High School Hockey Fight Ends Up With Cops Called

Everything’s bigger in Texas, including the hockey fights.

In case you were wondering if they took hockey serious in the Lone Star State we have this video which demonstrates they can be just as out of hand and violent as anyone else. Here’s the scene from the final moments of the Texas State Championship.

The high school state championship game that occurred this past weekend between Arlington Martin High and Keller High ended up in a violent mess after some cheap shots sent players from both teams into a brawl. Eventually, the police were called to actually break up the fight.

In case you’re wondering, Keller High School defeated Arlington Martin 9-3 to win the Texas State Championship. But it’s a bit tarnished by the cheap hits and fighting.

Martin senior Jeff SoRelle, who had been in the penalty box when the fight started, is then seen skating full speed into view and launching himself into Keller’s Travis Hall.

As SoRelle skates slowly away, he is then leveled by a blindside hit from Keller’s Braxton Mills. Mills had been off the ice, in the spectator area, because of a penalty but returned to the ice during the brawl. In one video, he appears to leave both feet while launching into SoRelle, apparently hitting him in the head area.

SoRelle was sent sprawling to the ice as officials and others rushed on to break up the brawl.

“My son is a freshman and he’s played hockey since he was four,” said Heather Blundred, a member of the Martin booster club. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

David Ambler, the commissioner of the AT&T Metroplex High School Hockey League, said he was told that SoRelle suffered a concussion and a broken jaw. [via]

Puck Doctors Links With Natalie Portman’s Thong

Vancouver Canucks Tickets go on Sale for Round #1

The Vancouver Canucks announced on Monday that they are selling tickets for round one of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs. You can start ordering tickets online or by phone on April 2nd. Fans can purchase tickets either at the Rogers Arena Box office or on Ticketmaster but 2 days later on April 4th. These tickets are going to be sold for $90’s each
[via Canucks Pucks]

10 Reasons the Leafs Will Not Be Making the Playoffs

For the fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs, it appears as if their beloved Buds will be on the outside looking in when the 2010-11 Stanley Cup Playoffs roll around.

While a few key players stand out, there is plenty of blame to go around when it comes to determining why the Blue and White will be missing the playoffs…again!
[via Bleacher Report]

Britney Spears: Femme Fatale (Gallery)

The pop queen Britney Spears fell off the map for a number of years when she decided to go mental, marry a backup dancer, have children with said backup dancer, shave her head, and just be generally retarded.

Joy.  Now she’s back.
[via Campus Socialite]

Patrick Kane Taking Over As American Next Mike Modano

There’s a lot to like about Chicago’s Patrick Kane. But, like any professional athlete these days, there’s also a lot to dislike about the 22-year-old. The American forward has made a name for himself on and off the ice through goals, assists, mischief and partying — four reasons why the hardcore American hockey fan should embrace this Buffalo, NY native
[via NESN]

Natalie Portman’s Thong Causes Trouble For Your Highness

If you have seen the trailer for the upcoming movie with Danny McBride and James Franco “Your Highness” you will remember very well a scene in which hottie Natalie Portman shows off her medieval thong while swimming in a pond.
[via Dave and Thomas]

Soccer Kid Sucker Punch

Watch this little soccer player get the snot punched outta him by the kid trailing the play.
[via Turd Ferguson]

Report: Todd Bertuzzi Won’t Be Suspended or Fined for Hit on Ryan Johnson

Todd Bertuzzi’s hit on Ryan Johnson on Monday night had many hockey fans up in arms, but it won’t get the veteran winger suspended. According to ESPN.com’s Pierre LeBrun, Bertuzzi will not face a hearing with the NHL and will not face any supplementary discipline.
[via NESN]

Todd Bertuzzi’s Cheap Hit on Ryan Johnson

Canucks’ Malhotra to undergo eye surgery

Vancouver Canucks forward Manny Malhotra has had a second operation on his injured left eye.

The team said Tuesday night in a brief statement that Malhotra’s surgery, which took place in New York, was successful. The decision for Malhotra to have another operation was made after consultation with specialists and team doctors.
[via BallTribe Sports News]

NHL Playoff Preview – Western Conference

Last week we took a look at the NHL Playoffs in the Eastern Conference if the season were to end and the postseason would begin. With only a handful of games left in the regular season we will wrap up that sneak peak with the Western Conference.

The Conference has been dominated by Vancouver for almost the entire year and the Canucks will have home ice advantage throughout their time in the playoffs. But it’s the huge lot of teams in the rear that could spell trouble as the entire Pacific Division tries to sneak into the playoffs.

With a few teams battling it out for the last few playoff spots, here’s what we expect if the NHL season concluded today and the postseason were to begin. First, let’s take a look at the new, final standings:

It should be noted that at this moment that Calgary and Dallas are just missing the playoffs by being back a few games.

Vancouver owns the NHL this years and clinched a home playoff spot as they lead the entire league with 109 points. The also have enough skill and depth to take it to the Cup. Then there’s Detroit. The Red Wings are a given to go deep into the playoffs like a huge machine rolling over opponents.

But will the Big Red Steamroller have what it takes to topple the Canucks?

Probably not at the moment.  The Canucks, despite some injuries, are still red hot with a 9-1 record in their last 10 games and just radiate the confidence to go to the Finals this year.  They also wisely have not let up on the throttle before the playoffs, a curse of many teams that are so far ahead of the other teams.

What will be hard to gauge is the validity of the Pacific Division.  L.A., Phoenix and San Jose all get a nod if the season ended today and they are all playing well at the moment.  The Kings have lost key players this week for the rest of the season which puts them at a huge disadvantage.  Phoenix is putting on a show in the desert to keep hockey relevant to an apathetic fan base in Phoenix which should push them over the ailing Kings.

And then comes my Cinderella team.  There’s one every year and I’m sick of Nashville choking in the playoffs so the Preds get my nod just out of frustration. Through my very own mental power and desire, I command the Predators to get off their a$$ and win a playoff round.  Enough excuses already. The Sharks are a good team but let’s all get behind the Preds to get them to the second round….ever.

Click the below graphic to expand our first look at the Western Conference Playoffs.

The Origin of Don Cherry’s Suits

Don Cherry, for the uninitiated, is an opinionated commentary who regularly appears on “Coach’s Corner” on the CBC’s “Hockey Night in Canada.” The ex-coach has turned more than a few heads with his off-the-wall opinions as well as his wardrobe. “Grapes,” as he’s affectionately known, wears some of the craziest get ups you can imagine. His suits are blinding and bring to mind a 70′s pimp hanging on the street corner.

For those of you wondering whether or not “Grapes” got his suit material at a fabric store here you go. The answer is the best suits come from Fabric Land! The always entertaining Don Cherry takes up behind the scenes with Rick Mercer to see what it takes to make a zebra patterned suit.

Senators Fans Like Friday

Teenage YouTuber Rebecca Black’s jingle “Friday” is considered by many to be one of the worst songs ever constructed in the history of human kind. Listening to the song it like running a cheese grater over your ear drums.

Which is why I feel sorry for these guys in Ottawa. This is what happens when your NHL team has a bad year. You get caught up in other activities, like listening to the “Friday” song.

I give them credit for doing an awesome dance and lip sync during the commercial break during a Sens game on, you guessed it, Friday. But to think these guys had to listen to that song over and over to get this down. Oh, the humanity!

Weekend NHL Roundup

Snubbed Skaters: 25 Most Overlooked NHL Players

Martin St. Louis, Ilya Bryzgalov and Michael Grabner are just three of many players that have gone overlooked at various times in their NHL careers. The following are the top 25 players that saw a significant spike in production after a quiet beginning to their careers.

Los Angeles Kings Lose Anze Kopitar, Win Game

The Los Angeles Kings beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 but lost Anze Kopitar to injury Saturday afternoon at the Staples Center. The Kings scored twice in the first period.

Henrik Lundqvist Notches League-Best 11th Shutout As Bruins Fall to Rangers

Henrik Lundqvist stopped 26 shots for his league-leading 11th shutout, and Derek Stepan deflected Michael Sauer’s shot into the net for the game’s only goal to lead the New York Rangers to a 1-0 victory over the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

Bruins’ Savard Having “Memory Problems”

Boston Bruins center Marc Savard is having “real memory problems and he’s quite worried about it,” a source told ESPN.com’s Pierre LeBrun Saturday. Savard was placed on long-term IR back in early February with his second concussion in less than a year. That was in the Bruins’ January 22nd game against Colorado- thanks to Matt Hunwick.

Sabres are playing mistake-free hockey

The Sabres beat the New Jersey Devils at home tonight 2-0. That makes three wins in a row as they try to cement their position in the Eastern Conference playoffs. But here’s the impressive part about this three game streak: two of the games have been shutouts.

Theo Fleury Predicts that Vancouver Canucks will be First Round Fallouts

On Friday morning long time Calgary Flame’s player Theo Fleury went on a Calgary Radio station predicting that the league’s top team, the Vancouver Canucks would be ousted in the first round of the 2011 playoffs, no matter what opponent they are facing. And yes, Fleury was sober when he said this. A quote from the interview has Fleury saying that, “I stand by what I said, the Vancouver Canucks will not make it out of the first round,” Fleury told The Vancouver Sun.

Detroit Red Wings: Highly touted prospect, Gustav Nyquist signs entry level deal

Drafted by Detroit 121st overall in 2008, University of Maine product Gustav Nyquist has signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Red Wings. Currently a junior, Nyquist has been Maine’s leading scorer for all three years he has played there. Last year, he led the nation in scoring with 61 points in 39 games, and was named a top 3 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, but was runner-up to Blake Geoffrion.

Jeremy Roenick Dancing Video

Here’s a great clip from the video vault featuring the bruising Jeremy Roenick doing a little something unexpected. I can’t believe I’ve never seen this video. On September 24th, 2005, the Los Angeles Kings vs. Colorado Avalanche pre-season game at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, was delayed to some rink repairs. During a timeout Jeremy decided to put on a little dance show for all the fans.

Let’s cue up the Bee Gees and watch him go! He’s still got the moves.

Young Red Wings Fan Won’t Leave The Ice

The Detroit Red Wings announced today that playoff tickets will be available for the first round games that the team will host. I tell you, the Wings are starting to slack. Usually they clinch the division in mid march….

The Detroit Red Wings have a tradition that allows kids to join the Wings on the ice during the national anthem. The kids stand with the Wings during the anthem and then they get off the ice so the big kids can play the game. This kid though didn’t want anything to do with that though.

Way to go, kid! I don’t blame him. If I got on the ice to hang with the Red Wings I’d want to make the most of it, too. The little dude just keeps skating around the ice until some of the staff can pull him off the rink.

Manny Malhotra’s Preventable Eye Injury?

The Vancouver Canucks suffered a huge blow as their center Manny Malhotra for this season. A wild puck caught Manny in the face and he will be out for the rest of the season and playoffs. Although that’s most of the details we have on Manny, I hope that he is alright after taking a puck to the eye. Hopefully he will not have any vision problems and be able to return to play in the NHL.

The injury has prompted a new debate about whether players should be required to wear those clear visors to protect their eyes for situations like this. Taking a look at the video below you’ll see that it would appear that a visor could have blocked the puck and saved Manny the injury. The puck rode up the stick and straight for the face of Malhotra.

It’s a fluke injury but one that is very likely to occur again. The Olympics require the visors for their players and younger leagues may require the visors or face shields for their players. Personally, I think a rule using the visors should be looked at very long and hard. The league is already finally looking at head injuries and helmet designs so if players safety is important to them the issue of visors should be added to the list.

The older players would no doubt fight any rule requiring the visors, much like they did when helmets were required many decades back. But thanks to a ‘grandfather’ rule, only the newer players coming into the league would be required to use the visors.

One stat has approximately 60% of the NHL players already wearing a visor so instituting the requirement is not that crazy. Most players, like Manny, shrugged off the visors because they made it this far without needing one. But as you can see, just one small play can end your season….or maybe your career.

NHL Playoff Preview – Eastern Conference

It is now less than a month until the start of the NHL Playoffs and teams are positioning themselves for the postseason. Some are easily in and others are fighting for their playoff lives. Carolina, Toronto and New Jersey have all been fighting with Buffalo for that coveted last playoff spot but over the last week the Sabres have taken a hold of the 8th and final spot with some inspired play.

Here’s a quick look at the standings as they are today. If the NHL season were to kick into the playoffs today, here’s what the final breakdown will be:

Only Philly has technically clinched a playoff spot as they lead the entire conference with 96 points.  Washington and Boston are their division leaders which puts them 2nd and 3rd. That’s why the Pens, who have a slightly better record than Boston, are put 4th on the list.

Click the below graphic to expand our first look at the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Team Most Likely to Win: Philadelphia Flyers have silently dominated the Eastern Conference for months now.  They continue to roll and have the depth to push them deep into the playoffs.

Team Most Likely to Disappoint : The Penguins, who owned the NHL before the All Star break, have lost key players like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.   Now enforcer Matt Cooke is gone and it’s hard tom imagine the Pens going far into the playoffs without their depth. They’re still chugging along rather nicely but it’s hard for to imagine them getting past Philly or Boston or even Washington at this moment.

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