The Washington Capitals had the worst record in the NHL in December. Tonight they won the Southeast to make the playoffs, knocking Carolina out of it.

Coach Boudreau is a lock for coach of the year.

Ovechkin is a lock for MVP.

In related news, my beloved San Jose Sharks ended up with the second best record in the NHL. They went the entire month of March without losing a game.

(Hockey) life is goooooood right now.

Posted by: Ted at 09:28 PM | category: Balls and Ice
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The Asia League Ice Hockey spans China, Japan and Korea.

I was surprised to see that the Beijing team is called the Sharks, and their logo looks suspiciously like the minor league logos in the Sharks system. Not a mystery, as it turns out my beloved San Jose Sharks have a development agreement with them, sending five players and three coaches to the team.

The Japanese, as usual, supply the unintentional comedy. Check out the player photos on the team pages, in particular the Seibu Prince Rabbits. Most of the players look like they're stifling giggles because someone secretly farted and the coach is mad.

Also, what's up with the team names? I mean, Prince Rabbits I've heard of (and approve of) because they're the Japanese hockey equivalent to the Yankees, but what the hell is an Ice Buck? Paper Cranes? Oh puh-leeze. And don't even start me on the Oji Paper. That's like rooting for the Oneida Silverware.

Korea fares slightly better, in that their team names are European soccer stupid. The Anyang Halla are technically named after an air conditioner, and the High1 sport the moniker of skis and sporting goods produced by their owning corporation. They also score karma points for being partially made up of demobilized soldiers.

Now, if that all sounds snotty, it is. That still doesn't mean I don't like 'em. Hockey is hockey.

Posted by: Ted at 05:23 AM | category: Balls and Ice
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My beloved Sharks are doing well this season, duking it out with the Stars and Ducks for first place.

In the meantime, the hometown Capitals have climbed into first place. You may recall that they fired their coach earlier this season, firmly settled in last place with the worst record in hockey.

Does anyone doubt that Alexander Ovechkin is this year's MVP?

Posted by: Ted at 06:07 AM | category: Balls and Ice
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This year, my beloved San Jose Sharks updated their logo.

Here's the old version (which I liked a lot):

And here's the new (which I also like a lot):

Solid update, says I.

Posted by: Ted at 07:15 PM | category: Balls and Ice
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You know I'm a hockey fan. You know I'm a fan of history. This story tickles both of those interests.

Courtesy of Off Wing Opinion: The Colored Hockey League.

Plenty of links to follow. Fascinating stuff.

Posted by: Ted at 02:42 PM | category: Balls and Ice
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Check out this hilarious rundown on the NHL draft.

Enjoy live blogging like this:

5:38: Playing the role of Blues GM John Davidson today, none other than Dr. Phil! That's a surprise! They take Swedish centre Lars Eller, who just downgraded from Swedish beauties to Missouri girls in the span of three seconds. You have to feel for Lars. I don't remember a porno series called "St. Louis Erotica."

Koooooooo-dooooooooze to Off Wing Opinion for the link.

Posted by: Ted at 05:35 AM | category: Balls and Ice
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For the third year in a row, my beloved San Jose Sharks choked in the playoffs after having their opponents on the ropes. For sure, the Detroit Red Wings played great, their victory wasn't just handed to them. Too, the Sharks didn't roll over and play dead, it was a hard fought series.

Oh well. The Sharks played a great season, and I'm not forgetting that they're the youngest team in the NHL, including four or five rookies that played prominent roles on the team. They're just going to get better. Still...

Damn.

Posted by: Ted at 04:59 AM | category: Balls and Ice
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1 Now you can hop on the Sabre's bandwagon. I think they're serving Labatts.

Posted by: GEBIV at May 09, 2007 03:37 PM (sWM/O)

2 Don't do it Ted. I put a hex on them since they slaughtered my beloved Rangers.

That is if you know what's good for you!
Muahahahahaha!

Posted by: michele at May 10, 2007 11:40 PM (wFOn1)

3 LOL

After my beloved Sharks were eliminated, I'm holding my nose while rooting for the Wings. I don't much care for the Sens or Sabres, and I loath the Ducks.

I'm more of a Lidstrom and Hasek fan than for the team itself.

Posted by: Ted at May 11, 2007 04:56 AM (B+qrE)

4 Can we have Bill Guerin back now?

Posted by: Brian J. at May 11, 2007 12:05 PM (CkCC9)

5 Please, take him. He's the poster child for underachievment.

As a player, I like him. As a trade-deadline acquisition by the Sharks, he was a major disappointment.

Posted by: Ted at May 12, 2007 10:31 AM (+OVgL)

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Clark, the Canadian Hockey Goalie. A short but very funny film.

I never knew there was a history behind the term "hoser" (maybe). Thanks to Off Wing Opinion for the pointer.

Posted by: Ted at 08:10 AM | category: Balls and Ice
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Once again this year, pro hockey players will be using pink hockey sticks for three days beginning Friday. After game use, the sticks will be auctioned off on eBay to raise money for Breast Cancer research.

Last year, over $176,000 was raised.

Posted by: Ted at 11:07 AM | category: Balls and Ice
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Spent an eventful weekend visiting Robyn and her new husband Henry. Well, that was the excuse, anyways. The real reason we travelled to Norfolk was for minor league hockey.

Liz discovered that President Bush was going to be visiting Williamsburg on Saturday, which is right on our way. In order to avoid any potential traffic problems caused by security around the decider-in-chief, we took an alternate route which made for a beautiful drive through the countryside.

After spending the afternoon visiting, we headed downtown to see the Norfolk Admirals play the Philadelphia Phantoms. This was Henry's first live hockey game.

The people at the arena (Scopes?) were really nice, but I was truly pissed off about the accomodations for the handicapped. We wound up on the lower parking level, and the only way to the entrance was to go up the vehicle ramp, where we almost got run over by a cop! He was insisting that there was an elevator, and we were insisting that the damn thing was inside a locked foyer and not accessible. Once inside, the staff listened to my complaints and did their own check and sure enough, the parking elevator was locked up. Odd thing is, nobody there had a key to unlock it, because it was mainly for the adjoining theater. I can't believe that they've never encountered this situation before, and it took me a while to calm down.

So anyway, game time. The Admirals are in the middle of a great season, so the arena was better than 3/4 full. They're a farm team for the Chicago Black Hawks, and we enjoyed spotting the various incarnations of the Admirals uniforms from years past. They've changed logos a couple of times, and back a few years ago their team colors were blue and gold, which made for really good looking jerseys. Now they wear Chicago's red, black and gold.

I'd heard that minor league hockey had been tamed. No fights, no hitting. Let me tell you, NOT TRUE! In the first few minutes of the game two guys dropped their gloves, threw off the helmets and went at it. As usual, the refs waited until they fell to the ice in a heap to break it up. After the next face off, two more guys did the same thing. The place was going wild! There were a couple of scrums later on and quite a bit of pushing and shoving, but that was it for the fights.

As for hitting, there were some hellacious hits. Norfolk is a smaller and faster finesse team but they dished out more than they took during the game.

My biggest problem with the Admirals is that they tended to make one pass too many. I screamed myself hoarse to put the damn puck on the net as they repeatedly passed up shots to try to make the perfect set up. As expected with minor league hockey, the skill level was a shade below what you're used to seeing in the NHL. Passes just missed, or if they did hit the tape weren't controlled well. Lots of "oops, forgot something" moments as they frantically hit the brakes and tried to reverse to gather up a missed puck.

No matter, the game was fun and we'll be doing it again soon. I wish we lived closer, because season tickets would be great. Oh yeah, lower section tickets were $16.00. Can't beat that. The title of this post is a combination of what was announced as a Phantoms player left the penalty box - "Philadelphia is at full strength" - the crowds hollered response each time - "AND YOU STILL SUCK!". Cracked me up.

The Admirals came back from two down to tie it up 3 all. No score in the overtime, and the Admirals took the shootout to win it.

On Sunday, Liz and I stopped at Williamsburg Pottery on the way home. This place is amazing, like a super-duper yardsale/flea market/k-mart/dollar store/nursury. Laid out in a sprawling jumble of buildings, you can easily spend hours there just looking around - and we did. Imagine your local craft store, which is probably pretty large if you're near one of the big chains. Now imagine that store if it sold nothing but baskets. That's one department at Williamsburg Pottery. Cool place. I picked up some smoked salt and rice vinegar in the gourmet section, along with a few other odds and ends for the kitchen.

So all in all we had a very enjoyable weekend.

Heh. I just heard from Robyn, who was up early doing homework after Henry left for work. He wants to go to the hockey game this Friday.

Posted by: Ted at 06:01 AM | category: Square Pegs
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Hockey Live, games via streaming video courtesy of Comcast.

According to Off Wing Opinion, this service is now available to everyone. Here's the entire schedule, and although it's heavily weighted towards northeast teams, there are still some very good matchups coming up.

Posted by: Ted at 09:27 PM | category: Balls and Ice
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An awesome resource for hockey fans, it's like having an entire sports page dedicated entirely to NHL Hockey and delivered to your email inbox every day.

Thanks to Off Wing Opinion for pointing this one out.

Posted by: Ted at 05:58 AM | category: Balls and Ice
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In 1942, shortly after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutters hockey club was born.

Brainstorm of Lieutenant Commander C. R. MacLean, a former player from Michigan and personnel officer at Curtis Bay Yards in Maryland, the Cutters played through the 1942-43 and 1943-44 seasons in the Eastern Amateur Hockey League, considered to be one of the most competitive leagues of its time.

They also played a number of exhibition games and once, at Carlin's Iceland in Baltimore, their home ice, the Cutters went head-on against the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings.

The Cutters took two league championships in their brief history, and the team was broken up when the Coast Guard came under pressure because the guys were playing hockey when so many others were in combat.

Go read, and learn about a little-known bit of frozen history.

Posted by: Ted at 09:47 AM | category: History
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Courtesy of Hockey Recap, a link to a list of the greatest players to ever wear each uniform number.

Why now? Well, it seems that a rookie made the Montreal Canadiens club this season and is sporting number 84, which was the last number from double-zero to 99 not to be worn regularly during a season.

For the record, I heartily approve of #21, Stan Mikita (my all-time favorite), and Caps fans will be pleased to see Dale Hunter at #32 and Olaf Kolzig at #39. Good list, and sure to start some serious arguments.

Posted by: Ted at 10:25 AM | category: Balls and Ice
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1 Cam Neeley should enjoy being the best #8 while he can.

Posted by: Victor at October 26, 2006 01:17 PM (WHtgF)

2 I checked the same thing.

Posted by: Ted at October 26, 2006 01:47 PM (blNMI)

3 I thought your favorite player was Maurice Richard. ;-)

I can have fun with this list, in a torture Victor kind of way, when I go through saying "Oh, I saw him play...oh yeah, saw him too...I have his autograph..."

Posted by: nic at October 26, 2006 03:38 PM (l+W8Z)

4 being from nyc u know who I'm going to pick don't you. heck, I'll let u guess, let's see if u get it right.

Posted by: michele at October 26, 2006 06:19 PM (y3B8s)

5 If Michele is really in NYC, then her favorite player must be Gump Worsley.

Posted by: Victor at October 26, 2006 06:44 PM (l+W8Z)

6 Sean Pronger? SEAN PRONGER?

C'mon. Am I the only other person to EVER wear 54 while playing hockey (other than SEAN PRONGER)!?

Posted by: Derek at October 26, 2006 09:48 PM (Ui5tv)

7 I'm sorry Michele, but I don't think there's a single NY player on that list.

Posted by: Ted at October 27, 2006 06:51 PM (+OVgL)

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I'm talking hockey, of course. It even has its own subject category here on Rocket Jones.

And this link, Hockey Recap, is an amazing resource for you hockey fans. I signed up from almost day 1, and have it delivered to my inbox every morning.

Go ahead and click on that link above, because every referral gets counted and the top dogs for the day get a prominent link on the top of their page. Make Rocket Jones shine.

Also, thanks to Off Wing Opinion for the original pointer.

Posted by: Ted at 10:11 AM | category: Balls and Ice
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Rocket Jones is now #1 on Google if you search "Chris Pronger Hate". Go me!

One of the other links on that page led to an article in the Edmonton Journal that gives 28 reasons to hate San Jose. I was raised in San Jose, so as a native I'll have to say that a lot of it is wrong, although some of it sounds like the crap that convinced me to move away and never go back.

Here's the best of 'em. The ones where he doesn't sound like a whiney little bitch.

1. That song. You know, the one with San Jose in the title and chorus? You know, the Dionne-frickin'-Warwick song from 1968? I hate that song.

2. But no matter how much we hate that song, it pales to how deeply they despise it in San Jose. They're ashamed. Just mentioning it makes them cringe and squirm. Oiler fans should belt it out in Game 3.

3. All together now: "Yesss WEEEE Know the WAAAY to Saaaan Jose." That will mess up those Josers.

I hate to break it to him though, but people from San Jose don't hate that song. In fact, we seldom even think about it. Now, Edmonton had a song written about it too, called "I shot a bear rootin' through my trash cans (or maybe it was Chris Pronger)". Regional hit.

4. San Jose wants you to spell its name with one of those accent things over the letter E. Talk about pree-tentious.

5. Sharks fans like to photoshop pictures of Chris Pronger and post them on the team's website. One such photo makes it appear as if Pronger wears panties. Another puts the rugged Oiler defenceman in a pink leotard and blond wig. This is outrageous. This is hockey blasphemy.

6. Sharks fans also like to call him Chrissy Pronger. No, this is war.

9. The first commercial broccoli farm was in San Jose. You hate broccoli, right? Blame San Jose. Get angry.

11. Hockey fans in San Jose think it's the height of wit to post pictures of great white sharks in the process of eating some Oilers player or another.

20. San Jose averages 300 sunny days a year and has a Mediterranean climate. Wimps.

The rest of 'em get rather personal and he takes some cheap shots at America and Americans in general. Whiney little bitch with an inferiority complex.

Posted by: Ted at 06:11 PM | category: Balls and Ice
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Word is that he quietly sold his house in Edmonton before the playoffs, and then after they lost in the finals he took a vacation in Mexico. While there, he had his agent demand a trade.

What a man.

More here (much more).

Thanks to Off Wing Opinion for the pointer.

Posted by: Ted at 06:24 AM | category: Balls and Ice
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Congrats, Champions.

Posted by: Ted at 05:13 AM | category: Balls and Ice
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Yep, it's another hockey post.

Tonight is the last game of the NHL season. Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals.

I'll be watching, but I could really care less who wins because I hate both teams. That's not quite accurate, for although I hate the Carolina Hurricanes in their entirety, the only Edmonton Oiler that I really hate is Chris Pronger.

I absolutely understand that my feelings toward Chris Pronger are a manifestation of BDS. No, not that one, the other one: Bonds Derangement Syndrome.

Chris Pronger is and has always been a great player, but in his youth he was a dirty player. This opinion is offered up as viewed through my visceral dislike of him, so don't be emailing me facts and opinions. They mean nothing.

Nature is balance. Just like when Florence Nightengale was alive the Brooklyn Dodgers were created. Her goodness shone so brightly that an entire *team* of evil had to exist as a counterbalance. Wayne Gretzky is another example. Multiple winner of the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, awarded to the player "who displays the best sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct in addition to playing ability", Gretzky was so good that nature created the Philadelphia Flyers. Even that crew of goons wasn't enough, and players like Tie Domi, Eric Lindros and Todd Bertuzzi were caused to exist.

And yes, Chris Pronger.

Chris Pronger played for years for the St. Louis Blues, which until recently meant automatic playoffs and then a quiet exit in one of the early rounds. It's a good thing that he's gone deeper into the playoffs in his first year with Edmonton than he ever got with the Blues. He's matured, he's not the big-mouth hothead that he was in his youth, he's a team leader in Edmonton. And yes, I can admit that he's still a very very talented player. But he's still Chris Pronger, and I hate him.

So tonight I'll be watching game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, but no matter who wins, it's going to be bittersweet for me. I actually am rooting for Edmonton, because Chris Pronger deserves to carry that Cup around the ice. Whoa, did I just say that? Must be the guilt talking.

Posted by: Ted at 05:11 AM | category: Balls and Ice
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Blow a three goal lead? Yep.

Lose your goalie to a season-ending knee injury? Check.

Backup goalie badly flubs a play that allows the winning goal to score? Uh huh.

Edmonton, buh-bye.

Posted by: Ted at 05:03 AM | category: Balls and Ice
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