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“I didn’t know if things would come back right away. I probably played a little more than I expected. I still think I have a lot of work to do. This is a game that has a lot of adrenaline. It is just one game. There is a long way for me to go and a lot of building for me yet.”
Ho ho ho! The big red guy here. You also might know me as Santa Claus, Kris Kringle, or Papa C. I'm just about to head out for my annual trip around the world. Pretty sweet gig eh? Get to travel the world and only work one day a year.Before I load up the sleigh and feed the reindeers their traditional pre-flight meal of carrots and red bull, I thought I would give you some inside information on who in the hockey world are on my nice and naughty lists.Should I actually be preparing for Christmas instead of writing 0n this here blog. Perhaps yes. But nobody ever told Santa what to do. Except for Mrs. Claus of course. She's a real ball buster.So without further adieu, here is a look at my nice list. The naughty list will be revealed in a later post. Once I'm done shovelling all the coal out of the North Pole's furnace to give to those guys.
SnowHo ho ho! You've got to love the white stuff. I'm of course referring to snow, not cocaine. It's especially nice when hockey is played in the snow and that's what the NHL will do when it holds it's now annual Winter Classic next week in Chicago. This has become one of my favourite events of the year as it falls during my after Christmas vacation. Nothing thrills me more than sitting in my nice warm room, snuggled up under the covers, being fed cookies and hot chocolate by elves, while watching millionaires play hockey in the bitter freezing cold.
Jeff Carter, Philadelphia Flyers
The youngster is leading the NHL with goals and is having a season to remember yet will still not be voted on to the All-Star team. What an injustice! And he has to wear those hideous orange Flyers third jerseys. Having to put up with that embarassment alone puts him on the nice list.
Scott Clemmensen, New Jersey DevilsFirst of all, he plays for a team named the Devils which is very naughty. I mean why not go with the name Angels? Oh, it's already taken by a baseball team? Fair enough. So remember when Martin Brodeur went down with an injury and everybody predicted the end of the world in New Jersey? Well Clemmensen has been brilliant in net and kept the Devils right in the thick of things. And on top of that, he has 11 wins this season. More wins than he had the past four seasons combined!Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks
These two teams have been playing such good, dominating hockey! What a lovely surprise! Especially for the long suffering sports fans of Boston who have had to deal with terribly awful sports teams over the past few years. It must be nice for them to finally have a winner on their hands. What's that you say? The Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox have all won championships in the last 5 years? And now they have a dominant Bruins team? If Boston area sports fans get to full of themselves, they might secure a spot on my naughty list.
Mats Sundin
Most people might think that for leaving the hockey world on edge for six months would put Sundin on my naughty list. And I'll be honest, me and the my advisors (elfs) had a long debare about the Big Swede. But ultimately Santa is as big a hockey fan as you are and is just glad this whole Sundin thing is over with. Thank you Mats! Just please don't put us through this again next off-season.
Sidney Crosby
He is the NHL's golden boy and deserves to be treated as such. Nothing further.
There's more who are on the nice list, but I drink a lot of milk to wash down all those cookies, so I have to make a quick trip to the bathroom. Make sure you check in later to see who in the hockey world goes on my naughty list!Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas! There are other holidays, but it's in my Santa contract that I'm not allowed to acknowledge them. Sorry Jewish people!
“Obviously this whole league is full of talented players, and then there’s the elite players who are even more talented. And when those guys are the hardest working players on the ice, then that is scary good. Just scary good.”
According to a press release from New Jersey Devils President, CEO and GM Lou Lamarillo, veteran netminder Martin Brodeur will undergo surgery to repair the distal bicep in his left elbow. Those in the medical know say this means that Martin Brodeur will be out 3-4 months.
Brodeur suffered the injury during the second period of Saturday's Devils victory over the Atlanta Thrashers with what was described as a "bruised elbow." He left the arena without talking to the media and was listed as day-to-day by the team.
"When you have a Marty Brodeur as a goaltender and he's out for a significant amount of time sure it certainly gives you a knot in your stomach, but you have move forward," Devils coach Brent Sutter told the Bergen Record. "I'm confident and I trust the players here that they will do what needs to be done to move forward."
Did it just get really windy all of a sudden or was that from all of the Devils fans waving their playoff chances goodbye.
Perhaps losing Martin Brodeur not only makes the Devils are a worse team on the ice, but from the looks of things, it also might screw with them mentally.
The Devils were shut out 2-0 by the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night, and looked pretty flat the entire game. It also helped that Sabres 'tender Ryan Miller put in a brilliant performance to earn himself the shutout.
For the Devils, you can't blame the loss on replacement goalie Kevin Weekes. He was the best player on the ice in a New Jersey uniform. Even Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff thought so.
“I thought he (Weekes) made the difference early or we would have run away with the game,” Ruff said. “Kevin played a great game in the first period he probably made I’d say seven quality saves and kept them in the game.”
So for looking shaky in their first full game since Brodeur's elbow injury, and giving Devils fans everywhere a panic attack just thinking about what the next few games might hold in store, the New Jersey Devils are awarded the Morning After Meltdown.
For this morning's Morning After Meltdown, I'm really reaching. So keep that in mind and keep your criticisms to yourself you wisenheimers.
There were only three games in total on Wednesday night, and unfortunately none of them were blow outs. All the final scores were within two goals. So after much consideration and deliberation, I have decided to award this dubious distinction to none other than the New Jersey Devils.Why you ask? Well even though they still did get a point in their 6-5 shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the very fact that they still lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs is unforgiveable in my books. For shame!
Also, today (October 30th) is what's officially known as "Devil's Night." The night where no good punks go out and toilet paper your front yard. That'll show you for handing out apples last year at Halloween!So for losing to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Devil's Night Eve, the New Jersey Devils are awarded the Morning After Meltdown. Hey, it could've been worse. I could've toilet papered the front yard of the Prudential Center.
With a new season comes a new look, as when Martin Brodeur of the Devils takes the ice on Friday to start the regular season he will be sporting a brand new mask.The four-time Vezina winner unveiled his new mask design at Devils practice on Wednesday, and is expected to wear it for the Devils' 2008-09 regular season opener on Friday.
The new MB30 logo combines Brodeur's initials with the number he has worn since his first full season in New Jersey, and incorporates the horns and curled tail that are familiar to any Devils fan.
This marks just the third different mask that Brodeur has worn in a Devils uniform since being called up from the minors during the 1991-92 season. That year, the last in which the Devils wore red and green, Brodeur made four appearances for a 2-1-0 record, donning a simple red mask with a white stripe on the side.
When Brodeur returned to New Jersey for the 1993-94 season, he brought with him the Michel Lefebvre design that has become such an identifying part of his goaltending legacy. Emblazoned with a Devils-inspired "J" on the forehead and red flames on either side, the signature look had been with Brodeur through 536 wins and 96 shutouts, as well as Stanley Cup championships in 1995, 2000 and 2003. Brodeur believes it's a modest revision that some observers might not even pick up on right away.
"It's going to be hard to notice, I think," Brodeur said. "It's the same color scheme. For people facing me, there really won't be a difference. It's really more for TV or even for people looking up from top. I don't think it should be a big difference for people."You think? When I saw the picture of the new mask I thought the Devils website made a mistake and posted the old one. I took me a few minutes to notice the difference! I even tried to think of any excuse in the book to make myself feel better for not noticing. Like, hey you just woke up. Nope I've been awake for hours. Or, oh you're just not wearing your glasses. I don't even wear glasses! Way to trick me Martin Brodeur, you win this round!
[Source]
“I didn’t know if things would come back right away. I probably played a little more than I expected. I still think I have a lot of work to do. This is a game that has a lot of adrenaline. It is just one game. There is a long way for me to go and a lot of building for me yet.”
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