grueling games, Twitter, Predators & Sharks

so the game I was all excited about going to tonight? well, I'll post any interesting photos later (Chicago Wolves looked great in their new green jerseys), but the laziest recap:

I got home to find out on Twitter, thanks to the knowledgeable and entertaining @HockeyJoeGM  (see, I'm doing a Twitter "Follow Friday," but on my blog instead. ha!) that a men's college hockey game was about to become the longest college hockey game in history. Quinnipiac was playing at Union (these are in Hamden, CT, & Schenectady, NY respectively--I had to look those up just now). there's the score at bottom (what's that cool building?):

and you could have watched it unfold here: 

so this game was starting around the time I left for the Wolves game, and still going on when I got back. and it's a CTA bus, CTA train, and Pace bus each way for me to get to Allstate Arena. a relatively brief 2.5 hours to see the home team lose doesn't seem so bad now.

speaking of other crushing defeats...how about the Predators at Sharks game Thursday night? I doubt many east coasters stayed up for that but it would have been worth it. I wanted Nashville to win, to keep some points away from San Jose. not just because I've recently become enamored, like so many others, of Preds' goalie Dan Ellis' Twitter account, @dellis39 (my favorite "verified" sports celebrity Twitterer, though I can't say I've sought out many yet. @OzzieGuillen is...well, did you SEE the feud, possibly one-sided, with Sean Penn? he's always, um, interesting.) linked in this tweet are photos each of us posted of the demolition of the Lafayette Building in downtown Detroit (he threw in a swipe at Detroit...and the Preds were beaten badly by the Red Wings that night)! 

anyway, it was a fine back-and-forth game, with the Predators leading for much of the first two periods. late in the second, in a few minutes of game time, the score went from 3-2 Preds to 4-2 to 3-2 back to 4-2. the Preds seemed to score a goal and the score went up but the goal was disallowed (the "distinct kicking motion" call). then right after, they scored a 4th goal for real. but I guess this messed with them a bit, because then in the third period...the Sharks starting scoring. 
 

A LOT. even a goal which was questionable, for..."distinct kicking motion." but was allowed. (I don't think I've seen TWO goals under review in any game I watched this season. interesting that both were decided in the home team's favor, though I haven't watched them enough to judge for myself.) after 4 fairly quick Sharks goals (another from Preds too), Dan Ellis was pulled. goalies often get pulled when that many goals happen quickly, but to put in the other goalie with only 5 minutes left in the game?!

then Marleau got his 40th goal of the season...then Jay Leach got an empty-netter, his first career NHL goal. and then I learned the Sharks set an interesting NHL record (this surprised me):

boy, I hope no one left that game early to beat traffic. I checked NHL.com after the game hoping for a spectacular headline, but I guess they were in bed for the night, nothing on the main page. in the morning, Joe Pavelski got this salute on the front page (and I agree with the Blackhawks fan who said he looks like he could be Kris Versteeg's brother):

I'll let Dan Ellis have the last word, which did appear before I went to bed:

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...

glad I don't have to write sports headlines #11 etc.

from a couple nights ago, not too bad but still...

but! more interesting than puns, is that the Blackhawks @ Sharks game tonight, heavily hyped with 2 of the 5 featured stories earlier in the day previewing the game, had this headline minutes after the game, referencing Troy Brouwer's game-winning goal:

and I don't think even an hour later, it'd changed to this (I came back to the site when I knew the standings would all be updated. note all the titles at the bottom are the same):

I know things might change on the site as they go from breaking news to a full game recap with highlights, but it's unusual to change like that. regardless...a terrific win for the Hawks.

glad I don't have to write sports headlines, #6 in an ongoing series

OMFG, I can only justify this by assuming they were drunk (this was the latest game on New Year's Eve), drunker than my downstairs neighbors' party guests who were breaking things at 3 am and smoking and chatting outside at 4 am in 10 degree F weather...

anyway, EPIC EPIC POST about the Winter Classic/Team USA will be up soon (okay, hopefully before HNIC Saturday night)...

Blackhawks in California (& mood swings) recap

so, after winning the first three games, all in Canada, on their circus trip...
game 1 in California, Hawks vs. San Jose Sharks:
Second City Hockey puts on another Chicago blogger-and-blog-commenter get-together. I head out to the Whirlaway, a terrific neighborhood bar that's a mile walk from my place. lousy weather but I want to watch this with people, especially since the last get-together (my first with this group) was the Hawks getting beat by the Coyotes. there's often homemade food there (thanks!) and since it's Thanksgiving eve, there's a full spread. a big table of savory dishes and a small table of desserts. I get beer and food and oh right, there's a game... 

Hawks score a zillion times. shorthanded goal, then another and another (Hossa's first goal for the Hawks and then one by Sharp happening within thirty seconds of each other on the Sharks' power play...I am speechless). Hawks aren't the greatest at scoring on their own PP, but if they want to score a bunch of times on their opponents', I'm fine with that. then four more goals, including another by Hossa. this is ridiculous. I expected maybe a Hossa goal and a close game (with either team winning), not THIS. (since both the other teams I follow--Maple Leafs and Bruins--had won that night, I wasn't sure Chicago would too.)

but by late in the game, I'm expecting a Hossa hat trick AND a Huet shutout AND for members of the Sharks to have to come clean out the mildewy parts of my pantry I've been afraid to touch. but then, Sharks quickly score twice in the last few minutes (oops to all the Sharks fans that understandably had left the game by then) and turn our hilarious 7-0 shutout into a mere 7-2 blowout.

mood: giddy, drunk, exhilarated, drunk, disbelieving, actually I wasn't all that drunk, happy, arrogant, prideful, what are the 7 deadly sins? pretty sure I covered them all that night (had several plates of food at the bar, anyway). the mood lasts, well, at least I have a good 16 hours or so till I find someone making an obnoxious rape "joke" about the Hawks win in comments on a Hawks blog. BUT! never mind that now, I'll just repress my rage put on a smile and work on my revenge address that later. moving on, game 2 in California, Hawks vs. Anaheim Ducks:

with all due respect to the real Hawks bloggers out there, this screenshot was the best description of the game. how nice of them to write this recap--and during the first period, too! okay, the game came back on (Ducks scored their first goal while it was off) and it wasn't pretty.

except for the above. the only good thing I got out of this game--noticing what a truly handsome (or hjandsome, if you prefer. no, you don't.) fellow Hjalmarsson is. game winds up Ducks 3-Hawks 0. zero? ZERO? I don't even know what that means anymore!

mood: stunned, angry, humiliated. headed out immediately to catch the Chicago Wolves game (of which more later. I'm glad I went, but DAMN I wish I'd seen the Maple Leafs 6-4 win that night). and so, game 3 in California, Hawks vs. L.A. Kings:

seriously, Yahoo? technical difficulties again? they did switch to the game about 5 minutes in. it doesn't seem super eventful (it was late and I was getting distracted, though). Kings score first. Toews scores a power play goal much later and I'm giddy we at least won't be shut out again. OT, nothing happens except a penalty. shootout (one of the 6 last night, as noted in the prior post). Kings get one, Hawks don't, Kings get one, Hawks don't, it's over.

(bonus Hjalmers, to distract me from thinking of any attractive talented Swedish guys who might be on other Midwestern teams. must forget that...forget that...)

mood: disappointed, but not wanting to seem greedy. 9 out of 12 possible points on the road trip is VERY good. I honestly didn't expect to win this many. psychologically, with 6 games, I would have preferred the losses in, say, games 2 & 3, or 3 & 5, though...

overall, great job on the trip and I'll be at the Blackhawks vs. Blue Jackets game Tuesday. Hossa's first home game with the Hawks! free winter hat night! third jerseys debut! and I got a game ticket for $13.50! really, $13.50!