big night for the blue & white

...no matter what this screenshot from NHL.com shows. so earlier in the season I made fun of a Maple Leafs game 3 Stars with Phil Kessel still in his Bruins uniform. well, this tops it, in a big way, although in this case it's understandable--all the NHL trades of the past 3 days happened so fast, there's barely time for new photos. I wonder if this has ever happened before--all 3 stars from one team, and all shown in their now-outdated uniforms.

as you may know, in their first game with the new goalie and new star defenseman (and Sjostrom), the Maple Leafs shut out the Devils 3-0 (Devils, by the way, were using the goalie who isn't Martin Brodeur). and:

 

note: that's the "official" Hartford Whalers Twitter. I was already going to mention it here...and today because I mentioned Whalers in a tweet, they started following me. I was elated. people with a public Twitter feed are used to getting spam followers based on words they use (I was telling someone about a tweet that got real estate spam--and got two more real estate spam followers because of that one), but I definitely don't mind this. 

anyway, besides the shutout, Phaneuf got into a fight about 6 minutes into the game, so he's got the "truculence" and all. this also ended a long winless streak for the Leafs. meanwhile, the Canucks' 7-game winning streak was snapped in a 3-2 loss (yay! even though it was by the Canadiens). and Boston...scored first against the Capitals, then went on to lose 4-1 (the last was an empty-netter--pffftt, I always think of those as half a goal at best). that's 8 losses in a row...and a record 11 wins in a row for the Caps. 

  

I think I forgot to point out that after the beating by the Flames Saturday, Edmonton finally won after 13 losses...against Carolina. and note that the Flames' first game after the player trades, they got shut out 3-0 by the Flyers.  tonight, I also watched an exciting Red Wings @ Sharks game (Detroit won 4-2 after Sharks blew their 2-0 lead), even though I didn't want either team to win. and I'm glad I caught the end of the Coyotes @ Predators--a scoreless game went to shootout, and the shootout went so long that I watched extra little boxes pop up on the screen to record attempts. after 10 rounds, Phoenix won.

something a little older, now. through Maple Leaf game threads, I'd heard there was a Hockey Night in Canada Punjabi edition, but never encountered it. the New York Times' hockey blog Slap Shot happened to post a fight in the Punjabi version recently, and through YouTube I found another: a decent Colton Orr vs Shawn Thornton bout (right off the faceoff, which is always absurd/entertaining) from Dec. 2009. I can only assume they're talking about "haymakers" and "heavyweights"...

Hawks vs. Blue Jackets, 12/1/09: wow

so, to count the ways that was an exciting/significant game: 1) it was the Blackhawks' first game at home since Nov. 15, after the successful 6-game Canada/California trip and 2) first game this year against division rivals the Blue Jackets (and Hawks still haven't even played the Blues yet, but played Avalanche 3 times already?) (and my first time seeing the Jackets).

I bought a copy of The Committed Indian from Sam outside the United Center--oh, I'll count that as 3) even if I buy one at every game. I got there in plenty of time for my 4) free winter hat, which I'll be wearing in Pittsburgh this weekend (probably covering up the corporate logo on the back).

and in time for the warmup, where the Hawks were sporting their 5) third jerseys for the first time this year. sure, they're virtually identical to the Winter Classic ones...

I got to see all the players up close though getting pictures with a point & shoot was challenging. I saw Kane toss pucks to people near me, twice.

the game! 6) Marian Hossa's home debut with the Blackhawks. I loooove this video they show right before the game but have yet to get a photo of my favorite scenes, which of course involve the L train going by. this scene is in Millennium Park:

7) exciting goals. Hawks are first to score with a shorthanded goal from Versteeg, and the other two Hawks goals in regulation (by Toews and Sharp) are on power plays. two assists from Hossa!

and it was a 8) close game because oh right, the Jackets scored a few times too, and had the lead for a good chunk of the game. worst of all was the goal scored just 40 seconds into the third to take a 3-2 lead.

so it went to overtime and then a 9) shootout. okay, so I haven't said anything yet about this teenage boy behind me who spent the WHOLE GAME talking to a friend/acquaintance from Australia, who'd never been to a hockey game before. now, the Australian wasn't asking questions. the other kid just felt the need to explain everything about hockey and the Hawks to him, and when I'd hoped for sweet relief by the second period, he moved on to explaining America to him. really. how our seasons and our gun laws and drinking laws compare to Australia, and what Texas is like, and...I'm surprised he didn't throw in an explanation of the electoral college, or how the development of the interstate highway system contributed to patterns of housing segregation in cities. he didn't say anything stupid (though he blanked on what Hossa's first name is) until: "Everyone loves shootouts." uh, well they'd be fun to watch if they didn't actually COUNT. he was saying this in the 3rd period, and that he'd never seen a shootout before. did that curse us to have one?

so, shootout. Hossa scored one early. Rick Nash fell down, hilariously. then nothing happened for a long time. the Hawks stars you might expect to win this didn't, as did players like Kopecky and Byfuglien who haven't been doing a lot recently and this would have been a great time for them to save the day. I nearly felt ill as it kept going and going. I'd say I was developing a heart condition but when I got home I heard about the Leafs' Jonas Gustavsson having to leave last night's game due to one, and that worries me. anyway, it 10) finally ends with Seabrook for a Hawks win!

I found out later it was 11 rounds, the longest shootout in Hawks history, even worse than anything involving the Avalanche. nice to be part of "history," maybe, but damn, I was blaming it on that kid. in my mind, I was going through the list of hockey penalties (which of course, he'd tried to remember out loud for his friend earlier) and committing all of them against him. well, I don't know how I'd manage "too many men on the ice," but any that involve hitting with a stick, YES.*

so Keith got his requisite star of the game (#1 this time) and look, he's #2 on this list at From the Rink of the NHL's top defensive defencemen (Hawks have 3 spots of 25). and I'd remembered this before the game but completely forgot during: 11) the game was Joel Quenneville's 500th win! and he'd just been listed as #2 on Puck Daddy's Top 10 NHL Coaches of the Past Decade. also, here's a nice feature on his time playing for the Hartford Whalers.

12) can't beat the deal I got on this (unless you got free tickets). posted to prove to my friend who's asked, that with TicketExchange you do get a real ticket, not a printout.

*all expressions of violence in this blog are purely for dramatic/comedic purposes and should not be taken seriously by any potential employers, or dates.

in an uncertain world...

...it's nice to know there are some things you can count on:

all screenshots taken during a very busy night of watching hockey online, 11/28/09. the hat trick was of course Crosby (for an eventual 8-3 defeat of the Rangers, on Fleury's birthday, too!)--wow, all that hat-picking-up really takes up time in a game. bonus cliche--a feature during a Penguins game where they show cute pictures with the Stanley Cup, which I'm sure no one is tired of seeing, unless they're a fan of any of the other 29 teams:

last night also featured shootouts in 6 of the 13 games. in fact, I watched three different games where the home team led 3-2, then the visiting team tied it with less than a minute left in the third period, then no one scored in OT, and it went to SO. (even eerier, two of these, Senators @ Bruins and Capitals @ Canadiens, were virtually at the same time) visitors won two (Caps, and Red Wings @ Blues), but fortunately the Bruins won theirs.

now, I can't say I wanted the Wings to win, of course, but I was getting worried for the mental health of the Wings bloggers I read. the team was on their longest scoreless streak since 1977, so many of these bloggers probably hadn't seen them do that badly in their lifetime...

wait, haven't there been Hawks games recently too? yes, yes, that'll be a separate post. (as will a special one-month-of-a-little-chippy! post tonight. time to get more chai, or whiskey)

I hate shootouts.

I hate agonizingly long shootouts that the Blackhawks win against the Avalanche and I hate agonizingly long shootouts they lose, like tonight. I watched the Leafs win!!! and kept reading their very active SB Nation blog thread without ever delurking. I made extremely minor contributions to the Hawks blog thread, and checked in on the Avs one. then I saw one of the Leafs bloggers pop into the Avs thread and cheer them on and felt hurt somehow, especially since I was maybe going to delurk tomorrow and cheer the Leafs on against the Wings. then I realized all this imaginary drama I’m stewing in (when I have yet to post on any hockey blogs anywhere except the Hawks one) means I’m just FREAKING INSANE or something and went off to read a book and finish my beer.
[ETA: fallenleafs on Tumblr reblogged this with an invite to "De-lurk and come join us at Pension Plan Puppets. We have loads of fun in Game Day Threads...", and I did...]