Get Your Game On, Go Play

So that All-Star game was pretty entertaining for the last five minutes or so, eh? Good job, NHL! A few - very few - random thoughts:

- Those uniforms were terrible. Seriously, what is so hard about designing a good-looking uniform? The Eastern Conference looked particularly putrid with the white paneling along the sides of the jerseys and down the pants. Also, we know these are All-Star jerseys, okay? You really don't have to cover the entire thing in stars.

- I don't think mic'd up Manny was quite up there with mic'd up Marty Turco but he came close with this exchange with Gary Bettman about the NHL "picking on goalies."

Manny: You've got to stop taking away inches!
Gary: You've got to stop being so big!
Manny: I'm 5'9"!

Next year I'm voting for Marty Biron no matter how his season is going because I need to hear him mic'd up for a game. Doc Emrick mentioned a couple of times that it was tough for the mic'd up players to hear him because of the noise level. Marty B. would not care! He would just keep talking about whatever popped into his head and it would all be worth listening to. Heck, we could just give Doc and Edzo the night off. They could put that game on pay-per-view and I'd order it without hesitation.

- The one thing I do like about the All-Star weekend is that there are always a few players who I either don't see or haven't paid much attention to who I find myself really noticing and liking. This usually happens in the playoffs too. Here's this year's list:

Zdeno Chara - He actually seems really smart and maybe kind of interesting to talk to. According to Sherry (of the wonderful Scarlett Ice), he was working toward a business degree during his time in Ottawa. I like that.

Rick Nash - Rick Nash looks a lot like my little brother Lee, right down to the sloppy, patchy beard which I adore. Also, thinking about how he was considered a pretty big disappointment last year gives me hope for Thomas Vanek.

Ilya Kovalchuk - I loved him playfully falling over in disbelief after whichever goalie was in at the time (Nabokov, I think) robbed him and then skating over and hugging him. I loved how much fun he seemed to be having all weekend. (I also loved Edzo confusing him with Alexander Ovechkin even though they look nothing alike because enjoying hockey is Ovechkin's shtick. No one else should be doing that!) I loved him pretty much admitting that his division is not very good. And he has a great head of hair.

Jarome Iginla - I hardly ever see him play so I always forget how much I love watching him on the ice. He also seems so personable and smiley off the ice. Why isn't the NHL marketing him more?

- I was not happy about Versus wasting time during intermission interviewing Chris Pronger. Ugh. I can think of five guys off the top of my head in that dressing room who would've been a more fun, entertaining interview.

- I've always assumed that Tomas Kaberle is Canadian, I guess because he plays for the Maple Leafs. I was shocked - shocked - when he started talking in an accent that was clearly not French-Canadian. He's Czech! How have I watched a billion Sabres-Leafs games and not realized this? I feel pretty dumb.

- Last week I finally saw the commercial with the new dad banging on the glass at the hospital nursery. I emailed a link to Mark because I thought he'd get a kick out of it and was disappointed that he didn't seem that impressed with it. It came on tonight, I started laughing hysterically as always, and he suddenly burst out with, "OHHHHHHHH! He's banging on the glass! Like a hockey fan! I GET IT! Hey, that is funny!" Next time I send him a link I'll be sure to carefully explain the joke. (I'm writing this was loving affection, dear.)

- Still not enough Joe Thornton! Seriously, people! He's talented, he's funny and oh so jolly, and he's cute as a (very large) button. What's the problem here?

More Joe, plz!
On a total side-note, who let Bucky Gleason write on Sabres Edge? My safe haven is ruined! I don't know if it was John Vogl or Mike Harrington who gave him the keys, but I am not happy. I am not happy at all. I actually left a comment which I swore I would never ever do again after this summer when some ass-wipe kept accusing me of being a 16-year-old puckbunny who loves Jason Pominville and doesn't understand anything about hockey while addressing nothing that I was actually saying. I hate myself right now! Oh, and Bucky, you left out the fact that Brian Campbell is now the FASTEST SKATER IN THE ENTIRE EASTERN CONFERENCE. Surely, that's worth another half million or so?

Gee, maybe the Sabres should have accepted his five-year, $25 million offer.

Gee, maybe some of us don't agree with you. Gee, maybe that would've been really stupid and short-sighted. Gee, maybe the fact that someone is going to give Campbell that much money doesn't make it a good deal. Gee, maybe the Sabres feel like Campbell isn't a good investment of five million a year in light of other contracts coming up. Gee, maybe I'm going to KICK SOMEONE'S TEETH IN if I EVER hear the numbers "5" and "25" again in my ENTIRE LIFE. Those numbers are RUINED FOREVER!