LIVE AT THE HOSERDOME

by Neate Sager, Out Of Left Field

Sidney Crosby haters gets theirs, we learn the truth at 17, we find out who really owns Chicago, apparently there was some sort of All-Star game and introducing Steven Stamkos.

No clips for you, hater: On Jan. 14, some bitter little person launched CrosbySucks.com. Within the week, Crosby went down with a legit injury, meaning two months without being able to post clips of the Kid's high dives and general on-ice bellyaching. There's a lesson in there somewhere. (And this is coming from the author of The Coming Crosby Backlash.)

Six days later, still no trade for Ajay Baines ... oh, not that kind of Indian: Chicago Blackhawks coach Denis Savard's post-game rant that his young team has to "commit to the Indian" (the team's iconic crest) has sparked a cottage industry. The Blackhawks cashing in on this during the same timeframe that the baseball Cubs were backpedaling over an act of staggering political incorrectness shows who really has a hold on Chicagoans' hearts, even if took owner Bill Wirtz kicking the bucket to awaken that dormant spirit.

After all, the Blackhawks have a recent championship, by Chicago standards: They last won the Cup in 1961.

(Sad that I know this: Why has the Blackhawks' name and crest never drawn protest like other native American-derived names? Because the team's first owner actually named the team after his WW1 regiment.)

Memory is a strange thing: Last year the Montreal Canadiens had 59 points after 49 games. This season they have 60 at the same point and are being hailed as Stanley Cup contenders. (Hat tip to Pension Plan Puppets.)

That's nice, but no one cares: The All-Star Game was on Sunday. (Googles to make sure.) In Atlanta. Alyssa Milano was there and so was Riggins from Friday Night Lights. NBA legend Dominique Wilkins helped judge the breakaway competition and you know without having to ask that some honky Hockey Night in Canada commentator called him "Dominic Wilkins" and said the NBA introduced the slam dunk contest. (It was the ABA.) The East won. That's all.

Because, really, Canadian media outlets are very stingy with the space they give to hockey coverage: Ottawa Senators play-by-play man Dean Brown -- and to think, he's in front of a live mike 100-plus nights a year -- actually put this in a blog post: "I fear this will not be the last Ray Emery story this season which steals the spotlight from the good news stories surrounding this team that deserve to be told."

This is coming from a guy in a market where Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson suffering a hip injury was front-page news. (Alfredsson's prolonged absence? Two games.)

Unlike Stamkos at the Sarnia Legion on Saturday night, they got served: Seventeen-year-old Steven Stamkos, everyone's No. 1 pick in the next NHL draft, has more moves than pretty much all of the NHL all-stars who were in the skills competition.




You know the worst part of the Leafs firing John Ferguson Jr.? Not being able to joke about how a contract he would have given to Snoop Dogg. There were comedians who were counting on JFJ to pay off their mortgage.




On a serious note, what Ferguson (or as the brilliant bastards at Cox Bloc dubbed him, "Brylcreem Jr.) took down with him was the belief that talent is in short supply, when in reality it isn't. Over the past couple years he gave big contracts to three defencemen who are little more than power-play specialists, Thomas Kaberle, Pavel Kubina and Bryan McCabe. His now-former counterpart in Montreal, Bob Gainey, let a similar player walk last summer (Sheldon Souray) and his team hasn't been hurt.

Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.