Opening Remarks and a Fashion Critique;

Greetings and salutations. I am Wrap Around Curl. Some of you may be familiar with my work where I go on about my team in the WHL, the Spokane Chiefs. They uhm had a bit of an incident with the Memorial Cup last year and they have a goalie whom I am quite fond of.  But enough about them. I am your Girl Saturday here. Which just might mean a bit of silly girl fun, be cool my babies.

Anyways onward! Shopping with Wrap, the Going Green Edition.

I have always been critical of the NHL merch. I am a firm believer in team color, non-sissy merch. I was quite confused to get an email from the NHL Shop declaring the arrival of the St Patricks Day merch. Which my brain cannot comprehend. At all. Can someone eplain it to me? In the meanwhile let’s just look at how wrong it all is.

your team! in small print. on your rack.

Wow. It’s all flowery. They didn’t want to spring for sparkles? Girls LOVE sparkles. It’s like a scientific fact. We also LOVE pink. And PONIES! And MUFFINS! So Happy Drunko Day! In a goth font that doesn’t appear centered, thus making your chest look crooked when you wear it. What the hell is with like the Paris Hilton pose angle of the invisible mannequin? Is that to prepare you for walking sidways after too many Irish Carbombs? Whatever. I don’t even remember the price for this shirt.

comes pre-wrecked.

Ok so in terms of fashion I sorta “get” the distressed look. However, a distressed screen design does not work on an item of clothing that is brand new. It just doesn’t. But I better not encourage them to pre-wreck and distress a shirt because that is how 200 dollar jeans happen. And the NHL merch is overpriced to begin with. For some reason I think the shirt is missing white paint splats.Price: 36 bucks.

you stop it.

Seriously. Just quit. It’s uggo. And I will not take a dude seriously wearing this. Why? Because he is probably plastered at the game. And asking my about the jersey I am wearing. Well he thinks that’s what he is asking but all I hear is “HEY WADDAYAWEARINNNNNAND…..OH DUDE DUDE! DUDE! BEER ME! OH YEAH I AM PISSING GREEN FOR THE NEXT WEEK.” Not cute. At all. Honestly, this looks like those fake team vintage retro hoodie whatevers they sell at Target that go on clearance for $7.43. NHL price: 39.99

I didn’t even go over all the NHL Merch. It makes me that stabby.

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Musings From Tonight And Doc!

Yes in some ways you cannot get enough Doc Emrick.  Doc was honored tonight in New Jersey and we have the photo to prove it.

Before the game, the Devils honored Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick, their television voice for almost two decades. He recently received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award from the Hockey Hall of Fame for his contributions as a broadcaster.  Quite simply when Doc does retire…the game will not be the same without him.  I can go on and on about how much fun is it just to get the right internet stream and be able to watch the MSG or MSG+ feed with Doc.  Obviously, a whale of a game for him to watch and call as the Devils rallied to win 4-3 in OT in what could be a back to back of the year for New Jersey.

Jamie Langenbrunner scored twice and Brendan Shanahan had a goal and an assist as the Devils erased a 3-1 deficit in the third to send it to overtime and then won it in the extra session for the second night in a row.  Marc-Andre Fleury made 39 saves for the Penguins who really deserved better as the Penguins were outplayed most of the night.

Some Other Notes From Tonight…..

— Minnesota State is beating Minnesota 6-2 late in the third as a melee broke out from a hit from behind.

— Denver University looks primed to take care of Alaska Anchorage.

— Edmonton looking solid against Minnesota

— Calgary and Kipper just rolling along folks over Nashville.

— 12 Games Tomorrow…starting at 12:30pm ET and going all night.

Once again I wanted to thank Steve and tomorrow WAC will bring it as always.  Thank you and have a great night.

Tonight’s Options….

Only five games tonight…so yes it is a bit of a light night. But here we go anyway.

Pittsburgh @ New Jersey
Time: 7pm
TV: FSPI, MSG+

Ottawa @ Columbus
Time: 7pm
TV: RSN,FSOH

Philly @ Tampa Bay
Time: 7:30pm
TV: CW57,SUN

Nashville @ Calgary
Time: 9pm
TV: FSS,RSW

Minnesota @ Edmonton
Time: 9pm
TV: FSNO, OPPV

Now not everyone has the nice option of being able to flip on Center Ice.  For those of us that do not…go check out justin.tv, atdhel.net, or even Hockey Webcasts.  So in the case you are not in the area or you just cannot get the game for whatever reason….hopefully that helps.  Now I am going to try and tell you who is going to win too.  Do not look if you are squeamish.

New Jersey, Columbus, Philly, Calgary, Edmonton

Good luck tonight and happy watching!  Remember to not forget the food and especially the beer.  Always have the beer handy!!!

They Let Anyone In….Honest!

Have I mentioned they will let anyone on here?  Well welcome to the loony side of hockey life.

Have a drink on me! It's Friday!

Like I said…..if you thought the short week would be dull hockey wise….you are dead wrong!  What cracks me up is hearing Ranger fans thinking that the apocalypse is here.  The quote I heard from Derek Felix of New York Hockey Report summed it up succinctly.  “That Devils team is like Michael Myers.  They bounce back from an injury to their franchise player like no other and figure out a way to get the job done.  This is not like the New York Rangers who have the same stinking GM in Sather and a coach slow to adapt like Tom Renney.  It makes me sick.”

Now here is the reality.  The New Jersey Devils are only three points ahead of the New York Rangers.  Anything can happen and usually does over the last couple months of the season.  The playoffs are about 10 weeks away…scary isn’t it?   Just for example, did anyone have Boston as the “Beasts Of The East” at the start of the season?  Somehow I do not think anyone did.

Speaking of Boston and New Jersey…last night’s game was one of the more bizarre ones that I have seen in months.  The Devils were up 2-0 then down 3-2 and somehow found a way to win in OT 4-3.  Here is some video.

Note in the third period how weird this game gets.  Chuck Kobasew scores on a goal that no one can figure how they can rule it was in because on the ice it was originally ruled no goal.  Boston then ties it and goes ahead after a creative “acting job” by Marc Savard.  Then the Devils tie it at 3 as Elias has the puck bounce under his stick and off his skate into the net.  The Devils first two goals were bizarre as well with weird bounces everywhere.  The funniest thing is very late in this video….Zach Parise has a conventional chance with about :23 left in regulation and Tim Thomas stoned him…go figure!

The Devils won it in OT as Jamie Langenbrunner gets a fortunate bounce and an easy rebound to shovel it by a fallen Tim Thomas.  Games like this end very crazy and this one was no exception.  It reminded me of the mid November game in New Jersey between the Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils that ended 6-5 in a shootout win for New Jersey.  To think the Caps tied that game with less than a second left before Scott Clemmensen (who gave up 5 goals)…figured out a way to stop Ovechkin and company on every one of their shootout attempts.

Doc Emrick almost got laryngitis during this game again.  Will he have enough left in the tank for tonight?  He may want to get that chloroseptic ready because Pittsburgh is in New Jersey tonight and anything can happen these days when it comes to the New Jersey Devils.

Note:  A hat tip to ESPN who had Steve Smith’s own goal to eliminate the Oilers in a Game 7 of the 86 playoffs against Calgary on their top 10 list of cruelest ways to lose this morning on Sportscenter. See ya later.

A Simple Poll to End the Day: Will the NHL Get a Promo During the Super Bowl?

We usually wouldn’t bother with such things.  But this year is the one year we have hope.  The Super Bowl is airing on the same network that carries the Stanley Cup Finals.  So the vote is a simple yes or no, whether – in commercial during the game, pre-game, or simple Michaels-read promo – or not the NHL will get any promo time during NBC’s Super Bowl broadcast.  Thank you for reading PTM, enjoy Wassel tomorrow, Curl Saturday.

In Which We Welcome a New Saturday Editor

Anyone who knows who that is and reads a certain hockey blog and knows who that hockey player is above these words can guess what’s coming up here.

We’d like to welcome Wrap Around Curl to the Puck the Media Unisphere.  She will be editing things on Saturdays from now on.  She has free reign on those days.

You may be asking us: Why are you doing this on Thursday, can’t this wait till Friday?  Well, we’re traveling tomorrow most of the day and then again on Saturday, so we’ll miss out on Friday.  Our good friend Chris Wassel of The Program will guest edit on Friday.  Please enjoy him and Curl this weekend, till we’re back on Sunday.

Your CBC Announcing Schedule For Saturday

2:00 PM 
Los Angeles vs. Montreal
Play by Play: Bob Cole
Color: Greg Millen
Reporter: Elliotte Friedman

7:00 PM
Pittsburgh vs. Toronto
Play by Play: Jim Hughson
Color: Craig Simpson
Reporter: Jeff Marek

10:00 PM
Minnesota vs. Vancouver
Play by Play: Mark Lee
Color: Marc Crawford
Reporter: Scott Oake 

The Best of Puck the Media: As He Enters the Hockey Hall of Fame, How Our Hockey Fandom Wouldn’t Be the Same without Mike “Doc” Emrick

Editor’s Note: With the Devils honoring Mike Emrick on Friday night with a night dedicated to him, we feel the need – since we are unable to be there due to a prior commitment – to re-post this.

My hockey watching dates back to about 1995.  Just after the New Jersey Devils had won their first Stanley Cup, my father had purchased (do you still have to purchase MSG Plus separately, dad?) what was then called SportsChannel.  I’d like to say that my first remembered Devils game was against the Leafs, because that was definitely the first one I watched.  But the first one I actually have a pictured memory in my brain of?  It was a January 1996 game between New Jersey and the Islanders.  It was hockey, so it was good.  Oh, and this happened:

Devils Minor League Affiliate Featured in Mickey Rourke Comeback Vehicle

 

Judah Friedlander in "The Wrestler"

With it’s Bruce Springsteen-penned theme tune and Mickey Rourke’s comeback performance, it was only a matter of time before “The Wrestler” drew us in.  But after finding that photograph, we may have to get ourselves to a movie screen post haste.

From TrentonDevils.com: 

The Trenton Devils are featured in the recently-released movie “The Wrestler,” which stars Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei, who have both been nominated for Academy Awards for their performance in the film.

The film is set in New Jersey and Judah Friedlander, who plays Scott Brumberg, wears a T-Devils jersey in several scenes. 

Friedlander is a comedian known for his role as Frank Rossitano on the NBC show “30 Rock”, and broke out onto the scene in 2001 as “The Hug Guy” in The Dave Matthews Band music video, “Everyday”.

Since it’s nationwide release on Friday, “The Wrestler” has received critical acclaim from throughout the country and was ranked 49th on the Internet Movie Database’s (IMDB) best movies of all-time.

Thank goodness the Devils used the IMDB rankings to show off the film’s importance.

We Appreciate Our Readers

In a post yesterday about the Rangers moving two games next year to New York’s WPIX 11, we asked the following question:

Any of our more elder statesmen reading the blog: Have the Rangers ever aired games on Channel 11?

Well, thanks to our commenter/reader Eric, we have our answer:

The Rangers aired on WPIX for a ten season span from 1948-49 to 1957-58 and then three additional seasons in the early 1960’s.

(As detailed in a 1996 book by John Kreiser and Lou Friedman, “The New York Rangers: Broadway’s Longest Running Hit”)

The late Win Elliot was the primary play-by-play man during many of the PIX years.

We appreciate the response Eric, because now you know, and knowing is half the battle.