Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Jeremy Roenick: Layton is an "idiot"
Watching hockey tonight, I couldn't help but laugh how TSN waded into the so-called Shane Doan "controversy", if you can call it that. The whole TSN panel absolutely ridiculed Jack Layton, and more importantly defended Shane Doan (former Winnipeg Jet). The highlight of the segment was when Jeremy Roenick (an American) called Jack Layton was "an idiot".
Also TSN keeps bringing up the idea of 4-on-4 in overtime. Bad idea. The playoffs is all about endurance, and if you can't handle a few quadruple overtime games on the way to the holy grail, then you just don't cut it.
Jagr had one of his best games of the playoffs tonight. Jagr is remarkably a changed man since putting the 'C' on his sweater. He's (finally) learning to use his skill to make the guys around him better.
The Canucks were so close tonight. But why oh why do they have to get all spastic when the pressure's on? And more importantly why can't we score on the mother (explicative deleted) god (explicative deleted) son of a (explicative deleted) unholy (explicative deleted) eating POWERPLAY? The Canucks are 4-58 on the PP in the playoffs, and I believe 1-25 in this series against the Ducks.
The Canucks lost, but the AHL affiliate Manitoba Moose came up big with a 4-1 win in game 7 against the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Moose went up in the first, followed by a scoreless second period. The Griffins tied it up midway through the 3rd. The Moose went ahead with two goals late in the 3rd, and cemented it with an empty-netter to win 4-1. Bring on the Hamilton Bulldogs!
The Toronto Raptors pulled out a nice win tonight. They dominated the first three quarters of the game, but let it slide in the 4th and ended up winning in a close one. They got into a lot of foul trouble, and from what I saw the refs were calling the game real tight.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have chosen the Asper stadium plan. Damn good thing too. The St. Boniface idea would have been a bust simply because the neighborhood has a serious odor problem. Seriously, it stinks. And the idea of having it at The Downs was even worse. I drink far too heavily at football games to make that trek safely. The current location is pretty excellent. If it sees some development, especially with the old arena space available, it could be turned into something quite fantastic.
Also TSN keeps bringing up the idea of 4-on-4 in overtime. Bad idea. The playoffs is all about endurance, and if you can't handle a few quadruple overtime games on the way to the holy grail, then you just don't cut it.
Jagr had one of his best games of the playoffs tonight. Jagr is remarkably a changed man since putting the 'C' on his sweater. He's (finally) learning to use his skill to make the guys around him better.
The Canucks were so close tonight. But why oh why do they have to get all spastic when the pressure's on? And more importantly why can't we score on the mother (explicative deleted) god (explicative deleted) son of a (explicative deleted) unholy (explicative deleted) eating POWERPLAY? The Canucks are 4-58 on the PP in the playoffs, and I believe 1-25 in this series against the Ducks.
The Canucks lost, but the AHL affiliate Manitoba Moose came up big with a 4-1 win in game 7 against the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Moose went up in the first, followed by a scoreless second period. The Griffins tied it up midway through the 3rd. The Moose went ahead with two goals late in the 3rd, and cemented it with an empty-netter to win 4-1. Bring on the Hamilton Bulldogs!
The Toronto Raptors pulled out a nice win tonight. They dominated the first three quarters of the game, but let it slide in the 4th and ended up winning in a close one. They got into a lot of foul trouble, and from what I saw the refs were calling the game real tight.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have chosen the Asper stadium plan. Damn good thing too. The St. Boniface idea would have been a bust simply because the neighborhood has a serious odor problem. Seriously, it stinks. And the idea of having it at The Downs was even worse. I drink far too heavily at football games to make that trek safely. The current location is pretty excellent. If it sees some development, especially with the old arena space available, it could be turned into something quite fantastic.
Labels: Jack Bin Layton, Manitoba, NBA, NDP, NHL, sports, Winnipeg Jets
Jeremy Roenick: Layton is an "idiot" posted by NateDawg on
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
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Tuesday, January 09, 2007
New Political All-Star
Manitoba may have a new player on the political scene according to the WFP (sub).
***
Update: To give credit where it's due, Comments Closed actually called this one way back in July.
Former Winnipeg Jets captain Thomas Steen hinted Monday he is considering a run for political office, though he wouldn't say whether he would compete for a provincial or federal seat.Steen played Center for most of his time with the Jets, but I suspect his new career will be on the right-wing.
Steen also wouldn't say which party he would represent though he appeared at a news conference on a new federal fitness tax credit as a guest of the office of senior Manitoba Conservative cabinet minister Vic Toews.[...]
Steen's appeal is unmistakable. At the news conference, he drew a small crowd of well-wishers, including Conservative Member of Parliament Rod Bruinooge.
Update: To give credit where it's due, Comments Closed actually called this one way back in July.
Labels: Conservative Party, politics, Winnipeg Jets
New Political All-Star posted by NateDawg on
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
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Thursday, December 21, 2006
The Winnipenguins
Some good news, some bad news from Pittsburgh (Link).
So the Penguins are completely screwed in Pittsburgh. The only people coming to the games are drunken frat-boys who get their rush tickets for $20 a piece. And thats with possibly the most entertaining team to watch in the entire NHL.
The bad news is that Jim Balsillie backed out of buying the Penguins, after the NHL made it clear that they did not want the team to move. In a way this is a good thing, since Balsillie seemed hell-bent on bringing another NHL team to the Greater Toronto Area, which would have made me want to end my own life. On the other-hand, Darren Ford speculates that Gary Bettman does not want any more NHL teams in Canada, no matter how badly they fail in the Sunbelt.
Bettman's "stay the course" strategy with the NHL is a massive failure. The Southern Experiment did not work. The NHL in the states is in a state of serious disrepair. Darren, on his website Jetsowner.com has a new feature showing the low attendance figures at NHL games in the States, and its kinda shocking to see.
An Original-Six team, the Boston Bruins, on December 14th had just over 11,000 tickets distributed, and on the 16th, they didn't quite get to 11,000. Not to mention, these are not seats filled, but tickets sold and given away. If an O-six team like the Bruins can't fill seats, how can a shoddy team like the Pheonix Coyotes expect to have a chance?
Which brings me to ticket prices. There has, and always will be in Winnipeg, a discussion on weather or not Winnipegers could afford to buy tickets to an NHL team. The biggest argument against Winnipegers are the ticket prices in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, and Montreal. "Winnipegers won't pay $150 a seat to watch the NHL", they say. The reason that argument makes no sense is that all six of those Canadian teams have no problem selling out every game. If Winnipeg could sell every seat for $150, we wouldn't be bitching would we? Should we bitch if we sell out every game for $100, or $50 a seat?
Three clicks on the Pittsburgh Penguins website, and I see that in Pittsburgh the priciest ticket is $105, while the folks in the nosebleed section pay $25. Apparently Joe Pittsburgh won't pay $150 a seat either. The problem in Pittsburgh is that people don't want to watch hockey. Thats not a problem in Winnipeg.
The other problem teams south of the border have, is getting asses into seats. They can't sell tickets, but they have an even tougher time getting those tickets put to use. I watched a St. Louis game on TV the other day, where the announced attendance was just under 10,000, but there was not even close to that many people there. Tickets are one thing but hungry, beer-drinking, jersey-wearing hooligans are the guys spending real money. And Winnipeg loves beer.
The other thing that Winnipeg has going for it, is an extremely competent group of folks who know how to run a hockey team. The fact that the Moose have been so successful is a testament to this fact. If the Moose-guys were to buy an NHL franchise, there is not a doubt in my mind that they would make it work.
In conclusion, fuck you Gary Bettman. It doesn't matter if you hate this city and this country, you've failed the NHL and the game of hockey. The NHL will return to Winnipeg some day, sooner than later, and our team's success will be a testament to your incompetence. Let's hope Bill Daly is a better Commish than Bettman.
The Pittsburgh Penguins gambled on getting a new arena for free from a slots-machine casino firm and failed, leaving owner Mario Lemieux with the difficult decision he never wanted to make.
So the Penguins are completely screwed in Pittsburgh. The only people coming to the games are drunken frat-boys who get their rush tickets for $20 a piece. And thats with possibly the most entertaining team to watch in the entire NHL.
The bad news is that Jim Balsillie backed out of buying the Penguins, after the NHL made it clear that they did not want the team to move. In a way this is a good thing, since Balsillie seemed hell-bent on bringing another NHL team to the Greater Toronto Area, which would have made me want to end my own life. On the other-hand, Darren Ford speculates that Gary Bettman does not want any more NHL teams in Canada, no matter how badly they fail in the Sunbelt.
Bettman's "stay the course" strategy with the NHL is a massive failure. The Southern Experiment did not work. The NHL in the states is in a state of serious disrepair. Darren, on his website Jetsowner.com has a new feature showing the low attendance figures at NHL games in the States, and its kinda shocking to see.
An Original-Six team, the Boston Bruins, on December 14th had just over 11,000 tickets distributed, and on the 16th, they didn't quite get to 11,000. Not to mention, these are not seats filled, but tickets sold and given away. If an O-six team like the Bruins can't fill seats, how can a shoddy team like the Pheonix Coyotes expect to have a chance?
Which brings me to ticket prices. There has, and always will be in Winnipeg, a discussion on weather or not Winnipegers could afford to buy tickets to an NHL team. The biggest argument against Winnipegers are the ticket prices in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, and Montreal. "Winnipegers won't pay $150 a seat to watch the NHL", they say. The reason that argument makes no sense is that all six of those Canadian teams have no problem selling out every game. If Winnipeg could sell every seat for $150, we wouldn't be bitching would we? Should we bitch if we sell out every game for $100, or $50 a seat?
Three clicks on the Pittsburgh Penguins website, and I see that in Pittsburgh the priciest ticket is $105, while the folks in the nosebleed section pay $25. Apparently Joe Pittsburgh won't pay $150 a seat either. The problem in Pittsburgh is that people don't want to watch hockey. Thats not a problem in Winnipeg.
The other problem teams south of the border have, is getting asses into seats. They can't sell tickets, but they have an even tougher time getting those tickets put to use. I watched a St. Louis game on TV the other day, where the announced attendance was just under 10,000, but there was not even close to that many people there. Tickets are one thing but hungry, beer-drinking, jersey-wearing hooligans are the guys spending real money. And Winnipeg loves beer.
The other thing that Winnipeg has going for it, is an extremely competent group of folks who know how to run a hockey team. The fact that the Moose have been so successful is a testament to this fact. If the Moose-guys were to buy an NHL franchise, there is not a doubt in my mind that they would make it work.
In conclusion, fuck you Gary Bettman. It doesn't matter if you hate this city and this country, you've failed the NHL and the game of hockey. The NHL will return to Winnipeg some day, sooner than later, and our team's success will be a testament to your incompetence. Let's hope Bill Daly is a better Commish than Bettman.
Labels: sports, Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipenguins posted by NateDawg on
Thursday, December 21, 2006
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