Good day my friends! It's that time of year again... it's Super Bowl Sunday; and for most hockey fans, hopefully you watched the games that were on this morning because there ain't none on tonight. I, however, do like football a lot and will be watching the game. Not sure who I want to win though, because I'm still pissed about the Seahawks having their rings stolen five years ago against the Steeler; but the Packers are not only in the NFC, but they had Brett 'SwampThing' Farve for a million years. So, I'm sure I'll be watching mostly for Troy Polomalu and his glorious hair and that's about it. :)
In the spirit of Super Bowl XL and the two teams involved, I have two candidates for Boy of the Day, one from each state: David Steckel out of Milwaukee, WI and George Parros from Washington, PA.
Dave Steckel, drafted by the LA Kings as the 30th overall pick in 2001, played one season with the Team USA Developmental team and the US National team before heading to Ohio State University. Four years later, Dave joined the Manchester Monarchs where he spent one season. The next season, he signed with the Washington Capitals where he played a few games spent the rest of the season in Hershey. The next season, he made the big club and he's been centering the third line along with being a top member of their penalty kill.
George is a boy who combines brawn as well as brains as a forward for the Anaheim Ducks. Also drafted by the Kings as the 222nd overall pick in 1999, he graduated from Princeton University with a degree in economics and was voted 4th smartest professional athlete. He's also very involved with charities including growing his hair each season to be donated to Locks of Love; and his teammates love him so much, the Ducks petitioned to have his name added to the Cup in 2007 even though he hadn't met the game criteria.
Okay... I realize that it's now Saturday in most parts of the world and this country, but I happen to be in the Pacific time zone and Mickey says that I have a bit longer to slip this in. I would have had it up sooner, but I was roped into coding for about 4 hours today at work; then I was at the arena watching my baby boys destroy Calvin Pickard and the Seattle Thunderbirds 7-0. Comcast Arena is always filled to the rafters when Seattle is in town since it's just down the I-5 from Hooterville, and tonight's game was especially sweet. There were a bunch of fights, St. Calvin got pulled 4 and a half minutes into the third and there were cowbells up the yin yang. In fact my ears are still ringing and I've been home about 90 minutes.
Anyway, I digress... actually though, fighting is something that today's boy does and usually does well. Kevin Bieksa of the Vancouver Canucks is not only a really good defenseman, but he can also take care of himself. Our boy comes to us from Grimsby Ontario, which is on Lake Ontario near Niagra; and his father, Big Al who looks like a biker, works in the Ontario Federation of Labour. He is married to a lovely girl named Katie; and they have two adorable babies named Cole who is 3, and little Reese who is 1.
After playing in the Ontario Junior Hockey League, he went to Bowling Green University where he not only played all four years, but he graduated with his BA in Business and was an Academic All American twice. He was drafted by the Canucks with the 151st pick in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft; but he went back to school then signed an amateur tryout contract with the Moose in '04. After playing with the Moose for 107 games, he was finally called up by the big club and he's been there ever since. Right now, he serves as an alternate captain for away games, and there was a rumor or two that he was going to be named captain before Luongo was given the C. I am sure that with his leadership and drive, he would be a good captain someday in Vancouver.
So, without further adieu, some numminess from KevB...
Chillin' with Kes while he was rehabbing an injury...
With a Fin puppet for the Canucks Reading program...
Here we are with the new and improved BotD! Today's boy is Matt Duchene of the Colorado Avalanche. He is a big favorite of Chucker Megan and I have to admit that I have taken quite a liking to the boy.
Matt is a young Canadian lad who hails from Haliburton, Ontario; which also happens to be the hometown of Canucks prospect Cody Hodgson as well as retired players Ron Stackhouse and Bernie Nicholls.
After playing two seasons with the Brampton Battalion of the Ontario Hockey League, he was drafted third in the 2009 draft by the Avs. It was a dream come true for our boy because despite growing up in a Ontario tourist town, Matt was a Avs fanboy from the word go, especially for his idol Joe Sakic.
It didn't take long before the powers that be in Denver decided to keep him on the roster for the 2009-10 season after scoring an assist and a goal in his first month with the team. And since then, he's been a steady force centering his line; and last night, he scored his 100th career point which made him the youngest 100 point scorer in franchise history.
Anyway, I think Matty is going to have a wonderful career and I'll be watching him this weekend in the All-Star game.
And here are a few shots of the BotD...
A screencap from a post-draft interview showing his bedroom, and the clip of that interview. The bedroom shot is about the 5:00 mark...
Posing in his sweater from the CHL Top Prospects Game...
Draft night photoshoot where he's trying so hard to control the squee...
Good afternoon campers. In case you are new to the blog or just plum forgot, I am Amy. I am also known as the NW Chica as I am up here in the NW corner of the country. You know... the place where nothing is ever live except the Superbowl and the Oscars. ;)
So what's going on out here in Hooterville? Well, my beloved baby boys have had a very rough season; and as of last week, it got even rougher. The Tips started the season 4-0 and then for some unknown reason, they just went Sybil. Some nights they could beat the world, then others seemed like no one gave a shit and they were just killing time until the party that night. So, here we are in the last week of January with an 18-22-3-4 record, which is good for 43 points and last in the Western Conference. Add to that our second leading scorer along with one of the top 4 D-men were traded a few weeks ago as well as our head coach was out for most of the season after having to have open heart surgery. Oh, and in case that wasn't enough, our captain Landon Ferraro, aka Parm Junior and a Wang prospect, has a sports hernia and will be out until the beginning of March at the earliest. Yay! *sighs*
Anyway... I hope that the All Star Break gives everyone a good rest because my pro teams are doing pretty well, especially the boys to the north. I am pleasantly surprised but cautiously optimistic about the way that the Canucks have played this season. This is because I've been a fan for over 20 years and have seen them have delusions of grandeur then get kicked in the nards when they either implode the last two weeks of the season or get destroyed in the 1st or 2nd round. I wasn't around for the 1st Cup run in '82, but I was for '94; and this year's team has shades of that one which has me excited and guarded at the same time.
So, since this has turned out shorter than expected since I seem to have gone into brain freeze, I will leave you. However, tomorrow, I'm hoping to get started a feature that I wanted to do before, but it never really came to fruition on a regular basis. It's called Boy of the Day and this will be something that I hope to post every day. It's not only to get to know more of the lesser known employees of the National Hockey League, but to show our appreciation of the male form. I know we might have some male readers; but hey... this page is run by three women. We're gonna look at the players that play this game too. ;9 If you have some suggestions on who YOU would like to see, please leave a comment.
It's the 1st of July and not only is it Free Agent day, but it's the national holiday of the country just to the north of us and home to many of our favorite hockey boys. So, since Lisa already posted about Free Agency, I thought I would post Boy of the Day and one of my very favorite pictures that has both of our very favorite boys as well as a third boy that is also very very popular here at the Puck Chuck.
In their Team Canada togs from what Getty says is the 1996 season are Stevie Yzerman, Trevor Linden and Ronnie Francis.
So it's Monday again and I'm not too thrilled about it; other than Lisa and I are only working three days this week because I am heading east for the holiday weekend. Yes, it's true, we'll be blogging from the same time zone for the weekend; and I have a feeling we might need bail money at least once. Woot!
Just gonna be a quick update today since the real world is taking precedence this morning.
USA Hockey has announced the assistants for Vancouver and they are John Tortorella, formerly coach of the Rangers and Scott Gordon of the Islanders. I was surprised by Scott Gordon; but I'm gonna go with Burkie's decisions.
The draft went pretty much as planned; but a few surprises did come up and one of my boys was one of them. Cameron Abney, who wasn't even drafted in the bantam draft, was picked by KLowe and the boys in Edmonton; and as much as I love Cam, this one sort of blew me away. We did have another boy picked and that was Byron Froese who was selected by the Blackhawks in round 4. I think his play will work well there; and he'll have a friend there too in former Tip Kyle Beach. Two more of the boys are rumored to have invites to NHL camps, which is so great since I was sure they would have been drafted. Byron's linemates Kellan Tochkin and Tyler Maxwell are supposedly going to the Canucks and Kings rookie camps respectively; and I'm so proud of all four of the guys. And Lisa is very excited about BabyParm, aka Landon Ferraro, being selected by the Wings. She's a Wings fan and we both really like his dad Ray.
And I'm really hoping that my favorite Dutchman that is still playing, Jay Bouwmeester, won't be signing in Calgary; but if he does, one good thing that would come from that would be my Vancouver boys play the Flames several times a season more than the Panthers do. Oh, and I'm not happy about Pronger leaving the Ducks; but at I am very happy about getting Joffrey Lupul back as well as Luca Sbisa into the fold.
Anyway, I have to get something done with my actual job; so here is today's boy of the day. He is the captain of the Phoenix Coyotes and is a big favorite of the staff here at CaP. We call him the Doaner... Shane Doan!
Yes, it's true... it's here. Draft Day is one of the most exciting and anticipated days on the NHL calendar up there with the trade deadline and the last day of the regular season. It's watching to see if the so called experts are correct on their picks, which teams actually pick what they actually need rather than picking some guy so their division rival can't get him; and you get to see lots of nice boys all dressed up.
The biggest mystery of the night will be who the NY Islanders will select: John Tavares, the Canadian sniper forward who has been playing for the London Knights of the OHL or the very tall blond and Swedish defensman Victor Hedman, late of the Swedish hockey factory Modo. Who goes third could be a number of different boys, but from what I've read it could be Matt Duchene who plays with the Brampton Batallion, which is the club babyCanuck Cody Hodgson played with this last season; and I've also heard Evander Kane from the Vancouver Giants or Luke Schenn's brother Brayden who plays for the Brandon Wheat Kings. I haven't seen Matt, but I've seen a little of Brayden and a lot of Evander; and I think that in a couple of years they'll be good solid players for whoever picks them.
The Silvertips are going to be waiting with baited breath to see if any of the boys will be picked and if they're picked by who. One boy that should be drafted is Byron Froese from Manitoba. He was a rookie this last season who was placed on a line with two other rookies, Kellan Tochkin and Tyler Maxwell who also might be picked; and they went bananas for an offense that at times needed that spark. He got a notice by Team Canada and was invited to play at the U-18 World Championships; and did a wonderful job including a hat trick. Three other Tips, Cameron Abney and Shane Harper and goaltender Thomas Heemskerk, also have a chance of being selected; but who knows. Surprises do happen though... ask Dan Gendur. He wasn't even near the radar, but after a great season two years ago, he was selected by the Canucks at the very end of the 7th round; and after a very good first half with the Victoria Salmon Kings and a cup of coffee with the Moose, our pal Danny was selected to participate in the ECHL All Star game. So, stay tuned! :)
Funny video from Puck Daddy...
TSN is passing a rumor of a trade between Boston and the Leafs that has me saying BUH!? "Sources tell TSN the Bruins have offered restricted free agent forward Phil Kessel to Toronto in exchange for the Leaf defenceman and Toronto's No. 7 pick in the draft." Really? Are the PoohBears really that needy for defense that they're willing to give up Phil? Yikes!
But that is it for now from me... I'll be watching the replay of the first 10 or so picks during the replay on NHL Network tonight since it starts at 4pm my time; and hoping for my local boys in the morning.
Before I go though, we have the Boy of the Day; or actually Boys of the Day. As suggested by our good pal Lisa R., the last year we had the same kind of 1 vs. 2 battle was Alex Ovechkin and Geno Malkin in 2004...
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Hello there! It's Tuesday and the sun has decided to return to the Great Northwest and I am very excited about this. It's a good welcome for our new coach here in Everett and his press conference this afternoon. I just wish I could get downtown to see it; but I'm sure there will be a good write up in the Herald and from our good pal Su over at her great blogs, The Daily Su and her blog over at KING 5.
One thing I was surprised to see but not shocked about was that Chris Chelios will not be offered a contract by the Red Wings. I'm surprised that Kenny didn't do this earlier; but maybe he thought that Cheli would retire on his own since he's 500 years old. No such luck, so the Wings decided to cut his playing time; and that did nothing to deter him. So, they just made the decision for him. [Edit by Lisa The Wings have seen the light!!!] Supposedly Cheli thinks he wants to play another year; but I wonder which team would shell out the money for a player that is a shadow of his former self in regards to his talent when for the same or less money they could get a nice young guy who will actually play more than 20 games.
Haven't heard anything on the Hall of Fame list; but maybe that will be announced later this afternoon. Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille are all waiting by the phone along with guys like Brian Leetch, Alexander Mogilny and Dave Andreychuk. I would be shocked if the first three aren't there; but the other that I really hope to see go is Brian Leetch. In as much as I still hate him a little for helping take the Cup from my Trevor in '94, he did have a stellar career and helped bring hockey to a lot of American kids. I would love to see AlMo too; but he might not go this year.
Anyway, Lisa had some more to say about the Dany Heatley goings on; but I can't remember what she said so maybe she'll be by later to give her two pesos on that.
Today's Boy of the Day comes to us from the Patrick Division and he's a fine combination of brains, brawn and beauty; which is hard to find with a lot of fighters. Following a successful junior career with the Kitcher Rangers of the OHL, he went undrafted and was signed as a free agent by the New Jersey Devils in August 2005. Our boy first played with the Albany River Rats of the American Hockey League in September 2005; then went on to play the majority of the 2006–2007 season with the Lowell Devils before being a late season call-up to New Jersey. He's been there ever since; and was invited to play in the YoungStars game in Atlanta last year where he scored a goal and two assists. And who is this tall blondish and yummy boy? I present David Clarkson...
Good morning campers! Is this thing on? Anyway... it's another beautiful day in the neighbourhood and it's been made even better with the very strong rumour that Craig Hartsburg, lastly of the Ottawa Senators, has been offered a two year contract with my beloved Everett Silvertips. And I just got an email from Rob Ramsburgh of the Silvertips through Facebook for a press conference to announce the new head coach! Stay tuned for more news and maybe some pictures too! *squees and jumps for joy*
If this becomes true, I think this will be a good thing. As tough as things were with the big boys, I think that with the young guys he should do well. Prior to his stint with the Senators, Hartsburg spent five seasons as head coach of the OHL's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. And he was also assistant coach for Team Canada in 2006 at the World Juniors where they won and then won two more junior gold medals as head coach in 2007 and 2008. So, with his experience with juniors and our boys having another year under their belts, I think this season might just be a little happier than the last one.
And this is a good way to start this week, as it's Draft Week, so we'll be having some of our thoughts about some of the boys and where we think they might go. The Tips have a chance to have a few boys picked, but this season will probably break the first round streak so we'll just be watching for the fun on Friday night and we'll celebrate on Saturday somewheres around rounds 3 and 4. :)
We also wanted to introduce a new segment here at Chuck a Puck and it's called Boy of the Day. Since Lisa and I are connoisseurs of a large number of boys, we'd like to share some of our favorites with our three readers.
Today, we beg to put before you the handsome boy that we began to love quite a while ago when he was an Edmonton Oiler. He's tall, slim and has the most beautiful grey eyes; as well as being a bad ass defenseman who can decapitate with his elbow. He's been a bit banged up the last few years; but I'm hoping this next season he can stay unbroken so he can play for another gold medal as part of Team Canada. So, without further ado, here is the captain of the Saint Louis Blues, Mr. Eric Brewer.
Drop us a line atpuckchuck at gmail dot com and someone will get back to you as soon as we get around to it.... enjoy some hold music while you wait. la, la, la la, la.
