World Cup: England 1 USA 1

England scored both goals; USA happy with the result. But I expected more from both teams. Sloppy play from everyone but Gerrard, and Gerrard was playing solo too much. The English need better teamwork, and the Americans need better individual performances. Howard is a superstar. I hope he moves to Liverpool FC.

World Cup: Argentina 1 Nigeria 0

I felt bad for Nigeria, a team that has played beautiful soccer in previous world cups. I also expected more from Argentina.

World Cup: France 0 Uruguay 0

As expected, the Euros played boring and defensive soccer. Uruguay, one of the lower ranked South American countries, has potential but little confidence.

World Cup: South Africa 1 Mexico 1

This was a fun game with two good goals and a good lesson on the offsides rule. I think the offsides rule should be changed to "one player other than the goalie between the ball and the net".

The Return of the Defensive D

It's not the end of the goalie era.

Instead, it's the return of defense. Mike Green is out. Chris Pronger is in. Zdeno Chara is in.

Next year, expect playoff hopefuls to look for a Scott Stevens (not an Ilya Kovalchuk).

Craig Rivet and their fellow defensive defensemen deserve more praise than they have received. Eaton in PIT deserves praise too.

I expect the value of the truly forceful D man to rise at the end of the year.

Congrats to Yahoo for Calling Out the Blind Refs

Kudos for this blog post.

Joe Pavelski for Conn Smythe

Pavelski tonight scored the first goal and the GWG in a 4-3 victory over the Red Wings.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/boxscore?gid=2010042918

Pavelski's doing very, very well, standing out on a team with Heatley and Thornton

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/boxscore?gid=2010042918

He has playoff goals 6 and 7 tonight.

First Lawsuit Against a League For Head Trauma

Keep an eye on this one:

California’s workers’ compensation system provides a unique, and relatively unknown, haven for retired professional athletes among the 50 states, allowing hundreds of long-retired veterans each year to file claims for injuries sustained decades before. Players need not have played for California teams or be residents of the state; they had to participate in just one game in the state to be eligible to receive lifetime medical care for their injuries from the teams and their insurance carriers.

About 700 former N.F.L. players are pursuing cases in California, according to state records, with most of them in line to receive routine lump-sum settlements of about $100,000 to $200,000. This virtual assembly line has until now focused on orthopedic injuries, with torn shoulders and ravaged knees obvious casualties of the players’ former workplace.

But Dr. Perfetto’s contention that Mr. Wenzel’s dementia relates to his football employment represents a significant shift, several lawyers involved in the California system said. They estimated the case’s potential value at more than $1 million if it reaches its conclusion, probably in two or three years.

I Believe the Capitals Will Win At Least One Round

But in addition to the concerns voiced by Umberger, I would add that they actually play too rough and will take too many injuries or suspensions in early rounds.

This is doubly true if they meet Philadelphia early on. I think anyone _could_ beat Philadelphia in round 1, but the physical cost might be so high that they would lose in the next round to any opponent.

Will TV Cash Bring NHL To Russian Olympics?

NHL Commissioner Bettman is making foolish promises to NHL owners about future TV deals. Problem is, he has no credibility.

Bettman now says that the Olympics will bring in more fans, but last month he said he wasn't sure the NHL would let its players go to Russia in 2014.

Bettman needs to do what's good for the sport:

1) Implement a real head shot rule and start calling the Intent to Injure 5 minute major.

2) Implement a short season in 2014 in order to make the Olympics possible and in order to not break players' health. A 60 game season would work.

3) Cut the season anyway to 72 games or less. With 4 groups of 8 teams and no cross conference play, you get 7 x 6 + 8 x 4 = 74 games at most. With cross conference play, you get 7 x 4 + 8 x 2 + 16 x 1 = 60 games.

League Will Be Responsible If It Ignores the Players

The NHL Players Association wants a very stict rule about headshots.

The NHL (Bettman) disagrees. He won't act until a player dies or until Crosby has his career-ending consussion.

Now Suspend Him

The fine print says that Ovechkin doesn't get an automatic suspension, but the NHL is going to be serious about enforcing the rules on star players not named Pronger (see flowchart, h/t Max), then Ovechkin had to be suspended, or we'll see more of this.

One difference about this boarding game misconduct -- it wasn't against a Buffalo player. In the past, Ovechkin boarded Briere and Kaleta, both while they played for the Sabres.

Fans Will Demand the NHL Support The Olympics

The biggest problem with not participating in the Russian Olympics in 2014, as Bettman and Burke hope to, is that the NHL may never be able to return to the Olympics.

Of course, Bettman is intent on running the sport into the ground and bankrupting the league in the name of the short-term demands of owners and general managers, but anyone who cares about the long term future of the sport would set aside time for participation.

All the league has to do is run a shorter year, perhaps 4 division games + 2 conference games + 1 cross-conference game = 20 + 20 + 15 games = 55 games instead of 81 games.

Perhaps Bettman is upset that the Olympics are upstaging him -- they will have higher TV rankings than any hockey game he's associated with this year.

Suspend OKT from the Olympics permanently

This dirty headshot by Flyers defenseman Ole Kristian Tollefson should draw a ban from the next Olympics, in my opnion.

Crappy Olympics Broadcasts

The quality of the broadcast feed from the Olympics is shocking. There are stutters and lossed data. It's as bad or even worse than what we'd get if we were watching it over the internet.

I cannot understand why the olympics and the NHL would let this happen. If this continues during the Czech - Russia and USA - Canada games on Sunday, maybe some of the professional commentators will be forced to mention it.


Also, I think there should be a mercy rule. When one team is 10 goals ahead, the game is over. Let's institute it in the NHL too.

Gorges Hit By Slapshot, But Still Lucky

Montreal Defenceman Josh Gorges was hit by a slapshot but luckily was able to walk off the ice with assistance.

Can we do anything to prevent this?

Swedish Referee Dies During Game

A 62 year old referee in Sweden died while refereeing a game for 18 year old when he was hit on the back of the head by a puck.

I hope that North American referees are protected.

Selanne Returned Too Soon

This is one of the most unpleasant hockey videos I've ever seen.

He suffered a broken jaw on January 13. He returned to the ice on February 1.

That's wrong -- even for a player who is about to retire.

Sports medicine is bad.

Will the NHL Crack Down on Cornier?

When an 18 year old player goes into convulsions and the Premier of Quebec complains about it, maybe the NHL will do something.

NFL Concussion Story Just Won't Die

Kudos to the NY Times for keeping on the story. John Conyers recently questioned the NFL's concussion expert on the subject.

The NHL should get ready for this. The NHL needs to take concussions seriously.


For example, Phaneuf should have been suspended for the hit on Kopitar even though Kopitar was not hurt.