Quick Hits: Sleep, radio, novice game, hits, Playing Like a Pro

Watching Rangers/Ducks. They showed some highlights of Gaborik goals recently and man, he sure does make it look easy. I like him better on my fantasy team than I do on the team I actually care about though.

(Wow, helluva save by Valiquette. Talk about a guy who flies under the radar, but has a sweet gig.)

(Took me so long to write this, the game ended with a shutout for Valiquette. 18 saves, but still really sweet.)

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I caught up on much needed sleep this morning and still feel like I could do with some extra winks. Also rewatched/listened to the archives of last night's Aeros game. Ubersad that Brusty is hurt, but he's rocking the radio gig pretty hard. Always good to get a player's insight during the broadcast, but of course, I'd rather hear from a goalie because that's the perspective I can relate to.

They talked about how weird it is when a shot hits the outside of the net and you know they've taken a shot, but it makes no noise and you don't feel it. There's that split second of, "Oh fuck, did that get past me?" Man, that's fun.

My second thought is, "Haha... stupid shooter."

Ego problem? What ego problem?

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Got the final game of our summer season tonight. I haven't had a single butterfly in the tummy yet, which concerns me. I may be feeling a bit too mellow to play well if I don't get a little amped. I'm gonna try and wake myself up a little later by whacking the tennis ball around in the garage, get the hand/eye going. Seems to help my pathetic glove a bit when I do that before a game. The dog should enjoy that, too.

Need to get focused though. My mental state was so good on Tuesday. I'd love to get in that quiet-mind state more consistently. Gonna go back and read the piece that The Goalie Guild happened to post just a few hours before I played Tuesday: Do you Overthink your Performances?

Um yeah. It's #5 on that list that gets me.

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Interesting piece here trying to give some perspective to Clutterbuck's hit record last year. Bottom line is, he's still an epic BAMF no matter how you crunch the numbers.

But he got hurt last night, so the Wild are suddenly a lot less interesting to me for a while. They suck right now and the only reason I bother to still watch them suck is because of Cal. Now they're sucky AND Cal-less. FAIL.

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Next Saturday, I'm playing my first game in goal at the Toyota Center as part of the Aeros' "Play Like the Pros" deal. I did it once as a skater and it kinda stunk, honestly. Our team was bad that day, our goalie got lit up, it just wasn't much fun.

But one of the events that spurred me to want to be a goalie was watching Coach Stalin's first game at the TC. I just remember watching the goalies and thinking, "Damn, I want to be out there doing that." So, it's kind of a big deal to me to see that part of my journey come full circle. I should have no problem mustering up the butterflies on Saturday.

Naturally, it's free to come watch but with OU and UT playing at the same time, I doubt many will be out. I've even told Mr.C not to sweat it, because this game isn't about being seen; it's about playing in the same paint as the guys who inspire me every hockey season. The TC is a lifeless, sterile venue, but that crease is hallowed ground to me. I'm SO excited!

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Swear to God, last night the Aeros announcer introduced Craig Weller as "Brian" Weller. Poor guy. I hope I misheard but I don't think I did.

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While we nap...

So, I woke up this morning to leaking, puffy eyes and a snot-faucet for a nose (stuck in the ON position). Alavert didn't touch it, so I hit the Benedryl. By 9:30, I passed out cold and woke up an hour and 45 minutes later.

As often happens when I turn my back to my laptop for a few minutes, all hell broke lose. Well, kinda good hell, actually, for some guys. Not so much for others.

The big bomb is that the Wild FINALLY got Backstrom re-signed! Four years, 6 mil-ish per. This is excellent news and you could hear the collective sigh of relief in Minnesota all the way from down here in Texas. Or maybe that was all me. But it seems most folks are awfully happy about not only the signing, but also eliminating the prospect of losing ANOTHER guy to free agency for absolutely no return.

As contradictory as this might seem given the brutal netminding I provide my novice team each Sunday night, I'm positively compulsive about my pro teams having good goaltending. After Daum's final season in Houston, with Miro and Swiss as our only goaltending options, I'm scarred for life. Give me good goalies or give me death. Contrast that with be spoiled by our goaltending in Houston last season... well, my expectations are sky high, and it seems Backstrom can come as close as anybody to meeting those.

I guess we'll see tonight how this affects his play. None at all, I would hope. Or he's elated, because it was clear he wanted to be here pretty badly, and will be even better. Nice interview with Backy here.

What is it with these Finnish goalies? I need to find a nice Finnish name to put on the back of my goalie jersey. Maybe I'll suck less?

In addition to this news was a waiver wire that runneth over, including some familiar names like Peter Olvecky. I suspect he'll just clear and return to Houston. There are too many big names on the wire today for him to get much attention. It will be really nice to get him back, especially with this experience under his belt.

Other familiar names... Aaron Voros and Erik Reitz. Doh! I wonder if Sather's still talking to Riser these days. Seems he didn't ultimately find what he was looking for in the Wild's sloppy seconds (really, he could have just asked the fans and saved himself some trouble). And speaking of which, the Rangers DID pick Avery up off the wire. I guess losing AV and Reitz and sending one guy back to the minors was enough to clear cap space for the Mouth.

And now that Avery is back... and Brodeur is back in New Jersey and playing like a MFing beast... how many of you have the only remaining Rangers v. Devils game circled in red on your calendars? March 30. Be there or be square, kids.

Finally, on a totally unrelated note, Justin Bourne, the minor league player/THN blogger gives another divine slice of life. It is a must read, especially if you play or have played hockey for fun. All I'll say is that I'm a little irritated that the boys know they look that good in those suits. Dammit!

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And.... what goes around, comes around

This from the Rangers Report blog:

The worse news is on Dane Byers, the rugged winger who figured to be one of the Rangers’ top call-ups this season: he blew out his knee, and is expected to miss a significiant [sic] chunk of time, if not the season.

I'm not one to root for injuries to these guys who play this game I love so dearly. But you know, if anybody deserved a jacked up knee...

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Another goalie I like...

Among my stable of goalies I'm fond of is Steve Valiquette, the NY Rangers' #2 goalie. Not sure why I like him. Maybe because he's so gracious in his back-up role and so solid when called upon. I've never heard a bad word about the guy. I contend that he's one of the best back-ups in the league, could probably be a starter, but seems content, even grateful, in his role.

Anyway, he got a rare home game start tonight and put on a clinic opposite Toskala and the Leafs, who also put on the clinic. The game finished OT 0-0 and went to the shootout.

I wouldn't normally report much Rangers stuff, but this blurb in the article made me smile.

Three of Valiquette's 11 career NHL victories have come against the Maple Leafs, including a shootout win last season. He skated off as the first star of the game to chants of "Vall-ey! Vall-ey!" from the appreciative crowd.

"It gave me goose bumps. Now I know how Henrik feels," he said.

Now, I remember sitting in Madison Square Garden last March and the "Hen-rick! Hen-rick!" chant would erupt after each great save. All I could think was, "Man, that must feel like a million bucks to be a goalie and have your very own chant." If you're a lover of goalies, it does give you goosebumps. If you're THE GOALIE, man, that's gotta kinda blow your mind. I'd have to leave the rink through the loading dock, my head would be so big.

That said... Aeros fans... howzabout a "Schae-fer! Schae-fer!" or a "Bar-ry! Bar-ry!" for the many amazing saves those guys serve up? A little goosebump-for-goosebump swap? Maybe with a little help from the big board to get it going? Just saying...

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Hockey is back!

Sure, it's just pre-season, but that's as exciting to me as regular season since it merges both my worlds with prospects playing with the big club. Everything is full of promise right now. Very exciting.

Watched the Rangers at Senators and it was fun seeing Voros again. He kinda went screwball on the Wild at the end of the season and spent a bunch of time in Lemaire's chateau bowwow, but he's still just pure energy on the ice and so much fun to watch.

Great intermission interview with him, too. He's having his "new guy, great backstory, loveable style of play" moment of glory. He had it in Minnesota, too. Who else remembers the Aaron Voros as Chuck Norris thread on the Wild board? Good times.

• Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Voros made him cry.
• Chuck Norris does not sleep. He hides from Voros.
• The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain. Thanks to Voros, that is now also the chief import as well.
• Chuck Norris doesn't believe in God, he only believes in Voros.
• Chuck Norris has never blinked in his entire life, but Voros made him flinch.

Heh.

Pardon my sentimentality. It doesn't appear much. But AV was an unwitting key player in lighting my hockey fire, both in Houston and in his move up to the Wild. No matter what, he'll always have a special place in my hockey heart. Plus, he has a spectacular ass. But honestly, it's more about the other stuff. The magnificent ass is just gravy.

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Happy F'ing Canada Day

As predicted... Fridge is gone and I'm totes sad about it. Like tears sad. What a girl I am. So embarrassing but whatever. I must be PMSing.

Congrats to HipCheck for her Yotes picking him up. Honestly, you're gonna LOVE him if Gretz uses him properly. He really can play hockey. He's such a cool cat. Not much of a fighter anymore (though he will protect the stars) but still tough as nails and funny and lively and just a swell guy. He's the kind of spirit Minnesota needed to keep, IMO. You've won the lottery as far as I'm concerned.

But nooooo, we trade away a totally charming, leaderiffic prospect in Ryan Jones (who I was so excited to watch this year and apparently has spent the whole summer in St. Paul working out at the X) and a second rounder (which would have been a bust anyway) for a d-man from Nashville whose name I haven't quite learned yet. Zidlicky. Had to look it up. All I'm saying is this guy better knock my socks off. I'm very unhappy to lose Jonesy (though in all honesty, if I were only a Wild fan, I'd be pretty pleased).

More later, I'm sure.

UPDATE: While I was making a sandwich and fighting back tears, Aaron Voros signed a deal with the Rangers. My day is redeemed a bit. I'm delighted he's going to a team a watch a good bit. Though we'll see if he actually makes the big club. If they're thinking he's an Avery replacement, they're SORELY mistaken. But whatever. I'm smiling again.

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Playoffs Upon Us

Avs fans should be breathing a little easier and maybe feeling not quite so much the underdog after hearing the news that one of our veteran defensemen is down for a the series after having his appendix sliced out Monday evening. This on top of K. Foster going down with a broken femur. *sigh* Tough times on the Wild blueline.

Anyway, game one is tomorrow night in Minny. I'm a bit on edge about it.

Aeros play tomorrow, too. Chucko's team. Hosers. Would be nice to get those two points before we head into the final 3 games with Milwaukee.

Bigger than all that, though, is the decision I have to make:

Rangers or Devils.

Of course, Coach Stalin is a huge Rangers fan, so I've watched them more than any other eastern team. My dirty little secret is that I really kinda like Sean Avery. (See. Told you it was dirty.) I just kinda love to hate him and hate to love him. I love when he riles people up and I love when they get their revenge.

Also, Coach is trying to persuade me to her side by alerting me to the pretty boys on the team who might inspire some puck bunny-esque loyalty.

Dan Girardi? Not bad. Not bad at all.

But the problem is, I'm just in awe of Marty Brodeur. And almost always, a goalie I like is enough to sway me to support a team.

Even better is that Avery and Brodeur have a hot little rivalry. Wouldn't a goalie fight be grand?

We'll see. I'm still leaning Devilish, but sometimes the game has to be on and the spontaneous cheers have to erupt from my mouth before I really know where my heart is.

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Interesting hockey weekend

The Pouliot drama was coming fast and furious this weekend after Dane "Men DO get PMS!" Byers punched him and slammed his face into the ice in a frightening Bertuzzi-esque display. Still waiting to hear about that suspension, AHL! *tick tock*

Anyway, I'm tired of the subject, it's been hashed and rehashed so many times in so many places. And, BTW, I was right and you suckahs was wrong.

I also discovered that Scott's suspension back in February was 3 games, not 1. I'm even more convinced that's why he stayed on the bench (aside from coaches holding guys back). My guess is, the next suspension would have been for the rest of the season.

Moving on...

Rangers/Bruins game on Sunday was most excellent. The seats were very good and we could see everything going on. I was disappointed that Chara wasn't playing, but the goaltending on both ends was SO excellent, that alone was worth the price of admission. Lundqvist was completely in the zone. Very cool to hear them chanting HEN-RIK over and over. Even that pest Avery put on a little show, throwing water bottles during an angry visit to the penalty box.

Today is my last full day in NY and I'm so ready to get home and resume normal life and get into a routine again. We fly home tomorrow afternoon.

I've found the goal skates I want. Pretty good price, really, though I wish it wasn't so much to ship. I think I'm going to return the knee pads I got because they're not going to do what I need them to and I'd rather put the money toward skates.

Haven't worked out the last two days other than walking around the city, and boy was I restless last night as a result. Today I'll do my leg strengthening work and stretching. Might even see about throwing in some yoga. In fact, I should commit to that. I'm doing yoga!

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Brooklyn Sunday

We're heading out to the BW3 (well, I guess it's Buffalo Wild Wings) in Brooklyn shortly to catch the Rangers/Flyers game. Seems all the sports bars in Manhattan are too much about loud music and expensive cocktails than about sports and wings, so we have to flee across the river...

Slept for shit last night. Tossed and turned with an aching back all night. So, priority one, after breakfast, was popping the yoga video in and trying to loosen up. But I think it just made my tired sore legs even more tired and sore. I'm wiped! Sheesh. What a wuss.

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More on today's workout

First, yoga today and boy do I feel better for it. Knees aren't clicking anymore, hips don't hurt, very nice. Unfortunately the Wild lost and I didn't even get a good ab workout out of it because it was only 1-0. So much for Smitty sucking. He sure as hell put the lid on us. At least Voros won his fight and didn't have to hump anyone to do it.

Second, somehow there were THREE fights in the Rangers/Ducks game and nobody managed to punch Brad May in the face. I want for very little in this life, but one thing I want is for Brad May to be punched in the face as often as possible. And yet, I rarely get it. I'll have to go back to old footage to get my fix.


ETA: One more thing... I ordered my first goalie gear today! Got some ITECH goalie knee pads (that I can wear under my leg pads when I get to that point, but will hopefully protect me when I'm playing drive-way goalie in the mean time), and a stick and stick tape, plus a few extra foam pucks. Won't be here until late Feb but I'm still just over the moon about having a stick of my very own.

Beauty, eh?

Now we just need a net. There's a 6x4 soccer goal at Academy that I might pick up (it's less than $25) even though the holes in the netting will let the puck right through... no biggie. But I'm going to check Sports Authority to see if maybe they have something more specific to roller/street hockey. This being Houston, I'm not holding my breath, but I have to try.

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Seven Years: Rangers v. Bruins

Our wedding anniversary is coming up on March 10 and I'll be visiting DH in NYC during that time. There are lots of fabulous restaurants and romantic things you can do in NY, but honestly, I don't think either of us gets terribly excited to dress up and spend $150 on a meal or take a stinky horse ride through Central Park. Nothing wrong with it but why not do something we really WANT to do, but on a normal day, might not want to spend the money on?

So, I told DH I wanted to go to the Rangers v. Bruins game on March 9. :) Of course, the cost of NHL tickets is choke-worthy, especially in Manhattan, so it would pretty much have to be a special occasion. I searched and searched and found some good seats on the 200 level (section 209) on the goal line of the Ranger's attack zone. I figure we can see all the ice pretty well from here and are down low enough to actually see the puck and who the players are, plus I'll be able to watch the goalies on that end, which is obviously one of my favorite things to do at a hockey game!

I'm not sure who I'll go for. I know more than usual about the Rangers since Coach Stalin is a huge fan, but I'm really excited to see Chara play. I need to catch a few Bruins games on CI before then. I hardly ever watch any East Coast teams play since the Wild are in the West, so I know next to nothing about them.

Anyway, I'm very excited to get to go. Our anniversaries spent in the Hill Country have been wonderful, but this is a real treat, too.

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