New Look For Team Canada

A reader emailed in to say that apparently Team Canada will be unveiling a new look next month. CBC has the story if you're interested. I'll post pictures here when it happens so keep checking back.

UPDATE (3:13 PM): Shortly after I posted this information I got an email with "leaked" in the subject line which always makes me wary. But if for no other reason than to cover all my bases, I figured I'd post these pictures and see what you guys make of them. This isn't something I'm following very closely, not being Canadian myself (though if wishing made it so), but perhaps some of you might have answers.

Post your comments and conspiracy theories below.

OHL Logo Tourney Starting!

Just wanted to let you guys know we've just kicked off the OHL Tournament of Logos over at ToHL. Go place your vote as we determine which team has the best logo in the Ontario Hockey League.

My Playoff Predictions 2008!

Nobody asked me but I write a hockey blog and I'd be odd-man out if I didn't post my ill-informed predictions for the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs. So prepare yourselves. By no means am I any sort of authority on analysis of the league (I only know my Lightning) so take it for what it is. And what can I say? I love the playoffs!

Without any reasonable explanation or rationale whatsoever, my picks are as follows.

CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS

Montreal vs Boston
Canadiens in 4; Come on, you've seen their regular season record right?

Pittsburgh vs Ottawa
Penguins in 5; The Sens get one win, if that. Damn Pens are just too strong.

Washington vs Philadelphia
Capitals in 6; The Flyers were the worst team a year ago by a lot. Strides? Yes. But not leaps and bounds.

New Jersey vs NY Rangers
Rangers in 7; Tough one but I envision a long series with a tired Brodeur at the end.

Detroit vs Nashville
Red Wings in 5; You don't barely make the playoffs then knock out a club with 54 regular season wins.

San Jose vs Calgary
Sharks in 6; The Sharks will win the Cup.

Minnesota vs Colorado
Avalanche in 6; Just a gut call. No evidence to back it up.

Anaheim vs Dallas
Stars in 7; Champion schmampion.

CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

Montreal vs NY Rangers
Canadiens in 6; The Rangers will fall apart after the first round.

Pittsburgh vs Washington
Penguins in 5; The series of the year featuring Sid versus Ovie but I give it to Crosby and his cohorts.

Detroit vs Colorado
Red Wings in 6; I love it any time these two get together. Wings are powerful, though.

San Jose vs Dallas
Sharks in 4; The Sharks will run away with it.

CONFERENCE FINALS

Montreal vs Pittsburgh
Penguins in 7; Kind of cliché to go with Nos. 1 and 2 but I have no choice.

Detroit vs San Jose
Sharks in 5; Risky bet but there's a history of upset here.

STANLEY CUP FINALS

San Jose vs Pittsburgh
Sharks in 7; It'll be a hard-fought battle to the bitter end but my money's on them this postseason. But I admit the triangle theme is weird.

So there it is. Oh and don't bother emailing or commenting to say how wrong or stupid I am. I already know it.

Feel free to add your predictions below in the comments. I'm considering posting polls for each series to see what the majority are predicting. If this is something you guys are interested in, let me know. Playoffs start tomorrow. Get excited!

Happy April Fools' Day!

It's safe now. So just to clarify, you guys got it right. Yesterday's post about the Rbk EDGE uniforms going away was obviously too good to be true. My version of an April Fools' joke. Hope I didn't get anybody's hopes up. Come on, Project Runway? Really?

But I've always been a fan of the jokes and, well, I couldn't resist this one. I'm weak. Hope you guys won't think less of me. But I did try to make it obvious that I was kidding while at the same time trying to still keep it just this side of believable.

I did mean what I said at the end. I appreciate you guys for continuing to come back to visit the site. You're the reason I write here at all. Thanks!

Mask Madness Match-ups

Yes, I'll refer to it as Mask Madness every once and a while just for you guys. But here we go with the preliminary- and first-round match-ups for the 2008 NHL Tournament of Goalie Masks. I'm having a little bit of difficulty building the actual bracket. So until I figure something out, you'll have to deal with it in text format.

First, there will be the Preliminary Round, made up of 4 polls. They will start Monday and be as follows:
1 | TURCO (black) vs TURCO (white)
Here you'll choose between Marty Turco's home and road masks.
2 | RAMO (a) vs RAMO (b)
Here you'll decide on which of Karri Ramo's two masks goes into the full tournament.
3 | DENIS vs CLEMMENSEN
4 | HOWARD vs RASK

Then comes Round One. There are 32 polls comprising that group, divided into two sides. The first list is the group on the left side of the bracket.

1 | MILLER vs HALAK
2 | ROLOSON vs ERSBERG
3 | BRYZGALOV vs TELLQVIST
4 | KOLZIG vs GRAHAME
5 | BRODEUR vs THIBAULT
6 | HUET vs NORRENA
7 | CONKLIN vs HEDBERG
8 | EMERY vs RAMO
9 | TOSKALA vs ELLIS
10 | KIPRUSOFF vs HASEK
11 | LUONGO vs CLOUTIER
12 | JOSEPH vs VALIQUETTE
13 | FLEURY vs ANDERSON
14 | NIITTYMAKI vs HOLMQVIST
15 | LECLAIRE vs MASON
16 | THEODORE vs DENIS/CLEMMENSEN

And on the right side of the bracket is this group:

1 | BACKSTROM vs RAYCROFT
2 | WARD vs HARDING
3 | TURCO vs OSGOOD
4 | KHABIBULIN vs DUBIELEWICZ
5 | VOKOUN vs SANFORD
6 | GARON vs GERBER
7 | LALIME vs TOIVONEN
8 | GIGUERE vs AULD
9 | LEGACE vs WEEKES
10 | DiPIETRO vs HILLER
11 | LUNDQVIST vs BUDAJ
12 | BIRON vs SMITH
13 | THOMAS vs LaBARBERA
14 | PRICE vs SABOURIN
15 | NABOKOV vs BOUCHER
16 | LEHTONEN vs HOWARD/RASK

Remember, totally random!

When I get the bracket completed, I'll post it. In the meantime, get ready to start casting your votes! And do me a favor, start spreading the word around. Let's get as many people involved in this tournament as possible!

Another Goalie Masks Update

All right, I've been listening to you guys and I have some quick changes to make before announcing the match-ups for the NHL Tournament of Goalie Masks.

I'm updating the graphics for Grahame and Budaj who both have new masks which I didn't know about until today. So much for doing my research. Same goes for Cloutier who's returned to the Osgood-esque helmet. All of those updates will be made at some point this morning.

I'm keeping Holmqvist's mask the way it is because, first, he has yet to play a full game for the Stars and so has no mask painted for that team. Second, he carried the Lightning goaltending most of the season and that shouldn't go unnoticed. He played all year, so to drop him out now just because he got traded at the 11th hour isn't right, if you ask me.

I'm adding Ersberg today as well. He'll be replacing Fernandez, who hasn't played a game since October. I like Manny Fernadez and I hate to drop him, but somebody had to go. I'm not getting rid of Osgood and Cloutier just because their helmets are plain. That'll be for the voters to decide.

Otherwise I think that's everybody. So if you've noticed anything else that needs adjustment, speak now or hold your peace.

The Goalie Masks I Picked!

As promised, the unveiling of the rest of the masks that will be included in the tournament that begins in just two days! There are 34 more and here they are.

A couple of things I should explain. Karri Ramo switches off between two masks. Both will be in the preliminary round where you guys will determine which makes it to the main 64.

Johan Holmqvist, at this moment, does not have a mask painted for the Dallas Stars, the team for which he now plays. The one or two games he has played in, however, he's worn a black mask with a Stars logo on the chin. I've opted for his Lightning helmet since it's actually painted. (This doesn't apply to Martin Gerber because he intentionally wears a blank helmet.)

Brian Boucher has been backing up Evgeni Nabokov lately for the San Jose Sharks, yet he's been wearing his Philadelphia Phantoms AHL mask. That's the one I'm going with though at this point I understand he has a new one on the way. If either Holmqvist or Boucher — or any other goalie for that matter — changes his mask prior to his poll being posted, I will likely change the graphic to reflect that. If a change is made after the poll is posted, too bad.

My process here in choosing these 34 was essentially to get in as many if not all of the goalies currently seeing time in the NHL. There are a few exceptions but that's the way it goes. If you think there's been an injustice, feel free to say so. It's not necessarily set in stone until I post the bracket tomorrow. But make sure you present a good argument. No flakes allowed.

Now, as you'll see with the bracket, we'll be narrowing these 34 down to 32 in the preliminary round. I've already decided on how. The two polls will be Marc Denis vs Scott Clemmensen and Jimmy Howard vs Tuukka Rask. Really what it came down to was, in one case, two relatively veteran goalies who now see very little playing time in the league and, in the other, two very young goalies who don't play much but may have big futures (also, nice masks!).

I want to point out that I recognize that I'm leaving out guys like Jean-Sebastien Aubin, Dmitri Patzold, Erik Ersberg, Corey Crawford, Michael Leighton, Curtis McElhinney, Thomas Greiss and even Brent Johnson. But how much NHL action are they really seeing anyway? I know I'm leaving out other names, but I had to draw a line somewhere. They'll have their moment.

And for what it's worth, I'll let you in on some of my future plans. First, I'm already gathering pictures to do another goalie mask competition following this one. For that, we'll go back in time 10 years and judge masks from the 1998-99 season. In fact, I'm even considering a spinoff blog like ToHL that focuses solely on goalie masks. Trying to gauge interest. I'm also considering abandoning ToHL after the CHL logo tournaments. There doesn't seem to be a big interest there like there is here.

That's all I've got for now. Get ready to see the match-ups tomorrow. Remember, they'll be completely random!

UPDATE (3/23 11:08 AM): I changed out Fernandez for Ersberg up there. Enjoy!

The Goalie Masks You Picked!

Voting has officially closed for determining the top 32 goalie masks to be included in the upcoming NHLToGM. Thanks to the more than 1,500 of you who voted and here's who you selected in alphabetical order.

Sorry for the small images. You'll be treated to larger ones when the tournament actually begins.

Those masks will make up half of the first round of the tournament. All of the pictures are completely up to date with current masks (including Huet and Emery). I double- and triple-checked them in many cases. I've already decided on who will comprise the other half but I'll unveil those and go into more detail tomorrow. On Sunday you'll learn the match-ups and see the brackets. On Monday you'll cast your first vote.

Speaking of that first vote, we're starting with a preliminary round. A total of 68 masks will be involved in this tournament altogether. You're thinking, "Now Chris, how is it that we have a bracket of 32 on each side yet somehow you've managed to come up with a sum of 68?" Good question.

Marty Turco wears two masks, presently. One is black and one is white (he likes them to match his jersey, I guess). You see the black one above but in the first poll you'll be voting to decide which one will go into the tournament. There's another goalie that has a similar situation whose name I will reveal tomorrow. That makes 66.

I'll explain the other two tomorrow because actually there will be 34 masks there so we'll have to narrow that down with preliminary round polls. That makes a grand total of 4 preliminary round polls. Hope I didn't confuse you too much with that. It's not really important.

All you really need to do is cast a vote and you're good to go. Stay tuned for the rest of the group tomorrow!

Don't Forget About WHL Tourney!

Just wanted to remind you guys the WHL Tournament of Logos is in full swing over at ToHL! Make sure you're casting your votes so we can determine the best logo in the Western Hockey League. Just posted a new poll today. It's the Moose Jaw Warriors and the Chilliwack Bruins.

GO VOTE!

Dubie Debuts New Mask

Wade Dubielewicz donned a new mask last night for the New York Islanders. It may not have helped much, but I just thought I'd let you guys know I've got photos of it and the new mask will be included in the upcoming tournament.

It's still got the '90s fisherman on top but it no longer says "DUBIE" on the bottom anymore.

Anyway, the helmet graphics are coming along nicely. I've got about 55 or so complete. As soon as I figure out who all will be included, we should be about ready to get this thing going.

I obviously can't keep an eye personally on every single goalie, so if you see a goalie donning a new mask this week, please let me know so I can try to include it in the competition. Once we start however, I won't make any graphics changes. By the way, thanks to Lucas for tipping me off on Dubielewicz's new mask.