Finally got to see a live game!!

Hi all well got off my butt and went to a game yesterday,it was High1 from Korea against the Seibu Prince Rabbits at Higashi-Fushimi Arena only about 30 minutes by bus and train from my house.I arrived at the game about 2 minutes into the first period,the score was 1-1 after 1 period and both teams were playing hard and skating hard but the Seibu goalie was the star of the game making 44 saves in the 3-2 win,I thought it would be going to overtime,but Seibu scored with about 2 minutes left in the game and hung on for the win.here is a pic of the Seibu goalie Naoya Kikuchi #39

After the game I had a chance to talk to Ryan Kuwabara #71 from High1 and he told me about a game earlier in the season against Anyang Halla where his team High1 scored with 1 second left in the game to tie the game but Anyang Halla protested and the owner of Anyang Halla came down from the stands and ordered his team off the ice and High1 won by forfeit.He said that he is really enjoying living in Seoul and the team is treating him well.He said he joined High1 because he was getting bored in a small city like Kushiro but he did like the years he spent playing for the Cranes.They will play Seibu again on Sunday,I hope they can win that game.I also had a chance to meet Brent Gavreau a former draft pick of the Calgary Flames,Magnus Osterby a Swedish defenceman on High1 and another dman Chris Allen who was drafted by the Florida Panthers in 1996 in the third round.

Finally a hockey pool update,I am in first place in my main pool with a 10 point lead over the newcomer Brian,even with my first pick Lecavalier playing like a minor leaguer with 3 points to start off the season and Teemu Selanne having a slow start too.

In my Yahoo pool,what a disaster my top too goalies have save% in the 80% range just brutal,so I am mired in last place with a miracle needed to move up in the standings.

Lastly,the Bruins had an up and down week losing to the hated Leafs at home 4-2 but getting a big win tonight against the Thrashers 5-4 with big Cam Neely-like Milan Lucic  the first hattrick in his short career and adding an assist.He could be a fantasy sleeper in Yahoo fantasy hockey.

Hockey pool reflections and Asian league update

Hi there all we finished our annual hockey pool on Tuesday night,the participants were Johnny boy,Jay the minister, Brian the newcomer Papa Rog and myself.Jay was lucky to get the first pick and took Crosby over Ovechkin which Rog took at #2,John took Datsyuk at 3 and the big shocker was the neophyte Brian taking Brodeur at 4.I scooped up Lecavalier and Thornton with picks 5 and 6.We picked 14 players and 1 goalie each,players get a point for a goal and an assist and goalies get 1 point for a win and 2 for a shutout,they also get 1 point for a goal or an assist.Johnny boy took a chance on Fabian Brunnstrom with his 15th pick.There are 4 trades allowed during the season and you can check out our pool at 

www,poolexpert.com  the pool name is TokyoGuys there is no password needed to view it.

The Yahoo fantasy league Tokyo SlapshotVII has also kicked off this week,we are waiting for Yahoo to do our Autodraft,only 6 players this year so all teams should be stacked with great players.I am trying to recover from a disastrous season last year when I finished next to last after winning it all 2 years ago.

In Asian league news Seibu continues to be the class of the league and are undefeated after 6 games and they should win both games this weekend in Shanghai against the lowly Sharks who have yet to win a game.In Korea this weekend the Cranes play 2 games against High1 as former Cranes star Ryan Kuwabara plays against his former team as a member of High1.The Icebucks and Eagles will square off for 2 games in this Nikko this weekend it is a beautiful city to visit in Japan,if you have some free time this weekend go check out some hockey,I don’t think I will be going this weekend but I hope to get to a game soon.Here is a link to the arena map in Nikko

http://www.alhockey.com/fanzone/access/icebucks.html

Finally the NHL kicked off last weekend in Europe with 4 games the Rangers beat the new look Lightning with former ESPN commentator in back to back games in Prague in the Czech Republic.The Senators and Penguins split their 2 game series in Stockholm at the Globe Arena.The North American games start on Thursday night and if you want to watch live games on your computer go buy NHL GameCentre Live 159 bucks,outstanding package I had it last year it was wonderful,you can also watch 4 games live at once using split screen.Here is the link

http://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/index.html