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Isles' Witt hit by car this morning; will still play tonight

Matt Burt, TSN.ca

12/8/2009 1:29:06 PM

Go ahead, make his day.

New York Islanders defenceman Brendan Witt was hit by a car in Philadelphia on Tuesday, according to Newsday. But Witt reportedly picked himself up off the road and, after a few profanities, assured everyone he was all right before continuing on his way, prompting one witness to say, "it was like seeing Clint Eastwood, but in hockey."

Witt was crossing Arch Street to get a cup of coffee when a gold Yukon truck made an illegal turn and hit the 34-year-old. Newsday says Witt tried to jump on the hood of the vehicle before being thrown to the ground as he was struck.

"I'm okay," Witt told the crowd as he dusted himself off, according to Newsday. "I've got to go play some hockey. I'm a hockey player. I'm okay. No big deal."

The onlooker was impressed.

"Boy that guy is tough," he said.

The 6'2, 219-pound blueliner downplayed the incident.

"I just got lucky," said Witt, who oddly enough had declined an offer for a drive to Wachovia Center from the team's medical staff just prior to the accident. "Fortunately nothing bad happened. I'm just a little sore."

The Humboldt, Saskatchewan native chose not to call police or get medical care, and was at the Isles' morning skate just a few hours later. He will play tonight against the Flyers.

Witt has two goals, one assist and 35 penalty minutes in 26 games for the Isles this season, and has no plans to star in any action films in the immediate future.
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phillyfan26 said:
I will throw balls of ice at you, so help me God.
Click to expand...

Your Flyers are one of the two NHL teams actually worse than my Islanders, so...I have no idea what that has to do with ice balls, I just thought I'd mention it. Cause it's kinda funny. Cause it's true. Pronger. Douche. You should like hockey so my insults would sting a little bit. Bastard.
 
This isn't really hockey related per se, but I though it was cute and amusing, and some of you might get a laugh out of it.

As some of you may know, I live in the city where Wayne Gretzky was born and raised, and his dad Walter is as big a "celebrity" as he is. Maybe celebrity isn't quite the right word, he's very, very normal, still lives in the same house they had when Wayne was a kid, but they're beloved by everyone, nonetheless.

I was just at the mall doing some last minute shopping, looking for something for my mom, who has everything, and is in the process of downsizing anyway, so the last thing she needs is more shit. In the middle of the mall, there was this table set up with stuffed bears on it. I got a little closer, and saw Walter sitting at the table, and there was a sign explaining that it was a charity thing selling "Walter's Bears" to raise money for our local hospital. My mom loves the family, so I was all "score! That's what I'll get her!"

So, I go up to buy one, and he jumps up and takes the bear and asks who it's for. I gave him my mom's name, and so he signed and dated the ear tag, then he asked my name, and he wrote that in the line that said "from." Then he grabbed a note pad, and I could see he'd presigned a bunch of pages, so he wrote my name on one, then asked my mom's name again, and signed one for her. I thanked him, and was ready to leave, and he said "do you have any kids?" Yup, I told him, a daughter, and then I gave her name. "Sons?" "No, just a daughter." "A husband?" "Nope, no husband, but I'm looking, do you know of anyone?" (I'm really not, but what else are you going to joke around about to an old man?) He raised his eyebrows, and kind of sidled up beside me in a funny way, and we laughed. So then he was all "okay, who else?" I told him it was really nice that he'd signed what he did already, and I didn't want to trouble him for any more, but he said "no, that's what I'm here for! Nieces? Nephews?" My nieces and nephews are all adults, close to my age, but he kept insisting, so I just kept giving him names of family members. When he got to around 10 slips of paper he'd signed, I was thinking "okay, soon I'm just going to have to start pulling names out of my ass." LOL He finally stopped though, and I thanked him profusely, told him how thrilled my mom will be with the Walter bear, wished him a Merry Christmas, and went on my way.

What an awesome guy, I'm still smiling. :)
 
Team Canada has been announced. Here's the list:


Forwards
Patrice Bergeron, L'Ancienne-Lorette, Que. (Boston Bruins)
Sidney Crosby, Cole Harbour, N.S. (Pittsburgh Penguins) Alternate captain
Ryan Getzlaf, Regina, Sask. (Anaheim Ducks)
Dany Heatley, Calgary, Alta. (San Jose Sharks)
Jarome Iginla, St. Albert, Alta. (Calgary Flames) Alternate captain
Patrick Marleau, Aneroid Sask. (San Jose Sharks)
Brenden Morrow, Carlyle, Sask. (Dallas Stars)
Rick Nash, Brampton, Ont. (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Mike Richards, Kenora, Ont. (Philadelphia Flyers)
Corey Perry, Peterborough, Ont. (Anaheim Ducks)
Eric Staal, Thunder Bay, Ont. (Carolina Hurricanes)
Joe Thornton, St. Thomas, Ont. (San Jose Sharks)
Jonathan Toews, Winnipeg, Man. (Chicago Blackhawks)

Defence
Dan Boyle, Ottawa, Ont. (San Jose Sharks)
Drew Doughty, Ottawa, Ont. (LA Kings)
Duncan Keith, Penticton, B.C. (Chicago Blackhawks)
Scott Niedermayer, Cranbrook, B.C. (Anaheim Ducks) - Captain
Chris Pronger, Dryden, Ont. (Philadelphia Flyers) - Alternate captain
Brent Seabrook, Tsawwassen, B.C. (Chicago Blackhawks)
Shea Weber, Sicamous, B.C. (Nashville Predators)

Goalies
Roberto Luongo, Montreal, Que. (Vancouver Canucks)
Martin Brodeur, Montreal, Que. (New Jersey Devils)
Marc-Andre Fleury, Sorel, Que. (Pittsburgh Penguins)




There are some surprises for me, notably Bergeron, Doughty, and Staal who has had a horrible year to date (save for 5 points the other night).
 
VintagePunk said:
This isn't really hockey related per se, but I though it was cute and amusing, and some of you might get a laugh out of it.

As some of you may know, I live in the city where Wayne Gretzky was born and raised, and his dad Walter is as big a "celebrity" as he is. Maybe celebrity isn't quite the right word, he's very, very normal, still lives in the same house they had when Wayne was a kid, but they're beloved by everyone, nonetheless.

I was just at the mall doing some last minute shopping, looking for something for my mom, who has everything, and is in the process of downsizing anyway, so the last thing she needs is more shit. In the middle of the mall, there was this table set up with stuffed bears on it. I got a little closer, and saw Walter sitting at the table, and there was a sign explaining that it was a charity thing selling "Walter's Bears" to raise money for our local hospital. My mom loves the family, so I was all "score! That's what I'll get her!"

So, I go up to buy one, and he jumps up and takes the bear and asks who it's for. I gave him my mom's name, and so he signed and dated the ear tag, then he asked my name, and he wrote that in the line that said "from." Then he grabbed a note pad, and I could see he'd presigned a bunch of pages, so he wrote my name on one, then asked my mom's name again, and signed one for her. I thanked him, and was ready to leave, and he said "do you have any kids?" Yup, I told him, a daughter, and then I gave her name. "Sons?" "No, just a daughter." "A husband?" "Nope, no husband, but I'm looking, do you know of anyone?" (I'm really not, but what else are you going to joke around about to an old man?) He raised his eyebrows, and kind of sidled up beside me in a funny way, and we laughed. So then he was all "okay, who else?" I told him it was really nice that he'd signed what he did already, and I didn't want to trouble him for any more, but he said "no, that's what I'm here for! Nieces? Nephews?" My nieces and nephews are all adults, close to my age, but he kept insisting, so I just kept giving him names of family members. When he got to around 10 slips of paper he'd signed, I was thinking "okay, soon I'm just going to have to start pulling names out of my ass." LOL He finally stopped though, and I thanked him profusely, told him how thrilled my mom will be with the Walter bear, wished him a Merry Christmas, and went on my way.

What an awesome guy, I'm still smiling. :)
Click to expand...


That's an awesome story VP! Is he still married? :hmm:
 
Team Canada is stacked! Damn. I don't know all that much about the layouts of the international hockey teams. Tell me, BoMac, who are the front runners for the Gold? It looks like Canada's got a very strong team.

I'm especially happy for Toews, Keith, and Seabrook, of course.
 
GirlsAloudFan said:
Tell me, BoMac, who are the front runners for the Gold? It looks like Canada's got a very strong team.
Click to expand...

Right now, the overwhelming favourite is Canada, followed by Russia - in my opinion. When you have a team that consists of Nabokov in goal, and Ovechkin, Datsyk, Malkin, Semin, and Kovalchuk up front, they're going to be extremely dangerous. Their big problem is on defence, with one bona-fide star, Andrei Markov (of the Montreal Canadiens).

Sweden, Finland, and the Czech Republic will also provide tough competition, and may also make it as far as the Gold Medal game.

The USA will announce their team tomorrow during the Winter Classic. We'll see what they come up with, but they will have Ryan Miller in goal, possibly the most consistently hot goaltender this year. In a short, two-week tournament, sometimes all you need is a hot goaltender to carry you.

International (i.e. outside North America) ice surfaces are bigger, so the fact that the tournament is being held in Vancouver will give a distinct advantage to the Canadians and Americans (who played in the Gold Medal game in Salt Lake in 2002).

One thing is for sure, that will be one amazing tournament, and I suggest you watch as many games as possible to see the most beautiful hockey you'll ever witness.
 
Thanks. Yeah, I'd probably put my money on Canada at this point. And I will be watching as much as possible. All of the U.S. games, at the very least. I'm a bit of an Olympics junkie anyway.

And I had no idea that the surfaces outside of North America are bigger.

Do you know if they've released what the USA (or any of the other countries) jerseys will be for the games? I've always loved the look of the Olympic hockey jerseys.
 
Nice avatar change. I think there was a survey done a few years ago where people voted the Blackhawks jersey the best in the NHL.

As far as Olympic jerseys go, Canada's jersey was unveiled a few months ago to much fanfare (a live conference broadcast on TV and Internet) and has been on sale since. Not sure about the USA jersey, although I imagine it is out already. We'll find out tomorrow in Boston, I guess.

By the way, Patrick Kane is a lock for Team USA.
 
BoMac said:
One thing is for sure, that will be one amazing tournament, and I suggest you watch as many games as possible to see the most beautiful hockey you'll ever witness.
Click to expand...

Very well put Bomac.
Whenever I think of the 2002 gold medal game, I am reminded of hosting a small viewship party at my place. I got caught away from the TV (prepping food I think) and misssed about 5 minutes of the game. When I ran back down the stairs I said to my bud..."What's happening?", he looked at me and said "Fuck- we're all over them!" The excitement in his eyes told me all I needed to know- we (Canada) were going to do it! I can't imagine anymore collective excitement for a country then that gold medal game, except if the team is in the GMG again, in Vancouver. Our entire county will shut down for that game. And I agree our opponent will be either the US (because of Miller) or Russia- both of which would be a storybook final.
All of these suppositions are, of course, forgetting the debacle of Torino
icon31.gif
.
 
ladywithspinninghead said:
That's an awesome story VP! Is he still married? :hmm:
Click to expand...

Actually, his wife, the Gretzky family matriarch, passed away a few years ago, sadly.

Maybe I can hook him up with my mom. :hmm: :wink:

I passed out the rest of the Walter autographs to my other family members Christmas day. They were all touched and amused. :)


Also, I don't really like NHL hockey, but I do enjoy Olympic hockey, so I'm looking forward to that.
 
outdoor hockey is pretty cool, even if it's at that dump on yawkey

-dan
 
Team USA is very young. Should make for a more dynamic combination and an interesting tournament:

Youngsters Kane and Johnson highlight Team USA

By IRA PODELL, AP Hockey Writer 51 minutes ago

Not since NHL players started going to the Olympics 12 years ago has the U.S. team featured so many fresh faces.

Of the 23 players chosen Friday for next month’s games, only New York Rangers captain Chris Drury, New Jersey counterpart Jamie Langenbrunner and Detroit defenseman Brian Rafalski will carry Olympic experience with them into what could be the most-watched hockey tournament ever.

Aging American stalwarts such as Mike Modano, Bill Guerin, Keith Tkachuk and Scott Gomez will all be able to rest during the long break in February because they were left off the team that will head to Vancouver.

The infusion of up-and-coming players is hardly a surprise. Team USA general manager Brian Burke made it clear last summer is was time to turn the page on those who represented the United States time and time again on the international stage.

“We’re going there to win,” said Burke, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ GM.
He thanked those “warriors” when most veterans weren’t invited to the team’s orientation camp in August. Modano, the longtime Dallas Stars forward, and Montreal’s Gomez were in attendance, but didn’t do enough during the first half of the NHL season to earn a spot on the team.

The roster announcement was made at Boston’s Fenway Park following the host Bruins’ 2-1 overtime victory against the Philadelphia Flyers in the annual outdoor Winter Classic.

The average age of this year’s club is slightly under 26. Rafalski is the oldest player at 36, while 21-year-old Chicago Blackhawks star forward Patrick Kane is the youngest. That is quite a change from the former foundation that included then-44-year-old defenseman Chris Chelios four years ago.

Modano played in three Olympics, and Gomez was on the team for the 2006 Turin Games. Langenbrunner will be making his second appearance, but first since 1998, and will be joined by Devils teammates defenseman Paul Martin and fellow forward Zach Parise.

Martin started the season as a virtual lock, but a broken left forearm curtailed his chances. Just when it seemed he would return last week, Martin had a setback in his recovery that made surgery necessary. When it was revealed he would be out another month, it seemed likely he would be kept off the roster.

The Los Angeles Kings are the only other NHL club to place three players on the squad: goalie Jonathan Quick, defenseman Jack Johnson, and forward Dustin Brown.

The Americans’ greatest strength could be in goal, where Buffalo Sabres star Ryan Miller is expected to be the No. 1 netminder. Should he falter, reigning Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas of the Bruins will be there to pick up the slack. Behind them is the soon-to-be-23 Quick.

“I’ve been waiting 30 years for this opportunity. I couldn’t be happier,” Thomas said after beating the Flyers.

That trio should match up favorably with host Canada’s formidable goalie crew of Martin Brodeur, Marc-Andre Fleury and Roberto Luongo. Brodeur is the NHL career leader in wins and shutouts.

“The goaltending position was probably the easiest one for us to get through,” Burke said. “It’s one where we’ve got some depth.

“We’re excited about our chances.”

Miller missed the Olympics four years ago because of a thumb injury that kept him out early in the 2005-06 season, but he is making up for that.

Heading into Friday, he had a 21-8-3 record with a sparkling 2.05 goals-against average in 33 games.

“He has played really well, unfortunately several of those games have been against us,” Burke said.

The 25-year-old Parise will be counted on for offense. He is coming off a season in which he had 45 goals and 94 points. So far this season, Parise has 17 goals and 25 assists. He had gone 12 games without a goal before busting out with two Monday in New Jersey’s win over Atlanta.

He will be joined up front by St. Louis’ David Backes, Drury’s Rangers teammate Ryan Callahan, Ryan Kesler of the Vancouver Canucks, Toronto’s Phil Kessel, Tampa Bay forward Ryan Malone, San Jose’s Joe Pavelski, Bobby Ryan of the Anaheim Ducks, and Colorado’s Paul Stastny.

The remaining defensemen are Erik Johnson of St. Louis, Toronto’s Mike Komisarek, Brooks Orpik of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Nashville’s Ryan Suter.

Suter’s father, Bob, was a defenseman on the 1980 U.S. “Miracle on Ice” team that won gold at Lake Placid, N.Y.

“It means a ton with the family tradition. I don’t think it has sunk in yet,” Ryan Suter said. “I will be able to sit at the same table with those guys if I bring some hardware home.”

The United States hasn’t captured the gold since 1980, and has only a 2002 silver medal since NHL players started going to the Olympics for the 1998 Nagano Games. The Americans finished eighth in Turin.

“Obviously, they pick you for a reason. I think everybody on the team is an important piece,” Suter said. “I credit guys like Chelios, Tkachuk, my uncle (Gary Suter) and (Jeremy) Roenick, all those guys paved the way for us and put USA Hockey on the map in the Olympics. I’m just excited to be a part of that now.”

This year’s team will be led by Toronto coach Ron Wilson. His assistants are Rangers coach John Tortorella and the New York Islanders’ Scott Gordon.

Burke was joined by fellow NHL GMs David Poile (Nashville), Paul Holmgren (Philadelphia), Don Waddell (Atlanta), Dean Lombardi (Los Angeles), Ray Shero (Pittsburgh), along with Jim Johannson, the assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey, in choosing the roster.

“We had some difficult decisions to make, but that’s a credit to USA Hockey and depth of the player pool in our country,” Burke said.


Goaltenders:
Ryan Miller (Buffalo Sabres), Jonathan Quick (Los Angeles Kings), Tim Thomas (Boston Bruins)

Defensemen:
Erik Johnson (St Louis Blues), Jack Johnson (Los Angeles Kings), Mike Komisarek (Toronto Maple Leafs), Paul Martin (New Jersey Devils), Brooks Orpik (Pittsburgh Penguins), Brian Rafalski (Detroit Red Wings), Ryan Suter (Nashville Predators)

Forwards:
David Backes (St. Louis Blues), Dustin Brown (Los Angeles Kings), Ryan Callahan (New York Rangers), Chris Drury (New York Rangers), Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks), Ryan Kesler (Vancouver Canucks), Phil Kessel (Toronto Maple Leafs), Jamie Langenbrunner (New Jersey Devils), Ryan Malone (Tampa Bay Lightning), Zack Parise (New Jersey Devils), Joe Pavelski (San Jose Sharks), Bobby Ryan (Anaheim Ducks), Paul Stastny (Colorado Avalanche)
Click to expand...
 
how come gretzky isn't on the team?

/ignorant american'd

-dan
 
I know this doesn't mean much but the Toronto Star asked some renown psychic for her sports predictions and she said Canada will get bronze, *may* get silver but definitely not gold.

(She was right about one prediction - Leafs ain't winning the Cup this year :lol:)
And she sees Portugal vs Germany in the World Cup finals next summer :no:
 
I think I might cheer for the U.S. against Canada in the world juniors game tonight - we can't win ALL the time :reject:

Bomac - save me and give me a good reason not to (you know, other than being Canadian)
 
DRay9911 said:
how come gretzky isn't on the team?

/ignorant american'd

-dan
Click to expand...

Well, he's a nation unto himself, and since he is unto himself, he couldn't get a team together cause he's only one guy, so he didn't qualify. It's a shame cause he beat Lativa and Belarus fairly impressively when you consider his age. He did a bunch of line changes where he would switch jerseys, but those facist pigs that run the Olympic Hockey Committee still said no. Fuckers.

There was also a rumor that Canada didn't want him to play because they wanted the #1 ranking all to themselves. Crazy shit, man.
 
That's a great story, VP! :D

I'm SO excited for Olympic hockey!! I've got tickets to see a men's hockey game, and we ended up with Finland vs Germany, so I'll get to see a few Canucks play.

And speaking of the Canucks, holy CRAP was the game vs Phoenix ever good last night! Fights! Bloodshed! Hat tricks! Shutouts! A little something for everyone! :D
 
zonelistener said:
I am dissapointed that DaveC hasn't changed his signature or avatar to something anti USA.
Click to expand...

You lookin to start something, pal?! :angry:




:wink:


ETA: Army training has actually kept my computer time to a minimum the past while, so I never had a chance. This revenge invasion thing is really taking a lot of planning and practice.
 
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