Weekend Hockey Highlights

The Good:



The Bad/Ugly/Kill Ovechkin:


Probably the dirtiest hit this year, outdoing Liles' knee on knee on Smytty. Now they are saying Ovechkin might only get a fine for that! WHAT THE FUCK!? Does anyone remember Erik Cole getting his neck broke last year? Replay after replay and analysis after analysis consistently condemned Orpik for the hit and he was then suspended 3 games, which is still too lenient. Dan got 8 games in soccer for a hit from behind into the boards (though that was reduced to 3 games, Dan, you're a goon).

So basically the NHL is saying, the victim's injury is going to decide the punishment for the crime. Briere could have lost his head! Why should it take a guy in a wheelchair or neck brace to determine whether a guy should be suspended or not? Hits like that deserve 5 games at least, in my opinion.

It seems that the NHL is also saying that if you are a superstar, you can get away with shit like that. Lost in all this is the fact that Briere is a superstar too, despite what stupid Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal says:

Never mind Rick DiPietro getting that ridiculous 15-year, $67-million deal in Long Island from his boss Charles Wang. How about the arbitrator handing Buffalo's Daniel Briere $5 million US this season off 58 points last year? You think he's worth that? You think Briere, while feisty and quick, will get as many points as Jersey's Scott Gomez, who got $5M US, too, from a salary judge? Me neither.

I nearly shit my pants when I read this at the beginning of the season. Not just because I love Danny Briere and I think he should have made the last World Cup and Olympic teams(he clicked with Heatley in the 2004 Worlds (2g, 6a, 8pts) and at the 2003 Worlds), but because this Matheson joker completely ignores that Briere only played in 48 games due to a hernia removal. He was on pace for 99 points if he played the full 82 game schedule, which would have been good for 8th spot in the league. Gomez, meanwhile, had 84 respectable points in a full 82 games. Maybe Matheson can't do math (which would be ironic).

Oh and should we ignore the fact that Briere had 8 G and 11 A for 19 points in 18 playoff games last spring, too?

So far this year, Briere has 10G, 20A for 30 points in 26 games (+5), while Gomez has 3 G, 12 A for 15 points in 17 games (-2). The fact that Buffalo is an offensive powerhouse (113 goals for, 1st in the league) and New Jersey is not (62 goals for, last in the Eastern Conference), only gives further credence to Briere's case. Lastly, Briere has to compete for ice time (especially power play) on a team that is very deep at the center position (Drury, Roy, etc.). Gomez does not have this problem (Parise, Madden, etc.).

Briere will keep up to and likely put up better numbers than Gomez. If anything, Briere is underpaid this season if you are comparing him to Scott Gomez.

Jim Matheson, you should be fired for your indiscretions and slander! Someone who is in the Hockey Hall of Fame for this kind of stuff should be better than this.

More fuel for the fire: