I wrote this about a month ago, and now that Calgary is out of the playoffs it seems a little less timely.  Still, I felt it worthy of posting. Apologies for the lack of posting here lately, but as you can imagine, with both goddesses mourning (or pouting?) the lack of their teams in the postseason, sour grapes can often distract one.

The poor Steve Moore saga drags on, and the longer it drags on, the more furious it makes me.  I’m pretty much a “it’s part of the game” when people unfortunately get injured, but no matter how many times I look at the film, I can’t see any justification for this.  And I feel so horribly for the guy, who continued to be directly harassed.  Few things in professional sports make me want to cry, but the injustice in this whole scenario I  find incredibly depressing.  It really gives the league a black eye, more than a few “denigrating” words.

The latest on Steve Moore

The video of the incident (if you haven’t seen it)

And finally, an unsung hero who is someone I have always respected — Andrei Nikolishin, who was keeping an eye on the situation and immediately jumped on Bertuzzi to stop the attack.  He was only in Colorado a short time, but was loved by his teammates, and has wherever he has gone and, if you’re interested, is still playing in Russia, captain of Traktor Chelyabinsk in the KHL.

I’m not only saying this because I am a Colorado fan.  Anyone who knows me knows I try to be completely objective when it comes to the league. In fact, I tend to be more hard on my team than on other teams.  But as I’ve said before, I am more about the individual players than I am a team.  And when people’s livelihoods are effected, I can’t help but be saddened.

War … What is it Good For? Absolutely nothing? Or maybe, among teammates it can serve as a wake up call?

Two members of the Vancouver Canucks fought each other in practice yesterday.

Losers of eight straight home games, the Canucks’ tension and frustration boiled over with a practice altercation involving defenceman Willie Mitchell and winger Mason Raymond.

Mitchell ran at Raymond during a drill and, when the speedy sophomore came back at the veteran in the corner, Mitchell punched Raymond in the head and cross-checked him hard on the shoulder.

The fracas drew several players and coaches, and tough defenceman Shane O’Brien skated to Raymond’s defence and challenged Mitchell to fight before tempers calmed.

– The Vancouver Sun, 01/29/2009, Canucks duke it out at practice

I can’t help but wonder if the Atlanta Thrashers could use some teammate-on-teammate butt kickings after the way they’ve been playing lately. They’ve shown little heart and determination (Kari Lehtonen’s outstanding play in Dallas being pretty much the one exception).

Speaking of the Atlanta-Dallas game, I was at the game and witnessed the bad and bobbled passes, lackadaisical play and general boredom of the Thrashers firsthand. Kari showed exactly what kind of goalie he can be when he is on — and when he is on, he is a wow-the-crowd, “who is this guy?!” kind of player. Unfortunately, you can’t win a game as a goalie unless the team in front of you scores.

Finally, there’s a “Top 10 Teammates Fighting Each Other” video that features three different sets of Canadiens players squaring off in practice (including one of my favorites, Richard Zednik). Take a look.

Could fighting help the Thrashers? Hmmm … I don’t know, but maybe it’s worth a shot. I kid … sort of.