Wednesday Morning Stuff

We are going to try and do this as much as we can considering our schedule. Here are a few of the interesting stories from last night and early this morning.

Miller Gets Standing "O" in Pittsburgh...Crosby reaction...not as exciting...

Last night the Pittsburgh Penguins honored both their's and the Buffalo Sabres Olympic Hockey players before the start of their game. The reactions...well they were interesting. Buffalo Goalie Ryan Miller, the Olympic MVP...got a huge standing ovation that lasted for a while. The other players for other countries all got a nice ovation from the Penguin crowd.

When Penguin captain Sidney Crosby popped up. Well...the reaction was a bit mixed.

**Added note. Apparently Crosby's gloves and stick from the Gold Medal game have gone missing (shock). According to reports, he had flung them in the air after his game winning goal and they got lost in all the ensuing chaos. The Hockey Hall of Fame asked for the equipment and...well unless it can be found, they may be waiting a while.

Here is last nights video from the NHL Network and NHL.com:

Air Tran Flight Attendants don't like Swimsuits...

An interesting story from Atlanta late yesterday. Apparently a group of AirTran flight attendants are upset that the airline used a picture of a swimsuit model (Brooklyn Decker) in a plane sponsorship deal with Sports Illustrated to promote their swimsuit issue.

They called the image "Offensive" and "Contrary to the family image that this company tries to promote".

((The photo in question//Courtesy: AJC.com/Airtran))

Okay, while they are certainly within their rights to complain in this entirely too PC world, the sponsorship deal is about to run out. Why wait to complain now? The picture isn't exactly an offensive one. Just sayin'....

Other Tidbits for Today-

**Today is the trade deadline for the NHL. There has already been tons of activity before today, don't expect anything of major significance, there are too many teams still in contention for a playoff berth.

***Spring Training Baseball is in full bloom. There were 2 games yesterday, a fuller slate of games start today.

****The NFL Pro Bowl will go back to Hawaii next season and will be again played one week before the Super Bowl...anyone care?

That's all for now, keep checking in as we will update stories over the course of the day. Enjoy!

Can There Be Two Winners From Sunday...?

You'd like to think so, but some of us at the HQ will remain cynical toward the strides the sport may make after one of the best games the sport has seen in a five-ringed circus venue...

The Canadians think the sport of hockey and winning every event associated with the sport is their birthright. Anything less will be a national catastrophe...

And the maple leaf almost had that happen in the gold medal game Sunday at Canada Hockey Place.

Roberto Luongo had been shaky handling the puck all afternoon, and as the game got later he was even more shaky holding on to any shot put on him.

Team USA goalie Ryan Miller was still stellar in net, but a rebound and a bad turnover by Ryan Whitney created a 2-nothing hole before the Stars and Bars got it in gear. A deflection went under the arm of Luongo to make it 2-1, and two guys who work together normally- Zach Parise and Jamie Langenbrunner- worked it again with the extra attacker to tie the game at 2.

Sports Illustrated's Peter King actually had this on his Twitter feed...
"Anyone else have a feeling Zach Parise's going to make a big play in the last 7 minutes?"

With 24.4 left in regulation, those two tied it and took the air out of an entire country... and the biggest question brought up was who would be the next "Paul Henderson" or "Mike Eruzione" in the history of their sports...???

The HQ knows you're thinking... Paul Henderson...???
Yep, Summit Series... look it up...
((HT: Youtube/hockeybooks/CBC))


If we have to post Eruzione...
Ah, the hell with it...
((HT: ABCSports/USOC/sakicnut))


Turns out it would be Sidney Crosby, the golden child... and the entire host nation can breath once again... fitting, but too much for one individual...

((ed.note- By the way, TBH was not a happy camper. Once the goal was scored, she uttered two words. One was "Well" followed by a bodily function... Crosby scoring made it worse... she digs Ovechkin and Sid's teammate Evgeny Malkin long before Crosby. TBH thinks Sid is the NHL version of Sergio Garcia- too much talent, too much mouth...))

The fact that the "gritty, gutty, underdog" Americans hung with, and knocked off, the Canadians should bode well if they keep the front office together for 2014. Ron Wilson and Brian Burke proved that they can put a team together that can challenge the big kid on the block.

Now, if only the fans in Toronto would see what was done in Vancouver and have the patience for the Leafs...

Will the momentum carry over for America and fans of the NHL...???

Yes, if they can remember the look on a face like Parise's during their medal ceremony. He really was not happy about finishing second- think Tanner Boyle in "The Bad News Bears." Puck Daddy's Twitter feed brings this quote from Number 9: “It sucks. It sucks being that close and then losing in overtime.”

Remember what Patrick Kane of the Blackhawks told Sportsnet's Ian Mendes: "It sucks that we have to wait another four years for an opportunity like this."

Remember what the Kings' Jack Johnson told The Hockey News' Craig Custance: "You win a gold. You win a bronze. You lose a silver."

Ryan Miller, the tourney MVP, wanted to be anywhere but answering questions. Remember what he told Richard Deitsch of SI:

"It feels like shit."

These guys don't want to be treated like a hemispheric little-brother...

So, carry with you one of the best games you'll ever see and one of the funniest Closing Ceremonies you'll ever see- putting the five-ringed circus in its place as they hit the door...

If you don't like what you saw on Sunday afternoon, you'll never like what you see in that sport... and don't think for a minute that The Bettman will get his way in Sochi. If they don't have Ovie on their ice, it WILL be an international incident...

Remove This!!! US Goalies Masks Not Liked By IOC

((HT: Fanhouse/Reuters))

When you watch the stars and bars play hockey during this five-ringed event in Vancouver, you'll notice the goalies have had to play with their masks and their paint jobs a little bit...

Okay, a lot...

The Buffalo Sabres Ryan Miller has to either cover up or remove two things: His "Miller Time" script and a "Matt Man" dedication ((pictured on the back of Miller's noggin, thanks Matt Slocum/AP)). Jonathan Quick of the LA Kings has to do the same with a "Support Our Troops" dedication.

Szymon Szemberg, spokesman for the IIHF, said both players will be told to take those messages off their equipment because it's the USOC's ((or USA Hockey's or both)) task to enforce IOC rule No. 51 that bars what they term "advertising, demonstrations and propaganda."

Szymon szays szo it muszt be true, right...???

Miller gets the "Miller Time" objection...

"Just having fun," Miller said with a wink.

But he's gonna have at it about the other one... the words "Matt Man" on his helmet pay tribute to a cousin, Matt Schoals, who died of cancer.

"My aunt and uncle and my family, it’s important to them. It’s important to me. I'm going to stand up for that." Miller vowed.

But what about Quick's statement...? It could be construed as either moral support or propaganda...???

"If we go too hard on that we could be seen as insensitive," said Szemberg.

You got that right... and Miller's mask side view above ((pictured, as Uncle Sam readies to kick ass, thanks WGRZ-TV)) works...??? The Boston Bruins' Tim Thomas has had to go only with his kids names on his gear... "Kit, Kot, and Kat" - according to Reuters...

It gets better...

The goaltender for the Canadian women's team, Shannon Szabados, was ordered earlier in the Olympics to remove her own name from her mask, but she was allowed to keep "FLM" on it, according to The Vancouver Sun. The letters stood for "Fight Like Matt," a tribute to a 22-year-old named Matt Cook who is battling cancer.

So, at least, we know how the IOC stands on this issue...
Kinda like a flag in the breeze...

Here is a story from WIVB-TV in Buffalo on Miller's selection to the Olympic Team.