As I unloaded parcels from Christmas shopping last night, I noticed I had yet to take the garbage bag of Blue sweaters from the back of the van. As captain of blue in the second half the W, I get the honour of washing these suckers over the holidays. Strong leadership is all about …
Author: Rich Crowley
Not All Benches Are Created Equal
For anyone of my generation who has been fortunate enough to play into their old-timer years, the passing of these years has almost always offered the chance to play in umpteen rinks of every possible description in umpteen different places. In small towns, big cities, rich private schools, universities and colleges, fairgrounds and even …
The Blowtorch and It’s Place in the Game
George Orwell opined that serious sport "is war minus the shooting". Given that, you have to love and respect any sport that requires the use of a blowtorch in a non-weapon sense. Now those of you who aren't schooled in the game may need to loose the hounds of your imagination to conjure up …
Growing Up Cheering for the Petes
Growing up in Peterborough, home of the Petes, was really a blast if you were a kid who wanted his junior heroes to play in the NHL. That’s because the Pete’s always had a great record at developing young players for the NHL. There were some great local names out of the Peterborough organization who …
Thursday night, no hockey
I don't think I missed a single Monday or Thursday of hockey this fall, starting from early September. There is no W game tonite, sadly. While Christmas blessings abound in my life, life is a little emptier with no Thursday night hockey to go to this week. No game to watch on the tele either. …
Birdseye Center
One of Canada's most wonderful comic strips from days gone by was Birdseye Center. Jimmy Frise of the Toronto Star was the man behind it. It was brilliant. You can learn more at this link and if you love the romance behind old-school, small town hockey, check out this cartoon of the fan being ejected …
Withdrawal
Yikes, with the W shut down for next three weeks for Christmas, I woke up with the cold sweats and shakes this morning. Three weeks without hockey? Three weeks!? Gotta make a rink in the backyard or the church basement or the neighbour's driveway or a school gymnasium. This is crazy.
Blue
"There was a lot of character in our room. When we got down early in the tournament by losing that first game, we didn't panic. The guys all believed in one another and knew if we just dug down a bit deeper and stuck to our game plan and continued to believe in …
THE Tournament
The WOHL's annual Christmas tournament goes tomorrow night. Two hours filled with three mini-games for each of the league's four teams. Not exactly 16 wins required over 2+ months to bring home Stanley but a test of character and endurance nonetheless. I'm hoping (and pretty sure) the boys stayed in this weekend, mentally and physically …
Really Old School – Barrie OMHA in the 40’s
Here's a pic of my father-in-law in the 40's on one of Barrie's OMHA teams coached by Hap Emms
Rink Tales 