Friggin' adorable

I told you I missed him. This resulted in my hunting our darling Whitey down to check out his current statistical situation. That's when I found this:

image from the Mirimichi Timberwolves website

He looks like the kinda guy who would make sure the coffee is on before you roll out of bed and who would give you a self made birdhouse "just because". I wish he was here skating quickly for me and scoring totally unexpected goals *sigh*.

In 19 regular season games with the Timberwolves White has had 17 goals, 12 assists, and a whopping 44 penalty minutes. Yes 44 PIM, how very un-Whitey of him. He leads the Timberwolves in playoff points with 8 goals and 5 assists in 9 games. Currently the 1st place Summerside Western Capitals are up 2-0 in the best of 7 playoff round against the 'wolves.

White and MacMillan are tearing it up... on some other team

Rimouski finally won a game, after an 8 game losing streak that saw them get defeated by cellar dwellers such as Val d'Or. They recently came back with a 8-1 win over Val d'Or in the second of back to back games. One of their new aquisitions, Logan MacMillan has 4 goals and 5 assists and is a -5 overall in his first 9 games with the Oceanic. He has even done one of his fameous Logan MacMillan strip teases (disguised as a fight) during the loss to Val d'Or.

White and MacMillan, when they were Moose

Andrew White joined the MJAHL's Miramichi Timberwolves for their post X-mas run. So far he has 5 goals and 4 assists in 4 games. Those are some very sexy numbers.

If your question is: "Are you still angry about the Andrew thing?", the answer is: "yes". Please don't remind me. I am just glad to see that Andrew is having lots of success with his new team.

Whitey runs away

Former Halifax Mooseheads forward (and my former Mooseheads forward boyfriend) Andrew White is leaving University hockey to play with the MJAHL Miramichi Timberwolves. He will see his first game action after X-mas.

This year with the Saint Mary's Huskies Andrew only played in 7 of 15 games, with 1 goal and 1 assist. My guess is he has done this in an attempt to get a little more ice time.

This is what they had to say about White in an article in the Times and Transcript:

"He's a very offensive-minded player and he can basically do it all," McGuigan said. "He's capable of being one of the top players in the league."

McGuigan said the 5-foot-11, 184-pound St. John's, N.L. native is a natural leader and will be a strong asset to the team.

Good luck in Miramichi, Andrew. I wish that the Moose had never done you wrong and that you were still here with us - where you belong.

My Dearest Andrew...

...you should smile, because when you don't you look like a serial killer. Don't listen to Yeti when he says your smile is not beautiful...because it is, and Yeti is a damn, dirty liar.


Also, you need a haircut. You are getting tufty on the sides. I am really good at haircuts and making boys smile. You should visit me. I promise not to give you a skank disease.

xxooxoxo
Q-girl

Speaking of AUS/CIS and Mooseheads

St Mary's University has finalized their men's hockey roster. My favorite boy in the whole world, recently departed moosehead Andrew White *hugs* has made the cut. Andrew is number 23, there is no number 22.

If the Moose continue to have that "catch a game puck and get it signed by your favorite Moosehead" promotion, and if I ever catch a puck, I should tell them through gritted teeth that I would like my puck signed by Andrew White.

SMU also have rookies Chris Morehouse (Moncton), Colby Pridham (Mooseheads - but we knew this ages ago), Garrett Peters (Mooseheads, Voltigeurs), Tyler Hawes (Rouyn -Noranda - also old news) and Jeff Marchand.

I have to go plan my dates with Andrew now (coo?). So much hockey, so little time.

Same old problem, same old whining bitch, brand new heartbreak.

If you do not like blog posts based on rants and speculation then it is probably not in your best interest to read this.

Am I still traumatized about the loss of Andrew White? Damn straight I am. Women, we are an unusual type of hockey fan in that some of us take it all very personally. I grab on and hold on very tight to my favorite players, and Andrew was my favorite returning Moosehead. I adored him. There are not enough words to express how much I adored him. Maybe the 21 posts labelled Andrew White can help make my point. Perhaps my tribute to Andrew's 20th goal of 2007-2008 can highlight my insanity.

When it comes to the stages of grief - I am still stuck in denial. Once I get to a few games and I still do not see Andrew I will probably get stuck on extreme anger. There will be no resolution for me. I will not 'get over it'.

Yes there are theoretical kisses for my poor Whitey, my fluffy mechano-puppy. If I see him on the streets I will have to resist the urge give him reassuring hugs. When bad things happen to my favorite players I just want to hug them and then hug them some more. I would give Andrew hot chocolate, and let him cry in my lap...you know, if young men (apart from Bernier, Brodeur and Giroux) did stuff like cry.

Last night the Mooseheads "offensive depth" allowed them to get 26 shots on net against the Moncton Wildcats in pre-season action. Only 5 of those were dangerous. We lost 2-1. Tonight we lost 5-2; 24 shots on net, 10 dangerous, when playing against Moncton's non-finalized rookie filled roster. Our defence allowed 25 dangerous shots on net. These are the quality players we kept. We had 9 penalties - the Moose are not playing smart.

I will NEVER fold and say that my team made a good decision in attempting to trade White over Bona or Pender (or even Yetman- sorry my sweet netti-yeti). Crazy lady emotions aside, he was the best player of any of these four. So while that likely means that he had a highest trade value, in the end the team got nothing for him. Then they disguised their decision by saying that they did what was best for the team this year, not because of the potential high draft pick (3rd round) they would have gotten in return. Are they lying to me? I get the feeling that they lie to me. I like honesty.

They should have had some idea that White would not be willing to accept a trade before they decided to go for it. Does management not discuss this stuff with the players first in order to get an idea about their plans for the future? I, for one, am spitefully happy that my team got screwed, got no draft pics, and that Andrew has moved on from the league after refusing to report to Drummondville.

No, Andrew don't turn your back on me

Hopefully he gets a shot playing university hockey this season. There still remains the problem of finding a place to live seeing as the team was done with him after September 1st. I would let him live with me but then he would have to deal with my creepily smelling his hair while he slept. I also don't think my boyfriend would be very happy with such a set up.


The problem on defence:
One reason suggested for the White trade was because of the recent injuries to both Greer (groin) and MacAskill (shoulder) Yet, had we kept White and traded either Pender or Bona, we would still have had 6 blueliners including one over-ager to play for the start of the season. Greer and MacAskill will eventually return to the lineup giving us 9 guys on D. Even when Greer returns it is not like he will be seeing a lot of ice time anyway. How silly it all is if the Mooseheads made a long term decision and gave up their best overage player to solve the short term problem of injured defencemen.

To top it off our team is once again running with 9 Ds. Once again this year our issue is that our defence is not well developed, even though we have five returning defencemen (ages 20, 20, 19, 18 and 17...our 17 year old did not receive enough ice time last year and is still considered a rookie). We are the ones who failed to develop them...the fault lies with the Mooseheads alone. There are 18 year old defencemen who may make it into the NHL this year. We cannot blame age and say that 16, 17 or 18 is too young to play significant time on defence. Claiming this is just makes you lame.

We have a history of keeping more defencemen than necessary and not letting many of them play; playing the top two oldest defencemen incessantly and rotating the rest through the lineup. This year we will likely play 4 (Bona, Pender, MacAskill and O'Connor) and rotate the other 5 players in two positions. How is this supposed to help us develop defencemen for the future? What makes it all that much worse is that our team is coached by a former NHL defenceman...someone who should know better.

Furthermore, defence is not just the job of the blueliners, every player on the team must be defensively responsible. Not only did we give up an offensive threat by giving up White (22 goals in 2007-2008, 19 even strength goals, 1 short-handed goal, 2 power-play goals, mostly with 3rd line ice time) but we also gave up an excellent two way forward...we gave up his assistance on the back end. Had we kept White we would still have an excellent player for the penalty kill, we would be rotating less defencemen, and allowing rookie Ds (and hopefully youngin's like Greer) to play more and maybe develop for the future.

We would have had a leader, an unselfish player who did everything for his team, whom everybody wanted to play on a line with, and who accepted any role he was given seemingly without hesitation, just for a chance to play. This is the kind of role model we should have kept around to guide our rookies and help them develop the right attitude. While it may seem that not accepting a trade to the Voltigeurs (a non-contending team) is a selfish move, maybe it was best that Andrew did something for himself, and thinking about his education right now is probably his best decision when he likely does not have a future in professional hockey. I am also being selfish...I want to continue to see him play.


In other news: Former Quebec Remparts goaltender Kevin Desfosses has signed with the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL, an affiliate of the Ottawa Senators. Desfosses attended to Sens development camp this summer and will soon be at Senators training camp.

Useless crap no one needs to know: I just noticed that Yeti is taller and lighter than last year at 6'2" and 190lbs (last years Mooseheads website profile has him at 6'1", 197lbs), while the QMJHL website is now reporting Mathieu Corbeil-Theriault to be 6'6", not 6'4". That is soooo not relevant, but my goalie obsession makes me notice stupid things.

...i hate my team

From The Metro

Andrew White said Wednesday night he was "devastated" when the Halifax Mooseheads told him on Tuesday that he won't be one of their three 20-year-olds in 2008-09.

White said he was offered a spot with the Drummondville Voltigeurs, who had a trade lined up with the Mooseheads, but that he decided not to report.

The St. John's, N.L., native said he wants to "move on with his life." He said he is done with junior hockey, and will play university this season.

White is already enrolled in school at Saint Mary's, and Huskies head coach Trevor Stienburg is ready to welcome him to the program. White said he will also consider joining the St. Francis Xavier X-Men.

The 20-year-old said the Mooseheads' decision was a "tough pill to swallow" and that he was "surprised."

Mooseheads GM Marcel Patenaude said he decided to keep Justin Pender and Graham Bona over White because the team needed defensive depth more than forward depth.

Patenaude said tradability did not factor into the decision, although when the choice was made, Patenaude did not know White would go the university route.


The roster is now down to 25.

My new goalie boyfriend is Mathieu Corbeil
and I will be there watching Saint Mary's every chance I get.

fight fight fight

Last night the Halifax Mooseheads defeated the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 5-2. You can check out the scoring recap here. It was pretty sweet to see boys gliding around in Mooseheads Jerseys and even sweeter to see a little line of boys in suits heading towards the dressing room and Jakub Voracek walking within touching distance of me. No, I did not touch.

Oh dear god that line of boys in suits. I do not have the skills to definitively recognize the boys yet, not even my goalies - although I think I would indeed recognize Jeremie given that he is 6'6" and ever so pouty, and thus he would be hard to miss.

Knowing they could someday be a Moosehead makes these boys cuter than all the other boys in the world. I walked by the line - cute, cute, cute, Pender, cute, cute, sigh. However, the first boy in the line of besuited young'ins was the cutest of all; he was 1000 puppies in a basket of kitten skins - all shaved head, pink-cheeked, button-nosed and begging for cookies. Yes, he was that cute. If THAT was Dumaresque - squee!!!


Ben MacAskill got damaged in the first and had to leave the game with a shoulder injury. White was all 'tucked jersey' and he wore the captain's C. He wore it well. He also had two assists. It is weird to see him be the guy that refs turn to when doling out explanations and justice. My Whitey is all grown up. Wuest even wrote a White story for the Metro.


There were fights, fights, fights, galore. All of Marchand, Grant* and Bahm fought. Marchand, like his brother, seems a touch hotheaded.

Three fights and a half naked Eagle

Here is the thing with Bahm. I think I am starting to like him - he literally stripped an Eagle right in front of me. When we acquired him at the draft via trade I looked at him in his nasty Shawinigan jersey, with his ever so unstyling Pomin-do (the hairdo of a Pommerdoodle - which is half retriever, half poodle and all Jason Pominville) and said Agggghhh NO. Then we put him in a Moose Jersey and he skated around hitting things, put a helmet on to cover up his Pomin-do, and started stripping down Eagles and I was all Ahhhh yes, yes, yes. Somehow, in the past few days he also got cuter. I think that once again it is the magic of the Mooseheads jersey.

Luckily for us Belarus Rik got it all on video so we can watch Bahm destroy the Eagle over and over again.





Then there are the the goalies. Forbes-Brisebois started the game and he looked like he had 'playing the puck urges' but he did not actually wander out of the net to do it. He did reach out once and poke the puck off to his left to get it away from the net. The poor boy was not very challenged and he just stood there for most of his 30 minutes, having only faced 9 shots (and allowing no goals -horray). He sometimes looks a little uncoordinated but I think that happens when you have legs for days. He has to be careful about opening that 5 hole.


Yeti had shiny new gear and he somehow manages to seduce me no matter how hard I resist. He allowed two goals in 18 shots, both glove side (I think). The first happened when he left a big chunk of net open, he went down, and the puck skimmed just over the top of his trapper. The second was on a crazy snipe. Do I fault him? Nah, I am way too seduced. Does this mean that I got over my non-hockey related Yeti induced rages? - yes, mostly. Sometimes I want to punch him and sometimes I want to cuddle him.

Edit - crazy news. Mooseheads centreman Yuri Cheremetiev has received an invite to Bruins training camp. English has decided to leave training camp, and Wuest has written a piece about O'Brien along with coverage of last night's game and the players who shined. Palov has also written about O'Brien - it is O'Brien mania all up in here.

*oops I made a mistake. In my pics it looks like #19 was fighting (Ned O'Brien) but it was actually Gerrad Grant (#79). Sorry for the mix up.

Oh my Whitey - Kisses

From Willy Palov (Chronicle Herald) via the Mooseheads website:

Andrew White and Justin Pender have been friends and teammates for nearly their whole lives, but they find themselves in direct competition at this year’s Halifax Mooseheads’ training camp.

The two St. John’s natives are in a three-way competition with Graham Bona for the two remaining overage spots and no one is prepared to bow out without a fight. White, the only forward in the group, said he isn’t about to let friendships stand in the way of his objective of cracking the opening night roster and knows the other guys are taking the same approach.

"We understand what the situation is," White said. "We’re not young anymore. We know what we’ve got to do and what’s at stake so everyone is trying to put their best foot forward and whoever gets it deserves it."

Although teams are permitted to dress three 20-year-olds, one of Halifax’s spots has already been awarded to goaltender Mark Yetman, another old friend from the St. John’s area. It would seem that White would have the edge for one of the remaining spots because of how desperate the Mooseheads are for scoring, but the team is almost as thin on defence so nothing is set in stone. Should the team’s management and coaching staff decide they can’t afford to sacrifice White’s production, he will stay. But they might also elect to stick with Pender and Bona at the back end and hope for narrow wins in low-scoring games.

The competition and uncertainty remind White of the mindset he had as a rookie during his first training camp back in 2006.

"It’s the same in a way," White said. "Last year coming in I knew I had a sure spot on the team, but this year you don’t really know.

"It makes you work that much harder. Right now we have three guys for two spots so it just makes you bury your head and work that much more. Whoever comes out on top will deserve it and props to whoever makes it."

And whoever survives the tryout will likely make it at least partly because of his leadership skills. The Mooseheads will be one of the youngest teams in the league this year and it will be huge for their veteran players to show the newcomers the ropes.

"As much as you want to be a leader on the ice, you have to be even more of a leader off the ice," White said. "You’ve got to teach the younger guys what to do and how to follow because if you don’t show them, who will. You’ve got to work hard in practice and show that you can bring leadership to the team as well."

And regardless of how it plays out, one of the three players will be traded soon, which is likely playing on their minds to some extent. It’s believed there is interest from other teams in all three guys at this point.

"I’m not really worrying about it," said White, who scored 22 goals last season. "If it turns out I get traded, I get traded. If that’s what they decide they want to do, I can’t worry about that. I understand how things work and I can’t worry about something that’s not in my hands. All I can do is go on the ice and work my hardest. That’s what I can control."

On my mighty Whitey. I spotted you the moment you hit the ice last night. I didn't even need to see the number on the jersey to identify you, the way you tuck your jersey into your pants makes you visible from space. That and the speedy grindyness you bring. I did not see you crack a smile and in the third you were so serious, especially after the helmet shenanigans. Perhaps that was just your intense look. My vote goes for Whitey ABOVE ALL OTHERS. Honestly, if it would sway them I would even send custom m&m's to the Mooseheads office in your honour.



On a side note, the 'old mens' (predetermined assumption that all posters on the forums are old and men although I know this is not necessarily true) at the Moncton Wildcats forum are saying that my unrequited love Tyler Noseworthy is totally coo-worthy. They are all fussing and fawning and trying to get his number to set up kissy-face dates. Pfffff, hands-off dudes, I totally called him back in June before the draft - HE IS MINE.

Oh Ma Ga - The Moose aquire a Sea Dog

From the Mooseheads Website:

Halifax Mooseheads have acquired 18-year-old defenseman Scott MacDonald from the Saint John Sea Dogs, Mooseheads’ General Manager Marcel Patenaude announced today.

MacDonald, from Waverley, NS, was drafted by the Sea Dogs in round 7 (#109) of the 2007 QMJHL Entry Draft from Dartmouth Midget AAA, where he scored eight goals and added 25 assists during the 2006-07 season.

Last year, MacDonald played in 21 QMJHL games for Saint John, recording one assist and seven penalty minutes.

In return, the Mooseheads sent Saint John their eighth round pick in the 2010 QMJHL Entry Draft, pending approval by the league.

In another roster change, under an agreement with the Drummondville Voltigeurs, 19-year-old forward David Shea of Bedford, NS, Rouyn-Noranda Huskies ninth round selection (#158) in the 2006 QMJHL Entry Draft, will participate in the Mooseheads training camp. In 32 games last season, 14 with Rouyn-Noranda and 18 with Drummondville, Shea scored one goal, one assist, with 52 penalty minutes.

Also, 18-year-old defenseman Joseph Dillon, of Shrewsbury, MS, Mooseheads’ 10^th round pick in 2007, has decided not to report and will not be at the Mooseheads’ 2008 training camp.

I just hope that Scott McDonald (way to spell your own player's name wrong Mooseheads website) knows that being an 18 year old defenceman with the Moose is absolutely no guarantee of ice time. Isn't it sweet that the Sea Dogs are making room for daddy's boy Nathan. Who wants to make wager that a spot was cleared for Nathan? Also, it is totally not coincidental that we traded for a local boy. We go for local boys every time. I want French boys and Newfies. Only French boys and Newfies (and Lunderstruck back - but I ask for the impossible).

On a quick aside I would like to point out the following articles by Wuest written for the Metro: today's article, and this article written Wednesday about the Bouchard trade. In them he implies that Andrew White is not a lock to make the team. Bitch please!!! Do Patenaude and Russell want to die? It is time to break out my Whitey voodoo and my Mooseheads staff voodoo dolls. The Whitey goes into my bra - the others get stomped on repeatedly. Andrew had better make the team. I do not want to have to kiss him better to ease his mental anguish. I would rather kiss him better after a devastating hit along the boards.

Also, as I have pointed out earlier, Andrew and Yeti are the breads in my Q-girl/Mooseheads sandwich of this season - what is a sandwich with only one bread? Also, you do not want to leave me alone with Yeti. puurrrrr my lovely #22. I am starting to get angry. You would not like me when I am angry.

Apart from that what really kills me is the following quote:

"The Mooseheads are left with four 20-year-olds: goaltender Mark Yetman; defencemen Justin Pender and Graham Bona; and forward Andrew White. Yetman is virtually assured a spot after an outstanding second half last season. There is no other goaltender with QMJHL experience in the system.

The Mooseheads will strongly consider Pender and Bona for the other two spots because there isn’t much experience on the blue line, while White will need a strong training camp to win a spot because of the team’s depth up front."

Uhhh there would have been experience on the blueline if we didn't horde 9 defencemen and then not let half of them play.

Dude, just having players to fill roster spots does not mean we have depth up front. We have two guys who in the past have managed to pull off 1PPG seasons - Knotek and MacMillan. Other than that we have White and Cheremetiev that are near 0.5 PPG seasons. Everyone else from last year's roster is far below that - either because they were used in shut down roles or because they had minimal ice time. We don't know what they can or will be able to do offensively this season unless we have a crystal ball (or Cristobal Huet - yes please).

If we are lucky, Snow will be able to transform his MJAHL magic into QMJHL magic and still be on pace for a PPG season despite now playing in a tougher league, and Randell will have a chance to get his offensive game going with more ice time and by playing a different role this year. That being said, we have no idea what will happen or how Russell will decide to play these boys. Depth pfffff. We barely have 2 proven solid lines. What are you huffing Wuest? Whatever it is I want some of it.

As for saying that Yeti had a "outstanding second half last season" what you meant to say was he had 8 solid, or good, or sometimes barely acceptable games at the end of the season and then he had a nice solid playoff run until we imploded in those final 2 games in Gatineau. Before that he sat and choked when put on in relief of P-O, then sat and choked, and choked and sat some more. If Yeti's mid-season performance was our sex life I would have moved on long ago. Talk about unsatisfying. It is not all about that big goalie stick. I would be all "I did something for you now you have to do something for me". But he would refuse to 'stop pucks' as it were, and I would walk away because I am grown-up and big girls don't settle for selfish netminders. As it is we are stuck on being cuddle partners - my Mooseies and I do not play like that.

It is spelled MacAskill

The new season is rapidly approaching. Soon I shall have practically a whole new team of cuddle partners to keep me warm over the long, cold Canadian winter. I am going to do a little coverage of what is left of my team, then later I will take a quick look at who is eligible to fill all of those gaping holes.

This is not meant to be an in depth analysis, I don’t have the skills for that. It is just a simple way of showing what the Mooseheads have left – which is not much We are a bare skeleton of a team that needs a huge bowl of Pro-stars cereal to keep from looking so damn anorexic. The sugar-high is nice though.

Forwards:

Returning:
Andrew White – RW – 20
Logan MacMillan – LW - 19
Yuri Cheremetiev – C - 19
Eric Louis-XVI – LW - 19
Tomas Knotek – C- 18
Travis Randell – C -17

Acquired:
Linden Bahm – RW - 19

Rookies:
Matt Snow – LW - 19

We need at least 12 forwards, we currently have 8.

Offensively, Tomas Knotek and Logan MacMillan are most likely to put up the points. By the end of last season Tomas was moved to the 3^rd line and was working on his defensive game a bit more. He will probably be back to centering the 1^st line again this season, which means there will be a lot of pressure on his offensive game. Hopefully he can continue to develop his defensive side.

Logan is the most complete player we have. He is expected to be on the PP, and the PK, all the while logging 1^st line ice time. If I am lucky he will continue to fight and lose his jersey. If I am unlucky he will be weakened by overexertion and miss half the year.

Andrew White is also a complete player. You can stick him anywhere and he doesn’t seem to complain. It will be weird if Andrew is moved up to the first line. I think his offensive productivity last season was mostly due to the fact that our team was ‘so deep’ that players from the other teams did not see Andrew, the little, grindey 3^rd line shut-down guy, as a target – they had bigger Czech fish to fry. Andrew does his best work when he is not a target. We will have to see how he adjusts in going from shifty eyed, unassuming, third-line guy with his jersey tucked in, to 1^st line superstar. He had a bit of time on the 2^nd line last season and he was still able to rack-up points, but I personally like Andrew more for his defensive game.

Yuri Cheremetiev is our faceoff specialist but has played little more than third-or forth line ice time for most of his career. Last season his offensive prowess did not increase with increased playing time or a change in line pairings. Will this season be any different?

Neither Eric Louis-Seize (ELXVI - seen here wearing a suit), nor Travis (ol’ man) Randell had much ice time last season. Randell supposedly has a strong offensive upside which he should be able to develop more this season after being used in a shut-down role for the 46 games he played last season. Please remember that our shut down line was not actually used as a shut down line against the other team's top lines before we make any conclusions about the shut down skills of our shut down players. Wha? Exactly!

ELXVI, despite being 19 this season, has done little more than play on the 4th line and hit people. I guess we cross our fingers and pray that he can do more than hit. Well, I mean everyone else has to pray – I don’t pray… and I thoroughly enjoy nice big hits. If we give ELXVI more ice time for the sole purpose of throwing more big hits, I would probably still be very happy.

Defence:

Returning:
Graham Bona – L - 20
Justin Pender – L - 20
Ben MacAskill – R -19
Gabriel O’Connor – R - 18
Richard Greer – R - 17

Rookies:
R.D. Chisholm – L - 19

We need at least 6 defence, we have 5. You count 6, but we really only have 5. We also have to make the choice which of Pender or Bona we will be keeping as our overager. If we want to scare people and concentrate on our defence we keep Bona (and we don’t let him shave the back of his neck *shudder*). If we want to make people laugh and have more of an offensive upside with someone to play the point on the PP then we keep Pender. If our future is anything like our past we will have 9 Ds, most of which will be poopy and underdeveloped and the majority of our forwards will think themselves too fancy pantsed to bother helping out on the back-end.

Ben MacAskill is OK when he doesn’t stop to think or smell the roses. Perhaps he should be avoiding all of Cam Russell’s game plans and just clear the puck. We had a bad tendency to hold on to the puck in our own end, trying to do some mysteriously fancy thing with it and then get it would nabbed from us – in the slot. The outcome here is predictable. Sometimes, after a long bout of frivolous fancypantsing Ben would be the only boy to say “fuck this noise” and just clear it out along the boards. If I had one thing to say to our smart, sweet, cuddly Ben it is that deep thoughts will get you nowhere – just clear the puck.

The ghost of Ben MacAskill

You have a secret girlfriend in my girl A.N. She is awesome – you did good! She likes you for your big body, your sciencey brain, your pink cheeks and your seemingly gentle demeanor. Hockey skills? What's that? Remember that time you fell down during the Titan game? Benny fall down go boom. She laughed at you but she still proclaims her love. You are the cheese on her macaroni. Don’t stress about the little mistakes and remember that love is unconditional.

Speaking of Ben, I find it delightfully hilarious that some people (my boyfriend included) can’t spell MacAskill. We live in Nova Scotia, half of the population have a surname of McThis or MacThat (such as my MacBoyfriend). Why on earth would anybody then think to call him Ben MaCaskill, or in the case of one of my fellow scientist MaCeachern; it is spelled MacAskill and McEachern. Dearest boyfriend is not surnamed MaCboyfriend. Honestly, does anybody here know of someone whose surname begins with MaSomethingorother. The answer is a resounding NO.

The only reason Gabe O’Connor got as much ice time as he did in the second half of this season was because of Lund’s injury and management’s kicking Nick Goyens to the curb. Once Gabe started to get some regular ice time he became a better defenceman. I know, go figure hey! Who ever would have thought that actually getting to play the game would make you better at it? This would have been his draft year. All those 1^st round draft picks in this years NHL draft – I am sure they got plenty of ice time over the past two years…because some teams play their defencemen. Now if only Gabe could learn how to keep the puck in the opponents’ zone and stop daydreaming (he is probably thinking of me) when he is standing at that blueline.

Richard Greer – who? 13 games!!! Yeah , that’s how we develop our defencemen. But we were in a ‘going for it year’ which is why little 16 year old Richie had to sit in the press box. Richie (drafted in the second round, #25 overall, is too teeny at 6ft and 170 lbs to play defence for a contending team…he is no 1^st overall pick Simon Despres (Sea Dogs). I mean if Richie could play then Gatineau would have to play Hubert Labrie. Labrie (also 16 last season) was drafted in the second round, #29 overall, is 5’10 158 lbs and only played 69 games on the president’s cup winning team…Oh wait.

Goaltenders:

Mark Yetman – 20

Oh Mark, we have such a love hate relationship don’t we? You are a goalie, my goalie, and it is my sworn duty to love my goalies, but you are so damn butterfly. You need an upside! Most conservative butterfly goaltenders (Mior, Bernier, Riopel) are quite keen on playing the puck. Not you though. Would you please play the puck for me? Play it like it’s a lady. We know you can play the ladies. Show me what ya got!

Ya know what else would be nice:
1) not letting a puck in the net on the first shot
2) being on your game all year and not just in September, October and April.
3) no more over-committing on plays
4) be more careful about what you are trying to usurp. Someone’s place in nets - OK, other unmentionables - not so much
5) stay cute

That gives us:
three 20 year olds
six 19 year olds
two 18 year olds
two 17 year olds
and I thought this was a rebuilding season! Bring on the baybees!!!

Oh, and apparently our Logo is poo! Agreed!

Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition

Sometimes when I meet a nerdy science-loving guy with glasses I ask him “…but what do you have that all of the other nerdy, science-guys with glasses don’t have?” Sometimes when I meet a goalie I ask the same question, “…and how are you are different from the other goalies?”

Usually the scientist will brag about how he did this experiment or how his research got published in that journal. Mostly they just try to prove that they are smarter than all the other boys. Sometimes they play guitar. Yawn.

The goalie will say things about how they are good at deflections, won defensive player of the week once back in 2005, and go to business school. Sometimes they play guitar hero. Double yawn.

But what if that goalie says, “I study science in school and I was Chicoutimi’s academic player of the month for November 2007”. Or what if that glasses-wearing science-boy says “Oh, and I am also a goalie!” Then what would a girl (whose two mistresses are science and goaltending) do when she comes upon a potentially smart, wonky smiled, glasses-wearing, science-loving goalie.

She would tell you to vote for him so that he could be her #1 QMJHL boyfriend for the 2008-2009 season. Science/quasi-nerdism is just one more reason why you should vote Bobby Nadeau.

I have already given you two reasons to vote Oliver Roy: a video and an OliRoy post.

You put yourself out there, wear a little sign that says " I love goalies" or better yet a t-shirt, and the goalies just start popping out from behind the shrubberies saying "hey, I'm a goalie". Oh, other goalies may come along and try to bring their misdirected woo. They may attempt to sabotage my boyfriend poll by worming their way into my heart before September 1^st. To them I say: “Whoa, paddle-down young man, this is neither the time nor the place for you to be swinging that thing around. Maybe next season.”

Who is my next victim?

I will keep it close to my heart and close to my home (because I live only 10 minutes from the Metro Centre) by telling you a bit about my favoritest forward and #1 defensively offensive Mooseheads boyfriend and playa’s playa of the 2007-2008 season - Andrew White. I don't know if you noticed by checking out the label tags, but I write about Andrew a lot - 15 tags. As Keanu Reeves would say "whoa". Whoa indeed.

Andrew is the only non-goalie in my heart. He does not control a big space like a ventricle, but he does control an important place – the sinoatrial node. Someone has gotta keep that thing tickin’.

Normally when I love a forward it is because he is big, rough and tumble, a hitting machine and/or a pugilist. I like the boys that are out on that ice being the biggest pain in the ass to everyone else who is out there on the ice. Andrew is none of these things...and as a poopy bonus he likes Gretzky (ugh) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (double ugh). Luckily for both of us, he is no fancy pantsed, hoity-toity Mr Oh-la-la.

The thing about Andrew that perplexes me is the way he intrigues me despite all that he isn’t. He is wee – 5’11” 184 lbs, that is real boyfriend sized – not superpowered hockeyplayer boyfriend sized, and he is not the biggest hitter - with only 49 hits, his smack downs are less than half of what the big hitters bring.

It is all the little things that Andrew does that give me the tinglies. I like to call him the Spanish Inquisition – because Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition. His four three weapons are fear surprise, ruthless efficiency and a fanatical devotion to the pope game of hockey. This could possibly explain how he managed to rack up 22 goals in 64 games this past season. No, no one expected Andrew White, but there he was: backchecking, ‘working in small spaces down low’ (RAWR), parking his ass in front of the net, drivin' it hard, and getting goals when he wasn't getting concussions or pucks to the face.

We all know that if I am going to love a boy he is usually a member of the exclusive gritty committee. Andrew even has a gritty committee members ring (you can't see it because it's invisible). This boy never stops trying… EVER…and I need that that because I am very difficult to satisfy. Furthermore, he does not do stupid things that result in stupid penalties. There shall be no sitting around in the box when you could be out there playing with little round things and getting shit done – ya know?

From everything I have read about him he seems like one of those ‘salt of the Earth’ kinda kids: the kind with real summer jobs, that work for what they got and accept what they are given.

• He first job was working carpentry with his dad.
• He also supposedly had a summer job filling propane tanks.
• He wears boxers not briefs, and he giggled sheepishly when he was asked that question.
• He took figure skating lessons as a kid.
  
• He likes ‘jig’s dinner’ (look it up) and Newfie music which means he will likely never be the boy you can coax into taking you to Cut for Foie gras.
• He comes ensconced in gold – gold is nice.

I met Andrew once - he did not say a word. Either he is shy, he thinks I am creepy (awesome powers of perception - spidey senses maybe?), or he is an asshat. I will never know. Despite his sportsman like conduct on the ice I prefer to think that he has a touch of the evil in him. It must be his sinister looking eyes. I am hoping that there is secretly a very naughty boy behind the good boy facade.

The above is a picture of Andrew White and Pier-Olivier Pelletier discussing what they were going to get me for Easter. I received a half eaten chocolate bunny and an unopened package of POP-rocks in the mail later that week.

What I did not know at the time was that this 'gifting conversation' was followed by a heated argument over whose portion of my heart was more vital - Andrew's sino-atrial node or Pier-Olivier's left atrium. Pier-Oliver slipped the package of POP-rocks in with my Easter package in an attempt to tell me that it was he, not Andrew, who rocked my world. In order to sabotage Pier's efforts Andrew ate half the bunny and stuck a note on it - "from Pier". I knew he had some evil in him.

________________________________

edit - Hooray for Guillaume Monast!!! Check it!

Negligent blogger returns for duty

Canadian Under 20 ball hockey team takes home the Gold (uhhhh 3 days ago):

Andrew White and Justin Pender just couldn't think of a gift to bring back to me when they return to Halifax for training camp in August. They thought 'maybe Q girl would like some newfie screech or some lingonberry jam'. Andrew argued that no, Q-girl would not like lingonberry jam because jams are a gift that you buy for old people, grandmas and stuff. Pender was bewildered. Then they asked the delightfully adorable Yeti what they could give me. They asked Yeti because they know that 'goalies are smart like that'. Yeti told them that classy ladies, like Q-girl, enjoy gifts of young men ensconced in gold. Ohhhh that boy IS smart.

Yes, Canada brought home ball hockey gold, and Justin Pender was (almost) king of the tournament with 5 goals and 3 assists. Here is a rundown of our victories:
Canada vs Bosnia Herzegovina 21:0 (AW - 1G, 3A; JP - 1G)
Canada vs USA 10:3 (JP - 3G, 1A)
Canada vs Italy 4:4 (AW - 1G; JP - 1G, 2A)
Canada vs Czech Republic 3:1 (AW - 1G)
Canada vs Slovakia 4:1 (AW - 1G)

All very well and good, we celebrate our gold by kissing Andrew and Justin all over! Halifax fans are very happy, yes? Overflowing with joy, yes? Ready to congratulate our boys on a job well done, yes? NO! Our fans are asshats. Wuest posted a small blurb about this in the Q-files and the only comment was from a fellow calling himself MC (MegaCunt I presume). MC says "If these guys can make the national ball hockey team then they must be playing against a bunch of girls or something. I wouldn't be surprised if the quality of play is less than that of the Play On tournament". To which Q-girl replies "MC deserves a swift and thorough kick in his MC".

For more info check out the Telegram.

Ball Hockey/ Matt Snow/ Team Canada - A small explosion of information

News from around the Q is sparse but when my favorite boys are involved then I must be getting on it quickly and providing all of the appropriate links. To do so makes me feel accomplished and getting a chance to type the name ‘Andrew White’ makes me happy. I feel better already!

Mooseheads News:

Andrew White and Justin Pender are participating as members of Team Canada in the world under 20 ball hockey tournament which is being held right now in St. John’s Newfoundland. Robert Slaney (Screaming Eagles), Brad Tesink (Titan) and Pat O’Keefe (Fog Devils) are also on the roster. What is peculiar about this situation is that many players on team Canada that I know of are from the St. John’s area. Could they not get anybody else to travel there for the tournament. The team roster is available at the Canadian Ball hockey website.

OMG some kid’s favorite food is sushi - I am going to marry that kid (shoves Whitey aside to get at his sushi eating teammate Prettejohn, only to realize that I will have to watch “One Tree Hill’ with Prettejohn, so I slink apologetically back to my Seinfeld loving Whitey). Whitey and I have so little in common (the least of which is age) and yet I love him in spite of all of that. Such is the lure of the hard working Newfoundlander.

Newfie specimen #22

You can keep track of scores at the tournament homepage http://www.wjc08.com/

Today Canada played Bosnia/Herzegovina and we defeated them 21-0. HA HA. Whitey got 1 goal and 3 assists. That = 4 kisses for Andrew White.

Matt Snow has finally committed to the Mooseheads. Bitch please. Matt has been all about doing the NCAA thing for years, and was the top scorer for the MJAHL’s Halifax Wolverines last season with 55 points in 57 games. Now at the tender age of 19 the silly bunt comes running to us all ready to commit. I have Whitey now, I do not need two.

For more info check out Wuest’s blog.

World Junior Under 20 Team/ Sea Dogs:

Have I told you lately how I am having an affair on the Mooseheads with the Saint John Sea Dogs? Well I am! I love their giant effective defensemen. Three Members of the Saint John Sea Dogs have been invited to participate in the summer training camp for Canada’s World Jr under 20 team. Nova Scotia is normally not well repped at such things, which is why we collectively cheered when it was announced that Antigonish native Captain Alex (Alex Grant) has been invited to participate, hooray. The training camp roster can been seen at the Hockey Canada Website.

Other Q invitees include

Goalie:
Jake Allen (St. John’s Fog Devils/Junior de Montreal)

Defencemen:
Kevin Marshall (Lewiston Maineiacs/Quebec Remparts)
Yann Sauvé (Saint John Sea Dogs)

Forwards:
Patrice Cormier (Rimouski Oceanic)
Paul Byron (Gatineau Olympiques)
Nicolas Deschamps (Chicoutimi Sagueneens)
Chris DiDomenico (Saint John Sea Dogs)
Maxime Sauvé (Val d’Or)
Kelsey Tessier (Quebec Remparts)

More Dogs News:

The Sea Dogs are expected to sign their top draft pick Kevin Gagne.

There is an article about Sea Dogs’ Team Canada invitees at the Telegraph Journal.

Many of the local boys seemed shocked that they got the call from hockey Canada, their humility is charming. Normally Q boys don’t get noticed for world tournaments, so it totally helps that a Q coach like Benoit Groulx (Gatineau) has been chosen to lead this year’s Jr team.

The Telegraph Journal also has an all encompassing article regarding Gagne, as well as Simon Despres and Steven Anthony being invited to the Canada Under 18 training camp, and Sea Dogs European imports Mayer and Stich.

Dear Wuest, I am stealing your post and your picture

You cannot trade Whitey and keep Yeti: they are roomies, they are BFFs, they are the breads in my Q-girl/Mooseheads sandwich of next season. Matthew Wuest has this to say about Andrew White and the Newf contingent (Yeti, Pender-bender), in regards to this years pre-draft trades.

"It's not a huge shock that Halifax Mooseheads general manager Marcel Patenaude calls goaltender Mark Yetman his only "confirmed" 20-year-old for 2008-09.

Yetman earned the right to start in the QMJHL with an outstanding finish to the 2007-08 season, as he was perhaps the Mooseheads' best and most consistent player in the playoffs.

Patenaude did say an “incredible offer” could sway him on Yetman, but was less definite on Andrew White.

“If we get a player plus another 20, it’s not that we don’t like Andrew White, it’s a situation where if we get an offer for Andrew White, we’ll be listening to it,” he said.

...So the real question is, who will be Halifax’s third 20-year-old next season? ...

If you were wagering, Pender wouldn’t be a bad bet. He’s certainly got the most upside, because he’s a fairly mobile 6-foot-4 and has a bomb of a shot. He struggles with decision-making at times and wasn’t as assertive last season as he could have been, but he didn’t get enough credit for his solid play in the post-season."

Patenaude, if you trade White I will break your motherfucking French ass. I don't care if he has caterpillars for eyebrows, I still love him. Go ahead, test me. You are this close to seeing just what a 5'1" 105 lb girl can do.

________________________________________

Wuest has another blog post discussing the importance of having some veteran players around to guide the wee spriggins. I agree. Most of our fans do not - that is because most of our fans are chumps. Also, you must ice a somewhat competitive team. You cannot put a complete bomb out there. Honestly, who the fuck wants to show up to 34 games, at least 24 of which are losses.

I just wish we had a new goalie coach. If we bring in MCT to back-up Yeti, Dallaire is totally going to break him.

Eeeek

Trade talk and the draft is discussed by Wuest in his latest blog post. He states that:

Yetman, who projects as Halifax’s starting goaltender next season, is virtually guaranteed not to be dealt. MacMillan will be sought after by contenders such as the Memorial Cup host Rimouski Oceanic, as will White, to a lesser extent.

“Nobody’s untouchable,” Patenaude said. “If I get serious offers for any of our players, it’s going to be discussed. If a team will give us what they’re worth, we’ll do it.”

I say "noooooooo, not my Whitey. Trust me Rimouski you don't want Whitey " (grasps Andrew White tightly to my bosom). "He only had 34 points this season...and he is a biter. I don't even think he is house trained. No, this guy in my arms isn't Whitey" (slips an Earle jersey onto White), "he's just some MJAHL player of similar origin and build - see Earle. Move along now Riki, move along!"

Also, Logan has to avoid doing that nostril flare thing, it is not pretty. I have seen it up close and I was like "damn- those are nostrils". Don't ever sit behind the bench, unless you want to see and smell things that no girl should want to see and smell.

Not SMRT Swany

Halifax Mooseheads winger Bryce Swan has turned down an offer from the Anaheim Ducks and will re-enter the draft pool. This means that not only did he lose Q-girl to Andrew White, but he was not smart enough to just take his money and fast cars and run with it. Think of all the packages of McCain mini-pizzas you could buy with an entry contract. Fuck, if I were Swan I would have settled for the chance to play three years with an ECHL team, having earned only enough money to buy just 1 mini pizza. Now he could end up going to Dal and eating Fettucini Alfredo 'Carey Price Style' - that's fettucini noodles covered in alfredo sauce from a jar. It is made worse by the fact that Dal's hockey team SUCKS.

Even I could tell that Bryce was absent on the ice for the greater part of the year. I was so over him by that Victoriaville game on Nov 1st. That was only 12 games into the season. Keven Veilleux made Bryce look like a chump and I thought "I have to reconsider this Swan love". I also thought " damn, I think I love this Veilleux kid". Then I booed Veilleux for making my team look dumb but I was secretly blowing him kisses.

It was after the Victoriaville disaster of 2007 that Andrew finally caught my eye with his excellently grindy attitude and smooth backchecking ways. Also, Andrew is ruggedly manly and he likes to fish and build things (or so I imagine - sighs for Andrew). Imagine how awesome Andrew's eyebrows could be if he would just let me groom them.

Dear Bryce,
When, after a totally craptacular season, you are listed as one of the most overrated players in the Q, one good series in the playoffs against the lowest tier team does not make you a superworthy hotshot. I bet Pier would kill for another tryout with Detroit even though the Detroit organization treats their 'tenders like shit. Why? Because something is better than nothing, and something = getting your foot in the damn door.

Do you want to know what I am going to do to deal with this situation? I am going to post a picture of my new boyfriend Andrew White. Mmmm kisses to Andrew - better yet, kisses ALL OVER Andrew. Are you jealous yet Swany? I think that all you tried to do was hurt me this season, Bryce. You are so mean. Turning down the contract was the final nail in the coffin. Ugh, and to think I congratulated you in advance. I am changing my phone number so that you can't call me anymore.
go away,
Q-girl

The fanatical musings of a fanatical (fill in the blank)

Is it horrible that there are players on our 2007/2008 team that I don't like? I mean I really, really dislike them. Am I a bad person? There is probably no real reason that I do not like them...I just don't get the attraction to them, and some of them were very popular. Sometimes I assign shifty personalities to players, thinking some may be more arrogant than others, while with others I embrace their shifty ways. If a player is good on the Penalty kill I usually like them, I totally embrace those that can backcheck.

So it is true that when I said "I love all 25 of you" - I lied.

Graham Bona
I like underdogs. Sometimes I hate how certain players got away with a lot of shit while others were repeatedly torn down by fans when they made the same mistakes as our 'stars'. The harder people come down on certain players the more I like them - for example Bona (and also Monast). I know he is a hometown boy (while I am generally an anti-homer), and that by being a hometown boy some people will like him just because... but some people could also be really harsh with him. Not me though - I would be all over Bona with a bucket of ice cream and spoon. I really like GrahamBo. Graham is a defensive defenseman, and one can make a good living just staying at home - ask Colin White.

At first our fans complained that our defense was not defensive enough (it really was a huge problem). Then when the defense finally decided to step it up, they complained that the defense was not offensive enough, and that there was no one to QB the powerplay. But...maybe we did have another defenseman to QB the powerplay - but there was no way in hell our coaches were taking Jake off of the point, and that was that. During the final game of the season against Saint John we had neither Voracek nor Bodnarchuk to play the point on the PP, and all three of our goals were scored on the PP, with our PP efficiency at 50%. Clearly some of the other guys could get the job done.

Anyway my point is: when you have a team which is loaded with offense for depth in scoring and then complain because on a roster with 9 defenseman, where we have two purely defensive defensemen, that those defenseman are just not getting it done for your offense, may I suggest you go to your bathroom - look in the mirror and tell yourself to fuck off.

Logan MacMillan
I used to not like Logan - I never understood why he was drafted to the NHL first round. Then he got injured and his production went down - way down. Now he is fighting tooth and nail for every scrap he can get his hands on (even though he was given the privilege of top line ice time). Sometimes he is literally fighting. He is also wonderfully defensive. I now love Logan MacMillan. If he is our 'star' player next year and gets his 'Diva on' I might go back to not liking him. My mind works in weird ways.

Also ...sometimes I think Logan MacMillan looks like Shia Labeouf. I don't know if that is good or bad.

...and the Volts just keep getting hotter
I think the Volts scout and draft by appearance. They run their team like I would run a team - draft that kid, I like his name and he is as cute as 1000 puppies in a basket made of kitten skins. Damn, that team consistently churns out hottie, after hottie, after hottie. That is not the bunny in me speaking, that is fact - take those boys out of hockey gear and they are still cute. How the fuck do they do it? Oh, me and my Volt coloured glasses. Drummondville are about to get 1000 x hotter in the goaltending department with the addition of Antoine Tardif (to be received at the draft for the Paris/Fréchette/Dyke trade at Christmas). Oh, how I wanted Tardif here. I figured maybe we could finagle a trade ...but then I realized that we would break him, so he is better off with the Volts. Tardif has been out of the Bathurst lineup for the majority of the second half because he has been suffering with pain from an ankle injury (with torn ligaments) which occurred in late January. It turns out that Antoine will require arthroscopic surgery for his ankle. Let's hope he has a speedy recovery. This is me throwing air kisses to Antoine's ankle.

Trades and the draft:
If rumour is true, The Mooseheads have made the dumbest trade in trade history. They supposedly agreed to trade 'unsung hero' PJ Corsi (getter of 28 points since Jan 1st) at the draft for enforcer David Bouchard (3 point getter since Jan 1st). Both boys are 19: PJ is a keeper - he is hitty and gritty; David is a sleeper - he will not be in the Q next year. So when all is said and done Drummondville gets two 4th round draft picks, one for 2008, and one for 2009 (do we get one back?) and an excellent 20 year old for the 2008-2009 season. We get a penalty prone enforcer who is more a liability because of his reputation, for half of a season.

We also supposedly traded first round rookie pick David Gilbert, a second round pick in 2008, and one of our top two defensemen - Guillaume Monast (at the draft), all for Maxime Sauve...only so we could turn around and give up Sauve and another 1000 draft picks for the next bajillion years only to land Brad Marchand for half a season.

Maxime is 18 and is expected to be an NHL first round draft pick this year. He also played on a lower tier team and yet statistically for the second half of the regular season:

Maxime "les sourcils" Sauve - 6 PIM
29 games 14 goals 17 assists = 31 pts

Brad Marchand - 40 PIM
26 games 10 goals 19 assists = 29 pts

They say hindsight is 20:20, but I personally had a ton of foresight this season...I said in October "the last thing we need is another Centre". However, to think of all that we gave up for Marchand (it has been said over and over again by EVERYBODY, so there is no need to rehash it)...at least Sauve was less of a liability and he could have brought some 'future game' and awesome 'eyebrow power'.

Anyway, wasn't I talking about Monast....let's get back to him. Now don't get me wrong, we can only have 3 twenty year old players, and I like Yeti, I like Andrew White, I like GrahamBo, but from a purely cold and calculated GM standpoint...who would you rather have: Corsi or White? Monast or Bona? Either Corsi or Monast over Yetman? Why were Monast and Corsi traded? Ce n'est pas difficile à comprendre.

Do not turn this around on me and say my Marchand argument should also apply to this...the 'go for the better player theory'. The point is that at the time we did not need him and we gave away everything to get him. Next year we will need good experienced players and we have left ourselves with only 3 guys who have played more than 4th line ice time, nor do we have the best possible group of 20 year olds. We do not have a single returning player who is statistically >1 PPG for last season. Only 3 are greater than 0.5 PPG. At least I can say that some of the possible returning 20 year olds have character and are grittastic.

Simon Després:
There is a Simon Després fanclub page on facebook. There are pictures of Baby Simon with his Baby Hockey trophies. He is tooooo adorable. Why does he make me want children? I hate children! But I like Baby Simon Després just like I like Baby Steve Mason. Baby hockey players - collect them all. I will have to create a rift in the space time continuum so that I can feed cookies to both Baby Simon and teenage Simon simultaneously. I seriously hope the Penguins don't try to get their grubby hands on him in the 2009 draft.

Dear Andrew White,
Absence makes the heart grow fonder. It really does! My brain might not belong to you but my heart sure does. You are my favorite now! I might try to scratch you behind the ears because puppies like that and you are so good at ice-puppy tricks.

Are you being a carpenter again this summer? Ohhh, you are so useful outside of the arena. If we were friends we could drink beer and discuss the Scandinavian aesthetics upon which our line of birdhouses and squirrel houses would be based. We could then go out, get really drunk, and make fun of everybody. In my drunken stupor I might try to pet you. Then we'd head home to catch the third period of some West coast hockey, only to pass out together on the sofa and wake up confused and really hungover with our feet in each other's faces. I would make you coffee and waffles for breakfast and it would be delicious. Wait...you would build me a bird house right?
Love
Q-girl

Moose vs Olympiques: Game 4. Pride, Heart, Determination?

Hello
Is anybody there?


Me - "Oh Colby. Hi, how are you? What is that? You are looking for the rest of the team? Have you found anybody yet? "

Colby - "Yeah I think I see Whitey, maybe Knotek. Yeti got here a little late. You would think he could have shown up about an hour and a half earlier since he runs on Nfld time."


Me - "Good ol' Whitey. He always shows up doesn't he. Thank God I chose him as my favorite forward, other wise I might be let down by the high expectations but low production of our 'stars', you know, if I was the kinda girl who was into 'stars'. So who assisted on your goal?"

Colby - "Two big birds."

Me - "Pender and Swan?"

Colby - "Yeah, those guys."

Me - "How was Whitey?"

Colby - "Up to his old tricks."

Me - "Good Puppy."

Colby - "I got a goal yesterday too."

Me - "Good for you. Did you know that my girl CG finds you attractive? It must be the character thing. We have such very different taste. I like my boys to be very soft looking"

Colby - "Is she single? Is she French? French girls are nice!"

Me - "I feel the same way about French boys. As for CG, her husband is half French...France French. Sorry!
Speaking of French boys, how is Pier doing?

Colby - "Pier has shaved. That beard really wasn't working for him. Other than that, he has become quite good at pine surfing, door opening, gum chewing, and fingernail examining. He also feels more relaxed since he no longer has to worry about the quality of the ice in his crease. Man he gets so paranoid about the ice in his crease....or at least he did when he had a crease."

Me - "Gee, did any of the Halifax boys actually make the trip to Gatineau? "

Colby - "Halifax boys- let me think? Well I know Bona was here at some point because he assisted on my goal yesterday and he was a -1 for both games, which considering that we lost 6-1 and 5-2, is not half bad. He didn't even take a penalty. PEI was rocking it - Logan helped a bit. Damn it feels good to be an island - I mean, from an island"

Me- "Like Newfoundland, PEI or Cape Breton. Home sweet home. But I do not think that PEI reps combining for 6 minutes of penalty time is exactly RAWKING. Do you think Whitey will let me hug him?"

Colby - "He could use a good nuzzle!"

Me - "Excellent"

Colby - "Just be careful, he is a little angry and he's been biting. He doesn't think that being told to wear a wig or shave your beard is actually an effective coaching strategy for winning playoff games."

Me - "The two of you would have been excellent on a shut down line. You know, if we had a shut down line."

Colby - "Tell me about it."