I can't help it...UPDATED

 I love my readers.


I am so very fortunate to have the readers that I do.  Not only have they enthusiastically supported this blog, this team, and the sport in general, but they send me goodies!!!!

THRILLS GUM, BLACK BLACK GUM, some bizarre Japanese lemon drop that tastes like bubble gum for three seconds before getting really sour and various fun stuff from ALBERTA.  We love you, Alberta.  You are ridiculously good to us.

This is not the first epic care package we've received from Alberta, who is also the same wonderful goddess who treats all of the boys with care packages of uniquely Canadian treats...she is amazing and we are so lucky to have her as a friend and reader.  THANK YOU SO MUCH.

Art from Argentina....just for MEEEEEEE!!!!

I cheered so loudly in that post office when this showed up in the blog's box this afternoon that scores of people turned and stared.  That right there, my friends, are some sketches and a FOUR PAGE letter from ARGENTINA for moi.   And not just any Argentinian, one of the nicest and most ridiculously talented individuals in Argentina, that I am very very fortunate to call friend, Fabian Fucci. 

Thank you so much, both of you, for cheering me up this week.  Was not a good one to begin with, but I am so thankful for the friends and readers I have...and for hockey...I love the Tampa Bay Lightning. I know, I know, I'm technically a Montreal Canadiens fan, but the thing is, over the last season, Tampa has grown and grown and grown and grown even more on me to the point where it is beginning to feel like the Canadiens are the family I was born into, and the Lightning the family I'd like to marry into.

The last five minutes of the game?  Even Goliath cheered.  And when it was finally over...I jumped several feet into the air.   I can't help but love the Comeback Kids, they have everything in them that I respect and admire most.  And guess who was even more dazzling than usual? Martin St. Louis, my favourite of all favourite players.   Taking on three Bruins and Tim Thomas?!  Unbelievable.  And, I truly enjoyed seeing that subtle little cue from Vinny in the faceoff before sending it to Teddy Purcell for his magnificent wrist shot.  That was a thing of beauty. 


AND ON TO GAME SEVEN.

So the Alaska Aces Won...

And if you didn't see that coming from a mile away then you weren't paying attention. My sincere congratulations to them.  This was absolutely a banner season for quality.  Every team had it, and it has made photographing and writing about this season something I will never forget.  In honor of the occasion I'd like to post some of the photographs from the February 16th game, a game I will remember for a long long while even though it wasn't the Grizzlies' finest moment.

Some of these are precious to me and I apologize for the ugly watermarks, but SOME PLAYERS *coughcoughGIFFENforexamplecoughcough* like to use my photographs on their facebook pages without at least saying "Hey Penny! Thanks!"  (Or at least as it has been reported by others.) Goobers. 

And now....to dig myself further into a financial hole...

Paul Crowder (Grizz) and Chris Langkow (Aces)

Chris Donovan tries to keep the Aces at bay.

Hugo Carpentier weaves his way through.

Brett Parnham, I believe, in the mix.

Fergie!

Maxime Tanguay, one of the reasons I remember this game so well. I kept thinking he was going to keel over and die, because he certainly looked that way a few times out there, but he kept playing despite whatever it was that was ailing him.

You know that feeling you get when you're driving on a narrow road...bordering a cliff or a concrete barrier and you get a truck driver swaying in the wind and inching you ever closer and closer into the wall or the edge of the cliff until you very nearly pee yourself?   Well, that's Mr. Giffen Nyren. 

HA! WATERMARK IN THE MIDDLE...take that Giff! MWAHAHAHAHA.

He's that evil truck driver. The evil "innocent looking" truck driver who uses your pictures on his facebook page and doesn't give you flowers for it. Anyway, Giffen Nyren is not a guy you want to see anywhere near you should you be grinding along the boards.

You will get smooshed.

I also remember this game for the moment up there.  Kevin Deeth dropping the gloves to trade punches with the Ace's Isherwood. 

Matt Clarke is a photographer's dream...and a pain.  He's always swift, always smooth, just a beautiful painting if ever there was on the ice...just have fun trying to catch him.  Maxime Tanguay was also a dear favourite of mine for similar reasons...the man just couldn't take a bad photograph, every shot of him had him carving up ice as though his blades were brushes dipped in ink and his eyes said everything. The difference between Matt and Max is that Matt is far more challenging to capture...he's always racing along side by side with the other team's speedsters, like two drag racers bolting down the stretch.  If you have a simple lens as I do...Matt Clarke presents a challenge, but if you get it right...if you see him coming and you anticipate him correctly...he makes for a stunning shot.

I also enjoyed visits by the Aces last season because it meant I would get to see Gerald Coleman in the net:

Goaltender for the Alaska Aces and an absolutely brilliant one at that...see Kelly Cup ring on his finger...he has this endearing way of falling to his knees and saying a naughty word when he fails to stop the puck. And I could be wrong, but I swear I've heard him singing out there on the ice.

You thought I was kidding...

I do...as a matter of fact...get some pretty weird traffic visiting the site on a regular basis.   Along with being the premier destination for the answer to "Simon Ferguson Sexy" on the google search engine (I wish I were kidding)....the youareahockeyfan blog is also, just now mind you (as in under the "now" option), one of the destinations for those looking for information regarding Calgary's recent churro crisis:

...and whether or not Maxim Lapierre is, in fact, an asshole.

And look at that... are there perks to being a hockey player's girlfriend?  My dear, if you are looking that up you obviously don't like hockey enough and the men who play it (or if you do it is for all of the wrong reasons)...because a hockey-playing man is a perk all on his own, pro or not.

I just don't know.  Truly....truly I don't.  But I will say this...I get to laugh every single day because of beautiful things like "maxim lapierre asshole" showing up in my statistics bar.  I swear...I was drinking my water...and it went up my nose.  Thank you, whoever that was, that was awesome.

We proudly present:

The Infamous Doodle Jersey.

As has been requested for a long while by our loyal readers.  And that isn't even all of it.  For those concerned about Doodle Jersey's well being, we assure you Doodle has been happily retired and is living out his days as the prized possession of Penny.  Come October 14, 2011, Doodle Jersey will be replaced with Doodle Jersey Jr. and the madness will begin anew.  So, my beloved Grizz who may be returning...start thinking about your next doodle now and bring your sharpies.

Trivia: Is that Simon Ferguson's actual game-worn jersey?  No.  So don't panic over the blasphemy this would otherwise be on something as wicked cool as a game-worn-Simon-jersey.   

Any ideas for a new theme for next year's jersey?  (Last season's theme was "something that best represents you").  Comment below!

Dammit Woman!

Just as has been predicted in many circles, the lack of Utah Grizzlies hockey in my life has resulted in a very sad Penny.  I'm sure the boys are quite happy to run around and visit their families, and eat whatever the hell they want whenever the hell they want, to play all sorts of video games, go camping, go fishing, go skiing without coach learning of it, and collapse into the waiting arms of all the girlfriends they've not seen in months.  But for me.  For this hockey-crazed hockey blogger, they are family to me...so right now my life is feeling a bit empty.  I'm sure as soon as it stops RAINING I will go pitch a tent in the woods like I do every summer, and pull my canoe into the nearby lakes, and go fishing and stare at moose and pretend I'm in Canada, but for now...while it RAINS....I am stuck here missing the fact that I haven't been hit in the head with a puck in several weeks.

BUT THANK GOD FOR THE STANLEY CUP.

So fine.... I did the ultimate girly thing:  I went furniture shopping.  And I do realize, Miss Montreal before you start objecting, that furniture shopping is not nearly as girly as shoe shopping but I required baby steps and it so happens I had some rebate check of about sixty bucks for said furniture store.  I thought I would go and buy another rice cooker since I have a really bad habit of murdering appliances....even though, honestly, I find rice cookers to be completely worthless since you can cook rice in any old pots and I have lots of any old pots.

Anyway...

I'm looking for a rice cooker in the electronics section and guess what I find?

Taken with shitty ipod camera...deal with it.

I think I stood there for a good thirty minutes having some sort of spiritual epiphany that involved NOT BUYING A RICE COOKER and, instead, buying NHL 09....on clearance!!!!

(And, yes, I'm fully aware of the existence of NHL 2011...but do you realize the 09 version is basically a LOVE LETTER to the Montreal Canadiens??!! And it has ALEX freaking TANGUAY when he was still on the Canadiens...and Maxim Lapierre and Koivu?!!   And on my beloved bolts I've got my Martin and Vincent...so YES....I know about 2011...but 2009 is the best.)


*cough* anyway....I come home and....

Plant flowers?

Okay, so that's basically in Goliath's imagination...but what REALLY happened was this:

And one happy hour later............

Actually, it was an impromptu game of street hockey, but it is, in a sense, gardening...planting the seeds of the love of hockey in all sorts of non-hockey folk.   And, hey, Goliath ended up joining us and bringing out the real hockey sticks and the real street pucks.

I suppose the moral of the story is that you can't change a girl who loves hockey any more than you can change a guy who loves rugby....but we sure as hell will try won't we?

hehehehehe.

Reason Number 983986932 to Love Hugo Carpentier

Click me. I'm animated.

Hockey is Stoopid

I've decided to announce my conversion to the great sport that is rugby today.  I don't know what I was thinking....liking this hockey sport.  Hockey, like football, involves lots of padding and helmets, but you don't see rugby players wearing any of that girly nonsense.  Rugby players are real men playing a sport for real men.  That's right. I'm Penny and I am a rugby fan.  Did you know that ten out of ten people prefer rugby over hockey?  And did you know that rugby has been tied to every great civilization's success?  I don't know why I've wasted so many hours on this hockey thing.  No one likes sexy hockey players least of all me, Penny. I think hockey players are stinky and not at all attractive.   Especially that Martin St. Louis and that Vincent Lecavalier and that Alex Tanguay and Maxim Lapierre and that...Max whatever he is for the team with the penguins on their jersey and the one whining about that nice Chara fellow.  In fact, I hate all the hockey playing Maxes there are. And Simons. Actually, I think I just hate hockey and I can't wait until this whole lord froufrou or whatever his name is cup thing is over so I can go back to watching my regular programming that I like to watch when I come home from work or play some video games.

OH yeah and i, Penny, hope the canucks LOSE. 

EDIT:  GOLIATH I AM GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS. GET OFF OF MY BLOG.