So, it's the first of August now... and you know what that means! IT'S SHARK WEEK!

Every year, the most overhyped thing other than the consistant 'The McRib is back!" campaigns from McDonalds, returns for an entire week, where we get to see our team's namesake nom nom nom on various bloody ocean things, and ultimately look totally radtacular in their underwater environments.

I personally love Shark week. It's the most entertaining thing happening during one of the most boring times of the year for TV, and... Sharks are just downright FASCINATING enough to have their own week on TV (yeah, you dont see any DUCK WEEK, now DO you... bwahaha)

Anyways, I'm pretty pumped for a solid week of non-hockey sharks every day when I return from work this week, and you should be too.

------

In other news, most notably HOCKEY-related news... the New York Islanders have a referendum on the ballot today that could completely change the course for that team's future.

For those of you who are not up to date, it's simple. If it's approved, then the ownership will be given public funds to help build a new Arena in Nassau County, New York... which will keep jobs in the area, as well as many businesses open that rely on the team being there. There is also talks of a minor league baseball park to go with the stadium to keep revenue flowing in during non-hockey season.

But then again, it could very well be denied, and the last franchise to have a 4 championship dynasty in North American sports could pack up and leave town. 

The guys at Lighthouse Hockey, and everyone else who's an Islander fan is on their toes... knowing that it's up to the people living in Nassau County to make the vote, and a lot of big Isles fans who have been displaced have no say in the matter. 

Pretty much everyone I have talked to about it wants the Isles to stay. Other than their history as a franchise that has seen the pinnacle of success, as well as the doldrums of being league cellar dwellers, I have heard that a lot of people just like having them there. The Isles closest neighbours in New Jersey and Manhattan have publicly come out in support of the referendum, and I personally hope the best for them. I hate seeing teams leave. I still feel sorry for Atlanta fans regardless of my support of the move to Winnipeg, because they were given a terrible situation. I would feel even more sorry for Isles fans who have supported their team for something like 18 years without a playoff series win, and have had to deal with some of the worst management in North American sports... over the last decade or so.

This all of course happens... TODAY, so we'll find out shortly about the situation, but I'll leave a poll on this subject anyways.

As many of you know, Winnipeg now has a hockey team, as the Atlanta Thrashers relocated there officially, back about a month ago. Before their first pick in the Draft, they Decided to rename it, the Jets, much to the delight of Winnipeg hockey fans everywhere (Yay nostalgia!). This however, puts the league in an imbalanced situation - one that they really haven't had much of for an entire decade. 

Atlanta was, appropriately, a member of the Southeast Division, in the Eastern Conference. With the fact that the relocation to Winnipeg happened after NHL teams had to submit their upcoming venue schedules to the NHL in order to schedule the 2012-2013 season, they must remain in the Southeast division for an entire season. Winnipeg, which is about 2 hours drive north of the 48th parallel, is therefore going to end up being some 2000 miles away from their divisional opponents - one of the most drastic travelling distances for interdivisional play since the days when the old Norris Division had the LA Kings matching up with Pittsburgh, Detroit, Montreal, and Washington on a regular basis.

The NHL currently has it's divisions set up more-or-less, geographically. Winnipeg, therefore will make more sense in the Northwest division, where its Western Canadian rivals, as well as closest rival in Minnesota reside. this means that a team in the Western Conference will have to be realigned in the Eastern Conference in order to balance out the conferences in their current format, or there will need to be a dramatic and complete realignment of the divisions in 2012. 

Detroit, Columbus and Nashville are the most obvious Candidates to go east if the current situation is retained. Detroit, which is located in the Eastern time zone has been outcrying for years to be moved to the Eastern Conference for travel reasons, and Columbus has asked for such a move as well, as the city is located even further east of Detroit (only about 3 hours out of Pittsburgh, PA). Nashville, having more in common as a Southern State than the other two teams, would make more sense than the other two geographically, and culturally, if it was relocated into the "Southeast Division" if it remains as such - regardless of it's location in the more western friendly Central Timezone.

Therefore, the ratio of Eastern time zone teams to Pacific, Mountain, and Central time zone teams creates an issue. If you move one of Detroit, Columbus, or Nashville into the east, the other two teams will be unhappy and feel alienated by the NHL. There will be some animosity at the Board of Governors table for years to come over the decision. The NHL does not much care to deal with such conflicts, and therefore will try to find a more diplomatic solution that will make most everyone happy. They have announced that they will make a more drastic change to the divisions starting in the 2012-2013 season. 

Continue reading this post »

Who else is ready for the entire week dedicated to US?!?

haha. No, but really, I love Sharkweek on DIscovery Channel. It's so much fun. Every single year, once August comes around all I think of are who we are going to get for free agency, and shark week. It's awesome times.

All the best bites, all the best survival techniques, and all the best OM NOM NOMTACULAR shark related content of the year, for a solid week straight.

Anyways... who else smells blood?

Learned from ESPN.com

Looks like the Habs decided to trade Jaroslav Halak to St. Louis for 2 minor leaguers: former first round pick, Lars Eller and Ian Schultz.

This means that the Canadiens, despite the insane playoff that Halak had, when he actually kept them alive thru the conference finals, decided to go with the inconsistent Carey Price instead. It also means that Chris Mason is back on the table pending the potential loss of Nabokov, as a potentially cheaper, yet effective goaltender. He's 34, and had pretty decent seasons the last 2 years for a club without much defense. He might be a nice change for the sharks, if we lose Nabokov, in that he's still a really good tender, about the same age as Nabby, and he might give more time for Greiss to platoon with, and for about 3 million less per season that we can spend on defense.

I find it very weird though that the Habs decided to trade him. He was so stellar in the playoffs and at the end of the season for them, that I was almost sure he was due for a solid contract this summer to remain with the club for 3-4 years. Plus, I dont see how Lars Eller, as much of a potential playmaker as he is, is worth giving up such impressive talent that Halak showed. Granted, Halak has never played a full season, so nobody knows how much of a fluke his playoff run was, but, he seemed to be almost Dwayne Roloson-esque during the playoffs, and I'm sure that during the season, he'd be similarly as solid during the season - and 10 years younger than Roloson was when he hit his late prime with the Oilers.

Anyways. it's all very interesting, and really opens up the FA season in the Goalie dept.

DISCUSS POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS!

The greatest series of inadvertent "2's" ever...
http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/story/12888626/predators-sign-tootoo-to-twoyear-extension Figure's the Preds would lock him down though... He's always been a staple of their team mentality since he joined them. Glad he's staying with the Preds. Always makes it an interesting and lively game when we play against them. Hopefully we will rock Nashville like we always seem to do...

Hope we start a fight with him tonight and he gets his face rocked. Haha.

LETS GO SHARKS!

Looks like the Seahawks might be the team to lure Pete Carroll back to the NFL, and away from Los Angeles.

Mike Riley of OSU is right now the top candidate to take over... but if he decides not to leave OSU again (their AD is poised to offer him a lifetime contract. then we might see Harbaugh leave the furd, or a few other NFL coaches come into the mold.

Either way, USC is very much screwed right now... with recruiting and all the allegations surrounding the program...

It's as good a time as ever for Pete Carroll to leave USC - if he so chooses.

Bleacher Report says he's to accept within 48 hours.

<!--Session data-->