The big award show recap and other news

First of all, since I live in a tv free zone, thanks to my super super bud, aka my partner in crime in these parts for hooking me up with a streaming feed of the awards show in the first place so I could actually SEE the damn thing.

Secondly, if you are looking to fill dead time in the middle of the award show, instead of trotting out bands for a crappy tune or a mediocre bumping and grinding circus act (that alone was tres disappointing) or the gold v silver ducks clip, how about, oh I don't know, allowing the players to actually get more than a "gee, this was unexpected" and let them thank the people who got them there? It's a disgrace that the league thinks people need such entertainment. Maybe, JUST MAYBE, people tune in to see the players out of uniform and being their gracious and humble self (exception noted below). I did however dig Michael Rosenbaum (who looks nice with hair on his cue ball head) busting out the Zarley Zalapski reference.

Thirdly, how about instead of actors we don't care about and comedians who are not funny, lets have former players (other than Lucky Luc and the original Flower) hand out awards. Get Cam Neely out there. Bobby freaking Orr for Pete sake. Yeah, and like I said, give the players more than 30 seconds to accept and thank everyone in their past.

Fourthly, someone REALLY needs to tell Patrick Kane to look with your eyes and nto your hands. Could he look any more foolish?

Now, on to the actual awards

Calder: I had a buddy pulling for Matty Duchene but I'm pleased that Tyler Myers won it. I got to see a lot of his big ol' body playing for the slugs this past season and man, he was really stinkin' good. I think there is a reason he won it running away (and no, I don't think a west coast bias was in play either)

Selke: Say what you will, but there are not many forwards who play better defense than Pavel Datsyuk. If you doubt it, watch him in a game. There are times when he's not on the score board, but paying attention you'll know he controlled the game. Plus I think Kessler is a giant douchebag (Sorry Amy. Just saying it like it is).

Adams: Not a real shocker here honestly. Yes, all were very qualified to win the award, but Tippett totally turned a wayward team around making the Yotes a playoff team. Hats off to him (and also to Shane Doan for his awesome plug to the free agents out there and the Army bit was sorta nifty too).

Norris: All I can say is thank the gods above that Mike Green didn't win. I blame his association with the cavemen but I digress. I think that when you play on a run and gun team you really shouldn't be up for the best defensemen. Now if your team averages 1.2 goals a game and you are still a winning team, Norris votes SHOULD go your way. Green is not that awesome of a defenseman. Would I take him on my team? Sure, but I'd pair him with someone who could back up his ill timed pinches and flubbings of play.

Masterton: I don't know if this award can hit home until much later for most winners. You're praised for getting through something generally tragic and devastating in your life. Kudos to Jose Theodore for keeping it together for his acceptance speech. I know I didn't.

Now my favorite Vezina: Crunchy ruled the day. And rightfully so. Sure Marty had better numbers, but you take Marty out of the Devils line up and you still have a pretty good team. You take Miller out of the Sabres? You have a team trying to figure out if they want Taylor or Tyler. I think Tippet winning the Adams screwed Bryzgalov.

The Ted Lindsay award: I think it's about time the league did an award name change. And to honor Terrible Ted with this award just makes sense. Without him, there would be no 8 and 9 million dollar contracts. I'm just sorry Ovechkin won it.

Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a fan of Ovies. Period. I think he's a hot dog and show off and generally a fucknut who doesn't deserve the attention he gets. Is he talented? Of course he is. Ten of me don't match up to the talent he's got in his eye lid, but that's not what I'm talking about. I grew up watching guys like Stevie Yzerman and Joe Sakic. Those are the models I look to for how a hockey player should act. Ovie spits in the face of that image. Deeming yourself so important that you don't exit the stage like you're supposed to to get out your thanks even after the show went on is just annoying. Plus wear a damn tie. Maybe it's because of the work I do or maybe I'm just nuts, but I'd like to live in a world were composure and grace mean something. Apparently, nhl players don't agree.

Hart: Not to take anything from Henrik Sedin and his fine season, but I don't think he should have won. Call me a homer or call me anti-Canucks I don't really care. Sid had my vote all the way on this one. Pft, going into why is pointless at this time but still, I stick with my belief.

So much for the gala event.

Now for something completely different.

As seen on a headline (I just can't remember where) Let the dismantling of the cup champs begin. Who saw this one coming so soon? Dustin Byfuglien to Atlanta? Enjoy the heat Dustin. That's about all you can look forward to.

The Sharks, while letting their goal tender Nabby out to pasture (should have kept Kipper I guess)...they signed PattyMarleau and Joe Pavelski. A small part of me wanted to see Marleau leave SJ because I think no matter what they do in the playoffs (wait, what?) he will take the blame. Now that Rob Blake has retired, what will that team do? Give Barfight Joe Thornton the C? Not bloody likely. I'm thinking Boyle.

I really want training camps to open tomorrow.

I finally joined the rest of the western world (or so it would seem) and got a stupid Twitter account. But really, it's only for one thing and one thing only: July 1.

Hey that killed some serious time. I should go forth now and be productive or something.

Dog days

It looks like we've lost our steam here in these parts. Maybe a summer off will help both of us off. I've given up on hockey because the thought of three of the four teams left lifting the cup makes me physically ill and having been to Montreal, I'd like to see it still standing if they should pull it off.

I miss having a team to cheer for. And unlike my counterpart here, I can't abide by baseball. It's gonna be along summer for this hockey fan.

Before I go, I wanna send out birthday greetings to Friend of the Chuckers Megan. Honey, I hope you have a fantastic birthday today!

Also, not that they read it, my folks have been married for 44 years today. Congratulations to you Paula and Corbin. For a lot of years, I didn't think you'd make it this far. I'm glad you did.

On headshots, playoff push, fantasty hockey, and Letterman

The GMs are meeting in some warm secluded area right about now and all we hear about is "head shots: the top subject at the GMs meetings". Really? Like it's something now that needs to be addressed? There are two problems with discipline in the NHL. First off, the CBA only allows for a piddly player fine (I wanna say $2,500). To someone making millions of dollars, this is like cab fare (or a night in Calgary if you play in Edmonton). If fining is meant to be a deterrent, make it count. Don't just ask for a token remorse fee. Secondly, when on earth are we gonna get consistency? In international play, if you hit someone in the head, you are ejected. Granted in international play, it's generally a one game elimination situation so that has some heft. But if the NHL wants to get serious, make any shot to the head a ten game suspension. Period. No matter who you are or what line you play on. From Matt Cooke to Mike Richards to Alex Ovechkin. Make the hitter pay. While you are at it, fine the team. Maybe if teams stop playing headhunters, it will curb it. The players keep touting it's all about respect. Well until they start showing it, the league needs to come down hard. Why is this so hard to see?

Calgary one a huge game last night against the wings. Detroit just didn't seem like they wanted the two points. I still say this goes back to my Bertuzzi rule but I won't get into that here. Dare I say, Detroit needed this game and they let it slip away.

Atlanta didn't help their cause either (not to mention a Nashville win hurts Detroit that much more). For a team that was coasting along pretty well after trading their top start to the Devils, The Trash have taken a dive.

When I turned off my tv last night, Colorado was up 3-0 on the Canucks. This morning I read they blew two three goal leads en route to a 6-4 loss. I wonder if the Av just fell apart or did the Nucks realize there was a game to play.

Although it's meaningless for them, good showing of the Jackets against the Ducks. They didn't have Ricky or Juice and still puled it out. Play for pride boys.

Speaking of pride, mine is going down in flames. I've been stuck in second and third places in my fantasy teams for what seems like forever. I've pretty much given up on them but it would have been nice to finish with the top spot.

In closing, I wanna touch on the seemingly endless shit going Sidney Crosby's way for declining the top ten on Letterman. Sid owes nothing to the Letterman show. He was in town for a day game against the Rangers when they wanted him to tape it. They tape in the afternoon - was he supposed to ignore the job he's paid to do? I was talking to my hockey buddy here (who is a Pens fan) and when we talked about it, his comment was something along the lines of "The top ten is a joke. It just proves that Sid's not important enough to actually sit in the chair and have an interview. I'm glad he didn't go." Well said my friend. Well said.

Disappointment and medals

This is the face of disappointment. Andrej Sekera of the Slovak team (and also press box extraordinaire in Buffalo) sits on the ice after their game with Finland and wondered where it all went wrong. How heartbreaking it must be. To come all that way to finish 4th.

Now, mind you, he's got more athletic talent in his pinkie toe nail than I have in my whole body but 4th place in the Olympics is where you just don't want to be.

Then again, apparently neither is silver.

A friend of mine at work the other day summed it up like this: You get a bronze medal, you are grateful (you aren't the 4th place team); Gold, you are over the moon as you are world fracking champion. Silver....get you disappointment? Really?

A silver medal in the Olympics will be handed out in mens hockey today. Either Canada or the US will be disappointed by not winning the gold medal in the sport they center their lives around.

Having never been a runner up (please note, I've never been CLOSE to anything that resembles a runner up because I don't ever make it to the dance to begin with), I'm sure it's a huge bummer not having the pretty gold around your neck. But hopefully in a few days the silver medal team will be able to look back on today and realized they accomplished something only a handful of people in the world get to say they've done.

That being said, I don't know who I'm rooting for today. A part of me would LOVE to see the US team win - and really, it wouldn't be a miracle because they've been playing amazing hockey and the Cruchynater in net has been nothing short of breathtaking (And hot. No lie. Even if MSNBC can't tell him from a fake). I think, despite not being a huge fan of his, Brian Burke could use some good news away from his personal and professional life.

On the other hand, rare does the home team win gold in hockey. Bobby Lu could cement his do-no-wrong standing for LIFE if he backs his team to victory. plus I have a HUGE crush on Sidney Crosby and would sorta like to see him too

So, I'm rooting for both teams today. I want a good tight nail biting game for 60 minutes (but please no shootout - I hate the shootout). And no disappointment for silver!

The Kids Are Alright...

Who is this updating this blog? Yes, you've seen her someplace before....but where and when? It's true, I have been absent from here for too long and I'm sorry. I'm happy to be back with some stuff to say today.

So, I'm stopping by today for two reasons... the first is to welcome two new blogs on our blog roll, SportsSoundOff.net and SPORTSMONARCH.com; which are run by a real nice guy named Jason who stopped by to say hello to us. Go check them out, they're both chock full of all sorts of sports and have pictures which if you know me or my chica, we love! Thanks for the shout out Jason and welcome!

Secondly I want to be a total fangirl and squee over my baby boys aka the Everett Silvertips since I have been remiss in talking about them that much this season; which is not because they've been bad or anything, but real life has just been kinda just a little bit short of insane. But anyway, the entire roster of the Tips must have had some secret potion dumped into their New Year's Eve punch; because since the calendar turned back to January, they've been playing pretty damn well and have yet to drop a decision.

Along with the wins has been a lot of scoring from all 4 lines. Happily this is` including the group that has been dubbed the DHL line, which consists of Captain Zack Dailey, Assistant Captain Shane Harper; and the third 20 yr old Chris Langkow whose cousin Daymond plays for the Flames. The coaches had been trying to find a wing for Shane and Chris all season then someone got the bright idea to put Dails, who is a natural centerman, on the wing; and bam! Instant chemistry and it also got Zack off the schneid. He had been scoreless in over 20 games until then; and the first game that they played together, he scored two goals in the first period.

I know that this streak is not going to last forever; but after some really rough games in December, especially at home, we've been having such a good time watching the boys scoring and winning and who knows... maybe they might even have a chance to challenge Tri-Cities for the #1 spot not only in the division but the Western Conference.

One thing that has helped a lot in this winning streak is having both our #1 and 2 D-Men back from playing for Team Czech from World Juniors U-20 and Team West at the U-17s respectively; as well as our Associate coach Jay Varady also back from the World Juniors and sporting a shiny gold medal as video coach for Team USA. Several Tips have been in the tournament before and even had one boy win the gold a few years ago with Team Canada; but this one was just a little more exciting. Can I tell you how excited I was not only when John Carlson shot that final goal but they showed Jay during the medal ceremony? I love Canuckistan and lots of people who are from there; but they had had it enough and it was time for someone else to have a turn.

But anyway, that's about it for today from here in Hooterville, but I also wanted to post a picture of the victorious US squad. And if you look closely in the upper left hand corner, fourth from the left you will see a man with dark red hair, glasses and smiling like a mofo. That is our Jay who got a much deserved standing ovation his first game back. Congratulations boys and GO TIPS!

The kids and the gold

Way back in 1980, I was a 9 year old when the winter olympics took place. I was spending the night at Amy Johnston's house and her dad called us down to watch the US hockey game against Russia. It was a taped delay showing of the game that happened earlier but we didn't know (or probably would have cared). We were just two young girls seeing the home team win. We didn't know the sociatial or political ramifications of the win... we just hopped around the house cheering "USA!"

The other night I was aware that the World Junior Championship gold medal game was on but I watching a game on Center Ice. I turned it over at the start of the OT and stuck around. I fully admit that I'm not a follower of the junior boys like my counterpart here is but when it came to OT in the gold medal game, I was glued to the tv.

When the no-look shot went in for a goal and the US boys mobed each other, I felt like I was 9 again and I cheered with my dog "USA!" It was a thing to see.

Congratulations, boys. You done good.