Takes and trash talk from both ALL sides of the NHL's most obscure PATHETIC* rivalry

* Thanks, Kevin Lowe!

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Ducks Gameday—Good omen: Lucky shirt to attend G2

Round Four, Game Two: (4) Ottawa Senators at (2) Anaheim Ducks
(ANA leads series 1-0, JavaGeek ‘odds’: ANA 66%)

Oof. It's really late and I haven't really written anything for this game. As it is the Cup Finals, though, I'm pretty sure there's enough being written about tonight's game, even about the Pahlsson line, if you can believe it.

At any rate, I'll be in attendance for G2 as well, my last game of the year. And wouldn't you know it, I even got the good Row B seats by the Ducks' penalty box (quite the prime spot to see Duck players lately). Stop by and say hi, or maybe just look for me on TV; I'll be wearing the lucky green shirt, as always.

As for the game itself, well, Ottawa's certainly likely to come out a better squad than they did in G1--the Senators hadn't lost a regulation game on the road in nearly three months. But I think the Ducks can be better also, particularly on special teams.

Ultimately, though, the key's the same as G1: find a way to win. The Ducks have an opportunity to get a real stranglehold on this series, and they'll have a Honda Center full of supporters rooting them on (provided everyone leaves work by 3 pm, of course).

Prediction: Ducks 4, Senators 1. Giguere plays a beauty. Goals by Marchant, Selanne, Pahlsson, and Beauchemin.

Go Ducks.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll be looking for you... I know I have to set the DVR for the game since the wife won't be home in time for most of the game.
Freakin Disney scheduling... don't they know that Stanley Cup Finals take precedence over the tourists?
So for the game day 2nd period train to the box I'll be looking for the green... ^_^

note to self: must order up new keg for delivery by Saturday... current one should dead soon...

Unknown said...

I tried to spot you before during a Ducks game and couldn't.

Could you please do something to make you more noticable, like climb over the glass wearing nothing but that lucky t-shirt? Then, I might be able to spot you.

Anonymous said...

Still can't figure out if Ottawa played badly, or if Anaheim just played well (thus making Ottawa look bad.)

I suspect it's the latter, but I'll have a better handle on it after tonight.

quack quack quack
- a petty leaf fan

Earl Sleek said...

BTW, just for reference, I have only been in the Row B seats one other time this playoffs, G1 5-1 win over Vancouver.

That was where I lost my lucky Ducks cap, thanks to Andy McDonald and his glorious hat trick.

I'm unsure whether to bring my camera tonight or not. Sure there will be picture opportunities, but I'm a guy who usually watches hockey with a drink in one hand and a Fowl Towel in the other. Snapping shots becomes a juggling act for me, and the results are pretty sloppy anyway.

That'll be a game-time decision, I think.

Anonymous said...

I'm unsure whether to bring my camera tonight or not. Sure there will be picture opportunities, but I'm a guy who usually watches hockey with a drink in one hand and a Fowl Towel in the other. Snapping shots becomes a juggling act for me, and the results are pretty sloppy anyway.

Thus why I typically have someone along with me to hold my beer just in case ^_^

BTW: if you happen to be over on the other side of the arena getting a beer, Jan pours a decent Guinness across the way there. Outside of 217 if I recall correctly... but there should be another Guinness cart outside where you're sitting as well... just not sure on the gal who works that one.

And take the camera... for the 2nd period parade to the box...

Alexander Dubcek said...

"Fowl towels"? Sheesh, I thought the team was supposed to get rid of the lame when Disney sold them and they became no longer Mighty.

Of course, the Canadian press is appropriately having a field day with a Finals in Orange County. Though I doubt anyone in Southern California classes Pepperdine women's volleyball so highly as TSN.

Anonymous said...

You should see the conversation on the Battle of Ontario. The Sens are in the finals and all they can talk about is how to rebuild the Leafs (their theory seems to center around getting JS Giguere for less than $5 million and that they derserve it). Well that and the Sens suck and Toronto would do it right if they were in the finals.

I felt kinda bad for Sens fans. Me saying anything with all the Toronto venom just seemed like piling on.

I guess the looniness isn't limited to the Toronto media.

Earl Sleek said...

"Fowl towels"? Sheesh, I thought the team was supposed to get rid of the lame when Disney sold them and they became no longer Mighty.

They probably have. That's what I've been calling them since they first arrived on the playoff scene in 2003, and serve plenty well for my purposes to describe the phenomenon.

Honestly, are you that aghast at the use of a pretty meaningless term? What "cool name" would you suggest that would be more NHL-legitimate for you?

Seriously, I am getting very sick of non-Duck fans telling me what I'm supposed to be embarrassed by (our fans, our old logo, our team colors, our towels).

Sorry, I'm overreacting a bit, but it is one of the hugest drawbacks to being a Duck fan--everyone outside of Anaheim gets very vocal criticizing the way hockey gets presented in SoCal, but very few become fans once we cave to their demands.

Is our logo timid enough for everyone yet?

Anonymous said...

Earl and co, pardon the rant, but i also get so mad when people criticize the Ducks for non-hockey-playing reasons, which every Canadian in a sports bar does. i have yet to have a legitimate HOCKEY conversation with anyone about the Ducks, which is infuriating, considering how much work went into this season and where they are now.

plus, they're all under the impression that the Ducks are some sort of cinderella team. i keep having to remind these local Sens fans that their team finished 5 points behind this season and of the Ducks' many trips to the WCF in recent years (compared to how many for the Sens....?).

so i changed my perspective and started embracing the irony of the league's toughest team with the silly name. as in "well hey, you just got your ass kicked by a Quack! how's that feel?"

go Ducks.

and ps, am i wrong to think that the "fowl towel" is a tribute-in-pun-form to the terrible towel? really don't get what they find so lame about that.

Earl Sleek said...

Earl and co, pardon the rant...

Hey, this is a blog. No need to apologize for ranting.

Thanks for alternatively expressing a Duck fan's frustration.

PPP said...

Don't confuse the media with the population as a whole. I appreciate the trials of supporting a team when there is not the same infrastructure as there would be elsewhere.

I cheer on Liverpool despite only having been to one game.

The Ducks' rink has been impressively filled and loud throughout the playoffs so I hope they can kills the sens tonight.

And the Giguere discussion surrounded trying to get him for less than $6M and it was a primer to remind Leaf fans and sens fans why they hate each other so much before the main event of the game. There is only so much we can talk about with no other news between games Limey ;)

Go Ducks!

Bethany said...

Haha I'll keep a look out for ya! Still not sure who I am cheering for...but ya know.

Anonymous said...

Fair enough PPP. I'm just amazed you can get the Sens fans in a lather over that kind of thing when their team is in the finals.

Well played, sir.

Niekon said...

think I've seen Earl about a dozen times now as the camera is panning from one side of the ice to the other...

Definitely no other green shirts in that area of the arena ^_^

Alexander Dubcek said...

Homage to Pittsburgh's "terrible towels" or not, I just find the name "fowl towels" lame. Particularly since they're of a garishly orange color better suited for directing traffic (perhaps they "fell off the back of a CalTrans truck").

And that wasn't necessarily meant as a dig at Anaheim fans, since I assumed the corny name had been coined by some hotshot in marketing.

Talk about being hypersensitive.

Bethany said...

yeah I saw earl too...yay!! haha

Miss. Scarlett said...

I'm pretty convinced I saw you more than once. It's not hard to spot the obnoxious green.

I'm also unbelievably pissed right now. More so at my own team than anybody else, but I probably would have used any excuse I could get to hurt somebody right now.

My head is also already in a great deal of pain and the screen is becoming more and more fuzzy. Okay, then.

Earl Sleek said...

YEEEEEAHHH!!!!!

I passed up pretty damn good money to keep my tickets for G1 and G2, and damn if I wasn't rewarded. Good work, green shirt, and fucking great work, Sammy!

Talk about being hypersensitive.

Fuck, I said I was overreacting. It wasn't just your comment. I had to write a piece for Jes Golbez about the Ducks changing uniforms, and it brought up old gripes I had about outside influence on the Duck franchise.

I never really get to complain any more with the team winning and such, so it's probably just pent up something-or-other.


YEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

Topshelf said...

First post on here...
Earl, i hope you and penner had a great time at the game. I on the other hand was at home watching you on a friends 90 inch tv..not too bad..But the screen made it easier to see you and 17.

PPP said...

I saw you Earl! That green shirt REALLY stands out on screen. Did you take the camera? The Ducks actually provided you a lot less company than usual which was nice to see.

2 more wins!

p.s. Limey, the next couple of days will be long ones for sens fans ;)

Earl Sleek said...

Earl, i hope you and penner had a great time at the game. I on the other hand was at home watching you on a friends 90 inch tv..not too bad..But the screen made it easier to see you and 17.

Heh, that was my baby brother, 21 years old and finally buying me drinks. I believe I bought him that Penner shirt, in a mutual pick-your-own-gift exchange we did before Christmas.

Did you take the camera? The Ducks actually provided you a lot less company than usual which was nice to see.

Well, here's the story with the camera. Yes, I brought it. But no, I never not once took it out of my pocket. That game had me grabbed by the eyeballs and never let up, so sorry, there won't be any fuzzy photos today.


I have no idea how much money I passed up by not selling my G1 or G2 tickets, but I can tell you this (after the fact): It wouldn't have been nearly enough.

Jibblescribbits said...

yeah that green shirt stuck out like a sore thhumb.. but in a good way. I could tell exactly who you were.

Anonymous said...

Nice to see you at the game!!! I was already a little drunk. Had a great time, and was only a little jealous of your Row B seats.

Earl Sleek said...

Ignorant SoCal hockey fans...

Heh, one in every Canadian Press article, lately.

I gotta echo one thing I keep reading, though. The crowds at Honda Center have been great, especially considering the early start time.

Fuck you, Pronger.

(Sigh), I used to be able to say that all the time. Seems so long ago now.