#61

Biscuits and Breezers

    Welcome back to another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! We have quite a lot of things to discuss so let's get on that shall we? The first thing I want to talk about with you all is our view count! You wonderful viewers have gotten us to 5,635 views currently. We finally reached the 5,000 view milestone! The really cool thing I feel is that sometimes I will get 100 or more views in one day alone! You guys are the absolute best and I don't know what I would do with out you. Your positive attitudes and the great compliments you guys give absolutely make my day. I am glad that I get to talk with a lot of you on a regular basis because it is great to interact with all of you and it also gives me more things to know that you guys would like to read about. The personal side I see with some people is incredible. All of you have fantastic personalities and it is always interesting to find out what your likes/dislikes are because every opinion can range so differently! I might as well inform you that we have finally had a view from Australia! You might want to thank our Australian viewers because after them we only have one populated country left that we haven't had views from. That's right it's Africa. I am not counting Antarctica because there really aren't enough people down there besides the scientists. So in turn, if you know anyone living in Africa tell them to just go to the Biscuits and Breezers website for that one view that would make this blog world wide! Please help out just one view! If you all remember correctly when we had the 2,000 view celebration blogs I had a huge player contest. Now for the 5,000 "celebration" blog we will include everyone. I put out a post on Facebook seeking volunteers to help me on this huge project and you all answered. Now, I won't be posting updates about the blog just describing it. Oh no, this will be a great big surprise that will touch the hockey lovers heart. Hints will be given out in increments so make sure to look out for them! This will be a major undertaking and might take a while to produce but I promise the people helping out and I will make it incredible for you!  Thanks again everyone and I hope we can make 10,000 faster than we made 5,000! Now we can get to what we are going to talk about! We are going to discuss the goalie in Farmington, Minnesota flipping off his coaches, Erik Karlsson's injury, and some things you won't want to miss about our junior teams.

  Now we can discuss the goalie video. Recently a video surfaced of a tendy flipping off his coaches, saluting the crowd, and skating off the ice. Personally I thought this was a beauty video and he needs some more recognition! The senior's name was Austin Krause. He had enough of the coaching staff starting sophomore Gage Overby instead of himself. Farmington was trailing Chaska High School 2-1 when Krause decided to handle the puck, shoot it into his own net and commit the deed that would eventually show up on almost every hockey related page. This all happened because his coaches wouldn't listen and put him in. Austin didn't believe that Overby was good enough to start. He asked his fellow players if it would be okay if he did it and they said sure it would be funny. So in the third they dumped him the puck. Here is something for all you coaches and owners out there. If a player comes to you and tells you some one is not up to par or they are not doing the best they can, you should believe them! They are around these players a lot more possibly than you are and they would know if the other player is not fit to go on a shift. I am not trying to offend anyone while saying this I am just stating a fact and speaking my mind! I want to congratulate Austin for doing this though because he stood his ground for what he believed in and he carried it through. You are a complete beauty for doing this Krause! I also think that this gained him about 20 goon points. I should probably point out that Chaska went on to win the game 3-2. I found a video of this great moment for you all to watch so here it is! Let's get some recognition out for this kid because he deserves every bit of it! I hope that goalies around the world don't feel like this all the time because if they did, oh boy would we have some basket cases on our hands. Represent your tendys because when you mess up they are there to fix it and save your back! Congratulations Austin!

  Now I want to talk about Erik Karlsson's injury. During a recent game against the Penguins, Matt Cooke and Erik Karlsson rushed towards a corner where the puck was stuck. Cooke reached up his skate, stepped on Erik by the bottom of his calf, and skated away when the puck was again in motion. But the outcome was very different for the Senators' star and award winning defenseman. He immediately collapsed on the ice and grabbed his left leg. He was carried off the ice and would never return. It was determined that 70% of his Achilles's Tendon was cut and required almost immediate surgery. The Penguins went on to win the game but with guilt hanging over them. Erik Karlsson had the surgery and all went according to plan. His tendon was fixed and will eventually start rehab. The sad part of this situation is though that that game would be his last of the 2012-2013 season. Yes that's right he isn't coming back until next year. The ironic part of it all is that all of this mess could have been prevented if #65 just would have worn a skate/cut resistant kevlar sock. They do make those and I highly suggest everyone would wear them because it could prevent injuries like this in the future. Now there are people saying that Cooke did it completely on purpose and shouldn't even be in the league like the Senators' head coach then there are people saying he didn't do it to harm and it was a complete accident like Don Cherry. I really hope this is not held against Matt because he is a very good player with great talent. I personally don't think he did it on purpose because a) Matt isn't the kind of player that would make that dirty and cheap of move and b) Karlsson isn't the type of player that would instigate a player to make a move like this. I want to wish Erik a very pleasant road to recovery because I know how painful and long-lasting tendon injuries can be. Good luck with rehab Erik and I wish you luck Matt with the decisions and ridicule that might come your way!

   The next thing I want to talk about is a fantastic junior game I saw recently. I was approached by defenseman John Petersson of the Helena Bighorns to watch one of their games. He had been sick with the flu for about a week or more and this was his come back game. Let me tell you right now, this could have been on of the best executed junior games I have ever seen. The final score of the game was 15-0. I have never seen more skill, flow, determination, and consistency in one game. It was incredible, these boys laid their hearts out and paid for it. I was very glad that I watched this game! Thanks John! The Bighorns had goals from John Petersson, Dillon Mershon, Christian Axelsson, Cody Blom, 3 for Corbin Belling, 4 for Parker Olson, 2 for Theo Campe, and 2 for Chris Andre. Congratulations guys you played a great game! It can't wait to see you play in the AWHL playoffs and hopefully winning the regular season title! Hopefully I will get to watch you in Nationals also. The Salinas/Lazarski goaltending pair is absolutely a work of the hockey gods. They work hand in hand with each other. They always have each others back and where one leaves off, the other picks up. Now they do have some competition with Gillette goaltenders Nick Vittori and Brenden Kruckenberg though. I am going to bring this up again because I can't get over it. Vittori and Kruckenberg's flow are Gongshow beauties. It is salad to the extreme. You did great John and I am glad you asked me to watch you play, fantastic job. Another thing I want to talk about is a Maulers vs. Bighorns game I went to. It was the usual major rivalry game but one goal scored was the biggest beauty goal in that barn in a long time. Dylan Webster scored on goalie Cody Janzen...with his face. Yes that's right you heard me. His face. Webster was struck in the mouth with the puck, it bounced off, and he was credited with a goal. I was fortunate enough to be seated right next to Helena's bench so I pretty much saw everything that went down. After he blocked the shot, Dylan skated back to the bench bloodied. I personally thought he was going to throw up right there on the extra sticks. But he didn't. Like a gem, he got examined by the on ice physician, rested for a couple seconds while he caught his breath, made sure his face stopped bleeding and went back on the ice in less than 5 minutes I swear. Only a true beauty would be able to do that. I do have the footage of this and I hope you enjoy it. The Bighorns went on to defeat Missoula 5-2 that night. Congratulations on being a true beaut Dylan, keep it going!

                              

    I want to take a moment and alert you about something. Two players were very seriously injured while playing their games this weekend. One was a Twin City Steel junior hockey player playing in the NA3HL Showcase in Troy Michigan. His name was Tom Monteiro. The second player was an AHL player for the Springfield Falcons named Wade Macleod. Tom was playing in the showcase and the worse possible thing happened. His throat was cut by a skate blade. After being hit, he ran over to the defense end of the bench clenching his neck yelling "What do I do, what do I do?" Monteiro was immediately rushed to the hospital and had the necessary surgery to close the slit. He is doing fine in the hospital and is stable. Macleod was hit from behind violently into the boards and seemed to be just fine. Until he collapsed on to the ice and started having epileptic convulsions. He too was rushed to the nearest medical center and is stable and responding to the medical staff. I am not telling you these things because I want to emphasis the bad parts of hockey (but there isn't any so I shouldn't have to say that haha!) but I want all you players no matter what age to realize that this still happens. You need to not only watch out for yourself on the ice but also a small percentage for all the others out playing your shifts. Don't make dirty, cheap moves that you know will injure the other players. Look what happened to Jack Jablonski. That could possibly be you or another player if everyone keeps deciding to deliver these cheap plays. Now I don't want you to think that I don't love the huge physical plays out on the ice because believe me I live for those moments but you all can bang bodies without the intention to demolish. This might sound hard with all your adrenaline pumping but it is possible. Be safe out there and remember 1) wear your neck protectors 2) watch out how you hit and 3) make those boards rattle with fear!

   It's time for the "Players of Today" segment! For the junior player we have Janesville Jets forward Nick Albergo. For the goalie pick we have Southern Oregon Spartans tendy Max Richter. Then for the European pick we have Vaxjo J20 Lakers forward Michael Sjolin.

   Nick is 5 ft 10 in, 190 lbs, and is from Elmhurst, Illinois, USA. In the 2012-2013 season so far he has 5 goals in 20 games played, 2 assists, 7 TPs, a +/- of 1, 21 PIMs, 1 power play assist, 19 shots, and an S% of .263. Nick plays very well and likes to cover a lot of territory when he is out on the ice. His hands are incredibly soft and his skates are very fast. He likes to get control of the puck very often and he keeps it that way. Nick definitely is someone to fear if you are on an opposing team. He will knock you down hard enough that even if you could get back up, you wouldn't want to. His checks are huge and they come fast. Sometimes you don't even see them coming. Even though he is one of the veterans, he hangs with the rooks just as one of them. I really like the connections he makes with his team and the community alike. It is very sad when he leaves a town because he had made such an impression on them that it is hard to forget. Unfortunately I don't know where he is signed for the 2013-2014 but I hope it is somewhere where he can put his full potential in. Good luck Nick with the Jets and your future hockey career!

  Max is 5 ft 10 in, 170 lbs, and is from Fishers, Indiana, USA. In the 2012-2013 season he had 11 games played, 11 goals saved, 592.29 total minutes played, 4 wins, 4 loses, 42 goals against, 4.25 goals against average, 287 sv, and a save percentage of .872. Personally I think he is a very good tendy that has served his team very well. His butterflies are awesome, he covers the five hole very well, and his glove catches are very consistent. Unfortunately I never got to see him play this year but I very much wanted to. I like how he plays because he uses his body and the pipes to block the shots instead of just his body or just the pipes. He seems to be very superstitious about his rituals. I think he also has a very personal touch just to the pipes on the goal. He reminds me of a very young Marc-Andre Fleury. Lively, bold, and ready to do anything for the boys on his team. I think if he had to he would take a puck to the face for the team. That's how much it seems he cares for them. I don't know where he is signed for the 2013-2014 season but wherever he will end up will be very lucky to have a goaltender like him. I would like to see him play one of these days because I think I could even learn some things from him. He should also be an influence to many young tendys with their minds like sponges. He could teach them a trick or two. Good luck Max with the WSHL and your future hockey career!

  Michael is 6ft 0 in, 187 lbs, and is from Sweden. He is playing with the Vaxjo J20 Lakers for the 2012-2013 season. During the 2011-2012 season he had 9 goals in 33 games played, 12 assists, 21 TPs, 43 PIMs, and a +/- of -8. Now Michael is quite the player. Seriously. The first reason is because he can play all positions. Well except in the cage but you know what I mean! Sjolin is someone who takes this game to a personal level and if someone invades that, they are in for it. He isn't afraid to hit someone either. This guy is sick. Such a beaut. He works hard, trains harder, and is a ghost out there. I mean that in the way he can slip through people, get the puck, and go top cheese. His hits are enormous. They shake the glass like I have never seen before. Michael puts the saying, "Work hard play harder," to the test.  Off the ice he is a great guy. I have talked with him off the ice numerous times and the things he says never gets old. I swear he is one of the ultimate players in Vaxjo. I can not believe that he isn't over in the USA yet! I hope that he gets over there for next season because he would be boss on the ice. Breaking legs and taking names. I definitely think if he got the chance to come over here he would absolutely shine. Michael is 100% the player that plays not only for the fans, his team, and for the town but he plays from the heart. It's his passion and it's here to stay. Lets get him over here people! So get those notepads out, take notes, and help me out! Good luck Michael with the Lakers and your future hockey career!

   Thanks for reading another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! Every blog will be filled with updated hockey news, player reviews, and so much more! Until next time remember, don't get your breezers in a bunch because hockey is always around the corner. Remember, it's always a great day to play hockey and it's a lifestyle not just a sport!