Home, home on the ice!

So.  Title.  Not the best I've come up with.  Get over it.

Home opener for the K-Wings went better than I expected.  I lined up my ride to future games (For environmental reasons only, obviously.), got a few papers graded, sported my Penguin's pride, got reacquainted with the folks in my section...  Oh!  And I watched a pretty damn good hockey game.  Mostly.  Although the first power play left something to be desired.  Which we then got to see in the subsequent power plays.  Props.

The start of the game was a tad disjointed.  You know, what with the technical difficulties of getting the divisional and conference championship banners to come down.

Pretty trophy.  The banners finally made their way down sometime during the first period (I think...maybe it was the second...).  I totally brought my camera with me to the game and could have taken pictures.  But, I forgot.  As per usual.  Pretty sure I only took my eyes off the game to check the Pen's score (unfortunately not the outcome I wanted).  Also, I hate missing parts of the game.  (I have never been able to understand how people can get up in the middle of a period.  Hockey > need for gross arena food/beer.)  First game of the season meant we got to hear the Canadian National Anthem as well!  No offense to my own nationality, but it's soooo much better than ours.  (Not hard when ours originates as a drinking song.  Way to go, USA.)  When it stays in the same key all the way through, that is.  She did an admirable job and parts of it were really nice, but the switching keys in a couple spots...  Well, not part of the song.  Weirdly enough, no one thought to get the Cyclones out on the ice before the anthems were sung.

We DID get an introduction to the opening night roster. I'd done a little research (as previously mentioned) beforehand.  I'm pretty excited to see how our second goalie does.  Hopefully he'll get put in next weekend.  UPDATE:  Monsieur Clermont got the call to Albany.  Sneaky little Devil.  We've brought on Tom Schaul as the emergency bench-sitter.  He's an expert.  Also, he played for the University of Oklahoma.  (The only correct way to say that would've been to break into the "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKlahoma..." song.

Now imagine random people breaking out into song in the middle of a college campus.  Believe it or not, I have experienced this.  It's a little creepy.  Thank you, Presbyterian Youth Triennieum 2007.)  Returning to the topic at hand.

Maxime Clermont.  Wearing numero trente-cinq for the K-Wings, a sixth round draft pick by the Devils in 2010.  (Recently signed a three year entry-level contract with the Devs and got assigned HERE!  Maybe he'll be a yo-yo this season.)  And, obviously, he's French Canadian!  I have no idea why this is so exciting to me.  Maybe it's Fleury.  He's softened me up toward French Canadian goalies...  Totally valid.  Clermont is coming off a four year career in the Q, playing for the Gatineau Olympiques.  (For you Penguins fans, you should know this team.  Maxiiiiiiiiiiiime, as in Talbot, won two championships for them and captained them and won back-to-back Guy Lafleur trophies for playoff MVP.  2003-2004 season was also the season that Sidsters played for Rimouski.  Poor Max was second in like...everything that regular season.  But hey, who doesn't want to be second to Jesus?  Do your best to forget he plays for the Flyers now.)  Oh.  I was talking about the K-Wings, you say?  I was, wasn't I.  Well, then please ignore the fact that abou 75% of this paragraph was not about the Maxime Clermont.

Now, the players who DID play...  Brandon Svendsen was on fire.  Scored two goals and was soooo close to getting the HT until some silly, silly Cyclone gots himself all tangled up with Svendsen.  Not cool.  So Karlander took the empty net.

Fun facts about Svendsen's playing career:
1) He played a season in juniors with Teddy Purcell of the Tampa Bay Lightning (jerk-faces--obviously I still have some resentment there).
2) He played two seasons of college hockey with teammate, David Solway: Svendsen's junior and senior year.  For Bowling Green.  If that wasn't already obvious.
3) It is highly unlikely he will sit down here in the ECHL for an entire season or very long at all.  Especially since most of his time the last two years has been in the AHL and it certainly doesn't look like he's slumping.  As much as I'd like to keep him for our very own, I suppose furthering his hockey career is also important.  Damn him.

Oh Captain, my captain!

Am I overdoing it with the cliches yet?  Also, he's a lot harder to find appropriate pictures of.  By appropriate, I mean something not a head shot and not a photo shoot.  Wes O'Neill played exactly how I expected.  Well, physical, and...a fight to cap off the night.  It was a decent fight.  Obviously being in Kalamazoo brings out the best.  Fun fact: O'Neill fought more last season in the Zoo than in any other previous season of professional or junior hockey.  I have no idea why I keep talking about him and fighting, since he doesn't really do it all that often (unless you're comparing him to Zbynek Michalek--congrats on the goal in the Peg; at least one Pen scored--who has only had one professional fight in the AHL).  What else is there to say, except hopefully we'll keep our claws dug into O'Neill for a little longer than last season.  (I'm trying to come up with a nickname.  I can't call him Cappy, because that would obviously be sacrilegious.  And I can't call him Neiller, because that belongs to Nealer, AKA James Neal.)

Speaking of James Neal, I'd like to take a moment to profess my love and adoration.  I've been pretty excited for him since we got him at the deadline last season and am very happy that he's living up to, and surpassing, expectation.  Another fun fact (I've got a shitload of these.): James Neal's junior career?  He spent four years with the Plymouth Whalers.  With Andrew Fournier (BABYFACE!  I missed seeing you on the ice this weekend.).  And Ryan Nie.  For the first three years--he was then replaced by Michal Neuvirth.  Logically following this (get that...O'Neill--Neal--Plymouth Whalers--Babyface...), I decided it was time to see how Fourny is doing in Europe.  Thank you European leagues, because lookie at what I found.

Tip #1? Eliminate "uh."  Lolz.  There was another thing about him from Steelers TV, but it's mostly in Swedish.  I'm not that smart, and don't plan on translating it.  So far, he's got 12 points (4 G, 8 A) in 10 games with Olofstrom IK, who is sitting pretty at the top of their league.  Kudos.  (Also, I can't remember if this is in the above interview or the mostly Swedish one, but he says something about having worked construction all summer.  The life of a minor-league hockey player.)

The other D-man who stood out?  Elgin Reid. 

I DO remember watching him play for Florida last season and being impressed.  He must have been decent since I had hawkeyes on BabyJStaal for most of the time to see how he was shaping up and I still noticed Reid.  And he made himself known against Cincy.  Loverly.  OH!  Naughty.  (Get your mind out of the gutter.  Please.  We are not at marching band camp.)  Mr. Reid got himself into a bit of trouble last winter with a DUI.  Boozin', no cruisin', boy!  If you haven't figured it out yet, Elgin played a season in Wheeling.  He's holding the kid.  Who I'm led to believe is not his, but Erik Johnson's.  Who is standing to Elgin's left.

Obviously I should be taking notes at the games, because my memory sucks ass.  Or I should just be more on top of things and finish posts when I start them and post them in a timely fashion.  It would be really helpful if the K-Wings posted practice reports and game previews (I hearts you, Pen's communications dept!), but I realize that this is an ECHL team struggling to make money.  So, whatevs. 

JT the younger, aka Babyface Jr., aka Brian Kinney's BF, aka Justin Taylor looked decent out there.  He didn't stand out in a bad way, but, fair warning, I have some HIGH expectations for him this season.  (It was a little disconcerting to see him sporting number 93 on the ice and Taylor Ellington dressed in 23, but I'll get used to it.  Looks like 93 was his original number anyway.  Not that this has any affect whatsoever on his playing abilities.  Also, get it.  Taylor...Taylor!  I loled in my head at that one.  Mostly because I think I'm funnier than I really am.)

JT the older and Taylor.  Justin and Taylor.  Like I said, I think I'm clever.  They even have the same smile.  Creepy.  I refuse to put the Biebs and TSwift picture up here.  I can't have Bieber taking over.  Wrong.  (The only Bieber allowed is Jeff Skinner.  Thank the Cane's locker room chirping for that comparison.)  FUN FACT:  Babyface, Jr.'s first fight?  In the OHL against currently injured Penguin, Dustin Jeffrey.  I'm just now realizing that I may have posted this before, but I really don't care.  Totally worth watching again.

Nicely done, boyos. 

I think I'll hold off on more assessment until I've seen tomorrow night's game.  Pretty sure Babyface, Jr. is going to be my new favorite.  But, anything is possible.  Well.  Almost anything.  I doubt I'll get to watch my boy JStaalsy play in Kalamazoo.  Ever.  I hope I just jinxed that and made it a possibility.

For those of you wanting updates on the other former K-Wings:
Ryan Nie is playing for Lillehammer IK.  He's played all 11 games so far and is 5-6-0 (W-L-T).
Bryan Jurynec is playing for Coventry Blaze of the Elite League in the U.K.  I'm attempting to navigate through their website.  Because of the HUGE differences in how the league works, it's more confusing than the Swedish website.  Go figure.  More research...
So it's a 10 team league.  Somehow, Coventry is 6 and 3 on the season and they've played 13 games.  My kind of math.  (I'm guessing this has something to do with cup challenges (???) and other kinds of games.  No clue.  Foreign language.  You know, English.)  Jurynec has played 11 games, has 5 assists and, GET THIS, 52 penalty minutes.  Not surprised.  But, definitely curious...  Found it!
Game against Nottingham (First image that comes to mind?  Sheriff of Nottingham.  In the Disney version of Robin Hood.): 2 for instigating, 5 for fighting, 10 for misconduct, and 20 for a game misconduct.  And some lovely person was nice enough to video the fight.

Darryl Lloyd.  Oh man, I don't know how I MISSED this.  But, he's also playing in the Elite League.  For Belfast.  12 games, 1 goal, 4 assists, 32 penalty minutes.  I'm guessing he's got at least one fight under his belt...  Ok, seriously unsatisfying.  All minor penalties.  Boy needs to learn to play a little cleaner.  Oh wait, that's nothing new!  Though it looks like there's someone else on his team beating him out for dirtiest player.

Others:
-Brian McMillan (only played a handful of games) is playing in the CHL for the Allen Americans (affiliated with the Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche).  Their regular season home opener is Friday.
-Dean Strong may be returning to us.  I'm sure he hopes he doesn't, seeing as he's playing in Chicago in the AHL on a PTO.  He's played 2 games and is a -1.  (Fun fact #71.87: Matt Clackson is also playing for the Chicago Wolves.  As in former WMU player and Pittsburgh native.)
-Jay Sprague (almost doesn't count, what with his 4 games...) is playing in the CHL for the Tulsa Oilers.
-Aaron Clarke, who I quite liked, seems to have disappeared off the face of google.  At least, recently.  That's a hint.  If you know where/if he's playing this season, let me know.  Unless he's suddenly become a British footballer.
-Brady Leisenring has returned to Germany to play for ESV Kaufbeuren. He's in the same league in which he spent the 08-09 and 09-10 seasons.  7 games: 2 G, 5 A.
-Mike Sellitto was released from the Elmira Jackals last week, so he's looking for a job.  Lucks.
-Brian McGuirk.  I'm disappointed to have to tell y'all that he's no longer playing.  He's working as a trainer with Marc Bastarache in Salem, NH for Top Gun Hockey.  I suppose if that's what he likes to do, he should.
-Blake Friesen: M.I.A.  Lots of old info, but nothing new.  Maybe he's doing something with his college degree.
-John Kivisto (another 4-gamer) went to Michigan Tech.  Pretty sure that's all I can tell you.
-Jon Landry has a goal and an assist in 2 games with the Colorado Eagles (Welcome to the ECHL!).
-Steve Tarasuk has 1 assist in 2 games with the Ontario Reign, fellow ECHL team.
-Justin Coutu...out of a job?  No clue.  Apparently google CAN'T answer everything.  Shucks.
-Ryan McGinnis is a +1 in 2 games with the Florida Everblades, so we'll be seeing him again at some point this season.
-Corey Syvret's got 1 assist in 1 game with the Trenton Devils so far.  Wait, nix that.  Trenton Titans.  They're affiliated with the Flyers now, instead of the Devils.  And there was some sort of drams with management and such, I think...  So.  Trenton Titans.  (Let's be real, it's hard to take a step down from the Devils, but they managed it.)
-Mitch Versteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeg!  How could I have waited so far down the list???  I completely and unashamedly would like him BACK, please.  He's also in Trenton.  Poor guy.  Jersey.  Ugh.  I had such high hopes for him this season.  He'll just have to put that on hold until I can kill whoever I need to kill to get him back on the K-Wings roster.
-A.J. Thelen kind of makes my heart break.  I have no idea how I missed this last season.  I kinda wish he had gotten his act together a little more after the dismissal from MSU.  We'll never know.  The last I can tell, we had the rights to him back in July, but I can't seem to find any more recent info.  Just a lot of people whining about how he sucks.  (Bitter Minnesotans.)
We also had a string of emergency backup goalies.  They got to ride the bench.

I considered raving about the latest Penguins win here.  Oh, wait.  I'm going to.  Pens defeated Minny 4-2 on Tuesday.  Dupers was awesome.  Jordy was awesome.  The whole fucking team was awesome.  Neal was awesome.  TK was outtie with a concussion and probably will be for a while.  Most importantly: WINNER!  2 points in the books.  Here is some excellent proof of the boys' hard work:

Umm.  That.  Face.  Is.  Epic.  Obviously, this is not during the game.  Hence helmet-less Duper.  But, if that's the kind of face you have to make to have a stellar game, you go, Dupers! 

I thought this was eerily appropriate for this blog.  Pretty sure Staal can reach a puck on the opposite side of the ice without moving his feet.

Yes, you SHOULD be congratulating your goalie.  BJ was a rock in net.  As per usual.  There was a scary moment where it looked like he might be injured, but he got himself back up and finished the game.  He was getting a shitton of love from Steigey and Bob on Root Sports.  I think I heard the phrases "toughest goalie in the league" and "best pure back-up goalie in the league" mentioned.  That's right.  Because they're TRUE.

Music moment of the day: WEEZER!  In honor of the fact that Toledo is coming to town tomorrow night and Scott Shriner is from Toledo.

Fun fact about Scott Shriner?  The last band he played with in Toledo was called "The Great Barbeque Gods."  Umm.  Really?  Awesome.  This would be a good moment to thank my older (and best and only) sister for having such fantastic taste in music and introducing it to me.  If you'll note, "Buddy Holly" was released in 1994 when I wasn't quite six years old.

Peace outs.  Game tonight.  Go Pens!  Game tomorrow.  Go K-Wings!  Birthday Sunday.  Go me!  (23 on the 23rd.  How cool is that??)

Road trippin'

The regular season is finally upon us!  Hallelujah!  Thanks be to Crosby!

I'm going to take this moment to mention that Sidsters is lookin' good in practice.  Hopefully he'll be back and ready for a game soon, since he's officially CLEARED FOR CONTACT!

It is very exciting for me to be able to say that I have watched the first three games in their entirety and only missed the first half of the game on Tuesday (Yummy Indian food at Saffron!  Thanks mom and dad!). 

Yay!  As much as I wish I could keep up the pace all season, I know it's just not going to happen.  We came home from the road trip with five points under our belts and no regulation losses.  We also came home with an injured Geno.  Personally, I'm crossing my fingers--and my toes--and anything else I can get my hands on--that it's just a teensy-weensy, minor setback.  Not playing, playing and now not playing tonight?  I'm not sure that it bodes well.  I was very excited that we beat Florida in the home opener.  Though, let's be real, one of the goals against us should never have happened.  Tsk, tsk.  It's ok.  Came out of it with a WIN.

Umm...Washington.  I'd like to take a moment to say that I hate playing them.  Bastards.  You realize we are now 0-8-0 on home ice against them in the last 8 games in Pitt?  And Hovechkin thinks it's like...scoring heaven? 

WRONG.  We need to change that next time around.  It was, however, a well-fought (not referring to Asham's post-fight gestures) game.  Definitely a lower score than I expected at least!  The tying goal was a beauty.  Got my hopes all up and everything!

Side note on Asham.  I will say that the fight was a beauty (I mean, seriously!  Did you SEE that punch???) and at least he kept a hold of Beagle's jersey as he was falling, keeping him from smacking his head back against the ice.  The gestures afterward...  Well, obviously not well though-out.  And offensive.  And just plain bad.  I'm glad he's not trying to defend the actions and I'm glad we're not trying to defend him either.

By we, of course, I mean the team of which I am not technically a part of.  MY team, as in my fantasy team (For the extended commentary, see previous post.) is kicking ass as well.  There are a couple changes that are going into effect tomorrow.  I've traded out Johan Hedberg (MOOOOOOOSE!) for BJ,

backup extraordinaire.  Apologies to Goose, who no longer has an animal bestie.  Also, to my great surprise, I discovered that no one had picked up Cookie-Monster! 

Now, I understand he's not the most popular player in the league.  I understand--not really--if maybe you're morally against having a Penguin on your fantasy team.  (Kind of like how I would be morally opposed to having Ovechkin.)  But, Matt Cooke, despite having a reputation for being a dirty player, is fantastic for fantasy hockey!  (Also, REAL hockey.  But that is not the point.)  He scores goals.  He has line-mates that score goals.  He plays on the penalty kill--very well.  He plays on power play sometimes.  He racks up the penalty minutes.  He shoots quite frequently.  One of the most well-rounded players in terms of fantasy stats.  It's appalling he didn't get drafted in my league at all.  (My apologies for not doing it sooner.)  My league manager finally changed it so that players listed on the IR list could, you know, actually be put on IR.  So there Sid went.  And now I have an empty spot.  I'm hoping that my waiver request will go through Monday and I'll pick up Steve Downie (PLEASE, don't shoot me!  Or don't let me shoot myself!  I can't stand this guy usually!).  I need the penalty minutes.  It's the category I'm seriously lacking in.  So I'm hoping between Cookie and Downie I'll get somewhere.  I AM at the top of my league now.  Woot, woot.  And all of my boys are playing tonight.

Moving on from fake hockey and back to real hockey.  I will not be watching tonight's game.  :(  K-Wings home opener is tonight and I cannot WAIT!  I'm hoping that a few more practices together will have helped the new guys meld better.  (The preseason game I went to...well, they lost badly.)  I have yet to decide who my new favorite is, since Babyface is gone.  (Cue tears.)  I'll put that off until at least after tonight.  I DO have a fun fact to share, though!  It's kinda baller.  No lies.
Two current K-Wings both fought the same current NHLer in the space of a month when they were all playing in the AHL.  When said current NHLer was playing in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.  Said NHLer?  Paul Bissonnette (AKA @BizNasty2point0).  Said K-Wings?  Wes O'Neill and Darryl Bootland.  (Bootland and Bissonnette have also both squared off against Brandon Prust, of the the New York Rangers, a billion times.  Bissonnette did it three times in two games.)  I would totally post videos, except no one was thoughtful enough to film them and put them up on youtube.  Boo hiss.
Back to current events, the K-Wings are playing the Cyclones tonight.  My plan is for the K-Wings to kick some ass and score some goals.  Hopefully they're on the same page.
Side bar:  Another fun fact (I know, I've got too many of these): two Cyclone d-men have NHL older brothers who faced each other in the 2010 Olympic gold medal game.  Keith Seabrook and Garrett Suter.  Hockey royalty, that one.
Oh!  Tonight!  It looks like Riley Gill will be starting in net, which I am super excited about.  I think he's going to do well with more playing time.  I was looking through the bios for the guys yesterday (they finally got posted!) and happened upon a couple of comedians.  Darryl Bootland put big bro and coach, Nick, down as his favorite player.  Suck-up.  He better be getting some extra minutes for that.  And El Capitan Wes O'Neill put down teammate Brandon Svendsen down as his favorite player.  I LOLZed pretty hard.  Thanks, guys.  We've gotten a little younger with the new guys on the roster this year.  Mostly because of the players we got from Vancouver and New Jersey.  Luckily, we've kept the solid veterans around.  I have high hopes for Justin Taylor's sophomore campaign and little hope that we'll keep him the whole season.  I have absolutely zero idea how the new recruits play, so we'll see tonight.  Let's go Wings!  (I can't beLIEVE I just said that...)

Music moment of the day is (obviously) Red Hot Chili Peppers.  It couldn't be anyone else, what with the title of this post.

Good song.  Also, the Chili Peppers are kind of awesome.  My Christmas presents last year, music-wise?  Chili Peppers, Black Eyed Peas, and Smashing Pumpkins.  Get it?  Vegetables?  My parents thought they were pretty clever.  And I'm inclined to agree.

Fantasia 2011 on Exhibition

Fantasy hockey is here again!  My league has been assigned and my team has been drafted.  I've made a few changes, but I was super lucky with being assigned to a league without other Penguins fans!  Woohoo!


So for my forwards:

The one, the only, Cappy.  Mr. Sidney Crosby.

Patrice Bergeron, newly inducted member of the Cup Club.  Lucky bastard.

My personal favorite and the best Staal brother, Jordan Staal.  (I would write more about him, except I think my adoration is completely self-explanatory.  And I'm pretty sure there's plenty of gushing in past posts.  And more to come.)  Also available for use at left wing.

Alexandre Burrows, whom I have a lot of love for, despite the fact that he is not a member of the Penguins.  Solid.  Also, now the K-Wings are a member of the Canucks organization.  Woot.  His winningness?  Ball hockey.  That's right.  He's a champion ball hockey player.  Perfectly acceptable consolation for not winning Lord Stanley last season.

James Neal.  Nealer.  Hugs!  He's had the misfortune (no offense intended) to play for the Stars the majority of his career and as a result does not have a Stanley Cup ring.  He DID win the Memorial Cup with the Plymouth Whalers in juniors (also the junior team of Babyface, may his K-Wings career RIP).  Even Penguins fans don't have a whole lot of love for him (unacceptable!), as evidenced by the Pens fan who sat behind me in Detroit and tried to tell me he wasn't very good.  HOWEVER, I believe that he's going to fit in stellarly (yes, I know, not a word...) and his out-of-character shootout goals only bode well for his career as a Penguin.

For my right wingers, I gambled a bit.  I originally had Teemu Selanne, but dropped him in favor of picking up an extra D-man.  I had it narrowed down to him and Jagr.  While it was a tough decision and I aDORE Selanne (see previous posts for my dream of a Selanne-Crosby-Kariya line), I felt Jagr had a better shot. So...

Jaromir Jagr.  Traitor extraordinaire.  And fantastic winger.  Just pretend he's back playing wing for God and it'll feel better.  Flyers don't exist in this magical world.

(If you haven't noticed, I'm trying to put together a team with the most hardware.  Not including Red Wings.  Amazing as this is, it was done completely unintentionally.)

Next up...El Presidente!!!  Oh, TK, how we all adore thee...  Pretty sure his hardware is self-explanatory or you shouldn't be reading this blog.

This was obviously the winningest picture of him.  More so than the Stanley Cup picture.  I should also mention I can use him on either wing.  He's just that cool.  (He also kicked ass in the Wings-Pens preseason game, which I ATTENDED!)

Last, but not least, of my forwards, Osh-kosh-be-gosh.  AKA T.J. Oshie.  I have no idea when I developed such a fondness for watching him play.  (One of the few non-Penguins whom I like and have seen play in person.  Happy birthday to me!)  I just had a feeling that he's going to have a good season.  Poor guy has only played a total of FOUR playoff games.  And he's got two penalty minutes to show for it.  So an improvement would be much appreciated by my fantasy team.  Preferably before the playoffs.

I hope this is a picture of him scoring a goal, not one of him being denied.  If it isn't, it is NOW.

D-MEN!!!  This is mostly a Pens-fest (current and former) with one exception.  The exception makes it a PenNs-fest.

First up, Tanger.  Kristopher.  Epicness.  Both in hair and play.  I refuse to believe that acknowledgement of his sex hair is a sign of puck-bunny-ness.  It's a fact of life.

Side note: No, that is NOT Max Talbot standing behind him.  That is a sibling of Max Talbot.  Creepy.
I felt that it was time for Tanger to break out the booze.

My PenN, AKA Flyer (which we've already agreed don't exist, so just pretend for a moment, please), is Andrej Meszaros.  I needed a 5th D-man, and I needed a scoring D-man.  Out of who I had available, he was really the best choice.  With a breakout season last year and with the new players in Philly this year, I have a good feeling about him.  We'll see how it works out.  Hopefully he'll live up to expectations.  A little bit about the new boy (since I've obviously talked about most all of the rest of the guys at length before): He was born the day after my childhood best friend, on October 13th.  Although he has never won a Stanley Cup, he has played in the Finals before.  In 2007 for the Senators (lost in 5 games...).  He's played numerous times for Slovakia's world teams, both at the junior and senior level and in the Olympics.  Also, never won.  I'd like for him to continue that streak.  But, play well while losing.  :D

Like I said, no Flyers.  Go Slovakia!?

The return of GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSEEE!!!  That's right, folks!  He's back!  I want to bring back these days:

I'd like to take this moment to mention that I did not change the name of my stuffed penguin from Goose to something else.  His memory lives on!

Back to the real (?), live Penguins avec Paul Martin (Is it weird that I want to pronounce "Martin" the French way?).  Poor, poor man had the bad luck to be drafted by the Devils, where he missed the Cup by a year.  (Obviously not too bad, as he had the good fortune to play alongside American hockey player extraordinaire, Jamie Langenbrunner.)  He has been named to two Olympic teams (2006 and 2010), but has yet to see any ice time during the Olympics (no action in '06 and a broken arm in '10).  Sochi, here he comes!  The things he HAS won?  Two National Championships with the University of Minnesota in 2002 and 2003.

Where's Paul?

And last, but certainly not least, MISTERBENLOVEJOY.  Did you really think I could resist putting him on my team?  Aside from the fact that I have a serious obsession, I also have a HUGE feeling about his season.  Epic.  (I swear, I don't use this word very often...)  What DON'T we already know about Monsieur Lovejoy?  Umm...
...
...
His favorite movie of all time is (apparently) The Count of Monte Cristo.  Props.  If only he'd read the book.  And his favorite hockey movie is NOT Slapshot!  Shocker.  It's The Mighty Ducks.  A man after my own heart.  Classic.

In the words of Geno: "Look awesome.  Girls love."  Hopefully cup love.

GOALIE, GOALIE, GOALIE!

Monsieur Marc-Andre Fleury.  MAF.  Flower.  WALL.

WINNER.  THIS is the real reward when you win the Stanley Cup.  I'm not really sure what to say about the Flower.  He makes me speechless.  ;)  He's just that good.  (Shame on all you doubters out there!)

My first back-up (I opted for three goalies instead of having another skater.) is Jose Theodore, one of the prettiest hockey players ever (obviously important).  Never won a Stanley Cup, but he has won a gold medal for Canada at the 1996 World Junior Championships, going 4-0-0.  Sweetness.  Off the ice, the guy's family life is a little tragic.  He's now with the Florida Panthers, who are now the hosts of the Blackhawks-Flyers-Capitals Convention.  They made a LOT of off-season changes.  If they work well as a team, they're going to be a team to beat.  But they're coming off like, a billion years of losing, so who know...

I have a theory that goalies are pre-disposed to be pretty.  If goal-scoring doesn't work for the Panthers, maybe they can use this to distract the opposing teams.  (1 in 10, folks...there WILL be interested parties...)  This picture was chosen specifically for the fact that I'm a girl and this is a winner.  Lolz.

My third goalie should be a familiar face.  Johan Hedberg.  MOOOOOOOOOOOOOSE.  Him and Goose should be BESTIES!  Poor guy is stuck with a nickname like this just because they couldn't get him a Penguins helmet in time...  I believe he STILL plays with a moose on his helmet, though.  Apparently he prefers Jo-Jo (like yo-yo).  I would, too.  Maybe.

I do have a logical reason for choosing Jo-Jo.  He's playing for the Devils (again) this year and after last year and how Brodeur is looking for this year...I have a feeling that he's going to be playing a lot.  I have a completely (mostly) unresearched opinion that this will be Brodeur's last season.  If, for some reason, Hedberg doesn't get the kind of playing time I forsee, or if Theodore fucks up, I'm dropping one or the other for BJ!!!  (Who is BALLER.)

The season starts tonight, so get excited!!!

Music moment of the day!:
This has absolutely nothing to do with hockey season starting today and entirely everything to do with the fact that everyone should be educated about my all-time favorite classical piano pieces to play.
Firstly, Frederic Chopin's Nocturne in e minor (Op. 72, No. 1)

If anyone has seen The Secret Garden (1987), you would recognize it from that.  (Yes, one of my favorite movies as a child.  Brilliance.)

Secondly, Enrique Granados' Spanish Dances.  I first played these after my freshman year of high school at summer music camp (three of the movements, anyway) and have since learned the rest.  Gorgeous.  A pain in the ass for my tiny hands in some places, but so are most things that I love to play.  These are the "Orientale" and the "Andaluza" (Nos. 2 and 5, respectively).

Thirdly, moving into a bit more modern (relatively): GERSHWIN!  Not Rhapsody In Blue, although that is on my to-do list.  Prelude No. 1.  It took a bit of listening to find an interpretation I liked.  SOO many of the other students playing this did the opening measures at the same tempo as the rest of the piece...  Ugh.

Last, and ALSO not least, Mussourgsky's Pictures At an Exhibition.  All of the previously mentioned pieces are pieces I've been playing for a number of years.  THIS one is the my work-in-progress.  By work-in-progress, I mean I've managed my way through "Baba Yaga" only a couple times.  Slooooowly.  It's getting closer all the time.  Woo!  This is where I encourage you to do your GOOD DEED OF THE DAY and listen to it in it's entirety.  Also, Evgeny Kissin...MMM.  I get more weak in the knees hearing him play than I would meeting the entire Penguins team.

Education time over.  Let's go Pens!!!

Gone are the days of summer...our time is here.

So I'm back to my old ways already.  (And in honor, I will also be returning, briefly, to the ramble-a-thon minus multitudes of pictures and videos.)  Three posts here.  A month of silence.  And returning with apologies.  Although, this summer the blog writing has been fairly successful.  We'll see how that holds up during the season.  Because it IS summer, I can't break down the last game and rant about what a fuckin douchebag Sean Avery is (On the ice.  His rather gung-ho support of gay rights has me aww-ing at him at near inappropriate levels.  Damn him.) or how spectacular JStaal's defensive work was in the third period.  I can't make crazy-ass predictions for tomorrow's game about MISTERBENLOVEJOY's imminent hat trick or the absolute inevitability a stolen game on the backs of the "third line."  (I'm not sure what to call Mr. President-Mr. JStaal-Cookie Monster.  Because they weren't really the third line last year and probably won't be for a while.  Even if they do get split for a while.  So they are just going to have to become the "Third Line.")  Instead, I am stuck with pulling crazy predictions from the depths of my shoe bin (i.e. previous post...CRAZY) and educating all y'all on the finer, more useless facts on the players.  Or reminiscing.  Not that I mind that.  But I'm itching for some real live hockey to take place that I can talk about.  Too bad.

In news since the last post (Note that this is all selective and pulled off the top of my head, so don't be offended if I leave off some piece of hockey news which you hold near and dear to your heart.) the world is dying to know every scrap of Sidney Crosby concussion related news.  Count me as part of that.  Like, dying.  The logical, caring and understanding portion of my brain understands that it's really not any of my business and is really not anyone's business at all if he felt a twinge of a headache at 4:27 p.m. last week Thursday.  It also understands that it's perhaps better for his recovery if he's not being bothered about it all the time.  This portion of my brain is frequently overwhelmed by the incessant voice in the rest of my brain saying "Tell me EVERYTHING!!!"  Also, how the hell am I supposed to build a decent fantasy team if I don't know how Sid's going to play this year (Assuming I luck out and play with Red Wings fans, who stubbornly refuse to draft him.  It's what made my first year playing fantasy AMAZING.  I could draft all the kick ass Pens that I wanted to.  Which I did.  Thank you Sid.  And Jordy.  And TK.  And Cookie Monster.  And Orps.  And Tanger.  And Flower.  I did actually have some non-Penguins on the team.  Give me a few years to remember who.  They also contributed.)  I digress.  The last Sid news I saw, which was a couple hours ago, reported that he's seeing "specialists" about his concussion.  Namely some in Georgia and...Michigan!  Damn.  I missed him.  Other than that, there is no timeline for his return to being awesome.  And by that, I mean that there's no timeline for his return to the goal-scoring leader board where he will return to kicking ass and taking names (DOWN!).

UPDATE!  If you're just now reading this, like I'm just now posting this, it should be obvious that much of this was written some time ago.  As in pre-Sidney-Cosby-press-conference.  Today was an epic day (as in September 17th).  Sid SKATED today.  IN PRACTICE.  AT TRAINING CAMP.  Yes, that all required caps.  I'm not going to rehash it all, because he's Sidney fuckin Crosby.  If you don't know that he's been out with a concussion than you are obviously under a rock or reading the wrong blog.

I would like to take a moment here to acknowledge the incredibly sad news in the hockey world.  And would like to send out condolences to the family and friends of Rick Rypien and Wade Belak, both of whom passed away this summer.  Apparently he had a long struggle with depression.  As something very close to my heart, I hope that something good comes of this.  This is a serious illness and not something to be ashamed of.  I hope that people will take the time to become more aware of it and to show some understanding and compassion for those dealing with it.  If you are dealing with it, don't be ashamed to ask for help.

I'd also like to take another ten million moments.  (It's been a bad summer for hockey players.)  Thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of those who died in the plane crash in Russia last week.  Including the plane crew and the KHL Lokomotiv players and staff.  Special prayers for the only survivor, one of the crew, who is (still?) in the hospital.  Last I heard, he is still in pretty bad shape, but has been taken out of intensive care.

Moving on.  We can return to my regularly scheduled ridiculousness now.  NHL.com is currently doing their "30 in 30" special.  The day before yesterday (or a number of days ago) was Pittsburgh's day.  My response to "You know you're a Penguins fan if...?"  You know you're a Penguins fans if you go to a bar in Michigan so you don't miss the Pens game and it seems wrong to watch without your jersey, so you wear it to the bar.  By yourself.  Fun fact?  The last time I went to a bar to watch a hockey game it was for game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals this year.  I was on my way back from retrieving my Crosby jersey (STOKED.) and got back in time for the second and third periods.  Walked in to this pizza place and bar (My place of choice because it's not like...BAR, bar.  And it's small and they'll change the channel to the hockey game when I ask.  Also, fewer drunk assholes.) to discover a few guys there already watching the game.  The one sitting next to me was talking about how he was still on the fence as to who to root for.  (Remember, Red Wings county.  Not many Bruins or Nucks fans here.)  Me, being me, couldn't just keep my mouth shut.  So I freely told him that I had felt the same when I first found out who the finals would be, but I had decided to fully support a Bruins win.  Which of course he then needed me to turn around and explain.  By this point, three other guys were sitting there, in on the conversation, and I explained that while my sister was really just rooting for Tim Thomas, that I had forgotten (in my hemming and hawing) about all the other really amazing players that I enjoy watching that play for the Bruins.  Pretty sure that last began with Mark Recchi.  And then about the style they play versus the pure offensive power of the Canucks.  I had a whole speech.  It was awesome.  And they were decently impressed (I love doing that to people.  It never gets old.).  Even more so when we kept talking and they would make comments about some player and I'd know something a little crazy specific about how they play or would be able to solve their wondering about which guy was it that did that one move in that game in the first series.  Of course, this was voiced and I, being me, responded with something to the effect of "If you think how much I know about the Bruins and the Canucks is impressive, it obviously doesn't take much since I don't spend a lot of time watching either team.  I'm a Penguins fan.  I know WAY more about them."  Needless to say, this was not received all that well by everyone.  It spurred a long conversation full of digs at Cindy Crysby.  Assholes.  (Sorry.)..........(No, I'm not.)  Of course, the guy sitting next to me insinuated that Crosby was obviously only my favorite player because he's cute (Which he IS, btw.  Cute, that is.  But that has nothing to do with his awesome moves.).  Now, if you've met me, you should know how much I HATE being compared to some floozy who picks favorite players for their looks (Unless of course you're with me at a baseball game.  Or a sporting event in which I have little investment or knowledge of.  In which case I'll pick my new "favorite player" by their looks.  Or their awesome last name.  Or their number.  Or what song is playing for them.  Or some other completely inane reason.), so I was quick to say that Crosby is NOT my all time favorite player, THANK you very much.  But that Jordan Staal is.  He apparently had quite a bit more respect for Jordy.  But did seem to imply that he was never going to be the kind of player Eric is (I object!  Marc is going to be the best out of all of them...sorry JStaal.  Eric is going to continue on how he has been doing.  Good.  Very good, in fact, but just out of reach of great.  Jordy is going to break out and be the offensive demon I know he can be (while not straying from his sexy defensive play) and BabiestStaal will finally step it up in the next couple seasons, thanks to Gary Roberts, and join his big bros in not having to work on the family sod farms in the summer time.  AKA, he'll finally play in the NHL.  He'll be a role player.  Solid, with decent offensive production, but not enough to boost him into rating a top 6 spot.).  Hopefully you didn't just try to read everything in the parentheses in one breath.  That was a little over the top.  Umm...Oh!  More respect for Jordy.  So the estimation went up with my "Staal is my favorite." bit, but I couldn't let him think that Sidders doesn't get my complete and utter admiration and devotion.  Because, there's like different planes of hockey players.  There's the normal pool.  Where pretty much all hockey players are.  That's who you can pick from for favorite players.  And then there's a plane above that where you have players like Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosby, Maurice Richard, Bobby Orr...  They're kinda above "favorite players."  They're like...the Pearly Gates.  And the "normal" players are on Earth.  And then there's Mario Lemieux.  He's what you get when you OPEN the Pearly Gates.  Hockey Heaven.  (Pretty sure I've made my Mario=God comparison before...)  SOOO...I assured this gentleman that Sidney is awesome.  And that I had, in fact, just bought a Crosby jersey that day.  Which was why I was late getting there.  Needless to say, he was tres disappointed.  However!!!  One of the other lovely gentleman (he gets a lovely because of the following) said he actually liked the Penguins and wanted to see the jersey before I left.  So.  AWESOME.  Penguins fan.  In Michigan.  Woot.

Hopefully you're still with me and I haven't confuddled your brain too much.  The above story was really just for the last few lines.  Long-winded much?  Nah...

This seems like a lovely place to end.  Especially because now I can REALLY start talking about the players and line combinations and TRAINING CAMP and rookies and REAL hockey games (I've already been to one!!!!!!!!!  Go Jr. K-Wings!).  So I'm gonna go and do that now.  Well, after the Music Moment of the Day.

And pour le Music Moment of the Day...THE KOOKS!  Specifically the song "Sway."

I'm also going to put in the acoustic and live version of "Naive," because their acoustic sets are just as brilliant and amazing.  Also, this is my other favorite song of theirs.  One of.  Cause I kinda love 'em all!  HAHAHAHAHAHA!  (Listen to more of them and you'll get that...  Although it's probably not as funny as I think it is.)

I am SO addicted to them.  Almost as much as hockey.  Maybe just as much.  I started listening to them about three...maybe four years ago.  And I just can't stop.  Luke Pritchard just has this fantastic quality and uniqueness to his voice that is so enchanting.  Soulful.  I've gotten in my car and listened to "Sway" on repeat for two hours before.  Adore.

P.S.  (Because this is totally a letter.)  Title?  That's right.  I put The Kooks, hockey, and Camp Rock in one post.  Props to me.

The Life and Times of MISTERBENLOVEJOY + Music Moment Bonus!

Obviously I need better things to do in the off-season.  Like no off-season.  That'd be cool (by the viewers/fans standpoint only, I'd like to point out).  As it stands, I need a more focused topic.  My last couple posts have been all over the frickin map with a nice dose of ADD.  So I'm doing a player feature.  Firstly, there's a too much material out there to do one of Sid, Geno, or Staalsy.  Secondly, MISTERBENLOVEJOY is awesomeness personified.  (Awesomeness can be personified.  Just look to MISTERBENLOVEJOY for reference.)  Therefore, here we go.  Introductions all around.  I am Miriam.  Dork and musician and hockey fan extraordinaire. Born in Pittsburgh, Pa at McGee Women's Hospital.  Currently residing in enemy territory (a.k.a. Michigan).  This-

is MISTERBENLOVEJOY.  You may call him Ben, Lovejoy, Benny, Benny-boy, Benny-Love, B to the L, Lover, or MBL for short.  (Note: I take no responsibility for the ridiculousness of previously stated names and also refuse to take responsibility for it if you were to get punched in the face for calling him any of these names.  Though I would love to see someone call him "Lover" as a nickname for shits and giggles.)  This picture is the more mature version of MBL.  The differences being the haircut.  And the teensiest-weensiest bit of lost baby fat.  Pretty sure other than that it's a copy of his last team photo.

The life of MBL began on February 20, 1984 in Concord, New Hampshire.  (Thank you wikipedia.  For contributing greatly to the things that I would feel creepy for knowing off the top of my head.)  He has grown from that small, wee child into a 6'2", 215 lb hulking D-Man.  Unfortunately, because I picked a bottom D-pairing, young guy, there is not a flooding of cute childhood pictures available.  In lieu of that, here ya go.

 For the record, I have no clue who this kid really is.  Except that it was a better alternative than the kid in an Isles jersey flipping someone off.  (Thanks for being a good example to the world, Islanders fans.  Yes, that was sarcasm.  Gets yourself over its.)  The other things we should know about Benny-boy's childhood?  Son to Cari and Carl Lovejoy, older brother to Matt and Nick.  Both of whom play college sports.  Matt plays lacrosse for 2011 NCAA Champions, University of Virginia.

Poor Matt ended up having shoulder surgery in February (?) and was out for the rest of the season.  You notice I'm saying all this like I know something about lacrosse and follow college lacrosse.  I know that there's offense, defense, and midfielders (like soccer) and a goalie and mens' lacrosse is much more violent than womens' lacrosse.  Also, google is my friend (So is Tim, who briefly explained player positioning to me last week.).  Nick plays college hockey for...Dartmouth!

He's the one wearing numero two.  Just like big brother.  Except minus a one (Ben wore number 12 at Dartmouth).

And they all played high school hockey at Deerfield Academy at some point or another.  Also, MBL played lacrosse at Dartmouth.  As their (Ben and Nick) lacrosse careers were obviously not as important, there is very little info on them.  Except Ben played two years for Dartmouth.  I assume one or both of them also played in high school.  Feel free to be creeped out by my research.  This is a good place to mention that mom and pop Lovejoy is obviously where the boys get it from, what with Mama Lovejoy having played college lacrosse (as well as Auntie) and Papa Lovejoy having played college hockey. 

For further perusal at your own discretion:
An article about MISTERBENLOVEJOY in the school paper, the Deerfield Scroll.
Alumni article, called Band of Brothers, on the Deerfield Academy website.
A random facebook group that has nothing to do with any Lovejoys, and in fact was created by a rival school.  Please reference to it if you are in need of high school boy insults.  I cracked up.  Do not reference if your humor is somehow above vulgar language.

Moving on to MISTERBENLOVEJOY's professional career.  Undrafted.  Signed a contract following his senior year at Dartmouth to play for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.  This is after he played five games for the Norfolk Admirals immediately following graduation.  It should also be noted that he turned down a contract with the Canadiens during his junior year to continue with his schooling.  Good on you!  Obviously it paid off, what with becoming a journalist and all.  Journalist, you say?  Yes.  To my complete and utter dismay, however, MISTERBENLOVEJOY's blog is no longer up.  There are a few smatterings of it on the web.  In places where people were thoughtful enough to post whole sections.  Before I entertain y'all with them, it should probably be noted that MBL, the professional writer, did these for the paper in Wilkes-Barre once a week and also posted them online.  I first discovered them via Puck Huffers before he'd really done much of anything up in the big club.  AND I DIED.  Absolutely hysterical.  And the beginnings of my current Ben Lovejoy Love.  (That's right, the love started off the ice.  And had very little to do with his hockey playing.  He has since made up for that by being an awesomely awesome hockey player.)  I think the entry is pretty epic.  If any of you are twitter addicts and you don't follow @BizNasty2point0, you should.  (Speaking of a place to look for high school/all boys insults.)  Now what does he have to do with Ben Lovejoy and journalism you ask?  MISTERBENLOVEJOY did an "interview" with him.  I know what you're thinking.  How can this possibly be good?  It just IS.  Please read.  Do not skip.

Q: Tell me about your heritage, Paul? Where is your family from?
A: I live in Welland, Ontario, which is in Canada. As for my heritage, it is kind of a complex mathematical equation. I’m ¼ African-American, 1/8 Mike Tyson, 2/7ths Caucasian, 1/15 Black Wrapper, 1/16th Coyote, and the rest of me is Canadian-Savage.

Q: You have an interesting nickname. Can you tell us about it?
A: When I was nine years old, my first girlfriend broke up with me because she said I was too “nasty.” Just kidding, it is actually because of how horrible the tattoo on my arm looks. When I first came home with it, my mother was so disgusted with it she started calling me “Nasty.” When I started playing junior hockey, and was beating everyone up all the time, my teammates started calling me “Biznasty.”

Q: Tell me about your tattoos. Do they have any meaning?
A: The one on my arm is obviously a Halloween scene. It is really cool once a year, but the rest of the year, I really regret having it ‘cause it looks kind of dumb. I’m not really sure the significance of the one on my back. When Tiger Woods came on the scene, I realized it was cool to mix Black and Chinese cultures, so I had to get a Chinese symbol. I went to the tattoo parlor and asked for the biggest Chinese symbol I could possibly get. I’m not really sure what it means, but I also look pretty good without a shirt on.

Q: Many aspiring fighters often want to fight Dennis Bonvie because he was one of their role models growing up as young “meatheads.” Who were some of your role models growing up?
A: Apollo Creed.

Q: When you first came to Wilkes-Barre this year, you had an interesting haircut – a Mohawk. While you had this Mohawk, you seemed to be losing a lot of fights. Did you blame your lack of pugilistic success on that brutal haircut?
A: Much like the biblical character Samson, I seemed to have lost my strength when my hair was cut off. Luckily, hair grows quickly, and I am back to beating the crap out of people.

Q: You wear #20 for the Penguins. If you could wear any number, what number would you wear?
A: #103, but probably about #115 by the end of the year.

Q: Now that you are a skilled goal scorer, you have obviously stopped fighting. Imagine back to the days you were a tough guy and tell us, in a hypothetical fight between you and Dennis Bonvie, who wins?
A: I’d “one punch” that old man!

I am still unclear as to whether or not this is fake or not.  And only unclear, because let's be real, Paul Bissonette would totally say some of those things.

Following that epicness, it only gets better.  Now, you should totally and COMPLETELY take this article as a blatant suggestion.

A brilliant young writer once responded to an innocent question, “Hey Ben! I was just wondering what kind of music you listen to?” with a condescendingly arrogant retort, “Why, are you going to make me a mix tape? Am I in middle school?” Little did I now how those sarcastic words would come back to haunt me.
Fast forward a month later, and Brian Coe, our Director of Media Relations came to me before a game with a smirk that is seen solely when he has something funny to say. He handed me a mix tape that was made for me by a fan titled, “Songs About Love(joy).” I had a quick laugh and stashed the CD in my locker thinking that if we won, I would pull the CD out after the game and as a team we would laugh at the ridiculousness of the CD together. Unfortunately, we lost the game, so I took the CD to my car and put it into the player. What I heard over the speakers were eight of the most ridiculous songs I had ever listened to.
The first song on the disc was titled, “Tainted Love(joy)” by Soft Cell. The song was perfectly normal for about 45 seconds. It went through the start of the song just as it normally would as if I were listening to it on the radio. The first verse went by,
Sometimes I feel I’ve got to 

Run away I’ve got to

Get away 

From the pain that you drive into the heart of me 

The love we share 

Seems to go nowhere 

And I’ve lost my light
For I toss and turn I can’t sleep at night
This was pretty normal and I was not so sure where the CD was taking me…until the chorus started.
Once I ran to you (I ran)

Now I’ll run from you

This tainted love you’ve given

I give you all a boy could give you 

Take my tears and that’s not nearly all 

Then it happened…
Oh…tainted love(joy) 
Tainted love(joy)
Every time the word love was mentioned for the rest of the CD, the song would cut out and a voice would come on and say, “joy.” For the next 8 tracks on the CD, they all did this. It was one of the funniest, and creepiest, things I had ever heard. I was almost embarrassed that someone had taken the time to make a CD like this for me. After listening to the CD (not the whole thing, just skipping from track to track) I took it out and put it in the side panel of my car door where it stayed for a month or two.
Fast forward two months. Ryan Lannon is riding shotgun and his cell phone falls into the side panel of my car door. He digs for his phone and came up with the CD, and his face looks like he just hit the lottery. After a few delighted screams from him and a warning from me, he puts the CD in the dash and proceeds to listen to every word of every song. Tainted Love(joy), I’m all out of Love(joy), Addicted to Love(joy), and a few other classics.
Mr. Lannon obviously brought the CD into the locker room the next day, and it was played over and over for the rest of the season. This season, Danny Richmond has taken it to a new level. When I first got cut from Pittsburgh last month, the CD and case (which is decorated with pictures of me) were mounted on the top of our locker room’s stereo system. Since the day we all arrived, Mr. Richmond has played the CD every single day, he has burned copies of the CD for relatives, and he has copied it onto his Ipod so he can carry it around with him. At first I thought it was a joke, but since then he has taken it way too far. He is obsessed with the eight songs. So obsessed that he has asked me to seek out the maker and ask him for Volume II of the disc. He has his own wish list for the songs that will go on it though. His first choice? U2’s In the Name of Love(joy). It has gotten to the point where he no longer calls me by my real name. He simply refers to me as, “In the Name of Lovejoy” - only he sings it like Bono would.
Other tracks requested by Danny Richmond:
1.) Led Zeppelin – All of my Love(joy)
2.) Bob Marley - One Love(joy)
3.) Akon – I Wanna Love(joy) You
4.) Counting Crows – Accidentally in Love(joy)
5.) The Beatles – Hide your Love(joy) away
6.) Phil Collins – You can’t hurry Love(joy)
7.) U2 – In the Name of Love(joy)
8.) The Outfield – Use Your Love(joy)
9.) Rascal Flats – I Wanna Love(joy) You Outloud
I guess there is no real end to my story, other than for me to ask whoever did make that CD, if you could make a Volume II it would be greatly appreciated.

Quote of the Week: “You guys are going to Texas? That’s a long bus ride.” - Matt Lovejoy on being a semi-professional athlete.

That's right, I said suggestion.  I hope he gets mix tapes, like, every week.  Totally.  And OMJ, I just discovered that his blog is back up!  Read the rest of the epicness.  Yes, that was a command.  I suppose at some point we should discuss his actual hockey playing.  It's pretty good, I suppose.  ;)  Also, it only takes one video to see his first NHL goal and NHL fight.

I heart you lots and lots.  Thank you, JESUS, for having the HBO special filming during this.  (Yes, that is Mr. JStaal you see with his hand all wrapped and bandaged.)

Things I loved about MISTERBENLOVEJOY this season:
1.  We finally got to see why WBS Baby Pens signed him to a contract.  That confidence was not only sexy, but made things happen on the ice.  So much so that commentators actually talked about you a lot.  They were almost as obsessed as me.
2.  This is an excellent example of said confidence.  At least the most obvious.

3.  Nothing against Derryk Engelland (King of England), but I am so, so, so glad that MISTERBENLOVEJOY got the call so much this season.  Consider this little special my pitch for this trend to continue.
4.  Thanks for moments of brilliance (as seen in the above video) like this.

5.  The difference in the defensive play this season...wow.  Like previously stated, it was like a whole new player out there on the ice.  Responsibility, aggressiveness, creativity...  Umm, well, MISTERBENLOVEJOY was just damn exciting to watch.  Even when he wasn't scoring.  In fact, a shitton when he wasn't scoring.

Other miscellaneous facts concerning our MBL:
1.  He is married to Avery.  They just had their first anniversary.  And they look adorable together.

2.  You know you've made the big time when you google yourself and all of the results at least the first page are actually about you.  Congrats, Ben!
3.  Ben Lovejoy is Native American.  SEE!

This is actually a lovely pencil drawing done by Joe Belt of a pow-wow participant named Ben Lovejoy at a pow-wow in Albany in the '90s.  Impressive, though not my cup of tea as artwork goes.  This is more my thing, for future reference (you know, if you feel the need to buy me artwork):

If you can find a higher quality picture of this, check it out.  Charcoal painting by Gail Potocki entitled Bee.  It's a pretty giant piece in person.  Larger than life size.  And it won the grand prize at the 2011 West Michigan Area show.  An absolute piece of brilliance.  A stunner.
4.  (I know, I know.  Ben Lovejoy...)  Go check THIS Ben Lovejoy out.Obviously he hasn't gone much of anywhere.  Especially since I can't find him on youtube.  But listen to the first song, "Exposed."  I quite like.
5.  The real MISTERBENLOVEJOY grew up a fan of Ray Bourque.  Funsies.
6.  He also was a teammate of which current Pittsburgh/WBS Penguin at Dartmouth?.......
.....
.....
.....
.....Nick Johnson!
That's right.  The boys were college teammates. Nifty thrifty.
7.  There is a British photographer named Ben Lovejoy.  Some nice work.  I particular like the body lines and silhouettes he gets.
8.  There is a tea shop in San Francisco called Lovejoy's Tea Room.  I want to go.  It looks superdeduper adorable.
9.  MISTERBENLOVEJOY is entirely too scandal-free.  I suppose I should look at that as a good thing.


Music moment of the day: FREELANCE WHALES (I've decided as a musician who is a hockey fan, why the hell don't I talk about who music more?  You know, aside from the music references in my titles.).  I've been on a serious Glee kick for the last few days.  Which led to interviews, which led to rewatching A Very Potter Musical and sequel, which led to Darren Criss videos, which led to the discovery of his brother's band, Freelance Whales.  Now, it is a mystery to me as to how I've never heard them before.  Especially since they're seriously right up my alley.  (And in a good way.  Like, good and quality music kind of way.  I think they're going to go on my playlist with Mumford and Sons, The Kooks, The Swell Season, and Simon & Garfunkel.  It's a pretty damn fabulous playlist.  No lies.)  Take a listen.  Or two.

Now, if you are reading this blog because you are a hockey fan and you just skipped all that, GO BACK!  Because it's awesome and should not be skipped.  :D

P.S.  If y'all didn't yet, you should get yo ass to the Pens website to check out Geno's training vids from Russia.  There's a Sergei Gonchar cameo which is hysterical.  (For the record, I liked Gonch, but I am still very happy we did not re-sign him.)

P.P.S.  It occurred to me a couple days ago that with Mike Richards (Cappy's BFF from Team Canada) going to the Kings he is going to be playing with Cappy's BFF from Shattuck, Mr. Jack Johnson.  I find that to be an unfair advantage to the Kings and super awesome all at the same time.

P.P.P.S.  I know people actually read cuz people tell me they actually read.  Feedback would be appreciated.  Comments, criticism, appreciation.  :D  No pressure or anything.

That's all for now, folks!