Bethany's Hockey Rants

Is it time to play hockey yet?

by Bethany on 11/21/08 at 10:06 PM ET
Comments (1)

I hate having so many days off between games. It’s hard to talk about what the team should do now, since, well, there isn’t anything new I can say. Well, I can always say that I want the goat line back, but you know, that gets old pretty quick.

Derick Brassard is the winner of The Hockey News Calder vote. What does this mean? Well, nothing really. He doesn’t get a prize, but it is nice to see the kid get noticed. He has so much skill and is finally making the move to the top line with Nash and Huselius. Brassard is fun to watch, and isn’t afraid to stand up for himself. Derick Brassard is quickly becoming a fan favorite because he gives it all every single night. Every shift he is skating his hardest, and he gets better every single game. I fully expect him to win the Calder if he keeps this up.

Jake Voracek was also on the list, he only received 18 votes. Do I need to mention the goat line again? Didn’t think so.

Also, it shocked me to find out today that Norrena got a bit of a ‘tude with a reporter recently. Here’s what Freddy had to say:

“I don’t want to discuss anything with the media,” Norrena said. “I don’t need this.”

Norrena apparently was upset about a Dispatch story earlier this month in which the current glut of goaltenders was compared with another one—Marc Denis, Martin Prusek and Pascal Leclaire—at the start of the 2005-06 season.

“You compare me to Martin Prusek? I am not Martin Prusek, OK,” Norrena said. “I am not Martin Prusek. I am trying to do a good job and be a professional. That’s what I’m trying to do. That’s all I can do right now. And I’m not going to talk about it with the media.”

Wow. Freddy Norrena is one of my favorite players, I think he has a good attitude and I have all the respect in the world for him. It is understandable that he is upset, rightfully so. There is still no word on what is going to happen with the goalie situation, and it could go on for another month. I don’t think that’s fair, you can’t have a goaltender out that long, it’s not good for them, and it’s not a good situation to be in. Something needs to be done and a decision needs to be made. I think a lot will come from this game tomorrow night. Depending on Mason’s performance I think he will be a permanent fixture with the Blue Jackets....even though I think without a stellar performance Mason is still going to stay up here.

The Blue Jackets have a feature on RJ Umberger. It really is a great article about him adjusting to Ohio...again, and his struggle with sitting out an entire season because he couldn’t come to terms with the Vancouver Canucks, and then signing with the Flyers as a free agent. Umberger also talks about being a rookie under Hitchcock.

“I learned a lot from him,” he says of Hitch. “He demands a lot out of rookies, he’s tough on you. He really helps you learn how to play in the NHL.”

“Now being in the league for a few years, I have more confidence to play under him and I think he has the confidence that I can play for him.”

And on a totally random note, why don’t we have All-Star commercials like these?

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Tags: Derick+Brassard, Fredrik+Norrena, RJ+Umberger,

Comments

I feel bad for Norrena as he is in a very tough situation. He is obviously feeling the stress as clearly illustrated by his comments to the reporter. He had a couple of bad games but even at his worse he could have played better than Pazzy did on Tuesday night. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Posted by Jeannie from Cincinnati, Ohio on 11/21/08 at 10:28 PM ET