2008 Woodie Awards
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Sports
Five Cents...Broken knees, brawls and one hell of a blockbuster
By Patrick Ambrosio on 3/1/07
After a bit of a departure the past few weeks, we're back to the usual format today. Unfortunately for all of you, that means reading about hockey.
1. Welcome to Long Island, Captain Canada
They don't give me enough space here to fully describe the range of emotions that I went through yesterday. I woke up thinking that the Islanders, who were just one point out of the playoffs with two games in hand, were going to trade All-Star Jason Blake away because they couldn't work out a contract extension. The trade deadline came and went with no word of Blake being traded, so I went to class content that at least they weren't giving up on the season.
After sitting through an hour and 15 minutes of discussion about the Supreme Court, I get back to my room and my roommate asks, "Did you hear about the Islanders? They got Ryan Smyth."
ESPN analyst and mullet enthusiast Barry Melrose described the trade as hockey's equivalent to Derek Jeter getting traded, because of what Smyth means to the city of Edmonton. However, that isn't accurate, because the Smyth trade is equivalent to Derek Jeter getting traded to the Royals (cheap, once good in the 80s, never make the playoffs…the similarities are depressing for Islander fans).
At the end of the day, the Smyth trade is probably the most exciting trade that any of my favorite teams has ever made. It has gotten people talking about the team again, and hopefully his presence will help the Islanders win their first playoff series since I was seven.
2. People do still care about hockey
While the Smyth trade was big news in Canada and on Long Island, it barely made waves in sporting mainstream. However, last Thursday night's brawl between the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators shows that people can still be interested in the game.
Sure, no league is going to admit that they encourage fighting, but this brawl was great for the game. Not only did it get the league featured in the first 10 minutes of SportsCenter (which never happens), but people were legitimately entertained by the sight of Ray Emery smiling while beating up Martin Biron. I was out on Thursday night, and I noticed that when the highlights of the game came on, several people at the bar stopped their conversations to watch.
1. Welcome to Long Island, Captain Canada
They don't give me enough space here to fully describe the range of emotions that I went through yesterday. I woke up thinking that the Islanders, who were just one point out of the playoffs with two games in hand, were going to trade All-Star Jason Blake away because they couldn't work out a contract extension. The trade deadline came and went with no word of Blake being traded, so I went to class content that at least they weren't giving up on the season.
After sitting through an hour and 15 minutes of discussion about the Supreme Court, I get back to my room and my roommate asks, "Did you hear about the Islanders? They got Ryan Smyth."
ESPN analyst and mullet enthusiast Barry Melrose described the trade as hockey's equivalent to Derek Jeter getting traded, because of what Smyth means to the city of Edmonton. However, that isn't accurate, because the Smyth trade is equivalent to Derek Jeter getting traded to the Royals (cheap, once good in the 80s, never make the playoffs…the similarities are depressing for Islander fans).
At the end of the day, the Smyth trade is probably the most exciting trade that any of my favorite teams has ever made. It has gotten people talking about the team again, and hopefully his presence will help the Islanders win their first playoff series since I was seven.
2. People do still care about hockey
While the Smyth trade was big news in Canada and on Long Island, it barely made waves in sporting mainstream. However, last Thursday night's brawl between the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators shows that people can still be interested in the game.
Sure, no league is going to admit that they encourage fighting, but this brawl was great for the game. Not only did it get the league featured in the first 10 minutes of SportsCenter (which never happens), but people were legitimately entertained by the sight of Ray Emery smiling while beating up Martin Biron. I was out on Thursday night, and I noticed that when the highlights of the game came on, several people at the bar stopped their conversations to watch.
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