The game for Goon and B.o.a.D.M...

Being as I was way too intoxicated at Saturday night's game (Blues vs Wild) with FREE Beer, Food, and the love for the game of Hockey, I didn't take any pictures from the club seats I received Free again from my old college friend Mark, whom now works for the Blues. BUT on a plus side, a fellow Blues Talk Forum friend did call me on Sunday to ask me if I wanted to sit 5 rows off the glass for the Bruins vs Blues game.

So in lieu of that, here's some photos from the game: (and no I'm not quiting my day job to take action pictures at hockey games with my shitty camera phone)

(This was taken during the 2nd period, my hangover was just starting to remove the fog in my vision)
(I can see clearly now the fog is gone... Not really just my camera sucks sometimes)
(the start of the 3rd, and the Blues are getting to the net hard, Bruins fan population: 1 ) (You know Blake Wheeler was a big baby when he was in college, I don't know what happened to him, maybe he hit puberty, but he's huge now, and looked really good last night. Sorry that's just a rarity for me)

Congratulations.... Graduate

In honor of my Brother completing a great chapter in his life, I'm dedicating this post to the newest of College Grads from the Accredited University of North Dakota. (Fighting Sioux) This man is an Iraqi War Hero, a veteran of almost all drinking games, and a soon to be Certified Public Accountant doing International Tax for Deloite (after all the man has visited quite a few countries it just fits).

In lieu of this great honor I'm going to talk about one of my brother's favorite baseball players:

I went searching online for some funny Rickey Henderson quotes and anecdotes. Who doesn’t love Rickey? I know Rickey loves Rickey. My brother loved Rickey. I found what I was looking for at chiefsplanet.com.

Here are five of my favorites, but you can check out Chiefs Planet’s Top 25 by clicking on the link above. Well, onto Rickey:

1. In 1996, Henderson’s first season with San Diego, he boarded the team bus and was looking for a seat. Steve Finley said, “You have tenure, sit wherever you want.” Henderson looked at Finley and said, “Ten years? Ricky’s been playing at least 16, 17 years.”

2. Trying to get back into baseball, Henderson reportedly called San Diego GM Kevin Towers and left the following message on his answering machine: “This is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball.”

3. A reporter asked Henderson if Ken Caminiti’s estimate that 50 percent of Major League players were taking steroids was accurate. His response was, “Well, Rickey’s not one of them, so that’s 49 percent right there.”

4. Rickey was asked if he had the Garth Brooks album with Friends in Low Places and Henderson said, “Rickey doesn’t have albums. Rickey has CDs.”

5. When he was on the Yankees in the mid-1980s, Henderson told teammates that his condo had such a great view that he could see, “The Entire State Building.”

Well brother my gift to you was a little humour of sorts, and a few ladies have a couple words to say to you as well:
Marissa says, "Don't forget your ipod you borrowed to me before you leave to Minny"
(Can't you see she's really excited for you, and sad all at the same time?)
And Jen says, "Eric you really should wear this tie to your 1st day of your 'Big Kids Job'"
(No Jen, I'll be happy to take that tie off your hands....)
Congratulations again Graduate!

I am NUMBER ONE..

HEY.... HEY... WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE NUMBER 1......So Last year a team went 14-2 in the NFL. Another team went 4-12. So one team decides that their Quarterback is too old, and they want to start with a fresh young Quarterback.

Well if I was a Packer's fan, (which I'm not) but I'd be kicking myself right now. I mean the Pack is 5-9, and are on a 4 game waterfall.. Does anyone remember when people were laughing at Brett? Do they remember when they were praising A-Rod (the NFL version) about how he was the next one? I do.. The reason for this post is simply the folks on the racing forums back home whom called me out at the beginning of the season, saying that the Pack's going places, and that the Vikes will be good, but will struggle when the games get bigger.(I have no problem with that assessment on the Purple Queens, I mean they deserve 10-15 years of bad luck for making that horrible song about going to Miami, remember that circa '01?) (I still laugh every time I see this video game cover)

In lieu of today's games. The Pack is stumbling, and the Jets went from a 4-12 team to now 9-5 and PLAYOFF BOUND.. Does a Quarterback make that big of a difference?? In this case yes..
Happy Sunday, Hope everyone catches T.O.'s team playing the Giants tonight. I hope Dallas loses so there can be more Drama for "America's team". Tony Homo is just going to run home to Jessica Simpson in her Daisy Dukes. (I mean I know I would. Fuck it I got paid)
Payton Manning is giving the Cowboy's 2 more games until they dismiss their coach, shop T.O. to another team, and maybe Romo might actually grow some balls..

When your coaches voice goes hoarse...

It's tough when you're coaching a team plagued with injuries, but yet you're still proving the media pundits wrong. The media in almost every publication basically declared the Blues a top 3 pick in the '09 Draft. Not a bad deal considering who's going to be up in that draft. But I didn't think the Blues would stay down there at all. With 3 scoring lines, and some freshy's that can and will make a huge impact I thought this team was going to scare and make a lot of people eat crow. They did for the 1st 6 games, then the injuries started, and its been treading at .500 ever since.

ONTO THE FACTS:
Did you know the last team to take San Jose (who's currently on a 26 game home unbeaten streak) in OT at home, was the St Louis Blues (Nov. 6th'08). Which brings me to my next hopeful thought:

"THE BLUES WILL TAKE SAN JOSE INTO OT." Garnering a point. I say the King's are the Blues Kryptonite, and the Blues are the Sharks Home Ice Kryptonite. (Or I could be dead wrong about my gut feeling, and watch the blues tonight get demolished by the Fish Eating Beasts.)

Last thought on this topic, "the Blues will have a huge uplift when everyone returns to the lineup from injuries, thus making it so much easier to watch a team barely lose, win, and then get demolished by teams." Also tonight is the Blues 6th game in 9 nights.. (hope they have better recharging machines then my energizer one I plug into the wall, cuz that takes at least a day and half..)


COLLEGE NEWS:
I'm excited to see my patience with the Fighting Sioux start coming to fruition. As they have scored lots of goals in the past the 5 games. They are on a winning streak, and a second consecutive sweep with a win tonight will prop them into the national rankings again. Hopefully all the people who were jumping off cliff's earlier this year, landed in those huge foam pits (god, I loved going to my ex-girlfriends sister's gymnastics practice to pick her up, because every time they'd let me jump from the trampoline into the foam pit.... ahh... to be a 16-18year old again...sigh...) For more info on the UND Men's team check out Goon's World, Sioux Yeah Yeah, and The Great Hockey Blog over on my dailies tab...

Best League in the NCAA is....

In lieu, of my previous post I decided that since UND, or a WCHA team wasn't on the top of the list, I devised a way to show a different perspective. Scroll to the bottom for quick analysis..

WCHA had 81 players, playing the NHL in 07-08, having all 10 of the teams contributing:
18(Wisconsin)16(North Dakota)13(Minnesota)12(St. Cloud State)8(Denver)8(Colorado College)4(Minnesota State)4(Minnesota Duluth) 3(Michigan Tech)1(Alaska Anchorage)

CCHA 71 players, with all 12 teams contributing:
22(Michigan)6(Bowling Green)3(Alaska)1(Ferris State)5(Lake Superior State)13(Michigan State) 5(Miami)4(Nebraska-Omaha)1(Northern Michigan)5(Ohio State)4(Notre Dame)2(Western Michigan)

Hockey East 58 players with all 1o teams contributing:
15(Boston College)12(Boston University)10(Maine) 2(Massachusetts)5(New Hampshire) 1(Merrimack)3(UMass-Lowell)6(Vermont)3(Providence)1(Northeastern)

ECAC 32 players, with 9 of 12 teams contributing:
8(Clarkson)4(Colgate)4(Cornell) 5(Harvard)3(Dartmouth)2(RPI)2(Princeton)2(St. Lawrence)2(Yale)

AHA 2 with 2 of 10 teams contributing: 1(Holy Cross)1(Army)

CHA:1(Bemidji State) Only 1 team of 7 teams in conference contributing.

DIII Hockey: 2(Norwich,VA)

1st: WCHA has 2 less teams, which is averaging sending 8.1 players per team to the NHL. CCHA has 2 more teams, and is averaging a bleak 5.9 players into the big show per team... So CCHA saying they're "close"... Are they really?? If the WCHA expanded to 12, they'd probably put out 97 players.. (I can't wait to see what this looks like at the All-Star break or at the end of the year.. )

2nd: Is it just me or is the AHA and CHA getting better street cred, then the EZ league?? Look at these stats, and you'll see why the WCHA doesn't want to add BSU to the WCHA (They'd obviously bring down the avg's and I'm not talking attendance levels..) and why was Air Farce getting wrote up as the Next NCAA Tourney Champs?!?!?!? Looking at this, it's embarrassing to have thought that.. (Good thing I never did)

3rd: Norwich? 2 Kids played D3, and went on to the Big League.. Air Farce, has yet to do that, oh wait there's 18 other D-1 schools that can't say they've ever progressed a kid into the NHL..

4th and Final thought:
How bad-ass would the WCHA still be if they still had Michigan, Michigan State, and Notre Dame?!? Granted to take these 3 back, they could deal away Alaska, and keep it a 12 team League. But the NCAA needs a little bit of parity..... so we'll never see that happen again..

Happy Friday, Sioux will sweep the Cloudy Red HuskyWolves or whatever.. (How are they ranked over the Sioux?.. Guess we'll find out if its the truth or if every one's dead wrong about the tribe)

So the NCAA isn't a place to develop into the Pro's?

In lieu of some idiot that told me the NCAA isn't the best place for future NHL players, and then for the sole argument of which school has developed more players into the NHL? I decided to compile some stuff. Now keep in mind this list is of NCAA Schools that had the most players who played in the NHL in 07-08, which by the total of players is 253! 253 players, meaning I could field 11 and half teams in the NHL with former NCAA players :

22(Michigan) Andrew Ebbett, Matt Hunwick, Aaron Ward, David Moss, Eric Nystrom, Danny Richmond, T.J. Hensick, Marty Turco, Andrew Cogliano, Mike Van Ryn, Mike Cammalleri, Jack Johnson, Mike Komisarek, Josh Langfeld, Jed Ortmeyer, John Madden, Mike Comrie, Andy Hilbert, Jeff Tambellini, Mike Knuble,Mike Brown,Brendan Morrison (Most NCAA titles, but haven't won lately, I'm kind of miffed at this... Maybe 4 great NHL'ers in this crowd?)

18(Wisconsin)Curtis Joseph, David Tanabe,Rene Bourque, Adam Burish, Jake Dowell, Jack Skille, Chris Chelios,Brian Rafalski, Tom Gilbert, Sean Hill, Ryan Suter, Steve Reinprecht, Brian Elliott, Kyle Turris, Dany Heatley,Andy Wozniewski,Robbie Earl,Joe Pavelski
(Not surprising they've won a NCAA title recently, but today's day and age, they're over recruiting, and it'll start to show later I'd give them 6 Great NHL'ers in this crowd)

16(North Dakota) Drew Stafford,David Hale,Ryan Bayda, Jonathan Toews, Matt Greene, Brady Murray, Brandon Bochenski, Zach Parise, Travis Zajac, Jason Blake, Matt Smaby, Ryan Johnson, Matt Jones, Brian Lee, Mike Commodore(Shocked at the low count, but understandable they rebuilt from their last championship, and 11 of them joined the NHL within the past 4 years. I'll go with 7 Great NHL'ers in this crowd)


15(Boston College)Andrew Alberts, Bobby Allen, Chuck Kobasew,Patrick Eaves, Marty Reasoner,Brian Boyle, Jeff Giuliano, Peter Harrold, Brian Gionta, Mike Mottau,Bill Guerin,Ryan Shannon,Scott Clemmensen,Brooks Orpik,Rob Scuderi (3 Great NHL'ers)

13(Minnesota) Phil Kessel, Thomas Vanek, Jordan Leopold, Wyatt Smith, Paul Martin, Barry Tallackson, Johnny Pohl, Erik Johnson, Jeff Taffe, Alex Goligoski, Keith Ballard, Ryan Potulny, Kyle Okposo (Shocking with how many times this teams considered a contenders, they don't have more? 6 Great NHL'ers)
13(Michigan State)Drew Miller, Jim Slater, Ryan Miller, Rod Brind'Amour, Duncan Keith, John-Michael Liles, Justin Abdelkader, Shawn Horcoff,David Booth, Bryan Smolinski,Mike York,Adam Hall,Mike Weaver (4 Great NHL'ers)


12(St. Cloud State)Casey Borer,Tim Conboy, Matt Cullen,Bret Hedican, Joe Jensen, Tyler Arnason, Jeff Finger, Duvie Westcott, Mark Hartigan, Mark Parrish,Ryan Malone, Joe Motzko (Who would've thought that a school that has never won an NCAA game would put out more NHL players, then a team that has won numerous titles? (No offense Denver) 4 Great NHL'ers)
12(Boston University) Joe DiPenta, Adrian Aucoin, Jay Pandolfo, Shawn Bates, Rick DiPietro,Tom Poti, Chris Bourque,Keith Tkachuk, Ryan Whitney, Chris Drury, Freddy Meyer,Mike Grier (4 Great NHL'ers)

10(Maine)Brett Clark, Ben Guite, Jim Howard,Dustin Penner, Ted Purcell, Keith Carney, Greg Moore,Mike Lundin,Doug Janik,Paul Kariya (Weak they've only put out 1 Great NHL'er)

8(Denver)Kevin Doell, Paul Stastny, Gabe Gauthier, Wade Dubielewicz, Ryan Caldwell, Matt Carle, Connor James, Matt Pettinger (With that many titles recently you would have thought more right? Me too, only put out 2 Great NHL'ers)
8(Colorado College)Brett Sterling, Colin Stuart, Mark Stuart, Curtis McElhinney, Toby Petersen, Tom Preissing, Noah Clarke,Jack Hillen (1 Great NHL'er)
8(Clarkson) Kent Huskins, Todd Marchant, Todd White, Craig Conroy, Erik Cole, Randy Jones,Willie Mitchell,Chris Clark (Shocking Clarkson is in this group? No NHL Greats, sorry Conroy)

6(Bowling Green)Ken Klee, Rob Blake, Greg De Vries, Mike Johnson,Alex Foster,Kevin Bieksa
6(Vermont) Eric Perrin, Tim Thomas, Patrick Sharp,Aaron Miller,Martin St. Louis,Torrey Mitchell

Flying 5... Getting close to becoming top tier:
5(New Hampshire) Mark Mowers, Darren Haydar, Garrett Stafford,Daniel Winnik, Ty Conklin
5(Lake Superior State)Doug Weight, John Grahame, Brian Rolston, Jim Dowd,Bates Battaglia
5(Ohio State)Rod Pelley,R.J. Umberger, Nate Guenin,Dave Steckel,Ryan Kesler
5(Harvard)Craig Adams, Noah Welch, Tom Cavanagh,Craig MacDonald,Dominic Moore
5(Miami)Kevyn Adams, Andy Greene, Randy Robitaille,Dan Boyle,Mike Glumac

Four's a group:
4(Colgate)Joey Mormina,Cory Murphy, Jesse Winchester,Andy McDonald
4(Minnesota State) Ryan Carter,Tim Jackman, Steve Wagner, David Backes

4(Minnesota Duluth)Matt Niskanen, Craig Weller,Junior Lessard,Mason Raymond
4(Nebraska-Omaha) Jeff Hoggan, Dan Ellis, Greg Zanon, Bill Thomas
4(Cornell) Matt Moulson, Ryan O'Byrne,Doug Murray, Mike Iggulden
4(Notre Dame)Brett Lebda, Rob Globke,Mark Eaton,Yan Stastny

Three's company:
3(UMass-Lowell)Ron Hainsey,Dwayne Roloson,Ben Walter
3(Michigan Tech) Clay Wilson, Chris Conner, Andy Sutton
3(Providence)Fernando Pisani,Hal Gill,Jay Leach

3(Alaska)Jordan Hendry, Aaron Voros, Kyle Greentree,
3(Dartmouth)David Jones, Tanner Glass,Lee Stempniak

Dynamic Duos:
2(Massachusetts)Jonathan Quick,Thomas Pock
2(St. Lawrence)John Zeiler, Rich Peverley
2(Norwich)Keith Aucoin, Brad Winchester
2(Western Michigan)Joe Corvo, Jamal Mayers
2(Yale)Jeff Hamilton, Chris Higgins
2(RPI)Matt Murley,Bruan Pothier
2(Princeton)George Parros,Jeff Halpern

Lastly, the Lone Rangers, where the schools have dedication walls setup for these individuals:
1(Merrimack)Matt Foy
1(Holy Cross) Pat Rissmiller
1(Northeastern)Michael Ryan
1(Army)Dan Hinote
1(Alaska Anchorage)Curtis Glencross
1(Northern Michigan)Dallas Drake
1(Ferris State) Chris Kunitz
1(Bemidji State) Andrew Murray

Also I'll update with how many teams currently have the most NHL draft picks. Also one thing to remember is this is just last year only, not overall the years. I'm sure it's going to be a lot different by the end of this year..

Bad Publicity is always good publicity...

This afternoon I had a great thought come to me as I was typing away on the Blues forum..

If a reporter were to come up to you and say they had some BREAKING NEWS about a player in the _____ League, I could probably guess what the issue is going to be based on the league...

If it's the:

NFL: It's there weekly run-ins with players getting shot or arrested. (type in a google image search of nfl player and the 1st 20 images will be players mugshots)
Baseball: It's always their drugs (Its their kryptonite)

(If you look closely this guy looks like Lance Armstrong before he competes in the 2018 Tour De France)

NBA: According to the Sports Law Blog I just read NBA player's love Marijuana, assaulting females, crack, more marijuanna, and a little battery to go along with it.

(Kobe Wants you to know, that he just wanted to say, No.)

And all the NHL can muster up is: "SLOPPY SECONDS?" How weak is that..

(Type in NHL Sloppy Seconds, and this is the 1st pic)

Sicks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me...

I guess Avery's comment of "sloppy seconds" in the locker room, is worse then some player shooting himself in the leg at a night club.
Weird that my mom told me to get thick skin when it came to people cracking jokes towards me. Gary Bettman's mom obviously had the kid who made fun of him expelled from school..

I think there must be like a secret society of NFL Players that's so secret you can't join and be happy until your initiated by getting arrested. See look Deion Sanders said it was one of the best days of his life: