Tag: hockey (Page 17 of 19)

The Everyone’s Favorite Goalie Watch – Recalled to Pittsburgh

18 November, 2008 / Kat

In this edition of “The Everyone’s Favorite Goalie” watch (insert overly dramatic TV news graphic here), news out of Wilkes-Barre this morning is that John Curry is on his way to Pittsburgh, where he will back up Dany “Still Can’t Find Anyone Who Can Pronounce His Last Name” Sabourin.

This is the first regular season call-up for Everyone’s Favorite Goalie. He spent the pre-season with Pittsburgh, and technically was on the roster when they played their first two regular season games in Europe, but did not dress.

The Penguins take on the Minnesota Wild tonight at 7pm on Versus. No word yet as to when the Curry 36 Pittsburgh Penguins jerseys become available on NHL.com (just kidding.)

You Take The Good, You Take The Bad…The Facts of Hockey

18 November, 2008 / Kat

Monday morning, I was mentally planning a blog entry about how Everyone’s Favorite Goalie’s status in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was quickly becoming that of a backup to the suddenly amazing journeyman goalie Adam Berkhoel. After Berkhoel recorded his third shutout of the season against Binghamton on Saturday, Curry let up four goals to the Syracuse Crunch on Sunday for the loss. Eeek. There are ups and downs to every athlete’s career, and this looked like Everyone’s Favorite Goalie was going through a rough patch.

Dan Bylsma, coach of the Baby Pens, said to my all-time favorite AHL blogger, Jonathan Bombulie, that he doesn’t believe in coaching emotionally and seems to believe in his ongoing goalie rotation:

“I don’t think coaching emotionally is a great way to coach. We had a plan going into the weekend and stuck with the plan. John played well in his game on Friday night, didn’t play poorly. Adam Berkhoel played well in his game on Saturday. It wasn’t a question of going with one guy who was hot and one guy who was not. Both were playing well.”

Still, a true Boston or Buffalo sports fan (of which I am both) always exists in an Eeyore like state of constant pessimism, and as such, I took the performance of Berkhoel to mean that Everyone’s Favorite Goalie may be spending more time on the bench in the near future.

But wait. Will that bench be that of the Big Pens?

Word out of the Steel City today was that Penguins franchise goalie Marc-Andre Fleury – one of the best Quebecois names ever, in my opinion – is out of Tuesday’s game due to an undisclosed lower body injury. Dany “I don’t know anyone who can really pronounce his last name” Sabourin will get the start.

If the Pens decide to call up a goalie, they would call one of the two goalies in the Penguins organization with two way deals, which my Twitter buddy QuickFacts was quick to remind me of. And those two would be Everyone’s Favorite Goalie and David Brown, who is currently playing with Wheeling of the ECHL.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Pens believe Fleury’s injury is bad enough that he can’t dress, and they decide to call someone up, or if he dresses and just doesn’t start. The Everyone’s Favorite Goalie call-up watch is on (I feel like I should make a graphic, like when the local news make the “Economy in Crisis” or “Storm Watch 11” graphics)….

Calling Out the Superfans and the Tsongas Arena Shopping Cart

10 November, 2008 / Kat

Oh, the Superfans.

They wear mustard colored cheap t-shirts with burgundy writing, either given out or sold by their bookstore. Maybe 2% of them own hockey jerseys. And if the hockey team is playing at the same time as their football or basketball team, they magically dissapear.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Boston College Superfans.

The Superfans, or Stuperfans, or whatever you wish to refer to them as, are oft-complained about. I really don’t dislike them, I’m just amazed at their…indifference? Lack of jerseys? Bandwagon jumping? Pep band’s rendition of Ridin’ Dirty by Chamillionaire? (You have not lived until you’ve heard a tuba blast out the first few lines of that song. Really. It’s made my Beanpot the last two years.)

Well, This Just Stinks – CN8 Shutting Down, According to Sources

6 November, 2008 / Kat

Updated below with comment from Comcast Sports Net.

A big blow to Boston University and University of Vermont hockey fans – according to David Scott, of Scott’s Shots (one of my favorite sports blogs, by the way – when he speaks, I listen),
CN8 will be shuttering it’s New England operations. This includes closing the studios right across from the College of Fine Arts building on the BU campus.

Both BU and UVM had contracts with CN8 for broadcast rights to several men’s hockey games. CN8 was to televise six remaining men’s hockey games –

Dec. 5 vs. Boston College (CN8)
Jan. 3 at Denver Cup (CN8)
Jan. 17 vs. Boston College (CN8)
Jan. 24 at New Hampshire (CN8)
Feb. 21 at Northeastern (CN8)
Feb. 28 vs. Massachusetts (CN8)

According to Scott, CN8’s operations will cease in “early Janaury 2009,” leaving five of those six games without a TV home. Scott does say, however, that Comcast Sports Net may pick up the sports programming. However, their primary responsibility is to the Celtics, so I worry that college hockey might get lost in the shuffle.

If CSN decided to pick and choose what games they select, an educated guess would be that January 17 game against BC will be of most interest, if the early part of the season is any indication. One would also hope that CSN would pick up the Denver Cup game on January 3rd, since many of us Terrier fans can’t afford the $400 plane fare right after the holiday season (but trust you me, I tried!)

It remains to be seen what BU or UVM will do in the wake of this announcement. Big kudos to Scott for getting this news.

UPDATE: According to the comment below, Comcast Sports Net will pick up several games on CN8’s college hockey schedule. Thanks to Tim from Comcast Sports Net for responding right away, and for Comcast for taking care of us college hockey fans.

Break Glass if Sick of Election Talk: Your Sports Link-o-Rama

4 November, 2008 / Kat

I come to you this evening to write the only piece of blog-o-sphere not to mention tomorrow’s US Presidential Election. Because, frankly, to be all Negative Nellie about it, it won’t matter who the heck is elected President tomorrow – America is screwed either way because there is not a single politician who exists who is stand-up and honest.

But enough about my political thoughts. I come to you today with links to articles that also have nothing to do with politics, because there will be a point sometime on Tuesday where you are going to want to bang your head against the wall if you hear one more iota about the election: