Hello?

Anyone still out there? I realize I completely suck at blogging, but now that I'm back in MN for at least a year or more, I fully intend to try this again.

I've been away in Oregon for four years so now I get to re-learn the team pretty much. My junior and senior years at school were super busy and I had a hard time keeping up with the Wild, so this will be quite the reintroduction.

Here's to hoping I can actually make it this time!

-K

Canada is Golden once again!

Forgive the title, but I'm quite excited about the win. Please don't throw anything at me.

As excited as I am, I'm still rather irritated that Crosby had to get the goal, and subsequently be shown every two seconds just to remind us that he exists. As Elise pointed out, many other players (Toews, Miller, Keith, Parise, Nash, Iginla, etc) had much better tournaments, but of course Crosby can do no wrong. He may be great for the game and all, but it'd be nice to see some new faces being promoted and talk about the team efforts as well.

The Canadian goalies did not impress me terribly much, and in my opinion Scott Niedermayer was pretty good at the beginning of the tourney, but made some key mistakes later on. I was also very unimpressed with Patrick Kane. I didn't see any of his usual smoothness on the ice.

It was fun following all the tweets from Vancouver, and I think Brendan Shanahan is doing a good job as an ambassador for the league.

The game was insane, and it was great to see how excited the fans were. I love going to tourneys with Canadian fans, the passion they bring to the game is unrivaled.

It was nice to see Nash spread his wings a little bit, and in the words of Pierre McGuire, he was a monster.

GM Steve Yzerman did a great job picking players who know each other, as well as players with starpower. For the most part the combination worked really well, and Canada was a force to reckon with (minus the ending of the Slovakian game) for the last four games they needed to win.

Oh yeah and the NHL resumes tomorrow with the Red Wings playing the Avalanche. Don't forget to set your fantasy rosters...

Go get messy, Vancouver, and enjoy the win! I don't envy the city workers...

OLYMPICS!!!

If you couldn't tell by the title, I'm pretty excited about the Olympics. (To clarify, the Olympic Games. My internship advisor is a forester and thought I meant the coastal mountain range in Washington state, but those mountains/rainforest are full of banana slugs and non-stop rain in the winter, so no.)

I have to admit, I've spent a lot more time doing homework and studying for midterms than I have watching the Olympics, but I've made time to watch all of the men's Canadian hockey games, and some of the others as time allows. By far the best hockey day was Sunday, or as my friends back home called it, "hate day". In Oregon we can't use words like that, so I called it "rivalry day" while explaining the finer points/major points of hockey to the revolving door of people who watched with me.

Stream of consciousness:

-I really enjoyed the U.S./Canada game...even if I did not enjoy the outcome.

-Thus far I have managed to get my roommate on the path to addiction to hockey, and have gotten the majority of my good friends out here to stop making fun of me for liking hockey

-I'm a little disappointed that it's pretty much a three team competition.

-Less than excited for the Russia/Canada match today, mostly because I have to write at least 5 pages during it

-Ski jumping seems like a really bad idea on so many levels

-People who do not come from a wintery place do not appreciate just how little there can be to do in the wintertime outside. They are not very kind to the more obscure winter sports

-The biathlon is really cool

-Sidney Crosby needs to stop looking like a petulant child every time the camera is on him.

-Professors do not accept the Olympics as a reason to extend deadlines.

-The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, however; does accept the Olympics as a legitimate reason to move a deadline.

-Google Calendar and iCal are friends, and this is extremely useful.

-It still freaks me out when there are flowers and trees blooming before Valentine's Day.

-Canadians do not seem to judge what medals they get, as long as they win. Case in point: my Canadian friends were all quite excited that the Canadian pair won gold for ice dancing.

-Caribou Coffee still REALLY needs to have a location west of Denver. Preferably in Salem.

-Canada should focus less on curbstomping teams they know they can beat, and more on beating Russia and the U.S.

Hope everyone is enjoying the Olympics and watching something new and interesting. Soon I'll probably write something pertaining to an actual Minnesota team. At this point, the Twins as well as the Wild are fair game, because BASEBALL SEASON IS STARTING SOON!

After a long, long hiatus...

I might be back. At least for a little while, if for no other reason then to profess my great love for the Winter Olympics.

I took an unintentional break from blogging to write most of my senior thesis, take some hard classes, be a good Greek, apply for summer internships, start applying to schools for a B.S. in environmental science, have many surgeries, and just generally get my life together. Fortunately my life is coming together just in time for me to have small amounts of free time to watch the Winter Olympics which are currently practically in my backyard up in Vancouver, B.C.

The only events I've been able to watch thus far are a couple of short program pairs figure skating performances, two speed skating races, and a mogul skiing race, but thus far it's all been excellent. I heard the Great One does not appear to like the rain, the Opening Ceremonies were highly Vancouveresque (AKA you have to be on drugs to fully appreciate them), and the torch malfunctioned. I also hear from reports on the ground that it has been pouring rain pretty much the whole time. Oh well, still excited. My thesis draft is due at 2:15 PM on Tuesday, and after that I fully intend to sit on the couch and watch until 9ish.

I also hear that the new management wants me to be nearly as angry with them as the old management. Johnsson? Really? When you could have gotten rid of Zidlicky? At least Barker had the decency to score a goal in his debut or I would have been even more upset. Now we just have to work on getting Patrick Sharp and teaching Shep that he should stop trying to fight.

As a side note, I'm really digging the new, streamlined Team Canada hockey jerseys and the awesome red mittens. No wonder my housemates all think I'm a traitor.

As a second side note, there is a really cool, free iPhone app that tells you what events are on TV that day and what channel. It pops up right away in the app store on the iPhone...

The captain post....for other teams

There has been a lot of talk about captains for the Wild, so I thought I'd post about other captains in the league and my thoughts on them.

Anaheim-Special Nieds (Scott Niedermayer) he's a very good player, even with his half season vacation. He lost a step, but that just put him only 1-2 steps ahead of everyone else instead of miles. I think he's been a pretty good leader for them, especially since they had kind of a circus for a while. I try to hate him, but in the end I fail.

Atlanta-Ilya Kovalchuk...all I know about him is that he has a horrible sweet tooth and had to have most of his teeth pulled when he came to the US from Russia.

Boston-Zdeno Chara is probably a great captain, because everyone is too scared to cross him. They just do whatever he says so he doesn't eat their children.

Buffalo-Craig Rivet, again, don't know enough about him to pass judgement. Sorry slug fans.

Calgary-Jarome Iginla- as much as I love to hate him, I have respect for him. Mostly because people have been comparing him to Joe Sakic.

Carolina-Rod Brind'Amour-kill me now. Better yet, kill him.

Chicago-Jonathan Toews-I don't think I really have to say what my thoughts are on him, even though he played for the Sioux. (barf)

Colorado-Adam Foote-I was unaware they had named another captain, but Foote will get the job done...just not as well as Joe Sakic.

Columbus-Rick Nash-well he must be doing something right...they sort of made the playoffs.

Dallas-Brendan Morrow-meh, as long as it's not Alvin the chipmunk, I don't actually care.

Detroit-Nicklas Lidstrom-he's not what he used to be, but he's still pretty good. He's now slightly less robotic than he used to be, and he's done a pretty good job filling Steve Yzerman's shoes.

Edmonton-Ethan Moreau-I have to admit, I don't know if this is the best choice, but I don't know who I'd name in his place. He's even more fragile than I am, and that's saying something. Hopefully something goes right this season for the Oilers, and maybe he'll show off his leadership under a new coach.

Florida-no captain...Bouwmeester maybe? McCabe would not be a good choice I feel. As Buddha pointed out to me, Bouwmeester went to Calgary. Clearly he will not be captain of the Panthers. In that case, I have no idea.

LA-Dustin Brown-from what I gather he's pretty young, but so is the whole team, so whatever, right? I like the Kings, so I hope he does a good job.

Minnesota-I think we all know what's going on here. If you want to read about it, my fellow Wild bloggers have pretty much all written something. We all know that Mikko Koivu is the captain of our hearts, so wearing the C is just a minor detail.

Montreal-I'm not sure what's going on here, but I imagine it's not very fun to be the captain of the Habs. So much pressure it's insane. I'm sure something will be worked out before the season starts.

Nashville-Jason Arnott-personally I think he looks like kind of a douche, but I think the Preds should not exist, so that's fine.

New Jersey-Brendan Shanahan-I'm surprised that JL would replace Langenbrunner, but I've been hearing here there and yonder that Shanny is the new captain. That's cool by me, he's a good leader, and it may be his last season. Nice way to end his time?

New York Islanders-No captain at the moment, they better hope the team doesn't take a page out of Vancouver's book, otherwise the team will not have a captain on the ice 99% of the time.

New York Rangers-Chris Drury-he's kind of a wuss, but then when you look at the rest of the team, he suddenly seems a bit tougher. Hasn't been the same since he left 20 Cent's hometown.

Ottawa-Daniel Alfredsson-he makes a really ugly woman, but other than that, he's alright. Not my favorite, but I largely ignore the fact that the Sens exist.

Philly-Mike Richards-from what I hear, many people approve of his being captain. Seems like he has a couple of good alternates, too.

Phoenix-Shane Doan-I don't like him at all, but apparently he's a great leader. I wouldn't follow him if my life depended on it.

Pittsburgh-Cindy Sidney Crosby-ok, I lied. I dislike Crosby more than I dislike Doan. The only place I'd follow him is to a cliff...then I'd shove him off.

San Jose-what a mess. I'm guessing Thornton won't get it....

St. Louis-Eric Brewer-I think he's a fine leader for the young team. I have a lot of respect for him, and I hope they do well.

Tampa Bay-Vincent Lecavalier- I think Vinny's a great player, but I'm not sure what kind of a leader he is. He could be Wayne Gretzky and that team would still have struggles, so I'll reserve judgement on his leadership abilities round two. (He had the C when he was first in the league)

Toronto-another storied franchise without a captain. Sad.

Vancouver-Luongo. I don't think this is a good idea. I mean there's a reason they made the rule that goalies can't be the captain, and I think it's a good rule.

Washington-Chris Clark-who now? I'm sure he's lovely, but I have no idea who he is.

I'm such a good Minnesota sports fan

Coach Richards back in the day. Nice hair, Coach.

Image courtesy of Google

They say hope springs eternal, and I say this phrase was probably invented for Minnesota sports fans no matter the sport. Generally if we didn't have hope, we wouldn't have anything at all. (We can't really complain though, most Minnesotans are cheap, so why would our team owners be any different?) I find myself thinking this to be very true as we stand on the cusp of a new NHL season. I'm really excited for this season to begin. From what I hear, I like the new coach. Granted I heard this from my friend's housemate, whose dad played with Coach Richards for the Gophers back in the day. Regardless, he seems pretty chill, and ready to make a good impression. As a bonus, he's from the better side of the river.

I particularly like the fact that he wants to name a permanent captain. I'll like him even better if that captain is Mikko Koivu. I'm also excited to see the fans back in the game. I think we started to lose our trademark enthusiasm towards the end of the old regime, and that made me sad. Even if the game sucked, the crowds were usually fun back in the day. On top of that, the first thing anyone asks me when they find out where I'm from (after they ask if it's winter year round and to repeat the word Minnesota) is if I'm a hockey fan. It gives me so much street cred for some reason, so I need my brethren in MN to keep up the hockey rep for me.

Besides, it's new. I like new things that are not school years, so anything new is exciting. Exception: the new jerseys. I like the fact that they're green, but they're not quite as cool looking as I was hoping for. My all time fave Wild jerseys are the original green ones. The logo is pretty cool, and it means something with the trees, star, river, and colors. I guess you can't win them all, and green is a much more flattering color for the highly Scandinavian population than red, so it's a step in the right direction.

I'm sure I'll write something a bit more focused in the near future, but I'm back in school and it's Sunday, so that means I have essays/lab reports to write and books to read. I think they stole my focus.

Patrick Kane is a huge douchebag

As I'm sure you've all heard, he and his cousin got arrested and charged with a felony and several misdemeanors. Whoops. They didn't mention underage drinking, but I would be willing to bet that will be included, since he's only 20, and at that hour coming from the nightclub district, was probably smashed. At this point, though, underage drinking is probably the least of his worries.

This was all over 20 cents. I mean co'mon, you're supposed to tip cabbies, I would've handed the man a 20 and been done with it. At the very least just let him keep the change from the 15. THEN he not only took the 15 back, but stole another 100 dollars. Taxi drivers don't make much, help the man out.

The best part of all this in my mind is how much of a jerk this makes him look like. After spending all his time talking about how much he likes being treated like a regular kid (considering how often he says it, he clearly like the attention), he goes out and beats a taxi driver while asking him "don't you know who I am?". Wow. Smooth. I hope Toews rips him a new one for this, because after their awful summer, the Blackhawks really don't need this kind of publicity. I hope if he doesn't have to go to jail, then the judge at least orders some anger management for him. At school, this would be mandatory alcohol abuse counseling, anger management counseling, and possible expulsion. At any other job, he'd get fired, and if convicted of a felony, have a hard time finding another.

TSN has an article and interview with the taxi driver here. I thought this was a joke when I first heard about it by text. None of this is proven, but Jesus, it's not really good for your career to have allegations like this made against you. Even if he gets off, if anything like this happens again, no judge is going to find him innocent twice.

I vote they change his goal song to "Jailhouse Rock" and take him off the cover of NHL '10. He's scheduled to appear in court the day USA's camp opens, I wonder what will happen there.