Hockey cards, collectibles and culture
Happy Monday and welcome back to my takes. The NHL was buzzing this weekend with big stories and exciting plays. I’ll obviously write about Hurricanes instant superstar, David Ayres, and Ovechkin finally reaching another milestone. You’ll want to read all five takes for a few other fun stories I highlighted this week.
Last week we saw a few major trades in the NHL. I’ll dive deep into those and why I think all teams involved actually made smart decisions. I’ve scoured the internet for a few other takes I think everyone will enjoy, too!
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: The Trade Deadline Approaches”
Hello, hockey nerds! Today, I’m hopefully going to wow all of you, and maybe inspire some of you to go on a Hockey Road Trip. Over the summer, Tom Dundon, The Most Interesting Man in Hockey, reached an agreement with the Greenville (South Carolina) Swamp Rabbits to become the ECHL affiliates of the (North) Carolina Hurricanes. This made a lot of sense as they are only little more than an hour’s drive from Charlotte where the Calder Cup Champion AHL affiliate Charlotte Checkers play. Almost as soon as this was announced, my friends and I waited with bated breath for the schedules of all three teams to be published and looked for a time to visit on a Lost Hockey Weekend Roadtrip. That perfect weekend ended up being January 17 to 19, 2020.
My wife, my best friend and I planned this weekend because all three teams were playing at home on consecutive days; the Canes played on Friday, the Bog Bunnies on Saturday, and the Checkers on Sunday afternoon, which was all too perfect because with a three hour drive back, it meant that we only had spent one night out of town and without having to take a day off of work!
This was a weird week in the NHL. The most notable story was an odd scandal involving the league’s least-valuable team. That doesn’t mean there aren’t takes to be made. I’ll check in on players around the league that are flying under the radar that deserve your attention.
Last week was really all about the Battle of Alberta. The Flames and Oilers faced off twice and neither game was a disappointment. This week’s column is better suited to be a review of a boxing match than a hockey column. I’ll dive into all the punches thrown and gloves dropped up in Western Canada as well as share my thoughts on one of my new favorite hockey-related beverages. Happy Monday!
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: The Battle of Alberta Strikes Again”
Seeing that all eyes were on the All-Star Game last week, there wasn’t much other news in the world of hockey. So I wanted to focus my column this week on a few players that deserve your attention. I’ll also make my case for why the league needs to change their All-Star Game format to something much more interesting. Happy reading!
Continue reading “Blake’s Takes: Looking Past the All-Star Break”
Last week, we saw two of the game’s best players reach tremendous milestones. We also saw a milestone reached off the ice. And, as is tradition this season, another team in the hunt for the playoffs fired their coach. Read all about it below!
If you ever collected a Panini sticker set than you’d probably understand the frustration of getting close to completing a set but falling a few stickers short. With an apparent ever- expanding checklist each season and introduction of more foil stickers created plenty of headaches for set builders.
The usual choices for set completion would include binge buying packs, which would prove to be a costly endeavor and leave you with plenty of extras, trying to find a trading partner via websites such as laststicker.com or a similar site.
Maybe the easiest solution for completing a set was right at our fingertips at Panini’s Online Store.
On Monday, the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Boston Bruins 6-5 in a game that came down to literally the last shot. Travis Konecky, shooting second-to-last, scored in the fifth round of the shootout. Then it was Brad Marchand’s turn for his shot. Only, he forgot to take the puck with him.
Marchand overskated the puck, and the Flyers won the game. This was after the Bruins blew a 5-2 lead, making Marchand’s mistake even more epic. He is the first player since the shootout was instituted in 2005 to overskate the puck on a shootout attempt.
“I was just trying to get going and just missed it,” Marchand told NHL.com. “I know the rule, you touch it on a penalty shot, it’s your shot. Unfortunate. It’s a tough way to lose on a play like that.”
But on Tuesday, Marchand — instead of showing a little bit of humility, or even taking a joke like he is sometimes willing to do — decided to tweet a photo of himself hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2011.
— Brad Marchand (@Bmarch63) January 14, 2020
Of course, the peanut gallery that is Hockey Twitter had to get involved and razz the Rat.
Continue reading “The Best Twitter Clapbacks at Brad Marchand’s Shootout Whiff”
In this edition of Blake’s Takes, I’ll share my thoughts on the latest chapter in the Battle of Alberta and chaos that ensured last weekend. There was a goalie goal last week — and I can’t ignore that. I’ll take a look at why I think Auston Matthews is the NHL’s coolest player.