As my state loses its third soldier in three days and prepares to ban most abortions, my antipathy leads me to talk about something less dispiriting: hockey. After all, my Stampede have excelled this year line and I haven’t said much about hockey. So I figure it’s about that time to bring that diversion here for a visit.
- The USHL All-Star Game was essentially a Stampede showcase. At various times, every player on the ice for the West Division was a Stampede player. And Andreas Nodl of the Stampede took home the MVP Award, the fourth time in seven years it has gone to a Stampede player.
- A couple great hockey sites new to my attention: the Western College Hockey blog, devoted to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association that the Minnesota DI schools and UND are in, and Inside College Hockey, although for some reason while INCH’s podcast plays fine on my PC it plays at about half speed on my MP3 player.
- Although I said I wouldn’t, I’ve been watching enough NHL hockey this year that it’s become habit-forming. Two things in particular account for that. One is seeing it on a big screen in high-def. Even more crucial are the rule changes that truly have sped the game up and made it more fan-friendly. It is much closer to USHL and college hockey in speed and pace.
- Finally, there’s the upcoming fun of watching Olympic hockey. Not only is the NBC network group going to cover 54 of the 58 ice hockey games to be played in Torino, there will be live telecasts of all Team USA women’s and men’s games. Broadcast times may pose a few conflicts with work and other things but that’s why there’s VCRs and DVRs.
All hockey players are bilingual. They know English and profanity.
