I Was Going to Take a Break but...

Its getting close to finals week and I needed a healthy form of procrastination. Not to mention, there has been some really awesome stuff happening lately. Im abandoning my usual format for a bit in favor of quickness.

1. Nate Gerbe got called up and was a +2 in 15 mins of ice time. He is a little small if you have yet to notice.
2. Jaime Sifers will play in his first NHL game tonight for the Leafs after Luke Schenn goes down with an injury for at least two weeks. Sifers played for UVM until the year before I graduated and was a captain for three of his four years here. I am irrationally excited about this mainly because I work for his sister.
3. Radim Vrbata, one of the Lightning's many free-agent forward acquisitions over the summer has requested to be put on waivers so he may return home to find his game. Ouch, Mr. Koules... ouch.
4. Down Goes Brown has discovered a book that should be read by every child in every nation ever.
5. Who has more class, Sean Avery or Rangers fans who chant "sloppy seconds" after a Phaneuf assist is announced in Madison Square Garden? God, I really do hate New Yorkers.
6. Apparently people like Sidney Crosby because he has somehow managed to invade the starting lineup for the all-star game after Canadiens fans wrote scripts that auto voted for their players resulting in Alex Tanguay almost ending up as a starter. What an age we live in.
7. This fight may be my favorite all time hockey fight due in large part to the outstanding third, fourth and fifth man in that occurs around the 20 second mark. See Puck Daddy for more on the penalties and such.
8. Iceman Bloggeth brings up a good point about the Thrashers trading Kovalchuk. What about Don Waddell's past gives Thrashers fans any hope for the Thrashers getting something worthwhile for the sniper? My guess: He goes to the Lightning for Meszaros. They have D-men to spare and are light on forwards, right?
9. Question: How big of an embarrassment is Scott Hartnell? Answer: So much so that his own farm team has designed a promotion around his latest indiscretion. Per the Phantoms Website: "Phantoms will stage the Scott Hartnell Glove And Mitten Toss. Hartnell will be on hand as he and the Phantoms collect new gloves and mittens for those in need this holiday season. All fans are asked to bring a new pair of gloves or mittens, with the tags still attached, to the game on December 14." Awesome. If you missed the act being referred to, here it is:
10. Puck Daddy continues to be my favorite blog due in large part to headlines like this "Martin Brodeur on Sean Avery's suspension: "The NHL should punish him with a suspension because he doesn't act professionally." Thanks, Fatso."
11. The Boston Bruins are really good. So are the San Jose Sharks.
12. The KHL's All-Star game will be outdoors. Sounds like a plan to me. In Mother Russia, Internet votes for you.
13. Some dude fell 25 feet from the upper deck at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa while carrying two beers. Party foul.
14. The NHL marketing gurus almost made a commercial for the Winter Classic 2 that would have went something like this: "One of the concepts we had initially was to film the Blackhawks against the Red Wings on Oct. 25 [in Chicago] and through special effects we'd have this ability to take the roof off the United Center; all of a sudden, people would start to disappear in the stands and they'd be replaced by lines of evergreens and snow banks." Is that two solid ideas in one season? No way. If you have yet to see the masterpiece that is the commercial they ended up choosing check it out:

Finally, for some fun, heres another picture of the lovely Carrie Milbank. Think I could take Henrik Lundqvist?