Getting to Know Keith Ballard

They say you don't truly know what someone looks like until you've seen them upside down....

Ok I don't think they do, and I'm pretty sure I just made that up  but I find this picture from yesterday's Behind The Lens gallery on Canucks.com highly amusing. I also love the fact that within 10 minutes of it being up I had 4 different messages either showing me the link or telling me to go look for it. I am also suddenly very aware of how short my finger nails are.

I've recently come across some other information that I feel the need to share.

Keith Ballard is a Psycho 
 I came across this article through his wikipedia page and I couldn't stop laughing. 

"While it may come as a surprise, Keith Ballard is a psycho. He has this eerie trait like Norman Bates, never knowing when he may snap on the ice. He has this split personality like Jekyll and Hyde, mild-mannered student by day, enraged enforcer game night. Some things just set Ballard off, and like the Incredible Hulk, he may just smash anything in his way " read more here

 I mean, really, it does make sense. You can sort of see it in him still but I'm glad he's not the player that that article kind of makes him out to be, specially that first paragraph. I can't imagine being given the nickname Psycho (ok, I'm still laughing at this). Not that 'Bally' is that great, I love the twitter world and his nicknames that include ' Hips' and 'jockstrap jesus'. Then again a few of my nicknames through the years have been ' Teen', 'Archie', 'Nucky', 'Can-Can' and 'Shorty' so I can't really talk.


Keith Ballard Wishes He Could Play For Team Canada

I've mentioned before he is my first American born Favourite player, well this makes me feel better. He wishes he was Canadian and could play for Team Canada, so much so that he will even wash cars in a Team Canada jersey.(yes I do know the actual story behind the picture..shhh)


I'm pretty sure you lovely people that follow my blog already know more then you ever expected to, or ever wanted to know about him and I honestly never expected to still be going with this. I laugh every time somebody sends me something relating to him saying  they instantly thought of me and hope I can work with it.


 On a more serious note, I am putting my white towel on the end of my hockey stick and waving it around, I just don't get his lack of ice time. The last few games of the regular season Ballard really stepped up his play and I was excited for the playoffs, thinking it was going to be a big break out for him. I know as a bottom pairing he was only going to see about 15 minutes of ice time a game, so be it. Game 1 he had just over 14, game 2 he had just over 12, game 3 just over 9 minutes. I've had people messaging me asking why, and I honestly have no clue. I've been chatting with a few people and part of the reason could be he's not put out to kill penalties which could of limited his ice time last night. But that much? people are also starting to suggest he's hurt again, or still has lingering pain in his knee or another area. I...don't...know and yes I am quietly preparing myself for him to be a scratch soon. I can not hear the thoughts inside Alain Vigneault and Rick Bowness's head. I don't talk to Keith Ballard, although I do wish I could have like 20 minutes of his time one day to ask some questions. (I also really want to see what George looks like, I'm starting to doubt his manly-ness)

I don't know what's going on, but I really hope that through the rest of the playoffs and my wishful thinking for next season he is utalized as the player he is known to be before this season. Also as unhappy as it would make me to see him leave the team I live for, I guess I'd have to be happy if next season he was somewhere where he gets to see the ice time a player like him deserves, I'll have a small like for another team if I have to.