NHL Connect ID:
evan
Description:
No answer
Favorite NHL Team:
Undecided
Favorite Sports/Teams:
Brampton Battalion, Syracuse Lacrosse, 1993 Canadiens, the A-Team, NY Jets, USA Hockey, Michigan Hockey
Favorite Players:
JMFJ, Dion Phaneuf, Rick Nash, Jordan Staal, Chelios, DiPietro, John LeClair, Mario, Dougie Gilmour, Emery, Shane O’Brien, Avery; Gary Carter, Keith Hernandez, Jose Reyes, Piazza, Koufax; Chuck Cecil, Ronnie Lott, Jeff Lageman, Jonathan Vilma, Urlacher, Pat Tillman, Earl Campbell, Burt Grossman, Rex Grossman, Nik Grossman; Oakley, Starks, Mase, Ewing; Donovan McNabb; the Gait Brothers; Powell Brothers; Ric Beardsley, Marshall Abrams, Chad Smith, Brodie Merrill, Petro; Ryan Getzlaf, Jon Bernier
Music:
Bruce
Books:
anything by Elmore Leonard
Movies:
Almost Famous, Shawshank, Vision Quest, Lebowski, Trading Places, Coming to America, Fargo, Die Hard, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The French Connection, Dazed and Confused, The Departed, Eddie and the Cruisers, Youngblood
Other interests:
lacrosse, writing, NHL08, playing golf/looking for golf balls in the woods, taping sticks, laying the lumber, current events, working out, chillin at the beach
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evan
May 27 2007 12:31
"Come out to the Coast, we'll have a few laughs. . ."
The nhl.com crew is about to wrap up our first day of action at the Stanley Cup Finals. Today started with a breakfast meeting at 8:30, California time. Coming from the Eastern Time Zone, we have an advantage, in that we’re still three hours ahead of everyone here. Except, of course, the people who drive hyper-speed on the freeways.
Our body clocks are still in New York. For example, I woke up at 4:00 this morning (7:00 back home) and basically waited for my alarm to ring for four hours. It would rule if getting up for work back east was that easy.
Anaheim skated at 10:30 and I continue to be amazed at just how large some of those guys are. Seriously. I think George Parros’ mustache is bigger than some members of the media. That’s one big dude. Nice guy too. But I never went into the corner with him.
Following the skate, we interviewed just about every single player on the team, GM Brian Burke and head coach Randy Carlyle. Next up were the Senators, and as striking as the Ducks size was in the early skate, what stood out about Ottawa was how loose they were. They were laughing and smiling and oohing and aahing some of the goals their teammates scored. It was interesting how different the personalities of these teams are. It will be even more interesting to see how their dueling personalities collide on the ice in Game 1.
Ottawa has yet to face any real adversity in the playoffs. They make no secret of their confidence in each other and they do not deny having a good time in their room. This is, after all, the team that dared goalie Ray Emery to eat a cockroach earlier in the season.
They are also a team that carries the attention of an entire nation with Canada pulling hard for the Cup to come home for the first time sine 1993. They may have a lot of pressure on them, but to their credit, the Senators aren’t freaking out. Not at all.
Not yet, at least.
California is new for a lot of us. But it looks a lot like Florida. Until you turn a corner and are suddenly at the top of one of those cliffs, staring down at the city like you see in the movies.
I’m dying to try a Del Taco.
Went to Newport Beach last night, home of one of my favorite shows (“The O.C.”). Try the fish tacos next time you’re there. Also be sure to check out the famous pier. And bring your skateboard.
There’s that scene in Pulp Fiction when they talk about “the little differences” between the United States and Europe. Like they don’t call a Quarter Pounder a Quarter Pounder there because of the metric system. Well, here in California, too, there are a lot of little differences. Like how you’re allowed to make bonfires on the beach here and they’ll arrest you for setting one back home.
But so far the biggest difference – and we haven’t been here that long – is what they have on the television at the bars. Back home, we have ballgames and hockey games on TV. Pop into a beach bar in California, and you’ll end up watching surfing.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
sens_fan
Mar 16 2007 15:11
P.S
thanks for taking that * yashin of our hands. after he left alfie’s stats went up and up
sens_fan
Mar 16 2007 15:07
RECORD BREAKING
man did u see the game on thursday against us. u know when we broke the record of scoring three goals in 76 SECONDS. now thats showing our true colours
pigeau77
Feb 26 2007 07:15
THANK YOU!
the best blog i have read …all about ROBERTS! yes he is a great athlete and from all his injuries…hes come back like never before!...wish he neve left toronto…hopefully he comes back today or tomorrow!
evan
Feb 26 2007 05:59
You smell that?
The Gary Roberts rumors persist. And why not? If you’re a buyer (a playoff team looking for a later-season addition to help out in the tournament) then Roberts, even if he is 40 years old, is exactly what any team could use. Sure, he’s had some injury problems and he’s not getting any younger, but I have seen, first-hand, just what a player like Roberts can mean to a team in the playoffs. I saw with my own eyes just what he brought to the Leafs in the 2002 first-round series against the Islanders. He was the toughest man on the ice in that seven-game series, and was a vital part of the Maple Leafs advancing. If anything put Toronto over the top in that classic series, it was the grit and playoff passion Roberts brought to the rink – something the Islanders had no answer for after losing Michael Peca and Kenny Jonsson (thanks to Roberts’ crushing hit) in Game 5. The Islanders were out-toughed so much in that series that they spent the next year and a half signing tough guys like Jason Wiemer to balance that area, to no avail. They never did find the right fit.
The rumors have Roberts heading anywhere from
Pittsburgh to Buffalo. Every rumor this week generally also involves all the top teams in the Western Conference. We should know soon where Roberts is heading, and who the lucky team is to retain his services for the stretch run and the playoffs. Also coming out of the rumor mill this afternoon are whispers Pittsburgh (they could be a major player in the next 24 hours) might also be interested in a guy like Todd Bertuzzi. Also, Detroit may have set their sights on a tough guy like Brad May.Interesting that teams are using buzzwords like “grit” and “toughness” approaching this year’s deadline, isn’t it? It sounds like a fashion trend or a pop culture fad, doesn’t it? What ever happened to teams looking for “speed” and “skating” like they were a year ago???