Not Tonight…

Hockey is a game of bounces; sometimes they are in your favor and sometimes you can’t seem to catch a break. It’s a game of unpredictability; you’re up three goals one minute and down one the next.

Brendan Burke had all of the bounces going his way.

He was the youngest son of Brian Burke, the president and general manager of the National Hockey League’s Toronto Maple Leafs. He was the student manager for the Miami Redhawks men’s hockey team. He saw his father’s Anaheim Ducks hoist the Stanley Cup. He told his father he was gay and that father’s love and support did not waver one bit.

But too soon did those bounces end.

Moments after the Washington Capitals came out victors over the Atlants Thrashers, the focus of a rabid fanbase drastically altered.

23 minutes after exclaiming “Green!!!” for the empty net goal scored by Mike Green, I was relaying James Mirtle’s saddening message on Twitter:

The Leafs sent out a statement saying that Brian Burke’s son was killed in a car accident. No other details available

It’s wasn’t Brendan. We were just reading his story a few months ago. He was only 21. It just couldn’t be.

The updates and condolences started flowing from all over. It was in fact Brendan Burke.

Brendan Burke. The kid who had to keep part of himself a secret for fear of being ridiculed. The kid who told an entire community that he was gay. The kid who was trying to rid the world of sports of homophobic slurs and inequality.

The hockey community is like no other.

To me, it feels like an enormous extended family. You will always have your differences, but at the end of the day, you band together through both triumph and tragedy.

The death of Brendan Burke is one of those times where winning streaks, last minute comebacks, and shootout losses didn’t matter any more. All of that was pushed to the back of every hockey fan’s mind as we all tried to process what had just occured.

Even knowing his story and understanding what kind of issues it was bringing up, I never imagined that Brendan’s story would have reached so many people. He came from the world of hockey.  Something that is synonymous with Canada. But the rest of the world? Not so much. Yet for even the briefest of moments, “Brendan Burke” was trending higher worldwide than “Kobe” and “Justin Bieber” on Twitter. Even the Hollywood gossip columnist Perez Hilton tweeted about the story to his followers. His message of equality in sports must have been clear.

It says a lot about him when people far outside of the hockey spectrum are taking notice for his actions. He left a powerful mark on everyone.

And all the while, his father stood by his side. While he had wished his son hadn’t taken on this burden of being a “pioneer,” Brian Burke expressed the deepest pride and admiration for his youngest son.

As  Sean Leahy of Puck Daddy stated:

Brendan’s story wasn’t just an inspiring tale for others facing societal challenges to their sexual identity; it was one that symbolized a deep respect between a father and son.

 

Make sure you go read Pension Plan Puppets’ and SBNation’s posts on Brendan.

 

(ESPN)

Rest In Peace

The Cardinal Rules of Being a Puck Bunny

You might not know this, but there are puck bunny rules to live by. I’ve got ‘em right here for you.

 

 

 

The Top

The jersey. It needs to be short enough to not cover your butt. This is a critical aspect of PBA. The team’s home/away jersey is best. You want to make sure that you kind of blend in with the rest of the crowd. But if you decide you want something a little different, the “Be Luv’d” and “Ice Flirt” versions are perfectly acceptable.

Whose name do you get on the back? In the Caps bunny circle, they really like Brooks Laich, Alex Ovechkin, Mike Green, Nick Backstrom, and Alex Semin.

Oh man. And how could I forget?

Matt Bradley. He’s a stud muffin amongst bunnies. Totes gorgey.

Some girls love to add the “Mrs.” in front of their favorite player’s name. So fetch on the right girl.

The Bottoms

Number 1 rule for this part of the outfit: BLACK. LEGGINGS. An absolute must! This ties together the short jersey look. If you’re feeling a little wild, go with the sequin leggings!

Rule number B: NO PANTS! Never wear pants when you’re going out to a hockey event. You have to flaunt what ya got, hon! Make all those hockey players say HEYGIRLHEY!

The Footwear

UGGS. Nothin’ but Uggs. You’ll put the “ugg” in “Uhh…GORGEOUS!” I mean, you could match them with your team colors, but the regular tanny colored Uggs look supa cute.

 

 

 

You have to get noticed. Signs are an absolute MUST! Here’s a few examples of really awesome signs:

See? They’re suggesting an after-game meeting spot. Perfect.

Having your number readily available? GREAT.

Be direct. Very direct. It betters your chances.

 

And if you really want to go all out:

There are lots of other little complicated rules to being a puck bunny, but these are the basic (and most important).

The follow up post coming at a time TBD: the comparison of the female fan and the puck bunny.

How ’bout those Hawks pictures?

I don’t mean to drag out an issue that’s really not that much of an issue, but people keep searching for the pictures of three Blackhawks (Patrick Kane, Kris Versteeg, and John Madden) having a night out in Vancouver. So here they are (all from Kurtenblog):

And no pants….

People on the interwebs are now starting to say that the players aren’t focused enough, especially Kane considering the incident over the summer.

I guess I’ll go ahead and call bullshit on the “Kane’s not focused” argument.

Here’s an analogy that I think may work:

Patty is to party as Ovi is to sex

We all remember Ovi’s Russian TV interview where he said sex helps before and after games.

Well, maybe partying helps Patty out. He’s averaging a little more than a point per game (1.11); leads the Hawks in goals (21), assists(39) and points(60); and is 5th in the League in assists, 6th in points, and 8th in game winning goals (5).

Obviously, he’s doing something right.

Ovi vs Sid: The Stats

“Well, we called each other this summer and he asks me how I score goals, and I ask him how to do assists.”  -Alex Ovechkin

One player is known more for his lethal shot than his passing abilities. The other is known for almost the complete opposite.

Ovechkin is the goal scorer. Crosby is the passer.

The only season Ovi has ever ended with more assists than goals was his rookie year. The last three have seen him either surpass or equal the amount of helpers he has. Sid has never had more goals than assists. Actually, he has almost always doubled his assists while hovering around around the 30s in goals.

Let’s compare these two stars’ seasons thus far:

The Basics

This season shows more balance from Crosby and more assists than goals from Ovechkin:

	GP	G	A	P
Alex Ovechkin	43	33	37	70
Sidney Crosby	51	33	31	64

 

23 of Ovi’s assists and 20 of Crosby’s were primary. Both have 8 power play goals. Ovechkin has 25 tallies at even strength and Crosby has 24.

Crosby’s career-high 39 goals came in his rookie campaign. Ovechkin’s career-high 54 assists came in both his rookie and ‘08-’09 seasons. It seems almost certain that, with at least 30 remaining, both will better those statistics this year.

Team Records

The Caps have gotten 55 of their 72 points when Ovechkin has put up at least a point. The Pens have gotten 46 of their 63 when Crosby has put up at least a point.

	Alex Ovechkin	Sidney Crosby
At least a point	25-5-5	23-10-0
Multiple-point games	17-3-2	14-3-0
Multiple-goal games	8-0-1	8-1-0

 

Game Winners

Both have had a hand in eight different game winners. Ovechkin has a slight upper hand in GWG.

	Alex Ovechkin	Sidney Crosby
Total times involved	8	8
Goals	4	3
Assists	4 (2 primary, 2 secondary)	5 (2 primary, 3 secondary)

 

Even Strength

At 5-on-5, Ovechkin gets 67.1% of his points, while Crosby gets 68.8%.

	Alex Ovechkin	Sidney Crosby
Points	47	44
Goals	25	24
Assists	22 (16 primary, 6 secondary)	20 (13 primary, 7 secondary)

 

Special Teams

Both Ovi and Crosby have more assists than goals on the PP. Crosby has two shorthanded points.

	Alex Ovechkin	Sidney Crosby
PP Points	23	18
PP Goals	8	8
PP Assists	15 (8 primary, 7 secondary)	10 (5 primary, 5 secondary)
SH Points	0	2
SH Goals	0	1
SH Assists	0	1 (primary)

 

Home/Away

Both players are better at home, but Ovi has more goals away than at home.

	Alex Ovechkin	Sidney Crosby
Home Games	20	24
Points	36	43
Goals	15	21
Assists	21 (13 primary, 8 secondary)	22 (14 primary, 8 secondary)
+/-	+22	+17
Road Games	23	27
Points	34	21
Goals	18	12
Assists	16 (10 primary, 6 secondary)	9 (6 primary, 3 secondary)
+/-	+8	-6

 

Against the Southeast (The Caps division)

Ovi and Crosby both have 10+ points against the SE. Ovi had the most points against Carolina, while Crosby had the most against Florida.

	Alex Ovechkin	Sidney Crosby
Atlanta	3 games	2 games
Points	2-2-4	0-1-1
+/-	+2	-3
Carolina	3 games	2 games
Points	0-5-5	1-0-1
+/-	+2	EVEN
Florida	1 game	4 games
Points	1-0-1	4-1-5
+/-	EVEN	-2
Tampa Bay	2 games	2 games
Points	2-2-4	0-2-2
+/-	EVEN	+1
Washington	-	1 game
Points	-	1-0-1
+/-	-	-1
TOTAL	5-9-14, +4 (9 games)	6-4-0, -5 (11 games)

 

Against the Atlantic (The Pens division)

Ovi loves the Flyers, while Side prefers the Rags.

	Alex Ovechkin	Sidney Crosby
New Jersey	2 games	4 games
Points	1-4-5	0-2-2
+/-	+5	-3
New York Islanders	2 games	3 games
Points	1-1-2	3-5-8
+/-	-2	EVEN
New York Rangers	2 games	3 games
Points	1-0-1	6-3-9
+/-	-2	+7
Philadelphia	3 games	4 games
Points	5-2-7	4-2-6
+/-	+7	+3
Pittsburgh	1 game	-
Points	2-1-3	-
+/-	+2	-
TOTAL	10-8-18, +10 (10 games)	13-12-25, +7 (14 games)

 

Pictures are good

I took in my first Caps practice at Kettler yesterday with my mom.  We missed the Vienna train by not even a second and got to KCI later than expected. I didn’t have an ideal picture-taking spot until people cleared out after (maybe?) Juice Boy. Not much of a variety this time around. No doubt I’ll be there early next time.

Here are my favorites from the day. (The entire set is here.)

Capital Offense

When people talk about the Caps offense, you’ll sometimes hear phrases like ”offensive juggernaut” and “the most explosive offense in the League” used to describe it.

Here are a few quick notes on that explosive offense if you aren’t familiar:

• In the past seven games (1/5-1/17), the Caps have scored four or more goals (4, 5, 8, 4, 5, 6, 5—only one loss in that span).
• There might not be a player with a hat trick, but the team leads the League in goals for with 178 goals. That’s 18 more than the next team.
• The top Power Play percentage (25.1%) belongs to the Caps. We’ve also got the best home PP% (25.6).
• Aside from callups, every Caps forward has scored at least a goal. Only two players (Shaone Morrisonn and John Erskine) have yet to get a goal. Both ShaMo and Erskine have four and three assists respectively.
• Of the nine callups, four (Mathieu Perreault, Keith Aucoin, Alex Giroux, and Jay Beagle) scored at least a goal. Six have at least two points (add Karl Alzner and Kyle Wilson to the previous group). Only Boyd Kane, Andrew Gordon, and John Carlson have failed to register a point.
• We have four of the top 10 +/- leaders: 1-Ovi (+28), 2-Schultz (+27), 9-Backstrom (+20), 10-Green (+20). 
• Eight players have 25+ points. Six have 30+. Four have 40+.
• Excluding Jason Chimera (because he scored eight of his 10 goals with Columbus), we have NINE 10+ goal scorers. Chicago is the next closest with eight.
• The Caps, Vancouver, and San Jose are the only teams with TWO 20+ goal scorers. Here’s a look at the number of 10+ and 20+ goal scorers on each team in the League.
• There have been 34 multiple-goal games for the Caps; the league average is under 13 per team. (via @washcaps)

Breaking down the multiple-goal games:

• Brendan Morrison: 1—Nov. 6 vs FLA (2-0-2)
• Eric Fehr: 1—Nov. 28 vs MTL (2-0-2)
• Mike Green: 2—Dec. 4 vs PHI (2-2-4), Jan. 12 vs TBL (2-0-2)
• Mike Knuble: 3—Nov. 7 vs FLA (2-2-4), Jan. 9 vs ATL (2-0-2), Jan. 15 vs TOR (2-0-2)
• Brooks Laich: 3—Oct. 1 vs BOS (2-1-3), Nov. 1 vs CBJ (2-0-2). Jan. 17 vs PHI (2-1-3)
• Tomas Fleischmann: 4—Oct. 30 vs NYI (2-0-2), Nov. 7 vs FLA (2-0-2), Dec. 5 vs PHI (2-0-2), Dec. 15 vs COL (2-0-2)
• Nicklas Backstrom: 5—Oct. 8 vs NYR (2-0-2), Nov. 30 vs CAR (2-1-3), Dec. 12 vs TOR (2-0-2), Dec. 23 vs BUF (2-0-2), Jan. 7 vs OTT (2-1-3)
• Alexander Semin: 7—Oct. 3 vs TOR (2-1-3), Oct. 6 vs PHI (2-0-2), Nov. 11 vs NYI (2-0-2), Dec. 3 vs FLA (2-2-4), Dec. 11 vs CAR (2-0-2), Jan. 5 vs MTL (2-0-2), Jan. 9 vs ATL (2-1-3)
• Alex Ovechkin: 8—Oct. 1 vs BOS (2-1-3), Oct. 6 vs PHI (2-1-3), Oct. 15 vs SJS (2-0-2), Oct. 17 vs NSH (2-0-2), Oct. 27 vs PHI (2-0-2), Oct. 29 vs ATL (2-1-3), Dec. 7 vs TBL (2-0-2), Dec. 19 vs EDM (2-1-3)

Between 17 players, there are 104 multiple-point games so far this season:
-Kyle Wilson, Keith Aucoin, Brian Pothier, Mathieu Perreault, and Jason Chimera all have 1.
-Tom Poti and Eric Fehr each have 2.
-Jeff Schultz and Matt Bradley each have 3.
-Brendan Morrison has 4.
-Mike Knuble and Tomas Fleischmann each have 6.
-Brooks Laich has 9.
-Mike Green has 12.
-Nicklas Backstrom has 15.
-Alexander Semin has 17.
-Alex Ovechkin has 20.

And a little more on Mike Green:

In the three point streaks he’s had, he’s also had at least two multi-point games in each.
–From October 12-November 1 (9 games), he went 1-9-11 with two multi-point games.
–From November 11-November 25 (8 games), he went 1-11-12 with four multi-point games.
–From January 2-January 17 (8 games), he’s gone 3-8-11 with three multi-point games including one multi-goal game (Jan. 12).

An Organization Full of Win

There’s a certain winning mentality that flows through the entire Washington Capitals organization.

There might be a few shaky areas of each team’s game, but they have all managed to hold enormous leads in the divisions and be at the top of their conferences.

Here’s a comparison of Washington, Hershey, and South Carolina:

	Washington	Hershey	South Carolina
Record	30-12-6	32-9-0-2	28-9-2-4
Home Record	16-3-3	17-3-0-2	13-6-1-1
Away Record	14-9-3	15-6-0-0	15-3-1-3
League Standing	3rd	1st	1st
Conference	1st	1st	1st
Division	1st	1st	1st
Overall PP	1st (25.1)	3rd (20.2)	11th (16.9)
Home PP	1st (25.6)	3rd (24.1)	19th (11.6)
Road PP	4th (24.7)	16th (15.3)	3rd (22.7)
Overall PK	25th (78.6)	1st (91.2)	7th (83.1)
Home PK	6th (85.7)	1st (93.2)	15th (79.8)
Road PK	29th (72.8)	2nd (88.9)	4th (86.0)
Goals For	1st (178)	1st (173)	2nd (151)
Goals Against	16th (134)	1st (97)	12th (133)

 

A few other notes:

• All three teams have a significant lead in their division: The Caps lead the Southeast by 17 points, and the Bears and Stingrays lead their respective divisions by 16 points.
• In their conferences: the Caps have a 1 point lead, the Bears have a 9 point lead, and Stingrays have a 13 point lead. (This is the latest in a season the Caps have led their conference.)
• The Caps have 18 more goals than anyone in the NHL (Chicago-160). The Bears have 28 more goals than anyone in the AHL (Lowell-145). The Stingrays have 3 less goals than the ECHL lead (Toledo-154).
• Two of the teams have at least three players in the Top 20 point getters in their respective leagues. Washington: 2-Ovechkin, 7-Backstrom, 13-Green and Hershey: 1-Aucoin, 2-Giroux, 6-Gordon. [South Carolina has two in the Top 20, but neither of those players has a contract with the Caps.]
• Alex Ovechkin’s 30 goals puts him in second in the Rocket Richard race and is two off of the League lead. Keith Aucoin is tied for the AHL league lead with 22 goals and is third with 33 assists. Alexandre Giroux is third in goals with 20. Andrew Gordon is fourth in goals with 19.
• Hershey has broken franchise records for longest win streak (12) and consecutive home victories (12). The previous longest win streak record of 11 was set just last year.

Don’t piss off the Hockey Gods

When I was finding links for my post-WJC roundup, I came across a story from a Saskatoon based newspaper, The StarPhoenix.

The writer, Les MacPherson, says that the Canadian fans that relentlessly booed the Americans thouroughly pissed of the Hockey Gods.

I’m starting to agree.

EXHIBIT A

USA
Game 1 vs. Slovakia

Essentially every US goal scored was booed. Every penalty drawn by the US was booed. Any call against the US that they thought should be harsher was booed. Any fall or clean hit that didn’t draw a call for Slovakia was booed. Any time an American player was checked, there was cheering. Every Slovakia goal drew cheers.

Third period. 5-3 USA. Every time John Carlson touched the puck in the final period, he was booed. It may not have been from the entire arena, but some group of Canadian fans didn’t miss a single beat in booing the Hershey Bear. More on that later…

Game 2 vs. Switzerland & Game 3 vs. Latvia
Game 5 vs. Finland (Quarterfinals) & Game 6 vs. Sweden (Semifinals)

The same on all accounts, except I don’t believe Carlson was targeted in the booing at any point during the game.

Game 4 vs. Canada

This is the game where you expect the booing. I can’t remember exactly, but I think there was a round of “CAMPBELL! CAMPBELL! CAMPBELL!” when the US was up by a goal or two.

Game 7 vs. Canada

Same deal. After Carlson laid a big hit on Hall, there was booing because there was not call on a clean hit. Then, Pietrangelo went after a guy and got a 12 minute penalty. Booing ensued. When Jack Campbell replaced Mike Lee, not long after, there were “CAMPBELL! CAMPBELL! CAMPBELL!” chants. They also did it at right before the drop of the puck in the third. I always thought that chant was for when a goalie was a major sieve and he was on the team that was losing, i.e when Matt Bradley puts an easy goal past Henrik Lundqvist to put the game away and VC starts the “HENRIK! HENRIK! HENRIK!” But Campbell hadn’t been in that game long and, at the time, hadn’t let in a single goal. It was still tied 3-3. I guess that’s how the cheer works now.

Ultimately…

Team USA won, as everyone knows by now. Guess who the Hockey Gods decided to give the game winning goal to? Thaaat’s right. JOHN CARLSON. Remember? That kid they booed endlessly in the third period of the first game against Slovakia? Yeah. Booing a then 19-year-old whenever he touched the puck despite not doing anything wrong will result in that same guy scoring the GWG in the winner-takes-all game and crushing your hearts.

EXHIBIT B

On Friday the 8th, Carlson and the Bears were visiting the Manitoba Moose, a rematch of the Calder Cup Finals. It was also a night that the Bears could tie a franchise record of 11 straight wins (a record set just last year). From commentor Brian at On Frozen Blog, in about the sixth round of the Friday night shootout, Carlson was given the chance to win it for the Bears. Guess what happened? The entire arena booed the American Hockey Hero. How’d the game end? No, Carly didn’t score on his attempt. But the Bears won to tie the franchise record. He was continually booed the rest of the weekend. The Hockey Gods were upset again…

Saturday night, the Bears broke their consecutive wins streak with a 3-2 regulation win over the Moose. That’s 12 straight. It also gave the Bears 60 points, making them the first team in the AHL to reach that point.

LESSON: Don’t piss of the Hockey Gods. It’ll come back and bite you in the ass.

Ryan Miller punches Matt Stajan

I’ve been getting a couple of blog hits from people looking for Ryan Miller punching someone.

After asking around on Twitter, turns out Miller “punched” Matt Stajan in the face during Buffalo’s 3-2 win over Toronto on January 8. (Thanks @Frostee)

Now, I bring you a short video of the lame, yet awesome, punch to Stajan’s face. (Thanks to @awesome_anna for the link)

Mike Knuble’s typical hockey game

He warms up to this…

He walks out to this…

When he scores, this song plays…

and he gets all of the guys to celebrate with a round of guido fist pumps…

and the jumbotron shows him doing this…

except animated like this…

and a win at home ends with saluting the fans with more guido fist pumpin’ from the entire team to the tune of this…