Catching Some Z's
I meant to stay up last night and post my game review but I chose to sleep instead. I'm coming off of a two week little-to-no-sleep binge which has been totally self-inflicted, it's Horror and Hockey Month, people! Anyway, by the time I was done flossing, brushing and rinsing the bucket of popcorn from between my teeth, the Ambien had kicked in so I let it take me off to the land of nod. Man, what a difference six hours of really good sleep makes! And now, on to some puck thoughts before I spend the afternoon in a dark theater watching Paranormal 2 - for the second time. This movie is the best of the 2010 Horror Season so far!
Mostly Gooder Hockey!
Look, I'm thrilled with the win over my boyfriend's team just as much as the next person (no pun intended to Vicki who was the person next to me at the game). I'm a realist at heart though, an analyst who needs to look at things from all perspectives. I'm also a fan who's been watching this team since the Lemaire era and I've come to know that one well-played game out of the last three does not a play off berth make. Last night was nothing new for this team. When they feel like it, this team plays like they really do belong in the NHL.
Was it great fun and delightful to watch? You Betcha! Casey Wellman, my puppy for this season, has made some strides and continues to make a bid for a permanent spot. He just needs to start trusting his own shooting instincts more. I thought Gilles did pretty well and if he's in the lineup for Saturday's game I'm betting he'll impress even more. Falk is doing so well that this morning he was told to move out of the hotel and find himself some permanent digs. **cough, cough: Ahem - "paging Cam Barker - you're time is up...paging Cam Barker..." This doesn't mean Falk is permanent addition, I'm pretty sure it has something to do with how many games and/or days he's been at the NHL level, but I like that a message is being sent to a slacker.
I had completely forgotten that Kobasew could shine when on a line with the right team mates. I'm sure Vicki thought I was going into seizures over seeing Chuckie out there with Koivu and Bruno. Speaking of Koivu - a HUGE miss on a break away but he did the right thing and got us the game winning goal. Backstrom appears to have found his sacred place of zen and peace. He's simply SPECTACULAR when he's found his center. And did you catch how many times all five of our guys were standing in front of Backs and Just Saying No to the Capitals? No laundry being hung out to dry last night.
Did the game also leave me thinking we're in for a flaming bag of poo from our guys when the Hawks come to play tomorrow? Ya, Sure Dontcha Know. It's exhausting trying to figure out which team will actually show up for each game. It's very tiring, riding this roller coaster of emotions going into every single game. And this is coming from two very avid, passionate fans that have been known to leave sick family at home in order to be at the games. Vicki and I both concurred last night that the lack of effort, more often than not, is wearing us down, making it harder to get excited about making the trek to the arena. Does that mean we're giving up our seats for tomorrow night's game? Heck No!
The song streaming through my Wild brain - which should have Robyn falling off her chair considering I hate disco
Fan-tastic:
There was a very enthusiastic Martin Havlat fan in full Hawks gear in our section last night. He was really vocal in his support of Marty every time #24 was on the ice. In the section next to us was a very enthusiastic Not-A-Havlat-Fan in full Wild gear. The banter back and forth all game was hilarious, and more so for every time Marty whiffed, stood on the blue line or just floated off to wherever the play wasn't. But it was especially entertaining when Martin made his solo breakaway attempt, skating into the Capitals zone - 5 on 1 - and didn't score that got our two sections howling with laughter.
I'm always thrilled to see opposing fans come to town to support their team. Last night was all in good fun and I really hope this particular Havlat Fan is here for the weekend and that we'll get to see him again tomorrow night. Over the last ten years I'm pleased to say that Minnesota Nice has come through for visiting fans in the upper sections 225 & 226. I can't say the same for the some of the lower bowl sections I've sat in over the years. What is about sitting in the lower level that turns Minnesotans into complete idiots? They go out of their way to harass every nearby visiting team fan to the point of fisticuffs and being tossed out of the game. Upper level, doesn't happen - that I've ever witnessed. I guess money really can't buy you class, just a nasty hangover and a recommendation to never come to a Wild game again.
Swiss Miss
So Marty, how's Petr Sykora doing these days? Oh yeah, he's in Switzerland. Tell your agent to shut his trap and then take that into consideration yourself. Talk about harshing the mellow, way to divide a locker room. It irritates me even more considering that you've yet to put a full season in on Wild ice. You spent last season being referred to as Martin Half-Time and Martin Half-Flat. Might I suggest a sincere apology to your team mates and then taking them all out for steaks and bakers at Mancini's.
Great, now I want steak - two days before Sunday.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Numbers Don't Lie, Team United As One, Mad Magazine
Cookin' The Numbers
The announced crowd was just over 17,000 tonight at the X. Do they realize we fans can look around the arena and see the HUGE chunks of empty seats, upper and lower levels as well as the two empty suites? Please, stop lying to yourselves, Wild. It only makes you look worse. Of course nothing looks worse than the product on the ice so who cares if you're fibbing about a thousand empty seats?
Unanimous Vote?
Once again, the Wild came out smoking hot in the first period. Once again the Wild took a vote during the 1st intermission to take the rest of the night off. And Coach Richards seems to have seconded and carried the motion himself. He didn't look upset or distraught or worked up about the lack of COMPETE out of his players for the 2nd and 3rd period. Compete implies that the players showed up for all three periods. Compete infers an honest effort was given by all who took to the ice wearing Wild sweaters. I got a new word for ya, coach: lallygagging. Here it is used in the context to which I am referring:
Now, change some words from baseball vernacular to hockey, such as: " you lallygag the puck around the defensive zone" and "you lallygag your way down to the offensive zone" and "you lallygag on and off the bench".
What, Me Worry?
Coach Richards - NOT CONCERNED about the sudden loss of power play capability... we're 0-8. You're right coach, don't worry about that - worry about cleaning out your desk.
Koivu - downright pissy at reporters asking about the "alleged" fizzled out power play. You're right - worry instead about the 7 penalties your team took tonight...oops, you were in the box for two of them.
For those of you too young to get the What, Me Worry reference: Mad Magazine, scroll down to the Alfred E. Nueman section. For those of you who got the reference - way to be hip beyond your years!
My boyfriend comes to town for Thursday's game. In case some of you aren't familiar with him:
The announced crowd was just over 17,000 tonight at the X. Do they realize we fans can look around the arena and see the HUGE chunks of empty seats, upper and lower levels as well as the two empty suites? Please, stop lying to yourselves, Wild. It only makes you look worse. Of course nothing looks worse than the product on the ice so who cares if you're fibbing about a thousand empty seats?
Unanimous Vote?
Once again, the Wild came out smoking hot in the first period. Once again the Wild took a vote during the 1st intermission to take the rest of the night off. And Coach Richards seems to have seconded and carried the motion himself. He didn't look upset or distraught or worked up about the lack of COMPETE out of his players for the 2nd and 3rd period. Compete implies that the players showed up for all three periods. Compete infers an honest effort was given by all who took to the ice wearing Wild sweaters. I got a new word for ya, coach: lallygagging. Here it is used in the context to which I am referring:
Now, change some words from baseball vernacular to hockey, such as: " you lallygag the puck around the defensive zone" and "you lallygag your way down to the offensive zone" and "you lallygag on and off the bench".
"This is a simple game: you pass the puck, you get the puck, you shoot the puck."
24-13: Kings' advantage in shots on goal over Wild during the final two periods & overtime.
What, Me Worry?
Coach Richards - NOT CONCERNED about the sudden loss of power play capability... we're 0-8. You're right coach, don't worry about that - worry about cleaning out your desk.
Koivu - downright pissy at reporters asking about the "alleged" fizzled out power play. You're right - worry instead about the 7 penalties your team took tonight...oops, you were in the box for two of them.
For those of you too young to get the What, Me Worry reference: Mad Magazine, scroll down to the Alfred E. Nueman section. For those of you who got the reference - way to be hip beyond your years!
My boyfriend comes to town for Thursday's game. In case some of you aren't familiar with him:
Saturday, October 23, 2010
UGLY HOCKEY
Clothes-Lined
Not much else to say about last night's debacle of a hockey game. The Wild hung Jose Theodore out to dry in his team debut. Here's a quote from Burns after the game: "I feel bad. He played great," Wild defenseman Brent Burns said. "Not much help from us. It's tough to throw him to the wolves like that. It felt like we were in our zone a lot. We didn't seem to get it out much." Gee - ya think so, hockey mental giant?? You must have been educated by the great and all-knowing hockey mind of James Sheppard.
Absolutely Inexcusable Hockey Playing
Second night of back to back games - EVERY team does it, suck it up and be an NHL player for God's sake. How come we're consistently the team that lies down and takes a nap on the second game? How many times have we seen our opponent hit the ice after playing the night before and promptly KICK OUR ASS? Too Many! For the kind of money you all make you should be out there doing cartwheels on blades in order to clear the zone, drive to the goal and put the puck in the net. Instead you took the night off because you were tuckered out...from having spent the previous night killing 20 minutes worth of penalties. That's all your own doing as well. You got lucky in that Backstrom decided to stay in his yard and concentrated on just stopping the pucks within his reach. This could have very easily been an O-fer road trip with two division rivals taking big bites out of our butts.
Richards - were you screaming your head off in the locker room after the 1st period? Were you ready to throw Miettinen and Havlat and Latendresse to the back of the bus? Nope, you just let them get away with horrid play - including MIkko Koivu. There's no excuse for your captain to take a night off - ever. That's why he wears the C. He should have been on that bench reaming his team mates for taking shifts off, not moving their feet, not looking where they're passing to and taking the blame for his own actions. That's what unites a team, not everybody just sitting in their own sullen silence. Every time the camera panned our bench it was just a bunch of babies quietly pouting.
Greatest quote of the season, if not ever, from Russo's Blog: "Malhotra was saying fans should stay out of his workspace. He wasn't saying the Wild should stay out of his workspace."
There were very few players who didn't screw the pooch last night. I'm not blind to that.
But for the love of Bobby Orr can somebody, anybody, tell me why:
Not much else to say about last night's debacle of a hockey game. The Wild hung Jose Theodore out to dry in his team debut. Here's a quote from Burns after the game: "I feel bad. He played great," Wild defenseman Brent Burns said. "Not much help from us. It's tough to throw him to the wolves like that. It felt like we were in our zone a lot. We didn't seem to get it out much." Gee - ya think so, hockey mental giant?? You must have been educated by the great and all-knowing hockey mind of James Sheppard.
Absolutely Inexcusable Hockey Playing
Second night of back to back games - EVERY team does it, suck it up and be an NHL player for God's sake. How come we're consistently the team that lies down and takes a nap on the second game? How many times have we seen our opponent hit the ice after playing the night before and promptly KICK OUR ASS? Too Many! For the kind of money you all make you should be out there doing cartwheels on blades in order to clear the zone, drive to the goal and put the puck in the net. Instead you took the night off because you were tuckered out...from having spent the previous night killing 20 minutes worth of penalties. That's all your own doing as well. You got lucky in that Backstrom decided to stay in his yard and concentrated on just stopping the pucks within his reach. This could have very easily been an O-fer road trip with two division rivals taking big bites out of our butts.
Richards - were you screaming your head off in the locker room after the 1st period? Were you ready to throw Miettinen and Havlat and Latendresse to the back of the bus? Nope, you just let them get away with horrid play - including MIkko Koivu. There's no excuse for your captain to take a night off - ever. That's why he wears the C. He should have been on that bench reaming his team mates for taking shifts off, not moving their feet, not looking where they're passing to and taking the blame for his own actions. That's what unites a team, not everybody just sitting in their own sullen silence. Every time the camera panned our bench it was just a bunch of babies quietly pouting.
Greatest quote of the season, if not ever, from Russo's Blog: "Malhotra was saying fans should stay out of his workspace. He wasn't saying the Wild should stay out of his workspace."
There were very few players who didn't screw the pooch last night. I'm not blind to that.
But for the love of Bobby Orr can somebody, anybody, tell me why:
- we think Schultz is soo worth hanging on to?
- we signed Madden?
- Kobasew is still here?
Note to Craig Liepold - you think you're losing money on this team? Visit craigslist some time to see Wild tickets being sold for less than face value by season ticket holders trying to get something, anything in return for their initial investment. And these aren't just game-day dumps, these are dates for games well in advance. I remember the days when you couldn't get near a Wild game without paying twice the face value of a ticket.
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