Cheers and Jeers – Dec 2

The Good and the Bad of this past week.

It’s Friday. So we close out the "Week That Was" with our latest volume of Cheers and Jeers.

This week, I give some props to Kesler and Bure, and tell Walsh and Murray to get their sh*t together.

JEERS to the few idiots (luckily there weren’t many) who started cheering for Roberto Luongo after Cory Schneider let in two bad goals last night against Nashville. This after Schneider was second star of last week and posted two shutouts and four straight wins. It is unbelievable in this town how any goal could stand to play here, given the way some of our idiot fans treat goalies here. Goalie Graveyard – Yeah. NO KIDDING.

CHEERS to Ryan Kesler for climbing on TOP of the Preds net last night. I have no idea why… but it was awesome. And produced THIS PICTURE. There are no words.

JEERS to Anaheim Ducks GM Bob Murray for his brutal handling of Bobby Ryan in the last week. So first, he puts Ryan on the trading block. Visibly and loudly. Everyone knew he was up for grabs, as the Ducks continued to plummet down the Western Conference standings. Then Murray goes and fires coach Randy Carlyle (which wasn’t really a surprise to anyone, given the free-fall of the team and Carlyle’s reputation.) Within a blink of an eye, recently fired Bruce Boudreau is unveiled as the Ducks’ new coach. The fact that Boudreau was hired was not really a surprise, but the speed with which he was acquired was a bit of a shock. But the real head-shaker here is that, within minutes of Boudreau taking the reins of the team, Murray announces that Ryan is off the market. So OBVIOUSLY the problem was between Ryan and Carlyle. Why the hell would you shop Ryan to the entire league, then?! And now everyone knows that Murray is willing to part with Ryan so the price isn’t exactly going to be as high as it could be.

CHEERS to former Canucks winger Pavel Bure for his selection for induction into the IIHF Hall of Fame. His induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto is a topic of much debate (I don’t really know how you can debate it…) but this should be a deciding factor in getting Bure included in Toronto. Let’s hope so. But to Pasha, we say CONGRATS and WELL DESERVED.

JEERS to player agent Allan Walsh for tearing into Blue Jackets’ coach Scott Arniel for the way Arniel is handling Walsh’s client Derick Brassard. Walsh, shut your trap. You aren’t a coach. Don’t tell coaches how to coach. If you want YOUR client to get regular minutes, then tell him to EARN IT with BETTER PLAY. Walsh, your job is to negotiate contracts for your clients and make sure that they are well served from a business perpsective. Their on-ice activity is NOT YOUR GIG, pal. If you want to coach, quit being an agent and get into coach. Go get yourself certified by Hockey Canada and go find a junior team upon which you can impart your clearly boundless hockey knowledge. Then you can earn your way up to the AHL, then possibly the Show. What’s that? You have to EARN your way as a coach into the NHL? Yep. Just like YOUR CLIENT DOES IF HE WANTS TO PLAY IN THE NHL.

CHEERS to John Cullen for joining the ranks of CanucksArmy this week! You saw him in the Replace the KB contest, and damnit, we liked him so much, we got him on board. And we’re the better for it. WELCOME, JOHN! And in case you all missed it, here is John’s first post to CanucksArmy.