Calling Out Around the World

Ugh. That song's been driving me crazy, since those Macy's commercials have been on television almost constantly.

BUT...

I have been called out by my #1 Favorite Reader, Drop The Puck! (who now goes by Donald, probably because he is constantly arguing with "anonymous" posters about identifying themselves. It is eerie because my name is, as you may know, the feminized version of his) for being LAZY and then trying to use physics to excuse my laziness. I would argue that it wasn't an excuse but a scientifically proven fact, as my posting velocity was ZERO and thus no matter the mass, my momentum was also ZERO. I would also like to point out there are people much lazier than I was this summer.

DTP/Donald also commented later pondering if he was the only person in Anchorage who closely followed my one-sided war with LaP. I would respond he is probably the only person in the galaxy who even pays attention.

BUT...

on that note, I saw LaP tonight at Rally Monday at Peavey Plaza. It was pretty moto, for sure, with Kent Hrbek ready to party and Nick Punto firing us up and Scott Leius looking strangely hott (much hotter than in 1991). I teared up a little at the Kirby Puckett montage, glared at small children, and pondered the meaning of life. The playoffs start tomorrow, and I am SO EXCITED!!!

BUT...

This site ain't about baseball. It's about hockey, and the season has "started." I say that in quotation marks because it hasn't really started, it's all exhibition, but hockey is hockey. As Brad put it, "exhibition hockey > no hockey." (I would never use the greater than/less than signs myself, as it reeks of the endless posturing by UMTC/UND fans, but I can't help what others do.) The 'Dogs haven't played yet, but THAT IS ABOUT TO CHANGE, COMRADES. THE REVOLUTION IS COMING.

I have been asked to give Western College Hockey a series preview each week, which is supposed to be done on Fridays, but our game isn't ON a Friday, so I'm going to do it while I can. I still have a bunch of programming to do and baseball to watch and work to attend to, so I'd better do this while I can.

Thursday, 5 OCT 2006
The Bulldogs will host the Lakehead University (it's in Thunder Bay, ONT, Canada, in case you've never heard of it and don't want to use Google) Thunderwolves for an unorthodox Thursday game. Whoever does the scheduling for Lakehead was half in the bag when they planned their upcoming weekend: Thursday in Duluth, Friday in Houghton, and Saturday in Sault Ste. Marie. Yeah, that sounds like a lot of fun. Lakehead will be at their best for the 'Dogs, since they will be just starting their road trip.
The Thunderwolves are coming off two losses to the AHL's Manitoba Moose, 3-0 and 8-1, which seems pretty rough. They've got 3 goalies on their roster, and I would assume at least 2 will be playing, if not all 3, to prevent fatigue. Chris Whitley is the only veteran goaltender they have (if I have the conversion from the metric correct, eligibility year 1 would mean freshman, 2 is sophomore, 3 is junior, 4 is senior, and 5 is super senior, which is evidently okay in Canada), and he made 99 saves in the 2 games against the Moose. That's a song by Nena, people. Neunundneunzig Speichert. So, it seems they have some defensive issues. We can relate, right? But, I hope, not anymore!
Look for the 'Dogs to use Josh Johnson, Alex Stalock, and Nate Ziegelmann in goal for this game, since there is no definitive starter as yet. Speculation abounds as to who will play, and on what line, and all that jazz, but I don't have any predictions at this point. They would do well to pair McKnight and Raymond together. The key right now is to shoot the puck often, as the Thunderwolves defense seems to be leakier than our old canoe. I would definitely prefer we stay out of the penalty box, as I don't have a whole lot of confidence in our PK. After a little more practice, I hope I'll be able to talk about our special teams without adding "in the short bus way." It would be nice to start the season off with a win, even if it is an exhibition game. Hey, look at the Nanooks, the Teenagers beat them, and exhibition or not, that's not exactly a confidence booster. I predict a Bulldogs win, but it won't be a blow-out.