Habs Game Fun

On January 27, 2009 while on vacation in Florida, my brother, sister-in-law, Uncle and I drove up I-75 to Tampa for the night to enjoy some NHL action at the St. Pete Times Forum.

The Montreal Canadiens (my favourite team) were in town to battle the Tampa Bay Lightning. Sadly, my team lost but it was still a fun time with great seats and an enjoyable night.

Here's a video I shot during the pre-game warm-up from our seats. Aside from the hockey players and crowd, the video also shows my brother Scott, sis-in-law Erin and Uncle Mel getting ready to cheer on the Habs. To be honest, Mel is a Maple Leafs fan but we let him cheer for a good team for a change.

Vacation Time

It's that time finally. I'm on vacation. Well, technically I'm not quite on vacation as I'm writing this but it's only hours away.

So, I just wanted to remind you that I might not have a chance to update the blog for a little while. We'll see how things go.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with a little vacation message courtesy of David Letterman.

Goodbye George W. Bush

It's amazing how much time flies when you're having fun. That's probably why the last eight years seemed to take forever to go by.

Now before you say, "Here's another Bush hater", I will admit I think the guy made some mistakes but to be fair, he didn't have the easiest Presidency. The last eight years were filled with tough decisions and bad times. Just like every President before him, he made decisions based on other people's opinions and information provided to him at the time. I think we all know he was given bad advice and piss poor information most of the time.

But, when you're the President...the buck stops in the oval office and the ultimate blame falls on him.

Now with just days remaining in his last term and Barrack Obama waiting to make history on January 20th, I dare say that he won't have an easy four plus years ahead. I do wish him the best of luck though...because he's going to need it.

I think if there's one thing I'm going to miss from George W, it's the sound bites and humourous blunders we've come to expect from him.

Here now for your enjoyment are the Top 10 George W. Bush Moments according to David Letterman.

Tough Day On The Slopes

I've never been much of a skier. Many years ago when I was in Public School, I went on a Grade 8 Ski Trip with my class and it was a fun time. I think the most memorable part of the trip was either sitting in the chalet playing Foreigner's song Urgent on the jukebox or seeing a kid I didn't really like taken way in an ambulance with a broken leg. Ya I know...I'm so mean, but I was just 13 years old at the time.

To be honest, I actually didn't mind the skiing and had some fun swooshing down the slopes and by the end of the day I had totally abandoned the "snow plow" method and graduated to something a little more progressed.

I also had cross-country skies as a youth but that was just too much work. I didn't want exercise, I wanted to glide across the snow. Eventually I didn't accomplish either as I broke both my ski poles and ended up walking in the snow. That was fun! (sarcasm)

As much as I didn't enjoy my skiing experiences, I don't think my troubles could even come close to comparing to this recent incident that will no doubt result in a lawsuit. At the very least the guy can claim emotional damage and embarrassment.

A skier at Colorado's ritzy Vail resort was left dangling upside down and pantsless from a chairlift on New Year's Day. The January 1st mishap apparently occurred after the 48-year-old male skier and a child boarded a high-speed lift in Vail's Blue Sky Basin. It would seem that the chairlift's fold-down seat was somehow not in the lowered position, which caused the man to partially fall through the resulting gap. His right ski got jammed in the ascending chairlift, and that kept him upended since his boot never dislodged from its binding.

The exposed skier was stuck for about seven minutes with his pants down, or up as the case may be, before he was rescued. The young boy also on the lift was fine but he said it was the strangest thing he'd ever seen....and he wasn't talking about the hanging guy.

OK...I made that last part up about the kid.

Now in case you think I'm making this up, here is the photo"graphic" evidence. You can click on the photos to see them larger.

Happy Anniversary Ma & Pa

I just wanted to take a quick moment to wish my parents a very Happy 46th Anniversary.

Don Sanderson Loses Battle

If you live in Canada or follow the hockey world you most likely have heard about Donald Sanderson.

Don was a 21-year-old young man who lost his life early this morning at Hamilton General Hospital after succumbing to his injuries sustained during a hockey game in December while playing for the Whitby Dunlops Senior "A" team.

Following a fight with one of his opponents he banged his head off the ice and slipped into a coma. While many opportunists are using his passing to further their own agendas regarding fighting in hockey or how helmets should be improved, I think it's more important to remember who Don was. There will be plenty of time to debate hockey safety in the weeks and months ahead.

I'm proud to say that Don was a friend of mine. Our friendship stemmed from our love for the game of hockey and the hours we spent at the arena during his time with the Trenton Sting Junior "A" Hockey team.

While I was nearly 20 years older than Don, we seemed to grow on one another rather quickly when he arrived to become a part of our hockey club. I can still remember his very first practice and the immediate impact he brought to the ice. In fact, the impact was mostly him laying out his own team-mates who were taking the practice too lightly. Some of the boys came over and complained to me at the bench but I just told them that this is the time we use to prepare for real games and if you can't take a hit now, how will you be able to handle it when it matters.

It's fair to say, I liked Don right away. When he came to the bench and we talked for the first time, I told him to just keep doing what he's doing and he'll stick with the team.

When I got to the rink for practices or games, Don was always serious about the task at hand but never shied away from a chance to converse about life and hockey. We had some good debates about the Leafs and the Habs while sitting in the medical room. We'd chat during breaks in practice on the bench and even during games when Don was assessed a penalty...and that was quite often as I recall...we'd share a few laughs as I was in the timekeepers box as the games official scorer.

During a trip to Boston where our team competed in the Chowder Cup, Don and I along with several other players made the long and hot trek across the city, up and down Beacon Hill by Boston Common to visit the original Cheers restaurant. As a big guy I was dragging my butt in the sweltering heat but Don stayed with me as we trudged our way back to meet the rest of the team at Boston Market.

(Don is in the back row of the photo with the hat on)

Don was a winner. He demanded the best of himself and his team-mates. I recall a couple of conversations with Don being frustrated when he felt some of the guys on the team weren't pulling their own weight. I'm pretty sure after we talked he went into the dressing room and voiced his opinions. His fellow team members could never deny Donnie's desire to win and succeed.

After Don left Trenton we didn't chat nearly enough but he did make a point to keep in touch via the online Facebook community. As I look back and read one of his last messages to me, it's easy to see that Don was a very mature young man who appreciated everything and everyone in his life.

His message to me read, "Thanks for the support while i played in trenton...people like you are what make us players able to play because of your support. take care DON".

Be at peace Don. Rest easy my friend.

(You can click on the photos to see them larger)

Another New Year

I don't know about you but I was never so happy to see a year come to an end as I was with 2008.

Was there any good news from this past year? Oh sure there was but it was overshadowed by all of the bad news...and there was plenty of that.

Among the highlights of 2008 for me was the birth of my first Nephew Noah in Florida, my parent's 45th wedding anniversary, the Beijing Olympics and Canada's impressive showing and the U.S. election coverage finally coming to an end on CNN. Talk about overkill!

My health and that of my family and friends was good during the year and I'm happy about that as well. The other great news was seeing the price for a barrel of oil drop from around $140 each to about $40 and the drop in gas prices along with it. Too bad it didn't happen in the summer and fall when I was driving a lot more.

I also enjoyed watching U.S. President George W. Bush bring his dainty cheerleading manoeuvres out of retirement as he dodged a couple of shoes of mass destruction in Iraq. Where the heck did that guy learn to throw? He must be an Argos fan.

The year did have some major downer moments and it seemed like a never ending cycle of one bad news event after another at times.

In politics, the brain trust in Ottawa thought it would be a good idea to have another election. The people voted the same group back into power but then the losers didn't like the outcome so they decided to try and oust the Conservatives. Of course this story is still in limbo after they just decided to take a long break. I used to like the Liberals and also Jack Layton...but not any more. As for the boneheads from Quebec...I just wish they'd do us all a favour and either get out or stop bitching.

I also heard that the United States had an election this past November. In an historic decision, Barrack Obama won and will now get the worst job in the world at one of the worst times in history. Lucky him! Good luck on bringing change in your first four years buddy.

I'd also like to thank John McCain for asking Sarah Palin to be his running mate. Seriously....wouldn't you have liked to see her stick around a little while longer? She was hilarious.

The stock markets decided to take a cue from the Olympic divers and plunged until it hurt...a lot. The whole world is in crisis. The banks are crying for money because they only made billions of dollars. The auto industry mismanaged their money and paid too much to their management and workers so they came crying for a financial hand out. The only people who aren't getting any help are the average citizens who are suffering the most. That seems about right doesn't it? Instead of money, we just had to be satisfied with eating tainted meat from Maple Leaf Foods. Mmmm.... delicious listeriosis.

When did Mother Nature get pissed at us? The weather in 2008 was atrocious. Hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, strong winds, record rainfall and more snow than any previously recorded year. And it seemed like all of this happened in my yard.

With each passing year we also lose some wonderful people who help to make life a bit more enjoyable. Here are a few that I'll miss. Roy Schieder from "Jaws" who uttered those famous words, "We're gonna need a bigger boat". Heath Ledger left us all too soon but saved his best role for last as he was amazing in "The Dark Knight" as The Joker. Harvey Korman who always made me laugh regardless of whether he was on the Carol Burnett Show or in the movie Blazing Saddles. We also lost Allan Melvin. Who was that you ask? He played the Sam the Butcher, Alice's long time on again off again boyfriend on the Brady Bunch. Paul Newman a legend, George Carlin and Bo Diddley will also be missed.

No, 2008 was not the greatest year for many reasons but at least we made it to see 2009 and hopefully it will erase all the bad memories and bring peace and stability to the world. But don't count on it.