After unanimously anointing the Vancouver Canucks as round two participants in the last podcast — thereby sending the Calgary Flames into the wasteland of central Alberta golf courses — Russell and Jason break down the seven remaining series.
• Shoddy math
• Next World by the Orchid Highway
• Arbuthnit? Arbuthnet? Arbuth… Russell, anyway
• The Seven Deadly Sins
• Montreal Canadiens versus Ottawa Senators
• A little playoff trivia fo’ ya
• New York Islanders vs Washington Capitals
• Tampa Bay Lightning vs Detroit Red Wings
• New York Rangers vs Pittsburgh Penguins
• Nashville Predators vs Chicago Blackhawks
• Jason & Russell make it interesting
• Anaheim Ducks vs Winnipeg Jets
• St Louis Blues vs Minnesota Wild
• Bonus fantasy Anaheim vs Minny, StL vs Jets content
• Russell stopped listening a while ago
• William Tell Overture by Russell ArbuthNOT
• William Tell Overture by random symphony orchestra
• Thanks for listening
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Sleepless in St. Boniface; NHL lockout rankles Winnipeg By Jim Chliboyko
Many fans feel that Olli Jokinen, the rest of the players and the NHL collectively turned their backs on Winnipeg when they allowed the 2012-13 season to be shortened for purely financial reasons. Photo by Jim Chliboyko.
There’s a Twilight Zone story in here somewhere, submitted for your approval:
Picture, if you will, a city… a city that’s been abandoned, then embraced again, by the same organization that had previously abandoned it. The organization returns just long enough for the city to get a taste of its presence for one triumphant year, until the league… erm… self-destructs, the Martians’ book is actually a cookbook, the librarian at the end of the world sits on his own glasses and it turns out that the demon on the airplane wing is real! Or something twisty like that.
In short, Winnipeg loses the Jets in the ‘90s, the city waits a decade and a half for them to return, and then once they return, almost within the year there’s a league-wide NHL lockout. Especially since the former Moose (current Ice Caps) are still playing in Newfoundland. Unfair!
Okay, maybe it wouldn’t make Rod Serling’s shortlist, but the irony is there. In survivalist parlance, this is known as the “worst-case scenario.” If you had told someone that this was the fate of the Jets in the autumn of 2012, as well as the rest of the league, said person would have laughed, then punched you, being careful not to get blood on their Pavelec-autographed jersey. And like most worst-case scenarios, this one was entirely avoidable, totally regrettable and has left a trail of damage in its wake. In this case, it’s mostly been economic damage.
More after the jump.
Pucked in the Head is taking part in the 2013 Ride to Conquer Cancer. You can help us reach our fundraising goal by throwing a few bucks at our campaign, at http://www.conquercancer.ca/goto/jasonkurylo2013.
Yeah, the double rainbow is an old meme, but for fans of the Winnipeg Jets this whole season has been like one big double rainbow (full-on, all the way), right from that May 2011 announcement at the Forks that let us know that Winnipeg was back in the hockey business, baby.
