What's the Avalanche Song?

It's interesting how well music can jog a memory. Whenever I hear Back in Black come on the stereo, my mind drifts back to a volleyball season back in 1997. We were unbeatable and every match, we headed out to warm up with AC/DC cranked up to 11. My memories of that season seem to be forever tied to that song.

I was heading to volleyball this evening and Journey came on over the ol' iPod (who am I kidding, I made it come on) and that jogged a memory. Does everybody remember when Don't Stop Believing would come on over the speakers at the Joe Louise arena and the whole crowd would join in, believing they were headed to another Stanley Cup? Such a fairy tale ending, eh?

But nonetheless, I'll admit to being a little jealous and thinking to myself "When was the last time the Pepsi Center lit up like that?" Obviously, fielding a Stanley Cup caliber team goes a long way to igniting the fans but a good song is that cherry on top that finalizes the sundae.

So as we all sit and lick our lips at the prospect of Stastny-Duchene up the middle, leading the Avalanche back to the promised land, it's got me wondering - hoping - that along the way a song for the Avalanche might be found.

And not just some generic sound that people can yell "Hey!" to at the right moment. I'm talking a real song with lyrics that people can identify with, sing along to and use to rally the team and show their support.

Does anybody have one in mind or should we put our hopes on the Avalanche sound guy finding the right fit somewhere down the line?

Note to Coaches: Quit Arguing Hit from Behind Penalties

I've got the Blues-Flames game on while the Avs-Stars are in intermission and something just happened which pissed me off to no end.

Mark Giordano was heading in to touch the puck for icing and he had David Backes a good step or two behind him.

Giordano touched the puck, hugging himself against the glass and that should have been the end of the play.

Instead, Backes kept on going and tossed a check which connected with Giordano squarely in the numbers.

Giordano was a bit shaken up but all right and the refs correctly sent Backes to the penalty box.

No problem, right? Bad behavior was punished and everybody learned a lesson. Wrong.

The camera cuts over to Andy Murray who is beside himself on the Blues bench calling it a bull$&^! call among other things.

And that's exactly the kind of response from coaches that will keep those kind of "Play hard and finish your check" plays in the game.

Murray should have shut the f@#$ up or, alternatively, told his players "See the numbers and you let up or you get a penalty."

Instead, in arguing the call he's given his players the impression that what Backes did was perfectly acceptable.

And it was not.

I don't know how people can make it more clear but I'll try the all caps + bolding + multiple exclamation points method.

IF YOU SEE THE NUMBERS, LET UP!!!

It's really that simple. And don't let your coach tell you otherwise.

UPDATE: And the Flames just scored to tie the game. Poetic justic.

nhLOL - Where Have You Been All My Life?

Sean Leahy over at Going Five Hole had a post up today that introduced me to the nhLOL blog.

It's pure comedy gold and I can't believe I hadn't heard of it before.

Happy Hockey Talk Day

Today is Hockey Talk Day where Paul Kukla of Kukla's Korner has asked everyone to spread the good word on hockey.

In that light, I thought I'd share a few short stories of my experiences with our beautiful game.

Bridging Nations
The first story is the most interesting to me. And unfortunately I'm going to have to condense it so I don't overload everyone on the first go.

My longtime girlfriend is originally from Pakistan by way of Afghanistan and came over to Canada to attend the University of Saskatchewan back in 1998.

And though she adopted the Canadian culture possibly even better than myself, the one thing always missing for her was that most of her family was still in Pakistan.

In 2006, that changed as she was able to sponsor her mother, sister, brother, sister-in-law and two nephews to join our great country.

The nephews were 3 and 5 years old when they came here and didn't know a lick of English. But they learned quick. A couple months into their stay, we had gone to pick up the oldest from school during a snow storm.

As the car was fogging up on the inside and icing up on the outside, I exclaimed "Son of a bitch, I can't see shit." The reply from her 5-year old nephew in the back seat was "Me either." Whoops.

Kids pick up on things so quickly when they're surrounded by it. And it was never more evident than when, a short 3 months into her families stay here, my girlfriend came home and told me that while the kids were running around playing in the house, the oldest randomly declared: "Go hockey!"

He had yet to see a hockey game live or on TV yet it had already managed to permeate his thinking. Now that's an education I can be proud of.

Safety First
I'm from a small town and if there's one thing most small towns have, it's a laid back attitude towards rules and safety. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

One of the rules our local skating rink didn't have was a requirement to wear a helmet when on the ice, even if sticks and pucks were involved.

Well, one early winter morning I headed down to the rink with my dad. And lo and behold, the rink was empty save for the caretakers. I had the ice all to myself.

So I laced up my skates, grabbed my stick and gloves, put the nets on the ice and tossed out a bucket of pucks. It was heaven.

I grabbed a puck at one end of the ice and went racing towards the other end. I felt like Guy Lafleur the way the wind was blowing through my hair.

I pulled wide and circled for a deke on the non-existent goaltender. Unfortunately I was still to young to have the "Keep your head up!" adage ingrained in my brain.

*Ping* went the goalpost. But it wasn't a puck that had hit it. No, it was my face. More specifically, my two front teeth.

While concentrating on my insane deking skills, I had put my head down for too long and only looked up a split second before colliding with the post.

And even though my dad was inside the lobby at the other end of the ice, he said he heard that sound clear as day.

So it was off to the dentist to fix me up. And the next day I was back on the ice. With a helmet.

Coaching Love
Again, being in a small town can limit options, especially when it came to being coached for sports. You don't pick a coach from a group of candidates, you just take what you can get.

But fortunately for us we always had some solid coaches to help us out.

I was too young to remember when my dad did the coaching but I do have memories of a few other coaches.

There was our French-Canadian police constable who always implored us to "Take the shoot! Take the shoot!' I still yell that at the TV from time to time.

Then there was our club coach who decided pronouncing my last name the way it was intended was no fun. Instead, I became known as Gi-rocks to him. Always and forever. Even to this day.

And of course there was our power skating coach. He was having trouble getting kids to remember to lower their stance when skating backwards. So he employed the "shock" strategy and told a bunch of 10-year olds that the proper stance for skating backwards was to "pretend like you're taking a crap". I never forgot that advice.

And of course, nothing says "small town coach" better than when your pee-wee coach misses a game because he was out birthing a calf.

Small Town Kid Makes it Big
The best part about small town hockey is when a local kid makes it big. And no local kid in our area has ever made it bigger than Patrick Marleau.

He hails from Aneroid which is about 10 minutes away from my hometown and we never feared anything more than having to make that 10 minute jaunt to play a game.

Part of it was because Aneroid didn't have an ice plant, making their ice more like slush. But the majority of it was because even though it felt like skating through a Slurpee, Patrick managed to skate like the wind and make us all look like fools.

Every morning he would be up at the crack of dawn and out practicing on that sludge. And thanks to that horrendous ice, he now has the most deceptive speed in the NHL.

Building Friendships
Is there no end to my "small town" stories? Not yet.

When you're in a small rural area, there's only so many teams you can play against and quite often, you'll end up playing against friends from a neighbouring town.

In my second year of pee-wee, I found myself facing off against one friend many times throughout the year. He was a pest to end all pests. Small and loaded with unending energy. Any time he was on the ice against you, you could be sure to end your shift thinking: "I'm going to kill that little bastard."

But he was quick and just when you thought you had him, he was gone. Until the very last game of the season.

It was midway through the third period of a tight game and I was on the ice trying to defend a lead. Of course, the little pest was out there too since he knew how to find the back of the net. And it was my job to keep that from happening.

And glory of all glories, he made a great pass which he admired for one split-second too long. I caught him with a full head of steam while he was looking off to the side and planted him on the ice. And then I stood over him for a second before skating away, just to rub it in.

For the rest of the game, when he was on the ice, so was I. And in all that time, he spent more time trying to catch me with my head down than trying to tie the game. It's funny how individual egos can sink a whole team sometimes, isn't it?

Once the buzzer sounded and we did the obligatory handshake, I got a quick shake and a brief "Nice hit" out of him before we headed to our respective locker rooms.

When I finally popped my head out, it was just as he was heading into the lobby himself. He looked at me. I looked at him. Then he grinned and said "Want to share a load of fries?"

Building Communities
If you count up the number of outdoor rinks in any state in the US, I think Saskatoon alone will have you beat.

There are more outdoor rinks than you can shake a stick at in this city of 200,000 and I love it.

If you carry your skates and a stick in your car, then you can make an impromptu stop in any neighbourhood and be less than 60 seconds away from getting your skate on.

But my best experience with an outdoor rink is within the Brevoort Park neighbourhood, which is where my boss lives.

Every year, the community hosts the Brevoort Park Shinny Tournament as a fundraiser for the community. And every year, we put a work team in to take on the locals.

It's an all-day event which ends with a mixer at the local community center with all the fine folks from the area. And the kicker? It's on ice but with no skates. That's right, to level the playing field, skates have been removed from the equation.

Needless to say, it makes for some hilarious moments. And though you can feel the competitiveness, the entire tournament is all in good fun.

There are some people who I only see once a year during that tournament but when I do, it's as if we'd known each other our whole lives. All communities should strive to be as welcoming as Brevoort Park.

Every year, as soon as the snow hits, my mind drifts to the tourney and the glories that lie ahead. D-side runner-ups baby!

Building Relationships
And of course, what more can you say about hockey than the bonds it forms.

My dad's side of the family was French-Canadian which meant he, his brother, his uncle and his father all were Habs fans. In fact, his uncle passed away in bed right after watching the Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins. Not a bad note to end on.

Of course, being surrounded by Habs fans meant that by default, I too was a Habs fan. Then I became a teenager and the "rebellion" phase kicked in. I decided it was time to choose my own path. And what more antagonistic path can you take than to start rooting for the Quebec Nordiques?

Not only were they the Habs biggest rival but it allowed me to retain a bit of my French-Canadian roots at the same time. That the Nords had Joe Sakic, whom I had idolized during his junior career in Swift Current, was just icing on the cake.

I still follow the Habs closer than any team outside of the Avalanche as they retain some sentimental strings in my heart. In fact this weekend I spent a lot of time rewatching their '86 and '93 Cup wins along with a few other Canadiens classics.

As for my dad? Whenever he sees me watching an Avs game, his first question is "So are we winning?"

Flu Shots for Athletes

I'm still fighting some health issues which occasionally wake me up in the middle of the night. And when that happens, to get my head relaxed again, I turn to the ol' Interweb for some mindless reading.

Since I had gone to bed shortly after the Avalanche-Lightning game was over, I figured I'd get a head start on reading the post-game articles from the DP and RMN. 

One thing led to another and next thing you know, I found myself over at the official forums for the first time in a month or two reading a thread on call-ups.

At one point, the discussion turned towards John-Michael Liles, who was bitten by the flu bug recently which had people wondering if players get the flu shot. The implication being that if they don't get the shot, it's their fault if they get sick

I won't get into the ins and outs of the different strains of flu, the mercury-riddled preservatives in the shots or their questionable benefit to healthy adults.  

But I will say this: Getting a flu shot doesn't guarantee you won't get the flu. It only guarantees you'll have a better chance at staving off four possible strains of the flu out of the dozens that are floating around out there.

Athletes are extremely well-conditioned people and likely have excellent immune systems. But remember that their job involves being in close proximity with 20+ other people with ample sweat, spit and snot to go around. So it shouldn't come as a surprise when one of them gets sick.

Frankly I'm surprised they don't get sick more often.

This has been a PSA from the "up at 4:00am and bored" committee.

Names on paper

I'm a bit late getting this out but I was taking in Remembrance Day ceremonies.

A few years back I was vacationing with a friend out East and we ended up in Ottawa for a couple days. Ottawa is our political hub and while neither of us are huge politics nuts, it would have been remiss of us not to head to the Parliament buildings and take the tour.

While up at the top we had the somber pleasure of seeing a couple books which contained the names of fallen Canadian soldiers from the (too many) wars that have been fought.

Seeing their names captured in that document and reflecting on their ultimate sacrifice put me in an "artistic" mood. I hope we always remember those people as more than just names on paper.

a name writ down on paper

encased in shining glass

a glimpse of some old memory

enshrined within our past

the few who still remember

feel sorrow to this day

the proud still walk among us

their future in decay

the young do well to know them

so past avoids remand

the future writ on paper

encased within their hands

Brodeur Injured, Devils Forgo Goaltending

With Martin Brodeur injured, the Devils have apparently decided to forgo having a goaltender, as evidenced by the screencap above from NHL.com.

It's Brodeur or bust for the Devils this season!

Finally! Embedded Comment Forms Have Come Back* to Blogger

Finally, Blogger is catching up with the times!

For the longest time, posting a comment to a Blogger blog was painfully cumbersome. You would either get a small popup window or a link to a completely new page that wasn't styled at all like the referring page. Either way, the usability was awkward at best.

Well, that has all changed. I've finally figured out how to enable the embedded comment form on my customized template thanks to Blogger Buster. 

When you click through to a story, the comment form will display directly below the existing comments. In other words, like every other blogging platform in existence.

As always, there is support for many accounts such as Google (obviously), WordPress, LiveJournal, TypePad, AIM and OpenID. And of course you can always choose the Name/URL or anonymous route.

I hope this will encourage more folks to give their feedback on my posts - good or bad. Particularly when my newfound dyslexia kicks in and I mess up the score of the game I'm recapping.

As the embedded comment form is still a "Blogger in Draft" feature, please fire me an email - thebatlab at {gmail.com} -  if you have trouble posting a comment,.

*I know they haven't come back since they never existed before...but the kid in me wanted to hear The Rock saying that headline.

How Badass Does Biron Look?

Is it just me or does this picture of Martin Biron make him look like a violent psychopath who will not only stop the puck, but then chase you down and bash your head in with it?

Sharks Edge Flyers in Barn Burner

Tonight the San Jose Sharks and Philadelphia Flyers had a combined goal count of an even dozen in the Sharks 7-6 shootout win. That's more goals than the Islanders, Lightning and Leafs have scored all season long. 

I only caught the last two minutes plus OT and shootout and those few minutes were as entertaining as they come.

Patty Marleau had two goals on the night but was also in the box when the Flyers tied the game late in the third.

And watch Joe Pavelski show you how to fire off a wrist shot. None of that leg kick crap was necessary for him to blow one past Biron.

Playoff Bound!

I was just looking at the TSN NHL Standings page to see what sort of streaks were going on in the NHL these days.

With a few 5-game streaks going on - Montreal with 5 wins and Toronto and Philly with 5 losses - it could be time to start betting on those streaks ending.

But what caught my eye was the position the Avalanche find themselves at in the standings: 3rd in the NW, 6th in the West. By gum, that's good enough for a playoff seed!

Now as long as Vancouver can stay where they belong, Marty Turco keeps crushing dreams and Kiprusoff keeps partying, the Avs will be a shoo-in for the postseason.

The Great Blogger Debate Continues

I was going to keep my mouth shut on the whole Covered in Oil fracas that went down yesterday as a lot of people had it well covered.

I think the best post came from Elliotte Friedman and was posted on Puck Daddy. Elliotte Friedman is one of the best things CBC has going for it and his viewpoints are always measured and well thought out. In this case, he's siding with the Oilers on tossing David Berry out of the press box. And I can see the Oilers point.

Criticism is one thing but saying you would have liked to spit in a players face? I wouldn't say that about Dion Phaneuf and you know I'm not a huge fan of the guy on or off the ice. I don't think you need it spelled out to you that you shouldn't say things like that when you are a guest of the team.

However what finally ended up prying my mouth open - because you know it's so hard to do - was a piece by David Staples of the Edmonton Journal. 

He has an interesting quote from J.J. Hebert, Edmonton's media relations director on credentialing bloggers:

"We say no to all non-traditional websites -- that's the best way to put it."

I don't think that's the best way to put it at all. Come up with a definition of "tradional website" and then rename it to "Mainstream media website" and it will be more accurate.

In fact, the best way to put it comes a bit later in the article when it was noted that Watt felt many blogs are trying to get increased traffic so they can make money, but the Oilers don't want to give up that traffic.

Because it always boils down to the Benjamins, doesn't it? The Oilers are worried about losing page views - which equates to revenue rather than popularity in their eyes - so they don't want people live-blogging from the press box taking away visits from their site.

Ok, but do the Oilers even have live-blogs on their site? Not that I could see in their prolifically populated Blog Central. It renders that point somewhat moot.

And since when are live-blogs only relegated to being done on-site? Mr. Hebert may be unaware of how ubiquitous the Internet and TV are these days.

But back to the money issue. I think if you asked bloggers if they do it for the money, you wouldn't see a lot of hands pop up. In fact it's near the opposite. We do it in spite of the lack of income for our efforts.

I maintain this blog because I'm able to have a voice and I choose to exercise it. I choose to sit down 82+ days over the course of the season - much to the chagrin of my better half - to cheer for and analyze the team. I choose to be objective or to let my emotions win out in my writing. I choose to be respectful but I'm allowed to make that choice because I don't have to answer to an editor. 

If that freedom comes with the price of not being allowed into the hallowed press box for fear I may be disrespectful without someone watching over me, so be it. That's my choice.

But the real kicker is when Hebert reveals his true colors:

"There are a lot people out there who are gathered in threesomes in a basement somewhere, and you have to read that for awhile and then skip over it, and you might have to go to two or three more before you get anything that's any good." 

For the first half of the article, I was on your side, Mr. Hebert. Once you went to the "geeks in mom's basement" cliche, you lost me.

I think you need to take a harder look at the Oilers blogosphere if you want to get a true pulse on your fan base. And if you want to truly understand a new form of media before you start directing it.

Breaking News: Canadian Police Chase

Ok, I like to keep this blog as clean as possible by talking only about the Avalanche and hockey, but I just had to spread the word on this great commercial by Midas.

It's deep on so many levels. Ok, maybe only two levels but still...

TSN Unveils Microphone of Death

Maybe it's just the old-school in me, but I think Bob Barker should be the only person allowed to use a microphone that can double as a weapon. Or a suppository.