Monday, October 15, 2007

Blow Leafs Blow!

EDITED TO ADD A VIDEO:

Please watch this video.

(Canadian TV is so much cooler than American TV. Tim Connolly either thought this was a real interview or he's a great actor (bravo, Tim). And now we know why Derek probably got that unsportsmanlike conduct last night.)

A couple of thoughts during the Buffalo-Toronto game:

If anyone could possibly hit both posts and still not get the puck in the net, it's Jochen Hecht, God bless 'im. I popped in and out of the open game thread at Bfloblog and after Jochen completely missed the net on a breakaway (sigh), someone brought up old Hands of Stone himself, Mike Grier although someone quickly added that that's the only way Hecht compares to Grier. At the risk of offending those who bow at the altar of Mike Grier, I think they compare pretty well with the exception of Grier playing more phyiscally than Hecht usually does. The primary difference is that Grier always played on a checking line and wasn't expected to score whereas Jochen has always been on a scoring line even though his skill set is more suited to a checking line. He's not a scorer, folks. Never has been, probably never will be. (And almost exactly as I finished typing that sentence, Yo-Yo scores. Sorry, man.)

Seriously, tell me Tim Connolly isn't every bit as good as Daniel Briere. If anything, he's better. His vision is absolutely mind-boggling. Please stay healthy, Timmmy. Please.

Has it ever been more clear that Andrew Peters is dead weight on the ice? He seems like a decent guy, I know he's well-liked in the locker room, but why is he getting any ice-time? The fourth line was completely invisible tonight until Lindy started putting Derek Roy out there in Peters' place and boom, Mairsy puts it in the net. I know, I know... He was in the line-up to protect against any funny business from Belak and Tucker. But even when he's doing that he's just so stupid about it. Can't we let Mair and Goose take care of that stuff and move Peters on down the line?

Hecht extended? Granted, it's Eklund. But it's also an E5 which means someone else probably already did the legwork to confirm it and Ek is just latching on. I wouldn't mind seeing Yo-Yo around for a few more years so I hope it's true. Now let's get cracking on Campbell and Kalinin.

11 comments:

Gambler said...

Okay, it may be an e5, but the fact that he spelled Jochen wrong sort of undermines the credibility (stupid Eklund). Still, I really hope it's true. Then I can finally get my Hecht jersey! And I can even put the C on it now! (Although I really want to get one of the throwbacks. Would it violate jersey law to get a C on that one?)

Wow, what a game this was. I totally agree about Connolly. He was blowing my mind with some of the things he was doing out there tonight. And all those people who said Roy would never be a true play-making center better prepare to eat their words. He's looking great.

But, um, some semblance of a consistent defense would sure be nice from time to time.

Heather B. said...

But, um, some semblance of a consistent defense would sure be nice from time to time.

It's crazy how they can go from playing really solid defense for two games to playing practically no defense through most of this game. After every one of our goals we said begged for some D. "Okay, how about we play some defense now? How about now? Maybe now?"

I know I said this in the post but I just can't believe how much Timmy seems to see out there. I get frustrated sometimes because he sometimes holds the puck for so long but I should really know better because when he finally does let it go, it's almost perfectly placed somewhere. All hail, TC!

Also, no one at Hockeybuzz seems to understand things like spelling and grammar. I find Garth almost unreadable for that reason. (I just wrote a post about how the punctuation at the arena bothers me so you know I mean business ;-))

Unknown said...

Paul Hamilton of WGR spoke with Jochen after the game, and Jochen denied that he has re-signed, but did admit that they are negotiating. I believe Yo-Yo and Paul Hamilton more than Eklund right now, but at least Darcy's realized that you have to do things mid-season.

And on the punctuation thing, Hockeybuzz is college level writing compared to some of the postings I see on the auto-racing boards I read. For example, one gentleman does not use capital letters, and punctuation, preferring instead to separate his thoughts with three commas. It's annoying! So I do understand your frustration.

Katebits said...

Heather, you beat me to it with that hilarious video! I stumble upon it last night after the game and it REALLY made me laugh.

You should have HEARD the desperate screams of "SHOOOOOOT!" at Timmy last night. So funny, because when he finally did shoot, we were all, "Well, thank you kind sir. Thank you very much. That was much to our liking."

Meg said...

And now Hecht really is extended. You totally can get your Hecht jersey, Gambler. Yay!

Gambler said...

You totally can get your Hecht jersey, Gambler.

Yay! Um, now it's just an issue of getting $200 from some mysterious benefactor. But seriously I'm SO GLAD that Yo-Yo's sticking around! Now get cracking on Soupy, Darcy!

Heather, that video is so funny! Is there anyone who does a less convincing job of playing himself than Derek Roy? I know Drury's gone, Roysie, but I don't think we need another Team Robot. (And did they just refer to Andrew Peters as "one of the toughest guys in the league"? Her?)

"Well, thank you kind sir. Thank you very much. That was much to our liking."

Ha! Awesome, Kate.

Mark B said...

With as sorry as the D was last night, I was ready for them to use Kate's "Stack" idea.

Glad Lindy has a few days to straighten them out again.

Great game, though!

DCThrowback said...

Great link! Thanks for the video.

Katebits said...

Mark, I'm TELLING you, The Stack is the way to go! Desperate times call for desperate measures!

Grumps said...

I think they had to know it was fake. The same reporter last year did a "story" on how Peters, with so little to do on the ice, was filling in other roles on the team, including Roy's personal assistant. That was hilarious, too. Sorry I don't have the time to search for the You Tube link.

I watched this new one several times, especially the part about all that the Sabres have left after Briere and Drury are gone.

Patty (in Dallas) said...

Hilarious video. I especially liked how he started to run out of breath listing what "little" the Sabres have left. Very funny.