Here’s what we all need to do after that suckfest in Philly — we need to just get back up on the horse and watch the Devils try to beat another lower-echelon Eastern Conference playoff-ish team. We can use tonight’s game to gauge how well we think they’ll fare against the actual lower-echelon Eastern Conference playoff team they’re going to face in the actual playoffs. It’ll be fun!
AFTER THE GAME, THE WOOL WE GATHERED:
We are fairly confident the playoffs, from a Devils perspective, are going to be nasty, brutish and short.
(Oh, and even though the game-losing goal was all Kovalchuk’s fault, in most egregious fashion, we still love him and hope he re-signs with the Devils and never changes his ways.)
Did I say this was going to be fun? Because if it is, it’s going to be fun I CAN’T SEE, thanks to this being in lo-def. Hmph.
Yowza. This is the worst standard-def picture I’ve ever seen. Are they hoping to distract me from the sucking by having the white dialed up to “blinding, burning hot”?
I bet the Candygram happens tonight and we won’t be able to see it because the tv screen is just a big white blur.
Missing the Candygram would be the saddest thing ever. (That said, if he can’t make the Candygram happen when he’s skating with Travis and Kovalchuk, it’s safe to say there will NEVER be a Candygram.)
*cackles maniacally* I will watch this game later tonight in HD from NESN so I finally get an HD game you don’t! Of course I will pay dearly for this privilege by having to listen to Jack Edwards.
Oooh, the irony, Mike! (I would happily listen to Jack Edwards if it meant watching this in HD. This SD feed is awful.)
D’oh! That’s just DASTARDLY, Mike! :P (We actually tried to switch to NESN, but stupid blackout rules won’t let us watch their feed. Life is so cruel!)
Wow, I just checked the NHL schedule to see the Devils games for the week and it says they are showing Rangers/Islanders right now in HD on both MSG and MSG+, sticking the Devils to SD. If I was a few Devils fans who lived in a palatial manor in the New Jersey area, I would be quite annoyed at this.
Boomer just finally sat down in front of the TV, and her immediate response was, “Whoa. Someone put some vaseline on one of the lenses tonight?”
Poor Zubrus, stuck skating with Leblond and Hambone tonight. I don’t think we’re going to be seeing any Zandygrams tonight.
If I was a few Devils fans who lived in a palatial manor in the New Jersey area, I would be quite annoyed at this.
It’s definitely annoying to watch this awful feed, but I think MSG+ actually does a pretty even split of when the Devils get shunted to MSG2 and when the Islanders do. The poor Islanders fans deserve a nice HD feed every once and a while, too (without having to watch the Rangers announcers). (I’d never say that if one of the awesomest people I’ve met on the internet wasn’t an Islanders fan, of course.)
If I was a few Devils fans who lived in a palatial manor in the New Jersey area, I would be quite annoyed at this.
:^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: I kind of don’t mind too much when Islanders/Rangers takes precedent on the HD channels, because I know Islanders fans get stuck with lo-def when we’re playing the Rangers. What pisses me off is when we play either the Islanders or Rangers, and their feed is in HD but ours isn’t. It makes my head explode just thinking of it!
Whitey and Mottau are distracting me from hating this feed. Because they’re proving that there is something worse than the quality of this picture.
“Whoa. Someone put some vaseline on one of the lenses tonight?”
So Sandra Lee’s broadcast crew is working the game tonight? My sympathies.
Did Land Zhark just play himself off the top line?
So Sandra Lee’s broadcast crew is working the game tonight? My sympathies.
:^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: It’s like her crew is working the game after attending a full-day seminar by Barbra Streisand’s film crew.
Amy, did you see the bake sale episode of Sandra’s new show? She made cinnamon rolls… by unrolling a package of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. ::shudder::
The poor Islanders fans deserve a nice HD feed every once and a while, too (without having to watch the Rangers announcers).
You’re a bigger person than me, I would be calling the MSG president, then Gary Bettman, then straight over his head to Crosby over this outrageous slight. Hope the game goes well, it’s time for me to go so I don’t get any game spoilers.
then straight over his head to Crosby
:^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Have a good evening, Mike! Enjoy the lovely NESN picture! (They do generally have one of the best HD pictures in the league, so, Jack Edwards aside, I am VERY jealous. :D)
then Gary Bettman, then straight over his head to Crosby
:^:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Well, Sid knows he’s loved here at stately IPB Manor, so maybe he would do something about it… :D
See you later, Mike! Enjoy the game in glorious Jack-Edwards-ified HD!
did you see the bake sale episode of Sandra’s new show? She made cinnamon rolls… by unrolling a package of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls.
I did. I was also impressed by her telling us that if you had a batch of 24 cookies and you sold them 3/$1.00, that you would make $8. It’s like she found a calculator and had to show off.
It’s like she found a calculator and had to show off.
:^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
It’s like she found a calculator and had to show off.
:^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: She was very proud of her math, wasn’t she? And very delusional, thinking anyone would buy those “sticky buns”.
Why is it that the Sabres scored with ease against the Bruins last night, but the Devils are acting like they couldn’t possibly imagine EVER getting a goal against these guys? Oh, right. Tim Thomas didn’t start tonight. Heh.
hrmm, this isn’t exactly a barnburner, is it?
(Oh, and did nhl.com change it’s scoreboard font or is my computer being really weird?)
It’s a teeny tiny fire in a teeny tiny barn. And yeah, they totally changed the font. They should warn us about those things ahead of time! The end of March is not a time to mess with things hockey fans get used to!
Kovalchuk is no longer “Mr. My New Favorite Devil”. Now he’s “Mr. Funfetti Devil”. Paulie should have just sucked it up and taken a penalty there. Oh well, at least the teams ahead of the Rangers won tonight.
Sorry about the Devils! I would have sworn Kovalchuk could have done something to help.
I’ll admit I’m not the standings watcher I once was. What with the Stars being out of it by New Years for the second year in a row.
Are the Rangers going to miss the playoffs? Because that would be SWEET.
The Rangers are out of it right now. We need Atlanta and Boston to keep on winning.
Atlanta and Boston. Atlanta and Boston. Got it!
We also need Phoenix to stop sucking right now.
We also need Phoenix to stop sucking right now.
Yeeeeeeah.
This Coyotes game is not making me very happy. :(
I do love it when Luongo throws a tantrum. :D
The Rangers are out of it right now.
W00T! Best news of the day! YAH! Suck it, Rangers!
Oh, hi Carol! Sorry to be cheering against your boys tonight. :D
I got yelled at by a Canucks fan after I defended Kesler’s hit. That person appears to be in California, Carol, so I assume he’s atypical. :P
No problem! They are the “talk of the year” – they’ve won more games than the Canucks. Mike knows you’re just cheering for them because of Taylor Pyatt’s pretty, pretty eyes.
SNORT!
…so I assume he’s atypical. :P
Not just atypical, but crazy.
The announcers are going crazy about that hit…”it will be reviewed” and “head shots” and “boarding” and…honk shooo…honk shoo…
Mike knows you’re just cheering for them because of Taylor Pyatt’s pretty, pretty eyes.
:^::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: No, sadly my pretty-boy reason for liking the Coyotes is on IR. Poor, sad Scottie Upshall…
The announcers are going crazy about that hit…”it will be reviewed” and “head shots” and “boarding” and…honk shooo…honk shoo…
Yeeeeeah. It’s always some time in February/early March that I get my “controversial hit” fatigue.
Kesler wasn’t even close to his head. The glass did the banging on his nose. I can imagine a boarding call, since they can’t watch it over and over in slo-mo, but it was from the side, and Morris even looked up and saw him coming and turned away. HE should get a penalty.
(Not that I’m on the Canucks side, though. Sorry. Dave Tippett and all.)
I didn’t really watch the play at all, so this is a suggestion coming from an EXTREMELY well-informed position, but was there a charge involved in the hit? (Probably not, but I like to mention it whenever I can. I feel like a willingness to call charging more would solve a lot of the league’s “oh, but it’s not technically illegal” hand-wringing after injurious hits [and lead to more Ovechkin suspensions :D].)
I didn’t see it at full speed, only in slo mo, and not the entire play, so I’m not sure if there was any charging involved. He go the boarding call which I might be able to accept, but I didn’t think it warranted the game misconduct. The guy looked right at Kesler and turned to the glass. He didn’t hit him square in the numbers, though.
I don’t know how far he came to make the hit.
I agree that more charging calls would cover a lot of the iffy stuff. If you start at the red line and hit somebody at full speed behind the net, it shouldn’t matter whether he was facing you or not, or where on his body you hit him.
W00T! Aren’t the soft peepers great?
If you start at the red line and hit somebody at full speed behind the net, it shouldn’t matter whether he was facing you or not, or where on his body you hit him.
Exactly! I mean, so many of the controversial hits involve a lot more than three running strides leading up to them, and I thought that was the rule of thumb in determining charging. Oh well. What do I know? I barely watch the highlights of these things anymore, because, like I said, I’m well past my controversial hit fatigue. :D
Was I actually bragging about being able to watch the game last night in HD? Um, I take it back as I started just listening to it half way through. Wow was that not good.
I mean, so many of the controversial hits involve a lot more than three running strides leading up to them, and I thought that was the rule of thumb in determining charging.
3 strides is supposed to be the rule, I don’t know why charging is never called.
I’m so sorry the glorious HD didn’t pay off for you, Mike. Man, what a sorry-assed game that was.
3 strides is supposed to be the rule, I don’t know why charging is never called.
I’m glad to hear I’m not alone in this! Someday, when I’m in charge, I’ll clean up this sport, just by calling charging! SO THERE!
Someday, when I’m in charge, I’ll clean up this sport, just by calling charging! SO THERE!
You have my vote for commish but I fear your enforcement of existing rules will be too controversial for the NHL and may hold up your election/appointment/knighting/tea leaf reading/however it is commish’s get the job.
You’re right, of course. Endorsing upholding the existing rules is no way to get ahead in the hockey-commish business. I should probably just let go of that particular dream…
election/appointment/knighting/tea leaf reading/however it is commish’s get the job
I think it’s through some combination of knowing where bodies are buried and having photos of senior staff in compromising positions.
3 strides is supposed to be the rule, I don’t know why charging is never called.
The never call traveling in basketball and it happens on most plays…some things are just never called.