Puckblocker

Does any one know why he picks up his water bottle during a break in the action and then sets it down and stares at it for a while?

I have nothing but respect for the Wings organization. I think that they are the NHL's template for how best to build an organization. I'm truly sorry that we won't be playing them much other than a possible Stanley Cup Finals showdown. That would be something to see. Also to their credit, the Wings are still the last team to win back to back Cups. I also miss Nicklas Lidstrom very much. I sit on the glass at the United Center's west end, so I had the best seats in the house to watch Nichim work his magic. I doubt that there will be another like him any time soon. Imagine, in 1989 he was a third round pick (53rd overall) and 16 defensemen were chosen ahead of him!!!

Kane was a good choice but a few Hawks would have been good choices as well. I'm fine with Kane if it was not to be Corey Crawford who, could be argued, was the MVP of the playoffs.

WHY RAISE KANE?

The media and many fans are expressing shock and worry about the “wild” behavior of 23-year-old Chicago Blackhawk, Patrick Kane. Kane had been seen during the off season, carousing in various nightspots, block parties, limos and taxis. How could a renowned athlete in the baleful public eye behave so reckless?

This is unprecedented irresponsibility by a sport professional. Right? I think not.

Did you ever hear of pitcher David Wells? Wells, a fine pitcher, was also famous for his love affair with alcohol and loose women. He once pitched a perfect game while admittedly “half-drunk.” How could the Boston Red Sox have collapsed so horrifically last September? Since then, many stories from the players themselves have surfaced describing the gorging of booze, food and video game playing in the clubhouse.

Then there was Green Bay Packer All-Pro Fuzzy Thurston who bragged that BEFORE the famous Ice-Bowl game, he downed about 10 vodkas to stay warm. It's been publicized that Ben Roethlisberger elevates his game when injured, but his performance while drunk has not been properly evaluated. NBA star Ron Artest once confessed that he drank during the intermission of his games.

Beer loving major league baseball player Steve Bilko, was a pioneer of sorts. Bilko started a tradition of filling a bathtub with ice, beer and hot water, thus inventing the first beer sauna. Bilko sat in the beer “cloud,” continually inhaling multiple servings of “steam delivered” brew and also pouring many others “down the hatch.”

NBA player Ricky Davis is quite an imbiber too. Once while in Graceland the day before one of his best games of his career, he drank 19 bottles of tequila and almost set fire to the Elvis Memorial.

The great Babe Ruth was known for unparalleled pitching, hitting, drinking, smoking, eating and reportedly hired hookers by the bushel. He once ate seventeen hot dogs before a game and proceeded to belt a ball five hundred feet.

Master batting champ, Wade Boggs could also hit the sauce. He reportedly once consumed sixty-four beers on a long airplane flight, and that it was not the first or only time that he “locked lips” with multiple cold ones.

Pro Football Hall of Famer Art Donovan once was quoted as admitting, "We didn’t have steroids. If I wanted to get pumped up, I drank a case of beer.” The legendary golfer John Daily, is rumored to confessing that he consumed a fifth of Jack Daniels every day when he was Patrick Kane’s tender age. It was also reported that he had to be removed from a British Airways plane by security for harassing an attendant while inebriated. The two-time British Open winner has been in various alcohol addiction programs and gone through marriages like bananas...in bunches! He once had his swing coach quit because he thought that J.D’s primary objective was to get sloshed.

Perhaps the greatest athlete-drunk of all time was the professional wrestler Andre Roussimoff. Andre, known in the day as "The Eighth Wonder of the World," was also the first wrestler inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame. But, Roussimoff will mostly remembered more for his astounding drinking feats than his ring performance. Many dubbed him “The Greatest Drunk on Earth” after he swallowed 119 twelve-ounce of beers in just under six hours!! As to not be noted as a one-time fluke, Andre also downed 156 sixteen-ounce beers at one sitting on an episode of Legends of Wrestling. Afterwards he reportedly drank 127 beers in a lounge before collapsing in the hotel lobby.

Athletes do not have an exclusive on excess by any means. The great Winston Churchill was well known for enjoying a “spot” several times a day, leading to his great quote from a confrontation with a woman at a party.

A woman named Mrs. Braddock once called him out saying “You are drunk Sir Winston, you are disgustingly drunk. ‘Yes, Mrs. Braddock, I am drunk. But you, Mrs. Braddock are ugly, and disgustingly fat. But tomorrow morning, I, Winston Churchill will be sober.”

Most of the above noted revelers were well past Patrick Kane’s tender age but with a distinct advantage over the Blackhawk star forward. They performed their legendary carousing before the age of cyber space. That’s right, no hand held devices with which to take photos and video. How many other athletes, celebrities and world leaders would have become “famous” if they were surrounded with IPhone carrying witnesses?

In fact, how many of us could have received some unwelcome notoriety if our adventures as 23-year-olds had gone “viral?”

So the next time you see a photo or video of a hard partying Patrick Kane or any other young athlete, remember this before you express your dismay, disbelief or disgust. As we once did, his actions do not necessarily indicate that he’s out of out of control…rather he’s just acting his age!!

Patrick, when it comes to your detractors, think of this! Someday there might be a statue of you outside the United Center, but be assured that a statue will never be erected for your critics.

NO NHL HOCKEY?

Joe Pavelski fires a heat-seeking missal from the top of the circle to win the game with 3 seconds left. Thomas Vanek dominates the game as though his team has an extra skater every time he’s on the ice. Ty Conklin makes an ESPN highlight worthy glove save to thwart Patrick Sharp. A determined Dave Drewiske catches a careless forward with his head down and, well you know what comes next. Adam Burish goads David Backes into a foolish retaliatory penalty. Johnny Moore blocks a slap shot and goes coast to coast with the loose puck and scores a short hander.

What am I talking about? These are NHL players and there’s a lockout right? You are assuming that it must be a pick up game to keep the players from getting rusty. Perhaps it’s a game being played in Europe. Maybe it’s just a description of the “action” in a Strat-O Matic hockey board game. If you guessed any one of those answers you’d be wrong.

The above action is currently happening in hockey rinks all across the Midwest…. in the United States Hockey League. The USHL is the top level (Tier 1 Junior “A”) of junior hockey in the USA. All of the previous mentioned players along with over 150 others are currently on NHL rosters and many are all-stars. A few are taking their turn this summer, showing off the Stanley Cup for a day.

The USHL you wonder? Yes, a 16-team league featuring the best amateur talent in the USA. Midwestern cities such as Green Bay, Sioux City, Waterloo Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Lincoln, Fargo, Sioux Falls, Muskegon, Indianapolis, Ann Arbor, Kearny, Omaha and did I mention Chicago? Yes, in Bensenville, Illinois (right next to O’Hare International) features the USHL Eastern Division leading Chicago Steel.

USHL players are from ages 16 to 21 years old, and include many players who are already NHL draft picks and a majority who already have committed to playing in the country’s finest college programs. The caliber of play in the USHL is so high, that before the United States Olympic team allowed pros to play, USHL players were often selected to represent their country in the Winter Games.

USHL hockey features swift skating, hard hitting, fisticuffs, spectacular saves, Tic-Tac-Toe passing, courageous shot blocking and break neck speed. The games display bone rattling checks, frantic boards and corners scrums, breathtaking breakaways, pin point sharpshooters, fire wagon end to end rushes, 90 MPH slap shots and the ever present revenge filled rivalries that span decades.

Oops, I almost forgot, all of this excitement costs only 6-8 dollars per ticket and with free parking to boot. What, great hockey for the price of a McDonald’s meal? Are you kidding me, you say? Nope!! In a few short years you will pay at least 50 bucks a seat (or even $25 for standing room), to see some of these very same players.

It’s almost like getting to watch and even hanging around the Wright Brothers while they were still working on their first airplane. Hanging around? Yes, after the games they loiter in the rink lobby to greet their families and friends and wait to board the team bus. These future NHL stars are happy to talk with fans, sign autographs and even are photographed. No “attitude” on display with these young men…just humility, gratitude and (win or lose) enthusiasm, as they soak up the attention and share their joy.

So as you NHL starved hockey fans pine for the action to resume, stop by a hockey arena in nearby city that offers great action. For less than it costs for a beer and a hot dog at any NHL arena, you have the opportunity to watch and interact with some of the best young talent from around the world. Even if you can’t get to the rink, you can watch any game on the Internet via the Fast Hockey network at www.fasthockey.com.

But if you can make it to the game who knows, some future NHL all-star, and possible hall of famer, will not only be happy to talk, autograph anything you’d like and have his picture taken with you…he’ll probably thank you for coming.