It's easy to look back at teams that have won and see that they were winners. It's so much harder to look at a team that hasn't won and answer the questions "can they?" and "will they?" I am firm believer that in individual talent being a necessary ingredient for team success. I believe great …
Together on a Bus
I didn't play on teams that did much travelling until I was in high school. However, I remember those days well and it never fails to bring a smile, if not to my face, then at least within my mind, remembering the good times spent travelling with not just friends, but hockey-playing friends. Peterborough to …
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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Forrest Gump and Injured Reserve
Well, it's been almost two and half years since I went all Forrest Gump and took my hands off the keyboard and simply stopped writing rinktales. And today...well, it marks the day I am back. Quite sadly for me, it's not the way I had had hoped to return. You see, I never intended to …
Playing Hurt
Bergeron and Toews - two stars hurt in the same game that threw game 5 momentum in different directions last night. It was killing Toews to have to sit. At one point it appeared he pleaded with the coaching "Gimme one shift" but he didn't play in the third. Watching Bergeron coast around for three …
The Morning After…In Summer
Hockey equipment smells bad on a bitter cold January day after being left in the trunk after last night's game. There's no point of comparison for the same left in the trunk (and then left to sit in there in the sun the next day) after Thursday night shinny in the summertime. Thanks heaven's …
Outside Inside Goal
It's just shinny but as one gets older, and is able to pull off a move one-on-one and then score, even if the defender is older than one's self, and even if the tender isn't half the goalie Tukka Rask's mother-in-law is, it still feels good. I had one like that last night. There were …
The Slapshot
I know there are lots of guys throughout history who had a great slapper but was there anything more beautiful, even if you were a Hawks fan, than watching Johnny Boychuk's slapshot goal that tied the game 5-5 last night? In super slow mo, it was poetry in motion. No flutter in that puck …
A Most Beautiful Game
Tonight's game was a gem. I enjoyed it as much as I've ever enjoyed watching a game. Talent, desire, desperation and meanness all in the name of the quest for Stanley.
A Hockey Scene…In June
I went out for a quick walk down the street tonight to drop a letter into the mailbox. A few houses away, on a gorgeous late spring evening, where the leaves were fully out and the temperature was bordering on hot, I spotted a young boy, about as tall as a Corey-Crawford goalie pad hacking …
Rink Tales 