Devils 2, Islanders 0

Did not have the proper time to do "the shuffle" tonight, if you know what I mean. I don't. But it means period-by-period breakdown.

I was around for the first period, in which the Devils squandered all four of their power plays. It was not for lack of effort, that's for sure. It's just weird to me. The first period was heavily in the Devils favor, that's clear. 15 shots to 3. 3 weak shots. 15 pretty decent shots, but not enough to do anything meaningful. Still, I felt pretty good as I left my room to go listen to the "Food Dude" who came to speak on campus about........food. And how to eat right. He made me some ginger and honey and lime drink. It was nasty but good. Cleared me up. Anyway.

What it took was Pando scoring a shorthanded goal to show how bad the Devils have been on the power play. But seriously, they can't be that bad. They are 12th in the league. Hard to believe, right??? It sure was for me. But that was no doubt due to earlier in the year, as well as the hot middle when they didn't miss a power play. Nowadays -- not so much. Shorthanded, not much better, but better. Even strength? They are KILLING.

And who can complain about anything for too long until you realize that the goaltender of the New Jersey Devils is the (im)mortal MARTIN BRODEUR who is clearly the best goalie in the league at this point in time. He struggles, they all do. But his struggles are hardly ever mental. And hardly ever physical either, he just has his down days. Don't get me wrong, I call for Clemmensen sometimes just to rest the beast, but John F says if he doesn't want the rest, don't hand the man a rest. And he dominates. He shuts people down. He gets in your head by doing nothing. And he is a genuinely good man. What an athlete to cheer for. Makes the cheering worthwhile.

So, Islanders. Eat it. Eat it again and again and again. There's nothing you can do about it. The Devils are the best. Better than the Sabres? Only when Ryan Miller cries. Better than the top teams in the West? That's a tough bet. Maybe not. Probably not. But I'm riding high on them right now, flaws and all. This is a great team.

Arroyo receives contract extension

Arroyo and Reds agree to $25 million, 2-year extension through 2010

You do what you gotta do. In two days, the Reds have taken care of their top two pitchers for a long time. Sounds good to me. Who knows if they will be as productive as last year, and the odds are not good, particularly with Arroyo. But if you're going to turn this team into a pitching and defense powerhouse, you have to lock up the good pitching that you do have. Well done. We could always add some more pitchers, preferably not older-aged injury-riddled relief pitchers, but maybe some of the more regular type. The article contained an interesting fact,

[Arroyo] and Harang, who won 16 games and pitched 234 1-3 innings, became the first pair in Reds history to each pitch at least 200 innings and have at least 184 strikeouts.

That's a pretty cool stat right there, maybe something along those lines in 2007? You never know.

Mavericks 113, Grizzlies 97

I mean, what else? The Mavericks beat the Grizzlies no matter what else is going on. It's even good enough to bet on the Mavs vs. the Grizzlies when Dirk cuts his hair. And as you can clearly see, that's what he did. I always get nervous when he cuts his hair because his game suffers and the team starts to lose. Maybe that was the old Mavs. Because his game didn't suffer at all, getting 38 points and 10 rebounds. He didn't suffer Samson disease this time. And the Mavericks rolled again, thanks to the rest of the key players. Sure, they blew some huge leads, but they were in it to win it and they knew it. They just knew it. It's so good, it's boring. 40 FREAKIN WINS ALREADY??? 40-9. Look at that record. It's so dang good.