FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[sju56321]

57- Didn't make it and glad. Do the Twins want Bradley? You can have him and Pinnella!

[snoop dawg]

well retagent  who would have thought the Pens would win game 7 in Detroit?  not gloating...what a great series  eh ?  they are going wild in the burg' right now

[OzJohnnie]

I watched game seven live this morning.  Fantastic game.  I gotta say, I still despise the Redwings from my days of loving the North Stars (John Casey was from Grand Rapids, after all).  It wasn't so much who I wanted to win, but more like Bennie in that it was who I hated less.  Pens won that contest as well.

In Aussie rules, it was an absolutely brutal contest last night between Carlton and St. Kilda.  Chris Judd of Carlton, a former league MVP, had his nose smeared across his face early but he still played out the game.  A truly tough effort and a great game to watch, even if I don't support either of the teams.

[Johnnie Red]

Always nice to host the state high school Class IA baseball tournament in Chaska (and Jordan) on Thursday and Friday. I was talking to a media rep from the Minnesota State High School League staff on Thursday only to find out that she is engaged to Frank Rajkowski of the St. Cloud Times and they are getting married in two weeks. Congrats to the couple!

[retagent]

I gotta say the Pens proved me wrong. Glad you get tohave that feeling snoop. Is twice in the season too much to ask? I really don't care about the NBA, but if you can celebrate twice with a Laker win, I'll be happy for you. I guess it makes my Caps look a little better since they took the Pens to seven games also. That's some consolation I can glean from this. Do you think they (and their fans - I don't mean you snoop) will stop whining now?  Of course if they do that will give me one less thing to dislike about them.

[OzJohnnie]

I'm sitting back on a Sunday night, surfing the web a bit, watching the tube and what is on...?

Slapshot.

"What the hell are you guys doing?"

"Putting on the foil, coach.  Want some?"

My first thought?  BDB.

[D O.C.]

Hope somebody liked the outcome of the Stanley Cup. Prefer the rules of basketball myself, so I cannot understand hockey or soccer having rules to keep scoring low.
What could make it worse? Winning the cup on someone else's ice.
Boring!
Come on Orlando!
Oh...Lakers up by ten at half.
Another boring celebration, in a game I like.

[warthog]

I'm not a hockey fanatic like many of you north of the Iowa border types, but based on the ages of their top players it looks like the Penguins will be a force for many years to come.
This series might have turned a casual observer into a playoff time hockey fan.  I think I'll choose the St. Louis Blues as my team.  If the team sucks, I'll at least enjoy the song.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Hope somebody liked the outcome of the Stanley Cup. Prefer the rules of basketball myself, so I cannot understand hockey or soccer having rules to keep scoring low.
What could make it worse? Winning the cup on someone else's ice.
Boring!
Come on Orlando!
Oh...Lakers up by ten at half.
Another boring celebration, in a game I like.

Oh, my!  You are gutsy to trash hockey on the MIAC board!

I am a Red Wings fan, but have a son (where did I go wrong? ) who adores the Penguins, so I'll try to be happy for him.  After all, the Wings will return; the Penguins, who knows!

[Mr. Ypsi]

I'm not a hockey fanatic like many of you north of the Iowa border types, but based on the ages of their top players it looks like the Penguins will be a force for many years to come.
This series might have turned a casual observer into a playoff time hockey fan.  I think I'll choose the St. Louis Blues as my team.  If the team sucks, I'll at least enjoy the song.

The Pens are indeed young (and MAY be a dynasty in the making), but the age of the Wings is easily exaggerated.  Chelios is older than the coach, but didn't play in the finals and almost certainly will retire.  Lidstrom is 39, but probably STILL the best defenseman in the game.  Osgood is 36, but that is virtually prime-time for a goalie.  They've got a LOT of young talent (including a goalie who's stuck in Grand Rapids because of Ozzie, but may ultimately be better).  We had a 22-year-old who had never scored in the NHL who got two goals in the finals (Abdelkader).  Zetterberg and Datsuyk are both under 30, and I predict 22-year-old Darren Helm will be THE star in a few years.  The Wings aren't going away anytime soon!

FWIW, SI tabs the Wings as the best-run franchise in all of pro sports.

[OzJohnnie]

I don't know if you folks get this British celebrity chef on your idiot boxes, but he's on here.  And the poor fella should look at getting a better marketing consultant...

[57Johnnie]

I don't know if you folks get this British celebrity chef on your idiot boxes, but he's on here.  And the poor fella should look at getting a better marketing consultant...

WOW ----- I nominate that as the best post so far in 2009 

[BDB]

I don't know if you folks get this British celebrity chef on your idiot boxes, but he's on here.  And the poor fella should look at getting a better marketing consultant...

"Prick with a fork."        

[BDB]

Separated at birth?



     Chastity Bono and John Candy

Chastity Bono is the 2nd person from the left. 

[retagent]

wart - Not that you picked them for this reason (I would guess the geographical proximity plays in here) but I think the Blues are the youngest team in the NHL, and on the rise. The only problem they have is that they are in one of the toughest Divisions in the league with the Wings, the Blackhawks, the Blue Jackets and the Predators. They made the playoffs this year with maybe their best defenseman out the entire year (Of course I'm talking about Minnesota born Eric Johnson) and a ton of other injuries. Though the Pens and the Wings look strong into next year, there are a number of teams that could challenge. The Capitals, for instance took the Pens to seven games. Their goalie had one of the best goals against averages in the playoffs, and he has played a total of about 12 NHL games, and is 21 years old. Their AHL affiliate won the Calder Cup - the Championship of the AHL, with another 21 or 22 year old goalie. Oh, yeah, despite anticipated protests, they have the best player in the NHL and a number of other good young players, including maybe the best young defenseman in the league, and the AHL leading goal scorer, who couldn't crack the Caps lineup on a regular basis.

Anyone who goes to a pro, or college for that matter, hockey game will begin to understand that it is the best in-person spectator sport in the world. Even when the score might be 2 - 1, it can be more exciting than basketball where scoring is so rampant, it is almost irrelevant what happens in the first three quarters. The vast number of skills that these guys display at the high level is truly amazing. Try it some time, and I think you'll agree.