Whoa New Formatting

by Anne

Blogger has gone all crazy and updated their post editor. Maybe that's why Blogger was down for part of this afternoon? Regardless, I'm taking advantage of this new editor right now whilst I blog.

• I need to stop obsessing over my fantasy team. Ok, obsessing is a bit strong, but I need to stop making minor, unimportant roster moves that will ultimately make only a minimal amount of difference for my team in the long run
  

• I can add background color to my text Oooooooooo. Ahhhhhhhh. See that? blue and gold. I'm so. damn. clever.
  

• Waive Nathan Paetsch, please? I understand he can play forward AND defense like a crazy magician and whatnot but what we really need are seven strong defensemen and even though Tyler Myers has only played in one NHL game, he's making a strong case for staying put. I would dump Paetsch to keep Myers up here in a heartbeat.
  

• As far as the forwards go: as much as it saddens me, I can accept that Danny Paille has been deadweight this pre-season and, if anyone should go, it should probably be him. :(
  

• Bucky Gleason tossed out the idea of waiving Matt Ellis but that's a terrible idea and I think he just said it to spark discussion. Why would they waive the hardest working guy on the team? A fourth line of Mair - Ellis - Kaleta sounds good to me. They have the grind and the drive and have even been known to contribute 5-10 goals each. I'll take that as a fourth line any day.
  

• Dominic Moore has landed himself in Florida. He apparently had a broken wrist last season which he broke just after joining the Sabres. Great, take up that roster spot and play only to partial effectiveness when Kennedy could've been given a better shot at the NHL, good, great, thanks Dom.
  

• The NHL should participate in the Olympics after 2010. Gary Bettman is doing a lot of damage by saying they won't. The kinds of problems this will cause in the 2013-2014 season aren't 100% clear but rest assured that there will be plenty of them.
  

• Hopefully the Canucks will start winning tonight, now that they're playing at home.
  

• Dustin Brown strained a gluteal muscle and sat out of practice on Sunday. I don't have anything to comment about it, I just wanted to say that Dustin Brown strained his butt. My name is Anne and I am extremely immature.
  

• Another good thing about this Blogger editor update is that it now lists the publishing time as the time you hit "Publish Post" as opposed to when you started writing the blog. Sweeeeet.
  

I Could Not Be Multitasking More Right Now

by Anne

Yes, readers, I'm blogging while walking up on the treadmill. Wow. Who AM I?

Oscar seems to have gotten over his fear of the loud noise the treadmill makes and is now merely laying in the hall, eyeing it suspiciously.

Upon perusing the Team USA Media Guide, it would seem the teams definition of "Personal Information" is "NHL Transactions." Basically everyone's is when/if they were drafted, and when/if they were traded and other signings. Interesting. Nothing about wacky antics, nicknames or anything funny. Lame. It also lists date of birth in "Personal" but that is also listed at the header on the top of each player's page in the guide.

Camp Morningwood blows this year. Remember the paintball? The soccer game? Adam Burish explaining that lobstermen were men who caught lobsters for a living and not half-men half-lobster creatures roaming the streets of Portland Maine? They might be having these happyfuntimes but for some reason USA fans are not allowed to hear about them. What, are you traying to be all "Team Canada?" Psh. Lindy Ruff >>>> Ron Wilson.

I thought Zach Bogosian's page was comically short until I got to Alec Richards/ Ryan Shannon's SHARED page. Burrrrn.

I just realized I have no idea who the Captain of Team USA is but I think its Dustin Brown based on this picture:

You have to enlarge it, but I think that's a C beind his teammates helmet.
Also, J-M Liles looks so teeny.

Shane Doan is named captain of Team Canada and its front page news on TSN. In order to learn Team USA's captain I have to scour game photos with a magnifying glass. I know a lot of Americans don't care so much about this stuff, but maybe if there was more coverage, more American hockey fans would care.

A-HA! Jason Blake is rocking an "A":

He's the oldest, he gets a letter.

Team USA/ Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Al Montoya's first name is Alvaro. That is completely awesome. Way better than Albert or Alfred or whatever I thought it was before.


Also:

Feel the Staaly-love, Flower

Hooray! My Playoff Mistress team (2008 edition), the Pittsburgh Penguins, rallied from a 3-0 defecit to beat the philadelphia Flyers and advance to round 2!! Wooo!

Tonight will tip the series advantage in either Calgary or Chicago's way and could see those upstart Anaheim Ducks upset the San Jose Chokemasters. I shall be at a birthday party and will not see these games.

Yeeee-haw! It was almost 80 in Buffalo today and it was hella awesome. Gotta go and actually work out, its hard to type while running. Check ya later.

USA Wins First Game of Tournament

by Anne

The United States Men won their first game against Latvia 4-2 this morning!

It would seem that only current and former Los Angeles Kings are able to score in this tournament, but Brown, O'Sullivan and Johnson were kind enough to let this gent score too:

Nick Foligno and Drew Stafford put down their Sabre/Senator masks to celebrate Staffy's goal

Woooo! Drew Stafford scored Team USA's 2nd goal!

Jack Johnson (LAK, duh) scored twice and was named the Team USA player of the game, which means he was photographed with the awesome cow mascot:

Nice.

Goaltender Robert Esche who made 18 saves on 20 shots declared this was the best that Team USA has ever played against Latvia in his eight years playing in this tournament. Apparently Matt Niskanen was really freaked out about playing Latvia (click to enlarge):

Just close my eyes and SHOOT
Images from IIHF.com

Team USA fired 38 shots and were 0-4 on the power play.

Also, for those who might not remember, I'm very pro-Robert Esche. Here's a sentence from the game recap about Robbie:

"Robert Esche won his eighth career game in World Championship play. He has a 1.87 goals against average and a .938 save percentage in 13 career games played at the World Championship"

Well done, sir. How's Russia?

Their next game is Monday against Thomas Vanek and Team Austria at 10:15 am EST.