Congrats Jed!

From the NHL:

NEW YORK (April 26, 2010) -- Kurtis Foster of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Jed Ortmeyer of the San Jose Sharks and Jose Theodore of the Washington Capitals are the three finalists for the 2009-10 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which is awarded “to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey,” the National Hockey League announced today.

Well, my vote is clear but so is the winner - a bad broken leg (Foster) or some blood clots (Jed) doesn't compare to losing a kid and then starting a charity (Theodore). I was actually surprised to read the real story about Three-or-More, figuring instead that they gave him the nomination for overcoming hair loss and a STD.

Joking aside, all three of the candidates showed 'qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey' so congrats to all three. Especially Jed.

Congrats Jed!!!!!!!!!

Jed Ortmeyer scored San Jose's first goal in the Sharks come-from-behind win over Minnesota tonight. It was Jed's first since January 8th, 2008. As many of you know, Jed is a favourite of mine so I have to say that seeing the box score was a nice bonus tonight.

Go Jed Go!!!!!!

(He'd better not do it again when we face San Jose on the 19th...)

Hockey Happenings

Seeing as there haven't been any games, any big trades, any reports of Gaborik injuries, I will just throw some news and thoughts out there:

*If you want to see a positive, Blueshirt-coloured look at the Rangers, a kid over at HFBoards had lunch with Adam Graves today. Gravey, of course, is high on all prospects and high on the team's chances this coming season. I think if he wasn't, he would get fired but still, I agree that there are reasons to be excited. Check out what he said here.

*The Rangers signed Enver Lisin, the kid they got for the Korpedo. Terms weren't released but you have to figure it was around a mil or so for two or three years. Meh, whatever. As I said when we dealt for him, Lisin has skills but honestly, if he scores more than 15 goals I will be surprised.

*The Ranger home page is finally giving some respect to the tradition of the franchise with a History Lesson. It is definitely recommended reading - as is Frank Boucher's book "When The Rangers Were Young." You can see how one of the pillars of the league was built and see what it means to be a Ranger. And see why I often call for the current crop of Rangers to honour and respect the jersey.

*Semi-related, at least in my head and for obvious reasons, I have to mention that former Ranger Jed Ortmeyer signed with the Sharks. Go Jed! I am an unashamed fanboy and am quite pleased that he found a NHL gig. Even better, if he survives camp, he will finally make a return to the Garden on Monday, October 19th. The last time we saw him was Game 6 against Buffalo two years back when Renney let him rot on the bench. Boo Renney, yay Jed!

*The Islanders kicked their radio guys to the curb. They will simulcast their tv guys, which makes sense considering that today's current crop of broadcasters talk so damned much. Perhaps it is an ego thing that makes today's personalities feel obligated to talk the entire time - it makes you wonder if they get paid by the word or something. English football soccer broadcasters understand that the atmosphere at the event is worth listening to. Perhaps on national games the talent should talk a lot, as they are hoping to expose and inform some people about a sport they don't already know. But regional casts should let us fans enjoy the games as they are - get a feel for it instead of hearing the misguided meanderings of Micheletti.

*We'll get to see how good of a GM I am over at Cycle With The Sedins as I have the reins of the Rangers in James' re-draft of the NHL. A clean slate with which to build the Blueshirts ... oh baby. We are still working out how the teams will compete - either simulated in a video game or a season-long fantasy league. I get the 20th pick overall so a lot of the top stars will be gone but I think it will help build an all-around stronger team.

*Speaking of that league, the first pick in the draft went to the Flames and they took Ovechkin so I did a little photoshop - check it out.

*Related to Ovechkin, as he will carry the flag for Russia in 2014, Wysh brought up the Olympic debate today. Personally I worship Olympic hockey but would have no problem with the NHL bowing out after Sochi '14. Simply said, it hurts the NHL product and puts extra wear and tear on the top players in the league. The answer isn't to move it to the Summer Olympics but to follow the Olympic soccer model and make the competition open to players 20-and-under. Considering that the World Juniors is pretty much a Canadian property nowadays, why not have them take a hiatus every four years? The best young talent in the world could get the biggest stage. It would also serve to boost the NHL as people would want to follow these kids as they grow up - when most other Olympic athletes are one-and-done, someone who falls for a player's story of woe or his skills could carry their fandom to the NHL ... it isn't like the other small sports where interest only comes every four years.

Well, I hope this helped quench some of your interest. While Sochi is a ways away, the NHL season is right around the corner. At least, that's what I keep telling myself to get through these summer days.

Welcome Back Jed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Even though Puck Daddy made a snide comment in his Death Watch today about it, he did alert us to some fantastic news - Jed has made it back to the NHL!!!!!!!

From the Preds homepage:

Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has recalled forward Jed Ortmeyer from the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League.

Ortmeyer, 30 (9/3/78), has 23 points (10g-13a) in 55 games since joining the Admirals on Dec. 3, 2008 – he missed the first 24 games of the season due to a knee injury sustained in Nashville’s game against Dallas on Feb. 23, 2008, his last NHL game played. In 2007-08 – his first season with the Predators – the Omaha, Neb., native played in 51 games, recording four goals and four assists.

Since 2003-04, the 6-1, 188-pound right wing has played in 228 career NHL contests, tallying 32 points (13g-19a).

After the aforementioned knee injury Jed had blood clot issues again and he battled to get back on the ice. He did it and he now has made it back to the show. I hope he sticks, he deserves it.

Go Jed!!!!!

Yeah Jed!! Good Luck!!

In a small piece of news that went under the radar last week, former Ranger fan favourite Jed Ortmeyer returned to professional hockey. Unfortunately it is not in the NHL:

The Predators reassigned the 30-year-old right wing to Milwaukee of the American Hockey League on Wednesday after sending him through waivers. Ortmeyer had missed all of training camp and the entire season because of a blood clot in his leg. --The Tennessean, 12-4-08

Being as he went unclaimed through waivers down to the A, Jed will have to really shine if he is to make it back to the NHL this season. The good news is that he is off to a great start with an assist in his first game and the game winning goal in his third! As I went on a futile quest for photos of Jed's goal, I found that the Quad City beat writer attributed it to a Mike Ortmeyer, but it was certainly our boy; gotta love small town journalism. Coincidentally, another former Ranger property - Huge Mistake Hugh Jessiman - was out with an injury for Milwaukee.

Sadly the Admirals (who have the coolest logo in all of sport) do not have any more games in the NY/CT area this season so we won't get a chance to see him wearing the skull and bones. Nonetheless, we want to wish Jed the best of luck from a distance and hopefully he will make it back to the big show before too long!!

We Still Love You Jed ...

As I professed my fandom for Brendan Morrow in the Stars Four-cast, I figured I would take a look around to see if there was any update to Scotty Hockey favourite Jed Ortmeyer.

I couldn't find anything as to his progress recovering from ACL surgery but I was able to find something that flew beneath the radar: Jed doing a meet and greet and autograph session for some kids back in May. Glad to see Jed still carrying himself with class and doing the right thing. Best wishes for a full recovery and spot in the Predators' lineup come this fall ...

EDIT: Glad to see others miss Jed too ...

Midwinter Break Day 5

Yay, the weekend is almost here, and thus the return of Rangers hockey. But before then, some random stuff to tide us over.

1 - The Rangers resigned Hank to a big deal, six years at $6.5 mil a year. I believe that makes him the third highest-paid goaltender in the league behind Roberto Luongo and Nikolai Khabibulin. Let's hope he plays more like the former than the latter. But now that the deal is done, I would say Al Montoya's bus ticket is pretty much stamped out of town. Let's just hope we can get the most out of dealing him ... Vinny Prospal is looking pretty damn good nowadays, and he wants to shove things up his coach's butt. Sounds like a love connection to me - Rangers and Prospal, not Prospal and Torts, this isn't that kind of blog.

2 - Jed got into a fight!!! Amid a terrible 6-1 Nashville loss to Chicago, Jed Ortmeyer, a Scotty Hockey favourite, fought rookie defenseman Cam Barker. Unfortunately, he got his ass kicked, but whatever, we still show the love.

3 - Let the Chris Simon Murder Watch begin! Simon the Barbarian has returned to practice so its only a matter of time before he kills someone on the ice. He is due to return to action next week vs. Tampa. How much do you want to bet he ends up wearing a letter for the Isles too, perhaps the very game when he commits homicide! Wouldn't that be great press for the league? It would be just reward for the NHL's unwillingness to ban this animal from playing. Let me clarify, I don't want him to kill anyone, I just won't be surprised when he does. Fool me once, same on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me seven times shame on all of us. But at least the possibility of him going off will draw a few more people to the Mausoleum, Newsday is even dogging the Isles for their attendance woes.

4 - I just put Rod Brind'Amour on Team Canada and he blows out his knee and will be gone for the year. Nice. Kills my fantasy teams that count faceoffs ...

5 - It's Hockey Weekend Across America! Hope y'all celebrate in fun fashion; hope the Rangers celebrate with a pair of wins. Let's go Rangers!