World Cup of Hockey

My brother tells me I need to post more so here it goes.

Canada kicks off their World Cup of Hockey tournament tonight in a beauty way with a rematch against the '96 defending champs, the USA.

On paper I would say that Canada should not only win, but win decisively. However, I think Canadians everywhere thought that way 8 years ago when the US shocked everyone to win the tournament. Mind you, they won mostly because they Mike Richter played the best hockey of his life in that tournament.

This year though, the US is without Mr. Richter and will be backstopped by a trio of unproven netminders in Robert Esche, Ty Conklin, and Rick DiPietro. Esche will get the start tonight against the Canadians but it doesn't sound like he's the #1 guy by any means. Fact is, none of these guys are going to lead the US to a title in this year's tournament.

Goaltending will not be their downfall though, age will. As the game of hockey continues to evolve, youth and an ability to play within a system will win over veteran experience and "big names". Even with big name guys like Mike Modano, Bill Guerin, Brett Hull, Brian Leetch and Chris Chelios, I still think the US will finish near the bottom of this tournament.

Give me guys like Ryan Smyth, Kris Draper, Patrick Marleau and Jarome Iginla any day.

I like what Wayne Gretzky and co. have done with this World Cup team. I like their selections and I like the direction they are heading in for the future. The fact that we could have a fourth line of Shane Doan, Joe Thornton and Brendan Morrow gives me a great deal of hope for this team (that line could be a #1 line for any other country).

As this might be our only taste of world class hockey for a few months I plan to enjoy this tournament as much as possible. I expect big things from the Canadian boys and I think anything less then winning it all will be a disappointment.

I think our best competition may very well come from Finland. They looked phenomenal in yesterday's opener against the Czech's. Mika Kiprusoff appears ready to start up where he left off and that in itself makes Finland a dangerous team. The Slovaks also have a great offensive attack, and against what I believe to be a shaky Canadian defence, could cause some problems for us if Brodeur is not on his game.

My question is why is Simon Gagne so high on the list of Canadian talent? Watching Bob Mackenzie on TSN last night, he mentioned that Gagne was one of the foregone concluded guys to dress in every game in this tournament. Guys who were on the bubble- Doan, Thornton, Draper, Maltby and Smyth. Outside of the fact that Gagne has Olympic experience I don't really see what the big deal is about this guy? I think Doan is one of the best young forwards in the game, as are Smyth and Thornton. To sit any of those 3 guys out would be a crime as far as I'm concerned. Being that I'm a die-hard Wings fan, I'd hate to see Drapes and Maltby ride the pine as well. However, I can concede that, outside of their penalty killing prowess, either of them would probably be a good candidate to sit. Especially Maltby.

Whatever happens, the decisions will not be easy for Pat Quinn and his coaching staff.

Anyways, if you're a hockey fan, take advantage of being able to watch this tournament because from the sounds of it, it's going to be a long time before we see these players competing at this level again.

Thank goodness for Junior hockey.

Keep your stick on the ice.

The Amazing Race

Summertime TV watching is usually about having the opportunity to catch reruns of missed episdoes of your favorite shows, as well as checking out shows you've never taken time to watch before (thus finding new favorite shows). For example, my wife and I have become big fans of Without a Trace this summer. It's a show we don't normally watch because I believe it's on at the same time as CSI.

Summertime TV has also brought me one of my favorite shows of the year- The Amazing Race. It's no surprise to me that this show has won the Emmy for favorite reality TV series. Compared to most of the other "reality" shows that are out there, this one is miles apart in terms of entertainment value and in terms of being worthy of taking up an hour of my busy life each week.

I don't know if any of you out there are Amazing Race fans but if you haven't checked it out, I highly recommend that you do so. Next to 24, NYPD Blue and CSI, the Amazing Race is the fastest hour of television that I've ever sat down and watched.

My only complaint about the show is that they have not yet had a leg of the race through Canada (at least I don't think they have). I'm not sure why this is but I for one would love to see some of these American participants have to ski the slopes in beautiful Whistler, or perhaps join the squeegee kids in washing windshields in downtown TO. Even better, bring 'em out to Saskatchewan for some gopher hunting :).

Anyways, just wanted to make a quick plug for the show that gets me speeding home from work every Tuesday night. They are down to the final 5 couples now and they've added a very cool twist to the game. They have pitstops that mark the end of each leg of the race (the end of each episode). Most of these pitstops are elimination stops where the last team to arrive is eliminated from the race. Every few episodes though one of the pitstops is not an elimination stop, meaning the last team to arrive gets a second chance to stop sucking.

BUT, this year what they've done is that if you're the last team to arrive at a pitstop that's not an elimination point, you still get to continue BUT you have to turn in all your money and start the next leg of the race with no cash.

That's what happened this past week and the two twins, Kami & Karli (The Amazing Race's version of the Olsen twins- they weigh like 75 pounds combined), were the last to arrive at a non-elimination check-point. So next week they get to start the next leg of the race with no money, and the race kicks off from the middle of the desert (can't remember which desert though). It's one thing to be stuck in a big city with no money- at least you can panhandle- but what do you do in the middle of the desert? Sucks to be the twins.

Anyways, check out The Amazing Race 5 if you haven't already, it is just what the title suggests, Amazing.

Peace out,

Mike

The Inaugural Blog

Well here it is kids, my first blog. I have been meaning for quite some time now to start up with this but life seems to move at a faster pace then I can keep up with. I guess having two kids will do that to a guy.

I'm quite excited about having this creative outlet at my fingertips. This will mainly be a weekday practice for me as I am currently computerless at my home. That actually suits me fine because I can then focus my time on wrestling with young Mr. Carter or perhaps changing the dozens and dozens of diapers that 2 month old Jenna goes through on a daily basis.

I have sent invitations to a few people who I consider to be important in my life. I hope that you will accept my invitation to start up your own blog, or to at least check out this page from time to time as I plan to write often. With so many miles between us it is awesome to have something like this to allow us to stay in close communication.

What can you expect from Prairie Ponderings? Well, expect the unexpected really. You never know what I'm going to write about from one day to the next. If I don't know what I'm going to write about then I don't expect you will either. For those of you who know me you'll already know that the majority of entries will probably revolve around sports or some form of media- TV, movies, books (yes, I can and DO read), music, etc.. I'll throw in some funny stories about my family, perhaps some work-related stuff, and perhaps even dabble into some religion and politics (although politics is not something I tend to pay a whole lot of attention to).

I think you will find my blogs to be eerily similar to my brother Brian's- popsnbuzzes.blogspot.com- although with some destinct differences. One being that my taste in sports teams is far more refined then his. Other then that, we're cut from the same mold as far as having a warped sense of humor, an oddly similar taste in movies, tv shows and music (although I have to admit that I think the West Wing is painfully boring to watch- why don't they make a show about the life of the Prime Minister of Canada :)?). Anyways, if you like my blog, you'll probably like his and vice versa.

So, in closing (because this has taken on a speech feel so I should probably give a formal close) I would like to say that I look forward to sharing my random thoughts and my calculated thoughts with you as the days, weeks, months and years pass by.

Talk to you soon.

Mike