FLEURY FLOWERS & LOGAN COUTURE

January 19,2010

            So I’m sitting at Starbucks now trying to do some more research regarding the All Star Game. I really wish the Internet wasn’t so SLOW, but I guess that’s what happens when it’s free. I’ll be honest its better than the crap I get at home.           

            First thing I see is Marc-Andre Fleury’s massive chops, and I must say even though as a CAPS fan I am a sworn enemy of the Penguins, I really do love Fleury, maybe its his teeth, maybe its his cabbage patch under his upper lip, or the fact that I thing he is an awesome goalie, with a save percentage (Sv%) of .973, meaning of the 100 shots fired on them he has blocked 97 of them.  That only took me about two years and a semester of statistics to understand, thanks KG. Fleury along with Jonas Hiller (goalie of the Anaheim Ducks) and J.P. Dumont (32-year old right wing for the Nashville Predators, who had a hat trick in last nights games vs. Phoenix Coyotes) were all named as COMPUWARE THREE STARS. Good job guys.

            Okay so this next segment is defiantly geared a little more towards my female readers actually mainly myself. I was playing on BL’s IPAD trolling the Internet, and I stumbled upon this gem:

http://www.nhlentrydraft2008.com/featuredPlayersDetails.aspx?type=np&playerID=1017

I must say I am a big fan of the hockey mullets, JC you look much better now but Varly, Semin and several other of my favorite caps are sporting them.

The website goes on to give some awesomely fantastic little blurbs on my favorite CAP. 

JOHN CARLSON :)

·      He was born in Natick, Massachusetts (a good old American J)

·      His hometown is Colonia, New Jersey (a jersey boy! Like me, except I am not a dude)

·      His favorite NHL team is the New Jersey Devils.

·      His favorite NHL player is Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf (who I have no idea who that is, I will defiantly have to check that out)

·      Favorite video game is NHL 08  (I am much more partial to 07 I think the music selection is much better, however I have the most experience with NHL 10 only because the only time I ever played I asked of I could put Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin on the same team, (the Washington Capitals) I have never been allowed to play since)

·      His favorite movie is Shawshank Redemption (I really wish I could say I agree, actually I wish I could say I have ever even seen that movie. It is sitting in KG’s DVD pile. Which means I obviously am going to have to watch it now.)

·      His favorite TV show is lost…I wonder what his feelings are on my GLEE and Real Housewives obsession, and I am going to say it’s a safe bet that he is defiantly not into my Little Miss Perfect obsession…ehh.

·      Favorite actor is Bruce Willis. ( I loved his daughter in House Bunny J )

·      Favorite Artist is. …Kenny Chesney (is he the one with tear drops on his guitar…maybe JC would be down to jamming out to some “Dancing Queen” instead which he admits is the most embarrassing thing on his IPOD)

·      His favorite website is NHL.com (mine is the Google image results for John Carlson…no I am kidding, maybe.)

·      Book is The Great Gatsby ( I saw the house where the movie was filmed when I was looking at Salve Regina, its obviously fate)

·      His favorite pump up song is “Bleed it out” by Linkin Park

·      His favorite food to cook is spaghetti (oh my gawd! I’m Italian I can cook him all the pasta in the world, just cawl me giatta what ever the heck her name is) (and yes I am ignoring that it said spaghetti is his favorite food to cook I am attempting to make something out of nothing…)

·      His favorite sport other than hockey is of course lacrosse (which Stone has been playing since he was in 4^th grade, I smell fate)

·      His favorite activity away from the rink is Golf (awesome I played Field Hockey in high school, and got kicked out of gym class for swinging the puck, iron, paddle whatever the golf stick is called… yes I am serious)

·      His favorite toy growing up was a mini hockey stick (I hope his toys have grown since he was little, that was vile sorry mom)

·      His favorite place to shop is Polo (I wonder if he has ever checked out Rugby in Georgetown, we can go together)

·      His favorite place to visit is Florida (awesome KG has a place in Fl. JC you can come stay whenever you want)

See now wasn’t that fun, these are the kinds of questions I would like to be asking the players, one day when I am famous. These are the kinds of hard hitting questions I want to ask, I mean mainly these are things I just want to know the answer to, and I know I have a few friends who want to know this kind of stuff as well.  So thus far, daily were looking at STATS from the days games, questions, big news in the NHL, and of course some player breakdowns.

            So the NHL All- Star fantasy draft picks are not until January 28. So from what I’ve gathered it seems as though it goes according to the players, the players themselves will determine the team rosters. Each captain will choose 3 goalies, six defensemen and twelve forwards. Whom they can choose in any order, the players top choices from (the all stars) will be chosen by fan balloting (which began Nov. 15) the remaining 36 players will be chosen by NHL Hockey Operators, for a total of 32 all stars. The players from that group (chosen by fans and the NHL) will then vote amongst themselves for the two captains (which have already been chosen: Staal and Lidstrom)

Thus far players who I know have been chosen are:

·      Eric Staal – Carolina Hurricanes F

·      Patrik Elias – New Jersey Devils F

·      Alexander Ovechkin- Washington Capitals F

·      Corey Perry – Anaheim Ducks F

·      Jarome Iginia – Calgary Flames F

·      Patrick Kane – Chicago Blackhawks F

·      Patrick Sharp – Chicago Blackhawks F

·      Jonathan Toews – Chicago Blackhawks F

·      Matt Duchene -  Colorado Avalance F

·      Rich Nash -  Columbus Blue Jackets F

·      Loui Eriksson - Dallas Stars F

·      Brad Richards – Dallas Stars F

·      Ales Hemsky – Edmonton Oilers F

·      Anze Kopitar - Los Angeles Kings F

·      Claude Giroux – Philadelphia Flyers F

·      Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguins F

·      Evgeni Malkin – Pittsburg Penguins F

·      David Backes – St. Louis Blues F

·      Steven Stamkos - Tampa Bay Lightning F

·      Martin St. Louis – Tampa Bay Lightning

·      Phil Kessel – Toronto Maple Leafs

·      Ryan Kesser – Toronto Maple Leafs

·      Henrik Sedin – Vancouver Canucks

·      Daniel Sedin -  Vancouver Canucks

·      Mike Green – Washington Capitals D

·      Dustin Byfuglien - Atlanta Thrashers D

·      Tobias Enstrom – Atlanta Thrashers D

·      Zdeno Chara – Boston Bruins D

·      Duncan Keith – Chicago Blackhawks D

·      Niklas Lidstrom – Detroit Redwings D

·      Brent Burns – Minnesota Wild D

·      Shea Weber – Nashville Predators D

·      Marc Staal – New York Rangers D

·      Erik Karlsson – Ottawa Senators D

·      Kris Letang - Pittsburg Penguins D

·      Dan Boyle – San Jose Sharks D

·      Jonas Hiller – Anaheim Ducks G

·      Tim Thomas – Boston Bruins G

·      Cam Ward – Carolina Hurricanes G

·      Carey Price – Montreal Canadiens G

·      Henrik Lundqvist – New York Rangers G

·      Marc-Andre Fleury – Pittsburg Penguins G

ROOKIES:

·      Cam Fowler – Anaheim Ducks

·      Tyler Seguin – Boston Bruins

·      Tyler Ennis – Buffalo Sabres

·      Jeff Skinner – Carolina Hurricanes

·      Kevin Shattenkirk – Colorado Avalanche

·      Jordan Eberle – Edmonton Oilers

·      Taylor Hall – Edmonton Oilers

·      Evgeny Dadonov – Florida Panthers

·      Michael Grabber - New York Islanders

·      Derek Stepan – New York Rangers

·      Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Phoenix Coyotes

·      Logan Couture – San Jose Sharks

All right with a name like Logan Couture, I had to look him up sooo here’s the 411, or 39 in his case (he shares #39 with David Steckle of the Washington Capitals). He was drafted to the San Jose Sharks in 2007; he was a first round draft pick 9^th overall. He plays center (which is a forward, meaning he is an offensive position). I am guessing he is pretty damn good, Nicklas Backstrom drafted in 2006 was picked during the first round draft pick( 4^th overall). I defiantly need to start watching more of Couture’s game. He is first in the League for game winning goals (6), meaning game winners, game ties etc.  He was a Sharks player of the month for December (2010).

More to come.

So Stone just showed me something AWESOME.

It’s a breakdown of player equipment, from Center Ice, the Devils Magazine:

·      Forwards and Defenseman:

·      Helmet

·      Face Shield (not all players wear)

·      Shoulder & Arm Pads (under jersey)

·      Elbow Pads (under jersey)

·      Stick (…duh)

·      Gloves (padded, and re-padded (reinforced))

·      Hockey Pants (built-in pads for thighs and kidneys)

·      I am assuming a cup somewhere (we all saw Crosby’s cup from 1902 in 24/7

·      Shin Guards (worn under stockings)

·      Hockey Stockings (Most players tape their stockings above their shin guards to prevent sliding (They like them nice and tight.)

·      And of course their skates!

o   Goalies

§  Mask/Helmet

§  Shoulder & Arm Pads (under jersey)

§  Chest Protector (under jersey)

§  Goalie Pants

§  Catching Glove

§  Leg Pads

§  Stick

§  Goalie Skates

o   Some questions:

§  Do goalies have different sticks than the other players…why?

§  Do they have pads in their pants?

§  Why do they wear different skates than the players?

·      From Center Ice, The Official Magazine of the New Jersey Devils: New Jersey Devils vs. Washington Capitals Friday, February 29, 2008

o   Thanks Stone

Logan Couture #39 of the San Jose Sharks
life.com

John Carlson #74 and Matt Hendricks #26 of the Washington Capitals at a morning skate at Kettler.