I'm such a good Minnesota sports fan

Coach Richards back in the day. Nice hair, Coach.

Image courtesy of Google

They say hope springs eternal, and I say this phrase was probably invented for Minnesota sports fans no matter the sport. Generally if we didn't have hope, we wouldn't have anything at all. (We can't really complain though, most Minnesotans are cheap, so why would our team owners be any different?) I find myself thinking this to be very true as we stand on the cusp of a new NHL season. I'm really excited for this season to begin. From what I hear, I like the new coach. Granted I heard this from my friend's housemate, whose dad played with Coach Richards for the Gophers back in the day. Regardless, he seems pretty chill, and ready to make a good impression. As a bonus, he's from the better side of the river.

I particularly like the fact that he wants to name a permanent captain. I'll like him even better if that captain is Mikko Koivu. I'm also excited to see the fans back in the game. I think we started to lose our trademark enthusiasm towards the end of the old regime, and that made me sad. Even if the game sucked, the crowds were usually fun back in the day. On top of that, the first thing anyone asks me when they find out where I'm from (after they ask if it's winter year round and to repeat the word Minnesota) is if I'm a hockey fan. It gives me so much street cred for some reason, so I need my brethren in MN to keep up the hockey rep for me.

Besides, it's new. I like new things that are not school years, so anything new is exciting. Exception: the new jerseys. I like the fact that they're green, but they're not quite as cool looking as I was hoping for. My all time fave Wild jerseys are the original green ones. The logo is pretty cool, and it means something with the trees, star, river, and colors. I guess you can't win them all, and green is a much more flattering color for the highly Scandinavian population than red, so it's a step in the right direction.

I'm sure I'll write something a bit more focused in the near future, but I'm back in school and it's Sunday, so that means I have essays/lab reports to write and books to read. I think they stole my focus.

Summer updates

First of all, I'm sorry I have failed and disappeared. First school was crazy, then I accepted a job with the DNR in northern MN, and the internet is hard to find up here. BUT, I did take up golfing while up here, and I'm getting a good tan, so it's not all bad.

Second, I'm pleased that we got Havlat...I think. I'm hoping he stays healthy for us. He Twitters, so he can't be THAT uncool, right? (I got sucked into Twitter. It's more fun than I thought it would be...)

Third, the Twins are picking it up? They blew it yesterday, but I'm hoping that was a fluke. Someone just mailed me a crapton of Twins baseball cards from the mid 80's to present, so if anyone wants a baseball card, give me a player name and I might be able to help you out. I have a lot of random ones including a bunch of Kirby Puckett.

All of you should read Gillies' diary on Wild.com about the prospect camp because it's really funny. He's definitely my new favorite player on the team, and even though I think he's awesome, I think going to the AHL for a bit would really help him out. Playing will help his development more than sitting.

Lastly, Ron Schara is awesome and gives the DNR love. Dennis Anderson...not so much. Moral of the story: Ron Schara is clearly much cooler.

If anyone is headed up north, I can easily get you a fishing report and maybe even think up something fun for you to do if you are looking for ways to have fun without spending a ton of money. Working for the DNR seems to require you to not only know things about nature, but also about the local tourism industry.

Gloating

Ok, so it's no secret that I wasn't Gaby's biggest fan, but when I found out he was no longer with the team, I did a cartwheel. Then I remembered the hard way that I am still very much surgically repaired in my left arm, and also that we let him walk for free. That killed the celebration a bit, but still. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. I would give my condolences to the Rangers fans, but by being fans of the Rangers, they should pretty much expect them to sign players like this. They know what they are getting themselves into.

Not gonna lie, I kind of thought he'd go to be with his immortal beloved in Vancouver, but then I would have been very suspicious of tampering.

Also, since I haven't posted for a while, I'm extremely pleased that Dougie R got fired, but this does not completely change my attitude towards our...lovely owner. It helps, but still, he smacks of slime to me.

Maybe Baby Hockey Jesus is listening to me after all. Now if only the prank text I got the other day were true and we signed Toews.

And on the flip side...

I don't really like to make angry posts, so this one is all about the good things I've seen going on with the Wild and in the NHL.

1.) Colton Gillies. I love this kid. He works hard, and I like watching him skate even more than S. Niedermayer. If I weren't against giving Leopold more money right now, I'd buy a Gillies jersey. Definitely my new favorite player on the team. All the season ticket holders who sit around ours like to give me a really hard time about this fact. Probably because they think I'm his age. False. I'm older by almost a year.

2.) LoLaH & 18,568 RW favorite Toews is on the All Star team! A starter no less. Kane is too, but he seems to be hurt or something right now. All I know is that it was amusing watching him sitting in the press box being bored. I've heard reports from Chicago that point towards great entertainment from the young guys on the team.

3.) We have won quite a few of the games since I have been home. I'm hoping this won't end when I leave next week.

4.) NHL TV. I finally found a computer that will let me watch NHL TV, and I love it. So entertaining. Too bad the Wild have not jumped on this boat quite as much as some of my other favorite teams. Elise has kept me informed of all the amusing happenings, and during finals/midterms/school in general, it's a pretty good study break. Thanks, lady!

5.) Shep is working harder and getting more chances than he was at the start of the season. He's had pretty good games for all the games I've seen in person. Here's to hoping he just has the same sophomore curse as most of the sophomores in the league.

6.) The Wild Blogosphere. I love you guys. It helps me stay connected when I'm far away and too busy to watch the games online. I would have been even more clueless if it weren't for the fact that I read all the blogs before coming home. I also love my homies who write for other teams, it's much more entertaining than the mainstream media. I keep up with a lot of teams this way in addition to the TSN, RDS, and newspaper circuits. Keep up the good work my friends!

General Anger

I've been absent for a while, and I'm sorry, but I had surgery and relatives to visit, so that ate up my time and internet connectivity.

I'm mad at the Wild. There are several reasons for this, and most of them include the management. I'm not a patient person, and for me, I've been plenty patient with this team. There are reasons I'm happy with them too, but I'll make that a seperate post.

1.) Risebrough doesn't seem to be doing anything about Backstrom. He has saved our butts on many, many occasions, and when he's not saving our butts, he has saved us from embarrassment. He wants to come back. He likes it here, likes the fans, wants to sign. I fail to see anything wrong with talking to him, and besides, the better he does, the more we have to pay him. With the theory that the cap is going to come down, less money is good.

2.) The Gaborik thing. I'm just pissed at everyone in this situation. Everyone knows of my great disdain for Gaborik, a disdain that I have held for him since I was like 12. Now that has extended to Risebrough. The second he said he wouldn't sign for the very generous offer this summer, I would have packed him off to another team while he was still worth something. Dragging things out this long has made a mess, and now I wouldn't be surprised if he walks without us getting anything for him. WTF, DR? On a petty note, Marian Gaborik's face looks like a potato. Also, Mr. Gaborik clearly doesn't know how to take one for the team. The team he's being paid a lot of money to take one for.

3.) Benoit Pouliot. I keep hearing all about his mad skillz, but all I see is a lazy young man who isn't going to do anything but have potential. Every coach ever has told us "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard". Colton Gillies seems to be showing this lesson, too bad Benoit isn't learning it. I seriously doubt any GM in the league will be dumb enough to take him in a trade, they've seen him play, and the #4 overall draft pick won't fool anyone, because as Daigle showed us, being drafted highly doesn't mean automatic awesomeness. (Though in all fairness to Mr. Daigle, I think his situation could have been handled better.) He's the Wild's version of Nilsson, not that any of you care about the Oilers.

4.) The expectation that the fans will just sit through this holding pattern. I'm starting to see that we as fans are getting pissed. There are more and more empty seats in the X, and I'm hoping eventually this will send a message. No message will be sent until the season ticket holders start to not renew their seats, though. You have to suffer to get a good team. Detroit in the 80's, Chicago in the late 90's-early 00's. We need to draft better with the picks we get, we need to either get better and make more rounds of the playoffs, or suck more and get higher picks. Something. I'm sick of just sitting in the middle. If I were in charge of my family's season tickets right now, I'd strongly consider dropping them. I still love the team, but I seriously doubt the management will REALLY do anything until we stop handing them so much money.

5.) Defencemen who don't play defence. I don't have a problem with having one on the team, but we have both MAB and Zidlicky. I heard complaints before I got here, but then I saw for myself, and they're right. Jesus. Also, putting them out at the same time? Bad news bears. It's like Souray only less talented and more liable. Skoula is starting to backslide a little bit too. I almost had to be nice to him for a while.

6.) The new Wild owner. There is something about him that I just don't trust/like. Maybe it's cause he's from Wisconsin? I can't put my finger on why I don't like him, I just don't. Mikko Koivu seems to be kind of creeped out by him too.

I'm sure there are more reasons, but my brain is tired. Why are YOU mad? Any beefs you'd like to get off your chest about the Wild? Let's hear 'em.

Aaaaaand we're back!

It's been awhile, but I'm back in Minnesota, and the Wild are back to winning. Or at least they were until tonight, they are currently sucking against an extremely depleted Blues team.

I went to the game last night, and COLTON GILLIES GOT HIS FIRST NHL GOAL! I was so excited for him, cause he is a top contender to be my favorite Wild player if he hasn't earned the title already.

Gillies wasn't the only one last night, Veilleux, Koivu, and Bouchard also added goals to make it 4-1, Wild. I got worried when the Isles opened the scoring, but we tied it up, and then in the third it was game over.

I'm a little bummed that the only two players on the Isles that I like weren't playing last night, but you know, it happens. It was good to be back, and it was good all around. Johnsson, though. The should not have taken the C away from Mikko after he got a goal, almost a fight, and the first star...I feel like he would have fared better in a fight than his brother (who is currently playing the Sabres 3-3 in the third).

The Leafs are killing the Pens. I have no idea how this is happening, but I like.

I should be at all the Wild games from now until January 13th, so if you are going to be there, leave me comment/text/facebook post/email, and we should hang out!

Injury hiding

This (A-rod haters should be sure and click)doesn't have to do with hockey or real sports injuries, but you should still vote for the All-Star game anyway. Now back to your regularly scheduled rant.

People have been grumbling about the NHL policy of hiding injuries, and I think that's dumb for several reasons. Keep in mind I'm writing this from an athlete's perspective, so I am on their side.

1.)The teams have no obligation whatsoever to tell the fans about the injuries. Your boss doesn't put it in the paper that you have a medical problem, so why should theirs?

2.)As an athlete, I fully understand hiding injuries. I am famous for not saying anything until I absolutely can't take it any more. You don't want to let the team down, and you don't want to seem like a wuss. There is something to be said for just playing through the pain, though there is also something to be said for being smart about it. Sometimes the sports culture takes playing through pain a little too far, which can lead to life ruining injuries. Overall for minor things, the players don't want to be seen as weak, so they hide the injuries, and probably wish the press would too.

3.) Not all opponents are into the gentlemanly play and sportsmanship thing. Some players will go for dudes where they know they are hurting. It's not fun having someone try to seperate your shoulder when they know you are hurting, trust me. (not that it's fun anytime, actually) Saying you are playing hurt is like painting a target on your back for some guys.

4.) It might explain why someone is playing like crap, but as long as the coach knows, then it's fine. As much as we'd like to, it's not our job as fans to make the lineups.

5.) The second the team said Burns was having surgery, the Wild fans all went nuts. It was a minor surgery that he recovered quickly from, but still. It shakes the confidence of the fans in the player. Surgeries can't always put you back to rights completely, but they sure can do a lot of good. The bad part about them is, people look at you like you will fall apart again any second. Disclosure of injuries lowers the confidence level the fans have in certain players and makes them all freak out about what could be nothing in the long run. Not a lot of motivation for the teams to say something if it means the fans won't be happy. Hockey is a dangerous sport, but that doesn't always register with people.

I know you just did this whole voting thing...

but IT'S ALL-STAR voting time! I love to vote for the All-Star games. I don't usually actually watch the games, but I like to vote for my favorite players.
The Wild have Gaborik, Burns, Koivu, and Backstrom on the ballot this year. I recommend voting for the last three, and Gaborik if you are one of those poor misguided 8 year olds who always seem to have his sweater at the X.

Obviously if Sakic gets better you should vote for him, as well as Gagner, Toews, Oilers in general, Latandresse, Price, St. Louis, you know, awesome dudes like those.

I'm not gonna lie, I was a little confused at first, but here's where to go if you want to vote.

Mikko is in third place for forwards in the west, and the Habs are basically owning the east. Sweet.

PS, or you can just click on the large, "click to vote" button.

I just thought I'd write to say...

Dear Captain Koivu,
That C looks awfully good on your chest. I agree with you. You should be the captain permanently. Congrats on being named two months in a row! Now you can be a cool kid like Bomber. Keep up the good work, and remember, I'm pulling for you, we're all in this together. Points to anyone who can tell me what that's from...
Stoically,
Kirsten

Dear Shep,
I know you've been having a rough start to your season, and you are probably starting to think that coach is going to kill you. Well, from my experience with coaches, he probably is, but that's beside the point. There seems to be a sophomore curse on the league. Toews has had a slow start, Sam Gagner is invisible, and Matt Niskanen is having some struggles against every team not from his home state. Even I had a rough start to my semester, so I can sypathize. Don't give up, and please teach Josh Harding right from left so he can learn to play the guitar.
In solidarity,
Kirsten

Dear Goober,
Please beg the coaching staff to keep you at defence. You as a forward brings back memories of your first year in the league, and it's just better for my overall mental health if that doesn't happen.
kthx,
Kirsten

Dear Baby Walz,
Even though no one seems to show you any love yet, I still think you are like Wes Walz, so therefore according to the casual poll I've taken of MN hockey fans *by wearing a Walz sweater/having someone else wear it and letting the compliments on the sweater pour in*, someday they will show you great love. It just might take a while. Hopefully Coach Lemaire will let you live long enough to find out. PS, I'd learn to sleep with one eye open if I were you and living with Brent Burns.
Optomistically,
Kirsten

Dear Justin Morneau,
I really hope you win the MVP title. You are MVP of the team and of Joe Mauer's heart, but there's nothing wrong with winning even more trophies, right? Maybe Wayne Gretzky will send you something cool this time around.
Hopefully,
Kirsten

Habs, baby!

vs.

The picture difference does not indicate anything but my own laziness. I don't feel like cropping the pictures to make them the same size.

Bonjour, je m'appelle Kirsten, et j'aime beaucoup les Habitants. Ma mere m'a dit que je dois aimer les equipes de Minnesota, mais le probleme avec ca est Edmonton et Montreal. Ils sont des equipes tres agreables. Je ne peux rien faire de ce probleme.

Today is the battle of the Brothers Koivu, and as you all know, I will be mildly torn. I love the Wild and I want them to win, but I love the Habs and would love to see them restored to their former glory. I'll be listening to the French feed online while I do my homework, or at the very least as soon as I finish my classes, labs, and other obligations. THEN I will listen to the French feed. Later when I have the time, I found a cool article on the Koivus that I will translate and throw up here.

I plan on actually doing a post game reaction post. I know, right? What's going on here? Two posts in a week? Impossible.

PS, yes I do realize I skipped a game and that we play Dallas today, but I don't really care, and I actually found time to write this, so there you go.

PPS If you are looking to read the thoughts of the other team's bloggers, you need only go to Four Habs Fans. Not for the kids mind you, but a hilarious read. I have no idea how those guys manage their greatness day in and day out.

Quick Round up

A few awesome things and a couple of not so awesome things have happened in the blogosphere lately. I'll start with the not so awesome so as to end on a good note.

James Mirtle is handing in the keys to his blog to work on a new project. Sad day as he was (is) one of the greatest.

An Oilers blogger was kicked out of a game for live blogging during the game. This is explained in more detail over at Covered in Oil, and one of the writers is leaving. We'll miss you, buddy.

In other news, Elise has shown her brilliance once again in my favorite thing in the blogosphere, Tale of the Tape. Go over and check it out!

RudyKelly of the Battle of California made fun of the Avs goaltenders and caused them to lose the game. Note to self, do not make fun of the Avs goaltenders. Though he does speak works of truth when he points out that Mr. Sakic probably really hates their goalies.

If you want to check out the competition for Thursday, I'd recommend heading over to see Heather B. at Top Shelf. She's hilarious and is a Twins fan.

If I get my homework done, I'll do my first game preview of the season.

Sorry guys

I fail at keeping up this season. I read as much as I can, but I might be a little slow to figure out the changes. It's been a pretty tough semester, and I'm having a little trouble finding the inspiration to write.

Elise and several of my friends who were at the game kept me updated while it was happening, so I'm fairly caught on on last night. The Wild won 4-3 over the Bruins, no thanks to traitor one and traitor two. (AKA Wheeler and Kessel)

Basically the rest of the post will be my notes on hockey:
-I really like Gillies so far. His new nickname is Baby Walz.
-All the other Wild bloggers are doing a much better job than I am.
-Mikko! Koivu! is the captain for October!
-I told you all Burns would be fine.
-I'm getting a thumbs down on the mascot
-Nolan is determined to make me eat my harsh words about him according to game 1.

I'll write more when I find the time/inspiration.

Just like the good old days...almost

This new crop of awesome players reminds me of back in the day when I had like 8 favorite players. Bomber, Walz, Wiemer, Mitchell, Roloson, Bruno, Johnson, and Dupuis. Those were the days. The playoff run, the skills competition, the general good times before I knew we could be better. The Twins were legitimately bomb and had a lot of players I really liked too. The same thing has happened, I miss my old crew, but I've got a new one. Clearly I just have a pattern that I follow with fanship.

For a while most of my favorite players left frequently, and I was hard pressed to find ones that I liked. Walz (obvi) and Parrish filled in nicely, but beyond that I struggled a little bit. The same thing happened with the Twins. When Koskie left, I was heart broken. One by one my boys started leaving me, and I didn't know what to do. To cheer me up, my mom suggested that Justin Morneau might be a good replacement for Koskie, and it went from there.

Now there is a new group of players for me to do the same thing with. Burns, Bouchard, Koivu, Harding, Backstrom, Foster, Bruno (he's back!), Shep, and maybe Gillies (if he turns out to be as Walz like as promised). Burns and Bouchard were here before, but they were just young'uns and I had not yet seen their potential. Now they have grown into their potential and can join the magic circle.

The Twins example goes as follows. Old school: Koskie, Jones, Bradke, AJ (before he became quite so douchey), Eddie G (he's back!) , Silva, and Lew Ford. They were my boys.

In the middle there was Tyner and assorted others who did not stick around.

Now I've got : Redmond, Cuddyer, Morneau, Slowey, Blackburn, Span, Punto, sometimes Harris, and I'm keeping my eye on Buscher.

I miss the good old days with the Twins and Wild, but at the same time, both teams are now infinitely more talented than they were back in the day, so maybe it's good to move on and just remember back in the day fondly. The best part of all this is, Eddie and Bruno are back, though I'm hoping Bruno's return will go better.

Sorry for the nostalgia, I just thought about this today and thought I'd quit slacking off and write a little bit.

Random Fact

Do you know what the government of Finland is?

Mikko Koivu will tell you! (there is a quick advertisement first, then it starts)

In other news, apparently the Wild won last night.

Quick update

I'll add more later, but I just wanted to say good job to the Twins fans out there. Justin Morneau is one of the six finalists for the Man of the Year award, and now his fellow players will vote to see who they think deserves the award.

I have a huge pile of Twins/Wild news to catch up on, as well as a couple of copies of the Hockey News. At least I'm not behind in school, right?

Training camp has begun!

WHOO! It's finally here. The long awaited training camp! Russo is there covering the event, and so are a few of my friends (but they aren't getting paid). I'll be relying much more heavily on their reports, since they will tell me good stuff, and Russo will tell me the boring details about how everyone played.

There is an open practice today, so I expect a full report back. J. is up there with his wife and family, so look to his blog for firsthand accounts of the goings on.

The camp currently has 53 on the roster, and apparently that will be cut down to as few players as possible before they hit the Cities. This seems like a good idea to me, I couldn't really say why, but it just does.

Wild.com is following the events, and they have full updates and photos. I'm sure there is some stuff up on Wild TV too, but I just haven't had the time to look. Sadly I don't think any of the pictures will be as awesome as Bomber kissing the fish or rocking out on Guitar Hero.

I'm not scared

...yet. A lot of people are really scared for their upcoming hockey seasons, but I'm not that concerned. I really think we will be ok, and here's why.

Note: I will make no actual predictions, that's a good way to get the Hockey Gods to frown on you. The only time I will make predictions is for the Stanley Cup playoffs, and even then I usually don't lay out what I really want to happen.

Demitra left, but Brunette came to replace him. Andrew Brunette has always been very reliable and healthy, and we really need someone to actually be near the net. Demitra was not always the healthiest or the hardest working, so we've clearly upgraded in getting a hardworking, healthy player.

As much as Keith Carney was a great teacher, I think Brent Burns is ready to go out on his own in the world. He's turned into our number one defenseman, and I no longer cringe and avert my eyes when he steps out on the ice. Sean Hill was pretty much no help at all, so I'm not sorry to see him leave. Nick Schultz is a good, steady prairie kid who is durable, less prone to getting smashed, basically the rock of the defense. Now if only we could get rid of Skoula...


I've mentioned this on other people's blogs, but don't panic about Burns' surgery. I've had two wrist surgeries and an elbow surgery (and probably one more elbow surgery in in my near future), so I know what I'm saying when I say: he will be back soon, and he will be fine. My elbow healed probably five times faster than my wrist did. It just seems to be a tough joint. Wrists on the other hand, do not heal all that quickly. They have more going on in them, and are easy to mess up again.

We have Koivu, M., Burns, Bouchard, Gaborik (if he shows up), a goalie fight, prospects hungry to crack the roster, two new guys that I don't know too much about, but hopefully will want to prove themselves, Shep who has rapidly learned how to make his way in the NHL, Bruno, Schultz, and soon a healthy Foster. Now all we need is Jonathan Toews and life will be good.


Nice fish, bro. The Blackhawks just went up in coolness points. Or at least Toews did. Same thing, right?

Twins update: The bullpen sucks. That is all.

Rude fangirl post ahead AKA #!@!~~^ **&(

So maybe I got a little carried away with the blind rage...

Mark Parrish, my favorite player on the team, 5000% less traitor Ryan Smyth, and all around good guy, has been put on waivers. My rage at Doug Risebrough knows no bounds.

When I pick my favorite player, I tend to be slightly irrational. Mark Parrish was the heir apparent to Wes Walz for my new favorite player, and with Mr. Walz's untimely retirement, claimed his title. I got the sweater, I got it signed, I cheered my heart out for him even when he was having some rough times. He didn't have the greatest season (s) of his career, but that's ok. I still really liked him anyway, and damnit, I don't have to have a reason. I picked him and that's that. This system didn't really fit him, and he was injured a lot. I hope he makes a full recovery from his injuries and goes to a team that appreciates him. Preferably the Oilers, even though they don't really need anyone right now.

A word to DR (and Jacques Lemaire, since this seems like it has his hand prints all over it):
Si je vous vois dans la rue, regardez bien vos dos. Je vais vous trebauche.
In English, since I'm not convinced DR is smart enough to be bilingual... If I see you in the street, watch your backs carefully. I WILL trip you.

Extra for JL: J'ai ponce que vous etes plus professional que j'ai vu. Cette guerre entre vous et M. Parrish est comme les enfants. Vous avez quel age? Vous n'avez pas aimer M. Parrish, et vous n'avez pas lui donner une chance de faire quelque chose quand il est retourne de ses blessures. C'est stupid, et maintenant, je ne suis pas un supporter de vous.

I feel slightly better now, and to make it all better, I didn't just cuss a blue streak like I wanted to.

Maybe something else tomorrow.

This is the first time I have openly critisized Jacques Lemaire, but he didn't get along with Parrish for some reason, and that left Parrish screwed/in the doghouse/unhappy.

GMs I love, and GMs I don't

First off, a big shoutout goes to my boy J. (Wild View from Section 216) and his wife. Congrats on the baby girl, I hope everyone is happy and healthy!

Kevin Lowe is awesome. He totally told Brian Burke to shove it, and he flaunted his six Stanley Cup rings in Brian Burke's face. By my Minnesota math, Klowe has six times as many Stanley Cup rings at Burke does. I'd shut my mouth if I were Burke, but being Burke, I'm sure he won't. I'd also like to hit Bettman with something. Brian Burke has been shooting his mouth off forever and a day because he lost Penner because he was tied up with indecisive veterans, but Bettman didn't say a thing. Kevin Lowe finally gets sick of Burke's crap, and bam, all of a sudden Bettman gives a crap about a petty, hilarious GM fight. What gives? Jerkwad.

Doug Risebrough is also on my list of GMs I'm mad at. He's always talking about how he made all of these offers to players, but only rarely do said players show up in Minnesota. No Hossa, no Naslund, no Jokinen, no Rolston (which I blame on his dickhead agent), and I'm concerned about Pierre Marc Bouchard and Marian Gaborik as well. I may not like Gaborik, but he's occasionally useful to have around. What's with signing all of these random people? The fans will keep buying tickets, but unless something miraculously awesome happens, the grumbling will start to get louder. Pat Burns once said "You can't keep replacing the foot soldiers, sometime the general has got to go". DR should watch that this does not happen. Mr. Burns was referring to the coach, but the GM could also go if butts are not in the seats. Also, please bring back the green sweaters!

Elise of 18,568 Reasons Why agrees with me on all of this, and Roy over at Wild Puck Banter has a rant about the sweaters. You should go and check both out.

FCP Part 2?

I've complained enough about this on other people's blogs/cell phones, so it's probably time that I dug out my computer and wrote about it. The Oilers traded Greene and Stoll for Visnovsky, and I'm not pleased. Bro said that Edmonton was not on his list of places to go, and after having FCP bail and screw the team over, I'm extremely wary. Also, I really liked Stoll and Greene. I'm less upset about the acquisition of Brule. 1.) his name is fun to say, 2.) he seems like solid player. Cole I'm kind of indifferent to. The new owner Katz is aggressive indeed. He wants the best team NOW.

The fact that Bruno has been acquired makes me extremely happy. Shepp better start to pick a new number, because I don't know that the Wild faithful would allow him to survive if he didn't give up number 15 to Bruno.

Joe Sakic has not yet made a decision, but I say he should take his time. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The rest of the trades have been very well analyzed over at TSN, and I won't pretend like I'm as cool as Bob McKenzie. He has a couple of great articles up, and TSN has provided analysis on all the trades and stuff. I'm too tired to post about all of it (this stupid internship is killing me), so I just decided to write a small blurb for now where people can yell at me back for completely trashing the Edmonton/LA trade. A crapload has happened in the past few days, and I'm sure I'll make a better post about it, just not for a bit.

Happy Canada Day to my Canadian peeps! Justin Morneau is currently celebrating in fine style.