Helping out the CBC: Top 10 NHL vs. TV Moments

I happened upon this fantastic list of NHL vs. TV moments on the CBC website via the wonderful Houses of the Hockey blog from the Score. The title of the list is somewhat inaccurate, seeing as it also contains an NHL vs. film moment in Cam Neely's cameo in "Dumb and Dumber," but since that exception is Cam Neely's cameo in "Dumb and Dumber," I am full of forgiveness.

What I can't forgive is a list about TV on the internet that features no videos. House of the Hockey already pointed out this egregious error and being the gregarious sort that I am, I decided to help out the CBC by doing the legwork they didn't do and tracking down a video for each of their top 10. My success rate is poor.

10. Stanley Cup vs. Guiding Light

What in the world? This is quite possibly the oddest thing I have ever seen.

9. Scotiabank Place vs. 30 Rock

Only the second entry on the list and my search has already come up dry. NBC cares a lot about their controlling their copyrighted material, what can I say? Here's a picture of the nifty moment when Danny sings his Juno-nominated psych-up song for the Ottawa Senators. Just imagine it in your minds and I'm sure it will be hilarious.

8. L.A. Kings vs. Price is Right

Pretty funny. Too bad it's the Drew Carey edition of the Price is Right. The Kings showed up again in the Showcase Showdown.

7. Don Cherry vs. Rick Mercer

Does this even count? This seems almost like nepotism: the CBC website highlighting an appearance of a CBC television personality on a CBC television show. Pretty sketchy, CBC.

6. Vancouver Canucks vs. How I Met Your Mother

Sadly, embedding of this hilarious clip of Robin reenacting the '94 Canucks run to the Stanley Cup Finals has been disabled. On a positive note, clicking on links is really, really easy. And this video of the awesome Mason Raymond namedrop is totally embeddable:

5. New York Rangers vs. David Letterman (vs. Madonna)

Apparently Marc Staal thinks Gordie Howe has a nice looking butt. This won't be the first time Gordie Howe's good looks will show up in this list. What do you know, it's the very next item.

4. Gordie Howe vs. The Simpsons

It is incredibly easy to find episodes of The Simpsons online for free. Finding them legally is another issue altogether. We here at PitB won't espouse the use of illegal methods of viewing television episodes that circumvent copyright laws both because we like to keep a squeaky-clean image and we trust that you can use Google. In lieu of linking to one of the many, many websites that provide Simpsons episodes for free online, here's an odd backwards and Spanish version of the episode "Bart the Lover" from YouTube. Gordie Howe pops up at 13:21 and again in part two. Biggest oddity: everyone is suddenly left-handed.

3. Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Conan O'Brien

Number One on this Sportscentre Top 10 list. Since NBC are a bunch of knobs, they consistently remove their content from YouTube. Conan's bit starts at 3:54.

2. Wayne Gretzky vs. Mike Myers

Number 7 on the same Sportscentre Top 10 list as above. Same complaint about NBC as above as well. Gretzky's appearance on Wayne's World comes at 1:50. Bonus appearance by Wayne on SNL at 3:26 of the same video.

1. Cam Neely vs. Dumb and Dumber

Kick his ass, Sea Bass!

Mason Raymond Signs, Avoids Arbitration

In retrospect, Cobie, it's a much bigger deal that you met Mason Raymond. Our apologies.


News is coming in this morning that the Vancouver Canucks and Mason Raymond have reached a contractual agreement on the steps of the courthouse. The numbers? 2 years, 5.1 million. That's a $2.55 million cap hit, and I do believe that sound you just heard was millions of Canucks fans breaking their jaws, especially after superagent J.P. Barry suggested Raymond was looking for between $3.5 and $4m.

My reaction to this signing? I love it. Gillis gets Raymond at a reasonable cap hit for two years. This is brilliant, because if he turns out to be a one-season wonder as a genuine top-six forward, he's still got a ton of value as a speedy checker. Even if his scoring numbers dip a little bit, Raymond is worth 2.5. As well, if Raymond turns out to be everything last season indicated, he's worth far more than 2.5, and joins Alex Burrows and Mikael Samuelsson as remarkably underpaid top-six forwards. If Raymond outprices himself with two excellent seasons going forward and the Canucks can no longer afford him, the Canucks have bought themselves two years to see Hodgson, Schroeder, Rodin, or another of their young forwards develop into the spot. For Raymond, this puts him in a brilliant position to get a ton of money as a free agent in the prime of his career, which is likely why he agreed to what might otherwise seem like a fleecing. It might also have been because nobody likes being told what they're worth monetarily, and how it's not as much as they think.

As well, the Canucks have deftly managed their cap and are now in a good position to take a little bit of salary back if and when they trade Kevin Bieksa. All good things. Chalk this one up to another Mike Gillis win.

Skeeter's Thoughts

The deal has been confirmed according to Jason Botchford: Mason Raymond has signed a 2-year, 5.1 million dollar deal just before his arbitration hearing. Mike Gillis flew out from Vancouver on Saturday to get the deal done. The sound you're hearing might not be millions of Canucks fans breaking their jaws: it may just be a collective sigh of relief. Ever since reports came out that Raymond and his agent were seeking 3.5 to 4 million dollars in arbitration, I've been worried. While I never thought he would be awarded more than $3.5 million a season, I'm guessing the Thrashers never thought Clarke MacArthur would be awarded $2.4 million.

So to hear that Mike Gillis got him signed prior to arbitration for a deal with a mere $2.55 million dollar cap hit? That's a great way to wake up on a Monday morning.

It seems clear that Raymond's agent, J.P. Barry, was more concerned about the term of the contract than the dollar amount. While Raymond would certainly have been awarded more in arbitration, it likely would have been a one-year deal, with Raymond still being a Restricted Free Agent at the end of it. A two-year deal takes Raymond into Unrestricted Free Agency: if he performs up to his potential over the next two seasons, Raymond will price himself out of the Canucks lineup and receive a nice payday for some other team and the Canucks will get one hell of a bargain for those two seasons.

Well played, Gillis, well played. Now to figure out what to do about Salo and Bieksa.