My fault, Winnipeg

Yeah, I'll take the blame.

The Jets lost last night's important game to Carolina 4-3.

Jets' forward Tanner Glass even admitted the team "played a little casual throughout the whole game."

As Dono and I watched the collapse of our beloved Jets right before our eyes, one of the comments that kept coming up in discussion was, "Wow, Wheels is TOTALLY dipsy doodling."

And that's when it hit me.

Blake Wheeler (or Wheels, as we affectionately call him), the 25yr old fan favourite, a powerhouse of energy who oozes masterful skill and unmatched speed, was unraveling in a relentless loop of failing dipsy doodledge.

(For those of you unfamiliar with the term, much like I was only a few short months ago, dipsy doodle is a quick move or series of moves by the puck-carrier, showing great stick-handling ability and deking defending players.)

Now I'm not a professional hockey player (read: I can't even walk without tripping, let alone strapping blades to my feet and putting me on a sheet of ice), so I can't speak expertly on this topic; HOWEVER, I do know this: it's great when it works, and even better to hear commentators actually USE that term, but when relentless attempts at successful dipsy doodling spiral into failure, sometimes it's just not your game, and you should try a different approach.

Here's where I take the blame.

On Saturday, we had the opportunity to meet Wheels and fellow Jet Bryan Little at a signing at Winnipeg Pet Rescue Shelter. When our turn came up to get some stuff autographed, I took a moment to gush (in a non-creepy way) to these guys about how much I appreciate them.  

"Now, I've gotta say, I don't understand 'offside' or 'icing', in fact I've never watched hockey a day in my life before you guys come into my town and stir up this amazing spirit, and now I'm super excited about it all and I just wanna say thanks!" I handed Wheels and Little each their own purse-sized bottle of hand sanitizer, because they were meeting lots of people that day and I didn't want either of them to contract the flesh-eating disease from some deranged fan. 

I also said, in my little spiel to Wheels and Little, how can you NOT love a sport where commentators use the term DIPSY DOODLING with a straight face? We all got a good chuckle out of it.

So fast forward to last night's game - WHAT IF WHEELS WAS DOING THAT ALL ON PURPOSE? That brief interaction we had OBVIOUSLY made an impact on him! It seemed he was trying to let me know, "Hey, Cat - is that commentator saying dipsy doodle enough for you? Want him to say it s'more? Ok! Check THIS out!" 

Yes, Wheels, the commentator WAS saying it enough for me! And y'know what? Win or lose, who cares about points (I still don't even understand them), I will never forget how you took one for the team so that you could bring a smile to the face of your now-biggest fan. 

We're up next! Waiting to meet Wheels (the guy in the dark shirt) and Little (the guy with the cap)

Aaaaaand there's my new favourite! My man Wheels more than likely about to indulge in some fancy dipsy doodling for his number one fan!