Photo: smallsaves.com
If you haven’t seen the cartoon series titled ‘Small Saves’, you’re missing out on some big smiles — head on over to their website for more information. In the meantime, the creator at Small Saves sent a few smiles for our readers to enjoy.
Happy Thursday Pink Puckers!
With a 5-0 victory over the Washington Capitals, the Dallas Stars moved past the Phoenix Coyotes in the playoff standings for the last wildcard spot (they’re tied in points but Dallas has the ROW tie breaker as well as a game in hand) after they dropped a 2-1 decision to Winnipeg in the shootout. For the Kings, playing the Coyotes on Wednesday night, winning in any fashion (regulation, OT, shootout) would enable LA to clinch a playoff spot for the fifth year in a row.
Rookie Tanner Pearson is making the most of his opportunity since being recalled following the Olympic break. He scored his third goal of the season off a gorgeous feed from Jeff Carter and beat Thomas Greiss on a backhanded one timer. Entering the zone along the left wing boards with speed and Toffoli, Carter found Pearson, a left handed shot, streaking down the right wing boards and made a fantastic pass across the ice. Pearson got on one knee and beat Greiss cleanly to open the scoring just a minute and twenty seconds into the game.
The Kings outshot the Coyotes 7-5 in the first and had some good looks in the dying minutes of the first period, but Greiss stood tall.
Less than a minute into the second period, Antoine Vermette took an offensive zone penalty for interference when he pushed Justin Williams down, who had skated in to support Doughty in a board battle with Coyotes captain Shane Doan. Most of the ensuing Kings power play looked like hot garbage, including giving up a shorthanded chance (weak shot from behind the goal line that Jonathan Quick easily stopped) and icing the puck but with just over 30 seconds left in the power play, Kopitar gained the zone and LA was able to set up. Doughty scored on a snap shot (instead of his patented wave-the-stick-around-in-the-air-like-a-giant-signal-slapshot) off a nice feed from the red hot Alec Martinez to make it 2-0.
LA peppered Greiss with an additional 14 shots on goal that period, but he continued to deny each shooter. He even robbed Jeff Carter of a sure goal on a breakaway less than three seconds before the period ended, prompting a disbelieving smile and a compliment when the two were skating towards their respective benches.
Down by only two, Dave Tippett’s team came out strong hoping to cut the lead by at least one. The first three minutes were the busiest Jonathan Quick had been all night as Coyotes buzzed around the side of the net, though most of the shots were blocked or missed. Calmly, Kings held their ground (and their lead) as they patiently outworked the fatigued desert dogs, putting on a near clinic defensively. Midway through the final frame, Jeff Carter finally managed to beat Greiss on a 2-on-1 as the puck just sneaked between his arm and his body. With frustration mounting, Shane Doan carelessly trips up Doughty, putting his team down a man. It only took seven seconds before Kopitar scored off an incredible pass from Gaborik. It was a perfectly placed shot that Greiss had absolutely no chance on. Carter won the initial faceoff cleanly back to Voynov, who passed to Martinez, who passed to Gaborik, who drew two defenders to him, passed the puck through Zybenek Michalek’s legs to Kopi, who sniped it in for his 25th goal of the season.
The two quick goals in succession took the wind of Phoenix’s sails as they managed to get only one more shot on goal while LA kept pressing for even more. In spite of the Kings scoring four times, the game could’ve really gotten out of hand had Thomas Greiss not been as excellent as he was. While he did give up a weak goal 7-hole, he was outstanding throughout the rest of the game in which he received very little help from his teammates. Through nearly 50 minutes, he gave his team every chance to remain in the game. And even as the Kings kept pushing, he remained steadfast in net.
At the other end of the ice, Jonathan Quick was perfect, stopping all 17 of the Coyotes’ shots, posting his 31st career shutout and his sixth of the season, moving to within one of all-time great Rogie Vachon’s franchise record of 32 shutouts. The shutout also marks a franchise record of 12 shutouts in one season (Quick 6, Jones 3, Scrivens 3).
It was complete domination from start to finish after extremely sloppy play saw them lose to 3-2 to Minnesota on Monday night. If this was a statement game, the message was received loud and clear: they’re a good team and they intend to compete for the Stanley Cup again; the loss to Minnesota was just an anomaly.
Wednesday night’s victory also marked the 1500th victory in LA franchise history. Per Jon Rosen, LA Kings Insider, “The Los Angeles Kings won their inaugural game, a 4-2 triumph over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Long Beach Arena on October 14, 1967. Brian Kilrea scored the franchise’s very first goal to get Los Angeles on the board, one of four unanswered Kings goals scored in the win. 46 and a half years later, the Kings celebrated a 4-0 shutout of the Phoenix Coyotes, the 1,500th win in franchise history.”
With the win, Los Angeles clinched a playoff spot for the fifth year in a row. While this may not be impressive to fans of an organization like the Red Wings, but the Kings’ organization has largely, historically been terrible.
The Kings have now qualified for the playoffs 5 straight seasons. The last time the Kings made the playoffs 5 straight seasons was 1987-93
— LAKingsPR (@LAKingsPR) April 3, 2014
But if you think any of the players are impressed, well, they’re not. Post game, Dustin Brown told reporters, “There is nothing to celebrate about making the playoffs. Like I said, that’s not a goal. It’s an expectation.”
Darryl Sutter seemed even less interested in talking about a playoff berth, telling reporters “We’ll see” when asked if anything would change now that they’ve clinched.
There is a 95% chance that the LA Kings will face the San Jose Sharks in the first round since Anaheim is up three points on San Jose.
(photo: thesphl.com)
In all honesty, nobody really thought the series would even get this far.
The Southern Professional Hockey League’s (SPHL) Columbus Cottonmouths are this season’s sixth seed to the Peoria Rivermen’s third, and after Peoria’s 2-0 victory in the first game, the series’ outcome seemed fairly certain. But their second bout, in Columbus, saw a vicious turnaround during which the Cottonmouths delivered an absolute trouncing, coming out on top of a 6-1 final tally. It was the equivalent of stabbing your neighbor because he accidentally knocked over one of your trash cans.
Or, as Szabados diplomatically puts it: “The guys have really come together.”
They’ll win this one, too, putting Peoria definitively out of the playoffs and advancing to play Huntsville in the semi-finals.
It’s not the first time the Cottonmouths have delivered on a long shot: they won the league’s very first President’s Cup title in 2005 with a perfect 5-0 record after barely squeaking into the series to begin with. Since then, they’ve only won it once more, in 2012, despite taking home the Commissioner’s Cup as the regular season champion in 2006. Historically, they’ve been a strange balance of scrappy and stellar, the underdog and the heavy-hitter all at once.
“[The SPHL] is similar to the college league I was playing in,” Szabados tells me after the final game against Peoria, reflecting on the various leagues she’s played for. “But the guys are a little older, so they’re a little bigger and faster and stronger. They shoot the puck a little harder. I think it’s a tougher league to play in. There’s no soft players — everyone is hitting, fighting. It’s an old-time hockey kind of league.” Her mouth twists up into a grin. “I’m enjoying it.”
Her smile widens as she adds, “And there’s such a good group of guys in there. I feel like I’ve been here the entire year. They’ve been amazing.”
The Cottonmouths are a fitting team for Szabados to step into, really. By dint of being a woman playing in men’s leagues, she is herself something of a perennial underdog, though her elite level of play and shiny gold medals make her a bit more A-Team than Rocky.
“I am very excited to get a world-class athlete that has competed and has faced high-pressured situations,” Columbus’ coach Jerome Bechard told NHL.com. “Shannon has won at every level she has played in, women’s hockey or men’s hockey.”
The SPHL is a low-level professional league, hyper-local in its fanbase. It was a strategy that the league implemented early on, and seems to have stuck to; in its first year, then-Commissioner Tom Coolen told HockeyRefs.com, “The most important thing to me is the local coverage within your area. Those are the people who buy your tickets. I think the most important thing is to market a team within their region.”
In other words, Szabados’ international background is cool, and no doubt helped her earn a spot on the roster. But the SPHL is a long way from Sochi, and what matters here is an appeal to local, not national, pride.
Not that national pride would do Szabados much good with the fans, anyway, hailing as she does from Alberta, Canada. Though it has, perhaps, helped smooth her entry into the league—even its least Canadian team, the Bloomington Thunder, owes 31% of its roster to our neighbors in the north. That’s to say nothing of the Louisiana IceGators, who clock in at 73.6% Canadian, or even the Cottonmouths themselves, at 64%.
This can hardly be surprising, given how many franchises come into the league from failed AHL and ECHL markets or other, now-defunct minor leagues, like the ACHL and the SEHL. Every one of these teams is its own kind of Hail Mary, peopled with players who play to near-empty arenas because they simply don’t want to do anything else.
It’s the perfect league for a player who has stressed, again and again, that all she wants to do is play hockey, wherever and however she can.
“I’m just a hockey player that loves to play hockey,” she told AL.com. “If (pioneer) is the word people want to attach with it, it seems weird to me to have that kind of title. But if that’s what comes along with it and maybe it opens up some doors for future generations, that’s good.”
You get the feeling that she’s getting tired of being asked what it feels like to be the exception.
But the SPHL is, to some degree, best characterized by its exceptions: it’s an American league, except it’s played by a lot of Canadians; it’s located in the southeast, except when it’s located in the midwest; and it has nine teams, except when it has six or eight or seven.
And of course, the league is all men — except for Shannon Szabados.
The Cottonmouths’ are among the original nine SPHL franchises, but the Rivermen are not: they shouldered their way into the league after the original team, the AHL affiliate to the Vancouver Canucks, was moved to Utica, New York and rebranded as the Comets. In the aftermath, former Rivermen owner Bruce Saurs and former Rivermen executives John Butler and Bart Rogers applied for membership in the SPHL. “We just can’t stand by and see [hockey in Peoria] die,” he told Journal Star. “We’re going to have a team.”
The sharp desire to keep hockey in places like Peoria can be seen in hockey club hometowns across the league. “There is so much support from the organization,” Szabados explains, thinking over her short time on the roster. “The owners really care about the team.”
They have to, if the SPHL is to survive competition with football and basketball, at both the professional and collegiate level. Even the NHL, with all its resources and marketing strategies, has struggled to find profitable markets in the southeast.
Of course, Peoria isn’t in the southeast, and it may be a little easier to find midwestern fans. Playoff tickets at the Peoria Civic Center were cheaper than regular season tickets, because while it may be fairly easy to find paying customers on the weekends, weekday nights are a bit of a harder sell. And in a league like this one, every ticket sale counts. It’s overdramatic to say that every season may be the Rivermen’s last, but in the minor leagues it can often feel that way.
Szabados hasn’t signed a contract with the Cottonmouths for next season; this playoff run may be both her first and her last. Despite her impressive résumé, she is aware that there are no guarantees.
“I’d love to come back here next year, get a whole season in, instead of four games and the playoffs,” she says, voice a little dry. To win the President’s Cup this season, the Cottonmouths will have to beat the Huntsville Havoc twice, and then face down either the Pensacola Ice Flyers or the Knoxville Ice Bears in the final. As of this writing, the Cottonmouths have one game in their pocket, a 1-0 victory.
Szabados gives a little shrug. “Who knows after that?” she asks.
Each year, every team in the AHL names someone from their team as the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year. From this list, the AHL and representatives from IOA/American Specialty select one player as the winner of the Yannick Dupre Memorial Award. That winner will be announced later this month.
These are players that have gone above and beyond for the community surrounding the city they play in. AHL cities and the surrounding communities benefit greatly from having the AHL team there. Throughout the season, players take part in a variety of different initiatives to give back and they’re always happy to do it. Below each team’s winner is listed along with a link to the press release talking about what they did during the season (if available).
This list features 19 first time winners of the award along with one winner, Eric Neilson, who won for the 6th time.
Abbotsford Heat – Corban Knight
Adirondack Phantoms – Zack FitzGerald
Albany Devils – Dan Kelly
Binghamton Senators – Corey Cowick
Bridgeport Sound Tigers – Chris Bruton
Charlotte Checkers – Matt Marquadt
Chicago Wolves – Mike Davies
Grand Rapids Griffins – Tom McCollum
Hamilton Bulldogs – Morgan Ellis
Hartford Wolf Pack – Ryan Bourque
Hershey Bears – Cameron Schilling
Iowa Wild – Jonathon Blum
Lake Erie Monsters – Bryan Lerg
Manchester Monarchs – Andrew Campbell
Milwaukee Admirals – Mark Van Guilder
Norfolk Admirals – Mat Clark
Oklahoma City Barons – Taylor Fedun
Portland Pirates – Kyle Hagel
Providence Bruins – Mike Moore
Rochester Americans – Matt MacKenzie
Rockford IceHogs – Pat Mullane
San Antonio Rampage – Joey Crabb
Springfield Falcons – Andrew Joudrey
St. John’s IceCaps – Jason Jaffray
Syracuse Crunch – Eric Neilson
Texas Stars – Jack Campbell
Toronto Marlies – Drew MacIntyre
Utica Comets – Brandon DeFazio
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins – Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond
Worcester Sharks – Konrad Abeltshauser
(photo: Jack Lima Photography)
It’s the end of a long season. The fatigue is beginning to set in and the injuries are mounting. In the minor leagues, the roster changes on a weekly basis and if the team can’t adapt or cope with the losses and the stress, it begins to show on the scoreboard. For the Stockton Thunder, they have had their fair share of injuries to key components of the team. Their roster has changed weekly, as players have been moved up and down from the AHL affiliate Sound Tigers. The team has played most of the month of March at home, which in theory should have helped them cope with the injuries and player movement. Their record, shows, in the words of Thunder Head Coach Rich Kromm, “a fragile club.” Stockton has won only 3 home games of the 10 played in March, and lost 5 out of the last 6 games played. The team has also struggled to find it’s offensive magic, being held to 2 goals or less in 9 out of the last 12 games played, with most goals coming on the man-advantage. Even the powerplay, which the Thunder special teams has dominated in the league with a 20% success rate, has been challenged to find its flow.
The Idaho Steelheads three-game series encapsulated the month long slide the Thunder have traveled. The first game of the set, the Steelheads walked away with 4 goals and the Thunder had two tallies from recently returned from injury forward Ryan Hayes, one which was a power play goal. Of the six opportunities on the man advantage, including one 5 on 3 situation, the Steelheads penalty killers were able to hold Stockton to just one power play goal.
The second game of the series exposed the Thunder’s offensive and defensive weaknesses, as the Steelheads plowed Stockton 4-1. The Steelheads opened the scoring as they had in the first game to take an early lead, with Idaho forward Justin Mercier placing the puck behind Stockton goaltender Parker Milner with a wicked shot from the right circle.
“I thought we started okay and then they got the 2 goals,” said Thunder Head Coach Rich Kromm. “After the second goal we seemed to loose a little bit of our focus. I think we are a fragile club right now and I think that showed after that second goal.”
It would be Thunder forward Ryan Hayes scoring the lone goal for Stockton, and the Steelheads offensive push was too much for the taxed and young Thunder blueliners. There were multiple odd-man rushes in Idaho’s favour with the end result equaling goals for the Steelheads.
“There were a couple pitches where we didn’t have good support from our forwards,” said Coach Kromm on his defencemen’s stuggles. “The D got hung out to dry a little bit and there was a couple where we pinched where we didn’t need to pinch. It’s just decision making with reading the numbers, seeing whether we have support or not.”
Parker Milner Stuffs Brett Robinson’s Breakaway Shot
Thunder netminder Parker Milner did what he could to prevent pucks from getting to the back of the net and made some incredible saves when he was left to tend on his own. Several Steelheads would have multi-point nights, with Jason Bast collecting 2 goals and an assist, Justin Mercier with a goal and an assist, and Luke Judson garnering 2 points. Idaho went a perfect 4 for 4 on the penalty kill, keeping the Thunder out of reach of a power play goal.
Stockton traveled to Ontario for a Saturday evening game against the Reign after battling the Steelheads, an unfortunate circumstance of scheduling for the Thunder as Idaho had originally been slated to play the now defunct San Francisco Bulls, instead leaving them with a night off. Although the game began on a positive note for the Thunder, with Stockton limiting the Reign to just one shot on goaltender Brian Foster in the opening period, Ontario would get the first puck to the back of the net on an unlucky bounce that found Reign forward Rocco Carzo with the puck on his stick. Thunder forward Matt Bergland was able to squeak the puck by Ontario goalie J.P Anderson in the waning minutes of the third period after Joey Diamond and Alan Quine carried the play into the offensive zone, but one goal was not enough and the Reign beat the Thunder 3-1
The Thunder returned home for the Sunday matchup against the Steelheads and the first period showed the evidence of tired legs for the Stockton team. Steelheads Mercier would again strike first to put Idaho up 1-0. Stockton could not respond back until the second period, when Alan Quine drew a penalty in front of the Idaho net creating a Thunder power play opportunity. Forward Joey Martin would quickly cash in for the tie goal right off the face-off. Idaho then took the momentum scoring three unanswered goals from Tommy Grant, Russ Sinkewich and Rob Linsmayer in the second and third periods to take the score 4-1. Thunder Quine and Hayes gave them hope again as they fired in two quick goals ten seconds apart late in the final period. The rally was too late, with the Steelheads winning 4-3 and sweeping the series.
“It was good that we kept coming and we didnt quit,” said Coach Kromm. “It was a big goal. When Quine scored it provided some life and gave us some hope there but when things go bad, a bounce goes the wrong way, guys lose a little bit of faith in what is happening so we have to build that faith up again.”
Thunder Forward Ryan Hayes gets past Steelheads Robinson for a late goal.
After the game, Thunder forward Alan Quine commented on the teams’ confidence, especially after goals against. “We’ve been going through that quite a bit it seems lately where we are in the game and we get scored on and it deflates the bench. We’ve talked and we’ve got to do a better job of not getting down, not getting too high, not getting too low and make sure we play a full 60 minutes.”
Thunder forward Joey Martin commented that the team seemed in a rut and that guys were getting frustrated. “I think we just have to move on and learn from our mistakes and build on the positives that we have.”
Martin, recently returned from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, says that he’s trying to work hard no matter where he’s at and provide some leadership, particularly since he is a third year guy and there are a lot of new faces in the locker room. He says it’s important to stay positive, and that they need to turn things around. “We need to be playing good hockey before we get into the playoffs.”
As Stockton heads into the final set of games before the playoffs, the roster will make some more adjustments as Bridgeport has recalled Alan Quine, Mathieu Gagnon, and Jason Clark. In return, Stockton will receive back rookie standout Andrew Clark, who was released from his PTO with the Sound Tigers, as well as Riley Wetmore, Jeremy Langlois and Matt Mangene.
The return of Andrew Clark could be the spark the Thunder need, as he led Stockton in the playoff push last season and posted impressive numbers at the beginning of this season before heading up to the AHL. There is also hope that key defenceman Ryan Constant, a league leader in power play assists, will make a return from injury after taking a blocked shot in the Colorado series back in February. Constant’s return could be a big bolster to the Thunder blueline and will provide maturity and leadership for the young dmen.
The Thunder face the Ontario Reign at home on Wednesday night before the Utah Grizzlies come back to town for a weekend two game series. The Grizzlies have surged since the beginning of January with stellar goaltending coming from two-time Warrior ECHL Goaltender of the Month Igor Bobkov. The Thunder will need to have their offensive house in order and their defense on the lookout for Danick Paquette, David Vallorani, and Phil Mangan who were quick to take advantage of open ice.
(Photo: AP/Jeff Robertson)
Ryan Miller earned his 29th career shutout and lead the Blues to a 1 to 0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night. This marked Ryan Miller’s first shutout in the Blue note, after 28 shutouts back in Buffalo.
It would not only take sixty minutes of regulation time, but also five minutes of sudden death overtime and a shootout to determine the winner of this content. Neither team could muster enough offensive pressure to put a goal into the net and break the stalemate.
Of course, T.J. Oshie was first up for the Blues in the shootout rounds. He didn’t disappoint, his sweet back hand move went top shelf over the blocker of Ray Emery and gave the Blues momentum moving forward in the shootout. Kevin Shattenkirk finished off the Flyers by putting one just under the blocker and above the leg pad of Emery. Ryan Miller stood solid in net and would not allow any of the Flyers to get by him even in the shootout.
The Blues have their own franchise record tied at 51 wins, and are striving for 52 when they face off against the Buffalo Sabres, Thursday April 3rd, at 7PM (CST).
If you have ever dreamed of being a part of the World Juniors, now is your chance! Hockey Canada, in partnership with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) host committee, today announced volunteer enrollment for the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship.
World Juniors, taking place December 26, 2014 to January 5, 2015 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto and Bell Centre in Montreal, will need 1,500 volunteers to make the event a reality. The number of volunteers will be split equally between the two cities, with 750 volunteers required in Toronto and the same amount in Montreal. Volunteers must be 16 years or older.
“We have been highly anticipating the launch of our volunteer program,” said Pat McEleney, executive director of the 2015 and 2017 IIHF World Junior Championships. “The success of the event hinges on the support and commitment from our volunteers from communities across southern Ontario and Quebec. We have experienced tremendous interest in our volunteer program thus far, and are confident that our skilled and enthusiastic volunteers will help deliver a first-class event in two of Canada’s most dynamic cities.”
Bill Bowman, president of the Ontario Hockey Federation, added, “Hockey is Canada’s game, and the game was built and thrives because of the contribution of thousands of volunteers who donate countless hours. The OHF encourages its communities and loyal hockey supporters to get involved this holiday season, grasp the opportunity to be a volunteer on the world stage and share in the experience of Canadian pride that makes this event like no other.”
Volunteer opportunities are open in the areas of hospitality, logistics, media, special events, sponsorship, team services, ticket sales and venue operations. It serves as a great opportunity for those seeking experience in hockey operations or simply fans of the game who would like the chance to be involved.
There are perks – including branded apparel – although volunteers do need to meet a list of criteria. This includes committing to a total of 24 volunteer hours, attending training sessions ahead of the event, and meeting screening requirements and background checks.
Sylvain Lalonde, executive director of Hockey Québec, concluded. “The volunteer recruitment process is underway for the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship, and we invite all hockey stakeholders in Quebec to join in the hosting of this prestigious event.”
To learn more about the volunteer requirements and to sign up as a volunteer, visit www.hockeycanada.ca/2015volunteers.
It’s that time – playoffs and championships. And for USA Hockey, the national championships are in full swing and continuing through April for everything except the USHL and NAHL games, which will take place in May.
The 2014 Toyota-USA Hockey National Championships, which had its high school events March 26 through 30 in Omaha, Nebraska, will continue with six separate tournaments taking place April 2 through April 6:
Taking place April 3 through April 7 in Simsbury, Connecticut will be the Junior Tier III tournament.
Tampa, Florida will be hosting the Adult Men 30+, 40+ and 65+ taking place April 3 through April 6. Then in Tampa and Ellenton, Florida from April 10 through April 13 will be the Adult Men 50+, 60+ and 70+ events.
The dates and location for the 10th annual USA Hockey Disabled Hockey Festival was also unveiled. This event will take place April 11 through April 13 in Marlborough, Massachusetts at the New England Sports Center.
When all the minutes in all the periods of all the games have counted down and those final buzzers have sounded, some 40 national champions will have been crowned at the youth, girls, high school, junior, disabled, adult and women’s levels in nine cities across the United States from the end of March until early May.
And best of all, USA Hockey, in conjunction with FASTHockey, will be streaming almost all of the action (the Adult Men’s games in Tampa will not be streamed). Games are available on a pay-per-view basis by visiting USAHockey.FASTHockey.com and creating a free account. In addition, games will be available for purchase on DVD following the tournament by visiting USAHockey.FASTHockey.com.
Of course for those who may not be able to stream a particular game while at work or away from their computer, the Toyota-USA Hockey National Championships has made an app available for the first time this year for both Apple and Android devices. The app offers access to scores, live stats, schedules, photos and opportunities to interact with others via social media.
Finally, if all of this access isn’t enough, USA Hockey will also provide live scoring, starts, standings and photos from each of the games on USAHockey.com.
If you aren’t following USA Hockey on Twitter, be sure to add @USAHockey and @USAHNationals to your Twitter feed. You may even want to flag them so that you get alerts on your phone while the tournaments are going on so that you are always on top of the action.
From USA Hockey’s annual guide “USA Hockey provides the foundation for the sport of ice hockey in America; helps young people become leaders, even Olympic heroes; and connects the game at every level while promoting a lifelong love of the sport.”
Inevitably it comes, the time of year that most hockey fans love to hate, the off-season. While it isn’t upon us quite yet, the thought process that it will be, sooner, rather than later has crept into view. With the regular season coming to an end and the Stanley Cup Playoffs facing off beginning April 16th, not everyone will see their favorite team in the race to hoist Lord Stanley.
Sure, you’ll watch the final two teams fight for all the glory, spill blood, pour sweat, with both sides shedding tears at the final outcome — but before you know it, it will be you, the fan, hypothetically crying, as summer and an ever long off-season skate into view. All while you’re left twiddling your thumbs, looking for any way to bide the time until training camp opens and the puck drops on a new season in October.
Of course, you’re probably thinking: Isn’t this a little preemptive? Isn’t the off-season still so far away? The harsh reality of the situation, is that once playoffs begin, fans are only a few sleepless nights away from the inevitable outcome, the nightmare of an abundance of time and nothing to fill it with. Perhaps you already have another sport lined up, ready and waiting for your undying devotion. But for many of you, hockey is the only sports love that gets your heart pumping, blood flowing and brings a smile to your face.
Why not transition those emotions into activities off the ice? Yes, it’s easier said than done, but having an off-season bucket list of sorts will help ease the pain of endless NHL Network re-runs and an over abundance of baseball on the TV.
Here are a few ideas that have skated towards the top of our off-season bucket list:
1. Buy an air hockey table. Whether a hockey player or fan, the competitive feeling you get on the ice or in the arena can be swept into the emotions of a game at home. Playing air hockey at the arcade has been a beloved affair for kids through adults — but owning a table of your very own should be on everyone’s list. A very important of note, pricing on air hockey tables range dramatically and there tends to be a table to fit almost every budget. A friendly resource for air hockey tables and so much more, Homeclick — the site offers a huge inventory.
2. Pick up roller hockey: This almost seems like a no-brainer, but the concept of roller hockey is often overlooked. For ice-hockey players, the benefits of grabbing a pair of blades, ball and a street hockey stick are endless. Street hockey sticks retail for $20 or less and a ball runs $8-10. The roller blades are a bit more costly but a lot of websites run great deals, not to mention second hand sports stores, local yard sales and sites like Craigslist are a cost effective alternative. It’s a fun way to practice stick handling and all of your on ice skills in a sunny, off-ice summer environment. Just remember the sunblock, you aren’t under the rink lights anymore.
3. Grow an Herb “Brooks” garden: Perhaps intense athletic activities aren’t your thing, and that’s okay. Or maybe you’re the type of person who looks for multiple off-season activities to fill your time — growing an herb garden is a great idea. Whether you have all the garden space in the world, or you’re confined to a pot on the balcony of your apartment, fresh herbs make so many summer recipes that much better. There are also quite a few ideas online for freezing the herbs you’ve grown all spring and summer in olive oil or by themselves for use further down the line — in an opening night dinner recipe perhaps. Don’t be afraid to add a little hockey flair to your garden by decorating each herb marker with a team logo or player. Stanley Sage, Toews Thyme, Predators Parsley, Chara Chives… you get the drift.
The off-season is the perfect time of year to explore new avenues and adventures. What are you waiting for, get your off-season bucket list going!
Photo: cbc.ca
After a minor set-back loss to the Calgary Flames on Friday night, the Rangers bounced back from their snapped win streak and shut out the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night, 5-0.
Both Mats Zuccarello and Rick Nash scored two goals each, and a power play goal by Derek Brassard. Unfortunately for Edmonton, two of those goals were short-handed scored by Zuccarello and Nash.
Henrik Lundqvist sat out tonight, deserving a much-needed rest. Cam Talbot earned his third shut out of the season, ending the game with 26 difficult saves. The Oilers kept the offense going, but Talbot was ready and stopped every single shot on goal.
The Rangers can really learn something on their Western Conference road trip: study, learn, and play west-coast style hockey. The Western Conference has some of the biggest names and most successful teams in the league. For the past six NHL seasons, four Western Conference teams have won the Stanley Cup. Those teams include the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, the Detroit Red Wings, the Los Angeles Kings, and the Chicago Blackhawks, who succeeded twice in hoisting Lord Stanley’s trophy. The Western Conference plays very offensively and their power play special teams are very developed. All Eastern Conference teams should be prepared when facing west coast teams, as they play on a completely different level of skill.
The Rangers, who now have a total of 88 points and 5th place in the Eastern Conference, may only need a few more wins the clinch their playoff spot. Boston and Pittsburgh already clinched their right to the 2014 post-season, and the Rangers are only a few points behind. Tonight’s win in Edmonton keeps them safe in second place in the Metropolitan Division.
(USA Today photograph)
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