Week 21 – Deadline Day

Trade Deadline Deals

TSN Deadline Day was pretty much a bust, but in the early hours of Sunday morning, a major trade did take place. Orv traded Max Domi AZ and the pick up to R&S for Rolphy’s 1st, Jordan Greenway MN, R&S 5th, and Andrew Shaw MT. Here’s an insight to the anatomy of an OFHL Deadline Day trade…Plus some other ramblings which make this NSFW

Love how he asks for a 2nd, then immediately gets excited about them having EZ’s 5th. And that solidified things.

Consider this… that hand he used to shake for the confirmation of the deal, was the same one that he had deep in his pants at the beginning of the first video…. just sayin’

TSN Deadline Day wasn’t a complete bust. Bryzgalov was given  a microphone and came up with these gems:

• “When I hear my voice, it sounds disgusting.” —upon listening to playback from his first segment
• “Because they know I will become a starter.” – on why no NHL GM is giving him a shot to play backup
• “Guys! Breaking news! Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry broke up.”
• “Guys! A question! Is chicken meat? Or is it a bird?”
• “Good for him. Lots of sun. Ocean. Play the beach ball with Jaromir Jagr.” — on Thomas Vanek’s trade to Florida
• “My name is Ilya Bryzgalov. I’m your new leader. Let’s go.” — on how he introduced himself to his new teammates
• “I’m an old-school guy. I believe in oil and gas. I don’t want to save money. I want to spend money. More money I spend, better for the economy.”
• “He going to continue riding his horses and enjoying his farm. Catch the scorpion and train the rattlesnake.” – on Shane Doan still untraded at 3 p.m.
• “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I don’t have contract. I’m here as guest.” — upon learning that Sportsnet’s broadcast goes until 6 p.m.

THE WEEK IN BULLETS

• Big week to Cordy with 44 points
• He and Erty went 3-0
• Rolphy went 2-1 and fell 7 points behind Cordy for 1st
• Haukster had 10 points on Sunday to pass Rolphy and stop his run of 3 perfect weeks
• T-Man strengthened his hold on the last $ spot moving 6 points up on Vinny
• eZ jumped up one spot to 7th
• Orv traded his pick-up to R&S who grabbed Philippe Myers from the Q.
• This is the last pick up of the year. R&S get 123, JBR gets 45, Orv gets 6…… and it’s a “5” so JBR gets to make the last pick-up of the season.
• Three weeks remaining in the regular season and then the 2 weeks of playoffs.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

With Bryzgalov in the spotlight it’s not surprising that the POTWs are Russian, and one’s even a goalie.

The honour should go to Kucherov from Team Erty & EZ’s Bobrovsky who each hit 9 points, but Donny McLeod’s hockey card trumps them all.

Don “Smokie” McLeod was born in Trail BC at the height of the “Cominco Smelter Dispute.” He was fearless in goal and it was said, quite correctly, that he must have “had lead & zinc (and trace amounts of other carcinogens) running through his veins.”

Keeping with the ‘tenders… remember these glorious days of hockey?

Clarke probably started it all, but there he is, top left, innocently admiring his creation.

And these “Even More Gloriouser” days….

OFHL’s 1st season.

SHRAPNEL

NHL has now licensed Beanie babies…

Zuccarello after an allergic reaction.

From the Grammar Police

STANDINGS AFTER WEEK 21

Green – in the Money

Blue – Vinny Tablers

Red – Bottom Feeders

TEAM	G	W	L	T	PTS	PWk	TP	AVG	%
Cordy	63	52	10	1	105	44	728	34.7	0.833
Rolphy	63	48	13	2	98	35	692	33.0	0.778
Fulty	63	41	19	3	85	24	665	31.7	0.675
Derko	63	41	22	0	82	25	640	30.5	0.651
T-Man	63	34	26	3	71	37	621	29.6	0.563
Vinny	63	32	30	1	65	24	586	27.9	0.516
eZ	63	31	30	2	64	37	645	30.7	0.508
Haukster	63	31	30	2	64	36	592	28.2	0.508
GoJo	63	28	32	3	59	31	573	27.3	0.468
Erty	63	26	35	2	54	39	530	25.2	0.429
Stifler	63	21	39	3	45	27	521	24.8	0.357
Orv	63	16	44	3	35	19	483	23.0	0.278
JBR	63	16	45	2	34	25	482	23.0	0.270
R&S	63	10	52	1	21	17	388	18.5	0.167

PARTING SHOT

The KHL’s 2017 Gagarin Cup playoffs began last week. Regular season champions SKA St. Petersburg released a hype video, and boy, is there a lot going on.

Nothing says Russian Hockey like a hockey glove-wearing rocker who has no need for a pick; 16 cymbal drummer still wearing his shoulder pads; Datsyuk firing off a cannon, and bullets hitting the floor. Only thing missing was vodka-soaked fans pelting the referees with turnips.

That’s it. Three weeks to go in Regular Season.

Week 4 – Cut Down Day

CUBS WIN!

GAME 7. AMAZING! The Curse of the Billy Goat is over!

The Indians currently have the longest streak in baseball at 68 years. During that stretch they’ve been to the World Series 4 times. The longest drought overall now belongs to the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals at 69 years.

Orv holds the OFHL record at 17 years – if only he could shake the Curse of T-Man calling him a “One-Hit Wonder.”

THE WEEKLY RANT

• It’s cut-down day.  Each team should be down to 30 players (13 on your active roster, 12 on the bench, 5 on the prospect list)
• You can activate the prospects to your roster but you must have room (might have to cut a guy)
• You can go over 5 prospects if you acquire one by trade.
• Once a prospect is moved off the list he can’t be a prospect again for the rest of the year.
• How the mighty have fallen! Vinny goes from the perfect week to the stinky week with 15 points.
• Cordy had the big week with 50 points
• Fulty’s on top. Cordy & Vinny are 2 back. Rolphy is 3 back.
• Orv is the bottom-feeder for the 4th straight week so the pick-up goes to a lottery again.
• Orv gets 1,2,3. R&S get 4,5. Stifler gets 6. And it’s a “1” that is rolled so Orvy gets the week 4 pick-up
• The Wk 3 pick-up saw R&S take Anthony Beauvillier from the NYI and drop Jimmy “Purple” Hayes.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

POTW is shared between T-Man’s King Henrik NYR and Cordy’s Crawford CH who earnd garnered 8 points. Also grabbing the emotional POTW is Cubs designated super-fan, Bill Murray for his World Series antics.

SHRAPNEL

The Province explains why Tryamkin doesn’t want to be sent to the AHL – the busses have no leg room! He’s been talked to by management but those Ruskies are funny. How do you explain this? The Canucks lose back-to-back games against the Oilers and Capitals. Those clubs, as is their prerogative, gloat about their wins on their Instagram accounts. And Tryamkin “likes” both.

Obviously he’s new to Instagram and just “Likes” everything…

Habs lose 10-0 to Columbus Fun Facts:

• Canadiens haven`t been shutout 10-0 or worse since Jan. 4, 1942 (lost 10-0 to Red Wings)
• Funny what a single game can do: Al Montoya’s statistics entering 10-0 loss: 1.47 GAA, .955 SV%. After: 3.15 GAA, .908 SV%.
• Al Montoya and Sergei Bobrovsky each made 30 saves in that game. Bobrovsky’s team won 10-0.

Jersey Fouls:

Valeri Nichushkin, who has 22 penalty minutes in 166 career NHL games, is playing in the KHL this year. He just took on 6-4, 254-pound goon Evgeny Artyukhin in a fight. Not a bad effort. Shame about the uppercut. Sorry EZ. No points for you.

More Boring Sean Monahan Tweets

STANDINGS

TEAM	G	W	L	T	PTS	PWk	TP	AVG	%
Fulty	12	10	2	0	20	33	127	31.8	0.833
Kmsh	12	9	3	0	18	50	137	34.3	0.750
TV	12	9	3	0	18	15	110	27.5	0.750
Rolphy	12	8	3	1	17	36	117	29.3	0.708
Ertz	12	7	5	0	14	28	114	28.5	0.583
D’Oh	12	7	5	0	14	31	107	26.8	0.583
Zweirsy	12	6	6	0	12	33	118	29.5	0.500
GOjo	12	5	6	1	11	17	108	27.0	0.458
Hauksta	12	5	6	1	11	24	107	26.8	0.458
JbR	12	5	7	0	10	21	97	24.3	0.417
T*Man	12	3	8	1	7	29	95	23.8	0.292
Durand	12	3	8	1	7	20	84	21.0	0.292
Chad & Stimpy	12	2	9	1	5	17	65	16.3	0.208
Geoff	12	2	10	0	4	23	75	18.8	0.167

PARTING SHOT

Ah, Caddyshack. Bill Murray taught you all you ever needed to know about golf.

I’m Back! Who I play for?

NASHVILLE — Alexander Radulov appears ready to rejoin the Nashville Predators.

The 25-year-old forward has posted a Twitter picture of himself on a plane along with a message saying he’s flying to Nashville via New York.

It appears to be the final step in his long-awaited return to the Predators, who have maintained that they won’t officially welcome him back until he reports to the team.

Radulov spent two seasons with the Predators and Team Orv before bolting to the newly formed KHL in 2008 even though he had one year remaining on his entry-level contract with Nashville and a lifetime of regret remaining on his contract with Team Orv.

The NHL has already ruled that Radulov can return to the Predators without being subjected to waivers, but he was released by Orv after the GM faced an unnatural amount of message board ridicule..

Radulov is back and ready to resume his point-getting ways with the OFHL.  But who owns him?  Orv wanted a grandfather clause whereby a player leaving to the KHL is still property of the OFHL team that owed him, but would not take up an active roster spot until he returns to the NHL.

Some like the idea, but others say that’s the gamble in drafting a ruskie. Radulov will be available in the PFHL next year and it’s interesting to speculate where he’ll go. Will there be 3 Russians going first overall next year?

Could Radulov see himself on team Rolphy or Haukster in September?  That might just be enough to send him back to Russia for good.

From Radulov's Twitter account, "Am coming back to America to play for team and not hired assassin as my passport photo makes me look to be."

Trade Analysis: Burmistrov for Read & a 3rd

Trade: Orv trades Burmistrov WP to Derko for Read PH & a 3rd rd pick ’12

Analysis: Lose:Win:Lose

This trade has a 3-way  application

Derko loses Matt Read, whom Bob Mackenzie calls, “Calder-Cup Winner” (in fairness to Bob, that was said before the Nuge had a 5 point night).  Derko also loses a 3rd round pick, which is a round he relies on heavily to pick-up 3rd string AHL goalies. He will also lose Burmistrov to AK Bars Kazan…. likely next year, or whenever Radulov & Yashin call.  Derko himself has stated this could be “Amonte for Bertuzzi & a 1st 2.0!”

Orv wins as, even though he loses a dynamic point producing player in Burmistrov, he saves himself the embarrassment of next year saying he has the best forwards in the KHL

The other GMs in the OFHL lose out on hearing Orv tell us how his team is the youngest, especially with “Bernice-strikov…. err… Burmese-strop…. you know who!”  At least he still has “Eng-strum.”

"Hey, Jammy. When you go back to USA next year, tell Burmistrov, Ovie, Semin.... it's time to come home."

Dynamo Minsk tribute for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl

No game was played, but on Thursday night Dynamo Minsk still skated out on the ice of their arena — not for a game, but for a remarkable “hockey funeral” for their fallen opponents, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, in front of stands packed with fans in mourning. This is as surreal, heartbreaking and moving a moment as anything ever seen on the rink:

From Russia Today:

“All tickets for the game had been sold long before the tragedy. Soon after the sad news spread worldwide, the game’s organizers decided to arrange a mass at the arena, honoring the legacy of the team.Not a single ticket had been returned as the ceremony was held in the packed arena.Each spectator brought flowers. All the Belarusian leadership, including President Aleksandr Lukashenko, were present at the event.Never was the arena that silent as 37 huge portraits of the players and staff were placed on the ice. A requiem mass was performed by an orchestra, while portraits of the departed Yaroslavl friends and icons appeared on the scoreboard.”

As you can see, part of the tribute included Dynamo players firing pucks into empty nets in honor of each member of Lokomotiv who perished on Wednesday. Later, flowers were placed inside the goals in their memory.