HOCKEY TIME!

Damn you Jeff Carter…..DAMN YOU! But before I get into this let me just tell you I knew I was doomed at the drop of the puck. I was looking forward to the Flyers/Pens game all day. I knew the Flyers would play better in Game 2 and I had a real good feeling they were going to even up the series at 1-1.

Got home around 6:40 which gave me just enough time to get dinner together and sit down in front of the TV. Mrs. Iggles was blabbing away about her brothers baby (delivery date in mid-August) or some shit….I don’t know I wasn’t really paying attention. Blah…blah…blah…..does she really think I’m paying attention 20 minutes before the game starts? I mean seriously, I’ve been looking forward to this game all day!

At the exact moment the puck is dropped for the first period these words come out of Mrs. Iggles mouth…….’I want to have a baby.’

Uggghhhhh…..are you freaking kidding me! I’m home all weekend and you have to say that right as the puck is being dropped? I need to be on my ‘A’ game when ducking out of these kinds of conversations. I think she knew I was distracted and thought she’d catch me with my guard down. So I did what any self-respecting guy would do….I just pretended like I didn’t hear her and kept watching the game. Who cares if I had to sleep on the couch last night…..at least I got to watch the game.

Now for the game…I really don’t want to talk about the empty net Jeff Carter missed to clinch the game. To keep me from throwing the computer across the room it would be best if I just don’t talk about it. But a 5 on 3 overtime power play in the playoffs? I thought there were rules against that? I’ve seen guys lose a limb in overtime and not get called a penalty.

I thinks that is enough for now…..I need to figure out my game plan for the rest of the weekend. Gotta avoid this ‘baby’ situation like the plague!

Hockey Playoffs

Iggles and I are going to have a hockey playoffs showdown.

Winner gets a case of beer.
If I win he buys me a case of Sam Adams Boston Lager.
If He wins I buy him a case of Yuengling.

Now on to the picks. Iggles will be picking the Eastern Conference and I will pick the Western Conference.

Eastern Conference:

No. 1 Boston Bruins vs. No. 8 Montreal Canadians

This is really a no brainer. Bruins in 5…..I just can’t see Montreal scoring enough goals in this series to make it competitive.

No. 2 Washington Capitals vs. No. 7 NY Rangers

O vie….Ovie….Ovie…..I was really hoping Carolina would fall to the 7th seed so I could pick an upset here but it is written in my Philly Handbook that under no circumstances can I pick the Rangers to win anything. Capitals in 6.

No. 3 New Jersey Devils vs. No. 6 Carolina Hurricane

The Devils have been just God awful these past few weeks….and on the opposite side Carolina has been red hot. Carolina in 5.

No. 4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. No 5 Philadelphia Flyers

Ugggghhhhhh…….there are always 2 upsets per conference during the first round of the playoffs. Before yesterday I had Carolina upsetting the Devils and the Penguins (5 seed) upsetting the Flyers. But my Flyers had to go screw it up and lose on Sunday dropping them to the 5th seed which makes the Penguins the favorite. With that said…..I have absolutely no confidence in this pick but I’ll take the Flyers in 7.


Western Conference:

No. 1 San Jose Sharks vs No. 8 Anaheim Mighty Ducks

The Ducks have turned it on since the trade deadline. They still don't have enough to win this series but they do have something left to make it interesting. Sharks in 6

No. 2 Detroit Red Wings vs No. 7 Columbus Blue Jackets

I really wanted to see the Blues play the Red Wings but i'll take this match up. I don't think Steve Mason can stop the Red wings offense and Rick Nash just isn't enough to beat whoever the Red Wings throw in net. Red Wings in 5.

No. 3 Vancouver Canucks vs No. 6 St. Louis Blues

I am not going to lie, I know nothing about Vancouver other than its fucking cold up there and Roberto Luongo is their goalie and captain(how can an Ace be both 1 and 11). Blues in 6.

No. 4 Chicago Black Hawks vs No. 5 Calgary Flames

Now this could be the best series in the west. The teams match up well. The only question for the Black Hawks is who is playing net? Calgary has lots of fire power. This series will go 7 with the home team moving on. Black Hawks in 7

Just for shits and giggles here are the ESPN experts picks:

HOCKEY TIME!

The end of the regular season is here and now it's playoff time. The Bruins head into the playoffs red hot and have to be the 1st or 2nd favorite to win the cup. My Flyers on the other hand have decided to slide into the playoffs on a 2 week slump....the combination of poor goaltending and turnovers in the defensive zone are not the way to winning in the playoffs boys. I may have to pick against them in the 1st round which brings me to DrunkNothings playoff coverage. It looks like myself and Mr. Booze are going to do some sort of pick 'em contest for the playoffs. We haven't finalized the details yet but we'll get everything posted before the playoffs start. Anybody have ideas on what we should bet on? Money? Food? Booze? Coffee? Parliament Lights? Any combination of coffee and Parli Lights works for me but maybe that's just my addictions talking.

The good news is I didn't wind up in jail over that 'Copyright Infringement' notice so I guess I'm in the clear. The bad news (and I guess that depends on your perspective) this will probably be the last video for a while. So when these hockey videos started I figured the last week of the season would be a Best Play Of The Year type of thing which was posted last week. The first few weeks I never noticed the videos were getting cut off at the 5 minute mark so 90% of the Ice Girl vids were missing. Thankfully Chrissy noticed so I thought the best way to end the season would be a recap of all the Ice Girl photos and videos. So Chrissy this one is for you kid.....be sure you don't have any vacuums around, I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself.

HOCKEY TIME!

Sorry about last week, I had some 'issues' with the truck. 'Issues' is actually code for I needed to get it inspected and it turned into an all day event. I would just like to thank my friend Habib The Mechanic for being so nice while screwing me at the same time. Tried to get a picture last week of Habib but the little fucker moved to quick....I'll give it another try today.

On to the hockey segment of todays program. It's put up or shut up time.....there are only a few games left before the playoffs start. Some teams are hot.......while others are not so hot and look to be eyeing an early exit from the playoffs.

Hot:
Bruins - 7-2-1 in there last 10
Hurricanes and Penguins - 7-1-2 in there last 10
Sharks, Canucks, and Blues - all 7-2-1 in there last 10.

Not Hot:
Devils - 3-6-1.....what happened Mr Brodeur? You win your 500th and decide to pack it in for the rest of the year?
Red Wings - 5-4-1.....I'm guessing they are just resting a few guys I wouldn't count them out yet.
Flyers - 5-5-0...WTF guys. It's not just the record but you've looked horrible these past 2 weeks. 3 weeks ago I was seriously considering making you my pick to win the Eastern Conference. But now you are close to falling to the 7th seed and beeing bounced in the first round. GM Holmgren publicly called out the team this week and justifiably so...better get your act together real quick.

Only 2 Saturdays left in the regular season so we need to do a Year In Review for the video, next week will be a recap of the Ice Girls as well as some other 'interesting' photos I came across. So I have the video all qued up and ready to roll until I received an unfortunate message this morning. 'YOUR DOWNLOAD HAS BEEN FLAGGED BY PHOTOBUCKET FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT'......hmmmmm.....well I'm not sure exactly what is involved with 'Copyright Infringement' but I know it can't be good. So if I don't show up to work on Monday could somebody come bail me out of Federal prison? HAAAAAAA!

HOCKEY TIME!

As shocking as it sounds NBC's Game of the Week is the Flyers at the Penguins. I've said it before and I'll say it again.....can we please get some variety in the Games of the Week. Oh well on to the video.....this weeks Ice Girl segment features the Carolina Storm Squad. I may need to petition the NHL to require all Ice Girl Squads to do a swimsuit calender and require video documentation of the photo shoot....it would make my life much easier. Not that many great goals this week but the saves are amazing....I could watch great saves all day long.

We are headed down the home stretch...only 3 weeks left in the regular season. The B's are trying to hang onto first place in the conference but NJ is playing real well and may catch up to them by the end of the regular season. Damn You Brodeur! Hang in there Wanna B's don't jump off the bandwagon now....once you get off there is no getting back on! As an outsider looking at the Bruins you have to just enjoy the ride no matter what happens. This team has been so bad for soooo long you have to just enjoy the good times while they last. My Flyers are stuck in no mans land (4th or 5th place) but do have Briere back after battling 2 sports hernias earlier in the year....he scored 2 goals last night in his return trip to Buffalo. Thats the good news....the bad news is Coach Stevens has decided to switch up all 4 lines with only 12 games left. Very risky move considering we are so close to the playoffs.


Ovechkin scored his 50th goal Thursday night. Loved the celebration after the goal but it is the goal itself that tells you everything you need to know about him. Everytime Ovechkin has the puck he puts pressure on the defense. He skates hard.....but at the same time has the finesse to make you look foolish. The best part is he's only 23 so we have another 10 years to watch this guy....hopefully the NHL smartens up and makes Ovechkin the Face of the NHL instead Sid the Kid.


Good luck down the stretch Wanna B's!

Out

HOCKEY TIME!

This weeks Ice Girl feature focuses on the Tampa Lightning Ice Girls.  Good pictures and good video all rolled into one....I just wanted thank the Ice Girls for being so photogenic.  I'll be honest I can't say I'd pay to watch the Lightning play but I would definently pay to go watch their Ice Girls. FANTASTIC! The game highlights came out OK.....lots of Flyers highlights this week especially Marty Biron.  Looks like my boy Nitty will be riding the pine again for the playoffs.  Speaking of the Flyers they are the Game of the Week again this Sunday.  I'm not going to complain because it gives me a chance to watch my team, but the NHL really needs to rethink who they showcase on Sundays.  It's always the same 5 teams in some variation of order:  Flyers, Bruins, Penguins, Capitals, Rangers.  Come on guys there are more than 5 teams....try and adjust the schedule so that when the west coast teams are doing the east coast swing you can showcase them.  San Jose at Boston would have been a great game to see on a Sunday afternoon.  Hockey is a great sport to watch (especially live or in HD) but you have to involve everyone.  I can only watch Ovechkin vs Crosby so many times.

Anyway, boys and girls we are winding down to the end of the season so it's time to get ready for the playoffs.  I said it last week and I'm going to say it this week.  Beware of Mr. Brodeur!  He is 6-1 since his return and he's only given up more than 2 goals in one of those games.  That is how you win in the playoffs!  Both the Flyers and Bruins are playing .500 hockey right now so it's time to step it up.  And for the love of God do not let the Devils get the number 1 seed in the conference.  

HOCKEY TIME!

Well boys and girls I have some bad news. Going into this week I figured the Eastern Conference was a 2 team battle between the Bruins and Flyers. The Caps don't worry me too much because outside of Ovechkin they don't have enough talent to win a 7 game series. Montreal seems to be falling off the pace and don't appear to pose too much of a threat. Things were shaping up to be a Flyers/Bruins second round match-up.....winner has a clear path to the finals. In steps Mr. Martin Brodeur......a man I've loved to hate over the years. This bastard comes back and gives up 4 goals in his first 3 games including a shut-out of the Flyers (and yes I know he put up a clunker on Saturday). Brodeur has always had the Flyers number and under no circumstances do I want to see him in the playoffs. Anybody have Tonya Hardings number???? I have no problem putting out a contract on Brodeur.

The highlights are pretty good this week.....even got an extra audio bonus in one of the clips. The announcers managed to sneak in a reference to one of my all-time favorite snacks! This weeks ice girls spotlight fcuses on the Nashville Predators Liquid Ice Girls.

Don't worry Chrissy I managed to get the full video loaded this time so the Ice Girls won't get cut off like last week. 5 weeks to go in the regular season and I'm not sure I have enough clips to last until the end of the season. The final edition of Hockey Time may need to be a 'Best Of' segment.

Peace!

HOCKEY TIME!!

So I’ve been meaning to write about this for the past few weeks but haven’t had the chance to. Can somebody please explain to me why Sean Avery is not playing right now? Every sport needs a villain….players you either hate, or love, or love to hate. Football has T.O…baseball has Bonds and A-Rod….basketball has Kobe. Hockey has a long tradition of having these guys on the ice, you have Dale Hunter, Keith Jones, Matthew Barnaby, Tie Domi….the list goes on and on. What exactly has Avery done to justify the unofficial banishment to the minor leagues? OK…so his name wound up in a madam’s ‘little black book’…so what! And yes he called out his fellow players by accusing them of taking his sloppy seconds….he’s just calling it like he see’s it. Was it ever proven he made fun of Jason Blake after he was diagnosed with cancer? Maybe he went a little over the top when he stood in front of Martin Brodeur waiving his hands like an idiot while on a 2-man advantage power play. The guy was just having a little fun….what’s wrong with that?








The NHL needs to understand that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Every team has players that fit a certain role….you have the star, the enforcer, the grinder, and the pesk. The NHL seems to be going out of its way to get rid of the enforcer and the pesk. Maybe Avery is a jerk and that is why players who play with him or against him hate him….but I’ll watch Avery every time he steps on the ice to see what he is going to do next. This week we’ll take a look at the NY Islanders Ice Breakers…. interestingly enough they have a set of twins on the crew. I don’t think you can ever complain about twins.

Where is Nitty...Damn It!

If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times. Antero Nittymaki should be the day to day starting goaltender for the Flyers. First of all he's from Finland and we all know how I love those Nordic goalkeepers (right Pelle!). He was the MVP in the 2006 Winter Olympics, he can shoot the puck like Hextall, he won the Calder Cup for the Phantoms (Flyers minor league team)....need I say more?

So I guess you need more proof? OK...take a look at this video of Marty Biron. For the love of God what is he thinking? Let's see you are in a 4-4 tie late in the third period and you come 20 feet out of the net to stop a break-away. Once you gain control of the puck you figure this is a good time to whip out the behind the back goalie pass? Seriously?



So cut the crap and get Nitty in net immediately!

HOCKEY TIME

Duty calls this weekend and I have to work today so Hockey Time is going to have call in sick so I'll make it quick. This weeks Game of the Week is Pittsburgh at Washington.....great game with some of hockey's biggest stars on display. Everyone will be talking about the Ovechkin and Crosby match-up but I'll take Malkin over Sid the Kid anyday of the week. Malkin leads the league in points, has more points and goals than Crosby, and is general a more physical player.



Didn’t have time to put the entire video collection together but we did manage to get this weeks Ovechkin goal. I’m not going to say this is the best goal I’ve ever seen but it definetly ranks in the top 10. Now I may not have had time to put all of the highlights for this week together but don’t think for a second we forgot about the Ice Girls. There is always time for Ice Girls! This week we’ll take a look at the Chicago Blackhawks Ice Girls! Until next week……..C-Ya!

HOCKEY TIME

Yes I know.....Hockey Time is a little early this week. But with ChiefDude going on an extended vacation I think we can move Hockey Time to Saturdays. In no way am I suggesting that ChiefDude's vacation is a cover for what he is really doing on 'vacation' but I think the picture says it all. Have fun during jailtime.......i mean vacation ChiefDude.

We need to take a couple of minutes to talk to the members of the Wanna B's list. We understand you may be new to hockey so don't start jumping off the bandwagon because the Bruins have lost 3 in a row. They are still 6-2-2 in the last 10 and have a lock on the division. Hockey is like this....you have a bad 10 to 15 game stretch where the puck doesn't bounce your way. It's better to get this out of their system now before the playoffs start.


This weeks ice girl spotlight is on the LA Kings KINGS CREW! A quick shout-out to a Hockey Time fan for sending us this picture of the KINGS CREW in 'action'....I can't really confirm these girls are actually KINGS CREW members but lets be honest, does it really matter? The video also has a preview of tomorrows game of the week between the Rangers and Flyers. It's always a good game when these two match-up......plenty of hard hits and fights. Game starts at 12:30 tomorrow.

HOCKEY TIME

What a week! We had the Bruins and Flyers in a home and home series this week. Both teams came away with road wins in what looked to be a potential second round match-up in the playoffs. I haven’t watched much of the Bruins this year but after watching both games against the Flyers I was impressed. The Bruins are a solid team with no superstars that just plays good fundamental hockey and smothering defense. Once the playoffs role around it will all come down to Thomas and if he can make the 3 to 4 tough saves.


Mrs. Iggles and I went to Saturday’s overtime game and had a great time. I was shocked to see so many Flyers fans were there, the crowd had to be 5-10% Flyers fans. Since it was a Saturday it quickly became obvious this was a bandwagon crowd. RULE #1: when the opposing teams fans start a chant you first boooooooo until they stop…..and then you start a Bruins cheer. Some Bruins fans got confused I guess and started cheering along with the Flyers fans because they didn’t realize they were chanting ‘Lets Go Flyers’. I must say it was quite humorous. RULE #2: If somebody stands up in the front row with a Flyers sign you booooooo the hell out of him until he sits down and shuts up. You can’t allow that kind of behaviour on your home ice….CAN’T HAVE IT! RULE #3: DON’T TALK TO ME!!!!!!!! Why do I have to sit next to the guy who wants to strike up a conversation. Listen buddy I don’t care what you have to say……I REALLY DON’T! RULE #4: Don’t take Mrs. Iggles to a hockey game again. I can’t have her clapping for a Bruins goal and then tell me to stop clapping when the Flyers score. I warned here ahead of time……add her to the WANNA B’s list. Ugggghhhhhh……

























Time for the weekly highlights. Be sure to check out the Goals of the Week and this weeks ice girl feature……Dallas Stars Planet Tan Ice Girls. How about that…even their ice girls have a sponsor! I’ll be honest this whole ice girl feature is great, all of the videos are of the girls doing everything but skating. Oh well…the things I must do for the blog.

Hockey Time

OK kids....the Super Bowl is over so it's time to move on. In regards to sports, February has to be far and away the worst month of the year. No football, baseball hasn't started, basketball......well basketball just sucks regardless of what time of year it is. Thankfully the Daytona 500 is only 2 weeks away! So this is the time of year I start paying attention to hockey.....now I'll admit I'm not a die hard hockey guy. But I think that mostly comes from trying to follow my team (the Flyers) by just reading what's being written on-line. Does anyone know what channel Versus is on Fios? And let me tell you that it's real hard to read about hockey when you can't even pronounce the names....uggghhhh. Besides the regular season is pretty irrelevant in hockey, it all comes down to who has the hot goalie going into the playoffs. Hockey needs to be watched in person which is why I'm hopeful Mrs. Iggles will enjoy her first hockey game this Saturday.

Anyway, since some of you pay very little attention to hockey we will see if we can show you what hockey is all about. Not sure how often I'll do it but we'll post a video with some of the better hits, goals, and saves of the preceding week/s. As a bonus I'll include a little feature on the each teams 'ice girls'. So pay attention and if you have any questions don't ask me....send them to Mr. Booze.