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!