That Was A-Ma-Zing

The Chicago Wolves won the Calder Cup last night; defeating the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 5-2. I attended the game and all I can say is, "wow." I hope that everyone can experience that kind of electricity and elation. I will never forget that game. I taped it, as well, and will guard it with as much vehemence as I guard the 1985 Bears Super Bowl victory tape (along with the Super Bowl Shuffle).



Jason Krog, 32, ended the season with 38 playoff points and 112 regular season points. He scored a hat trick in last night's game and assisted on the first goal (why is this man NOT in the NHL?). Nathan Oystrick tallied the first goal on the power play and Brett Sterling scored the last goal after being out for several games with a bruised bone in his foot. By the time Sterling scored with a little over two minutes left, Pavelec was jumping up and down with his arms up during game play; the entire bench was jumping up and down in unison; the entire crowd was standing and the noise was deafening. When the buzzer sounded, a flurry of helmets and sticks flew to the ice as the bench mobbed Pavelec – just ten feet in front of me, where I stood screaming.



Confetti littered the ice as Darren Haydar hoisted the Cup and pasted it over to Joel Kwiatkowski. The confetti posed a lot of problems for the players, but they didn't care. Gherson and Pavelec where amusing as they walked a little shakily through the mess with all of their goalie equipment on. Kulda kissed Kwiatkowski at one point. Martins spent time playing with his daughter. Valabik embraced Pavelec and they jumped up and down with million dollar smiles on their faces.

Their journey to this spot was tough. Ondrej Pavelec was hit in the throat with the puck three different times (he doesn't care very much for the plastic neck protectors) and was once caught completely opened up to stop a shot when the puck was suddenly redirected to nail him where the sun don't shine (that took him some moments to recover). Anderson was hit in the face with the puck. Joe Motzko experienced a nasty high stick and ultimately had to sit out for the rest of the playoffs. Brett Sterling suffered a bruised foot bone and numerous crosschecks and hard open ice hits (boy's only 5'7''). Boris Valabik was often targeted and received numerous hits and challenges. Andre Deveaux received a blatant butt-end to the face from Penguins' Nathan Smith – when Smith was sitting on the bench, I officially hate that man – and a hard check that knocked him out cold. Colin Stuart had to crawl, disorientated, off the ice on one occasion because of a hard hit. These boys wanted it.

Their journey here, though, wasn't without some amazing feats. Darren Haydar broke the all-time AHL playoff points (121) and goals (53) record. Jason Krog came out of the victory with the MVP award and with the most points this playoff series with 38. Ondrej Pavelec, 20, accomplished two shutouts (would have been three if he hadn't jumped and knocked a goal into his own net with 7 seconds to go in the third period during an Admirals game) and ended the playoff run with a 2.34 goals-against-average and a 0.921 save percentage. Boris Valabik had the most penalty minutes this postseason with 71 (Andre Deveaux was close to him with 67). The Coach, John Anderson, has lead us to our second Calder Cup in six years. Joel Kwiatkowski had the most goals from a defenseman this postseason with 10, and they were all slapshots from the point (man has wicked aim). Arturs Kulda, 19, had a breakout year as a defenseman and ended the playoff run as a +12 with 1 goal and 5 assists.



The Chicago Wolves: a true team and your Calder Cup Champions!

Cross Posted: My Tribe

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Calder Cup Time!

It's official. The Chicago Wolves are moving onto the Calder Cup FINALS!



They played with sincere desperation last night despite leading the series 3-1 against the Toronto Marlies (can someone seriously explain to me what a 'marlie' is? Is it some sort of cracked up, misspelled version of 'marlin?'). Pavelec – AKA baby Jesus resurrection – made some absolutely ridiculous saves and the team mauled him at the end of the game. That was, without a doubt, the best moment of the year. Seeing them all on the ice, jumping up and down together and listening to them chant 'Ole Ole Ole, Ole, Ole!' (Which really doesn't make any sense because we're playing hockey here, not soccer; but I guess they couldn't think of anything else, and they were already high on victory and smelling salts so they didn't know what they were saying).

They will face either the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins or the Portland Pirates (series tied 3-3) in the finals. It all depends on tonight's game. But does it really matter? The Wolves are lords...or their playoff mustaches are giving them some wicked good luck.

Update: They will be against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the Finals.

Photo Courtesy Chicago Wolves.

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From the AHL desk...

Last night, the Albany River Rats ('Canes) v. Philly Phantoms (Flyers) game went into 5 overtimes. 5


Supposedly a game that started at 7 PM ended at 12:39 AM, 5 hours later when Ryan Potulny of the Phantoms (and ex-Bear Grant's little brother)scored the game winner. The Rat goalie Michael Leighton saved 98 of 101 Philly shots during the game (they think both are AHL records)while the Phantom goalie had to deal with a slightly more reasonable 67 shots (65 of which were saved.)

With this win, Philly's up 3-2 in the series. And everyone involved in the game never EVER wants to do this again. (AHL full article here)

My question is how many FANS were still in the building when the game finally ended, as the exodus from Giant Center for the first OT is always pretty significant. I can't imagine more than 1 or 2 hundred actually stuck around. I'd also LOVE to see video of the end of it, because I can't believe anyone can skate for 5 hours and not just be completely wiped by 12:30 in the morning. Wow. The next game in this series is gonna su-uuuuck for those two teams. Luckily for them, it's not until Saturday. (although watching them try to play a back-to back tonight would have been hi-LARIOUS methinks.)

Tonight, however, the Bears try to re-live the Caps' playoff claw-back, as they are currently 1-3 in the series against the Baby Penguins. Any crazy thoughts of winning you want to direct their way at, oh, 7PMish would be good.

Think about these guys:

and then we've got scoring and NOT scoring covered.
Also at THTM

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Weekly Topic (I'm a sheep!)

This is rather a loaded question for me, because I’ve got ties to two separate NHL teams at this point, both in the playoffs, and my two NHL teams’ AHL teams are currently playing each other for their Calder Cup run. Basically, I spend a lot of time cringing no matter what happens.


But, if I could put all that ulcer-inducing Pens/Caps/Babypens/Bears orgying aside for a moment, I’d have to say that since the beginning of the series, I’ve been keeping about half an eye on the Boston Bruins (although I did choose Montreal to win the series).Currently, they’re fighting back 2-3 against the Habs, so who knows if I’ll get to watch them much longer, but I have to say, their group of little scrappy Czech rookies (Sobotka and Krejci) have sort of warmed the cockles of my heart during the beginning of playoffs.

Player-wise, the specific non-Cap-non-Pens people currently on my radar for playoffs?
Tootoo, who I waver back and forth between liking and wanting to punch.
Biron, the only Flyer I can stand, probably because he’s the only one I’ve never seen pull Flyerish crap (sorry, Nadine!).
Turco, mostly because he’s my car’s namesake and because he’s really a fantastic goalie.

And in the AHL? I’d say I’m watching the Syracuse Crunch, but I’d be lying. I do know they have Brassard and Brule playing for them right now, and I’ve been sort of passively interested in Emo!Brule since he was pegged as the guy in Sid’s shadow for that draft year, and I always feel for the players who do the called up, sent back, called up game. No, I’m really just focused on the Bears. And barring that, on the BabyPens. That's one of the few good things about having ties to two, even if they do play each other from the getgo.... SOMEONE's gotta move on, right?

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Once in a while, you gotta SQUEE.

Not only did the Bears managed to clinch a playoff spot yesterday AND have a line brawl involving my favorite backup goalie......

I got Andrew Gordon to sign my jersey. And managed to keep my eyes open in the picture. :-)

He also says he's going for the Mike-Green-As-A-Bear-Originated Playoff Mohawk as of next week, which just amuses me to no end.

(And video of said Line Brawl where you get Cheezer(Daren Machesney, the goalie) in Triumphant Agitator mode...)


Sadly, I didn't get any Stalkercam 8000 pictures of it, as it was down the glass in the corner on the same side I was on, but you can bet I was screaming and yelling and jumping up and down and teaching the kid next to me all sorts of words he didn't need to know until he got to middle school.

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Remember your Roots

All this Stanley Cup hoopla, p'shaw. Don't you people realize there are still regular season hockey games being played across the nation East Coast and Iowa?

That's your problem, all you uptight emo NHL bloggers. You're so wrapped up into your big shiny pre-packaged Teams of Awesome(tm) to remember where you came from. Sure, there's the occasional Sidney Crosby or Nicklas Backstrom who wanders in and joins the big team in his first try, but y'all seem to be forgetting all those guys who show up for training camp every year.
"WHAT?" you may say. "WHO THINKS ABOUT THOSE GUYS?"
Come on, you think all those dudes who don't make the team out of camp and get 'sent down' just go into cryogenic suspension until all the other options are exhausted and they get to be thawed out again? Gilbert Brule and Alex Goligoski would be some frostbitten little bits of meat if that was the case.

No,(and this may take some of you by surprise) in fact, there's a WHOLE 'NOTHER LEVEL OF HOCKEY in North America. They call it the American Hockey League (although there are a few teams in Canadia, so I'm guessing we're talking American like the continent) and SHOCK AND HORROR, most of your Teams of Awesome(tm) are *GASP* ASSOCIATED WITH ONE OF THESE LESSER TEAMS!

"MY GOD!" you may say. "IS THAT WHERE ALL THESE NOBODIES COME FROM DURING PLAYOFFS?"
You are correct, my NHL-watching friends! And in fact, these nobodies have their own playoffs as well! In about a week, they too will be competing for their very own cup. It's a smaller cup, and more square (as cups go) but it's their very own cup nonetheless.

So just remember, as you watch your Teams of Awesome(tm) run all over creation after Stanley, that next year's members of your team are, in fact doing the same thing for a cup we call Calder. And for the love of all that is holy, remember that some of your co-bloggers are trying to balance the adrenaline rush of having two sets of playoffs to keep track of at once. If they make it through this alive, let them tell you about their Beagles and their Grattons, their Tlustys and their Motzkos. They'll be able to tell you what your team will look like for the next few years, and you, well, you have half the internet to talk to about your Teams of Awesome(tm).

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The "Ups and Downs" of Being a Coyote

Well it would seem that TGO has no clue who he really wants on the roster this year so he's perfectly content shipping off our players after a game or two and bringing up fresh meat... erm, another baby from the A, I mean. It's not even halfway into the season yet and already we've seen Auldy get traded to Boston (and play outrageously better there than he did for us, might I add) and Abby get loaned to Switzerland. Billy T and Brendan Bell both get recalls only to get shipped back down to San Antonio after a few games apiece and now Joel Perrault and Keith Yandle have been called up to play with the big dogs (no pun intended).

Funny story about Yandle - I believe it was Maloney who stated in an interview over the summer (and I'll try to find the link) that Keith Yandle is a fantastic player. 'His only problem is his defense... *short pause* and that's a big problem considering he's a defenseman." Ya think??

Anyway, we played the Islanders last night and it wasn't pretty. As far as I'm concerned they outplayed us and they shouldn't have; We made stupid mistakes and deserved the loss. What we didn't deserve, however, was DiPietro being a douchebox to Doan & the Joves. Don't get me wrong, I have always had a bit of a softspot where Ricky was concerned but as a fan, I tend to get a little miffed when people hit my captain... call me crazy but there you have it.

We're moving right on along the East to take on Pookie & Schnookie. Apparently they're ready for us... Bethany's been calling Brodeur every night with tips on how to beat her twins team (which I don't appreciate thankyouverymuch) and so we're going to have to come up with some crazy stunts if we want to get past him. No worries, though, he's not the only one getting tips whispered in his ear. I've been watching you Brodeur and I've got you all figured out!! Game on!

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They're coming.......

So you remember that family tree that we had that made Ben Clymer the bastard child of a series of Penguins?

Well, they're reproducing again. Here's generation 2




This takes me back to my hypothesis that there are really only 12 sets of hockey features and they all just get shuffled randomly through the Player O'Matic. Of course, then when a hockey player gets too famous, they have to retire parts of his set. Nobody for a good long while will have Crosby lips or Pronger's teeth.

Just watch. Someday they'll find a big gumball machine full of hockey bits, and you'll all owe me money. And yes, this is what I get reduced to when my NHL team makes me want to cry. I'm convinced that if I start breeding them correctly, we'll have a good defensive line for Sid in what... 18 years?

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BWAHAHA!!! Nothing says getting your money's worth like a degree in Economics...

x-posted to Maple Leaf Mafia

I freakin LOVE Ebay! And I freakin love hockey fans even more...

Yann Danis NHL Goalie in Need of a New Home - CHEAP!
Goalie of the future! All Yours for a low, low price!

Yann Danis:
Goaltender in Search of a Real Job & Career

Up for auction is the contract of Mr. Yann Danis, goaltender for the Montréal Canadiens and Calder Cup Champion Hamilton Bulldogs. In order to prevent him from reliving another season in the AHL, I have decided that the only way to do this is to raise enough money to buy out his contract and help him get a real chance to be the finest back up goalie the NHL has to offer.

At first glance, Yann Danis might be perceived as a small goalie but he comes bundled in a package of extraordinary value. After previously having been horribly robbed of his chances
to be a shining star of goalieness by both David Aebischer and Jaroslav Halak, now is your chance to assure that he gets the chance he deserves but sending him to another team more deserving of his phenomenal talent. He's king of the rookie shutout. I'll even throw in a crown! We don't need to talk stats here. Current Habs coach, Guy Carbonneau wouldn't call him up but now he's calling him the best goalie at camp and isn't that the best reason you can think of sticking it to that man and sending him somewhere that will appreciate him for at least a
couple of days a week, showering him with a defence capable of performing on cue?

As if being a superb little goaltender wasn't enough, he's a graduate of Brown University, home of the Annual Naked Donut Run and SexPowerGod party (no relation, you know, just in case there are any American police officers who might be reading this) and surely brings to the table a host of party skills that will keep your team entertained for hours in a non-debauchery
filled Ed Belfour manner because no one likes a jailbird. And hey, nothing says getting your money's worth like a degree in Economics.

Buy early. Buy often. Save this goaltender from a fate worth than death and by that I mean
St-Louis. And sorry, but no returns. He's untested but I'm sure he'll do a great job balancing your chequebook if it doesn't work out. Please email me at cedontonparle@gmail.com with any questions!

Who else would put their goalie up for auction on the internet's most famous auction site? With FREE SHIPPING, none the less. Current bid is $6.20... Something tells me Yann would require a bit more than that.

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I-95 Highlight Reel

Not for the weak of heart or short of time:-)



As IPB has already given us the heartfelt and intelligent version of the Hlog I-95 meetup, I'm going to go the "Best Of!" route, and I'm going to attempt to do it in chronological order. This may get ugly quickly.

All images used within can also be found at my Flikr site

Your blog for tonight will consist of:Pookie, Schnookie, CapsChick, Elly, Steph and Shmee. Your team will be the Washington Capitals. (or the Hershey Bears.)

Friday:
I arrived at Shmee's apartment. If parking was truly lighter than other days, DAMN, I am NEVER moving to D.C, as I went around a 6 block area for about 20 minutes looking for somewhere I could park Turco's ample posterior. (Turco is my 1997 green Subaru station wagon. Big. Slow. Green..... he sort of named himself.) After the pleasantries and introductions, we decided to go punish our livers in the rainbow district nearby.
Enter Gay Danny Briere. No joke. Little guy, button down shirt, dark hair cut into that awful shaggy-wedgy-wants to be a gymnast style, and I couldn't stop laughing. I believe there was a text message to the CapsChick/Steph party about him, but I was rather fermented at that point, and can't be sure. After soaking ourselves up in a little greasy fried stuff, we moseyed our way home, and crashed for the night.

Saturday:
We got going late, the Metro hung us up, and we stopped for Starbucks, so we didn't actually get to Kettler until around 10:40. Once there, it quickly devolved from "Get to know You" to "World's Loudest Hockey Fans Invade D.C. Mall, Details At 11." For whatever reason, one of the recurring weirdness of the weekend became Elly and my desire to make as many of the Caps as possible bastard love children of the Pens and to figure out their parentage. Our crowning glory was as follows:

This also allowed me to coin the phrase, "He's Maloney in the eyes."

Of course, later on we decided that all hockey players had a variation on one of about 12 heads, which is why so many of them look so similar... then every 20 years they bust up all the molds and make a new batch. But more on that later, when we get to Fluffy and BabyMalkin on Sunday.
It turns out that the Caps were also not the only team there. The Canucks had sent their forward scout, Comrie "Thorguld" Sedin. This poor guy got the dreadedly unsubtle 'turn and stare' from all of us, and was sufficiently creeped out enough to avoid making eye contact for the rest of the day. Of course, as far as weirdness levels go, Cape Dude was the hands down champion.

After the rookie scrimmage, (that's Scott Barney from Hershey) we wandered across the lobby en mass to the other ice rink, where we found the big boys doing drills. (and lost Elly to one of those dumb crane games.) It's ridiculously thrilling to me to be standing literally on the other side of the glass as two people attempt to shove one another through it, so I was having the time of my life. This was also the longest time we saw Ovechkin practice for the entire weekend. He and Semin seemed to have this idea that because they were the big names, they didn't really need ice time that badly.
Onwards, there was lunch (nachos and dip and chips and beer... some people had sandwiches), over which we discussed the role of the female fan, and how you couldn't really wear a Sidney Crosby jersey or and Ovechkin jersey and be taken seriously. Schnookie got the winning quote from that conversation when she brought it home with "We're sports fans...who objectify." I managed to challenge her quote supremacy later on the way back to Shmee's house, when we had to climb 2.5 stories on a dead escalator out of the Metro and nearing the top I whined "I'm getting Sidney Crosby butt from this!"
Shmee greeted us with a drink that went from being named "Rachael Ray's Spiked Pink Lemonade" to "Pink Drink of Firey Death" and the evening went downhill from there. Between Rocky-Horrorizing The Cutting Edge (we even had the SIDE PONYTAILS, come on) and Shmee recounting her adventures in supposedly skanky clothing, the evening could really only end with a field trip. And where else would one go on a field trip than to the Verizon Center?

Sunday:
Up and at it on time this time. Loaded into Turco, picked up the rest of the troops, and headed out the the rink again. This time, we settled in for the drills and actually watched what was going on, about three rows back from what we were guessing were Ovie's parents. Ovie and Olie were in rare form from the beginning, scrapping verbally during a shootout drill then each dancing when they managed to best the other. However, Olie's game disintegrated from there, and by the time they were done he had cracked his stick and wound up throwing it off the ice at one of the equipment people. CapsChick started edging away from us early this time, especially after Steph asked in true Steph loudvoice "Is Olie looking especially creaky today?" The rest of the first round players were in high spirits, however, and two of them wound up horsing around amusingly as well.
After a slight Zamboni break (and a chance for us to go raid the Caps store for the *right* team's stuff, we went back out to watch the prospies. Enter Fluffy, BabyMalkin, Backcountry Pyatt and NotMachesney. (in reality, Jay Beagle, Dan Kronick, Tyler Sloan(I think) and Kris Mayotte) interestingly enough, Alexander Semin was also lumped in with this second group, but spent more of it lounging on the boards and looking disinterested than he did actually playing. It was interesting to see the prospies go through the same drills that the big boys had just finished, because you could tell that these were the guys who were really WORKING to do well and make the team, not the guys that knew they were already there. Frederic Cassivi (Hershey's goalie) was down in the same net Olie had been in earlier, and wasn't doing much better. He seemed to be overcommitting to one side of the net and disregarding anyone not in his immediate line of sight. We debated getting him a flowerpot to improve the chi of that end of the rink, but decided that probably wasn't gonna be enough to help him. The other goalie, Kris Mayotte or NotMachesney, (as he was NOT Daren Machesney from Hershey the way we thought he was, but a potential Machesney backup, as Machesney broke himself at some point in the near past) was doing much better overall. After finding out that he was an import from the Arizona Sundogs, I really hope that they decide to keep him around and send him up here to Central PA to play with the Bears... not only was he showing some real promise, but he seemed to be meshing with all of the other prospies pretty darn well.
As all the prospies were packing it in for the day, we also got the treat of getting to watch Puck Handling 101, which was pretty downright amazing.

And of course, as we were leaving for lunch, we wandered into the other rink and watched the last period of a local hockey club's game, which was really much less GAME and much more FIGHT. I think I actually physically squee'd when the two dudes started pummeling each other directly in front of us, and I took way too many pictures, just proving my previously known goon slut tendencies.

All in all, I couldn't have come up with a better way to spend a weekend. Except maybe Pens camp, but even then, I wouldn't have wanted to spend it with a different group of people. I think the I-95 meetup may well become a half-yearly thing, and Elly and I are already plotting towards the Ice Bowl in Buffalo.


Oh, and when you thought it couldn't get much better? Hershey Bears open practices start Thursday.

I'll see you there!

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Group Rasterbation

C'mon, y'all. Get with the rasterbation. You're slacking :-) (Next on my list, a big Pens logo, a big HBears logo and a big Canucks logo. I also have a great short of the Pens warming up that may take up residence on my big empty wall. And yes, that is a collection of stuffed moose down under the Pens being dorks)

In Other Hockey News from Central PA.....

Even though it's not posted anymore (did I imagine the whole thing?) I really did see a posting for a Giant Center (HBears!) announcer yesterday, and yes, I really did apply. I figure that I'm not going to expect I'll get it, so even if they want me to come in and 'audition' I'll be pleasantly surprised.

From what I can gather, this isn't even commentary, it's just the "Slashing, number 72" announcements,which means you have to have a working knowledge of the game and know the ref signals, then you have to read the ads that they give you to read. I like to think that I could handle reading from a piece of paper, and the College Hockey Collective had already started using ref signals in everyday life during playoffs this year.

Now the only thing I have working against me is the femaleitude (and the fact that MAYBE I didn't so much tell them I had a class wednesday night....)

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Slow news day...

Since this involves two of my teams I figured I'd post it...

HOUSTON AEROS ANNOUNCE RICK BRONWELL DEPARTS FOR THE NHL'S SAN JOSE SHARKS
HOUSTON, Texas – The American Hockey League's (AHL) Houston Aeros today announced that Rick Bronwell has left the team and will join the National Hockey League's (NHL) San Jose Sharks as the assistant equipment manager. Bronwell spent the previous five seasons as head equipment manager for the Aeros.

“Houston has been an unbelievable place to work. Houston is the best place in the American Hockey League to prepare you for the NHL. I owe a lot to the Minnesota Wild, the Houston Aeros and to the greatest fans in the AHL”, Bronwell said. “It’s been a great time and I’ll miss everyone. I’ve been working 15 years to get to the NHL, and if it wasn’t for Houston, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today.”

He was responsible for all day-to-day duties of the team’s equipment maintenance, repair and inventory. A staff member of the Aeros’ 2003 Calder Cup Champion squad, Bronwell also served as the head equipment manger for the Canada All-Star team at the 2004 AHL All-Star Game.

Bronwell, who wrote a popular Blog for Aeros.com, was also the head equipment manager for the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies of the East Coast Hockey League for the 2001-02 season, prior to joining Houston.

From 1996-2001, Bronwell was the assistant equipment manager with the Kansas City Blades of the International Hockey League and served as a game night assistant on the staff from 1992-1996.

I'm gonna miss the Aero blogs, but what a great step in his career! He'll do great with my Sharkies :)

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Minor League Diversion

I've been ridiculously MIA from HLOG lately, mostly because I seem to have temporarily lost my ranting mojo...sorry about that!

Now I know that the Stanley Cup Finals lurking right around the corner has put everyone in NHL mindset, but for the few of us whose teams didn't even make it to the big show there is another postseason that has held our attention - the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Sure, it may not be as flashy and exciting as the fight for Lord Stanley's mug. You may not recognize most of the players. And yes, you have to pay to watch games on your computer rather than enjoy the running commentary of the NBC/VERSUS/CBC guys. But while we wait for the big boys to get things going, it's nice to check in on the future NHLers, the fresh-faced youths who may be lifting the Calder Cup this year and the Stanley Cup next year.

Hey, a girl can dream, right?

Tonight is a big night in the AHL playoffs, with the four remaining teams playing in what could be two elimination games. If you haven't been following, here's a little recap:

- Hershey Bears (WAS): Okay, I'm a little biased because they're my boys, so I'm listing them first. Deal. After a season that set franchise records in wins and points, the Bears look poised to repeat their Calder Cup championship from a year ago. They have lost only two games in the playoffs so far this year, both in overtime, and have a 3-0 series lead over their Conference Final opponents, the Manchester Monarchs. Nothing is certain in the postseason, obviously, but Bruce Boudreau's boys are clicking along at a pretty good pace and I don't expect them to stop anytime soon.

- Manchester Monarchs (LAK): In their six year existence, the Monarchs had never won a playoff series...that is until this year. They took on the Worcester Sharks and then the Providence Bruins, defeating both in six games and clinching each series away from home ice. They are looking for their first ever Calder Cup Final berth but may be waylaid as they find themselves facing elimination at the hands of the Bears.

- Hamilton Bulldogs (MTL): The Baby Habs have taken an odd path to the Conference Finals, winning the first two games of each of their series - on enemy ice. Behind the glove of young goaltender Carey Price, the Bulldogs have pushed the Chicago Wolves to the brink of elimination, looking for their third franchise appearance in the Finals. Incidentally here's some trivia for you - they clinched their first trip to the Finals exactly 10 years ago tomorrow, where they would face and eventually fall to the Hershey Bears. Interesting...

- Chicago Wolves (ATL): Atlanta's AHL affiliate missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history last season but rebounded nicely, finishing the regular season with 101 points and a second place standing. After sweeping last year's Western Conference Champs in the first round, Chicago went on to defeat the Stars en route to the Conference Finals. Facing elimination, they held on for a nailbiting 1-0 victory last night but still remain on the brink going into tonight's game.

So if you're jonesing for a little ice hockey action and your DVD of 'Miracle' is starting to get worn out, I highly recommend checking out tonight's games - they should be some good matchups. Both are available online through B2 Networks, just go to www.caldercup.com and follow the links to the live video feed. There is a cost, but it's still cheaper than going to see an NHL game...of course, a new BMW is cheaper than going to see an NHL game in some cities, so take that with a grain of salt.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled NHL-centric rantings.

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There won't be paparazzi within a 100 miles.

I hate Hollywood. I hate the Brangelina stuff, I hate the Anna Nicole crap, I hate most movies (Slapshot and Miracle excluded, of course).

However, I nearly died laughing when I saw this press release:

In an effort to provide tranquility for troubled pop star Britney Spears’ turbulent lifestyle the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League have invited the newly separated icon to spend an all expense paid trip in snow- buried Syracuse, NY.

In recent weeks Spears has been the subject of negative publicity surrounding late-night partying, a very short stint in rehab and being photographed without wearing any underwear and a new shaved look.

In a show of support the Crunch is offering any woman that comes to the War Memorial Box Office with a shaved head a free ticket to the club’s February 24 game against the Manitoba Moose.

“The team and community want to provide Britney Spears with a stress free environment and the chance to experience a high level of hockey,” said Crunch President and CEO Howard Dolgon. “In addition to being 3,000 miles away from Hollywood, Syracuse is light years away from that pretentious environment. There won’t be paparazzi within a 100 miles.”

I love minor league hockey.

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