NHL Hart Nominees

The nominees have also been released for the Hart Trophy aka Most Valuable Player aka The Best Award aside from the Stanley Cup. Up for the award this year are: Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Henrik Sedin. In my opinion, this one goes to Sid.

Sidney Crosby has done unreal on all levels of the game. He shared the Rocket Richard trophy with Steven Stamkos for the most goals in the league with 51. He reached the 50 goal mark for the first time since his 2004-2005 season when he was still playing in the QMJHL. He finished in a tie with Ovie for second in the overall points list with 109 and who could forget the golden goal he scored for team Canada in the Olympics. Most people will whine and say "what do the Olympics have to do with anything?". Well, since the NHL partners with the Olympics, and it's basically an all-star tournament only this time the players actually want to be there it has everything to do with anything.

Alex Ovechkin on the other hand, sealed his own fate in my opinion with his "reckless" style of hockey. Alex missed a total of 11 NHL games due to suspensions so if he had been a little bit more disciplined he could have easily won the title for the most points, and possibly the most goals as well... buuut no. Alex finished with an even 50 goals and 109 points, the leaders of those categories had 51 goals and 112 points, so 11 more games and Ovie would have easily taken both. Ovechkin also did not fair well at the Olympics and missed out on the medals completely.

On to Henrik.. well in the first place, I admit that I am a little bit biased because I really don't care for the Canucks... at all. Henrik was basically an assist whore all season and although he finished on top in the points race he also fell into Crosby's shadow at the Olympics. If everyone else had a twin brother on their team to pass to I'm sure they would be doing pretty well in the assist department as well. Further, I hope that his team loses to the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round of the playoffs, preferably in an embarrassing 4 games straight.

NHL Calder Nominees

The NHL has been slowly announcing nominees for their most coveted awards. Up for the Calder Trophy aka Rookie of the Year are: Matt Duchene, Tyler Myers and Jimmy Howard. It is interesting that neither the number one or two picks from last years draft in John Tavares and Victor Hedman got a mention. I am in no way saying that they deserved one.. they didn't, but it's just funny how the scouts said that Duchene was the "least ready" out of the three and he's the one up for the award.

Of course, I believe that Duchene should take home the hardware. He has been a stud forward all season and finished off with 55 points in 81 games, good for third highest on his team, the Colorado Avalanche. He is also one of the main reasons that Colorado made the playoffs this year, and to top it all off, the kid is 18!

Tyler Myers, all 6'7 of him, also had an unreal season finishing with 48 points in 82 games which is nearly unheard of for any rookie, let alone a defensemen. He also helped propel his team, the Buffalo Sabers, into the playoffs so I wouldn't pitch a fit if he won. However he is a year older than Duchene and was taken 12th overall in 2008 so I think the younger of the two should get it.

Lastly, there's Howard. Obviously he did incredibly well, it isn't easy to be a goalie in this league in the first place, let alone the number one guy when your a baby at 26 compared to guys like Brodeur who is roughly 85. However, Howard has been playing in the NHL on and off for 3 seasons already which I believe is an unfair advantage and in my opinion, Duchene should take this one home.

Tito Defeats...

Jenna Jameson?! Uhmm.. what?

Apparently Tito and Jenna's relationship hit a bit of a rough patch to say the least and it ended up with Tito being charged in a domestic abuse case. By the looks of the pictures, Tito won a first round bout via submission, in particular an arm bar. Jenna was photographed with a wimpy piece of cloth draped around her elbow after the bout. However, merely a few days later all charges were dropped against The Huntington Beach Bad Boy. Apparently now Jenna basically claims that "he didn't really hurt me", I could have told everyone that.. but still why did she have that flimsy bandage on her arm at all then? Just to milk it I suppose.

Dana White, the UFC president, said that if Tito were to be charged with domestic abuse they would drop him from the UFC. Which, to be honest, would be no real big loss. He's far past his prime if you ask me.. and now that is bout with Chuck isn't even going to happen, I have no real interest in him. Even if that fight were to happen it's not like they were even toe-to-toe in all three previous fights or that Tito even won one. Chuck won all three.. not exactly a fight that "hypes itself".

Habs vs Caps

Due to the lack of my teams extending their seasons (ehem.. Oilers. Last. Pats. Almost Last). I will be shifting the focus for a little while to talk about the teams that are continuing on to the playoffs beginning with the Caps and Habs series that came to a thrilling close on Wednesday night. After winning the first game of the series the Habs then fell three straight to Ovechkin and the Caps. To most, it would seem as though the dominant Caps would finish off the struggling Canadians in an embarrassing fashion, but the Canadians came back swinging. The Habs then turned the tables and won 2 straight games forcing game 7.

The Canadians struck first and second in game 7 and eventually came out on top by a score of 2-1. However, the series wouldn't be complete without a little controversy. Ovechkin scored what looked like a goal to tie the game at one a piece, but referee Brad Watson immediately waived off the goal. Watson believed that Halak was interfered with on the play, which if you watch the replay in slow motion he was... but just barely. But, it doesn't matter how small or big it was, the slight skate on skate contact that was made with a Cap's defensemen still affected Halak's ability to make the save.

The number one seed in the NHL has been knocked off in an upset that was comparable to Matt Serra vs GSP I. Now the Hab's look to derail Sidney Crosby and the Penguins in the second round of the playoffs.

UFC 112 Main Event

If there was a prize for the most embarrassing performance to ever take place inside the octagon, Anderson Silva would get it... oh wait.. he did, it's a little thing called the Middle Weight belt! Anderson won his bout against Demian Maia on Saturday, but at what cost?

Anderson pissed around for 25 minutes and made no attempts to ever finish the fight. His showboating antics were funny at first but quickly became extremely annoying. If he thinks he's that much better than the guy (which he is) then go in there and prove it, knock him out in under two minutes and prove to everyone that your the P4P best in the world!

It was pretty obvious that the UFC was trying to hype the GSP-Anderson fight that was suppose to happen if Anderson were to win. They even sat Georges ring side and stuck a head set on him. He was suppose to come in after the fight and repeat his "I'm not impressed by your performance" classic, but because the fight was such a disgrace it never happened. In fact, it seems as though the GSP-Anderson fight might not happen at all, Dana claims that he "doesn't want to see that fight anymore".

The post fight press conference was completely focused on Anderson, and stole Frankie's chance in the spotlight. Dana White was so aggravated at the post fight presser that he even stated that Anderson "might be the first title holder to fight on the undercard", wouldn't that be something! He repeated over and over how embarrassed he was and how he would make it up for the fans. I hope that comes in the form of a free event live on Spike, with actually good fighters and an unreal fight card to match!

UFC 112 Co-Main Event

UFC 112 was the host to some great fights, including the devastating upset of Frankie Edgar beating BJ Penn to become the new light weight champ. The upset wasn't quite up to Matt Serra GSP 1 status... but it's definitely up there. I can't see Frankie being the champ for very long, my prediction is that the belt will float around similarly to what it's doing in the light heavyweight division. Apparently Frankie's next opponent is Gray Maynard... anyone that doesn't expect a decision out of that fight might be retarded.

The fight was soo close, but not that close according to the judges. One judge scored the bout 50-45, meaning he thought Frankie won every round... that's a little bit ridiculous and even Frankie and Dana admitted in the post fight press conference that he didn't win every round. BJ actually looked like he had been in a fight after this one, normally that leather skin of his never has a bruise too speak of on it.. but both eyes had noticeable contusions under them following this one.

BJ should really learn to shut his mouth and not jinx himself before fights. Before he fought GSP he said that G was "a quitter". Oh really? Who quit before the fifth round? Oh yeah.. that's right. Now, before this fight BJ said something to the effect of "a good fighter wins be decision, a great fighter finishes the guy". Obviously, he was giving a little jab at old Georgey, but BJ lost by decision so whatever. You know what I say BJ.. "An excellent fighter makes a great fighter quit!"-Autumn

Jen Sharpe... Is An IDIOT!

For those of you who don't know, and I am guessing that most of you don't, Jen Sharpe is the current owner of my dream job.. but she is absolutely bruuuutal at it! She blogs and does game-recaps and interviews for the Edmonton Oilers. I have always hated her writing style because -quite simply- she has no style! The way she writes is so F-ing boring! It's pretty obvious she knows next to nothing about hockey and just regurgitates facts she hears off of TSN and tries to claim them as her own! I have held my hatred for Jen in for far too long, so it's time to rant and get this hatred off of my chest!

Jen recently did an interview with the newly acquired Aaron Johnson in the "ask an oiler" section. Jen, in her retarded nature, obviously did absolutely NO research on the kid and seemed to go into the interview blindly, hoping that what the fans were writing was the truth. Case in point: Jen claims that someone has written in a question saying "How do you feel about being my brother?" from William. This could have been a funny question despite the fact that Aaron doesn't have a brother named William! YOU IDIOT! I mean, you would think that that idiotic brain of hers would think "hmm.. maybe I should ask someone if he even has a brother named William, or one at all for that matter". But no! She trusted some idiot that sent in an email.. and I thought that I was gullible...yeesh!

How Jen Sharpe got this job is beyond my imagination! I know that she worked for the AHL's Manitoba Moose before signing on with the Oilers.. that's right, I did my research on you Jen Sharpe! Even still, I find it hard to believe that she was the best candidate for the job. It is my hope that I will one day take over Jen Sharpe's job and bring some personality, sarcasm, research and passion back into Oilers blogs and interviews!

Oilers Ink Two

The Edmonton Oilers inked a couple of prospects today with the signings of Linus Omark and Chris Vande Velde to entry level contracts. Fans should remember Omark from being a member of team Sweden at this years World Juniors and for scoring that highlight reel goal against the Swiss at the tournament. Omark is listed as being roughly 5'9 and 162 lbs on some sites and 5'11 188 lbs on others, normally these weight estimates are also quite generous so he's a little guy to say the least.

However, Chris Vande Velde is on the other side of the size spectrum, listed at 6'2 and 204 lbs. He will add some much-needed size to the Oilers lineup, especially upfront. Both players look to be on the first flights out to Springfield to join the wrest of the crew in their last 3 games. The Falcons play three games in three nights to close out the season on April 9th, 10th and 11th. The Oilers final two games will be a back-to-back away set with stops in LA and Anaheim on April 10th and 11th.

The Oilers are currently in the 3rd period of their game against the Minnesota Wild, which they are leading by a score of 2-1 courtesy of goals by Penner and Moreau. It's a battle of the two basement-dwellers, but a win is a win even if it doesn't matter and hasn't for quite some time now.

Weal to U-18's

It was no surprise that Jordan Weal was one of the members named to team Canada for the World under 18 championships today. Hopefully Weal can make an impact on the big stage and further improve his draft status. As of right now, he is not projected to go in the first round of the 2010 NHL entry draft, but a strong performance at the U-18's could change that.

The Pats fans never got the see the Eastern and Western rookie's of the 2009 face off this year as Brett Connolly had a nagging hip injury all season. Now, fans will have to settle for them being teammates as Brett was also named to the team Canada squad.

Quinton Howden, the Moose Jaw standout was also named to the team along with four other WHL players. The team leaves for Europe this coming Tuesday and play their first exhibition game on April 9th. Canada finished fourth last year at the tournament and first the year before, they look to big a strong competitor going in this year.. but is anyone surprised?

April Fool's or Real Deal?

In a rather surprising and unlikely decision, backup goalie Devan Dubnyk will play centre for the Oilers against Dallas tomorrow night. That's right, centre! Apparently Dubnyk has been "getting sick of playing goalie" and has been practicing his stick handling a lot at practice. The Oilers assistant coach Tom Renney feels that he can add some much needed size to the Oilers line up. Dubnyk will make his presence known on a line with Patrick O'Sullivan and one other player that has yet to be determined by the coaching staff.

Some may ask, "Who will be Deslauries' backup?" and the answer to that is just as shocking. Forward Ryan Potulny will be serving as Edmonton's back-up against Dallas. Potulny claims to have played goalie a lot throughout his childhood playing days and when the coaches asked him about it he replied "I feel comfortable there".

It will be very interesting to see how each of the players adjust to the old switcheroo the coaching staff is attempting to pull off. The fans will be virtually guaranteed to see Dubnyk play forward but it's not as certain that Potulny will get to show off his rumored skills in net. Apparently Tom Renney has been wanting to try Dubnyk as a forward all season, hopefully it isn't embarrassing. Who knows? Maybe Devan is a star forward in the making, rumor has it the kid is pretty fast.

Providing this is not an elaborate April Fool's prank, the switcheroo will take place Friday night when the Oilers take on the Dallas Stars in Dallas. The only way fans will get to see it is if they pay roughly 20 bucks for the pay-per-view, could this all be a tactic to gain more buyers? Well, I'm definitely considering it, so their plan may just work.

P.S. Did I ever mention that I am extremely gullible?