My Captain and your Captain were up in a tree...at Acadia.

Congrats to Moosehead Captain Graham Bona who will be attending Acadia to play hockey with the Axemen next year. I just have a few words of warning for my cuddly, studmuffinly captain: All the food in wolfville sucks.

No really. I don't know if you can get sushi there but if you can I am sure that it will kill you. Futhermore they have an Indian restaurant which I would suggest you stay away from. Oh my darling Graham I hope you do not starve to death. It is quite possible that all of the meat (mmmmm) could fall off your bones and you will just wilt away from malnutrition.

Don't eat the fans, Bona

You know what we should do? I should take you on a date to some place fancy and fill you up with food before you leave. A nights worth of good eating should last you at least a month. I'll try to resist the urge to make you sweat it off later.

Ohhh kinesiology . So you are not a businessman type? How very sexy. You do know that Dal has Kines AND Halifax has lots of good sushi, right? Also, Dal sucks and you could easily crack the lineup. Also also also ... then you wouldn't have to leave me. Just sayin'.

When you get to Acadia tell Wrap around Curl's Captain that she said "oh Hai".

Hazaa

Let it be known that in their last game of the season the Mooseheads defeated the Acadie-Bathurst Titan by a score of 6-3.

Everybody scored - including Gabriel O'Connor who finally got a goal from the point. The bench erupted in an orgy. For you see, Gabriel is a defensive defenceman and in his three years with the team he had yet to register a goal. Congrats are in order.

Stransky, Desjardins, Pender, O'Brien (who was long overdue as well), and Louis-XVI also scored for the Moose.

I will have more to say later. For now I'll just say congrats to the boys on the win and for keeping it entertaining - yes three fights, and 2 in the first eight seconds of the game IS entertaining. You were on it like Elisha Cuthbert on an NHLer. That means you were really really on it.

I am going to post one of Rikk's video's here just to make this more entertaining, and to show you how much hair Eric has. Damn!!! I am entering him into the fro-off that is currently taking place between my boyfriend and my friend Dave. Also, because I know that Hammer thinks that Eric is pretty so I thought that maybe she might also like to see him being studly.



To the old guys: Pender (who knew you were so sensitive?), Bona and Yetman. Bon voyage and good luck with all your future endeavors. May you remain studly as you age, because trust me... it is all downhill from 22. I get a funny feeling in my nether regions every game during the second period. If any of you can figure out why I'll buy you a beer. You are right - it's a trap! Sorry, but I had to try.


Team awards were also given out at this game. I have listed the winners below:
Rookie: Gabriel Desjardins
Most Improved: Alexis Piette
Unsung Hero: Linden Bahm and Charles Bety
Best defensive Forward: Travis Randell
Fan's Choice: Tomas Knotek
MVP: Tomas Knotek
Best Defenceman: Gabriel O'Connor
Director's Choice: Mark Yetman
Community involvement: Scott McDonald
Playa's Playa (Sportsmanship): Graham Bona
Academic: Ben MacAskill

I hope I have not forgotten anyone

News links:
Matthew Wuest - Mooseheads end sour Season on a sweet note

Two in a Row.

Yep. You read that right - two in a row. The Mooseheads had their first back-to-back wins this season with a 4-3 SO win against Chicoutimi followed by tonight's 6-2 slaughtering of the Bathurst Titan.

Despite reports to the contrary, Jessyko Bernard was still out of the lineup with a groin injury, and Pender still has wonky hips like an old arthritic dog. New defenceman George Dunn was a healthy scratch, and Pelletier is still...somewhere??... MIA.

Yetman got the start, chosen over a mildly injured Corbeil, who we would all like to be fully healed before he steps back between the pipes, because fucking around and letting injured goalies play is stupid. Prolonging an injury is not hot.

Either that or there is a grand conspiracy being plotted against Corbeil, which involves lies being fed to the media, but I highly doubt it. When Yetman gets a start tomorrow against the Moncton Wildcats it will add further fuel to the fire. Why don't we just burn a fucking effigy already people? God, you have no idea how to hate properly!!! If it helps - look - we can pretend Corbeil played.

Ummmmm, no. Yetman was playing. Goals allowed was 2, shots were 35. WTF?

I had so much to say but I lost it. I forget everything and I was not even drinking. I feel so lazy and it is so late. Which is why I am referring you to Matthew Wuest's write up in the Metro.

At some point I remember thinking oh dear God Graham you look so good you can eat your cookies off the small of my back. Bona had a bajillion hits, a sexy fight, and two assists. The boys killed 5 of 5 penalties. Bona was just calmly playing like "No, I don't think so! yoink!" and so for that he gets the cookies. Also, because I am biased towards defencemen.

Desjardins was delightful in his interview: the kicky strong French accent, the wholehearted head-back laugh, the singing (in French) and the tongue thing (it must be some neurotic twitch).

I must also say Louis -XVI is trying really hard to be an upper tier boyfriend, and it is working because he is looking hotter with each successive game. Bahm is also buttering me up more lately. I remember thinking at the game today that I was pregnant with a whole litter of his puppies.

...and of course the Euros - they were highly amusing. Even Yuri was amusing me and he never amuses me (sorry, it's true). Stransky (2 goals) , Knotek (2 assists) and Cheremetiev (2 goals, 1 assist) were dominating the Titan.

Yetman was solid when Piette was not stealing his stick (no cookies for Alexis). He stopped 33 of 35 shots (when he did have his stick), a whole whack of which were dangerous.

So to summarise:
Cheremetiev: 2G, 1A, 2nd star
Stransky: 2G, 1st star
Knotek: 2A, 3rd star
Bona: 2A and a fight
Amyot (listed as Matheson): 2A
Bahm: 1G
Grant: 1G
McDonald:1A
MacDonald: 1A
Randell: 1A
Bety: 1A
MacAskill: 1A

Nothing on the QMJHL site right now seems right. The faceoff stats look whack, so I am not going to believe anything else it says... but you can trust me when I say the Moose did indeed win 6-2.

Happy boys are productive boys.

Go Banana!

We lost ... again... because our motto for late 2008 was "never two in a row". But all that is about to change in 2009. Right? "Go banana", oops I mean "Go Mooseheads". We shall not continue to be the Ralph Wiggums of the QMJHL.



So yeah, clearly I am not on the ball with this post, since the game was last night. A pre-game wine, a game-time beer and some post-game Baileys has a tendency to do that to a girl...especially when she has to drink to keep it fun because that game was a snoozefest. This is coming from a NJ Devils fan.

To sit though all of that only to lose on a lucky bounce and wrap around goal from Brandon Street, for PEI, with 20 seconds left in overtime - it drained everyone. I mean everyone. It is like we in the crowd don't even care anymore. The funnest part of the night was an older gentleman leaning over the railing at the end of the game yelling at Simon Olsson to "eat something and grow".

The game program was the second funnest - Jessyko is apparently hairy like a puppy, which means my moniker for him is fitting.

Some of the boys made new Years resolutions: Mark Yetman is going to prevent his brother from scoring on him when the team plays Shawinigan - well there is a challenge, seeing as Brad is a stay at home defenceman with only 2 goals to his name in 75 career games. Yes, aim high, little buddy. Corbeil is going to cut back on the cookies (I haven't been giving him that many cookies) and Piette is aiming for the full Dick Dastardly.

It looks like the parents made the boys shave over X-mas so they will all have to start re-cultivating their moustaches.

But the game...
As I said it was boring. Mooseheads lost 2-1 in OT, giving us a point but we maintain our position as the second worst team in the league just 2 points ahead of Val d'Or, one back of Baie Comeau. It tastes like burning.

My eyes kept wandering to Bona and O'Connor, who were playing in a very calm and collected manner. When I sit near males all I ever hear is "bitch bitch bitch Bona". When I sit near females all I hear is "Bona does not panick, he is so calm". So take your pick Bona, take your pick. I prefer Bona as calming presence, not the thing that makes males behind me scream in my ear "God damn Bona". Last night they were screaming God Damn MacAskill instead, so it was a bit of a reprieve.

Ditto O'Connor. So fucking smooth last night. I was going to give O'Connor the cookies but I felt that Mathieu has been on such a bad run lately that maybe he could use the cookies, and especially now before the new years resolution kicks in. Mathieu Corbeil made 34 saves on 36 shots in the loss last night, including a save midway through the second that saw him flash the leather with cat like reflexes. He made a pad save which bounced off of a Rocket player and quickly came back to him, high on the glove side. No goal - followed of course by massive applause (and it rained cookies).


Also...
1) Where was Bobby Nadeau? We only have 4 dates all year and the bastard stood me up. Instead I get Evan Mosher, oh how that boy can stretch (in warmups). He didn't really have to make any big saves, hence why he got the win, and hence why I must remind my team "go banana"
2) No goals for PEI on the power play = Go orange
3) Randell - control the puck before you try to shoot it, shots into the mesh do not count - Go banana
4) We were out-hit by a team of midgets: 54 to 11. That pretty little Olsson girl had 6 hits. Bona, O'Connor, McDonald, Pender, and MacAskill combined for NO hits. Go banana.
5) ohhh faceoffs. Once again, apart from Piette, the Mooseheads were a big "go banana".
6) Stransky getting a game misconduct 5-6 minutes into his home debut. WTF? At least someone was trying to hit, albeit in a shifty and evil way.


News Links:
Matthew Wuest - Game notes: Rocket 2 Mooseheads 1 (OT)
Willy Palov - Mooseheads lose in OT

Frankly I like my title better, non? It is so much more informative. It reflects how I, as a fan, feel when I am cheering on this team.

The Trouble with tribbles...on your face.

Everyone knows that my lust for Travis Fullerton is so strong that I am capable of overlooking the occasional moustache thing he has going on. I may, in fact, even find his moustache kinda sexy. I would lick it.

...and yet my team is currently suffering from a major overdose of hair in the upper lip region. I do not like it. Is it all just a dare? Why is it spreading from face to face? Is it a joke? Goalie mask shadow? Are some of these mistakes from attempted puberty beards gone horribly wrong?

Decide for yourself. I give you in very fuzzy picture format: Jessyko Bernard, Graham Bona, Alexis Piette and Mark Yetman. They didn't start the season looking like this.


Perhaps this is the first ever recorded case of regressive evolution in man. They are regressing from Homo sapien back into Bryceus swanicus.

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

kitty is dangerous

First off I would like to preface my post by getting the nitty gritty out of the way. The Mooseheads lost to the Moncton Wildcats by a score of 4-2. Riopel (not baby LBD- Boo) was in nets for Moncton and stopped 14 of 16 shots thrown at him. Mark Yetman backstopped Halifax making 24 saves, and allowing 4 goals (with 20 dangerous shots). Moncton are currently undefeated in all 6 games this season.

Since there were only 16 shots on net, and three dangerous shots – it would have been an excellent game to have given LBD a start, alas NO.

Riopel lost his stick. How would LBD have handled this situation?

Goal scorers for Moncton include Matt Eagles, Mark Barberio and Matt Brown who potted two goals as well as a helper to get the first star of the game. Justin Pender (second Star; assisted by McDonald and Piette), and Graham Bona (unassisted) replied for the Mooseheads. Moncton’s Matthew Bissonnette was the third star of the game, he had one assist. He also gets the prize for most double consonants in a name.

Now on to Foolish ranting:

Mark Yetman
You are my goalie, thus I have to talk about you because not only are you a goalie, but you are MY goalie and I am obsessed with goalies. It would be worse if I were not talking about you because then that would mean that I did not care. Comprende? Come here, I want to hug you.

What you do not know is that the other night after I got angry about the game in PEI, I realized that the 4^th goal was probably more of an exhaustion thing. We had just been on the PK for what? 10 minutes straight. I felt bad for getting angry, so I came downstairs and curled up on the sofa with you.

That being said there is no need for the cocky arrogance you sometimes exude. Admittedly it can be both a huge turn off or a turn on, depending on whether or not you are the kinda girl who likes assholes. I was browsing through the game program, and today’s featured player was you. There was a questionnaire and the last question you answered was FINISH THIS SENTENCE: I’d be a billionaire if I had a dollar every time someone told me…"I was good looking".

I am speechless! I will let your 2007-2008 team photo do the talking... and yet, at some point during the game you were talking to the refs, you lifted your mask (and you were covered in a fine dew of goalie sweat), you spit and said to the refs, with a look of arrogant defiance, “what?” …and at that very moment I had feelings that a chick of my age should not have for a kid of your age. Yes, at that moment you did indeed look hot. Lust worthy even. We will chalk it up to the fine dew of sweat, the arrogance and the goalie gear.

I also liked you today. Sure you let in one goal in the first two shots (I call it the Yeti effect) but somehow I remained calm and pacified and just watched you move. Are we sure that the first goal did not involve some sort of goalie interference that prevented you from getting back across the crease? I don’t know. When you were down on the end near my seat you were quite coo-liebe worthy, turning aside 11 of 12 shots. You poked! I was excited. You caught a puck as it came down from the netting – not relevant to the game but still kinda cute. You played the puck up ice to someone (I forget who). Furthermore you did awesome on that very long five on three.

I like the sound of the puck hitting leather *sigh*. I think I just like you today. Today is a very forgiving day.

Captain Graham Bona also deserves props. He kept himself out of the box – apparently 8 minutes of shame in one night is enough for a season (I would hope – not likely). He brought the puck up the ice, shot it into the Wildcats zone on the right, zoomed over to the left got the puck on his stick again and put it in the top righthand corner. It was Beeeaaautttifulll. Then they played his goal video and he made sexeeface. There is no denying his attempt at sexeeface, which is why I am giving you a picture montage from his goal video to prove my point. HA HA.

Serious Graham, smirky Graham, sexee Graham, normal Graham (the best kind)

Scott McDonald
It's not what you did (an assist), it is what you didn't do (play defence) that has me worked up today. I thought you had Sea Dog power. I also though you had some other extra special powers that were acquired from having likely seen Travis Fullerton in a state of undress. Why are you not using your powers? You can sleep on the sofa tonight.

More Graham...now with Cheesy sports headlines

Really. You are going to headline the article "Graham a Bona-fied Captain". That is just too tacky Wuest. We do however like the pic of Graham you published in the Metro. He is so handsome when he is shaved... less Spry thuggin', more downtown Halifax RAWR.

Image of Graham Bona "Captain" from Metro Halifax, Ryan Taplin

He even looks like he may have shaved the back of his neck for the start of the season. How gentlemanly of him. I hope it doesn't mean that he will be a gentleman on the ice. That would be unacceptable. I imagine him being very useful and maybe even being good at plumbing (get your mind out of the gutter - real plumbing) or carpentry.

In order to create our imaginary version of what Graham is really like we will take the following quotes from Matthew Wuest's article and store them in our mental player personality database.

Bona isn’t one for the spotlight, as he declined an opportunity to speak at the podium at yesterday’s gathering. But his reserved nature in the public eye gives way to a different personality in the room, head coach Cam Russell said.

“He’s a shy guy when it comes to the press, but when he’s in his comfort zone, he’s always been a high-energy, vocal guy,” Russell said. “That’s good. You don’t want a dressing room to be like a morgue. He’s the perfect choice for us.”

...Growing up in the Halifax area, Bona was a big fan of Jody Shelley, one of the most decorated captains in Mooseheads history. He sounded awestruck at the notion of following in the footsteps of Shelley, among others.

“All the past captains that have been a part of this organization in the past and there are a lot of big names on the list,” Bona said. “I’m just glad to be part of it.”

and from Willy Palov's Chronicle Herald Article:

The 20-year-old is entering his fifth season in the QMJHL, the most of any player on the team.

"He’s the guy who’s got the most experience and I think he’s a very composed person," said Mooseheads general manager Marcel Patenaude. "He’s a good guy to have around the younger kids, to address some of the situations that will come up during the season. We feel very comfortable with him as the captain."

"He’s always a kid that works very hard and he’s always been very committed. We’re very happy."

Yes, imaginary GrahamBo is pretty awesome. Hey wait...there was a press conference and I was not invited. That is super-duper mean. I like hockey too, at least as much as these guys.

Putting the Rambo in GrahamBo

The Mooseheads have a new captain - 20 year old defenceman and Spryfield's native son Graham Bona (otherwise known as GrahamBo - at least by me). My cat is also from Spryfield, she is such a princess. I hope that Graham does not also think that he is a princess.

Howdy Captain

I have already stated that I have Graham related fondness, mostly because I like big stay at home defencemen, and Graham is pretty big at 6'3" and 225 lbs. Graham is the only guy on the team with one of those shiny president's cup championship rings, which he won in his rookie season with Rimouski when "you know who" (also goes by the name "hockey jesus") was still playing there.

I guess we should not be shocked that Graham was named captain since he has worn the captain's C for the first two games of the season. What is weird is that in Matthew Wuest's article he states that Graham was officially named Captain at a press conference on Thursday. Does he mean last Thursday? Because today is Wednesday. Is he as bad with dates as I, or were they really just that slow at officially announcing the Captaincy to us, the adoring fans.

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!

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 Tigres: Game 6. Done + Done, Done and Done

Well the Moose finished off the Tigres 7-0

Cape Breton defeated the MAINEiacs 2-1 in OT. Murdock MacLellan (the name and face can't get more Caper than ol' Murd here) scored the game winner. Jon looked crushed. Bernier faced 39 shots while Roy only faced 18. Don't worry Jon its not your fault, blame your offense. Do you need a hug? Would you like cookies? Would you prefer motor oil? Jon is going to cry his little eyes out tonight. Poor little robot Jonathan Bernier, and poor me. I will likely never see Jonathan in the flesh ever again. I am also going to go cry my little eyes out tonight. If only the Lewy bus would drive through town and stop overnight, that way Jon and I could hold each other and cry.

This means round two is a battle of Nova Scotia. Maybe I can travel home to see some games. My mother will love me. I will tell her I have gone home to visit her.

Acadie-Bathurst Titan defeated the St. John’s Fog Devils 4-3 and thus round two will feature a battle of New Brunswick as the Titan take on the Sea Dogs (I am having Travis Fullerton withdrawl... Fully I NEED you).

Last but not least the Remparts have defeated Chicoutimi 3-1 to take the series and Quebec will go on to face Gatineau. Let’s hope they do not try any dirty tricks on Ryan Mior.

MOOSEHEADS get a shutout

I mean, sure Yeti only faced 12 shots but a shutout is a shutout. This is Mark Yetman's third shutout. His first being Feb 2007, when we defeated the Volts and my sweet beautiful P-O Pelletier 4-0 (ouch P-O). The second was in the playoffs last year against Moncton. I think that by the third period we were not even trying to get goals any more. We were being merciful on the Tigre.

I cannot believe this team beat us twice. God, what were we doing in those two games. Cam went with the same lines from Saturday’s game and they worked pretty well for us the second time around. Should I have gone out drinking tonight…is that what the boys are doing? I would be drinking if I were them. I would also be drinking if I were Victo. P-O was so 'up in a tree' with Cacciotti (a former Volt) and Cliche, yak yak yak, hug hug hug. Why is he 'up in a tree' with everybody but me? This is so not fair. He is probably out at The Bitter End being 'up in a tree' with Guillaume Monast, PJ Corsi and Steven Cacciotti right now.

Have I mentioned yet that I love Pier's hands? He is all perfect with his huge hands and long pretty fingers. The things you could do with those hands.

Bryce and PJ should get free drinks tonight because each boy had two goals and PJ was awarded first stars.

Travis Randell looks like an old man, which is why I am going to call him ol’ man Randell from now on. What is with the extensive facial hair…he only just turned 17. I thought it was weird that he had chest hair when he was 15-16 (a picture on facebook told me so), but he grows a better beard than Mark Yetman who is 19. Yeti’s hair is all on his neck.

Graham Bona gets his kisses for being so absolutely huge and hulking and also for being a +4. GrahamBo has been waiting forever to be my D of the day…and today is his day. Maybe I will invite him for a cuddle, I have a large blanket...he is frickin' huge. I cannot mountaineer a boy that big.

That was totally non-informative…but I have had beers, what did you expect? That is why you get a picture extravaganza instead.

Wuest can tell you what happened in the game. Let's just say Poulin gave me a little sexy goalie rage and Victoriaville played goalie-go-round again.

more news:
"Eagels soar past MAINEiacs"

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The Q announced its all star teams

Wuest is not happy that Voracek is second-team

Knotek, O. Roy, and Despres got rookie props while Voracek, Perreault and Squirrels Giroux got older boy props.