I am wicked excited to be a member of the HLOG! My name is Katherine, and I'm joining the HLOG to talk about the Boston Bruins. I honestly adore the TDBanknorth Garden, Phil Kessel, the AHL, and the Boston University Terriers (#1 in the nation as of right now!!!!) More about me after the jump!
1. Where you're from, what you do - basic things.
I was born and raised in Rochester, NY, attended college in the Southern Tier of NY, but I have lived in Boston, MA for the past four years. I work at a Boston area college in student life, and have my masters in higher education administration.
In my spare time, I write at ...On Being a Sports Girl. Growing up, I wanted to be a sportswriter or in arena management, so I figure my blog is my one way to live out some of my teenage dream. I also write for Examiner Boston, covering lacrosse, and am working on a few other online projects.
2. Your team and why you like them.
NHL: I have split loyalties - I grew up with the Sabres and will always love them, but I have become a fan of the Bruins during my time in Boston. I really enjoy the younger players they have brought in (Phil Kessel and Blake Wheeler) and think for the first time in a while, they are on the right track. Also, the history surrounding the team as an Original 6 team is super interesting.
AHL: I am a fan of the entire AHL in general - it's a great league from top to bottom. If you watch college hockey, the AHL is the next logical step to follow. Also, with the NHL continuously using the AHL as a testing ground for new rules, if you are interested in how the sport could be bettered, the AHL is the league to watch. My favorite team is the Rochester Amerks, but I follow a ton more, including the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, Providence Bruins, and Binghamton Senators.
College: Boston University. They have some great players right now, and are currently #1 in the nation. They had a really rough go of things last year, but this year, they have probably one of the best offenses in recent hockey memory - so much fun to watch so far! I love that they always find a way to come back - be it in a individual game or during a season. I also follow the University of New Hampshire closely - it's a great program, and you'll see a lot of NHL players coming out of these recent classes. I also have learned to like Michigan State (Lerg!) and North Dakota.
3. Your least favourite team and why?
NHL: Dallas Stars (Stanley Cup 1999 - more painful than four Super Bowl losses in a row, let me tell you), AHL: Chicago Wolves (their coach didn't need to lambast the WBS Penguins like he did during this year's Calder Cup, and for that, they have landed on my bleh list) and NCAA: Boston College Eagles (the best rivalry in college sports, I am convinced, is BU vs. BC hockey. It puts Ohio State - Michigan to shame.)
4. Your favourite player of all time & now?
In the NHL, I like Ryan Miller (I think his impact on the sport of hockey in Buffalo has been enormous, and he came up through college hockey and the Amerks), and Phil Kessel (so happy he‘s finally doing well!) Of all time, my favorite player on the professional level has to be Jody Gage, who I grew up following in Rochester. Great player, great heart, and was fun to watch.
5. Which hockey player is your least favourite and why?
Chris Collins, who was recently cut by the Bruins organization. When he played for Boston College, he showed little hustle or speed - he literally never moved from in front of the net. This is fine if your team has the puck, but when your team is defending their goal and you are still right in front of the other team's goalie, that's a problem. I don't think I saw him skate a length of ice once in two years. It pains me to not like him, because he's from Rochester, but he never was endearing to me as a hockey player!
6 What do you hope to gain from joining HLOG?
I would like to meet and talk to fellow female hockey fans. It's rather fashionable in Boston to be a female sports fan with absolutely no knowledge about anything but Jacoby Ellsbury's dimples, and I would love to discuss real sports with other fans just like me for a change! Even if I don't fit in as a contributor, I will make HLOG one of my everyday stops and participate in discussions!
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?
I think female fans appreciate hockey for the detail and strategy that the game entails. We appreciate why players are teamed together on lines, what line combos might be better, and how to best score on certain goalies. I feel that male fans tend to overlook the nuances, and focus on the more flashy elements of the game (like fights and hits.) I also believe that more than in any other sport, hockey definitely has a certain culture around it, which is something female fans definitely appreciate.
8. Hockey just isn't the same without __________!
The Canadian National Anthem. Sure, most of the games I go to nowadays don't play it before hand, but it always adds that extra smidge of excitement when it is.
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?
I would give Binghamton University, my undergraduate alma mater, its own DI hockey program, but change the mascot from the imaginary Bearcats to something a bit more powerful, like...Predators, maybe? The first thing I'd make sure is that the team had quality defensemen because I have followed one too many teams with good enough offense, a good or great goalie, and absolutely no defense! You can only get so far with that!
10. Who gets your squee and why? (keep it short & sweet, y'all!)
As I mentioned earlier, I think Phil Kessel is awesome, and earns my squee. Also, John Curry from Wilkes-Barre-Scranton (who formerly played for Boston University) is just adorable. His hair sticks out of his helmet! And of course, if you read my blog, you'll learn about the Forward Whose Name I Cannot Mention (FWNICM), who is probably the most squee worthy hockey player ever.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Hooray - There's Finally a Bruins Fan Here!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Greetings and Salutations
Good Evening HLOG!!!!!! Gray and I are super excited to be able to bring our brand of blogging to the wonderful readers and ladies of this site. Before we start inundating you with stories about why the San Jose Sharks are amazing (and trust me, you'll grow to love them.....or maybe just us), we felt it only right to let you know what you are getting into... San Francisco Bay Area native by providence, artist by day, sports fan 24/7. The San Jose Sharks. It's sort of like Doctor Who; you have the greatest attachment to the Doctor you saw first. The Sharks were the first hockey team I saw play in person. Mina dragged me to the 2005-2006 home opener because she had an extra ticket. I enjoyed it and went to 5 or 6 more games with her that year. By the end of the season, I was hooked. It helped that I got to attend some amazing playoff games that cemented my new found love for the sport. Baseball has seemed slower and more laborious ever since. 3. Your least favourite team and why? The Ducks. I'm a Sharks fan, hating the Ducks is required. 4. Your favourite player of all time & now? My current favorite players are Ryane Clowe, Jeremy Roenick and Kyle McLaren, despite his being demoted to the AHL. Nabokov also won himself a place in my heart for being absolutely-frickin-amazing this past season. I don't have an all time favorite yet. I think one needs a few more years of fandom under their belts before they can declare a lifetime favorite. (As a side note, I have been watching baseball for many years and I still don't have an all time favorite player in that sport. Don't expect an all time favorite for hockey any time soon.) 5. Which hockey player is your least favourite and why? Chris Pronger. Sometimes I feel like he plays in a disrespectful manner and I find that very off putting. I'll leave it at that. 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? Female fans seem to be pretty loyal and supportive of their teams, even when things get rough. We can be extraordinarily passionate and I think we cheer the loudest at games. We demand excellence from our players, both on and off the ice. We go to meet a greets, support the charitable events the team is involved in (man, does Mina buy a lot of mystery pucks!), and we tend to be the ones buying sweatshirts, shirts, license plate holders, stickers, jerseys/sweaters, etc for no only ourselves but the other fans in our lives. We make the signs you see during playoff time and yes, some of us even help fill up the time between periods by dressing in tiny outfits and "dancing" during the section dance offs. Anything to get on that jumbotron. PANTS! Lady who only wears tights, (no really, TIGHTS, not even leggings TIGHTS), and a oversize shirts to Sharks games, I'm talking to you. And could you stop with the tights and the ankle boots? We're not in the 80s anymore. It may or may not involve ice skating cats. It depends on whether or not could get pads in the proper size and if I could amass an army of willing, ice skating felines in a relatively short period of time. Uniforms would be green. To reduce the chances of cat scratch fever breaking out during fights, all players would be required to wear soft paws at all times. The team would be located in the Bay Area at a custom made rink, perhaps an add on to Sharks Ice in San Jose. I'm not certain what the name would be but it would adequately reflect the fear that ice skating felines would strike in the hearts of their competitors. 10. Who gets your squee and why? (keep it short & sweet, y'all!) I try to keep my like of the players to pleasant and respectfully distant levels. I did have a ridiculous attachment to Vesa Toskala, or was at least very enamored with the idea of a Toskala jersey/sweater but he's gone now and I've moved on. (It's never a good idea to give open ended questions like these to a history major. It's like our catnip. I tried to keep it short…but I've never been good at that.) 1. Where you're from, what you do - basic things. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, born and bred where hockey isn't a major sport. My dad raised me a baseball and football fan, but my college roommate took me to my first hockey game in 2001 and I was hooked. It started out as a nice sport to help pass the time between the Super Bowl and Spring Training. But soon I came to love the game more and more; it had the physicality that I loved in football and the tension and anticipation of baseball. Soon it became my primary sport and I was live blogging the NHL Entry Draft. Crazy. In my "spare" time, I teach high school social studies to students in a performing arts academy and do all the "fun" tasks that go along with teaching. I also play hockey in a local recreational women's league. Other than that, I spend an alarming amount of time hanging out with my computer, my TV, and my cat. 2. Your team and why you like them. The San Jose Sharks are my one and only team. Being in Northern California, I have limited access to hockey, so it was realistically the Sharks or nothing. As I went to more Sharks games, I fell more in love with the team and the game. It is important to know I was once described as a drinker of the "Faithful Kool-aid" when it comes to my sports teams. I love the Sharks when they win, I love them when they lose, I love every player who puts on a Teal sweater (whether or not I like how they play is up in the air), and I love the orange on the new sweaters. Since I am not unreasonably fanatical in my support (I like to think of myself as being able to be reasonable when it comes to criticizing my team), I have learned patience in the moves that they make and in how the season unfolds. I want nothing more than to have them lift the Stanley Cup, but I am able to try to enjoy every game for the experience it is. 3. Your least favorite team and why? I have a game of NHL Monopoly that I didn't open for about 2 years for one reason: I had the hardest time deciding which team should be Park Place. I have never had a great deal of interest in Easter Conference teams and most Western Conference teams have given me reasons to be bitter with thing. Some teams have defeated my team in the playoffs, some have former players playing very well, and others just win too damn much. However, hands down, my least favorite team has to be the Anaheim (Mighty) Ducks. Some of the dislike comes from playing them 8 (and now 6) times a year, part of it has to do with players I don't like (Selanne, Pronger, Bertuzzi), and part of it has to do with them being the first California team to win the Cup. Most of my dislike is of the Anaheim fans, not the knowledgeable ones, but the ones who showed up only once their team made the championship round and stole a championship from my team (yes, I am still bitter with the 2002 World Series). The smart, non-bandwagon Anaheim fans still have my respect. 4. Your favorite player of all time & now? I wasn't watching hockey at all when the "greats" (Howe, Lemieux, Gretzsky, etc.) were playing so my "of all time" is decently limited. However, following my general favorite player trend, Mark Smith, late of the Sharks, then Calgary, and now musician (*cries*), is my favorite hockey player. During my first Sharks game, a player went hard into the boards and had to be taken to a local hospital for observation. When they flashed his picture later in the game to report on his condition, I fell in love. But he worked his way to favorite player status with his hard work and consistent all out play. He will never be the best player on the ice, but you'll be hard pressed to find someone who works harder than him. When he moved off to Calgary, I found myself current Shark from the same mold as him in Torrey Mitchell. Then again I am a sucker for a guy who scores goals like this and takes his team photo with a mouse under his eye. 5. Which hockey player is your least favorite and why? There are several players who have given me cause to be bitter with them over the years. Realistically those guys are players who have harmed a Shark in some way. Raffe Torres (for his hit on Milan Michalek), Teemu Selanne (for being a terrible waste of a contract with the Sharks), and Jordan Tootoo (for destroying Cheechoo) are three players who I am no longer on speaking terms with. However, my least favorite player has to be Chris Pronger. When I was first becoming a Sharks fan, I was told by my friend that I was to boo Chris Pronger every time he touched the puck. "Why?" I asked. "Just because. He sucks," I was told. I have held to that idea ever since, though to be fair, he has earned my ire over the years with his elbows of doom. 6 What do you hope to gain from joining HLOG? I hope to gain the chance to have a community of intelligent hockey fans to be able to discuss the game with. The fact that these fans are female is simply icing on the cake. I make no secret of my general ignorance of the majority of teams in the Eastern Conference (even when I was dating a Senators fan) and I look forward to getting to know more about those teams from their fans. I also want to increase people's understanding of the Sharks beyond Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. In addition, I am looking the credibility that goes along with those who are selected to be part of this community. Selfishly, I hope this will help me on my way to internet celebrity and world domination. 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? Honestly, I don't think that there should be a difference between male and female fans in terms of what they bring to the game. All fans love the game and the players and they all contribute to supporting the team in their area. However, as is the nature of things, girls are different from boys. I think in many ways women are more emotionally attached to their teams and the players on it. I think female hockey fans contribute their passion and intelligence to the game. Just because female fans have favorite players who are hot does not make us the kind of girls who will give up our dignity and self worth to be with one of those players, which I find as a misconception. Cause seriously, just cause we are intelligent fans doesn't make us blind, I just think it makes us special. 8. Hockey just isn't the same without __________! …enforcers. I know that the league felt like it had to clean up the went-to-a-fight-and-a-hockey- 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? 10. Who gets your squee and why? (keep it short & sweet, y'all!) My general love for goalies is well documented: Rick DiPietro, Veas Toskala, Cam Ward, Michael Leighton, Hot Dan Cloutier, and a small crush on Ray Emery. The rest of my list includes (but is not limited to) Shawn Thornton, My Eastern Conference Hockey Boyfriend Matt Green, Jason Spezza, Jeff O'Neill, Steve Bernier, Torrey Mitchell, and the great Mark Smith. So there you have it. Again, we're super excited and flattered that y'all have considered us worthy of joining the group.
We are the ladies of Couch Tarts, a wonderful site full of Gray's cartoons and Mina's attempts to sound like she can analyze hockey stats. We will be posting as one entity, but will sign and tag our posts so you can know who to praise or blame.
Meet the incredible Graydarka
1. Where you're from, what you do - basic things.
In terms of what female support brings to the league/team/players, it often times boils down to the power of the purse. Women purchase tickets to games for themselves, their children, spouses, and friends. They purchase the swag and other merchandise (don't even get me started on all the mystery pucks I have). They support their favorite players by buying sweaters and showing up at public appearances. And for the league, women could be considerably more valuable than men for they are raising the next generation of hockey players: taking them to games, buying their gear and other equipment, and preparing them for playing at high levels, including college. However, I have always maintained that I would prefer to be thought of as a hockey fan first and a female hockey fan second as the later often is seen as some kind of circus curiosity.
I tend to like players who play hockey like me: the ones who aren't the most talented but give their all every shift. So I would probably end up with a team full of grinding, 4th liners. And I would make sure that I never sacrificed team chemistry for the sake of a great player. I would most likely have the team in a non-traditional market that would support a team, maybe somewhere like Seattle (I love that weather). As for names, since I am so terrible at naming things, I would have the fans vote for a name and let them have input on other aspects of the team, like colors and uniforms. I like to focus on my strengths and get help with the things I am weaker with.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Introductions
Hello, HLOGgers and HLOG readers! My name is Meaghan. I'm a diehard Ottawa Senators fan with a blog called Sens at Land's End, and I'm a new poster here. I'm very happy to be part of the HLOG sisterhood and I'm really looking forward to getting to know you all! :)
Now a bit more information about me:
1. Where you're from, what you do - basic things.
I was born and raised in Ottawa, but moved to Vancouver in September 2007 for school -- I'm at UBC doing a Masters degree, en route to becoming either an archivist or a librarian. I should graduate in May 2010 (right after the Olympics). I spend my time going to classes and doing schoolwork, doing home things (I am a dedicated TV and movie watcher and a sporadic reader and I love playing around on the internet). I also spend a possibly excessive amount of time watching hockey thanks to a glorious new Centre Ice subscription.
2. Your team and why you like them.
My team is the sometimes great, sometimes frustrating, (almost) always lovable Ottawa Senators. I started following them because they were my home team, of course. I became a fan way back in 1996: my first clear memory of being a Sens fan is the day Wade Redden was traded to the team. My sister and my best friend and I all followed junior hockey so we knew of Wade, and his coming to the Sens seemed like the start of good things. I still think that trade really was a huge turning point for the team. I'm not sure I can say why I like the Sens. I just always have. However I do think they're a fun team to watch (when they're not playing like crap), and obviously they are blessed with a trio of star forwards that is almost unmatched in the rest of the NHL for sheer awesomeness.
I also watch Canucks games on occasion. Now that I live in Vancouver, it seems like the thing to do. I've been watching the Oilers and the Blue Jackets pretty often this season too. I don't have nearly as much interest in other teams as I do in the Sens, though. I pretty much live and breathe the Sens: I try not to go out when they have a game, and I always wear red on gamedays. Last season I was listening to all their games via internet radio, but now, oh Centre Ice ... how I love you.
3. Your least favourite team and why?
I hate, hate, hate, hate the Anaheim Ducks. Truly despise them. The one subject that is guaranteed almost always to get me going on a rant is the Ducks. Partly, this is sour grapes from them beating the Sens in the Final in 07. I admit it. But I also loathe Chris Pronger and his filthy style of play, and the fact that the Ducks seem to get away with things that other teams would not. The whole thing with bringing back Niedermayer and Selanne half way through the season made me hate the team even more and also lose a lot of respect for those two guys, who formerly were two Ducks players I didn't mind. As of now, the only Ducks player I really like is Ryan Getzlaf, and that's because of his performance for Team Canada at the World Championships this year.
Other teams I do not care for are the Toronto Maple Leafs (naturally -- as a Sens fan, it is my duty to hate them) and the Philadelphia Flyers (because I don't like goons). I've also developed a pretty violent hatred for Montreal lately, to the point that I really can't stand watching them or hearing about them. I think this comes out of bitterness over them doing better than the Sens last season. I finally got sick of hearing about Crosby all the time as well, and now kind of hate the Penguins too.
4. Your favourite player of all time & now?
My first favourite player was Alyn McCauley, when he was with the 67's. My first favourite Sens player was Radek Bonk (I have a signed Bonk jersey in a drawer in my dresser). But right now, I'd have to say my favourite is Dany Heatley. I didn't like him all that much when he first came to the Sens, partly because Marian Hossa was one of my favourite Sens players so I wasn't overly thrilled to see him traded, and partly because I thought all Heatley did was score goals. I started to watch him more closely during the 07 playoff run, though, and realized that calling him a goalscorer is far too simple. For one thing, there's much more to his game than just scoring. For another thing, when he scores goals, HOT DAMN! He really scores goals. He's got the gigantic slapshot, the quick release, and the ability to come into the play seemingly from nowhere, and hey -- it turns out those are three qualities I like more than just about anything else in a hockey player, so I always find him a treat to watch. I like it when he plays with a fiesty edge, such as when he was chirping at Crosby in the penalty box during the Sens-Pens series last season or yapping at Tucker during the last Sens-Leafs game of 07-08.
As for all-time favourites, there is no player that stands out more than Heatley to me, but I would certainly put Brian Campbell on my list somewhere near the top. He was my favourite player when he was with the 67's, and I still think he's one of the best players I've ever seen.
5. Which hockey player is your least favourite and why?
I would probably go with Chris Pronger for the reasons mentioned above when I talked about the Ducks. I just think he's a bully, basically. His elbow to McAmmond's head was terrible, and when he tried to blame his hit on Tomas Holmstrom earlier in the playoffs on his height, that bothered me. His stomp on Kesler last season was also appalling. In each of these incidents I've been disgusted that he didn't get a longer suspension. I also think Pronger is a bit overrated; I remember him taking a few costly penalties when he played for Canada at the last Olympics and he's not all that fast. Generally, I just don't like him. I have considered starting a petition to keep him off the 2010 Olympic team because I'd have trouble rooting for him to do well.
6. What do you hope to gain from joining HLOG?
I really like socializing with other female hockey fans. I find that while male hockey fans can sometimes eventually accept that women actually do enjoy and understand the game of hockey, a lot of them still don't get that -- to steal a line from SportSquee -- "you can be a total girl, and still be a total sports fan." Just because I find X player hot and that hotness adds to my appreciation of him, it doesn't make me less of a hockey fan. The other problem with talking to guys about hockey, of course, is that (usually) they just don't want to talk about that kind of thing at all, and if you bring it up they'll make fun of you. Another thing I've found about male hockey fans is that they can be really hostile, both towards the players and towards other fans. I'm not saying I'm always all sunshine and roses about everything (far from it), but they take it too far sometimes. Guys and girls have a different perspective on sports, is all, and I prefer the girl perspective sometimes. There are two things I hope to get out of joining HLOG, then: one is exposure to the society of a group of like-minded female fans, and the other is the opportunity to contribute to that society.
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?
I don't know that I think female fan support does anything for hockey that male fan support doesn't do. Female fans show up to cheer their team, just like male fans. The only thing I can think of that women could provide that men don't (I'm not going to talk about puck bunnies) is that maybe a really big female fan draws more attention to a sport than a really big male fan: people might be more likely to take note of a woman in a hockey jersey, for example, than a man.
8. Hockey just isn't the same without __________!
I actually find Steve Yzerman's absence really noticeable. It seemed weird seeing Detroit win the Cup this year without him as their Captain (nothing against Lidstrom). Vancouver is going to be really strange without Trevor Linden, too.
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?
My ideal team would be a fast, smooth-skating team with offensively gifted forwards who made lots of pretty plays, defencemen who could stop the other team's attack without ever taking penalties, and a goalie who always made the key saves, sometimes in spectacular fashion. The team would often win because of its high skill level, but the players would all be hard workers who wouldn't just rely on their skill to get them through. They would be committed to the team and would play with a lot of emotion. I'd also have at least one player on there who loved to make those big open ice hits, because I always find those entertaining. And my team would have fun: it would be obvious from watching them that they were having a good time out there. No need for a fictional name or location here -- I would name this perfect team the Senators, and it would play in Ottawa. :)
10. Who gets your squee and why? (keep it short & sweet, y'all!)
There are several squee-worthy hockey players -- I love Rick Nash, Vincent Lecavalier, and Stevie Y -- but I save my biggest squees for a few Sens. Mike Fisher gets my squee when he plays that bull in a china shop style he's so good at. Anton Volchenkov gets my squee when he makes those huge hits and blocks shots and does things like coming back to play when his head's so swollen they can't find him a helmet. Chris Phillips gets my squee for being such a generally awesome human being and solid defenceman. And Alfie gets it for being Alfie. But the greatest squee of all goes to two guys who just really seem to love playing together, and who remind me of the song "Guy Love" from the Scrubs musical episode: the Sens' dynamic duo, Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza, aka Heatzza. They're so in tune with each other, and so much fun to watch -- it's really quite ridiculous, and I feel very lucky to have that pair on my team.
