I Appreciate This Very Much, NHL

by Anne

Whoever made the NHL schedule this year is clearly a secret admirer of mine, because between Sabres games this week I've gotten to watch 2 exciting Pens games with nail-biting finishes.

Last night the Pens started out 3-0 at home over the Flyers. Wooooo! Things are lookin' good. WOO! Then came the 2nd period.... Simon Gagne scored 2 shorthanded goals in 5 minutes. Uhhhhhhh... all of a sudden the score was 4-3 Flyers. Then, who came through in the waning moments of regulation??

Work the bar stool Sid, work it.

Sid scored his 2nd of the night, and tied it up with 2 1/2 minutes to go. The shootout went to the 6th round before Alex Goligoski scored the only goal and Pittsburgh won it 5-4. WOOOOO!!!

Good times were had by all.... except the Philadelphia Flyers... and Danny Briere who's suffering from a pulled groin :(

Around the NHL:

I wonder if anyone in Hockeytown USA was panicking when the Wings were losing 2-0 to the TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING. The Red Wings did come back to win it with three goals in the third, but, still, dropping the first 2 to Tampa Bay? Uhhhh, not good, Cap'n Lids, not good.

If Henrik Tallinder can score a goal and shake what his mama gave him, WHY CAN'T MATT GREENE? Nevermind the fact that Greener might be the only player in the NHL that averages more than 15:00 a game that scores less frequently than Tallinder. HOWEVER. I declare that Matthew Xavier Greene will score 2 goals this season. YES, YOU HEARD ME 2. TWO WHOLE GOALS FOR GREENER. WATCH. IT'LL HAPPEN. I like to set lofty goals for the players I enjoy.

Matt: Anne thinks I can score 2 goals!
Erik and Wayne: Ok, whatever, buddy, I heard she drinks heavily but WOOO! Anyway!

Oilers WCB, Captain Ethan Moreau scored a goal in a loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, giving him 5 for the season thus far. Considering he only scored 6 goals over the last 2 seasons, things are looking up. Ok, ok, I should point out that between 06-07 and 07-08 he only actually played in 32 games because of injury but WHATEV. He's already more than doubled the number of games he played in 06-07.

Wild WCB Owen Nolan was activated off of IR and had several quality shots on goal in the Wild's 4-0 win over the Coyotes. Speaking of the Desert Pooches, they all managed to escape this one with even +/- because all 4 of Minnesota's goals were scored on the power play. Lucky break? Of course not, that just means they'll be doing nothing but PK drills tomorrow in what's sure to be a lengthy and terrible practice.

Speaking of the Coyotes, I know they're pretty bad and all, but they do have 2 things going for them:

1. I was going to post a picture of a recently discovered attractive player until I looked up how to spell his first name and realized that the only reason his name sounded familiar was because he was the Coyotes first round draft pick this year, thereby making him 18 years old. I'm a creeper... moving on.

2. They have the best and most ridiculous TV commercial sidekick ever: Pierre the Hockey Fanatic Snowman. A snowman with a black eye, missing teeth and a mullet... in Phoenix. Genius.

The Sharks jumped out to a huuuuge early lead on Calgary scoring 4 unanswered goals in the first period. Four Sharks had 2 points in the first alone and it only took about 1:00 into the 2nd to make it 5-0. The final tally was 6-1. Hey! At least they weren't shut out!

Ah yes, the Sabres:

I'm not sure why people keep talking about him, but apparently this "Tim Connolly" figure will be out of the line-up tonight against the Blue Jackets. Who? Tim? Never heard of him. Also apparently sitting this one out? Maxim "But guys! I just became an American citizen!" Afinogenov. Fine. By. Me. He makes me angry. Very very angry. His penchant for turning over the puck, flying into the zone only to scoop around the net and blowing a scoring chance, splitting defensemen and then losing control of the puck all while registering nary a shot on goal cause more than one Sabres fan to grab their heads in disgust and disbelief. He needs to park it for a game, remember a time when he was at least moderately consistent.

Looks like it'll be:

Kotalik up with Vanek and Royzie again (I didn't think that line did much except for TV the other night, but Lindy's giving it another go)
Grizz will center Pommer and Yo-yo (I like the looks of this one)
Mairsy centering with Staffy and Pie (Mairsy is good with the younger players, and 2 recent scratches will probably need a boost... although Paille did have a great night on Wednesday)
Petey Goose and Patty... (I'm not crazy about this line on most nights, but there are a few guys in Columbus that like to get rough, so they'll be ready for them)

I'm assuming the "always defensive minded" tandems will stay together as they've been pretty solid to date.

Totally unrelated to anything:

I cannot STAND people who are always like "I loved this person/player/movie/song/fashion trend BEFORE ANY ONE ELSE BECAUSE I AM A VASTLY SUPERIOR HUMAN BEING". Are we supposed to be impressed that you were totally jonesin' for the whole lace up ankle boot style back in 2006? Carrie Bradshaw has nothing on you.

Speaking completely in a double-standard kind of way, it particularly annoys me when girls do it. ESPECIALLY when girls are all "I don't have girlfriends, I'm TOTALLY UNIQUE I WEAR BOYS SHOES WITH SKINNY JEANS BECAUSE THEY MAKE ME LOOK CUTE." My response is usually "uhh, ok?" Screaming about how unique and original you are doesn't make it so. Just live your life and let your life speak for itself. If you are your own person, that should be apparent to everyone, you don't need to punch us all in the face about it.

This rant is honestly not aimed at anyone, its just a recurring theme I've been seeing in a few people I've met recently at school. And PS, having a tattoo does NOT make you a rebel or original. I have a tattoo. If I have a tattoo, it means that people who are not cool are doing it. Drinking Jones soda, hating Sarah Palin and reading Chuck Palahniuk does not make you inventive and trendsetting. No one cares that you loved Metro Station before "Shake It" came out. No one. I bet Metro Station doesn't even care.

Just stop.

Love,
Anne