15 posts tagged “jussi markkanen”
But I would like to use this post to formally say that I'm taking a step away from this damned addictive vox and its amazing image upload capabilities for a while. You see, obviously nobody had mentioned to the VCAA that hockey was on and unfortunately time has passed so quickly that I totally forgot about the important exams. Alas, they would not answer my pleas - the bastards only replying with a stiff and surly no. So I took it higher, and my mum was unfortunately the same and said no.
So you see kids, with only 2 weeks left to study for my final exams, I am officially screwed. This is a life changing exam. This should be the exam of my future. I am scared shitless but no improvement has been made to rectify the situation. So in an effort to save what may be my future (I actually only want to score average but what the heck), I am making this my only post for the week and possibly next week's. I'll comment regularly and maybe post once or twice on the hlog. Hopefully I'll get into that mediocre law course and everything will be peachy (You can't make me do finance! I refuse!)
However I'd like to take this moment to acknowledge the wondrous support from many guys. I don't know half of you guys that much, but I definitely feel that I have a lot more confidence thanks to positive feedback. I'm not sure if it's a good thing after all. But when I started this blog, I posted for myself. Heck, my first post was about playoff beards and how cute they were! "I am what they term an "Oilers" bandwaggoner". Oh so true. I've still got my foot on but I'm afraid I've split the other foot into little sections called "People named Earl" and "hot Finnish kids". Oh my god, this was the best doodle I did in a maths test ever too - "Sammy is love" indeed. And I used to sell Jussi a whole lot a couple of months ago. And it all feels like a fond memory all of a sudden.
Then came Hockeygirl who was completely sweet, seriously you made me feel so smart and wanted. There was the Hot-Oil girls, and Sherry who gave some further positive feedback. And it all got into my head and I said "yeah, I rock. Go me."
I find my blog a little problematic at times, it uses a blogging system that only allows registered comments whose members are only invited via email or other members. It does not allow further customisation, ruining chances for link exchanges or some sort of closely knit sisterhood rah-rah. It is also poorly written. I mean how the hell can a girl in Australia know anything about hockey? I really don't know what to say with that one. I'm no expert on the sport, the teams and definitely not the historic figures/events that happened before I was born. I guess I write on this instinct to write, I feel that I really need to tell someone, even if it is an empty space of the blogniverse. And I even fretted a bit, telling myself "What if people hate me? What if I'm not wanted?". I was forever waiting for an email that told me that I brought shame to all female hockey fans. I am still fresh, but I really like what's going right now. I can't explain, rather it's like a documentation of this whole transformation of a "look they're fighting!" message into a goddamned obsession. I don't know sometimes, it's my way of reaching out and hopefully not going crazy and kind of homicidal.
Recently I got a nice message from Canucks Hockey Blog, a simplistic one of encouragement. But it wowed me. I mean I'm overjoyed that I am somehow not trashy but as well providing some weird zany international flavour to the game. Hey, hockey worked for Phoenix, it works for deserts. This is where I sit down and tell myself "Go me!"
So to sum it up, thanks guys you're all awesome. However if you still feel that my blog is worth getting your petticoats in a twist, feel free to drop me a line. I always appreciate a good read now and then.
Abby's up next against the Philly Flyers, people are already taking shots at Forsberg - all part of the game. And they give the old "rivalry? what rivalry?" treatment with the goalies. And Latendresse is the first ever NHL player to wear 84. Weird, was 99 already taken? Apparently Lats likes to spend his time chatting on MSN instead of training like he should. Uh, can I... nevermind. Other fun facts include Kovalev's newfound passion for bowling, and new kid Janne Niinimaa's wife is Janna. Fancy that.
For today/tomorrow's game, the lineup's pretty much the same. Hoping Sammy will finally do something other than hooking. The PP hopefully will have a field day with this game. The main problems is probably Koivu's still-crazy eye. Despite his amazing performance he's having troubles with the lenses, they're a tad too uncomfortable for him. Plus laser surgery, what if an earthquake happens at the same time?
Sammy obviously likes to point out the obvious:
But is it the cause of the problems? I stand by my word and scream no."Maybe we are holding on to the puck too long," Samsonov said.
"Maybe we have to be a little more selfish and start going to the net more, and looking for the shot."
Koivu was also on the CBC show, The Hour with George Stompywombysomethinglong. Gosh why can't he just pick up a stage name? Apparently Koivu, full of his wondrous witticisms, believes that the Winnipeg Jets will win a Stanley before Vancouver lays their hands on one.
Colbert gloats in his newfound passion for the OHL, encouraging people to complain to the New York Times for OHL news. He as well likes to make baseball parallels and uh claims he loves hockey very muchly. Someone name a damn mascot after him in the NHL so we can get some real work done. Fighting!
But more importantly - Toskala! First Star! Toskala! That's my Finnish stud! I know Kipper tried his darndest but dang. And apparently he did some amazing save in the second period too. Not to mention he's fairly modest:
Sure it sounds like regular run of the mill banter, but read it again with a Finnish accent and your heart will melt. And speaking of Finnish goaltenders, Markkanen is on his final year. Will they sign him for more? Won't they? Will they suddenly trade him for Conklin back? (if that happens then I completely lose faith in the Oiler organisation and will absolutely scream the place down). Knowing how much people don't care about backups (unless you're a full on stud like Mclennan), he'll probably be swindled into a cheap deal. But Moreau got his wish - why not Jussi? Even if he did lose his first round of the Hot off to some nasty Italian kid whose pucks go up his pants (he just uses it as an excuse to put his hands in there).``Oh, is it?'' Toskala said when asked about topping Kiprusoff after losing their only previous encounter. ``No, it's nothing special. It's two points for the team. That's what matters. I just try to be ready every time I play. That's all I can control.''
"Every time I get in there, my goal is to relax, enjoy it, and give my team a chance to win. That's all I can control," said Toskala, who has reeled off a franchise-record nine straight victories dating back to last year.
Unless, Roloson - our goalie rights activist - lends Markkanen some tips and maybe he might be getting some extra dollars. Either that or Lowe gets mad and trades him away for being a bad goalie. "Bad Goalie! No Oilers for you!" (It'd be his nightmare. This guy loves the Oilers with absolute loyalty - not like you know... People who don't like Oilers.) But imagine him playing for... Nashville. It'd be as terrible to watch him in another team's silks like Laraque (The blue flatters him!)
Before I leave, a little heartwarming story about the Rangers and how nice they are to little kids. Seriously, when strangers ask you to get onto their bus, do not accept!
(not to be confused with Schremp - the not-as-flash Hockey Jesus)
New Season eh!? Lots of fun! People losing (Suck on it Canes! And on a lesser note, suck on it Leafs!) and people having fun. Not to mention I hope Peca will have goaless seasons and as per Hockeygirl's wishes - he will have his teeth punched into shape.
Phaneuf tries to be all cool about being single. I know how he goes "I'm not sure if I'm searching or not..." but doesn't that seem to say... something? Or is it a shout out to any Edmonton girls "Hey I may play from the team of doom but you know baby Edmonton was my only love." And the funny thing is, if he used an equally lame pickup line on me I'd get jitters and ask him to strum a guitar tune on Hannukah (sure Redden did it better).
But the freaking Habs aren't starting till Friday. That's my Saturday (morning)! Though I am optomistic, really. I mean think of it this way: Saku Koivu - battled cancer and more recently a freaky eye gouging incident by the Canes (While Williams was leaving a phone message, all Habs fans were calling for you to give them back their cap'n!). Is there anything this guy can't live through? He should be charging through war torn areas and lead armies to victory!
Back in reality, tommorow is the opening game for the Oil & Sharks. You know what that means? Almost half of my "Not-Suck" roster are playing! Horcoff is going to go out and make me some money. And god knows if Mclaren is going to do anything. But hey Toskers is getting his first opening night shot, and boy I hope you rock (if you lose your fiancee is going to dump you). I know, Cheechoo (I like Earls! But not as much as Edgars) would have been a better winger but I stand by Lupul's dreamy eyes (and his uber cute high five with that little Flames kid). And what happened to Markkanen? Oh yeah he's going to probably spend a lot of time with his meagre under 1 mil salary (my friend suggested that Markkanen could auction off letting in soft goals - "I'll let you have this goal if I get your house for the summer!"). This guy will only be immortalized in badly written slash and Oiler fans ruthlessly telling him "YOU'RE NOT ROLOSON SO YOU AIN'T COOL".
I hope season action will get this hlog going, not to mention I suck in promotion. I knew early on in my life that shameless plugging wasn't my thang.
Lastly, on a non-hockey note. Little Miss Sunshine! Was a barrel of laughs. I always kinda liked Greg Kinnear, have a soft spot for Carrell and had high hopes. Thankfully the movie did not disappoint. The end is just the best movie ending ever. Not to mention the dopey, almost half-stoned looking son is named "Dwayne". Hah!
I don't want to be tactful. And let us not be ugly here. But who freaking cares? Our rookies beat your Iginla & Phaneuf! We are great! Horcoff is great! I love you Juice! And I wasn't here for the game but I heard you made stellar saves. And it's now a 4 game winning streak! Actually the last games don't really count and this one isn't that important. And some teams that win their preseason games get their asses handed to them in regular season. So should this be taken as a good thing or a bad thing? But it's a BoA game so of course there's going to be a fuss. And Kipper did sit out halfway so you can't really say you won the whole thing.
Relax guys, just preseason - is something I'm pretty fond of. It helps make the wins of every team you hate invalid. And while your team is winning, you can still pick out the things you hate. Though I must add that there is nothing much in my Oilers that I hate.
Nonetheless Stortini & Roy got themselves in a fight at different times of the game. Are they trying to get on that scoresheet? But they had the balls to try it. Kudos to them.
The Juice stopped 22 of the 25 shots the first three that went through happened in the first period. So in the breakdown, there were 10 shots on him in the first period where he missed three of them. And Calgary gave 9, 6 & 4 shots in the second, third & OT periods. It's not very good numbers for now. But behind a craptacular lineup it's awesome.
Oh and Horcoff winning the game? Sweet. I never really liked this guy at the start. I thought he was a pretty good player but I only liked him the same way I liked Smyth. They loved their team, did amazing things. But does Horcoff sound like a fun conversational partner? Not really. But then I heard about his adorable two coloured eyes, and him liking the green one better. It's the same way I like Samsonov over random things. Is this my love blossoming? ... Yeah-maybe-but-I'm-not-too-sure.
It's strange how I squeal and fawn over an Oilers win and Jussi actually delivering. You could've sworn I was watching some sort of shirtless hockey player show. The Juice deserves to start the next game just for the hell of it (and maybe to give Roli some space) and I hope we win again! Though I find it totally unfair that Iginla, Lombardi & Therosen got the stars.
Now it's back to picking out which creepy mugshot I find funnier. Next time? The Habs versus the Leafs! Samsonov is 99% definitely in the lineup. Hope he wins this time round. Seriously, he should stay as a first liner. STAY AS A FIRST LINER
And lastly, speaking of injuries, Chara's fine and ready for more of Sheldon Souray rockets (not a sexual metaphor but may be used as one) and er... Malkin got a star treatment.
Is this the face of a 22 year old boy in the peak of his career, living the happiest years of his life? Is he the wonderkid of Edmonton with the "baby cute" cheeks while he whizzes around like some great Czech dude amazingness? Despite his new contract, he had no time to get some new teeth. Either that or all those high school bullies turned up at his home and mugged him for lunch money. And call me a creep but part of me wants to scoop him up and rock him to and fro. Course he's probably taller than me and we'll take a while trying it out.
Hey, if success in the Oilers franchise is meant to curse you with creepy mugshots, Horcoff confirms it all.
But it's not all that bad, some goalies learnt from their past mistakes and cleaned up. The SQUEE-factor on Jussi's colgate winning smile is off the charts. If I had twenty seconds with the Juice and I'll never see him again, the first and possibly only question will be about the teeth. How does he keep them so beautiful? Of course afterwards I will cover his head with a cloth bag and abduct him to my summer home.
I'm crushed that Jussi didn't make the hot off though. It's the apocalypse. Finnish men deserve a fair go and I blame lydia who forced a last minute tiebreaker. I will continue to act gallantly in the Oilers fan tradition and boo her whenever she votes.
Roloson tries on his bedroom eyes for a change and still makes me swoon. Seriously, it could be worse. The camera has ultimately deducted 10 years from his skin. Or his wife lent him some new skincare products. Either way, Jussi will have to make room in that closet in my summer home.
Worthy notables include my darling Steve-o whose antics as a hockey player may have left him a little balding, however he's still ruggedly handsome in a distressed house-husband kind of way. And remember wife-cheating Moreau? He's gotten the 10-years-younger treatment as well. It's funny how months ago I would bitch and moan about how much smaller these guys' heads were in proportion to their body. However it's become a symbol of manliness and they probably have funny stories about bedsheets being a little too short.
Lastly, our captain Canada Smytty just looks... like Smytty. And Pisani emulates Roli from last year and thinks looking stoned is the only way to go.
AND CAN SOMEONE PLEASE GET POULIOT SOME FACE CLEANSER? PLEASE?
And congratulations to hockeygirl, whose blog has become a shining home of refuge for all Dion Phaneuf fangirls and is worth a daily/weekly read so you can boost that counter up.
And a post without images!? Jordi you're losing your touch they'll say.
Uh yeah. This is my all hot team. It was more of random guessing. And even Tanabe was in it but I just suddenly decided all I really felt for him was his role in slashy fiction and me going "awwww." over him. And what are the chances of Colbert holding every single member onto his "On Notice" board!? Okay I joke, it's a generator. I tried to have one from different teams for fun. But it just didn't work since... yeah.
Nonetheless let me give a simple rundown of everything:
Forwards:
Sergei Samsonov: I still think he's sex on skates. However Chloe has been pushing me to choose otherwise. (her words: let gooo...he's OVERRR... it's all about the czechs now!)
Shawn Horcoff: I really like this kid, in the sort of homely way. Besides he might not cheat on his wife (I know I know. Everyone probably does.) But him or Stoll (or as I like to call him, STOLOLOLOLOL)? Horcoff. He's just too hot.
Joffrey Lupul: Lupul can be subbed into Chuck Norris jokes. I think.
D-men
Sexy Stevie Staios: I seem to be amused by the Macedonian Bobby Orr idea. But he's definitely all man. I like his hissy fits. I like him being all Not-Quite-Right looking. At least he's not zit ridden (NOT LOOKING AT ANYONE LUPUL)
Goalies (ooh my favourite part!)
Evgeni Nabokov/Vesa Tapani Toskala (dependant on who gets the starter):
Let me present individual cases, Evgeni who wanted to be called Jon but it never stuck, doesn't like celebrities, additionally says that he hangs out the most with "one of the germans", has a single room to himself, most thankful for his wife and child (awww). He likes Russian music & Nickelback.
And the way he scratches his head in bewilderment is just full of love.From this shark byte segment:
Drew (interviewer): Dave Schapelle or Chris Rock?
Thornton: Chris Rock
Some guy: Chris Rock
Nabokov: ... Wha?
Secondly, Vesa Toskala. His middle name is Tapani and he has the most adorable ears and these cute lips. He likes sushi & fingernails. Vesa, during summer enjoys playing tennis and admires that Kimi Raichonen guy (can't spell, don't care). He's full of cuteness and whatnot. When he got his playoff shutoff against the Oilers, he donated his stick to some fan. That's how full of heart he is. And oh yeah, he's a good friend of every Finnish goalie (random guess) but most of all Kipper (at least this is true).
Markkanen: Oh do I really have to explain!?
That's all for now. I'm gonna get meself all liquored up tomorrow! And as a parting gift, is this the figure of a "stout stocky" man or a man who looks great in glasses and jeans and might have the sexiest teeny tiny tushy under that jersey?
Really I am! I'm so pumped. I want to hear about people doing stuff. I'm sick of dogging the news hoping that something interesting may happen. Or something like that.
Apparently Laraque turned up at training with the Oilers too! With half Oilers gear too!
And I hope Markkanen gets a good gig this year. People are starting to say he smells and his Stanley cup work was a fluke etc. And he's adorable in his self depreciating way: "I was pretty sure the Oilers were going to sign Roli the way he played for us. If not him, then they would go out and get somebody else. I just want to put myself in a position where they want to play me."
Random lurking at the hfboards brought me to this quirky little bit of a charity golf tourney minus one Samsonov.
- The reason of Samsonov's visa problem is that he wanted to come to the tourney and then leave Canada to come back next week. Apparently, visa people don't like the idea. And why he didn't want to be in Montreal for a week before the camp starts, to figure things out and such, I don't know. Samsonov will live in Jose Theodore's old house, also.
Sammy gets Jose's leftovers? Apparently he was in Detroit though he was in Boston beforehand for another charity Golf Tourney. Either he loves charities, golf or is bitter about his past teams.
- Andrei Markov never made it to the golf course. He got lost, and also lost his information card they had given him...in case he got lost. One of his teammates found him in time for the night charity event/meal. I swear I couldn't make him sound any stupider if I tried. This man has serious issues. Maybe it is best for him to just go back to Russia and be home. I wonder if he's illiterate? I don't know, swinging in the dark here, but hey...- Talking about swinging, Alexander Perezhogin had never played golf before, but he sure tried. A natural lefty swing, he got put in a foursome with 3 righties. So he got the idea that he HAD to swing righty. After swinging and missing 7 times (What they said..), he finally touched the ball, which went all of 10 yards. His foursome mates explained him he could play lefty if he wanted. So he switched sides, swung and missed a couple more times and finally hit the ball again for another negligible gain. He finally gave up. But, in the feel good part of the story, Perezhogin spent the remainder of his day helping volunteers working for the Canadiens Foundation For Children, setting up tables, cutting vegetables and making sandwiches. He also helped a poor lost guy find his way to the charity meal after he had missed on the golfing part of the day. CKAC's talking heads praised him. I'll praise him too. Markov would have hidden behind a tree...
Oh canvas how I missed thee. Though I spent one hour painting badly I enjoyed every second. And every art teacher that passed scolded me for stretching the canvas lazily, I knew what canvas I really wanted to stretch. Eh Vesa? Call me.
Nonetheless it seems that most of the things on my "vox" are Markkanen or Samsonov related. After all the "map" shows that the two dominate my thoughts while Dwayne Roloson coughs up a quiet third. (Though I must say I've talked way more about Vesa than Cam Ward).
Which is strange y'see, cause for my birthday (which is the 26th! Mark it bastards!) my sister stormed home (yesterday) with a nintendo ds lite, claimed it was for me and started to open and play it herself. Nonetheless I now own a Nintendog Labrador by the name of "Roli".
It's almost like a small guilty fantasy, naming something Roli while barking ('scuse the pun) orders for him to sit. So far I've only taught him to sit and lie down. And if the real Roli does it as well as my Nintendog Roli, we're going to have a lot of fun.
My next dog shall be named Jussi. And the one after will be Sammy. Jussi's going to be a Corgi whereas I haven't decided on Sammy's breed yet.
Nonetheless some thoughts: In less than a month, there are going to be hockey games (yay!). In less than three months I will have my final exams for high school.
Shit I'm scared.
Isn't he wonderful? I cant explain this funny feeling. I remember clearly saying that I'm a sucker for the Finnish. I've found that although his hair isn't the beautiful golden shine that is Jussi Markkanen, he's got wonderful features like his nose. And dangit, if only he weren't a shark. He has a kickass mask with the Finnish flag on the back. Markkanen has been with the Oilers for quite a while and he's got such a crummy mask. I mean, why is it just a bunch of generic decorations? Roloson totally stole his thunder with that gold cage.
Vesa Toskala didn't want to continue playing when he was in Finland! He wanted to go back to school and get a decent job. And he even gave his stick to a fan in Game 2 against the Oilers, isn't that sweet?
The only thing that sucks is that he's engaged already. ARGH!
Nonetheless what really drew me to him was his awesomeness in the games when they were winning or playing well. I mean a lot of those saves he made was legendary. He played like how Jussi played in Game 7 of the finals, which is pretty much really good. And he deserves to be a starter of sorts. Who cares if he fudged up against Sammy? Sammy was awesome so it should be an exception.
I'm so mesmerised by this goalie, he's so cool and calm. While I should've been going "Oh hey it's Thornton. Look it's Sammy. Shouldn't they like make out?", Toskala just skated up and started playing like no other.
And Jussi was in Tappara,Toskala was part of Iives. It's like a rivalry thing in some sense. Shut up. I don't know.
I bet Toskala sings Finnish songs to his goalposts as well.
Nonetheless I haven't completely fallen for this boy... Just wowed. Markkanen will always stay number one in my heart along with Samsonov. But there's no denying the boy has talent!
God gave me a gift. I google well. My biggest flaw is my failure to use my powers for good. I mean, remember that google game where you had to figure out what entry to put in to get the results they screencapped? Well I sucked at that but it's easy when I want, say... my Finnish man.
This photo was nabbed from a Finnish site I found. He should be a celebrity or something. Though he hasn't played there for a while. I bet in the lockout, Finland was all "c'mere Jussi!" and he was like "hell no! I'm going to play for Russia!". Come Winter Olympics Finland didn't want to reinvite him. That's my fake dream and if I explained it to you, it would have stick figures.
Not to mention I have found a lot of people who are definitely not Jussi.
I had this huge curiousity of what Jussi was like when they sent him over to the New York Rangers for a brief stint as backup. And it was awesome. Okay not many sites document his work in the Rangers. Though a lot of Finnish sites document the weird band member Markkanen.
I finally found this site which had casually dropped some points on Markkanen a little more than just gameplay remarks. Well actually it was more of the enthusiasm that it had with Markkanen that really was more of my style. I like it when people say nice stuff about him. Even when he screws up. How can you say no? He's so... timid. If I were there, I'd be going all batshit and ripping off heads like what Giguere did to Smyth. But then again that's the reason I'm not a goalie y'know.
I'd like to pretend that everyone loved Jussi in the Rangers. After all his smiling face is more than enough. And well apparently Dunham was like the Ty Conklin but worse.
Nonetheless I'd like to be brief since I'm lazy and well... Yeah.
When Jussi was with the Rangers, he left to go watch his second son be born and came back for a shutout. The son, Olli, should have Roli as his godfather for comedy purposes. But dang aint that sweet? Leaving for the sake of his son and coming back to rock the house.
Secondly, he was chums with Barnaby in the training camp. Though I assume it's more of a "getting to know you" phase. But things to note: He's a great skater and a great golfer.
Hello? What's not good about Jussi? He's definitely got more in him. It's just a matter of the situation. I reckon... It's some sort of thing like Roli. People say he gets very riled up. I reckon Jussi has the same thing in him. Like the son's birth to a shutout? And then Roli's leg injury to the Carolina play?
I really want to see something great from Jussi, even if it means him getting... moved. Enough of such thoughts!
And oh yeah this giant like guy is going to the Oilers. Wow! He's like better than the rectangle Swedish man! And with a name like Alexei, you can't lose! But my concern is the defense still. Stop upgrading your wingers man!
