Everybody clap yo hands!

Thank the baby Jebus that it's finally Friday! Why is it the weeks that you only work 4 days seem longer than the 5 day ones? I don't know... maybe it's because my life outside of work has been pretty busy lately. This is another reason I have been remiss in posting; but hopefully the weekend and next week will look up.

And speaking of looking up, two former Silvertips have had some press this week. First is Peter Mueller of the Avalanche. He's finally begun light skating again after being on the shelf since September when a hit in a preseason game put him back on LTIR. This was the second time in his pro career with the first being the time last April when Rob Blake tried to end his life. This time, the concussion symptoms were so bad that he even went to see Marc Savard's doctor. So, hopefully it won't be long before Pete is back to not only full contact; but back in the game he loves.

Also having some press is Zach Hamill. Zach is a prospect of the Bruins and has spent most of his three years as a pro playing down in Providence; but yesterday he was called up for his second cup of coffee with the big club. Also being bitten by the injury bug, especially in his first season, it's been a long but hopefully valuable experience for Z. I'm sending lots of good vibes his way that will hopefully help our pal get his first NHL goal. When he was called up in April, he got his first point with an assist on a Michael Ryder goal and got to be part of the Bruins Black Aces group during the playoffs.

And of course, there are my present day baby boys too. They're on a four game winning streak and have moved back into playoff contention. Tonight they're back home to play the Seattle Thunderbirds for the 245th Friday in a row as the first game of a five game homestand. Actually those five are half of the remaining games at home. After playing the first eight games of this year at home, the WHL has them on the road for almost the whole month of March. So, watch this space for more news on hockey here in Hooterville.

Since this is an actual post, Boy of the Day not really BotD... it's going to be just a random picture I chose. I hope you've enjoyed the BotD posts so far; and if you have questions, concerns or comments about this or anything else, please let us know. Have a great weekend everyone!

It's a lot shorter now, but I love the look on Bing's face when he's getting his do did for a photo shoot.

Boy of the Day - 1/28/11

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...


I have never wanted to be a roll of tape more...


On the road with Keith Ballard...


I just... yeah....

Well look who finally showed up!

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.

Have a great day everyone, and happy hockey!

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!

Wait... what?

Yes, it's been a while since we've updated and it's not that we don't love writing; but somehow we both get busy with other things including watching hockey. :) Hopefully we can get a chance to maybe get back in the swing of things and update more often.

But I just wanted to pop in and share a link from the local paper here in Hooterville that covers the Tips. It's a video of my boys being funny and dorky and pretty much being teenage boys in front of a camera. They did one like this last year too; but I think this year is even funnier.

Hockey returns to Hooterville!

When I was young, Labor Day weekend meant that the days were beginning to get progressively shorter, the mornings started to become crisp with a warm and sunny afternoon, my sister and I would beg our parents to let us stay up all night with Jerry Lewis; and something that would fill us with dread: summer vacation was coming to a close and school was starting in a few days.

These days, Labor Day weekend is not just the start of the road to fall; but it's also means the return of hockey! For those of us here in the city of Everett and the surrounding communities, we are fortunate enough to have hockey here in our own home town. While it's not the big names and bright lights of an NHL city, there are times where it is actually a better thing. We get to see boys come into our town as 15, 16 and 17 year old teenagers; and we get to watch them grow up and become young men.

Junior hockey is a funny thing... you can have a boy who seems to have all the talent in the world when they come through the bantam draft; but if he doesn't get the right coach or the right mix of teammates, he can be written off as a failure or even shipped home. However even just a change of scenery has helped some boys that were cast aside due to bad chemistry or bad coaching or something went wrong; including a few that have landed in Everett and amazing things have happened. Just ask Dan Gendur in the Canucks system. :)

And this Labor Day delivered again with last weekend's annual Silvertips tournament which was a good time for all. As usual, I was there for each and every game; and all that action was worth every penny. Even more than the games themselves is the people watching both up on the concourse and in the stands. It's usually pretty sparse, consisting of parents of boys on the team as well as some hardcore fans; but the amount of love shown is pretty strong. The best game of all was the 6-5 shootout win on Saturday morning by the Portland Winterhawks. It came after a blitz in the last five minutes of the third period. This game also had some NHL ties as the younger brother of Dion Phaneuf was playing for Prince George; and Gasper Kopitar, little bro of Anze, was part of the Portland offense.

Not to forget my hometown boys, they played in the 3 evening games, and there were some flashes of brilliance not only from the team but from the coaches. After two years of huggy and soft kind of coaching, it was good to see some discipline back with Craig Hartsburg. What was even more interesting was the dynamics with his assistants, one of whom is his son. With Jay Varady, who is the associate head coach and runs the defense, he pretty much was left alone; but with Chris, there was a little more interaction. I'm not sure if this is because Chris is newer to the coaching ranks or what, but I'll keep my eye on this as the season progresses.

There is still a long way to go for this squad, especially with various new boys to the squad, both young ones and vets who were picked up over the summer. Also there were a handful of them missing due to being invited to NHL camps. It is a bumper crop for the Tips with Tyler Maxwell and Radko Gudas going to LA as invites of the Kings, Thomas Heemskerk was asked to play with the Sharks; then there are the draftees Cameron Abney in Edmonton, Byron Froese and the Blackhawks, Rasmus Rissanen out in Carolina, and Kellan Tochkin up in Vancouver after he was signed with the Canucks this summer.

So, after picking up my season tickets last night, I really feel like hockey season is beginning. But first up is the NHL game here in town; then Opening night is the 26th and then the big boys start. It's like your birthday and Christmas all rolled into one; and I can't wait!

Hope you all had a good holiday and Go Tips! :)

Happy days are here again!

Yes, it is indeed a good day here in Hooterville as the 2009-10 campaign has begun for my Everett Silvertips. Camp officially opens tomorrow; but the boys are reporting today for weigh-ins and meetings with on ice drills to begin tomorrow. There should be a combination of returning roster players, current listed players and tryouts; and it's always fun to see if there is some boy that no one ever heard of or isn't expected make the the team for another year or two have a breakout camp and they end up on the opening night roster. There should be quite a crowd for this year's camp as the Tips staff have decided not to have a separate rookie camp; but throw everyone in the pool together and see who surfaces at the end of the week.

I can sort of see their reasoning behind this, especially after last year, as there are not a whole lot of guys that are of an advanced age. There are two 20 year olds that I know are coming back and rumor has it that the club picked up a couple more from waivers; but the rest of the team is still fairly young. The team is allowing the public in to watch the afternoon scrimmages Wednesday to Friday; so hopefully I'll be able to get down to the CableBox to see them one or two days. If all else fails, they are having the annual Grey versus Green game on Saturday afternoon; and those are always entertaining.

After camp finishes up Saturday, they should continue to practice next week in preparation for the Labor Day Weekend tournament here in town next Friday through Sunday; then they head over the mountains to TriCity for their annual tourney, but I will not be going over due to work. The official start of the season is the 18th when they play two more games on the road then opening night at home is Friday the 26th against Vancouver.

Oh and not to forget but in between the tournament and opening night is the long anticipated NHL preseason game! Yes, that's right..... our little neck of the hockey woods has been gifted by the league with an exhibition game between the Phoenix Coyotes and the Tampa Bay Lightning! The Tips, in their infinite wisdom, let fans order tickets as part of a package with the preseason tourney tickets; and best of all was that season ticket holders got to order first. So I was on the horn the morning they were available and thanks to the credit card that I have on file there, I have my usual seat for that game which is two rows behind the glass! Man, when I got my ticket in the mail the other day, I am not sure but I think I petted it. Sad, I know; but hey, I live 2+ hours from professional hockey and now I just might get to see Wayne and Pete and Doaner and Bugsy and mmmmmVinny 10 feet from me! *squees and does a little fangirl dance*

But anyway, that is about it from me other than it's been a long summer and I can't wait to see what Craig Hartsburg and his crew will do this year. GO TIPS!

Testing.... testing... is this thing on?

Good morning campers... It's been a while since we've updated, and it's not for lack of trying; but real life seems to get in the way. lol However, today I had some time and a few things to post, so heeeeeeeeeeeeeeere we go!

It's about 4 weeks until hockey returns to Everett with the annual Labor Day tournament that the Tips hold; and oh boy am I ready for it! It's nice to watch the playoff games on NHL Network; but it's never the same as it is in person. Two weeks after that we get a real treat when the Tampa Bay Bolts come to town with the Desert Dogs of Phoenix; and I am so so excited. I'm torn as to which bench I would like to be sitting behind; because as much as I would like to see Peter Mueller and Shaun Heshka I really really really want to see Vinny Lecavalier sitting six feet in front of me. lol

And speaking of the Tips, nepotism has hit Hooterville in the hiring of new head coach Craig Hartsburg's son Chris to take the assistant coach job that Mark LeRose gave up when he went to be an assistant with Kevin Constantine in Houston with the AHL. He coached a little in the IHL, which is a lower level pro league; and I'm sure having Dad being a coach for so long has rubbed off a little. We'll see how he does...it is also nice that he's pretty cute too. ;)



Last week as a little sad as two more players in Lisa and my generation retired. One was one of the few Winnipeg Jets left in the league, Teppo Numminen; and the other is one of the best American hockey players ever to be in the league, Jeremy Roenick.

JR is one of only four Americans to have scored at least 500 goals finishing with 513, 703 assists in 1,363 regular-season games with five teams; and his six goals in Game 7s is tied for second all time. He was also a nine-time All-Star and a two-time Olympian, helping team USA earn a silver medal in 2002. I hope that not winning a Cup doesn't keep him out of the Hall Of Fame because all that he has done not only for the NHL but the game of hockey in the States should be enough as it is a lot.

And last but not least is Sidney's day with the Cup on Friday; which was also his birthday. It just amazes me just what a star that boy is up in his native land when I see things like all of the press for his first trip west last year; then it was eclipsed tenfold on Friday for the Captain's Cup day-birthday party. National news and a bazillion people following him all over was just craziness! But luckily as captain, he gets a second day; so I would assume that he had a much more dialed down celebration on Saturday with his family and close friends.

There have been a bunch of videos chronicling Steve and Stanley's Excellent Adventure, but I love this one most of all because he gets to be himself while playing with his friends. He doesn't have to be Sidney Crosby, Captain; he can be Sid the lifelong friend of a few boys he used to play road hockey with. The look of pure joy on his face at the end of the game just makes me just love him even more than I already did...

Oooooooh say can you see?

It's a busy day here at Chuck a Puck and it's not even Free Agent day. Speaking of FA Day, if you want to keep up with all the signings, TSN has provided a handy dandy page for us.

Also today Brian Burke and the USA Hockey brain trust announced the roster for their Olympic training camp. There are a few guys on the list that make me go BUH?; but most of them I think deserve to be there as well as there are also a few guys that didn't make the cut and should have.

Goaltenders: Ryan Miller, Jonathan Quick, Tim Thomas

Defencemen: Tom Gilbert, Tim Gleason, Ron Hainsey, Erik Johnson, Jack Johnson, Mike Komisarek, Paul Martin, Brooks Orpik, Brian Rafalski, Rob Scuderi, Ryan Suter, Ryan Whitney

Forwards: David Backes, David Booth, Dustin Brown, Dustin Byfuglien, Ryan Callahan, Chris Drury, Scott Gomez, Patrick Kane, Ryan Kesler, Phil Kessel, Jamie Langenbrunner, Ryan Malone, Mike Modano, Kyle Okposo, T.J. Oshie, Zach Parise, Joe Pavelski, Bobby Ryan, Paul Stastny.

Today is also the CHL Import Draft and with the 17th-overall pick Everett selected defenseman Rasmus Rissanen from Finland. He's listed at 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, and was a fifth-round selection in this year's draft by the Hurricanes. Rissanen is the first Scandinavian player as the others have been from Czech Republic, Slovakia and Russia. With the 20th-overall pick, they took Radko Gudas from the Czech Republic,listed at 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds; and was not selected in either of the past two NHL drafts. With the pick of two defensemen, I wonder what's going on with our d-corps, especially with losing our two top guys to graduation.

I know there is more, but it's escaping me at the moment. So without further delay, I give you the boy of the day who is probably one of the most adorable invitees to the USA Olympic camp, Zach Parise.

Thank God It's Draft Day!

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...

Happy Draft Day Eve!

Greetings and salutations from the Pacific Northwest! It's NHL Draft Eve, and I'm sure that the Le Centre de Bell is buzzing with excitement already and has been for days. I wish that Lisa and I could be up there this weekend; but I'm sure we'll be keeping track of things down here. We might even see a few of the Tips boys go in the later rounds or at least I hope we will.

We went to the draft two years ago in Columbus and had a ball; well other than the seats in the upper bowl of Nationwide Arena are built for the ass width of a 5 year old. From seeing Rick Nash outside signing autographs to watching Harold Snepts walk right in front of us to getting to see all of the NHL awards up close and personal. It was all so surreal, especially when Cam Neely called our pal Zach Hamill's name; then Dave Nonis picking another of our pals Taylor Ellington. There wasn't the huge group of Tips fans cheering for him like the year before in Vancouver, but hopefully you could hear those two voices screaming from the left side of the upper bowl.

Yesterday Team Canada's Executive Director, aka the handsome Stevie Y, announced the Canadian men's Olympic hockey coaches. The head coach is Mike Babcock whose assistant coaches will be Lindy Ruff, Jacques Lemaire and Ken Hitchcock. Hopefully Team USA's assistants will be announced soon; and they'll include Mike Sullivan, Dan Bylsma and Tommy Fitzgerald for the hottie factor. Oh, and because I think they're pretty good coaches too. :)

I love you Patty Kane... you're too cute for words!

All is well here in Hooterville now that we have a head coach and the assistant coaches will not be changing; so the crew will start getting ready for training camp in August.

Two videos from the presser on Tuesday courtesy of local station King5...
New coach Craig Hartsburg...

and three of our boys: Zack Dailey, Kellan Tochkin and Thomas Heemskerk...


And to round up today's entry and in keeping with the Draft theme, I give you for Boy of the Day someone who was not only a first round pick, but was the first overall pick in 2002 Draft and that is Mr. Rick Nash...

How old are ya now, Brew?

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.

Flowers for Carly

It's another Monday here on the third rock from the sun, and it was an eventful weekend for both me and my hockey boys; but for no one more than the Vancouver Canucks. They should have been able to win both games Saturday and Sunday with ease, but they were not only missing a vital part of their second line; but they had lost a member of their family.

Early Friday morning Taylor Pyatt got a phone call that not only changed his life, but a whole lot of people around him. I can only imagine what he was and still is going through.

I know how I felt when my friend called to tell me that our pal and former Silvertip Jordan Mistelbacher was dead.... I almost thought she was kidding, but she wasn't. I spent the rest of the evening sobbing and most of the next few days in a fog of sorts. He wasn't even that close of a friend, he was just an acquaintance that I had known about 2 years; but even three months later I'm still not sure I believe that he's gone and I miss him.

Carly and Taylor had been together for 11 years... they were going to be married this summer... they had their whole lives planned out no doubt, or at least until Tay retires. Now, instead of helping get that last minute stuff done for the wedding, even if it would be over the phone; Taylor had to help plan a funeral and became a widower before he was ever a husband.

I guess my point with this ramble is how much being part of a hockey family, like the I'm part of with other Tips friends and fans, means to me and how this game and the people who are involved with it change your life. It gives us that anchor when things like Carly passing away or even Mickey Renaud and Alexei Cherepanov last year happen. You hope it never happens to you, but if it does like it did with Jordan's death, you know that you aren't alone in your grief.

Anyway, I just want to send some virtual flowers to the Pyatt and Bragnalo families; as well as the Canuck boys and their families. I hope they know their extended family in the hockey world is thinking of them.

Video killed the radio star...

Well, it appears that I'm going to be updating here in the evening, since lately at work I've had to actually do, you know, WORK! lol So anyone in the time zones to the right of mine will get to see this when they get up in the morning. Don't all clap at once! *crickets*

Anyway, tonight was the first of two year end parties for the Silvertips with the first at Sporty's. It was nice to see as many boys able to make as did including my good pal Dale Hunt. He's such a great boy; I don't think we had a rotten one in the bunch this year, but I got to know him a little bit more than most of the others this season and I'm glad that PG let him go so we could have him. And the best thing is that he was only 18 at the beginning of the season so he'll be back this next season and hopefully so will everyone else other than the 3 overagers.

And now... on to the videos for today!

First is a clip from a Pittsburgh TV station about the Skates and Plates dinner that I would have loved to be at last night. Ah... hockey boys in tuxes serving me food! Sounds good to me!

Next is an interview with Christian Hanson from the fine folks at ESPN... the son of Dave Hanson, aka one of the Hanson brothers from Slap Shot, has been signed by the Leafs. He's adorable and I love how his dad still sports the same hair as he did in the movie.

And last but, not least is a goodie from Youtube by way of the Windsor Spitfires, who are not only #1 in the Ontario Hockey League, but they are also #2 in the entire Canadian Hockey League. It appears that they're relaxed and ready to take on Plymouth in the second round as is apparent in this video. Man it's funny, and I could so see my boys doing this too.

Whoooooooooo!

I have a feeling that Tay will probably not be joining us tomorrow and for sure Wednesday night, and I'm okay with that... I got my hug two weeks ago! *shakes pom poms* I &hearts you Ellie and I'm so proud of you!!

From the Silvertips website...
Everett Silvertips Vice President / General Manager Doug Soetaert announced Monday that 20 year old defenseman Taylor Ellington will be joining the Vancouver Canucks' AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, following the conclusion of his Everett Silvertips career. He is expected to arrive in Winnipeg on Wednesday.

As one of three 20- year-olds retained by the Silvertips this season, Ellington was appointed as an alternate captain prior to the start of the season and contributed with a fine campaign, posting career highs of 69 games played, six goals, 26 assists and 32 points. His efforts made him a deserving co-recipient along with Shane Harper of the Silvertips' Most Valuable Player Award, acknowledging his standout performance in leading the Silvertips to their sixth consecutive playoff appearance.

Through five seasons and a franchise-record 287 games played in a Silvertips uniform, the rugged defenseman finished with 14 goals and 52 assists for 66 points, along with 371 penalty minutes. Standing in at 6'2 and weighing 209 pounds, Ellington received several accolades throughout his junior career, including invitations to the 2006 ADT Canada-Russia Challenge and the 2007 Home Hardware CHL / NHL Top Prospects Game.

Ellington was selected in the third round (41st overall) in Everett's renowned 2003 WHL Bantam Draft that produced future first round NHL selections in Zach Hamill (Boston), Peter Mueller (Phoenix) and Leland Irving (Calgary) as well as early NHL selections in Ellington (Vancouver) and Brady Calla (Florida).

A Victoria, BC native, Taylor was selected in the second round (33rd overall) of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft by the Vancouver Canucks and signed a three-year entry contract with Vancouver on March 13th.

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!

Do you believe in miracles? YES

It's down to this... it's game 5 back over at the Toyota Center in Richland; and I wonder what my baby boys have left in them to give tonight.

Last night's game was probably the best effort I've seen from them at home in quite some time; and for a little while it looked like they might just pull the rabbit out of the hat and win. Well, after the first period the rabbit gave them the finger before leaving the arena; and the Tips were not able to keep the Amerks under control. I was very proud of them for all the work they put in, especially on the physical play... some of the boys who I know can lay a hit were not doing so very much or at all; and they responded to what Tri was dishing out.

And you can read a very well done and very funny recap written by the lovely Ms. Daily Su who I had the extreme pleasure of meeting and sitting with last night. She graciously posted some of my pictures and I feel sorta famous!

So, that is life in Tipsville tonight... I think I'm gonna go get ready for the game. Go boys go!

We're gonna rock this town, rock it inside out!

It's game day here in Hooterville and most Tips fans are pretty confident in our boys after winning game 2 to get a split of the first two on the road; especially with as hard as it was to win over in their barn this season. Last night two of the boys were at Sporty's, a local watering hole that is a huge sponsor of the Tips; and they were in good spirits and sounded ready, but were holding back a little on the enthusiasm. I think that's smart, because Tri-City is a very big and tough and talented team; and it's no fluke that they earned 101 points and won the division. So, I have my big fluffy sweatshirt and my bag of Hall's drops ready as I'm still in the last stages of La Grippe. :)

But, on the pro side, it's a half ways busy night in the NHL and I hope Les Canards can continue on their quest to get back into playoff contention. Last night, Jiggy had his shit together and was able to keep the Preds to one goal; as well shut them out in the shootout. They're now in eighth and hopefully they're gonna stay there.

Wish I had more to expound on other things, but my work calls and I should go see where Lisa has been the last few days. I think she's in Buffalo nursing Crunchy back to health. ;)

Shake your groove, shake your groove thing, yeah yeah!

This is going to be short and sweet; but I just wanted to give a big shout out to my baby boys, especially Mr. Tyler Maxwell and Thomas Heemskerk, for their great game last night. Tyler got all 3 goals and Heemer was a maniac in goal to give the boys a 3-2 win over Tri-Cities. Yay!!! I admit that I have been a bad bad fan sometimes lately and I wasn't sure they were going to be able to win a game let alone be so close in both over in Richland. That said, I'm sporting my black and white Tips hoodie today and will be sending good luck thoughts for the next 4 days until I see the boys on Wednesday. Whoooooo!

Hopefully Kellen Tochkin and Mike Alexander will be back for game 3, as they were both out last night with the dreaded 'upper body injury'; which could be anything from a hangnail to a level 12 concussion. Meh... just as long as the puppies get better is all I ask.

Anyway, I gotta boogie... hopefully something more exciting will happen today. The Penguins looked a little slow and not too good against the Puppy-Drowning Brigade. I say burn those fucking blue sweaters... they're nothing but bad ju-ju!

*bounce, bounce, bounce... SWISH!*

You'll have to excuse me for being not here yesterday... not only am I fighting Le Grippe, but I spent most of the day on the couch in front of the TV cursing my NCAA bracket. In fact I have the UCLA-Nova game in the background, but that's only because there's no hockey on until 1... yeah, that's it. :)

So, I'm sitting here looking at the schedule for today's games and I'm surprised there are not more afternoon games, but maybe that was because of the basketball. Just looked at the CBC webpage and the guest for After Hours is the captain of the Canucks, Roberto Luongo; and that is good. I like him a lot. Since they're in Phoenix, I was sort of hoping for a Yote, and maybe even that Yote being a candidate for the future captain, aka Peter Mueller. I miss Pete... he's a good kid; and as much as I see of him on line both on and off the ice, he's becoming a wonderful man. But then I've met his mom and dad... they're good people.

But can I tell you how proud I am to be a Canucks fan right now? Two months ago, they were in the middle of an 8 game losing streak, even more at home; and were precariously close to the bottom of the Western Conference standings. Since then, they have made some adjustments, the biggest one is that Mats Sundin has become Mats Sundin again; and they're now in 4th and may just get home ice in the playoffs if they can hold on for a few more weeks. *squees like a mofo*

My baby boys, the Silvertips, have started their playoffs against the Tri-City Americans and lost a heartbreaker in game 1 last night in Richland. It looked good in the first with a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes; but whatever happens to them when they come out for the 2nd happened again last night, as they gave up 4 goals to T-C. The Tips were able to get another goal, but the Amerks scored again; and it all seemed to be lost.

Then, with just about 3 minutes to go, Shane Harper put one in and after pulling the goalie, our 20yr old Czech Daniel Bartek was able to tie it up with 21 seconds to go. I swear that JR, the radio guy, was going to have a stroke on the air; and I was too! Oh man... I can only imagine what it must have been like in that building, not only in the stands, but in the locker room between periods 3 and 4. Well, the magic was not to continue, as one of the TC boys slipped one past Heemer for the win.

So, they'll come back out tonight, hopefully with the same fire that they ended the game with; and get a split before they come home for game 3 on Wednesday and 4 on Friday. One other good thing is my good pal Dale Hunt was back on the ice last night. He hasn't scored a whole lot; but he shoots a lot, he's fast and he brings so much grit and heart to the game.

Anyway... that is my report for this lovely first Saturday of Spring. Yay for sun! *shakes pom poms*