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Maple Leafs 4, Jets 3.

James — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 05:02:19 +0000

It was the first game against the Jets in damn near 20 years. Freaking ever. And I completely forgot it existed and thus missed watching it. Yes, I know, I fail at hockey. You may now arange my public execution. Still, shootout wins are nice. As is our barely 2-week points total. Not bad for a team undergoing a massive rebuild.

Wins: 4
Losses: 1
Shootout Wins: 1
Shootout Losses: 0
Points: 9

Avalanch 3, Maple Leafs 2.

James — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 04:58:40 +0000

One of these days, I’ll actually stay caught up on these thigs. That day has apparently not yet arived. I think I caught most of this game–and it kind of ended while my back was turned. Losses hurt, in general. Overtime losses? Yeah, painful. Still, it’s a point. And Phill Kessel is still Phill Kessel. That’s all we can ask.

Wins: 3
Losses: 1
Shootout Wins: 0
Shootout Losses: 0
Points: 7

Maple Leafs 3, Flames 2.

James — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 04:55:56 +0000

I think I caught most of this game. Calgary actually played decently–and, of course, Phill Kessel was Phill Kessel. Remind me again why Boston gave him up? Which, speaking of, thanks for that, Boston. No really. We love you.

Wins: 3
Losses: 0
Shootout Wins: 0
Shootout Losses: 0
Points: 6

Maple Leafs 6, Senators 5.

James — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 05:57:27 +0000

Oh. My. God. Just… oh my god. ‘Nuff said. No, seriously. We were up 2 nothing at the end of the first. By end of second, we were up 3 nothing. Then 4 nothing in the third. Then we kind of started to fall apart. They pulled one back, which we recovered, or so I kind of hoped. They made it 5 2, and by this point, the laptop had decided to flatline. So I slapped that on the charger, came back and it was 5 4 Toronto. Then it was 6 4. And Kessel got his hat trick. We wished for it. We all but predicted it. Then, he delivered. I could have screamed my fool head off and felt not one bit uncomfortable doing it. Yes, even when they made the game 6 5 after that–and we still walked away with the points. I still cannot find words. It’s only the second game in the season, but wow. My mind. Gone. And so am I.

Wins: 2
Losses: 0
Shootout Wins: 0
Shootout Losses: 0
Points: 4

Maple Leafs 2, Canadians 0.

James — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 05:52:09 +0000

Welcome back, boys of winter. I’ve missed you. I didn’t catch most of the game last night, what with being enroute here, but what I saw was made of awesome. We spent most of our time in the offensive end, and very nearly added to the lead on several occasions. As they say, epic win is epic. If you’re into that kinda thing and can see them, Mike was at the opener and posted pictures–they’re over here. For everyone else, raise your hands and say it with me. Go Leafs go! We killed the bastards from Montreal. Now, to do same to the bastards from Ottawa. Here’s hoping I can actually watch all of that one.

Wins: 1
Losses: 0
Shootout Wins: 0
Shootout Losses: 0
Points: 2

I admit I’ve done this. I’m proud to.

James — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 07:41:49 +0000

Signs you should update more often include, when you’re going back through things you meant to blog about that now all of a sudden aren’t so relevant because you waited over a month to review them, you find something you’ve been meaning to blog about and just never had the time–or, for 3 days during that time, didn’t have the blog (that entry’s coming). That, er, rather includes this.

Jun 14 11:03pm: calling in sick for hockey game

I will openly admit to having unknowingly done exactly that. And hey look, we even won. Yeah, I’ll admit to having called in sick for a game. And I won’t lose any sleep over doing so. Don’t ask me to try hat after a loss, hough.

Introducing Jets 2.0!

James — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:10:58 +0000

Make it Seven gets its wish, and we get Jets, the sequel. It wasn’t Hamilton, and it didn’t pull the poor Coyotes out of Phoenix, but for the love of God, we’ve got a seventh team. And it’s in Winnipeg. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again–it’s about damn time. And rumor has it the team’s name will be, as folks have hoped, the Jets. Welcome back, Jets 2.0. Plese remind my Leafs how to play–before I have to contemplate jumping ship. Please?

The NHL doesn’t believe in free advertising, threatens a Montreal restaurant with $90000 in damages.

James — Mon, 23 May 2011 07:02:27 +0000

I’ve never been to a shawarma restaurant. Nor have I ever had shawarma. Hell, before I moved to Ottawa I’d never even really heard of the stuff. But I’d still support a restaurant of that variety who wanted to stick up for the home team–yes, even if the home team was those bastards from Montreal. The NHL has a different take on it, apparently. One such restaurant near the Bell center thought it might be fun to hang a poster with a cartoon character in a Canadians jersey slicing shawarma with a sword, with the phrase “Go Habs go!” underneath it. The NHL sent him a letter indicating he was in violation of copyright, so the restaurant owner painted over the Canadians logo. They sent him another, indicating the phrase “Go Habs go!” was also trademarked, so he painted over that. He eventually just took the sign down. You’d think that would satisfy the NHL, right? Clearly, you don’t know comissioner Betmman. Instead of being satisfied they’d finally intimidated a local restaurant into not giving the team and the league some much needed free advertising, they rewarded him by demanding he pay $89000 to the league, or $1000 per day of the sign’s existence.

I’ll be the first to say it aughta be illegal to support the Canadians. But then, I’m a Leafs fan–I can say that. But to take it to this level, and claim copyright violations over something that would very obviously be fair use if Canada had a fair use clause, just smacks of “I don’t care”. The team was, and I have to hold my nose to type this, actually doing well, but still couldn’t be hurt by a little extra free advertising. The restaurant was in close enough proximity to the arena that supporting the team, whether or not the owner of the place is a diehard fan, makes perfect business sense for the restaurant and perfect PR sense for the NHL and the Canadians. And instead of recognising that, the NHL slaps a local restaurant in the face and sends a shakedown notice–compensation for using a logo and a phrase they say is trademarked (I’ll believe it when I see it). Now tell me Canada doesn’t need some serious copyright reform.

Make it Seven has a brand new cause. Atlanta.

James — Mon, 23 May 2011 06:23:29 +0000

A long, long time ago, someone brought up the bright idea to try and move the Phoenix Coyotes to Winnipeg. Then there was talk of Hamilton. Then both just kind of imploded and no one heard two words about it. Until today. Now, another NHL season’s trying to limp to an end, and another failing hockey team’s being talked about in the context of being shuffled off to Winnipeg–this time, from Atlanta. Hockey fans older than I will probably remember another Atlanta-based team who was at one point being talked about in the context of being shuffled off north–they’re in Calgary now. I’ve said it before, but it can’t hurt a thing to say it again–Canada needs more hockey. At least, Canada needs it a whole lot more than the southern US appears to–based on how many of those teams can barely fill up an arena. Okay, so the whole idea of two Canadian teams actually facing off against each other for something more than a shot at 8th place sounds good, but beyond that, the league needs competition. Not just the kind of competition you’d see in Buffalo or New York–but the kind of competition you used to see in a Quebec City versus Montreal context–for the record, real hockey fans cheered for Quebec City in those games. Or a Winnipeg versus Vancouver context. I was barely old enough to remember games like that. Even now, I have to go look it up to get an idea what I just barely missed. If this attempt at a deal doesn’t come apart at the seems and do all manner of imploding all over itself, I might even be convinced to turn off a Leafs game for this. And we all know I’m attached to my Leafs games–when life stops throwing me curves I can’t hit. So, there’s your reason for putting a team in Winnipeg. Make me turn off a Leafs game. Any takers?

Anyone wanna guess what this is?

James — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 18:40:04 +0000

No? Okay fine. This would be, for the first time in a little bit over a month, my attempted reemergence into the realm of this whole blogging thing. This may or may not include yet more mockery, and that thinggy I’m supposed to do about what you guys were reading last month–conveniently, 4 or 5 days before I should be doing that thing about what you were reading while I was being all unavailable and things. There’s an abso-freaking-lute metric ton of crap I probably could, and should, be writing about. Sadly, most of it kind of stopped applying about 2 weeks ago–sorry, life does that to ya. Things that do get a mention here and may or may not be elaborated on when I have slightly more brain power. In list format, because hey, first post in a month, here. Lazy.

Moving: Jessica got herself all moved in, relatively in one piece and with most of what sanity she has left after dating and being engaged to me intact. Her stuff, thankfully, also made it to the other end in one pice. Find her take on that and several million other things over on her blog. Go now. I’ll wait.
Technology: I’d started the process before I left, and finished it while down there–in and around the above mentioned move. Shortly before my return to Canada–where I’m currently flaed out now, the new laptop I’d been aiming for met me here. It’s nifty cool, in the wicked sense. Still getting used to using Windows 7 on a more than occasional basis, but hey, so far I’m not complaining much.
The stupid: there’s acrap ton of it. It starts with local cab companies, and it’ll all warrant separate entries. Again, see the need for more brain power.
Hockey: the playoffs are closing rappidly in on us. There will be playoff mockery involved. There will not be Leafs recaps involved–again. Ah well. You saw it coming.
Leafs: I quit. At least for this season. I haven’t done a recap since mid-February. To recap this many games would be both exceedingly spammy and a very good reason to develop a migraine. Naturally it would also double as an excellent exercise in frustration–like all mid to late season attempts at playing the comeback kid do. You’re just not that team, Toronto. Sorry.
Mockery: Oh, dear lord, the mockery. Not in this post, but the mockery. I’m buried in it. It’ll get posted over the next couple days. Trust me–it’ll be more than worth the wayt.

So that’s kind of where I’ve been. Now, where’d I put my caffeine?

We still know what to do with that first rounder, right?

James — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:24:12 +0000

Okay. So. While I was out having fun last night, the Leafs related internet virtually blew up all over the place. We traded Chris Versteeg yesterday for a first rounder, a third rounder, and some guy who’s name escapes me at the moment. We know what to do with the third round pick–usually waste it on someone who’ll never see the light of day. But do we still remember what to do with the first round one? Last time we had a halfway decent pick in that round, we auctioned it off for Kessel. Which, okay, nice shot, but I dunno if we’re getting our money’s worth. I can’t even remember anything else we’ve done in recent years with picks in the first round they were that good. But we didn’t have this GM for most of those years, and he at least likes to pretend to use his brain if nothing else. Steve asked yesterday if we’d even still remember what the hell to do with it. I told him then we’d at least have time to figure it out. Thinking about it now? I just hope they don’t remember what they did with the last decent one. That didn’t work quite as well as we’d hoped.

Canadians 3, Maple Leafs 0.

James — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 17:03:50 +0000

Things I did not want to see when I woke up this morning. The 0 is on the wrong side of the scoreboard. Versus those bastards from Montreal, even. Seriously, something just broke. I dunno what, but something just broke. Bright side: Ottawa’s in last. That deserves a special place in mockeryland. Now where’d I put that article from The Onion?

Wins: 23
Losses: 33
Shootout Wins: 4
Shootout Losses: 3
Points: 52

Devils 2, Maple Leafs 1.

James — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 17:00:12 +0000

Our goaltender? Awesome. Our coatch? Okay. Our team? Uh, where were they? Yeah, again, missed this one. But at least this time I didn’t miss much. Apparently we didn’t actually play, or so reports go. Sigh. Oh well, I’ll take the point. So long, last available playoff spot.

Wins: 23
Losses: 32
Shootout Wins: 4
Shootout Losses: 3
Points: 52

Maple Leafs 5, Islanders 3.

James — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 16:57:22 +0000

I really need to stop existing outside of the Leafs viewing area, if only because I miss games like this. Apparently, we rocked socks. Yeah, in spite of the fact the Isles were kind of in a goalie predicament of the highest order–hey, is Telqvist still playing? You guys could use him. Still, I’ll take the 2 points. Now where’d I put my playoff predicting machine? Ah screw it, we’re still nowhere close.

Wins: 23
Losses: 31
Shootout Wins: 4
Shootout Losses: 3
Points: 51

Maple Leafs 5, Thrashers 4.

James — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 19:48:43 +0000

I never know what I’m getting with this team. Sometimes, we actually play. Sometimes, we don’t and still manage to win. Sometimes, we play enough for 3 games and get smoked. And sometimes–like, for example, that last game–we just get smoked. But hey, these are always nice.

Wins: 22
Losses: 31
Shootout Wins: 4
Shootout Losses: 3
Points: 49

Sabres 6, Maple Leafs 2.

James — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 19:40:20 +0000

Oof. I didn’t even bother so much as glancing in the general direction of this game’s recap. Score says it all. Or at least says enough. Once again, just oof. Wins: 21 Losses: 31 Shootout Wins: 4 Shootout Losses: 3 Points: 47 Other posts you might enjoy. Or not. Maple Leafs 4, Jets 3. Maple [...]

Maple Leafs 3, Hurricanes 0.

James — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 19:35:59 +0000

Okay, we need to stop doing this. I’m seriously starting to see playoffs. No, seriously. It’s February, we’re just about kissing 50 points, and Ottawa’s still doing laughably. We don’t soon knock this off, I might actually have to start regretting not being able to watch these games. Shhh, I said might. Don’t push me.

Wins: 21
Losses: 30
Shootout Wins: 4
Shootout Losses: 3
Points: 47

Maple Leafs 4, Panthers 3.

James — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 19:31:12 +0000

If we keep doing this, I might just become a fan of the shootout. On the other hand, we’d have to win a shit ton more of these. Could happen, right? Right? … Right?

Wins: 20
Losses: 30
Shootout Wins: 4
Shootout Losses: 3
Points: 45

Lightning 2, Maple Leafs 0.

James — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 11:53:34 +0000

And we hit the all star break with a splutter, and a die. Typical Leafs fashion. Against another team from another state that shouldn’t have a hockey team–and this one’s got two. And they say the NHL isn’t broken.

Wins: 19
Losses: 30
Shootout Wins: 3
Shootout Losses: 3
Points: 43

Hurricanes 6, Maple Leafs 4.

James — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 11:50:37 +0000

Hell. Handbag. This team. There are just no other words. None. At all. At least it wasn’t 6 1? Yeah, sure, let’s run with that. Wins: 19 Losses: 29 Shootout Wins: 3 Shootout Losses: 3 Points: 43 Other posts you might enjoy. Or not. Maple Leafs 4, Jets 3. Devils 2, Maple Leafs 1. Maple [...]

Capitals 4, Maple Leafs 1.

James — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 11:47:13 +0000

And so begins part 1 of our downward spiral. Ow. Wins: 19 Losses: 28 Shootout Wins: 3 Shootout Losses: 3 Points: 43 Other posts you might enjoy. Or not. Maple Leafs 4, Jets 3. Maple Leafs 3, Canadians 1. Maple Leafs 5, Capitals 4. Sabres 3, Maple Leafs 2. Capitals 5, Maple Leafs 4.

Maple Leafs 5, Ducks 2.

James — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 11:41:53 +0000

I’m actually sorry I ended up missing this game. I hear it was several varieties of wicked nifty cool. Well, for us, anyway. Now why can’t every game be like this? Oh. Right. Toronto. Nevermind.

Wins: 19
Losses: 27
Shootout Wins: 3
Shootout Losses: 3
Points: 43

Rangers 7, Maple Leafs 0.

James — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 11:35:58 +0000

Just when you thought your team’s found the bottom, they go and invent this. Rumour has it only 2 players actually showed up–the rest kinda sorta stayed off the ice. Okay, might as well have. No wonder it’s taken me until now to post these. even a week later, this hurts bad.

Wins: 18
Losses: 27
Shootout Wins: 3
Shootout Losses: 3
Points: 41

Flames 2, Maple Leafs 1.

James — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 11:31:48 +0000

Does anyone remember when we actually used to beat these guys on a fairly regular basis? I mean yeah, so now we only play them once every year or two. This used to be the team we’d warm up on before getting stomped by Vancouver or something. Ah well. I’ll take the point.

Wins: 18
Losses: 26
Shootout Wins: 3
Shootout Losses: 3
Points: 41

Coyotes 5, Maple Leafs 1.

James — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 11:28:50 +0000

I just have one question. How does a hockey team based out of Phoenix, bleeding money out the ears and bleeding talent out everywhere else, come up with an ass kicking and lay it on a team from what’s supposedly the land of ice and snow? I’d really like to know how that works. Yeah okay, so they have that one guy coatching. Gretsky or whatever. It’s Phoenix, for crying out loud. They don’t get to win. Except, apparently, when they do. Dammit.

Wins: 18
Losses: 25
Shootout Wins: 3
Shootout Losses: 2
Points: 40