WOO HOO! Canada Wins Gold; Defeat Sweden in Olympic Hockey Championship

For the second straight Olympics, team Canada's men's hockey team is reigning supreme after thoroughly dominating Sweden in the gold medal game in Sochi, Russia; winning 3-0.  Team Canada last won the gold medal against the U.S. in Vancouver in 2010.  They are the first undefeated Olympic champions since the Soviet Union went 7-0 in 1984.

Every so-called expert and analyst (at least on the Canadian side) said this is the best six-man defensive pairings that Canada has ever put on the ice.  There have been greats and legends that have patrolled the blue line for Canada at international hockey events such as Bobby Orr, Larry Robinson, Ray Bourque and Paul Coffey.  But, say the analysts, this is the first time Canada has iced six defensemen that each had stifling acumen.  Carey Price picked up consecutive shutouts in the tournament, including the semi-final and championship game.  Canada allowed only three goals the entire tournament, with Price allowing all three in wins against Norway (3-1) and Finland (2-1 OT) in the preliminary round.  In the quarter-final game against Latvia, Price allowed the last one he would (2-1).  Price then earned back-to-back shutouts in the semi-final against the United States (1-0) and the gold medal final against Sweden (3-0)
Roberto Luongo didn't allow any goals as he earned a shutout in his only game in the tournament against Austria (6-0).  Luongo was the starting goalie in Vancouver in 2010, earning gold in his own right.

Canada went undefeated in the tournament, going 3-0 in the round-robin preliminary round defeating Norway, Austria and Finland.  It took Canada an extra period to defeat the Finns 2-1.  Canadian fans were made to worry a bit in their quarter-final game against Latvia, as their heroes narrowly beat the Latvian squad 2-1.  Latvian goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis was insane during the game and only after Shea Weber scored late did Canada  shut down the advancing Latvians.  Gudlevski made an incredible 55 saves against the Canadian powerhouse team.  He is under contract with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League.  His NHL rights are owned by the Tampa Bay Lightning.  He may be seeing the big city soon on a well-deserved call-up.

A lot of Canadians were up very early to patronize bars throughout the nation.  Depending on where one lives, you could have been up at four in the morning to watch the gold medal game.  Personally, I have never heard of a bar opening for six or seven a.m. to honor their customer's obsession for the national sport.
That's Canada folks.

And not to be a total sexist, the Canadian women's team also claimed gold for the fourth Olympics in a row in Sochi with a 3-2 come-from-behind overtime win over their arch-rival Americans, 3-2.  a game being described as one of the best comebacks by a Canadian team, women's or men's.

Canada is hockey.

Just Because

Seeing rain for the first time.

Zombie Team Names...Reborn

Here's an interesting piece from Chris Creamer's Sportslogos.net,  a column on professional sports teams that have either been relocated to a different city (then the original or birthplace of said team has received a new team, using the original team's name) or a new team in a city that has gone decades or longer without a team then using a new team either from relocation or expansion with the same name of a team long-gone.  Usually from a want to honor the past, or by popular decision by the fans.

Star Wars Blooper Reel

I'm sure many of you have seen this, but for people like myself, it's new to me.  Enjoy!

Kasdan In, Arndt Out

Director J.J. Abrams has brought on board writer, director and producer Lawrence Kasdan to help him re-write the script for the upcoming third STAR WARS trilogy to replace first choice writer, Michael Arndt.

Personally, I was glad to hear this news.  Not only did I think through his body of work, that Arndt was the wrong choice to write the next SW film, let alone the next trilogy, but I just didn't think he would do the story justice.  I understand him, accurate or otherwise, to not be a fan of the franchise.  His credentials are fine with Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3, but I just don't think that was substantial enough to make me believe he "got" what the characters and story was all about.

With Kasdan and the late Leigh Brackett giving us The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Kasdan giving us Return of the Jedi (1983) along with the other George Lucas vehicle, Raiders of the Lost Arc (1981), it's not altogether crazy to think he is the right choice (actually in my opinion, the only choice from the beginning) to be the main author of this new trilogy.  He knows the characters, he knows the premise and he knows how to be dark, which is exactly what Empire needed after A New Hope.

If I have even the slightest of intuition, I believe the producers of this project will borrow themes and characters from author Timothy Zahn's book series, Heir to the Empire and it's sequels, Dark Force Rising and The Last Command.  Released in 1991, these are still the best STAR WARS novels going.  These and his later SW stories, Spector of the Past and Vision of the Future.  Both these trilogies and duologies are centered around the character of Grand Admiral Thrawn (other than the main protagonists that is) the greatest villain since Darth Vader.  And yes, that does include Darth Maul and Darth Sidious/The Emperor. If you've read any of these books, you'll know what I'm talking about.  If you haven't and you consider yourself a STAR WARS fan, READ THEM!  Seriously, how could you have not already?

Also, I've learned a little bit of the casting call Disney has out for the films (at least for the first one) and they're reportedly are looking for "young girl in her 20s, athletic" and "male in his 60s"  I''m thinking the girl will be Jaina, the daughter of Han Solo And Leia Organa-Solo.  As for her siblings, twin Jacen and little brother Anakin, who knows?  And as for the "male in his 60s?  No idea.

With Kasdan on board, I am feeling a little bit more positive about this.  Now I hope J.J. Abrams knows not to "Jar-Jar Binks" this thing.

Just in case, here's a little guide for him: