Monday, February 11, 2008

What It's Like Watching the Hockey Game with No Sound

Phollower and I TiVo'ed the Sabres game last night since we were playing hockey during it. When we got home, we realized that the sounds had not been TiVo'ed along with the video. This is a problem the Buffalo feed seems to be having with there HD feed. I think it is a conspiracy by NYC against Buffalo (since Buffalo is broadcast on the NYC affiliate, Madison Square Garden Network, and is always on the "alternate" channel to make room for the NYC teams! :). Anyway, toward the start of the 3rd period, Florida scored a goal, and it looked like Horton was the scorer. But there was no sound on the TV to hear and often it can be hard to tell at first look, with deflections, etc. who touched the puck last. So while I was getting my toothbrush to brush my teeth, I said, "Did Horton score that goal?" thinking that when the replays would make it clear. Phollower responded, "Everyone is hitting him on the head so either he scored a goal or heard a Hoo. I am not sure which." Cracked me up!

On a less funny note, the injury to Zednik was really scary. Just a note - that link does not show the blood, so it's safe if that upsets you. It seems he will be ok now, but it was really hard to see that happen to someone.

But the Sabres post-game added some levity to story. The sound on the game came on shortly after that incident, so we were able to catch the entire Sabres post-game show. Mike Robitaille is one of the announcers. He was an NHL player years ago, but without even knowing what Robitaille you are thinking of, I am sure you are not thinking of him. Anyway, he was trying to be reassuring about Zednik's injury, but he does not great people skills. So he said, "If any of Zednik's family are watching, we don't know if he has a wife or kids, there are no guarantees in life, but it seems he is doing ok at the moment." Later he went on to explain that since hockey players' heart rates are elevated when they are playing, the blood will come out faster when their neck is cut. I believe he said, "it shoots out of his neck" and the hand motion that went with it was really a great visual. It was like watching a train wreck. The announcer next to him, kept looking like he wanted to say "Stop! Stop!"

In the end, I am sure I speak for everyone, we hope Zednik is ok and can play again.

6 comments:

Phollower said...

Zednik's injury was what we in the medical profession call "fucking disgusting". The amount of blood on the ice was unbelieveable. When you need to bring out the Zamboni to clean up the mess you know it's bad.

limpy99 said...

I saw the uncensored replay on NESN. He gets kicked and all of a sudden a huge gout of blood just drops to the ice. Scariest injury I've ever seen.

Apparently he's stable now, but if that were me, that would be it for hockey.

Or football, or shaving, or getting haircuts, or pretty much anything else that left my neck exposed to anything that didn't say "Nerf" on it.

Anonymous said...

I just watched that NESN replay.

Holy crap.

Fucking disgusting is right.

Now I'm going to be all freaked out on the ice next game.

Sylvia said...

I have to admit the scene was pretty haunting and made me realize how we could die if that happened. I will definitely be looking into a neck guard. If you find a good one O'Butter, let me know.

Anonymous said...

I've seen some neck gaurds at hockeygiant.com. Looks like they're priced between 9 and 20 bucks.

I don't know. I doubt I'll get one. The Zednik thing was a freak accident. I don't mean to be cavalier about it, but what are the chances in our league? Maybe better than I'm thinking, though.

But do I need more equipment to soak up sweat and smell? More equipment for my kids and my wife to complain about as it hangs in the basement or garage to dry?

There is at least one guy in our league who wears a neck guard. I'm pretty sure he's on the team we just played this past Sunday, on line three.

I'm not superstitious (except when I put on my hockey gear: equipment on the left always goes on before equipment on the right), but I'm hesitant to even type this here:

What really freaks me out about playing, aside from thinking about a Zednik-style injury, is getting run into or accidentally skating straight into the boards.

Any time I go chasing the puck in a corner, I get freaked out about someone lumbering up behind me!

There are some people in our league who can skate fast but still cannot stop worth a damn, and the thought of some behemoth smashing all 5'8" (on a good day) of me into the boards, simply because he cannot stop himself in time, makes me paranoid.

The lesson, kids, is don't skate straight into a corner or straight toward the boards. It's all about angles, ain't it?

Sylvia said...

O'Butter: I am totally with you. That scares the crap out of me, particularly after getting smacked in the head with sticks a good many times as they lose their balance and flail it around (and I am not just talking about one person). And there have been plenty of times someone has used me to stop - why use the wall when I am there? I think I am going to get a skate guard, especially since I travel with the women sometimes.