So...here we go eh? Another year in the W has passed and the season ending tourney played out in all its sporting glory. Even in these strange times, the show must go on, no? Buckle up boys, and I'll do my best to chronicle how this year's event went down. There were some moments that …
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A Man and his Son, A Man and his Father, and Me
I skated today for the first time in 9 weeks on this cold bright January morning. I headed off to Vic park early, knowing the rink would be mostly mine, which is for the best as i know I'm in no shape to actually skate with others around me yet. I took my stick and …
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Great Names in Hockey
One of the things I love most about team sports is the memorable nicknames that guys pick up for the weirdest of reasons. The most colourful characters didn't always have the best nicknames but a good nickname was generally earned by the guy identified by it. I made my high school hockey team in my …
Ed and Brian
Ed McIlwain was one of those people who made a big impression on me when I was young. He was my house league hockey coach for at least three different seasons – both peewee years and I think one other year in bantam or midget. He was a classic old-school coach – sometimes funny and light-hearted …
Red Beats Blue in 9-3 Nail-biter
I know you're probably reading this and thinking that there's no way I should be calling a 9-3 game a nail-biter (especially if you're from the red team). However, in what was a much more closely contended match than the score reflects, the WOHL served up yet another reason why its such a great league …
Backyard Rinks #1
Backyard rinks are a favourite topic of mine. Almost everyone who has ever played hockey or lived in an area where winter produced temperatures cold enough to have outdoor ice will have stories of their own about them. This is my first post on this blog about outdoor rinks but it won't likely be my …
Going to your Dad’s Game
When you were a little kid, did you ever go to one of your Dad's games? It might have been only pickup hockey or perhaps a shop-league game (as my Dad's league was called) but I remember the experience of being allowed to go to the rink late at night to watch him play. This …
First Goal – Do you remember yours?
I still remember my first official goal in a real official hockey game. It may be that this memory is a sham and it never really happened this way because it is a fairly long time ago. However, I’ve been hanging on to this one pretty tight for almost 40 years so I’m pretty sure …
The Biggest Name in Hockey
I remember reading an article in the Toronto Star one time in the 1970's about Sheldon Kannegiesser and it joked that he was the biggest name in hockey. ( I guess that was before we had the influx of players from Europe and Russia). I laughed when I saw an article in this week's Kitchener …
Mylecs and toothpicks
Do you remember those plastic Mylec blades we used when we were kids? They were the big, thick, heavy plastic things you screwed on to to the shaft of a busted stick for driveway or road hockey. I can remember using them from time to time because they lasted forever and saved hockey parents a …
Rink Tales 