My "Country men" under fire

Zdeno Chara's Slovakian and I'm a Slovakian American. So there's a lot of people looking to me for answers as to why Chara did what he did to Max Pacioretty (hitting him causing major injury). All I can say is it was something so hockey that went so wrong and it was an accident. I feel so bad for Zdeno that he had to be the one they made an example of. I think Alex Ovechkin was under fire a few times but he was never a subject of a criminal investigation. I'm glad to announce that Max maybe able to return and soon! When I hear more about that I'll let you know. But to Zdeno: Držte hlavu vysoko som sa modlí za vás!

WOW

Zdeno Chara of Boston Bruins under criminal investigation for hit on Canadiens' Max Pacioretty 

Published: Thursday, March 10, 2011, 6:54 PM     Updated: Thursday, March 10, 2011, 7:08 PM

By The Associated Press

 

 

QUEBEC CITY – Montreal police started a criminal investigation Thursday into the on-ice hit by Boston’s Zdeno Chara that left the Canadiens’ Max Pacioretty with a severe concussion and cracked vertebra.

Police said they are acting on a request by Quebec’s director of criminal and penal prosecutions, Louis Dionne. They added that after evidence is collected, it will be determined if there are grounds for prosecution.  

Chara took part in the Bruins’ morning skate before Thursday night’s home game against the Buffalo Sabres. He did not speak at length on the investigation, but did acknowledge it.

“I got some media information on that this morning,” he said. “But like I said, right now, I’m focusing on playing my game, and playing hockey.”

The NHL said on Wednesday it would not suspend Chara for Tuesday night’s hit, when he slammed Pacioretty into a glass partition.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman defended that decision after a congressional panel discussion about encouraging youngsters to play hockey.

“Our hockey operations people are extraordinarily comfortable with the decision that they made,” he said, according to The Canadian Press. “It was a horrific injury, we’re sorry that it happened in our fast-paced physical game, but I don’t think whether or not supplemental discipline was imposed would change what happened and, in fact, the people in the game who I have heard from, almost to a person ... believe that it was handled appropriately by hockey operations.”

He also said there is no need to “over-legislate” hits to the head.

Canadiens owner Geoff Molson said in an open letter to the team’s fans on Thursday that “the Montreal Canadiens organization does not agree” with the league’s decision and that he had made his position clear to Bettman.

“The news of the NHL decision (Wednesday) was a hard blow for both the players and fans of the Montreal Canadiens,” wrote Molson, who noted that Bettman had agreed to make the issue a priority at the league’s general managers’ meetings next week in Florida. “It was one which shook the faith that we, as a community, have in this sport that we hold in such high regard.”

In Toronto, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the NHL, “for its own sake,” should look seriously at the increase in serious injuries. He declined to comment on the hit on Pacioretty.

Bruins coach Claude Julien said after practice that he wouldn’t comment too much “because no matter what your answer, there’s always going be two sides to that. We’re supportive of our player. We know he didn’t do it on purpose. It wasn’t intentional. I said that yesterday.

“But, at the same time, I understand their frustration at the other end because we’ve been on the other side of the coin, and it’s normal to be frustrated and I understand them as well. And that’s basically my thoughts on that.”

This cloud hovered over the Bruins, the leaders of the Northeast Division, as they tried to snap a two-game losing streak.

“There’s still things hanging over our heads right now. It doesn’t seem to want to disappear. And those are situations that are unfortunate, and they’re not easy to deal with for anybody, whether it’s the organization, the players and everybody involved here,” Julien said. “It’s not an easy situation because we understand that there’s a player that’s injured at the other end. As I mentioned earlier, we’ve had that happen to us. It goes past the game itself. We’re talking about individuals. We don’t wish that on anybody. And that kind of stuff doesn’t disappear overnight.”

Bettman said Pacioretty’s injury is part of the game. He also said most concussions and head injuries this season have been from accidents or players falling – rather than as the result of hits. There, indeed, has been strong debate this season over injuries from hits to the head. Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby is among those sidelined with such an injury. In a related matter, Air Canada has told the NHL it is considering withdrawing its sponsorship unless the league tightens rules to reduce potentially serious injuries.

“Air Canada is a great brand, as is the National Hockey League,” Bettman said, “and if they decide they need to do other things with their sponsorship dollars that’s their prerogative.”

Dionne filed his request for an investigation after watching television footage of Chara’s hit, his spokeswoman said.

“The police investigation will be held. Like all police investigations, evidence will be gathered and an investigation report will be submitted,” spokeswoman Martine Berube said. “(The DCPP) will then evaluate to see whether there’s grounds for prosecution.”

Asked what kind of punishment could be assessed in a case like Chara’s, she replied: “It’s too early to say. That would depend on what charges are laid. That’s a little difficult to predict at this point.”

Pacioretty, a left wing from Connecticut, is a regular top-line player for Montreal. With he and Chara racing for the puck near the player benches, Chara checked Pacioretty into the boards, sending him slamming into a stanchion supporting the glass.
The hit drew criticism from Gary Lunn, the minister of state for sports, and others outside the league. Lunn called it unacceptable.

But the league deemed it “a hockey play that resulted in an injury because of the player colliding with the stanchion and then the ice surface.”

Chara, who said he had no intent to hurt Pacioretty, was given a major penalty for interference and a game misconduct on the play. The Bruins’ captain has never been suspended in his 13-year career.

Pacioretty told TSN he was “upset and disgusted” that the league had not suspended Chara.

“I’m not mad for myself, I’m mad because if other players see a hit like that and think it’s OK, they won’t be suspended, then other players will get hurt like I got hurt,” he said.

Pacioretty has not forgiven Chara.

“I understand, he’s in the hospital, he has a right to be emotional and I respect that,” Chara said. “I obviously feel bad that he got hurt. As a hockey player, we all feel bad that something like that happened – doesn’t matter if you’re the home team or the visiting team. I’m wishing him a fast recovery and hopefully he can be back on the ice soon and that’s all we love to do. We love to play hockey. Obviously, when we go out there, we take risks. And sometimes, we do get hurt. But, it’s just very unfortunate.”

Several legal and former law-enforcement experts expressed doubt a police investigation would result in criminal charges.

“This would be the type of case that would be very tough to prosecute,” former major crimes investigator with Quebec’s provincial police John Galianos said.

He added that the difficulty facing prosecutors would be establishing Chara’s intent to injure.

“I don’t think a Crown attorney would prosecute based on the video,” he said.

Montreal lawyer Steven Slimovitch said, “When you get involved in a sport, there is a concept of acceptance of risk. The question is did Pacioretty agree to be hit in that kind of fashion by Zdeno Chara? Was the hit so outside the norm of what is found in the sport of hockey ... that it’s not hockey anymore?”

Philadelphia defenseman Sean O’Donnell didn’t think a successful legal case could be made.

“Well, there’s always some prosecutors who would like to get their names in the papers, is what I’m thinking,” he said before the Flyers game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night. “There was no stick brought up, there was no punch. I don’t think there’s a lot of ground for those guys to stand on.”

The Canadiens, without Pacioretty, took on the Blues Thursday in St. Louis. Coach Jacques Martin spoke at the morning skate.

“With Max, I think he’s recovering at the hospital and still being under observation,” Martin said. “Obviously, we’re not pleased with the league decision.”

Martin was asked about the criminal investigation.

“I think the organization is looking after doing the representation on the incident,” he said. “I think to me, that’s up to the organization’s responsibility.”

The Canadiens, with 81 points, were three behind first-place Boston in the Northeast before Thursday’s games.

“We had a meeting yesterday and informed the team of the situation and the status of Max,” Martin said. “Basically, he’s still recovering and our mandate is to focus on the game. Hopefully next week, they’ll be in better spirits.”

Zach Likes the zach brown band, my work here is done!

Bogosian and Slater Named 2011 Gilner-Reeves Award Recipients

Atlanta Thrashers defenseman Zach Bogosian and forward Jim Slater have been named the co-recipients of the 2011 Gilner-Reeves Community Service Award, according to Team President Don Waddell. The players received the award during an on-ice ceremony prior to this afternoon’s game at Philips Arena versus the Ottawa Senators.The award, presented annually since the Thrashers 1999-2000 inaugural season, is named in honor of Stephen Gilner and Steve Reeves, two Cobb County police officers who were killed in the line of duty in 1999. It is given to the Thrashers player who not only has made an impact on the Atlanta community, but is willing to commit his efforts and talents above and beyond the call of duty.
Gilner's wife, Elisa, and daughter, Nikki, were joined by Waddell to present the award to the players. In recognition of the award, the Atlanta Thrashers Foundation will also contribute $10,000 in the winning players’ names to Georgia children’s charities.

This season, Slater made an impactful donation to Traveler’s Aid of Metro Atlanta, and brought children with cancer to a Thrashers game. He also participated in a Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless event, in which players sorted food, toys and clothes for homeless families to enjoy during the holiday season. Bogosian made a $15,000 contribution to the Atlanta Thrashers Player Ticket Program to bring children from various charitable groups to every home game. He also took part in a Random Act of Kindness visit to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite, as well as the Home for the Holidays party at Philips Arena for 100 children from local non-profit organizations. As part of the event, he interacted with the children in a variety of activities, including arts and crafts, dodgeball and floor hockey.Earlier this year, the players and their teammates visited Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to spread some holiday cheer by distributing Thrashers gifts and signing autographs, as well as the annual Casino Night Fundraising gala.

Last season, Slater was named a co-winner of the Gilner-Reeves Award, along with former Thrashers forward Marty Reasoner. This is the first time Bogosian has received the award.

I was happy until

I was really happy until I realized that Boris isn't a Boston Bruin, he's a prospect.So basically he did all this work with the Thrashers just to be a prospect again! I'm kinda mad because I was excited about seeing the other freakishly tall slovakian on the team, Zdeno Chara. That's if Zdeno isn't in jail, court or injured! Yes Chara is still dealing with the brutal hit he laid on Max Paciorett at least a month ago.Sad really, one brutal hit has caused Chara and the whole NHL to come under fire but my question is what is too brutal. I'll write more about this later!

The good die young

Patrick Swayze, one of the most classy guys ever so when he passed away in 2009 it really proved that sometimes the good really do die young, I mean come on he was only 50 when he died and what made it even harder was whenever I saw pictures there at the end of him he look so skinny and it just broke my heart. I still use the famous line "nobody puts baby in the corner" whenever one of my younger boys get into a fight cause someone hit them first or did something to them 1st. What makes this easier is that we know Patrick is in a better place, he's not suffering any more.

Patrick:

The good die young and you were one of the best! 

I forgot to mention

On March 11 the thrashers played the devils for the last time but what was cool was I saw a very little and cool individual I met over the summer (@ Sulli's camp) named Sawyer head to the bench and then into the locker room. I was freaking out "AWWWWW! Sawyer! wow! He's so cute!" Sawyer is the soon of Eric Boulton and Eric had 2 of his sons on the ice with him because they were a part of the team picked as the team of the night. I know it meant a lot to Eric to have Ryder and Sawyer with him on the ice and who knows maybe a few years down the road we'll see one or more of Eric's sons on a NHL team!

Star palyer: Patrice cormeir

I believe in second chances and Patrice is getting his. Patrice had a chance in Canada until he hit a player in the nose with his elbow causing the other player to drop to the ice and have convulsions. The team the other played for filed criminal charges against Patrice! He has to pay fines and do community service hours. He's trying and I hope for his sake he does good. I wanted to honor him because he is trying to come back and get back to playing hockey. He's also trying to make people forget the whole incident. So good luck Patrice! I'm rooting for you!

That poor coach

You're seeing correctly the Vancouver Canucks have twin boys on their team. All I thought was "thank God they wear different numbers far from each other", one wears 22 while 33. My 2nd thought was "that poor coach". Could you imagine having brothers on your team and then on top of that they're identical twins? During the game last night I saw my boy Burmi look at Henrik then at Daniel like "what the....?" it was so cute. I have no clue where I was going to take this idea but it was just funny!

Funny

it's been 2 years?

This summer it'll be 2 years since we lost an angel, Farrah Fawcett. She was gorgeous! It's just so sad that we're coming up on this kind of anniversary with Farrah.


Farrah we miss you, you'll always we our angel!

A swede with a fro

8-2 loss

The sabres won against my boys recently but look at this picture, it looks like bogie is about to cry!!

Good ol Savannah GA

The pride of Savannah Ga, ooooh yeah my cousin got engaged there but there's another reason to like Savannah, it's the birth place of Mr. Billy Currington who later lived in Rincon Georgia. It is so awesome to see these small town people doing so well. Of course Billy's a very talented singer who has songs such as "Very good at drinking beer" and "Good directions". I saw him in concert once and loved it plus I think he's cute so it kinda helped seeing him.So to Billy I wish you all the best! To my readers Y'all need to go see him in concert!

Happy birthday to...

 

Happy 25th to Kyle Maynard!

Freddie is cute

Don't the Kids look good?

I heard that line on Oprah when Julie Andrews looked at the actors who played the kids on the sound of music. The reason why I bring this up is because we have a bunch of kids on the 3 teams in the ministry, 4 on the thrashers, 1 on the Chicago wolves, and 2 on the Gladiators. That's right we have 7 kids on 3 teams. Their names are:Edward Pasquale (Wolf), Danick Paquette (Gladiator), Chris Carrozzi (Gladiator), Zach Bogosian (Thrasher), Evander Kane (Thrasher), Patrice Cormier (Thrasher) and Alex Burmistrov (Thrasher). Our kids look good, actually they look amazing! I was a little worried about them with me not being their but let's face it, they're kids-they can handle themselves with out a big sister type around Ed's different he's in and out of Georgia all the time but still kids need some kind of big sister type in their life just in case they need it. I don't think these kids do though. Ed's posting awesome numbers between the pipes with 358 saves in 15 games, Carrozzi has 987 saves in 39 games.  Danick has 17 goals and 7 assists in 57 games, Alex has 5 goals and 17 assists in 61 games, Evander has played in 60 games this season and scored 18 goals and 20 assists, Patrice has 1 goal and 1 assist in 21 games and my little Zach has 5 goals and 10 assist in 58 games. so as you can see our kids are so good! Keep it up boys!

God I love those eyes

Mason + Bogie= cute picture

Star player: Edward Pasquale

Edward is an amazing talent, I saw that when I went home for both Christmas and Thanksgiving. Sadly I have not been able to see him too much this season but I've heard nothing but good things about this guy. He's recently been called back up to the Chicago wolves, this is part of the reason why I wanted to honor Eddie. The other is that he plays just well. I've always been impressed by his technique, even though he hasn't put up good numbers. So I wanna congratulate Eddie on the call up, it won't be long now until we hear "EEEDWAAARDD PAAASQQUUAAAAAALLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" announced in phillips!

Check out this great MSN video: Brutal hit on Pacioretty

Check out this great MSN video: Brutal hit on Pacioretty

One of the best coaches ever

Coach Mark Richt, head football coach of the UGA bulldogs that should be enough for me to say. But people's faith is starting to run out with coach, there's even a group on face book and a bunch of websites calling for UGA to fire him but let's face it our problem isn't coach a lot of it is our boys, they just don't try. I've seen coach get so mad I was so scared he would make himself have a heart attack or stroke out "Calm down coach!" I say then I start fussing at the boys "really? Really? REALLY? COME ON!!!!!!! You know better than that!!!! COME ON!" Oh do I ever get looks from people here during UGA football and hockey but I think coach tries. So come on coach they know better let's make the boys do better!

You let me down Danica

I was really excited to see a girl so popular in a "boy sport" with out using sexy pictures, her body or anything else but her talent to up her popularity well that changed in the case of Danica Patrick. I looked up to her and now that's lost. I did a bing image search to find a picture to use for a blog about how awesome girl athletes are but when I saw how many of Danica's pictures were sexy. I got so disgusted "Oh come on Danica you're better than that!" Apparently I need to rethink who I look up to because Danica is using her body to up her popularity! You let me down Danica. Is there any girl out there I can look up to in a "boy sport"?

The bad boys

It's no secret that I like the bad boys, I'm a girl it's to be expected. The one thing that I try to do is to get people to see the boy's talent and not the boy's bad behavior. I recently tried to get Pyle to look beyond Dannick Paquette's bad behavior and to see him as I see him. I see him as a good kid with an amazing talent, I just hope that everyone else see that as well. I think the main reason I'm like this with the bad boys is because they're not bad guys they're just miss understood. Danick is the first one I made a public plea for, I believe that much in him. I see something in Danick, I believe he's genuinely different, I can't explain it but there's something I see in him that makes me think that I'm needed by this kid or that I could give something to him. I have no clue what I'm suppose to do for him but there's something I feel like I'm suppose to do! I hate when I feel like I'm suppose to do! If you have suggestions as to what I can do let me know

Kari Says NO.....make that heck no

My Message to Kari Lehtonen

Hyvä Kari,
Olen pahoillani En koskaan mene nähdä livenä, tulen Dallas pelin yksi päivä. Yritän tulla maalivahti ja kun minä pelata joukkueen halusin käyttää oman numeron, ja kunnioitan sinua. Kuvittele, että määrä kolmekymmentäkaksi on alle sukunimeni ja kaikki hiukset.Se on todella siistiä, että joku minun ikäiseni tai lähes ikäni katsoa ylöspäin. Eikö olisi siistiä voit tulla peliin ja näytät tavoite ja siellä minua tavoite? Halusin vain kertoa teille, että ja onnea!

Uskossa,
Christina

Good ol' GA

Maybe I don't honor my American people as much as I should. I spend all this time honoring people of my Slovakian heritage but I keep forgetting to honor the people from my home state of Georgia. One of the people I thought I'd start with in just mentioning briefly is Mr. David Ragan from Unadilla, GA and he was born Christmas eve the year before I was. And FYI ladies, he's single. He got his start at 12 years old thanks to his dad who was Winston Cup driver named Ken Ragan. I just thought I'd give you a taste of what GA has to offer in people he seems like an awesome kid so check him out in Bristol! Good luck David, we're rooting for you in GA! For more info on David go to his website http://www.davidragan.com/home.cfm

My plea to coach

Dear Coach,
Do you recognize this boy? He's Danick Paquette, he's one of your boys. Do you know his story? I don't, but I would like to. Do you know his stats? I look at them from time to time, 13 goals and 7 assists not bad for a fighter. Coach I come to you to plea for this boy if he's not committed to another team next season I would like for us to have him on our team so that I could have the opportunity to minister to him, if he'd give me the honor to do so.I also think that the numbers he can put up will help us next year as well. You know I don't usually come to you about a player I want on the team so you know that this kid means a lot. I feel like God has given me a burden for this kid so please let me have the opportunity to meet him, talk with him  and pray with him. Thanks Coach.

~~~CHRISTINA~~~

Picking a coach's brain

If my friend Kim's right then I'm Sheryl Yoast (the white coach's daughter in "remember the titans") and Coach Pyle is Coach Yoast or I'm Leigh Anne Tuohyand coach Pyle is any coach from "the Blind side". But this isn't Texas or Virgina and this ain't football (oh I'm so country!). We're in Georgia dealing with a little sport called hockey. Hockey has caught on with the crazies (and those of us who know a good time when we see it) and I'm amazed about how popular it is here. But what I'm also impressed by is our coaches in Georgia. I love looking over at the bench to see how any coach reacts to certain situations. I've even caught myself fussing at Coach Pyle and Coach Ramsey, sorry coach! I decided to ask coach Pyle some questions ranging from his career to what he thinks about different teams and players across the board.So those will come soon! I'll let you know

I just joined the fight!

As we all know hockey fights cancer but I just joined the fight. When I joined the relay for life team set up Ms. Moore who works here at my center! I'm so excited!

I'm more and more like Him everyday

When people ask me who in the news (past or present) do I act more like I don't automatically think Mike Eruzione. Number one because I'm not a guy, 2nd of all he never went to job corps (he was too busy at Boston University and the Olympics) and 3rd he played hockey. But looking beyond the differences, I'm so much Like "Ritz" it's crazy! I have brown hair and I'm on the shorter side. I want to play hockey just like him and I'm looking into going to Boston University like he did. At job corps I'm in a leadership role as a student ambassador and he of course was the caption of the 1980 of the Olympic team. I was talking to mom about the possibility of me wearing Mike's  number but I was not the leader he was and she mentioned that I'm becoming the leader he was but it just took me awhile I was more of the one who lead like he did, with actions instead of words so I am like "Ritz". WOW, I have big shoes to fill

My boy's 1st fight

Yep it's about that time

It's Atlanta, I'm a southern tomboy, I have a Family full of base ball fans, it's march.......yeah It's a good time!