Just a quick note from my seat about 40 minutes before the game. I’ve counted around 6 Avs jerseys so far, and one Nordiques Sakic jersey. The players have yet to take the ice, but the lineup sheet says Budaj and Theodore, no mention of Weiman or Wall.
To call my seat obstructed would do a disservice to obstructions. I hate purchasing tickets online. You just don’t know what you are buying. Pictures will follow. I suspecgt there will be plenty of room to move around, so we’ll see where I wind up.

The American Airlines Center is a beautiful building, but the fans behind me say Reunion Arena is a better place for hockey. The hallways up here in the 300 section are pretty small. I can’t imagine how it is during the playoffs.

Avs are out for warmups, with Budaj and Wall dressed. None of the heavys are out. Sakic, Smyth, Stastny, Hejduk.

Go Avs.

On January 1st, 2008 the NHL will attempt to recreate the atmosphere and excitement of the Heritage Classic game by having another outdoor game between the Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The game will be held at the Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo, NY. As it turns out, I have the day off, and no show until 7:30 PM on the 2nd. And I happen to be in Detroit at the time. The drive time is about five hours, and I can tell you, five hours is nothing for a hockey game. Looks like I’ll be keeping a close eye on tickets.

While in Charlotte, I took a little trip to DC to visit Eric McErlain. Eric blogged a little about it here, but this is the photographic evidence.

And, I should say, what a crappy ass stadium the Washington Nationals have to play in. Sorry, but it’s true. We had great seats, but there wasn’t much else worth bragging about in this place.
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Technorati Tags: Hockey, Other Sports

Since I have left Charlotte, NC for Memphis, TN (and not a tradeoff I would make that often), I have left behind Jamie, the hockey kitten. So, I thought it would be fun to put a photo of her up. Just for fun.

That cat loves jerseys almost as much as I do. Almost.

What jersey is that, you ask? Why, it’s this one, of course.

Technorati Tags: Jerseys

Former Avalanche goaltender Philippe Sauve still isn’t ready for prime-time. From the DesMoines Register:

The Iowa Stars signed veteran goaltender Philippe Sauve to an American Hockey League contract for the 2007-2008 season.

“Phillipe is an experienced goalie with some NHL background,” Stars director of hockey operations Scott White said in a news release, “He adds depth to our goaltending position and we expect him to be a solid mentor for our young goalies.”

I would like to feel bad for Sauve, but I don’t. I don’t even want him back to replace Theodore as backup. Certainly not after this little scrap.

Since leaving the Avalanche, which led into the lockout year, Sauve has played for seven different teams, three of which were inexplicably NHL teams. So, while it may not look that way, some guys do get all the breaks.

Right now, I’m trapped in the heat of Memphis, TN. So, what do you do on your day off in 96 degree heat? Sit outside and watch some baseball.

That’s Autozone Park, home of the Memphis Redbirds, Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. This picture was taken from on top if the swanky Peabody Hotel.

That’s the mascot, calling a strike.

A beautiful night for some baseball. How would you like to live in the apartments that face into the ballpark. I’m sure it would lose it’s appeal pretty quickly, but you could watch a ball game live in the comfort of your own home.

To me, any ball is a fastball.

If you did live in those apartments, you would know if the Redbirds won or got a home run. That thing is loud!

A pretty nice ball park.

Overall, a good day off from the show.

Note: There are a lot of photos in this post, and I am trying a new program for blog writing. It may upload them correctly, it may not. Join me on an adventure, won’t you?

Technorati Tags: Other Sports

You can say goodbye to the goal judge as you knew him, or at the very least, where you knew him. From the Globe and Mail:

In case you missed it, the NHL has allowed clubs to move their goal judges to the press box or a similar spot, depending on the arena and its configuration. The idea is that the goal judges can still watch the game from afar and flick the light switch through wireless technology.

I guess a few more seats per game is worth the move. I wouldn’t mind so much as the goal judge job has lost some of it’s meaning in this age of video replay. But as we saw several times last year, video replay wasn’t able to tell the ultimate answer to the ultimate hockey question: goal or no goal. One more set of eyes in the right place provides an important tool until the NHL can figure out a fool resistant way of indicating goals (remember what they say about fools).

And if you have ever read In The Bin by Lloyd Freeberg, you know the importance of these guys, as they explain the reasons they blew the call.

Or, you can look at this YouTube video. You can’t really do that to a penalty time keeper.

Technorati Tags: Hockey, NHL

The push is on, and the clock is winding down. Teams are either showing off their swanky new jerseys, or announcing dates for their debut. So far, the showings have been less than spectacular, and the blogosphere, in general, isn’t too impressed with what they’ve seen.

I, for one, have to agree. Perhaps it lies within the cut of the jerseys, perhaps it is the basic design aesthetics, but the new RBK jerseys are not particularly photogenic. Looking at the new Senators jersey (thanks to Kukla), you have to wonder if the new, updated, more robust looking soldier is happy with his location. The shoulders of the jersey on display shrug as if to say, “So, we didn’t win a Stanley Cup, but thems the breaks, eh?”

How about the new Islanders jersey? It will surely go down in history as the second ugliest jerseys to be seen in Long Island.

And, of course, I already showed you the Columbus Blue Jackets new duds. Not the most interesting design I have ever seen, nor the most sliming (you will have to wait for the Tapeleg Total Ab Workout for a while).

Marketing, money, and sponsorship are ruling the day in the NHL right now, and the new jerseys are proving it. The excitement created by these things is quickly snuffed when they are actually put on display. There is no quick fix for these jerseys, and what you see is what you get, for a long time to come. As with the pink jerseys, I implore you to vote with your wallet. If the NHL makes no money on it, they will be given the wake up call they need. No other method speaks to the league like your dollars. If you don’t like the new jerseys, for any reason, don’t buy one. Plenty of places will have the old style jerseys for a while, spend your money there. If you do like them, by all means, get two. Have a jersey party. I still am waiting for the Avs.

I just found out today that sidearm delivery has decided to close up shop. Someone recently declared this year the Year of the Sports Blog. There have been a ton of hockey blogs started over the past year. We should have a moment of silence for one of the best. If you have never been to sidearm delivery, you should go now. If you have a hockey blog, go read and learn.

I can’t wait to get back to Hartford. I have to see a game with this guy.

Dumb title, I know.

I was at the local Irish pub after work in hot, crowded Memphis, and noticed something odd (to me, that is) about the soccer game being shown.  At halftime, the refs (officials) were leaving the field at the same time, through the same exit, as the players.  Not only that, but they were exiting with both teams, and talking cordially with them.  Can you imagine something like that happening in hockey?  Even at the lowest levels of amateur hockey, even with kids games, there are precautions that refs take when leaving the ice, and also when leaving the rink to go home.  Remember, this is a sport where fan behavior is associated with rioting.

The other cool thing was, they were showing hurling a few nights ago. Holy crap, what a sport.  These guys are insane.  If you have never seen hurling, combine parts of rugby, lacrosse, soccer, baseball, and the movie Braveheart, and you start to see what it is.  The nice thing was, it didn’t take long to pick up on.  Hockey can be confusing to newcomers as to why there are stoppages in play, what was or wasn’t a penalty, and so on.  Hurling seemed pretty easy to pick up on.  I’m sure it isn’t a simple game, but it wasn’t exactly rocket science either. Oh, and the soccer sized stadium they were playing in was packed.