Sunday, November 25, 2007

Sunday Potpourri: Drained

Big surprise announcement here: I can be wrong. Sorta. Ok well ... I was wrong about something and waffling with a sorta won't change that. About 3 years ago on USCHO I went with a definitive statement and I've been proven wrong. Like I said, big surprise. What did I say? I said that a kid playing for the Nanooks who couldn't skate his way out of a wet paper bag and scored as many goals with his thigh as his stick would never ever skate in the NHL. Mostly, it was a reaction to a segment of UAF fans that touted the kid like he was the second earthly appearance of Yahweh. Yep. I figured that NHL scouts would look at him skating and then take a pass on him. Well, they know more than me. Another big surprise eh? Eric Carlson of the UAF Hockey Blog (whom I respect and greatly admire) has quite rightly taken me to task for that statement. The guy has now skated in the NHL and scored 3 goals (guess how he scored his first one) for the Minnesota Wild. And yes ... despite indications to the contrary they actually are an NHL team. I was definitely wrong. Is this an apology for being wrong? Nope. But hey, I was wrong. Make your calendar.

Speaking of Fairbanks; Gustav Bengtson's first three games in a Texas Tornado jersey were against the Fairbanks Ice Dogs. Gustav warmed up to the future rivalry between UAA and UAF with a slash in game 1, a GWG in game 2 and an assist in game 3. Unfortunately, the Tornado lost two of three games to Fairbanks over the holiday weekend. At least Gustav won't have to worry about that when he gets to UAA. UAF remains the one team in Division 1 so far this season without a victory. It's been tough sledding so far for the Nanooks but they did manage to gain a tie this weekend vs. UNO. In other games of interest SCSU split with Clarkson, Minnesota tied Michigan State and was drubbed by Michigan, Wisconsin had the same results as the Gophs tieing MSU and losing (albeit not getting owned) to Michigan. DU and CC both won in their own rinks in their home and home series but CC really pasted DU the first night. UND split with UMD at the Ralph to maintain their destined 2008 National Championship run from 5th place in the WCHA. I've got to say here that with as much whining about refereeing as I saw on the Interweb this weekend from a couple of those fanbases means we UAA fans should never again worry about being called-out for criticizing WCHA refereeing. Speaking of refereeing. The SCSU Angels got called for 14 penalties this weekend with their first exposure to referees that weren't indoctrinated/brainwashed with the whole Bob "we're going to play clean hockey" Motzko bullshit propaganda. Hopefully, the WCHA refs will recognize how they've been manipulated by the media and start calling the Bluffskies games the same way they call every other WCHA series.

There's no change in the WCHA standings during UAA's bye week because of the splits this weekend. That's a good thing as always. The more that other WCHA teams split, the more chances UAA will have to improve themselves in the standings. We're currently in 8th place. Points this coming weekend (like all of them) against CC are going to be very important. There is still a pretty big variance in the number of conference games by all the WCHA teams with three teams (CC, UMD and MTU) having played 10; four teams having played 8 (DU, UND, UMTC and MSUM); and three teams (SCSU, UAA and UW) having played only 6. After the last bye-week UAA admittedly came out sluggish in their first game versus UMTC but this coming weekend against CC that sort of thing just won't fly. The team will have to be sharp from minute 0 to minute 120 of next weekends games. Anything less and 1st place CC will take advantage of it.

From every indication I have the Seawolves will dress two players in the second half that we've yet to see on the ice. I could be wrong (not like it is unprecedented eh?) but expect to see former NAHL Minnesota Express defenseman Jeff Carlson turn up and be added to the already deep blueliner crew. Reports would indicate that Jeff is another likely future power play quarterback. Jeff is not in school yet and so hasn't practiced with the team but was one of the top scoring defenseman in that league last season. I don't necessarily have any big expectations for any impact from him during the 2nd half but ya never know eh? Unlike Jeff, Brian Bales is in school and has been practicing with the team. He's sitting out the first half since he is a transfer but Coach Shyiak has said that Brian would be in the lineup today if he were eligible. I do have some "hopes" that Brian can be an impactful player as he has maturity and experience. His career at Bowling Green was a bust but lets not forget he was one of the top players in the USHL (61pts in 54 games with a +31 rating and was Sioux City's captain) before enrolling at BGSU.

I love turkey sandwiches don't you? I cooked my ass off on Friday but haven't been able to do the dishes because I stopped-up the damn drain with potato peels. ARGH! It's a very very stupid stupid drain and my efforts so far to clear it (valiant as they have been) have all proven futile to this point. My advice to others; never ever run hot water down the drain after you've put the potato peels through the disposal. I thought the thing was clear but didn't run enough cold water prior to using the hot. ARGH! And yes, I've tried everything but taking the pipes apart to clear it. You can't snake the damn thing since it's the disposal side! I guess the pleasure of eating the banana cream and pumpkin pies will have to work as some sort of offset to the pain that damn drain is causing me.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

And one last thing (if DD doesn't mine me adding to the Potourri):

Don't forget to e-mail your suggestions to the Palin administration on how you'd like to see some of the budget bucks they'd like to spend dispersed~

http://www.gov.state.ak.us/

Don't worry~ she plans to put plenty away for a "rainy day stash", but they do want your suggestions on the $$$ they plan to blow NOW!

I realize Donald has a scrolling banner on the top of this blog to contact the UAA Planning Committee, but since the state needs suggestions on good ways to spend that $$$, they would also be a great source to contact!! :o)

Donald Dunlop said...

Larissa:
There's a good reason I didn't mention that info though I appreciate your mention of it here.

I have much less faith that state politicians will actually show some balls and spend some of the gross excess of funds they have available.

Did I say gross? I should have said obscene. 40 billion dollars ... 99 percent of which is invested in things that have NOTHING TO DO WITH Alaska. Pitiful.

We could build our own gas pipeline. Why are we worrying about the oil company BS threats to not invest more here. Hey BP ... Conoco Phillip and Exxon ... go ahead; don't invest here. Piss off. Leave. I could care less if those rapists left. We can find other rapists to exploit our resources that won't exploit us at the same time. And if we can't we can just fund it ourselves.

Did I say Piss on big oil yet? Ok ... Piss on big oil.

See why I didn't include any political comments in the main post? Nobody really wants to read my harsh political rants.

Anonymous said...

Stick to Hockey

Donald Dunlop said...

Dear Anon@6:56 From Minneapolis:
Be assured there will be plenty of hockey talk here. As there has always been. But I'm curious what part of

Nobody really wants to read my harsh political rants.

escaped your comprehension? Did you honestly think I needed advice from someone living in a state that elected a professional wrestler to it's highest office? Is it that you suffer from the same apparent dysfunction as so many other Gopher fans who don't seem to express what they think but are more than eager to pass snide commentary on others views? Perhaps you've all worshipped at the Garrison Keillor alter a wee bit too long.

In the future here (as in the past), I'll no doubt include my views about social or political situations as my mood and judgement dictates (without regard to what others think since I'm not interested in being "popular" per se). I wouldn't blog if I was unable to do so.

Anonymous said...

Anony, what the heck, you didn't know hockey is politics, now that's funny!

Just sit in your seat and enjoy the game, no need for ya ta think.


Gator Girl

Anonymous said...

Hey Donald, did you try putting some gravy down that drain???

Seriously. Sorry about your drain :( Call 1 800-roto-rooter.

Finally, a home weekend coming up, ya!!

Gator Girl

Anonymous said...

I made the mistake of running egg shells through my disposal (we have since removed it), and it stopped up my drain.

Of course it had to happen on New Years Eve when I was cooking for a big party at our home. I felt so dumb when the plumber came and charged me $50 to remove the pea trap and dump the shells out.

Anonymous said...

Omg Suze!

That's why plumbers drive Mercedes.

Celery, a no no too, lol.

When in doubt, throw it out.

Gator Girl

Donald Dunlop said...

I put ALL organic waste in the disposal (egg shells in the trash though). If it was alive at one time. It gets ground up. Cold water is absolutely necessary for potato peels (this wasn't my first time I made that mistake). I don't eat celery so no worries there.

I did manage to clear the drain with a series of sink fills and plunges on the other side while making sure I plugged up the dishwasher vent.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree who would have thought Voros would be a NHLer. Since being recalled he has played superb NHL hockey and deserves to stick around! If you go to the Wild.com message boreds and you will see that he has plenty of admires. IMHO, he is one of the main reasons why the Wild have gone on a four game winning streak!!!

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