I suspect it's true of any team sport but a bunch of guys in a hockey dressing room are always looking for ways to make the new guy feel comfortable...in an uncomfortable sort of way. The year was 1987 and I had moved to Kitchener two months prior. I was fresh out of school, had …
Great Moments in Breaking In New Skates
Buy a new pair of skates today and the store will often put them in a little oven that heats them and then get you to try them on for ten minutes or so with the goal being to have the skates mold to your feet. It all sounds very impressive but I'm willing to …
It’s About More Than Just the Hockey…
Heard in the dressing room following my game in the WOHL last Thursday night (and proving, with a chuckle, that truth is stranger than fiction): Story #1: As a youngster, one of my teammates indicated at the age of 9, he let off a bunch of firecrackers in his closet at home. He had taped …
Mothers, don’t let your babies grow up to be hockey players
The stage was set and the play was something familiar for this part of the world: Saturday night hockey. It was late in the third game of the round robin of my son's house league midget tournament this weekend in London and with the good guys leading 3-2 with a minute to go, the game …
Continue reading Mothers, don’t let your babies grow up to be hockey players
-13 Degrees at Vic Park on a Saturday Morning
Five layers of shirts, sweaters and coats, four layers of pants, three pairs of socks, two gloves and one puck. Game on! Brett and I headed off to Vic Park this morning for a game of shinny and what a fabulous time it was. We got there as a game was forming, the ice was …
Continue reading -13 Degrees at Vic Park on a Saturday Morning
Chasing Larry
I felt great before last Thursday night's game. I didn't over-eat at dinner, had a quick nap before the game, went hard in the warm-up and felt like all the ingredients were in the mix for having a great go with the dreaded white team, the team Larry plays for. However, in the end, the …
The Dangle
I'd love to know who invented the dangle, also known as the toe-drag, but regardless of whoever it was, I gotta tell you, this move is a wonderful thing and in the grand scheme of mankind's accomplishments, the dangle isn't given nearly enough space at the top of the list. The toe of the blade …
Playin’ hookey for hockey
When I was nine, we moved from the north end of Peterborough to the south end for a brief period of time until the new house my parents was building was ready. The new house was in the same school district as our old house and so I could attend the same school as before …
Quick, pull the goalie….NO WAIT!!!
As 2009 comes to a close, most Canadian sports fans would tell you that the biggest tactical sporting blunder of the year, and perhaps of all time, was made during this year's Grey Cup game where the Saskatchewan Rough Riders' vaunted 13th man actually turned out to be the grim reaper. However, only a few …
Is there a Doctor in the house?
You can tell where this post is going right from the title, can't you? I was thinking the other day of the most painful hits I took when I played contact hockey, which is thankfully a long way back in this hockey player's rear view mirror. Ironically, and perhaps it's a good thing, I can …
Rink Tales 