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!

Roasting Heatley

Lemme first get this out. I do not like Dany Heatley (or the Sens but that's a different post for a different time). I think the biggest reason is that if you kill someone, you should be punished a little more than bad dreams. Now that is out of the way, it looks like I'm not alone in my "dislike" stance. There were three articles over at Slam this weekend echoing my thoughts on the current situation:

No. 15 is your classic finger-pointer. It’s never his fault. His point totals have dropped by 33 in the last two seasons. He’s gone from being a 50-goal scorer to a 39-goal scorer. Why? Gotta be Cory Clouston. Gotta be that he’s playing two or three minutes less per game, and only half of power plays. It’s not Dany Boy.

In his own words, Dany Heatley has confirmed there are no hidden plots and that he is, indeed, the validated self-serving selfish jerk, authenticated me-me-me man with the astonishing sense of entitlement, certified coach killer and confirmed cancer he's been painted to be.

No longer known chiefly for his efforts with Team Canada or the fact he's a two-time 50-goal scorer who deserves to be one of the NHL's highest paid snipers, Heatley is now seen by the public as the poster boy for selfish athletes.

Yes, they are all bashing Heatley for his public trade debacle but you know what? All of what they say is true. I expect this sort of stuff from baseball or basketball (or heck even football), but unless your name is Keith Tkachuk, hockey players just don't do this sort of thing (and before anyone jumps on me, Tkachuk, not once but several times held out on a signed contract to have it re-worked. I'm sure there are others, but sue me, it's early and my morning started off not by going to physical therapy like I was supposed to, but calling maintenance because my stupid front door wouldn't lock from the outside).

Heatley wants people to know that he's not a bad guy, he's just in a bad spot. He makes it clear that this is nothing like the bad spot he was in while he played in Atlanta, this time it's totally different. What I think Heatley fails to understand is that Atlanta, though it still irritated many a hockey fan, was at least mildly understandable.

Ottawa, where he makes the most on the team, is a club that signed him in good faith to play for a boat load of money for several years. Now he wants out. Over playing time. This just smacks of Allen Iverson asking why practice was so important.

Can you imagine anyone in the Sens room wanting to see him pull on the same sweater? Bitching about playing time and your 'diminished role' on a team will win you no favors.

A few years ago, I heard the very quotable Brendan Shanahan say in jest, "There is no I in team but there is an M and a E."

Thanks Heatley for just making that statement seem more and more like the truth.

Hi there old friend

Here is my brief recap of the weekend hockey:
1. Chicago scored lots of goals. Vancouver did not.
2. Marc-Andre let in a softie and I still don't like the Craps.
3. I should have stuck to my "no watching OT games in the playoffs" rule.
4. Never underestimate a team with Ronnie Francis behind the net.

Today, I'm looking at the NHL annual award presentations. There are a lot that I don't agree with but I'm gonna just take a look at a few.

Jack Adams award (coach of the year). Nominated are Todd McLellan, Claude Julien, and Andy Murray. I like Todd I really do. I thought he took a talented team and went far with it. Same goes for Claude (who I don't have a personal preference for one way or the other). This award has to go to Andy Murray. Was there a coach out there who did more with less? No. Getting the Blues to 6th in the West was no fluke. This cat can coach.

Bill Masterton Trophy (The player "who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey"). Nominated are Chris Chelios (who contrary to popular, not ever Wing fan loves him. I can't stand him - am I the only person to remember how he used to abuse Stevie? Plus I find his frat boy behavior to be a bit much. He's just gross. That's it. Chris Cheligross. But I digress), Richard Zednik, Steve Sullivan. Honestly if you get your throat sliced open by a teammate on the ice, have the wits about you to make it to the bench so you DON'T DIE, and come back to play the game again.... no matter what anyone else does, you can't top that. Zednik in a landslide.

Calder (rookie of the year). Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Steve Mason, Anaheim Ducks forward Bobby Ryan and Chicago Blackhawks forward Kris Versteeg are all up for this award. As much as my counterpart loves her Bobby, I gotta put my vote (like I have a say) toward Mason. His record alone puts him up there as top 'tender but the fact that he's a rookie and had ten shutouts? Has a rookie goalie since Roy done that? Did Roy do that? Yeah, I'm plugging for Mason.

Hart (writers MVP). I'm really not liking the candidates for this one. Way back when, this award was not automatically to the best player in the league, but to the player judged to be most valuable to his team. I mean props to Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, and Pavel Datsyuk, but I don't think they were the most valuable to their teams. All important to their teams, yes. That's a given. But where would the Bruins be without Thomas? Where would Chicago be without Kane or Toews? Nashville without Sullivan? The Devils without that goalie not named Marty (Clemmensen, I know.)? I mean really, those teams had guys who were more important overall. I'm not going to pick a winner here because it's sadly become a popularity contest. I'm more interested in the Pearson award anyway.

Norris (Top defenseman). Again this award has changed in meaning. No longer is the best defenseman always nominated. When Lidstrom wins, I think it's fair. I'm not being a homer here. Find me a better defenseman and I'll listen to the argument. But Lidstrom is rarely out of position and makes the game look easy. Games where you don't hear about him just means he's doing his job. This year, he's nominated again along with Chara and Green. While I have no problems with the baby eater Chara, it's Green I do. On most nights, he's a disaster on the blue line. Yes, he gets his points and his plus ratings but I just don't see him as one of the Top DEFENSEmen of the league. Offsensman, sure. Give him the Paul Coffee award or something, but not the Norris. It's a toss up for me between Nick and Chara.

Vezina (best goalie). Steve Mason, Minnesota Wild's Niklas Backstrom, and Tim Thomas nominated. There is that Mason kid again. I think it's a feel good story for Thomas to be nominated and I'd be ok if he won. He back stopped a team that vied for the President's trophy all year. He's one hell of a goalie. I've pitched my thoughts for Mason as MVP, I think it's safe to say I'd be ok with him winning the Vezina. I honestly don't know about Backstrom as I found the Wild just painful to watch this season.

There are other awards out there but I don't really have an opinion one way or the other. Have an opinion, share it please. I've probably picked all the non winners but hey, that's what blogging is all about right?

See that tag called "overtagging"? That's what happens when you have too many tags. I had to edit my tags. What the frak?

Until next time, happy hockey!

Another day, another dollar or two...

Good morning friends and neighbours out in the land of Puck. It's Monday, which means nothing other than there is a shitty game on Versus and I rolled into work at 9:30; but only because I have a standing 10:00 meeting. *sighs like Sid playing PSP*

And the party is over here in Tipsville as of about 10pm on Saturday night. The boys gave it a good ride, but just couldn't keep up with Tri-Cities; and so the season has come to an end. Considering a lot of experts picked the boys to finish 9th or 10th in the Western Conference, I think that coming in as 7th and making the playoffs is an achievement. It's just too bad that they had so many injuries and dropped some games that they looked like they had won; otherwise they might have finished higher and with a winning record.

I should have a season end post, but I think I might have to wait a few more days... I'm not sure I'm ready to say goodbye to them, especially the three 20 year olds: Taylor Ellington, Graham Potuer and Daniel Bartek. They're really great guys; and with Tay and Potsie, they've been here 5 years, along with I've gotten to know Taylor a little better than the other two.

I guess the upside is that they will be going on to bigger and better things with either school or professionally; and that is where Taylor will be. He will either be playing in Victoria with the Canucks' ECHL club, the Salmon Kings, which is where another of our good pals Dan Gendur has had a great rookie campaign; or if he has a good camp, he might start the season in Winnipeg with the AHL Manitoba Moose with another former Tip, Shaun Heshka.

So, we're going into the second to the last week of the NHL season, and there are still logjams in both conferences for the last few spots, and I think it's going to come down to that last weekend. Talk about nail biters! I have two teams that are pretty sure of a spot unless they somehow lose all of their remaining games; but the last, aka Les Canards, are playing well but they're dependent on a few teams in front of them losing as well. *sends bad juju to Nashville and St. Louis* I know Lisa is feeling the same way for the Buffaslugs and maybe even the Kitties too since they're 10th and 9th right now, but only by a few points behind. *sends more bad juju to Montreal and the dirty Rangers*

And I also have some video this morning for those of you who also have a case of the Mondays...

Courtesy of the girls from Puckhuffers is a super funny video of Cabbie on the Street from Score Network, that has a few of my favorite boys in it.



I also wanted to share the video from the fabulous line brawl that was surrounded by the Canucks-Blackhawks game last night. The only bad part about this? Ben Eager didn't finish the job and rip Kevin Bieksa's shirt completely off! ;9 And holy shit are the sin bins huge at the Hawks' barn. I know the one at Comcast will fit only three comfortably or maybe 4 if they're the skinnier boys. ;)




Anywho... that's about it from me today. Have a good one youse guys!