blocker

In the playoffs, Subban was always on the ice. Got huge minutes. But, during the regular season, he was often sat by Therrien because of "defensive lapses". As a result, his average TOI in the 82 game schedule was less than Andrei Markov's. Montreal just signed Markov to a deal that's substantially less than Subban's asking price. Betcha that regular season TOI comparison will be used by Canadiens in the arbitration. I never bought any of the bogus reasons Therrien used for his treatment of Subban. Makes you wonder.

Me also. Difficult to understand how a guy can have the drive to make himself an NHL hockey player, but on the other hand, just piss it all away.

Good one. Made me squirt beer out of my nose. Makes a sound like mmmfff. Makes the keyboard sticky.

Guy had it all. He should have been an MVP. I watched him in preseason. Had a chance to really study him. Geez, he was good. Dunno why he didn't dominate. Impossible to gauge what guys are thinking. But, he got rich playing hockey. Maybe that was good enough for him.

Very glad for you.

I was inspired by "cracks galore'.

Geez, that's assinine.

Ottawa police said that "Charges will not be laid.". I thought the cop's name was Charges.

Lindros traveled here to Vermont each summer to help raise money for John LeClair's foundation. I know he made significant donations in addition to lending his presence. I've sat at the same table as him. To me, he seemed quiet and diffident. He played hockey with arrogance, but in face to face meetings, that disrespect never showed. IMHO, he was cowed by Carl and especially Bonnie. Anyway, he's a rum character.

I think you and I agree. I didn't say that Neely was THE standard. I said that "if" he was A standard.

Lindros had everything going for him. Big, fast, quick and talented. But, the arrogance that kept him from respecting his opponents did him in. He ignored that warning given to all players, "keep your head up.". You might be able to run over most players, but there are always challengers who are looking for a chance to make a name. There never was a horse who couldn't be rode. There never was a cowboy who couldn't be throwed. Neely shouldn't be in the HOF. Whether or not, that opens the door for Lindros, I dunno. I think one mistake shouldn't determine who makes it.

Cam Neely scored 395 goals. John LeClair scored 406. Cam was a 2nd team all-star four times. John was a 1st team all-star twice, a 2nd team all-star 3 times. I could go on. But, the point I'm trying to make is that if Neely is a standard, then there are a whole lot of guys who belong.

I like Ted Nolan. But, he sometimes put Leino on the power play this past season.

Happy days for you and yours. I'm glad for you.

By far, the best thing that ever happened to me was becoming a Dad. Being a Grampa is also awesome. So, is being a great-Grampa. My first grandchild gave me a name. When he tried to say Grampa, the word that emerged from him was "Pa". So, he calls me Pa. As does his sister, all his cousins, my kids, my wife, their friends, and kids I run into at hockey rinks and ballfields all over the place. Some years ago, I was given a shirt from one of our local teams. It was personalized. Not with my name, but with "Pa" stitched in it. They got it right.

My kids played in a Quebec league. They've also played on teams representing Quebec cities, as have my grandchildren. We've spent a lot of time in Quebec. There were times that I could have gotten angry about slights to me. But, why let a couple of a##holes spoil the overall experience, which is overwhelmingly a huge plus. Once, we were in a town north of Trois Rivieres. I tried to buy a hamburger in the rink. I pointed at the sign and said "hamburger". The person behind the counter pretended misunderstanding. So, I get a French friend to order it for me. He points at the sign and says "hamburger". So, I get my burger. I go to the cash register and act like I don't understand the price. I keep handing over less money than the real price. A miracle happens. They, all of a sudden, are able to communicate in English. I was the US rep on a Quebec inter-city league. Almost all of the business was conducted in French. I don't speak French, but I understand it fairly well. Once in awhile. I'd have to have something explained. At one meeting, one bozo made a motion, in French, that the chair should not "interrupt" the meetings to "educate" me. I have also watched US parents move en bloc up and down the stands and block the view of a more polite French crowd. Once, we were hosts at our arena to some French kids and their parents from northeastern Quebec. I get a call from our coach. A local politician had interrupted the game. Hubert Humphrey, who was running for something, grabbed the mike and was making a political speech at our rink. He made some pretty insulting remarks about Minnesota hockey being better than Vermont and Quebec's version. I hope I've learned to get past that stuff. There are some wonderful people on both sides of the border. We can't let the jerks spoil things for us.

Claude was a pistol. I think I've already posted this, but Chris Nilan tells a funny story about him. When he first got a shot to make the Canadiens, for some reason known only to Lemieux, he goes into their spa and pisses on the steaming rocks. I guess that was his idea of humor. When it was revealed that he was the culprit, he was told to take his sorry ass back to Sherbrooke tout suite. He's infuriated. He takes his gear out to his car and punches the mirror. The mirror gets smashed all to hell. As does Claude's fist. He has to go back into the room to have his hand sewn back together. He's different.

Some guys just seem to be more dangerous in the playoffs. They might not score a ton of goals, but they're capable of getting that back-breaker. Briere is that kind of player. Dickie Duff was also. NY Yankees had a player named Tommy Henrich. Back inna day, he was a pip for clutch hits. Fun to watch the guys who come through when the bets are on the table.

I haven't watched Mantha as much as the rest of you. And, I'm not up to speed on junior hockey. But, Mantha is a big kid. How many times have we heard the knock on big young players that they're lazy, or not motivated enough. I dunno the reason why, but lots of big kids are slow starters in the pros.

Van------I didn't express myself very well. I mentioned the shrinking numbers of girl high school players. The reason I did that was to voice my fears that the same thing might happen to boys' hockey.

Lots of us have labored hard to develop High School hockey. In Vermont, up until a few years ago, that work had paid off. But, there are signs of a decline. A lot of the best high school players left to play prep school. Scholarships are available for good hockey players. It's a wise move for most of these kids. Local High Schools can't match the academics. Because of the loss of these athletes, Vermont high school hockey is on a dip. I wonder about it's future. We've already seen the damage such practices have with girls' hockey. Vermont girl's high school hockey teams have a hard time garnering enough kids to field teams. Every year, two or three schools have to combine players to have the numbers sufficient to form a team. That predicament started with the creation of elite girl's teams. When the best one or two kids left a program to play at a higher level, their friends stopped playing hockey. Funny how often our efforts produce results far away from our aims.

I'm headed to Shelburne, Vt. in the morning. My grandson will be playing "Taps" in the memorial service. He's a really good hockey player, and a great kid. I'm very proud of him.

I'd like that. One of the reasons we love sports is because most of the strories are about accomplishments. We get enough bad news in every other aspect of our daiily life. I'd love to hear about the triumphs of members' children..

"Vacationing in Camden" "Playing above the Rim"---by Gary Bettman

If there were zippers on hockey pants, they could have said "Here Claude, shake this".