Brandon and Peter discuss the strange culture surrounding the Florida Panthers and the lack of a Southern Florida punk scene with guest host, Kylewilliam from imadethismistake.
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2049
Article source: http://www.upthepucks.com
So what if it’s Christmas Eve? That doesn’t stop us! In this episode, The Mayor from Mayor’s Manor joins us to discuss Kings hockey and LA punk.
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200d
Article source: http://www.upthepucks.com
Jer and I were going with his parents to see the Ducks get shut out by the Red Wings. Of course that’s not what we were thinking at the time the highlight of this story takes place, but it was kind of in the back of our minds. Jer’s parents have knee issues and so we get to use the elevators to get to our fourth level, sometimes one row before the last, seats. We’d had a cool encounter in the elevator before– a few weeks earlier we got to ride up to the press box and before the guy who was getting out left, he gave out game pucks to the kids. Though I’m 24, I get carded at every bar I go to, but I apparently don’t look young enough to get a puck.
As we escaped the throngs of obnoxious Detroit fans, and made our way toward the elevator this time, we saw some of the ice girls getting in as well. After some confusion about whether or not there was room for us too, we settled in. I motioned toward one of the ice girls in front of me. Jer nodded his head toward a corner of the elevator and when I followed his gesture, expecting to see another ice girl, or maybe a commentator or something, I found myself making direct eye contact with Teemu Selanne.. I immediately looked away, grinning and blushing. The next 30 seconds to a minute I spent continuing to grin and trying to look nonchalantly at his reflection in the elevator door. If the press guy had been in with us that day, I probably would have gotten a puck.
I’m not one to get star struck– I was more teary eyed after this than when Bill Clinton grabbed my hand as I made a peace sign or when Dick Dale asked to borrow my aunt’s camera and take a picture of us– but the sheer surprise of being in an elevator with someone you just ordered your boyfriend collectible figurines of was overwhelming. After the initial glow died down a little (it lasted through the whole, disappointing game), I realized that what was really cool about this is how emblematic of the connection between punk rock and hockey it was. I mean, it’s still a huge, awesome deal– we were a couple feet away from a hockey legend– but like punk rock legends, hockey legends are far less inaccessible than say…basketball legends or classic rock legends.
And much like it did in 10th grade when I asked for my first guitar and started a band with two of my other friends who had also never played their instruments before, something clicked. I didn’t just want to be the grinning fan girl who watches games but nothing else. I wanted to be a part of hockey. I wanted to surround myself in it. I wanted to play. I found a semi-local adult league online and emailed the contact and he got back to me right away. The plan is to get some equipment and practice for awhile before attending some pickup games and then maybe joining a team. I doubt I’ll be very good, but it doesn’t really matter. Like punk rock, in hockey there’s a place for people who aren’t very good but want to be a part of it all anyway. Singing Creed songs in your local talent show or getting obsessively into your slow-pitch softball team sounds a little sad. Alternatively, you can collect records and play power chords and really be a part of the punk community and you can collect pucks and play in your driveway and be a hockey fan. I wouldn’t want to be a part of anything that was any different.
Now that I’ve created a compiled image, I thought I would share with the readers the last project that I completed before I started writing for Hockey Punx. There isn’t much to say that you can’t see for yourself, but there are links below that will take you to my commentaries. Thanks, enjoy
In an abbreviated episode, Jaye returns to the show. This time he discusses both the hockey team and the punk scene in his former home of Edmonton.
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2016
Article source: http://www.upthepucks.com
What is the deal with Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Dan Ellis? Nashville hockey fans used to champion Ellis due to his humble yet fun, open, and honest personality. The man could even make a good time out of mid-game interviews from the bench. He was a solid goalie, but the fans loved him because he was simply a lovable sort of guy. What happened between the end of the Predators’ season and now that has turned him into sounding like a bit of jerk whose hobby is introducing his tonsils to heels of his shoes.
He made waves this summer by getting into twitter arguments with fans, a subject that I wrote about a little. Folks across the NHL were pretty shocked and confused as to why Ellis was suddenly antagonizing and belittling fans. Even those defending Ellis’ comments found themselves unsure as to why a professional hockey player had any reason to refer to other professions as dime-a-dozen, un-skilled labor, with his job being more akin to brain surgery (not to mention saying that Paris Hilton deserves all of her fame and fortune because she was fortunate… what?). But the Lightning management took hold of situation in order to prevent it from happening again, and encouraged Mr. Ellis to focus on his rebound control, leaky 5-hole, and not giving up laughably soft goals, while downplaying his internet debate skills. While the latter has been successful for Ellis he still managed to find a way to remind all of us of his twitter escapades. During a post-game interview he said the following about Linus Omark’s shootout goal:
It’s embarrassing for him. You come into a league, a respectful league like this, and you try a little move like that. It’s not a very classy thing. That’s just the kind of person he is.
YouTube - The Shootout Goal in Question
All I can do is echo what most bloggers have been saying. The shootout is a gimmick, we know it, Ellis knows, he needs to deal with it. If you hate that shootout then don’t let the game get to the shootout, stop the puck. After all, Ellis did gives up 3 goals on only 23 shots. Omark did nothing that violated the rules or taint the spirit of the shootout. The young Swede wasn’t really showing off because if Omark pulled out that move at the All-Star skills competition he would have hardly been on the judge’s radar. The only thing truly unconventional about the shootout goal was that the spin-o-rama came at the beginning of the attempt rather than towards the end. Just a cursory search on YouTube will show you dozens of examples of NHLers using the same move in- and outside of shootouts. My opinion, Ellis feels pretty foolish from being dazzled and then tricked by a simple forehand/backhand deke. He needs to get over it.
Writing Music: Make Do And Mend – End Measured Mile
Jason from Discard What You Don’t Need slowly drinks himself to death as we discuss the Stars, how everyone moves to Austin and things Peter hates.
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2039
Article source: http://www.upthepucks.com
Jer gave me a nice little introduction and then ruined my plans to repost some old blogs by pasting convenient links to some of my work, but it’s good because Ontheforecheck is not only a great Nashville Predators blog, but the man behind it, Dirk Hoag is a master of numbers, stats, spreadsheets and the always amazing Super Schedule covers anything and everything about your team’s schedule this season. Currently the thing to see over at my blog is my series on colors in the NHL, the first post contains links to the rest. In the meantime I’m going to leave you with a article that I wrote a couple weeks ago.
The Current State of Fans and Body Contact in the NHL
Watching and listening to Predators games this season I’ve noticed a common topic that frequently crops up between play-by-play man Pete Weber and color commentator Terry Crisp. Crispy has consistently noted the strong fan reaction when the home town crowd sees one of their boys leveled with a hit. The gist of Crispy’s comments are along the lines of “current NHL fans believe that any body contact between two players should result in penalties or retaliation.” Further, he believes that the NHL hockey culture as cultivated by the central NHL officers are, at least in part, to blame for current fan-reactions to body contact. As with most things there is a grain of truth in what Terry Crisp has been saying recently, but as always I’d like to spend some time thinking about what may actually be going on in the minds of fans.
For better or worse every hockey fan can agree that the game has changed since the league entered the post-lockout world. Grappling and constant body-crippling hits have either decreased or been totally eliminated from the game and as fans we’re now experiencing traditional North American hockey with some added European style flavors. The NHL have also placed a greater emphasis on player safety with rules that try and protect players from head shots and other plays that result in high probability of injury. The easiest thing to say about the fans is that when you and your friends or family are sitting in the stands all you can see is the hit. Like with many potential penalties, the fans can’t see every detail. Sometimes the fans see a trip, but the hometown guy just stepped on a stick. The same thing happens to referees. Predators fans may recall a penalty last year called against (I think) Kevin Klein. He was called for a slash after Klein’s opponent broke his stick by clashing with Klein’s. The same thing can happen with hits of all types, but I don’t think that is the essence of the issue nor what Crispy has noted in his commentary.
I think the fan unrest that we’re seeing when it comes from hits stems from two things: perceived inconsistency of rule enforcement and sensitization. As always this isn’t a commentary on how people are doing their jobs, but rather a hopefully objective exploration of a hypothesis. With the NHL’s closed door, window, and vent policy fans know little to nothing about injuries, rule making, and rule enforcement outside of what is directly observable in public settings. It is therefore difficult, neigh impossible, to comprehend how the NHL deals with supplemental punishment. After several seasons of confusion on the parts of fans as to why and how certain suspensions and fines are doled out we’re becoming acutely aware of inconsistencies. It’s tough when you see a fan favorite penalty killer and fourth line grinder go into the boards face first and watch the guilty party skate away and face no consequences, then days later see a player get suspended for two games after trying to squeeze an opposition player through the cracks in the glass. I could illustrate more instances, but if you’re a hockey fan I’m sure you’re aware of a dozen examples on your own.
What you’re seeing is the perceived inconsistencies in enforced discipline that is causing fans to become hyper-sensitive to hits and any other type of body contact. Fans have started to look at and mentally break down each and every hit trying to determine not if it’s clean or dirty, but rather to what degree of dirty it was. The problem is then only compounded as similar hits are treated differently and further complicated by fans trying to figure out what equation is used to determine how justice is doled out, or not doled out as the case may be. At some point fans might as well boo any hit because no one really knows when or if a hit will be considered dirty by the NHL.
As a final note, the whole Crosby/slew-foot topic could also be included in the above blog, but I won’t be addressing that.
Just a quick note, 3DLink has jumped on board the HockeyPunx writing staff. 3DLink brings his physcology background to the world of punk rock and hockey to create his own unique spin. You can see his current writings over on his blog Puck and Punk (which we feel bad for not finding out about until now), and he has previously submitted to On the Forecheck. Stalk link on Twitter by following @3DLink.
Stick-tap to our new friend! Welcome.
Remember when I made that bet with Peter Evans and totally lost? Well, I just recently purchased and received my Patrick Kane shirt and will soon fulfill my part of the deal. In the meantime however, I decided to make more ridiculous bets. This latest was with Kylewilliam from the band imadethismistake (why not buy their 12″ from Anti-Creative Records? /shameless plug). KW is a (the?) Panthers fan, and on December 1st, they matched up in Anaheim against my beloved Ducks. Fortunately for me, this is a bet I won. And pretty easily. The Ducks took out Florida with a 5-3 victory. So what was at stake? Loser had to make a one minute-minimum video blog about why their team lost. Enjoy…
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