So informed/ so winning/ so-long Benny Boy

Things need to change. New defence, new jersey, new goalie coach... new blog layout and format(?). Yeah, I'll get on that eventually. So if the blog vanishes for a short period of time over the next couple of days it just means that I am reformatting it.

I will have to get rid of the banner since that jersey is right out. I will have to get rid of Benny and Alexis in the side panel because those boys are also right out.

When games start I will bring back the cookies, which is essential because Mathieu loves cookies and I do whatever goalies tell me (telepathically) to do. No really, I do whatever goalies tell me. It is sad. I am also considering keeping track of cookie-worthy players on a game by game basis in the side bar - until I have 68+ cookie receptacles listed.

I really will get on that you tube page so that I can post the most embarassing intermission interviews online. Like this one:



Let's get to business:
For those who are not in the know- Ben MacAskill has been released from the Mooseheads and will not be occupying one of the limited 20 year old roster spots. Nineteen year old goaltender Justin Collier of the Yarmouth Mariners has also been released.

Meanwhile Forward Maxime Belanger and defenceman Jonathan Clarke have broken up with us. Clarke didn't want to be the "other" Clarke on the blueline. It is bad enough that we had a McDonald and a MacDonald, but to have two Bernards and two Clarkes would not help ease the confusion.

But Collier, Belanger and Clarke are irrelevant. Benny is the boy of interest here. I am sad to see him go.


When my girlfriend A.N. needed a Mooseheads boyfriend I assigned Ben to her. Given her string of shitty relationships she needed someone nice. She totally fell (except she still has a real boyfriend - ugh). She once said "MacAskill is the cheese on my Mac and Cheese". Maybe she should have said "Ben is the Mac in my Mac and cheese", it is slightly more punny that way.

She also once said "Ben, Oh how my heart flutters for thee... I wasn't sure our relationship was going to work, with so little to offset your unfortunately obvious misaligned chin. Although your eyes tell me you are a pure and innocent angel, I also secretly hope you are terribly naughty in bed. But for now I suppose I'll have to settle for slick on the ice.... sigh :D
(Also, I don't like reading, but it's totally hot that you do.)"*

The boys say Ben is nice. To top it off he is smart and if he ever needs lab experience in Neuroscience/ Psychology at Dal I can totally hook him up.

I was a firm believer in Ben and instead of dwelling on the negatives I always like to point out when Ben got things right in a game. His smart moves were not uncommon. Once, during a game of pick-up hockey he even got a goal off a pass from my boyfriend (shhhhh, that's kinda a secret).

I wish Ben the best of luck in his future hockey endeavors and future science endeavors and I am serious about that lab position in Neuroscience. My boss keeps filling the lab with pretty girls. It is about time he gave back and got us a boy. We are all tired of hanging out with 60 year old men.


PEI still suck:
This is why the Moose were able to defeat them 6-4 in the preseason game at the forum. I confess I was not in attendance. My parentals were visiting and I was forbidden from getting my skank on with one of those long, hard, wooden (oh my) benches at the Forum. For more information on the game see Matthew Wuest's write up for the Metro or Willy Palov's write up for the Herald.


* she is going to kill me for that

Everyone loves a poindexter

Every year teams in the QMJHL select one player from their roster whom they believe to display exemplary academic standards. These are the candidates for the Marcel-Robert Trophy. They are basically saying to me, hey Q, if you were to crush out a boy from this team then I think you should pick:

Acadie-Bathurst Titan – Nicholas Champion
Baie-Comeau Drakkar – Guillaume Goulet
Cape Breton Screaming Eagles – Chris Culligan
Chicoutimi Saguenéens – Dominic Jalbert
Drummondville Voltigeurs – Dany Massé
Gatineau Olympiques – Jean-Philip Chabot
Halifax Mooseheads – Ben MacAskill
Lewiston MAINEiacs – Éric Gélinas
Moncton Wilcats – Nicola Riopel
Montreal Juniors – Philippe Fontaine
P.E.I. Rocket – Bobby Nadeau
Quebec Remparts – Hubert Genest
Rimouski Océanic – Emmanuel Boudreau
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies – Pier-Luc Giguère
Saint John Sea Dogs – Payton Liske
Shawinigan Cataractes – Pierre-Alexandre Vandall
Val-d’Or Foreurs – Jean-François Caron
Victoriaville Tigres – Joël Chouinard

Wow, look at all those goalies...and Ben...again. What a total smarty pants. Wait, where is Slaney? Can you not win the award twice or has he been drinking tar ponds water?

Don't rock the boat

Tonight the Moose were on the road to take on the Baie-Comeau Drakkar.

Sitting out for the Moose are:
Justin Pender (hip)
Guillaume Pelletier (lower body / knee?)
Jessyko Bernard (groin)
Jan Stransky (suspended)

Graham Bona was playing on forward, and a semi-recovered Ned O'Brien is back in the lineup, despite having been physically ravaged by a serious flu.

I took a look at the new team line-up:
Current average age = 18.16
Average age before trades = 18.29
I think. I could show my work and double check my math, but meh, there is a reason no one should read this blog. It is not high quality hockey analysis. High quality eyebrow analysis, maybe, but hockey.... not so much. Ohhh we got sooo much younger; I almost feel like a child molester... almost. 0.13 of a year. That would make the Moose, like, a whole 1-2 months younger.

This could explain why we are the same shitty Mooseheads (see how I insert myself in there as a 'we' like I have something to do with the miraculous poopification of my team) that we were before X-mas. The kinda team that loses 7-2.


First:
Not bad. The Drakkar get a goal on a 5 on 3 by Goulet, with assists by Lessard and Petit. I can live with a 5 on 3 goal... not the fact that we gave them a 5 on 3 opportunity though.

Second:
Piette gets a goal to tie it up but immediately afterwards Yetman lets in an unassisted softie by Kalin Paul, Paul's second of the year. No matter how this ends - no cookies for Yeti. It has been declared.

Then the Drakkar get another, by Villeneuve, on a wraparound or similar 'behind the net shenanigans'. The Moose are allowing goals by a bunch of guys who do not normally get goals. ohhh hoorah. This is followed instantly by a high glove side goal, by Mimar, though I have to wonder why that Drakkar player was just allowed to skate in like that with the puck... what the fuck defence? Three goals in 3 minutes. bah *hand gestures*.

The nets themselves are playing their own game of 'just the tip'. They must be, because the posts keep slipping off the... whatever the fuck those things are called. Damn.

A BREAKAWAY right off the next face-off gets the Drakkar up 5-1. Yetman seemed to be way off to the side, Goulet just stepped around him. Someone's goalie brain must be broken. As per-usual, the coaching staff waits until it is too late, and the game is too far out of reach, to swap netminders. 5 goals allowed in 16 shots.

Drakkar get a 2 on 1 - followed by another goal, this time on Corbeil. Why am I torturing myself? I need a drink. Gin or Baileys?

Third:
Frankly...I was not paying attention. Except... stop it with the fucking penalties, because penalties = powerplays for them = goals. Guess what - yeah, Drakkar goal. Well, the Moose did get a goal in the third (welcome back Desjardins baby), but at 7-2 it all seems a little bit pointless.


MacAskill gets all the cookies, at least for periods 1 and 2, which I was watching. If he would like he can share with Amyot. Why Mac, you ask:

• A big hit about 10 minutes into the first
• What peeps don't respect about MacAskill is that he does a fairly good job bringing the puck down the ice, as he did on the Moose's 2nd pp.
• In the second he was battling on the boards to get the puck, which, once we did get the puck, lead to a rush down ice and Piette's goal. Our first of the game.
• Later, he was battling for the puck while on his knees.
• The assist on Desjardins' goal.
• Being a +2 in a game in which there were 7 goals against.
  
• My girlfriend A.N. would want it that way. She calls him fluffy.
  

PS. I chose Baileys.

Edit - Oh yeah. The team released 17 year old Ryan Matheson back to the MJAHL's Restigouche Tigers. Dear Ryan, please pet Stefan Dumaresque for me.

Edit2 - Wuest's game review.

MacAskill is still a Smarty Pants

From the Mooseheads website:

Twenty-year-old defenseman Graham Bona is the Mooseheads’ “Citadel Halifax Hotel Player of the Month” for September*, 2008. Bona received the award from Mooseheads’ Head Coach Cam Russell at the team’s monthly luncheon at the Citadel Halifax Hotel today.

Bona participated in all 10 of Halifax’s games during the month, exhibiting strong play in his own end as the team recorded a record of 4-6-0 on the month, winning four of their last seven games.

“Bona has been a leader both on and off the ice for the Mooseheads this season,” Head Coach Cam Russell remarked. “With twelve new players in the lineup this season, Bona’s strong leadership qualities are beginning to bear fruit, especially with our new players, in making our team more competitive as the season progresses.”

At the same time, fourth-year defenseman Ben MacAskill received the “Scholastic Player of the Month” Award, awarded to the player who best combines talent, academic and general performance. The 19-year-old, who recorded nine assists, while playing at a plus five rating, in 10 games during the month, received his award from Mooseheads’ Education Advisor Ross Thompson.

*that should say October