Thursday Potpourri: What It's All Gonna Be About

 

I must admit that hockey fever has not yet begun to manifest itself.  Today's decently sunny and pleasant weather doesn't do much to change that.  I'm also in the middle of a move to new digs which distracts from getting the kind of start on the season that I usually feel by this time of the year.  None of that is to say that there'll be less content here.  It's only going to get busier here over the next few weeks.  So let's talk about a few things.

What is this joint going to do for you this season?  First, I'm happy to announce that I've found a person willing to act as a photographer for the blog.  He is experienced, has the awesome gear and hopefully can make all the home games.  I've given him an out if it isn't something that satisfies him (in other words I told him if he doesn't dig it that he doesn't have to commit since he's not acutally a hockey fan ... yet).  But naturally, I hope it works out well for the whole season.  My plan is to post some sort of gallery for each game.

Next, there'll be a CoverItLive chat for every game this season; home and away.  For me that means a couple of things.  I'll be sitting in the media area.  I'll miss my purloined seats with Suze and Bob.  I've been sitting there for more than a few years now.  I have dysfunction with counting years so I don't remember how many, but I bet Suze can add it up accurately.  I won't be able to actively cheer and yell shit from there.  And no, I'm not going to troll Doyle Woody.

I'm trying to save $350 currently to buy a used Mac laptop to use in the effort.  Feel free to support that by donating.  I have access to a loaned Windows based netbook but like 20 years of using Mac exclusively makes me hope to not have to do that.

I've decided it's time for the blog to have a Facebook presence.  However, I don't want anything to do with it administratively speaking.  So ... I'm looking for a Facebook volunteer to set up a UAA Hockey Fan Blog page with all the appropriate resource linking etc.  I know there's one or two of ya that spend as much or more time on that website as I do here doing this.  I'm imagining (since I don't use Facebook at all) that it wouldn't be a hugely big deal to get this going.  So if you are interested in doing this please volunteer (psst, do it anonymously if you want) ... email me.  I'll also be trying to use my twitter account more so if you already reads twits then you might want to follow. 

The meet and greet picnic is this Sunday at 1pm at the Lucy Cuddy Center on campus.  I've been to these several years going and can definitely recommend it to those of you who typically don't go.  It's a great chance to see some other regular fans as well as get some free food.  Naturally though, the highlight is the freshman intro lineup and Q & A's.  Last year the weather was fantastic for this event.  I hope it is again.  See you there.

Expect to see the following in the coming days/weeks running up to the beginning of the season.  I'll do a class by class profile of the team.  Seniors first then each of the other classes separated by a coupla three days.  After that I'll take a look at the league overall and try to assess each of the teams.  Of course, we'll cover any relevant breaking news along the way.

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Now lemme say this ... I can't imagine be more optimistic about a team than I am about the one Coach Shyiak, Campbell Blair and T.J. Jindra are going to put on the ice this season.  When you combine the awesome teamplay that we saw at the end of last season with frankly the most underrated freshman class in the WCHA things look very promising.  I'm thinking this team has a high number of veterans who are poised to have their best seasons as well.

So even though I said I don't quite have the fever yet ... I'm excited.