Holy CRAP, a game day preview!

I'm a posting fool today because I've kind of been neglecting the blog, and you, darling reader. I'm so sorry. Please don't break up with me, and move onto some other pointless blog that talks mostly about Kari. We've been through so much! And man do you look good today. Did you do your hair different or something? Looks great! Keep it up.

I'm digressing.

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God, is it gameday already? Where has the time gone? Didn't the boys JUST get their asses handed to them by Ottawa, like, yesterday? No wait, that was Saturday. And probably again tomorrow! But we'll get to that tomorrow.

So tonight the Thrash face the Bolts. This is pretty much a meeting of "teams with no defence." (See: Calgary v Tampa 12/13/07) And much like Calgary in the West, with Phaneuf, we're in possession of the best open-ice hitter in the Eastern Conference (X. Come on, stick with me, here!). The Bolts have... um. Well they've got St Louis, Lecav and Richards sucking up 40% of their salary and putting up 43% of the team's goals. So the key here is obviously going to be shutting them down. And by shutting them down, I don't mean relying on Kari (Heddy?) to stop them. I mean, you know, playing defencively, and not allowing them to get the shots off, or even blocking shots! Novel concept, I know. Here, I'll let Anton "I stop pucks" Volchenkov illustrate:

Photo by Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images

See? Yeah, it's painful, but hey! It works! Maybe our boys should give it more of a try? Just sayin'.

Also, we've got the Wrecking Ball in the house now, and career, he has 48 points in 53 games against the Bolts, which ain't bad by a long shot. So really, the objective tonight is to shut down Tampa's top line, let Rex do his thang, minimize the penalties taken, don't make our goaltender the lone defenceman, and we should come out of this with two points.

Prediction: Thrashers by 1.

Small side note: Kari's older brother is in town, (Moikka, Kimmo! Mitä kuuluu? Mieluinen jotta Atlanta!) so should Kari take the start tonight, I'd imagine he'll be playing with quite a bit of pride. Likelihood is for Hedberg to start though, with Lehts taking the ice for tomorrow's game against Ottawa. I should actually check AJC and I'd probably know these things, huh?

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Before I go... do you watch football? Did you watch the Browns/Bills game Sunday? Probably not, huh? Well, you missed the greatest field goal in the history of EVAR. Let me set the scene: In Buffalo, snowing like it's the end of the world, 4" already on the field, the wind blowing in off the lake at 40MPH. And Phil Dawson trots out onto the field to do what Phil Dawson does best: Kick the living CRAP out of that ball, 49 yards, kicked AWAY from the uprights, and IN! AND! The ball hit off the support bar of the goal post after going through the uprights. This is a crappy video, but check it out:



And just so you really get the full feel of how much snow there was, here's QB Derek Anderson diving into the snow after the kick (hey, the Browns clinched! You'd be snow-diving too!).

(AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Just a reminder, this is the same town the Winter Classic will be held in, in exactly 13 days! Bring it!

(Photo of X sign courtesy Kaatiya, thanks hun!)