NG Fighters Update

My first season of novice men's ice hockey has been a rollercoaster ride. We lost the first few games, but were competitive for the most part. Just a little over-matched; getting beat by the other team's high skill players. Game #3 saw our first win! It was a tight game. We had a two goal lead early, then trailed, and finally puled ahead for a 5-4 win. We followed this up with a nightmare game.

 

Our goaltending has been very good. We tend to spend far too much time in our own zone, but we get bailed-out by the guy between the pipes. So, we tend to look respectable in games that could be blowouts. Well, our luck ran out. It was to the tune of 0-13. To make matters worse, I missed 3 breakaway attempts to break their shutout. It was a humbling experience.

 

We bounced right back last night. Due to the 4th of July holiday, we played on a Tuesday night and only 3-days after our last game. It takes 2-days for my legs to stop hurting; so I was concerned with the quick turnaround. But our goalie stole the show once again. I think he had 40+ saves. Zone time was heavily in their favor. But we squeezed out a 3-2 win! The Fighters tend to fade as the game goes on, but we seemed to play better each period in this game.

 

The best part of playing with these guys is that it is fun. No big egos in the locker room. It's been a blast so far. Now if I could just learn to stop on ice...

4th of July

It's that time of year again! When fireworks are in the air and hot dogs are being dunked in water and shoved down throats. Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest! I'm as American as the next guy, but I still pull for Kobayashi to take the title back. The problem is that there are contract issues; or so I have read. I don't think Takeru will be there this year. That's quite a downer. I am hoping that's it just drama to buildup the event. But as with any professional sport, it's all about the money. FAIL.

2010 NHL Entry Draft

So, the NHL Entry Draft is hosted by the Kings and marks the first time in the 46-year history, that it will be in California! That's pretty cool. A good reason to go check it out. Well, that and the fact that the tickets were free.

 

Hockey is one of the few sports where the drafted players don't go straight to their pro teams. NBA players have guys coming straight out of High School, and NFL players jump straight from college. The NHL is somewhere in-between. A few superstars make the jump straight to the NHL, which is sort of the NBA high schooler equivalent. But most take time to develop and play college, major junior and/or some minor pro time in the American Hockey League (AHL) or ECHL.

 

Because of this, the draft is a bit of an non-event. There is no instant gratification. Some GM's may not even be around to see a drafted player finally make the NHL roster. It makes little sense to go see this event live.

 

But I'm interested. I want to take in the event. It will be interesting to see the emotions of these young players and their families when their name gets called. I do follow the prospects within the Kings and Senators organizations. But most of all it's a matter of checking off another item on the Bucket List. NHL All-Star Game? Check. NHL Stanley Cup FInal Game? Check. NHL Entry Draft? Check (in about 5 hours)

Father's Day Thoughts

With Father's Day approaching, I found this to be a very appropriate and thought provoking question. What did your Dad drive and how did it change your life?

 

http://jalopnik.com/5566030/what-did-your-dad-drive-and-how-did-it-change-your-life

 

I frequent Jalopnik quite often, as it represents the mindset of automobiles that I share. Not overly serious, with a nice dose of repair fails, car crashes, eBay finds, license plate messages, overly customized rides and the ridiculous. The mutants that comment on the posts are your typical acid tongued, opinionated, but passionate car geeks.

 

With that said, this question really hit home for me. I am a "car guy". I tend to favor muscle cars, station wagons, and 50's-'75's GM. I enjoy working on cars and am always on the lookout for my next project vehicle. But I can appreciate all cars and the weirdos that love them. The European, Asian, jalopy, collector, lowrider, hot rod, rat rod, trucker, off-roader, vintage, you name it. I love cars. It has led me to a job in the auto industry and helps to keep food on the table. Looking back, I owe most of this to my Dad.

 

My Dad is an auto mechanic. That pretty much tells the story. I have long considered black dirt and oil under the fingernails a badge of honor. Growing-up I would hang out at my Dad's shop, because of this I am very confortable around or under any car. Hoses, belts, motor oil and wrenches are familiar thing to me. My Dad drove a '66 Ford Falcon Pickup, affectionately know as the Crash Mobile. There wasn't a straight body panel on this thing. It was a delivery truck, part runner, stump puller, firewood hauler, boat tow-er, and battering ram. It was the perfect vehicle for learning a manual transmission at age 14. This is pretty much the only car my Dad owned while I lived at home. He had a '55 Chevy pickup that my younger brother took to restoring, and a lowered Chevy S10 once I was out of college; but none of those had the same effect as the Crash Mobile.

 

I have never really aspired to owning a new car. Working in the auto industry I get to drive new cars. I rarely drive anything with more than 20K miles on it. It's great since I don't worry about any breakdowns or problems that go with an aging vehicle. But all I've ever know are aging vehicles, that my Dad would fix everyday and give new life to. A real car was one that you kept going. Not some new shiny thing. An older car meant that you were getting full and often unimagined use out of it. My job allows me to lease a new car for my wife & family, but any car I have purchased has been at least 20-years old. Cars are for working on and improving.

 

I have a soft spot for station wagons. I've owned two and am looking for the next one. I have to think that the multi-functionality of Crash Mobile made the station wagon a perfect vehicle in my eyes. I like being able to carry a surfboard or the family or both. While I probably won't be ramming trash cans or pulling out any tree stumps with my wagons, the impression of Crash Mobile runs deep.

 

I take my kids in the GTO and get Rite Aid ice cream. Rite Aid carries Thrifty ice cream, which my Dad got when we rode in Crash. We would drive behind the store to the loading dock that featured a huge dip. My Dad would take it Dukes of Hazzard style, bottom out and then launch Crash of the opposite ramp. At age 8 it felt like the truck was flying, but more likely the suspension was just at full travel. There are no loading docks to hoon where I now live. But I am generous with the high speed accelerations on our Rite Aid, ice cream runs. I figure it is the least I can do for the proper development of my children.

 

Father's Day

I love Jalopnik. They share my same feelings about cars. Cars are awesome, serious, funny, ridiculous and Americana. I noticed a great Father's Day post or two, that they did this week. This one is 10 things a Dad should teach his kid about cars. I can say that my Dad taught me almost everything I know about cars. Some stuff I have learned by hard earned experience. But my love of cars comes from my Dad fully immersing me in the automobile from a young age. I am in the auto industry and feeding my family based on this interest. Thanks Dad. I am well on my way to teaching my kids about cars, oil changes, & smoky burnouts. The legacy lives on...

 

http://jalopnik.com/5566976/ten-things-every-dad-should-teach-his-kid-about-cars/gallery/

Lakers Bandwagon

So with a win last night, the Lakestars tie up the series and force a game #7. All of the closet Laker fans were in full effect today. But, there are true fans out there, like Clipper Darrell. I don't read this guy's blog regularly, but it was a redirect from the Yahoo! front page that drew me in. A crazy Clipper fan who dropped $12K to customize his car?

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Clipper-Darrell-s-12-000-custom-car-is-just-the?urn=nba,248602

 

Well, I saw a crazy red/blue paint job cruising the 405 last week. At first, I thought it was one of those bail bonds advertisment cars. I couldn't believe it when it was a Clippers paint theme. I've shared the LA freeways with Clipper Darrell.

He shoots, he scores!

Well, I finally scored in my rec hockey league. It was a relevant goal at the time of the game. We were trailing 0-2, I picked off a pass to the point, and took off on a breakway. Later in the first period we scored on another breakaway to tie it 2-2. Final score? 2-7. We got killed. The other team had way too much depth and at least two players that could skate through my team at will. Our goalie got peppered with shots, as it was in our end most of the game. I need to get better at breaking out of our zone, or it's going to be a long season.

JR is a crybaby

It was pretty clear that Jeremy Roenick was conflicted with two of his former teams in the Stanley Cup Final. The guy is not that far removed from playing, but his best was years ago. I picture JR with 3 teams, the Blackhawks, Coyotes, and Flyers. The stays with LA and San Jose do not count. His best & most productive days were the early years with Chicago. I loved those early years with Chelios & Co. Coyotes were fun, but never a real playoff threat. The Philly days were a return to the playoffs. I was always an early Gretzky Oilers/Kings fan. But it was JR that had me watching the Blackhawks, Coyotes & Flyers as I followed JR from team to team.

Known more now for being opinionated and animated, JR was always a warrior in my mind. Not shy about playing the body. A guy that stepped-up in the playoffs. Would play with a broken jaw and his mouth wired shut, to not miss a playoff game.

With that kind of competitive spirit, it wasn't a surprise that Roenick got emotional on National TV after his first pro team won the Cup. Naturally, I've taken all kinds of heat being a Roenick fan. And plenty of people thought it was a great opportunity to give me some flak. But I will gladly take the heat on this occasion. JR got emotional simply because he gave his heart and soul to hockey and the teams, coaches and players he played for. I think the problem is when guys don't care enough.

Christmas in June

It's like Christmas waiting for hockey equipment and supplies to show up at my house. I've ordered from Hockey Giant before and never had problems. All of my orders were delivered within California and got to my house super quick. This time, I've have some backorder problems. Multiple packages coming from all over the US. While it is fun to track packages and see the daily/hourly progress from city to city, I didn't expect my order to take so long. I had 3-weeks to get my jersey and socks in time for this Friday's game. So, procrastinating as usual, I waited a week before placing the order. Today, I have two packages waiting for me on my porch. There is another box in Connecticut. And another somewhere between Arizona and California. Having delays and multiple packages kinda sucks, but I will be the first to admit that the anticipation of receiving the stuff is fun.

Let go 'Hawks!

I really want to see the Stanley Cup tonight. Well, not just see it, but watch a team win it and skate around with it overhead. As cool as it would be for Chicago to win it at home for the sake of their fans. It would be that much more satisfying for me to see Pronger not win the Cup in his building. After puckgate, I have a new understanding of this guy's mind. What's he gonna do, grab the Cup from Bettman and hide it from the Blackhawks? I picture a Happy Gilmore style ending where he gets chased down by a mob of people.

PS3D

So I've read that several 3D games will be launching on PS3 tomorrow. Very cool. Except that I don't have a 3D compatible TV. I'm not in a rush to get one either. I might have stated already that I'm not the biggest fan of 3D movies. But the ideal platform for 3D, in my mind, is gaming. I don't think 3D does live action film any justice, but animation and gaming are another story. Most games are meant to be immersive and often don't change in viewing angle, where 3D would be really cool. Ultimately, my gaming habit will force a 3D-TV purchase before TV and movies do.

Training Camp Update

Ok. Last night I realized I have wasted most of the last two weeks doing the wrong thing. Sure, the extra cardio will come in handy and was much needed. But I was really obsessed with my weak & weenie shot. I started shooting pucks in the back yard almost immediately. Late last week, part of my Hockey Giant order came in. I got my practice stickhandling puck. (I could have used a tennis ball, but didn't) So, I lost some time working on my stickhandling. But the eye opener was putting on the inline skates last night.

Wow. I have not used any core skating muscles in a long time. I had assumed most of my issues were from ice skating, but I am weak at skating period. I was tired at the end of each day from my cardio workouts, and just kept putting off any skating. I should have been skating more than anything.

Well, I still have this week. I can get several nights of skating in. I don't want to get too used to inline skating anyway. But I can really stand to strengthen the overall skating.

Bring on the Cup!

I was a bit worried after the Hawks 2-0 lead dropped to 2-1, then 2-2. So far, each team has won on home ice. I could talk about officiating or goaltending or line juggling or players stepping up or whatever. But with Chicago one win away from glory, the Stanley Cup will be in the building. Say what you will about hockey, but almost any other sports fan will agree that the best trophy in all of pro sports is the Stanley Cup. What other sport has a trophy that books have been written about it? Is there a guy that guards and polishes the silver football trophy of the NFL? Can you drink out of any other pro sports trophy? Damn, the Stanley Cup is cool.

Weakend

Great weekend from the holiday standpoint! Iron Man 2, Alcatraz Brewing Co., Hockey Giant, UFC 114, Stanley Cup Finals games, BBQ, repaired a fence, changed the oil in my car, washed cars, laundry, BBQ #2. I couldn't ask for more as far as both a fun and productive weekend.

The only downside was that I made no time for Training Camp. So, I missed 3 days of training. I did manage to shoot a couple hundred pucks, which I really needed. But I also need to ramp-up the cardio. That didn't happen. At least I increased the resistance I will face while training this week. It has to be harder when you are pulling an extra 5-7 pounds of BBQ around.

Hawks lead 2-0

I missed Game 1. Was watching the Laker game and UFC fight. Well, the Laker game was not by choice. When you are in a SoCal Sports Bar, you have to watch the Laker game. The fact that bars have to pay big money to hold the UFC fight guarantees that they are going to show it, Laker game or not. So, at least 1/2 of the TVs had the UFC fight until the Laker game was over. But the Stanley Cup final game was no where to be seen.

I did see Game 2, while BBQing at a friend's house. It was more what I expected from the series. I'm still pulling for Chicago.

The funny/horrible thing was having Roenick, Milbury, and Macguire out on the ice to re-inact plays from Game 1. Pierre didn't even have gloves on, so he wasn't taking it too seriously. But they should just use the telestrader like everyone else. It's just as dumb when other sports do it. Don't fall into that trap NHL, PLEASE! I'm calling it an NHL production FAIL.