At Dwight’s prodding in yesterday’s comments section, I decided to watch my first hockey game of the fledgling 2010-11 season. Now, I know that I’ve said, on more than one occasion, that I avoid the Maple Laughs at all cost and I have zero interest in the team and last night was no different. I watched purely for the opportunity to watch Sid the Kid work some magic.
(He is still the youngest denizen on my mancrush list, although Justin Bieber is threatening that mantle. I think I have the Bieber Fever. Or I just find it hard to reconcile that fact he’s probably gotten more ass at 17 then I have in my entire life).
I know everyone in the GTA is making a huge deal out of this 3-0 start, but I literally have heard people say, with a straight face, that this could be the Leafs year. And that is why I hate this team and their supporters so much. Yes, it’s great the team has won three games this quickly when it took them until American Thanksgiving or something last year.
Unfortunately, a closer look at the team’s wins shows me that it’s not so much the Leafs are playing well, it’s their opponents are playing like shit. They beat Montreal on Opening Day; ok, that was a good one. They beat a tired Ottawa team playing the second game of a back to back and a Penguins team who can’t beat anyone right now.
Yes, the Leafs played with a lot of jump and intensity last night which was great to see after watching too many games over the past few years where players would just skate in large circles around the ice without a sense of urgency.
Pierre McGuire was hard last night talking about the Leafs newfound depth and how the team can roll four lines into the game and you couldn’t discern the difference between the top line and the bottom line. How is that a good thing? Burke always talks about a top 6, bottom 6 and now the team is lauded for having a middle 12?
I’m sorry, but if you’re depending on guys like Colton Orr and Clarke McArthur to do your scoring for you, then you’re in big trouble. The supposed top line of Kessel, Bozak and Versteeg was invisible last night.
I am not sold on this team. Everyone just needs to calm down. Less than five percent of season has been played. I’ll revisit the Leafs around Remembrance Day and we’ll see how the boys in blue are doing at that point.
One odd rules quirk that I love about hockey, and took place last night, is the additional two minute penalty for drawing blood on a stick infraction. I know I bash the sport fairly often, but there are literally no tougher athletes than hockey players. In what other sport are you legally allowed to draw blood and the only punishment is an extra two minutes in the penalty box. Not only that, but players high-sticked in the face actually hope they’re bleeding to garner a longer man advantage for their team.
Athletes in other sports take weeks off with hangnails and turf toe, whereas hockey players get dental work on the bench, stitches are badges of honour, and playing with broken ribs and bones is expected as long as you can perform your duty on the ice.
(And all that requisite toughness is why I no longer play the game; my face is much too pretty to risk disfigurement playing with such cretins).
Posts
1 comment:
when a group of people have gone so long without a sniff of hope, this is how they are bound to react. this 3-0 team, which may yet fall on its face, appears to be a thousand times better than the apes on skates of recent years.
remember the day obama was sworn in as president? the republican burden was lifted and the entire US and A got a raging hope-boner. as the midpoint of his term in office approaches, things aren't so bright. why not hope anyway? i say let the hope-boners rage. the world is indeed bright when you remove shitgoggles that you've been wearing for so long.
last night's game wasn't completely spectacular (although they dominated pittsburgh until schenn's double-minor), but it was serviceable. they didn't blow the lead (a post-lockout pandemic) and they won the one-on-one battles. and sure as shit, i had more invested (emotionally, not in cszem's way) in last night's leafs game than i have in a long time. as it turns out, you care more when your team isn't so painfully shitty.
eastbound & down (i still resent your comments from a couple of weeks ago) quote of the day:
“ive got an arm like a damn rocket, a cock like a python, and the mind of a scientist.”
Post a Comment