Nice Warm AC cord for a PLC

We know Roy does. They even taped one that eventually led to his leaving Montreal... ;-)

As for the Cup being fixed, it may be that the Devils just ran out of gas. They're such a "blue-collar" group (that's said admiringly). It was amazing when they won it all last year against a team with supposedly twice the talent. Which only goes to show how much the chemistry of a team means in hockey. What else can be said but that top to bottom the Devils' system is one of the best in the league.

BTW, Borque deserved to win the Cup at least once. Ray retiring without at least one Stanley Cup ring would have been like Dan Marino with all those records and great years in pro football, but no Super Bowl ring. A crying shame.

Couldn't agree more with Bourque holding the Cup aloft. His face was that of a kid in a candy store.

I think the Devils are much more skilled than people give them credit for. They have a power play and a transition game as good as anybody's.

The best thing is when the Devils score, the camera guys like to show Melanie Brodeur jumping up and down and up and down. Wow.

Well, the blue-collar moniker certainly wasn't meant to infer a lack of skills. More that they lack the extreme star quality, big name players like a Dallas Stars or NY Rangers. So, instead of riding a few big horses they are more focused on playing as a team. That shows in their transition game: go to the open man and make it happen. No one guy is hogging the puck. That they built a contender largely through the draft is also admirable. It's part of their system of doing things and my team (Sharks) started emulating a few years ago. That it's beginning to pay off is no surprise.

As for Melanie Brodeur, she couldn't have happended to a nicer guy. ;-)

Jeff Friesen is an awesome player. Too bad the sharks let owen nolan go. Too big of and ego and/or check?

Nolan gone? First I've heard of it. The hockey reporting here may be almost non-existent, but surely it isn't that bad! Actually, we just signed Nolan to a new contract at the beginning of last season.

Friesen we traded, along with Steve Shields, to Anaheim for Teemu Selanne. Freeze was one of the two most popular Sharks players ever (Arturs Irbe being the other), but he was quickly becoming little more than a fast checker. Very predictable on offense, steady on defense. Somehow he lost the ability to finish plays. He has SO much more potential than that and apparently Paul Kariya has already done a lot to motivate him to step up his game. Hated to see him go, but we did get a good, even better, player in return. For Jeff's sake my hope is the change in scenery turns things around for him.

One of the really fun things in San Jose the last few years has been the steady flow of quality first year players. First there was defenseman Brad Stuart who finished second in the Calder voting. Last year it was Evgeni Nabokov, Rookie of the Year candidate for 2001, and Miikka Kiprusoff, his back up. Both are goalies. Next up will be Jeff Jillson, another D-man who played last year at the U of Michigan. Fourth leading scorer on the team as a Junior. Supposed to be stellar. Hmmm, back to back Calders...

What's even scarier is there's a third goalie on our minor league team who's supposed to be even better than Nabbie and Kipper. His name is Vesa Toskala. Double Hmmmm...a Calder hat trick? Don't expect much, do I?