Former KC Blade in NHL's Western Conference Final

This is a nice litte article (I'm assuming online only) by the KC Star's Alan Burchardt previewing the NHL Conference Finals matchups and giving local connections of each team.  Under the Phoenix Coyotes, Burchardt writes:

Former Kansas City Blade Ray Whitney racked up 77 points in his second season in the Valley of the Sun. The Coyotes are his seventh NHL team.

I had to look back, and, yep, holy crap, he did play for the Blades during the 1992-93 season.  He played 46 games with 20 goals and 33 assists, so yeah, he wasn't with the Blades too long.  Whitney won the Stanley Cup as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2005-06.

Also, this just in:  Ray Whitney is old.

After the jump, you will find a photo retrospective of Ray Whitney as a member of the Kansas City Blades.  It's pretty touching.  Break out the tissues!

This item is for sale on eBay.  Hurry, while supplies last.

An artist's conception of hockey in 1992

I always thought this commercial was pretty dumb, until I learned that it used actual footage.

Okay, I don't want to lie to you guys, so, this one is photoshopped.  I couldn't find any other Ray Whitney Blade photos.  Actually, this is more of an excuse to show the Blades original red jersey.  Damn that thing was sharp.  

So, yeah, that's about it.  But what a memorable 46 games!  It kind of brings a tear to your eye.

And, hey, while you are perusing the Internet and all it has to offer, jump over to the Kansas City Hockey History site and learn something, ya crazy kid.  Or, if learning about one thing is more your speed, check out the Kansas City Blades Tribute Site.  On the real, KCHH is the first site that introduced me to everything and anything Kansas City hockey history related oh so many years ago, and it is a great resource for anyone wanting to learn more about Kansas City sports history, in general.

Mizzou vs Kansas Club Hockey Photo and Video Diary Part Deux: Electric Blowout-aloo

The lowly life of the backup goalie of a winless team.  Hold your head up, big guy.  At least you are on an organized team.  

You saw part one, now it's time for the thrilling conclusion of the Mizzou-Kansas Border War photo and video journal.  Will Kansas regroup in the third period, staging an amazing comeback, and avenging the 2007 Border War football game?  Will Mizzou pull a Philadelphia and bleed the entire period skating around in their own end?  How many players will get kicked out for fighting?  The answers to these questions and more can be found after the jump.

By this point in the game, it was getting hard to tell whether or not either team was called getting for a penalty during stoppages of play.  Four KU players on the ice became the norm at this time.

The third period fight, the icing on the fight cake, resulted in six game misconducts.    

The resulting confusion after the fight.  Twenty minutes later they resumed play.

Continued confusion.  Ilya Kovalchuk is not pleased.

Jus' chillin.

"Hey, uh, no one will blame you if you want to get out of here.  Follow me to freedom."

The Kansas bench after the misconducts.  There are four guys on the ice, two goalies, and eight guys on the bench.

The Missouri bench by comparison.

Midway through the third period.  Not everyone seems to have the same focus as the two players taking the faceoff.

Your final score.  Mizzou wins the Border War, 14-3.  The game, mercifully, comes to an end.

Mizzou celebration.

Mizzou skate-ebration.

Team photo with the odd trophy in the background.  Truman didn't break this one, apparently.

Photo with the trophy.  Quick question: who are these photographers and where are their photos?

Coaching staff with the trophy

Thus concludes another hockey night in the Kansas City metro.  I would say that the IEC was about 70% full.  That may be a little generous, but that's still about 4,000+ people for an arena that holds about 5,800.  It wasn't a great game (14-3 final and very chippy throughout), but it's still hockey nonetheless.  And honestly, isn't that what really matters?  Thirty-three Mavs games plus games like this each year make Kansas City a hockey town of sorts, even though it's not on the same level as a Winnipeg, or Seattle, or even St. Louis.  Still fun, though.

Mizzou vs Kansas Club Hockey Photo and Video Diary Part 1

Sergei Federov Russian jersey

If you didn't make it out to the IEC Friday night, you missed a lot of fights, a lot of penalty minutes, and a lot of goals.  Mike Genet at the Examiner has the only write up I have seen so far, so check that out.

Without further ado, here is the Lost City of Bettman official grainy photo and video diary of the 2012 Mizzou-Kansas hockey Border War.

There are, in fact, family restrooms located throughout the arena. 

Pre-game festivities.  Props to all of you people who shelled out the extra cash to sit behind the benches.  And props to the IEC and club hockey programs for selling the cheaper tickets throughout the arena.  Not like that dumb thing back in the day at the Outlaws games where most of the arena was $18, but the first three rows were $40.  That was dumb.

This guy is an usher, but he reminds me of someone...wait, is it this guy?  Maybe that's a stretch.

Missouri and their damn product placement!

Score after the end of the first period.  Mizzou 3.  Kansas 0.  Mizzou scored two goals in the first two minutes.  And the route was on...

Everyone just kind of standing around, probably following the fifteen or so game misconducts.  Oh!  That reminds me.

Yeah, so that was one of two very real fights that resulted in (I think) six total misconducts.

Ah, the innocence of the intermission.  I really hate to say this, but is "Linus and Lucy" (also known as the Peanut theme) just really getting old when the mites play in between periods? 

Zamboni-mania returns!

I'm not lying when I say there were many misconducts.  Oh, and it's sad, but this is the only goal I captured throughout the duration of the entire game.  But, the more important issue is the health of the PA announcer.  Lozenges work wonders, but let's hope he doesn't have some lung problems.

So, this game got out of hand.  Mizzou scored something like four goals during their odd, unannounced powerplay.  We were not told the whole story after the penalties, I fear.

Here's a crowd shot.

The score at the end of the second period.  Mizzou 12.  Kansas 2.

It's good to see about 1/8 of Mizzou's pep band showed up for the game.  Actually, it would have been cool to see Kansas's band as well.  If anything, they would have helped out the arena music guy from playing "Blitzkreig Bop" one hundred times.

Kings vs. Penguins in Perspective, Plus Pictures!!!

Zamboni-mania!

Well, if you attended last night’s preseason game at the Sprint Center, you certainly got your money’s worth.  The Kings and Penguins tied 2-2 after regulation and a five-minute overtime, and went eight rounds into the shootout before deciding a winner.  Pittsburgh’s Matt Niskanen beat Jonathan Bernier in the shootout to seal it 3-2 for the Penguins and sent the KC hockey fans home relatively happy.

Politics, and Tim Leiweke, and struggling downtown businesses, and all of that nonsense aside, this kind of game is what makes Kansas Citians desperate for pro hockey.  

As you can tell by my pictures below, the arena was not totally full.  But, it wasn’t empty either. Of course, bringing in a nationally recognized product like the Pittsburgh Penguins helps.  I would say the Sprint Center sold out about as much as the Scottrade Center in St. Louis “sells out” for a weeknight game, and that’s a good sign for Kansas City/KC region hockey fans.  It does not mean KC will be awarded an expansion franchise tomorrow or the Coyotes players are packing their bags and FedEx-ing their belongings to Overland Park, but it is comforting to know that there are some hockey people in and around this town.  Eh, allow me to explain that better.

I cannot help but shake the fact that this game felt like a midseason game between these two teams.  Of course, the product on the ice did not meet the same criteria, but it just felt like the crowd ebbed and flowed with the game.  They were attentive, but not overly engaged in the action, and the fervor in the crowd built leading up to and during high action events in the game.  The game played to the crowd, as the big moments unfolded from the moment people started shouting to rising out of their seats.  But the crowd was not too excited throughout the game, meaning they didn’t just jump around and lose their minds when someone was checked into the boards or even when post-whistle scuffles broke out.  By the third period, the crowd knew what was on the line and knew that the teams weren’t going to start laying right hooks into each other when the situation did not call for it (although, it should be noted that everyone really wanted to see a fight). 

The atmosphere was good, the crowd seemed to favor the Penguins, but the dual loyalties (or no loyalty to either team) gave the buzz running through the arena a certain calm which allowed the game to be watched and enjoyed.  It didn’t matter who won this game because the fans won by buying a ticket and watching this play out in a familiar home.  Again, no, the product on the ice was not in midseason form, but this type of game is ours, if that makes sense.  This is what Kansas Citians and Nebraskans and Kansans and Iowans and others who travel from not too far get to see.  These exhibition games mean something to us, and it’s great to see it play out in front of a (semi) packed house in the middle of where many of us work and call home.  Neither of these teams are our team that plays in our house, but it’s a sport we all love played in our house, and even for one night that’s pretty cool.

Now I want MOAR!!!

A retrospective of the game in grainy pictures below (click for bigger picture):

Game during the first period.  During a "two minute media timeout!"

Dustin Penner: Look how big he is!

Getting ready to faceoff

Your logo here

Bernier warming up before the 2nd period

Start of the second period

Click on this for a better view, but this is my attempt to show the whole arena and what is labeled a "sell out."  The patching of the panorama function on my camera is not too great, but you get the idea.  And, wow, that came out a lot darker than I thought it should.  Damn.  Taken during the second period. 

Long shot of the arena

Bailey, the Kings mascot.  Sadly, no Air Bailey for this game.

More Bailey and Zambonis

The final score.  Penguins 3, Kings 2 OT/SO

Bonus!  Mizzou-Kansas Shootout Game.  Here is Mizzou in their generic hockey/baseball jerseys.

Kansas in their less generic jerseys.  This game had very little structure, but these teams are fun to watch.

Hey, what was up with those trivia questions during the second intermission?  I mean, what the hell?

Shoot over to my YouTube page for some videos of the game.