Foxy Friday: Dustin Penner

Foxiness can come in many ways, shapes, and forms.

Sometimes it can come in the way of physical beauty.  Other times from athletic prowess.  Still other times from humanistic endeavors like building houses for the poor.

In the case of Dustin Penner, it comes in two ways.

The Facial Hair and The Funny.

Dustin Penner is…subdued.
[click pic to watch the video]

When combined, this two forces have amazing foxy force, thus this week’s honor for the hero of Game 5.

There are few who can doubt that Penner’s “Man of the Mountain” facial hair is a thing of wonder.  Clearly it is one of the best things about the Kings’ unexpected journey from #8 seed to the Stanley Cup Finals.  (Besides the stellar goaltending of Jonathan Quick)

I’m legit obsessed with it.  Its fullness and ebony hue are exquisite.  It just looks SO RIGHT AND PERFECT.

If loving you is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.
[click pic for video]

Then add to that his dry and witty sense of humor, and well, I’m in love.

Other reasons why I’ve seen fit to bestow this great honor –

• He shares a birthday with my mom.  Momma Chuck would approve.
• He’s 6’4″, 245 lbs – a whole lotta lumberjack for us to love.
• He LOVES the LA Kings twitter.  So do we, Dustin.
• He’s funny, just like his mom and grandpa.  Now this is a family BBQ what we’d love to go to. DP and I would crush the competition in the three-legged race
• He injures himself eating a stack of delicious pancakes…then buts that self-deprecating humor to good use by hosting a charity breakfast at a local IHOP.

Hmmmmm….pancakes

• He leads the Kings in penalty minutes (26) and has 10 points (3 G, 7 A) in 14 playoff games this season.
• He scored the OT winner in Game 5 vs. the Coyotes to send the Kings to their 1st Stanley Cup Finals since 1993.  Like a boss.

• He’s rocking the hillbilly smile and he don’t care who knows it.

• He’s on the twitter (@Dustinpenner25) and tweets gems like this.

So, come on!  Get on board this Kings bandwagon.  I even saved you a seat!

Also, THIS.

So fluffy. Want to touch.

 

Foxy Friday: Alex Pietrangelo

Right now, things aren’t going so good for Alex Pietrangelo and his St. Louis Blues.

They are down 3-0 to the Los Angeles Kings and are on the verge of being eliminated, their hopes to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup almost gone.

We know what can cheer him up.

Being named a Foxy Friday!

Foxy Friday: Alex Pietrangelo

Hi. I’m Alex. Look at the perfect structure of my face.

Much like Zach Parise before him, we think that Alex would definitely be the sort of guy you’d like to take home to Mom.    Look at that face.  Adorable.

The 22-year-old Blues defenceman was part of a very talented NHL Draft Class of 2008.  He was selected 4th overall and was one of four defenseman drafted within the first 10 picks.

Also drafted in the top 10 that year – Steven Stamkos, Drew Doughty, Zach Bogosian, Luke Schenn, Colin Wilson, Mikkel Boedker, Cody Hodgson – just to name a few.

He’s the only normal one. Stamkos is a noob. Doughty’s hair is a hot mess.

His nickname is “Jello”.  When we go to see the Blues play someday, we’re totally making a sign that says “There’s Always Room for Jello!”

He has a serious bromace with Michael Del Zotto and Steven Stamkos. And when we say serious…we mean S-E-R-I-O-U-S.  Like junior high bromance level.  Pietrangelo comes across like a guy who remembers where he came from and the friends that helped get him there.  That is all sorts of foxy.

He’s a serious contender to win the Norris someday.  By all accounts, the 6’4″, 207lb d-man has all the skills required to become one of the best defenseman in the league.  While he got out to slow start in St. Louis, the organization and coaches speak so highly of him, that you have a feeling that his time will come.  Rumor has it that he has patterned his game and his shot after Nicklas Lidstrom.  And we all know what his career has been like.

Photo courtesy of Jen Krechel Photography

He has got poise. He can speak in complete sentences.  And he’s funny too.  Man knows his way around an interview.  After his NHL career is over, he definitely has a future in broadcasting.  

He has NHL in his blood.  His uncle, Frank, was a goalie for the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Hartford Whalers (Long Live the Whale!)

Other foxy factors…

• He had 12 G, 34 A, for 46 points this season.
• He and his defense partner, Kevin Shattenkirk (GO BU!) became the 4th set of d-men in Blues history to each record 40+ points in the same season (MacInnis/Pronger, MacInnis/Steve Duchesne, Jeff Brown/Scott Stevens).
• Youngest player in club history to record back to back 40 point season.
• He was the 2nd defenseman in Blues history to record 6 GWG and 6PPG in the same season.  The other? Al MacInnis.

So there you have it.  All you need to know about #27 Alex Pietrangelo, this week’s Foxy Friday.

We might be more than a little in love with him.

Foxy Friday – Jonathan Quick!

Who knew such a baby-face bad ass awaited?

 Everyone knows I LOVE GOALIES! And one who gets kisses from Drew Doughty on a regular basis would be high on my list!

Care for a three-some guys?!

But this ain’t the only reason he’s FOXY!

Jonathan Quick is a baby-face bad-ass! He’s a strong contender for this year’s Vezina Trophy, was a member of the USA’s Olympic Team who won a silver medal in the 2010 and is the ONE reason the LA Kings are in the play-offs this year.

He is the Merlin to the Kings’ royal court. HE IS PURE MAGIC.

Even the puck lives in fear of Quick.

YOU SHALL NOT PASS!

His wife is sister to NY Islanders’ Matt Moulson’s wife! Talk about six degrees of the Secret Lives of Hockey Wives! (BEST SHOW EVER/GUILTY PLEASURE! – get it on DVD – NOW!)

Say hello to your 'motha for me!

Quick was the Kings’ All-Star gift to the hockey gods.

How does this go on again?

He has confounded the Sedin-bot Twins in the play-offs and flummoxed Kesler. He kept his cool when Burrows was rifling shots at him and Edler was flopping on him like a seal sunbathing at high-noon!

oops - how'd I get in there?

 A goalie is your last line of defense, your best penalty killer and as Obvious-Guy says, your best player or your biggest chump!

don't let that smile fool you, he won't let you score!

So as Steven Colbert believes in his “bump” here’s ours FOXY FRIDAY BUMP!

GO KINGS!

Foxy Friday: Craig Smith

Did you really think we’d forget?

Okay, so for a minute there, we might have.  Here has just been so much work and life and commotion going on in the WUYS offices right now, that you can’t blame us.

But fear not!  Your Foxy Friday is here!

A bit late, but as they say “Better late than never.”

This week’s honoree – Craig Smith from the Nashville Predators

The Preds are putting together a serious campaign to take the title of NHL’s Foxiest this season.  Mike Fisher. Colin Wilson.  Pekka Rinne.  And now Craig Smith.

This 6’1″, 197 lb rookie center is right there with them.  His stats in his first season rank him 8th among NHL Rookies (13 G, 20 A, 33 pts) and the kid is starting to make a name for himself in Music City.

Also, he has good hair and bone structure that makes Patrick Sharp jealous.

I'm coming for your title, Sharpie.

He leads all Predators with 20 pts on the road this season.  He’s second amoungst all NHL Rookies with 6 power play goals this season.  And his play earned him a spot in the on the Rookie team at the NHL All Star game.

Second in assists by a Predator rookie in a single season (20), behind only Martin Erat (24, 2001-02). He also ranks third on the Preds all-time rookie points (31) -behind Radulov (18g-19a-37pts) and Erat (9g-24a-33pts).  He posted three points in a game vs. Vancouver which tied him from second-highest total by a rookie in Preds history.

Not too shabby for the former Wisconsin Badger from Madison.  Craig Smith is most deserving of the Foxy Friday honor.

But life ain’t always easy for the rookie.  Especially when this happens.

Awkberg. Even Mike Fisher is trying hard to not to laugh at the kid’s misfortune.  You just want to hug him, make him a mug of hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows and tell him that it is going to be okay.

But you have to admit…it is sort of funny.  Horrifiyingly embarassing, but funny.

Also, some of you with a strange Edward Cullen fantasy might find this photo sexy.

Craig Smith has vampire teeth.

The only member of the Cullen Clan worth giving up your mortal life for.

(Personally I find Edward Cullen a creepy, sparkly, controlling pedophile boyfriend, but I digress.) 

Foxy Friday: Gregory Campbell

This week, we’re going to the bench and giving the 4th line some playing time.

We thought it was time to give some love to the muckers and the grinders, the gritty players who claw and fight and forcheck their ways into our hearts.  While they might not show up on stat sheets or make it to ESPN’s Top 10, they are still deserving on our love.

And none is as deserving…or as foxy as Gregory Campbell, 4th line center for the Boston Bruins.

Thank you Lord for the v-neck tshirt.

Mean mugging with Horton and Looch

Campbell, or Soupy as he is affectionally known, came to the Bruins along with Nathan Horton in a trade at the beginning of the Bruins’s spectacular Stanley Cup season of 2010-2011.  He’s 6ft, 197 lbs of solid hockey man and has been a stalwart on the Bruins’ aggressive and impressive 4th line (aka the Merlot Line because of their wine colored practice jerseys) for much of the time he’s been with the Bs.

Hey Gurl.

He has ingraciated himself with the Bruins fans for his consistent and smart play…and his ability to bloody and pummel opposing players when the occasion call.  Sometimes he gets pummelled in return, but that just part of the game.  As the great band The New Radicals once said, “You gotta get what you give.”

Taking one for the team

He was a critical part of the Bruins’ Stanley Cup run where he masterfully center the penalty kill, limiting the Canucks to just two power-play goals in seven games.  He forechecks like a mutha.   He is strong on the face-off.  He even scores goals occasionally, like this beaut from last night’s game vs. the Sabres.

He has lovely eyes.  And his beard…well we all know how I feel about beards.

His arms inspire sonnets and proclamations of undying love.

He brings tasty pies to those that do not have pies.

He likes things shiny.

Sure, his dad might be Colin Campbell, former director of hockey operations for the NHL, but don’t think for one minute that this guy hasn’t earned his place in the NHL through nepotism or favoritism. He earned it through grit, determination, and and smart hockey sense.

He is an invaluable part of the Bruins squad and that alone makes him worth for this Foxy Friday honor.

Foxy Friday: Matt Duchene

If you haven’t realized it yet, Pants and I are sort of nerds (in a sexy, classy way of course).  So it it is only natural that we have a soft spot for nerdy guys.

They are the ying to our yang.  The milk to our cereal.  The chips to our salsa.

Now, when they happen to be  nerdy hockey players…well, that’s even better!  Our hearts just explode with rainbows and glitter.

Take this week’s Foxy Friday, for example.

Matt Duchene

"Who are you wearing?" "Uh, not sure. My mom bought this for me."

Is there anyone more adorkable? Seriously.

I mean look at him. He’s got to be one the nerdiest in the NHL.

But you know what?  It makes him all the more foxier.

So let’s break it down.  Why is Matt “Pass the Dutchy” Duchene deserving of such a prestigious honor like Foxy Friday?

He’s got the serious hockey flow. We all love the flow… when done correctly. (We’re looking at you, Steven Stamkos.)

Dutchy gives you WINGS!

He is a fan of nerdy things – just like us.  Soulmate.

He’s got the sweet dance moves.

He love vodka.  So do we, Matt.  So. Do. We.

He loves country music.  Which automatically makes Pants love him more.

Honestly, how can you not love a man who can go from this…

We love a man that can rock a jort.

to this…

Hai sexy girlfriend.

It’s called versatility, people.

He’s self-deprecating and goofy and he gives off the vibe that he doesn’t take himself so seriously.  Which I’m sure most of us can attest to, is a very foxy quality in a man – hockey player or otherwise.

Obviously, we can’t forget Matt’s hockey skills, which is a large part of the reason why he is this week’s honoree.

He’s only got 25 points this season (12 G/13 A) but he did just returned to the lineup on Feb. 18th after missing 20 games with a knee injury.

But when you score flithy goals like this AND play on a line with Gabe Landeskog and Ryan O’Reilly (aka the Ultrasound Line), we don’t think it will take very long for Dutchy to remedy that situation.

Follow Matt on the twitter – @Matt9Duchene

Foxy Friday: Henrik Lundqvist

It’s official.

We’ve done lost our minds.

Commit us to the looney bin.  Get us some stylish straight jackets and lock us in that padded room with Justin Timberlake and his weird blond curly ‘fro.

Why you ask?

Well, first of all, three of the last six Foxy Friday have been New York Rangers.  Three!

What is wrong with us? We’re not supposed to like the Rangers. But we just can’t help ourselves.  There is a disproportional amount of foxy on that team.

Secondly, and the most eggregious violation of them all is out of those three, NONE of those have been Henrik Lundqvist.

5-minute major to us. We go to the box. We feel shame.

We’re sorry, Henrik.  Really, we are.  We still love you.  Can you forgive us?  Remember that time that I made you smile?  You know the one….

Oh, all right. I guess so.

Seriously, we’re super sorry.  Just chalk it up to us talking about you all the time anyway that I just assumed that we’d already honored you and your glorious face/hair/smile/dimples/talent/suits.

So make it up hunka hunka burnin’ Hank and show him how much we care, I’m going to make this an extra special Foxy Friday.

We all know the reasons that HL30 is foxy – awesome hockey player, pretty good guitar player, Swedish, lover of lingonberriers, etc etc – but seriously…just look at him.

Go ahead.

We’ll wait….

Doesn’t he just make you feel so fluffy and happy?

*sigh*

Look at him. How is that even fair?

Real men wear purple.

Swedish James Bond

His other job - wearing a suit. Like a boss.

I'm totally moving to Sweden.

And to sum it all up…

Yes.

Happy Foxy Friday everyone!  

Or as they say in Sweden – Lycklig Foxy Fredag!

Okay. I forgive you.

Foxy Friday: Jonathan Ericsson

We’ll be the first to admit that our coverage of the players in the Western Conference is limited.

Our Foxy Fridays tend to have a more…shall we say, biased skew.  But you can’t really fault us when our favorite teams are in the East Coast, that tends to happen.

You can imagine our delight when one of our twitter followers (@elishajaffer all the way from Dar es Saalam, Tanzania!) suggested Jonathan Ericsson as a potential Foxy Friday.  Perfect!  A chance to expand our horizons and troll the Western Conference team for individuals worthy of such an honor.

We did a google search.  And a new love was born.

Even with this watermark on my face, you still cannot resist the sexy time.

“Hello!” I exclaimed.  “Where have you been all my life?”

He sort of has this Kris Letang thing going on and you know how we feel about that…especially Dawn.

We are very much enjoying the flavor of your Kool-Aid, Mr. Ericsson.

Ladies, let us celebrate this amazing honor with awkwardly long hugs.

So what makes this Detroit Red Wing so foxy?

• He’s Swedish.  You all know how we feel about Swedish hockey players.  They breed them goooood over there.  Two words – Henrik Lundqvist.
• He’s a 6’4″, 218 lbs defenseman for an Original Six hockey franchise.

• He started his career at center but after playing one game on defense for his junior team, a Red Wings scout convinced him to play defense.  The team then drafted him that summer in the 2002 Entry Draft.
• Speaking of drafts, he was the LAST player selected in 2002.  Dead. Freaking. Last.  Nothing motivates a player more than being picked last.  Just ask Phil Kessel.
• In 2011, he signed a fatty of a contract with the Wings – three-years, $9.75 million.  He’s making in rain up in hurrrrr.

But you know what really makes him Foxy?

This face.  

It’s pretty much perfect.

Sort of like a young Andrew Shue from Melrose Place. Only hotter. And Swedish. And a hockey player.

Foxy Friday: Brian Boyle

Damn you, HBO.

Damn you to the 7th level of hell with your evil ways and your trickery. Damn you for making me fall in love with NHL players that I should hate.

Take Brian Boyle, for example.

I should hate Brian Boyle.  And by hate, I mean HAAAAAAATE.  Like fire of a thousands suns HATE.

The man is a Ranger AND he played for Boston College (BC Sucks!).  My hatred for this man should be absolute.

Believe me.  I’ve tried to hate him.  I swear.  But I’ve failed.

As much as it pains me to admit it, I have to face the facts.

Brian Boyle is *gulp* Foxy.

He’s 6’7″, 244 lbs and was the 26th overall draft pick in the 2003 NHL Draft. He is a local guy who grew up cheering for the Boston Bruins.  He is the middle of 13 kids (God Bless his dear mother). He has AH-MAH-ZING hair.  His hands make me swoon.  Eddie Cahill (aka Jim Craig) is his doppelgänger.

NOT Brian Boyle.

So he doesn’t put up numbers like some other Ranger forwards. No big deal.  What he lacks in stats, he more than makes up for it with wit and humor.

And THAT, my friends, is just one of the reasons that Brian Boyle is this week’s Foxy Friday honoree.

He’s goofy and funny and undoubtedly one of the most liked guys in the Rangers locker room.  He’s a gem on 24/7 (waking up from nap, Proust helping him get dressed) and comes across as genuine and easy-going.

He can be on my beer pong team any day.

Being around him must be joyful and fun and we can only imagine that playing with him is even more enjoyable.  I really don’t think there would ever be a dull moment with Brian Boyle around.

Brian, you had me at “SANTA! I KNOW HIM.”

Love. 

Last week, I thought Pants was off her rocker for choosing Ryan Callahan as the Foxy Friday.

But now, here I am.

Just as guilty and brainwashed as she is.

Word.

Foxy Friday: Joffrey Lupul

Today I turned to the Twitterverse for my Foxy Friday inspiration.

Our lovely followers came up with some fantastic choices, but there was one who stood out amongst the rest…

Joffrey Douglas Sheldon Lupul

courtesy of sammanthamariee.tumblr.com

courtesy of h0ckey-l0ve.tumblr.com

We just don’t hand these out willy-nilly, you know, so why is Joffrey so deserving of the Foxy Friday honor?

• He’s 6’1″, 206lbs.
• 28 years old, born in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta.
• He is TEARIN IT UP for the Leafs this season.  13 goals, 19 assists.  32 points, which puts him as #4 in the league.  Certainly doesn’t hurt that Cartman Phil Kessel is on your line.
  

  Big time.

• Drafted 7th overall in the 2002 Entry Draft.  You know who was the #1 pick that year?  The one and only Rick Nash.
• First player to score a playoff hat-trick in Anaheim franchise history.
• First player to score four playoff goals in one game, including an overtime winner.
• First player to score all four of his team’s goals in a playoff game.
• He has managed to come back from some serious and scary injuries, a spinal cord contusion and an a blood infection after back surgery that would keep him out almost a year. 

• He spells his name all weird.  And we dig it.

That's J-O-F-F...Yea, I know its weird. Just go with it...

• He enjoys playing the guitar.  We’d gladly allow him to serenade us.  Pants likes the love songs of the Barenaked Ladies.  I love me the song stylings of Hall & Oates.
  

  We're totally taking this show on the road. WORLD TOUR!

• He is on the twitter – @jlupul.  And you all know how we feel about hockey players on twitter – tweet GOLD.

They only THINK I'm Canadian...

Foxy Friday Bonus

Check out Joffrey’s crib when he was playing with the Flyers.  

He loves guacamole.  

So do we.