Blog Roadie!

This week, I’m on the road for grad school visit days and interviews, so I’m taking the blog on the road, too. Totally taking the opportunity to pretend I’m living the life of a true sports journalist (without the commitment) for a week :)

First stop: Gainesville. I returned to my alma mater in the early part of the roadie, and amidst all the program information and stressful interviewing, the current students wanted to show the prospective students what it’s like to be a Gator outside the classroom. The best way to do that is, of course, a Gator game of some variety! I jumped at the chance to go as I hadn’t been back to the O-Dome since watching the first national championship win as it was played on the big screen. (Well, technically, I was there last for graduation, but sports-wise…)  It was awesome to join the current students in teaching the prospective students who were coming from schools across the country all of the necessary cheers and actions that must be done for a Gator bball game. Good times.

The game itself was great, too. As the month of February is coming to an end, so is the regular season, and the Gators are poised to (potentially) do well once March Madness hits. Ranked at 13, we took on one of our most intense rivals in UGA. The lead flip flopped a bit and ended up close at the half. Chandler Parsons, who missed several games due to a deep thigh bruise, made his return during the game. As predicted via Twitter, he didn’t start, but did play off the bench. He had a few shots where his time on the bench was painfully evident, but came out playing strong in the 2^nd half. Walker was making 3s consistently and the crowd really got into it as we gained and held a lead. The Gator Boys pulled off the 71-62 win in an excellent game to watch- especially live!

Virtual stop #1: Lexington. Unfortunately, the Gator boys would fall to Kentucky 76-68 two nights later. Four of our players ended with point totals in double figures, which I find promising as that was a consistent stat in our championship seasons. Billy Ball is at its best when centered around the getting the ball to the guy with the open shot philosophy. Tuesday will be senior night, the last home game this season, against Alabama. The win against Georgia made us the outright winners of the SEC East, and a win over Bama Tuesday would put us at the top of the SEC!

Virtual stop #2: Montreal. My quest for grad school admission is keeping me away from 2 Canes home games, but seeing as how I’ll have been to all but about 5 between Jan-April, I’ll survive. The first was against the Pens. Though they’ve been plagued with injuries lately, they’re still a decent threat, and in the NHL, you can’t take any game for granted. The Canes had recently re-acquired Stillman from the Panthers, a former Cane returning via trade, which seems to be a bit of a trend for us. I was unable to watch the game, but aside from a questionable hit on Staal that has kept him home from Le Centre Bell tonight, it sounded like a great game. The Canes went on to win 4-1 and snag 2  points, keeping us in fragile 8^th position. As I type from the Detroit airport, the Canes are playing the Habs, currently down 2-1 at the end of the first. Especially since I’m staying with a friend tonight who is a Habs fan, I’m hoping we can pull off the W! *Amended: The Canes did come back to tie it up in the 2^nd with goals by Ruutu and Stillman, but unfortunately, the Habs scored the game winning goal on a power play in the 3^rd. From what I understand following the game on Twitter, Skinner had two penalties which ended up hurting us, as the game winning goal was scored during the penalty for one of the two. I wish I had DVRed the game to analyze for myself when I get back to NC, but alas, I do not plan ahead well.

Wishful stop: It would have been awesome if I could have gotten to a college hockey game at Bowling Green, but I’m told the timing of my trip won’t make that possible as the last game was last week. That definitely would have been a great first experience as I’ve never been to one before. My next mission is to make myself more aware of college hockey beyond watching the Frozen Four and Championship games like I did last year. It may just be my experience in Raleigh, but it seems the sport is catching on more in general, and perhaps soon more prospects will be coming up from college teams. Definitely something to keep an eye on!

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New Cane on the Block

After all the trade drama surrounding Ian White, one of our most recently acquired Canes became our most recently traded on Friday when Ian was sent off to San Jose. We got a 2^nd round pick in 2012 in exchange, and with some careful wording, the Sharks also sent us Dman Derek Joslin for “future considerations.” Do with that what you will. It’s sad to see Ian go, but I’m curious to see what our new addition is capable of.

We got to see Joslin play Saturday against the Devils when he and Carson both spent time on the ice vying for the 6^th defensive spot. Joni had come out for the pre-game skate with the team, but ended up sitting out with an LBI (he was hit with a puck again recently), which presented the opportunity for both defensive considerations to show their stuff. From what I hear, the last man standing will snag the spot Ian left open, sending the other to spend some time in Charlotte. One of the tidbits I’d heard about Joslin shortly after the deal was made official was that he had won the Hardest Shot contest in the AHL All-Star Skills Competition in 2009. The Caniac Girl Trio saw- well, heard- one example of his strong shot from our seats in the 300s during the Devils game, and tried to keep a close eye on him for general analysis throughout the game.

Honestly, the Canes’ emotional swing from high-energy win over the Flyers on Friday to lifeless loss to the Devils Saturday made the game hard to watch as closely as we’d intended. We noticed some errors and some great moves, but really, it’s a bit too soon to judge… especially since he found out he was traded, flew in from the opposite coast, played the very next day-- but maybe hardest of all, had to be Tripp Tracy’s 1^st intermission interview-- and all within about 48 hours. His saving grace was that he hadn’t played enough for Tripp to use his if-I-touched-you-I’d-burn-myself line. Hopefully Tuomo and Erik will warn him…

Not sure if we’ll see much more trade action before the deadline, if any. Twitter has been amazing for keeping up with all the action. Definitely makes my ESPN text alerts pale in comparison. As of now, it looks like the team will remain in tact for tomorrow night’s game against the NY Rangers. To borrow a phrase from the infamous Tripp Tracy, this is a game of consequence for sure. Win- we tie the Rangers for 7^th with the advantage, having beaten them 3 out of 4 games, and inch our way closer to the Habs in 6th. Lose- we fall to 4 points behind NY, splitting the series thus far, and staying just 4 points ahead of Buffalo who would have 3 games in hand again at that point. The Caniac Girl Trio will be sitting in the 100s for this one, armed and ready with our signs (including a new “Thank you Cam!” set) and new customized Canes gear (shop.nhl.com is a very dangerous thing…). The Storm Squad girls handing out posters Saturday recognized our signs and chatted with us about them for a bit. Every time we’ve had lower level seats and brought the signs, the good guys have won, so hopefully the new shirts = good ch’i, too!

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The Stuff Legends Are Made Of

On Friday, February 18^th, 2011, past and present members of the Carolina Hurricanes organization and a bevy of Caniacs came together at the RBC Center to honor the career of one of hockey’s hardest working players. Rod Brind’Amour’s number was retired and sent to the rafters in an hour-long ceremony held before faceoff of the Canes v Flyers game. The ceremony capped a week of reminiscing and celebrating his career through stories shared in our local newspaper, the Hurricanes’ official website, our local ESPN Radio broadcasts, and numerous blogs.

I may not have been in Raleigh during the 2002 or 2006 playoffs, nor a Canes (or hockey) fan yet for the Stanley Cup win, but having gotten so into Caniac fandom once I got to Raleigh, I have gotten a pretty thorough education re:Canes history. I learned from my first two seasons as a Caniac how great of a leader #17 is and could see the effect he had on his teammates. I heard about his intense work ethic and commitment to keeping himself in the best shape possible for the good of his game. I could see the inspiration he brought to the team in clips from those playoff runs and live at the games. His mark on this team, organization, and the Caniacs was clear, and definitely deserving of all the acclaim surrounding the retirement of his number this weekend.

An emotional week leading up to Brind’Amour Night resulted in an intensely emotional game between the Canes and the Flyers. As the two teams most a part of his career, all players for both the Canes and Flyers wore jerseys with his name and number before the game got started. A very classy move by the Flyers that was both recognized and much appreciated. Once the puck dropped, though, we had to put all the mushy feelings aside and take on the challenge of beating the Eastern Conference leaders.

The Canes did us proud as they played with urgency from the start of the game and wore their emotions on their sleeves. There was discussion of how fitting it was for Chad LaRose, one of the Canes closest to #17, to get the first goal of the game, Erik Cole to get the game-winner (yet again), and Cam to have some ridiculous saves (see video of his glove save against Carle at the bottom of this post). All in all, it was a great game, a much needed win on many levels, and a very memorable night honoring one of our Canes legends. Circumstances kept our Caniac Girl Quartet from attending, but we watched from home with our commemorative Brind’essert, happy the long roadie and home hockey hiatus is now over.

The Brind'essert: Chocolate rink cake with mint Oreo "puck" border. Markings not quite to scale, but it didn't come out half bad for not having my proper cake tools!

Cam's ridiculous save courtesy of YouTube:

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There’s a Line… And We’ve Crossed It

…a couple times. A LOT has gone on in Caniac Nation since I’ve written last, taking a break to bask in the glory of my team winning the Super Bowl and all. Since then, we’ve finally crossed the line into the coveted 8^th spot… then fallen back to 9^th when the Thrashers beat the Rangers (which, ironically, was best for us in the long run since we faced ATL 2 days later and the loss kept the Rangers close)… then returned to the good side later that weekend with one point in OT against Tampa and a win over the Thrashers in ATL. We’re holding our ground for now, just 2 points back from the Rangers in 7^th, but with Buffalo and Atlanta close behind just 2 points back from us, we can’t get too comfortable. Somehow, Buffalo still has two games in hand, which makes me a little uneasy, I’m not gonna lie. It will be interesting to see how things go as we finish out February.

Speaking of anxiety in February, as if the playoff push isn’t enough to stress over, we have the added bonus of the NHL trade deadline to deal with. (Note the sarcasm.) Today alone has been ridiculous with the news of one of our D men not being on the ice for morning skate, then finding out it was Ian White, then hearing of other trades and teams still active in the trading action, then hearing that if Ian will be traded, it will be finalized within 24 hours… how can fans not start spazzing and speculating with all that going on? And in the span of about 3 hours, no less! I remember all too clearly being at the RBC Center watching practice the morning of March 3^rd last season when it was seemingly cut short. One of the ushers came over to tell everyone where we were sitting that Scott Walker had just been traded to the Caps. Shortly after, we found out Joe Corvo would be right behind him. There are very few guys on this team that I could see go and be ok with it—sorry, Sergei—but it’s hard to just sit back and wait to hear what’s going on. Though I think Ian is great and wish he weren’t on the verge of leaving the Canes already, I must say that I’m glad the Joni speculation wasn’t right. For me, and several other Caniacs, I’m sure, I think the Finn Trio being broken up would be the hardest to see.

All trade craziness aside, the Canes and Rangers both face the Devils and Flyers in upcoming games this week, so there will be plenty of allegiance flip flopping in the near future. The upside is that we have a ton of home games in March and all three in April. Good for being able to go to so many games as the regular season is coming to an end, and also good because we have an amazing fan base that supports our team louder than any other from the away games I’ve heard so far. The second half of the season is never easy, but the Canes seem to have a way of making things work. Coming as close as they did last season after that heartbreaking 14-game losing streak, and seeing how hard we tend to work when it’s do or die (see: Erik Cole), I have total confidence the boys can pull it off if they stay focused. We just need to stay consistent at giving the total effort we showed at the end of regulation v Tampa Bay and a bit more often v Atlanta.

Things just wouldn’t be right if I ended today’s blog post without mentioning that it happens to be the birthday of my favorite hockey player… Tuomo Ruutu turns 28 today, B-Sutts turned 22 on Valentine’s Day, and John Forslund, our amazing play-by-play guy, also had a birthday Monday, so what better way to end this week of Canes bdays (and long roadie) than with a win over NJ? Nothing would quite say “Hyvää syntymäpäivää” like a hattutemppu on your birthday, especially if it results in a -3 for Elias… I’m just sayin. I think it would be sweet birthday justice for an “accidental” high stick that left my boy’s face slashed up and gushing blood in his whirlwind of a first day as a Hurricane, albeit 3 years later. (See the video & picture below for explanation and an example of sisu.)

*For those who I’ve not managed to relay the story to, here’s a video montage of Tuomo’s first game as a Hurricane. Not the greatest quality, but it gets the point across. I recommend watching the whole thing, but start paying close attention around 1:40 to get the story behind my hatred of Elias. Bastard.

Result of high stick seen above: 
                                                                                                    *Photo found at http://bruinsvcanes.blogspot.com/

 

Thankfully, his face has since returned to normal :)

Happy Birthday Ruuu!

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Green and Yellow & the Championship Belt Phenomenon

I was so caught up in the excitement of my team winning the Super Bowl that I didn’t write a blog post at the time when there was a ton to write about! The game was everything I’d built it up in my head to be. The matchup between the Packers and Steelers was fun to watch and about as close as expected. I won’t rehash the details, because a) it happened a week ago & b) those who care already know. After much debate covered by ESPN and the players themselves via Twitter, the Super Bowl  victory went to the boys in Green & Yellow.

There was debate on the blog earlier this season when a certain follower who is a Colts fan tried to fight me on the championship chances of the Packers. It came at a time when, early in the season, our starters started dropping like flies, starting with Ryan Grant. Several others followed, and the season was rightfully called into question. Could any team pull off a playoff appearance using 2^nd and 3^rd string guys, some who had barely hit NFL turf yet in their careers?  Could Aaron Rodgers lead the team with so much history and heart to a Super Bowl? Now we know. Yes. It could all be done.

Aaron finally has his own legacy at Green Bay. After the way he handled this season and ending it with a Super Bowl win and MVP honors, he deserves the championship belt his teammates gave him at the post-game ceremony. When they brought that belt out to him, I nearly died laughing. Yet another thing that shows how awesome this team is- serious when they need to be, getting things done, but still having a sense of humor and respect for each other. I love it. He no longer has to live under the shadow of Brett Favre. He’s earned his place in Packers history and with the help of this team, brought the Lombardi Trophy back to its rightful home. Go Pack Go!

Having recently joined in the madness that is Twitter, I began following quite a few Packers around the week of the Super Bowl, Aaron being one of them (@AaronRodgers12). Over the past few days, he’s been retweeting his followers suggestions at when it is and isn’t appropriate to “do the belt.” The first tweet he sent was: “Yes, of course. Have at it RT @FrMPal @AaronRodgers12 Is the championship belt an appropriate gesture in response to success on a math test?” It went downhill from there… “Well worth it RT @lukereuter41 @AaronRodgers12 getting a dentition for doing the belt in the middle of class after getting a 100%” And finally went to Aaron’s observations of the belt across sports: “Missed Stephen Jackson doing the belt. Hitting a game winner is belt worthy especially when ur a baller like SJ. #thebeltiscontagious” Hilarious. (He actually did it, too. )

Crazy season. Amazing playoff run. Super Bowl Champions. Just wait till they’re all healthy again.

Though, with the CBA negotiations issues, that might not be next season. (It hurts just to write that…) My most reliable source of potential NFL lockout news has been ochocinco’s tweets (yes, I’ve been paying a lot of attention to Twitter, but pretty much only for sports purposes), but he’s been writing some insightful stuff. Two scheduled meetings between the NFLPA and owners were called off. Every day, it’s sounding more and more like we’re heading for a lockout. And it sucks. Money-hungry (evil) people like Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder annoy the hell out of me. You know they don’t give a crap about the sport. All they want is to show off—whose jumbotron is biggest (ps- New Meadowlands has more total sq ft of screen, I’m told, so there!) and who can sign the most expensive big name waste of time player respectively. Did I mention yet that Albert Haynesworth was recently charged with assault? Anyway, the team being owned by the fans is one of the things I love most about the Packers. Read more here if you’re curious. Either way, I’m hoping there will be preseason games to satisfy my serious state of football withdrawal expected by late summer. Baby steps, but for now, I plan to continue to enjoy living in the happiness that is the Super Bowl Championship.

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