Category: hockey (Page 7 of 26)

Hockey in Unexpected Places

6 September, 2010 / Kat

It’s Labor Day morning, and my husband is golfing. This results in an extremely rare occurrence for me – TV time. And even rarer, I found actual, factual music videos on TV. Shock of all shocks.

While watching Fuse (a channel I’m always fond of because it’s across from Madison Square Garden), I saw the video for Mike Posner’s Cooler Than Me. Wasn’t I shocked when I saw the Duke University graduate sing on my television in the following jacket:

Mike Posner, a Red Wings fan?

A Detroit Red Wings logo on the rapper/singer’s leather jacket. After some quick Wikipedia-ing, I realized this wasn’t a random placement, but a shout-out to his hometown of Detroit, Michigan. I guess when your only consistently high-performing sports team is your town’s NHL team, you rep it all over in your debut music video.

I wasn’t a giant fan of the guy before, but Mike Posner just became that much cooler…than me. (Ooh! Punny!) But no, really, he became cooler than me because I followed his video up with a DVRed Toddler and Tiaras marathon.

Thoughts from a Train Without Wi-Fi

11 August, 2010 / Kat

I wrote the following Tuesday morning on the train, but didn’t have internet to post it until Wednesday.

The man in front of me has a Verizon Mi-Fi card. I have been staring at this card and his MacBook for three straight hours, as he command-1-2-3s from Gmail to TweetDeck to Excel, and my iPhone and Mac keeps telling me, “Hey, there’s internet right in front of you – but it’s password protected. Haha!”

Mean, Mi-Fi. Mean, mean, mean Mi-Fi.

I’ve written one article – a piece for the Brookline Patch about the birth of Skating magazine – because all of the sources were hard copy Skating magazines from two years ago, along with one email from Ben Wright (someone I never in my life ever thought would email wanna-be journalist me, but there it was, Sunday morning in my inbox…ask my husband, I fell over in my chair) that I was able to bring up on my phone.

But can I post this piece and assure my editor that it’s done? No, because Amtrak doesn’t offer internet. Greyhound, of all means of transportation, now offers internet, but Amtrak can’t. And because I’m too chicken to ask the man in front of me for access to his Mi-Fi in exchange for five bucks. (Yes, I’m willing to pay at this point.)

There he goes again. Command 1. Command 2. TweetDeck, Excel, GMail. Mean Mi-Fi.

So while he justly hogs his internet, here are some sports related thoughts: Continue reading

“We Want Cusick” Campaign: Just Say Yes to “Score!”

2 August, 2010 / Kat

Days of Y’Orr is a cleverly named Boston Bruins blog who is leading a very good fight. Thursday, writer Jonathan Fucile posted his well-justified request to the Bruins organization to have longtime late announcer Fred Cusick honored by using his famous “Score!” clip after every Bruins goal.

Said Fucile:

Just imagine hearing Cusick’s voice after every Boston goal. Fans would love it. We here at Days of Y’Orr definitely feel it would add a little something after the goal. Think of the Bruins scoring a huge goal in the playoffs followed by Cusick’s “Score!” with every fan in attendance yelling the same. We can’t think of a better way to honor Fred Cusick.

I completely and wholeheartedly agree, and I wasn’t even born and bred in Boston.

To help Days of Y’orr further their cause, you can sign their petition, download a flyer to distribute, or contact the Bruins directly by phone or email (the information about the last two are on the original blog post.) It makes little sense for the Bruins not to oblige – I just hope they give Fucile and the rest of the blog’s crew the credit they deserve when they eventually do.

A College Hockey Geek’s Guide to Day 1 of NHL Free Agency

1 July, 2010 / Kat

Derek Stepan is just one of 8 former college players listed in today's Transactions. (Photo: BroadwayHockeyDaily.com)

Thursday’s start to the NHL Free Agent signing period was a nice pace of busy – just enough to keep die-hards engaged, but not so much as to seem like free agents were being tossed like slippery fish in Pike’s Place Fish Market in Seattle.

For us college hockey fans out there, many of the giant moves of the day had little to do with college hockey alumni. That isn’t to say that college hockey alumni stayed still – some moved, one officially left early, and we found a blog favorite swapped right before bedtime on free agency eve. A few quick notes for college hockey fans looking to keep up with Day 1:

– University of Vermont hangs with the Gophers and Badgers. Of the eight college hockey players (my own hand count – feel free to call me out if I’m wrong) changing hands or signing deals since late Wednesday evening, two were from the University of Vermont: Martin St. Louis (whose four year contract extension with the Lightning was previously announced but officially went through today) and The Swedish, blog favorite Viktor Stalberg (who found himself a part of a giant deal where he was swapped with others by the Maple Leafs in exchange for Chicago Blackhawks Kris Versteeg and Bill Sweatt, a Colorado College alum.) The Catamounts tied with the University of Wisconsin and the University of Minnesota for the most amount of former college players listed on the transaction wire in the past 24 hours (2 each). Now about that “former players” bit, Badgers….

– Derek Stepan officially ended his college career today. Stepan, the WCHA leader in points and assists this past season, ended his collegiate elgibility by agreeing to terms with the New York Rangers (quite the college hockey friendly franchise, eh?) He played two seasons for the Badgers, and captained the victorious squad at this year’s World Junior Championships. Not a shocking early leave, but still a early college departure in a season chock full of them…

– The State of Hockey gets one of their own. St. Cloud State alum Matt Cullen was signed to a three year deal by the Minnesota Wild today, after playing with the Carolina Hurricanes and Ottawa Senators this past year. Cullen is from Virginia, MN, giving him what is sure to be the “Little Boy In Minnesota” dream trifecta: grow up in Minnesota, play college hockey in Minnesota, then play professional hockey in Minnesota. Awww. I’m such a sucker for those stories.

Your list for Day 1, with help from TSN.ca (Happy Canada Day!)

– Toronto swapped Viktor Stalberg (UVM-Hockey East) and two others for Bill Sweatt (CC-WCHA) and Kris Versteeg from Chicago.

– Martin St. Louis (UVM back during the ECAC days) signed a four-year contract extentsion with Tampa Bay.

– Derek Stepan (Wisc.-WCHA) agrees to terms with the New York Rangers officially, thus ending his elgibility two years early.

– Matt Cullen (St. Cloud State – WCHA) signs a three year deal with the Minnesota Wild.

-Adam Burish (Wisc. – WCHA) signed a two year deal with the Dallas Stars after spending three seasons with Chicago.

– Jordan Leopold (Minn. – WCHA) signs a three year contract with the Buffalo Sabres.

-Jonathan Matsumoto (Bowling Green – CCHA) signed a two-year, two-way contract with Carolina. He’s spent his four pro seasons in the Phantoms organization in the AHL.

-Paul Martin (Minn. – WCHA) signed a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins, after spending his entire pro thus far with the New Jersey Devils. (I initially forgot this, and didn’t see it listed when I was investigating the TSN transactions list Thursday evening, but big thanks to Laurel for reminding me.)

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