Memories...

As I was driving around my beautiful city during my lunch break, I happened across W. Ellsworth Ave. There in my car I was reminded of my first season as a DU hockey fan. If you’re any kind of college hockey fan, I’m sure you’ll understand why I was thrown back into the days of drunken frat boys yelling obscenities, dirty chants that turn out to be hockey related, and the smell of freshly spilled beer. That’s right, every time I cross paths with W. Ellsworth Ave., I am reminded of former Michigan Tech goalie Cam Ellsworth.

It was a cold February day. I’d been invited to the game by several friends who were only casual hockey fans. As was usually the case in those years before DU’s back-to-back national championships, we bought tickets 5 minutes before the game started and raced to the student section for the best seats available. Those happened to be three rows up from the ice directly behind the opposing team’s goalie. As we settled in, the SAE’s (that’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon) were commenting on the easy pronunciation of this goalie’s last name (this in the time of goalies such as McElhinney, Dubielewicz, Reichmuth, and Bruckler).

About 7 minutes into the first period Jeff Drummond (later to be known as Mr. Saturday Night) scored the first goal of the game against Ellsworth, assisted by Kevin Ulanski, and Scott Drewicki. After we all cheered and danced (yes, there was dancing) in celebration, the SAE’s began the ritualistic goalie cheer, with all the students joining in. “Ellsworth, Ellsworth, Ellsworth, YOU SUCK!” 7 minutes later Kevin Doell scored. Once again the cheer began “Ellsworth, Ellsworth, Ellsworth, YOU SUCK!”

Seven times during that evening I heard the glorious cheer. Luckily for Cam Ellsworth, DU was unable to score during the second period, when he was on the opposite side of the rink. However, during the third he was scored on 5 times and in return he heard the gleeful cheer of the student section “Ellsworth, Ellsworth, Ellsworth, YOU SUCK!” Kevin Doell scored 4 times that night, earning the admiration (and hats) of the 5,000+ fans in attendance.


So as I drive across W. Ellsworth Ave. I think of that night and the cheers of the student section. I also wonder whatever happened to Cam Ellsworth. Courtesy of The Internet Hockey Database Cam spent his remaining two years at Michigan Tech, never winning more than 10 games in each of his four seasons. In the 2005-2006 season he signed with the Augusta Lynx of the ECHL only to be traded, after playing one game (a tie in which he allowed 4 goals), to the Greenville Grrrowl of the ECHL. He played 34 games with the Grrrowl winning 22, losing 10 and tying 1. He then moved on to the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL, playing 33 games last season (14-13-3).

I hope you enjoyed my sojourn in the past…but let me leave you with one last thought: “Ellsworth, Ellsworth, Ellsworth, YOU SUCK!”

Where there’s a Mullet, there’s a Way

I am ecstatic, overjoyed, delighted, thrilled, elated, blissful, rapturous, euphoric, and any other word you can think of for really overly happy. After three long years of mediocrity, the Colorado Avalanche has taken a BIG step in the direction of greatness. On July 1st, Francois Giguere did the first really amazing thing since he’s been GM. The Avalanche has signed defenseman Scott Hannan and Captain Canada himself, the greatest of all mullets, Ryan Smyth.

Avs Sign Defenseman Scott Hannan

Avalanche Signs Ryan Smyth

I'd like to take a second to examine the Hair Choices of our new Avs.

I'll start with Hannan. It's kind of fluffy if you will, almost mullet like. Probably if he didn't tuck his man locks behind his ears it would look less mullet-ish. Also, does he dye it? It seems to be multi colored, a bit lustrous...Overall, I would give it a 8 out of 10 for sweet hair. Plus I dig the way it looks when he plays, it's all wet and stringy...so hot....


Next, let's tackle the uber mullet of Ryan Smyth...According to Mullets Galore the glorious Mullet of Destiny could be classified as a CamaroMullet. Whatever it is, it's awesomely awesome! As was previously mentioned (in fact too many times for me to link to the posts...oops!) I really heart this mullet. It's just so full and wavy, you really can't go wrong.

Seriously though, the Avs have filled some holes with these signings. Hannan is a physical defensive defenseman, which the Avs sorely need. Sure, he won't put up big numbers (in 508 regular season NHL games he has 25 goals) but that's what we have forwards for. Which brings me to Ryan "The Mullet of Destiny" Smyth. He's the kind of player that likes to get in the crease and use his size to pressure d-men and goalies alike until he scores.

More Fun Stuff:
-Smyth, Hannan Arrive in Denver. The Colorado Avalanche held a press conference yesterday evening to welcome Ryan and Scott to Colorado. There is a transcript as well as video.
-Adam Proteau of The Hockey News has a blog. His Wacky Weekend post deserves a read. In it, he briefly looks at the first two days of Free Agent open season. Here's what he had to say about the Avs:
Colorado Avalanche
Signed Up: Scott Hannan (SJ), Ryan Smyth (Edm)
Signed Out: Brett McLean (Fla), Ken Klee (Atl)
My 10 cents, in 10 words or less: Superior UFA signings, but Avs still have holes to fill.
Free Agent/Trade Grade: A+
-Other signings of note: Drury and Gomez to the Rangers; Briere, Jason Smith, and Joffrey Lupul to the Flyers; Jason Blake to Toronto; Brian Rafalski to Detroit; Paul Kariya to St. Louis; Handzus, Preissing, Nagy, and Calder to Los Angeles; Bertuzzi to Anaheim.
-Cory Schneider of BC has signed with the Vancouver Canucks. I find this a little odd. It's clear that Vancouver has chosen Luongo to be the man in the net for a while. This seems like a waste of time for Schneider. I don't see why he didn't choose to stay at BC for his senior season then see which team would pick him up after that. Sure, it would look like he had a bit of an ego, but seriously, while he may not be NHL ready this minute, his talent is wasted warming the bench...
-Also, Brian Lee has jumped the Fighting Sioux ship and signed with the Ottawa Senators. I hope he enjoys Binghamton, New York and wish him the best. Oh and tell his brother to hurry up and get to DU already!

Last I'd like to tackle the subject of site redesigns. Perhaps you have noticed, but all NHL sites are transitioning to new servers and new templates. The Colorado Avalanche can now be found at http://avalanche.nhl.com. Please check it out, I think they've done a great job adapting the former Avalanche site to fit the NHL's new template. There are pros and cons to this new formalized web design scheme. First, I think it makes it easier for casual fans to explore the NHL. Since all the sites are basically the same, once you're familiar with one site, you are familiar with them all. However, I will miss some of the really cool individualized sites like the Ottawa Senators and Anaheim Ducks.

Also, it appears that the University of Denver Pioneer's are redesigning their site. Personally, I'm all for it. I think the partnership with CSTV has not served DU well considering all of the features are NOT Mac compatible. All season long, I was unable to listen to road games or watch the live video from my home computer. Not to mention, I'll certainly not miss the annoying pop-ups that even though you clicked the close icon didn't close....good riddance denverpioneers.cstv.com! Welcome the new (well almost launched)DenverPioneers.com