Woohoo!!! To top off Tomas Kaberle's exceptional year (new long term contract, Olympic medal), he's getting a McFarlane figure this fall!
NEW HOCKEY 3-PACKS COMING In Stores Across Canada and Available Online March 24, 2006 Copyright 2006 TMP International, Inc.
McFarlane Toys salutes our Canadian hockey fans with a trio of team-centered NHL 3-packs coming this fall to Wal-Mart Canada. Previous hockey 3-packs for the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs, as well as our "In The Crease" Goalies 3-pack were offered exclusively at Wal-Mart Canada in 2005 and were a big hit with collectors.
These 3-packs will be released at Wal-Mart Canada and staggered throughout the fall, with extra product being sent to each team's home market. Weeks after their Canadian debuts, a limited amount of each 3-pack will be made available to customers outside of Canada through our online Spawn Store.
Enough jibber-jabber! Let's dig into the lineups for this fall's NHL 3-packs:
* TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS: Mats Sundin 2, Tie Domi & Tomas Kaberle
* EDMONTON OILERS: Jason Smith, Ales Hemsky & Chris Pronger
* MONTREAL CANADIENS: Saku Koivu, Michael Ryder & David Aebischer
Even though I'd thought from the beginning of the season that the Leafs probably wouldn't make the playoffs, it really wasn't until last Thursday when I watched them lose against the Sabres that I knew with absolute certainty that they'd be done mid-April.
They were truly terrible in the second period of that game--they certainly didn't deserve to win that game, although they gave it a good shot in the third. Then there was the game against Montreal this past Thursday.
*sigh* At first I had Tellqvist benched, but then I made the mistake of second guessing myself, and I played Tellqvist in my hockey pool, and lo and behold, they were blown out, 5-1. And then tonight they were terrible again, losing 6-2. James Mirtle did a little breakdown of the win-loss records teams need to guarantee a post-season berth (http://mirtle.blogspot.com) and the Leafs are 10-2.
Yeah.
That's TOTALLY not happening. Which is too bad, because I was really hoping that my April 16th Toronto-Buffalo game would be a really significant one (even though I don't expect them to win), but now I'm wondering if the Leafs are even still going to have a shot when I'm watching them play Florida on the 11th.
All I can think, is thank goodness I'm an Avalanche fan, or I'd be completely depressed. Even though the Avs are suffering, at least they're really working for every point, despite losing key players--Svatos, Tanguay, and tonight, Hejduk with the flu.
Wow. I was only half-watching the game, but even in my distracted state I could tell that it was something else. Really, I can't believe the Leafs managed to come back!! They were SO lucky that the Bruins took bad penalties!
And Tellqvist looked a bit shaky in places, but he did come up with some spectacular saves at key moments. Hopefully this will be the start of a winning streak for the Leafs and Tellqvist! Stupid Belfour! I was thinking of dropping him and picking up Biron on Sunday (in the MCBC pool), but then I thought that it would be better for me to have someone who plays regularly (since who knows when Aebischer will get his chance in Montreal) and to hope that his play would pick up.
Then Alan picked up Biron yesterday, and today I find out that Belfour's back is acting up again, and Tellqvist will be playing more! ARGH!! So I picked up Tellqvist, but I could've had Biron!! ARGH!!
Oh well. His play today gives me hope that all is not lost.
And I guess it's past time that my goalie stats would start to reflect reality. I mean, it was amazing that I managed to stay on top of the wins category for so long with just Aebischer and Belfour!
Speaking of Tellqvist, did I mention that I'm helping to run the Mikael Tellqvist Fanlisting with Jello? Check it out--she's done an amazing job with the site!
I can't believe Lacroix traded Aebi for Theodore! It's not so much that the trade is bad, as it is the TIMING that sucks!!! The Avs need someone who can win games for them NOW, and Aebischer has been doing that. Even if Theodore revitalizes after the trade, they're still going to have to wait for him to finish healing first!
If some argue that Aebischer isn't a bonafide starter, I'd argue that Budaj is even less of one at this point.
My Avalanche! site goes a lot deeper into my opinion on the trade, but this pretty much sums up my feelings:
ARGH.
Ah well, on the bright side, I have a better chance of seeing him play live now that he's in Montreal...
Passer Extraordinaire TOMAS KABERLE Sunday March 5th, 2005
Woohoo! Today, of course, was my much anticipated Kaberle signing! We left the WAY Winter Retreat at about 8am and got back to the church around 10:30am (I was asleep pretty much the entire way since I had stayed up until about 5:00am with the kids on their "all-nighter"). The signing wasn't until 12pm, so after another nap in one of the pastoral offices, I hung out with everyone and bought some treats from the bake sale for the Open Door. Finally left the church a little after 12pm and made it to Frozen Pond around 12:30pm.
The line-up was quite a bit longer than I expected it to be. By the time I had purchased my signing tickets and lined up, the line already circled the entire inside perimeter of the store. There were, of course, lots of giggly females who kept gushing on about how "hot" they thought Kaberle is. *sigh* I know I shouldn't judge, but it drives me insane when people only like players because of their looks! Yes, I am a huge Kaberle fanatic, but I actually appreciate his skill!
At any rate, the start of the signing was delayed until 1:30pm, so it was a good thing that I came later than 12pm (which is what I had originally intended). The line moved really quickly. It was only about half an hour before I was at the front of the line, talking to Kaberle!
I did try to ask him "jak se mate?" ("how are you?" in Czech) but I don't think he heard, so he didn't answer. Either that, or he decided to politely ignore my atrocious accent! =P He did, however comment on my jerseys, saying something along the lines of: "Wow, you've got the whole collection, eh?" ^_________^
Yes, indeed, I brought all five of my Kaberle jerseys--1 Leafs, 1 All-Star, 1 Team Czech, 2 Kladno--to get signed, and I think I was pretty much the only person there who brought something other than Leaf stuff. Almost definitely I was the only person with the All-Star jersey, not to mention the Kladno ones. So I'm hopeful that Kaberle might remember me, if ever so vaguely, as a person who actually had pretty much all of his jerseys.
Well, regardless of his memory of the event, it is definitely something I will cherish. ^_________^ If I don't sound as excited as I usually do, it's not because of a lack of excitement, but because of a lack of sleep!
