Flames Go Nascar
As a last thought on the new Flames jersey’s: Someone on the Sportsnet forums mentioned that the Canadian and Alberta flags that now adorn the shoulders look more like advertisements than shoulder patches - similar to the European leagues and their Nascar like uniforms. He’s right. The red on the Canada flag does not match the Flames red and the blue of the Alberta flag is really stands out in contrast to the rest of the uniform. They could easily pass for FedEx and Coca-Cola patches as they fly by on television and that is not a pleasant thing to ponder.
Plus, I still say it’s tacky. Kind of like those Ford “This Is Our Country” commercials and journalists asking politicians if they “love Canada?”. Bloody groan inducing.
Super (Crappy) Series
Revisionist historians abound in Canadian journalism. Yes, Canada officially won the famed and overblown 72 Summit Series but in reality, it was the Soviets who left with their heads held the highest. They came in and everybody was laughing at them before the puck even dropped. We all know that the Soviets kicked some serious Canadian beer belly in that first game, winning 7-3 and battled to the end of the tournament only to lose on a lucky Paul Henderson goal in the final game. And let’s not forget that the Soviets lost their best player in game 6 after uber-goon Bobby Clarke deliberately broke Valery Kharlamov’s ankle with a vicious slash.
Yet, Canada still celebrates this victory as though it won the Cold War single handedly for the West. Ok, fine.
But now someone got the bright idea to try to recreate this series with teenage kids and to no one’s surprise the Canadians are winning 5-0 and will probably sweep the Russians right out of the rink. And everyone is celebrating like this is some kind of great accomplishment.
To me it’s become a joke and they should just cancel the damn thing before it gets out of hand. Who really enjoys watching Canada beat the shit out of someone repeatedly? It’s too gruesome. And what’s with the caffeine addled play-by-play and commentary by Peter Loubardias and Pierre McGuire? They go absolutely bananas every time the Russian referee’s call a penalty against Canada, calling them “fraudulent” and “ridiculous”. Relax dudes. The series is over.
Koivu Lets Out Hockey’s Worst Kept Secret
Somehow it has come to the point where the hockey press prefers the players to give them the regular cliched interviews where they throw together a series of words that do not mean anything. What other conclusion could you arrive at after the press driven rage against Koivu for daring to tell the truth and admit that the Habs are not Cup contenders on paper?
Koivu even said that the Habs are good enough to make the playoffs and anything can happen after that. What’s the uproar about? Everybody says that every year. But people still cling to the notion that the Habs are only concerned about winning the Cup. Not anymore. Not in the new NHL. The Habs are like every other team in the league - you just pray to make the playoffs and go from there. That’s all Koivu was saying. Lay off the guy.
That’s why athletes don’t tell the press what is on their minds. Because the press is too juvenile and headline hungry to deal with the issue in a proper manner. There could have been a great article concerning Koivu’s statements and a deeper analysis of the team. Instead, the press is taking a massive dump on him and waiting for the fans to turn. Shame. Now Koivu won’t say anything remotely interesting for the rest of his career. Good job.
As a last thought on the new Flames jersey’s: Someone on the Sportsnet forums mentioned that the Canadian and Alberta flags that now adorn the shoulders look more like advertisements than shoulder patches - similar to the European leagues and their Nascar like uniforms. He’s right. The red on the Canada flag does not match the Flames red and the blue of the Alberta flag is really stands out in contrast to the rest of the uniform. They could easily pass for FedEx and Coca-Cola patches as they fly by on television and that is not a pleasant thing to ponder.
Plus, I still say it’s tacky. Kind of like those Ford “This Is Our Country” commercials and journalists asking politicians if they “love Canada?”. Bloody groan inducing.
Super (Crappy) Series
Revisionist historians abound in Canadian journalism. Yes, Canada officially won the famed and overblown 72 Summit Series but in reality, it was the Soviets who left with their heads held the highest. They came in and everybody was laughing at them before the puck even dropped. We all know that the Soviets kicked some serious Canadian beer belly in that first game, winning 7-3 and battled to the end of the tournament only to lose on a lucky Paul Henderson goal in the final game. And let’s not forget that the Soviets lost their best player in game 6 after uber-goon Bobby Clarke deliberately broke Valery Kharlamov’s ankle with a vicious slash.
Yet, Canada still celebrates this victory as though it won the Cold War single handedly for the West. Ok, fine.
But now someone got the bright idea to try to recreate this series with teenage kids and to no one’s surprise the Canadians are winning 5-0 and will probably sweep the Russians right out of the rink. And everyone is celebrating like this is some kind of great accomplishment.
To me it’s become a joke and they should just cancel the damn thing before it gets out of hand. Who really enjoys watching Canada beat the shit out of someone repeatedly? It’s too gruesome. And what’s with the caffeine addled play-by-play and commentary by Peter Loubardias and Pierre McGuire? They go absolutely bananas every time the Russian referee’s call a penalty against Canada, calling them “fraudulent” and “ridiculous”. Relax dudes. The series is over.
Koivu Lets Out Hockey’s Worst Kept Secret
Somehow it has come to the point where the hockey press prefers the players to give them the regular cliched interviews where they throw together a series of words that do not mean anything. What other conclusion could you arrive at after the press driven rage against Koivu for daring to tell the truth and admit that the Habs are not Cup contenders on paper?
Koivu even said that the Habs are good enough to make the playoffs and anything can happen after that. What’s the uproar about? Everybody says that every year. But people still cling to the notion that the Habs are only concerned about winning the Cup. Not anymore. Not in the new NHL. The Habs are like every other team in the league - you just pray to make the playoffs and go from there. That’s all Koivu was saying. Lay off the guy.
That’s why athletes don’t tell the press what is on their minds. Because the press is too juvenile and headline hungry to deal with the issue in a proper manner. There could have been a great article concerning Koivu’s statements and a deeper analysis of the team. Instead, the press is taking a massive dump on him and waiting for the fans to turn. Shame. Now Koivu won’t say anything remotely interesting for the rest of his career. Good job.
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