The Wrong Weir?

I think the Oilers are channeling the wrong Weir in their pursuit (or lack thereof) of a playoff spot. Even looks like Mike is demonstrating the position the boys assumed last night. Brutal Effort.

Moving Sucks

So, we moved. We built a new house and sold our old one (I highly recommend buying a house in this real estate market - selling one though, not so much). Anyways, after selling and moving into a rental for the 1st time in 10 years, we finally moved into the new abode one month ago - I haven't relaxed since. We moved on a Wednesday, I do not recommend moving on a Wednesday. Friends are working, baby sitters are in school, and help is not to be found. If you want to get help with a move, you have to leave little room for excuses from those who can help. Wednesday is an automatic excuse generator - "Ah shit man, I'm working. Too bad, I could have helped with the heavy stuff".

One thing you realize when you move is how much shit you have. Moving is the ultimate time to purge. Clothes that don't fit anymore (stupid dryer shrinking my pants), cassette tapes of Europe and Duran Duran, what was I thinking when I bought this lamp, and so it goes. All these gently used, dust gathering gizmos and garb go to garage sales, or Goodwill, or garbage. Boxes upon boxes of Stuff that cost you thousands of dollars over the years that you are happy to give away or even ecstatic to sell for $100 after spending $20 on an ad in the paper and sitting in your garage for an entire Saturday while strangers pick through what are your former prized possessions. When we moved from our old house to our rental, we purged and purged good! And even after that, we have got a lot of shit. Clothes, toys, furniture, tools - heavy furniture, heavy tools! Lets face it, we live in a society of stuff - it's nice to have it, it's nice to be able to afford it, it's everywhere. And when you buy the latest stuff, it's soon to be replaced with even better stuff. But carrying that stuff sucks. Packing it up in boxes and blankets sucks. Not knowing which box the forks are in the day before you move sucks. Not knowing which box the extension cord is in the week after you move sucks. Taking stuff apart sucks. Putting it back together after carrying it piece by piece from point A to point B, sucks. Buying new stuff for the new house is fun - carrying it home, unpacking it, and puting it together - sucks, sucks, and sucks. Painting a bedroom in the new house - sucks. Insulating and finishing the garage - guess what - sucks too.

I've still got to install the central vac, and water softner, paint one of the bathrooms, finish the garage loft, install the garage heater, deck, landscape, fence - I'm expecting suckage on most parts.

But the new house is awesome:o) And I'm starting to watch a few games again!

You Were Expecting a Happy Ending?

So, the Edmonton Oilers rolled into Montreal last night needing a victory to go over .500 for the trip (Gary Betman .500 that is) and put some distance between themselves and 9th. They thumped the Habs in their last meeting, just beat the Leafs, put that fat guy in the pressbox, and still had the good sense to not fire their coach so as to not mess with a good formula ala Montreal! Guaranteed win night right?

Well, not so much. The night was frustrating on so many levels it makes one wonder why so much emotion is inveted in this team. The Habs get a fluke goal early when the point shot goes of Staios' skate in front and bounces right to Tanguays stick in the slot. The frustrating part about that one is how Debrusk pointed out constantly how Roli has to do a better job controlling that rebound - you know, those rebounds off shots that don't reach you just have to be controlled!

Anyways, the Oil take the lead, the 4th line plays the entire third period, yada yada yada, and late in the third the Habs tie the game on what is obviously a puck batted into the net with Koivu's glove. Koivu's quote regarding the goal, "It hit my chest and I don't know if it hit my glove after that,"is proof positive enough for me to know it was illegal. Anytime a player scores and "doesn't know" if he scored it legally or not....well lets just say he knows and leave it at that. Carey Price makes a few nice saves in the third, but realizing Horcoff couldn't bury a dead cat in a sandbox of late, maybe the saves weren't that great.

Then, the Oilers get a powerplay with just over two minutes remaining and you know that barring a shortie from the Habs, this game is going to OT - and sure enough, the Canadiens almost score. The penalty to O'sullivan comes in OT and you just know there was no way the Oilers escape the loss.

Honestly, were you expecting fair calls, Oilers powerplay goals, strong Oilers penalty kills, and a Bob Gainey loss in his first night behind the bench? I'm surprised they didn't take the OT point away!