Mile High Hockey: FanPosts

Another awesome commercial from the Bruins

2010-03-12T17:39:14Z

Don't you just love those commercials the Bruins are making with the big ass bear? They're classic hilarity. I, for one, am glad that the Avs are making commercials that are this good. I mean, the Bruins and Avs should have a commercial face-off! That would be...oh wait. Never mind. I don't know if these commercials would actually bring in new folks to hockey games, but they are damn funny. Here's a new one to feast your eyes upon. Enjoy my little MHHers!

Keys to Success - Avs-Cats 3/11/10

2010-03-11T16:51:58Z

Let's face it, the Panthers have been a boring team since one Uwe Krupp's shot heard round Colorado. They make the playoffs about as often as the Nuggets did pre-Carmelo, and somehow they have completely failed to get an awesome young player in the draft to reinvigorate the franchise! The only good thing to come out of Florida since John VanfuckitI'mnotgonnaspellthatshit was Craig Anderson. And, of course, those gorgeous ice girls which Andy loves to ogle. Yet looking back at the history books, the Avs somehow managed to lose to this boring squad, thanks largely in part to a Stephen Weiss hat trick. So, tonight's Keys to Success start with Mr. Weiss himself.

-Shut Weiss down. Or convince him to play short stop for the Rockies again, as he once did.

-Score a goal while Keith Ballard is on the ice with Weiss. Ballard will inevitably try to kill him, as he tried to kill Tomas Voukun earlier this year.

-Remind all the Canadian players on the Cats that they play in Miami, the tip of America's penis. They will surely all quit and try to migrate north as the spring approaches, or kill themselves.

-Get the crowd roaring: the Panthers won't be used to this, as their home fans are probably all retired people down from Minnesota for the winter.

-Make sure not to be overwhelmed bye the massive amount of 2nd round picks the Panthers have in the upcoming draft.

-Don't be intimidated by the awesome defensive presence of Jay Bouwmeester. Er....wait...Jordan Leopold...wait wait...ummm...Denis Seidenberg...aaah, wait, I know. Mathieu Roy.

-Lay shot-blocking-emperor Brett Clark down in front of Bryan McCabe every time he has the puck. (This is good for long term success, too, as Clark can't POSSIBLY block as many shots as he does without breaking an arm or something. Just ask Paul Stastny. Right? RIGHT?!?)

-Thank the hockey gods that Nathan Horton fractured his tibia whilst eating at Tim Horton's. Apparently Kyle Wellwood was too engrossed in his donuts and sat on the younger Horton.

-Don't let the Panthers get distracted from their ultimate goal: missing the playoffs ten years in a row. Almost there, guys! You can do it!

-And most important of all, DO NOT post any FanPosts saying that the Panthers suck and the Avs couldn't possibly lose this game. Karma's a bitch. (Sorry, guys.)

"Mission Accomplished" Video

2010-03-11T16:23:17Z

Anyone want my "Mission Accomplished" Video. We are getting rid of our VCR and this will have no use for me. It's in good shape. Yes, it is VHS. Just something to cover the shipping is all I'd ask.

I need more words, uh, ok. Words words words. 25 more words? Holy crap! I really don't have much more to say other than, I have a VHS video that I'd like to "give" away -- all I'm asking for is something to cover shipping it. Really, that's all I've got. If this sounds good to you, leave a comment here.

It's all good in Avalanche land.

2010-03-11T00:53:42Z

So the loss against Vancouver sucked. It sucked about as bad as a regular season loss can suck (without suffering an injury to a star player, or missing the playoffs on the last day of the regular season).

But, life in Avalanche land is pretty good these days. Even their mediocre "lose one, win one" record since the olympics is on pace for enough points to get the Avs into the playoffs.

At the beginning of the year, everyone picked this team to battle it out for last in the West. Nobody thought Duchene would have such an immediate impact. Nobody thought Anderson would be so solid, or that O'Reilly would make the team. Nobody thought Stewart would start scoring goals like he's Cam Neely. I'm certain nobody thought Galiardi would be putting up numbers, or guys like Yip would have any impact whatsoever. Nobody thought the Avs would be here...including many of the people on this site.

And I never thought we'd actually get rid of Wolski (who I hate). And what did the Avs get in return for him? A guy who just needed to get out of Phoenix. A guy who has put up 6 points in 4 games, looking like another hungry young player who is going to add to this team for years. (Plus, he's American. Bonus.)

And the best part of all, is that this team is young, and still rebuilding. It's not a patched together, plug the holes, hope to limp into the playoffs team. This team is built for long term success. Once again, we Avalanche fans are poised for a decade of being spoiled.

UZ's adventures through time and space (and 16th street)

2010-03-10T23:03:38Z

So yesterday I wanted to go to the hockey game to see all the MHH-bros again after the Detroit game because I stupidly forgot it was spring break this week, so I chose the Blues game as my second for the Detroit deal. (Actually quite a smart choice, in hindsight.)

So there I was, gl avsfan telling me "DUDE, YOU GOTTA GO TO THIS" and me sitting there with not a cent to my name. Damn, I need a job. Anyway, the best idea that she and I could think of was that I would have to go out onto 16th street and busk by way to 27$, the price of the tickets on the online deal. At the time I thought it was a brilliant idea (I'm an idiot you see) so I left the house at 11, got my shit together and got my way down to 16th street by noon, using 3 dollars in change from my Guiness bank (That's like a piggy bank, but in the shape of a large Guiness can) to get a taco and a drink from Taco Bell.

Little backstory here, I can usually hold my voice together in some semblance of sounding good for about 3 hours. I had never attempted a 16th street mall stint over 4 hours before as a result. My first post was just around the corner from the 16th and Stout station, in front of Walgreens. I started off nicely, although it was incredibly loud over there for a Tuesday. I wound up making 10 dollars my first hour, which at first I thought was a good sign. This was a mistake, as I immediately got kicked out by the police after getting the 10th dollar.

My second post wound up being way off on the other side of the mall, near 16th and Arapahoe. There were a bunch of greenpeace dudes I knew over there and they were happy to let me set up post near them. Sadly, that 2 hours I got just over nothing, despite doing all my favorite songs and even some songs I despise but other people seem to like (Hey Jude, I'm looking at you!) This was also the point where a bum started approaching me every couple minutes,staring at me, and then walking away. Eventually he got up the nerve to ask if he could borrow a couple dollars, at which point the police saw he was bugging me and kicked HIM out :D Eventually the greenpeace dudes left, I had 12 dollars, and I changed posts again.

Third post was at the 16th and stout station itself, where I usually busk on christmas. The difference of course is that people are actually NICE on Christmas, as opposed to 4 PM on a Tuesday in March. Throughout the next 2 hours my friend the Bum found me again and kept trying to steal my money until the cops wandered by and chased him away again. :D At this point I was losing my voice and had to start pulling out the weird shit, namely the Lady Gaga. Surprisingly, the people at the light rail stop really appear to enjoy Poker Face more than I thought they would. After an hour of that I started texting gl avsfan and telling her that I was about ready to give up. She informed me that they had panhandled 3.85 for my cause and that gave me the strength to continue that final hour, even though I only wound up making 4 dollars that last 60 minutes. I wound up with 21 dollars after 5 hours of workin' it.

And we all know what happened after that.

Remember that the next time you spend your fancy "paychecks" to go to sporting events. Some of us have to WORK for this shit D:

UPDATE: Apparently my brother got home right after I left with 2 tickets in the lower bowl for the game that he had won at work. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Oh, TSN, when will you stop smoking crack?

2010-03-10T22:23:33Z

Is this some kind of a joke? I was looking at TSN's 3/4 awards, and noticed something...odd.

HART TROPHY
Winner: Alexander Ovechkin, LW, Washington
Runners-Up: Sidney Crosby, C, Pittsburgh; Henrik Sedin, C, Vancouver

NORRIS TROPHY
Winner: Mike Green, Washington
Runners-Up: Duncan Keith, Chicago; Chris Pronger, D, Philadelphia

VEZINA TROPHY
Winner: Ryan Miller, Buffalo
Runners-Up: Ilya Bryzgalov, Phoenix; Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose

CALDER TROPHY
Winner: Jimmy Howard, G, Detroit
Runners-Up: Matt Duchene, C, Colorado; Tyler Myers, D, Buffalo

SELKE TROPHY
Winner: Jonathan Toews, C, Chicago
Runners-Up: Wayne Simmonds, RW, Los Angeles; Ryan Kesler, C, Vancouver

JACK ADAMS AWARD
Winner: Dave Tippett, Phoenix
Runners-Up: Joe Sacco, Colorado; Cory Clouston, Ottawa

Really TSN? Howard over Duchene?

Breaking News: Thousands of Avs Fans Hospitalized

2010-03-10T17:12:07Z

Denver emergency rooms were overwhelmed last night during and after the Colorado Avalanche's epic 6-4 loss to division rival Vancouver Canucks. Some expected the team itself would have to visit the hospital, or worse, the morgue, but luckily the hole they blew was in their 3-0 lead and not their heads.

It is yet to be seen if this disastrous loss will cause the death of the '09-'10 Avalanche, but many fans are already feeling the effects. While the types of injury were many, the most common thing seen by doctors was severely bruised foreheads brought on by five unanswered facepalms. Some less fortunate fans even gouged out an eye, though it is yet to be seen if that was an accidental side-effect of the high rate of facepalming, or because those fans simply couldn't bare to watch the collapse.

Also common last night were anuerisms brought on by the disbelief that Mikael Samuelson could actually score three goals against the Avalanche in one period. Victims of that particular catastrophe were often caught only being able to repeat phrase "MIKAEL SAMUELSON?!? HE DIDN'T EVEN MAKE TEAM SWEDEN!!!" When learning that Samuelson added an assist and was named NHL.com's First Star of the night, three Avs fans fell into comas.

In the days following the Olympics, the team and its fans alike have been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. Most fans were in a very exaggerated manic phase of the disease after Colorado's 7-3 win over St. Louis. Now, however, they have fallen into a deep depression, and are questioning the Avs' ability to make the playoffs, their ability to win important games, and the meaning of life, in general.

Also, many fans who posted in in this HFBoards GDT got severe food poisoning for having to eat their own words. One such fan, who manipulated a text from the Bible to make fun of the Canucks, was struck by lightning.

Finally, the Avalanche medical staff was busy last night doing the Heimlich maneuver on the entire roster and coaching staff. Everything went smoothly, though, as the staff doctors have grown accustomed to the team choking in the third period.

If you, or someone close to you, may have been afflicted with any of these Av-related disorders, there are a few easy steps to protecting your health.

1. Compare this year's performance with last year's. That should cure any depression, and you'll be able to transfer your shame from last night's loss to all those critics who said the Avs would be getting a lottery pick again.

2. When talking to Canuck fans, plug your ears with your 1996 and 2001 Stanley Cup rings. If it works for Patrick Roy, it can work for you.

3. Look at the next game on the calendar: we're playing the Panthers. They suck, and there's no way in hell we can lose to them.

Keys to Success: Avs vs. Canucks 3/9/10

2010-03-09T17:33:22Z

Hi all. I'm new here, but I've been reading on and off. I post over at HFBoards, and I was inspired by the Avs-Nucks GDT to create a humorous Keys to Success for tonight's game. Some of the jokes may be inside jokes at HF, so apologies there. But I'm going to try to do this here more often, though probably not extensively, as the Nucks are one of my favorite teams to make fun of. Without further ado...

Tonight's Keys For Success

-Not only do we have to win, we have to win by at least 12 goals so that we can catch up to the Canucks in the Goal Differential category. Otherwise, standings be damned, we are obviously the inferior team.

-Establish the manbearpig hat trick: Chris Stewart gets three goals, an assist, a fight, and eats an Orca. If there's no Orca around, the Canucks resident whale, Kyle Welwood, will do.

-Banish Casper the Center forever: Paul Stastny must get at least five road assists in this game, despite the fact that it's at home, or he won't be worth his contract and will forever be invisible half the season.

-Wojtek Wolski, err, sorry, Peter Mueller needs to stop floating and crash the net.

-We must chase Roberto Luongo, otherwise his new gold medal and shiny new status as an elite goaltender will blind all of our players when they try to shoot.

-After chasing Lou, we must also chase Andrew Raycroft, who inevitably will play his best game of the season against us.

-After chasing "Rayzor", we must also chase Cory Schneider, the best young goalie EVAR.

-Even after we have chased those three god-like beings, we must find a way to score on Canucks uber-prospect Cody Hodgson. Not only is Sir NHL Ready destined to score a hat trick on us from the confines of his own crease, but he won't allow a single goal against.

-We must properly prepare a plate of crow, cooked medium well, for Adrian Dater.

-We must go back in time to before the trade deadline, and ship Marek Svatos, Darcy Tucker, Ruslan Salei, and Brett Clark for a cocktail of mediocre prospects and mid-to-late round picks, then go forward in time and use our newly acquired pieces to trade up in the draft and pick Taylor Hall. (That is, of course, assuming that we don't finish 30th anyway.) After that, we must come back to the present day and ice Hall as the only legit top 6 winger the Avs will ever have again. Also, if we could get a true-shut-down-number-one-right-handed-shot-for-the-power-play defenseman, that would help, too.

-We must get ALL ICE GIRLS out of Colorado, at the risk of distracting Craig Anderson, our one and only hope against the offensive dynamo that is Mason Raymond.

-We must overcome our greatest disadvantage: the fact that the Canucks will score one goal for every seat that is empty at the Pepsi Center.

-It would help if we could get Brian Burke to tamper with the Canucks during the game.

-We must make sure that Auger is slated to be the ref and that he says something to get under Burrows' skin.

-Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES can we wear our alternate sweaters. They must be taken out of the Pepsi Center Shop and burned in the parking lot. Anyone attempting to enter the Can donning a blueberry shall be banished to Nebraska without access to Altitude. We must immediately put our original alternates back into circulation, and convince the NHL to get rid of the RBK style once and for all.

-We must convince Joe Sakic not to sign with the Canucks, as he has always wanted to do. It shouldn't be too difficult, as Super Joe wouldn't be accustomed to playing fourth line center behind Welwood.

-And finally, we must hope that Ryan Kessler, who hates all Canadians, will defect to the Avs in the middle of the first period. Someone stitch up his jersey and have it ready to go.

Completely off topic

2010-03-08T22:30:36Z

I was just over at facebook looking at the MHH page

and none of you, that I could figure out who you were look anything like what I thought you would. kind of funny when you think about it, now I really wish I'd been able to make it to the pre-party before the detroit game. I wish this didn't have to be 75 words long, I probably could have done this in a fan shot.

RW problems next year?

2010-03-08T20:18:01Z

So I've been wondering about next year. What are we going to do at RW? we have Stewart, Hejduk, Yip, Jones, and Svatos. What are we going to do? I can't see Yip or Jones playing third or fourth line duties. Is it possible that we have too much depth?

75 words 75 words 75 words 75 words 75 words 75 words 75 words 75 words 75 words 75 words 75 words 75 words

Pics from Monsters Shootout Loss in Chicago

2010-03-08T12:04:31Z

Yesterday I had a chance (once again) to head to the All-State Arena here in the Chicago area to check out the Avs farm club, the Lake Erie Monsters. This time was special because it was my 7-month-old's first "live" hockey experience. From that standpoint I can't tell you much about the game, except that that Monsters lost to the Chicago Wolves in an 8 round shootout. The game was on NHL Network, so I know a few of you were able to check it out.

After being ties 1-1, the Wolves nabbed 3 straight goals to take a 4-1 lead on an extremely slow looking "Temp Goalie" Grahame. But the Monsters answered with 3 goals of their own, setting up an OT and the eventual shootout.

For those that watched at home...can you tell me what happened to TJ Hensick? I saw him in the warm-ups, but I didn't notice him at all during the game, and he didn't come out during the shootout. Did he get hurt?

A couple of pics from the game:

John Grahame during warm-ups:

via i60.photobucket.com

My accidental "cool artsy" picture of TJ Hensick:

via i60.photobucket.com

Defensemen Brett Skinner:

via i60.photobucket.com

Darren Haydar:

via i60.photobucket.com

Some game action:

via i60.photobucket.com

More game action:

via i60.photobucket.com

Grahame stops Chris Stewart's brother Anthony in the shootout:

via i60.photobucket.com

Enjoy!

Osgood Would Fail

2010-03-08T04:59:49Z

Allow me to indulge in some nonsense for a moment.

As many of you know, I am training for a half marathon. Yesterday (Saturday) I had a terrible run full of mental blocks where I only made it about 6 miles (I was supposed to go 10). So Today I decided to give it another go, and run the full 10.

Now as you might imagine during the course of your first 10-mile run the mind goes a little wacky, and some significant mental blocks enter your mind, along with some other random completely incoherent thoughts.

Sometimes as you struggle up a hill in mile 5 the thought turns to stopping and walking, or quitting. For some inexplicable reason to get through this mental barrier I thought to myself "You can't stop. Osgood would stop. Osgood would fail." (I had been watching Chicago blow a 2 goal lead against Detroit immediately before the run).

For some reason, the sheer ridiculousness of this thought made me smile and laugh, but it also made me break through that mental barrier.

So for some reason this has become my new rallying cry for my run. It takes my mind off of the run, which is when I run my best.

Ok, my self-indulgence is over. Thought you guys would enjoy it.

To the Wing?

2010-03-06T16:07:29Z

I know that this seems like a shot in the dark or far fetched. I was thinking about JM Liles and his dog house antics with "The Coach" and thought, what would it be like to have Liles on the wing? I mean it is could not be that horrible, he has good speed, toughness. I think that he would be a good third liner or something to that affect. I know that it is an odd thought but it is just that a thought.

So what do you all think?

Cheap Lower Bowl tickets 3/17 vs Calgary

2010-03-06T01:03:45Z

St. Patrick's Day. Pepsi Center. Lower Bowl. About $50.00 bucks a seat.

So, I will be vacationing in Colorado for a week with my fiancée, and had been planning on buying 2-4 tickets for the Avs game on March 17 vs the Calgary Flames. Well I learned a few weeks ago that this game was one of those special "Guys Night Out" packages offered by the Avs that gets you 2 upper level seats, 2 beers/pepsis, and 2 t-shirts for $59 (plus the ridiculous $7 service charge per ticket). Well it took me a while to actually getting around to buying them, and I didn't actually visit the Ticket Horse website until this morning.

But, when I did finally decide to buy 4 tickets as part of the "Guys Night Out" promotion, I was pleasantly surprised to find that upon clicking on the package, I was offered the chance to upgrade to the lower bowl for only $15 per ticket. Now, seats will be in the corner, section 120, but in just the 7th row--by far the closest I will have ever sat at an NHL game (and only my second time in the lower bowl).

In the end, when you factor in the service charge, it comes down to just over $51.00 per seat (+beer, +t-shirt). I don't know how long it runs for, or if everyone qualifies, but I thought I would post it, as perhaps some other readers are like me, and almost never get a chance to see the Avs in person, and when we do, it's almost always in the very back row of the Can.

http://www.tickethorse.com/event/colorado-avalanche-vs-calgary-flames/121 - Just look on the left side of the page for Colorado Avalanche - KeyBank Guys Night Out , click find tickets, and the upgrade window will automatically pop-up.

Cheers,

Patrick

A Poetic Ending

2010-03-05T05:13:19Z

Now you could say that the end to tonight's game in Phoenix was ironic

And that Wojtek Wolski was iconic

Scoring with 23 seconds left in his debut with his new team

To break the hearts of his old team

You have got to be kidding me

If you look real close this spells nasty

Which is probably why it sickens me

On my way to the fridge for a beer

And perhaps a tissue to wipe up the tears

Happy birthday, Joe!

2010-03-04T21:55:43Z

A very happy birthday to my dear brother and MHH founder Joe Dunman! Sure, he may not be around as much as he used to, being busy with "law school" and all (he's really joined a brothel), but even lazy hockey writers should be able to feel special one day a year.

Here's hoping that sometime this year, he can finally finish the Top 19 Avs of All Time list. Wait, what? He finished it? Really?

Everyone please take a moment to give him well wishes on his extra special day and remind him that 31 is getting close to 40.

Quick Notes on Porter

2010-03-04T18:39:37Z

I was at the San Antonio-Houston AHL game last night (March 3) and got the chance to talk to a local who has pretty good hockey knowledge and he gave me the following report on Kevin Porter:

Fans will like him.
Fast, Hustles
Hard working
Will fit in Sacco's system
The only knock on him so far in his career is that he's had trouble finishing.

Post Trade Deadline Line Combos

2010-03-04T15:47:52Z

So with the addition of Mueller and Yeller and not trading any D-men the AVs brass, well Coach Sacco will have some tough decisions to make from game to game and hopefully with the soon return of roadrunner and the Duke even more decisions. What are your opinions on line combos going forward anyone you don't think should be sent down?? Does the Duke return to the top line??

Forwards

Duke - SoS - Stewie

Mueller - Dutchy - T.J.

Tucker - O'Reilly -Stoa/Svats

Cody Mac - Yeller - Hendricks

D-men

Footer - Liles

Quincey - Hannan

Wilson - Salei

Wolski's New Home

2010-03-04T02:18:11Z

Just took a look at the Phoenix depth chart, to see who Wolski would be paired with. Wolski aside, the top point earners on their team are : Shane Doan (47), Matthew Lombardi (42), Radim Vrbata (37), Scottie Upshall (32), Keith Yandle (30). These are the only guys with 30 points or more, but taking a look at this, it has me wondering-

Is it possible that Wolski will be centing a line in Phoenix?

Let me say right out that none of those guys are LWs. Doan, Lombardi, and Upshall are all RW. Lombardi is a C playing LW. And Yandle is a D. Next on the point list is Robert Lang who was centering their first line with Lombardi and Doan. Maybe the plan over there is to put The Baron on a line with Doan and create a real top line. But just throwing it out there, if you look down the middle of the Yotes, there isn't a lot to be scared of. And I wonder if that's where we'll see Wolski on Thursday.

Respect

2010-03-01T23:20:42Z

Well, the Olympics are over. We got to see a lot of great hockey and hopefully showed the casual fans and first-timers how truly awesome this sport is.

What I also hope is that both American fans and, more importantly, players earned the respect of our hockey brethren north of the border. I don't want this to sound like I'm a sore loser, so let me start off by congratulating Team Canada for withstanding the incredible pressure to win and coming out on top in their national pastime on their soil. Because of the saturation of sports here in the United States, there isn't any international event that we would host where there would be that kind of pressure on our team. Not baseball. Not basketball. Not football. There are countless sporting events that are the crown jewels of their respective sports and everyone of them has a big following: the World Series; the NBA finals; the Masters; the Daytona 500; the NCAA Basketball championship; the BCS National Championship; the Super Bowl. (Coincidentally, the US-Canada matchup beat all of these in ratings except for the latter two). Of those sports, only baseball, basketball and golf are played in any kind of international tournament like the Olympics (golf is slated to be part of the 2016 Rio Games). Despite the great pride Americans take in some of these sports, it's nowhere near the pride Canadians take in hockey. It's a pride and a passion I admire and try hard to match. I'm not Canadian, so it probably never can compare, therefore I have to envy it.

It's a birthright to them, but despite that, it's not an entitlement, as many of the fans seemed to think. A birthright is something you are born to do. You still have to do it to earn it. It's akin to a rite of passage. An entitlement is something that you're given for free. Team Canada was not given this gold medal. They earned it. So to think of it as an entitlement diminishes its meaning. I would think that those 34 million Canadians think this is all the sweeter because their players had to earn it.

That's where the respect factor comes in. There is not a lot of respect when it comes to the way Canadian fans (and players) think of hockey in the United States. In certain ways, I can understand that. The NHL's struggles to expand the fan base have sometimes come at the expense of the Canadian hockey fan. (Here I am, a fan of a team that used to be a religion in Quebec City.) But there are millions of hardcore hockey fans here in the US. Not casual fans. Hardcore fans. USA Hockey's enormous success in developing more and more NHL stars is evidence that the game has grown by leaps and bounds on a grassroots level. Just the other night, a AAA game went into double overtime, delaying the start of my league game that night. The talent of these kids is amazing and their passion and excitement for the game is easily as visible as it is in any Canadian junior game. Just like their Canadian counterparts, their parents get up at ungodly hours to drive their kids to tournaments all over the region. They pay the league fees and the equipment costs because their kids love the game (and if we didn't have 300 days of sunshine in Denver, there would be a lot more backyard rinks). These fans aren't trying to steal the game from Canada. We want to love it as you do.

I'm not saying they have to like each other. They are rivals. Rivals aren't supposed to like each other. They're supposed to hate each other. Respect has nothing to do with that. But it's not a rivalry if one side doesn't respect the abilities of the other side.

Team USA made Team Canada fight for every inch. That doesn't deserve love, but it does deserve respect. It also reaffirms the beliefs of all Canadians and probably most American fans that the North American style of play is the way to go. These two teams easily played the two best games of the tournament.

While the growth of the game beyond Canadian borders (and North American borders) may sometimes seem like a threat to a national passion, one needs to remember that better competition makes victory sweeter. As long as Russia, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and now Switzerland develop their talent and try to knock off the teams on the pedestal, it will make staying on top more difficult and much more satisfying when it is accomplished. I can't imagine that Paul Henderson's goal in 1972 or Mario Lemieux's goal in 1987 would be near as iconic in Canada if the USSR's Red Machine was instead a B league team. The same can be said for Crosby's OT winner.

Victories are going to be harder to come by for every team in international play. I'm sure Canada is still going to be the superpower, but their standing will be all the more prestigious when they have to play formidable opponents to earn it.

I greatly respect the Canadian game and the development of its stars. I hope that street is now going two ways.

Congratulations and party hard.

P.S. Pretty good rating for the game in Denver despite the fact that the game had to go up against the Nuggets/Lakers game on ABC. We finished 9th in metered markets but considering that the 8 cities that finished ahead of us didn't have a local team playing at the same time, the ratings were still very good.