If there are two things Rocket loves, they are hockey and the sound of his own voice. They come together beautifully in this little guest post. Rocket?
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For reasons that I do not care to share, I have managed to attend fiveCarolina Hurricanes home games this NHL season. This is odd, since I live half the country away from North Carolina. Nonetheless, the most recent game that I was able to attend was last night's thrilling 4-3 Hurricanes overtime victory over the Washington Capitals. To that end, I would like to share some fun facts, odd observations, and precocious predictions from that particular contest.
* The Carolina Hurricanes are the Little Nicky Puntos of the NHL. The Canes have had a terrible season, but they lead the league in trying hard, giving their all, and headfirst slides. Seriously, there was really no reason for this team to care last night, but they managed to turn a 2-1 third period deficit into a 3-2 lead – which they subsequently blew when they allowed a game tying goal with less then ten seconds left – and finally an overtime victory.
* Hockey fans will of course know that the physical, emotional, spiritual, and [redactular] leader of the Caps, Alex Ovechkin, was serving the second game of his two game suspension last night for blasting Chicago defenseman Brian Campbell this past Sunday. Although completely ignored by the liberal media, the rumor around the arena is that Ovie watched the game in the press box with the reanimated corpse of Jesse Helms, which had been brought back to life by the sheer force of Alex's roguish smile.
* The Washington Capitals are a supremely talented team that is ridiculously fun to watch. This was very apparent, as the Caps controlled the puck for approximately 143% of the time. The difference between the two teams was stark, despite the fact that the Hurricanes – their horrible record notwithstanding – are not completely devoid of talent themselves. The disparity is best put in Stu-ian terms. The Hurricanes would be like referencing seeing Blues Traveler at Aquatennial in 1991. The Capitals would be like referencing seeing a secret Black Flag show in a cornfield in Rock County in 1981 that was only advertised by word of mouth.
* When the Capitals are knocked out of the playoffs in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals because of a lackadaisical defensive effort and mediocre to sub-par goaltending I will be sad but not surprised.
The Timberwolves’ bench depth hasn’t been tested this year, but their bench quality has been a huge asset. It was on display once again in a comfortable win over Charlotte on Monday.
