I love the “and more” tag at the end of headlines. But this show with Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy is seriously one big “and more”. I love talking with him — it’s the two guys from Jersey thing — no matter what we discuss. This time, it’s mostly about hockey, with very little heavy lifting for those not following the action. It’s actually a decent primer for those who may want to start paying attention now. So get on it and listen. You’ll sound smart if you say whatever he says.

We talk about the timing of having a kid in the next few days (him, not me) and what his schedule will be like. He likens himself to a player that knocks up his wife after the season. Something about a small window, but I didn’t probe. Wait…

We talk at length about the pending Winnipeg situation and get into the deep-roots of Wyshynski’s total anti-Canada stance. It’s amazing how much he hates Canada.

We also talk a lot about the playoffs, who will win, who the NHL wants to win (note: not the Canadian teams or, in my opinion, the Sharks) to help TV ratings and why so many players have been getting hurt this year.

Of all our recent shows, this felt the most to me like the listener was sitting in on a one-on-one conversation. I hope that’s a good thing.

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The headline basically says it all. And I wish we knew about the latest Cushing details before we recorded. Alas…click to listen.

If you get the chance today, please read my Press Coverage column at The Sporting Blog. It’s about 2,500 words and much of it would be stuff I’d put in the space below. So read it there, please.

Today’s show talks about the return of the American sportswriter after a long fortnight in Canada. We also talk about the hockey finale as well as Gander, Newfoundland…the new symbol for NBC’s complete lack of respect for the American sports fan.

On non-sports topics, we discuss more about the spying on your kids story from last week — I think I dug my hole deeper here — and the news that Anderson Cooper may be in line for Katie Couric’s job, which leads to my point that cable news people have no souls.

Listen to the show…

Let’s have a short recap today, shall we? Nick and I talk about the Canada-Russia hockey game last night. It seems Canada woke up from whatever US-induced haze they were in and seem like, literal, world beaters again. And we link to a report that Mike Milbury used the term “Eurotrash” to describe the way the Russians played. Bill Patrick and Jeremy Roenick seemed very taken aback by that. Is it that derogatory? Where does that term rank on the epithet list? Or was it more a shot at European HOCKEY player?

Soapbox:

Stephen A. Smith wrote a column about Brian Westbrook getting released, and turned it into yet another shot at the Eagles front office. So, if for no other reason than it’s fun to point out how ridiculous his words can be, we turn it into another shot at him. This could be a recurring show theme, so buckle up.

Housekeeping:

The big Blogs with Stones curling tournament is tonight. Here’s a bracket…vote to see who you think will win. Follow #blogswithstones on Twitter to stay on top of all the action. Even more Olympic conspiracies last night, making the IOC the only sports organization worse than the NCAA at this point. It has to be close, right?

Click here to listen. Oh, and be careful in the snow.

Nick and I discuss the victory by Team USA over the Canadians in what had to be the most intense first-round matchup I can remember. That was the greatest All-Star game I’ve ever seen (and yes, I understand that the likes of Ovechckin, Malkin, et al were not involved). Can a game like that restore my interest in the NHL? It sure can’t hurt.

There’s a lot more we discuss about the game, including all the references by NBC people to the Miracle on Ice this week — including last night — but the lasting image I have is Martin Brodeur failing. And that makes me smile. Nick points out that the combination of the United States beating Crosby and Brodeur in the same game is maybe the best scenario ever.

We also take a look at the Olympic bracket to realize just how tough Canada has it now. By my view of it, they’ll have to beat Germany and then face Russia AND Sweden just to get to the Gold Medal Game. Yeesh.

Hosers.

Continue reading and listen to the show…