Curious, but appreciated, web graphic from Dick's Sporting Goods

So I got onto the web this morning to look at shotguns, because, as many of you may know, my wife and I just had a daughter a few weeks ago. So I did a Google search for "Dick's shotguns" because I know that Dick's Sporting Goods sells them. The first search result said something about Dick's Sporting Goods and I clicked on it. The above is what greeted me - a sort of "404 - File Not Found" message. Interesting that they chose a hockey image, since the store usually carries about one square foot of hockey gear versus hundreds for golf, hunting, cycling, and baseball/softball.

On the Cusp of the '09-'10 Season

I am not a summer person. The hot sun beating down upon me, the red-hot confines of a parked car, and the involuntary bodily function known as perspiration all make me simply want to be somewhere else. And in North Carolina there are only two ways to escape the heat: a large body of water, and air conditioning. We don't have a pool, we do not live near a lake, and we are not on the coast. Thus, air conditioning is my friend. At least, for the first couple of months. But by mid-July, when summer is just hitting its peak down here, I am already sick of being inside because there is nothing to do. No hockey to watch. There's a line from the Grateful Dead song "Looks Like Rain" that goes "My landscape would be empty if you were gone..." Well, yes. Summer is desolation to me. Hot sun killing me slowly, and no hockey. Sometimes I don't know if I'll make it to September. But alas, today is September 1st and we awoke to temperatures that are actually below normal. Wonderful. I heard this weekend that the official "training camp" stage of the hockey off-season for the Hurricanes had ended. Things are looking up, my friends. Cooler weather, hockey, and late nights watching the West Coast games while bottle-feeding the latest addition to our family, who is due any day now.

Photos that tell a story

Trevor pokes the puck in the net with 20.3 seconds left to go in the game to tie it at 1-1. Trevor's first goal of the season.

Trevor celebrates with a teammate after tying the game.



There's the proof!!!!

Hawks announce playoff tix! Grab me a tissue!

BY NEIL HAYES Staff Reporter - Chicago Sun Times

Wednesday night’s 6-5 shootout win over the Sharks was the latest reminder that this Blackhawks season was a long time coming. So was the announcement that playoff tickets were going on sale Tuesday.

Not only are the Blackhawks in the playoffs but beating a quality team like the Sharks fuels hope they can make a run. That has been a possibility for some time but the announcement and the outcome drove the point home like Jonathan Toews drove the puck through Evgeni Nabokov’s legs for the winning goal.

What happened next was surreal. Jeremy Roenick skated onto the ice in an attempt to tie the game for the Sharks and suddenly it was 1992 all over again. Mike Keenan was behind the bench, Roenick was skating into his prime and Michael Jordan was shrugging in disbelief after burying six 3-pointers against Portland.

It’s not as if the Hawks haven’t qualified for the postseason since. They have been back a half dozen times and even advanced to the conference finals in 1995. For whatever reason, however, 1992 seemed like the end of one era and this feels like the beginning of a new one.

It has felt different inside the United Center since Rocky Wirtz began to transform the franchise. When they make their first playoff appearance next month it will be official. The Dark Ages will have come and gone. Let there be light. That’s what will make the Hawks upcoming playoff appearance unlike none before it.

It will feel brand new and nostalgic at the same time.

When it comes to the excitement level between the regular season and the playoffs, few sports compare to hockey, which remains primarily an arena sport. On any given night, in most NHL cities, those inside the arena make up a significant percentage of that team’s fans. That means ratings are never as high as league and team executives would like. It also means an electrifying playoff atmosphere for those who don’t remember.

These Blackhawks are capable of winning a series or two, which will only ratchet up the intensity. Can they topple the Sharks or Red Wings, the two dominant teams in the Western Conference? Probably not. But the Hawks have won two straight against San Jose, giving them a puncher’s chance.

The Blackhawks' latest win was important for another reason. Even though the Sharks were without Patrick Marleau, Ryane Clowe and Rob Blake, it was more evidence that they are pulling out of a worrisome late-season slump.

They avoided blowing a three-goal lead when first Patrick Kane and then Toews scored shootout goals.

Then the Sharks sent Roenick out to counter. It was enough to make you remember the good old days of Chicago hockey, and realize they are about to officially return.

TAZER IS ON FIRE!!!

BY LEN ZIEHM lziehm@suntimes.com
The way Jonathan Toews has been going, it's hard to imagine he's the same player who didn't score a goal until the 13th game of the season.
Toews has found himself a comfortable place in front of the net, where he's in position for tip-ins and deflections. In the last eight games, the 20-year-old Blackhawks captain has scored nine goals and assisted on four others.

''Jonny's got a hot stick tipping it around the net,'' coach Joel Quenneville said. ''Usually good things happen when you penetrate that area, and Jonny's been playing very well.''
Toews has 26 goals and 53 points in 61 games entering tonight's meeting with Anaheim at the United Center. Last season, when he was one of three finalists for the Calder Trophy, he had 24 goals and 54 points in 64 games. His steady improvement has been a huge factor in the Hawks' much-improved season.
''He's a special player and will continue to improve his game and be a better pro,'' Quenneville said. ''He's learning things on and off the ice, and his maturity has been very rapid.''
Toews' tip-in goal in the first period of a 4-2 victory over Los Angeles on Sunday gave him a streak of four periods with a goal.
''I got a lucky one to start off and figured I might go on a run and get a couple more,'' said Toews, who recorded his first NHL hat trick in a loss to Pittsburgh on Friday. ''It's fun when the pucks are going in and you're having success around the net. But all our lines are playing good.''
Tonight's game completes a three-game homestand and is the last game before Wednesday's trade deadline. Unlike most recent years, the Hawks don't figure to tear up a roster that has been successful. General manager Dale Tallon also is limited by salary-cap considerations, but the deadline is always a precarious time for players.
''Our guys have been good professionals throughout this process,'' Quenneville said. ''I don't feel it'll be that big a distraction. The trickier ones are when the deadline is on a game day.''
Quenneville said the Hawks' biggest need is for another center to supplement Toews and win faceoffs. Toews is the only Hawks center who has won more draws than he has lost (508-443).

Bus with AHL team aboard crashes in Mass.

BECKET, Mass. (AP) — Three people were seriously injured when a bus carrying a minor league hockey team rolled on its side on Interstate 90 westbound in western Massachusetts early Thursday morning, state police say.

The bus carrying the AHL's Albany River Rats home from a game in Lowell struck a guard rail and rolled on its side in Becket at about 3:35 a.m., Sgt. David Mahan said.

Three people were taken to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield with what he called "serious" injuries. He did not release names. It was unclear whether those injured were players, coaches or management.

Twenty-nine others on the bus were taken to the hospital as a precaution.

Coach Jeff Daniels told The Times Union of Albany that four people were admitted to the hospital and the injuries do not appear to be life threatening. He described them as lacerations.

The names of the injured would not be made public until their families were notified, Daniels said.

"We were very fortunate and lucky," he said.

The accident is under investigation, but Mahan says slippery roads caused by overnight snow may have been a factor. Both lanes of the highway were closed following the single-vehicle accident, but traffic was allowed to pass in the breakdown lane.

The River Rats lost 3-2 in a shootout to the Lowell Devils on Wednesday night.

More from Texas: Pink hockey

So my Dad and my step-mom vacation a few times a year somewhere down in Texas. Apparently it is near Corpus Christi because they went to the Central Hockey League's Corpus Christi Icerays game last night. They witnessed an Icerays 3-2 win over the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees, which snapped the Bees' five-game winning streak. The rematch is tonight, again in Corpus Christi. It should be interesting, since the two teams occupy the third (CC) and fourth (RGV) spots in the four-team Southeast Division. My Dad sent along the above pictures that show the Icerays' pink jerseys and pink ice, as a "Pink in the Rink" fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. My Dad's comment was "Noble gesture, ugly ice." Agreed.

Links:
Game Recap
Game Stats
Central Hockey League Web site

Live from Dallas!!!!

OK, so I mixed a little pleasure with business!!! I went to see the Dallas Stars take on the Nashville Predators tonight at the American Airlines Center. It's not one of the original six but it's a great place to take in a hockey game. The Stars beat the Preds 4-1. Above is a Brad Richards' power play goal. Richards is just out of sight at the top of the video.