Hull, Richter, Leetch Announced For U.S. Hall

The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame announced today that Brett Hull, Brian Leetch, and Mike Richter are among the members of the 2008 induction class. That gives us our first excuse to post this photo. Feel it, Sabes fans.

Fun With Subtitles

We're not sure who made this, but it definitely rivals the guys at Knob Hockey.

Sean Avery Just About Died Last Night

The New York Rangers beat New Jersey 3-2 last night at The Garden. The Rangers are now tied with the Devils for fifth in the East with 91 points, but New Jersey has two more wins and therefore holds the tiebreaker.

60

Washington Capital forward Alexander Ovechkin recorded his 60th goal of the 2007-08 season last night. More importantly, the Caps beat Atlanta 5-3 and are now a point behind eighth-place Boston in the East, although the Bruins have a pair of games in hand.  

Ovechkin now has more goals than any of the New York Rangers do points, save for Scott Gomez (67) and Jaromir Jagr (62).  Ovechkin is the first player to reach the 60-goal plateau since Mario Lemiux and Jaromir Jagr did it as teammates in 1996.  The NHL put together a video tribute to Ovechkin's feat; it can be seen below.

Isles' Goalie DiPietro Done For Season

New York Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro will have hip surgery today and miss the rest of the regular season. Viewers tuned into the NHL skills competition in January saw the initial injury. DiPietro was wearing a microphone as he squared off against Minnesota's Marian Gaborik during the Breakaway Challenge. After making a stop, DiPietro dropped an f-bomb while referencing his hip. After making another stop, DiPietro left the ice and had Tim Thomas replace him in net as he dropped another f-bomb on live television. His bid for the live television f-bomb hat trick was foiled by sound engineers who cut his mic.

DiPietro would actually start the All-Star game the next day and has been in net for the Isles for the second half of the season until now. The Islanders are currently nine points out of the eighth spot in the East and fading fast.

Turns Out The Refs Are Pretty Tough Too

Rick Nash is the White Chocolate of Hockey

Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets nets an incredible game-winner last night in the final minute. Thanks to Nick Vecchio for catching this.

Happy Winter Classic

The NHL will ring in 2008 with a snow-filled Winter Classic at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y. The Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins will play in front of 70,000 fans who bought up every available ticket in less than an hour.

I tried to obtain tickets all through winter break, but no dice. Apparently the NHL held a number of tickets for Toronto Blue Jay and Maple Leaf season-ticket holders. Only 1,500 seats were held for Penguins season-ticket holders. The league stated that they opened seats up for Toronto fans in order to attract more hockey fans. This has left some fans a tad upset.

The Sabres and Pens square off at 1 P.M. on NBC.

Ryan Maloney

Oswego's Cole Taken Off Ice on Stretcher

FROM ESPN.COM:

Carolina Hurricanes forward Erik Cole was removed from the ice on a stretcher in the third period of Monday's 4-3 win after colliding with Florida Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun.

Cole was injured at 12:34 as he was driving to the net. He was checked from behind by defenseman Jassen Cullimore and crashed headfirst into Vokoun's pads.

Cole remained motionless for several minutes before being placed on a stretcher.

The Miami Herald is reporting Cole did have movement in his arms and legs but did not want to leave the ice because of a prior neck injury, according to Sunrise paramedics.

Old-Time Hockey at the Phone Booth

Saturday night's game between Washington and Pittsburgh got a little chippy in the third period.

Watch Georges LaRaque and Donald Brashear trade blows, the third time in their careers these two heavyweights have gone at it.

Alexander Ovechkin gets into the action as well, taking out fellow superstar Sidney Crosby.
Jordan Staal then drops the gloves and falls an assist shy of achieving the Gordie Howe hat trick.

Sabres' Owner Claims it Took Multiple Plungers to Flush '06-'07 President's Cup

Reality has set in for the Buffalo Sabres' bandwagon. Today, both of their captains have left Buffalo for none other than a more lucrative paycheck. First, Daniel Briere took an 8-year-deal from Philadelphia. Briere got a weird front loaded contract where he'll earn $10 next year, and then less and less each year. Bizzare! Then, later in the evening, Chris Drury left for the Big Apple. Yes, Drury will now play for the team he broke the hearts of just two months ago. Buffalo Sabres fans now have a hungover, morning after feeling realizing that great night they thought they had was spent with a fat, greasy chick

...with a dick.

Pat Morgan

QUACK!

It had to have been the week off between the conference finals and Stanley Cup Finals that cooled off the red hot Senators. It may have been that the West was simply the better conference. Either way, the Anaheim Ducks have just won their first ever Stanley Cup Championship. They defeated the team that plays in the city that is the birth place of the Stanley Cup. Ottawa looked so impressive against Pittsburgh, New Jersey, and Buffalo that it seemed as if that they would at least make this a long series. However, Anaheim's physical play won out, and they will be the owners of the most revered trophy in all of sports.

Scott Niedermayer, won his fourth championship (three with New Jersey), and his first Conn Smythe Trophy. I'm sure this championship is the most sweet for him, as he got to win it with his brother, Rob. Remember in 2003, the Devils defeated the Ducks in the championship. Scott denied his brother his first ever cup, and won his third. So you would think this is a nice present to his brother. Also, Jean Sebastian Giguere deserves much praise. Back in 2003, he won the Conn Smythe Trophy in a losing effort, but now with another stellar postseason he has earned that championship he deserved four years ago.

So, now it is reality. The Ducks are the champions of the NHL. They will no longer just have to look to Emilio Estevez to smile. Charlie Conway, Fulton Reed, and Goldberg the Goalie are no longer the best Mighty Ducks of all-time. Wait a minute, maybe there is some hope now for another team that looks to the motion pictures as their best sports memory. Remember Henry Rowengartner? He was the 12-year-old fire baller that led the Chicago Cubs to the World Series title in Rookie of the Year. Maybe the actual Cubs can pull a Mighty Ducks and win a title. How many days til Jets season?

Pat Morgan

Movie Trend Continue?

The Ducks just won their first ever championship. Ducks' fans no longer have to look just to Emilio Estevez in order to smile. Scott Niedermayer replaces Charlie Conway as the most important Duck ever. However, Randy Carlyle has nothing on Coach Bombay, but J. S. Giguere still makes Goldberg look fat.

So, the question is now, is this the beginning of lovable movie teams finally winning championships? Lets hope so, because, "funky buttlover", Henry Rowengartner (Gardenhoser or 24 other names to his manager) gives Cubs' fans their greatest memory ever.

For the Cubs sake, lets hope the Angels winning a few years ago didn't use up baseball's championship movie in this curse break. Because those snot nosed foster children in that movie didn't deserve a title. Roger consolted an angel, and cheated their way to a title. Gary Busey and a 12-year-old kid winning the pennant is much more likely than a washed up Tony Danza doing it. Plus, Henry's character went on to bone Tara Reid in American Pie. The person that played Roger is today's freelance guest star, kind of like the guy that was Eric Matthews and JT Lambert's best friend and D. J. Tanner's boyfriend. So, come on, its no contest. Eric Matthews was awesome, but dating D. J. Tanner when her younger sisters include a meth addict and the Olsen twins doesn't nearly equal bonking Tara Reid. Yeah, everyone in Hollywood has seemed to have gotten a ride, but she's still hot. I believe Rowengartner got her before Carson Daly, so I rest my case.

Hopefully, the Major League movies won't be a problem. Dennis Haysbert holds a special place in my heart as the beloved late-President Palmer from 24. However, the Tribe's last championship was in 1948, so lets just hope the movie gods have pity on the Cubbies who haven't won in nearly 100 years.

I assume blog host, Ryan Maloney, will want me to include Whoopi Goldberg's Eddie. The question is, who is more likely to win a title first, the Knicks (under Isiah) or the Cubs?

Pat Morgan