So once again, I missed a pivotal game in the semi-finals. I was at my church recording some music during the NJ-PHI game, but a quick look at NHL.com let my eyes to see that the Devils had defeated one of the Cup favourites. So tomorrow night, I can finally sit down to (hopefully) watch Washington force a game 7 at the Verizon Center.
I did get the chance to watch some IIHF action. Having two spares in a semester really pays off around this time. I caught the 2nd and 3rd periods of the Slovakia-Switzerland match, and the third period of the Russia-Germany game. A few things caught my eye while watching these games;
- International play is much more intense. This might be due to the fact its an international tournament and not a league game (I've never watched a DEL/KHL/Sm-liiga/Elitserien match), the larger ice surface, or the fans, which are alot like soccer fans (which I've been to my fair share of games)
- A lot more scrums and pushing & shoving after the whistle
The last time I watched an international game was the 2010 Olympic gold medal game (didn't pay attention to much IIHF play last year). But that could be because its the Olympics, with the majority being NHL'ers.
I'm gonna miss hockey once the playoffs are done. Kinda regret starting this blog so late in the hockey season, but better now than never, I'll be prepared for next season!
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
Tuesday, 8 May 2012
About myself
Where to start...
The first hockey game I watched was in 1999; Wayne Gretzky's last NHL game that he played in Canada. I was watching it with my grandfather, who was babysitting me as my mom and grandmother had gone to do some chores. All game I had been asking tons of questions;
"Why do their chests look so big?"
"Whats that picture on the tummy?" (Referring to the Senators "centurion" logo)
"Who is that waving to the crowd?"
That's when I learned who Wayne Gretzky was. The last regular season game he played in Canada, and this is when I learn about who he is. Granted I was born in 1994, and this being my first hockey game ever watched. Regardless, I was so intrigued and into the whole game, that's when I fell in love.
Did I play organized hockey myself? No. Growing up with only my sister, my mom, and seeing my dad once a month, money had always been tight, and had to pass on organized sports. That changed going into high school, where I joined hockey (bought the equipment myself) and soccer. I still don't play organized hockey, only pickup. Usually with some friends from church on Friday nights after our youth group.
I grew up and currently live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. I am a die hard Senators fan, and have a soft spot for the Montreal Canadiens (my grandfather being from Quebec and cheering for them since he was a kid).
My grandfather was always someone I looked up to, but sadly, he passed in March of 2005. I believe it was because of the NHL lockout, that no games were played. That's my theory, which I plan to stick with.
I'm currently finishing my last year of high school, and hoping to go to school for radio and television broadcasting to become a hockey analyst/sportscaster. Since I couldn't play when I was younger, and my chance to make the big leagues is slim pickings, I want to get as close to the action as I can.
Journalism is a possibility, this would be a great start I find. Why not see where life takes me?
Thanks for stopping by. Come by soon, I plan to update this as often as I can.
-Nick
The first hockey game I watched was in 1999; Wayne Gretzky's last NHL game that he played in Canada. I was watching it with my grandfather, who was babysitting me as my mom and grandmother had gone to do some chores. All game I had been asking tons of questions;
"Why do their chests look so big?"
"Whats that picture on the tummy?" (Referring to the Senators "centurion" logo)
"Who is that waving to the crowd?"
That's when I learned who Wayne Gretzky was. The last regular season game he played in Canada, and this is when I learn about who he is. Granted I was born in 1994, and this being my first hockey game ever watched. Regardless, I was so intrigued and into the whole game, that's when I fell in love.
Did I play organized hockey myself? No. Growing up with only my sister, my mom, and seeing my dad once a month, money had always been tight, and had to pass on organized sports. That changed going into high school, where I joined hockey (bought the equipment myself) and soccer. I still don't play organized hockey, only pickup. Usually with some friends from church on Friday nights after our youth group.
I grew up and currently live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. I am a die hard Senators fan, and have a soft spot for the Montreal Canadiens (my grandfather being from Quebec and cheering for them since he was a kid).
My grandfather was always someone I looked up to, but sadly, he passed in March of 2005. I believe it was because of the NHL lockout, that no games were played. That's my theory, which I plan to stick with.
I'm currently finishing my last year of high school, and hoping to go to school for radio and television broadcasting to become a hockey analyst/sportscaster. Since I couldn't play when I was younger, and my chance to make the big leagues is slim pickings, I want to get as close to the action as I can.
Journalism is a possibility, this would be a great start I find. Why not see where life takes me?
Thanks for stopping by. Come by soon, I plan to update this as often as I can.
-Nick
Phoenix vs. Los Angeles? Say What??
The day before the Stanley Cup playoffs begin, I would've loved to meet the guy who said the Coyotes and Kings would battle in the Conference final. I bet he was laughed at more than a school boy with a note from his mom in his lunch.
But it happened, last night Phoenix knocked off the higher seeded Predators. Personally I didn't watch the game because of work, but followed the IceTracker with the GameCenter app on my iPhone. Jeez... an NHL club who is currently owned and operated by the NHL sure knows how to put up a fight. Plus, on the day of a potential new owner.
I myself, expected a St. Louis Blues-Philadelphia Flyers final, but that may change. Much better than the supposed Vancouver-Pittsburgh final. But, this playoff season has definitely been full of surprises. Being an Ottawa fan, people asked me why I didn't have faith in my hometown team to make the final. I gave them a list of reasons;
- We're obviously in our first year of rebuilding. But MacLean deserves the Jack Adams award simply because we managed to make the playoffs in our first official year of rebuilding. As opposed to Toronto, who hasn't seen post-season glory since before the lockout.
- Sure, we pushed the best team in the league to 7 games. But there are tougher teams than us. We would've played Washington, and some nights Braden Holtby would literally be a brick wall
- Our defence would've collapsed in no time. Watching the Rangers throw themselves at every shot we took, and how quickly they could crash our net, defence is still something we can work on
I give best of luck to the rest of the teams left standing... except the Rangers of course. I'd love to see Washington come back and take them out.
But it happened, last night Phoenix knocked off the higher seeded Predators. Personally I didn't watch the game because of work, but followed the IceTracker with the GameCenter app on my iPhone. Jeez... an NHL club who is currently owned and operated by the NHL sure knows how to put up a fight. Plus, on the day of a potential new owner.
I myself, expected a St. Louis Blues-Philadelphia Flyers final, but that may change. Much better than the supposed Vancouver-Pittsburgh final. But, this playoff season has definitely been full of surprises. Being an Ottawa fan, people asked me why I didn't have faith in my hometown team to make the final. I gave them a list of reasons;
- We're obviously in our first year of rebuilding. But MacLean deserves the Jack Adams award simply because we managed to make the playoffs in our first official year of rebuilding. As opposed to Toronto, who hasn't seen post-season glory since before the lockout.
- Sure, we pushed the best team in the league to 7 games. But there are tougher teams than us. We would've played Washington, and some nights Braden Holtby would literally be a brick wall
- Our defence would've collapsed in no time. Watching the Rangers throw themselves at every shot we took, and how quickly they could crash our net, defence is still something we can work on
I give best of luck to the rest of the teams left standing... except the Rangers of course. I'd love to see Washington come back and take them out.
Graphic Work for NHL 2004
So, as I said in the first post, I create addon's for the video game NHL 2004. There are tons of reasons why I use an 8-year-old game;
- The game's interface is written completely in HTML, thus easily modifiable
- The game's AI (artificial intelligence) is, to date, one of the best in any game produced by EA Sports
- The presentation is magnificent; full 3D crowd, realistic cut-scenes, fans leaving their seats and returning during intermissions, etc.
I could go on and on, but let me show you what I do;
This is what's called a "texture", made with Photoshop CS5. Once I import this into the game, the game sort of wraps it around the player model, and whabam, you have your jersey. As for the pants and socks, its some sort of EA "black magic". When it comes to these textures, there are tons of templates, with different kinds of mesh styles, lighting styles (you can see the outline of a players shoulder pads), and branding you can apply to jerseys. I make these, along with the letters and numbers;
I import them one at a time, but this is to show what they look like. And thanks to EA's "black magic", they're added to a certain area of the jersey. This has its limitations though; letters, numbers, and captain/assistant patches can't be moved. For example, the Detroit Red Wings have their captain and assistant letters on the left side, as apposed to the traditional right side. This is almost impossible to achieve in-game ("almost" meaning if you were to HEX-edit the position of them, which no one would have the time nor patience to do). As well, with many European teams having the names of the players below the numbers instead of above, this can't be done either. But some blame EA's lack of authenticity and laziness.
Here are what the letters look like side-by-side (these are for a Los Angeles Kings concept);
Regardless, I enjoy making these types of addon's because it gives more variety into the game. More jerseys to select for the user to play with, wearing throwback uniforms like some teams did for select games. As well, people download them and give me nice comments, which is always nice.
Over time, I'll post some updates as to what I do next.
If you have NHL 2004 for PC, and want to learn more, you can visit the NHL04Rebuilt forum, and visit my jersey/addon thread here. My screen name is nick_thecheese.
- The game's interface is written completely in HTML, thus easily modifiable
- The game's AI (artificial intelligence) is, to date, one of the best in any game produced by EA Sports
- The presentation is magnificent; full 3D crowd, realistic cut-scenes, fans leaving their seats and returning during intermissions, etc.
I could go on and on, but let me show you what I do;
This is what's called a "texture", made with Photoshop CS5. Once I import this into the game, the game sort of wraps it around the player model, and whabam, you have your jersey. As for the pants and socks, its some sort of EA "black magic". When it comes to these textures, there are tons of templates, with different kinds of mesh styles, lighting styles (you can see the outline of a players shoulder pads), and branding you can apply to jerseys. I make these, along with the letters and numbers;
I import them one at a time, but this is to show what they look like. And thanks to EA's "black magic", they're added to a certain area of the jersey. This has its limitations though; letters, numbers, and captain/assistant patches can't be moved. For example, the Detroit Red Wings have their captain and assistant letters on the left side, as apposed to the traditional right side. This is almost impossible to achieve in-game ("almost" meaning if you were to HEX-edit the position of them, which no one would have the time nor patience to do). As well, with many European teams having the names of the players below the numbers instead of above, this can't be done either. But some blame EA's lack of authenticity and laziness.
Here are what the letters look like side-by-side (these are for a Los Angeles Kings concept);
Regardless, I enjoy making these types of addon's because it gives more variety into the game. More jerseys to select for the user to play with, wearing throwback uniforms like some teams did for select games. As well, people download them and give me nice comments, which is always nice.
Over time, I'll post some updates as to what I do next.
If you have NHL 2004 for PC, and want to learn more, you can visit the NHL04Rebuilt forum, and visit my jersey/addon thread here. My screen name is nick_thecheese.
Inaugural Post
Seeings how I over-crowd forums with posts on my views of the game, its players, its rules (don't get me started), and almost everything else, someone suggested I begin writing a blog, where I can let my mind go free and wander off.
That's not what I'm going to do...
This is mainly my views on what happens in the NHL. As well, I am using this to show off my graphic work that I do for the video game NHL 2004 (More information can be found here). Leave comments if you agree, disagree, or want to take me for dinner sometime.
Thanks, and enjoy!
-Nick
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)