Apocalyptic Times

If the news is true, we’re in grave danger. The Planet is warming at unprecedented levels. Some scientists say that Ohio will be ocean front property in this century. Areas of the world that are not melting are on fire. Those who choose not to go green shall be executed. MRSA Staph infections have mutated and become impervious to antibiotics. Whatever you do, don’t touch anyone. They could be infected. Smoking will cause a horrible suffocating, premature death. Drinking will dissolve your internal organs. Chinese toys will kill all the children. Terrorists are plotting our demise this second. Gas will soon be $5 a gallon and the scarcity of our global drug of choice will cause WWIII. The sun causes skin cancer, diet coke causes bloating. We’re all dangerously fat and stressed beyond our limits. What was that pain? Is this the heart attack I’ve been waiting for? Caffeine will rot you brain. Polar bears have no chance of survival. Georgia fish flop in torment, gasping their last desperate breath in dust bowl of the South. The twitchy stock market lost 200 points today. I guess Junior will be going to state college if he survives. Pestilence, inflation, disease, evil, and rage clog the evening news. We’re terrified, frozen in place by the blackness of it all. Grinding our teeth to the nubs, we put a shaking foot forward. What horrible misfortune waits around the next corner?

It’s getting kind of heavy people. All this connectivity and global awareness is well and good until you digest the content. I can’t offer a solution. What I can offer is some relief. For next three minutes let’s think about a cathartic, visceral sport that’s just for fun, hockey. We can get back to impending doom in a moment. CNN graphically depicts it 24 hours a day.

Batman Returns

Have you ever seen Cam Ward and Batman in the same room at the same time? I thought not. Coincidence? Cam single handedly stymied a spirited Thrasher attack on Saturday night. Ward was spectacular following ridiculous glove saves with ludicrous kick saves. At one point I think he actually entered the Matrix and slowed reality down for his pleasure. The lucky punk frustrated the Thrashers and the sell out crowd in Blueland into submission. There were however many bright spots for the Thrashers.

Hossa seems to be coming out of his funk and overcoming his nagging injuries. He scored twice and could have easily had four goals if it were not for the actions of before mentioned action hero. Ward stopped two Hossa break away bids on the same shift. After the second break-away save, I found a white flag and began waiving it like the Frenchmen in a bar fight. Never the less, Hos seems to be getting the strength back his legs which drive his power based game. Slava also has woken from his slumber and made some picturesque passes in this contest. In general the offensive attack once again looked strong.

The game was very entertaining overall and a loss that is easy to take. The Thrashers put forth a great effort on the tail end of back to back games and simply were beat by a superior effort in goal. Fatigue did seem to set in about half way through the game but still the Thrashers gave it their all. It’s a loss, it happens, it’s a long season. Get over it. For the most part our team is playing very well over the last 11 games and our schedule gets more favorable in the upcoming months. If our rookies continue to perform at a high level and our stars play like stars, this should be a very exciting season.

The nagging problem for the Thrashers is giving up an inordinate amount of shots on goal. We’ve played 17 games. We’re 0-17 in the shots on goal battle. This must change if this season is to extend into late April or beyond. Our overall size deficiency is a major cause for the excessive rubber flying at our Goalkeepers. Our D-men just can not take the puck from larger teams. This causes prolonged possession in our zone, fatigue penalties and shots on goal. We’re not going to get any bigger and probably not going to get much more skilled on D so we’re going to need high goal output and great net-minding to contend.

Reassessing Existence

Maybe the Millennials, (people born b/t 1980-2000) are right. Maybe quality of life and self is more important than hard work, sacrifice and taking responsibility. Maybe we should all call in sick tomorrow and play flag football or go to movie. Or maybe we should just force ourselves to have some fun everyday, no matter the cost. It’s a short life and some say we only get to live once. All this negativity, pressure and fear are oppressive.

I like hockey. I like to watch it live and on TV. I like to write about after I watch it. I like to talk about with like minded people, some of which have become good friends. Even after the most wretched day I can always find a hockey game and escape for a while. Maybe that’s the answer. A little pleasure each day might just lighten us the hell up. It’s certainly a better plan than cowering in a corner and watching the apocalypse in HD on CNN.


Your Loyal Servant,

Sean Grace