Blueland Guest Goalie: Goalie Gumbo

The summer is mercifully coming to an end, but I still have about 6 weeks before training camp, longer before the season starts. I have 5 goalies left with enough pictures to do a full focus on. So I decided to take some of the goalies I had a few pics of, but not enough for a full focus and do a "goalie gumbo." Kind of a hodge-podge of a few goalies.

First up, Jose Theodore of the Washington Capitals. It's a shame I don't have more pics of him, he's smoking hot.




Jose Theodore
Jose Nicholas Theodore was born on September 13, 1976 in Laval, Quebec. He played his junior hockey in the QMJHL (St. Jean Lynx and Hull Olympiques). In the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, Jose was drafted in the second round (44th overall) by the Montreal Canadiens. Jose came to the Canadiens full time in 1999. Originally sharing starting duties with Jeff Hacket, by his second season he had stolen the spotlight. Jose emerged as a world class goalie in 2001-02 with a 30-24-1 record, 2.11 GAA and .931 SV% and also winning the Vezina and the Hart Memorial Trophy. It was kind of all down hill after that as his numbers declined. In 2006 he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche.

At the time of the trade, Jose was injured, but managed to play 5 games. The numbers from those games combined with his stats from the Canadiens that year gave him the lowest GAA of his career. Even with those stats, he was designated as the starting goalie for Colorado for the 2006-07 season. Theodore's play did not see much improvement the following season, in 2006–07, as he lost the starting role to Peter Budaj with a 13-15-1 record, 3.26 GAA and .891 save percentage. He saw a resurgence in 2007–08, however, and re-assumed the starting role with a 2.40 GAA and .910 save percentage.

Jose left the Avalanche during the off season and signed with the Washington Capitals. Washington had tons of young talent and together with Jose, they grabbed the division title and entered the 2009 playoffs in the second seed. Jose was pulled for Simeon Varlamov after letting in 4 goals in a game one loss to New York.

Some fun stuff about Jose:

* he's hot

* During a game on January 2, 2001, Theodore became the sixth goaltender to directly score a goal when he attempted to clear the puck from the defensive zone against the New York Islanders and scored into the empty net, which was vacated by John Vanbiesbrouck for the extra attacker. He also became just the second goaltender to score a goal and record a shutout in the same game, as the Canadiens beat the Islanders 3–0
* In 2006 Jose flunked a drug test. No he wasn't partying...he was trying to do something about his bald spot (you don't have one! You look fine! Ryan Getzlaff should be taking something, not you). Apparently Jose was taking propecia, which contains the drug Finasteride which can be used as a masking agent for the performance enhancing drug Nandrolone. Jose didn't face any trouble with the NHL as he had applied for and recieved a therapeutic use exception. He was banned from international competition for 2 years.

Jose has been struggling and I wish him the best. I'd love to see him recapture some glory. I'm always pulling for the goalie!

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Joey MacDonald

Joey was born on February 7, 1980 in Pictou, Nova Scotia. Joey started his junior hockey with the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL, but played the remaining 3 seasons for the OHL's Peterborough Petes. Joey was undrafted and spent a season in the ECHL before being picked up as a free agent by the Detroit Red Wings on January 15, 2002. Joey spent 4 season with Detroit's AHL Affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. In the 2006-07 season, he did make 8 appearances with the Red Wings.

The 2006-07 saw Joey bouncing around between Detroit and the AHL before Boston claimed him on waivers on February 24, 2007. Later that year on July 5, 2007 the New York Islanders signed him as an unrestricted free agent.

Joey spent most of the 2007-08 season with the Islanders' AHL affiliate, The Bridgeport Sound Tigers, but did play 2 games with the Islanders. In 2008-09 with the Islanders' super star, super (SUPER) hot goalie, Rick DiPietro was still out with injuries, Joey was called on to pretty much be the starter for the Islanders. The Islanders had an ABYSMAL season (hello Tavares). This (of course) can't be all blamed on Joey Mac.

Joey became a UFA this summer. Good luck to you, Joey!

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Cam Ward

I will never have good pictures of Cam Ward because I'll never go take pictures on that side because...well because they are Carolina and while there are teams I dislike more than them, my Thrashers aren't one of them.

I'm still sickened about the Playoffs for my Bruins and Devils thanks to Cam and his Canes.

Cam Ward is a goalie phenom who exploded on the scene winning the Conn Smythe and whose play is still fantastic. Yeah, he plays his ass off.

Cam Ward is smoking hot. I mean hey, even though I curse him he was in the Top 5 of my hottest goalies.

Cam Ward you ruined my playoff dreams, fuck you.

blah blah, okay okay...I never really HATE any goalies, but Cam is about as close as it comes. I mean come on, I'm a goalie girl and he's a fantastic hot goalie.

So blah blah junior hockey blah blah Red Deer Rebels for 4 seasons. A season with the Lowell Lock Monsters, yack yack. Hello Hurricanes and Stanley cup.

NEXT

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Ryan Miller

Oh Ryan, how I want to like you. You have the nicest emo hair and you are really cute AND you like photography. You are also a good goalie and you made a funny commercial. You are the perfect man for me. Too bad you play for Buffalo. Actually it's not Buffalo I have a problem with , it's their fans that tend to show up at our arena. COMPLETE ASSHOLES. And before you start defending yourselves...BULLSHIT.




Ryan Miller was born on July 17, 1980 in East Lansing, Michigan (Go USA!). Ryan got his learn on and played hockey for Michigan State University. In the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, Ryan was selected in the 5th round (138th overall) by the Buffalo Sabres.

After three seasons with Michigan State, Miller moved to the American Hockey League, where he played for the Sabres affiliate the Rochester Americans in 2002–03. During that season he played 15 regular season games for Buffalo. He has spent most of his career as the starting goalie for the Americans winning 41 games and tying Gerry Cheevers' record. By the end of the 2005-06 season, Ryan had won the starting position with Buffalo.

At the beginning of the 2006-07 season, Ryan showed why he had the starting position. Miller and his team (yeah I guess they helped) won the first 10 games in a row. Miller was voted in as the starting goalie for the East at the 2007 NHL All Star game. In 63 games, Miller posted a 0.911 SVP and a 2.73 GAA. Ryan led his team to the conference finals that year. The Sabres didn't make the playoffs for the 2007-08 season, but Ryans numbers were good with a 2.53 GAA and a .918 SV%

My favorite thing about Ryan Miller is the back of his mask. It says "Matt Man" on the back in remembrance of his cousin who battled cancer. In a game on October 11, 2007, that I don't mind we lost, the Sabres beat the Atlanta Thrashers 6-0 (ouch) in the first game of their season. Ryan got a shutout in the game which was played only a few days after his cousin Matt died due to complications that arose from a bone marrow transplant.

Ryan also owns a clothing store in Michigan. Check it out if you have $300 to drop on some jeans: http://www.shoptherefinery.com/

Ryan and his dad also started a charity to help families dealing with cancer: http://thesteadfastfoundation.com/

What a sweetie!

So...what do you think of the goalie gumbo? It's hard for me to condense some info down, especially for Jose when there is a ton of info.