TORONTO -- First off, congrats to the Pittsburgh, Ontario, Steelers for winning the Grey Cup last night in Saskatchewan. It was an exciting game, the Steelers pulling it out in the fourth quarter over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Too bad it was missed by so many in the states.
-- Great halftime show, eh? Love the Tragically Hip.
-- Bad day (season) in Ottawa, with the Senators firing coach Craig Hartsburg after 48 games at the helm of what can be politely called a 'sinking ship.' The Sens are horrible, and have been for a while.
Hartsburg has long been rumored to be on the hot seat as the Senators have been one of the biggest under-achieving teams in the league. The Sens are now 13th in the Eastern Conference, 14 points away from the final playoff spot.
And this team was playing for the Stanley Cup how long ago? Could it have been just two seasons ago? Egad.
Of course, this could have been our very own Pete DeBoer being fired today. He interviewed for the Ottawa job over the summer, traveling to Barbados to meet with owner Eugene Melnyk just days before being introduced as Florida's 10th coach in franchise history.
The two jobs are completely different, as evidenced by Ottawa's quick hook with Hartsburg. Not as much pressure down here, especially with all those veteran players up in Ottawa. I'm not saying DeBoer wouldn't have had success with the Sens, and who knows, he just might have. But that's a bad scene up there and it's pretty obvious Pete made the right choice over the summer -- although a lot of people called him crazy for leaving hockey-mad Canada for South Florida.
Seems to have worked out OK.
''You feel for Craig, he's a good man, a friend of mine and a very good coach,'' said DeBoer. ''A lot of this job is circumstance. I know having had talks with Craig when we played, he was doing everything he could to get that team turned around. It's unfortunate. You never like to see that. It's a tough business.''
-- The Sens promoted coach Cory Clouston from AHL Binghamton (quick: which hockey city is worse than Kanata, Ontario? Binghamton, N.Y.).
Pete DeBoer played in the minors with Clouston's brother Shaun in Milwaukee.
-- Quick hit: Panthers are 10-5-1 against teams below them in the Eastern Conference standings.
-- David Booth was out sick again today, one of the trainers making him a large to-go bag filled with water and Gatorade. Richard Zednik left practice early with back spasms, but he's expected to play Tuesday against the Leaves.
George, any chance that Spezza could make his way down here at the deadline?
Maybe for J-Bo?
Posted by: Category5Cane | February 02, 2009 at 05:57 PM
George loves the Jay-Bo trade questions! LOL
Posted by: Big Slap Shot Bob | February 02, 2009 at 06:30 PM
I have no idea what's going to happen with Jay. Neither does JM. Or Jay. At least not now. Of course, he could be planning on signing and they both know this and are just having fun with us all...
Posted by: George Richards | February 02, 2009 at 07:56 PM
We'll all know JayBo's destination by the end of this month.
Posted by: EJ | February 02, 2009 at 09:48 PM
Haha the comments about the Grey Cup are hilarious. Although the Montreal Alouettes beat the Pittsburgh Steelers for the Grey Cup :P
and I think J-Bo is the 2nd best D in the league after Lidstrom and it kills to say that he's FOR SURE leaving florida. The kid has no desire to stay there. When I met him in Montreal a couple months ago he looked at me and said "youre a Panthers fan from where!?" and i said "Montreal" and he looked dazzled and said "Interesting..." as if the Panthers generate no interest by anyone on the planet lol
he's still a cool guy i just wish he would stay in florida
Posted by: Steph | February 03, 2009 at 10:27 AM
I can 't see the more than reserved Boumeester playing in a hockey city where he would have to answer questions every minute of every day by reporters or fans in the street. The guy had a hard time in an interview answering Frank Forte's questions. Words do not come easily out of Boumeester's mouth. He would hate playing in a hockey mad city. He would be forced to do the one thing he hates to do, talk.
Posted by: Bo | February 03, 2009 at 10:41 AM
Love that trade!! We need a guy like Spezza on a line wit booth and norton.
Posted by: Louis from CT | February 03, 2009 at 10:56 AM
Norton? Isn't he a former Panther defenseman? ;-)
I don't see Jay going to a team like Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver, but I could see him going to a more traditional market team like Detroit, Boston, etc. A team with a hockey history that's competitive and where he won't be swarmed by fans or media.
Posted by: Big Slap Shot Bob | February 03, 2009 at 11:27 AM
GR, the city you referenced is Binghamton--without the "p".
And yes, it's a dump.
Posted by: Bobby | February 03, 2009 at 03:31 PM
I was glad to see someone finally comment on that awful interview that Frank Forte had with Bo. The poor guy cannot speak publicly at all. He is a brilliant hockey player and mind, but they are better off interviewing him privately and paraphrasing it next time. He is silent and deadly on the ice. But if you had to read it from the interview he sure didn't seem interested in staying put. But it is a bad economy to be a UFA. Look at all the baseball players right now that are still unsigned by teams because no one can pay them what they think they should be paid.
Posted by: Salty Dog | February 03, 2009 at 05:44 PM