A Healthy Woopin'

The Los Angeles Lakers visited the Palace for a match-up between last year's NBA finals teams. Tayshaun Prince led all scoring with 25 and Rasheed Wallace put up 23 points and 15 rebounds for his finest game of the season. Lamar Odom led the Lakers with 17 points and nine rebounds. Detroit took care of the Lakers 103-81.

The much anticipated rematch ended in the same fashion as the NBA finals. The only difference was on the court. Out was Phil Jackson, Shaq (traded), Rick Fox (retired), Gary Payton (traded), and Karl Malone (opted out). Oh yeah, Kobe Bryant is still on the team, but he was sidelined with a sprained ankle. Detroit looked a bit different also. Corliss Williamson is gone, Mike James is gone, and Elden Campbell is gone.

"There's no comparison," Rasheed Wallace said. "It's two different teams. Just same uniforms."

Detroit pulled a half game ahead of Cleveland and extended their record to 29-19. They have been playing better lately, and appear ready to make a second half surge into the playoffs. Their bench is finally coming together now that Carlos Arroyo is getting more minutes, and Carlos Delfino should be coming back soon.

Up next is Washington. They'll play host tomorrow night at 7:30 PM at the Palace. Washington has seen the same success as the Pistons this year and have turned things around. It will be a crucial game for the Pistons. They've been criticized for losing to lesser teams. Some would argue the Wizards are just that.

It's Over

As if it wasn't before, the end of the NHL season is immanent. After only four hours of "negotiations", the NHL talks have again ceased and nothing is planned in the near future. Bettman is talking season cancellation on Monday. Goodenow says they're trying to triple cap the player's salaries. Both of them should go.

It's been clear from day one that Bettman wanted to cancel the season. He wanted to make some landmark statement and he's going to take his spotlight. Goodenow, now talked about among the Donald Fehr hating club, has not been any better. He's been adamant on not accepting any type of permanent cost certainty and has instead opted to roll back time and prepare for another massive increase in salaries.

So where do we go from here? Should we hope they clutter up the UHL with NHL players? No way. They shouldn't allow them to play in that league, or any other league, where they are taking roster positions from other people. It's bad for the game of hockey. It's bad for the future of hockey.