Thursday’s bout between the Sharks and the Ducks was, no joke, San Jose’s biggest game of the season.
Battle royale for first place in the division? Packing punch for the push towards the post-season?
Oui, merci.
A big game calls for, you guessed it, a big outfit. And, I will admit, an ensemble that I had been trying to piece together for a couple of days.
Here’s how I ended up paperdoll-ing myself for the Pacific Division rumble:
The highlighted piece here is the stiff mini skirt with the aqua bow and abstract white and pink polka-dot detail. It even has a partial petticoat underneath it!
(Frock Fun Fact: The very first time I wore this, a cute guy passing by looked at it and asked if I had “fallen down the rabbit hole.” I’m not sure if he was being sincere or sarcastic, but either way, this is now referred to as my Alice In Wonderland skirt.)
Every other part of this outfit is built around this piece. Black polka dot stockings to mirror the spots on the skirt. Clean ballet flats and and structured leather jacket to balance out the skirt’s flouncy nature. Pink purse and super chunky pink infinity scarf–best Chanukah gift ever!–to bring out the pink of the spots.
STAY-WARM TIP: As you can imagine, this isn’t the warmest outfit I’ve ever worn to cover a hockey game. That’s why I stay stocked with shakeable hand warmers – the ones you buy at sporting goods stores. I hide them in my scarves during games, typically on the back of my neck.
Have a big game outfit you’d like to share? You can find me on Twitter at @ChelenaGoldman. I would love to hear from you!
Until next puck drop,
The Girl In The Black Tights
(Photo: fansided.com)
Hot on the heels of an impressive on-ice medal display in Sochi, Russia, Hockey Canada today announced Kevin Dineen as Head Coach of the Canada National Men’s Under-18 Team for the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship in Finland. Dineen was most recently Head Coach of Canada’s National Women’s Team, leading them to gold in Sochi.
In an interesting twist reminiscent of the February 23 gold medal game, Team Canada will take on Sweden in Canada’s first game of the tournament as the Swedes fight back for hockey dominance on the national stage. Canada will also face Germany, Slovakia and Russia in the preliminary round.
The 11-day tournament, held April 17 through April 27 in the Finnish communities of Lappeenranta and Imatra, will offer Dineen the opportunity to repeat the success of Sochi and apply his wealth of experience coaching in the NHL and AHL. As a player, Dineen represented Canada on six occasions, winning silver medals at the IIHF World Championships in both 1985 and 1989, and winning the Canada Cup in ’87 – a number now synonymous with hockey, Canada and gold. Additionally, Dineen took to the ice for 19 NHL seasons with teams including the Philadelphia Flyers, Carolina Hurricanes, Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets.
Trevor Letowski (Head Coach, Sarnia Sting, OHL) and Gord Murphy take the role of assistant coaches. Letowski and Murphy hail from Thunder Bay, ON and Willowdale, ON, respectively. The gig represents a milestone for Murphy, serving as Team Canada coaching staff for the first time. Murphy, 46, has a career spanning 14 NHL seasons playing for Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers and the now-defunct Atlanta Thrashers, before spending eight years as coaching staff for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Most recently, Murphy served as assistant coach with the Florida Panthers for parts of three seasons during 2010-13.
Letowski is also embarking on a first-time Team Canada coaching gig, bringing to the table a wealth of experience coaching in the OHL with Sarnia Sting for four seasons and playing in the NHL for 13 seasons with Phoenix Coyotes, Columbus Blue Jackets and Carolina Hurricanes. Letowski played 616 games over his NHL career and won a gold medal with Canada’s National Junior Team at the 1997 World Juniors.
“Representing Canada at any level is a great honour and a tremendous challenge,” said Dineen. “I am excited to work with Trevor and Gord, and assemble a team that will make Canada proud at the world championship.”
(Photo: bloguin.com)
This is a question that is asked day-in and day-out by everyone that knows anything about the game of hockey. People have really strong opinions, and I would not say that I’m any different. I also want to say, before I go on, that these opinions are mine and do not necessarily reflect the rest of The Pink Puck.
So does fighting still have a place in professional hockey? In my opinion, yes.
I don’t want to try and say every fight that happens in a given season can be justified, because sometimes players get carried away. But fighting has been part of the game for a long time and sometimes things just happen. It has to be easy to get caught up in the flow of the game when your adrenaline is flowing. Hockey is undeniably an emotional game. It’s fast and it’s physical.
Some players have described it as a way for players to police themselves for what happens on the ice. This ability is part of what has made hockey the game that it is today. It lets players react more naturally.
That is not to say that staged fighting necessarily still belongs in professional hockey. I don’t want to say players should feel like they have to fight or they won’t be able to fit into the game. Every player has a role and the guys that are willing to fight often serve a role that gets overlooked. Those guys that are willing to drop the gloves are also the guys providing the energy. They’re the ones always finishing their hits. They’re the ones making the other team afraid to take liberties.
I’m strongly opposed to fighting being removed from the game all together, but that does not mean that I don’t understand a need for regulation. There are definitely situations where it needs to be part of the game. At the same time, you don’t want players getting too carried away because that is when injuries happen.
The debate over fighting is a strong one. But, I think there are bigger problems in professional hockey that need to be addressed before we stress out about a fight that breaks out.What are those bigger problems? Illegal hits.
Hockey leagues across the board have been working to remove these dangerous hits and dangerous plays from the game. While they’re doing a good job, the job isn’t done yet. Players are still getting suspended and still need to be monitored for the protection of other players around the league. That begs the question: would this get worse without the fear of one teammate standing up for another?
It’s hard to tell. If you take fighting out of hockey, there might be no change in the cheap shots taken by other players without the fear of retaliation. Or it could make players more likely to play fast and loose with the rules.
Looking beyond the NHL to other leagues like the AHL and ECHL, fighting plays an even bigger role. You see much higher totals for the number of fighting majors handed out in a season. There usually seems to be a reason for this.
The minor leagues are a place for players to develop skills while hoping to make it to the NHL. These players are looking to get noticed, one way or another. For better or worse, showing that you are willing to stick up for your teammates has become one way to do that. This is not saying you’re going into the game planning to get into a fight. One player in the league talked out in terms of playing a physical game. The players are going in and showing that they can finish their hits to play a tough, physical game. Sometimes part of finishing your hits is defending that against a player from another team that takes exception.
Some people try to say that there are also a lot of staged fights in the AHL. While there might be more fights that are staged, there are also different relationships between the teams in the AHL and ECHL than there are between teams in the NHL. In these leagues, it’s not unusual for teams to get into the double digits with the times they face off against opponents. In the NHL, with teams playing more inter-conference games, you don’t play teams as often.
When you’re seeing another team that often, tensions build throughout the season. Bad feelings carry over from one game to the next. Players also get used to the way other teams play and feel more comfortable taking liberties. Fights become an even more important way for players to police themselves during the game.
The idea of fighting in hockey would not seem to be a black and white debate. To me, I can’t justify saying it should be taken out all together. But I also can’t say that it belongs in the sport without any sort of regulation. Have an opinion of your own? Don’t be afraid to share it in the comments of this article or with me on twitter (@jessicahigham).
Photo: USA Today Sports
What about a shutout against the St. Louis Blues could have Blackhawks fans and brass alike crying themselves to sleep and pinching themselves in the morning–hoping it was just a dream?
It was Coach Joel Quenneville’s 700th win, player Michal Handzus’ 1,000th game, and the big win brought the Hawks solely into second place in the Central Division while also stopping the Blues from clenching a playoff berth.
However, about midway through the second period in the 4-0 Chicago victory, Sheldon Brookbank checked the Blues’ Brendan Morrow, who fell backwards onto Patrick Kane’s leg, twisting it awkwardly. Kane stayed down for a moment that surely seemed like a lifetime for teammates, the Blackhawks organization, his parents in the stands, and the Patrick Kane Fan Club, before a wobbly skate off the ice.
He winced and swore (assumed from lip-reading) on the bench for a few minutes before heading back to the locker room. Eventually news spread to the NBC crew through Kane’s agent (quite the unique event from the usually tight-lipped Chicago organization) that Kane’s lower body injury would mean at least two weeks without play.
Without Kane, the rest of the team stepped up, continued to play hard, and fought out the win. Duncan Keith, Andrew Shaw, Marcus Kruger, and Ben Smith all scored in the game. The latter three goals came after Kane’s injury. Several players periodically fell to small pains, but managed to bounce back and battle it out. This is something they’ll need to do for a while if they want to continue into the playoff race.
Quenneville reported after the game that it’s more likely he’ll be out for three, which would take them to the post-season.
“He’s a special player and we’ll have to work our way through it knowing what he brings to our team,” Quenneville said. “It’s definitely a huge loss for us. We’ve been fortunate as far as not getting hit too hard (with injuries), but you’re going to get tested at some point.”
In late 2010, when Kane was out with an ankle injury, the Blackhawks went 5-2-1.
The Sporting News reported that Teuvo Teravainen has been released from the Finnish Federation and is on his way to Chicago. The Blackhawks have not said when he’ll be joining the team.
Eric Hartline- USA Today Sports-January 11, 2014
The Philadelphia Flyers have a grueling schedule to finish out the season and try to make a playoff push.
The Flyers have 14 games left in the season and 11 of them are against teams that are fighting for playoff positions. Those teams include the Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Columbus Blue Jackets, Tampa Bay Lightning and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Dallas Stars may be fifth in the Central Division, but they are fighting for the second wild card spot out West. They are 14-14-4 on the road and 6-3-1 in the last 10 games played. The Stars picked up Tyler Seguin in the off-season and he leads the team with 70 points and 31 goals. Jamie Benn is second on the team in scoring with 64 points, but the Stars offense drops off significantly after those two. The Stars score a lot of goals as a team but they also give up a lot of goals.
The St. Louis Blues are in first place in the NHL and in the Central Division with 101 points. The Flyers play them twice down the stretch, once at home and once on the road. The Blues are 22-9-3 on the road and 25-5-4 at home. The Blues are second in goals scored, third in goals against and the power play and penalty kill units are both in the top three in the NHL. Their scoring is spread out so the Flyers defense will have to step up big if they want to win these games.
The Los Angeles Kings are one of the stingiest teams in the NHL and have only allowed 144 goals on the season, but they don’t score a lot either. The Kings are currently in third place in the Pacific Division and in the playoff picture. Their leading scorer is Anze Kopitar and he only has 57 points on the season. Jonathan Quick has a 2.10 goals against average in 39 games played, while back up Martin Jones has a 1.90 goals against average in 16 games played. The Flyers will need to get traffic in front of the goalie if they want to score some goals.
The New York Rangers are battling with the Flyers for the third spot in the Metropolitan Division. The one good thing for the Flyers is that this is a road game for them and the Rangers are only 16-16-4 at home this season. The Rangers don’t score a lot of goals per game, but their goalies don’t allow that many goals per game either. Derek Stepan and Mats Zuccarello are tied for the scoring lead with 47 points apiece. They have a balanced scoring attack and the Flyers should expect a tough, physical game from them.
The Toronto Maple Leafs currently occupy the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. The team gives up about three goals against per game. If the Leafs want to win this game then they’ll have to stay out of the penalty box. They have the 28th penalty kill in the NHL, while the Flyers power play is operating at a 19.7 percent success rate this season.
The Flyers will face the Boston Bruins once at home and once on the road. The Bruins are 18-10-3 on the road and 28-7-2 at home. The Bruins are undefeated in their last 10 games and are a balanced team offensively and defensively. The Bruins and the Flyers both have seven players that have scored 15 or more goals this season. The Bruins are in the top ten in the NHL on both the power play and the penalty kill. If the Flyers expect to win either of their games against the Bruins, then they’re going to have to play a full 60-minute game. They’ll also have to limit their mistakes defensively because the Bruins will make them pay.
The Columbus Blue Jackets are getting some timely goal tending from Sergei Bobrovsky, last year’s Vezina Trophy winner. They are fighting for the second wild card spot in the East. The Flyers had to come from behind earlier in the season to beat the Blue Jackets 5-4.
The next two games are against teams that are out of playoff contention, but are the games where the Flyers might fall short. The Buffalo Sabres and the Florida Panthers are two of the worst teams in the league. The Flyers tend to get up for the big games, but don’t play with that same intensity against the weaker teams in the NHL. The Flyers have to come out strong in both of these games because the Sabres and Panthers will be looking to put a damper on the Flyers’ playoff hopes.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are second in the Atlantic Division and have Steven Stamkos back for the playoff push. They are 20-8-5 at home and 17-16-2 on the road. They tend to struggle on special teams but can score goals. They have a pretty balanced team scoring-wise.
The Philadelphia Flyers vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins is one of the best rivalries in the NHL. They’re physical and the Flyers always seem to get up for the big game against the Pens. The Penguins have the best power play in the league and are ranked third on the penalty kill. This should be an entertaining game even if both teams’ playoff fates are sealed.
The Carolina Hurricanes will be looking to play the role of spoiler when they play the Flyers on the last day of the season. The Flyers need to stay focused and not let the Hurricanes come out and jump all over them. The Hurricanes don’t have good special teams and have given up more goals than they have scored this season.
The Flyers may have a grueling schedule, but if they play team defense and can score timely goals, then they should get through it and be in the playoffs come April 16.
Photo: 700level.com
The reigning Stanley Cup champions carry a lot of pressure. A couple of losses means a slump. A slump means they’ve lost “it.” And, a goal past any goalkeeper on the squad means a bunch of uninformed, ill-educated, (perhaps the term bandwagon rings a bell) “fans” calling for their removal, if not their heads. Enough already.
In fact, Corey Crawford’s gear mysteriously vanished in conjunction with the Stadium Series at Soldier Field earlier this month.
Chicago didn’t give up the number of players after the Cup this year that they did after 2010’s championship. And, while they didn’t come out streaking like last year, their season (39-15-15) hasn’t exactly been one to cry about.
They sit at seventh place as March edges toward an end. Unfortunately, they’re also third in the Central Division.
This is where there does need to be a push for some more passionate play. The team does need to work harder to hold on to leads, to play full games, to pull their wins back up before it’s too late.
Tuesday night, they lost to the Flyers in overtime.
It started great, as many games this season have–with a goal from Andrew Shaw (Michal Handzus, Patrick Sharp) and a goal by Duncan Keith (Captain Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa) early in the first period. But, Scott Hartnell (Braydon Coburn; then Giroux, Matt Read) tied it up with two goals before first intermission.
Even Bryan Bickell hand, well, fist-feeding Wayne Simmonds a knuckle sandwich midway through the third couldn’t give the Hawks the boost they needed to take the lead.
With just seconds left in overtime, Giroux scored a beauty of a goal to win the game.
Shots on goal were 37-25 favoring Philly.
This followed what looked like an easy win (4-1) against the Red Wings Sunday.
Since the Olympic break, their record is 4-4-1.
Their losses have been close. They just can’t seem to seal the deal.
And, the moment where they need to, well, that’s come — tonight, against the St. Louis Blues, who currently hold first place in the league and could clinch the home playoff advantage with a win tonight.
Going into the game this year, Chicago hasn’t beaten them in three tries. The Blues have won eight of their last nine games, flying high following the Olympic break.
“It’s going to be a fun game, a good challenge,” Duncan Keith said. “They’ve got a lot of depth on that team. It seems like they’ve been building that team, that same group of guys, for three or four years now, and you know they’re going to be hungry.”
While the Blackhawks aren’t at risk of falling from playoff contention at the moment (they are 16 points ahead of Phoenix, the next-highest potential Wild Card team), they aren’t looking like a Cup-worthy team, either.
A win tonight, on home ice, could break the Blues’ dominant streak against them, give Coach Joel Quenneville his well-deserved 700th victory, and take second place in their division–not to mention giving them a boost of confidence!
The Blues are a physical, gritty, determined team.
“We know how good they [the Blues] are as a team, they’re playing well,” Toews said. “It comes down to how prepared we are and how bad we want it. That’s what it’s all about.
“If we thought the game [Tuesday night] was tough and physical, it’s going to be a whole other story [Wednesday] night. So we’ve got to turn the page and be ready and play like we know we can.”
The Blackhawks need want it. They need to out-skate and out-shoot the opponent while avoiding the penalty box. They need to play smart, energetic hockey–Blackhawk hockey.
Nowadays, you can find about a million different ideas regarding painting your nails. While I’m capable of painting my nails with a little steadier ability than the average 5 year old — painting elaborate designs with a toothpick just isn’t my style. Trust me, if I could, I absolutely would… but it’s just not a talent that I was gifted with. The most artistic I’ve ever gotten was with our Goalie Mask Nail Tutorial — and that was still a challenge.
But like most girls, sometimes I desire something a little different than the basic two coats of color. Cue adding a little sparkle to the nail life. No, I’m not talking about an entire coating of glitter circa 80’s prom — I’m talking a faint subdued combo that adds a little sparkle while remaining appropriate for whatever your week holds. By week, I mean the 3 minutes that my nails actually look stellar, and then it’s smudge city because I didn’t give them adequate drying time, because playing with the dog or heading to the rink was just a better option.
I’m not a fan of spending $10 for a bottle of nail polish that I will ultimately use three times in my life. If you want to put the money towards something, pick a great bottle of basecoat/topcoat, because you’ll use it every time. I’m not saying that I don’t own any expensive nail polish, I own about 40 colors because, who doesn’t? But they range in price and that’s okay!
I’m a firm believer in the application process being the main factor in how your nails look, not the cost of the polish itself.
Materials
Orly, Spring Shower Kisses, $5.99
Wet n’ Wild, Mega Blast Gold, $.99
Sally Hansen Strong as Nails Basecoat/Topcoat, $8.99
The application order:
Basecoat
Two coats of Spring Shower Kisses
One coat of Mega Blast Gold
Topcoat
Photo: NBC Sports
For a hockey fan, the boarding you’re most familiar with may result in a two minute stay in the penalty box. But for fans of everything winter, a different kind of boarding exists. It’s exciting, it’s extreme and the talent that makes it so competitive is often of a special variety. U.S. Olympic snowboarder Alex Deibold possess all of the qualities that make an athlete great, and he has an Olympic medal to prove it.
Finding a stride early in life and falling in love with a sport is key to success at the later stages in life.
“I started snowboarding in 1989 when I was four years old. I had been skiing for two years and I saw snowboarders at the local mountain, Bromley, in Vermont, and I told my mom I wanted to try it. For Christmas that year, I got a snowboard and haven’t looked back since.”
While most may find the concept of snowboarding to be an individual attraction, the truth is that many find enjoyment in turning it into a family affair.
Photo: NBC Sports
“It’s a family activity, growing up, skiing and snowboarding was always our family activity. Every weekend, we would all get together and ski and snowboard. There would be a group of eight of us: my parents, my sister, my two cousins, my aunt and uncle. Every single weekend we would get together and that’s what we did together. I was the first one in our family to snowboard of the eight of us and now everybody snowboards except for one, my aunt never picked it up.”
Finding amusement with family on the mountain is one thing, but similar to all areas of life, the inspiration to follow ones dreams is often found in the style of someone who has already exceeded expectations.
“Growing up, I always idolized Craig Kelly and Ross Powers, I used to be a half pipe rider and Ross was always the guy I looked up to. I never got to board with Craig, before he was killed in an avalanche, but Ross is actually a good personal friend of mine now and we’ve spent a lot of time snowboarding together.”
The camaraderie formed on a field, court, rink or mountain forges the way for former idols to become teammates, coaches and above all, friends.
“It’s really cool, it’s been pretty awesome. In 2002, I was at high school when he [Ross] won the gold medal in Salt Lake City. He’s a coach now, he hung up his boots, he was competing only a couple of years ago — but we trained together for 2 or 3 years and we’re good friends now.”
While modeling style and perfecting runs to make it to the podium is one thing, appreciating athletes in other sports, away from the competitive stage merits mention.
“Off the mountain, Peyton Manning has been a big inspiration of mine, the way he is such a humble champion. I think a lot of people could take notes from the way he carries himself professionally.”
Patience is a virtue and learning to harness it when looking to join anything new is a key to success. Whether it be pursuing a recreational sport or transitioning it to a professional level — everyone starts somewhere.
“My biggest advice would be, be patient, it takes at least five or six days to get into it. The learning curve is pretty slow and you have to spend a lot of time in the snow, you’ll be pretty sore, but the learning curve changes pretty quickly. If you’re patient and you stick with it, the rewards are worth the time spent in the snow.”
Years of devotion, hard work and pursuit of a dream have landed Deibold on the world stage on countless occasions. Most recently catching attention at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, where the label ‘underdog’ followed the 27-year-old continuously.
Photo: NBC Sports
“I think the key to my success in Sochi was treating it like it was any other race, my mental preparation was the exact same as all the other world cups in the lead up to it. I think being a little bit less of a name, my teammate Nate has won eight X Game gold medals and Nick Bombgartner has had a bunch of world cup victories, having a spotlight shine on those two helped me avoid some of the pressure and just focus on my own snowboarding — which is the key to my success. Not worrying about the big picture or the medals, or sponsors. Just focusing on the really small details helped me with nerves and my mental prep worked out and I ended up walking away with some hardware.”
While the dream to ride may have always been there, the realization that it could be a reality didn’t jump into play at the start.
“I think I was probably 13 or 14 years old when I went to amateur national championships and I got a medal in my first time competing in it. Some local coaches recruited me to go to a ski academy and that was when I thought, maybe I’ve got a chance at doing this professionally.”
Competing across the globe and riding more breathtaking mountains than some will ever see, playing favorites occasionally comes into play.
“My favorite place to snowboard is Hokkaido, Japan. I haven’t been back there in awhile, the culture, the food and the snowboarding are unbelievable. It’s beautiful, it snows more than they know what to do with and there’s typically no one around. I don’t know how to translate it into hockey terms, but maybe it would be like having a clean outdoor sheet of ice all to yourself. Just beautiful.”
Many athletes train their entire lives for a chance to represent their country on the international stage. While the Olympics are an experience laced with pride and accomplishment, the avenues traveled to reach that point are equally as special.
“Winning a bronze medal is going to be a lifetime achievement and something that I’ll always cherish. But I’ve been competing in World Cups for so long, that a year ago in Russia–actually at the same venue that I picked up my Olympic medal–I got my first World Cup podium and it took me 31 starts, meaning 31 races which is almost 5 years. I’d been so close for so many years, so to finally break the ice and be on the podium kind of changed everything. I’ve had two more podiums since then in the last year. I don’t know if I’m just finally hitting my stride or things are finally clicking, but the first world cup podium was probably the hardest one to get.”
Photo: @adeibold
For the love of the sport, it doesn’t matter what you play, it’s the passion for it that envelopes you into the desire to prosper. Whatever you love, you love it for what it gives to you — ultimately hoping that it will love you back.
“I think the thing that makes snowboarding so special to me, is that you have the ability to make it whatever you want. With or without instruction, there are so many walks of life that do it. It’s something you share with a huge group of people, but it’s something that you can also make uniquely your own. It’s really apparent right away, how you express yourself and how you ride — it’s something that I really love about snowboarding, the ability to make it your own.”
The ability to make it your own is a concept that may pull riders to the mountain every winter season. But training is a requirement that spans all four seasons, both on and off the snow.
“You definitely have the unique training regime, you have the springtime sort of off, but you can keep snowboarding, take a surf trip or have some time off, whatever you choose to do. But things start ramping up in June, it’s a lot of dry land training in the summer and we usually take two trips, we will be on snow in Oregon in June and then again in August somewhere in the southern hemisphere. Its a lot of plyometrics, strength and power exercises, getting your body strong enough to compete at the elite level and making sure it’s healthy enough to handle the abuse you’re going to put it through.”
Boarding away from the competitive nature of the sport, it takes a certain personality and outlook, linked with talent to garner advancement.
“Positive, happy and fun loving. I try to have a glass half full outlook on everything that I do, just because I found that if you focus of the positives, it makes every experience more enjoyable, whether it’s snowboarding or I work at a bike shop, I like to focus on the positives, it’s a more enjoyable experience. I’m definitely a dork though!”
Following a grueling schedule to prepare for competitions is all part of the sport. With Sochi only a month in the past, it’s the future filled with opportunity that blankets the mountain of freshly fallen snow.
“More of the same, I’m still committed to working hard and training for boardercross. But I’d also like to take the chance on other opportunities that are put in front of me to express myself in other aspects of snowboarding. I’m going to try to ride more backcountry, hut trips and snowcap trips and heli, riding in Alaska, trying to find my way into the bigger, deeper mountains. But at the same time, I’ll be committing myself to a full world cup schedule.”
With a full schedule in the books and subsequently on the horizon, one would assume that a break from the slopes would be a priority.
“I love snowboarding, one thing that I’m really lucky to do, if you look at a lot of other sports, figure skating or ski jumping, or whatever it is, gymnastics — in their downtime, you don’t necessarily see them doing their sport. In snowboarding, when I have a day off from training, I go and snowboard anyway, that’s what I do for fun. I think we’re unique and fortunate in that way, to do something that I love literally all the time.”
Photo: adeibold.com
As a New England native, winter sports come with the territory. Although athletically inclined, a future in hockey was never in the cards, but an appreciation for the game was and still is.
“I’ve never actually played ice hockey in any competitive forum, I definitely grew up skating in Vermont, I’m a Bruins fan for sure. Being from New England, I’m a Boston fan through and through.”
Always quick to honor fellow athletes,the completion of the Olympics saw NHL teams across the league honoring Olympians at different arenas. The Boston Bruins were one of those teams, honoring not only their own Olympians in Patrice Bergeron, Loui Eriksson and Tuukka Rask — but local ones as well for a ceremonial puck drop prior to their game against the Florida Panthers on March 4th.
“It was so cool, it was so much cooler than I thought it would be. It’s funny, you get to meet a bunch of the players after the game and a bunch of them had just come from the Olympics as well, so we were trading stories and discussed how our experiences were different. They told us what it was like coming back, they had to get on the ice two days after coming back from Russia and that’s some serious jetlag and exhaustion to battle with. It was super cool, getting to be on the ice, meeting the players, I have my own jersey, overall an amazing experience.”
In Olympic terms, supporting athletes from other sports as they ski, skate or twirl their way to the podium is a celebrated way to spend downtime. Getting to be center ice for one of the biggest events is a ticket any hockey fan would drop the gloves for — the spirited, heated and heartbreaking loss for the United States.
“The USA/Canada semi final for men was a close game, it was exciting the whole time through. Obviously being American, the outcome was a little disappointing. It was a different experience. Watching the Bruins game and watching the USA game, they played different hockey. The pace is different, it’s more a sense of national pride when you’re at the Olympics watching, it was a fun thing to do. Going with my teammates, cheering and yelling. An awesome experience over in Russia.”
The pursuit of a snowboarding dream has shed new light on the winter sport already enjoyed by many. The passion, endurance, four-season devotion and love for the mountain that Deibold exudes is enough to power anyone to hang up their skates and try on some boots, exchanging ice for snow, even for just a day.
Want to know more about Alex?
Twitter: @adeibold
Instagram: adeibold
alexdeibold.com
The 2014 Clarkson Cup playoffs began today at 11 a.m., when the Toronto Furies bested the Calgary Inferno 3-2. This was the first in a six-game round robin in which the top four teams in the 2013-2014 CWHL regular season face off in a bid for a spot in the championship game on Saturday.
This year, the Boston Blades will defend their title against the Montreal Stars, Toronto Furies, and Calgary Inferno in an attempt to earn their second straight Cup victory.
The Clarkson Cup schedule is as follows:
Wednesday, March 19:
Calgary @ Toronto – 11 a.m. ET
Montreal @ Boston – 7:30 p.m. ET
Thursday, March 20:
Boston @ Toronto- 11 a.m. ET
Montreal @ Calgary – 7 p.m. ET
Friday, March 21:
Montreal @ Toronto – 11 a.m. ET
Boston @ Calgary @ – 7:30 p.m. ET
Saturday, March 22:
Championship game – 2 p.m. ET
Tickets can be purchased at www.ClarksonCup.com. The price is $10 for the elimination games and $15 for the final. All 2014 Clarkson Cup games will be available for viewing online by The Streaming Sports Network except for the Championship game which will air on The Sports Network, check local listings for TSN broadcast times in your area. You can also follow along at the ClarksonCup Twitter.
(photo: cwhl.ca)
The Canadian Women’s Hockey League held their annual awards ceremony on Tuesday, March 18 at the Hilton Toronto-Markham Suites Conference Centre and Spa. The event served the dual purpose of celebrating the athletes whose performances have stood out throughout the 2013-2014 season and kicking off the start of the CWHL’s playoff series for the Clarkson Cup and the title of champion.
The event included remarks from Prime Minister Stephen Harper and businesswoman Arlene Dickenson.
Last night’s winners are as follows:
You can follow the progress of the Clarkson Cup on Twitter or online streaming by The Streaming Sports Network.
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