Nice Shootout Goal

Since the NHL added the shootout after overtime we've seen a flurry of amazing 1-on-1 moves resulting in spectacular goals. Even in the NHL shootout skills competition, it's hard to find a 'new move' that people haven't seen before. As a Red Wings fan, I'm a little biased and still can't believe Pavel Datsyuk pulled off this move at full speed in a game scenario (and then again a few weeks later in a shootout) but I found a clip of Edmonton Oilers' draft pick Linus Omark scoring on a unique move that I can honestly say I haven't seen an NHL'er attempt.

Check it out;

Microsoft's Reply

In this tough economic time, I've noticed a shift in advertising. It's no longer about getting the biggest, fastest, latest and greatest version of something. The focus has shifted to the financial aspect of things. Commercials would often explain how their product was far superior to 'The other leading brand' and lead a consumer to believe it's worth paying a little extra for that added functionality. Apple has had great success with it's "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" ads, making it appear cool to be a Mac owner. Despite the steep price tag for Mac notebooks, Mac sales began to climb as a result. For whatever reason, Microsoft didn't muster much of a response until now.

Their latest ad campaign shows Microsoft offering to purchase a laptop for a random consumer. If the customer can find a laptop with all the requirements they are looking for (either a Mac or PC) for less than $1000, Microsoft will buy it for them.

The customer in the video claims to be looking for three key requirements. Speed, a comfortable keyboard, and a 17" screen. Finding a Mac with a 17" screen for under $1000 is almost impossible, thus making Microsoft's ad quite clever.

Check it out;

After failing to find what she is looking for in the Mac store for under $1000, Lauren ended up with an HP Pavilion for $699.99. Considering Apple doesn't offer a 17" screen under a grand, Lauren finished up with a decent PC. The laptop she decided on had a 2.1GHz AMD Turion X2 with 4GB of DDR2 RAM, 320GB hard drive, DVD-RW drive and of course a 1440×900 17-inch display.

My favourite line in this ad, was the subtle dig "I'm not cool enough to be a Mac person". Do you want to be "cool"? or do you want to save money?

Something To Prove

In NHL action tonight, the Detroit Red Wings (currently 1st overall in the NHL with 107 points) played the lowly New York Islanders (currently last overall in the NHL with 58 points). To add a bit of intrigue to this story, the starting goaltender for the Islanders was Joey McDonald. McDonald was a prospect in the Detroit Red Wings organization, and after spending 6 years with in the minor league system, the team felt he wasn't going to make it as a starting goaltender for their team, and lost him on waivers to New York. With the season ending injury to Rick DiPietro on the island, McDonald has been given a share of the goaltending duties as a rotating starter.

Coming back to face the team that basically gave up on him, and playing at Joe Louis Arena, the underdog Islanders shocked the Wings by handing them a 2-0 loss. Not only did the Wings lose to the worst team in the NHL, they were shutout by a goalie they discarded.

Did I mention I ruined the shutout streak a while back??

Wow....

Window Of Opportunity

A Sacramento business owner was arrested as a result of several acts of vandalism. Andrew Krogh owns AA Glass and Mirror, and operated a scam in his local area where he would use a slingshot and ball bearings to shoot out the windows of businesses in his area during the night. Then Krogh would conveniently appear and offer his business card, telling the victims that he could offer a deal to help repair the damage. A Sacramento Martial Arts school appeared to be the favourite target suffering over $12,000 in broken windows during the span of 1 year. Each time AA Glass and Mirror was called to repair the damage. As fate would have it, the landlord of the Martial Arts Building also owns a surveillance company, and uses his resources to monitor the Jiu Jistu school in an attempt to catch the vandal. After catching a suspicious white van in the parking lot each night the building was vandalized, the students took matters into their own hands. Eight Martial Arts students planned a stake out, and while hiding nearby when Krogh's white van made a U-Turn towards the lot, as the students made their move. One of the students happened to be a sheriff's deputy, and made the arrest.

This story reminds me of the kid who wrote a small computer virus to drum up business for his parents computer repair company, only to have the virus spread further than anticipated crippling PC's all over the world.

Ten (X2)

Pearl Jam, the Legendary Seattle Alternative Rockers have opted to re-release their debut album "Ten" today. Back in 1990 the band was performing under the name "Mookie Blaylock". Mookie was the nickname given to retired NBA point guard Daron Oshay Blaylock, and Stone Gossard & Jeff Ament were fans of the basketball player, and wanted to name their band after him. Due to trademark issues surrounding a band named after a living person, they changed their name to Pearl Jam. As a way to pay homage to Mookie Blaylock, they named their debut album Ten, representing Blaylock's jersey number.

The original release of Ten stayed on the Billboard charts for more than two years, and has gone on to become one of the highest-selling rock records ever, going twelve times platinum and Pearl Jam is credited as being one of the founders of the Seattle Grunge movement with the likes of Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Nirvana.

With tracks like "Jeremy", "Even Flow", and "Alive" it's easy to see why Ten ranked number 15 in the October 2006 issue of Guitar World on the magazine's list of the 100 greatest guitar albums of all time. Billboard had Pearl Jam's debut reaching #2 on their charts, with only Billy Ray Cyrus keeping them from claiming the top album.

Time Is Running Out...

With roughly 10 games remaining in the NHL season, the Detroit Red Wings have yet to come to a contractual agreement with Marian Hossa or Johan Franzen. Both players could command a big payday on the open market, but the Wings are hoping their organization will earn a discounted rate to play for a contender.

Wings GM Ken Holland has already made it clear that he wants at least one, if not BOTH of Hossa and Franzen's contract discussions resolved before the playoffs start. Any outstanding negotiations will be put on hold until playoffs are over. Recent reports from Hossa state the superstar forward is willing to remain in Detroit at a discounted rate but also doesn't want to be taken advantage of.

“To be able to stay as a Red Wing, I am prepared to take less money, but a fair deal, so both sides are happy. That’s what I’m looking for. I know if I go somewhere else, I could have more, but I’m willing to take less to stay here. Hopefully things work out.”

“I could be somewhere else, you know, but I came here because I like everything and I want to be a part of it,” Hossa said. “And that’s why I want to still be a Red Wing and stay here.” - Marian Hossa

The Wings roster boasts several elite level players, and as a result, doesn't offer Holland much wiggle room. In comparison to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Wings have made much smarter deals in regards to cap spending. For example;

• Datsyuk’s cap hit next season is $6.7 million and Zetterberg’s is around $6.1 million.
• Crosby and Malkin will be at $8.7 million each next season.

• That leaves the two Wings’ forwards with $12.8 million combined cap hits.
• And the Pen stars $17.4 million for the Penguins’ duo.

• (Mr. Norris Trophy) Nick Lidstrom anchors the blueline at $7.45 million.
• Pittsburgh quarterback Sergei Gonchar pulls in $6 million for the Penguins.
  

• Would you rather have $20.25 million invested in Pavel, Henrik, and Nick?
  
• or $23.40 in Sid, Evgeni, and Sergei?

I know where I'd spend it, and the proof was in last year's Stanley Cup Final. Not to mention that $3.2 million in savings would afford me role players like Hudler and Cleary.

There is a reason Holland is considered the best GM in the league.

Rough Night...

It's one thing for the Vancouver Canucks to lose to the Phoenix Coyotes this late in the season, but already trailing 3-0 in the second, and a delayed penalty about to be called... when this happens;

Should Marty Get An Asterisk?

Martin Brodeur broke Patrick Roy's record for Wins by an NHL goaltender surpassing Roy's mark with his 552 win. There is no denying that Marty is one of the elite netminders in NHL history, and he is without question, in the top 10. People are quick to look at this recent achievement and call him the best goaltender of all time. That's where I disagree.

Martin Brodeur reached 552 wins in just his 987th game. Roy needed 1,029 games to reach 551. When looking at those numbers it seems like a large margin, but you need to factor in today's NHL. In Roy's day, if a regular season game was tied after 60 minutes of regulation play, and after an added 5 minutes of overtime, it ended in a tie. There wasn't a shootout to force a win like there is today. With 23 of his 552 wins coming as a result of the shootout, these 'wins' would have been listed as a tie before 2005. With Roy retiring in 2003, he didn't have the luxury of these coin flip shootout wins. With the new NHL rule changes, you'll start to see more records fall that are tough to compare side by side.

Overall, I'm not a big fan of the Goaltender Wins statistic. Hockey is a team sport, and regardless of elite players in the league, games are won as a team, and lost as a team. If New Jersey wins a game 7-6, and Brodeur allows 6 goals on 30 shots while still recording a win... is that impressive??

Now I don't want to take anything away from Martin Brodeur. He'll be a first ballot hall of fame inductee, and as I mentioned before can easily be considered one of the top 10 goaltenders of all time while boasting a winning record against every NHL team with the exception of 2. (Vancouver is one of them, and the other is... the Detroit Red Wings.) I simply feel that the 552 wins with shootouts compared to the 551 without shootouts are like comparing apples and oranges.

If we are keeping things even, Marty would be at 529 wins to Roy's 551 with 3 years remaining on his current contract it's only a matter of time before he surpasses Patrick's mark legitimately.

But the NHL doesn't share my views, so I'll be the bigger man and offer congratulations on your 552* wins.

Pandora's Music Box

When I worked as a manager of a CD store, I was introduced to a wide range of artists spanning a wide range of genres. Some were actually good, and others were quite terrible. Aside from serving as a walking version of name-that-tune, people would often ask for musical suggestions. The most common questions were "I love [insert Artist] and have all their albums but I'm looking for new music... can you suggest someone similar?"

Each and every time, I'd suggest they check out The Music Genome Project at www.pandora.com. This site was created back early 2000.

What is the Genome Project? (Straight from the website)

We set out to capture the essence of music at the most fundamental level. We ended up assembling literally hundreds of musical attributes or "genes" into a very large Music Genome. Taken together these genes capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song - everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony. It's not about what a band looks like, or what genre they supposedly belong to, or about who buys their records - it's about what each individual song sounds like.

So basically a user could enter in the artist or song they enjoy, and Pandora will make a playlist of similar artists/songs that match your taste. With everything from mainstream to obscure garage bands, Pandora's accuracy was very impressive.

Now for the bad news.

In the U.S. there is a federal statute called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that provides this license for all the music you hear on Pandora. Unfortunately, there is no equivalent license outside the U.S. As a result, if the IP address of your computer isn't an American address, you won't make it much further than a splash screen apologizing for restricting access. The folks at Pandora state they plan to make this a global service, but until Canada can come up with our own DMCA, we're on the outside looking in.

First To 100 Points

The Detroit Red Wings have reached the 100 pt plateau again this year, setting an NHL record with their 9th consecutive 100 point season. The 100 points with 12 games remaining also clinched a playoff spot, marking the 17th consecutive post season appearance for the Wings. Despite recent goaltending struggles, and defensive lapses, the Wings sit on top of the NHL standings with 101 points. Detroit will face some stiff competition with the likes of San Jose, Calgary, Boston, & New Jersey all making a big push this year. Many people have questioned the Red Wings and their ability to repeat as champs, but looking at the numbers this season compared to last... Detroit has 3 more points after 70 games this year than they did during their Stanley Cup season.

I recently blogged about superstitions and tested the waters by breaking my own rule, and blogged about the Red Wing's consecutive goal streak only to have it snapped shorty there after. I had contemplated discussing the 100 point season at that time, and now I'm quite happy I didn't!

I'd much rather have a 100 point season, than carry on a goal scoring streak.

The Mythbusters Are Thorough

Anyone who has watched the Mythbusters can attest that no matter how meticulous they are, people will always doubt their findings, and question the methods of which their results were obtained. I will admit that on occasion I have wondered if they took into account each and every variable when attempting to reproduce certain myths. I'm sure it is merely a side effect of editing the show to fit a 30 minute window, but as a result, a shadow of doubt can be cast.

With that being said... I stumbled upon this speech by Adam Savage in regards to a personal obsession of his, and the level of detail he put into this is amazing.

Now, if he goes to great lengths to do something like that during his own spare time... I can't help but think he's very thorough while filming Mythbusters.

Google: One Step Closer To Taking Over The World

Today Google announced the launch of a new service for Gmail users that will merge your cell phone voice mail into E-mails. Using speech recognition technology, the feature will transcribe your messages into text format, and can be received as an E-mail or SMS message. Now in it's infancy stages, this add-on isn't flawless and will suffer the occasional mistake during the interpretation process, but messages include the ability to listen to the actual message if the transcript becomes confusing.

Massive Rainfall

We experienced a large amount of rainfall today, and as luck would have it, several of the drainage grates were clogged (I assume with leaves, etc) and the combination resulted in a mini lake forming out front of my house. I live on a fairly busy street, and the majority of drivers felt they could make it through the water, but as the rain fell, the water rose higher, and it wasn't long before the first car stalled in the center of this pool. With the water rising quickly, other brilliant drivers figured they could make it despite the obvious sign of danger with 1 car stuck in the center of the mess. Before long 2 more cars stalled as the water had risen well over the hood of their vehicles. With 3 stranded motorists sitting helplessly in the middle of a giant puddle out front of my house, I opted to throw on a pair of shorts and sandals to see if I could help. The temperature was around 7 degrees and I was fine when just standing in the rain, but once I stepped into that water, I really regretted my fashion decision. By the time I made my way down to speak with a neighbor about the situation, 2 more cars managed to get stuck at the other end, with the second car actually hitting the first. The occasional Jeep or full sized pickup truck would manage to plow through the mini lake sending waves splashing the stranded vehicles and actually sending water inside their cars. Another motorist in a minivan attempted to drive over the grass on the side of the road, but the heavy rainfall had transformed this into a swamp. As anticipated, his van sunk, and was left trapped as well. After about 30 mins of pushing we managed to free the van and he headed back to dry land. Now roughly an hour had passed and my feet were in serious pain from the cold water & mud. A few of my neighbors had managed to unclog 3 drains and you could actually see the water level dropping. A few tow trucks had arrived to help the stranded motorists, but it's still amazing that nobody from the city bothered to show up after this fiasco lasted nearly 2 and a half hours. With the situation under control, I made my way back home to allow the heat from my house at my cold muddy feet. Typically this would be a good thing, but the length of time spent in the cold water practically bare foot, my feet began to burn and throb once they started to warm up. I sat with a towel wrapped around my feet but the pain was so intense, I was unable to sit still. In an attempt to get the blood circulating to my toes, I managed to hobble around my house and after about 30 mins I had feeling back in my feet.

All in all, I don't regret helping these people out, but my feet sure paid the price.

Toronto Bought a Draft Pick

So with the NHL trade deadline behind us, I can't help but dig a little deeper into the Toronto/Tampa Bay trade. To recap;

Toronto gets;

• Olaf Kolzig
• Jamie Heward
• Andy Rogers
• 4th Round Pick

Tampa Bay gets;

• Richard Petiot

Now despite the numbers being lopsided, and the fact half the hockey world had to look up the name Richard Petiot, this trade is very impressive for both teams. Both Kolzig and Heward suffered season ending injuries this year, and both have contracts that expire after this season. I doubt either of these players will ever wear the blue and white. Rogers and Petiot are both career minor players who don't appear to have a future in the NHL. Therefore, this means is that Toronto will pay the remaining tab for Kolzig & Heward (roughly $450,000) in exchange for a 4th round pick from the Lightning. Due to salary cap limitations & hockey markets, Toronto is the pinnacle of hockey markets and had money to spend where as Tampa is one of the weaker hockey markets, and could really benefit from such a cap relief.

It is this fact that allowed the Leafs to essentially purchase a 4th round pick for approx. $450,000.

The View From The Top

The Detroit Red Wings have taken over first place in the NHL by surpassing both the Bruins and Sharks. Keep in mind that both teams have played fewer games than the Wings (Boston 1 less, and San Jose has 3 games in hand) With approx 20 games remaining... it seems like a 3 horse race for the President's Trophy and more importantly... home ice advantage through the post season.

What Did Everyone Get For Christmas?

With the NHL trade deadline passing today, we seemed destined for the lowest number of trades in the last decade with around 1 hour remaining. For those familiar with D-Day, the rules state that the paperwork must be submitted to the NHL offices BEFORE the deadline at 3pm. Once a trade is submitted, the league will review them, and deem them approved (or rejected for various reasons). Once approved, the details are often leaked to the media and eventually to rabid hockey nuts like myself. The entire end-to-end process is typically quite fast, but you can imagine around 3pm on D-Day the numbers of trades would cause a back-up of paperwork. As a result, there were a large number of trades reported well after the 3pm cutoff.

The complete listing of trades can be found at TSN's Trade Center Site in reverse order, with the last trade finalized at 4:18pm. Due to certain embargo laws, I won't go into details here, but will point out a few key highlights that included my Detroit Red Wings showing unflappable confidence in the current roster and opting to stay out of the trade pool, the Calgary Flames trading away some high draft picks and speedy forward Matt Lombardi to secure the services of Olli Jokinen & Jordan Leopold, and honorable mention goes to the Toronto Maple Leafs for securing 4 draft picks and adding 2 more goaltenders to the stable. (Toskala, Joseph, Pogge... please welcome Martin Gerber and Olaf Kolzig) Clearly the latter was a salary cap saver for Tampa and resulted in a 4th rounder as a sign of good faith.

All in all, an entertaining day once all was said and done.
Final totals were: 22 Trades, 45 Players changed teams, and 21 Draft Picks were exchanged.

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before the deadline, and all 'round the arena.
not a player was traded, not even Pavel Kubina.

The GM's were ready, the cap numbers on their mind.
hoping one key player, gets them through the playoff grind.

This is it... the big push to the NHL trade deadline. Typically you'll see a lot of waiver activity today, as players are sent to and from the minors, or hoping they are claimed in order to split that salary 50-50. It's a last ditch effort to maximize cap room in hopes of landing that missing piece of the puzzle before the post season begins. I always look forward to trade deadline day because after Wednesday teams will have laid all their cards on the table, and we'll know who's going to make a push for Cup, and who plans to enter the dreaded 'rebuilding phase'.

The countdown is on!

I Should Have Known Better!

I Should have known better.

I can't offer any more concrete proof than this. Tonight Detroit lost... no... was annihilated by the lowly Nashville Predators by a final score of 8-0. Now as embarrassing as it is to lose to a professional hockey team from Nashville, Tennessee... I'm more concerned about the fact I pretty much caused this outcome. I'm sure you all recall the blog post I wrote on Friday the 13th regarding superstitions. Well just over 2 weeks later... the Detroit Red Wings were shutout, thus snapping their league leading streak at just over 1 full calendar year of hockey.

A very respectable total, but this could have been avoided...