The long and winding road, part 2

When last we left our hero, he was venturing across the land, braving holiday traffic and ancient subway systems to visit friends and relatives. Our story continues ...

Day 3: Boston to Richmond, about 650 miles

This was the big one. (Check the map again. This is the long squiggle on the east side of the "triangle" representing this voyage.) I knew there could be a number of complications, not the least of which was holiday traffic on roads with which I'm not familiar (I've been to Richmond, just not from the northeast), and the lack of cold drinks and protein bars in the car could be a problem, but there was nothing to do but stick it out.

I kept to the same pattern, stopping about every hour, except for the first two hours. Connecticut has lots of exits but no rest areas along I-84 (I prefer rest areas for quick stops because they're right off the highway and don't have additional customers like fast food places and gas stations do), so a couple of hours in, I noticed my attention was wandering a bit. (In fact, that was the worst it turned out to be on the whole trip.) A stop in New York took care of the attention problem, and I patiently retraced my steps to I-81, then headed away from the old route and toward new territory (and new states: I'd never been to Maryland before).

In the past, taking I-64 was nice, except for two stretches: the West Virginia Turnpike, where I-77 meets it, and the stretch in Virginia where I-81 (yep, the one I'm on) meets it. In both cases, traffic picked up as the interstates merged and dropped off abruptly as soon as they parted. Of course, this time I'd be on the busy part, or so I thought.

My GPS had other ideas. After six or seven hours of begging me to take the coastal route, it finally conceded that perhaps I had the right idea. However, as I crossed into Virginia, it suggested that maybe I shouldn't head back to I-64 (going southwest), but instead should try US-17 to I-95 to Richmond.

I thought about it for a while. Points in favor of US-17: it was more direct and was probably still a major highway, and if there was still traffic, I'd be closer to Richmond. Points in favor of I-64: it's an interstate, so there wouldn't be any stoplights, and it might not be that much longer. I took the US highway. Sure enough, there were a couple of stoplights that really slowed me down (probably added 15 minutes to the trip), but overall it wasn't bad, and once I was on I-95, everything was fine.

Finally hit the hotel at 8:15 or so, about 13 hours after I left. (I stay at the same one every time, the Holiday Inn Express on Mayland. It's just off I-64, so very convenient there, but about a 40-minute drive to my friends' house. There really isn't much that's closer.) Hooked up the laptop, updated my status and gave an approximate arrival time, cleaned up, and headed out. (I left the laptop: didn't feel like tearing it down three times today.)

Made it out to the house at a decent hour. Managed to avoid being parked in – their driveway is fairly long and has spots to the side for additional parking, because people tend to come and go at these things. On Friday, I'm typically one of the view who does leave, so I need to be at the back if possible.

Usually we pitch in around the house, inside and out, partly to thank the couple for hosting every year and partly because we like to help. This time, though, all the hard labor was done. (Oh darn.) All I could do was sit and eat, and eat I did. Friday, it was "just" meatballs, white chicken chili (I think), and some kind of coconut-mango cake that was pretty good. Caught up with the regulars who made it, hung out for a while, and headed back to the hotel around 1 or so.

As a side note, have you ever noticed how short the "king-sized" beds in hotel rooms seem to be? I'm not at all a tall person (5'8½", the last time someone measured me: I took the extra half-inch and kept it), and yet I've never found a bed in which I could comfortably sleep longways. Maybe it's because they use suction to make the beds, I don't know, but I always feel like I have to sleep at an angle to be under the covers. (There's a joke here about being single, I'll let you make it.)

Day 4, no driving

Well, by "no" I mean "to the hotel and back", but frankly, when you've crossed 11 state lines in 3 days, a little 40-minute drive doesn't even count.

Slept in until 10 or so, hit Castle Age, and then back to the house for the real party. (In the old days – aside from the fact I wouldn't have been driving because I stayed at the house – this would have meant hitting the keg. Now it means parking my butt in a chair in the air conditioning and staying away from drunk people.) Hanging out, playing Out of the Park Baseball because the internet connection isn't working (well, it was, but the secondary router wasn't, and I didn't feel like interrupting the hosts to get the key to the primary router), drinking this excellent licorice-mint tea, and waiting for the food to finish.

The hosts are very, very, very good cooks (did I mention that already?), as are some of the guests, so we always eat very well, and this time we had a challenge: clear out space in the chest freezer so they could fit the half cow they'd ordered. (Yeah, a half. Not a quarter.) Hmm, sausage: Greek sausage was very good, and I think there were kielbasa as well. (They make their own sausage, and no, you don't want to know how it's made.) French fries. A deep-fried turkey injected with some kind of habanero sauce. (They also like things spicy and grow many different kinds of peppers. Strong peppers. Like the kind that you have to wear gloves to handle, and even if you do, getting some oil on your skin may mean a trip to the basement to find laundry detergent. Don't know what I mean? Imagine the burn you felt on your tongue the last time you ate something really, really spicy. Now imagine that on your hands.) Pulled pork. Curry. Some more veggie stuff I didn't eat. Hamburgers. Hot dogs. Deep-fried brisket. (I know, it sounds weird, but it was good too.) Cake. Cookies. Brownies. S'mores by the bonfire.


The fire. That's my job. (I'm not saying I'm a pyromaniac. They are. I don't actually stand in the fire, you know, just close to it.) They have a nice fire circle behind the house, and when the weather is right (as opposed to when it's so dry you can't have a fire), we build a big fire. Big. Not this time, because we didn't have the attention for it, and the NHL was unkind enough to put on a game right around dusk, but it was enough to burn some fun things and make lots of marshmallows. (The swirled marshmallows are interesting, if you've not tried them before.) The other pyro and I made a little assembly line: we'd load up marshmallow sticks for the kids, they'd cook them and come back to us, we'd set up little plates, put the marshmallows on the plates with whatever they wanted (S'mores or plain), and load up the next sticks for the next kids. (About seven kids in all. We can handle it. We're former food service professionals.) At least half of the S'mores were actually eaten and not dropped on the ground, so that was a success.

Back inside to watch Game 1 of the Finals ... there was one drunk Flyers fan there (yes, I know it's redundant, but who's telling this story anyway?) who thought it was a "low-scoring" game. Look, we just saw a lacrosse game (NCAA semifinals) end 12-8. That's low-scoring. 3-2 after 1 is not a low-scoring hockey game. Anyway, the Blackhawks win, the remaining outsiders clear out, the regulars filter inside, and we have our ritual viewing of EuroTrip. (Scotty doesn't know.)

We move cars around just right so that the drunk people can stay and I can leave (this is harder than you think when you only have a gravel driveway and some vague spots to one side that may or may not be big enough for a car). I head back to the hotel for a good night's rest, looking forward to another day of vacation before I have to leave.

Hockey? Hockey!

The NFL draft has passed, nobody cares about the NBA any more, the baseball season is just getting started, so it must be hockey season! Yes, even as a Red Wings fan, I acknowledge that the season does continue even after they have been eliminated. (Remember, I'm old. I learned about hockey when Detroit was the team from the Norris that didn't make the playoffs. See what I mean? Yeah, that long stretch in the '70s and early '80s where their only series win was a best-of-three over Atlanta.)

Besides, it's a good year to be watching hockey. There have been some outstanding games so far, and there are likely some better games on the horizon, or at least more significant games.

For example, Philadelphia and Boston are playing Game 7 tomorrow night. Oh, by the way, Boston had a 3-0 lead in this series. If you're watching, you'll hear "1942 Maple Leafs" and "1975 Islanders" quite often, because they are the only NHL teams to come back from a 3-0 deficit (the Leafs are the only team to win the Cup that way). Most teams don't even force a Game 7.

Of course, the Red Sox are the only non-NHL team to win a series after being down 3-0, and if you think this is karma coming back to haunt Boston fans, you may not be familiar with the sports dynamic in the East. From what I understand, there is no way it would carry over. Boston is much like the Blackhawks were up until a few years ago (until their cheap, stupid owner died and was replaced by his son, a much better owner), plus with hockey being much less visible in most of the US, there are many fewer people who are even aware the Bruins have been suffering lately. (Also, it's a much shorter drought. So far.)

If you're a hockey fan, you'll be rooting for Boston. Not just because Bruins fans don't deserve this, but because it would mean three of the four teams left would be Original Six teams. (San Jose spoiled it for everyone. Darn that talent. Anyway, it hasn't happened in the modern era.) And because Philadelphia is, essentially, the dirtiest team in the league. Second-most penalty minutes, most major penalties, one of only four teams to have a player receive a match penalty. They have, as near as I can recall, always been a thuggy team, and unfortunately the NHL's version of discipline is worse than probably all three other leagues combined, so they keep doing it because no one will stop it. That kind of play doesn't need to be rewarded. Go Bruins!

You may also have read about ZOMG Montreal! because of their impressive run so far (knocking out top-seeded Washington and defending champ Pittsburgh in seven games each). Of course, the MSM had a field day with this, the first time a team has ever beaten the President's Trophy winner (for best record in the league) and the defending champ in consecutive rounds. Well, since 1994 (when the league switched from playoffs within divisions first to playoffs within conferences). How many times was it possible? Doesn't matter. "First time evah!" is more important.

Naturally, I (and anyone else with a brain and a decent memory) immediately thought "Oh, you mean like the North Stars." I knew just about exactly when it happened: the early '90s, right when Mario Lemieux was leading the Pens to their first-ever Cups. Sure enough, in 1990-91, the North Stars were fourth in their division and had a losing record, but managed to knock off the top two teams in the Norris and the surprise winner of the Smythe playoffs (Gretzky-less Edmonton) before falling to Pittsburgh in the finals. (I did remember incorrectly, though: Vancouver actually had a worse record, so they would have been the eighth seed in a modern playoff setup, and the Canucks were bounced in the first round.) Still, it's basically the same thing.

Except that Minnesota had never won a Cup, and the franchise that is now in Dallas has only won one. Montreal has won 24 times. Granted, they haven't won since 1993, but that's nothing compared to the remaining teams. San Jose's first season was 1991-92 and they have never won ... the Flyers haven't won since 1975 ... the Bruins haven't won since 1972 ... and Chicago hasn't won since 1961. So new fans might be cheering on the underdog Canadiens, but long-time fans outside the Montreal area will probably be rooting for someone else.

I'm a little disappointed that the Wings' season is over, but San Jose has a very good team, Detroit didn't take advantage of the opportunities they had, and after all, they've been very, very successful, both in modern times and overall:

• 24 Finals appearances, second only to Montreal;
• 11 Cups, third behind Montreal and Toronto;
• 6 Finals appearances and 4 Cups since 1995, both best in the league (the Devils have 4 appearances and 3 Cups, no other team has more than 2 of either in that time).

Yes, they went 42 years between championships, but that is history, and I am grateful that I've been able to see them be so successful for so long. (They've made the playoffs each of the last 19 seasons, the longest active streak in the NHL or NBA, the two leagues with similar playoff structures.) I wish luck to fans of four of the five remaining teams ... maybe one of them is yours.

Stanley Cup Finals, Game 7: Pittsburgh 2, Detroit 1

Well, yeah. So. Marc-Andre Fleury was not awful (actually, he was really good), Chris Osgood was not great, the Wings were not precise, the Pens were not rattled. (The Wings fans are booing, which is disappointing. I think they should simply be quiet.)

Malkin gets the Conn Smythe, easy choice. Crosby was neutralized most of the series and Malkin more than carried his share. (Including in PIM.)

Not sure what Babcock didn't get done this game. Seems like some of it was coaching, at least. Got to hand it to Bylsma, keeping Pittsburgh on track after a disastrous Game 5.

The five-year rule is still in effect, so that's really all I have to say. (And yes, that means I'm limited in what I say about the Wings until 2017.)

If you're a Pittsburgh fan, congratulations.

Stanley Cup Finals, Game 6: Pittsburgh 2, Detroit 1

Once again, Pittsburgh won the game it had to win. This time, it was a one-goal game ... the Pens jumped out in the second, added an insurance goal in the third, and then clung to their lead for dear life as the Wings roared back.

The goaltending was pretty even: I thought Osgood played better overall, but he allowed a soft goal and a somewhat weak goal; Fleury gave up only one goal, a tough play that probably wasn't on him. (To be fair, without help from Scuderi and a post, it could been 2-2 in regulation ...)

Once again, the role players didn't contribute much. Staal is not quite a role play. Kennedy's goal definitely counts, but you could match that with Draper's first of the playoffs. There was one play where Crosby fought valiantly in his own end to blunt a Detroit rush, worked the puck free, laid it to center ice ... and watched as it slid to a Detroit defenseman. He can't be at both ends at once, guys.

The officiating was dreadful. Apparently Bettman has slept through the entire series, either that or Brian Burke is now in charge of officiating. They don't call anything any more: blatant trips/holds/obstructions ... at least it's terrible both ways, so the Wings don't have to stretch their weaker PK unit and the Pens can shut down Detroit's faster players, but still, if I wanted to watch '90s hockey, I'd break out the VCR.

Each team has defended home ice, and here we are ... for the first time in 54 years, Hockeytown will host a Game 7. (Believe it or not, that counts all three sports: the three seven-game series the Pistons lost and the '68 World Series all ended on the road.) Strangely enough, in 1955, the home team won the first six games as well.

Game 7, 1955? Detroit 3, Montreal 1. The Wings outscore the Canadiens by 7 in the Series and win back-to-back Cups against Montreal.

Detroit holds a four-goal edge over Pittsburgh in the series. Is a three-goal win possible? I'd say not, barring a cataclysmic breakdown, and the Pens already had that in Game 5.

I stick to my early prediction: Wings in 7. Detroit 2, Pittsburgh 1, Osgood gets the Conn Smythe.

Stanley Cup Finals, Game 5: Detroit 5, Pittsburgh 0

Wow.

Okay, first of all, Pavel Datsyuk is not worth 3 goals per game. He's not. Second, you can't draw too many conclusions from a single game.

However, if you look at what happened in Games 1 and 2, and then look at this game, I just don't see how you can say Pittsburgh can win in this building. I'm not even sure they can beat Detroit in Game 6.

For the first few minutes, Pittsburgh played well, as they have in virtually every game. Kronwall took a silly penalty early in the first ... and the Penguins did not score. In fact, they didn't have many chances. The presence of Datsyuk on the penalty kill made a huge difference.

After one, it was 1-0 Detroit, with Kunitz in the box for a silly penalty (somewhat questionable). The Pens kill that off, and ... give up a goal on that shift, even-strength. That might not have been too bad, but then Gonchar took a dumb penalty, and it was 3-0. Malkin penalty, 4-0. Kunitz penalty, 5-0, and that was that.

Well, Pittsburgh had a few more penalties left in them, including 3 misconducts in the third period, and once again, they're lucky the NHL doesn't care about discipline - imagine if Malkin had been suspended for Game 3?

I'm not really sure how much of it was youth, how much was frustration, and how much was the realization that they simply aren't good enough yet. (They can still win, sure, but they're not the better team.) For that, you could forgive Crosby and Malkin a little frustration. If Hossa had stayed in Pittsburgh, this would be an even series at least, and with Datsyuk out, the Pens might have won it by now. But he went to Detroit, and right now, it looks like that was a good move.

I think Bylsma has to throw this entire game out. None of this ever happened. He has to tell the team that Datsyuk will be healthy for Game 6, so the Pens have to come out hard, keep the pressure on, take the lead, and hold on. Fleury has to be solid. One of the "grit" players has to step up. (That doesn't narrow it down much ... which is the problem with filling your roster with that kind of player.) I don't think Pittsburgh will take stupid penalties at home, but then I thought they'd come out tough today, and they only played 18 minutes of good hockey.

Emrick is talking about how the Wings have made statements against three teams this season: against San Jose twice, against Chicago twice, and now. I can't argue with that. The Wings showed how well they can play at home, and with one on the table if they need it, they've put up a pretty convincing case for their 12th Cup.

Stanley Cup Finals, Game 4: Pitttsburgh 4, Detroit 2

Better get this in before Game 5 starts ... it's a little more difficult because the 'p' on my keyboard doesn't want to work. No, really. Not sure what that's about ...

This is the game that I thought Pittsburgh would have in Game 3. Unfortunately, it means that the Penguins are the team with momentum coming into Game 5. The one positive thing Detroit can take from the game is that Pittsburgh had to win it: witness the 2008 Finals, when Detroit stole Game 4 and basically ended the series.

Having said that, it was the one game in the series so far where Pittsburgh clearly carried both the flow and the score. The second period was a series of Detroit mistakes and Pittsburgh goals ... something that the Wings could not do in Game 3, when Pittsburgh left the door open.

It's possible that Detroit is feeling the fatigue of the schedule, but somehow I don't know that this is any different than past years ... 4 games in 6 nights vs. 4 games in 7 nights on some occasions. Sucks a bit, but then Pittsburgh had the same schedule, and even if some Pens are younger than some Wings, Pittsburgh has older players too and they didn't seem to suck.

I also think it does a disservice to the game Pittsburgh played, implying that if the Wings were fresher they would have been toe-to-toe with Pittsburgh. (Now that entire part of the keyboard is going out. sigh. Probably a cord problem. Back to typing on the laptop itself.)

Detroit has laid eggs in the playoffs before, and they have the experience to put this behind them. Pittsburgh still has to win four of the last five games in the series, Detroit only had to win two. Win tonight, and they've got two chances to wrap it up. With Datsyuk coming back, I wouldn't bet against them.

Stanley Cup Finals, Game 3: Pittsburgh 4, Detroit 2

Well, nothing much really changed: the officiating was pretty bad (inconsistent calls at both ends, both refs and both linesmen inexplicably missing too many men on the ice for 20-30 seconds), neither team really played well, and the home team caught a couple of breaks and won. Or put another way, the visiting team did not make enough breaks for themselves.

The only thing that really surprised me was that it wasn't a blowout ... but then again last year's Game 3 wasn't either. Pittsburgh just isn't good enough to blow out Detroit unless the Wings flat-out collapse, and they've shown no signs of doing so. Case in point: two-on-one, Crosby draws the D and feeds ... Chris Kunitz, who whiffs badly on the shot.

Pittsburgh acquired too many "grit" players; granted, there weren't many Hossas around, and the one they had chose less money to play in Detroit, but still, they don't have enough talent around Malkin and Crosby. They can win this series, but they'll have to grind it out. No wonder Malkin was frustrated in Game 2 ... he just doesn't have the luxury of playing with the same talent that Zetterberg does.

Fleury was better in this game. I don't think either goal was really his fault, and he played well during the part where the Wings were basically holding Pittsburgh shotless.

Just like in 2008, this was a winnable game for Detroit, but they got outplayed. Hopefully Game 4 will also be like 2008.

Stanley Cup Finals, Game 2: Detroit 3, Pittsburgh 1

Second verse, same as the first: two games, two nights, two wins, and the more things change, the more things seem to stay the same. The Penguins did manage to get on the board in both games, even taking the lead in Game 2, but they just don't have the talent to play with Detroit, and that's clear when you look at the job that the Wings have done on Crosby and Malkin. They're both special players, and Malkin has done an excellent job, all things considered, but Crosby has disappeared again ... he just can figure out what to do against the Detroit defense, and really, the other two lines aren't exactly helping (although to be fair, I guess Pittsburgh usually rolls three lines, so you can't expect the fourth-line guys to contribute).

The officiating was bad again. I guess there's been a directive from Gary Butt-man to roll the clock back 15 years ... if I squint, I can almost see Rangers-Canucks or Devils-Wings, complete with holding, grabbing, and interfering. Until the game was clearly over, at least there wasn't any bad physical stuff, and even at that point McCreary had to give the Wings a power play after Malkin threw his cereal on the floor and screamed. I mean, the second Detroit goal came after Hossa committed a couple of uncalled penalties, players are getting pulled down right in front of a ref with no penalty ... who knows what the series would be like if Pittsburgh's power play was on the ice?

The outburst by the Pens at the end was expected, I guess. Olczyk (former Pens head coach) in particular seemed to like it and trotted out the old "sending a message" line. And I always respond that the message is on the scoreboard. In a sense, it was really stupid of Malkin ... if he jams a finger on Zetterberg's head and can't play in Game 3, you know? But he was frustrated, and he probably felt this was the best way to express himself.

And like Anaheim and Chicago before them, the Pens can take their Philadelphia ways home with them. (The Flyers have been playing like that for 35 years or so and the NHL has practically embraced it, which is a shame. It's much better to watch talented teams playing hockey than to watch semi-talented teams playing rugby on ice.)

The Pens just can't compete with Detroit's depth, and at some point, the talking heads are going to have to acknowledge the job the Wings' defense has done. We heard the same blah-blah-blah about Kane and Toews, the two youngsters unlike anyone the Wings had played so far, and five games later, the Hawks were done.

Come on, Datsyuk and Draper, two of the three best defensive forwards on the Wings, have missed the first two games, and Detroit's won two two-goal games. How much more do they need to show to prove they're the better team by far? If Pittsburgh were missing Malkin and, say, Staal had missed the first two games, and Detroit were perfectly healthy, it might have been 4-0 and 5-0 like last year.

Pittsburgh has three games left, max. I think they'll split at home and lose Game 5 on Saturday.

Stanley Cup Finals, Game 1: Detroit 3, Pittsburgh 1

I'd love to give a more detailed recap, but frankly WTHR sucks balls and I can't do it. I still don't understand why they spent so much time giving us so little useful information. It was pathetic, really. (Especially when they actually went off the air for a bit, and not my satellite either: DirecTV had no signal to transmit. Embarrassing.)

And this is why networks are working themselves out of the sports business. For one thing, they cover sports so infrequently, they have to borrow guys (and gals) from the networks that do cover it. For another, they're at the mercy of the local stations: there are thousands of stories during NFL season about local affiliates screwing over the fans in various ways. Here, it wasn't NBC's fault that WTHR ruined the broadcast, but it happened nonetheless, and it reflects poorly on NBC.

You see, the networks used to be everything to everybody, and they still think they can do that. The problem is that for cable and satellite customers, specialized channels long ago eclipsed most of what the networks offer, and the irony is that digital channels will do the rest. Why bother to watch the regular weather on WTHR news when you can watch their weather channel 24/7?

The networks are just sheep any more, only bothering to feed people whatever the other networks seemed to have done well. I think if Fox decided to put on dead air between 8 and 8:30 on Thursdays, the others would follow suit because they'd think there must be something to it.

I never thought I'd look forward to Vs covering the Cup finals, but I guess I am now.

Anyway, the Penguins played well, but the Wings played better. We heard the same tired storyline as last season (Can the veterans hang with the young, fast Penguins, especially Crosby and Malkin?), and it played out pretty much the same as before. The Wings also have fast players (remember Helm's breakaway) and the Penguins also have old players, so let's put that one to rest. The Penguins have health and the Wings don't, that's about it ... but it was the Wings who had the depth (yet again) to win Game 1. Lidstrom played only a little bit under his usual numbers, and Babcock was able to roll four lines the whole game.

The extreme lack of penalty calls might favor the Pens a little (or not - Detroit's penalty kill has been atrocious so far), but aside from that, unless Bylsma has something up his sleeve for Game 2, we're going to see a repeat of last year's Finals.

I have to admit that I didn't think Detroit would make it this far when the playoffs started, but honestly, they've just done the same things they did last season. The talking heads want this to be an exciting series and want Pittsburgh's young guns to carry the day (everyone loves an underdog), but I just don't see it yet.

Game 2 tomorrow night. A Detroit win forces the Pens to win four of five; a Pittsburgh win means the Penguins can hold serve to win the series.

So there

ESPN's Sheldon Burnside has a nice little post about the NHL playoff schedule.

You remember the NHL? No? Oh, well, there was a playoff game on Tuesday. There's another tonight, but in the other conference. Don't worry, we'll get there eventually.

I posted a long reply ...

Back in the day (early to mid '90s), games were every other night until the series was over, and it was great. You knew when each game of the series was, good series got to keep the momentum going, and the best series seemed to end too soon.

Now, particularly during the conference and Stanley Cup finals, it's easy to forget that hockey is still going on, especially when it's on a third-tier network (at best).

The NHL's excuse about breaks is ridiculous ... if anything, spacing out games makes it even more likely you'll wait forever for the next series. If the Wings sweep the Hawks and the Pens-Canes series goes 7, Detroit will be waiting 9 days just for the series to end, never mind for the Finals to begin! Game 4 of the East is 2 days after Game 4 in the West.

A good commissioner would regain control of the schedule and tell the minor networks how it's going to be. Vs doesn't have that much that it needs to show, and the ratings for NHL playoff games are bad anyway ... of course on a real network like ESPN, there would be options other than delaying by days (moving a game to ESPN2, News, Classic, whatever).

Of course this one is too concerned with not letting THAT MAN have an NHL franchise to care. Hey, it's the same guy who thought fans would come streaming back after the lockout. Why expect anything better from him?

Random thoughts

• On the way to work today, I saw a GMC Yukon with US Government plates (cool) ... and an EPA sticker in the lower left (huh?) ... and EPA on the plate itself.
  Really? A Yukon? How about a Highlander hybrid, or maybe an Escape hybrid? What exactly are you protecting?
• A nice article a few days ago on ESPN.com by Pedro Gomez about cheaters and the Hall of Fame. Sometimes it seems obvious, but it's good to hear it in the "mainstream" media. You cheat, you're out. No questions asked.
• On a similar note, E.J. Hradek strongly disagrees with the NHL's decision to remove the suspension on Scott Walker. Maybe the league wouldn't be such a joke if it decided to penalize thuggy behavior and cheap-shot artists.
  Sure, there are the marginal fans who watch hockey only for fights, but honestly, the sport is better off without them. You don't see NASCAR catering to the crash fans, do you?
• Peggle is fun.
• Game 7s are much better when your team wins.
• So has the NBA orchestrated the Lakers-Cavs Finals yet, or am I asking too soon?

No Consequences League

Here's proof.

No suspension.

I suspect part of it is that they didn't want to "hurt" the Ducks' chances. No word on whether the tactics of a player like Brown hurt the Wings' chances. Franzen's postseason struggles last season were largely caused by a blow to the head. The Wings were lucky. (Feel free to look up any number of NHL players who were forced to retire due to head injuries. I would guess few, if any, were the result of legal hits, because, you know, it's illegal to hit someone in the head.)

That's why you have teams like the Ducks and Flyers. Why bother to follow the rules if you don't ever have to pay?

Wings 1, Thugs 0

And so it begins ...

So here is a guy who was averaging almost 5 PIM a game for Vancouver (you'd think Crawford was still coaching there). Anaheim acquires him, and surprisingly he drops to "only" 2ish a game. I'm sure Carlyle had a talk with him ...

After picking up a mere three minors in six games against San Jose, he nearly triples that on a single cheap shot to Jiri Hudler's head. The only question was whether the stick was involved, or if it was simply a straight elbow.

To the referees' credit, Brown was summarily ejected: major plus misconduct, which IIRC means an automatic review. He'll probably get a one-game suspension. (It's his third misconduct of the season, but the other two were fighting-related, one for instigation.)

He should get a 20-game suspension. Guys like Brown and teams like Anaheim are the main reason why the NHL is what it is today. Instead of prattling about how it's the instigator rule that is mysteriously causing all this, the NHL needs to sit with the NHLPA (which needs to remember it represents the injured as well as the thugs) and put an end to this behavior.

You would have thought that the McSorley and Bertuzzi incidents would have been enough, but no. Apparently the NHL is waiting for a player to be carted off in a coffin. That sounds like hyperbole, and I really hope it is, but if they do not make the penalty for intentional blows to the head severe enough to stop the behavior, it's going to happen.

Teams like Anaheim, Philadelphia, and Calgary have been doing this for years, and Bettman hasn't seen fit to address it. (Obviously it wasn't going to change with Brian Burke in charge of "discipline". Toronto was 16th in PIM this season. I wouldn't be surprised if they were in the top 5 in 09-10.) We saw what happened the last time his hand was forced ... or maybe we didn't because we can't find Vs.