Moose Droppings!
Welcome to the mid-week break. Grab a coffee and let’s catch up before crushing the rest of the week.
1. TUESDAY WRAP – I’m shaking the cobwebs trying to make sense of Tuesday night. Did the Canucks really do that? Vancouver set an NHL record Tuesday night for the latest three-goal comeback in league history coming from behind to beat Dallas. The 3-goal comeback and eventual victory started with one minute to go in the third which bests the old mark set by the Montreal Canadiens against Ottawa back in March of 2014. That three-goal comeback started with 3:22 to go.
2. THE LEAFS – If Tuesday night was a playoff preview in the east then it will be a short spring in Toronto. The Leafs left their game back in the GTA and failed to show up in Sunrise. Toronto put forth an effort unacceptable for the preseason let alone April hockey. The most glaring stat from Tuesday night: Florida won 69% of the faceoffs! It ended 29-13. That’s a lot of time without the puck. Yeesh.
3. THE PLAYOFFS – Ottawa clinched and Montreal is close to doing the same and will. In the West, Vancouver is alive, but barely. Calgary has slightly better odds to catch Minnesota. They’ll meet on Friday in a game that could mean everything. How exciting!
Here’s some teams that won’t win divisions yet I would NOT want to meet in the first round: Ottawa, Florida, St Louis, and Colorado. The chase for Lord Stanley’s cup is WIDE OPEN.
4. GR8 CHASE – What a week it’s been since we last talked. A week ago we were still wondering when Alex Ovechkin would break Wayne Gretzky’s goal scoring record and here we are in the aftermath. What has made this so great and fun to follow is that Ovechkin loves scoring goals and loves playing hockey. At least that’s the way it seems. When he scored the record-breaking goal on Sunday afternoon his reaction said it all. His youth and exuberance has made following this milestone fun. We could all learn a thing or two from Ovi about life and enjoying the process.
5. LEGACY… STRENGTHENED? – Iconic American sportscaster Dan Patrick made a really good point on his radio show last week when talking about Ovechkin and Gretzky. He was talking about records being broken across professional sports leagues and how it can take away a person’s identity when their record is broken. Marc Gastineau was no longer “the sack king” when Michael Strahan broke his single-season sack mark in 2001. This is different. He concluded that Ovi breaking the record doesn’t diminish Gretzky but actually increases his hold as the greatest of all time. “Now there’s that reminder of… ‘golly that’s a lot of goals… Oh my god! Look at the assists?'” Just when you think Wayne’s legacy has been tarnished you realize just how much better he was then everyone else. It’s not close.
6. KING OF ZERO – In a moment of marketing genius, Budweiser has taken a creative approach to the record by using it to promote their alcohol free beer Budweiser Zero. They created a campaign titled ‘The King Of Zero’ highlighting all the goaltenders who faced shots from the Great 8 and never let him score. They even sent commemorative Budweiser cans in a special case highlighting the accomplishment. They include Curtis Joseph (two shots, zero goals against), Joel Hofer (eight shots, zero goals against), and Manny Legace (14 shots, zero goals) among the 28 different goalies. Well done Budweiser!
7. THE MASTERS – Masters week is a tradition in our house every year. The TV is almost exclusively on the Golf Channel 24-hours a day and we even set up a second TV connected to the computer sitting right next to the TV which streams the live leaderboard round the clock. It’s beautiful. But the Masters is more than just a four-day golf tournament. The coverage started Monday and today is the famous par 3 contest which begins at noon et.
What’s great about The Masters for us is it’s like cooking hot dogs for MLB opening day: celebrating the little things, it makes life more fun.
8. THE MENU – The weekly food menu is probably the most fun part of this week. The Masters food selection available for patrons is one of the more iconic traditions in sports. From $1.50 egg salad or pimento cheese sandwiches to Masters themed beer and Georgia pecan caramel popcorn, the food is a staple of the week.
This week our Masters menu will include pimento cheese sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, Arnold Palmers (ice tea and lemonade), fresh fruit cups and fresh baked cookies. Our menu begins Thursday for the opening round.
9. TRADITION – There are so many traditions around The Masters and it’s such a prestigious event that some of the rules will make you scratch your head. For starters, patrons aren’t allowed to have their cell phones out on the course. Any device that can transmit photos or videos is strictly prohibited. Oh, and being on-air covering the event comes with its own set of guidelines. It’s patrons, not fans. They don’t want the spectators referred to as fans which is short for fanatics. It’s also not a “driving range” but rather the “tournament practice facility”. Oh, and it’s not the “back nine” but rather the “second nine”. Make any of these mistakes on air and you’ll get your wrists slapped.
10. RANDOMS – Jays and Vlad connected on a 14-year $500M deal… good. I voted that the Jays WILL win a World Series during the contract… The outpouring of sympathy and memories celebrating the life of broadcaster/NHL alumni Greg Millen continued after the sudden news early this week of his passing. I never knew him, never worked with him but grew up watching and listening to his analysis. I never knew him as a goalie, only as a broadcaster and he was a great one. Thoughts with his family and friends… “Zero Day” with Robert De Niro is our newest watch and it’s good. “Suits LA”: not good. Seriously couldn’t make it through the second episode… Just one OHL opening round playoff series made it to six games while game seven was front and centre in the dub. Congrats to the PA Raiders winning three-straight to advance in seven… The Blue Jays are in first place but are just 12 games into the season. Still counts… I stayed up until 1am to watch the end of the Golden Knights/Avs last night only because of Rod and my Breakaway Bets segment each day on The RP Show. The power of betting….
Have a good day and let’s finish the week strong!
DD
Good stuff Greg Millen was a decent hockey analyst and consistent from day 1. He is a Hartford Whaler alum. I would encourage people to go back and examine the rosters or that franchise. They could never get out of the Adam’s division. With that the brain power and where those players ended up in the management and coaching ranks. Ron Francis, Kevin Dineen, Dave Tippett, Joel Quenville, and Paul Maurice. It was like they were an AHL primer for post NHL careers. I encourage people to get Mike Keenan’s autobiography. He had a run in of all run ins… Read more »
5) Dan Patrick is full of hot air. I will say this. He’s from Cincinnati and when he was speaking about Pete Rose. It was long known Pete was a gambler as were many guys including Dan Patrick. Mainly due to the connection to horse racing in Ohio and Kentucky. Never did they think he was actually betting on games, but after it all made sense. As for “identity”. First off; Mark Gastineau was never the sack king. It didn’t become an official stat until 1982 and DE Deacon Jones was the unofficial leader. Deacon Jones was part of a… Read more »
I agree Suits LA is awful. The original is 10 times better! Zero Day is wonderful. Robert De Niro still “kicking it!”