Tom Backyard

Bored and drinking so I decided to check in on 'Hoff's DEL stats after stumbling across Sulzers. Dude is a ringer. 10 points (6+4) in 11 games.

Foligno and Hodgson hooked up twice last night. Second one is a beauty.

ESPN2 is playing Lev vs. Dynamo Moscow right now (tues night @8) It's a replay of a game from this afternoon. Chara and Ovi are playing.

I can't speak for Western New York, but here in Brooklyn, TWC plays some Amerks games on the Sports Extra channels. Hoping they keep it up this year. In fact I am counting on it.

Cornell has played host to Boston University at MSG on the odd years, started in 2007. This will be Michigan's first game at MSG. So I guess, "becoming a tradition" would be more accurate.

That one is a tradition. Tickets are tough to come by. Alumni and students get first dibs, and NYC has its fair share of Big Red grads. I have wanted to go since i have been living here, but have never shelled out the cash to go. If there is no NHL, this may be the year for me.

Brooklyn folded, and they are now the Dayton Devils. From what I understand, they just weren't making any money. FHL is still alive. 6 teams: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Hockey_League Too bad its not here anymore because it was decent hockey, and affordable too. Tickets were like $10 and beers were $4. They will be missed. On game nights, the arena had a small town feel to it (even when full), which being in Brooklyn, is difficult to come by.

Unfortunately, our Federal Hockey League team the Brooklyn Aviators folded this summer. So, not a whole lot of NHL alternatives in NYC. There a couple of Junior B teams. Rumor around town is that the KHL is planning on playing some regular season games in Brooklyn's new Barclay's arena sometime in January. If that happens I am going for sure.

Traverse City Prospect Tournament has been cancelled. Too bad, I enjoyed watching our prospects play as a team last year. I was looking forward to it this year too. I know it's not an NHL function officially, but it is put on by the Red Wings organization. The first casualty?

So Canada takes this tourney based on winning a "20-minute sudden-death overtime to decide who would win the series" after they won game 4 by a score of 4-2, which tied the series at 2 all. I can't find final stats, or really any stats for that matter (hopefully someone else can find some), but I think Grigorenko finished up with 1 assist which came on a Yakupov goal. Malcom Subban was a standout for the Canadians in net. Kid was in for both of their victories.

I am going to weigh in on the hot dog debate. While I firmly agree that Ted's is the place to go for a hot dog in Buffalo, I would have to say that Johnny's Lunch in Jamestown has my favorite dogs. They make Texas hots, and they are an entirely different dog from a Ted's dog, but they are so so good. Just thinking about them makes me want to drive the 7 hours back home to pick up a half dozen of them.

Thanks. I thought I heard him saying that he didn't think he was going to play for the Sabres this season, but wasn't sure.

Did anyone else catch the commentators talking about Grigorenko in the final minutes of the game? They commented on his excellent vision and hands, but said that he has to pick up the pace of his game, essentially saying that he plays too slow. Wondering if anyone else caught what else was said. I was in the other room and only caught the tail end.

Mine was pretty jumpy as well. I think that I got the gist of it though. Canada focused on shutting down the Yakupov/Grigorenko line, and did a pretty decent job until the 5 on 3. On the positive side for the Buffalo prospect, he was still noticeable even while being the focus of the Canadian defense. He had a strong face-off win in the offensive zone that resulted in a scoring chance off what seemed to be a set play. He seemed to be working hard to me, and he had a few SOG. I hope we get to see him bury one tomorrow. Game is at 10 am.

Yakupov scores on a one-timer during a 5 on 3. Grigorenko is the big body in front of the net for the Russian PP. 3-2 Canada with 5 left in the 3rd.

Grigs and Yakupov are skating on a line together. They just had a real strong shift. Sustained pressure in Canada's zone, that ended with a quality scoring chance manufactured by Grigorenko, Subban made the save. Just like we saw in the Prospect Game, his passes are awesome. Canada just scored on the PP. 3-1 Canada.

Wow. I certainly didn't know that was an option. If I did I would have been dying to use it!

Spolier Alert Here jenn suhr just won gold in the women's pole vault. She's a Western New Yorker, born and raised in Fredonia. Excited for her. She is a real good person.

I have been on the road, and I caught wind of this on XM Radio's NHL Center Ice. Russia and Canadian Juniors are playing a 4 game series. Grigorenko is on the Russian roster and so is Yakupov. I dont know if it will be on the NHL Network or not ( It will be on TSN in Canada). It's hockey in August though, so I hope so. Here is the schedule: Thursday, August 9 Game 1: Canada vs. Russia (Yaroslavl, Russia) 11am/8am TSN2 Friday, August 10 Game 2: Canada vs. Russia (Yaroslavl, Russia) 10am/7am TSN2 Monday, August 13 Game 3: Russia vs. Canada (Halifax, N.S.) 6:30pm/3:30pm TSN Tuesday, August 14 Game 4: Russia vs. Canada (Halifax, N.S.) 6:30pm/3:30pm TSN

For me, most memorable fight of the season. What ignited such a wild fight? “I don’t know,” McCormick said. “He asked and I was right there.”

is he gone yet?