Hockey Puppy Contest

As much as we love hockey players, we carry a soft spot for their pets.  Here are the top pets of Halloween 2011 as judged by me (L)! 


 Honorable Mention #1 Michael Duco

 Michael Duco's cute pup comes in with an honorable mention. 


Honorable Mention #2 Evgeni Malkin

 Today was the Penguin Puppy calendar shoot.  We had to post this cute picture of Malkin with 2 adorable little puppies, but it doesn't count because the pups aren't dressed up.  Still gets some notoriety though! 


#3 Mike Fisher

Mike Fisher's little pup Penny makes the list at #3.  She's adorable as a banana, but seems to be a little camera shy.


#2 Eric Tangradi

We've loved Carson since Tangradi and his gf (or as he refers to her, The Sherriff) adopted this little boxer pup.  We made it through a summer without hockey with daily pictures of this little guy. He's all grown up now, but he can still rock an adorable Halloween scarf with flair. 


#1 Mike Fisher... again

Mike Fisher (and likely his wife, Carrie Underwood) dressed both of their little pups up for Halloween.  This little guy, Ace, makes an adorable little cow.  Congrats to Fisher for getting 2 adorable little guys on our top 3 list! 


Okay, I'm off to put my Toad (from Mario) costume to good use! Happy Halloween!!!


Until Next Time,
L

Happy Halloween!

I have a very special treat for ya'll today! I judged costume contest all of the player pictures posted to Twitter and after discussing with L, I came up with the perfect list of the top hockey player costumes. 

Here is the Top 5, plus a couple honorable mentions! Don't worry, he didn't show Mike Modano in his speedo...





Lets start with the honorable mentions:

Honorable Mention #1, Ryan Kesler

Kesler dressed as Sylvester from Looney Tunes. Overall I love him; he's a great guy, and by great guy I mean super nice and great looking (he takes an awesome nude pic)! He has a  very family friendly costume this year, as he should be with his kids at home!

 

Honorable Mention #2, Ray Whitney 

Whitney & his wife went as toy soldiers. Someone spent a lot of time making their costumes! A+ for effort (and for being a former Hurricane).

Top 5 

5. Andrew Stewart (EhStew)

Our twitter fave EhStew went as Chubbs from Happy Gilmore.  We love his tweeting, so that helped him in the standings. Love that he posted many pictures throughout the night too! 

4. Jordan Staal & Tyler Kennedy 


L is in love with Jordan, so she'd be mad if I didn't rank him in the Top 5.  J Staal & TK dressed as Lloyd & Harry from Dumb and Dumber.  Love these two! 

3. Derek Roy

Do I know who he is supposed to be? Nope, no idea. Does it matter? Not at all. Any man who can pull off pink spandex deserves to make the top 3! Plus he's not bad looking!

2. We have a tie....Malkin/Crosby

Any other time Crosby would be my number one, shoot Malkin would too, but someone else is well deserving! When Malkin posted a picture of himself and Crosby last night L and I's hearts both shot out of our chest. I can't usually understand Malkin's tweets, but I love him for his social networking efforts and love him more for posting that picture!

Below, is Malkin as some Disco dude and the masked Gladiator is Crosby. Love that Crosby had head protection! 

1. The one, the only BizNasty2point0 (aka Paul Bissonnette)

If I haven't mentioned my love for Biz and his tweeting yet I apologize. He is more than well deserving of first place.  Check it out...

Any man who can look like that in a speedo is well deserving of the number 1 spot. (And yes I'm ignoring his date in the picture!)

I hope this made everyone's day a little brighter I know it made mine! Everyone have a safe and Happy Halloween!

I'm going to go raid the Halloween Candy now! 

Trick or Treat,

-N

Elbow Elbow... Talbo?

Last night during the Avalanche-Oilers game, the Oils' Andy Sutton was a naughty boy (and not in a good way).  He delivered an illegal elbow to the head on Gabriel Landeskog.  Landeskog handled the hit like a pro and not the rookie that he is (I'm extremely impressed with this!).  Today I'm covering the penalty 'Elbowing' for Game Day Penalty and including a couple good video examples.

Elbowing 

The act of hitting an opponent with the elbow. Most of the time, this is called when players go for their oppenent’s head. Pretty cut and dry.

Here's the hit from last night. It's in the video, you just have to wait a little bit. Sutton has an in-person disciplinary hearing on Monday, but he has been suspended. Don't elbow and don't mess with people I've selected to win the Calder...

Another good example from the Penguin's favorite bad-boy-turned-good-guy. We like the new Cookie.

Tonight's Notes

• Pens are playing at Toronto. James Neal needs to show the world he's a better player than Phil Kessel. Let's be honest, the're a lot of players that are better than Kessel, he's just scored the most goals so far. We're hoping Sidney returns and lights the hockey world on fire by making it to the top of the goals list.
• Canes are playing at Philly. Eff the Flyers. Too much Penguin fan in me to ever support the Flyers.
• We stopped loving Max Talbot (nickname Talbo) back when he left the Penguins for the Flyers. Who does that? Oh yeah, Jaromir Jagr, but is he really an example to follow? He'll he camera-whoring it up some more this year since HBO 24/7 is covering the Winter Classic again. Ugh. We really stopped loving him tonight when he attempted to beat up Jeff Skinner (even knocked his helmet off). That's just not okay. We are officially announcing we can no longer support Talbo at all. Jerk.

Okay back to watching hockey!
Until Next Time,
L

The Skinner Picture Stalk Post

@Justapuckbunny requested a certain Jeff Skinner picture I had posted earlier.  I couldn't find the exact picture, but I found a few that make up for it (at least in my opinion)!

I love this one bc it's with the Kitchner boys & Gabriel Landeskog is behind him.  

Oh and @Justapuckbunny... I found your picture. I'm such a joker haha :P
Enjoy!

Double Lingo Day

Sorry I've been slacking with updating the blog the last few days.  It's my Fall Break and birthday weekend so I've been taking a break from everything (well, I have been catching hockey games, but I'm no as up on news as I would normally be- who the F@*% let the Wings & Caps win so much?).  So tonight to make up, I'm doing 2 quick hockey vocab words.


Pracy
Practice... you know the thing the do to get ready for games.  Yes, practice was too long so it needed to be shortened to pracy. Better for tweeting, I guess.


Mitts
Gloves.  Really doesn't need that much of an explanation.  

Wayne Gretzky signed gloves (just in case there was any ambiguity) 


History Moment! You can't bring up mitts without including Sidney Crosby in the discussion. Remember Feb 2010? Sid scored the game-winning goal in the finals of the Olympics (gah it was pretty, including at the bottom just to reminisce).  After the game, his 'mitts' and sticks went missing. Everyone thought they had been stolen (like his sweater was in 2005 after World Juniors in ND), but turns out they were accidentally picked up to be sent to Russia.  Oops.  




Okay back to watching hockey,
Let's Go Canes, Let's Go Penguins


Until Next Time,
L

A Hatred of Boarding

Couple of games of interest going on tonight.
Hurricanes at the Bruins
Penguins at the Wild


I normally support the Wild, but East trumps West (and of course I LOVE the Penguins).  I'm a little miffed over the Penguins loss last night to the Jets. Also, I'm extremely unhappy that Kris Letang had a NHL Disciplinary hearing today over a boarding call from last night (he ended up getting a 2 game suspension).  So for today's term, I'm covering Boarding.


Boarding 

Boarding is when an opponent is pushed violently while the player is facing the boards. The opponent is in a vulnerable position (normally a few feet away from the boards and either off balance or unknowing of the hitter's position). As of late, boarding is often associated with Rule 48 (head shots) because of the relation of the head and the boards.

Since I think the Letang boarding suspension is crap (it was not intentionally done to hurt Burmistrov and wasn't as forceful as it could of been), I'm including a video of another Penguin wrongdoing.  Let's face it, Shanahan really just wanted Matt Cooke to be the first player suspended regular season, so it might as well be someone out on the ice the same time.

Cookie was suspended 4 games for this and rightfully so. So far this season, he has learned the error of his ways. Here's to hoping he keeps up the good work.


Also, I completely forgive Letang because he made that awesome save behind Fleury last night. He has dedication and I love it!


Now I'm off to do some cardio before I settle in for a night of hockey and homework.
Until Next Time,
L

Game Day WOD

So it is once again game day for the Pens and they up in Winnipeg to play the Jets. 

Fun Fact: Winnipeg is Arron Asham's hometown. Making this his first profession game played in his hometown. Good Luck to Asham tonight!

I'm going with an easy word today for our game day word of the day.

Five Hole

The five hole is the fifth and final area is between the goalie's leg pads and skates. This area is protected by the blade of the stick at all times, and is closed up by the upper leg pads when the goalie is in the butterfly position.

Promise this isn't me! But it's funny no matter what!

And in case you were wondering, here is the 'official' 5 hole (though we prefer other one if you catch our drift).  It's a vintage picture of Patrick Roy too (see, told you we sometimes support the West- someone has too).  

The Pens are playing without Crosby, Malkin, Orpik, Jeffrey, and announced today TK (Tyler Kennedy). Today the Pens announced that TK is suffering from concussion like symptoms. (Oh no, not another one!) So, I believe all eyes are on Neal to hold the team together for another game.

Peace Love & Puck Bunnies...
N

Penalty of the Day #1

So to start off the Game Day Penalties portion of the blog, I debated on which one to start with. They're are many well known penalties in hockey, but also some less common ones (that can still get called). Part of me wants to do 'Too many Men on the Ice' since Carolina is having a big problem with that, but I'll start with one of the most common.

Slashing

The act of swinging a stick at an opponent, likely to try to prevent an opponent from moving down the ice. No contact is required under new standards and it can be called as a minor or major penalty. It's generally called if the stick goes above the waist, but not if it just hits the opponent in the shin. Often breaks the stick of an opponent.

Video description:

Stanley Cup Finals always brings out emotions...

Penguins vs Sabres tonight.

The Hurricanes beat Buffalo last night so hopefully the Penguins can do the same!

Let's Go Pens!

Until Next Time,

L

Lightning Challenge

If you're a regular reader of the blog (or if you just read the bios page), you can probably tell N & I define ourselves as Penguins and Hurricanes fans.  We do occasionally take pity on our west coast rivals and cheer for them (ie Avalanche, that team with Ryan Kesler,& BizNasty2.0), but it is out of the question to support any other teams in the Atlantic or Southeast division.  We've developed a strong distaste for a certain team out of Tampa and last Friday's Hurricanes match up didn't help either.


That being said, this latest waste of money from the Lightning is actually sort of cool.  It's not everyday you install two Tesla coils  to make indoor lightning.  N & I have challenge to visit as many NHL arenas as possible and this makes Tampa look so much better.  Tampa has a really late season opener (this Monday) and it'll be interesting to hear the crowd response (I just want to see picture/video). If you want to read all about the St. Pete Times Forum Renovations, here's a good article:


http://www.tampabay.com/sports/hockey/lightning/st-pete-times-forum-renovations-adding-new-spark-to-tampa-bay-lightning/1196687


Only qualm we have with this?

"The Doc Brown-inspired coils will zap 25-foot lightning bolts high above the ice. The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry has the coils in an exhibit, but this is said to be the world's largest permanent installation. Let's see the Carolina Hurricanes beat that."


What are the chances we can make an indoor Hurricane for every hockey game just so we can one up them? Yeah, I didn't think so, but the challenge is on for Canes to find a new way to beat the Lightning. Maybe on the ice is the best solution? 


Until next time,
L

It's a Great Day for Hockey!

There is so much I want to share today! 

I don't know about L, but today is the first day that truly made me think hockey season has begun! It's finally October!

1.  Oh Sidney Crosby, how we love and miss you!

 So to begin, the most important news & best news of the day came from the Penguins; something we've been waiting for for 9 months and 8 days: Sidney Crosby is finally wearing a black helmet.

It's okay if you don't understand that last comment- I'll explain! Today Pens fans got the news they have been waiting and dreaming of for for months (I know I have!); Crosby has FINALLY been cleared for full contact. The only thing better would be him playing in a game, but lets not rush things. We all want him coming back strong and better than ever, if that's even possible!  

Check out that sexy black helmet!

L's note: This is super exciting news because this means another stage of Sidney Crosby updates for Jeremy Roenick to deal with.  But really, just happy Sid is finally on his way to taking his crown back as the king of the NHL.

2. Check, check, check it out!

For all those who are interested in all things Penguins you should really check out the Pens Report by Sam Kasan. Kasan writes for the Pens main website and reports everything as the practices are going down. Today he posted everything from Sid's black helmet and Kunitz contract extension. Plus, he does it with humor so it is an overall game day MUST read for L and I.


3. N's Word of the Day!



L picked a good word to start Girls Guide off, but today for Pens game day I get to pick my own. I believe I picked the most appropriate word for the site.
 
Puck Bunny
 


A Puck Bunny is an upstanding young lady who enjoys the game of hockey and appreciates those who play in in the manner that it was intended to be played. (I love this definition!)

Now many wouldn't agree with this definition; many would say a puck bunny is a girl that is only after the players for their looks, money and so on. But really, whats wrong with that?!?

Hope everyone is enjoying the season so far, it has only just begun! 

Peace, Love & Puck Bunnies...
N

GG Term #1

N & I developed the idea for a hockey website for girls mid-way through last season.  We started to grow tired of all the hockey fouls we saw our fellow puck bunnies committing and quickly noticed how little so many hockey fans know about the game.  We've both spent the last 10 years of our life living in the world of hockey and while we won't claim to be experts (at all really, neither of us has every played), we definitely have experienced a lot around the rink.  To slowly build up the Girls Guide (GG) post tab on the website, we're going to start posting little tid-bits about the game on game days (likely Penguins game days, but using tonight's Canes vs Bruins game as a starting point).  We hope you'll find this useful and enjoy it- we've sure had fun putting it all together 


Today's Term:


Beauty:

A player who teammates enjoy being around; someone who is hilarious and well-liked by his teammates. Can also be used to describe a situation, like a 'beautiful' play. Turns the adjective 'beautiful' into a noun.

Example:

Of course we'd use a Jeff Skinner as an example of beauty. And the goal wasn't bad either :)

Until next time,
L

I Thought Third Time was a Charm???

It's three games into the Hurricanes 2011-2012 season.  This time last year our boys were coming back from Finland with 2 wins to carry them into the season. Boy have things changed.  


In case you've been living under a rock, the Hurricanes have lost their first 3 games of the season.  Saturday's game against the Capitals was the closest they've come to winning so far.  You could tell they wanted redemption from the night before and they played like last March when they were vying for a playoff spot.  Eric Staal scored 2 beauties, Jussi Jokinen tied it in the final minutes of the game, and Jeff Skinner assisted all 3.  Boucher played a solid game and in the end, it was more like bad luck that kept them from winning. This was a Hurricanes team that I'd want to see again.  


Of course, I'm choosing to ignore Friday night's home opener against the Lightning. I missed opening ceremonies and made it to the game shortly after Skinner scored the only Hurricanes goal of the game.  From the looks of it, I missed the best part of the entire night.  I'm 90% sure I annoyed everyone within a 5 ft radius of me because I spent the entire game yelling.  They played solid until halfway through the 2nd, but they lost it.  They lost the crowd, their mindset, everything and Tampa knew what to do.  This game showed that we can't rely on Cam Ward to do everything & that defense really needs to step up.  Justin Faulk played an impressive game and I'm excited to see Tomas Kaberle in action (his experience shows).  


Today's 2-4 loss to the Devils was dismal.  My Canes from Saturday night had disappeared and become a giant mess.  I'm a firm believer in finding something that works and sticking with it (while making minor adjustments along the way).  The Skinner-Staal-Jokinen line from Saturday was working and Maurice just tossed it aside. Chad LaRose got bumped up to first line (likely to add a defensive forward because while the first line can score, they also have the most negative +/-), but it messed up the flow.  Rosey got a pretty top shelf goal, but that line needs more oomf to it.  Also, I'm a little sad with the loss of Jamie McBain and Derek Joslin on the roster the past few days; I want to see them back, but this brings up the fact that we still have too many defensemen on the roster.  Decisions need to be made so these guys just aren't hanging in the mix.


Some points:

• Caniac nation is starting to get pessimistic; Canes need to pull a win against the Bruins Wednesday to boost their spirits.  Boston lost to the Avs today (at home!), another team that performed poorly in the preseason, so hopefully the Canes can pull a W too. 
• A lot of Caniac nation is calling for Maurice to get fired.  It's the last year of his contact and this is a dismal start.  Maybe the Yahoo bloggers were right that Mo would be the first coach fired.  I'm thinking the decision will come Nov-Dec if things keep going this way. 
• Practice is at 12 tomorrow so hopefully they can work out some solid lines to use for Wednesday. And hopefully Mo won't change them day of.  I swear sometimes he has the attention span of a 6-year-old when he's making his lines for game day. 
• On a happy note, N & I went on a shopping spree (retail therapy ftw) to try and forget the whole Skinner/Peanut Butter thing (plus all these losses).  It ended up with me getting 2 Hockey Fights Cancer shirts and the lower level Skinner plan. Oh the things I do when I'm sad.

Also, I would comment on the Penguins, but there's not much to say.  They had a strong showing in their first 2 games of the season.  Last night's loss to the Oilers in a SO was unfortunate, but they still got a point. They are currently leading the league with 5 points so I can't say too much.  I've always had faith in Dan Bylsma.  Just hope that Malkin's lower body issue isn't bad! 

Okay, I need to write this lab report.  Anyone want to analyze the genetic effects of bacterial conjugation in E coli? Anyone? Yeah that's what I thought...

Until next time,

L

#SkinnerProblems

So I'm failing at updating the blog- I need to do a recap of this weekends hockey events.  Might as well wait until after Devils game though.  And this skeleton analysis I need to finish. Stupid school.  


IN OTHER NEWS
N was listening to G105 this morning and heard that Jeff Skinner asked out Peanut Butter- that intern from his morning interview! He's been talking to her and all that jazz. Even joked that the guys are going to put peanut butter in his locker.


Our hearts are broken.
It feels like someone just broke up with us.
Are we obsessed? Yes.
But who wouldn't be?




N care to add anything?

Sure L, I just couldn't believe my ears this morning during my brief car ride. I may have come in halfway through the conversation, but I know "Peanut Butter" was talking about Skinner and how sweet he is.  I may not know Skinner personally, I have meet him twice (and left a pretty good impression on him the second time!), but I feel like having such a public relationship in the Carolinas isn't so good for his reputation and is just heart breaking for all the girls swooning over him . Agree L?


Peace Love & Puck Bunnies...
N




Adding this one just to give us something else to be sad about:

Until next time,
L

Video Pick-Me Up

This video has got to be one of the funniest things we've seen in a while. 

Just affirms why we love Biz and Skinner so much.  

Wyshynski: Care to change any of your grades?
Skinner: [Laughs] Yeah, that was a pretty serious interview. I don't know, I guess I'll say the same grades. It wasn't the best scores on my end, but I hope it made a couple of people laugh.

G105 Interviews Jeff Skinner

This morning, G105 interviewed our favorite Hurricanes player, Jeff Skinner.  We spent most of the interview mortified at what they wanted him to do (well more just embarrassed for him).  I live tweeted most of it because I know N was probably asleep and missing it.  Here's a basic recap of what you missed this morning:

• The Justin Beiber of Hockey.  Jeff Skinner is used to this comparison by now and said he doesn't really mind it.  Some of the team even decorated his locker because of it!
• Jeff has all of his teeth and said he's been really lucky so far.  He prefers his girls with teeth rather than without.  
• What kinds of girls does he prefer? Apparently he picks them based off personality (guys still do that?).  He said his mom would probably want him to be with someone funny, nice, and intelligent.  
• How does he manage his amassing hockey fortune? He has an accountant (like most of the other guys on the team) and his dad helps him.  He also has an allowance and didn't really go buy anything big when he got his first paycheck. About a month afterwards though he did have a car so he had something to drive around Raleigh.
• As far as girls go, he said he has a tendency to gravitate towards the ones at home just because they knew him before he was famous.  Didn't explicitly say he doesn't trust new girls, but rather, he proceeds with caution.  
• His family continues to keep him grounded and keep his head out of all the Skinner-mania.  He calls home around 3-4 times a week and his family normally knows what's going on in his life.
• He likes Canada better than the US (Can't blame him, we'd like where home is too) and doesn't have a girlfriend here or in Canada. So N, HE'S SINGLE.
• Is he a butt guy or a book guy? Skinner laughed and responded that he's a personality fan.  Gotta love him because he says all the right things to make a girl SWOON. 
• He didn't really have that many preconceived notions about the South.  Thought that people down South talked funny. When asked what he thinks a hillbilly is- he said someone that talks funny and someone that doesn't have a lot of teeth.  To me, it sounds like he just described a hockey player :) 
• Favorite music? He said he listens to a little bit of everything.  A lot of Lady Antebellum, a little Taylor Swift. 
• If his agent could hook him up with any famous girl, he said he didn't know, but he guesses that girl in the new Transformers movie (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley).
• And considering what the Showgram was saying, he said he hoped his mom wasn't listening.

It was an interesting morning for Jeff Skinner. The Showgram decided to try to test the hypothesis that hockey players are bad kissers.  They pulled in an intern (named Peanut Butter) and had her talk up Jeff.  They joked around and got him to participate.  Most of Caniac  Nation was tweeting that someone needed to rescue him because he seemed a little uncomfortable with the whole situation   Did he kiss her? Yup.  On the cheek like a good little boy. Just another reason why we love him.  

And now we're jealous of some intern called Peanut Buttter that we don't even know.  

Just saying, can it be one of us next time? 

Until next time,

L

Oh L, I just have to comment real quick on this one. While it took me awhile to finally get the nerve up to watch it- and by watch it I mean watch it through my fingers while my hands were covering my face- Skinner is adorable as ever. I am the puck bunny that "Peanut Butter" should be scared of.  I'm impressed Skinner knew all the right answers to their questions and answered with such poise. Again he's just adorable. 


Peace, Love & Puck Bunnies 
N

L's NHL Awards 2012 Predictions

So, as much as I hate guesswork, here are my predictions for the NHL Awards after this season.  I much prefer to debate about the most likely candidates after I've seen them play, but N and I thought we'd make a fun competition out of it that will likely amount to nothing.  It mainly just gives us something to do before hockey comes back on.  Here are my picks:

Norris (Outstanding Defenseman): Duncan Keith, Blackhawks 

Art Ross (Regular-Season Scoring Leader): Steven Stamkos, Lightning

Mark Messier Leadership Award: Joe Thornton, Sharks 
  
Selke (Outstanding Defensive Forward): Ryan Kesler, Canucks  

Jack Adams (Coach of the Year): Dan Bylsma, Penguins  
  
Calder (Top Rookie): Gabriel Landeskog, Avalanche

Jennings (Fewest Goals Allowed): Cam Ward, Hurricanes
 
General Manager: Ray Shero, Penguins
  
Rocket Richard (Most Regular-Season Goals): Matt Duchene, Avalanche

Ted Lindsay (MVP as Voted by Players): Evgeni Malkin, Penguins
 
Masterton (Perseverance and Dedication to Hockey): Sidney Crosby, Penguins
 
King Clancy (Leadership and Humanitarian Contributions): Sidney Crosby, Penguins
 
Lady Byng (Skillful and Gentlemanly Play): Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings
 
Vezina (Top Goaltender): Carey Price, Canadiens
 
Hart (MVP): Steven Stamkos, Lightning 

So... who can tell I like the Penguins? I can't stand Stamkos, but I have a feeling this is going to be a good year for him.  Same with Matt Duchene, who can hopefully bring the Avs into the playoffs.  I mostly picked Duchene for the Rocket Richard because he's a really nice guy and I wish him the best in the world for this season. 

-L