I bet I Could Kick Samsonov's Ass

He's really small, I think I could do it. However, I don't want to.

It's been nice having him here, he's netted some points, doubling what he had coming in. He also increased his G/Game average, up from undefined.

I like his style, he's got some good hands. Watch him if you get a chance.

No Waivers for Leighton

From section 50.9:

The Re-Entry Waiver procedure will not, however, be applicable to
Veteran Minor League Players defined as follows: (i) for goaltenders, Players who
have: (A) played in 180 or more professional games in North America (NHL, AHL
and ECHL), and (B) not spent more than 80 NHL games on NHL roster over the
prior two (2) seasons or more than 40 NHL games on NHL roster in the
immediately prior season

My bad. Props to whoever found this and posted it at TSB.

I HAS A GOALIE (e12)

Well, John Grahame has been waived, per Luke DeCock. Interesting. Grahame hasn't exactly been playing well, so I'm not in the least bit surprised. What does this mean for the Canes?

Well, first off, Leighton has had some rather stellar play in the AHL this season. He needs to clear re-entry waivers in order to get to Raleigh. That's not so good. Who would pass on Leighton, for half price? Nobody sane. It'd be a fantastic pickup.

If that happens, then what? Well, ekdork is claiming we're going to sign Cujo. I'd be happy with that, and seems like a viable back-up plan in case Leighton gets claimed. He played in a tournament over seas and did pretty well form what I've heard. It'd be good to give Cam some real competition in net. However, Cujo needs to clear re-entry waivers since he's played elsewhere. That's not so good. What happens if Leighton and Joseph are claimed? I think we'll either bring Grahame back up or promote Peters. I suppose this could clear the log jam we have in our minors system.

So, yes, Jim Rutherford has a goalie. Or twelve.

We could end up screwed though. Someone sign Tom Barasso!

Survey Says? -- 30 Games

Chris Simon is officially suspended for 30 games. This was about what I was expecting to be handed down. For the number fiends out there, this bumps his percentage of his career he's spent suspended up to 8.3%. Not too shabby for those seeking records. To date, Simon currently holds the NHL's two longest suspensions with his most recent affair and the 25 game ban he served for two-handing Ryan Hollweg. That is, unless he goes the Marty McSorley route and retires before his suspension is completed. I'll say the suspension is "right" in that it's not very light at all, even though its not a season ban.

So, will he serve all 30 games? It's tough to tell. Simon clearly has some issues he needs to work out. He may be hitting the sauce again, who knows. At any rate, a few things can happen. The Islanders can waive him and demote him to the AHL and not call him up to be on the NHL roster for each game, essentially exiling him. That could happen given Charles Wang's (the owner) apparent disgust over his actions. Another is Simon straight up retires, realizing that nobody is going to sign a loose cannon with 70 suspension games under his belt. Which retirement would be likely if he was exiled to the AHL as well.

I'm beginning the count down for how long it takes for Simon to play the race card, or Nolan to do it for him. They've done it in the past, and you know they'll do it again.

Simon Says, "Suspend Me For Life"

Really, I mean, how in the world do you not learn from a 25 game suspension? Oh, right, you're Chris Simon.

I understand that hockey is a game where emotions run wild, and we all do stupid things. I've done dumb stuff, but what possesses people to go crazy like Chris Simon? He's going to end up killing someone if the League doesn't do something about him. Havlat's kick garnered him a 5 game suspension, but Havlat was down on the ice. Simon just wanted to hurt Ruutu. Hopefully Colin Campbell will not take the "no injury" approach and go lightly. Simon has been suspended 7 times, for a total of 40 games. His last was for 25 games, and he's clearly not learned his lesson only 26 games back from that one. He's played in 770 games, and served 40 suspension games. So, for a total of 810 games available to play, he's been suspended for 5% of that. Five freakin' percent of his career has been suspensions.

At least the Isles put Simon on 'leave' so he can gather his little remaining sanity and get help. I have a feeling he didn't suggest this himself.

Breakdown of his suspensions:

• 25 games for a high stick on Ryan Hollweg
• 2 games for kneeing Sergie Zubov
• 2 games for cross checking Ruslan Fedotenko
• 2 games for elbowing Anders Eriksson
• 1 playoff game for cross checking Peter Popivic
• 3 games for verbal commentes directed at Mike Grier
• 5 games for slashing Dennis Vial

In case you missed it:

Duck Doug (Goose)

Well, Doug Weight has been traded to the Anaheim Ducks. I must say that this reeks of betrayal, especially after reading his comments in the paper. As a weird side note, I was actually wearing his sweater when he was traded. Talk about freaky.

Weight's production was down, and it's been a self-admittedly an 'unlucky' year for him. But at the same time, he wasn't being put on the power-play with near as much frequency as a player like him should. You cant produce if you aren't give the opportunity.

I think these few lines explain it all:

When asked how the deal unfolded and why he waived his no-trade clause, Weight said: "I just don't feel like I want to comment on that. It is what it is ... Over the last 15 years, I've developed a pretty good reputation and I'm an honest person. I have no need to leave this city throwing mud, you know. I'm not going to comment on how it went down. If somebody asks me, I'll tell them ... and I guarantee my teammates and friends will know exactly what happen."

Blues President John Davidson said: "Dougie is a proud guy. He didn't bail on his teammates. He didn't waive his no-trade clause because he didn't want to be here. He waived it for the right reasons, to go to Anaheim and get a lot of ice time. There's no way in the world that Doug would leave his teammates with that feeling. This was a hockey decision that we went to him with and he eventually wound up accepting."

It appears as though Doug was being threatened with the LeClair treatment--"let us trade you or we'll send you to Peoria"--effectively ending a 4-time All-Star and 7th leading active player in assists. It's treatment players like Recchi, LeClaire, and Weight don't deserve.

Brian Burke seems to be pretty stoked about getting a player with the leadership and passing abilities Doug can bring. Hopefully, being welcomed with open arms, despite an a-typical season, will ease his transition into getting his game back on track.

Good luck in Anaheim, Dougie. I was getting attached to the Blues, but after the way this appears to be handled, there's no residual love.

Just Walk(er) Away

Scott Walker is probably on of my favorite Hurricanes, he's tough as nails and is tenacious on the ice. However, last night was the second time that I've seen that tenacity carry him too far. I dont know why he head-butted Fisher, it's just stupid. You know you're going to get suspended for that.



So, at the get go, Walker avoids some contact with two players, and ends up hitting the top of Gerber's leg pads. Interference, yes, but it was rather innocent contact. Ottawa did lose Emery early in the game to injury, but Fisher over reacted. Walker kept trying to get up and skate away, but Fisher wouldn't let up. I'm surprised he didn't get an instigator on it. To make matters worse, Fisher wears a visor. If you want to wear one, fine, but ditch the bucket before you fight.

As for the head-butt it's tough to see in regular motion, and does look like he was leaning in, just trying to get Fisher, but look at the 2:10 mark. He deliberately whacks him in the face with his head. It's even clearer at the 2:35 mark. Then, right at the end, at the 3:35 mark or so, it's blatantly obvious that he intentionally head-butted him.

So how many games will Walker get? I don't know. Guess we'll find out Friday the earliest.

As far as the other instance, I searched for a video, but no luck. He was fighting Ron Hainsey of the Blue Jackets during the 2007 pre-season. At the end after Hainsey went down a linesman tried to intervene, walker kept punching him in the head. He received a misconduct on the play. Both times, plain old stupid, but hopefully he'll have his wits about him in the future.

It's Been a While

Well, It's been quite some time since I last blogged (edit: LOL, one year to the day). I decided i'm going to try to keep up with it all regularly. So, check back later to see if I'm full of it. I'm still in college, and am procrastinating instead of studying for my exams right now, hence the blogging.

I've been through some injuries from playing hockey, but I hope to be back out on the ice with my friends. Remember, beavers rule!
----
Ok, so whats going on hockey wise....

The Dirty Hits--I've been furious with the way the National Hockey League has handled the dirty hits lately. They started to send a message, and then relax and go back to the slaps on the wrist. The next time the Flyers go off the deep end, I'll post some commentary.

The 'Canes--I'll miss the game against Ottawa. I'm pretty bummed about that, because I'll be studying instead. I've got a Quantum Mechanics exam the next morning at 8am, and have both an Electrodynamics exam and an International Trade exam on Wednesday. At any rate, I'll keep up with my analysis after each game. Starting with Cal-GARY (it's talk like Barry Melrose week) on friday.

The League--What's happened lately? My brain is mush, and I cant remember. The plan is to do an update, once a week on the league happenings.
----
Some hockey banter...

Ok, so enough of BSing. With my vested interest in the Blues, I've started to watch David Perron a bit more. I really think that he'll pan out to be a pretty decent player for the Blues. He's already decent, proving himself to Andy Murray, and getting time on the PP and PK units. Perron started at a pretty low level while playing Junior, and blossomed into a great player with the Maineiacs. Keep an eye out for him.

Oh, Dougie Weight, where are you??? Doug hasnt been producing much, which I guarantee is grinding on him. Though lately he's kept his +/- in check, so he's not hurting the team. He'll get his rhythm back, just dont hold your stick with a death grip!

Recchi a Trasher? OY. I feel bad for Rex, I like his game. It's Crosby's fault for his exile.