Free agency opened in the NHL today, but the Avs' decisions were ones that will hurt them in the long run.
-The Avalanche let heart and soul winger Ian Laperriere leave and sign with the Flyers. He will make $1.23 million this season, a mere $0.8 million increase from his salary with the Avs last season. The Avs still have around $10 million to spend in cap space. Why then, did we let Ian go, a player who gave his all every night and was one of the team's core players? This one will hurt majorly, in almost every field, from leadership, to inspiration, to shot-blocking, to that key goal the team needs to get a jump. Not to mention, Avs management, this will hurt fan attendance. I know you want money, so why did you do this if it will only hurt attendance? Lappy was one of Colorado fans' favorite players, including one of mine.
-The Avs signed winger David Koci. He had a mere 2 points in 32 games last season, and a whopping 141 penalty minutes. That's what we need, a guy who can't score, but will take plenty of stupid penalties for us so we can get scored on. Are you trying to lose games for us, management? If this is your idea of "filling in" for Lappy, you need your heads examined.
-The Avs signed goaltender Craig Anderson. While Anderson has some notably good potential (and wanted to play with the Avs), this destroys our hopes of landing Swedish goalie Jonas Gustavsson. I knew the Avs management would have no patience, but it's still just as frustrating. Why take a good goalie when you could've had an excellent one? He would've come cheaper than Anderson, and has the potential to be the next star goalie in the NHL. You just blew it for yourselves.
It's looking like the Avs are going to have another horrible season. I hope things pick up from here, and that I'm wrong and we have a great year. But I'm not holding my breath.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Avs fire Granato!!
Yahoo!! Finally, the Colorado Avalanche has fired head coach Tony Granato, whom I believe is the most to blame for the Avs' awful season this past year. Several others changes were also made, including the firing of goalie coach Jeff Hackett, another move I am extremely happy with. Here's the story:
Now it's time to bring back Bob Hartley! Not sure about hiring assistant GM Greg Sherman as new team general manager, someone's who's never been a chief GM before. Still, he sounds like he wants to do his best (we'll see how much of that's just being diplomatic), he's been with the organization 13 years (including 7 as assistant GM), and Lacroix will be mentoring him. Let's just hope he turns out better than Francois Giguere, who, while not bad in my opinion, still made a lot of bad moves.
Now, outside of the draft and re-signing our important current players (Sakic and Laperriere anyone?), we need to look at goaltending. Though I'd love to see Budaj back as a backup goalie, he hasn't proven he has what it takes to be our starting netminder.
The man I want is Jonas Gustavsson, the Swedish phenom who is called one of the best goalies in the world not currently playing in the NHL. Just watch these videos. He has what we need.
We already made the sad mistake of letting go of possible superstar Vitaly Kolesnik a few years ago. We need to nab this guy, and hold onto him. He has everything we need - speed, size, agility, determination, hockey sense, lateral movement, you name it. Besides, the guy's only 24, and should only get better. All he lacks is NHL experience. He put up incredible numbers in the Swedish league, and has narrowed his search for an NHL team down to four teams, and the Avs are one of them. He's made it clear he's jumping to the NHL this year, and the Avs need to do everything they can to make sure they're the city he lands in. Also note that, since he'd be a rookie and unproven in the NHL, he'd command a small salary, which is all too important for the Avs, who aren't far under the cap ceiling already. Let's get on it, Avs! You have a new GM, now get to work!
Now it's time to bring back Bob Hartley! Not sure about hiring assistant GM Greg Sherman as new team general manager, someone's who's never been a chief GM before. Still, he sounds like he wants to do his best (we'll see how much of that's just being diplomatic), he's been with the organization 13 years (including 7 as assistant GM), and Lacroix will be mentoring him. Let's just hope he turns out better than Francois Giguere, who, while not bad in my opinion, still made a lot of bad moves.
Now, outside of the draft and re-signing our important current players (Sakic and Laperriere anyone?), we need to look at goaltending. Though I'd love to see Budaj back as a backup goalie, he hasn't proven he has what it takes to be our starting netminder.
The man I want is Jonas Gustavsson, the Swedish phenom who is called one of the best goalies in the world not currently playing in the NHL. Just watch these videos. He has what we need.
We already made the sad mistake of letting go of possible superstar Vitaly Kolesnik a few years ago. We need to nab this guy, and hold onto him. He has everything we need - speed, size, agility, determination, hockey sense, lateral movement, you name it. Besides, the guy's only 24, and should only get better. All he lacks is NHL experience. He put up incredible numbers in the Swedish league, and has narrowed his search for an NHL team down to four teams, and the Avs are one of them. He's made it clear he's jumping to the NHL this year, and the Avs need to do everything they can to make sure they're the city he lands in. Also note that, since he'd be a rookie and unproven in the NHL, he'd command a small salary, which is all too important for the Avs, who aren't far under the cap ceiling already. Let's get on it, Avs! You have a new GM, now get to work!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Mort!
*steps onto a soapbox* For anyone else who hates how poor little Mort gets picked on in the Madagascar movies and primarily the Penguins of Madagascar show, here's my salute of support. Go Mort! ^^
Aflac!
http://www.youtube.com/my_playlists?pi=0&ps=20&sf=&sa=0&sq=&dm=0&p=E6C36D7FDF4145BC
These are hilarious! I just wish I could find the one where super hero Aflac duck tries to save a woman on a railroad track.
These are hilarious! I just wish I could find the one where super hero Aflac duck tries to save a woman on a railroad track.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Next film rating
Снежная королева (1957)
(Snezhnaya Koroleva)
(The Snow Queen)
If I had know when I saw some of this dubbed in English at my cousin's house, I wouldn't have reacted nearly so well, so I guess my ignorance was a good thing. Anyone who knows me knows I hate dubs, and the acting and voices for this in the English version, primarily Gerda's, in my opinion, were quite mediocre.
That out of the way, I had the blessing of viewing this in its original Russian language, and it was quite enjoyable. Though I watched it raw, after viewing it I was actually grateful for this, because while I only know a couple words of Russian, no English subtitles allowed me to better appreciate not only the excellent animation, but the culture within the movie, primarily in the language. While I'll grant you this was adapted from the book "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Anderson, a Dutch writer, this classic animated masterpiece has a genuine Russian feel about it, again, primarily because of the dialogue. I have long had an attraction to Russian culture, but this movie only served to further my interest in and respect for the culture and for the language, which I think sounds quite pretty and unique. This is my first Russian language film, and I hope to find more ones worth watching in the future. On a side note, I read the Wikipedia plot summary along with the movie to help me understand the plot, though I think most is understood without even knowing what the characters are saying. For the Wikipedia page, go here:
This is a good family film, with little content trouble to be aware of. The worst is the elements of sorcery coming from the Snow Queen and about one side character, but I found this notably less offense than say Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". The animation is not far from the quality of the classic Disney movies in fact; again I reference "Snow White". The music is nice and befitting of the movie, and the voices are good as well. I was a little disappointed that Gerda ("GEHR-dah" with a Spanish-like "r") still sounds like an adult attempting the voice of a child, but it far surpassing the English voice actress.
In summary, Snezhnaya Koroleva is a classic animated film that I recommend to almost anyone, not just for its quality, but for its fascinating culture, which can only be fully appreciated by watching the Russian language version. It is a cute and heart-warming story about a young girl named Gerda whose heart, love, and determination help her find and rescue her beloved friend Kay (rhymes with "eye") from the evil eating away at him.
The movie is also only exactly an hour in length, so it's good for those with short viewing time. To see it, search for a torrent, or you can view it in pieces here:
God bless!
(Snezhnaya Koroleva)
(The Snow Queen)
If I had know when I saw some of this dubbed in English at my cousin's house, I wouldn't have reacted nearly so well, so I guess my ignorance was a good thing. Anyone who knows me knows I hate dubs, and the acting and voices for this in the English version, primarily Gerda's, in my opinion, were quite mediocre.
That out of the way, I had the blessing of viewing this in its original Russian language, and it was quite enjoyable. Though I watched it raw, after viewing it I was actually grateful for this, because while I only know a couple words of Russian, no English subtitles allowed me to better appreciate not only the excellent animation, but the culture within the movie, primarily in the language. While I'll grant you this was adapted from the book "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Anderson, a Dutch writer, this classic animated masterpiece has a genuine Russian feel about it, again, primarily because of the dialogue. I have long had an attraction to Russian culture, but this movie only served to further my interest in and respect for the culture and for the language, which I think sounds quite pretty and unique. This is my first Russian language film, and I hope to find more ones worth watching in the future. On a side note, I read the Wikipedia plot summary along with the movie to help me understand the plot, though I think most is understood without even knowing what the characters are saying. For the Wikipedia page, go here:
This is a good family film, with little content trouble to be aware of. The worst is the elements of sorcery coming from the Snow Queen and about one side character, but I found this notably less offense than say Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". The animation is not far from the quality of the classic Disney movies in fact; again I reference "Snow White". The music is nice and befitting of the movie, and the voices are good as well. I was a little disappointed that Gerda ("GEHR-dah" with a Spanish-like "r") still sounds like an adult attempting the voice of a child, but it far surpassing the English voice actress.
In summary, Snezhnaya Koroleva is a classic animated film that I recommend to almost anyone, not just for its quality, but for its fascinating culture, which can only be fully appreciated by watching the Russian language version. It is a cute and heart-warming story about a young girl named Gerda whose heart, love, and determination help her find and rescue her beloved friend Kay (rhymes with "eye") from the evil eating away at him.
The movie is also only exactly an hour in length, so it's good for those with short viewing time. To see it, search for a torrent, or you can view it in pieces here:
God bless!
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