NHL Examining Rule Changes - A FB Post from August

The below was a post I put on Facebook as a note (as I had done at times) prior to having a blog.  I might be putting a few more such posts on the blog now from FB here and there.  This one written last August was in regards to the NHL looking at potential changes to the game I love.  I still feel pretty much as I did about the contents now as I did when I wrote it and maintain that the game doesn't need to be changed to fit the desires of those that aren't really fans, and it doesn't need changed for the sake of change, but there is nothing wrong with looking into ways of improving the game and in making it safer just as long as the changes that do come about make sense and improve either the quality or the safety of the game.

My Top 10 Avs

A recent episode on the Puck Podcast (worth listening to even for casual hockey fans ... http://www.puckpodcast.com/) had a section in which they talked about how the Sharks did a poll of their fans to find out who the fan favorites were and how Dany Heatley wasn't even in the top 10.  After listening to this I decided that I would soon create a post (and voilà, here it is) in which I tried to lay out my top 10 favorite Avalanche players of all time.

Now there are a couple things worth pointing out at the very beginning.  First this is not a list of the 10 greatest Avalanche players of all time; it is my list of 10 favorite Avs of all time.  Second, while I watched an occasional game prior to the 2000 season it wasn't until then that I went to my first live game and was completely hooked on hockey, thus my list will show this by the lack of players from the time before that and I know there were some greats that I didn't fully appreciate because I didn't get to see them play regularly like I have the players since then.

Destination Truth

The new season of Destination Truth started on SyFy not that long ago (just about 2 weeks ago in fact) and I've begun watching the first season on Netflix as well because I didn't know what I was missing until I caught a later season.  I have to say that of all the "truth finding" shows that are out there this one is my favorite by far.  Unlike many other shows (such as Ghost Hunters which is 2nd on my list and Ghost Adventures), this show began not hunting paranormal but hunting other legends such as Bigfoot.  It wasn't many episodes in before they did their first paranormal investigation but they still hunt more "legends" than ghosts.

An Avalanche of Help on the Way

Ok, corny title I know but I stuck with it.  The Avalanche have lost a lot of games over the past couple of months as well as traded away two very popular and young players along with a starting goalie that may or may not have given up on the team.  Needless to say it has been rough being an Avalanche fan.

However of late the organization has begun signing a number of its top flight prospects to entry level contracts of late.  Specifically they have signed Joey Hishon, last year's surprise first round pick, defensemen Tyson Barrie and Stefan Elliot, and goaltender Calvin Pickard.  The team has also brought Super Joe (Sakic) in as part of the management team, but I'm looking at these signings in this writing.  Now odds are none of these four players makes the team out of camp next year, however it is possible that at least a couple of them will get callups at some point during next season and we'll surely get a good look at them in training camp.  So just who are these players?

When Losing Becomes Winning

When does losing in sports, professional sports specifically, start to become better for the franchise than winning does?  Is such a thing really even possible?  Fans get upset, ticket sales decrease, overall interest wanes ... but at some point does losing become beneficial?

At the beginning of the Avalanche's epic collapse I was upset with each loss the team suffered.  At the time it started they were right in the thick of the playoff race.  Two months later the Avalanche had managed just one win in those nearly 60 days falling from playoff possibility to 2nd last in the entire league.  They have won their last two games now, both in shootouts, pulling to 28th in the league rather than 29th, but the season is nearly over and the playoffs have long been out of the picture.

A Stirring in the Realms - Past Meet Present prologue

The year is 1369 DR.  It was a particularly harsh winter but the snow is starting to melt as Spring has once again come to the lands.  Although the Gods themselves have returned to where they came from after their war the people are left behind to deal with the devastation as is normally the case.  Families are torn apart, many are homeless, and thousands are dead.  Zhentil Keep where most of the battle occurred is nearly entirely destroyed but the Zhentarim continue to exist and insist the Keep is not destroyed and will be rebuilt.  However those of Hillsfar are pushing their advantage and claiming territory, though the winter has halted their advance.  Mulmaster has positioned their ships to cut off supplies to Zhentil Keep, an effort made easier by the fact that much of the Zhent fleet was destroyed.  It would seem that the Zhentarim are weakened considerably right now.

Face Off - SyFy

Two nights ago the season finale of the SyFy series "Face Off" aired.  I missed the first episode of this series despite being very interested in seeing it from the first preview I saw.  The premise behind this reality competition show was one that hasn't been done before (to my knowledge) and actually looked interesting.  In this series "aspiring make-up artists" would go into each week with a challenge that would see them putting their skills as movie special effect make-up artists to the test, and each week they were judged by some pretty well known Hollywood names from the effects world and one person would be sent home until in the end only one remained and of course that person would get the awards.

The Law in Sports

The recent hit by Zdeno Chara on Max Pacriorety has started up a massive storm of controversy and again brings actions in sports and the legal system head to head.  On the 7 year anniversary of one of my most hated players in the game, Todd Bertuzzi, stalking and striking Avalanche forward Steve Moore from behind, fracturing his neck, and ending his career, Chara's hit which wasn't nearly as premeditated but looked just as vicious resulted in an injury that could end Max's career as well as he was carried off on a stretcher and found to have a concussion and a fractured vertebrae as well.

Now it could be argued that the hit was dirty, that the hit was something that wasn't dirty but an unfortunate result to a hit that was in a dangerous area of the ice (Max's head hit the stanchion between the benches), or any level in between ... and in fact that argument rages on right now.  It is my belief that he intended to hit him, perhaps even put him into the bench, but not to hurt him ... and I agree that it was interference though not as late as some people are claiming it to be ... but no one really knows the intent of the action except Chara.  The arguments will go on as they should because player safety is a serious concern, however that isn't the intent of this writing.  The purpose of this writing is to discuss the law stepping in on these occasions.

Ford or Spielberg???

Yesterday there was a Star Wars marathon on one station and an Indiana Jones marathon on another.  During this I got to thinking what great careers both Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford have had.  Which is greater though ... or who would you rather be?

Plenty of Movies During a Busy Weekend

Still got tons of stuff to do before the big date (and the second slightly smaller date on which we'll hold the reception), but did get quite a bit accomplished this past week and got the tux figured out Saturday.  As I said, plenty to do still but a trip to Denver soon should help wrap up a bit more.  As such, this weekend we did get to watch a few more movies which I'll take a moment to comment on here.  Actually we ended up watching four movies (and again I love RedBox and Netflix instant play) which did cut into our time for sleep a bit but that's ok I suppose.

How are a Raven and a Writing Desk Alike?

Recently we again watched Alice in Wonderland and again I really enjoyed it.  We first watched it at the theater some months ago in 3-D, a format that I really enjoy seeing movies in, and liked it then as well.

Everyone knows Alice and the story pretty much.  The movie is fun and enjoyable throughout and the characters are a joy to watch. I especially liked the performance of Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen and Mia Wasikowska as Alice but there weren't any performances that I disliked.  Visually I loved the movie.  The effects, the colors, the scenes created ... it was a huge success from the beginning to the end.  It did cross my mind though during the growing and shrinking why clothing growth and shrinking wasn't across the board, either all clothes grow or shrink or all don't ... but that's just one of those random thoughts that really don't have an effect on the movie that tend to pop up in my head from time to time.  (...and really, why would certain clothes grow and shrink and others wouldn't???)

Deadline Dud

The NHL trade deadline came and went yesterday with a whimper.  This year very few deals were made, fewer still that were really impact deals.  In fact there were as many impact deals prior to the deadline this year as there were on deadline day.  Most deals involved minor players or AHL players moving teams, and there were a few marginal players and mid round draft picks moved as well.  There were only a few deals really that had any impact though on deadline day itself this year.