Friday Puckpourri: Ugh T-Birds, incredible comeback in Kootenay, baby "Blues" for TJ Oshie... + the King of Pop-- on ICE?!

1. UGH, T-BIRDS

Game 1 in the second round of the WHL playoffs is in the books and the Seattle Thunderbirds got the ugly end of the stick. The Kelowna (formerly the TACOMA) Rockets took advantage of a number of penalties and just plain outmanned the T-Birds to a final score of 6-2.

 (Photo: Kelowna Rockets/WHL)

Ugh.
Double Ugh.

I know Kelowna finished the regular season with a whopping 118 points, more than any team in the WHL, OHL or QMJHL. Powerhouse? You bet. Unbeatable? No team is unbeatable. Just ask the 2008-2009 San Jose Sharks, who won the President's Trophy with 117 points, only to lose 4-2 to the 8th seeded Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the playoffs. Or the 2009-2010 Washington Capitals, who finished the season with a whopping 121 points only to go down in 7 games against the Montreal Canadiens, also in first round action.

I'm not a sports psychologist, nor do I play one on TV. But I'd say the T-Birds are facing more than a formidable opponent in the Kelowna Rockets this series. Of course the Rockets are formidable - they've got the best record in the CHL. But they also have something else: history - and recent history at that. In the first round of the playoffs last year, Seattle won the first 3 games and seemed poised to finish off the Rockets and advance to the second round. Instead, Kelowna pulled off an incredible upset, winning the next four games and leaving a stunned T-Birds team (and fans) in their wake. (They didn't advance past the second round after hitting a brick wall called the Kamloops Blazers). 

So... this armchair sports psychologist thinks maybe *some* of the T-Birds may be remembering their massive fall from grace last season and the memory is (consciously or subconsciously) messing with their minds. If I'm wrong, I'll be the first person to offer a loud "mea culpa" at center ice of ShoWare Center. But I heartily believe Seattle has what it takes to bring down this Goliath-like Kelowna team. In fact, the teams split their four regular season games with two wins apiece (4-3 Seattle, 4-3 Kelowna, 4-1 Seattle, 7-3 Kelowna). 

Here's hoping the T-Birds roll into Prospera Place tomorrow night and show the Rockets they don't care about 118-point regular season records or what happened last year, then ride that momentum to Kent and show the hometown crowd, and most importantly, themselves, that they've got the heart and the talent to keep the post-season going.

2. INCREDIBLE COMEBACK IN KOOTENAY

And I'm not talking about the playoffs, although the Ice handily defeated the Calgary Hitmen 4-2 to advance to the second round (Game 1 against Medicine Hat is tomorrow night). 

No, the incredible comeback I'm talking about happened before the March 29th game at Western Financial Place in Cranbrook, when Ice forward Tim Bozon took part in the ceremonial puck drop before his teammates skated to a 5-3 victory and knocked Calgary out of the playoffs.

(Photo: Barry Coulter)

Tim spent the better part of the month in a Saskatoon hospital, battling a form a bacterial meningitis so serious, doctors had to place him in a coma for two weeks while they treated him. He was released from the hospital on March 28 and watched his teammates win the next night. The Montreal Canadiens prospect is now back home in France with his parents, where he'll continue the healing process.

Here's the news conference with Tim and his father (warning: dad gets a little emotional)


Here's video of the ceremonial puck drop: 


3. BABY "BLUES" FOR T.J. OSHIE

Blues star (and Seattle Junior Hockey Association alum) T.J. Oshie has been tearing up the ice and helping St. Louis clinch a playoff spot and a whopping 111 points. But on the Today Show this morning, TJ and his fiancee Lauren shared the emotional challenge faced by their newborn daughter, Lyla Grace, who was born with a serious birth defect called gastroschisis (part of baby Lyla's intestines were outside her tiny body). Surgeons successfully repaired the problem and baby Lyla is expected to go home with her mom and dad next week. 

3. THE KING OF POP... ON ICE?!

The Hubby (@StuV94) spotted this photo tweeted out by @History_Pix today. He retweeted it, then texted me to check it out.

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The photo is identified as a ceremonial puck drop between the Vancouver Canucks and Pittsburgh Penguins on November 16, 1984. According to a story posted by the Canucks in 2009, the only thing the team can confirm is that Stan Smyl is #12 for Vancouver, and we all recognize #66 in the Penguins uniform. But they couldn't confirm with complete certainty that the gentleman holding the puck aloft is actually the King of Pop himself. According to the story, Michael Jackson *was* in Vancouver at the time, performing for three nights at BC Place, so one would assume this was the real deal participating in the ceremonial puck drop. He looks real to me and it seems like the type of thing the kid in him would have enjoyed doing. 

I'd love to sit here and continue ruminating with you, but I've gotta go. I think a UFO just landed in my backyard - and I think Bigfoot's behind the wheel. #TheTruthIsOutThere

Canucks... Bruins... and BEER! NHL Tweetup in Seattle for SCF Game 2!

Hey, Seattle-area hockey fans! Join us for a fun night of hockey and good times, as we host an NHL Tweetup for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals!!

Where:
Teddy's Tavern
1012 Northeast 65th Street
Seattle, WA 98115-6609
(206) 522-4950

When:
Saturday, June 4, 2011

If your team is NOT playing for the Cup, that's okay! Wear your colors and represent! Best of all, meet other like-minded hockey fanatics! Maybe we can form an ownership group to bring the NHL to the Emerald City!

Signed, Your Hosts:
Bill @wwbaker3
Su @Motley_Su

Wednesday Puckpourri - Flames should be burning with embarassment; 17 WHL players invited to Team Canada WJC selection camp

The Canucks/Flames game just ended and all I can say is WOW. To quote my friend Shawn, who described another game the same way - the Canucks scored a touchdown, while the Flames scored a safety. A 7-2 loss is more than embarrassing. I'd say it's downright humiliating. And we all sat here watching the Flames falter and fall apart, kind of like a train wreck. Kind of? Let me amend that. The Calgary Flames WERE a train wreck in motion.

Mason Raymond scored his second career hat trick, with one goal in the first and two in the third. He also assisted on the Canucks' second goal, by Jeff Tambellini. Raymond sure had a lot of accuracy tonight, considering he fired just four shots on net. Daniel Sedin, Alex Burrows and Dan Hamhuis also scored for Vancouver. Tim Jackman and Alex Tanguay tried to keep the Flames in the fight, then the Canucks blew things wide open in the third, turning the Scotiabank Saddledome into their own personal shooting gallery.

I'm sure bigger Calgary and Vancouver fans than I will post their own, more colorful blogs about tonights fiasco game. When I see their posts, I'll link them here.

I'm excited that 17 WHL players have been asked to attend Team Canada's WJC selection camp, including Everett Silvertips d-man Ryan Murray and Seattle Thunderbirds goalie Calvin Pickard. I wrote up a brief story for the KING5.com site and listed all 39 players invited to attend. You can read it by clicking here.

Power Plays & Power Chords: Hockey's Rockin' Deejays

There are several things you can count on happening at a hockey game: the referees will get booed; someone will go to the penalty box; and there will be some rockin’ music driving the players and the fans.

Music has been a mainstay at hockey games as far back as anyone can remember. In the old days, an organist provided the tunes during stoppages in play (anyone remember the scene in “Slapshot” where Reggie Dunlop fires a puck off the organ player’s head?) Nowadays, you can still find the occasional organist. But at most arenas, a music director cues up snippets of songs to break the silence, drive the team or perk up the crowd.

Take a recent Saturday night at ShoWare Center in the Seattle suburb of Kent. The arena slowly filled with fans excited to cheer their Seattle Thunderbirds to victory in WHL playoff action against the Spokane Chiefs. The refs took the ice to a chorus of boos. So did the Chiefs. Then, announcer Tom Helm bellowed, “Are you ready!” and music filled every corner of the arena. On this night, as in other nights during this season, it’s the chorus to the popular song “Let it Rock” by Kevin Rudolf. The crowd goes wild as the white-clad T-Birds take the ice and skate around furiously.

With one song, music director Mitch Brotherton set the tone for a game that would be as hard rockin’ as it was hard hitting. This is what he and many others do in hockey arenas around the world. And it doesn’t matter what league you follow. From the major juniors of the Western Hockey League, to the big boys of the NHL, the song, as they say, remains the same. Only the tunes are different.

Take the goal song, for instance. Many teams, like the T-Birds, stick to the tried and true anthem “Rock and Roll, Part 2” by Gary Glitter. It’s been Seattle’s goal song almost since the team’s early days as the Breakers in the late 1970’s/early 80’s.

“If I remember correctly, we were one of the first sports teams to use that consistently during games,” remembers Mitch Brotherton. “A couple of years ago, we tried to experimenting with a variation of it by a local band. It didn’t go over well.”

Cross-town rivals, the Everett Silvertips, turn to “Zombie Nation” by Kernkraft 400 to celebrate their goals. Music Director Aaron Wilson, “Our goal song has been the same ever since we got here. I think we’re the only ones who play it after goals, at least in our league.”

The Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League have also stuck with Gary Glitter. But Bill Dotzel, who handles songs for the Pittsburgh Penguins affiliate, inadvertently launched another post-goal tradition. “We started something last year where after we scored a goal and the song played, the public address guy would announce the goal and we would play a guy in the office yelling ‘whoo!’ We made an MP3 of it and it took off.”

It’s not uncommon for little “extras” to be edited into songs. Dave Levinson, who’s been handling music for the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks since the 2000-2001 season sometimes goes crazy with the sound effects to complement the team’s goal song, “Crowd Chant” by Joe Satriani. “I dub in sirens, goal horns, whatever’s handy,” says Levinson.

The main thing seems to be to make things fun. Steve Rudolph keeps the beat at Xcel Energy Center, home of the Minnesota Wild. He also uses “Crowd Chant” as the goal song and for Wild fans, it’s one big sing-a-long. Steve wants to take it one step further, though. “We’ve been trying to get Joe Satriani to come play live for us during a game. So far, the schedule hasn’t worked out but we’re working on it.”

Head to Los Angeles and you’ll hear something completely different when the Kings score. Music Director Dieter Ruele says the songs he plays fits the city quite well. “Two songs are played after every Kings goal. First is Randy Newman’s ‘I love LA.’ After about ten seconds of that I play a song called ‘Power Ride.’ It’s an original song specifically for our goals. Newman because we’ve been doing it since the 80’s, and what other team can play it? And ‘Power Ride’ because it’s original.”

Still, other teams choose not to stick with one goal song, but shuffle through several, or change things up every couple of months. Take the Philadelphia Phantoms (Philadelphia Flyers affiliate) and Minnesota Wild affiliate Houston Aeros of the AHL. Phantoms’ music director Mike Menschner cycles through specific parts of two songs: “Do You Wanna Touch” by Joan Jett and “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” by the Who. “I play the chorus part of ‘Do You Wanna Touch’, the part that goes ‘yeah, oh yeah.’ For the Who, it’s the screaming part at the beginning of ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again.’ He pauses to demonstrate and does a fairly good imitation of Roger Daltrey’s tortured wail.

Houston Aeros’ music man Tom Entwistle says team management chooses a different goal song from time to time. He also plays something specific when the opposing team scores. “We try to play a song that makes fun of them, like ‘One is the Loneliest Number.’ We recently started playing sound effects of crickets.”

Many music directors, like Brotherton, Entwistle, Menschner and Levinson, have backgrounds in radio or as party deejays. Entwistle and Rudolph have also played music for pro football (old Houston Oilers, Minnesota Vikings) and baseball (Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins). Ruele was originally hired to play organ for the Kings. He’s also played for the San Jose Sharks, Phoenix Coyotes and the NBA’ s Los Angeles Lakers. Dieter still plays organ at Kings games, but is also in charge of all the other music.

Penalties get extra attention from these guys. Says Houston’s Entwistle, “We have songs for our own players when they go to the penalty box. One of those we play is the theme from ‘People’s Court.’ Or a song by Cowboy Mouse called ‘Why You Wanna Do Me Like That?” At a Seattle Thunderbirds game, fans might hear “It’s a Mistake” by Men at Work. The Everett Silvertips’ Aaron Wilson actually has a playlist of songs to play, just for bad penalty calls.

With a plethora of songs at their fingertips, do any of these guys still get special requests from players?
You bet.

Mitch Brotherton recalls one request from team captain Thomas Hickey. “Thomas asked me to find a version of ‘Hick Town’ by Jason Aldean and use that when he scores. I had it ready our next game.” And Mitch doesn’t reserve that song just for goals. Recently, he played it after Hickey laid a monster hit on an opponent and helped turn the tide in a very close game. The T-Birds scored on the next play.

Thomas Hickey/Seattle Thunderbirds

Houston’s Tom Entwistle has a special song for Mitch Love, a fan favorite who has gotten into a few scraps on the ice. “When he fights, we have a special button on our computer called the ‘Mitch Love’ button. We hit the button when Mitch fights and the song, ‘Who Do You Love,’ by George Thorogood plays. “The song seems to be a hit with Love as well as the fans. “For some reason, the other player will try to pull Mitch’s jersey off him. Mitch will wave the jersey in the air as he heads to the penalty box or to the locker room.”

Mitch Love/Photo: Fred Trask

The Wild’s Steve Rudolph also has a special song he plays when enforcer Derek Boogard gets into a scrap. “A year or two ago, Boogard passed along an AC/DC song (“Boogie Man”) that he wanted to be played after his fights. It’s a lesser-known track so he actually sent the CD up through someone, to make sure we had it.”

Derek Boogard/Minnesota Wild

Philadelphia Phantoms music guy Mike Menschner takes a “Southern” approach to saluting two of his team’s top players. “I play ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ for Jared Ross and Scott Munroe.” (Note: Both Ross and Munroe played college hockey at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. “Sweet Home, Alabama” was the team’s theme song.)

Jared Ross/Philadelphia Phantoms

Scott Munroe/Philadelphia Phantoms

Another mainstay at many hockey games at all level is 80’s heavy metal. Every guy interviewed gave the same response when the topic came up: a chuckle, then a seal of approval. Says the Canucks’ Dave Levinson, “In its day it was dubbed ‘arena rock’ and it works. The guitars and drums have a driving edge. There are a lot of songs from that era that have good intro elements that add to a game.”

The Kings’ Dieter Ruele agrees. “I would guess hard rock appeals to hockey fans because the game itself is kind of like hard rock. It’s a physical game, the ice is hard, the skates are sharp, etc. There’s a certain ‘toughness’ that hard rock music and ice hockey share.”

The Aeros’ Tom Entwistle plays all the greats. “RATT, Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot, Scorpions. The 80’s will never die in hockey circles. They have great intros and all you need are 15 seconds nowadays.”

Bill Dotzel plays about 4 or 5 AC/DC songs during the course of a WSB Penguins game. “We have a video ice projector and do a nice slide show to ‘Thunderstruck.’”

There’s one song you’d never expect to be popular at a hockey game but nearly every music director interviewed says the crowd goes crazy whenever they play it. It’s a rendition of “Cotton-Eyed Joe,” by a band called the Rednexx. The Everett Silvertips have incorporated that song into a contest during the second intermission. “It’s called ‘Dance for your dinner,’” says Aaron Wilson. “We almost always start with the ‘Chicken Dance’ and then we’ll have some kind of rotating song for second one and always end with ‘Cotton-Eyed Joe. How it got so popular, I don’t know. I guess it’s one that really fires up the crowd.’”

The T-Birds have a dance contest during the first period. The winner gets to ride in the Zamboni during the first intermission.

Dave Levinson gets even more adventurous at Canucks games. “We try them all,” he says. “’Country Boy’ (by John Denver), ‘Zorba the Greek’, ‘Dueling Banjos.’ I’d like to say everything I’ve played, the crowd likes.’

I ask these guys if they’ve ever played a song that just completely bombed with the crowd. Most say they haven’t, that if a song seems awkward, they switch to another one pretty quickly. However, the T-Birds’ Mitch Brotherton and Canucks Dave Levinson each shared a situation where a song crashed and burned.

Mitch: “I could have sworn it would have had a better response but we played John Denver’s ‘Thank God I’m a Country Boy. The song starts off with clapping. I thought it would be a crowd involvement song and it just fell flat on its face.”

Dave’s musical faux pas elicited an unexpected response. “There’s one song I played – ‘The Happy Wanderer’ and I played it in Vancouver (against the Montreal Canadiens), hoping the crowd would sing along. Right after the whistle blew, the phone rang and it was the GM. He said, ‘Don’t ever play that song again.’ That was the first and last time that anyone ever called and said, ‘don’t play that.’” (Note: “The Happy Wanderer” is actually popular with Montreal Canadiens fans.)

These guys have song collections that would make even the most serious music collector drool with envy. They find their music in a myriad of ways: through partnerships with local radio stations, sites like iTunes and Amazon.com, subscription services like “Promo Only,” or even from record labels.

Before you think about running out and trying to hook up with your local hockey team to spin songs, you need to know this: nearly every guy has another job, some, within the organization. Mitch Brotherton is the Seattle Thunderbirds’ IT guy. Aaron Wilson is in charge of ticket sales for the Everett Silvertips. So is Bob Dotzel of the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins. Mike Menschner, Tom Entwistle and Dave Levinson all have outside jobs. They call their hockey mix-master jobs a “labor of love.”

The fans love them right back, judging by the way they respond during games. Some even email the teams, asking about a certain song. If these guys can answer, they will. One thing most say they can’t do right now, is post their song lists online. For some, it’s just too busy up in the music booth to even keep track of the songs they’ve played. That’s not the case with Dave Levinson. He regularly posts playlists online at the Vancouver Canucks website.

So, the next time you go to a hockey game, sit back and listen to the soundtrack that accompanies the action on the ice. See if you don’t find yourself responding as much to the driving beat of the music, as the players driving up the ice toward net. Only please try to restrain yourself when “Cotton Eyed Joe” comes on. Or just let it all hang out and show off your best moves. You never know. In addition to seeing your team win, you could win dinner. .. or even a ride in a Zamboni

Silvertips' Ellington bound for Manitoba and the AHL

Taylor Ellington/Photo: Frank Deines III/Everett Silvertips

The Everett Silvertips have announced that defenseman Taylor Ellington is joining the Manitoba Moose, the AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks. Ellington signed a 3 year, entry level contract with the Canucks last week. He and the Silvertips wrapped up the season over the weekend, after falling to the Tri City Americans in first round playoff action.

Ellington was drafted by the Silvertips in 2003, and played his entire WHL career in Everett. He has played in a franchise record 287 games, and tallied 14 goals and 52 assists for 66 points. This season he was honored as the team's "Most Valuable Player", along with teammate Shane Harper.

The Vancouver Canucks drafted Elllington at the top of the second round, 33rd overall, in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. He is expected to join the Moose on Wednesday. Manitoba leads the AHL's Western Conference.

Taylor Ellington recently talked about his hockey history with me.

To read the interview, cilck here.

GOOD LUCK, TAYLOR!!!

Learning to LIVE in the Moment

My computer wallpaper consists of a photo featuring two hockey players: Kris Letang and Luc Bourdon. Kris’ arm is draped around Luc’s shoulders. They are both grabbing the handles of a trophy cup. Medals hang from around their necks. Luc's face is split in a wide, joyful grin. Kris is smirking, his free hand raised to show the “we’re number one” gesture. It’s a jubilant moment frozen forever in time. The only things on these two young men’s minds were their great accomplishment, and quite possibly, where they would go celebrate afterward.

I don’t know when it was taken. I’m going to guess that it was a tournament that Team Canada won because Kris is wearing a Team Canada hat. We all know that Kris went on to be drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins and Luc joined the Vancouver Canucks. We also know that Luc died in a motorcycle accident near his home in New Brunswick last month.

Suddenly, young and carefree collided with painful loss and responsibility. Kris talked about how excited Luc had been to ride his motorcycle, which he had bought just two weeks before his death. In a press conference just hours after learning of his friend's death, Kris insisted that Luc knew the dangers and knew to be careful. (The RCMP does believe that rain made the road slippery to handle and call the collision a terrible accident.) And the hockey world watched a young man struggle to understand just what had happened. At this moment, he wasn't an NHL star on a team that was making a run for the Stanley Cup. He was just a young man trying to come to terms with a heartbreaking fact: that his good friend, with whom he had planned to vacation this summer, was gone. Just like that.

The tributes I’ve read about Luc describe a man with tremendous hockey talent and a tremendous heart. Everyone said he loved living and lived to the fullest. He contributed on the ice and off. He was friendly and enjoyed everything about being an NHL player, from playing with the likes of Trevor Linden, to meeting fans. The future only looked brighter for this 21 year old. And then it was gone.

And so, I come back to that photo, that moment frozen in time. My son asks me why I have it as my wallpaper. I explain. I keep that photo as a lesson to always LIVE IN THE MOMENT.

Celebrate every victory as though it is your first… and last.

Never take a friend… or yourself for granted.

Because you never know when it will all go away.