The NHL can't count?

NHL.com is doing a "30 teams in 30 days" thing for August, except as the Ladies... pointed out, there are 31 days in August. Good try, NHL, but that seems kind of awkward unless you have something spectacular planned for the 31st? That being said I'll probably read most of them even though they won't tell me a whole lot, it's good to get a refresher in before the season starts, especially with the amount of info not weather or fishing related that makes its way to me lately.

In other news, the Twins actually won a ball game yesterday, beating the Tribe 10-1 in Cleveland. LOLAH and 18,568RW favorite Kevin Slowey is done for the season with a wrist injury. I definitely feel his pain (2 wrist surgeries) on that one. Feel better soon, dude! Wrist injuries are hard to heal from, but I'm sure you have a good doctor or two on hand to help.

My brother earned the rank of Eagle Scout, so congrats to him.

Since I'm always bored at the end of the summer, I'm used to having to find things to do to amuse myself. Typically that means I overcommit myself at the beginning of the school year, and then once hockey starts I don't have time to follow it. Looks like I'm on that path again, but maybe I'll learn how to say no this year. On the other hand, my homework actually gets done at the beginning of the semester because I'm not blowing it off to watch hockey. (I can do my homework during playoff baseball no problem. There is definitely enough down time in baseball. Hockey, not so much.) If you have suggestions for things to keep the offseason rolling, please let me know.

Since the Wild aren't doing anything at the moment, I will just make do with the Twins. Seriously, the Wild have done almost NOTHING recently. Their news headlines have been the same for at least the last week.

Justin Morneau has been nominated for the Hank Aaron award again this season. I would strongly recommend voting for him...even if you don't vote for him, you can still win a free TV.
http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/mlb/fan_forum/ha/y2007/index.jsp

Leeeeeewwwwwwww Ford is back with the Twins. After being demoted to their AAA affiliate, he is now part of the September call ups, and will be available to play tomorrow.
Source: Minnesota Twins

One last random note/warning: The Bombers lost to the Riders yesterday at the end of the game, so I'm pretty bitter about that. Several people got very, uh, annoyed responses this morning when they asked me over AIM how the game went. I would recommend giving it another day before attempting to discuss the game.

CapsChick's Challenge

So CapsChick posted this on HLOG as an impromptu challenge( and everyone knows I can't resist a challenge...), so I've decided to come up with my own version.



Best one-on-one offensive player: Hard to say for me. Lecavalier strikes me as a solid choice, but so does Joe Sakic. Dude can let his wrister go at any time, he's a great passer, good skater, and if I were a goalie, he is one of the last people I'd ever want to see skating towards me. For this round I'm going to take the crafty veteran over the flashy (sort of) young gun.



Best one-on-one defenceman: Niedermayer with a nod to Lidstrom. Nieds can puckhandle, he can pass, shoot, and if worse comes to worse, he can just plain out-skate your ass.



Assist Man: I will also say Joe Thornton (if only he could step it up at key times like the Olympics, I'd be a happy, happy camper). Andrew Brunette is also a good wingman to have, since he gets and keeps the puck at any cost, but Thornton is currently hard to deny.



Best Pure Goal Scorer: I've heard good things about AO, but I haven't seen him play extensive amounts outside of the WJC, so I'm picking Lecavalier.

Power Play Specialist: Sheldon Souray perhaps? Does he ever score even strength goals? At any rate, he's definitely not my pick for the best one-on-one defenceman. Jarret Stoll was also good on the PP for the Oilers.

Shorthanded Specialist: At one point in time Wes Walz was the SH goal king for the Wild, but sadly no longer. (he had seven or eight one season. *sigh*) I gotta give props to Jordan Staal, cause I looked it up on TSN, and it appears that he had the most shorthanded goals in the league. Due to the stupid NHL schedule I have not really had the chance to see him play much, but those stats aren't lying to me.

Need One Save: Martin Brodeur had kind of a crappy season by his standards, but Marty Turco was the man. Props also to my boy Backstrom since the Wild weren't scoring goals, he was making awesome saves and keeping us in games.

The Guy You've Never Heard Of: I don't know, maybe he has become more famous now, but Pierre-Marc Bouchard is awesome, and usually flies under the radar. In 2006, he made the long list for the Team Canada roster in Torino. The Great One has mentioned him on several occasions, and PMB has even drawn a comparison to him. Mikko Koivu is also a guy most people haven't heard of, but he's really making a name for himself. Awesome.

Biggest Impact on a New Team: Sup Scotty? Scott Niedermayer is my pick, because I refuse to acknowledge the existence of FCP. Niedermayer proved that he really is all that, which had quite unfortunate results for both my western conference teams.

When It Gets Chippy: Derek Boogaard. He's massive, can break people's faces in one punch, skates decently for a huge dude, and wouldn't you knock it off if he gave you a warning glare?

Coach For a Must-Win Game: Gotta agree with CapsChick here. There is no one better than Scotty Bowman. He is abosolutely amazing. I have to say, though, I'm pretty happy with Jacques Lemaire as a coach. He does pretty good things with what he's been given. 2003 playoff run anyone?

Get Under Your Skin Guy: Sean Avery is a pain, but I would imagine Raffi Torres and Chris Neil also qualify. FCP gets under my skin, but I don't know if that counts.

The Home Crowd: The Leafs and Habs both have awesome crowds. I like to think MN fans are that awesome, but in reality they probably aren't.

Most Overrated Player: Can I say Sidney Crosby just because I'm sick of hearing about him? In reality Briere totally gets my vote, and I can't wait until Flyers fans figure this out.

Most Underrated Player: Rob Niedermayer got consideration for this, but he finally got the props he deserves this spring. Mikko Koivu is another one that is finally starting to step out of Big Brother's shadow. Jarret Stoll is another one who is very talented, just doesn't really get the love outside of Edmonton. Being injured doesn't really help that.

Worst Area to Play in as a Visitor: Philly would suck, but I would imagine that all those Habs and Leafs fans could be pretty intimidating also. Canucks are only the worst if you are a visiting fan during the playoffs. They throw things...

Worst Area to Play in as the Home Team: I would think anywhere down south where there are more people in visiting sweaters than home ones. Very demoralizing. Philly too. Rough city.

Project Runway: Are we talking modeling the stuff or designing it? Those would be two differenct answers.