BHTV Christmas Edition; Joey the Junior Reporter

TOO CUTE. I hope Joey got his Nintendo DS. Mario Kart is my favorite game too!
Why was Brouwer wearing Skille's hat? And how could Campbell tell a five year old Christmas isn't as much fun when you're older?! hahahaa

Don't You Hate When that Happens?

Kept Kristian Huselius on the bench last night and he scores a hattie. ARGH! At the start of the season I was in second place; I have now been stuck at 11th for the past couple of months, only occassionally making it up to 10th.
I am thinking about ditching Reasoner. I only took him because he had a few good games and I thought he would keep it up, but he certainly has not!

Thanks, Wikipedia!

Timmy played for Jokerit for TWO YEARS?

Edits

Legace's shutout was the first in his entire hockey career, apparently.

It was Boyer who was taken down by Millman.

Here is what I gathered about the ineligible player call:

Just over a minute later, PEI sniper Samuel Morneau was handed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for crosschecking Cape Breton captain Morgan Ellis in the face.

With Morneau sent to the dressing rooms, the Rocket failed to send a player to the penalty box. When Philippe Paradis jumped on the ice following the end of the five-minute major, the Rocket were handed a rare two-minute penalty for illegal substitution.

My question remains: What would have prevented this?

Hockey Night (& Afternoon) in Canada

Went to Prince Edward Island for the weekend and caught two PEI Rocket games. They played the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles Saturday night at 7 and Sunday at 3.
First off, the Civic Centre is a nice, cozy rink. The lobby looked nice, the seats weren't bad, and the "jumbo"trons at both ends of the rink were easily seen. Ok, so I have never been to a bad rink, though the place in Dyer could stand to get chairs instead of bleachers (but I understand money is a big obstacle since it's AA hockey which isn't considered big and important) and maybe put in a miniscule-tron.
Anyway, my seats were the same for both games:

Great spot right off center ice and behind the visitor's bench. Didn't even have to sit next to anybody on Saturday. On Sunday I sat next to an old gentleman & his grandson. I talked to the man a couple times... he was nice. Said he was neighbor's with the mascot.

Saturday - Scoreless after one period. During the intermission (might've been the second int, but that's not important) I caught a frisbee that had a 2-for-1 coupon attached to it for the local video store. I gave it to the woman at the B&B because she'll probably get more use out of it than I would have! (The coupon, that is. I kept the frisbee!)
The first goal was a PPG by Nestrasil in the second period. That was the only goal after 40 minutes. At the very start of the second period we (I say "we" because I was rooting for PEI, of course) were penalized for delay of game at the 20 minute mark of the first period. How can there be a delay of game when the period's already over? Third period, Nestrasil scored another PPG to make it 2-0! Then Dion from CB scored a PPG. And finally Paradis scored a plain ol' goal to end the game 3-1. Andrej Nestrasil was the first star of the game. Following was Provencher and Polasek.

Sunday - Teddy Bear Toss! People were asked to bring teddy bears to throw to the ice after the Rocket scored their first goal. I was so excited even though I didn't bring a bear!
The game started the same way as Saturday - scoreless after the first. CB outshot us 9-0 (or was it 11-0?) for the longest time and when PEI got their first SOG the crowd wildly cheered. Oh my goodness, about 5 minutes in there was a brawl that left one of the Rocket players bloodied on the ice. The ref ushered for the medic to get over quickly because this guy was down and out. I'm not sure who it was but it was someone between #2-8. Boyer? Yettman maybe?
Like yesterday, there was a confusing call: there was a penalty for us having an ineligible player on the ice. That was new to me!
Paradis scored (SH) in the second and the teddy bears were set freeeeee! It brought a smile to my face :D I loved watching the bears fall to the ice and the players brushing them with their sticks to the kids picking them up. There were so many teddy bears!
Late into the second Nestrasil scored to make it 2-0. Third period, Hobbs scored to finish the game at 3-0. Legace was in goal that night and that was his first shutout in the Q. Congratulations! So obvs Legace was the first star while Polasek and Paradis were second and third stars respectively.

In my humble opinion, Paradis and Nestrasil are going to be great in the NHL. If they could be on the same team that would be fabulous, but Paradis belongs to Chicago and Nestrasil belongs to Detroit. Great. Being the rivals that CHI/DET are, they will be pitted against each other!

Another Team

It has been decided, just this minute (a few minutes ago actually) that I am a Fighting Sioux fan. Ha ha I have seen at least a handful of their games so it seems pretty mandatory now to like them. Which is easy, you know, because they always win :)

(10-5-2)
(7x Nat. Champions!)

\o/

TIMMY'S BACK!!

Bad Penalty (but good for him!)

Another Reason to Move to Colorado

I have been watching the Avs lately. My attitude towards them has always been "meh," but now I am all =D Mostly I am in love with Mike and Peter (they deserve their own tag now). The team is actually pretty fun to watch too. And there is something about their rink that I like so much... Now not only do I find myself saying [loudly], "Peeeeterrrr Buuudaj" in empty rooms (eventually I'll get that video off my phone), but I am not finding myself shouting, "Numbah fowa!". Hey wait, speaking of Budaj, I am glad I kept him on my fantasy team! He has been great since taking over as starter since Anderson's injury.
Not so great? Johan Hedburg. I clearly was not thinking things through when I picked him because he is on the same team as Martin Brodeur. Um, hello? If you're on the same team as Brody you pretty much know you are going to get paid to sit on the bench. He was injured for a day or two and Moose didn't win any games :(
I'll have to post my stats because they are pretty decent. I'm 11th out of 17, but I made it as high as second place when the season started!

It seems the teams I like most are not playing so hot. Blackhawks have been sub-par, Thrashers have been so-so (same-same!), and Oilers... oh my goodness Oilers. I was certain their stellar preseason would carry over to the regular season. I WAS WRONG.
Oh yeah, and the Wolves? They aren't winning either. In fact, they just lost 8-2 vs. Texas last night.

So much to talk about, so little... motivation.

It Feels Like an Inside Joke

Sometimes the dumbest things are the funniest. Or maybe when it's past midnight I find it easy to laugh at anything. A little behind, but here it is:

***CLICK FOR FULL SIZE!***


In reference to the Canuck player that grabbed the Wild fan in the stands. I was lucky enough to have a free preview of Center Ice that night & got to watch it live!! Woohoo for me.

In the video all the kids did snow angels when they scored a goal. It actually was kind of adorable.

Waivers

I should have known it wouldn't last forever, but I chose to ignore the obvious. The Oilers had three goaltenders, so somebody had to go. Well, that somebody was Big D and it makes me saaaad! I like Little D too, and I would probably be just as sad if it was him being put on waivers, but... I don't know. Maybe it's because Big D is older that I think he should stay and Dubes should be sent to the minors. Yeah yeah, it's not about age, it's about how well they play...

Tied in with the next bit of news, both he and Valabik are on re-entry waivers I guess? I heard something about Valabik maybe having better luck in a European league. I like him and would hate to not see him again. Let's hope that doesn't happen. And I have my doubts about an NHL team picking up D and keeping him at that level. If he can stay in OKC, I could actually see him a couple times!

Shafted!

Last night was the Wolves/Stars game. I had been looking forward to it all summer since finding out at their last game in May that you can talk to the players after the game. I'll get to that later.
For starters, we had SEATS ON THE GLASS. SEATS. on the GLASS. Best seats everrrrr. I just bought a camera, one that doesn't suck, so I got a couple "good" pictures. Definitely need to practice with it before I take it along to another game.
Krahn didn't play and I was so disappointed! I thought for sure he would. With the Stars at our end twice and having seats ON THE GLASS, I could have gotten some tight pictures.

The game was a let-down too. They scored, then we scored, then they scored and it repeated this way until we lost 4-3. Far beit from me to speculate what the problem is, but it seems like the team isn't getting the rebounds they should, sometimes they hold on to the puck too long, and... I don't know... they need to try a little harder? What do I know.
Anyway, after the game we waited for the players to come out because I wanted BK to sign my puck. I bought paint markers and a case for the occassion because I was serious about this! We waited there for an hour before getting kicked outside where it was like, 30s/40s. He never came out. I was like, Seriously? I waited 5 months for this?
But so is my luck...









Wednesday was the Wolves/Barons game which I decided to go to because I had nothing else to do. I could have gone to work, but uh, no thanks. OKC is a new team and affliated with the Oilers, so I wanted to see them. We sat in the 200 level right behind the net. Since there was nobody there the usher said we could sit anywhere; could even move down to the lower level if we so pleased. We wanted to see what it was like up there because we've never done that before, so we stayed put! Awesome seats, but not great for picture taking.
Guess who was there! Pavs!! Our little group of 100 fans gave him the biggest ovation. Unfortunately we did not do much cheering after he let in 3 goals and we only scored once. The Barons won 4-1 with an empty netter.
Sadly that was his only game (conditioning) and he is back in the NHL now. It would be nice to see him play again, but let's hope he does not have to be sent back for obvious reasons!

If I had known I wasn't going to see Krahn I would have had Pavelec sign my puck. He is not my favorite, but I still like him, especially since he did so well for us in 2008 :D

:) and :|

Glad to see the Oilers keeping two back-up goalies at the moment.

Not glad to see Valabik on waivers.

193 Penalty Minutes

Thanks again to Scott Laughlin for news I wouldn't otherwise know about:

Over in the CHL, the Colorado Eagles and the Odessa Jackalopes had quite a night.

4 fighting majors handed out in the first 1:39 (third period), then the big one at 9:26 which resulted in Odessa captain Dave Van Drunen getting sucker punched by Brad MacMillen. The punch resulted in Van Drunen needing 5 plates and 18 screws to repair the damage.

MacMillen received 2 for instigating, 5 for fighting, 10 minutes and a game for instigating and another 10 for intent to injure.

Paul Gillis, coach of the Odessa Jackelopes, sent his team to the locker room, then informed the officials that they had forfeited the game.

Jackelopes owner Rick Gasser had this to say:

“I’m asking the league for a lifetime ban for MacMillan, at least 20 games for Mario and a season-long suspension for (Eagles assistant coach Greg) Pankewicz, because he was the one running the team that night while their coach, Chris Stewart, was watching the game from the stands to evaluate.”

(Full article)

That sounds like a boring, scary! game. I don't mind seeing a fight every now and again, but this sounded ridiculous. And that thing with MacMillen... geez. Guy needs to GTFO of hockey & into boxing.

Fantasy Hockey

Going into night one, there were many that were concerned about Nikolai Khabibulin. His pre-season performances left a little to be desired and many weren’t sure how his game would translate back to his regular season form of a year ago.

Khabibulin stepped up. Big time. A shutout performance on opening night made him the most valuable player on the ice and he followed it up with another impressive performance on Sunday against Florida.

While Khabibulin’s cap hit means he’s a greater investment for your lineup, his early season success indicates he’s ready to perform on a nightly basis. The first two games saw plenty of inconsistency from the team and certain players, but the one constant was Khabibulin’s brilliant play. There’s no reason to stray from him at this point, so definitely get him into your lineup for Wednesday’s Northwest Division battle against the Wild.

I really don't plan on moving any of my players ;) I was in second place a few days ago but have since moved to... SEVENTH?! That's news to me! Only three of my players have games tonight (& Budaj won't see action until Monday, at least at this point in time!), so I won't be moving up any time soon.

Trouble in Blueland!

Shit. No wonder it seemed like the game was taking so long when I texted Google for the Thrashers/Caps score and it was still the first period when it should have been, like, the middle of the second. Pavs blacked out! What a way to start the season, eh? That sucks... I blacked out once. It was summer band camp (which lasted 3 days before I said "Fuck this, I'm done." haha) and we had to stand under the hot sun and on the asphalt and me + heat + pop tart for breakfast = WORST ENEMIES. I collapsed into the people in front of me & holy shit, how awkward. I couldn't imagine passing out in front of thousands of people :\ Sounds like he's doing alright now, so that's very good! Better luck next time :D
By the way, they won 4-2! I knew they were saving their A game for the first game against the Capitals.

Good Start!

Sweet! My dear Oil babies shut out the Flames in their first game (4-0)! I am beaming with pride :D


Oh, but wait. The Blackhawks lost to the Avalanche 3-4. Not such a good start, but they'll get it. I'm not worried! From what I saw it wasn't a bad game.

Retirement

I am genuinely sad that Ian Laperriere is being told to retire due to the seriousness of his injury in the spring. It sounds like he's had a good enough run, but still. He's being told to retire! I would hate to be told I had to find another way to make a living, giving up the job I love. It sounds like he understands it would be best for him to leave hockey, but you know it's not going to be easy to fully accept it.

You know who's not retiring? Cheechoo. He returned to the Sharks where they sent him to Worcester. Or something like that.

Speaking of the Sharks, Lilja didn't make the team. Ok, whatever, but his visa expires in 3 days! If he doesn't find a job in 3 days he'll be sent back to Sweden! I heard Scott Laughlin talking about this on PowerPlay yesterday & that made me sad too! He tugged at the heartstrings by metioning the fact his kids are enrolled in school here. Poor babies!

Days Later, Months Later, Whatever (And So Much More)

A trip to McDonalds and two trips to Starbucks (today being nearly a 4 hour sitting, good lord) later and my download of Game 6 in the SCF is finally finished! Took long enough!! I skipped ahead to the last few minutes of OT & still get as giddy as ever when the Blackhawks win. "I'm just so happy they won!" seems to be all I can say. If I could leave home with only a handful of possessions, the DVD I'm about to burn would be one of those things I wouldn't want to leave without.

The Blackhawks won the last game they played, which was against the Red Wings on Friday. Pisani is growing on me, Skille needs to make the team, and I wish Paradis could have made it this far. He has such beautiful hair and I never got to see it in action!

OILERSSS! They beat the Canucks 8-2 last night! I was gone for the first six minutes of play and already they were ahead 2-0. Oh my little Oil babies, I am sensing good things are to come this season. They have already won more games than they did in two months in last season's run! In February I remember saying, "Oilers won 2 games IN A ROW! They've won 2 games in 2010! Maybe things are finally looking up?" hahaha Oh! And Khabibulin played the whole 60 minutes!!! And he looked good!

It kills me that none of the Stars games are being broadcasted & the highlights online are weak. I want to see BK & Burish, dammit. And apparently Cheechoo was on the team and let go already. What?! I am so sad he has lost his touch. I didn't know him when he was good, it was mostly a "I like his name" thing last year or the year before, whenever I heard about him, but I hope he finds a home somewhere in the NHL! Move him to Atlanta, or better yet - Minnesota. He could find his game there ;) I wish they were showing Thrashers games too!
haha On the War Room this morning, Peter and Mick were talking about how a lot of the guys shouldn't even be on the ice when the Stanley Cup banner is raised in the UC and they recieve their rings (which might not actually happen during the ceremony) because they weren't a part of the team last year! Mick joked that their first game should have been against the Thrashers. HA! Good thinking!

I am somewhat disappointed and not surprised that Mannino, MacIntyre, Machacek, Holzapfel, Postma, etc. are back in Chicago, but selfish me is also happy that I'll get to see them in person some more. I plan on going to a lot more Wolves games this year and I don't care if I have to go alone. It sucks that they (& the Blackhawks) have all their games on Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays/Saturdays when those are the days that I work! I told April I could work Thursdays now, (and I could work Tuesdays in all honesty but don't want to for reasons I won't delve into here), so I'm hoping I'll get some Wednesdays or Saturdays off because of that, enabling me to go to lots of games.
Oh goodness, I just realized if Krahn makes it in Dallas I will have no interest in seeing the Texas Stars play anymore. Oh no! It also means I won't get to meet him :( Again, my selfishness wants him to stay in the AHL, but I should really be hoping he makes it into the NHL. If he does make it into the NHL I'll regret not picking him for my fantasy team!

Then there's Sterling who, in my humble & biased opinion, has a good chance of making it into the Pens organization. I've come to terms with this & would be happy to see him play in the National League.

To end this novella, the NHL commercials are drastically different from last year's & when I see the commercial for NHL 11 I wish Duncan Keith would record books-on-tape.


[EDIT] If Joey Crabb doesn't get picked up on waivers he'll be sent to the Marlies! THE MARLIES!! >:O

Wish & It Will Be

Exactly what I was looking for!

Oilers! etc.

It is so good to see the Oilers winning games (2 for 2!), I don't even care that it's only preseason! Paajarvi had a hattrick and one assist & Hall had one goal. Pretty darn impressive and I would love to see both of them make the team. Dubnyk only allowed one goal and so did Deslauriers. I really wish both of them could stay when Khabibulin comes back because they grew on my fast last season.

I don't care that the Blackhawks lost their first game either. I was just so happy to see them again, even though it seems like half the team is gone! Turco's aggressive puck handling made me extremely nervous and I really hope that won't get them into trouble. However, I was extremely happy to see Toews score in Winnipeg and throw one of his sticks into the crowd after the game was over. None of the new guys really stood out to me, but I will pay close attention tonight when they play the Red Wings and take note of the good and bad attributes of each.

Monday the Maple Leafs played the Senators and somewhere in the third period a beach ball made its way onto the ice. It was quite comical the way the commentators shouted "AND THERE'S A BEACH BALL ON THE ICE! BEACH BALL OFF THE ICE!" (not a direct quote, mind you!) because they had been loud about a delayed penalty already. It was a fine hockey moment. The Sens goalie knocked it over the glass... it's unfortunate I cannot find a video.

Going Back In Time - Part 3

Some texts I felt I needed to save because I have a hard time letting things go for some sad reason.

3/25

Blackhawks clinch berth in the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the team's first consecutive postseason appearance since 1996-1997.

4/4

Blackhawks top Calgary 4-1; goals by Kopecky, Brouwer, Kane & Byfuglien. Hawks clinch 1st division title since '92-93.

4/6

Blackhawks win in Dallas 5-2; Fraser (2G), Hossa (G,A) with 2 points each. Hawks set franchise record with 50th win.

4/18

Hawks top Nashville 2-0; Kane with 2 points (G,A). Niemi earns Hawks' 1st playoff shutout since '96. Series tied 1-1.

5/3

Hawks edge Canucks 4-2, take Game 2 of the conference semifinals. Versteeg scores game-winner with 90 seconds left in regulation. Series tied 1-1.

5/7

Blackhawks beat Canucks 7-4; Toews nets his 1st career playoff hat trick, Niemi makes 26 saves. CHI leads series 3-1.

5/23

Blackhawks advance to Stanley Cup Final with 4-2 win over San Jose! Byfuglien nets game-winner with 5:55 left. Hawks' first SCF appearance since '92.

6/9 @ 10:20

Blackhawks win 2010 Stanley Cup with 4-3 OT win! Patrick Kane scores series-winner in OT, Jonathan Toews wins Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoff MVP.

6/23

Duncan Keith wins 2010 Norris Trophy, given to NHL's top defenseman. 1st Blackhawk to win since C. Chelios (1996).

Pens Would Be Crazy NOT to Take Sterling

[F]or 26-year-old winger Brett Sterling, scoring twice to help Malkin's team beat Crosby's team, 2-1, Monday morning in Pittsburgh was kind of important for a couple of reasons.

First, Sterling is new to the organization, and goals are never a bad way to make a first impression.

Second, Sterling's scoring touch is his ticket to the NHL. He netted 144 goals for the AHL's Chicago Wolves in the first four years of his career, and his objective is to prove he could do the same if given a chance in Pittsburgh.

"Hopefully I was able to do that a little bit today, but there's a lot more camp to go," Sterling said. "When you're fighting for a spot with this many great guys on the team, it's a tough situation."

Sterling's calling card is his shot. He showed it off Monday when he took a pass from Tim Wallace and wired a shot short side on goalie Brad Thiessen from the top of the left faceoff circle.

"If you need another shooter, hopefully I can fill that role," Sterling said.

For now, Sterling's short-term goal is to earn a spot alongside some top-six NHL forwards in one or two of the six exhibition games on Pittsburgh's schedule.

"You look at these centers. You look at the wings you can play with. Top to bottom, it's one of the best teams in the league," he said. "That's why they're consistently good and that's what you want to come to. You have to fight for your chance, but once you get it, you're with great guys."

(Full article)

Going Back In Time - Part 2

Nearly six months later I am getting around to discussing the end of the regular season. haha Why bother? Because I fear these thoughts won't leave my head until I type 'em out. But, what is left to remember?

The last week or two was... nice. We all said farewell to Mike Modano with a tear in our eye and later found out he will be playing with the Red Wings. I guess if you wanna keep playing it shouldn't matter that you've been with the same club for basically 20 years and now there's something irregular at the bottom of the list. No matter, it was really sweet to see the love raining down on him.

There was also another "IS THIS THE END?!" moment for Teemu Selanne. It is not the end. He also scored his 600th goal on March 21st, beginning of the 2nd period against the Avalanche. The whole team jumped off the bench to congratulate him & apparently they had to ok that in advance so they wouldn't get in trouble. He ended with 606 goals!

One weekend afternoon I "watched" the Thrashers at nhl.com's little, um, player tracker thing. The name escapes me, but it highlighted who was on the ice (plus on-ice time!), when a shot was taken & what kind it was, who scored, who got penalized, etc. It was surprisingly entertaining!

Speaking of Thrashers, they ended their season with a 1-0 shutout against the Penguins. If they hadn't lost the rest of their April games they might have made it into the playoffs. But, what are ya gonna do?

There was also that game in April when the Oilers were playing the Avalanche and Peter Budaj made a pretty impressive acrobatic save. He was up, he was down, he did the splits & jumped all over the place. Ever since then I occasionally find myself saying, "Peeeeterrrr Budaajjj." I love those Avs commentators.

Nothing memorable sticks out in my mind when it comes to the Blackhawks, but eventually I'll get around to gushing about their playoff games :D

BYE

Looks like Huet is leaving, too. So let's see, that's Burish, Byfuglien, Eager, Fraser, Huet, (Johnsson), Ladd, Madden, Niemi, Sopel, and Versteeg. Am I forgetting anybody? Not to mention the players that came and went during the summer (Reasoner, Crabb, why?!).

I am assuming Crawford is coming up to be a full-time NHL player? He's in the roster, so... We should have snagged Hedberg. If he had become a Blackhawk... I would have plotz, cried, died.

The Blackhawks now have Fernando "I have UC" Pisani. Dammit. Every time I see him I think about his commercial... This could be a trying season.


Did I mention Nabby is gone from the NHL too? :| Yeah, KHL - St. Pete'. There was a prediction that Niemi might be bought by the Sharks. That'd be fine by me, I suppose... I don't really know. It'd be weird.

Bleh

Antti Niemi is no longer a Blackhawk; I no longer have anything to live for. I just. don't. get it.

But hey! I am going to a Canes/Thrashers game in March! I have my beer money saved up & ready to go :)

WHEN WILL IT END?!!

I guess Joey Crabb moved to the Maple Leafs two days ago? I am sad and confused. I was really looking forward to watching him play for the Blackhawks.

If only I could find his jersey when I go to Toronto :( I would so buy one, but woefully that won't happen in the next month!

So Long

Brett Sterling to the Penguins? Are you fucking kidding me?

Suddenly I Hate July

It looks like this is the end...

You Say What Now?

Reading a recent article in the Dallas News, I found two things I did not like:

Veteran goalie Brent Krahn should get a chance to become the Stars' backup goalie next season after signing a one-year, two-way contract Tuesday.

Backup? BACKUP? No, I think they meant to say starter. Or maybe the keyword here is "chance," as in, if he decides to play horribly he will exercise that chance of becoming a backup.

"The concussion was just a fluke, and we believe his knees are healthy, so we think he's ready for a big year."

This goes back to the first quote. If he's ready for a big year, why are they speculating he'll become a backup? Because they only believe he's healthy? Do they think he'll have more problems once the season gets under way?


What's happenin'?

It All Happened So Fast

Getting news left and right about trades all over the place.
Byfuglien, Eager, Sopel, AND Fraser are gone. The first three are now a part of the Thrashers organization (so, not as bad as it could be), and Fraser is going to the Oilers. (Again, not so bad. He'll be reunited with Nikolaiii!)
Reasoner is playing for the Blackhawks as part of the trade; Crabb is now a Blackhawk, which is rad. I can't wait to see him ALL THE TIME. But... Sterling? I heard it from the man himself that his contract was up, but I hoped so hard that I misheard... He's moved on to the Sharks. :*( Closer to home, which is nice, but... but... I just bought his jersey :( I got some good use out of it as the 09-10 season ended, but I was hoping... Well, I guess the name on the back doesn't matter. I'm just really sad to see my favorite player go. SO SAD!! I am glad he's going to be in the NHL though (full time, right?). He's been in the AHL for so long.
I almost forgot! Torchetti is now with the Thrashers as well. :*(
Geez, why don't we just get a whole new team for cryin' out loud?!

Dammit, Mother Nature

I knew this would happen. A big storm blew in, knocking out the satellite in the middle of the awards show. One time it was just out for a commercial, another time I missed a whole hell of a lot. When the show came back on, Jose Theodore was giving a speech. I didn't know what the heck was happening... [Just read he won the Masterson trophy. Good for him.] The speech ended with him giving a shoutout to his wife and daughter. It was touching and he seemed pretty choked up. D'aw. I can't even imagine what he was thinking. In other news, Duncan Keith won the Norris trophy! It even looked like he had teeth! Very cool.
I'm real glad I didn't miss the Getzlaf/Ryan video. It was hilarious! And I don't care what anyone says, Jay Mohr is funny. I don't believe half those people when they say they're "big hockey fans," but whatever. I don't really care. It's like a band saying "This is the best place on earth!" at every venue they play. Anyway...

Don't Make Me Laugh!

Home openers have been posted. Someone in the Thrashers organization asked who people would like to see play against them in the home opener. It's going to be the Capitals October 8th. Suddenly someone's suggestion of "St. Mary's School for the Blind" doesn't sound half bad for game #1.

Don't you know, the Blackhawks are going to be playing the Red Wings October 9th, but their first game is against the Avalance October 7th.

Poor Bruins don't play at home until the 21st! For the love of god... They are playing the Caps too.

More information

Going Back In Time - Part 1

Here were the predictions I made before each playoff round.
Bold is who I chose.
Slate is who won.

Round 1

West	East
SJ vs COL	WSH vs MTL
CHI vs NSH	NJ vs PHI
VAN vs LAK	BUF vs BOS
PHX vs DET	PIT vs OTT

SJ 4-2
CHI 4-2
VAN 4-2
DET 4-3
MTL 4-3
PHI 4-1
BOS 4-2
PIT 4-2

I was being really optimistic about the Coyotes, and I thought the Kings would be the spoiler in the west. I figured the Caps, Pens, and Devils would win FOR SURE. Wow, silly me.

Round 2

West	East
SJ vs DET	MTL vs PIT
CHI vs VAN	PHI vs BOS

SJ 4-1
CHI 4-2
MTL 4-3
PHI 4-3

I wanted the Sharks to win, but I just thought the Red Wings had a better chance of not choking. Yeah, sorry. I wanted the Canadiens and the Bruins to win, but I figured the Pens were going to defend their Stanley Cup. I think the only reason I chose the Flyers to win was because I thought they would get more physical and take the Habs down. I also thought they sacrificed their bodies (i.e. blocked shots) more than Habs players. When the Sharks and the Habs won, oh. my. god.

Round 3

West	East
CHI vs SJ	MTL vs PHI

CHI 4-0
PHI 4-1

I thought the Habs had this one. Upset of the east, right? Nope, they blew it. I was SO mad. In a way they were the upset of the east! Know what made me feel a little better? The Blackhawks swept the Sharks. Unbelievable. The Sharks had played so well up 'til this round, what the hell happened?


I didn't predict who would win the Final because I didn't want to jinx it. Of course I wanted the Blackhawks to win. OF COURSE! They won the series 4-2!! IN OVERTIME!! The craziest overtime ever.

Toast

They just made toast on NHL Live.
Hilarious!


Toasters don't toast toast. Toast toasts toast.

... Yep, Disappointment

As soon as I got into my car after work Monday night and started it up, I got the news over the radio that Texas had lost. I buried my face in my hands and hoped Jen didn't look over and see me because I don't want her asking about it the next time we meet. I wasn't going to watch my tape, but then I saw Krahn was playing so I sorta feel like I have to. I mean, I really want to... despite the shutout that was NOT in his favor. Oh boo hoo. I shed a tear, I did. But life will go on. I can continue to dislike them I guess. Wait, no I can't. Krahn just signed a one-year contract extension with the Stars. Um, fml maybe?

I was so mad listening to the Bears players saying they didn't know what to say because this was such a "once in a lifetime experience" or something. I kept shouting, "YOU WON LAST YEAR! JUST REPEAT WHAT YOU SAID THEN!" Then I realized some might be repeating what they said, so I corrected myself, "SAY WHAT YOU SAID THE DAY AFTER YOU HAD TIME TO THINK ABOUT SOMETHING TO SAY!"
Clearly I was being an irrational jerk and probably made up the story that someone said something like "once in a lifetime...", but I was just so mad. I know it's dumb, but it makes me feel like the Wolves lost to a losing team, you know? Like, there was no sense in them losing to this second place team. But then I am reminded that this is the first year for the franchise that is the Stars and I think that is absolutely wonderful for the team and the community. Heck, it is good for hockey in general.

Is That... Disappointment I Am Feeling?

The Stars lost to the Bears 1-2 in overtime tonight. I actually got to watch it instead of listen to it in the car. Ugh, I hate sitting out there.
I was actually hoping for DOT so I had a "good" excuse as to why I wasn't finishing my homework, but Giroux managed to score with... 6 some minutes left? Yeah, I smacked my forehead and groaned when that happened. This could be ok though. The road teams have won every game this series. The last two games are in Hershey, so... yeah, you get it? Riiiight.


NOT disappointing was today's parade in Chicago. I still can't believe the Blackhawks are the Stanley Cup champions :O
I had gotten up at 7 to be awake enough to call WGN before 8 to try and win Cubs tickets. My dumb fingers were too slow when dialing that I got a busy signal right away. The girl that got through didn't even know that she had to be listening yesterday for the answer to the question that was asked! I was peeved... but I found out Fox had been covering the pre-parade happenings all morning, so for three hours I watched the news. Ha, never thought I'd say that!
The parade got a little wild when people rushed the last bus, but things still ran "smoothly" and everybody made it to the stage ok. I was happy to see Skille and Crawford when they were introduced, and I thought it was nice/strange that they introduced Rockford players that have yet to play for Chicago.
I liked the speeches, especially when Kane poked fun at himself about keeping his shirt on and telling the cabbies he loves 'em. I didn't so much like Versteeg's rap... I didn't really understand what the lyrics had to do with... anything. haha Good times though. Good times.


On a more personal note, I think Chicago sports might hold me back from moving farther north as were my plans for the longest time :/ It actually makes me want to move into the city, which is an outrageous idea! Mostly I'd just like to have the ability of walking places and having more things to do. Other than that, unless I could find a well-paying job and an apartment that accepts large dogs, it is out of the question!

One Goal - Stanley Cup Champions

It happened. It finally happened. I have waited 49 years for this. Wait, no I haven't. Um... hmm. I don't know where to begin! So, here's some random thoughts in CAPS:

THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS WON THE STANLEY CUP!

4-3 OVERTIME WIN!

KANE HAD THE GAME WINNER & WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THE PUCK WAS IN THE NET!

THE PHILADELPHIA FLYERS LOST THE SERIES 4-2!

THERE IS A PARADE TOMORROW!

The 300 some epic pictures on the Blackhawks' site are too much for my computer to handle. I can't wait to see what each player does on their day with the cup. I can't wait to see the parade tomorrow. For a split second I thought about going, but naah, I'd rather be safe at home seeing everything on the television.


Ok, so let's recap. To begin, I was able to switch both my Wednesday and Friday shifts to Saturday and Sunday. Wow, I know. I was all ready for a game 7.
I was so anxious for 7 o'clock, Wednesday night. The Blackhawks had lost the first two games in Philly, so I thought the trend might continue. When I saw them win the first face-off, I was like, Yeah, they got this. Seeing Byfuglien score first, on a power play nonetheless, only gave me more hope.
It seemed the Blackhawks were very much in control throughout the whole game. Not to say the Flyers didn't play well; I thought they were a force to be reckoned with.
There were no ugly goals, no "that shouldn't have happened" goals, nothing like that.
For the longest time the score was 3-2 in favor of the Hawks. Hartnell scored in the third with 4 minutes left. 3:59 if you want to be exact. Both Dad and I just said, "Oh no." I couldn't take it. I was on the edge of the couch biting my nails, begging for the intermission to be over and done with so we could get this over with. My wish was their command and overtime began.
Four minutes and ten seconds into this heart-stopping OT (Philly almost scored as Niemi went down and, oh I can't think of who it was, but a player in orange fired a shot but luckily it was not high enough), Patrick Kane scored a magical game winner. I saw him begin to celebrate as the air was sucked out of the arena and everybody was silent, and my heart fluttered, but nobody had known the puck was in the net because it had vanished. Then everybody flew off the bench and all I could say was, "Oh my god. I didn't even see what happened! This is... this is crazy!!"

Oh man, to see 20+ dreams come true in that one moment was wonderful. I was elated. I couldn't stop smiling :D
Finally they showed the replay and clearly the net gobbled up that puck. Normally I feel sorrow for the losing team, but not so much last night. This was "my" team that won and they deserved to win. Had Philly won last night and in game 7, I would have died. But I don't want to hear this, "The Blackhawks wanted it more" crap. Wanting it more is never the case in any situation. (Ok, maybe like 99% of the time) Both teams wanted to win just the same, it's just that the Hawks, well... you can't even say they were the better team, really. I thought they played equally well, so perhaps it was just... luck. Good fortune. Whatever. They freaking won the Stanley Cup!!

When I gather my thoughts I will write a more coherent post.

Long Time No Post

Last night I listened to the Stars/Bears Calder Cup Finals Game 1 in the car. I was thrilled when the Stars won 2-1 in regulation, so I guess I'm coming to terms with them beating the Wolves.

The Blackhawks, oh baby. I desperately want them to win the series 4-1. That would mean I could be at home to see them win on Sunday. If they go 6 or 7, I'll either have to tape the games or switch shifts at work (God help me). I'd rather see them win "live" instead of being behind everybody else because I'd be watching the game at 11 o'clock after the fact...


I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to discuss the end of the regular season, and actually I am thinking about just forgetting about the whole thing. Wish I would have been keeping tabs on the Playoffs, too. I've been enjoying watching the games rather than talking about them I guess.

WTF BBs?!

I picked Philly to win this series, and Philly fuckin' won the series >:|

Open Letter; Saddness

Dear Chicago Wolves,

OT Oh No

Can't even put my thoughts in to words. All I have is Shit. This season's over. *sob sob*
My stomach dropped so hard when Benn scored that OT GWG. (Ugh, I'm tearing up for reals...) But luckily Mom sped over those tracks on Belshaw and that put my stomach back into place. I mean, I was hoping for a review that would show it was kicked in or something, but I guess it was a clean goal. I saw that red light and just... wanted to cry. Or rip off my Jesus necklace & throw it down in disgust. (Yes, I wore it.) Couldn't even clap for the two stars of the game that were Stars. I usually clap half-heartedly out of respect, but I couldn't move. I think Machacek had the second star of the game and I cheered for him the best I could.
. . .
Maybe I'll discuss the game tomorrow. I will tell that I got Sterling and Mannino's autograph. Ok, so the game ended at 10:07, but Mom wanted to stay and watch the players come out. For some reason we waited outside in the 50 degree weather that felt more like 20 degrees for 75 minutes. I identified most of the players, but some I honestly wasn't sure about. John Anderson was the first guy I saw. Pft, I didn't go running up to him, that's for sure. Mostly Stars players came out first. I should have stopped one to ask how Krahn is doing. Ah well. I think MacIntyre was the first Wolves player to come out. I don't remember though... Ok, so point of my story is, I got Mom's ticket signed by Brett (& I think he was talking to some guy about how is contract is up[!] Also, if I hadn't just gotten my player's card, I would have had him sign my ticket too), she asked if we were ready to go, and I said, "Hmm, no. I'm gonna have Peter sign my ticket." So I ran back and-

*Fingers Crossed*

[Edit]Ok, here it is. Straight up. The Wolves have to win tomorrow's game. They have no other choice. The Bulldogs won their series against the Heat today, meaning the Wolves will play them with a win tomorrow.

Look Who's Still Playing Hockey!

This guy! (No, not that guy!)

And this one, too!

Of course he's playing!

Don't care much for the Avs, but I loved hearing their announcers talk about Budaj!

An American boy!

Hallelujah

I am not a religious person by any means. In fact, I'm one of those people that doesn't get into discussions involving religion because I don't want to offend anyone. When it comes to sports though, I can become crazy religious. So, today I put on my Jesus necklace and got to my knees and prayed to everybody that the Wolves win tonight's game. I said something like, "Please please please let the Wolves win tonight's game so I can see them Tuesday. And please please please help them win that game so they can hopefully play against the Bulldogs!"

I had to work at 4, and Mom and Dad were kind enough to drop by and have a Mother's Day dinner with me ;) I asked Dad to text me the score when he got home because I was dying to know what went down while I was working! Never got a text. I thought maybe their loss was so horrible that Dad wanted to spare me the agony.
As soon as I got home I went to the computer, checked my email, and saw the Wolves GOT A SHUTOUT!!!!! I ran to Mom and said, "We're going to a hockey game on Tuesday!! [Eeek!]"

There is a God!


[EDIT, MAJOR EDIT!] It's unclear whether or not my FGF will be playing Tuesday D: He was injured in the first period of tonight's game DD: Not sure on the det's, but... asdfgh!@#

Adventure!

I did the unthinkable and drove to Rosemont by myself today. Parentals were out of town and they took Brenda, so I had to rely on Yahoo! directions. Since I am horrible with directions, I left at noon for a 3 o'clock game. It takes a little less than 2 hours to get there, so I figured if when I got lost I wouldn't panic about being late to the game. I had obviously taken a wrong exit somewhere because I ended up in Chinatown. Now I know where it is though, so that's nice. Ever since Ryan told me about going there I have wanted to go. I called Becky for some help but I ended up helping myself because I found the sign pointing to I90. Then I kept seeing signs for Wisconsin, plus I was on the Kennedy and I was supposed to be on the Dan Ryan (I see now they are the same thing...), so I called Troy to make sure I was going the right way. Turns out if I had just kept driving several more miles I would have found my O'Hare exit.
Arrived around 2:40, got my tickets, and praised the Lloyd I had actually made it in one piece. Got section 104 (by request), seat E14. Why did I request that? So I could see my FGF twice, of course. Well, three times :D Got to see many times. In all fairness, it was also because I wanted a better chance of seeing the Wolves score on my end than the other end since they "attack the west in first and third periods."
Pre-game: The intro video seemed a little different today... longer maybe? Got my wish & heard Mannino and Machacek's name announced.

First period: Kulda was credited with the first goal, but that was later changed to Machacek's goal. That was the only goal and it was made at 8:36. So far so good!

Second period: Krog scored to make it 2-0 just under 4 minutes in. Then Gagnon from Texas scored with about 2 minutes left. Whatever. Still looking good for us.

Third period: Stewart scored a lovely powerplay goal a minute and a half into the game. 3-1. Y'know what happened? Texas came back with two more to tie it 3-3. 54 seconds left and Peter scored. Boo.

Overtime: Oooooh, oh oh boy. THIS was interesting. Wolves scroed 25 seconds in, but it was declared no-goal as it was kicked in. Everybody was in an uproar because we thought we had won the game! Oh, but wait. Later the puck went behind the net, Chelios went after it, and Peters jumped on his back and brought him down to the ice. Peters was called for holding, BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! Chelios was called for DIVING. Diving?! What the hell were the refs thinking?! I normally don't hassel the refs because they have a tough job, but that was the most ridiculous call I've ever heard/seen! Aw man, the crowd went berzerk. Had Texas scored during their powerplay, I think there might have been some 911 calls being made... for numerous reasons. Wow, that still blows my mind.

Double overtime: I was close to shouting, "HURRY UP! I NEED TO GET HOME BEFORE DARK!" (Not that driving in the light would prevent me from getting lost.) Even though I wanted it to end, I was enjoying the game. Enjoying getting my money's worth :) I mean, I didn't enjoy them giving up a 2 goal lead, as they seem to be doing a lot of lately, but you know... At 12:21 Stewart scored to win the game 4-3. Pretty sure [Anthony] won the last game I went to. And I don't think I mentioned this, but Sterling is back and has been back for a little while. Saw him at the last game :)

Throughout the game, whenever Stafford had the puck (sometimes when he didn't), the crowd would chant, "Staaafford. Staaafford. Staaafford. You suck!" It was pretty funny. They weren't Krahn fans either. They would do the same thing and follow up with, "[two] times! All the time!" I did see two Stars jerseys and one... Avs jersey? haha I am strongly against wearing jerseys to a game that doesn't involve the team your representing on your chest, arms, and back. Like, I don't even like seeing Blackhawks jerseys at Wolves games because they aren't affiliates.

Video highlights! Without commentary :(

Illinois - State of Winners

Let us nevermind Rockford was whitewashed by Texas...
Tonight two IL teams moved on in the playoffs. Yes, yes, Blackhawks beat the Predators 5-3 tonight in game 6 and will face Vancouver next, but more(?) importantly - WOLVES BEAT THE ADMIRALS IN GAME SEVEN TONIGHT!

AND I WAS

THERE!!

Alrighty, so last night I asked the 'rents if they wanted to go to today's game. Mom said, "Yeah, let's go!" but she says that a lot, so I wasn't sure if she really meant it. I expected a note from her this morning saying something like Hey, get us some tix, but there was nothing. I had gotten up at noon and did homework for four hours straight, so I was a little... somber when Dad called. He asked what I wanted for supper then basically told me what we were having. While I was checking the pantry for some Chinese vegetable mix, he said, "Mom and I are going to the movies tonight. What are you going to do... watch the hockey game?" I didn't mean to, and I hate myself for saying it, but I said, "...Well, since we're not going to a game..." Dad said, "You really want to go to that game? I could cancel with Mom, she'd be glad if I took you to the game."
"No! Don't do that! I don't want to go," I said.
We went on arguing, we let it go, and he said he'd stop by the grocery store to get some vegetable mix. When he got home he dashed to the den and said he was getting tickets for us. I said, "I want you to go to the movies with mom." He said, "She wants to go to the game too." I said, "You called her?" and he said, "She called me!" So anyway, he decided not to order online because we'd be paying a total of $18 extra dollars for handling fees. We raced to Hammond to get Mom, Dad actually got lost in Rosemont, but we eventually found someone that didn't say, "Sorry, I am not from around here," when asked about directions to the Allstate Arena and got there having only missed about 3 or 4 minutes.

Because we were late, I missed Spencer and Peter's introductions (if Spencer even got one), which are my two favorite names to hear. Oh well, the good thing is the score was 0-0 when we got there.
We had upper level A 20s seats, but we were having a hell of a time getting through the people that looked confused as to why we were asking them to get up (come on, it's not that complicated), so we ended up in C. I had C 17 to be exact. Whatever, they were good seats.
Shortly after we arrived, Stapleton took a penalty and for the first time I paid attention to what he was doing right before he came out of the box. There was a lot of pointing Am I coming over or am I gonna play? I dunno why I like seeing these things... Then Anthony Stewart scored the first goal. Doell then scored what happened to be the game winner. Murray from the Admirals scored the only goal for them in the second period on a power play.
Pretty sure this was the period where it looked like the Wolves should have gotten goal #3, but the referee didn't call it. Later the replay clearly showed the puck squeezed under that pad of Dekanich and crossed the line. Not sure if that happened before the whistle, but judging by the boos and "Fuck you!"s, it was a bad call.
Nothing happened in the third period. No goals. No penalties.



At some point, a voice in the crowd asked, "Have you accepted Chelios as your lord and savior?" That would make a nice t-shirt slogan, eh?

Unfortunately I didn't catch/win anything, but not for lack of trying. Mom was whistling like crazy and seemed to be the only one doing so. I told her I would have been whistling if I could, but instead I just waved my arms around shouting, "HEY, UP HERE!!"

I am excited they are playing the Stars. I want to go because A) I still need to get some use out of my jersey before the season ends, and B) I have decided Krahn is my all-time favorite player since I am pretty sure I deemed him "my favorite" when I first saw him play. So even though he is playing for a team I have no interest in following, I still like him an awful lot and want to see him play.

Game 1 – Fri., April 30 – Texas at Chicago, 7:30 p.m.
Game 2 - Sun., May 2 – Texas at Chicago, 3:00 p.m.
Game 3 - Tue., May 4 – Chicago at Texas, 7:30 p.m.
Game 4 – Wed., May 5 - Chicago at Texas, 7:30 p.m.
Game 5 - Fri., May 7 - Chicago at Texas, 7:30 p.m. - X
Game 6 - Sun., May 9 - Texas at Chicago, 3:00 p.m. - X
Game 7 - Tues., May 11 – Texas at Chicago, 7:00 p.m. -X

Note to Self: UPDATE!

Deary me, I am so far behind.

Game Over

Oilers lost to the Ducks tonight, 2-7. That pretty much sums up their season.

I started a post on Thursday 'cause it was such a great night for hockey, but I'm gonna have to go over the whole week because it was pretty fucking exciting.

Heart-shattering

Done! They're done! Thrashers are officially out of play-off contention!

Erm, idk.

So, the Devils beat them 3-0 and Martin Brodeur had his 600th win and what, his 598th shutout? As was expected, Kovalchuk got booed even after he said, "I hope they won't boo me." I would have booed him after what I heard from Matt McConnell today. He said Kovy wanted to be on a winning team and do what was best for his family (money-wise). Some of us don't even make $20,000 a year, ok? But we still provide for our families. (Not saying I fall in to that category (yet...)) I think the millions he was making with the Thrashers was enough for him to pop out several more babies and still send them all to a private college in Ferarris.
Gah, I can't believe they missed 8th spot by just a couple of points. It makes me think What if they hadn't lost that one game? What if they didn't give up that soft goal, or had that stupid penalty? All those "what if?"s came flooding to my mind when I saw the final score of tonight's game and heard Matt say they were officially out of the play-offs. I'm sad. So fucking sad.

Still have my Blackhawks and Coyotes. Blackhawks broke all sorts of records tonight! Maybe I'll find the time to talk about their game against the Stars tomorrow. Maybe.

NHL Standings

Chicago 49-22-7 (3rd in league, 2nd in west)
Edmonton 24-46-8 (LAST, LAST)
Atlanta 34-32-13 (23rd in league, 10th in east)
Phoenix 48-25-6 (4th in league, 3rd in west)

Not too many regular season games left... bad news for Atlanta D: I have given up hope, so I will have to enjoy these last few games.
The Caps have won the Presidents Trophy with 114 points at the moment. They are currently playing the Bruins and I am rootin' hard for the Bs!!

Foley Saves the Day

It never fails - Pat starts repeating "shutout" and the Blackhawks score to prevent such from occuring.
Blackhawks were in New Jersey Friday night and it was not looking good for them. 0-1 for most of the game, but then Pat came to the rescue and talked about how many shutouts Brodeur would have if he shut out the Hawks,how many he would have throughout his career, etc. Shortly after, with 26 seconds left in the 3rd, Versteeg scored! Could. Not. Believe. It went to a shootout and Toews was the only one to score. So really, Foley, Steeg, Toews, and Niemi saved the day.
I think it's pretty obvious who's going to be starting in net when the playoffs begin...

There was a poll question in the postgame asking if Brodeur would go down as the greatest goaltender of all-time. 49% said no. Pft, I say YES.

Final score 2-1

Wishful Thinking is Never Enough

It was so good to see Timmy Stapleton score his first NHL goal. Even better to see it 3 times. haha I watched it on Versus, then again on Sports South because Darren and Matt obviously were not commentating on Vs (& I like to hear them! Plus, Vs. was focused more on the Caps), and I just turned it on as the 2nd period was winding down and they talked to Stapleton during the intermission and showed the replay. He had the biggest smile and it was oh-so sweet.

Too bad they lost the game. They played really well though, only allowing Washington to score twice when everybody knows they have the potential to score way more than that. I thought the Thrashers had a lot of good chances because Varlamov seemed to be showing off his rookie side. That's just my opinion. It looked to me like he wasn't making himself big in the net and didn't stray too far from the blue. Luck just wasn't on their side, s'pose. Bruins have been losing games to keep the Thrashers within two points of them, as if to say, "Come on, we're giving you a chance!" but they just aren't taking. It is so stressful seeing they have 4 games left and are facing the best of the best in the east. I swear, the Thrashers are going to be the death of me.

Sad, Pathetic, but True

After seeing Krahn live and in action against the Wolves last Friday, I have some serious "I miss you, I love you, come back, why did you have to go?" -pangs. I can't even hate him for beating the Wolves Friday and shutting them out Sunday.

We Meet Again

Blackhawks... Thrashers... my head can't hang any lower.

Blackhawks/Blue Jackets 3-8 Thursday and 2-4 Sunday.
Thrashers/Hurricanes 4-0 Saturday and 1-4 today (Monday)

Um, FML? Thrashers could have tied for 8th since the Bruins lost to the Sabres 3-2 tonight. Unfuckingbelievable. I regret listening to the game because it was a wasted use of bandwidth :\ They are gonna have to bring the heat these next 6 games. Two games versuses the Pens and the Caps, one versuses the Devils, and tomorrow against the Leafs; if they keep playing the way they've been, they will be dead meat (if they're not already, geez).

What the hell is going on with the Blackhawks? I think they've played 13 games since the Olympics and have only won 5. Huet is totally getting bastardized and Niemi seems to be running low on luck these days. On top of that, Johnsson is still out and obviously Campbell is as well. Sharks are now #1 in the west with 104 points. Blackhawks are gonna have to bring the heat as well. Turn on the boilers and go full speed ahead.


In AHL news, the Wolves lost to the Stars AGAIN. This time 0-5. This was after shutting out the IceHogs 3-0 Saturday. Why are my teams loooooosing??

Job Fair (eh) & Wolves (yeah!)

Pretty sure I bombed at the job fair. Everyone took minutes to talk with reps while I took half seconds. haha Basically:

ME: Got any internships?
THEM: Next season.
ME: Here's my resume. K, thanks, bye.

haha
The first booth I went to was for the IceHogs. The guy couldn't tell me about off-ice officiating :\ He said, "Oh, now I remember seeing that on our site (he didn't know that was listed when I brought it up), but this guy *hands over business card* can tell you all about it." Waste of time waiting in line? Probably. Same with the Thrashers. I didn't even give them a resume because the woman made it sound like they wouldn't look at them until next season. Why bother? Plus, intern positions are only available to those that need college credit. Bah. I really liked the Blackhawks rep I talked with and the fact she gave me two nicely made-up papers of what they were offering. I liked the Fielders guy I talked to. We shared the common ground of "Earn experience, then earn money."
The last rep I talked to was for the Wolves. He said I could try getting in to general administration. (I think that's what it was!) He said, "To do good, you have to introduce yourself to the other departments, help where ever and whenever you can. If you stay in a room and make phone calls, that will get you nowhere." Hey, I think I could do this administration thing! I hate being on the phone ;P



After the fair was THE WOVLES vs. THE STARS!!! I was so excited because we were in section 112, row B! I've always sat in the upper level. Not that we couldn't afford 100 level; I'm guessing the 'rents like being high up? I was also excited because KRAAAAAAHN was goaltending for the Staaaaaars!!! More on him later.

As we walked to our section, Mom saw a table with goodies on it. She wanted me to get her a pen. One was not supposed to simply grab a pen and go, one had to win a pen. These people at Clear explained their deal (after I asked, "What's the deal with this?"), made me fill out a card, and then I spun a prize wheel. I didn't win a pen, but I did win a tote bag.

Did you know hockey players have faces? It was a wonderful discovery. I really have nothing else that ties in with that, so...
I was disappointed Spencer wasn't in the starting line-up because I love hearing Spencer Mmmmmmm AC HA CEK! And I was disappointed (but not surprised) Sterling wasn't in the lineup at all. Come back!!

We got to see Mannino twice. (He was on the east, as were we) Mom was all, "You have to watch this guy warm up!"
Even though all goalies do pretty much the same warm-up routines, I go into a trance watching them. I also like to see what they're doing when nobody's in their zone during play. Krahn likes to bend over and rest his arms on his knees, and Mannino stands upright. So you know :)

Saw Krahn once. I wanted to shout how I miss him so, because he would have actually heard me, but decided against it. I didn't want to get jumped. There was a boy a few rows back that kept yelling about how badly he sucked. Pfft, as if, boy. I was close to turning around and telling him to STFUGTFO, leave the man alone, but thankfully he became silent, pehaps he indeed did GTFO.

First period, Wolves and Stars were scoreless. There was a fight between Weller and Gadzik. Weller was definitely the victor. Both got 5 for fighting.
Second period, Stars 2 Wolves 1. Stars scored first, which was inevitable because the Wolves had a number of penalties and Stars had more SOG. Kozek was the only one to score.
Third period, tied 3-3. Postma and Anderson scored. The tie'er was made with just over 3 minutes left by Sawada. Fans were not happy about that!
There was a two minute penalty against the Wolves in overtime. I would have been biting my nails had my hands not been in my jersey sleeves being warmed. (Yes, my jersey's first game-day appearance!!:)
Shootout. Just what I wanted, but not with the result I wanted! Wolves scored once thanks to Crabb. Stars scored twice.

An unhappy ending, but a great game to watch! Plus, I caught a t-shirt! Yes, with my own two hands!!! It has a Sonic logo on back and a Wolves logo on front. XL haha I was going to alter it, but maybe I'll keep it as a sleep shirt. I couldn't believe I caught it. Later, Dad caught a burrito stress thing. It had Holzapfel's name on it. I think if he had scored we would have won a free burrito. We did get $1 off Fisher nuts for having the winning number in an intermission race :P

Final score 3-4

Shutouts: The Good, The Bad

The Good
Blackhawks, namely Niemi, shut out the Coyotes last night! Just what we needed. That's six for the season. Two more and he could be tied at 8 with Bryzgalov! Niemi was the number one star of the game, so Sarah had a chat with him. His English is better than I thought, and his voice is much deeper than I thought. (I've only heard him speak briefly in a commercial...) Anyway, Seabrook was back in action. I think he got the number three star of the game. On that same page, Kane got the number two star.
Yes, I can go on liking the Coyotes :)
Final score 2-0

The Bad
Bruins shut out and shut down the Thrashers last night. Rask got his second shutout of the season. The announcers tried to jinx it, but were unsuccessful. Now they are 3 points out of 8th position. I'm hoping these upcoming road games will give them more W's.
Oh, there was then a quick chat with Rask and he's another one I've never heard speak before. I was surprised at how clear and precise his English was!
Final score 0-4


Not a shutout, but the Oilers beat the Canucks 3-2 last night for a 3-game winning streak. Sharks beat the Wild 3-1, I believe, so they avoided a 7-game losing streak. *phew!*

Big'uns

Two really big games tonight!
Blackhawks vs. Coyotes
Thrashers vs. Bruins

Hawks and Yotes are tied at 97 points. Whoever wins tonight's game will take control of the #1 spot in the West Division. I couldn't be mad that the Coyotes beat the Blackhawks last week, but hear me and hear me now - IT BETTER NOT HAPPEN AGAIN!!

Thrashers are ONE POINT away from the 8th Playoff seat at 75 points. If they beat the Bruins (76, duh), they might actually stand a chance to extend their game beyond the regular season!!!!!


Dubes got two wins in a row and now he's sick X(
I did so much running around yesterday I missed his talk with Brian Duff on Power Play. I was sooo looking forward to it. Even sat in my car for, like, 5 minutes in a Target parking lot waiting. Well, I guess his sickness is due to the Duff Curse. haha


Chicago 45-19-7 (2nd in league, T1st in west)
Edmonton 23-42-7 (LAST, LAST)
Atlanta 32-29-11 (22nd in league, 9th in east)
Phoenix 46-22-5 (3rd in league, T1st in west)

This is the Clincher

The Wolves just clinched their position in the playoffs with their 3-2 win over the San Antonio Rampage.
I don't know what they did to change their luck around, because it seemed not too long ago they were second to last in the west division. They are currently 3rd in the whole league with 94 points. Ahhh!
The game ended in another shootout with MacIntyre in goal. Four rounds this time and Mac stopped all but one. I hope the game I'm going to on Friday ends in a shootout.


ps. Playoff roster

Yeah, Dubes, Jump For Joy

The OILERS, against Detroit last night, WON in a SHOOTOUT. Cogliano and Whitney scored two goals in regulation. Potulny and Brule had the shootout goals. Oh, I was so proud. I was beaming. And there were only three penalties :) At some point during the second or third period Brule laid a nice smack down on Filppula. I watched it several times because for some reason I found it to be rather entertaining. A great legal check :))
It looked like the game was going to end 2-1 in favor of the Oilers, but with less than a full second left in the 3rd, Rafalski had to be a hero and score a goal. Bewildered and scared for my Oil babies, I prayed to the hockey gods to not let this one slip away. Thank you for listening, HG.
And after the Oilers won, and everybody was congratulating Dubnyk, he did some quick Yay, we won! giddy jumps :)))

Final score 3-2




[EDIT] Somehow I managed to miss that last night was Dubnyk's FIRST NHL WIN! I am even happier now! Yes, I just rewatched it on the NHL network ;P
Honestly I thought he had some wins already.

IS THAT COREY?!

Yes. Yes it was. I had seen he was recalled during the NHL on the Fly scrolly updater a couple days ago (or maybe it was yesterday), but I couldn't figure out why. I taped last night's game and started it a little before the anthem started. Near the end of that I saw Corey and scratched my head. Huh? Who is that? I had to lean closer because I was sitting on the back couch and couldn't see 100%. Then I yelled, "IS THAT COREY?!" haha I had to rewind the tape to the beginning of the game to see what Pat and Eddie had to say about this. Apparently Huet is out with the flu and they wanted to give Crawford a chance to play A) because he's had a good [two game] record against the Ducks and the Blackhawks needed a miracle to avoid losing 3 straight B) because he might be a playoff possibility. They told Niemi having him sit on the bench was not a punishment, they just wanted to give Crawford some ice time...

What a depressing game. It wasn't good. I played Tetris and did homework during a lot of it. Terrible calls. Bad plays. Poor baby Corey should not have played the puck [that one time, you know that time]. He weakly poked the puck away and gave it to a Ducks player for them to score an "empty netter." So sad. And then Seabrook took a headshot and I think Wisniewski got 2 minutes...? Though it has now been stated he has an 8-game suspension. And Sopel was shoved to the ice while waiting for an airborn puck to come down. What happened? BLACKHAWKS GET A PENALTY. Wait... I think that's what happened. I don't remember and I just watched it, like, two hours ago. Oh well, I think this is a game I'd like to forget.

Here's a lovely quote from Coach Carlyle: "We knew they were going to be a grouchy hockey club, coming in here having lost their last two games."
I guess now we're the pissed off beyond belief hockey club, thanks.

Final score 2-4



ps. They are still 2 points behind San Jose. As much as I like them (this much______________________) I was thrilled to see them lose 8-2 against Dallas the other night. I thought it had given Chicago a chance to catch up...

Questions/Answers

Brett!

More Like... Daylight Losings!

Bleh. The Blackhawks blew it. AGAIN. 3-0 into the third period. 3-4 OT. That... that wasn't supposed to happen! I think Niemi was worn out. He was up and down, side to side for most of the third period thanks to that 5 minute penalty/5 on 3. Maybe Huet should have been put in the game... But what do I know?
I have to admit I was kinda bummed to see Ovechkin leave the game in the first period for a game misconduct. He pushed Campbell into the boards, but he kinda stayed behind the net and looked over him to make sure he was ok. I am assuming, of course. I don't think there was anything malicious about his takedown. When Ovie finally stood up he was still looking down at Campbell with a look of Gee, I hope he's ok on his face. Yeah, that could have been a look of Gee, I hope I don't get thrown out of the game for this look, but I like to think he was genuinly concerned.
One thing I did like was seeing Bolland push the puck under Niemi's glove to stop the game. Niemi had tried to freeze the puck once, but it had gotten away from him, so Bolland, to the left of him, got it and gave it to Niemi. I haven't seen that before. Yes, I am awed by the littlest things.

Now I'm watching the Rochester Americans playing the Grand Rapids Griffins. I am rooting for the Americans because they have Salak who is a goalie I like:)
Here's the video that includes his drop-kick at the ASG!


[EDIT 3/18]
Ovechkin got a 2 game suspension and Campbell has a broken clavical and fractured ribs. Yes, Alex pushed him, but I like to think he didn't mean for him to collide with the boards like that... I don't know, sometimes I am too kind. Now Campbell won't be able to play in the playoffs :(((

Listen For the Flush

I'm watching the Capitals/Lightning being broadcast from a public bathroom. Seriously, they need to remove the tin cans from their microphones or something because I'm finding it very difficult to keep listening!

The Thrashers are losing.
The Oilers came so close to winning yesterday.

Adam Burish is back in the game! He had an assist in, like, the first 20 seconds of the first period and then got into a fight. I loved his hizzah reaction after that :D So great to see him back!! Now the team is complete ♥

Oh yeah, we still get repeat airings in the living room. That means Dad's not going to do anything about getting it back in the kitchen. That means I can't tape anything unless he lets me use the DVR. I don't want to do that :(

600+

I taped the first airing of the Thrashers/Predators game and came home to a blank tape. Now we don't get the first or repeat airings. *sad* So I asked Dad if I could pay to get those hockey channels back and, well, he was surprisingly receptive to the idea. He said, "Sure, I could get them back." I asked how much it would cost and he said it was only, like, $11 a month. Wow. I thought they'd be greedy and ask for $60, but he said only Center Ice or Game Center Live or whatever charges a whole lot. Swell. I pray to God he orders those channels in the next day or so.

On to further business... I guess three wins was too much to ask for. Thaaaank youuu, Senators.

The Battle of the Wolves and the Monsters

I love the emails I get from the Wolves that are titled like: Wolves Tame Monsters. Bulldogs Nip Wolves. Wolves Sink Admirals. How darling!
The Chicago/Lake Erie game was actually shown on the NHL network. Even though Wolves games air on channel 50, I have never caught a game on television until today. Haven't even caught a radio game because the station is practically non-existent and I'm afraid streaming it online would crash this lousy internet.
It would figure that Brett Sterling was a scratch in today's game. A healthy scratch or an injury, I do not know the reason. He was present though! One of the guys sat in the "hall" to fix his skate or something and I guess Brett popped into view. I wasn't looking, but I heard one of the announcers say he was there.
I liked the commentators. They mentioned that story about one of the guys getting his luggage late during game night and he found two right skates in his bag. One of the commentators said, "He could turn one way really well," and the other sang, "You spin me right round, baby, right round." Gotta love that.
The game itself was interesting. During the second the Wolves were 4-1; pretty much dominating. The Monsters found their feet and made it 4-3 at the end of the second period. They then tied it 4-4 and took the game to a shootout. Thank goodness those AHL shootouts are 5 rounds, because if they were 3, we would have lost! It went in to an 8th round and Anderson made the winning shot. THRILLING!
And don't forget:



Since I'm here, might as well express my dissatisfaction with today's Hawks/Wings game. Kane scored a goal only to have it not count because Byfuglien "interfered" with the goalie, Howard. No no, I don't think so. He wasn't in the blue and I don't even remember him touching the goalie. Because of that bad call, the Blackhawks lost 4-5. Ok, they still could have lost, but I like to think not. At least it was a home game, so there was no booing Hossa. I think our last game against them is a home game too. Hooray.

Hella. Crazy.

Thirty-seven seconds in to tonight's game, 6 penalties were handed out. Only two were served by Blackhawks. Very indicative of what was to come. Thirteen more penalties followed, including two fivers for fighting. Talk about physical!
The number of penalties was not the only impressive part of the game. The Blackhawks scored FIVE goals in the first period alone, and the Canucks could only retaliate with one goal. The goals were scored by Ladd, Keith, Brouwer, Versteeg, and hey! Hendry! His first of the season. Way to go. After the buzzer, Luongo failed to smash his stick along the boards, so he threw it down in anger as he walked to the locker room. I think he was pissed...
Things slowed down in the second (heh) with only two goals beings scored - One by Hossa and one by Burrows. Then the third only had one goal made by the Canucks.
The players were on, and so were Pat and Eddie. hahaha It sounded like they were having a blast up in their booth. I think they did more off-topic talking than gameplay commentating.
All in all, it was a very fun game to watch. I forgot to mention Huet made some brilliant saves, so hopefully that'll shut up the naysayers for a while. And I thought he painted a new mask? He was wearing his usual one with the dreamcatcher on it... Personally my favorite :)
Final score 6-3


What was even more hella crazy than the CHI/VAN game? THE OILERS BEATING THE WILD 2-1 IN A SHOOTOUUUUUT!

What Is Going On?

So, twice this week the Thrashers have scored at least four times. Wow, right? Um, Tuesday night I heard some of the game on the radio. It seemed pretty early on they made it 4-2 against the Panthers. Long story time:
I didn't hear a lot of the game since I didn't drive a long distance, the first time I tuned in it was intermission, and the game was almost over the second time I tuned in, so I figured I'd catch the game when I got home. You know, the usual 10 o'clock game. Well, I got home at 8:32 to be precise and raced inside to turn on the Blackhawks game because I set up recording to end at 8:30, thinking that would be too much anyway since I expected to get home way way way before then. I watched the sad ending to that than decided to check out Thrashers Live. Whaddaya know, a blank screen. That only happens when the game has carried over past the scheduled time, but in this case the game had been over for quite some time. Confused, I switched over to some other 10pm games, and again - NOTHING! Irritated, I asked Dad why this might be and he said it's because we only had those channels for three months for being good customers or something... But, we've had them for more than 3 months, so WTF DirecTV? But later, around midnight, I don't know what led me there, but I tried the Thrashers game again, this time in the living room instead of the kitchen, and it was on! I went to my room and it was on there as well! Yesterday I told Dad about this and he said those channels don't work in his room either, so he thinks they just haven't shut them down for two of our boxes. That doesn't make sense to me :| So, today as I moved the car out of the driveway, I flipped through the NHL channels in the car and saw - NYI 1 ATL 4. Earlier I had checked to see if they were playing today but nothing came on, so again I ran inside the house and looked up games in the guide and found it on MSG. It was the FIRST airing! It was a marvelous feeling watching the Thrashers play LIVE.
I missed all of the first period but managed to catch an Islanders interviewer talking to Bergfors. (More on that later) I saw MacArthur and Artyukhin for the first time. They both did fantastic! Clarke scored in the first period (3) and Evgeny scored in the third (6). I really liked the Islanders commentators! I thought they were bordering on boring, but as time went on I really liked listening to them. They were SO kind and SO respectful to the Thrashers. One of the guys, I forget who... maybe the guy opposite of Howie? said he really liked Slater. Then they complimented Hainsey on stepping up into a leadership role since the departure of Kovalchuk. And interviewing Niclas kind of caught me off-guard! Usually interviewers stick to talking to their own players. Very nice, New York. You have gained my respect.
The final score was 6-3, by the way. A shaky third period, but a win is a win :) And the three stars were:

1st: NICLAS BERGFORS
2nd: EVGENY ARTYUKHIN
3rd: CLARKE MACARTHUR

Welcome to Blueland, new guys!

After that game I tested my luck with some other games. I caught the last 4 or 5 minutes plus OT & SO of the Bruins/Maple Leafs game. Shocking! After that game, which ended with the Bruins winning 3-2, I found the Coyotes/Avalance game. Caught the game at 1-1. It ended 3-1 when Wolski and Vrbata scored in the third period. Wolski scored with 23 seconds left, and then Vrbata scored an empty netter with ONE SECOND LEFT. What a fun, perplexing night.

I have yet to watch the Blackhawks/Oilers game from yesterday. I know the score already. Oh, my poor Oil babies :( I think they have won 4 of their last 30 games.