Friday, Jan. 19
8:30 a.m.—I'm on a Mexican, woh-oh, radio. Well, actually Ketchum radio, but now you're going to have that song stuck in your head. Thanks to Jamie Ellison, all KECH 95 and KSKI listeners are looking forward to Bruce Springsteen's National Anthem performance at tonight's game against the Beacon Hill Club of New Jersey.
8:45 a.m.—Damn! Forgot to place a bounty on the heads of visiting players Niels Heilmann and Brad Podoloc. The former is one of Chris "Chipsy" Warrington's high school teammates and the latter a childhood friend of Eric "D-Day" Demment.
6:00 p.m.—Last home stand it was Frank "The Tank" Salvoni; this evening's veteran recently out of retirement: goalie Tony Benson. With Zulie unable to make the weekend and Ryan "Eggshell" Thomson living up to his nickname, Tony will have the pleasure of standing between the pipes while the opposition fires frozen rubber discs at his head. I wonder how his brother, who happens to be our coach, will repay that favor.
6:30—The rookies are officially part of the Suns, receiving our team-issue jackets. Now people all over Blaine County will think my name is Jimmy. Fantastic.
6:36—Not wanting to be outdone by his fellow countryman, Ivars Muzis, Vilnis "Villi" Nikolaisons gives me a Latvian Hockey hat to compliment my lucky t-shirt. I'm hoping for a residency visa and mail-order bride by the end of the season.
7:17—New Jersey gets on the board first. We're apparently gunning for the Suns' record for come-from-behind wins.
7:22—I lose an edge going for a puck and slide awkwardly into the boards at full speed. During my playing days in college this wouldn't have even slowed me down. Five years later and I'm wondering if I'll be in the way if I just lay here for a while.
7:28—Jeremy "Jerry" Schreiber drills home his first goal as a Sun. Fester yells for someone to retrieve the puck as a souvenir for our newest member. This is another one of those great hockey traditions, like shaking hands after the game and fighting through swarms of beautiful women outside the locker room. All of these happen, I swear.
7:47—This is not good. Villi's two-year-old son Jake is in absentia meaning we'll be without his inspiring "Go Suns!" cheer that led us to victory over the Moose. In the words of Bull Durham's Crash Davis, "Never mess with a win streak."
8:18—Scottie Winkler knocks the puck from their defenseman, sending me in alone on goal. Scoring a top shelf backhand in front of your home crowd is always a sweet feeling. I, on the other hand, decide to go with a harmless floater that hits the goalie in the shoulder. The Beer Garden responds with a disappointed "Ohhhh."
8:22—A lanky, awkward Jersey defenseman scores a goal and sheaths his stick as if he's a victorious Crusader. At this stage of both life and hockey, such a celebration is as inappropriate as making out during Schindler's List.
8:35—What the hell's happening? We've gone from being the Harlem Globetrotters to the Washington Generals after giving up the fifth unanswered goal of the second period. The wheels have definitely fallen off the bus.
8:43—Flirting with disaster: Jamie "Shorty" Ellison uses his white game jersey as a blanket while changing his son Richter's diaper between periods. Us Suns live dangerously.
9:06—I notice Trevor "Trestor" Thomas is sporting a wispy blond moustache. Not that I ever took him seriously before, but this is just ridiculous.
9:37—We are Godzilla and they are Japan. A reversal of roles witnesses the good guys answering each of the previous period's goals. I must apologize, but there is no way I can remember who scored, let alone how they all transpired. At the end of 60 minutes, scoreboard reads: 8-6. If we keep insisting on these defensive battles I'll have to start bringing a notebook onto the bench.
Saturday, Jan. 20
12:00 noon—TV broadcast of the Ski Tour so we can find out what we missed while beating up on Jackson last weekend. The highlight, by a considerable margin, is seeing D-Day in his ski patroller's uniform at the start of the skier-cross. Sheer comedy watching him trying to simultaneously act serious and suppress a grin. On a digressive note, what happened to music? The Wailers are by far and away the best act there and they recorded most of their songs before I was born. If Jim Morrison did indeed fake his death, it's high time he made his triumphant return.
5:30—Upon learning that I'm about to play a hockey game, my generous server at Tully's upgrades me to a quadruple shot of espresso. I might as well start injecting caffeine directly into my bloodstream.
7:00--I'm petitioning to have the Latvian National Anthem, or the anthem of any nation for that matter, sung before we ever decide to play the Shania Twain version again. There's a good chance Eggshell, who is in net tonight, might pull his groin if he has to stand in one place this long.
7:30—When I was about 10 years old, my family used to go to every single Harvard hockey game. At that point in time they had not only the best team in the nation, but also the best fans. While we have fantastic support, I might need to give a lesson on how to properly razz the visiting goalie. We can start with simple 'Sieve!' cheers and move our way up to more complex insults that include various family members.
8:48—John "Chugga" Stevens' five-year-old daughter, Denali, may have her mom's eyes, but she definitely has her dad's hands as she makes a great shot from the blue line to "Beat the Sun."
9:26—Blake Jenson makes a tremendous fake shot to set up the game-winning goal. That's what he says, anyway. We all know that he really whiffed on the puck and was left with nothing to do but pass to Adam "Dwayne" Swain, who used his lacrosse hands to bury yet another one from in tight. They don't say how it happened in the scorebook, however.
9:30—Nearing the end of regulation, Niels looks to bring Beacon Hill even with a hard shot that hits Thomson and arcs over his head and practically lands in the net. Only in comes Chipsy, batting the puck off the goal line for the save of the game and causing his good friend to sheepishly lower his hands after a premature celebration.
9:47—Ugly as it was, we are happy to keep the streak alive. Once again, we needed to come from behind to do so, but maybe we just want to keep it interesting for our loyal fans. Yeah, that's it. Tony Benson is the reluctant recipient of the George Jacket, doing his best Matrix imitation as he twists away from a prize that will necessitate his presence at Wednesday's practice.
9:58—Speaking of Swain, his father, a former NHL player, is in attendance. He even complimented the playing style of our own #7, D-Day. Being that Swain the Elder once skated for the storied Hartford Whalers, Eric couldn't have received greater accolades.
10:45—We're live at the Roosevelt with our own center/singer/songwriter, Paul Cox. The one request for the night: anything other than "Message in a Bottle."
