Pre-Season Means Pre-Excitement

The NHL pre-season starts tonight and for most people, this is the start of the season and everyone is so excited. It's interesting enough for TSN to broadcast the Senators and Maple Leafs game tonight. It seems like it's all coming together, even though we all know Pierre McGuire needs that extra practice being loud, annoying, and awkwardly close to players and his fellow commentators.

Maybe it's because I'm cynical, maybe it's because I'm so into the ACTUAL season, maybe I'm not as big of a hockey fan as I thought I was; but I can't get up for pre-season. Nothing about the pre-season gets me all hot and bothered and ready for the season to begin. Even in the off-season, I never had a hockey withdraw or wanting October to show up quicker than the Earth can spin.

While I get people wanting hockey to start and all of that, I just don't get how people are getting antsy over the pre-season and training camps and all of that. I'm glad to see people go out to training camps and getting some information out there and supporting their team, but there's something that makes me not get too excited to see fringe players battle it out for a roster spot or their location on the AHL depth charts.

If nothing else, you have to appreciate the spirit of the fans who actually care enough to go out there to the rinks, even for rookie camps (guilty, but with reason). However, it seems that the pure volume of updates from everywhere is what drags down my spirit and what drags down my excitement for hockey to actually come back. I'll be glad when it comes back for real, but it's a matter of patience for it to come back. No amount of intrasquad games, rookie games, and fringe games will ever get me as excited as the real thing.

It's probably just me, mostly because I am a cynical fellow and I probably will drag myself to the Saddledome to see some camp activity, but I still won't be all in for the excitement level as some people, which is fine for them. For me, there's times I need a breakaway from hockey and into some other interests. God love you if you are hyped up for it all, because it's that kind of passion that could leech onto others who don't have it. Yet, be careful because it could be the same passion you have that become a bit overwhelming for some and drives them away.

While the "IsItOctoberYet" hashtag on Twitter is annoying in July, it's a bit more fitting now. It's close and you can almost taste it and it does create anxiousness for the season-- but mostly because it's time to cut through all the crap and actually get down to it. It seems this summer has been the longest off-season on record, but for some-- it's good. I'm ready for the regular season to start so the off-season silliness is over with.

Glen Burnie HC: Looking For That One Spot More

(As many of you know, Glen Burnie HC is my longstanding fantasy team. Also, as many of you know, I love making up fictional pieces because I feel it's much better than most parts of my reality, as well as allowing me freedom to let my mind wonder and go with it. If I only could kick this ADHD, I'd be more accomplished. Also, I have a minor-league team in most other leagues under the Aston HC banner-- but they stink so I don't talk about them. Anyway-- these will be going up throughout the fantasy hockey season of the FOHSHL, so enjoy.....or not.)

Walking through the concourse and up the stairs in the Mello Yello Center, Glen Burnie HC General Manager and Head Coach Scott Wasilewski stopped and turned to look at the ice surface and wondering what could have been. They had come a long way in last years FOHSHL and almost got to their goal, but sadly couldn't add to their championship banners.

As the last seeded team in the playoffs, many thought that the team affectionedly called "The Troubled Bunch" wouldn't last a week in the playoffs, but they soldiered on. With nothing to lose, Glen Burnie HC went all out and got out of the first round, taking out the third ranked RedWhitenRed 7-5, which put them against the 2nd ranked team in LizardInsid'er, a daunting task, but GBHC took them in the regular season. The Bunch was on and they took out the LizardInsid'er easily 7-3. However, that's where the luck ran out, as the Jesmond Jesters took out Glen Burnie HC 7-4; winning the Hirsch Division and ending the run for the upstart GBHC.

"There's a lot of to take from the season," Wasilewski stated while sitting in the upper deck of the empty arena. "A lot more good than bad, of course. I think that there's plenty we could improve upon in terms of who's on our roster-- which, of course, is my duty on this team; build up and guide this team through personnel changes. We'll just have to see what's out there this year, right?? That's all you can do."

As the division forms ups, Glen Burnie HC will have to face some new foes and foes they've known for a long time. While the mix of new and old are a solid thing for most leagues, the fact everyone has to start from scratch is something where it doesn't matter who you're facing because it's a new, fresh start to the season.

"I think that's the beauty of it all," mentioned Wasilewski, "It's something where you could have the worst team ever one year, but win the whole thing next season. It's fantastic and really adds a good parity dynamic to the entire thing. I love it."

Whether or not this season will yield another banner to the rafters of the Mello Yello Center, but it's going to be about consistency all season. While one bad week can't sink you for the season, a losing streak at the wrong time, or not being able to gather up enough points in a win, could be the one thing that pushes you out of a playoff position.

"It's a fine line, a very fine line, that you have to walk in this game," Wasilewski stated. "It's something that we have to make sure that if we win, it's by a lot or if we lose, it's at least close. We won't go undefeated, but we have to make sure we keep things close if all else fails. We also have to worry about the Olympic break as well-- so it should be something to look forward to and take notice....or not, either way."

His light-hearted demeanor off the ice, coupled with his killer instinct demeanor behind the bench and in the office, Wasilewski will be looking for fifth banner in the rafters of the MYC when the 2009-10 season of the FOHSHL closes out in April. If the past is any indication, his chances are better than most would think.

Bubble Hockey Reality

All puck-heads, arcade nerds, and barflys know the joys of the Super Chexx bubble hockey table and the fantasticness the game can bring, as well as the rivalries it creates amongst friends and foes alike. It's great times, for sure.

Yet, in the dog-days of summer, it goes me wondering if the bubble hockey players were real, which NHL player would they most represent in their game. I mean, you have to have drunkenly or stupidly thought about it at one point in time when you're hanging around the bubble with your buddies. Just yelling out random player names each time you score to mock out your own team or your buddy's team. I just confused you more, I'm sure-- but I hope to gather you back into this whole discussion by the end of it. Hopefully they'll all be positionally correct, but you'll have some that's a little out of place positionally, but personality wise (as much as you can be with inanimate objects) they should be dead on.

Right Wing: The right wing is a unique player. You see, the right wing is the player with the longest stick (wocka) out on the rink. For some reason, he was given the luxury of having the long stick so he could play keep-away in his own end from the defender and be one of the only players to really be able to go into the other zone and steal the puck away from the opposing team. For that, Martin St. Louis is the guy to represent the right winger. It's truthful too, because it's been chronicled for years that the small St. Louis uses an absurdly long twig and always has. Plus, St. Louis is a master at control with the puck and usually likes to dish from the corners, which more of the wingers in the game does.

Center: What an annoying punk-ass this guy is. Let's be honest, the center is the guy people hate playing against, but love to go-to on their side. If the center gets the puck alone, he's got the perfect shot because neither defensemen can get to him and he can just wait all-day and stall the hell out of the goalie, making you insane with anticipation for him to get it over with. That's where the mistake is made and the center just taps it in, making it look easy and making the opposition tear their hair out. Perfect Sean Avery or Tomas Holmstrom (though he's a left winger) type player. They'll just annoy the hell out of you, but they get results at the end of the day. Plus, if you can find a table that's very used, the center can get in there and use his stick to stop the goalie's movement.

Left Wing: I'd say that this guy is the precision guy. He has the ability to be a sneaky scorer and do it time and time again. He's got the average stick-length, unlike the right winger, and can get around to snap one from the hash marks and below at an angle the goalie can't cover up to. It reminds you of that of the Russian snipers like Alex Ovechkin or Ilya Kovalchuk who can score at will and score at angles no one thought they could score from. However, unlike the right winger who would have an awkward time passing the puck with the long stick, the left wing can stop midway down the boards and make a solid centering pass for the center like Slava Kozlov, Ray Whitney, or Daniel Sedin to make that play. Very versatile player.

Defense: Now, unlike the NHL where defensemen are stepping up like it's going out of style, the bubble style of hockey only allows the defense to go to the red line. This way, they have to be responsible in their own zone. That said, if you have a defenseman who likes to step-up, they can score wildly from the red line, which is really a motto I've lived by when playing. With that in mind, you can liken it to a sort of Zdeno Chara or Nicklas Lidstrom player who is great in his own zone and pitch-in offensively. For the more reserved type, they can be compared to that of Mike Mottau, Rob Scuderi, or Willie Mitchell, cutting off the centering pass and getting it out of the zone. Just hope they don't end up like Scott Hannan, Derian Hatcher, or Brendan Witt player who gets scored on at will and blown by like they were standing still.

Goalie: The style of goalie is not that of the Super Chexx game, as it was when it first debuted. Nowadays, the goalies are always out cutting down the angles, playing the puck, not being tethered to their net (though some of them should), so there's not many guys you can compare the goalies in the game to. Maybe someone like Evgeni Nabokov, who plays a bit more of a stand-up game and doesn't wander as much as some others could do. In the past, you could compare the goalie to Sean Burke or Kirk McLean style that stood there and absorbed pucks.

The Fans: The bubble hockey game was unique in terms of the fact that not only did you have the crowd around you from the people at the bar or your clique there to cheer you on, but you had a magical button in which you have a virtual crowd booing at will. That's right, the always fantastic "Boo Button" is one of the greatest things to come out of the bubble hockey game since the pop-up face-off. With the boos, it makes me think of the fans in specificially Montreal, Toronto, Philadelphia or New York to boo all over the player-- the opposing players, their own players, Santa-- anyone out there and that's what you do when you drink-- hit the boo button regardless.

So, that's what's up. The summer delirium continues, awaiting for hockey to begin, thinking about bubble hockey player personas.