WHAT THE? ME AGAIN.

(For what its worth I have to begin by apologizing that its me again. Its disgraceful actually. So because of it I will begin with a few cheap shots at my co-conspirators.)

Any real Leafs fan is gonna tell you that they bleed blue. I would at least. And perhaps there is some truth in that as I can validate that real Edmonton Oilers fans, Moose and Washingtron, are indeed, oily. Cheap shot, yes. Truth, yes. And I know Greener well enough to know that if he could only stop googling his own name long enough he would agree too.
So losing Darcy Tucker is balls. No matter how you cut it. One game, one week, two minutes. Those are seriously man lost games when he is not on the ice. The question is…how could Darcy Tucker not be your favorite player, regardless of team affiliation?

Darcy and his bum knee: the knee the other joints are suddenly calling Bobby Orr, is out with the mysterious indefinitely injury. A word that always makes me think of that scene in Three Amigos, “infamous, infamous’. Tucker who described the injury as "slight damage to some ligaments.” Also promised us, an eye-brow cocked like Roger Moore’s, “It's nothing that's broken or anything so hopefully it'll heal quick." I believe he also said that with an English accent.
What scares me about the word indefinitely, especially when it comes to the Leafs is that like the ubiquitous upper body injury, indefinitely, could mean one game or the reason our once promising first rounder was let go on waivers 5 years later. (Ring, ring. Hello Carlo Colaiacovo, its Norte…do you wanna go to Square One Mall and buy some shoes at Aldo?) Seriously though Tucker, Colaiacovo, Wellwood, Bell. If that’s not the roll call for a rallying point…then there is something wrong in that dressing room.

I don’t really want to talk about the other night’s game. Suffice it to say that it made me sigh a lot. One thing that bothers me about games like that is how they’ll suddenly start shaking up the lines because of it. I like Gamache a lot. And he and Stajan looked good most nights (although I must admit Darcy looked like a half inflated balloon on some nights). All bets are on about who will fill Tuckers role on the line. Most likely Boyd Devereaux (who is coming off his own injury woes.) On the first power play unit. Well that’s anybody’s guess.
I will hold any further comments…until after tomorrow’s game. I will say that I think the goaltender tag team should stop. I think its time to put Toskala in and keep him in. We have to come up big…and by a big I don’t mean scoring 8 goals. I mean score three and maybe give them one. No penalties. Its Atlanta…there is no reason we couldn’t all be thinking the S word.


Dr. Hans Brimmel. Inventor of the shut-out. (Dr Hans Brimmel inventor of the shout out not pictured)

Leading With Your Head

For those of you not lucky enough to know me, I'm a half glass half-full kind of guy. I try and take a thoughtful look at things and situations before I make up my mind. I try to think with my head first, and with my heart second. Now, having said all that, goddamn it we got fucking smoked at home 7-2 by Buffalo!
Our average team height is good enough to start for Serbia at the Olympics, and all 5' nothing Derek Roy did was score 6 points on the night. Now, of course it's only pre-season, and a lot of guys need something real to play for in order to get it up. Not to mention guys are sore and still getting into game shape, or the kids in the game and may be squeezing the stick too tight, trying to impress. Ultimately none of Roy's six points really matter at all. It just bugs me because now the choked screams of the negativo's who scavenge the enormous Leaf Nation tableau will needlessly be all the louder.

I listen to it and read it every day. The people who write nothing but the bad because when you're lazy, and you have to write something, going negative is always the easy decision.
For example, (and I see this one A LOT) columnists who portray how dire the Leafs non post-season-making woes by yelping, "The Leafs haven't made the playoffs in THREE seasons!!" Uh, hey fuckmouth, there was no season, three seasons ago. NO ONE made the playoffs three seasons ago. It's only been two since the Leafs last made it in...by 2, and 1 point(s) respectively. Oh, is that the sky falling? No, it's just your credibility. And by the way, you're sitting on your balls.

In other news, I'm proud of how the Leafs have responded to the POS Steve Downie hit on Dean McAmmond. There seems to be some real indignation about this one. Jason Blake went so far as to say that Downie should be kicked out of the league. Downie said the usual about he's got to do what he's got to do to get himself noticed and play a role on the team. If that's the case, then what kind of fucking organization do they have down there? There's no one else who can take a fourth line spot for the Flyers? No one else who can get noticed by, oh I don't know, playing hockey with any appreciable level of skill? See Moose's post a few doors down. He nailed it. The bizarre blame the victim thinking behind the whole "he didn't have his head up" shit. Or the, "he was admiring his pass" thing. Well how about the little ditty that says you can admire the pass because after you've made it, you're not supposed to be hit in the first place. See Kaberle vs. that creep Cam Janssen.

There are a lot of people yelling about this one. Maybe this is the final straw...or part of the final straw...or some kind of straw that will finally get Gary Bettman to stop jerking off to pictures of larger nets or franchises in Oklahoma, and start taking a real and meaningful stand on these kinds of hits made by these kinds of players.