Rain, Rain, Go Away...

The Jays took a tough loss today in Chicago against the White Sox. The game was called in the fifth due to rain with the Pale Hose up 6-4 over Toronto. And because the game had gone the full five, it was considered official. That is of course a bunch of bollocks. The game should never have even made it that far in the first place. It was raining hard enough in the fourth that the game should have been ended then and there. The only reason the Jays had those four runs to speak of is because the Sox pitcher Freddie Garcia was having such a tough time in the rain. It's a tough loss to swallow. Call it sour grapes, call it whatever you want, but that was some unfair stuff going down in U.S Cellular today. Now, I'm not accusing anybody of anything here, but let's not forgot, this is the same team that gave us the Black Sox Scandal. I'm just saying...

And the Leafs were back in mid-season form today, by which I mean they were smacked around 6-0 by Buffalo. It must be hard to concentrate with all those visions of pristine golf courses floating through their heads.

They have one game remaining against the Pittsburgh Crosbys, which if nothing else, should be completely meaningless. Sidney "Calderless" Crosby sits at 97 points on the season, so here's hoping Aubin or Tellqvist or whoever the Leafs shove in net goes easy on the kid. I really hope Crosby hits the century mark. A lot of people have been ragging on him, especially in light of Ovechkin more or less running away with the rookie of the year award, so it would be a great way to cap off what has been really a great year for him.

And in other hockey news, the Vancouver Canucks will miss the playoffs this year. Excuse me a moment, I need to savour that last sentence.

This not only means that the Leafs are not the only Canadian team to miss the big dance (misery, as they say, loves company) but it also gves us a story that could overshadow Toronto's shortcomings. I mean, by all accounts, Vancouver is (was?) a good team, a lock for the playoffs, where as T.O was maybe 50-50 from the start. But Vancouver blew up in a big way, and here's one guy who's not afraid to say he's happy to see it.

I don't like the Canucks. Period. They're stocked with talent (Naslund, Morrison, Sedin 1 and Sedin 2, Carter Jovanovski) but they are oh-so lazy. Sure, you Vancouverites might say, "Oh but Jason, there were the injuries, so many injuries!" to which I say, put down the blunt, and take a good look at your team. The first mistake was letting Brian Burke go to Anahiem. That man is hockey genius. How many GM's could trade Sergei Fedorov, Sandis Ozolnish and Petr Sykora, and still end up with a better team? Secondly, employing Marc Crawford as a coach has seriously angered the karma gods. You can only go so long with that hair before bad things happen. And thirdly, Danny Cloutier?! What were you thinking? It didn't work the first three tries as a starter, and yet you guys went to the well one more time, and look where he is now. He missed the final 60 games of the season. Cloutier is not a top flight goalie, so stop pretending he's something that he is not.

Here's you homework for the offseason Vancouver: Go out and find a real goalie. None of this "Oh look, we got Buffalo's third string goalie! Stanley Cup, here we come" bollocks. I swear, if you guys start Alex Auld or Mikka Noronen next year... You know, I hear Curtis Joseph might be available. And hey Eddie Belfour needs to feed his kids too, you know.

West Coast Dazed,

Jason