Weekend Puck-Pourri: UAH, Silvertips, T-Birds & ONE BAD COOKIE

Three cheers go out this weekend-- and one very loud, resounding BOO.

First Cheer: University of Alabama Huntsville Chargers hockey team

                                Your 2010 CHA Champs: UAH Chargers (Photo: UAH)

UAH beat Niagara last night 3-2 in overtime to claim the CHA Championship crown and a berth in the NCAA Division I hockey tournament. This is the second CHA trophy for the team from Huntsville and an amazing way to cap a season that began under a cloud of uncertainty. The CHA was dissolving and other divisions were absorbing teams into their folds. UAH requested to join the CCHA, which had an opening, but the CCHA declined, leaving UAH with two options at the end of the season: continue as an independent or fold. We still don't know exactly what's going to happen, but the group SAVE UAH HOCKEY has been working hard all season to keep us updated and also offer up ways to support the team and the program that made UAH the "Hockey Capital of the South" for a more than a quarter of a century. Click here to catch up on SAVE UAH HOCKEY's great works. And: GO CHARGERS GO!!!!

Second Cheer: Everett Silvertips (WHL)

                                Everett Silvertips (Photo: Frank Deines III/Everett Silvertips)
                   
The Silvertips are one win away from claiming the US Division and Western Conference championships, after shutting out the Chilliwack Bruins 5-0 in their last home game of the regular season last night. Shane Harper opened the scoring in the first, with his 41st goal. I lost count, but I think this is also something like the 20th game in which he's scored the first goal. Harper scored again in the third, notching his 100th career goal. Chris Langkow, Byron Froese and Captain Zack Dailey also scored, while goalie (and San Jose signee) Thomas Heemskerk stopped all 25 Chilliwack shots for the shutout. For a more complete play by play, click here for an "official" recap. I don't know who wrote it, but they did a very thorough job. The Silvertips could clinch the abovementioned championships with a win tonight in Spokane. 'Tips fans should also thank the Chiefs, because Spokane knocked off Tri City 5-4 last night, thus toppling the mighty Americans out of the top spot and opening the door for Everett to sneak through.  You can listen to the game on the radio at KRKO-AM, NorthSound 1380.  Jon Rosen is sure to provide the exciting play by play. If you're a Chiefs fan, you will no doubt tune in to Mike Boyle on Sports Radio 1510 KGA.

Third Cheer: Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)

                                Seattle Thunderbirds (Photo: Mick White/Kent Valley Sports)

The Seattle Thunderbirds deserve a big cheer for pushing through a very tough season. They'll close out the season tonight against the Vancouver Giants and salute their supporters with Fan Appreciation Night.  As of right now, the T-Birds' record is: 18-41-7-5 and 41 points. The team is heavy on youngsters, including about half a dozen 16-year-olds.  Star Goalie Calvin Pickard is 17 years old. Anyone who's been to even a handful of games knows how heartbreakingly close some of the losses were and should be confident that the team can only go up from here. Think about all those youngsters who now have a full season under their belts; a full season of life away from home, a grueling 72 games, travel and personal growth. Things can only look up for this young team! Want to cheer them on tonight? The game starts at 5:05pm at ShoWare Center in Kent. Click here to access the T-Birds' website and buy a ticket! This may be your last chance to see veterans Prab Rai, Jeremy Schappert and Lindsay Nielsen on the ice. To re-live the high points of the season through photos, click here to check out Mick White/Kent Valley Sports' amazing photo galleries!

Now, to the resounding BOO.

It pains me to criticize any player from one of my favorite teams, but I cannot be a good hockey fan if I don't. I'm talking about that vicious hit by Penguins' Matt Cooke that knocked Boston's Marc Savard out indefinitely with a serious concussion. If that wasn't bad enough, the NHL decided NOT TO PUNISH HIM FOR IT. I've been a Pens fan since the late 80's, but I wholeheartedly disagree with this. Matt Cooke should have been suspended and for more than a few games. The league needs to crack down on this kind of viciousness or someone is going to get killed. That sounds dramatic, but it's true. And in case you missed it, Don Cherry tackled the subject (and showed the hit) last night on HNIC. Here's the video. Go ahead and watch it, I'll wait.



The part that really gets me is that Cooke doesn't seem to care. That makes him more than a dirty player. It makes him downright dangerous. Even his own teammate Bill Guerin thinks he should have been suspended. Click here to read the story.

The thing that bothers me even more is the chatter that flooded Twitter after the NHL decided not to punish Cooke. A good number of people think a fitting retaliation is to have teams try to take Sidney Crosby out; in short, to hurt a player who had NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ORIGINAL HIT. How is that fitting retribution? What is this, the code of Hammurabi, hockey-style? (A star for a star, instead of an eye for an eye?).

Just as I said I would not be a good hockey fan if I didn't call out crappy & dangerous plays by members of a team I love, I say this:  Anyone who thinks hurting Crosby would make up for Cooke not being punished, DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE A HOCKEY FAN. You are stupid and ignorant if you believe this is a good idea, and even if you are my best friend, I do not want to know you.

Please - place the blame where blame truly goes: to Matt Cooke for being a dangerous punk and to the NHL for not being strong enough to stand up and do what's right.

That's all for this week. As always, I welcome your comments.

The National Anthem I Will Never Forget (Or… Why I ALWAYS write the words down before every game!)

I was the National Anthem singer for my university. If there was a sport to be played, you’d see me singing the anthem before every game. Our school has an NCAA Divison I ice hockey team, so it was inevitable that we would eventually play a Canadian school, although I thought it highly unlikely. After all, our university was in Alabama! No Canadian team would ever travel to Alabama.

Well, the inevitable happened. January 1992. Seneca College came to play. I learned about it several months in advance and kept telling myself I needed to learn the Canadian anthem. Finally, the week of the game, I dragged myself to the University library to check out a record that contained Canadian folk songs, including the national anthem. I took it home and listened to it over and over and over and over until I had it memorized. I wrote the words down. I returned the record to the library. I felt confident that I would nail it.

The day of the first game arrived. I couldn’t find the words anywhere. I rushed to the library, but wouldn’t you know it, someone checked out the record of Canadian folk songs! Who knew that Canadian folk songs were so popular in the Deep South? I went to the public library. No Canadian folk songs or national anthem in sight. I wracked my brain and managed to remember the beginning and end of the song. I could not remember the middle. The clock was inching closer to game time.

I became desperate and hunted down the first Canadian I could think of: our goalie. He had always been very nice to me. I found him stretching in the hallway outside the locker room. When I asked him to help me with the words, he scrunched up his face, deep in thought. Then, together, we went through it.

By the time I took the ice to sing, I felt confident that I had it nailed. Until I started to sing. I knew right away that the words I’d been given were not right. They didn’t fit the cadence of the song. But, in show business, they say, never let them see you sweat. I knew I didn’t have the right words, but I sang them as though they had always been part of Canadian history. I sailed through the American anthem and rushed off the ice. As usual, I was greeted by enthusiastic fans as I made my way to my seat. One woman gushed, “I’ve never heard the Canadian anthem sung like that before!” I grinned at her wryly and replied, “And you’ll never hear it like that again!”

After the game, I took quite the ribbing from the players. Several scolded me for seeking advice from our goalie.

“Didn’t you know that goalies don’t know shit?” one player scoffed. “Everyone knows that! It’s a proven fact!” (This I highly doubt. Our goalie not only was an excellent player, he actually finished school and I believe went on to pursue a higher degree).

The player who was mocking the goalie leaned in. “You should have come to me!”
I looked him square in the eye and asked, “So YOU know the words to the Canadian anthem?”

He looked taken aback. “Of course not!” he spluttered. “But I would have just told you I didn’t know! I wouldn’t have made shit up!”

Later that night, the goalie came to find me. He apologized, sheepishly explaining that he’d wanted to help me so badly, he hadn’t had the heart to tell me he didn’t know the words to his own national anthem.

I forgave him, and made sure I had the correct words when I sang the next night, and every night after that.

So, if you’re at a sporting event that I’m singing at, you may see me scribbling madly on a scrap of paper. It’s my superstitious ritual. I write the words to each anthem on a scrap of paper about 5 minutes before I sing.

And as much as you’d like to say hi, let me finish my ritual.

Trust me, you’ll enjoy my performance much better if you do.