Stanley Cup Finals 2009: The Fast-Food Version

This year's Stanley Cup Finals are going to be remembered (by me, at least) as the Fast Food Stanley Cup Finals. It's going to be hot (teams are still sweating from their last series played), fast (possibly done in less than a week), cheap (whatever works for NBC, NBA, and AA), and convenient (to Gary Bettman and his agenda).

Ok, so the schedule came out, and everybody is not thrilled. Seriously, I am not happy either, and usually I am a happy-go-lucky guy (sarcasm). What really bugs me even more is that the NHL is waiting on the N(freakin')BA in order to schedule a time for Sunday's Game 2. ...Hold on, let me get this straight. The NHL is waiting on the NBA in order to decide when the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins will play that day? First off, you put Game 1 & 2 back-to-back, and now you're waiting to see what is going on in the NBA that day before announcing a game time?!?

You know what, I can't even blog this one. I'll be audio podcasting this one. I'm very disappointed in the professionalism of a certain pointy eared fiend, also known as Gary Bettman. This guy still doesn't get it even after 16 years. You would think he'd have it down to a science.

Audio podcast will be online within the next five hours.


Love Always,

The Rant Man

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Post Series, Intro Conference Finals: Wings vs. Hawks, Pens vs. Canes

Time to look forward to the Conference Finals!

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Rant Man's Post Series Report: Pens vs. Caps

I would have done this face to face, but I've got this 5 o'clock shadow going on.

Rant man strikes again.

Download Rant Man's Musings of the Pens Caps Series Finish

Hockey Week show 13B: The Podcast Show

This show was meant for the podcast only, exclusive of television (though it might end up there anyways), and because Rob wasn't available, heir apparent to the Hockey Week legacy Christopher Covert joins us in the studio for some discussions about Jim Balsille, contracting teams, and NHL Website Cover Pages.




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Show 13

Lucky 13! Lucky because we don't have Dave on this show. Nah, I'm just kidding. This episode, we cover all our 2nd round picks, the trophy candidates, and of course, all the news and happenings from around the league in the previous round. Enjoy!

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Merciad Article

The Merciad is the school newspaper here at Mercyhurst College, and I've been asked to write a column here, and have been doing so for a few weeks. I referenced this column on the air, and I wanted to make it accessible to everyone here.


Let’s Clear the Playoff Air

This column is purely to end some arguments before they happen with respect to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and specifically my Pittsburgh Penguins.
I would first like to apologize to NHL fans everywhere. We did not make Sidney Crosby the league posterboy. It is not the Penguins,’ nor is it their fans’ fault that he is shoved down your throats by the media. I will not refute the talk of his complaining, because he does do that, but the NHL is a very superstar-oriented league, and every star gets special treatment (yes, even Daniel Briere), and Wayne Gretzky was worse than Crosby in this. Now can we please shut up about him? I am sick and tired of people complaining about his complaining. That’s hypocrisy. Get a grip people.
Second, many people have a problem with Penguins fans. A great many of them are not Penguins fans, but merely bandwagoners. If a person claiming to be a Penguins fan cannot tell you 3 people from the X Generation (I’ll even include X Force), or have no idea what you are talking about, they are not Pens fans. They are bandwagoners, and they make us all look bad.
Let me clear some things up. If you cannot name anybody from the X Generation, you are a bandwagoner. If Ramzi Abid, Dick Tarnstrom, Konstantin Koltsov, Sebastian Caron, and Alexei Morozov mean nothing to you, you are a bandwagoner, or a sorely uninformed fan. If you cannot name when the Penguins won the Stanley Cup, you are a bandwagoner. If you didn’t follow the team for years because they weren’t very good, no matter how big of a fan you were as a kid, you ARE a bandwagoner!
But there is hope if you are new to the Penguins fandom: do not claim to be a super fan, listen to facts and stories, never claim that this team is our best team (see: 1992-93), never think that Crosby is better than Lemieux, and never, ever, consider yourself a bigger fan than those who cheered through the horrible losing seasons.
It happens with all teams. My freshman year, I learned to hate the Buffalo Sabres because of their fans, when in fact, it was only a bandwagon which has since dissipated.
So do not hate all Pens fans, look a little deeper and better direct your hatred; everyone will be a lot happier.


John Baranowski