Brush with Greatness

NHL: EHM 2006 is by far the best hockey game ever, hands down. Sure, the game's aren 't actually playable per se, but depthwise, etc. the game totally rules. If you like hockey and sport management sims, get this game.

I just watched Episode 2 of Season 2 Again. I totally missed the "Seaward" joke the first time around. Michael: Get rid of the Seaward. Lucille: I'll leave when I'm good and ready. Fuck did that kill me. I can't believe I missed it the first time around.

In regards to Pierre MaGuire, I would say that he is probably one of the best colour commentators out there. I'll agree that a) he's sometimes too over the top b) he harps on the same issues too much sometimes (no touch icing, no redline in the past, etc.) although the stuff he is mentioning, he is usually right about c) he is a homer for the World Junior Games, but who really gives a fuck, because only Canada is watching With that said, I'll take Pierre before almost anyone else. Glenn Healey may be the worst, most imcompetent individual on the planet. He's terrible and I'll skip watching a game because of him. Greg Millen isn't much better. Harry Neale's washed up and a terrible homer (which actually count's in his situation because, NEWSFLASH, more than just Toronto is watching. The only other one that I like as much as Maguire would be John Davidson, who at times can be a bit dry. A Maguire/Davidson clone would be great though.

Prove it. Name a team, of players that are willing to go (so you can't use Yzerman or Lemieux) and show us how you could name a team that's better than the one that was assembled. RE: the Bruins game last night. I wish the B's could play TO more often. Something about the Leafs brings out the best in the team. A win tonight would give them a ton of momentum going into the holiday break. (small rant: it kills me to hear their announcers say that the games versus Washington or Florida are winnable. The B's aren't much better than either of those teams, so the announcers for the Caps or Panthers could be sayign the same thing about the Bruins.) At this point, I'm not yet ready to be a fan of the Bruins again. There's too many players that I either don't like (Zhamnov, Gill, Fitzgerald) or am apathetic about (Isbister, Primeau, Tanabe) to really put my support behind them. Having said that, though, if MOC can get rid of some of the dead weight and replace it with players I care about ... and keep the nucleus of Boyes, Bergeron, Boynton, and re-sign Stuart ... I might find myself bleeding black and gold again next year. Well, it is somewhat dependent upon giving me the taxi squad, which takes the team from good to great. Here is what it would look like in that case. Goal Turco (because I consider him part of the taxi squad, omit if you so choose) Theodore Joseph Notes: Just going from this year, and counting Turco, I think this group of goalies is much better than the Brodeur/Luongo tandem. That's not to say that those two aren't excellent goalies, but I have two guys on top of their game at the current moment. Defense Boyle McCabe Phaneuf Brewer Hannan Bouwmeester Phillips Notes: A case could be made for those top three players to all be on the team. And the bottom three have all been there before. And Chris Phillips is very underrated. I would honestly say that this group of defencemen is definetly comparable to the current crop. Sure, the real team have the bigger name guys (as they should) but quality wise, I think we stack up. Hell, there are a few more quality guys such as Boynton, Stuart, Souray, and Staios that a case could be made for. Forwards Spezza Staal Savard Shanahan Kariya Crosby Madden Marleau Morrow Murray Primeau Tanguay Sullivan (or Briere, take one of them) Notes: I'm sure that lineup would look a lot more impressive if you took the time to put together some line combinations (Madden-Primeau-Morrow could make a hell of a checking line if you so choose) but I don't have the time at the moment. However, we would boast 3 of the top 10 scorers in the NHL at the moment (not to mention 7 of the top 10 Canadians), a feat which no other team at the Olympics could say. Honestly, I would say that this group of forwards is marginally actually better than what they have. Even this team leaves off some good players, such as Horcoff, Briere, Stillman, Allison, Lindros, etc. Overall: There you have it. My secondary Olympic team. And to quote me, I stated "I could arguably pick a team that could beat this Olympic team" and not that I could pick a team that's better. Big difference. Although, in a game I would have no hesitation in picking this team to beat the current "Team Canada". Hell, put it to a seven game series and I bet it would be a toss-up, and I can't comprehend how anyone could argue differently.

You do realize that Draper has, by far, the worst plus-minus on the Red Wings, at a -6. All of these "he works hard", "someone needs to penalty kill", etc. arguments are shit. It's the FUCKING OLYMPICS! I don't think anyone is going to be taking the night off, and guys who maybe don't give as much as Draper and company regularly will be which will set them apart even further. In regards to the penalty killing, figure it out. Don't tell me Sakic, Iginla, Richards, St. Louis, Thornton, etc. can't kill penalties, and do it well at that. If there's a five-on-three, I guarentee that it's going to be Sakic out there up front, and not Draper. Let's not kid ourselves, they did not take the best players, but rather the players they like. If you think Ryan Smyth would be on the team if he played for Florida or Carolina, you're out to lunch. Same goes with Shane Doan. Take a look at Eric Brewer for instance. He'd probably be close to making the team if he was on the Oilers, no mention of him whatsoever now that he's down in St. Louis. There were so many big omissions this time around that I could arguably pick a team that could beat this Olympic team. I mean, of the top 10 scoring Canadian players in the NHL, 7 were left off the team. Martin St. Louis and his fucking twelve goals in Tampa or Eric Staal and 24 goals in Carolina? Fuck, not much of a question to me.

I dislike the Leafs but like Belfour and like the Sens, to an extent. But, come playoff time, I have a feeling that if Toronto and Ottawa meet up, Eddie will be bringing it and Toronto will give them a series, if not knock them off.

And that movie was awesome partly because the Farrellys' only wrote Outside Providence. Actually that movie was awesome because of Amy Smart. But come to think of it, didn't they use the whole "fake being handicapped" joke in that movie. Wait, they're stealing from themselves!

Thinking about it a little bit, I say fuck the checking line. Why do we really need these designated checkers with the dominance our forward lines can bring and the strength of our D (assuming they don't take McCabe). Lecalvier-Richards-St. Louis Gagne-Sakic-Tanguay Heatley-Spezza-Iginla Nash-Thornton-Bertuzzi Staal or Lecalvier-Richards-St. Louis Gagne-Sakic-Iginla (if you must) Heatley-Spezza-Nash Tanguay-Thornton-Bertuzzi Staal Both those combinations look way more powerful when you scrap guys like Doan, Smyth, Madden, etc. Look where having the fucking ghost roster got us in 1998. Let's have four lines that can bring it offensively, because all of these guys will be responsible enough defensively. I mean, with only the three offensive lines, if 1, perhaps 2 don't click, that only leaves you with one, maybe two lines to do the scoring. Let's elinimate that possiblity.

No offense, and maybe you just forgot about him, but Dany Heatley will be on Team Canada. No question about it. And he should be playing there with Jason Spezza (because Daniel Briere won't be there). That whole Heatley-Thornton expirement didn't exactly work out great at the World Cup. St. Louis played well the other night but I still think he's borderline. Sure, Gagne, Sakic, Iginla were gold 4 years ago, but not nearly as dominant in the World Cup. I won't have any major issues keeping them together, but then you need to find a sniper to fill the spot with Heatley and Spezza. Tanguay or Nash (or even Bertuzzi less as a sniper but just playing the power forward could fill that role). I don't like Thornton there though. Actually, I don't really like Thornton anywhere but centre, as he has a tendency to play much better there than on the wing. A guy like Richards or Lecalvier makes the transisition much smoother. I also think you're wasting Thornton in a checking role with Madden and Smyth. He needs to be on one of the three lines bringing it offensively. With all that said, where do you play Thornton then? Even if you cast off St. Louis, I don't like him with Lecalvier-Richards too much either (although admittedly, it would be an option, moving Lecalvier to the left side and Richards on the right with Thornton in the middle). Lecalvier-Thornton-Nash wouldn't be bad though, if Nash is healthy (knocking Bertuzzi off of the team). Then you have the the Gagne-Sakic-Richards line (imagine the skating ability), and the Heatley-Spezza-Iginla line. That leaves Marleau (who's responsible enough defensively to take a left wing checking role, although I think in reality Smyth will get this role)-Madden-Doan. And yeah, for the 13th forward, Staal would be a good choice, because he wouldn't be a bad fit on any line. In regards to Ryan Smyth, he's not one of the best 13 forwards in Canada. He's a big fish in a small pond in Edmonton which has helped elevate his status in this country. Furthermore, there is the "well, he's been loyal" argument that everyone throws around. I'm sorry, but so have guys such as Lindros and Kariya (who have both been to more Olympics than Smyth) and I don't hear anyone throwing around the loyalty argument for them. With all that said though, with Lowe in Gretzky's ear, Smyth will most likely be on the team. With all of that said, with your lines, where do you find a spot for Heatley and Thornton on the top 3 lines?

I wouldn't be so sure. Gagne-Sakic-Iginla Richards-Lecalvier-St. Louis Heatley-Thornton-Doan ??? - Draper/Madden - ??? Add in Bertuzzi, Smyth, Tanguay, and Marleau. I'm not saying that those are necessarily the guys that I feel should be there, but the guys I think that will be there. That's 14 forwards (only counting Draper and Madden as one entry). That means of those 14 guys, Crosby, Spezza, and Staal will all have to beat out 5 of them. So just out of curious, which 5 of those 14 forwards is Canada not going to take, instead opting for the 3 kids? Personally speaking, looking at the top line, I think you need to take all three. On the second line, as tough as it is, I might not take St. Louis. Other two are there for sure though. Tough call on St. Louis. On the third line, Thornton and Heatley are obvious. Doan is very borderline in my opinion, but I don't think there is anyway that Gretzky won't take his captain (which means Smyth will probably make it in the end too - however I won't). I'd probably take Madden for a 4th line centre too. My lines would be (and this is subject to change at any time) Heatley - Spezza - Iginla Gagne - Sakic - Richards Lecalvier - Thornton - Bertuzzi (you could obviously always swap one of these guys with one guy on the second line depending on the matchup) Marleau - Madden - Doan That leaves off Crosby, Tanguay, Staal, Draper, St. Louis and Smyth.

Just saw the episode. Thought it was great. Best part was the "Monster" picture. "If only you he knew what she looked like a year ago." That was absolutely brilliant. Amazing.

I'm going to go into Hendo's fight with low expectations, because whenever I have high expectations the fight alway dissapoints.

Now that you two have turned your backs on Beantown, I hope they continue to play like they did tonight and go on a tear. If that's the case, I would hope you would stick to your guns and constantly bemoan the team regardless. I also hope that Brad Stuart re-establishes himself as one of the premier younger defencemen in the league. Only for the mere fact that the Bruins would be unable to sign him and he will then leave at the end of the season as an Unrestricted Free Agent. I hate the Bruins (although I do like a few of their players).

Well, bit of a blockbuster here, as it looks like Joe Thornton is off to San Jose. Going to Boston are Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau and Brad Stuart. As an aside, San Jose has now both the 1st and 2nd overall picks from the 1997 draft in Thornton and Patrick Marleau. I guess now you Bruins fans can have something else to bitch about, instead of the lack of activity by O'Connell and your shitty defence (improved now with the acquisition of Stuart).

Joined Feb 8/02...Do you only come out for the Olympic posts? We have a tie for third place: Voting will re-close at midnite tonite: Theodore or Legace...make your picks, please. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That and the annual World Junior thread.

Bryan McCabe? Yeah, the -1 is something we really want on the team. The new rules (or enforcement of the rules) this year have really exposed McCabe defensively. It's nice that he's been able to put up so many points on the powerplay that most un-intelligent people are oblivious to it. Unless they decide to re-institute the can opener for the Olympics, McCabe won't be able to defend the Europeans on the big ice.

Tragically Hip - Fully Completely Fully Completely Fifty Mission Cap Wheatkings (although I'm certain you could take any three songs on this album in sequence and generate a great list - same goes with Up to Here) Tragically Hip - Road Apples Little Bones Twist My Arm Cordelia (and tack on The Luxury for a four-pack) John Mellencamp -American Fool Hurt's So Good Jack and Diane Hand to Hold on to (or if you prefer, the opening to Uh-Huh with Crumblin Down, Pink Houses and the Authority Song Nirvana - Nevermind Smells Like Teen Spirit In Bloom Come As You Are Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA Glory Days Dancin in the Dark My Hometown Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms So Far Away Money For Nothing Walk of Life Kanye West - Late Registration Heard 'Em Say (despite my hatred of Maroon 5) Touch the Sky Gold Digger

I think everybody is forgetting the Gameboy's Bart vs. the Juggernauts. A great American Gladiator rip off game. And it wasn't all that bad either.

In all seriousness, if Houston wins this game, then winning the series is by no means would winning the series be a stretch with the likes of Clemens, Pettite and Oswalt throwing potentially the final three games. Yeah, yeah, I know Contreras, Buerle, and Garland are hot right now and have had excellent seasons but they do not have the consistent track records of the three Astro pitchers who are capable of single handedly winning games (as much as a pitcher can singlehandedly win you a game).

Go get fucking Mikka Noronen or Martin Biron. Both are significant improvements over what they have. Hell, Jeff Deslauriers might as well play. Conklin SUCKS, and so does Markannen, just less so. Aren't Manny Fernandez and Dwayne Roloson both UFA's at the end of the year? Go out and get one of them right now for cheap. The worst part about Conklin is that he'll fool you into thinking that he is playing well by making some big saves, only to let the shitty goals in, which then deflates the team. Oh, well, Edmonton is probably number 6 on the Canadian teams that I like the most list, even with the addition of Mike Peca (whose a personal favourite) so I don't care all that much, but then again, the insistance on having TY FUCKING CONKLIN as their number one guy is a large part of the reason why I dislike them.

That Rangers v. Islanders game was great. Great pace and tempo. Am I the only one that gets joy from the mere fact that guys are now skating along, rushing, forechecking, backchecking, joining the attack, etc. unobstructed? I mean, I could care less if every game is 1-0, but the obstruction (so far) has just added so much natural flow and speed that had been taken away.

In other news, anyone interested in tickets for next year's Sex Cruise are to contact Mike Tice.

Well, of course, looking back on it, the girls are all ugly. But in the late 80's, they weren't bad. That's not to say they were good. Caitlyn was decent other than being a hippy bitch and all that shit with that psycho Claude. I never minded Tessa Campinelli though. The no dialogue Allison and Amy weren't bad (again for the time). Neither was Lucy or Spike (other than the fact that she hung out with crazy lesbo Liz). Michelle and Alexa were probably average for the time. And there was nothing wrong with Stephanie Kaye. But yeah, Voula, Heather, Erica, Kathleen, Melanie, et al were ugly no matter how you spin it. On the Next Generation, the females are definetly head and shoulders above the last class. Ellie, Manny, Emma, and Ashley are all high quality. Darcy has potential. Paige, Hazel and Alex are decent. The only real bad ones are Liberty and Terri.

Am I the only one that thinks that Hughes is a whiny hypocrite bitch? First off, he damn well better fight not to take a heavyweight from Ace's team. I mean, "this isn't fair, I have 6 and Rich has 5, and now I have 5 and Rich has six." Fuck, wait to the end of the show, because you know you're losing another heavyweight buddy. Furthermore, what fucking head BUTT was he yipping about? What a whiner. It's too bad he can't make the distinction between being a fighter on the show and being a coach. Because it seems like he's constantly trying to put himself over at the expense of the others on the show when really, the show should be about, I don't know, THE FIGHTERS. Hell, not only does he shit talk and put down fighters on the other team, he talks shit about the guys on his team. It seems like Joe's the only guy on his team that he really likes, but I bet if on the outside chance that Joe loses, Hughes would be quick to turn around and talk shit about him too. Fuck, I hope Rush pounds his face in.

So anyone know where I can find a torrent of this? PM me please and thank you.