Here’s noted Serb and WL object of angst Milan Lucic taking a piece out of Chris Neil’s face with his fists. And this looks like one of those instances where Neil just wanted a shot at the title and then…well, you can’t really see who gets whom first, but Lucic picked a good spot to get started. Neil, to his everlasting credit, hangs in there and rifles off a few shots at the end, but the rest of it is all Lucic. See what you can do when you actually face a guy and fight him like a man, you big Serb prick? And spare me the He’s from British Columbia crap. His parents are Serbs; he was sown from Serb seed. But wow, look at him work over that ginger. I could stand to see these ethno-types pummel each other regularly. via.
Here’s the second of two fights between Washington’s Brandon Sugden and the Rangers’ enforcer du jour Donald Brashear. I have an appreciation for dudes that can hang into a fight for a minute or more, and this one fits the bill.
The first fight was quick, leaving the fans wanting more - and more is exactly what they got. The second bout was a long one. Sugden started off strong, but Brash was able to gain control, ending the fight strong with a mix of grappling and punches in a mess of jerseys.
Brashear skated off to cheers, the loudest he’s received at MSG so far. His hit on Blair Betts is close to being forgiven. via.
I’m trying to give hockey a fair shake this fall. That and every other sport that Kobe Bryant doesn’t play. also.
The most marketable face of pro hockey’s most unstable franchise is gone. Wayne Gretzky, who happens to be one of the greatest players to ever play the game, has quit as head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes.
“This was a difficult decision that I’ve thought long and hard about,” Gretzky said in a statement Thursday on his Web site. “We all hoped there would be a resolution earlier this month to the Coyotes ownership situation, but the decision is taking longer than expected.
“Since both remaining bidders have made it clear that I don’t fit into their future plans, I approached general manager Don Maloney and suggested he begin looking for someone to replace me as coach. Don has worked hard and explored many options. I think he has made an excellent choice, and so now it’s time for me to step aside.”
Gretzky’s replacement seems to be in hand, though no announcement has been made. And there’s a good chance that this could be it for the end of the Coyotes in Arizona, and the league-wide ramifications of the sale could be zzzzzzzzz…
Preseason in the NHL seems like a dangerous place to be; you’ve got guys that are willing to do whatever it takes to get on the roster for the big club. Take Tommy Sestito, a 21-year-old career minor league guy who decides to go right after the big dog, taking on noted Inuit/badass Jordin Tootoo in the first period of a preseason game on Saturday. And as you can see from the video, Tootoo gives Sestito a little bullrush there at the end and the New Yorker cracks his head on the ice. Tootoo has come under fire for his role in the fight.
“It’s not a good sight to see. Something like that is pretty dangerous,” Tootoo said. “Obviously my intention wasn’t to bang his head off the ice. Fortunately, I got a hold of him after the game to see how he was doing and it sounds like he’s on the road to recovery…I just apologized for what happened and told him my intentions weren’t to do what happened there and that was it.” via.
Results for Sestito’s CT scan haven’t been found in the press, but one SI columnist has already cited in the incident for the latest “Fighting Is Bad” column. And I’m not saying it is or it isn’t, but I’d like to see the NHL decide whether they’re going to handle disciplining dangerous play or let the players do it themselves. Fighting does have a place in pro hockey, a function, but it’s a function on which the league needs to stop meandering. Either let the players police their own or do it for them. Only time will tell from which hand Jordin Tootoo will find retribution served. If any.
Alexander Ovechkin is a star. He’s a big, bright, shining, Australopithecus-looking star. I love the guy; he’s great for the NHL and a nice dash of cream in the Chocolate City that is the District of Columbia. Alex also is great for that uneven blacktop on 6th Avenue in New York City. Here he is driving a zamboni around the Big Apple for a trip that Dan Steinberg was good enough to point out was actually only one city block. But at least that block is really smooth now. I’m sure all the homeless people urinating onto it later in the day will appreciate that. via.
You’re forgiven if you haven’t been following the saga of the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes. It’s hockey, it’s the offseason, and it’s Arizona. Even the people in Arizona don’t care about hockey in Arizona, which is how we got into this mess in the first place. But things are approaching a fever pitch, if you will, and it seems appropriate to provide an update on the chicanery-laden proceedings:
Okay, I made that last one up. But the chaos in keeping the coolest game on earth in one of the hottest, most expensive, most passive hockey audiences in America is building to a fine crescendo. If Gary Bettman launched the team into space and announced that they’d play the 2009-2010 season on Mars, I wouldn’t be surprised. The Martian market is just begging for a pro team, but there’s no way they’d put up a subsidy for a new arena. Aliens aren’t that stupid.
