Players Speak!

1) The Hockey News recently published a fascinating poll of players to see what the people most vested in the game had to say about a variety of issues facing the NHL today. Here are some of the hilites:

• Who is the most hated player in the NHL? 1) Sean Avery (168) 66.4% 2) Jordin Tootoo (14) 5.5% 3) Darcy Tucker (9) 3.5% 4) Jarkko Ruutu (8) 3.1% 5) Marc Savard (7) 2.7% 6) Chris Neil (6) 2.3% 7) Sidney Crosby (5) 1.9% Interesting that none of the top 6 are enforcers/fighters. These are guys who will agitate, but rarely fight their own battles. Neil being the possible exception to that
• What is an appropriate penalty for fighting? 1) 5 minutes (273) 97% 2) 10 minutes (5) 2%3) 20 minutes (3) 1% NOBODY thought that fighting should result in a game misconduct! HMMMM, we guess that the players think that fighting should be legal and NOT be penalized more than a brief 5 minute stay in the box. We agree!
• Who is the most overrated player in the NHL? 1) Sean Avery (17) 8.5% 2) Bryan McCabe and Brad Richards (16) 8% 3) Pavel Kubina (9) 4.5% 4) Marc Savard (8) 4% 5) Jaromir Jagr (7) 3.5%6) Shane Doan and Ed Jovanovski (6) 3% Wow, looks like Avery hasn't made too many friends in the league. Also interesting that Mark Savard's name pops up again in an unflattering poll. Didn't see that coming.
• Would you rather see a fourth-line roster spot go to:1) An enforcer (177) 66% 2) A skilled player who can play the power play and participate in the shootout (93) 34% Another apparent pro-fighting poll result. Won't make those anti-fighting folks too happy.

2) What we took from this poll is that a vast majority of players like the status quo. On no questions did the players want a change from the rules as they are now. They don't want visors mandatory. They don't want to change the number of teams in the playoffs. They want a continuation of a point for an OT /shoot out loss. Only on the last point are we at odds with the majority(As we noted in our post: http://newfaux.blogspot.com/2007/03/stop-rewarding-of-losers.html)

3) Our biggest surprise is how negatively Marc Savard is looked upon by his fellow players. Not looked upon as a particularly dirty player or agitator in the Tucker/Avery mold, he apparently has rubbed more than a few of his colleagues the wrong way.

4) Of course one has to take the entire poll with a grain of salt,

• Apparently not all the players took the poll seriously, as witnessed by some voting for Josh Green and Eric Goddard(AHL?marginal NHL-ers) as 'the best player in the NHL this season'
• Only about 1/3 of the players took part in the poll and it was likely NOT a secret ballot which could have influenced the results to some degree

Handicapping The Hart

1) With only a handful of games remaining on the 2006-07 season we decided to take a look at who we see as the favourites to win the Hart Trophy this June. Probably the most prestigious hardware dispensed by the league. The league MVP voting this year could be the closest its ever been. If you thought last year was close and hard to figure out, this year will be even more so. Our top candidates as of today are:

• Vinny Lecavalier- The probable Richard trophy winner as leading goal scorer, and 2nd/3rd in league overall scoring most of the season. Having a great all around offensive season. However if the Lightning fail to get into the post season, his chances of winning the Hart are all but nil.
• Martin Brodeur- Probably having his best season(which is saying something for a Hall of Fame career) Without Marty the Devils are probably not only don't win their division, but probably would be fighting to even make the post season. If not for our next candidate Marty would probably be the winner.
• Roberto Luongo- Ditto above. The 'Nucks got what they paid for last summer. The battle between Roberto and Marty may just come down to these two for BOTH the Hart and Vezina. Would be odd that one could win one and not the other award, but with both having banner seasons, and having such similar numbers for otherwise inferior teams, it could happen.
• Nicklas Lidstrom- Having yet another quiet Norris winning season for a Wing team that many didn't see as an elite team this year. Yet the steady and ole reliable Lidstrom continues to amaze despite his now advanced age(37). He probably won't win, but definitely deserves honorable mention
• Joe Thornton- The reigning MVP, Big Joe is having another outstanding year for the Sharks. His league leading 83 assists is propelling the Sharks into a potential Cup run. Probably won't win the award this time around, but will get some votes for sure
• Sidney Crosby- The likely Art Ross trophy winner, Sid 'The Kid' is helping to carry the Penguins into the playoffs, and possibly a division title. No one expected them to improve this much this fast. Admittedly his supporting cast of young stars is impressive, but so is a 19 year old leading the league in scoring. He will get more than his fair share of votes, and if not for the two goalies above may have won easily.

Isles Eliminated Today?

1) The N.Y. Islanders, fighting along with the Hurricanes, Tampa bay, Rangers, Toronto, and The Canadians for the final 3 playoff spots suffered a likely death blow to those chances today with the revelation that they will be without star goalie Rick DiPietro 'indefinitely'.
2) Though not reported officially, it appears that DP has been suffering from symptoms consistent with 'post concussion syndrome'. Headaches/nausea, etc. Most likely stemming from the collision suffered 10 days ago against Montreal. He missed a couple of games following this, and it was never officially described as a concussion by the team, but the signs seemed to be there. They were very secretive about the injury at the time. Even more so than teams usually are this time of year. Using the ultra ambiguous term of 'general body soreness' to describe his injury
3) Its unclear if the current symptoms are new, or if DiPietro has been playing through them. If he was, he was doing a great job. The Isles have points in all his 4 games since his return. The outlook was already not bright even with DP, as the Isles record against their next few opponents is amazingly poor. Now without arguably their best player this season, they are very close to being out of it. Duham has not looked sharp in his most recent outings, and it may come down to the Isles 3rd starter, AHL-er Wade Dubielewicz to carry the team.
4) Great news for the other teams in the race. It immediately essentially removes one of the 6 teams vying for the final 3 spots in the Eastern Conference. We at FAUXRUMORS who have been critical of the DiPietro contract, as well as his reckless style want to wish the cocky Massachusetts goalie the best and a very speedy recovery!

Why Fighting is Essential

1) As anyone who has read our blog since last summer can attest, we are unashamedly Pro-fighting! We believe it is an integral part of the game. We believe the game can NOT survive if it were eliminated as some anti-fighting zealots have advocated. We firmly believe it should not only be continued, but should be encouraged, NOT discouraged!
2) First the Hows, then the Why.

• Totally eliminate the instigator rule! This more than anything has put a damper on the normal out let that fighting represents. The Tuckers and Avarys of the NHL no longer fear reprisal like they would have 20 years ago.
• Crack down on the right stuff! We are fine with stick work/obstruction crack downs. They truly ruin the game, but fighting does not! How about all high sticking/slashing, etc are double minors? Make fighting also a double minor or even a 2 minute foul. As they are usually coincidental fouls, the length is unimportant, and a shorter term would mean the combatants can resume their police duties sooner

3) Why?

• Fighting sells! If for no other reason, the NHL needs fighting to sell the game. We don't care if that ruffles the feathers of those who may be a bit light in the loafers, but that is a fact! Don't hand us the crap that 'your alienating people turned off by the violence'. Those folks can simply continue to watch figure skating if that's what gets them excited. The mistake would be to further alienate those of us who really support the game now!
• Players want it! Take a anonymous poll of NHL-ers, and you'd see that a HUGE majority of them not only want fighting to stay as part of the game, but want the instigator rule changed/eliminated. You'd think that they would know best.
• Fans LOVE it! Other than the pantie-waste minuscule minority who are very vocal when an unfortunate injury like Fedoruk occurs, about 80% plus of fans state they love fighting. We didn't need to see that poll to know this. Simply look around the arena the next fight you see. Folks are on their feet, and excited and rooting like crazy for 'their guy'. Which by the way is another point. The fan favourite on almost every team is their leading scorer AND the team enforcer. Coincidence?
• It saves/reduces injuries: On the surface seems a bit odd to say, but it is true! Watch a league where fighting is illegal, and you'll see incredible stick work.(Any wonder why face cages are mandatory in college where there is no fighting?) As fighting has waned, stick work has taken off. No matter the penalties imposed, they have continued to soar with the decline of allowable tactics to deter them(fighting)

3) The minors leagues, who are more directly dependant on fan interest than the NHL seem to be way out in front on this issue. Usually they mimic NHL rules, but when they saw the instigator and other anti-fighting rules enacted hurting their bottom lines they decided that in this respect they will NOT go along with the NHL rules. The NHL should see this as a sign, and return the game as it was.

Rumors and Such....

1) Just a note to our loyal readers who have asked us privately where are all the rumors that have put this blog on the map. Firstly, this time of year after the trade deadline and long before the NHL draft in late June there really is a paucity of factual rumors out there
2) Sure the rumor whores and others in the print media who really have nothing to offer but have deadlines/editors and paying customers to answer to have still been at it the past few weeks, but we at the FAUXRUMORS Group, inc, will NOT print nonsense just for the sake of it!
3) Rest assured we WILL be back doing what we do best. Probably sometime in May we will begin to share what our voluminous sources are revealing to us concerning

• Possible Trades
• Likely draft picks
• Free agent news

4) In the mean time we will continue to do what has also distinguished us from the rest of the white bread hockey blogs; Telling it like it is, with our take no prisoners opinions! Expert analysis that you can get no where else. All with a touch of humor. So folks, continue to keep it here for all the latest from the race to the playoffs, to the rune for the Cup, THEN the NHL draft/free agent period

East Closer Than Ever!

1) Just when you think that the teams in the Eastern Conference will finally start to separate themselves a bit; with the contenders leaving the pretenders behind, we have a night like last night when things get even closer than they were before. Three of the 5 teams vying for the last 2 spots were in action last night and ALL won their respective games, tightening the race. As of today with most teams having but 8 or so games left, a mere 3 points separate those 5 teams!
2) The Rangers 83, Carolina 82 hold those spots today, Montreal 82, Islanders 81, and Toronto 80 bring up the 'rear'. The isles and Leafs have the fewest points, but have games in hand on the teams above them.
3) As we wrote in our post last week handicapping the race, it will all come down to who does best in head to head match ups. It should make for a great final 2 weeks of the season.

Just What We Didn't Need!

1) Another game, another player on the ice unconscious. Seems to be happening with alarming regularity. To us at FAUXRUMORS the most troublesome aspect to all these recent incidents is that it will only add fuel to the ant-fighting folks who will use these altercations and resulting injuries to voice their view that hockey needs to abolish fighting
2) Unfortunately to the non hockey fan all these seem to run together, but each is unique. The major U.S media has been hostile against hockey from the outset and with Bettman et.al. super sensitive on how the sport is perceived we are worried that some sort of anti fighting legislation will be discussed in the off season. At the very least any possible easing on the current anti-fighting rules would be VERY unlikely
3) We at FAUXRUMORS have been way out in front on the fighting issue. We join our fellow pro-fighting(Old Time Hockey) bloggers such as: http://twominutesforblogging.blogspot.com/ or http://www.hockeyfansunite.com/ to implore the NHL to NOT listen to inevitable nonsense that fighting is ruining the game. We would advocate that just the opposite is true. That the elimination or reduction of fighting IS ruining the game! We actually believe that more fighting would lessen cheap shots, and enhance the game for the fans. How many folks get up and walk out when there is a fight? Who is the favourite player of most fans? Its usually the team's leading scorer and the team enforcer
4) We feel the elimination entirely of the 'instigator rule' should be item number one this off season. It was the implementation of this anti-fighting rule that escalated the stick and dirty tactics that we are seeing today. The Tuckers/Averys/Holwegs/Neil/Janssons of the NHL would think twice if they had to answer to George Laroque or Donald Brashear every time they cheap shotted the opposing team's star player
5) The Fedoruk incident, as much as we hate to see guys KO'd, should be looked upon as an isolated occurrence. He went up against a player who is a much better fighter(We don't recall seeing Todd ever win a fight!) You drop your gloves you take your chances! No different than Eric Lindros getting concussed by Scott Stevens with a clean shoulder check; Its part of the game. As such should NOT be used as an excuse to additionally curtail fighting. That would be a huge mistake in our opinion.
6) Unfortunately it appears that the NHL powers that be are more concerned with the opinions of folks who hate the game no matter the fighting rules, so we don't expect that folks like Brian Burke to get their way this summer. We may have to be happy with the status quo. These incidents could NOT have occurred at a more inopportune moment. Hopefully(and for the first time in a LONG time!) the NHL will do what is right and ease the instigator rule, and allow the time tested manner to keep cheap shots at a minimum; Good one on one fights!

Attendance Issues

1) Let us first excoriate any team that still records attendance figures using the inane terminology of "tickets distributed". That term has never passed the laugh test and never will. It makes one imagine a team simply doling out admission tickets to anyone who passes by on the street corner whether they decide to go or not. The proper manner would be to simply announce the number of people who actually attend the game! Period! We would settle for tickets sold as a second best method, but the distributed nonsense needs to go!
2) Perusing attendance figures for all 30 teams after 35 or so home games some numbers leap up at you:

• The Flyers have nearly 100% attendance(99.0) despite having one of the worst teams in the league and only winning 8 of their 34 home dates. Thus proving Philly is one of the best hockey cities in the U.S.
• Not surprising is that 4 of the top 5 teams were from Canada. Only Edmonton didn't have attendance of 100% capacity or greater(98.5)
• Tampa Bay is at 100% capacity. Despite playing mediocre most of the year, and in one of the least exciting divisions, they have drawn very well. That part of Florida at least has shown they are willing to support their team.
• Now the bad news; The rest of the South East Division is NOT so well off. We particularly have to mention that Carolina and Atlanta are playing to 92 and 86% capacities respectively. The 'Canes are the reigning champs and should be riding that crest to near capacity attendance. If not now, when? Atlanta's situation is even bleaker. Despite leading their division, and having one of the more exciting offensive teams in the league they are struggling at the gate.
• Definitely the worst attendance failures, when compared to their on ice success, have to be the Nashville Predators and the N.J Devils. The Preds have been near the top in all the NHL, all season. They are now a perennial playoff team and yet play to an abysmal 88% capacity, or 21st in the whole NHL. Its looking more and more that hockey is NOT catching on in The Music City. They seem to be the favourite to move in the short term if things don't improve VERY quickly
• The Devils have got to have the WORST fan support of ANY team in the league. Despite being at or near the top in the division/conference. Having 3 Stanley Cups in the last decade or so. Perennially in the post season, they still play before an amazingly atrocious 73.8% capacity!! That's 'good' for 27th. At least the 3 teams below them have an excuse; they haven't even sniffed the playoffs in the last 3 years. The Devils have NO excuse. If they weren't building a brand new arena we'd say their days in the Garden State would be numbered. What remains to be seen is when they build it, will they come?

West Is Best?

1) Despite having won the past 3 Stanley Cups the Eastern Conference appears to be on a down year. We admit its difficult to compare each conference especially with the unbalanced schedule, but having watched all the teams perform for nearly 90% of the season its now clear where the majority of quality teams reside.
2) While the West playoff picture cleared up quickly following the All Star break, the eastern picture remains murky, even at this late date. Some may see this as depth of quality, but having seen these teams struggle all year with consistency we see it as depth of mediocrity. The bottom 3-4 teams in the East playoff picture would probably struggle to even make the playoffs in the West. We feel only the Devils, Sabres, Penguins and Senators would be playoff teams out west, and of those only the Sabres would be a top 4 team!
3) Another possible indicator of Western strength is the amazing advantage the West has in regard to head to head match ups this season with their Eastern counterparts. Again this can't be used as conclusive evidence with an unbalanced schedule where each team does NOT play each other, but the degree of disparity can't be ignored
4) Will all this mean that the Cup will finally move west of the Mississippi for the first time since the Stars won in 1999? Not quite. With the way the playoffs are structured the East has to win but one 7 game series(The Finals) against the West to retain their stranglehold of championships. Many have used the excuse of increased travel that gives the East a slight edge come late May/June when the Finals occur. True or not, the Finals are probably not the best measure of which conference is best, but ultimately/ironically is all that matters in the end

Hurricanes Gathering Strenth?

1) We have watched as the Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes have seemingly sleep walked through their first 70 or so games. Playing barely good enough to retain a playoff spot for much of the season, but not playing nearly to the level that made them champs last season.
2) Every time they'd go on a streak, they revert right back to their lackadaisical ways and return to mediocrity. Today perhaps will be looked back as a turning point of their season. For today not only did they win, but they did it in convincing fashion on the road against one of the best teams in the NHL. They even managed to score enough to have likely league MVP, Martin Brodeur removed half way through after giving up 4 goals
3) The question that will be asked, is this the real Hurricanes, finally? Ironically the 1996 Devils are the last team to not qualify for the post season the year after winning it all in the lock out shortened 1994-95 season. Time will tell, but for the 'Canes, time is short, and the time to put it into another gear, is now!

The Wild Wild.... East!!

1) Yes, it seems that the Eastern conference standing just continue to stay ridiculously tight. While it wouldn't have been surprising to see a bunch of teams hovering close to playoff position, it seems amazing that with barely 10-12 games left 6 teams are within 5 points of each other, vying for the final 2 playoff positions.
2) We'll look at those teams their remaining schedules and predict who will be 'in the money' come April 8th, and who will have an early start to hone their golf game:

• N.Y. Islanders: Games Remaining:12. 6 Home 6 Road. Other than 2 more with Philly, who is playing better of late the Isles remaining games don't bode well, especially with their seeming lack of chemistry since the Smyth trade. However, they do play the Rangers twice more and Toronto, so they do still have their destiny in their own hands. They will probably need to win 7 perhaps 8 of their final 12.
• Carolina: Games remaining:10 5 Home 5 Road. Have yet to put it together all season. Their remaining schedule would seem to be favorable, but the Hurricane have not shown us anything so far. Perhaps they can finally step up, but they will need to win a minimum of 6 and probably 7 of their remaining 10 games.
• Toronto: Games Remaining: 12 6 Home 6 Road. Right now a point out. A must win tonight against the hapless Caps. After that the schedule not easy with 2 games each with Buffalo and rival Habs. They will need to win 8 of their final 12 to have a chance
• N.Y. Rangers: Games remaining: 12 5 Home 7 Road. However 2 of those road games are at their cross town rival's Islander building where they seem to play well, as well as a game in Philly. Taken as dead as recently as a week ago, have somehow been revitalized despite a spate of injuries to key players. Being carried by Ludqvist's goaltending and Jagr's scoring. Would realistically need to win 8 of their final 12 to have a shot at the post season.
• Montreal: Games Remaining: 11 6 Home 5 Road. With 3 against Boston, 2 with the Rangers and Toronto the Habs play the teams they have to beat. So if they fail to qualify for the post season they will have no one to blame but themselves. That said with the loss of Huet its amazing that they have any shot at all. Will probably need to win 8 of the remaining 11
• Boston: Games remaining: 12 5 Home 7 Road. Have the most unlikely road to get into the post season. Blew a opportunity when they had a ton of games in hand. Now they are 5 points on the outside with a tough remaining schedule. They would probably need to win 10 of their 12 remaining games, not a likely feat

3) So what does this all mean? Basically it appears who will get into the playoffs will be determined who does best in their head to head match ups the last 2 weeks. Which makes for good drama, and no one will be 'backing into' the post season! If you get in, you have clearly earned it!

New E-Mail Address

1) Sorry folks. We didn't anticipate being back so quickly so we neglected to let our loyal readers know our new E-mail address: Its fauxrumors5@yahoo.com Send in your comments/questions/concerns/rumors and we may publish them like we did in the past.

Pittsburgh Arena Deal

1) Well, its not really news, as its been widely reported since Monday night, but we wanted to thank out Pittsburgh sources for the VERY early heads up on this. We had a post 6 weeks or so ago when things were getting bleak that this was getting close to getting done.

2) The public posturing last week by Mario and the Pends that they were now done negotiating was just that a ploy to get a slightly better deal before signing on the dotted line. There was little doubt about this getting done. In the link provided below we detailed how Gary Bettman was on board to get this done, very early. We have been quite negative about Bettman in the past, but give him due credit on this one.

3) If anyone should feel bad with all this its the KC folks. They were clearly used! Much like Nashville was used by the N.J. Devils 10 years ago to renegotiate their arena deal. (This led to the Predators) . It remains to be seen if that city will continue to pursue an NHL team. Expansion is always possible with the greedy owners, but remains remote as of now. Ironically Nashville is the team now most likely to relocate.

Stop The Rewarding of Losers!

1) We have had it with this aspect of hockey, and society in general. As this is a hockey blog we will keep the discussion pertaining to hockey only.

2) First stop giving teams points for a loss. A loss is just that, a defeat! End of sentence. You lose, you go home empty handed. "No soup for you!" Why they can't allow this is simple, awarding more points allows teams to stay in the race longer and more teams can claim, (erroneously) that they are playing .500 or better.

3) A look at the current standings shows that an amazing 23 teams are .500 or better! Now, even in an era of mediocrity, or in the parlance of political correctness, parity that's way too many. If one were to simply call a loss a loss, whether it be in regulation, OT or the silly shoot out, that number dwindles to 15. Which makes more sense. Half the teams should be above .500 and half below.

4) The next area to which the NHL rewards losing is in the annual entry draft where teams are rewarded for having miserable regular seasons by getting prime draft positions for the best young talent. The idea being that the worse teams need the help so should be given more assistance by a better draft order. Bullshit! They had to institute the lottery to try to reduce teams 'tanking it' to get a better draft pick. This way you're not certain to be 'worst' even if you are worst in the standings. This still does NOT stop this from occurring anyway

5) We say they should use the system that was employed after the Bettman lockout; Simply put each of the 30 teams into a lotto ball machine and choose the draft order accordingly. This will end once and for all any possibility of a team not giving full effort(see the Penguins of 1984), or even the possibility of folks believing they may be tanking the season(see the Caps this year).

6) To add insult to injury the NHL just adopted yet another 'reward for losing rule' to the draft. Starting this year draft order of the playoff teams will also, or instead be determined by how well they do in the post season and NOT the regular season. This is the Red Wing rule, as they are, despite their Cups, the team that has suffered more early playoff defeats than any other recently. So if for instance the RedWings finish with the most points, but lost in the first round(again) they would NOT draft last but somewhere in the early 20's. So losing in the playoffs will now be rewarded

7) We have no illusions that any of our ideas will ever be implemented. In fact it appears if anything the Bettman led NHL is going in the opposite direction and sadly further rewarding of losers is likely to continue into the foreseeable future

Saskin Fall-Out

1) We believe the fallout from the Saskin removal has just begun. To summarize for those who haven't been following this story; The NHLPA head honcho Ted Saskin was placed on waivers (paid leave of absence) by the players following allegations that basically say he has been corrupt in his dealings. A source within the NHLPA told FAUXRUMORS exclusively that the final straw was when an employee of the NHLPA informed Edmonton Oilers goalie Dwayne Roloson that he over saw Ted Saskin reading one of his (supposedly secure e-mails). This along with other allegations have been mounting against Saskin causing the players to act now.

2) However, we also have heard from varying sources that the e-mail incident(s) are but the tip of the iceberg. After an independent investigator began looking into the dealings by Saskin he found that not only were the e-mail allegations true, but when searching for such evidence he also found several secret notes written by Gary Bettman to Saskin outlining how they would work together to depose former NHLPA head Bob Goodenow. This revelation, not a huge surprise to many of us, is still an atomic bomb for many that could possibly throw the current CBA and any future NHLPA-NHL dealings into chaos.

3) Its also not certain if the most damaging issues will ever be revealed to the mainstream press. As one source told FAUXRUMORS it doesn't help the players too much either to be painted as the fools who were being led by yet another crook, so they may elect to sweep most of these facts under the rug, hire a new non-hockey lawyer to run their organization and move forward from here.

4) What is all but certain is that Ted is gone for good, and the big winner in all this (if a winner is possible in all this nonsense) is Chris Chelios. The player/player rep that has been the most vocal anti-Saskin advocate from day one of his short but tumultuous reign. It will also test the 'new tone' that Bettman has been touting; that the players and the league are 'partners' in the new CBA. Will a new head of the NHLPA continue to view the NHL as its partner or return to the previous adversary posture? Time will tell.
As always, keep it here for all the latest!

Long Time No See

Hey Faux, I did not think internet piracy and sabotage would keep you down for long... It is great to have you back, and I look forward to my continued role as a periodic contributer... Hopefully, others will demonstrate appropriate behavior and decorum, and "tolerate" the free exchange of ideas... It is interesting how those who claim to be tolerant and "all about fairness," almost never behave in the manner in which they preach... Actually, that's not interesting, it's hypocritical... It must have been quite boring for those who have sought to destroy you over the last couple of weeks, as it appears their ENTIRE focus was spent researching and critiquing YOUR posts... Best of luck to the future of FAUX... And, once again, it is fantastic having you back in the mix...

Simon Hypocrisy/Double Standard?

1) Yes we did say we weren't going to begin vigorous posting until April, but the whole Chris Simon incident really has caught the attention of the FAUXRUMORS group. During our weekend meeting to discuss future posts both FAUXRUMORS2, AS WELL AS ANTZMARCHING agreed that the suspension given to Simon was way out of proportion but not unexpected
2) Why? Well for starters the incident awoke the national media that NHL hockey has resumed. Some outlets that by and large ignore hockey, decided this incident needed to be shown over and over. Basically confirming to themselves that hockey is a brutal violent sport worthy of disdain and this just confirms that inane notion. Therefore the very media sensitive NHL brass had no other choice to make an example of Simon and give him in essence the longest suspension in league history
3) For the record all of us agreed that Simon deserved a suspension. There is NO place for that kind of a foul, but he and his team paid for his 'brain fart' with the game. The player was NOT even injured. How many incidents recently HAVE resulted in injury that didn't warrant much in the way of suspension? The Neil on Drury and Jannson on Karberle come imeadiatly to mind. On both of those players were injured. Thankfully not seriously, but both times the player was suspended for 3 games. This time the player hit was NOT hurt and yet the suspension is the longest ever?
4) Folks on the other side say its not the injury, but the potential injury that matters. OK, fine, the Neil hit on Drury could have been another Bertuzzi on Moore if Drury had suffered a spinal injury/neck fracture. Would the NHL have given Neil 3 games if Drury had his career ended? Of course not, so the drivel that the amount/degree of injury on the play doesn't matter is baseless
5) Ironically the day of the Simon suspension Islander defenseman Brenden Witt was cold cocked by Caps enforcer Donald Brashear. Witt was knocked cold for a few minutes. Brashear got 2 minutes! When asked about it NHL disciplinarian Colin(still a Ranger?) Campbell stated that"Last night, that was a fairly robust shift, and just before Brashear gave him the straight arm, Witt feigned at Brashear. So, what does he expect Brashear to do but lash out? It wasn't a sucker shot. Any one wanna bet that Campbell would have seen the play differently if Brashear had punched and knocked out Jagr or Crosby?
6) A strait arm? It was a right hook. If this and the other mentioned incidents don't illustrate the total hypocrisy and double standard that the NHL has for discipline nothing ever will. It would be a sad way to have Simon's career end, but as a UFA and now 35 years old, its unlikely he will be back in the NHL. One Islander source tells us if Chris decides to wrap it up he will most likely be back in their organization possibly as an asst coach either on the Island or in the minors. Good luck Chief!

Nice to be back!

1) Thanks to tireless work by FAUXRUMORS our founder, we're all excited to be back in business. We're told that for now we're going to keep a relatively low profile, but come April its back into the swing of things as we prepare for the most exciting time of the NHL season-The Stanley Cup playoffs!
2) We will only look ahead from here on in, but as our first post since the 'incident', we want to briefly chastise the coward who upended(temporarily) our blog. For no other reason than apparent jealousy. We at FAUXRUMORS2 were very frustrated as we had some amazingly accurate sources who gave us a heads up on some of the more notable move that transpired on dead line day.
3) Oh well, we will now look forward and hope to get back into the rumor mode as the draft approaches. We will ofcourse do much more than that. We will continue to do discuss news and have our unique commentary that holds no punches.
4) We have talked with several of the folks who were regular posters on here and they are eager to get back 'into the game' and resume responding to us. We want to thank them and so many others for the cards/letters and phone calls. One never knows how many friends they have until adversity strikes! Again, great to be back in business!!

We're Back!

1) This is only a very brief post, and not really intended for wide spread viewing as of yet. We're still trying to determine the extent of the virulence of the person(s) who successfully derailed our previous FAUXRUMORS blog
2) He/they certainly have shown their cowardice by hiding in the shadows. Despite the enormous annoyance this initially had on us, now We have begun take this whole situation as a supreme compliment. Apparently our posts were hitting some folks a bit close to home. Evidently our sources were just a bit too correct
3) They first started with annoying posts on the blog that elevated to impersonation. We guess when that failed they resorted to computer hacking, of not only us but to the many who regularly posted on the blog. Luckily we had more than e-mail addresses of many of them,(due to the tour we undertook last fall) we have many snail mail addresses, as well as many phone numbers so we were ale to find out how far this person(s) had reached.
4) We're told that many are fed up and likely won't return to the blog, but several have expressed a desire to stick it to the person(s) who screwed with them and us, and intend to start to post here as soon as we fully get under way. ( fauxrumors2 already has signed to return, and Antzmarching has also expressed an interest to resume posting)
5) Our current time table is to get fully functional before the NHL playoffs- about 3 weeks away. Of course this all can change if the hackers are again able to infiltrate this site like they did the last one. We sadly received little to no assistance from Google on this matter. However we are NOT deterred, and intend to revive what was the fastest growing new hockey blog on the net. We intend to resume right where we left off! Stay tuned folks!
As always, keep it here for all the latest!