As summer skates into view, so do fresh fruits and cookouts with family and friends. An easy, delicious and healthy dessert option will leave your guests (and yourself) quite satisfied. Of course the scoop of vanilla ice cream isn’t the healthiest choice, but everything in moderation is key and the pairing is a must try. If ice cream or dessert for that matter isn’t your thing, stop reading and hop off this post, we can’t be friends! But really, I’ve got you covered if you’d like to try the peaches in a twist to your breakfast norm.
I’ve made the peaches and eaten them with a handful of granola and some vanilla greek yogurt for breakfast three times this week. It’s a nice break from a normal breakfast routine and I’m one of those people who certainly has a routine. I’ve been pre-cutting and pitting the peaches at night and storing in a small container to save time in the morning. Then, I’ll throw the peaches in the oven to bake while I start my morning fashion debate and they’re ready to eat before running out the door. They are filling and a stride away from my normal cup of yogurt and handful of blueberries. I strongly suggest this method, along with eating them as a sinfully delicious dessert.
Recipe yields one, if you’re making for a group, plan on one peach per person. Surprisingly, they’re quite filling.
Ingredients
1 ripe peach, sliced in half and pitted
1 tablespoon honey
1 small splash vanilla extract
1 dash cinnamon
Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Line a small baking sheet or dish with foil, and slightly turn up the edges on all four sides. I can’t stress the importance of this step enough, it’ll save you cleanup time and help contain the peach juice so it doesn’t burn to the bottom of your pan. If you can’t guess, I experienced that first hand — the pan is still soaking.
3. Place your peaches on the foil and set aside.
4. In a small bowl, mix together your honey, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Spread the mixture over both peach halves.
5. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. The peaches should be soft and the honey should give them a light golden brown appearance.
6. Remove peaches and serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Or with a small dish of granola and vanilla greek yogurt.
This simple dessert takes minimal time and will be an impressive treat for family, friends and summer hockey league parties!
*If you’d like to add a little slapshot to dessert recipe, add a splash of bourbon to the mixture before coating the peaches.
(Photo: Heather Stebbins, The Pink Puck)
Another game, another overtime. The Manchester Monarchs and the Utica Comets faced off for game two of the Calder Cup Finals last night and once again were so evenly matched that they needed overtime to decide the outcome.
Game two did come with a change from the first game, though. After sustaining an injury in game one of the Finals, the Monarchs had to replace veteran defenseman Jeff Schultz. He had been a big presence on the blue line, not just for his size, and head coach Mike Stothers was faced with a decision between rookies Kevin Raine and Nick Ebert. He chose to give Raine the call and said it was a difficult decision but that he believed in Raine and Ebert understood.
When it came time for the puck to drop, there was a different feel. Both teams seemed to have settled more into their games and seemed to be more comfortable with their opponent. But there was just as much tension as the first with scrums after most of the whistles. Although these teams had never played each other before the start of this series, the Calder Cup Finals bring high stakes which stirs emotions to their highest and that is something every player knows.
Both teams had a number of good chances in the first period, but it was a story of even better goaltending and defense. Both JF Berube and Jacob Markstrom were saying that they wanted to make it as hard on the opposing team as possible.
The officials also seemed to be calling more penalties than the officiating team had the night before. While they were still letting things go, some actions were harder to ignore than others. Both teams continued to be strong on their penalty kill.
When Manchester got a full 5-on-4 chance, it seemed that they still would not be able to capitalize. Defenseman Colin Miller fired shot after shot from the point but the forwards were not able to get their sticks on the rebound to hit it home. Then, with 14 seconds left on the power play, the Monarchs were on the board. Sean Backman had the initial shot from the face-off circle to Markstrom’s left that just barely slid in underneath the crossbar. Zach O’Brien was credited with touching the puck before it went in.
With less than a minute remaining in the first frame, that would be the only goal. As was the case in the first game, though, the Comets were never far behind. Just over a minute into the second period, Utica tied the score up at one. After the Monarchs failed to clear the puck from the zone, it ended up on Nicklas Jensen’s stick. He took a hard shot from outside the face-off circle to Berube’s right that made it into the net.
That seemed to breathe more life into the Comets’ game. The second period held a number of penalties for the Monarchs and Stothers said post game that he did not like how the second period went. Partially as a result of the penalties, the Comets were able to keep the shots even, at times even taking the shot lead. It was something that had not happened in the first game where there had been a wide gap in shots.
It seemed to be hard for the Monarchs to get the space they had gotten on the ice earlier in the post season which showed how strong Utica was on defense. When the first power play of the period came for the Monarchs, the fans erupted, taking the chance to stop booing the officials every time they blew the whistle.
The third period came and it continued to be a show of goaltending but with Markstrom having to do a lot of work. He wasn’t alone, though, his team gave him a good amount of support. They made it hard to get rebounds with traffic and hard to get the puck to the net doing their best to get in passing lanes.
Although the Monarchs took the clear lead on the shot clock during the third period, neither team was able to break the tie and the game was bound for overtime yet again. Both teams brought a lot to the game and they both showed they clearly wanted to win.
The Monarchs game carried into the overtime period. It took Utica more than five minutes to register their first, and only, shot of the extra frame. Shortly after that the game was over with a slightly less contested goal than the one that ended game one.
Veteran forward David Van der Gulik shot the puck deep into Utica’s zone and into the corner. Rookie Nic Dowd was able to beat the Utica defense and dug the puck out of the corner. He took the initial shot that hit the post and bounced back onto his stick which he was then able to put past Markstrom.
With that goal, the Manchester Monarchs take the 2-0 series lead out to Utica for games 3, 4, and 5 (if necessary). Although they won both games at home, the Monarchs are not underestimating their opponent and not taking the lead for granted. They know that they have to continue to be better and bring their very best effort.
These teams have a lot of respect for each other and both games have been hard fought up until this point. The Monarchs have not lost at home yet during the post season and have a good road record as well, but the Comets have brought a much bigger challenge. Both on paper and on the ice these teams seem very evenly matched which has made for an exciting series thus far. Game three takes place on Wednesday June 10th in Utica.
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(Photo: Heather Stebbins, The Pink Puck)
While the Stanley Cup Finals surge on in the NHL, the AHL Calder Cup Finals began last night with some excitement. The Manchester Monarchs, as the top team in the league during the regular season, came into the Finals knowing they would have home ice advantage throughout their entire playoff run.
This season marked the first time Manchester had ever made the Finals despite 12 post season appearances in their previous 13 seasons. But as they say, you save the best for last. In their final season in Manchester before moving out west to California, the Monarchs and their fans get to see Calder Cup Finals action as they face off against the Utica Comets, the best team from the West. It was something the city fully embraced. After the opening anthem, the Monarchs celebrated by bringing back former Monarchs for a ceremonial puck drop which included current Sabres alternate captain Matt Moulson.
The Monarchs had a long break between finishing the Conference Finals and beginning the Calder Cup Finals. Facing the Utica Comets was also brand new for them as they did not face off against any Western Conference teams through the regular season.
It seemed that Manchester came out a little over excited due to the break and had to settle down. It was not long into the first period before the teams were showing all the signs of old tensions. There started to be scrums after the whistles with pushing and shoving. Both teams were getting some good shots on Monarchs goalie JF Berube and Comets goalie Jacob Markstrom.
Starting with the first power play of the first period, a theme developed. It was Utica that had the first man advantage opportunity, but it was Manchester that had a great shorthanded opportunity. However, Utica did show their defensive ability by breaking up the passing on the shorthanded chance.
As has seemed to be the case throughout much of the playoffs, it was the Monarchs that struck first. Markstrom has undeniably been a force throughout the regular and post seasons, but Manchester’s top line showcased just why they might be the best in the AHL right now. With exactly four minutes remaining in the first, the Monarchs created a lot of traffic in front of the net and did not give up. Brian O’Neill was credited with his 10th of the playoffs, with the assists going to his line mates, Jordan Weal and Michael Mersch.
However, Utica continued to show incredible focus and determination. It paid off just over a minute later when they were able to tie things up. Just :13 into a power play, the puck ended up on Sven Baertschi’s stick and he easily put it into an open net.
The teams went into the first intermission tied and sure to be talking about any adjustments they felt that they needed to make from the first period. Although these teams had never played each other, it was not a surprise that they both came out fighting.
“They’re a good team and that first line is fast, that’s nothing we didn’t already know though,” Comets head coach Travis Green said after the game about the Monarchs.
“We weren’t surprised by anything we saw, there’s a reason they got to the finals,” Monarchs head coach Mike Stothers said of the Comets.
When the teams came out for the second, it seemed like a different feel from the first frame. It was all about the Monarchs creating pressure on the forecheck and keeping the puck in their offensive zone. But Utica continued to show their defensive game as they broke up passes and kept bodies from getting too close in front of the net.
Despite outshooting the Comets 12-3 in the second, the score stayed tied. It had been a strong showing from the Monarchs offense even though they were not able to find their way onto the score sheet again. It showed how their offensive talent matched up against the Comets defense. The Comets also did have one impressive shot from Alexandre Grenier on a 2-on-1 break but the glove save Berube made, grabbing the puck out of mid air, was even more impressive.
The third period started with the score still knotted at 1 and it seemed to be a change yet again. The Monarchs had been struggling on the power play but got another chance to test it out. They had been running with four forwards with Nick Shore joining the top line of Weal, O’Neill, and Mersch and Weal dropping back to the the point. At 2:23, the Monarchs were rewarded with a power play goal. This time it was rookie Mersch, who returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch in the final game against Hartford during the Conference Finals. He fired it home from Markstrom’s left side for his team leading 12th of the playoffs with assists going to Shore and O’Neill.
Neither team was showing any signs of letting up. The Comets did not let themselves get discouraged by having Manchester take the lead back and the Monarchs were certainly not comfortable with a one goal lead.
Just over 3 minutes after the Monarchs took the lead back, the Comets tied it up at 2 apiece. Cory Conacher had some impressive stick work by the blue before taking a soft wrist shot from a distance that managed to beat Berube.
That was how it would stay for the rest of the period despite some hard effort on both sides. They both continued to fight for position and continued to check each other at every opportunity. But, in keeping with how closely matched the teams seemed both on paper and on the ice, this game was destined for overtime.
With the way the game had gone up until the beginning of overtime, it would not have been at all surprising to see a long overtime. That did not end up being the case though. Mersch seemed eager to prove himself as he registered another two goal game in the playoffs. This time it was the overtime game winner in Game 1 of the Calder Cup Finals. As is the case with many of his goals, he put it past Markstrom with a lot of traffic in front of the net. The Monarchs started celebrating before the officials said that the goal was under review. It did not end up mattering though, because it was a good goal and the Monarchs took a hard fought Game 1.
If one thing was obvious, it was that these teams are evenly matched in many ways and this does not look like it will be a series where Manchester can put a lot of goals on the scoring sheet. With the teams back at it for Game 2 tonight, it will be interesting to watch how this series unfolds. It also seems likely both teams will have to replace players that have been key parts of their systems. The Monarchs lost defenseman Jeff Schultz, a big veteran presence on the blue line, and the Comets lost Sven Baertschi who registered a goal. Neither coach commented on the status of their injuries.
(Photo: @nyrangers)
When Mats Zuccarello took a puck to the head in the New York Rangers‘ Game 5 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins, no one knew the extent of the injury. Media speculated that Zuccarello, who contributed two assists and an invaluable offensive spark in the series, had sustained a concussion. He was soon ruled out of the next round against the Washington Capitals, but there were no further details about his condition.
During the Rangers breakup day on Monday, Zuccarello revealed that he had suffered a brain contusion, and the injury had brought with it serious repercussions.
“There was a small fracture in my head. I lost my talking and some feeling in my arm and stuff. I was in the hospital for three days,” he said. “I couldn’t talk for a while. I had a contusion, some blood in my brain. That affects a lot. I went to speech therapy. I’m getting much better. I couldn’t say a word for four days…I’m getting better and better.”
Zuccarello said there was “a slim chance” that he could have played in the Stanley Cup Final had the Rangers advanced, and he is expected to make a full recovery. He also expects to be ready for Training Camp.
Ryan McDonagh, Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, and Keith Yandle also revealed their respective injuries while the players conversed with media at breakup day. McDonagh entered the locker room on crutches and wearing a walking boot on his right foot; he suffered a fracture in Game 4 against the Tampa Bay Lightning and is looking at a four-week recovery time. Staal sustained a hairline fracture in his ankle at the end of the regular season and may need surgery in the offseason. Girardi played through an MCL sprain for the final four games of the postseason; he will undergo a minor procedure over the summer. Yandle suffered a sprained AC joint in his shoulder during the first-round series against the Penguins.
Despite losing Zuccarello and playing four injured defensemen, the Rangers were one period away from returning to the Stanley Cup Final. Had the team been healthy, this could have been their year.
The Minnesota Wild’s season was cut short when they were swept by the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Although they continue to reflect on their season, and figuring out how to hit the ice as a better team next year, many Wild players are still finding time to contribute and give back to their communities and fans.
Recently, Wild forward Zach Parise and defenseman Nate Prosser visited the Children’s Hospital and Clinics of Minnesota in Minneapolis to meet some of their biggest fans. Parise and Prosser were introduced to the kids, and did various activities with them, including dancing, as seen on the WildTV video. The players took time to individually take photos and converse with children across the hospital. They also signed various items, whether it be pucks, hats or hockey cards for many of the patients and their families. Parise, Prosser and the Wild organization even gave a Minnesota Wild blanket, a hat and a bobblehead to a few of the patients. The two players were able to make a difference, and help create unforgettable memories for the children and their families.
Nate Prosser stayed busy this week, as he joined teammate, Jordan Leopold, to visit an elementary school class. The class was that of Leopold’s daughter, whom already received a lot of media attention when her letter broke out, begging the Wild to trade for her father, who was playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets at the time. During the visit, the children were able to ask the Wild players questions that they had. The players joked with the children, but gave serious advice and inspiration as well.
These Wild players’ efforts to give back to their communities and fans demonstrates the character that many teams hope their players will have. Although they have made it big, they have not forgotten about the people who sacrificed to get them there, and are willing to help make a difference in other people’s lives.
BC Hockey and the Vancouver Canucks have just launched a new educational program to encourage positive behaviour by parents in the ice rink, called Sportmanship Starts in the Stands. It was started to address the behaviours and attitudes that have become a negative influence of hockey in British Columbia, and is designed to ensure that the environment at BC Hockey events is positive and fun. It was also developed to create a consistent level for parent expectations at events across the province.
“This is the first program of its kind among the Hockey Canada branches, and we couldn’t be more excited to start this initiative,” said BC Hockey President, Randy Henderson. “Children learn behaviours from adults, so it’s important to instill positivity whenever and wherever possible.”
“This is an exciting initiative for our membership,” commented Barry Petrachenko, BC Hockey Executive Director. “Sport provides our participants with the opportunity to interact and develop valuable life skills, and this program will serve to enhance the spirit of mutual respect and the principals of good sportsmanship for all who are involved in our game.
“Hockey should be fun for kids and the atmosphere our parents create in the rink has a huge impact on everyone’s experience and happiness,” said Trevor Linden, Vancouver Canucks President of Hockey Operations. “The Vancouver Canucks are a huge supporter of grassroots hockey development and very proud to support the Sportsmanship Starts in the Stands program.”
“The BC Hockey Safety/Risk Management Committee worked to develop the positive approach to this program by working with great resources from the Officiating Program and the Recreation Facilities Association of British Columbia,” commented BC Hockey Branch Coordinator, Safety Risk Management, Anne Deitch.
The program is simple and easy to implement. MHA (Minor Hockey Associations) will be given a presentation to deliver during parent meetings, and a Code of Conduct to be completed by parents and sent back to the MHA. Both the presentation and the Code of Conduct contain messages from Trevor Linden.
The BC Hockey Executive Committee recently passed a policy that will now require all MHA’s to host a Parent Meeting prior to October 15 annually. Such a meeting shall cover a minimum of the following:
- Review of key MHA Policies and Procedures (Locker Room Policy, Team Selection, Ice Times, etc.)
- Review of MHA Complaint/Process Policy
- Code of Conduct expectations
Associations will be required to file a report summary of such a meeting before November 1 annually. Failure to comply with this requirement will result in the cancellation of BC Hockey sanctioning of events hosted or operated by the MHA.
All program materials will be released during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in June 2015.
For more information on the Sportsmanship Starts in the Stands program, please visit the BC Hockey website or email info@bchockey.net.
The NHL/NHLPA Competition Committee met in New York and on Thursday, June 4, the co-chairs Mathieu Schneider, National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) Special Assistant to the Executive Director and Colin Campbell, National Hockey League (NHL) Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations issued a statement regarding some of the items discussed and the committee’s recommendations. Members of the committee included players Michael Cammalleri (New Jersey Devils), Cory Schneider (New Jersey Devils), Kevin Shattenkirk (St. Louis Blues), and Daniel Winnik (Pittsburgh Penguins) representing the NHLPA, with David Backes (St. Louis Blues) unable to attend. The NHL was represented by Ed Snider (owner of the Philadelphia Flyers), David Poile (General Manager of the Nashville Predators), Ken Holland (General Manager of the Detroit Red Wings), Don Maloney (General Manager of the Arizona Coyotes) and Peter Chiarelli (General Manager of the Edmonton Oilers).
Among the topics discussed were expanded video review with coach’s challenge, face-offs, and overtime. The recommendations will be brought before the NHLPA’s Executive Board and the NHL’s Board of Governors for approval. And it will be at that point that the language of the rules, if accepted, would be formalized.
Not surprisingly, the expanded video review that would allow for a coach’s challenge was discussed. There were some instances this past season where such an opportunity would have changed the outcome of some close games. The committee recommended that coaches be allowed to challenge to allow expanded video review for goals that may be the result of goaltender interference and offside play. The process for both video reviews would include the on-ice officials as well as those monitoring things in the Situation Room in Toronto. However, the committee agreed that in order for a coach to make a challenge, he would have to still have his timeout available.
The committee is recommending changing who must put his stick down first for face-offs in the defensive zone. Up to now it has been the visiting team who always must put his stick down first. The committee is suggesting that the player from the defensive zone team would be required to put his stick down first in such face-offs. Any face-offs at center ice would remain as they are now with the visiting team’s player putting his stick down first.
Many were expecting something to happen in how overtime is handled, especially with the trial run of a seven-minute overtime in the AHL where they used both a four-on-four play followed by three-on-three play after the first whistle following three minutes of play. However, during Thursday’s meeting, the committee could not come to a consensus. It was announced that they will continue to discuss this issue and settle on a decision later this month. What was agreed upon was that there would be no changes to the format of the shootout.
It will be interesting to see, if adopted, if the change in face-offs in the defensive zone will alter the statistics of some of the better face-off men such as Boston Bruins center man Patrice Bergeron who lead the regular season with 60.2 percent. Philadelphia Flyers’ Claude Giroux (56.6 percent), Minnesota Wild’s Mikko Koivu (55.2 percent), Chicago Blackhawks’ Jonathan Toews (56.5 percent) and Toronto Maple Leafs’ Tyler Bozak (53.2 percent) rounded out the top five.
The 2015 NHL Awards which will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Wednesday, June 24th and more exciting news has been released. Actor and comedian Rob Riggle will host the award show that will be broadcast on NBCSN in the U.S. and Sportsnet in Canada. During the show rock band Daughtry will perform.
Rob Riggle is best known for his roles in The Hangover, Step Brothers, The Other Guys, 21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street, Dumb & Dumber To, and even Saturday Night Live to name a few. Riggle, a Kansas native, is an avid sports fan on top of everything. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve for 23 years, and just recently retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.
Daughtry has been nominated for four GRAMMY Awards, won four American Music Awards, and has sold more than 8 million albums. They will be performing a full concert at the MGM Grand Garden Arena after the Awards show, which is included in the ticket. They are surely going to put on a great show.
This year’s awards will be at a much larger venue than in the past, and therefore more fans will have the opportunity to attend. Tickets are on sale at www.mgmgrand.com and www.ticketmaster.com. Hospitality and travel packages are available for fans through PrimeSport. Tickets will be priced at $58, $103, $153 and $253 and will include the Awards show and the concert which will be subsequently after.
This is the first year the NHL Awards will be at the MGM Grand, and the sixth time the NHL will honor the the NHL’s finest in Las Vegas. This is the seventh year that the NHL has had a partnership with Las Vegas.
This year is sure to be a real hit, and whether you live in the Vegas Valley or on the other side of the country, it’s an opportunity that you don’t want to miss out on!
(photo: Jackman Chiu)
The Tampa Bay Lightning are no strangers to getting off to a bad start this post-season. Wednesday night marked the 3rd time this playoffs that the Lightning lost in the series opener, but for most of the game it looked like they were going to start the series with a win on home ice against the battle-tested Chicago Blackhawks. Alex Killorn opened the scoring early in the first with a skillful, backhanded deflection off an airborne puck that Anton Stralman had sent wide.
“It was a shot that was coming… I mean, you don’t expect to score on those shots, but I was just trying to sort of hit it towards the net,” Killorn said. “Not something you practice, but lucky it went in.”
Not much else happened in the game until Teuvo Teravainen and Antoine Vermette scored within two minutes of one another late in the third to steal the Lightning’s thunder. The 20 year old Teravainen not only broke the tie, but set up the game-winning goal, earning him 1st Star honors. Teravainen’s one-timer from Duncan Keith at 13:28 ended Ben Bishop‘s shutout streak of 113:28, a log he had been racking up since Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final. Marian Hossa heaped praises on young Teravainen after the game, commending his poise and his improvement since his stint in the minors,
“He’s one of the most talented guys I see, watching him every day… But coming to this team, there are so many skilled players, they decided that instead of playing only a few minutes they put him on a minor team so he could play lots of minutes. Obviously, it’s paying off. He’s playing with such confidence… He’s growing more confident every game. He doesn’t seem to have a heartbeat. He’s so calm. He’s Finnish cold.”
Coach Joel Quenneville also had high praise of Teravainen’s clutch performance,
“I thought he got better like our team did as the game went on. Couple of plays. Made a play at the net. He scored some goals in this playoffs as they progressed by just putting it at the net. He has the shoot-first mentality. He’s got a decent shot, pretty good looks. Getting that net front presence by Krugs. He was the one that forced the play to Vermy on the goal. So it was a couple real nice plays by a guy. That has a nice upside.”
Teravainen, back out shortly after his game-tying heroics, stole the puck from J.T. Brown and sent it in the direction of Antoine Vermette whose shot then deflected off the stick of Brown and into the net to clinch the victory for the Blackhawks at 15:26.
“I think on that play, it was great work,” said Vermette, “Teuvo kept it working hard, created a turnover, and we got the puck in the slot.”
Streaks are meant to be broken, as Bishop and his team learned Wednesday night. This was the first game all playoffs where the Lightning ended up losing after scoring first, as well as the first time all season they didn’t win after sustaining a lead for two periods. While Tampa held Chicago to just 13 shots in the first two stanzas combined, they only took 5 on Corey Crawford in the third. Perhaps they should have known not to sit on a one goal lead, as the Blackhawks have proven they can bounce back from a lot worse than a one goal deficit this post-season.
“You want to protect the lead and we’ve been quite successful in doing so in past games,” said Stralman, “This time, we’re playing a highly skilled team and they’re a little bit too good to give that much room and that much puck possession. So, lesson learned.”
The Lightning and the Blackhawks will face off for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. ET at Amalie Arena.
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