DaneykoIsGod

Next time i see the Wiggles
I'm Punching Henry the Octopus

Not sure if that is correct.
How is that spoiler thing done?  I think Msweet uses it?

It's just the word "spoiler" in tags. For example ...



... if you hit "reply" to this post, you should be able to see how that was tagged.

I don't like his voice or the fact that he looks like an elf with a fake tan.

Half the state of New Jersey has a fake tan. If anything, it better qualifies him to be the voice of the state's only pro team.

Last night they reminded me of why I once liked Langs so much. I forget if it was Steve or Chico, but they pointed out that when Marty was cutting the net off after win #552, Langs stepped in and said something like, "Take a victory lap, I've got this," took the scissors from Marty and continued snipping.

It's a little thing, but I like it nonetheless.

Congrats to Langenbrunner on Game No. 1,100.

Maybe if you dig deeper you can find some more 'facts' up your ass. Norway is very much a cold and icy country, and yet hockey is a marginal sport here at best. It's horrible reputation based on misconceptions about fighting is very much one of the reasons.

Well, before I was just scratching my a$$hole's surface. Allow me to go knuckle-deep for you ...

Olympic hockey medal winners

Soccer World Cup winners

Please compare the number of nations anywhere near the equator, on the Mediterranean, or in any generally warm and winterless place on those two lists. If you wanna go wrist-deep, you could consider that the world's top professional leagues are in Canada, the U.S., Russia, the Czech Republic, Finland, and Sweden. All places that enjoy nice, pond-freezingly frigid winters.

Of course, that doesn't mean ALL cold countries love hockey. From doing a little research (aka, elbow-deep), it looks like the problem in Norway stems largely from a lack of funding (hockey is an expensive sport), whereas neighbors like Sweden and Finland built more rinks and funded more programs.

I could go all the way up to the shoulder for you, but considering that your entire argument is "fighting BAD!", I think it's your turn to pull something from a little deeper up your cornhole.

Marty Brodeur's pre- and post-All Star break stats ...

Pre:
14-12-2 w/ 0 SOs
.894 Sv%
2.77 GAA

Post:
12-6-1 w/ 2 SOs
.930 Sv%
1.77 GAA

Alright another example: If you went back to the summer of 2003 and asked people in NJ who Elias was and who Jason Kidd was, I will bet anything that more people knew who Kidd was before Elias.  Both went to the finals that year, Elias even won the cup and Kidd lost in the finals.  And this is just talking about the NJ market.

The Nets put a lot of effort into marketing Kidd at the time and it paid off.

The only reason Brodeur gets recognition beyond the Garden State is because he is the GREATEST GOALIE IN NHL HISTORY.  Without some marketing help the rest of the Devils don't have a chance.

Hockey and basketball are two different beasts.

Hockey simply is not a priority in the local sports media. Basketball, baseball, and football will always trump it. And in the limited time and space the sports media does give to hockey, the city teams will always trump the Jersey team. Face it, we're a niche sport whose team is going against the NY and Philly media with ... what ... NJN, CN8, and 101.5 to call our own? And even those media outlets don't matter because, in order for Jersey's team to get any attention at all, we have to sign a contract with a NYC network named after the arena our biggest rival calls home.

The Devils' biggest problem is that too many New Jersey hockey fans don't root for the New Jersey hockey team. And part of that problem is the fact that a lot of New Jerseyans don't identify with New Jersey as much as they do with New York or Philly, depending on which city they're living in a suburb of. Could marketing help with that? Maybe. But most of it seems to stem from "My Dad was a Rangers fan, so I am too." Commercials probably wouldn't lessen a boy's desire to bond with his father over a sports team.

The only solution is simple: Kick Rangers fans in the nuts until they are incapable of fathering Rangers fan children.

Since upsizing his pads, it seems like Marty is incorporating more butterfly into his game, and doing it effectively. It's a good crutch for a hybrid goalie whose skills have diminished accordingly with age. This might extend his career.

Up is down, the sky is green, Nickelback is...well, still terrible.  BUT STILL.

Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, MASS HYSTERIA!

Orr-chenkov.

Win win here. Hockey fans don't have to deal with him anymore, and Sean gets to spend more time designing crushed velvet underwear.

Very good effort. They were chasing the puck for most of the 2nd period, but pretty decisively held the edge overall. Hard to think Hank's still in their heads after this one. Once again his glove looked like his Achilles heel. Marty made a bunch of outstanding stops. Clarkson played the game we need from him unlike the last time around. Kovy's a beast. Henrique is nasty. Sal and Volchenkov are stalwarts. Really, everyone played a good game.

Man, all just feels right in the universe when New Jersey beats New York.

A couple observations:

- For all the strides he's made this year, Clarkson is still a moron. Except now he's a moron who's 2nd on the team in goal-scoring. We need him on the ice, not in the box. Cool off, doofus.
- Parise was invisible. Kovalchuk was creating something every time he touched the puck and Henrique had a couple prime chances. But Parise? Totally invisible.
- The play that personified the game for me was Elias all alone on the doorstep making a no-look pass to no one. Too fancy. In a game where shots are hard to come by, you take the damn shot.

Frustrating game. But, in the end, it came down to them getting a good bounce and us getting no bounces (or calls). It's a three-game losing streak, but only one of those losses was a clearly inferior effort. Pick up, dust off, and get to it on Thursday.

If Nash ends up in Nashville (as rumors seem to be suggesting), it'd be such a big deal that they might have to consider changing the name of the city. Something like Nashtown or Nashburgh ...

If he can bring as much offense as Foster while being less of a defensive liability, this trade will be a success. If not, his salary can be buried in Albany next year. Either way, Foster was a defensive nightmare and neither Palmeiri nor Veillieux had any value to us. Picks are picks.

I'm good with this.