It’s your turn to pick sides. Clay Morgan (the best blogger Pittsburgh has ever seen) and I have a friendly wager riding on the results of the NHL season opener between his Penguins and my Flames. Only it’s you–the readers–who will take home the swag.
We are sending some highly-prized chocolate bounty from our cities to two lucky winners:
- the person who predicts the outcome and score of the game
- a person who entertains us with a hockey or skating story (we’ll choose a random name through some unscientific method).
So, leave your hockey or skating memory in the comments of one of our blogs (like Educlaytion.com) and then go predict the score at the other blog (like here in the comments). Entries close before the game starts on Saturday.
And feel free to talk some smack…*
…just be prepared for a smackdown.**
Go Flames!
*In case Clay Morgan tries some anagram alchemy on y’all, do you know that “Sidney Crosby is injured” can be rearranged to spell “Pittsburgh has no hope in hell without their Canadian captain”?
**Do you know why Scranton, PA will never get a professional hockey team? Because then Pittsburgh will want one too.
Now don’t forget to visit Clay south of the border and give him some comment love. He’ll need it after Saturday’s slaughter.
Leanne Shirtliffe is the mother of seven-year-old twins, Thing 1 and Thing 2. She lived in Asia for eight years, which turned out to be a build-your-own-family adventure. Leanne writes for Nickelodeon and pens a humour column for The Calgary Herald. She is represented by Jill Marr of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency in California. 
The Flames will singe the feathers of those Penguins, 3-1.
Ha! I said the same thing on Clay’s site.
Love that metaphor, writer woman!
Hahaha! Too funny. In this match up I’m going to have to side with Calgary. No one likes Sidney Crosby (injured or not)…oops, did I say that out loud? Of course, when it comes down to it eventually I will have to shout from the rafters, “GO RED WINGS!!”
Funny hockey or skating story–both of my brothers played hockey. Since my mom spent so much time in ice rinks, she enrolled my little sister in figure skating (she was about 3 or 4 years old at the time). Practice for that just happened to take place at the same time as my brother’s hockey practice on the other side of the building. When my sister got her skates on and wobbled out onto the ice, she turned to look at my mom and asked “Where’s my stick?” She wanted to play hockey too.
I’m sorry you’ve been misguided about Crosby. Then again you’re a Red Wings fan so that explains much. Are they still developing a treatment for that yet? I am sorry that you had to suffer such a heartbreaking loss to the Pens in the Finals a couple years back
I thought all Americans disliked Sid the Kid because he scored the OT goal in the Gold Medal match of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Right, and he was PLAYING FOR CANADA.
Ohhh snap! I don’t follow hockey since I live in Toronto and there’s no hope in hell of winning anything out here, so I’m gonna go with Team Firth!!!!
Right. I’m married to a Leafs fan. Which is why I cheer for the Flames and the Jets.
Wow, that’s quite a trifecta. With those three teams your household is clicking at a steller rate of winning championships once every 45 years or so. The Pens have 3 in the last 20 years.
Say whaaat? Mr. Math-Phobia tries addition and division?
I’ve said it before: I refuse to play favorites unless it involves my children.
Here’s to it being a spirited contest between two fine hockey teams with some wicked-awesome fights!
Aww, Chase. You know you have to go east-west on this one…
I’ve gotta go with the Pens 4-2 over the Flames. (Sorry, Leanne, but all my years in Edmonton left me with a persistent ABC attitude… anybody but Calgary….) Of course, I’m WAY more interested in Thursday’s Habs-Leafs game. GO HABS!
But then the Habs play the Jets on Sunday. Go Jets Go! (Yes, you can take the girl out of Winnipeg…)
Oh it’ll be close but the Flames will prevail 3-2.
I love playing hockey. I suck but I love it. Playing the game lets me forget about falling on the ice because going after the puck overtakes any fear I have. I’m a little competitive. Also, the pads help.
Well, if you “suck at it”, you’d likely make the Penguins roster.
I’m not in this for the chocolate–though I love it dearly, perhaps more than I do my children–I’m just here to let you know I fully support your team for one reason and one reason only: Colin Firth. I see his photo up there and that to me is a win-win. So go, Flames! (Btw, is this like Fantasy Football, only with soccer?)
Hockey…watching sweaty men with mullets fly by on blades. (It’s clear why the NHL hasn’t hired me to market the sport)…
Your vote is Firth-rate.
You have a sickness.
Yikes, I meant hockey. Must have soccer on the brain.
I commented on Clay’s site first with the score.
When I was younger, I was a really great skater. So good, that I had a chance to go to the olympics. So I trained and I trained and I got even better. Unfortunately I was such an amazingly talented skater, that I became a threat to another olympic hopeful skater. She was crazy jealous of my mad skillz, so she had her bodyguard hire someone to take a tire iron to my knee so as to hamper my ability to win an olympic gold medal. That shit hurt. And while she only finished 8th in the Olympics that year, and I was able to take home a silver medal, I’m not possitive that I would not have gotten the gold without my knee being injured.
That’s my skating story. You probably have never heard it before. It was a pretty obscure incident.
The evil blond versus the beautiful brunette? Never heard of it. (Shakes blond hair).
Good prediction. And your logic at Professor Morgan’s site is flawless.
I left my score prediction at Clay’s, but I’ll give you story. When I was young we used to skate on the Erie Canal. Then someone fell in. And that was the end of that. Which sucked.
Just because of a little thin ice?
The person survived and everything.
Whatever.
I’m ready for my chocolates now.
Growing up with both a pond and river to skate on, I heard so many “stay away from thin ice” stories. Unfortunately, snowmobilers were a bigger threat when you skated on the river.
Sending you a virtual chocolate. Calorie free!
I will be base my fanship on level of Colin Firth involvement. Thats how I select presidents and religions, too.
I think WWCFD is a great way to make most decisions. Certainly better than a Magic 8 Ball.
I don’t have a good skating story. I fall so I try to block them out. And hitting my head on the ice clears my memory every time as well. I predict the Flames will win just because penguins are not native to Pittsburgh and I’m sure things catch on fire in Calgary all the time.
You logic is impeccable.
I have to go with the flow – the Flames, 3-1 over the Penguins. WooT!!!
Yes!
i will have to go with calgary 4-2. but that’s just because the pens have, since the beginning of time, been the local joke where i come from (philadelphia).
no skating stories unless you are interested in the kind of skating that’s done on rubber wheels rather than on blades. would you like to hear the one about me leaving a layer of skin on the asphalt, or the one about a cyclist running into me, shattering three bones in my left arm and then leaving me for dead?
I’m sorry that you come from Philadelphia Evelynn. That had to be hard on you growing up and, well, still.
I was waiting till my two Penn pals met.
Ha, I put the laughter in slaughter. And I won’t even use the excuse that the best player in the world is still out for the Pens after the goon squad targeted him last year. It’s like Mario Lemieux’s career all over again eh? Guess Canada hates the best players of all time belonging to Pittsburgh. Well, if we lose and I feel the need to go back on my word I’ll totally use that later.
But for now I say those Flames are going down.
Dear Professor Morgan:
What do you call 23 guys sitting around a TV watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs?
The Penguins.
Well, the Pens did have to watch The Finals on TV last year, but the Flames are the 23 guys who have to watch the entire playoffs on TV. But I’m sure they really improved their golf games last summer while the rest of the league actually competed for something.
I’m sorry. I can’t hear you.
Ok, I’m placing my completely unscientific or informed choice for the Penguins, 3-2.
Because we love Linux here. And penguins. They’re cute and my children fight over the stuffed ones.
Although Lightning McQueen has flames painted on him, so The Tackler is saying they’ll win, 2-0.
I miss watching hockey.
Hopefully I’ll remember to tell my skating story at Clay’s… Kids call…
Well, I still love you even though you’re misinformed. Remember how good Calgary was to you? No doubt Pitt would be too, though!
Kelly, you’ve made a terrific choice. I can see by this sound reasoning that you are both a true lady and a scholar.
Ok, I’m in.
Clearly, the Flames will win! I’ll go with…4-3
My fave hockey memory hands down was watching from awesome-close seats, the Canadians take home the gold (so sad Americans) at the 2010 Olympics!
go Flames go
I can’t imagine what it would have been like to see Sid the Kid score that OT goal in person. For CANADA…
I live in the land of the Coyotes; may I have your condolences? I’ve never played hockey, and I don’t ice skate. I live in the desert for goodness’ sake! We have two seasons here: nice, and hell!
Why they ever thought to locate an ice hockey team (let alone Alcor Life Extension) here I’ll never know.
The answer to your question = blame Canada. Snowbirds.
I have a love-hate relationship with the Coyotes. They were the Winnipeg Jets, after all, where I hail from.
Now, the Suns. Now that is a basketball team. Go Steve Nash! If only they sort out the season…
Clay 3, Leanne 2.
You’re a bit vicious with that smack talk, Leanne.
I can turn it on when when I have to.
I agree Ricky, and I want you to know that if I sink to Leanne’s level it’s only because I believe you should match smack with more smack. Kind of like fire with fire or losing with the Flames.
Dear Pot:
This is Kettle.
I just noticed that I picked the same outcome as Evelynn. Will we have to split the chocolate, or just arm wrestle for it?
One of my most memorable hockey moments was when I was playing net and had a hard, rising slapshot hit the top of my helmet and shatter it into dozens of little pieces. I had to borrow somebody else’s helmet to finish the game. I’m just glad that I played in the era where goalies wore helmets. My dad didn’t, and he’s got a few scars to prove it!
i hereby bequeath my half of the chocolate to you, larry… i just want to be right. you know, for the bragging rights.
Thanks, Evelynn! That’s a relief. I’m not very good at arm wrestling.
Sorry Mrs Firth but I have to stand with my Pittsburgh pal on this one. I’ve put my prediction on his post, but maybe my skating tale might even things up a little…
Since we don’t really ice-skate here, this one’s a story of my days as a rollerskater. I was competing in a racing game, rocketing from one end of the rink to the other in a chase for a baton and it was down to me and one other girl.
She was younger, lighter and on blades but I had momentum on my side as I steamed across the rink on my old 4-wheelers. The baton was in sight and we were neck-and-neck, so I did what any competitive semi-pro would do – I threw myself into the air in a desperate dive for the win!
I landed hard on my side with an audible crunch, knocking the wind out of my lungs and laying heaving on the floor while the young girl cruised in to scoop up the baton and ultimate victory.
You literally fell for her!
And, by the way, if you me Mrs. Firth, you can tell me anything you want and side with Clay 100x in a row.
I posted on Clay’s blog that I think Pittsburgh will win 3-2. But I can post a different score on your blog: Calgary 3, Pittsburgh 2?
You see I was so excited to see a post from Clay that I forgot about how he always gives me crap about the Steelers beating the Ravens.
Once I played on a hockey team, but in an accident, I lost part of my vision so I couldn’t play hockey professionally. Then I became a figure skater instead. After finally mastering the toe pick…oh wait…that wasn’t me.
I hate it when accidents ruin professional aspirations. That’s what happened to my writing career. I broke my toe barbecuing chicken and that was it…
I hate all baseball teams that wear red and all hockey teams based in PA.
Go Isles.
Well, you don’t hate the Jays then, do you! Bet you did in the early 90s. Sigh.
Flames 4, Penguins 2, because the Flames are Canadian, and hockey comes naturally to Canadians, whereas it’s like a second language to us Americans, one that we don’t really understand but try to bluff our way through by adopting a cheesey accent.
I buy your logic.
I’m a Pittsburgher now, so I’ve gotta pull for the home team. Penguins will win 2-0.
I went outdoor ice skating in Atlanta (it was above freezing, but they had a manmade rink – that’s all you can find in the South). It was tiny and really made me feel like we were going in circles. It was also packed because ice skating’s quite a novelty there. I was going along, minding my own business, and this kid jumped out right in front of me. I thought I was going to plow him down, but somehow I evaded him with quite a few near falls. Best part about it? Someone caught my expression in a picture as the blur cut in front of me. I doubt I’d even remember I went ice skating that day except for that.
Love photo-based memories. Someday I want to skate in Rockefeller Center. In December. While it’s snowing. A girl can dream, right?
Hockey, eh? If it’s not the Bruins, I don’t care, and even then, I still really don’t, but just for the two of you, I’ll play along. Leanne gets my story; Clay gets my random numbers.
I got my first hockey stick when I was a toddler from my big-into-hockey uncles. They taught me how to use it on my grandmother’s wood floor with a ball. Then they took me out to a frozen pond, but I WAS A TODDLER, so I couldn’t skate. They pulled me around the ice in a sled instead. To this day, I feel it’s the very best way to play hockey.
Whaaat? So you’re not a natural with a stick in your hand?
(You know I can’t resist…)
Well, I thought we were talking about hockey, but…
How can I say no when Colin Firth is the cheerleader?! I’m rooting for you. Left the score at Clay’s.
Hockey story: Only went to one game with a friend and his dad. I did enjoy it, but I think they should invest in something besides cold cement bleacher seating. Might have been worth it if there was a throw down on the ice, but it was a relatively tame game. Here’s hoping the flames bring you back a lucky penguin foot for a keychain!
Thanks, Jess. Yes, cold arena butt will endear no one to a new sport.
Last night my 7-year-old son heard me dissing the Penguins and proceeded to spend most of dinner telling me about the mating habits of penguins. Emperor penguins. I kid you not.
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I left the outcome and score on Clay’s blog because I don’t want you to get mad at me (Sorry! But I’ve never lived in Calgary! I’ll cheer for the Flames in any game except those against the Rangers or the Pens.)
But here’s my skating stuff. There are two stories that stand out in my mind. The first one involved my sister. We learned to skate on a pond in the woods behind my house. We went down there a lot. My sisters and I used to do this thing we’d call Midget Man. We’d get up some speed and then squat down as far as we could go with our arms straight out in front of us and yell, “Midget Maaaaan to the rescuuuuuuue!” One day my sister was doing Midget Man and right in the middle of “rescuuuuu-” she lost her balance and fell on her ass. Then her ass slipped out from under her and she landed on her head. Her head smacked the ice and she got whiplash. I suppose it sounds mean, but we all laughed until we cried. My sister is famous for her self-inflicted injuries. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve all seen her run through the house yelling and holding onto some body part that was bruised or bleeding. She’s a train wreck and her Midget Man whiplash lives on in our family lore as one of her more dramatic (and witnessed) foibles.
The other story isn’t nearly as exciting. When we didn’t skate on our pond, we’d go to the lake, about half a mile away. The ice would get really thick by the time February rolled around and some kids would actually bring their cars out into the lake. One day, my brother’s friend came by where we were skating and my brother and I decided to hang onto the tailgate and get pulled behind as his friend drove us halfway down the lake. We finally stopped and realized we had to skate about 1-1.5 miles back to our beach. I got pretty tired at one point and my brother pulled me along to let me rest a bit. I remember this because it’s something I’m glad I did when I was too young to realize the lunacy of being pulled behind a pickup truck on a frozen lake. It’s also a nice memory because my brother and I had a fairly contentious relationship when we were younger, so I like being reminded of the times he showed that he cared about me.
Sorry I rambled on for so long!
Fab stories! They remind me of my farm upbringing. I can just see you “hitching” a ride.
And I don’t blame you for siding with Clay on this one; you went to the same school, after all!
While limr is wise to side with me, I don’t think we went to school together. Might you be thinking of Keenie?
Flames: 3
Penguins: 2
Why? Because I am a horrible profiler, and when I think of Canadians, I think of hockey, thus I believe they must be good at it.
They are Ellie, but the Penguins have more Canadians than the team from Canada. But I could never be mad at you on account of how super duper you are.
Regardless, the best fans are Canadian.
Why do so many chicks lovwe Colin Firth?
I hope you don’t take offense to the term, “chick”!