My New Favorite Player; Play of the Month, Yes?

Not really, but I love Johan even more after seeing this miraculous performance.

How does that even happen? I can see the helmet coming off, but his jersey trying to escape off his own back? That's unheard of! I'm sure this will be highlighted at the end of the season.

Oh yeah, the Thrashers won AGAIN! 4-3 against Philly :DDD

[edit: Now he's ultrafamous!]

OMG OMG OMG

Looking for my passport picture (from last year! Do they expire?) I found an envelope labled "scrapbook." I found a bunch of concert tickets, but behind all those was my golden ticket. Yes, I FOUND MY FIRST BLACKHAWKS GAME TICKET!!!
I was wondering if I even had it or if my Dad threw it away. My stoked scale was out of this world :DD Now I know who was on the team (EDDIE!), what team they were playing (COYOTES!), and who won (???)! 3-3 OT must mean they didn't care about breaking every tie back in the day...

All I remember was Wally gave Dad the tickets and boy were they great seats. 100 section, hello! I don't think the fans were quite as boisterous as they are today, but it was still so much fun. Fun even though I might have been deathly ill. And I remember the day after the game I drew the Indian head, colored it, and gave it to Wally as a thank you. I think my drawing skills were better at 10 than they are today. Wish I had copied that picture...


[edit: Todd White played for the Blackhawks. I did not know. He played one game in the 99/00 year, so chances are I didn't see him.]

Oh Hey There

hahahahaha My HR book quoted Wayne Gretzky. Apparently he's a strategic planner.

"I don't skate to where the puck is. I skate to where the puck is going to be."

For some reason I found mention of him to be hilarious.

How Do You Trust a Guy with Two Last Names?

It is no surprise the Blackhawks beat the Oilers tonight. Saturday night at the Canucks game, Steve said they should be able to beat the Oilers. I thought he might have jinxed it, but he's off the hook. Tonight Pat said, "The Hakws are second, the Oilers are last. Why even play? ..." :|
Going in to the game the Oilers have been outscored something like 75-38 and were/are last in the league in FOs at 47%. Horcoff & O'Sullivan are tied for second to last place in +/- with -23. Brind'Amour is last at -25. Aww! Do I even need to mention they have yet to win a game this year? They have only won once out of their last 19 games! Oh the agony!
I forgot Hemsky has been out of the lineup for a while because of his shoulder. Looking at the Oilers' injury report, Brule is out with the flu, Comrie's out with mono, Smid is out with a concussion, and Stone & Staios are out indefinitely. They've got all sorts of problems.

Before the game started, they showed a guy wearing a half Blackhawks/half Oilers jersey. Oh my god I had that same idea with the Blackhawks/Thrashers! (BTW I probably won't be attending that game for a number of reasons...) I was overjoyed at seeing that. I also realized I was wearing my Khabibulin shirt. (Not intentionally) I woke up a half hour late & it was laying out so I grabbed it!

Long story short, Toews scored 44 seconds in to the first, Brouwer and Byfuglien scored in the second, and Hossa scored in the third. In the after-game press conference, Coach pronounced Hossa "haw-suh." I think a coach would know the proper way to say everyone's name, therefore most people must be saying it wrong (it's the American way!)... yet I think he says Huet "hue-ay" and I've heard from the man himself it's "oo-et." Ok, I'm getting off track... I can admit I cheered when Pisani and Potulny scored. I didn't want this to be a whitewash game. Even though they didn't win, it's good to score a few. Oh yeah, and Hendry was back in the line up, though I didn't even know he was gone for, what, five games? Sorry, bud. Oh oh yeah! Eddie was back! The dynamic duo are together again ♥ They had so many laughs :)

Final score 4-2

NHL Standings

It's finally happened...

Chicago 35-13-4 (2nd)
Edmonton 16-28-6 (FML)
Atlanta 22-21-8 (24th)
Phoenix 29-18-5 (9th)


San Jose is one game ahead of Chicago, but with their five game win streak they are 4 points ahead of us.
Edmonton, Atlanta: Contrary to popular belief, the saying is not kicking names and taking ass. Ok?

Open Letter to SS & Coach Anderson

Dear Sportsouth,
As you know, I do not get first-time airings of hockey games. I guess it costs money for that special privilege. You can probably imagine my fury when I was watching the 10 o'clock airing and noticed minutes were getting cut out of the game to make sure the shootout ended at 12:30. That's "ok" if nothing's happening, but you cut out Tampa's goal. So, I wasn't dying to see it, but you can't just cut it out like it was nothing important! It's like leaving out a major plot point in a story! Oh, God forbid we should miss a second of the "glass is broken, let's fix it" action. Thrilling. That wasted a good handful of minutes. You know what, leave out the fighting if necessary. I'd much rather see another team score than watch two men dance around on ice. Thank you. That is all.

Dear Coach,
You ruined Kozlov's 250+ consecutive games streak. You bastard.

The Rest of the All-Star Classic

Wouldn't you know it? I woke up at 11:55 this morning! The rerun of the All-Star Classic started at 12. That gave me time to do nothing.
Since I missed the first period last night, today I got to see Salak drop-kick the puck out of the USA zone near the end of the period. It was sweet. (If he hadn't pulled it off, he would have looked like an ass.) "Best punter/assist of the night." Never seen anything like that. It might have been Sterling that scored after that wonderful punt? This was the 2nd assist by a goalie EVER in an AHL All-Star game. Fantastic!
There were NO PENALTIES. I liked that a lot. Everybody looked like they were having a good time, so really it's no surprise this was such a clean game. After the 9th goal was scored by PUSA, everybody was smiling. Yes, even the Canadians. You don't see that often in NHL games. And instead of the players beating themselves up after missing a shootout goal, most smiled with that omg did i srsly just miss? look on their face.
It's too bad I can't find video highlights :( They're probably out there, but sometimes I have poor search skills.

Sterling & Skille are All-Stars!

Imagine my surprise when I tuned in to the 2010 All-Stars game and saw not just Skille, but Skille and Sterling playing for [Planet] USA! Tuned in late so I didn't see Sterling's goals, but I did see him blow the shootout and cause Canada to win the game 10-9. It never should have gone to a shootout. Canada's 7th goal was off the stick of a USA player. Sloppy, really. Embarrassing. And the tying goal was scored with 18 seconds left in the 3rd. Despite that, I did like the goalie, Stalock. It's easier to spot good/bad qualities in goalies than in players, in my opinion. That's probably why so many people are "I ♥ goalies!" (Ok, I am one of those people.) There's no point to my goalie story, just something that crossed my mind.


This is such a darling photo of Brett ♥_♥ Jack's there too! Always so cheery.

Birthdays

Found this nice little site that has past and present NHL player birthdays. I like finding out who I share a birthday with, but I don't know any of these people:

Anderson, Tommy (D) 1934-1941
Campoli, Chris (D) 2005-2008
Dubinsky, Steve (C) 1993-2002
Finnigan, Frank (RW) 1923-1936
Harrison, Jim (C) 1968-1979
Hergesheimer, Phil (RW) 1939-1942
Kelly, Leonard (C) 1947-1966
Kinnear, Geordie (D) 1999-1999
MacGregor, Randy (F) 1981-1981
Pronovost, Andre (LW) 1956-1967
Skrastins, Karlis (D) 1998-2008
Summerhill, Bill (RW) 1937-1941

Hockey Town Shut Down; Afternoon Games Aren't So Bad Afterall

To begin with, I would have liked to have listened to WGN while watching the game on television (muted, of course), but the tv delay was too much. Instead, I had to put up with Pierre, Doc Emrick, and very little commentary from Eddie, or Edzo as Pierre loves to call him. *rollseyes* Doc was ok, I guess, but for some reason I have never liked Pierre all that much.
No Pat makes Eddie a sad boy.
This game versus Detroit was a wild one! Similar to their game against CBJ Saturday afternoon in that the opponents were matching goals. (Not to mention the fight with Versteeg and Eaves in the first period. That looked brutal!) Regulation ended 3-3. Overtime ended 3-3. Datsyuk was the first to go in the shootout and he made a sick shot. I don't mean that in a good way. He was slo-mo'ing it the whole way down the ice and chipped it so that it hit Niemi's shoulder and bounced back in to the net. Ugh. I was hoping they'd send Hossa in to the shootout since he had not scored a goal during regulation/OT & I like to see him disappoint DET fans, and sure enough he was the third shooter. He made his shot! Earlier in the game Pierre couldn't believe they were booing Hossa (like usual...) and Doc said, "Nothing lasts forever." Yes, thank you! Take that to heart, Red Wings fans!! Anyway, after 3 rounds the score was still tied. Sharp was the fourth shooter, and since Cleary went first and missed his goal, Sharp's puck-in-net was the game winner!
Now, I must admit Bertuzzi's spinorama snow shower on Niemi in the shootout was quite impressive, but since he playes for the Wings, I was also disgusted by it.
Final score 4-3


I was worried Saturday's game was going to go in to overtime. I had to work at 4 and the game was supposed to be finished around 3:30. It was 6-5 near the end, but the Blue Jackets seemed to be doing really well, so I thought they had it in them to tie it up 6-6. Luckily that didn't happen and the Blackhawks are off to a good start with their 8 game road trip.
Final score 6-5

Thursday Night Shutouts

Chicago won.
Phoenix won.
Atlanta lost.
Edmonton lost.

Shutouts
Toronto shut out Philadelphia. (Toskala's first of season!)
Ottowa shut out New York Rangers. (What? Really?!!)
St. Louis shut out Minnesota.
Los Angeles shut out Anaheim.
Chicago shut out Columbus.

Wow, what a great good night! Chicago is back on top in the Western conference with 47 games and 68 points. Huet made his 24th career shut out. Pretty good, pretty good. Now we have two "early morning" weekend games. I look forward to getting nothing done :|
As for Atlanta, I thought Heberg would be in the net. I thought he and Pavelec had a nice every-other-game rotation going on. I wasn't sure they were at home because every time the Sabres scored the place errupted in cheers. (I think it was EJ that said the same thing) It was, in fact, a home game, but it was filled with a shitton of Buffalo fans.
I only caught the end of both the Edmonton and the Phoenix games. I am so glad to see Phoenix filling their seats. (I think/hope most of them were Coyotes fans!) Winnik scored a goal at the same time he got sticked in the face. It looked like Fraser, from the Devils, might have poked it in, but upon further review, Winnik's stick actually went underneath Fraser's and he is the one that poked it in. (@5:03) The announcers made it sound like Winnik didn't touch it, but I'm pretty sure he did. Saturday is Shane Doan bobblehead night. (I want!) Nothing news-worthy from the Oilers. Finally got to see Fleury for a little bit though!

The Wall is Down

Oh. Dear. God.
Nikolai is having back surgery. TODAY! My face is currently frozen as such:

Dad said, "It's probably a good thing the Blackhawks got rid of him before this."
My response:


I want to send him a "get well soon" card.

Best Fight of the Season

Cheech, Noooo!

Kind of a shakey beginning to the Thrashers/Sens game. Several penalties slowed the pace of the game, but the Thrashers still managed to score three goals. I know, right?!! Boulton got his first PPG. I was upset Schubert got a game misconduct for boarding Cheechoo. Again, every time I look forward to seeing a certain player, they are not there. Well, in this case, taken down and out. Cheech did come back in the 2nd period though. Oh goody.
More goals came in the second. None of them made by Senators! I know, right?!! More fights, too. Er, only one actually. A pretty good one between Boulton and Neil. I'd say Boulton won. Both received 5 minute penalties.
Third saw some more goals from the guys in blue. I KNOW, RIGHT?!! Also saw another game misconduct. Guess who! Boulton & Neil.

While watching the game I had to ask: Is Hainsey an alternate/assistant captain whenever he feels like it? Sometimes I see an "A" and sometimes I do not. I also asked: Did Matt pronounce Pavelec correctly one time during the 2nd intermission?! My chair squeaked right as he said it, so I couldn't be sure. haha

Thrashers were hot tonight. Even Pavelec got a point. His first NHL point!
Final score 6-1


Stars of the game were Pavelec, Boulton, & Thorburn; 1,2,3.

Not so hot?
'Yotes lost 1-3 to the Sharks.
Oil's lost 3-5 to the Preds.

The Great Debate; To Go or Not to Go

The idea of going to the CHI/ATL game has been fluttering around in my head these last couple of months. I could spare some change for the 300 level seats, but might as well save that money and watch the game at home where I can actually see the puck and names/#s. I could shell out $200+ for two 200 level seats, but who would go? Nobody I associate with really cares for hockey. Brittany has some interest, but she's very unreliable, thus all of our plans fall through. Amy likes hockey more than Brittany, but she's always working. Dad is my only option, really, but he wouldn't give me a yes/no until like, the day before. I can't wait that much longer. I wouldn't mind going by myself (cheap!), but so many things could go wrong. Getting lost, for example. That is my weakness. I wish I was more decisive.

Adorable Meter Through the Roof!

These couldn't wait any longer! Well, not that I've had them for a while; I found them before the crack of dawn Sunday morning. teehee They are just too cute! Anyone who has babies half as cute as this should be considered blessed.







And now he's a pizza boy. Aw.

Ellis Lives in the Net

NASHVILLE—After reporters and fans observed a number of personal belongings accumulating around the south goal in Nashville's Sommet Center, members of the Predators organization acknowledged Tuesday that goaltender Dan Ellis has been residing in the net since signing as a free agent last June.

"One day it just occurred to me that Dan would never leave the arena with the rest of the team after practice, even though he got along great with everyone," team captain Jason Arnott said, adding that he did not suspect anything even though Ellis was always the first player on the ice each day. "Before long, a pillow and blankets appeared, shoved into the corner of the goal, but I didn't put two and two together until the rink began to get really musty and the crease started to fill up with socks and cans and crumpled up chip bags."

Arnott said that shortly after he realized Ellis was living in the net, he noticed the 27-year-old goalie was only consuming hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, beer, and soda purchased from vendors in the stands. Recently, Ellis' teammates have left non-perishable canned goods outside his net.

"It was really heart-wrenching," Arnott said. "Watching that poor guy climb into the stands between the second and third periods, buying dozens of hot dogs and filling up his helmet with popcorn so he would have enough to last a couple days. Fans loved it, though."

Predators coach Barry Trotz said he had no intention of asking Ellis to move out of the net, considering the goalie led the NHL in save percentage with .991, stopped 177of 182 shots in the final five games, and had six shutouts on days when the team skipped warm-up slap-shot drills in order to let him sleep in.

According to team sources, the netminder's housing situation created a great deal of curiosity amongst the Predators, prompting the intensely private Ellis to hang long curtains along the crossbar of goal frame. In addition to protecting Ellis' belongings from thieves, the drapes also provide the goaltender, who played 2,228 minutes this season, with a way to occasionally of seclude himself from the 17,000 fans in attendance.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman stressed that the integrity of the game was at stake and therefore maintained that he would not enact any rule changes despite numerous complaints from opposing goalies claiming Ellis' goal area was "too disgusting to defend" when the teams switched sides each period.

"If I were to prohibit Dan Ellis from dwelling in the net, it would directly interfere with his ability to perform," Bettman said, insisting he would not tamper with one of the most sacred rules of hockey. "It's one of the oldest traditions of our sport that anything behind the goal line is his business."

While Predators defenseman Ryan Suter admitted that the large spreading stains on and even in the ice around the goalie area baffled and disturbed him, he quickly pointed out that he was impressed by Ellis' defensive tenacity and his uncanny ability to inform him where he should position himself.

"Dan really knows every single square inch of that ice," Suter said, adding that he too might try sleeping in his skates. "He was always screaming 'Get out of the backyard! Go over there around the recycling bin! Set up there, where my bike is parked!' and I end up exactly where I need to be to make a play."

Suter recalled an incident that occurred during the Predators warm-ups before their game against the Blackhawks on March 22, when an errant puck reportedly slipped past Ellis and cracked the housing of the goaltender's television set. According to Suter, Ellis played with such tenacity over the next eight days that he stopped 147 consecutive shots and would not allow players from either team within 12 feet of the goal.

Although no one in the Predators organization has a definitive theory as to why Ellis moved into the team's net, there has been growing speculation that when he joined the team he did not feel that he could find a comparable apartment in the greater Nashville area.

Yes, I am just now finding this. I heard about it a couple months ago and finally decided to find it. There are lots of good hockey stories at The Onion.

Even Though the Hawks Can't Win, Maybe I Can Win Something From Their New Scratch-Off Tickets

hahahahaha Ice was slippery tonight! Seemed like for the first 20 minutes every Duck slipped and fell by the boards. It made me think about that STL game at the beginning of the season where damn near every Blue fell after one of the faceoffs. I need to find a video of that since the one I favorited on youtube got deleted. Anyway, not a great weekend. For any of my teams! (Phoenix was the only other team to play but I did not see their game. They lost to the Islanders 4-5)
Keith was the only one to score tonight and it was a PPG. Probably only scored because Pat said "shutout" a great number of times! And I cannot say this enough- Empty nets are NO GOOD. I knew somebody would score at the last second. At least there were not a whole lot of penalties, but holy crap, the SOG were 12 for ANA and 43 for CHI.
I liked [I think it was]Judd's[?] discussion with John Madden after the game. It sounded like he had a lot of fun with the Devils, making jokes and saying things that didn't make sense to confuse the other players, i.e. bear trap! with [one particular player]. I hope he really is enjoying his time in Chicago and he stays with them.
Final score 1-3


As for Saturday's game in Minnesota? There's no excuse for that. Up 4-1 and then losing? What the hell, guys? I thought they'd clinch it in the shootout. I believe two Wilds lost the grip on the puck and didn't have a scoring chance. Ugh.
Final score 5-6



At least the Wolves won their game! 3-2 in overtime against the Marlies.

Fancy Anssi Not So Fancy After All

Late night angst posts could be compared to a drunk... post. (See? I already sound stupid) Things will probably be said that will be regretted later (or not even understood), unnecessary swearing may insue, and a headache isn't too far off.

With only one other person working tonight, I got on their ass to get their shit done so we'd be out of there by 10:02; None of that 10:28 crap. I hauled ass and did just about everything and we managed to get out at 10:03. As soon as I got my car door shut I was already speeding home. And for what? TO WATCH THE THRASHERS LOSE LIKE THEY HAVE NEVER LOST BEFORE! (I don't know if that's a true fact or not, but it was godawful nonetheless.) I knew in my heart the Thrashers didn't stand a chance against the Capitals, but at the same time they did win their last game, so I thought some of that good fortune would carry over. That silver lining was very dim and quickly vanished. However, I was surprised to see this wasn't the Ovechkin Show. He didn't score a goal and only had one or two assists... maybe. That was the only surprise. It was no surprise we saw both goalies. It was no surprise Kovalchuk missed his shots and got pissy. It was no surprise Peverley got robbed again and again. (That got old fast)

There's all this talk about the problems with the goaltending, but what the hell are the guys skating around doing to help? Um, missing passes, passing to the boards, and passing to opposing players is not the way to get the job done. Being sent to the penalty box for dopey calls can be avoided. I have to wonder if this team has any chemistry at all, and more importantly I have to wonder what the hell John Anderson is doing and what he's going to do, if he does anything at all, about changing this in to a winning team. He said, "They're gonna have to go or they're not gonna play" when asked about what the players need to do to win the game... or something like that. Well, it seemed like they were trying at first, then they just faded away. The game should have ended after the 6th goal. I swear, if I was on that team I would have skated off before the end of 60 minutes. If I was the goalie I would have said fuck it and left the players to defend their own damn net. A time-out would have been nice, at the very least. 8 goals? Seriously? That's too fucking many!

I guess in the end none of this should be shocking because I hear they were never really a good franchise. Period. As a first time watcher, I had no idea. I am beginning to see that now. I will continue to watch though 'cause I really do love them. They stole my heart the first time I saw them (Oct. 20th, for the records) and, well, it's like reading a book. I'm not the kind of person that can start a book and not finish it, even if it isn't all that interesting. I mean, I have books I started years ago but I do plan on finishing them! So, what I am saying is: I can't stop watching them now. It just isn't possible. I'll probably watch them next season and the season after because they are capable of doing some pretty incredible things and I don't want to miss those things when they happen, but I am getting fed up with not seeing a win from them and I don't really know how much more...heartbreak I can take.



Finally an opportunity to use this picture:




By the way, I had Matt & Darren mixed up this whole time. Pfft.
And I don't even remember who scored the lone goal.

Another Birthday & All I Got Was the Stinkeye From Chris Thorburn

I'M AWAKE!

Nearly missed tying the longest losing streak in franchise history. As somebody said in the audience about tonight's win: "'Bout damn time!"
I missed part of the third due to "time constraints." (Show a bit a lot less Natalie & there wouldn't be a problem) I don't know exactly how much I missed, but I think it was borderline a lot. I don't care though, I was just glad they showed part of OT and the shootout. I thought for sure Peverley would make his shot because he had so many great opportunities earlier in the game; You know, a bit of revenge. But, no, the puck got away from him before he could shoot. I think Little and Kozlov scored their goals though. Yes, that is correct.
But how did they get to the shootout? Slater's goal tying it 1-1, of course! He's quickly becoming my favorite player. Well, I love anybody named Slater... Could mean trouble since I've been seriously thinking about buying a Hainsey shirt. haha 30 some dollars is pretty pricey for a t-shirt, so I gotta make sure I'm getting the right one ;)

Final score 2-1

Slater, Hedberg, and Bogosian got the 1st,2nd,3rd stars of the game, respectively.

I might as well discuss this now because I've been holding it off for far too long! Kari's been practicing as of late <:O I've never seen the guy play, so I really have nothing against him, but if he comes back 100% healthy, that means less Moose/Pavs time- probably even less OP time because he's like the #3, right? -and that is very disappointing. He might be what the team needs to start winning more games, but less M/P time? Ehhhhhhhhhh :\ I felt bad about my thoughts when I first saw him practice... I don't want somebody missing out on what they love most, but again- less backup goalies time = X(



ps-Happy [belated] birthday to Brashear (idk) and Sopel (yay!)!

It's Time to Quite Expecting a Shutout Every Time Niemi's Around

Hjalmarsson AND Lucic were back in the lineup tonight! Lu wasn't due back 'til Saturday, but screw what the doctors say, right? (Heh, as far as I know they said it was ok)

Speaking of two's, Keith scored 2 goals and the game was tied 2-2 at the end of the first thanks to Keith & Kopecky. Yes, Kopecky strikes again. Also, Kane now has had a point in 10 consecutive games! Another game winner. How many is that now?

At first I thought the guys made a bet before the game to see who had the guts to take Chara down. In the end it was only Toews and Sharp who brought him to the ice. I like to imagine him as being untouchable for obvious reasons, but in reality he is probably a sweetie and doesn't care about body slamming people for the heck of it.

One more thing: Eddie was pronouncing Satan "Shuh-tan" whereas I've been saying "Suh-tan." (Not like I've talked about him more than a couple of times...) Who's right?

That is all.

Final score 5-2


Oh my God! Their Saturday game against the Wild will actually be televised! On top of that, it looks like the next radio game will be at the end of March.

Sharks and Blues!

No, I was not looking forward to the game, I only turned to it because Dad mentioned it was on. Almost Heroes? Hockey? Hockey won. I was gunnin' for the Sharks, but I use the term lightly ;P
I think it was in the third when McDonald knocked Nabokov out of the crease and Nabs couldn't get back in, so a couple of the players took his place, but to no avail. There was also a moment where they could not cut to commercial because of a fight behind the... Blues net?
The Janssen/Shelley fight was decent. A minute half or close to it. Not too many good hits, but the length of time was commendable I s'pose.
Heatley scored the game winner in OT!
Final score 2-1
lmao Nabby was in every single picture
Don Smith ♥ Nabby?

December Stars

Second Star:

Bryzgalov posted an 8-2-3 record with a 1.82 goals-against average, .939 save percentage and two shutouts, helping the Coyotes finish the month in second place in the Pacific Division and fourth in the Western Conference. Bryzgalov allowed two or fewer goals in 10 of 13 starts, highlighted by a season-high 37 saves in a 2-1 win over the Western Conference-leading San Jose Sharks Dec. 12 and shutout victories over the Minnesota Wild (28 saves, Dec. 7) and Anaheim Ducks (21 saves, Dec. 23). Named to the Russian Olympic Team Dec. 25, Bryzgalov ranks among NHL goaltending leaders in shutouts (T-first, five), goals-against average (third, 2.03), save percentage (fourth, .927) and victories (T-fourth, 22-11-4).

Third Star:

Kane was the leading scorer on the red-hot Blackhawks with 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists), helping the club post an 11-4-0 record. The 21-year-old Buffalo native tallied points in 13 of 15 games, including a pair of six-game streaks. He notched the game-winning goal in victories over the Detroit Red Wings (3-0, Dec. 23) and Nashville Predators (4-1, Dec. 26 and 5-4, Dec. 27), becoming the first Blackhawks player with game-winners in three consecutive games since Murray Craven accomplished the feat from Dec. 26-29, 1995. Leading his club in goals (17) and points (48), Kane has notched points in eight consecutive games, in 14 of his past 15 and 26 of his past 30. He was selected to represent the United States at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games on Jan. 1.

(Henrik Sedin got the First star)

Play Like You Don't Have a Goalie

Caught the Coyotes/Oilers game in the middle of period two. I didn't care who won, I was just happy to see both of them together. When I came in it was 3-2 in favor of the 'Yotes. Must have come in right after Hanzal's goal... It was a pretty good game as the teams fought tirelessly for two points. When the score was 4-2, Jovanovski scored a goal that didn't count because he was in the crease. His skates did not appear to be in the blue, but none-the-less that call stood. The announcers were saying maybe it was goalie interference; He prevented Deslauriers from being able to play the puck or something... I don't remember what they said. That wouldn't be the case because there have been good goals with 6 or 7 players crowding the net and blocking the goalie, and in this case there was only Jovo and he wasn't in the crease. It seemed ok because they were ahead, but the Oilers quickly caught up to tie the game at the end of regulation 4-4. Doan scored in the overtime. OT was fantastic. They were on a powerplay thanks to Fernando "Ulcerative colitis almost ended my career in hockey" Pisani. (I can't look at him without thinking about that commercial) They were patient with the puck, passing it back and forth, waiting for the right opportunity. Obviously that really paid off and in the end I guess I was glad to see them win. They have a chance for bigger things. Oilers... do not. I am waiting for the Hurricanes to take 29th place away from them.
Final score 5-4

Wake Me Up When the Thrashers Win

I would weep like a widow, but even at 12:30 I am still wearing makeup and don't wanna be rubbing mascara all over my face.
I don't even know where to begin... Uhh, Fleury wasn't in net, it was Johnson. I like Fleury and was looking forward to seeing him play. Seems whenever I look forward to seeing someone play that I don't normally see, they are not in the game. Doesn't matter, I could hardly watch the game after the start of the second period. I mean, Slater tied it up at 17:03, but it went down hill after that. At a 90 degree angle. He scored one more for a total of three goals this whole season. That was it. Nothing else happened for the Thrashers. I was getting so mad by the end of the third... What the hell were they doing?! Half-assed passes? What is that about? Kane threw the puck behind him without looking, practically giving it to a Penguin player S.W.A.K, [someone else] shot the puck down the length of the ice instead of to wide open players... Oh, and then Kovy took out Fedotenko. Smashed right into the net with a minute left. The whole game was ridiculous and stupid.
HOWEVER, I was surprised and glad to see BOTH intermissions. They talked to Johan about his time with the Penguins and I learned Army and Thor were also Pens. You know, going into the game I thought ATL would do ok because the Pens were on a 5 game losing streak and are, what, last in PPs?
*facepalm*

United States Olympic Roster

I don't know why I didn't post this sooner.

Speaking of the United States, they beat Canada in the WJC for the gold medal 6-5 in overtime. I'm assuming they were playing during the CHI/MIN game, otherwise I would have watched it. I'm sure there will be a rerun soon enough :)
(Guess I could have watched it on mute... naw, that would have been distracting)

Damn You, Versus

Another Wild game, another radio game. Why don't they want me to see the Wild play? They will meet the Blackhawks two more times, and if they are both radio games, I will be upset.
Before the game started, it was mentioned the Wild lost 10 of their first 15 games! No wonder they are 19th in the league. Yikes. Havy's doing ok with 5 goals and nearly a dozen assists. As for their goalie, Harding, he is a right-glove catcher, and to mix in some surfing lingo, he could be considered a goofy-hander ;p Apparently that throws off a lot of players since most tenders catch lefty.
It was also mentioned Hendry is the only Blackhawks player yet to score a goal. His last goal was in the 07-08 season and it was against the Red Wings. I think they said that was his one and only NHL goal, as a matter of fact. I wish he would score more!
When it comes to power plays, Chicago is ranked 9th in the league and I forgot what they said about the Wild, but they are nowhere near that. (edit: They are ranked 22nd) Chicago had 1-4 PPGs in their previous game against MIN. Ditto tonight.

Latendresse scored the first goal at 13:52. I had to look up his name because I had no clue what the announcers were saying. About 4 minutes later Madden scored his 9th of the season, which also goes for his 4th goal in the last six games. Keith had the assist, and apparently he had 31 assists coming into the game and is the average time on ice leader. Not too shabby :)

The second period sounded pretty exciting. There was lots of yelling and "great save!" moments. Hossa was the only person to score and that was at 12:38. Like Madden, that was his 9th of the season. I guess he's gone back to using his "old" equipment, but I don't know when he did that nor do I know how new his other stuff was. Perhaps he started using his old stuff in their last game where he scored two goals? The announcers listed a bunch of stats I couldn't write down because I was too busy knitting (teehee), but they all sounded pretty darn good. NHL.com says they are #1 in the +/- rating at +33. They are [teetering between 1 and] #2 in PKs at 86.9% - only letting in 6 of 72 pucks, right below Boston. #4 in leading after the first period at 16 wins and 3 losses.

Kane and Hossa brought the third period home, Kane with a PPG and Hossa with his second goal of the game on his own rebound (two games/two goals now). Clutterbuck got the puck in the net as well, but he kicked it so it didn't count. They had to review it, but Troy called it right away, so Judd said, "Forget Toronto, ask Troy!"

The Blackhawks are the first team to 30 wins :DD
Hossa, Campbell, and Versteeg were the 1,2, & 3 stars of the game. I thought Latendresse would get a star...

Final score 4-1



January 17th, their game against Detroit is at 11:30AM!

NHL Standings

Ooooh Oilers. Thrashers. @#$%^&*(!@?.|&asdfghjkl!?!!



Chicago 29-10-3 (1st)
Edmonton 16-22-4 (29th)
Atlanta 18-17-6 (20th)
Phoenix 25-14-4 (6th)

Hossa Bobblehead Night!

This bobblehead night played out better than the Kane bobblehead night did. Hossa stayed for the whole 60 minutes AND scored two goals in a row in the third period! He was named the first star of the game. Following was Brouwer and Niemi. Brouwer scored the second goal in the second period. Niemi almost had his hundredth shutout, but Nokelainen scored at 3:21 in the third. I didn't feel so bad about missing another shutout because Brookbank scored at 2:02. It's less of a punch to the heart when there are two goals instead of a single one.
Versteeg scored the first goal in the second. Period number one was scoreless. Steeg and Brouw were the only two to score in the second. Toews was the other person to score in the third.
Glad to see Sopel sticking up for Niemi when he was trapped outside the net. I was so scared; I couldn't see the puck! Apparently there is a "no touch zone" behind the net, so Niemi was waiting for the puck to cross into the "ok, touch all you want" zone, and right as the puck crossed into safe territory, an Anaheim player rushed him in behind the net. So... yeah.
With this game, Niemi is 10-2-1.
And Brouwer is at a Blackhawks career high of 11 goals. Hossa is currently at 8. My 31 goals [for Hossa] prediction should be scratched off the board.
Final score 5-2

Have I Told You I Love You Lately?

I had accidently seen the score before watching the game this morning, so the outcome was no surprise. What was surprising, however, was the fact Conklin never got pulled. Eddie said he should have been pulled after the first two goals because he was making some sloppy saves. I didn't think he needed to be pulled yet because it doesn't matter how you make the save, just so long as you make the save! After the 4th goal though... 5th at the latest, he should have been gone. What does Conklin staying in say about the Blues backup netminder?

It wasn't enough that Kopecky scored the first goal, he scored two with a chance at a hattrick. Same went for Sharp who had due vengence for that brutal open ice hit that was declared legal. Because of that hit, Barker received a 7 minute penalty + a game misconduct for going after Weaver, the guy who flattened Sharp. Yes, it was a very physical game which caused numerous penalties. I believe Pat said at the beginning of the game the Blackhawks only had 14 fighting penalties. The number went up after tonight, but I think most of the instigators came from the Blues side. There was one point where someone tripped Hossa, he went to get in the guy's face, noticed a penalty was being called, and decided to skate away to avoid a 4 on 4 situation. Good for him! I was so proud!
The worst part of the game was not the fight involving Toews, unfortunately (It was borderline embarrassing), it was at the end of the game when Tkachuk took a puck to the face. He put the puck in the net, but some teeth probably made their way into the net as well. Reports say he underwent oral surgery and they say his injury could have been much worse :\ I hate to use the word "like" in discussing the situation, but I did like how when Tkachuk went down, Huet, who was already down, forgot all about the puck and focused on the man that had practically fallen into his lap. Hendry also forgot about the puck and bent over to see if the Blues player was alright. Then, noticing he was not at all ok, Fraser and Huet (along with some others from both teams) started waving for the medical team. I don't know... I just like when players show concern. I have seen players who see an injured person and just skate away. Boo >:| So, Blackhawks, I love you. Not only for caring for other human beings, but also for playing so well ;D

Final score 6-3

Video highlights

Let's Get Drunk

Thrashers won 3 games at the beginning of December. Oilers won 5 at the beginning as well. Everything for the past couple of weeks has been L. L. L. L. Haven't caught an Oilers game in a while, but I have been keeping up with the Thrashers. I thought for sure they were going to win last night. I don't even remember who they played. Oh yeah, Sabres. Uuuuugh. Winter depression might be setting in riiiight... abooout... NOW.
_________

I was surprised when the Blackhawks scored 5 goals against Brodeur the other night! One, sure, but FIVE?! Must be because the Devils had a back-back game.
I don't know why Marty hasn't been my favorite goalie forever. Oh yeah, it's because I never paid attention to anything that came from the East ;).

BRUINS WIN!

The first time a home team has won the Winter Classic :))) I couldn't be happier. The first OT win! The first game was a shootout, the second was a full 60 minutes, and now an overtime. What could happen next year?! I already cannot wait.
I really don't know what to say other than I thoroughly enjoyed the game. Glad the weather was excellent and the fact there was only one real fight. My predictions of the game were sorely inaccurate. I thought Boston would score first. WRONG. I thought Savard would score first for Boston with an assist from Chara. WRONG. (I don't even think they share the same line) I thought Pronger would score first for Philadelphia. WRONG. I thought the final score would be 3-1. WRONG WRONG WRONG! (I actually said 2-1 was also a possible ending, so I should give myself half credit for that one;)
The goal made by the Flyers should not have happened. If Thomas focused more on the puck than on pushing Hartnell out of the way, that puck never would have gone in. At the same time I am ok with it. Yes, because the Bruins still won, but also because it was Syvret's first goal as a NHL player. I love seeing players score their first professional goal. Plus, it would have sucked to not score one goal in this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Final score -


Happy new year.

Recap & photos