I cut my nails to the quick.
But still I was caught with my hand in the till.
Red-handed.
@ 
Game Time: 7:00PM Central
TV/Radio: CSN, WGN-AM 720
DANGER! HIGH VOLTAGE!: Raw Charge
Last year, the Lightning were one of the more prolific scoring threats in the NHL. They averaged a 3.06 G/G, third best in the NHL (trailing only Pittsburgh and Chicago). They were led by perhaps the most dangerous 1-2 punch in the league with Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos leading the league in points (60 and 57, respectively) while Stamkos trailed only Alexander Ovechkin in goals for the shortened season. They’re going to be dangerous every time they touch the puck.
Now, scoring a bunch of goals every game is all well and good but it becomes a major problem for a team when you allow the other team to score the exact same number of goals every game. The Bolts scored 147 goals last year but allowed in 147 for perfectly matching 3.06 G/G and GA/G. Defense should have become a priority in the offseason for Yzerman but it still seems his defense is going to be a hell of a lot better skating forward than backward.
Preferring to work under the cover of darkness, we’ve once again awoken to the news that Stan Bowman has signed another member of the Hawks to a contract extension while you peacefully slumbered.
Yet again, this contract goes out to one of the Hawks who is not without a bit of controversy, Niklas Hjalmarsson. While he hasn’t sparked quite the debate like our on-going love affair with goalies, Hammer has certainly had his detractors… and we’ve certainly been among them. Hammer followed up the solid 2010 run with a major dip in his game in 2010-11. We assumed he’d be among the first traded away following that year, even though he had a slight return to form the following year.
This past year though, Hammer exceeded our expectations and arguably took over the top defensive pairing when he was partnered with the inexplicably Swedish Johnny Oduya. He had patience we hadn’t seen in a while, a willingness to hold the puck longer or skate it out on his own to make sure he made the right play, rather than blindly flinging it up along the boards as was his pervious go to move.
Reports are that Hammer’s deal will be a $4.1 cap hit/year, which actually makes the signing pretty damn reasonable. The contract comes as a bit of a shock in its element of surprise. But the friendly cap hit puts Hammer in the same company as players like Vlasic, Shattenkirk, Jovanovski or Ehrhoff. All of whom I’d gladly pass over to keep Hjalmarsson, especially if he can continue to grow and improve his game.
When you’re looking for late-breaking news on what players are close to (or perhaps in the process of) signing a new deal during the off-season. There’s really only one twitter account you need to follow. Philip Pritchard of course.
The famed “Keeper of the Cup” and perhaps a distant relative of Chris Pronger, seems to have scooped everyone in the hockey journalism world by tweeting out a picture of Crow signing the details of new contract while having his day with the Cup. It appears the picture has since been deleted though, so if you were able to save it, please send it our way.
Details after the jump
I’m not exactly sure how it started… but I remember as a kid that just about holiday or birthday when I’d go to my grandparents house there would always be a brand new tape for me to listen to. It became such a common thing that sometimes there’d be something new for me to listen to even if we just went over for dinner. About 95% of the time, those tapes were Beach Boys tapes. Even the 5% that weren’t Beach Boys were probably just Jan & Dean and I was too young to know the difference. So it’s fair to say The Beach Boys have been one of my favorite bands since I was around 6 years old.
So I guess we missed a “supermoon” last night. Or at least I did. Maybe you were lucky enough to catch it. If there’s someone who probably would have been able to catch it perfectly though, it would be Ansel Adams.
One of the greatest landscape photographers of all time, Adams was known for pioneering the Zone System along with collegeue Fred Archer. That, along with Ansel’s incredible eye, allowed him to capture some of the more stunning images of the American west, particularly in his favorite area – Yosemite National Park.
Adams was known for using larger format cameras to capture the resolution he wanted in his images. Adams was also famous for finding a spot and patiently sitting there waiting for light to become just the way he wanted. He’s said to have waiting for hours for the moon to get to just the right spot before snapping his famous Moon Over Half Dome. Game 6 is tomorrow and we know the Bruins are going to come out like junkyard dogs going after a squirrel. The Hawks are going to have to be just as patient as Adams and not get caught up in their games, stick to their game plan and focus on what has brought them so close once again.
None of us are going to need any help getting jacked for tonight’s game. The mixture of nerves, excitement, queasiness and pure adrenaline is what chewing on an adrenal gland is like (…I imagine). So if we were musicians here on this site, and we’re not, there would only be one way to play the guitar. And that would be the full on windmill style popularized by one of the greatest talents in Rock & Roll, Pete Townshend.
I’m not going to waste your time getting into why Townshend is great. If you’re already not a huge fan of The Who than you’re either beyond our hope or you’re probably around 12 years old and haven’t started listening to real music yet. And if you are 12, you probably shouldn’t be reading this site without your parents permission. Go watch some cartoons kid. Actually, Fels is probably watching cartoons right now anyway, so I guess those aren’t just for kids.
The Hawks lit up Rask and made Chara look like a chump in the last game. We’re going to hope that’s the case from here on out… So Boston, can you see the real me?
Why doesn’t Morgan Freeman rock the fullest of beards? Why is it just the perfect slight and understated beard? Because that’s all Morgan Freeman has to do when you’re already carrying around that voice and that level of gravitas.
Freeman is never going to be the sole star of any project he’s working on. Even on the movies he’s been nominated for Best Actor In A Leading Role (Invictus, Shawshank and Driving Miss Daisy), there’s always been someone you could argue had a bigger part in the movie (Matt Damon, Tim Robbins, Jessica Tandy… OK well maybe not Tandy. I’ve never seen that movie anyway). When you include Freeman in your movie though, you’re going to get a performance that everyone will love. Hell, just scrolling through his IMDB profile include some of my favorite movies. And I think if you turn on TNT or TBS right now, chances are one if not both are airing a movie with him in it.
Also, he’s got really great taste in Quarterbacks.
The Simpsons are absolutely stacked with amazing characters that come in for one quick episode then are never heard from ever again. Frank Grimes, Lyle Lanly, Rex Banner… I could go on. None of them quite compare with the (evil)genius that was Hank Scorpio. And certainly none had such a perfect beer. Perhaps the friendliest of any supervillians, Scorpio is always around for you if you need some sugar (Sorry it’s not in packages), a recommendation on where to buy hammocks and he’ll even stop by and say hello in the middle of his marathon. If you treat him well, he may even buy you the Denver Broncos.
Voiced by Albert Brooks (who does a ton of amazing work on The Simpsons… and just in general). Scorpio used Homer’s team of workers to help take over the east coast. The Hawks could use some of that power tonight as they fly out to Boston to try and get the series lead back.
Well I see a ’50’s apartment house
Bleak in the morning sun
But I still love the ’50’s
And I still love the old world
