Please stop losing

by Anne

Dear Kings,

Please stop losing. I don't think I'll be able to stick it out for this entire game tonight as I have to take MK's cat to the vet tomorrow morning because I'm the SISTER OF THE WEEK. I'd say year or something but there are sisters who like give their sisters kidneys and bone marrow and I'd say taking the cat to the vet is waaaayyy down there on the list, just above "letting them borrow your car."

Anyway, remember how well y'all played against the Sharks last time? That was less than a week ago, I think you can do it!

Love,

Anne

The Sunny Hedgehog Enchanters' defensemen are dropping like flies. Brett Clark broke something and now my blocked shots total is going down, Kevin Bieksa sliced off his leg and my PIMs have been stagnant and now Greener is paralyzed from the waist down and my hits total is suffering. I hope they put Greener on IR soon so I can pick up another defenseman who hits things. Douglas Murray? Perchance.

Terry Murray wants to cut a bitch so he tossed the players names in a hat and came up wtih some wackadoodle new line combinations. Most significantly he broke up two dynamic duos: Smyth/Kopitar and Brown/Stoll. Each are skating on different lines now. Yeesh. But whatever works to get these boys back in gear, I'm all for it.

All I know is Teddy Purcell is nowhere near Anze Kopitar, and that's the way it should be for now and for all eternity.

Let's Go Kings!!!

Another Snoozer for the Sabres; Thriller for the Canucks

by Anne

Once again, no one stepped up and took control of the game. Well, someone did; Patrice Bergeron did. For those keeping score, Patrice Bergeron does NOT play for the Buffalo Sabres.

Whatever, I don't have much to say about that game. Good job, Goose. Cookies for Goose, and for Staffy. Staffy is hurt with a bone bruise. That sounds unbelievably unpleasant. Does this mean Tyler Ennis makes the return trip? Is Gerbe healthy yet? Here's hoping one of them is ready!

Tonight they play the Senators. I'll be at a show, so I won't see it. Too bad.

The Canucks won last night. The first period started out pretty darn rocky, with the Avs jumping out to an early two goal lead. After cutting the deficit to one in the second period, the Canucks scored four more unanswered goals in the third to take a 5-2 victory. Their last game, ten years ago it feels, was an 8-2 victory over the Avs. Wooo! Big Bear scored a PP goal on  a nifty little deflection:

They may have fallen to #3 in my heart but I still loves them.

Especially Big Bear.
Especially goals like that.
Please don't go six days between games again, I don't like that and neither does my fantasy team.

 Nothing to do with the game,

 but how adorable are Henrik Sedin and his son?

Other things:

• Danny Briere and M-E Vlasic fought last night. Yes, you read that right. I... I'm so confused. I wish I had seen it live. It's just so bizarre:

The best part is the looks of disbelief on their teammates' faces.
Also, I don't think any punches were thrown, but gloves were off.
hahahahahaha fantastic
Good job, Pickles!
You don't let Danny Briere attempt to put you in a headlock!

• Also in that game, Dany Heatley had his second hat trick of the season. This pleases me for two reasons: It was against the Flyers and he's a Sunny Hedgehog Enchanter. Yessss.
  

• Tonight the Sabres play in Ottawa (barf), the Kings host the Flames and the Pens are in Atlanta. Hopefully I'll be able to watch some bitchin' highlight reel goals scored by the Sabres and Pens during the intermissions of the Kings game tonight! They're all gonna win, right? Please, Sabres? I don't know what's in the kool-aid you drink before Senators games, but they're not freaky zombie people, out to eat your brains and such. Especially now that Heatley's gone. Please win? Thanks.
  

• ETA: The Kings game is at 4:00. Good thing I looked at the schedule again!
  

An Open Letter to David Backes

by Anne

Hey David!

How's it going? How's your wife? Is she still in school? How about all those puppies you two rescued? How are they holding up? Great!

I thought you might like to know some interesting factoids about how my season as a hockey fan has been going.

First off, the Sabres are doing well, thanks for asking. They lost two stinkers over the weekend but finally beat Hotmonton (as Drew Stafford called them) last night. Drew Stafford scored a goal! It was spiff-o-riffic.

Hey! You and Staffy have been teammates at the World Championships the last two seasons. How exciting for you both! You must be so happy for him!

Look! There you both are!

Hooray

Good times.

Hey, also, this season I started my first fantasy team! I know! I'm excited too! I drafted you! Yeah, really! Isn't that great? I had just named you my favorite St. Louis Blue and you were all foxy and swift for team USA at the WCs in May and it was warm happy fuzzies so I picked you up! You had 54 points last season, 31 goals! That's great! Smiles and happiness.

 HappyFunTimes

So here we find ourselves headlong into November. Teams are shaking off that "new season" smell and starting to show their endurance or lack thereof, injuries are piling up, some players are returning and the real muck and grind of the season begins. This season's stars are starting to shine, rosters are being shaken up, all sortsa stuff is going on around the National Hockey League. I'm first place in my fantasy league, but this week's lead is tenuous. I'm playing a tough opponent, I need all my top players to produce!

That leaves me with one question:

HOW DO YOU ONLY HAVE THREE POINTS IN SIXTEEN GAMES?

Are you hurt? BADLY? What is the DEAL? Pick up the PACE, BUDDY BOY. Don't MAKE me drop you or switch to a new favorite St. Louis Blue. Eric Johnson is waiting in the wings, my friend. At least VINNY has twelve assists to go along with his pathetic TWO goals. He has FOURTEEN points in fifteen games. That's just under a point per game pace. SWEET. YOU, sir, are on pace for fifteen points for the ENTIRE SEASON.

MATT GREENE HAS MORE POINTS THAN YOU. MATT. GREENE.

SNAP OUT OF IT, KIDDO.

I took a quick picture of myself while writing this post so you can truly see my displeasure at your lack of production, DAVID:

Fear my wrath

FEAR IT.

Love and smooches,

Anne

Ok, its been a few days

by Anne

I hope the Sabres just crinkle up Saturday's game and throw it away and never speak of that atrocity again.

• The Canucks won last night! They defeated the red-hot Colorado Avalanche 3-0. The Avs are ranked 30th in the league in shots taken per game, and that seemed to fell them. Andrew Raycroft earned a shutout, but he only had to make 18 saves.

Kes' face drew six minutes in minor penalties last night.

That Kes, always sacrificing for the team

• Kesler had a heck of a game, as did Mason Raymond who appears to be 17 but is married? Bananas.

• Speaking of babies having babes: according to Sabres Edge, Jason Pominville and his wife welcomed a baby today or at least sometime in the last 24 - 48 hours! Baby Pommer! How adorable. Lindy put it best in his post-practice presser:

The reason Jason Pominville didn't skate today?

"The population of Pominville went up, so he had the day off," said coach Lindy Ruff, referring to a baby for Pominville and his wife.

Oh Lindy, you devil, you. Congrats Pommer and Mrs. Pommer who I think is named Kim!

• The Sunny Hedgehog Enchanters managed to hold onto first place in their fantasy league, despite having a bye week. Phew! We return to action tonight. Vinny Lecavalier and David Backes remain in the doghouse. I traded Phil Kessel. I might regret that down the line, but probably not. If this were a keeper league, I would've held on to him.
  

• The Kings are hosting a Fathers' trip for the game in Phoenix tonight. There are 16 dads on the trip. Interesting name tidbits: Davis Drewiske's dad's name is David. How confusing. Jack Johnson, whose full name is long and complicated is actually Jack Johnson III so Dad is also Jack Johnson. Teddy Purcell's dad is also Ted, Rob Scuderi's dad is Bob. I just love Randy Jones' dad's name: Butch Jones. His name sounds like he should be starring in a B-rate action movie as Rambo's arch-nemesis. There are four dads named Jim: Greene, Harrold, Smyth and Richardson. Wayne Simmonds' dad and Kopi's dad win for best names: Cyril and Matjaz, respectively. Hopefully there will be delightful anecdotes and photographs soon.
  

•  The Bills are just terrible and the Steelers didn't play so football was a bust this weekend. The Vikings/Packers game was exciting but I don't care toooo much about that. I like Brett Favre, always have, but I just don't care too much.
  

• I used to really enjoy reading Joe Caligiuri's blog. He's a trainer for the Kings, and he offered some interesting insight into the world of the LA Kings. Unfortunately he seemed to offer too much insight and his blog has been shut down. Fortunately, Google Reader held onto these posts so I can still read them.
  

• The Kings play tonight in Phoenix, which means the game is at 9:00 instead of 10:00 or 10:30. Sweet

Trickery and Such

by Anne

It's weird to not watch a Sabres game, it's also weird to not be AT a Sabres home game. Weirdness abounded.

Here's what I gather happened (by period)

• 1st: Nothing except Ryan Miller is really good at hockey
  
• 2nd: They didn't score on a lot of PP time, Ryan Miller is really good at hockey
  
• 3rd: JBG was nearly decapitated and murdered by Shane Doan, Grizz scored, Britney scored and we won and Ryan Miller is really good at hockey
• At some point, Pat Kaleta tried to kill Petr Prucha
• They won!!! 2-1! Hooray!
  
• Post-Game: Brian Koziol shouldn't talk about things unless he's sure he knows the facts....and Ryan Miller is really good at knitting. HAH! You thought I was going to say hockey again! Didn't you?!
  

I like the cut of his jib

 I also didn't watch the Pens game, but all I really learned about it was that they won and Scott Hartnell might've taken a page from the Jarkko Ruutu school of fighting and made a late-game snack of Kris Letang. Gross.

The Kings, who have a terrrible PK, beat the Minnesota Wild 6-3. Kopitar had 3 points and Dewey played something like 24 minutes. Greener only played 13:52. I'm trying not to be too concerned about him. It is, after all, only game three. :) I'd also like Brownie to score soon, please and thanks.

The Sunny Hedgehog Enchanters had a fabulous night, Dany Heatley had a 4 point night (3+1) and was a +6. Both Ozzie and Quickie won and all-in-all the Enchanters cleaned up nicely tonight.

Wednesday Morning

by Anne

I like lists, don't you?

• Injury report: Drew Stafford has a "mild concussion" and Tony Lydman has a hand injury. Stafford may be ready for Saturday but Toni probably will not be.
  

• Does this make room for Myers? He's had a strong, not outstanding, but an improving-each-game kind of camp. Do we give him his 9 game stint? I say: yes. Especially with Toni being out.

• Cody McCormick cleared waivers and was sent to Portland. I am not surprised.

• With Stafford and without Mair, we have twelve forwards, leaving a roster spot for Tim Kennedy, who I feel has had a better camp than Gerbe. Not to say Gerbe didn't have a strong camp, but I'd give Kennedy the edge. They both picked up the pace towards the end of camp and started scoring some goals, much to everyone's relief.

• Leave Kennedy up, definitely, and once Mairsy comes back, we'll see what happens.

• Don't touch my Matty Ellis. :P

• The Florida Panthers AND Chicago Blackhawks lost to European teams on Tuesday. That's the first time an NHL team has lost in like 19 years and two lost on the same day. Well done, boys.
  

• Many are super pumped about the Canucks. As. Am. I. Contender? I'd say definitely more so this year than last. Luongo, Heniel, Danrick, Burrows, Kesler, Ehrhoff, and crew are looking good. The defense looks pretty solid, and the scoring is there, even with Demitra out.
  

• I'm a little less pumped for the Pens. I know pre-season is meaningless, but they had a really bad record in the pre-season.
  

• People are also pumped about the Kings. Ok, "pumped" may be a little strong, let's define pumped as "predicting the Kings might not suck as hard as last year or the year before." Terry Murray is about defense and some of the Kings are... less inclined to be defensively responsible. Some of their +/- from last season is.... paralyzingly bad. Speaking of such things:
  

• The Sunny Hedgehog Enchanters drafted yesterday and after some moves of some ill-advised draftees (who knew they all had such bad +/-?) the roster looks... ok?

• Highlights of the Sunny Hedgehog Enchanters (or SHE) would be three of its four namesakes: Rick Nash (aces) Drew Doughty (ummm....) and Matt Greene (don't judge me). Sadly, Schenner was not available and BabySchenn went back to Brandon. Also on the roster are Nick Lidstrom, Vinny Lecavalier, Dany Heatley, Phil Kessel and Sissy. My team can score, win faceoffs and hit. Goaltending? Ehhh maybe not so much... My trio includes Osgood, Quick and Bryzgalov. I'm not thrilled with that line-up.

• Also, I guess from some form of sentimentality, I drafted FIVE Kings. It's a really good think BabySchenn went back to juniors, I probably would've drafted HIM too. Their combined +/- is so unspeakably bad, I can't even think about it. Greener leads the way (and was #2 on the team last season) with a blistering +1. Yyyyeah, it's not good. Not Brind'amour bad, bad not even Lidstrom can counter-act all that negativity. I'm planning to unload Kopitar as soon as I can bully someone into taking him. Unless he suddenly starts playing defensive hockey, which is highly unlikely. Alas.
  

• I have a lot (like three) more defensemen than everyone else in my league. Should I be concerned about this?

• Can you tell I have NO IDEA what's going on in fantasy hockey?

• Speaking of fantasies... [;)] we're formatting this year's All-Stars of Hottness differently, as there is not All-Star Game. Instead we will be selecting the national teams of the United States and Canada.... and maybe Sweden. But not Russia, they're all too ugly. Remember, this is purely superficial.
  

• Team USA expects to announce their roster around December 30. I can't figure out when Team Canada announces their roster but I'm guessing it's right around then. We'll use December 30 as our date too. Look for that ballot to be posted by Thanksgiving and up for voting until Christmas. Nominations are accepted all the time, so submit some.

• Final roster cuts must be made by today at 3:00pm EST. Eek!
  

Greener's trying to keep his +/- "high" for SHE's sake.
Thank you, Matt Greene.

These Games STILL Don't Count?/ Anne Succumbs to Fantasy Hockey

by Anne

By some cruel twist of fate, it is STILL pre-season. I'm not sure how but, trust me, it still is.

• The Canucks are 5-0 in the pre-season. On Monday night they jumped to an early 3-0 lead against the Flames only allow four unanswered Flames goals to trail 4-3 late in the third. Here's what happened: 10.2 seconds left - Six attackers for the Canucks. A Mason Raymond goal is disallowed because of an early whistle. Faceoff goes to the neutral zone. Game over, right?

• Daniel Sedin says NO:

He scored the tying goal with 0.2 seconds left
And THEN he scored the winning goal in the shootout



Curtis Glencross scored too.
Big Bear gets all emo with displeasure

• The Sabres sent 14 players to Portland. There were no surprises. Myers, Weber, Kennedy, Gerbe, Gragnani, Enroth all remain in camp.

• Speaking of the Sabres, they'll walk the red carpet tomorrow night before the game against the Maple Leafs where no one will buy anything and I'll have no money to show for my trouble.

• The Kings beat the Islanders in Kansas City on Tuesday night. Wayne Simmonds had a fantastic game. Two goals- one short-handed- and a nifty fight:

Simmer's intense fight-y face is obscured by some Ts
Trust me, it's intense and fight-y

• Sean O'Donnell earned himself a match penalty that will be reviewed by the league. Yeesh O'D.

• The Pens lost to the Maple Leafs. I didn't see much but I did see Gronk tangle with Mike Komisarek and lose. Two blonde giants that I enjoy, Gronk clearly more than Komi. Gronk had a lame-tastic shootout attempt. Eh, its ok. He was wearing an A though. :)

It wasn't pretty


Hi Jay!
I hope you're enjoying your time in Pittsburgh!

• I've joined my first fantasy hockey league. The reason I never joined before was because I couldn't come up with a good name. Problem solved! I decided that I needed someone to create it for me and if I laughed, I'd use it. Most of the team name generators are completely lame. Therefore I decided to go the anagram route and started tossing in combinations of my favorite players names. Behold:

+ + +

Greene+Schenn+Doughty+Nash=

Sunny Hedgehog Enchanters


Fear their wrath.

• I feel strongly that there were way too many pictures in this post.