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West Coast Hockey Tour in February and March

December 16, 2008 By

I have a little time away from work coming up, an available car, and a desire to see some hockey.  That means it’s time for a hockey road trip.

Checking out my schedule, and looking around at what I would want to do, I decided quickly that I wanted to see a bunch of hockey along the west coast of America, a place that only recieves slightly more respect in the hockey world than the Southeast division of the NHL, which only gets slightly more respect than the Mexico national team.

I’m still working out a bunch of the details, but I have my game schedule solidified.  Home team is listed first.

Feb 12:  LA Kings vs Calgary Flames      NHL
Feb 14:  Ontario Reign vs Utah Grizzlies         ECHL
Feb 15:  Anaheim Ducks vs Atlanta Thrashers        NHL
Feb 17:  San Jose Sharks vs Edmonton Oilers          NHL
Feb 21:  Bakersfield Condors vs Victoria Salmon Kings        ECHL
Feb 22:  Bakersfield Condors vs Alaska Aces          ECHL
Feb 23:  Fresno Falcons vs Alaska Aces                  ECHL (team folded)
Feb 24:  Fresno Falcons vs Alaska Aces (optional)               ECHL (team folded)
Feb 25:  Stockton Thunder vs Las Vegas Wranglers             ECHL
Feb 28:  Everett Silvertips vs Vancouver Giants              WHL
Mar 1:  Tri-City Americans vs Portland Winterhawks      WHL
Mar 3:  Portland Winterhawks vs Everett Silvertips         WHL
Mar 6:  Seattle Thunderbirds vs Tri-City Americans       WHL
Mar 7:  Seattle Thunderbirds vs Tri-City Americans       WHL
Mar 11:  Spokane Chiefs vs Everett Silvertips                 WHL
Mar 13: Rapid City Rush vs Tulsa Oilers  (bonus game)       CHL

For those keeping track, that’s 16 14 games, 13 12 home teams, 22 21teams total, in 29 days.  Not a completely packed schedule, but it keeps me busy. Rapid City, SD is thrown in because it is in line with my return to work, plus they are a brand new team with a brand new arena, so it’s worth checking out.

You can find a rough map of the trip here.

For this trip, I plan on taking a lot of pictures, recording some audio, and maybe even posting some hockey history of each team along the way (when I can).

I’ve put up a twitter-like micro blog so I can do short updates, including pictures from my camera phone.  You can find it at:

http://www.jerseysandhockeylove.com/wcht/

And anything worth doing is worth starting a facebook group about, right?  Which you can find:

Here.

If there are any bloggers who want to meet up for beers before or after the games, or at the game itself, drop me a line here.  If anyone has suggestions of hockey related things to do while I’m in some of these towns, let me know, either in the comments, or via the contact form.

I did something like this several years ago, taking a tour through the old UHL (14 teams at the time) plus six teams in the Central Hockey League.  It was a lot of fun, and I got a bunch of pictures, but I didn’t have a blog at the time, or any other place to share the experience.  Hopefully, I will be able to share with you what the hockey world looks like out west.

Even though it’s still two months away, it helps to get a jump on the planning.  If you want to drop by a game I will be at, I’d love to meet you.

Update: The Fresno Falcons have folded, opening up the schedule, but disappointing me.  Not as much as their fans, I’m sure.  Sorry Falcons fans.

Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: ,

Worst Ice Rink Ever

December 13, 2008 By

Could this be the worst ice rink ever? Probably not, but still, it sucks. In Winter Park, CO. Now officially off the island of places to live.

Filed Under: Hockey

I Musr Be In The Front Row

December 12, 2008 By

I have never sat this high for a game before.

And even though we still have a half an hour to go, no one is here.

Oh well, Go Avs.

Filed Under: Avalanche Tagged With: , ,

Super Joe Vs Super Snow: The Machine Always Wins

December 10, 2008 By

There are six basic types of conflict (5+1), defined by Wikipedia (your source for all things true) as:

Character vs. Self

Person vs.Person

Person vs. Society

Person vs. Nature

Person vs. Supernatural

and the bonus

Person vs. Machine/Technology

In the case of Joe Sakic sticking his hand in a snow blower, I think we can highlight at least two of those, particularly the last one, and Character vs. Self, because you have to be battling yourself and good sense when you STICK YOUR HAND IN A FREAKING SNOW BLOWER!!!

OK, I don’t know for a fact that he stuck his hand in the snow blower.  Wait, yes I do.  From the Denver Post:

Avalanche vice president Jean Martineau said the accident happened to Sakic’s left hand, and that severe tendon damage occurred to one finger. That same finger and two others were broken.

“Basically, it’s a mistake. He’s a 39-year-old adult who made a mistake,” Martineau said. “He put his hand where he should not have put it. He’s, in a way, lucky. He’ll have a full recovery.”

So, yeah, he stuck his hand in a snow blower.

He is staring down a three month recovery process, by which time his back should be healthy as well.  Even though they say he will have a full recovery, where is he going to be when he comes back?  I would say that full recovery might still mean a little less motion. From my experiences with breaking a few bones, I can say that I didn’t get 100% motion back.

Now, I know that I made a lot of fun of Jose Theodore when he slipped and fell on the ice in his driveway, breaking his foot.  And now that Super Joe has had a not-to-dissimilar accident, I really should hold up my integrity and poke a little fun hes way as well.  Well, forget it.  As dumb a thing as this may have been to do, he’s in some serious pain, away from hockey for a lot longer, and has a lot to worry about, not just the team, but his family as well.

Besides, what can I say that he isn’t saying to himself?

“He’s very, very mad at himself. I’ve never seen him like that, and I’ve known him for 21 years,” Martineau said. “He knows he made a mistake.”

I bet he does.

Filed Under: Avalanche Tagged With:

Ryan Miller Makes My Day

December 9, 2008 By

Paul Kukla pointed out this item that should make everyone (aside from my podcast partner Tom) either scratch their head, or laugh their (bleep) off. From The Buffalo News:

Goaltender Ryan Miller called it a “slanted officiating job” today and said the men in stripes weren’t behaving too well either.

At the end of a 5-1/2-minute session with reporters today in the Amherst Pepsi Center, Miller was asked about an end-of-practice chat with coach Lindy Ruff. The Buffalo goaltender revealed he was telling his coach that one of the officials swore at him during a stoppage in play a couple of minutes before the Sabres received a bench minor for arguing an interference call on Thomas Vanek.

“It was just about the referee last night, a brief conversation I had with the ref that was a little surprising to me,” Miller said. “He told me to “go [bleep] myself’ because I was just asking a question. I was just kind of joking around [to Ruff], saying, “Maybe that kind of started what got the bench minor going.’

On, noes, Mr. Miller. Did the man in the stripey shirt make with the bad language?

For those of you who have never seen a broadcast of a hockey game, or ever been to one, or those who find it impossible to read lips, there is more salty language thrown around the game than panties thrown at a Tom Jones concert. And when the language isn’t being thrown at the opposition, it’s being thrown at the refs. Some of the most chicken [bleep] acts involve skating away from the ref while giving him the business. The fact that there aren’t ten minors for abusing the ref a night is a testament to these guys patience and tolerance. If you had some tool ripping the job you were doing in the media, would you want to deal with him? (yes, Miller said the officiating was “slanted” after the game, I know) Refs get ripped all the time. Perhaps Miller deserved to be ripped back. And frankly, do we even know if this really happened.

And what led to this (bleeping) comment, Mr. Miller?

“To be honest, I was respectful. I asked him a question and he told me maybe I should “go [bleep] myself.”

Notice how Miller doesn’t tell us what he asked. Maybe he asked:

“Do you remember where you left your glasses?”

or

“Say, do you think this officiating is as slanted as I do?”

or maybe even,

“Excuse me, sir, but would you perhaps like another donut, you fat pig?”

Maybe Miller should go (bleep) himself.

Filed Under: NHL Tagged With: ,

Me All Over

December 8, 2008 By

This weeks, I’m shirking my duties at JAHL (like that’s something new) to help out Steve Lepore at Puck The Media.  Steve is one of my favorite bloggers, a regular contributor to the podcast, and has a unique blog, covering the hockey media.  I’ll be posting over there today and tomorrow.

Tonight, I will have a liveblog of the Versus game tonight, but not your typical liveblog.  I’ll be critiquing Versus themselves, rather than the game.  Should be fun (for me, at least).

We are up to episode 10 of The Rink, with eleven going live tomorrow.  If you haven’t given it a listen, it usually runs around half an hour, so really, it’s not a huge commitment.

Oh, and I had nothing to do with this.  Nothing at all.

Filed Under: Blogging

Hey, Stars, You Hired The Guy

December 2, 2008 By

After all the hubbub, which we aren’t even past the hub part, the Dallas Stars owner tells us that Sean Avery would have been in hot water had the NHL not suspended him.  From the Dallas Stars Blog at the Dallas Morning News (via Puck Daddy):

Stars owner Tom Hicks supported the decision.

“I completely support the league’s decision to suspend Sean Avery,” said Dallas Stars owner Thomas O. Hicks. “Had the league not have suspended him, the Dallas Stars would have. This organization will not tolerate such behavior, especially from a member of our hockey team. We hold our team to a higher standard and will continue to do so.”

Look, I know that there are people with lazy hiring practices, but didn’t Hicks turn on a television over the last few years?  Didn’t they know what Avery was like when they signed him?  There was more due dilligance done when loans were being drafted through the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

I’m not going to say that the Stars aren’t a classy organization, but they had to know what they were getting in to.  Asking Sean Avery to behave himself is like asking for a return on investment on your 401k.  While it may be the case that the Stars would have done “something,” the fact remains that they haven’t done anything to Avery yet, they knew what they were getting into, and they may not have really had the power to do anything (NHLPA anyone?).

Filed Under: NHL Tagged With: ,

NHL Renders Flames – Stars Unwatchable by Suspending Avery

December 2, 2008 By

Oh, NHL, why do you not like natural rivalries? Why do you mess with a good thing?

I’m not a big Sean Avery fan, and probably never will be. As much as I dislike Martin Brodeur, I still couldn’t stand Avery acting like a jackass in front of him, making a mockery of the sport.

But still, when you are handed a golden ticket, such as this (via Eric McErlain at Fanhouse):

Sean Avery, in Calgary with the Dallas Stars to play the Flames and never one to shun the spotlight, actually summoned a camera crew from Canada’s TSN to deliver the following statement as reported by the Calgary Herald:

“Uh, I’m really happy to be back in Calgary. I love Canada.

“And I just want to comment on how it’s become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don’t know what that’s about.

“Enjoy the game tonight.”

You use the golden ticket. You don’t do something stupid like this (via Kukla’s Korner):

The NHL has suspended Dallas Stars’ forward Sean Avery indefinitely, pending a hearing with the league, and he will not be playing in tonight’s game against the Calgary Flames.

Avery is being suspended for disparaging remarks he made this morning in reference to Calgary player Dion Phaneuf and Phaneuf’s girl friend Elisha Cuthbert, who previously had a relationship with Avery.

So, now, not only does the national audience not care about a bottom dwelling team taking on a mediocre Northwest Division team, but the tension that the local fans were hoping for is gone. If the NHL wanted to suspend Avery, they should have done it right after warmups and Dallas had committed to it’s 20 man roster for the game. Make things interesting, at least.

Filed Under: NHL Tagged With: , ,

Hey Versus, Goals Were Scored, Can We See Them?

December 1, 2008 By

From Bob Harwood of Versus at the top of the postgame show:

In fact, there are so many goals we can’t show them all.

And this quote is why I am sick of the NHL on Versus.  The worst hockey highlights this side of ESPN Sportcenter.

No, instead of showing you goals, we are going to have an interview with Ryan Smyth.  And we won’t even ask him anything interesting like what he said to the ref that got him sent back in the box for the second Wild power play goal.

6-5 Avs.  Over the Wild.  That’s like a Nashville – Islanders score.  The new NHL lives on.

Filed Under: Avalanche Tagged With: , ,
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