Cantu!!!!!

Last night I made my first trip up to watch the Marlins this season...& while the first 8 innings proved to be the MOST boring innings of my life...the bottom of the ninth more than made up for it. Manny Ramirez & the LA Dodgers were in town last night & were riding high after a win against the fish on Friday night. The Marlins went into the bottom of the ninth down 6-4, but a two-run pinch-hit double by Paulino tied it all up at 6. And a sac fly by Jorge Cantu with the bases loaded put the nail in the coffin & ended the game at 7-4.

While this game was exciting I can't help but wonder how my feelings towards the Marlins will be after I visit Fenway for the first time next weekend! For some reason I have a feeling that watching the Marlins will never be the same again.

This afternoon I'll be making my last trip up to watch the Panthers as they face off against the Lightning for their last game of the season. Stamkos netted two goals last night helping him reach 50 goals on the season (yikes!)...so I hope we find a way to stop him. Go Cats!

What a win!!!

Even though its too little too late, the Panthers pulled off a huge upset win over the Devils last night. Heading into what I'm sure everyone thought was a piece of cake win for the Devils, the Cats came out victorious 3-2. It was such a FUN game to watch! Clemmensen was absolutely amazing...stopping 21 Jersey shots in the 3rd period alone! He sure showed his former team what a mistake it was to sign him off. All in all it was a great game, not even the Devils fans around me annoyed me. They got real quiet when we took the lead...ha...suck it. Mr. Goalie royalty himself, Martin Brodeur, was an experience to watch. Even though I think there is wayyyyy too much hype surrounding him...did anyone else see his performance in the Olympics? Thats what I thought. He is going to be an amazing 1st round of the playoffs goalie...& then it'll be off to play golf when they get eliminated.

The Cats even helped my Pens inch a little closer to clinching the Atlantic Division. After that disastrous game against the Senators on Tuesday night I think this was a great game to bounce back. All we have left is a home & home series with the Lighting this weekend & our season will be over. Hopefully we end on a high note...& hopefully we carry that high note over into next season. It would be absolutely fabulous to make hockey big down here in South Florida.

Nathan Horton on Win against Devils

Panthers BEAT Devils!

I couldn't believe it! Even watching it from center ice I could not believe the Panthers actually beat the New Jersey Devils. Hello! The Panthers, not to be mean, SUCK! Our season has been terrible and yet today we managed to beat one of the top teams in the NHL.
Scott Clemmensen dominated the net with an amazing 42 saves and Nathan Horton topped the game off with the game winning goal.
Horton wins the douchebag of the night award though for skipping out on skating on to the ice when named the number one star.
The Cats end their season against the Lightning, away in Tampa Bay on Saturday and back home on Sunday. Hopefully they'll get another two wins and close the season out on a good note.

Keith Ballard Sends Puck Into His Own Net

I was there and it was even worse watching it live...

And we started off so promisingly...

Apparently my amazing presence at the Panthers and Rangers game last night wasn't enough to help the boys pull a W. The Panthers went up 1-0 in the second with a goal from Keith Ballard, and that was the only cheer we would give for the home team. 18 seconds into the 3rd period Marc Staal (that stud)...went coast to coast for a goal to tie it. That was the turning point for the Rangers, they would put up 3 more before the end of the game. The Cats have gone back to the pass, pass, pass offense we are so damn good at...we can't seem to wrap our heads around shooting the puck. We should spend all of our games just shooting the puck...we have absolutely nothing to lose!!! The Rangers are vying for that 8th playoff spot in the east, and from what I heard from all the Rangers fans around me (because yes there were more Rangers fans than Panthers fans), the boys from New York have been playing nothing short of fantastic. If only the Cats would show any sort of life...highly unlikely, and with Booth out until next season it looks like we have just about given up. Such a shame to think that at one point this season we were in a playoff spot...makes it kind of frustrating to cheer for a team who looks like they enjoy losing.

Staalsie <3

Upside...Pens & Caps won!
(One might ask how I can cheer for both teams seeing as their mortal enemies...its simple, if push comes to shove the Pens have my heart, but there are just too many players on the Capitals who are F.A.F...Roxie that one was for you.)

the definition of F.A.F.

& my current favorite

Brooksy is Back!

Looks like Brooksy was all the Caps needed to get back in their game. With Brooks on the ice, behind a cage of course, the Caps beat the Thrashers 2-1 Thursday night at home with goals from Nicklas Backstrom and Matt Bradley. 

No score from Ovechkin in this game. Ovi better pick it up because Steven Stamkos has tied him and both have the second most goals in the NHL behind Sidney Crosby's 47.Weird considering the Lightning are doing even worse than the Panthers. Must be pretty frustrating for Stamkos.

Tickets for playoff games are already on sale! Be sure to visit the Capitals website for more information.  

Tonight I will be at the Rangers @ Panthers game so news on that tomorrow. Hopefully the Cats can reciprocate what they did with the Bruins and win again. 

My teams weekend wrap-up...

The Capitals were down 4-1 at one point on this fine Sunday. 4-1!!!! When is the last time that happened??? The Reds ended the day losing 5-3...that sucks. Ovi marked up his 100th point on the season & still managed to be the second star of the game...ridonkulous!

The Penguins had a fabulous weekend...owning the Flyers on Saturday 4-1, & winning a shootout thriller against the MapleLeafs on Sunday. Hell of a way to bounce back from that loss against Washington on Wednesday.

The Panthers ended their Canadian road trip with a loss to the Ottawa Senators. I can't believe I'm actually going to say this but...BRING CLEMMENSEN BACK!!!

Photo Blurb: David Booth

Florida Panther, David Booth, looks like he just walked off the set of a 70's TV show in this shot and I love it.
During Thursdays game against the Canadiens Booth was hit hard and went down. He literally hobbled off the ice, not able to keep his balance, and was taken to a local hospital. He's already back in South Florida but it is still unsure how long he will be out and if he'll come back at all.
Booth suffered an extremely hard hit early in the season where he was knocked out by Flyers captain Mike Richards. The hard hit knocked him out to the point that he slid across the ice like a ragdoll and just lay motionless. The Cats will be taking extra percaution now with Booth because once you have such a severe concussion you are easily succesible to another.

The day has arrived...

Finally! My game of the week is here!!! While watching the Cats make it two-in-a-row last night & witnessing the utter STUD-ness of he who we call Niemi show the Coyotes who the boss is...the Capitals & Penguins finally square off tonight! Though I am saddened that both Brooks Laich & Evegni Malkin will not be playing due to injury, it is always fun to watch the Crosby & Ovechkin show...who will be crowned victorious...we shall have our answer in a few short hours!

Ovi & Sid playing nice...yeah right!

so close! & yet...

bff's Malkin + Ovechkin go at it

will Geno make an appearance on Wednesday?!?!

sidenote:

Panthers have jumped from 14th to 11th in the East!!! 

Is it too little too late?!?!

Just Make Out Already!

Have you ever noticed how EXTREMELY close some hockey players get to each other when they celebrate or just talk?
Honestly, JUST MAKE OUT ALREADY!

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin













Brooks Laich and Marc-Andre Fleury

Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin

Nathan Horton and Jordan Leopold

Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury

John Carlson and Alexander Semin

No Ovechkin, No Problem

Who said the Capitals need Ovechkin to win? I definitely didn't. Although I LOVE the Russian bad boy I must admit that his team killed the Florida Panthers tonight in a 7-3 game. I love my home team but the Panthers got raped tonight and they deserved it. They were lazy and slow tonight and made absolutely no impression on me while the Caps totally shined.
Kudos to #1 star of the night Brooks Laich who scored 2 goals. 
As great as the game was though it would have been even better to have had Ovechkin there. There will always be a next time though.
Enjoy super UP CLOSE photos of the Capitals during their warm-up.

Ovechkin Who???

Washington Capitals 7 - Florida Panthers 3

That should pretty much sum up tonight's game.
They ripped us a new one.
None of the Panthers showed up to play.
Brooks Laich had 2 goals, 1 assist & 8 shots on goal...stud.
My prescence either severly handicapped the Cats or I'm a good luck charm for the Caps...I'm going with the latter :).

With Ovechkin out for 2 games due to his hit on the BlackHawks Brian Campbell on Sunday one might have thought the Caps would struggle. The complete opposite has been shown. If they play this good without 'The Great 8', imagine them at full strength when he comes back Saturday against Tampa. Can anyone stop the Reds?

UGHHHH! WHY?!

It's amazing how one stupid survey at work sends the entire facility into a frenzy! Sorry for non-updatingness but it ends now.

Let's talk about important things now like Ovi getting suspended for two games... :(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:( x infinity!
Tomorrow I am going to the Panthers vs. Capitals game and I was super excited about seeing Ovechkin play but alas he has been suspended for a dumb little hit. (Ok maybe it wasn't little but why couldn't they at least wait until after they played the Panthers?!). I could go on forever but I'll cut the Ovechkin rant here.



In other news:
Geno Malkin's foot is OK! After getting hit by his own teammate Kris Letang at their game against the Lightning Malkin left the game with hopes of his foot not being broken and it wasn't. Snap snaps for Malkin and the Pens!

I was supposed to post about Cory Stillman's shootout goal against the Wild immediately after the game but I got tied up so here is your shout out Cory! Kudos to him for scoring the game-tie goal and game winning goal!

Sidney Crosby... Well there really isn't anything new to say about him so I'll just go with the usual: Sidney Crosby is perfect in every single possible way :). Keep it perfect Sid <3.

Super Weekend!!!

The Panthers beat the Western conference leading Sharks on Saturday with an OT goal by Bryan Allen. Keith Ballard, Shawn Mathias, & Allen were the 3 heroes for the Cats scoring the 3 goals that helped the boys come back from a 2-goal deficit. When the 'boys from the South' are on, by god they are really on, amazing play. The Cats finish off their road trip with a 2-1 record & head into Tuesday nights game against a beyond amazing Washington Capitals team.

Speaking of the Capitals...

Sundays game of the week on NBC between the Capitals & BlackHawks was one of the best games I have seen all season. The young Hawks squad came out strong scoring 3 goals in the 1st two periods, & everything definitely seemed like it was lost for the Reds. Antti Niemi seemed almost God-like with some of the most amazing saves I have ever seen. I have a feeling the BlackHawks are going to be playing well into June. But a little luck & a hell of a lot of talent helped the Capitals score the 3 goals they needed to catch up. Laich, Backstrom & Fehr all scored in the 1st ten minutes of the period, & Backstrom sealed the deal with a goal in OT. The Capitals showed that all is not lost without Alexander Ovechkin, Ovi was ejected from the game in the 1st period for a nasty push into the boards on Brian Campbell. The great one knew the punishment was going to be bad as soon as he laid the hit on Campbell...does this mean he's learned his lesson? Doubt, his arrogance will eventually be his demise.

Tidbit: Jordan Staal's cutest face ever! (Broken nose & all)

Still the Man!

The star of the night for the Florida Panthers tonight against the Wild...well it's none other than Cory Stillman. He's still got it! The Cats started off slow allowing 2 goals in the first period, & not being able to put one in the net until early in the 3rd when Frolik netted a sweet snap shot. Stillman tied it at 2-all halfway through the 3rd, and from then on it was all Panthers. The game remained tied through overtime & then it was shootout time. Vokoun denied the Wild in their own house & Stillman put in the Cats 3rd round shot to close the books. This marks win number 3 for the Panthers with their next game at the Avalanche on Thursday night. Dare I dream for 4-in-a-row...I can't...but I desperately want to.

Side-note:

During the 1st intermission of the game they had a special feature on nicknames for the boys on the team. Captain Bryan McCabe was asked about some of the ones he had heard throughout his career & with a smirk he replied how it wouldn't be appropriate to say them on camera. (God damn I love him) So for your pleasure...the Panthers nicknames:

McCabe - Caber

Ballard - Bally

Weiss - Weisser

Horton - Horty

Clemmenson - Clemmer

Allen -Ally

Campbell - Soupy

Dvorak -D’Bo

Reinprecht - Rhino

Matthias - Danger

Booth -Boothy

Vokoun - Vokie

Stillman - Stiller

Video of the Day: Florida Panthers- Feel The Growl

So yummy!

2 for 2 @ home!!!

What a successful night for my boys! All my teams had big W's today, but the Cats were the most impressive. Why? Because we actually won more than one game in a row! The Carolina Hurricanes were in town tonight & things were going very well for them, they had won 7 in a row. Well not even Eric Staal's magic could help the Canes tonight, & that streak came to an end with the Panthers winning 4-1.

Ex-Bruin Byron Bitz made his debut with Florida Saturday night, & it looks as if he is going to fit in just fine. Vokoun was amazing with 31 saves, & Kamil Kreps had a great night with 2 goals. The Panthers seem to have picked up a fight man with Nick Tarnasky, he's had 3 fights in 2 games, & the crowd eats him up. The star of the night for me however was the Panthers defense, they had an amazing 3rd period killing off a 5-3 power play.

The Panthers will spend this week on the road & won't be back in the Bank Atlantic Center until March 16th when they play the Capitals. I'm praying as of now for a win that day!

My Pens beat the Dallas Stars 6-3. Jordan Staal got the ball rolling with their first goal, but the star of the game (surprise surprise) was Mr. Sidney Crosby, scoring 2 goals to help lead the Pens to victory. 3-0 after the olympic break, Pittsburgh is rolling.

The Capitals beat the Rangers 2-0 at home in the Verizon Center, extending their home win streak to 13. They are unspottable!

This weeks Sunday game is the Red Wings & Blackhawks. I'm already looking forward to it. Two teams who don't seem to know the meaning of the word lose. It should be a good show.

The Worlds Best Hidden Treasure: An Introduction

This girl has finally discovered the worlds best hidden treasure: hockey. Fast-paced, intense, entertaining and not to mention abundant with eye candy. I can go into statistics and the history of the game but really who wants to hear about that?

No no, here you'll read about Ovechkin's antics and how damn sexy he is when he slams his body into the glass after a goal. There'll be talk of that kid named Sidney who seems to up his game every time his skates touch the ice. Staal will be everywhere, after all there are four of them, and you'll get game talk leading all the up to the Stanley Cup finals.

We try not to be biased here but everyone has their team. Mine? Living in Miami I am sort of obligated to go for the Panthers but talking favorite I'd have to go with the Penguins. There's just something about that #71 that keeps me on the edge of my seat... Oh! and #58? He can speak French to me anytime.

Wait but what about he who wears the yellow laces? I do love Candy KANEs and there's that #20 from the Flyers.

Oh snap, picking just one team is virtually impossible. You know what? I think I'm just gonna go for the panthers-penguins-capitals-blackhawks-flyers-hurricanes. Yeah, I'll just go with that.
The Hockey Blah is now open for business.