"Something To Mitch About"

The NHL is back. Was it everything you thought it would be? While there was tremendous excitement being felt by many on Saturday as the puck dropped, I didn’t watch. I was ready for the NHL in October and they left me standing on the road. When I want to come back, I will. I wish more had that attitude, but I know I’m in the moral minority.  Don’t get me wrong, I did see the Stanley Cup banner raising ceremony in Los Angeles which was cool while the Montreal Canadiens proved yet again that no one does a ceremony like them, but I maybe watched two minutes of game action. The fact the league is back is great for my friends that run the Press Box and Four Seasons, but I don’t have that same excitement. They took three months away from me as a fan for something that should have been settled a long, long time ago. I’ll start watching the games again at some point, but I will decide when.

I received a text on the weekend from someone who did watch the games saying the guys looked out of shape and slow. What did you expect? There were no pre-season games and while many did play in Europe or the KHL, many did not. I would think you can expect the ugliness for a while yet.

A great analogy on NHL Radio about PK Subban and his contract demands. Subban wants more money even though he was on a team that finished last in the Eastern Conference. Its like a morning show host at a radio station that has terrible ratings saying he deserves more money and that he’s not going on the air until he gets it.  Hey PK, you need a little reality check. You haven’t done anything in your NHL career to deserve big $$ so shut up and play for your next contract and in doing so, try and make them better than what they are now.

I may not have watched the first weekend of NHL action, but I did see that Josh Harding went out and blanked the Dallas Stars in his first start of the year by a score of 1-0. The feat is made that much bigger when you consider it was his first game since he realized he had been diagnosed with MS. You can't help but cheer for Harding!

Here is what he had to say when it was all over.

How will the Michael Sinclair era go down in Saskatchewan? That has to be one of the shortest stints ever in the CFL for an assistant coach. The guy was one of the best ever Seahawks too and I wanted a chance to talk to him about his days wearing Seattle blue. Oh well!

I wonder what Brent Musberger thinks about Manti Teo’s girlfriend.

A good way to start a Sunday when its 30 below outside is to know the entire family is gone doing whatever and you can sleep in.  A bad way to start a Sunday is when you get up, go to make coffee and find out that you are out of filters.  SIGHHHHH!!!

The Pats need to turn it around quick. A pair of one goal losses this weekend and they are slowly starting to fade out of sight in the Eastern Conference playoff race as they are seven back of 8^th place Medicine Hat and are now in danger of being in the Eastern Conference basement as Brandon and Moose Jaw are on their heels.  They were in both games this weekend, but fell one goal short again. How many times this year have the Pats lost by one in regulation. They simply need a couple of more guys with some offensive talent. Perhaps Chad Lang can re-visit trade talks with Prince George when the season is over when it comes to Alex Forsberg. He would look nice alongside Chandler Stephenson and Morgan Klimchuk going into next season.

What a terrible weekend for baseball. One of the game’s greatest ever managers and one of the game’s greatest ever players—Earl Weaver and Stan Musial—both passed away. Those two are a level or two above legendary.

Is it safe to say after watching their performance the last two weeks that the Atlanta Falcons aren’t a 2^nd half team? I was pulling for the Falcons, but for the 2^nd straight Sunday they left me disappointed.

Is it safe to say that we will be sick of Harbaugh vs Harbaugh which is all we will hear about for the next two weeks? If there was a Super Bowl drinking game that involved taking a shot everytime we heard about the coaching matchup, it is safe to say no football fan would be coherent by kickoff.

I took Baltimore to beat Denver, I took Baltimore to beat New England and I will take Baltimore to beat San Francisco as well.

How far does Tom Brady tumble when it comes to the all-time great quarterbacks with another playoff loss?

The OJ Brigance trophy presentation to the Ravens was simply outstanding. Well done!

Lance Armstrong is the latest American icon to see his image get crushed into dirt. He follows Tiger Woods, Mark McGwire and Pete Rose. Who’s next? As I asked on Sportscage Friday, can we really consider anyone anymore to be squeaky-clean. If so, who?

It was great talking to Rob Bagg in the Cage on Friday. I’m really hoping Bagg can put his bad luck behind him and be the impact player the Riders know he can be. He said he had some offers down East, but he was waiting on the Riders because they gave him his opportunity and he feels as if he has to re-pay them for the loyalty they have shown him. I wish more guys had that thought process.

Interesting question asked by the CFL on their Twitter account Sunday morning. What is the most iconic play in the history of the league? I would say the “Immaculate Reception” or  “The Catch” in the NFL, but what is the CFL’s signature play. Anyone??

I almost forgot to mention that it was a packed house Friday night at the Victoria Club for the first "High Impact Wrestling" of the season. They actually had to turn people away. However, dogs were probably surrounding the building after hearing the high-pitched squeal of the ring announcer.  In the end, the no-good cowboy Rex Roberts returned as advertised and turned the main event into chaos. He's going after the belt at the next card. Damn you Roberts!!! Methinks Thrillin Dylan needs to throw you around for a while!

Have a great Monday and stay warm!