Hello Playoffs!

   LEAFS
   ARE
   GOING
   TO
   THE
   PLAYOFFS
   FIRST TIME SINCE 2004, BABY!

   Ah, it's amazing being a Leafs fan. Leafs Nation has been waiting a good nine years and now we're in the playoffs. It's just so beautiful.
 
   Did I also mention the Marlies are in the Calder Cup playoffs?! Second time in a row that they've been the champion of their division, also! I'm so excited for them, and I surely need to tell my cable company to broadcast the Marlies games (even though they probably still won't listen to me).
 
   It's playoff time. Spring is coming, and there's unfinished business (see what I did there).
 
   Not that any of you Marlies fans probably care but former Marlies forward Nicolas Deschamps' team, the Hershey Bears, have also locked in the last playoff spot. Congrats Nic and his team!

  Playoff time is the best time. It gets your adrenaline rushing and it gets way more competitive rather than the regular season. Let's do this.

   This was a short blog today. Yay.

   Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/laureennnicole
   And my YouTube channel is hurr: http://www.youtube.com/user/laurennicole8223

We'll Never Look Back at the Faded Silhouette.

    Well, it's springtime in New York.
 
    Being a New Yorker is tough because you never know when snow's gonna hit you in the face. The other day it was snowing. Today it was almost sixty degrees and sunny, or at least where I live it was.
 
    In other news, I recently took a decent selfie.

    Just kidding. Next year I'm going to see LNJF, well, it'll be 'The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon' by then, but it's still Jimmy, so I'm REALLY excited. Sweet 16 baby! That's an awesome Sweet 16 present if you ask me!

   The other day I met Nicolas Deschamps. For the third time. After the Syracuse/Hershey game. He is rad.

 

   Oh, and I also received this edit:

   If you can't read what it says, it says "We've come a long way since that day and we will never never look back at the faded silhouette"

   I really like this edit that someone sent me because the lyrics and the pictures match up almost perfectly. Those are lyrics from Avicii's song "Silhouettes" and it's one of my favorite songs. The first picture of Nic and I was taken in December of 2011, and the second April 2013 (just a few days ago). I think that the lyrics and pictures match because we both really have come a long way since that day in December 2011. Reasons:

• He's been traded to two different AHL teams since I first met him. Toronto. Hershey.
• In the first picture, I was only about twelve. Or maybe I just turned thirteen. I'm not sure, but I do look pretty young. You guys do the math. Nic is 21 in that picture, I think. I'm not sure. Last time I heard, someone told me he was currently 23.
• In the second picture, I'm fourteen. Like I said, I think Nic is 23, or at least that's what I last heard.
• First picture: Syracuse jersey.
• Second picture: Bears sweatshirt.
• Overall, you can see Nic's also grown up, too. Just compare the pictures. We've both grown up.

   "And we will never look back at the faded silhouette."

   Let me tell you guys something. When you're just starting to learn about hockey, and you find a player you really like, and you consider him a role model, an idol, a hero, anything, and you don't know trades can happen, your heart will break. I had no clue Nic was going to be traded from Syracuse when he did. I remember coming home to that news, and it was just awful. I eventually got over it, because life isn't about holding on to a depressing memory, like your role model just abruptly being traded. Life's about never looking back. Never looking back at that faded silhouette. Faded silhouette being the memory that will fade, but will never fade so badly that you'll forget it. You'll always hold on to that memory It's really hard to explain, but I think you guys get it.

   Thanks for reading those paragraphs, if you did. I felt like I was typing a paper for English class, but hey, it was fun. 

   My YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/laurennicole8223

   My Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/laureennnicole

  

A Simply Beautiful Weekend

   Hey guys,

   I hope your weekend was great. I know mine was. I was on spring break all this week and it finally gave me a break from all the overwhelming work that goes along with school.

   Just Saturday I went to the Hershey Bears vs. Syracuse Crunch game. Before I start discussing this, I'd like to say this:

   IF THE BEARS PLAYED LIKE THEY DID SATURDAY ALL SEASON, THEY'D BE ONE OF THE BEST TEAMS IN THE LEAGUE.

   Wow. Just wow. I've never seen Hershey play that good of a game as I did Saturday. Well, I've really never seen them play, but shh.

  The Bears won 4-1 but the Crunch still got a playoff berth. Bears are in 8th place, or at least the last time I checked they were. They needed to win this game, and they knew that. That's exactly what they did. And by the way, refs, slashing is a penalty. Did you guys forget that? If you have a guy, in this case, Deschamps, who just got slashed by a Syracuse defenceman, and Deschamps goes down, and lays there down on the ice, you aren't going to call a penalty? Bullshit. Luckily, Deschamps got back up, but was practically screaming at the refs to call a penalty. Good job, Desch. I would've done that too. Seriously, though, I saw about four or five penalties that should've been called. I guess the AHL refs are just learning from the NHL refs.

  I recently wrote two six-page papers throughout the week for school. That's twelve pages all together. I feel like I can accomplish anything now.

  My YouTube (I just recently posted a slideshow video of pictures from the game. Check it out!): http://www.youtube.com/user/laurennicole8223

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

A First Post - Trade Deadline, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Nic the Champ

   What is up with the New York Rangers?

    At the moment, they are destroying the PITTSBURGH PENGUINS 5-1. What, did the Rangers just decide to suddenly become good because they traded Marian Gaborik? Or, did the Penguins just decide to stop using their penalty kill to their advantage?

   I'd also like to take this moment to welcome Ryan O' Byrne to the Maple Leafs. Congrats, buddy, you're playing on the same team as Nazem Kadri. Nazem Kadream. Nifty Mittens. Nazty. Be honored. Bow down to him.

   Anywho, NBC recently announced today that Jimmy Fallon would take over Jay Leno's Tonight Show in 2014. Alright Jay, let's not get cocky. Once you leave, you leave. We are not going through the whole Conan deal all over again. Besides, the way you're bashing NBC in your monologues, they'd never want someone like you back. Congrats, Jimjam. You're gonna be an excellent proprietor of the Tonight Show.
 
   Another thing I'd like to bring up is an AHL trade that happened about a month ago. Washington acquired Toronto forward Nicolas Deschamps in exchange for Hershey defenceman Kevin Marshall. First off, who the heck is Kevin Marshall? Some guy who isn't good enough for the Marlies? Well, not exactly. Drafted 41st overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2007, Marshall has been playing on the Hershey Bears for two years. This trade was because the Leafs needed more defencemen. As you guys will figure out if you continue to read these articles, yes, Deschamps is my favorite AHL player. It definitely pissed me off to hear that Deschamps got traded yet again (traded from Syracuse to Toronto, 2012) in exchange for an irrelevant Hershey player. But, Deschamps has definitely proven himself in Hershey. In last Saturday's game vs. the Providence Bruins, he scored two goals, giving the Bears a 3-2 win.

   I'm a Marlies fan, despite that whole paragraph. I don't bandwagon.

   Check out my YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/laurennicole8223
   And if you were a cool kid, you'd follow me on twitter: https://twitter.com/laureennnicole