I now can honestly say I’m a true hockey fan. How do I know this? Well, I’m pumped for tonight’s Olympic matchup between the U.S.A. and Canada.

I’m so excited and have been thinking about hockey that I finally got around to making my Ducks Tweetup Recap video from February 3rd. During the first week of February I visited southern California to become a Ducks fan and more importantly to meet all the great people that made Pick My NHL Team the success that it was.

My trip was a memorable experience. I think the Ducks are great, the Honda Center was nice, but more than anything the people were awesome. All my new Duck fan friends were so welcoming and accommodating throughout the entire trip. In fact, you can read about many of their takes on the Ducks Tweetup from their lists of blog posts:

To best sum up the entire experience, I decided to make a video recap. See above.

Hey everybody I know it’s been a few weeks since I’ve put up anything new on the site but I’ve been too busy planning my trip to Anaheim. I’ll be leaving in just five days!

Next Wednesday, February 3rd I’ll fly from South Dakota to Anaheim to take in the Ducks versus Red Wings game at the Honda Center. We have over 40 people joining me for a Ducks Tweetup which will include group rate tickets, merchandise giveaways, and a tour of the arena by Ducks blogger Adam Brady. I’m pretty excited.

To remind myself of why I became a Ducks fan I wanted to post this guest blog from Princess Duck, who wrote this for me after the Ducks won on January 1. Enjoy…

Ducks fans are not the biggest or largest fan base, and have never claimed to be. As Ducks fans we know exactly where we stand. We’re in a peculiar area for hockey that many purists claim shouldn’t happen. “If ice doesn’t form naturally in your area, you shouldn’t have a hockey team” gets thrown around quite often in our faces. And while ice doesn’t grow naturally an Anaheim, it does grow naturally in the region of Southern California. You just have to raise your elevation a little bit and head upwards to our great mountains. There you will find lots of natural ice and snow, and you can see those mountains directly from the Pond. It’s still referred to as “The Pond” by many, but it’s more widely known as Honda Center, now a days. There are others who combined the two in a compromise, and they call it the Ponda.

So in short, Ducks fans understand our position but don’t let that fool you. We’re not the largest or biggest fan base, but the fans we do have are right up there with the most die-hard and loyal. Bigger fan bases have a shload (I’m paraphrasing) of bandwagon variety fans. The “win and they will come” symptom. That happened to the Ducks for a while in 2007. The games were sold out for the whole season of 2007-08 season due to the cup win. But those days are done and those bandwagon pals are likely over in L.A. right now with L.A.’s recent and baffling success. They’ll probably be leaving there soon though since L.A. has been doing a skid and are only grasping 7^th right now.

On the Ducks spectrum, we’re trying to figure out how we’re sitting in 13^th place with (so far) 7 Olympians on our squad. But while the bandwagon crowd has thinned out the die-hards are still going to support the team we love. And we still manage to get 15,000 out of 17,714 into the seats, with our poor start to this season. And those who aren’t in the seats (let’s be real, it’s a bad economy) are watching on TV. There was a study released a while back that showed 2 teams had the highest ratings in watching the NHL on TV. I believe the one team was the Islanders (don’t quote me on that) and the other team? It was Ducks. So if our die-hards can’t afford their seats, they are at home watching on TV. It was a 300% increase from last year. I believe that has to be due to the economy. I personally know a chunk of Ducks fans who did not re-new their season seats due to this reason. They simply cannot afford them. I know they’re as die-hard as you can get, but when money gets in the way you can only do so much.

I can also say that John T. Meyer will not feel out of place being a Ducks fan in South Dakota. A large chunk of Ducks fans are from out of the area. We are talking about a fan base that is literally scattered throughout the entire world. I know of a certain fan over in Seoul, South Korea who has been waking up at 8am to tune into a Ducks game from the internet feeds. When the games are at 1pm here in Southern California, he’s waking up at 5am to watch. There’s a couple in England who are big Coventry Blaze fans, they also are huge Ducks fans and have flown out for the playoff games time and time again. There is a fan in Washington who is about as hardcore as you can get. Among other areas are Hawaii, New York, Texas, Minnesota, Florida, I’ll save some time and say there’s fans in 49 states. I’m not sure about Alaska, I haven’t personally seen a fan from Alaska, I wouldn’t doubt it though. Include Canada, Europe. We had a season seat holder who LIVES in France. He flies a lot for business and got season seats for when he would be in Anaheim. He made a lot of the games too. AND HE LIVES IN FRANCE. There’s Ducks fans in Australia and Mexico. So when John T. Meyer is watching games from South Dakota, he won’t be alone. I’m sure he could find some fans in South Dakota!

Our fans have also been made fun of for being “weak” as in we don’t give the opposing teams fans too much of a hard time. It’s easy for other fans to come into our building and not be harassed. I’m not sure that’s being weak, I think that’s having some class. Ducks fans like to go with the “respect us in our building and we will respect you”. Cross those lines and there might be some trouble but for the most part, there’s never much of any trouble. Ducks fans are at the game to watch our team play, not to start trouble with opposing fans. If you were to go to San Jose, that’s different. If you are an opposing fan in their building, they will let you know it. There’s a ton of tension in that building if your not a SJ fan. It makes for an uncomfortable game watching experience, but it does feel good to win there. I have a specific memory from that place. The Ducks beat the Sharks 5 – 2 right before the playoffs last spring. A  SJ fan shouted “have fun watching us in the playoffs”. At that point in time the Ducks had not secured a playoff spot yet. A week and a half later the Ducks were facing those same Sharks in the playoffs, and I have to admit. I had a lot of fun watching the Sharks in the playoffs. The Ducks ousted them in the first round.

You see as a Ducks fan you have to bite your tongue a lot, because it’s easy for the other fans to harass you. But in the end the Ducks team helps you to have the last laugh. Other fans hate our team because our team is good. It’s a defense mechanism. At one point or another the Ducks have burned their team and it embarrasses them. We’re a team that was formed from Disney and other teams can’t let that go. The Ducks are no longer owned by Disney but you wouldn’t know that by the insults thrown out year in and year out. It stings them when our “Disney Ducks” beat their team.

I’m not going to candy coat things, I’m going to get you prepared for what you are in for as a Ducks fan. It’s not roses and lollypops. You will get a lot of flack for being a Ducks fan, but you will also get satisfaction. The team is a good team, and when they are on their game they are tough to beat. If they make the playoffs they are feared. Any hockey fan out there knows that they don’t want to see the Ducks in the playoffs. SJ thought they did but learned a harsh reality lesson last spring. And while Detroit did take us out, we took them to 7 games, and down to the last few minutes, and to ONE goal. That was a bitter pill to swallow, but the fact remains the same, we made Detroit sweat and put fear in their minds, and came just 1 goal away from going to the Western Conference Finals. This team is why it’s much easier to be a Ducks fan. We can handle the harassment from the other fan bases because we know we can get the last laugh.

Now to prepare you for this season we are currently in. It started off piss poor. Excuse my language. If it was a firecracker, it’d be a dud. Nobody can really figure out why. There’s a lot of finger pointing going on but nobody really knows why. Truth be told though, it’s just the way it is. However, as of late, they have been finally getting things turned around. They’re figuring out how to get the wins stringed together, and they are most definitely the last team I would consider OUT of the playoff race. If any team were to rally back and make a playoff spot, it’s the Ducks. Right now the Ducks are just taking on the battle of the injury bug. I think most teams are taking on the injury bug. Soon the Olympics will be here and a good chunk of our team will be playing in them for their respective countries. So far Scott Niedermeyer (who was also named Team Canada’s Captain), Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf are playing for Canada. Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu are playing for Finland. Our goalie Jonas Hiller will be playing for Switzerland. Ducks Prospect Luca Sbisa will be playing for Italy. They haven’t announced American’s roster yet but that should include Bobby Ryan and I’ve heard rumblings of Ryan Whitney as well. That’s 9 Ducks in the Olympics. I fully believe that this Olympic trip will help fire them up and get them ready for the big push they need to grab themselves a playoff spot. While other teams will have many sitting around not playing games for two weeks, we have 9 of our MAIN players out there playing and hopefully winning. You could ask any NHLer … they can practice all they want during this Olympic break, but it’s not the same as getting out and playing a game.

I hope this was enough of an overview of what you are in for should you become a Ducks fan. I hope it excites you. And I hope it was a good argument as to why you will love being one. I know I pointed out negatives, but the positives I pointed out strongly outweigh the negatives.

That’s right fans of PickMyNHLTeam.com it’s official. I booked my flight today from Omaha, Nebraska (yes, it’s difficult to get directly to LA form South Dakota) to Los Angeles on Wednesday, February 3rd. That very night I along with the Anaheim Ducks will be hosting a Ducks Tweetup at the game that night against the Detroit Red Wings.

Here are the details…

When: February 3rd, game starts at 7 pm and I’ll be there by 5 pm. When do warmups start?

Where: Honda Center in Anaheim, California

Who: Me, Ducks fans, and the Detroit Red Wings

Tickets are going to be just $18.50 per person. I don’t need money yet, but I need to know if you’re committed and how many tickets you want. We need to get at least 20 people together.

It’s going to be awesome!

2010 is here and I have a favorite NHL team… the Anaheim Ducks! So many thanks to all of the guest bloggers who participated in this site and all those fans who voted for their favorite team. I had over 3,000 votes from hockey fans all over the world. It’s been an amazing journey and I’m excited to learn more about the Anaheim Ducks and all the other NHL teams.

The final day of 2009 brings the final team of PMNHLT. John takes his final shot at the Washington Capitals. Leave a comment for your favorite team before midnight TONIGHT! The final stroke of 2009. Tomorrow I’ll have my new favorite NHL team.

The Washington Capitals… up until a few years ago, locals and people across the country paid little attention to this talented team on the ice. Now, they’re the most discussed team in Washington, D.C., and they get mentions during NFL coverage of Washington Redskins games. Right now, the Caps are the hottest team in the city, and one of the hottest teams in the NHL. And there are a few reasons why this team deserves the love it gets… (in no specific order, mostly)

The Horn Guy: Consider him our personal cheerleader. Throughout the games, you hear “bwah bwah bwah” and it signals an immediate “LET’S GO CAPS!” from the entire crowd. Even if you are watching the game from home, you can hear Horn Guy on the broadcast, always cheering on the Caps at every home game, without disappointment.

The Franchise: The Washington Capitals have retired four numbers, to honor Rod Langway, Yvon Labre, Mike Gartner, and Dale Hunter. The Caps even have four Hall of Famers: Mike Gartner (2001), Rod Langway (2002), Larry Murphy (2004), and Scott Stevens (2007). While there may not be a Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals name on it, the team has claimed an Eastern Conference Championship in 1997-98, and Division Championships in 1988-89, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2007-08, and 2008-09. The Washington Capitals organization also works with the AHL Hershey Bears (2008-09 Calder Cup Winners) and the ECHL South Carolina Stingrays (2008-09 Kelly Cup Winners). The depth of players in the organization is unreal, and the talent keeps getting stronger. About 1/3 of the current Caps roster played in Hershey before moving up to NHL play. We believe in our organization, and have faith in our rosters, and our fans support our franchise teams.

The Leadership: Under the leadership of owner Ted Leonsis, who blogs, tweets, and even offers his email to fans (and yes, answers them too), the Capitals have seen amazing success in the past few years. Combined with the General Manager George McPhee who has an eye for talent and making the budget and an often teddy-bearish and snarky Head Coach Bruce Boudreau (who was in Slapshot, just saying), the Caps have been able to continually climb in standings year after year and clinch the Southeast Division, and progress into the post-season. They’ve also increased the depth of talent in the farm teams by spotting great talent in the draft. The management and ownership is open and honest with the fans and makes themselves available to questioning. But, what is the best part of the leadership? It’s gotta be Boudreau’s one-liners in pressers and appearances on local commercials, where his comedic genius that he never got to show in Slapshot really shines.

The Fans: Fans show up and pack out the Verizon Center to “rock the red.” It’s a sight to be seen. Our fans are from all walks of life, from the city to the suburbs, from working on Capitol Hill to protesting Capitol Hill. And since it’s D.C., the best signs and t-shirts show up, showing that fans have truly made Washington, D.C. into a hockey town. Whether it’s a no-diving sign for the Pens game, a sign endorsing Bruce Boudreau for president, or even the terrible jersey fouls that PuckDaddy loves to point out, Caps fans get creative when it comes to games, especially the teams that fans love to hate: the Philadelphia Flyers, the New York Rangers, and the Pittsburgh Penguins. And the fans only lead into the next best part of being a Caps fan…

The Phonebooth: The Verizon Center, built by the late great Abe Pollin, is the most electric building in all of the NHL, and I’ve been to a few arenas (and even heard the National Anthem at the United Center). None of them compare. The energy in the Phonebooth is contagious. You’ll find yourself standing half of the game, hoarse after the game is over, and high-fiving and hugging your seatmates. (But sometimes, chances are, though, you’re a season ticket holder and you knew their names and phone numbers and they have called you before to see where you were and why you sold your tickets to whomever was in your seat one night.) In fact, last year, during the playoffs, NHL employee Mike DiLorenzo commented on Twitter during the Caps-Pens series during Game 5 in DC: The top may come off this rink if the #caps brek [sic] thru. This is insane right now. #pens  (link: http://twitter.com/NHLdilo/status/1750563164) It gets so loud in fact, you might as well just hit ignore on your phone, even during intermission, because there’s no point, you can’t hear anything on the other line.

The Wes Johnson: If you have to Google this guy, go ahead, and it’s worth every penny. Our arena announcer, Wes Johnson makes the games so incredibly exciting, and he’s a character during and after the games. The tone of his voice tells you exactly what you should know even if you don’t know what he’s saying. Wes Johnson, is in fact, the best arena announcer in all of the NHL. There’s nothing quite like hearing him announce a goal, and crediting it to various players. The Capitals would not be as exciting and as fun-filled without the voice of Wes Johnson.

The Location: The Washington Capitals are located in one of the greatest cities in the U.S.: Washington, D.C.! Outside of the Phonebooth are the country’s best museums and travel spots. Plus, whether you’re visiting or if you live in D.C., there is always something to do. The cultural aspects of the city are vast. From a plethora of food to music to the arts, even to sports, if you’re not at a hockey game, you’ve got plenty of things that can fill your time in the city. And, if that doesn’t excite you enough, you can always be on the lookout for the next spot the President will turn up, because he loves to dart in and out of the city.

Alexander the Gr8: Last, but not least, the Caps wouldn’t be the Caps without Ovi. As a Capitals fan, I learned one thing really fast, people love to hate the Washington Capitals, and specifically Alexander Ovechkin. Actually, they love to hate him because he’s so good. He’s the most talented player of the league, scoring like no other player, taking in NHL honors left and right, and one of the most physical players on the ice, and he’s a forward. He’s essentially the face of the NHL, whether Gary Bettman likes it or not, and people flock to see him play in other NHL towns. He’s a star, he’s passionate, and he’s an entertainer that brings fans to the game, regardless of Don Cherry’s distaste. Oh, and ESPN will actually give him coverage.

So, the fans of the Washington Capitals ROCK THE RED with pride, because we know, without a doubt, that our boys will consistently play great hockey and stick up for their team. But much more than that, the organization cares for the team and its fans enough to create an incredible hockey family.

It’s Vancouver Canucks day and while in traffic I decided to talk about the Canucks. Did you know they’ve had 13 different logos and jerseys?

With the Capitals up on Thursday there are a few days left to vote? Help pick my NHL team now!

A freind bet me if I could a team review in less than 20 seconds. I told him I could do five facts about the Toronto Maple Leafs in less than 20 seconds. Want to know if I made it… see for yourself!

Help pick my NHL team!

Merry Christmas from Pick My NHL Team.com. I decided to brave the South Dakota blizzard and celebrate the Lightning and Jesus in the hot tub.

Hull. Unger. Plager. Federko. Sutter. MacInnis. Berenson. These are just some of the names that represent the rich history and tradition of the St. Louis Blues. This organization is known for what most fans lovingly describe as a physical, hard working brand of hockey. Since taking the ice as part of the NHL’s 1967 expansion class, the Bluenote has captured the hearts of St. Louisans with its gritty tune, and the voices of legendary broadcasters like Dan Kelly helped spread that song to the entire Midwest and beyond listening on their AM radios on cold winter nights. Before 1967 the St. Louis Blues was only a song by W.C. Handy, but it’s now the name of an organization with a fan base as loyal as they come, gladly willing to accept new fans.

This organization did something most expansion teams in any league only dream of in its first years. In the springs of 1968, ’69 and ’70 the Note competed in the Stanley Cup Finals, lead by head coach and future Hockey Hall of Famer, Scotty Bowman. No championships came from these appearances but a love affair with fans was born. The Blues former home, the Arena, Old Barn, or the Checker Dome as it was known at various times, became known as one of the toughest places in the league to play. Standing room crowds sang “When the Saints go Marching In” celebrating goals, clapped their hands and stomped their feet, making the steep upper deck seats of the arena sometimes slightly sway.

In 42 seasons the Blues have won 7 division titles, a President’s Trophy for most points in the league during the 1999-2000 season, along with individual players and coaches earning many awards for their achievements. At the end of the 1968-1969 season, Glen Hall and Jacques Plante were co-recipients of the Vezina trophy, as the best goaltenders in the league. Brett Hull who captured Blues fans hearts and the league’s attention with his scoring prowess and personality in the late 1980s and into the 90’s earned the League MVP in the 1990-1991 season. At the end of the decade, defenseman Chris Pronger was named league MVP, and earned the Norris trophy as the league’s best defenseman in 2000. But one of the accomplishments the Blues are known for even outside of hockey, is the team’s consecutive playoff appearances streak. From the 1979-1980 season to 2003- 2004 the team made the playoffs, 25 seasons in a row.

In the Arena and the Blues current home, the Scottrade Center, fans have cheered on true legends of hockey. Some like franchise scoring leader (1,073 points) Bernie Federko, player and later coach Brian Sutter, and the always honest, entertaining and supremely talented Brett Hull are synonymous with the Bluenote. While other greats like Jacques Plante, Scott Stevens, Grant Fuhr, Brendan Shanahan and even the great one himself Wayne Gretzky have had stops in St. Louis, hearing fans chant “Let’s Go Blues!” over and over again, and counting out each goal scored with the Towel Guy. But being a Blues fan is great, because we appreciate and remember every player on our team. Names like the Cavallini brothers (Gino and Paul), Geoff Courtnall, and Eric Boguniecki will live on in Blues fans conversations, and forum posts.

It’s obvious many of the clubs players have appreciated the loyalty and support fans showed them while they played, and have stayed in the St. Louis area, even after hanging their skates up. Defenseman Rick Zombo who played with the Blues in the early 90’s is now an assistant hockey coach at Lindenwood University in St. Charles. Enforcer Tony Twist, a fan favorite who instilled fear in many teams around the league still resides in the area, operating Twister’s Iron Bar and Saloon. Also there’s Kelly Chase in the Blues radio booth doing color commentary, and Hall of Famer Bernie Federko on the TV side with commentary. Again Blues fans embrace our players, and don’t let go once they retire.

Part of the reason fans don’t forget players, is because the organization doesn’t either. This was just recently evident at Brett Hull’s Hall of Fame induction celebration ceremony.  He put together his all time Blues roster, and Hulls invitation along with front office efforts, allowed fans the opportunity to cheer on past players like Guy Carbonneau, Phil Housley and Curtis Joseph. Another great example is The Fourteen Fund in honor of Doug Wickenheiser, who wore number 14 as a Blue and passed away from lung and brain cancer in 1999. The fund helps support charitable efforts in and around St. Louis. Also former Blues are present in the clubs front office and staff. Hall of Fame Defenseman Al MacInnis is Vice President of Hockey Operations, former Blues goaltender Rick Wamsley is a goaltending coach with the team, and Bob Plager who skated with the team in its earliest years, and later moved behind the bench, now works in a Community Relations aspect for the team and often offers insight as an analyst on radio broadcasts.

Under the current ownership of the Dave Checketts group and leadership by club President John Davidson, the Blues are headed in a great direction on and off of the ice. Young forwards T.J. Oshie, David Perron and Patrik Berglund are all proving why they were first round picks, with their offensive creativity and tenacity. 2006 first overall draft pick Erik Johnson is back developing his wicked slap shot from the blue line, after missing the entire 2008-2009 season with a knee injury. These young players mixed with veterans Keith Tkachuk, Brad Boyes, Andy McDonald, Barret Jackman and Chris Mason last season showed why now is such a great time to be a Blues fan. This team went on a remarkable 21-7-6 run from the beginning of February through the end of the season, earning a playoff spot for the first time in the post 2004-2005 CBA/Lockout era. Last season’s run brought to light the talent this squad posses, and how bright the future for the team and fans truly is.

Being a St. Louis Blues fan takes dedication, heart, passion and patience. Lord Stanley’s Cup has yet to parade down Market Street on a warm St. Louis June day. But, that longing to see a Cup banner raised to the rafters is what keeps Blues fans going. When the Blues do win a league championship, you’ll want to be with the rest of us singing, “When the Saints go Marching In,” and trust me, oh Lord will you want to be in that number, cheering and chanting ‘Let’s Go Blues.’

- by Slyvia, aka St. Blues Chica