Goodbye and Good Luck, Brahmas

Well, my boy Brett Jaeger is done for the season. The Texas Brahmas lost their series with Odessa last night in game 6. I didn't look at the final shot count but at the end of regulation, it was 43-23 in favor of Odessa. Talk about some defense that isn't doing their goalie any favors.

Apparently they'd lost their two best defensemen prior to the playoffs and were struggling on the back end. And then last night, their top scorer got a game misconduct, so that didn't help matters. Dumbass. The final for the game was 5-4 though, so I'm sure his goaltending was the only thing keeping it that close.

Not the most consistent year for him, and there were as many low points in the season as high points, but hopefully he'll get a good contract somewhere next year. They really seem to like him there in Dallas, so maybe he's back? Either way, he's gotten some valuable exposure to the hockey ops people for the Aeros, so that's good for him when they're looking around for goalie call-ups in the future.

Joe Palmer, his partner this season, was probably a little more consistent but never really won the #1 job as a rookie. He's Blackhawks property though, so maybe we'll see him in Rockford next year. He only had one call-up and never got in a game with Rockford, so it remains to be seen what he can do at the next level.

Anyway, congrats to those guys on a good season.

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Meanwhile, on a totally different subject, my project for today, apart from work, is to see if I can fit all my gear, including my pads, into my hockey bag or if I need a bigger bag to go to Minnesota (and could I get one from the Aeros after the season if so.... hmmm). Update: Yay! It all fits, with room for my skates and undergear, if that won't fit in my carry on!

Also need to pick up my skates at some point. I had a dream last night that they did some kind of effed up sharpening on them and tried to pass it off as this great new technique. I obviously have a ton of faith in them....

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Quick Hits: Ghost Writer, Playfair, Brahmas, Empire State of Mind

You have to be pretty damn cool to go to bed at 9:30 on a Saturday night and still be as cool as this bitch right here.

Okay. Not cool at all. And now I'm up at 5 a.m. Honestly, I wish I could just keep vampire hours.

The worst part was that I had crazy dreams all night thanks to this movie we saw today called The Ghost Writer. I kept waking up having revelations about the movie, because I know it should have made sense but I just wasn't able to put all the pieces together. But of course, I wake up now and can't remember any of said revelations. FU, Roman Polanski and your confusing movie. At least Ewan McGregor was sort of an unassuming babe. That was pleasant.

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Check out this highlight reel of the game in Abbotsford against Hamilton Saturday night. Several big things to notice:

1. Look at the attendance. IN Canada, on a Saturday night, with a new team that's been on a warm streak. WTF, Abbotsfordians? I think the Calgary farm club is cursed. They keep putting it in these god forsaken places and nobody shows up. I guess they thought god forsaken Canada would do better than god forsaken Illinois. You'd think at least the novelty of a new team would have crowds up for a season or two. 
2. Curtis Sanford, who has been red-motherfuckin-hot for Hamilton goes down HARD on a play. I was looking at the AHL goalie rankings Friday night and noticed that he and Cedrick Desjardins are #1 and #3 in the league. Holy hell, that's a lotta goaltending for one team, right? Desjardins is 26-8-3 and Sanford is 23-11-3. Those numbers are mind-boggling. My money is on a Hamilton-Hershey Calder Cup Finals. Those teams are just completely dominating their conferences, but if Sanford is hurt enough to be "done"... you have to wonder how Desjardins will hold up on his own. Seems like really strong tandems stay strong because the goalies are battling so hard for playing time (see Krahn-Climie). 
3. Jim Playfair loses his everloving mind on Koho. Nothing much more to it other than it's pretty funny to watch Playfair go nuts like that. That team is kind of a mess, but for some reason I'm rooting for them to get it together. Maybe because I feel bad for them being in the AHL hinterlands.

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I'm enjoying following my boy Jaeger and his Brahmas in their playoff run right now. The won their best of 3 mini-series against Corpus in two games, and are now up 2-0 on the mighty Odessa Jackalopes (?) in the semi-final round. And now they head home for games 3 and 4. 

The Brahmas play really well at home and have a great fan base that fills their small barn, so they should be doozies. I'd love to get up for a game, but I hate that drive from Dallas to Houston even more, so that probably isn't gonna happen.

Either way, Scruffy is on a 4 game win streak, stopped 46 of 48 shots last night, and proves himself to be extremely clutch. He's had an up and down season, but he's playing his balls off when it really counts. Something about goalies who can step it up when the pressure is on. Hot.

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I'm getting a little freaked out playing in daylight lately. I'm not sure it suits me, but I get to give it another go tonight as Novice starts at 6. SIX! I'm used to starting at 9 or 10. And Scott TFCG will be the opposing goalie, from what I hear. I'm always extra motivated to beat him but whenever I'm extra motivated in a game, I tend to suuuuuck. So, I gotta just shut that out and stay relaxed and prepare like I know I should.

I finally found one of the other songs that fills my head when I play but couldn't find. I'm not a big rap fan but Keys' chorus that makes the whole song for me (and yet, her version w/o Jay Z is pretty crappy, so good on them for getting together and giving that chorus some meatier context). Anyway, it's perfect head-filler. Super catchy, easy to put on repeat in my head, relaxed but still kinda "big."

So I'll get to listen to this in my head for at least a couple of hours, since we have extra ice tonight. Will probably hate it by tomorrow.

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Ahhh, that's better....

Forgive me while I wax poetic for a bit.

There are two images that stick out in my mind tonight:

The first is Daoust scoring the OT winner for the Aeros tonight and Brusty leaping, fists pumping, from his crease and galloping down the ice to celebrate with his teammates. SHUTOUT. Fuck yeah.

The second is waiting in the hallway to interview after the game and watching him racing to the locker room after accepting his #1 star honors--sweaty hair going every which way and grinning ear-to-ear. And no beard. Holy geez...

What a privilege it is to get to be right there to see my favorite goalie, the one who inspired ME to become a goalie, reap the rewards of a helluva lot of hard work and patience, particularly over the last few months of being shuttled back and forth between the AHL and ECHL. Amazing.

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It was a great night for my other goalie, too. Jaeger allowed only 1 goal on 31 shots tonight for the Texas Brahmas, after pitching a shutout last night. One goal in 59 shots? Damn. DAMN! He's just burning it up. That's great. Though check out the penalties from this game. Good grief!

Plus there's this. And this.

Dear hockey photogs of the world,

Chicks effin' LOVE the water bottle shot. Be a hero and get at least one of these a game, will ya?

Sincerely,
Ms.C

Dear hot goalies of the world,

If you could just lift that lid up and squirt that water on your face a bit, while making sure the cameraman in the corner has a nice view of you, that'd be most helpful.

Sincerely,
Ms.C

So there ya go. I've said my prayers for the night. :)

This is the song I had in my head all through the Aeros game tonight, but it didn't feel right for the T3I story, so I'll use it here:

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My hair-twin is an asshole

Wow, lots of nail-biting hockey tonight.

Brusty was back in goal for the Aeros and I'll be honest, I spent the first two periods watching from behind my fingers and cringing audibly when he had to ... well... do anything other than just stand there. I can only imagine it all hurt.

I know when I'm injured and playing, there's a point where you figure out which pain is "okay" and isn't making things worse, and you start to settle down and kind of numb that pain out. He looked more relaxed in the third, so hopefully that's sort of what happened. Either that or really good drugs. Or the beard gives him Goaltending Superpowers in addition to Hotness Superpowers. Nom nom nom....

Anyway, the boys were down 2-1 for a while, but my boy Almond Joy (who also had an assist on Kalus' goal to get the Aeros on the board) tied it up and then Zingoni put the Aeros ahead. Honestly, McCollum is still pretty green and hasn't come on like some of the other rookies in the league, so I wasn't surprised the Aeros put some numbers up.

But given how tired and depleted this Aeros roster is, here at the end of a dense patch in the schedule, I was impressed and surprised that they kept the shots against Barry pretty damn reasonable at 22.

Brusty took home the second star, with Zingoni getting the first for the GWG. Works for me. Come home!

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Meanwhile, in Minnesota, Khudobin got his first NHL start and looked absolutely like he belonged there. It was an outstanding performance against a Flyers team completely okay with putting the puck on the net as often as possible.

The Wild let him see 39 shots and he stopped all but one, which tied a Wild SEASON record for most shots. And Russo had a cool stat from the last game: "According to Elias Sports Bureau, Khudobin's 9:33 of ice time was the shortest amount of time in NHL history to get one's first win." That's pretty cool.

Meanwhile, damn, the Flyers really are assholes. I don't usually have to think about it much with them being in the east but Scotty Hartnell really is a pain in the ass. Of course, if he's your guy, he "plays with an edge" but if he's the other team's guy... well, he's kind of a shit stain. But his curls are spectacular, so, ya know, props for that. We could totally talk product...

Anyway, they won 2-1 with goals from Clutterbuck and Nolan, and Anton was 1st star and still looks as "OMG this is happening to me" as he did last game. The crowd was off the chain for him, which was cool to hear. And honestly, I rarely cheer for games at home anymore, but I did a bunch of it tonight, both for the Wild and the Aeros. It was fun and I was rewarded with some great hockey.

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Dear Hockey Gods,

Aeros don't play again until Friday. I'd really like that playing to include Brusty. I know that means keeping someone else hurt or whatever, but I've been a good girl lately, so maybe you can see fit to accommodate my request. I would be most appreciative.

Stay cool,
Ms.C

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Another win for Mr. Stubble and the Brahmas tonight. 38 stops on 40 shots and he earned the second star for the second night in a row. Wooo... I know the Brahmas Insider blog went to the game in Shreveport, so there will be pics in a few days. Something to look forward to during a few days without game action.

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One solomn hit and a few quick ones

God, how heartbreaking is the tragic death of Brian Burke's son, Brendan? Completely. I would never have known anything about the guy if not for Justin Bourne tackling homophobia in hockey, which prompted Brendan to make the bold decision to come OUT out (he was already out, just not out on ESPN).

From everything I read, he was an amazing guy, a passionate hockey guy of the highest quality, a great person in general. And then for him to tackle something so big and forbidding... wow. What character and strength.

One can only hope something good will come of this. That someone will pick up the torch and use this tragedy as the impetus for continued awareness and change. I think it's safe to say that's what Brendan would want.

Words seem empty right now, but I think all hearts in the hockey world... and they are some of the biggest hearts in all of sports... go out to the Burke family.

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I'm being asked for my firm commitment to attend the hockey camp this summer where I'll play goal for a bunch of skater campers. There's no goalie instruction, but plenty of shots to face as the skaters do drills and scrimmages. It's a great chance to work on things on my own, and I'd certainly work up a plan for making the most of it for my benefit.

Just trying to figure out the budget for it as I think our household economy is about to take a rather grim hit. I can fly for free and stay at any Marriott for free, but baggage fees are going to be ridiculous (must remember to ask my favorite frequent flying goalie for tips... remind me!), need to get a stick bag, then the camp fee (nominal for goalies just to pay for a jersey and other incidentals).

And then probably a car rental so I can toodle around the city in my off time. I have a feeling there will be no shortage of off-ice stuff to do, seeing as how I have quite a nice bunch of folks up there I have to meet. Will have to arrange a "to do" and invite everyone out. I'm thinking a Russoville reunion? Yeahhh...

Probably higher on my list of must-dos is go to wherever the best selection of goalie gear is, spend a few moments trying not to cry at the sight of pads and chest protectors and everything that aren't just pictures on the internet... and then make that store my bitch. Depending on finances, I might not buy a thing, but by god, I'll be making a Christmas list that will perceptibly boost the Chinese economy.

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Props to Nick for the pep talk tonight. After watching video of me playing, I'm having a little bit of a crisis of confidence and was kinda freaking about not being good enough for this camp.

How is it that saves seem so fast and dramatic to me when it's happening, but on video, it's like, nobody should miss that shot, ever.

But the good thing is that it reinforces some things for me that Scott's been harping on and gives me a goal to reach over the next 6 months before camp. And that goal is simply faster recovery to my feet after a save on the ice.

I could be giving blow jobs between shots for how much time I spend on my knees. Jeeeezus....

But I do that because I don't recover quick enough and most of my shots come low, so in the heat of the battle, the logical and lazy side of me says, "Meh, just stay down until the puck is to safety."

Still, it's just brutal to watch and it's wrong, so I have to fix it. The good thing is that I'm doing other stuff better than I thought I was. My movement around the crease is not horrific, I'm doing much better about getting tight to my posts, tracking the puck, staying square, etc.

Playing too deep and not popping up after a low save are the two challenges I need to make a significant dent in over the next 6 months. Not really sure how I'm going to do it to be honest, but I'll find a way.

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Dear Barry's Leg,

Please get better quickly. Nie is quite literally out of his league. We need you back. I kindly offer gentle boo-boo kisses or whatever would make you heal up quick and let the big guy do his job.

Kindest regards,
Ms.C

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Jaeger got a big win tonight in Corpus that put him over .500 for the season finally (unless you count those silly couple of OT and SO losses, which I don't... haha). CHL has to have the worst traavel of any league anywhere. I guess those guys just live on the bus because it looks like they just drive through the night.

They played in Corpus tonight and will play in Shreveport tomorrow night. If Mr.C had gotten stuck in Missouri this weekend, I'd planned to surprise my parents (who live an hour from Shreveport) and go up for the game. I STILL haven't gotten to see Jaegs play since I've known him. My luck, Palmer would have started.

Though the one Mudbugs game I've been to, he was the opposing goalie. I just didn't know him at the time, though I do remember telling my parents, who were attending their first hockey game ever, that the other goalie was pretty good. In fact, he got the win.

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I fucking love this song.

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O Canada

So, Cody Almond has 9 points since yours truly informed him during an interview at the end of December that KC promised on the record he'd play in the NHL.

Now, I know it's Cody's hard work that's got him where he is right now and it was clear he was on the cusp of this, but hey, nothing like a crazy-positive scouting report from the bossman to put the wind at your back.

Tonight he got a career high 3 points, assists on all three power play goals the Aeros racked up in the first 6 minutes of the second period tonight. He also got the third star (and the only star for any of the Aeros).

I think it's safe to say that the Aeros have Abbotsford's number on the power play. It's really been exciting to watch the last couple of nights.

Dubie was not super sharp in goal tonight, and the Aeros allowed 4 goals (1 PP), so the game went to OT and Rogers just straight up hard-worked his way to the GWG.

Great start to this road trip, for sure.

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Blades won tonight 5-1, and Brusty was Brusty. I'm really out of superlatives. All the guy does is validate my adulation. The team played well in front of him, too, for the most part. It never ceases to amuse me when a fight breaks out around him, he's jumping in there to pull guys off or whatever. None of that typical goalie aloofness. More reasons to be lusty for Brusty, as if you needed more.

He also got the third star, after I jokingly fussed at the Blades beat writer for leaving him off last night. His performance last night I thought was more deserving. Lots more great chances for Gwinnett but still, tonight he stopped 28 of 29 and the one goal was a PP goal.

Also, once again, I got called away from my laptop to help Mr. C, and boom. Goal. So, Brusty's still pitching a shutout while I'm watching. :)

Dear Blades, I'll happily take cash or a practice sweater in exchange for being glued to the screen. *call me*

Gotta say though, my heart kinda went out to Gwinnett goalie Dan Taylor, as he got scored on literally at 19:59 in the third. :( It didn't matter in the game, but stats-wise, that's a punch in the gut for the guy and he went off clearly in a pissy, stick-swinging way. Clear a path for that one.

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Jaeger hasn't played in a while, but his partner Joe Palmer got his ass handed to him last night, so I expected Jags would be in tonight.

Well, he was and man, what a game that must have been. One of those rare games that goes through regulation and OT without a single goal on either side. Just a total tending clinic at both ends for Texas and Corpus Christi, with shots 34-37 respectively. Wow.

Texas ended up winning with Jaeger letting in only 1 of 5 shootout attempts and the Brahmas potting two in the skills competition.

To complete the hat trick of game stars for "my boys," he took home the second star, but more importantly, hopefully he's earned some starts over Palmer at least for a while. I know it seems crazy to award starts to the BEST goalie, but apparently some teams actually do that.

Is my bitterness getting any cuter? No? Here have a puppy and pretend it's my bitterness.

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I've been following this little blog that's all about Atlanta's Kari Lehtonen since last summer. The writer digs that oft-injured goalie an awful lot, so you can imagine, the blog speaks to me on a certain level.

Anyway, Lehtonen had his first conditioning start in Chicago for the Wolves tonight. Chicago lost 5-4 to Peoria, and from the Peoria tweets I saw, it sounded like Ben Bishop stole some of the game from Chicago with some really huge saves (though, does that guy do anything small?)

But I was just thinking how excited that blog's author must be tonight. Their goalie back in action at long last! Best wishes to Lehtonen on a solid return to the NHL and congrats to my fellow blogger on getting your goalie back. It's like the world getting back on its axis and definitely something to celebrate.

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THIS

The Texas Brahmas are hosting a Ladies Hockey 101 "course" next month.

Two things:

1. That is so money. Good job, Brahmas. I'm not even really sure what they're doing at this thing but $25 to sit around with the girls and watch the boys do hockey things and smile at you? Hell yeah. Plus dinner? Double hell yeah.
   
2. Ladies, watch out for this one. Also money. ;) (Nice new mask, BTW. )

Photo by Robert Keith

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