NHL – Pre-Skills Competition Tid Bits

• After such an awful season the Columbus Blue Jackets got a great piece of news today when they were informed by the league that they will be hosting next year’s All-Star Game.  Maybe now they can start building a team worthy of having at least one All-Star selection! – Link
• There are some rumors flying around of a mega trade between the Canucks and the Ducks.  The trade would have the Ducks sending Corey Perry to Vancouver for Cory Schneider, Mason Raymond and Keith Ballard.  Yes, Ducks netmider Jonas Hiller is having a career worst year in net but he still has an above .900 save percentage and not the real problem with the team at this point.  If this trade is completed, I would say major win for the Canucks and head scratcher for the Ducks.
• The Chicago Blackhawks certainly got older in the trade for Brendan Morrison but I don’t know if they got any better.  The Hawks front office must think that the team needs some leadership on the ice because Morrison isn’t the same player that he was in the early 2000′s. – Link
• On September 15th the current CBA is set to expire and with what has transpired thus far, things are looking like it is going to be a nasty fight.  The latest comes from Jason Spezza when he made comments to reporters at the All-Star Media Day Link .  It seems like the NHLPA is trying to get out in front of this thing with some posturing but the bottom line is that the NHL cannot afford another work stoppage.
• The NHL Awards will be in Las Vegas again this year.  Hopefully they don’t let Jay Mohr come back and we all remember this mess – Link

CD REVIEW: JOHN MULANEY – “NEW IN TOWN”

by Ryan Meehan
 
Wednesday I was very excited because I received a package from New York City containing the new record from standup comedian and writer John Mulaney.  John writes for Saturday Night Live at the moment and is best known for his work as a correspondent on the “Weekend Update” segment with Seth Meyers.  Mulaney’s second standup record is called “New in Town”, the follow-up to his album “The Top Part” which was released back when he was touring on the Comedians of Comedy tour in 2007 with Patton Oswalt and Brian Posehn.  Additionally, he was most recently named by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the “Eight rising starts guaranteed to keep you laughing for years”.

Cal and Coach Ryan’s All Star Fantasy, Fantasy Draft

The NHL All-Star break is upon us and the Fantasy Draft commences this evening.  Cal and Coach Ryan have decided to put their hockey knowledge to the test and have their own Fantasy, Fantasy draft.  Following the same two team format and rules, drafting all your goalies by the 10th round and your defenders by the 15th, Cal and Coach Ryan are going to be putting their hockey pride on the line.  What is at stake?  The winner gets a 12pk of Labatt Blue (our favorite hockey beer) and the loser has to wear a piece of clothing supporting the favorite hockey team of the winner (Coach Ryan – Columbus, Cal – Detroit).

I as Coach Ryan sometimes find it difficult to admit that the two teams I root for are the Blue Jackets and the Lightning although being from Cleveland it is fitting. That being said sometimes I am embarrassed to sport Columbus gear so the thought of seeing Cal wearing it is quite intriguing. The rules are simple we are going to flip a coin to determine if you want to draft first or pick the captain. After the All Star Game on Sunday Cal and I will add up the points and make the other one pose in the other person’s apparel. Here is how the scoring works:

Randomness From Around The Web

From the 21st Century Museum site

Hot Fitted of Da Week: 01/25/12

by R-Mizzle
 
Yo dog, since we last served ya bakin the rock’s been thru some crazy shit, ya know what I’m sayin’?  Not ta worry doe there be plenty a hot fitted stylez blazin’ thru to bring tha fresh to you.  We gotz a new featured site taday dat ya just can’t miss if ya wanna stay all up in dis.  Check out some of da mad threadz they gotz availabul at da Hip Hop Closet!!!
 
http://www.hiphopcloset.com/

Ain’t dat sick…?  In udder wordz, if ya don’t know, NOW YA KNOW!!!

Cal’s Weekly Hockey Doctrine – 1/23/12

Coming off a stellar weekend of hockey including the powerhouse triple header on the NHL network on Saturday, this weeks slate of games doesn’t seem to be letting up in quality.  Two quality Red Wings games on NBCSports and the NHL Fantasy Draft packs this week full of hockey bliss.  Coach Ryan and I will also being doing a draft week special report so stay tuned for details.

NFL CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND WRAPUP

by Ryan Meehan

This year’s conference championship Sunday proved yet again that American football still remains one of the best products available anywhere on this earth.  Each game was decided by three points, and we will be having a rematch of a recent Super Bowl which a lot of fans claim is one of the better Super Bowls of all time. 

Cal’s Weekly TV Fix

There are a lot of television shows out there and a vast majority of them are pretty average to below average.  This new weekly column will focus on some of the shows that have piqued my interest, are trending up/down, are coming back soon or I have given up on the entirely.  I would love to hear from you the reader, about what you are watching and enjoying, what has you angry, what are you looking forward to.

Beware of Spoilers

NFL CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND PREVIEW 2012

by Ryan Meehan

So it’s down to the Final Four of NFL football, and everyone has their own idea of who should be playing in the Super Bowl. Truth be told, there are only four scenarios that face us.

Scenario One: The Ravens vs. The 49ers

Even with Las Vegas weilding the power that they do, I don’t think they’d be able to find a way to rig it so it comes out like this. It’s too easy with brothers coaching each other and…no, I don’t really want to see the hoopla that would surround it. The sad part is, it would end up being an awesome game if you were a die hard fan, but the casual fan would lose interest in it really quick. Would be a hell of a defensive showdown, but the last thing the NFL wants is a Super Bowl that ends up with a final score of 9-6. The odds of this happening are very, very low anyway.

Scenario Two: The Ravens vs. The Giants

Here again, too obvious. A rematch but not really. Kerry Collins played quarterback during that season, suffice to say a lot has changed for the G-Men. It’s going to take a lot of persuading this week to get me to imagine the Ravens becoming better than New England, and I’ll explain myself here in just a few minutes. My guess would be that if this matchup did really transpire, a majority of America would be behind the Giants because it’s an easy pick.

Scenario Three: The Patriots vs. The Giants

Obviously, would be the biggest draw out of the four and would likely be a blowout and a terrible game. Everybody on earth would be watching and it would be very desirable for American football as a whole. I’ll watch the hell out of it, but the Giants would end up getting blown out of the water for sure. It would take a colossal collapse from the Patriots in order for New York to win the rematch.

Scenario Four: The Patriots vs. The 49ers

Unless the 49ers have another huge TV moment like they did Divisional Playoff week, I can’t imagine that this game would be close either. Would you take the Niners here? Of course not…If they were to somehow win, there would be this cheesy “Dragonslayer” thing going on though and that would be super weak. And it would briefly create the illusion that on that day Alex Smith would somehow be better than Tom Brady, which is only true when viewed through a mirror in some alternate universe.

So there are your possibilities. But that’s still to be determined, and three weeks from now seems like an eternity to me. Now let’s look at the conference championship games.

Coach Ryan’s Weekly Hockey Doctrine 1/16/12

I hope everyone had a great start to 2012. I personally took a week or so off to let the NHL get back into full swing after the holidays. We have a few new teams coming into the Power Rankings this week and I even am doing a little venting against a certain team that has continued to get under my skin. Regardless we have another great week of hockey as we get closer and closer to the All Star Game in just a few weeks.