1. 4.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

#Hockeython Saturday! and Other Nuggets

Forgive me, hockey fans, for I have sinned: It's been...(counting on fingers and toes)...several weeks since my last post. I took a little vacation from blogging for the Olympics (slightly off-topic: Does the first "C" in CNBC stand for "Curling"? Should the Games have been called "THE 2010 INTERNATIONAL CURLING TOURNAMENT and other assorted events"?), and non-hockey-related issues have kept me away from the keyboard. At long last, I'm back, and I'm here to stay. Before I get to the primary topic of today's post, I have a couple of nuggets to share:

Remember my Game-Winning Save Theory? Well, the score is now 13-4 in favor of the Theory. For those too lazy to follow the link, what this means is that 17 times this season, I've seen one-goal games in the 3rd period in which the trailing team rang a shot off the post, and that team has lost the game 13 times. Thus, the Game-Winning Save Theory is accurate 76.5% of the time, which is somewhat less than my original prediction of 100%. I guess that's why they call them "theories", rather than "facts". Still, it's good enough to make for at least a minute or two of interesting conversation.

Tonight, Los Angeles is at Chicago, while Vancouver wraps up their "epic 14-game road trip" in Phoenix. Can anyone out there remember the last time either Kings-Blackhawks or Canucks-Coyotes, at this late stage of the season, was considered a compelling matchup? These are strange days, indeed...

And now, the main reason for this post:

I don't know about y'all, but since the Olympic break, I've struggled to get back into the swing of things, NHL-wise. Since foreign languages are best learned through immersion (i.e., surrounding yourself with people who only speak that language), I've come up with an NHL immersion strategy for myself: This Saturday, 13 MARCH, courtesy of the Scheduling Gods, NHL Center Ice, and an understanding-and-supportive-to-a-fault fiancee, I will be watching four games in their entirety, back-to-back-to-back-to-back. The schedule is as follows:

GAME 1: (1:00pm EST) Chicago@Philadelphia
GAME 2: (4:00pm EST) Florida@San Jose
GAME 3: (7:00pm EST) Buffalo@Detroit OR St.Louis@Columbus; Game-time decision
GAME 4: (10:00pm EST) Ottawa@Vancouver

Along the way, I'll be blogging and/or Tweeting (#Hockeython) from Row Couch, Seat 1. Follow along (@OGAs_BigTex) and, in addition to my commentary on the games themselves, you'll learn such factoids as:

What is the optimum time for an in-period bathroom break?
What beer goes best with Florida@San Jose?
While we know that man cannot live on bread alone, what about chips & queso?
...and more!

Feel free to join in this Saturday. Whether you're doing the full #Hockeython, a half-#Hockeython, or just one game, take some time to immerse yourself and re-connect with the 2009-10 NHL season. It's gonna be fun, kids!


Take me back to On Goal Analysis.

2 comments:

Frozen Pill said...

It begins! Well, soon anyways...I shall retweet the tweets when/wherever i find a seat. although rhyming, that was stupid and i appy polly loggyes

Big Tony said...

Ya know that immersion plan you have is a great one. If only everybody could see the beauty in it. And yes I believe CNBC is now the de facto Curling National Broadcasting Company.