How 'Tweet It Is!

My team finally beat those little brown birds! What a relief -- I thought we'd never do it -- the boys were giving away pucks in their own zone, Lindy was yelling on the bench, Ryan Miller was better than good.

But now I can hold my head up and say to Atlanta ---- :P you skaters from a state without snow!

I'm not dead and gone, just injured

I've been AWOL for awhile. I've been suffering from a back injury, so sitting at a desk has been torturous. Blogging has been last on the list, since bill paying and other nasty little computer jobs have to come first. But I'm still watching the Wild and knitting up a storm.

The game last night was a crazy one, with an eventual overtime win against the Blue Jackets. I've never heard of a hockey player carrying the puck into the net in his breezers but we'll take 'em however we get 'em. What a finish!

Now that Christmas knitting is over, I'm back to charity knitting again, as well. I just need to get well enough to deliver the goods. Send some prayers/warm thoughts for my back healing soon, since watching my own DS play hockey isn't possible until I'm better.

Can we do it?

Can we make it SEVEN in a row tonight when the Rangers play the Senators?

News at 11.

Get the Brooms!

We swept the regular season series with the 'Canes. Just goes to show you how a little 'B can withstand hurricane force winds. Take that, Brind'Amour, you chimpanzee-minkee! Sorry Angelrae and Celia, but after the play-offs last season, this mini-victory is as sweet as the Christmas cookie dough still in my refrigerator waiting to be baked.

And the game before? The Capitals? Did we show Ovenchik or what? The bruiser.

Well, my charity knitting has stalled, as I recover from my pre-Christmas over-knitting -- yes, I wrapped one sock for my son-in-law. *sigh* But starting the first of the year, I'm back to chemo caps for the local cancer center.

Anyone have new suggestions for charities?

NYR - Florida

Rangers lose, but Isbister scores - buuuhuhh! *breaks down crying* *wipes tears from her face*
Really, it's too frustrating - not necessarily the loss, these guys will win again big time - but the fact that Izzy's come out from hiding (aka the farm team) and scores - how could he ever come back to Innsbruck when he scores for the Rangers? Buuuuhhhuuuh!
GO IZZY! GO RANGERS!

Bzzzzz

The 'Bees pummeled Nashville. Serves 'em right for having a hockey team in Memphis. Memphis? Should have named the team "The Skating Elvises" and they could all wear fringe!

Anyone else going out Xmas shopping today?

Avalanche game cancelled

My Avalanche game tonight was canceled due to not just snow, but SNOW. I keep asking myself wouldn't an Avalanche want to play in the snow?

Yes, I'm hanging up now.

No knitting news here just hockey

The Maple Leafs game last night was like watching one of your favorite teams getting their arses kicked. Oh yeah, they did get their arses kicked.

The Avalanche game was of course more to my liking. The game was up and down put they pulled off the win over the Oilers. Whew.

The husband has been asked to do some fill in play by play for Notre Dame Fighting Irish Ice Hockey for a couple weekends after Christmas. They're a NCAA D1 team and they're currently ranked third in the nation. He's pretty excited about the opportunity and I can't say as I blame him. It means he'll be away over the New Years weekend and the weekend after. This could be filed under "why my life is full of surprises".

I'm not sure if my work schedule will allow me to go along with him yet as I have a road trip arranged with some of my favorite hockey travel girlfriends to Scranton PA and Newark DE a couple weekends later and am dreaming about a trip to Arizona in Feb to visit my family.

The Holy Grail

It truly is the Holy Grail of Hockey.

So there we were, two Buffalo hockey 'hos, celebrating my sister's birthday, decked out in jerseys and antlers. Did anyone look at us strangely? Crap no! We were in Toronto, land of Caribou and Moose. Land of .... hockey!

So off we went, first thing Thursday morning, fueled on Tim Horton's coffee and donuts. (Trivia question: What is Tim Horton's real name? -- answer below)

The Hockey Hall of Fame is in an old Toronto Bank, which you enter through the basement. There’s exhibit after exhibit of player and team memorabilia, a chance to play virtual hockey – goalie and forward, a replica of a locker room, where you can try on the goalie leg pads
(damn are they heavy!),

and then … up two flights of stairs to a vaulted room with a stained glass dome,











past the Vezina trophy, the Calder Cup, the Lady Bing ..., to ...

The Cup!!!!




sigh








My sister and I did not touch it. We could have. We were, in fact, encouraged to. We didn’t even get our pictures taken with it. No sir, not us. No way are we going to be the two fans who jinx it for Buffalo this year. Nope. Told the guy we’d be back after Buffalo wins, and then would rub ourselves ALL over the Cup. Nekkid. (kidding)

Bottom line: It exceeded my expectations, which were pretty high to begin with. Lots of good exhibits, a movie about the history of the Cup, friendly staff, nice layout, reasonable price ($10).

And just to prove that knitting and hockey do co-exist, and have for a long time, here’s a shot of an old cardigan hand knit for some lucky member of the Canadiens in the ‘20s.











Bonus shot: For Twig, who I know must be crushed about last night’s game, here’s a close up of the Rangers on the Cup. Oh, and Twig -- one of the virtual players who was shooting goals at me? Messier. Yup.

We also did yarn stores, including Lettuce Knit, the next day, and the Bata Shoe Museum, which I'll post about on my regular blog.

All in all, a great trip. And next year ???? Let's Go Buffalo!

Answer: T'Ho's real name is Miles Gilbert Horton. Who knew? The "Tim" was in quotes.

Did you see that?

Nine to Two? For the Leafs? Against the Rangers? Holy c&@% and we missed it as we were at a party. I don't want to see that it's tough being a Rangers fan or anything, but wow it's good to be a Leafs fan for a change.

Oh.My.G-d.

'nuff said.

New Forward!

Innsbrucks team's management finally got out of their ignorance and reacted to the HCI's losing streak - they kicked forward Christian Sbrocca, our "singing hockey player". This guy's obviously released 3 CDs in Canada so far - good for him, and after seeing him on the ice I'd say he'd better stick to singing, hockey is so NOT for him...
Now, who to get to replace him? Let's see: #1 is still in Sweden, though they want to kick him there. #2 and #3 were stolen by Twig - or the Rangers - or Twig and the Rangers, grrrrr ;), and #4 and #5 are unfortunately out of the rink by now. Duh.

So we got him: Pierre Dagenais, ex-Montreal Canadiens, though the "ex" is really ex as that's quite a while ago. He played in Helsinki this season and didn't do well there... Well, they don't have a lot of good things to say about him on that page, but he's told to be a sniper and an enforcer, shooting from every angle and usually hitting the goal - and that's exactly what we need - who needs skating skills as long as they can score? Looking forward to that guy, we needed some new blood here, so to say ;)

Finally

Finally MFB's Leafs broke their losing streak Tuesday night against Tampa Bay and right after that my Avalanche won one against the Hurricanes. They really poured it on in the third and so I HAD to watch to the end. The game ended after midnight, why do I do that to myself? Oh yeah, I'm a hockey fan.

Last night the Av's downed St Louis, as well they should. So finally they've won the first two games of a 3 game home stand. The standings in the Northwest are really tight and when last I looked my Av's were at the bottom. But we all know they're a better team than that, right? And we all want them to do better, right? Anyone want to help me cheer them on if they aren't playing against your team? Pretty please? LOL

I finally finished two hats for our local charity that our knitting group was knitting for. We had a pot luck tonight where we left them with our organizer and she will deliver them this week. We were having so much fun tonight I forgot to take pictures of everything being donated and of our party.

A present

Hi everyone,

I know I haven't posted here much, but it seems like I haven't had much time to watch hockey or do much in the way of charity knitting. I hope to remedy the later after the holidays, but the former got fixed tonight while I watched the Sabres beat my Dad's Devils!! What a game!! It was so tight during most of the first two periods, but once the Sabres blew it open, it was all over. Jonsey and I will sleep with smiles tonight. :)

So as I just mentioned, my Dad is a Devils fan and I got him a special present for Christmas this year:

That's right! I managed to get Devils vs. the Rangers tickets (that thud you just heard was probably Twig hitting the floor ;) )! While neither of them are *my* team, I really can't wait to go to this game. The best part? We're also taking an 70+ year old friend of ours to the game. She's a total Rangers fan and has never been to a professional hockey game. I think I'll sit between them to keep the fighting to a minimum. ;) Happy Holidays to all and may your team always score the last goal.... unless they're playing my Sabres, of course! ;)

Not again!

Another Sabres game on the Versus network, which I don't get. Arghhh. I know there's only a few this year, but it really bugs me. So I'll be on the computer .... rooting against Carissa's Devils!

But I do have some good news: A field trip!!!! My sister (also a hockey fan) and I are leaving for Toronto tomorrow -- taking the train from Niagara Falls, staying 2 nights and 3 fun-filled days. First on the agenda -- why a visit to the HOCKEY HALL OF FAME!!!!!!!!!!!! I know you fellow bloggers are green with envy and so you should be! I'll be taking photos, and will post them. Of course, we will be all decked out in our Sabres regalia, and will be take on any Leafs fan that dares cross our paths! (note: sister and I are both about 5 feet tall, but wiry!)

We're also going to hit some yarn stores. I'm taking an empty backpack for just that purpose.

I'll update after I'm back; sooner if I'm in the penalty box and need bail money.

Disappointment

DU Pioneers have canceled the game they invited the Icers to play in October 2007. They just found out that the game had to count toward their regular season and could not be an exhibition game. DU's regular season schedule for 2007-2008 was already set.

A lot of us here will be disappointed for different reasons.

Nous sommes victorious!!!

Another shoot out, but boy was it a good game on Saturday. Les Habitants put up an amazing fight, skating fast and shooting hard. But the BISON ( not Bumblebee, Twig) was victorious.

And speaking of Ms. Twig, she sent the warmest hat as a result of our wager, along with a bonus hand-made Lavendar soap! Even my daughter told me I smelled good, with no prompting. (not that I generally smell bad, at least I don't think so!).

The Devils tomorrow. grrrrrrrrrrrr says Sabretooth.

Cap Done!

Oy - we're knitting here too, don't we? ;)) Here you go, a lil' Noro-cap for the chemo-charity - it's a bit rough in its texture, perhaps a tad too rough for someone with no hair, but I'll do my best and soak it in a bit of conditioner - should do the trick, no?

Zero Tolerance? Grrrr...

After a lil' break in which I seriously thought about quitting hockey-watching for good and becoming a... what? Golf-fan perhaps (no excitement, no emotions as I see it), I'm back with a question - what do you gals think about the Zero Tolerance Rules?

I don't know when refs started it over there in the NHL - here it was a change that began, like, in December of last year. Before that, Austria's league was pretty hard, and with getting foreign players, especially defensemen, our teams tried to get at least one or two of these heavily built enforcers that know how to swoosh the enemy away in front of the goal. Of course they didn't kill each other and of course there were enough penalties back then too, just not *that* much.

Then Zero Tolerance started right in the middle of last season, and the teams found themselves with enforcers that already had a lot of penalty minutes, but now basically sat in the penalty box all the time - defensemen who used to be good players didn't have a chance to play anymore, as soon as they stepped on the ice, they got their 2 mins, whether they had done something or not. Yeah, great.

This year things got even worse, refs have the order to penalize "every foul". And yes, I'm all for that, real fouls have to be penalized. I hate these high-sticking-actions that are really dangerous, and the holding and grabbing and whatever sucks too. But: Our refs are so stupid that they penalize fouls that aren't even there! When I watch NHL-games, I see that it happens over there as well, but definitely not to the amount as over here - is that correct?

For ex, last night HC Innsbruck played against the Red Bulls Salzburg, our best team here so far - and that &%$§§§%%&%! ref managed 82 penalty minutes in the first period! For heaven's sake - I read our forum today and found out that not only I didn't see a hard game or a foul game or bad fouls or such - there weren't any! 2 guys battle for the puck at the edge of the rink - woosh, 2 mins each. A stupid look on one of the players faces - 10 mins. For heaven's sake, could there be a hockey game without 2 guys fighting for the puck at the edge? They didn't even hold each other!

That show was continued throughout the game, in the end we had seen dozens and dozens of powerplays - don't these refs (or the ones that introduced the Zero Tolerance rules to us) realize that they completely damage the game? How could a game start to flow as it should when there's no playing 5:5? You could see it so well, as soon as there were 5 guys of each team on the ice, a really fast, but clean hockey game would have started - until 1 second later that ref swallowed his whistle-thing again. I mean, come on - if we want to see hockey without any check whatsoever, shouldn't we go to watch a swimming competition instead? Even the girl's teams here are allowed to play harder! Brrrr... That's not my hockey anymore, and definitely not a hockey that I'd enjoy to see!

How's that overseas, how does the NHL handle this Zero-Tolerance-idiocy?

Some College Hockey News

My Penn State Icers split their two game series this weekend against Windsor/St Clair Saints. The Saints are in the OHA Senior AAA Major League while the Icers are an ACHA D1 team. Friday night we lost 4-0. But if my memory serves we rang the cross bar/post 4 times. I'm starting to hate that sound. Saints are a big team and they are TOUGH. Their league is very different from the ACHA and they even have someone on their roster who is 32 years old! Grad Student???

Do they ever like to mix it up and for those of you who follow college hockey you know you don't just get 5 for fighting, you get tossed. The Icers are tough as well and generally dominate the ACHA teams but compared to the Saints I think Penn State has more finesse. A player on each team got tossed on Friday and things were a bit chippy.

On Saturday the Icers won 5-3. It was a battle of skill and it was a tough fight. I'm pretty sure this puts the record between the teams over the last two years at 5-5-1. From the record I would say this is definitely two well matched teams.

OK for the big news that has me totally JAZZED. Penn State has accepted an invitation to play Denver University Pioneers. This is the team that has won the Frozen Four the last two out of three years. gulp ..ahem GULP. True they have a D2 and a D1 team. We're playing the D1 team in October '07. I'm from Colorado living in PA. MFB does not go on this trip and think I'm not going. No sir. Saving pennies. ACHA team playing Frozen Four National Champs - if my team wins it will be one of the biggest upsets ever. Simms Landing here I come.

Overactive Knitting

Well this has nothing really to do with hockey. Still. It is something that you do ot see everyday in knitting. My Clown Brigaide {troop} is making a long scarf. We are making it with a braided pattern and figure that it will be 102 feet long. The really neat thing about it is that it can be knit by more than one person at a time. In this picture there are three people knitting on it at once.



Be safe out there and keep you stick on the ice. Oh and go Pens.

Life just ain't fair

Nothing fancy, but it should help keep a head warm. It's waiting outside for the mailman to pick it up.

Tonight we take on the Penguins. Hopefully, we'll kill 'em.
My Rangers lost to that evil team yet again. The payoff? A hat for Jonesy's charity.

What a Ride ...

From the shoot out victory over the Rangers, to that game with the Caps ...up and down just like my stomach this weekend. The boys need a rest, that's all (she says, with fingers crossed).

Believe it or not, no knitting to report. Anyone else getting attacked by flu bugs out there? The worst part is the dizziness. And the feeling that my body has somehow betrayed me. It's not that I don't wash my hands (especially after going to family court and dealing with the masses of humanity), or stay away from the obviously sick ... sometimes I feel like we need to go back to the Victorian style of wearing gloves and veils.

Oh well, I'll just try to keep my stick on the ice today and not let any pucks through the crease.

What's with my NHL teams?

Our Penn State Icers won their two game series over Delaware this weekend but the first game wasn't pretty. Friday nights game we could tell that the team had off over Thanksgiving. Sluggish and at times it seemed like they were tripping over the puck and the blue line. Dangerous thing that blue line. *heh* Saturday was certainly more like our team with a final score of 10-3. Two of the players Moms are knitters. One was at the games this weekend and we were admiring each others projects. I see more knitters knitting at the games too. We're taking over ladies.

We were home in time to catch the Leafs against Montreal and the Avs against Vancouver. The Leafs lost in a shootout and my Avalanche just lost. Sigh.

Dum-Dee-Dum-Dum ...

It's over. The Sabres-Rangers series, that is. Jessica and I know which team won...ahem...SWEPT the series 4-0.

Upstate NY rules!

PS I must confess, these shoot-out wins are extremely nerve-wracking. Is it just my team or something about the new rules that causes more OTs and shoot-outs?

And, do we like the new rules? I'm all for a faster game (not as many off-sides calls and endless face-offs), but to have two great teams, with great players, really duke it out and give it their all for 60 minutes and have it all be decided by a shoot-out ... well, it seems somehow anti-climatic. And maybe unfair? I mean, hockey is all about skill and speed, passing and team work. Shoot-outs are 1 on 1, all or nothing.

What do the rest of you think?

First post here

Hi all. I've only gotten to watch my NJ Devils a few times, but I can get the Thrashers and Predators locally, so I watch them when they are on. I'm getting ready to move next month and am trying to finish up some Christmas knitting, so no charity knitting for me at the moment. But I did knit a cute pair of toddler socks and I put the recipe up on my blog. It isn't really a pattern, and assumes that you already know how to knit socks, but feel free to use it if you want to. Here's a picture.
Happy knitting!

The Gloves are Off!

Okay -- Friday is the last Sabres-Rangers match up. So far, it's my boys 3, Twig's -- the big goose egg.

How about this? If my team goes down the proverbial "terlet", I'll knit something for Twig's charity of choice. And if the Sabres do what they always do (hee hee), I'll expect a hat for my Veteran's Xmas Project from the Twigster.

Last chance ... or are we chicken?????


Jonesy

Kings vs. Devils

Hey Carissa -- any bets? Rationally my money would go on the Devils, although the Kings had a very good showing Saturday night against Calgary. Big date night for me and BF maybe that was the reason they won. So since I'll be at the game, no knitting. Keeping my fingers crossed.

We're not playing the Sabres tonight

I *thought* that tonight the Rangers would be playing the Buffalo Sabres. We're not. We're playing the Buffalo Bumblebees.

Just sayin'

No charity knitting and little good Wild news

So little good hockey news for the Wild. They've hit a bit of a slump and so have I, as far as charity knitting has gone. I've spent far more time watching youth hockey lately. (DS had a hockey tourney this weekend and has another one next weekend - whew!) And as a result, I have made tremendous progress on Christmas knitting, which is a priority this time of year anyway.

I thought I'd share what I have been working on for Christmas. Eight pair of slippers knitted and fulled, three that are embellished so far.

I miss watching the Wild and am hoping to get back into the swing of things soon. Go WILD!

Poor Shelby

I scared the hell out of Shelby last night. We were sitting comfortably on the couch watching the Rangers v. Penguins and I was knitting knitting knitting on the neverending sweater. After having yelled at the TV a couple times (mostly about the goal that wasn't), I figured she was getting into the groove of things.

I was wrong.

With 2.2 seconds left in overtime, the Rangers scored and I let out a scream of joy. I've never seen Shelby move so fast. She had her fat little body (that had been snoring a second before) up and off the couch and across the room before I knew what was happening. Poor thing. (I hate overtime, though had it gone to a shoot out, I'm confident we would have won -- just not so sure about a win in overtime)

Tonight the Sabres visit the Garden. I've been trying to find someone who will pipe anestisine gas (but we're still trying to find out where Capt. Sisko gets his) into the Sabres locker room. I'll let you know if I'm successful.

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend

So much hockey and not enough time to keep up. Penn State Icers travelled to the University of Rhode Island two weekends ago for a two game series. This was a rematch of last years ACHA championship game where the Icers lost to URI in the last couple of minutes. The new coach for the team is an alumni of the Providence College Friars which is an NCAA team and he arranged for the team to have some practice time at their facility on the trip down. The Icers which is a D1 ACHA team got to see how the other half lives. Nice.

I wanted to make the trip so husband came with me rather than going on the team bus. Great news, the Icers swept the series and if rumor is correct, gave URI their first two losses in the arena they've been in for the last four years. The new rankings won't be out for another week - it will be interesting to see what happens.

NHL news - yep Jonesy's team beat the Leafs the other night to go 1-1 with the Leafs for the season. Sigh. My Avalanche finally won a game the other night after going down 3 straight games. Right now their leading Vancouver 2-0 at the end of the 2nd. We're making a quick day trip down to Baltimore tomorrow so it's up early for me in the am I probably won't watch the 3rd.

Oh, knitting news? None. Spent the weekend painting. Hope you all had a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

The Agony of Defeat

.... one lousy second. One!

Shut out! Woohoo!

Things are finally starting to gel with the Rangers. They shut out the Hurricanes last night, 4-0. Sunday was almost a shut out against Tampa Bay (4-1).

I'm cautiously optimistic that things are turning around for the bigger picture. In the smaller picture, I'm ecstatic that we shut out the defending Stanley Cup winner.

Wacky Hat -- Wacky Sabres

Woo Hoo! LOTS of goals last night against Tampa. We love lots of goals. No hat-tricks though :(

Except this one! It's for the Open Door Mission for the Homeless in Rochester -- a kids cap that I made up as I went along. Cool and goofy at the same time.

So, Wednesday we'll attempt to rake the Leafs again, Friday les Habs, and Sunday --- Twig's Rangers!

How 'bout this Twig, whoever loses will knit something for the other's charity?

Happy Monday

Yes fans, today I'm happy!! I took DD and her BF to the Kings/Coyotes game Saturday afternoon, they did it, they WON!!! Crazy thing for the Kings this season. Still gotta love them.
DD and I weren't feeling well Thursday so we couldn't go to the game but I did watch it on TV. Losing it in the 3rd!!! To the worst team in the league. (Sorry Philly fans) Crap. Kings, you need some muscle and a goalie, Hello!!! Can't wait to see them get whipped by San Jose!! Or at least a good fight once in a while. Where is Kip Brennan when you need him? Or George Parros Oh yeah, he's with the Ducks. Ahem...

My knitting while watching is not really charity knitting, but it's for a good person. My BFs mom has not been well for the past month and now needs a walker/wheel chair. She's been moved to Northern Nevada and she was afraid her feet would get cold. I offered to knit socks for her. The look on her face was wonderful. So I quickly ordered yarn for 2 pairs and started a pair of Fast Florida Footies using Cascade Fixation. Forgot to take pix.

Have a wonderful week and

Wasting Perfectly Good Coffee

Shortly before the game started tonight, I was fighting sleep. I'm seldom ever that close to falling asleep before 2 am. But it was 7:00 pm and I was struggling to stay awake. So I made coffee so I could knit and watch the game.

I shoulda slept. *laugh* Those silly penguins won. *sigh* I was knitting on a sweater (non-charity knitting -- perhaps that jinxed the Rangers) and I was knitting quickly on a caffeine high. I even was fast in correcting the 3 miscrossed cables I did during my speed knitting.

The Rangers are playing better than they started out the season, but it's still up and down as far as winning. Case in point, they won against the New Jersey Devils last night after getting 3 goals in 90 seconds. Yes, you read that right. Three goals in 90 seconds.

Tonight, though, they lost against Carolina.

But I did get another hat done for charity. So I guess today wasn't a complete loss.

More nail biting

Here it is -- blanket in progress. I must say, I prefer the baby hats -- I feel more of a sense of completion, so I may go back to that for November.

IF I can survive more nail-biting Sabres games, that is. Good-bye Hurricanes! We blew you away, but not until losing a 3 goal lead. Arghhh

And what's with the officiating? Anyone who watched clearly saw our goalie get pounced on, but no penalty shot. I guess the refs forgot to bring their seeing eye dogs to the game.

Jonesy (who may need Valium)

Wild weekend FO picture

Here is my first FO and WIP from this weekend's games on the road. Won one, lost one this weekend. We're struggling without Gaborik (get well, soon, Gabby!) on offense. But it was a great game to watch last night. Hats off to the Ducks. They played well. Off to Phoenix next!

Sweating out another shoot out!

Wow - these shoot outs are making me so nervous. Although I can understand the leagues desire to make the games a little more exciting, this is really a little too much. But way to go Wild! Another one in the win column. Now onto the Anaheim Ducks tonight. Can my nerves take it?

OT Again!

I don't know how much more of this I can take!

The boys are wreaking havoc with my fingernails (bitten to the quick) and my blood pressure. Thank goodness I'm knitting a log cabin garter stitch baby blanket (Project Linus) and nothing complicated during the games.

*sigh* I have a few days to recover.

ps Twig -- Our teams are back-to-back in December. Another little wager????

Au revoir les Habitants ;)

Sorry Michelle but it had to be said *g* I don't know how it looked on tv, but listening to the radio broadcast Montreal didn't seem to have very much fire against the Leafs tonight, though their backup goalie stepped up admirably.

Toronto's definitely proving they can win without Sundin :)

Watching Wild vs. Kings?

Say, Kelly, are you watching the game tonight? I'm getting a "double header" tonight, with a MN Gopher game, then the Wild/Kings game. I'll try to stay awake for the whole thing but it will be a stretch.

I've nearly finished my first bear. It just needs stuffing and a little seaming. I've started a second. Pictures to follow tomorrow, hopefully with a little gloating because the Wild are hot, hot, hot! With a 10-4-0 record, we're hard to beat. Go Wild!

Tonight's Game

OK -- there are no Florida Panthers fans listed on the blog, and my team plays them tonight.

All together now -- Let's Go Buff-a-lo!

The 'Tooth thanks you.

It's a start

Well, so much for bragging about the Wild. I tried to stay awake for the game but only made it half way. Which was probably a blessing, since the Wild lost 1-3.

The West Coast games are just too late for me, since I get up most mornings by 5 am at the latest but I'm impressed by how fast the bear is knitting up. Half a game = half a bear, more or less. It's pretty mindless, so I can watch the game when it's intense, like the entire second period last night, when the Wild couldn't seem to stay out of the penalty box. The Sharks have the best power play in the league right now, so every power play was a nail-biter.

Hang in there, boys. We'll take the next one!

A Finished Hockey Object

I actually finished this a few weeks ago but only just got around to sharing it... it is for the Red Scarf Project.

(click for details about the pattern & yarns)

I have to admit though that I have not been great with my charity knitting while watching hockey... a few last minute gifts came up on top of a busy work schedule. But as soon as I finish a bit of homework I will be casting on for a new Dulaan hat.

Go Habs Go!!

Argh!

Did I say something about "Rockin' the ice again"? Yeah, right on! HCI's playing away in Linz right now and is 1:9 behind now - after 45 minutes. 1:9 - I mean, they get slaughtered there it seems? Gonna go knitting now, can't watch this tragedy... ;(

A new Wild fan joins

Hi - I'm Lorraine and I'm a Minnesota Wild fan. I resisted for awhile after a friend sent me the link to this KAL but the combination of hockey and knitting was too much temptation for this weak woman. I'll be trying to squeeze in some knitting for the Mother Bear Project during Wild games but as a homeschooling/hockey/dance mom, I run pretty crazy most days. We'll see how many bears I get done this season.

The Wild are off to a fantastic start but I'll try not to brag - too much.

Still alive!

I'm sorry I didn't show up here for so long - I wouldn't have been able to do a post without whining and complaining and howling, and I really didn't want anyone to go through that!

Our HCI's management took it so far lately that things got out of control, I think they were pretty close to quit everything and call it a day. Their last stunt was that they wanted to take our superstar Todd Elik from us - he's the guy who did, what, 600 NHL games, he's 40 now and still scores and assists like mad, and you just don't get such players over here in the Austrian league. He's a genius and the best player in the league, but he's also a diva, he got kicked out of all his teams so far - and last week HCI suspended him due due to "inappropriate behaviour". The management's mistake was that they didn't tell publicly why this happened - we all knew what was going on, but we would have needed an official statement, which we didn't get.

And so the last home-game (which was broadcast at TV) was one heck of a boycott, the fanclub refused to do anything - no clapping, no cheering, no drums, no songs, the whole stadium was deadly silent, and most people came along wearing black T-Shirts with a big "12" on them - Elik's number. Yeah, I *love* revolutions, LOL - "hasta la victoria siempre" ;)

The team - who were the main reason why Elik was suspended - wanted to show how well they can play without him... well, buuuhuuh! They stumbled along the ice like drowned frogs and got a 6:1 kick-in-the-butt - with an absolutely inferior and intolerable play. Powerplay without Elik? No way! Special teams without Elik? No way! No good passes, no good moves, no nothing - and all this in deep silence. Hah - I loved that, I really did.

And what did we get? Elik's back ;) No longer suspended, off to rock our ice again - and now no one shouldn't say anything about "Fans can't move a thing" anymore ;)

I watched a lot of NHL-games lately via Yahoo and Google Video and loved what I saw - yay for Vanek!!! But, for heaven's sake, the only way to get him for next year's Austrian World Cup team (and we desperately need him!) would be the Sabres not getting into the Play-Offs - not that I'd hope that ;( How in all the world can they do the World Cup while the NHL's still playing? This is beyond me, absolutely!

Have fun, ladies!

Chez Accident Perspective

Sabres brought rakes and the Leafs brought GAME, baby. No offense meant to my two favorite Sabres fans. The Av's beat the Canucks and MFB and I didn't see either of the games as our Fridays and Saturdays find us with his ACHA team the Penn State Icers.

The Icers are currently ranked 3rd and they defeated both 13th ranked West Virginia 6-0 and unranked Drexell 11-0. This weekend gave our Sophmore goalie his 2nd & 3rd shutouts of the season. The games got a little boring as one sided games do, but the scores weren't too surprising considering the rankings. Of course if a team gets lazy the game can turn on them in a heartbeat.

My charity knitting update is this Herringbone Rib scarf I finished and donated to the Icers Booster Club as an item to be included in the auction we held Saturday night to benefit the team. We raised quite a bit to help with the teams travel, equipment and tutoring budget. Here's a close up of the stitch pattern.

Back to watching the Leafs take on the Flyers - Darcy Tucker in the penalty box in the first two minutes of play - gee what a surprise, NOT. Tomorrow night Kelly's Kings visit Denver to face an AVALANCHE. Go Av's Go. Good luck Kelly.

GO KINGS GO

Play hard??? Do something please???? I do love ya LA Kings. Frogging was what I did Sat night while I was watching the Kings get trounced by Phoenix. Fitting huh? Rip, rip, rip.....hate it when stitches twist? don't ask me how!!!! Happy Monday.

EEEK!

I thought all was lost, but then the come-back kids pulled through. 4-3 in overtime. Let's Go Buf-fa-lo!!!

Oh Twig?????? Who was going down? Hmmmm? (Even though your coach does have better hair than mine - hee hee

Forget the rake, bring the crying towel ;)

Sorry Jonesy, but it had to be said :D 4-1!! Now if they can play like that consistently for the rest of the season it'll be a very good year :)

Whoo F*&*&*&*&g Hoooo!

Never go to bed early. Rule #1 when watching the Sabres. Third period, I was depressed. 4-1 Bruins. Arghhh. Then, 4-2. Then, Marvelous Max (Afinigenov -- it took me weeks to learn to pronounce his name when he first joined the team) scores, and it's 4-3. Minutes to go. Tied!! Shoot out!!!! Miller makes amazing saves --- we score, and win.

What a ride. And ... what a hat! I have to confess I didn't make all of it during the game -- the bottom part was salvaged from a scarf I started last year and hated, but didn't want to frog. Then I got the idea to sew the ends together, pick up along the top, and voila! Hat for charity.


Tomorrow night, Bflo v. Leafs. I hear the team is bringing rakes instead of hockey sticks!

(psssst. Twig. Sunday is getting closer!)

Roller Coaster Riding

Last night the Rangers won. YAY! This is a problem for me. They've been very consistent so far. Win one. Lose one. Win one. Lose one. etc.

I always wear my NYR jersey when I watch the games but I wonder should I not? Would that upset the routine so they'd win more? Or, would that upset the routine so they'd win less? Ah... the pain of being superstitious about wearing a jersey. Should I wear it or should I not?

I don't really care for the routine as it is. I like the Win one part, but not so crazy about the Lose one part. But the really good news is that if it continues, we'll lose tonight against San Jose but we'll win the next game we play after that.

Which, um... let's see...when is that? Could it be? Yes, it's Sunday. And the NYRs will be playing the Sabres. AND THE RANGERS WILL WIN!

A loss tonight I can deal with. I won't change my jersey wearing habits so that the routine will stay the same. And you, my dear Jonesy, are going DOWN!

Happy hockey fans

The Av's win again tonight they were up against Kristen's Blue Jackets. Former Avalanche Adam Foote kept the Av's from scoring a goal when he skated behind his goalie and kept the rebound from spinning into the net. GRRRRR. Adam is still one of the best players out there. I was pretty nervous during this game but the Avalanche held off the Blue Jackets playing short handed thanks in part to a very obvious dive by one of the Av's. The Jackets pulled their goalie in the last THREE minutes of the game so they were playing 6 on 3. The Av's held them off and won 5-3. Some beautiful passing in the first period from Hejduk to Stastny to Wolski for the first goal. In the third period Brad Richardson wristed a shot that reminded me a little of Joe Sakic's wrister. Sorry Kristen but late in the 2nd period and the third your team really poured it on.

MFB was listening to his Maple Leafs on XM as he was travelling up to visit his family in Canada. The Leafs downed the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2.

Introduction

Hey, hi all you hockey knitters. Just joined and am thrilled that there are more than a few hockey fans who knit. BF keeps trying to tell me there's no knitting while watching hockey. I admit it's difficult, but can be done. Well, I'm representing the Los Angeles Kings. Hoping tonight will make it 2 wins in a row!!

On the knitting, I do hats for a charity my sister is affiliated with and premie hats/booties for the hospital. Better get crackin on both fronts. By the way my name is Kelly. Have a great day. Go Kings!!! Play Hard!!!

It was inevitable ...

that the mighty would fall. But to the Thrashers??? Who's team emblem is a little brown bird? sigh

But as the boys themselves say, their eyes are on the prize and it was just another game.

Thanks to all who rooted for my team -- I'll be sure to return the favor, unless, of course, it's the playoffs!

Jonesy
PS The hats are off to Save the Children today; this month I'm moving on to the VA Project for our local hospital.

In like Flint

I have begun to really like internet knit alongs. I just got the message that I am allowed to join your blog and could not wait. I did note that there are now more Penguin fans than anyone else. Which is as it should be.

Blogger is acting up and would only let me get this picture on. Which is an inside joke to the person that send my the invitation email.

Well if I could post pictures I would show what I am working at at this moment. I am making some knitting needles. They have funny tips and are displayed on my blog.

Well hello everyone. Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Good Natured ribbing

After watching the Maple Leafs win in a nail biter shootout last night, we switched over to the Sabres shootout. Sorry for your loss Jonesy and Zarzuela but it had to happen sometime, just like my Broncos loss to the Colts today.

Well MFB, the Leafs fan in the house, had to mention a trivia tidbit that I debated on posting but because I like to get him into hot water, I just had to.

See he says that the Sabres record of ten wins at the beginning of the season tied them with the Maple Leafs wasn't a true tie because the Maple Leafs held the record in 93-94 of 10 games in regulation play with no overtimes or shootouts.

Please send your cards, letters and hatemail......

Leafs finally win a shootout!

(Sorry Michelle) I couldn't watch the game much because I was at a club for a concert, but every time I did watch Montreal scored *grr* Good thing Elevation was on stage during the OT and SO *G* Now let's hope they can continue this, esp next weekend when they play the Sabres ;)

Tonight's Game

Apologies to any Thrashers fans out there, but can everyone root for the Sabres tonight? Breaking an NHL record for most consecutive wins starting a season would be wonderful. And, to echo the Twigster, any team where it never snows shouldn't be in the major leagues.


Come on, do it for the 'Tooth!

Wild Wild Season

Let me introduce myself, I'm Carrie from Minnesota and I'm a complete nut for the MN Wild. They're starting the season off with a bang with a 9-1-0 record. I hold a portion of season tickets but there is NO way I can knit while at the games so I'll only be knitting while watching from home. I'm planning to knit scarves for the Red Scarf Project. Go WILD!

Wahhhh

The Leaf's are certainly taking their fair share of butt whoopings from the Sens ... Is it time for me to move onto a new team ... dunno if I could do it! I've been a Leaf fan since I was born, and it's hard to break that habit ...

Just like the old Rangers

The Rangers are playing like they did right before the lock out. Not very good at all. But they're still mine. We had a game Wednesday night against Florida and LOST! To a team that lives where it doesn't even SNOW. Oh the shame! *laugh*

Which put me in a cranky mood today and I reamed out the girlfriend of my client today at court. Wouldn't keep her mouth shut and kept trying to fight with the ex-wife (who really was a bitch). But, unlike my Rangers, I won. WOOHOO!

The Islander's made history tonight.

But not really the kind of history that you want them to make if you are rooting for them. But then again so did the Sabres.

Ok the Sabres made it 10 for 10 still being the only undefeated team in hockey. And yes I'm not totally upset by that fact (I love Ryan Miller, and I knew the Isle's wouldn't win that game anyway so really it didn't hurt that bad)

I know few of you are very happy about this, but hey one good thing is I still get to knit and watch the game. It really didn't have the best out come for the Isle's but I'm really trying to be realistic about this season.

Happy Knitting!!!
&
Let's Go Islanders!!!

Habs v. Bruins Fiasco

I wrote a whole angry rant about one-sided officiating, commentator whining and disgusting fan behaviour but I deleted it because it was just too negative to share with all of you. Suffice it to say that if this is what all hockey games were like I would no longer be watching, it was that bad.

Not helped by the fact that also had to frog a gift scarf I'm knitting at the last minute and that makes me grumpy. And it was mohair! Sigh.

Back in action...

Yes, I am... There were computer crashes, a little old cat that's about to die and, for a change, a lot of work to do and money to earn, yay) - thanks to Twig for your concerned mail!
Apart from that I honestly thought that you girls might not be that interested in reading my HCI-brabbling - after all, our Austrian hockey league must sound to you like a couple of stone-sculptures running after a coconut on the Easter islands...

Yeah, to me too, at least our guys play like that these days. What I feared before the season started is happening now, they had an amazing start because the other teams just had to find together - but now they did and they're getting better and better, and Innsbruck shows that they don't have anything more to add. They're a second league team playing in the first league, that's it.

Other teams behind us in the standings are changing players/coaches now, Graz bought an NHL-player, heaven knows who'll pay for him - Innsbruck is now about to kick forward Christian Sbrocca (the Canadian singer) - hell, why??? He scored, he assisted, he smashed another guys' head - what more do they want? Instead of him they'll be getting Dave Chyzowski who's been a player I liked for years because I know and like him as a person - but his hockey playing is/was - especially this year - just blah. He played for Linz, last in the season's standings, they dumped him, and Innsbruck buys him - hell, why???? Because he'll play for half of what Izzy or Siklenka would take. Yeah, great. Buy him and go to hell - he won't add anything to that team.

We're all frustrated here, it's tough trying to enjoy a hockey game when everything you want to do is go down to the bench and kick the manager's butts. But it's probably everywhere like that, ain't it?

Knitting stuff next time, okay? I'll be casting on for another chemo cap - I want to have a whole bunch of them to give away as long as it's cold. Cold? We had 83F here today, so I suppose I have a bit more time to knit hats ;)

Favorite Hockey Movies

The addition of Tammy to the list made me think of one of my favorite hockey movies of all time --- "Mystery Alaska", so I thought it would be fun to post about each of our picks.

Here's mine:

Slapshot Man oh man did I laugh. It's just as good now as it was when it first came out in the '70s.

Miracle Saw it twice. The spouse actually took me on Valentine's Day, which was a wonderful gesture on his non-hockey loving part. Kurt Russell in that plaid sportcoat was priceless.

Happy Gilmore Okay, maybe not a traditional hockey movie, but fun.

Your picks?

Hello Hockey Fans!!!

Hello all the hockey fans,

I wanted to introduce myself, My name is Tammy. I live in Anchorage, Alaska. I have been watching Scottie Gomez for years up here. I love watching Pittsburgh play too. WOHOOOO!!!!

So on the charity knitting front. My group of knitters just finished 60 breast cancer awarenes scarfs that we sent out to charity and we are now starting on knitted toys for christmas for the local foster children.

I'm getting dizzy

9-0! Sorry Not an Artist, but the boys maintained their streak. Plus, 3 out of the 4 top scoring players in the league are from the Sabres!

Thursday night, Islanders. It will be interesting -- two ex-Sabres are on the team -- Mirolav Satan (I have his jersey-signed!) and Alexi Zhitnik. The coach is Ted Nolan, used to be a wonderful coach of the Sabres, but got bumped by the GM for "allegedly" being involved with a star player's wife (I won't name names, but he's a goalie now with the Red Wings).

Should be a great game!

On the knitting front, I'm working on another cap, but might switch charities for November. I'm in charge of our County Bar Association's holiday charity project, and we're collecting warm items for the local VA Hospital residents. So hats and mittens for grown-ups will be next.

Let's all remember -- keep your stick(s) on the ice!

Jonesy
PS Twig -- might have to increase the size of your crying towel to crying bathsheet if this streak continues!

That'll leave a mark

Milan Hejduk redirects a puck with his face and scores a goal! Ouch. This happened in the second period and he was back on the ice after the second intermission. Now that's a hockey player!! Heah Jonesy - do you think those football players can do that? I don't think so either.

It seems like the Avalanche were embarrassed by their loss to Michelle's Canadiens and decided to bring it in a 6-1 victory tonight over the Kings. Woo hoo.

Penn State Icers won their game on Sunday against Weber State with a score of 5-1 to end their three games in three days in Ohio. That puts them 5 and 2 for the season. Pretty good for a young team with a new head coach. This weekend the team is home and playing the Ohio Bobcats this should be exciting hockey.

I keep forgetting to post a picture of the completed hat with the yarn that shall never be spoken of again.I think it's a little too big for a tyke, it fits me, but that's ok because the local charity is looking for things for all ages.

And here's the start of another hat. I'm using Lion Brand Wool Ease in a gold and a blue, the colors put me in the mind of Charlie Browns zig zag sweater. A friend of mine gave me this yarn about 1 and a half years ago. I'm at a stand still with this one as I think I have a whole where I started the accent row. I'll take it with me to my Thursday night group and ask if someone can look at it and give me a hand. It's been years since I've used yarn like this. What's nice is I can make two hats with the yarn, one gold with blue accent and the other blue with gold accent. I like the feel of this yarn.

Another win, another cap

Here's our lovely 'Tooth, modeling a Cap to the Capital in purple.

He's wondering when I'll get around to buying yarn in team colors, but he may have to wait a while.

The boys are doing fantastic (8-0), whodathunk, and I'm afraid to look down. Tonight, they play the 'Habs, but unfortunately it's one of those ratzenfratzen "Versus" network only broadcasts, so I'm stuck to audio, unless I can figure out how to watch on the computer.

Thought for the day: Hockey players play, what -- 83 games a year? 83 games of fast skating, board checking, play your guts out 3-4 times a week sporting activity. Football players play 12-14 games a year. I went to a NFL game once (Buffalo Bills) and was bored to tears. It was slow, the fans were more obnoxious and rude than I had ever seen at the Arena for a Sabres game, and I got altitude sickness from where I had to sit in the stadium.

But, they get paid a gazillion dollars a year! And a fair number of them are absolute idiots in their private lives, which soon become public with the stunts (some illegal) that they pull.

Our hockey players, on the other hand, must get any aggressive tendencies out on the ice, as I rarely hear about any of their antics. And in comparison, they get paid peanuts compared to their football counterparts.

Let's see: Hard working skaters v. guys who run a little, block a little, wait for a while ... 83 games v. 12 games ...

It ain't fair, is all I'm saying.

A game and the start of a hat

I'm not sure why exactly we start off the season by sacrificing a poor Canadian college team, but we do. Last night's game ended in a score of 11-1. Or as someone had put it, we even won in binary! Yes, we're all a bunch of geeks who catch the internet broadcast and chat online during the game. On the other hand, York had already lost a game earlier this season in a score fo 15-1. Ouch. Unfortunately, this game by no means is a good indicator of how our season will be since the guys have only been skating for a week (damn ivy league rules) and after last season, we lost some guys to graduation, our offense was anemic, and we lost our starting goalie and top defensemen to the pros.
It only makes me feel slightly better that Sasha Pokuluk is playing in Hershey under the Caps' system. Slightly, only slightly. Like I said, Cornell first, then the Caps.

This week, Thursday we have a game against Robert Morris and a game Saturday against RIT. The season is just beginning and league play starts the following weekend vs. Yale and Brown.

I'm going to Florida between Christmas and New Years for the annual hockey tournament. Got my tickets, got a room, got at least one friend going. Participants this year are Maine (with us there always), UNH, and UMD. Should be a fun weekend!

Thirteen goals in one game - whodathunkit?

I've listened to and watched so many games in the last couple of days I'm starting to loose track - plus there's football.

Penn State Icers are in Youngstown OH for the ACHA Showcase. They lost 3-5 on Friday against the OK Sooners and they won today against Minot State 7-0 with Nick Signet in the net getting his first shut out and the game puck. Tomorrow they take on Weber State before comming home.

MFB's Leafs defeated the Blue Jackets (sorry Kristen) on Friday 4-2 and they lost a tough one, in a shoot out, to the Rangers 5-4 (congrats Lesley) tonight.

The Avalanche game tonight was a roller coaster for me. They scored two goals about two minutes apart and then a couple minutes later a third than the Habs turned it on and from there it was goal after goal, including the Habs scoring five of their goals in the third. Final score Habs win 8-5 over the Av's. 8-5!!! Sheesh. 13 goals in total. I don't know if I've ever seen that before. Congratulations Michelle.

An Amazing Game!

Sorry Barb & Jo, but wow, my team really kicked the Avs butt tonight! You don't see scores like 8 to 5 all that often, even in the "new" NHL. It was a great game too, with Aebischer really pulling it out against his former teammates after a dismal 3-goal sieve job in the first period. Sadly I didn't get much done on my Scarf Around though, too absorbed on wrapping up the first of the Bayerische socks I'd like to have finished by the end of Socktoberfest.

Now I'm looking forward to Monday's game: get ready KnittingJones & Zarzuela, and may the best team (mine of course!) win :)

Consolation Gift

In case you don't read my normal blog, pop on over there to see the nice and thoughtful consolation gift Jonesy sent me to make me feel better about the Rangers loss to the Sabres last week. I would post the picture here, but the picture needs to be really large so you can see the nice little handwritten notes that accompanied the gifts.

My husband found it quite amusing. And between my bouts of giggles I started plotting my revenge.

In other news, sorry BFB (Barb's Favorite Blogger) and Drea. The Rangers beat the Leafs tonight to finally put an end to our 3 game losing streak.

Two games for me!

Caps on TV.

And my season has FINALLY begun. Cornell takes the ice tonight against York Univeristy out of Canada for an exhibition game.

I've also found what I'm knitting for: Head Huggers.

Wow

The Sabres did it again. I'm going to need tranquilizers to make it through the rest of the season if this keeps up!

Angelrae and Celia should be proud of their 'Canes. Last night's game was just plain old great hockey by both teams. They were fast, both teams were all over the ice, from one end to the other, and you could tell every player was giving it his all. Kind of like a repeat of last year's playoff rounds.

I just hope my boys kept enough gas in the tank for tonight's game against the Bruins ...

My "ill gotten gain"!!

That's what this is, according to Twig:




I call it --- Sabres whup the Rangers booty!!

PS I love the color Twig!

Two in a row

Av's win - again. Ottawa was definitely due as they went into the game winless at home this season. Actually I think they were also scoreless at home, however they are scoreless no longer.

Joe Sakic got an even strength goal in the second and then Brad Richardson scored on a short handed break away. Richardson can skate, and skate fast! His shot from in front of the Colorado bench was at a perfect angle for the bench to watch it and go wild when he scored.

Ottawa scored in the third and without that "insurance goal" lead the Av's had, I always get a little nervous. The Av's held on and I am one happy knitter.

The Av's finish their road trip on Saturday at Montreal. Can they go three straight? I'm keeping my needles crossed.

Husband and Icers are travelling tomorrow to Youngstown Ohio for the ACHA Showcase where they play a game on Fri, Sat, and Sun. I'll be listening to the broadcast on the internet.

Just wanted to share this.

I came across this tonight, and didn't know if anyone else knew of it, if you go to Yahoo Sports.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl

You can watch any game live. I was mad, because I thought I had to listen to the Isle's/Pen's game on the radio, but I went in to check score and noticed the link for the "watch live" So I'm watching the game. WOOHOO.

I really should be knitting, but I guess, I'm slacking off.

Jagr

OK, girls, I won't mention that Jagr lived near my parents when he played for Pittsburgh... ;o)


Thanks for the warm welcome to the group! It's so great to get back into hearing hockey talk! Love it, love it, love it!! (and DH has to get used to all the yelps and cheers again while I watch the games)


The one really sad thing about hockey in Pittsburgh, is that Pittsburgh never really was nor ever really be a hockey town. This town is owned by the Steelers. I was so happy when Mario joined the team, because (besides being really cool to watch), it helped step up the popularity of the game here (and the Stanley Cups didn't hurt, either). Unfortunately, when he left, so did a lot of fans.

What's disappointing is to see how the city views them. The Pens play in a crumbing, antiquated arena, and while both the Steelers and Pirates (*that* was a total waste of money) got shiny, new stadiums, the Pens have not.

Oh, well, enough rant...It's a hockey night!

12th Commandment?

Oh heavenly hockey deity, and fellow knitalongers, I realize I have been smug and have violated the 12th Commandment of Hockey -- Thou shalt not be too confident early in the season. I know that I have been wrong many many times before, and that pride goeth before the cross-check. I know it is inevitable that my boys will get tired, fail to block the puck, and that Sabretooth will be sad.

So forgive my eagerness, but the desire to covet the Cup is strong and I am weak.

your humble servant,

Jonesy

*Sob*

Blogger totally acts up on me today, I hope my comments weren't posted twice or more ;(

Well, it's 5.45 am over here and I just read the news that Izzy will not come. Thank you, HCI! They let my Siklenka go to Sweden though he literally begged to play here, they didn't take Isbister who was on his knees as well and would have agreed to play for a lousy salary - I can't tell you how disappointed I am. And sad. And fed up.

This management sucks big time, they already got a lot of ex-die-hard-fans off hockey this season, and CM and me will be the next to not go to the stadium anymore. We're not willing to spend money for these ignorant, stupid, unable bunch of suckheads - it's not the team's fault of course, but just imagine if I'd see one of the managers next time in the stadium, I'd crash with them big time. Seriously.

So well, that's it. Sob.

Hi there, and Let's Go Pens!

Hello! My name is Lynn (Singular Stitches) and I'm a new addition to this KAL, and finding this KAL is perfect timing. I used to watch every Pens hockey game (being able to go see Mario Lemieux play in his prime was indeed a treat). Some time around planning my wedding (which was over 8 years ago!), I was just too busy and got away from hockey. Every year, I'd have great intentions but never actually sat down to watch a game. I decided that THIS year, I'd get back into watching, but also just started classes this term, so I missed the first 4 or so games and would probably have started watching 'next season'.

I watched the Pens-Devils game this evening, and although we lost, it was really cool to watch a game again (and it was a great game). It was as if I didn't take an 8-year holiday.

During the game, I made a Kitty Snugglie. Remember a few years ago when Wendy (of Wendy Knits!) and some other knitters led a Critter Knitters KAL? There is a charity website that offers direction for crafters who want to craft for their furry friends by making blankets for animals in shelters across the US (and maybe Canada?) called the Hugs for Homeless Animals: Snuggles Project which may have been an offshoot from (or inspiration for?) Critter Knitters.

I found a local shelter on the Snuggles website and will be making Snugglies during the Pens games I watch. The one I made tonight is crochet (yes, I know this is a knitting KAL :o) but I happened to have the correct crochet needle handy and didn't feel like searching through my knitting needles.


Appropriately, my first Snugglie has some Pens colors...


My other crafty pursuits (and kitties) are on my blog, Singular Stitches.

Let's go Pens!

And it's been too funny seeing the Jagr/Rangers comments here. Last time I remember seeing him play, he was a young'un just off the boat, with this long locks flying out behind him. (and wearing a Pens uniform!... :o)

AV'S WIN

Wow for a pretty boring game, I'm pretty happy.

Leafs (husbands team) scored the first goal of the game about 2 minutes into the first period, but the Avalanche (my team) came from behind to win 4-1 including 3 goals in 8 shots. I think the Leafs should have actually had two goals, but the ref lost sight of the puck in the crease: but the puck was in the net and then the ref blew the whistle. It was even reviewed but the determination was the ref meant to blow the whistle when he lost sight of the puck which was before the puck crossed the line.

Even though I predicted there would be impassioned discussions of our favorite players' skills and talents, there were no raised voices, no extension of single digits, and no muttered expletives. Respect reigned supreme.

'Tis only the beginning of the season.

Bee Happy!

Is this not the cutest hat? It's adapted from the Bee Hive adult hat in S-n-B Nation. Makes me want to go out a find a baby to put it on, now!

And why are we happy?????? 9-1! Even though I couldn't watch it, I listened. My oh my, with all the talent on the Flyers team, they just sucked!

(doing the victory dance around the office)

Isbister to Innsbruck?!

I really hope I won't bore everyone to tears with my rants, but ladies, I need your positive energies, your crossed fingers - and if any of you are into witchcraft or such, then please, DO SOMETHING!!!;) Remember my rant about Brad Isbister (Ex-Bruins, Ex-Canes?) This guy played for Innsbruck during the NHL-lockout - he came, scored and got us right into the Playoffs, we ended up being #2 that year.
Then this season he got sent to the 'Canes Farm Team where he obviously doesn't like to stay, he got in touch with the HCI's officials and told them he and especially his wife-to-be loved Innsbruck so much, they'd love to come back, play here, get married here, live here and raise their kids...
The HCI first claimed the don't have the money to pay Izzy - now they have, they got an extra sponsor and a special financial concept, just for Isbister to play here. See - what's not good enough for the NHL is definitely good enough for here. Our league is 3 classes worse than the NHL, and an ex-NHL-player is definitely always a superstar here.
Imagine that first line of ours with Todd Elik as center (501 NHL-games played, top-scorer and assist-giver of our league), and Brad Isbister - and we have some more good guys that would benefit so much from him. Actually our first line as well as the Powerplay-Special team would be unbeatable then - and added to that the joy to see Izzy play for us again!!! I swear, if he'd come, the HCI would sell a couple hundred (if not more) season's tickets and team's jerseys in an hour! They'd fill the Olympia Stadium once again, not just the "small" ice hall where we play currently!
Today's news say that it's now up to Izzy, the HCI is ready to buy him - and Izzy said he's ready to come over. So now, where's the problem?
Ladies, pleeeze keep your fingers crossed: Getting Izzy to play for us would be like a major win in the lottery!

Hockey v. Flu

Oh yeah.

Sadly, I missed the first 1 and a half periods because I was sleeping, argh. Stupid flu! I dozed off on the couch this afternoon at 3 and seriously slept right through to about 8:45, completely missing most of the action in what was clearly a great game between Montreal & Calgary. Sigh.

Only a bit of knitting lately, as this is the Habs' first game since Saturday:

Just keep telling myself

It's only the start of the season. Don't get depressed and don't look at the current standings. So what if the Avalanche lost last night? There were some good things about the game. The Av's came from behind and tied it up at three all but then lost 5-3 and the last goal was an empty netter at the buzzer at the end of the third period. Not many shots on goal though, and if you don't put the puck on net, there's no chance of it going in.

I finished my hat last night. I thought it would be for a little guy, but this hat fits me. It'll still go for charity though. Picture in the next couple of days.

Tomorrow night is the big game; my team against my husbands Maple Leafs. That's right Colorado is at Toronto and I have a date with the husband for a domestic an enjoyable evening where we plan on exchanging pleasantries while watching our teams try to stay out of the penalty box.

I know Joanne is with me - Go Av's!!!

YAY!

The Rangers beat the Devils last night and I completed the first sock of the charity pair I'm making. The Rangers looked like my boys again.

You know what makes me happy? Other than the fact it means we won, I just like the way the Rangers salute the fans after a win by going to the center of the ice and raising their sticks.

In other sock news, the payoff for the evil Jonesy has been purchased and packaged up. Every fiber (fiber, get it?) of my being shudders to think perfectly good sock yarn is going to be residing in a Sabres infested house.

I can't stand it!

Why oh why isn't the Sabres game televised in my area tonight? Why would the owner decide NOT to broadcast a certain number of games on MSG, but on TSN, which my dish doesn't get?

I'll be forced to listen on the radio, while watching a muted "Law and Order" rerun.

Grrrrrr.

10 Comandments of Hockey

I just had to share this. I hope you all with appriciate as much as I did. Unfortunatly, there is no mention of knitting and hockey but that's ok too.

10 Comandments of hockey

1. Thou shall keep thy butt in Thou's seat whenever the puck is in Play.

2. Thou shall not put any team before the home team.

3. Thou shall dress appropriatley so that one can be recognized for which team you are alliencedto, and so that there will be no need for fixing hair,makeup, and assorted bra-straps during the game.

4. Thou shall not have disruptive electronic communicative devices at your seat during the hockey game.

5. Thou shall not covet the visiting teams players.

6. Thou shall let others fully express themselves at all times during a hockey game.

7. Thou shall do everything humanly possible to disrupt the opposing goaltender.

8. Thou shall take the ref's name in vain.

9. Thou shalt not die during a hockey game.

10. Thou shalt cheer as hard as possible for the home team no matter what he score is, no matter what the season record is.

Cap #2 done...

*Caugh* *Sneeze* Yep, I'm sick, but that doesn't mean that I can't knit - 3x3-rib-chemo-cap #2 is done.

I really love these, they're such quick and nice knits and you can perfectly use all your leftover yarn for it - perfect!

Off to bed I am - there's plans to go to Salzburg on Friday with a couple of other fans for the HCIs-away-game... Should be fun after such a long time, but I doubt I'll be back in shape then ;(

Have a great time, ladies!

Officiating??

Pardon my quick rant. These new officiating rules are making me nuts - well, nuttier than normal. I think it's even worse at the college level than the NHL. During the Penn State games this weekend the penalty boxes looked like a game in poker; at one point there was a full house and there may have even been a straight. You can't blame the ref's they've been told to call EVERYTHING. The Icers coach said that in the third period today there was less than two minutes where the Icers played at full strength.

Sorry about that. Penn State beat Scranton 4-2 Friday night and they beat Navy today 6-3 with the last an empty net goal. Penn State is ranked #2 in the ACHA to - I hate to say the name - Rhode Island. They have some things to work on though - the big thing that I noticed is rather than shooting a one timer the shooter is hesitating and it gives the goalie the time to square up to them. The great things I noticed about the Icers is their conditioning, they are fast and they are tough.

There was another knitter in the stands today - and she was knitting while the game was going on. I can't do that - I have to watch the game. I'm almost done with the hat and should have it done in the next couple of days.

The Avalanche lost last night to Edmonton, heavy sigh.

Hi All!!!

Hi All.

I just wanted to send a quick Hello!!! I'm a New York Islander's fan and Bridgeport Soundtiger's Fan (the Isle's AHL affiliate) and season ticket holder (hey a 10 minute drive beats a 90 minute drive anyday)

This now gives me an opportunity to do something that I've wanted to do for a while and now I can't procrastinate. I'm going to knit for Warm Up America.

Hope everyone enjoys the hockey season it's going to be a long one. All I can say is the Islander's won their home opener with the back up goalie, since the $67million boy is out with a groin pull, wow it really is going to be a long season, that goodness, I can bring my knitting to the games, it keeps me sane....well kinda.

Let's go Islander's
Happy Knitting.

Vikki :-)

And they win...win...win...

Once more - HCI rules! I can't believe it, they play dirty and bad hockey, no defense, without Todd Elik they're simply not there, and yet they win. But hell, who cares? My Mike looses in Sweden, perhaps he'll get kicked out in December and comes to Innsbruck *dream a little dream....* Anyhoo, watched the "Best of" of the Rangers-Sabres-game - kill me Twig, but the Sabres were the better team indeed... Hm... Yay for Vanek, but next time Pöck will show the world that Austria is the true hockey nation (*evil-stupid-half-drunken-laughter*)
Just came back from the stadium, in the last 5 minutes all the people (ALL!) were standing up, clapping their hands and cheering - oh my gosh, did I ever get goosebumps with that (oops? I've read that somewhere... whether it's the correct phrase or not, I'll see, I suppose...)
Next entry you'll see some real knitting contecnt, I swear - I've been knitting one more chemo cap like mad... Yes!!!

Sabres Rule!!!!

Need I say more?


PS Next time, Twig. Your boys have 3 more chances ... to send me goodies! hee hee

Buffalo Won!

Well well, what can I say? NHL.com doesn't have the game-recap on video yet, but I'm pretty sure that the better team won! Thumbs up, Twig, there'll be a couple more games, and woah, score by Shanahan and assist by Jagr, this must have been a true dream goal!

For me as a pretty neutral NHL-fan (or neutral I try to be) this was an interesting game indeed as our two only Austrians in the NHL met last night - I mean, Austria is certainly not a hockey-country, so having two lads playing in the NHL is certainly something to be proud of for us here. Thomas Pöck (NYR) is still searching for his place in hockey heaven it seems, but Thomas Vanek (Buffalo) has already found it, no? Did he have some time on the ice at all last night? And what about Pöck? Cool indeed, and yay Susan for the Sabres - I would have loved to see the happy dance you did! ;)

500th NHL Career Goal

Congrats to Matts Sundin of the Toronto Maple Leafs who scored his 500th career goal. Not only was it his 500th, but it was a short handed goal in overtime against the Calgary Flames. There is one happy Canadian here at Chez Accident.

Our weekend house guest who is a Flyers fan is not happy as they just lost to New Jersey.

Back to my Avalanche who WERE leading the Oilers. Twice. Now it's tied. Good Luck to your team Jill.

GAAAAAAH

It's second intermission and I just went up and asked my husband for a couple aspirin. He said, "That bad, huh? Have they put Lundqvist in yet?" BTW, my asking for aspirin is akin to asking for a loaded gun -- I'm super allergic to aspirin.

Let's not speak of this game. Ever. NEVER EVER.

Jonesy, email me your mailing address. *sigh*

Procrastination

My hockey knitting is going slowly and I know why, it's the yarn. Red Heart Super Saver. My knitting group was graciously given a boatload of yarn and I picked the wrong stuff. I imagine all knitters are a very tactile group, so if you have knit with this stuff you know what I'm feeling, a very hard abrasive yarn. Since I don't like the feel, I don't want to pick it up and work with it, but since I started the project I should finish it. I picked it up with very good intentions, its colors remind me of camouflage and when I see what friends knit they usually knit something for little girls so I thought I would do something for a little guy. I'm bound and determined to do this one and then never speak of this yarn again.

This picture was taken earlier this week I am significantly further and was knitting away on it while watching MFB's Leafs loose the game by giving up a three goal lead (yes they should be red faced about that) and lost in the shoot out. I also was working away on it while in the arena waiting for the Penn State Icers season home opener to start last night. The Icers defeated Scranton 4-2 but there were some anxious moments on the way to the win.

Tonight we have on tap Leafs vs Flames on TV and tomorrow afternoon I'm at the arena watching the Icers against Navy. I'll get about an hour of knitting time there before the game.

First item done

I finished a scarf destined for Dulaan earlier today (pictures hopefully to come later). It was started before the hockey season began, but it's being counted because it was worked on during hockey games last weekend ;) I'm planning on doing another in the same yarn, as soon as I decide which of the three patterns I have in mind to use *g*

Masters of the Shoot Out!

My oh my. I think I need heart medication. How sweet the victory, especially because it was a "Czech Mate" -- shooting the puck past Mr. Sour Grapes himself, Dominik Hasek. We rule! (hear that Twig? Tonight's the night!)

And ... as Caps to the Capital only lasts until Jan. 7th, I made a chemo cap last night -- a wild and crazy one. My local knitting group meets at the library, and instead of charging us for the meeting room, they just ask that we choose a charity, so we make and replenish a supply of chemo caps for the local hospital. I'm going to do another one tonight, that is, in between the many goals Buffalo will be scoring against the Rangers.

#1!!

I hope I won't go on anyone's nerves here, but I just *have* to share the news: HCI won @ Vienna Capitals last night, and we're now #1 in the standings!!! Woah! Who would have thought? No one would have given a dime on them before the season started, and now they're #1! *Doing the happy dance*

The game was horrible though - what I've seen in these 8 games now is that we have a great and strong offense, though they need way too many chances to actually score, our defense - well, they got as many holes in their lineup as a Swiss cheese, and our goalies, especially the #1 goalie, are rotten bad. But they're all fighters, don't give up for a second, play way more disciplined than at the beginning - and obviously it worked! But there's still a lot of work left...

I followed the NHL-results from the past days - yay for the Sabres and the Canes for winning - and thumbs up to the others, there's many more games to win! ;)

Have a great weekend, ladies!

First Cap is finito!

Well... I've finished the first chemo cap, my first cap ever ;)


Now I have to do the same one for CM as that's obviously the cap he wanted for ages - fine with me, I had a ball of this yarn left so I already cast on for #2 - and hey, there's a lot more caps to do, I'm getting addicted to them and there's so many gorgeous patterns out there!

In hockey news, I've found a page that translates Swedish into English/German - the results of these translations are really ridiculous, but at least I could read that the guys up there in the north are getting hysterical about Siklenka coming to play for them - one of the guys there who played with him in Austria said something about a "gorgeous, huge guy" (yeah!) who's "very kind and generous" (oy!) and has a "deadly shot"... Hmh, they'll have a lot of fun with him there ;)

Innsbrucks teams' management drives me insane once more these days - Brad Isbister (Ex-Boston Bruins, Ex-Carolina Hurricanes) said he'd love to play here again, he doesn't want to stay in the Canes' Farm Team where he is now and obviously enjoyed his time in Innsbruck so much - but the HCI mumbled something about no money... For heaven's sake, they *have* the money, plus with Izzy alone they'd be sold out till the end of the season, the cash he'd bring would be definitely more than the cash spent on him. Blah. DUH! *Shakes head in total disbelief* *Stops ranting now*

And finally I found a German TV-channel who broadcasts NHL-games in the middle of the night - not regularly unfortunately, but at least I get to see a bit of the great hockey from overseas and could enjoy the last Rangers' game - woah, what a goal by Jagr! I'm not too impressed with the Rangers' goalie though, what do you think about him, Twig?

Hope you're all having a great time - yay for a couple amazing games this weekend!

*sigh*

The Rangers lost again tonight. *sigh* BUT we're just saving up all our good playing for Saturday.

How's everyone else doing?

Hi There

I just wanted to say "hi" to everyone and join you all in agreeing that I thought I was the only one with a hockey and knitting passion. Who knew there were more of us.
I am a huge hockey fan, all the way back to when I was a little girl and watched the Boston Bruins. Now, while still being a Bruins fan, I am an even bigger college hockey fan. We have season tickets to University of New Hampshire Men's Wildcat Hockey. We have been going to games and following the team since the late 90's, even going out to Anaheim, California for the National Championship. I also like the Minnesota Wild and am a big fan of Alexander Ovechkin. But my favorite hockey is the Midget and High School hockey that my son plays!
His HS coach is a former college player who played in France and I think Switzerland, but for Dipsy Doodle I need to find out exactly what teams he was on.
So, thanks for letting me in and I will get to work on finding the right charity. At the moment, we are making quilts to be auctioned off to raise money for our local school, but I am actively looking for knitting opportunities.
Will keep you posted and Good Luck to everyone's teams, at least for now, it's early in the season!!! :)

Hockey Hiatus

I can't believe I have to wait until Friday to see my team play. Hopefully, they're gearing up for a big win against the Red Wings.

In the meantime, here are two more preemie caps, including one with a sprout, knit during the last two games. (The I cord isn't really that pointy ...)

Learning Swedish? Oy!

Hm... there's probably no chance that anyone of you girls out there can read Swedish? *Sob* After many months of searching for my ultra-fave player, Mike Siklenka - and a couple horrible days where I thought I'd have to become a Chicago Blackhawks-Fan as they tested him - the nuthead signed with a second league Swedish team, duh ;( Probably for the better - a while it seemed that Innsbruck wanted but couldn't afford him (which would have led to quite a disaster with my CM), then in the past days Red Bulls Salzburg wanted to sign him (The enemy! Even more disaster with CM!) - so now he's far far off and can't disturb me, LOL ;)

But argh, I would so enjoy to follow how he's doing up there in the north, why in all the world can't they write their website in english? What a dilemma! No, I refuse to learn Swedish now, I really refuse it!!!!

This week we have 3 games - one tonight as an away game in Graz and then two home games on Friday and Sunday - yay for that, unfortunately no knitting time as I'll be in the stadium! But I'm happily knitting away on my first chemo cap and already printed out, like, 20 patterns that I'd all love to try my hands at - oops ;) Chemo-cap-knitting-mania?

Happy Thanksgiving

to all my Canadian family and friends.

Penn State Icers lost on Sunday to Robert Morris in Pittsburgh on Sunday 6-0. Robert Morris is a NCAA team while the Icers are an ACHA leaque. Not surprising that they lost but 6-0? Ouch. MFB's bus trip home with the team was a bit subdued. This next weekend we have a game Friday night and one on Sunday since the Penn State Nittany Lion football team has a home game on Saturday. The Sunday game will be a bit emotional as it is against Navy and there will be ceremonies honoring the armed forces.

The Av's won last night. And looked pretty darn good to me as they came from behind a couple of times to win, and it didn't even go into OT. Right now we are watching the Leafs and my Denver Broncos are about to kickoff for Monday Night Football. The new receiver that was installed on Saturday with Picture in Picture is going to be put to good use this winter!

Remember how I said that MFB (husband, My Favorite Blogger) was a Leafs fan and I an Av's but we generally will cheer on the others team? Well wait for Wednesday October 18 at 7:30 EST. Uh, Dipsy you may hear he and I exchanging "pleasantries" and familial "compliments" all the way in Austria that night. LOL

I'll post a picture of progress on my hat on next post.

YEAH!!!!

Twig, how was that with that last Rangers game taking 10 years off your life? I can relate to that... I'm still shaking all over... HCI WON!!!! Thanks God for the Canadians - for all of them, but most especially for the ones that are playing for Innsbruck! They scoooored! But: What a killer game, the guys fought for every inch on the ice, never gave up - and got the Red Bulls 6:5 in the OT! Hah!!! Bye bye Bulls!

And to prove that I did something else than biting my finger- and toenails, here you go, this little nothing is the beginning of the first chemo-cap - I thought I'll start off with a darker color that'll suit everything fine and then head onto the more cheerful colors. Basic 3x3 rib, easy and quick work - perfect for hockey evenings ;)

Can we end the season now?

Buffalo is 3-0. Okay. They win. Here comes the Cup!

Hi All!

Hi everybody! I'm so glad to have found this group! Actually, I found it last night while working on a sweater while watching "Shark Byte". This was right after Caps/'Canes ended and I was waiting for the next round of games last night. I think the hockey and knitting gods were smiling down on me.

So, I support a couple of teams. First and foremost, Cornell hockey. I went to school there, became a hockey fan there, and support them ever since. Cornell's season starts next weekend with an exhibition game. Second, I cheer for the Caps. They're local. After I graduated, I moved down to DC and started watching NHL and followed the Caps. So now, I share in the annual ups and downs. You'd think I'd be a Bruins fan having grown up in the Boston area, but no, I wasn't brought up with it.

The knitting - I've been wanting to do some sort of charity knitting like chemo caps for cancer patients, and am in search of some sort of charity that does just that.

Found a charity + Tonight's THE game!

I'm happy to announce that I can post here again - I thought I'd never be able to again ;( My dear CM totally crashed our PC yesterday - you perhaps know this thing : "Hey, I'll just have to fix a little thing, 5 mins offline and everything will work out!" Yeah, 5 mins... We lost basically all the data that we hadn't saved - fortunately hardly any of mine as I know my man and had saved almost everything. He lost most, the mail server's still not working and well... But I'm back online, so that's what counts ;)

And: I found a charity over here! The ladies at the chemo department of Innsbruck's hospital sent a very lovely reply to my mail asking them if they're in need of some nice caps - and they are, hallelujah! I have never knit caps before as I don't wear any, so this is going to be a learning experience!

Tonight's the ultimate game in Innsbruck's stadium: Red Bulls Salzburg are coming over - they're #1 in the standings, 2 pts before us and they're the absolute favorites for this year's Cup - they're the most "expensive" team having Red Bull Energy Drink as a sponsor and thus they bought basically everyone that's good over the summer break. But we're close behind them, and if we beat 'em, we're the #1, hah!!!

I'm sick as a dog today and thus not sure if I can drag myself into the stadium - if I do, I'll be either dead or completely healthy again tomorrow - and if I don't go, then I'll watch the game on TV, casting on for my first chemo cap!

I wanted to tell you ladies that I'm still totally excited with our little place on the Internet that Twig did for us here, it's sooo good reading your hockey rants and seeing your great knitting all at once, my heart jumps out with every entry I'm reading! Yay and scoooore!

Yay Habs!

What a good game! Although I'm getting a bit tired of games ending in shootouts, it would be sort of nice if we could win one in regular time or at least in OT! Sorry Drea & Mokey (and any other Leafs' fans), but it sure did feel good to win one, especially after yesterday's loss.

My first Hockey charity knitting project is slowly coming together...


For the Red Scarf Project