If you haven't seen this yet, well, hit that play button. This is Don Cherry and Ron MacLean from Hockey Night in Canada. Don is the between periods "color" guy, to say the least.
You've probably never seen Don Cherry, nor Hockey Night in Canada. Anyhow, Don does commentary between the 1st and 2nd periods where he plays the part of the blowhard, yammering on about something he has a strong opinion about. He also tends to talk with his hands rather excessively. At some point, some wise soul thought to themselves, "Hey, it almost looks like Don is playing the piano!" and shortly thereafter, this individual married a segment Don did recently to piano notes the wise soul recorded himself, and created probably the funniest damn video I've seen in at least six months.
Steve said 4 days later
That's funny. I have always enjoyed Don Cherry when I used to get stuck watching Toronto Maple Leafs games because one of my old roommates was a Canuck from Toronto.
Parsla said 4 days later
Never seen Hockey Night in Canada? How is that possible? Even I know who Don Cherry is ...
I used to enjoy watching a CBC show called 'Little Mosque on the Prairie', a sitcom based in small-town Saskatchewan with a growing Muslim population. In one of the first episodes, before they had their own building and were gathering to worship in City Hall, they were using hockey boards - ads and all - to separate the worship space into the men's and women's areas. Why? Because nothing separates Canadian men and women better than Hockey Night in Canada....
GJ said 4 days later
LOL, Darcy is a Leafs sufferer. And we watch HNIC every chance we get, but have no CBC. :( Heard nothing but good things about Little Mosque.
Marc said 4 days later
lol, this video fulfilled all of my expectations based on the post title.
Geoff said 5 days later
This goes to show how little I pay attention to Hockey. I just love to play it.
Derek Boogaard, for those of you not overly familiar with the NHL, was an enforcer who played for Minnesota for a number of years and only briefly for the Rangers before dying of painkiller/alcohol mix before he even turned 30.
The NYT has a terrific article about him, and it's a great commentary on the state of fighting in the NHL. Probably not an enjoyable read, but it's very powerful and should make you think seriously about the role of fighting in this game.
It's all part of the show baby! I find it crazy that USA Hockey no longer allows pee-wee's to hit. Bantam and up now. Guess they are really pushing the Euro hockey...skating, passing, stick-handling....checking is just as important in my eyes. Good checking that is. And might I add that our team took the championship cup last Sunday...crushing the rival local community college kids and rink rats, 5 - 1. I myself scored the 4th goal right after getting a penalty for crushing some division one girl on the boards. Came out of the box, rushed to an empty puck in their zone and slid it passed the goalie.....and the crowd went wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiillllllllllllddddddddddd!
Well, more boos than anything, but it shut the other team up and put the Diablos back on top! Yeehaw!
GJ said about 23 hours later
That was the longest TL;DR I've ever seen.
Marc said 2 days later
Good (long) read. :)
Steve said 4 days later
Nice job Geoff! We saw the same thing happen at the Michigan vs. Michigan State hockey game last night. Skated out of the box, across the ice, intercepted a pass, skated down and deeked out the goalie!
My goal post god can't do these miracles. My vote is puck voodoo.
GJ said 44 minutes later
Sorry, I do this save frequently. It's not magic. It hit the middle of the upper part of the stick, which is nearly impossible to see in this video.
Marc said about 1 hour later
It looked like it hit a chip in the ice, but it was hard to tell from that angle. The upper stick block I do often enough that I can almost claim I do it on purpose.
GJ said about 2 hours later
It was in the air. I'm still going with stick.
That said, the upper stick block is hardly predictable, and probably has cost Quickie a few goals over the years. It's certainly bitten me on occasion.
And then there's the time I was day-dreaming while an opponent zoomed down in on me and shot it right past me. I went with the "I forgot which side I was playing for" excuse. It does tend to work due to the way the goalies switch ends after each mini-game in the session (first team to three goals wins). Still, it was pretty funny.
I believe there was another celebration where the guys just raised their hands up in the air and didn't hold the stick above their heads, but this looked familiar to me too.
GJ said 17 minutes later
Reminded me more of Blades of Steel, kinda sorta.
GJ said 36 minutes later
So I had to pull out NHL94 and play a game, dammit. My version, the guys raise their sticks straight up with one hand.
Marc said about 6 hours later
Doesn't this feel like it was a celebration in one of those games though? I can't put my finger on it though... Amusing nonetheless.
GJ said about 6 hours later
Yes, it does...like Blades of Steel. The guys in NHL94 at least waved their sticks!
I was watching this on TV, really hoping that it was a mix of snowboarder cross, ice hockey, and roller derby. Unfortunately it's missing the roller derby aspect. Although people wiping out tended to cause enough injuries on their own.
Um, yeah the behind the net (which is the original) is cool, but this kid's penalty shot is WAAAAYYY cooler...and more difficult. 9 year old wins. I'll give credit to the first guy who did it from Michigan who inspired this 9 year old...but this trick shot is da bomb.
Marc said about 9 hours later
I'm still questioning whether the shot is even legal. I think his stick came above his waist, so technically it's a high sticking. But I guess because he's 9 so I'll let it slide. :) Although based on the goalie's stance, I'm pretty sure he could have just taken a shot and had the same outcome (minus the media coverage). I loved the goalies response twisting his glove like "Is that even fair?"
The 9 year old's shot was far more flashy. The goalie shouldn't have butterflied to the post, c'mon buddy, I'm a butterfly goalie and even I don't make that move in that situation. Bravo to both shooters.
Eric said about 18 hours later
I agree. 9 year old wins. I already saw the guy from Michigan score from behind the net. There's nothing illegal about it as long as the stick stays below the crossbar/waist.
Why is the guy a dead man, GJ? Because he embarrasses you? Come on, if somebody did this to you, you'd think it was awesome! I wouldn't hold your breath, though.
GJ said 1 day later
Nope, I don't think its awesome. I don't believe for a second it's in the spirit of the game, and in my opinion it should be illegal--basically, a travelling violation. You can't grab the puck out of mid air and carry it, why should doing it with a stick be any different in terms of transporting the puck?
Why would the shooter be a dead man? If a shooter comes at me on any sort of a breakaway and has their head down, I reward that with a flip check (hip check that topples the receiver). If they're pulling this stunt, I might head for them stick first. :)
Eric said 1 day later
Travelling? okay....
You can't "hand-handle" the puck or pass the puck with your hand either, obviously. But there's nothing in the rule book that I'm aware of that prohibits the puck being on the stick. What if I do a backhand shot that tends to "carry" the puck on the stick slightly longer than a slap-shot? How long am I allowed to have the puck on the stick?
Now I'm just teasing! :)
GJ said 1 day later
I would agree that it's not strictly prohibited by the rules, which is why I said it violates the spirit of the rules, but again, that's my opinion.
Over the next two nights, there will be three Game Sevens played--I haven't seen anything like this that I can recall.
Boston has stormed back from being down 3-1 to Carolina and take on the Canes in Boston Thursday.
Anaheim and Detroit have been trading games back and forth. Detroit hosts Anaheim in Detroit Thursday.
The Capitals and Penguins are also having a whale of a series--Caps went up 2-0, Pens won three straight, and the Caps forced Game 7 with an OT winner on Monday. Caps are hosting Pittsburg tonight for their final game.
All of these games will be on VS (possibly the NHL network for the second game on Thursday, VS will join it in progress if possible). You might want to catch them, even if you don't normally watch hockey. Game Sevens tend to be special affairs, and are steeped in hockey history and tradition. Exciting stuff!
This is the point at which their facial hair has grown to their knees, correct?
GJ said about 1 hour later
No, that's the finals. :) We're still in the quarter-finals.
Marc said about 2 hours later
I really hope the Canes win. I've been trying to get to one of the playoff games, just been too busy and man the ticket prices have skyrocketed!
GJ said about 3 hours later
I picked a Boston - Chicago final....Original Six, baby!
Still, Game Sevens can go any which way, and often do. It does definitely help to be in your home arena, but even then pucks can still bounce funny. I think Detroit and Boston will win, but I can't even hazard a guess as to the result of the Washington-Pittsburgh game. That will be the big one to watch, IMHO.
The Canes will probably live to regret letting Boston back in, but then again they let the Oilers back into the series in the 2006 Finals and still closed that one out for the Cup. This time around, though, they will be trying to do that in Boston. A tall order, for sure.
I have a funny feeling Detroit is going to throttle Anaheim. Call it a vision--I see something like 6-1. Of course, this is BS, and it won't shock me if it's a very low-scoring OT affair. I still think Detroit is like a time bomb, ready to go off.
Marc said about 5 hours later
The Canes really are a "light switch" (TM) team. I've seen some games against Buffalo where they were absolutely on their game. Then the very next game, they get blown out. So while I think they could edge Boston, I don't think a Cup run is in the works this year.
GJ said about 6 hours later
Ah, that explains their 1996-97 season. :)
GJ said about 11 hours later
To those I told to watch tonight's game....I'm so sorry! Washington is washing out. Of course, they just scored their first goal late in the second period, now they're only down 5-1. No problem, right?
Kristen said about 24 hours later
That was embarrassing. I didn't watch it, but heard it was a disaster.
Eric said 1 day later
Hopefully the Wings are a good time bomb and devastate all who stand in their way right through to the cup. We don't want the time bomb that falls apart in the last thirty seconds of the third period and loses the series tonight!
GJ said 1 day later
Oh, you mean like the one Carolina unleashed on New Jersey last round? That, my friends, was hockey history--I don't think I've ever seen such a sudden reversal of fortune like that one.
I don't like the Wings, but I really hate the Ducks and will be rooting for the (sunshine) Wings tonight. Next round, I'm rooting for Chicago, though.
Meanwhile, I can't believe that I won't get to see any of the Bruins game tonight. I so want to see them waste the Canes.
GJ said 1 day later
Crap, the Bruins lost in OT. Carolina has more lives than a cat. Both games were far better than the one Wednesday night, that's for sure. At least we get an original-six match up in the West.
Marc said 4 days later
Go Canes! We'll see how they fair against the Penguins. Those two have had some pretty close games over the season.
Russia beat Belarus 4-3 in a tight game this morning. Then, what has to be considered a fairly shocking upset, the USA defeated Finland 3-2. Apparently, they still had at least one miracle left in the tank.
Canada vs Latvia and Sweden vs Czechs tomorrow.
GJ said about 24 hours later
Canada beat Latvia 4-2, and Sweden beat the Czechs 3-1. Tomorrow we get a rematch of USA-Russia (Russia won 4-1 in the prelims) and Canada vs Sweden. Technically, the USA can't beat any of these teams, but then again, they really didn't have much of a chance against Finland.
GJ said 1 day later
USA 0, Russia 0 end 1P, shots 7-6 Russia
Russia 0-1 on the PP
GJ said 1 day later
USA 1, Russia 0, 16:14 2P. Shots 9-8 USA.
GJ said 1 day later
USA 1, Russia 1 9:40 2P, Shots 11-10 Russia.
GJ said 1 day later
Russia 2, USA 1, 5:35 2P, Shots 12-12.
GJ said 1 day later
Russia 2, USA 2 end 2P. Shots 14-12 USA. Each team is 0-1 on the PP.
GJ said 1 day later
Russia 3, USA 2, 1:47 left 3P, PP goal. Shots 23-20 Russia.
GJ said 1 day later
Final score, Russia 3, USA 2. Dangnabbit!
GJ said 4 days later
Finals were held today:
Russian 2, Canada 1....Russia has now won back-to-back IIHF titles!
3rd place game: Sweden 4, USA 2...no medal for the Americans again this year. :(
RUSSIA Rah, rah, Kalinin, Russia's greatest goals machine
3.
FINLAND Oh Kapanen, My Kapanen
4.
UNITED STATES How do you like them freedom fries?
5.
SWEDEN 6-5, 6-5...what is this, the 1987 Canada Cup final?
6.
LATVIA Switzerland, you just got Masalskis-ed
7.
CZECH REPUBLIC Strange but true: Blatak has twice as many goals as Jagr
8.
BELARUS Beating Sweden is more fun, but Norway will do
9.
SWITZERLAND Can they or canton they?
10.
SLOVAKIA If Jozef Golonka had played, we would have won
11.
NORWAY Maybe we'll scare Canada if we dress up like Dimmu Borgir
12.
FRANCE Mon Dieu, freedom fries are so 2003
13.
AUSTRIA Does this other Thomas guy make $7 million too?
14.
DENMARK Starring Peter Regin as "The Happy Prince"
15.
GERMANY We can't score, but we look good in lederhosen
16.
HUNGARY On the bright side, there's no swine flu here yet
Qualification Round is wrapping up. The Americans need to beat the Swiss today if they plan to keep playing, but even if they do, they won't make it far in the single elimination bracket. There are a lot of good teams out there this year, and the USA isn't one of them. :(
Latvia 7, France 1
Czeck Republic 8, Slovakia 0
Russia 4, USA 1
Belarus 2, Finland 1
Results, Qualifying Round, Sunday 5/3:
Austria 1, Germany 0
Denmark 5, Hungary 1
Sweden 4, Switzerland 1
Canada 5, Norway 1
Russia 6, Latvia 1
Czech Republic 3, Belarus 0
GJ said 14 minutes later
Oh, let me correct something. The USA makes it to the next round unless the Swiss beat them by eight goals. I don't think that's going to happen, but it is likely that the USA will draw a tough opponent in the very first round. Pretty much, they will get Canada, the Czechs, or Finland in the first round. I don't see them likely beating any one of them.
GJ said about 5 hours later
Monday Results:
Germany 2, Hungary 1
Denmark 5, Austria 2
Sweden 6, France 3
Slovakia 3, Norway 2
Switzerland 4, USA 3 (OT)
Finland 4, Canada 3 (SO)
Quarterfinals are set. It will be:
Russa vs Belarus
Finland vs USA
Canada vs Latvia
Sweden vs Czech Republic
Winner of the RUS/BEL game plays the FIN/USA winner. CAN/LAT winner plays SWE/CZE. Winners of those games play for the championship.
