Dangerous Hockey

"Moose dont look mean enough. Monsters will win"

I’m unable to write the blog I intended due to the sudden and tragic death of a 25-year-old friend and mother of newborn baby.  My hockey buddy’s baby.  Horrible and I’ve been tremendously shaken as this just happened.  But this story about Cleveland hockey needs to be told simply and succinctly.

Monsters win first AHL playoff game of their short 4 year history.  One thing I noticed clearly was that in SPITE of all the elements working against them, this team has a loyal, amazing HOCKEY fan base.

"My Mom died way too young, I will always love her."

Nearly 8,000 fans were there.  They were there as hockey fans.  To me they represented any NHL arena’s 20,000 fans.  And maybe then some.  Here’s a team, that is promoted horribly in the mainstream media, not really supported by their owner who I assume is Dan Gilbert, and full of guys who come and go as the winds of Colorado blow.

Yet unlike many other games I go to, fans I spoke with were knowledgable about the sport. Young, old, men, women.  They knew what icing was.  They knew that Justin Mercier elevated his game significantly to will the Monsters to a win.

While I love the Washington Capitals as a team, I’m always miffed at how many fans (almost every one) that I ask, don’t even know what icing is.  They are there to be seen, as it’s the place to be in DC.  I’m sure they have their core fans but they’ll never see the rink as the corporate goons want to tell their friends and some piece of ass they are trying to impress that they were at the game.

Cleveland Monsters fans are hockey fans at their core.  Simple, and yet overstated in their knowledge of the team.  The history, the rules, the players, the game.  This core no doubt proved what I already know, we are a big league city with more than capable of supporting an NHL team.  But in the end, I’m not sure if we need one.  The Monsters play a great style of hockey that I hope doesn’t leave when Coach Quinn does.  More later, but if you haven’t seen a game, get down there!

Some photos and videos to get you in mood:  

It started sometime after soccer on Sunday afternoon.  My son Max and I decided that as all the “expert prognosticators” prepared their predictions (which are all but a crapshoot) we would conduct a unique “Science Experiment” to predict the actual playoff outcome.  The results were groundbreaking.  I expect Nobel prize consideration.

Baby Cassidy was the ref, she introduced "puck washing" to the game?

“Little Stick Hockey.” The bane of my wife and his sister’s existence.  Holes in the walls, cuts on the face, smashed fingers, sore knees, arguing over questionable goals.  Even dropped gloves, penalties, the whole 9 yards.  Lots of things that are similar, in fact, to the NHL.

So it went.  Max vs. Me.  We would wear the jerseys of each team if we had them.  We have the Apple ap (yes there is one) that sounded the home teams horn and goal light.  Off we went.  Each game up to 10 would decide the winner of the series.

Admittedly we fudged the Blackhawks series as we played before Dallas had finished because bedtime was quickly approaching.  Dallas won.  So Chicago wins round one.

Summery:

Round 1 Winners:  Max (Caps, Flyers, Sabers, Blackhawks, Sharks, Coyotes)  Dad (Ducks, Pittsburgh)

Round 2 Winners: Max (Flyers, Sharks, Ducks)  Dad (Caps)

Round 3 Winners: Max (Ducks)  Dad (Capitals)

Cup Winner: Max WASHINGTON CAPITALS-Winner of the 2010-11 Stanley Cup

NOTE:  We picked teams out of hat each round.  Will this science hold up to the experts? Attached is a link to the infamous blog “Puck Daddy” and his staff predictions.  They all seem to be on same page and are sniffing some Boston Glue IMO.  One thing I know for certain, is the Canucks will not win the cup.  That I guarantee.

Also, dangeroushockey.com will burn his entire hockey jersey collection if any of the PD crew are 100% on their “expert” predictions.

Do we have a bet Daddy? I win, I get to write a feature article on PD?

What timing.  Lots going on.  But I’ll work on resume later today. Minnesota Wild baby!

"If I can coach this crazy little girl, I think I have a shot!"

OK, so we decided to go to the playoff bound Cleveland “Lake Erie Monsters” fan appreciation night last night.  Got lucky and got 2 seats row 2 in the corner on the glass.

A real "Fan Appreciation" night!

The second I saw the puck deflected I knew exactly where it was headed.  But being with 2 kids, my lap was filled with crap (coats, skittles, etc.) so I was immobilized.  Then it happened.  The puck hit the netting and landed right on the boards, fan-side.  There was a slight scramble but the man sitting right there just grabbed it.

Everyone was clapping and we were all up on the big Q-Tube.  Fans were clapping etc.  I was happy and jealous simultaneously.  Suddenly, and we’ve all seen this happen before, but we’ve also seen it not happen often.  The man turned around and handed the puck to my daughter.

I haven’t seen her so excited in a long time.  She thanked him.  Beaming the biggest smile I’ve seen.  A game puck.   Wow.  Really.  12,000 people there, 1 game puck.  She got it!  But the story gets better.  About 15 minutes later, they start throwing t-shirts.  People will kill for these.  Low and behold, my daughter Sydney catches one!  She immediately taps the man on the shoulder and gives it to him.

You really had to be there and my writing is nowhere near good enough to convey the sweetness of the entire situation.  The man was soft-spoken, didn’t really even look like a hockey fan (i don’t mean this disrespectful).  Wouldn’t take a beer or anything for making my daughter’s day.  But when he got his t-shirt back from Sydney he appeared to be just as happy as she was when getting the puck.

Note: That broad in the background was checking me out all night.

OK ladies or guys (um…nevermind) time to vote.  Try not to be biased but who’s better looking?  Forget that he’s a millionaire pro NHL player and I’m just a fat, old advertising dork.  Vote in Comments section, and why.  Be brutally honest.

Brooks is on the left just in case...........

By the way want to WIN SEATS ON THE GLASS TO CAPITALS PLAYOFFS HOME GAMES??????  Link:  WinCapsSeatsonGlass

Playoff bound for first time ever.  “Are you kidding me?”

"We love you Coach Caruso"

I’ve been one.  I am still occasionally at least somewhere deep down in my psyche (otherwise why bother) still one.  I’m an April fool from Cleveland.  The Cleveland Indians home opener is the unofficial beginning of a new year of sports hope for the town that, well basically is a town full of losers (me included.)

I’ve been through this before.  We always are the eternal optimistic idiots.  “Well mabye?”  “What if?”  “Draft picks.” “but Dan Gilbert.” Hundreds of thousands of comments by countless believers, or fools.  Yes, we are fools.  Billions of dollars, untold emotional stress, hope only to be followed by the same, yes the exact SAME ending to the movie.  Yet us fools, dust ourselves off and start right back over again.

Well the Indians are on pace to be 0-162 and the town is focused on the Arena football league and the pending underpants football league.  The draft is coming for both basketball and football.  It could all change.  But it won’t.  In the end, these teams

"Can we move to the Arena league?"

will still suck.  They are piss poor run from top to bottom with exception of Cavs.  But they put all their eggs in LeBron so that will take some time to heal.

Go Monsters.  Calder Cup, our only hope.  And in the end, that would be good enough for me.

By Chris Villarrmore

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Thrashers have reached an agreement to sell the club to Cleveland native, Rocque Trem.

The agreement was confirmed Tuesday afternoon by Bruce Levenson chairman of Spirit Atlanta LLC and first reported by ESPN Cleveland early Friday.

Levenson said that final details of the sale were ironed out late Thursday night, but he would not elaborate. He said the sale would be announced at a news conference Monday. The sale must be approved by the N.H.L.’s Board of Governors.

Trem is the founder and president of the advertising giant, dadada media group.  He also owns a production company, several real estate holdings and a film company.  Trem is buying the Thrashers for an estimated 89 million dollars.

Trem met Saturday with the executive committee of the Board of Governors during a brief meeting last month.

According to Bill Daly, the league’s deputy commissioner, Trem spoke to the committee about “his passion for the game, spoke about his passion for the city of Cleveland as a hockey town and about this being a lifelong dream to own and operate and NHL team.”

Trem and his wife, who grew up in the Cleveland suburbs, are big supporters of the AHL “Lake Erie Monsters.” and local youth hockey in Cleveland.

Cleveland is annually at or near the top for youth hockey in the United States, and the AHL Monsters are the largest draw for minor league hockey.

Trem confirmed that the team will be moved to Cleveland beginning next season and plans to either “work something out” with Monsters and Cavs owner Dan Gilbert or build a new arena just south of downtown in Independence.  “NHL needs to be in Cleveland.

We plan on making an immediate impact on a town that has nothing but losers when it comes to professional sports teams as evident by the Cleveland Indians 15-0 home opener loss to the Chicago White Sox.”  said Trem.  “It’s time for a new beginning. And what better day to announce it to you fools than April 1st?”

Trem immediately announced Hall of Famer Tony Zarrella as President of Team.

"Finally a Miracle in Cleveland?"

This article is about hockey in the fact that my little brother likes the New York Islanders.  Plus he used to try to play roller hockey with us back in the day.  He wasn’t bad.  But this article is mostly about a lesson not to email me anything you don’t want posted for the world to see:

"Is it Chris or Sean Avery?"