PHOTOS: Plymouth Whalers Alumni Game

The following images were all taken by myself at the Plymouth Whalers Alumni Game on August 7, 2010 at Compuware Arena.

Things that annoy me...

Okay so there are some things in life that just irk me like nails on a chalkboard.

1. Typing Llya Kovalchuck. It's not an "L" it is an upper case "i"

2. According to CCM Ovechkin prefers Ovi to Ovie so stop typing Ovie

3. The Ovechkin vs Crosby drama. Come on they are both great players but can't we see other players in the marketing for the league. I am sure there are other teams and players that would make for great coverage.

4. Hockey is only a Canadian sport. I think some Americans, Swedes, Russians, Finns, among others would like to debate that fact with you.

5. Saying Detroit gave up too soon on Ville Leino. Detroit gave him his shot, they brought him into the league UN DRAFTED and at the start of the 2009-10 season his line with Jason Williams and fellow Finn Valtteri Filppula was the best line that Detroit had. Then both of them got injured and Leino never got his grove back with the Red Wings. He found it in the play offs with the Flyers but face it you guys didn't have faith in him at first either you had him in the press box forever.

6. Getting upset that a player changes his number. Just because he changed his number doesn't mean you need to go but a new jersey (though I am sure the league would love the money from another sale) think of it this way. Your older number jersey shows you were a fan from earlier in said plays career - old number doesn't make it a jersey foul.

7. Jersey Fouls. Just don't do it.

8. Saying European players are weak and don't have as much heart as Canadian players (come on we know you lump the American players into the "Euro" category at this point). I think players like Niklas Kronwall or Jarkko Ruutu have something to say about that.

9. Pierre McGuire.

10. No more Facebook pages trying to relocate the Phoenix Coyotes. Hockey in the professional level is a business they will do fine there give them the chance to regain the ground lost on their fan base and grow it. There were only six teams in the Original 6 (hence the name) odds are your team wasn't one of them and they gave your team the chance.

11. The obsession over where Ilya (see how I spelled that) Kovalchuk is going to sign. He'll make his choice and that is that. The constant complaining on Twitter isn't going to make him decide any faster. I think his family comes before you to him.

12. Paid announcers that can not pronounce of the names correctly or constantly all players the wrong name.

As of 7 a.m. this morning....

..... there is once again respect for Mikko Koivu.

Just check the shop.nhl site and after a week of research they have come to the conclusion that there really are two "k" 's in Mikko's first name. The listing on Shop.NHL for the third jersey now has the second "k" added to his name.

No respect for Mikko Koivu

We're not all perfect. No matter how much your significant other or your parents tell you that you are - NO ONE is.

Making mistakes is part of life - I get that, I've made many and will probably still make some, I am only 25. I will be the first to admit that I made a mistake in a recent post I made on another website. The person catching my mistake even emailed me to inform me of my blunder (thank you for not posting it in the comments by the way).

So what did I do? I emailed back and thanked the reader for pointing it out to me and then went in and edited the post. Mistake fixed. An entire word I missed. But I was able to insert that word and now all is right with the world (okay so fixing that one mistake didn't bring peace to the Middle East or even find me full time employment).

Now I know you are probably wondering, "What does this have to do with Mikko Koivu?" Last week I had noticed on the Shop.NHL site (via Wild.com) that on the listing for the Mikko Koivu Third Jersey they had misspelled his name to "Miko". Not a huge end of the word mistake but I still emailed them to let them know it was misspelled. After a few more communication with whichever Representative I got they told me...

Thank you for following up with us on this matter. We have submitted a
request for our Operations Department to research this matter further
and correct this error. Please allow 3-5 business days for us to review
this matter.

All you need to do is add the extra "k" to "Miko" So because the matter has yet to be resolved I have decided to start the Twitter hashtag #Respect4Mikko Will anyone post anything? Doubtful. But the Weather Service tells me it is unsafe to go outside today (have to love poor air quality and a heat index predicted to go near or above 100 yet again).

So in recap...

What to do when you make a mistake:
*Own up to the mistake
*If it is something that can be fixed, you fix it (As soon as possible)
*Learn from it
*Think positive
*Don't obsess about it
*Remember that everyone makes mistakes


*** UPDATE ***

It is just before 5 p.m. and I just recived an e-mail stating that the spelling error will be corrected within the next 2-3 days. #Respect4Mikko

NHL Draft by Country

In case you were wondering here is a quick run down of how each country did in the 2010 NHL Draft.

Canada 99
United States 59
Sweden 20
Russia 8
Finland 7
Czech Republic 5
Germany 5
Slovakia 2
Switzerland 2
Denmark 1
Latvia 1
Norway 1

2010 Draft quick hits:

158 picks were from North America ( 75.2% for you math nerds out there).

Leaving Europe with 52 picks ( and the remaining 24.8% so you don't have to do the math).

11 Americans went in the first round of the draft - a new US record
0 Swedes in the first round
4 of the top 5 picks of the draft were Canadian
the 5th pick of the draft was from Switzerland
the 9th pick of the draft was the first European trained player of the draft

NHL Draft 2010 Round One

*Team Taylor vs Team Tyler - Team Taylor may have taken the first overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft however that means Taylor Hall is headed to Edmonton to play for the Oilers while Tyler Seguin will head to Boston to play for the Bruins. Which team do you really think won?

*Most Americans ever drafted in the first round of an NHL Draft with 11

*3 Russians, 1 Swiss, 1 Finn, and 0 Swedes in the first round. Remember last year Sweden set their record of having seven Swedes drafted in the first round (Including second overall pick Victor Hedman to the Tampa Bay Lightning) How Swede it use to be.



*Mikael Granlund of Finland was the highest drafted European trained player (9th to the Minnesota Wild)

Where did they go?:
1. Taylor Hall (Canada) to the Edmonton Oilers via Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
2. Tyler Seguin (Canada) to the Boston Bruins via Plymouth Whalers (OHL)
3. Erik Gudbranson (Canada) to the Florida Panthers via Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
4. Ryan Johansen (Canada)to the Columbus Blue Jackets via Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
5. Nino Niederreiter (Swiss) to the New York Islanders via Porland Winterhawks (WHL)
6. Brett Connolly (Canada) to the Tampa Bay Lightning via Prince George Cougars (WHL)
7. Jeff Skinner (Canada) to the Carolina Hurricanes via the Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
8. Aleksandr Burmistrov (Russia) to the Atlanta Thrasers via Barrie Colts (OHL)
9. Mikael Granlund (Finland) to the Minnesota Wild via HIFK (SM-liiga)
10. Dylan McIlrath (Canada)to the New York Rangers via Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
11. Jack Campbell (US) to Dallas Stars via U.S. National U-18Team (USHL)
12. Cam Fowler (US) To Anaheim Ducks via Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
13. Brandon Gormley (Canada) to Phoenix Coyotes via the Moncton Wildcars (QMJHL)
14. Jaden Schwartz (Canada) to the St. Louis Blues via Tri-City Storm (USHL)
15. Derek Forbort (US) to the LA Kings via Tri-City Storm (USHL)
16. Vladimir Tarasenko (Russia) St. Louis Blues via HC Sibir Novosibirsk (KHL)
17. Joey Hishon (Canada) Colorado Avalanche via Owen Sound Attack (OHL)
18. Austin Watson (US)Nashville Predators via Peterborough Petes (OHL)
19. Nick Bjugstad (US) Florida Panthers via Blaine High School
20. Beau Bennett (US) Pittsburgh Penguins via Penticton (BCHL)
21. Riley Sheahan (Canada) Detroit Red Wings via Univ. of Notre Dame (CCHA)
22. Jarred Tinordi (US) Montreal Candiens via U.S. National U-18 Team (USHL)
23. Mark Pysyk (Canada) to the Buffalo Sabres via Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)
24. Kevin Hayes (US) to the Chicago Blackhawks via Noble and Greenough School
25. Quinton Howden (Canada) to the Florida Panthers via Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
26. Evgeny Kuznetsov (Russia) to the Washington Capitals via Traktor Chelybinsk (KHL)
27. Mark Visentin (Canada) to the Phoenix Coyotes via Niagara Ice Dogs (OHL)
28. Charlie Coyle (US) San Jose Sharks via South Shore Kings (EJHL)
29. Emerson Erem (US) Anaheim Ducks via Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
30. Brock Nelson (US) New York Islanders via Univ. of North Dakota (WCHA)

Tune in today for the rest of the 2010 NHL Draft live from the Staples Center in LA.