Toren

It takes a long time, actually. Because he's put more into this team than some fairweather fan has. You can criticize his performance as of late, but you have nowhere to stand when you claim that he's not trying. He's in a slump; a long slump. But that doesn't mean he's just packed it in. He will get out of this, and you'll look even more a fool than you currently do. I hear Tampa Bay got killed by the Leafs last night, go suckle off Sundin and the blue and white for a bit.

Because our "second" line is the closest thing we have to a consistant threat right now.

To be fair, Dandenault is a converted defenceman converted forward.

Seconded.

Now I know why Higgins can't finish; He's cross-eyed! Seriously, though, they picked a terrible time to zoom in on Higgins on the bench. He had a spot on his visor and was trying to clean it without taking his helmet off.

Everyone in the hockey world (including me) thought Pleckanec was passing that to Kovalev. Instead? Absolute snipe. That's a good, smart play by a guy who knows what the book says about him. This just in: Reich is a pussy. Tried to fight everyone on the fourth line. Finally Boullion decided to shut him up.

I think we might actually have a fourth line, boys. More like 3a/3b, but when Guy Lafleur said the team had 4 fourth lines, he was totally wrong. Nobody on that team would play as hard or gritty as a fourth liner. The new line with Lapierre is exactly what a good team needs. Speed and grit, with a little bit of youth. Our bottom two lines are hard working and dominate the wall while our top two lines take care of the offence (not so much right now, but that's the IDEA) If you think of it, each line has defensive responsibility and some scoring talent. It's spread out well, while still having a top offensive line in Pleck's line. And there's our grinder line getting a goal. O'Byrne with his first NHL point on the assist.

The prices aren't bad, it's just that I'm on campus for so long I'm always eating at least one meal there. Sometimes two or three.

UVic isn't so much the challenge as it is engineering. Sometimes I wish I was an arts major... And the bunnies are...running wild. Not a day goes by where I don't wish I could just bring a BBQ to campus. It helps keep the population even, and saves me money on food! Plus, it's just damn delicious.

Chris Higgins is money.

Lube for exams. ...although I guess that comes before Christmas. In that case, Preperation-H for after exams.

I used a powertek for the better part of a season. Good hockeystick for the money for sure, but not in the same league as the "arm and a leg" graphite sticks. Even the older ones are still better sticks. I used a Louisville TPS R2 Whip Flex (A couple of years ago it was the two-piece version of their top of the line stick) and I've never shot anything better. Not saying it's the best stick, but each player has their own preference, and that was mine. Broke it in the playoffs last season and haven't found another one since. Look around boxing day for blowout sales on last year's or mid-year models. If you can find a good, high-quality stick for a bit more than the entry level sticks, I'd snatch it up; definitely worth the investment. My R2 lasted me the better part of 2 1/2 years of constant use. The powertek was a good stick, but I've used other entry/mid-level graphite sticks and I don't think I even can again. I bought a lot of three TPS Intrigues right as they were brand-new off the truck. I've been a big TPS fan for awhile, and I wanted to see if I could save money on sticks. Those three sticks lasted me half a season. I returned two for warranties. One of the sticks broke on the first shot in the warmup. I wound up for a slapshot, and the puck moved three feet while I watched the blade fly into the corner. I've been using a Bauer One70 this season and I'm a pretty big fan of the stick. The first one broke on me, but Bauer was good about getting me a replacement and I haven't had any problems since. Morale of the story: You have to find a stick that's right for you and try not to stray.

Apparently EA sent me a different game. Because NHL 08 has a great system where it "tweaks" the AI to adapt to your play. Except it doesn't actually tweak anything, it just makes everyone on your team worse. I have to make perfect slap-pass one-timers to the top corner to get a 50% chance at a goal. And then Eric Staal backhands it from the blueline 3 times in a row to win it in the last minute. On a normal day, though, it seems like every NHL 08 goal is off the post and in.

Hasek always messes up his groin. That guy pulls his groin more than I did when I was 14 and found a "gentlemans" magazine.

And here comes the league's 30th powerplay in the league. It certainly isn't the #1 PP with how they're playing on it right now.

They're giving Lilja the business. It seems like almost every Habs player that's passed him is yelling something at him or giving him a bit of woodwork (or graphite work now, I guess). It's all fine and dandy, but someone needs to keep him honest and drop the gloves. Get Claude down from the press box and give him a pair of skates.

Hey, at least he only signed for a year! Looks like that decision could come back to haunt him.

Brisebois got angry! Wow. Nichol rocked him with a clean hit behind the net. So Brisebois got back up and nailed him hard into the corner. Then Nichol slashed Brisebois to get him to fight and Brisebois drew a double-minor by getting cross-checked in the face by Nichol. Good to see Breezer sticking up for himself, even if he did look like a wuss for turtling (albeit he did get hit in the face with a stick, it still looked pretty wussy )

I love it when the mic up leadership guys like Komisarek. He's part-time goalie coach and motivational coach!

Grabovski is bringing it tonight. He really wants to be in this lineup. Hustles on the backcheck after Kostitsyn fails to clear it and uses what little size he has to seperate the Predator from the puck before he can shoot, and then gets in on a 2on1 before Ryder tried to deke and lost it.

What a pretty pass and a move that was equal to it for the goal. I guess they had time to go over that play during the 4 minute 5on3.

Wow, what a terrible giveaway by Markov. And Fiddler put the backhand on the roof...of the Bell centre. Huet has been impressive so far tonight; this is why we can't trade him.

Kostitsyn is taking our offensive zone faceoffs from now on. Nice little bit of creativity from a winger taking the faceoff. Grabs got tossed from the circle, he goes to the right wing, Ryder goes to the left wing, and Kostitsyn takes the faceoff. Pushes it forward between the legs of the Predator centerman, steps around him and snaps a nice shot that Ellis saved. Here comes the league's #1 PP...

Plecks gets an ugly one, but they all count. Just put that puck on net. Higgins was right there to crash it if it came out. Goaltending change for Nashville already. Dan Ellis is in.

Carbonneau cannot have Grabovski, Kostitsyn, and Ryder out against Nashville's offensive players. That was a serious mismatch that could've ended our lead in a hurry. They were lucky enough to get a chance coming off the transition, but Ryder missed the net with an absolute howitzer of a wrister. I really do like the makeup of these lines, though. The Koivu line is more of a plugger line right now, but what can you do. You gotta roll with what will get you wins, not what will get your captain (and best overall player) points. I can't really offer a solution right now on what to do with the lines, because I like Higgins on the "1a/1b" line of Kovalev and Plecks, and I like Ryder with the kids. The only thing I can think of is Koivu centering Kostitsyn and Grabovsky/Ryder/Latandresse...whichever is playing harder, I guess. Either way, someone's gonna be unhappy on the fourth line or in the press box.