hockey blog archive feb 08

Belle River 3 Oakville 2 (double OT) (Belle River wins first-to-six-points OMHA quarter final series 7 to 5 in six games)

Our guys played their hearts out and held a wide margin in shots and ran into a goalie who played spectacular.

Our goalie made some incredibly key saves at moments that could have turned the game against the Rangers.

They all played well on both sides. They left it all on the ice. There was nothing left at the end.

Due to weather, a car accident on the 403 (not involving Belle River thankfully) and other factors, the bantam AA game tonight is moved to 8p at Joshua Creek.

The most talented hockey player in the GTHL at age 3 would have to be my buddy Will the Thrill, a hair-enriched Oakville lad who toils for the peewee AA Humber Valley Sharks. Of course, the fact that he was born on Feb 29, which only rolls around every four years is a mitigating factor in that statistic.

But, it is what it is and today is the third time Will actually gets to celebrate his birthday. Happy birthday, Will.

Hockey tonight (like you didn't know that). Bantam AA Rangers hosting Belle River in the sixth and final game of that OMHA quarter final. 6p at Oakville Arena. Belle River is a very good team and the Rangers will have to skate every minute of every shift of every period. Can they? Yes. Will they? That's why we're playing the game.

The bantam A Rangers host Southpoint this weekend as they start their OMHA semi-final. 8:30p tonight at Glen Abbey (Green), and 4:30p tomorrow at Oakville. I'll be at one of those games.

The bantam AE Rangers host Windsor at Oakville Arena, 6:30p Saturday night (there goes my Saturday evening plans for a quiet night of working on my ice dance routine). Game two is noon Sunday at Joshua Creek (red). (I have convening commitments with the minor peewee house league that will keep me away from the Sunday game.) This series is also the opening of semi final action.

To all those kids and parents from Oakville, Belle River, Windsor, Southpoint and everywhere else -- drive safely and good luck. Games that matter, baby. Games that matter.

The Senators lost again last night. Honestly, it's the gift that just keeps on giving. They've lost seven of their last nine and an incredible 15 of their last 22. But hey, they did score a goal while losing 3-1 to the Flyers, thus avoiding their third consecutive shutout. Game story here.

Leafs are in Tampa tonight. Me and the leggy blonde are off to a minor baseball fundraiser after the Ranger game (depending on what happens in the game it could be a long night) and I honestly have no clue what's in store for Saturday. Right now, at this moment, it is shaping up as the first Saturday night with no scheduled events in seven weeks. Except for the bantam AE game at 6:30p. So, it's sort of kinda free. In a manner of speaking.

When my boys were little (eds note: was Patrick ever little?) we played house league and pretty much always had Saturday nights clear. And there was a ritual that when Labatt Saturday Night came on at 6:30p everyone in the house would drop what they were doing and converge on the family room to listen to what the boys called "the hockey song" and watch the pre-game show.

As you can tell from all of the above events, even when our calendar is thin, there's still lot of options to Ron and Don. Like, Mitch and Sean! Or, Shawn and Mike! (Eds note: What's with all the Ranger coaches named Sean, Shawn, etc etc?) Anyway, we won't catch the hockey song this week. Again. Glad to miss it. Go Rangers!

Depending on hockey schedules we may be at our first lacrosse workout of 2008 on Sunday night, which is as sure a sign of spring as Bryan McCabe washing his golf clubs.

Game five -- which Oakville lost 4-0 to Belle River -- was protested by Oakville, the basis for the protest being that Belle River used an ineligible player. A player tossed from Friday's game sat out Saturday, then played Sunday.

According to the OMHA manual of operations, his infraction was a two-game suspension.

The apparent confusion on the Belle River end stemmed from the fact the back of the game sheet says a GM58 is a one-game suspension. But the OMHA manual of operations is clear -- it's two games.

The OMHA actually ruled that the issue didn't even need a protest to settle it. If the ineligible player participated, then it's covered by the above regulation. End of story. Move on to the next game.

Now, Oakville Ranger teams know a thing or two about this. A different Ranger team forfeited a game two weeks ago under exactly the same circumstances and the coach got a three game suspension for using an ineligible player. (That means the coach can't go on or near the bench and isn't allowed in the dressing room. It sucks.)

Two years ago on a team my kid was on, same thing. Forfeited a game because we dressed a player who we thought was no longer suspended. Coach suspended. Etc.

Here's another thing -- the OMHA reviews the game sheets, as they did in the above example and enforced the rule. So, when the OMHA catches the infraction, every game the offending team has played since is subject to possible forfeit. So, it doesn't really matter that Oakville pointed out the problem. The OMHA would have caught in within a week or two, and then there would have been a logistical mess of gigantic proportion.

It is not great, that's for sure. As I have said on more than one occasion, Belle River is good and their team shows up to play. I expect they will again.

But the rule is there for a reason -- the reason being that the OMHA doesn't want to engage in debate over whether someone legitimately made an honest mistake or whether someone tried to pull a fast one. In the cases involving Oakville that I know of, and no doubt in this case too, it was inadvertent.

The OMHA doesn't care. The rule is the rule and that's why every team is issued a current copy of the OMHA manual of operations.

Game six will be Friday night. The winner will go to the semi-finals against Brampton.

Wow. The Leafs are really good when they have nothing on the line. They win their third in a row and each successive win just pushes them further away from getting a great draft choice. Game report here.

Good analysis of the demise of John Paddock here. The summary: the players are responsible. They quit.

Late word this evening that the OMHA has awarded game 5 of the AA bantam series between Belle River and Oakville to Oakville. As previously reported Belle River had won the game 4-0. Oakville protested the game on the basis of Belle River using an ineligible player.

There's no word yet on when or where the deciding game will be played, other than that it will be in Oakville.

The Ottawa Senators fired coach John Paddock today. I hate to be right. The story is here.

Someone from the Windsor area (?) has visited the blog 21 times today, including three visits between 1:30a and 3:a, and then another series of visits starting at 6:55a. Really, you need to get some sleep.

If you hate the blog and simply are expecting the quality to get better, email me.

It's cold. Really cold. Really, really cold. If you're in Toronto, you know that. But I'm sharing the information for the benefit of family in Nova Scotia who worry endlessly about me being cold.

The trains home were kind of late last night -- less than 30 minutes late, which for GO Transit in winter passes for being early. Anyway, the conductor on my train was a bit of a card and explained that one of GO's new, $5-million locomotives had broken down and screwed up all the trains. When he was doing the usual "stand behind the yellow line" safety patter, he ad libbed that you should stand well back of the yellow line on the platforms to avoid being hit by flying nuts and bolts and leaking oil from the new engines. We all enjoyed that. See what passes for excitement in my life? It's sad.

Still with GO Transit, many of you are obviously familiar with my hatred of the system and have been kind enough to forward -- again, and again, and again -- the link to the site where the Oakville hockey mom and convener is petitioning for fare refunds when the trains are late.

It's a lovely idea and I applaud her effort, but if GO gave back money every time a train was late the system would be out of cash by 2p this afternoon. It's never going to happen.

But it doesn't hurt to do something to quantify the frustration of the customers. You can more about it here, and visit the site here.

The Belle River-Oakville bantam thing is where it was yesterday so far as I know. I promise you, when I know, you'll be the first to you. You. Personally. OK?

The Leafs trade Hal Gill, Chad Kilger and Wade Belak for some draft picks and a bucket of pucks. The rebuilding of the franchise is now is full gear. Plan the parade, etc etc.

Fletcher was handcuffed by a bunch of no-trade contracts for comfortable millionaire athletes. So the Leafs will stagger toward the finish line pretty much as they are, continung to move forward the way the hair grows on a dead man long after he's buried.

Meanwhile, there were lots of big moves -- Hossa to Pittsburgh, Huet to Washington, Brad Richards to Dallas being among the biggest.

I don't generally take pleasure in the misery of others. But in the case of the Ottawa Senators, I'm happy to make an exception. The Bruins pasted the Sens 4-0 last night, 24 hours have the lowly Leafs skunked them 5-0. This is not a slump. It's a free fall.

Watch for a coaching change in Ottawa at any second. They didn't really do a thing to upgrade the team at the trade deadline and . . . well, my guess is Brian Murray will be behind the bench soon.

Funny thing. When they started the season at 15-2-0, some in Ottawa were comparing the Senators to the great Montreal teams of the 1970s, which was a stupid thing to say and events have proven that.

Anyway, I think it's time to fold up the Sens franchise. Move them to Mississauga or Winnipeg. A change of venue!

Belle River-Oakville bantam AA playdown update: The OMHA has allowed the Oakville protest of game 5 to go forward. Belle River has until sometime tomorrow to respond/defend or whatever.

Oakville-Belle River. No. No news. Nada. Nothing. Leave me alone. When I know, I'll tell you.

The minor midget AE Rangers were eliminated Sunday night by Georgetown. They don't even get to go back to the Tri County playoffs. Season over.

The bantam AE team takes on Windsor in the OMHA semi finals, and the bantam A Rangers will play Southpoint. Good luck guys.

Overall, 16 Ranger teams made it to the OMHA quarter finals and nine (so far) made it to the semi finals. Two more may yet advance to the semis. A good showing by the Rangers. It's making the ice scheduler crazy, but good job, coaches and players!

Everyone has an opinion on this - ranging from those like my son Chris (11), who says basically "they can't trade Mats. They just can't."

OK. Good logic there. I felt the same way about Dave Keon and Darryl Sittler. Those ended well. Ahem.

The other end of the argument is that by declining to waive his no-trade clause, the lanky Swede is holding up the rebuilding of the very team he proclaims to love. (While also declining to sign a new contract.) He's a villain,

There's also the popular notion that the Leafs don't deserve the classy Swede. Maybe.

Here's the thing -- when millionaire athletes and/or their agents negotiate contracts with the likes of MSLE, everyone at the table is an adult. Contracts are negotiated, negotiations are about give and take. Really good negotiations are about giving both parties some things they want. (Make the pie larger, they say. Or as George Bush famously said, make the pie higher.)

When Mats asks for a no-trade clause, that's part of the negotiation. It would, I think, lower the amount of cash the Leafs had to pay him because it's a non-monetary win for Mats (something the Leafs can give him for free), and it's a monetary win for Toronto (more cap room because Mats wants to take less dough for a no-trade clause.)

So, I'm also guessing that if, after the fact, someone wants you to give away the no-trade clause for free, you'd think: "Hmmm. Why did I agree to take less money in exchange for a no-trade clause only to give away my no-trade clause at the exact moment it's worth the most?"

And the kicker, of course, is that NHL players don't get paid in the playoffs. Yes, there's some dough from the league after each round, but it's nothing compared to what a guy like Sundin makes.

So in essence, the Leafs asked him to give away a contract item that both sides know has a cash value to go play for free somewhere else in the playoffs for a team he has no loyalty or interest in and risk injury and reducing his value in the free agent market this summer.

I'm sure Mats does love Toronto and Canada and the Leafs and all that good stuff. But he also has a contract and so do the Leafs. Forget all the sentimental stuff.

Meanwhile, the Leafs pummelled the Sens in Ottawa last night. Over the past four months the Sens have been relentlessly ordinary. Anyone taking bets that by the time the playoffs start, John Paddock won't be coaching the team anymore? What about the end of today? A 5-0 loss at home to the Leafs is tough to swallow.

It's the funnest day of the year -- NHL trade deadline day. (Yes, I know funnest isn't a word.)

Colorado signed Peter Forsberg yesterday. Bad idea. (I was going to say he ain't what he used to be, but then again, neither am I.)

If you want to track the deals online as they are made today, you can launch the TSN desktop deal tracker by clicking here. If it doesn't work for some reason just go to TSN and launch it from their site.

Building a rink in your backyard can be relatively inexpensive with some work and more work and some luck from the weather. It can also be more than a little bit frustrating. Read more here.

Building a rink in your backyard can be very, very expensive with someone else doing the work and you don't have to rely on luck or the weather. And it's not frustrating at all. Read more here.

Oakvillians will be proud to know that their elected leadership is locked in mortal combat to keep our fair town free of billboards. The fight has been going on longer than my dream of seeing the Leafs win a cup in colour on TV. Read the latest on the billboard fight here.

Yesterday was, by a large margin, the biggest traffic day this page has had since it debuted in December 2006. Anyone want to buy an ad? Kidding.

People are asking about the cryptic wording surrounding the Oakville-Belle River result from Sunday. Sorry, but stay tuned. The game has been protested. I think it's best to let this play out before filling you all in.

You see all kinds of things in rinks. From terrific to awful, you learn to roll with it all.

This weekend in a house league playoff game I saw a player score on his own net, simply because he was trying his hardest to do the right thing -- the right thing in this case being to clear the puck away.

But context is everything, and with that in mind I offer Steve Smith of the 1986 Edmonton Oilers.

Steve Smith felt terrible, and probably felt lousy all summer, especially when Calgary won the cup.

But it didn't ruin him. In fact, he won three Stanley Cups with the Oilers after that happened.

Sometimes even when you try your best, lousy things happen. The important part is to try your best. More often than not that will create its own rewards.

The AA bantam Rangers lost 4-0 in Belle River, so at this moment Belle River has apparently won the series.

OK, so it's another exciting Sunday afternoon to be spent yelling at the Blackberry. Laura is in Belle River with the AA bantam Rangers and me and Chris are at home and at least one of us is awaiting game updates beginning at 3p.

In the meantime, some blogging to carry you through another beautiful weekend afternoon.

In the continuing parade of Oakville champions, please say hello to the Oakville Green Gators, champions of the Sarah Backstrom Tournament in Erie, PA., two weekends ago. The ladies are coached by Bill McKeon, Scott Russel, Jim Sommers, trainer Janet Quay and Virginia Munden is the team mom. Congratulations ladies!

Instead of admission, MOHA asks players, coaches and families to bring a non-perishable food or monetary donation for Oakville Food Banks.

Salvation Army, Kerr Street Ministries and FairShare Food Banks are in desperate need of:

Belle River 2 Oakville 2 (OT final) Belle River leads series 5 points to 3. First to six wins.

Apparently well rested from taking Friday night off, the real Rangers were back today. They surrendered two first period goals to Belle River and then replied with two of their own in the second period, which they dominated.

Remembering that last night I promised we'd bury that result deep, deep inside and never speak of it again, I won't.

But it was a spectacular morning today -- sunny, warm and boiling over with the promise of a springtime just around the corner. And not trying to be glib, I pointed that simple fact out to my Ranger.

Today is another day. You're the same hockey team you were a week ago. Go get 'em.

I ran into another of his teammates at Corbetts on a skate-sharpening mission (honestly, James Bond wishes he had my life) and we chatted and I said basically the same thing to him.

They have coaches who have and who will review (at some length, I have no doubt) about where the train left the rails. So, I'll leave that job to them.

I'm just a parent. My job is providing support, and perspective, and reinforcement of the coaches' messages.

And sometimes just pointing out that it's a beautiful sunny day and in two hours, there's another game.

It was a tough night of a different sort for the minor peewee single-A Rangers, who lost a 2-1 overtime heartbreaker in Brampton last night to lose their quarter final OMHA series three games to two. Four of the five games were one-goal games, two went to OT. No shame in an effort like that guys. Good luck in the Tri-County playoffs.

On the iPod: Blue Rodeo's Small Miracles and Amy Winehouse's Rehab, which I'm not allowed to listen to without headphones because everyone else in the house hates it. The single Rehab does get old fast. But the rest of the CD is actually very good.

From swimming we run home for a few minutes then run to the Ranger game at 3p and then Chris has a practice at 7p. What Sunday will bring -- besides a full morning of minor peewee white house league playoff action -- will depend in large measure on what this afternoon's game delivers. More later on that!

Good luck and safe journey on the roads to all the hockey players this weekend, home and away.

We open today with word from last night of a huge upset in the bantam AA OMHA quarterfinals -- Brampton beat Burlington 3-2 in OT last night (in Burlington) to win that series 3-2.

Burlington finished first overall in the regular season and rolled through the Tri-County round robin with a 6-0-0 record. They only lost four games during the whole season.

Brampton (15-8-5 in the regular season) won three in a row from the Eagles and now move on to the semi finals, awaiting the winner of the Oakville-Belle River series.

The bantam A Oakville Rangers tied Hespeler 3-3 last night, so that series now stands at 4-2 in points for Oakville. The Rangers scored three times in the third to erase a 3-0 Hespeler lead.

Belle River is no doubt on the road now or very soon for game three with the Rangers tonight. 8:30p at River Oaks B, series tied at a game each. Game four will be Saturday at 3p at Oakville Arena.

These series are technically "first team to six points." Tie games are sent to 10 minute OT. If there's no score, it's declared a tie. So technically, there's a possibility of a six-game series but that's very rare.

But -- in a piece of scheduling that has everyone scratching their heads, if this series goes to a game 5, it will be Sunday back in Belle River.

So, the Oakville kids would have to drive all the way to Belle River, play a game, drive back the same day, and go to school the next day. (Belle River is a fair hike down the 401.)

And if there's a Game 6, Belle River would have to do the same thing. On Monday.

As predicted the Leafs were blown out by the Sabres last night, 5-1. It was ugly.

When my kids were younger I generally didn't have to think much about what they were doing with their idle time or what they were watching on TV. It's easier to control that sort of thing for little kids. That's changed now and we pay a lot more attention to what they do online or what they watch on TV.

They're pretty good about it or simply outsmart us so that we think it's all good.

Anyway, last night before I ran out the door for a house league coaches' meeting, Pad was in the family room doing homework and had MTV on in the background. There was a goofy show where people had been challenged to lose a specific amount of weight. If they failed they had to submit to having hair painfully removed from parts of their bodies that I'd really rather not discuss.

Anyway, in the midst of all this, they throw to an interview with Bill Gates -- you know, THE Bill Gates, the Microsoft gazillionaire brainiac -- who was at the University of Waterloo yesterday.

Gates does a fair bit of this sort of high-tech missionary work -- reaching out to kids on campuses and using things like TV to promote the idea of IT careers for kids. And all of the sudden, there in my own house, was evidence that maybe it works.

Coming from parents who routinely remove our shoes and socks to calculate the tip for the pizza delivery guy, I took the "easy" part with some relief. The "boring" part is a bit of a concern, but it's good information to have.

Anyway, thanks to Bill Gates for stopping by. You can read a story about Bill's day in Waterloo here.

So I was able to catch a large chunk of the minor peewee A game last night, Oakville vs. Brampton. I left with about three minutes left and the Rangers were leading the must-win game 3-0 (it ended 3-1.)

I was impressed with the speed of the game (as were several bantam AA Rangers also watching) and surprised by the physical element of the game. And with only a couple of exceptions (both missed by the refs) it was clean physical. Not a lot of stupid scrumming after whistles and the sort of silliness that will probably kick in for this age group next year.

The game was closer than the score would suggest and when Oakville was up 2-0 Brampton pressed and pressed and pressed and the Ranger goalie deserves a lot of credit for keeping his composure, because a 2-1 game is a whole lot different than a 2-0 game.

So, the teams are tied at 2-2 and will decide this one back in Brampton on Friday night.

It's amazing how many people you will meet at a rink on a week night, and what's more amazing is how many of them were there but didn't even have a kid playing or a kid to drop off or pick up.

Leafs host the Sabres tonight. The Sabres have only lost twice in the last month or so and I think we can safely bet that their speed and the inspired play of Thomas Vanek will be too much for the Leafs, many of whom are too busy telling Cliff Fletcher they don't want to be traded to focus on winning.

There are OMHA quarter-final series going on all over the place right now. The games mean a lot to the kids, to the coaches, to the parents. Events over the next few days will decide who gets to the semi-finals, which is where the rubber hits the road and the finalists are decided. Advancing past the quarter-finals is hard. Making it to a final is really hard. And winning an OMHA championship is really, really hard. Which is why it means so much.

Those minor peewees I watched last night are only 11 and 12. The Ranger bantams I know so well are only 14. Take off the helmets and the gear and they're all just kids excited to be playing hockey.

A mom on another Ranger team was telling me last weekend about her team's exploits in the quarter finals, and how they beat an out-of-town team from a distant league. That visiting team lost very few games this year were clearly shocked to lose to the Rangers.

She said while she was glad her son's team won, she felt terrible looking at how crestfallen the other team's kids were -- emotionally invested in things as they were.

And that's the hard part. As parents and coaches and conveners and whatnot, we all keep saying, it's all about having fun. For a whole bunch of kids this weekend -- maybe mine, maybe yours, maybe someone else's -- at the end, it's not going to feel like fun.

Last year I wrote in my blog a short item on "games that matter." Well, it's almost March and these are games that matter. The house league playoffs for those kids are games that matter. When you're 10 or 12 or 14, games that matter should not define you, but they will play a role in shaping who you become. I've eaten enough meals in bad restaurants at tournaments listening to parents talk about games they played 30 or 35 years ago to know that is true. The big win or the big loss stays with you a long time.

So, at the suggestion of others, here is a repeat of what I wrote last year as the minor bantam A Rangers prepared to host the Riverside Rangers in the OMHA semi finals. It's all still true, just some of the names have changed.

"Now I think I'm going down to the well tonight
And I'm going to drink till I get my fill
And I hope when I get old I don't sit around thinking about it
But I probably will
Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture
A little of the glory of, well time slips away
And leaves you with nothing mister but
Boring stories of glory days"

This has been a fun week at the blog -- interesting emails from near and far and many, many people enjoying the rivalry that's popped up between the dueling Ranger bergs of Oakville and Riverside.

Starting Friday, the 13 and 14 year olds on those teams will resume their pursuit of a spot in the OMHA minor bantam A championship series. It is very, very hard to get to an OMHA final.

The teams have reached a point in the season where they are playing games that really matter. And I can assure them they won't soon forget them.

At their age, Rangers on both ends of the ice are immortal and the opportunities to play "games that really matter" seems boundless.

Every dad and more than a few moms at the rink will be able to confirm otherwise. You only get to play a certain number of "games that really matter" in your life, and for most of us that door closes pretty snuggly by the time you finish high school. But you'll never forget those games if you live to be 100.

I remember a few, even in bantam -- losing a best-of-five championship series in five games, three of which went to overtime (Halifax over East Hants, city over country. We were devastated, but that's a story for another day.)

Two kids on that team went to the OHL (one to the Windsor Spitfires, in fact!!). Another stayed in Nova Scotia and was eventually invited to the Montreal Canadiens training camp. I was a role player on a very good team but I'll never forget those friendships and the coach's bark and the highs and the lows and the life lessons that I didn't realize I was learning.

I ended up competing against kids on the Halifax team in other sports -- high school basketball, soccer, golf, whatever. We always shook hands because we knew each other from the rinks. It wasn't until later in life when I knew some of them better in university that I learned how much they respected our team. And how much they hated coming to our rink because while they knew they could win, they also knew they would have to pay a price. I found that an eye opener because that's exactly what we thought about them.

And we always talked about hockey. It always came back to hockey. And those games that I thought were just important to me? It turned out, even years later, they were really important to them too.

I hope the kids on both Ranger teams this weekend, and all kids playing games that really matter this weekend, understand a little bit of that around them now. These are glory days. And while you can't live in the moment, you can live for the moment, wild at heart.

And at 13, you absolutely live for a game that really matters. These games matter.

Did you ever consider that maybe the Leafs are like the hockey team of the undead? You know, zombies who don't know they're dead but in fact, are?

There's really no other explanation for them beating Columbus 3-1 last night when the sensible thing to do would be lose and go for the gold in the draft lottery.

Now, I don't actually have evidence of any Leafs wandering the streets feasting on the brains of the living -- I am assured that they have that sort of thing relatively under control since Cliff Fletcher arrived.

If you want a more plausible explanation, you could read what the Toronto Star had to say here.

About this time last year, when a Windsor-area team was coming to Oakville for our end of an OMHA playdown series with the Rangers, I asked readers to offer up suggestions on what those folks might do for excitement on a weekend on Oakville (beyond the obvious answer of "visit Burlington."). I knew that Windsor parents and/or players were reading this space because they emailed me to ask about restaurants and places to kill time. It was all in good fun and the Windsor parents were very good sports.

Well, it's that time again. The very talented Belle River Rink Rats (yes, that's their name) bantam AA team is coming to Oakville and like the good hosts we are, I welcome readers to offer suggestions on things to do in Oakville.

Given that the games are Friday night and Saturday afternoon, it's not likely the boys will have scads of free time anyway. But if they did . . . Drinking warm beer and running laps around the Ford plant might keep the kids busy, just for example. (On second thought, there are probably Rangers who would volunteer to do that, so let's not go there.)

Anyway, be funny. Be serious. But suggestions are welcome at the usual mailbox. If anyone participates, I'll post the suggestions here tomorrow afternoon.

Chris and Laura were up before dawn for a school ski trip. Actually, I think that they were up before dawn Newfoundland time. They were up so early they saw members of the Leafs walking the streets, dabbing at the corners of their mouths with napkins. (Editor's note: See, that's a reference to the Leafs eating the brains of the living, introduced up above. Remember, this is free entertainment.)

Pad and the Rangers practice tonight right after the minor peewee single-A Rangers take on Brampton in game four of their OMHA quarter final. (7:40p start, I believe.)

I'll be going to watch that one and if you're there, too, then you can buy me a beer because the restaurant at Twin Rinks is now open (queue the Hallelujah choir.) The Rangers trail 2-1 so it's a must win. Or, a must-not-lose, at least. Go Rangers!

Well, this is interesting. Interesting to AA bantam hockey fans, but interesting nonetheless.

The fifth and deciding game is Thursday night, 8:10p at Central in Burlington. Promises to be a good one!

OK, just keep telling yourself it's less than two weeks till March. Winter's almost over. One foot in front of the other, one step at a time.

The MOHA is apparently partnering with the OMHA to offer a sort of super clinic for coaches. April 12-13, prospective coaches can get CHIP, NCCP and PRS accreditation all in one fell swoop. They're looking at a fee in the range of $125 (some of which MOHA participants would get back if they coach next year) but that figure isn't final.

It's a good idea and details are being finalized. Contact the hockey office for registration information.

So, Bryan McCabe invites all the Leafs to his house for a party. He asks Paul Maurice if he could bring the beer. The coach says no problem and loads up the back of his SUV with cases of beer.

En route to the party, the coach is at a traffic light and the guy in the car next to him is blowing his horn and yelling GO LEAFS! Maurice smiles and waves.

There's been a sudden spike in visits here from the Greater Windsor Area and one would suspect it has nothing to do with people looking for information on the Red Wings.

If you're stopping by from Belle River, well, welcome. Drive carefully and we'll sSee you Friday night! If you have questions or need any information drop me a note here and we'll help you out.

Game three, Bantam AA OMHA quarter finals: Friday night, River Oaks "B" 8:30p. Oakville Rangers vs. Belle River Rink Rats.

I promised more on the Oakville Hornets Atom AA team's win in the Silver Stick. It seems the ladies are on a bit of a roll, having recently won in London, too. A loyal Hornets' correspondent takes up the story . . .

Last weekend the Atom AA Oakville Hornets beat Whitby in a shoot out to take the London tournament. Oakville scored with six seconds left to send the game to OT. Whitby finished league play 1 point ahead of Oakville and the two
teams are considered 1A and 1B in Ontario if not North America.

This weekend Oakville continued its strong play and rode its high from the
London tournament to win the prestigious Silver Stick tournament. Strong
defensive play from the forwards and defence helped us carry a 0-0 tie into
overtime against Burlington. Oakville won the shoot out 3-1.

Earlier in the year Oakville also beat Whitby in a shootout in the Waterloo
tournament to win the championship and lost in triple overtime of the Ottawa
Bell Cup tournament in the championship.

Total team effort is the name of the game with this Hornets team. Everybody
buys into the defensive program run by Lou Merrick and his coaching staff
who looked up the least goals against in the league.

The Hornets start there first round of playoffs against Brampton this coming
weekend.

It's hard not to be impressed by a team with that kind of record. So, here they are celebrating their Silver Stick win, followed by them celebrating their London win! You keep winning championships, I'll keep posting the photos.

And for one family, the Silver Stick story has, um, a silver lining, if that's possible.

Chris Stamper coaches his son Jonathon on the peewee AE Rangers and earlier this year, those guys won the Silver Stick in their division.

So, Chris -- who I don't know but I think can safely say spends a lot of time at the rink -- is an assistant coach for the atom AA Hornets and his daughter McKenzie plays on the team.

So, the Stamper family has two Silver Stick championships in one season. And that's two more than most hockey families see in a lifetime.

In house league play, the minor peewee white division I convene had its first round of playoff games and in all three games, the team that finished higher in the regular season was beaten by the team that finished behind it.

The atom AA Oakville Hornets won the Silver Stick championship in Aurora on the weekend. I've been promised a team photo and a recap, which I'll post when I get it. Way to go, girls. Your team wins a permanent place in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The bantam AE, A and AA Ranger teams all started OMHA quarter finals this weekend -- the scores are below in a posting from Sunday. The teams all got off to a good start too -- collectively they were 4-1-1 in six games -- none of which I saw.

But Chris and I had a good time hanging out together, even if we didn't go fishing.

Here's some AA action from Belle River -- goalie Dan French giving the Belle River Rink Rats a whole lot of nothing.

One of the things I did with my weekend was to build the new web pages for the minor peewee house league playoff action. If you go to www.teamoakville.com just follow the links to the page you want.

When you convene and coach around the same bunch of kids for years and years, you develop friendships with not only the parents, but the kids too. Many of them come over to talk to me every Sunday, or just say hi, or rag me about the Leafs, whatever. I've organized every house league evaluation skate the MOHA class of 1996 have had and from Timbit right up till today I've coached and/or convened with this crew.

And after that much time you become fans of some kids -- some because they're good athletes, some because of their work ethic, some because they're just great kids.

I was inputting the scoring stats for the white division last night and noticed on the game sheet that one of my favourite players had scored a goal for his team in a their winning effort. He's not a guy who scores many goals and I was quite excited for him. He's a house league kid who always tries his best, is always positive, always polite. Scoring a goal -- let alone a goal in a playoff game -- would be a big deal for him.

Later that night I got an email from his dad -- who saw the scoring stats on the web site -- explaining that it was an error on the game sheet and the goal rightfully needed to be credited to someone else.

I was a tad crestfallen and told his dad I was initially thrilled when I thought his boy had scored. The dad told his son I was one of his fans and how bad I felt about having to take the goal away from him.

Send me scores. I'll post them. The OMHA site is absurdly slow at getting scores up.

Busy day here -- put Pad and his mom on a bus to Windsor this morning. Game one of their OMHA quarter-final starts in 15 minutes and it's MAKING ME FRICKIN' NUTS that I have to miss it.

Chris woke up with a bug of some kind so he missed the optional 6a and was touch and go for the 12:45p extra ice, but he got through it ok.

The full-ice practice was great -- lots of energy, the kids were smiling, and all was well.

Except the Zamboni had broken down and the ice hadn't been flooded since 10:30a. Ice is ice. It was a bit snowy but we still had fun.

Chris secured a rental on a tenor saxophone for the rest of the school year (the loaners at school are a bit of a disaster area) and we had a nice lunch together.

Minor peewee red house league playoffs started in MOHA today so we've built a new page for the coaches, kids, parents and NHL scouts to follow the results as they come in. You can find that page here.

Leafs and Bruins on the TV. Sitting here staring at the BlackBerry waiting for results from Belle River.

It's Friday and there's more snow on the way just in time for Ontario's first-ever Family Day holiday. Of course, it's not a holiday if you work for a federally regulated corporation, but people will find ways to deal with that. And for those people who have to work, be warned that GO Transit will be operating on a weekend schedule on Monday. So that means there will be fewer trains to annoy you by being really, really late or cancelled.

The Leafs hit rock bottom in the east last night, losing 5-4 to the Islanders to move to 15th spot in their conference and 29th overall in the league. No further commentary needed. Read all about it here.

In case you forgot, if you registered your child for hockey with MOHA you can get a tax receipt for the new Child Fitness Tax Credit. There's a notice on the MOHA home page that says if you'd like one, just drop in and pick one up.

Like many of you, hockey dominates our household this weekend. Chris and the MPW Flyers have a 6a practice tomorrow, then an extra hour full-ice practice mid-day.

Before that session, we will be dropping mom and big brother Patrick off before noon to join the rest of the AA bantams for their bus trip to Windsor and the opening of their OMHA quarter final against Belle River on Saturday night and game two on Sunday afternoon.

It makes me mental that I can't be in both Windsor and Oakville but choices have to be made. Rep hockey does not trump house league hockey and Chris looks forward to his ice time just as much as his big brother.

As a parent -- and as a guy who has gone to a lot of 6 a.m. practices over the years and watched many of these kids get to the point they are at now -- you want to be there to see them represent their town and association against another centre.

But the same is true of Chris and the Flyers. And we are not the only family thusly tormented this weekend.

What makes it worthwhile is when Chris starts talking about our "guys' weekend" and excitedly making plans for what we can do.

The clincher came when he told me that if was spring, we'd go fishing, just like we did last May when Laura was away on business and his brother was on a school trip.

The fish were safe then, even without the layer of ice preventing us from going after them now. But it was nice that he has a fond memory of it.

So, fair warning to the people at Pizza Nova and Swiss Chalet. We expect to see you this weekend and please, don't mind the noise or the video games or movies and whatnot.

We'll be receiving real-time game updates from Belle River via Blackberry and we'll be cheering from under the popcorn and DVD cases.

And we'll wish we could be there, but we have other plans. The Flyers open the playoffs and we have a lot to do.

More than a few Ranger teams will be opening their next round of OMHA playdowns this weekend. Good luck to all of them and as I've said before, try to catch a game if you can. The OMHA web site is a bit cumbersome to navigate but if there's an age group you're interested it, surf to it and look for the game schedules. You can find it here.

GO Train service (such as it is) continues to be abominably awful. In 10 days I have been on one (1) on-time train.

No, I didn't write yesterday but I appreciate the emails from those asking if I forgot! My day started early with a snow blower, then moved to a GO Train and no place to sit which elevates typing to some kind of circus act, of which I can tell you I'm not good at. And since I have yet to convince the company I work for to allow me to do this on their time -- no Wednesday update. (Given the GO Train antics today, I had plenty of time to write this morning.)

It's interesting, as I've noted before, that not adding new content actually leads to a spike in traffic as regular readers come back several times -- in some cases muttering, I'm told -- looking for their daily Gaines Burger.

Last night was gym night for Chris and the ROAN International minor peewee white Flyers (try working THAT into a cheer sometime). To give credit where it's due, the decision by MOHA to coordinate and pay for the gym time for Oakville's hockey teams has been an enormous success. I have not heard a single negative word about it from any coaches at any level. Our team has done three or four such evenings and the kids love it. Turn out last night was not great but those of us there had fun and I showed off with a couple rim-rattling dunks.

Well, actually it was my knees rattling and the only thing I dunked was a donut and the kids ran circles around me. But it was still fun.

They get to run around and play floor hockey, basketball, and generally bond, and I get to stand on the sideline and hurl chairs at them like Bobby Knight in his heyday at Indiana.

Hey it's February. We're all bored. I think it's closer to bantam 3 lacrosse circa 2006 than minor peewee house league 2008, but nothing says fun like Coach Knight hurling chairs! Queue the video, Hal!

On another topic, you may have noticed that there's a lot of political activity going on in the USA as they come up with a couple of names to put on the presidential ballot this November.

And as you may have also noticed, this whole Internets/Web thingy is really catching on, especially with the kids. I don't think it's a fad. Anyway, smart political operators are using the Internet and places like YouTube, among others, to reach people who don't read newspapers, watch TV news or do any of the things commonly known as "traditional" media.

And some of the stuff is really very good, regardless of who you think should be the next president. I'm going to show you a couple of examples. The first one is in support of Barack Obama, the Illinois senator who, regardless of what happens next, has already made history. It's a powerful statement using one of his speeches put to music and really it's about how things have changed. It's been viewed on YouTube about 3.5 million times since it was added Feb 2.

OK, this next one basically uses sarcasm to juxtapose the message of change put forward by Obama's folks against the message from the Republicans and Senator McCain (and this was obviously done from a Democratic point of view.) I'm showing it because it's extraordinarily clever, after you've seen the one above.

Lest anyone think I'm ignoring Hillary, here's a very clever one for her, based on the very youth-oriented premise (and fantasy) that the New York senator and former First Lady was until recently the lead guitarist for an uber-hot band. Kids watch this stuff and the messages they are clubbed with at the end sometimes sink in. Or not. I dunno. Anyway, it's fun to watch. So watch. As usual, over to Hal with the clip. . .

So, there's enough multimedia content to get you fired for wasting time at work and to hopefully make up for me not having much (ok, not having anything) to offer you on Wednesday.

I was just too paralyzed with anticipation about the Leafs playing the Sabres to type. The Leafs lost but played really well. Maybe they'll do better against the Islanders.

Pad and many of his teammates on the AA Rangers are members of a Facebook group called "I Can't. I Have Hockey." Tonight at virtually every high school in the GTA there's a Valentine's Day dance. The Rangers will be on the ice preparing for their OMHA quarter-final series with Belle River. So there may be a dance, but they can't. They have hockey.

Oh -- the best line of the week goes to AA bantam coach Lou. After the boys lost to Caledon, he sent an email around noting that the winning streak was snapped and all players were ordered to resume washing their Under Armor.

Um sorry. Got nothin' for you today. Swamped at work and will likely miss Dick Decloe with Chris tonight and not sure GO Transit will even get me home.

I can say that the regular season for minor peewee house league wrapped up in the weekend and the kids are all pumped up about playoffs. Some kudos now that the final stats are in:

In minor peewee BLUE, congratulations to the Vikings - league Champions, Ethan Enriquez - goalie on the team with the lowest GAA and James Evans top scorer.

In minor peewee white, the Hound Dogs scooped first place, Austin Bork (maybe the tallest free-standing player in white) was the scoring champ and Braedon Boyd is goalie on the team with the lowest GAA.

In minor peewee red, the Wranglers took top spot in the standings, and Matthew Gima was leading scorer. I don't have the goalie info yet, but when I do, I promise a small parade in his honour.

Special thanks to all the coaches, trainers, and parents for getting us to this point of the season. Another month or so to go -- we'll just keep the car pointed in the right direction and avoid the ditches.

If you booked this week to go somewhere hot – or at least warm – then you made a very good choice. Man alive, it’s really cold.

I one of the reasons I know how cold it is, is because when I got up this morning Laura remarked that it was really cold and the furnace wasn’t on.

We have one of those automatic thermostats that turns the furnace up or down at specific times. And sure enough, the thermostat was set for 21, but the temperature said 14.

Now, 14 sounds warm if you’re outside and it’s February. It’s even nice in April if it’s sunny. But if you’re inside and it’s February, then it’s cold. Really, really cold.

Our furnace is less than three years old so it’s a bit young (we thought) to be breaking down. But it is what it is.

Luckily we have a gas fireplace in the basement family room and we had that sucker cranked up so at least there’s a warm corner of the house to hide in.

I’m freezing in an auto shop right now, but that’s another story (scheduled maintenance, nothing to see here, move along . . .)

The GO Trains are apparently all running late. And there's a late Ranger bantam AA practice tonight – 9:30p start I think. Great. It must be a Monday.

MOHA's tireless v-p of house league writes fairly entertaining memos at the best of times, but this one's good even by his standards. Plus, the message is worth spreading around.

And for what it's worth, the Oakville Lacrosse Association has the same problem with lacrosse balls. Somewhere, someone has thousands of pucks and balls hoarded away. And when we find you . . . .

Missing!

“Blue Puck”

Subject Description

Age: Indeterminate age.

Height: 1 inch tall

Weight: 4 ounce

Distinguishing Characteristics: Attractive Blue Colour all over.

Last seen in various Oakville Arenas

May have escaped arenas in Coach bags, pails or other concealment devices.

May be hiding in those same locations in residential garages or basements.

Of no value to other than Timbit or Tyke Teams but approximately 1,500 of Blue Puck and his relatives have gone missing in the past four years at significant cost to the MOHA.

Current Timbits and Tykes would like him recovered as there is currently a Blue Puck shortage.

Please search your premises and return any stowaways / stragglers to the MOHA office ASAP.

Everyone is encouraged to snitch on anyone suspected of kidnapping these defenseless creatures.

Please pass along to all likely candidate – coaches etc.

Amnesty rules are in effect

Wayne Moorehead

Vice President, House League

Minor Oaks Hockey Association (MOHA)

Now that I'm safely behind closed doors for the rest of the day and not faced with confronting the public, I will admit that today is my birthday and Chris's hockey team marked the occasion in fine style.

For some reason they decided to allow the other team to almost score a goal for every candle on my cake, and that meant there were a lot of goals. Because if every candle on my cake were actually lit, 1. I'd need a permit for the fire, 2. you'd be able to see the blaze from the moon, and 3. insert your own joke here about me being old.

Laura and me and the boys then went downtown to watch the Leafs' annual so-called team skills competition which was fun to watch and nothing helps you unwind on your birthday like 12,000 screaming kids slamming plastic thunder sticks together six inches from your head.

Me and Pad and Chris agreed the best part was the goalie race among the non-Leaf goalies, who basically did three laps of the rink while trying to drill one another into the boards.

Just because the back of my Leaf jersey says ARMSTRONG doesn't mean I'm THAT old . . .

I took my camera but the MSLE goons wouldn't let me in with it because my lens is too long. Which on the one hand was annoying, but on the other is a pretty good compliment on one's birthday.

Pad and the AA Rangers lost 3-1 last night to Caledon in the final round robin game of the first round of OMHA playdowns. The game meant nothing as Oakville had already clinched a spot in the next round. Several of the AA players were away, sick, injured, at cooking lessons, or contemplating their belly button lint (maybe some were doing all of that?) and there was a trio of handsome single-A recruits in the lineup. They played fine -- Caledon won because they deserved to win.

And it's a good thing the single A guys are handsome and have already clinched a spot in the next round because they also lost on the weekend -- to Woolwich of all people. Go figure.

Speaking of Belle River -- last year a bunch of Windsor-area Riverside hockey parents started reading this blog and someone suggested it would be a good idea to ask if any of you are still reading, and if you are, can you get me a decent scouting report on Belle River's AA squad?

I know you'd be happy to help us out on this because you were all so polite, good looking, well mannered, and generally top notch analysts of the game.

Anyway, we're naturally curious and see no sign of a blog on the Rink Rats. Payment will be in the usual brown paper envelope, large unmarked bills.

Hey, how about the Leafs? Taking down the Sens, Habs and Wings in little more than a week? If it hadn't been for the Florida Panther juggernaut mid-week, I'd need smelling salts or something.

Saturday greetings from the humid confines of White Oaks pool. Chris is doing his Personal Best session after hitting the ice at 8:30a for practice and then joining me (and as it turns out, a bunch of other people we knew) at Joshua Creek Twins Rinks for the final weekend of regular season minor peewee red house league.

We watch all of the Vikings-Lumberjacks game, which I'm told had a little less edge than some of their earlier matchups, unless you're counting the dads, who were yelling as if Olympic gold was on the line. The Vikings secured 2nd place with a 4-2 win in a game that had a little of everything, including a penalty shot.

We also stayed for the first period of the next game -- Wings-Sharks -- but no result on that one. We went to lunch!

After swimming we're heading home for what passes as down time -- I have to prepare the stats and standings printouts to post at the rink tomorrow and do up the game sheets for minor peewee white action. And then we're off to Oakville Arena to watch the AA bantam Rangers. The Leafs and Wings are on TV at 3p -- hey, it's Hockey Day, right? -- so we'll catch some of that and hope the Leafs can stay within five goals.

Well, until about 15 minutes ago it was Faber Drive and their debut album Seven Second Surgery. Now, I know you really like your Beatles and Neil Diamond, but go out on a limb and listen to something new.

Faber Drive is a good place to start. A Canadian band out of Vancouver, they have a definite pop feel and by times sound a little like U2. But mostly their music is just pop and fun and easy to listen to.

Anyway, 15 minutes ago I got an email from a friend who send me an iTunes gift -- comedian Sam Kinison's 1988 album, Have You Seen Me Lately?

Kinison is so completely and utterly political incorrect that it kind of defies description.

Pad and the AA Rangers will be heading off to play Belle River in the OMHA quarter finals after winning the first five games of their round-robin playdown. Tonight's game against doesn't mean anything to either team and the Rangers are calling up three single-A kids to round out the bench for the game.

Burlington also got through easily, but the Group 3 bracket looked like a dogfight for top spot. It all appeared to be coming down to a game this afternoon between Stoney Creek and Brampton for all the marbles and a spot in the next round vs. Burlington.

And then Stoney Creek lost in OT to Flamborough on Thursday night. So it's over. Brampton wins that pool.

Reliable sources close to the relevant parties say that there has been enough progress made this week to ensure that the referees will continue to be scheduled in the normal course and that nothing will interfere with business as usual at all games involving MOHA teams.

(Editor's Note: I don't think I've actually put forward a sentence like that since I covered Parliament Hill.)

I know that parents, kids, coaches and conveners will be thrilled to hear this. Great news, well done by all concerned.

First, it took three days but they finally plowed the Oakville station. Everyone take an Order of Canada out of petty cash and an extra half hour at lunch.

Second, it wasn't snowing but the trains last night were even later than the night before. Hockey coaches and loyal readers have taken to emailing me on the train to share their misery, which twisted as I am, I enjoy.

A favourite from last night was from a MOHA coach trying to get to Oakville but who finally got off at Clarkson after the train remained stationary for a very, very long time. He got a cab instead.

Remember I mentioned those email alerts GO sends out? A sample from the last day or so. And this is just for the Lakeshore West . . .

OK. On to happier things. Stunning everyone, not least of all me, a hockey team purporting to be the Toronto Maple Leafs beat Montreal 4-2 last night. Honest to God, I had a Timbit team several years ago that was more consistent than these guys. Read the game-over story here.

It's CBC's annual Hockey Day in Canada. Read the Globe's set-up item here. In summary, on CBC tomorrow, hockey, hockey, hockey.

Hockey Day means wall to wall hockey on TV on a cold February weekend, which might normally sound like a swell idea. Except if you're not sitting at home and you're actually out helping create your own hockey day. And every day is hockey day in our house.

Chris hits the ice for an 8:30a practice at Appleby and then we're off to Joshua Creek to catch some of the minor peewee Red games -- final weekend of action, and first place on the line!

Then we sprint over to White Oaks pool for swimming, then our weekly Burger King outing, followed by 45 minutes at home after grocery shopping.

Pad and the Rangers hit the ice for their final game of the Tri County round-robin at 6:40p or something, and then its home to watch the rest of Hockey Night in Canada and try not to fall sleep before hopefully getting dinner.

Sunday opens with Chris playing at 8a in his final regular season game, and then I mop up convening duties for a bit before handing off to a friend and rolling downtown for the so-called Leafs Skills Competition.

Lunch downtown with the family -- all four of us, in one place, at the same time, and it's not between tournament games or anything! Weird. -- and then home for homework and dinner and the end of the weekend. At this point, Pad and the Rangers aren't on the ice Sunday.

I think that's it, but I've no doubt missed an event or two or three. Birthday parties. Sleepovers. These things sometimes elude my calendar.

The general incompetence of GO Transit is always an easy target, like the Leafs and politicians. But events of the last couple of snowy days has once again shone a bright light on the general stupidity of those running the major rail link for the GTA.

But I got up yesterday around 5a and it wasn't snowing. And when I got to the GO station two hours later -- the lot was not plowed and tt was almost impossible to move.

Last night (when I eventually got back to Oakville) the lot still had not been touched.

This morning -- more snow, but none for several hours -- again, the lot was still not plowed and the chaos taking place as people tried to park was simply incredible. And again, the platforms were not cleared -- not poorly cleared, but rather not touched at all.

This is the second time this winter someone simply decided to ignore the snow and apparently wait for a thaw.

They need a new strategy. Parking is not an accessory to the GO Transit system -- it's an integral part of the system.

Ignoring the platforms is a safety issue that could really turn ugly if someone . . . well, you get the idea.

Perhaps the best illustration of the utter and complete incompetence of GO Transit is this. It's a true story.

GO Transit offers an email alert system riders can subscribe to -- you get get emails on your BlackBerry warning you of delays and cancellations. Good idea.

Case in point: last night at 17:46p, GO sent an email notifying riders that the 17:43p westbound train was cancelled. OK, close enough.

But the email went on to say that riders would instead be directed to take the 17:34p train -- which might seems like a good idea, except that train had left 12 minutes earlier.

Telling people to catch a train that left 12 minutes ago may be a real thigh slapper for the communications team at GO Transit, but it's not all that amusing (or useful) to the riders.

Anyway, GO and the weather conspired to get me back to Oakville way too late for a MOHA meeting I was supposed to attend. But I did get home in time to take Pad to practice -- but only because practice didn't start till 9:30p. That's a late start for 14 year olds -- it's not the late hour that does them in, it's the early start to the school day the morning after where they pay the price!

Pad: Sorry. I was having too much funning playing PS3 with Chris. You like us to spend time together, right?

A hockey-free evening for us tonight, except for the Leafs in Montreal to play the Habs. If Florida beat Toronto by eight goals, what on Earth might the high-flying Canadiens do? One gets queasy thinking about it. If Montreal wins and the Panthers beat Ottawa (3-7-0 in their last 10) Montreal will take over top spot in the Eastern Conference.

I pointed out earlier in the week the fuss in Toronto about proposed 18 per cent increases in youth and recreational ice time. The bugle sound you heard was the city's leadership sounding a full retreat.

The Star has a piece today on the mayor finally emerging from a snow drift or something to try and defuse the whole fiasco. Um, good luck with that.

So I jumped of the GO Train lat night and sprinted to ice2ice to catch up with young Chris and his mom who were already there, as I was unable to get away from the office in time to take him myself. She went home and I dissolved into the growing ritual of standing around with a large cross section of Oakville hockey parents from a variety of house league levels and divisions, talking and listening (mostly listening) and my education in the art of minor hockey continued.

As usual, Chris had more fun than Eli Manning at a Manhattan parade, and was a large, 11-year-old ball of smiles, hair, B-O and bad jokes after the session.

We sprinted home -- the Leafs were on TV, right? -- and were met at the door by his lovely mom who pointed out that the bantam AE Rangers were playing at that very moment virtually around the corner at Glen Abbey and maybe we should go and lend moral support.

Half the kids on that team and all of the coaches have a strong connection to our house so, not pausing to change or do anything radical like eat dinner, we spun over the the rec centre to watch Coach Mitch's troops attempt to lock down a berth in the OMHA quarter finals.

They emerged from the game with a 2-0 win over Ancaster and I thought the first star of the game was Matt Reagan between the pipes. Matt kept things steady when the Rangers went a little wobbly with penalty trouble in the third and he made a couple of saves on shots that I'm not sure how he saw. The second star was the crossbar in the second period, and the third star was the goal post in the third.

The AE Rangers are now 5-0-0 and move on to play a Windsor area team in the next round. Laura and I endured a fair amount of abuse over what constitutes a night out for us as a couple.

History will show that deciding to forego the Leafs for the AE Rangers will go down as a brilliant tactical move. I only saw a little better than a third of the 8-0 pasting the Leafs endured at the hands of the legendary Florida Panthers, but it was embarrassing enough. It was 4-0 when I tuned in.

After Chris went to bed it was 6-0. I kept shouting out the scores as Florida ran it up: "7-0!"

With each update, Chris would moan loudly from upstairs and his brother would laugh.

And that feels about right. Some combination of moaning and laughing should be the soundtrack for the Leafs season.

And what's devastatingly ironic is that we actually have tickets to attend the absurdly named Toronto Maple Leafs' Skills Competition this weekend. No, we didn't pay for them.

Back to more positive things: I mentioned yesterday that I'd spend some time hunting down some info on how various Oakville Ranger teams are making out thus far. And the answer is, very well, thank you.

Here's win-loss-tie summary for each of the Ranger squads thus far (according the Tri County web site) in playdown action:

By my count, 13 of 24 teams listed are undefeated so far, and three more only have one loss. Only one is winless.

Read what you want into the numbers but it's a terrific showing in the early stages of the OMHA marathon and all the kids and coaches are to be congratulated. (Not to mention the parents who support all of the above with time and money.)

And as I've said here before, do yourself a favour sometime and go out and watch a game. Or two. Or more. At ANY level. The quality of the hockey will surprise you and you'll become a fan.

If you click here, you can navigate to the various divisions and find the game schedules.

The kids get excited to see their friends out supporting them, and who wouldn't? And they deserve your support.

illScarlett, the hot Mississauga band that features my cousin John on bass was nominated for a Juno Award yesterday as Best New Band. Regular readers will know what big fans our household is of these kids. Read about them here.

If you find yourself at a music store, pick up their CD, All Day With It. They will appreciate your support, too.

Congratulations to all the Juno nominees, especially the folks trying to break through. Good luck.

The Oakville AA bantam Rangers skated past St Catharines 5-0 last night to clinch a spot in the+ OMHA quarter-finals against the winner of Chatham vs. Belle River.

Last night's game was one of those coveted 9p week night starts -- luckily it was a home game -- so it was too late for Chris to attend so I stayed home and watched my email inbox fill up.

Ryan Runciman was the man last night, scoring three times to pace the Ranger attack. I never did ask who was in goal last night but I don't think he saw a lot of work. Both sides agreed to run the clock in the third period so St. Catharines could get home.

The Rangers have scored 23 goals and given up just two in the last five games, posting four shutouts along the way, which would suggest that head coach Lou Germano, assistants Steve MacIntyre and Mike McLaughlin and trainer Charles Camilleri have the boys playing very solid.

The Rangers were odds-on favorites to win their pool, so we won't book a parade just yet. And I've seen enough of how they play the game at the other end of Lake Erie to know that what comes next is going to be a very tough test.

A bunch of other Oakville teams -- like bantam AE and single A -- are also moving on. I'll try to spend some time tonight looking at them all so I can do a list or something.

Burlington has clinched pool 1 in bantam AA, and will move on to the quarter finals against the winner of pool 3, which is yet to be decided as a dog fight has developed between Stoney Creek and Brampton. Maybe the parents of those two teams could decide the series with a debate. I'd pay to watch that.

For those emailing and asking, no, I haven't forgotten about the "Guess the Coins" challenge, and no, I haven't actually rolled the rest of my pocket change yet. Folks at the Royal Canadian Mint are still reeling from the news that I personally returned 4,000 pennies to circulation and, well, you all saw what that did to the stock markets. I have to move prudently. New readers will have to read January's archive to get up to speed on the challenge.

Hey it's Super Tuesday! And not just because the Leafs are on TV or Chris has his weekly session with Dick Decloe.

No, today's the biggest day on the winter political calendar south of the border where the favourite blood sport is politics.

The Democratic race -- which, if you haven't noticed is a generational defining moment where a woman or a black candidate will contest the presidency -- is too close to call.

The Republican race is generational change too -- John McCain being from a generation that most of us figured had already had its shot at running the world.

If you like politics and have any understanding of the Byzantine way Americans go about selecting their president, check out this nifty little tool on the USA Today web site for tracking polls. It's fascinating. Click here to see it.

Yeah, I know. It's sad. This is what passes for excitement in my world. I have a friend who's actually been invited to a Super Tuesday party. With kids.

They're hosting Florida in a matchup that promises to be as exciting as watching Pad change the strings on his brother's guitar. But I'll watch -- and flip regularly to CNN to see the REAL game play out.

Interesting fiscal grenade tossed in Toronto where city staff have drafted a proposal to increase the cost of youth and recreational ice time by 18 per cent.

More often than not in the world of politics these are trial balloons set aloft with the tacit approval of the powers that be to garner outrageous headlines and spark a debate. They now have a debate.

And when it comes to ice times and kids and hockey, someone will always be up for a debate.

Efforts continue tonight to make progress to resolve the issue between the MOHA and the ref's association. Good luck to both sides with that.

Christopher has never let a bandwagon pass by that he didn't want to jump on, so he was a very vocal supporter of the New England Patriots yesterday during the big game and was profoundly miffed that the Giants ruined the script.

As big brother Patrick pointed out to him (several times), how is it you can care so much about a game when this is the first football game you've watched since the last Super Bowl?

How must it feel to be 18-and-1, knowing you lost the only game that really mattered?

Regular readers will remember that months ago I mentioned that Oakville's hockey referees and the executive of the Minor Oaks Hockey Association were close to a state of war.

It's a timely incident, because even as we speak (metaphorically, I guess I'm speaking and you're listening) there is an intense conversation taking place among the Oakville Referees Association, the executive leadership of MOHA, and the MOHA board.

The newly minted refs' association (formed at MOHA's request) wants to be paid $2 per game for being responsible for scheduling hundreds of games for dozens of officials. MOHA isn't paying the admin fee so far as there is no agreement in place.

Some other centres -- Guelph, Brampton, Milton, Burlington -- have such fees that all are in the $2 a game range. What's not clear is whether those fees are part of the overall rate paid to refs or whether they are added on. It's not clear how that might be handled in MOHA if there was an agreement. And its not clear that the governing association, the OMHA, sanctions these fees at all.

What is clear (given last night's experience) is that the scheduling of referees is a huge, complex undertaking and the people doing it -- as well as the people officiating the games -- are vitally important to the game and the kids.

From personal experience (twice this year so far) when I called the referee scheduler because a ref hasn't showed up, the problem was fixed very fast, in a friendly way. Much friendlier than most you would be if I called your house at 7:45a on a Sunday.

Personally, that type of insurance policy, if you will, is on its own worth $2 a game to me, let along the pain, aggravation and work involved with scheduling, which is immense.

Now, if you're guessing there's WAY more to this story, you're guessing right. In the meantime . . .

I have no idea how long it will take to sort this one out. I know there was a very, very long MOHA board meeting about it Monday night and it's not done yet.

There are lots of rational voices at the table who know they are there representing the kids. They'll figure it out.

There's still more to the story, for sure. Part of the reason the refs started toward having their own association was that MOHA, sources say, wanted to specifically exclude a particular official from any MOHA games. The refs asked for that request in writing, MOHA said no and then set about trying to find someone to replace the referee in chief. The rank-and-file refs circled the wagons behind the two long-time ref schedulers/administrators and the issue of admin fees became front and centre.

The refs put a proposal in to MOHA that is basically revenue neutral (it actually costs MOHA $100 less than it did a year ago on -- refs cost in excess of $139,000.) The formula to get to the final numbers changes somewhat because rates for lower classification refs go up a bit (to get in line with OMHA rates), other rates go down a bit, but it comes out about the same.

MOHA is saying it will not pay any administration fees for scheduling and assigning refs. In the past, these fees were covered by MOHA -- honoraria and reimbursed phone expenses of about $10,000 annually.

So, even though MOHA has always paid this in the past, and even though the money is in the budget to pay it for the current year, MOHA's executive is saying they won't pay it any more.

My understanding is that the OMHA does not encourage the payment of administration fees for referees and MOHA feels it's position is consistent in that regard.

You may be asking at this point – what does “administering” the refs mean?

Well, there’s more than 250 teams in MOHA. About 35 of those are rep teams – so right there, minimum 35 games to be scheduled every week with usually three officials. That’s 105 emails/phone calls.

Then take another 220 or so house league teams, playing 110 games a week, usually with two officials. That’s another 220 calls/emails.

And guess what? Refs get sick. They miss read a schedule. They have exams and hockey games and work commitments.

So, the refs have been told MOHA says it won't pay to have the refs schedule and administer the games. And further, it has said the issue is closed. No more discussions.

So, very early Sunday morning an email went out to all the refs in Oakville asking if they would be willing to pay about $2 toward the $10,000 annual cost of scheduling and administering referees. (That's $2 to be deducted from about $15 to $31 an official makes per game.)

The people doing the job now face fairly onerous workloads on their own time. And I've personally called them more than once from a rink at 7:45a after a ref failed to show up, asking for them to sort it out. And they ALWAYS do, up to and including actually coming to the rink to do it themselves.

And don't get hung up on the money. Lots of people in MOHA receive an honorarium ranging from gas money and up.

MOHA can more than afford it because it has an accumulated reserve in excess of $1 million, which it defends as a necessary reserve in the event that town-subsidized ice disappears and registration rates might some day need a period of subsidization while things adjust.

No comment other than to say $1 million is a lot of money to sit on while arguing over $10,000 that has already been approved.

Well, no one has asked the refs to stop working games. But the implication is very clear that the folks doing that job now may not wish to do it much longer since the rules have changed.

And when MOHA starts scheduling referees, how many of them will answer the phone knowing how their association leadership has been treated?

And at the end, the potential exists for games to be missed because no refs were either scheduled, or, were scheduled but refused to work.

Do other centres pay admin fees? Yes, in the case of large centres bordering Oakville (MOHA is one of the largest minor hockey associations in Canada). No in the case of smaller centres where the work load is less onerous.

Ultimately, the losers in this could be the kids, and that's my point (if you're still reading.)

-- there's a chance the refs might not be working games in Oakville in a month or so??? WTF??

-- MOHA pays honoraria to people? Who? How much? More details!! (Full disclosure: as a convener, I think I get $300 at the end of the season, as do all conveners. Some conveners turn the money back to MOHA. Others use it toward their own kids' registration. Some use it to pay for the web site domain hosting and bandwidth where they host MOHA standings and stats. Me, I use it to pay for my villa in the south of France and my ice dance lessons with Hans and Lars.)

- - Everyone involved in making MOHA work, works extremely hard. It's exhausting, often thankless work. And that's true whether you're on the executive or a convener or scheduling referees. This situation needs everyone to take a deep breath and assess what's in the best interests of the kids.

-- MOHA has $1 million in the bank? More info, please. (I don't have more info. I'd like some too. Working on it.)

Smart people would start asking questions of the executive and directors. And you can find their contact information here. I would not put it off.

In summary, the issue has so many twists and subplots it's like a bad episode of a soap opera, but refs in high places assure me it is not their intention to put games at risk. At the same time, the status quo isn't going to hold up and the games won't be administered for free, as MOHA seems to be proposing.

Maybe if both sides appointed two new people to negotiate a conclusion to this, it might actually get settled faster than a Zamboni can do the ice at River Oaks (to borrow a phrase -- thanks)?

It was on this exact day in 1959 that Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P Richardson -- the Big Bopper -- and their pilot, Roger Peterson, died in a plane crash in a frozen Iowa corn field. The events of that day were later immortalized by Don McLean in the 1971 song, "The Day the Music Died.

Pad and the bantam AA Rangers beat Orangeville 2-0 last night to move within a whisper of moving on to the OMHA quarter finals. The boys are 4-0-0 this far, with 17 goals for, and two against. They host St Catharines on MONDAY (note correction!!!) (9p, River Oaks B, good seats still available) and can clinch their pool with a win. With three shutouts in four games the Rangers are proving to be very stingy with scoring opportunities.

Chris and the minor peewee white Flyers lost a close 4-3 game today, but they played much better than they did Saturday and the game could have gone either way, with the Eagles winning it on a late goal. One game left and then playoffs for all the minor peewee white and blue division teams.

It's kind of like asking, why is it that you park in your driveway but drive on a the parkway?

If we in Leaf Nation have concerns about the future of our team, the residents of Senators' Neighbourhood must be starting to be in near panic given the team's abject failure to do anything lately.

The Sens -- once runaway leaders in the East -- are now only three points ahead of the Flyers, and the Flyers have two games in hand. Considering the Sens started the season 15-2 or something, they are barely over .500 since then.

I'm sitting here at Chris's swimming and they're teaching them to jump from the starting blocks when they race. At this point it's not unlike pushing sacks of rocks off the platforms into the water but the kids are picking it up fast.

But I wanted to make the observation that Chris has really long hair. It's so curly most of the time that you don't notice it. But when it's wet, it hangs down in from of his eyes and he sort of looks like that sheepdog in the old Bugs Bunny cartoons. And Wile E. Coyote would always assume the sheep dog couldn't see a thing.

Went into Burlington this morining and for two thirds of the game the Flyers managed to keep it close even though we had a short bench and the boys were clearly not on their game. And then the goals started coming and we lost a game we could have won.

Chris and his teammates will have to play a lot better than that tomorrow. Not to mention tonight, when the fathers take on the Flyers. No mercy. There could be scouts there.

What's on my iPod this week: Cracker's Gentleman's Blues, which is old (1998) but really good. It's a good mix of rock/southern rock and like most Cracker albums it always sounds to me like it could be way older than it actually is.

The other guy I listened to a lot this week was Bruce Hornsby -- Harbor Lights and The Way It Is. Again, old, I know. But good listening music.

Leafs host the Sens tonight. Kreskin is not only not optimistic, he's in the bathroom on his hands and knees holding both sides of the toilet. The Sens are actually worse over the last 10 games than the Leafs, but they're so much deeper, even without Daniel Alfredsson who is expected to miss tonight's game. Ray Emery is expected to start for the Sens, presuming he gets to the rink on time.

I think it boils down to this: if Tom Brady is actually injured and the Giants can get to him, or at least pressure him more because he's not able to scramble and work his magic, then they can make it close.

If he's healthy, I think the Pats win big. They haven't blown out anyone in several weeks. They beat the Giants in the final game of the season in a close game that you would have to think they learned from.

A few notes on the other Ranger bantam teams, since I know a lot of parents of bantam kids come here:

-- Mitch Kvasni (who mentored Pad back on the atom house league red Wings years ago) has the the AE bantam Oakville Rangers smokin' hot. I don't think they've lost a league or playdown game to a Tri County team since the first of November. In playdowns thus far they are 3-0-0 with 30 goals and four against. Wow.

-- Shawn MacIntosh (who coached Pad in peewee AE three seasons ago) and the A bantams are rolling along nicely in the playdowns, 4-0-0 and holding a death grip on first spot in their pool.

- - Dave Brennan (Pad played a lot of hockey last year for Dave's AA minor bantam Tri County championship team as a call up) and the AAA bantam Rangers play in a different loop and don't start playoffs for a while yet. The AAA squad is in the top half of the tough 10-team SCTA, with a 14-11-5 record.

A snowy, cold, windy miserable start to February. But it's Canada. It's winter. This is what it does. My theory is that there's nothing going on in Canada that a few hundred thousand strategically placed workers can't handle -- mining, oil drilling, forestry, etc.

Chris and the Flyers are in Burlington tomorrow for an exhibition game and then we have the father-son showdown tomorrow night before facing the Eagles in our regular Sunday game.

Pad and the AA bantam Rangers (3-0-0) host Orangeville (2-2-0) tomorrow night and can eliminate them from any chance of advancing to the next round. A win won't assure the Rangers of moving on to the OMHA quarter finals, but it will be a big step in that direction. Orangeville will be a handful. Wait and see.

Kreskin was right. The Leafs lost to the 'Canes last night, but it took overtime to settle it. Read more here.