Every year around this time I begin to get ansty. The New York Islanders are a hockey team in the NHL I I have followed them religiously for as long as I can remember. This time of year is the start of their preseason, and in less than three weeks they will begin their regular season. The Islanders once won Stanley Cups in a row, a feat that no other American team has accomplished. However, since their last Stanley Cup victory in 1983 the Islanders have fallen on tough times. They have not won a playoff round since 1993, and have missed the playoffs for 6 straight year before this past season. Islanders fans constantly tell themselves that the new year will be different, and they will take the steps in the process of once again becoming perenial contenders. I feel that after last years accomplishment of making he playoffs, that this season the Islanders will finally take the next step in recapturing their previous glory. I sure hop I am right.

  Vocabulary: Antsy: (adjective) agitated, impatient, or restless. religiously: (adjectiv) Extremely scrupulous or conscientious: religious devotion to duty. feat: (noun) an achievement that requires great courage, skill, or strength. Constantly: (averb) continuously over a period of time; always. perennial: (adjective) existing or continuing in the same way for a long time.  accomplishment: (noun) something that has been achieved successfully.
  Vocabulary Close Exercise: Put the correct vocabulary word in the blanks 1) I want a present very badly, and am getting        for Christmas to arrive.
 2) A      I want to accomplish is to recieve a 4.0 in my graduate school. 
3)The New York Yankees are        contenders because they always make the playoffs.
4)The man who cleans himself everyday could be said to be a man who washes himself         .
5)I seem to have homework everyday, which means my teachers are         assigning homework.
 6)I hope to do well in this class. That wold be a major             .

 Grammar Point: The passage above includes many verbs that are in the past tense. List those verbs and any words that indicate the past time, such as once, then, and so on.

  Grammar Exercise: Write a short paragraph of how you think I would feel if the New York Islanders were to win the Stanley Cup using future tense verbs.


A link to hockey vocabulary.  http://www.firstbasesports.com/hockey_glossary.html