Such is the number representing the amount of time between the end of the last home game on December 3rd, 2011 versus UND and this coming Friday night's game versus DU. That's 4,742,440 seconds. Four-million, seven-hundred forty-two thousand, four-hundred and forty seconds.
Or seven weeks if you prefer simplicity.
That's a long time since we've been at the Sully. And now of course there's three home series in a row. That feast or famine cliche seems obvious but nevertheless appropriate.
Some 400+ University of Denver students attending the Pioneer hockey team's preseason exhibition game versus McGill University from Montreal, Quebec were stupid enough Saturday night to regale their opposition with "U-S-A U-S-A U-S-A" chants. Um ... hint-o-rama here future DU alumni ... when an American University plays a Canadian University it isn't like the Olympics .. um cos .. THERE are Canadians on your team. Morons.
One long time anonymous DU fan said this on the internet ...
"Disgusting display by the Students tonight chanting USA! Led by a student wearing a KE hat - that E was a Greek E for Sigma - sadly these students have no idea of the great Canadian players that have come through this school and given us our greatest moments - time for someone(DG?) to teach them some history. I was disgusted with their chants and singing American anthems."
Some people are believed to be saying that what's even more troubling are the unconfirmed reports of unrestrained nationalistic zealotry advocating violence: shrill cries of "Kill The Fucking Canadians!" were said to have allegedly been heard.
So just like Kyle's mom; it seems the DU student body has lost whatever minimal semblance of rational thinking they ever had before enrolling in that sorrowful pocket-emptying diploma-factory.
DU's three Canadian born players Joey Laleggia, Shawn Ostrow and Sam Brittain were said to have been heard to simultaneously utter "WHAT THE FUCK?" at one point.
Some people are also now saying that DU might not be such a safe place for Canadian players. I can't say I disagree with that. They've recently formed the "National" conference. It's not called the "International" conference, is it? Perhaps this "National" conference will indeed have benefits for other schools in the future. If the 8 ultra-elite butt-hurt schools that formed the league all swear off recruiting Canadian players it's got to be proportionally good for the rest of US college hockey.
The top 400 richest people in the United States of America now control more wealth and resources than the bottom 150,000,000 (that's one-hundred and fifty million btw ... in case big numbers don't register). So ... my 150 million homies? How about a BBQ? Is it time yet? The weather is getting nicer.
Before I get to a recruit update, Peluso request and WCHA playoff picks I'd first like to talk about politics!!! Yeah huh? Anyway, In my ongoing attempt to indoctrinate you all to my abhorrent political philosophy of Egalitarianism today I'd like to present a documentary by the vile Communist propagandist Errol Morris and his Marxist Fascist Socialist musician buddy Philip Glass.
Just a sampling of various Butterbean stuff. Enjoy. Click the links in the last section. They may not be that interesting but when the website owners see a bunch of hits from Alaska they're gonna say WTF?
It's rivalry week. Though in the WCHA the Seawolves primary rival has been and always will be UAF. Geography dictates that. Unless and until the Big Ten Hockey Conference happens and there is some sort of reorganization of college hockey conferences UAA and UAF look destined to be forced to maintain this rivalry from their respective conferences. It is what it is. I don't like it much.
Is it necessary for me to add any commentary here? Perhaps not; but, this is both funny and pitiful. More importantly though, it is a near perfect exposition of exactly how provincially minded casual UND hockey followers really are.
17 shots for the Beaver ... 16 shot for the Seawolves. Gametime .. 2 hours and 3 minutes. Where have I seen numbers like that before? Dean Talafous coached Boremidji tonight? No doubt the Beaver dictated the pace of tonights game. After the Seawolves stupidly gave up another brutally early goal just 17 seconds in the rest of the game was a complete snooze-fest.
No news is usually good news for your favorite Seawolves blogger. This early season off week has given me an opportunity to not focus continually on all things Seawolf. I pretty much have only even looked at the blog 3 times a day instead of ELEVENTY-MILLION as usual. That isn't to say I haven't still had Seawolves hockey on my mind. I have. So here's what I've been thinking.
Hockey season definitely is not here yet. But it is around a corner. It's still a long slow corner but it's close enough to begin to sense it. I don't really want to count the number of days til the season opens against North Dakota on Friday October 8th so I'll guess it's around 50 days.
For a hockey fan, summer is like toast without jam. Sure, you can still enjoy it without some splendid Black Raspberry slathered on top. But it really just isn't quite the same. If you don't agree, then you just aren't "mad on jam" like me.d
This offseason I've consciously stayed away from making posts. This one is one I mayn't have made if I wasn't jonesin. But I must admit. I'm jonesin for some hockey. I'm jonesin for the whole shebang; getting to the rink early enough to watch a bit of warm ups and going over the lineup sheet for surprises and maybe having a beer and for sure having a cigarette and walking the concourse to my seat (hopefully before the starting lineups are announced) and hoping for a good anthem singer (ahem .. Steve Dickson) and then settling in. All that is good stuff.
Of course, that is really just when the fun starts eh? There isn't a game that I sit down to in the Sullivan Arena that when the puck is dropped I don't think we're going to come out on top. It's a bit early for me to start forming any sort of ideas about how this upcoming season's team is going to turn out. We'll all be excited and optimistic as well as perhaps disappointed at times. Naturally, we hope for the more of the former and less of the latter.
I'll try to be realistic this season in building anyone's expectations. I think we have to honestly acknowledge that it could be a bit of a transition year. A large part of a couple of good recruiting years has departed the team. They're definitely going to be a young bunch particularly on the offensive end and in the net. There's a fair bit of experience on the blueline that could help anchor the teams identity. In saying all that, I'm reminded of notion that left-wing locking, right-wing locking, high zone and neutral zone trapping employed as a primary strategy will build a disciplined group for 2011/12 and onward. Practice it, master it and make every other team play against it.
I like that a trapping team is also a counter attacking team. Make the bastards turn it over and create some 2 on 1 chances and you can frustrate a team that is otherwise outplaying you. I see no down side in focusing on a totally defense first effort. There are three goalies on this roster with virtually no D1 experience. In order for them to build confidence and get up to speed with the WCHA they are going to need a lot of defensive support.
Am I right? Voice your concerns, hopes etc in comments please. I'd really like to get a sense of what other folks are thinking.
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Get your UAA Seawolves Fight Song Ringtone here. Courtesy of our beloved Louisiana-based friend Capt. Donald Leaver you can use the official orchestral version of "Shout it off the Chugach Mountains ..." as a ringtone. Click here to download the file to your computer. To listen to the file press the play button on the player below.
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I heard a rumor and I'm going to share it. I heard the Lyle Woods could possibly return as announcer for this seasons games. All I can say is. Whatever needs to happen to make this happen better happen. Really. Lyle is light years ahead in abilities with that microphone than any replacement they've tried.
It is my understanding that he stepped down in part due to the amount of compensation. So fix that shit somebody eh? Give the dude an extra $50 bucks a night than you would otherwise eh? For fucks sake. I'm serious. Lyle is the man.
A bad announcer ruins the game. I quit going to the Aces games because of Bob Lester. Get Lyle back behind the mic. Whoever is responsible for that. Get on it. Don't make me start writing letters and making phone calls eh? Nobody wants that sort of ugliness in their day do they?
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So I killed my TV about 6 months ago. I don't miss it. I didn't know who Justin Bieber was until the other day. I feel so sorry for the rest of you. Failed abortions like that kid tend to drain any hope from me that our culture was anything other than drowning in a fetid pool of elephant vomit. That hope isn't gone completely though. Because I've also seen and met enough of the 18-34 demographic to be encouraged. Why? So many of them recognize, embrace and venerate the music the that my generation created. I appreciate that. So even though every once in a while some vile hell-sent insipid demon might arise in popular culture, there seems to be enough good taste to offset it.
And oh yeah, just who's job was it to ensure that Billy Ray Cyrus never reproduced? I'd like to find that person and slap them so hard that their mother's dentures pop out in Hoboken. If you happen to see him walking down the street, don't think for a second that I'll be upset if you kick him in the nuts. I'm not encouraging you to do such a thing. But I doubt seriously a jury would convict you of assault because of the culturally beneficial effects of your act.
