"Nerds"

I am sitting in my parent's room, doing random things on facebook and sports websites. My mom is in the chair next to me and my dad is in his office. They are both on the phone and doing things on the computer at the same time. This is normal for my family. As my dad would say, "we are a family of nerds." I do agree with that statement, usually.

The other night, me and my parents were outside sitting on the front porch. My dad was sitting in the chair with his laptop and was emailing people from work. My mom had her Ipod and was playing games and I was sitting in the chair with my laptop and doing random stuff as usual. My dad looked up (for a few seconds) an simply said, this is sad, we are a family of nerds. As we were all occupied by our electronics, people kept walking by or driving by and we just kept wondering why this night was so busy on our street. I thought that it was really funny.

Now, we are all doing the same thing that we were the other night except we are all inside, where no one else can think we are nerds as well. Hopefully we will all be off the computers soon and do something together. My dad said we were going to go to Texas Roadhouse but he never asked my mom so we will see if we actually get to go out for dinner. But for now, we are a family of nerds and I wouldn't change my family for anything.

A tribute to Lappy...

On July 2, 2004 Ian Laperriere signed a free agent contract with the Colorado Avalanche. Ian quickly became a fan favorite for the Avs fans. Ian had his own fan club called "it's all about Lappy" and t-shirts with that saying were seen all over Pepsi Center. July 1, 2009, 5 years after Lappy signed with the Avs, Ian was unable to agree to a new deal with the Avs and therefore, he signed a three-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Look through of the 5 years Ian was with the avs:

05-06 season:

• Ian was an immediate success in Colorado in 05-06 season, posting the best points total of his career. He scored 21 goals and 24 assists for 45 points. His previous best was during his rookie season in the NHL with 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points.


• Played in all 82 games for the first time in his career.


• led the Avs with 119 penalty minutes and 12 fighting majors.


• Led all NHL forwards with 92 blocked shots.


• He scored 2 goals in his 700th game against his former team, the Los Angeles Kings.


• Scored his first career overtime goal on October 29 against the Vancouver Canucks.


• Ian was named alternate captain in mid-November


• He recorded a career high of three points on January 5 at Minnesota.


• He scored his 20th goal of the season on April 8 against St. Louis, passing the 20 goal mark for the first time in his career. In doing so, he became the first Avalanche player to score 20 goals and compile 100 penalty minutes since 1998-1999.

06-07 season:

• Led the Avs in penalty minutes with 133.


• Led the Avs in fighting majors with 17, tied for second in NHL.


• Scored his 100th career goal on October 29 against the Minnesota Wild.


• Skated in his 800th NHL game on November 28th at Calgary.


• Missed his first game as a member of the Avalanche on March 29 when he sat out because of a groin injury.


• Was selected by his teammates to be the Avalanche's nominee for the King Clancy Trophy (given to the player who demonstrates leadership and humanitarian contribution in his community).


• He was also one of three recipients of the 2007 Chopper Travaglini Award (presented to the team players that best exemplify Chopper's legacy of giving back to children in the community).

07-08 season:

• Ian led the Avs with 20 fighting majors and was also team leader in penalty minutes with 140.
• He appeared in his 900th NHL game on February 6 at San Jose
• He scored his third career playoff goal in game 2 of the Western Conference Semi Finals at detroit on April 26.
• In June 2008, Ian was one of four men honored by the American Diabetes Association and the Denver Father’s Day Council as a “Father of the Year."

08-09 season:

• Led the team with 163 penalty minutes, the second highest total of his career.
• He ranked first among Colorado forwards in blocked shots with 69 and was third in hits with 103, and he also led the club with 17 fighting majors.


• He played in his 1,000th NHL game on April 11 versus Vancouver, who was the same opponent that he faced in his very first NHL game in 1994.


• He was also honored as the Avalanche's nominee for the 2009 Bill Masterton Trophy (given to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey).

Ian was the team's fighter but even though he did fight all the time, his teammates and other people that meet him, consider him to be one of the nicest guys in the NHL. I am going to miss you Lappy and I hope everything goes well in Philadelphia.

Information gathered from: http://www.itsallaboutlappy.com/index.html

Life with dad 3...

I just got home from a month and a half trip to Texas, and I haven't seen my parents in forever! Me and my mom drove back home from Texas and got home on Sunday night but my dad wasn't there because he was up in Alaska killing fish (otherwise known as his "business trip"). So Tuesday morning my mom went to the airport to pick him up at 5:30 in the morning and got him a Starbucks (which I never got one) and he came home. A few hours later after my dad re-packed and hid in his office, he left again to go on a real business trip to D.C. where he is meeting with Congress (haha, he had to wear ties and he doesn't like ties). So he is gone again.

This trip is no fun for me though! I can't call and annoy him 5 times a day because he is with Congress. It's really no fun to sit at home and not annoy him. I doubt he will get out of a congress meeting just to see if there is Avs news or not (which there isn't but that is not the point). He is going to be home all next week which I am excited about and we are going to try and start on my room, hopefully.

Oh and the schedule for the 09-10 NHL season is out and we are going to buy tickets to the first game because that is when Joe is retiring his jersey. When I looked on the page where you buy tickets, there is a picture of me, my mom, and my dad at an Avs game! It's so cool!

Click here to see the pic.

P.s. I CAN"T WAIT FOR HOCKEY SEASON TO START!!!! woohoo!!!

A tribute to Joe...

Since the 1992-93 season, Joe Sakic has been the Captain of the Avs/Nordiques franchise. He spent his whole career with this one franchise. He has been the heart and soul of the Avs ever since they became a team in 1995 and he has been a hero to many. Joe did so many things to help this franchise through the years. He helped bring hockey back to Colorado, and bring Colorado it's first professional championship. He helped someone to win his first cup after he had played 22 seasons in the NHL. Joe has been the only captain in Avs history and when the 09-10 season starts, there will be a new captain. Today, Joe announced his retirement from hockey.

Here are some of the major highlights of Joe's NHL career:

• June 13, 1987 - Joe was drafted 15th overall by the Quebec Nordiques.
  

• October 6, 1988 - Joe made his NHL debut and recorded his first career point.
  

• October 8, 1988 -Joe scored his first career goal in a 5-3 loss against the New Jersey Devils.
  

• October 5, 1989 - Joe played his first game wearing number 19 (the number he wore for the rest of his career).

• March 31, 1990 - Joe recorded his first 100 point season.

• 1992-93 season - Joe became the captain of the Nordiques.

• April 25, 1996 - Joe scored his first career playoff hat trick against the New York Rangers.

• June 10, 1996 - Joe wins his first Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy.
• March 14, 1997 - Joe scored his first regular season hat trick for the Avs.

• August 6, 1997 - Joe signed a three-year, $21 million offer sheet with the New York Rangers but the offer was matched by Colorado to keep Joe on the Avs.

• December 27, 1999 - Joe became the 56th player in NHL history to record 1,000 career points.

• June 9, 2001 - Joe wins his second Stanley Cup along with the Hart Trophy (awarded to most valuable player), the Lady Byng Trophy (the player who shows the most sportsmanship), the Lester B. Pearson Award (the NHL's most outstanding player during the regular season, and named to the all-star game.

• February 24, 2002 - Joe helps Team Canada to the gold medal and named tournament MVP.

• December 11, 2002 - Joe becomes the 31st player in NHL history to record 500 career goals.

• April 24, 2006 - Joe scored his 7th career overtime goal (NHL playoff record).

• October 25, 2006 - Joe becomes the 11th player in NHL history to record 1,500 career points.

• February 15, 2007 - Joe became the 17th player to record 600 career goals.

• October 23, 2008 - Joe scores his 625th goal, his final goal of his career.

• November 2, 2008 - Joe records his 1,641st career point, his final point of his career.

• November 28, 2008 - Joe appears in his final game before sitting out the rest of the season with a back injury. He played one shift of the game.
  

• July 9, 2009 - Joe announces his retirement from hockey.

As I said before, Joe has been a hero to many and has helped so many people. Here are some other things he has done:

In 2001, when the Avs won their second cup, Joe didn't take the victory lap around the rink with the Cup first like captains always do. Instead, Joe gave the Cup straight to Ray Bourque who had played 22 season in the NHL (20 and half seasons with the Bruins) and still looking for his first Stanley Cup victory. Joe gave the Cup to Ray who was crying with excitement and he took the first lap while Joe waited his turn.

Joe's first few seasons with the Nordiques, he was mentored by the great Peter Stastny. In 2006, Peter's son, Paul, was drafted by the Avs and Joe mentored him. Joe was one of Paul Stastny's heroes growing up and Joe helped him throughout the 3 years they got to play together.

Joe spent the last 2 seasons of his career with injuries that made him miss most of the season. 2 years ago, Joe had surgery for a sports hernia. Last season, he played a total of 15 games because of a herniated disc in his back and 3 broken fingers because of a snow blower incident. Joe was one of the many players on the Avs that were hurt last season.

The 2 main reasons why Joe is retiring;
1) He is still recovering from the injuries last season and he didn't want to risk getting hurt again.
2) Joe has 3 kids; Mitch, Chase, and Kamryn. Mitch is 12 and plays hockey. Chase and Kamryn are twins, 9 years old. Chase plays soccer and Kamryn does gymnastics. Joe wanted to be able to go to their sports games and be able to spend more time with them. (How sweet is that?!?!)

Joe's jersey is getting raised to the rafters the game opener of the 09-10 season. As long as we are able to get tickets, I will be at that game. It's going to be a very emotional time for the staff, the players, and the fans. Joe was loved so much in Colorado and it's going to be very sad to see him leave.

Joe Sakic
Forever our captain, #19