Leonard and his travels west

Now as many of you know, my friends and I recently attempted to climb the Andes during winter to prove our manhoods. That failed miserably and I lay dormant and injured in a remote hospice just east of Chile recuperating for much of the early spring. All I had were financial statements and a tv showing the NHL playoffs which were lovely. I found solace in actor Vincent Vaughn's excitement and court side seating at game 5 when Betty Bolland scored. His name is Betty isn't it? Oh and the song Kyrie echoed loudly in the hill tops every morning. I began writing one day. Chenz went top shelf and we went from there. A little boy at the local blacksmith's laying the framework for a sword. My cat hairs on edge.

As my strength returned I contacted Camille and we met atop the summit to imbibe Cutty Sark.

He told me of the hardships that many faced in a double dip the chip recession. He told me of Scott Hartnell's hair and the effort he put forth during the finals. He told me of the last airbenders and how air can be bent in the fortesque. He warned me of Kobeee and Lebron. He explained Jonathan Toews muttontown chops on his face. He compared them to a frightened turtle and George Jason Lexington Lewis Costanza. Stop me when I've reached the actor Barry Pepper and the wheels have completely fallen off your comprehension of my discourse.

My fall in the Andes that left me in bed for 6 months can best be described by this picture.

I was climbing with Dandenault, Leschyshyn, and McMichaels and we got to the cloud level and it felt like I was falling for two days maybe. They counted on their way down...I....Leonard Thomas the Cat fell about 4 stories into a dewey underhang that broke my fall however I cracked every vertabrae in my body left virtually immobile and like an idiot continue to have limited use of my legs. You know...a lot goes thru your mind as you plummet four stories...maybe these pictures can summarize my thoughts on the way down.

Currently as I fully recover I am writing a short story. It will be called the Life and Times of Broadway Tony Ess. A schematic essay set in the time of Tony right around the time of the last airbenders. It will speak of Surfing Briere, Joe Sakics mid stride toey, J.R.'s awesome hair, the opposite of Pierre Maguire and Eddzo and everything terrible about those two. It will touch upon the blublocker cam on Pronger before the game last night, the way Kane was the only person to know he'd scored the most important goal of his career, John Liles and the aftermath of WWII.

I don't always drink Beer, but when I do....

Well you know the rest

Have a soak my friends,

Leonard the Cat

Crib Notes - Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago Blackhawks
Finished 2nd in the Central. Lost in the conf. finals to Detroit in 5 games.
Signed Marian Hossa to a 12 year deal
Signed defensive center John Madden via free agency
Resigned young forward Dave Bolland and was forced into signing Kris Versteeg
Let G Nikolai Khabibulin walk to Edmonton

Questions going into 2009-2010:
Why do people still think that the team that lands Marian Hossa is automatically the team to beat?
How will Hossa's shoulder injury affect his play? (At least he has 11 more years to heal)
Is anyone worried about salary cap restrictions when the Toews contract comes due?
Are Blackhawk fans kicking themselves for the money shelled out to Brian Campbell?
Is Cristobal Huet the answer here?
Will the team miss Adam Burish?
All jokes aside: How ridiculous was the Pat Kane/cabbie incident?

Poised for a breakout season:
I'm not sure if this guy even makes the squad but hopefully Danny Bois pronounces his name Danny Boy and lights up the league.

If you had to buy one Hawks sweater:
The Blackhawks jersey is one of the sickest in all of sports. You can't go wrong with any name on the back unless you wear a 46. Byfuglien won't fit on a 46.
If someone bought you a captain Dirk Graham would you not wear it everyday?

Player whose game you like but you could do without all the other stuff:
Adam Burish plays a nice salty game but his trash talk in last year's playoffs was a little much.

Reason why the Blackhawks are a class organization:
They resisted the dopey calls to make third jerseys with "Hawks" on the front like the Senators and Lightning have done. They know better to mess with an iconic patch.

Old guys:
John Madden is 36

Young guys:
Kane is 20
Toews is 21

Tough guys:
Ben Eager and Adam Burish fight but not very well.

Favorite old school Blackhawk:
Jeremy Roenick. Pencils down. We would have also accepted Chris Chelios but not without a fight.

Nostalgia:
Seeing guys get tossed from the old Chicago stadium and have to take the stairs off the ice.

Jersey that I'm buying Bressler for Hannukah:
Because he thought "Missundaztood" was one of the best albums of the decade along.



One time Bress actually told me that Aerosmith's "Honkin' on Bobo" was one of the best albums of all time. He was dead serious.

Goaltending coach:
Stephane Waite

Memories:
The 2006-07 Ice Girls Crew. If you have been following the Chicago Ice Girls Crew you know that 06-07 was a banner year for the organization.



Interesting?:
Jonathan Toews's wikipedia page notes that he is "fluently bilingual in both of Canada's official languages."
Why not just say that he also speaks French?

NHL 94 players:
Jeremy Roenick, Steve Larmer, Christian Ruutu up front.
Chris Chelios and Steve Smith on D with Ed Belfour in net.
Really strong team here. Christian Ruutu blew my mind.

Prediction?:
This team is young and exciting and it's great for hockey having strong teams in Chicago and Boston again but I think people are over rating how successful the Hawks will be this season.

YouTube:
One of my all-time favorite youtubes that doesn't involve a 17 year old girl dancing to her web cam.



- Nemmy

What you missed last night because VersusHD was frozen

Red Wings beat the Blackhawks in OT, 2-1 (DET wins series 4-1): Great game and the result was needed so that we (the fans) didn't have to wait and wait for the finals to begin. Huet was surprisingly fantastic and so was Osgood. "The Shift" this year belongs to Darren Helms forecheck on the penalty kill. Pat Kane's backhand was sick, but it took too long for him to get going. I love the rematch. I'll update The 2Man play-off game and give a prediction tomorrow.

What you missed last night while you were waiting and waiting to see who won dancing with the stars

Red Wings beat the Blackhawks in OT, 3-2 (DET leads series 2-0): Pat Kane, I like you because you are American, tiny, and have a hot sister
but you still have to backcheck. Especially in OT.




Notice how he's the last man back besides Campbell, yet his teammate gets closer to the pass. As I said in my twitter, I was happy the Hawks tied up the game, but I wanted them to win. Coming back from 2-0 against the champs, probably won't happen.

What you missed last night while you were getting clearance to write "what you missed last night"

Blackhawks beat the Canucks, 7-5 (CHI wins series 4-2): Even if you missed the first 2 periods of this game (like I did), you still caught a hell of a game. Tied 3-3 going in to the third, there were lead changes, great saves, and young stars showing off. My favorite goal was Kane's third. And Edzo actually said something that added value to the replay. Kane subtly faked a wrist shot to open up the D-man and then stick handle and the sweet back hand and you know the rest - bar and in. Khabibulin played great, and not just great for a goalie who gave up 5 goals. Seriously. some of his saves were game-saving. I hope Chicago plays Detroit in the conference finals, just for some good old fashioned hate. However, I hope that Ducks/Wings series goes to 7 first.

Capitals beat the Penguins in OT, 5-4 (series tied 3-3): I was texting Nemmy updates of this game while he was at the new Shea, and it got out of control. Just like the third period of above, this game had the lead changes, great saves, young studs, etc. There is no way I could talk about all the goodness that this game was before my Percocet wears off. Is there anyone who watched this series and was a Crosby-hater beforehand and still has no respect for Sid? I can't believe that there would be. Kozlov's first goal was on of those snipes, where it takes a me a while to figure out how the puck physically got from the ice to the back of the net, so high so quickly - it boggles my mind. Hal Gill, really? I don't really care who wins game 7, but I'd rather that team face the Bruins then the Hurricanes.

What you missed last night because you were trying on shirts from J.Crew

Canucks beat the Blackhawks, 4-3 (lead series 1-0): This game was eerily similar to our men's league game the other night. One team takes a 3-0 lead, the other team comesback to tie it up, and the first team takes the win anyway. The only difference was that we lost in OT... and oh yea, the quality of play. No one on our men's league team can make a pass like Sundin to Demitra for the first goal or roof the puck like Kane did on his first. I like how the refs are sneaky putting their whistles away in third periods of tie games (except for too many men on the ice penalties). Did anyone else see Brian Campbell's totally unneccessary spin-o-rama in the third? Maybe its in his contract that he has to one at least once a game. Besides that, I actually noticed him,for the first time, for other stuff he did. He might have the best turn-away-from-a-forechecker-with-a-puck in the league. This game was a great way to start round 2. Enjoy the Ducks and Wings tonight.

What you missed last night while you were trying to figure out the NHL "Portal" commercial (why is there a rusty sink at the end?)

Sabres beat the Maple Leafs, 3-1: So the Sabres are still alive until tonight when Florida should get 2 points from Atlanta. The Maple Leafs missed a lot of good chances and at times Curtis Joseph looked like he was doing an impression of me playing roller hockey goalie. In short, there's a reason both of these teams are on the outside looking in.

Blue Jackets beat the Blackhawks in the shoot-out, 4-3: This was a great game from 2 play-off bound teams in the west. In short, the complete opposite of the other game. Here's really why it was such a good game -the best players on each team were the best players on the ice. Khabibulan made some spectacular saves. Nash scored, got a penalty shot opportunity and put one in his own net. Havlat and Kane teamed up for one of the go ahead goals. It was kind of weird to see the BJs bench after regulation. They didn't know if it was alright to be happy or not. They got the one point to clinch there first ever play-off spot. I think they are a dangerous team in the first round.

What you missed last night while you were too wrapped up in coverage of the GM Meetings in Naples

Someone just send me a text with the new rules for next year, otherwise I don't care.


Ducks beat the Canucks, in OT, 4-3: Scott Neidermayer had the game winner in the rarely seen 3-on-3. Thats a lot of open ice for one of the worlds best skaters. Although I don't really care if the Ducks make the play-offs or not, I still really want to see that salt and pepper beard.

Senators win over the Lightning in OT, 3-2: If this game had been yesterday, the highlight would have been the shot of Carrie Underwood after her boyfriend Mike Fischer scored the game winner. Nice job by camera guy on TSN to get a great shot of her jumping up and down.

Blackhawks beat the Hurricanes in the shoot-out, 2-1: Patrik Kane had about four breakaways during the game, but couldn't score on any of them. But he did score during the shoot-out.