Ladd V. Kesler... An Odyssey

It might be one of the newer rivalries in the NHL, but anytime the Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks hook up from now on, I'm gonna guess we can expect some bigtime fireworks. It all started in last year's playoffs when Andrew Ladd laid a bit of a cheap shot on Canucks forward Ryan Kesler. Check it out...



Any way you look at the hit, it was dirty. Kelser wasn't looking, it was away from the play, etc. Add to that the fact the Hawks eliminated the Canucks a few games later, and you can bet Kesler was really looking forward to the next time he saw Ladd to exact a little revenge. Funny thing about that though... it turns out Ladd can pack a punch.



You can't see it all that well in that clip, but if you watched the game (or have seen Kesler's left cheek since) you know Ladd cut him open pretty good. But of course, things didn't end there. Kesler went on BC sports radio Sunday and had this to say about Ladd:
"He's a coward , he'll always be a coward. At least he was man enough to hit me when I was looking this time. He cross-checked me in the face (in the playoffs) and broke my nose when I wasn't looking."

To which Ladd responded:
"We all had a pretty good laugh at it," Ladd said after practice on Monday. "It's pretty tough to take, I guess, when we square off and he takes one shot [to the face] and decides to bail on the fight."

Here's my take on it. Yes, Ladd hit him with a bit of a cheap shot back in the '09 playoffs. But should Kesler really be trying to smack-talk after getting one-punched... at home no less? Ladd proved that when it comes down to dropping the mitts and going mano-e-mano, he's the tougher guy. But I guess if Kesler's pride is really that hurt, there's always March 5th to look forward to. Circle it on your calendars kids!









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Don't Mess With Revis

Most of the offensive co-ordinators already know this, but if you're going up against the NY Jets next season, you might want to created an offensive scheme that involves staying as far away from Darrelle Revis as possible. The guy is, without a doubt, THE premiere shut-down cornerback in the NFL right now. Case in point: check out this ridiculous interception against the San Diego Chargers yesterday.



It's like I said last week, I understand Charles Woodson winning the Defensive Player of the Year award. But there's no way he should have received double the amount of votes than Revis. Shutdown corners never get the respect they deserve from the media/voters. I know what Peyton Manning is thinking heading into next Sunday's AFC Championship game: "OK, so Reggie Wayne obviously won't be a factor. Good thing I still have Clark, Garcon and Collie to throw to!" Cindrella is alive and well... but the glass slipper gets shattered on the 24th!



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Burrows V. Auger

So... apparently Vancouver Canucks forward Alex Burrows and NHL ref Stephane Auger don't exchange Christmas cards. After last night's 3-2 loss the the Nashville Predators, Burrows stirred up quite the hornets nest while doing the Jason Spezza on the exercise bike. Basically, Burrows says Auger made two penalty calls against him that were just plain terrible - one for diving in the second and one for interference in the third. (I think the diving call was borderline, the interference call was pretty brutal.) According to Burrows, the calls were 100% personal stemming back from a Canucks/Preds game in December. In that one, Burrows was hit by Preds forward Jerred Smithson, and Smithson was given a major penalty for charging and a game misconduct. Acccording to Burrows, Auger approached him during warmups last night and said something along the lines of: "You made me look bad in Nashville on the Smithson hit, and I'm going to get you back tonight. I saw the replay, you had your head up, you weren't really hurt and you made me look bad so I'm going to get you back tonight'. Here's video that could very well support Burrows' claims.



And here is what Burrows had to say after the game.



Now let's be honest, Burrows is a known diver. Not as much as he has in the past, but he's one of those guys that will hit the deck if he feels just a little bit of lumber touch his body. But having said that, if Auger said anything close to what Burrows is implying, this is going to be VERY interesting. I can't remember a time in the NHL when a referee has been proven to have made penalty calls for revenge or personal reasons. If it turns out to be true, does the league still fine (or worse yet, suspend?) Burrows for his comments? How can you? And how stupid is Auger?! If you want to exact 'revenge' against a player for making you look foolish, why would you say something before the game... TO THAT PLAYER?! It seems like Burrows has enough evidence to be proven right here, but you know Auger's union will do everything it can to protect the referee. Stay tuned... should be interesting to see how this all unfolds in the end.




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Schremp's Hockeyball Skills.

OK, OK, OK... this is me promising to keep on top of this blog from now on. I've said it a few different ways before, but I feel that once I put the word "promise" out there, people will REALLY hold me to it.

So how to get back into it after a three month hiatus? Hmmmmm... how about with one of the craziest displays of hand-eye coordination ever seen? This is a couple of days old, but for those who haven't seen it, feast your eyes on THIS! Rob Schremp will never be a great hockey player, but this is crazy.



So yes, nice goal Schremp. Now kindly go back to floating around and basically being useless for the next 20-25 games.





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