Jav

I've got a 1994 Honda Accord LX and recently I've been noticing a problem with extended travel in the brake pedal (The brake pedal begins to sink to the floor after being depressed awhile, usually while sitting at a stoplight). My hope was that it was just air in the lines and the problem could be solved by bleeding, but I haven't done anything with the car recently that would have allowed air into the brake system. Also, after doing a visual check of the brake booster, I'm seeing the paint extremely corroded and bubbled around and below the area where the master cylinder attaches to the booster, which tells me the master cylinder is probably leaking brake fluid.

So, do I need to replace the master cylinder? I think I do, but I wanted to hear if anybody else thinks differently.

I have a 1994 Honda Accord LX sedan. I need to replace the emergency brake handle. I'm able to find the stock handle without a problem, but if possible I would like to get something a little nicer than the plain stock handle. However, the "universal" e-brake handles do not fit. Any ideas on where I could find a decent selection that would work for my car?

As you may have read on NHL.com, there is discussion about getting a standard size of rink between North America and Europe. While I think it would be totally awesome to have 5 feet added to the width of the NHL ice size, I cringe at thinking about all the money teams will have to spend rennovationg their arenas. For starters, they would have to drop the first row of seats to make room for the expansion. Then, of course, the NEW first row of seats is 2 feet higher than it should be, so they would probably have to raise the ice surface to meet the seats. If they raised the ice surface, they would have to change around the tunnels to the dressing room to include ramps up toward the ice, because the floors of the dressing room and the halls would be at the level of the old ice.

To me, it's just one more benchmark to remind me that the season is starting soon. Preordered it today.

BQ: What do you hope is different in NHL11 from NHL10?

BQ2: Pick 5 people (not including Gary Bettman) that the NHL would be better off without.

BBQ: No, not barbecue. Bonus-Bonus: How come Yahoo always wants me to put my hockey questions in the parenting section?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnE5K5ofG5c

It reminds me of Gary Thorne's little speech before Game 7 of the 01 finals:

(Clement):" And to me, it is the team that best controls it's emotions that will be the Stanley Cup Champions." (Thorne [Cue Theme Music]): "And that's not an easy thing to do when you are playing in a Game 7, when you know that Someone, One of us, is going to score a game winning goal, One of us is going to take the Stanley Cup and parade it around, One of us is going to be a Conn Smythe winner. But the key is, it's only going to be- ONE of us."

Some of the most true words ever spoken about Game 7 of the SCF. Some other people said it reminds them of Avalanche-Red Wings games on Saturday afternoon, and I gotta say that's a pretty close second for me.

Ilya Kovalchuk has become the next Chris Chelios and seems to be playing an endless career in the AHL 5 years after his NHL career is over. Wouldn't we (and the NHL, for that matter) all feel stupid when we look back at saying that there's no way he'll play that long? Think of how much Lou could gloat about it. That would be the "I told you so!" moment of the century, at least in the hockey world.

BQ: Arena food: Philly Cheese Steak or Loaded Nachos?

According to Dater, reliable sources say the Avs won't offer a contract to Ruslan Salei. And Brett Clark has already signed with a new team. This leaves a nice big hole in the defensive line.

So how do you think they'll fill these two spots? I'm hoping they don't try to use Liffiton; he should be in the minors. We've got a few excellent prospects in LE, but I don't think they're ready for the NHL just yet. So that pretty much leaves the free agency. Who do you think they'll try to sign? Bear in mind, the only returning regulars that they still need to resign are Stewart, Mueller, and Porter, but I feel that should total no more than $8M. That leaves their payroll at $44M, so at over $14M under the salary cap, they can pretty much afford whoever they want.

The Avalanche used to give season ticket holders a copy of the media guide before each season. I thought that was really neat, so of course they got rid of it. They don't even make the print version available for purchase anymore. Now you can only view the media guide as a PDF on the Avs website. In theory, I could print it out, but it's just not the same as having the book in front of me.

So my question is: Do any other teams currently, or have they ever, offered a media guide either as a gift to season ticket holders or for purchase?

Yahoo seems to have deleted my entire question that I spent an hour coming up with -_- so I will attempt to duplicate it as best I can by using the sheet of answers.

1. Who took the first penalty shot in Avalanche history, and what was the result?

2. How many players currently in the NHL have the first name, "Patrick?"

3. What is Bobby Orr's hometown?

4. What player was the subject of riots in Montreal on St. Patrick's Day, 1955?

5. What was the format of the first All-Star Game (Who played against who)?

6. What was the first pro hockey team in America, what league were they in, and what season did they start playing?

7. How many goalies won the Hart Trophy between 1970 and 2000?

8. In Patrick Roy's first NHL game, what goalie was he backing up?

9. What goalie had a heart attack in net and didn't realize it until after the game?

10. What did Martin Brodeur do with the cup after the Devils won it in 2003?

http://www.nhl.com/league/ext/pdf/2010-11byteam_lo...

That's the one with local times. I find it easier to read than the one with all times eastern. Although it's still extremely hard to read because the teams are only organized by conference. Other than that, it's completely random. Not alphabetical or anything. For everybody's information, the Western Conference starts on the bottom of page 22.

The only thing I noticed is that the season is an entire week shorter this year, starting on October 7th and ending on April 10th.

About opening night. It's gonna be Blackhawks @ Avalanche

What are Hawks and Avs fans thinking about it? I think it should be interesting. Depending on how the Avs change their defense and continue to develop their forwards this summer, the teams could be nearly evenly matched. They both play a brand of hockey based on offensive speed, although Chicago has a size advantage. I'll be there, about 15 rows behind Andy in the 1st and 3rd periods.

Avs record in last 5 home openers: 4-2

Hawks record in last 5 away openers: 2-4

BQ: What's your favorite memory from an opening night?

Mine is a tie between Opening Night in 2003-04 when the Avs retired Patrick Roy's jersey and beat the Blackhawks 5-0 and Opening Night from last season when they retired Joe Sakic's jersey and beat San Jose 5-2.

The full schedule comes out tomorrow at 12:00 PM EST. With news of the Avs opening game, I can officially get excited for next season.

And now I have a series of questions:

1. What are some weird habits or superstitions that NHL have had over the years?

My contribution: Patrick Roy used to talk to his posts and thank them for stopping a puck. He also named his catching glove "Charlotte."

2. If you know, what does the goalie for your team do before games?

My contribution: Craig Anderson plays catch with a tennis ball and a cement wall in a hallway outside the locker room.

3. Statistically, which brand of equipment is used most among NHL goaltenders?

4. What is your most memorable moment involving a goalie? For me, it's a toss-up between Craig Anderson's 51 save shutout in this year's playoffs and Patrick Roy's jersey retirement night, both of which I was in attendance for.

Now the rest is a quiz. Don't look these up.

1. Who was the first goalie to skate behind his net to stop the puck?

2. Why was it that between 1875 and 1917, goalies were not allowed to go down on their knees? (It would be a 2 minute penalty if they did)

3. Who were the last two goalies not to wear a mask?

4. What was the first mask made out of? Who wore it?

5. What season was it used in and for how many games?

Recently, I've been arguing in another forum with a guy who says Hasek is better than Roy. That's not my issue; he's pretty civilized about it and we're just kind of exchanging stats.

My issue is that I said, "...and Roy made the butterfly style a practicable style of play in the modern NHL." This other guy who wasn't involved in the conversation comes in and says, "actually, Brodeur modernized the butterfly style." It just kind of annoys me when people say things that show they have no idea what they're talking about. They just want to make a quick retort to say their guy is better than yours. Impossible to prove wrong, either, cause they just keep saying the same thing over and over.

BQ: What do you think the Avs are going to do next with retired number banners? Looks like they're going to be getting 2 more within the next couple years (Foote, Forsberg).

Here's how they were set up before this season when we only had 2 retired numbers, with Roy's on one side of the jumbotron: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3273/2446871618_27c...

and Bourque's on the other side: http://www.s-church.net/photo/avs/mini-DSC03306.jp...

This year, they added Sakic's, and moved all three to one side of the jumbotron:

http://cache3.asset-cache.net/xc/91388380.jpg?v=1&... (the banners in the background are different because this is a view from the opposite end of the arena).

So, what do you think they'll do when they have 4? or 5? They almost have enough to make a circle around the jumbotron, which would be pretty cool.

BQ2: What's the record for most numbers retired by one team in the course of five years? How about 10 years? (Only including Gretzky for cities he played in [his jersey is technically retired league-wide])

I went and checked out what people were saying in the forum on the Habs website. I went to the thread that was about the Halak trade. It was actually pretty amusing watching the progression of the discussion today.

It starts at 2:53 PM when a moderator posts a link to a story that's just breaking saying Halak has been traded to the Blues, but they don't know who for yet. People in the forum are generally OK with this, and are hopeful that MTL picked up Oshie or Backes or somebody along those lines (poor saps). One person is angry and suggests they go downtown and start a riot (no joke).

Around 3:10, the first report comes that it's Eller and Schultz, but the source is iffy and people pretty much ignore it. Then somebody randomly throws out, "David Perron and a 3rd round pick." A handful of people panic, but a few minutes later, Eller and Schultz is confirmed, and about half the people there explode in anger.

After that, there's about 35 pages of angry fans complaining. It was actually pretty amusing. Here's a link: http://forum.canadiens.com/index.php?showtopic=251...

Also today, the Blues traded Julian Talbot to my Avs for TJ Hensick (I'm indifferent on this one. Never liked Hensick, never heard of Talbot). I'll be watching the Blues to see what else they do, as they seem to be shaking things up quite a bit. I wonder what'll happen after July 1st.

Questions:

1. Is Halak really a flash in the pan, or is Montreal just being stupid?

2. Who is Julian Talbot?

3. Who benefits more from this Hensick/Talbot trade? As an Avs fan, I feel stupid asking this, but I'm really in the dark on Talbot.

April-June: NHL puts out the best advertising I've seen from any of the pro sports in a long time (History Will Be Made)

June 22: 2010-11 Schedule to be released, much earlier than usual

June 23: NHL Awards show in Las Vegas, which seem have been publicized much more than usual

June 25: NHL Draft begins

Is it just a coincidence, or is the NHL really pushing to get casual fans excited for next season? Because usually, the commercials during the playoffs are mediocre at best and only broadcast on NBC and Versus. This year, they were phenominal and I was seeing them on just about every channel I turned to. Usually, the schedule isn't released until July. This year, it's VERY early, 3 days before the draft. Usually, the NHL Awards are hardly publicized. This year, they're even making decent commercials for them. And then the draft is 2 days later.

It seems to me that the NHL wants to create hype for next season while it still has the attention of the "Playoffs Only" fans. Smart is you ask me. Your take?

1. Who else loved Patrick Kane's reaction when McGuire told him to be on his best behavior when he was celebrating? ("Not a chance, not a chance!)

2. Was Doc Emerick's call when the Hawks won it the most non-dramatic in finals history? (he didn't even actually say "The Chicago Balckhawks have won the Stanley Cup!" or anything.)

3. Who else feels for Jeremy Roenick? Still, he was proud of his old team, and how emotional he got just shows how hard it is to win it.

4. When Gary Bettman came out to announce the Conn Smythe winner, were the fans booing the Hawks or Bettman? Or both? Because the boos really started raining down as soon as they announced Bettman's name.

5. What is printed on the base of the Stanley Cup?

6. We all know that there are three cups: 1 for display at the HHOF, one for appearances at parties and stuff, and the real one. If no player is using the real one for his day with it, where is it stored?

7. Do players usually skate the Conn Smythe? Becuase Toews did (and he didn't really know what to do with it afterwards, haha), but the only other Conn Smythe presentation that jumps to mind was Patrick Roy in 01, and he just lifted it above his head at the table next to Bettman and then put it down again.

JUST in time for all the parody videos to be already made and for the song to be useless.

Check it out:

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fpodca...

Saw that on the NHL facebook page this morning. The NHL was encouraging the parodies, and they were impressed with how the videos went viral within the first week. On that note, wouldn't it have made more sense to release this last month when people could actually use it?

Speed: Hockey > Soccer

Scoring (despite net size): Hockey > Soccer

Physicality (This is for you folks saying hockey players are ballerinas): Hockey >>>> Soccer

Amount of Shots on Goal: Hockey > Soccer

The hockey section has been getting invaded all day with people talking about how much better soccer is. Please, enlighten me on your logic here.

Wouldn't the world be a better place if countries settled their conflicts with hockey? Best of 7 series, loser loses whatever they're fighting over.

RQ: Which is more dramatic: An 8 seed sweeping a 1 seed in the finals, or a game 7 between two 1 seeds.

So, I'm sure some of you are aware that at the beginning of last baseball season, Barack Obama, as president, threw out the first pitch at the Washington Nationals home opener, as per tradition. He had the nerve to wear a White Sox hat.

So my question: If, for whatever reason, he ends up dropping the puck for some sort of ceremonial faceoff at a Capitals game, will he wear a Blackhawks jersey? Will he get booed for it?

Just my random thoughts in the middle of the night...