Subjectively these long breaks have been making it seem like the season ended it feels so long.
So, VanRam got lucky and so did we. He's in. Great! It's still wait and see, though, as it is hard to imagine he won't be affected in some way.
The Billion Dollar Man returns and we say goodbye to Laliberte. He acquitted himself well in a supporting role. Aside from one dive and a poorly timed penalty, he added some offense, threw some hits, and worked well on the wall. I look forward to having him back in there, as he's not sent down yet.
I see that Orpik is hurt for two weeks. That saddens me terribly to hear.
The press likes to play this up as all about Emery, and if it helps the team to "win one for the gipper" then go nuts and say so. I don't put much stock in it though.
Nice "Sideshow Scottie" t-shirt on ad in Meltzer's blog. I smiled, but I'd never wear it.
First game for Bartulis. Expect of course that Ottawa will be trying to get Spezza/Alfredsson out there against him and Syvret.
PP has to crank it up. It's been stifled lately with teams figuring out that those units don't feature many guys that can recover dump-ins, so they stack the line. I've been thinking that Betts line line should be given a crack at it when it's looking sour. (sans Carcillo most likely)
More on Emery...I am reading the pregame stuff on TSN and they of course detail his Ottawa incidents...
"The first major incident of note involving Emery was a three-game suspension in early 2007 for hitting Canadiens' forward Maxim Lapierre in the face with his goal stick."
Well deserved I am sure. Lapierre is a rat.
"It was less than two weeks later that he was involved in a massive brawl with several members of the Buffalo Sabres. After fighting with Sabres goalie Martin Biron, Emery then challenged Andrew Peters and actually went toe-to-toe with the Sabres tough guy, a wide grin plastered across his face the entire time. Emery was given 22 minutes in penalties and a game misconduct."
So? It looked ballsy to me.
"Later that year, the Sens made the Stanley Cup Final, only to lose to the Anaheim Ducks. But Emery's strong play in the post-season had been enough of a factor that the team decided it overshadowed his sometimes "zany" activities, and the young goaltender signed a three-year contract extension with the Sens in the off-season."
Make it again this year!
"The next campaign was plagued by injuries and reduced playing time, made worse for Emery by the strong play of Ottawa's other goalie Martin Gerber. Emery was suddenly a second-string goalie.
His behaviour became even more erratic after that. He was sent home from practice by head coach John Paddock after arriving late - he said he had slept in."
This stuff is more of a problem. Internal team matter to me though.
"Emery was involved in two separate altercations with two different teammates during practice. Then there was the whole Mike Tyson-helmet episode (during which Emery was pressured to remove the controversial boxer's image from his mask), and the incident where Emery's Hummer was involved in a car accident and he was accused of driving away from the scene, saying he was in a rush. In June 2008, Emery was waived by the weary Sens and he became a free agent."
Fighting in practise? Doesn't bother me at all.
Mike Tyson helmet? The guy likes boxers. I can't remember ever hearing about pressure for the goalie's to get helmet art approved. I don't even remember hearing about this one.
Driving away from a car accident. That's bad news. Nobody would approve that, but it has nothing to do with your job other than the PR image of the team.
There's a couple things there but really I think the story of Emery is more indicative about how the press can crucify a guy they don't like. I'm not an Avery fan, but they went overboard on him all the same.
Too many reporters with not enough news copy??????????
hmm...now I've made my post all about Emery...THEY'VE GOT A HOLD ON MY MIND!!!!!
(go flyers!)
Posted on Nov 12, 2009, 6:44 PM from IP address 64.201.179.80