Recently fired Tampa Bay Lightning coach John Tortorella might join the New York Islanders. At the very minimum, according to Tampa Bay Online, Tortorella is talking to the Lightning. Would he do better with Garth Snow than Ted Nolan did? Really?

According to TSN, the Calgary Flames announced their pre-season schedule which includes a game in Winnipeg versus the Phoenix Coyotes.

The Coyotes were originally the Winnipeg Jets, but relocated to Phoenix after the 1996 season.

In other ‘Ha, in your face!’ moves, the Colorado Avalanche should play a game in Quebec City and the Carolina Hurricanes should play a game in Hartford.

Citing ‘philosophical differences’, Islanders GM Garth Snow announced Nolan and the Islanders would be parting ways.

“It wasn’t going to work if two people aren’t on the same page. That’s why the meeting was healthy because we both realized that there were differences in philosophy, ” Snow said.

Part of that disagreement stems from the fact that Nolan felt the team didn’t have the necessary pieces to compete last season, stating, “We don’t have natural 50-goal scorers. We have guys who work for everything they get. That’s the way we play.” Snow countered, thinking the team underachieved.

Snow also felt the younger players needed more ice time, but Nolan wouldn’t comply because the team until near the end of the season, was actually still within reach of the final playoff spot. Snow went as far as trading Chris Simon (a favorite player of Nolan going back to their OHL days) in order to free a slot for Jeff Tambellini.

Unfortunately for the Islanders (and what fans they have left), it’s another act in a three ring circus since Charles Wang purchased the franchise. Snow may be a good guy, but he hasn’t appeared to be great GM material. Even if they manage to bring in someone like John Tortorella, this team does not have the pieces to contend, let alone make the playoffs.

Lord Stanley’s Cup belongs to the Detroit Red Wings this year. It has been explained to me that the cup is actually a big trophy and not a cup like what you wear to protect your groin. It made no sense to me that guys would play a whole hockey season just to win a cup, even one that belonged to a lord. I thought maybe it was gold or had magic healing powers or something.

The next hockey season begins in three days.

The Stanley Cup Finals are still going on apparently. The Detroit Red Wings were up 3-1 going into last night’s game with the Penguins and looked to have the thing closed out…then the Penguins scored with something like 35 seconds left and tied it. It took three overtimes to settle the thing, with the Penguins ultimately prevailing.

Aliens once brainwashed me into liking hockey for a week. Then it wore off.

21-year-old Vancouver Canucks defenseman Luc Bourdon was killed in a motorcycle crash near Shippagan, New Brunswick, Canada on Thursday.

Police would not confirm Bourdon as the victim of the crash. They would only say that a single motorcyclist had been killed when he apparently lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a tractor-trailer.

Bourdon, a rookie performer in 2007-2008, was drafted 10th overall in 2005. He played 27 games his first year with Vancouver, scoring two goals with no assists.

Mike Meyers is coming to theaters everwhere as Pitka the Love Guru… and the NHL is amazingly giddy. After drawing pathetic ratings during a very exciting NHL playoffs, the NHL is going to get more buzz and pr from the-sure-to-be-smash-hit Love Guru:

You can see the Love Guru preview (and 200,000 other clips) in this Video Detective widget (which you can grab with the “get this widget” button):

More exciting than the actual NHL Stanley Cup… sadly:

Mike Meyers gives Don Cherry a run for his money:

Justin Timberlake also makes an appearance (with a terrific mustache that makes stan van gundy squirm in jealousy):

Don Cherry makes the NHL, an otherwise unexciting and increasingly unpopular league, interesting. For those who don’t know who Cherry is, he is a former Boston Bruins coach who then went on to lead Hockey Night in Cananda for 25+ years. To the non-hockey buff (ie most viewers), Cherry is known more for his sense of fashion… and I use fashion loosely because his outfits are enough to make Craig Segar blush and the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy crew vomit in angst.

So of course I had to put together a slideshow of Cherry’s ‘top’ outfits… and if I am spending time on the NHL *AND* Microsoft Powerpoint, you know I feel strongly about this:

Pretty high up on the list of things you don’t want to get hit in the face with: a hockey puck coming off the stick of a professional player.

I also wouldn’t want to get hit with Hulk Hogan’s balls. Or anyone else’s balls for that matter.

I don’t know who hockey commentator Don Cherry thinks he’s kidding with his ridiculous suits. Obviously, the guy is an attention-whore. But that’s the sort of thing you have to do if you want to be noticed as a hockey analyst. Anyone only cares about hockey if someone’s getting their throat slashed by a skate, or if there’s a big fight or Sean Avery is acting like a punk. The NHL is having its playoffs right now, and all anyone wants to talk about is Cherry’s wardrobe, and which member of the Flames Elisha Cuthbert is having sex with. Sad time to be associated with hockey.

(picture: SportsbyBrooks)