Some Maple Leafs and Tommy P

Here we are in the middle of a three-day period with no Kings games! Such a travesty! But there are two things I wanted to talk about for a bit. The first is the Toronto Maple Leafs and their game against the Anaheim Ducks. For a good rub down please visit my buddy Sleek and the tortured Pension Plan Puppets. In the game both teams were looking out of whack since both were suffering from discombobulated-line syndrome. I’m glad Ron Wilson is their coach and not Marc Crawford otherwise the Leafs would soon find Carlo Colaiacovo at the top line center with Nik Antropov masquerading as their nimble puck-moving defenseman. Anyway, the teams sashay their way into getting a few pucks to the back of the net with the ugliest being when George Parros got a breakaway. It was actually a nice goal, but it was ugly based solely on the fact that it was Parros. So the Leafs tie the game after some ridiculous scrambling in front of the Ducks’ net and they head to the overtime frame. One surprise of the game was that the Leafs held the Ducks to ZERO shots on in the third. But the most surprising and questionable incident came in the shootout.

Why, oh god, why, did Ron Wilson put Curtis Joseph in the net for the shootout when Vesa Toskala had been playing the prior 65 minutes? There have only been a few times where this has happened before, which should be an indication in and of itself. Vesa’s bad at the shootouts? Then leave him in there so he can get better! My California laid-back Finn should have been in net. Right when I saw Cujo skate over to the crease I knew the game was over. The feeling in my gut… could have been my dinner, but it was most likely the sinking feeling of knowing proof-positive that the Ducks were leaving ACC with two points. Perhaps their fortunes will change tomorrow when they go up against the Boston Bruins.


Onto item number 2! So the Kings have pleaded with asked Tom Preissing to do a guest column for them on their website. Interestingly enough, they call it the "Tom Preissing Blog." I was intrigued at first, but upon first glance, I realized that it was just a column written by our dear Tommy P. Of course I’m not knocking it; I’m doing just the opposite! It has great content and should be read. I’m just saying that they shouldn’t refer to it as a "blog" because it isn't one.

Why, you ask?

Well, I’m not going to go into what makes a blog a blog exactly, but there is one thing that is unique to blogs, which is what lies at the bottom of the page once the post ends. This space is reserved solely for readers who hopefully have an amusing response to something the writer may have talked about. The ability to leave a comment on what someone has written is essential to legitimizing a written piece as a quote/unquote blog. Once a reader comments, the writer can respond with a comment of his or her own. A rapport is created and voila! A dialogue and connection is formed between the reader and writer. Simple is as simple does.

I only have one gripe with Preissing writing on the Kings website. His entries are not technically "blogs." They're "posts!" What’s the point in calling it a "blog" besides the fact that it’s the sexy new word? Am I just niking picks at this point? Anyway, it is a known fact that Preissing is very well educated whose parents are also educators. Knowing that, you expect the posts to be well written and they are. In his most recent, I like that he actually understands how he’s supposed to be writing to the reader and not just spouting out a drab line to be used for quotations by the MSM later. There is none of: "You know, we came out really strong in the third period and we pulled through because all the guys are on the same page."

Instead you get:

I have to add that I spent a couple minutes in the penalty box in the 3rd period of the Carolina game and that has to be one of the biggest mood swings in sports. I got whistled at a time in the game where if Carolina would have scored, it would have been very difficult for us to come back. So I was sitting in the box, mad at myself…for those two minutes, every good play we make is a great play and every little mistake is magnified by 10. It seems to me that hockey is a real team game when your teammates are bailing you out of a situation you put them in. Believe me, no one in the rink is more nervous than the guy in the penalty box in the third period of a close game. Then, at the end of those two long, drawn out minutes…that elephant that has been weighing you down in the box hops off your back and you become one of the happiest people in that rink.

Now that’s a real quote with a real voice behind it. It also shows the reader that the player in the box is well aware what the hell is going on. I’m glad they picked Preissing to do this and not someone like Marcel Goc. His posts from last season have since been taken down off the Sharks' website, but they had Goc writing for them which was inadvertently funny because his English wasn’t all the great because it’s his second language. After awhile, I just read some of them if I wanted a good laugh. Also, go here for a good laugh.

So I just wanted to point this little tidbit because it’s Kings-related and it's some good insight. I’d go on the website and say, "Great post!" but there’s nowhere to comment!