of injuries, Penguins + Rafa to turn into Roger

Long term injuries to be disclosed in the future

Yes, yes, Carbo and Co have decided to tell the media what's wrong with a player if they're expected to be out for a long period of time. That's.... nice... I guess.... Given that it's the middle of the season and it's not the playoffs, I really didn't get what the deal was with all the secrecy. I mean... I get it if it's the playoffs but when you're in the middle of the season and there's no real rush to get the guys back onto the ice until they're fully recovered anyway... what's the deal with the hush hush attitude? All it does is lead to lots of rumors which aren't true.

That being said....

Knowing what Price and everyone else have doesn't exactly help in speeding up the process of their return. Koivu has apparently done something bad to his ankle again and he won't be around for a little while longer. Carbo is now saying that Price may not be in the All Star thing at this point, which is pretty disappointing from a fan's point of view. Like we really want to watch Tim Thomas flopping around in the crease for 20 minutes.....? I don't think so.... Then again, I want to see how good the guy is without his great rescue team in front of him, so I guess I'll suffer through watching him.

Dandenault and Higgy were apparently on the ice today. But who ever said that you need your arms to skate....?

*sighs*

GET HEALTHY SOON YOU GUYS! I WANT YOU BACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

ATP gets a new boss

I wasn't going to mention this because I mean... I personally don't find it that big of a deal worth mentioning. I'm still waiting for the day that NHL drops Gary Bettman and then I may consider bringing that up. But anyway, Adam Helfant was named the new executive chairman and president of the men's circuit the other day. What I find interesting about the guy is during his long and winding career (the guy is actually only 44 so I guess it cant be that long and winding) he also had a stint as an attorney for the NHL. And you said that hockey and tennis can't be combined somehow....

Yeah, that's all I have to say about him *g* Interesting eh? Didn't think so. No one ever said that I made any sense when I write.... Here's hoping his does a good job. And can I make suggestion for the guy? Move the Australian Open back a couple of weeks. 1) this gives the players more time to get ready for the big event and 2) because the players are getting back into the season slowly, it also allows for the fans to get more hyped up about the Grand Slam. I can't speak for the Australians but I personally am not ready for the Australian Open at this point...Nothing too much to be hyped about....

Say it isn't so! Rafa going normal?!

I guess I should have known that something was up when he appeared in that horrid shirt. I thought it was a weird one time thing that Nike messed up on. Well, I guess I was wrong. According to this little thing over here Mr. World No 1 is indeed making an attempt to be more uh.... normal. Aside from the changes he's supposedly making to his game - which include normalizing his forehand to some degree - his personal image is apparently undergoing a change. The main aim? Turning Rafa into a Rafa version of Roger. I kid you not. If the article is to be believed, Nadal will be attempting to "grow up" and behave less like the kid that he comes off as and more like.. well, Roger.

I don't know who's idea this is but I want to say this: DON'T DO IT. We love Rafa because he's Rafa. And we love Roger because he's Roger. If Rafa ends up acting - and looking - like Roger then that won't be any fun at all.

I think Nadal can attract way more people to the sport by being the way he is now. As much as I love Federer, I wouldn't be talking about this right now if it wasn't because of Nadal. What attracted me to the sport was watching Nadal. I loved that he just looked so different from everyone else on the court. His behavior too is way different. I don't doubt that everyone puts a lot of emotion into their game but with Nadal, you see it. You feel like you can empathize and sympathize with him more because he shows his emotions. When I first started watching the guy, I had no idea about tennis. Not a clue. But I watched him anyway because he was that interesting to watch. Federer, as amazingly good as he is, is harder to appreciate if you don't know a thing about tennis. You have to know what makes a good shot, a good play, and a good point, to appreciate just how amazing Federer is. With Nadal you know by the look on his face whether a play was good or bad. Nadal is special because he's Nadal. Not because he's Federer clone.

Please people, keep Nadal the way he is now. And please dump those stupid shirts. Roger looks a lot better in them than Rafa does. Sowwy....

Penguins and Capitals tonight!

While I would love to see this game, I'm still not sure if I'll be able to.... The TV wants a break from all the Habs stuff so it's showing something else tonight. And TSN is still clinging to the belief that it's viewers will see the Senators win a game. But that never stopped me from rambling about the Pens and the Caps, right? Right. Okay. So tonight's game should be fairly interesting. The Caps will be looking to not lose their 4th straight game tonight while the Penguins are looking to capitalize on their 4-2 smashing out of the Flyers and actually get some type of winning streak going again.

Random notes

• This is the second back to back game for both teams.
• While the media has been blowing this so-called issue between Malkin and Ovechkin, I think they should just be quiet. Malkin can (hopefully) fend for himself if indeed Ovechkin is on the warpath and wants to flatten him like a bug. Whatever little thing these two have going on - if indeed it's still going on like the media will have us believe - it's nothing like what Sergei and Grabovski have going on.
  
• Ovechkin hasn't scored in 11 days.
  
• As much as I like the Penguins, I wouldn't mind seeing Ovechkin finally get a goal tonight. And a nice goal too please. Not one of those stupid "oh whoops, it deflected off of me so I get the goal" type of goals that Semin and Fleischmann got against the Habs.
  
• Crosby hasn't scored in.... 4 days. Feels longer than that. I would much prefer to see Malkin getting a goal or two tonight. Well, heck, as long as ANY Penguin scores, I don't care who it is.
  
• And simply for entertainment value I want to see Crosby fight Semin. C'mon, you know you want to see that happen to!