Ok - First up, the three stories I carried over from
Saturday Morning Toughts on Friday Night.
1) I'd like to give a shoutout to Father Tom - Team Chaplin for Notre Dame...He's been chaplin for the hockey team the past 17 years and travels with them about once a month. He's there to preside over the team mass every week and acts as a sounding board for the players with no connection to the team - a counselor with a lot of cheerleader mixed in. He gives loves taps as the guys head out to the ice and finds a spot in the tunnel, close to the action to shout "GO IRISH!" and other words of encouragement throught the game. Besides his role as Team Chaplin, he is also a rector for a dorm at ND and has a handful of players under his watch and is even Godfather to one of the players that was baptized earlier this year. Although he's subjected to some rather "sophomoric" movie selections on the bus, he comes in handy when someone has a theology paper to write. In short, it's something unique to Notre Dame that I found rather interesting and after chatting with him during intermission, I can see why he's so popular with the team.
2) Sticking with ND - I'd like to request that someone send me a copy of their pre and post-game CDs because they rocked! I asked one of the players at the end of the game who their DJ was. Turns out it was a collaborative effort. Every player submitted three songs at the beginning of the season and the upperclassmen got together and picked the ones they liked the most. There's also a specific order - some songs to sing along to to get everyone going (trust me - they like to sing a long!) then easing into some heavier stuff right before the start of the game to get them really fired up. Post-game (maybe that should be post-win), they call it feel good music to keep the good vibes flowing...Whatever you want to call it, I'd like a list so I can add some songs to my iPod please :)
3) The SuperFans from BC...I'm not sure how you can call yourself super because you were no where near it during Friday night's game. Relatively quiet for most of the game, there was even one student section that wasn't even standing or clapping AND on more than one occasion you allowed the large contingency of ND fans chants of "Let's Go I-rish!" to go unanswered - what is up with that?? The band was good and I thought it was great that they marched around the concourse before taking their spots during pre-game, but other than that...what a lazy effort on your part...
Now...on to new topics...
Yesterday, I was in Boston for the Bruins-Sabres game. Overall it was a fun game to watch. In the first, the Sabres were on the attack and struck first. Unfortunately, they couldn't sustain the effort and ended up on the short end of the stick. The Bruins have gained a ton of momentum since their game against Dallas as they continue to come together as a team and play as a unit rather than individuals. The biggest testament to their success in a sports crazed town like Boston was a packed house while BC took on Notre Dame in football across town.
I also want to give props to the oodles of Buffalo fans that showed up to the game. Way to sport the pride!! Fan reactions to the spontanous-yet-well-organized outbursts of "Let's Go Buff-A-Lo!" were resounding boos...I loved it!!
My affinity for Marc Savard was further cemented during this game as well - giving pucks to fans during warm-ups, a love tap to Ryan Miller after an inadvertant wipeout behind the net and, in general, kicking butt and taking names along the boards and in the corners. I'm a fan...
Post-game, Shawn Thornton dedicated the game to his grandmother who passed away earlier that morning and wondered when the media would stop referring to him and his linemates - Chuck Kobasew and Stephane Yelle - as the fourth line. Even though they are in fact the fourth line, they don't play like one averaging more than 10 minutes a game and contributing offensively on a regular basis. So apparently, they're looking for a name...any suggestions??
One of the more interesting exchanges during the post-game interviews was with Milan Lucic. A reporter asked what it was like in the locker room with the team on a winning streak and he started to reply, "It's definitely funner..." before he was interrupted by Dennis Wideman as he passed by, "Did you just say funner?? I think you just said funner..." Milan didn't have a response except to stare him down as he walked away. We joked that he might have one more hit on the night and he just shook his head and jokingly muttered "Dennis" before starting his reply over with added emphasis, "It's defnitely MORE FUN..."
Also, there was some interest in Blake Wheeler changing his number - a signal that he's in Boston to stay rather then the potential to spend most of his time in Providence...netting a hat trick has a tendancy to do that ;) - to 26. Apparently a lot of people had suggested that he ask veteran forward Stephane Yelle to give up his number 18 so Blake's jersey could read 18 Wheeler - not too far off as Blake stands 6'5'' 200+ lbs. He agreed that it would be cool, but he wasn't about to ask Yelle for his number as he didn't think that would go over very well. He chose 26 as it seems to be a rather successful number at his previous team the Minnesota Golden Gophers with Thomas Vanek and Phil Kessel having worn it.
I also had a rather interesting chat about college hockey with Blake and I will share more about that in tomorrow's blog as I review all of this weekends action.
Till then! :)
Julie
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