Every year, I like to play the unique role of outside insider slash prognosticator slash comedian with my annual ridiculous predictions series of posts. This time out, I’m making my ridiculous predictions for the NHL Trade Deadline. After all, when experts and reporters talk about deals at the trade deadline, they always think that teams will make deals that make sense for all involved. In reality, the NHL doesn’t work that way. Players have no-trade clauses in their contracts and some GMs have no sense whatsoever. So let’s take a fun look at this year’s NHL trade deadline. Continue reading
NHL
Lowdown Blog 2012 NHL All-Star Game Results
For the last couple of years, we’ve been having fun with the new format of NHL All-Star Game by drafting our own teams. Let’s cap off our coverage with a statistical analysis of who would have won if our two teams had actually faced off. Our readers were pretty split as to whether Jackie or Steve had selected the superior group of All-Stars. But let’s dissect the teams with some fancy maths to find out whose team was most likely to win the big game.
Let’s take a look at the two rosters and their stats from the real NHL All-Star Game. Continue reading
2012 NHL All-Star Game Mock Fantasy Draft
This year’s NHL All-Star Game is continuing the unique format that made quite a splash last year. For the second year, two team captains will get a chance to draft their own All-Star teams to play with in the NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft. Now Jackie and I thought this sounded like a good idea so we decided to do our own All-Star Game mock draft. We’d alternate picks until we both had 21 man rosters like the real thing.
So how did our mock draft play out? Our draft results after the jump. Continue reading
Sunday Link-Off: The People’s Choice
The People’s Choice Awards were last week. Canada swept the awards for favourite TV drama actor and actress. Nathan Fillion took home the favourite actor award. The favourite actress award was taken home by Nina Dobrev.
I mentioned on Wednesday that LA Kings forward Dustin Penner injured his back while eating pancakes this week. Well, Penner has decided to set the record straight by writing an open letter to Kings fans. (Mayor’s Manner)
The next big thing in fantasy sports is coming from Canada. A Canadian company is at the forefront of live fantasy sports. (Toronto Star)
I’m not sure if ESPN is trolling everyone or if they’re just trying to drive us all insane. One episode of SportsCenter this week had 160 mentions of Tim Tebow. (Deadspin)
After the jump, sports TV fails, TV show creator fails and Samuel L. Jackson plays Call of Duty. Continue reading
NHL All-Star Game Fan Voting Is Broken; Here’s How To Fix It
The very public ballot box stuffing campaigns of the past seemed to be missing in this year’s NHL All-Star fan voting. However, very quietly, the fans of the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs stuffed the ballot boxes to get their boys into the game as starters. In fact, of the six starters voted in by fans, four are Sens and one is a Make Believe. Eight of the top-nine vote getter played for one of the two Ontario teams.
It has become painfully obvious that the current system of fan voting is broken. Whether the ballot stuffing campaigns are public or not, NHL fans are clearly not using their power to vote in All-Star starters to vote for the best players in the league but as a means to execute some sort of cruel joke on hockey fans everywhere. It’s time that the current system is scrapped in favour of one that mitigates the risk of blatant fan tampering with the All-Star Game. Continue reading
Last Day To Vote For The 2012 NHL All-Star Game
It’s the last day to vote for the starters for the 2012 NHL All-Star Game. Unfortunately for hockey fans, Toronto and Ottawa fan boys have stuffed the ballot box which will result in hockey’s all-star game becoming a laughing stock. The leading vote getters are Kessel, Alfredsson, Spezza, Phaneuf, Eriksson and Tim Thomas.
Unfortunately for us, Project Mayhem appears not to have taken the ballot box by storm as we had hoped. There’s still time to cast your 30 all-star ballots. To troll Ottawa Senators fans, you should vote for Dany Heatley, Martin Havlat, Marian Hossa, Zdeno Chara, Chris Campoli and Ray Emery.
Wednesday Link-Off: Game On
Normally, we have a policy about not running candid photos on the blog but it’s quite clear that Maria Menounos is posing in this photo so I can post it here.
The NHL’s 2010-11 ticket revenue figures leaked online this week. The rankings are actually sort of surprising but make sense when you think about it. (MC79Hockey)
What happens when a video game hardware company outsources customer relations to a PR company that should know what it’s doing? A complete customer service and PR disaster. (Penny Arcade)
Keeping with video games, they may be moving to a purely digital format sometime in the future but they’re on discs for now. So just how are they made? (1up)
After the jump, the NHL’s New Year’s party, some video game stories and F. U. Knighted Airlines. Continue reading
Best Images of the 2012 NHL Winter Classic
Since 2008, the biggest game of NHL’s regular season has been the New Year’s outdoor game called the Winter Classic. The fifth edition of the game saw the classic rivalry between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers take center stage. The game was originally scheduled to start early in the afternoon but concerns over glare forced it to be pushed back two hours. The result was a great game that looked spectacular under the lights of Citizens Bank Park as the scene shifted from day to night. Here are some of the best images of this year’s NHL Winter Classic. Continue reading
Sunday Link-Off: A Great Day For Hockey
I seem to be pretty hit and miss with these linkdumps lately. But I’m back today. To make up for some of this, here’s Christina Hendricks with a $250+ bottle of scotch.
Today in absolutely bizarre hockey stories, a player was banned from a Boston men’s hockey league for defecating in an opponent’s glove. You can’t make this shit up. (Deadspin)
Ken Dryden is back on Grantand. This time, he’s talking about what the NHL has to do to get ahead of the impending concussion epidemic. (Grantland)
Esquire’s photo of the year is the kissing couple from the Vancouver riot. But what has become of the famous couple? (Puck Daddy)
After the jump, the start of NHL 24/7, the craziest date letter ever and a Community tribute video. Continue reading
Wednesday Link-Off: Catching Up
Writing a linkdump when you’re in a timezone completely opposite the rest of the blogosphere is harder than I expected. That’s why there’s fewer links than usual. That doesn’t explain how I completely missed Michelle Trachtenberg on the Maxim cover back in March. Why was I not informed?
We’ve all heard about the CFL alumni luncheon fight between Joe Kapp and Angelo Mosca by now. Well, legendary pro wrestling champion The Iron Sheik is looking to make Kapp humble. (The 55-Yard Line)
The Star Wars: The Old Republic beta is out. Somehow, my sister got a beta invite and I, a moderately influential blogger, did not. Anyway, is it living up to the hype so far? (Forbes)
Looking for breakfast with a side of drama? Then Waffle House is the restaurant for you! (New York Times)
After the jump, Twitter’s latest casualty, the life of an NCAA walk-on and in the cockpit of an F1 racecar. Continue reading
The Lowdown 