Oh, the boys and their playoff beards

photo by Emma Feener

Dear NHL All-Star Game,

I don't think I ever knew you. Especially not this year. Congratulations to Erik Karlsson for getting selected, though- he'll have some good fun out there. That draft is tonight, isn't it? The skills are tomorrow and the game is Sunday.

visit the official site

This year's match is taking place in Raleigh, North Carolina, but I can't see it being much more than a playground tourney. At the least, previous years have given us some indications about which conference was stronger (generally the West). If this is some cash-generating stint, it's pretty ridiculous. Player drafting is different- the organization is weeding through prospects. To have captains choose players is a concept borrowed from the delicate years of grade school. I don't know about you; it's just not my thing.

The last few years have scarcely been exciting for the same reason I don't watch international sports. The game becomes offence, offence, offence (and a little goaltender humiliation).

The Veer Union announce album title

Following up a fairly successful run with Against The Grain, the Vancouverites revealed their next album title a day early- Divide The Blackened Sky, set to be released this year. It's apparent that their music makes for a good hockey backdrop; lead single "Seasons" as used for the Pittsburgh Penguins ceremony two years ago:

2010 in Canuckland: First Half

Well, it's the last year of the decade. Should I feel any different? I kinda wish I did, but no- I'm still flimsy, bored, and wanting to change my nail colour. Another 200 or so eleven-year-olds were admitted to Hogwarts this year. Maple syrup? None.

01.14 Celebrated poet P.K. Page dies at 93. Good on you if you know who she is- I only do because I did a project on her a couple years ago. Inspirational work. From "Planet Earth":

The trees must be washed, and the grasses and mosses.
They have to be polished as if made of green brass.
The rivers and little streams with their hidden cresses
and pale-coloured pebbles
and their fool's gold
must be washed and starched or shined into brightness,
the sheets of lake water
smoothed with the hand
and the foam of the oceans pressed into neatness.

02.01 We begin seeing changes made to the social networking site, Facebook. A typical, negative response. People warm up to it later, only to have their profiles fucked again just before the end of the year. (Facebook Begins Rolling Out Latest Redesign).

02.12-28 Vancouver 2010 started on a low note- the untimely death of Georgia's Nodar Kumaritashvili during a practice at the Whistler Sliding Centre- but with all respect, the Olympic spirit escalated through to the end. Oh, the one day I might've cheered for Sidney Crosby.

03.19 Bieber Fever at its peak, with My World 2.0. A large blow to the credibility of Canadian music, but life goes on.


04.06 One of my personal favourites, although delayed, Secret & Whisper's Teenage Fantasy. It's very screamy-punk pop, but with better guitar. LIYL: Saosin, Anberlin, Tokio Hotel.

04.18 (I was at a 30 Seconds To Mars concert?) The 2010 Juno Awards held out in St. John's this year. Not a bad turnout, despite appalling nominees. Thank God Arkells won "New Group" over the softpunk bands in the category. It was rather boring, and expected as a civilized awards show.

04.19 The nation's spun into a hypnotic thaw following the close dates of Swim and Crystal Castles (II). Strategically confusing those who doubted after March.

04.26 Born Ruffians premiere the electric video for the first single off their upcoming June album, titled Say It.

05.13 The Habs: If they win, they riot. If they lose, they riot.


06.08 Newmarket indie-hoppers Tokyo Police Club release what will be a very successful follow-up album. It proves to be fun, catchy, and very radio friendly. Especially convenient for that Canadian content regulation on national radio stations.

06.23 AHHH! Earthquake!

06.26-27 G20 Summit weekend in Toronto. People yelled things, broke things, burned things, and were arrested. Somewhat comically, @HUMANKEBAB of USS is out tweeting quite peacefully around the city.

Hmm, I'm not sure if I'm done yet. I may update this tomorrow or the second half will be posted within the next three days.

3-0 vs. TOR: Who's this cutie?

(from left: Erik Karlsson, Mike Fisher, and Filip Kuba; Yahoo! Sports)

I finally got around to watching this match on national broadcast this evening. One of my parents had left the caption setting on, which I watched fascinatingly as words would occasionally backspace. What better night to regain some confidence after two rough, and very different types of loss?

Key points
Jarkko Ruutu is probably the smartest guy on the team. Everywhere you turned, he was there, ready to steal the puck. Most turnovers were his initiation; he always knows whether to just cling to his opponent and kick at the puck or cut the opposing player off for a fellow teammate. I'm very impressed by what he's done in the last couple of years on this team and I'm loving the undying effort on the fourth line.

Alfredsson is still physical; he completely barrelled a Leafs player over in the third, sending Peter Regin and Jason Spezza on that rush. He is not as dominant as he used to be (then again, nor is Spezza who pulls up rather quickly and needs to follow through with his motions), but their presence is enough stress for the opposing line.

Regin and Foligno will score soon enough. They're obviously dying for a lucky break. From the looks of it, one is deserving to come. Current spots on lines 1 and 3 are ideal; seeing as they are both playing left wing, Clouston could interchange them as needed. Just don't touch that second line.

Defence was offensive. This is good, especially Chris Campoli and Eriksson jumping in from the blueline. Meanwhile, Chris Phillips made some good decisions- I just think he's showing similar habits to Spezza of easing up on aggressiveness. On the flipside, the forward's shot block attempts and successes are heartwarming. Not to mention entertaining.

The two Chris's. (Kelly and Neil, that is.) They are doing fantastically better than I expected. The speed and determination were noted. Alongside Matt Carkner, they really contribute some oomph to the game. Honestly, I have nothing specifically bad to address.

Scoring: Milan Michalek (1st), Fisher (2nd), Fisher (2nd).

Hi, I make the set lists (weekend rant)

So I'm in the grand opening of a local Rexall Pharma Plus when my sister comes running past me with an Eclipse (Twilight) wall calendar. She doesn't ask, "do you think Mommy will let me get this?", because we both know the answer is yes. Only because it's $6 cheaper here at the drugstore than it is at CalendarClub. Eventually I get bored and make my way to the rack myself.

What catches my attention is the flashy Ottawa Senators 12 by 12. (The mall stand just didn't have it; they had every other Canadian team.) Partly because I'd left my wallet in the car and partly because I didn't quite agree with the player choices, I left it where it was at.

(buy it online)

After all, a roster is made up of more or less 30 players and a year consists of 12 months. I found the selection rather interesting.

January: Mike Fisher
February: Filip Kuba
March: Alex Kovalev
April: Chris Neil
May: Chris Phillips
June: Nick Foligno
July: Daniel Alfredsson
August: Jarkko Ruutu
September: Milan Michalek
October: Jason Spezza
November: Pascal Leclaire
December: Chris Kelly

First off, I should not be talking. It's been nearly two weeks since I've really watched a game, but one would think that putting your two most charismatic leaders in the offseason is not a good strategy. With the Senators (ahem) goaltending situation, Leclaire in next year's November slot? Not safe. Oh, and what the hell- let's throw Kelly in at the end, because he'll never go anywhere.

Ah well, what can you expect? It's a calendar.

We have lift off.

OTT 3, CAR 2. Brian Elliott in for Leclaire due to an early 1st period collision with Kostopoulos. First win of the season, opening goal scored by Fisher, followed in the second by Michalek's netter. The Canes came back in the 3rd, tying it up in less than two minutes. Game-winner scored by Mike Fisher on the man advantage.

Defensive pairings were shuffled tonight and from my pictorial creations (I resorted to listening in on Team1200, alright?), they seemed to be an improvement from Monday night. Daniel Alfredsson looking good, as well.

Last game; 3-2 OTL in WSH (by George Washburn)

Next game
Saturday, October 16th in Montreal. I still miss Volchenkov.

A sliver of turkey mad hope.

I missed this game, but it didn't sound too good.

I feel like I don't know this team anymore. The names are (for the most part) the same, but they just don't say anything to me. That was the case last season, at least. What's changed the most this season is the defense:

Chris Phillips - Erik Karlsson
Sergei Gonchar - Chris Campoli
Matt Carkner - Brian Lee
Even with all due respect, I don't like Gonchar and I'm terrified about that 3rd pairing. Pascal Leclaire is a difficult call: on the one hand, the issue of inconsistent goaltending will remain; on the other, finding that consistency will come at a cost.

The boys play Washington tonight.

GO SENS GO