Merry Christmas 2018

Merry Christmas 2015

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays in 2015!

Thank you very much for reading and watching my video blogs over the past year. I've been spending a lot of time planning new and innovative ways to express my brand of hockey blogging across the internet in 2015 and hopefully you've enjoyed it.I'm going to continue a lot of more "Game of the Week" episodes as well as more cutting edge internet blogging for 2016.

Stay Tuned!!

Game of the Week - Stars vs BlackHawks

You've probably heard about the blockbuster trade that hockey fans and bloggers have been talking about this summer - no.. the other blockbuster trade in which the Dallas Stars and defending Stanley Cup champions Chicago BlackHawks.

The video below attempts to simulate a game in which Patrick Sharp plays against his old teammates fresh off with a new start in the Big D. Would he want "revenge"? Would he say all the right things and not upset his friends and former teammates and fans in Chicago. Most likely the latter.


So, that's been your game of the week! Do you have a request for next week's feature game? Leave it in the comments section below or get in touch with me in the appropriate social media platforms!

Thanks!

Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic 13th Anniversary

Well, we've made it again for another great year for our 13th anniversary blog post. I want to thank each and every one of my readers who have stopped by to read my blogs and to comment on my work. But it is certainly no time to get nostalgic - but a time to continue to be the first hockey blog and the most innovative content. Yes, not only was I the first of my kind, but I was also the first to integrate audio, video and live-streaming podcasts as complimentary content.

I've had plenty of new things around here recently with the addition of the sponsors, the Insticator trivia app, and the live look at my NHL 15 games via Twitch. Be sure to stop by more frequently and play around with the new social media installed on the website.

I've also planned some new content with the youtube vlog where I'll be doing some live video game streaming, kind of like a "game of the week" thing. If you'd like to sponsor it on upcoming videos, please check with me in the regular social media channels.

But here is my newest video that I've made and debuting here for the 13th anniversary. I've had seen these chips around in the grocery stores locally and wanted to let you all know about them. I've seen some other taste testing videos and wanted to try doing something like that on my channel. On the back, I noticed that the Penguins were merely looking for more income for their main charity Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation, but it's not the first time that the Penguins have put their logo on food going all the way back to Fleury Flakes or City of Champions (with Max Talbot). If you also look around, you'll find the other endorsements of Captain Morgan Spiced Rum and Co-advertising Snapple/Sheetz. For the Penguins, it's boldly entering a new era of revenue. I don't remember when the last time the Penguins had done this. (The Mario bun bar and the Jagr Peanut Butter were straight up player endorsements.) Is this sort of thing common among other teams in NHL markets?


(Special thanks to Cheeky Tam for the inspiration to try a video like this one!)

Save Our Otters with Hashtag #YouOtterStayHere

First, I would like to thank all of the Erie Community and bloggers who have already taken up the struggle to maintain the Otters team. I've told my audience a number of times just how much the city of Erie has been my home away from home. But now, as a hockey fan, I am to hold back the tide along with the thousands of Erie and junior hockey fans. I am keeping a close eye on the Otters situation and have seen them during their peak at their OHL Cup run of '02, to their lows of seasons with many losses, to the memories of the Pucks on Presque Isle event, to the current run with a great group of superstar development.

It would make the most sense of the Erie Community to come together and support this effort because they had just re-built up the Tullio Arena and found a great local sponsor in the Erie Insurance Company. Without the Otters as a lease tenant, the building will be risking financial troubles to pay back all of the renovation costs. True, the EIA does have the BayHawks and Explosion to fall back on, but the Otters are the more historic franchise and more likely has the main lease status.

The Erie Otters have also been a very cooperative part of the Erie SeaWolves. As I was an eye witness to the next-to-last season game they were in attendance at Jerry Uht Park. Since the first couple of NHL stars that the Erie Otters have developed, it's proof that the community should support a franchise that has paid off with those same players playing at the next professional level. What future players will see their number in the rafters or between the luxury boxes at EIA. Boyes, Rupp, Colaiacovo, to Brown, McKegg, et al to the sure #1 overall pick McDavid, we are all seeing the fruits of the Erie community.

What is frustrating enough is that the underlining situation can be pulled out from under the Erie community like a tablecloth at a dinner table. The ongoing legal battles with the current ownership has put the team in a delicate position. Lets all hope that Mr. Sherry Bassin can do the right thing and find other alternative owners that can keep the team in Erie who are also willing to pay a little more than top price. I'd step in, but I'd have to win the lottery first.

But the effort to get out the word is not without it's deepest challenges. Erie is a economically depressed region with the infrastructure going crumbling and unused. The stores that I used to go to with my family are no longer there, the dive bars I visited when my fellow college students up there aren't around, the beaches of Lake Erie have struggled as far as tourist attractions go.

If you are reading this.. then take up our struggle. There is plenty more hockey to be played. You can keep track of the team's progress at their rally Facebook page as well as using the twitter hashtag #YouOtterStayHere.

Merry Christmas 2014

Merry Christmas from Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic.

It's been a real fun time being a hockey fan this year. There have been really significant gains in popularity and the transitions to a more skilled game. It's made for great hockey to watch and this year the rivalries are as strong as ever in the NHL.I don't know if you have any Christmas hockey traditions or not, but here's my annual Christmas greeting.
I truly hope that in these times, the spirit of human generosity finds you tonight and throughout the next year.

Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic Takes on NHL Deadline Day 2014

What always feels like a great big national holiday, the NHL trade deadline is met with a lot of hype and anticipation from every hockey fan in North America. Any trade could make or break a team. In my opinion, the cascading result is going to focus onto some of the teams that are on the bubble (just out of the playoffs looking for a boost back in the playoff hunt). Toronto, Detroit, Minnesota, Dallas,.. I'm looking to each team to make a blockbuster deal at the 3pm.

As Penguins fans now know through learning the hard way, the way to build a championship team is through avoiding messing with team chemistry. They have been mentioned a couple of times linked with several

Let's take a look at the trades that have led up to this trading deadline thus far:

To the Florida Panthers goes goaltender Roberto Luongo (aka "strombone" for his twitter handle) for young prospect Markstrom.

To the St. Louis Blues goaltender Ryan Miller and Steve Ott for goaltender Jaro Halak and...

Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic Eleven Years Anniversary

Well, another year has come and gone and Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic is yet another year older.

I am hoping for a whole new direction for this blog and a whole lot of participation from the fans over the summer. I'm planning at least 3 new projects for the upcoming off-season. So, please keep tabs on this website as well as the series of social media sites devoted specifically to this hockey blogging website.

As hockey blogging's pioneering website, that is exactly what I'm going to do. I've already found a new home for the live streaming. You can watch the shows as they appear in the right hand sidebar underneath the writer's bio. I don't do very many live streaming shows that much, but if you go there and subscribe to the channel, then the page will let you know via e-mail when I do go live.

Honestly, outside this blog, my life is really busy with a lot of new challenges and sometimes I can't always devote the kind of time that I want to my writing. But I'm going to seriously challenge myself to get things going again here this year.

Let me know what kind of content you would like to see me attach to this blog in the future by leaving a comment or two. Maybe I can find some more creativity when it is more reader-driven than author-driven.

So, Eleven years of doing this and I'm not going to stop - ever. Things may slow down a bit, but I'll always enjoy this, my one true foray into expressing my love and appreciation for hockey.

Playoff Beards

The latest Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic video is up and available for viewing.

This topic today is all about playoff beards and how popular they've become. It's been a standing tradition that the NHL hockey players disregarded some of their hygiene routines during the playoffs so that they can turn their attention to their job. But hockey fans are a different breed all together. They often pick up on the same things that their favorite players do and call it solidarity.The hockey playoff beard is such an overwhelming mainstream phenomenon that hockey teams often organize it into charity causes.

What would you rate my hockey playoff beard in the video? Do you like it? Am I more "distinguished" now?

COHF Takes on NHL Trade Deadline Day 2013

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Project for Awesome 2012 - Jessica Redfield Foundation

We've reached the time of year where a lot of us in the community of professional journalists and video bloggers attempt to give attention to the many non-profit causes out in the world. So, the vlogbrothers have a really fantastic website for a yearly event called Project for Awesome. Please go there right now and vote up my video that you will see there on the screen.
My video this year hopefully does justice to the hockey blogging community by calling attention once again to the Jessica Redfield Foundation. It's a scholarship fund for women who want to get into the journalism business.

I wrote about the tragedy that happened earlier this summer that claimed the life of a truly promising young ladies in the hockey blogging world. Bloggers Mourn One of Our Own.
There are more vloggers on the P4A website right now and I see at least one more hockey fan. Please go check them out.

I also have a charities blog that I sometimes try to keep up to date. You can find stories of events like this that cause people to try to do something good with their time and money.

Think Pink! Cancer Awareness Month 2012

COHF Cancer Awareness logo

You may have already noticed the changes that have been made here for the month of October. For every day in this month, the Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic blog will be joining in the fight against ALL cancer related diseases. So, I made a quick little video PSA just letting you know that we need more money for research and also more money for hospitalization care.

Hockey fans have been supportive of this rally month in many different ways. NHL's Hockey Fights Cancer campaign produced a lot of great memorabilia which generates profit towards the philanthropic endeavors. I've often wanted to buy a pink tie, but didn't have the kind of money they are offering back then. With a little money I have saved up, I have given to other various charities.

Note: Please forgive the UV florescent tint to the video.

Credit: Unknown

I also wanted to mention that there is a grassroots rally for Hockey Fans Fight Cancer being talked about on many hockey blogs and Facebook pages. However, I don't really want to mention that a lot of blogs have attached the cool looking logo (see right) to a recently disgraced professional bicyclist who's organizational efforts, though intended well, to I have decided to not support because of the controversy surrounding the named sponsor.

You know of course, I have been also watching for stories about plenty of efforts to raise money with hockey. I've spun-off this blog 5 years ago during an internet cultural event called Blogathon. The website is now defunct, but my blog continues to live on as Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic Blogathon Edition. Just Click on the link there and keep tabs on all the hockey related charities that I'm finding around the internet.

So, that's my PSA video for the month. Thank you in advance to all my readers who chose to do something positive

Hockey Fanatic Awards 2012

The NHL Awards are tonight and based on previous years results they will most likely get things wrong AGAIN!. Here are my alternative picks to those honors and showing you my selections for the individual and team performance Awards this year. I also took into consideration the entire hockey season from October until June.


Most Valuable Rookie: Adam Henrique of the New Jersey Devils.Of all the rookies worth mentioning this year, Henrique took the Devils through the Stanley Cup playoffs to the eventual Eastern Conference represenatives in the final.

Most Valuable Player: Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins

He came through clutch during the season and provided his big shoulders to cary his high profile team through the season.

Most Valuable Coach: Ken Hitchcock. of the St. Louis Blues.

Was there any doubt that Ken was the best coach to turn a Blues team from potentially being a disasterous season to top of the Western Conference in less than a year.

Most Valuable Defenseman: Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators

For the second year in a row, he wins an award not only for being talked about as the next premier blueliner, but for standing out on a Predators team that is on the brink of becoming a premier western conference franchise.

Most Valuable Goalie: Johnathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings

He did his best to maintain a playoff pace for the Kings who seemed to cool off at the end of the regular season, to once again regain en fuego momentum and win the Stanley Cup.

Most Valuable NHL Slovak player: Marian Gaborik of the New York Rangers

Just edging out Hossa for this recognition, Gaborik got his Rangers team farther in the playoffs and played in all 82 games.

Most Valuable Teammate Tandem: Jeff Carter and Mike Richards of the Los Angeles Kings

Originally separated at the begining of the season, they both got to re-unite in the city of Angels and stick it to the Flyers who traded them in the previous off-season by winning the Stanley Cup.

Comeback Player of the Year: Matt Cooke

Ostrasized and made to be the poster boy for all things wrong with agressive hockey play, Matt turned things around and did his best to stay out of the penalty box and redeem his villain reputation.

Most Valuable General Manager: David Poile of the Nashville Predators and Dale Tallon of the Florida Panthers

With a smart gutsy move to bring Radulov over from the KHL to fufill the player's obligation and making a few more shrewd moves at the deadline makes Poile a smart guy.

Tallon took his magic from Chicago to Florida who made the playoffs in his second year at the helm. He acquired many new players to rebuild the deflated franchise.

Most Valuable Ice Girls: Nashville Predators Ice Girls

All I needed to do was view this picture and declare them the winners.

Most Valuable Fanbase: Pittsburgh Penguins franshise.

Even though I'm biased here counting myself in the category, I've been so impressed by how much the Penguins fans voracious support of the team has gotten over the last few years. They've gotten two former NHL players to admit the strength and influence online.

Can-Am Award presented in recognition to bloggers or fans who have contributed positively to Canadian and American fan relations: (watch for youtube video posted later today)

Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic 10 Year Anniversary

Well, I've made it here one more year. It's been a long ride towards this very anniversary. This blog has been the roadway for many opportunities as well as meeting new people across the blogisphere. When I first started Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic, I didn't know that I would be becoming a blogging pioneer as my initial foray into blogging. I thought that I would just use it as a hobby, but this year, I am celebrating it's 10 year publication history.

The story of my blogging career was this. I was IM chatting with a dear female friend from Tyler, TX who told me about a website that publishes diary journal entries. She wanted me to join her and hope that I could become involved with the already blogging community. Blogspot.com, before it was sold to Google, was indeed user friendly with several different ways to edit the blog page format. For it's content, I would just enter into the form square my thoughts and publish them. But instead of writing journal entries about my personal life, I chose to practice my journalism skills on the game that I love so dearly - hockey. My first blog entry was published today and discussed the playoffs as the Carolina Hurricanes had won the Eastern Conference Championship and followed up with some comments about how Patrick Roy had made a critical error allowing the Detroit Red Wings to tie up the Western Conference series.

COHF circa 2002

The Wayback Machine has helped out on this Internet nostalgia trip. The first blogspot publication was almost prehistoric with very little to look at. It was all text on a blue background. It had my PSU page link up there and a brief form listing my bio stats substituting as a real writers biography. Even though I knew basic HTML, it was still pretty frustrating to edit the page. There were some frustrating moments as the blog didn't look the way I wanted it to look. But as the years went on, I incorporated many programming language tricks I learned along the way.
 I did my best to put as many interests and shout-outs as I could to the many people that I encountered in my early days of using the internet. I wrote about what I knew at the time and featured my blog journal entries on the games I saw on TV.

As many more bloggers were starting up with their own publications, I saw myself in competition with them. So, to counter their attention, I became once again an innovator to the blogisphere. I was the first to incorporate a YouTube video directly into the blog article in 2006 and again including podcasting embedded within the blog source.

The pinnacle of the current blog technology is to incorporate live streaming video and audio content on the page. I'm going to be celebrating live on BlogTV.com website to mark the anniversary of 10 years and 100 episodes on the blogging channel. You can stay here and watch me broadcast live or come in to the chat room and ask me questions pertaining to anything hockey.



10th Anniversary + 100 Ep- Broadcast your self LIVE

Of course, I've got plenty of new things in store as well as continuing on the legacy of this blog. It's been a great 10 years - now let's make it ten more!

[Via: Internet Archive - Wayback machine]

19 Random Hockey Facts

Because I wanted to keep the channel up to date, here is a short video vlog talking about the 19 Random Hockey Facts based upon the video that I made on my variety youtube channel. This time around, I used the hockey theme to broadcast 19 random hockey facts about me in the game that I love. Please enjoy this youtube video journal.
Then stay tuned as I have something exciting planed for the upcoming Hockey Fanatic blog 10 year anniversary.
Why not let yourself leave a hockey fact of your own down below in the comments section on either appropriate page.

Race Car Challenge of the Channels

The latest episode of the YouTube vlog channel is a response video I made to direct everyone over to a really cool event coming up Thursday February 16th. It's the Chase for the Checkered - Race for Pinks challenge that includes a worldwide collection of matchbox toy cars competing against one another. The last remaining car's owner then collects all of the cars plus the cash purse entry fees.
Here is a video of what I am going to enter into the race. I was only going to send in one car, but since the idea of this blog channel invading the other variety channel, here I thought I could continue with that storyline and one-up the alternate channel host with an entry of my own.

I'm really excited about this project. Perhaps this might start up more interest around the video blogging community and more and more participation.

I'll be sure to post any race results with any footage that I was allowed to show or keep to broadcast on my own channel. Keep watching here

Please leave me some positive words of encouragement or wish me luck as the Hockey Knight's car representative takes on the world!

Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic - Christmas 2011

I am truly grateful that you have come here and decided to check out my blog once again for this year's holiday greeting. I've made a new video that had to be a little shorter than I wanted. But hopefully, I want you to enjoy the video anyway
Here's to spending the time in between holidays catching up on a lot of things in the hopper as well as tying to balance a home life with the kind of day job that's been a true challenge of patience.

Stop back again in 2012 as I'll be making some new things for the new year!

Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic: Off-Season Report

I wanted to do this earlier in the summer, but for some reason, I had really flubbed up the footage. After learning some of the new camera and editing software, I am now ready to present the short video I made getting ready for the upcoming hockey season. I wanted to talk about the free-agents signing this summer. When I rushed through the content in my mind, I had forgotten to mention about the Winnipeg Jets returning and the Moose moving to St. Johns. Oh, well. Maybe there'll be another day.
I hope that you liked the video and comment on it either here or on the channel page. I've had quite the busy summer with my day job. I would truly like to keep up on this blog as I have been one of the first and longest running hockey bloggers in existence. See you soon!

COHF Presents: "Can-Am Award" 2011