Did Eberle Score the Best First Goal Ever? Counting Down My Top 5 NHL Lead-off Snipes.

In honour of the 2010 #1 Overall NHL draft pick, the Edmonton Oilers’  Taylor Hall FINALLY scoring his first goal, I decided to look into some of the best all-time first NHL goals ever scored.  Unfortunately for Taylor, he didn’t make the list.  His teammate, Jordan Eberle did though [hint: he’s at the top of the list, and my pick for the Calder Trophy this year/lead all rookies in scoring].  Keep in mind that these are not ranked as the best goals these players have scored, they are only the best first NHL goals scored by players.  Also, there are only 5, and the only ones I could post video evidence of.  I have a feeling I’ve missed some good ones ( I can’t find Gretzky’s, and a whole bunch of others that I assume scored beauts), so feel free to chime in with some suggestions/corrections, but be advised, you have to defend your pick with video evidence 🙂  Please take the poll after you peruse the evidence and vote for your favorite, or specifiy an alternative!

So without further adieu, here’s how I’ve ranked the NHL’s best firsts, starting at the top:

1)  Jordan Eberle toe-drag (ala announcer…”FROM FOREHAND TO BACKHAND!”):

2)  Anze Kopitar OMG:

3)  Mario Lemieux breakaway bury on the first shot of his first shift:

4)  Jonathan Toews snipe:

5)  Tyler Bozak dangle:

*honorable mention for situational awesomeness* Danny Syvret scoring in the Winter Classic:

Sports Shorts: MJ-Favre, Shootout Trophy, Kings Colors, Goalie Chirps, and the Commonwealth Games Snub.

 

 

Before (good) & after (not as good)

To me, it seems that the most recent incarnation of Brett Favre (that is, the Minnesota Vikings version) seems a lot like the most recent playing incarnation of Michael Jordan (Washington Wizards edition); both former superstars in their prime (Jordan best basketball player ever, Favre arguably one of the better quarterbacks in recent history), now playing in/beyond the twilight of their career, playing for an obscure team not likely of much success, putting up decent enough numbers to say that they’re contributing, but not in a “championship contender” kind of way.  Oh, and they both danced the retired/unretired/retired/unretired-legacy endangering sonata, with Mike finally bowing out, and Brett (supposedly) finally winding down after this year as well.  I know it’s gotta be hard to leave the game for a lot of different/mostly selfish reasons; it’s all they’ve ever done, all their friends are doing it, what else would they do, they’re really good at it, winning championships is fun, self-worth and identification, etc.  But I think the mark of a really great player in any sport is being good enough at it, and earned enough respect through the years to be granted the ability to leave their game on their terms.  Too many players who’ve had good careers abuse this right, lose the privilege, and are eventually told there’s no longer room for them (Mike Modano), or are told just to leave altogether (Chris Chelios).   Not that Modano nor Chelios possess the legacy in hockey that Jordan or Favre do in basketball or football, but you get the point.       

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How is there still not a side points bracket for shootout goals/saves in the NHL?  With such a pivotal interlude in the game that literally wins or loses games, you’d think the people responsible for the results could get some sort of recognition.  Their stats don’t need to count towards Rocket Richard or Vezina Trophy balloting, but why shouldn’t there be a trophy for most shootout goals in a season?  Or shootout saves for that matter?  The best rookie (Calder), defenceman (Norris)/ a forward ”being good at defensive aspects” (Selke), and most gentlemanly player (Lady Byng) all get one and have their acheivements recognized; you’re telling me the guy responsible for winning the most games in the season shouldn’t get something?

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Before (underrated) & After (looking sharp)

I have to admit, I like the retro LA Kings jerseys; they might even be my favourite throw-back uniform so far.  I think the purple and gold look better than they get credit for, and I also think they got way too much heat for looking bad back when they were the starting jerseys.  Also, nice work on the brown pads, glove and blocker.

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A few goalie chirps… how many 2nd chances on how many different teams is Jose Theodore going to get to be good again?  How long before the lustre/protection of a Vezina/Hart Trophy win in 2002 wears off? 10 years max?

Can you imagine if Cory Schnieder bumped $64 mil Roberto Luongo out of the Canucks’ starting goalie spot?  Lu should be careful with his “…the team decided to give Schneids the night off” comments, they might just come back to haunt him, pemanently. 

I’m secretly cheering for Carey Price (not the Habs, just Price) to have an awesome year and shut everyone in Montreal up.  He’s got it rough playing in front of that kind of heat (Habs fans).  Obviously the fans wanted Halak to stay, and no one blames them.  Price getting traded probably would have been the best thing for him, but alas here he is.

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Speaking of heat, with all the hubbub about Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh over the summer, the Miami Heat pretty well have to win the NBA title this year if they’re going to show their faces in the league after this season, right?  Ok, good talk. 

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Do the Commonwealth Games seem a little snooty to anyone else?  54 countries are invited to participate, while at the Olympics, 200 are invited.  Do the results not seem a little skewed when you only compete against ¼ of the world’s sporting community?  Sure it’s nice to win stuff and be better than other people at sports, but I wouldn’t have too long of a parade when I get home for winning one of those medals.  Tough to brag much about winning when athletes from countries like China, Russia, Germany, and the USA aren’t invited or anywhere near the premises.  Congratulations, you beat competitors from a bunch of other average nations at this event….        



VIDEO BLOG: Is “The Office” Using My Material?

While watching the October 20/2010 episode [S07-E05], I noticed a clip where Michael, Dwight, and Jim enter an elevator, and Michael presses the “close door” button, only to be met with an unobliging button.  A frustrated and agitated Michael exclaims “Why is there a door close button if it doesn’t even close the door?!?”

Immediately upon hearing/seeing this, I was reminded of an old blog I wrote earlier this year on January 20/2010, in which I wrote,

Does it infuriate anyone else when they go into an elevator, select their desired floor, press the “door close” button ( –> <–), and the door DOESN’T CLOSE?!?!?  What in the world is the function of this button if it doesn’t perform the only logical duty its pictorial reference indicates?  Why install a button to tease people?  Is there a guy hiding in the rafters keeling over laughing every time someone presses the button and gets mildly annoyed while they have to wait for the elevator door to close on its own?

Let’s go to the video:

Now while I realize I’m probably not the only person to ever make this infuriating observation about the elevator button, but I do know I brought it up before they wrote it into their show.  What do you think?  Do you think I have a case?

Double Championship Challenge Wrap-Up Finale: VIDEO BLOG!

Everyone remember the Double Championship Challenge (DCC) that I hosted over the last hockey season?  You know, the one to see which players would win both the Olympic Gold Medal and Stanley Cup in the same season?  Well after many candidates and contest entrants were eliminated, when Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook did exactly that, we had a winner.  Congratulations to Rich Abney of Kelowna, the first ever SDC Blogs’ Quadrennial DCC Champion!  Here’s your fifteen minutes of fame (or however long until the next post).  Rich wins the t-shirt you see pictured, and 4 years of bragging rights! [Doubly interesting because Rich works with the runner up, Ryley Herzog, at the same store]  Stay tuned for the blog’s next contest… you could be our next winner!

Without further adieu, enjoy Serenity Now… The SDC Blogs’ first video blog!

Cranial Cleanse: Rogue Dentists, Talking to Strangers, Rush, & The Birthday Candle Con.

Sooo…….I took like half a month off or so, haha. Sorry.  Here’s the non-sense you’ve all been waiting so patiently for…

"Wait hold on, you're telling me there's a night where they come right to my door? I gotta go."

Does it seem at least a little purpose-defeating that parents tell their kids through their whole childhoods not to take candy from strangers, but then allow the same children once a year on Halloween to approach as many strangers as possible in one night, in the dark, at their homes, and directly ask for candy while dressed in a costume that would make them less easy to identify by passers-by?  Seems like the only thing being saved is the gas money for the van.

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What’s with the birthday cake tradition of identifying the number of un-blown out candles with the number of girl/boyfriends you have just obtained for your failure?  How did we start associating lack of ability and accomplishment with relationship pairing?  How did victory in candle blowouts become associated with freeing oneself of the burden of having a mate?  Were there some parents unhappy with their spousal choices cheering for/teaching their child to be wild, free and single their whole life? 

The kid sits down at the table, happiest day of the year (shared with Christmas), all his friends are there, got his pointy little party hat on, lavished with gifts and praise all day, and then…. there it is.  The birthday cake.  While everyone sits in envy, he’s then informed that he has to accomplish one more task: successfully blowout EVERY candle and be the birthday hero for an entire year (or at least, until his next friend’s birthday party), OR if he does not possess the tracheal capacity to extinguish every last one, he will then subjected to ridicule and torment by all those in attendance because he will then been bound to an unknown female companion for an undisclosed amount of time.  The kid’s breath is going to be more quivery than Woody Allen in electrotherapy.  And as the kid gets older and the number of candles decrease, it becomes increasingly more difficult to avoid the “punishment”.  Then of course, the kid grows up and his parents nag him about when he’s going to get a wife and give them some grandkids.  Great strategy folks.  Scare them enough as kids so that they won’t have sex too young, but put the pressure on as soon as your life starts to get less interesting and requires the kind of excitement that only seeing your bloodline continued can give you.  I’m sure they’ll snap right to it for ya. (PS this little analogy is not about me, I swear)

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"No sir, I don't like it."

Why is it that only 8/10, 9/10, or a fraction less than 100% dentists always recommend a certain dental product?  Who is that one rogue dentists who keeps skewing all the results, refusing to endorse the new product?  Do they keep interviewing the one same dentist every time that never likes the product he tests?  Why don’t they just find another dentist to ask?  Surely there’s got to be one product that 10 random dentists can all agree is good for their patients to use, shouldn’t there be?  It reminds me of the old Simpsons episode with the old guy that always votes “nay” even though he’s the only one, then blames it on someone else.   

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If I pick something of interest off the ground that turns out to be just litter, then I place it back on the ground, have I re-littered?  Does this now excuse the original litterer from the offence and incriminate me, or are they still on the hook?

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The band, “Rush”, sucks.  Yeah, I said it.  Most overrated band of all time. 

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If you have an invention or product that is one of a kind in some way, why on earth would you send it to market stamped as “Patent Pending”, rather than just waiting a little longer for the patent to clear and be official so no one can steal your idea?  Why are you freely offering your item for replication without any consequence?  Seems like a no brainer, doesn’t it?