A Moment of Peace

Since no one probably ever looks at this anymore since I have nothing to say in the offseason, I'm going to take a minute to complain. I HATE listening to Minnesota fans whine about everything, about how the NHL is conspiring against them and how refs call all the games against them etc, etc, etc, despite the fact that their team sucks and can't score a goal to save their lives. I'm also sick of hearing people whine about the Anaheim Ducks and how the NHL rigs everything to favor them. I don't like the Ducks, but everyone bitching about how they are favored, etc, etc, etc, makes me hate the team associated with the whiner. End rant.

Dedication

So many things I could complain about as to how things could have been different, but with the way this season could have went, these past few weeks have been ridiculous. What a run at a potential playoff spot, but unfortunately the Oilers made sure to leave it to relying on two teams losing two of four and them winning all of the remainder. Perhaps they could have pulled off a win had Robyn Reghr not destroyed Ales Hemsky again, but it wasn't meant to be. Brian Burke doesn't get the lottery pick for Dustin Penner, and hopefully, should Kevin Lowe not royally fuck up, next year can be a decent season all around. No one team can go through as many injuries as this team has three years in a row, so maybe good things are on the horizon. One more game to go, hopefully we can keep the damnable Canucks out of the playoffs and give some of those bastards some payback for being a bunch of cheap hacks and stay ahead of the Blackhawks. Its going to be difficult choosing a playoff favorite, but I'll take that over waiting to see how quickly the Oilers lose.

Sail On, Good Sir

News. Unfortunately its true. Rumors have been circulating, but now its official that Michael-Lee Teslak has gotten himself into the mess that is the Philadelphia Flyers organization. All he had to do was sign out west somewhere, and then I'd have a reason to buy another overpriced jersey. Oh well, at least I've got a guy I've watched for three years on his was to some success in the real world, and he's got a good chance too since Philly doesn't really have the best goaltending around. He dresses in the minors tomorrow night, so hopefully he can show up to training camp next fall and turn some heads and at least get himself a part-time job in the big leagues. About time Michigan Tech started getting their name out there, so best of luck to you Mister Teslak. The past three years have been a little bit of everything, but you never failed to impress this fan. Hopefully you're only the first of many highly-skilled guys to make it through a Huskies team that can win more than lose, or at least contend in said fashion.

Either way, a good three games in North Dakota, Tessie is pretty much the reason it was three, and we could be in St. Paul this weekend if our defense would have remembered that T.J. Oshie is pretty good at playing hockey and needs a guy watching him, or at least in the area to block a shot or something like that. Whatever, we, along with Mankato made the league crap their pants for a night in anticipation that there may be a Final Five without Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota. Maybe next year I guess.

Good news in Edmontonland too, the kids have been ramping up since the rash of injuries to the 'vets' and the Oilers are hanging in a tight Northwest Division. After a close game tonight in progress in Phoenix, 8 more games all in the NW, so things could get interesting. Hopefully the can keep on the upswing and prove that they really aren't as crappy as the could/should be.

Non-Hockey-Related Rant

So, since its Spring Break and there is absolutely nothing to do besides spend time with my crazy family, I've been spending a lot of time on the computer reading stupid things. I wandered upon the blog of a certain person who seems quite friendly, and apparently she has recently been threatened and assaulted by a certian hockey player who was unhappy with her opinion of him, expressed on her blog.

Bear with me for a moment, and think of the recent Geico commercials where celebrities 'translate' what people say about their experiences with Geico. Joan Rivers does one, and she basically makes fun of herself for having a plastic face. She uses the word 'sensitivity' loudly and in an obnoxious Joan Rivers voice, and that's pretty much all I'm thinking about right now. I'd like you to imagine Joan Rivers using the word 'sensitivity' in an annoying fashion while you read the rest of this.

People piss me off. I'm an inherently negative person, and for some reason, I focus on the stupid, inept, idiotic things people do. I like to share my opinions on this stuff, despite the fact that I overreact to most of it, giving myself high blood pressure and causing premature baldness. Either way, there is one thing that gets me that I don't need to stop complaining about. People need to stop being so fragile and wussy. I know that things need to be kept in line on blogs like this, but honestly, the writer is entitled to an opinion, and if it is shared online, then get over it. A lot of times the things said online are venting, and anyone with an ounce of common sense could probably infer those times by reading in context. That said, the reader is also entitled to an opinion, but that opinion should not be taken beyond the context of the original comment, unless it is going to be discussed in a civil manner. People who think that they have some sort of pride that needs to be defended by puffing their chest and acting like a blockhead are not acting in a civil manner. That is called insecurity, and insecurity makes people do stupid things.

Anyway, this is a pretty pointless post, despite the fact that I'm going to post it regardless. I believe that people who put themselves in highly public positions should be able to be subject to criticism from people who spend their money supporting those people, without fear of harm or retaliation for what they say, provided it stays within reason. Personal attacks are not included in that statement, because as I stated earlier, insecurity is dumb, and personal attacks come from insecure people.

Before I keep rambling in a roundabout fashion without making a point, I'll try to cut myself off. I know I get pretty critical of the hockey players that I support. I try not to get out of hand, but if anyone that is them or is close to them gets offended by my analysis of the play, etc, I apologize. I try to keep things in check, but I don't think I say anything that should be harmful to anyone with a constitution strong enough to witness blood in a History Channel documentary with that crazy little warning that is worthless because the stuff shown isn't that terrible. To anyone else that gets upset, scold me civilly, and if it is still too much to handle, leave and act like an adult, that's all I ask. Enough of that, time to go be bored again.

Responsibility, Commitment, Motivation

So, I guess the Huskies were able to show me, or at least partially prove me wrong. Friday night was embarassing, at least score-wise, but despite their best efforts to do otherwise, they managed to hold off a Landcow surge to win. Once again, though, they were unable to gain necessary points that could have changed the setup for the WCHA playoffs, but I guess it isn't time to worry about that right now with all the missed opportunities all season long.

Anyway, at this point, things become very interesting. Because of the shakeups this past weekend, the Huskies are traveling to Grand Forks to play the Sioux the 5th, 6th and maybe 7th times this season. Its difficult to look at the weekend and not cry/tremble/commit suicide. After one beautiful handling of the Sioux, the Huskies managed to blow three games in spectacular fashion, and their record hasn't been the best out in good ol' North Dakota. I guess all we can pray for is some crazy-loud parties this week.

In all seriousness, though, both teams have some interesting lineup issues. As far as I know, Kerr will still be out, and I'm not sure why Schwarz didn't play this weekend, but it would be nice to get him back for these two games, considering the defense is kind of needy. Sue has been missing some key players in Evan Trupp and Chay Genoway, and this past Saturday tOshie sat out two periods, with what seems to be flu-related symptoms, but who knows what it is. They seemed to struggle slightly against St. Cloud, but I still wouldn't get too optimistic either way.

Everything this weekend will come down to who plays the most complete game, and who does it without being boneheaded and idiotic. Believe it or not, the two teams aren't on the best terms, and things could get interesting, especially considering the Sioux probably don't want to send Michigan Tech to the Final Five so they can sit in the stands and watch. I don't want to look up the definition of embarassment for you, but I have a feeling that scenario applies. Both teams play physical, both have high-end goaltenders who can screw up (as well as one who likes to be a whiny baby ;) ), so I guess in an analytical sense, the Sioux win by virtue of the fact that they score goals, while the Huskies attempt to play defense and suffer from compulsive turnovers and silly mistakes.

I don't want to analyze anymore here, I really don't know enough to go too far in depth. I guess all I know is I have a crazy feeling that we may be able to pull something off here and show up for another play-in game disappointment in Minneapolis. As always, I won't keep my fingers crossed, but this series is probably one of the most sure to go to three games, provided nothing moronic is committed. As much as I want to believe, though, I'm not getting my hopes to high. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

Well, that was much more akin to the finish I would have hoped the Huskies would be able to give their seniors. Kinda scary too, as they tried their hardest to hand it to Denver there at the end, 6-on-3, cripes. Either way, quite the game, though the chippiness returned, and to a higher degree than last night, joy, oh joy. I never really understood why people whined about Denver so much, but Peter Mannino proved that one tonight, along with his cohorts. I will remove no blame from our own guys, they egged 'em on plenty good, but for the god-know-how-manyeth weekend, the scrappy, stupid, chippy play returned to the JMSIA.

Not much else to report other than a successful night. I'm pretty sure my season tickets next year are either going to be out of Section L or somewhere in the back, though, I seriously wanted to kill so many people tonight. I just about shit myself dozens of times when everyone kept on going with the 'Put in Hachey,' 'We want Hachey' etc. bullshit when Michael-Lee Teslak was having a career night in his last night in the JMSIA. Sadly, he's off to better things involving fame and fortune. If it weren't for Teslak, I don't know if I would have been able to hold on through the end this season, the kid's play was unbelievable every night, and I wish him the best whereever he ends up, preferably in a team that allows me to purchase a jersey that I wouldn't be upset wearing. It will be cool to finally be able to say that I got to see him become what he is for a change.

Enough with the sentimental crap. Dumb Badgers couldn't win in St. Cloud, and the Landcows pulled off a win, so now I need North Dakota to sweep the fake Huskies and Tech to take at least 1 point from the Landcows to see my playoff hockey in Madison. I know one can happen, but the other might be a bit tougher. We did just beat Denver, but for some reason Minnesota teams seem to be a struggle for us. Oh well, I guess I'll survive regardless, I don't necessarily need to see more dumb hockey, but it would be nice.

And so begins the offseason, at least for hockey up here. Definitely not where I thought we'd be at this point, but what can you do. Next year will probably be a 'rebuilding' year, unless something crazy happens. Most of the offense bids adieu, along with one of the best goaltenders in the country. Should be interesting to see how badly we can make things look. I guess its up to a bunch of kids to pull it all together and make things happen, but who knows, stranger things have occured in the past. All I want is home playoffs at least once before I graduate, so they've got two years to get their act together, unless I pull off some crazy stuff with the credits and such, but I won't hold my breath at all.

Sheer Stupidity

Well, apparently Goon doesn't like depressing posts. How about pissed off posts? I don't think I've been happy after a (college) hockey game in ages. There is no word other than clusterfuck that describes this night. I censored it last time, but too bad now, its getting in there. What a dumb mess. I hate being this pissed off too. Its dumb hockey, but I keep coming home like this. I'm going to give myself high blood pressure or something.

Anyway, instead of bitching about Jon Campion's stupidity and the sheer waste of space that are WCHA officials, I'll whine about how stupid the University of Denver men's hockey team is. They have a royal hissy fit every time anyone gets within 10 feet of Peter Mannino, so to make matters better, multiple guys shove the "culprit" straight onto a flailing Mannino. I can understand standing up for your goalie when someone is giving you trouble, but for cripe's sake, shoving opposition players on top of the goalie, and then repeating in, at least a half a dozen times in one night doesn't make things better. Marc-Andre Bergeron tried a move like that in 2006, and at least I haven't forgotten the result of that one.

I will give the Pioneers credit for not being as whiny as St. Cloud or Duluth, but it seems like the entire conference is just becoming a bunch of pussies who try to pull shit to get an advantage instead of becoming a better hockey team. It would be so nice to see 10 goal nights with good, exciting hockey regularly instead of one goal nights where one or both of the teams are acting like a bunch of 3rd graders who had their toys stolen. I don't know who to point the finger at, but its getting old. At least there's only one more night of it, I need this (college) offseason. I guess there's plenty of opportunity for more hockey, but it isn't going to happen, no matter how optimistic anyone is. Oh well, perennial doormats it is.

At least the Oilers give me something to be happy about, even though I can't believe I'm saying that...