Booth Blasted By Richards

When Florida Panthers left winger David Booth finally regains full use of his brain and looks at the video, I'm sure he'll agree that the hit he suffered at the hands of Mike Richards of the Flyers would have been less severe had he not admired his pass.

Everyone in the NHL and hockey fans all over are talking about two things so far this week...the Maple Leafs first win and the scary hit by Richards on Booth.

The hit was unavoidable, especially in that dangerous part of the ice but had Booth not watched his pass and been watching where he was going, he could have prepared to take the hit from Richards.

Now...some people feel Richards targeted Booth's head with his shoulder and that may be true but Booth at 6'0" was bent over at the time of the hit. Richards is listed as 5'11" for those wondering.

I have watched the hit several times and in my opinion it was a clean and impressive hit with an unfortunate result. Mike Richards is not a dirty hockey player but he does play hard and that's all he did in this instance. I disagree with the announcers in the clip below saying it was a "cheap" and "dirty hit". Nobody likes to see a player injured but it was a clean, legal hit in my mind.

I think it would be nice to see fewer head shots in hockey but in a fast game where things happen very quickly, I don't think they'll ever be completely eradicated from the game. If seeing incidents like this bother you, then perhaps you should stick to watching golf or baseball.

Leafs Win - Fans Off Suicide Watch

Fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs will once again be allowed to use sharp knives and hospitals in Ontario are no longer expecting mass suicide attempts after the Leafs beat the Anaheim (no so mighty) Ducks earlier tonight.

Any hockey fan knows that the Leafs were off to their worst start in franchise history having gone 0-7-1 to start the season. But they've been playing a little better the last couple of games and they finally broke the goose egg before the first month of the season had ended. I think they owe it all to the dodge-ball practice.

As I've documented many times before on here, I am a lifelong, die-hard Montreal Canadiens fan. As such, I am legally required to hate the Maple Leafs. But as a kindhearted individual, it's not in me to beat a team when they're down. OK...that's a lie.

In all honesty, I felt sorry for Leaf fans during this opening stretch despite the negative comments I've still been hearing from them regarding my Habs...who by the way are above .500 and are currently on a four game winning streak.

But even as those Leaf fans felt the need to lash out and deflect their insecurities at the fans of Montreal and Ottawa, I could still sense their despair and see the emotional toll the futile start was inflicting on them. I even took it upon myself to not kick them when they were down. It was just to easy. I was, I guess you could say....the bigger man.

However, I'm sure this first win of the season will only revive the hopes of those in Leaf Nation and they'll be back to their usual friendly but annoying selves before the sun rises tomorrow morning. Lord helps us all.

2010 Olympic Medals - You're Killing Me

The official medals for the 2010 Winter Olympics were unveiled today in Vancouver, featuring original West Coast aboriginal designs of an orca and a raven.

Here we go again.

More pandering to the fragile sensitivities of the aboriginals. Heaven forbid we grow a set and not conform. What a bunch of politically correct cowards.

First the mascots, then the hockey sweaters and now the medals. How much money has the native community given to these games? No wonder the rest of the world thinks we live in the 1800's. Believe it or not, there's a lot of beauty and culture in Canada besides the aboriginals...although they'd argue that I'm sure.

Also for the first time, the medals are not flat. Instead, they have an undulating surface intended to represent the West Coast landscape of mountains and waves and drifting snow.

I'm not saying we don't include the aboriginal people of Canada but going overboard just to keep them happy at the expense of everyone else is ridiculous but not surprising in the least.

I can hardly wait to see the Opening Ceremonies. I'm sure I'll be throwing a brick at my TV before it's hardly begun.

Georges Laraque Offends Feminists

From the "Are you freakin' kidding me file"....

Montreal Canadiens forward Georges Laraque has apologized for appearing in an internet commercial that a women's rights group says sends the wrong message about women.

Before I comment, why not have a look at the one minute advertisement for Octane 7.0.

Now...the only things that upset me about seeing this commercial are as follows:

1. Georges appears to have better puck-handling skills on dry land than he does on the ice during a real NHL hockey game.

2. Laraque didn't drop the gloves and jersey one of his opponents.

3. No rubdowns on the trainers bench following the game.

But seriously, what is the big deal?

Sure the video shows a team of scantily clad young women preparing for and playing some street hockey. Laraque shows up in time with the beverage he's promoting and sets the cans up as goal posts for an impromptu game with the ladies.

I think this just shows how nice Georges really is. How many other NHL players would take time out of their summer to play a road hockey game with some people in the neighbourhood?

A spokeswoman for CLES, an organization that fights sexual exploitation said "The women don't even talk. All they're showing is a certain part of their body. The camera, the eye, is focusing on certain parts of the body." Well duh! What's the camera supposed to focus on...their brains or their feet?

When will these groups realize that sex sells and this is never going away. I'm all for protecting women and keeping them safe but the ladies in this commercial seem pretty happy so they obviously didn't mind.

Good looking, bare-chested men are exploited in commercials all the time, yet I never hear anybody cry foul over those ads. And don't kid yourself...women love those commercials just as much as men love these and other commercials where bikini wearing young hotties are showing off their "assets".

Of course Georges doesn't want to offend anyone so he's apologized for taking part in the ad saying "I'm deeply sorry that I upset people. But everybody that knows me as a person knows the type of person that I am. Everywhere that I've ever played I've supported many charities, and I do every year."

No apology necessary as far as I'm concerned. This is just one group taking something so small that most people would never have even heard about it and using it to further their agenda.

As far as I'm concerned, the only thing wrong with this advertisement is the fact that Laraque is selling an alcoholic beverage which is not allowed according to the NHL guidelines. No, they can't promote it but the league has no problem with players drinking all kinds of beer and champagne live on TV after winning the Stanley Cup.

Happy Thanksgiving

I just wanted to take a quick moment to wish all of you Canadians who visits my blog a very Happy Thanksgiving weekend.

While many will take the extra day off to recover from eating too much good food, I hope everyone will find the time to use the day for something even better.

Give thanks for all that you have...whether it's the family and friends who you share your life with every day or just for the short time each of us has on this earth.

Tough times test us all throughout our lives but it's days like this that hopefully force us to think about what and who truly matters.

Plus, it's also a good reason to stuff ourselves silly to an uncomfortable point with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and all the fix-ins.

It's F*****g Charging

I saw this f*****g commercial and thought it was pretty f*****g funny so I thought I'd post it for you to f*****g look at.

If you're wondering why I'm pretending to be swearing so much, just watch the ad and you'll quickly find out. Of course I never curse in real life (wink wink).

October This and That

I was just sitting in front of the computer and figured I should probably post an update on the blog but I really don't have any particular topic that has peaked my interest lately.

My Habs have been playing fairly well despite a bad night tonight in Vancouver and the fact they're starting the season with a long road trip and the Leafs haven't won a game yet, so that's all good. Plus my hockey pool has begun and that helps to keep the season interesting.

The world has been dealing with some crazy stuff lately with typhoon's, tsunami's and earthquakes and thankfully none of it has really affected me at all other than feeling sorry for those who have suffered.

I tried my luck at Geocaching the other day but gave up after about ten minutes. I just don't have the patience to trek through the bush looking for hidden "treasures" just for the heck of it. If I was searching for the secret location of a group of undersexed sorority girls then that might prove to be a bit more motivating.

I went out golfing earlier tonight for the first time in about a month and it wasn't a compete failure. It was cool, the winds were blowing at about 1000 km/h and my tee shots looked great until I made contact with the ball. Eventually the sun came out and the colours of the leaves on the trees were amazing. I had a lot of fun golfing with the guys. Truth be told...I've golfed a lot worse and actually hit a few good tee shots. My putting sucked though. Hopefully I play better on the 17th as I take part in the annual Terry Fox Golf Tournament.

Thanksgiving is coming up on Monday and I'll be working all day so that won't be too exciting. On the plus side I'll be enjoying some delicious dead fowl drowning in golden gravy on Sunday night. I love my mothers cooking.

And the other day I had some fun watching the local Air Force Search and Rescue Techs practicing their skills on the bay south of Brighton. Of course, I had my camera in hand and managed to snap a few frames (see below). I've seen this stuff before but it's still impressive to watch as they drop guys in wetsuits into the water and then come around to pluck them out over and over.

So aside from some boring work related stuff, that's about all I've been up to lately. I hope your life is more interesting than mine.

Copyright © All rights reserved.

Copyright © All rights reserved.

John, Paul, George and...Stephen?

It's official!

I liked Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper before last night but now...I like him just a little bit more.

He received a standing ovation after he surprised guests at a National Arts Centre Gala in Ottawa on Saturday night by playing the piano and singing a light-hearted Beatles tune.

Harper, a Beatles fan, joined cellist Yo-Yo Ma on stage and sang a rendition of With a Little Help From My Friends.

I don't have the whole performance for you but here's a sample of what he did and how it sounded. I think he did a great job. Plus, he went from being just another stick in the mud stuffy politician to being human and that counts big time for this voter.

Enjoy!