Kommandozentrale » "We pride ourselves on blocking sho

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford surely understands the long-held sentiment; a week is a long time in politics. If the compelling storylines emerging from the opening week of the BPL season are any indication then we are certainly in for another peach of a season in Englands top tier. Here are my highlights from a week that was. A WINDOW TURNS INTO A REVOLVING DOOR - Going into the transfer window Arsene Wenger let everyone know the red half of London was in for some serious spending this summer. Nearly two months in were still waiting. Those who barked Anglo Saxon-riddled expletives at the economics graduate following a feeble effort in Arsenals opener were left scratching their heads after the name Johan Cabaye was added to the ever-growing list of failed bids. As an encore yesterday, the club announced ‘No Mas in their pursuit of Liverpools Luis Suarez with all signs their immediate attention was now on signing ex-Gunner Mathieu Flamini. Let go by Milan at the end of last season Flamini walked out on Arsenal at the end of the 2007-08 season. I guess at this rate RVP will be back in an Arsenal shirt circa summer 2018. AWAY THE FANS - On the eve of the season Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore stated the BPLs desire to increase the attendance of travelling supporters. The campaign got off to an ideal start with the league announcing that over opening weekend eight of 10 visiting clubs completely sold out their ticket allocations. The affection from the terraces must be rubbing off on the pitch. Of those 10 matches fully half of them resulted in victory for the visitors. The most improbable had the 3,000 strong Aston Villa support suffer a collective case of 2012-13 campaign amnesia come the final whistle at the Emirates. DEJA VU? - When the blue half of Manchester claimed the most unlikely of BPL crowns on the final day of the season they started their 2011-12 campaign with a Monday night home fixture. Swansea was the opponent that day in a match that saw City run out as very convincing 4-0 winners. Fast forward to Manchester Citys 2013-14 opener and the destruction of Newcastle by a similar score Monday night. Adding further intrigue, David Silva and Sergio Aguero featured on the score sheet against Newcastle as they both did against Swansea on opening day 2011. GLT 1: CHELSEA 0 - It was Frank Lampards goal that wasnt versus Germany at the 2010 World Cup which swung the FIFA debate on goal line technology. With GLT making its introduction in the BPL this season how ironic it was that on opening weekend Hawkeye was put into full effect following a corner from the Chelsea midfielder. Hulls Allan McGregor did just enough to prevent the ball from fully going over the line after Lampards corner was headed goal-bound by Branislav Ivanovic. If it had been a goal, referee Jon Moss would have been alerted within a second by a buzzer triggering on his watch. I wonder if Wenger has a similar watch for when Arsenal finally manage to land a player during the transfer window. GNASHER LUIS HEARTS LIVERPOOL - Having made the mandatory apology to his teammates on the eve of Liverpool opening their campaign, how comforting it must have been for some of the Kop faithful to bump into Suarez as he emerged from a car outside Anfield ahead of kick off against Stoke last Saturday. Agitating for a move all summer long only a complete cynic would suggest Suarez decided to take his daughter with him to prevent opportunity for any of the Liverpool fans to vent their true feelings on their star striker. Suarez who is halfway through a 10-match ban for biting Ivanovic towards the tail end of last season will only be available to play for Liverpool or [insert Champions League club here] at the end of September. No confirmation if Suarez bit a team mate in training Thursday after news leaked out Arsenal had finally abandoned their £40,000,001 pursuit of the man with the most infamous teeth in all of world football. HARDLY A “PITCHURE BOOK” STORY - Confined to the bench as Manchester United took to the Swansea pitch, “Want-away Wayne” cut a pitiful self as he watched the champions take the 2-0 lead. Even though the £250,000-a-week striker featured in both of Uniteds later goals Rooneys mood didnt improve after he was introduced just after the hour mark. Wayne opted not to join in the goal celebrations, preferring a shoulder shrugging trudge back to the halfway line instead of joining in with his team mates as they performed a touch line love in with David Moyes after RVP had claimed his second goal of the day. Rooney also stayed well away from the team celebration after Danny Welbeck scored Uniteds fourth. No prizes for guessing what action shots from the Liberty Stadium made the back pages of the tabloids last Sunday. HOME BUT NOT ALONE - Such was the “Jose Effect” Sunday as this most venerable part of West London awoke much earlier than usual. The ground filled up a good hour ahead of kick off as no one in the 41,000 capacity crowd wanted to miss out on the Happy Ones return to the Stamford Bridge bench. Even Roman Abramovich couldnt resist the Mourinho lure as the owner paid a pre-match visit to the Chelsea dressing room. Abramovich even featured in the match day programme, a first as the club celebrate a decade of Roman Rule. It was Mourinho, though, who held the fans breathless as they waited for him to emerge from the tunnel. The teenage-type adulation which followed, as he took his place on the bench, was in marked contrast to the wholly divisive Stamford Bridge scenes from last season. START AS YOU MEAN TO GO ON THEN - The BPLs very own walking and talking stick of dynamite just cant help himself. One game in and Ian Holloway is already on an FA misconduct charge following incendiary words directed at the referee after his Crystal Palace opened their campaign with defeat at home to Spurs. Holloway was back to his emotional self in mid-week with ill-judged comments about Chelsea not conceding a late penalty against Aston Villa - Holloway outwardly questioning if the refs had it on for the less glamorous sides. The Crystal Palace manager freely admits hes not at his best when he doesnt get what he wants, advising the media if they didnt believe him then all they had to do was ask his Mum. VALUE FOR MONEY – The last word has to go to the man who was so instrumental in ensuring Sir Alex Ferguson received the perfect retirement gift. Robin Van Persies contribution last season made a complete mockery of the widely-held adage players need a season or two to bed in and get used to their new surroundings. Scoring in his Old Trafford debut, the Dutchman potted goals from near and far all season long and with them secured a 13th BPL title for Ferguson. After scoring in Fergies final game in charge, last seasons top scorer needed all of 33 minutes to get off the mark this season. If Gareth Bale is worth upwards of €100m to Real Madrid what mathematical model do you use to calculate Robin Van Persies value to Manchester United? Anyone got Einsteins phone number. TSN & TEAM Radio is your BPL home this season. Double Header Saturday Kicks Off with Everton vs. West Bromwich Albion at 10am et/7:00am pt followed by Aston Villa vs Liverpool at 12:30pm et/9:30am pt. You can reach and follow Noel Butler at: Noel.Butler@BellMedia.ca @TheSoccerNoel on Twitter Custom Chicago Cubs Jerseys . - Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte sees the commitment to the handoff and cant help but come away impressed. Ron Santo Jersey . -- The Windsor Spitfires were left with just one goaltender Tuesday after having their starter walk out on them midway through Game 3 of their Ontario Hockey League playoff matchup with the London Knights. http://www.thecubsteamshop.com/Cubs-Kyle-Hendricks-Kids-Jersey/ . -- Wichita State is all alone in the record book. Mike Montgomery Jersey . -- Oakland Athletics third baseman Scott Sizemore has undergone surgery on his left knee to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Billy Williams Jersey .com) - Colorado forward P.MONTREAL - A Carey Price shutout and a game-winning goal on a penalty shot made for an uplifting end to the Montreal Canadiens regular season. Captain Brian Gionta, who was handed the Jacques Beauchamp trophy as the teams unsung hero before the game, scored on a penalty shot 2:04 into overtime to give the Canadiens a 1-0 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday night. Price made 41 saves for his sixth shutout of the season, and the Canadiens (46-28-8) ended the campaign with an even 100 points. "Were definitely proud of our season," said Price. "We put lot of effort in all year long. "We stayed fairly consistent all year. And now the fun begins." The Canadiens will face Tampa Bay in the first round of playoff. They moved one point past the Lightning for second place in the Atlantic Division. However, Tampa Bay can still claim home ice advantage with a victory on their final game Sunday afternoon against Washington. Price and his teammates expect to watch the game, but wont be upset if the Lightning win or lose. "I think were pretty comfortable no matter where were playing," said Price. "Obviously, wed like to play here in front of our home crowd, but were comfortable playing in any rink." The Rangers (45-32-5) knew before the game they will have home ice for their first round series against the rival Philadelphia Flyers. They rested some veterans, including Martin St. Louis, but still had the better of the play for two periods as they outshot Montreal 39-25 in regulation time and 41-27 overall. "We didnt mail it in," said New Yorks Brad Richards. "We could have won the game. But to be honest with you, were going to turn this page. Were excited to get this week going." Despite the OT defeat, New York ended the year with an Eastern Conference leading 52 points on the road. It was a goaltending battle between Price and Cam Talbot, who had shut out Montreal in his first meeting with the Canadiens in November. "Our goaltender gave us a chance," said Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault. "This game didnt mean anything for us at the end of the day, but we talked about coming here and playing well. "Thats what I thought we did tonight." The decisive moment came in overtime, as Gionta poked the puck past former Canadien Raphael Diaz at the blue-line, then was tripped by the defencemen as he tried to get free for a breakaway. Gionta deked to the backhand to beat Talbot on the penalty shot. "Its something I go to a lot on penalty shots or shootouts," said Gionta.dddddddddddd "Hes a good young goalie. He holds his ground well. He played well against us." Coach Michel Therrien was beaming after the game. "It doesnt happen often that your regular season ends on a penalty shot," he said. "Giontas our captain, our leader, our unsung hero. It couldnt finish on a better note." The Canadiens will get back together on Monday to begin preparing for the playoffs, where they hope to redeem themselves after a first-round exit last spring at the hands of the Ottawa Senators. An area of concern is the power play, which went 0-for-23 over the last eight games. While Giontas was their only goal in the final two games, they finished the season on an 11-3-1 run. The Rangers owned the scoreless opening period, building a 10-2 shot advantage by the 10-minute mark, but couldnt get one past Price. The Canadiens only woke up somewhat in the second, but Price needed to be even better to keep the Rangers from scoring. He got help from his posts as Derek Dorsett hit one after Price played the puck up the middle, and Diaz hit both posts with a blast off a rush down the right side. "For the most part, we kept their shots to the outside and didnt allow second and third rebounds," said Price. "We pride ourselves on blocking shots and teams, at this point of the season, are just throwing everything at the net. "Shots on goal arent necessarily a reflection of scoring chances." The Canadiens got two injury scares, as David Desharnais went flying from a Dorsett knee in the first period and Brendan Gallagher came up limping from an open ice collision with Dan Carcillo. Both players finished the game. "They play hard — I dont think either of those were on purpose," said Gallagher. In the third, Montreals Francis Bouillon got two minutes for kneeing Mats Zuccarello, but the player known as The Hobbit was not hurt. The last time the Rangers lost a game on an overtime penalty shot was Dec. 5, 2002, when the Flyers Michal Handzus scored in Philadelphia for a 3-2 win. Notes — Lars Eller missed a third game with a flu for Montreal, while Douglas Murray, Jarred Tinordi and George Parros sat out. Forward Michael Blunden was returned to AHL Hamilton after the game. . . New York rested veterans St. Louis and Ryan McDonagh. Dan Girardi, Chris Kreider and Ryan Haggerty were also out of the lineup. ' ' '