HLOG Q&A Update with Elise

Today's Q&A Update is with Elise, the other HLOG Minnesota Wild fan. Her original Q&A is here and her update is below. Enjoy!

1. What are you up to these days? Still blogging? Why or why not?
I’m still blogging, but have changed sites. I kept my blog up until about a year ago when I discontinued 18,568 Reasons Why to join the team over at Hockey Wilderness of SBNation. I don’t write as frequently as I used to because of school and other commitments but I’m still blogging because I love the community and haven’t run out of things to say yet.

2. Have you changed team allegiances, or are you still in love with the team you represented on HLOG?
I’m still in love with the Wild. My Chicago Blackhawks fandom has grown significantly since moving down to Chicagoland for school but Minnesota will always come first.

3. How do you feel about your team this year?
The team is struggling this year, showing flashes of greatness within its sometimes incompetence. It’s the second year of the great re-build since the front office change over and while the team still isn’t very successful, there’s at least some promise in the system and some hope for improvement in the coming years.

4. Who is your favorite player now?
My favorite player doesn’t actually play for the Wild – it’s Jonathan Toews. I usually don’t go for the big name, superstar players but Toews amazes me. His work ethic, competitiveness, skills and leadership make me love to watch him play. I also find his weird relationship with Patrick Kane to be very amusing.

5. Are we too old to use the term SQUEE?
I’m only 19 so I get to say no on this one.

6. Do you feel that the role of the female fan in keeping the game alive or picking heroes in the community has changed any since you were on HLOG?
I think the role of the female fan has only continued to expand. While there are still issues regarding women in sports, a lot of strides have been taken and, from my experience, female fans are mostly respected. There are always going to be puck bunnies and disgruntled, dragged-along girlfriends at hockey games but I think less people are making assumptions about the sex as a whole.

7. Hockey just isn’t the same without Joe Sakic. Even though I’m a Wild fan, I respect Sakic immensely. Playing the Avalanche just isn’t the same without Sakic, even if he did manage to singlehandedly beat Minnesota on numerous occasions.

8. Favorite HLOG memory?
The best part of HLOG is the ladies involved with it. Through this site, I’ve met so many smart, amazing and creative hockey-loving women. I text, e-mail, tweet and Facebook many of them and I still text with Kirsten almost daily and see her every now and then when we’re both in Minnesota. I feel honored to have been part of something with so many successful hockey ladies.

9. How do you feel the blog community has changed since our HLOG days?
I could write pages on this question, but I’ll keep it limited to a few things I think are significant. 1) The blog world has really expanded the past few years, growing from smaller blogging communities to a few giants surrounded by countless blogs for every facet of the hockey world. 2) Blogs are gaining more access and attention from the MSM. Whether they’re in the press box or breaking stories, the issue of bloggers vs. MSM is never-ending. 3) Like many of the ladies have already mentioned, Twitter has become a big part of the blogging world. I personally love Twitter (you can find me @elisebutler). It’s great for interaction with people and a good way to keep up with what’s going on.

10. Have you reached any milestones in the last few years, personally, that you’re willing to share with us all? Do you have any upcoming milestones in the foreseeable future? (ahem, wedding? baby? book deal? etc?)
When I joined HLOG, I had just turned 17 and was a junior in high school. Now, I turn 20 in a few months and am a sophomore in college. As far as milestones, I was published on the Wild’s website and in the game program two years in a row for winning their High School Media Day contest and interned with the pro soccer team in Minnesota two summers ago. But one of my biggest achievements so far was getting accepted into Northwestern University, where I’m now studying Journalism with a concentration in Marketing Communications. I have no idea what’s ahead of me, but hopefully it only keeps getting better.