Game Day vs. Seattle

It's Teddy Bear Toss night tonight.

"It's a big goal. I think everyone would like to score that one," said Brooks Macek, who scored the Americans' first goal last year in a 5-2 win over Portland. "It's a lot of fun to be part of."

"That's a big number," Macek said of the of the donations. "That's cool. I hope this year is better than last year."

"It's pretty crazy," Macek said of the standings. "Every game is a four-point swing. We just have to take it game-by-game and not worry about where the other teams are at. We'll see at the end of the season what needs to be done." (Herald)

Holy hell Brooks Macek needs to score a goal (or two) tonight, whether it's the teddy bear toss one or not.

At least the Americans get to have the Toss, the Saint John's Sea Dogs of the QMJHL decided to scrap theirs after fears of bedbugs (this story came up a couple days ago but I've been lazy):

Saint John Sea Dogs President Wayne Long announced today that the team’s annual ‘Teddy Bear Toss’ promotion, originally scheduled to be held on December 12, has officially been cancelled due to concerns regarding an infestation of hematophagous parasites (bedbugs) that has proliferated throughout south western New Brunswick in recent months.

“After meeting with several external parties and discussing the matter internally at length, we have decided that we won’t be able to hold the Teddy Bear Toss this season,” said Long. “We contacted several charitable organizations throughout the region, across Canada, and even abroad, and none were willing to accept a donation of stuffed toys from south western New Brunswick due to the bedbug outbreak. It’s unfortunate that this great promotion won’t take place at Harbour Station this year, but we hope that our fans will understand the reason behind the decision.” (St. John Sea Dogs via Buzzing the Net)

On a related note, someone in Toronto threw waffles at the Leafs last night.  For real.

Last night’s loss to Philly looked an awful lot like many other Leaf games this season: a terrible start, punchless power play, key faceoffs lost and a chorus of boos from the home fans. The only new twist was the apparent hurling of waffles on to the ice surface in the dying minutes of the game. I’m sure there’s a deeper message there, but for now we’ll just let the Internet have fun with it.  (Globe and Mail)

Friend of the blog, Eyebleaf, was not impressed:

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Speaking of news that several days old and my laziness, Buzzing the Net had a great piece on Neal Prokop the other day:

Prokop has won one of Ams' three overage jobs for the rest of the season. Tri-City GM Bob Tory, whose roster was one overager above the limit, traded overage defender Zak Stebner to Kelowna Rockets as part of pair of deals on Tuesday. The kicker is Tory even took a bit of a hit (3rd and 7th picks for Stebner, got 4th and 8th from Kelowna for him) to create a spot for Prokop.

One way to spin that is to note it speaks how, it was tough believe rationally that Prokop would make it back for this season. Evidently, he's persevered.  (Buzzing the Net)

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This week Rene Ferran's "Meet the Americans" focused on Zachary Yuen:

"During the playoffs, I played a lot more, and that helped me this year," Yuen said. "The first half of last year, I didn't play, but in the playoffs, the coaches were trusting me a lot more. I got a lot more ice time, and I was playing a lot better. It felt pretty good."

"I think I'm a shutdown defenseman but with offensive abilities," Yuen said.

Want to know more about Zachary ... or is it Zach? Either is fine by him. "Whatever's easier," he said, smiling, when asked his preference.

What he wants to be when he grows up To follow in Jim Hiller's footsteps. "I want to try coaching, for sure. I think it would be a lot of fun."  (Examiner)

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Clayton Stoner.  NOM. 

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Final note today, I have been spelling Chris Driedger's name wrong this whole time.  What a dumbass, how about double checking, eh Schultzie?  Anyways, HUGE apologies to Chris and his family for butchering his name.  I before E except after C.