Gordie Howe Suffers Stroke

10/29/14

The hockey world was struck with sad news this week. Gordie Howe, a hockey legend, has unfortunately suffered a severe stroke this past Sunday in Texas. His family released a statement that revealed that he is currently resting at his daughter’s house, and that he is pretty much confined to his bed. According to his son, Howe, 86, has lost some function of the right side of his body. It is also very difficult for him to speak right now. The whole hockey community is keeping him in their thoughts. Let me tell you a little bit about Gordie’s hockey career. First, he played 31 professional seasons. That is amazing! Another cool thing is that his career was throughout five different decades (the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and a few months in the 80s). At the age of 51, he was playing the Hartford Whalers. He scored 801 goals during his dazzling NHL career. In total, he recorded 1,850 NHL points. He won four Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings, where he spent most of his career. In 1972, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. There is even a hat trick named after him, the Gordie Howe Hat Trick. This involves a goal, a fight, and an assist. To me, that is cooler than a regular hat trick!

Flyers Defeat the Kings!

10/29/14

What a game! The Flyers defeated the reigning Stanley Cup Champs, the Los Angeles Kings. This makes it a three-game winning streak for Philadelphia. Ray Emery has been hot in net, and has been the winning goalie for the past three games. The game ended in overtime, with an awesome break away goal by Brayden Schenn. A Flyers-Kings game is always a big one. The Kings are also known as the “Flyers of the West”. There are many former Flyers that play for LA. The most significant former Flyers on the Kings are Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, who were both part of “block-buster” trades back in June of 2011. That was a hard day. Other than Jeremy Roenick, Mike Richards (Richie) was my favorite player. I loved watching every shift he played. I had a couple of his jerseys, even his Team Canada one. I got to meet him a bunch of times, and that never got old. He was the captain of the team, and nobody saw this trade coming. I cried. I actually cried. That makes me a true fan though, right? The following season, Richards and Carter won the Stanley Cup with the Kings. They won it again last season. It’s definitely a stinger for Philadelphia fans, but I still really love Richie! The only good I can take away from the trade is that in return, we got Brayden Schenn who netted to overtime winner last night!

Slava Voynov Suspended Indefinitely

10/20/14

While browsing NHL.com today, a headline really stood out to me. It said that Slava Voynov had been suspended indefinitely. I had to open the link because when a player is suspended indefinitely, they had to have done something pretty bad. We have been hearing a lot about domestic violence in the NFL lately, and now it is in the NHL as well. Voynov, a defenseman for the Los Angeles Kings was arrested early Monday morning on charges of domestic violence. Voynov was arrested at a hospital where the victim was being treated. He was released on a $50,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on December 1^st. It is so sad to hear that there is another case of domestic violence in professional sports. Unlike the NFL, the NHL quickly suspended Voynov upon learning the news of his arrest and why he was arrested. The police issued a statement that Voynov has been cooperating with law enforcement and that the woman has been released from the hospital. The Kings’ head coach, Darryl Sutter, went to Voynov’s home this morning but left when no one answered. The Kings released the following statement: “These developments are of great concern to our organization. We support the NHL’s decision to suspend Slava Voynov indefinitely during this process, and we will continue to take appropriate action as the legal proceedings and the investigation by the NHL take their course.” Here’s to hoping that this will be the last domestic violence case in sports.

Jeremy Roenick, One of my Hockey Heroes

10/20/14

In class today, we had the opportunity to talk about an athlete that brings a lot of qualities to the sport world. I chose to speak about Jeremy Roenick who is my all-time favorite hockey player. I’m sure that many people in the class had no clue who he is but I still really wanted to talk about him. To me, he made a pretty awesome impact in the NHL and he was an idol for many young American hockey players. Growing up, I would watch him and I always told my dad that I wanted to play like him. I remember my dad got me a Jeremy Roenick hockey stick when I was around the age of 10. I still have it and use it when I play street hockey at home. As I talked about in class, he has a passion for his fans and the fans of hockey. While playing in Philadelphia, he would park in the general lot on game days for a little bit so he could sign autographs for the fans. When my cousin needed open-heart surgery, he called her the night before and while she was recovering in the hospital to see how she was doing. If that doesn’t make you love him, I really don’t know what else would. Another thing that I liked about him was that he would like to keep it light on the ice when possible. If he was on the ice and a song came on that he liked, he would dance and try to get the other players into it. That definitely doesn’t happen in the league anymore. Roenick was a fearless player in every way. If there was a shot coming his way, he would block it (he has broken his jaw many times). If an opposing player were chirping him or his teammate, he would fight him. He also wasn’t afraid to say how he felt about the league. A few years ago he released a book. In it, he explained his journey in the NHL and pretty much every feeling he has towards the league. He then went on a small book tour. My dad took me to meet him. It was one of the coolest days ever, and I will never forget it. He autographed my book and jersey that I will cherish forever. Jeremy Roenick made the game of hockey the best thing to watch while I was growing up. I am thankful that I got to see him play, and I hope the younger generation of hockey fans can learn about him as well.

A Win for the Flyers!

10/19/14

They won! They finally got their first win of the season! The Flyers beat the Dallas Stars 6-5 in overtime Saturday night. Captain Claude Giroux sealed the deal for the Flyers with a beautiful shot from the point. I was only able to watch the first two periods, but it seemed like a pretty good game. Dallas was the first team to score, and then the Flyers finished the first period ahead 2-1. It was a relieving thing to see, considering that they haven’t been playing that well recently. Brayden Schenn also got his first tally during that period. He’s been getting a lot of criticism this season, so it was nice to see him get that important goal. The second period was all Dallas, scoring three goals and putting them ahead 4-2. The third period was crazy! Goals from Andrew MacDonald and Jake Voracek tied the game at 4. Then the Stars scored, and shortly after Michael Raffl was able to tie it up again at 5. This means overtime. The Flyers got a power play in overtime. Mark Streit passed the puck to Giroux who gave the Flyers their first victory of the season. The captain said that it was “an ugly win but we’ll take it” and that this game “brought the boys closer”. Keep the good things going, boys.

Farewell Flag Football

10/16/14

This week, I participated in my last college flag football intramural game. To some this may not mean anything, but I’m actually really going to miss playing in that league. I have been apart of this league for four years now, playing for my sorority and a co-rec team as well. Through this game, I was able to get closer with some of my sorority sisters. With 140 members in my chapter, it is not easy to befriend everyone. Through football, I was able to interact with a smaller group of girls that I didn’t really hangout with outside of the game. We were brought closer through sport and I’m definitely going to miss playing with them and hanging out when we had practice. The other team that I participated in for the past couple of seasons was a group of people from the Mason Aquatic & Fitness Center. Last year, they asked me to be apart of their team while I was a practicum student at the gym. I have had so much fun with them and I have met some pretty cool people that I still keep in touch with now. We didn’t have as strong of a season as we did last year, but we had a lot of fun and that’s what counts!

Another Frustrating Start for the Flyers

10/13/14

Well as some expected, it’s another bad start for the Flyers this year. After the first three games of the season, their record is 0-2-1. Yup, no wins yet. The most frustrating part about it is that they finally looked like they were going to get a win on Saturday against Montreal. They had a 3-0 lead for the majority of the game. I think the Flyers forgot how to play defense for a period. They made their goalie fend for himself for awhile. The Habs were able to tie it up and send the game into overtime. After five minutes of sudden death overtime, a shootout had to decide the outcome of the game. Unfortunately, Montreal won. On the bright side, the Flyers finally got a point in the standings from that game! It was very heartbreaking to watch though. However, one of the top forwards, Vincent Lecavalier, sustained a lower body injury and will be out about two weeks. This gives a chance for the young guys to step up and fill in some big skates. While it is so nice to have hockey back, I don’t always like the stress that comes with it! I guess that is just a side effect of being a Philadelphia fan!   

Michael Del Zotto: A True Hero Off the Ice

10/6/14

Michael Del Zotto is one of the newest additions to the Flyers this season. He’s a pretty good defenseman, so I think it was a good signing by the Flyers. Hockey aside, Del Zotto is really an awesome guy off the ice. A few years ago while playing for the Rangers, he met a special friend named Liam. Liam, 12, suffers from Cerebral Palsy. Liam is a die-hard Rangers fan who has undergone many surgeries. One day, the Garden of Dreams foundation granted his wish to meet the New York Rangers. That day, Liam met Del Zotto for the first time. Even when Del Zotto was traded to Nashville, Liam still was a fan and got to visit him there. Now with the Flyers, he owns his new jersey and gets to visit him more often in Philadelphia. To this day, Del Zotto calls Liam his best friend. They text every day and Liam always sends him a good luck text before each and every game. Del Zotto often posts about Liam on Twitter. In honor of National Cerebral Palsy Day last week, he posted a nice video about their relationship. Not going to lie, I cried. While I was home for Yom Kippur this past weekend, I made my dad watch the video too. He cried as well. I think it is so nice that there are still athletes like Del Zotto out there. I will post the link to the video below. I recommend that you watch it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0zzm7rxyRc

10/5/14

A few days ago, Hilary Knight practiced with the Anaheim Ducks. Knight, 25, participated in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and the 2010 games in Vancouver. She played for the women’s USA Hockey team and is one of the top female hockey players in the world. She even scored the team’s first goal of the tournament in Sochi. In effort to bring more attention to women’s ice hockey, Knight participated in practice with the Ducks. It is believed that Knight is the first non-goalie female to practice with an NHL team. In her words, “I’m one of those women who like to push boundaries. I’ve got a frame and structure that can blend in sometimes with the guys.” She then said it was a great opportunity to get on the ice and skate with the NHLers. Anaheim head coach, Bruce Boudreau, was impressed with her skill. He has never watched a live women’s hockey game before so he did not know what to expect. Knight’s next goal is to play an exhibition game in the NHL. Some of the Ducks’ players and the coach think that this could be a possibility sometime in the future, maybe next season. As an avid hockey player who grew up playing women’s hockey, I think that this is so cool to see. Good for you, Hilary!