It Can't Be Nashville Every Night

Well, it's business as usual as the Leafs head into a tough road game against the stingy Rangers. I have a bad feeling that our pool (I've got Simmons, BTW), might just start to heat up.

Early favourite would have to be DC Talk, who unceremoniously ordered the Leafs off his lawn after Tuesday's Belaking of Nashville:

It's all awful and Bryan McCabe is scoring on his own net and Richard Peddie is putting his foot in his mouth, and then it's all fabulous, Wade Belak is scoring a goal and the Maple Leafs get outplayed by a mile and manage 15 shots on the enemy net but win going away.

Analyze that, hockey fans.

Don't we already have to do your job for you?

Had to mention those two Rocket Richard Trophy candidates for they were leading the mocking jeers as the men and women of the media entered the Maple Leaf dressing room after last night's game against Nashville, and that tells you a lot.

It takes so very little, you see, for even the underachieving Leafs to start puffing out their chests.

Three wins and even the fellows who haven't seen a playoff game since the lockout are big men on campus again.

Well, enjoy it while it lasts, uh, gentlemen.

Wow, God forbid the players actually enjoy themselves and engage in a little banter with the media. Don't they know that they're supposed to be caving under the pressure so Damien can engage in more sock-puppetry about how Leafs players blame the media for their struggles? He's so close to getting an actual quote to back that up and everything! And while I enjoy George Costanza's antics as much as anyone, I don't think Damien's George-inspired plans to replace the Buds' standard uniform design with blue and white hair-shirts is going to improve the team's play all that much. BTW, does anyone think Damien actually went into the locker room and experienced said razzing? Quoth McGarnigle,  "I don't know Chief, you had a pretty good view from behind your desk."

Also, Grumpy Old Cox still hates the Music City:

It was the strange kind of game that will become more plentiful under a new scheduling format next season - an inter-conference matchup between teams that barely know each other at the expense of more interesting and competitive divisional games.

Because the new format is all about Leafs-Nashville games, not I don't know, the whole league getting to see big draws like Crosby, Ovechkin, or Belak, or all the Canadian teams playing each other. Anyway, what's with the Preds hate? Both games he's kvetched about have been good matchups, far better than watching Boston run out the clock for Whack-A-Mole eight times a goddam year. And how are these games "less competitive?" Did the Eastern Conference get sent down to the AHL when I wasn't looking? It would make Woz's presence a lot more understandable.

Yes, it's the Christmas season, when wishes come true (no, not for  Leafs fans, unless this is finally the year I wake up to Kerry Fraser's head under the tree) so Kronwall and Jiri NSFW are sent down instead of  The Wizard of Woz. At least Jiri will learn a valuable lesson about scandalous photos - it's a lot more useful to have ones of your boss than ones of yourself.

If you have time, enjoy this pwning of Ron Maclean and his dead horse by William Houston. Ron, when will you learn that the Unblinking Watchdog doesn't play?

Finally, head on over to Pension Plan Puppets to preview and chat about the game. I will be recapping it over there tomorrow morning, so make sure and check it out. I'll also have all the news on Berger's no-doubt-forthcoming apology for reporting that Colton Orr asked Chad Kilger if that was his face, or did his neck, in fact, throw up.

Wade Belak!