Category: AHL (Page 1 of 2)

The Everyone’s Favorite Goalie Watch: Because Even John Curry Needs A Montage

8 April, 2011 / Kat

It’s been too long since I wrote an edition of the Everyone’s Favorite Goalie Watch, but what better time to bring back this feature than the occasion of former BU goalie John Curry’s 100th career AHL win.

On March 27th, Curry led the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins to a 3-2 overtime win over their storied and constant arch-rival Hershey Bears. The win clinched the East Division regular season title for the Penguins, who as of Friday night, had a 56-21 record. Curry has 22 wins in net this season, splitting his time with AHL Goaltender of the Year and former Northeastern goalie Brad Thiessen.

T0 celebrate Curry’s win over the Bears – the 100th win in his four seasons in the AHL – the team played a montage at their next game and posted it on YouTube. Thanks to the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, I present to you the John Curry 100th win montage, complete with questionable fonts, strange lyrics, and the same sort of acrobatic saves that BU fans long for to this very day.

Drafting the Night Away (A SportsGirlKat NHL Draft Preview)

24 June, 2010 / Kat

This year’s coverage of the NHL Draft is some of the best I’ve ever seen in any sport. Much of that is due to the social media saturation of hockey, a sport whose earlier decline led to an early adoption of social media, which has led in part to a public resurgence. (But that is a story for another evening.)

While I seriously lack any unique knowledge or insights, I wanted to share some of the story lines, Twitters and blogs I’m following as the draft unfolds this weekend.

– Are the NHL scouts as high on Charlie Coyle as we all are?

Could BU bound Charlie Coyle be the first college player taken in the draft? the most optimistic of projections have him going in the late first round, and even the college-player-shy Boston Bruins have worked out and dined the Massachusetts local. Will Coyle be the sixth BU player to be the first college player picked in the draft in history? (Fun facts provided by these interesting-to-college-hockey-geek-me College Hockey News charts.)

Not so fast, says SB Nation’s In Lou We Trust. While the rest of the media have been touting Coyle’s upside, this New Jersey Devils blog is a great summation of some realistic reviews of his ability. Will his offensive playmaking translate over from his EJHL days? While I believe the dismissal of the EJHL as a “weak league” is incorrect, I may agree with In Lou We Trust that Coyle’s talent on bigger stages may not be easily predictable.

I did speak with one person deep in the know in the EJHL last Friday who says that BU fans won’t be disappointed in Coyle, and that he is quite fun to watch. Could it be that Coyle is one great college hockey player – one BU fans sorely need after having all the fun sucked out of their 2009-10 season – but not first or second round draft pick worthy? Continue reading

Find of the Day: The Chuck-a-Puck Championships

8 April, 2010 / Kat

Not the Binghamton Chuck-a-Puck, but I imagine it'll be similar. (Photo: Ryan Treat's blog)

What would you do for a brand new car? For one Texan, he’ll travel all the way to Binghamton, New York to compete in a Chuck-a-Puck contest.

In a press release today, the AHL Binghamton Senators announced that Michael Supulski, of a town outside of Austin, Texas, will be making the 1,700 mile trip to participate in the finals of their season long Chuck-a-Puck competition, with a brand new car at stake. Supulski won a game’s Chuck-a-Puck contest during the Senators’ New Year’s Eve game, qualifying him to face all of the other home game winner’s in their last regular season home game.

Odds are, the majority of those individual game winners are from the Triple Cities. But the odds that one of participant would be from Texas, and even be able to return to Binghamton for a random weekend in April, were much higher. When you have the chance to win a brand new car, however, I guess the outlay in plane tickets and accommodations is worth it – especially if you have excellent aim. Best of luck on Saturday, Mr. Supulski.

Who Cares if Your Team’s Colors Aren’t Green?

17 March, 2010 / Kat

St. Patrick’s Day has become big business in the sports fan wear industry. It has become commonplace for teams across sports to eschew their traditional colors for the day and promote green and white fan wear and jerseys. All levels of professional hockey have been the biggest to jump on the trend, with special fanwear for sale and given away at games, and special jerseys worn for games played around March 17th. The following are three shirts that caught my eye for various reasons.

NHL: St. Louis Blues

Last night, the St. Louis Blues mixed their St. Patrick’s Day commemoration with environmental awareness, and gave away a “Green Game” t-shirt to all fans in attendance (quite a risky claim to advertise – from personal experience, you should always give an exact number of giveaways, a la “first 5,000 fans”). The shirt giveaway was sponsored by Monsanto, a Cambridge, MA based agricultural innovation company with an emphasis on sustainable practices. This was the second year for the Blues promotion.

Shirt Grade: B I like the muted, antiquey kelly green shirt and faded style of the print. It also helps that the Blues’ team colors happen not to horribly clash with green. Kudos for using that to their advantage and not changing the logo’s colors for the holiday’s sake. Environmental awareness initiatives during games are the new “it” thing to do in sports marketing – trust me, I participate in one – but the giveaway needs to be backed up with sustained, but subtle, green initiatives, otherwise it is just a t-shirt giveaway.

AHL: Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins

The Baby Pens (speaking of, we are long overdue for an edition of The Everyone’s Favorite Goalie Watch, but that’ll be another post) are selling two St. Patrick’s Day long sleeve shirts in their online store. The 2009 edition ($20) features their mascot, Tux, skating with a four leaf clover in the background on the front. The back reads “Happy St. Patrick’s Day.” The 2010 version ($22) features the logo in what appears to be a very dark green (nearly black), with a four leaf clover on the sleeve. Long sleeve shirts are always key in that part of Pennsylvania, where the damp gray chilly days seem to out number any other weather.

Grade: C The effort is there, but the execution is not. The 2009 version is too campy, and the 2010 version shows promise, but the green seems too dark. Kudos, however, for the 2010 edition’s four leaf clover on the sleeve.

ECHL: Gwinnett Gladiators

The ECHL Gwinnett Gladiators teamed with Old Time Hockey, the same Salisbury, MA based company who partnered to create some of the NHL’s 2010 St. Patrick’s Day gear, to create a green t-shirt to sell this March. The shirt ($20 with free shipping through today) features a rather disturbed and surly looking leprechaun brandishing a hockey stick, with a small Gladiators logo by his right foot. The all-caps font is rather 1950s style, and arches above Surly Leprechaun’s head.

Grade: A This is the first ever St. Patrick’s Day shirt I would ever consider purchasing, and not just because I’m in the market for a shirt from the team where two of my most favorite former BU hockey alums play. What sold me was the 1950s fonts – I’m a sucker for fonts. Plus, I feel like Surly Leprechaun is going to hurt me with that hockey stick if I don’t like the shirt.

ACR5GWEKYTEQ

Find of the Day: When Dad Overstays His Welcome

30 January, 2010 / Kat

Maksim Mayorov (Photo: Syracuse Crunch)

Lindsay Kramer of the Syracuse Post-Standard is one of my daily must-read journalists. He is not only one of the most prolific hockey journalists in the US (he also has a regular NHL.com beat in addition to his newspaper work), but his dedication to covering minor league hockey exceeds that of many of his counterparts on NHL beats.

My favorite part of Kramer’s coverage are his Notebooks of leftover material from Syracuse Crunch games. The following was buried at the bottom of his Friday night Notebook from Syracuse’s 5-4 shootout win over San Antonio:

(Starting Crunch right wing) Maksim Mayorov’s father, Oleg, is still visiting from Moscow, although Maksim has stopped being all warm and fuzzy about it.

“I’m so tired of him already,” Max noted. “You have these problems with parents. I just want to come home, sit on the couch, relax for a couple of seconds. Sometimes he asks me some questions. But that’s OK. I think everyone has those problems.”

Isn’t this quote felt at some point in every teenager’s life?