Welcome to a weekly grab bag of thoughts and observations from the past few days and/or decades of NHL hockey.
This week’s three stars of comedy
Recognizing the three NHL personalities from around the league who produced the most comedic fodder for fans.
The third star: Jimmy Howard’s bad night — Howard had a rough game on Wednesday, especially when Steve Begin was involved. First came this goal, where Howard basically kicks the puck into his own net. But the highlight came 10 minutes later, when Howard misplayed a puck behind his net. A goalie mishandling the puck isn’t rare, but what seals it is Howard’s reaction: There isn’t one. He just stands there. No mad scramble back to the crease, no desperate attempt to push the net off. He just watches Begin score, then flips his arms up as if to say, “Screw this, I quit.”
Welcome to a weekly grab-bag of thoughts and observations from the past few days and/or decades of NHL hockey.
This Week's Three Stars of Comedy
Recognizing the three NHL personalities from around the league who produced the most comedic fodder for fans.
The third star: Steve Pinizzotto
If you've never heard of Steve Pinizzotto of the Vancouver Canucks, it's because he spends most of his time on the bench. Which is why you'd think he'd be able to successfully sit on one. No such luck.
The second star: Roberto Luongo and Miikka Kiprusoff
Oh, just two dudes shooting the breeze before last Saturday's game. Your typical post–trade deadline chitchat. I can't imagine what they may have been talking about. The only thing missing here was James Reimer wandering up behind them and earnestly asking "Whatcha talkin' 'bout?"
Feel free to watch it over and over until you figure out where the linesman comes from. Just make sure you cancel your plans for the rest of the day first.
The second star: Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle did not steal your girlfriend
Or so Taylor Hall claims. Which is interesting, because that sounds exactly like what a girlfriend-stealer would say.
The first star: John Tortorella hates the world
Granted, this isn’t news. The Rangers coach is crusty at the best of times. But this year, he’s taken it to a new level by not only attacking the media and his own players, but passive-aggressively taking aim at other teams, too. First it was Montreal, and this week he went after the Sabres, telling reporters that “I'm not going to give Buffalo any credit” for its win. (Given their bankruptcy history, not giving the Sabres any credit is probably a smart move.)
By Sean McIndoe at
Gregory Shamus/NHLI via Getty Images
Welcome to a weekly blog post of thoughts and observations from the past few days and/or decades of NHL hockey.
The Three Stars of Comedy
Recognizing the three moments or personalities from around the league that produced the most comedic fodder for fans this week.
The third star: Carey Price’s glove hand
Montreal's Carey Price robbed Carolina's Jamie McBain with an impressive glove save, which wouldn’t be all that funny except he was sitting on the bench at the time. Bonus points for the “no big deal” reaction. Carey Price is cooler than you.
By Sean McIndoe at
AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes
Welcome to a weekly blog post of thoughts and observations from the past few days and/or decades of NHL hockey.
The Three Stars of Comedy
Recognizing the three moments or personalities from around the league that produced the most comedic fodder for fans this week.
The third star: Ryan O'Reilly’s dad
It’s always entertaining when a young player’s parents decide to get involved in his contract dispute. For some reason, it’s even better when they decide to do so via Twitter. I’m just disappointed we didn’t have social media when Carl and Bonnie Lindros were in their prime.
Welcome to a weekly blog post of thoughts and observations from the past few days and/or decades of NHL hockey.
The Three Stars of Comedy
Recognizing the three moments or personalities from around the league that produced the most comedic fodder for fans this week.
The third star: Mike Gillis
Just as the Washington Capitals are reaching rock bottom thanks to surprisingly terrible goaltending, Vancouver's GM randomly shows up to take in a game on a “scouting trip” (even though the Canucks won’t play any Eastern Conference teams during the regular season). Predictably, everyone freaks out and starts churning out “Roberto Luongo–to–Washington” rumors, which both teams immediately deny. That’s some high-level GM trolling by Gillis right there. I can’t wait until he shows up in Toronto and spends the whole game shining a laser pointer in Dave Nonis’s eyes.
The second star: Max Pacioretty
The Habs winger underwent emergency surgery to remove his appendix last Saturday, sidelining him for three to four weeks. Showing he hadn’t lost his sense of humor, he made a funny joke about returning to the lineup eight days later that was hilarious because he — wait, he what? Really? Oh. Wow.
Welcome to a weekly blog post of thoughts and observations from the past few days and/or decades of NHL hockey.
The Three Stars of Comedy
Recognizing the three moments or personalities from around the league that produced the most comedic fodder for fans this week.
The third star: P.K. Subban attempts to nickname himself “The Subbanator”
It’s hard to describe the crushing disappointment of finding out that a player generally considered one of the coolest and most charismatic in the league is actually a “tries to give himself a nickname” guy. How did it go over with Subban’s teammates? About as well as you might expect.
The second star: Alex Burrows has a unique take on the spinorama
