Opening Night Didn't Go So Well

by Anne

Well, in brief, here is how all four of last night's games went from my perspective:

• Toronto v. Montreal: Ok, guys, we get it, you like to hit. Two fights, Mike Komisarek nearly sending himself through the glass to make a point to his former team. Habs won 4-3 in OT.

Schenner!
Look out!
Sneaky little Scott Gomez is right behind you!

• Brooks Laich(!) and Alexander Ovechkin each had two goals and the Caps defeated the Bruins 4-1. I guess that was my preferred outcome, now that we think divisionally, at least for the next few months

Oh Sissy.

• The Avalanche beat the Sharks 5-2 and Joe Sakic's number was retired. Joe Sakic, what a dude.

Darcy Tucker is REALLY excited about scoring a goal

• Also, to celebrate his hero, Matt Duchene earned himself his first NHL point, an assist on JM Liles' goal (the 5th).

• The Canucks were losing 3-0 at one point and had a nice rally, but fell victim to an empty-net goal and bad penalty killing.

Big Bear had three shots on goal and four hits
He had an assist but they took it away :(

• Steve Montador has a personality: He talks about our youngest defensemen on Saturday's Roster. He makes fun of the JBG and I'm a-ok with that, keep things loose around the kid:
  

"I've seen [Sekera] do some pretty special things," Montador said. "He's strong on his feet, has good vision and for a European guy who has English as a second language, he talks quite a bit, which is great for a partner.

"Butler plays so confident, knows he can skate and does the little things well. Then you look at a guy like Myers who's 10 years younger than me. For a guy pulling moves and skating like that when he probably hasn't shaved a day in his life is impressive to me."

• Brent Seabrook and Patrick Sharp of the Chicago Blackhawks appear to be having a European affair. Just don't tell Adam Burish who's stuck back home in Chicago with a knee injury.

Ain't they sweet?

• I love game photography:

Beauchemin: No, Luke, really, let's go left
Schenn: No, Francois, the play says move the puck up the ice
Beauchemin: I really don't think that's it
Schenn: Totally man, it is
Lapierre: If you two are finished chatting, I'll just come and take that puck...

Quick Hits

by Anne

• Chicago seems like a big stinky hot mess right now

• Toronto has signed "The Monster" a supposedly phenomenal Swedish goalie named Jonas Gustavsson. I wonder if he and Jhonas Enroth know each other

• Jhonas Enroth took some time to adjust to the North American game, keep the fact that there is an adjustment period, before we go hoisting The Monster's head on a pike if he lets in some softies, Leafs' fans

• The Funky Chicken apparently has signed in Vancouver

• Joe Sakic is going to announce his retirement soon :(

• Steve Montador looks like Derek Roy's older, more rugged and better looking brother

• I'm house sitting for my sister and her boyfriend. I'm hanging out with Maximus the cat, a Wii, a stocked bar and a huge HD TV. I wish it were hockey season

• SO'B re-signed in Vancouver for one year at a $600,000 raise. I'm glad. Never mind that he scored his lone goal in the very last game of the post-season. I love him and I want him to stay there!

• Of my four teams, I'm still most excited for the Kings. If all four of my teams were to make the playoffs next year, I'd be so exhausted, switching loyalties multiple times a night.

• When is Brooks Orpik bringing the Cup to Buffalo?

• The Blackhawks are supposedly looking to or supposedly should trade Soupy. His contract was a mistake as anyone in Buffalo or even San Jose could've told you.

• The Leafs have already signed this year's first round pick, Nazem Kadri, to an entry level contract. Wonder when Tavares' contract will come through.

• Speaking of Soupy and the Islanders: they have room for him. As of this writing, without Tavares' contract, the Islanders are still not yet at the salary floor, with only about 3-5 players including JT to sign. Interesting.
  

• If you live in Buffalo, you should see Julius Caesar at Shakespeare in Delaware Park. Its got lots of sword fighting, death and betrayal. The kids will love it. Also, ladies, there are a few men with really nice arms who swing around heavy swords. I don't mind coming to work and watching that. There are also some old dudes who you fear may collapse and any moment.

• Its really freakin' cold by July standards today. Its only about 68 degrees. Booo

• I might go to development camp tomorrow. But I can only stay until 5:00. Sad face.
  

Boo-Ya. Someone's Employed. I Hate Mats Sundin.

by Anne

So its officially official, I must've passed my drug test.... seeing as how I haven't snorted coke, smoked up or shot myself up with various substances since.... never, I was pretty confident I'd pass. Ok the smoking thing isn't true, I have done that before. In college of course. WHAT A REBEL. But I digress, I was officially hired to work at DNC (ETA: DNC does not stand for Democratic National Convention... well, ok, it does, but in this case it does not) Sportservice at HSBC Arena as a food vendor. There's about a 90% chance that its going to suck, but I'll actually get to be in the rink and I may get to actually watch a few seconds of the games. That'll be sweet. Oh yeah, and I work on commission, so buy food from me. Wooooo!

There's an article on NHL.com about a bunch of players who invaded Manhattan to do promo work for the coming season.

One of the more interesting (and hilarious) sites was seeing each player having makeup applied and choosing through various wardrobes for photo shoots with NHL Images.

I bet Derek Roy came with Millsey as a fashion consultant, strictly pro bono. He dresses his fellow NHLers out of the kindness of his tiny little heart.

Soooooooo Martin Brodeur was there but didn't participate in the goalie talk? Interesting. If I were Millsey or Ricky I'd be like "Uhhhh, yeah we're excellent goaltenders and all but uh, Martin Brodeur is sitting over there, maybe we should defer to him... Now we're going to compete in the balloon shaving portion of the day's events."

Maybe its like the student teaching part of being an All-Star goaltender. Now Brodeur just sits back and watches them lead the world as he prepares to play in the final stretch of his career. Will the teacher become the student? Did Ricky and Millsey have new, profound insights on the world of the goaltender? Has Martin Brodeur's world been ROCKED?! I'm gonna go with NO on that one, but I'm sure Millsey and Ricky tried.

---

Dear Mats Sundin,

I straight up hate you. Like, I don't feel bad for your "difficult" decision you have to make, I don't feel bad that you have to warm up for 30 minutes before a game. I don't care that you're uncertain if you can play at your usual level again I DON'T CARE. In case your manager has neglected to inform you, YOU ARE A DOUCHEBAG. MAKE UP YOUR GODDAMN MIND AND STOP BEING SO DAMN FULL OF YOURSELF. THIS IS NOT A DIFFICULT DECISION. CHOOSING AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL IS A MORE DIFFICULT DECISION. JOHN KERRY WAFFLES LESS THAN YOU DO. DECIDE! CHOOSE HOCKEY. PLAY HOCKEY. HOCKEY HOCKEY.

The Canucks, Rangers and Canadiens organizations have got to be royally pissed off. Of course, on paper, to the media pre-Sundin's decision they'll talk about how they understand his dilemma and such a storied NHL veteran deserves the time he needs to make the best decision for himself. But you know the second he puts pen to paper or retires, the other teams will be lashing out at him like the scorned ladies he lead on for months and then took Julie to the prom instead. He's left them all hanging, and for what? To dick around for the summer and not decide anything? Now he's not even sure if he'll decide before the season starts! He wants to pull a Niedermayer/Selanne. GARY BETTMAN, DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. I don't mean about Mats Sundin, because with my current level of annoyance with him, I'd just as soon cover him in honey and tie him to an anthill, but about this "retirement" thing. Don't let players un-retire after, say November. If it causes some players to retire early then SO BE IT. They can un-retire later if they really want to.

And on the "WAH WAH WAH I HAVE TO WARM UP FOR A LONG TIME" front, Mario Lemieux (who is the vastly superior hockey player) had so much back pain at the end of this career that someone else had to tie his skates for him, but HE STILL FREAKIN' PLAYED. Did he un-retire for the right reasons? Who cares, he still played and with his crappy team he helped bring Sid the Kid to Pittsburgh. He helped keep the Pens in Pittsburgh and helped keep fan interest and it has paid of TENFOLD in the last 2 years. When Mario retired, he retired, when he played, he played. END OF STORY.

MAKE UP YOUR MIND.

I think as punishment, Mats Sundin should be forced to play for the Thrashers.

I have never liked Mats Sundin as he as played the majority of his career with our division rivals, but now I flat out hate him. Joe Sakic made up his mind in plenty of time for training camp. He's a CAPTAIN and he acts like one. You, Mr. Sundin are a great big bald Swedish baby. How could you possibly not know if you can play? Talk to a therapist and a trainer. What else is there to figure out? Are you like the 4th grader who's unsure about transferring to a new school? Well just have Mom buy you that shiny new Camp Rock pencil box and you'll be the talk of the town! Everyone will want to be your friend. CASE CLOSED.

Please choose Vancouver so you'll be far away BUT DON'T YOU CORRUPT MY BIG BEAR. I DON'T WANT TO GO THROUGH THIS WITH HIM IN 15 YEARS.

I'm not sure who this is, but I love them

Screw you,
Anne

Sakic To Me

by Anne

Welcome back, Joe.

FINALLY ONE OF THEM MADE A DECISION!!!

Joe Sakic will be returning for a 20th NHL season and back with the Avs. I'm sure that the Avs are relieved, however, are we just going to go through all this next summer?!?

Hopefully Mats will learn by example and come up with an answer for us all by Labor Day. He said he'd give an answer in August. Well, first he said August 1st and THAT date clearly has come and gone with no word from the bald Swede.

Mats, we appreciate you loaning out your guns as advertising space, but could you please decide if you want to play in the NHL anymore? Thanks, loveyabye.

F to the YI I'm currently in my Special Needs Kids or whatever its really called class and it took me like half an hour to figure out that I needed to change some security settings to be able to log in to the interwebs.

I'm also not getting that 2000 Grand Prix I mentioned the other day. It turns out it needs almost $2000 in work and its just not worth it. So I'm getting a decidedly less flashy but newer and lower mileage 2003 Kia Spectra. Its a little more expensive but it'll be waaaayyyy less than the long term repairs and cost of gas and longevity of the Grand Prix. Word up. Gotta get the loan straightened out and I will be ridin' in budget-friendly style. Woo. Hoo.

Yo, I have a lot of homework. I have to read a lot. Booooo. I'm already over it. When one leaves their home at 7:00 am and decides that 6:45 am is a good time to pack up their bag, they forget things. For example, I forgot my notebook for my 2nd class but remembered the textbook. I'm a CHAMP. I don't like the class, but I'd at least like to be prepared to hate it. Alack and fie. Look at that, already over it again.

Peace out.

I Only Got 4 Minutes to... Update This Blog

by Anne

I've been so FREAKIN busy this week. I barely have enough time to cheer on my OBF in the All-Around! What a terrible fate.

I'm still teaching and the show is on Friday so things are that much more ramped up, and THEN on top of that, I'm working at the shows at night at the membership table, so its a long day, from like 1:30-10:45.

That leaves precious little time for the IMPORTANT things in life, such as trying to get myself to hold off on panicking about my #1 man's contract, Mats and Joe (they should think about a buddy cop movie), Michael Phelps, men's gymnastics and how much I love almond M&Ms.

However, yesterday Jimmy, my now ELEVEN YEAR OLD (OMG WHEN DID HE GET SO OLD??!) cousin came over. Jimmy is the cousin who accompanied me to the Richard Zednick game. GREAT. He loves Ryan Miller and is convinced that Ovechkin plays for the Sabres. I never claimed he was "with it".

Anyway, I have my NHL standings tracker hanging up in my room, and Jimmy and I were reviewing NHL logos and team stars. He thought it was hysterical to constantly answer with "Pominville" or "Ovechkin" if he didn't know a players name. He also considered it hysterical to refuse to refer to Nicklas Lidstrom as anything other than Nicklas Flamel. Most importantly was the moment he couldn't remember the Vancouver "Canucks" so the word he pulled out of his 11 year old brain was the Vancouver "Cankles". In case you're wondering, I don't think Jimmy knows what "cankles" are, but I nearly wet myself laughing about a bunch of really self conscious men taking up hockey because the skates would mask their chunky ankles.

I DID purchase the Jonas Brothers album, which I'm sure you were ALL wondering about. Its pretty fun and rather enjoyable, and, yes I do occasionally feel like a creeper while listening to it. The only comfort I take is that two of them are at least 18 and the oldest one is only like 2 years younger than I am, and I don't feel quite as creeped out any more. FORTUNATELY they're all about being sexually pure or something like that until they're married so there's no risk of stumbling upon any kind of freaky sexually suggestive song being sung by a 16 year old boy who has curls that most of his female fans would kill for.

When did this become a Jonas Brothers blog? Does such a thing exist? I'm sure it does, why do I doubt that for a second? I have absolutely no interest in looking for them. I think they're going to be in Buffalo on Friday. I have to work, but I wouldn't go even if I didn't have to. I'm sure that all you hear through 90% of the concert is 14 year old girls screaming and carrying on like if they scream loud enough Nick (the 16 year old with the curls of a deity) will leap out of the audience and marry them on the spot. I can see the joint bank accounts now.

HOCKEY. WOOOOO!!!

Bryan McCabe's future is up in the air. WOW. WHAT A SHOCK, ANOTHER PLAYER WHO MAY OR MAY NOT MAKE A DECISION THAT WILL AFFECT WHERE HE'LL BE PLAYING NEXT SEASON. He Mats and Joe should just form their own band called the Indecisives and tour the world. They can visit Jagsie in Russia.

Yes Bryan, you can play the tambourine

Someone broke into Beth's (the head teacher of my classes) car last night and stole half of our costumes and stuff for our show so now I have to go find towels and bedsheets to act as weapons (yes, weapons) for our battle and some other stuff because we now are down 5 of our 10. Awesome.

Check ya later.

My Two Cents

by Anne

I suppose after being so sad about Brett retiring in March, I should probably offer my meaningless thoughts on his re-instatement.

I'm glad he's playing again as long as he plays for Green Bay. He shouldn't and couldn't play for any other team. It'd be like watching Jim Kelly play for the Dolphins, especially if Brett goes to Minnesota as was a rumor I heard the other day. What a disaster. All in all I'm mostly glad, and I'm sure I'll be even more glad once the season starts that Brett is back, but I can't help but feel bad for Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers was a first round pick in 2005 and has been declared the heir apparent to the starting job in Green Bay once Brett hangs it up. Entering his 4th season, it seemed like finally Rodgers was going to get his chance.... until Brett decided that it wasn't Rodgers time yet and he'd like to come back. I don't know enough about Aaron Rodgers to make any kind of bold statement about his ability as a quarterback, but if the team that's worked with Brett Favre for 16 years declares you're the one to take over, you're probably doing ok for yourself. This probably means that Rodgers could be a starter somewhere else. Does he play that game? Does he look for a trade to get his shot? Can he even do that? I don't know the rules about that stuff. Look at Buffalo. In a lot of other cities Trent Edwards would be a back up, but because of the way things shook down last season, he's our #1 guy. As I said, I don' t know how Edwards and Rodgers match up, but I'm guessing Rodgers wouldn't make Edwards look like Jim Kelly in a side by side comparison. I can't imagine Rodgers is really excited that he's going to be riding the pine for ANOTHER season when he was this close to getting his shot. Anyone have thoughts on Rodgers as a player? Is he any good? Is Green Bay dodging a bullet with this one? Should or could Rodgers request a move to another team?

Anyway, these were my vastly uneducated observations: Glad that Brett (at least for now) will be back in Green Bay and not somewhere else, and I feel bad for Aaron Rodgers. Hell, Rodgers could end up being the next Rob Johnson and then won't everyone (who's a Packers fan) be extra super glad Brett came back.

I got black stuff on my white dress today and my nail polish is chipping. I'm not good at having a manicure, or wearing white. Awesome.

Any word on Sundin? Sakic? Anything? Steve Yzerman's bit of advice to these boys is that if there's any waffling, they should be playing. Perhaps all athletes (cough Brett Favre cough) could take a lesson from everyone's favorite captain: unless you HAVE to retire before your brain falls out your ear or your right knee explodes, DON'T. You will regret sitting it out if you can still handle both the physical and mental parts of the game. SO, take some advice from Unkie Steve, JUST PLAY MATS AND JOE! JUST MAKE A FREAKIN DECISION ALREADY!

Have a lovely Monday everyone!