Beware of Godzilla...

I found an interesting story about Toho lawyers making sure that Godzilla is not copyright infringed. They even went after a blog that had a "-zilla" name like mine, and a skinny walking dinosaur-type logo. So, if one day this blog is gone, chances are the Godzilla police came after me. At least I don't have any images of Godzilla on my site and make zero profit from the site.

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/11/godzilla-terror.html

Finally

Well its been a few games (like 6) but the Sens finally won. They had some pretty good efforts in the previous two games, only to lose in the shootout. So, technically they have points in their last 3 games. But the last home game against the Rangers was a solid victory. It was also the unveiling of the Senators 'new' third jersey. The theme was Back in Black; accordingly the new jerseys are black. I think they look really good. Black always looks good, but the styling of the red and white striping on the arms looks good on the players. What I don't really care for is the word "Sens" printed on the front. I do refer to the team as the "Sens". But I can already see people unfamiliar with hockey asking, "What is a Sen?". I tend to not like team name jerseys: Rangers, Islanders, Dallas, etc. It usually means that the marketing team can't make a decent logo. That's true in this case. I hate the Senators many logos. So maybe the "Sens" script is an improvement? I would have gone old school and brought back the big "O" logo instead. It may be kinda lame, but at least it has some tradition to it. The best logos are original six teams: Blackhawks, Redwings, Bruins, Maple Leafs, Montreal. So going old-school is at least justifiable, more so than with a nickname like "Sens". I will probably buy this jersey when it goes out of style at this time next year. But if it had a better logo, I would have been tempted to pay full price and get it now.

Winner

The Kings game was great. Before the game, AM radio color analyst Daryl Evans gave us a brief update on the Kings and Capitals. There was a raffle for some autographed pucks and stick. Alisia won an Anze Kopitar autographed puck. He's the first Solvenian pro hockey player and is known to befriend Sasha V of the Lakers. We both got free Kings hats, pretty cool. Alisia noticed that the color was blue instead of purple on the hats, so the joke was that we got the defective overrun hats. The game itself was good. The Kings can really clamp down on the defense and really limited the Caps scoring chances. Kings win 5-2.

Last

The Senators droped into 15th place in the Eastern Conference with the recent shootout loss to the Rangers. Seems like the team has more meetings than practices lately and the media has fully pushed the panic button. There are talks of blowing-up the team by trading for better defensemen, more scoring, a better goalie, new head coach, or new GM. Kind of like the Yankees, the Senators can't do anything without it getting picked up in the media. So, when the team struggles it's big news in Canada. To make matters worse both Neil and Fisher went out with knee injuries in the last game and look to be out for weeks. (At least that excludes them from trade rumors). It is frustrating to watch the team struggle so badly, and yet I keep expecting them to snap right out of it. They still have three of the top scoring forwards in the league; but no one is getting it done. I still wait for a turnaround.

 

Excited about the Kings/Capitals game tomorrow. We got a babysitter for the kids. The best part is that the babysitter is free! Alisia is hoping to meet Luc Robitaille. I doubt it, but it's not totally out of the realm of possibility. Luc has a high level marketing position with the Kings, he could appear. Either way the seats are good, around the 14th row of the bottom bowl, and I get a date evening without the kids.

First game of the season

I just scored tickets to the Kings game. Sweet. I love free tickets. I'd pretty much watch any free sporting event. (possibly not WNBA) As a bonus, they are playing the Capitals. I have yet to see Ovenchicken play live. That will be kewl. As a bonus, bonus I get to have dinner before the game.  Free meal and free game. The triple bonus is a chance to meet a player or telecaster at this dinner, win Kings swag in a raffle, and I have two tickets to this, not just one.  YES.

Afro's back!

Well, I usually save this space for hockey related info and opinion but there are always exceptions. This is one of them. I just read that Afro Samurai is going to be on Spike TV for season two. I didn't exactly see season one on TV, but happened upon the DVD set at a Suncoast store and bought it. It's great japanimation. Samuel L Jackson voices a particularly bad @ss samurai. There's also a twist in that the music is hip-hop inspired. I'm not a big fan, but it really makes for an interesting mix and it works. The character design is very good in the animation. So, I'm pretty pumped that they made a second season. I am just wondering how they got this trailer past me since I do watch a little Spike, with their ties to MMA/UFC.

 

http://blog.wired.com/geekdad/2008/11/afro-samurai-co.html

worse than the worst

Sens lost a disappointing game to the basement dwelling Islanders. I don't know what to say. They just don't look sharp. There was some running around in the defensive end during the Montreal game, but as a whole have been stronger than during the first 'slump'. They have just been making each goalie they face look like a stud. Ultimately, scoring 2 goals in the last 3 games is their problem. While the defense has improved, you don't win if you can't score. The Sens can't score.

 

I just heard that Barry Melrose got fired from the head coaching job of the Lightning. I'm a bit surprised that it happened this early. But I wasn't sure how much of a coaching pedigree Barry had other than letting Gretzky do his thing for the Kings. Melrose is a solid commentator so I don't think he will remain unemployed, but I would be surprised to see him as a head coach again.

500

Well, despite a recent turnaround the Senators returned to mediocrity. Having scored one goal in the last two games has been a low-light. Last night's game was supposed to be a measuring stick with Montreal expected to be a playoff contender. They failed that test and played inconsistent hockey. I'm starting to realize that a .500 record is in the cards unless a more consistent game is found. I'm not sure how much the new head coach can scream and yell. There's a lot of season left, but I'm disappointed in the last two games after looking promising the previous 4.

On another note, Kings 'backup' goalie Ersberg has looked promising winning a few games and that means bad news for LaBarbara.

Fan-atic

I will admit that I usually watch my Senators or Kings games with an appropriate team logo hat on. Which is kinda lame.  But I've taken it to a new level this year with a fake player jersey, t-shirt of Mike Fisher. Well, it did wonders for his career as he went pointless and minus-5, through the first 10 games. Last night he had an assist and the overtime game winner. Also, he's showing some chemistry with new linemate Alfredsson. These two guys can skate, so they bring a high speed attack to the second line. I hope this is the start to a solid season for Fisher.

NHL Notes

Damn. That's what I get for hyping Brodeur; I guess talking about a shutout record should be taboo, just like talking about a shutout before it happens. Martin, one of the most durable goalies in the league, went down with an elbow injury and looks to require surgery. Bottom line is 3-4 months of rehab, that's most of the season.  Bummer.

 

Speaking of goalies, I just discovered that another Marty has been horrible. Turco is sitting with a 4.0+ GAA and sub .900 SV%. No wonder Dallas is off to a rough start. Not that's its his fault, but a goalie standing on he head can hide a lot of problems/deficiencies on a team. So, naturally he gets the blame when the team is bad.

 

On the "not surprising" list is having Auld outplayed Gerber. Auld has made the stops he can see, plus a few he shouldn't. I think Auld has only allowed 1 regulation goal, the rest have been powerplay goals. Gerber wasn't making routine saves, much less the miracle stops. It's not hard to look good against that. But I give Auld credit for playing really well when given the chance. The team defense has definitely improved in front of him, but how much of that is more confidence that a few mistakes can be made without it ending up in the net?

 

 

Center Ice?

I missed this weekend's Senators game.  Usually that has to do with a last minute change in the channel guide, so that I end up taping nothing or the wrong game. What's one game out of 82? Well, I'm paying for the Center Ice Package and even though its only about $1.50 per game, I don't miss very many. This time neither Florida or Ottawa was televising the game, but there's not much anyone can do about that. On another note, I've noticed several games not being in HD. After watching HD hockey, it's really hard to go backward. The downside of having a big picture, is that a big blurry picture sucks that much more.