HAPPY HOLIDAYS

CHRIS CHELIOS

NICKLAS LIDSTROM - 1ST CAREER HAT TRICK

Congratulations to "Da Captain" Nicklas Lidstrom on his 1st Career Hat Trick. Lidstrom scored two even-strength goals and added the empty nest goal in the 3rd period. The Wings won 5-2 against the Blues at the Joe tonight. Life is good and TOTA is very happy :)

CONGRATULATIONS TO STAN "DA MAN" MUSIAL

Congratulations to Stan Musial on being one of the recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Hall of Famer, who turns 90 on Sunday, will become the eighth baseball player in history to accept the country’s highest civilian award, which was established by President John F. Kennedy in 1963.

Stan "The Man" Musial is a baseball legend and Hall of Fame first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals. Musial played 22 seasons for the Cardinals from 1941 to 1963. A 24-time All-Star selection, Musial accumulated 3,630 hits and 475 home runs during his career, was named the National League's Most Valuable Player three times, and was a member of three World Series championship teams. Musial also served as the Cardinals' general manager in 1967, when the team once again won the World Series.

Musial, known affectionately as “Stan the Man,” spent 22 seasons with the Cardinals between 1941 and 1963, earning Most Valuable Player honors three times.
The outfielder and first baseman built a reputation as one of the game’s greatest hitters during his long, productive career.

Musial is a three-time MVP who still holds the Cardinals' club records for hits, home runs and RBIs. When he retired from baseball after the 1963 season, Musial held 29 National League records and 17 major-league records. He has remained a presence in St. Louis in the decades since his retirement, never missing an opportunity to play his harmonica, dash off an autograph or talk about last night's Cardinals game with anyone who approaches him.

The 24-time All-Star (two All-Star games were played each year between 1959 and 1962) owned an astonishing .331 lifetime batting average. He ranks fourth in Major League history with 3,630 career hits and third in doubles with 725.
The Pennsylvania native helped lead the Cardinals to three World Series titles in 1942, 1944 and 1946. Musial missed the 1945 season to serve in the United States Navy during World War II.

OVECHKIN AND THE WASHINGTON CAPITOLS

LIFE IS GOOD - MY BELOVED RED WINGS

CELEBRATION OF STANLEY RETURNS TO WINDY CITY

THE MONTREAL CANADIENS

The Montreal Canadiens are the only Canadian team and one of the Original Six (Chicago Blackhawks are the other) still standing tall in the Stanley Cup playoffs - Go Habs!

JULIE CHU

These photos of Julie Chu were taken at St. Louis Blues Hockey Fest in June 2008. According to Wikipedia, "Julie Chu (born March 13 1982) is an American Olympic ice hockey player who plays the position of forward on the Women's Ice Hockey team. She stands at a height of 5’8”. Chu's hometown is Fairfield, Connecticut, although she resided in Cambridge, Massachusetts during her college years. She now lives in Minneapolis – Saint Paul, Minnesota where she trains and plays for the US National Team. In 2007-08 she worked as an Assistant Coach for the University of Minnesota-Duluth and helped them win a NCAA Division I National Championship in Women's Ice Hockey."

"Chu is the first woman of Asian descent to play for the U.S. team. Her grandmother, Lai Fong, immigrated from Hong Kong more than 30 years ago as a single mother with three children. Her father came from Hong Kong when he was 16. Now his daughter has visited China– as an American hockey player." Boston Globe.

Follow Julie Chu on www.facebook.com/JulieChuUSA