http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=362128&page=NewsPage&service=page
Sorry, Deano... I don't buy Hickey-mania...
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
The Night Andy Murray And I Compared Johnsons...
How can I pass up that opportunity? While in the Verizon Arena during game three, I saw a number of people I had either previously met or emailed over the years. Fans, Friends and Monarchs employees - I had the chance to see my friend Dan, known as Dano to some, Bill, Katie, Paul, Noelle, Gerry, and MJ, who are all friends of mine on Facebook, and active members of the Monarchs Booster Club, Jason Bergeron, who provided my seats, and Jason LaBossiere, who has sold me a few Monarchs game worns over the years, as well as Cheryl Abbott, SVP of the Monarchs, who once sold me some Ryan Flinn bobbleheads. Anyway, it was great to see so many people I have met over the years visiting Manchester, but the big surprise was running into someone I knew from Los Angeles... Andy Murray was in the house, watching his son's playoff performance. Andy and I had met on a few occasions, both in LA where I had interviewed him once, and in Nashville, where I attended the 2003 draft that brought the younger Murray to the Kings organization. I re-introduced myself as we stood in the concourse between periods, and while it was easy for him to justify his being there, he did wonder what I was doing there, and I had to admit, it was pretty odd to say that I was there to watch playoff hockey because living in LA, I knew it was virtually impossible to get any post season love as a Kings fan. (I didn't go into the fact that I had only missed one Duck post season game in the past three post season runs...) "Well," he said, "You're probably going to see some playoff hockey in LA pretty soon with that group of kids." Now Andy, come on... pretty soon? How about the fact that among the 14 other teams in the conference, you have Chicago, Edmonton, St. Louis, and Vancouver among the teams that called it quits after 82, and all have reasonable optimism for the future based on their young talent as well. Then we can talk Columbus, who I always seem to have a love-fest for in the pre-season. In fact, I don't see too many of the 8 teams that DID make the playoffs in the West falling that far out of position, so unless the NHL decides EVERYONE makes the playoffs come next April, pretty soon doesn't mean 12 months from now to me! While Andy didn't disagree with me, I also moved the topic over to rookie defensemen named Johnson, and stated that I thought he had the best rookie Johnson in the league. "Well, your Johnson is pretty good too, you know," he replied. Personally I would have preferred my Gleason to my Johnson, but I know that the story hasn't been written in its entirety yet. My Johnson might turn out to be rock solid. Andy's Johnson however is already quite the stud. He knows it, and anyone who watched Blues hockey this season knows it.
We shook hands and got ready for overtime, and I went back to my seat thinking about our respective Johnsons. If Andy is correct, and Jack can truly shoulder the load, I might not have to fly almost 3000 miles to watch post season hockey, but if I have to fly anywhere, New England is a beautiful place to be.
A group of about 15 of us went out for a post-game meal and a splendid time was had by all. Bill drove me back to my car, and I headed back to the hotel, where I crashed immediately upon impact with my pillow. Driving to Portland in the morning.
We shook hands and got ready for overtime, and I went back to my seat thinking about our respective Johnsons. If Andy is correct, and Jack can truly shoulder the load, I might not have to fly almost 3000 miles to watch post season hockey, but if I have to fly anywhere, New England is a beautiful place to be.
A group of about 15 of us went out for a post-game meal and a splendid time was had by all. Bill drove me back to my car, and I headed back to the hotel, where I crashed immediately upon impact with my pillow. Driving to Portland in the morning.
Things I Would Have Written About If I Had Cared About Writing About Them
It has been a week since I've returned from my brief 5 day excursion to Portland, ME and Manchester, NH. Because of the "great fire" at the corner of Hollywood and Vine, our offices (Capitol Records) are closed today, and I have a few spare moments (hours) to reflect on my journey and the things I had planned to blog about.
I had a wonderful time. New England is so different from Southern California, and it was particularly flawless during my travels. I arrived just past midnight on the morning of Friday the 19th. I had flown Jet Blue out of Burbank to JFK (and the horror on that flight was that both the DirecTV and the XM was not working at my seat) and then switched planes and went on from New York up to Portland. I hopped a cab to a local airport hotel, and slept 5 hours. Woke up semi-refreshed (technically it was 3AM for me...) and went to one of my "recovery" meetings (that I attend daily while remaining anonymous.) Headed back to the hotel, checked out and grabbed my rental vehicle and drove a couple of hours north to a town called Camden, ME, where I was to spend the day/night with my dear friends Marc and Kim and their 2 year old son Ethan. They had relocated from the San Fernando Valley late last year, and this was my first time seeing them since the move. Marc and I have been friends since 1972, and we've had our professional lives intersect time and time again so this was the one day of no hockey I allowed myself on this whirlwind excursion.
Saturday morning I was up at the crack of dawn again, and ambled downstairs, threw my luggage into the car and headed to Manchester, a good 3.5 hour drive south. This was my fourth trip to Manchvegas, and I actually have a pretty good feel for the area, so my arrival was not complicated in the least. I arranged dinner plans with my friend Marlene, and drove to the hotel. Checked in, and found one of my "meetings," and headed downtown for some spirituality prior to my meal and Monarchs.
The Monarchs were down two games to none to a Providence Bruins team that dominated the Eastern portion of the AHL all season long. Finnish goaltender Tuukka Rask has been the real deal since being acquired from the Maple Leafs, who drafted him in the first round in 2005, and then dealt him for Raycroft prior to his arrival in North America. Personally, I always seem to have a love affair with Finnish goaltenders, believing that Niittymaki, Toivonen and Rask are all blue chip prospects, with star potential. Of course, having watched Kings goaltending for over 30 years, I could be wowed by Score-O...
Anyway, great to see Marlene, great to see so many Monarchs fans I have met over the years, and great to be back in the Verizon Wireless Arena, where my cell phone coverage is spotty despite my service provider of the same name.
The fans are already aggravated as the ref is the hated Francois St. Laurent, who, as legend has it, has been screwing the Monarchs out of wins for as long as the team has been in operation. Personally, I'm not sure of this fact, but I do know that watching a game that has one ref is a major adjustment after watching games with two for the better part of the last few seasons. Just one goal is scored in the first two periods, and it's from the Bruins T.J. Trevalyan, but at one point in the first period, Kanko blisters a shot that from where I was sitting (to the left of the Bruins net) sure looked like it had gone under the crossbar, but it flew out quickly and play continued. The team celebrated, the crowd celebrated, the red light went on, but the goal judge offered a shrug when questioned, and without video review in the AHL, St. Laurent waved off the tally and the Monarchs were without a goal. Later the Monarchs put one behind Rask, but a goaltender interference call that may or may not have been justified was all that stood behind the "1" going up on the Monarchs portion of the scoreboard. Oh well. Life goes on. Midway through the third, the baby B's Wacey Rabbit (how can you not LOVE a guy named Wacey Rabbit... that Wascal) scored to make it 2-0 and then the fun began. Eight seconds after the goal, coincidental minors made it a 4 on 4 skating situation, and then five seconds after that, Bruins defenseman Jonathan Sigalet got called for interference and the Monarchs were on the power play. On the ice were Teddy Purcell and Matt Moulson (already both minus 2) and defensemen Troy Milam and Peter Harrold (already both minus 1) - and it was Milam scoring from Purcell and Harrold to get the 'Narchs on the board less than a half minute later. While it was the third puck to get by Rask, it was the first that counted, and the lead was cut in half. A couple minutes later, Bruins rookie winger Byron Bitz (no player with the last name Kibbles listed in the Hockey DB... shame) was flagged for tripping, and less than a minute later the Monarchs tied the game on a Moulson goal from Purcell and Milam. As you all know, overtime ensued and while the parent Bruins were engaged in a real goalfest against Montreal just a short drive down the freeway from Manchester, the baby B's pulled out an overtime victory themselves, with Jeff Hoggan scoring one of those improbable goals, banking the puck from behind the net off goaltender Bernier's rear. Bernier never moved, never flinched... the puck was in seemingly harmless position and then a split second later it was dribbling behind the goal line and the celebration began. Oh, and yes, Purcell, Milam, Harrold and Moulson were on the ice at the time, so despite the two power play tallies, that was a nifty minus TEN between the four of them. It was hard to say any Monarch was particularly impressive in this game, aside from Bernier, who really did match Rask's performance virtually shot for shot. Rask had 33 saves, Bernier had 31 and the highlights for me were:
* Oscar Moller's first pro game. A good first period and some very strong work with Zeiler and Murray. Periods two and three he was less visible, but he made an early impression.
* Kanko's determination. I've never been a huge believer in the guy, but after Bernier, he was clearly the most interested party in a Monarchs uniform.
* Playing the part of Carmen Sandiego, please welcome Lauri Tukonen... has he fallen that far down the depth chart as to be a healthy scratch for a home playoff game while Moller, Westgarth, Cliche, Murray, Ryan, Kanko and company get the call?
One game down, two games to go, and one more thing about this night that I can write about, but it gets its own entry, just so I can title it properly.
I had a wonderful time. New England is so different from Southern California, and it was particularly flawless during my travels. I arrived just past midnight on the morning of Friday the 19th. I had flown Jet Blue out of Burbank to JFK (and the horror on that flight was that both the DirecTV and the XM was not working at my seat) and then switched planes and went on from New York up to Portland. I hopped a cab to a local airport hotel, and slept 5 hours. Woke up semi-refreshed (technically it was 3AM for me...) and went to one of my "recovery" meetings (that I attend daily while remaining anonymous.) Headed back to the hotel, checked out and grabbed my rental vehicle and drove a couple of hours north to a town called Camden, ME, where I was to spend the day/night with my dear friends Marc and Kim and their 2 year old son Ethan. They had relocated from the San Fernando Valley late last year, and this was my first time seeing them since the move. Marc and I have been friends since 1972, and we've had our professional lives intersect time and time again so this was the one day of no hockey I allowed myself on this whirlwind excursion.
Saturday morning I was up at the crack of dawn again, and ambled downstairs, threw my luggage into the car and headed to Manchester, a good 3.5 hour drive south. This was my fourth trip to Manchvegas, and I actually have a pretty good feel for the area, so my arrival was not complicated in the least. I arranged dinner plans with my friend Marlene, and drove to the hotel. Checked in, and found one of my "meetings," and headed downtown for some spirituality prior to my meal and Monarchs.
The Monarchs were down two games to none to a Providence Bruins team that dominated the Eastern portion of the AHL all season long. Finnish goaltender Tuukka Rask has been the real deal since being acquired from the Maple Leafs, who drafted him in the first round in 2005, and then dealt him for Raycroft prior to his arrival in North America. Personally, I always seem to have a love affair with Finnish goaltenders, believing that Niittymaki, Toivonen and Rask are all blue chip prospects, with star potential. Of course, having watched Kings goaltending for over 30 years, I could be wowed by Score-O...
Anyway, great to see Marlene, great to see so many Monarchs fans I have met over the years, and great to be back in the Verizon Wireless Arena, where my cell phone coverage is spotty despite my service provider of the same name.
The fans are already aggravated as the ref is the hated Francois St. Laurent, who, as legend has it, has been screwing the Monarchs out of wins for as long as the team has been in operation. Personally, I'm not sure of this fact, but I do know that watching a game that has one ref is a major adjustment after watching games with two for the better part of the last few seasons. Just one goal is scored in the first two periods, and it's from the Bruins T.J. Trevalyan, but at one point in the first period, Kanko blisters a shot that from where I was sitting (to the left of the Bruins net) sure looked like it had gone under the crossbar, but it flew out quickly and play continued. The team celebrated, the crowd celebrated, the red light went on, but the goal judge offered a shrug when questioned, and without video review in the AHL, St. Laurent waved off the tally and the Monarchs were without a goal. Later the Monarchs put one behind Rask, but a goaltender interference call that may or may not have been justified was all that stood behind the "1" going up on the Monarchs portion of the scoreboard. Oh well. Life goes on. Midway through the third, the baby B's Wacey Rabbit (how can you not LOVE a guy named Wacey Rabbit... that Wascal) scored to make it 2-0 and then the fun began. Eight seconds after the goal, coincidental minors made it a 4 on 4 skating situation, and then five seconds after that, Bruins defenseman Jonathan Sigalet got called for interference and the Monarchs were on the power play. On the ice were Teddy Purcell and Matt Moulson (already both minus 2) and defensemen Troy Milam and Peter Harrold (already both minus 1) - and it was Milam scoring from Purcell and Harrold to get the 'Narchs on the board less than a half minute later. While it was the third puck to get by Rask, it was the first that counted, and the lead was cut in half. A couple minutes later, Bruins rookie winger Byron Bitz (no player with the last name Kibbles listed in the Hockey DB... shame) was flagged for tripping, and less than a minute later the Monarchs tied the game on a Moulson goal from Purcell and Milam. As you all know, overtime ensued and while the parent Bruins were engaged in a real goalfest against Montreal just a short drive down the freeway from Manchester, the baby B's pulled out an overtime victory themselves, with Jeff Hoggan scoring one of those improbable goals, banking the puck from behind the net off goaltender Bernier's rear. Bernier never moved, never flinched... the puck was in seemingly harmless position and then a split second later it was dribbling behind the goal line and the celebration began. Oh, and yes, Purcell, Milam, Harrold and Moulson were on the ice at the time, so despite the two power play tallies, that was a nifty minus TEN between the four of them. It was hard to say any Monarch was particularly impressive in this game, aside from Bernier, who really did match Rask's performance virtually shot for shot. Rask had 33 saves, Bernier had 31 and the highlights for me were:
* Oscar Moller's first pro game. A good first period and some very strong work with Zeiler and Murray. Periods two and three he was less visible, but he made an early impression.
* Kanko's determination. I've never been a huge believer in the guy, but after Bernier, he was clearly the most interested party in a Monarchs uniform.
* Playing the part of Carmen Sandiego, please welcome Lauri Tukonen... has he fallen that far down the depth chart as to be a healthy scratch for a home playoff game while Moller, Westgarth, Cliche, Murray, Ryan, Kanko and company get the call?
One game down, two games to go, and one more thing about this night that I can write about, but it gets its own entry, just so I can title it properly.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Here I Go...
Getting on the plane to Portland, ME in a couple of hours. Will be visiting friends on Friday night, and then waking up Saturday to begin my brief three day hockey sojourn.
SATURDAY: Providence at Manchester
SUNDAY: Hartford at Portland
MONDAY: Providence at Manchester
...and then home on Tuesday.
I'll have something to say, I'm sure. I know I've been kinda quiet for the past couple of weeks, but I had some stress as it related to the IRS, the mudslide that has dogged my property for 3 years and change, and my shoulder, which was injured in a fall I took last November.
See you from the right coast :)
SATURDAY: Providence at Manchester
SUNDAY: Hartford at Portland
MONDAY: Providence at Manchester
...and then home on Tuesday.
I'll have something to say, I'm sure. I know I've been kinda quiet for the past couple of weeks, but I had some stress as it related to the IRS, the mudslide that has dogged my property for 3 years and change, and my shoulder, which was injured in a fall I took last November.
See you from the right coast :)
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
To The Playoffs I Go...
AHL, baby.... flying out on Thursday the 18th, returning on Tuesday the 22nd...
with any luck, I will see games 3 and 4 of the Manchester series, but if that falls apart, there's always Hartford/Portland.
I'm flying into Portland, ME late Thurs night, back on Tuesday morning...
with any luck, I will see games 3 and 4 of the Manchester series, but if that falls apart, there's always Hartford/Portland.
I'm flying into Portland, ME late Thurs night, back on Tuesday morning...
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