So I am watching the first period of Vancouver @ Chicago game 3, Vancouver has a power play early on...
If Mats Sundin is standing at the top of the circle, on the power play, tapping his stick to call for the puck, YOU PASS HIM THE PUCK.
You do not pass to the other side of the ice as Kevin Bieksa chose to do, because lets face it, Sundin is the most gifted offensive player on that team and after years of watching him play I can say that when he calls for the puck it means he is going to put it in the net.
Hopefully Mats fills in his new teammates of the way a power play is run when #13 is on the ice.
5/05/2009
5/03/2009
A Little Bit Canadian?
Canadian hockey is the envy of every country who has even just one player that laces up. This is not an opinion, a biased statement or a rant. It is a fact. Canadian hockey is great for many reasons, the players are amazing individually and as a whole, national teams create a sum of parts that cannot be matched.
Of the many traits that make a Canadian hockey player great, three are of utmost importance to make one in the top tier:
1. Skill - not much explanation needed, skills gained from a lifetime of practice and competing makes a Canadian hockey player unmatched (skating, shooting, passing, being awesome, etc.).
2. Grit - watch any playoff game and you will know what I mean, throwing big hits, taking big hits to make a play, blocking shots with any body part that will get the job done (covered by equipment or not).
3. Passion - the love for the game, the chasing of the dream, for every player that makes it there are thousands of guys that do not, all have the same love for the game and each guy that makes it represents the passion of every guy that does not.
There are lots of amazing players from around the world, and the truly great ones sometimes even display these traits to some degree. None though as much as Ovechkin. He is simply amazing and there is not one player I would prefer to watch right now more than him.
1. Skill - watch sportscentre any day after a Capitals game and you will see. He has insane speed, a killer shot (both in terms of velocity and accuracy) and dangles to challenge anyone out there.
2. Grit - who would of thought a Russian would ever show grit worth mentioning? Certainly not me, but he definitely does, always amongst the leaders in hits (unheard of for a skilled guy) and a willingness to drive the net like a prototypical power forward.
3. Passion - another thing usually lacking from the better Russian hockey players. Not Ovechkin though, this guy flat out loves the game, you can see it when he scores, when his teammates score and in the way he attacks at all times. It is even evident in the way he talks about the game.
Canadian hockey as a whole is still far and away the best, but as individual players go (and we have alot of them from this country), Ovechkin is the best right now (in my opinion). I hope some of the young Canadian players coming up will play the style he plays because I would love to argue the fact that a Canadian is the best, as has usually been the case.
Of the many traits that make a Canadian hockey player great, three are of utmost importance to make one in the top tier:
1. Skill - not much explanation needed, skills gained from a lifetime of practice and competing makes a Canadian hockey player unmatched (skating, shooting, passing, being awesome, etc.).
2. Grit - watch any playoff game and you will know what I mean, throwing big hits, taking big hits to make a play, blocking shots with any body part that will get the job done (covered by equipment or not).
3. Passion - the love for the game, the chasing of the dream, for every player that makes it there are thousands of guys that do not, all have the same love for the game and each guy that makes it represents the passion of every guy that does not.
There are lots of amazing players from around the world, and the truly great ones sometimes even display these traits to some degree. None though as much as Ovechkin. He is simply amazing and there is not one player I would prefer to watch right now more than him.
1. Skill - watch sportscentre any day after a Capitals game and you will see. He has insane speed, a killer shot (both in terms of velocity and accuracy) and dangles to challenge anyone out there.
2. Grit - who would of thought a Russian would ever show grit worth mentioning? Certainly not me, but he definitely does, always amongst the leaders in hits (unheard of for a skilled guy) and a willingness to drive the net like a prototypical power forward.
3. Passion - another thing usually lacking from the better Russian hockey players. Not Ovechkin though, this guy flat out loves the game, you can see it when he scores, when his teammates score and in the way he attacks at all times. It is even evident in the way he talks about the game.
Canadian hockey as a whole is still far and away the best, but as individual players go (and we have alot of them from this country), Ovechkin is the best right now (in my opinion). I hope some of the young Canadian players coming up will play the style he plays because I would love to argue the fact that a Canadian is the best, as has usually been the case.
4/30/2009
Round 2
Okay instead of doing predictions for round two I am saying who i want to win...
Capitals over Penguins
Black Hawks over Canucks
Ducks over Red Wings
Bruins over Hurricanes
Who I think will actually come out on top is a different matter but these are the teams I am cheering for.
Got out to Hockey Life with Alex and Blake yesterday (can anyone say day trip, yay). Those guys have been real cool with coming to chill a whole bunch of times while I have been laid up, really appreciate that.
From what I hear they won a pretty exciting game last night, excellent start to the summer season.
Capitals over Penguins
Black Hawks over Canucks
Ducks over Red Wings
Bruins over Hurricanes
Who I think will actually come out on top is a different matter but these are the teams I am cheering for.
Got out to Hockey Life with Alex and Blake yesterday (can anyone say day trip, yay). Those guys have been real cool with coming to chill a whole bunch of times while I have been laid up, really appreciate that.
From what I hear they won a pretty exciting game last night, excellent start to the summer season.
4/28/2009
Game Ssssseeevvvveeennnn
Two huge game 7s this evening, cant complain about the best thing in sports X 2 except that they are both on at the same time, that is unfortunate. my picks for those series were Washington and New Jersey respectively, and I am sticking with those picks for tonight's one offs.
I had the my staples removed yesterday (finally) and the surgeon said everything looks ok, bad news though is that he wants me to stay off work for another 2 or 3 weeks......I was originally expecting to go back tomorrow which would of been 2 weeks to the day. So needless to say im pretty bummed about that, for a couple reasons. First is that my boredom gets to continue, yipee, and second is that if Im not working than no money is coming in (contract positions are very lame, I know for a fact I will never do one again).
Awesome news of the day: Shane's return from Afghanistan. I know everyone is psyched that he made it back safe. I am going to try and make my way over to his place tomorrow and say whats up since he lives just around the corner (that will be my farthest walk to date too).
Summer hockey season begins this week, I think it is going to be a good season, cant wait till I can get out and play with the boys in a month or so but i know we will be a solid 4-0 by that point. Shit, that may not be so good, a great hockey mind constantly reminds us of the perils of changing a winning lineup (damn you Cherry). Well hopefully they take me back regardless, going to try and get out and watch them play this week though.
I had the my staples removed yesterday (finally) and the surgeon said everything looks ok, bad news though is that he wants me to stay off work for another 2 or 3 weeks......I was originally expecting to go back tomorrow which would of been 2 weeks to the day. So needless to say im pretty bummed about that, for a couple reasons. First is that my boredom gets to continue, yipee, and second is that if Im not working than no money is coming in (contract positions are very lame, I know for a fact I will never do one again).
Awesome news of the day: Shane's return from Afghanistan. I know everyone is psyched that he made it back safe. I am going to try and make my way over to his place tomorrow and say whats up since he lives just around the corner (that will be my farthest walk to date too).
Summer hockey season begins this week, I think it is going to be a good season, cant wait till I can get out and play with the boys in a month or so but i know we will be a solid 4-0 by that point. Shit, that may not be so good, a great hockey mind constantly reminds us of the perils of changing a winning lineup (damn you Cherry). Well hopefully they take me back regardless, going to try and get out and watch them play this week though.
4/22/2009
Demonic Boredom
I like the term demonic boredom, i found it in the link i posted as the title. I am so bored right now i just spent 5 minutes researching boredom, pathetic? yes!
It is now one week since my surgery and my lack of mobility and therefore lack of ability to do much of anything that i normally do is starting to weigh on me. Those that know me best know that i am doing something active basically all the time. Be it running, going to the gym, playing hockey, golfing, snowboarding, etc...it is doing physically demanding things that keep me sane, if i am stressed i go do one of these things. In the long run I know one week (and the next week or two before i can get moving again) is not much, but when you are used to doing something active every single day for years on end it gets pretty tough to sit around and do nothing. Another thing i like to do is learn, seriously i love learning new things, be it in school or not. I do have the course I am taking that I can work on, but up to now i have not because the pain killers have made the head pretty foggy. Since I am now cutting back hard on these maybe I can start studying more.
Enough complaining.
I registered for my first marathon the other day (Road to Hope - Hamilton Marathon November 1, 2009). It is one of the things I will be heavily focusing on once I get back to normal day to day life in a few weeks. Looking real forward to this challenge.
I have to give a big thanks to my parents, they have been amazing this past week, keeping me as comfortable as possible and getting me everything i ask for and things i dont even think to ask for but they know i would like. they have always been awesome but this past week really shows it in an exaggerated way. I am going to have to do something super nice for them, suggestions are welcome.
http://www.thediagram.com/2_1/str_boredom.html
It is now one week since my surgery and my lack of mobility and therefore lack of ability to do much of anything that i normally do is starting to weigh on me. Those that know me best know that i am doing something active basically all the time. Be it running, going to the gym, playing hockey, golfing, snowboarding, etc...it is doing physically demanding things that keep me sane, if i am stressed i go do one of these things. In the long run I know one week (and the next week or two before i can get moving again) is not much, but when you are used to doing something active every single day for years on end it gets pretty tough to sit around and do nothing. Another thing i like to do is learn, seriously i love learning new things, be it in school or not. I do have the course I am taking that I can work on, but up to now i have not because the pain killers have made the head pretty foggy. Since I am now cutting back hard on these maybe I can start studying more.
Enough complaining.
I registered for my first marathon the other day (Road to Hope - Hamilton Marathon November 1, 2009). It is one of the things I will be heavily focusing on once I get back to normal day to day life in a few weeks. Looking real forward to this challenge.
I have to give a big thanks to my parents, they have been amazing this past week, keeping me as comfortable as possible and getting me everything i ask for and things i dont even think to ask for but they know i would like. they have always been awesome but this past week really shows it in an exaggerated way. I am going to have to do something super nice for them, suggestions are welcome.
http://www.thediagram.com/2_1/str_boredom.html
4/17/2009
alive, sort of, kind of
Well my surgery was a couple of days ago and I am sort of starting to feel better. The day of was real rough, could not stand up without feeling extremely dizzy and nauseous, and they were trying to rush me out of the hospital far earlier than I should of been sent away. Did make it home though and spent the day/night in bed. The second day i woke up feeling 100 times better and was actually able to get out of bed. Spent the day on the couch playing xbox (thank you mass). Today I feel a little better again, starting to cut back on the drugs and the pain is somewhat subsiding. Hopefully the progress continues and at least a little bit of my time off can be enjoyable.
Round One Predictions
Boston v Montreal: Boston in 5
Washington v New York: Washington in 6
New Jersey v Carolina: New Jersey in 6
Pittsburgh v Philadelphia: Pittsburgh in 5
San Jose v Anaheim: San Jose in 7
Detroit v Columbus: Detroit in 4
Vancouver v St Louis: Vancouver in 5
Chicago v Calgary: Chicago in 6
It looks like I am choosing all favourites but with the way some teams have played down the stretch in come cases the favourites based on standing dont have the momentum as thier opponent. These predictions are a bit late but i have not watched any of the game ones yet due to being drugged up and in pain so i think this is fair.
Round One Predictions
Boston v Montreal: Boston in 5
Washington v New York: Washington in 6
New Jersey v Carolina: New Jersey in 6
Pittsburgh v Philadelphia: Pittsburgh in 5
San Jose v Anaheim: San Jose in 7
Detroit v Columbus: Detroit in 4
Vancouver v St Louis: Vancouver in 5
Chicago v Calgary: Chicago in 6
It looks like I am choosing all favourites but with the way some teams have played down the stretch in come cases the favourites based on standing dont have the momentum as thier opponent. These predictions are a bit late but i have not watched any of the game ones yet due to being drugged up and in pain so i think this is fair.
4/06/2009
What a bunch of wieners
So I make my way home from work today, in a fairly good mood for a Monday too, well that changed right after I checked out tsn.ca and watched a video detailing the Montreal reaction to the 'physicality' in the Toronto game on Saturday. Their big complaint was the Grabovski hit on Markov that put him out for about 3 weeks. The hit by Grabo that was in no way dirty, it was shoulder on shoulder and because Markov has the balance of a 17 month old russian girl who got thrown out of figure skating school for looking like a catfish. So Montral is up in arms over this hit and how dirty it was and how out of place it was and how "you just dont do that". Shut up. Maybe all the players commenting in that video werent playing in the game where Van Ryn was smashed from behind, at full speed, face first into the dasher board by i believe it was Kostopolous (to lazy to look it up). That hit was one of the dirtiest in years, Van Ryn ended up with a severe concussion, mangled teeth and a fractured jaw...it was only out of pure good fortune that he didnt break his neck. No outcry then. Maybe all those same players also missed the game that KTC (Kostitsyn the Criminal) was chasing Schenn and gave him the dirty poke in the back of the skate to make him go feet first into the end boards at full speed, and once again pure luck avoided broken legs and ankles. No outcry then either. I hate hypocracy, so seriously if your going to preach then make sure you are not a far worse offender of the offence you are preaching against, they werent preaching though, they were bitching cause their team does not have the depth to do anything in the playoffs and they want to have all the excuses ready to go for when they get tuned in round one.
I was wondering how long it would take for a post to be about hockey, its about time id say, rest assured, if the Leafs were any good there would have been much more.
Snow today, craziness.
I was wondering how long it would take for a post to be about hockey, its about time id say, rest assured, if the Leafs were any good there would have been much more.
Snow today, craziness.
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