Out with the old...

Sergei is gone, so is the old format.
I saw that blogger now offers several shades of one new design, and I thought I'd give it a try. Still working out some of the kinks, and I'm not happy about how links and posts are considered the same thing and have to use the same color, but I think it's an improvement.

After being away for arthroscopic surgery, I'm on the mend and will definitely be game-ready by the preseason. But that surgery wasn't on my hands, so let's get typing. As you know, Christmas is coming tomorrow, and Santa has a big lump o' coal with our names on it. Last year we got what many would call a mixed bag. Coal came in the form of having our hearts torn out by the departure of Kovalev and Koivu, and a big fat trade for the big fat salary of Scott Gomez (which, incidentally, increases the odds that Santa has jack shit in his bag for us this year). On the other hand, we got these two guys named Mike Cammalleri and Brian Gionta who were kind of a big deal this last spring.

But, to paraphrase that Scientologist minx Katie Holmes, the best part about Christmas is the surprises. You think you've got the wrapped present pegged, and turns out to be something completely unexpected. That was the case with the Gomez trade, where the cardboard box turned out to be a whole lot more fun than the actual toy.


I guess I need to mention the Bruins (new laptop, same old problems capitalizing that word), and I hear they've been up to a few things, including shopping Marc Savard.
Lemme see if I got this straight: Recchi's on for another year, they got Seguin, Horton, and Campbell, Boychuk re-upped, they got rid of Wideman and Sobotka, and are hoping to cut Timmy Thomas loose.

According to Si, the Bruins have very little cap space to play with, so we'll have to see what Santa has planned for Boston fans. Incidentally, I do feel bad for all the Celtics fans: I really wish they had pulled out the game 7 win. I can't stand to see that rapist happy.

So on this, Christmas eve, let me know what you think of the redesign and your predictions for Free Agency. The big question: Who will get Kovalchuk? I can totally see him in a Rangers uniform.

Hab fans to Carey Price: "Fuck this up and we kill you."

Montreal Canadiens management has sent a big fat present to Carey Price in the form trading Jaroslav Halak to St Louis. In a move reminiscent of the Rangers trade of John Vanbiesbrouck, the Habs management has made it clear they are sticking to what many think is a lesser goalie.

The time for the trade was right, as Halak's value has never been, nor might never be, higher. What remains to be seen is whether it was a good decision, and that will only become apparent
1, when we know who the hell the Habs got in exchange (it had better be fucking awesome) and
2, when we see how Price plays in the 2010-2011 season.
If Montreal got some bullshit like Paul Kariya or a draft pick, the conversation is over and the Habs are stupid. If they got a good deal, then we wait and see. EDIT: some guys named Lars Eller and Ian Schultz are in the deal, whoever they are. WTF. Could be we don't even need to look at question #2 to find out whether or not this trade sucks.

Habs fans should not be surprised by such a move, since, as I have pointed out, it was the right time to move Halak. We all knew IF the management wanted to move him, now was the time. And now we know that the management indeed wanted to trade Halak.

Honestly, any of the three options had their pros and cons.
They could have traded Price.
They could have kept both.
They could have traded Halak (and did).

This was by far the most intriguing option.

Toronto Maple Leafs: "Jeez, our bad"

The Maple Leafs finally unveiled their jerseys recently, after finally realizing they had been playing in their practice jerseys for three seasons.

Tom Anselmi, executive vice-president and chief operating officer for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, offered this mea culpa:
"Since we switched to the Reebok Edge jerseys, we have been using the same jerseys for both practices and for games. We only just recently noticed the error, and finally tracked down the box of game jerseys we misplaced back in 2007."

That box of jerseys had apparently been sitting in a janitor's closet in the Air Canada Center for three years.

President and General Manager Brian Burke had this to say, speaking from the MasterCard Centre for Hockey Excellence (the Leafs' ironically named practice facility): "Fucking son of a bitch bastard, what the fuck? What dumb-fuck turd brain forgot to get the real game jerseys? Fuck."

The Leafs chose to unveil the newly-found jerseys as they simultaneously announced that Dion Phaneuf will be the new team captain. Burke offered this comment about the trade that brought Phaneuf from Calgary: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Better Mullet: Patrick Kane or Barry Melrose?