What Now?

So we've got about a month left of hockey-less hockey stuff to deal with before the "meat and potatoes" we all like to call the "regular" season begins. With that much time on my hands, I decided I needed a new fix to get me through that last 30 days, and lo and behold, EA Sports and 2K Sports have heard my heart's longing.

Next week, 9/12 and 9/14 we get two (2, dos, deux you get the idea) brand new hockey games! That is, of course, considering that nothing changes. Release dates being written in number 2 pencil (there's that number again...) not stone. But I digress. If you're like me, video game hockey is the crank to your hockey's crack addiction. Cheaper, not quite the real thing, but gets the job done (at least that's what I read in Newsweek.)

I've got a thing about pummelling the computer controlled opponents in to complete and total embarrassment. A score of 30-1 after the first period just isn't enough. That one goal scored by the computer convinces me every time that the machine is cheating. It has to be. How could it score on me with Bill Muckalt and two shots when I've got Marty between the pipes, playing behind Zedeno Chara and Chris Pronger on the first defensive pairing, followed by Lidstrom and Neidermayer, then lastly Jovo-cop and McCabe (I'm a Leafs fan, and I always play with "B-Mac" somewhere on the blue line, but I'm not an idiot, and will take Pronger or Chara over him any day of the week.) At any rate, how does that happen? How does Bill Muckalt manage to outmaneuver, what has to be the world's greatest blue line in the video game world, and then beat someone whom just about everyone believes to be one of the (if not the only) world's premier goaltenders? If you're reading ths EASports and 2KSports (and I know you are) smarten up. Stop programming your games to score goals against me.

If you've had the chance to play either of these two games, you'll find they have their selling points. I'm a sucker for anything hockey, so as any good fan has done, they've scheduled to be off from the 12th through the end of the week. This allows a good two days minimum dedicated to each hockey game. I plan on taking my daughter to preschool a little earlier than normal, then swinging by to pick up 2K7's installment as the opening salvo to my hockey vacation in September. I'm already sold that this will be a much improved version over the less than stellar 2K6.

Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, their selection of cover boy is Joe Thornton (he of the Art Ross, Hart Memorial trophy season.) As a transplant out here in the nether regions of hockey universe, it was nice to see the west coast get a modicum of respect, and a sniff of the press coverage the east coast gets, thanks to the season Joe had. But I'm talking video games, so reality will have to wait for another post.

In addition to Joe, one of their selected screenshots, well, it had me at hello...

The video teasers on the site showcase something the company is calling "pro-control" which I seem to recall as being a big part of the 2K6 and NHL06 games, however this time they tagged it right with: CRAZY-DELICIOUS.

All in all, I'm pretty excited to see what's in store for 2K7, but I still don't think it's going to hold a candle to the grandaddy of them all.

EASports has been attached to my gaming console since the OG Nintendo. When things blew up high tech and went all 16 bit, I believe it actually melded into my SEGA Genesis console and was never able to be removed. As science progressed, so did my hockey game. For awhile, it lost a bit of it's luster, but the last two installments have really stepped it up.

Now, not knocking Ovechkin or anything, but he does have only one season under his belt. I do believe he could have been an incredible athlete, and perhaps had some outstanding years ahead of him, were it not for this...

It'll be sad to see what happens to Alex the Gr-8. When the curse finally does get him, he'll just be a shell of the star he could have been. However, the game looks like it'll rock none the less.

Now, as is standard fair for EA, the division champs are always the featured teams in the video teasers. That means I haven't gotten to see any video interpretations of the Leafs (which considering last season, is probably a good thing.) Their dynasty mode has included the salary cap and CBA, which means no more blue lines of steel for me...

Their screenshots show a lot of cool scenarios, however their shot of Staal gives me the heebie jeebies.

There are a lot of videos to peruse on the EA site, and with less than a week until D-Day, you might want to get cracking.

Thanks for stopping in. Hope it's not as hot where you are as it is where I am...

So the one you can't count on when it comes to honoring contractual obligations has finally signed on the dotted line in Pittsburgh. Sure there were some "pressures" put to him, but who doesn't have pressure? Heck, the brilliant minds in Penguin land are paying this person enough money that they should be concerned about his adverse reaction to pressure...

Enough tough love on him though. I do look forward to seeing what Mr. Malkin can do. Maybe he's so fantastic that it forces the Pens to dump their most recent draft steal, that of the "Staal" variety. If Jordan is half as good as his brother, that's still good enough.

On a slightly related side rant. Can we please stop calling these multi-millionaire atheletes "kids?" Please? I mean, some are making more in a year then we'll see in our lifetimes. Intellectually speaking, I understand, but these men (Malkin, Crosby, Ovechkin for hockey, and too numerous to mention in basketball...) are being paid to do a job, full time, with benefits. That sounds like grown up work to me.

Now that's out of my system, on to the next mystery. Who in Toronto is going to play on Sundin's line? Word on the streets (Dreger's to be precise) is it's Jeff O'Neill's job to lose. If that is the case, I look forward to another early summer and half hearted interest in the playoffs. It's not the same without my Leafs to root for and every other team to hate...

Let's be honest, number 92 was a one hit wonder. His game has been on decline since that one hit (00-01) season. I am starting to think that light at the end of the tunnel was not the 07-08 season. It's a long way off now, and the Leafs may need to lose a few more seasons before they can put together a decent enough team of prospects (fingers crossed that management doesn't somehow mess that up, whoever may be in charge by whenever that is...)

Thanks for reading

Iron Mike

So Iron Mike is once again, job less. There are certain folks, like Mike, who seem to get perpetual free passes on the merry-go-round of NHL management/coaching, so it's only a matter of time until he pops up somewhere else, which got me to thinking....

Steve Simmons wrote an article about our beloved JFJ suggesting that his time was just about up. I'll let you check out the rationale for your self here. Apparantly three years of pretty much the same hockey as always, and it's JFJ who will take the fall. Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly thrilled withthe team we're icing, but that doesn't all fall into his lap. The mighty Quinn needs to take some of the blame (How it is that Wade Belak and Nik Antropov still get to see the ice is beyond me...) But I digress.

What if JFJ did get the axe, and what if Iron Mike showed up in the big T.O? Hmmmm.

Me thinks Mike would actually perform quite well in Toronto. When you think at how well he excelled in New York with the Rangers, the spotlight he was under as their coach and the expectations surrounding that team, the parrallel's to just about every year in Toronto are the same. Contrast that with the incredible non-persona that is JFJ. A guy who, I don't believe has been given enough time to show what he's got, but in Toronto it's as much about how you play the media as how you play the game. If you've ever seen the man on TV (as I can't seem to locate a video link anywhere on the net) you'll know what I mean. Captain Excitement he's not...

Again, just speculation. I'm stuck out in the middle of nowhere California, so what do I know?

Hope your Labour Day is going better than Mike's. Thanks for stopping by!

The first one

I love the Leafs. I don't understand people who don't. I have a sickness, and it is the Leafs.

There are leafs fans all over the world

...(in Christopher Walken mode) ...

"I have a fever, and the only prescription, is more Colaiacovo!"

Seriously, keep your head up Carlos. I think I speak for all fans of the blue and white with that.

So, as you may have guessed by the title, I'm somewhere west of Toronto. If you surmised the left coast, you are a very clever individual.

Enough about me though. I'm thinking about hockey. I hope you enjoyed the rule changes. I know I did. It had some pretty interesting implications on goaltenders. I do believe JS Giguere was a product of padding (Note the difference in pad size first to second image.) I think Marty Brodeur had a harder time adjusting to limiting the puck play than he thought, and I do believe Andrew Raycroft had a serious sophomore slump due to his holdout, limiting his ability to practice within the confines of those new rules.

I would love to see Razor getting his game back on track, With a new contract, the "veteran" goaltender has been pushing himself for most of the summer. It could be that Justin Pogge makes him nervous. Here's hoping one of these two is a Felix the Cat in waiting, circa 92-94 of course.

More to come, thanks for stopping in!