CanadianChris

The Tigers only have 4 guys on the entire team with an OPS+ over 100. For a team that won 95 games, that's horrible.

Yeah, if they don't get pitching, this team is toast. That's how they lost the division, because their pitching slumped in the last part of the season and they didn't have the bats to pick up the slack. Guillen and Ordonez are the only regulars above .340.

In all fairness, Verlander's a pretty good pitcher... Ah, screw fairness. A-Rod shouldn't be looking at anything remotely close to the strike zone.

Bases loaded, two out...what will A-Rod do here?

That sucks. CBC has the all-Canadian doubleheader on the HNIC season premiere. The second game should be entertaining. The first should also be entertaining to me, but in a more perverse way. TSN has no games. I'd imagine CBC has national exclusivity tonight, like they do on Saturdays.

They moved Phillips over to the right side, and he's having trouble adjusting, being a right-handed shooter. I was listening to the Sens pre-game, and they were saying that Volchenkov was even worse last year when they moved him on the right side (he's also right-handed), so they moved Phillips, who they assumed would be more dependable. Guess not. When Corvo (a lefty) comes back, they'll probably have him on the right side with Phillips, move Volchenkov down with Preissing (whenever he comes back) and move Schubert back to forward. It sucks that Preissing went down, he was playing really well before the injury. I don't think they won't miss Chara at all, but I like the moves they made to replace him for far less cost. Corvo and Preissing are making less than half of what Chara makes. I don't think they'll combine to be as good as Chara, but for that price, you don't need them to be as good. They'll be good enough that Ottawa will still post a very good record. The guy I don't think they'll miss is Havlat. He missed most of the season last year, the Sens still posted the best record in the East, and now everyone's saying he was a vital piece of the team? I don't think so.

Well, some things never change...Sens beat the Leafs 4-1, and Hal Gill got absolutely embarrassed on the second goal.

Why don't they just delay it until tomorrow? It's not like the travel day is really necessary -- they're going to Detroit, not Anaheim.

The Penguins have been SOLD! to Jim Balsillie of Waterloo, Ontario (UW shout out!) for $175 million. His company, Research in Motion, invented the Blackberry, so he's got a bit of cash lying around. Story

Before anything really happens tonight, let me just say how happy I am that Hal Gill stayed in the Northeast Division.

Do they REALLY need to show us the two same clip packages every 30 minutes? Did everyone forget that Showalter got fired and Hunter fucked up in that time?

I'm waiting for the day when an angry mob of mourners gives this piece of shit and his piece of shit followers exactly what they deserve.

When did Dale Sveum become the Dodgers' third-base coach?

I wonder how much the Yankees game impacted the ratings. It couldn't have helped.

Where do you get your ratings info from, Bob?

It was only a matter of time with Loaiza. He can't be trusted.

Showalter's officially out in Texas.

1. Who will win the Hart Trophy? Jaromir Jagr 2. Who will win the Vezina Trophy? Miikka Kiprusoff 3. Who will win the Calder Trophy? Evgeni Malkin 4. Who will win the Art Ross Trophy? Jaromir Jagr 5. Who will win the Richard Trophy? Alexander Ovechkin 6. What team had the best offseason? Bruins 7. What team had the worst offseason? Islanders 8. Which team will be the most improved over last year? Penguins 9. Which team will be the biggest disappointment? Canucks (again) 10. What was the best offseason move? Ducks sign Chris Pronger 11. What was the worst offseason move? DiPietro for 15 12. Who will make the playoffs that didn't last year? Kings, Thrashers 13. Who will not make the playoffs that did last year? Avalanche, Canadiens 14. Who would make your All-NHL first team? Kiprusoff, Thornton, Jagr, Ovechkin, Pronger, Lidstrom 15. Who will be the division winners? Ducks, Flames, Predators, Hurricanes, Sabres, Devils 16. Eastern Conference Final: Senators over Sabres 17. Western Conference Final: Flames over Ducks 18. Stanley Cup Final: Senators over Flames 19. Who will win the Conn Smythe Trophy? Jason Spezza 20. Make one bold prediction. Phoenix will be in the playoff hunt until the last day of the season.

Don't tell me you don't get VERSUS.

There's the ball game. Four runs should be enough of a lead that even Farnsworth can't fuck it up.

We need some sort of plague to wipe out scumbags like this guy. There's too many of them around.

I'm making my picks tomorrow. If need be, it'll also serve as a thread bump in time for the games.

Hopefully the other two road teams winning is a good omen for Detroit. But I doubt it.

I'd still vote for '95 Yankees/M's. '99 Sox/Indians had one legendary game, but that was it.

It's not hard to sound good when you're arguing against Steve Phillips.