And in a complete shock, dirtiest team in the league plays super dirty, injures our starting goalie and the league does… nothing. Because George Parros hates the Leafs and Bettman wants Florida to win, because apparently, based on the game I watched earlier in the season where their stands were fucking empty, being sponsored by the League and its referees to winning a Stanley Cup still can’t bring in American fans.

It’s time for Bettman and Parros to go. The integrity of the game has been absolutely destroyed on their watch. I’d love to see an inquest into game-fixing by the government. It fucking needs it.

At least we fucking won. But without Stolarz, it’s going to be one hell of an uphill battle.

Target: 1200 words
Written: 958 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: The Gilded Age: A Tale Of Today, Charles Dudley Warner
Comics: Hawk And Dove v4 2-5
Music: Edith Piaf Essentials, Edith Piaf (man, can she ever belt them out)

I’d be lying if I said I was optimistic about this series, but yeah. You never know.

Maybe the boys’ll show up for once.

Yeah, right.

Target: 1200 words
Written: 1289 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: The Gilded Age: A Tale Of Today, Samuel Clemens
Comics: Hawk And Dove v3 3-5 (an idea that never should have happened, executed terribly, maybe the worst series I've ever read), Hawk And Dove v4 1
Music: Eddie In Seattle 10-23-90, Eddie Vedder

Lose game four in overtime, but there’s still three more chances to close this thing out.

Of course, it’s Toronto, known for losing in spectacular collapse, and the league is perpetually against us, as the referees made quite evident last night (though I’m not sure that was the entire reason for the loss, it certainly started us off on the wrong foot, with a painfully bad call against Domi for roughing).

But hey.

You never know.

This could be it. Learning lessons, new coach, who knows?

You never know.

This could be the year.

Yeah, right.

Target: 1200 words
Written: 1870 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Look Homeward, Angel, Thomas Wolfe (the never ending stoooorrrreeeee, lalala lalala lalala)
Comics: Hawk And Dove v2 1-4
Music: Eat To The Beat, Blondie (I think I might actually still be in love with Debbie Harry, like, you know, in a lusty kind of way)

All I have to say is thank goodness for Anthony Stolarz, because while they’ve looked good at times, particularly in that first game, they have not been the better team.

It doesn’t bode well for the second round, when they won’t be facing a perennial playoff choker in Linus Ullmark. Whether it’s Florida or Tampa, it doesn’t matter. Both their goalies can take the pressure. Ullmark clearly can’t.

Target: 1200 words
Written: 1152 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Look Homeward, Angel, Thomas Wolfe (I literally read for twenty minutes and the page remained on page 318, the entire time.  At least twenty pages were read.  The fuck.)
Comics: Showcase 75, The Hawk And The Dove 1-3
Music: Earthling, Eddie Vedder

DOMI! OT! MY GOD!

THEY DIDN’T DESERVE THE WIN!

GREAT START, GREAT FINISH!

TERRIBLE MIDDLE!

Let’s not do that again, boys.

Target: 1200 words
Written: 1235 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Look Homeward, Angel, Thomas Wolfe
Comics: Kick-Ass vs. Hit-Girl 3-5, Big Game 1
Music: The Early Year - Underpaid & Out Of Tune, Dropkick Murphys (fuckin' Dropkick, man, love 'em.)

Like I said, Leafiest way possible, with a heavy helping of referees demonstrating the league’s blatant bias.

Fact: that was not a hooking call on Knies. Fact: that was a trip on a breakaway against Knies that should have lead to a penalty shot, or at a minimum, a tripping penalty (but the rule states penalty shot).

It’s still up to the teams to execute, but other than maybe games 1 and 4, I thought they played pretty well. So, it becomes a question:

If the league calls the games fairly, and applies its own rules to both teams, and doesn’t make up penalties for one while ignoring flagrant violations for the other, how does this series go? Marchand takes, at a minimum, four to six more penalties, McAvoy (aka Marchand lite), takes at least two or three. The Leafs powerplay wasn’t doing great, but still: a goal one way or the other could tip a game in a very tight series.

If say, the league applies its own standards to the Bruins, then Brad Marchand is ejected from the game for shoving a ref, followed by the requisite and automatic three game suspension, which means he’s not in game 7. (I mean, honestly, if Brad Marchand, who would make everyone’s top five list of the dirtiest players in the game, where actually called like one of the dirtiest players in the game, I don’t think he’d even have a career. Instead, he gets a free pass and makes the league look like a joke.)

If say, the referees make a proper call on Knies’ breakaway, how does the resulting penalty shot affect the game? Certainly, if all other things remained the same, it’s 2-1 Leafs at the end of the game, and not overtime.

The fact is, this corrupt manipulation of games in favour of some teams in favour of others has gone on long enough and become more and more blatant as they continue to get away with it.

I don’t know what needs to happen, but they are ruining the game for me. I used to watch all the games; now I watched a handful, only because I happened to be someplace where it was on. I tuned back in for the playoffs, but with the expectation that I was going to see exactly what I saw – the Leafs getting fucked, them not being able to play as aggressive as the other team because they know this is the case and they have to avoid the box, and ultimately, trying their best knowing they have no chance because the League won’t allow it.

Over the past thirty-ish years with Bettman, he’s taken the speed, the offense, the physicality and now, the integrity out of the game. Personally, I think #corruptNHL needs to trend so hard he’s forced to resign, or there are congressional hearings, class action lawsuits and the teams getting screwed need to hold back parity funds.

Oh, and Boston? The league wants Florida to win (they love those money-losing, small market teams that only remain in existence because teams like Toronto, Boston and New York subsidize them), so I look forward to hearing you whine about the refs are biased against you in the second round. Now, you’ll know how it feels.

#fireBettman #fireParros

Target: 600 words
Written: 128 words, novella: The Mungk

Read: Carrie, Stephen King
Comics: Universe 5-8
Music: Ocean Of Confusion: Songs of Screaming Trees 1989-1996, Screaming Trees