Owner Athletes Taking Pot Shots

I had to laugh in giddy disgust at Mario Lemieux’s comments over the collapse of a deal to buy his team over the weekend.

Basically the NHL introduced increasingly strong conditions that would, hopefully, ensure that the Penguins could not leave Pittsburgh. Balsillie a business man and a guy with a lot of money, said fuck you to the new conditions and walked. A bargaining tactic for sure, but it was his prerogative. He wants his US$170 million franchise in Hamilton not Pittsburgh, his choice. All of his reasons for moving an unsuccessful franchise were fine for the NHL when it looked at Quebec in Colorado, Winnipeg in Pheonix and Hartford in Carolina, why not Pittsburgh in Hamilton (or elsewhere)? Stupid question.

Why save Pittsburgh? Old building, no fan support, no support from local government. This is the story of the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team that has, four times in my memory, been in REAL financial trouble. A team that was a negotiation away from moving to Ottawa the year before Lemieux was drafted. A team that Lemieux has seemingly stopped the relocation of 4 times, twice as owner.

So I ask again, Why save Pittsburgh? Enter the Mario Lemieux factor. He doesn’t want to be seen in the town of his career as the guy who gave the team away for money. But make no mistake Money is his only motivation.

FACT:

Lemieux retired from hockey due to lower back problems.

Lemieux was owed the majority of his final contract with the Penguins when he retired. To keep the team competitive his contracts included defered money "we'll deal with it later".

Lemieux, owed between US$25 and US$35 million in deferred salary, was one of the largest creditors of the Pittsburgh Penguins when the team filled for bankrupcy.

Penguins sold and traded every piece of talent they had. Nobody in Pittsburgh would watch a team without Jagr or Lemieux so the team was folding. (This is the history of the Penguins, nobody supports this team without a SUPERSTAR, no talent alone, they need a SUPERSTAR)

Ownership approaches the NHL about the team, no buyers, mounting debt potential the franchise will be dissolved.

Ask yourself a question: Who loses money if a team with NO assets is dissolved?

FACT:

Lemieux steps in with an ownership group with a plan to purchase the team. The Penguins are purchased basically with money owed for no service. Lemieux’s US$35 million in outstanding salary is what secured/purchased the team. The purchase price was listed as US$95 million, but I guarantee that figure was given so the NHL could save face as a legitimate league.

As soon as he buys the team Lemieux realizes the seriousness of his situation. Lemieux unretires and plays hockey again to sell tickets in his investment. This was obviously a condition placed on him by his “Supporters” the money guys and the banks that basically owned the team.

The league requires Lemieux to draw a "reasonable for his talents level" salary when he plays so Lemieux is happy and the banks are happy.

….BUT WAIT, SOMETHING STINKS

Had Lemieux been physically able to play, shouldn’t he have been legally obligated to play for his team/salary under the old ownership? If he was to keep collecting his old pay cheque and use that money for something, surely there was a requirement that he be physically UNABLE to play hockey.

YES HE WAS, according to a little mentioned lawsuit against the NHL and Pittsburgh and Lemieux by the former owner which almost squashes the new Lemieux Penguins.

Why the lawsuit? Because the financial problems of the team stem largely from Lemieux’s contract. When your biggest creditor is a former player it isn’t a stretch to blame the team’s financial straights on that player. The lawsuit was swept under the rug much like Lemieux being implicated in a rape in the late 80’s (RUMOUR, but thank you for saving his ass Dan Quinn). Payoff in otherwords, league gets lots of free press off a player owner, return of a favorite son, etc. etc. and Lemieux saves the Penguins.

So how did Lemieux save the Penguins?

He forced them into bankruptcy.
Essentially, purchased the team with stolen money.
Drew a healthy, league mandated, salary while playing, even though he bought the team with his old never realized salary. He purchased the team with a debt owed slip. Crazy!
Dumps the team as soon as his attempts at getting a new state funded rink fall through
Only becomes vocal when his winning lottery ticket falls through.

If there was money to be made on this team why would he sell them?
Because there is more money to be made in the sale.

Which leads me to…

Lemieux is now set to make a fortune on his “investment”

If the Penguins get US$170 million for a team that basically cost US$35 million, Lemieux will at the very least double his "pretend" money in a team he did nothing for. On top of the fact that he made a minimum of US$10 million when he came back for parts of 5 seasons.

They talked about winning the lottery when they Drafted Sidney Crosby. Well truer words have never been spoken. Without Crosby, this is a $10 franchise. The new owner, who ever he is, will be paying for 25 jerseys (home and away), a skate sharpener, and a bloated payroll (Gonchar $5 million five years). Nothing else.

CONTEXT:

Think about this.

Roughly 2 years ago the Ottawa Senators were sold for $97 million. Successful team, building etc.

Half a year later the Buffalo Sabers were sold for $88 million. BRAND NEW BUILDING, and look at the team now.

In both cases, the new owners paid less than US$100 million, and got a NEW BUILDING. What makes the Penguins more valuable (twice as expensive as the Sabres)? How does Lemieux get away with this?

Better still, how dare he question the methods by which someone tries to ACTUALLY buy a hockey team? He is still getting paid so maybe he should shut up. It’s easy to buy a team with someone else’s money, but maybe, just maybe, when Gary Bettman isn’t reading the fine print to you and guaranteeing your $0 investment you may be a little more concerned with the fine details of buying a team that has nothing but an 18 year potential star as an asset.

Lemieux should shut up and get the coffee and snacks while the men do business.

Update on the Bobby Orr issue

Update on the Bobby Orr issue:

One of ESPN's key/popular Hockey writers, Steve Buccigross, did a one on one with a douche bag who chimed in yet again on the Bobby Orr vs. Gretzky debate. The guy wrote a book and Gretz lost because he didn't fight.

I mailed in my rant abotu Orr and Gretz. Well they read it, and published the first paragraph. Both fortunate and unfortunate. The message was correctly placed in the first paragraph, unforunately the supporting evidence was located in the five pages that followed.

oh well, I almost had an impact. Here is the clip and link

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=buccigross_john&id=2701616

John,

Who was better, Gretzky or Orr? Well, I am afraid this is where the blasphemy begins. I believe, nay, I know that not only is Wayne Gretzky the greatest player of all time, but Orr really is not even in the top 10.

That explosion you heard was ******** internally combusting. (John's response)

To close out this issue I would like to say that I am amazed at how important being tough is in hindsight. All of these journalists and writers who considered hockey dead before the strike because of "clutching and grabbing", now couldn't be happier with the new bullshit rules that have created a league of pussy's .

HOWEVER, they still judge Gretzky on his perceived "softness". They wanted a league with no contatct, got that league, then turn around and say Orr was tough and Crosby will be better than Gretzky because he is tough. Watch the 1984 Cup final and talk to me about tough skilled hockey.

Gretzky had no time to be tough, he was too busy SCORING LIKE A LUNATIC FOR 20 YEARS!

NHL Over Rates Everyone Now

Most overrated NHL player of the past 5 years.

The list is long and undistinguished, but the answer is easy (for me at least)...

Markus Naslund.

It came to my attention Saturday night that Markus was on the verge of a huge career achievement.

400th career assist....WHAT THE FUCK?

This guy has been in the league for 13 years. He is all anyone has talked about for the last 5 years...and he doesn't have 400 career assists?

You want to talk about how overrated every fucking player in the league is today in comparison with players even 10 years ago THIS IS THE FUCKING EXAMPLE.

Naslund Career - 904 games 334 goals 396 assists 730 points

Is he awful? No, but is he a perenial MVP candidate? ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Here is my prediction. Markus Naslund will not get 1000 points, he will probably not play more than 1,250 total games, he will not get in the Hall of Fame and in 10 years people will forget he ever played in the league.

I wrote a Blog called "Bill Watters Fuck You" yesterday
http://angryrants2006.blogspot.com/2006/12/bill-watters-fuck-you_16.html

and it basically confirms all of my suspicions about today's superstars. They get touted and compared, but they always come up short. Burried deep within a hateful rant about Sidney Crosby and Bill Watters was a stat about the end of Wayne Gretzky's career that brings my Markus Naslund point into perspective

To quote myself:

"The reason Gretzky was so great, among many other reasons, is because his prime (prime point production) lasted 14 years (the games other great players got around five), and even when he was basically winding down at the end of his career and you take the worst 6 years of his career he scored 464 points in 407 games. "

When you put one of the NHL's current golden boys up against OLD Gretzky, he looks even worse. (before you start complaining by mentioning the players on the Gretzky Oilers, in his career Nalsund has played with Lemieux, Francis, Tocchet, Stevens, Jagr, Straka, Larry Murphy, Joe Mullen, Trottier, Mogilny, Bure, Messier and Bertuzzi plus his current squad just to name a few)

Here it is.

Gretzky's era of winding down (minus the 130 point season in 93-94) career began in 92-93. He was 32 and played 7 more season (one has been removed out of fairness to Naslund, afterall there is only one Great Gretzky. So to be fair to Nalsund we will compare his entire career to the End of Gretzky's).

33 year old Markus Naslund needs 4 assists for 400 (396) and he has played 904 games.

From 32 to 39 we use Gretzky's 6 worst seasons and we see that..

Gretzky scored 357 assists in 407 games.

So in 547 MORE GAMES...7 MORE SEASONS...IN HIS PRIME...Naslund has managed 49 more assists than Gretzky.

Seriously? (I just did the math myself) That is fucking horrible. If I include all seven of Gretzky's last 7 seasons in looks like this..

488 games 449 assists. During which time Gretzky was well into his thrities, missed half a season through injury, half a season due to a strike, and played on 5 non playoff teams full of old shitty teammates as the only star in the "cluch and grab" NHL.

Nalsund is pathetic and is no longer worth speaking about...BUT I'll make matters worse

From start to 900 games for Gretz and Naslund, actually to be more accurate
871 in 12 seasons for Naslund
847 in 11 seasons for Gretzky

Naslund 871 games, 322 goals, 386 assists, 708 points
GRETZKY (he is so good I capitalize) 847 games, 677 goals, 1302 assists, 1979 points

I say all of these things so I never have to listen to comparisons again. They can be great this week, this month, this year, but until they do that (see above) FUCK OFF.

Statistically speaking Andrew Cassels and Craig Janney were just as productive, if not more so, than Naslund, but I don't remember any of them being mentioned int he same breath. Look at the stats because in 10 years they will be.

Janney 760 games, 751 assists (plus a 100 point season)
Cassels 1015 games, 528 assists

Naslund = overrated

Update to my FLQ RANT - I Should have read the newspaper

How this got by me is a mystery to me, but apperently my call to arms against FLQ pigs who went unpunished in 1970 and continue preach garbage today came at the perfect time.

http://angryrants2006.blogspot.com/2006/12/flq-tough-one-to-post.html

It is funny how the mind works.

Well here is what I should have been talking about

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1743476/posts

Basically, new FLQ cell threatens violence against anglos in Montreal. Give me the names and address and I will take care of this disease, I am sick of this shit.

In my post about the FLQ I talked about this exact shit. We let these people reenter society, unpunished, and they have successfully spent the better part of thirty years spreading their poison. I garuntee you that there is a six degrees of Kevin Bacon with this "NEW CELL" and one of the "TEACHERS" I mentioned in my article. I fucking garuntee it.

All of this reconfirms I hope reconfirms my ability to predict the future. Past examples:

I spoke about the editorial I wrote to the citizen and the fact that they printed an article a week later that was basically a response from the OPP.
http://angryrants2006.blogspot.com/2006/08/i-can-write-future-part-2.html

Bobby Orr not better than Wayne Gretzky - I have had to answer this twice in a week.
http://angryrants2006.blogspot.com/2006/12/didnt-i-already-cover-this-shit.html

Also I wrote about how environmentalists were liars and a day later someone explained the ozone hole again.
http://angryrants2006.blogspot.com/2006/08/i-can-write-future-part-1_22.html

People I know genuinely question my theories. No joke. I have a friend who argued one of my forecasts, questioned my knowledge and called me a fool. This was in relation to a shift in finacial capital's from New York to China and India. I was not exactly out on a limb, but I was still laughed at, well the Economist has just published an account detailing the fact that New York is losing ground to London and HONG KONG and may not recover.

A week or so later I said that Seattle would be stupid to lock up Shawn Alexander for huge money long term at his age because running backs 30 and over are finished. At the time Alexander was 29. Well he won the MVP, went to the superbowl and then followed it up with a season of injuries. 2 years down on the contract 3 to go. Who was right? You'll be the judge.

So there you have it. Read this blog and the future will be yours.

Bill Watters FUCK YOU!

Bill Watters, a central piece of one of the WORST hockey panels on television, Sportsnet's Hockey Central, has pissed me off. On top of that, viewers of that garbage TV show have compounded the problem. The problem is Bill Watters ignorance.

First, on the nightly hockey central hockey poll 62% of respondants said that Sidney Crosby will be a BETTER hockey player than Wayne Gretzky.

HEY, maybe he will. Maybe one day, 4 stanley cups, 11 scoring titles, 9 MVP's and 3000 points from today he will be a better player. MAYBE!

The point here is shit happens, ask Lemieux. All the potential and skill in the world won't let the planets align for a Gretzky type performance. The reason Gretzky was so great, among many other reasons, is because his prime (prime point production) lasted 14 years, and the other 6 at the end of his career saw him score 464 points in 407 games. That just doesn't happen, and to predict it is foolish and plain insluting to Gretzky (Watters basic point).

All of this was instagated by Bill Watters saying that Crosby had more skill, more edge and at this point was a better all around player than Wayne Gretzky (who couldn't hold a candle to Bobby Orr according to Watters). BUT my message to Bill Watters is just because this kid scored 6 points in a game this week, I think it might be a bit premature to compare him to Gretz.

But for arguments sake

My most recent stats have Sidney Crosby with 153 points in 109 games. Pretty good right?

Now for Gretzky you have to do a little bit of math to get his first 109 games, but Gretzky had 139 points in 79 games in his first season, so that is easy. In his second season he had 164 in 80 games. So that is 2.05 points per game multiplied by 30 games for 61 points added to 139 makes 200 points.

So first comparison games to games Gretzky had 47 more points than Crosby has at the same point in his career. (Gretzky had a 50 goal season in his first year in the league, tied for the scoring title and won the MVP) Watters is right - Advantage Crosby.

BUT

Simple point production is a bit jadded. Afterall, all we here about Gretzky is the incredible support system he had in Edmonton. ABSOLUTELY TRUE.

In his first season in the League Gretzky played with the following hall if famers and all stars.

Blair MacDonald
Stan Weir
Brett Callighen
Dave Lumley
Don Murdoch
Dave Hunter
Doug Hicks
Ron Chipperfield
Risto Siltanen

Actually, this is a list of the top scorers on the Oilers other than Wayne Gretzky, during Gretzky's first NHL season. Messier and Kevin Lowe were on the team and chipped in a combined 55 points. That basically means they were non factors, and rookies to boot. The rest of the cast debut the following season and performed well, but were rookies and none toped 80 points. So Gretzky and the Hall of Fame cast myth, strangely revolving around Pittsburgh again, is bullshit.

Now Sidney Crosby (doing it all alone) for his 100 point rookie season had the benefit of the following seasoned veterans and a HALL OF FAMER.

Sergei Gonchar (top scoring defensmen in the NHL for better part of a decade)
Mark Recchi (Sure fire hall of famer, 50 goal scorer, Stanley Cup Champ etc.)
John LeClair (3 time 50 goal scorer)
Ryan Malone (up and comer)
Zigmund Palffy (330 goals in 680 games, basically he could find the net)
Mario Lemieux (Never fucking heard of him)

Did they all have excellent season? NO, but at least they had talent, skill, experience and GREAT CV's. Gretzky benefitted from nothing but goon protection. The NHL made sure Crosby didn't need the same serivce. Of course he still found a way to be a cheap cocksucking dive artist. Did I mention he lived at Lemieux's house? I wonder if that smoothed the transition?

At the five year mark of his career you can judge his potential to challenge Gretzky, but now it is simply too much pressure for the kid and insulting to the Greatest Player that ever played.

The FLQ - A tough one to post

I have thought about this one for a long time. A really long time.

I hate everything sure, but there are a few things that fill me with rage. I mean fucking blind rage. You rarely lose that kind of hate and emotion. If you’re lucky you forget about it, but inevitably something sets it off again and it comes back full bore because real hate and rage you never really lose.

One of those things for me is the FLQ. I encourage Americans and Brits to look up this terrorist group.

Before I go ranting here are some loosely related facts about where my rage for the FLQ comes from.

My parents were weird fucking people. They were British immigrants to Canada who thought it would be a good idea in the early 1970's to pick up and leave England (and its poverty) for the sunny welcoming shores of Quebec....

Yes, Two English people (pregnant wife) decided that they should move to Quebec in the early 1970's. So as the future baby in that story, (I was sadly not born in the UK I missed it by 3 and a half months) I was born in Quebec, an Anglophone at a lonely time for Anglophones in a Province coming to grips with self destiny.

How lonely was it? Well apart from the usual refusal to allow children to be taught the English language (without crazy criteria) I happen to be born into a Roman Catholic family at a time (In my particular area) when English children were no allowed be baptised in churches. Whether or not this was a hard fast rule is unknown to me. What I do know is that services were refused at the local church and instead the service was provided to my parents and others in the same boat, in a movie theatre on a Saturday morning by a travelling Anglophone Priest. You want to feel unwelcome? Well welcome to Canada!

While I am not mad at one particular thing in this situation it speaks volumes as to my current feelings about Quebec (the greatest province in Canada) and how she keeps fucking herself in the ass.

What does this have to do with the FLQ?

Well like I said the rage I feel for this issue needed a spark, a spark I had today. My wife and I discussed teach my son about the world (culture, arts, history, politics etc.). Let's just say, while I heard my wife I became convinced that ignorance to many of the points above would be to his benefit. The reason I am as angry as I am, is due in large part to what I know and the opinions I have formed about that knowledge since. I personally think it is better if he never learns to hate the way I did and what my wife generally forgets is that key Canadian history is kept out of the general education of Quebec children (she was born, raised and educated in Sherbrooke QC), specifically the crimes of the FLQ. I, on the other hand, can never forget that she was not taught this in school, though I don't bring it up in general conversations about child rearing. So I believe I am right and will spare my boy the venom.

SOOOOO in biting my tongue on the education future of my boy I was reminded of the FLQ...so that is how I got to the FLQ tonight.

A second “before I start” - I am angry because I know things. Things I choose to know, and like everyone else in the world, I am not impartial. See above. I am an Anglo Quebecer by birth, so save me your fucking see both sides fucking story. Before you start defending the FLQ or Quebec to me:
*Remember I love the place
*Remember that I was an unrecognized minority in that province and still angry about it
*Remember that in the 1970's when the precious FLQ fought for socialist and communist rights for Quebec's citizens against the English establishment the province did not allow women to own property.

Forget everything about my personal history and my feelings about what I know and my interpretation of events and remember you are defending people who fought for something as stupid as language when woman were still treated like property.

Related to this last point and a second personal point about me, my family and Quebec in the 1970's. I grew up poor because my father owned our house in Quebec, paid for with my mothers money, a house my father lost because he was an idiot, and money my mother lost because of the election of the PQ. If it was my mothers house, or jointly owned, maybe my childhood works out a little richer, to be shallow. So my love of Quebec is tempered by a deep hatred of the fucking place. Daddy issues be damned, that province was setup to let it happen.

Back to the fucking FLQ

Look up the FLQ if you want background. Look up the quiet revolution and the October crisis and all the bullshit that followed. Then take what comes below and temper that knowledge with Canada's current efforts in Afganistan in the "War on Terror".

The following murders:

Jacques Rose – Kidnapped and murdered a provincial cabinet minister. Served 7 years in prison.
Bernard Lortie - Kidnapped and murdered a provincial cabinet minister. Served 7 years in prison.
Francis Simard - Kidnapped and murdered a provincial cabinet minister. Served 7 years in prison.
Paul Rose - Kidnapped and murdered a provincial cabinet minister. Served 7 years in prison.
Rhéal Mathieu – Murdered a female factory worker with a letter bomb and believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 2 other people with bombs. Served 7 years in prison.
Gabriel Hudon – Murdered a nightwatchmen at a government defense facility with a bomb.
Raymond Villeneuve – Murdered a nightwatchmen at a government defense facility with a bomb.
Simple kidnappers (but given this was a joint plot and conspiracy they are also arguably guilty of murder as accomplices)
Jacques Cossette-Trudel – Kidnapped and held hostage a representative of a foreign country.
Louise Lanctôt (aka Louise Cossette-Trudel) – Kidnapped and held hostage a representative of a foreign country.
Jacques Lanctôt – Kidnapped and held hostage a representative of a foreign country.
Marc Carbonneau ­­­­­– Kidnapped and held hostage a representative of a foreign country.
Yves Langlois (aka Pierre Seguin) – Kidnapped and held hostage a representative of a foreign country.
Nigel Barry Hamer – Kidnapped and held hostage a representative of a foreign country.
Others commonly listed as “Members of the FLQ” and could be legitimately be considered involved in over 200 bombings, and a series of armed robberies, including the bombing of the Mayor of Montreal’s house and an attack on the Montreal Stock Exchange that wounded 27 people.

Alain Allard, Mario Bachand, Richard Bizier, Mario Bouchard, Pierre Boucher, Pierre Charette, Robert Comeau, Cyriaque Delisle, Pierre Demers, Serge Demers, Marcel Faulkner, Marc-André Gagné, Charles Gagnon, François Gagnon, Pierre-Paul Geoffroy, Jacques Giroux, Edmond Guénette, Gabriel Hudon, Robert Hudon, Yves Labonté, Gérard Laquerre, Michel Lambert, Daniel Lamoureux, Denis Lamoureux, François Lanctôt, Gérard Laquerre, André Lessard, Robert Levesque, Michel Loriot, Pierre Marcil, Jean Materot, Rhéal Mathieu, Claude Morency, André Ouellette, André Roy, François Schirm, Claude Simard, Richard Therrien, Réjean Tremblay, Pierre Vallières, Carole de Vault, Raymond Villeneuve.

So there is a list, a list of people we know are terrorists. A list of people involved in the disruption of a democracy through murder, robbery and kidnappings. So why is this important? They are all walking around amongst us, free and pardoned, while Canada fights a war on terror against a people in an insignificant place who basically did nothing against us. We bent over for murders out of fear of political instability and yet invest billions in a fight to ensure a trade relationship with the US.

Want more? Wrap your minds around the fact that one man on this FLQ list killed three people in a 40 year bombing campaign, twice convicted, and he walks free amongst us. No joke. His last conviction was in 2001 and he is free as a bird and on record as a man running on a hatred and prejudice against Canada’s ethnic majority.

As a reference point, Paul Bernardo was convicted of killing 2 people and he will never see the light of day (known rapist and murder of at least one more girl). He has been called a dangerous offender who shows no signs of remorse. While he may be eligible for parole some day, he will never be released.

What is the difference between these two men in the eyes of the victim’s families? Sure Bernardo is a monster, but if your mom, dad, brother whatever got killed by someone with 3 bodies on their sheet would you care about differences? Wouldn’t you want equal punishment for equal crimes? Murder is murder.

On that note:
I would like to mention a few of the names from the list of murders and criminals above to share/spread my rage at the FLQ and Canada and Quebec.

In general, none of these people served a real jail sentence befitting the crime they committed. Most have since rejoined society and in some cases have become very successful.

For instance:

Jacques Lanctôt - who kidnapped and held hostage a representative of a foreign country, now owns his own publishing house. He is still vocal in Quebec seperatism, but my issue is with his profession or business.

In 1989, the province of Quebec paid for a province wide social studies text book for high school students that among other things contained a key info graphic. This graphic showed that Quebec was one of the only Provinces in Canada that PAID to be a part of confederation. Taxes and revenue earned in Quebec went to the Federal government to support the other provinces. Simply put Quebec was receiving no economic benefit from being a part of Canada. This was WRONG then and is WRONG today. Canada basically throws money at that province to keep them happy and they are one of the few provinces that provide little to no economic benefits to the rest of the country.

This textbook came out at a key point in time for the political future of the country and Quebec knowingly left this textbook in schools because "it would cost too much to correct". Did Lanctôt’s company print this book, no, BUT with a mistake this big and this obvious and a mistake that would impact students for upwards of 20 years we must be at least a little suspicious especially considering its timing. So I ask, did a former FLQ member or sympathiser print, layout, edit, approve or develop content for this book? Who the fuck knows? But "Education is Key", as I once said in a drunken rant in Las Vegas. And this “mistake” raises FLQ related education questions.

Robert Comeau - member of the Vigor cell of the FLQ is now a history professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal. What kind of history do you think this man is going teach on the subject of political awakening in Quebec? What introductions to history does this man give to fresh faced students who have just left a public education system that has taught them that Quebec gains no benefit from being apart of Canada?

Remember back to the discussion I had today with my wife. Kids in Quebec don’t get October crisis in school, when they do get it in University it comes from the mouth of veterans. Hero’s of the revolution as it were.

Question me on this at your own risk. I took a Canadian history class at Ottawa University "1945 to present" taught by a professor that was, at the time, a candidate for the Bloc Quebecois in Montreal. He missed most of our classes because he was running his campaign but when he was around his disdaine for Canada and his Quebec slant was SICKENING. To prove a point I took a bullet in the form of writing my final paper on rasicm towards Angolophones in Quebec since 1970. I got a D because I failed to balance moves against Anglos with Canadian treatment of the French. Fuck him, I made my point and he knew it, we had a very frank and dark discussion during our one meeting on the paper. The gist, "you pass but fuck you", "right back at you slick". I also wrote a class evaluation, five pages long, on my issue with allowing a seperatist to teach a class on Canada, and wasting my money by letting him campaign on class time. He was fired the next year, better news he lost the election. When he came back to class, his defeat was met with a standing ovation, he got the point.

Richard Therrien - an FLQ member who aided and abetted the attempted escape of the murders of a Provincial Cabinet Minister (he was convicted of that crime) became a Judge in Quebec. Yes a judge. Do you think he may look a little lighter on people convicted of political crimes? Why do I mention this former FLQ member who became a judge, well...

Rhéal Mathieu - the man who Murdered a female factory worker with a letter bomb and is believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 2 other people with bombs in the 1960's. Well he has kept busy fire bombing businesses in Quebec with English names for instance "The Second Cup". He was convicted of the crime in 2001 and served 10 months in jail. When captured he had a pistol and a sawed off shot gun. After his second conviction for a bombing campaign and his "quick" release 7 McDonalds in Quebec were mysteriously fire bombed. It may not have been him, but at the time he was known to be training "disciples". In other words, educating people to the views, policies and tactics of the FLQ. What did they go to Afghanistan for again? Terrorist training camps?

So for, training terrorists, killing 3 people and waging a war against a race and language, Rhéal Mathieu served less than 10 years in jail. How does something like this happen? Remember the judge I was talking about? If one FLQ sympathizer found the bench, why not two? Want evidence? A man, known to have murdered with bombs, begins a bombing campaign in 2001 and serves 1 month in jail after his conviction even though it is put on record by the judge (Judge Tessier) that Mathieu had a prior criminal record for terrorist bombing, and was "not yet rehabilitated” and was “motivated by hate and prejudice.”

Is Judge Tessier a former FLQ member? Who the fuck knows, but I wonder if he is a current member with a sentence like that.

We could go on, with FLQ members currently involved in the television and film industry or high ranking officials in federally funded organizations, but what would be the point? What is clear is that the very thing Canada is in Afghanistan fighting happened here 30 years ago, and we let it go unpunished and now let it be taught to our children as gospel by the criminals.

This is a popular web topic, thankfully, so mine is not an original thought. What I am going to do is tell you that terrorist murders currently reside and succeed in Quebec and are having a huge influence on the young minds of a province in a weak position. What are we going to do about it?

Are you like me?

Are you like me? DO you change the fucking TV station every single time Sportsnet or TSN or Headline sports start talking about the fucking Raptors?

Does anybody in Canada outside of the GTA watch basketball?

I seriously doubt it. The bigger problem is the time they dedicate to a team that has been shit for over ten years.

Why all the nicknames? Why all the hard interviews with guys who don't want to play in Toronto? Why do I care if the Wizards beat the dinasours in a game, unless it is 1983 and we are talking about D&D?

Top ten quotes that help me hate- yeah baby, hard to the hole, driving the lane, nothing but net, Brick, slam dunk champ, tight D, no look pass and DEE BROWN IS IN THE HOUSE.

Fuck the NBA

Americans and Hockey

I have always loathed the influence of Americans on the game of Hockey. Rule changes, quality teams leaving for ridiculous American cities (Hartford included with Winnipeg and Quebec), history thrown in the trash (Adams, Smythe, Norris, Patrick Ring a bell?) glowing pucks, fan safety, fighting crackdowns, 2 refs etc. etc. etc.

The real reason I hate this influence is because America as a whole doesn't give a shit about hockey. Certain people in certain markets do, but it is not an obsession the way it is here. Does that mean I want the American teams gone? No, but I need some of them to go (Florida, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Nashville, Anahiem, San Jose, LA, Pheonix, Atlanta) Basically if your weather is like a Holiday resort for Canadians, get the fuck out of the league.

What I want is the NHL to run itself based on quality hockey, instead of a perpetual sales pitch to the American market in a despeate and vain attempt to improve the bottom line. Americans clearly DO NOT CARE, nore will they. I garuntee that the new US soccer leagues will be more important and more popular in the US in every hockey market mentioned above in 10 short years. When that happens hockey will not be the number 4 PRO sport in America it will be number 10 after winners like NASCAR, Arena Football, Wrestling and Soccer (I love soccer so big deal). Arena football is already a bigger draw than hockey on TV and guess what, they use the same buildings. The facts are as soon as the MLS signs a Beckham, a real quality proven talent and doesn't rely on a guy like Freddie Adu for marketing, the MLS will take off.

All of this is bolstered by World Cup that was held int he US, the current US men's team (highly overrated) filled with skilled players. The game itself has trickled down to the youth like no other sport. It is genderless to play as a child and chicks dig the athletes as they get older (Beckham). Immagrants in the US love soccer and as the white population drops, soccer popularity will explode. Hockey is basically falling off the map in the US (as a whole). While the game excels in strange markets (Dallas), in reality its the kids that love playing it, but nobody is to paying to watch it in the rink or on TV. Soccer is the future and America's interest in hockey will drop to Original Six type proportions in a very short time. The North East will continue to support it, some other markets will hold on, but the writing is on the wall. Teh entertainment dollar is thin and the market is too competitive to introduce a fringe sport.

Why am I saying all this? One of my favorite Web Sites "the Onion" brought home this whole reality with this weeks edition of their paper. They ran 4 joke stories on hockey all of which eluded to the fact that nobody in the states gives a shit about hockey. Traditionally, if the Onion runs one joke story a year about hockey I am amazed, but this week they ran 4 stories all with an "American's don't give a shit" theme.

"Nation gears up for hockey's first season since lockout" - A year late, but that is probably part of the joke
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/56552

"Area man claims to be NHL Hall of Famer" - Story about Bobby Orr
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/56553

"NHL Players to watch" - Teemu Selanne appears at the bottom of the list, the rest are joke names with equal skill sets
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/56557

"Mike Modanno: Is he the Tom Brady of whatever it is he does?" - Again I can see the humour, but it is the indifference to the game that speaks to me.
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/56558

So what you have is a welcome back story that is a season late. The story mentions nobody can watch because it won't be on TV and it purposefully mentions Carolina and Tampa residents to illustarte a "Don't know, don't care" attitude.

Another story suggesting that a local man is crazy because he claims to be a hall of fame player. The player is Bobby Orr, a man from the period when hockey truly was important and in some markets pushed baseball and football to the back of the sports pages. That's funny, I guess.

A story that talks about prospects that don't exist and mixes in one of the great goal scorers of the last decade.
And finally a story that says it all. The NFL is the benchmark for all other sports and they ask is this guy as good at whatever it is he does?

I am affraid it is time to cut and run on the "American vision". Canadian cities are clamouring for teams, rinks are built and fans are garunteed. The American teams that are left will be better for it, the game will certainly be better for it and personally I will be better without the stress. Sure some American diehards will lose a local team, but they can do what I do. Cheer for the team that speaks to you, excites you. Or you can do what a friend of mine named "Jon" does. Cheer for whoever won the cup last year regardless of how stupid it makes you look.

Newest homes for NHL Teams

Hamilton (Sorry Florida give Hamilton the team you stole)
Winnipeg (Pheonix, experiment is over)
Quebec (Pittsburgh, too bad, your a city I actually like)
Saskatoon (Atlanta, Nashville, Anahiem, NYI whoever the list is long enough)

Didn't I already cover this shit?

ESPN's hockey guy John Buccigross just interviewed a guy who has reopened the Gretz / Orr debate, this time putting Orr on top because of .... his ability to fight. FUCK OFF. Nuff said.

See the interview here.

New book might answer Orr vs. Gretzky debate

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=buccigross_john&id=2693954

I don't have any real problem with Buccigross except that he is one of those clique insider reporters. He answers questions from fans with inside crap, he is forever naming babies and associating hockey with the worst music of all time. Otherwise he is fine. But this interview was shit. Hey hockey expert, form an opinion.

Here is my fucking opinion again. I emailed it to Buccigross yesterday. I won't hold my breath.

Bobby Orr, you're out!

http://angryrants2006.blogspot.com/2006/01/bobby-orr-youre-out_04.html

Speaking of a one Hunter S. Thompson...

It has been suggested (in the comments) that my picture makes me look like Hunter S. Thompson. Seeing it after thefact there is a similarity I suppose. I took it as a compliment of sorts. I love the book (Fear and Loathing in las Vegas) like everyone else. Not because I hoped to emulate the journey, but because it was funny as hell.

The "transfering Rum and Ice" line had me pissing. "She was clearly looking for violence" brought me to tears. The afore mentioned "coconut husks" from the comments page is one of the funniest things I have ever read and "we must have bass" well that was just great.

So as much as I love that book, and as much as I love Vegas, I have always wanted to do a bit of a pilgrimege.

Small problem...that town uses Arby's menus as history books. Most of the locations are gone.

I visited the famous Carousel Bar on my third trip through town. Sober as a judge Circus Circus is a trip, a toilet and a fucking dump all wrapped up into one. ADVICE, never stay there, sure its a name place, but time has passed it by. The saddest part was the Carousel is still there, but the bar was closed (I don't know if that was temporary or what, but I couldn't get a drink there, I hope you can). I have been through the Tropicana and stopped by what I knew where other places in the book (Flamingo etc.), but I was still curious as to where were the big locations?

I did a bit of research and found some of the locations, or what happened to the locations, but for the most part it was hard to track everything down.

Then I stumbled on another fan who wrote a piece for people like me, looking to pay homage to a great fucking weekend. I have since lost his article, but my notes remain. I will spend some time looking for the story (I have read at least three in the past 10 years that were similar) so to the author, this is all you, I just don't know who you are.

UPDATE: Story Found (see in full at the bottom of the page)

Here is the abridged version for people interested in visiting the hot spots from the book.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/dossier/misc/loathing/mescaline.html

PRINTED WITHOUT PERMISSION (nice url.. addict). Same story as the Onion, I like it and don't want to lose it. Ask me to take it down and I will. My problem is that with the realities of the Internet these stories dissapear, never to be seen again. The Internet and Vegas have a lot in common. Porn, gambling, flashing lights, sports and things get forgotten and torn down (deleted) with no fan fare. So that is why I am posting the full story again. It will help me and it will help you so fuck off.

The City: In search of Thompson's Vegas
By F. Andrew TaylorVegas.com

Fear and Loathing at the library...The stench of humanity and the nerve racking clackclackclack of flapping microfiche...Damn the historical accuracy! Full speed ahead!...The dull crack of shotguns and tracks in the desert.

It's 8:43 p.m. on a fine Las Vegas evening and I'm scanning through old papers stalking my elusive prey: Hunter S.Thompson's 1971 Vegas. It's an alien yet oddly familiar town I'm prowling through. Both the Manson and the Lt. Calley trials are underway, a pre-congressional, pre-tattoo Sonny and Cher are debuting at the Sahara and some crazed politician wants to turn Fremont Street into a park.

I've been poring through this stuff for hours, occasionally losing control of the microfiche machine and creating a hellish racket as the loose end of the reel slaps repeatedly against the aging guts of the machine. This is not entirely a bad thing as the cacophony keeps indigents and their overpowering bouquet at bay.

Nonetheless, when the dust cleared I had managed to track down the last remaining settings of Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". The difficulty, of course, with trying to track down the locales mentioned in the book is that H.S.T. has been known to shuffle the particulars of a story in the name of art. Also, the city is not kind to its history. We have developed some sort of ruthless Darwinian philosophy about the place: produce or be imploded.

For those unfortunate souls who might not be entirely familiar with the work I'll provide this brief synopsis. H.S.T. and his attorney drive in from L.A. to cover the fourth annual Mint 400, an off-road motorcycle and dune buggy race. Instead of actually covering the race they rampage around Las Vegas in drug-fueled orgy of "bad craziness" until they decide to cover the National Conference of District Attorneys seminar on Narcotics and Dangerous drugs. Then they get really nuts.

We begin our tour at the Fabulous Mint Hotel, sponsor of the race. The Mint's owner, Del Webb, got out of the casino business some time ago. His corporation is now the driving force behind a couple of obscure planned communities. What was the Mint is now the western half of Binion's Horseshoe, so you can start your twisted tour and get a free picture of yourself in front of a million bucks at the same time.

Thompson claims that they stayed in room 850, but when the Horseshoe took over they changed all the numbers and no one's kept track of where the old numbers were. For that matter, this is just the sort of minutia that he would have just slapped a random number on when he was writing. This won't stop me from making an educated guess based on clues in the book. If your Fear and Loathing experience won't be complete without staying in the same room I suggest you book room 818, and book it early. Binion's Horseshoe is a busy place these days.
Be forewarned, the big electric snake that menaced them from out their window has been replaced by a gargantuan electric thunder serpent that strikes every hour on the hour and a few measly pistol shots aren't even going to slow it down.

The duo spend a lot of time cruising the Strip and Paradise Boulevard. The "Topless and Stopless" sign they see on Paradise was almost certainly at the Crazy Horse, on the corner of Flamingo, but this is nearly impossible to prove.

Later, while attempting to catch the Debbie Reynolds and Harry James act at the Desert Inn they accidentally park their car on the sidewalk in front of the main entrance. While said sidewalk is still there, I do not recommend you try to park there. Trust me, it wouldn't be as fun as it sounds. Instead, walk into the showroom and shout, as H.S.T. and his attorney do upon being confronted by Debbie Reynolds singing "Sgt. Pepper", "Jesus creeping shit! We've wandered into a time capsule." The crowd will love it.

As an added bonus, Debbie is still here. My research confirms that she was indeed playing there the weekend of the race. Pop by her casino and offer her some mescaline. I'm sure she could use a little pick-me-up.

For those of you with a serious death wish there's the dubious thrill of trying to recreate the dreaded Okie drag race. Start in the center lane of the strip at the stoplight at Spring Mountain. Have your passengers antagonize the Okies in the car to your right. Don't worry if they aren't actually from Oklahoma. All tourists are, deep down in their heart and soul, Okies. Make sure you really get their dander up. H.S.T.'s attorney, Oscar Acosta, achieved this by yelling "Hey there! You folks want to buy some heroin?" Unfortunately, these days that ploy probably won't work. Try selling them something more offensive, like Chris Farley videos or a time share in Laughlin.

At this the point you put the hammer down and fly up the strip at breakneck speed or at least that's the theory. In practice the traffic on the Strip never gets above a congested, smog-belching crawl. Just for the sake of the argument let's say that through some fluke you've got the room to run with it. Slam on the brakes at Convention Center Drive, hang a right, and barrel past the Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Hotel-Casino. Take a right after her parking lot and get lost in the maze of parking structures.

Midway through the book they switch hotel rooms to cover the D.A.'s convention at the Dunes. This is, as you all well know, rubble now. My best guess is that their room at the Flamingo shares that fate. There is no room 1150 there and the book doesn't provide sufficient clues about it. You could still stop in there though and try to imagine what Thompson and Acosta would make of their desert penguins.

The real story becomes a little hard to keep track of at this point anyway. The race was on Sunday, March 20th - 22nd, 1971. The D.A.'s convention didn't start until Monday, April 25th, so all the linking sequences, the escape from the Mint, the encounter with the Highway Patrol, the Phantom Hitchhiker and even Savage Lucy are somewhat in doubt.

Through a bizarre stroke of luck, the setting for two of the more memorable scenes in the book is still intact and virtually unchanged since 1971: The Carousel Bar at Circus Circus. It is unlikely, however, that Thompson could last three minutes inside the present day Circus Circus. In his own words, "this is not a good town for psychedelic drugs. Reality itself is too twisted." I myself have not personally ingested anything more mind altering than an "Electric Rodent" for years. (An Electric Rodent is a noxious combination of Jolt cola and Fat Weasel ale). And yet within seconds of entering the moppet infested confines of the place the fear swamps over me. My advice is run in, suck down a cold one at the Carousel and flee before it's too late.

Incidentally, the "three Korean Kittens" he mentions in his description of Circus Circus really did exist. They were the stars of "Topless Models '71" at the Hacienda.

There's only one place that Thompson stomped through that still has the true 1971 ambiance you're looking for: The Mint Gun Club, site of the start and finish lines for the Mint 400. It's now the Las Vegas Gun Club and is far enough off the beaten track that you're not likely to run into Ma and Pa tourist and their pack of squalling brats.

Just head up 95, past the Santa Fe Hotel-Casino, and follow the signs to Floyd Lamb State Park. Just before the park you'll see the turnoff to the Gun Club. A narrow road snakes in among the off-road vehicle scarred hills to the small, unassuming club.

Admittedly, it's not much to look at: a long, low block house with a bar and short order cook. On one wall hangs an aerial photo of the club and the surrounding territory. In it, you can clearly see countless dune buggy and motorcycle tracks heading straight out from the shooting range.

So throw back a shot of Wild Turkey and blast a few rounds with the shotgun in honor of your favorite Doctor of Journalism. Don't get too crazy; in the '90s, friends don't let friends skeet drunk.

Quick One

Forgot to apologize to Joe Thornton.

He broke his 4 game pointless streak last night with a goal and an assist. Good for you, really nice to see you helping your team win....

OOPPPPPPPS

He was minus 2 in a 5-2 loss. Guess that negates his contribution. Nice going Joe (I mean Eric).

funny, he doesn't score and his team wins 4 of 5. He gets a goal and an assist and his team loses. Go figure.

Sax on the beach

My office is way to sexy right now. I have the Sade pumping.

Totally the wrong song for 10AM at work. That is the real joy of the iPod. Whatever the fuck you want, whenever you want it and best of all when you least expected it.

Greatest invention ever! You only hear songs you like because you put them on there.

back to slow sex..."makin' my soul sing, touching the very heart of me, I'm cryin' out for more"

fuckin' Sade

Of little use to anyone

This post is of little use to anyone, but I am putting it out there anyway.

There is a commercial on TV right now that drives me fucking bananas. RBC in Canada has announced its nominate a special volunteer campaign, I don't know what you win, I don't care. It is the commercial that is bothering me.

The commercial goes as follows

-TV mom says she would like to nominate Joe "I don't think he ever goes home" what a special fucking guy.

-Joe is seen oggling a 10 year old girl outside the change rooms at a hockey rink.

-The girl is upset because her concave chest and bald vagania are not welcome in the boys change room before hockey games.

-Joe basically loses it. He empties out a broom closet cuts a lenght of 2x6 screws a hook to the wall and walks away.

-Next game the girl is seen peeking into the boys change room when out of the corner of her eye she sees it!

The old fuck, who is the greatest volunteer in the history of the world has done the following to make the girl feel at home....

A) emptied a broom closet of slop bucket and porno mags.
B) Overturned 2 trash cans and placed length of old cut 2x6 to act as some dangerous bench
C) added 2 hooks to the wall so little girls clothes can be nicely prepared for him when he sneeks back it to sniff undergarments
D) WORST OF ALL....FUCK...I need a minute

Take 2

D) to signify that the worlds greatest volunteer has created a girls change room, he has written in black marker "Girls" on a cardboard box top and tapped it to the wall with a long piece of black hockey tape.

I can't fucking believe how lazy this guy is. Where is the girl friendly change room at this rink for, oh I don't know, figure skaters, girls hockey, ringette, free skates, family skates ETC. ETC. ETC. It is 2006, and this is the first girl who has ever wnated to change at the rink? Okay so maybe it is, but this is how he takes care of her? and this is what wins him an award? An old UNSANDED piece of wood, a hook and a piece of fucking cardboard. Let's not even talk about the fact that the bench he made isn't even remotely secure or safe. This man couldn't have done less if he tried and yet he is winning a volunteer award.

I am tempted to take my money out of the royal bank for this, and yes I am serious.

Is this the worst offender? No, but it is on the top of my shit list today.

Other noteables

Stool softener commercial - lady slowly relaxing in a large chair. Her relaxing efforts are aided by the fact that her stool is becoming softer as the commerical progresses. Yes we have to watch this.

Hardline - gay chat line, where the guy who is always "up late" and who will "try anything" tells us he uses Hardline because it is "always hot".

British Hockey League - Goal maddness

No hate in this one, just a crazy hockey league that opporated in the UK for 15 years.

The British Hockey League 1980 - 96.

For some reason I became obsessed with the British Hockey League today. Basically because it seemed to be a very big league that had ridiculously inflated individual statistics. The goals made me laugh the most. In what was usually a 20 to 30 game season it was not uncommon for each team to have a 100 goal scorer or TWO!

I first stumbled onto these stats because I was a huge Garry Unger fan (I think he deserves some consideration for the Hall of Fame). He had a great career, He had 2 forty goal seasons, 9 thirty plus and 10 twenty plus sesons (when stats like that mattered) see for yourself...

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=5518

So I was looking at his stats and his last three season of pro hockey jumped off the screen. As a 40 year old man, Unger went to this strange league and had a ridiculous run (200 goals and 450 points in 90 games). In his best season he was a hat trick a game player. His team scored a ridiculous 426 goals in 30 games that season. Another team int he league that season also had 400 goals. Imagien the NHL with 2 four hundred goal teams (in 80 games!). In history the Gretzky Oilers are the only team to top 400 goals. League wide that season in the BHL out of 26 teams, 10 had more than 300 goals. Imagine a league where your team AVERAGED 10 goals a game. That is why this league interested me...becasue of silly stuff like that.

In total, there was no more than one or two other real NHLers who ever played in the league. They had a few who got a peak at teh NHL (12 games give or take), but for the most part this league was made up of second and third line CHLers, first liners under five foot ten and people from the British Isles. That's what got me really interested because the only decent British players I can think of were Steve Thomas, Ken Hodge and the Irishman Owen Nolan. If there were others I apologize, but I find it weird that this league had guys regularly potting 100 goals in a 30 game season and none of them got a sniff form the NHL. You could accept it if there was one guy in total over the 16 years, but there was at least 20 guys who did it at least once and countless guys who scored 80 or more. One played 3 seasons and averaged 110 goals and just dropped off the face of the earth.

It was pretty typical for a guy to play only one season in the league and have 80 goals and 127 points. I don't know for a fact, but you have to suspect that they found the hockey a little beneth them and just left. Garry Unger's Stats are evidence of that if nothing else. A 40 year old man whose career was definitely over in the NHL strapped them on and averaged 2 goals and 4 points a game over three years. Of course some players stayed and had Hall of Fame worthy numbers in only 300 career games. I wish there was film of some of these games. It must have been a sight.

Anyway, I looked in vain for career leaders in this league and found nothing. The league has since changed names, split, folded and been reborn, so I don't think anyone is in a rush to print the stats, but as curious as I am, I did a little leg work and came up with this ROUGH list of BHL career goal scoring leaders.

Before you start here is a bit of stuff on the league that may be of interest.

Season by season stats for the league (click a team and you will get a full roster)
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/bhl1997.html

The most background I can find...sadly
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Hockey_League

So here are the goal scoring leaders (not complete by any stretch, but I think I got the top ten down, the rest are as close as I could get)

NOTE: all of this information was taken for the greatest free site in the world - Hockeydb.com

GAMES / GOALS / ASSISTS / POINTTS
Tony Hand - 943 / 1090 / 1845 / 2935 (actually Scottish born)
Kevin Conway - 368 / 901 / 803 / 1704
Rick Fera - 363 / 835 / 901 / 1736
Fred Perlini - 283 / 800 / 553 / 1353
Rick Smith - 252 / 733 / 414 / 1147
Hilton Ruggles - 312 / 679 / 535 / 1214
Steve Moria - 308 / 670 / 824 / 1494
Rick Brebant - 322 / 666 / 833 / 1499
Gary Stefan - 423 / 658 / 549 / 1207
Daryl Lipsey - 346 / 637 / 536 / 1173
Scott Morrison - 340 / 614 / 731 / 1443
Mark Mackie - 344 / 607 / 707 / 1314
Doug McEwen - 364 / 606 / 597 / 1203
Jamie Crapper - 281 / 598 / 631 / 1229
Patrick Scott - 269 / 597 / 503 / 1100 (Record Season - 56 Games / 180 goals / 139 assists / 319 points)
Paul Adey - 317 / 567 / 468 / 1035
Todd Bidner - 354 / 552 / 567 / 1119
Luc Chabot - 226 / 534 / 504 / 1167
Doug McEwen - 334 / 529 / 494 / 1023
Scott Neil - 439 / 520 / 457 / 977
Gord Jeffery - 206 / 511 / 391 / 902
Ian Cooper - 407 / 509 / 557 / 1066
Chuck Taylor - 414 / 504 / 529 / 1033
John Lawless - 308 / 470 / 608 / 1078
Tim Salmon - 199 / 466 / 737 / 1203
Frank Morris - 315 / 464 / 394 / 858
Don Yewchin - 131 / 448 / 288 / 736 (basically 3.3 goals a game)
Ronnie Wood - 361 / 421 / 416 / 837
Mark Stokes - 213 / 417 / 327 / 744

An impressive local guy (Arnprior) who almost made the list and our friend Gary Unger.

Darin Fridgen - 93 / 365 / 225 / 590 (Played 3 and 1/2 years and had three straight 100 plus goal season, averaging over 3.9 goals a game)

Do you think after a while he was sad when he didn't score a hat trick?

Garry Unger - 97 / 218 / 235 / 453 (Best season - 30 Games / 95 goals / 143 Assists / 238 points)

I promise less hockey more hate

I haven't written anything in a while about hating things, so I will think really hard and get down to it soon.

I have plenty to work with. The Canadian Liberals just elected a new leader that among other hate filled issues barely speaks English. So they want to run a leader that can't communicate with 80% of the population. GREAT!

The Tories are getting shit from some for cancelling a $600,000 project that gives safe Tattoos to prison inmates. Sure it isn't a lot of money and it would probably have cut down to a degree the occurance of prison related HIV and Hep C infections that are believed to come from tattoos, and some have argued that allowing tattoo training for inmates is like education and job training...BUT

If prisioners aren't smart enough to stay away fro dirty prison tatoo needles, why should I pay to educate them? That is at the very least the stupidest program I have ever heard of and the smartest small dollar move the tories have made to-date.

So there is stuff out there. My angry mind is closed to the many new opinions in the world and country and I will write about it.

PS> an Arab finacial group is looking to buy Liverpool FC. Now that is a story. Welcome to Liverpool, thanks for the money, now get the fuck out. Think Trainspotting with better toilets and less Heroin....but more E. There is gold to mine there.

I forgot why I hated...

Over the past few years I have forgotten why I hated the Montreal Canadiens.

Without the Adams division and a league with acceptable rules I sort of forgot why I hated those fucking Montreal assholes. I forgot the experiences I had in highschool where I was teased and ridiculed for cheering for the Bruins, who hadn't won a playoff series against those cocksuckers in 44 years. Before the Senators (who I hate with a passion) EVERYONE cheered for the Canadiens in Ottawa supported byt he fact that even when they shouldn't have, they seemed to win the Stanley cup...by going through the Bruins.

I just plain forgot why I hated them so much. Sure at playoff time it kind of came back, but that was a game time feeling, not a passion like I now have for the Senators. Why did I hate them so much?

Well, I just fucking remembered.

I watched the game review of the Bruins 6-5 win tonight on RDS (French TSN in Canada). Yeah it was broadcast in French, so what, I understand and to a degree speak French. This wasn't a language issue, this was a bias issue. I know, home broadcasts are supposed to be bias, but the Canadiens seem to have the market cornered on "our shit don't stink".

What I forgot about these assholes and their fucking fans was the goddammed excuses. I forgot about the fact that no matter how bad they were they were still the best and should have won every game they ever played. The only reason they lose is because someone fucked them out of a penalty, or a call of some kind. They don't get beat other teams get lucky.

So in reviewing the Bruins 6-5 victory over the Canadiens tonight our friends at RDS had the following comments (translated/interpreted by me of course)

Bruins down 1-0 in the first, Murray scores to tie it up.

"Bruins tie it up with a lucky goal" - Huet had terrible positioning on Murray at the side of the net and Murray banked the puck in off of him. Good work down low, nice hole left by a goalie who was out of position, player takes his shot and scores = lucky goal

Bruins take the lead in the first 2-1 when Strum scores on a partial break to make it 2-1

"Huet makes the save, but the puck trickles over the line. 2 Bizarre goals give the Bruins a 2-1 lead."

Strum recieved a great pass, split the 2 Canadien defenders at the Blue line skated in and took a blistering shot that Huet got some body on, but couldn't stop = Bizzare goal

Bruins go up 3-1 in the Second

"Bruins go up 3-1, but not without the help of a strange defensive play by the Canadien defense".

Donovan trails in Savard, gets a great pass and scores after the Habs defense lobs a clearing pass that gets intercepted by Savard. Savard pulled three players to him in front, dropped a beauty pass to Donovan who hammered it home. They capitalized on an opportunity. = 3-1 but with help

Bruins go up 4-1 on a shorthanded goal by Primeau

"Good decision by Carbonneau to pull Huet"

Basically they had no excuse, except that Huet was terrible in the last few games and it was essentially his fault that the Habs were now down 4-1.

Habs make it 4-2 on a questionable penalty call on Stuart (this will come in to play later). Good quick passing, Thomas was just out of position (AGAIN) they scored.

Habs make it 4-3 annoucers credit Carbonneau's pulling of Huet and a "strategy" to move a position player.

At 4-3 Murray had a partial break, but was hooked from the blue line until his shot. No penalty. That is why I hate the new NHL, I don't know what is and what isn't a penalty. Even the announcers scrambled for excuses and danced around that penalty and said that "the ref judged that Murray was still able to get his shot off sufficiently to cancel the penalty". That says to me "we got away with one".

At 4-4 at the mid mark of the 3rd the Bruins make it 5-4

"Bruins get another lucky goal as a low shot is redirected off a Canadien defenders skate and goes in past a screened Abisher"

Bruins work the screen perfectly, shoot into traffic and get a goal. There were three players directly in front of the goalie, Stuart kept the shot low (like your supposed to) and scored = another lucky goal. They controlled the puck in the offensive zone, moved the puck like it was a powerplay and scored...Lucky.

On yet another powerplay of questionable origins the Habs scored to tie the game at 5-5. Were all the powerplays bullshit? No, but 2 powerplay goals, don't foget that.

I'll stop with the play by play here to save your eyes, but the Bruins Brad Stuart scored the winner late, but there was an reason.... I mean an excuse.

Stuart cross checked Ryder in the leg in the Defensive zone, the Bruins went down the ice and scored the winner.

In the Bruins first loss of the seaosn to the Habs, they blew another big lead (all they seem to do this season, thank Thomas for that, but I can accept that he is all we have) and with the game tied and less than 2 minutes to go in the third the ref called a phantom penalty (honestly it was the worst "new rules" call I have ever seen) and the Habs scored the powerplay winner with 1 second to go. No joke 1 second, powerplay, my ass. So with that in mind, I think that regardless of the call, the Habs earned this loss. They didn't deserve their first win, so why should they get another because of some bullshit penalty? The ref was right there last night and he didn't see anything wrong. Was it a penalty? Stuart hit the puck carrier. It was a cross check, but it was on the thigh in a downward motion, so I can see how a ref would let it go. It looked weird and I personally haven't seen many leg crosschecks from a player standing up (good way to break a leg) at speed, away from the boards. If the Bruins had not have scored this would not have been an issue. Had they scored 1 minute later, no problem, but I am sure that goal would have been lucky too.

That is the real problem with the league now. Teams count on a powerplay, they expect it and complain when they don't happen at key moments. Fucking Bettman.

The Bruins blew a 4-1 lead and a 5-4 thrid period lead and won the game, but if not for 3 lucky goals a missed penalty and bad goaltending the Habs would have won. Are they serious?

The Bruins scored 6 goals on 18 shots. The Habs scored 5 on 39. Should the Habs have won? They were at home and took more shots, but they also had to rely on a powerplay to stay in the game and took a stupid late penalty and they came up short.

Did the Hab announcers say they got lucky at the 2 minute mark with a boarding/interferece penalty behind the Bruins net that wasn't called? Nope. Did they say the blew their chance to tie it up with a stupid too many men penalty in the last minute because even down a man they outplayed the Bruins? Nope.

So I now remember why I hate the Habs. 18 years ago when the Bruins finally beat the Habs in the playoffs, we had Ray Bourque's blood capsile for a high sticking major (god i love that dirty little cheat) and Michael Thelvin breaking Stephen Richers arm (what a slash!) as the excuses for the not win (they never lose). Not upgraded goaltending (Moog/Lemelin) and a pretty good team (that made the Stanely cup final), nope. If Richer had of played they would have won. After that loss I had to listen to "how many cups do you guys have?" They never fucking lose.

So you see, I now remember why I hate these guys. When they lose, they still don't really lose. I never thought I would say this, but "scoreboard fuckers!". See you in the playoffs assholes.