Saturday Links: If Jay doesn't want #9, maybe Oshie gets himself a big boy number Edition

by Poor College Student on Jul 17, 2010 6:00 AM CDT

Or maybe he steps up and takes #7 like he wore at NoDak.

Links are going in the can a little earlier than usual. If something happens around the 10PM hour on Friday, post it in the comments.

Blues News:

NHL.com has the Fight of the Year: Janssen vs. Lablond.
You heard it here first: Jeremy Rutherford says he "doesn't think" Silent Jay will go back to #9 if when Paul Kariya doesn't come back, via Twitter.

NHL News:

The CHL's new regular season and playoff format has 18 teams playing 66 regular season games to determine playoff positions for the top 16. That's right, only 2 teams don't make it in.
The hockey overlord for SBNation passes along this beauty concerning the potential arbitration case for Antti Niemi. There's a joke about his glove not fitting in there somewhere.
For sale: One Kevin Bieksa. Someone tweeted that a radio station somewhere said he was headed to Columbus for a 2nd rounder and a prospect. Y'see people...this is how rumors get started.
The Canadiens' website talked to Lars, who likes his Armageddon. On a side note, how dare anyone think about killing Bruce Willis, in a movie or otherwise?
Lee Stempniak, who's still a free agent, talked with Pierre LeBrun.
Dmitri Chesnokov, Puck Daddy's Russian guy, talked with former Islander Alexei Yashin. He might return to being an overpaid Islander for the next season. Also, Puck Comrade

Other Stuff:

The voicemail greeting is now diamonds!
Jack Osbourne: Your #1 source for Mel Gibson tribute tees.
Pennies: Good for flattening on train tracks and pissing off your government

Video:

Spectr17 has the video for today, explaining the origins of the vuvuzela. Oddly enough, this guy sounds like Jacob Silj, noted sufferer of Voice Immodulation

And boom goes the dynamite.

Gametimelinks (at) gmail.com

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Comments

Oh I don't like it...

when players change numbers whilst still with the same team. I always think it’s bad karma or something. Yet, I’ll happily make an exception for the Jay McClement/Paul Kariya thing.

And – completely OTish… I was watching an NHL Fly segment on youtube after Halak’s heroics in game 6 v Capitals and there was an interesting little stat. Halak is 12-2-1 when facing 40 shots or more in games. Certainly seems like the more shots he faces, the happier the guy is.

BLUE SKIES - new St Louis Blues hockey blog.

"If you've come to apologize, I forgive you for hitting me with your crutch. I'm so glad my head didn't break it."
"If you mean time traveling bunnies, then yes."
"Destiny John, is a fickle bitch."

Benjamin Linus - resident "Lost" badass and all round sexy dude.

by drfrankentweed on Jul 17, 2010 6:23 AM CDT reply actions

Looks like the NHL from when I was a wee lad.

“The CHL’s new regular season and playoff format has 18 teams playing 66 regular season games to determine playoff positions for the top 16. That’s right, only 2 teams don’t make it in.”

Let's go Blues!!!

by Milo. on Jul 17, 2010 6:51 AM CDT via mobile reply actions

I don't see this as a problem.

The NHL went for decades with all six teams making the playoffs. The only negative with an expanded playoff bracket is the decrease in first-round upsets.

by BleedBlue42 on Jul 17, 2010 9:37 AM CDT up reply actions

Hah . . . the halcyon days of 21 teams, 16 playoff contenders.

That, and they started the playoffs in-the-division, which allowed for teams like the fucking Minnesota North Stars (who were fucking 27-39-14, 68 points) to make the SCF in 1991. For some perspective, the Flyers had 76 points that season and didn’t make it to the postseason in the Patrick Division (which, ironically enough, housed your Cup champs from 1991 – the Pittsburgh Penguins). This wasn’t the only example of how the divisional championship playoff system shafted teams, but it sticks out in my mind since the fucking Minnesota North Stars knocked out the fucking Blues in the fucking Norris Division Finals that year.

This inequity HAD to be a key reason expansion started (the Sharks came into existence the next season and the floodgates were open); the NHL brass had to justify going to a conference-wide playoff system with more than just actually DOING it – they had to find a REASON. And thus, expansion was part of it.

St. Louis Game Time . . . I need another beer.
And I can also write things in 140 characters or fewer.

by Donut King on Jul 17, 2010 12:00 PM CDT up reply actions

I miss intradivisional playoffs, actually.

Sure, there were inequities between divisions, and (insert obligatory Fuck Jon Casey [Part 1] reference here)… but those intradivisional playoffs are what forged the rivalries that made the league what it is. That passionate hatred of the Hawks and Wings didn’t come from regular-season games; it came from do-or-die playoff series, where you won or you went home.

by BleedBlue42 on Jul 17, 2010 12:35 PM CDT up reply actions

I dunno, I'm kinda glad they're gone.

Imagine getting dominated by a team all year in those divisional games, then having to play those guys in the first round every year. Then wondering why you never got over the hump.

Then again, there’s always a drawback to every plan.

St. Louis Game Time . . . I need another beer.
And I can also write things in 140 characters or fewer.

by Donut King on Jul 18, 2010 2:09 AM CDT up reply actions

The Janssen/ LeBlond fight was good...

But we need to put Cam into some serious training so he can go all Wendel Clark on people. One minute he’ll just be skating along and then when a fight starts he’ll drop the gloves (which will be so heavy they’ll crack the ice, naturally) and he’ll punch his opponent so hard their entire bloodline of dead ancestors will come back to life long enough to say “DAAAAAAAAAMN” when they see their descendant getting punched so hard. We either need a good training montage for him, or some kind of ridiculous training that only makes sense on loud shouty fighting cartoons like Dragon Ball Z or Naruto.

Or we could turn him into a martial arts killing machine by sending him to a Daiye Spa and have Milla Jovovovich walk around in a latex nurse outfit and make him listen to Frankie Goes to Hollywood and… okay, where was I going with this again?

by Paperwork Ninja on Jul 18, 2010 12:11 AM CDT reply actions