Occupado....

So, here I am at 2 a.m. again, kind of in disbelief at the bevy of discomforts that strep has afforded me. Tonight, my throat hurts still but isn't the main thing. It's the cough that has ramped up to ridiculous levels. And all I got for that from the doc were these little pearl things that I'm only supposed to take every 8 hours, but wear off in about 3. You do the math there. Glad the coughologists aren't trying to get people to the moon or anything. "What? We're not there yet? And we're out of gas?"

I'm about to just start swilling whatever is in the liquor cabinet, except I think all we have is tequila, vodka, and cheap amaretto. (Fuck it. I just took Nyquil.)

But I guess there are few goalies out there who wouldn't mind if I put a shot or 5 of tequila under their noses tonight.

I'm glad I'm not playing for a few days. I always get a little edgy about watching On The Fly on a "bad for goalies" night. I'm afraid seeing all those pucks go in the net equates to negative mental imagery and I will fall victim, too.

Valiquette, for one, just got shelled. You rarely see a pro tender get left in a game for 8 goals against, but Lundqvist got lit the night before and was getting a needed break. So Vali was it. It was tough to watch the highlights because they all come boom boom boom (which is sort of how my real life games go sometimes... it's like GOAL! GOAL! GOAL! Routine save, but hey, at least it was a save. GOAL! GOAL!) and don't really give any context.

Biron and the Islanders were shellacked by Fatso and the Devils. And Deslauriers got yanked from the Oilers game. And the way OTF shows them in rapid succession, you can just see the body language start to sag a little more after each goal, but then by the last one, it's like, "*shrug* Of course it went in." Man, I know that feeling so well.

Meanwhile, on a personal front, it wasn't a terrible day for my darlings out in the hockey world.

Started with the Aeros picking up a 2-1 OT win in Toronto, which was a great way to end the road trip up north. And now they have a few days to recover and practice little details like scoring goals. Dubie was good but not overly challenged (21 shots) in the effort, it seemed to me. The defense was just solid in front of him.

Then it was up to Kalamazoo (wherever the hell that is... where's my map, Ms. South Carolina?) to check in on Brusty and the Blades. When the game started, Chris Beckford-Tseu (affectionately called "Chrissy" by my hockey-going buddies back when I sat in seats where I could yell things at goalies) was in goal.

Everyone in Florida told me Blades coach Malcolm Cameron NEVER pulls a goalie (insert goalie pulling joke, because I KNOW you're all pervs like me and want to). Well, 3 goals in 15 minutes on 17 shots (really not that outrageous given the shot count) is apparently Cameron's limit and he gave CBT the hook and put Brusty in.

B-squared was concentrating hard on being the best back-up goalie possible, though, and let in a quick goal. Amazingly, down 6-2, the Blades staged a 4 goal come-back in the 3rd period and tied it up in the exciting final seconds.

Can't say I enjoyed it personally, because I was too pissed it took two periods and busting the balls of two goalies for them to finally look like they gave a damn. I'm not gonna play games here: my interest in the Everblades relates 100% to getting Brusty back in the AHL where he belongs ASAP. This means plum stats and lots of Ws, because unless you're watching how bad the defensive play is down there, you're thinking, "WTF is going on with that guy?"

So, if the Blades are gonna dish out these endless breakaways and odd-man rushes and turnovers and forechecking like you might break a nail, well, I'm gonna have to dust off the big guns. *kisses biceps*

Of course, they played their cans off in the third and OT, and then can't get any of 9 (NINE!) shootout attempts past the Kalamazoo goalie. You just put 4 past him in one period and your 9 best shooters can't beat him once? OMG. If I had a mind to lose, I'd have lost it. I'd bag skate the snot out of those guys next time there's a couple of days off.

I said tonight that I'm thisclose to launching a "Free Brusty" campaign -- I've been kinda bored with not having the old Cal for Calder campaign to annoy people with. None of this piddly button business though. I'm talking t-shirts. Problem is... don't wear them in German-speaking countries, ladies... or if you do, carry some pepper spray. I'm just saying.

In the new tradition of the T3I stick figure drawings, I'm thinking something like this:

I'm not sure if that's a croc or a gator. Not even sure what it SHOULD be. But let's just assume it's the right one.

(BTW, it's now 3:30, I'm still coughing and wide awake, but clearly... CLEARLY... not entirely lucid.)

ANYWAY...

Then, I had an eye on the box score for the Brahmas, which also went into a shootout at 3-3. Sorry to say, Jaegs had a good game but let the first three shootout shots in and doomed the skills competition for his team. But I was happy that he finally had a pretty good game in regulation and OT, and his team showed a little more discipline than usual. They've been a bunch of brawling, PIM racking-up, angry mofos since the season started. It's been tough to watch all those PP goals go in.

BTW, here's a great photo set from their game the night before (and a great, descriptive write up here) in which Joe Palmer, Jaeger's partner in goal, got in a fight with the other goalie. They actually tried to go earlier in the game and the ref broke 'em up as you can see in the earlier pics. But they finally met at center ice and Palmer had his way with the other guy. Look at the other players faces in some of the fight shots. EVERYONE loves a goalie fight, even players (maybe not the goalies though).

And I wrapped up my night with a Wild win in Colorado. Always a great thing to beat the stinking Avs in their own oxygen-depleted barn, and even greater that Lats potted one. He's been a nice addition thus far, but I'm holding my breath for the reputed "lazy" Guy to emerge. No declarations on that trade coming for a while. And Aeros call-up Jaime Sifers played quite well on defense, proving pivotal in several plays as the night went on. It was a fun one for sure.

It's 4 now. I actually fell asleep writing this (just like how you fell asleep reading it... haha) and woke up... coughing!

Fuck yeah. Sleep is for dead people and babies, bitches. If I were a character on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, I'd totally declare myself "Awake Girl," the superhero whose amazing power is she never sleeps. And I'd make a cape out of trash bags and somehow try to make a quick buck off it, but would ultimately fail and go back to huffing glue and eating cat food.