Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Jarome Iginla vs. Jaromir Jagr: An in-depth comparison

After 15 years in Calgary, Jarome Iginla tries to
remember which facial muscles you use to smile.

The trade deadline has come and gone, and two names dominated: Jaromir Jagr and Jarome Iginla. It's not the first time in their careers that they've found themselves with something in common.

Both are right wingers known for using their size and strength. Both are members of the exclusive 500-goal club. And of course, both were moved in the days leading up to the 2013 NHL trade deadline.

But despite the similarities, there are some subtle differences between the two players. Let's take a more in-depth look at these two legends.

Jagr: Has always worn the number 68, in recognition of the first year of the Czechoslovakian rebellion known as the Prague Spring.
Iginla: Has always worn the number 12, in recognition of the final year that the Flames front office would be able to convince themselves they were still Stanley Cup contenders.

Iginla: His full name is Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla.
Jagr: His full name includes several graphical references to anatomical functions as well as his mother, according to every Penguins fan you mention him too.

Jagr: Played most of his career in Pittsburgh alongside players like Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis and Paul Coffey, which taught him valuable lessons about how to consistently perform at Hall of Fame level.
Iginla: Played most of his career in Calgary alongside players like Craig Conroy, Daymond Langkow and Matthew Lombardi, teaching him a valuable lesson about life not being fair.




Friday, April 5, 2013

Grantland Grab Bag: Icing is exciting, Patrick Roy is crazy, and Don Cherry is on the wrong side

In the weekly Grab Bag: The icing debate, homer announcers, Luongo's sucky contract, and Patrick Roy wanders off.

>> Read the full post at Grantland




Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Trade deadline day: Follow me at TSN and Grantland

Happy trade deadline day.

I’ll be tweeting as part of TSN’s all-day TradeCentre coverage. You can follow me here, and follow TSN’s twitter coverage using the #tradecentre hashtag. Feel free to watch me try not to have a career-ending meltdown when it's revealed the Leafs have given up good assets for Mikka Kiprusoff.

I’ll also be posting short updates throughout the day at Grantland, which you can find right here. If things don't get too crazy I'll probably also hang out in the comments both here and on the facebook page.




Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Grantland: Five dream teams that weren't

Most of the hockey world went to bed last Wednesday convinced Calgary captain Jarome Iginla was headed to Boston. When they woke up to discover he’d wound up in Pittsburgh instead, many were left wondering the same thing: Should we just go ahead and start engraving the Stanley Cup now?

The Penguins were already riding a massive win streak (now up to 15 and counting). Adding the best player available at the deadline, along with the earlier acquisitions of Brenden Morrow and Douglas Murray, to a lineup that already featured Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and James Neal just didn’t seem fair.

Of course, there are no sure things, and the Penguins roster isn’t perfect. They may have the best cast of forwards in the league, but we all know that the goaltending and blue line are shaky, and … [Checks the Penguins’ goals against during the last three games.] … oh man. I think we’re all screwed.

But let’s not panic quite yet. After all, while the Penguins might be the consensus favorites right now, they have a long way to go before they’re crowned champions. And if they falter, they’ll have good company, because the recent history of NHL sure-things isn’t all that impressive.

So before we start planning the Penguins’ coronation, let’s take a look back at five other big moves that had everyone ready to just hand over the Stanley Cup. As you’ll see, the hockey gods have a habit of throwing a surprise our way.

>> Read the full post at Grantland




Monday, April 1, 2013

Buyers and sellers at the 2013 NHL trade deadline

In hindsight, Luongo realized that getting Gillis
to promise to have him in a new uniform by
March may not have been specific enough.

The annual NHL trade deadline is Wednesday, which literally everybody who would ever visit this site already knows and has read 300 articles about, but I have to mention it anyways because this is what us professional writers refer to as a "topical lead".

Anyways, that means it's time for a mandatory roundup of which teams are buyers and which are sellers.

Buyer: Toronto Maple Leafs - Are rumored to be in the market for a veteran goaltender due to concerns about James Reimer's glove hand; specifically, the way he keeps using it to point to his statistics while saying "Seriously, you guys would be insane to trade for a goaltender right now".

Seller: Calgary Flames - Jay Feaster is expected to be extremely active on deadline day and finalize deals with as many as a half dozen different teams, and that's just for Jay Bouwmeester.

Buyer: Anaheim Ducks - Will be looking for fourth-liners who don't know the meaning of the word "can't" and veterans who don't know the meaning of the word "quit" and potential season ticket subscribers who don't know the meaning of the word "regression".

Seller: San Jose Sharks - Ryan Clowe would be a perfect addition to the dressing room of a contender, since he's the not the sort of guy who'll come in and suddenly disrupt team chemistry with a whole lot of selfish talk about how many goals he's scored this season.