The Kings won again, they always do. I’ll let Chuck or Dawn recap it for you. The game was exceptionally fun to watch, since I don’t really care about the outcome. But here’s something I do care about:
HEY SID! He was on to Jumbrotron and, of course, promptly booed. Genius. He hasn’t played against the Kings since November 2009. What are you booing? Because the Kings have half the Flyers, you want to boo Crosby? Because the Kings made a Verizon commercial where they play the Flyers? Oh shut up. Boo Matt Duchene, he matters against your team!
(Sorry, /endrant. It actually makes me laugh.)
Some of us were thrilled to see Sid. He told HNIC that he feels good and is training hard. The fact that Duchene was in the same suite almost makes Crosby look fun, no? A little? Eh, we can’t have everything.
Here are the celebs they could muster up for a Monday night in LA. We want to sit by Alyssa Milano, she looks suitably concerned even when her team is winning. And we all look good in her Touch women’s team gear.
Monday I said, “Can we get an off-season photo of Steven Stamkos?” If he started wearing a ponytail for the summer, I want get my crying out of the way before workout videos start to pop up.
Today, VOILA.
This video of Steven accepting an award for being Steven-tastic not only includes him talking on a child’s plastic telephone and being chased around a Christmas tree by a toddler in a pillow fight, but also HE CUT HIS HAIR.
YAAAYY…WAIT. I’m not sure we’re going on by his ear – can someone just push his hair back there? With the super-high collar, this look is a little too “nervous religious-affiliated high school graduation” for me. Is it too short? Too vanilla?
Uh oh, I kinda miss the long hair! Just a little flow, like this:
Nothing crazy, like when he was working weekends pumping gas for gator trawlers in the Everglades:
No? I’m just used to looking through 3D glasses and now the world seems all flat and ordinary? This was really the best:
Can you argue with advertising campaigns?
I hate to start asking already if it’s October yet… I’ll try to hold off. Stammer was having a shoulder issue late in the season, and says it’s feeling better after a month off [link]. He’ll be in Vegas for the NHL Awards, accepting the Rocket Richard trophy for his 60-goal performance and as a nominee for the Hart Trophy. There’s a negative-seven percent chance he’ll have any kind of tan, so pack your sunglasses.
This is what happens in summer, y’all: style consultations and gratuitous cross-sports graphics.
The stage is nearly set for the ultimate NHL showdown. The Devils and Rangers battle it out at center stage while the Kings wait in the offing for their opponent to be named. It’s a long, hard fight to be among the last teams standing. Every one inch is earned.
This week, we salute the beards of some Unsung Unshaven Heroes. Marquee name or rookie sensation, it doesn’t matter what their contracts say now.
They fight on – and the proof of is all over their faces.
Lying dead on the floor in front of my TV was not an ideal Saturday night, but at least I wasn’t the only one. I won’t get down on the Caps for their game seven performance because it’s not what I want to remember all summer.
This year, I watched more hockey than ever. I wore out the Center Ice Package and my DVR (and my husband’s patience). I went to more games this season than in my entire life combined – 29, that we could remember, and every one of them a Caps game. I gave up trying to fight it.
Just when you’re feeling down, you can count on Mike to take a photo of himself standing in the bathroom for you to find on the internet.
So thanks, Caps, for a season that was better for me than it was on the scoresheet: more fun, more memorable, possibly more frustrating than any game recap could recall. Some of my all-time hockey fan highlights were written this year. There were also moments of tough love when doors were slammed, channels changed – I once got so mad at Mike that I threw a fit and bought a Backstrom shirt out of spite.
Yeah, I’m crazy. I just never thought it would be for them.
Now “there’s always next year,” and the year after that. But what I’ll really miss is what can never quite be repeated – the ecstatic, hilarious, infuriating magic that is a single season, with a single team, and almost always ends too soon.
Last night’s Caps/Rangers Game 6 was officially the most fun I’ve ever had at a hockey game. Maybe it was the Jeff Schultz Fan Club in front of us at warm-ups – hey, there really is someone for everyone. Maybe it was the “Let’s Let Karl’s Dogs Out” sign or the Flo Rida dance party. It could have been this hug from iCarly:
We sat with the near the best people ever. To our left, a mom with an adorable 1-year old baby girl in her lap. She passed said baby to dad so she could have her hands free when yelling, “Call something, you blind $&#*@*^ ref!!” at the top of her lungs. The guys behind us were doing NHL Mystery Science Theatre 3000 – I wish I’d recorded them. Gems like:
Person in crowd: “Let’s go Rangers!”
Guy behind us: “I can’t hear you over the winning!”
Instead of a tired, boring “Lundqvist, you suck!”, we got, “Who puts a V after a Q?!” and a million more. It helped reduce the tension of holding my breath for sixty minutes.
There were also a couple of goals. (In Russian, I love the way he says, “Green.”)
Nicky lost his helmet and we all swooned like Disney princesses. All 4 feet, 11 inches of Keith Aucoin was getting in Brian Boyle’s… well, somewhere around his rib cage, I guess, but it looked feisty. Joel Ward got a HUGE cheer when announced in the starting lineup. Chimera was a beast – he wanted to fight so badly, but we prefer when he scores. Best facial expression of the night:
Holtby was outstanding. You should see all the 70 shirts in this place now. He woulda (shoulda, coulda) had the shutout if not for Ryan Gosling Carl Hagelin’s uncalled goalie interference, but who cares? The moment of “Oh God, not again!” panic when Gaborik scored with 50 seconds left passed, and the game was over.
Now we’ve all got Saturday Date Night with the Rangers and Caps at 7:30 PM. Put on your dancing shoes!
The only reasons to be awake at 7 AM on a Saturday are you’re 1) still up from the night before or 2) buying playoff hockey tickets. I woke Gator up with a text and we debated (read: I peer pressured her). Something was telling me to go. The Force was communicating. So we went.
THANK GOD.
HUG EVERYONE!
Mike warmed up with his helmet on, which he never does. I guess a 12:30 start didn’t give him enough time to do his hair (reason #3 for being up at 7 AM?). It’s not as if he wakes up looking like this:
Worth every penny. (Thanks @jlrpuck, who dropped her camera after this one.)
First Ovi scored, and the Rangers scored. Nicky scored, the Rangers scored. Then with just under six left in the third, Mike did this:
Be still my beating heart.
I tackled Gator like a squid and we almost fell off the upper deck. If any single voice in the Verizon Center was louder than mine, I challenge that person to a duel. Mike Green goals are my favorite thing in the history of things.
If I had missed living that moment, I’d be devastated-while-ecstatic and I’m not sure how many feelings I can feel at the same time and survive.
It’s not just the goal. It’s EVERYTHING. Okay, maybe I’m overstating it, but Mike needs confidence. He needs to trust the judgement that made him a 70-point scorer and two-time Norris trophy candidate. Green stepping up on offensive plays can give this team a boost it doesn’t always find on the front line. Nicky getting on the board feels awfully good too.
Piglet Power!
Here’s Mike’s post-game interview [link] and post-practice from Sunday [link]. I love his beard – this must be his real hair color (you know he dyes that hedgehog perfection).
From NewYorkTimes.com: Afterward, in the Capitals’ locker room, Green, 26, was reminded how he, Ovechkin, Backstrom and Alexander Semin were once called the Young Guns.
“We’re not that young anymore,” he said, smiling. “But it’s good to know we can still put it in the net.”
Yeah, that’s what I she said.
On the cover of today’s Washington Post Express – I love Mondays!
Game 5 tonight at 7:30 PM. Listen for the screaming.
Paulina Gretzky did male hockey fans a favor by getting frisky all over Instagram this week. If you heard DC’s Elliot in the Morning today, it was a gem. But it’s a little unfair, don’t you think? They get bikinis and we get beards?
Ladies, don’t worry. Sweden never lets us down.
No really, they help everybody.
We would much rather see this face in the playoffs, but I’m coping much better with the Blackhawks off-season by knowing that Viktor Stalberg must have a cameo in Marvel’s The Avengers. I bet he’s defeating evil and restoring justice to a world where everyone has access to whitening toothpaste.
Check out which of your favorite NHL players have joined their national teams for the IIHF World Championships here. The tournament competition starts May 4 and you can follow it here.
Whatever you’re doing right now, it’s not as much fun as watching Viktor Stalberg speak Swedish [video]. I need him (or Hammer, below) to teach me to correctly pronounce all the names in The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.
The Blame Mike Green Train has left the station with all NBC announcers aboard. I hope it derails (off a bridge) and only Liam McHugh’s career survives.
Don't hate him because he's...
Mike had a rough day Saturday. He was -2 with no points and only 1 shot. He fanned on a couple of power play set-ups from the point. His defense was the worst part – Anisimov danced around him for the first goal, then a turnover caught Mike on a line change and he chased Kreider like that chick in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade who falls to her death trying to reach the Holy Grail.
Criticism is warranted. Mike has not been a factor (1 G, 1 A, both in losses) in these playoffs. But when Mike Milbury rips on someone I get the urge to punch a cartoon character. Jeremy Roenick and Keith Jones were on about it again Sunday during intermissions. They also seemed shocked that Sasha Fierce took two bad penalties. That one made me laugh out loud.
'You too, buddy?'
I understand they can’t watch every team all season. I also hope Caps fans don’t take their word for it and forget to have a little faith. Hell, we’ve been living off it all season! Green has not been great. Neither have Ovi, Wideman or half a dozen other players. We got by Boston in a true team effort, but we’ll need a little showstopper action to beat New York. Pooh Bear, Piglet and Co. better find their way out of the Hundred Acre Wood. I expect more and hope to see it tonight in Game 2.
It's like a glorious bird's nest. I also love the beard.
Ugh, I’m so optimistic! I even like Ovi’s goatee for heaven’s sake. One good series and I feel like we can take on the world. Caps, please don’t let me be the only one!
Photos courtesy of the lovely & talented Sonia Jin (@lihui815) and there are more here. Thank you!
Captain Fill-in-the-Blank, fearless leader of the Chicago Blackhawks, is celebrating a birthday. Do you think he eats cake? I think he does today. A whole cake, in front of the TV, yelling at the Flyers/Devils game sounds about right. I might do the same – you know, in solidarity. Then we can go to the gym.
The Toews Fan Club meets here every time I post about him, so there’s not much else to say. Stanley Cup, Conn Smythe, Gold Medal, a lake named after him… he’s had a good 23 years, 365 days. The Hawks season is over (*sniff*) but Jon and his team will be back in October t0 go again. Here’s this year’s Last Day of School interview [link].
I know it’s sad, but hopeful too. It’s the Stalberg one that nearly made me cry (talk about cake…). Now chin up, y’all. Once you get past the loss, summer is not so bad…
Last year’s Birthday Boy: Jonathan Toews post, just for fun (and more photos).
What's Up, Ya Sieve? 
