Ovi at practice - Kettler in Arlington, VA

I miss hockey...and Ovi...and the Caps.... :(

notable July 1 tidbits (according to me)

The acquisition that never was is the thing that's got me reeling. I like Dany Heatley. I remember when he was a youngster who played on the WJC when he was still in College. I followed him when he was in Atlanta, and then when he moved to Ottawa, I thought it was great that he was going to play with Spezza. When the networks were prematurely reporting a trade between the Oilers and Sens, I was completely overcome with joy. I mean, I can't even explain how excited I was to read that...even though we would have had to give up Cogliano and Smid in the trade. I listed the Pat Quinn/Tom Renney combo, the drafting of Magnus Paajarvi Svensson and the acquisition of 'Heater' of the most exciting news in recent (1o year) Oiler history. It's a good time to be a Oiler fan.

As far as my Caps, we gave up Donald Brashear and gained Mike Knuble. I figure there are more changes coming, given that we are in need of a mobile dman.

Chicago is looking really good, after acquiring Marion Hossa (who is with his 4th team in 3 years!!), Tomas Kopecky (who I watched quite a bit when he was in Lethbridge for a couple of seasons in junior), and JOHN MADDEN!! (madden has long been on my radar, particularly because he's a Selke guy). I think Chicago were only missing a couple of key players, and now, wow, they're going to be good...

The Rangers, Leafs and Canadiens are the others who have made some pretty serious changes. Gaborik signs with the Rangers, the Habs got Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, Hal Gill, Scott Gomez and Jaro Spacek. Nik Antropov signed with Atlanta (yikes!!), and Havlat signs with the Wild.

Even though I live in Calgary, I wouldn't consider myself a Flames fan. (I have gone to Flames training camps and morning skates, just for the love of NHL hockey). But I'm really excited about the acquisition of Jay Bouwmeester, and Fredrik Sjostrom. I just read that the Flames also got Garth Murray (from Regina) and Riley Armstrong (from Saskatoon). While they may never actually suit up for the Flames, the prospect of them getting a shot at the NHL is great. Murray played for the Pats in Regina when I lived there and he played a few games for the Habs back in the day.

It's been a really exciting few days - the draft last weekend and now July 1. I can't wait for next season...

July 1st

Tomorrow is July 1 and I'm freaking out. I wonder if either of my teams are going to be making any acquisitions (Caps/Oilers). I also wonder how the Flames will make out with JBo (that used to be he name at the height of the JLo craze).
It's going to be interesting. It's always hard to get used to the changes because really, we don't see new guys in their new colours until October, and by then, I've forgotten half of them.

This photo is at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C., at the Caps store. That Ovechkin bag on my arm - I bought it.
I took it to the beach with me today, and a guy commented 'I like your bag'. I turned around and he had on a Capitals t-shirt with Ovechkin on the back. I felt 'the best'...

2009 NHL Entry Draft (from Montreal)

Well, the 2009 edition of the NHL Entry Draft is in the books. I've literally been waiting for a couple of years to see who would be the first overall pick - John Tavares or Victor Hedman. To no one's surprise, Tavares went to the Isles, and my guy, Swedish hulk of a dman, Hedman, who plays for Modo in the Swedish Elite League, went second overall to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
I've been following Hedman for a while now, having first watched him two seasons ago on the World Junior Championship edition of Tre Kronor. I keep in contact with a guy who lives in Orskoldsvik Sweden where Modo play out of, and he's given me pretty regular updates about Hedman. Hedman is an amazing player - really fun to watch. Although it is a men's league, the SEL is so much different from the NHL. They play on the big ice, and although there is more time and space and a few extra miliseconds to think, the game is a couple of steps slower. I can't wait to watch him as he adjusts to the NHL game. It's too bad he was drafted to a team that's about as far away from Calgary as one can get. Here's hoping he lives up to the hype...and earns a spot on the 2010 Tre Kronor OS!

In other news, there were a total of 7 Swedes drafted in the first round.
That's huge!!
2. Victor Hedman - Tampa Bay - Modo - d
6. Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Phoenix - Leksand -d
10. Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson - Edmonton - Timra - lw
17. David Rundbland - St. Louis - Skelleftea - d
20. Jacob Josefson - New Jersey - Djurgarden - c
23. Tim Erixon - Calgary - Skelleftea - d
24. Marcus Johansson - Washington - Farjestad - c

For me, the most exciting thing is that there is another Swede on the Oilers!! I first saw Magnus at the World Juniors and he impressed me with his skating, number one, but his sort of 'Canadian style' of play. I think he will fit right in - he plays Oiler hockey from what I've seen...well, the Oiler hockey from maybe three seasons ago.

It's always fun waiting to see how many of the first rounders are going to play in the NHL next season. I'm not sure who's ready yet. There was talk of Tim Erixon having to leave Sweden to play major junior, because Sutter will want him to play in the WHL and adjust to the NA style of play...smaller ice, more physical, etc, etc, etc.

Now I'm waiting for July 1st...

eBay rocks - won a couple of items

I bid on a hockey card with Nicklas Bäckström and Peter Forsberg on it, and I won it. Maybe someday, it'll be signed by both of them. It is realistic to think that I can get Bäckis to sign it, given that I plan on another trip to Washington next season. The Forsberg signature might take some doing, although I do plan on visiting his home town when I travel to Sweden. Veckefjärden (his golf course) is on my list of places to see, so maybe I'll bump into him there. Weirder things have happened, like the time I saw Georges Laraque walking in downtown Calgary on game day (I have photographic evidence); or the time I bumped into Vinnie Lecavelier at the movie theatre the day before Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final here in Calgary (again, I have the photographic evidence); or the time Dany Heatley was playing a game right beside us at the Stampede a few years ago (you guessed it...photographic evidence!!)
The other thing I won on eBay today is a road Ovechkin authentic jersey (white) - the one with the A on the front and the fight straps in the back. It matches my home (red) one - same size even - minus the Ovechkin signature I got when I went to watch practice in Arlington, VA in March 2009. I hope to get it signed in the aforementioned trip to Washington next season.
eBay is great....

I don't watch a whole lot of Much Music anymore. I dunno if I've outgrown it, or if it's that I find myself getting easily annoyed with the over-enthusiastic, seemingly uneducated hosts (ASIDE: if I was wavering any, the turning point was when the VJ search ended with the flamboyantly cool (gay) guy coming in second, when the whole country knows he would have been the best for the job).
But, I just saw that Alexander Ovechkin will be on the awards today! So that means I have to sit through hours of low entertainment value, mindless tv, just to catch the crowd's reaction (rather, Ovi's reaction to the crowd - I know he'll be in his element!!).
Stay tuned for a post-awards report...kanske. (maybe, in Swedish). I don't know if I have the energy....