Oh boy, an intro post!

Hey, everyone!!! I'm the new kid in town! :)
I look forward to getting to know all of you.
In the meantime, get to know a little about me with this post!

Kat.


1. Where you're from, what you do - basic things.
I'm originally from Detroit but have lived in Chicago for the past 2 years and love it! In my spare time I write, take a ton of pictures around town and design a website. I also play goalie for a local team. My ultimate goal is to be living in Ottawa within the next 4 years so I can get a graduate degree in sports journalism. I am a sucker for all things Canadian.
2. Your team and why you like them.
I started watching the Blues in 2006 when Manny Legace was signed there. They were utterly horrible until Andy Murray came aboard as coach. Now, they've gone from a team with no direction to a team that actually believes it can win every night. I love how this team plays with so much heart no matter who they're facing. They don't have a team full of big names and seem perfectly content with that because they can get people to step up and play like the big names. [See Brad Boyes, Andy McDonald.] They have the best ownership in the league. Seriously...the things they do for the fans are amazing. They have a free FanFest where you can meet all the guys and a game where they don't charge you for food.
Oh, and...yeah..the fact that they have Manny Legace...yeah. You'll find out real quickly that I love that man. A lot. :)
3. Your least favourite team and why?
Nashville Predators. Jordin Tootoo. Enough said.
4. Your favourite player of all time & now?
All time? Mario Lemieux. The way he persevered when he was battling with cancer and still was able to be one of the best still amazes me.
Now? Manny Legace. I've followed his career since 1996. He has gone from a "career backup" to a starting goalie and a leader on an up-and-coming team.
It absolutely warms my heart to see the respect he is finally getting. He's always been this good...just not many have been able to see it because he made the choice to sit behind the big names in Detroit in order to win the Cup. Not many guys would ever voluntarily give up the spotlight to win like he has in the past.
He plays with a lot of visible passion and wears his heart on his sleeve.
As you all saw in the All-Star game last year, he's funny as hell.
He's a very down-to-earth guy...never turns down signing autographs like a lot of others...and is really the epitome of what all pro athletes should be.
Okay, I'll stop rambling now. :) If you read all that, kudos!
5. Which hockey player is your least favourite and why?
Claude Lemieux. His hit on Kris Draper in the 1996 playoffs will forever make me hate him.
6 What do you hope to gain from joining HLOG?
I know that everyone in HLOG is on the same page as I am: We're all female fans that have a genuine love for writing and for the game. I am looking forward to sharing my thoughts and opinions with all of you, as well as just having a good time and meeting a bunch of new people that don't mind if I talk hockey for hours upon hours on end! [Getting my writing out there on the Internet also wouldn't be a bad thing, either!]
7. What role do female fans contribute to the game of hockey? What does female fan support do for the league/team/player she supports?
Some of the most knowledgable fans I know are women. I think our analysis of the game is VERY well-rounded because we tend to look at things from the heart. We put so much emotion into following this game and look at it from different angles than men do sometimes. For example...if our favourite players get hurt, we tend to take it personally ourselves. Guys will just be like, "Ah well, whatever...who's around to call up from the minors?"
I think we are also very attentive. We tend to notice little details about the game that others may miss.
As for what female fans do for the team and league...well, I think we're really starting to do a great job of shaking off that "puckbunny" label. There are female fans out there that could rival the knowledge that is floating around any man's head. There are still people out there that will never take us seriously, but that's why places like HLOG and Canada are so great.
8. Hockey just isn't the same without __________!
Wings-Avs rilvaries!!!
9. If you could make your own team, regardless of whatever players, what would it be called and where will it be/how would it be like?
We'd probably be called the "Kats." We'd all wear bright yellow jerseys. I would make sure to schedule MANY roadtrips to Canadian cities where we would probably get killed on the ice but off-ice we would drink lots of beer and have the best team chemistry in our league.
Wait...that sounds like my college hockey days, now that I think about it! Those were the best days of my life! :)

10. Who gets your squee and why?
Manny Legace.
Hm, I can only pick ONE reason?
He winks at my camera every time. :)