Hockey Goaltenders make good short stops - Video

Well, except for hitting and running the bases anyway.

Thanks to Dave Smith a dedicated reader of Eric McErlain's Offwing Opinion I just spit coffee all over my double LCD monitor and wireless keyboard setup.

Eric provides a link to perhaps the greatest hockey movie (or greatest short movie anyway) since Slapshot (ok, maybe Slapshot 2).

Clark, the Canadian Hockey Goalie is a short video about Clark (a Canadian Hockey Goalie strangely enough) who decides to give up hockey to take a shot at Major League Baseball... as a short stop. Watch the video here.

This video is well worth the couple of minutes it will take you to watch it. But be warned, go to the john just before watching it and DO NOT under any circumstances drink anything while watching.

My favorite moment from the video? When Clark jersey's his 3rd baseman for calling him a 'hoser'.

P.S. For Eric McErlain and other sports/hockey bloggers out there, I tried to link this directly to the post on OffWing Opinion but he seems to be having some issues with his site. In fact it freezes my browser every time I look at anything but the main page.

And Eric, thanks for the post, I spit my drink everywhere, almost pissed myself and had to get a new keyboard.

Bears, Buffaloes and other furry beasts

Good afternoon, finally came out of my stupor to look around and read some stuff today.

First off... Jagr, got no points last night... Tim Thomas threw another hanging curve in net and the Rangers smacked it out of the park.

Hannu Toivonen didn't do much better after replacing Thomas and let in 3 goals on 14 shots. Despite the poor showing by Hannu last night his play has picked up of late and you can expect him to get more starts in the future, including tonight against Buffalo.

If you own Thomas and you have room, you might want to pick up Toivonen as backup insurance. Or do what I did, drop his ass and pick up someone better. Budaj was on the waiver wire and my league and I decided that I liked his chances better than Thomas'.

The Buffalo Sabres seem to be generating some goaltender controversy as well lately. Ryan Miller has not been playing very well of late and Lindy Ruff has declared that Martin Biron will get the next two starts to give Miller some quality practice time.

Keep an eye on this situation and if you have Biron make sure you get him in the lineup tonight against the Bruins.

Goaile troubles

Quick note for Monday morning.

Frederik Norrena was injured in the second period of the Blue Jackets win over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night. The Blue Jackets are already playing without injured starter Pacal Leclaire who has been out since December 26th. Third stinger Ty Conklin finished the game with 15 saves. Conklin may be a decent short term pickup if you are in need of goalie wins. Columbus is on a 3 game win streak and have won 4 of their last 5. If Conklin stumbles be ready to drop him quick. Norrena is listed as day to day with the dreaded lower body injury and could be back as soon as Tuesday at Vancouver.

Ryan Miller has been off lately. The Sabres have lost 8 of 13 this month and Miller has been in net for 6 out of 10 losses. In those 10 games Miller has a 3.2 GA average and has let in 5 or more goals in two games. The Sabres will probably continue to go to Miller as Biron has not been much better this month. Biron has two losses in 3 starts and a 3.67 GA average in January. If you have better options you may want to sit Miller until he regains his form.

This is bad news for owners of Biron. With Millers shaky play the likelihood of the Sabres trading Biron at the deadline is pretty low.

On a better note, the Nashville Predators continue to be hot winning 10 of 12 in January. Both Vokoun and Mason are playing well right now. This is a mixed bag if you picked up Mason while Vokoun was on the IR. I wouldn't suggest dropping Mason anytime soon. The play of Mason makes one wonder if the Preds will be moving him at the deadline for some depth up front? That is certainly a nice little rumour to drop in your league if you are trying to trade Mason for depth on your roster.

Off with their Heads! NHL puts goalies heads on the block

I am sick and tired of this crap!

I'm watching the Leaf vs Canucks game and Bates Battaglia gets a crap-assed goal by smacking Roberto Luongo in the head with his stick.

Whatever happened to goaltender interference? If I'm Luongo I hamstring Battman the next time he comes near my crease.

Oh, hold on a second... I'm a Leaf fan.

Nah, screw it. I'm a goalie first, the NHL really needs to put a stop to all the goalie running crap that is going on this year.

Not only is this not a goal, it is a 2 minute penalty for goaltender interference to Master Bates.

And these bloody commentators, "That is definitely a goal, his stick is underneath the crossbar." Not a thing about smacking the goalie in the head. This is complete Bulls*&t.

Hey, NHL, get your heads out of your asses and start to protect your goalies.