GodsendJen

In terms of on-ice success the first refreshing phrase I've heard in a while came out of today's pregame skate for the Thrashers, from Micah Hart at the Blueland Blog 

Marian Hossa said he expects the team to play with a little more puck possession now and not do as much chasing, but that's about as far as anyone went in terms of discussing what will be different.

Don Waddell addressed the media afterwards as well, and you can listen to the full Q and A here.

Waddell sounded confident that the team could still get on track for this season, and though he may make some changes going forward it appears tonight the lines will stay mostly intact. He did mention, like Hossa did, that they will be attempting to play more of a puck-possession game, so perhaps that will be something that will help get this team off the schneid.

That's right, tonight we might play less dump'n'chase and do that crazy thing where we skate the puck into the zone and maintain possession.  So far Kovy and Enstrom are the only players who've been willing to skate in with the puck, but I'm excited to see what happens when everyone else starts doing this as well.  My only concern is that dump'n'chase could be a hard habbit for the vets to break.  But who knows, maybe there is a patch to cure that. 

Some lessons are learned the hard way, others are learned the hard and bloody way.  The photo doesn't do it justice, but I sustained my first bloody in-game injury a mere week after being so blithely stupid as to make fun of my klutzy non-game injuries. My glove and stick got in the way of a slap-shot and even through the monstrous finger padding of a hockey glove the puck managed to split the tip of my finger, turning it black and causing it to spew blood all over the previously white palm of my gloves.  Amazingly I didn't break a nail.

An expected side effect of my great hockey experiment is the occasional ever-present bruising.  Last night I cataloged yet another of these little joys.  Typically these bruises show up after 3 on3 games when someone else can't stop and consequently hits me--in the beginner league this is frequent--or when I fall because I get tangled up with someone's stick while fighting for a puck. (Note, this also happens in the beginner league.  In the other league everyone else just takes the puck and leaves me in their snow.)  However this bruise is part of a disturbing new trend--bruises I get for being a klutz.  It seams a new one of these may arrive after every Rec-League game.  Last week I had one from the most comedic part of my game--trying to go over the wall on my way to the ice for a shift change. But last night I rose to a new height.  The bruise you see here I got because I fell...while stretching before the game.  I guess I'm just the kind of uncoordinated bafoon that can fall stretching. It didn't photograph well, but I'm particularly impressed with the solid deep purple line at the top of this bruise.  That line corresponds with the end of the side-padding in my breezers. Without padding I believe I'd either have avoided a bruise altogether, or I'd have one twice this size.

I've had a bit of free time this week and have spent some of it crawling through the dark recesses of the internet. Imagine my surprise when a Google Image Search turned up this Saturday Evening Post magazine cover.  The artist is Ellen Pyle and from looking at the contents listing the art doesn't relate to any particular story.  I just keep thinking about how women playing team sports is portrayed as a bit unorthodox during the 1940s in A League of their Own, but here we have an attractive woman playing hockey in 1927. It turns out Women in Sports is actually a recurring theme in the Post's cover art that began in 1923.

You can order prints of The Saturday Evening Post that are ready to frame from Curtis Publishing. I'm not sure where I'd hang it, but if I can think of the right spot I might have to acquire this. Would filling the space between my kitchen cabinets and ceiling with the Post sports art be strange?

Here it is, tax time, and I haven't sat down to watch a baseball game start to finish.  I haven't made it down to Turner Field for a game either.  Crazy isn't it?  One of the reasons I moved to Atlanta was so that I could have the opporutnity to watch all the baseball and football I wanted.  And here I am, mid-April, so thoroughly entrenched in my hockey-playoff mindset that I have completely missed all but a few choice innings of what looks like a very good start for my Bravos.  As of Sunday the Braves 8-3 give them a .727 winning percentage, the best in all of baseball.  Take that Mr. Met. Of course any baseball team is simply one elbow away from disaster at any given time.  So here's hoping that Smoltzie keeps on ticking, Hudson found his missing mojo, and that Bob Wickman continues to be the savior of our bullpen.  And I promise I'll make it down there soon.  They award the Stanly Cup in June...so pencil me in by then.

Note: I've gone hockey crazy this week.  Check out Southeast Shootout to see exactly what I mean by that.  Here is a wee little sample.

I'm not in the prediction business. My passion and excitement for this game is strange and complex, filled with hope and optimism, and often based more on wishful thinking and dreams not spoken than it is on the facts, figures and empirical findings born out through game play this season or last. I respect the facts and figures. I greatly admire the selfless souls who spend hours crunching numbers through modeling algorithms to predict outcomes. If I were a coach I’d have a handful of these people on my staff, and I’d listen if they made a recommendation about who to scratch come game time. But with all do respect to the great math nerds of the world, that doesn’t mean jack come playoff time. This is the time to put your heart on your sleeve, your mind on the back burner and rely on your gut.

Without further ado, here are some predictions born in that place where fear and fragility meet rainbows and sunshine.

Just for tonight, the unsung will be heroes. Andy Sutton will do something dumber than dye his hair blue only to dye it brown the next morning. He’ll play less than 15 minutes and be responsible for giving up a goal. Ilya will try too hard, get too frustrated, and make an early visit to the sin-bin. But the rugged veterans of this team, Scott Melanby, Keith Tkachuk, Slava Kozlov, Bobby Holik and Alexie Zhitnik will come through as difference makers. With steady emotions they’ll make the right passes, ease the right emotions, and make sure we hit the Rangers hardest on the scoreboard. Kari Lehtonen will recover from an early goal and give these Thrashers their first playoff victory, ever.

Embolden by victory this team will win the series in 6 games. The losses will come back to back and our third victory might even come at home with Moose in goal. This team has a recent trend of clinching the big ones (a playoff birth, a SED championship) on the road. So its fitting we advance in these playoffs by defeating the Rangers at MSG in game 6.

If the microchips prove me wrong, as they might do, that’s ok. When you write software for a living you get used to it.

The "We Won the Division Dance" is so much more fun!  Enjoy the celebration.  The real work starts next week.

The years of waiting for playoff hockey in Atlanta will soon be over. Tonight it is official. The Rangers big win over the Maple Leafs clinched the Thrashers a spot in this years NHL playoffs. Way to go Thrashers!

I watched tonight's Thrashers vs. Bruins game at the hockey viewing party the Interactive Squad hosted at our suburban Up the Creek.  If the team wants to evangelize in my neighborhood I want to support it. 

The good news is the turnout surpassed my expectations.  The parking lot was full, no small accomplishment for a Monday night.  The bar area and about half of the dining room was awash in blue jerseys. Most tables were filled with families.  Everyone had a chance to spin the prize wheel, and to do so without waiting in line for 20 minutes as you do at games. School age children dressed in their Blueland best sat coloring their children's menu and cheering when appropriate.  The crowd was quiet at first.  I expected more of a party atmosphere with fans mingling and discussing the recent trades.  Instead most tables kept to themselves but shared collective cheers and gasps as the game played out on the plasma TVs overhead. Cheering a television is always more fun in a crowd. Families watching the game together on a Monday night is great, but you have to wonder if some felt they were a victim of false advertising.  The fliers posted online and at the restaurant promised that Thrash himself would host this party.  Instead the hosts were two women from the Interactive squad and a couple of people in charge of the prize wheel.  Thrash's presence might have encouraged mingling and would certainly have added something extra for all the kids. 

Another negative is that Up the Creek isn't the ideal place for a viewing party of any sort.  The staff was pleasant and worked to meet any dining request, but the game wasn't visible from most of the dining room tables.  A variety of decorative metal plants blocked the view of televisions from half the dining room entirely.  Even the tables with a view of the TV only provided that view to patrons on one side of the table.  Also perplexing was the staff's insistence on vacuuming the dining area during the game.  Nothing quite helps you enjoy a hockey game like the feeling that your hosts are just watching the clock waiting for you to exit. I don't blame this on the Thrashers.  I think it was a side effect of Up The Creek trying too hard.  They even had the regional manager on hand.  Too bad she didn't have ask them to stop vacuuming or suggest they offer some specials to the folks who turned out. 

These factors make me think that other venues could be the difference between what was a nice viewing party and what could have been a great viewing party.  The northern suburbs have no shortage of family friendly sports bar. (Yes, you out of town folks heard that right.  Here in Atlanta we have family friendly sports bars.  I think its a side effect of confusing an SEC football game with holiday mass. But that is another post.) Across the street was Indigo Joe's.  The food isn't spectacular, but not really worse than Up the Creek.  As a sports bar they have far more TVs in proximity to all of their seats.  Any one of the Taco Macs  in the area would work. As would the very nice Barnacles on 141 in Norcross. At last count Barnacles had somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 televisions.  (Up the Creek had 7.)  And don't forget the largest Jock's and Jill's in the area is just a few miles away in Alpharetta.  A happy plus to gathering at a traditional sports watching venue is an increased likelihood of drawing in a few more casual sports fans.  I dream of a day when I'm not the only person in Jock's and Jill's who speaks up to complain when someone asks to have the single hockey TV changed so they can have yet another view of the SEC game that is on 3 other TVs.  Getting hockey folks into one of these bars might help raise their awareness that hockey fans do exist in the south.

Overall I'd give the event a B with the potential of turning into a B+ of A- next time out if they choose a better venue.  The team has sponsored at least 2 of these events so far and I expect more in the future.  If a viewing party comes to a place near you, do yourself a favor and check it out.

In case you missed it the Thrashers have made 2 deals over the last 24 hours.  The first deal sent Braydon Coburn to the Flyers for Zhitnik, a puck-moving defenseman.  The second deal sent Glen Metropolit and a boat load of draft picks to St. Louis for Tkachuk. I sat next to Glen Metropolit and Dennis Hamel in the press box last night and I told the Star 94 guy I was chatting with that I thought it meant Glen would be on the next ship out via trade.  Its a shame really as I liked the guy and I really liked giving JP a hard time about Metro's success here.  That said he wasn't the key to the Thrahsers making a playoff run...

The scoop on these deals is over at Southeast Shootout.  The Falconer is treating us to some very fine breakdowns of what these players can do.  Read and comment on it over there :)

My strange obsession with hockey has led me to a new endeavor.  I started watching hockey when I lived in Richmond.  I didn't understand anything beyond icing and fights, but it looked fun.  They had a local women's team that needed players, but I couldn't skate.  At that time the city had a single sheet of ice, and that didn't leave any time for adult lessons.  I dismissed the crazy notion and went on with life...until this fall.  In September I hauled myself out to Thrashers' Training Camp and was shocked to see a banner hanging at the Forum announcing How to Skate classes for adults. I signed up and started taking classes in October.  These classes are filled with adults who have been watching figure skating for years and want to learn how to twirl and jump.  I go to class in hockey skates, am appalled at the concept of jumping over the cold bone-shattering ice, and for the most part just wanted to skate really fast and try not to slam into things. The aspiring figure skaters must think I'm a strange novelty.  It has made for good exercise and a fine appreciation the comforts of normal street shoes, but it's not hockey.

Skating lessons also come with passes to public skating sessions.  A girl has to practice so I grabbed Dorothy and hit the ice last Sunday before the Super Bowl.  The rink was packed, but there in the middle was a mom in the midst of a hockey lesson. I watched and waited for my opportunity to ask....How did you manage to get a hockey lesson? This is what I'd been waiting for.  Someone who knew something about a beginner's path to learning the game. A short conversation, handful of emails and three days later I find myself dressed in borrowed gear trying not to fall on my keister during a hockey practice.  Covered in awkward bulkiness, struggling to hold onto a stick that feels just too long, everything is awkward. My first coherent thought--This must be how the Michelin man feels...big, bulky and out of control.  24 hours later my legs ache and my ankles hurt. I have a lot to learn, like stopping and skating backwards and stopping.  But it was about as much fun as you can have stink'n up some stranger's already stinky gear. 

The new highlight of my rather short blogging career comes from The Hockey News.  On February 1st they published a column called How the New NHL Looks to a Soccer Mom (And Why You Should Care). Number five on this list included yours truly:

5. The NHL Blogosphere Has Zest. CasonBlog is stylishly witty, and Battle of Alberta’s “Beard Talk” post had me LOL during the playoffs. But the Acid Queen and God Send Jen show that female fans can hold their own.

For the most part I think of this site as my personal soap box. My impassioned speeches about what was wrong or right with my teams amused my friends. When one of them pushed on why I didn't have a site of my own (given that I make my living from professional web endeavors) I caved and started this site. I never expected people who didn't already know me to find this site, and I certainly didn't expect the random emails I get from women who love hockey that thank me for "showing the world that not all female hockey fans are puck bunnies".  To Marsha Bryant and The Hockey News, thanks for the compliment.  I'm beyond flattered and I promise the check is in the mail as soon as I get your address.

JP and Cason, two of my nemeses over at Southeast Shootout have harassed me into doing this.  They say its the cool thing for hockey bloggers to do, that all the hockey bloggers are doing it.  This sounds kinda like how I ended up spending that day in In School Suspension back in 9th grade...guess I never learn.

If I Were a Hockey Player

Team: Mudville 9

Uniform Number: 30 (age when I started skating :) )

Position: Healthy Scratch

Nickname: That Girl

Linemates: Barney Fife and Inspector Gadget

Rounding out the PP: Yosemite Sam and Captain Caveman (Hey, if I can play hockey anyone can.)

Job: Helping keep peace in the locker room by telling all the guys what to buy their wives/girlfriends for holidays. Troubleshooting everyone's home network.

Signature Move: The Oops. While trying to turn around and skate backwards I inadvertently kick the puck into the other team's goal.

Strengths: Makes everyone on the ice feel like they are a better player. Gets along well with the opposition.

Weaknesses: Guys with big sticks.

Equipment: Charmin. Its fluffy goodness cushions my falls and makes up for not owning breezers.

Nemeses: Tom Dickson

Scandal Involvement: see "Weaknesses," use imagination

Who I'd face in the Stanley Cup Finals: Two Dancing Princesses. This is how they will fare.

What I'd do with the Stanley Cup after our victory: Fill it with sweet tea.

Would the media love me or hate me? The media always loves a clumsy oaf with a good scandal.

And yes, I do realize the Mudville 9 is a baseball team.  A baseball GM would be far more willing to sign me up to play hockey than any hockey guy ever would.

Some of the great Center Ice entertainment comes from the commercials you can watch during the game.  Typically this means seeing the Sidney Crosby Timbits commercial for the 10,245,123rd time.  Tonight it meant watching commercials targeted at residents of the Columbus Ohio area.  I grew up on a farm and always considered myself a farm girl...but after watching this commercial I'm rechristening myself as a born-again ubanite.

This year I'm slowly working my way around Philip's Arena.  Watching hockey from everywhere...the 400s, the 300s, the 200s and even from a few rows behind the sin-bin in some swank club seats at center ice. Blog night gave me my first opportunity to to watch from the Philip's Arena press box.

It's hard to explain the allure of this to someone who hasn't experienced it.  Logic and marketing dictate that the normal sports fan want to sit as cost to the action as possibe.  It's true in baseball.  It's true is football. It's true in basketball with it's coveted courtside seats.  Most fans think its true in hockey as well.  Why else would someone pay $250 to sit next to the glass.  That has to be the best seat, right?  I'm here to tell you that isn't so. Yes, it's nice sit next to the action on occasion.  Few things convey the spead of the game like sitting next to the boards when the players crash into them.  When the puck rebounds off the glass you understand just how fast it's flying.  You can hear the game from that location, but you can't see it.  You can't see what is happening when players are battling for a puck near you seat. You can't see the puck or the sticks.  From these seats I'm frustrated when players are in the corner near me.  I actually long for action to move to the other side of the ice so that I might once again watch the game.

From seats high in the press box you can see everything.  It takes a few minutes to adjust to the height, to looking at players from above.  When the adjustment is complete you realize you can really see the game from this perspective. Not players speeding after the puck, but a team executing a game plan. On top of all that you get to sit and watch the game without being surrounded with some dillusional idiot who thinks Steve is doing him a personal favor every time he speaks into the microphone. 

The calendar says this week any site that ever has hockey content should post something about the All Star game or related events. I don't dislike the All Star game.  If I can come by tickets to it next year I'm sure I'll attend.  But here is why All Star action will never hold the same thrill for me as a game

1. The NHL is a Full-Contact League
   Hockey is a contact sport. The All Star game and Young Star game are non-contact games.  The NHL might have taken the fighting out of games, but hockey is still about the check. If you don't hear the sound of players being crushed into the boards at x mph* at hight speed then you aren't watching the NHL.  Pond hockey looks like it would be a lot of fun to play, but I doubt I'd get too excited watching it. This is a problem the All Star game shares with the NFL Pro Bowl.
2. The Gameplay is Fundamentally Different
   A good hockey game is a battle great offense vs. great defense.  The All Star game is an offensive showcase.  I don't blame the players for not risking injury by laying out to stop a slap-shot from the point. I understand that no one benefits if players are hurt during this game, but it isn't hockey.  At the end of the All Star game no one minds if every player was minus-5 for the night.
   
3. The Youngstars Game is Misnamed
   The NHL is filled with some incredible young talent.  Showcasing that talent together, providing that glimpse into the near future, sounds smart.  The problem--the Youngstars game isn't the best young talent in the NHL.  Its the best young talent that wasn't selected for the actual All Star game. If you really want to show the world the best young players in the NHL you have to include them all, even Mr. Crosby. 
   
4. An Incomplete Skills Competition
   In some respects the skills competition is the most fascinating part of the All Star holiday.  After all its the best of the best going head to head to learn who is fastest, most accurate, best with the puck, right? Wrong. The skills competition is limited to the players who are on the All Star roster.  Maybe the other players prefer the time off to going to Dallas for a contest...but is it really a shootout contest if Slava Kozlov doesn't participate?
5. Its the Wrong time of Year for a Game that Doesn't Matter
   Exhibition games are great at the beginning of a season.  They are even ok as a celebration at the end of a season.  But what is the point of having one in the middle of the season? The NHL is a league in need of fans, mass marketing and cachet.  Nothing about the design or marketing of this game does anything to appeal to the non-hockey fan or to encourage the casual hockey fan to become a full-fledge follower.  Eric McErlain had a nice history of the All Star game in his Winging It column over at NBC sports. The precedent is there to make the game itself interesting, and to hold it early enough to get someone hooked before the regular season.
   

I'm not suggesting you boycott the game.  But while you are watching it think about how much better it could be. Alternatively you could just amuse yourself with a drinking game.  One shot for each time a player says "for sure" in an on-camera interview. If it doesn't help you enjoy the game it will at least help you sleep afterwards.

*I tried to do a web search to find out how fast your typical hockey player skates.  I couldn't find any numbers.  If you know where these exist (and you know they do) feel free to share them.

Last night the ticket fairy blessed me with club seats.  I've had club seats for other teams and at other arenas, but this was my first trip to watch the Thrasher's at Phillips from the club side. 

Commoner's like myself have heard many rumors about the club section.  Sure, there are the rumors about an impressive array of food and beverages, but this wasn't my mission.  The rumor I most wanted to investigate was the presence of hot water in the bathrooms.  I've never before felt compelled to wash my hands the moment I enter the arena, but last night that is exactly what I did.  I am sad to report that the water in those bathrooms is indeed hot.  My question for the members of the Spirit Group is this:  Your most passionate fans are those that are in their $10-$50 non-club seats before the puck drops for the opening face-off.  Why then is all the hot water in your building reserved for the fans that stumble down to their seat mid-second period, talk constantly about non-game stuff, and leave mid-third period?  Don't get me wrong, I'm not begrudging hot water for the corporate representatives who help stuff money into the Spirit bank account.  But why aren't the rest of us worthy? Is there some segment of the fire code that prevents the arena from installing enough large hot water heaters to service all the restrooms?  Did the architects of Phillips fail to include enough mechanical space for the number of hot water heaters needed? Is the water from non-club bathrooms perhaps melt from the rink that you otherwise could not dispose of?

One of the master pieces of Phillips Arena, from my perspective, is the ladies room found near section 320.  There is a huge glass window in this restroom that overlooks what I believe is the area known to football fans as Falcon's Landing. At night there is just the right combination of lights and colorful banners to make the view quite pleasing.  Imagine how nice that would be if you weren't shrieking from the cold water that blasts from the sink. Why shriek you ask....no matter how well aware I am that the water will not be warm, cold water always shocks the system in an uncomfortable manner.  For those concerned about the food and drink rumors the food appears to come from the Buckhead Life group of restaurants.  Translation: Yummy but pricey.  An unexpected plus of the club section is that the Spin to Win line is very small. Sadly I discovered there are still pleanty of prizes on their wheel that aren't free tickets.

More importantly the game itself was great (and the view from our seats simply incredible). You can read about our impressive victory against the less-than-remarkable LA Kings around the internet.  I was worried prior to the game simply because our track record against Western Conference teams this season is appalling bad.  This game even came with its own moments of anxiety.  We entered the third period with a 3 -1 lead.  Then, 2 minutes into the period, we give up a goal cutting that lead in half.  If you've been watching our third period play over the last month you understand why this would give a Thrasher's fan with a queasy feeling.  I needn't have worried.  Marian Hossa provided 2 more goals to complete his second hat trick of the season and Glen Metropolit scored a goal (his second point of the night) to make the final score 6-2.  I know we can't get excited about defeating a team that is currently last in the Western Conference, but we were productive in the third period, played the game committing only 2 penalties (none in the third), scored on 2 of our 3 power play opportunities, killed off both of the penalties we took, and finally beat a Western Conference foe.  I say hooray for that. In the novelty department it was also the first start for the NHL's lone Japanese player, goalie Fukufuji got his first official start. My best laugh of the game came during the second period just after Fukufuji was pulled.  Some fans sitting directly behind Fukufuji's goal in section 108 started a chant to taunt Fukufuji, calling him by name.  The problem was that Fukufuji had just been replaced by Brust.  These two amusing gentlemen sitting next to us turned to this group of fans and screamed at them for not paying attention.  The fans briefly quieted.  My personal pet peeve about other fans is coming to a game and not paying any attention to it, so I was more than happy to laugh at this exchange. 

The biggest bummer of the game--yet again I witness a hat trick and find myself without a hat to throw.  Someday I'll learn to always wear a cheap and aerodynamic hat to games.

Last weekend I was kid in a candy store excited.  I had scored my first (hopefully not my last) media credential for a NHL game.  I was excited about the access, about getting to sit in the press area, getting to see some of the behind the scenes action and having access to the incredible stack of statistics and other team information that the home team produces. More than anything I was excited about having access to the players and coaches after the game.

I like to think of myself as a smart girl capable of asking serious questions.  I wanted to ask some questions, a few admittedly girly, that were not related to the Caps game, like:

• Bob, last night we lost to yet another team from the Western Conference.  Do you have a plan for helping us win against these disciplined teams before we leave on that West-Coast road trip in February? When will you begin strategizing for those games?
• Hossa, you talk a lot in interviews about Atlantans not recognizing you in public.  This season the team is winning and you are on billboards.  Are more people spotting you in public?
  
• Kari, you had a charming interview with Bary Melrose on ESPN.  I was especially impressed by your hair, what product do you use to make it stand up like that?
• Ilya, it's been musical centers on your line.  Who do you think you have the best chemistry with and would work best centering your line?
• And of course, Glen, would you please explain to JP that I am right, you are having a career season and he should just defer to me on all hockey related matters from now on? And could you do it with the video feed on my digital camera running?
  

I also had some game related questions:

• Ex, do you think some lingering effects of the mono contributed to that delay of game period you had a minute into overtime?
• Bob, do you think an endurance issue is contributing to our late game collapses?

Did I ask any of these questions?  Nope.  I wussed out.  The one factor I had not anticipated was the mood of the locker room.  You hear so many stories from football and baseball where players appear to take a loss lightly--or at least far more lightly than you'd like them to take it as a fan.  Hanging your head in devastation is the purview of overzealous fans, right?  I can attest that after our loss to the Capitals everyone I saw in that Thrasher's locker room looked like someone had just run over their puppy.  Seeing the players so worn down and dejected, there was no way I could bother them with my trifle questions.  This was no fault of the Thrasher's press people.  To their credit they offered to go get Metro for me to talk to.  But I just couldn't do it.  I did go to Bob's press conference and ask a question about our penalties...but really the experience was not me at my best.  It was me discovering the shortcomings of fandom and learning how hard it must be to be a reporter traveling with the team for a living.    If I get the opportunity again I'll jump at it and try to do a better job, even if we don't win.

I shared my press experience last Saturday with my old college chum, Amber.  In exchange for getting her a seat next to mine in the press box I made her record her thoughts about watching hockey as a newbie.  What exactly does a person think about watching real hockey when all they know coming to the game is what they learned from the movies?  This is her account.

Saturday night was my first hockey game.  All I knew came from watching the Mighty Ducks and ¬Miracle.  Before the game starts I check the injury report.  What is an ‘upper body’ injury? Do they not want the media to know?  Is it a test to see if you were watching when it happened? Fascination aside it didn’t go far in helping me learn about the game. Curious about seat prices I go online and find they range from $10-$225.  I’d be perfectly willing to pay $10, probably even more, but $225?  The $10 seats were nice and cushioned.  The pricey seats included bleachers which are close but look uncomfortable.  And what about those seats right in front of the boards?  People spending hundreds of dollars to watch hockey will go deaf!  When players get slammed into the boards or the puck rebounds off the glass the sound is deafening.  These people have spent crazy amounts of money on a ticket and they will likely pay medical deductibles to get their hearing checked.   Really, the cheap seats aren’t bad.  You have a view of the entire arena and you don’t have to worry about post-game frostbite. 

Of course, most of my observations on the seating are speculation, as I was sitting in the press box.  For those who have never been to the press box, here’s my list of advantages and disadvantages.  First let me clarify something.  The actual boxes are reserved for “on camera” media.  Those of us who were not in live broadcast roles were sitting in what would more accurately be termed the press rows; two of them, to be precise.  Personally, I think the rows are probably better than the actual boxes.  It’s easier to feel like part of the crowd and feel the excitement all around you.  The view is amazing.  I was able to see every seat in the stadium except those immediately in front of me.  We sat as far up as the cheap seats but the view of the rink is completely unimpeded.  Up this high I feel like we could be part of the extra colorful advertisements and encouraging chants that were illuminated in red, white, and blue, with the occasional green and yellow thrown in for variety.  The production is truly enjoyable to watch. 

Without a doubt, the best part of sitting in the press box was not having people sitting immediately in front of my knees and immediately above my head.  I didn’t have to worry about some tall guy or a short woman with big hair blocking my view.  I didn’t worry about obnoxious people behind me kicking my chair, shouting in my ears, bumping the back of my head every time they stand up, or spilling beer all over me when they jump up exhilarated by the last particularly exciting play. 

There is a huge disadvantage to sitting in the press box.  I was unable to participate in any of the chanting or cheering.  As a hockey newbie I did not have a preference as to who won or lost the game (well, not at first anyway) and was perfectly willing to be happy for both teams when they made a particularly strong move, scored a point, or prevented the other team from scoring.  Sitting in the press box I had to appear completely impartial to both teams.  There’s no cheering for anybody from the press box!

Finally, hockey is loud.  While I didn’t suffer from the eardrum bursting clash of the puck against the boards I was overwhelmed by how much noise Capitals fans make.  It seemed as if the fans higher up in the stands, the ones who were closest to me, were by far the loudest in the arena.  It was as if they felt the Capitals couldn’t win if they didn’t hear their particular voices.  I imagine most diehard Capitals fans sitting in the higher seats wake up the morning after a game with no voice.  Then there’s the buzzer.  It isn’t fair that only the home team gets a loud buzzing noise when they score.  With three minutes left in the second period the Thrashers had scored twice, but you could hardly tell from the lack of excitement or loud obnoxious buzzing.  Loud and obnoxious as it was the buzzing is very energizing.  Doesn’t the visiting team deserve to be energized, too?

The loud buzzer begs another question, why is it that the goal at a hockey game is to make as much noise as possible to energize the home team, but golf and tennis require the audience to be silent?  Seriously, hockey players hit a puck racing across the ice, while on skates, with other players trying to knock them unconscious against the boards--and they play better if the crowd is loud and encouraging.  But a golfer hitting a stationary ball and two tennis players alone on a court hitting a bright yellow ball need total silence.  Maybe golf and tennis should take a page out of the proverbial hockey book. 

Today is my big official day as a member of the "media" with credentials for a game.  What should be really exciting has turned into a bit of a circus.  I felt good going into this.  JP and Eric McErlain were great with advice and telling me what to expect. I even got a few tips from a nice helpful individual on the Thrasher's staff.  Unfortunately they told me to expect to show up at MCI Verizon Center at 9:30 today to pick up my credentials.  Wouldn't you know it--turns out there is basketball there today.  Some bug-eyed guy whom I assume is with the Hoyas thought we were completely crazy.  He told me "It's basketball today. Come back at 5."  So I go out and send JP a panicked email. "HELP" I plead and yes, he calls. Amber, my partner in crime for the weekend, and I follow JP's instructions and head over to Ballston Commons Mall where the Caps practice for morning skate.  We track down the contact with the Caps who tells us--I don't have your passes now, come back to MCI at 4 today.  So to sum up it is now 12:30 and we have treked all over DC on the Metro (the train, not the player--minds out of the gutter people) for no good reason.  We did get to see part of the morning skate (that is public at the practice facility) and we watched as Hanlon (the CAPs coach) took time to sign a bunch of autographs for fans standing in an autograph queue.  I'm optimistic about tonight, hopefully it will go smoother.  Now I'm off to spend more time treking around DC with my laptop in shoes too nice to trek around the streets...

Yes, it has been a month since a blog entry.  Sure, there was Christmas, a staffing shortage at work, fun with surgical consults, being struck with the plauge and yes, hiding my head in shame after that Peach Bowl loss.  Never fear, things are looking up.  Tomorrow morning I head to DC for a weekend of wild fun and debauchery bridge and tea parties with some old mates.  Saturday I get treated to some top notch hockey.  Or at least I get treated to some top notch access to whatever quality hockey the Caps and Thrashers put on the ice that night. I don't want to spoil the surprise but I'll post about my experiences here and over at Southeast Shootout.  For what it's worth I have done some writing over there while this poor site sat still.  Its all about hockey so feel free to go check it out.

It's strange how sometimes something you dread can turn out so well.  Atlanta has a miserable record against the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Last season the Leafs beat us 4 times by a combined total of 19 points.  Earlier this season they beat us 4-2. In fact to find the last time Atlanta beat Toronto you have to go all the way back to October of 2003 when we walked away with a 3-2 OT win. Tonight we took a big step ahead as a team and dominated the Leafs walking away with a 5-0 win.  The highlights:

• Marian Hossa had his first Thrasher hat trick. (His last one came when he was with Ottowa in a game against the Thrashers.) 
  
• Kari Lehtonen had his 4th shut out of the season (setting a new single season franchise mark for shut-outs).  
  

The hat trick and the shut out are both impressive, but more so was the way the whole team pulled togather.  The hat trick wasn't just a product of Hossa's puck mastery.  When we found ourselves on the power play late in the game everyone on the ice was trying to get the puck to Hossa.  On the other end of the ice everyone was working hard to help Kari preserve that shutout.  Kari was on fire tonight and its obvious that his success in the last two games has really bolstered his confidence.  It was also refreshing to hear chants of "Hos-sa, Hos-sa" and "Kari, Kari" coming from the crowd instead of the usual drivel.

I agree with most of the things Bob Hartley does with the Thrashers, after all he knows infinately more about hockey than I can ever hope to comprehend.  The decisions of his I've really questioned came during the games where Kari Lehtonen gave up a couple of quick goals and Hartley quickly pulled him and went to Johan Hedberg.  Coming from a football background there are some football thoughts that infiltrate my hockey thoughts.  I think of goalies the same way I think of quarterback and I really worried that getting pulled quickly and being sat for so many games would shake his confidence.  On a night like tonight where our defense was spread thin it would have been easy for Hartley to make another goalie switch.  Hopefully sticking with Lehtonen is a sign that his confidence is up and he's regained Hartley's trust.  The end result was an incredible 5-4 overtime win over the Rangers.  A nice bit of revenge exacted for that loss they handed to us a few weeks ago. Those losses by Carolina and Tampa Bay are just icing on the cake.

For two days I’ve patiently read the incessant whining from Capitol’s fans (and yes, some Thrasher’s fans) about how all fault for Wednesday’s brouhaha can be placed squarely on the shoulders of Andy Sutton and his “cheap shot” on Green with just over a minute left in the game.  These complaints fall under two headings: Sutton is a cheap shot artist who does this all the time and it’s about darn time some team stood up against his brutality; and the Thrasher’s had the game in hand and there is no reason for aggressive play with so little time left.

The Cheap Shot
Sutton’s hit didn’t merit anything more than a two minute roughing penalty.  He’s a defenseman and he hit the guy with the puck when the opportunity presented itself.  That’s what he gets paid for.  Was the hit high? Yes.  I’d prefer Sutton find a way to check Green without getting penalized too, but he was just coming onto the ice and needed to react quickly.    

Uncalled for in a Game You Will Win
This second argument is the one that really burns me.  Anyone who thinks you stop playing aggressive defense because the end of regulation is near needs to have their head examined.  Or better yet, go back and watch some tape of our early season loss to the Hurricanes.  Our team learned the hard way this season that you can’t stop and take a breather when the final seconds are ticking off the clock.  We’ve had teams score twice on us in under a minute.  We’ve had a team score a game winning goal with half a second left on the clock.  If those losses taught us ANYTHING it’s that we can’t blow off the last two minutes of the game.  Thrasher fans who jumped on this bandwagon should be ashamed. We want our team to win and for that to happen we need them to play defense until the final horn sounds.

I’m sure my arguments won’t silence anyone, but the NHL rulings make it pretty clear where the league places the blame. On the Capital’s side you have $30,000 in fines to Hanlon, a three game suspension to Brashear, a one game suspension to Sutherby.  On the Thrasher’s side $10,000 in fines to Hartley and a one game suspension to captain Mellanby.  Frankly I’m surprised, and disappointed, that Hanlon didn’t receive as suspension of his own.  He engineered the first three on three throw-down and I suspect he wanted to meet Hartley in the parking lot after the game and go at it Karate Kid style.  One thing I do know, on December 15^th I’ll be at Philips for the rematch.

I don't typically find much to complain about at the NHL website.  Sure its poorly organized and sometimes cumbersome to navigate but they make tons of high-quality material available to the masses for free.  I can listen to their daily radio show in the morning or games at night, etc.  Today my visit was to cast an All-Star ballot.  As a relative hockey newbie I made some false assumptions about what I should expect from this process.  For starters I assume it would work like the MLB All-Star voting does.  Do it online or at the stadium.  Choose from pretty much any player on a teams roster at the beginning of the season.  Choose to cast the maximum number of votes for any position or only cast votes for players I give a flying fig about. You know, standard All-Star voting stuff. Boy was I wrong.

My first shock came when I learned that you could vote only online.  This might not seam like a big deal given that wide availability of internet service these days, but its an important distinction.  The casual fan who attends a game for the social experience, because a friend had an extra ticket or because they landed the company tickets for the night is likely to cast some votes if an usher spirit girl hands them a ballot at the beginning of the game and collects it near the end of the second period.  Chances are this fan will cast some votes for players on the team he came to watch and maybe punch a few chads for other names he recognizes on the ballot.  This same casual fan, despite spending 8 hours a day in front of a computer connected to the internet, will probably never take the initiative to go out and find the All-Star ballot online and vote. 

But what happens when he does go online to vote? The ballot itself is pretty. It features 10 baseball-card style photo frames with a position listed under the frame and a drop down list of players you can vote for to fill that spot.  When you select the player you can see their photo in the frame and even choose to watch some choice highlights.  There are 5 frames for each division divided into 3 Forwards, 2 Defensemen and a Goalie for each conference. So far, no beef.  I go to cast my votes and find that rather than choosing from all forwards in the eastern conference I'm limited to 30.  Thankfully two of my guys (Kovalchuck and Hossa) are on the list.  No problem.  Frame one goes to Hossa, frame two to Kovalchuck.  Frame 3?  Well I want to write in Slava Kozlov.  He's been on fire and should get some recognition.  I go down to the single write-in slot for the easter conference and choose Slava from the list.  I don't care so much about the defensemen.  None of our guys are on the list and I've already used my write-in spot.  No big deal, our defensemen are improved, but I wouldn't call them All-Stars.  I choose Kari from the list of goalies and go hit submit.  I expect a "Thanks for voting" message.  What I get is an error alert.  It turns out the geniuses at the NHL HQ decided that you must vote for someone in each position slot shown.  I can't help my guys at forward out by not casting a vote for one of their competitors in that third frame.  I can't even make my write in vote for Slava at forward count for that third frame.  I also have to vote for defensemen AND I have to cast a vote for someone at each position in the Western Conference.  My knowledge of individual hockey players is limited to the guys on the Thrasher's roster, a few guys who played for the Caps when I lived in DC and some choice players with our Southeast Division rivals.  All I can say is I hope the NHL honchos enjoy the fruit baskets they are getting from the players at the top of each drop down list this Christmas.  I'm sure I'm not the only person who voted for them just because I had to cast a vote.

NHL All-Star Ballot

I like to occasionally fool myself into thinking people care what I think and even take action.  Another opportunity for this has arrived as there have been 2 recent additions to the Thrasher blogging world.  Someone named Austin has started a Thrashin' blog at http://atl-thrashin.blogspot.com/ and Britt has started one called Girls-LOVE-Hockey-Too at http://girlslovehockeytoo.blogspot.com/.  For those keeping count t