Monday, December 21, 2009

Pest Control

Every team in the NHL has a guy or two that plays with grit and really gets into the oppositions head. The pest will do anything and everything to annoy, anger or distract the opposing players in order to bait them into bad penalties and reduce their effectiveness. Some of the tactics that they use are hooking, slashing and good old fashion trash talking. One of the premiere pests in the game, Sean Avery took this to a whole new level during last season's playoffs. Future Hall of Fame inductee Martin Brodeur was harassed by Avery as he stood just outside the crease and continually waved his stick in front of Brodeur's face. In light of this incident, league officials have made that tactic an offense. The NHL pest is an important part of the game. The league might slowly be trimming down the role of The Enforcer, but The Pest will always be there. Just like real life pests, these hockey players learn to adapt to the rules and find ways to annoy and even chip in timely goals. Here's my list of 5 notable NHL Pests:

1. Sean Avery
2. Alexandre Burrows
3. Jarkko Ruutu
4. Matt Cooke
5. Steve Ott

I played with a guy before and he took it to another level, even annoying the opposing team's girlfriends.

I wrote this article as a prelude to something that does not have anything to do with sports. I was getting ready for bed after catching the tail-end of Casino on Showcase when I hear a ruckus on my roof. Was it a would be robber attempting a late night heist? Unlikely, but I had to make sure. I woke up my cousin so we could investigate this matter. He tells me that there are two raccoons fighting on our turret. I grab a basketball and decide that I will throw it to scare them away. He warns me of their rabid nature and I have second thoughts. Looking out the window I see one on the turret, one right in front of me on the ledge and another outside my front door. It's a good thing I didn't go outside. The raccoon on the front steps would have probably attacked me causing me to fight back prompting both raccoons on the roof to come down and ravage me. I hope we don't have a raccoon problem. Damn pests.....

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