Rollins Recap; Around the Net – an afternoon skate around the league

Rollins performs at an earlier stop on his tour that rolled through Pittsburgh last night

Well, I am running far behind for the second day in a row. Sorry about that gang… just been one of those weeks I suppose…

Before we get moving with today’s Around the Net, I wanted to give you a quick update on Henry Rollins last night.

I always knew that Rollins was a ball of energy, but last night blew me away.

Keep in mind that I have seen his band perform over the years and it was good, but it didn’t have the energy of this spoken word performance. It was as if he was let out of a cage and sent into the circle in which he performed. The man spoke non-stop for three hours and ten minutes. He didn’t take a break. He didn’t stop to take a sip of water. Nothing…he just barreled through what he needed to say in a charismatic and entertaining way that didn’t allow you to contemplate the time that was blowing by.

I didn’t agree with everything he had to say but he makes a lot of sense…he always has. Rollins covered politics – as he always does, music, his career, his travels, his work on ‘Sons of Anarchy’, and the fact that at 49 years old he still has the urge to “relieve certain pressures that build up” in his bathroom.

All of it really humanized a man who I always considered to be sort of a hard-ass. When I first met Hank 13 years ago he seemed to be sort of a curmudgeon who would rather do anything but be chatting with me.

Last night it seemed that all he wanted to do was hang out with all of us. In fact, it sounded like he feels pretty lost when he is home alone and not on the road connecting with the masses.

Could Henry still beat you down if need be? There is no doubt… but he doesn’t want to.

What the Henry Rollins of 2010 wants to do is to have a worldwide barbecue in which we all get together to hang out and listen to some cool tunes.

That is pretty damn cool if you ask me… regardless of your beliefs, political leanings, musical tastes or religion, I suggest you check out Rollins when he rolls through your town. It is really an enlightening experience.

So with that out of the way… here is your very late in arriving Around the Net – an afternoon skate around the league.

Rather than going with Dave Molinari’s game recap today, I pull my buddy John Mehno’s take on last night’s game. John doesn’t cover as many Penguins games as he once did, but he banged out this piece from last night’s debacle and it includes some of the finest sound bytes from around the Pens room. You know that it was a bad night when even Sidney Crosby is unable to come up with a positive…

Mehno’s take

Here is Damian Cristodero’s take from the Tampa Bay side of things. Always interesting to see the contract between the two locker rooms…on one side a team is bitter about not getting the performance that they expected. Heck Brooks Orpik went as far as saying that they lost to a group of guys he hadn’t even heard of before… while the Tampa room is using the victory as building block. Something that they can sink their teeth into as a performance that they would like to see more of.

Damian Cristodero’s take

The Lightning had a couple of guys who were sad to be making their last appearance in Mellon Arena. Ryan Malone used yesterday’s morning skate to reminisce about practically growing up in the building, while coach Rick Tocchet talked about his Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh and the fond memories he holds for the old barn.

Malon and Tocchet have soft spot for Mellon Arena

Here is a piece from Fox News that tells us what we all knew already… goalies could hold the keys to their teams’ playoff performances. Very true…especially in the case of some of the biggest cup contenders…

The key to playoff success lies in goal

Though the odds are very long, the Atlanta Thrashers have themselves in position to jump into a playoff spot. Their schedule is daunting, but it is very possible, especially if the Penguins turn in performances comparable to that of last night’s loss to the Lightning.

Thrash battling hard for final playoff spot

Here is Lyle Richardson’s weekly look at the league for the Hockey News. In this piece he speculates about the Flyers’ possible pursuit of Carey Price and the fact that the Devils may be serious about keeping Ilya Kovalchuk in town.

Spector takes a look at Price and Kovalchuk

Jeff Klein of the New York Times takes a look at the Rangers schedule and figures that its relative ease has the Rangers in position to take the final playoff spot in the East.

Rags in position for the playoffs

Penguins’ prospect Nick Peterson was named a second team all-star in the QMJHL after putting in a fine overage campaign. Peterson notched 39 goals and 40 assists in 59 games for the Saint John Sea Dogs.

Nick Peterson receives QMJHL honor

Scott Burnside takes a look at the Nashville Predators and how their coach Barry Trotz has molded them in his own image.

Trotz molds Preds in his image

Gary Bettman sounded off about the fact that a second team in Southern Ontario could receive as much as a $400 million dollar television deal…but they would have to pay a lucrative expansion fee to the league.

Expansion could yield big bucks

More later…

2 thoughts on “Rollins Recap; Around the Net – an afternoon skate around the league

  1. As Shaq once sang…. ‘i’m not Phil Collins, more like Henry Rollins’…. Never really new who he was till I read that Metz. Now my early listenings of Shaq daddy make so much more sense!

  2. Walshy,

    Henry Rollins is one of the forefathers of the American Punk Rock scene. He comes from Washington, DC… formerly the front man of the band Black Flag, he went on to a solo career in his own band “Rollins Band,” an author, speaker, and television host.

    He is actually going to be performing in you neck of the woods on this spoken word tour… he will be performing in Melbourne and Sydney… check out his website here.

    http://www.henryrollins.com/

    Here is a wiki on him as well…

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Rollins

    I was talking to a guy the other night and you came up in the conversation… he said… “Oh, was that the guy that was in the newspaper!!”

    Hope all is well!

    B

Comments are closed.