Check Yourself

You know how I always ramble on about how the post-season is different? Bret Hedican really summed up my thoughts:

I know it's cliché, but you need players who aren't worried about themselves or the stat sheet, but instead about the team, no matter what their role is. You have to have a group of guys that don't have the egos. You can't have egos in that room. When you walk through the door, you are all the same, no matter if you play five minutes or twenty-five minutes a night. Every one is just as important as the next guy because it's going to take every guy to win.

Quote Me

"I’ve never been impressed when a guy brags about how hard he’s perspiring shovelling dirt back in a hole when he dug the hole."
- Brian Burke

See the entire transcript of the Burke interview with James Mirtle here.

Quote Me

"I have 10 fingers on my hands, and I want to win 10 times."
- Geno Malkin

I'm down.

Quote of the Day

My mom put a picture of [the Stanley Cup] in my crib when I was born. She told me that anytime you start something, you should do it the best you can and finish at the top.

-Kris Letang

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Best Out of One

There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other.
- Douglas H. Everett

Quote Me

I'm a big Crosby supporter, but even I have to admit this is hilarious:

I mean, for God's sake, right after Crosby picked up the Prince of Wales trophy, the officials actually gave the trophy a two minute holding penalty.

Props to Ritch over at American Hockey Fan for that one.

Quote Me

Is it just me or is Bobby Holik's retirement statement really touching?

"I'm done. I'm retiring. I miss being with my family every day. I knew when the season ended, but I wanted to leave and get home first, and not make a big deal of it. A player is what I was. Now I'm a husband and a father."

I felt that one. Enjoy retirement bud.

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Quote of the Day

In the last couple of weeks here I had my lip split open, my chin split open, I got stitches in my eyelid and I got hit so hard in Game 6 that it actually knocked one of my false teeth out. And I loved every minute of it.

- Brendan Shanahan

This made me think of the Celtics-Bulls game the other day when Miller got hit in the mouth and took about 20 minutes to get back on the court.

Hockey is the toughest sport.

Period.

Quote Me

“El Nino? You think I could explain that?”
- Jack Parker

What Parker was referring to, of course, was how he could explain his team's three goals in 44 seconds that occurred in the third period of the Hockey East semi-final game against Boston College.

I caught most of the game, and those 44 seconds were it for the Terriers. Without that burst ('burst' is even an understatement) of scoring, I don't know if BU would've won that game. The Terriers were down 1-0, and BC's John Muse was playing solid as usual. But just like Game 1 of the Maine series, BU found a way to win with those quick goals from Zach Cohen, Brian Strait and - who else - Colin Wilson.

The Terriers face an unexpected opponent tonight when they skate against UMass-Lowell. UML was down 2-1 to the Northeastern Huskies until they tied it up with about 20 seconds left. Then they scored in OT to win. It will be the first time the Riverhawks play in the HE Final since 1994 I believe. Good for them. I always have a soft spot for this team. They always work hard, and they almost lost their hockey program. I can't like them tonight obviously, but I'm happy they made it to this point.

Game time is 7 p.m. NESN will broadcast the game beginning at 6:30. Definitely tune in. Even though BU is the outright favorite, you can never, never underestimate UML. They can beat the Terriers, and they're sure as hell going to try.

Quote Me

To be perfectly honest I wouldn't want to have to explain to my 12-year-old daughter what he said.
- Gary Bettman on Sean Avery's 'sloppy seconds' remarks

Oh, PLEASE. I wouldn't want to have to explain to her how a lot of people feel about you.

Quote Me

"I think the first period was a poor period for everybody, but being the youngest, I guess you sometimes take the brunt of that. The second period didn't start off the way I wanted to, but when you're young you don't get many chances, I guess. I found the middle of the bench pretty quickly." - Bobby Ryan

No, there's nothing thrilling or amusing about this quote. I just wanted to use it to point out how Bobby Ryan can't just say, 'Hey, listen. I didn't play that well, and I paid for it. I gotta get out there and work harder.' If you start paying attention, you'll see this in a lot of his quotes. He always has to attribute poor play to other things. I think it reflects poorly on him. Even if he feels he's getting jipped, acting like a baby is no way to get people on your side. Swallow your pride, bud. The whole hockey world knows you got screwed when you got demoted for salary cap issues. Guess what? Everyone is over it. You're in the show now, so they really could care less to hear you whine. You're part of a team. Act like it.

I'll dig around to find similar boo-hoo quotes from him.

Photo Credit: Flickr

Quote of the Day

Is he talking about the youngest guy to get 100 points in the history of the National Hockey League? Is he talking about the youngest guy to win the Hart Trophy and lead the league in scoring? Is he talking about the youngest captain in the National Hockey League to bring his team to the Stanley Cup Final? That’s all I have to say.

Michel Therrien in response to Alex Semin's earlier comments on Crosby

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Quote of the Day

What's so special about [Crosby]? I don't see anything special there. Yes, he does skate well, has a good head, good pass. But there's nothing else.

Alexander Semin

Weird ... because I think Crosby's pretty good.

Quote of the Day

I think if the economy can pull the kind of 180 that Paul Bissonnette achieved in the last year, the country would be a much happier place.

- Ben Lovejoy

Some Scranton Love ...

The LA Times had a little clip about prospect Eric Tangradi. It also noted a bit about his time spent playing in Kingston, PA:

Tangradi played high school hockey at Wyoming Seminary Prep, which is not in Wyoming, but Scranton, Pa., and had nothing to do with those who wish to become a Catholic priest.

"Just a fancy name for a prep school," Tangradi said. "It was probably the stepping stone to my hockey career."

That quote will probably only be amusing for those from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area. Sem isn't even in Scranton either, but that's okay. And most of my friends who went to Sem never even considered becoming Catholic priests. In fact, it's a Methodist school.

Hahahaha.

Regardless, it's still pretty cool to see a kid that played in the WBS area continue his hockey career.

Quote Me

Perhaps my favorite media darling in the NHL, Alexander Ovechkin, had an entertaining interview in the new Hockey News yearbook. I couldn't decide which to use, so I went with both:

"You love your mom all the time, and I love hockey all the time."

"I want more. All the time, I want more, more, more. Sometimes you eat a lot and you say, 'I can't eat anymore.' But when you score goals, it's not like that. It's unbelievable ... unbelievable food."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated

Quote Me

"We might have to employ scientists to investigate, but Wayne may be the best human at everything ever."
- www.barrymelroserocks.com

And Then He Said ...

My favorite quote of the week thus far:

"The only way this soap opera could be more entertaining would be if the Lightning’s braintrust discovered a hidden clause in the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement that allowed them to somehow supersede Vancouver's ability to match and bring Bernier to Tampa Bay – a move that, by my calculations, would give the Bolts approximately 89 forwards heading into training camp."

- Adam Proteau, THN

So true, so true.

Photo Credit: St. Pete Times