tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30284059074459948282011-04-22T01:08:20.363ZOf love, life and the Leafs (just not the first two)Jaynoreply@blogger.comBlogger151100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028405907445994828.post-481600545109924482007-03-25T11:21:00.000Z2007-03-25T11:37:04.244Z

It could have been worse, we could have come away with absolutely nowt, but I would have much preferred us simply to have conceded five times in the first frame then scored our four. A loss like that - "the ultimate come-from-behind victory" as I heard a Sabre fan opine - was a poor one, and I can't lay all the blame at Raycroft's door again because there are only really two or three goalies who

Jaynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028405907445994828.post-45899290721060994622007-03-13T00:52:00.000Z2007-03-13T01:33:09.226Z

Like most people who follow the sport, I heard about the Chris Simon incident. If you've just returned from a relaxing vacation at the Rock Hilton, the gist is this - after being checked into the boards by Ryan Hollweg, Simon had a rush of blood to the head and hit Hollweg in the face with his stick. It was not an accidental hit, everything from Simon's posture to his grip on the stick screams

Jaynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028405907445994828.post-8363231768983735992007-03-12T20:59:00.000Z2007-03-12T21:42:50.049Z

The first game went...well, pretty much as predicted, it was a big loss. Ottawa just peppered Raycroft; 40 shots they had in total, and that's not really acceptable. We've seen that Raycroft had trouble coping under pressure, and a 23-shot first period is too much for our defensive corps to let through. However, I do have to give some credit to them, they are doing a fairly good job this year

Jaynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028405907445994828.post-77614539502945468822007-03-07T12:27:00.000Z2007-03-07T12:56:44.276Z

This game has to be the anti-Buffalo - Raycroft played well, we killed the Washington powerplays, Perreault scored his first goal as a Leaf and things just went our way for a change. Fred Cassivi suffered as a result, but then he's been the Hershey goaltender and is hardly an NHL-calibre goaltender; it's more surprising that the AO Experience didn't have more scoring threats, particularly since

Jaynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028405907445994828.post-20726438239808082422007-03-05T19:10:00.000Z2007-03-05T19:16:06.730Z

Hockey-Related Things To Do At Some Point1) See a game2) See a Toronto game3) See a Toronto win4) Watch a Toronto game at the Air Canada Centre5) Touch the Stanley Cup6) Visit the Hockey Hall of Fame7) Learn to skate8) Play in a hockey game (regardless of what level)9) Score a goal (ditto)10) Convert a non-fan into a fan.More to be added when I think of them.

Jaynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028405907445994828.post-88371126826373103442007-03-04T15:36:00.000Z2007-03-04T16:11:28.937Z

It might have been nice if we could have taken the momentum gained from bitch-slapping New Jersey into this game with the Buffaslugs, but much like in our earlier waxing, Ryan Miller was all but impenetratable (I believe he was the game's first star, saving 26 of the 27 shots we had). It would also have been nice if Darcy Tucker's return could have been a little more successful, but that ties in

Jaynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028405907445994828.post-5494044800885576222007-03-03T12:24:00.000Z2007-03-04T15:42:30.067Z

A player sees the puck far away at the other end of the rink, and moves to rejoin the play. Another player, for some unknown slight, takes it upon himself to check our original player from behind with the result that the checkee's head slams into the boards. Now, take away those last four words. The more Leaf-astute of you may already have deduced what I'm referring to, but for those of you who

Jaynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028405907445994828.post-81537109682822684712007-03-01T22:20:00.000Z2007-03-01T22:38:06.183Z

At first, I thought I was seeing things. I rubbed my eyes, nothing had changed. I refreshed the page, nothing had changed. I checked the calendar, and unless Canadians operate a month ahead of everyone else, it was legitimate. Finally, finally I was going to be in a position where the National Hockey League was sending teams over to do battle in the bigger one of the London brothers and I could

Jaynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028405907445994828.post-19498657805793499362007-03-01T22:00:00.000Z2007-03-01T22:18:54.784Z

Since kindling my enjoyment of the game of kings, I found myself harbouring vague pipe dreams of somehow reaching stardom as a player; asking Santa to bring me some talent for Christmas, making a deal with the Devil to the same end (and upon death I would replace Cerberus as the guardian of the gates of Hell), writing to Mark Messier to ask if I could borrow his ability for a while (and then

Jaynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028405907445994828.post-12941445181654991912007-02-28T14:55:00.000Z2007-03-04T15:44:49.323Z

Urgh. I made the mistake of staying up last night to listen to the radio broadcast of the game and I wish I'd had an early night in hindsight. Ryan Miller was fucking ridiculous in the Buffalo whereas Raycroft and Aubin were ridiculous themselves (but the bad kind of ridicule, this time). I figured when it was 1-0 at the end of the first, we at least had a chance of coming back but the way Miller

Jaynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028405907445994828.post-25565314320766360522007-02-28T01:12:00.000Z2007-02-28T01:23:48.792Z

In the movie bearing his name, Happy Gilmore, an amazingly violent youngster with pipe dreams (copyright me; the phrase here is used in the same context as a basketball player would use "hoop dreams"), brags that he once took off his skate during a hockey game and tried to stab someone with it, adding he's the only player to ever do it. After watching some of the Ottawa/Buffalo Royal Rumble, I

Jaynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028405907445994828.post-40532541634332325632007-02-27T20:34:00.000Z2007-02-28T01:27:47.265Z

The deadline has passed, the dust is beginning to settle and the Leafs have proven me wrong by finagling a move after all (and it's a biggie compared to past years). Did my earlier point hold up? Let's take a look and see, because I'm going to provide some probably-worthless analysis. Enjoy.---Toronto gets: Yanic Perreault, 5th-round pick in 2008Phoenix gets: Brendan Bell, 2nd-round pick in

Jaynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028405907445994828.post-50141780499224999532007-02-27T19:59:00.000Z2007-03-04T16:04:20.045Z

In my defense, I like doing these things, it's fun. If I were a hockey player...Team: Initially, I thought the Leafs, but I realised I'd be taking time from Kaberlabe so I couldn't do that. Then I thought Detroit, but then I'd just make Chris Chelios look bad. Then I thought Minnesota because of the funky jerseys. So Minnesota it is. Number: 21, mainly because it's my birthday (the 21st). If

Jaynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028405907445994828.post-44841940027117210522007-02-27T18:37:00.000Z2007-02-28T01:41:39.824Z

For the moment, I'm choosing to ignore everything else that's going on around the trade deadline to focus in on one case, a case so extremely stupid that at least one of the parties involved should be charged with something, be it larceny, corruption, first-degree murder, war crimes; I'm not really bothered, just as long as someone gets shot for it.Tampa Bay gets: Shane O'Brien, 3rd-round pick in

Jaynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3028405907445994828.post-16832756642787353552007-02-27T18:27:00.000Z2007-02-27T18:28:27.771Z

At the tender age of just nine years old, I was treated to two weeks in sunny Florida during the summer with my family, and I was understandably excited, not least because I'd finally have the chance to experience a warm climate for once. During our stay, we did the traditional touristy things - we visited the theme parks, we found out it was only possible to avoid the queues at waterparks by

Jaynoreply@blogger.com0