This lockout has got us all discombobulated.

Our minds just aren’t functioning the way they should in October.

We should be spending our evenings watching ridiculous amounts of hockey [courtesy of NHL Center Ice] and blogging incessantly.

Instead, we are forced to do things like laundry.  Cleaning the bathroom. Reorganizing our closets.  Macrame. Baking cakes.

Okay so maybe baking cakes isn’t all that bad.  (But it is bad when you are so depressed by the lack of hockey that wind up eating half of it in one sitting.)  Hashtag – FatKid.

Another horrible side effect of the lockout is that it is really hard for us to pick new Foxy Friday honorees each week.  When you can’t see all the new young faces and their FF potential, it’s like wicked hard.

But that is where the Foxy Friday Flashback comes in to save the day.

And who better to save the day than Trevor Linden.

Seriously, we should give it to him just for his hair alone.  Look at it, people.

Perfection.

But TL isn’t getting inducted into the Phi Phi Phi just for his coif alone.

Linden was the #2 overall pick in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft. #1 pick was Mike Modano.

He’s got a sweet ride.

Over his 20-year NHL career, he played in 1,382 games, scored 375 goals, had 492 assists, and 119 power play goals.  And a few bumps and bruises.

When he retired twenty years to the day that he was drafted, he retired as one of the most beloved and well respected athletes in Vancouver and the entire NHL.

He founded the Trevor Linden Foundation to raise money for local charities and makes frequent appearances at the British Columbia Children’s Hospital and Canuck Place, a hospice for terminally ill children.

He’s been named to both the Order of British Columbia and the Order of Canada.  What’s next? Sir Trevor Linden?

He’s way into cycling.  You can tell because of those super tight bike shorts.

Girls always make passes at boys in good glasses.

But besides all of these things, Trevor Linden is just a class act of a guy.

Here’s an interesting fact that you might like to know –  Linden was the player rep to the NHLPA, and was later elected as president of the NHLPA in June 1998.  He was actively involved in negotiations with the NHL and Gary Bettman on the CBA that ended the 2004-05 lockout.

Are you thinking what we’re thinking?

Is it time to get Trevor Linden out there to work his silver-fox hockey man magic on this current lockout?

Help.

Follow #16 on the twitter at @Trevor_Linden  

With the NHL lockout looming over us like that creepy guy at work always looking over your shoulder at your computer, we’re starting to worry.

A large part of our anxiety is that if the NHL does lockout, we will be denied a new shiny batch of Foxy Fridays to choose from.  And that is just not fair.

For this week’s feature, we look at some rookies & top NHL draft picks looking to make it into the esteemed and exclusive Foxy Friday Fraternity.

Nail Yakupov – Edmonton Oilers

The new Russian Machine?

Brady Skjei – New York Rangers

Like this team needs any more reasons to get foxier.  The last name along is worthy.  Also, is it just me, or does he looks suspiciously like Ethan Embry’s little brother?

Henrik Samuelsson – Phoenix Coyotes

Swedish. Again, we say – what is in the water?!!??

Ryan Murray – Columbus Blue Jackets

The departure of Rick Nash has seriously depleted the foxy in Columbus. Enter Ryan Murray to save the day.

Cody Ceci – Ottawa Senators

Hmmmm…shoulders….

Filip Forsberg – Washington Capitals

Seriously, Sweden!  WHAT IS GOING ON IN YOUR COUNTRY?

Justin Courtnall – Boston Bruins

Those eyes are peering into my soul…and I like it.

Tom Wilson – Washington Capitals

The hair. The face. The hair, again.

Look out, Mike Green.

So, who do you think deserves consideration as a future Foxy Friday? Any other rookies or draft picks you think we should include on this list?

We all know that hockey players are foxy.  I mean, why else would we devote an entire blog day to them?

Also foxy – the same hockey players with puppies.

Seriously.

I double dog dare you to find anything foxier. (Don’t even try.  Because you won’t.)

This week’s Foxy Friday is dedicated to those furry and fabulous canine companions of our most popular Foxy Friday honorees…and a few that were just to adorable not to mention.

Teemu Dog

Landeskog Dog

Sharp Dog

Crosby Dog

Keith Dog

Campbell Dog

Letang Dog

Tazer Dog.
(Come on, Jonathan.  It’s an adorable puppy. Why so serious?) 

Eberle Dog.

Neal Dog.

Lundqvist Dog.
(also, can we talk about those hips? King Henrik’s, not the dog’s)

SEGGY PUPPY!!!!

And the mutha of all…

Nash Dog!

Here are few that we just had to include.

Warning: Squeeee factor on these is about eleventy billion.

Nuge Dogs.

Colby Cohen Dog.

Parros and a very big puppy.

For this week’s edition of Foxy Friday, I decided to jump in the WUYS TARDIS and go back in time to honor one of the foxiest (and talented) NHLers of all time…

Steve Yzerman

The former Detroit Red Wing and current GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning is a legend.

Plain and simple.

And if anyone tries to disagree with us,  I will take off my giant bamboo earrings.  Pants will kick off her heels.

The reasons why Yzerman is deserving of this honor are endless.   The smile and the sexy crow’s-feet are enough to do us in.  But there is just more to this man than that…

• He played his ENTIRE 23 year career with the Detroit Red Wings.

(Pretty sure that guy in the locker next to him is naked…)

• He was named captain of the Red Wings in 1986 at the age of 21 and wore the “C” for over 1,300 games.  He is the longest-serving captain of any team in North American major league sports history.  Now if that doesn’t say something about how people feel about this man, then I don’t know what does.

• 3 Stanley Cups.
• Winner of the Pearson Award, Conn Smythe, the Selke, Lester Patrick, and the Masterson Trophy.
• 10-time NHL All-Star.

• His #19 jersey was retired in 2007.  As an additional honor the captain’s “C” was added to the corner of his banner to forever commemorate him as “The Captain”.
• 6th in NHL history in points, 8th in goals, and 7th in assists.
• 1, 514 games played. 692 goals. 1,063 assists. 1, 755 points.  924 minutes of shame.
• He was inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame in 2009, in his 1st year of eligibility.  Also inducted into the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame and Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.

In 2004, Yzerman was hit in the eye by a deflected slapshot.  His orbital bone was broken and his cornea was scratched.

My father broke his orbital bone once.  It was pretty gnarly.  But not nearly as gnarly as Yzerman’s injury.

I can’t post the photo here for fear of grossing everyone but you can easily find it on the interwebs.  Beware – it is TERRIFYING.   And strangely sexy.

After his NHL career ended, Yzerman joined the front office for the Red Wings and is now the GM for the Tampa Bay Lightning.  He was instrumental in TB’s continued improvement and for re-signing Steve Stamkos.

We also like to think of him as Stamkos’ sage mentor.

We picture them standing in at center ice in a darkened arena, contemplating life, career, and the future of the Lightning.

It’s all very Mr. Miaygi/Daniel-san.

I think you get the point.

Steve Yzerman is awesome.  Awesome and FOXY to the max.

 P.S.  I just had to post this photo.  Because it makes me laugh.

To say that Ryan Suter is having a good week would be an understatement.

Wednesday was America’s birthday.  Ryan being a member of Team USA and proud American, we’re pretty sure he threw a pretty raging bbq.

Sparklers. Potato Salad.  Inflatable Pool Beer Pong.  The whole nine yards.

Then on the same day, he signed a BIG FAT MONSTER 13 year, $98 million dollar contract with the Minnesota Wild.

AMERICA!  More sparklers.

But today is definitely the best day of Ryan Suter’s week.

It’s Friday and everyone loves Fridays.

But more importantly, Ryan becomes a member of a very elite fraternity of NHL players. We call it Phi Phi Phi.  You might know it as…

Foxy Friday.

However, the reasons above do not solely make one worth of this prestigious honor and induction in to Phi Phi Phi.  Ryan has several other qualities that make him a worthy Foxy Friday honoree.

• Hockey Pedigree.  Ryan is the son of Bob Suter, who was a member of the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team that defeated the Russians in Lake Placid.  Everyone know how we feel about all things “Miracle” related. Also his uncle, Gary, is a NHL Hall of Famer and was the first American to win the Calder Trophy.
• Statistics.  The 2011-2012 season was Ryan’s career best.  79 games played, 7 goals, 39 assists, 45 points, and a + 15 rating.

• He’s #1.  Well, #7 actually.  Ryan was drafted seventh overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.  Also in his draft class – Marc-Andre Fleury, Mike Richards, Corey Perry, Jeff Carter, Eric Staal, and his new Wild teammate, Zach Parise

• Epic Bromance Potential.  Speaking of Zach…both signed identical contracts with the Wild on the same day!  Both from the Midwest (Zach is from Minnesota, Ryan from Wisconsin.)  Both played for Team USA.  Both drafted in 2003.  Both are adorable.  Forget Parise Watch.  We’re on Bromance Watch.

• Golden Boy.  Ryan has represented the US in ten international tournaments and has won 3 gold medals.  Unfortunately, he missed out on gold in the 2010 Olympics (one and only time I hated Canada) but we’re pretty sure he’ll get another shot in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

• Military Might.  Ryan played at the Culver Military Academy where he scored 45 points in 26 games.  That’s an average of 1.7 points per game.  Also, he can iron creases in his pants so sharp, they’ll cut you.  (Full disclosure, it has been Fleet Week here in Boston.  Lots of men in uniform around here. Sensory/ovary overload.)
• Puppies. Cute boys + puppies = WUYS meltdown.

When you take all this into a count, it’s not hard to see why Ryan would get this week’s honor.  With in just a couple of days, he has become part of the THE biggest story in the off-season.

Personally, we’re dying to see what happens in Minnesota this season.

Will the Wild’s gamble pay off?

Will the team make the playoffs?

If they do, how far will they go?

Or will the liquidation of their piggy back be all for naught?

Check back with us in March…

Foxiness can come in many ways, shapes, and forms.

Sometimes it can come in the way of physical beauty.  Other times from athletic prowess.  Still other times from humanistic endeavors like building houses for the poor.

In the case of Dustin Penner, it comes in two ways.

The Facial Hair and The Funny.

Dustin Penner is…subdued.
[click pic to watch the video]

There are few who can doubt that Penner’s “Man of the Mountain” facial hair is a thing of wonder.  Clearly it is one of the best things about the Kings’ unexpected journey from #8 seed to the Stanley Cup Finals.  (Besides the stellar goaltending of Jonathan Quick)

I’m legit obsessed with it.  Its fullness and ebony hue are exquisite.  It just looks SO RIGHT AND PERFECT.

If loving you is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.
[click pic for video]

Other reasons why I’ve seen fit to bestow this great honor -

• He shares a birthday with my mom.  Momma Chuck would approve.
• He’s 6’4″, 245 lbs – a whole lotta lumberjack for us to love.
• He LOVES the LA Kings twitter.  So do we, Dustin.
• He’s funny, just like his mom and grandpa.  Now this is a family BBQ what we’d love to go to. DP and I would crush the competition in the three-legged race
• He injures himself eating a stack of delicious pancakes…then buts that self-deprecating humor to good use by hosting a charity breakfast at a local IHOP.

Hmmmmm….pancakes

So fluffy. Want to touch.

Right now, things aren’t going so good for Alex Pietrangelo and his St. Louis Blues.

They are down 3-0 to the Los Angeles Kings and are on the verge of being eliminated, their hopes to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup almost gone.

We know what can cheer him up.

Being named a Foxy Friday!

Foxy Friday: Alex Pietrangelo

Hi. I’m Alex. Look at the perfect structure of my face.

Much like Zach Parise before him, we think that Alex would definitely be the sort of guy you’d like to take home to Mom.    Look at that face.  Adorable.

The 22-year-old Blues defenceman was part of a very talented NHL Draft Class of 2008.  He was selected 4th overall and was one of four defenseman drafted within the first 10 picks.

Also drafted in the top 10 that year – Steven Stamkos, Drew Doughty, Zach Bogosian, Luke Schenn, Colin Wilson, Mikkel Boedker, Cody Hodgson – just to name a few.

He’s the only normal one. Stamkos is a noob. Doughty’s hair is a hot mess.

His nickname is “Jello”.  When we go to see the Blues play someday, we’re totally making a sign that says “There’s Always Room for Jello!”

He has a serious bromace with Michael Del Zotto and Steven Stamkos. And when we say serious…we mean S-E-R-I-O-U-S.  Like junior high bromance level.  Pietrangelo comes across like a guy who remembers where he came from and the friends that helped get him there.  That is all sorts of foxy.

He’s a serious contender to win the Norris someday.  By all accounts, the 6’4″, 207lb d-man has all the skills required to become one of the best defenseman in the league.  While he got out to slow start in St. Louis, the organization and coaches speak so highly of him, that you have a feeling that his time will come.  Rumor has it that he has patterned his game and his shot after Nicklas Lidstrom.  And we all know what his career has been like.

Photo courtesy of Jen Krechel Photography

He has got poise. He can speak in complete sentences.  And he’s funny too.  Man knows his way around an interview.  After his NHL career is over, he definitely has a future in broadcasting.  

He has NHL in his blood.  His uncle, Frank, was a goalie for the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Hartford Whalers (Long Live the Whale!)

Other foxy factors…

• He had 12 G, 34 A, for 46 points this season.
• He and his defense partner, Kevin Shattenkirk (GO BU!) became the 4th set of d-men in Blues history to each record 40+ points in the same season (MacInnis/Pronger, MacInnis/Steve Duchesne, Jeff Brown/Scott Stevens).
• Youngest player in club history to record back to back 40 point season.
• He was the 2nd defenseman in Blues history to record 6 GWG and 6PPG in the same season.  The other? Al MacInnis.

Who knew such a baby-face bad ass awaited?

 Everyone knows I LOVE GOALIES! And one who gets kisses from Drew Doughty on a regular basis would be high on my list!

Care for a three-some guys?!

Jonathan Quick is a baby-face bad-ass! He’s a strong contender for this year’s Vezina Trophy, was a member of the USA’s Olympic Team who won a silver medal in the 2010 and is the ONE reason the LA Kings are in the play-offs this year.

He is the Merlin to the Kings’ royal court. HE IS PURE MAGIC.

Even the puck lives in fear of Quick.

YOU SHALL NOT PASS!

Say hello to your 'motha for me!

How does this go on again?

oops - how'd I get in there?

don't let that smile fool you, he won't let you score!

GO KINGS!

Did you really think we’d forget?

Okay, so for a minute there, we might have.  Here has just been so much work and life and commotion going on in the WUYS offices right now, that you can’t blame us.

But fear not!  Your Foxy Friday is here!

A bit late, but as they say “Better late than never.”

This week’s honoree – Craig Smith from the Nashville Predators

The Preds are putting together a serious campaign to take the title of NHL’s Foxiest this season.  Mike Fisher. Colin Wilson.  Pekka Rinne.  And now Craig Smith.

This 6’1″, 197 lb rookie center is right there with them.  His stats in his first season rank him 8th among NHL Rookies (13 G, 20 A, 33 pts) and the kid is starting to make a name for himself in Music City.

Also, he has good hair and bone structure that makes Patrick Sharp jealous.

I'm coming for your title, Sharpie.

He leads all Predators with 20 pts on the road this season.  He’s second amoungst all NHL Rookies with 6 power play goals this season.  And his play earned him a spot in the on the Rookie team at the NHL All Star game.

Second in assists by a Predator rookie in a single season (20), behind only Martin Erat (24, 2001-02). He also ranks third on the Preds all-time rookie points (31) -behind Radulov (18g-19a-37pts) and Erat (9g-24a-33pts).  He posted three points in a game vs. Vancouver which tied him from second-highest total by a rookie in Preds history.

Not too shabby for the former Wisconsin Badger from Madison.  Craig Smith is most deserving of the Foxy Friday honor.

But life ain’t always easy for the rookie.  Especially when this happens.

Awkberg. Even Mike Fisher is trying hard to not to laugh at the kid’s misfortune.  You just want to hug him, make him a mug of hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows and tell him that it is going to be okay.

But you have to admit…it is sort of funny.  Horrifiyingly embarassing, but funny.

Also, some of you with a strange Edward Cullen fantasy might find this photo sexy.

Craig Smith has vampire teeth.

The only member of the Cullen Clan worth giving up your mortal life for.

(Personally I find Edward Cullen a creepy, sparkly, controlling pedophile boyfriend, but I digress.) 

This week, we’re going to the bench and giving the 4th line some playing time.

We thought it was time to give some love to the muckers and the grinders, the gritty players who claw and fight and forcheck their ways into our hearts.  While they might not show up on stat sheets or make it to ESPN’s Top 10, they are still deserving on our love.

And none is as deserving…or as foxy as Gregory Campbell, 4th line center for the Boston Bruins.

Thank you Lord for the v-neck tshirt.

Mean mugging with Horton and Looch

Campbell, or Soupy as he is affectionally known, came to the Bruins along with Nathan Horton in a trade at the beginning of the Bruins’s spectacular Stanley Cup season of 2010-2011.  He’s 6ft, 197 lbs of solid hockey man and has been a stalwart on the Bruins’ aggressive and impressive 4th line (aka the Merlot Line because of their wine colored practice jerseys) for much of the time he’s been with the Bs.

Hey Gurl.

He has ingraciated himself with the Bruins fans for his consistent and smart play…and his ability to bloody and pummel opposing players when the occasion call.  Sometimes he gets pummelled in return, but that just part of the game.  As the great band The New Radicals once said, “You gotta get what you give.”

Taking one for the team

He was a critical part of the Bruins’ Stanley Cup run where he masterfully center the penalty kill, limiting the Canucks to just two power-play goals in seven games.  He forechecks like a mutha.   He is strong on the face-off.  He even scores goals occasionally, like this beaut from last night’s game vs. the Sabres.

He has lovely eyes.  And his beard…well we all know how I feel about beards.

His arms inspire sonnets and proclamations of undying love.

He brings tasty pies to those that do not have pies.

He likes things shiny.

Sure, his dad might be Colin Campbell, former director of hockey operations for the NHL, but don’t think for one minute that this guy hasn’t earned his place in the NHL through nepotism or favoritism. He earned it through grit, determination, and and smart hockey sense.

He is an invaluable part of the Bruins squad and that alone makes him worth for this Foxy Friday honor.