Watching the Senators-Avalanche game last night I couldn't help but notice the play of Marian Hossa. While Hossa is one of the best offensive players in the game, he doesn't get as much credit for his defensive game as he deserves. Last night he was matched up against the league's second leading scorer, Joe Sakic, all night and Hossa had possibly the best defensive game I've ever seen him play. Hossa also played on the first penalty kill unit for the Sens which was perfect on the night.

In the first period, Hossa weaved all around the offensive zone with the puck only to get it taken off his stick by Sakic in the upper slot. After losing the puck, Hossa raced after Sakic, stripped him of the puck from behind which allowed to Wade Redden to hit Jason Spezza on a breakaway pass that Redden would score on the rebound. A great play that was all the result of Hossa's backchecking. (0) comments

Howard Bloom is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to sports media. For those who don't know Howard, he's an Ottawa resident who has been on the fringes of the sports media for years. He used to go on Ottawa sports radio with the moniker of "the Sports Doctor" as a "sports business expert". He parlayed this into a website at http://www.sportsbusinessnews.com that I wouldn't advise anyone visiting because it has ZERO original content. I only list the url so that people are aware of it and to avoid it.

Howard's basis for being a sports business expert was that he read a lot of newspaper columns on the internet. He was good at repeating the facts but he wasn't good at thinking. Last spring he guaranteed that the Senators would be relocating and that it was the last season of NHL hockey in Ottawa. That was pretty much the last thing he's said on Ottawa sports radio because he hasn't been back on since. I saw him briefly on Off the Record on TSN recently but I guess they must have been desperate for a guest. He still knows nothing.

Anyways, being clueless doesn't make someone a worthless piece of crap. What makes Howard a worthless piece of crap is his website. He basically copies articles from newspapers but with a bit at the end stating, "this and that from at " like they actually gave this plagarist permisison to copy their articles. The only other things that have been on the site are ads and pleas for money. He tried to force people to pay to read his copied articles but I think he's given up on that idea. He is still trying to get people to buy memberships to his website but there is no indication what the benefits of membership are.

The worst part is that newspapers are increasingly going to paid subscriptions, no doubt partly because of scumsucking parasites like Howard Bloom using their content to make a quick buck.

# posted by BlackRedGold : 12:23 PM

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Ottawa city council has passed a resolution banning Leaf jerseys at the Corel Centre. While the resolution has no power and is only a joke that requests offenders make a donation to charity, there are countless Leaf fans that will get confused by the whole thing and think that Leaf jerseys are being banned outright like outside food or drinks.

Personally, I think anything that might keep Leaf fans, especially the really dumb ones that are most likely to get confused by it, out of the Corel Centre is a good thing. I've seen too many incidents involving Leaf fans at the Corel Centre that I really think that city council should be taking even tougher action. Unfortunately, mayor Bob Chiarelli is too busy trying to raise my taxes while trying to avoid paying the taxes on his family's golf courses to really do anything. (0) comments

NHL officiating is frequently a joke. The only thing that tends to be consistant about it is its inconsistancy. Case in point, the winning goal the Canadiens "scored" against Ottawa on Feb. 24 which shouldn't have counted. It was almost identical to the goal that the Senators had waived off against the Canucks tonight. The main difference was that Mike Fisher was directed into the Canuck crease by an opposing defenceman. Steve Begin went into the crease untouched when he scored the winning goal. (0) comments

Don Cherry, for some strange reason, fancies himself a role model for hockey playing kids (although he denied it when he was pimping bland beer from the chief rival of HNIC's main sponsor). Once again tonight he was addressing them and telling them to never cheapshot someone but to go at them face to face. While it might seem responsible at first, it is horrible advice.

How many kids are going to hold up on cheapshotting someone because they thought of Cherry's words the instant before acting? Probably not too many. But Cherry's words to go after them face to face implies that if someone is wronged on the ice, they should take matters into their own hands. Has Cherry never heard the saying, "two wrongs don't make a right"?

Shouldn't Cherry be telling kids that they should turn the other cheek? Why can't sportsmanship be more important then revenge? When did minor hockey become the wild west? Aren't the referees supposed to be the ones who punish the other team's infractions? (0) comments