#they just scored goal two on the powerplay

[waggle100]

Will you boys please stop taking penalties if you cannot kill them off

[yabagofmilfs]

☕️the vibes of our 2024-25 lineup

genuinely who is even on our team anymore. i feel like we haven’t gotten rid of anyone and but we added ~10 mid bottom six guys. here are my thoughts as they occur to me:

i would like an entire in the room episode of geno and kevin hayes interacting. perhaps they can be omelette boys together.

will anthony beauvillier, fresh off his brat summer in europe, try to seduce sid mitchell marner style? i’d like to see it.

oh my god we lost pojo i just remembered. and for what. who will giggle with doc now. :(((((((((

jarry will have no choice but to pull off a shut out and score two goalie goals in the first game to win back the room after their allegiances shifted at the end of last season. ned will immediately score three by pure accident because the gods favor him.

our powerplay will continue to be so abysmal that finally the new coach with the scary husky eyes (dan….?) will bench everyone and do an oops all bottom six lineup and suddenly we’re at a 50% conversion rate

i have a knee jerk negative reaction to the name cody but he’s putting in the work to win me over. however just based on the vibes i made up in my head based on nothing i expected him to be a little guy and fit into the connor sheary shaped hole in sid’s heart. but he’s 6’3 so will have to revise and come back to you on this one.

it goes without saying he’s required to stand up straight and be photographed next to geno for evidentiary purposes.

since gary hasn’t answered his calls about getting bluetooth earpieces installed in helmets, sid has been working on his telepathy over the summer which has mostly involved him thinking very loudly at people and kathy asking if he’s constipated all the time. twice though nate has handed him his gatorade without sid asking out loud so that’s promising. geno has also facetimed him three times but that’s harder to measure because sid is pretty much always thinking very hard about geno. anyway the ultimate goal is for him to be able to direct his mid ass team from the bench when they’re being fucking idiots.

he’s also consulted with several scholars on how he can learn to project himself into someone else’s body for the purposes of goal scoring, but apparently you have to get consent for that. he’s been working on drafting a form in his windows 98 version of word. (it just says “can i come inside you circle yes or no”), but he tried to add a clipart image of a hockey stick which he was pretty proud of and now the formatting is all fucked up, so he’s not sure what to do. :(

kyle mysteriously disappears during their LA game and when he comes back days later he seems Off but he starts pulling off monster trades to bolster the roster so no one really questions it. we clinch a playoff spot in march.

[mp0625]

Game Time

Taglist. Masterlist.

Matthew Tkachuk x Reader

Word count: 1.3k

A/N: LETS GO BOYS!!! I started writing this about four hours ago! Aaaaaaa!!! I finished it just in time!!

A/N pt 2: If y’all want another part let me know!!

“Are you going to the game?”

“Yeah, are you going to the game??”

“Why aren't you at the game? It starts in 10.” The chat on your stream starting to go crazy realizing that you were not going to be at the game to support your boyfriend.

“Hey y’all take a breath.” You say pausing your game mid lap to the protests of your friends who were forced to pause. “Yes, I’m not in Florida, I’m home in Carolina, but Matty understands why I can’t be there.” Panning the camera down to show your two big dogs and then back up. “But I have the next best thing.” You say flipping the camera to show your big Tv and the preshow for game one on. “I haven’t been super into hockey since we got booted in the second round, Matthew understands it and I support him and his team 110 percent to bring home that cup.”

As the minutes ticked down and the game started you had all but abandoned your game and friends. You occasionally said a few words to your stream but your full attention was on the screen behind your computer monitors. As Bobrovsky makes more and more saves, your quiet chanting of Bobby gets louder and louder. When halfway through the second when a fight breaks out your chanting of Bobby changes to “Fight! Fight! Fight!” You turn back to your stream and look at them dead in the camera. “What I’m technically not allowed to fight in games doesn’t mean I can’t tell someone to sock someone else in the face.” You say with a grin. During the second intermission you see a question pop up.

“How do you feel about Necas winning Men’s World?”

“I’m absolutely ecstatic for him! How we lost to the Rangers wasn’t fun, so I’m happy that he got to go win something that big.” As you watch the opening faceoff for the third period, you start to have hope that Matty can do what he and his team tried to accomplish last year. As the minutes tick down Bobby and his boys did it to shut out the Edmonton Oilers.

At your morning phone call with Matthew. He asks. “Y/N why in the hell did you have a 7 hour stream last night.”

“It was my version of a live blog and we had already been streaming for 4 hours before the game and they asked why I wasn’t at the game cheering you on so I showed them I had the Tv on.”

“Y’all ready for game 2? You ask the stream as you finish tidying up the room waiting for the game to start. Nothing major happens in the first half of the first period. When halfway through Edmonton gets the first goal. “Come on!!” It takes until the second half of the second to have Florida score. “Thank you Mr. Mikkola!” As you wait for the third you make the mistake of saying it’s been a slow game. 3 minutes into the third Rodrigues gets the goal that puts them ahead of the Oilers. Then 9 minutes later on the powerplay he gets another goal to make it 3 to 1. “I love you EROD!!” The last goal of the game came with 3 minutes left from Ekblad. At the end of the game you sit back in your chair with a big sigh. “That was a very stressful game. See y’all in 2 days.”

“It’s game 3 and I don’t know how I feel about this, it feels like it’s going too smoothly. We will see how this goes.” The game starts out slow. It takes until 2 minutes left in the first for someone to score first. “Thank you Mr. Reinheart!!!” A minute into the second Edmonton gets the goal and is starting to push back. But Florida retaliates 8 minutes later with Mr. Tarasenko put them back up one. Then 4 minutes later with 2 back to back goals to bring them up 4 to 1. “Thank you!!!!! One more period left we got this!” 6 minutes into the third Edmonton pushes back to make 4 to 2. “Come on!! That was stupid.” 8 minutes later Edmonton pushes back again to make it 4 to 3. “That was a scary close game, I’m slightly scared for game 4.”

“Welcome back to your favorite hockey player and streamer live blog of the Stanley cup finals. Will the Panthers be able to sweep the Edmonton Oilers? We will see tonight! The Florida Panther’s are the visiting team to Edmonton Oilers home Arena Rogers Place. We will see if the boys can do it tonight!” You say turning on your camera so the viewers can see your Panthers jersey. “The Tv is on and it is time.” As the first period rolls by with no penalties or goals. As the second is starting, you whisper under your breath. “Come on Matty!” At the opening face off the puck goes straight to Matthew and he starts going down the ice as hard as he can. “Brakeaway! Brakeaway! Brakeaway!” As Matthew makes it to the net with the puck in hand Skinner is readying himself but where he thinks Matthew is he isn’t, and he gets the first goal of the game. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Thank everything!” You sit back in your gaming chair with a sigh. “Elle.” You call to the chocolate lab that is dead asleep in her bed unaware of what just happened. “Your daddy just got a goal!” Hearing her daddy’s name she starts wagging her tail. The first goal is the one that broke the dam. Matthew drew a penalty on Draisaitl which gave the Panthers the power play they need to get the next goal by their captain, the one Aleksander Barkow. “Barky!” When back at even strength they lose the puck in the Panthers zone and no one sees it slid in behind Bobrovsky. “Oh come on you got to be kidding me!” As time runs out on the clock for the second. You take a sip of your drink and sigh. “That was an interesting period, at least we are leading!” As you wait anxiously for the third to start, you see messages of excitement and hope roll across the stream’s chat.

“They got this!”

“I believe in them!”

“They do have this! Let’s go boys!” You end with a shout. At the start of the third you are nervous they could sweep or lose and win it at home. Five minutes into the third. A one mister Evan Rodrigues get not one but two goals back to back within 30 seconds of each other. “Yesss, EROD!!!” After the second goal, the fourth of the game you could tell Skinner was super rattled. You knew as time ticked down you knew the win was imminent. With 10 seconds left in one last ditch try the Oilers pull Skinner and send out Conner McDavid as he’s skating and picks up the puck he slams it back and it just slips in over Bobrovsky shoulder. “Come on!” You stand up and slam your hands on your desk. But the Oiler last ditch effort wasn’t enough to stop the Panthers as the final few seconds tick off, the boys start gathering. They did it the first cup in 30 years of the team and what they worked so hard for and almost touched last year. “Yessssss!! Thank you!!” You scream and jump up from your chair. “Sorry to leave so quickly, but there are a few people I need to call.” You pull out your phone and Text Matty. “YOU DID IT I'M SO SO PROUD OF YOU!!! WE ALL ARE!!” As you send it you include a picture of you, Elle, and Jet.

Taglist: @studioreader @honethatty12

@slafgoalskybaby @swissboyhisch

@wondershells @cixrosie

There might be a few I’m forgetting to tag

[withwritersblock]

Dog Days Are Over

~Dog Days Are Over by Florence + the Machine~

Author's Note: saw @kaleforcale888 say something about how he'd react after the game. I could write a thousand different versions but this feels SO Cale coded to me. Summary: Cale scores his first hat trick Warnings: mentions of bo byram being traded lol Word Count: 1,250 Cale Makar x fm!reader

For the past few games, Cale has struggled with his confidence. His entire career, he’s been seen as a superstar. Suddenly, for the first time in his professional career he hasn’t had a great game. He’s had several average games, not up to his personal level of where he needs to be. People were starting to think he was nursing an injury because of how he was playing. He was frustrated and disappointed in himself for how he was playing.

Sure, he got rid of his pointless streak but they were only secondary assists. He wanted more, he needed more. He wanted to contribute to the team and build back his own confidence. 

He left his house, stoked for the game giving Y/N a thousand kisses before he left the house. He wore a new suit, for a new Cale. Or rather Vintage Cale. It was a suit that Y/N picked out and he gladly wore it. If he plays well with it, he’ll happily add it to his rotation.

It was a beautiful ceremony before the game with the celebration of Darren Helm. The ceremonial puck drop with Nathan Mackinnon and JT Compher brought tears to her eyes. 

“Cale’s flying,” Gabe muttered to Y/N as he leaned his arms against the small table. For the night, Gabe was sitting with the wives and girlfriends of the players. His wife and kids were also in the suit hanging out. 

Not long after the Red Wings get on the board, Cale wrists one to the net and scores. The suit erupts into cheers.

“He’s back,” Gabe mumbled before he wandered towards his wife in the center of the suit. Y/N smiled to herself as she watched him skate towards the bench. A simply group celebration is all it took and he was back in the zone. He was pumped and ready to win.

The second period started and for the first nine minutes of the game it was back and forth but the boys were playing well and something was going to happen. Artturi scored to give the boys their first lead of the game. 

This was the best game she’s seen them play in a long time. It was the best game she’s seen Cale play in a long time.

With only three and half minutes left in the period, Cale fought hard around the net and scored another goal. “Oh my god,” Y/N muttered as her mouth fell open as she watched him smile for the first time during a celebration. She leaned her body against the table as she smiled and felt a bit of tears filling her eyes. “He’s back,” she mumbled to herself, knowing that he was finally back to who he sees himself to be. He was confident. He was Cale Makar.

They were up by two and on the powerplay. She intently watched Cale pass the puck to Mikko and see him wait for the pucks return. Mikko sends it back as Cale holds for a few seconds before letting it rip towards the net. It was as if the puck went into the net in slow motion. She jumped up and cheered. At first she thought it was Artturi’s goal since he was near the net but hats starting flying onto the ice as Ball Arena was louder than it’s been in a long time.

“Was that Cale?” she found herself asking as her chest ached.

Gabe nodded with a huge smile on his face. She stared towards the ice as the hats continued to rain down and the jumbotron showed Cale smiling widely and talking with Mikko as they skated around the ice waiting for the hats to be collected. Her heart filled with so much admiration and joy as she watched him celebrate. Even if it was just a smile, it was more than he’s done in the past.

~~~

The boys ended up winning 7-2 and she was anxiously waiting outside the locker room for Cale to exit. It was a nightly routine for Cale to be the last one to emerge from the locker room but tonight was vastly different as he had more interviews and some social media obligations. 

She couldn’t wait to see him and was getting anxious as Nate walked out of the locker room wearing his warm up attire. He beamed towards Y/N, “He’s almost done,” he let out as he walked towards her giving her a hug. She gladly accepted it, “I knew he’d pull himself out of it,” he mumbled against her hair. He pulled away before he continued his walk out of the arena. 

After a few more anxious minutes, Cale emerged wearing a hoodie and sweatpants. She smiled when she saw him and quickly jogged towards him. He chuckled nervously as she wrapped her arms around her neck. He gladly wrapped his arms around her waist as he lifted her up into the air excitedly.

“I’m so proud of you,” she whispered into his ear. His cheeks were bright red as she pulled away, keeping her arms rested on his shoulders as his hands stayed looped around her waist. 

“The boys played really well,” he let out with his lips curled upward. She rolled her eyes playfully as she took a hold of his cheeks. 

“Stop being humble,” she muttered before she kissed him. He returned the kiss with urgency as he pulled her towards him. She pulled away, keeping her lips a mere inch away from his. “Be proud of yourself,” she let out before she kissed him again. 

“I guess it was pretty cool,” he mumbled as he pulled away, a toothy grin on his face. 

“You guess?” she teased as she ran her fingers through his hair. “It was incredible.” she let out.

His smile widened, the longer he looked into her eyes. He was trying to contain his excitement. “Yeah,” he mumbled, pressing his lips together. He pulled her against his chest again as he rocked her body back and forth. “It was a little unbelievable,” he muttered against her hair. He reluctantly released her from his grasp as they began walking towards the parking garage together.

“Comph came up to me after the game and gave me a hug,” he let out as they walked side by side, their hands interlocked. 

Her lips fell into a pout as it had been a difficult day filled with so many complex emotions. JT’s first game back at Ball Arena, Darren Helm ceremony, and Bo was traded away a few days prior. It was a bittersweet feeling.

“You’ve been overdue for a while now, Darling,” she mumbled as she knocked into him slightly. She began walking faster as she began dragging him towards their car, “We’ve got celebrating to do,” she mumbled. He raised his eyebrows, a shy smile forming to his lips. 

“Oh yeah?” he asked teasingly. She hummed as she pursed her lips forward.

His phone began to ring in his pocket and he pulled it out to see Bo was calling him. Cale smiled widely as he brought the phone to his ear.

“Caler congrats, man!” she heard Bo shout through the phone, she shook her head slightly a small chuckle leaving her lips. 

“Thank you,” he chuckled, “Have you met any of the guys over there yet?” Cale asked.

She rolled her eyes playfully. Cale always puts someone else first even on one of the best nights of his career.

[1-800-iluvhockey]

it's never over - l.hughes

----

2:22 seconds remained on the clock, the third period is headed to the end. heart is racing, nerves and stakes are too high. every michigan fan is on the edge of their seat; they know that their team can do this, y/n knows that luke can do it. holding onto her hand tightly, ellen watches with y/n as luke skates down the ice trying everything he can to block shots.

"cmon, I know you got it in you. michigan magic." y/n whispers, ellen's hand grips tighter when she sees the shot go in, the shot that luke barely missed. now it's 4-2, and only about 1:45 left. a commercial break pauses the game but doesn't break the tension on the ice.

"ellen---" y/n says in almost a whisper as they see luke skate back to the bench, trashcan in hand, head covered. "it's okay, he is doing it because he is nervous, probably didn't drink enough water -- that boy." ellen reassures y/n as she watches her boyfriend struggle through this third period.

"yeah, it is just hard watching it. nothing that I can do but sit here and ---" y/n's voice wavers and ellen brings her closer.

"it's okay honey, you're here and this is what matters. family matters, every hockey player wants their family in the stands to make them proud. luke needs you, he needs us here for him. you sitting here is doing more than enough for him. look." ellen calmed y/n as she got her attention back to the ice.

her boyfriend skates to the faceoff, looking up in the crowd for a split moment to try and find her. she waves, and he nods -- a short and sweet moment, just enough to know that she is there for him and that he knows she is right there when she needs him.

the music signals that the break is ending and the puck is to be in play, and all the emotions are back again.

----

luke knows how this goes, as he has been here before in this exact game spot, the year before. he knows the heartbreak, the struggle, the grief he is going to endure in the next few minutes when he hears that buzzer.

but two things were different this year; it was the end but it was truly the beginning --- because it is never over. y/n's sweet voice plays in his head as he gets ready to face off, he thinks of her singing this song in his car, praising (screaming obnoxiously to the classic rock) of her favorite jeff buckley song --- lover, you should've come over. he imagines her voice saying "it's never over" in his head, as he has done the whole game to keep him going.

in reality, after that buzzer hits -- his time at umich is over; but his hockey career is truly beginning. so yes, the grief and sadness he is probably going to endure after this whistle blows will be one of the hardest things of his life --- but it is different; he has his y/n to lean on. 

----

the whistle blows and the remaining seconds of the period play out; ports is out of the goal, and michigan does everything they can to stop quinnipiac from scoring an empty netter. a player steals the puck back which causes luke to go after him, eddy gets in net ready to play makeshift goalie. y/n's breath hitches as she knows that the quinnipiac player will score as luke hooks him and eddy has an opening.

boom.

5-2 quinnipiac, nail in the metaphorical hockey coffin. a sigh comes from jim as he sees luke talking with the ref, defeated. luke got a penalty for hooking, meaning quinnipiac was on a powerplay for the rest of the game. he looked defeated while entering the penalty box, which caused jim, ellen & y/n to look at each other, knowing how their boy was going to really feel.

"I made a bet with jack that he wouldn't break his stick this year -- let's hope I win." y/n kindheartedly joked as jim laughed. "that penalty might have set him off so I wouldn't be surprised if jack won the bet, y/n."

"I have faith that he won't beat himself up too badly this year, he has a pretty amazing girl to lean on and now a new career start. y/n?" ellen questions at the end, causing y/n to get confused. "yes?"

"you're ready for jersey right?" ellen asked as y/n looks at her like she has grown 3 heads.

"ellen, I am not going with him --- no way." she says questionably. her and luke talked about it but it was never a plan.

"y/n, you two have known each other for years, I know that you guys finally started dating last year -- but I know luke wants you in jersey." ellen tells her as jim agrees.

----

the buzzer goes off which causes the conversation to be dropped as everyone rises out of their seats. half of the arena is full of cheerful quinnipiac and minnesota fans -- while the others are in denial about their seasons ending.

making their way to the locker room, y/n gets a glimpse of dylan, mackie and luke on the ice. defeat, just a look of sadness and shock on their faces. dylan looks and sees y/n in the tunnel, and just shakes his head. y/n reciprocates it but in a more "you did your best" type of head nod.

y/n and some of the families watched from the tunnel as the boys shook hands with each other. the boys led themselves back to the locker room, feeling the pain of the national title slip from their fingers once again. one of the last players off of michigan's side of the ice was indeed, a deflated luke hughes.

----

walking with his head down, helmet in hand --- luke couldn't even see who was waiting for him as he headed to the locker room. he just went to her, he could smell her perfume from a mile away. she opened her arms to her as he buried his neck into her shoulder. he didn't care who saw, he never did. he just cried, letting out the defeat into y/n's shoulder.

"it's never over baby, you still got a whole career left. I am so proud of you." y/n whispered into his neck as he nodded. his arms held her tighter as the shock factor went away. he was done with college hockey.

college hockey brought him some of his best friends/teammates and gave him the courage to finally ask y/n out on a date. without college hockey, he wouldn't be who he was today, and that's why his emotions are even higher than he would have thought.

after a few minutes, he pulled away and got a good look at his girl. his beautiful girlfriend was wearing his favorite maize jersey, looking like a total angel in this moment. she looked like she cried a few minutes ago, giving her the extra glowy effect. he was too lucky to have the best family, girlfriend, and career he could have.

grabbing her hands, he put them on his shoulders. "y/n, will you come with me? to new jersey?" he asked her softly as he watched as her eyes pooled with tears. she turns to look behind her, to find his parents looking at her, ellen nods and then she turns to him.

"always, wherever you go --- I want to come with you. I love you." she says, kissing him softly.

"good, I was hoping you didn't say no." luke says as they walk over to his parents, hand in hand.

he wasn't okay, but he knew that the grief was temporary.

michigan would always be there for him. it is home, well, a home. home was really where y/n was. all he wanted was to be with her and play hockey, but those michigan memories will be with him; those were the forever type of memories. as the university of michigan, yost arena, hockey house, and all of those friends, teammates, and memories were going to last forever. he also couldn't forget about those michigan summers, those summers on the lake with his friends and family are going to be something he can't wait for in the off-season.

forever type of memories.

they would never go away; even if it was over.

[chirpingfromthebox]

The Frost's Post-game Press Session from 1/2/2024 - BOS at MIN

The Minnesota Frost's post-game press session after their home game with the Boston Fleet on Thu, January 2nd, 2024.

At the table were head coach Ken Klee, and forwards Brooke Bryant and Britta Curl-Salemme.

Transcription is under the break.

[But I didn't bother transcribing one of them, because I don't feel like it, and I don't get paid.]

[Video starts with Ken Klee answering an unknown question.]

KEN KLEE:

Yeah, it’s tough, I mean, obviously we’re- we’ve got players dropping quickly. But I’m proud of our group for finding a way to win. I mean, would have liked to, obviously, had it be the 3 points in regulation, but Boston’s a good team. They’re gonna keep fighting until the end and they did. Luckily we were able to battle it out in overtime and Britta [Curl-Salemme] obviously scored a big goal for us.

Reporter:

What are the official updates? Maddie [Rooney], Taylor Heise, and Grace [Zumwinkle] was during the game.

KEN KLEE:

Yep, so those three are- Well, I know two of them were sick. Then Zummie got hurt so she’s gonna see a doctor tomorrow morning and we’ll see the extent of it. But the other two are just sick. Our team has been battling it. First practice back from Christmas we were missing 7 players and it’s kind of working its way through.

…

Reporter:

And Claire [Thompson] made a great play to set it up.

KEN KLEE:

Yeah, it was a great [???] body by Claire Thompson. I mean, she’s a good defender. When she wants to defend she can do a good job with it. So it’s a really good play by her. Then obviously then up to Kendall [Coyne-Schofield], then Kendall finding Britta to give her some room to be able to make a play.

[I mean, I would hope Thompson was a good defender considering that's her position!]

Reporter:

The powerplays, ended up, I think, 1 for 5. But it- that 1 kind of was the- I know last game you said you wanted to get some more opportunities, was it nice to finally see you cash in tonight with all those chances to not, kind of, go over?

KEN KLEE:

For sure. Just trying to be simple. When we get pucks to the net, good things happen. And it was just a nice shot by Claire and, you know, Brooke McQuigge is right there ready to put in the rebound. So it was a really nice play.

Reporter:

Brooke [Bryant], do you feel like the team, you guys, came into this game knowing that you were going to grind it out with so many players missing?

BROOKE BRYANT:

Yeah, definitely, I think anytime we play Boston we know it’s going to be a physical game. And it’s gonna be all three periods we have to fight through. Sometimes extra [smiles]. But yeah, I think we knew what we were getting into and it was just a matter of fighting through and pushing for each other.

Reporter:

Guys, this virus or whatever it was, just sort of run through the team?

KEN KLEE:

I don’t know. We went on Christmas break we were- well, we had lost two players to injury, but everybody else was pretty much healthy. But then- it’s hard to say. Everyone went their own way and we had players popping up sick like crazy. I know some of them are still battling it, they’re still hard coughing on the bench and all that sort of thing. I think it’s just sort of going through right now and hopefully we can keep getting better.

Reporter:

And you said Grace was hurt?

KEN KLEE:

Yeah, Zum hurt herself. She got hurt in the first period and then went off and, like I said, she’s gonna see a doctor tomorrow and hopefully we’ll have a better evaluation of how long she’s gonna be out for.

[End of Video.]

[hughesybear]

Just as one of our 1Cs is rounding back into form, the other one is regressing for uncertain reasons. Such is Canucks hockey.

Canucks thoughts 11/17/2024:

Unlike some of their previous losses on home ice, the Canucks' process wasn't actually as much of a problem this game. They were controlling play 5v5 and out-shot and out-chanced the Predators, but they lost the game because of their penalty kill. Even though Pettersson scored on the power play for his 4th goal in 5 games, the Canucks still lost the special teams battle.

The big story in this game was Miller’s benching in the third period. He only had two shifts in the third (one of them was on the powerplay), his last shift came with over 14 minutes left in the game, and he was kept off the ice even when the Canucks were trying to tie the game with the goalie pulled. He's most likely dealing with something physically (as reported by insiders such as Friedman and Dhaliwal), but his defensive game (which shouldn’t be so affected by a theorized upper-body injury) has been the biggest issue lately, punctuated by this shift on the penalty kill where his passive coverage and directing traffic instead of focusing on his own man leads to the Predators' second power play goal.

Tocchet went so far as to say Miller wasn't one of "the guys I thought could get us back in the game," and denied the benching being injury-related (which isn't the same as denying Miller is injured at all). The last time Miller was benched, it was during the second period in the Canucks' first game against the Predators last season, and he went out and scored in the third - Miller has proven to respond well to being held accountable in this manner (something no Canucks coach has done to this extent before Tocchet), and the message Tocchet is sending through this decision won't just hit home with him, but with the whole team.

It's funny how Pettersson and Miller seem so inversely related - they alternate “good” and “down” seasons, and as such the way they are perceived by fans. They’re also polar opposites as people, and mirror images of each other on the ice (Petey uses his sky-high hockey IQ and cerebral vision to make plays with calculated precision, while Miller plays with fire and sandpaper grit). However, I think reducing the conversation around them to a Pettersson vs. Miller debate (as some Vancouver media are doing) doesn't fully capture the complexities of the reality for this Canucks team. The only way this core will win a Cup is if both Pettersson and Miller are playing to their highest level at the same time, and I have a feeling they are both pushing each other to do so - it’ll just take time. They’re more similar than a lot of people realize; as much as they have their differences, they both understand the intensity, drive, and inner emotion that connects them together.

[devilsupdates]

#NJDevils  starters

*Update per media site:

-Tatar-Hischier-Mercer

-Dillon-Hamilton

-Markstrom

Under way in DC

#NJDevils  PP coming up.

- Bratt, Hischier, Hamilton, Meier, Hughes on the ice

Back to even strength

Nico knocked to the ground but is ok

PP2 out there - Haula, Noesen, Mercer, Casey, Tatar

#NJDevils  second power play of the period coming up - 4:50 into the game. Hughes, Meier, Hamilton, Bratt, Hischier out there.

Seven giveaways for the #NJDevils  about halfway through the first period.

Seamus Casey! #NJDevils  have tied this game at 1. 6:18 left in the first period.

Paul Cotter's nifty hands have singlehandedly created two high danger chances this period.

Cotter - Haula - Noesen is buzzing

Second period underway in D.C. #NJDevils  with a 2-1 lead.

Capitals score 32 seconds in to tie the game 2-2. Dylan Strome with the goal.

 Dylan Strome gets one by Markstrom.

Not the start the #NJDevils  wanted.

Tied at 2.

Jack Hughes misses the net on a breakaway.

He's snakebitten right now.

While falling Tomas Tatar scores to give the #NJDevils  a 3-2 lead! 16:04 left in the 2nd.

Hughes breakaway shot high and wide.

Upon replay it looks like Lindgren did get a piece of it.

Tatar has been dangerous tonight, another solid scoring chance for him.

Thought he was hooked, too. No call.

I, personally, see no issue with Kovacevic getting tagged with a matching minor for sticking up for Meier.

#NJDevils  continue with the theme of showing that they can't be messed with, like last season.

4-on-4 hockey coming up with 10:10 left in the second period.

Dubois and Kovacevic each assessed minor penalties.

Paul Cotter! #NJDevils  with a 4-2 lead. 6:22 left in the 2nd period. Stefan Noesen has three assists tonight

The change to put Cotter, Haula, Noesen together has paid off in this one. Cotter with two goals, three primary assists for Noesen, three secondary assists for Haula.

Cotter sent off for slashing. #NJDevils  penalty kill on deck.

Killed off - back to even strength.

Second period done. #NJDevils  with a 4-2 lead. Tatar (Noesen, Haula) and Cotter (Noesen, Haula) with NJ's goals in the middle frame.

Paul Cotter ties a career-high 2 goals in a game. Stefan Noesen's 3 assists are a career-high. Erik Haula ties a career-high 3 assists in a game.

3rd period coming up

Tom Wilson scores 1:35 into the third period to bring this game within one. #NJDevils  holding on to a 4-3 lead.

First time Siegenthaler - Kovacevic have allowed a goal this season.

The #NJDevils  are back on the power play

19 seconds of 4-on-4 before the Capitals have a power play. Bratt to the box.

Bratt is out of the box and devils back to full strength

Jonas Siegenthaler can buy himself a steak dinner for bailing himself out of that turnover.

Tough shift for Ondrej Palat. He's been better tonight, but a weak play below the goal line and then a turnover at the Capitals blue line nearly cost the #NJDevils  and tied that game.

#NJDevils  back to the man advantage

Interesting message maybe sent by Sheldon Keefe here. Starts the powerplay with the second unit instead.

Dougie Hamilton has been much better defensively in these early games, IMO. That's very important for the #NJDevils .

Kovechkin just shoved Ovechkin after the whistle.

You're welcome for relaying this information.

Empty net goal by Mercer! #NJDevils  with a 5-3 lead.

Devils win 5-3

[sportsthoughts]

☕️ next season predictions!

ok in no particular order

Dubas will sign two more leafs players during the offseason that we all complain about but they turn out to be quite good and we all eat humble pie and pretend we liked them all along

Rusty scores the first goal of the season and 'in rusticles we trusticles' trends number 5 on tumblr

The powerplay won't improve until December. it will be really bad but then the spirit of Christmas will save it and it will be average from dec-end of season

Geno will take a while to reach his goal milestone but once he does he's going to go on an almost hilariously good scoring streak in the spring

The Geno/Bunts line will be a THING in the autumn. Sid will have stolen Bunts for his line by the new year.

Sid will end the season with such a thick grey streak we'll start affectionately reblogging photos of badgers and skunks and tagging them #sid <3

Geno will end the season with a full head of hair. his hair transplant will be a roaring success and Anna will come back because his new hair follicles bring all the hot ladies to the yard

EK will become the player we hoped he would be this year and will be our third highest scorer by the end of the season

jack st ivany will score an OT winner in april off a sid assist to save our butts and the sid/jack st ivany ship will take off

it will ALSO be the year that the sid/tanger ship truly takes off. you're all about to get obsessed. no this is not just my wishful thinking God told me this would happen and who are you to argue with the Lord.

pensblr will finally heal all its many divides and we shall all hold hands and live in harmony and never write mean things on the internet ever again

ask me things

[butterflyintochains]

We Three Together

This is kinda based on a convo I had with @mikathemad earlier, kinda angsty, but here she is.

The rush of the number retirement ceremony has begun to abate a slight since last night. But, there's something wrong, Sid can feel it in the room, something is not entirely right in his team. And, no, it's not the abysmal powerplay... yet. He looks around the room at his team, eyes falling on Kris and Erik. The duo are deep in conversation, heads close together, looking at something on Erik's phone. Sid can feel that Kris is holding something in, eighteen years have honed them on each other's cues. So, he gives Geno a nod, and he closes the doors to the dressing room after Ned and Tristan leave. ''Sid, what's going on?'' Erik asks.

Sid says, rubbing his hands together. ''I think one of us has something on his chest. And, I think we all know who it is.'' Geno sits at his stall, and says. ''Legend, are you okay?'' Kris, a kind of confused look on his face, smiles and says. ''Yeah? Of course I am, why wouldn't I be? Why?''

Erik places a hand on his partner's knee, feeling like the shittiest partner in the world right now. ''Kris... hjartat.'' This seems to unravel him a slight. ''I dunno, maybe this weekend has just... brought a lot into my mind, that's all.''

Sid gently asks, knowing not to press his best friend too hard lest he pounce. ''Like what?'' Kris is silent, staring at the whiteboards, his glassy brown eyes would be hidden a mere month ago by his hair. ''Kris, we're your family, talk to us.'' Geno says, trying to sound as calming as possible. And, that's the problem, they've never had the thoughts Kris has had on quiet bus trips, they've not almost died because of a fucked up heart, he loves them both so, so much. But, this is just too big, too messy, too... not Kris. ''Kris, look at us, please.'' Erik says softly, and Kris slowly turns to face his partner and brothers. ''Promise me that no one but us four will know this?'' Sid, on behalf of all three of them, says. ''We promise. Now, talk to us.''

Kris steels himself for this conversation, one nearly a decade in the making now. But, he's safe with them, right? ''Seeing Jagr's number raised, the number I wore my whole childhood, just got to me. I just... what if that's as close as I get, y'know?''

Sid knits his brows together, a knot of pain for his best friend forming in his stomach. ''Kris, what d'you mean?'' Kris swallows heavily, trying not to put pressure on his heart. ''Sid, come on, I'm not exactly anything special, am I? Michel Briere died, Mario is Mario, Jaro is Jaro. You and Geno are living legends, so is Flower.''

Geno says, still keeping his voice level so as not to aggravate the situation. ''Kris, you've won three cups, all of them for us.'' Kris scoffs, and says. ''And, how much does '17 count really? I only stepped on the ice once the entire time.''

Erik says, not even he's heard any of this, not even at home during late night chats in bed. ''Your name is on that cup all three times, that ring sits on our mantle with the other two. Sully told me you all but coached the team that spring, with the surgery and all.'' Geno adds, remembering 2016. ''And, remember '16? You scored that goal, Kris, neither Sid or me have ever scored a cup goal, you have.'' Kris sniffs, the dam is breaking, and he doesn't like it. ''I've not won anything for Canada, either.''

Now, it's Sid's turn to scoff. ''That's because the assholes never had the guts to give you a chance, Kris. I begged Babcock to add you to the Prague and World Cup teams, he refused. No idea why, he just did.''

Kris fiddles with his baseball cap, needing something to occupy himself with. ''I've got one individual award to my name, one I didn't particularly seek out, no one wants a Masterton. I'm so proud of it, but, not even being considered for a Norris, just... hurts.'' Erik says, because he does know, he's always known, ever since he won his second, how hurt Kris has always been at being passed over. ''Kris, you don't need a Norris, you've already cemented yourself as this team's greatest ever defenceman. I mean, I looked at all the records for our position on the walls when I got here, you are on all of them.'' Erik says, because only a fellow defenceman can ever understand this feeling. ''As much as I love you, I never wanna play against you again. But, so many forwards in this league hate having to face you, and so many dmen want to be you.''

Sid adds, hating himself for failing his role as both best friend and captain where Kris is concerned. ''Then: you made sure we were all vaccinated against Covid, you are the driving force behind our charity work, you helped get the Bubble Playoffs and return to play going. Played 1000 games after all you've been through.'' Sid catches his breath. ''Sure, I have the C, but, when things get really bad, we all look to you.''

Geno simply asks his best friend. ''Kris, what do your gloves say?'' Kris furrows his brows, confused. ''Legend, G, why?'' Geno rubs his hands together. ''That's there for a reason. That's how we see you, you're our Legend. Our survivor.''

Erik adds, holding Kris' hands in his. ''Our conscience.''

Mario swoops in, the quiet father of the team. ''Kris, son, 58 will be up there with 87 and 71, and hopefully 29 too. No one could ever carry it with the dignity, humility, and style you have. As soon as you three hang them up, we're having the ceremony.''

Sid asks, incredulously. ''Wait, day of our retirement? All at once?'' Mario nods, and says. ''Within the week, actually, I've had the ceremony planned since 2017. But, this is my promise to all three of you. Now, Sully is waiting, should I tell him you're on your way, or not?''

Everyone looks to Kris, who picks his helmet up, dries his eyes, and says, ''Let's fucking do this.'' Sid and Geno embrace their best friend, Erik kisses his partner, and the four musketeers take to the ice. ''Kris, why didn't you ever bring this up before?'' Sid asks on the way to the rink. Kris shrugs. ''It just didn't ever feel like a good time. I promise, though, no more secrets.''

Sid says. ''Good, because it's we three together, okay?'' Kris nods, his chest feeling a million pounds lighter. He just hopes Flower can be added to that ceremony, whenever it happens.

[seedlessmuffins]

hello beautiful people! i have decided to make this for anyone looking to get into a new sport, and here is my pitch your new sport should be hockey! i present to you; an intro to hockey (for footie fans)

*warning: this is long! very long! i would appreciate it if you read the whole thing, but you dont have to, mwah!*

the sport

ice hockey is a sport played by players on skates on a surface of ice. i will be referring to it as hockey from here on, because (and no offence to field hockey at all) ice hockey is the ultimate hockey and it would be blasphemous to refer to it otherwise! in hockey, there are two teams on the ice, and each player uses a stick (commonly made of carbon fiber, usually as tall as the player’s nose) to control a rubber puck to get it into the opposing team’s net. the ice is surrounded by boards (the white part covered in ads at the bottom) and the glass (the glass on top) and there is netting on top of the glass behind each net to prevent pucks from going into the stands

KEY POINTS

there are four positions in hockey: goalkeeper (goalie), defender (dman or simply d), winger (either left wing or right wing), and center 

defence and goalies perform basically the same role as in footie (and there is no equivalent of a midfielder), but along the attackers the roles are reversed. the center is usually the playmaker who can track back to defend and create plays, while most wingers are known as goal scorers. that said, because there are only 5 players on the ice at a time, there is no “pure goal scorer” or stiker equivalent because there simply is not space for one on a team, everyone needs to create and score. there are 4 lines of forwards and 3 lines of defense that rotate on and off the ice, with the best players on the top line or on the top d pair

games are 60 minutes with 3, 20 minute periods. in between each period is a 15 minute intermission in professional games. the clock stops every time the whistle is blown, so there is no such thing as injury/stoppage time (because we just… stop the time). players don’t play the whole game, they play in 30 second to 50 second shifts. the best forwards usually play between 18 and 23 minutes a night, top defenders play between 25 and 30 minutes a night. goalies are the only ones that play for a full 60

after every whistle, the game restarts with a faceoff, which is like a tip off in basketball. the two centers face eachother and the ref drops the puck in between them and the centers try and pass it backwards to their teammates

there are no such thing as ties! ever! they got rid of them in 2005. if teams are tied after 60 minutes, they go to a 5 minute, sudden death overtime. first to score wins and the game is over. if teams are still tied, they go to a shootout (basically penalty kicks)

equipment is worn by all players including a helmet, neck guard, shoulder, elbow, and shin pads, “pants” (basically thick shorts that protect the thighs”, gloves, and skates. also they have their sticks

the rules

there are a couple main rules of hockey, some which are the same as footie (offsides are equally hated in hockey). if you break these rules, there are four kinds of penalties that can be called. these penalties result in a skater going to the penalty box (the box) for a certain number of minutes, so the other team has one extra skater. this is known as a power play for the team with an extra skater, and for the team with a guy in the penalty box, it is known as a penalty kill. there isn’t really a build up of these penalties, like one guy can get 5 or 6 in a game and still be ok to play. the least amount of people that can be on the ice is 3, so the biggest advantage is 5 players on one team and 3 on the other. minor penalties end when time is up or the team on the powerplay scores (whichever comes first), and majors end when time is up even if the other team scores.

(naughty boys sit in the time out box)

types of penalties

two-minute minor: minor penalties and the player goes to the box for 2 minutes. examples are tripping (when you trip another person with your stick), elbowing (when you elbow someone), slashing (when you take your stick and slam it on someones wrists), roughing (a minor fight) or even diving 

four-minute double minor: this is just a bad minor where the person gets a minor injury, the best example is high sticking (where you hit someone in the face by lifting your stick over shoulder level), where you can get a double minor by making the other player bleed

five-minute majors: when an action results in an intentional injury, especially bleeding, or a fight (big fights, like ones that involve gear coming off and punching the other person’s head into the ice, is what gets a major). best example is cross checking to the head, which is when you use your stick to hit someone in the back of the head/neck to push them down to the ice (very fun)

game misconduct: ten minute penalties that get you kicked from the game. this does not result in a power play or penalty kill, you just get kicked out until 10 minutes is up. idrk this one, its pretty rare and so the refs usually just explain the circumstance

penalty shot: exactly like a penalty kick in soccer, it happens when a penalty occurs when the player is on a breakaway. this is very very rare

refs

depending on the ref, you can get away with a lot more or a lot less. theres a phrase called “putting the whistles away” which occurs in big games usually where refs don’t call penalties. refs also call penalties sometimes to “even out” the amount of penalties each team has. depends on the guy

amount

usually, each team gets about three penalties a game, sometimes more sometimes less

the leagues and the season

there is only one really big professional league (we will call it the champions league equivalent), the national hockey league (nhl) that plays in the us and canada. there are several smaller pro leagues in other countries, such as the khl (russia and eastern europe with one team in china), the shl (sweden), and liiga (finland). this section will talk about the nhl, but im pretty sure it is the same or very similar in the european leagues as well

divisions

the league is split into 2 conferences, east and west with 2 divisions in each conference. each division has 8 teams. 

east has the metropolitan and atlantic divisions, and includes all teams on the east coast of canada and the us, such as the pittsburgh penguins, the tampa bay lightning, and the toronto maple leafs

west has the central and pacific divisions, and includes all teams in the middle and on the east coast of canada and the us, such as the colorado avalanche, the vegas golden knights, and my vancouver canucks

regular season

regular season is made up of 82 games, and these games are used to get points to make it into the playoffs

points: a win is 2 points, a loss in overtime or a shootout is 1 point, and a loss in regular time is 0 points

playoffs 

the top three teams (points wise) in each division, as well as two wild cards from each conference go to the playoffs (16 teams total). they compete in a four round bracket to get to the final (like the world cup without the group stage)

each playoff series is a best of 7 series, so you have to win 4 of 7 games to win the series. the games alternate, two at home, two away, and then home away home. sometimes, teams have to travel between the two stadiums overnight (and they can be as far away as like 3,000km!)

being “swept” is when you don’t win a single game and get eliminated 4-0 on aggregate (which is on wins, not goals). if your team wins 4-0, you “swept” the other team

game 7: game 7 in the stanley cup playoffs is the best hockey you will ever see. two teams at the peak of their powers with everything on the line. its like a champions league final. 

the stanley cup, or the cup, is the trophy that can be one. there is no “keeping” the cup, there is only one and it has every player, coach, and manager’s name who have ever won the cup on its surface. there are various bands, and when one runs out of space it is “retired” in the hockey hall of fame in toronto, canada. its a pretty cool trophy

cup days is the day each player on the winning team gets to spend with the cup. they take it to their hometowns usually, they have been taken to childhood rinks, churches, mosques, on boats in lakes, on helicopters, and of course, people eat and drink out of it!

other fun facts that i think are cool

goalies: goalies can be “pulled” during the game to add another skater on the ice. this usually happens during a powerplay (for a 6 on 4 advantage) or during the last few minutes of the 3rd period when a team is down by 1 goal. this results in an empty net, and two things happen: the team with 6 players uses the extra player to their advantage and scores, or the team with less players just chips the puck down the ice and scores in the net (called an empty netter)

goalies also have the protection of the team, if someone hurts the goalie the whole team will fight them. goalies are precious and deserve hugs. hug your goalie yall

international hockey: because of politics between the ioc and the nhl, nhl players haven’t played in the olympics since 2014. there also was a hockey world cup, but that has only been held 2 times (in 2004 and 2016) and there are no plans for a return until 2024 at the earliest. this is a sensitive subject, and it is bad for the sport, but no there isn’t really an international, best-on-best tournament in hockey at the senior level right now

world juniors: there is one at the u-20 level though! the world juniors happen every year from december 26 to january 6 or 7, and it is the best players from each country under 21. usual countries that participate are canada, us, finland, sweden, germany, czechia, slovakia, switzerland, luxembourg, and latvia. russia was also involved, but has been excluded due to the war in ukraine. 

relegation: there is no such thing! everyone stays in the nhl. in order for teams to stay balanced, there is a salary cap (a limit to how much money you can be paying players each year) which i think is $88 million right now, so all teams have to spend the same amount. 

the messi/ronaldo rivalry: there is a hockey equivalent (i mentioned it in a previous post about hockey), which is the sidney crosby/alex ovechkin rivalry. they have been competing since 2005, and they are actually the same ages as ronaldo and messi too. they are both phenomenal, and there have been some historic fights and games between the two over the years. 

longevity: because it is such a high contact sport, the longevity in hockey is a lot less. it is better now, but most players retire between 33 and 38, with goalies usually retiring later and defencemen (who usually get into fights) retiring earlier. 

goals and assists: goals and assists are valued equally in the nhl, both called points. a point is a goal, an assist, or a secondary assist (you passed to the assister). most nhl games have an average of 6 goals a game, its quite high scoring, although this season the highest scoring game was 10 to 4. some games go to shootout and end 1 to 0. 

in shootout, it isn’t like footie where it would show the score as a tie and then the number of shootout goals that went in, it shows the winning team’s score as if they scored another goal and where it would say “FT” it would say “SO” for shootout. for overtime, the score would show “OT”. 

where to watch the nhl

most hockey games start at 7pm local time, which are local timezones across north america (pst, est, ct, and mt). you games for free on websites like atdhe.tv internationally, and if you are in the us and have an espn subscription, you can watch it there (im assuming you haven’t read this far if youre canadian lol). there are between 2 and 15 games every night from october until june, it is so much fun and there’s so many options!

if you’ve read this far i love you and i hope you want to watch hockey now! i would love to talk hockey with anyone who wants to learn more! mwah ily besties 😚🫶

[ratatatastic]

with 24 seconds left remaining in the first powerplay of the 4 minute double minor senko sends it home with a dish from benny making it 2 unanswered panthers goals in boston territory

bench celebrates and do you understand the absolute comedy that is luosty wanting to celly w mikksy his fellow finn but mikkola is too busy looking at monty and doesnt give him the time of day DO YOU WANT ME TO DIE... also matty first instinct to hug reino... leaving stevie all alone at the far side of the bench LIKE HE HAS NO ONE TO BUMP OR HUG HES ALL BY HIMSELF

and see the funny thing about double minors is that because theyre treated as two seperate penalties it means if you score on the pp within those first 2 minutes you still have 2 minutes left on the second pp

you can guess what happens next

with a swaggy redirect over sways shoulder who only saw it once it sailed past its 3-0 cats now thats what we call working fast! (you have no idea how much i was squeezing my lucky rat through this 4 minute ordeal because i remembered that one time we had a whole fucking 7 minute pp and then we barely scored on it because we get nervous on long pps like i had war flashbacks)

the bench of course loves it congrats to stevie for finding someone to celly with thank you luosty for being a g i dont think id be able to handle if stevie got abandoned again

which also means both pp units scored within 4 minutes and within the same game so this is just a massive fuck you to media who kept parading around the fact that cats were 1 for 10 so far on the pp this series and that our pp sucks so hows that about the pp

the takeaway is if theres one thing cats like to do its to prove you wrong

florida panthers @ boston bruins game 3 | 5.10.24

[theemporium]

the avs just scored three goals against the jets, two of them in powerplays, they deserve so many kisses on their crooked noses (mackinnon, makar, and probably toews now too) 🥸

I wanna be happy for them but if I had to choose, the jets have my uncle toffoli and I want him to do well too🥲

but the crooked noses line is making me think of tangled now😭

[onmytape]

just here to say that i'm rewatching some pg cougars playoff games and realizing how much fun they are to watch...that powerplay??

my people! i'm going to rant, i made some shitty gifs for visuals, i love this stupid team, i'm so glad you're here too

where do i even start? playoffs were soooo fun especially the pg vs tri city series. they were pretty evenly matched and it could’ve gone either way (seattle sweeping pg was boring, sorry 🙄 definitely didn’t need four games of that haha) pg is sooo underrated as an entertaining team! the powerplay especially 👀 i have a whole folder full of clips from round one so maybe i’ll make a top ten moments post but the last game against tri city was wild. if anyone else is reading this, i'd recommended watching the highlights even if you don't care about the cougars. more about this under the cut

and the powerplay. the powerplay. they deserve a post of their own. probably the most exciting aspect of our team this year. i couldn't come up with a better cast of characters. fun fact: last season wheaty didn't have a single powerplay goal. oh how the tables have turned.

i'm expecting next year's pp line to be ziemmer, heidt, and funk and idk about defense. we'll see who's going to replace samson 😥

a shitty analysis of some highlights of game six 😼

the wiebecroft connection 🥺 and after wiebe gets the ot in game two!! i am going to miss this duo so much. also i need to add wheaty's comment about wiebe in the post-game show (direct quote because i recorded it haha): “that guy’s been finding me all series. it’s about time I put one in for him. yeah, he’s so much fun to play with and I kinda knew when we were streaking two on one that he was going to find me and that’s exactly what he did. i’m just happy i got to repay him for all the times he set me up and i haven’t scored.”

A dynamic duo goal! heidt encouraging fans to wave their rally towels 🥺 and then gets buried by his teammates

dubinsky immediately falls after scoring. brown's not going to not celly, even if he has to pile on top of dubinsky to do so. (also dubinsky sidenote: i'm so glad we had him this season. he's gone through so much injury wise. his final post-game interview after the second series was so sad. he sounded so choked. said he just wanted to make it to playoffs in his juniors career and he finally did! even though he didn't get to play his last game 😥)

watching this move live was crazy. my heart was going through it as brown had a perfect chance, flubbed it, managed to pass it to o'brien. the hometown connection!! this was perfect!

"chase wheatcroft sends the cougars to the second round for the first time in sixteen years!"

how can you not love them 🥲 (heidt trying to jump into the celly and falling is very on brand)

[abqbox]

My back is feeling about 90% of normal, I put some heat on it, did some extra stretches, and took ibuprofen before the game and then went out and gave it my best effort.

And I am happy to say my back was better than I expected, didn't feel at all wrong until late in the game and even then just felt a little bit tight as the ibuprofen wore off I bet.

And unlike about half our team I was at least there. Maybe they were tired of facing the same sub goalie so many times (they played against him again last week when I was out) or maybe it's because spring break for schools around here is next week with no classes today and tomorrow too. Whatever the reason, we had many subs so I wasn't expecting that great a team performance.

And, for our first time facing a regular league goaltender in what felt like half a season, we wound up with the consistently best one in the league. I feel when I'm playing well I'm a bit better than she is but she rarely has off games and is way better than me when I have a bad night.

Tonight, I personally was pretty good though and felt we were about even. I let in one about halfway through the first period when the puck bounced up in the air weirdly and landed in front of me. I think I had it covered and then a couple sticks of the other team pushed it out from under my glove and into the net.

In the second period I played better and had better luck and on the other end we managed to take advantage of a penalty to score a rare powerplay goal to tie the game at one after two.

The play had been mostly even I felt at that point but in the third we seemed to run out of gas or the other team picked it up and they outplayed us. I played well though and was making good saves until there was about 5 minutes left I think. I stopped a pass in front of the net with my stick, but too far away for me to cover it. Our defense wasn't first to the loose puck in front and they managed to put it in.

We were pushing to try to score to even it up as time was running out and they got a breakaway. I made a save and thought I had it under me but it was loose and a second player from their team got to it before I could find it and before any defenders and they scored to go up by two.

After that we were just kind of playing to kill the time when one of our guys got off a great shot and scored to make it 2-3. We won the faceoff after the goal so I went to the bench and watched as time ran out before we were able to get any more chances to score again.

In the end the score was closer than the game and the always low official shot count showed I faced 42 shots, which made sense because I felt absolutely exhausted but at least not in pain.

No game next week during actual spring break, so maybe I'll have rested enough to recover from this one by the time we play again and hopefully my back will be even better.

Oh yeah, and the car is still broken.

[itscarshub]

Pakistan leads New Zealand 1-0 after goals from Fakhar (117) and Imam (50)

Pakistan eased to a five-wicket victory over New Zealand in the first one-day international in Rawalpindi thanks to Fakhar Zaman's ninth ODI century and Naseem Shah's phenomenally economical bowling. They achieved their 500th ODI victory in the process, becoming the third team to do so; They reached the milestone in 949 games, making them the second-quickest team after Australia, which did so in 811 games. After a 124-run opening stand between Fakhar and Imam-ul-Haq, Pakistan never seriously threatened to lose despite being set 289 to win. They got over the line in the 49th over and took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series thanks to forty-nine runs from captain Babar Azam and a cameo appearance by wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan lower down the order.

Match Report

New Zealand had reached 288 thanks to Daryl Mitchell's second ODI hundred. The foundation for a score of over 300 had been laid by a century-and-a-half partnership with Will Young, whose own 86-ball knock came in just 78 balls. However, Pakistan's precise death bowling and the visitors' inability to score boundaries kept them in check. That was largely due to Naseem, who was at his metronomic peak at both the beginning and end of the innings. His figures of 2 for 29 in his ten overs ensured that New Zealand would not reach the 300-run mark they appeared to be on track for the majority of the innings. Pakistan's best performances in this format over the past four years were the model that was realized during the chase. The heft of the run-scoring was finished by Fakhar, Imam, and Babar; There is a reason why Pakistan has relied on their top three for runs more than any other team. While New Zealand's openers had started steadily, Pakistan began energetically on a surface that presented little risk to the hitters. Matt Henry and Adam Milne were milked and hit for boundaries occasionally, but when the 100 partnership came up in the 19th over, their truculence became more apparent. Fakhar siphoned Mitchell for a six back over his head while Imam did likewise to Ish Sodhi before long. Pakistan appeared to be on the right track by this point, as both men had reached half-centuries. Sodhi struck the following ball after discovering a few holds and catching Imam in front, yet just prepared for one more lengthy organization, this time among Babar and Fakhar. Maybe those two would take the game directly the entire way to completion. The Pakistani skipper seemed at ease from the opening ball as Fakhar slowly advanced towards yet another ODI century. He punched the air before the customary sajda when he did arrive with a drive-through extra cover. Shan Masood, on the other hand, was brought into the box by a missed shot from Babar from 50 yards out. After a little struggle, he was soon on his way back, missing the 12th ball to extra cover with just one run added, and New Zealand had the tiniest of openings once more. However, Rizwan would skillfully stop it, hoping to end the game's danger by counterattacking. This he did with a lot of success, and even when Fakhar went down for 117 at the other end, he made sure the home team didn't get too wobbly. In the penultimate over, a smear over midwicket sealed the deal, giving Pakistan the victory they seemed to be worth throughout the game. Pakistan had previously decided to bat New Zealand out on a hot day and a flat track. The bowlers got going keeping the openers on a chain, especially Naseem, who tracked down sideways development and an additional yard of speed, permitting only 12 runs in his six-over spell. However, the wicket came from a bowling change when Haris Rauf took the outside edge from Chad Bowes in his first over, completing a bowlers-only powerplay. New Zealand, on the other hand, began to expand into the innings as the field grew. Young started to find his feet, particularly in opposition to the spin. After a 51-ball 50, he cleared Shadab for four and Agha Salman's most memorable conveyance for a six. Mitchell quickly began to become an effective backup act as Pakistan continued to use spin to little effect. Youthful seemed to set out toward a blustery hundred as the organization crossed three figures and New Zealand sat pretty at 150 for one in a shade north of 26 overs. Yet, Shadab struck as Youthful holed out in the quest for another limit, and however Mitchell was just settling in, New Zealand would never entirely stand up for themselves similarly once more. Momentum was sucked out of the game by Tom Latham's struggles at the crease, where he made 20 of 36 shots before being lbw to a juicy full toss. Mitchell scored two boundaries against Shadab and four and six against Nawaz, but he received little support. After Rauf removed Mark Chapman from the game, the innings never really progressed beyond the last 25 overs, when only three boundaries were hit by Mitchell. Mitchell raised a merited hundred with a lofty straight drive off Shaheen Afridi, however with the stingy Naseem at the opposite end, New Zealand's run-scoring was turning out to be increasingly impecunious. Naseem would get the wickets he so richly deserved right at the end, dismissing Adam Milne and Rachin Ravindra in the last two deliveries of the innings to leave New Zealand well short of 300. It turned out that they were also too weak to compete with Pakistan's batsmen on this surface.

Conclusion

Pakistan defeated New Zealand by five wickets in the first one-day international in Rawalpindi, thanks to Fakhar Zaman's century and Naseem Shah's economical bowling. Pakistan achieved their 500th ODI victory in the process, becoming the third team to do so, and the second-quickest team after Australia. New Zealand's innings were built around Daryl Mitchell's century and Will Young's half-century, but Pakistan's precise death bowling restricted them to 288.  Pakistan's chase was anchored by Fakhar, Imam, and Babar, with Mohammad Rizwan providing a late cameo to ensure a comfortable victory. The win was a reflection of Pakistan's consistent performances in the format over the past four years, relying on their top-order batsmen for runs. Overall, it was a clinical performance by Pakistan, with their bowlers and batsmen complementing each other to outclass a competitive New Zealand side. Read the full article