’s never heard this before) and seriously, they should not have been allowed to use Patty’s mug shot last year. He really does look like a middle-aged lesbian science teacher in that shot. Poor Patty.
17:51 The Devils lamely dump the puck and refuse to chase it into DiPietro’s zone and Steve brightly tells us about the Islanders D-man who retrieves it — Sean Hill. “He’s really turned back the clock this year,” he announces. Mm hm.
17:07 After a Devils icing (this is so fun! What a memorable game!) Chico praises Viktor Kozlov for his rejuvenation with the Islanders. The difference between the Kozlov Devils fans knew, and… uh… well, let’s just leave it at “knew”, since none of us loved or even liked him — anyway, the difference between that Kozlov and the current Kozlov is that he’s shooting the puck now. Really? That’s all it takes?
16:45 Pretty Ricky is actually forced to make a good save on a bang-bang setup by Patty to Gio in front. Huh. We didn’t remember there were scoring chances in this game.
15:17 Wow! Zach’s favorite defensive move — tapping his stick on the ice behind the offensive puck carrier in the hopes they’ll drop a blind pass to him — actually kind of works. He is able to pick off a stupid cross-ice pass at the Devils blue line.
14:23 Between the last game FSN gave us to Remember and this one, Paulie Martin seems to have entered his “Putrid Period”. He manages to wrangle the puck away from a flat-footed and disinterested (is there any other kind?) Yashin in the corner, but then promptly turns the puck back over to Yashin, who stares at him as if to say, “Why the hell did you just do that? I certainly don’t want the puck.” To make Paulie feel better, though, Yashin takes a hooking penalty.
12:23 That power play seemed like the slowest two minutes of our entire summer to date.
11:14 Whitey kickstarts a Keystone Kops sequence in the defensive zone with a staggeringly awful turnover to an Islander at the point, and after a commercial break the Isles are able to keep up the pressure. However, all they get is a huge shot ringing off one of the goalposts. Chico assures us that’s all Marty gave Poti to shoot at. Suuuure.
10:33 Rupp and Simon get matching roughing minors for some chest-bumping at the benches.
10:01 Watching the Devils drift back behind their goal line to retrieve a lazily lost puck, Pookie declares, “You know what would be nice next year? If Patty plays well.” Her comment is met with silence. None of us are planning to wait for that while hanging from ropes round our necks.
9:41 Raffie corkscrews Kozlov on a one-on-one defensive play. Raffie. Come on. He might be shooting more this year, but he’s still Viktor Kozlov.
7:35 It is nothing short of a miracle that the Islanders haven’t scored yet. Marty’s playing his typically sharp Nassau Colosseum game, but he’s being helped by the fact that the Islanders keep shoveling his rebounds just wide of the net.
4:00 Perhaps in an effort to make the league sorry they named him an All-Star, Raffie mishandles a hand-off from Marty behind the net, overskates the puck, then is forced to freeze it against the boards when his glacially slow recovery gives the Islanders time to make a complete change and charge into the zone on a full-press forecheck. That’s the Raffie we’re not going to miss next year!
Coming back from commercial we see some footage of more jostling between Rupp and Simon. Apparently Rupp fought Braedon Coburn in the Devils’ previous game in Atlanta. We remember that well — Coburn had taken some liberties on Zach, and Rupp leapt to his teammate’s defense. We have been joking ever since that after the game an awestruck Zach said to Rupp, “You fought for me,” and then insisted Rupp was officially his henchman. Poor Rupper, stuck now trying to keep Zach from getting too clingy.
2:36 Pretty Ricky gloves down a long shoot-in by Raffie, then goes to flip it out of the zone and instead shovels it directly into Langer in the slot. After a startled shout, Chico chortles, “Well, that’s Rick DiPietro, isn’t it?” Islanders fans everywhere pretend they didn’t see it happen.
1:01 Steve announces the shots are 8-6 in favor of the Islanders. But it feels a lot more like 73-1.
0:00 Not a moment too soon, the book is closed on a truly forgettable period of hockey. Thanks for the memories, FSN!
SECOND PERIOD
19:58 Yeesh. On the opening draw, Steve informs us the Islanders had a 14-3 edge on faceoffs in the first period. That wouldn’t be such a big deal if the Devils had any inclination toward puck pursuit. Alas, they don’t, so the stat is actually a fair reflection of how the play went.
17:48 Brylin wakes us up momentarily with a cute little pass to himself off the boards around Randy Robitaille to start an actual offensive rush. Of course, it’s Pando and Madden heading up the ice with him, so it comes to naught.
17:23 On a replay of Blake walking off the endboards to try to catch Marty on a shot from the goal line, Chico says, “You don’t see a lot of sharp-angle goals, and you shouldn’t.” Oh Chico, just wait until the Tampa series.
16:17 Steve politely sums up the game to this point by calling it “nondescript”. That’s a start, Steve.
15:01 Bruno Gervais has clearly been watching too much Devils hockey. In what was most likely an effort to impersonate his Devils d-man heroes, he — totally unhurried and unpressured — passes the puck from behind his goal to Patty, who is standing all by his lonesome on the halfboards. Needless to say, though, Patty has no idea what to do with the puck when he gets it.
14:11 Whitey demonstrates how much worse Devils d-men can be than just turning the puck over in their own zone by falling on Marty and knocking his helmet off.
13:30 You know what we’d all like to see almost as much as a decent statistical year from Patty next season? We’d like to see Steve Cangialosi add the “-off” to the word “face-off”. Right now he just says “face” and it is just maddeningly annoying.
We go to commercial and get tonight’s code word for the Devils “15 to Remember” Sweepstakes: “Gomer”. Pookie: “What do you win? Another kick in the face?”
12:38 After a rundown of the All-Star teams, Chico informs us that people in the West think Luongo was the best goalie in the league, and people in the East thought Marty was. He then hastily adds, “Or Ryan Miller”. Schnookie is happy for the Crunchy shoutout, but seriously, please. Crunchy wishes he belonged in that company. Although we suspect he was the best goalie wearing a pink-rhinestone-studded, leopard-print jockstrap.
11:15 Even Chico is calling this one “nondescript” now. That’s like the homer broadcaster’s version of calling an ugly baby “alert”. Perhaps hoping to spice things up, Bruno Gervais gets called for tripping.
10:00 Langer receives a pass at the point from Gomer that is meant to be one-timed… but he falls to his knees before he can even complete his windup. As some replays of defensive plays unspool, Chico says, “Let me show you why this game is scoreless.” Pookie: “And now they just show us a panning shot down the length of the Devils bench.”
8:47 A “Let’s go Islanders” cheer listlessly drifts down from the stands, and Steve brightly chirps, “No one’s had much to cheer about tonight!” Which is why we’re so glad FSN decided to show it to us again.
7:08 Pretty Ricky was probably panicking for a minute there as the EGG line decided to connect a few offensive zone passes, it’s been so long since he faced any offensive pressure. Of course, the whole sequence only got started because Patty totally mis-timed his “let me get my linemate to go offsides” shotfake at the blue line, and ended up in the zone with the puck, his fellow EGGers, and nowhere to hide. Luckily for Ricky, the passing does not result in any shooting.
2:48 Patty draws a penalty on Sean Hill by, shockingly, going to the net with a semblance of speed. As the Devils go back on the power play, Pookie grumbles, “Patty only did that because he knows drawing power plays is the best way he can hurt his team.”
0:41 After we see a shot of Gomer and Pando on the bench together, we wonder whether Pando was sad when Gomer signed with the Rangers, or whether he was like, “Gomah, you were my best friend, but now you’re dead to me.” We then marvel, for the umpteenth time, that a guy who came up in the current generation of Devils could voluntarily sign with the Rangers. Stan Fischler had posited during the season that Gomer was going to be talking with his good buddy Bobby Holik about his free agency experiences, so Schnookie ponders what Bobby might have said to Gomer. “Oh yes,” she says in her Holik voice, “Signing with the Rangers worked out so well for me. I mean, look at all my money!” Pookie adds, also as Holik, “All this money… it’s bought me so much happiness!” Good luck with that, Gomer.
0:00 We’ll keep this as polite as Chico and Steve have: that’s 40 really nondescript minutes these teams have played.
THIRD PERIOD
Heading into the period, we hear about how rested Marty is despite his relatively busy workload. Chico reports that Marty found his start in Atlanta the previous night rather effortless, and furthermore, he napped almost all day before this game. Chico adds, “You know, he’s a good sleeper.” And a good eater.
18:47 Who’s worried about losing Raffie and Gomer? We’re not, especially after that breakout: Paulie held onto the puck for about 10 seconds, handed it up to Travis, who promptly turned it over before he could even get close to the blue line. The Devils are going to be fine!
16:22 As if it wasn’t bad enough trying to think of things to say about what’s happening on the ice, we’re being handcuffed here by Steve Cangialosi’s call. FSN, this is excruciatingly dull.
15:44 Chico predicts we might “go to shootout zero-zero because of this defense.” This is answered in stately IPB Manor’s living room with a chorus of, “And because of the offense!”
14:23 We are getting the vapors now — the teams just traded end-to-end rushes! Neither resulted in actual shots on goal because both teams shot wide, but still. End-to-end rushes!
12:45 We go to commercial break and get that creepy spot for a non-FDA-approved “natural energy booster” that brags it doesn’t make its consumers crash like energy drinks do. As we watch cheaply-produced footage of office drones looking lethargic while a voiceover says, “This is you after drinking an energy drink,” Schnookie can’t help but remark that’s what she looks like watching this game. Pookie adds, “There’s not enough of whatever the active ingredient is in that thing — is it cocaine? — to make this bearable.”
12:11 During a stoppage in play Chico, desperate for something to talk about, remarks that “since Christmas the Devils haven’t given any presents away.” Stay tuned, Chico. They’re giving away a big-assed, gift-wrapped, idiot point in the standings tonight. Not that it costs the Devils in the long run, but it sure costs the Leafs.
7:52 The Poppers look like it’s suddenly dawned on them that if this stays in a tie, they’ll have to sit through an extra five minutes of this game, and they actually work a little forechecking/cycling shift, complete with smart passing and forcing the odd turnover. Julien promptly benches them.
4:47 Because Zach wants nothing more than to prove to everyone on the Island that they missed out big-time when they didn’t draft him, and because he doesn’t want this to go any longer than it absolutely has to, he comes off the bench like his pants are on fire and just explodes straight toward Pretty Ricky’s net and very nearly scores. But because this game sucks he ends up skating away with nothing.
2:51 The disappointment is palpable in Steve’s voice. Doc and others around the Devils organization love nothing more than to wax poetic about a legendary scoreless tie Marty battled to against Hasek and the Sabres many moons ago. Steve is realizing, as the clock ticks down on what’s starting to look to him like another zip-zip engagement, that this one will never be filed under “masterpiece”, and his play-by-play won’t enter the annals of legendary games.
1:19 We recall being very excited back when this actually happened. Brylin and Madden execute a smooth little drop-pass give-and-go, and Madden beats Pretty Ricky beautifully just over his glove. We have no such illusions tonight that this goal stands.
0:10 Newly minted Eastern Conference All-Star Brian Rafalski takes a boneheaded hooking penalty on a play that really didn’t warrant one.
0:04 Wait for it…
0:03 Wait for it…
0:02 Wait for it…
0:01 Miro Satan, angry at being the year-long butt of jokes during SPECTRE, says, “My name isn’t pronounced that way! No it would not be funny if I played for the Devils!” and punches the puck past Marty. Chico is reeling — he’d already chalked this one up as a shutout. (It should be pointed out that the Islanders called a timeout after the Madden goal. Madden then proceeded to lose all three faceoffs that followed. Nicely done, Maddog.)
OVERTIME
4:02 Madden tries to get his game-winning goal back and rips a shot through a screen that Pretty Ricky responds to with a totally overwrought, drama-queen “look how amazingly difficult that save was!” save. Chico says, “It’s that same John Madden shooting the puck,” as if there are many John Maddens it could have been. (Pookie grumbles, “It’s always that same John fucking Madden.”)
2:16 Langer skates up the halfboards out of the corner and then shows off why he’s not a regular practitioner of the buttonhook maneuver.
2:00 Satan lumbers in on a semi-break, and out of nowhere Whitey demonstrates his once-a-season speed/clutchness combo and makes a diving stick-check to save the day.
1:21 Taking advantage of a Gervais turnover to him (again), Patty swaggers off the boards to the crease, makes a whole-body shot fake, then passes to some guy we’ve never heard of down on the goalline, and that guy we’ve never heard of slams the puck in past DiPietro for the win. But seriously, that was a great play by Patty.
Someone chose a Game to Remember in which no one scored until the last minute and a half, and then the Islanders forced overtime?….really? Her? The Devils desperately need a new Game-to-Rememberologist.
Although we suspect he was the best goalie wearing a pink-rhinestone-studded, leopard-print jockstrap.
This is still blowing my mind. I don’t know if it will ever stop blowing my mind. The mental image of Crunchy in a leopard print jock strap is…..unavoidable, now. Whether or not this little tidbit is true (”bit” reference intentional, FYI), is now irrelevant. Crunchy might as well strap himself in gold chains and put flashy rims on his recumbent, because in my eyes, he’s become a bizarre hippie/Mr. T hybrid.
This is still blowing my mind. I don’t know if it will ever stop blowing my mind.
While I was highlighting the schedule tonight my laptop’s screensaver slideshow of all the photos on my computer rotated to a shot of Crunchy meditating before a game and the first thing I thought was, “Huh. I bet he’s wearing his leopard print jock strap there. Ugh. Thanks, Andrew.”
Oh, and yes, the Devils do need a better Game-to-Rememberologist. Or they need to play better games. Or I need to be strong enough to not sit through them a second time.
I don’t know about this whole jock strap thing. I’m going to refuse to believe it even if it is true.
I don’t see why they didn’t let the fans vote. The damn Knicks fans get to vote in their memorable/favourite games to be aired, why couldn’t we. Obviously it’s the never dying media conspiracy. The Devils killed hockey. I think this game reinforces that.
OK, I’ve taken a tour through the Ducks DVD, and two notable quotes worth transcribing:
–Dustin Penner had a long interview talking about his non-traditional path to the NHL. When he was 17, he played for a junior college team in North Dakota, whose opponents ranged from touring senior teams to prominent high school teams, such as Shattucks St. Mary Prep, who pasted them 12-1. Penner mentioned that the Shattucks team featured future stars such as Zach Parise and Matt Smabe (?), “and they wouldn’t even let us play with the puck.”
–Also good was Chris Kunitz sharing his BryzgaLove: “He’s a goofy kind of, uh, he likes to talk but in his own little way, in his own little world, like most goalies. But he’s to another extreme.”
17:51 The Devils lamely dump the puck and refuse to chase it into DiPietro’s zone and Steve brightly tells us about the Islanders D-man who retrieves it — Sean Hill. “He’s really turned back the clock this year,” he announces. Mm hm.
Awesome diary. Killing hockey has never been so fun!
Someone chose a Game to Remember in which no one scored until the last minute and a half, and then the Islanders forced overtime?….really? Her? The Devils desperately need a new Game-to-Rememberologist.
Kate, I thought of that, and then I remembered that the Devils organization is probably delighted with a game in which no one scores until the last minute in a half. If the Islanders hadn’t forced overtime, they probably would have thought it a perfect game.
The Sabres had a similar philosophy at times during the Hasek era, which is why it’s no surprise that they were on the other side of that 0-0 tie. Although the Devils had much better talent and that’s why they won more in this era, so they had more payoff for said mindnumbing games. The Sabres, on the other hand, probably would have spent time in lottery-pick land without Hasek.
then I remembered that the Devils organization is probably delighted with a game in which no one scores until the last minute in a half.
But here’s the thing — the Devils’ previous game on the Island had been a masterpiece of a 2-0 shutout (one of the goals being an empty-netter). It was one of those perfect storm Devils games, where they do every single thing right for 60 minutes and afterwards the opposing coach is so angry and humiliated he lashes out at the Devils organization. (Yes, after being badly outmaneuvred for three full periods, Nolan sour-graped something to the effect of, “Sure they won, but it was as boring as watching chess.” Speak for yourself, Teddy…) So why couldn’t we have watched an equally low-scoring game in which the Devils a) played well, and b) didn’t give up their stupidest game-tying goal since G2 in Carolina the previous post-season?
Do you think maybe live(audio)blogging of movies while at the movie can be banned? Apparently someone forgot to tell them that’s a no no. I think it was more so the girl needed the movie liveblogged for her. My favourite part is when she asked if Harry Potter was dead. Maybe she didn’t know that another book is coming out or she could just not know how to read.
That, I can’t answer.
Yes, after being badly outmaneuvred for three full periods, Nolan sour-graped something to the effect of, “Sure they won, but it was as boring as watching chess.” Speak for yourself, Teddy…
I’m sorry, I know we’re supposed to be all, “yay, Nolan’s back in the league,” but my God the man is always whining about something. It never stops. When the Islanders played their first game in Buffalo last year, he whined about the fact that he wasn’t acknowledged by the Sabres organization. Teddy, it was 10 years ago and you were not fired. You got the GM fired, alienated the best goalie in the world (sorry, Devils fans, in 1997 it was true), and then refused a one year contract. And you expect the organization to somehow acknowledge you?
Er…sorry…I’m just not a Nolan fan.
Genna, that’s why some of us NEVER GO TO THE MOVIES ANYMORE! My all-time most-memorable “talking along to movies” moment came while seeing “Dances With Wolves” in the theater. Some of you here may never have seen that movie, but at the time (I was, like, 16), it seemed very affecting and sad to me. So we’re sitting there in this reasonably empty theater, and there is a woman sitting behind us (why??? Why couldn’t she sit ANYWHERE ELSE in the vacant theater????) with her daughter, who is too young to read subtitles. Now, any kid who’s too young to read subtitles is too young for a movie like “Dances With Wolves”, but whatever. So this woman proceeded to read all the subtitles in this super-syrupy CBC-News-style voice, and when we get to the big, emotional conclusion, instead of getting wrapped up in the sad story, we instead get to listen to this schmaltzy woman intoning evenly to her too-young kid, “I am Wind In His Hair. Can’t you see I am your friend?”
I keep thinking movie theaters should offer “Quiet Showings”. Where they’d pick one or two showings on weekdays that are heavily policed by ushers, and if anyone makes a single inappropriate sound, they get ejected. So if you go to a non-Quiet Showing movie, you take your chances, but if you opt for a Quiet one (and I would pay more for this service), you know you’re just going to get to watch the damn movie without having to deal with people being so inconsiderate that they don’t seem to realize they’re not in their own living rooms.
Meg, I’m so glad to hear that from you! I’ve also really wondered about the beatification of Ted Nolan in his own mind. Plus, I found it very unsavory when he claimed racism was behind his long stretch without a head coaching gig. I’m sorry, but when you knife a guy in the back with as much clout in the industry as John Muckler, mess with Hasek the way he did (and you’re right about the 1997 goaltending scene), and then try to further screw over the entire organization, frankly, you can expect to be blacklisted. If I was a GM looking to hire a coach (and we’ll assume I’m not one who’s in the Muckler-lovin’ Old-Boys Club), I can’t say I’d be jumping to hire a guy who schemed and connived to get his previous GM fired.
New Sharks logo?:
http://mirtle.blogspot.com/2007/07/sharks-new-logo.html
If that really is the new logo, I have to praise them for having fixed the glaring error with the old one (namely: that the tape didn’t go all the way around the blade of the stick). I actually don’t hate it. I mean, if they feel they must change their logo, at least this is just an “aggressivization” of the old logo, rather than some wholesale change. That said, what (other than the tape thing) was so wrong with the old shark?
frankly, you can expect to be blacklisted. If I was a GM looking to hire a coach (and we’ll assume I’m not one who’s in the Muckler-lovin’ Old-Boys Club), I can’t say I’d be jumping to hire a guy who schemed and connived to get his previous GM fired.
Not only that, but he wasn’t even totally blacklisted. He rejected at least one head coaching job, as well an an assistant job. It drives me nuts.
I like that look for the Sharks logo about as much as the current logo.
He rejected at least one head coaching job, as well an an assistant job.
Are you serious??? Why did I not know this? All I ever heard about was him whining that he was being blacklisted and it was because of race and he was so persecuted and he’d been the GREATEST COACH EVER and now it just wasn’t fair… Gah.
I think he originally rejected the Islanders head coaching position when the Isles first contacted him over Christmas. He turned it down because he wanted to finish the run with the Moncton Wildcats first. At least that’s what the documentary I watched told me :P
Yup. Nolan rejected coaching jobs with Tampa (head) and the Isles (assistant), which lead to the great coaching drought that we all keep hearing about.
Schnookie, totally serious. Tampa Bay offered him the head coaching job in ‘97, but apparently his family didn’t want to move to Florida. Islanders offered him an assistant coaching position in ‘98.
Tampa Bay offered him the head coaching job in ‘97, but apparently his family didn’t want to move to Florida. Islanders offered him an assistant coaching position in ‘98.
*Eye roll*
For criminy’s sake. Just… ugh.
I have to say, I think Nolan is a great coach and great at getting the best out of his players [Okay, so he failed with Yashin, but can you really blame him?] but I have to agree he really has no place to whine about being ‘blacklisted’ when he was offered positions before and he was the one who turned them down. Maybe he does have a legitimate complaint about the fact that there is discrimination in the league, there is everywhere. But to publically complain about it when you potentially want a job from them probably isn’t the best way to go.
So this woman proceeded to read all the subtitles in this super-syrupy CBC-News-style voice,
I might of preferred that compared to the group young teenagers. Instead of recapping the movie, this person was stepping up into the role of Captain Obvious. She would exclaim the most random and blatant things going on in the movie or ask a question that only a 5 year old might ask. Bah! I normally don’t go to the movies because ticket prices are too high to go often, mainstream movies are so unoriginal and special fx packed to cover the lack of a plot, and I absolutely hate the whole trilogy trend going on because it’s easier to continue on than to create an semi-original good movie.
I am sad to say that the movie was not as good as I was expecting. At the end of the movie my friend and I sat there and were like “….what?”
I absolutely hate the whole trilogy trend going on because it’s easier to continue on than to create an semi-original good movie.
Another pet peeve is the live-action remakes of cartoons. I’ve seen commercials for Underdog, and have seen articles saying that Alvin and the Chipmunks is due out later this year.
Those Underdog commercials are so troubling! What’s the point? It just looks bad (on top of appearing like the movie is, as a whole, bad).
It’ll be made official today, Sutter will be the new head coach of the Devils:
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=213429&hubname=
Seems like a good choice to me. What do you Devils fans think? Or are coaches so interchangeable that it doesn’t really matter?
They’re saying Lou is thinking about making him GM eventually (if he doesn’t fire poor Sutter first).
Games that are scoreless down to the last minutes are ….
but the game diary was fun :D maybe Sutter will prevent this from happening, yeah :D?
I have literally no opinion on Sutter. For starters, I’m woefully ill-informed about his actual record as a coach. And then there is, yes the interchangeability of head coaches in the last few years in Jersey. The way I look at it, he’s still going to be expected to coach the “Devils Way” and the players will still not listen to him. My only real question is, how long will Johnny Mac stick around as the assistant coach? All the papers keep making it sound like Lou’s stringing him along with promises of becoming the head guy, and then when the job opens it’s all, “Oh no, you’re not ready yet.” Of course, “all the papers” also had Scott Gomez traded in each of the last 7 years, so what do they know?
I guess I’m just happy it’s not Pat Quinn or Larry Robinson.
Or are coaches so interchangeable that it doesn’t really matter?
I’m inclined to agree with that. I doubt Lou (and Marty, come to think of it) would let a guy come in a drastically change the attitude and playing style of the team. As for making Sutter GM, is Lou trying to get both Johnny Mac and David Conte quit?!
I guess I’m just happy it’s not Pat Quinn or Larry Robinson.
Or Ftorek.
For starters, I’m woefully ill-informed about his actual record as a coach
family name is Sutter :D but this Sutter led Team Canada Junior win gold medals two consecutive years :) and that’s pretty much all I know. Oh, and he single handedly rebuilt the Red Deer Rebels and made them “the best WHL team” for many consecutive years :)
Like Vinny said, you certainly don’t need to worry about his pedigree. He has a good track record in terms of international play and juniors and I don’t know how making the leap to the NHL will be for him as I don’t think he has any coaching experience there, but hey, I’m sure Mad Lou knows what he’s doing.
but hey, I’m sure Mad Lou knows what he’s doing.
Heh.
Well, one thing I know about the Devils is that they’re as fine a group of coach-killers as ever played in the NHL. Although with Gomez gone, I wonder how their coach-killingness might have been effected…
Although with Gomez gone, I wonder how their coach-killingness might have been effected…
I’m sure he imparted all his coach-killing wisdom on the young kids. Heh. Can you imagine Travis Zajac and Andy Green coach killing?
They’re saying Lou is thinking about making him GM eventually
That thought had crossed my mind. After all, Lou is going to turn 65 this year. As far as coaching goes though, I think Sutter may want his own assistant and Johnny Mac will be relegated to a different role. Perhaps maybe down to coaching Lowell or Trenton.
Perhaps maybe down to coaching Lowell or Trenton.
I must really really need coffee because I totally read that as “maybe clown” and thought “You guys have official front office clowns?!”
Sorry about that, heh.
You guys have official front office clowns?!
Wait, do the Senators not have front-office clowns? I thought everyone did. :P
No, just Lou. Well and Lowe is the offical front office clown for the Oilers.
“You guys have official front office clowns?!”
Yup. It started with Ftorek and he passed the mantle to Robinson. (Now the mental image I had of the catfish coach behind the bench includes a Pagliacci-style outfit.)
Oh man, Frisby — let’s have none of this talk of Lou retiring! I am terrified of what the Devils will become when he’s gone.
The Devils would finally have a long-serving coach?
The Devils would finally have a long-serving coach?
I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT
Or at least a head coach with the confidence to print more than 30 business cards?
Well Lou will still be CEO/President so we’ll start going through GM’s every year instead of coaches. ;)
Or at least a head coach with the confidence to print more than 30 business cards?.
No way, the copy boy is under strict orders from Lou that Head Coaches get no more than 25.
Or at least a head coach with the confidence to print more than 30 business cards?.
No way, the copy boy is under strict orders from Lou that Head Coaches get no more than 25.
Julien tried to outsource his business card printing. It’s what led to his firing.
Julien: “Hey Lou, you remember how you gave me 25 business cards for the season? Well, I ran out and it looks like I might need some more for the playoffs. It’s only three games away.”
Lou: “Oh, we’ll definitely have to do something about that. Step into my office.”
Hehe, that is exactly how I saw it in my head :P
It is at times a bit scary how well Earl channels Lou.
Well Lou will still be CEO/President so we’ll start going through GM’s every year instead of coaches.
Frisby, that’s one “Comment That Made Schnookie Laugh Out Loud The Hardest” Award for you!
EEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sherry, you are TOO funny! Why you have to be too funny?
Off-topic, but does anyone have any idea why an apparently legitimate and no-nonsense wine blog has such a hockey-themed links section?
I saw it on my Technorati links thingamajiggy and am still perplexed.
That is so odd, Earl! I guess that blog proves you can be an oenophile and a hockey fan… (And seriously, it further proves that everyone loves you.)
I guess wine snobs like hockey too!
(And seriously, it further proves that everyone loves you.)
It’s true, Earl! You have been embraced by knuckle dragging heathens and fancy-pants alike.
Katebits, that’s not nice calling those wine people “knuckle dragging heathens”!
Man, I was almost done writing my megapost on “Why wine drinkers suck” too!
At least I didn’t call the wine drinkers “mouth breathers”.
I’m sure Earl’s magapost started at “mouth breathers” and just got worse from there.
You guys. I have just spent my lunch break exchanging snarky emails with the dreaded Bucky Gleason. I totally took the bait, and now the terrorists have won. I need to figure out a way to permanently block The Buffalo News from my computer.
I’m sure Earl’s magapost started at “mouth breathers” and just got worse from there.
You should have seen the graphic he was going to run, too.
Heh. Earl, I really like how you cater to your site’s search stats (the skelator/stanley cup thing comes to mind). You should do a post about wine and hockey. Think how happy it would make that mouth breather!
I have just spent my lunch break exchanging snarky emails with the dreaded Bucky Gleason.
Are you serious?!? Do tell all!
I so wish that there was something interesting to tell. It was pretty much:
Katebits: YOU SUCK
Buckey: I know you are, but what am I?
Katebits: Seriously, Bucky. You suck. You’re hurting Buffalo
Buckey: You couldn’t possibly understand the complexities of my job.
Katebits: ARGH! YOU SUCK SO HARD!
(terrorists win)
Wow. But, you know, he’s right. You can’t possibly understand the complexities of his job. He’s got his country’s 500th anniversary to plan, his wedding to arrange, his wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it!
Bucky Gleason is Prince Humperdinck?!
Schnookie’s sitting next to me here going: “Gleason! Don’t say that name! Gleason! Gleason! GLEASON!”
You should have seen the graphic he was going to run, too.
Aw, it wasn’t that special. Just a japanese ninja shark biting through a hockey stick. But somewhere in his orange eye, I think you can see his clear wine drinker hatred, those effing mouth-breathers.
Schnookie’s sitting next to me here going: “Gleason! Don’t say that name! Gleason! Gleason! GLEASON!”
Now I’m craving a nice M.L.T.–mutton, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, when the mutton is nice and lean, and the tomato is ripe. They’re so perky, I love that!
Now I’m craving a nice M.L.T.–mutton, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, when the mutton is nice and lean, and the tomato is ripe.
:^:::::::::::::::::::::
OK everyone, have a fabulous Friday! Through some sort of administrative error, my company has decided to shut down early today and gather all us employees at a nearby bowling alley for some sort of recreational activity.
Later, skaters!
Have fun storming the castle, Earl.
Kate, you made Bucky sound a little less pompous than usual. Also, what kind of grown man uses “Bucky” as his professional name?
I would totally make fun of the Bucky thing, but… well… people in glass houses and all, right? :P
It’s the combination of stupidity with the name Bucky that’s the problem. A person can have one or the other but not both. Which is all to say, have at making fun of the Bucky thing, Schnookie.
Katebits, I think any email exchange I had with Bucky would probably end with my emailing him to say, “My brother has more common sense than you and HE HAS DOWN SYNDROME!” Thus it’s probably for the best that I’ve never emailed Bucky.
Hey, why is it so dead in here just when I come back!
That was the best show ever. Because I got a call from New Jersey :P
It’s been dead a lot today. Oh, and Sherry, I love your show. I didn’t catch the whole thing, but I got home from work in time to hear the last half hour or so. :)
That was the best radio show ever, Sherry! It was so good it prompted a call from stately IPB Manor all the way to Hamilton!
And I have no idea why it’s so slow here — our meebo abilities tell us there are people here. They’re just being very shy or something.
Thanks Schnookie! I’m so glad you enjoyed it…and called! I have never felt so loved.
People! Don’t be shy. You guys have to entertain me at the office, dang it!
Meg, I’m so glad you listened and enjoyed the song selections. I post full playlists of the music I play if you guys would like a full list or couldn’t understand what the heck I was spouting cause I talk too fast:
http://cfmuoffseason.blogspot.com
Seriously everyone, call Sherry! She was just as nice on the phone as she is as the radio hostess!
And on that note, the -ookies are on their way out for the weekend. We’re going to try to post some stuff tomorrow, but we’ll be comment-silent, so don’t think we’re ignoring you. (It’s off to DC to hang out with Kate The Great, her awesome friends, and to have our first HLOG face-to-face. We’ll be able to report on Sunday evening on whether CapsChick is as cook in person as she seems in blogland. Wish us luck!)
Good luck Schnookie and Pookie! And yes, everyone call me!
Anyhoos I’m out for the weekend too. Our Favourite Cousin by Default is getting married on Sunday and I still have no idea what I”m going to be wearing. I don’t suppose jeans is entirely appropriate, especially for this weather.
Have a good weekend, everyone!
You guys. I have just spent my lunch break exchanging snarky emails with the dreaded Bucky Gleason. I totally took the bait, and now the terrorists have won. I need to figure out a way to permanently block The Buffalo News from my computer.
Kate, I know you gave us a summary, but I’m going to need the full emails. This sounds too good! For the record, the one time I emailed Bucky he gave me the same, “You have no idea what the community demands of me! I’m the moral compass!” spiel. My husband is offended that Bucky never answered the email he sent last week but it contained the sentence “YOU’RE ACTING LIKE A DAMN 12-YEAR-OLD!” so he probably just deleted it.
Kate, I haven’t read the Buffalo News sports section in THREE DAYS and I’m loving it. I feel like I’m going to have to give up the whole paper though. Yesterday the TV critic snuck a comment about Darcy Regier into his article - what the hell, TV Dude? And then Mary Kunz Last Name Here was making stupid complaints about the library system which is totally unrelated but equally annoying. Honestly, how do any of these people still have jobs? We could so write a better newspaper!
Ted Nolan is a bit of a schmuck and it drives me crazy that people (come to think of it, this was inspired by the damn News too!) were complaining that we didn’t roll out the red carpet when he returned this past season. He was in Buffalo for two years, people! Two years! Jay McKee was here five times as long and made more of contribution to the franchise. Are we going to throw streamers and drop confetti when he comes back in November? I mean, I might but are we going to be all organized and unified about it?
Good luck, Schnookie and Pookie! Have a great time!
I’m going to be trying to entertain my 13-year-old cousin this weekend and have reason to believe you’ll have a rather more successful weekend than I will.
Not shy, just locked in a basement with no windows fine tuning my contract with Lou. He’s got this henchman that’s a freakin’ pitcher of all damnedest things! This pitcher keeps on offering me this red drink that he calls the elisir di lealtà. My business partner/buddy/ex-teamate Marty comes in from time to time telling me I should just accept the contract and how things are going to be. I haven’t eaten in days and my agent doesn’t know where I am. Sometimes Marty will come in with a whole turkey and will sit and eat it piece by piece in front of me. He sees how famished I am and hardly does anything! He told me that he really can’t give me a little piece even though he really wants to because “a full Marty is a happy Marty”, maybe it’s a magical turkey that gives you non-fatigue-ability. Marty did throw some saltines along my way. I eagerly grabbed all of them and stuffed them in my mouth. Boy, was that a bad idea! My mouth was all dry and I needed a drink. Marty pushed the elisir closer to me, but I’d really rather have that Sprite he’s drinking. Maybe this elisir won’t be so bad, but it came out of that pitcher. A pitcher that not only serves drinks, but serves a GM. This is mind-boggling, but I could be imagining this because I’m so so parched and dehydrated. Elisir di lealtà, huh? It sounds like it’s exotic and fancy…I really am desperate…I’ll give it a try. Lou is standing there nodding and watching as I inspect this drink. As I bring the glass to my mouth, someone comes bursting into the room whispering something to Lou. His expression remains the same. I think I heard the words offer, sheet, Lowe, Sabres and idiot. I don’t know what this means and I’m starting to panic, everyone has rushed out leaving me alone. I’m trying to remove my restraints and off in the distance I hear someone scream “GMs unite!” Those bastards left me! I’m going to die here and no one will find me. What’s that? I hear something, some faint scampering. Well, what do we have here? It appears to be a rodent of some type, possibly a rat..no maybe a ferret. Whatever it is, it’s biting on my restraints! I’M FREE! I owe my life to that furry fellow and wish that I could have thanked him, but he ran off. I must remember to publicly thank him, but I really do need to find Lowe seeing as he made my freedom possible. Yes, I think I will give him a call.
Genna, I loved it.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Thanks Oil! I give credit to my overactive imagination, rumours, the NHL (including this yearning for the season to start) and the Devils.
<i….our meebo abilities tell us there are people here.
This is something I have been wondering about for awhile. Can you see me through meebo when I am on IPB? Because that kind of gives me the willies. I don’t want you stalking me while I am stalking you.
Sorry i went all MIA after the Bucky thing. I had to quickly scamper back to work having spent the entirety of my lunch break emailing Bucky and then telling you guys about it.