Hockey recap of sorts...

I was without internet access for almost 2 weeks, so I wasn't able to post on the Avs games that occurred in that time period. Well, damn it was a pretty good run.

After the Avs beat the flames in a shoot out on the 16th, they lost to the Blackhawks and the Wild on the road before finally getting themselves a road win against the Edmonton Oilers. Nice way for Ryan Smyth to return to Edmonton, I think. it was a great game. They also won in Calgary (in OT) before coming home and beating the Wild on Sunday. So far in the season, the Avs have been perfect at home and have won 2 out of 5 on the road. Not too bad.

I look forward to Thursday night's game. The Avs will be hosting the Penguins, so we'll get to see them take on Crosby and Malkin. I look forward to seeing how they do and I expect it to be an exciting game.

Flames @ Avalanche

Oh but I loved this game. Ok, it didn't start out great, but I have to admit that I wasn't worried. I don't worry until the team is down by 4 with only 5 left in the game -- then I worry. The Flames scored 4 goals between the first period and the first few minutes of the 2nd period. Budaj was pulled and Theodore went in to play the rest of the game. He looked good. He was fast, agile and his recovered from the Flames shots really nicely. The Avs scored 4 goals to tie the game -- some of them were some really bizarre bounces. As one of the announcers pointed out, you usually see one of those odd bounces once in every couple of games. The Avs got 3 in one game. It was weird, but I'm not complaining.

There were no goals in overtime, and it went to a shootout. The first Avs shootout of the season. The Avs won the shootout 2-1.

This was just the thing for Theodore, I think. He got to go in and save the game for the Avs. It was so great. So the final score was 5-4 Avs in the shoot out.

Son of a Witch

So I just read Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire. Good book. Not quite as good as Wicked, but up there with Confessions of an Ugly Step Sister (which I really enjoyed although not as much as Wicked). The story centers around Elphaba's son, Liir and tells the story of his growing up and what happens to him after the Wizard and Dorothy have left Oz. It was really good, very entertaining. A little formulaic in some parts, but overall really quite good. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Smoothie, anyone?

I'm not sure I know anyone who doesn't like smoothies of some kind or another. There are so many varieties out there. My introduction to them was at a Jamba Juice on vacation in California 10 years ago. I made some in a cooking/home ec class in high school one day, which was fun. I made enough that I had a tray I was passing out to friends as I passed them en route to the next class. I tried getting Gage to drink a smoothie I came up with a few weeks ago as a way to get more protein and calcium into his diet. He didn't like it, but I loved it. It consisted of:

1/4 c. smooth tofu
1/4 c. milk
1/2 c. low fat vanilla yogurt
1 c. frozen strawberries slightly defrosted
1 tsp. sugar

Just pop it into the blender and puree until smooth. Man is it good. I might try it with blueberries and other fruits when I have the money.

Another thing I do every now and then (just for me), but isn't so much a smoothie is 1 cup of frozen strawberries (again partially defrosted), 1 cup of lemon lime soda and a teaspoon of sugar. Since the strawberries I get aren't sweetened before freezing the sugar adds a little sweetness. Anyhoo, I put that in the blender and puree. Some of the carbonation from the soda gets fizzed out, but there's still a little. If I want more carbonation I start with half the soda and puree the strawberries, then add the rest of the soda and pulse it a few times.

Blue Jackets @ Avalanche

Ok, this game was much better than yesterday's game. Not just because the Avs won 5-1, but because the Avs were really solid and played a great game at both ends of the ice. Sakic got himself a hattrick tonight, which makes 2 hattricks for the Avs in 5 games. I can certainly live with that. The defense was good and solid tonight, the forwards were really on their game. I must admit that it wasn't until an announcer mentioned Sergei Federov taking a faceoff for Columbus in the 2nd period... I completely forgot Federov was playing with the Blue Jackets. That can't be good. Federov is such a notable player usually... he was damn quiet tonight. And I love watching Footer play, even though he's not an Av anymore.

I was really impressed with the Avs scoring and defensive play tonight. Budaj was really on and he played a fantastic game. Special teams were solid. Here's hoping the Avs play like that through the season.

Avalanche @ Blues

Oh but that was sad. Ok, not entirely sad. Legace has always played well against the Avs. And it was kind of nice to see Dan Hinote score 2 goals -- he's always been a favorite player (and a former Avalanche player).

However... First off, I think that Theodore should have been started tomorrow against the Blue Jackets, not tonight against the Blues. No doubt Budaj will get tomorrow's start. But he didn't start badly. Even that first goal he let in wasn't bad. He'd just made 2 saves, lost his balance and couldn't recover in time to stop that third shot. I'd like to know why Hannan was behind the net instead of in front of it when that happened, to be honest. I think he had good positioning in the game and good energy. Not as spectacular as I want him to be, or as I KNOW he can be, but still good, solid.

The Avs lost, but I don't think they played poorly until the 3rd period. Even then it didn't seem like they gave up. Again, Legace plays well against the Avs. He stood on his head and got the win for the Blues, that's all there is to it.

So the blues won the game 4-1, and Paul Stastny added another goal to his scoresheet for the season.

It was a good game though, I really enjoyed watching. Even if the Avs didn't win.

Sharks @ Avalanche

Tonight's game was awesome. The San Jose Sharks came to the Pepsi Center and KAZAM, the Colorado Avalanche opened up a can of whoop-ass. Joe Sakic scored the first goal of the game, which tied him with Phil Esposito (at 8th) for all-tie points. The Avs scored 2 in the first and 4 in the 3rd, including a shorty by Ryan Smyth -- DAMN I think I'm going to like having him on my team this year. There were also goals for the Avs from Hejduk, Svatos and Stastny (who got a point on 5 of the 6 goals scored). Sakic got a point on the Hejduk goal, which moved him 1 past Esposito on the points list, which was even nicer.

The Avs really bounced back from their loss to the Preds earlier this week. Budaj looked solid, so did the defense. The goals scored were beautiful. Not necessarily "pretty" goals. Some were those good gritty goals that I love. And in the end, the Avs won 6-2

It was such a great game to watch. Exciting and fast paced. San Jose didn't really quit, even when the Avs blew things open. Of course, as as long as there's time on the clock, there's a chance to score another goal.

Avalanche @ Predators

*sigh*

First of all, I had to listen to the game instead of watching it. Which is fun and interesting in its own right, but I really have no idea if the Avs played really well and just couldn't solve Mason or if they were phoning it in. I can say that the Preds picking up 4 goals to the Avs goose egg was disappointing. I'm not sure why Quenneville opted to use the same goaltender in back to back games. Usually that only happens when the goalie in question is on a hot steak, and with only one game under their belts before tonight there was no hot streak -- goalie or otherwise.

On the radio, they discussed some of the line combinations and defensive pairings. I'm very curious as to why the Skrastins/Clark pairing was split up. They were one of the best pairs in the league last year for shutting down the oppositions biggest lines, hell I remember even the Versus and NBC announcers commenting on it. Don't get me wrong, I love Liles, and he and Skrastins make a fine defensive pairing, but... if it ain't broke, why the hell are you fixing it?

So the Avs win their first game 4-3 and lose their second 4-0, let us hope that this isn't a preview of the season to come.

Stars @ Avalanche

Today was the season opener for the Colorado Avalanche. It rocked. I missed the first 7 minutes because the Ducks and Wings went to a shoot out which overlapped the Avs game. The Avs hosted the Stars and it was just wonderful. I saw some good stuff in this game, I'm liking Hlinka (who is new to the NHL). I also really liked seeing the way Hannan and Smythe played for the team. Paul Stastny got his first career hat trick. The radio announcers after the game kept calling it a natural hat trick, but the last time I checked a natural hat trick was 3 goals scored in succession without any other goals scored in between. Well, Dallas scored a goal before his 3rd goal. So it's not a natural hat trick. It IS a hat trick though, and that was beautiful to see. His first was an absolutely beautiful shot that went right under Turco's right arm. It was a gorgeous first goal of the season for the Avs. Wolski also scored a goal for the Avs, and it was just so pretty.

I love that people keep talking about this "sophomore slump" that seems to happen in the NHL from time to time. I'm not going to say that it's not going to happen, but I'd say that Stastny and Wolski have taken some early steps to prevent it.

It was a little disappointing that the Avs gave up a 4-1 lead by allowing 2 goals in the 3rd period. But it WAS Dallas they were playing, who have a nasty habit of doing that. The Avs gave up a couple of power play goals, which was disappointing. That was an issue last season (giving up power play goals). I'm hoping that they get over that this season and fix it.

The final score was 4-3 Avs, and it was apparently Quenneville's first ever win in the season opener.