Apparently Mike Comrie is a fan of irony -- he just signed a one-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers. Tweet of the Day goes to the always hilarious Down Goes Brown:
"(Mike) Comrie signs with Oilers. Had considered Habs, but was told he was too big."
...if you're an Islanders fan, at least. From TMZ.com:
Some girls get jewelry or clothes from their boyfriends on their birthdays -- not Hilary Duff. The Duffster -- who turns 20 on September 28 -- received an early birthday present from hockey player boyfriend Mike Comrie this week.
Comrie told her that he had left the gift in the garage at Duff's sister Haylie's house. "I opened the garage and I was just, like, shocked, just standing there," Duff told People.
The hunky puckster surprised the teen queen with a $100,000 Mercedes-Benz G-class SUV. "I've driven it tons," said Duff of the grand gift. "When I called him I was like, 'You're crazy! It's perfect!'
P.S. "Duffster"? "Puckster"? Blech.
Here's your Hilary Duff-Mike Comrie confirmation, for those of you who care about this stuff. How pissed do you think the oversexed Ottawa media is about this (read: not me)? No Comrie = No Duff = No stalker-like sightings at the SBP. Boo! Hiss!
P.S. More photos of the happy couple can be found here.
P.P.S. Hilary Duff must be about 4 feet tall. Just saying.
(Worst Photoshop ever, but made me laugh, so it gets a pass. I found this over at The Book of Face -- anti-Angie groups encompass at least 60% of all found. My favourite one, simply based on title alone: Sidney Crosby Is An Advertisement Slut.)
Emails are still trickling in regarding Sunday's column. One the more interesting messages (when it wasn't chastizing us about Wayne Gretzky -- whaa?) had some thoughts regarding Crosby's perception if, say, he suddenly sported a different uniform. Here are the pertinent excerpts:
"Clearly you are not a fan of Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. That's fine. You are entitled to feel however you wish. I am curious how much of it has to do with the fact that the Penguins are an American franchise and that is not one of the Original Six...If Crosby played for Ottawa or Toronto or Montreal the tune would sound a lot different."
Sigh.
The Original Six gaffe -- let's allow that to slide. What about this missive screams "American fan" to you? Oh, I don't know -- the idea that Ottawans would accept Sidney Crosby if he sported a Leafs or Habs sweater in the postseason (or at any time, for that matter)? You've got to be joking. Every Canadian that follows hockey, regardless of whether they care about them, is aware of the team rivalries in this country. And if the American media were doing their part, the U.S. fans would probably have a much better understanding of them. That being said, there are tons of sites, blogs etc., devoted to coverage of teams and specifically, Canadian rivalries -- may we present Exhibits A and B.
Here's what it boils down to: Putting Sidney Crosby in a Leafs or Habs uniform, and ultimately having him face the Sens in the playoffs would make the vocal displeasure from Games 1 and 2 look like a walk in the park. He would be despised. Vilified. Envision Darcy Tucker with a plethora of talent and pockets stuffed with Carmex. Oh, but he'll be in a Canadian uniform, so that'll make his North of the Border detractors love him? Yeah, we all care about those sorts of things so much these days.
A few leftovers from last night's game:
- About the Zamboni driver up there -- speculation is already beginning and some are wondering if Dany Heatley is dealing with an undisclosed injury. There's absolutely no jump to his game and he can't put anything away, even if it's gift-wrapped. His backhand specifically, is totally off the mark. It's gotten to the point where he's begun to hurt, more than help.
- Speaking of hurting more than helping: Barring a miracle, Wade Redden's time in Ottawa is undoubtedly drawing to a close. The turnovers, the lack of mobility combined with complete and utter weakness when faced with the likes of Gary Roberts -- this isn't working. Sporadic, well-played games will never justify a 6.5 million dollar salary. Is he leading off the ice? That's for the dressing room to know. What is known is if Redden were leading during play as-is, the series would be over by now...and tilted in the wrong direction.
- How did Mike Comrie go without a star last night? Another great performance from him.
- Let's just say it: Oleg Saprykin is as gritty as a triple-cream Brie, and rustier than a 1981 Honda Civic.
- Why is Gary Roberts allowed to bogart Emery's blue paint on a Penguins' PP without fear of reprisal? You know if it were the other way around, the old man would be cross-checking the Sens' player in the back, ad nauseam.
- Colby Armstrong won't be adored in this city anytime soon, but he gets points for this mature decision.
Hopefully today will be the last day where the media will incessantly remind us of who lost, rather than pointing out who won. Hopefully.
More later.
First off, credit to Pittsburgh for coming away with a victory. Now onto the important stuff...
Mike Comrie has come into his own in this playoff series -- the effort is non-stop, combined with the feistiness of a little dude with a chip on his shoulder. Better still, if you were watching the telecast, you may have seen Comrie taking a leadership role during the PP, in an attempt to improve its effectiveness -- chirping at his teammates when they became sedentary. (More on this later.) Obviously, the Sens will not have salary cap room to retain Comrie in the offseason, but here's a question: How much money does the heir of The Brick fortune need? Comrie's salary likely resembles a slush fund to him -- 10 to 1 says he "invests" it in pimped out hot tubs and a truck like Jon Lieber's.
On to the PP, which obviously is still an issue. Alfredsson was able to put one away (displaying a large amount of joy and relief in the process), but some of the same problems from Game 1 still remain -- although there was some improvement with the play being brought down low. A new issue has arisen, and while it's been a known weakness for the Sens in the past, they likely thought it wouldn't rear its ugly head in this series: The dreaded faceoffs. Pittsburgh was relegated to the bottom of the barrel in faceoff wins during the regular season -- today was a different story. Maxime Talbot won 66 per cent of his (19-29) and Angie came away with 11 out of 14, or 79 per cent. On the other side of the coin, Mike Fisher went 6 for 19, Jason Spezza was 12 for 23 and Antoine Vermette ended up going 4 for 9. Adding to the frustrations were faceoffs that weren't won cleanly, making it difficult to get quick shots off while inside the offensive zone.
And finally, memo to Angie and Maxime Talbot: Were penalties deserved after you received respective shots to the throat and nose? Perhaps. But how's about you not fling your head back in a soap opera-worthy performance, followed by a blatant stare at the adjacent official in a feeble attempt to garner sympathy?
Well, that's one way for Chris Neil to become the face of the franchise.
Someone march the Red Army in front of the SBP tomorrow, because it's blatantly evident that Ottawa likes a certain Commie (please, for the love of God, tell me that's his moniker).
No. 89 was cheered repeatedly and made his presence known with two assists. Early impressions have been encouraging -- he keeps his stick down, and always looks prepared to take the puck. We think he'll be a nice fit, so golf claps go out to Muckler for making the move.
Best quote from The Driver tonight: "I wanna trade (Joe) Corvo to Phoenix for Kaigorodov so we can fleece someone else with him."
Speaking of which, after a brutal turnover from No. 7 in the first, TSN had the maligned defenseman's quote from yesterday's Citizen all prepped and ready to go, the minute he returned to the bench. In case you missed it, here's what appeared below Corvo's face during his closeup time:
"Maybe I'll get moved to forward, I'm playing so bad defensively."
Someone get the kid a psychologist. But honestly, we can't say we're surprised. Kings fans warned us about Corvo's play, and well, we discovered the now-defunct corvosucks.com page (made by an L.A. fan) a long time ago.
In other news, Brent Wallace broke the story about Ray Emery receiving a three-foot ball python (yet unnamed) as a Christmas gift from his parents. How does a 24-year-old goaltender making less than a million dollars this year have everything already?
More later.
The Sens have traded their disgruntled and highly disappointing Russian prospect Alexei Kaigorodov (Evgeni Malkin No. 2 my ass, HF Boards) to Phoenix for Mike Comrie.
Mike Comrie (along with Shane Doan) will be unrestricted free agents at the end of this year, but the price for Doan would have dealt a significant blow to the Sens' roster. Comrie has recovered well from his fractured foot, recording 11 points in 9 games.
Ultimately this is a better choice than Petr Nedved, and takes care of the embarrassing problem of Kaigorodov. How effective Comrie is in a Sens uniform remains to be seen, however.
To relive memories of Kaigorodov (which sounds like a sauce you can buy at Loblaws), go here. Also, here's the link to the column I wrote about the alleged white knight in the preseason.
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