Showing posts with label kings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kings. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Game 47 Preview
Tonight, we will see a battle of two of the Western Conference powerhouses as the Kings travel to the Pepsi Center to take on the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche currently sit in 11th in the West while the Kings are nearly bringing up the rear in 13th, though only four points separates the two squads. Okay, so maybe "powerhouse" wasn't the best choice in adjective. Much to my father's chagrin, the Avs are 3-0 against the Kings this season, and they will go for the season sweep with Peter Budaj, who has won all three contests against the Kings this season, between the pipes tonight. In the opposing net will most likely be Jonathan Quick, but there's a chance we could see Jonathan Bernier in net since Quick played last night in Minnesota. Bernier has a 1-3 lifetime record in the NHL, but has supposedly played really well in the AHL thus far, giving the Kings extremely high hopes for the youngster. According to the Avs' official site, none of the injured men will return to the ice tonight, as they will take an extra week off to return to health due to the All-Star break. Personally, I think Stewart should give Johnny Zeiler the ol' Strachan treatment tonight. Thoughts?
Friday, December 12, 2008
Game #28 Recap
If you consider yourself an Avs fan, there is no way that Tuesday night's game wouldn't be considered one of the best games of the year. The Avs came out strong, and kept the pressure on for nearly a full 60 minutes, something that is usually not one of their strong points. Just 3:28 into the game, Marek Svatos found the back of the net for the sixth time this season. On the ensuing faceoff, Lappy and Mr. Zeiler got down to business, which every Avs fan across the world was hoping for as Zeiler was the one to knock our poor Footer out of the lineup for nearly three weeks with a dirty hit. Lappy showed him what was up, and easily won the fight. Just 24 seconds later, Milan Hejduk was able to put one past Jason LaBarbera on a beautiful feed from Paul Stastny who was hiding behind the net. As soon as I saw the pass coming from Stazz, I stood up to cheer because I know my Hedjie will always bury that shot. Eight minutes later, Cody McLeod was able to keep his MVP campaign with his fourth goal of the season after knocking Derek Armstrong out of the game earlier in the play, which Mark Rycroft claimed to be "great" in the post-game show.
Two minutes into the second period, Ryan Smyth was able to score the first PPG of the night, on a beautiful feed from behind the net from T.J. Hensick. To be honest, it reminded me of an Andrew Brunette special, but this is not something I expect to see out of Henner every night, unfortunately. Two minutes later marked my favorite Avs moment of the season. Chris Stewart chased down the puck as LaBarbera was playing it in the 'zoid behind the net, and generated a steal. He then fed it to the front where Tyler Arnason failed to put it in (surprised?) but the rebound came right to Mr. MVP, Cody McLeod, who made no mistake in burrying it for his second of the night. However, as soon as he started to celebrate Raitis Ivanans attempted to ruin the party by attacking Cody for being a much better and far sexier player than he could ever dream to be. There was a bunch of pushing and shoving, but no real fights broke out. However, Cody taunted the big guy all the way to the box and even from inside the box as Raitis skated by. I must have watched this clip on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJPQLWEYDcI) nearly 30 times by now, and still crack up every time. I absolutely love the fire and passion that Cody brings to the ice every night, and he is now the leading candidate for the jersey I will buy for next season so long as he gets re-signed. To make things even better, my homie, Chris Stewart, scored his first NHL point (assist) on this play, and I immediately went on facebook to congratulate him. Apparently getting his first NHL point wasn't enough as he followed it up with a short-handed goal on a breakaway later in the second, on which I had to offer my facebook congratulations yet again. Either he thinks I'm the coolest fan in the world, or he's one more "congratulations" post away from deleting me. At this point, it was 6-0, but the Kings managed a PPG of their own from new-comer Oscar Moller, ending Budaj's hope for a shutout.
Nothing major happened in the game after this, as 6-1 was the final, but being in the same room as a Kings fan for this game definitely had it's perks. My fellow Avs fan friend, Paul, and I came home about 10 minutes before game time, and the house was decorated with Kings paraphernalia nearly everywhere from my dear father. However, with each goal scored, I removed one Kings item from it's place and promptly threw it on the floor and stomped on it. Needless to say I was doing a lot of stomping! Fun night in the Hersh house-hold, let me tell you. To make things even better, we put a window-cling with a puck on it on my dad's back-windshield and put an Avs hat next to it, just to rub it in a little bit more (see picture below).
Two minutes into the second period, Ryan Smyth was able to score the first PPG of the night, on a beautiful feed from behind the net from T.J. Hensick. To be honest, it reminded me of an Andrew Brunette special, but this is not something I expect to see out of Henner every night, unfortunately. Two minutes later marked my favorite Avs moment of the season. Chris Stewart chased down the puck as LaBarbera was playing it in the 'zoid behind the net, and generated a steal. He then fed it to the front where Tyler Arnason failed to put it in (surprised?) but the rebound came right to Mr. MVP, Cody McLeod, who made no mistake in burrying it for his second of the night. However, as soon as he started to celebrate Raitis Ivanans attempted to ruin the party by attacking Cody for being a much better and far sexier player than he could ever dream to be. There was a bunch of pushing and shoving, but no real fights broke out. However, Cody taunted the big guy all the way to the box and even from inside the box as Raitis skated by. I must have watched this clip on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJPQLWEYDcI) nearly 30 times by now, and still crack up every time. I absolutely love the fire and passion that Cody brings to the ice every night, and he is now the leading candidate for the jersey I will buy for next season so long as he gets re-signed. To make things even better, my homie, Chris Stewart, scored his first NHL point (assist) on this play, and I immediately went on facebook to congratulate him. Apparently getting his first NHL point wasn't enough as he followed it up with a short-handed goal on a breakaway later in the second, on which I had to offer my facebook congratulations yet again. Either he thinks I'm the coolest fan in the world, or he's one more "congratulations" post away from deleting me. At this point, it was 6-0, but the Kings managed a PPG of their own from new-comer Oscar Moller, ending Budaj's hope for a shutout.
Nothing major happened in the game after this, as 6-1 was the final, but being in the same room as a Kings fan for this game definitely had it's perks. My fellow Avs fan friend, Paul, and I came home about 10 minutes before game time, and the house was decorated with Kings paraphernalia nearly everywhere from my dear father. However, with each goal scored, I removed one Kings item from it's place and promptly threw it on the floor and stomped on it. Needless to say I was doing a lot of stomping! Fun night in the Hersh house-hold, let me tell you. To make things even better, we put a window-cling with a puck on it on my dad's back-windshield and put an Avs hat next to it, just to rub it in a little bit more (see picture below).
Monday, November 24, 2008
Total Avs Update!
Once again, it's been awhile, and I do apologize for that. Since I've last posted, a lot has happened in the world of the Avs.
-Peter Budaj has been on an incredible hot-streak, save for a soft goal against the Kings Saturday night. In one of the most exciting Avs games in recent memory, he out-dueled the great Roberto Luongo, on the road nonetheless, in a 2-1 shootout victory. He followed that up with another shootout win, this time 3-2, a few days later in Edmonton, in a game that many would say that he completely stole. Saturday night, he won yet another shootout game, blanking all three Kings shooters.
-The team's offense is still struggling, although signs of hope could be seen in the Kings game Saturday night, as three pre-shootout pucks found the back of Ersberg's net. Also, Super Joe is scheduled to return tonight, which might be able to provide the spark they're looking for.
-Paul Stastny signed the contract extension that we all knew would be coming, for what seems to be the going rate for the up-and-coming superstar/future face of the franchise. At five years, $33mil, it works out to $6.6mil per year, which really isn't too much to be paying him to replace Sakic in the future
*Note: It took me a while to actually type out that last sentence and believe it will have to happen some day.
-In Saturday night's game against the Kings, which I was lucky enough to attend, there were two VERY scary moments, as both Adam Foote and Wojtek Wolski were checked head-first into the boards, and laid motionless on the ice for a good few minutes each. Foote's seemed so serious that they actually brought a stretcher on the ice. Upon seeing this, my heart completley sank to the floor, possibly even the core of the Earth, but moments later, he got up and skated off the ice with help from his teammates and trainers. According to the Denver Post, Wolski seems to be in better shape, and could even play tonight in Anaheim. Foote has already been ruled out for tonight, allowing Tjarnqvist to see his first action of the season, but the injury doesn't seem to be as serious as it looked.
-Tonight the team travels all the way to sunny Anaheim, California to take on those damn Ducks. Actually, our normally sunny climate out here in California is bringing us rain tomorrow, my 23rd birthday, and keeping myself from celebrating at the happiest place on earth, Disneyland. For that, I give a gigantic two middle-fingers up to whoever controls the weather down here. Thanks for ruining my birthday, a-holes! Sakic looks like he'll be back in the line-up, and if Wolski plays as well, Jones and Arnason should be watching the game from up above in the press box. It should be a tough game against a physical Anaheim club, but hopefully the team will be able to out-physical the Ducks on their way to a whopping 10-10 record on the season.
-Peter Budaj has been on an incredible hot-streak, save for a soft goal against the Kings Saturday night. In one of the most exciting Avs games in recent memory, he out-dueled the great Roberto Luongo, on the road nonetheless, in a 2-1 shootout victory. He followed that up with another shootout win, this time 3-2, a few days later in Edmonton, in a game that many would say that he completely stole. Saturday night, he won yet another shootout game, blanking all three Kings shooters.
-The team's offense is still struggling, although signs of hope could be seen in the Kings game Saturday night, as three pre-shootout pucks found the back of Ersberg's net. Also, Super Joe is scheduled to return tonight, which might be able to provide the spark they're looking for.
-Paul Stastny signed the contract extension that we all knew would be coming, for what seems to be the going rate for the up-and-coming superstar/future face of the franchise. At five years, $33mil, it works out to $6.6mil per year, which really isn't too much to be paying him to replace Sakic in the future
*Note: It took me a while to actually type out that last sentence and believe it will have to happen some day.
-In Saturday night's game against the Kings, which I was lucky enough to attend, there were two VERY scary moments, as both Adam Foote and Wojtek Wolski were checked head-first into the boards, and laid motionless on the ice for a good few minutes each. Foote's seemed so serious that they actually brought a stretcher on the ice. Upon seeing this, my heart completley sank to the floor, possibly even the core of the Earth, but moments later, he got up and skated off the ice with help from his teammates and trainers. According to the Denver Post, Wolski seems to be in better shape, and could even play tonight in Anaheim. Foote has already been ruled out for tonight, allowing Tjarnqvist to see his first action of the season, but the injury doesn't seem to be as serious as it looked.
-Tonight the team travels all the way to sunny Anaheim, California to take on those damn Ducks. Actually, our normally sunny climate out here in California is bringing us rain tomorrow, my 23rd birthday, and keeping myself from celebrating at the happiest place on earth, Disneyland. For that, I give a gigantic two middle-fingers up to whoever controls the weather down here. Thanks for ruining my birthday, a-holes! Sakic looks like he'll be back in the line-up, and if Wolski plays as well, Jones and Arnason should be watching the game from up above in the press box. It should be a tough game against a physical Anaheim club, but hopefully the team will be able to out-physical the Ducks on their way to a whopping 10-10 record on the season.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Frozen Fury XI
For the 10th time, my family and I ventured out to Vegas for Frozen Fury. If I had to rank them, I think I'd be forced to put this year's trip at the top of the list. On the second morning of our trip, we found about 15 Avs players playing Craps, and I just couldn't let that glorious opportunity to pass me by so I stepped up to the table wearing a Liles jersey and played for about an hour standing right between my birthday buddy JM-Liles and Svatos. Although I didn't win, it was by far the best gambling experience of my life. When I left, I got Johnny to sign my (his) jersey and take a picture with me. Afterwards, he asked my name, shook my hand, and said he had a great time playing Craps with me. *Swoon*.
Lappy informed me that they would be practicing at 3pm. Around 2:30, a group of us headed over to the arena but couldn't find a way in without getting caught/kicked out. Finally we just decided to take our lives into our own hands and attempt to venture into the arena unnoticed. After tip-toeing around for a good few minutes, who do we see? None other than the man that it's all about. Yes, Lappy! We talked to him for a bit before he went on the ice, and all of a sudden, Super Joe walks out from behind him. I felt bad for bothering him for the third time in a span of a few hours (he signed two separate jerseys on two separate occasions earlier in the day) but I just HAD to get a picture with him. It came out beautifully, and it now graces the background of not only my computer but my cell phone too. What could possibly make me happier than constantly looking at a picture of me standing with my hero? Nothing, that's what! Practice was cool (cool as in fun, but also as in F'N FREEZING!). As the players were heading off the ice, I got the rest of the team to sign my Liles jersey. I think the only player I didn't get to sign was Wolski.
Later that night, my dad played in Luc Robitaille's poker tournament, and I added a number of pictures with Avs players to my growing arsenal. What a great day.
The next day was the game, and as usual, the Kings fans pretend that the game is the equivalent of a Stanley Cup Finals Game 7. And on that note, the Kings lost, just as if it were a game with any sort of relevance or meaning. The game was one of the most exciting Frozen Fury games ever, as there were about eight fights, three ejections, and a shootout winner by Hensick to decide it all.
I won't bother captioning these because I assume that if you're reading this blog, you'll be able to figure out who's who, so here are my pictures from the trip:
Lappy informed me that they would be practicing at 3pm. Around 2:30, a group of us headed over to the arena but couldn't find a way in without getting caught/kicked out. Finally we just decided to take our lives into our own hands and attempt to venture into the arena unnoticed. After tip-toeing around for a good few minutes, who do we see? None other than the man that it's all about. Yes, Lappy! We talked to him for a bit before he went on the ice, and all of a sudden, Super Joe walks out from behind him. I felt bad for bothering him for the third time in a span of a few hours (he signed two separate jerseys on two separate occasions earlier in the day) but I just HAD to get a picture with him. It came out beautifully, and it now graces the background of not only my computer but my cell phone too. What could possibly make me happier than constantly looking at a picture of me standing with my hero? Nothing, that's what! Practice was cool (cool as in fun, but also as in F'N FREEZING!). As the players were heading off the ice, I got the rest of the team to sign my Liles jersey. I think the only player I didn't get to sign was Wolski.
Later that night, my dad played in Luc Robitaille's poker tournament, and I added a number of pictures with Avs players to my growing arsenal. What a great day.
The next day was the game, and as usual, the Kings fans pretend that the game is the equivalent of a Stanley Cup Finals Game 7. And on that note, the Kings lost, just as if it were a game with any sort of relevance or meaning. The game was one of the most exciting Frozen Fury games ever, as there were about eight fights, three ejections, and a shootout winner by Hensick to decide it all.
I won't bother captioning these because I assume that if you're reading this blog, you'll be able to figure out who's who, so here are my pictures from the trip:
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