Almost one year to the day I was driving through Northern Ontario on my way to Vermilion after accepting the job at The Standard. I had been driving close to 12 hours, the latter few hours through poor visibility and road conditions. Around 9 p.m. I pulled into a roadside motel near Wawa, Ont. and … Continue reading
The Toronto media are losers (of the Phil Kessel trade)
It has been a few days and we’ve all taken turns analyzing the winners and losers of the Phil Kessel trade before any player involved has played a single game. Anyone with a Twitter account has done so. Kessel had to be dealt. He was. He is going to play well in Pittsburgh, for a … Continue reading
The Top 10 NHL Draft Steals
We’re a day away from the NHL Draft, and while the first round provides entertainment, intrigue and excitement, I’ve always been secretly more interested in the disappointment, heartbreak and occasional hidden gem that is associated with the later rounds. As a hockey nerd, you get a certain satisfaction out of knowing how great a player … Continue reading
NHL ’94 Throwback Thursday
Name: Valeri Zelepukin – Rating: 68 – Career Games: 595 – Career Points: 294 Before the Zajacs, Zuccarellos and Zetterbergs, there was Zelepukin. On name alone, he doesn’t quite have the strength of Zarley Zalapski, whom I already featured here, but it’s a mighty fine name. It’s a damn shame Zelepukin wasn’t featured on the … Continue reading
NHL ’94 Throwback Thursday: Jamie Macoun
Name: Jamie Macoun – Rating: 60 – Career Games: 1128 – Career Points: 358 Jamie Macoun played more than 1,100 career NHL games but the only thing anyone can ever remember about him is his incredible mustache. Seriously, I can’t look at a picture of the man and not wish he was my dad, especially … Continue reading
The Chicago Blackhawks ARE a dynasty, you idiot
Before I get started, I’d like to point out how ridiculous the whole dynasty debate is and that we should all just shut the hell up and enjoy that we are alive to witnesses the greatest team of the early 2000s. That said, the Chicago Blackhawks are definitvely a dynasty in the salary cap era. … Continue reading
NHL ’94 Throwback Thursday: Keith Brown
Name: Keith Brown – Rating: 48 – Career Games: 876 – Career Points: 342 It’s unfortunate that NHL 94 was the first real groundbreaking hockey game for any console, because by then Keith Brown’s career was essentially over. He’s on the Chicago Blackhawks roster, but was actually dealt to the Florida Panthers before the start … Continue reading
The Leafs can draft: a 2006 review
Believe it or not, the Toronto Maple Leafs might have had one of the best drafts in the last decade, at least in terms of quantity. Unfortunately, management has made a plethora of atrocious decisions in the past decade, trading away any player who wasn’t a star by their 23rd birthday. Regardless, in 2006, the … Continue reading
Five predictions for the Stanley Cup Finals
Now that we’ve all correctly predicted the Stanley Cup finals matchup (myself included, of course), we can begin actually talking about it and making predictions, because, well, that’s just what people like to do. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure how to predict this series. Even though I had Tampa going to the finals prior to … Continue reading
NHL ’94 Throwback Thursday: Zarley Zalapski
Name: Zarley Zalapski – Rating: 80 – Career Games: 637 – Career Points: 384 By the time NHL 94 had come out, Edmonton-born defenseman Zarley Zalapski was the anchor of the Hartford Whalers blue line; unfortunately, because of his team-high rating of 80ov for the Whalers, he never lived up to his pre-NHL94 billing as … Continue reading
Ridin' The Pine 