Thoughts on Lundqvist, Talbot and the Rangers ...

If the New York Rangers had won the 2015 Stanley Cup, I believe goaltender Henrik Lundqvist would have called it a career. He seems to me to be the kind of guy who would be fine knowing he could probably put in a few more great seasons, but having finally won a Stanley Cup would be more than satisfied to move on to other things; especially knowing that Cam Talbot would be there to take over in net for the Rangers.

In fact, if the Rangers had won the Cup, Lundqvist had retired, and Talbot did take over in net for the coming season, I can imagine New York having a serious chance at winning a second straight Cup. (Despite the odds in a 30-team league.) Alas, they didn't win the Cup and Talbot has now been traded to Edmonton.

Some people think the Oilers should have picked up a goalie who's already had experience as a full-time starter, and that Talbot either isn't ready for that role or it's too much of a risk for a struggling team like Edmonton. Well, why were the Rangers willing to trade Talbot?

First off, Lundqvist is coming back for another season. He does have a few great seasons left and still wants that Stanley Cup. Also, Talbot will become an unrestricted free-agent at the end of the coming season. But, just as much if not more of a factor in the decision to trade Talbot, was the fact that both Talbot and the Rangers were certain he was ready to be a starter in the NHL.

I have little doubt that, if neither the Rangers nor Talbot himself thought he was truly ready, they both would have been satisfied with him backing up Lundqvist for another season. Another season likely involving another strong run at the Cup, while management works on a new contract with Talbot during the season.

Should the unthinkable happen and the Rangers fall apart in the regular season, a trade deadline trade with a playoff team looking for goaltending insurance could have got New York just as much or more than they got from Edmonton for Talbot. But if they do make the playoff and win the Cup, then we get the "Lundqvist retires/Talbot takes over" scenario again.

Anyhoo...

"Facing FEAR as a kid is FUN!" classic blog re-post

[originally posted on LiveJournal; originally re-posted on Facebook August 13, 2009]

Facing FEAR as a kid is FUN!

I was reading a negative review of the Spiderwick Chronicles books on Amazon.com, in relation to them being too scary for younger kids. I started to write a response to that review but, of course, I ended up writing an essay. So, I decided to post my musings here instead. (If I could find a topic that keeps me writing for a looong extended period, I'd end up with my first novel in no time.)

One scene in the second of the Spiderwick Chronicles books features some "bad" faeries (don't know how they spell that in the book) killing a cat and putting it on a spit-roast! :-o Yeah, I know, I don't remember that from the movie either! :-)

Now, kids the age of which these books were meant for will not suddenly forget that those were "bad" faeries that did that to the cat. Actually, quite the opposite effect will usually happen. They'll remember that those faeries were "bad" because of what they did. And while the imagery may be dark and gruesome, I know I was fascinated by such imagery as a child.

And not fascinated in a "I want to go spit-roast Kitty; where's the BBQ sauce" way, but a "that's scary; but I want to keep reading; I want to know what the heroes face next and what they do about it" way.

There are a lot of scary things in the real world, on all sorts of levels. A lot of firsts. From buying your first ice-cream cone on your own, to asking someone to the movies. Then there's the transition into "adulthood". From leaving home and trying to "find yourself", to getting married and becoming a parent.

Then there's life in the much less personal and much more intimidating "outside world". From bad drivers and traffic accidents, to bad financial advice and a terrible economy. And the truly scary. From criminals of every variety, to terrorists, war, death and disease. :-o

If kids don't get some sort of introduction to danger and fear, how well will they deal with the real world when they "grow up". Parents who filter out danger in any form - books, television shows, video games, the news - don't do their kids any favors. Those are the kids that usually don't have a good grasp of reality; not the kids who play World of Warcraft with their friends or enjoy a scary book or movie.

Kids do grow, after all. And not just physically (or sexually). And as they grow, they become more and more adept at being able to tell the difference between what's real and what's "make-believe". More parents need to sit down with their kids and just "shoot the breeze". They may be surprised when "the breeze" turns into an intellectual discussion.

I remember the movies I watched as a kid in the 80s. (*sigh* So long ago...) They were fun adventures starring kids and teenagers, but they were always scary to some extent; they always had that aspect of fear. At least the good ones that we kids always wanted to see again and again. They were exciting!

I connected with the kids my age in those movies, and wanted to be the kids that were older. I wished I was there with them on those adventures, even though the adventures were dangerous and scary. Because, in the end, the kids would always band together and prove that, no matter what, they can accomplish anything. They can stand up to fear; stand up to the scary things.

Of course, as I got older I understood that, were I really in some of those movie situations, I might very well get badly hurt or worse. But that still didn't keep me from enjoying those types of films, and the even scarier films I could now see.

And as I would watch those scarier films, I still believed that I could survive; that I could be the hero. And that's what kids need to believe when they approach adulthood; that no matter what they face in the world, they have a real chance at surviving and prospering; and even a chance to be a hero.

Anyhoo...

BREAKING NEWS! Newly discovered ancient blog posts to be re-posted!

Well, I found most of my old LiveJournal blog posts on my Facebook page, including my great (if I do say so myself) "Facing FEAR as a kid is FUN!" post. (I was quite disappointed when I thought that one had been lost in the aether.)

So, I'll be re-posting "Fear" here on Blogger. As for the other old blog posts, I'll go through them to decide what I think is worth re-posting; though I could end up simply putting all of them back up.

Aside from "Fear" and possibly a few other posts that haven't become dated by their content, I'll likely "back-date" the old posts so they appear here on Blogger in the order I wrote them. If I ever update any of them for some reason they could move to the top of the blog though.

Well, now I've got a little project for myself; which is I definitely needed in my life at the moment. Here's hoping I don't get distracted by other things and abandon it, or get too obsessed over doing it all at once; and subsequently abandon it due to burn out.

Anyhoo...