Boston Bruins Announcer Is Insane

I know Jack Edwards is a super homer, possibly only out-homed by Pittsburgh's Steigy, but wow. I don't think I knew he was insane as well. Watch this ramble.

The King Does Martha

Not literally thank God. This is the most Martha Stewart I've ever watched and I can say I'm done. Unless Henrik comes back. He is such a good sport putting up with this shit.

Getting Pucks Deep Summer Programing

The worst part of the year is on the horizon for die hard hockey fans...the summer. We are placated now by the playoffs, but we know the long, hot, hockeyless summer is just around the corner.


With no new pictures and really no new news...what's a photo blog to do? Let's check out what hockey players are doing with their summers.


All players are hoping to be able to get a date with Lord Stanley. Only a select few get to party like this during the summer!



Other players win awards.



Once the Cup is won and the awards are given off, it's time to relax!


A popular destination are the tropics or other beautiful beaches.



Many enjoy fishing. Yes this is an excuse for another King picture.



Ovie enjoys the beach.



Marty prefers to do his fishing at the beach.



Another popular activity is golf.



Yes, hockey players love golf.



Many European players take the chance to go back home and visit family and friends.



Pretty much summer is about relaxing and shaking off the torture the previous season put on your body. You catch up on family time and hang out with friends...or make new friends. No one is better at making new friends than BizNasty!



Though it seems to last forever for us, the summer goes quickly for the players. They also have to keep themselves in shape. Many choose to go to camps or train with pros like Gary Roberts. Blake Wheeler, Paul Stastny (pictured below) prefer Minnesota Hockey Camps. Other alumnus of this camp include Scott Hartnell and Ryan Malone.


So was this an excuse to post some puck-bunny pictures? Absolutely! So let's get down to business, summer programming. During the Stanley Cup Playoffs I will be posting news, events, opinion, etc. After the cup is awarded, we will go into summer programming mode. I've got a job now, so unfortunately I'm not going to be able to do the update every day like the last two summers. I can promise AT LEAST 3 updates per week though. Pretty good for a hockey photo blog!


There will be some old familiar features:

• Focus on a Thrasher
• Blueland Guest Goalie (though it will be mostly pictures as I've featured most of the goalies in the NHL)
• Saturday Nights Alright for Fighting
• Thrashers Year Book

Other features won't be as regular such as People of Blueland. There just isn't enough material!

I will also continue to post news, funny stuff and videos as I come across them. I welcome opinions and suggestions! What do you think?

Practice Does Indeed Hate Me

We established this year that Thrashers Practice hates me. I know live on the opposite side of town from practice, it's a haul. Twice I drove to practice to get there and find it canceled. Another time I drove out there and the guys stayed out there for 30 minutes. I decided it wasn't worth it any more. The last time I had the chance to go to practice and chose not to, I missed the Boston Bruins.


The final Thrashers practice for the season was April 9. I decided not to go. There was a game Friday and Sunday. My dog was acting funny. My toilets were dirty. I decided to stay home. Great, the Penguins were there.


Fortunately for me and the blog, my friend Sandy and her adorable girls were there. She got some pictures and the girls made out like bandits.


Here are the girls and Flower.



The girls and Disco Dan, Coach Dan Bylsma.



Though Sidney Crosby hasn't been playing due to concussion, he WAS at the practice. Sandy got to see him do some stick handling which she said was amazing. Her daughter Abby wanted to ask Sid for a stick. Sandy told her "no baby, don't bother him. You probably won't get it anyway." Abby pleaded and Sandy said okay. Well I'll be damned...he gave it to her! He also signed it for her, but the signature got smudged.



They decided to go outside and get her stick re-signed and get some more autographs. Sandy said that grown men were begging for the stick and offering wads of cash. I might have gotten security to walk around with me!


Jordan Staal.



Flower signs for some happy fans.



And finally, Sid the Kid re-signs Abby's stick.



So now Abby has one of the most coveted pieces of hockey memorabilia going today. Her sister Sara didn't walk away empty handed, she got an Aaron Asham stick, too. He autographed it as well.


Seeing the Pens practice was one of my favorite memories last season. Hopefully practice and I will be on better terms next season and I'll have new memories like this!

Thanks to Sandy for letting me exploit her kids for this post!

Another Season in the Books: Thrashers vs Penguins

The final game of the season always comes on way too quickly. As a Thrashers fan, your season ends pretty quickly, as playoff hockey is never an option. In late March when you look at the calendar for the season, it never feels like you’ve been to 41 games. Well, on some nights it does. On some nights the season can’t end soon enough (Toronto beating us 9-3…Carolina beating us 6 to 1). But here we are. You over pay for parking for the last time, you overpay for food for the last time, and most importantly, you get together with your hockey buddies for the last time of the season. Randy, Kerry and myself had club tickets. I was hoping to be able to have lots of space for my sign-apalooza I had planned. What I was most excited about was that my absolute favorite prospect, the Thrashers 2nd round pick (34th overall), Carl Klingberg, was playing in his first NHL game! I guess since Carl is all grown up now and playing in NHL, I’ll have to retire the “Klingy” nickname I gave him. I don’t know, I might revert back to it sometimes. So I only brought EIGHT signs. I had more planned, but time ran out. I made one for Zubarev, as I didn’t think I’d see any for him. I had one wishing Ladd well when he goes to Slovakia to play for Team Canada in the World Championships. I OF COURSE had one welcoming Carl to Blueland. I brought some previous signs including the Wrestlemania sign for Kane, the Ondrej the Giant sign, the “A Little is all you need” sign and “hockey belongs here.” My favorite new sign was a hit with the fans, the players and John Kincade. The sign said “Find yourself another hockey team to steal Winnipeg.” What you really needed to pay attention to was in RED! F-U-C-K Winnipeg were in red larger letters. All of the guys read it. A few chuckled.



Greg got a shot of all of my signs. I'm adjusting the Ladd sign, it was falling down.


Welcome to the NHL Carl Klingberg! Carl was wearing #48.


Buff deep in thought, maybe thinking of where he was this time last year.


The lovely Ice Magnolias had their signs for the game.


Carl is playing with the puck back there.



Watcha doing down there, pumpkin?



Stewie was stylin'! He had the fro kicking.



On the other end, thirsty Flower gets a drink!



Carl soaking it all in.



Evander checking out my signs.



Michelle got this awesome picture of Carl checking out my Winnipeg sign.


Carl gets ready to take a shot on goal. You can see Gretchen's Schremp sign. Gretchen can always be counted on for a sign.



A freshly shaven Johnny stretches for the last time of the season. He must have shaved on the way out, he can grow a play off beard from the locker room to the ice...not that he needs to have that skill.



Final swarm the goalie :(



Burmi hanging out taking his last shots.


If you can't tell through the crappy blurred photo, that's Captain Andrew Ladd presenting Chris Thorburn with the "Players' Player" award.


You can't have the season ending game without a bit of tears. Dan Snyder's mom congratulates Bryan Little for winning the Dan Snyder Memorial Trophy for his work in the Atlanta community.



On to the game! Carl sitting on the bench. I was watching and waiting for a particular shot.


And there it is! Carl's first NHL shift!



Give those Pens hell, Carl!



Woo hoo! Captain Ladd scores on the power play. Enjoy that happiness, there won't be much more for the Thrashers or their fans.



They had Klingberg playing with a few different people. Here he is with Stapleton and Maxwell.


Carl fighting for the puck.



That's a whole lot of Rupp in front of the net!


Mason gets his leg pad on the puck.



Watch out Carl, Goddard is a goon!



Okay, this really is turning into the "Carl's first game" post. Here he is again with Antropov.


Some douche bag pointing at probably another douche bag.


Flower and friends are captivated by the in-arena entertainment.


Babies down! Kane and Burmistrov take a tumble.


Johnson makes a stop on Little.



Blah blah blah Pens win.

Fan appreciation time. Hey, want to appreciate the fans that DO show up? WIN! Or, you could just bitch and moan about attendance like Zach does:

The fans are great here and are vocal when they're here. They're very loyal when they're here."

So,on to some fun stuff. Captain Ladd was named the MVP of the season.


And in super fun land...Mr. Fred is named 7th Man! Woo Hoo!!


Nobody deserves this more than Mr. Fred. It only makes sense that he ask for Kane's jersey!


I have a great seat, I have tickets to the gun show!



Damn, Johnny has on a full shirt under his jersey.



Pavs and Byfuglien give their jerseys to some lucky fans.



Nice boogie chain, Buff!

Another season done! It's hard to believe. I naively look forward to next season. Maybe Carl will make another appearance. He thinks he's ready!

“When you watch the NHL and hear about the NHL you always think it’s such a great level, and it really is, but my first impression was that I can actually do the things I’m good and do it great out there. It was not all like I’m going to be the worst player on the team. I thought I could do the stuff I’m good at. So now that first game is over and I thought I did pretty good. I still have a lot left to show for sure, but it was a good first game. I can’t go in and be the best from the beginning. You have to build up your game.”