Don't buy into the media

All yesterday morning on ESPN Pittsburgh radio, they were playing bits of Kris Letang's interview from the previous day (off-day). In the afternoon, talk shifted to a possible Letang benching. The refs aren't calling penalties. Letang hasn't been that great on PPs anyway. Boucher saw a lot of ice time during morning skate. Kris shot the puck once in game two and it hit the glass (pretty far off from the goal which is where he obviously wanted it to go... or maybe, just maybe, he just wanted to get something going, people). He forced an icing call and the Wings ended up scoring on the ensuing faceoff. So why not bench Letang? If we don't need him for the power plays because we're not getting them, why not play Boucher, a more defensively minded dman, instead? I get home from work and have to listen to my husband agree with all of that nonsense. Listen. They're saying all these words and all I hear is that Kris is going to score on a power play. Call it hearing what I want to hear or whatever you want to call it. I call it faith in my boy's play. There is a reason I have faith in him. There is a reason he is my favorite player and it's not because he's dropdeadgorg. Well, maybe that doesn't hurt but it's not the reason. Quite simply, he is my favorite because he is incredible. He gets people talking about him by... hmmm... I guess people start talking about him when he does something that maybe isn't so brilliant. Everybody makes mistakes, right? Of course. But. Apparently he isn't allowed to have a bad game or make one error. So then doesn't that mean that he is an integral part of our system? That makes him a necessary part of this team.

"Come congratulate me, bitches." (You must read this to yourself in a sexy French Canadian accent.)

Some people tend to not have as much faith in our team winning this as I do. Do they want our magnificent team to win this? Of course. They just don't tend to feel as sure about it as I do. Is that the word I'm needing here? "sure"? Maybe. I guess, yes, it is. My faith in our team is not blind. My faith in our team comes from being witness to some of what they can do. And I have only seen some of it. Maybe that's what it is. Maybe it is because I blew this sport off for so long. Maybe that's why I can come in here and say that they are the better team. I haven't seen them not be the best team on the ice. I would watch bits of play here and there. I would let it play in the background while I did other things. (Right now I can't for the life of me remember what those things were.) I heard them suck by way of the commentators and the media. Mind you, that would be the same media who told me that Kris Letang was going to be a healthy scratch for last night's game. So for all I know, this team has always been this magnificent and I just wasn't seeing it. Maybe I could have helped try to build up my people's faith a long time ago. I had zero doubt that we were winning last night. Zero. And I had an equal amount of doubt that Kris would play. Kris scoring on a pp held a bit of doubt because who could know that? heh. I hope the media talks about Tyler Kennedy, Jordan Staal, and Matt Cooke a lot tomorrow because that line is a little bit of heaven to watch and all anybody ever wants to talk about is how they don't score a lot of goals... even though scoring goals is not their job. It's because of them, Craig Adams and our CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED dmen that the other team doesn't get 300 shots on goal. Really. I hate the media and it hurts me to know that people buy into what they say. The people who don't watch hockey, and that used to (please forgive me) include me, have NO idea how amazing some of these guys are. Probably everybody thinks Jordan Staal is garbage because he doesn't score goals but they know his name and they assume he is supposed to. People only care about the stats and the score sheets. I am here to tell you all that Jordan Staal and all of these other guys are worth what we put into them. Some of them are worth more than we give them monetarily. It is up to us, the fans, the community, to believe in them.

It is our job to give them our faith. They certainly have mine.

Vindication is more satisfying when you can Blingee it.

This also feels really good: “He was great, not only offensively but also defensively,” Gonchar said. “It seems like he is playing good all over the ice. He has all of the skills in the world and his shot is great, so offensively it is not surprising but the way he held them defensively, you can see the progress that he made from last year.”

I suppose I should mention that Mad Max Clutch Talbot scored two goals last night... the first on a stunning Letang assist.

The first goal was Max, the second was Letang's PP, the third was a Gonchar PP goal, and the fourth was a Max empty netter. So much for our Power Play being shitty. AND! if I'm not mistaking (I'm not) our only goal in Game 2 was a Malkin PP goal (assisted by Letang).

Needless to say, I am listening to all music all day today. None of that bullshit sports radio that makes me want to vomit.

Let's Rally

Blingee is fun!!!!!!

rematch screamatch

I wanted to keep watching the Blackhawks for a while. They were burning up the place in the third period. Not enough. Patrick Kane's goal was what hockey dreams are made of. Not enough. Cristobal Huet stood on his head. Not enough. Niklas Hjalmarsson tried to seduce the ladies with a sweet slide save. Not enough. Duncan Keith had me convinced for sixty minutes a few days a week that I should probably move to Chicago to be closer to where he is. Not enough?


Wait. I got off track.

Toews, Kane, Sharp, Burish, Havlat, Ladd, Pahlsson, Seabrook, Campbell, Versteeg, Byfuglien, Eager... I can't believe I remember all those names and it's not even my team.

What I guess the whole point of this is, is that I *heart* the Blackhawks. I cannot wait to watch them in the fall.





I have to wait until the fall? *sob* Thank Scuderi for Blackhawks TV.

I suppose it's better for me as a fan going into this against a team that I can't work up any happy for. I do not like the Red Wings. They have skill. They have experience. What they lack is heart. They lack the passion. We have all of that. What we may lack in experience, we make up for with heart. We make up for it with passion. My team. Pittsburgh's team is going to the Stanley Cup Finals. Against Detroit. For the second year in a row. This year is ours.
Hossa? I don't give a shit about Hossa but there's a quiet place in my brain that takes comfort in the fact that our team probably does. There's a quiet place, a peaceful place that knows Hossa has a lot of free candy coming his way.

Hossa doesn't belong with our guys anyway. Our guys play because they love this sport.

Our guys play because they believe in this team.


Last year this was new and a little intimidating.

This year we're grabbing it and holding on.

This is our year.

Making Sweeeeeet Sweep Love

Not a lot of commentary right now. Just pictures.

Our Staalmonster is hotter than your Staalmonster. (In both looks and awesomeness.)

I can't think of the words that could express what he did on the ice last night or how in awe I am of him. Jordan, I love you more than all the words put together. You.are.worth.every.penny. Period. (That is an emphatic period.)

"Fuck it. I'm touching it."


The Superheroes lead the way in this photo. I love them so much. The Vs. commentators talked about Rob Scuderi for a solid few minutes. Telling the world how underrated he is, that he's always in the right place and that he should wear a cape. Okay, maybe they didn't say that last part. Get me a Scuderi jersey t-shirt and I will be forever in your debt. Not a blue one though. Last year they didn't even touch it. That didn't work so well. This year they're all rubbing it and touching it (when Cappy's done with it of course. He has... things he needs to do to it first).

Kristopher Letang, your playing last night was quiet and beautiful. This team knows what you are. You just go ahead and keep getting better and better. Every time you do something awesome, which is a lot, I toy with the idea of having a #58 tattooed on my forehead or somewhere. If video tattoos were possible, my body would be covered with your moves. You blow my mind, my love.

Matt Cooke. Craig Adams. Tyler fuckingKennedy. Brooks Orpik. MAF. Sidney. Geno. Billy G. Mark Eaton. Mad Max Clutch Talbot. Satan. Gonch. Rus Fed. Kuuuuunitzzzz. Hal. Boucher (pronounced appropriately like touché). Words aren't forming right now. I love this team.




P.S. The Hurricanes like(d) to give us statistics that told us when Eric Staal scores, they win. Eric Staal had the first goal of the night last night for what it's worth... which turned out to be NOT TOO MUCH.

P.S.S. The Penguins are 3-0 when Craig fuckingAdams scores. Suck it.

P.S.S.S. I like to think that this stomping in Game 4 was because of
the elbow to Jordan's face in Game 3. DO NOT TOUCH JORDAN STAAL'S FACE WITH ANYTHING UNLESS YOU ARE CARESSING IT WITH YOUR FINGERTIPS OUT OF LOVE. Don't these people respect beauty? Seriously. First the stick to Kris' face. Then the fists to Kris' face. Then this? I can't deal with that kind of thing. This sweep was Karma, bitches.

Rob Scuderi is a SUPERHERO

I keep saying this.

I'm dying for a Rob Scuderi jersey t-shirt. Somebody needs to get them in stock so I can LIVE. I was seriously contemplating buying the 2XL that I found but 1) the obvious reason 2) it was the wrong kind 3) my husband would just steal it.

Game 4 tonight. Game 3 was silly. They even tried to give EStaal a chance... they didn't play JStaal's line against him. Didn't work so well for the 'Canes. The score? 6-2. I'm not counting the Hurricanes out yet, but they're not making it easy. Corvo talked to one of those Versus people during intermission and he just looked so over. He had clearly given up. It would have been in their best interest to let him sit on the bench for the rest of the game. I need to see if anybody posted that video anywhere. It was hilarious.

I'm kind of blah today about things so I went to the Pens site to see what interviews they have up that I didn't see. Postgame interview with a superhero? Count me in. Oh and he's shirtless? Bonus.

This video is loaded with nekkid hockey players. Kris Lelover 0:16 - 0:19. *purr* Three seconds of bliss. Then again at 0:46 for another glimpse. Then MAF comes from behind the curtain wearing... nothing? Maybe a towel?

I KNEW Scuds was a superhero.

I swear to you all that I do love this sport and I would love it if they all looked like... somebody that isn't good-looking. I can't think of names because hockey players are always hot even if they're not good-looking. The good-looking guys just make it so much better and they really give me motivation to watch ANY and ALL coverage that is available to me. Which reminds me. My niece told me one time when I was slobbering all over how awesome Scuds is, and I will quote this because I remember it exactly, "I hate Scuderi! He's so ugly!" She's young so I had to let it slide but... Rob Scuderi is a superhero therefore hot.

Pens 2 - Canes 0

Geno! UNREAL!

That third goal was unfuckingreal. Who can do that? Very few people. We have two of them. gah. Unreal. He told Max Talbot what he was going to do and then he just went and did it. That's amazing. Geno! What a fucking hero.

Canes tried to send a message through the whole game. High-sticking, taking runs, tripping (not that we were faultless but most of it was retaliatory). Letang and Satan said oh we can hear you loud and clear but no.

OH MY GOD! I still don't know if his face came out of that unmarked but all I could think about while it was happening was HIS HAIR. He has the best hair on the planet. Or maybe I just think that because I have a bit of a fascination with him. But, oh man, his hair. This little scuffle started, btw, because some awful man hit Lelover IN HIS FACE!WITH A STICK! Then another (even more awful?) man punched him IN HIS FACE!

Has he not seen Kris Letang's face? Seriously. What is wrong with people? This, of course, being after sticks were flying in faces through the whole game.

And because of the hair... this is after game 1.

... and I guess also because Craig Adams shirtless is a little bit of heaven. I particularly enjoy how the cameraman pans out and back in. He knows what's up. From shirtless Craig to hatless Lelover (whose voice has become, for me, like the sweetest sounding music... it's like puppies and bunnies singing and dancing in a field under a rainbow).


Good lord.

What was I talking about? oh yeah. Hockey. See? his hair takes me right out of the game.

Miro Satan got into a fight. That is funny. He beat the crap out of that guy. That is awesome.


Final score of game 2? 7 - 4
awesome. You don't expect 11 goals in a playoff game. It's exciting. But also your team allowed 4 goals and that can't happen... unless your team scores 7, but that isn't always going to happen.

I LOVE pictures that just say "Hal Gill is really tall and would appreciate it if you would stay the fuck away from our forwards".

This is the other fight that almost broke out. What did break out is Kris' hair. This was the first time it made an appearance last night.


Kris Letang is not 6'7" but he doesn't take too kindly to people fucking with our forwards either.

He looks sooooooooo mean. That's HOTT.

I can't think of anything in the world I would rather do than watch hockey. I feel terrible that I've missed so much of it. I became a fan in the late 80's and watched for probably 10 years. I have gone over 10 years mostly ignoring this sport. I mean, I saw highlights but I didn't watch the games on a regular basis. And I feel I must be penitent. I must atone for my sins.

This brings tears to my eyes.

Some wonderful person obviously told him to let loose the sex. I love him so much for listening to that person. I love that person for telling him. I don't mind the hat, of course. But the hair. And the face. See? Do you see his face? Why would somebody want to hit his face?

ha ha ha ha ahhhh heh. So I kept bitching about Gonchar being on the ice too much when he should be resting... I mean, they have been playing seven dmen because Gonchar isn't 100% yet and he's been playing the most out of the dmen. Is that stupid or what? Anyway DH got fed up with me bitching about Daddy Gonchar (he is strict with the young guys) and said, "Your boyfriend isn't doing so hot either. He turned that puck over. That's how they ('Canes) scored that last goal." I said... well, nothing. I just whimpered a little bit. I thought it looked like it was somebody else's fault but I just chalked that up to me being a Letang apologist. It really looked like he was passing it to Malkin who was skating towards the puck, or Fedotenko who was about to cross paths with it. Instead it landed on a 'Canes stick and SLAP! Goal. They just said on ESPN radio that he was passing it to Malkin and Malkin stopped. But he had a hat trick and we won so whatever. I can let people blame Lelover as long as we (me, Geno, Ruslan and Kris) know the truth. hmmmm... No I can't. I have to call my husband to tell him it was his boyfriend's fault, not mine.

And because this is my first post since it happened, congratulations Kris Allen! How cool was that?

Don't worry. The song isn't as bad as it was the first two times we heard it.

Just gorgeous.

oh. I came home from work yesterday and there was a bunch of makeup on the kitchen table. I went back outside and asked DH why he bought makeup. He said, and I will quote this, "I bought it for you." Bwah! After I was done laughing, I said, "I figured it wasn't for you." Some lady at Sam's Club talked him into it. "How did she manage to do that?" I asked. "She asked if I wanted to buy makeup for my wife. I told her no and she went into her whole thing." heh. He shouldn't be allowed out alone. I tried some of the eyeshadow today. It's lovely. Victoria Jackson, I think it is.

Conference Finals

Western Conference:
There are many reasons I wanted to see the Ducks defeat the Red Wings. The main reason though is that I am going to miss watching Jonas Hiller.

Jonas lost his shit last night. Who can blame him? It was Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals and the puck was under his pad. Cleary pushed his pad and the puck went over the line. ummm... goal? Fuck that. The puck was stopped.

"It was a tough goal, especially at the end," said Hiller, who finished with 36 saves. "It was more of a question if he's allowed just to put my pad in and not the puck. I don't think he ever saw the puck. He just thought it must be behind my pad, so he just pushed my pad. That's the only thing that I question."

I would have ultimately not been able to cheer for him anyway but it still upsets me. Way to go, Jonas. You've been brilliant. I'll be watching you next season.

His save percentage for the playoffs was a .943 so there isn't a whole lot left to say.

And also? Scott Niedermayer (who is my age, btw) skates like Tanger. Or Tanger skates like Niedermayer. Whatever. Somebody tipped me on that and I knew immediately that Niedermayer was #27. It's crazy.

There was only one reason I cared about the outcome of the Blackhawks/Canucks series.
Patrick Kane is an animal.

That blows my mind.
The Blackhawks won and now I have something to root for over in the West. Go Hawks!

Over here in the Eastern Conference all that matters is that Pittsburgh is in this and we're in this strong. Bonus? EStaal vs. JStaal.


Blackhawks (#4) vs. Red Wings (#2) puck drops on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. in Detroit.
Penguins (#4) vs. Hurricanes (#6) puck drops on Monday at 7:00 p.m. in Pittsburgh.
Four has suddenly become my favorite number.