Laundry Night in Colorado

The Oilers were in town tonight, and I thought about going to the game at the Pepsi Center, but looking at my work schedule over the next few weeks (getting bigger by the day), my on hand cash (not that big), and the pile of laundry (HUGE!!!!). I decided to stay home and see the replays. What does that mean? The Avs don't play replays of anything that goes against the Avs. No goals against, no penalty calls, no hard checks. You get a Ken Burns style photo, a deep, bassy, sound-of-doom pad, and a lot of people wondering what just happened. Don't blink during an Avs home game. (You would know that already if Blogger hadn't gone down for a while tonight, as I tried to do a pregame post. More on that in a bit) Here are my thoughts on Patrick Roy's night: For all the anger and dislike of Patrick Roy, he is the greatest goaltender ever. There are plenty of people who can't stand the guy, but anyone who cries at their jersey retirement ceremony can't be that bad (yes, even Mark Messier) The Hejduk goal was a nice little play, with some serious traffic around the Oilers net. The top line of Sakic, Brunette, and Hejduk are playing well. Let's see how long it takes the Q to change the lineup again. Ryan Smyth, what can I say. What a great first goal, and hard work on the second. I have nothing bad to say about that. What is Laperriere doing on a line with Stastny and Wolski? Why is Svatos on the third line? What is the point of this? Laperriere is nice and fun behind the net, but so is Stastny. When is this crap going to settle down? Hey, Q, let the boys play. They are your best asset. Penalty after penalty called on the Avs in the third period. And you know what? They were all good calls. It ain't the refs, folks. Hejduk is on fire tonight. Skating like hell, doing the job. For those who said he had to step up his play, he has. Ryan Smyth had to be helped off the ice after he tried to skate past John-Micheal Liles out of the Oilers zone. It didn't look like a knee on knee, more like a knee on above-knee. From the replay, it's hard to tell if Liles stuck his leg out or not. I'm sure different sides will be taking sides quickly. I hope Smyth's going to be alright. That is the 3rd one goal loss for the Avs in a row. But the Avs have the 3rd most goal for in the West. What does that tell me? That opponents are scoring a lot of goals against the Avs. That sounds obvious, but there are too many goals against all the time. Theodore looked good in goal. The rest of the team? Questionable. For the Oiler blog perspective, check out Covered in Oil and the Battle of Alberta. But really, there are so many Oiler blogs, I think it must be required for residency in Edmonton.Finally: Blogger took a crap again tonight. I am really thinking about moving this blog to it's own domain. I have a few other ideas for a site, mostly centered around the blog. What do you think about them apples? After looking at the cool blogs and sites of Wicked Bruins Fan, So Very Obsessed, Behind the Jersey, and Off Wing Opinion, I like the idea of rolling you own blog. Any thoughts? Hey, and look at that, my offline blog writer isn't able to post either. Are the blogging gods trying to tell me something?

George Parros, We Knew You So Little

After playing only 2 games with the Avs, this guy is out of here. From TSN:

The Ducks made two other deals on Monday, sending winger Todd Fedoruk to the Philadelphia Flyers for a fourth-round pick and acquiring George Parros from the Colorado Avalanche for a second-round selection.

I wasn't sure what the point of picking up Parros of waivers from L.A. was in the first place, unless you were going to send him down pretty quick to Albany. 2 games, thanks for the visit George, now get rid of that mustache.

Patrick Roy: Hockey Hall of Famer

Patrick Roy is taking his rightful place in the Hockey Hall of Fame today, and frankly, it's taken all weekend to decide what to say about him. He hasn't made things easy lately, on himself and on his fans and defenders. But that isn't what made him a great goalie, and Patrick Roy is the best. Patrick Roy left Montreal in a huff. As hard as it would be for Patrick to choose a team by which to identify as, here in Colorado, there has been no other goalie. David Aebischer lived in his shadow for a season and a half, after following Roy as his backup. Jose Theodore was traded to the Avs in hopes to be the next Roy, and the comparisons to the original trade could not be avoided. If you want to really place Roy's impact on the game, you can't just do it in Montreal and Colorado. You have to look at the NHL and hockey as a whole. Roy was an inspiration to kids around the world, and started the slew of Quebec goalies who came along ever since. Roy made kids want to be in the net, rather than be forced in by a sibling. Kids looked up to him, as a goalie and a winner. The last goal scored against Roy came in the 2003 playoffs, as the Minnesota Wild beat the Avs in game 6 of the Conference Semifinals. Who else would score that goal but current Avalanche Andrew Brunette. Roy was loosing a step at that point, but what do you expect from playing 19 seasons. Roy ended his career, and immediately his jersey was retired in Colorado. He deserved it. To me, there isn't a lot to say about Roy in Colorado, not for lack of material, but because he had one simple fact about him. He brought the Stanley Cup to Colorado. There are few players who make that kind of impact by simply showing up and being on your team. You can argue that the talent outside of the net in Colorado would have gotten the job done eventually, but I don't believe that. As talented as the Avs were in front of Roy, they still didn't have the netminding to win a cup. If you could trade Jocelyn Thibault for Patrick Roy, you would make that trade in a second, and that's exactly what happened. Hell, if you could trade Jocelyn Thibault for a used Ford Pinto, you wouldn't even kick the tires, you would just drive off into the sunset. Patrick Roy build this franchise in Denver. The Stanley Cup win in the first year of play in Denver made this team seem magical. Who could say what the Avalanche franchise would have looked like if not for that immediate win, especially in a city over-saturated with sports teams. Roy was the final ingredient of the magic potion that was used in Colorado. Like I say, there isn't a lot to say about Roy, other than that he is the best goalie in the world, and that means even better than Marty Brodeur. And in light of his recent comments and general mouthiness, he was hired to stop pucks, and he did that better than anyone. That is what counts in the end. Good on ya, Patrick.

For more about Patrick Roy, go to Eyes on the Prize, where Reality Check has a lot more to say, and does it better.

Blogging like it's 1999

Last night was the opening of the Opera, and now it's time to get back in the trenches around here. I haven't had any real time to watch hockey, and have even recorded over the 6-5 Avs loss the Kings served up. After hearing the extent of the damage from the 2nd period (Theodore letting in 4 goals on 10 shots), I just couldn't justify chopping out the time to watch the ass whipping. Tonight, it's Avs vs Predators. That should be worth it. I'll be watching it tomorrow, as I'm at work again tonight.

Aside from that, not much to report, but there will be next week, including forcing myself to post another jersey. I've been letting that important aspect of this blog go for too long. See you tomorrow.

Tapeleg OUT!!!

Technorati : Avalanche, Avs, Hockey, NHL, Predators, Preds

Avs vs. Kings Preview

Avs take on the Kings at home for the second time tonight. I was kind of disappointed the last time they met, only because the home fans saw fit to boo Rob Blake a bit. The crowd was pretty mixed on reaction, but for a guy who gave a lot this team to get treated like that, it's just sad. I never really cared for the booing of players, but I can kind of understand it. The fact that the Avs couldn't afford Blake's services any more isn't Blake's fault. The Avs didn't think an old bonus in 2001 contracts would creep up on the salary cap era. And, really, I'm happy for Blake, that he gets to go back to a place he thinks of as home, live in his house he bought with the Kings, and his kids get to be back in California. Good for him.

But, we are going to crush his ass (you knew that was coming). Blake hasn't been putting up Blake like numbers this year, but John-Micheal Liles is. And who thought that the signing of Dan Cloutier would be a scoop? I can't say that the Avs are going to handle the Kings easily. It's hockey, not Monopoly. OK, bad choice, maybe it's not Stratego. But the Kings are remaining someone's sleeper pick, mostly on the sleepy side.

If you want the King's side of things, the best I can give you is The Battle of California. Mostly, it's become a Ducks blog, rather than a battle. But that's cool. It's telling that Earl Sleek has dropped Cloutier in one of his many hockey pools. Don't blame you there.

I will be watching the replay, and that might become the norm for a bit, as we have final dress rehearsal for the Opera tonight. So that means no pithy insights directly after the game. You wait your turn.

By the way, George Parros is not your typical goon, I guess. But that mustache has to go. Duuuuuude.

Technorati : Avalanche, Avs, Blake, Hockey, Kings, NHL

Avs Beat Canucks, Piss Off Alanah

It was a hard choice at first, do I watch "Logan's Run," or watch the Avs. Tonight, I made the right choice. The Avs won a game they really shouldn't have. The Canucks came out strong, stayed strong, and didn't get the bounces. They were all over the Avs, making them dump the puck in, rather than carry it across the blue line. The old saying goes, I'd rather be lucky than good, and there was some serious luck tonight. Three pucks to posts after they got past Jose Theodore, and 38 shots for the Canucks vs. 20 for the Avs. Does this prove that Luongo isn't the savior of the Canucks? Not yet, but that sure is fun to type. There will be some complaints about the first Avs goal, that Brunette may have interfered with Luongo, and you know what? Maybe. Hard to tell. But there you go, you can't always complain like Roloson and make it work. The win puts the Avs into 2nd in the division, which I don't think even Jim "Boomer" Gordon would have thought possible (that was a slight dig, but it's made with love). This could be a flash in the pan (I am carefully pessimistic), but a few more wins would go a long way to making me feel better about the season.

Overall, it was an odd night in the NHL:

The Buffaslugs suffered their first regulation loss, to Toronto no less

Phoenix won

Boston scored 6 goals

Malkin didn't score

The only thing that would have made the night stranger would be if Mick McGeough made a good call. That would use up one of his three a year.

Detrements to Hockey Blogging

The following are now known as the enemy. They should be carefully observed, and further recommendations will be considered: Battlestar Galactica: Television is a low priority in my life. Outside of hockey, Jon Stewart, Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, and MXC, I keep away from it. Series are right out. Except Battlestar. Every week, I have a reason to say, "Holy shit." If you don't like the genre (sci fi TV is different than regular sci fi), I can understand. But if you have any hankering for some of the good stuff, this is it. Unlike most sci-fi television, there is a continuing theme and plot line that drives the story, not just degrading into one basic situation after another. If Battlestar is on, and a hockey game is on, the game comes second. I can watch a replay. The Opera: Opera Colorado is gearing up for "The Magic Flute," and we are trench deep in production. To say that a production schedule is hectic is to give hectic too much credit. The hours are long, the work is a bit demanding, and after a day of it, coming home to write about hockey is difficult at best. You don't think about hockey, you think about where to hang a light, taping down cable, not falling to your doom from a balcony rail, making things nice and neat for the audience, and safe for the actors / singers. It's great fun at times, and at others, it is aggravating and exhausting. Afterwords, you think to yourself, "Blog? What blog?" The reading: There is a lot of good writing out there. It can take forever to sift through. Just take a look at some of the blogs in my blogroll. I need to update that thing, take out a few, add some more. I just cleaned out some of the blogs from my RSS reader, freeing up a bit more time. I wish I could read it all, but I just can't. If you read this blog, hey, thanks. There is a lot of choices out there, and I like being one of them. It's not always easy to keep up with the Jones, which you do have to do somewhat. It would be nice to be so self confident in my writing and blog to not have to worry about readership, but let's face it. I have a sitemeter for a reason. Really, I don't know how some people can keep up with all the reading. I just don't have that kind of time. If I tried to stay with it all, I wouldn't have any time for writing. Backlog: I have recorded over the Avs win in Columbus, have the Blues game in the pipe, and am taping the Canucks tonight. All I need now is a few hours (or days) to watch games. I haven't watched a game on OLN since the opening night. Too many Avs games to watch, and I haven't even watched them all. And don't forget, around here, hockey is a little more lonely than in Canada (not that we're bad hockey fans around here. Don't start quoting that for your own crafty purposes). Hockey isn't watched in groups in bars as often as Monday Night Football. And I could give two shits about football. Watching a game means watching at home, unless I want to be assaulted by drunk women calling me a terrorist. So I have some viewing to do. And sometimes, in an 82 game season, it's hard to care about what has already happened. Avs-centric: When I started this blog, I didn't foresee it as being an Avalanche blog, even though I knew the Avs would be a part of it. I wanted to talk hockey, all kinds of hockey. Womens, USA hockey, CHL, UHL, rec league. Just talking about hockey, not just my NHL team. Look where that went. But there you have it. The season has taken me, and this blog, over. Long and the short, some of this will rectify itself soon, as the Opera gets up and running, and then Nutcracker will follow quickly after, and that should be a nice long run. But Fridays are still Battlestar Galactica night. What can I say, I'm a geek. I like it that way.

Technorati : Battlestar, Hockey, NHL, blog

Tonight at the Rink

Tonight at the Rink
Originally uploaded by Tapeleg.

I listened to the Avs game, because I was up in Breckenridge. Here was how I spent my evening. I have no idea who any of these people are, but who cares? It's freaking hockey! It's fairly obvious the blue team is better than the orange, but the orange goalie is keeping his team in the game. Final score: 5-4 blue. There was some real excitement with a 6 on 4 power play for orange at the end.

Breckenridge has a really nice facility, with an outdoor and an indoor rink. They take their hockey seriously up here.

It's not the NHL, but it is hockey. And for me, that's enough.

--
Sent from my Treo, straight from the rink

Who needs pink jerseys...

Who needs pink jerseys...
Originally uploaded by Tapeleg.

when you can play in these beauties?

--
Sent from my Treo

Avs Beat Wild, But I Barely Watched

The Avs beat the Wild tonight, 4-1, but I only tuned in here and there. I just wasn't into watching a game tonight, which is a bit odd, but not that odd. Some days, you remember how long the season is. 82 games is a long season for everyone, players and fans. But still, I did tune in for parts of it. Here's what I saw:

The Avs played a 60 minute game. They didn't just stop in 2 periods, like they have. Plenty of shots on goal, spread out over the game. A trend I hope continues.

Ian Laperriere scored goal 100 tonight. He was so damn happy. He may just buy Brett McLean a pendant that says "Best Friends Forever"

The pace of the game seemed kind of slow when I tuned it. Maybe that's just a function of not paying attention to the whole thing.

If you need a recap, or want the Wild side of things, go to Wild Puck Banter.

Technorati : Avalanche, Avs, Hockey, NHL, Wild

Blue Man Group

Tonight was the Blue Man Group concert at the Pepsi Center. This was the third time I have seen their rock concert tours (twice from the previous tours), and have seen them in Las Vegas, Chicago, and Boston. If you haven't seen them live, I highly recommend them. They have a unique outlook that translates directly to their music and the stage. They may have done a ton of commercial stuff, but I don't think they have 'sold out.' If you enjoy a good stage show, beyond just a typical concert, check out the new tour, which is version 2.0. Their lyrics won't win any awards, but when they just turn off the vocals and perform, they rock the llama. The two times I saw them before was in theaters, which are better for their show than a big arena. Still, a great show.

Seeing BMG reminds me of how much I have been neglecting my more creative side. This hockey blog is a part of that neglect. I have been writing here so much, I feel like some of my creativity is being pushed to the back. That has to change, but I am not going to give up on this blog. I love writing about hockey, and not just the Avs. But I need something else, too. I don't know if that will lead to changes around here, but something has to give. There is so much to read, so much to pay attention to doing this blog, it's hard to do much else. Let's see what happens. I am not giving up, so don't even think about leaving.

If you need to hear some hockey related stuff, Minnesota is kicking Colorado College around like a little bitch. With the score 8-1 with half a period left, the end couldn't come soon enough for the Tigers.

Eagles, not Avs

The Colorado Avalanche were not playing tonight, but when I got home, there was still hockey on TV. Altitude had the Colorado Eagles vs. the Wichita Thunder (central Hockey League). A few too many penalties, but otherwise a fine game, in a league that doesn't shy away from a punch-in-the-face contest. Eagles won 5-1. The Thunder played one of the longest third periods I have ever seen last season, while I was taking a hockey road trip. The Avs may be playing on Sunday, but Blue Man Group will be here tomorrow night. I think I have to go.

Technorati : CHL, Colorado, Eagles, Hockey, Thunder

JAHL Super Duper Stats

Hockey loves stats. Hockey fans love stats. If you go to the stats blogs, you can see how much they love to create stats. These usually come into being by painstaking translation by an amateur statistision. They punch numbers into spreadsheets, do complex math and learn something nobody else noticed. I enjoy stats, but don't feel I get enough of the right ones. These are some of the stats that I would like to see, to describe the game inside the game, and just for the sheer hell of it

SOC: Shots On Corner

CTR: Complaints to the Referee

CTL: Complaints to the Linesman

CTM: Crying to Mommy

SW: Whiffed shots

SIH: Scarlett Ice Hotness (How hot Sherry at Scarlett Ice thinks a player is)

PWM: Proving why a player should be in the minors.

BS: Broken Stick, but you can make it what you think it should be

PFT: Penalty Face Touch. Number of times a player touches his face after a penalty is committed on them, to see if they are bleeding. The first on is free for the Florida Panthers.

PPF: Punches thrown per fight

PLF: Punches that actually connected (landed). These two can be combined for a PPLF%

PSN: Push Shove Nothing. Number of times players congregate to air the bad feelings, and then just skate away.

FSP: Penalties where you feel shame, that is, you did it, it was stupid, and you know it.

HTTO: Had to think about that one. Moments when a player is given a choice and has to ponder the plays, before making the play. Usually ends in failure, but a % could be applied if necessary.

AYF: Are you Forgiven? Plays that ended in failure, but worked out in the end, or didn't have enough impact on the game to be worth mentioning at the end of the day.

MZD: Made Zanstorm Drink. Number of times a player makes Zanstorm of Waiting For Stanley take a pull of the Captain Morgans. This stat needs weighting for the Leafs players.

GAR: Get A Room, players coming together for a manly embrace, and it all goes wrong.


That's a start. More is better, right?

A Better Tomorrow

Other than being a John Woo movie, that was the perfect description of this morning. The walk to work was absolutely gorgeous and snow filled, and the rest of the day (which was about loading in the opera) followed suit. Good hard work with people who aren't pains, a good beer and burger afterwords, and a simple night at home, reading some damn fine hockey blogging. So for all the crap that was last night, I had a great follow up.

And also, since the Avs don't have any games for two days, let me just give a quick boo-yaa to the hockey bloggers out there. All of you, from teams I like, teams I hate, and teams I don't really register much, are a wonderful bunch of writers. It's nice to be a part of it.

Now go see some hockey.

Caps -Avs :Short Recap and What I Missed

Getting some sleep may have tamed my fire a little, but only a little. Then I wake up and look a the scoresheet, and find out what I missed. I missed a penalty shot from Alex O. I missed him being stopped by Budaj. Other than that, I'm amazed that Sakic didn't get a star of the game from scoring career points 1500 and 1501. That makes him the 10th most point scorer of all time, and the current active leader.

Other hockey stuff:

Eddie Belfour is the 2nd oldest goalie to win in MSG. Huh...

The Ducks drummed the Oilers, with Pronger getting 3 assists.

Other than that, I have nothing this morning. I gotta go in to work. See you later.

Technorati : Avalanche, Avs, Capitals, Hockey, NHL

What the Hell is Wrong with People???

Let's be honest here. For all the bashing back and forth between Canadians and Americans over who is better in hockey, or in anything, there is something seriously wrong with a lot of people on this side of the border. Take my night in the Czech hockey bar tonight for example: I had a nice two periods at the bar, watching hockey and blogging about it. 2nd intermission and the 3rd period took a turn for the ugly, and I don't mean the hockey. At that point, the hockey wasn't the main attraction. It was the drunk woman sitting next to me. During the 2nd period, she starts talking to me. And really, more like at me rather than to me. As ever, as I usually try to do, I tried to be nice, not just blow her off. She wasn't hitting on me, she was just being drunk and chatty, and a little weird. But things turned ugly quick. The 3rd period started, and while she was watching the game in the first two periods, I was now the focus (again, she wasn't hitting on me). Then she asked my country of origin, and my ethnic background. Look at that picture to the right. Or even look at the last picture here, or the last one here, or the one in this sequence. If you didn't just look, you will in a moment. Not that either of those questions were ANY of her business, the answers are I was born in Minnesota, and my grandmother came over to America from Armenia as a young woman. Why does this matter? The next words out of her mouth are that I look like those people we are fighting over there (very close to a quote, but not accurate enough to put in quotes). Then she says "even if you aren't a terrorist..." (that was a quote). At that point, I had heard enough. Ignoring her wasn't working, so I asked her to just stop right there. She asked if she had insulted me, and I told her just to leave me alone. (you would be forgiven for thinking that things are going to get violent, but they aren't, at least not really) She left me alone, for about 2 minutes. I tried to get back to the game, but that didn't work out so well, as she started in again. She was grabbing my are, and kept using the word terrorist. I had enough. I got my tab, and told the bartender what was going on. He agreed that it was ridiculous. Then she grabbed my jersey. Now I was mad. If you get me mad, this is what will happen. I told her to leave me alone, and that she should be ashamed of herself. That's it. I paid up, grabbed my stuff, and left. As I was leaving, I looked back inside, and I really do think she was ashamed. I just came home, and am now writing this. That is my side of the story, and I think it's pretty accurate. If I were to do anything different, I wouldn't have been ass polite to her when she started using strange hand gestures like a (frankly) crazy person. I had seen her there before, and the bartender knew her name, so she is most likely a regular. And even so, you try to be nice, you try to just go along with the drunk, and it will stop, but it got way out of hand. I tried. If you are basing the accusation purely on looks, there is no basis. I haven't shaved in several days, have a hairline that is obviously mad at me (it keeps wanting somewhere else), and my skin tone is slightly above pale. But basically, it's just ugly fear and racist crap. I'm not even part of the race she was talking about, so she is a true idiot. And who looks like a terrorist? If it were that easy, we would all be living a happier life. But come on, nothing is that simple. There isn't a race out there who is exactly like any of the bad things we think about them. Not one. I want to go back to the hockey bar. The big part of me makes me want to go back for the hockey crowd, and the good people that are there. The small part of me wants to go back to shame that woman. I won't do that, but I want to be around hockey fans. I want my hockey bar. I wish I was in Lake Placid, NY tonight, at Wiseguys. We all worry about bringing people to hockey, but what about just being decent in the first place. Comments are going to be closed for this post. I have no sense of humor about it. I'm just really sad for the state of things. Hockey is a great sport, not just for the game, but for the way it brings the world together. It can take you away from all the problems for the moment, and we can be something else, something simple. We can be just hockey fans.

Technorati : Hockey, People, Suck

I Really Was Liveblogging the Game

I really did liveblog the game tonight, but thanks to Blogger, it didn't go through. Now, I will repost what I sent in, with the blemishes and all. All the errors, all the drama. The end was interesting.

First Period

Who is Ref #40. He looks like a kid.

Caps get the first goal, Avs the first PP. I know which one I'd rather have.

George Parros is un the lineup tonight, and he brought his hair with him.

GOAL!!! Sakic's assist gives him 1,500 career points!!! The Crowd goes wild!!!!!

They just showed the shots on goal at 5:00 left in the first. 15 - 5 Avs. Nice.

5on 3 is nice and all, but Clark is pissing me off on the power play. He jsut shoots at anything. Dude is either nervous or not with the game plan. I can't wait until Leopold gets back in the game.

Great scramble at the end of the period. Kolzig is keeping the Caps in the game. He really is better than the Caps record shows, this year, last year, every year.

After one period, the Avs are pushing the play, but not in command. They are playing better than a 1-1 score so far. If they can show the Caps at the begining of the next two periods that there is nothing to fight for, this could decide itself soon. Hope springs in turtles. I didn't think I would be live blogging this. But here I am. A keyboard on the bar is always an eye catcher for the crowd. And now a guy just walked 20 into the bar with the ugliest sweater on. It's blue and white, and has some stupid whale logo on it. I've seen that logo before, but where? I know it wasn't at last years playoffs.

A tip of the hat to Czechvar beer. It is what I call a winner: hockey beer and great taste all in one.

Go Avs.

--

Sent from my Treo, and Go Avs

Second Period

Budaj's mask has Ned Flanders of the Simpsons on it, carring a Slovakian flag. Budaj iscoming out strong for the start of the period.

Avs have come out playing dump and chase this period. This has never worked well for the Avs. Ever. EVER.

Shannon should be here soon. I'm going to get a good picture of her for the blog. I wonder what penalties she took this weekend.

Parros looks like he should be the newest bass player for The Darkness. He is so metal.

POST!!! A good shot by Klee, just an inch off.

CRAP!!! Green makes a few beautiful moves, and it's 2 - 1 Caps. Plenty of time. But that was some fancy puck protection. The Avs have to start
taking away the opening period jump teams get against them. A little more hard work out of the gate, rather than waiting for the inspiration.

Goal, Alex O. A blast that was either tipped in, or Budaj just got a = little on it, just not enough. 3-1 Caps off an Arnason penalty. My mood
changes from Go Avs to Come on, Avs. Get the jump back.

I missed who took the fresh penalty, but this is no way to make a comeback. If there were stars of the periods,Budaj would get first star for the 2nd, even with the goal against.

Donald Brashear needs to punch someone. It would be entertaining, and help my hockey pool. 8 penalty minutes is pathetic.

The Avs have been looking down at the puck way too much this period. Way too much for shooing against a revived Caps defence and Olie the Goalie.

Sakic had a "Do I shoot or do I pass" moment. The Caps are making even Super Joe take pause and think before instinct. That is proof that the Caps are driving the second.

At the end of two, the Avs give up the ghost, and it's 4-1 Caps. If the Avs are a 2 period team, the third had better be one of them.

--

Sent from my Treo, via the world wide net, through my imail, on the interweb.

Third Period

At our intertmission, it's 1-1 in the Ducks Oilers game. I can't wait to see what Sleek has to say at Battle of California. He must be jumping = out of his seat.

3-1 Caps. Hope is waining.

Alex O just used Skrastins to break the glass. And there is a drunk woman making me really mad.

Goal. What the fuck. Joe Sakic jsut scored a goal, and instead of watching, I was being told I look like a T#rr0rist. What the fuck is wrong with people. I came to watch a hockey game, and I wind up trying to not be rude to a drunk off her ass woman, and get asked if I'm a t3rr0r9st. Fuck this, I'm barely watching the game now, I'm jsut sick of being pissed off at this bar.

Caps score. 4-2. I have left the bar, after being insulted over and over by some drunk woman. More later, but I am shaking mad. What is with people?

--
Sent from my Treo

(I edited formatting errors only. See the next post up for what the f*#k)

Technorati : Avalanche, Avs, Caps, Hockey, NHL

Firmly Planted

My seat at the bar is between the TV the Avs will be on, and the one showing the Sharks - Wings game. They are showing that because it just happens to be on, nothing more. I love a bar that shows the game before the game. I am one happy hockey fan.

-- Sent from my Treo, from SOBO 151, a hockey bar, damnit.

Avs Welcome Alex O

The Avalanche are hosting the Washington Capitals tonight, or I should say, the parent club to the Calder Cup winning Hershey Bears. For the Caps, it isn't about where they are, it's were they are going. Either I am paying way too much attention to the Avs, or the Alexander Ovechkin show is a little quieter this year (probably the first one there). Last season, I spent December in Norfolk, VA, where we got the local feed of Caps games. They aren't stupid over there. They have something they call an Alexander Ovechcam, a camera who's job is to just follow Ovechkin. He's paying a cameraman's salary, he's that good. His secret may be out, if there ever was one, but his skill won't run out any time soon. You can also read the blog of their owner, Ted Leonis. It's interesting reading. Overall, tonight I say, who knows? Coming off a road trip where Theo went split decisions, and 2 Budaj wins (one away, and one at home), Theo will probably get the start, but the real test will be the first D line, or, until Leopold gets back (who may have had a setback), whoever is acting like one. I'm still looking for that Mike Commodore type D-man, the one who is ALWAYS in good position. For Caps takes, check out Jasper's Rink, Off Wing Opinion, and DC Sports Chick. To see my take on Alex O, go here. Me? I'm going to the Czech hockey bar. Let's hope there aren't any foosball jerks tonight. Game on.

UPDATE: After sifting through the dirge of hockey news, I found out that Budaj is slated for tonight. I'm sure a lot will be said about that all day, and tomorrow. I will probably be no exception.

Technorati : Avalanche, Avs, Capitals, Hockey, NHL, Ovechkin

Don Cherry Can Suck It

This is the only post about the details of tonights game. Hejduk takes a puck off the face and scores a goal. Off the face. That shit hurts. If you don't believe me, ask Jeremy Roenick, or Steve Yzerman, or Don VanMassenhoven. That shit hurts. Then Hejduk comes back and plays. Why Don Cherry? Cherry has banged on about Europeans wearing visors and not being tough. Not battling, not working, all skill, no drill. Well, Cherry should eat his gaudy, ugly, dumb hat, and the rest of his awful wardrobe on air tomorrow. An European, wearing a visor, 'scores' (deflects one in) off his face, and comes back for the third period. Don't give me shit over this. That was tough.

Technorati : Cherry, Don, Hejduk, Hockey, NHL, Visor