What Do You Think?

As you probably have heard or read, in the Flyers vs. Senators game last night, Flyers rookie right wing Steve Downie absolutely crushed Senators veteran left wing Dean McAmmond. Unfortunately, I had to miss the live broadcast because of class, but replays have been clogging highlight reels since. My reason for saying this is that I didn't get to see the context of the hit (which team was in possession of momentum at the time, etc.).

I've gotta be honest, I think it was a pretty dirty, bad hit. I don't necessarily think it was blatant, because I believe Downie was merely trying to give his team a boost in a visiting setting - plus the fact that he apologized immediately afterwards. He's an agitator, and that's his game. I'm not a fan of agitators in general, but I understand their part in the game. Don't get me wrong, I love a good hard hit here and there - it shows energy and drive to win. It's just I'm not a fan of their style in general (hit first, score second). I'm a firm believer that a good "stick-it-to-em" strategy relies on hitting AND scoring.

From what I can tell he hit him with his shoulder, but it also seems evident that he left his feet in order to make the hit. I'm a Flyers fan to the um-teenth degree, but I really have a problem with dirty players representing my team, my city, and my fellow fans. I have a feeling that if he makes the NHL club he'll be penalized by the league, and the next time he plays against Ottawa he might want to watch his back. From what I've heard, Brian McGrattan has quite the vendetta out right now. What do you guys think? I can't be the only one with an opinion on this one.

Here's the video so you can all see what I'm talking about.

Sabres Lose to Wild 2-1 in North Dakota

The Sabres dropped a 2-1 decision in Grand Forks, ND, Monday, in a pre-season tilt with the Minnesota Wild. Phillipe Gogulla scored the Sabres only goal, set up by Marek Zagrapan. Jocelyn Thibault (above) started and played the whole way making 20 saves. He was the games third star.

The game was a homecoming, of sorts, for Paul Gaustad, who grew up in the area and Drew Stafford who played at the University of North Dakota. According to Jim Lorentz Gaustad had 65 tickets for the game.

On Sunday the Sabres and Blue Jackets finished off the back-to-back fight fest with the Sabres scoring a 3-2 shoot out victory. The game highlighted bouts in the first period between Sabres enforcer Andrew Peters and Jackets tough guys Tommy Sestito and Jody Shelley in seperate bouts. Al Kotalik and Jason Pominville scored the goals for Buffalo and Ryan Miller went the whole way in net.

In the shootout Miller shut the Jackets down and Max Afinigenov and Kotalik both scored on their opportunities for Buffalo.

News and Notes:

36 players remain in camp

No major injuries to report.

The team returned five players to their junior clubs:
Benjamin Breault (Baie-Comeau, QMJHL)
Jean-Simon Allard (St. John’s, QMJHL)
Paul Byron (Gatineau, QMJHL)
Drew Schiestel (Niagara, OHL)
T.J. Brennan (St. John’s, QMJHL)

Habs trim down roster to 26 players.

Not many surprises with this wave of cuts, as the Habs get closer to the season opener in Carolina.

the following nine players will have to clear waivers before reporting to Hamilton:
Goalie
Yann Danis
Forwards
Jonathan Ferland
Corey Locke
Duncan Milroy
Cory Urquhart
Defensemen
Jean-Philippe Côté
Jamie Rivers
Mathieu Biron
Andrew Archer

Expect Montreal to lose Danis, and possibly Côté.

18 players will report directly to Hamilton without having to pass through waivers. Notable players going back down to the farm team are Sergei Kostitsyn, and Matt D'Agostini, who was told to be on the doorstep of the NHL in a press conference held by coach Guy Carbonneau last week.

Back to the Habs training camp. GM Bob Gainey has mentionned that Halak and Price will be competing for the back up spot on the Habs roster. The other will become Hamilton's starter. We can safely determine that a goalie will be cut leaving us 25 players. A NHL team roster is generally composed of 23 players. This leaves 2 players to be cut amongst the 14 forwards and 9 defensemen left. Its safe to say that at least one defensemen will be cut. Gainey can afford to cut a forward having Mark Streit in the lineup who has proven last year that he can play up front on the third or fourth line. Will Garth Murray be sent packing to leave room for some younger talent?

Gear up for the season ladies and gentlemen because it's right around the corner!

Sabres - Jackets Play Old Time Hockey

The Sabres and Jackets opened the pre-season with a brawl filled contest in which it often looked like circa-70s hockey as opposed to the "new" NHL. Patrick Kaleta got things rolling with a run at Blue Jackets star Nikoli Zherdev which caused Manny Malhotra to come to Zherdev's aid. After that it was, as they say, game on. The final was 4-1 Blue Jackets with the Sabres only goal coming off the stick of Clarke Macarthur.

News and Notes:

Camp has been fairly quiet. Andrei Sekera has been the most visible youngster of note. There is not much to report in the way of competition or injuries.

By all accounts Teppo Numminen's heart surgery was a success. The Sabres and Teppo both expect he will be back in 2-3 months.

Cloutier on waivers, followed by many more...

Los Angeles Kings goaltender and former Vancouver Canuck, Dan Cloutier has been placed on waivers as the team has been unhappy with the veteran goalie ever since they acquired him 2 years ago from the Canucks.

Originally sought for the number one job in LA, the Kings swung a deal and sent a second rounder up north with hopes that the Quebecois native would solve their goaltendings woes that included losing Felix Potvin to the Boston Bruins, their "franchise goalie" Jamie Storr's career, the unorthodox Roman Cechmanek to Europe and even Cristobal Huet...whom they traded in order to acquire Mathieu Garon in 2004.

The Kings goaltending future might have gotten a little brighter with the cutting of Cloutier.

Jason LaBarbera is looking like gold and youngster Jonathan Bernier is being hailed as the second coming of Jamie Storr.

LaBarbera, a former prospect for the New York Rangers, spent the entire 2006-2007 season with the Manchester Monarchs in the American Hockey League and posted elite numbers with an impressive total of 39 wins, a very good 2.20 GAA and an excellent .933 save percentage.

The Kings had been hesitant to recall LaBarbera last season, despite injuries to both Dan Cloutier and Mathieu Garon due to the fact he'd have to clear waivers to be called up or sent down.

So instead the club went down to the ECHL and brought up the short-lived Japanese "named" sensation, Yutaka Fukufuji, minor-league scrub Barry Brust and even went as far as giving 41-year old Sean Burke a crack at stopping a puck again.

But now, with Garon signing with the Edmonton Oilers via free-agency and the cutting loose of the horrendous Dan Cloutier...what? have you forgotten his 2006-2007 line?

Hehe, a W-L record of 6-14-2, a goals against average a tick under 4.00 and a save percentage that makes me cringe at .860%.

Ok, where was I?

Ah, ok, so no more Garon, Cloutier has just been cut loose...that leaves us with two phenomenal youngsters: Jason LaBarbera and, we shouldn't forget Jonathan Bernier, who shone for Team Canada at the Summit Series recently.

So it's now expected that Jason LaBarbera will get the majority of the cookie with Jonathan Bernier popping in for a more than occasional start in the crease as well.

I can already tell that Kings fans are celebrating, there's no doubt that Cloutier definietly lost that spunk he portrayed with the Vancouver Canucks in the pre-lockout era.

Here's the official reason from Kings' GM Dean Lombardi:

The reality is, he hasn’t played for three years.

The only way to really get his rhythm back and to get him where he needs to be is to get him to play.
You see this in baseball all the time, where established pitchers have to do a form of rehab assignments if they lose their fastballs and the only way to get it back – to get totally confident – is to go back to the minors and do it.

Obviously, we gave this a lot of thought. The bottom line is, we thought this was the only way we could get him back to where he was comfortable. Physically, he’s totally healthy. But as we all know with goaltending, a lot of it has to do with his confidence and his state of mind. The only way he was going to get it all together was to play and to play a lot and not have to do it at this level.

So he says *rolls eyes*.

As for the rest, here's an inside look from our buddy Eklund of who's been placed on waivers (NEVER forget the source of this, but then again, why would he lie for something not so important and jeopardize his spectacularly marvelous career as the anonymous hockey blogger?)

Penguins
Deryk Engelland

Hurricanes
Wade Brookbank
Tim Conboy
David Gove
Brandon Nolan

Blue Jackets
Dan Smith
Andrew Murray

Thrashers
Kevin Doell
Jesse Schultz

Capitals
Jason Morgan

Islanders
Steve Regier
Tim Jackman
Kip Brennan
Matthew Spiller
Drew Fata
Joey MacDonald

Ducks
Joe Callahan
Mike Hoffman
Matt Keith
Dan Lacouture

Kings
Brendan Buckley
Petr Kanko
Oleg Tverdovsky
Cloutier, Dan

Stars
Trevor Byrne
Marius Holtet
Toby Petersen

See anyone that would interest your team?

-BBeR

Canes Exhibition Game 1

So far, so good.
I won't do a play-by-play analysis of the game, but just mention a few that stood out to me.

Noah Babin who will be playing in Albany for the Canes looked great out there. Tallying the first goal and handling the puck really well may just get him his ticket to come to Carolina should one of our defensemen go out of commission.

Erik Cole seemed to return to pre-neck injury form. He was flying around that ice and throwing himself around all 22 minutes of his ice time. There was one scary moment for him when a hard hit on one of the Caps left the player laying on the ice for a minute and you could see Cole was afraid he had seriously injured the guy as he bent down to wait with him until someone could come help him off the ice. Erik was called for boarding on that play.

The other highlight of the night was netminder Michael Leighton, who we acquired during the offseason. He relieved John Grahame halfway through the 2nd period and stopped 15 of the 16 shots he faced. (The one goal he did let in went through the 5-hole)
Although he mostly made routine saves, there were a few that were quite spectacular and before long, Leighton had the arena cheering every time he touched that puck. I am not sure if Grahame really is being challenged for the #2 spot, but if it counts for anything the fans (and the players for that matter) seem to be a LOT more confident in Leighton.

I must say that the Canes need to make it a habit to get AHEAD to begin the game, not be the come-back masters that they were last year. Going into the 3rd down 2-0 was quite nerve wracking but I am glad that Babin, Cole, and Williams could get the puck to the back of the net. The game was tied 3-3 at the end of regulation and (thank god!) Erik Cole tipped in a puck sent towards the net by Staal with 47 seconds left in OT.
Canes win 4-3!
Three stars (As per the scoresheet) 1. Erik Cole (2 goals; gwg) 2. Michael Leighton (15/16 stopped) 3. Ryan Bayda (1 assist)

Sabres Open Camp, Numminen Out

The Sabres reported to training camp yesterday with the standard physicals and visits. Unfortunately it was revealed that Teppo Numminen will miss at least 4-6 weeks due to upcoming surgery to repair a faulty valve in his heart. Numminen says that the decision was made to move ahead with the surgery after a pre-camp visit to the Cleveland Clinic. Numminen has had to previous heart procedures done at the clinic. During interviews today Numminen stated he expected to have this surgery in 10-20 years but medical advancements made it better to have it right now. He also said he fully intends to return to the NHL and the Sabres.

Accompanying this announcement is news that the Sabres have suspended Numminen for an undetermined amount of time due to reporting to camp unfit to play. Numminen has stated on WGR55.com that he is not bothered by the suspension. In the old CBA the suspension was mandatory. the Sabres offered no explanation as to why the suspension was imposed.

In interviews afterward Darcy Regier stated that he has no intention of bringing in another defenseman as he is "comfortable" with the 6 defenseman the Sabres currently have and the cadre of kids in Rochester.

Candy for a baby...the day BBeR went gaga over tickets!

Alright, what you're about to read/see is only worth your time if you understand the fact that people here in Montreal feel great when they manage to net tickets for TEN Canadiens games for the upcoming season that fit into their budget; especially when these tickets sell out with 10 minutes.

So, think of this post as a storybook with lots of pictures.
(Some of my personal info as well as my ticket information has been blurred out -you have no idea how huge counterfeiting tickets are in this town-)

Home from a long day, BBeR opens up his mailbox and pulls this envelope out.

"Wow, this is Xpressmail", said the baffled BBeR, who was only used to getting bills, bills and hatred mail from (mainly CHEAP) Leafs fans around the country.
The bewildered Habanatic was being sarcastic, since he could tell pefectly well by the weight and odour what the envelope contained...

He then proceeded to feverishly tear it open...

...revealing a small envelope emblazoned with the Bell Centre logo...

All it took was a little peek inside to get BBeR's heart rate going...

"TICKETS! TICKETS! TICKETS!"

10 minutes later, after a series of really weird behavior, your blogger returned to his lair, and amused himself by taking pictures of his tickets in various angles...

First, he set them flat on his desk

In the rocking words of Pink Floyd:
"Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash"

In this case...tickets.

Aerial view...

In his grasp...




What more needs to be said?
BBeR truly is a whacked out guy with nothing better to do than take pictures of his tickets.

Oh man, I can't wait to read the comments for this one! ;)

-BBeR

Presenting your 2007-2008 NHL uniforms...

UPDATED SEPTEMBER 13th

- Added new NHL 08 Chicago Blackhawks jersey screenshots.

- Added new NHL 08 Saint Louis Blues jersey screenshots.

- Added new NHL 08 Edmonton Oilers jersey screenshots.

- Added new NHL 08 San Jose Sharks jersey screenshots.
- Added new NHL 08 Atlanta Thrashers jersey screenshots.

- Modified Anaheim Ducks jersey image.

A big thank you to Sherry, who did a wonderful job while I was away, be sure to check out her awesome Senators blog over at Scarlett Ice.

I will compile here all the images I can regarding those new Reebok Edge jerseys, logos and whatnot.

Check out NHL Tournament of Logos if you are dying for more logo and RBK jersey talk.
If I have missed one or you have one (confirmed, unconfirmed or speculated) you'd like to submit, email me at mailto:mbbrblog@gmail.com or leave a comment!

Anaheim Ducks



Atlanta Thrashers






Boston Bruins
(View official slideshow here)

Buffalo Sabres



Calgary Flames





Carolina Hurricanes

Chicago Blackhawks



Colorado Avalanche





Columbus Blue Jackets
(View official slideshow here)

Dallas Stars (?)

Detroit Red Wings





Edmonton Oilers

Florida Panthers
(Original post)

Los Angeles Kings
(Thanks to Life in Hockeywood)

Minnesota Wild

Montreal Canadiens

Nashville Predators





New York Islanders
(Thanks/merci Xordok)
(original story)

New York Rangers
(original story)

Ottawa Senators

OTT jersey update:




Philadelphia Flyers



Phoenix Coyotes
(from an XBOX gaming magazine)
-click here for a hi-res version-



Pittsburgh Penguins

San Jose Sharks
(View official slideshow here)


St. Louis Blues





Tampa Bay Lightning
(view entire logo changes here


TAM jersey update:









Toronto Maple Leafs



Vancouver Canucks







Washington Capitals

-BBeR