Auld is Our Man

Canucks make it 3 in a row, Davis slapped with 5 gamer, Berard is a doper, and Epstein is back. Let's roll...

Sabres Thumped

The Canucks rolled the Sabres 4-1 tonight at GM Place for their 3rd straight win. It was a close game most of the way but the Canucks got the breaks they needed both on offense and defense. The pace of the game was fast with plenty of chances on both ends. Canucks backstopper Alex Auld was solid stopping 24 of 25 shots in the win and was the difference in the end. The win was despite 2 key injuries to Matt Cooke and Ed Jovanovski's nagging groin pull. Not much else to say here, both teams played well but lacked intensity. Canucks got lucky more than the Sabres did, take the 2 points and keep on rolling. The Canucks are now 17-3-3 at home and 8-1-0 against Eastern Conference teams. The Montreal Canadiens are up next on HNIC Saturday night in Vancouver.
*Photo from Yahoo!Sports

Protecting Your Own

Stu Jackson handed down a 5-game suspension today to NY Knicks forward Antonio Davis for leaving the court and entering into the stands to intervene in an altercation between his family and a Bulls fan in last nights game. To add insult to injury, the 22 year-old punk fan Michael Axelrod who instigated the altercation is now suing the Davis family because Kendra Davis allegedly "scratched" him and that Antonio Davis called him "a drunk" which was a lie according to Axelrod. Let's face it, there was probably fault on both parties, Axelrod was an idiot for heckling Antonio Davis especially with the Davis family sitting just 1 row down. And in Axelrod's defense, this is apparently not the first time Kendra Davis has had a run in with fans. But the bottom line is, Davis acted instinctively when he saw that his family was being threatened, I'm pretty sure any one of us would've done the same.
*Photo from Yahoo!Sports

Berard on Roids

Columbus Blue Jackets Defenseman Bryan Berard tested positive today for a banned substance in his bid to join Team USA at the Olympics next month. This will certainly add some fuel to the fire that Dick Pound started by saying that 25% of NHL players are using performance enhancing drugs. Although I don't think the number is anywhere as high as 25%, I do believe that there is a significant number of players using some form of performance enhancing drugs, alot higher than most people think. It's common knowledge that many hockey players use Sudafed as an energy boost. The Edmonton Oilers of the 80s are widely speculated to have been heavy Cocaine users including the likes of legends Grant Fuhr and Mark Messier. All I know is that it's about damn time the NHL starts testing for drugs. I'm sure a Rafael Palmeiro fiasco is imminent.
*Photo from Tuomoruutu

Epstein Out Again, In Again

The Boston Red Sox have announced that they have agreed in principal to bring back Superkid Theo Epstein into the front-office in Beantown. This after Epstein walked away from what he perceived to be a lack of recognition (ie. money) for bringing the World Series Title back to Boston and ending the dreaded curse of the Bambino. The Epstein saga has been dominating Boston SportsTalk Radio for the last several months since it began and seems to have more twists and turns than an Agatha Christie Murder Mystery. I'm actually surprised that another team did not take advantage of the situation to offer Epstein a big pile of money to run a team somewhere else. Somewhere where the fans aren't nearly as maniacal and possessive. The return of Epstein should ensure that the Red Sox will be at least semi-competitive this upcoming season. Although looking at the roster as is, they'd be lucky to be .500, Epstein has a lot of work to do.
*Photo from NEsery

What's on TV
NBA, San Antonio vs Miami, 5:00pm PST on the Score
NBA, Toronto vs Seattle, 7:30pm PST on the Score
Tennis, Australian Open Early Rounds Day 6 (Live), 7:00pm PST on TSN

Picks of the Day
Dallas Mavericks -3 over LA Clippers
Chicago/Minnesota U5.5 -120
Record YTD (24-25, -558)