I don't usually dedicate a post to plugging the main Rambling Hockey Fangirl site, but I thought I'd make an exception today because I'm quite proud of this latest update. See, under the Personal section, I added a Wishlist.
That's nothing special in itself (I've posted wishlists here and on Loquacious Silence a few times), but what I'm proud of is the nifty image flips I've incorporated into the wishlist. If you click on an item from the wishlist--all I have on there right now is jerseys--you'll be able to see images of what the back and front of my desired customized jerseys will look like. ^_^ I'm not explaining it well, but I think it's kind of neat. To preview your own custom jersey, check out IceJerseys.com.
Would you like to hear my hockey pool lineup? Sakic, Yzerman, Forsberg, Shanahan, Tanguay, Lidstrom, Kaberle, Nolan, and Salo/Luongo. Okay, so Nolan's mainly there for SOG and PIM, and neither Salo nor Luongo are particularly reliable, but other than that, I'm SO totally happy with my line-up!! It's a dream come true, to be able to have both Sakic and Yzerman healthy and in my lineup, and it's a bonus that I also have Forsberg, Shanahan, Tanguay, Lidstrom and Kaberle. ^_^ Woohoo!
I'm kind of hoping the Leafs manage to swing a deal for Nolan. Maybe then he'd be able to shake his post-Olympic hangover; plus I'd have another Leaf on my team! I miss Belfour, but Forsberg is so great, I don't have any regrets.
"Everyday is a great day for Hockey" but especially recently!
Wow, since I talked about my "hockey day", so much more has happened! On Friday, Feb. 21(a mere three days after my hockey day) I went with the friend who went to the HHOF and jersey shopping with me to buy a box of Upperdeck 2002-03 Series 1 NHL cards. It was hilarious! The guy who we asked to give us the box seemed totally confused that two girls would come in and just ask for a box of hockey cards! And the guy who rang up the sale asked us if we were looking for anything in particular--rookies? Bet he thought we were a couple of ditzes when we replied that we weren't really looking for anything in particular, we just wanted to have fun opening the packs to see what we gor. =Þ Actually, I think I was the one who said it.
Anyway, we had so much fun opening those packs together! I suggested that we should maybe portion it out and open a couple of packs a week, but my friend wanted to open them all, so we did just that!! Funnily enough, we both pulled cards for each other, rather than ourselves. I pulled most of the Canucks (Naslund, Bertuzzi, etc.) while she pulled Avs (Sakic! Roy, etc.) and Leafs (Mogilny, Domi). Luckily both of us are very easy going, and at the end of all the mad opening we just sat down and gave each other cards the other wanted. Very fun! And we fell on the right side of the "average two jerseys per box" and each got a jersey card. I got a Giguerre one, which was great since I love goalies, and I think she pulled one for a Devil--don't remember who.
We got it all planned out for a Series 2 box as well. Come tax return time, it'll be the first purchase we make!
Remember how I said we shouldn't go shopping together? Well, we negatively influence each other in other ways. I showed her my room, and apparently my sheer volume of hockey stuff made her feel ashamed to call herself a Canuck fan, and inspired her to start buying more Canuck stuff. ^^;; I just hope she doesn't tell her mother that!!
Then on Saturday night she came over for the last period of the Leafs game, and all of the Canucks game. While we were watching my dad brought out his old hockey cards and in between the action we sorted through them all and found some lovely cards--Sakic and Yzerman film cards for me, and assorted Paval Bure ones for her.
Needless to say, it was total craziness. She slept over, and since there was a snowstorm and church was cancelled, we had more fun time together. Well, it wasn't all fun. We shovelled the mountain of snow (darn snowploughs!) first thing in the morning, and eventually managed to sit down together to force each other to finish the homework we had told each other we'd accomplish by Sunday. After dinner, in honour of the (then) upcoming one year anniversary of the men's gold medal victory, we watched Gold Rush, which was very exciting!
I'm so happy that I've got a hockey friend so close by and who's personality matches and works with mine so well! It's like we feed each other's mania, which may seem scary to observers, but is a whole lot of fun for us! ^_~
We're already making plans to do the wristbanding thing for Leafs tickets next year, buy Buffalo tickets if the games we want are well timed, and maybe even arranging a trip to Vancouver (it'd rock if Colorado player in Vancouver sometime during the Christmas break!)!!
Sorry this is a bit behind! I actually was going to post on Tuesday ("hockey day") but when I tried to submit the post Blogger died and I had forgotten to make a copy first so I was too frustrated to try again. It was a rather lengthy post.
Anyway, for those who haven't read it yet, my friend Lisa left a short story on my Tagboard, and it was pretty amusing/interesting, so I thought I'd post it here and make it more permanent. ^_^ Anyway, Joe Sakic used to go to Burnaby North school (where Lisa went during grade eight) and while he was there he asked this girl out. But she said no because she thought his brother was cuter or something. And Lisa knows this because that girl is her English teacher (who just got married in the summer) and she mentioned it to her students last year after the Olympics, when people were all going on about "Burnaby Joe". Isn't that interesting? I think the lesson I can take from that is to never turn down a hockey player! =Þ Just kidding!
Back to "hockey day", though. On Tuesday I went to the Hockey Hall of Fame with a girl friend. It was really fun because she's been a Canucks fan since she was young, so she could pretty much point out everything Canuck or Vancouver related. She was really quite irked to see the Rangers on the Cup in 1994--it should've been the Canucks, in her opinion. ^_^ So yeah, that was pretty cool. It made me want to read all those hockey books I got (you can see a partial list of them in the media section of the RHF main page). I mean, I only started with hockey this past summer, so I don't have that store of hockey lore, or background. I'd like to know more about the Avs and Leafs in particular, and the League in general.
After the HHOF, we went to Le Bifthèque for lunch. For some reason I was extremely thirsty and had two refills (i.e., three glasses) of iced tea. ^^;; I felt bad for the waitress, having to bring me some many refills, so I made sure we left a good tip. Then we went jersey shopping!
It was quite exciting! We went all up Yonge Street, into every store we saw. In the first store, we found a Kaberle away jersey (it even had the "A"!) for only $125!!! I was SOOOOOO tempted to get it, but it was an adult small, and I was looking for youth extra large!! Argh! The adult size fits okay, but it's quite a bit longer than a youth XL, and I have a bit of a mania about not having tops (sweatshirts, shirts, etc.) sticking out from under my jacket, so... Darn! I really want it though! My mom is even encouraging me to check prices, so she actually wants me to buy another jersey!! ^_^ That means I DEFINITELY have to buy one!
So yeah, it turned out that that first store had the best prices. Then we found this store that sells sports and other collectibles and we ended up buying hockey cards. We went back to my res to open them up, and I got a Sakic card!! ^_^ Very happy, even though it was an error card (miscut, so part of the left side was cut off). Heh. We also figured out that two hockey fanatics who like to buy things, such as ourselves, should NEVER go shopping together! ^_^ See, she was going to buy two packs of Upperdeck 2002-2003 Series 1 cards, and I asked her whether I should buy two or three packs (one pack series 1, and the last two packs of series 2 cards there). She said she'd buy three if I bought three, and we both ended up buying three! ^^;; See, with my other friends they usually encourage me NOT to spend money. Plus now we're thinking about buying a box together. I called the same place and found out that a box is ~$125, but then this place in Mississauga where I used to go for X-Men and Magic cards is selling a box for ~$100. Geh. So much for making sure my next major purchase is a jersey!
At any rate, my hockey day didn't end there. I went to the Carolina @ Toronto game with a different friend that night, and it was great! ^_^ We watched the warm-ups and everything. I couldn't believe that so many platinum seats were empty, though. If my company had seats, you could be sure I'd do my best to use them! Not only that, but people would leave between periods and not come back until like five or ten minutes into the next period (even missing goals)! Oh, and we saw a few people leave and not come back! I can't believe it! I wouldn't have left my seat unless there was an earthquake or something. I made sure I didn't drink too much in the couple of hours before the game, and I went to the bathroom before the game. I'm definitely going to try to get tickets again next year!
Oh, a funny thing, my friend was kind of amused by the fact that everytime Kaberle came out, I would kind of sigh "Kaberle". =3 What can I say, I'm a fan? I was so happy to see two people actually wearing Kaberle jerseys! They weren't even selling them inside the ACC (although they probably had it in the Centresports Store), just Belfour, Sundin, Mogilny, and Domi, I think--maybe McCabe too. Heh, there was a girl in the group next to us who was a McCabe fan. I wonder what she thought when he got his mohawk? =Þ
Tuesday was a good day for hockey. ^_^ It was so fun!
Woohoo!! When my parents told me that a calendar had arrived for me, I was SO happy!! My Avs Around Town calendar had finally arrived!! It's so pretty!! ::glomps:: I love it, I love it, I love it! Black and white photos of the guys hanging around in (business) casual clothes around Denver!! Totally worth the $20 US I paid for it (incl. shipping)!!
When I first opened it up, I just kept walking around with it saying "Totemo ureshii desu"! (I'm very happy.) =D I swear, if you could have seen me at that time, you'd have been freaked out by all the teeth I was showing, my grin was so huge!! Next year I am SO buying whatever the Avs' wives decide to put out for charity!!
Heheheh...I showed it to some friends (who don't know all that much about hockey/the Avs, and asked them who they thought the best looking player was, and guess who they picked? Joe Sakic. Oh yeah. ^_^
...would I brave this weather, freezing my face, fingers and legs off, to buy McDonald's, which I don't even particularly like! And only for hockey would I make plans to go again the next day, first thing in the morning (at least their breakfast food is slightly better) when I discover that my location hasn't started selling the next batch of NHL mini-jerseys yet!!
Not very good food, but darn good marketing, McDonald's has.
Amusing little quotes from the hockey world that I've read recently:
On Dany Heatley's All-Star Game:
"The guys are happy for him. But you should try to have all of your teeth in when you're out there." Shawn McEachern (The Hockey News)
On Bertuzzi's Acting Debut:
"I was actually impressed, hate to say it. He has the looks." Markus Naslund "battling to keep a straight face" (CP)
"I don't think he had to say too much. He just stands there and looks good." Brendan Morrison (CP)
Kekeke...I think I might just watch or tape this episode of Cold Squad, just for fun! =Þ
Oh yeah, and this Saturday is Hockey Day in Canada! I don't know what's going on exactly, but if there's going to be lots of hockey programming on the CBC that day, you can bet I'll either be parked in front of the tv or taping away! ^_^
Playing Luongo today didn't work out well at all. Not only did he lose to the Rangers 3-1, he also lost with a bad SV%! What a bum! Anyway, he'd better redeem himself on Friday when he plays...I forget who, but I'm giving him a shot.
Waitaminute! Do empty netters count towards a goalie's SV%? That wouldn't be fair, now would it? If it doesn't, then Luongo's SV% wasn't too bad after all. ::crosses fingers::
Oh, and this is really old news, but I forgot to mention that Irbe got sent down to the minors! =*( I'm so sad! For a while I thought there was a chance I could see him play against Toronto on the 18th, but now those hopes are totally shot. WAH! Whatever anyone else might say, I liked Irbe, so it's very sad that he's been demoted.
Had better make a big come back and win--or at least tie!! It's the end of the second right now, and they're down 3-1. I benched Salo out of faith in them, they'd better not disappoint me, gosh darn it!! Argh!!
Seems like everytime I bench Salo against the Leafs, it's a jinx or something and they lose! BOO!
On the plus side, Kaberle got an assist. ^_^ Oh, and since Kovalev's gone to NY, Kaberle's safe from a trade for now... Although maybe the rumours that Toronto would have to give up McCabe or Kaberle for Kovalev were totally unfounded considering what actually happened in the trade to NY. -_-;;
Edit: Well, the Leafs lost, but the final score was 5-4, so Salo's SV% wasn't good anyway. Worked out better for me since one win wouldn't have earned me any more points, but dropping in SV% might've lost me a considerable number of points.
In other news I found a forum for "Canada's Hockey Community" which I thought was pretty cool. Naturally I joined and posted my request for a mini-jersey trade. No takers yet, though, which is unsurprising considering that the forum doesn't seem to have a lot of members or traffic yet. So anyway, check it out, and maybe even join and post!! Here's the link: http://www.hockeylink.ca/xmbforum/index.php.
Although I sincerely doubt that anyone other than my in-person friends and Lisa (a net/blog friend) read this blog, I figured I might as well post this request, no plea, for help here (start quote):
Canadian McDonalds' have a special promotion on right now: with the purchase of any size fries, drink, or hash brown, you can buy an NHL mini-jersey for $2.69 (+ tax).
There are some jerseys that are only available in specific locations, however, so if there are any people in this forum who live in British Columbia and Manitoba/Alberta/Saskatchewan who would be willing to pick up, respectively, a Naslund and Smyth jersey for me, PLEASE reply here or email me at ramblinghockeyfangirl@yahoo.com.
I am willing to pay for the jersey as well as shipping (and a bit extra since you have to buy food too), or I can trade an Alfredsson mini-jersey (available only in Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes) in return.
I know I'm asking a big favour, but if people could find it in their hearts to help out an obsessed hockey fan, I'd really thank you from the bottom of my heart!!
So yeah, basically I went to all three of the forums which I frequent and posted this message, in the hopes that people will actually a) read it and b) be willing to get the jersey for me! Desperate, huh?
I picked up a book called "The Edge" before Christmas (two actually, one for a friend's present and one for myself) but I only actually got around to reading it recently. It had testimonies from Christian hockey players and it was really amazing to read about how God had worked in their lives.
So after the stories, there were a couple of pages about Hockey Ministries International, plus a site url. I checked it out, but since I didn't find too much information, I filled out the contact form asking for more information on how to volunteer with the organization.
If I could help out with HMI, I'd be SO happy! I'm not really putting too much hope in getting the chance, though, since I'm not connected to hockey apart from my love for the game; I've never even played ice hockey before. Really, after reading about this ministry, it was the first time I ever regret not playing sports.
Anyway, I guess if this is really something God wants me to pursue, an opportunity will open up. I'd be happy if I could volunteer to fold, stuff, and mail out pamphlets or something; I'd just be ecstatic to be part of a hockey ministry. Speaking of hockey ministries, a friend from church is going to Czech to play hockey for ten days or something. I'm definitely going to grill him about it once he gets back. =P Not that it's something I'd be able to do myself (having no hockey skill whatsoever--besides, would they want girls?) but I'd love to hear more about his experience with God working through hockey.
If Sport Chek is selling jerseys for $189.99, even $30 off isn't that much, considering the addition of tax and all. Guess I'm still better off checking out Yonge Street. Who knows, maybe if they're cheap enough I will actually be able to buy two! A Sakic one and a Leafs one. Still haven't decided on which player though... I love Kaberle, but with all the uncertainty about Kovalev and my luck, I'd get a jersey with his name and he'd end up going to Pittsburgh. Not that I'd like him any less if he were on a different team, but as Matt pointed our, it's useless to have a jersey with a player's name once he's no longer on the team--unless he simply retired. I'd consider an Al Mo one too, since he's a really cool guy, but man, I really want to get a Kaberle jersey!
Actually, I want three jerseys: Sakic away; Leafs away (with the name of a player); AND a Nordiques! I really like the logo, plus I associate the Nordiques with Sakic, so even though I'm not particularly fond of that shade of blue, I'd still want to get a jersey.
Oi, did I mention I saw the NHL player prints at the HHOF store while I was there today? I want the Sakic, Yzerman, Roy, Francis, and Forsberg ones. If they had it I'd want the Joseph one too, because it's a really beautiful print. Gotta remember to ask if they can order it the next time I'm there (which will probably be soon).
Dang, I've done a lot of hockey rambling in the span of a few hours! Just living up to my name, I guess. ^_~
Gah!! I finally opened both my Koivu and Sundin mini-jerseys, and was delighted to find a $30 instant rebate coupon for "specially marked CCM NHL Licensed PA 550 Jerseys" from Sport Chek. I thought it was yet another sign of how I'm meant to buy another jersey (or two) BUT the coupons are only valid on adult sizes!!!
Is it my fault that I'm too short for adult sizes?! Dang it, if I'd only grown those extra two inches that I've always wanted!! I was so happy to see those coupons, but now.... =*(
Bah. Oh, and for some reason the SportChek.ca site doesn't seem to be working right now, so I can't even browse through the various PA 550 jerseys. BOO.
On the plus side, though, I love my mini-jerseys! =3 They're so silky soft and cute!! Honestly, I suspect that I could spend a lot of time just changing the display from showing the back of the jersey to the front. Heheheh...Can't wait for next week, when more come out! ^_^
I don't like McDonald's very much, but I gotta admit, they're smart for having all these hockey promotions, especially in Canada!
Did a bit of price checking yesterday and today. At Pro Image (Square One), adult sized jerseys without any lettering are $109.99. I'm guessing youth sizes would be slightly cheaper. Hockey Hall of Fame has youth sized jerseys with the lettering (non-customized, just the usual popular players) for $169.99. Adult sizes are $179.99. @_@ Even with a 15% discount, that's really expensive.
Funny thing is, the plain youth jerseys are only $89.99, and lettering costs start at $49.99, so it might be cheaper to buy a jersey and then get the lettering done afterwards. Actually, it might be easier too, since for some strange reason it's quite hard to find Sakic away jerseys. Whenever I go looking I always find the home and third ones. The third! Why on earth would anyone want that? It's so boring!
Oh, and I figured out today that the youth L/XL size is a perfect fit for wearing around, underneath my jacket. I'm totally determined to get a Sakic one soon! Incredibly enough, I even mentioned my plan to my mother and she didn't try to discourage me or express any disapproval. ^_^ Thank goodness. If my parents really objected, I wouldn't go against their wishes.
Gotta go jersey shopping along Yonge Street soon! Apparently there are lots of stores along Yonge, so the prices are quite competitive. When are you free, cykopaf? We should go together!
Actually, going back just a little, talking about my parents, it's funny how even though they kind of tease me about my hockey obsession, they actually help me along with it too! When my dad picked me up yesterday, the first thing he mentioned was that we'd have to go to McDonald's in the morning to buy the "NHL Hockey Heroes Mini-Jerseys". They're $2.69 + tax with any drink, fry, or hash brown purchase. This week's jerseys are Sundin and Koivu; there're five in all: Sundin, Koivu, Sakic, Yzerman, and Iginla. Yeah, so if my parents hadn't mentioned it to me, I would never have known, because I rarely even pass by McDonald's, much less eat there, and I don't watch enough tv that I'd be likely to see a commercial. So even though they blame a certain someone for getting me started on hockey, they really only have themselves to blame for fueling the obsesssion--not that I'd need much prompting anyway.
Woah, I know this is a long post already, but after watching all the All-Star stuff on tv, I remembered that I watched part of an All-Star Skills Competition once long ago--I think with the same person who got my hooked. It's kind of cool how even though I'm a really new fan, I can dig back into my memories and find little things in the past that make my sudden obsession seem a lot less sudden. I even found the tape of the first "Power Play" episode (from way back in grade ten, I think) recently.
That's it, this morning I decided that the next major purchase that I make (over $30 and not counting anime dvds which I usually buy) will be a jersey, either Colorado or another Toronto. Why? Because this morning my Japanese History professor walked into class this morning wearing a Sudbury Wolves jersey! Considering that he's this tall skinny, white-haired man who usually wears suits to lectures, I took it as a definite sign that I should be buying myself a jersey that I can wear around inside.
Oh, and you might be interested to know that apparently the Sudbury Wolves are dead last in the central (?) division of the OHL. =Þ
Well, the short term news is good: Kaberle scored tonight!! Woohoo!! And I didn't even think about playing Luongo tonight, which was good considering that the Leafs TOASTED Florida, 6-0!!
Long term news is bad though, Sakic isn't recovering from his broken foot as quickly as the initial prognosis (right word?) suggested he would, so he's going to be out for more than four weeks!! =*( My poor Sakic!! I really want him to get better!
Just walking around today I saw two people wearing jerseys: one wearing an Avs jersey, and the other a Canucks. I think it's a sign that I should go ahead with my plan of getting an Avs jersey, and another Leafs one. Of course, when I already want to do something, it doesn't take much for me to see "a sign" but let's pretend I didn't say that. =Þ
See, even though I got the most awesome present of a Leafs away jersey for Christmas, I still want to get another one. The one that I got I purposely asked for a big one (adult medium) so that I could wear it without anythnig covering it (i.e. so it'd fit over my thickest winter clothing and I wouldn't have to wear a jacket), but I also want one that fits more closely that I could wear under my jacket, indoors and stuff. Probably a child's XL or adult S. This one I'd definitely get personalised, and who cares Kaberle gets traded! ^_^ And of course I still really want my Sakic Avs jersey--probably get this one as a child's XL or adult S as well.
Of course, it's still very much a matter of being able to afford the jerseys, as well as being willing to spend the money on them! Clothing ranks right down at the bottom of my priority list for purchasing, close alongside food. ^^;;
A lot of people have been saying that this year's All-Star game was a lot better than in previous years, so I guess I'm lucky that the first All-Star game that I watched was fun. Actually, what I probably enjoyed most was the skills competition on Saturday.
It was cool to see Roy stopping all those breakaways, and I was kind of amused that Bertuzzi never even got a decent shot off in any of his breakaway chances. =Þ Not to mention how unproductive the pure Canuck line was--I think they only got one goal out of three chances? So much for the theory that teammates would have an advantage in that event.
Saturday night was also great because there was so much hockey programming. I watched the Young Stars Game, the Skills Competition, Goalies Unmasked, and after a half an hour break for news, The Hockey Nomad. I wish all weekends had so much non-game hockey programming. Not that I don't enjoy HNIC double headers, but I really love listening to hockey people talking about their experiences in the sport.
Except for Alan Bestor. I heard him on the Goalies Unmasked thing, and after the first few times, after he opened his mouth I wished he would just shut up. My rather uninformed opinion of him was that he wasn't exactly the best NHL goalie while he was playing--unlike Ken Dryden, who was also there--but that unlike Hrudey he couldn't recognize his lack of superstar ability. He kept going on about how he worked best when people let him do his thing, and when people made him feel like he was the best goalie in the league, and basically implied that he would've been this awesome goalie had coaches &c. known the right way to handle him. I'm being extremely judgemental, I know, but I think that's just dumb. Part of being a high calibre NHL goalie, in my opinion, is being able to perform, regardless of the situation around you. Yeah, I know it's a heck of a lot harder when you're not getting very many starts, but if you want to get anywhere you have to show them what you can do with the opportunities you're given.
Plus it really bugged me the way he knocked goalie's, or players' in general, superstitions. He talked about how he consciously tried to stop himself from developing them because he didn't want his world to end if he couldn't step on centre ice. My immediate snide thought was that he wasn't exactly in a position to speak, considering that he never reached the reknown/greatness of the goalies who did have superstitions. I thought Dryden's reply was great though; it really made me respect him even more. He talked about how goalies developed superstitions, routines, or rituals as a way of reassuring themselves, giving themselves a sense of being in control. You can control whether or you put on your right pad or left pad first, what you eat before a game, &c. but you can't exactly control how people are going to play in front of you during a game, so by doing something that you know you can do 100% of the time, it helps you to focus and to calm yourself--or something along those lines. I don't remember exactly, but I think Bestor kept trying to argue the point, and he really ended up making himself sound like more and more of a cake.
Whoops, I've talked an awful lot now, so I'll stop here. Just one little trivia fact from Jan. 29th of my handy dandy little NHL calendar though: "Ken Doraty can claim credit for the only hat trick to be scored in overtime. The Toronto Maple Leaf did it on January 16, 1934, when he scored three goals against Ottawa when regular-season tie games were put to a ten-minute overtime period". Neat, huh?
