Drag out your summer hats...

soon the dreaded summer sadness will set in! 
What the h... do I mean? 
No hockey.
Of course one can, to stave off withdrawal symptoms, transfer one's allegiance to other sports.
No opera.
Or other forms of entertainment.

I, for one, choose not to do so.
I shall take recourse to DVD's about hockey (lol).
And more importantly travel some to see LIVE opera at summer festivals.
But mainly stay in cool rooms and watch DVD's of opera recorded in houses all around the world!
And that, while not perfect, will be, barely, enough to hold me till the fall.

Visits to art museums are also a relief!
And to feast one's eyes on masterpieces.
Titian will come to the MFAH shortly!
I am already salivating ...lol.
Which of his masterpieces will be on show?
But even if only a few will be shown a repeated visit will be worth the time.
Below a few examples.

La Flora

Although he did paint many subjects, he is probably more known for his undulating bodies
(more often than not of females)..

Titans

Just a thought.
Tonight Aeros and Admirals will do battle once more.
And it is hoped they will have risen from the laurel bed and give no quarter to the Admirals, if one is an Aeros fan.
And vice versa, of course, if one is an Admirals fan.
Of course, if one is neither, then just sit back and enjoy a HOCKEY game per se.
Soon enough the seaon will be over.

From the  NHL:
The Sharks, Tampa Bay and the Bruins seem to be on their way.
The Preds and Canucks will play tonight.

From the IIHF:
UPDATE
for Tuesday;
Canada wins in OT vs Switzerland 4-3,
Germany vs Slovakia 3-2;
France vs Belarus 2-1,
Russia vs Slovenia 4-3.
for Wednesday:
The Czechs check Finland 2-1;
Sweden trounces USA with 6-2;
Norway (must have said to Austria NoWay - lol ) shuts out Austria 5-0
and  Denmark wins over Latvia 3-2.

And  the Slovene goalie Robert Kristan is HOT and I mean hot...

in just two games he made 100 saves!! 

                                        

Maybe like that? Just by levitating?  LOL.............

Quick hits, Ads vs Rampage, Dallas Stars vs 'Canes'



Montoya saves

 And in case you ask,
Stafford was not on the roster for the Rampage last Sunday.


Here,  Ref the puck!

 



 



Scrambles in front of Ads net

Well deserved sip for young net minder  Jeremy Smith

And some pics from the Versus Canes vs Stars.. which was a GOOD game for the Stars.


Seasoned Neal



Young Jamie Benn

 # 18 Neal and Jamie Benn (who did so well forTexas Star during Calder Cup play offs).

 Only one goal for "Canes" by Eric Staal.. does he look sad or mad ;-)?

A beleaguered Cam Ward (Carolina Hurricanes)

Wild vs Flames - in progress...



Admirals outsail Rampage

One expected a bit more from the number 1 seeded Rampage.

But their production in the first period lacked cohesion, their offense play seemed not just disoriented but simply missing, although "Soft Spot" MB ALMOST got a shorthanded goal.
The Ads netminder Jeremy Smith, soon to be 21 years old, had it somewhat easy to keep the Rampage from scoring in the first period, despite 10 shots on goal. The Admirals sailed ahead with 2 pp goals by Mueller and Begin.

The 2. period started with Admirals 2 up on Rampage 0.
But then the "bulls" stormed back in the 2nd. with 3 goals by Prucha, Watkins and Beaudoin (ppgoal)  whilst peppering Smith with 18 shots to lead 3-2 going into the third.

And that's all she wrote, Admirals bounced back strongly with goals by Bourque, Klasen and an empty net goal to win the game 5-3 in regulation.

Alas a shot by Ebbett (Rampage) hit the post-it would have given the Rampage a 4-2 lead.
Unfortunately, Rampage blew several chances to score on 6 pp.
They managed just the1 by Beaudoin, who now has 24 pts.
They seemed troubled in penalty kills.
That allowed the Admirals to convert 3 pps of 4 into goals.
Montoya was the Rampage net minder, stopping 27 of 31.
Admirals' Smith stopped a respectable 33 of 36!

Otherwise the drive on this sunny cool Sunday morning was uneventful.
We arrived relaxed after the obligatory stop at Buccee's for coffee, fudge and well, you know,
plus 2 stretch stops before that.
Now we'll enjoy a misty-rainy (predicted) day in the Texas hill country.
Correction it is HOT, real HOT, sunny, a real stunner poolside

while sipping a nice Texas Red! LOL

We head back to Cowtown on Tuesday for a meeting of the HGO Lucia Hospitality committee on Wednesday, and the Aeros's Thursday Morning game to 'celebrate' Better Half's birthday ...lol! AND some photos from Sunday's game.
After which we once more head West for (need to stock up on some Texas Reds)  Winery and museum visits and 2 Hockey games (yep, more hockey) in Austin.

BTW.. it seems that young Jared Spurgeon will celebrate his birthday (it was just a few days ago) by being recalled to the Wild! Wow, what a good chance for this 5'8 tall defender.