"Mrs. McKee's farmer will also have to find a new Jersey tomorrow."
The title is taken from possibly the best line ever uttered on Hockey Night In Canada. For those who missed this moment of brilliance, here's the story: Buffalo defenceman Jay McKee is originally from Kingston, ON (where I live). His mom and her friend went down to watch the Ottawa-Buffalo game in Ottawa on Monday night, wearing Sabres jerseys. After watching the Sabres defeat the Senators, they began to drive back to Kingston. A bunch of cattle had wandered onto the highway somehow, and Mrs. McKee hit a cow, totaling her car (and the cow!). However, she and her friend walked away from the crash, and were helped by several Senators fans, despite wearing the wrong jerseys. At the next Senators-Buffalo game on Wednesday, HNIC interviewed Jay McKee, and asked him about the accident. He went on to relate the story. They then did their usual flashback to Ron MacLean and Kelly Hrudey in studio, where they talk for a minute, and then lead in to a commercial break. On this occasion, MacLean said that "We'll have an update for you on the Carolina-New Jersey game right after the break. Mrs McKee's farmer will also have to find a new Jersey tomorrow." The timing was so perfect, and it was such a brilliant pun, that it cracked me up for a good couple of minutes.
Anyways, about what's new here: not a whole lot. Classes are going well, but take a lot of work. I'm also playing in a recreational summer soccer league, and on a church softball team, so I have 3-4 sporting events per week, keeping me busy. I haven't found a part-time job yet, and there don't seem to be a lot available, so I may just wait until I come back to B.C. to work.
By the way, I was asked to write a test column for the Queen's Journal (student newspaper) on my thoughts on the NHL playoffs and who was going to win: thought I'd post it here for fun. It's below.
Queen’s Journal: Sports Test Column: Duck Power
By Andrew Bucholtz
Although the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim are no longer owned by Disney, they are following in the footsteps of their fictional namesakes from the movies. In each of the three Mighty Ducks movies, an underdog team defeats overwhelming odds and adversity en route to an unlikely victory. This appears to be an accurate representation of this year’s Anaheim team: at the start of the year, many observers looked upon this season as a rebuilding one for the franchise, and predicted the Ducks to finish the year out of the playoff hunt.
However, general manager Brian Burke made several key moves in the off-season, rookie coach Randy Carlyle forged a tightly knit team and system, and the players stepped up to lead the Ducks to a strong regular season. They also had a great push to the playoffs, winning 11 out of 16 games in March and securing the sixth seed in the highly competitive Western Conference. Yet, they were still taken lightly by many, especially when they were matched up against the powerful Calgary Flames, Stanley Cup finalists in the NHL’s previous season, and one of the most hard-working and physically punishing teams in the NHL. The Ducks managed to outplay the Flames over the span of a seven-game series: they also beat star goalie Mikka Kiprusoff (a nominee for both the Hart (MVP) and Vezina (top goalie) Trophies), and convincingly shut down Jarome Iginla, one of the league’s elite power forwards. The Ducks have now recently shut out a strong Colorado team 5-0 and 3-0. Their performance this year makes them the best candidate to win the Stanley Cup, for three major reasons.
The first key element of the Ducks’ success is their captain, Scott Niedermayer, a 3-time Stanley Cup champion, and their major free-agent acquisition in the off-season. In the last NHL season, Niedermayer won the Norris Trophy, given to the league’s top defenceman, with a strong 54-point performance. This year, he has taken his game to a new level: he improved his point total to 63, and has become the most dominating player on the Anaheim roster. He routinely shuts down the opposition’s top forwards, as evidenced by his holding Iginla pointless in Games 6 and 7 of the first round series against the Flames. He quarterbacks the power play, does a great job on the penalty kill, and is always dangerous offensively in even-strength situations as well. His leadership is a fundamental reason why the Ducks have made it this far and why they will continue on to victory.
The second vital part of this Anaheim team is their star forward, Teemu Selanne. Selanne, the “Finnish Flash”, holds the NHL’s record for goals in a rookie season with 76. He has had a solid career since, but his last season was unimpressive, largely due to injuries. However, this year he has regained his old form, scoring 40 goals and 90 points with a plus/minus rating of +28 to lead the Ducks in all three categories. He was a large part of Finland’s drive to Olympic silver, and also has been one of the league’s hottest players since returning from the Olympic break. Furthermore, he has continued his offensive dominance in the playoffs with 4 goals and 9 points, leading the team in both categories. Selanne will be a crucial part of the Ducks’ drive for the Cup.
The final reason for the Ducks’ tremendous success is the outstanding performance of their rookie players. Midway through the series against the Flames, rookie Ilja Bryzgalov stepped in to fill the large skates of Jean-Sebastien Giguere, the Ducks’ former Conn Smythe-winning (playoff MVP) goalie. Bryzgalov put in an outstanding performance, and earned himself the starting job. He has since gone on to ring up three consecutive shutouts, passing Frank McCool’s 1945 record of consecutive minutes of shutout hockey played by a rookie goaltender in the playoffs, and moving into fourth place on the all-time list of consecutive playoff shutout minutes. Francois Beauchemin, the Ducks’ rookie defenceman, is second only to Selanne in playoff points with seven. Chris Kunitz had a great regular season, and has put up 6 points thus far in the playoffs. Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf, two rookie forwards who starred for Canada’s gold-winning 2005 World Junior team, have provided valuable scoring depth to the Ducks throughout the year, and rookie power forward Dustin Penner has been constantly dangerous on offense. The talent of these rookies, combined with the strong play and experience of veterans such as Niedermayer, Selanne, Andy McDonald, and Jeff Friesen, should lead the Ducks to follow in the footsteps of their movie brethren as the Cinderella team that comes out of nowhere to seize victory.
Anyways, about what's new here: not a whole lot. Classes are going well, but take a lot of work. I'm also playing in a recreational summer soccer league, and on a church softball team, so I have 3-4 sporting events per week, keeping me busy. I haven't found a part-time job yet, and there don't seem to be a lot available, so I may just wait until I come back to B.C. to work.
By the way, I was asked to write a test column for the Queen's Journal (student newspaper) on my thoughts on the NHL playoffs and who was going to win: thought I'd post it here for fun. It's below.
Queen’s Journal: Sports Test Column: Duck Power
By Andrew Bucholtz
Although the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim are no longer owned by Disney, they are following in the footsteps of their fictional namesakes from the movies. In each of the three Mighty Ducks movies, an underdog team defeats overwhelming odds and adversity en route to an unlikely victory. This appears to be an accurate representation of this year’s Anaheim team: at the start of the year, many observers looked upon this season as a rebuilding one for the franchise, and predicted the Ducks to finish the year out of the playoff hunt.
However, general manager Brian Burke made several key moves in the off-season, rookie coach Randy Carlyle forged a tightly knit team and system, and the players stepped up to lead the Ducks to a strong regular season. They also had a great push to the playoffs, winning 11 out of 16 games in March and securing the sixth seed in the highly competitive Western Conference. Yet, they were still taken lightly by many, especially when they were matched up against the powerful Calgary Flames, Stanley Cup finalists in the NHL’s previous season, and one of the most hard-working and physically punishing teams in the NHL. The Ducks managed to outplay the Flames over the span of a seven-game series: they also beat star goalie Mikka Kiprusoff (a nominee for both the Hart (MVP) and Vezina (top goalie) Trophies), and convincingly shut down Jarome Iginla, one of the league’s elite power forwards. The Ducks have now recently shut out a strong Colorado team 5-0 and 3-0. Their performance this year makes them the best candidate to win the Stanley Cup, for three major reasons.
The first key element of the Ducks’ success is their captain, Scott Niedermayer, a 3-time Stanley Cup champion, and their major free-agent acquisition in the off-season. In the last NHL season, Niedermayer won the Norris Trophy, given to the league’s top defenceman, with a strong 54-point performance. This year, he has taken his game to a new level: he improved his point total to 63, and has become the most dominating player on the Anaheim roster. He routinely shuts down the opposition’s top forwards, as evidenced by his holding Iginla pointless in Games 6 and 7 of the first round series against the Flames. He quarterbacks the power play, does a great job on the penalty kill, and is always dangerous offensively in even-strength situations as well. His leadership is a fundamental reason why the Ducks have made it this far and why they will continue on to victory.
The second vital part of this Anaheim team is their star forward, Teemu Selanne. Selanne, the “Finnish Flash”, holds the NHL’s record for goals in a rookie season with 76. He has had a solid career since, but his last season was unimpressive, largely due to injuries. However, this year he has regained his old form, scoring 40 goals and 90 points with a plus/minus rating of +28 to lead the Ducks in all three categories. He was a large part of Finland’s drive to Olympic silver, and also has been one of the league’s hottest players since returning from the Olympic break. Furthermore, he has continued his offensive dominance in the playoffs with 4 goals and 9 points, leading the team in both categories. Selanne will be a crucial part of the Ducks’ drive for the Cup.
The final reason for the Ducks’ tremendous success is the outstanding performance of their rookie players. Midway through the series against the Flames, rookie Ilja Bryzgalov stepped in to fill the large skates of Jean-Sebastien Giguere, the Ducks’ former Conn Smythe-winning (playoff MVP) goalie. Bryzgalov put in an outstanding performance, and earned himself the starting job. He has since gone on to ring up three consecutive shutouts, passing Frank McCool’s 1945 record of consecutive minutes of shutout hockey played by a rookie goaltender in the playoffs, and moving into fourth place on the all-time list of consecutive playoff shutout minutes. Francois Beauchemin, the Ducks’ rookie defenceman, is second only to Selanne in playoff points with seven. Chris Kunitz had a great regular season, and has put up 6 points thus far in the playoffs. Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf, two rookie forwards who starred for Canada’s gold-winning 2005 World Junior team, have provided valuable scoring depth to the Ducks throughout the year, and rookie power forward Dustin Penner has been constantly dangerous on offense. The talent of these rookies, combined with the strong play and experience of veterans such as Niedermayer, Selanne, Andy McDonald, and Jeff Friesen, should lead the Ducks to follow in the footsteps of their movie brethren as the Cinderella team that comes out of nowhere to seize victory.
posted by Andrew Bucholtz at 9:21 a.m.
2 Comments:
What about Lupul?
Lupul's not really a rookie or a veteran (second season), so I didn't take special note of him at the time(I wrote this before his 4-goal game). He's definitely taken his game to a higher level, and is another good reason for Duck success. Quack! Quack! Quack!
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