LFR5 - Game 8 - Moves Like Jagr - Phi4,Tor2

Four of the bottom five teams in the NHL are Canadian. Sens (26th), Flames (27th), Jets (28th), and Habs (29th).

LFR5 - Game 6

The NEW LFR video is up! Ranting rampage on staged fights, the Kessel trade, and Gustavsson http://bit.ly/n8Jcjs

LFR5 - Game 2 - Phil the Thrill

LFR5 - Game 1 - I Just Had Stecks

New setup to "the studio."

LFR5 Preview

"I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE!!!" - Ryan Hollwegg

NHL 12 Review - Chirp Fest

NHL 12: Now with finishing moves

The way Shanahan is disciplining, if Matt Cooke ever delivers another headshot his grandchildren are getting suspended.

Think you can score on me?

Steve "Vesa" Dangle.

The Leafs have now scored just one goal through six full periods of play in front of James Reimer. Yuck.

Joining The Rush Episode 7

Myers vs Schenn

Quick poll: Is Tyler Myers $1.9 million per season better than Luke Schenn?

Brett Lawrie's first career grand slam (with effect)

Brett Lawrie's first career grand slam (with effect), a photo by Steve Dangle on Flickr.

One of the highlights of the summer, for sure!

RIP Lokomotiv

New video: a tribute to Lokomotiv from myself and @AOsadchenko, telling stories of those we lost.

Leafs Season Preview

Leafs fans, the 2011-12 NHL season is upon us.

I think predictions are a waste of time, so I decided to make one that was over 12 minutes long.

My YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/SteveDangle

My Twitter: http://twitter.com/Steve_Dangle

My Google+: https://plus.google.com/101143308259078178936/posts?hl=en

My FourSquare: https://foursquare.com/steve_dangle

My Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/people/66243587@N02/

My Last.FM: http://www.last.fm/user/SteveDangle

My Tumblr: http://stevedangle.tumblr.com/

My Blogger: http://steve-dangle.blogspot.com/

My Facebook profile : http://www.facebook.com/steve.dangle

My Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/SteveDangle/64278217974

My Website: www.stevedangle.com

Leafs fans, the 2011-12 NHL season is upon us.
I think predictions are a waste of time, so I decided to make one that was over 12 minutes long.
My YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/SteveDangleMy Twitter: http://twitter.com/Steve_DangleMy Google+: https://plus.google.com/101143308259078178936/posts?hl=enMy FourSquare: https://foursquare.com/steve_dangleMy Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/people/66243587@N02/My Last.FM: http://www.last.fm/user/SteveDangleMy Tumblr: http://stevedangle.tumblr.com/My Blogger: http://steve-dangle.blogspot.com/My Facebook profile : http://www.facebook.com/steve.dangleMy Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/SteveDangle/64278217974My Website: www.stevedangle.com (that’s here)

Biosteel Pro Camp with Stamkos, BizNasty, Gary Roberts, and more!

The best trainers in the game, plus some of the league's best players, makes for one gruelling, week-long hockey camp. Dangle stopped by to watch as the pros were put through on and off-ice training by Gary Roberts and Matt Nichol. Are you gearing up for your season to begin?

Joining the Rush: Ep. 3

The latest edition of Joining The Rush talking NHL and KHL hockey with @Steve_Dangle & @AOsadchenko

Connolly, the Wings, & Isles

Keith Aulie: Bonus Material

Recently, I had the opportunity to speak to James Reimer and Keith Aulie on the phone for Maple Leafs Annual. I wrote a rookie recap piece on the pair of Leafs for the magazine, and used a lot of their quotes in the article. Once the article was done however, I had tons of leftover quotes from the interviews that there wasn’t room for in the article (I’ll let you know when the magazine is published).

Well since Reimer and Aulie were so kind as to stay on the phone that long, and you folks are nice enough to be reading this, I’m going to post the quotes that ended up on the cutting room floor. I posted James Reimer’s quotes earlier today. Now check out what his Leaf teammate Keith Aulie had to say.

Without further adieu, here are Keith Aulie’s quotes that did not make the article. He begins by talking about his summer so far.

Keith Aulie on spending a chunk of the summer farming:

Steve: Don’t you think that’s kind of funny though that while other guys are spending their summer relaxing, you’re out farming?

Aulie: Yeah, it’s just a way of life I guess. I like to do lots of other things other than just hockey. I like to get away from the game a little bit in the summer and do some other things and especially help out with the farm. I think it’s a good way to get a different mindset for a while, and when you jump back into the game you’re really refreshed. Farming’s got its own challenges and it’s kind of neat to work on something else for a bit.

Steve: You’ve always seemed to like that sort of thing. The first time I met you, you didn’t know what Twitter was. You figure that out yet?

Aulie: I guess I kind of figured out what it’s about. Just being a small-town kid and being from the country, we live a simple life, so to speak. All this other stuff that goes on, I don’t have much interest in.

Steve: You fish in the summer. Catch anything good?

Aulie: We caught a lot of 40, 40+ inch pike. That was probably the highlight.

Keith Aulie on his time in the AHL with the Marlies:

Steve: You started off with the Marlies. What was your experience on that team like? You had already played some AHL on Abbottsford.

Aulie: Can’t say enough about the coaches and the guys down with the Marlies. They do a great job down there developing guys. I know they had a bit of a tough year at the end of the year too, but they just do so much for you as far as developing you and getting you ready for the NHL. My time down there was great. I went up for, I guess it was all month there, and then I came down for a while. After that I knew that I just needed to be in the NHL and I was going to do anything possible to get back there. When I got called back up I knew what to expect and I knew exactly what I needed to do out there every shift and it just made it that much easier for me.

Keith Aulie on some firsts in his early NHL career:

Steve: Do you remember your first NHL goal? How did that play happen?

Aulie: I was out with our fourth line with the Jay Rosehill, Tim Brent, Mike Brown line. They were cycling down low on New York. I think it was Browny that went behind the net and backhanded it out. It went off Rosey’s skate right to me at about the top of the circle or maybe closer into the slot. I just remember thinking ‘oh this is a good opportunity’ and I got in there and just tried to get her on net * laughs * it was kind of a rolling puck so I just tried to direct her at the net and it ended up going just over it shoulder. That was a pretty good feeling. A lot of players look forward for their first goal – I do – but just being a different player I wasn’t like anxiously waiting for it, I just kind of took it when it came and it was a pretty awesome feeling nevertheless.

Steve: Didn’t you have your first goal disallowed at some point during your first recall?

Aulie: Oh yeah, I think that was maybe my second game or something. I shot one from the point and I can’t remember. I think it might have went off of Orrsy or whatever. I think the call was Orrsy interfered with the goalie but I think it if was called a goal it actually went off Orrsy. It would have been my first assist maybe anyways, but that doesn’t count.

Steve: How do you remember your first fight? It got you a pretty good nickname.

Aulie: Well, it was between me and Hartnell and we were just in each other’s face the whole night playing against each other. I don’t know exactly how we got paired against each other but we were going at each other all night and hitting each other. Tempers were flying and then all of a sudden it just erupted and we tossed the mitts. It was fun. I don’t pride myself as a fighter or anything but it was fun to just let lose and give’er a go there.

Steve: Aren’t MacArthur and Hartnell pretty good friends?

Aulie: Yup I think they’re really good buddies.

Steve: Did Clarke still congratulate you after the fight?

Aulie: Oh yeah, he loves that. He likes to do that stuff himself when he gets mad.

Steve: What was your proudest moment this past season?

Aulie: Probably my first game. That was just so overwhelming, being Saturday night against Vancouver and it was Hockey Night in Canada and everything else. My family and stuff got down to see it and that was a pretty cool experience.

Steve: Who are some of the guys that helped you the most in the NHL?

Aulie: Dion helps me a ton. When I played with him at the end of the year he’s always on you, telling you little things and helping you out, showing you the ropes. A guy like Beauchemin when I was up my first time helped me out quite a bit. He’s just an older guy that’s been around a lot. I learned a lot from the way he carries himself and the way that he plays the game.

Steve: What can you tell me about James Reimer in your time spent with him on the Marlies and with the Leafs?

Aulie: Kind of what you see is what he’s actually like all the time. He’s just a real calm, composed guy. He’s got some really strict values and hard work. Real honest guy. What you see on the ice is more of the same. He’s always been calm and composed in there, knows what he wants, knows what he has to do. Just so focused in the game and between periods. You see him before games he’s so focused and he knows he’s gonna have a big game. You saw how good of a last part of the year he had there. It all comes down to how had he’s worked for it and how focused he is. He’s an awesome guy; he’s one of the best guys to have around just because he’s got those values where he’s so honest and so hard-working.

I couldn’t find room for this next part of the conversation in the final article, but it was very insightful nonetheless. Aulie starts by talking about the positive role his parents have played in his hockey career, but also some of the negatives he has seen from other parents.

Steve: What kind of role has your family played in your early career?

Aulie: There’s a lot of different families when you’re growing up. Some hockey dads and moms are really involved in their games and always trying to coach you and everything else. I would say my mom and dad are absolutely the opposite. They just let me play the game and they always got me to everything I needed to go to and whether I wanted to play in summer tournaments or whatever it was they were always supportive of that, but they always stayed back when it came to coaching. When it came to on-ice stuff they always just kind of let it play out. They were never too nosey, which I admire looking back. You see a lot of parents and they’re so nosey nowadays and I just think it’s hard on the kid and it’s just extra stress that they don’t need. That role that they played was huge and no player would be where they are now if it wasn’t for their parents. So much credit goes to them.

Steve: It’s interesting you say that. I was just talking to my buddies at the cottage this past weekend about that. We know so many talented guys playing like AAA, Junior A and whatever, and they just dropped it because their parents were too in their face.

Aulie: You get these dads and moms that are trying to live their careers through their kids and it just doesn’t work. It becomes not fun for the kids. If there’s one thing I would hope on a kid it’s that their parents just support them and let the things on the ice just play out.

James Reimer: Bonus Material

Recently, I had the opportunity to speak to James Reimer and Keith Aulie on the phone for Maple Leafs Annual. I wrote a rookie recap piece on the pair of Leafs for the magazine, and used a lot of their quotes in the article. Once the article was done however, I had tons of leftover quotes from the interviews that there wasn’t room for in the article (I’ll let you know when the magazine is published).

Well since Reimer and Aulie were so kind as to stay on the phone that long, and you folks are nice enough to be reading this, I’m going to post the quotes that ended up on the cutting room floor, starting with James Reimer. Keith Aulie’s quotes will be posted later today.

Without further adieu, here are James Reimer’s quotes that did not make the article. He begins by talking about his summer so far.

Steve: How do you spend your summer?

Reimer: Mostly in B.C. I mean I try and visit back home to Manitoba a couple of times, but I spend most of my summer out in B.C. Just working out at a gym called Fit Life and hanging out and relaxing a little bit.

Steve: Why B.C.? When did that come into the picture?

Reimer: Mostly with my wife, I started coming out here when we were dating, and we really liked it over the years and kind of just kept coming back so it’s nice. It’s where she’s from. She feels comfortable here plus I found a great gym so it’s those two reasons, mostly.

Steve: Do you spend much time in Manitoba during the summer?

Reimer: I’ll spend probably about three weeks in total, maybe a little more in Manitoba during the summer but definitely most of the time is in B.C. My whole family lives in Manitoba. My brother who’s married lives in Winnipeg but all the rest of my siblings live very close to where I grew up (Morweena).

Reimer talks about shootouts.

Steve: I remember talking to you really briefly after your first AHL win, which was also in the shootout. You also had that marathon 11-round shootout win in London before the season began. I asked you about your strategy at the time, because you didn’t know any of the shooters, and it was ‘I duno, just try to be big.’ Is that still your strategy?

Reimer: Shootouts are such a science, really. Different things work for different people and for me, I don’t know if I even have a science to it really. Most people say I’m pretty deep in shootouts. I have my size but I can play a little deeper which takes takes away most of the net yet I’m deep enough that I can kind of go post to post and cover a guy if he dekes. I don’t know, you try and take it like a normal shot and hope that you can read him and make the save.

Reimer talks about life after his first NHL win and the pressures that come with the NHL.

Steve: Then you pull off your first career win and get the monkey off your back, and all of a sudden, looking at your game-by-game, you did pretty darn well. Did the pressure start to mount after that? All eyes were on James Reimer to be “the saviour.”

Reimer: The Leafs do a great job of educating their player through prospect camps and stuff, and it just so happens that I think I hold the all-time most prospect camps attended record. So I was pretty well-educated with the hype that surrounds the Leafs, the hype the surrounds the team and the media and all different angles from that. I guess I was kind of expecting it or I wasn’t surprised or taken back by it, maybe. I just kind of accepted that, that was just part of the game. Obviously you can do the interviews and stuff in the room, but after that I don’t read the paper. As soon as someone on TV started talking about the Leafs I’d mute it or change the channel. I wouldn’t pay attention to what they were saying about me. For the most part I can keep it out, although at the same time a thing slips through here or there and i just tried to forget about it and not think about the expectations people were putting on me or hoping that I would accomplish. I just tried to stay in my own little bubble and just try and focus on stopping pucks and not worry about what people were saying.

Steve: You went sent back to the AHL after a short yet solid run with the Leafs. Did any of the Marlies guys give you any crap after you gained all this notariety? I know Ben Scrivens likes to razz you.

Reimer: Obviously me and Scrivy joke around a lot. I remember my first practice back in Abbottsford, we were doing this drill – penalty kill at one and and powerplay on the other end – and it was just one of those times where surprisingly I was stopping every puck. They all started getting on my case and going, “Oh, you’re so good! Go back to the NHL. NHL goaltender, you’re too good for us. They’re just razzing me like that, but it was all good. It was fun to be back with the guys you played with for a long time.

Steve: Any of the guys ask for your autograph?

Reimer: There were a couple guys joking around, always bugging me for it. I was too stuck up to give it to them, you know.

Reimer talks about some of his biggest influencers with the Leafs. Reimer spoke about many people that helped him out in his rookie year, but not all of it made the final article. Here are some of the folks Reimer spoke about that did not get into the article.

His family:

Reimer: I wouldn’t be where I am without my family. My parents, my in-laws, my wife, obviously they are a big part of who I am and where I am today. They help me out a ton. I’ve had so many people that have influenced me.

Francois Allaire:

Reimer: I don’t think I would have been in the NHL as long or had the success if it wasn’t for him. He was a huge help with my technical game and making me confident in the net, which is a huge part of goaltending obviously.

Ron Wilson:

Reimer: He had the confidence to keep putting me back out there. I was privileged and blessed that he did that.

Jean-Sebastian Giguere:

Reimer: When Francois Allaire wasn’t there, he was there to help me out if I had any technical questions, or where I should be in a situation or what I should be doing. He helped me a ton with different rinks. He’s obviously played in a ton of rinks before and he knew certain bounces, or the fans are like this, or this guy’s shot is like that. There was so many times where he gave me pointers through the last half of the year. He was a huge reason for my success. Every time we got on the road I usually hitched a ride with him to the airport. He was a huge part of my development.

Reimer on his appearance in the IIHF World Hockey Championship.

Steve: This was technically after your rookie season, but you got to represent Canada at the IIHF World Hockey Championship. What was that like?

Reimer: It was great. Obviously I love the game and I’m a fan of it. A big fan of it. To be able to play with big names that you’ve seen or watched growing up like Spezza and Nash and playing guys like that. It was a lot of fun. It was pretty exciting to put on the same sweater they did and then play for your country. My second biggest dream was to play for team Canada. I’ve been close other times and never got the chance. To be able to put on the jersey for my country with guys that I looked up to growing up was a pretty sweet experience and something I’ll never forget, that’s for sure.