Cheers and Jeers – July 20th

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

This week, we write an insulting low-ball offer to the NHL owners and Scott Parker, while handing some serious cheddar to Shea Weber and Mike Foligno.

JEERS to Scott Parker for defending Todd Bertuzzi’s assault on Steve Moore. Parker was Moore’s teammate on the Avalanche at the time of the infamous incident on March 8, 2004, and is unbelievably defending Bertuzzi for how it all went down. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not jeering Parker because he’s not defending an ex-teammate. I find that notion silly in general, but it’s part of hockey culture to ALWAYS defend your bros. However, it’s what he said about Moore and the hit that is just plain wrong. While Parker essentially called Moore a stuck-up uppity college grad, the tone of the interview suggests that Parker believes that Moore had the Bertuzzi hit coming. Parker went on to say that it was simply "one of those things that happens" and that Bertuzzi tried his best to stop Moore from falling the way he did. What a load. it’s highly likely that Scott Parker has never actually seen a single replay of that hit. If he had, he would know that his comments are utter crap, and that Bertuzzi’s purposeful hit was as vicious as we’ve seen on-ice in the last 20 years. This is barbaric nonsense from a barbaric washed-up goon. But, hey, remember all you kids out there, play hard and work your tail off but if you’re a smart college kid, you’re an asshole. (thumbs up!)

CHEERS to Mike Foligno for joining the Canucks’ organization with the Chicago Wolves. Foligno, a long-time NHLer with a trademark goal celebration and goofy looking helmet, joins Nolan Baumgartner as an assistant coach behind Scott Arniel.  Foligno is a well-respected hockey man with a wealth of experience behind the bench at several different levels of the game. He’ll be a welcome addition to the coaching staff and may very well follow a long line of Canucks minor league coaches who have made the leap to lead a team in the NHL.

JEERS to NHL owners for their ridiculous, ludicrous, and insulting initial proposal during CBA negotiations with the NHLPA. First of all, I understand that this is a process and that there is plenty of back and forth and that both sides are going to compromise and all that jazz. I get it. HOWEVER…. the owner’s first proposal was insulting AND embarrassing, because the items that they proposed were so off-the-wall and cheap and petty.  By proposing a 19% cut to the players’ portion of hockey-related revenue, the owners are just slapping the NHLPA in the face. The other proposals tabled by the owners weren’t quite as bad as the 19% cut to HRR, but as a collective, it surely smacks of pure greed. There are about 10-12 teams in the NHL who are losing money, some because of bad ownership, some because of bad management, some because the teams are playing in awful markets. With revenue sharing, the teams that make money are forced to spread their wealth around to assure those teams and the league stay afloat as-is. But the owners should be responsible for the lost money. That’s what happens in a capitalist society, when you make a ballsy investment. Sometimes you make money, sometimes you lose it. The owners are now effectively demanding the players to take the blow and absorb their lost revenue. These are cowardly owners who have put forth cowardly proposals.

CHEERS to Shea Weber for winning the lottery…. er, I mean signing a massive contract. Whether he joins the Philadelphia Flyers or returns to the Nashville Predators has not yet been decided, as it’s up to the Predators to match the offer. Either way, Weber is getting PAID. The offer sheet that he signed with the Flyers is a 14-year contract that will pay him $110m over that time. The best part for Weber is the signing bonuses. In fact, he will only earn $1m in playing salary next year. He will get $13m in signing bonus immediately upon signing the official contract, and will earn another $13m next summer in signing bonuses. More importantly to Weber, signing bonuses are guaranteed money, regardless of a lockout. So Shea Weber will make $26 million in a calendar year and he won’t need to play a single game of hockey to earn it.

JEERS to Niagara Falls columnist Lenny Palumbo for being a total asshat. Palumbo criticized the NHL for, in his words, "all but endorses homosexuality in hockey", because of the You Can Play Project. So let’s tell you all the wrong things that this douche asshole clown wrote. First of all, You Can Play is not an NHL initiative. As our readers know, it was founded by Patrick Burke and others. It does not endorse homosexuality (and even if it did, SO F*CKING WHAT?!). You Can Play aims to break down any barriers that exist in locker rooms to ensure that players of ANY sexual orientations feel comfortable, safe and respected. Oh, and then Palumbo suggested that the NHL’s next step should be to hire "Elton John as  commissioner and be done with it." Honestly. THIS GUY IS A PIECE OF WORK. And it turns out that this piece of garbage has written about this before. I am not going to link to the newspaper, because I don’t want to give them any more web traffic, so go to Deadspin here and read what this moron had to say. Lenny Palumbo is a shameful, pitiful, disgusting excuse for a reporter.

CHEERS to Boston mayor Thomas Menino for sticking it to Chik-Fil-A and their exclusionary, awful beliefs. Earlier this week, Chik-Fil-A President Dan Cathy admonished gay marriage and stood firm about his company’s beliefs in "traditional values". Mayor Menino to serious umbrage with those comments and Chik-Fil-A as a company and went on record vowing to block the fast food chain from setting up shop in Boston. I have always loved the city of Boston. I have had the good fortune to travel there on many occasions through work, and it is my favourite city on the East Coast. Today, I love it a little more.

I end today on a truly sad note…

When someone passes away, I am one who believes in celebrating the life they led, rather than mourning a life lost. While I am not suggesting that it isn’t important to grieve (it truly is necessary), it is a worthwhile exercise to remember the good times and cherished moments.

CHEERS to Jessica Redfield. Jessica was an aspiring sports broadcaster, part of our hockey blogging community, and a Canucks fan. She was taken from us during the horrific shooting that occurred overnight in Aurora, Colorado at a screening of "The Dark Night Rises". Of course, I did not know her personally, but I have spent time this morning making sure to read about her, and to read the hundreds of warm comments about her and her work. Our own Thomas Drance met her only a few short weeks ago and was touched by her bright demeanor and excellent stories. Take some time today to read her blog, A Run Of Thoughts, as I’m sure you will appreciate her work. Make sure you read this article she wrote last month, a first-hand account of the Eaton Centre shooting in Toronto. It is surely a sad day, given the tragedy in Colorado. Take some time to wipe away a tear and celebrate Jessica’s life, and her accomplishments. And please, read what she wrote.