The Maven's Yays and Boos for the Week

Once upon a time, when I was doing New York Islanders broadcasts for SportsChannel, I came up with a pre-game show idea called "Yays and Boos," which fans seemed to like.

A recent message from a fan read:

"

I’ve been listening to Stan Fischler since my child hood.  One of my first hockey memories was his “Cheers & Jeers, Yays & Boos” segment in between periods of Isles games.  He also is my twitter buddy.  We go back and forth pretty often.

"

Every so often I'll be nudged by some rooter who remembers them and wonders why I don't revive them.

Well, here it goes...

Yay: Vancouver Canucks

YAY to the Vancouver Canucks for establishing themselves as a genuine Stanley Cup contender no matter which goaltender starts for them.

Victories over the Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils this past week merely underlines the point.

Boo: Shootout Haters

BOO to those media types who simply cannot adjust to the fact that the Shootout is here to stay. Instead the dissenters constantly refer to it as a "Skills Competition," although their football colleagues never would call the point-after-touchdown nor the field goal with the same kind of sneer.

When all is said and done, fans are on their feet when the Shootout begins--the same as for a fight.

YAY: Florida Panther GM Dale Tallon

YAY to Dale Tallon for his continuous wheeling and dealing which now finds Wojtek Wolski on the Cats' left wing for the homestretch.

But I'll say this for The Polish Prince: if he isn't now motivated enough to show that he's got the drive to go with his talent, he never will.

The Maven believes that Wolski will be the perfect piece for the Florida offensive puzzle.

BOO: Hand Pass Rule

BOO to The Hand Pass Rule.

In a game that needs all the offense it can get like hockey, why not reward an artistic move like the hand-pass rather than cause a stoppage of play because of it? 

A. We don't need any more random play-stoppages; B. There's nothing damaging about getting the puck in better play en route to a goal; C. Let's eliminate the Trapezoid after we dump the Hand Pass Rule.

YAY: Chris Phillips

YAY to Chris Phillips, who marches on after skating through his 1,000th NHL game unobtrusively and without any fuss or fanfare, but with plenty of class and skill.

He has absorbed the good and bad with the Senators and currently is one very good reason why Ottawa is a playoff contender.