Hockey Leap Day!

I can't resist posting on this admittedly inactive blog (I save my hockey insights, such as they are, for Twitter, at least the 2 or 3 sports-related tweets I think my non-sports-fan followers can handle per day; I need to restart the Twitter account with this blog's name) on Leap Day (which is also my half-birthday, not that anyone over the age of 5 talks about their half-birthday).

Because, well, last Leap Day, Feb. 29, 2008, I was not a sports fan at all, much less following hockey. I'd lived in Chicago for many years without ever going to any game. In spring 2008 I went to my first baseball games while living in Chicago, and in early 2009 my first hockey game ever. Rest is history, blah, blah.

I have nothing special to offer today except a quick look at screenshots captured from the 4 NHL games on today. (I was barely a minute too late on Twitter to get a chance to go to the Maple Leafs at Blackhawks game free, and didn't go out to the San Antonio Rampage-Chicago Wolves game, so I've still never been to a hockey game on Leap Day.)

(Not just hockey, UPDATED TO ADD late news tidbit I found irresistible: in San Antonio, the Chicago Bulls got their 29th win of the season with 29 points from Derrick Rose, on the 29th, and I believe they have 29 games left in the season.)

(Besides Maple Leafs at Blackhawks, there's Penguins at Stars, Sabres at Ducks, and Blues at Oilers.)

glad I don't have to post stats OR write sports headlines...

apologies for lack of "real" blogging so far this week--getting apartment stuff done (I need a roommate!), $ issues, figuring out travel plans, etc.  I'll have less of a phoning-it-in post later today, though it'll be hard to post when I'm keeping an eye on the Frozen Four semifinals, important east & west NHL games, the last regular-season game in Mellon Arena...
I don't check league leaders on NHL.com nearly as often as I check league standings (unlike some Bruins fans I know who keep looking to make sure Rask is #1), but a recent tweet from @stlblueschica wondering why Knuble was shown as the goal leader made me look. yeah, I don't think Brunette, Knuble, and Pronger are leading the league right now... (screenshot shows Brodeur w/9 shutouts so you know I took this recently):

now, #19 (I think?) in the headline puns category, the Rangers' 5-1 win against the Maple Leafs last night:

this got me because although I've heard "be-leaf" puns many times, it's always been from Toronto fans and in relation to Toronto WINS.

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"...

Hockey Day in Canada, in odd screenshots

I posted a nonsensical preview of Hock--excuse me, Tim Hortons Hockey Day in Canada a couple posts ago. here are the almost equally nonsensical screenshots of a day spent watching all 3 HDIC games (plus some others) online and following along on Twitter, which as of last week offers the glorious option to look at trending topics by country/US city. (Canada has had at least one, and as many as 8, of the 10 TT's be hockey-related virtually every time I've looked, and Tim Hortons has trended at least 3 times in the past week). but I did in fact go out for a couple hours that afternoon! so, not yet a total shut-in!

 

  

lots of quaint outdoorsy stuff. OMG a Nordiques jersey sweater!

  

HDIC is #1! first up was Canadiens @ Senators. I actually wanted Canadiens to win, because Sens were coming into this game on an 8-game winning streak, and 3 of those wins were against Boston & Chicago, and that just pissed me off...

  

 

 

Sens took the lead, but Habs eventually tied it and it went to overtime. Sens won (9-game streak) and the Habs' Cammalleri was injured and will be out for weeks.

  

 

 

yeah, uh...next up: Canucks @ Maple Leafs. this was...um. I wanted Leafs to win regardless, and I especially wanted them to beat the Canucks because of Chicago's loss in Vancouver, and just on general principle. Leafs were off to an amazing start--2 goals by Phil Kessel in the first few minutes. a fight about 4 1/2 minutes in. Leafs went into the second period 3-0, and Canucks pulled Luongo (always fun to see) for Andrew Raycroft, and--

  

Leafs lost the game 5-3. at home. 5 unanswered goals. I'm glad I was too busy commenting on the Blackhawks game online to follow along with the Leafs fans...

  

  

 

I have NO IDEA how Raycroft was a TT in the U.S., after a game involving two Canadian teams.

 

  

  

not Canada: a scene from the Wild @ Sharks game. Minnesota took the early lead, went on to lose 5-2.

 

late game: Oilers @ Flames. I heard this was some sort of record for losing-est teams facing each other--Oilers with 12 in a row, Flames at 9. one of them HAD to win, giving Alberta a grand total of two wins for January. I wanted it to be Oilers because I felt sorrier for them, and because if Flames lost then both teams would have hit double-digit losing streaks...

  

Flames won. boy, did they win. 6-1. Jarome Iginla got his 900th NHL point in this game. and, perhaps inspired by the recent NHL.com Gordie Howe hat trick story, got two goals, two assists, and one fight (against Sheldon Souray, who broke his hand. ouch) 

  

it also meant they swept the 6 games of the "Battle of Alberta" this season, first time ever. 

in other news: I never found an online feed of the Kings @ Bruins game. I would have seen a shootout loss if I had. at least Bruins got a point. and Mark Stuart had a very impressive hit on Anze Kopitar (except now he's out for 4 weeks due to an injury from a fight after the hit). I'm sorry I missed Jack Edwards confusing Johnny Bucyk and Johnny Boychuk during the game, as mentioned at Fire Wagon Hockey (now I'm wondering if Boychuk is of Ukrainian descent, by the way--could be).

oh, and the Blackhawks lost the last game of their 8-game road trip. to CAROLINA. oh well, Hurricanes have been on a winning streak, and a 4-2 loss isn't the worst (it was exciting to see Hawks tie it late in the game, 2-2, with a goal by former Hurricane Andrew Ladd. then Canes scored two more goals in like the next minute or so). for more on the game you can see the story of a Chicagoan who made the trip (braving a snowstorm in the Raleigh area) at Blackhawks Down Low, a new addition to the blogroll.

so...on Hockey Day in Canada all 3 Canada matchups turned out the opposite of what I wanted. and the two teams I follow (well, 3, you can sort of count Leafs) lost, all in games where they had a lead or were at least tied at some point. and I learned I do eventually get tired of listening to Canadians talk about hockey...