Hockey Night In Canada | Feb 27, 2011

Yesterday I watched the Preds-Stars game as a warm-up for the Pens-Leafs game and it was a bit boring. Probably because nothing much happened and there was nothing to gain for my teams based of the outcome of this game. But it's hockey and I'll watch as much of it as I can ;) ... the Leafs game. Now, that was extremely exciting. I was on the edge of my seat throughtout the first two periods. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay up for the last period, I was so tired and it was way past my bedtime, but earlier today I watched the highlights and what I can I say. I am proud of my Leafies, they played a high-octane game! And although they did not win this one, they got it to SO and bagged an all-important 1 point to stay in the race.

Some folks will laugh and based on a really bad run in the first half of the this season, who can blame them? But we picked up pace and suddenly, the play-offs are still within our grasp! *gasp* ... and since we have not reached the play-offs since the 2003-2004 season, you can imagine how much we all want this to happen. Over the past few months I have seen many mad and disgusted Leafs fans on the FB fan page. Personally I am a strong believer of sticking with your team through the good times and the bad times and definitely not disrespecting them, ever. But I digress. Lately people have started to hope again although a similar amount of people is telling 'the hopers' to stop being idiots and that they will just disappoint us again. To an extent I agree with the latter. I think that maybe they found their form a bit too late. Sure, there is still time to reach that 8th, but there are so many factors influencing the final result. The Sabres, the Thrashers and the Panthers have not given up either and are putting in good games too. And I read someplace that even the Devils have an inkling of hope to make it. Hahah, that sound ridiculous, but OK ... the puck can bounce in mysterious ways.

My plan is to just enjoy each and every game. No matter what happens, safe for a few games, the Leafs have showed up and played their games with energy and dedication and sometimes frustration. Six more weeks to go ... and I bet we will be seeing many great games.

OK, back to yesterday. Very happy for Lupul to get his first two goals! And I think he was robbed of his hattrick! The goal that got waived was a good hockey goal in my opinion, although I confess I might be biased ;) ... and too bad that the Pens managed to equalise the game in the third period. The OT was wonderfully hectic. The SO much less so. Heheh, some nice efforts by our guys there, but you have got to hand it to Fleury, he is great on these one-on-ones. Annoyed we did not get the two points, but heck, we got the one and there's another game today!

On to my Flyers. Could not watch this game, and after having seen the hightlights and some of the comments by my fellow fans, perhaps that was for the best. A lacklustre game and it definitely lacked in energy. Even the goals scored by the Sens seemed accidental. So why were we this gloomy? I find it hard to imagine, but maybe the trading shenanigans of the day prior had something to do with it? We were a bit low on D. Prongs injured and the newly acquired Boynton could not make it on time due to travel issues. JVR had to be sent down to the Phantoms for just one game to make room in terms of cap. But no, that cannot be it! We are to good to let stuff like that bother us! So I am going to go with this: we are conserving energy and saving the best for last. Hah. OK.

Elsewhere in the League. You can tell it's getting close to the play-offs. I have found myself cheering for the teams I hate most ... yes, yesterday ... I cheered for the Habs. I need to take a break for a few minutes to overcome the nausea that comes with the thought alone.

Back. But OK, the Habs beat the Canes. And the Red Wings beat the Sabres in SO. The Sabres were ahead 2-0 for a long time and on the road to two points, but thankfully Datsyuk and his teammates fought on and equalised the game. So just one point for the Sabres. So on behalf of the Leafs, thanks Habs and Wings!

And on behalf of the Flyers, thank you Bruins for beating the Nucks and keeping the one-point lead the Nucks have in the League standings!

Hockey Sunday. Sundays are great. A few early games allow me to have a fun hockey evening. Going to watch the Bolts vs Rags. Gooooo Bolts. Then the Jackets vs Preds and I will watch at least the first period of the Leafs game tonight. They play fellow contenders: Trashers. Have to work tomorrow, so unfortunately cannot watch the whole game.

Telegram Update | Leafs vs Isles | Flyers vs Coyotes | Feb 22nd, 2011

Just a short note to express my utmost pleasure at the Leafs beating the Isles. Who would have thought that would be worthy of a little celebration? But with their latest games still fresh in my mind, I think it is worth a mention anyways ;)

And Reims got first star for his great goaltending. Did you lot know that he was playing with a severly upset stomach and that several times he thought he would actually throw up all over the ice? What a trooper! During the first intermission the Doc gave him some Gaviscon and he felt a bit better after that. My favourite quote:

"I think Grabner was coming down when they had a power play and I was kind of drive-heaving. I was like 'Please don't shoot.'"

xD

I have yet to see the highlights for the Flyers game, but I wish they would show up for the third period! And they better win the next few games to make up for this loss. I just like them in a winning-mood.

The Heritage Classic Hockey Weekend – that includes the Monday

Some memorable games this past weekend. And as there were many early games, I got to watch plenty of hockey this weekend, yay!

Unless you live under a rock you know it was time for the Heritage Classic. And unlike the Winter Classic, this time around, there was plenty of snow! Maybe they should have called this one the Winter Classic ;)

Let me start by saying that I love hating on the Habs. It is my duty as a Flyers and Leafies fan. But even if it had not been my duty, I still would have hated them due their annoying trolling fanbase and PK Subban. Talented as hell, but a lousy personality on ice and so far nothing has hinted at him being a wonderful person off-ice. So before I list my thoughts about this game, let me just say … HELL YEAH! A 4-0 shut-out for the Flames. No, the Price certainly was not right *hahah lame joke, I know*

Things to remember:

-          It was really cold, they reported at least -15, but apparently it felt even colder; just breathing must have been an act of epic proportions

-          If I had been in the crowd, I would have worn several layers of clothing, a warm hat of sorts, thermal underwear, thermal socks, warm boots, a blanket and maybe even ear warmers

-          The ice was extremely bumpy. It made for fun bouncing pucks. And the reason the Habs gave for losing: their game is made up largely of passing, so they were at a disadvantage because of the bumpy ice. Whatever, they just lost because the Flames were so much better

-          A 4-0 shut-out and the first one on open ice. Great stuff

How did my two hockey loves fare?

The Flyers beat the Rags for the 4^th time this season. Way to go! Although why they felt the need to give up a 3-0 lead is beyond me ;) … they got a bit complacent. But alright, they pulled through in the end, so I will not complain.

And the Leafies unfortunately lost in SO, but it certainly was not for lack of trying. They really played well, full out energy, but the Sens’ new goalie – Anderson – was on fire during his first game and denied us a score during regulation and OT. What a guy though, I am the world’s biggest softy, so I was happy for him to have such a great first game. He picked up the first star. And my favourite Leafie Reims picked up the second star. He was truly awesome! And he got his second shut-out. What a fine Leafie he has proven to be.

And in other related news:

The Isles are continuing to impress me! They beat the Panthers 5-1 and Moulson got himself a hattrick. *musing* Hattricks have got to be good for business, because lots of people will be buying new hats after throwing their hats on the ice. Beaten Panthers are also beneficial  to my Leafies in vying for that 8^th spot on the Division. I know I’m deluded for keeping my hopes up that they will make the play-offs, but I just cannot stop myself ;)

My worries about tonight:

So, my Leafies are playing the Isles! Hah, with the current crazy scoring antics of the Isles I have to admit I am bit worried! I know that the Leafies can take them on, but for some reason they always seem to struggle a bit with (fellow) cellar dwellers. But I have to keep the faith. My Leafies will win! *mutters several prayers and sends Reims good vibes*

And my Flyboys play the Yotes tonight. These guys have been on 7-game winning streak. So time for them to cash in a loss *chuckle*. I know this should be easy for the Flyers, but am keeping my fingers crossed anyways. Waking up tomorrow morning and checking the results, will be a nerve-wrecking experience!

Leafs vs Sens - Feb 19th, 2011

Timezones! Yeah. Being a hockey fan is not easy when you live in GMT+1 ... 6 hours ahead of the US EST times. So my favourite games are the weekend games that start at 1pm EST. But yeah, not many of those :)

So waiting up to see my Flyboys or Leafies play is only allowed during the weekend. Being a former nightowl that usually is not a problem for me, but a busy week, followed by a busy Saturday lead to me giving up and go get some sleep, rather than watching the Leafs-Sens game. I managed to watch the honouring the troops thing but that's as far as I got lol ... considering the score, maybe it's better I didn't torture myself xD ... I may not watch the highlights.


OK, who am I kidding? I did watch the highlights just now lol, how could I not heheh and this is my opinion!


Bad stuff:
- Giving up a point in the SO
- Bitter fans on the Leafs fan page, not even going to access that page today, some of the posts that ended up on my FB wall are bad enough lol *ignore*


Good stuff:
- At least got the 1 point lol, that beats no points
- A cool Phaneuf hit on Foligno
- Rosehill in a somewhat fun fight with Lessard
- Reims ruling and getting his second SO - love that guy
- By the looks of it, the Leafies played with lots of energy (yay!) and they had good scoring chances, but the puck got denied access by Anderson. Look, I am a softy, so this being his first game at the Sens, I am glad for him he did well, too bad it was against the Leafies lolol
- Lots of interesting post-game interviews; watched them all but Wilson's ... can't stand him lol; Reims, such a pleasant personality; Lupul might make a fine Leaf :)

Finally: A game where the goalies get 1st and 2nd star, yeah, I like that! Great goalie fight (no, not a literal fight).


Other hockey stuff I found interesting:
- Obviously the Oilers game, thankfully there is 'on demand', so I can watch the second and third period again, it was really interesting!
- Wow, the Ducks got killed ... 9-3 loss x_x
- Poor Avs, another loss and a shut-out too
- And this one is maybe the funniest/best .. the Isles shut-out the Kings! Montoya, I think that is the Isles' 6th goalie this season! It didn't even make the NHL headlines. I think it should have!


Hockey today:
- Flyboys face the Rangers again. Hate the Rangers. And Avery in particular. And I hope my boys dish out some pain to the Rangers.
- Ah the Caps vs Sabres. As I hate the Sabres too, I want Ovi to get his superscoring mojo back and destroy them *sighs, wishful thinking*
- Ahahaha, speaking of hate ... Pens-Blackhawks. Yeah, disgusting game. Almost as disgusting as Pens-Habs. Might watch it and be disgusted all game long
- YAY, Heritage Classic ... more hating on the Habs lol


Well, I planned to go for a drive today, but instead I am going to stay in all day. I will do some laundry, clean, then bake a pizza (famous family recipe *chuckle*), and get ready for My Sunday Hockey Night! Early games today and the Heritage starts at midnight my time, so lots to look forward to!

The First

I was just writing an email message to a fellow hockey fan. Giving my opinion about the games I saw last night. And with me writing short email messages tends to grow out of hand real soon. Keeping messages short is a real challenge and this time I even went with listing my thoughts, rather than share them in essay form. Still, I ended up with a huge messsage and I thought to myself, I might as well post this on a blog. Not that I think that what I have to say is of much interest to a veteran hockey fan, but at least I can put all those written words to some use and maybe entertain some other folks on occasion. Oh yes, because my views are insightful and very witty. Hahah, at least I wish that was true!


Let me just start with some basics. I am Dutch, live near Amsterdam, have tonnes of hobbies, but my current number one addiction is Hockey! And I am talking about Ice Hockey, not the other more summery kind. For Europeans it is necessary to clarify this. In Holland for instance, when you say hockey, people automatically assume you are talking about field hockey. Although that is an interesting sport, it is by no means as great as Ice Hockey. In my humble opinion of course!


How did I come to love this great sport? It started way back in time, not even sure when, at least 25-30 years ago I'd say, when I first saw the Winter Olympics. Ever since my first Winter Olympics experience, hockey has been a favourite. But apart from the Winter Olympics, hockey was and still is, a non-entity in the Netherlands. So occasionally I would catch a glimps of hockey on Eurosport or maybe see the NHL mentioned somewhere, but that's it. But this season, everything is different. I found some fun communities on Facebook and even better ... ESPN America as provided by my cable company! And somewhere during my first weeks of real exposure to the NHL, I fell in love with the Philadelpia Flyers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. And with some other teams as well I suppose, but no, these are my two real hockey loves. I have been laughed at for loving the Leafs - hahah, mostly by my fellow Flyers fans - but I don't care! xD


The Flyers, maybe it's the Orange they wear, but also the fact that at the start of the season, the NHL didn't give them any love. Even now it seems a reluctant sort of respect my Flyers get from the NHL. It annoys me, but well, I usually root for underdogs, so that's what made me pay extra close attention to them. And to me they are the best team in the NHL. Not one crybaby star player in sight, but a bunch of hyper-talented and dedicated guys! Marvelous.


The Leafs, ah my Leafies! Over the years even I had at times been exposed to the Leafs. A franchise with so much history. When I saw them dwell in the lower regions of the Eastern Conference, my heart just went out to them. Whatever may be said about their GM or coach, when I see those guys on the ice ... I am usually  hit with pride anyways. They may struggle, but they keep fighting and most of my Leafies are very talented and show some great personality as well. I know it's tough on the fanbase to stay loyal when things aren't going the way we want to, but I'm going to stick with them.


There are great other teams and athletes in the NHL, as well as some less amazing teams who still get some of my hockey-love hahah. I will at times also cheer the Oilers, Caps, Bolts and Ducks. And lately, the Isles have been such a fun team to watch, that with some guilt and embarrassment I have silently started to root for them as well. OK, not so silently now that I have written about it in this blog :D ... hmm and I probably should admit I have a Western Conference favourite: Red Wings. Pavel Datsyuk rules.


Well, my first blog post ever. I am a bit excited I must admit. Eventhough I know I will be the only one reading it! *chuckles*