Plans are already made for pajamas (er, Chewbacca onesie), takeout and couch recuperation on Friday to watch the big game! Chuck got a ticket – woohoo! – so look for her on TV.
Sharp eye of the Fashion Police
Maybe she should borrow my onesie.
Who’s scruffy looking?
I look way more excited than this guy in my outfit, but faced the same problem: what kind of shoes go with a Chewbacca suit?
Obviously.
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And now, we turn to Elodie…
With weeks to go until New Year’s Day and its symbolic game, this year’s Road to the NHL Winter Classic is back on EPIX, this time trying to give us a glimpse of the lives of the Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins.
If you don’t know, this is a rivalry for the ages. One of – if not the – most bitter in the NHL. To this day, these teams have faced each other more than any other two teams in the league, and they simply really, really dislike each other.
The kids who spawned a thousand memes.
Let me be honest – I’m a Bruins fan, inclined to turn a side-eye to every bit of the show that is about the Habs. Yet even I have to admit that if there’s one thing this first episode of Road the the NHL Winter Classic did well, it was keeping the focus on a player that it is almost impossible to hate: PK Subban.
Related: PK as Don Cherry makes Strombo pee his pants. [Video]
There’s a beautiful moment, in the opening for the Habs’ section of the show, where PK putting on the most outrageous red fur coat. My friends and I couldn’t help but wonder, does he dress like that all the time, or is it just for the cameras? We could completely believe he wears this thing out every day.
Echoes of his NHL Awards suit
Turns out, the coat is for the cameras, but his teammates fall for the joke and their reactions are glorious.
There’s also this pretty interesting bit where PK lets us in into one of his “hobbies”: suit designing. He says it himself, he likes to look good. And he does. Can’t wait to see what he pulls out for the Winter Classic.
Okay, enough Habs. None of this compares to the delightful moments with the Bruins we get to see! From Zdeno Chara walking around Boston, going to his favorite barber (the same one that shaved his playoff beard after winning the Cup, the one Chara brought the Cup to) and stopping by a youth hockey team from Halifax for pictures and autographs, to Brad Marchand soulfully gazing out of his bedroom window before putting on a (very sharp) suit, it’s all pretty intimate.
[Editors note: You know I didn’t write that about Marchand! *P]
But no moment is more intimate that the few minutes we get with Patrice Bergeron. Bergy, flawless, perfect Patrice, is famously known his discretion. Never would I have expected to see 8-week old baby Zack featured on the show. And yet, this happened…
:: synchronized swoon ::
So ovaries everywhere imploded in hushed whimpers. The show also featured Stephanie Bergeron gushing about how good a father Patrice is, and I had to rewind and rewatch a couple of times, making pained noises throughout the whole thing.
The preview for the upcoming episodes also seem to show that we’ll be introduced to Tuukka Rask’s tiny blonde Finnish baby, which is something that nobody expected either, because these guys, they don’t share.
Cindy Lou Tuuk? Cindy Tuu Who? I can’t make this joke work.
Other awww-inducing moments of note: Patches and his tiny child playing about in the bowels of the Bell Center:
Yankees hat. This kid is good.
Mainly, my brain short-circuited post-Bergy and I retained very little of everything else. To be fair, as first episodes go, this one was heavy on exposition. Hopefully they’ll find the hooks they had least year, like Latta and Wilson’s bromance, or a bevvy of family holiday skates to pack it all up with cuteness and babies everywhere. I am eagerly awaiting more baby Bergy, and Rask, and the exceptionally cute baby Krejci:
From the lovely Mrs. Krejci – @naomikrejci
This show has always been at its best when there’s more than a rivalry narrative to hang onto, so I’ll look forward to next week’s show. The Bruins played some good games (sayonara, Penguins!) while Episode 2 was filming. I, for one, will be satisfied with babies everywhere, but I may be easy to please.
[Thanks, Elodie! See you next week. *P]
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This year, it’s the Habs vs. the Bruins at Foxboro Stadium in Boston on January 1. EPIX once again has cameras embedded with each team to bring you their 4-part behind the scenes series “Road to the NHL Winter Classic.”
The show premieres tonight at 10/9 Central. You can watch it LIVE and FREE on EPIX.com. (I wonder if they got any footage of that “Frozen” karaoke video being recorded… or if we’ve really seen all we need.)
We are pretty excited – as is Puck Daddy – because, let’s face it, we are hoping for The PK Subban Show. Even Chuck, Bruins fan that she is, can’t say no to the PK.
The Penguins are in Boston tonight for a Wednesday Night Rivalry game, airing on NBC Sports. The “Road to the Winter Classic” episode stays available online after it’s 10 PM airtime, so you can catch it after the game.
Our favorite hangover remedy
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It was great from my seat.
America.
I had the squeal-inducing, off-the-wall-bouncing fortune to get a ticket through my work and attend the game with a colleague. You all know the ending – Caps won 3-2 on a goal from Troy Brouwer with 12 seconds left. Let me tell you how it looked from my seat.
I was overdressed, and carrying a bag of hand-warmers. I might wear this outfit when I race the Iditarod.
Which way to the arctic?
Our seats were incredible: club level, front row. This will never happen to me again. But don’t be too jealous – the club level ran out of food in the second intermission. I just wanted to give Nats Park my money in exchange for calories and they did nothing. Thank God I didn’t have a hangover.
My seats were better than Kathryn Tappen’s.
Billy Idol sounded great. He looked like he’s been frozen since ’88, outfit and all. Not really sure why he was the opening act, but of all the non-A-list randos the NHL could have secured, this was a very solid choice.
Not my photo. Nor did he sing “Mony Mony.”
The National Anthem was spectacular. I believe I saw Caleb and Bob, the Caps regular singers, front and center in the Armed Forces band, yes? They didn’t have a great angle on the Jumbotron and we were busy marveling at that flag – and the fighter jets.
America.
The sun glare was real, and we could file a class action suit for premature eye wrinkles against whoever put this game at 1 PM. When the teams switched sides at 10 mins of the first period, Holtby went from the shade… right back into the shade on the other side. Thanks, Billy Idol, for taking just enough time.
42,000+ is a lot of people. A lot of red was rocked, for both teams. Everyone got a free seat cushion, because GEICO is the official sponsor of my butt.
We did not do the wave.
Among those 42,000+ people, only one made this:
Nightmare on Every Street
My colleague pointed to a man on the field, with a microphone, and asked who he was because she’d seen him “holding court” in the press box. It was Roenick, of course. How to explain JR to someone?
The Caps opened a lead. They took some dumb penalties. Patrick Sharp scored in the blink of a eye. Matt Niskanen had a rough third period. But we Unleashed the Fury and Troy Brouwer saved the day. I was so excited I took an accidental celebration selfie that was supposed to be a picture of the game.
Candid Camera
Afterward, everyone launched their unused fireworks from the night before.
Boom.
I hadn’t eaten in hours and wished they would launch hot dogs into the air instead. But fireworks are cool, especially when they are for winning!
Clap.
It was a stellar day. That said, is it something I’d do again? For cheap/free, yes. The spectacle mirrors how I feel about hockey (big, loud, fireworks), but in the end even a great game is still just a regular season game. For fun, the Winter Classic is it. For heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, feel-it-in-your-guy hockey, save your money for a playoff game. They’d never run out of food.
]]>I’m talking about the Philadelphia Flyers and goaltending.
For years now, the Flyers organization have had issues finding just the right goalie to lead them to the Stanley Cup. They came close in 2010 behind the tandem of Brian “Bobby” Boucher and Michael Leighton, but it just wasn’t enough. The team has lacked that netminder who brings consistency to the starting goaltender position and who hold on to the starting position for an extended period of time.
If the Bruins Stanley Cup run has shown us anything, it is that in order to win the Cup, you need to have goaltending. Tim Thomas was otherworldly last season and it is his stellar play along with the play of the entire team that brought them the ultimate hockey prize.
Any hockey fan can recognize that the Flyers are talented. Claude Gingeroux might be one of the best young players in the NHL. They have a solid core of young talent mixed in with veterans like Scott Hartnell, Danny Briere, and future NHL Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr. Coach Peter Laviolette has won a Cup before with the Hurricanes, so he’s proven that he can take a team all the way.
I truly believe that the Flyers thought that bringing in Ilya Bryzgalov would solve their twine troubles. He won the Cup in 2007 with the Ducks. He is a 3-time Olympian, has won numerous international medals, was the runner-up for the Vezina Trophy and a top 5 finalist for the Hart Trophy in 2010. He is, by all accounts, a top-flight NHL Goalie.
Flyers spend a pretty penny on signing Bryz in the off-season, to a nine-year,$51 million dollar contract. The team believed in Bryz so much that they even went as far as to pull off two high-profile trades before the signing was announced in order to make room for him under the salary cap – Jeff Carter to Columbus and captain Mike Richards to Los Angeles. Granted Flyers did receive some great young talent like Jakub Voraceck, Wayne Simmonds, and Brayden Schenn, and a grip of draft picks in return, but was it really all worth it? Have the Flyers really gotten what they’ve so desperately desired?
Some might say yes, while others will lament that the Flyers made a terrible mistake. At yesterday’s Winter Classic, a marquee NHL event, you expect to see your #1 goalie on the ice. Bryz rode the bench. The Flyers’ other netminder, Sergei “Bob” Bobrovsky got the start. Probably not a terrible idea to go with Bob over Byrz since he’s been winless in his last four starts, going 0-3 and giving up 16 goals on 87 shots and Bobrovsky is 3-0 in his last three starts, giving up 6 goals on 88 shots.
But it really didn’t matter who started. Flyers lost anyway.
While the season is still a long way from over, it seems that despite the organization’s best efforts, the Flyers’ goaltending conundrum continues.
Now, by no means, do I actually want the Flyers to win. As a Bruins fan, it is not in my DNA to allow that. But I am a hockey fan and I appreciate the struggle and desires of players and fans, and the hope an entire city places in 20 men on their quest to obtain the pinnacle of hockey supremacy.
]]>Tampa Bay is still struggling below .500 and near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, but it’s always fun to beat Philly. Stamkos post-game interview [link] – what he doesn’t mention is staying just one goal ahead of James Neal(.com) for the NHL lead.
Nealmobile got his 21st of the season and it was wacky. It hit his leg, we all yelled “Go in the net!” and so it did. The puck just wants James to like it, and we totally understand.
Santa brought you a brand new Nealer highlight video, complete with homage to that Hawaiian shirt [link].
Jordan Staal played in his 400th NHL game last night, and scored himself a celebratory goal. Gator and I are hosting an air hockey tournament at work tomorrow and guess who’s on my team?
With just a few days to go till the Winter Classic, even the Empire State Building is getting into the game:
NEW YORK – As the countdown to the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic continues, the Empire State Building will celebrate the much-anticipated outdoor match-up between the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers by shining its world-famous tower lights in Rangers and Flyers colors on Wednesday, Dec. 28. The east/west sides of the building, with west facing Madison Square Garden, will be lit in the Rangers’ Blue, Red and White, while its north/south sides, with south facing the City of Philadelphia, will be lit in the Flyers’ Orange and White. [link]
It’s cool, right? Or it’s a thousand annoying phone calls informing the building that the blue lights on the south side are broken.
]]>You make the call… either way, Sid, you gotta toughen up kid, this is the NHL and dudes are gonna hit you. XXOO
]]>The Penguins did not line up for handshakes with the Caps. Yes, this is exceedingly lame and petty. It is not, however, really that surprising. There was also no handshake after the first Winter Classic in Buffalo. The Pens won the shootout, the Sabres skated around for a minute, got bored and just left. Since the Pens are the only team to have played in a WC before and it wasn’t done then, who knows? Does something that happened 66% of the time constitute a “tradition?”
That said, I think it should happen. It is totally douche-y not to do it. People argue that you don’t shake hands after other regular season games, but that’s being pedantic: this is hardly your average game. It’s just that no one seems clear on whether or not it’s actually done. I think BB had the right reaction: Screw ’em, we won, who cares?! See it at 5:54 of this video:
The handshake is a sportsmanlike beacon in a game that detractors call too violent and thuggish. On the biggest stage on the biggest day, the two biggest teams should be exhibiting this for the casual or potential fan. Professor Snape takes 10 points from the Penguins for skating away. As the captain, Crosby should be making sure this happens. But let’s all be honest (even me), Sid does not lose well. He’s snubbed this before and hey… they HATE the Capitals. So why kiss them goodbye when you’d rather the door hits them in the ass on the way out? Still, Crosby gets a time out for being bratty. I even put them in the Hall of Shame.
Another thing I forgot is a brief moment at the end of 24/7 that shows the Caps’ Ovechkin fighting NYR’s Dubinksi (thanks to Kimmy for the correction, my video feed sucks!). As they tumble to ice, having punched the crap out of each other, they’re both saying, “Good job, buddy.” THAT is sportsmanship, THAT is something that non-hockey fans don’t understand and THAT is what I hope they take away from this. However inconsequential, Crosby and the Pens not shaking hands is a childish mistake I hope they wouldn’t make again.
]]>– Matt Cooke’s son in the matching suit. That is gangsta. And then his dad throws some muscle around in the game.
– Marc-Andre Fleury taunting everyone in the shootout. He should wear a mic every single day and do running commentary. Like one of those web channels that just shows kittens day and night. “@wyshynski: Think we just discovered what the F in MAF stands for.”
-Jordan Staal: Way to make a comeback count. Great practice at Heinz Field, great game in the WC. Really cool to see Bylsma debating with him whether or not he could play. [Video]
– Capitals celebrating NYE by pretending to go to sleep early. Where was Ovi? HBO didn’t catch him sneaking out of the hotel? Bah!
– The locker room footage of Crosby all loopy after the unexpected hit. After he skated off doubled-up, NBC never mentioned it again. They didn’t have the HBO access.
– Boudreau’s SO happy at the end of the Classic, it made me happy. For the Caps. What is wrong with me?
I hope NBC watched HBO for camera angles and other technical tips. The aerial shots of the Classic on NBC were nauseating and distracting – people complain that it’s hard to follow the puck on TV, then NBC makes it much worse by shooting from space.
We all learned a lot from 24/7 and we’ll miss it terribly. Not least of all for the ridiculous moments where HBO pulled no punches and just went for the joke. Yahoo’s Puck Daddy blog captured this one: Note to Mike Green: Who wears a tan belt? (Yes, it’s a belt. An embarrassing belt. Some HBO producer keeled over laughing.)
We watched the game at Giordano Bros. in SF, our fave Pittsburgh bar. I had to stuff my hat in my mouth when this interview came on. [Video]
WUYS BFF Cassy posted this is comments, but I have to call it to the front. New favorite thing ever? When Mike and Nikky just tell each other how cute they are.
Breaking News: I am going to the Capitals vs. Senators game in DC on 1/16. Mr. Pants has agreed to go with me. Stay tuned for the carnage.
]]>The Capitals are all in LOVE with each other. It’s kinda cute. Brooks Laich has obviously been drinking, probably doing shots with himself for how freaking hot he is. Nik is giggling like a school girl and they’re razzing Mikey so bad that he put on a hot mess of a hat.
I could/will watch this a hundred times.
]]>But this is NOT about the Winter Classic. This is about a SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT made during the Winter Classic. NBC announced HOCKEY DAY IN AMERICA. Now, I don’t want to split hairs here or get all semantic in your jockstrap BUT there are several things wrong with this announcement.
First off, they stole this whole program from CANADA. I’d be the first person to congratulate them on creating such a thing but they didn’t. CANADA DID. It’s originally called HOCKEY DAY IN CANADA where ALL THE CANADIAN TEAMS IN CANADA PLAY EACH OTHER. It’s truly awesome and it’s HOCKEY ALL DAY! And you WATCH EACH GAME and it starts at the ass crack of dawn and goes to like midnight. Remember this point.Secondly, HOCKEY DAY IN AMERICA would technically include Canada and Mexico (South America if I REALLY want to go there). Last time I checked Mexico didn’t have hockey teams nor do they play hockey on a regular basis. I am not trying to be all PC but if you are stealing something, at least let’s not encompass EVERYTHING! It should be called HOCKEY DAY IN THE U.S.
Next up – NBC will have four games that day with TWO starting at 3PM Eastern: Washington VS. Buffalo and Philadelphia VS. NY Rangers. Riddle me this Batman … How is this helpful to Hockey fans? Who programmed this? How is this HOCKEY DAY …? Did NBC figure out how to split the space-time continuum? Are they THAT AWESOME? Oh but it gets better or more, OK, I’m going totally un-PC – full on retarded – Pittsburgh VS. Chicago starts at 4 PM Eastern and THEN Detroit VS. Minnesota at 6 PM Eastern. Will someone explain to me how to watch all of these games?The Coup-de Grassi in all of this … not only are they stealing Hockey Day in Canada but they are putting Hockey Day in America against Canada’s Heritage Classic; THEIR version of the outdoor WINTER CLASSIC (which we stole). Wait for it …. ON VERSUS which NBC OWNS! What’s a hockey fan to do? And oh how rude to Canada …!
Holy Sparkly Flying Dancing Unicorn Out My Butt! Does NBC have no Shame? Don’t answer that. While I am normally the first to criticize Canada because I do not quite feel the same why about our neighbor to the north as Pants and Chuck, visiting as often as I do, this is simply unacceptable. It is poorly conceived and makes no sense. It’s bad for Hockey and not a good PR move for the NHL. Why not tie in WITH HOCKEY DAY IN CANADA … oh wait, THAT would make sense.
But that’s just me. ]]>Somebody looks like a sleepy puppy. Also, I really like this sweatshirt. Not a great sign that it’s all he needs to wear outside in December, but hey. They skated and the game is on (for now).
Bonus: Jordan lost the shootout and had to run to the upper deck. Did he have to adjust his cup ten times during the interview? You decide. [Video]
Totally gratuitous bonus: Mike Green interview. My team-based loyalties are NOT being tested by his ridiculous adorkableness. Not at all. [Video] And Mike talks about spending New Years Eve with Backstrom. WELL OBVIOUSLY. Mike, you’re not making it easy for me to defend you, you know? Stealing Ovi’s boyfriend is low.
]]>– Ben Lovejoy’s face. How many needle-in-the-skin closeups can we have? I almost barfed. And the poor guy had to get on the plane knowing it would swell? Crosby laughing at him was priceless: “Woah, Benny.” Lovejoy had the best deadpan reaction shot since My Big Fat Greek Wedding, “Can you tell I got hit?” Someone get Ben a Baby Ruth and a pirate ship. [Photo Credit]
– Malkin’s one liners. He makes Lovejoy feel better by telling him, “Girls love” the messed up face. Geno knows.
– Mike Rupp’s Christmas. That elf outfit was outdone only when Rupper looked at his daughter’s pink razor scooter and asked, “If I get one of those, it it like Mike Green’s thing he had?” Oooooh, burn.
– Brooks Laich close-ups. You’ll hear Cassy screaming from the UK when she sees this one… those are some blue, blue eyes.
– Pens vs. Caps, Round 1. Simply amazing to see so much behind-the-scenes from both sides of the game. The intermission pep talks were the best. And inside the replay office in Toronto – that was fantastic.
– Sidney hits puberty with the F-bomb. I picture this like the scene in A Christmas Story when Ralphie curses in front of his dad. Crosby got so mad his voice cracked and I almost choked on my drink. We are fired up! Mike knocks Sid down, and he yells, “Fuck you, Green.” But the real show is at 13:35 here:
– Bruce Boudreau’s food cravings in the mall. You all do it, don’t judge.
– Mike Green in a suit. There are two 2-second clips, but if this were VHS I would have worn them out.
– Jordan Staal’s hair. I want him back so badly that I’ll take it. But he’s gonna look like Lady Gaga soon. I can’t even bring myself to post a photo of it.
– I’m buying a silver car and naming it Disco Dan. It can shovel, dance AND carve a turkey.
I am so pumped for Saturday. There will be tears if the weather screws up the Winter Classic. Come on, Mother Nature. Please.
]]>ADORKABLE. It’s absolute perfection.
If I had the setup, I would have stayed up ALL night screencapping Until then, here are the highlights that I can remember screaming about alone in my apartment:
– Sid talks about fighting Niskanen. “Do you want to take your helmet off?” Oh, and he’s laying on a bed. For heaven’s sake!
– Mike. Vespa. Helmet. Moccasins. LOVE. I don’t know why. (Dear Santa: Please bless whoever at Yahoo!’s Puck Daddy screencapped this.)
– Sidney Crosby’s 5 PM PB&J.
– When Ovi gets a wife, obviously he’ll live with her. Till then, it’s mom, dad & dog waiting up for him. [link]
– Craig Adams’ son naming the Pens players… makes me wanna babysit. (Excellent catch by commenter Mrs Crosby, I was so busy giggling over Mike’s Vespa I credited this to Matt Cooke.)
– Caps fist pump dance – Brooks Laich is so hot he can almost pull it off. I bet Greener refuses to do it. Too busy being cool in his moccasins. [link]
– JORDAN STAAL WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?
– Ovi cannot be bothered to get dressed. No just shirts, but pants. He was 99% naked multiple times – I’m surprised someone other than Dawn would put their hand so high on his hamstring.
– In a related story, Ovi totally flashes Mike. Intentional. Mike doesn’t laugh, so Dawn may be on to something after all.
Tonight it’s Penguins vs. Capitals in DC at 7 PM Eastern. You’ll hear me and Dawn screaming at each other from SF to Seattle. I cannot wait to see what HBO gets from this one.
]]>Sidney, why are you wearing your shoulder pads? You’re jacked but that is silly. And reading the cue cards… sigh. When Ovi’s unintelligible English is doing a better job delivering lines then you know you’re stiff.
I got bored and didn’t watch the end – does this Lauren girl win it or not?
]]>It seems like the sophisticated air of the oenological world would not mesh well with the philistine-like culture of hockey, but I think this is changing. Here are just a few examples…
Also, my Little Brother (aka LB) happens to work at a very nice Napa Valley winery where he has tasted with players and owners from the Blackhawks and Sharks and NHL legends like Ray Bourque, who reportedly purchased quite a bit of wine for his Boston restaurant from said vineyard.
Even the Winter Classic is getting in on the action. Duckhorn Vineyards has produced 500 cases (6000 bottles) of its delicious Napa Valley Decoy Merlot in honor of 2011 Winter Classic. This is what Pants and Dawn will be drinking while watching the game on 1/1/11. Ladies, I have had the Decoy Merlot and it is DELISH! I bet it will taste even better when sipped out of these…
Do I ever think that hockey and the NHL will let go of its “beer-and-pizza” image? No, and I’m totes okay with that. I love beer and pizza. But I am hopeful that more and more hockey fans will venture into the world of wine and start to appreciate what all those French and Italian dudes have for hundreds of years. Trust me folks, wine (and quality wine at that) is worth tasting and enjoying. And if I can’t convince you, maybe he can…
Until next time…Chuck out.
P.S. Sorry I’ve been MIA. Pesky graduate school classes….
PANTS IS ADDING SOMETHING! Sorry for the post hack, Chuck but I can’t post a photo in the comments. Mike Green has a wine room in his condo. Oh yes. This… I… censored. I could not possibly ever be drunk around Mike Green unless I want to go to jail.
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The Penguins watched the show as a team and you can see reaction videos from Crosby, Talbot and Bylsma. Max got a lot of airtime (Mr. Personality) and Dawn’s right, his face is pretty banged up from the puck to the forehead he took in Atlanta on 11/13.
The Pens lost to the Rangers last night, but Sid got a point to extend his scoring streak to 20 games. He informed us that this mustache business will be going on until Christmas. Oy.
So, what did you think? I loved every second (even the Capitals seconds) and cannot wait for 12/22!
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And to make it worse, the Capitals did better. (Shut up, Dawn.) Fidget’s rocking the sassy hands-on-hips pose which he surely saw on America’s Next Top Model. I bet he can strut too, but only wearing sunglasses. He really is good looking, eh? Ovi looks… well, terrifying frankly. 25 years ago he would have been pulling teeth for the KGB. Dawn owns everything in this store.
PS: I totally bought Dawn a Caps barstool for Christmas. Mr. Cherrie can bolt it to the floor of their house so she doesn’t tip over during games.