NHL Playoffs

Round two of the NHL playoffs is underway.  I watched most of the 3rd period and OT of game 1 in the Phoenix-Nashville series.  I am surprised.  Phoenix played really well and fought hard to win in overtime.

I am looking forward to the Washington-New York series.  Mostly because I am a Caps fan, but also it looks like it will be a good series.  The Philly-NJ series will also be really good. 

I love playoff hockey.  It's an exciting time and you're always on the edge of your seat, especially in overtime.

Bring on the weekend series!

Summer hockey

Last night started our Summer hockey season.  It was time to start defending our championship.  When we got there I knew it was going to be an uphill battle.  Only 8 skaters and our goalie showed up.  Ouch.  So it was going to be a long game.

The first period we started off slow.  I don't know if it was jitters or just being a little rusty.  We were down 2-0 after one period. 

In the 2nd, we turned up the heat.  I battled in front of the net and ended up helping on our first goal as a screen.  Our 2nd goal was kinda entertaining.  I completely whiffed on a shot about 10 feet from the net, but our center was right behind me.  He's a much better shooter than I am, and he buried a shot to tie the game at 2-2.  The fatigue was starting to show, though.

In the 3rd, we jumped out to a 3-2 lead.  Our opponent, Pucks Gone Wild, tied the game at 3 with about 5 minutes remaining.  We pulled ahead 4-3 with about 3 minutes remaining.  PGW kept pressing though, and tied the game with about 40 seconds remaining in regulation. 

Overtime started as a 4 on 4 with running clock.  About a minute into OT, we were penalized and went short handed.  PGW scored on the ensuing PP to win 5-4. 

Great game even though we only had 3 subs all game.  We played hard and I think if we'd had 1-2 more guys we would've probably pulled out a win.    But it was good to get back on the ice and play. 

Toronto, Niagara Falls, playoff hockey

Been a while since I posted.  Have some catching up to do.

Went to Niagara Falls and Toronto the first week of April.  Great trip.

April 2 we arrived in Buffalo and headed to the Theodore Roosevelt Inauguration NHS.  Great time.  The staff were really friendly and there were lots of things to see.  They really made you feel like you were back in the early 1900s.  Nicely done.  We then headed to Niagara to check into our hotel and went to the American side of the falls.  It was a nice preview of things to come, but we decided to not go to the Canadian side yet.  We had dinner with one of the former pastors of our church and his family.   They had moved to NY a few weeks before we came and were really happy to see us.  Well, mostly Emily. 

April 3 we headed to the Canadian side of the falls.  What an amazing sight.  Even Emily was enjoying it - I think she wanted to get in the water and play.  Luckily we didn't let her!  unfortunately since it was so early in the year, the Maid of the Mist was not running, so we couldn't do that.  But we did do the Journey Behind the Falls, which was awesome.

After Emily took a nap, we headed to Buffalo to meet up with friends Jen and Chris for the Sabres-Leafs game.  What a game it was!  6-5 win for Buffalo in OT.  Great game.  Emily had a great time.  She passed out during the 3rd period and only woke up after the OT win.  Luckily she went back to sleep as we were walking out.  Poor girl.

April 4 we headed to Toronto.  We decided to hit the Ontario Science Centre after a quick stop for lunch at Harvey's.  It was well done.  There were lots of activities for kids and adults, too.  I spent some time at the amateur radio station but didn't get to make any contacts.  We had dinner at Mamma Martino's that night and ice cream at Tom's Dairy Freeze.    Both were pretty good.

April 5 we grabbed breakfast at Tim Horton's then headed downtown.  Our first stop was the CN Tower.  It had a really nice view of the city and surrounding area, but I thought it was overpriced.  The glass floor was pretty cool though - Emily even stopped to look down.  She was enjoying running around.

We then headed to the Hockey Hall of Fame.  I had been anticipating going there and seeing the Stanley Cup.  We did some of the games and Emily enjoyed playing rod hockey on one of the tables.  She didn't win, however.  We grabbed lunch, then made it upstairs to see the Cup.  I even was able to get this:

We went to the Q for dinner, then Lick's for ice cream.  I was disappointed with the ice cream from Lick's.  I thought the place we went the night before was better.

April 6 we drove back to Buffalo.  Since it was Good Friday, almost every store in Canada was closed.  So the wait to get across the bridge was almost 2 hours!  Ugh.  Luckily Emily slept almost the entire time.  We then met up with Jen and Chris again for lunch.  We spent about 2 hours with them while their daughter and Emily played.  They were having fun.  We then checked into the hotel and went to Duff's for some wings with my friend Beth.  Duff's was awesome.  The wings were good.  Beth said there's a debate on who is better - Anchor Bar or Duff's.  I was pretty happy with Duff's!

We eventually had to come home, though.  We flew back on April 7 in time for Easter at home with family.  We had a great time in Niagara though.  I'd love to take Emily back up there when she's older and actually do the Maid of the Mist and other fun activities.  Toronto was fun as well.  I'd love to go back and go to a hockey game there!


Now the NHL playoffs are in full swing.  Of course the Caps made it, but they're facing a game 7 vs Boston Wednesday night.  I look forward to it.  But I can't help but be glad that Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Vancouver are out - it's nice to see some of the big powerhouses fall!