Here is an AMAZING deal for Stevie Y fans! The Yzerman: The Making of a Champion book by Douglas Hunter is on sale at Chapters/Indigo for $5.99 CAD!!! That is an AMAZING bargain!! I bought it for twenty-something dollars a Christmas or two ago, and am kicking myself for not waiting now! If you can find it in a local Chapters/Indigo and have a rewards card, that's an extra 10% off as well!
Even for American customers, the price is pretty good. With shipping, it will cost $15.89 CAD ($7.95 per order, plus $1.95 per item, but no tax), which is STILL cheaper than the $16.47 US charged by Amazon.com. Of course, the paperback edition would be cheaper than ordering from Chapters/Indigo, but if you like the hardcover editions, this is really a steal!
So if you're interested, you can purchase the book online (or search for in-store availability) at: Chapters.Indigo.ca!
After getting Centre Ice this year, I don’t think I could survive without it now. I can turn on the television pretty much any night now and know that I can watch hockey. Tonight in particular I was thankful for the package as it allowed me to watch Ronnie Francis’s banner raising ceremony in Raleigh.
It was most moving: viewing highlights from his career, listening to his speech, watching his banner being raised, and seeing him take one last lap around the rink with his two sons. (Although, I did wonder why his daughter didn’t get to lace up some skates as well…) I definitely wouldn’t have wanted to miss the ceremony!
Another thing is that Centre Ice has allowed me to get a sampling of all the various NHL television commentators. Fox has got to have some of the WORST broadcasters ever. Watching the Florida game on the 24th, the day of Mario’s second retirement, one of the Fox Florida guys actually wondered aloud whether the Hockey Hall of Fame would waive the three-year induction eligibility waiting period. Even I know that Lemieux was inducted in 1997, the year after his first retirement, and I wasn’t even watching hockey at the time! Altitude (the Denver/Avalanche network) was also pretty bad in beginning, before they replaced Doug McLeod. Sure some of them are fairly decent (I thought the NBC guys were quite good), but overall I feel that a lot of the US hockey sportscasters have a long way to go. Definitely makes me appreciate our TSN and Sportsnet guys. Sure the CBC guys can be pretty bad (Harry Neale, argh!), but I’d still take them over many of the Fox guys any day.
Oh, and Centre Ice also enables me to see/pick up on totally random things, like Kari Lehtonen’s mask! I just happened to flip to an Atlanta game one night this week and they had a close-up on him and I thought I saw…Rikku from Final Fantasy X-2! Went on the net, did a bit of Google-ing and found that my eyes hadn’t deceived me: he actually has Yuna and Rikku from FFX-2 on his mask! LOL What a kid! =P
Despite the embarrassing 5-3 loss to the Avs, Kaberle still came away +1, with 2 SOG, and 1 PPA. ^_^ So really, the game worked out in the most ideal way possible for me! My team won, but my player also did well. =P
When the Leafs went up 2-1 in the first I was worried that Murphy's Law was going to bite me in the butt for playing Aebischer, but the second period assured me that I was fine. ^_^ This doesn't make up for my decision to play Belfour against the Coyotes instead of Aebischer against Philadelphia on Saturday, but it's still nice to know I made the right decision.
"He is the guy who carries the play." (And other accolades!)
Woohoo! Nice to know that one benefit from subscribing to Leafs TV, apart from getting the Leafs-Avs game is hearing good things about Kaberle! ^_________^
Feels like people are finally truly starting to appreciate him. Lots of comments tonight about how he controls the play, transitions the game, carries the puck, etc. etc.! Apparently even Marc Crawford talked about his play in Vancouver.
Oh, and when I was in B.C. and Jon & co. came over to Steph's place for dinner on New Year's Day, even he was talking about how he's a great player.
Yes, indeed, I am feeling quite vindicated in my faith in him for the past 3-4 years. =P
Not hockey related at all (sorry, I've been SWAMPED with school stuff, and my HHOF internship fell through so I've been scrambling to find a new one), but this post is pertinent to an issue dear to my heart: literacy!
Upgrade your coffee to a latte for a good cause!
Lattes for Literacy Thursday January 19th Promote literacy one latte at a time.
Join us on Thursday January 19th and buy any size latte to support Lattes for Literacy. Starbucks will donate 100% of the purchase price to supporting family literacy in initiative across Canada.
Starbucks is dedicated to supporting family literacy in Canada. That's why we are working with ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation and Frontier College to enrich the reading and writing experiences of young Canadians. We believe that when a community comes together to equip children with the tools for literacy, we provide them with the keys to opportunity, hope and discovery.
Spread the word about Lattes for Literacy and help to create a brighter future for our kids.
Let's see, Gretzky predicted that Canada would win 4-1 against Russia (final score: 5-0 Canada with 1 should-have-been-but-refs-missed goal by Russia). Apparently he also told Steve Downie that if he worked hard he could score the game-winner. And he did!!!
I'm thrilled for Canada, but at the same time, I feel sorry for the Russians. It's so sad seeing them all sitting, dejected and crying on the ice. Khudobin (remember I have a thing for goalies!) especially! Poor guy! Apparently at the end of the game he slammed his stick against the ice, threw it down, broke down crying and had to be comforted by his coach. =*( So heart wrenching, yet also heart warming to see the depth of their passion for the sport.
Dang, I wish I had stayed in B.C., now!! It would be SO awesome to be there, celebrating our "kids" (hard to believe they're only a handful of years younger than me!).
I'm glad the Canadian fans are showing their class by cheering wholeheartedly for all the honoured players (not Canadian Staal, but also Rask and Malkin) and the Russians as they receive their silver medals.
Man oh man do the Leafs have a lot of hope for the future! Justin Pogge was outstanding for Canada, and Tuukka Rask was really the only reason the Fins medalled at all!
Ah....How I love hearing our anthem played!! Although...most of the boys really seem quite tone deaf! =P
Hard to believe too that Canada was considered something of an underdog at the beginning of this tournament! Okay, so I admit that I had my doubts when they squeaked by Switzerland 4-3 and only managed 4 goals against Norway (when the US got 11), but dang they've looked good this game--early penalties and ref's missed Russian goal notwithstanding.
Even though I'm home watching on my own, it's still fun yelling WOOHOOOOOOOOOO!!!! after every single Canadian goal!! Much as I love the Avs, nothing compares to cheering on a Canadian team in international competition.
Speaking of international competition, I actually watched two World Junior games--both of which included Switzerland!! =P I saw the Switzerland-USA tie game which was totally awesome! The atmosphere was amazing: everyone was cheering like Team Suisse was Team Canada!! And honestly, I think the crowd may have had something to do with the final score because I don't know how else Switzerland could have managed to score two against the US. They kept up good pressure in the offensive zone, but they simply couldn't generate decent chances. Even on the powerplay they had practically no offensive zone possession. Don't get me wrong, I love Switzerland (mostly for giving the NHL David Aebischer), but they are on a totally different level than the US.
The other game I watched was the relegation game between Switzerland and Latvia. Even though the game wasn't as well attended or loud as Switzerland-USA, it was still a heck load of fun. It was clear that neither team was really top-level in terms of skill, but they showed so much heart and never gave up, you had to love them! And everyone there definitely did: right at the start of the second intermission, the announcer asked "who's cheering for Switzerland" and the crowd just roared. Then, the announcer asked "who's cheering for Latvia" and the cheers for them were as loud as they had been for Switzerland. It was awesome!
Speaking of Latvia, they won their relegation game against Norway, 4-0. ^_^ Good for them! I do feel rather bad for Norway, which didn't win a single game (most of them pretty badly, too), but I've got to admit that after watching them, Latvia's got a special place in my heart. (I was already inclined to like them because of Irbe, but watching them play just confirmed my good feelings.)
