Game One

Devils Hosting Kings              Devils 1   Kings 2 in OT

I would boo Bettman if he announced world peace or the cure for cancer.  He's just so smarmy and creepy.  I feel like I need to shower after watching him. 
I am ridiculously addicted to International Delights Iced Coffee mixes. 
  

I am ridiculously over caffeinated.
 

JR: The 90's called.  They want their peroxide blond streaks back.  And their gel styling product. 

Note To Kings: Since 2001, four teams have had 7 days of rest between winning their conference titles and starting the Cup Final.  NONE of them have won.   

Holy Playoff Hockey Beard, Kovalchuk!

C'Mon Marty...Let's win this for us old folks!

Pierre McGuire: Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.  Disses Doc by only responding to Eddie Olczyk.

Pierre McGuire calling Eddie Olcyzk "Edzo"  #shinslist

Note To Marty: Wake the fuck up, dude! 

Friggin' Quick making saves like he's a super goalie or something. 

Lightning Fast first period.   Kings defense is like a brick wall. 

Note To Self: Pay for overnight shipping of voodoo dolls of Kings defensemen.  Especially Willie Mitchell.

Clarkson: Furiously Red Playoff Beard and Mustache!

Note To Marty: Quit playing like an old fart.  Swallow those rebounds, grandpa. 

Hello - my name is Marty "Huge Ass Rebounds" Brodeur. 

Just say no to a shut out for Quick.  Seriously, say it.  Jinx that Effer. 

Rest or Rust?  Clearly the Kings are not rusty. 

Devils finally ruin the shutout.  Thanks to all the peeps out there who chanted SHUTOUT to jinx Quick. 

Deflected puck off of Kings...still counts as a goal for the Devils. 

Spectacular stand up save by Brodeur.  There's the goalie I know and love.

Sobbed so hard watching this.  Could have been the caffeine high wearing off:


Funniest tweet of the night: from Dirty Dangle Hockey: "I wonder how much maple syrup is in Dustin Penner's beard right now."

Five minutes remaining in third period and the Devils are doing everything they can to give the Kings the lead back. 

Arena crew taking a sledge hammer to the boards...WTF?

Brodeur with pad-stack save.  Kicking it old school!!


Second funniest tweet of the night: Bruce Ciskie - "No, Marek Zidlicky is not under the influence. This is normal, as any Wild fan can attest."

Because I Need To Watch Hockey As Long As Possible: OVERTIME!!

Best Goatee: Adam Henrique

Eddie: "Devils with a missed opportunity."  There's the understatement of the night.

Brodeur gets beat far side, under the leg.  Dammit, Stanley. 

Kopitar with the OT winning goal, hair and beard.  

Game 2: Saturday night, NBC, 8:00 p.m. eastern time.  That's 7:00 for you central zoners. 

Is It Wednesday Yet? Remembering Bailey

Where Did The Time Go?
I know I've been antsy waiting for the Cup Final to begin.  It's crazy for me to go these last few days with no hockey to watch after the almost constant bombardment leading up to this point.  And yet, the calendar doesn't lie.  It's the end of May going into June.  It's here, the Cup Final, already.  It's the series we wait for all season long and yet I can't help but feel melancholy.  I mean, it signals the end of hockey until October.  There will be that empty space in my soul for 12 plus weeks.  I will need therapy - the kind that comes in the form of hours spent in the sun and in the pool and in the garden.  Hopefully my southern friends/family will take me in and let me play in their dirt and water.  Otherwise there will be some awkward moments when they find me shoveling dirt in their yards or floating aimlessly in their pools.  But there are a few days of glorious balls-to-the-walls hockey left before the depression sets in.  Let's set the table shall we?

The Rangers are on the outside looking in.  That leaves only their eulogy left to be read.  I'm not sure if I ever posted the Coyotes' eulogy so here's that.     

L.A Kings - Western Conference Champs
Here's NHL.com's take on what they need to do to win the cup. 

New Jersey Devils - Eastern Conference Champs
Here's NHL.com's take on what they need to do to win the cup. 

For some reason I just can't get my head or heart around the Kings.  I know lots of hockey minds out there think the Kings are a lock for the cup.  I'm just not feeling it.  It could be that the Devils still represent all the things Jacque Lemaire brought to the table in terms of defensive play and pressuring the other teams into making huge gaffes on the ice. I love nothing more than a costly turnover which then turns into the kind of play that leaves the other team looking like utter fools.  To top that off there's Ilya Kovalchuk and Adam Henrique.  Google Images.  'Nuff Said.  Of course, I temper this declaration of Devils for the Cup with my disclaimer for being the world's worst gambler.  So there ya go.  

My plan is to blog for each game so keep the texts and tweets coming in.  Here in Georgia there are a couple of new friends who are doing their very best to learn the game and are excited to be watching the finals with me.  Should make for some interesting observations.  

The Diva Next Door
 We live 1200 miles apart now, but Connie and Randy will always be my next door neighbors.  I remember so clearly the day I met Connie.  They were in the process of moving in.  She came knocking on my front door to introduce herself, and to assure me that the nonstop barking I was hearing would stop shortly as she was on her way to the store to pick up a new battery for her dog's electronic collar.  The barking dog turned out to be Bailey, a female yellow lab who had a reputation for being a tad bit on the anti-social side, very alpha position driven and especially not very welcoming to new dogs in her life.  Bailey made an exception for me and my Casey Jones.  There were a few anxious moments in the beginning but in a very short time Bailey was welcoming us into her yard and home with a big smile and a happy bark.  And so the years of going back and forth between our homes began.   
One of my absolute favorite memories of living next door to Connie and Randy involves Bailey.  I always loved turning the corner onto our street and having Bailey greet me from her yard, wagging her tail and barking happily as if to say "Welcome Home, I've been watching for you!"  She would wait for me to park the car in my driveway and make my way way across the yard to see her.  There's nothing like having a dog lean into you upon greeting you and Bailey really threw herself into her hellos.          
That's not to say Bailey didn't challenge Connie and Randy over the years.  There were times when I really thought Connie would have to make a choice between Bailey and her hubby.  She got into everything, even when you were standing right there, FFS!  I nicknamed her my Diva Girl early on because she was clearly getting into trouble just to make sure she was getting attention, good or bad.  You could even tag Bailey as the female version of "Marley & Me."  Some of her escapades are legendary.  The pot roast debacle is my favorite to this day.  All five pounds of it.  Just hours before hosting a large crowd of folks for a party.  Bailey tried our patience for sure, but for those of us who were privileged to be accepted by her, we received all of her love, without question.  She was my Buster's first love, a mother figure.
Through it all, good and bad, Bailey has been Connie's soul dog.  The one dog that gets you, understands you, like no other dog you've had before or will ever have again.  These last couple of years have taken a toll on Bailey and we've known that her time with us was coming to an end.  I was lucky to get to see my Diva Girl just a couple of weeks ago on the trip back to MN.  I could see her pain in her eyes and her weight loss confirmed what Connie and I could only mention in brief passing for fear of a tearful onslaught.  
Sunday night I got the call from Connie.  I knew from her voice what was coming.  She and Randy did what was best for Bailey and she is now resting in peace, without pain.  The pain in Connie's heart will take time to mend.  I want to leave her with some memories of Bailey when she was at her best.  I've posted my favorite pictures of our girl on the Through The Lens tab.   
             
         

Cup Final: Kings vs Devils

So, what's shaking folks?  Oh, right.  There's playoff hockey!  I've been absent due to a trip back to Minnesota for a wedding and some serious hugs and catching up with folks.  I mean, I'm pretty sure Vicki and I stood in her driveway hugging for 10 solid minutes before letting go of each other.  It was a whirlwind 3000 mile round trip drive which included getting to see Vicki's oldest walk down the aisle looking like a fairy tale princess.  Sarah deserved the absolutely beautiful day that transpired and I wish the very best for her and her husband.  The fact that I remember when Sarah still thought boys were icky only points to the fact that I'm aging at a rate I'd rather not acknowledge.  So, on to the hockey cuz that's timeless.  


Seriously, if you bet the farm on my Stanley Cup picks, I live in a studio apartment so there's no room for you to move in with me.  The Kings dispatched the Coyotes without much trouble.  They have been waiting and resting to see who will be their opponent for the Cup.  In the meantime the Rangers dispatched my Capitals, heavy sigh.  Looks like my boyfriend has as much chance at a Cup before he retires as the Wild do before I die.  Perennially Disappointed, table for 18,000.  Meanwhile, the Devils finally ousted the Flyers.  That was a series which was almost the death of me.  So the Rangers were waiting for the Devils and it looked like it was their series to lose.  Who knew that was going to be the way it would go down?  The Rangers came out with the energy of a team that was well rested.  Too bad they got zero performance from the likes of Gaborik and Richards.  In fact, Gaborik got benched during game five.  The Hockey Gods punish, Marian.  Vengeance is mine.  Game six was a nail biter.  The Devils went up 2-0 in the first only to have the Rangers totally own them in the second and tie the game up.  The third period was nerve wracking and entertaining.  Adam Henrique took one for the team.  I mean, like, probably won't be fathering any children. 


Overtime proved to be a short-lived thing.  The Devils attacked Lundqvist and kept banging away until Henrique took a Kovalchuk shot that trickled through Lundqvist's pads and swept it into the net.  Sweet justice for a guy that gave up his manhood to block a shot in the 3rd period.  As Ryan Stanzel, Wild PR Guy, said via twitter: "It's a good thing Henrique went to the locker room to find his man parts after blocking that shot in the 3rd." 
   
      

And Now For The Cup Final
It will be the Kings against the Devils for Lord Stanley's Cup, the Holy Grail of all sports trophies.  Tune in Wednesday, May 30th, NBC.    

Sexism and the NHL
First there was this Newcastle Ale Ad:

This is funny, not sexist.  Get over it people. 

Then came While Men Watch on CBC:
Two women who talk on the phone while their husbands watch hockey and make up their own stories out of the play-by-play and color analysis.  This is Funny or Die kind of shit that you have to experience in order to believe it.  It is not sexist.  It could very well be that these two gals are just that stupid when it comes to sports.  But hey, they found a way to deal with being ignored by their husbands and ultimately are now getting a paycheck for it.  So, who's laughing now?  This is not feminism taking a giant leap backwards.  This is good humor.  If a few of the female persuasion happen to get seriously interested in the game of hockey (or any other sport these two ladies torture in the future) going forward, I say it's all good.  Lighten up, Francis.  It's all for a few chuckles.  And who doesn't need a couple of good laughs in their day?  The only sour grapes I have is that Vicki and I didn't think of this first.  Our own version, intelligent hockey analysis combined with just a hint of puck bunny, would have been an overnight hit.  I'm sure of it.  

Memorial Weekend
While most everyone is looking forward to the three day weekend I'd like to take a moment to thank the folks in my life who are serving or have served our country.  Thanks to you and those who served before you, I get to be deliriously happy at a silly sporting event.
We don't all agree on the wars we have fought or are fighting but we can all support those men and women who choose to put our country first.