CrashingTheGoalie

by desertdawg
Okay, so it took us all a few days to recover from the shock.
Willie Mitchell wasn’t the only one who thought the Canucks had something special going this year. Lots of us did.
Of course our enthusiasm leaves us open to the ridicule from other fan bases…but hey, how well did their team do?
So [...]

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by Ron Spence
Cory Schneider – the AHL’s Goalie of the Year – was pulled after the 2nd period of game five of the Calder Cup semi-finals.
The good news was that Schneider wasn’t beating himself up:
“I felt good (Friday), just one bad bounce and a nice play by them. I felt strong, it’s just sometimes pucks [...]

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by Ron Spence
Most people see things literally.
They see a dog walking down the road, it’s a dog walking down the road.
I’ve never seen things that way.
I’ve always seen something else.
Thus, my interpretations of the three pictures below:
The Canucks – actually believing that they will go upstream to the Stanley Cup.

The Blackhawks, running for dear life, [...]

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by Ron Spence
Clint Smith passed away last week. He was 95-years-old and had won a Stanley Cup with the Rangers in 1940.
I met with Clint – and interviewed him on a couple of occasions – and we talked about hockey during the 1930s and 1940s.
He called the semi-final series between the Bruins and Rangers – [...]

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by Ron Spence
You’re saying you want a seventh team in Canada?
That’s a joke.
We’re having trouble with just six.
Calgary’s Mike Keenan was fired yesterday. Edmonton’s Craig McTavish was fired on April 15th, and Montreal’s Guy Carbonneau on March 9th.

Bryan Murray fired Ottawa head coach John Paddock on February 27th, 2008, taking over the coaching duties himself. [...]

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by Ron Spence
“If you’d know some of the things that Babcock says to Chris Chelios it would make your stomach churn,” Jeremy Roenick said. “…The way he is talked to is just unacceptable. I wish I could elaborate, but that’s not proper. It’s just disrespectful.”
Now, anyone who’s spent any time in the Detroit dressing room knows [...]

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what did Patrick Kane do next?
I mean, the 20-year-old  had just decimated the Canucks, so what did he do after that?

He had 69 text messages waiting on his cell when he reached the Chicago locker room.
And he returned the one from his sister Jacqueline, and they created the Patrick Kane [...]

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by Ron Spence

Only three men in NHL history have both played in, and coached 800 games. One has retired, one is between jobs, and another is a current NHL coach.
Only 15 coaches in NHL history have coached 700 games with the same franchise. Of these 15, three are still NHL coaches.
And of the last [...]

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by Ron Spence
This past season was hard on NHL coaches.  Seven were fired before the playoffs started.
During the 2007-08 campaign, only three were axed – Washington’s Glen Hanlon; Atlanta’s Bob Hartley and Ottawa’s John Paddock.
The good news – in 2008-09 – is that three of the replacements have led their teams into their Conference [...]

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by Ron Spence
There’s been a lot of media talk about Phoenix, Hamilton, and now Winnipeg.
It seems that Mr. Bettman favours Winnipeg over Hamilton – for a potential franchise transfer.
Whether he’s telling the truth – or not – we don’t know. His trust level is at an all time low.
But, there’s one thing that we know [...]

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