Remembering Mike Bossy

I was recently asked which athlete or former athlete I would interview if I was given the choice. The answer came easy to me; Michael Bossy.

Mike Bosy won 4 stanley cups. He once scored 50 goals in 50 games. He scored over 50 goals every year of his career accept his last. He scored over 60 goals 5 times! Due to chronic back pain, he had to retire a young man in 1987 after only 10 years in the league.

Mike Bossy was my idol growing up in New Brunswick. When Bossy would take the ice during the New York Islanders cup run in the early eighties, I would jump off the couch and stand in front of the Television with hands on knees like a focused football coach. The only stick I would use was the Titan with Mike Bossy’s signature, while every other kid used the Wayne Gretzky model. I even insisted playing right wing, even though I was a left hand shot, because Mike Bossy was a right winger.

I’d love to find out if Mike Bossy is bitter for having his career cut short due to back injuries, incurred by taking so many cheap shots from defencemen in front of the net. A multiple Lady Byng Trophy winner, I want to find out what his thoughts are on fighting in the game of hockey, especially with the death of Don Sanderson and the increased debate on the role of fighting in hockey this year. I would ask him his philosophy on goal scoring. Bossy was one of the greatest snipers in the history of the game, but I don’t think anyone has ever asked him what made him such a great scorer.

Finally, I want to know if he has ever struggled since retiring in the late eighties. He currently has a job in the front office with the Islanders, but for years prior, the Boss was left to his own devices. I remember seeing an interview with him one time where he was a representative for a potato chip company in Quebec. There was the Hall of Famer, stacking chip shelves in a Quebec corner store. I want to know if he is resentful for the game turning its back on him, after forcing him to retire far too soon.

Bossy was a gentleman, and the most feared pure sniper of his era. A stanley cup champion who was taken from the game far before his time.

So here's to the Boss. We haven;t seen a goal scorer like him since his retirement, and we may never.

Roger Federer: The Greatest Tennis Player Of All Time.

Yesterday was an annual tradition at the Mclean household, as it is in homes across the planet.
It was breakfast at Wimbledon, and in what has become another annual tradition, it featured Roger Federer.

It was not a re-match of last year’s epic final with Rafael Nadal, Nadal missed the tournament due to a knee injury. No yesterday we welcomed back an old friend to the grass courts in London, American Andy Roddick, the new and improved Andy Roddick so were told. Although many sports writers had given Roddick a punchers chance of keeping Roger Federer from winning his 15th grand slam title, Roddick did push the French Open champion to 5 sets, including a 30 game masterpiece, culminating with Federer’s first break of the day to give the Fed his record breaking grand slam championship.

Roddick did show a great deal of improvement in his game and gained a lot of respect with his gritty effort, but in the end, the storyline of the day was focused on the champion.

Roger Federer: The greatest tennis player of all time.

How did he get there?

Well on this day he served up 50 aces.

That’s not a misprint.

50 aces!

Many of them at the most pivotal of times, in the first several sets when it appeared that Roddick just might have Federer on the ropes. Then when the 5th set went to extra games, Federer would string together 2 or 3 aces in a row with uncanny pinpoint control. As the match turned 4 hours long and Federer cruised through his service games, Roddick’s service began to fade a touch as he desperately held on against a determined Federer. It was just a matter of time, and as the shadows slowly crept over the Main Court at Wimbledon, they seemed to be taking the shape of a starving Federer, about to swallow up Roddick, his latest victim.

When it was done, the acclamations began. As Pete Sampras watched from the front row, Federer was crowned Wimbledon champion and anointed as the greatest player in history. Could anyone argue? I’m sure someone much smarter than I could raise some interesting debate points. But I’m happy and content to join the masses in feeling content that Federer is the man.

How can you not like this guy?

Federer has the broadest skill set of any player to ever compete on tour. He hits more shots better than anyone else and at the most critical of times. What’s more, he knows exactly when to use each one.

His physical fitness is superior to every other player on tour. It’s enough that he has more skill, but he’s also in better shape. That advanced conditioning was well on display yesterday as he danced around backhands and ran down balls at the net the entire match, while Roddick’s slow feet began to fail him in the latter stages.

Federer loves tennis. I’m sure they all love tennis, otherwise they would not be playing at that level. But Federer really, really, loves Tennis. Furthermore he loves to compete. He’s determined to win every match he plays. When he lost to Nadal in the final of the Australian Open, he literally broke down on the court during the awards ceremony. This guy has heart.

Federer is painfully humble. He is gracious in victory and defeat. Sure he wore a jacket yesterday with an “RF” logo and the number 15 on the back, but he does not think he is bigger than the game, and you could see that he genuinely felt empathy for Roddick’s pain, having beaten him for the 19th time (mind you, Andy still gets to head back to America with his wife; SI swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker).

Finally, Roger seems like a good guy. I don’t know Federer, maybe he is a jerk. But he seems like a nice man. He has a wife, a child on the way, and he is never in the headlines for wrong reasons.

So let the debate begin and awake the ghosts of tennis past; Borg, Sampras, Laver.
I’ll take Roger against any of them. You could throw in Andy Roddick and make Federer play the doubles lines and I’ll still take my chances with the “Fed”.

And if you’re getting tired of hearing about Federer, well the US Open is only about 7 weeks away, and he’s going to win that too.

What will the headline read on that fateful Sunday?

"The Fed wins sweet sixteen."

Holy Dieter Brock! The CFL is Back!

The CFL is Back! Is Anybody Watching

Trying to determine how many maritimers actually watch the Canadian Football League is a puzzling thing. I know most of my friends who are avid sports enthusiasts don't watch it. You don't hear a lot of people talking about it and the league certainly does not get a great deal of local media attention. On my radio show for CKDU I have a local pundit for all the major sports but I've never thought of getting a CFL "insider", and even if I tried I don't know who I would get. Honestly I don't know anyone who knows more about the CFL than I do.

I've always watched the CFL, even when I was a kid. I'm not one of those die hard fans who animantly maintain that it's a better game to watch than the NFL. Given a choice, I would watch an NFL or NCAA game before any CFL game outside of the Grey Cup. I'd even prefer a Huskies game on Cable 10.

But I'll sit in my living room with a CFL game on the idiot box while I putter away at tasks. As I'm writing this I'm listening to the Eskimos/Blue Bombers game ( a pretty dreadful affair so far ) from Edmonton's massive Commonwealth Stadium, a facility far too big for a CFL team to call home. When the Alouettes are playing I'll pay a little more attention and cheer a little. It's also nice to get home from work and fall asleep while watching a game in Vancouver (also at an oversized stadium...and indoors at that!)

The CFL benefits greatly from it's schedule, and the canadian weather. The season begins in the summer and plays the first 80 percent of its game through September. This is good for sports starved fans who do not watch any baseball. The CFL provides something to watch to help fill the void before the NFL returns. Sure you may not know any of the players, the scores don't make any sense (the Edm/Winn game is tied 9-9 right now), and the players are really small playing on a field that's way too big. But hey, it's football! It's something....isn't it?
Then the fall comes and the league begins playoffs and they start playing some classic canadian cold weather games. Face it. If the Giants are beating the tar out of the Cincinatti Bengals and the Patriots are killing the Jets, you'll sit back and watch the Western Semi Final between Calgary and Saskatchewan in a november snow storm. It's fun! Of course the game is a puntfest...two downs-punt, two downs-punt. But it's fun to watch guys playing football in horrible weather in front of thousands of hearty canadians cheering with watermelons on their head and drinking Tim Hortons. It's a part of who we are.

Well, maybe not maritimers. But if they ever were to put a CFL team in Halifax I bet you'd go to at least 1 game. So would a lot of other people. Football games are events. No other sport is able to market itself as a weekend long celebration like football. At the very least, the canadian game is unique. The rules may have been created by a couple of drunken fraternity brothers on the campus of U of T sometime at the turn of the century for all we know, but it is unique.

No Yards.

Rouges.

Racing stripes on the football.

25 yard End zones!!'

No wonder it's the only football that Kramer watches.

If you care, I'll have more on the CFL in future updates, including what the league has to do to stay successful (yes, the CFL is actually a success in every city except Toronto and Hamilton), and what teams are the teams to beat. Which is another neat thing about the league; heading into the season nobody knows who is good and who is bad. Well, except for Hamilton. Everybody knows they'll be comically bad.

CFL Notes

Classic examples of how good and bad the league can be in the first week. Last night's re-match of last year's Grey Cup between Montreal and Calgary was a great game. Tonight's game with Edmonton and Winnipeg is awful. When the offences are clicking the CFL can be a lot of fun to watch. But when the offences are stagnant, watching the CFL is painful....Jesse Lumsden, making his debut for the Eskimos, was injured on his first play in green and gold and taken to a local hospital. Lumsden was a CIS posterboy several years ago and nearly made the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL after his career at Mcmaster. He spent the last 2 seasons playing in Hamilton and became the symbol of all the dissapointment fans feel in Hamilton, as he was ravished with injuries.......Speaking of horrible games, last night's contest between Toronto and Hamilton featured two teams that do not look good at all. Toronto prevailed 30-17. Looks like it will be Montreal again in the East and 4 great teams battling it out in the west.

Chris Tremblay draft analysis and other notes

Chris Tremblay Likes Roy's Chances

Today on CKDU Sports Chris Tremblay, Halifax Mooseheads insider, provided an analysis of this year's draft. Tremblay thinks Olivier Roy, goalie for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, should be in the NHL playing for the Edmonton Oilers in several years.

Citing a lack of depth in the Oiler's minor league ranks, Tremblay says the fifth round pick should eventually get a shot at the big leagues after honing his craft in the AHL.

"Roy has Marc Andre Fleury type athleticism which should serve him well," said Tremblay. "However his height at 5'11" could hurt his chances."

Tremblay also thinks Simon Depres, Saint John Seadogs blueliner chosen by the Stanley Cup champion Penguins, should play in Pittsburgh eventually. "Depres is the total package; his only knock is a lack of physical toughness but that should change as he matures" said Tremblay.

Jays Slide Continues and Other Notes

Even the return of Doc Halladay couldn't get the Toronto Blue Jays back on track. Halladay pitched his first game in over 10 days, but 2 earned runs over 6 innings wasn't enough for the stagnant Jays offence to overcome. The once mighty bats of Toronto could only muster 5 hits and 1 run vs Tampa Bay Rays rookie Jeff Neimann who improved to 7-4 on the season......Brian Burke didn't make any friends over the weekend in Montreal. Booed lustily by Canadiens faithful as he approached the podium to announce Toronto's first selection in the NHL entry draft, Burke fired back at the fans to the media afterwards. "I will tell you this - the best hockey fans on the planet are not in Montreal, they're in Toronto," said Burke. "When we host this event in a couple years this will seem like child's play for the booing they get in Toronto."..........love the Magic trade for Vince Carter. They only gave up Rafer Alston, who was probably out anyway, and Courtney Lee, a tough defender but easily replaced. The deal makes a great Magic team that much better. Too bad Hedo Turkoglu isn't that excited. Hedo opted out of his final year with the Magic to pursue big dollars in this year's free agent market, which will be a lot thinner than the 2010 class. Next year's market will consist of Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh..........before the MLB season, Tom Verducci of CNNSI submitted his annual list of pitchers who were dominant in 2008, but based on thier increased workload, would be in store for a injury plagued season in 2009. Fireballer Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants was on the list, but I guess Lincecum didn't get the memo. After a rough April, Lincecum is now 8-2 with a 2.37 era and 3 complete games in his last 4 appearances, culminating with a 2 hit shutout of the St.Louis Cardinals earlier tonight. Sorry Mr.Verducci.

Islanders Take Tavares. Jays Striving For Mediocrity.

Isles Take Tavares; Pronger to the Flyers

As most expected, and every Islanders fan hoped, New York did select Jon Tavares with the #1 pick in this year’s NHL entry draft. We will never know if Garth Snow and crew were actually considering taking Swedish blueliner Victor Hedmon, or if it was all just media speculation, but Islanders faithful, 10,000 strong packed into Nassau Coliseum, were jubilant and delirious when Snow announced that the once proud franchise were selecting the all time leading scorer in the Ontario hockey League.
Hedmon was then plucked by the Tampa Bay Lightning with the second pick, followed by Matt Dechene by the Colorado Avalanche, who the media somehow convinced us the Islanders were considering picking as well (apparently Dechene grew up hardcore Colorado fan). Is it just a coincidence that TSN was covering the NHL draft and all 15 analysts they have were telling us that the Islanders first round selection was a three horse race? Sadly, no. However, it’s that much sadder that we believed them.

Are the Jays Coming Around?

Since starting the season at 27-14, the Toronto Blue Jays have gone 14-21 and have dropped from 1st place to 3rd. They’ve been showing some signs of getting back on track after a disastrous 9 game losing streak at the end of May, however a lot of the bats are still ice cold and the pitching staff is ravished with injuries. Cito Gaston has come under fire for mishandling his starting pitchers, and Vernon Wells had gone a month without hitting a home run, before knocking out a couple dingers this week.
So what’s happening? Well, the team would appear to be settling into the niche of mediocrity that this crop of Jays has been establishing for several years. This core of Jays, with the exception of Halladay, is painfully average. And in a division that consists of the Yankees, with the highest payroll in the majors, the Red Sox, with a core of players that have won a couple World Series, and the Tampa Bay Rays, who represented the American League in last year’s fall classic, mediocrity is going to get you nowhere. It’s only late June and the Jays’ hopes of ending their post season absence dating back to 1993, appears to be dissipating faster than a BJ Ryan

fastball (not very fast, but fast enough...to get beat).

Other Notes

The L.A. Clippers actually did something right for once and selected Blake Griffin with the #1 pick in the NBA Draft. Griffin is not the most ballyhooed #1 in recent times (see Lebron James), but is in the same class as Derrick Rose, last year’s top pick by the Bulls; a can’t miss prospect who will put butts in the seats and provide a solid base to build around.....the steal of the draft may have been Cleveland taking Danny Green of UNC. A late second round pick who won a title as a Tar Heel, has good size for a guard and a penchant for hitting clutch 3 point shots. Think the Cavs could have used him this year with all those missed jumpers coming off passes out of double teams on Lebron James?..........my San Fran Giants are leading the National League wildcard race! Only in the National League could a team with absolutely no offence be leading a playoff race halfway through the season. The Giants have 28th worst offence in the majors, surpassing only Seattle and San Diego. However, with Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain a combined 16-4 with era’s in the 2.30 range, followed by Randy Johnson and a steadily improving Barry Zito, the G-Men may have the best pitching staff in baseball.......Haligonia Sports is on a 3 week hiatus and will resume on July 10th. My guest for the Friday show will be Shaun Gillis, the voice of the Halifax Raimen, and John Campbell, the head coach of the AUS champion Dalhousie Tigers men’s basketball team.

Tavares or Hedman

Will the New York Islanders Take Tavares?
All logic would suggest that the Islanders will take Tavares with the number one pick in this year’s NHL entry draft. However, there is a growing suspicion that the Isles will take top defensive prospect, Victor Hedman, a 6’6” 220 pound blueliner from Sweden.
The knock on Hedman is that he’s not very physical. However, he has received comparisons to another Swedish defenceman whose won a few Norris trophies and Stanley Cups; Nick Lidstrom.
If selected, Hedman is up for the challenge, “I can score goals and bring other stuff to the team. Good leadership, and I can play a lot of minutes and kill penalties and shut down the other team's best guys. If I'm going to the Islanders, I'm not satisfied unless we make the playoffs next year."
Plus Hedman has expressed an appreciation for Long Island and marvelled at its physical beauty in an interview last week, “Long Island was a great area. The beach was great, the houses. I really love the water. I would love to live by the ocean. I got to see Rick DiPietro's crib, and it was real nice. I saw the Coliseum as well. It's pretty old, but it's got a great history.”
Smart talk from a pretty grounded young man who some are calling the best defensive prospect since Chris Pronger.
Ironically, it was 1993 when the Ottawa Senators had the first overall pick and selected Alexander Daigle instead of Pronger, who Hartford scooped up with the second pick. We all know how that worked out.
So the NHL draft could be a pretty intriguing storyline as the Commissioner takes to the podium to announce the New York Islanders selection. The Long Island faithful are begging the Islanders to take Tavares. Understandable considering the team’s leading scoring forward last year was Kyle Okposo with 39 points!
39 points!!
If you’re a fan you want to see offence and Tavares is the most talented offensive player in the draft. And at 6’0” 200 pounds he’s no Alexander Daigle. Offence or defence? Stability or flash? The last time the Islanders were faced with this decision they took Rick Dipietro, bypassing Dany Heatley.
The Islanders hope they don’t make the same mistake again.

Most Recent Milton Bradley Gaffe his Best Yet

Not Likely To Be a Poster for Under Armour Anytime Soon.

Considering he shares the same name as a major North American board game manufacturer, it would only make sense that Milton Bradley has given us so many hilarious moments throughout his career. Unfortunately for Milton, in every instance, we find ourselves laughing at him, and not with him. Years from now we won’t remember Bradley for his ability to hit 15 home runs a year (seemingly the same number of teams he’s played for) nor will we remember the ludicrous contract he signed with the Chicago Cubs over the off season, guaranteeing him 30 million over the next 3 years.
No, years from now we’ll remember all the head shaking, painful, and immensely funny moments he gave us. He is the Larry David of Major League Baseball, the Michael Scott of the sporting world. Reading Milton Bradley’s resume of gaffs and blunders is akin to watching the weekend long struggle of Gaylord Faulker in Meet the Parents.
In early 2004, Bradley was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the L.A. Dodgers, after Bradley and Indians manager Eric Wedge got into a heat argument concerning Bradley’s laziness in running out a dropped pop fly. Later that season, Bradley threw a water bottle at a fan in Dodger’s stadium. In Bradley’s defence the water bottle had been thrown at him first.
In 2007, Bradley, now a San Diego Padre, got into a heated argument with a first base umpire after he reached first base safely on a single. Manager Bud Black came out to intervene and tried to separate Bradley by pushing him away, in the process Bradley fell, tore his ACL, and had to miss the rest of the season in one of the most bizarre moments of all time.
Well this past weekend, Bradley outdid himself. You probably didn’t see it after devoting your night to game 7 of the NHL finals. Bradley misplayed a fly ball in a game at Wrigley field vs the Minnesota Twins. But that’s not the story line here. Later in the game, Bradley caught a fly ball and then posed for the fans in the outfield, trying to relay a message of relief of having made the catch. Bradley then tossed the ball into the stands for a souvenir. The only problem; there were only 2 outs!
And there were Twins runners on base. One run scored on the play and another player was able to go from first to third. Bradley could be seen with hands on head staring blankly at the infield as a jubilant Minnesota Twin rounded second base.
Good news for Cubs fans, however. The play did not factor into the score, and Milton didn’t get into a heated argument with an umpire, claiming that his catch should have been the third out. Nor did he get thrown out of the game or injure himself. Not a bad day for Milton considering he's had worse.

Datsyuk's back, Alright! (sing to tune of "Backstreet's Back")

Return of Datsyuk Sparks 'Tired" Wings

Heading into game 5 there was alot talk about Detorit being old, tired, and too slow for the speedy and youthful Penguins. We were all talking about how mature Pittsburgh has become, how focused they seem to be, and how Malkin and Crosby are too much for the Wings to deal with.

Well we can all just pause.

The Red Wings pushed back in the cozy confines of Joe Louis arena and sent a very clear message to the hockey world; we are the champs, we're the Red Wings, and we're still the best team in the NHL.The Penguins bore the brunt of the message, getting completely outplayed in every facet of the game en route to 5-0 loss, pushing the Pens to the brink of elimination.

Game 6 goes tomorrow night in Pittsburgh at 9:00 atlantic.

The absence of Pavel Datsyuk and the effect it had on Detroit was front and center for all to see. Datsyuk set up the first goal of the game by Dan Cleary, and his ability to dangle the puck for extended moments in the attacking zone was critical to Detroit's victory on saturday.

Something else happened on saturday night on a personal level. I found myself cheering without hesitation or regret for the Detroit Red Wings. I tried to remain impartial, and the Penguins are a pretty easy team to like as well.

But this Detroit team is undeniably likeable, from the gritty newf, Dan Cleary, to the classy old blueliner, Niklas Lidstrom. The Wings play hard. play together, and are completely focused on winning. They seemingly have no egos, no attitude, and genuinely enjoy playing with each other. They listen to thier coach, they cheer each other own, and do not bad mouth the other team to the media. Finally, they don't make excuses, and they don't get caught up wih Pittsburgh's antics at the end of games (see Talbott slash on Datsyuk).

Needless to say, I'll be rooting for red and white on Tuesday night.

Television Ratings for NBA down from last year, NHL ratings highest in 7 years.

You're not the only sports fan not watching the NBA finals. See below from the Associated Press;

"Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals has earned the series' highest cable television rating since 2002. The Pittsburgh Penguins' 4-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Versus on Thursday night drew a 2.8 rating and averaged 3.45 million viewers. The network said Monday that the average 2.7 rating for Games 3 and 4 was up 42 percent over the two games it aired last year. Versus showed Games 1 and 2 in 2008.
The 2.8 rating was the highest on Versus, beating the previous record set by Game 3.

Television ratings for Game 2 of the NBA finals are down slightly from last year.
ABC said Monday that the Los Angeles Lakers' 101-96 overtime win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday night earned an 8.2 fast national rating. That's down less than 4 percent from the 8.5 for last season's Game 2 between the Lakers and Boston Celtics.
Ratings represent the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned into a program"

One interesting observation of these numbers is that, even though he NHL's numbers are up, they're still 5.5 points below that of the NBA finals. 5.5 points in these ratings represent a huge gap. However, it's progress, and it's good to see that a few more people in the US are watching the game we love. If we can get close to the NBA, which alot of americans do not care about, maybe we will be considered a major market sport in the US once again.

Notes

Wonder why the Toronto Blue Jays have are 5-14 in their last 19 games? One major reason is a lack of productivity in the clutch. Whose the biggest offender? None other than franchise player Vernon Wells. V-dub is hitting .164 with runners in scoring position, with 3 homers and 25 rbi's. Even his parents are getting frustrated. Tonight in Wells' home state of Texas, Vernon struck out looking vs the Rangers, stranding Alex Rios at second base. Sportsnet's cameras flashed to Wells parents in the stands, just as his father threw up his hands, at a complete loss as to why his son didn't swing his bat, while his mother looked disgusted.........Think the Jays might trade Roy Halladay? Don't count on it. Halladay firmly established himself as the best pitcher in baseball with sunday's performance vs the Kansas City Royals. Halladay threw a complete game shutout, throwing only 97 pitches and taking only 2 hours, 20 minutes to collect his league leading 10th win of the season.........If the Red Wings are upset about Maxime Talbott taking a shot at Pavel Datyuk's injured right foot near the end of game 5, they certainly aren't showing it. To a man the Red Wings offered no response worth print when asked about Talbott's inexcusable hack.......Best name in MLB this season? Texas Rangers catcher, Jarrod Saltamacchia.........Just so you know, if the Pens win tomorrow night, game 7 of the Cup finals will be Friday night.........Brett Favre had surgery on his throwing shoulder, fueling suspicion he may still play this season with the Vikings. Vikings great Fran Tarkenton spoke out last week, saying that Favre is embarrasing himself and needs to give it up. I know Favre is stubborn, but if Fran Tarkenton is telling you to hang them up, you need to think about it.........the NHLPA has come forward and said that the NHL needs to leave Phoenix.......the Cowboys have denied any reports that they are looking to re-sign Adam "Pacman" Jones....... Confirmed guests for CKDU Sports next monday at 10:00 am include baseball analyst Steve Betts, and the Head Coach of Dalhousie Tigers men's hockey, Pete Belliveau. Speaking of Dal hockey, a second Tanguay will be playing in Halifax. Alex's little brother, Maxime, has committed to the Tigers this season. Maxime was a draft pick of Chicago and scored 66 points last season with Victoriaville of the Q league.

Penguins Win! Blue Jays Back on Track.

Pens Pass Gut Check

It was gut check time tonight for an aspiring stanley cup Penguins team that found out over the weekend they still had alot to learn about how to win hockey games in June. After being outplayed in nearly every facet of the game through 2 games in 24 hours over the weekend, Pittsburgh found themselves behind 2-1 in game 3 at Mellon Arena in front of a silenced crowd.
It seemed liek everything the pundits were saying was true; that Detroit is just too deep, too confident, and too savvy to beat. The Penguins had come out with energy and intensity, scoring the games first goal on a blast by Maxime Talbot, but it had not been enough. The series was officially on the line, and the Penguins were in trouble of being brushed aside once again by the mighty Detroit Red Wings.
Not tonight.
Kristopher Letang blasted one through the legs of Chris Osgood with 4 minutes left in the 1st period, on a shot that Osgood probably did not see thanks to Nicholas Cronwall, and Pittsburgh was back. Pittsburgh held on through a Detroit onslaught in the second period, being outshot 14-4, then scored on a power play goal by Sergei Gonchar midway through the 3rd period to take a lead they would not relinquish. Maxime Talbot added an empty netter to secure the victory, and we now have a series.
Pittsburgh got some lucky breaks no doubt, but they earned them by playing hard. The Pens outhit Detroit 36-17 and blocked seemingly dozens of shot in the waning minutes of the game.
Fleury was sensational, Maxime Talbot was everywhere, Matt Cooke brought alot of physicality, and Syd the Kid got his first point of the series. Game 4 goes Thursday night at 9:00 atlantic in Pittsburgh.
Chris Tremblay will be on Haligonia Sports this friday to give a full analysis of all the games played so far and a preview of the game on saturday night. Haligonia Sports on haligonia.ca!

Blue Jays Back On Track

Roy Halladay threw a complete game for his league leading 9th win of the season, and Alex Rios hit a solo shot to help the Jays beat L.A. 6-4. Halladay struck out 14 while giving up 7 hits. The Jays have now won 3 of 4 and are slowly recovering after that horrid 9 game losing streak in late may. Halladay gave up 4 runs in the 7th but Cito Gaston still stayed with his ace and allowed Halladay to finish the game. Do you think Cito respects the Doc much? How many managers would let their starter fight through a 4 run 7th inning en route to a complete game? I'd be willing to argue that Halladay is the only pitcher in baseball that gets that kind of respect.

Big win for the Jays....the Yanks, Red Sox, and Rays all won tonight as well. Hard to believe there are big games being played in June, but in a 4 team race, every game is important.

Malkin Suspension Rescinded for Game 3

Penguins fans rejoice, you will have your second best player in the lineup Tuesday night for your pivotal game 3 at home vs the Red Wings. Colin Campbell announced, as expected, that Malkin's automatic 1 game suspension for receiving an instigator penalty in game 2, would be rescinded and Malkin would be cleared to play.

By NHL rule, supposedly, any player given an instigator penalty in the last 5 minutes of a game, will be handed a 1 game suspension to be served immediately. Malkin was given the penalty when he started a fight with Red Wings star Henrik Zetterburg in the waning moments of game 2.

Campbell had the following explanation for the decision; "Suspensions are applied under this rule when a team attempts to send a message in the last five minutes by having a player instigate a fight," Campbell said in a statement. "A suspension could also be applied when a player seeks retribution for a prior incident. Neither was the case here and therefore the one game suspension is rescinded."

Fortunately for Malkin, Carolina's Scott Walker had his 1 game suspension rescinded by Campbell as well when he flattened Bruins defenceman Aaron Ward a few weeks back. Walker's disgusting and unprovoked haymaker on Ward makes Malkin's pathetic attempt to land some feeble blows on Zetterburg look pretty pale in comparison.

One of my favourite subplots in the series is Detroit's refusal to give any recognition with the press to the efforts of Crosby and Malkin to act tough at the end of games. In both instances, when the media asked Detroit players for their thoughts on the actions of the Penguin's superstars, Detroit players shrugged it off and said it was no big deal. Great mind game right there. Malkin and Crosby have obviously took it upon themselves to be more physical and show some toughness, and Detroit refuses to acknoweldege it, almost laughing it off.

Game 3 goes Tuesday night at 9:00 atlantic, game 4 on Thursday night at the same time.

CBC took the first major step in replacing Bob Cole as the network's number 1 play by play man. As you know by now, Jim Hughson is covering the Stanley Cup finals, replacing the 76 year old Cole who has been calling the finals since the death of Harry Gallivan. When asked to comment, Cole simply said, "oh baby"...............In "stop the world I want to get off" news, Cleveland Browns' rookies are pissed off at Eric Mangini for making them take a 10 hour bus ride to work a football camp that Mangini had organized for troubled youth. Think about that as you do your mundane or awful job for a salary that is a fraction of what these jerks are paid.......Roy Oswalt says he will not accept a trade to the Chicago White Sox, becoming the second premier NL pitcher, along with Jake Peavy, to decline an existing or potential trade to the Sox..........Jacques Martin was hired as the new head coach of the Montreal Canadiens, a great choice by Bob Gainey, I still don't know why Ottawa ever let him go.........Lakers and Magic get started on Thursday night at 10:00 ATL. In other NBA news, Lebron James says he is very pleased with the Cavaliers development this season and thinks they will be even better next season. Hey Bron Bron, we're not buying it, we know you're gone after 2010.........The Fed had to come back from 2 sets down to beat that evil german, Tommy Haas, to advance to the quarter finals. Federer struggled to win almost all of his matches in the preliminary rounds. With arch rival Rafael Nadal eliminated, Federer will be trying to win his first French Open.