Practicing With The Avalanche!

My name is Ryan. I am 9 years old and I love hockey.

Today I had a practice with two of the most famous Colorado Avalanche players at their practice facility in Denver.  Paul Stastny and John-Michael Liles helped the coaches from my team with our drills.  It was a great experience skating with two National Hockey League players.  They were really supportive of all of us. Even though we were a lot younger, they still supported us like they would their teammates. 

Here is a picture of me and John-Michael:

And here's a picture of me getting an autograph from Paul:

We did scrimmages and skating drills.  My favorite was the scrimmage when both Paul and John-Michael helped.  Here's a picture of me skating backwards on defense...maybe someday I'll play defence in the NHL just like John-Michael!

I would like to thank my Dad for all the support for bringing me to all of these early morning practices instead of sleeping in!  I also want to thank my Uncle Chris and Aunt Kathleen for taking us to the Avalance game last week. 

Talk to you next time here in the Neutral Zone!

Ryan

Wayne Primeau!

My name is Ryan. I am 9 years old and I love hockey.

I received a package on Friday from a friend of my Mom's who lives in Canada.  She is the cousin of the Primeau brothers, Keith and Wayne.  In the package was a signed picture from Wayne Primeau to me!  It's a picture of him as a Toronto Maple Leaf last year.  This is awesome!  I've already framed it and it is sitting on my desk so I can see it every night when I do my homework. 

Thanks Sherri for sending that to me!

Wayne is a great player and I really hope he gets signed for this coming season.  Actually, I'd like to see him re-sign with the Leafs again!  Hey Wayne!  There's a package coming for you!  I'll send you one of my player cards!  My hockey season is about to start up again...and hopefully so is yours!

Talk to you next time here in the Neutral Zone!


Ryan

Bobby Baun!!

My name is Ryan. Until Sunday, I am 8 years old and I love hockey.  Actually, I'll still love hockey after Sunday...but then I'll be 9.

I got an amazing surprise in the mail a couple of days ago.  First I have to explain something...

My Dad's uncle (my Great Uncle) Bill is cousins with Bobby Baun.  My Aunt Betty was talking to him one day and told him what a huge hockey fan I am and how much of a Leafs fan I am.

In case you don't know, Bobby Baun is one of the greatest Maple Leafs ever.  He played for the Leafs for 11 years, winning the Stanley Cup four times including 1964, when he played two games with a broken ankle.  It's an amazing story...if you're not a Leafs fan and don't know it already, you can read all about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Baun#Playing_career

Here's a picture of him as well...

Anyways, a couple of days ago I got a package in the mail addressed to me.  I don't usually get any mail, but my birthday is coming up so it didn't seem too strange.  I opened it up and discovered a whole bunch of stuff for me from Mr. Baun!!

This is a picture of me with all this amazing stuff:

In the package was a signed copy of his book, "Lowering The Boom...The Bobby Baun Story", nine autographed player cards and a signed picture of him with the Stanley Cup.  Wow...I was in awe. 

Mr. Baun, if you happen to be reading this...THANK YOU VERY MUCH.  I am putting together a package of some of my hockey stuff to return the favour and will be mailing it shortly.  You inspire me to follow my dream of one day playing in the NHL. 

Talk to you next time here in the Neutral Zone...when I'll be 9 years old!!

Ryan

Stanley Cup Finals

My name is Ryan. I am 8 years old and I love hockey.

I can't wait to see Chicago face off against Philadelphia in the Stanley Cup finals.  I'm going for Chicago because they creamed San Jose 4-0.  I was surprised that the Sharks didn't even win a game!

I like Chicago's chances because of their young guns Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.  Defensively, I like their chances because Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith are both great players too. 

Philadelphia did a great job beating Montreal.  I was kinda disappointed that the Canadiens didn't beat the Flyers (even if I am a Leafs fan!!).  They beat the really hard teams Washington and Pittsburgh, but then lost to the easier team the Flyers.  I'll go back to hating them next season once the Leafs are back in. 

Talk to you next time here in the Neutral Zone!

Ryan

Stanley Cup Playoffs

My name is Ryan. I am 8 years old and I love hockey.

There's a couple of weeks left in the regular season, so let's look at the teams who haven't clinched a playoff spot yet...

The teams that are on the bubble right now are Montreal in the East and Colorado in the West.  I don't think that Atlanta's got what it takes to bump off Montreal even though they're only 2 points back.  Without Illya Kovalchuk anymore I'm not sure they can do it.  The Thrashers recently called up Chris Chelios from the minors, but I don't think he'll make a big difference since he's the oldest player in the league (48 years of age).   I think that the Rangers have a better chance with the offensive guns of Marian Gabrik and Sean Avery. 

In the West, look out for Calgary, Colorado!!  They're only four points behind the Avs.  I'd like to see Colorado make it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals (since the Leafs have been eliminated).  C'mon Adam Foote...you can do it!  You're a good Toronto boy!

If the Avs can't make it to the finals I'd like to see a Vancouver/Pittsburgh final. 

Talk to you next time here in the Neutral Zone!

Ryan

GO LEAFS GO!

My name is Ryan. I am 8 years old and I love hockey.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have won six out of their last seven games.  The only game they lost was against the New York Islanders.  They have beaten Montreal, New Jersey, Ottawa, Edmonton, Tampa Bay and Boston in the last two weeks.  I sure do wish they had been playing this well all season long!

I hope that most of their players return next season since it looks like they're playing really well together.  We've finally got some great goaltending.  JS Giguere has a 2.90 GAA and his backup, Jonas Gustavsson has almost the same with 2.92 GAA.  That's pretty good.

Phil Kessel leads the team with 28 goals, which is great.  Somebody who I really like is Defenceman Carl Gunnarsson.  He's leading the team in plus/minus with a +11 so far this season.  He's kind of a quiet player but he's doing his part to help the team score goals.

My hockey season is almost over.  I have one game left.  I saved up money for months and finally was able to purchase most of my own goalie equipment.  I'm hoping to be able to play in goal for part of the last game.  My parents say I still need to keep working on my regular player skills, though...so I'm not a full time goalie yet. 

Talk to you next time here in the Neutral Zone!


Ryan

Canada Wins Olympic Gold!

My name is Ryan. I am 8 years old and I love hockey.

I am so excited because the Canadians won 3-2 over the U.S.A. in overtime to win the Gold Medal in Vancouver.  I compliment both goaltenders, Roberto Luongo for Canada and especially Ryan Miller for the U.S.A.  Both of them had a phenomenal game.  Ryan Miller was named the MVP of the tournament.  Roberto Luongo played very well in the game also. 

I congratulate Sidney Crosby for scoring the overtime goal giving Team Canada the Men's Olympic Hockey Gold Medal.  Crosby nudged the puck to Jarome Iginla in the US corner.  Iginla was checked into the boards and passed the puck one-handed out to Crosby who took a quick shot which went through the five hole of Ryan Miller. 

Finland won the Bronze medal over Slovakia yesterday.  Congratulations Finland!

We had to leave as soon as Crosby scored the goal because my brother and I had a hockey tournament to play in this afternoon.  We were pretty pumped up when we got there...I scored a hat trick and also got three assists...including one to my brother who scored his first ever goal. 

We had decorated the whole basement to give luck to Team Canada to get the gold.  I guess it worked!

Talk to you next time here in the Neutral Zone!

Ryan

Canadian Hockey

My name is Ryan. I am 8 years old and I love hockey.

To start us off, I'd like to congratulate the Canadian women's hockey team for winning the Gold Medal in Vancouver.  I hope the men can do the same thing!

The Canadian men have only lost one game, versus the U.S.A.  Roberto Luongo has only let in three goals in these Olympics.  They beat Russia 7-3 last night.  Me and my Dad thought that Malkin and Olvechkin would play better than they did.  Sorry, Uncle Chris...but Olvechkin wasn't very impressive last night! 

I'd like to congratulate Jerome Iginla for being the only player (so far) to score a hat trick in these Olympics. 

I'm looking forward to watching the games tomorrow...USA vs Finland and Canada vs Slovakia.  I'm  hoping that the US beats Finland and Canada beats Slovakia so that Canada can play the US for the Gold Medal.  I hope that Roberto Luongo plays both games for Canada!  He's been on fire!

Talk to you next time here in the Neutral Zone!


Ryan

Team Canada Defencemen

My name is Ryan.  I am 8 years old and I love hockey.

My favorite defenceman for Team Canada is Duncan Keith.  I like him because he's a good player and he plays for the Blackhawks.  He's been doing pretty well this season.  I think that he'll play well with Brent Seabrook since they both play for the Blackhawks.  I'd like to see them be a pair. 

Scott Niedermayer is on defence and is also the Captain for Team Canada.  I'd like to see him playing with Chris Pronger.  I'm really excited about Dan Boyle, who plays for San Jose. 

I am surprised that Brad Richards didn't make Team Canada.  He's having a great year with Tampa Bay. 

I'll write next time about the Forwards on Team Canada. 

Talk to you next time here in the Neutral Zone!

Ryan

Trades

My name is Ryan.  I am 8 years old and I love hockey.

The Leafs traded with the Calgary Flames and the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday.  Stajan, Hagman, White & Mayers went to Calgary for Dion Phaneuf, Fredrik Sjostrom and Keith Aulie.  They also traded Blake and Toskala to Anaheim for J.S. Giguere. 

This is kind of funny.  Giguere used to play for the Flames.  I wonder if they'll make any more trades this season.  I like these trades alot.  Phaneuf is an amazing star defenceman.  I can't wait to see him in a Leafs' jersey.  Both Phaneuf and Giguere made the Hockey Superstars 2008 book, which is a book that I buy every year at my school's Scholastic Book Fair.  I really hope they don't trade Primeau or Kessel! 

I hope these trades help the Leafs make the playoffs! 

Talk to you next time here in the Neutral Zone!
Ryan

Winter Olympics are coming up!

My name is Ryan.  I am 8 years old and I love hockey.

The winter olympics are a couple of weeks away...Vancouver 2010.  I can't wait to see the new Team Canada.  Today I want to talk about the goaltenders...Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo and Marc-Andre Fleury.  I want Roberto Luongo to be the main goaltender because he plays for the Canucks.  He'll be the home town 'favourite'. 

This weekend, I actually got to play goalie at hockey practice for the first time.  Here's a picture:

It was a very fun experience and I actually got a shutout in the scrimmage.  It was hard at first, but I figured out pretty fast how to skate with the big pads on.  I should get a chance to play at least one more time before the end of the season. 

Check back next week here in the Neutral Zone because I'll have a recap of the game this coming weekend...it's at an outdoor rink! 

Talk to you next time here in the Neutral Zone!
Ryan

Yesterday's Game

My name is Ryan.  I am 8 years old and I love hockey. 

Yesterday I played a game against the Woodland Park Huskies.  I scored a hat trick!  Here's what happened...

On my second shift of the game, one of my teammates cleared the puck down the ice.  Their defencemen were down in our end so I took off after the puck.  It bounced off the boards behind the net and came right out in front of the net.  I took a quick shot and put it in the corner of the net.  The goaltender didn't know where the puck was.  My other two goals were in the shootout.  The final score was 2-1 Falcons over the Huskies.  It was actually tied 1-1 for most of the game but one of my teammates scored with only 46 seconds left in the game. 

My Dad Tivo'ed the Penguins/Leafs game for me last night and I'm going to watch it today.  Dad won't tell me what the score was! 

Congratulations to the US on winning the World Junior Hockey Championships last week.  Jordan Eberle scored two goals in the third period to tie the game up 5-5 when it was looking like the US was going to win easily.  John Carlson scored in overtime for the US to give them the 6-5 victory. 

Talk to you next time here in the Neutral Zone!
Ryan

Canada vs. USA

My name is Ryan. I'm 8 years old and I love hockey!


I can't wait until tomorrow night to see the Canada versus USA Gold Medal game.  The US beat Sweden 5-2 last night.  Yesterday afternoon, Canada beat Switzerland 6-1 to also move into the Gold Medal round.  The last time these two teams met, on New Years Eve, Canada won in a shootout 5-4. 
 
The last time these teams met in the final round was in 2004, when the U.S. won to claim their first World Junior Hockey championship.  Canada has won the last five World Junior Hockey Championships and I'd love to see them win a sixth!
 
On another subject, the Maple Leafs' Wayne Primeau was injured on Saturday night in a bad 3-1 loss to the Calgary Flames.  I have a funny connection to Wayne...he is the cousin of my parents' friend Sherri.  Sherri's husband, Lou, used to coach for the Brampton Batallion.  Have you heard of Jason Spezza?  Lou coached him with Brampton.  My mom got an autograph from Jason Spezza years ago when he was with Brampton and she sang the National Anthems at a game.  I'll write more about this later.

Talk to you next time here in the Neutral Zone!
Ryan

World Junior Hockey Championships

My name is Ryan. I'm 8 years old and I love hockey!


Yay Canada!!  By beating Switzerland this afternoon Team Canada will be playing in the Gold Medal game at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. 
 
In case you're wondering why I always seem to be rooting for Canada (like my favorites, the Maple Leafs!!!), I was born just outside of Toronto but moved to Colorado when I was 1. 
 
My parents won't let me stay up to watch the US/Sweden game tonight (boo Mom & Dad!!).  Just in case you're wondering, I'm going for the U.S.!!  The winner of that game will take on Canada for the Gold medal. 
 
I'm also really looking forward to seeing Steve Yzerman's Team Canada play in the Vancouver Olympics.  I hope they win Gold too!!  But there are lots of good teams out there for them to beat!
 
Talk to you next time here in the Neutral Zone!
Ryan

2010 Winter Classic

My name is Ryan.  I'm 8 years old and I love hockey!


Yesterday I watched the Winter Classic...Philadelphia at Boston played in Fenway Park.  The game was great.  Tim Thomas made some amazing saves for Boston.  At the other end Michael Leighton had a shutout until almost the end of the third period.  At the 17:42 mark, Boston's Mark Recchi scored to tie it 1-1 for Boston.  Then they went to overtime. 

Philadelphia's Daniel Briere had a great chance but he fanned on the shot.  Finally, right after that, Boston's Marco Sturm deflected a shot by Patrice Bergeron to win the game. 

After the game they announced the U.S. Olympic hockey team.  Tim Thomas, the goalie for Boston, made the team.  Two of my favorite players for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Phil Kessel and Mike Komisarek, were also both named to the team.  The Leafs President & General Manager, Brian Burke, is the General Manager for Team USA.  Great to see lots of my Leafs represented on Team USA!!

Talk to you next time here in the Neutral Zone!
Ryan