Danick Paqquette

OK while I was home I noticed something about this kid, he's a little bit like Zach Bogosian. The first time I saw Zach I wanted to protect him become like a big sister to him all of a sudden when I saw Danick for the first time I thought that all familiar thought "I wonder where this kid is from, what's his story? what makes him tick?" Then when I saw him fight it took all I had to sit in my seat and not go running to try to see if I could talk to him to calm him down to see what was going through his mind and to see if he was OK. Mostly I wanted to pray with him in that moment. It's something that I can't turn off in certain moments this mothering thing.According to a few of my friends I wouldn't want the mothering thing to be turned off or go away. Anyway Zach was born July 15 1990 while Danick was born July 17 1990, 2 days apart in age that's wild! Of course they're playing in the same organization, the Atlanta thrashers organization. Zach was drafted in 2008 by Atlanta along with Danick. They're both brunette with brown eyes and that's about where the similarities end. But this is not where Danick ends, Danick is someone who is feisty, talented and young. I did some research on this kid and he's had some solid stats, in this season alone he has scored 7 goals and 5 assists! That's really good considering he has 130 penalty minutes over 43 games. In the 2006-07 season he played with the  Lewiston MAINEiacs where he scored 4 goals 14 assists with 112 penalty minutes. 2007-2008 he played with the same team and he scored 29 goals and 13 assists with 213 penalty minutes. In the 2008 -2009 season he split his time with the MAINEiacs and the Chicago wolves of the AHL. With the MAINEiacs he scored 25 goals and 25 assists with 230 penalty minutes but with the Wolves he played in 4 games with no points and 12 penalty minutes. In the 2009-10 season he played with the Quebec Remparts scoring 36 goals and 29 assists with 136 penalty minutes. This season we had to share him with the Remparts but no stats were available for the Remparts. For up to date stats and past play off stats pleas go to this site http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=96341.This guy is awesome he's a wild guy to watch but I believe he's what we need on our team so good luck Danick!

Peter Budaj

What is to be said about a Slovakian goalie by a girl who's part Slovakian and dreams of being a goalie? Peter is  handsome and awesome! So I decide to find out as much as I possibly could about this boy. So I found out that he was born on September 18, 1982 in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. He also shares another strong tie with me besides our heritage we share our Christian faith.He just keeps getting better and better! Peter is a part of the hockey ministries international but because of his busy schedule can't be a part of it as much as he's like. Peter was drafted in 2001 by the Avalanche as the 1st round pick (63 over all). He also played for the the Hershey Bears of the  AHL and the Toronto St. Michael's Majors of the OHL.
His first NHL season was in 2005–06 but his first NHL playoff appearances came in the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs in relief of Théodore in Colorado's second round matchup against the Detriot red wings who eventually won it all.
In the 2008-2009 season, Budaj was named the starting goalie for the Colorado Avalanche for the first time. He and backup goaltender Andrew Raycroft struggled throughout the season as the Avalanche finished last in the Western Conference, missing the playoffs for the second time in last three seasons.On June 29, 2009, he was re-signed by the Avalanche to a one-year contract for the 2009-2010 season.He started the season playing as the Avalanche backup goalie to Craig Anderson. Before his first appearance in net, Budaj was diagnosed with the H1N1  virus (Swine Flu) and was completely isolated from the rest of the team until he was cleared to play by the coaching staff. Budaj finally made his first appearance of the season on November 4. He stopped 28 of 29 shots and backstopped the Avs to a 4-1 victory, not bad for a guy who just had the pig flu. Budaj made his second post season appearance on April 22, 2010 against the Sharks, when he relieved Craig Anderson in the 1st period. The Sharks won the game with one goal scored against Peter. One of the things that I also learned about Peter is that he's married with a kid, Peter Jr. He hadn't been married but a year when the baby came and he has such an awesome attitude about the baby he says it's something that is humbling and he thanks God for it everyday. He is just so awesome. If you want more info on him please read this article http://www.denverpost.com/avalanche/ci_16560348 and view his stats at http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/profile?playerId=1511.

What a shame

Thanks to back surgery Kari Lehtonen missed most of this past season so I never got to see him live! I did see him at 3 practices but that was about it and I think I was totally robbed! He's an amazing talent and I totally was wrong about him, I thought his was an egotistical jerk wad with no personality. He does have his mean moments but he was kinda nice to me. I also found something to love about Kari while doing this blog. I'm a huge fan of the fighters and the guys who had the rough style of play, so when I was researchhing Kari for this blog the search engines kept "suggesting" that I search for Kari Lehtonen fighting! I instantly became more smitten with him even though he hasn't really gotten into any fights. Kari ended up getting traded to Dallas Stars after a rehab start with Chicago Wolves, maybe getting into fights would have helped- just saying!! I saw a picture of him for his Stars profile and he looks good! He's lost weight! It hurts me to see him in his star uniform but where ever he can go and be happy and play then that's fine! I also miss seeing his masks, I'm obessed with goalie masks! Kari is a 6 foot 4 210 pound beast born on November 16, 1983 in Helsinki Finland. He was doing an interview talking about how hard it was to come to America having not lived on his own before and not being able to speak English very well. He's doingg very well with the English thing!He was drafted in 2002 by the Atlanta thrashers in the 1st round (second overall) which made him the highest drafted European goalie ever! Kari better be honored I say this, he's very much like Jim Craig. He has this gracefully style but he also has these crazy, manick, attack the puck moments. I love watching him just go for it, the way he moves is so amazing. So it really isn't much of a surprise that he was the highest drafted European goaltender! Kari has some odd numbers because of all of his injuries and surgeries. In the summer between the 2008-2009 season and the 2009-2010 season Kari had 2 surgeries on his back. About to be 27 and already has had so many surgeries on that stupid back but more on that later. Before he ever came over to America he played in the top Finnish professional league, SM-liiga. He played 3 seasons with that league and went to play offs in 2 of those 3 seasons. Lucky me I found a lot of stats on him, some dating back to 1999-2000 (his 1998-1999 stats only have the games played). I did find his 1998-1999 playoffs stats where he played in 4 games (240 minutes) losing 2 winning 2 with no shootouts facing 7 goals against making his goals against average 1.75. In the 1999-2000 season he was playing for the professional finish league's Junior version, it was still the team called the Jokerit. With that team he went to playoffs where he played in 12 games (758 minutes) winning 9, losing 3 with 4 shootouts. He faced 14 goals against making his goals against average 1.11. In that season Kari played in 33 games (1,974 minutes total) resulting in 21 wins, 9 losses, 3 ties and 2 shootouts. In those 33 games, he faced 86 goals against making his goals against average 2.61. In that same season he also played in the WJ18 league over in Finland. With that team he put up some decent numbers as well, even though he didn't play in that many games. He played in 6 games (307 minutes) winning 5 and tying 1 with 1 shoot out. He faced 9 goals against making his goals against average 1.76. In the 2000-2001 season he played both in the juniors and U18 leagues but I couldn't find the stats for the U18. In the u18 team they went to playoffs that season where he played in 6 games but I couldn't find any other stats except for games played. He also played for a few other teams that season (all in Finland). In the Juniors he played in 31 games (1,799 minutes) with 20 wins, 9 losses and 1 tie with 3 shoot outs. He faced 71 goals against which brought his goals against average to 2.37. With juniors he also went to playoffs where he played in 1 game (%4 minutes) losing it with 4 goals against bringing his goals against average to 4.44. With one of the other teams (the regular jokerit team) Kari played in 4 games (189 minutes) winning 3, losing 1 facing only 6 goals against finishing with a goals against average of 1.90. In the WJC league he played in and won 1 game (60 minutes) he faced only 2 goals against making his goals against average 2.00. With the last team he played with that season (WJC18) he played in 4 games (239 minutes) winning 3 losing 1 with no ties and 2 shoot outs. He faced 7 goals against bringing his goals against average to 1.76. In the 2001-2002 season Kari had to split his time between 4 finish teams. With the 1st team (Jokerit JR) he played in 6 games (360 minutes) with 5 wins 1 loss and 1 shootout. He had 11 goals against with a goals against average of 1.83. With the regular jokerits he played in 23 games (1,242 minutes) with 13 wins, 5 losses, 2 ties and 4 shootouts. He had 37 goals against bringing his goals against average to 1.79. With that team he played 11 play off games (623 minutes) winning The next team was a finish WJC team (which I think is the world Junior championship team). He played in 6 games (360 minutes) with 4 wins 2 losses and 1 shootout. He faced 7 goals against and had a goals against average of 7.17. The next team listed was the finish WC team but no stats are listed (weird I know!). In 2002-2003 Kari splits his time again and this time it's between one regular Finnish team and the world Championship team and the junior World team. With the regular Fin team he played in 45 games (2,634minutes) winning 23, losing 14, tying 6 with 5 shootouts. He faced 87 goals against bringing the goals against average to 1.98. They went to playoffs that year. Kari played in 10 games (626 minutes) winning 6, losing 4 with 2 shoot outs. He faced 17 goals against bringing his goals against average to 1.63. With the world Junior championship team he played 6 games (357 minutes) winning 3, losing 2, tying 1 with 2 shootouts. He faced 13 goals against bringing his goals against average to 2.19. Of course the stats for the world Championship team are not listed. Finally in the 2003-2004 season Thrasher fans officially welcomed baby Kari into the nest (and the crease) but he only played in 4 games (240 minutes) winning all four with 1 shootout. He faced 5 goals against and 106 shots against bringing his goals against average to 1.25 and his saves percentage to .953. He also played with the Chicago wolves in that season as well. With the wolves he played in 39 games (2,192 minutes) with 20 wins, 14 losses, 2 ties and 3 shoot outs. He faced 88 goals against and 1,189 shots against bringing his saves average to .926 and his goals against average to 2.41. The wolves went to playoffs and Kari played 10 games (663 minutes) winning 6 and losing 4 with 1 shootout. He faced 23 goals againsts and 397 shots against. His saves percentage was .942 and his goals against average was 2.08. In 2004-2005 Kari went to the world cup but there's no stats listed for that. He did however play the whole season the wolves up in Chicago. He played in 57 games (3,378 minutes), winning 38 , losing 17 and tying 2 with 5 shootouts. He faced 128 goals against and 1,182 Shots against bring his saves percentage to .929 and his goals against his average to 2.27. They went to playoffs again that season! Kari played in 16 games (983 minutes) winning 10, losing 6 with 2 shootouts. He faced 28 goals against and 457 shots against. His saves percentage was .939 and his goals against average was 1.71. The next 2 seasons he played fully with the thrashers. So in the 2005-2006 season he played in 38 games (2,166 minutes) winning 20, losing 15, with no ties but 5 shootouts. He faced 106 goals against and 1,123 shots against bringing his goals against average to 2.94 and his saves percentage to .906. The 2006-2007 season he played in 68 games (3,934 minutes) winning 34, losing 24 with 9 overtimes and 4 shootouts. He faced 183 goals against and 2,075 shots against bringing his goals against average to 2.79 and his saves percentage to .912. We went to the post season that year. Kari played in 2 games (118 minutes) losing both with no overtimes or shootouts. He faced 11 goals against and 73 shots against bringing his saves percentage to .849 and his goals against average was 5.59. He went to the 2006-2007 world championship with Finland where he played in 6 games winning 4, losing 2 with 1 shootout. He faced 12 goals against and 138 shots against which brought his save percentage to .934 and his goals against average to 1.93. There was no stats listed for the playoffs for the championships even though they went. The 2007-2008 season he split his time between the wolves and the thrashers. With the thrashers he played 48 games (2,707 minutes) winning 17, losing 22 with 5 overtimes and 4 over times. He faced 131 goals against and 1,550 shots against bring his saves percentage to .916 and his goals against average to 2.90. With the Wolves he played in 2 games winning both with no shootouts or over time with 4 goals against and 61 shots against. He had a goals against average of 1.93 and a saves percentage of .934. The wolves went to playoffs that year as well but no stats were listed. In the 2008-2009 season he played with the thrashers where he played in 46 games (2,624 minutes) winning 19 , losing 22 with 3 overtimes. He faced 134 goals against and 1,498 shots against bringing his saves percentage to .911 and his goals against average to 3.06. In 2009-2010 he played a rehab start with the Chicago wolves but stats are not listed, stats are only listed for the Dallas stars. He played in 12 games (663 minutes) winning 6 and losing 4 with no shootouts or overtimes. He faced 31 goals against and 350 shots against bringing his saves percentage to .911 and his goals against to 2.81. So congrats to Kari for the trade and we'll miss you!

Ondrej Pavelec

It's no secret that I love goalies and players with my heritage or similar heritage. So it's no surprise that I like Ondrej Pavelec. Ondrej is close to my age and is full blooded Czech! He is so sweet. I believe I told the stories about our little interactions but I'll tell them again. One time I went to practice and when he came off the ice I went to talk with him. I told him that my ancestors came over from Slovakia when it was still Czechoslovakia, he was so happy and in turn I was happy to have made someone else so happy! Then a while after that, at the end of the season, I went to see the boys one last time and Ondrej came off the ice straight to the locker room I was concerned cause Ondrej never did that he always stopped to signed stuff. Later he came out in a T-shirt and shorts, he was so tiny!! It always amazes me how small goalies are in regular clothes . I got his attention and told him that I was wanting to be a goalie partly because of him. Before I finished the phrase and just got out that I wanted to be a goalie he seemed so shocked and amazed that there was a girl insane enough to become a goalie then when he heard it was because of him he got all embarrassed but you could tell it honored him for me to say that. He thanked me finished signing stuff and attempted to get back to the locker room, it was locked. Ondrej is a 6 foot 3 inch tall teddy bear that was born on August 31st 1987 in Kladno Czech Republic. Ondrej was like most kids from Europe and liked to play tennis. He also likes playing golf and soccer. Why all these hockey players and coaches like playing golf I have no clue! If he wasn't playing hockey he said he would like to be playing soccer professionally. Ondrej's family is a hockey family with both his sister and dad coaching back in Czech. Ondrej said he had 2 dreams; playing in college and living that life style then the second dream was to play in the NHL. Ondrej was on the road to his second dream in 2005 when he got drafted by the thrashers and the Thrashers gave him no choice but to play in Juniors. Before he played in juniors he played in Czech. The stats aren't all the way filled out but I'll give you what I can fined. In the 2003-2004 he played in 38 games seeing 3 shoot outs and 77 goals against. It doesn't list the wins or loses for that season or the one that followed. He also went to playoffs that season playing in 2 games and facing 7 goals against making his goals against average 6.27. In the 2004-2005 Jr season Ondrej was in 39 games seeing 7 shoot outs and seeing 85 goals against. In the other league he played in that same season he played in only one game and saw no shootouts. He saw only 4 goals against. His goal against averages (the number of goals allowed per hour of play divided by total number of minutes played) were 2.22, 2.30, and 4.00.He played in playoffs this year too playing in 10 games with one shoot out and facing 24 goals against making his goals against average 2.45. In the 2005-2006 season he was playing in juniors with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. In that season he played in 47 games won 27 of them and lost 18. He saw 3 shoot outs, 108 goals against and 1,515 shots against. His saves percentage (the number of saves made divided by the number of shots on goal) was .929 while his goals against average was 2.51. In post season he played in 9 games winning 4 losing 5. He had 19 goals against and 258 shots against. He saves percentage was .926 while his goals against average was 2.25. He spent one more season with the juniors and even played in the junior world Championships. While playing in juniors that final season he played in 43 games, winning 28 of them and losing 11, seeing 1 shoot out. Ondrej faced 98 goals against with 1,o64 shots against. His saves Percentage was .908 and his goals against average was 2.52. In post season he played in 16 games winning 11 and losing 5 with 2 shootouts. He faced 37 goals against and 460 shots against. His saves percenetage was .920 and his goals against average was 2.29. In the junior world championships that year he played in 5 games, faced 15 goals against, 136 shots against and his goals against average was 3.28. In 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 he had to split his time between the Chicago wolves and the Atlanta thrashers. In the 2007-2008 season with the thrashers he had 7 games, 3 wins and 3 losses. He faced 18 goals against and 190 shots against with a saves percentage of .905 and a goals against average of 3.11. In that same year with the wolves he played 52 games winning 33 and losing 16 with 3 ties and 2 shoot outs. He faced 140 goals against with 1,568 shots against. His saves percentage was.911 while his goals against average was 2.77. While with the wolves that year he played in 24 games that post season winning 16 and losing 8 with 2 shootouts. He faced 56 goals against and 705 shots against. He had a Saves percentage of .921 and a goals against average of 2.34. In 2008-2009 with the thrashers he played in 12 games with 3 wins and 7 losses. He faced 36 goals against and 301 shots against. His saves average was .880 while his goals against average was 3.61. With the wolves that year he played 40 games winning 18, losing 20 and tying 2 with 3 shoot outs. He faced 104 goals against and 1,205 shots against. he had a saves percentage of .910 and had a goals against average of 2.58. This past season (2009-2010) he didn't have to split his time he could focus on the thrashers and he was even our starting goalie! He played in 42 games winning 14, losing 18 with 7 overtimes and 2 shootouts. He faced 127 goals against and 1,353 shots against. His saves percentage was .906 while his goals against average was 3.29. This was also the year he made a maskless save which was pretty impressive. He also played back up goalie in the Olympics and world championships winning no medal in the Olympics but winning the gold at worlds. He is such a good guy and I wish him all the best!

Apolo

I have no clue how I came to like Apolo Anton Ohno, I just did. I think I continue to like him for 2 reasons (1) his talent and (2) he has this amazing relationship with his dad. Apolo and Yuki are so close and it's so very sweet to see. You can just tell that Yuki thinks Apolo hung the moon. He cares so much for Apolo and Apolo appreciates Yuki. Apolo's mom was never around though he knows where she lives and could easily go and see her. The reason why he doesn't is because he doesn't wanna deal with the pain that may come with that. I respect him for that because I sometimes think about getting in contact my dad, my dad wasn't around much when I was growing up. Apolo Anton Ohno was born on May 22, 1982 in Federal way Washington. Coming in at only 5 foot 8 inches tall and 145 pounds he is a huge contrast to most athletes that are currently popular. When Apolo was younger Yuki didn't want Apolo to become a latchkey kid so Apolo was involved in competitive swimming (there's a reason for me to like him) and inline speed skating. So his days would start with swimming, continue with school then end with skating. I would probably have passed out! At age 12 he was the Washington state Champion in breaststroke. He had stated that he liked skating more than swimming. When he was 12 he started to get interested in short track skating so Yuki started to drive him to competitions in Canada and the northwest. Apolo ended up being winning several competitions in his age division. Then when he was 13 he was admitted into the lake placid Olympic training Center, the youngest skater ever admitted. He failed to make the 1997 Junior World Championships but came back to win the overall title at the Senior US Championships that same year. In the competition he won the gold in the 1500 meters and the silver in the 300 meter, he also placed fourth in the 500 meter. After the competition, Apolo relocated to the Colorado springs Olympic training center to work with the senior level skaters (even though he was only 14). Apolo went to Japan in 1997 for the world Championships and finished 19th overall. That caused him to not to train from April to August which also caused him not to be prepared for the 1998 Olympic trials, he didn't make the team and he went back to the Junior level. He went to the 1999 junior world championship and he ended up winning the gold in 1000 meters and 1500 meters, and winning the silver in the 500 meters. He also won the senior US national Championships. He was 4th overall and earned a silver medal in the 500 meters. He finished 3rd overall at the 2000 US Championship and he finished 9th overall at the World Championships. In the 2000-2001 season he won his 1st world cup overall title, earned the national title and finishing 2nd at the world championship. In 2001 Apolo went to qualify for the Olympics where he had to race Rusty Smith and Shani Davis, Davis was not expected to win the race so when Davis won people started to say Smith and Ohno threw the race to get Davis on the team. There was a complaint filled by another skater and Davis, Smith and ohno all had to go before the panel about the complain to say that they did not the race or try to stop anyone from advancing in the race. They were later found not guilty of any wrong doing. He went on to win the 1000 meter silver and 1500 meter gold. He also competed in the 2006 and 2010 Olympics. In 2006 he won the gold in the 500 meters and the individual bronze in 1000 meter and won bronze in the 5000 meter relay. In 2010 he won silver in 1500 meters, the individual bronze in the 1000 meters and the bronze in the 5000 meter relay. In 2007 he won dancing with the stars. Apolo is a really amazing athlete! I'm excited to see what he does next