It was a quiet night in the Stanley Cup playoffs with only 2 matches taking place. With two teams on the brink of elimination, it was a must win situation for them. At the end of the night only one of those teams stayed in the competition while the other was sent packing. Continue reading
Another night of close hockey games as two required overtime to determine the winner and none of the games had a goal differential greater than 2. It was a night of solid goaltending from two of the winners. Most of the teams that lost their last game managed to claw back yesterday night. With all this back and forth, could all the series end up going to game sevens? Continue reading
The first night of the 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs had a recurring theme. If you weren’t the favourite in the series, you had a very good night. In what will go down as a prime example of parity in the new NHL, all four of the consensus underdogs in each series picked up the Game One win. Continue reading
It’s a slightly abbreviated version of The Humanoids today. I blame it largely on catching swine flu or something like that. Yeah, getting swine flu and blogging sounds reasonably tough for the internet. Let’s go with that. So as my time on earth apparently fades to black, so do many of our subjects today. Some have seen their careers come to an apparent end. Others are still going for the time being but you would have to imagine they’re in bad shape or are going to close up shop soon.
Speaking of things closing up shop soon, the radio show will be taping tonight. Why would the radio show be closing up shop soon? Well, there might be a change in plans/location for a host which could throw a wrench in the usual operations. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. We always manage to solve things at the last second. Anyway, on with the show. Continue reading
In a move that has been anticipated since he went MIA at the start of the Phoenix Coyotes’ training camp, Wayne Gretzky resigned from his position of head coach of the team.
Gretzky’s departure was a near certainty given the ongoing court case over the future ownership of the franchise. Neither Jim Balsillie nor the NHL has included Gretzky in their bids for the team. Gretzky’s current contract is rumoured to be worth up to $8.5 Million per season and neither party wanted to take on Gretzky’s contract going forward. In Balsillie’s case, Gretzky did not want to move from the Phoenix area to Hamilton under Balsillie’s proposed plan.
It’s interesting to note that only the proposed bid of Ice Edge Holdings included keeping Gretzky on board in any capacity. Jerry Reinsdorf didn’t get far enough in the process to indicate whether he would keep Gretzky on board or not.
There is a historical irony that will come out of this, though. The greatest player in hockey history has been forced out of the NHL by the worst franchise in hockey history. You think that a smart business man like Balsillie or someone in the NHL would try to keep Gretzky on as an ambassador. I guess the NHL isn’t that forward thinking.
Ulf Samuelsson was originally rumoured to be getting promoted from associate coach to head coach. However, recent rumours have former Dallas Stars coach Dave Tippett stepping into the hot seat.
It’s that time of year again. The kids are back off for another 10 months of having their heads crammed with stuff that they’ll quickly forget over the intervening two months before the next school year. That is unless you’re at college or university. Then you’re learning stuff that is generally useful to you. Actually, at least around my neck of the woods, the kids aren’t in school today. Teachers are already burning a day off today because school had to start early because Labour Day was later this year. Universities and colleges don’t need to start the year earlier to get in all the teaching they need. I’m sure elementary school and high school teachers would protest my insinuation that they are wasting their and the kids’ time by starting school early. They’re wrong, though. The whole first week of school is a waste anyway. Why not start the Tuesday after Labour Day and actually get down to business right away? And don’t get me started about the waste that is the month of June. Anyway, the subjects of today’s series of skewerings need to go back to school or have to their associates back to school. It’s an amazingly eclectic lineup that I’ve got today. Something for the whole family here.
This week’s radio show news is good news. Jackie and I are taping the season premiere on Saturday. Our new boss at CHRW wanted to hear the show early. The news will be a little dated but we’ll manage somehow. We’re still waiting to hear back from Activision and Harmonix about getting games to review but no dice so far. I was hoping to make GH5 and The Beatles: Rock Band the centrepieces of a music special but those dreams are disappearing quickly. By the way, have you checked out the new car wall index we put up on the blog? Continue reading
I can’t remember the last time I wrote a Humanoids column right up to the final few minutes before noon. I’m used to editing up until that point but not actually writing at the last minute. That’s what happens when you have a decidedly slow week. I couldn’t tell you if anything interesting happened this week besides Shaq running around in a pink speedo on network TV. Not that I would call that interesting as much as disturbing. Anyway, it’s probably a good thing that not much is happening this week. We’re coming up on the last week of summer and people should be on holiday so there shouldn’t be much news. This time of year and Christmas are two times of year that I won’t mind having to scramble for stories because nobody wants anything to happen then. Except for the media. They’ll make a mountain out of a mole hill if it gets them ratings. Actually, we could call that the theme for this week. It seems most of my subjects in this week’s column have been victimized by mountaineering.
Looking for the latest radio update from Lowdown HQ? Well, I’ve taped most of my review of NCAA Football 10 for the season premiere on September 15th. I’m also planning on using the game for something very Western related. Maybe they’ll run it on the Saturday after the show too. Jackie and I are also going to do a tour of London for the frosh during the season premiere. The last time we did a tour for the frosh, I got killed when parts of the then under construction Campus Rec Centre fell on me. I hope it goes better this time. And remember kids: I may have been killed but I got better, you might not. Continue reading
The old saying is that the third time is the charm. Jim Balsillie has attempted to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators but failed both times. In his third attempt to buy an NHL franchise, the RIM CEO targeted the Phoenix Coyotes for a move to Hamilton. However, just like the last two tries, Jim was denied a chance to make it seven. Continue reading
More details have emerged surrounding the bankruptcy filing by the Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday. The NHL appears to be caught off guard by the bankruptcy petition and for good reason. It is believed that the league may have taken over operations of the team earlier in the year. Continue reading
Breaking news this evening. The ownership group of the Phoenix Coyotes have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The bankruptcy filing also included a proposed sale to a group called PSE Sports & Entertainment, LP. The sale would involve the team moving to southern Ontario.
Say it with me: “Ladies and gentlemen, here is the starting line-up of your Hamilton Blackberries…”
For more details, click here.
UPDATE: The National Post confirms that RIM CEO Jim Balsillie is part of the PSE bid.
The Lowdown 