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So I'm spending my days alternately at work and dreaming of being at work and feeling like I'm going to develop an ulcer before the Chinese New Year is finally fucking over and done with, and the only things that really even remotely make me happy these days are the Chicago Blackhawks and Jonathan Toews being awesome or people writing awesome
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BUT OMG THEY ACTUALLY WON AGAINST THE FLAMES. That game was so horrible, it gave me a heart attacks. Every minute was them hanging on and EMERY BLOCKING GOALS LIKE A BOSS HE IS MY HERO. I was gearing up for the loss after we went down 2-1 and then OF COURSE they tie it in a final-seconds-throwback to last year's playoffs and it was AWESOME. I feel kind of bad for the Calgary fans now because they had everything but the win but I'll take it!
I am anxious-excited about the Sharks game because I feel like the Hawks are due for one GOOD game and I'm always an optimist. For all the heartbreak the Hawks have given me in the past, they have come up with some HUGE plays when pushed to a corner enough times that I can't quite help believing in them forever and always until the game is truly over. Also, you know, TOEWS. But also Hossa, and Kane, and EMERY. It feels great to have a game won by the goalie. It feels so...new! I REALLY ENJOY IT. I'm also wishing for some really great hockey because neither have lost in regulation yet (Nashville snapped up that Sharks streak and I don't know if I should be happy about that or feel more nervous) so there's like, more pride and stuff on the line.
But talk to me more about Tazer! He is so great. Everyone's pretty much waxed poetic about how a great leader he is and his work ethic and he can wear a suit really, really well, also THAT ASS. But what I adore most about him is how much he gets shit done on the ice. I have the most fun watching him play because he is everywhere and doing everything really, really well (usually) and it must take an insane amount of focus and willpower to keep at it and do the things he does. It's really very admirable and I totally get you! I don't think he's conventionally attractive (like you said, it takes a certain angle and expression and style of hair/dress) but it's part of his charm? But the aforementioned competence at hockey and being captain is super hot. He can also be really stuffy and awkward at times but it actually makes him more interesting! Especially when Kaner is involved because they are super weird about each other while having insane amounts of chemistry. I love that they have a lot of good fic about them but, yes, I WANT MORE TOO. D:
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Five Things I Like About Jonathan Toews
1. His name. Not the weird-looking/sounding last name, though I'm inordinately fond of it now as well, but JONATHAN. And his little brother is David! I totally started writing a story where Tazer was Biblical!Jonathan and Kaner was Biblical!David, but got sick of the language early on. :( Still: Jonathan! It's such a nice name.
I also like all the variations of it that we get from his teammates: Jon, Jonny, Tazer, Toes, Toe-ez, TAZE. (Just recently heard the last one in Kaner's interview after the Calgary game.) It makes me happy that he has all these nicknames, that they like him enough to GIVE him nicknames, because he can be so intense and such a horrible loser, ahahaha, that I don't think it would actually be surprising if he didn't have any friends at all! Instead, I think the Hawks have one of the friendliest locker rooms in the league, and Tazer's right in the middle of that; I AM SO RELIEVED.
2. Speaking of him being a sore loser, it's probably just because my previous sports idols were basketball stars from the 80s, and there are so many stories of Magic Johnson refusing to end a game (any kind of game, not just bball) until he'd won, of MJ being psycho killer competitive, that even while others may think, wow, sore loser: major personality flaw, I think, wow, sore loser: MARK OF A CHAMPION.
3. How the commentators started talking about him as the future Blackhawks captain THE DAY HE WAS DRAFTED. 18 years old. I mean, how much leadership must you exude from your pores that people are viewing you as future team leader -- not star but leader -- before you've met the team, before you even put the jersey on?
It's not even that he's a particularly vocal captain; every year they say that he's getting more vocal in the locker room, which is something they need from him, and apparently he once laid into them halfway through a losing game against -- I think it was St. Louis? -- and they came out with guns blazing to win the game, but I think by nature he prefers to lead by example. Which is awesome, yeah, but not something that I would expect to showcase brilliant leadership skills.
Yet Wayne Gretzky calls him one of the best captains in the game right now, maybe the best. Fans, more exacting than any coach alive, never doubted the appropriateness of choosing him as captain at 20; at most some wanted to wait a year or two more before handing him the C, but the majority applauded the decision, and there wasn't one single comment I saw to the effect that he shouldn't at least eventually be made captain. THESE ARE SPORTS FANS. THEY NEVER AGREE ON ANYTHING. -- Except, apparently, Jonathan Toews' suitability for leadership.
4. How, despite acting a couple of decades older than his age sometimes, there are also times when he looks REALLY YOUNG, especially when he's perched on the boards, waiting for his shift and watching the scoreboard with wide eyes and open mouth. Like, sometimes he just looks lost out there? XD Which clearly he isn't, but I dig the babe-in-the-woods look when the personality is directly counter to it. *g*
5. How he was the cutest toddler ever, and then just an ordinary college dude who would drink (illegally) and party and get arrested and whatnot (for which I thank Oshie's influence, because dude, he totally oversaw Tazer's transition from boy to man), and then somehow became "Captain Serious" and now can't get rid of the moniker, no matter how hard he tries, because even his mom is working against him.
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I've had two close friends named Jonathan (one is actually a girl; we called them "Jon" and "Jonna") so it feels like a pretty common name to me, but I do love how it rolls off the tongue. I never thought much about his various nicknames before but now you've pointed it out, I can't help but make it yet another thing I can appreciate about the guy. (Your squee is contagious!) It's true, you don't just give nicknames to anybody! That Kaner interview you mentioned was delightful. Though he kept rubbing at his nose which was distracting because I can totally sympathize how annoying a runny nose can get. But anyway! He used like, at least three of Tazer's nicknames in that one interview.
Ridiculous competitiveness is what makes winners winners! You are totally correct and it is totally appealing. I mean, if I probably knew someone like that in real life who isn't, you know, a world-class athlete, I'd probably find them really annoying, but on pros, it is totally a good trait to have.
I have never read that NY Times article before, so thank you for linking to that! I've read the usual quotes from Madden and Burish before, but the one where Madden was all "Tazer would make a good hockey role model for MY SON" was new and makes me feel all warm and happy. It says a lot when veteran colleagues speak so highly about a guy, especially those that have actually worked with him. I remember watching the Calgary-Chicago match and one of the commentators was talking about Jamal Mayers and how Stan Bowman called him "the model Blackhawk", he then went on to say how much that might mean considering the team has Jonathan Toews in it. I think it's really admirable how he's managed to earn that much respect league-wide.
[Side story: I was visiting Vancouver late last year, it was just before the lockout became official, and I was buying some Blackhawks merchandise from this store. The guy at the counter was wearing a Canucks shirt (of course) and kind of snorted when he saw the stuff I bought and asked me if "I knew someone who was a Hawks fan" and I told him "I'M A HAWKS FAN. THAT'S FOR ME." and I went on to say that I'm actually from the Philippines so I don't have any hometown loyalties (although I didn't mention my close family in Chicago). And then I mentioned how "Toews is actually my favorite player so..." AND THEN he goes "well, yeah, of course, that's understandable!" and spent like the next five minutes talking about how awesome Toews was in the Olympics and how he wished he weren't playing for Chicago. A CANUCK FAN IN VANCOUVER. IT WAS HILARIOUS.]
especially when he's perched on the boards, waiting for his shift and watching the scoreboard with wide eyes and open mouth
I have seen a picture exactly like this! He DOES look like a child when he does it! And people who say he doesn't have any facial expressions/show emotions clearly haven't been watching him play. The faces he makes are pretty EPIC (and hilarious)!
One of the things I can appreciate about the baby!Tazer pics/vids is the VARIETY. He wasn't just playing hockey. He went on horseback! Jumped into a pool! WORE A DINOSAUR (dragon?) COSTUME while licking a lollipop! Tried to eat his baby brother! For all his mom's "I can't lie, you're really like this! you always have been!" spiel she was pretty happy releasing his baby doings to the rest of the world. Mama!Tazer is awesome.
By the way, if you thought your fangirling would scare me off YOU ARE VERY WRONG AS YOU CAN SEE. *cackles*
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Like Kaner said, those two points are Emery's.
(And then of course I switched to the Sharks vs. the Preds, and it gave me great joy to see the Sharks lose in pretty much the exact same way the Flames did. *g* The difference being that I actually felt that the Sharks played better than the Preds, at least during OT?)
On the bright side, the Sharks will be going back-to-back while the Hawks will have had two days of rest, BUT that was also the case in the game vs. the Wild, which did not turn out so great. :/
And I totally agree with you re: Tazer doing everything everywhere! I actually feel less nervous when he's on the ice? (Well, except for being worried about him picking up his third concussion, because man, dude is no good at fighting.) It's nice that he can score, but I also really love his hustle, that he's good on D as well, decent on the boards, and of course his phenomenal face-off percentage. NOW IF HE COULD JUST IMPART SOME OF THAT FACE-OFF WISDOM TO HIS TEAMMATES.
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The Hawks were extremely tired after Vancouver too, so it's certainly something they've got going for them if Anaheim wears San Jose out (currently on-going! second period, Sharks are up 1-0!). And I thought they played well against the Wild--it could have gone either way. We'll just have to see how it goes and hope they, you know, show up in all periods. Crawford's probably starting so I hope he'll feel pumped up and inspired about Emery's recent stellar performance. Bolland is likely to be ready for the Sharks too (yay!). I wish them less PK time--I know it's awesome guys, but it's actually a bad thing to have to CONSTANTLY SHOW IT OFF GOD. Bolland and Kruger have been somewhat improving on the dot, I think! Although, yeah, still ways off from ideal. No team is perfect! *lol*
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Bastards.
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