Woohoo!! Got to watch my first real WCH game tonight (if I hadn't agreed to stay on at work after my contract ended, I would've been able to watch the CZE-FIN and GER-SWE games)!!! GO CANADA!!!
And you know how happy I am that JOE SAKIC got the game winner!!
I wasn't impressed with all the fighting going on, however. Feistiness can be good, but tonight was just a bit too much for me. And I don't like the NHL rules for this either. I don't really care too much about having the redline, but I wanted no-touch icing at the very least!
But at any rate, for the most part it was a very entertaining, exciting, and fun game! ^_^ While I was watching it, I was thinking, man, it feels like forever since I last watched hockey!! A good Canadian start!
Oh, yeah, what did people think about the vintage jerseys? I think they're ugly, but I appreciated the history. Actually, I was pretty pumped that as soon as I saw the Winnipeg Falcons patch I knew the jerseys represented Canada's first gold medal in international competition in the 1920 SUMMER Olympics at Antwerp. Well, okay, I didn't remember the Antwerp part, but the rest of it I got from my HHOF class!! ^_^ Actually, I think I even recognized the jerseys somewhat from a children's book I've seen around... Anyway, all the history makes up for the sheer ugliness of the jersey (Nashville third jersey puke-mustard) in my opinion. =P
Anyway, to back track a little, I was pretty sad that the Czechs got thwomped 4-0 by Finland. =( The only salve in that is that I didn't hear about Kaberle screwing up a lot, or see any major mistakes from him in the replays (but then again I wasn't watching the "highlights" too closely because I was too busy wincing). *sigh* Oh, and in the WCH preview pullout in the Toronto Sun yesterday, they had T. Kaberle listed as the Czechs' top D-man, which I appreciated. ^_^
Earlier today, of course, Sweden defeated Germany, as expected. I would feel bad for Germany, except that it was Sweden, and I like Sweden! I even wore my Forsberg jersey to work today, although of course I took it off while I was at work, since it isn't proper business attire.
Speaking of jerseys, though, that brings me to my "major" dilemma: which jersey should I wear tomorrow? It's Sweden versus the Czech Republic, and I'm quite torn because I like Kaberle more than Forsberg, but I like Team Sweden more than Team Czech, so... Likely I'm going to end up wearing the Kaberle just so I'm not repeating myself, but... Oh, and even though I know people don't usually tape sports, I'm going to tape the game tomorrow!!
Lots of comments pertaining to international hockey today!! First off, if you haven't already joined the FSN World Cup of Hockey Challenge, go do it now!! To all my blogging hockey chicks, check your inboxes for an invitation to yet the league! Ditto to all you MCBC'ers. Email me if I somehow overlooked you or something, and I'll send you the name and password! Basically you just choose the outcomes of each of the games (WLT), and as tiebreakers, how many shots combined and goals combined you think the teams will score for each game. Personally I'm having a hard time guessing because it's not like you see these teams playing all the time, and the exhibition games for the European pool aren't all that well covered here, so I have no idea how those teams are doing, apart from who's winning and who's losing.
Anyway, in other World Cup related news, I finally got the World Cup of Hockey 2004 soundtrack!!! I didn't really get it for the music (although I do like what I've listened to so far), but rather for the bonus dvd! =P It's not that impressive of a bonus dvd when you look at it, but you know me, I can't resist any of those marketing ploys--"bonus", "limited edition", "special edition," etc. Oh, and if you're interested, here's what's on the bonus dvd:
- 1996 WCH highlights
- NHL 2005 WCH game preview
- NHL All Stars talk music and musicians talk hockey
- 2004 Juno Cup highlights
- NHLPA Goals and Dreams
- WCH 2004 team rosters (like I can't just look it up on the internet! =P)
- WCH trivia
At any rate, it was only $12.99 +tax, so at least it was one of my cheaper hockey buys.
Oh, and speaking of hockey buys, specifically WCH buys, I finally got my Sakic Team Canada t-shirt!! Woohoo! It came into the Spirit of Hockey store on Monday (or maybe Tuesday)!! The funny thing is that I had seen it advertised in the River City Sports flyer on (last) Thursday night so I called on Friday and found out that the shirts were supposed to be coming in that day. So I went after work, but of course they didn't have them out on the shelves yet, and besides they only had like the Iginla ones come in. And I actually called again on Monday and was told that more were coming in that week, but the Sakic one wasn't there yet. So you can imagine how happy I was to see the Sakic ones in the HHOF store, especially since they had all the other ones (Iginla, Brodeur, Redden, Lemieux, Heatley, St. Louis) out for so long, I didn't even consider that more would be coming in! I'm wearing it to work tomorrow for sure! Finally people will stop bugging me about being a "traitor" for supporting Team Czech and Team Sweden but not Team Canada (in terms of apparel, that is).
Talking about buying stuff reminds me that I just found out Australia actually has a national ice hockey team! I saw the ad for their new jerseys in The Hockey News!! I know it's random, but I really want one, or both of those jerseys!!! Too bad they're almost $100US ($129 Australian currency). ^^;; I definitely don't have that kind of money right now, and if I did, I'd probably rather get the Toronto St. Pats jersey (which is finally available in size small!) or the Avs third jersey. *sigh* I have relatives in Australia though, so maybe my mom'll mention my interest in the jerseys and they'll get one for me for Christmas or something? Thinking far ahead, I know. =P Oh, if you're interested in taking a look, the site for Ice Hockey Australia is www.mightyroos.com.
But back to the World Cup, I really wish I could be watching the European exhibition games!!! >_< The results of the exhibition games so far, btw, for those who haven't been following them are as follows (in chronological order):
- SWE @ SLO, SWE wins 2-0 (Tellqvist gets a shut-out, woohoo!)
- RUS @ GER, Tie 3-3
- FIN @ CZE, Tie 1-1
- CAN @ USA, USA wins 3-1 (my poor Louie!)
- CZE @ GER, CZE wins 7-4
- FIN @ SWE, SWE wins 2-1 OT (Naslund's goal)
- USA @ CAN, CAN wins 3-1 (returning the favour!)
Phew! This is a pretty long post, so I'll stop here!
My alternate title for this post would've been: "Why I should work for the Hockey Hall of Fame, Spirit of Hockey store." =P
I'm sure by now you all know how much I'd love to work there, if only my schedule permitted it, but apart from my desire, I've actually got a couple of reasons as to why I'd be an excellent employee!
1) I'm a walking advertisement for the store! This past month alone I think I've brought in at least $300 in sales for the Hall--and that's from other people buying stuff, not me! After I showed off my Team Czech and Team Sweden t-shirts at work, my co-worker went and bought Team Slovakia and Team Canada shirts for her family here, and for her parents to bring with them on their trip to Slovakia (they left just this past Friday). Then when I wore my Kaberle Team Czech jersey to work a couple of weeks ago, one of the mail guys whom I usually talk hockey with saw it and mentioned that he'd like to get a Jagr Team Czech jersey. Well, I checked out the Hall and saw that they had a couple of pre-customized Jagr Czech jerseys, and after I told him that today, he asked me to pick one up for him (which I did before the end of the day).
Then there's all the gifts for other people that I've bought from the Hall, which is also good advertising. Let's see, I've bought: an Avs' third jersey; an Avs Christmas stocking; a Canucks' home jersey, a Canucks toque; a Team Canada Heatley t-shirt; the Trevor Linden and Markus Naslund player prints; a Sens Christmas stocking; a Sens flag; and a Sens bear. I'm pretty sure I always tell people that I got it from the HHOF too.
And of course, we can't forget all the stuff I have personall purchased there. ^^;; The Sweden jersey; the Kaberle Czech and Forsberg Sweden customizations; the Nordiques, Sakic, Team Czech and Team Sweden t-shirts; the Avs and Leafs bears; the Sakic, Avs, and Nordiques caps; the Leafs stuffed zamboni, the Sakic, Forsberg and Giguere player prints; and most recently (i.e., today) Team Sweden and Team Czech caps. @_@ They wouldn't even really be paying me--the money would just go right back into the store!!
2) I probably know the stock better than the staff, at times! When I found out that the mail guy, Frank, wanted the Jagr Czech jersey, the first thing I did was call the store to see if they still had any Jagr jerseys. It was kind of a matter of form for me, though, since I had seen a bunch of the jerseys there just the past week and I didn't think they would be sold out already. Anyway, I called, and the girl who answered phone said she'd check, and when she got back to me, she said they didn't have any!! Well, luckily I wasn't feeling very trusting, so I went down to the store myself to check about five minutes after I called, and guess what? Lots of Jagr jerseys! *shakes head* I guess since the customized international jerseys were further in than the plain ones, it's an easy to understand mistake, but still...
Other than that, I'm in the store browsing so often I can practically list off the names and sizes of jerseys and t-shirts--at least of the teams that interest me. Not to mention, I know pretty quickly when something new has come in. The international hats, for example, I'm guessing came in either today or just a couple of days ago, since the Team Czech and Belarus hats weren't even out on the shelves yet, but were still behind the cashiers' counter! They also got in some new NHL team sweatshirts sometime within the past week, which have replaced the Team Canada player t-shirts that used to be on the back table (the t-shirts are now hanging in the front). The sweatshirts, by the way, are very thick and soft feeling, but they're pretty expensive--$59.99!!! I found an adult size small Canucks one which I would've bought for Steph had it been a more reasonable price, but they didn't have anything out smaller than a large for the Avs. Ah well, I'm pretty spendthrifty when it comes to hockey, but even I wouldn't pay that much for just a simple sweatshirt!!
3) Whenever I'm there I'm constantly rearranging the shelves and putting things back in their place anyway!! Have I mentioned this before? There was one day when I was waiting for my parents so I went into the Hall to look around. My mom called me, so I thought she was ready and headed out of the Hall. Well, it turned out she was calling to tell me she'd be late, so I spent that extra time in the store. I browsed a bit, but I spent most of my time arranging the player prints by the different styles of prints (signature and regular) and by teams, and making sure each print could be easily seen and wasn't too obscured by others. Then I fixed up the dvds/tapes/book shelf and put everything back in their proper places. I moved onto the Legends photos and made sure that the players weren't mixed up on the spinning rack thing. Finally, I found one of those mini Leafs jerseys just sitting around in the front, so I brought it back to its proper place in the back. ^^;; Can you say anal retentive? Too bad I'm not nearly as meticulous about my own room!!! =P
4) I shop there enough to have developed some ideas about minor ways the store could make some changes that would make things easier for shoppers. For example, they could offer a "pick-up" option for shipping in the online store. That way someone who lives or works around Toronto can get what they want when it isn't in stock without having to pay shipping, and without having to wait for regular business hours to place the order. Another thing is that when they're taking customization orders, they should have a set pick-up/delivery date. It could be ready before that date, but it definitely wouldn't come in any later than that date. (You know how much experience I've had with this particular issue). Now that I think of it, the store could also do with some signage--like for men's clothing, children's clothing, jerseys, golf stuff, etc. etc.
5) It makes me happy to help people find the things, especially hockey things, that they want. A lot of times when I'm on the ground floor of the BCE place, especially around the elevator to the Hall's offices and resource centre, I see people walking around looking slightly lost, and I know that they're looking for the Hall. Usually I'm not the type to even approach strangers, but when it comes to this, I almost always ask "Are you looking for the Hockey Hall of Fame" and then give them directions when they answer in the affirmative. When people are looking to buy particular hockey things too, I love to help them out. I used to be that way with anime as well. When I was on the Anime Nation forums, more often than not I would look for the threads where people were asking where they could buy stuff so I could do a quick internet search and give them some suggestions. I guess it's because I appreciate shopping when it means getting exactly what you want, so I like to be able to help others find that same satisfaction.
*phew* So there was my extremely detailed list of reasons as to why I should be working in the Spirit of Hockey store!! Too bad no one hiring for the store is ever likely to read this!
Well, single seats went on sale for the World Cup of Hockey (at the ACC) today, and I was thinking about buying some, but no. See, I realized that the only way I'd get to see Team Czech or Team Sweden play would be if I went to the semi-final or final game (that's assuming they make it that far), and when I checked out the ticket prices through ticketmaster... @_@
See, the tickets went on sale at 10am today, and I set my phone alarm for five minutes before 10 just so I wouldn't miss it. At 10 on the dot I was logging onto the site, checking ticket prices. There weren't any tickets available for the final, so I checked the semi-final prices for two tickets, and the only thing available was the 100-level seats, which were about $300 each. @_@ Then I thought, why don't I try for a single seat? And that was even worse! The only option I had was the $400 platinum/club/whatever seat!!! INSANE!!!
So yes, unless I find a friend who wants to sell his/her semi-final tickets, I will be watching the WCH purely from the comfort of my own living room. On the plus side, Rogers really screwed up (our digital box was broken, so we called in, and they tried to transfer us, but left my mom waiting on the line for 2 hours!!) so they gave us basically all of the channels for free for this month! That means we get Leaf tv, which will be carrying the exhibition games! Score!! ^__^
[Edit: Oh yes, thanks for all the comments about the cupcakes!! ^_^ They're really a labour of love for me, but it's nice to know that people think they're nice! I'm going to make another batch for Hall staffers when the World Cup starts, I think--I still have icing leftover I need to finish! Oh, and seriously, if anyone wants some hockey-themed cupcakes, and happens to be in the GTA area, let me know! I'd love to make you some--seriously!!]
I don't know if you noticed the link that someone posted on my tagboard a little while back for the Hockey Photo Project, but it's a pretty neat site that got started not to long ago! So check it out, and join and add you own pictures!
Click here, and here to see pictures of my hockey-themed cupcakes! ^_^
I made them yesterday since I took the day off work. (My dad was sick so I was supposed to take the Go Train, but then my Go Train got cancelled, and I was tired anyway so I decided to just call in sick). ^_^ Actually, I've made them before but I didn't want to say anything about them until the class was over.
See, I make them for the staff at the Hockey Hall of Fame, which of course includes Kevin and Phil, my teachers, so I didn't want people to think that I was trying to bribe them or soften them up or anything. Of course I guess people could still think that way now that I've spilled the beans, but I didn't want other people's opinions to bother me while I was in the course. I mean, I knew that my work stood for itself and didn't require any personal goodwill to merit the marks that it got.
And I guess I'm more willign to say it now too because I was talking to Kevin today, and apparently he read off portions of my essay answers from the exam to Melanie Reubens, the course academic coach (she gave Phil and Kevin some tips about how to run a course since they aren't trained teachers) and she could tell that I was a university student, so I took that as sufficient support for the quality of my work.
But anyway, I'm going to stop defending myself against insinuations that I haven't even heard yet, and get on with my cupcake story! So yes, this batch was the third batch of hockey cupcakes I've made. The first batch was Habs and Leafs, and the second was Team Canada. Originally I wanted to do the HHOF logo on these cupcakes, but I tried one and it was pretty much impossible, so I decided to just put together all the different types I'd ever made.
It's actually a lot of fun, and very satisfying. Making the cupcakes didn't take much time, but icing them took about two or three hours! Putting on the icing and making the outlines with icing gel wasn't too time consuming, but putting on the sprinkles took quite a bit of time since I had to be so precise in where I dropped them! It was worth the effort though! I took pictures of every batch I made, and I'm really proud of them! Plus I'm glad I was able to give the people at the Hall a treat, since they were all so nice to me. ^_^
Kaberle finally got signed! Funny thing is, my dad is the one who told me! =P He was watching the news and it scrolled across the bottom of the screen! Figures they would sign him the one day I wasn't checking the internet like every half hour!!
Reports have suggested that the deal is somewhere around $5.9M over two years. I'm happy about that because: a) I don't have to go through all of this stress after next season (whenever it may be); b) it's a fairly modest increase (he made $2.75M last season, and the new deal works out to $2.95M per year) so I can rest assured that Kaberle wasn't just being greedy after all! ^____^
Man, I just can't stop smiling!! ^_^ Heh, and the first thing I did after doublechecking the news online was email Kevin. I'm sure he already knows, but I just had to share my joy with a fellow Kaberle fan!
First of all, major big shoutout to Jello for actually reading through my crazy long rambling entry!! You're the best! ^_^
Anyway, I didn't want to say anything earlier, even though Steph and I have been planning this since Saturday, but assuming there is a hockey season, we will be going to FIVE games in Buffalo! Well, we'll be going to five games together, but I've got a sixth that's up for grabs since she'll probably be home in Vancouver for that one.
So yes, Buffalo tickets are so amazingly cheap!!! This is what we got:
Wed. Dec. 22nd vs MONTREAL @ 7:30pm - 2 300 Lvl III @ $18 = $36
Sat. Jan 1st vs VANCOUVER @ 7:30pm - 2 200 Club Lvl @ $78 = $156
Sun. Feb. 20th vs ATLANTA @ 5:00pm - 2 300 Lvl III @ $17 = $34
Fri. Feb. 25th vs TAMPA BAY @ 8:00pm - 2 300 Lvl III @ $22 = $44
Tues. Mar. 15th vs COLORADO @7:00pm - 2 200 Club Lvl @ $70 = $140
Sun. Mar. 27th vs CALGARY @ 5:00pm - 2 300 Lvl III @ $22 = $44
GRAND TOTAL= $454 US
BUT I only had to pay a $50 deposit first! =P How exciting! Now I'm really hoping there's going to be a season, because we've got everything all worked out!
Oh, and the game I've got a ticket free for is the December game versus Montreal. Anyone interested? Benson?
SO EXCITING!
And yes, I prefer to think about this than my HHOF Presents exam, which was truly horrendous. @_@ I don't know what's wrong with me, but I totally couldn't write today. I was just rambling on and on, and I'm not even sure I fully answered the essay questions! ARGH! Thankfully Kevin and Phil are easy markers, so I won't die too badly, but still, I'm very disappointed in myself for finishing off that way. *sigh* Ah well, I'm still really happy about the class overall! If I could, I'd keep taking it! ^_^
Rather late, but the first "tale of anticipation" is my Kaberle jersey story! (It really isn't that exciting, so I'll apologize in advance.) So the day the Stanley Cup Odyssey premiered, I brought my Team Czech jersey into the HHOF to get it customized with Kaberle. The guy told me it would be two to three weeks, and since I was picking it up, he asked for a phone number to call me when it was ready. Not thinking too much about it, I gave my home number, which was really dumb because I'm at work all day! So yeah, once it hit the two week mark, I kept calling home to see if the HHOF had left any messages for me! My poor brother (who sleeps late and wakes up late in the afternoon) had to try to ignore my 10am phone calls all the time! =P
So once it hit exactly three weeks, I started to get impatient and called the Hall to doublecheck how long it was supposed to take. The guy I spoke to was like: "It takes three weeks." I didn't say anything, but in my head I was thinking: "It has been three weeks (dang it)!"
Throughout the following week I called home to check the messages even more frequently, but still nothing. After three weeks and six days, I called to ask specifically about the status of my jersey. The guy who answered talked to the manager and told me it would come in tomorrow (precisely four weeks after after I dropped it off.)
I was really excited about it, of course, and was waiting anxiously for the phonecall all day. I checked home around 10am, and was excited to hear that there was one new message--but it was for my mom! Around 11am I got really impatient and called the store to see if they had a time when it was supposed to come in, and I was told: "It depends on the delivery person. It could come in anytime from now to 6pm." This is when I started to get upset. It's hard to explain just how excited and anxious I was for my jersey to arrive, and then to be told that it might not come in until 6pm, when I'd already be home in Missisauga?!
Really not impressive. I mean, I didn't let it get to me earlier, but it's a pretty shoddy way of doing business to not be able to give your customers a specific date of completion. I mean, it really sucks to be waiting by the phone to find out when your jersey's finished, wondering whether they accidentally lost it or something!
But back to my story. Another reason I was really antsy about getting my jersey on Wednesday before going home was because I had planned to drop by the Hall to give Kevin/Phil hard and soft copies of my Canucks paper that day, so it would be perfect timing if I had the jersey with me to show to Kevin (another Kaberle fan, if you recall).
By the time I finished work at 3:30, however, the Hall hadn't yet called, so I was really disappointed. Usually I'm not one to complain, but because I was so upset, I actually ended up telling Kevin how I had been expecting the jersey and how it had already been four weeks since I dropped it off. I felt kind of bad for telling him, though, because he does work for the Hall, and it was sort of like complaining to the management (even though his job isn't related to the store directly). What made that worse was that he mentioned to Phil that my jersey took four weeks for customization, and Phil's the VP! ^^;;
Anyway, I'm not still upset about the whole thing because my brother called me just before 4 o'clock to let me know that the store had called and my jersey was in. I was still talking with Kevin at the time, so he came down with me to pick up my jersey and to check it out. When I got my jersey, I discovered that it wasn't just the Kaberle jersey, but the Forsberg as well! So that basically got rid of most of my frustration--since the Forsberg was a week early, and the Kaberle a week late, I figured it kind of balanced out. =P
So that was my Kaberle jersey story. Sorry, as I said before, it's not that interesting. My other "tale of anticipation" is also Kaberle related. As you probably all know, McCabe and Antropov got re-signed on Thursday. Well, my coworker was checking out the hockey news on the internet and told me about McCabe signing around lunchtime, so I knew about that pretty early. But then in the car on the way home, they mentioned in their preview of upcoming news items that the Leafs had re-signed two players so I got all excited. I was like, is it Kaberle? is it Kaberle? This was around 4:43pm, and the sports updates are at 4:45pm, so I was all eager and excited for those two minutes to pass. I even pulled out my cell and brought up Kevin's number so I could call him as soon as I heard the news.
Finally at 4:45pm the sports updates started, but they began with baseball! XP I was all frustrated and impatient, thinking: "c'mon, who cares about baseball?!?" (Sorry, Nicole! =P) Finally they got to hockey and I heard "McCabe and Antropov..." and was just so totally deflated! Then on Friday, it was like the Leafs were rubbing it in when I was online at work in the afternoon and I saw that they had re-signed Tellqvist and Wilm as well, but still no Kaberle!!! Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that they got Tellqvist under contract, but I don't know enough about Wilm to really care about him! And even Antropov, I'm not really convinced he's worth what the Leafs paid him. I like him and all, but he's just so darned fragile--always injured! A lot of teams were after Antropov before (I don't know if he's really in demand so much anymore), so I rather wish they had just traded while his stock was still high and he hadn't developed so much of a reputation for being injury-prone.
But I digress. My point is, I'm really frustrated with the fact that Kaberle still hasn't gotten a deal done with the Leafs! I really really don't want him to go through arbitration--especially since the Leafs don't have anyone else left going into arbitration, so it'd be that much easier for them to decide to walk away from the ruling if they were so inclined! Man! I really hope it's just an issue of the length of the contract, and not the amount, because after the way he played this season, I don't think he should really be asking for too much! In fact, I still can't understand why he didn't or doesn't just accept a lower salary for this year and then work his butt off and improve his pay so that he can ask for a raise or at any rate make a better case for himself for next season! I love him as a player, but I'm not too happy about this contract quibbling, to be honest.
Woohoo! I finally got my customized Team Czech and Team Sweden jerseys in! There's a pretty long story behind all of that, but I'll have to get to that later, since it's 1am and I have to wake up for work tomorrow!
Anyway, just wanted to show off some photos!
Yes, I am wearing a skirt with the jerseys--work clothes! =P
Oh, and this is pure Steph! The caption that goes along with it is: "Czech out my butt." ^_~ (Steph, Queen of Bad Puns, although I thought that one was pretty good.)
Sticks and Killer Whales: Canucks Jersey Evolution
Well, I finally got my HHOF Presents paper back today! My >24hrs. of work was rewarded, since I got 40/40 on it. I'm not surprised by the mark because Kevin (and probably Phil as well, although I can't remember) told me that I did very well on the paper, but I'm bemused by it nonetheless because I really didn't think it was that good.
In fact, I've never felt so completely dissatisfied with a paper before. It's not that it was the worst thing I'd ever written, but it was definitely the worst paper I'd written relative to the time and expectations I put into it. I wanted so badly to write a brilliant, eloquent and flowing paper. What I ended up with was something that felt like a series of mini-essays only loosely tied together, it was so choppy and disconnected. Plus it felt like I had stertched some of my points because my argumentation was pretty weak at points--especially the later sections, when I basically got tired of writing.
Just about the only thing I was pleased with about the paper was the survey materials. I had a lot of fun just tabulating all of the responses and breaking them down.
Anyway, if you'd like to form your own opinion of my paper, feel free to check it out at http://www.hhof-presents.tk.
Oh, and I almost forgot, but Phil actually asked for a copy of the paper for the Hall's resource archive! =P Even if I wasn't happy with the paper overall, I'm happy he thought it was good enough to keep (especially since that was one of my original goals for the paper once I learned that he'd asked some students in the first term for copies of their papers).
