Players that are Awesome

So originally I was going to write an ode to Matt Niskanen, but I'm not good with pretty forms of writing like Odes, so I'm just going to make a list of the reason that he's awesome. I'm hoping this will cheer Cat up a little bit.
1.) He shoved Niedermayer down. Way to go!
2.) He likes fishing!
3.) Uses proper Minnesota words
4.) Has a fishing bobber hanging from his rearview mirror.
5.) Seems to be humble a genuinely nice guy.
6.) Very smiley and polite
7.) Wears green well. Wild sweater anyone?
8.) Cat gives him a good review after meeting him and getting him to sign a box of Cocoa Puffs...
9.) He's from MN!
10.) He played for UMD...I was accepted to go to school there, even though I usually cheer for the Gophs.

Sam Gagner is also super awesome. His list:
1.) He's going to be a stud in a few years
2.) Seems really dorky, but really chill.
3.) His dad described him as a "really fast turtle"
4.) Has an awesome draft day picture.
5.) Can cook broccoli
6.) Nickname is "Gags"
7.) Seems to really want to sign something for my friend
8.) Plays for the Oilers
9.) Can grow great hockey hair
10.) Dominated the Russians in the Super Series

I know there are more awesome players in the league, but these are two young guys that are fast becoming two of my favorite players in the league, even if one of them does play for the Stars. Who are your favorites? Did I forget to add anything for either of these two players?

Two Wins, Fame, Fortune, and Schwag.

He doesn't look like a hero, but he's been tearing it up lately. What a goober. I have an even better picture of him on Facebook...sticking his tongue out at the Oilers.

The Wild had a good weekend to make up for their not so good week.

First off they had a 3-4 OT win over the "struggling" as we were reminded a million and two times, Isles. I felt that should have been a regulation win, but at least they didn't lose. It was fantasy goalie vs. fantasy goalie for me, so I was rather hoping that the Wild were not going to score 8 goals.

Today's game against the Blues was way more exciting than it needed to be, and had an unlikely hero. Who ever thought that Brent Burns of all people would be chosen for a shootout? Not me, that's for sure, but I take it back since he got the game winner. Demitra also had one in the shootout, and Gaborik had one in regulation. Kariya (GROSS) scored for the Blues making the final score 2-1 Minnesota. The Wild have now started a new Streak of Awesomeness, though Koivu has broken his by failing to score in the shootout.

I am famous! I submitted an entry to Teebz's blog, Hockey Blog in Canada, and am co-winner! I probably wouldn't have won if he hadn't decided to reward all that entered, as Ckim's entry was fantastic. Essay writing has never been my strong point, but I gave it a whirl and was rewarded. I'm going to be getting some schwag in the mail, and I absolutely can't wait to see what it is. He has my essay posted in it's entirity on his blog, and an excellent post about Hockey Day in Canada, which he attended in person. Check it out. I expect ESPN will be in touch with me any day now to write for them...

League notes:

• Zednik got cut in the throat with a skate. It looks like he will be ok, but it's scary all the same.
• Parrish is back from being concussed
• Ducks beat Detroit. I didn't see that one coming, either.
• LA won in a shootout.

Russo wrote a nice piece about Wes Walz today. You can go to the Star Tribune website and read it online.

Be careful what you wish for I guess

So remember in my last post how I complained that there was no Wild hockey? Now that there is, I sort of wish there wasn't. Why do we have to suck right now? Isn't it bad enough that ALL of my fantasy teams sucked last week? I have different players on all of them! What's wrong???

Avs: Paul Statsny has been billed as a possible Sakic Jr. and now I know why. He had a pair of goals against us Sunday night. Sakic only picked up an assist. Peter Statsny, Paul's father, was a mentor to Sakic way back in the day, and now Sakic is returning the favor by teaching his son all he knows about Wild killing.

Shames: My boy Koivu (who I just picked up for my struggling fantasy team) had a pair of goals, actually the only goals against the Shames. I was busy and missed most of the game, but it sounds like they played like crap the entire time, not just the part I saw, so I clearly didn't miss much. Husileus had a very late goal to end it.

Hopefully the boys newly in red will find a way to stop the bleeding. This isn't that pirate joke where the captain says "bring me my red shirt" but why Captain? " so that the crew will not see me bleed and have fear for me". If you guys don't start playing better, I'm going to need someone to bring me my brown pants. Bonus points for anyone who knows that joke!

On a final note, Avery and Tucker were both fined for their actions on Saturday night.
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=222807&hubname=nhl

Whoo! 2-0!

I hope the Wild can keep this up like they did last season *knock on wood*. They pulled off an awesome come-from-behind win, the kind we could only dream of in seasons past. Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Brent Burns, and Eric Belanger all scored with Brian Rolston picking up three assists. Coach Lemaire should be much more pleased with this game than the last. Sounds like the boys gave a much better effort.

Wes Walz got injured in practice, so Sheppard was given a chance. I have said I don't like him, but I'm hoping he will prove me wrong and make me like him. I didn't like Burns for ages, but I'm starting to come around and decide that he might be as awful as I previously thought he was. Being put on defence for good has really helped.

The next game is against the Oilers. They had a great 5-3 win over the Flyers last night, so it looks like they have made great strides towards reversing their fortunes. Former Oilers captain and current Flyers captain Jason Smith was given a nice pre-game ceremony to commemorate his many seasons with the Oilers. I've heard good things about Sheldon Souray thus far this year, and I'm stoked about Gagner and Cogliano. These kids have been great so far. Captain Moreau has a foot thing going on, so we might not see him on Wednesday.

Tuesday night the Wild have a number of player appearances happening. Wild.com has more on that. My bro has a Court of Honor that night, so it looks like I won't be getting Mark Parrish's autograph after all.

TSN Season Previews

TSN has their season previews up!
Here is the one for the Wild: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=11200
My own season preview will hopefully be up soon.
Margee is doing a season Squee-view, so besure and stop by SportSquee and let her know who the MVSquees are of your team!

Random Minnesota Sports Things

Derek Boogaard and Mark Parrish with some random chick. I took this at the Summer Bash.

We in Minnesota, have always know that Mark Parrish is awesome. Others found out since he started playing in the NHL. Now, he is adding to his awesomeness by supporting a charity in Minnesota to help disabled and diseased children. I meant to get the word out about this earlier, but I got swamped with leaving for Oregon. The actual event for this year is over, but it sounds like there will be more events and money raising to come. It's a good cause.

http://21forkids.blogspot.com/

The Minnesota Wild has a presence at the Minnesota State Fair again this year. Details can be found at the official website, or at the link below. The fair ends on Labour Day, so be sure to make plans soon! While you are there, we boast many fine foods on a stick. I recommend trying them. Also, go to the corn on the cob stand. Get an ear, and eat it while standing in line for another . Repeat as necessary.
http://wild.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=336075

The Wild have jumped on the bandwagon and are getting new sweaters also. No clue what they will look like, I only know that they will be red. I really don't think they should ditch the green, but apparently they seem to think that Minnesotans prefer the red sweaters. Whatever. It gave me the excuse I needed to beg for (and recieve) a green Parrish sweater.
http://wild.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=336244

So the Twins apparently don't want to make the playoffs this season, or at least that's what they are telling me. They are 9 games back from Cleveland, and 5.5 games back from Detroit. Furthermore they are 7.5 games back in the AL Wildcard race behind Detroit, Seattle, and NY (Yankees). I haven't given up on them yet, but I'm really not pleased by what I see. I strongly suspect I'm not the only one in fits about their inability to step it up when both Detroit and Cleveland slumped. We cannot rely only on 2-3 people to always step up. Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer both slumped at the same time, and at a fairly bad time down the stretch. I can't really harrass them too much, since both are young players and will hopefully get things figured out. Torii Hunter should have spent less time yapping and more time in batting practice or talking with hitting coach Joe Vavra, because he has been pretty average this season missing important catches and striking out. TR should have traded him while he had the chance.

Update:

My parents got their season tickets today and they got to see what the new sweaters look like. This blogger has a picture of the coupon up.

http://nhllogos.blogspot.com/