Jan 31, 2008

Kids nowadays don't talk, they text. They MSN (yes, it's a verb, not just a web site.) So when Pad's modest cell phone died, getting it in for repair was a household priority.

He had a 90-minute practice last night at Maplegrove, so there was my window of opportunity to sprint to the Bell World store in Oakville Place and get the ball rolling.

You'd think the Bell World store at 7:30p on a Wednesday night would be a pretty desolate place -- just you, a salesman and a bunch of cardboard cutouts of beavers.

Well, you'd be wrong.

I waited almost 25 minutes to be taken care of -- well, "taken care of" isn't the right phrase. Told "we can't help you" is a better fit.

Before heading to Bell World, I armed myself with the phone's original packaging, the latest phone bill, and my wit and charm.

Turns out I didn't need any of those things, least of all wit and charm.

Because the Bell World store in Oakville Place could not access Bell's database to see when and where I bought the phone (Scotia Plaza downtown, in September.) It wasn't because the server was down or some other IT problem. It's because they can't. Ever.

Now, you'd think that a company like Bell, which has sophisticated systems to bill you for every second you talk, every call you make, every text message you send, every kilobyte of data you download, would also be able to share information among its stores on people like me who bought a phone at a different Bell store. Other businesses call them "customers" or "revenue opportunities."

And you would be right to think that, because having all those convenient locations to serve the public isn't very convenient if they only serve people who bought Bell things from that one, particular store.

So I waited in line for 25 minutes and then it took the polite gentleman five minutes to check things out and tell me that it didn't matter how many phone bills I had, he couldn't put the phone into the system for repair until I provided the original proof of purchase (which I didn't have because I assumed that since Bell has more information on me in their databases than the Canada Revenue Agency they would also have a record of the purchase).

So, I left.

And I did what any six-foot, three-inch man would do in the same circumstance.

I went to The Body Shop and bought a selection of scented glycerin soaps.

Anyway, in case you're wondering -- Bell doesn't care if the phone they sold you doesn't work. They just keep on billing you anyway.

And they don't care if you bought your phone from them at a store in Toronto. It might as well have been from a street vendor in Morocco. Because in Oakville, they can't help you and your Toronto phone.

Argh.

Thank you for choosing Bell. How can we annoy you today?

- - -

I have friends who can riff endlessly on the above theme, substituting Cogeco Cable for Bell. I love a good rant.

Oh -- sticking with the "grumpy consumer" theme -- the new Whirlpool dryer that we have had for less than two weeks isn't working. Service call later today. The Kenmore dryer we had before it, that cost half as much -- lasted 21 years and required one service call. Hmmm . . .

- - -

The good news is that dryland training for the AA bantam Rangers is cancelled for tonight. In life's pecking order of good news, that rates just below winning $25 million in the 6-49 last night (I didn't), and slightly ahead of the Leafs making the playoffs.

- - -

Speaking of our hapless heroes, the Leafs play the 'Canes tonight. Kreskin predicts a loss.

- - -

Me and the boys went to Long & McQuade music after school and before practice last night. Chris wants a new amp -- no specifics, it just has to be louder than his brother's. He's mulling his options.

Pad is torturing himself, looking to add a Gibson Les Paul to his guitar collection. Depending on where he jumps into the market he has anywhere from 75 per cent of the money it costs (paper route money he hoarded from a long-ago job), or almost half. The higher end stuff is way out of his reach.

I told him I'd finance the difference if he wants to put his savings toward a new axe -- that's LEND, not GIVE. Reasonable rates, etc etc. (The fact that rep hockey players generate very little income would scare off a lot of lenders, but not me or the folks in the sub-prime mortgage business. Hey, what could go wrong?)

I think we have seven guitars now but as any guitar player would tell you, eight would be better. And if the 8th is a Gibson Les Paul . . . well, that's way cool.

Jan 30, 2008

I wasn't in Caledon last night for the bantam AA Rangers game, but my scouts report it was a very good outing for the team -- the controlled much of the play and the Caledon goalie played super. The game was scoreless into the third period before the Rangers emerged with a 2-0 win.

So, that's all good.

Chris and I were at his weekly Decloe session at ice2ice, which he enjoys immensely. Dick is very, very good with the kids -- learning things in a fun, positive atmosphere. www.ice2ice.ca .

No, I'm not on the payroll. Just a satisfied client.

- - -

And now, some inside baseball for bantam AA hockey fans . . . .

Half way thru the first round of the playdowns, the top three bantam AA seeds are all undefeated -- Burlington and Oakville are 3-0-0, and Stoney Creek is 2-0-0.

The two single-A teams that moved to AA for the playdowns are a combined 1-5-0 thus far.

Milton has already won half as many games in the playdowns as it won all season (1).

Georgetown has already lost almost half as many games as they did all season (3).

In three games, Burlington has scored 15 goals and given up three.

In three games, Oakville has scored 15 goals and given up two.

Anyway, it's all just numbers, numbers, numbers.

- - -

I have some meetings out of the office today so I was home and given the blustery weather I drove Chris to school, with his saxaphone.

Chris: I'm the only tenor sax player in band this week because Stevie went away skiing.

Me: Cool. What does that mean?

Chris: The trombone players are sitting behind me now.

Me: Cool. Is that significant?

Chris: No, but they make my hair move when they play.

- - -

The Oakville Lacrosse Association has a really spiffy new web site and you should go see it. I helped maintain the previous Soviet-era, diesel-powered site that came before it. This one is very nice, as Borat might say, if he played lacrosse.

Go to www.oakvillelacrosse.com and behold the wonder.

Ooooooo. Aaaaaaa. Nice job, everyone.

- - -

To almost no one's surprise, the Leafs lost to the Blues at home last night, proving that no matter who is steering the Titanic the fact is it has already hit the ice berg and the direction seems inevitable. You can find a game-over recap here.

Cliff Fletcher Era v2.0 is now 1-2-0.

- - -

This has nothing to do with sports or hockey, but if you're looking for an indication of how tough things are economically, Yahoo! announced its quarterly results yesterday -- earnings of more than $200 million in the last three months -- and announced at the same time it is cutting 1,000 jobs because it's not meeting Wall Street's expectations.

The earnings were 23 per cent below the same period a year ago and I understand all that, and ROI and ROE and investor confidence. And I know the stock has slid 50 per cent in two years and shareholders want their 50 per cent back, and then some.

But as a human, I find it hard to square the circle -- $200 million profit in three months = 1,000 layoffs.

Non-hockey story here.

Jan 29, 2008

Bantam AA Tri County:

Oakville 2 Caledon 0

Jan 29, 2008

It was 18 years ago today that I first appeared on Parliament Hill as a reporter, fresh from Halifax.

On that day, Ray Hnatyshyn was sworn in as the new governor general and the next day my name appeared in a gossip column because I was overheard saying that I thought the new G-G should buy a vowel.

The night before, San Francisco crushed Denver 55-10 in the Super Bowl. I was living in a hotel as my wife retreated to Cape Breton and enjoyed some R&R while I enjoyed Ottawa in January.

So there.

Jan 29, 2008

Because there hasn't been an NHL game in a few days now, and because the all-star game was by times goofy with not even the lamest attempt at even soft stick checking or defence, and because there were too many forced passes and because the skills competition featured millionaires trying trumped-up shoot-out moves that often resulted in the puck not even reaching the net, and because some of the goalies thought people paid money and/or tuned it to watch them handle the puck, and mostly because sportswriters are bored between hockey games . . . because of all that,  sportswriters are going to write about the NHL all star game being, more or less, a waste of time and a big marketing show to sell beer.

Well, duh.

Anyway, read one such point of view here.

- - -

Pad and the Rangers are off to Caledon tonight for the third game of their Tri County round robin. Both teams are 2-0-0 and Caledon has not been a pushover this year despite the 10 point advantage Oakville had over them in the regular season. Me and Chris are going to miss this one because Tuesday means Decloe at ice2ice.

- - -

New Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher chats with captain, star centre and Grade-A trade bait Mats Sundin. Story here.

- - -

And finally, for a slow, wet, dreary, soon-to-be-freezing Tuesday morning in January, two items to warm the coldest of hearts. Call it "Great Moments in Minor Hockey Leadership":

1. A minor midget AAA coach from the GTHL has been suspended and now faces criminal charges for allegedly physically assaulting members of his own team. The story is a bit tough to read, honestly. Go here to see it.

2. Remember that Novice hockey brawl back in November? Another coach has been suspended. The story is here.

Jan 28, 2008

Monday. In January. Ack. But look at the bright side -- we're almost through January, Friday is a PD day for the kids, the Super Bowl is only a week away . . . the days ARE getting longer, spring is coming.

- - -

We had the NHL All-Star game on in the house last night because the writers' strike in the US basically means there's little in the way of original programming. Chris particularly seemed to enjoy the shoot-out nature of the game and he actually whooped and cheered for the East (I guess because we live in the east) with some gusto. You can read about it here.

I whooped and cheered for the lasagna that Laura made and then fell asleep in front of the fire because my plans to nap yesterday were all for naught.

- - -

The one part of the All Star game I could have lived without was the performance of five-time Grammy nominee Ne-Yo and the Halftime Live marching band.

It wasn't that I have any particular dislike of Ne-Yo -- I think I have a pretty broad interest in music and I'm happy to try anything on for size.

And it wasn't that I think that Ne-Yo's brand of R&B kind of misses the NHL demographic completely.

No, it was none of those things.

It was the fact my kids were watching the game and the show when the babes in the Halftime Band were suggestively licking their fingers and running their hands over their crotches.

Yeah, call me old school. I don't think that was a brilliant choice for the NHL All-Star game with all those kids watching.

- - -

If you're like us and have vast portions of your closets filled with little, multicolored, plastic building blocks, then you'll be interested to know that this month marks the 50th anniversary of Lego. We have so much Lego squirreled away -- Harry Potter Lego, Star Wars Lego, Spiderman Lego, NBA Lego -- that we could probably build a large addition onto the house in blue, red and yellow.

Anyway, if you're interested, you can read more here.

- - -

Yet another stunner from Tri County bantam AA action:

Guelph 4 Georgetown 2. Big upset.

Also:

Stoney Creek 3 Ancaster 0

- - -

Hockey gathers a little momentum for us this week -- Pad and the AA bantam Rangers are in Caledon tomorrow night for a playdown game -- both teams are 2-0.

Chris is at Decloe tomorrow night at the same time, the Rangers practice on Wednesday and then have dryland on Thursday night. Chris has an exhibition game Saturday afternoon, practice Saturday night then plays his regular house league game on Sunday, while the Rangers play at home Saturday night and practice Sunday.

Jan 27, 2008

Our man Bradley missed the game and the team photo today because he was ill -- quite ill, in fact. We're glad he's home now and on the mend and thinking about forechecking the other teams into the ice.

But naturally, he was not happy about missing the game or the photo.

All the team could do about the game was win it for him, and they did.

As for the photo, there will be another portrait taken of the team -- with the Bradmeister General -- at a later date. No worries there, big man. Consider it done.

Jan 27, 2008

Chris and his ROAN International Oakville Flyers of minor peewee house league fame have been close for a few weeks of pulling it all together and today they did just that, dumping the Gators 4-0 in what was as complete a game as the boys played all winter.

Zach was good in goal as usual and Scott Cece fired a pair of goals to pace the win, proving that there's more than one go-to goal scorer in that formidable hockey household.

Fergus MacDoanld and Cole Vandevenne -- the too smallest guys on the team, unless you're measuring their hearts -- scored the other goals. Chris Arnold -- another Ranger little brother -- had a pair of assists, as did Dylan Lewis. Nicklas, Connor and Andew also added helpers.

Strong defensive play from Jordan, Liam, Kenny and Sean helped preserve the goose egg.

The puck movement by the forwards -- like Will and Isaac -- was crisp and on the stick. The breakout worked. The forecheck was strong. It was nice to see them do it for themselves.

Two more games till the playoffs -- first place has already been clinched by Coach Bork and his powerhouse Hound Dog squad. They deserved it and earned it, congratulations to them!

The big news from the weekend was the shutout win by the Wings over the Eagles. The Wings have had their share of challenges this season but in the last three or four weeks you could see the improvements. The 4-0 win was a big shutout for my buddy Cameron, too.

The playoffs should prove interesting.

- - -

Tri County bantam AA playdown action:

Burlington 9 Milton 1

Brampton 6 Ancaster 1

- - -

It was with some interest we watched this week when the Rangers honoured the big defenceman by raising his number 2 to the rafters, the number retired forever.

Pad's been wearing number 2 on the Ranger blue line for three years now.

Of course, it was the New York Rangers who were retiring the number 2, and the big defenceman was Brian Leetch. But we watched with interest anyway.

Leetch had an outstanding career, mostly with New York, and is only the 5th New York Ranger in history to have his number retired.

You can read the story here.

- - -

NHL All-Star game goes on TV tonight, which Chris will watch in the absence of either bantam AA or the Leafs.

I'm going to nap -- it was picture day and that meant a long morning in a cold rink.

Jan 26, 2008

Bantam AA playdowns, at St Catharines:

Oakville 6 St Catharines 2.

Jan 26, 2008

Happy birthday, Wayne Gretzky. The Great One is 47 today.

- - -

8:30a practice at Appleby this morning, where we spotted the picture of one of Pad's teammates on the wall of the right. It wasn't a most-wanted list. It was photos of the varsity team. Very nice. We drew a moustache on him. Kidding.

- - -

Spotted in Oakville: Which Toronto Maple Leaf head coach slipped into Glen Abbey Rec Centre to register one or more of his kids for lacrosse?

I'm told registration today was wall-to-wall all morning. Next registration opportunity is Feb 9.

- - -

The new weekly feature: What's on my iPod?

Two offerings this week. First, I had craving for Joe Jackson music on Friday so I went to iTunes and downloaded a hits package for $7. In the early 80s Jackson's "Is She Really Going Out With Him" was a bit of an anthem around the house I shared with other ner' do wells in Halifax and it was a staple at house parties, generally just before or after something like Time Warp from the Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack. Yes, I'm dating myself here. But Joe Jackson is awesome party music.

The other thing I listened to this week is a compilation called The Bridge School Collection.

The Bridge School is a very special school in Hillsborough, California dedicated to ensuring that children with severe speech and physical impairments are able to achieve full participation in their communities through the use of augmentative & alternative means of communication (AAC) and assistive technology (AT) applications and through the development, implementation and dissemination of innovative life-long educational strategies.

That's a mouthful. It's web site is here.

The school was founded in 1986 by Pegi Young and Jim Forderer. Pegi Young just happens to also be Mrs Neil Young, and their son Ben was born with cerebral palsy. So, Pegi and Neil got behind the Bridge School concept in a very big way and as you can imagine, they have some kick-ass fundraisers.

Every year, Neil Young hosts the Bridge School Concert and invites various friends to donate their time to perform and raise money to support the school.

Which brings us to The Bridge School Collection.

It's 54 songs selected from two decades of concerts and features a wide range of artists like Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Sammy Hagar, Elvis Costello, Tom Petty, Tom Waits, the Pretenders, and of course Neil Young and CSN&Y.

You don't have to buy the whole collection like I did.

If you want to spend two or three dollars and buy some really excellent live music, I'd recommend Brian Wilson's (you know, of The Beach Boys) performance of Love and Mercy, Don Henley's 12-string acoustic solo version of Heart of the Matter, which will leave you staring off into the ether, and Tom Waits singing 16 Shells from a Thirty-Ought Six, which will leave you wondering how much whiskey and how many cigarettes have to be consumed to get a voice like that (I suspect the answer to both is, a lot.)

Anyway, that's what's on my iPod this week.

- - -

I'm writing this at White Oaks pool as Chris swims -- post hockey practice, pre-Marlies game road trip -- and the kids next to me are performing CPR on stuffed-toy rabbits. They're all laughing. It is actually very funny. But good for them.

Jan 25, 2008

Late breaking new from Tri County bantam AA. . .

Milton 2 Georgetown 1. In Georgetown.

It has no effect on Oakville because it's a different bracket, but wow. That's huge.

The tops blow off heads in Georgetown when they're winning. But losing to the bottom seed, and last place team . . . oh my. I bet it wasn't pretty in the stands.

- - -

Also -- tomorrow is Oakville lacrosse registration. 10a till 2p at Glen Abbey. Come early, register often. New registrants bring a copy of your birth certificate! Details at www.oakvillelacrosse.com

Jan 25, 2008

Well, day two of the Cliff Fletcher Era v2.0 didn't go as well as day one, with the Leafs losing 2-1 in Washington last night. Read the story here.

But, perhaps more interesting is this. I saw this clip on TSN on Wednesday evening and a reader emailed to point it out as well. Watch the video below -- if you let it load and then fast forward to about 4 minutes, 30 seconds in, watch Richard Peddie (on the right) mouthing the words as they come out of Cliff Fletcher's mouth. It's truly bizarre. When Fletcher talks about "custodian of the keys" especially.

You can draw your own conclusions as to what it might mean. I don't know Richard Peddie. Maybe he's just really, really good at guessing what people are about to say. Live. On network television.

- - -

A couple of other big developments in non-hockey worlds -- Tiger Woods is playing his first tournament of the year, which has to be really annoying for the other 143 guys who showed up.

And Roger Federer LOST in the semi finals at the Aussie Open overnight -- the first tennis Grand Slam of the year. Prior to this, Federer had played in 10 consecutive Grand Slam finals. Story here.

- - -

Pad came home from his science exam yesterday and more or less shrugged about it being a non-event. He claims to have aced it. We'll see, but he tends to be right about these things.

- - -

Weekend hockey starts tonight with a Ranger practice, then Chris and the Flyers are on the ice tomorrow morning followed by his weekly swimming session, and then me, him and most of his Flyer teammates and parents are heading downtown to watch the Marlies game at 4p while consuming pizza and popcorn at a frenetic pace.

At the same time Laura and Pad will visit beautiful St. Catharines for game two of the playoffs.

Sunday morning is picture day for the minor peewee white and blue divisions at Kinoak, which means pandemonium with occasional outbursts of hockey. And then the Rangers have "Mitron testing" (don't ask) and a late practice on Sunday evening.  Once they're off the ice at 9:50p, the parents have the rest of the weekend to themselves.

- - -

If you live south of the QEW in Oakville, you won't care about this unless you sometimes try to drive up Fourth Line because you want to roll past my house and look at the Christmas lights that are still up. But, the people in charge of the bridge reconstruction over the QEW at Fourth Line seem to have been much, much better at tearing down the bridge -- which they did in a few hours -- than they are at putting a new one back up.

If there's any activity going on there, I don't see it. Maybe it's too cold to push dirt around or drive new footings or pour concrete or lean on shovels and drink coffee. I'm sure there's a good explanation.

But.

Ripping out that bridge eliminated my direct route to Kinoak, which was almost a straight line. It also eliminated my direct route to Corbetts to get skates sharpened. (Remember the TV show Cheers? When Norm would walk in and everyone would yell NORM! ? Well, that's sort of what it's like for me at Corbetts. I should have my own office there.)

I digress.

Rebuild the damn bridge. I took a poll. Everyone in Glen Abbey agrees.

- - -

At some point today, probably before noon, a new single-month record will be set for page views of and unique visitors to this site (that's Internet talk that means readership). If I had advertisers, they would be happy to hear that but since I don't and it's just me I'll say thanks to the regulars for continuing to drop by, and welcome to the new folks who have stumbled upon this space and apparently enjoy sarcasm about the Leafs and idle banter about minor hockey/lacrosse/ice dancing as much as the rest of us.

I'm not sure what the continuing attraction is but it's fun for me and apparently of some interest to you to -- perhaps the way we all slow down and stare at a crash on the highway.

I'm not sure how long this exercise will last, but for now it rolls onward. I enjoy your emails. Keep em coming to the usual address.

Thanks again.

Jan 24, 2008

The Cliff Fletcher Era v2.0 got off to a good start last night when Mats Sundin scored with 28 seconds left to lift the Leafs past Washington 3-2 for their fourth win in five starts.

Sundin is such a complete hockey player it makes you wonder what his career might have looked like if he had been in Colorado or Detroit or New Jersey for the last 14 years, instead of here.

Laura was out last night and Pad had practice so Chris and I were home alone and we got to discussing the Leafs and what will happen next.

I explained to him the fire sale option of offloading assets for younger prospects and draft picks. He was visibly unimpressed.

The context there of course is that, for example, in his lifetime Mats Sundin has always been a Leaf. Mats Sundin IS the Leafs to kids like Chris. It would be as unimaginable to him that Mats isn't a Leaf as it would have been to me many years ago to think that Dave Keon would leave (and we know how that story ended.)

At the core of Chris's concern?

"All my Leaf hockey cards will be worthless."

No, no, no. They will be collectibles!

"Oh.. OK. It's good then. Can I watch Corner Gas now?"

- - -

Still with the Leafs, who would want the job as president and GM of one of professional sports most dysfunctional franchises? A  lot of people, that's who. Click here for more.

 - - -

Meanwhile, the remote control was smoking as we kept tabs on the Raptors visit to Boston to take on the conference leading Celtics. And the Raps won. A huge, huge win for the Raptors who over the last 10 days have started to show signs of being the team that won their division last year. We'll see. Click here for a game over story.

- - -

In Tri County bantam AA playdown action:

Caledon 4 Orangeville 2

Caledon 8 St Catharines 3

Burlington 3 Guelph 2

Brampton 5 Flamborough 5

- - -

In our house and many others across the region, high school freshmen are getting their first taste of exams this week. Pad has his first one today. Good luck to him and all the rest.

Jan 23, 2008

I'm seeing a fair amount of traffic from search engines with people looking for OMHA and Tri County playoff/playdown results.

For Tri County, click here, then click on the level you want to follow, then click on QUALIFIERS.

For OMHA flow chats, click here and just keep inputting the appropriate information.

You're welcome.

Jan 23, 2008

Well, the Leafs finally pulled the plug and everything old is new again -- welcome back, Cliff.

John Ferguson exited the scene with more class than the Leafs showed him as they let him twist in the wind over the last two weeks.

What's next?

The Leafs can go two ways -- tinker enough to try to contend for a playoff spot next year, or, conduct a fire sale of their roster's biggest names and salaries and look for a way to be a top-five team in their conference within two or three years.

Fletcher has to evaluate what he can get for Sundin, Raycroft (good luck with that one), Blake, Kabina, Tucker, McCabe . . . really, anyone.

The next two years of NHL entry drafts are fat with talent. Now's the time, boys.

You can google away to find lots of stories on this one. You don't need my help!

- - -

In the meantime, hockey analyst Elmo was asked to assess the Leafs' chances on making the post-season this year. (Thanks to Carlo for pointing this one out):

- - -

Way back when I coached Pad in minor atom red, I ended up with a kid on my team who was new to Oakville. His family had just landed here from Iroquois Falls or some place like that in Northern Ontario. The boy, Chris, was an aspiring goalie and an exceptionally nice kid.

When I made my calls to parents introducing myself, his mother explained that Chris really, really wanted to be a goalie. I said that's great. I said we have a couple of kids who have expressed some interest in playing a game or two in goal, so maybe we could work up a rotation where Chris would play every other week, or two of three, or something.

She was patient with me and very pleasant. He only has goalie gear. He wants to be a goalie. Period.

Um, OK.

I said let's play a couple of games and see how it goes and we'll figure it out as we go along. Great, she said.

Well.

In those days I had a small trophy that I gave out after every game to that week's player of the game. The kid kept it for week, brought it back on game day, and someone else would get it the next week. We always made sure everyone on the team had a week with the trophy, but . . .

Young Chris was awarded the trophy so many times I renamed it the Festarini in his honour, and in subsequent seasons I started the year off by telling my team the story of the kid from Iroquois Falls who showed up just wanting to be a goalie and always worked hard, listened hard, and supported the team.

What a goalie he was. We never did bother with a goalie rotation. The team would have mutinied if I had tried.

And apparently, he still is quite a goalie. I coached him six years ago and his hockey career has been in overdrive since then.

I run into his dad around the rinks in Oakville sometimes and we always have a great chat catching up. It just makes you feel really good to see great kids doing well.

Recently, Chris and his teammates on the AAA bantam Toronto Nationals went to Europe for some games. Not content to be a good hockey player, Chris can also write. And he tells about the team's experiences here on the Toronto Star's web site.

It's well worth your time to read it.

- - -

The Penguins will be without Crosby for six to eight weeks, which will test that team's mettle. He'll be back for the playoffs, but the absence is certain to punch a hole in any chance he has to win a second scoring totle or MVP award. Read the story here.

- - -

Decloe training for Chris last night. During the practice someone moved all the boys' clothes and bags from one room to a different one. And the different one had girls dressing in it when the boys got off the ice, so when they eventually found their clothes they couldn't actually go in the room to change. It was funny, but not to the boys.

Rangers practice tonight.

- - -

Jan 22, 2008

Pad and the bantam AA Rangers opened their OMHA playdowns last night with a thorough 7-0 win over Orangeville, in Orangeville. I was not there but I'm told the Rangers played very disciplined hockey when the game got chippy in the third period. I'm also told the Orangeville goalie was super -- the score being no reflection of the pucks he saw and how well he played.

Dan French gets the shutout for Oakville.

For reasons I don't know, Orangeville and Ancaster -- teams that played the regular season as single-A squads -- were moved to AA for the playdowns. Dundas -- which played AA all season, moved to single A.

Anyway, we'll see Orangeville again soon for the back end of the home and home and you can be sure they will play tough.

- - -

Nice picture submitted by the minor peewee red Vikings, who are shown politely stating their case that the opposing Cambridge team was taking liberties with the goalie. I'm  told the ref sorted things out to everyone's satisfaction. The ref's face is a study in patience.

- - -

And speaking of refs . . .

HOMER!!!!!!!!

No, that's not the donut guy yelling to our favourite Simpson. That's what parents of the visiting team inevitably yell at the referee as soon as their team gets a penalty. And to be honest, there are times when it feels like the home town stripes favour the home team.

Well, a statistical analysis of penalty data from the Tri County bantam AA loop would suggest that feeling has little basis in fact.

Usually. Depending on what town your in.

Sort of.

The following stats don't include things like misconducts, game misconducts, match penalties, etc. Minors and majors only.

But, an analysis of the numbers for the regular season just ended -- save for one missing game -- shows that overall, the refs are pretty balanced in assessing penalties.

In four of the 11 towns (Burlington, Georgetown, Milton and Stoney Creek) in the bantam AA loop, the home team actually averaged more penalties per game than the visitor.

In three others (Dundas, Flamborough, and Guelph) , the visitors were penalized more by a minute or less per game. Call it even.

At the other end of the scale, referees in Brampton assessed the visitors for almost two additional minor penalties per game than the home side. Playing in Caledon? Visitors average three minutes more in penalties per game. Visitors to Oakville get almost one more minor penalty per game than the Rangers. Ditto for St. Catharines.

Now, those might sound like small numbers -- and really, they are.

But.

In Brampton, the home team averaged 10.4 minutes in penalties, the visitors 13.9. So, that's better than 30 per cent more penalty minutes for the visitors, on average.

In Caledon, it was about 25 per cent more.

Oakville was a little better than 10 per cent more for the guests, and St Kitts is about 20 per cent higher.

Draw your own conclusions. I'm not sure there are any to be made -- statistics, damn statistics and lies, etc etc..

But start arguing.

Hey ref!! Get in here and break this up!!!

- - -

Games in Stoney Creek would appear to generate more penalties than others for the home and the visitors -- more than 32 minutes in total per game.

Rink with the fewest penalty minutes? Milton (the Winterhawks won only two games all season) where teams combined on average for just under 18 minutes in penalties per game.

Jan 21, 2008

Since I had a light weekend in terms of hockey and kids, I wrote here way more than normal and well, that's going to have to serve as your Monday morning reading.

It's still really cold -- if you're in Toronto, you know that -- so typing on the train wearing 16 layers of clothes is at best a challenge, at worst almost impossible.

- - -

After getting home from four hours at the rink yesterday and then dealing with the pennies (see below) and then getting groceries, all I felt like doing was lighting a fire in the fire place, laying on the couch, and watching football and the Leafs, and that's exactly what I did.

The Leafs actually played OK, I thought. But they lost anyway.

The Patriots actually played poorly, I thought. But they won anyway.

The Packers failed to do anything in the second half and lost to a team not as good as them.

So, I'm betting (figuratively) that New England will win the Super Bowl by three TDs. They're due for a blowout and no one I know thinks the NFC is as good as the AFC.

Also, the Sens lost again yesterday. Anytime Ottawa loses is a good day.

- - -

Hockey that matters for the bantam AA Oakville Rangers starts tonight in Orangeville. As I've said here before -- the romance of Tri County Hockey is the Monday night road game in January. And on one of the coldest days of the season the road leads to Orangeville.

It will not be an easy outing for the Rangers and I won't be there to cheer them on given the early start and the need to make sure at least one of my kids gets to bed at a decent hour.

Go Rangers.

- - -

Scary incident on Saturday at Maplegrove Arena during a bantam AAA rep game. I'm told the Zamboni driver had to get off the machine to tend to something and slipped and fell on the ice, hitting his head hard.

He was taken to hospital by ambulance and the game was suspended.

I asked one of his colleagues at Kinoak yesterday how he was and he said the man will be OK but he will miss some time from work as he recovers.

As a guy who convenes and coaches hockey and lacrosse, I can tell you how valuable the arena staff are to what we try to do as organizations. Their help and cooperation is invaluable and the really, really good ones are worth their weight in gold.

Here's hoping this gentleman's injuries aren't too serious and he's back on the job soon.

Just as an FYI, I'm told that in Ottawa, all Zamboni operators are required to wear helmets. Sounds like an idea worth considering.

Jan 20, 2008

Hey, remember the coins?

These coins?

OK, so I took the pennies to a grocery store today that has one of those Coin-Star sorting machines.

Pennies only -- 3,997 pennies or just shy of $40 worth.

Some things you need to know:

1. Dumping 4,000 pennies into a machine at a grocery store draws a crowd. Granted, the crowd was mostly little people fascinated by the crazy man with all the pennies, but a crowd nonetheless.

2. The CoinStar doesn't cope well with that many pennies and it took longer than I thought. Maybe 20 minutes -- that's still a lot faster than what it would take to roll 80 rolls of pennies. But the machine was choking on the volume -- the readout actually said several times, "My, you have a lot of coins." That's why I'm here CoinStar. That's why I'm here.

3. The CoinStar keeps 9.8 per cent of the revenue -- or about four bucks in my case. Money well spent. The remainder of the coin will be rolled manually. Sorry CoinStar. I'm not paying you 10 per cent to count my quarters. That's why I have kids!

- - -

Chris and the Flyers tied the Vikings -- we still haven't beaten them, but we didn't lose! -- 1-1 today. The two goalies -- Zack and Cameron -- played great in a real see-saw game. It was fun to watch.

- - -

Before our game I caught most of the final minor peewee blue game of the morning and Chris's buddy Stevie recorded a 1-0 shutout to lead his team to victory. Again, a really good game with lots of great play by both goalies. It was good to watch Stevie rack up his first goose egg of the season, too!

- - -

Leafs win again? OK -- who are you guys and what have you done with the Leafs? Read all about it! They play New Jersey tonight.

- - -

In OMHA playdowns -- bantam AA -- Burlington beat Georgetown 3-0, and Stoney Creek beat Ancaster 4-2.

Jan 19, 2008

It was one year ago today that my Uncle Denny died.

Me, Laura, Pad and Chris were just getting onto the 401 to head to London for a tournament for Chris's team when my mom called me on my cell with the news.

She was understandably upset. Denny had been in ill health, but he had been doing better after an operation so the loss still came like a thief in the night.

I won't pretend he and I were close - -we weren't. Or that he spent hours and hours regaling me with stories of the good old days. Nope.

But as you can imagine his legend threw a long shadow across our family and each in our own way were proud of what he had accomplished. Especially my mom. It was a long way from northend Halifax to Beverly Hills and gold records and the Grammys. And my mom knows that better than any of us ever will.

I'm mentioning the anniversary not to be sentimental or maudlin but to say by odd coincidence while I was watching Chris at swimming today, I was listening to the Mamas and the Papas on my iPod without initially realizing today was the day.

And then the light went on in my head. Weird.

I will say this -- something good that came out of his passing was that I now have a relationship with Denny's kids -- my cousins, who were strangers to me before that week.

And Pad and Chris got very curious about it all and now understand that their passion for guitar and music is probably not just something that sprang from nothing. And they are the biggest fans you can imagine of illScarlett, the hot Mississauga punk-ska band that sports cousin John as the bass player.

As a young part-time reporter in 1979 (it might have been 1980) I was assigned to cover the Atlantic Folk Festival north of Halifax where Denny was to perform his first show in Canada in a long time. More than a decade, I think.

I had a backstage pass and spotted him holding court (and Denny could really hold court) and I waited for the crowd to thin before approaching. He eyed me and my media pass and smiled. I stuck out a hand and simply said, "Hi Uncle Denny. How are you?"

He had lots of nephews so he howled with laughter then said, "OK, I give up. Who's the hell are you?" And for a little while we did trade stories -- well, he told stories, and I listened. An Irishman's Irishman, Denny's gift for gab had few rivals I'd guess. Some might use the word blarney but in his case I think his life was remarkable enough that I can't imagine he ever could have felt the need to embellish a single syllable of it. If anything, he probably dialed it back a bit in the remembering.

Years later, when he was famous as the Harbour Master on the kids' show Theodore Tugboat, he was at our house in Oakville, where Patrick (then only six or seven) could barely breathe because the Harbour Master was sitting in his living room.

Time flies.

- - -

The Frank Sabitino Memorial Tournament is going on all over Oakville this weekend. If you want to get out and catch some very entertaining house league action, you can visit the tournament home page here and find some games to suit your schedule. It's an incredibly well run event.

Jan 19, 2008

I'm going to create a section of this blog for teams/coaches to do some show-and-tell. The Christmas postings of tournament and exhibition game photos were a big hit with kids, parents and coaches and the lesson was obvious -- kids like seeing their photos and reading positive things about themselves. I think the parents did too.

So, my initial thought was to wait for March Break and kick it off then. But I know there are interesting things going on between now and then so, why wait for spring? Do it now!

The ground rules:

1. pick your spot -- no one is going to want to read about the same three teams over and over.

2. A picture is worth a 1,000 words. Send a photo to help tell the story if possible. But slice-of-life stories are welcome anytime.

3. Don't be shy. Don't worry if you don't know me -- there's more people reading this space now than I know in total, so get involved. Any level of house league or rep. Send something along. A big game in your league. A funny thing at practice. And especially the tournaments and exhibition games. Don't forget photos.

4. Everyone needs an editor -- and that would be me. I reserve the right to make your entry more interesting and witty or perhaps send it to the cutting room floor. But I'll be gentle. Honest.

5. Send any contributions to the usual address.

But in summary, let's start sharing the success stories.

- - -

On my iPod this week: Eddie Vedder (of Pearl Jam) and the soundtrack for the film Into The Wild, based on the book of the same name by John Krakauer (most famous for his spectacularly moving first-person account of death on Mount Everest, Into Thin Air.) It's wonderful, mostly acoustic listening. The single Hard Sun got a fair amount of air play on the radio, but there are better songs on the CD. Go get it. If you wait and bring it home for Valentines Day and say that you wanted to give her a CD that was soft and beautiful like her, you'll be a hero. Seriously. Can't miss. Just hope she's not reading the same blogs as you.

- - -

As I type this I'm at White Oaks pool with Chris for his weekly Personal Best swimming session. Chris loves the water and I love watching him have a good time. His love of the water comes from his mother and her side of the family. The Arnolds -- well, me anyway -- were blessed with the natural buoyancy of a sack of large rocks.

Part of the ritual involves lunch with just me and him, always at Burger King -- his choice. We yak about whatever he wants to yak about, or sometimes we just sit quietly. Either way, it's fun.

Today, there were six of tables occupied by a dad and a son. I found that very cool.

Avoiding house work is popular apparently.

- - -

Chris: "Hey dad.Can we go to (music store) Long and McQuade this weekend?"

Me: "Um, I guess. Why?"

Chris: "They carry a lot of Gibson guitars and I want to check them out. Especially the Les Pauls."

Me: "Um, right. Gibson. Les Paul. Sure. Good idea. Let's bring Pad too."

Chris: "OK."

- - -

The matching dryer to go with the new washer arrives today. The old dryer worked fine, but there's a problem with being able to wash 600 towels at once, and that's drying them. We need a dryer that's big enough to keep pace with the washer. Plus, we like the LED readouts. Well, I like them anyway.

<Hey look! There's something shiny! I wonder what that is ? Let's get one!! . . . >

- - -

It's a stunningly quiet hockey weekend for us. The Rangers AA bantam are virtually dormant, which I'm not sure is a great thing what with the playoffs opening Monday night in Orangeville. But, high school exams also start next week and the big defenceman is, as I type, at home in the basement rec room with two classmates working on a project and prepping for their first run at exams.

Chris and the Flyers play the Vikings tomorrow in house league minor peewee white action -- we've never beaten the Vikings, but we've beaten everyone else. Go figure. Tomorrow . . . we'll see.

But just so you don't go into complete hockey withdrawal, here's a clip of Rick Nash scoring a goal that is destined to live on for years and years and years as one of the prettiest goals you'll ever see. And I'm glad those weren't MY defencemen he made look like idiots.

Jan 18, 2008

Some days just don't turn out the way you planned

Laura's working out of town for a couple of days -- day trips, but she had to leave the house by 7a. So I'm making lunches and doing all the little things mom normally does when I'm normally sprinting out the door at 7a myself. Not doing laundry on the new machine mind you -- I haven't passed the test yet. But lots of other stuff.

So I went in a little later yesterday and today, slowed down, smelled the roses sweat socks, etc etc.

Until today.

Today, I dropped Chris at school and headed for the Go Station to catch the 8:30a train, which gets me in later than normal but still in plenty of time for my first meeting.

Halfway to the train I realize I forgot my briefcase. So I head home. Now I have to wait for the 9a train -- I'll be later than planned, but will still make my 10a meeting. No problem.

I pull into the station and park and have five minutes to spare -- so I do some email on the Blackberry.

I no sooner pick it up and there's a message from Laura -- the school called her. Chris is sick. Can I go home?

Um, yes. I guess I can.

Back to the school to get pale and sweaty boy. Then home. He's on the family room couch under a quilt watching movies in 30 seconds.

I call the office.

You know that 10a with the boss? Well, some days just don't turn out the way you planned . . .

- - -

The 1972 Dolphins.

The 1984 Oilers.

The 1998 Red Wings.

The 1927 Yankees.

And now, the 2008 Maple Leafs.

The Leafs won their second in row last night moving them . . . well, nowhere actually. They're still 14th of 15 teams in the east.

Three days ago they had to go 25-12 over their final 37 games to get to 90 points and an outside shot at the playoffs.

Now they only have to go 23-12 over their final 35 games! Feel the love!

- - -

Our weekend was supposed to start with Chris at a practice tonight, but that ain't happening now. Swimming tomorrow, hockey on Sunday for Chris if he's better and nothing for the AA bantam Rangers.

It feels weird.

- - -

The Burlington Eagles shut out Georgetown 3-0 last night to open the OMHA bantam AA round-robin bracket. Oakville plays in Orangeville on Monday night.

Jan 17, 2008

We have a new washing machine, so the Under Armor is all clean again. Considering that the old washer croaked on Saturday it's pretty amazing that Laura managed to get a new one bought, delivered, hooked up and cleaning clothes by Tuesday.

I think she asked the guys at Future Shop -- who told her this coming Saturday was the earliest possible date of delivery -- if they had any idea how much electronic stuff her husband and sons buy at their store, or spend on their web site, or lurking in their parking lot, or . . .

Once they figured out she was married to me, the rest was easy.

I have to say laundry technology has come a long way in 21 years. No more banging the towels between two rocks on the shores of Lake Ontario for us.

This thing actually has LED readouts on the control panel. It actually has a control panel. And the drum is large enough to wash 600 towels all at once.

And the REALLY cool thing about it is, it's too complicated for me to operate. So, you know, I guess I can't do the laundry, which as I've said before Laura prefers anyway, because things change colour and size when I do laundry.

- - -

The Rob Ramage case is simply so profoundly sad on so many levels, it's hard to know where to begin. And that the entire thing was completely avoidable . . . well, the human toll on this one is bewildering. Anyway, the former Leaf captain was sentenced today to four years in prison. Read about it here.

- - -

Speaking of the Leafs, they will try to make it two in a row tonight in Boston. Read a pre-game preview here. I'm out of Leaf jokes today. Write your own.

- - -

OK -- let's finish on a lighter note. Green Bay hosts the NY Giants on Sunday in the NFC championship game. The FOX TV affiliate in Green Bay has pulled Giant quarterback Eli Manning's favourite show -- Seinfeld -- from it's usual Saturday night spot. No one in Green Bay wants Manning to be comfortable before the big game. An online poll of viewers to suggest a replacement show is being led by the suggestion of re-running a documentary on legendary Packer coach Vince Lombardi. Now that's entertainment.

I'm just guessing, but I bet Manning can afford to buy all the episodes of Seinfeld on DVD if he really wants to watch the show on Saturday. But it's good fun.

Click here to read the story.

Jan 16, 2008

The OMHA playdown brackets are taking shape for all the various divisions in Tri County.

For the AA bantam Rangers, they are in a four-team pool with St. Catharines, Orangeville and Caledon.

To look at all the Tri County brackets, go here and select the level you want to see.

If you really want to waste some time and look at the OMHA flow charts for the the playdowns across the entire association, go here pick the level and away you go . . .

Jan 16, 2008

Pretty much just for the benefit of my dad back in Nova Scotia, here's Chris working out at ice2ice last night. It's my blog and if I want to put up my kid's picture, I will! Those purple jerseys are nice, huh?

Jan 16, 2008

It's amazing to me how much traffic comes here when I don't blog. Sorry I'm late. Busy day, meetings outside of the office.

- - -

So, Chris debuted at the new ice2ice facility on Speers Road in Oakville last night.

 I have to say, they did a remarkable job. Think of it as a mini Joshua Creek Twin Rinks and you're on the right track.

There are two pads, each 120 feet by 50 feet (an NHL rink is 200 by 85) and a 30 by 40 shooter pad.

Below is a ground level picture of the west sheet. Note the steel beam running the length of the building as well as up and down to the right of the rink. This was a pre-existing building, so they had to work with the architecture -- hence two small sheets.

The next picture is of the east sheet with the smaller-than-normal Zamboni. It's a mirror image of the other sheet.

Below is the west sheet with kids running through drills. It gives you some perspective on the room on the ice. The nets and crease are regulation size so goalies don't get freaked out.

And another one . . .

The people behind the place seem to have done it right. Quality facility, there's a second-floor viewing area for parents (still being finished) and the change rooms are bright and clean.

The change rooms, are however, small. I'm not sure how many they have but it wasn't an issue last night. There were about 20 kids out for the session Chris was in -- lots of familiar faces too -- and groups on before and after. The hallway got a little tight with traffic, but the kids all had room to do their thing.

Dick told me there are plans to add a 10,000 square foot training facility (gym) aimed at higher-end athletes, and that some other elite hockey training programs would be moving to ice2ice in the coming months.

The building is at 1111 Speers Road -- travelling west it's on your right, just past MOHA and Fourth Line. You can visit their web site at www.ice2ice.ca .

This place is going to add a new dimension to hockey in Oakville, akin to what the pond does in Burlington -- fun team-building 3-on-3 sessions, solid training and instructors. It's great to see Dick and his team -- including the Darrigo boys -- back on the ice working with kids.

They are to be applauded on what I've seen so far. Welcome, and congratulations.

- - -

Hey. The Leafs won a game. I'm feeling faint.

So, everyone back on the bandwagon right???

Next stop, immortality, right???

Book the parade route. Right?

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? <Insert sound of crickets chirping.>

The fans are not happy. Read all about it.

Jan 15, 2008

A dreary Tuesday and not much to tell you from a cramped seat on a crowded train in a congested city. This week is shaping up as hockey lite, with some practices but not much else.

Chris and I will get our first look at the new Dick Decloe hockey clinics tonight and the new Ice2Ice Hockey Development Centre. I'll report what we find here tomorrow. Maybe I'll take the camera.

Chris is a big Decloe fan. He learns, he has fun and Dick is great with the kids.

- - -

An email arrived yesterday that said MSLE is selling tickets to the annual Leafs' team skills competition, scheduled for Feb 10 at the ACC ($18 a seat lower bowl, $14 upper bowl.)

The first and most immediate reaction I had was: oxymoron.

For the younger readers, an oxymoron is a literary device -- a figure of speech where two seemingly contradictory words or elements are presented together.

Like, for example, jumbo shrimp. Or, military intelligence.

Or, in this instance, "Leafs skills competition."

Sitting 28th in a 30-team league the Leafs should have prudently cancelled their "skills competition" in favour of "practice" or, "getting blind drunk and seeing if that helps."

I could put Chris's minor peewee house league team on the ice with the Leafs, spot them a two-goal lead, and we'd wipe the ice with them.

Skills competition. Give me a break. If the Leafs can get through it without one of them poking out their own eye I'll be surprised.

The Leafs host Carolina tonight as the soap opera around dumping JFJ as general manager and finding someone to take the job on an interim basis continues to spin out like a bad play. And you can read about it here if you like.

Jan 14, 2008

Burlington and Brampton skated to a 4-4 tie lat night, which gives Burlington first place in the AA bantam  Tri County loop with 44 points to Oakville's 43. Stoney Creek will be further back in third, Georgetown will take fourth. Other positions all the way down to 11th depend on some remaining games.

Congratulations to Burlington, and to the Rangers on a good regular season. Now real hockey begins!

Eventually.

I suspect we'll be waiting a while to know the seedings for the Tri County round robin series that kick off the OMHA playdowns.

- - -

The smiles say more than I ever could -- below are the biggest deal in Oakville hockey this week: peewee AE Rangers, North American Silver Stick champs. Very, very cool.

- - -

A new washing machine (and dryer) have been bought -- allegedly to be delivered on Tuesday. I'm sure it will be very nice and do all the things it's supposed to do. But I doubt it will last almost 21 years, which is how long the Sears Kenmore unit we have now has served us faithfully.

Only serviced twice in that time. The last time, the serviceman told us to prepare to get a new one because the cost of fixing it again would start to erode the ongoing margin utility of bragging about having a really old washer.

So, we're moving on. I expect a call from the Smithsonian Institute looking to add the old one to their collection.

In the meantime, the Under Armor awaits, which Laura thinks is a big deal and which I think is more of a new page in a long family tradition.

When I was a boy . . . OK. But seriously, when I played bantam and peewee, the marketing geniuses on Madison Avenue hadn't invented Under Armor and other fancy underwear for hockey players to wear.

We wore . . . cotton t-shirts. And underwear. Sometimes long johns.

And we never, ever let our mothers wash them. Because that would be bad luck. (And mom was generally just as happy to stay well clear of the hockey bag. They smelled as bad then as they do now.)

And by Thanksgiving, your hockey bag would sit in a corner and vibrate a little. By Christmas, it would bounce. And by the March Break, the unwashed t-shirt -- full of good luck and karma and mom-repelling special powers -- would pretty much break dance all on its own.

In any event, we're looking forward to having the new washing machine. I guess.

Jan 13, 2008

The bantam AA Rangers closed out the regular season with a 6-2 win over Flamborough, whose goalie faced 968 shots. He played very well.

The Rangers await the outcome of the final game of the season -- Brampton at Burlington -- tonight. Brampton wins, the Rangers will finish first. Burlington wins, and they finish first.

A good rule of thumb on these things is that if you leave your fate in someone else's hands, you deserve second place. Anyway, we'll see what happens.

Jan 13, 2008

Champions.

The Oakville Rangers peewee AE team beat Barrie 2-1 today to capture the North American Silver Stick championship.

The team says thanks to all who sent the good karma their way. They felt the love!

The team will live on forever on a plaque at the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Immortality must be pretty cool!

Jan 13, 2008

The AA bantam Rangers lost at home to Stoney Creek last night 3-2. The score was not indicative of how poorly the Rangers played. Trailing 3-0 entering the final period they would never have gotten as close as they did if not for a steady stream of Stoney Creek penalties late in the game.

And to be honest, if I had been one of their parents or coaches, I'd have been pretty miffed at the way the game was suddenly being called. Things that weren't penalties in the first two periods suddenly were penalties.

Having said that, one Stoney Creek parent felt the need hurl foul -- I mean really foul -- abuse toward all and sundry after already being asked once to clean up his language because there were children around. It was disgraceful.

- - -

Chris's house league team lost this morning, but to be honest Chris played one of his best games of the season. The team clearly has some work to do but sometimes when you're teaching new things it takes a while for the pieces to all fall into place.

Chris has one of the best senses of humour that you'll find on an 11-year-old and apparently came home from hockey today and asked his big brother, "So, guess who scored a hat trick today?"

No fool, Pad didn't take the bait. Good try though!

- - -

Leafs lost. Click here. No further comment warranted.

- - -

I had a hard time getting motivated to go watch the Rangers last night, and not just because I wasn't in the mood for a boorish slob screaming profanities in front of children.

No, I was settled in nicely in the family room watching the snow fall on Lambeau Field as the Packers hosted the Seahawks. It just felt like a football day, not a hockey day.

Anyway we managed to get home in time for the end of the Pats-Jags game and now I'm watching the Colts as I prepare to bolt out the door for the Rangers' final game of the regular season.

This feels like a football day, too.

Jan 12, 2008

OK, a happier entry.

One way to into the Hockey Hall of Fame is to make it to the NHL, have a great career, and get elected by the board.

I'm told another way is to play on a Silver Stick championship team. Each year, the names of all the Silver Stick championship teams are posted in a special display in the HHOF. (Not player names, just the team.)

In St Catharines tomorrow, the Oakville Rangers peewee A/E team will play Barrie for the North American Silver Stick championship.

So if you have any good karma to send to the Rangers, send it now. Actually, send it tomorrow morning at 9a.

If having a focused and determined red-headed Irishman in the lineup helps, the Rangers are already ahead of the game.

Here's wishing Rhys and all the Rangers good luck tomorrow.

Go Rangers Go.

 - - -

We're in the market for a new washing machine. Are there any vendors out there with a great deal? Email me. But do it fast. Laundry piles up around here fast!

Jan 12, 2008

I don't usually have much to say on Saturdays and this one is no exception. But if you visit this space today, spare a thought and a prayer for the families of the seven high school athletes and the teacher in Bathurst, NB, who were killed returning from a school basketball game last night.

Any parent who has ever sent their child off to an event in the care of another driver doesn't rest easily until the sweaty, smelly guy/girl bounces through the door hours later, complaining about the ref, lauding a teammate, chattering about their big play.

It's not that you don't trust the driver; obviously you do. It's just . . . you'd really rather be there. Parenthood is a life sentence. The worry light doesn't often stop blinking. Accidents can happen to anyone.

It beggars my command of the language to say much more. It's utterly devastating -- you and I didn't know those kids. But we know kids exactly like them. The loss is simply unimaginable.

Go hug your kids.

You can read about this terrible tragedy here.

Jan 11, 2008

The Leafs lose again, this time to the worst team in the NHL. Well, correct that. They lost to the team with the worst record in the NHL. The worst team in the NHL may well be the Leafs.

- - -

Last night Pad and the AA bantams had a 70-minute practice and then Mitron dryland training, otherwise known as a waste of everyone's time. I'm not a big fan of dryland training for 14 year olds, at least, not in this way.

First, virtually every AA bantam kid already enjoys a pretty high degree of fitness. It is true there are some who could use some improvement. But sending kids to a cold, cramped room to bang around on a Universal gym and some exercise bikes for an hour while listening to Soulja Boy cranked to 11 once every two or three weeks (their last dryland session was 24 days ago) will have zero impact on them. Other than their ear drums. I concede that there is a "team building" dynamic that takes place in that room, but it is less significant when you consider . . .

Second, doing it on a night when they were already at a rink from 5:30p till 7:15p doesn't help anything (like homework and exam prep.)

Third, the number of kids who had to bail because of homework commitments kinda tells you that there are a lot of parents with a good handle on priorities, and dryland isn't one of them.

Fourth, the team has played or practiced seven of the last eight nights, and will play twice more in the next three days. So a school-night dryland session that ends at 9:30p seemed counterproductive to other goals and priorities.

Maybe that portion of my rep hockey assessment would be better spent on other things. Or, maybe it would be better in my pocket.

- - -

Teeing up the weekend for the Greenbriar Amateur Athletic Association, the bantam AA Rangers host Stoney Creek tomorrow night (8:10p, Oakville) and Flamborough on Sunday afternoon (4:30p, Josuha Creek Red). Chris has a practice tomorrow night that conflicts nicely with the Ranger game, plus he has swimming in the afternoon. His team plays Sunday morning and I have the usual convening thing.

The Ranger games are both must wins as Burlington spanked St Catharines 9-1 last night to inch two points up with one game in hand. If the bantam AAs want to finish first, they need two wins and at least one of them probably needs to be by five goals to assure the GF/GA tie-breaker goes their way.

Not that any of that matters because everyone makes the playoffs anyway.

- - -

You'll be glad to know that Laura is on the mend -- operating at about 85 per cent capacity which is better than I am at 100 per cent. We're optimistic the Christmas tree will finally come down today. Yeah, I know. But there's no way I could take on a project like this alone and she's been sick since the day the tree was supposed to come down, way back on holidays.

The PS3 has been (thankfully) banished to the basement family room and I have been told to get away from the laundry room, get away from the kids' lunches (Question: how many pepperoni sticks and Doritos constitute a healthy lunch?) and generally downgrade from my parenting Code Red status.

OK. But good to have you back.

- - - 

Jan 10, 2008

I didn't watch the Leafs vs. the Ducks last night -- the late start was too much for my weary bones and I actually packed it in moments after Pad went to bed at 10:30p. But I was still a little shocked to see the score this morning -- 5-0 for the Ducks.

What a mess.

The phrase most used now -- five losses in their last six, averaging just a goal  a game in those losses, is free fall.

It fits. Read more here if you care.

- - -

Here's a more successful hockey team -- the MOHA minor peewee red Vikings, who I told you earlier in the week lost in the finals in a London tournament last weekend.

A report from the scene:

"The house league minor peewee red Vikings had their four-game tournament winning streak ended on Sunday by Stratford's "A" team. A very valiant effort by the boys but we succumbed to a 1-0 defeat. This team really came together and should be very proud of their tournament results and the "silver" finish. What a great xmas break, they won gold in Schomberg and silver in London. Vikings Rock."

Indeed, they do. Way to go, guys.

(Editor's note: I think the "eye black" the boys are wearing is a particularly menacing and nice touch. I also recognize at least three former players from teams I've coached, and one trainer -- plus a former house-league white best defenceman of my acquaintance -- all from over the years I've been around the rink with this age group since Timbit. As I always say, funny how when I stop coaching kids they start becoming successful! There's no explaining the trainer.)

- - -

The sky was falling in downtown Toronto today for those of us working in or near the financial district -- the sign on the top of the CIBC tower some 58 storeys up came unhinged in the wind storm and police feared it would whack some unsuspecting pedestrians or cars. So the working class gerbils had to navigate the underground PATH system to get around.

Of course, the symbolism of the CIBC sign coming unglued this week is a bit ironic to those of you who read Report on Business after the sports pages. At least, I thought it was ironic because people did get figuratively whacked by CIBC this week.

(Editor's note: Just a little humour for the investment bankers out there. Thank you. Thank you very much. Try the veal. I'm here all week.)

- - -

The sky is supposed to fall in a different way tomorrow. Environment Canada is predicting rain and snow overnight for us -- mostly rain for the GTA I think, but still a grand way to end the first week back after the Christmas break. Maybe there'll be a snow day.

Jan 9, 2008

The AA bantam Rangers dumped Guelph 3-0 last night at the beautiful Sleeman Centre in downtown Guelph.

This, by the way, is the glamour of Tri County rep hockey. A Tuesday night in January in Guelph.

Anyway, it was a weird game -- on one hand, the score could have easily been 8-0 as the Rangers pinged pucks of the posts and missed some wide open nets.

On the other hand, if Jack Gillis hadn't been as sharp as he was -- and he was very sharp -- Guelph could have easily potted a couple or three goals because they had their chances.

The 6:15p start was a bit of a challenge -- as was the rain -- but I got there in time for the start. The good news was the venue and the mild weather. And when it was over, we were thankful for the early start, too.

So, we're still deadlocked at the top of the standings with Burlington -- identical records, each with two games left in the regular season.

(If it seems ridiculously early for the season to end, um, it is. But the format for the OMHA playdowns -- long, long, road to produce a champion -- takes so long to do that it has to be started in mid-January or the OMHA hockey will go on longer that the NHL playoffs.)

- - -

One of the guys who coaches in the same house league division with me got his hands on a radar gun and invited a bunch of kids out for some ice time over the holidays to clock their shots. I wasn't there but it sounded like a really fun thing to do.

Anyway, he relayed the story of one of the kids on the ice -- only about seven years old and not the fastest or strongest skater. But keen. Very, very keen.

When his turn came he mustered his strength and took the puck to the net hard, winding up and unleashing the most furious slapshot he had, almost missing the net.

The readout on the radar gun flickered: 11 MPH (which is one MPH above the lowest possible readout.)

The boy waited anxiously for his result and when he was told, his smile lit up the building.

He jumped in the air, and skated over to where his parents were watching and yelled: "Eleven miles per hour! I'm going to the NHL!!"

There's a lesson in there for all of us who might sometimes lose perspective on minor hockey, and minor sports in general.

It's their game. Help them play it.

It's their dream. Help them chase it.

Is that kid going to the NHL? I wouldn't bet against him right now.

- - -

If I had been there to have MY shot clocked, I bet I would have got 13, maybe 15 MPH. Seriously. I can bring it, baby. Feel the heat.

- - -

I haven't had anything to say here about Canada winning the World junior hockey title for the 4th year in a row. It was a remarkable win and not at all a sure thing. We were racing back from the bantam game in Stoney Creek on Saturday hoping to get home in time for some of the third period but had to settle for listening to the game on the radio. For whatever reason, the AM radio reception on my car is brutal so Chris and  I were straining to hear the crackling play by play which resembled something like cats in sack being banged on a table.

We did get enough reception to hear the call on the winning goal and Chris celebrated and I just kept on driving.

Canada gets to try to tie its own record on five straight titles next year in Ottawa. I think 10 kids on this years team will still be eligible for that squad.

- - -

The reason I haven't commented on the world juniors is that I've been doing laundry.

Laura's been down with something resembling the plague since Saturday. Cough. Fever. Big, big fever. She says it's the flu, but I think it's the plague. Anyway, people who know her will appreciate that if Laura's is sick enough to miss three hockey games, not leave the house for four days and pretty much not move anywhere in that time, she must be pretty miserable.

She is. Or, was. She's getting better but it's slow.

Anyway, I've been eating my dinners alone over the sink and tiptoeing around the house delivering orange juice and ice water and Tylenol in between loads of laundry and making school lunches. (Editor's note: This is not a sexist thing about laundry. In our house I'm generally not allowed to do laundry because things change colour and size when I do laundry. But desperate times, desperate measures.)

Last night as I prepared something to eat after getting home from Guelph, I had the option of watching the Habs-Blackhawks game, or the US presidential primary results on CNN.

Even though it turned out the Montreal game was a good one, I'm a political nerd and opted for the primary results, which turned out to be pretty good theatre if you follow these things at all.

Who would have thought 10 years ago that the Democrats would be divided over whether their candidate for President should be a woman or a black man? It's amazing, really. Since this isn't a political blog I'll leave it at that. But it was good TV.

Not as amazing as my slap shot -- I can really bring it, baby. Feel the heat! -- but pretty amazing.

Jan 8, 2008

Everyone (me included) is generally quick to point out when referees do a bad job. So with that in mind:

On Sunday during one of the minor peewee games I convene (did I mention that between 3p Thursday and 9p Sunday I spent almost 14 hours at rinks?) one player kind of lost his cool and behaved very poorly. To her great credit, one of the refs skated over to the kid and clearly talked him down from the tree. There was no finger pointing or confrontation. You could tell from the gestures that she was simply calming him down and letting him know he was sliding toward a penalty if he kept it up.

Later that night at another rink in Brampton, a Brampton kid bumped the Oakville goalie after the whistle. An Oakville defenceman with whom I am familiar then knocked the Brampton kid on his ass. It wasn't vicious or anything, but it was the usual enforcement of jungle law when you tamper with a team's goalie. The Brampton kid got up and retaliated and long story short, he got a penalty for roughing. The Oakville player got nothing (that's what good parenting gets you.)

As the Oakville defenceman skated back to the bench, the ref called him over and skated with him for a few seconds. On the drive home, I asked about the nature of that conversation.

"He said, 'OK Belak, settle down.' "

The referee said that he -- the ref -- was the best friend the goalies have out there and the defencemen (mine included) should just play hockey.

I thought that was very cool -- communication works. The kid gets a pretty clear understanding of the temperature of the game; the ref does it in a good humoured way that delivers a message without making it sound like a threat.

And incidentally, of the four or five recent games we've had with Brampton, this was the cleanest. Completely incident free. Parents on both sides well behaved. Etc etc.

Anyway, I later learned from a friend that this exact topic -- referees talking more and communicating better with young players to pre-empt ugliness -- was the topic of conversation on Monday on Grapevine with Don Cherry and Brian Williams.

Interesting coincidence.

- - -

I'm told the still undefeated atom single-A Oakville Rangers won their Silver Stick qualifier in Brampton over Christmas and are off to Sarnia Jan 18-20 for the North American finals. Congratulations guys! Good luck and keep us posted. (In Tri County play, second-place Woolwich has only lost two games all season and are 11 points behind the atom Rangers. Very impressive.)

- - -

The tyke Rangers -- not sure if it was tyke 1 or 2 -- lost in the final of Downsview's Jim Baird tournament over the holidays.

- - -

I'm sprinting to Guelph late this afternoon to try and make it in time for the bantam AA Rangers' 6:15p start vs. Guelph. They're back in 2nd place thanks to Burlington's 12-2 thrashing of Flamborough last night. Getting there for the start will be a good trick coming from downtown Toronto. If you see me closing the gap on you on the 401 later, be kind and move over.

Jan 7, 2008

A picture from Saturday's 3-3 bantam Ranger tie with Stoney Creek. Mike Wood looks on as a teammate I can't identify relieves a gentleman from Stoney Creek of the puck. It's taking time to get used to the new-to-us camera. But we're getting there.

Hats off to the Oakville novice red Vikings who took the championship at London's Blue and White Tournament over the weekend.

I'm told the 4-2 win over Oakridge was a hard-fought gritty affair, and represented a measure of pay-back for the Vikings, who lost to the same team 7-1 the day before.

Meanwhile, the Oakville minor peewee red Vikings lost 1-0 in the finals in another very tough game.

Congratulations to both teams for their great showings.

Below are the novice Vikings with a big-ass trophy:

- - -

Entries in the "guess the coin total" game -- remember it's just a demonstration, it's not a competition, so please, no wagering -- continue to come in.

I guess I'll have to start counting the coins soon.

Go here to get the info you need and try to guess how much pocket change Gerry threw on the fridge in the last year or so.

Jan 6, 2008

Solid 4-2 win for the AA bantam Rangers in Brampton tonight. They all played well -- the game wasn't as close as it sounds, thanks to a flukey last second knuckleball goal that got by Dan, who played great.

The win moves Oakville into a tie for first with Burlington with identical 18-4-3 records.
Off to Guelph on Tuesday night . . .

Jan 6, 2008

Our Flyers dropped a close 3-1 game to the first place Hound Dogs this morning. The other two games were even closer. Our man Zack in goal stood on his head for us be we couldn't get the goals. Oh well.

- - -

I don't expect to see minor peewee Red stats till mid week guys. Check late Wednesday or Thursday. Sorry.

- - -

Off to Brampton tonight to listen to parents shriek every time an Oakville kid comes within two feet of a Brampton kid (not all parents -- just a couple in particular. Even the other Brampton parents roll their eyes.) There will also be a hockey game.

- - -

My friends on the minor peewee blue Eagles went to Niagara Falls over Christmas to play in a house league major peewee tournament. They didn't come away with any hardware but I'm told they led the tournament in fun, taking in the sights of Clifton Hill and maybe even looking at the Falls. They were also dressed pretty spiffy, too.

- - -

Meanwhile the minor peewee red Wolfpack went 1-1-1 in London this weekend, so they didn't get a championship game. But I am reliably informed that most of the boys achieved personal bests in water sliding and pool volleyball, and the coaching staff established new southwestern Ontario benchmarks for water displacement.

I heard the mpw red Vikings advanced with three straight wins (details? photos anyone?)

- - -

Any runners out there? Can someone explain to me why runners have to run three-abreast on town streets and act like cars should be glad to either stop or drive onto the median to avoid killing three or four of them?

I have no problem sharing the road with a runner who is off to the right. And I have no problem sharing the road with cyclists -- there's a safe way to do it.

But runners three or four abreast way out into the street?

Given that they were also running with a group that was happily running ON THE SIDEWALK I wonder if it's some kind of secret Mason thing where the people with the tightest and most expensive spandex pants get to run down the middle of a traffic lane and curse the temerity of people in cars for also being there? Or, maybe it's related to brain size and general intellectual capacity.

Just curious.

Jan 5, 2008

The Rangers gave back half the gift they got from Georgetown, blowing a 3-1 third-period lead to settle for a 3-3 tie in Stoney Creek today.

Daniel French was terrific in goal.

Brampton again tomorrow.

Are they as sick of looking at us as we are of looking at them?

Jan 5, 2008

"It's still dark."

With those three small words Chris summed up what everyone was thinking this morning as we left River Oaks after his team's 6a practice.

Or at least the six players who attended were thinking that.

The 6a practice is the most demonized piece of ice time in Oakville, but for my money its way better than a 7p Saturday practice. Ice time is ice time. I'll take it.

- - -

The bantam AA Rangers were handed a gift last night -- Georgetown dumped Burlington 4-1. I won't take you all through the numbers because unless your kid plays bantam AA I'm sure you don't care. But the bottom line is if the Rangers win their remaining six games, they'll finish first.

They control their fate.

Now, winning six is easier said than done. Recent scores from the Tri County loop suggest things are getting very tight (Caledon 3 Brampton 0, Milton 2 Guelph 1, for example) and Stoney Creek is a good team and we play them twice.

Including today.

But, if a bunch of bantam hockey players can't get focused on a goal under their circumstances . . . well, it's up to them now.

Jan 4, 2008

Rangers lost 3-1 last night to Burlington. Two second period penalties, two power plays for the Eagles, two goals.

Therein lies the result. The game had little jump or buzz considering first place was on the line, but whatever jump or buzz there was, Burlington had it.

Rangers practice tonight and play Stoney Creek tomorrow.

- - -

A truly weak response to my request that you guess the value of the loose coin in our house. Laura has suggested that until there's more reader participation I should make like the big dogs in Hollywood and go on strike.

I'm taking that suggestion under advisement.

Jan 3, 2008

More holiday tournament results:

The atom AA Oakville Hornets lost in the finals of the Bell Capital Cup 1-0 in TRIPLE overtime, falling to the Gloucester-Cumberland Stars.

My scouts report it was as thrilling a game as you can imagine.

Nikki Cece (sister of Pad's teammate Mark and Chris's teammate Scott) was second star of the big game, standing on her head between the pipes for the Hornets.

Aside from the thrill of the championship game, a highlight for the ladies was sharing their hotel in Kanata with -- wait for it -- the entire Washington Capitals hockey team.

All the kids got tons of autographs -- I'm told the Caps were endlessly patient and signed for every kid wanting one.

What a great memory from the largest minor hockey tournament in the world!

Congratulations to the Hornets on a great showing.

Jan 3, 2008

The AA bantam Rangers play first place Burlington in Burlington tonight. As only one point separates the teams, the winner will be in first place.

The Rangers' lineup is down a few bodies because of holiday travel and suspension, so recruits are on loan from the A team. We'll see what happens.

- - -

I noted last week that the garbage truck arrived bright and early on Boxing Day when no one -- and I mean NO ONE -- on the street was expecting it. So yesterday, we were ready and all the garbage and recycling was out the night before so I wouldn't have to expose the neighbours to the sight of me sprinting down the street with garbage.

So, naturally, yesterday the garbage truck came at about 7p.

And the recycling truck has not arrived at all -- and it's approaching noon on the day after pickup.

You can't win.

- - -

Well, you can't win unless you're Team Canada at the Worlds. Great game yesterday and a well-earned win. Canada plays the US tomorrow in the semis.

- - -

OK folks. A teamoakville quiz. I'd call it a contest, but since there's no prize, it's not really a contest.

Some background.

Every day at the end of the day I empty my pocket change into a dish on top of the fridge. (Fact is, I empty EVERYTHING in my pockets onto the top of the fridge. Receipts. Bottle caps. Fish lures. Losing lottery tickets. Pens. Kleenex. Business cards. Hockey whistle. Everything. To say that this drives Laura nuts would be a dramatic understatement.)

Anyway, the dishes fill up and time goes on. Generally, it has been my habit to once a year sit in front of the TV during the British Open and sort and roll all this coin. (No one else is here then -- Laura and the boys are usually in Nova Scotia by that point in July.)

It hasn't happened in a while and now there's a lot of coin hanging around my sock drawer, threatening to crash through to the floor.

So yesterday I spent $12 on one of those coin sorter thingies and sorted all the coin by denomination.

Below is photo evidence of the effort. (Note the genuine Toronto Maple Leafs place mat and the 20-ounce drink mugs from the ACC and HSBC Centre in Buffalo!!)

The challenge for readers willing to try, is to guess the value of the coins.

Obviously, there are a lot of pennies (destined for one of those machines at the grocery store that counts and sorts your coins and gives you a coupon after withholding a percentage. The machine is welcome to a percentage of the pennies.)

The other coins are, left to right, nickels, dimes and quarters. The Buffalo Sabres cup is almost filled to the top with quarters. So that's a good haul.

The Air Canada Centre commemorative opening cup from 1998 is about a half filled with dimes.

The Toronto Raptors mug is about two thirds filled with nickels.

TELL ME HOW MUCH YOU THINK IS THERE.

Go crazy. I won't publish your name if you don't want me to so go ahead and guess. Send you best guess to garnold4@gmail.com . The actual amount and the best guess(es) will be posted in the days/weeks ahead.

Jan 2, 2008

Canada vs Finland is on TV as I type, so I may or may not be funny or profound or interesting (not that I ever am.)

Leafs won in a shootout last night. I honestly thought it was the end of the world.

- - -

I said yesterday that I had some thoughts on resolutions for New Year's. I'm not a great champion of such things generally. I do hope to get a little healthier this year -- exercise more, eat better, lose some weight, all the usual stuff. But my last year's resolution -- to simplify my life -- was a good one and I took steps to deal with some of the complications in my life in 2007. And I'm going to keep going in that direction.

Less is more. The best things in life are free. Money can't buy love and health. Those aren't just bumper sticker slogans.

So here's to a way better 2008. Not that 2007 was bad, per se, but it presented some new challenges for us.

I hope 2008 is better.

- - -

Finland just scored. Great shot. Ugh.

- - -

There were lots of highlights in 2007. Here are a few samples.

-- The run by the minor bantam Ranger A team to the OMHA semi finals last year was fun to watch. The kids worked hard, learned a lot and proved themselves as one of the top single-A teams in the OMHA. I was proud of the way my kid played.

-- Hearing Bruce Springsteen sing Incident on 57th Street at the ACC. They don't make songs like that anymore, and it was meant to be heard live. Hearing it with my family was great.

-- Watching my kids watch that same concert. As an introduction to big time rock n' roll goes, it was a pretty good one.

-- Seeing illScarlett with my kids, also live. This is their music. As an introduction to reggae-ska-punk goes, it was a good one.

--  Watching Chris score a hat trick in summer three-on-three hockey. Goals come fast and furious in three-on-three, but Chris had never had three in a game before. It was great.

-- Laura's career took a new turn in 2007 and now a whole new group of people know the force of nature that she is. The fact that they really appreciate what she does and treat her well is nice too. I could name five or six women in Oakville who could, if they chose, rule the world. I'm married to one of them.

-- I played eight consecutive holes of golf in only two over par on Aug 22. Considering I only play five or six times a year, this was high achievement. For about two hours, I was decent.

-- I got through the year without putting hand sanitizer in my hair at the gym (as I have done in the past mistakenly thinking it was hair gel.)

-- I stopped using hair gel.

-- Pad made the Oakville Hawks bantam 1 lacrosse team. We spent a lot of time in Guelph and Whitby. They were a much better field team than box (indoor) team for some reason. So when they beat Whitby (a powerhouse) in Whitby, when Whitby really needed a win, at the box provincials, well, that was a highlight.

-- They also beat Halton Hills. In their own barn. That was really cool.

-- Maybe the highlight of the year: May 21. 1253 p.m. Field lacrosse. Oakville Hawks 14 Orangeville 9. In field lacrosse if you have a five-goal lead, there are no faceoffs after goals. The losing team gets to carry the ball out of its end. It's called a "free-clear." Orangeville's 1993s are very, very good. Oakville's 1993s free-clear of Orangeville seemed about as likely as me ballroom dancing on the moon. A great day.

-- Blog treats. Twice this year, blog readers gave me stuff. It cracked me up. The bagels were great. The music is listened to EVERY week. Thanks.

-- Finally, blog email. This blog started in December 2005 as a way to tell family and friends back in NS what we're doing. It's never been advertised or promoted anywhere, but it slowly gathered a readership that measures in the thousands now (low thousands, but still. Suffice to say more readers than people I know). It evolved into more than a diary. But it's a fine line to walk between being boring and prattling on about your life, and being sometimes witty and wistful while talking about not just my kids and teams, but lots of kids and teams. When those readers care to send a note -- sometimes a score or highlight, a team photo from a tournament, or just a note to comment on something, it's very cool and I appreciate the feedback, and I appreciate the fact that of all the things to do with your time and all the things you could read, you sometimes read this. Thanks.

You can reach me here. Drop me a line.

- - -

(John Tavares just tied the game. Finally.)

Jan 1, 2008

Another shot from the red mpw Vikings in Schomberg, from another reader. Thanks for the photo:

Jan 1, 2008

Happy New Year.

As you can tell, we never made it skiing and given the weather it's just as well we didn't try because the driving is apparently grim.

We had a great evening here with Chris and his buddy Sean which became progressive sillier as the evening went on. Everyone stayed up too late but slept in to compensate and now Laura's in the kitchen making her pancakes, which I'm fairly certain is the only reason Sean came here in the first place.

No idea what today will bring -- a walk in the snow perhaps and some shoveling.

Maybe more tournament results and photos if I get some.

Oh.

And college football. Lots and lots of football.

Resolutions? Yeah, I think I have some. More on that later.

- - -

Leafs on TV tonight. Why do we bother. Yeah, I'll watch. But maybe more interesting is the Penguins-Sabres outdoor game at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo. 1p. Check local listings, but it's on NBC and I think CBC.