Steve Mason: Blogger

by Anne

Steve Mason, the Columbus Blue Jackets wunderkind and Calder Trophy nominated goaltender is experiencing a lot of firsts this year. First NHL stint, first Blue Jackets playoff series, first trip to Vegas, first NHL awards show, and, most importantly to me, first time blogger.

You can read all of Steven's exploits over the last two days in Vegas here at the Blue Jacket's website. The highlights include him listing everyone traveling with him, which is how we learned his girlfriend has the rare and complicated name of Amberleigh, which sounds like a beer to me; the limo driver sort of locked the keys to the limo in the trunk; there was no movie on the five hour flight, Steven was rather indignant and passed the time reading his "girlfriend's" gossip magazines (whatev, Steve, we see your mailing address and name on the front. You can admit to reading Star magazine, its ok); also the usual "Vegas is crazy, yo." that first timers often experience. Steven just turned 21 on May 29 which is quite a relief because he wasn't sure they'd allow him into the Palms if he was only 20. I think they'd make an exception, Steve, but its cute that you were concerned.

I wasn't aiming to find a picture of Steve Mason shirtless but I found one
Our readers rejoice
Also, interesting tattoo, Steven.
He's from Oakville which you drive through/past to get to Toronto from Buffalo.
Sweet
The dude on the other table is Kyle Turris, btw

Tuesday Tidbits

by Anne

• After that article about the silent Sabres lockerroom, some sweet bloggers were chatting and I decided to post a poll for people to select a personality player to add to the roster. The list is a conglomeration of many people's nominations, over on the left sidebar. Its open for a week, until Apirl 27.

• Team USA, seriously lacking the happyfuntimes from last year, have their first exhibition game this afternoon at 2:15 EST against host nation Switzerland in Zurich.

• Team Czech's roster was announced and Big Czech Al will be representin' his country again this year, along with Jaromir Jagr and Ales Hemsky.

• The Caps FINALLY won, and won handily. Simeon Toast Crunch™ got a shut out and managed to casually brush off being punched in the face by Sean Avery.

• I only put ™ there because I just learned how to do it I may do it after all STH nicknames just because I can ™ and its fun ™
  

• The Flames also won and Adam Burish forgot that Jarome Iginla is the manliest man on the planet and the two attempted to engage in fisticuffs. They're almost exactly the same size so it'd be interesting to see who'd take that fight. But clearly it would be Iggy.

• A really great story about a terminally ill Columbus Blue Jackets fan getting to attend the first ever playoff game held in Columbus tonight. God I hope they win for him tonight. This kid got to sign a 1 day NHL contract and as part of a charity event the club was selling his jersey and its the 3rd highest selling jersey behind Rick Nash and Steve Mason. Also, Jason Chimera is now my #2 favorite Blue Jacket. Its one of those rare "More than just a game" moments.

• No! I am totally not tearing up over here after that story... ok maybe a little... *sniff*
  

• Friggin' Hasek is un-retiring... again

• Kevin Divine, Sabres Director of Amateur Scouting hates the draft, or at least he hates the first day of it. So do I, Kevin. It takes like 4 hours to get through round one. There's a video on Sabres.com. I don't like embedding those videos, they slow things down too much.

• This entry needs a picture...

perfect &trade

JUST WHEN I THINK I'M OVER IT I'M NOT

by Anne

YO. Why must TSN constantly torture me?

GOD I'VE MISSED HIS ADORABLY BROKEN ENGLISH!!!! COME BACK, BIG BEAR!

And, Stefan Legein is probably like sick or never actually wanted to play hockey, it sucks for the Blue Jackets that they lost him, but if Legein lost the drive to continue to challenge himself and grow in the sport, then you don't want that type of player on your team. It's too bad. I don't really know where he ranks on their promising young prospects list, it'd be interesting to see the Sabres comparison.

I'm super pumped about the possibility of Buffalo hosting the 2010-2011 World Juniors. It probably won't happen because awesome stuff like that never happens to Buffalo, but I'm excited that we're on the short list. It'll probably go to St. Paul, MN because its Minnesota, which is like the United States hockey capital.

I'm hopeful that the attention would make Buffalo seem better and less "dying" and "decaying". I always get paranoid about these things because you never know how its going to turn out. If by some miracle we are awarded the games, we need to TURN IT OUT and make sure that we trick out the city for the event. What's the city-wide equivalent of spinning rims? There are lots of less desirable situations right around the Arena and Dwyer isn't exactly in the middle of a bustling metropolis. What about the fact that HSBC Arena is obviously an NHL rink, not an international hockey sized rink? Dilemmas, dilemmas. Also, not my issue to resolve. SWEET. OMG IF I STILL WORK AT THE ARENA THEN (which I probably won't) CAN I SELL BEER TO SWEDISH MEN?!?!?!?! LET'S MAKE THIS HAPPEN BOYS AND GIRLS!!

Classes start on Monday. BFF Adam and I went shopping for cute school supplies. We're 23 and (almost 22), he's starting grad school and I'm returning for basically a 2nd bachelor's/beginning of a master's degree and he'll be carrying a High School Musical notebook to one of his classes while I'll be rocking a Chuck Norris notebook/folder combo as well as a "Shane" from Camp Rock duet. WE'RE NOT SO SECRETLY RESENTFUL THAT WE WERE BORN IN '85 AND '86 AND NOT '95 AND '96. He loves Hannah Montana and I love the Jonas Brothers, he thinks Zac Efron is straight and I think Selena Gomez is a way better match for Nick Jonas than Miley Cyrus is. This also stems from the fact that we teach high school students and we can't help but get involved in such super fun trends. WE'RE REALLY NOT ALL THAT COOL BUT TEENAGERS THINKS WE ARE AND ISN'T THAT REALLY WHAT'S IMPORTANT?