Thought Bubble: Uh Oh!

Good day to you, fine HW readers. In today's edition of Thought Bubble, I will discuss some moments that made me, you, Wild fans and NHL fans in general go Uh Oh! in our heads (or out loud in my case) during the past week.

Join me after the jump.

Opening panel: First preseason mess.

I say mess, because it wasn't much of a game. The Wild fanbase in it's entirety went Uh Oh! after that mess. Some are saying that it's a sign of impending doom for the season, but the more sensible fans will tell you that it was simply a preseason game, the first one might I add, and it's but a minor blip that we all need to forget and move on from. There were many negatives, which I won't enumerate again, they've pretty much all been mentioned here. I have seen some positives from that game, which are as follows:

1- Khudobin did really good in the third period, not allowing a single goal. We just might see more of him this year, you never know.

2- Cullen was named the third star. Now, I haven't watched the game (or even listened to it for that matter... damn radio link) but for a Wild player to be named a star in that mess, he must've done something right!

4- No one got hurt. There have been a bunch of injuries already around the NHL.

So everyone, don't be in an Uh Oh! state just because we lost the first game, a meaningless game, a training game. You learn, you grow, you keep moving.

Second panel: Oilers' young guns the real deal?

Final Panel: 24/7 Crosby and OV.... oh goody...

The Caps and Pens are getting their own reality show as part of their Classic... because no one's tired of seeing Crosby and Ovechkin, right?.... UH OH! The NHL's going to talk about this all year, Crosby this, OV that. Call me crazy, but I really don't buy that the Pens and Caps are really rivals, this is just about Crosby and Ovechkin. Don't get me wrong, it's one of the most exciting rivalries in hockey history, I admit it, but it doesn't make me any less tired of hearing about it! Personally, I never really liked Crosby, but I liked OV up to last season, when he started getting suspensions and getting reckless. You may also say that it's sour grapes because of the lack of coverage the Wild gets, but they're not going to do this for next year's classic, I promise you this. This favoritism the NHL has towards Crosby and Ovechkin is getting out of hand. Sure, they sell merchandise, sure they boost ratings, but there are 28 more teams in this league. When Bettman said that Pittsburgh was exhibit A why he doesn't give up on cities, I thought of all the other cities he let down and is letting down right now, mainly the cities in Canada desperate to have a new NHL team in their city. Of course, what do I know? I live in a country where hockey is the lifeforce of it's people, a country that mostly doesn't give a damn about any other sport. A country whose NHL teams made up 31% of the NHL's ticket revenues in 2008 (couldn't find a more recent source) despite only being 20% of the NHL. What do I know, right?... Wow, kind of wandered off there, my point is I'm not very excited about that 24/7 crap. Reality shows suck. I'm sorry if you like them, but they're not reality. It's a show, it's entertainment! Like in Family Guy, when Brian participates in the Bachelorette and finds out it's all just an act. That's how I think it's going to feel between the Pens and Caps, because the real rivalry lies between Crosby and Ovechkin... Call me bitter if you want (and I can't wait to see Caps fans and Pens fans show up here to remind me of it), but to be a writer for HW, it's actually a requirement. So... BRING IT ON!

Punchline #2: Funny story, I went to the bar last night with some buddies (by the way, always fun to go to a complicated math class the next morning when you're hung over!) and some girls were giving away free Bud Light beer and stuff. They were giving away NHL t-shirts... but not the usual ones. They had old Colorado Rockies T-shirts, the old LA Kings crown, the Canucks and for some reason they had a lot of Blues t-shirts (no Wild sadly, I asked... I mean geez, they had Blues, Kings, Phoenix, which are all as popular as the Wild here in N.-B.!) So we all got Blues t-shirts and we laughed a lot because Halak (the hero of every single habs fan friend I have) is now a Blue. I'm gonna give my t-shirt to Mom, kinda like a revenge for the G-Lat Habs jigsaw puzzle she gave me for Christmas!

3 punchlines today! Aren't you lucky? As always, I hope you enjoyed it!

Peace out!