Scott Hartnell: One Gif, the legend continues...

Credit to @SethDH for starting #HartnellDown and @9InOrange for the GIF.

Enjoy

Hartnell Down: Defining the Terms

As you all know last year, we tracked Hartnell Down. Well, once again, we're doing it. So, here's how it's gonna work.

What is a Hartnell Down?
Scott Hartnell falls, a lot. Often for no reason. We like to keep track of #HartnellDown.

Who started Hartnell Down.
That would be @SethDH from twitter. I just market this.

How does a Hartnell Down happen?
HartnellDown is defined as a moment where something OTHER than Scott's skates or stick are on the ice and attached to his body. For instance if Scott puts a gloved hand on the ice, he's down but if Scott tosses his gloves to fight, he's not down until he inevitably ends up flat on his back during said fight. If Scott drops to a knee in order to slow down to deliver a one-time shot, a judgment call will be made by DGS or SethDH to determine whether or not it counted. 

Why does Hartnell fall?
Does it matter? It's funny. Usually. Especially during goal celebrations.



Now for some fun.

1. Place guesses on how many falls Hartnell will have this season (he averaged just under 3 per game last season).

2. Guess the amount of falls in his highest game. Last year, against Atlanta, Scott fell 12 times for a season high. The Thrashers may be gone, but I guarantee Hartnell is still falling.

3. Tell us how many times Hartnell will go fall free in a game he plays in. If I recall correctly, he went fall free in about 6 games last season. Will he top that?

Prizes to be determined at the end of the season, most likely some sort of shoutout on the blog.

The DGS Hockey Scouting Report

Most of you know that I used to play hockey. But there are some reasons as to why I don't play anymore, try to figure out my game through this scouting report.

The Down Goes Spezza Scouting Report

Height: 5'10

Weight: 155lbs

Position: Left Wing

Hands: This player is known for his ability to find the open guy like Ville Leino, but his shooting ability is akin to Andreas "No Goal" Nodl.

Skating: Scott Hartnell stays vertical more than DGS does.

Checking: Solid defensively and a great PK guy, kinda like Darrol Powe.

Discipline: His stick is all over the place, there's usually more stick fouls than Danny Briere on a bad night with this guy.

Health: His joints explode like Rick DiPietro. His bone's explode like Marion Gaborik. His brain explodes like Eric Lindros.

There, now you know something about me. 

Theme Songs of the 2011 NHL Playoffs

(Editor's Note: HEY LOOK! DGS IS EXPANDING! Twitter's @ItsAFez66 has joined the team. I just snapped her up as a UFA yesterday. Don't worry though, I still have capspace. Hope PhillyGirl doesn't kill me. Anyway, enjoy her work.)

So, with hockey having ended for the season and the craziness of free agency upon us, I figured my first piece here on the awesome DownGoesSpezza blog should bring solely laughs.

So without further ado, I bring you:

Theme Songs of the 2011 NHL Playoffs

First, just for the hell of it, Atlanta Thrashers to the Winnipeg (Meese) Jets:

Now for the actual playoff stuff:

Dan Boyle (Sharks):

Scott Hartnell, Kris Versteeg (Flyers), Adam McQuaid (Bruins):

Or

Danny Briere (Flyers):

Tim Thomas (Bruins):

Zdeno Chara (Bruins):

And lastly, Alex Burrows (Canucks):

Well….

ItsAFez66

Other Things NHL Players Have Forgotten

So, earlier this weekend Flyers Captain Michael Richards tweeted about forgetting to pay his cable bill

Oh Richie, were you also expecting a phone call
informing you that the 2nd round of the playoffs
had started as well?

Well, honestly Mr. Richards isn't the only person in the NHL to forget something, as a matter of fact, many NHL players and personalities have been known to forget things, and here at DGS, we have the list.



Paul Holmgren: Has forgotten how to do basic math and has given the Flyers cap problems for at least the next 5 years.

Dan Ellis: Has claimed that he "forgot" to pay his ESCROW.

Nick Lidstrom: Is so old that he has in fact, forgotten to retire.

Paul Holmgren: Has forgotten the rules of the CBA pertaining to 35+ contracts and gave Pronger 7 years and a cap hit of 4.921.

The Toronto Maple Leafs: Have forgotten what the playoffs are.

Joe Thornton: Has apparently forgotten that he is playing in the playoffs right now.

Paul Holmgren: Has forgotten, like his predecessor, what "goaltending" is.

Kyle Wellwood: Forgets to stick to his diet.

Evgeni Nabokov: Forgot that the Islanders do NOT yet have a new arena and ended up lost on Long Island because he absolutely thought that there was no way an NHL team would ever play in the Nassau Coliseum.

Michael Leighton: Has forgotten how to close his 5-hole.

Paul Holmgren: Forgot that Michael Leighton doesn't know how to close his 5 hole and therefore gave him a 1.55 cap hit.

Chris Pronger: Would like to forget this year from hell.

Scott Hartnell and Kris Versteeg: Have both forgotten how to skate which led to the fun of Hartnell Down and Versteeg Down counts.

Jonathan Toews: Has forgotten how to blink, show emotion, and display normal.

The Boston Bruins: Have forgotten that it's perfectly OK to score when you're up a man.

Paul Holmgren: Has forgotten what a draft pick is due to the fact that the Flyers haven't had one in forever.

Roberto Luongo, and many of the Vancouver Canucks: Have forgotten the difference between a diving pool and an ice rink.

Matt Cooke: Will most likely soon forget the lesson he learned from his 17 game suspension for a headshot and will end up elbowing Gregory Campbell in the head early next season.

Gary Bettman: Has obviously forgotten that he doesn't work for the NBA anymore.

Patrick Kane: Has forgotten what it's like to be sober

The Flyers Entire Defensive Corps: Randomly forgets how to play defense leaving Brian Boucher alone against Zdeno Chara slap shots.

Daniel Carcillo: Forgot that some things, like questions involving sexual turn ons, are probably better left to realm of a "DM" on Twitter.

Ilya Bryzgalov: Forgot that the playoffs actually count.

More HartnellDown and Versteeg Down

Our good friend Amanda Hoffman has kept count of Hartnell Down and Versteeg Down during the playoffs as well.

Hartnell Down and Versteeg Down: Round 1 Update

To end Round 1, Hartnell Down had a count of 48 and Versteeg Down had a count of 26.

Hartnell Down 48 by the numbers

• Shares a jersey number with linemate Danny Briere
• Height, in inches, of Nathan Gerbe
• Waist measurement of Kyle Wellwood
• Amount of years the NHL would have to control the Phoenix Coyotes before Bettman would ever consider moving them back to Winnipeg
• Times, per minute, Pierre McGuire says something about his love of Mike Richards during a TSN/NBC broadcast of a Flyers game.
• Elbows, per period, thrown by Pronger on unsuspecting opposing forwards
• Cigarettes smoked by Carey Price during an average intermission
• Shots high and wide by Jeff Carter during an average shift
• The age Teemu Selanne will be when his point total and age are the same
  

Versteeg Down 26 by numbers

• Shares a number with teammate Danny Syvret, Offensive Dynamo
• Heart attacks DGS has per game started by Sergei Bobrovsky where Bob tries to handle the puck
• Times Andrej Meszaros blasts that big slapshot wide per game on the PP
• Dirty hits, per period, of this postseason so far
• Times, per minute, Jack Edwards has accused the Habs of diving during Game 7 of Habs/Bruins
• Times, per period, someone accuses the Flyers of needing better goaltending
• Times, per game, I see the Ovechtrick commercial on Versus
• The amount of cents Patrick Kane probably needs to pay his cabbie
• The amount of shots Partick Kane drinks during an average game
• Saves Brian Boucher made during game 7 to send the Flyers to round 2...Ryan Miller then accused Brian Boucher of committing genocide
• Difference in height, measured in centimeters, between Kris Versteeg and Tyler Myers
• Times Jonathan Toews has blinked...in his lifetime

There, now you know.

Hartnell Down Invades A Whiteboard

A good friend of the blog, Amanda Hoffman, has apparently kept her own chart of Hartnell Down. Here's the pics. Enjoy guys.

Leave any love for Amanda in the comments section. Big props to her for taking care of this

Hartnell Down or Versteeg Down

So as we all all know, Kris Versteeg thinks he falls more than Scott Hartnell.



This probably means that I should track Versteeg Down, so of course, I am. I'll watch the games as they happen and when Versteeg falls or Hartnell falls, one will be added to their counter. Then to make sure it's fair, I'll divide each number out to set up the Falls Per 60 minutes played ratio so we can see, who really falls more.

Were taking "Betts" now?

Who will fall more, Hartnell or Versteeg?

Who will fall more per 60 minutes, Hartnell or Versteeg?


Leave your predictions in the comment section.