ALL the Bubble Wrap!

Kris Letang took a hit to the head last night and left the Pens game in the first with an “upper body injury.”

Immediately, commentators began fighting.  Some say Letang put himself in a vulnerable position.  Others are calling for Eric Nystrom’s suspension.  EJ Hradek of NHL Network says:

ESPN’s (former Foxy Friday) John Buccigross disagrees:

By far the best was Milbury and Jeremy Roenick about to take off their earrings and start slapping each other.  (Props to Milbury – WHAT?!?!? I know. – for recommending Bylsma tell Pierre to “take off, eh?” for being a tool.)  See the video at Deadspin.com [link].

Disco Dan says Kris is “day-to-day” at this point.  After the non-committal injury descriptions in hockey, I think DTD is my favorite un-phrase.

As you know (because you counted the days till he was back), Letang missed nearly two months this season after suffering a concussion on November 26.  The hit earned Montreal’s Max Paccioretty a 3-game ban, even though the Pens cleared Letang and he returned to play.  Almost a week of continuing symptoms later, Kris was finally diagnosed with a concussion.

Gratuitous hair photo.

Since returning to the ice, Kris has been the same BAMF that earned him the most write-in votes of any NHL’er for the 2011 All-Star Game and a spot on that starting lineup.  He has 9G/22A on the year, and is credited with raising the game of his d-partner Paul Martin (who is not James Neal’s girlfriend).

Gratuitous perfection photo.

The NHL has not announced if Nystrom will have a hearing.  So what’s your verdict?  Shanabanned or no?  Maybe the NHL could introduce a new system of punishment here – using the fans.  If hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, you should see how she reacts when you take away her Letang.

Pst … Boston!

so, you wanna go to turkey with me for summer ... no?

If only this article would have come out BEFORE the Capitals played Tampa Bay then maybe they would have stood a chance! But NO! On the other hand, do hockey fans really read Sports Illustrated? Because they hardly EVERY cover anything on hockey. It would have been the best kept secret, like it still is. (visit)

Ok and don’t laugh, OK – laugh  because the title says, “A former NHL Coach cracks the 1-3-1 code” and guess who the ‘former’ NHL coach is … No, I’m not telling. You’ll have to go there yourself. It’s just too awesome to spoil. Or perhaps you don’t care.

Either way, if I didn’t love the Capitals so much, I would have picked Tampa Bay to beat them because in hindsight, they didn’t have a prayer. With a newly revamped ‘defensive’ team, there was no-way in hell they stood a chance against Guy Boucher’s brilliant 1-3-1 mastermind. And yes, he made it up. He’s my new favoritest human-master-of-the-universe. And while Steve Yzerman deserves the credit for hiring said mastermind, I’m thinking Tampa Bay may only be just getting started.

I can't help but fall for you ...

I strongly dislike to be wrong. I strongly dislike to dislike teams with players and coaches who might soundly beat my favorite players and teams. I strongly dislike to like really smart, weirdly hot, strange but hot, wickedly smart coaches with hot, small players and young, weirdly blonde possibly hot really good but too good for their own good players who compete too well against my own favorite players.

i'm not naming names

So to sum it all up: Boston, don’t read the last week’s SI. I’m trying really hard to not like Tampa Bay and Guy Boucher but I’ve always been drawn to the dark side. And lightening just may strike more than once, twice, three times. I feel a dynasty coming on … and it’s not in Washington I fear.

Mocked on National TV

Ok, was anyone watching the Chicago Blackhawks and the Philadelphia Fliers last Sunday? Because this is a priceless little nugget of gold. Not because it was a rematch between the Stanley Cup teams of last year but because Marty Turco mocked Pierre Mcguire on national TV – NBC to be exact. Mike Milbury plows over him between periods when NBC has hockey games and everyone else talks over him. He’s the kid no one liked but kept showing up to play and always thought he should be captain. Someone even refered to his Stanley Cup Ring as his ‘decoder ring’ which prompted me to ask Mr. Cherrie “He played hockey? He has a ring?” Mr. Cherrie shrugged and pulled up the internet and did some research. He won them as a ‘scout’ and assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins. That’s like getting ‘most improved’ by proxy which explains why he wears them all the time.