monday randoms: shall we talk about next season ?

- i came to this horrifying thought today: does darryl sutter have any interest in actually SIGNING ian white, or does he plan to use the inevitable offersheet to restock the draft pick closet ??? realistically (and devastatingly), we all know that darryl gave all the ian white money to steve staios, and with pardy signed though another year we don't actually NEED a seventh warm body on the blueline (since we're obviously not considering age, skill, or ability)... we also know that darryl (presuming he's still in charge) isn't likely to begin the draft without a selection in the first two rounds.... so, according to what i understand about offersheets, and what i've read about ian white, we're probably looking at a second rounder at minimum, or a first and third return.... is the gamble worth it ? i'd say nope. but i'd also say that ian white would sure be worth the 2.7 million bucks we're gonna give to the 36-year-old who's been on the ice for every single even-strength goal-against (save for one) since his arrival in cowtown.

- i've given him a chance, but after almost six weeks i've decided that ales kotalik is pretty much useless.... i'm not saying he's jokinen or bertuzzi painful, and he's certainly not a total liability on the ice or anything ---he just doesn't really CONTRIBUTE anything.... he's like the nhl equivalent to a crystal deodorant rock; using it is probably not gonna make you smell WORSE, but it sure as hell ain't gonna make you smell BETTER....

- if you take that above paragraph and sub in the name "david" for "ales," and "moss" for "kotalik," then you also understand my current thoughts on #25... with the past couple of years invested in the original dreamcrusher award winner, it makes me sad to say it but he's been largely invisible on the ice for me since returning from injury.... i'm not even being sarcastic when i say jamal mayers has impressed me far more than ol'mosser this year... two words to remedy this situation: hellooooo pocketdawes.

- while i wish he would've cleaned the glass at GM with ryan kesler's face instead (hat tip to sarich for giving this a go), i love gio for windexing the #2 most hated guy on the 'nucks, in alex burrows, with a nice clean hit.

- huge props to toskala for the shutout last night, and big ups to kippy for keeping the flames in the game.... it's a bummer we can't put pucks in nets cause we're really doing a pretty bang up job of keeping 'em out (all things considered)....

- it's probably a bad idea to let a GM hire his brother as head coach. not to say darryl's ever fired a coach in-season (even though it was well warrented at least once), or that brent deserves a good canning, but this is going to become problematic at some point, one would think....

- john armstrong is a prospect that rated pretty high on a few peoples' lists a couple of years back, and who's career was pretty much decimated by a string of injuries.... meh, he's handsome (and cocky as hell for a guy who's played all of 14 games this year for abby).... in fairness, the clip was probably filmed back when he was healthy in september LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE YOU SEE ON TV. ;)



- flames announced that the vintage retro throwback jersey is going to be the "official third" next season. hm. interesting.... since i published that tidbit of information back in november, after being led to believe as much in a series of cryptic effin' emails by the flames' retail manager. anyhow, if there is no ladies cut third come october, i'm gonna be protesting in the front office.

- i spent some time over at PPP trying to figure out if they know how awful dion can be.... the post entitled "what's up with dion phaneuf" seemed to lend credence that at least SOME people are on the right track... i threw my two cents worth in, but managed to stay off the gamethread so as to not be accused of trolling... which i would have been guilty of, since phaneuf managed to be a -2 in a game where his team scored six times... :P

- no need to dwell on what a totally and thoroughly shitty performance the flames put in against the dirty 'nucks.... suffice it to say that i like the practice of summarizing such blowouts with haiku; a tradition started over at M&G at some point in january (if i remember correctly)... anyhow, my submission for last night:

first was a bloodbath.
kippy got the mercy pull.
gio smashed burrows.

- i'm lookin' to hit the game tonight (maybe) but don't have any tickets... if anyone's got a line on some for a good price (read: cheap), hook a sister up... ;)

have an awesome week !!!!!!!

[sutter(s) dismissal countdown: day 12]