Friday Links

It's that time again! Here's your weekly serving of fresh links.

- Write this down: Saturday's game in Greenville was moved to 2:05. I'm probably going to forget, but I'd lose my head if it wasn't attached to my neck.
- I wrote my first post for the Chasing Checkers blog. The plan is for me to write an update on the Hurricane and Checkers prospects we have. The best part of this whole arrangement is the fact that I know have an editor! Anyone who's read this blog knows that while I excel at photography, snark, and finding random hockey related crap, I'm not very good in the grammar and punctuation departments.

- Remember Scott Darling, the goalie from training camp? Yeah, we signed him. Obviously, we won't be seeing Muse anytime soon and the powers that be decided Pat Nagle is not the kind of goalie you can hang out to dry every single night and still get a win. It will be interesting to see what game, if any, Darling gets to start in. My best guess? One of the games with the Greenville Road Warriors. They're currently the second worst team in the conference. They've score 8 goals and given up 17.

- Your Wikipedia hockey page for today- "Canadian Women's Hockey League"

- I'm always in awe of what some people can do with cake and fondant:



- I would love this clock if it had any other logo on it.

- If you don't read Down Goes Brown you have no sense of humor. Today's post is one of his best.

- Mental Floss is one of my favorite magazines (I always managed to finagle a subscription from one of my family members around Christmas), they just released this quiz in honor of hockey season starting at the same time as dental hygiene month.

- Kitty time!


see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

YouTube Tuesday

The Blades only managed to get two points out of their marathon road trip. Suprisingly, their best showing came from the third game in three nights.

To celebrate, lets watch Trevor Bruess take on one of the Royals. This came a few minutes after the Blades scored their third unanswered goal in the first period.



I'm pretty sure I'm not the only Everblades fan that's really begun to like Trevor Bruess. The dude is half sandpaper, half canonball.

In happy news, Justin Shugg was named player of the week. Congrats dude! This led to me finding out some people refer to him as the Shuggernaut. Pretty sure that's one of the best hockey nicknames ever. Also, the Everblades are tops in the division and second in the Confrence right now. Crazy.

Re-Cap: Everblades vs. Titans (10/22/11)

I have to be honset, I'm not sure how exactly to re-cap this game. I should have know the minute I had to listen to the Trenton broadcast of the game that the Hockey Gods were not looking favorably down upon me.
I don't think I can really write my usual type of re-cap, because sweet freaking Caroline the Trenton radio guy was horrible. I'm pretty sure recordings of him calling games could easily be used by the CIA as a torture device. I'm also pretty sure that if they did, it would be a violation of the Geneva Convention.
Where was I? Oh yes, the game. Let me just break it down into some manageable bits.
- Score Everblades 5- Titans 8
- SOG 33-33
-38 minutes in penalties. Yup. 38. Two thirds of the game saw either one or both of the teams shorthanded. I wasn't watching the game, but I got the impression that a certain striped individual needed to swallow his wistle and let the teams play.
-The Blades were 2/8 on the penalty and the Titans were 4/7.
- The Blades came from behind several times and managed to get a 5-3 lead in the closing minutes of the second. Then Bobby Raymond was called for a BS penalty (that's not me being a homer, the Trenton radio guy said it was BS). The Titans scored on the ensuing powerplay. They then went on to score four more unanswered goals including an empty netter.
- Poor Pat Nagle was completely on his own since John Muse was called up to Charlotte after Justin Peters was injured.
- There was some good news I guess. Bobby Raymond has scored in the last two games, Justin Shugg scored twice and got an assist and Alex Hutching scored a goal and got an assist. So, um, yay.
-The boys got right on the bus after the game for the drive to Reading. They play the Royals tonight. What wonderful scheduling.
- The next time I make fun of our radio guy someone remind me he's very good, we're lucky to have him, and some fans aren't as lucky. Some fans are very unlucky. They have to listen to a guy who thinks he's calling a soccer game.

Re-Cap: Everblades vs. Jackals (10/21/11)

The Everblades played their first road game of the season against one of my least favorite teams (don't know why, I just don't like them). This calls for the first re-cap of the season!

Hopefully, I've kept my blogging skills up with all the fight videos and misspelled kitty pictures I've posted all offseason.


The Blades rolled into Elmira with some unfortunate things working against them. A long, drawn out, road trip, a usually strong and currently undefeated opponent, and a veteran NHLer who actually captained the Buffalo Sabres.

You read that right, HE WAS THE CAPTAIN.


see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

Needless to say, the guys did not necessarily have the odds in their favor.

Starting line: Fischer, McGinnis, Beca, McKenzie, Rutherford, Muse

The first period saw a lone tally from Elmira at the 10:50 mark and not too much else. Really, not much else happened. It was kind of lame to be honest.

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The second period saw the Jackals score two more goals. The first, unassisted, came at the 2:53 mark. The second came a few minutes later at 6:42. Things were looking pretty bleak until a scrum in the Jackals zone led to mutual roughing penalties.

That seemed to get the Blades fired up and shift the momentum because David Fischer slipped one in to make it 3-1 (assists to Rutherford and McKenzie).

Three minutes later, Bobby Raymond decided he wasn't going to let Fischer have all the fun and notched one of his own to make it 3-2 (assists to Murray and Beca). The Blades had some pretty great chances after that, but just couldn't convert. The period ended with the Jackals leading 3-2.

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The Blades kept of the pressure for the early part of the third. Goalie John Muse mad some great saves, but there was nothing he could do when a blast from a Jackal flew passed him after he was bumped. That goal, scored with less than 6 minute left in the period made a comeback hard to believe in. A few minutes later the Jackals score on the empty net to make it 5-2.

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It was a good game from the Everblades, they dominated a decent amount of the play, but they just didn't have the bounces go in their favor.

Friday Links

The Blades play their first road game of the season tonight. They also play tomorrow and Sunday night. That's about a 317 mile trip in under three days. Fun right?

- Anyway, I've updated the link to listen to the game online. If you want to go old school and listen on the radio it's on 770 AM.

- I've waited long enough... look who's back!


Obviously, I've been in heaven since the news was announced. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a reliable defenseman that lands on the good side of the +/-.

- Sadly, his arrival means we had to release Deron Cousens. I swear, if I win the lottery I'm buying an ECHL franchise and taking in all the players the Blades release. It'll be like the island of misfit toys.

- Your Wikipedia hockey page for today- "Rossall Hockey"

- I'm tempted to buy this book just to find out what happens.

- I love old advertisements. They're just so funny.
- I laughed so long at this kitty. Of course, that might be the cold medicine I'm still taking laughing for me.


see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

YouTube Tuesday

I'm sick as a dog, but I adore all eight of you. That's why I dragged myself out of my nice comfy bed and set down the tissues and Vicks and found you this neat video. I'm sure I'm way too old to know if this band is cool or not, but I find the music pretty catchy. Of course, that could be the store brand Nyquil talking. Anyway, here you go!


Now, off I go to feed my hypochondria on WebMd. It's got to be scarlet fever... or maybe the bird flu.

Photo Time!

A little late on these, but here are the photos I took at Friday's game.



Also, here's a video a fan took of the opening intro. It's a little hard to see, but it's just about the most hilarious thing ever.

Friday Links: Everblades Edition!

Hockey season is officially here! It took long enough, eh?

- Woody over at the Blades' Blog has a nice round-up of everything you need to know for this season. He gets major points for linking to my very favorite Everblades fan blogger. What great taste that guy has! Huh. Where did that stuff on my nose come from?

- Your Wikipedia hockey page for today- "Florida Everblades!"

- This penny hockey game is too cool. Good thing my Birthday isn't too far away cough, cough.

- Looks like Tyler Helfrich is on Twitter. I think this picture is a must by the way.



- Apparently Robby Dee is as well, but he has his tweets protected so I'll leave him alone. You can check out my list of current and former players here.

- Gotta say, I'm not a fan of the Stingrays military jerseys. I'm going to hope they look better in person.

- In the process of moving over the summer I discovered that I have a ton of Everblades stuff. Well, maybe not a ton, but it does fill a box. So here's the deal. I'm going to give my junk to you and pretend it's a really fun prize. Time for the first contest to win my Blades junk stuff: About all I'll be donning to celebrate opening night is my jersey and a cute nail polish. You guys might be planning on going all out. Like body paint and wigs all out. If you do, send me a picture. The winner gets this really awesome (stretching things, right?) 09 Kelly Cup rally towel (the hunky model is not included). I'll post the picture on the blog for everyone to see too.

- That reminds me, the ECHL is hosting a neat contest over on their Facebook page. They're going to select a fan photo of the day and feature it. You just have to post it on their wall. Obviously, we need to let the rest of the league know which team has the best fans. Get on it guys!
 - I can't make the alumni game tomorrow. I'd love if someone could send me pictures.
- It's good to see that this kitty is an Everblades fans too.


see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

News Round-Up

- First up, the Everblades have now released every single player they had under try-out. Considering how the play in last Friday's game looked, that might not have been a terrible idea. The Blades also traded away Evan Stephens to Chicago (I'm sure that won't bite us in the butt later or anything) and released Greger Hanson.

- The Blades then went and traded with Elmira (I still get an immediate reaction of "icky" to that name) and received Dominic D'Amour in return for future considerations. I'm happy with this move by the way. Any move to bring back any member of the 08-09 roster is automatically approved.

- Yeah... Scott Pitt and DJ Rutherford are on the IR list already.

- Here's your updated roster!



- The Jr. Blades continue to dominate their league. Their next two games are in town on the 29th and 30th (the Skatium for the former and Germain for the latter date). You really should check them out. I've enjoyed every game I've been to.
- This gave me an intense case of the happys: An ECHL team in Orlando! Road trips! Instant Rivalry! Road trips with built in trips to Disney/Universal/Sea World and maybe a stop in Tampa for good measure! Awesome. I hope this goes down. I can't wait to invade their arena and be the most obnoxious visiting fan on Earth.

YouTube Tuesday

How about we take a little trip back in time and watch one of the most popular Everblades of all time stick up for a teammate.



I love finding gold on YouTube. Anyone have the story behind the Canes jerseys? I don't think I've ever seen those around the arena.

More Photos!

Five days until the Blades play the first game of the season! While you wait, here are the photos I took at Saturday's game:



The full set is here if you're not fond of the sideshow.

Photos and Videos

Since I'm still getting back into regular season form there won't be any re-cap of the game. Luckily, my photography skills didn't degrade as much as the guys passing skills. You can head over to the flickr stream for the game or enjoy this sideshow.



I also managed to get video of two of the fights from last night:





Hopefully, the game tonight goes a little better than last nights. Sheesh.

Friday Links

It's finally here! the first game of the season happens tonight. To be fair, it's a preseason game. Not that it matters really, hockey is back!

- Make sure you check out my Flickr stream tomorrow for pictures from the game tonight. No guarantee on when they'll be up, but it will. Also, if you have any specific player you'd like a picture of, leave a comment here or shoot me an email and I'll do my best to get one (this includes photos of players from the Chicago Express).

- I've started a Twitter list of current and former Everblades players. Makes keeping track of what the guys are up to easier.If you know of any player I'm missing, please let me know!

- Also, if you're not on Twitter please consider joining. I'm pretty good about tweeting goals, fights, and other interesting events.  You really are missing out on how funny some Everblades are too.

- Looks like the Everblades Alumni game will be against the FGCU Eagles (I'm guessing their D2 squad). Too bad I'm going to miss it.

- This cake is so neat.



- How fun would it be to make this scarf in Everblades colors?

- Your Wikipedia hockey page for today- "Inline Hockey"

- I love this hockey pinata. It's taking everything I have not to make a joke about Buffalo by the way.


- I wish my cat would do this for me. Lazy Bum.


see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

You Tube Tuesday

One of my favorite things about the Blades signing players is wasting way too much time over on YouTube watching highlights. Lucky for you guys, I've hand picked the very best videos just for you.

You saw the videos of goalie John Muse in action a couple of Tuesdays ago, but you haven't seen Pat Nagle in action yet:


That save 10 seconds into the video made me happier than a video of a bunch of kittens ever could.

Chris Murray in action:


Philip-Michael Devos:



Alex Hutchings being Alex Hutchings:



And Kyle Lawson (skip to the 10 second mark for his great defensive play):



Friday can't come fast enough can it?

Blades Receive Players

Things are starting to shape up in Everblades land. Last night the Charlotte Checkers assigned four players along with Evan Stephens and Scott Pitt. Both Stephens and Pitt had been invited to take part in the Checkers training camp. Some familiar names are amongst the players sent down. Both Kyle Lawson and Matt Beca will be back this season. Defenseman John Murray and goalie John Muse are the newcomers. You may remeber that Muse being sent down to the Everblades was a pretty sure thing  when the Checkers signed him. Chris Murray has spent much of his career bouncing between the ECHL and AHL.

John Muse's stats:

Chris Murray's stats:


The Blades also had three players from Norfolk assigned today. Familiar face Alex Hutchings will get another chance to get under the skin of the entire Eastern Confrence. Joining him will be rookie forward Philip-Michael Devos and rookie goaltender Pat Nagle.

Stats for Philip-Michael Devos:


Stats for Pat Nagle:


The updated roster:



Not counting the training camp invitees the roster stands at 21 skaters and 2 goalies. From the sounds of things, the Checkers may need to make one more cut to get their roster to a manageable size. If that happens, it means that the Everblades will probably have to make cuts as well.