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Nov 30, 2009

Well, that was a blur. And now, back to work.

- - -

I’d like to say we are no worse the wear for a busy weekend but Pad took a rather vicious two-hander lumberjack chop to his elbow in game four of the Kitchener tournament and missed part of the 2nd period and all of the third. He watched from the bench as his team won 4-3, but was in considerable pain.

The game was a late one – we finished about 10p – so we headed off afterwards in search of a corner store where I bought a bag of ice and Advil and packed him in for the drive home after doing all the things trainers do to figure out whether an x-ray was warranted. There’s no break and he slept fine, but he’s grumpy and sore.

Luckily he’s not scheduled to be back on the ice until Thursday.

- - -

Sunday morning’s Timbit routine was thrown off kilter but some kind of a gas leak at River Oaks. When I got there police and fire crews had the building evacuated and one of the conveners was telling parents to head home – in fact, they were waving vehicles away from trying to even enter the parking lot.

The kids seemed to enjoy the firefighters and police though, and Dave and I got to participate in the ritual removal of the boards, which is always a highlight..

- - -

So I got home earlier than I figured I would – and Sunday was going to be a shorter than usual day for IP anyway because of a skating club gala taking over the ice – so I bit the bullet and tackled the outdoor Christmas lights.

In preparation for this moment I had already gone to Canadian Tire – the spiffy new one just off the QEW near Dorval – and loaded up on replacement bulbs. Every winter when I put the lights up there are many, many bulbs that don’t work any more for some reason, even though they all worked the last night they were on the house. I supposed I might not function that well if I spent 11 months jammed in a box in the garage.

No matter.

(On the way out I asked Laura if she needed anything at Canadian Tire and she suggested I take Chris and let him find another piece for the Christmas village thing that gets assembled on the landing at the top of the stairs every winter. You know the stuff – ceramic buildings and parks and ice rinks and stuff. Chris had no interest in leaving the house, but I did manage to pick up a new piece – a winery, which is funny to us for reasons than are probably obvious. It doesn’t say Wolf Blass, or Yellow Tail, but it should.)

Anyway, back to the lights.

I took all the strands out of storage and laid them out on the lawn and plugged them in and sure enough, there were lots of non-working bulbs and I set about replacing them.

Then I got up on the roof – as nimble and light as a ballerina -- and attached the lights and did all that awkward stuff without falling in a heap into the driveway, which would have seemed like a bargain at one point and which many of the neighbours watching probably figured was a good possibility.

After I got down off the roof and was using a smaller step ladder to finish the job along the rain troughs, I noticed some lights flickering.

Hmm.

I backtracked and tightened those blubs, but still they flickered. I took them out, cleaned them, put them back. And still they flickered.

So then I look at the box from whence they came and sure enough. These are “twinkling” lights. Arrgh.

I actually though the effect of having a blinking light occasionally on the strand looked ok, but I knew it would never pass muster with the household management, so I went back and replaced the twinklers with non-twinklers.

For whatever reason, the lights – even allowing for the twinkling – went up easier this year than I thought they would. Maybe I’m getting good at it?

Or maybe it was because it was warmer than it usually is when I do this chore. Anyway, it’s done, and done earlier than I have ever managed, I think.

Now all I have to do is get the snow tires on the car and I’ll be ready for winter, if not Christmas.

Ho, ho, ho.

- - -

So, as other people have noted, it seemed Tiger Woods isn’t the only member of his family who knows how to swing a club to dramatic effect.

It’s a bizarre story and you don’t me to review the details.

But you can click here to read more from that bastion of fair-minded sports reporting, TMZ.com.

For the record, I think this article best captures how I feel about the whole thing – neatly summarized, I don’t really care. I like watching the guy do dramatic things on the golf course. Stuff he does off the golf course, I don’t care about.

- - -

For the benefit of readers in Nova Scotia, I will point out that Chris and the minor bantam Jets are now unbeaten in three straight games. They won their last game in Cambridge last weekend, then won a league game Monday night and then tied 1-1 on Saturday.

- - -

On Friday morning in Kitchener after Pad’s first game in the tournament the team hit a breakfast joint for food and . . . well, it was an unmitigated disaster in spite of the fact that they knew we were coming.

We all know that taking the whole team to one place to eat is a bad idea and well, this just proved that even more. It took the best part of two hours to get in and out with a simple plate of pancakes and some juice.

We all know each other a lot better now because we started running out of things to talk about.

- - -

The Leafs host the Sabres tonight in what will be a bit of a test to see if the recent signs of a pulse from the blue corpse are worth getting excited about.  Read more here.

- - -

We actually watched a fair about of the Grey Cup game last night, including and especially the 4th quarter.

Now, I don’t want to be harsh but you would think that given the number of times teams practice various formations – including defending field goal attempts – that someone would be able to count to 13 and subtract one.

It was utterly inexcusable with a championship on the line. It’s not like hockey where guys are jumping on an off the ice. There was lots of time to get the right guys on the field – and more importantly, get one off.

It was a lousy way to end the game. Read more here.

- - -

From the “When We Were Young” category, the Sunday New York Times carries a piece on hiking in the Grand Canyon, aptly titled “Waking Into the Earth’s Heart.”

Laura and I did this years and years ago when we were younger and liked to hike and climb things.

Someday we’re going back. Soon.

Right?

You can read the NYT piece here.

- - -

Nov 27, 2009

I missed yesterday. If I had been here, I'd have said happy birthday to my brother. Better late than never, dude.

- - -

It's 5:45a, and my devotion to loyal readers knows no bounds. Actually, it does, which is why you're getting a really short weekend tee-up. Sorry, but that's life.

Pad and I are hitting the road for Kitchener shortly for a tournament, hence the early hour and low-quality reportage.

I promised to get back to normal sooner, not later, but hey -- it's early.

- - -

It is time for the annual MOHA Fill the Net Toy Drive.

I know this because Nelson sent me an email that made my head hurt this morning when I opened it -- it was blinking and flashing -- I thought I was having some kind of a full-blown neurological event.

Luckily, I wasn't.

I've attempted to reproduce the flyer Nelson sent me below, albeit without the flashing effects.

Buy a toy for a needy kid. It's a good idea, and there are lots of kids in need.

 

 

Make A Difference

 

FILL THE NET

Saturday December 5th Glen Abbey Green

Sunday December 6th Joshua Creek Arena & Oakville Arena

 

Every year during the holiday season the Minor Oaks Hockey Association with the help of our local community partners collects unwrapped toys for families and children in our community so that they too can feel the joy of opening a new toy on Christmas morning. This year we will be taking our Toy Drive to a few of our local rinks. We ask all Coaches, Conveners, Parents and Players to spread the word.

 

Collection Stations

Saturday December 5th Glen Abbey Green 7:30am -12:00pm

Sunday December 6th Joshua Creek Arena 8:00am – 2:00pm

Sunday December 6th Oakville Arena 8:00am -6:00pm

 

We are hoping to get great support from all players from youngest to oldest.

 

Thank You in advance for your kindness and generosity.

A special thanks to everyone that will be involved in helping us.

 

Please Help Us Fill the Net

 

 

- - -

OK -- time to hit the road, right after I find the Advil to deal with what just happened to my brain.

I'll be on the road a lot this weekend. If you are too, drive safely. Take your time. Make the hockey players laugh because it's supposed to be fun.

Go Leafs Go.

Hug your kids.

 

Nov 25, 2009

We had a quiet evening at home, likely the last until early next week. Pad has a road game tonight and then a tournament in Kitchener that will keep me away from home for great swacks of the days ahead, while Chris has the usual array of Friday practice-Saturday game.

While I’m doing part of the chores on that front, Laura is getting us ready for Christmas with some social stuff in between. – and sometimes doing both at the same time.

South of the border, of course, the American holiday season begins in earnest tomorrow with US Thanksgiving and Thursday afternoon football.

- - -

The Leafs lamentable season continues – Mitchell gone for a month, Toskala out for a few days. The Leafs swing into Florida tonight with some help from the farm. They’ll need it. Read more here.

- - -

ESPN reported yesterday that Brendan Burke, the 20 year old son of Leaf boss Brian Burke, is gay.

It wasn’t an “outing” – Brendan wanted the facts to be known.

Every parent should read this powerful story. You can find it here.

I point it out to you not for sensational reasons, or anything at all like that, although I have no doubt the story will cause a sensation.

I point it out because of the powerful statement of support, love and respect Brian Burke makes for his son.

It should be required reading for all parents.

“I had a million good reasons to love and admire Brendan. This news didn't alter any of them.”

If anyone ever – ever – doubted the strength of the character of either man in this story, let that lie now perish quickly.

It’s an amazing story, and for further reading you can find the Toronto Star’s treatment of it here, and it’s also worth your time.

As parents, you learn pretty fast that whether it’s the kid in the crib, the six-foot-three guy on the blueline, or the pretty girl in glasses with the book, the job is 24/7 for the rest of your life, and there’s no on/off switch on love and family.

Again, the ESPN story is here. Read it.

- - -

Sorry for the pithy posting today, but too many other irons in the fire.

I’ll be locked in meetings literally all day Wednesday, but I’ll pack my Blackberry and furtively check regularly for entertaining emails from inspired readers who want to entertain me for a change.

I like distractions. Hint. Hint.

Come on. You can do it.

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Email me here when you have your eureka moment.

 

Nov 24, 2009

So last night the four of us hit Toronto for a night on the town. Well, not exactly, but it was a night on the town for us. Any activity that doesn’t involve one or more of us wearing skates but appearing in public is a night on the town.

Regular readers will know that my mom’s little brother -- my uncle – achieved a degree of success in the music industry as a member of the 1960s pop group The Mamas and The Papas. The voice singing California Dreamin; and Monday Monday, and many others, that’s my mom’s little brother.

He passed away in January 2007 (typically, we were on the road to London in a snowstorm, headed to a hockey tournament when my mom called with the bad news) at the too-young age of 66.

Anyway, some talented people – many of them friends of Denny and his immediate family – have made a documentary of his life and it was screened last night at a club in Cabbagetown for a small audience of friends and relatives.

My uncle and I were not at all close, but when our paths did cross he treated me like family and was always very friendly and warm, which came naturally to him.

So Laura and I both wanted to go. Chris had a hockey game last night so we let him decide what he wanted to do – and he wanted to go see the documentary, as did Pad. So off we went (after asking Chris’ coach to excuse him from the game, which they won, BTW.)

The Doherty quarter of their heritage is a bit mysterious to the boys, I think. They know the stories of Denny and his exploits and I think both of them wanted to see some more of that part of the tree as well as learn some more about Denny, who love him or otherwise, was and still is an enormous presence in the family.

To me, the Doherty side always seemed to be a little louder, a little more boisterous. Sort of like a house party across the street that you peek at from behind the curtain and wonder, “what’s going on over there.” You wanted to maybe go to the party but you weren’t entirely sure whether you’d end up with someone hugging you or breaking up a fistfight.

Admittedly my view was shaped by Denny, but I can assure my boys there were no shortage of other boisterous relatives in that part of the clan – he simply turned out to be the poster boy. Every family has a rock star, right?

Apparently not.

The documentary is called Here I Am, and it will be broadcast on cable on Bravo! early in the New Year.

My view?

It was a fairly sentimental, but nonetheless warts-and-all look at Denny’s life from north-end Halifax to Bel Air and New York and Toronto, and all stops in between. Like everyone else in the music business in the 1960s, he was all sex-drugs-and-rock n’ roll, and it’s all laid out without apology.

From Papa Denny to Broadway to Theodore Tugboat, it was by any objective measure an amazing life and a gigantic adventure that defied a category. I mean, the guy won Grammys and is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

There are lots of photos and clips from home movies in the film, and Michelle Phillips and lots of aging hippies who were giants in the music business and even Late Show music icon Paul Shaffer offering recollections and insights. It sure sounds like they all had a good time.

My mom is in the film and I have to say she looked pretty smokin’ for an old broad.

Mostly, the film is about Denny’s connection to family – sometimes he stayed better connected than others, but to his credit he got it right as he grew older. It starts with his family and it ends with his family and children and friends. If he had been able to see the film, I’m sure he would have loved that emphasis.

It was a small venue with a big friendly crowd and I’m sure the boys learned some things last night – I did. It was fun and while I’m glad the Jets won without their hulking centreman, I’m more glad we all got to go. Perhaps appropriately, Laura had to wait for the boys before they would all drive into Toronto -- they were doing guitar lessons, as they always do on Monday Monday . . .

Afterwards we went out to dinner. And the restaurant had a TV. And on the TV was the Leaf game. . .

- - -

The Leafs had 61 shots on goal and still managed to lose? If it wasn’t for bad luck, they’d have no luck at all.

Yes, they lost in OT. Yes, they’re still on the bottom of the league. And yes, they were only play the Islanders and Oakville boy JT.

But still – 61 shots is a sign that things are getting better. Maybe there’s nowhere left to go but up, but credit where it’s due. They’re trying.

Read more here.

  

Nov 23, 2009

How many rinks can one family visit in one weekend? Keeping in mind that we have only two hockey players in the house, here’s our hit list:

Friday night – Cambridge Centre Mall Arena (Cambridge)

Saturday morning – Galt Arena (Cambridge)

Saturday morning – River Oaks (Oakville)

Saturday morning – Glen Abbey  (Oakville)

Saturday afternoon – Cambridge Centre Mall Arena (Cambridge)

Saturday evening – Herb Carnegie Arena, (North York)

Sunday morning – Joshua Creek (Oakville)

Sunday morning – Oakville (Oakville)

Sunday morning – River Oaks (Oakville)

Sunday afternoon – Chesswood (Toronto)

 

I’m fairly sure that’s a new personal best for me/us. Laura did the heavy lifting to and from Cambridge, where two of the games were at a rink in a mall, so she could shop at the same time.

Seasonal Multitasking Disorder, we call it.

Laura said she actually felt like she was living her own version of the Tom Hanks’ movie The Terminal, about a guy trapped in a big airport for a long, long time. She said the mall was nice, but you can only drink so much tea and browse the book store so many times before they start looking at you like you’re just a well-dressed street person.

Heck, I get that look most days. You get used to it.

- - -

The Leafs were winners on Saturday night.

Two comments. First, I’d have been willing to bet a sizable amount that they would lose by at least three goals. Second, um, don’t get excited.

Sure, we ran out of the house and jogged around the block banging pots and pans. But we only do that when the Leafs win on Saturdays so . . . we’re well rested.

The Leafs have now played a quarter of the season – a little more than a quarter actually. They have 14 points – so, they are on pace for a 56-point season, which is slightly more than half the points they need to make the playoffs.

Read more from Leaf land here.

- - -

As you can see, I didn’t spend much time devouring interesting content to point you to on the weekend, and today is not going to be much better as the four of us actually head out to an event in Toronto tonight after work.

Perhaps more on that tomorrow, depending on how it goes.

 

Nov 20, 2009

Very busy day and weekend ahead, so not much to say or time to say it.

The Leafs lost last night, which isn't interesting but they did manage to do it in new and spectacular ways. Click here for all the gruesome details.

The Leafs are now dead last in the NHL.

Now what?

- - -

Alex Pace was a young Oakville hockey player who lost a courageous battle with cancer earlier this year. He wasn't quite 12. I didn't know him but I know many people who did, and spoke of this young man's remarkable spirit and courage.

A former teammate of Alex's is driving an idea in his honour to build a program to raise money for kids who can't afford the steep costs involved with hockey.

The program is called AMP#10 after the patch Alex's teammates wore on their jerseys to honour his memory.

Minor hockey teams can buy a set of patches for their jerseys for $160, and the money goes to MOHA's President's Fund, which is used to pay registration fees for under privileged kids. The cost of the 4,000 patches is being donated, so all the proceeds go to the fund.

If the program raises more money than is needed, the surplus will go to another hockey charity -- and the early thinking is to find a First Nations program that needs some support.

If you'd like to read more about Alex Pace and his remarkable story, click here.

If you would like to see more information on the AMP#10 program, as well as a form you can fill out in support of it, click here.

- - -

Weekend silly stuff?

Try this -- researchers say Zombies are at low risk of developing Mad Cow disease.

OK, that's not precisely how they said it.

They said people who eat human brains are at low risk of Mad Cow. I made the intellectual leap from that to Zombies, because who else feeds on human brains?

Glad you asked -- a tribe in Papua New Guinea actually has a custom of ritually eating the brains of dead relatives, and the study was done on them and . . . Anyway, this is a gross simplification of the story so I could put the word "zombies" in the blog, because it's Friday.

Enough.

You can read more here.

- - -

Have you started Christmas shopping yet?

Want to get really depressed?

Click here for a slide show of the most popular Christmas gifts over the past century. While some of the more recent stuff is high-end (iPhone, PS3, etc) it's interesting to cast an eye back to the Tickle Me Elmo craze, or Pokemon, or Beyblades, or Pet Rocks, or any number of other things now blissfully resting in better landfills across North America.

- - -

Chris is off to Cambridge tonight and tomorrow for a minor bantam tournament. It looks like I won't get to be there unfortunately.

Timbits tomorrow at 7a, and then Pad makes his refereeing debut in a couple of morning games, followed by a game of his own in the afternoon.

Chris may or may not be back in action on Sunday depending on how the first games go, more Timbits for me, and then another game for Pad.

He may ref again on Sunday but I can't remember. Someone will tell me.

I have wall to wall meetings today, meeting my sisters for a quick drink after work as they pass through town, and then a company function tonight.

So, it's a full day.

Go back up to the Alex Pace posting before you leave and read it. Really read it.

And then put a crowbar in your wallet, or at least organize a committee on your team to help support this program.

Have a safe, fun weekend. And do I really need to say it?

Hug your kids.

 

Nov 19, 2009

I have nothing to say today. So, I’ll be silly.

And I’m being thus because I’m tired from spending three and half hours at the Hershey Centre last night for one of Pad’s practices (the practice was two hours, plus the time it takes to exit the dressing room, plus the dryland at the  front of the evening.)

So now you’re saying, well, like, why did you stay? Why not go home, or buy real estate in west Mississauga so you can relax while he’s on the ice?

Good questions.

First, I like watching the team practice. I learn stuff. Second, I like watching my kid practice. I learn whether he’s learning the stuff he’s supposed to be learning. Third, if you’re not there, you miss the Dad Chatter. And you gotta be in on the Dad Chatter or you miss stuff. And fourth, the Mississauga St. Mike’s Majors played a home game last night, so I walked down the hall and watched that game while Pad had practice.

OK?

And since the Majors were playing Kingston, Doug Gilmour was on the bench. And yes, I resisted the urge to stand behind the bench and bang on the glass and yell “Yo, Dougie!!” for three hours. Because, he loves it when you do that. Really. Try it.

And Oakville’s Stuart Percy played very well on defence and shows remarkable poise at major junior for a 16 year old. And he coulda won the game with about 90 seconds left but he shot the puck over a wide open net on a power play. And history will note that he probably should have buried that goal, because Kingston, who trailed 2-0 at one point, came back and won 3-2 in OT and all the junior hockey nerds fans in their St Mike’s jerseys were quite bummed out and grumpy.

But not as grumpy as me, because when I walked back down the corridor at the rink complex named after a chocolate bar, the Mississauga Sens AAA midgets still had 90 minutes of practice left and there was no hope that St. Mike’s would play another game just to entertain me.

So, I engaged in 90 minutes of Dad Chatter, and when I got home I thoughtfully woke up Laura to tell her all of the things we dads chatted about, and she hit me with a pillow.

Ah, romance.

- - -

So, really, I have nothing to say today.

But it might be worth noting that while I will not go down in history as one of the most savvy financial planners you’ll have ever met, I did not make the critical error of buying a castle in both England and Bavaria. Not to mock those of you readers with castles in more than one European country, but surely such a circumstance is one of God’s ways of telling you that you have too much money (cocaine is another example of this) and I/we have been mercifully spared the burden of having too much money.

Why am I blathering about castles?

Well, it seems actor Nicholas Cage – who, honest to God can’t act and keeps getting movie roles thrown at him – has a wee spending problem.

And, now he owes the IRS $6 million (which I would say is probably a bigger problem for the IRS than it is for him but, they are sticklers about accounts.)

Anyway, he and his former business manager are suing and countersuing each other and all sorts of details are pouring out about Cage’s love of retail therapy.

And for the record, the manager says he told Cage not to buy both castles. But, what’s a guy to do, right?

According to the suit, Cage spent $33 million in 2007, including three houses, 22 cars (they kept running out of gas, I’d imagine), and 47 works of art. A year later, he owned 15 houses, four yachts, a Gulfstream jet, and an island. In the Bahamas.

Which brings be back to where I came in. Laura wanted both castles – one in England, one in Germany. But she doesn’t speak German, and I don’t speak English, so we passed on both and settled for extra ice time for the boys.

Read more about Nic Cage here.

- - -

OK, really. I have nothing for you today.

Chris and the minor bantam Jets (which sounds like a title to an Elton John song, but they’re not his Jets, he’s just a member of the Jets) have the coveted 9p Thursday night practice at Maplegrove tonight, after volunteering at the senior citizen complex on bingo night.

So all that means I won’t have to watch the Leafs play Carolina.

Good. I’d rather watch the Jets.

Last night ushered in a heavy period of hockey for us, and that’s saying something. I think we’re in at least one rink every day for the rest of our lives starting now. Or at least Tuesday. And then it starts again.

 

Nov 18, 2009

Better late than never, right? Sorry. Busy day in my real life.

- - -

The Leafs.

What to say? It’s really tough to be too hard on them because they played OK last night, albeit against a team that also isn’t very good.

But as Chris would say: Losing to the Senators? Not acceptable.

Kessel scored again though.

Read more here.

- - -

How much homework do your kids have?

In our house, I would say the homework is manageable. My older guy has a very busy schedule outside of school and knows that he simply can’t fall behind in the classroom. He’s an honours student, takes great pride in that, and wants to stay at that level. So he often does homework at school in his off periods, which is more than I ever did, to make room for hockey at night, and generally shows an academic rigour he learned from his mom.

My younger guy isn’t yet in high school, so he doesn’t have off periods to work on things. Also a good student, his workload would range from 30 minutes to an hour a night, though I would say an hour is rare.

But again, he knows the rules of the house. School first, everything else a distant second.

There were times – especially in secondary school for Pad – when the homework load reached goofy proportions.

We knew his inability to keep up wasn’t a reflection of his ability to do the work – his grades were great. But it made us wonder how kids that are less academically inclined might be coping.

Well, the answer it seems is – hire a lawyer.

A Calgary family – the parents are attorneys – negotiated a contract between their family and the school board. While it eliminates homework, it doesn’t eliminate work. The kids have to get their work done in the classroom and prepare for tests and all of that.

And it represents a more formalized approach to “deals” on homework that apparently are not uncommon.

Read more here.

- - -

The GTHL player of the week is a goalie – from Oakville.

Young Vito is a veteran of our informal summer three-on-three league for the 1996s, Swamp Hockey, and he is one of two kids on his first-place, undefeated minor bantam AA GTHL team from Oakville who were cut from single A in Oakville and went right into AA with a top GTHL team.

He’s a great kid and you can read the story here.

- - -

Two more Oakville boys, Stuart Percy of St. Mike’s Majors, and Chris Festarini, an Erie Otters draftee and number one goalie in junior B with Port Colborne this season, have made the Ontario Under-17 team that will compete in the world championships in Timmins this winter.

Both boys played most of their rep-level minor hockey in the GTHL, although Chris did wear Ranger blue last season with the minor midget Oakville squad.

Congratuations to them and all the kids who made the squad.

Click here to see the whole list.

 

Nov 17, 2009

The Leafs are in Ottawa tonight. Hmmm.

Neither team would make the playoffs if the season ended today – nor would Montreal. Or Vancouver. Or Edmonton. And many Leaf fans could be forgiven for wishing the season would end.

Because there’s no mystery left in how this one will end – another spring, another playoff season, another year spent on the outside looking in.

The only mystery is whether the Leafs can elevate themselves to 6th worst or better – thus sparing Brian Burke the embarrassment of watching the Boston Bruins possibly get the first overall pick in the draft lottery.

The drama is a long way off. For now, we have to settle for what’s left of the Battle of Ontario, which has all the intensity of a school-yard slap fight over the hop-scotch court.

- - -

Last week when I spoke of the effort in Toronto by some groups to get more access to city-owned ice time I suggested these things are never quite as simple as you might think.

Little did I know.

The Globe carried a really interesting piece yesterday that pointed out exactly how complicated these things can be. And the levels to which self interest rears its ugly head, and all of that.

Anyway, if you have an interest in the issue, you might want to click here.

- - -

You friendly neighbourhood Spiderman blogger gets mail.

In the mail bag this week – can AE rep players in Halton play high school hockey?

The answer is: no.

This is a Halton District School Board rule (also, I believe, enforced by the Catholic board) and not a MOHA or OMHA or any other minor hockey group rule.

But, the rule is clear.

Any player whose name appears on a rep game sheet at any level after Nov 16, even once, is ineligible to play high school hockey.

- - -

Interestingly, I received three emails yesterday about hitting from behind in minor bantam white in MOHA house league.

The emails pretty much all said the same thing – this is white-level house league hockey, and there’s not supposed to be hitting/checking at all, let alone from behind. The notes were constructive and polite, and sent because – I think – people know that I know this age group well.

The notes covered two different incidents, one in which a penalty was assessed, and one where the officials didn’t call one.

In the first, the tone of the note – in the aftermath of the Ben Fanelli case – was, we need to keep reminding kids about respect and control. Good idea. Consider yourselves reminded to remind the kids.

In the second, the notes were more like expressions of disappointment that no penalties were called. Without having been there, it’s hard to say what happened or why.

A penalty may well have been merited, from the descriptions I was given.

But I will give a word of support for the officials here – many of whom are young men and women learning how to officiate. Yes, things sometimes get missed, or the refs second guess themselves. If you think 15 and 16 year old kids are possessed of a natural confidence while having verbal abuse rained down on them, well, I think you’d be wrong.

Remember how insecure you were at that age? Right.

Now, if the refs were adults and experienced, I have less sympathy but no less respect for the role they play in the game. It’s an imperfect world.

To their credit, all three folks who sent notes on this topic are dedicated volunteers and/or parents, concerned with ensuring a safe place for the kids to play.

Amen to all that. No one wants to see an injury of any kind, especially in house league games. It’s supposed to be fun.

It is worth reminding the kids to be smart out there.

- - -

A cultural update:

You may not have noticed, but the first decade of the new century is winding down.

So, among other things, expect to see a lot of lists. Top hockey team of the decade, etc etc.

These particular lists I’m going to point you to have a bit of Brit tilt to them, in that they come from the Daily Telegraph. But any list is better than none at all, and I can imagine you’re all looking for something to use in a bar room argument the next time some yappy truck driver starts droning on about how Feminine Gospels (number 79) changed his life.

You can read the whole book list here – and BTW, the top book of the decade was determined to be Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows.

For the top 100 films (Fahrenheit 9/11 for the nod, oddly) click here.

For the top 100 songs (Rehab, by Amy Winehouse was named top ditty. The noise you heard was my wife punching the computer screen.) click here.

And finally, for he top 100 cultural moments, click here. It’s more of a chronological listing, so you can pick your own winner. The creation of this blog in December 2005 is oddly missing from the offering.

- - -

Finally, here’s a lesson for all the kids at home who may think a rude gesture or two is good, clean fun.

Bud Adams, a rich guy and the owner of the Tennesse Titans of the NFL, gave the middle-finger salute – first with one hand, then the other, and then both at the same time – to fans of the visiting Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

And lord knows, the Bills fans may well have deserved it.

But the NFL head office takes a dim view of such things and fined him a cool $250,000.

Read more here.

  

Nov 16, 2009

Laura took the boys for their H1N1 shots on Friday and we’re happy to report that whatever hysteria that existed a couple of weeks ago seems to have dissipated. They were in and out of the place in 10 or 15 minutes.

Chris is not now nor has he ever been a fan of needles. You might have heard him protesting if you listened carefully.

Patrick didn’t protest, but the nurse did have to get a bigger needle when the muscle in his arm refused to make way for the one they first tried.

Chris is still hoping to get the flu and be bed-ridden for a week or more, so that he can play Modern Warfare 2 instead of going to school.

Un huh.

He did actually suffer a reaction to the shot, which is not uncommon, that knocked him out of Saturday’s hockey game halfway through. But he bounced back on Sunday and all is well there now.

The Jets lost a squeaker 1-0, but the boys played well and the game was entertaining to watch in spite of the score.

- - -

Geez, a fella turns out the lights with the Pats safely out in front of the Colts in the 4th quarter, only to wake up and find that Manning and the boys rallied to win 35-34.

I should have stayed awake. Must have been a wild 4th quarter.

- - -

Staying awake was easier said than done.

Hitting the ice at 6a Saturday with the Timbits – our squads first such curtain-raiser of the season – was bit of an educational experience for some of our parents, and a bit of reminder to the rest of us on the wonders of the early practice.

As one of the kids said to me: “Coach, I wanted to stay sleeping.”

Me too, buddy.

The good news that I relayed to the parents was that by the time the guys hit minor bantam, the 6a practice becomes a thing of the past, so hey – you only have six or seven more years of this.

And then the good news – the early morning practice is replaced by the evening practice. Nothing like spending an hour at 10p at Kinoak on a weeknight.

Trust me. The 6a is easier. And I can attest to that as I was standing in a rink in Vaughan on Saturday night, more than 16 hours after I hit the ice that morning with the IPs, waiting for Pad to emerge from after his game.

- - -

Because I was standing in a rink in Vaughan, I missed Hockey Night In Canada, and the feature they did updating the situation with Oakville native Ben Fanelli of the Kitchener Rangers.

But, thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I can watch it on YouTube.

And so can you. See below.

 

 

Me and the boys went the Pro Hockey Life store in Mississauga yesterday to test drive hockey sticks.

They have a shooting range there, much like the ones you’d find at Golftown to try new clubs.

Gorilla Son has a fascination with high-end hockey sticks, and given the pace he goes through them it would literally be cheaper for me to lease him a new car than keep him equipped with the latest composite product from Easton.

So the object of the exercise yesterday was to find every stick offered with a five lie and a 100 flex, and then try to find a suitable mid-range priced model that won’t force the family into the street or require us to pillage the college savings.

We did, and we had a bunch of fun in the process because this place as a lot of hockey stuff -- including the new M11 helmet, which is going to get a lot of attention in the days ahead.

The boys also got new hats.

Me? I got nothing.

- - -


Naturally, before we headed off I had to wait for the boys to eat breakfast. And given that I’d already been up, showered, out the door to Timbits, back home again, and waiting, you can logically conclude my kids, like yours, like to sleep in.

And according to a new British study, that’s not entirely a bad thing. This study suggests that allowing slothful teens to lie in bed on weekends actually helps them stay slim and healthy.

In which case, my rail-thin boys will remain that way for a long time.

Read more here.

- - -

God bless the French. Generally regarded as a humour-challenged lot (they think mime is hysterical and Jerry Lewis is one of their most revered comedians) the French have impressed me over the last week with their humour.

I’m going to bore you here with a little geopolitics, but hold onto the rope and stay with the group. It’s worth it.

Nicolas Sarkozy is the president of France. He is sometimes controversial and the view of his stewardship of France is, to be charitable, mixed. But, he married Italian singer Carla Bruni, so he’s not entirely lost.

Anyway.

In the last week, during the fuss to mark the 20th anniversary of the crumbling of the Berlin Wall, Sarkozy told anyone who would listen that he was there the night the wall started to come down. He said he and some friends raced to Berlin to witness history, etc etc.

Without boring you with all the details there is now considerable evidence to suggest Sarkozy didn’t go to Berlin until a week after the East Germans threw in the towel. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but if you’re the president of France, it’s best not to lie about such things, because reporters will check.

And they did.

So, while Sarkozy is still maintaining his position and the video, newspaper accounts and eye-witness reports to the contrary pile up, the good people of France have taken things into their own hands.

The French have flooded the Internet with photoshopped images of their president present or presiding at critical moments in modern history, much like Zelig from the Woody Allen movie of the same name (which, if you haven’t seen it, you really should.)

In so doing, the French have shown me that that do have a rather advanced sense of humour after all.

Like:

An image of Sarkozy running along side of JFK’s motorcade in Dallas.

Another of him standing in the way of a row of tanks in Tiananmen Square.

Another of him at Malta.

They are very funny, and probably not exactly what the president had in mind when he started recalling his excellent trip to Berlin in 1989 to help free the Germans..

The New York Times offers a good summary of the whole thing, including some of the photos. You can find it here.

- - -

Well, I was have right about the Leafs on the weekend. They did lose in Chicago. But they also lost at home on Saturday night. I have no idea if Kessel at pizza.

Oh well. Another Monday.

 

Nov 13, 2009

Happy Friday the 13th.

- - -

There is a gathering storm (again) about girls hockey and access to ice time.

I am not an expert on this topic, and I have not read exhaustively on the matter, but I would be remiss to let little things like facts get in the way of an inflammatory opinion.

My take?

It’s not about access to ice time. 99 per cent of people reading the headlines think girls aren't being allowed in rinks, end of discussion. Not really. There’s acres and acres of ice available in Toronto at reasonable hours. (Insert sounds of harrumphing readers.)

No, the issue is access to municipally subsidized ice. Big difference. Worthy debate, but not the same as not getting any ice. (Insert sound of readers shaking heads and making Scooby Doo noise – “Mmmwhaaa??”)

In my travels this fall I have been to many – many -- different rinks in Oakville and the west side of the GTA – Mississauga, Etobicoke, etc. – at all hours, including Saturday and Sunday mornings around 9a and 10a.

And every time I am at a privately owned rink with multiple pads at those prime weekend hours there are always – ALWAYS – at least two, sometimes more, sheets of ice sitting empty.

Why?

Because those sheets are privately owned and cost about $300 an hour, maybe a little more.

In Oakville, municipal ice (AKA town ice) is, roughly, half that.

So, let’s clear up the misconception about a chronic ice shortage – even in Oakville. If you want ice, you can get ice, if you’re willing to pay for it.

(Next year, when the town’s new four-pad rink north of Dundas opens, people might actually start paying you to use the ice, there will be so much of it available. Eds note: that hyperbole, a literary device to shock with exaggeration.)

Now, viewed nationally, some towns and cities may not subsidize ice to the degree that Oakville does. And those towns in many cases may not have any private ice. I don’t know. In those places, there may be a legitimate question about fair access to ANY ice. But in the GTA, that’s not the case.

OK, so now that we’ve framed the debate as being about access to cheaper ice, how do you handle it?

Good question. (Insert sound of lawyers banging on the door, begging to be let in.)

Girls hockey, absolutely, should have fair and reasonable access to subsidized municipal ice. So should ringette, I guess. And sledge hockey. Broomball. Figure skating. Speedskating. And of course, indoor giant-fan assisted hang gliding on ice (which I don’t think exists yet but now that I’ve thought it up I’m declaring it mine. And I want cheap ice. And I want the town to pay for the giant fans, too.)

I think everyone can agree minor hockey – whether it’s boys or girls – should get Fair Access to subsidized ice.

(Lawyers in the audience will notice that I capitalized the term Fair Access. Lawyers do stuff like that moments before things get expensive. In a legal document it’s called a “defined term,” and if there’s more than one party to a document it is usually a precursor to a lot of arguing around defining that term with precision. The fact that I did this in a blog is another literary device, called foreshadowing. And the fact that I stopped to explain all of that to you is called, um, annoying. But for absolutely no cost to you, the reader, you’re getting some legal education and literary devices. Free! Seriously. Talk about value! Please continue. )

Agreed? OK. Agreed.

Now, bring in the battery of lawyers to fight like ninjas on crystal meth about what Fair Access is. MOHA has almost 4000 players. The Hornets have about 20 per cent of that. And the newly minted Oakville Association for Fan-Assisted Indoor Hang Gliding On Ice™ has one member (who prefers access to ice that won’t require me to get up early on weekends, stay up late on week nights, or otherwise create conflicts with my kids’ schedules or the Timbits program. Or televised Leaf games. K? K.)

Let the girls play. Let me hang glide.

Let everyone have access to the best ice at the best times in some rational proportion to their subscriber base.

For the record, anyone who thinks girls and hang gliders have no call on prime subsidized ice (OAFAIHGOI is working on a position paper right now) is wrong. For the record, anyone who thinks the answer is 50-50, is also wrong. Access to subsidized ice should be tilted toward the groups with the most users. It doesn't always work out that way. Ask around.

Read more here.

And here.

Discuss.

- - -

OK, a quiz.

In the following link you will find the West Mall Lightning minor bantam AA hockey team. They are the GTHL Team of the Century Week. (They’re still working on the century part, but they’re off to a good start.)

In that picture, there are not one, not two, but three faces from Oakville.

Ready.

Set.

Click.

- - -

OK. Closer to home, the picture below features every face being from Oakville.

Say hello to the peewee A Rangers who went to Lake Placid, had tons of fun, won the skills competition, emptied the buffet and then won the gold medal to boot.

Great job. Nothing better than peewee hockey. Ever. What a great experience for these guys.

 

 

- - -

Everyone knows that as a matter of pure, unbiased fact all investment bankers are low life forms known to routinely chew the heads off kittens as part of high-stakes wagering contests.

OK. That’s not precisely true. Only some investment bankers do that, and the problem is, relatively speaking, well in hand thanks to government bailout money.

That’s why this heart-warming story of the kitten-eaters at Goldman Sachs in New York saving some kittens found on the construction site of their billion-dollar new office tower is the feel good story of the century.

Of course, it only became feel-good after a Wall Street blogger suggested Goldman Sachs was not paying the $2000 vet bill for the kittens or trying very hard to find them homes – facts the investment giant and future Canadian television network owners took exception to.

You can read the story here. No kittens were harmed in the writing of this story.

- - -

Having mocked and slandered investment bankers and lawyers, my work is done.

Hockey? Yes, we have hockey.

At 6p Chris has a practice. 7:30 Chris has dryland. 8:15p, Chris has another practice. 6a tomorrow, Timbits. 4:15p tomorrow, dryland and then a game for Chris at 5p. Pad plays in Vaughan at 8:15p. Timbits on Sunday. Timekeeping after that for Chris. Pad gets a free Sunday! We’ll make him rake leaves or move the garage three feet to the left or something.

Leafs on TV tonight (in Chicago, they will lose) and tomorrow (Calgary, they will win, in OT. Kessel will score. He'll have pizza after the game.)

I hope you have a great weekend. Does anyone want to change the tires on my car for me? Seriously. Let me know. But you may have to do it while the car is moving. I didn’t say it will be easy.

Drive safe. Play safe. Stay safe. It’s just a game. Let them play it.

Hug the kids.

 

Nov 12, 2009

It’s late, or early, depending on your perspective. I’m suffering from the usual Wednesday night malady of not being able to sleep after spending more than three hours at the Hershey Centre watching Pad’s team work out.

Craig Ferguson and late-night TV notwithstanding, I’m wide awake.

The highlight of the evening was a special guest instructor at the practice in the person of former Leaf captain Rick Vaive, who knows a thing or two about scoring goals. Vaive lit the lamp more than 400 times in his NHL career, including three consecutive 50-goal seasons.

It’s been a long time since Vaive laced up his skates in an NHL game but the boys – none of whom were alive when he last played in the Big League – all knew who he is and were clearly chuffed to have him running the practice last night.

He looked pretty good on the blades too, but the thick white hair would make it difficult to dress him for a midget AAA game.

- - -

Chris may well be suffering from PS3 thumb or whatever you might call it when you spend too much time on a video game.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was released this week to much fanfare and even in some households in Oakville, midnight excursions to a game store to be among the first to pick up the new title.

I am proud to say that we successfully quashed any notion of that sort of silliness, but Chris did pick up the game after school and then played it. And played it. And played it.

I’m not much of a gamer, but for the benefit of grandparents and others not familiar with the genre, these games are sprawling digital landscapes with story lines and narratives and characters and all the components of a theatrical film, except the players control great gobs of the action. The graphics are quite amazing and like hockey, they are relentlessly violent.

Chris assures us he knows the difference between life and the game (I believe him).

I think.

You can read the Globe’s review of the game here.

- - -

Having stood quietly in the street for some time watching as flames leap from the windows of their cozy home known as the NHL, the stewards of the world’s premiere professional league seemed to acknowledge yesterday that they have a problem.

I am referring to head hits – checks that seemingly straddle the technical line between a body check delivered within the rules, but delivered with the intent to – more or less – separate an opponent not from the puck, but from his head.

That the general managers are now willing to look at new rules to protect players from hits they can’t see coming – and therefore, can’t protect themselves from – is a significant step forward from where they were just months ago. It no doubt has something to do with the early-season concussion carnage which simply can’t be tolerated or there will be no one left to play the game.

You can read more here.

- - -

Speaking of head hits . . .

Oakville native Ben Fanelli is – by all accounts – making great strides in his recovery from the devastating injuries he suffered in a hockey game in Kitchener less than two weeks ago.

Click here to read all about it, as the news boys say. A terrific picture of a smiling Ben, too.

Great news to hear he’s doing well.

- - -

Meanwhile, the guy who administered the controversial hit on Fanelli may have an option to continue playing hockey – despite a season-long ban from the OHL -- in the “outlaw” Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League.

The King Wild has rather cravenly and opportunistically made a “gesture” to Liambus, letting him know that if he wants to play for them, they’re interested.

The league is not a member of Hockey Canada and is not affiliated with the Canadian Hockey League, the senior body for major junior hockey in Canada (OHL, WHL and QMJHL.)

In one of the greatest displays of understatement to grace the game since someone suggested that maybe the skinny kid from Brantford could be a goal scorer, the president of the outlaw league opined that he’s not sure it would be the right thing to do.

Un huh.

You’re all clever people. Read the story here and make up your own mind.

- - -

No hockey tonight. The big challenge will be separating Chris from the flat screen.

 

Nov 11, 2009

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

                                                           -- Laurence Binyon, For The Fallen

 

Nov 10, 2009

Leafs vs. the Wild tonight. The winning streak goes on the line!

- - -

Walking to Union Station last night I got to experience the annual thrill of being told I couldn’t take my usual route to the train through BCE Place or whatever they call it now. All the NHL brass were decked out in their finest for the Hall of Fame induction party, which put great gobs of BCE Place out of bounds.

I passed Ron Wilson walking to the train (well, I was walking to the train, he was headed for the HHOF) and I gave him the obligatory “Hi coach” and he looked at me like he was thinking “I hope no one else notices me.”

He passed by quickly so I didn’t get a chance to point out to him that he was wearing the same style of dress shirt that Pat Quinn used to wear behind the Leaf bench – the fancy ones with the stripe on the collar.

Not sure what to make of that, except that Leaf coaches make a lot of money.

At home, we watched a pretty good portion of the ceremony and all of the speeches were good. I thought Yzerman was the best and clearly the evening was an emotional one for him.

As they said in his introduction, he holds the record for most points in an NHL season by someone not named Gretzky or Lemieux.

Anyway, it was an impressive list of inductees. You can read about the evening here.

- - -

On a non-hockey matter, Prince Charles and That Woman have been touring around Canada for most of the last week.

What I find most interesting about their visit is that, um, no one cares.

I don’t mean that in a glib and superficial way – well, OK. I do.

But it wasn’t all that long ago that a visit by HRH The Prince of Wales was front-page news even in the big cities.

Way back in 1983 I covered the visit of Charles and Diana to Canada while I was still an ink-stained wretch at the Halifax Chronicle-Herald.

And let me tell you, that visit was a very big deal.

It was Diana’s first visit to Canada – it may have been her first foreign trip as the princess, I forget – but the crowds were huge and it was no small feat to find something interesting to say about yet another cute kid handing her flowers.

The public fascination with Diana is what killed her in the end, of course, and that was really just the beginning of her time in the limelight.

There was a massive entourage of British and Commonwealth journalists following the tour – the Fleet Street Royal Watchers – and as a young guy I found it illuminating and entertaining.

The Halifax Press Club hosted a breakfast for the out of town media one morning and a boisterous journo from Australia asked me a question I haven’t heard before or since:

“Can you recommend a good local breakfast beer?”

I think I told him they were all good, any time of the day.

What’s scary is that was almost 27 years ago.

Since then I’ve covered, I think, three other Royal visits – two by Andrew and one by Edward. I am fairly certain that my name doesn’t come up at important family gatherings at Sandringham.

- - -

Sesame Street is 40 years old today, speaking of things to make you feel aged.

The ubiquitous furry characters have been teaching kids life lessons for a long time in ground-breaking ways, and all that is good.

But, because I’m twisted I’m going to offer a less celebratory look at the muppet world.

The first is a video from an old ABC show called Fridays, which did a mock news report (a la Weekend Update on SNL) telling the story of the tragic annual muppet hunt.

Click and giggle.

 

 

The second clip is similarly gruesome – muppets as a food source.

 

Yeah I know.

Twisted. But funny.

Happy Tuesday. And Happy Birthday to the muppets. Read a more conventional tribute to the show here.

- - -

Tomorrow is Remembrance Day. So, don't forget to remember all the people who gave so much for the rest of us.

And also remember all those fighting overseas right now so that others might one day live without the fear of terrorism as a daily part of their lives.

They are brave and honourable beyond words.

Lest we forget. 

 

Nov 9, 2009

My friends who are Wings fans – and there are a couple – have been asking why I was so quiet in light of the thrashing the Leafs laid upon their team on Saturday night.

The answer is simple – the Leafs still suck. The Wings don’t.

The Leafs will miss the playoffs. The Wings won’t.

That said, the Leafs are playing better.

Two wins in a row, and they haven’t been beaten in regulation time in seven games – three wins and four OT/SO losses in that span.

But I’m sorry. Still not a lot to get excited about there.

A lot of people are pointing to one person who is giving the Leafs hope.

The less cynical out there will say that the Leafs are now only six points out of a playoff spot.

To that I say: ha!

Two problems: first, there are six teams between them and control of 8th place. That's a lot of teams that would have to go backwards.

Second, the 94-point rule. My rule is that the Leafs need 94 points to finish 8th. They now have (drum roll) 11 points.

So in the remaining 67 games, they need 83 points. Or, they have to play 16 games over .500.

Don't hold your breath.

- - -

Sunday was a beautiful day which I spent from 7:30a till 4p locked in a room getting my hockey trainer recertification. You will be thrilled to know I passed, and I got 100 per cent on the gruelling final exam, one of only a couple of dozen to record a perfect grade.

The guy next to me – fairly well known Oakville hockey dad, I might say – also got 100 per cent, but only after he cheated off my answer sheet.

I didn’t rat him out. In fact, I graded his paper.

The instructor told us – and remember, we were getting silly by this point in the day – to put a happy face on the top of the paper if anyone got 100. So I put a happy face in his -- with an asterisk.

I will await the full OMHA inquiry.

- - -

Interesting moment Friday night at Pad’s practice.

I wasn’t there for the start because I dropped him at the rink and then raced back to Ice Sports to watch the minor bantam Jets play a very entertaining game against a Brampton team.

Anyway, when I return to where Pad is, there are no pucks on the ice and the boys are being bag skated. For those not familiar, that is endless punishing skating drills generally done in the cause of correcting some behavioural issue.

I asked the other dads why the punishment was being meted out rather mercilessly but no one knew. For the entire first hour, there wasn’t a puck on the ice.

Hour two returned to regular programming.

Pad – who also played two hours of shinny after school before practice – was practically crawling out of the rink at 11:30p, thoroughly exhausted.

I asked what triggered the bag skate.

Well . . .

It turns out there was free public skating before the practice. So, 16 and 17 year old boys being boys, most of the team hit the ice for a little recreational skate before practice. No problem, coaches said it was OK, etc.

During this outing, a player who will be nameless (no, not my kid) made an offhand remark to a young lady. Let’s just call it an awkwardly phrased compliment. The young lady was younger than the commenter thought and didn’t react well to the comment, and reported the comment and the player to an on-ice marshal, who promptly informed the coach.

And the coach – himself a devoted dad to a young lady – did not see any humour in the matter. And so it came to pass that there was a lot of skating in Hour One.

I had no problem with the measure. I think teaching young men about respect in a manner that is sure to sink in is an hour well spent. Maybe there was a little team building to be had from the misery, too.

My kid slept long and hard on Friday night. It wasn't his first bag skate. It won't be his last.

- - -

Monday silliness:

Think you have what it takes to work for Google?

Apparently they ask some pretty strange questions in job interviews, in addition to the regular stuff. If you like quizzes and brain teasers, then you will like this.

Here are some samples. Open your mind!

After you’ve clicked through all the questions, you get to see some possible answers.

And after that, yet more questions.

- - -

 

 Nov 6, 2009

One of the issues that has presented itself to all of us in Timbit hockey this year is aggression. More specifically, teaching the kids about respect on the ice for each other and themselves and the game; that launching one’s self as a bowling ball into a cluster of other kids won’t be tolerated, that contact around the boards can be a dangerous thing, etc.

You’re probably scratching your head, thinking “Timbits and aggression?”

It’s true. Little people get just as competitive and excited in scrimmages as big people – maybe more. There’s going to be lots of contact – mostly inadvertent collisions – but it’s the deliberate pushing, shoving and sliding into others that we’re working to control.

At this age, it’s generally pretty easy. As often as not if you tell a six year old on the ice that low-bridging another kid is wrong, he already knows it was wrong, he was just hoping no one saw it. And then he immediately dissolves into a ball of tears and snot, you tell him it’s no big deal, you move on.

Even at Timbits, hockey is rough and tumble. And even at Timbits, you have to define right from wrong. Because some habits die hard and it’s better to nip things in the bud, to use a cliché.

- - -

With Pad’s move across to the GTHL and midget AAA, I’ve now had a chance to watch a lot of games and one thing stands out in my mind as a major difference between the OMHA and the GTHL.

In the OMHA, there is far, far more tolerance for checks that make contact with the head. Regular readers will know that over the years I have ranted at length about head hits. I have no empirical evidence to offer – just my impressions as a dad and observer of many games.

In the OMHA, what I will call the two-fisted upper cut is a stable of checking. That is, a player will, at the moment of contact, drive both his fist in an upward motion under the chin, or into the head, of his target. It almost never results in a penalty.

In the GTHL, I have never yet seen this type of check, though I’m sure it happens.

On the other hand, in the OMHA there is far less tolerance for stick work – obstructive use of the stick to hook or impede, or slashing. The GTHL, from what I’ve seen in two months, is much more lenient on the stick work and slashing.

- - -

Those two thoughts lead me to the suspension of Michael Liambus, the Erie Otters forward from the OHL whose devastating check on Oakville native Ben Fanelli last Friday night left every hockey parent in Ontario sick to their stomach and Ben dealing with some serious injuries.

If I were appointed Guru of Hockey in Canada, my first act would be to make any contact with the head -- inadvertent or otherwise; delivered with a clean check or a hit from behind – a major penalty. Automatic five minutes. If a player is hurt, or if there is intent to injure, the ref can toss you. And it’s automatically reviewable for a possible suspension.

Because what is missing in the process right now is any notion of respect for your opponent.

Liambus is, by all accounts, a good kid. A great student, a community volunteer. You can read a pretty good account here of what he’s going through. He is still a kid, and this is tough to go through.

I hace no doubt he never intended to injure his victim, let alone uncork the devastation he did. But, run his name through YouTube and you'll get the drift, including a nasty hit from behind on another Oakville kid, John Taveras. Anyway.

He is a guy with a reputation for playing the game on the edge. And if your skill set is such that you have to make your way in hockey as a tough guy on the edge, you better be prepared to live with the consequences.

For Liambus, who will be 21 early next year, the consequence of his disregard for the safety of a vulnerable opponent is that he was kicked out of the OHL. He will never play another game of junior hockey. And the sad facts of last Friday night will follow him forever.

The fervent hope of everyone in hockey is that Fanelli – a pro prospect and candidate for Ontario’s Under-17 team -- will be back on the Kitchener blue line and anyone familiar with his heart and strength will warn you not to bet against him. But he has a lot to deal with right now.

Whether Liambus’ hit was dirty or technically legal is moot. Some say the suspension was appropriate. Others wonder if the OHL got it right .

Balderdash.

What is beyond arguing is that he moved in at full speed – like a predator -- to make the hit on a vulnerable opponent with no regard for consequence and no respect for his opponent whatsoever. None.

Ben deserved a better outcome. Liambus got exactly what he deserves.

For the rest of us, all the more reason this weekend, when we walk into dressing rooms with the Timbits or minor bantam house leaguers or AAA midgets, or when we talk to our own kids on the way to the rink, to conduct a quick refresher course on respect.

Respect the game. Respect your team and coaches. Respect your opponents.

Sometimes bad things happen. But sometimes, they don’t have to.

Get well, Ben.

- - -

This weekend will pass in a blur. Pad has another two-hour practice, starting at 9:15p, and then games on Saturday and Sunday.

Chris has an exhibition game tonight and a regular game tomorrow and timekeeping on Sunday.

There’s Timbit hockey at new locations this weekend only, and on Sunday I get to spend the day at a coveted OMHA trainers course, my card having just expired and a little voice in the back of my head telling me this is probably the last time I’ll need to renew it. Pretty sure the little voice said that last time.

The weather is supposed to be really warm, so if you’re not in a rink or a trainers course, get outside for a while.

And like you need me to tell you after the events of the last week, hug your kids.

In fact, hug ‘em twice. Once for your kid and once for a kid who wishes he was playing this weekend.

Stay safe.

 

Nov 5, 2009

For all the single moms with infants and toddlers standing in line in the November cold and rain waiting to get an H1N1 shot, it is now all clear to me why you have to wait.

It’s your fault. You’re just not very smart and your witlessness has cost your family dearly.

You see the smart parent -- apparently, not you (or me for that matter) -- would have made sure to find his or her child a place on the roster of a professional sports team – like, for example, the Calgary Flames or the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Toronto Raptors. And failing that, the smart parent would have at least secured a job with one of those teams. And failing that, the smart parent might have considered giving their child up for adoption to the Flames or MLSE or some other similar franchise.

Because those guys? Those guys got their flu shots. They didn’t waste a single minute standing in line with non-millionaires or their staff. Yes, it’s a great country that still pretends to have universal access to health care where the richest and least vulnerable get to figuratively jump to the front of the queue.

If the Leafs were winning, that would be one thing. But, their record is so awful, there can be no accounting for their behaviour on this one.

The good news is, though, they’re all just doing what comes naturally in the world of pro sports. And that is, stepping over the shivering carcasses of their suffering fans to jump to the front of the line. Because while we do have universal access to health care, it's more accurately described as universal, eventual access to health care. Stay alive. Stay healthy. We'll get to you eventually.

Read more here on that time honoured tradition.

Read more here on the Alberta government firing someone to sate the bloodlust of a perturbed electorate over the Flames issue. Yeah, that will fix everything.

Read more here on the brave souls at MSLE leaping athletically to the front of the line.

But . . .when you can charge $300 or more for a single ticket to watch a team that has one win all season, hasn’t seen the playoffs in years, all the while stinging your patrons for $12 beer and $6 popcorn?

Well, my guess is that your sense of entitlement and detachment from what is real in the community around you becomes deep and profound and not a single thought is given to whether the most vulnerable in your community are being looked after first.

- - -

Pad had a two-hour practice last night and I had boldly predicted that we might actually make it home for the final innings of the World Series game even though his practice didn’t start till 9p and was a two-hour workout.

(Danger -- run-on sentence coming! Inhale deeply before reading out loud!)

As is their wont at these sessions, when no one is behind them clamouring for the coveted 11p ice time, the players linger on the ice after the coaches have finished, messing with the pucks, playing a version of shoot-around with the goalie to see which shooter will be the last man standing, and generally dilly-dallying while dads in a near-catatonic state stare at our watches as if January Jones was going to magically appear on the face of the time piece and do whatever our imaginations commanded. Which is to say, we waited fruitlessly.

So it came to pass that it was just minutes before midnight when Pad and I finally turned onto our street, the radio tuned to Game Six enjoying the old-style way of consuming the World Series – letting the announcers paint the pictures with words and listening for the crack of the bat or the slap of leather in the background to colour our imagination.

My imagination – January Jones notwithstanding – was fatigued beyond colouring but nonetheless I still find that a baseball game on the radio is a great touchstone to days past before the 500-channel universe.

We were literally just pulling into our driveway as the Yankees charged the field to celebrate their 27th World Series crown.

You can read about the final MLB game of 2009 and another Yankee title here.

 

Nov 4, 2009

I wasn’t able to see all of the Leaf game last night, but from what I did see Phil Kessel was, by a large margin, the best guy in a blue jersey not wearing goalie pads.

He got rocked by a big hit and came right back. He had 10 shots on goal and he hit a goal post. He never stopped moving. For a guy coming off the shelf, it was a pretty good start.

The bad news is, the Leafs lost in OT again.

But perhaps for the first time this season there was something for Leaf fans to feel good about – even if it was only Tampa they were playing.

Read more here.

- - -

Interesting story this morning on the nasty confluence of pro hockey and H1N1.

Lots of teams have flu bugs in the locker room right now. But it would appear – in Canada at least – that the Calgary Flames are the only team that got an exclusive clinic for its players and their families, effectively jumping the queue of ordinary Albertans, including those in high-risk categories, who either have to lineup for hours to get a shot, or can’t get it at all.

If you’re guessing this isn’t playing well along the Red Mile, you’d be right. The Flames’ fans have been flame throwing – sending emails, making calls to the front office, all basically asking a version of the same question: WTF?

The Flames are reacting like they were on the wrong end of a Dion Phaneuf open-ice hit.

Read more here.

- - -

More hockey news:

The New York Times reports that the a new skate sharpening technique – the flat-bottom V – is taking hockey by storm as NHL players migrate to the new method away from the more traditional arc-bottom cut. Click here to see a diagram of the differences.

Fans of the new cut say it offers much sharper turns as the blade cuts the ice, and a freer glide when moving forward or backwards.

Read the whole story here.

- - -

With the Olympics less than three months away, the fever is building – even on late night TV.

Stephen Colbert, the cartoonish, lampooning face of right-wing America on The Colbert Report, has taken on sponsorship of the US speed skating team after their main cash sponsor, DSB Bank NV, declared bankruptcy last month.

Colbert won’t be paying the team directly – instead he is using his considerable clout to ask fans of his show – known as Colbert Nation – to dig deep and donate to the team.

In exchange, the words Colbert Nation will adorn the massive thighs of the US skaters, who are perennially among the best on the planet.

In keeping in character with his right-wing, pro-America persona, Colbert noted that the games will be in Canada and Canadians, too, are pretty good skaters.

"It still tragically involves a lot of Canadians," he said. "It's kind of unseemly how many Canadians I'm going to have to be dealing with."

You can read the whole story here.

- - -

Last week came word that in a new book, Andre Agassi confesses to using a hard drug, crystal meth, while competing on the pro circuit.

Well, never mind that. The book holds even bigger bombshells.

Like, his once-famous free-flowing mullet was fake!

Quick. Get the smelling salts.

Or, click here to read more.

- - -

The World Series is likely to end tonight. I don’t expect to be home from a hockey practice until 11:30p at the earliest, which means I should be able to see the last five innings, if the pace of play so far is any indication.

 

Nov 3, 2009

The joy of commuting. It’s not unlike the joy of root canal, or the joy of finger nail removal.

Last night I boarded the 5:43p train, a trip home that’s a little earlier than normal on a train that is generally not as packed as the sardine-can express trains filled with the souls who abandon their cubbies and cubicles at earlier hours.

I found a space to sit, settled in, turned on my music and relaxed.

As an aside, I found yesterday to be an interminably long day. The change in time – fall back, and all of that – had me springing from bed on Monday morning feeling so thoroughly rest that I was sure I must have slept in. But I paid a price on the back end of the day. As meetings dragged on, it felt like it was 8:30p.

So, I was glad for a quiet train with an uncrowded car.

Things were fairly uneventful until we stopped at Port Credit. Minutes passed when finally the young man in Car 5 told us there was some unidentified mechanic problem. He’d keep us posted. And sorry for the inconvenience.

After about 20 minutes it was becoming clear the problem was significant.

After half an hour or so, they told us they didn’t know how long it would be, but they would open the doors so people could get off. Of course, since the platform at Port Credit is nearly demolished because of renovations, only the five cars at the east end of the train would have the doors open. I was in the third car from the west, as was my friend Brent.

We huddled briefly and reasoned that the 6:03p from Union Station would be passing shortly so we were best off to get off this train and jump on that one, and we began the horrid commute through the train, pushing steel doors aside through car after car after car.

Once we were almost to the promised land, there came another helpful announcement: The 6:03p was on the same track as us and was right behind us, so it wasn’t moving until we did.

Brilliant.

At this point, I unleashed the hounds of sarcasm.

OK, first point. In the 20 minutes between this train and the 6:03p, could someone not have alerted the 6:03p to change tracks? (We started referring to this as the “Homer Simpson – Go Train Conductor” issue. “But Marge, if I keep all the commuter trains on one track, then there are two tracks clear for magic donut trains.”)

Second point: could the other train not reverse the short distance to Long Branch, change tracks and then proceed west, (stopping here at Port Credit to pick up the 5:43p refugees?) D’oh!

The young man making the announcements shrugged – I don’t blame him. The people calling the shots are morons. It doesn’t mean he is.

Minutes later, another announcement. The train behind ours was – heaven portend! – reversing back to Long Branch to change tracks and would then pick us up.

Of course, since most of the platform at Port Credit is ripped up, it meant that everyone on the broken down 5:43p train (10 cars) had to get into five most eastern cars of the 6:03p train. Suffice to say we made new friends in close quarters.

I got home about an hour later than I otherwise would have, which all things considered was no great disruption.

And GO Transit was sorry for the inconvenience, so I have that going for me, which is nice.

- - -

Phil Kessel will play for the Leafs tonight, presuming he passes a final few medical tests on his wonky shoulder.

I feel a little bad for the guy, because expectations are such that unless the Leafs win and he scores twice and adds an assist, wins a fight and performs CPR on a heart attack victim sitting in the first row of the greys, then he will be seen as a disappointment.

The Globe story this morning says simply that the Kessel Era starts tonight. I guess we’ll see in due course about whether the team historians will name a chapter after him. Here’s hoping. Read that story here.

Otherwise, smart Leaf fans will be watching his every move while contemplating the brilliance of past Leaf trades that involved dealing away draft choices.

In virtually every case, one can deadpan: “Well. That ended well, didn’t it?”

Tom Kurvers? Acquired for a draft pick.

Mathieu Schneider? Acquired for a draft pick.

Dmitri Yushkevich? Acquired for a draft pick.

And who did the other teams get with those picks?

Scott Niedermayer. (Three Stanley Cups). Roberto Luongo. Dainus Zubrus.

Read more here.

- - -

Apropos of nothing, other than I think this is cool.

There's a nifty interactive science thingy at the web site of the Genetic Science Learning Centre at the University of Utah (how's that for off topic??) that shows cell sizes of different things. Use the slider under the display and watch the larger celled thing get progressively replaced by smaller and smaller ones. It starts with a grain of rice and a coffee bean and drills down to a carbon atom. Only me and Superman can see carbon atoms, but I have to use reading glasses to do it.

Click here to release your inner science geek.

 

Nov 2, 2009

As Halloweens go, it sure was quiet.

Well, quiet on the street, if not in the house.

I don’t think we had more than 25 kids in total and we live in the heart of a pure residential neighbourhood. Ten years ago we would have easily had eight or 10 times that many.

I don’t know if there are fewer kids of that age now, or whether because it was a weekend people had house parties and kept the kids under one roof, or if paranoia about H1N1 played a role.

Whatever the cause, the door bell didn’t ring much.

And no. No one asked me to sing Oklahoma!

- - -

Chris and his buddies did a farewell trick or treat tour of the neighbourhood after his hockey game.

It was the last time Chris will get to ring a doorbell in search of candy.

The real fun started a couple hours later when the gang piled through the front door like so many ponies, stampeded for the basement and lit into the pizzas and junk food that are the hallmarks of a good scary movie night.

The two movies selected were 28 Days, the story of a plague-like disease that sweeps the globe, and Saw, a horror movie of torture and kidnapping and mayhem.

The first movie didn’t play – it skipped all over the place.

The second one was openly ridiculed by the boys as they picked apart failings in the plot line while behaving like, well, like 13 year olds.

Pad had a 10a hockey game Sunday, so he had a quiet night away from the doorbell and his brother’s friends.

Laura was fighting off a cold and sipping wine.

I was having a beer and wearing a Cat In The Hat hat (acquired for the Timbits’ pizza party where I appeared in character as the Coach in the Hat).

It was a pretty fun evening, all in all.

- - -

The Timbits’ pizza party reminded me of some things. Mostly, it reminded me of what six year olds are like. Great kids. Lots of fun. Glad they’re not all mine.

The party was fun, but it’s been a long time since I was at a party with all six year olds. The phrase “herding cats” was used more than once. Dave and I sat with the boys at the team table and now we know everyone’s names and faces.

As a non-parent coach, Timbits this time around is a different experience for me.

I remark to Dave pretty much weekly now, “I don’t have a six year old. This is easy.”

The hardest part of Timbits is managing the equipment and emotions of your own kid. Getting him/her dressed and undressed, getting them out of bed and fed before the 7a practice. Just getting them out the door at all can be a challenge in some circumstances.

Me? I just have to look after getting me to the rink and on the ice. Most days I can manage that OK.

- - -

The kids continue to inspire and entertain in equal measures. As an adult in the room, it’s fun to see how much the game means to them.

Dave and I have a trophy that we give out every Sunday to that week’s player of the game. The winner gets to keep it for a week and is assigned the task of doing the dressing room door sign for the next week. You can see some of the artwork here.

The trophy – which was proudly won by both of my boys, both of Dave’s other sons, and literally dozens and dozens of kids and young men around Oakville – dates back more than a decade. It has a colourful history – it’s been lost, found, dropped, left behind in parking lots, recovered, gift wrapped, put on and under Christmas trees, on and on. Some of the guys who have won it are on a path to major junior hockey. Others are in AAA or AA. Others don’t play at all any more, as they take another path.

But they share a common bond as winners of this particular award.

On Saturday, I was told one of our guys took the trophy to school for show and tell.

I’m not sure what his classmates got out of it, but learning that piece of news meant the world to me.

First of all, it was a reminder the importance of those two hours on the ice each Timbits team get. It’s the world to them. It’s where dreams take flight, and shame on any of us adults who lose sight of that.

Second, it just made me smile. It made me smile that a cheap little trophy with a long history behind it means as much to this cohort of kids as it did to the ones who carted it home a decade ago.

Very cool.

- - -

I saw a lot of very entertaining hockey on the weekend, none of it from the Leafs but I’m getting accustomed to that outcome.

If you want to read the latest from LeafLand and the hopes for the arrival of Phil Kessel, click here.

- - -

There is more than enough media coverage of the terrible incident Friday night at an OHL game in Kitchener where a very talented young man from Oakville was severely injured by an ugly check to his head.

I’m not going to pile on to this particular matter except to say I hope the guy gets well soon. And I also hope the OHL deals fairly with the perpetrator of the hit.

You can read more about the story here.

- - -

You would have to live under a rock not to know that it is now illegal in Ontario to talk on a hand-held phone while driving a car. It is also illegal to type text messages, which should seem self evident, but apparently is not.

Yesterday’s New York Times carried a sobering story on what’s happening in Britain on this front. Stated simply, if you text while you drive, be prepared to go to prison.

A young woman, otherwise a bright and lovely person by all accounts, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for texting while driving and causing a collision that killed another young woman. And the Crown is appealing the sentence as being too soft.

The money quote:

“She came across as a lovely young girl, and I’m sure it wasn’t a nice feeling for the judge to send someone like this to prison — but someone is dead because of a text message,”

That last part really hung in the air for me.

Someone is dead because of a text message.

Think about that the next time you’re trying to drive and reply to a missive asking you to stop and get milk. Is that worth killing someone, or yourself, over?

FWIW, I’ve started asking Pad to read my emails to me as they arrive – assuming I’m expecting something that I think/know needs immediate attention.

If necessary, I dictate a short reply for him to send.

But mostly, I leave the BB holstered and out of site while I’m driving. I started driving in the late 1970s and someone managed to get to the wireless age without once ever feeling the urge to phone someone while driving.

I think I can continue to survive without talking/texting and driving.

You can read the Times story here.

 

 

 

Oct 2009 and other archives here