First, my Habs fan friends must be absolutely joyous at the news that for tonight's Oilers-Stars game, Sheldon Souray will once again not be in the line-up. It is December 10 today and Souray has managed to play in 6 games for the Oil since they signed as a free agent in July. Nearly every Habs fan knew that Souray was a complete and utter waste of a roster spot 5-on-5 and now they also know that their powerplay can live without his howtizer from the point. Let's take this holiday season to think kind thoughts about Kevin Lowe's family who will likely be without an income from the old veteran GM sometime next summer. (My own personal bit of happiness stems from the fact that Martin Havlat is a point-per-game player, but he will probably never play more than 65 games in a season in his career.)
Second, Scott Niedermayer is back. Or will be soon. He says he's coming back to the Ducks for the remainder of the season as soon as he can get himself in game shape. He also says that this will be the end of his run...which I believe has been Roger Clemens' line the last couple of years too. Now, I admit that I may still be bitter about Anaheim beating out Ottawa for the Stanley Cup last year, but I'm also pretty sick and tired of athletes taking what amounts to extended summer vacation and then expecting a hero's welcome on their return. Anaheim can certainly use a defenceman of Niedermayer's skill level and no doubt his teammates will be happy to see him in uniform, but frankly, I don't know how they can't feel a little bit betrayed that while they were in the trenches struggling to defend their crown Niedermayer was...well, what was he doing? Contemplating whether or not to cash in the rest of his contract with the Ducks, I guess.
Then there's the issue of how paying Niedermayer for the rest of the season will play out on the rest of the Duck's roster moves, including signing Corey Perry to an extension. And, as has long been speculated, what if Teemu Selanne decides he wants back in now that his good buddy Scotty is back? All that having been said, I kind of like the idea that Brian Burke is in a bit of jam.
Anyway, a little bit of "schadenfraude" (sp?) never hurts, especially around the holidays. Right?
