#⭑ minnesota wild — stranger things / scott.

[originhl]

@heartsbreaking — continued from here : there was a weight sometimes that hung around scott's neck like a chain before he was dropped into a river. every time it moved, it sounded like realising people weren't treating his family the right was, and they were feeling it. it felt like shame for his ignorance, and scott would never stop working to try and make up for it. he knew that it wasn't quite the same in the hockey arena, where they were all jocks, but he liked to stand for justice everywhere that he could ; even if it had put a sizeable dent in his cool factor. he shrugged, ' don't know if anyone else would agree, but I'm not ashamed of doing it. '

the teenager barked a sound somewhere between a laugh and a squawk and took a hard turn at the bottom of the steps, ' hey, I'm always happy to help. '

[iamtheblondestblonde]

Slides and Serendipity

Part Eight (4.5k)

Masterlist

AN: Lots of stuff happening. Also I wrote most of this after emptying an entire bottle of cider by myself so I take no responsibility for any mistakes (yes I sunk that low)

Warnings: probably swearing (idek anymore), alcohol?

“I’m in trouble Lisa, he’s definitely trouble”, I said to my best friend as I stood in my closet, phone pressed to my ear. Ever since the party my thoughts had been running wild and I had come to the realization that I couldn’t handle being just friends with benefits with Tyler. Right now it was more like friends with one-sided feelings.

“Yeah I saw that coming from a mile away. What changed?”

I told her how I’d been the last one to leave Tyler’s house at the party last week. After dancing around with Roope and Jamie I’d sat outside for a while to cool off, Tyler joining me on the sofa not long after. He’d started pestering me for juicy details of my threesome, but Lisa and I had promised each other to not tell any specifics. As soon as he realized that I wouldn’t tell him who it was with he gave up on the topic, switching to something less intrusive instead.

We’d spent the rest of the night there, only leaving once to grab more blankets as the temperature dropped. With my legs tucked underneath me and his arm around my body, apparently I’d looked like I was cold, we’d spent hours talking and trying to see the stars dimmed by the city lights. As the time had passed I’d found myself snuggling closer and closer but at one point I practically couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore.

He tried to convince me to stay, but with my house only being a five minute walk away there was no logical reason to accept his offer, even if I really wanted to. The dogs had all found comfortable spots on his couch to sleep and the sight was so domestic that it almost broke my heart to wake Yogi up so we could leave.

Tyler had insisted on walking me home again and as I hugged him goodbye I knew that I was in some deep shit. It wasn’t like I’d actively tried to avoid falling for anyone up to this point, I’d just had a more it’ll happen when it happens approach, meaning I didn’t particularly look for anyone either.

In hindsight I should have seen it coming with the amount of time we spent with each other and the way he reminded me of the one guy I’d ever had feelings for but yet it still took me by surprise.

He’d texted me a couple of times while being away and saying that I wasn’t looking forward to his snapchats would be a lie.

“So what are you going to do now?”, Lisa asked after listening to me telling her about what happened. I had thought about this a lot, especially since Tyler had asked me to come over for a bit before his first game of the pre season tonight. I wanted to go and watch in person but Mia wasn’t free tonight and I didn’t want to go by myself, so I promised I’d cheer on him from the confines of my couch.

Mia, Jason and I had finished working on our first day together an hour ago and I had just stepped out of the shower when Lisa had finally returned my calls.

“I don’t really have a choice, either it’s just friends or something more and I’m pretty sure that that isn’t what he is looking for right now.” I didn’t want to ruin our friendship by admitting anything to him prematurely so my only option was to wait for him to take the first step.

“You don’t know that.”

“Well no but I don’t know, seems highly unlikely.”

I put her on speaker as I put on some yoga pants and a loose shirt and when I looked at my screen I saw that I had a message from Tyler.

Ty: I’m cooking do you want some?

Me: Depends on what you’re cooking because I’m not in the mood for food poisoning

Ty: Funny as always..

Ty: Pasta, salmon and some salad I think even I can handle that

I hadn’t eaten lunch yet either, so I called for Yogi and then told Lisa that I had to hang up now.

“Go get your man.”

“Fuck off Lisa.”

The weather was nice today so it came as no surprise that Gerry was enjoying the pool, Marshall and Cash still wet from having taken a dip themselves sometime before we arrived. Yogi was more than happy to join the action and I already dreaded having to brush out the tangles in his fur tonight.

The food actually smelled really good and this time I let Tyler tell me what to do, as I didn’t want to mess with any pre-game superstitions. He did let me make some adjustments to the pasta sauce though. We took our meals outside so we could properly enjoy the sunshine, something I knew we both liked to do.

I tried to act normal and I was pretty sure that I was doing a great job or at least Tyler didn’t let it on if he picked up on something being off.

It was crazy, ever since my realization my feelings had snowballed and now I found myself overthinking every little action, trying to figure out what was going on in his head while also being confused of the mess that was my thoughts.

Afterwards we settled in the media room to watch some kind of animal documentary that Jamie had recommended, but we ended up mostly just talking and laughing until it was time for his nap and for me to go home again. Time always seemed to fly with him.

“I won’t wish you good luck because you’re definitely too good for that. Have fun tonight Ty, I’ll be watching closely.”

“Thanks, I’ll try my best to put one in the net for you.”

I hugged him closely and he pressed a kiss to my temple, making my thoughts go crazy. Perhaps him leaving for over a week on a roadtrip after the game would give me some much needed distance.

He didn’t put one in the net for me that night and I felt bad for him because of the loss, even if it was still only a pre season game. The team had been doing well after that, winning the following two games but Tyler hadn’t been on the ice for those.

Mia had asked me to go out with her because Elias would be staying with her grandparents for the weekend and without having any say in it I found myself in a crowded country bar on a Saturday evening. I’d even donned some boots that Mia had dug up from somewhere but I drew the line at the jeans shorts and a flannel, opting for long skinny jeans and a normal shirt instead. The boots were cute but I was nowhere near a country girl so the full get-up would only feel phony.

Mia taught me some dance moves and I even tried riding the bull-thingy, unsurprisingly not lasting very long. It did make me thirsty though so I made my way over to the bar, which offered a broad selection of beers to my delight.

“I could give you some lessons if you want me to”, I heard a voice next to me. I turned to my left and recognized the guy who had sat on the bull before me. While the time he lasted on the damn thing was impressive in itself, I’d been more captivated by his looks.

He had given me a ‘The Longest Ride’ vibe from the moment I laid eyes on him, a dark haired version of Scott Eastwood. For a second I contemplated shooting him down, but he gave off genuinely nice guy vibes with his bright smile and I could really use the distraction right now.

“How about we start with a drink instead?”, I asked, giving him my best smile. He chuckled but waved over the bartender nevertheless, ordering a round of shots and beer after taking a look at the bottle that I had in my hand.

His name was Mark and he had to lean down to hear me because he was so tall. This made me miss my heels but I also kind of liked the way he had to get close to me during our conversation at the bar.

“I’m actually here with a friend though and I don’t want to abandon her.”

“No need for that, why don’t you just bring her over to our booth over there?” He pointed over to a small group of guys that could have made up the cover of a cowboy calendar. Mia would be more than happy to spend some time with them.

She didn’t mind at all, of course, only telling me that this reminded her of our days in college when we didn’t have to spend any money at all and still stumbled out of the club drunk.

Hours later I was still dancing with Mark but what had started innocently was not so innocent by now. He had taken off his flannel long ago and his cowboy hat was now firmly planted on my hair while got to enjoy his tan skin and muscular built, results of hard work on his horse ranch.

I hadn’t gotten laid in almost two months and all the confusion from the situation with Tyler made me want to go further than I usually did with random strangers. It also helped that he could be the lead actor in any country romance movie. Mia seemed to really get along with one of his friends who promised to take good care of her and gave me his address so I could hunt him down if needed. Let’s just say it wasn’t like she minded me disappearing either.

It wasn’t until the next morning, after seeing Mark out, that I realized that I had forgotten to check on Tyler’s game, his messages from last night still unopened and portraying the frustration he felt after playing and having to watch Minnesota put six in the net.

Tonight I would finally get to watch Tyler play. I had to miss the game on Thursday because I had to attend some meetings for Bumble in Austin yesterday but now it was finally time.

After a brutal workout at the gym I’d gone over to his house in the morning to make breakfast after his morning skate, something that had somehow turned into our weekend routine.

It was the last game of the pre season and against Denver out of all teams. Mara had texted me earlier to tell me that while she was still rooting for the Avs, she wouldn’t be mad if they lost tonight, which was a compliment in itself.

Mia had arranged for a sitter so she could come to the game with me and I insisted on going over to AAC early so we could watch the warmups, wanting her to get the full experience for her very first ice hockey game. I didn’t have a Stars jersey but I did own a hoodie in victory green. Tyler had offered to hook me up with some merch but I declined because I honestly couldn’t handle wearing his jersey right now.

Mark had been an alright distraction but as soon as I saw Tyler again after the trip I was reminded of the mixed feelings that I was desperately trying to get in order.

The sex with Mark had been fun, although not mindblowing, and under different circumstances I probably would have hooked up with him again but I needed to get my shit together first. While throwing myself under someone else to get over whatever this thing with Tyler was sounded very appealing, I knew that it would only distract me for so long.

Mia honked from my driveway, ripping me out of my thoughts and I checked Yogi’s food and water again before grabbing my things and making my way out of the door. Following Emily’s recommendation I had installed a doggy door that would only open when a chip in his collar got close, meaning he was free to roam the backyard as he wished while still not enabling any instrusions. It was kind of ugly but I’d figure out a way to make it look good. This way he would be fine on his own for the next couple of hours at least.

I could tell that Mia was excited, her choice of music only pumping her up even more. I was really looking forward to this as well. My last hockey game had been during the playoffs in Denver and while watching the games on TV so far was fine, nothing beat watching them live.

We were early enough to still snatch a spot up at the glass for warmups next to a family, something I’d never experienced either. Whenever I’d go with the girls one of us had always taken longer than planned so by the time we’d make it to the arena we could only watch from our seats.

Mia and I had seen each other almost every day of the week so far, but yet we still found things to talk about until the guys finally stepped onto the ice. After passing some pucks Tyler skated a lap around the rink, stopping in front of us when he finally spotted me.

“Look who finally made it”, he teased and I was tempted to flip him off but I was also very aware of the many eyes watching our every move so I only stuck my tongue out at him.

“Yeah and you better win tonight or I’m not coming again.” I was kidding of course.

“I guess I have no choice then.”

“I know you’ll do great. Go ahead and crush them”, I said and he looked like he wanted to say something, but then stopped himself, which of course only made me curious. It was times like this where I was almost convinced that perhaps he liked me back as well but I knew how unlikely that was. I might not be a professional athlete but I did understand the perks of not settling down as well.

He was called over for some drills, effectively breaking the look we shared right now and he shot a quick smile at me before tapping his stick to the glass and then skating off.

“Just friends my ass”, Mia whispered in my ear and I elbowed her in turn. I was surprised that she’d picked up on the weird tension between Tyler and I. We’d talked about him a couple of times during the week, especially as we’d made plans for the game tonight, but I hadn’t told anyone but Lisa about my current dilemma. She sensed I wasn’t in the mood to elaborate though and quickly let it go after that, which I was really thankful for.

After the warmups we decided to grab some food and drinks before finally settling in our seats. Katie had asked us to join her and the others up in the box but I declined, wanting to spend some one on one time with an old friend during the game. Besides I’d be up there during opening night soon enough.

The game wasn’t off to a very good start and while the first period was action packed on both sides, it left the Stars trailing behind by two goals. Mia was a bit confused at first but I gave her a quick crash course and soon enough she picked up on the mood in the arena, following the lead of the other fans on when to cheer and when to boo.

I used intermission to wait in the ridiculously long line for the restrooms and to check my phone, Mara flooding the group chat with messages that were practically a play by play of the game. I shot a quick text to Tyler, even if I knew that he probably wouldn’t get a look at his phone until after the game.

It was different to watch a game when you actually knew the players on the ice. I probably hadn’t been this on the edge of my seat during any sporting event since the soccer world cup finals in 2014.

After Tyler finally scored my screaming could probably be heard by Mara all the way in Denver. Mia and I were hugging each other, way too excited for the Avs still being in the lead.

Colorado scored again in the third and at this point I was already considering my options on how to cheer Tyler up. Mentally I was already going through my cute animals folder to pick out the cutest puppies to show Tyler afterwards, something that always made me feel better.

With less than four minutes left the Stars scored and Tyler had the assist so it was back to screaming and jumping for Mia and I. By the time Jamie scored to even out the score we were practically wrapped around each other, hoping for one last goal.

It didn’t happen and overtime wasn’t any better, not for lack of trying though.

“Your first time watching a hockey game and you get to watch a shootout you lucky bitch.”

“I’m just glad because this time it will be easy to follow the puck, the stupid thing moves so fast that I lose it every few seconds.”

At this point we couldn’t even stay seated if we wanted to, not that we did, because everyone else was on their feet to see what would happen. Shootouts were always brutal and not for the first time that night I was glad that I’d put on some lipstick because otherwise my lips would probably bleed from constantly biting them. Life hack by the way.

With the sound of the final buzzer I was pulled into the arms of the middle aged man to my left that I had never seen before, but I didn’t mind because I was so happy that the Stars had won. For this being only a pre season game things surely had escalated quickly.

Mia was still buzzing by the time we made our way out of the arena, enthusiastically recounting her favorite moments of the game. She would probably never watch games on TV but I knew from experience that it was hard not to fall for hockey when you got to watch games live. Perhaps I could take her again sometime, I had a feeling that she’d like glass seats even better.

The amount of fans trying to leave at the same time had slowed us down quite a bit so we were still at the parking garage when I felt my phone buzz with a call.

“Hey Ty what’s up?”

“Sorry I just got out of the shower or I would have called sooner but I wanted to ask if you want to come out with us tonight. You should bring your friend too, we’re celebrating the end of a good pre season.”

I really tried not to think of him dripping wet from his shower but it still took me a couple of seconds to relay his invitation to Mia.

“Sorry I can’t, the sitter can’t stay over that late but you should definitely go out with them.” I didn’t want to abandon Mia in the parking lot like this, but she practically forced me to say yes and not soon after I was led through the arena by a security guard that Tyler had sent.

There was a group already waiting outside the locker rooms when I arrived, some of the guys greeting me enthusiastically. Roope even went as far as to lift me up so he could spin me around, saying that I was their good luck charm. I didn’t spot Tyler yet but I did see some of the girls so I made my way over to them. Some people must have already left, especially the players with kids, but the group was still big due to some of the rookies coming along as well.

I was just talking to Katie and Dominika about the game when I felt strong arms wrap around me from behind. By now I was very familiar with Tyler’s scent so I didn’t even hesitate before reaching up to put my hands on his forearms, tilting my head so I could smile up at him.

“We won so that means you can never miss a home game again”, he said and I laughed, not quite remembering that part of the agreement but also not willing to protest either.

The group must have finally been complete because now everyone was walking towards the exit, making a lot of noise and drawing looks from the few remaining employees.

I’d gotten my fair share of VIP treatment, money does solve a lot of problems after all, but yet I never really got used to the judging looks of people when security guards usher you through. The bouncers didn’t even question the presence of the rookies, even though some of them were definitely still underage, yet another bonus. It was the same club I’d been to with the girls a couple of weeks ago but up in the lounge everything was much more relaxed and the tables were actually clean.

“First round of shots is on me as a thank you for being so nice to me ever since I met all of you”, I called out before handing the waitress my credit card, loud cheering erupting from the rest of the group.

“Ooof our sugar mama, look at that shiny black”, Katie whooped and I just winked at her, receiving a kiss on the cheek in return. Meeting Tyler had been great in itself, but the friends I had made through him were a close second. I’d endure an eternity of unrequited feelings if it meant getting to keep everyone else in my life.

Several rounds of shots later I was out of breath from all the dancing, choosing to take a break in the lounge once again. Our group was split up by now, some lingering up here and others still tearing up the dance floor. I’d done my fair share of dancing as well, jumping around with the boys and pulling out the sexy moves with the girls. Hockey players definitely came in clutch for that part, as not a single guy came up to bother us, too scared of the human fridges that always kept a watchful eyes on us.

I’d danced with Tyler the most, his slight lack of rhythm being a great excuse to make him wrap his arms around me so I could ‘guide’ him. Perhaps I was a masochist after all.

I could spot Esa and Anna having a dance off with Klinger and Fanny from my spot against the railing and I watched them for a while before looking around some more.

Tyler was standing close to the bar, currently talking to one of his friends that had arrived some time after us. Tonight had been the first night where I could see his NHL fame in full action and it was both mesmerizing and terrifying to watch.

At all the other parties he’d known the other guests to some capacity at least so it wasn’t as bad, but tonight I got to watch girls literally throw themselves at him. Yes literally, I’d watched one of them ‘accidentally’ trip so he had to prevent her from falling not long ago. Some waited until I left his side, some just straight up didn’t care, interrupting our conversations or dancing without any regard for me. To my surprise I’d seen him turn down every single one of them so far but it was like a Roman battle formation, others always stepped up to close the gap. They were hot, there was no doubt about that and if I’d swing that way I’d definitely pick up some of them myself.

“I’m surprised Tyler let you out of his reach.” Roope’s voice ripped me out of my people watching trance and I looked up to him in question.

“I just overheard some of the rookies talking about how you’re fair game because they think that he hasn’t locked you down yet. I kinda want one of them to make a move so I can watch him put them in their place, he knows what’s going on.”

“You’re being mean. You were a rookie not so long ago.”

“Yeah and I had to deal with lots of shit so now it’s my turn.” I only shook my head at his ridiculousness, not really wanting to respond to his statement. Technically they were right and no matter how much I tried to convince myself of the opposite, that definitely stung a little bit.

“I’m being a good friend right now so I’m telling you that there’s this girl who’s been looking at you all evening and she looks like she’s nice. You could even braid each other’s hair,” I deflected, pointing towards the girl in question. Roope shoved me before flipping me off but his smile said that he’d go down to talk to her either way.

I chugged down the last few sips of my beer, quickly making my way back downstairs before any of the rookies could act out on their stupid idea. I doubted that Tyler would actually lash out at them if they did but I also didn’t want to tempt fate. Tyler waved me over as soon as he saw me walking down the stairs and I slowly made my way towards him, the writhing sweaty bodies and my height, or lack thereof, not helping at all.

I wasn’t even surprised anymore when he pulled me towards him as soon as I finally made it. Despite his bad boy looks I knew by now that he was a big teddy bear who loved to cuddle, the alcohol only making it worse. Or better, because he gave amazing hugs. He’d introduced me to his friend a while ago and I seamlessly slipped into their conversation until Tyler took me by surprise when he asked me if I was ready to leave yet. A closer look made it clear how exhausted he really was, his tired eyes not something I’d noticed up until this point.

“I honestly would’ve just gone straight home after the game but the others practically forced me to invite you along so I had no other choice because I wanted to spend some time with you”, he said once we had made ourselves comfortable in the backseat of the uber.

My heart was doing somersaults of course but my brain told me that it couldn’t keep up reminding me for much longer that there was no way he actually liked me back. I’d never been on this side of feelings and I definitely wasn’t handling it well. 

[notyourpapashockey]

Hispanic Heritage Month Fan Highlight: Elan Lozano

NOTE FROM NOT YOUR PAPA’S HOCKEY: SOME PEOPLE DECLINED TO SHARE LAST NAMES, TWITTER HANDLES AND/OR PERSONAL PICTURES. WE RESPECT THEIR RIGHT TO PRIVACY, AND WE HOPE OUR READERS DO AS WELL. WE HAVE NOT EDITED ANSWERS ASIDE FROM SLIGHT SPELLING ERRORS AND ADDED CLARIFICATION.

Not Your Papa’s (NYP): Tell me a little about yourself - name, pronouns, where you're from, fun fact if you want, etc!

Elan (E): My name is Elan Lozano, I am a 29 year old Mexican-American male from Saint Paul, Minnesota. I am not only an extremely huge hockey fan, but I am a musician as well. I play the drums, a little bit of guitar and work at a music shop as well. I have a hockey jersey collection that is currently up to 20, but most likely will be more by the time this article will come out.

NYP: Who is your team (or teams)?

E: Minnesota Wild all the way!

NYP: Who is your favorite player and why? 

E: Matt Dumba, no question. He’s the definition of a true leader in my opinion. He is always the first guy to help the younger guys get acclimated to the team. He is always there to pick up his teammates when they are hurt and the first to stick up for his teammates in a scrum or a fight. He is also finally getting recognized for it with his King Clancy Award this year, but he is an extremely huge community leader. He is always donating his time to multiple programs, charities and even strangers since the first day he arrived in Minnesota. He has done a ton of work with the ACES program and it is amazing to see. He has also donated money to help rebuild Minneapolis and for Black Lives Matter. It still boggles my mind that he has not been considered an option as a potential team captain when Mikko Koivu retires.

As a player, when he is on, the Wild are on as well. He’s a player that very much can dictate where the team can go. Plus, he has one of the best one timers I have ever seen. He has an absolute bomb of a slapshot! I honestly think if he did not get hurt halfway through last season, we would be talking about Matt Dumba across the league a lot more as one of the top offensive defenseman in the NHL. I have all the confidence that he will be able to turn back around and become the 20-30 goal scorer he looked like he was going to be before he was injured.

NYP: How long have you been a hockey fan and how did you get into hockey?

E: For as long as I can remember. I would guess around 6 or 7, so 22 or 23 years. All I remember was seeing The Mighty Ducks as a kid and being hooked! I mean, it was a movie that was filmed in my hometown. It was like it was meant to be. As far as NHL hockey, it easily has to be the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals. I just remember Dominik Hasek being an absolute madman in the net and making some of the craziest saves I have ever seen. Still, to this day, it amazes me how he made some of the saves he did. In my opinion, Dominik Hasek in his prime was the best goaltender to ever play the game. He almost single handedly won the Sabers a Cup. Shoutout to The Dominator. Still is one of my favorite players of all time.

NYP: What do you like the most about hockey? 

E: This is [a] tough question. I do not know if I can pick just one, but one of the things I love most about the sport is the fact that an underdog can win on any given night, and I do not think you can say that about any other sport really. Especially, in the playoffs. How many other sports leagues can say that an 8th seed has a shot at winning their league’s championship if they are able to make the playoffs and get hot at the right time? Not many, if any at all. The feeling of anything can happen is just pure amazing.

Another thing I love about the sport is the passion of anyone who is involved or surrounded by the game itself. The players, the announcers, the writers and the fans. We all live and die with our teams. The players leave it all out on the ice. The fact that a player can get as big of a cheer for blocking a shot as they can for scoring a goal tells you all you need to know about the passion the players and the fans have for the game and for each other.

NYP: How has being Hispanic/Latinx in a white-male centric fan community affected your relationship with the sport?

E: My experience with the sport has been positive for the most part, but there are moments where things have not been so positive. I remember growing up and saying my favorite sport is hockey. You would have kids make comments like, “But, you’re Mexican.” I never took those kids as meaning anything hurtful by it. Most of the time, they thought it was cool that I was Mexican and liked hockey, but I learned quickly at a very young age that there was not a lot of Latinx representation in the sport and that has always disappointed me.

It is growing. Slowly, but it is growing. I always looked up to Scott Gomez and would do reports in school on him as much as I could because he was an inspiration to me. It is amazing to see that we have a Latinx GM for the Minnesota Wild in Bill Guerin. It is amazing to see Alex Meruelo as the first Latinx owner in the NHL. I cannot tell you how exciting it was to see Auston Matthews go First Overall in the NHL Draft. There was such a high sense of pride for me seeing a Latinx player go first overall and especially to arguably the biggest hockey market in the world AND be their star player. 

The more negative experiences I have had have more come from looks or getting the feeling someone is talking about you because you are different. When I have been at the local bars surrounding Xcel Energy Center grabbing food and beer before a game, there are a few times I will get looks or get the feeling someone has been talking about me. It has happened at the arena a few times as well. I never let it bother me much because I am not going to allow someone to ruin my good time and waste the hard earned money I spent on my ticket to the game, but at the same time, I am human.

I can only deal with so much before I want to say something. I usually never do because, for one, I am usually alone and two, I am a Person of Color by myself at a hockey game. I would like to think a majority of the fans would have my back in helping defend me against racism, but I always get the feeling security or the cops at the arena would take the other person’s side if I did ever speak up. The worst part is I am a Season Ticket Holder and I still feel like very few people would have my back to support me. 

NYP: What do you wish you could see from teams or players when it comes to Hispanic Heritage - especially teams in areas with large Hispanic/Latinx populations?

E: Simple. Outreach, outreach, outreach. Most of the time, the teams will go to the suburbs of the city they play in, but where the outreach is needed most is usually a lot closer to the arenas these teams play in. It would be as simple as taking the time to go to a local rec center and play some floor hockey in the gym with the kids. If you did that once a week or even once a month, you would get so many more eyes on the sport and get kids interested at a much younger age.

Outreach is the first step. The second would have to be donating not only time, but money and/or gear. The game is extremely expensive. From my personal experience, my mom did not have the money to get me the gear I needed to play hockey when I was younger. A few years ago, I was able to get myself skates and a helmet and started to trying to learn how to skate on my own. There was no way my single mom could have afforded to buy the gear and ice time I would have needed to be able to play.

NYP: In relation to the question above, what would you like to see your favorite team, specifically, do for Hispanic/Latinx fans?

E: I would give the two same answers as before, but I will specify it more to my city and to the Minnesota Wild. I live on the West Side of Saint Paul, which has a very large Latinx population, more specifically, Mexican and Mexican-American. I live literally 5 minutes from the Xcel Energy Center and in the near 20 years of the team’s existence, there has been no or hardly any outreach to this side of town. We could not live any closer to not only the arena, but to the practice facilities as well. There is no excuse the team has to not have more of an outreach in our neighborhood. We have a new rec center in the area, an indoor ice rink and the rec center also makes two outdoor rinks every year. There are plenty of opportunities for the Wild to outreach to the neighborhood I live in, but I have seen more outreach in the suburbs who are 30 to 45 minutes away from the arena. Even the Minnesota Twins rebuilt the baseball fields that are attached to the rec center and they are based out of Minneapolis, not Saint Paul like the Minnesota Wild are. It is extremely disappointing.

NYP: What is your favorite thing a team or player has done for Hispanic Heritage? 

E: It almost feels disappointing that this is my answer because I feel like it should be something on a bigger scale to talk about, but it has to be an interview/YouTube video that SportsNet’s Donnovan Bennett did with Auston Matthews about his Latinx heritage that was released back in February this year. It was great to hear him talk about his family and his culture. It shows where he comes from. Sadly, the video has under 100,000 views at the time of me writing this. It is crazy to me that the Leafs, or the NHL for that matter, did not promote this more for one of its Superstars players in the league.

[Note from NYPH: the video has since surpassed 100k views but barely, it sits at 100,684 as of Sept. 23, 2020.]

NYP: Tell me about a favorite hockey memory.

E: Hands down, my favorite hockey moment is Andrew Brunette’s OT Game 7 winner against the Colorado Avalanche in 2003. I was 12 and I remember it was one of the rare times my mom let me stay up late to let me watch the game. No matter how late it could have gone, she was going to let me stay up and watch the entire game. She knew what it meant to me. Quick shoutout to my amazing mom for always being supportive of my passion for the sport of hockey. My mom even let me watch the game on the big TV in the living room.

I remember Brunette getting a break to the net and when he scored, it is a feeling I will never forget. I just remember jumping up and down, screaming and crying out of pure joy. The emotions came over me. To this day, whenever I see this goal, I get a chill down my spine. No one gave us a chance and we took down the mighty Avalanche. We were the underdog, and we fought so hard to get a chance. To get respect. That is why I connect with the game so much. I am that person in my everyday life. I have to fight for every inch and you have to do that exact same thing in hockey.

NYP: What is something you wish people knew as a Hispanic/Latinx hockey fan? 

E: I think from a cultural standpoint, we have so much to offer to the game to make it better. We are passionate. We love hard! We dive headfirst into the things we love. We will fight, scratch, claw and defend our team to no end. Imagine having more players with that fire and passion on a team or in a front office. We have so much to offer the sport. We just need the opportunities to do so.

You can find Elan on Twitter: @MapexDrummer26.

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: The Postman Delivers But The Breadman Assists; Wilson On Fire – December 9

It was the Artemi Panarin show in Newark on Friday night.

After his team fell behind 2-0 on goals from Marcus Johansson and Brian Boyle, Panarin had three primary assists on three second-period goals for Columbus. The prettiest of the three was probably on Scott Harrington’s goal where Panarin finds him as the trailer through a solid backcheck:

Three #CBJ goals tonight, three Artemi Panarin assists.

This one is pure art. #YeastMode pic.twitter.com/ZjBo8o9cIn

— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) December 9, 2017

He added a fourth assist, on the power play no less, in the third period on Alex Wennberg’s game-winning goal, and his fifth assist on Zach Werenski’s late tally. Five goals for Columbus, five primary assists for Panarin. Truly a night that is hard to top.

Once Panarin’s shooting percentage comes around (he’s under 9 percent right now despite being over 15 percent in his first two years), he’ll be fine as a fantasy asset. Power-play points are still an issue, and that will limit his upside, but getting to 20 goals and 60 points seems reasonable.

*

For those frustrated Cam Atkinson fantasy owners, maybe grab a big sip of coffee before reading the following tweet:

#CBJ Cam Atkinson benched for the entire 3rd period. Finished the night with 9:36 TOI.

— Kristyn Repke‍ (@kristynrepke) December 9, 2017

Now you get to clean the coffee off your computer screen! Or an unfortunate stranger if you were on a commute.

I don’t know what Jackets fans think, but Atkinson didn’t stand out to me in a bad way in any game of theirs I’ve watched this year. He hasn’t been scoring, but he hasn’t also been a liability. That I’ve noticed, anyway.

Regardless, maybe now is the time to inquire to a panicking Atkinson owner? If his shooting percentage increases, he can still push for 25 goals. Getting 20-ish goals the rest of the way would be a big win for what he would cost in a trade. It never hurts to ask.

*

Make it back-to-back games with goals for Nicklas Backstrom:

BACKSTROM! What a wrister, beautiful rip! 2-0 Caps! pic.twitter.com/wwMy4wAvCa

— NHL Daily 365 (@NHLDaily365) December 9, 2017

Both he and Alex Ovechkin have been on fire since being reunited. Now, I don’t want to attribute everything to that – remember when the whole team was on fire for the first two weeks of the season? – but as long as they keep rolling, it’s only good for the fantasy value of each player.

Tom Wilson continued his recent hot streak with a goal and an assist in the third period. The final four minutes, really, as this was a 2-2 game with 3:30 left on the clock.

I suppose as long as Wilson is on the top line, he has value in fantasy leagues that count PIMs. Count me dubious that he has much production value, though, recent hot streak aside. From 2014-2017, Wilson was 178th out of 202 forwards in primary points per 60 minutes at five-on-five, sandwiched between Dwight King and Adam Lowry. Before saying that it’s all due to line mates (some is, I will grant that), note that guys like Chris Stewart, Antoine Roussel, and Dale Weise all out-produced him on a per-minute basis, some by a lot (Roussel by over 30 percent, for example). He’ll stay there as long as the goals keep coming, but as soon as those fall off, he’ll be back in the bottom-6. That’s not a bad thing – he’s fine as a fourth-line winger, third line in a pinch. I just don’t see him working out long-term on the top line.

*

Speaking of Marcus Johansson’s goal, here it is:

Wrap your head around this goal by Marcus Johansson pic.twitter.com/9mDXJITFUs

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 9, 2017

Johansson returning to the lineup should be a boost on both sides of the puck for this team, and make their lineup a little longer. I do have doubts for him as a fantasy asset. He had a career-high 58 points last year, partly due to playing on a heavily-used top PP unit for the Capitals leading to 19 power-play points. If he plays on the second line in New Jersey and his PP time is split between two units, a 50-point/82 games pace is as much as we can expect.

*

Friday night marked the return of Andre Burakovsky to the Washington lineup. He started and finished the game on the third line with Brett Connolly and Lars Eller.

This was a year of high expectations for Burakovsky from the fantasy community. With Justin Williams and Marcus Johansson no longer on the roster, two top-six forward spots opened up, and he was expected to be on one of the top two lines. He had been playing with Nicklas Backstrom and TJ Oshie before his broken finger, and that trio was crushing it to the tune of a 57.4 percent adjusted shot share and 53.5 percent expected goal share.

Count me among the interested to see what the lineup looks like in a week or two. While Burakovsky’s old line was performing very well, the duo of Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin was getting shredded defensively. Once Oshie returns from his current injury, does Trotz return to Burakovsky-Backstrom-Oshie? Does he leave Ovechkin-Backstrom-Wilson together? Burakovsky won’t see top power-play minutes unless there’s an injury, but he’ll have moderate fantasy value once he makes his way back to the top-six. How much he has will depend on which line mates he ends up with, and the settings individual leagues (plus/minus could be an issue).

*

The game of the night was undoubtedly Vegas-Nashville. We had six total goals, 83 total shots, a back-and-forth overtime, and of course (PK) Subban vs. Malcolm Subban.

Vegas managed a 2-0 lead on goals from William Karlsson (of course) and James Neal (no way he wasn’t scoring in his return to Nashville). Nashville fired him three straight goals from Calle Jarnkrok, Viktor Arvidsson, and Nick Bonino. Vegas tied the game with the goalie pulled on a deflected shot from Erik Haula.

Honestly, this game was a lot of fun, and hopefully we see them meet in the playoffs.

On the Jarnkrok goal, I want to point something out. In the first five seconds of this video, watch Filip Forsberg one-hand a waist-high puck down to his feet, and away from a pressing Vegas checker:

CALLE JARNKROK, WHAT A MOVE! PREDS DOWN 1! pic.twitter.com/rOSuyQTaRI

— NHL Daily 365 (@NHLDaily365) December 9, 2017

What a special player.

There was nothing really particular in this game to point out. Arvidsson had a couple points, as did Nate Schmidt (two assists). Schmidt and Mattias Ekholm tied for most minutes in this game with 28:08. In fact, no Vegas skater had more than 21 minutes played. Schmidt was a beast.

This was just a very fun game to watch. More of this please.

*

At the other end of the spectrum, Chicago absolutely laid waste to Buffalo. It was a 3-2 overtime win, sure, but Buffalo wasn’t really controlling this game at any point. The final shot tally was 51-28 Blackhawks, and Chicago had 70 percent of the score-adjusted shot share at five-on-five. Robin Lehner was the reason this game was 3-2 and not 8-2.

Buffalo actually led this game going into the final four minutes of the third. They promptly gave up a short-handed goal to Tommy Wingels to force overtime. On the power play this year, Buffalo has scored 11 and allowed eight against. They’re plus-3 on the power play two months into the season.

Small, meaningless quirk that I would not have noticed had I not been watching hockey every Friday night: on Fridays this year, the Sabres have been outshot 211-160 in six games, but are outshooting teams 743-711 on every other day combined (someone please double-check my 1 AM math).

Gustav Forsling had three points including the game-winner in overtime.

*

Corey Crawford started Friday night’s game for the Blackhawks, meaning he missed just three games with injury. I’m sure the team is happy to have him back seeing as they gave up 11 goals in those three games, losing them all.

It can’t be overstated how much he means to this team. He has a .922 save percentage going back to the lockout season (that’s 274 starts!), and his .930 this year has helped this team stay in the playoff race early on when they were porous defensively. Fantasy owners rejoice, and pray no further injuries come.

*

Minnesota and Anaheim played a fairly boring game. It’s kind of to be expected given what we’ve seen from the Wild this year and Anaheim’s injuries, but sometimes those types of games can be wild and wide-open. This was not.

Matt Dumba scored the overtime winner on a cut across the net. It was a huge game fantasy-wise for him as he had the goal, six shots, five blocked shots, and four hits. Jason Zucker had a goal, an assist, and four shots. 

Once the Ducks are healthy, keep an eye on Ondrej Kase. He had an assist in this game, giving him 11 points in 17 games. He has 11 goals and 26 points in 70 career games playing pretty much fourth line minutes. Hopefully he can stick around in the top-six, there's some skill here that the team could use up front. 

*

Can we take a moment to appreciate how good Jason Zucker is?

From the start of the 2014-15 season, Zucker is just outside the top-10 in goals per 60 minutes at five-on-five. His mark of 1.06 has him 11th, between Evgeni Malkin (1.07) and James Neal (1.06). This year, he’s finally been given some power-play time, and Zucker is well on his way to his first 30-goal season. Remember, last year when Zucker set a career-best with 22 goals, just one came with the man advantage, and he averaged 15 seconds of PP time per contest. He’s over two minutes per game this year and he’s doubled his career PP goal output as a result.

Beyond just appreciating Zucker is the fantasy hockey (and fantasy sports lesson) in general here: player values are often at the whims of coaches. Had Zucker been given 2-3 minutes of power-play time last year, he may have cracked 30 goals and 60 points. Instead, he wasn’t, and he finished with 22 and 47. This was the case with Brandon Saad in Columbus, is the case with Nikolaj Ehlers in Winnipeg, and to a lesser extent Jason Spezza in Dallas. The line between being a good fantasy asset and a great fantasy asset is often power-play opportunity and equally often we have no idea how it will shake out until we see it in games.

This kind of brings me back to the point of Burakovsky. Working under the assumption from before the year that he wouldn’t get much PP time without injury, what, exactly was his upside? Well, two players have cracked 60 points with 10 or fewer PP points in any of the previous three seasons, and they maxed out at 61. Even in a great offensive year at five-on-five, expecting more than 50 from Burakovsky would have been foolish. We are seeing Zucker really break out thanks to PP time, but he and Burakovsky should serve as cautionary tales. Power-play production makes or breaks most fantasy seasons, so keep expectations in check unless you’re sure a certain player will get the minutes he needs. 

*

A quick update on Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler:

Ryan Getzlaf expected to go on Ducks pre-Christmas road trip. Ryan Kesler isn't as certain on that. Will evaluate how he feels as days go along. Doesn't have timeline in mind other than keeping hope for after holiday break.

— Eric Stephens (@icemancometh) December 8, 2017

This team needs both of these guys to come back and be the players they can be, desperately.

*

Everyone remembers the injury scare at the end of last year for Kyle Okposo. Those problems seem behind him, but maybe new ones have cropped up:

Housley said Okposo took the morning off but will play. Gorges the scratch on D. Girgensons stays out. Same lineup as in Denver. #Sabres

— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) December 8, 2017

Harrington also tweeted this:

In practice yesterday Housley offered Okposo to do sit-ups rather than push-ups. Okposo said he was ok but must have hand/shoulder issue.

— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) December 8, 2017

Though the Sabres as a collective have been an affront to offensive prowess, it has been surprising that Okposo has been pacing for a little over 10 goals this year after tallying on Friday night.

Hopefully this is nothing, but it’s something to keep in the back of your mind in case Okposo pops up on your waiver wires. Give it a little bit of thought before just grabbing him, especially with him on the fourth line of late.

*

I heard a quote the other day – I think it was from a Panthers player? – that Aleksander Barkov was already a top-5 centre in the NHL. I decided to run a brief Twitter poll just to see what some of my followers thought, but limited it to just the Eastern Conference:

Is Sasha Barkov a top-5 centre in the Eastern Conference?

— Michael Clifford (@SlimCliffy) December 8, 2017

This isn’t fantasy-related directly, but it is interesting the public perception here. Thoughts, Dobber heads? 

from All About Sports http://www.dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-the-postman-delivers-but-the-breadman-assists-wilson-on-fire-december-9/

[londontheatre]

From the North Country, following a sell-out, critically acclaimed run at The Old Vic. Brought to life by an exceptional company of actors and musicians, award-winning playwright Conor McPherson beautifully weaves the iconic songbook of Bob Dylan into this new show full of hope, heartbreak and soul.

Duluth, Minnesota. 1934. A community living on a knife-edge huddle together in the local guesthouse. The owner, Nick, owes more money than he can ever repay, his wife Elizabeth is losing her mind and their daughter Marianne is carrying a child no one will account for. And, when a preacher selling bibles and a boxer looking for a comeback show up in the middle of the night, things start to spiral beyond the point of no return…

Girl from the North Country features a stellar cast: Sheila Atim plays Marianne Laine. Recent theatre credits include Babette’s Feast (Coronet Printroom), The Tempest, Henry IV and Julius Ceasar as part of the Shakespeare Trilogy (Donmar Warehouse), Hopelessly Devoted (Paines Plough) and Les Blancs (National Theatre). Other theatre credits include Volpone, Love’s Sacrifice, The Jew of Malta (RSC), Black Lives Black Words – The Interrogation of Sandra Bland (Bush Theatre), Rachel (Finborough Theatre) and Klook’s Last Stand (Park Theatre). Sheila’s television credits include I Live With Models and the upcoming second series of Harlots.

Hannah Azuonye is part of the ensemble. This production marks her professional and West End debut. Her theatre credits include Thick Skin (Poor Michelle Theatre Company) which won the Samuel French New Play Award at the National Student Drama Festival. Her recent screen credits include The Things I Will Not Miss.

Ross Dawes is part of the ensemble. His theatre credits include Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Shrek The Musical (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Passion (Donmar Warehouse), Spamalot (Palace Theatre) Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (London Palladium), Starlight Express (Apollo Victoria), Saturday Night Fever (London Palladium), Evita (UK Tour) and Singing in the Rain (UK Tour). His television includes Victoria Wood’s Midlife Christmas and The Bill.

Mary Doherty is part of the ensemble. Her recent theatre credits include Twelfth Night (National Theatre), Henry IV Trilogy, Anne Boleyn, All’s Well That Ends Well, Henry VIII (The Globe), Inherit the Wind (Old Vic), Merry Wives the Musical (RSC), Two Cities (Salisbury Playhouse), Avenue Q (West End), Grease (UK Tour). Her film and television credits include Shakespeare Uncovered and True Stories. Her radio credits include How to Have a Perfect Marriage and The Saudi Prince and the Pauper.

Bronagh Gallagher plays Mrs Burke. Theatre credits include The Faith Machine, Dublin Carol (Royal Court), Every Good Boy Deser ves Favour and War Horse (National Theatre). Film credits include Sherlock Holmes, Tamara Drewe, Tristan & Isolde, Last Chance Harvey, The Commitments, Pulp Fiction, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Television credits include You Me and the Apocalypse, The Street, The Accused.

David Ganly plays Mr. Burke. His theatre credits include On Blueberry Hill (Dublin Theatre Festival), Once (Olympia Theatre Dublin), Lonesome West (Tron Theatre), The Plough & the Stars (Abbey Theatre Dublin and Irish & US Tour), Shakespeare in Love (Noel Coward Theatre), Threepenny Opera (Gate Theatre), King Lear (Theatre Royal Bath), Cinderella (Lyric Hammersmith) Macbeth (Sheffield Crucible), The Lonesome West (Druid Theatre, The Royal Court, Sydney Festival and Lyceum, Broadway) Of Mice and Men (The Watermill), The Wizard of Oz (London Palladium), The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Young Vic)for which David received an OFFIE nomination for Best Actor, Chicago (Cambridge Theatre London), The Weir (Gate Theatre), Translations (National Theatre) and The Full Monty (Prince of Wales Theatre). His film and television credits include Citizen Charlie, Sunset Song, Body of Lies, Hippie Hippie Shake, Dorothy Mills, Widow’s Peak and Space Truckers.

Shirley Henderson plays Elizabeth Laine. Shirley’s career spans film, television and theatre; her extensive theatre credits include Shining Souls (The Old Vic), The Maiden Stone, Lions in the Streets (Hampstead Theatre), My Mother Said I Never Should (Royal Court), Entertaining Strangers, The Winter’s Tale, The Tempest (National Theatre), Eurydice (Chichester Festival), Anna Weiss (Whitehall Theatre), Romeo & Juliet (Citizens Theatre) and The Life of Stuff (Traverse Theatre). On screen, Shirley is best known for films Trainspotting, Bridget Jones and the Harry Potter series, and for her roles in television dramas Frozen and Southcliffe, she won the BAFTA Scotland Award for ‘Best Actress’ in both. Other television credits include Happy Valley, Jamaica Inn, Bob Servant Independent, Death In Paradise, Treasure Island, Crimson Petal and the White, Marple: Murder is Easy, Dr Who, The Taming Of The Shrew and Dirty Filthy Love, and her other film credits include Okja, Never Steady, Never Still, Love Song: Wolf Alice, Urban Hymn, The Tale Of Tales, The Caravan, Set Fire To The Stars, Filth, The Look Of Love, Anna Karenina, Everyday, Wild Child and Marie Antoinette.

Ciaran Hinds plays Nick Laine. Ciaran has worked extensively for the Glasgow Citizens Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, Gate Theatre and Abbey Theatre, Dublin. Theatre credits include Hamlet (Barbican), The Night Alive, Assassins (Donmar Warehouse), Juno and The Paycock, Burnt By The Sun, Machinal (National Theatre), Closer (National Theatre and Broadway), The Yalta Game (Gate Theatre), Our Few and Evil Days (Abbey Theatre Dublin), Simpatico (Royal Court) and Richard III (Royal Shakespeare Company). Broadway credits include The Crucible, Cat on A Hot Tin Roof and The Seafarer. Film credits include Justice League, Red Sparrow, Woman Walks Ahead, Bleed for This, Silence, Frozen, The Woman in Black, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Debt, The Eclipse, There Will Be Blood, Miami Vice, Munich, Road to Perdition, Veronica Guerin, Calendar Girls, Tombraider II, The Sun of all Fears and Persuasion. Television credits include The Terror, Game of Thrones, Political Animals, Above Suspicion, Rome, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Jane Eyre and Persuasion.

Adam James plays Dr. Walker. His recent theatre credits include Consent (National Theatre), An Enemy of the People (Chichester Festival Theatre), Bull (Young Vic), My Child (Royal Court), 13 (National Theatre) and King Charles III for which he received the Clarence Derwent Award for best supporting actor. Further theatre credits include Rapture, Blister, Burn and Tiger Country (Hampstead Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (Wyndhams Theatre), The Pride (Broadway) for which he received Lucille Lortel Award for Best Actor in a Featured Role, Gethsemane, Blood & Gifts (National Theatre), Now or Later (Royal Court) and King Lear (Royal Exchange). His television credits include Home From Home, Eric, Ernie and Me, Doctor Foster, King Charles III, Endeavour, Grantchester, Coalition, The Game, The Crimson Field, Law & Order, Family Tree, Miranda, Doctor Who, Hustle, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Ashes to Ashes, Extras, England Expects, Love Soup, The Lost Battalion and Band of Brothers. His film credits include Johnny English III, Hunter Killer, A Little Chaos, Last Chance Harvey, Mother of Tears and Road To Guantanamo.

Claudia Jolly plays Katherine Draper. A recent graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (Gold Medial recipient). Claudia was recently seen in the BBC adaptation of NW and is soon to appear in the film On Chesil Beach. Claudia plays Mariarosa in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Ela Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels.

Karl Johnson plays Mr Perry. His recent theatre credits include King Lear (Old Vic), Hamlet (Barbican Centre), Fathers and Sons (Donmar Warehouse), Barking in Essex (Wyndham’s Theatre), Noises Off (Old Vic and West End), Frankenstein, The Seafarer, Tales From The Vienna Wood, Scenes From the Big Picture, The Walls (National Theatre). The Absence of Women (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), Almost Nothing/At the Table, Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen, This is a Chair and The Night Heron (Royal Court). His television credits include King Lear, Mum, Born to Kill, Dickensian, Plebs, Atlantis, Call the Midwife, Merlin, The Trial of Tony Blair and Rules of Engagement. His film credits include Peterloo, Kaleidoscope, Mr Turner, The Deep Blue Sea and Close My Eyes.

Arinzé Kene plays Joe Scott. His theatre credits include One Night In Miami (Donmar Warehouse), Decade (Headlong), Been So Long (Young Vic Theatre), The Lion King (Lyceum Theatre), Daddy Cool (Shaftesbury Theatre) and Torn (Arcola Theatre). Arinzé’s television credits include Crazyhead, Our Girl, Youngers, EastEnders and Informer. His film credits include Been So Long, The Pass, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Freestyle.

Emmanuel Kojo is part of the ensemble. His recent theatre credits include Oklahoma! (BBC Proms 2017), Twelfth Night (National Theatre), Show Boat (Sheffield Theatre, West End), Kiss Me Kate (Opera North) and The Scottsboro Boys (Garrick Theatre and Young Vic). His television credits include Oklahoma! and Walliams and Friends.

Debbie Kurup plays Mrs Neilsen. Her theatre credits include The Threepenny Opera (National Theatre), The Bodyguard (Adelphi Theatre), Chicago (Cambridge Theatre and Adelphi Theatre), Sister Act (London Palladium), West Side Story (Prince of Wales Theatre London), Tonight’s The Night (Victoria Palace), Rent (Prince of Wales Theatre and UK), Boogie Nights (Savoy Theatre), Anything Goes (Sheffield Theatres and UK tour), Jack and the Beanstalk (Hackney Empire), East (Leicester Curve), Fame (UK tour), Guys and Dolls (Sheffield Theatres), Pal Joey (Chichester Festival Theatre) and Poison (Tricycle Theatre). Debbie’s film credits include 28 Weeks Later and Hollow.

Finbar Lynch plays Reverend Marlowe. His extensive theatre credits include The Lady From the Sea (Donmar Warehouse), Richard III (Almeida Theatre), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Hothouse, Antony and Cleopatra, Not About Nightingales and King Lear (National Theatre), Antigone (Barbican Centre / World Tour), The Silence of the Sea (Trafalgar Studios), Translations (Donmar Warehouse), Desire Under The Elms, The Big Fellah (Lyric Hammersmith), The Fairy Queen (Glyndebourne / Paris / New York), The Duchess of Malfi and Dancing at Lughnasa (The Old Vic), The Fastest Clock in the Universe (Hampstead Theatre / Leicester Curve), Portrait of a Lady and A Doll’s House (Bath Theatre), Three Sisters on Hope Street (Hampstead Theatre / Liverpool Everyman), Ghosts (Gate Theatre), The Tempest, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Measure for Measure, Coriolanus, The Alchemist, The Virtuoso, Amphibians, and The Two Gentlemen of Verona (RSC), The Birthday Party (Duchess Theatre) and Three Sisters (Royal Court / Gate Theatre Dublin). His television credits include Foyle’s War, DCI Banks, Breathless, Game of Thrones, Silk, Richard II, Proof, Dalziel and Pascoe, Waking the Dead, Red Cap, Atilla the Hun, Second Sight, Mind Games, Small World, Between the Lines and Glenroe. Film credits include The World We Knew, Black 47, Property of the State, Suffragette, Child 44, Departure, The Numbers Station, Matilde, To Kill a King, Lost Batallion, King Lear, Scold’s Bridle, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Schooner and Rawhead Rex.

Sam Reid plays Gene Laine. His theatre credits include ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and One Night In November (Belgrade Theatre). Sam’s television credits include Tennison, Codes of Conduct, Astronauts Wives Club, Miss Marple: Greenshaw’s Folly, Hatfields & McCoys, Whitechapel, Endeavour, Spooks, MI-5 and All Saints. His film credits include Limehouse Golem, 2:22, Despite the Falling Snow, Serena, Tigers, The Riot Club, ’71, Belle and The Railway Man.

Jack Shalloo plays Elias Burke. Theatre credits include Groundhog Day (The Old Vic), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), The Snow Queen (The Nuffield Theatre), A Clockwork Orange (Stratford East Theatre Royal), Goodbye Barcelona (Arcola Theatre) and Our House (Birmingham Rep and Original UK Tour). Jack’s television credits include People Just Do Nothing, Dickensian, The Interceptor, Doctors, Miranda Hart’s New Year’s Eve Sketch Show, The Man Who Loved The Lakes, EastEnders, Out Of Control, Holby City, The Suspicions of Mr Whicher and The Bill. His film credits include Fit, Kick-Off and Bashment.

Conor McPherson is an acclaimed writer and director. He was born in Dublin in 1971 and attended University College Dublin where he began to write and direct. Stage plays include Rum & Vodka, The Good Thief, This Lime Tree Bower, St Nicholas, The Weir (Olivier, Evening Standard, and Critics Circle Awards), Dublin Carol, Port Authority, Shining City (Tony Award nominated), The Seafarer (Tony, Olivier and Evening Standard Award nominated), The Veil, and The Night Alive (New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, Olivier, Evening Standard and Lucille Lortel Award nominated).

Writer & Director Conor McPherson Music & Lyrics Bob Dylan Designer Rae Smith Orchestrator, Arrangements & Musical Supervisor Simon Hale Lighting Mark Henderson Sound Simon Baker Movement Director Lucy Hind Casting Director Jessica Ronane CDG

Noël Coward Theatre St Martin’s Lane London WC2N 4AU

http://ift.tt/2zcfsTa London Theatre 1

[originhl]

TAG DROP 2/6 ( tags for Lex, Bear, and Scott )

[londontheatre]

Casting is today announced for the West End transfer for Bob Dylan’s and Conor McPherson’s Girl From the North Country, following a sell-out, critically acclaimed run at The Old Vic.

Brought to life by an exceptional company of actors and musicians, award-winning playwright Conor McPherson beautifully weaves the iconic songbook of Bob Dylan into this new show full of hope, heartbreak and soul. Duluth, Minnesota. 1934. A community living on a knife-edge huddle together in the local guesthouse.

The owner, Nick, owes more money than he can ever repay, his wife Elizabeth is losing her mind and their daughter Marianne is carrying a child no one will account for. And, when a preacher selling bibles and a boxer looking for a comeback show up in the middle of the night, things start to spiral beyond the point of no return…

Girl from the North Country features a stellar cast: Sheila Atim plays Marianne Laine. Recent theatre credits include Babette’s Feast (Coronet Printroom), The Tempest, Henry IV and Julius Ceasar as part of the Shakespeare Trilogy (Donmar Warehouse), Hopelessly Devoted (Paines Plough) and Les Blancs (National Theatre). Other theatre credits include Volpone, Love’s Sacrifice, The Jew of Malta (RSC), Black Lives Black Words – The Interrogation of Sandra Bland (Bush Theatre), Rachel (Finborough Theatre) and Klook’s Last Stand (Park Theatre). Sheila’s television credits include I Live With Models and the upcoming second series of Harlots.

Hannah Azuonye is part of the ensemble. This production marks her professional and West End debut. Her theatre credits include Thick Skin (Poor Michelle Theatre Company) which won the Samuel French New Play Award at the National Student Drama Festival. Her recent screen credits include The Things I Will Not Miss.

Mary Doherty is part of the ensemble. Her recent theatre credits include Twelfth Night (National Theatre), Henry IV Trilogy, Anne Boleyn, All’s Well That Ends Well, Henry VIII (The Globe), Inherit the Wind (Old Vic), Merry Wives the Musical (RSC), Two Cities (Salisbury Playhouse), Avenue Q (West End), Grease (UK Tour). Her film and television credits include Shakespeare Uncovered and True Stories. Her radio credits include How to Have a Perfect Marriage and The Saudi Prince and the Pauper.

Bronagh Gallagher plays Mrs Burke. Theatre credits include The Faith Machine, Dublin Carol (Royal Court), Every Good Boy Deser ves Favour and War Horse (National Theatre). Film credits include Sherlock Holmes, Tamara Drewe, Tristan & Isolde, Last Chance Harvey, The Commitments, Pulp Fiction, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Television credits include You Me and the Apocalypse, The Street, The Accused.

David Ganly plays Mr. Burke. His theatre credits include On Blueberry Hill (Dublin Theatre Festival), Once (Olympia Theatre Dublin), Lonesome West (Tron Theatre), The Plough & the Stars (Abbey Theatre Dublin and Irish & US Tour), Shakespeare in Love (Noel Coward Theatre), Threepenny Opera (Gate Theatre), King Lear (Theatre Royal Bath), Cinderella (Lyric Hammersmith) Macbeth (Sheffield Crucible), The Lonesome West (Druid Theatre, The Royal Court, Sydney Festival and Lyceum, Broadway) Of Mice and Men (The Watermill), The Wizard of Oz (London Palladium), The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Young Vic)for which David received an OFFIE nomination for Best Actor, Chicago (Cambridge Theatre London), The Weir (Gate Theatre), Translations (National Theatre) and The Full Monty (Prince of Wales Theatre). His film and television credits include Citizen Charlie, Sunset Song, Body of Lies, Hippie Hippie Shake, Dorothy Mills, Widow’s Peak and Space Truckers.

Shirley Henderson plays Elizabeth Laine. Shirley’s career spans film, television and theatre; her extensive theatre credits include Shining Souls (The Old Vic), The Maiden Stone, Lions in the Streets (Hampstead Theatre), My Mother Said I Never Should (Royal Court), Entertaining Strangers, The Winter’s Tale, The Tempest (National Theatre), Eurydice (Chichester Festival), Anna Weiss (Whitehall Theatre), Romeo & Juliet (Citizens Theatre) and The Life of Stuff (Traverse Theatre). On screen, Shirley is best known for films Trainspotting, Bridget Jones and the Harry Potter series, and for her roles in television dramas Frozen and Southcliffe, she won the BAFTA Scotland Award for ‘Best Actress’ in both. Other television credits include Happy Valley, Jamaica Inn, Bob Servant Independent, Death In Paradise, Treasure Island, Crimson Petal and the White, Marple: Murder is Easy, Dr Who, The Taming Of The Shrew and Dirty Filthy Love, and her other film credits include Okja, Never Steady, Never Still, Love Song: Wolf Alice, Urban Hymn, The Tale Of Tales, The Caravan, Set Fire To The Stars, Filth, The Look Of Love, Anna Karenina, Everyday, Wild Child and Marie Antoinette.

Ciaran Hinds plays Nick Laine. Ciaran has worked extensively for the Glasgow Citizens Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, Gate Theatre and Abbey Theatre, Dublin. Theatre credits include Hamlet (Barbican), The Night Alive, Assassins (Donmar Warehouse), Juno and The Paycock, Burnt By The Sun, Machinal (National Theatre), Closer (National Theatre and Broadway), The Yalta Game (Gate Theatre), Our Few and Evil Days (Abbey Theatre Dublin), Simpatico (Royal Court) and Richard III (Royal Shakespeare Company). Broadway credits include The Crucible, Cat on A Hot Tin Roof and The Seafarer. Film credits include Justice League, Red Sparrow, Woman Walks Ahead, Bleed for This, Silence, Frozen, The Woman in Black, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Debt, The Eclipse, There Will Be Blood, Miami Vice, Munich, Road to Perdition, Veronica Guerin, Calendar Girls, Tombraider II, The Sun of all Fears and Persuasion. Television credits include The Terror, Game of Thrones, Political Animals, Above Suspicion, Rome, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Jane Eyre and Persuasion.

Adam James plays Dr. Walker. His recent theatre credits include Consent (National Theatre), An Enemy of the People (Chichester Festival Theatre), Bull (Young Vic), My Child (Royal Court), 13 (National Theatre) and King Charles III for which he received the Clarence Derwent Award for best supporting actor. Further theatre credits include Rapture, Blister, Burn and Tiger Country (Hampstead Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (Wyndhams Theatre), The Pride (Broadway) for which he received Lucille Lortel Award for Best Actor in a Featured Role, Gethsemane, Blood & Gifts (National Theatre), Now or Later (Royal Court) and King Lear (Royal Exchange). His television credits include Home From Home, Eric, Ernie and Me, Doctor Foster, King Charles III, Endeavour, Grantchester, Coalition, The Game, The Crimson Field, Law & Order, Family Tree, Miranda, Doctor Who, Hustle, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Ashes to Ashes, Extras, England Expects, Love Soup, The Lost Battalion and Band of Brothers. His film credits include Johnny English III, Hunter Killer, A Little Chaos, Last Chance Harvey, Mother of Tears and Road To Guantanamo.

Claudia Jolly plays Katherine Draper. A recent graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (Gold Medial recipient). Claudia was recently seen in the BBC adaptation of NW and is soon to appear in the film On Chesil Beach. Claudia plays Mariarosa in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Ela Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels.

Karl Johnson plays Mr Perry. His recent theatre credits include King Lear (Old Vic), Hamlet (Barbican Centre), Fathers and Sons (Donmar Warehouse), Barking in Essex (Wyndham’s Theatre), Noises Off (Old Vic and West End), Frankenstein, The Seafarer, Tales From The Vienna Wood, Scenes From the Big Picture, The Walls (National Theatre). The Absence of Women (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), Almost Nothing/At the Table, Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen, This is a Chair and The Night Heron (Royal Court). His television credits include King Lear, Mum, Born to Kill, Dickensian, Plebs, Atlantis, Call the Midwife, Merlin, The Trial of Tony Blair and Rules of Engagement. His film credits include Peterloo, Kaleidoscope, Mr Turner, The Deep Blue Sea and Close My Eyes.

Arinzé Kene plays Joe Scott. His theatre credits include One Night In Miami (Donmar Warehouse), Decade (Headlong), Been So Long (Young Vic Theatre), The Lion King (Lyceum Theatre), Daddy Cool (Shaftesbury Theatre) and Torn (Arcola Theatre). Arinzé’s television credits include Crazyhead, Our Girl, Youngers, EastEnders and Informer. His film credits include Been So Long, The Pass, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Freestyle.

Emmanuel Kojo is part of the ensemble. His recent theatre credits include Oklahoma! (BBC Proms 2017), Twelfth Night (National Theatre), Show Boat (Sheffield Theatre, West End), Kiss Me Kate (Opera North) and The Scottsboro Boys (Garrick Theatre and Young Vic). His television credits include Oklahoma! and Walliams and Friends.

Debbie Kurup plays Mrs Neilsen. Her theatre credits include The Threepenny Opera (National Theatre), The Bodyguard (Adelphi Theatre), Chicago (Cambridge Theatre and Adelphi Theatre), Sister Act (London Palladium), West Side Story (Prince of Wales Theatre London), Tonight’s The Night (Victoria Palace), Rent (Prince of Wales Theatre and UK), Boogie Nights (Savoy Theatre), Anything Goes (Sheffield Theatres and UK tour), Jack and the Beanstalk (Hackney Empire), East (Leicester Curve), Fame (UK tour), Guys and Dolls (Sheffield Theatres), Pal Joey (Chichester Festival Theatre) and Poison (Tricycle Theatre). Debbie’s film credits include 28 Weeks Later and Hollow.

Tim McMullan plays Reverend Walker. His theatre credits include over 15 shows at the National Theatre including Common, Twelfth Night, Man and Superman, The Cherry Orchard, Burnt by the Sun, Coram Boy, Dark Materials and The Three Sisters; and he is an associate of Complicité with who his work includes The Master and Marguerita, Mnemonic and Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol. Other theatre credits include The Tempest (The Globe), Hapgood (Hampstead Theatre), Fathers and Sons (Donmar Warehouse), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (RSC), The Misanthrope with Keira Knightley (Comedy Theatre, West End), King Charles III (Wyndham’s Theatre), and As You Like It (Glove Theatre). Film credits include King Charles III, The Woman in Black, The Queen, Shakespeare in Love, The Fifth Element and Shadowlands. Recent television credits include Melrose, Fearless, The Witness for the Prosecution, Dr Thorne, Grantchester II, The Go-Between, Foyle’s War (in which Tim played the MI5 agent, Valentine, for two series), The Hollow Crown: Henry IV: Parts 1 & 2, and Parade’s End.

Sam Reid plays Gene Laine. His theatre credits include ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and One Night In November (Belgrade Theatre). Sam’s television credits include Tennison, Codes of Conduct, Astronauts Wives Club, Miss Marple: Greenshaw’s Folly, Hatfields & McCoys, Whitechapel, Endeavour, Spooks, MI-5 and All Saints. His film credits include Limehouse Golem, 2:22, Despite the Falling Snow, Serena, Tigers, The Riot Club, ’71, Belle and The Railway Man.

Jack Shalloo plays Elias Burke. Theatre credits include Groundhog Day (The Old Vic), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), The Snow Queen (The Nuffield Theatre), A Clockwork Orange (Stratford East Theatre Royal), Goodbye Barcelona (Arcola Theatre) and Our House (Birmingham Rep and Original UK Tour). Jack’s television credits include People Just Do Nothing, Dickensian, The Interceptor, Doctors, Miranda Hart’s New Year’s Eve Sketch Show, The Man Who Loved The Lakes, EastEnders, Out Of Control, Holby City, The Suspicions of Mr Whicher and The Bill. His film credits include Fit, Kick-Off and Bashment.

Conor McPherson is an acclaimed writer and director. He was born in Dublin in 1971 and attended University College Dublin where he began to write and direct. Stage plays include Rum & Vodka, The Good Thief, This Lime Tree Bower, St Nicholas, The Weir (Olivier, Evening Standard, and Critics Circle Awards), Dublin Carol, Port Authority, Shining City (Tony Award nominated), The Seafarer (Tony, Olivier and Evening Standard Award nominated), The Veil, and The Night Alive (New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, Olivier, Evening Standard and Lucille Lortel Award nominated). Adaptations include Franz Xaver Kroetz’s The Nest, and August Strindberg’s The Dance of Death. Screen credits include the screenplay for the BBC series Paula, broadcast earlier this year.

Bob Dylan is one of our culture’s most influential and ground-breaking artists. Born in Duluth, Minnesota in 1941; self-taught on piano, guitar and harmonica, he travelled to New York City in 1961, quickly establishing himself as an explosive performer in the Greenwich Village music scene. More than half a century later, Dylan continues to perform almost 100 concerts each year. He has released more than 50 albums and written over 600 songs. He’s sold more than 125 million records and is the holder of 11 Grammy Awards. His songs have been covered more than 6000 times by artists as diverse as Duke Ellington, Jimi Hendrix, Guns N’ Roses, Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley and Adele. He is also an accomplished visual artist and author, and in 2016 was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature – the first songwriter to receive such a distinction.

Writer & Director Conor McPherson Music & Lyrics Bob Dylan Designer Rae Smith Orchestrator, Arrangements & Musical Supervisor Simon Hale Lighting Mark Henderson Sound Simon Baker Movement Director Lucy Hind Casting Director Jessica Ronane CDG Further casting to be announced in due course.

Sony Music also announces the vinyl release of The Original London Cast Recording of Girl from the North Country. Released on the Silvertone label, and already available on CD, download and streaming services, the double vinyl will be available from 15th December. It is available to pre-order on Amazon now. The Old Vic’s production of Girl from the North Country is produced by Tristan Baker & Charlie Parsons for Runaway Entertainment, Steven Lappin, Sony Music Entertainment UK and David Mirvish.

BOX OFFICE INFORMATION Noël Coward Theatre St Martin’s Lane London WC2N 4AU

Noël Coward Theatre St Martin’s Lane London WC2N 4AU

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