The Wingman Chronicles

After six weeks of wearing a cast (four weeks of which was part of summer vacation), Sean’s cast has been removed. He has a fair bit of physiotherapy to work through, and he still can’t walk on it, but he’s a pretty happy guy. And we’re pretty sure he won’t be climbing any trees in the near future.

All things considered, he dealt with it pretty well – no complaining, and he took good care of his leg. We made it to the zoo, a Blue Jays game (when his Aunt, Uncle, and cousin were in town), and various other cast-friendly venues. A word to the wise – it is a LONG way from Union Station to the Skydome for a kid on crutches.

We’re hopeful he’ll be able to walk short distances by next week sometime, as we’re off to Silent Lake Provincial Park for a week of camping and canoing – but that is another post.

We toddled off on our usual trip to Killbear Provincial Park this year, with grand plans for four days of swimming, biking and beaching. We like to try to get in there before the end of the school year, when it is much less busy, and you can get a decent site without booking five months in advance.

The park has a gorgeous beach, and is right on Georgian Bay. Some of the highlights include a few easy hiking trails, a bike trail that extends the length of the park, and a brand new visitor centre. Wildlife is relatively common. The park is close to Parry Sound, for access to shopping and amenities.

Things got off to a good start – Sean saw a deer while we were registering, and our site was very nice. Right next to the beach, good shade, and lots of forest to explore. We managed to get everything set up, had some stew on the stove, and had pretty much everything in order. Sean and Ally had begun exploring the beach, collected some rocks, and were vigorously feeding the local mosquito population.

Unfortunately, Sean came out on the losing end of a ten foot fall while on a tree-climbing expedition – the tree (right) had a nice view of Georgian Bay – and we ended up spending a grand total of about two and a half hours in the park. Final tally – the tree – one broken branch – Sean – two broken bones, and displaced bone – memories of Joe Thiesman – ugh.

Sean spent the night in the Parry Sound Medical Centre, and we ended up ‘camping’ in the Parry Sound Comfort Inn.

Sean did manage to get his first ambulance ride, his first cast, and has subsequently been spoiled senseless. And he’s getting pretty handy with crutches. But it has put a cramp in his summer hockey, mountain biking, etc., what with this happening ten days before the end of school….

The weekend ended up being rainy and stormy, so it wasn’t a total loss. We were at least dry.

But what about the the title?

We left home at 2pm on Thursday, and were back at 2pm on Friday – 24 hours door to door (With apologies to Kiefer Sutherland and 24).

So can you imagine the lead news story across much of Canada this past week?

• The war in Afghanistan?
• The skyrocketing price of oil?
• The ecological impact of the Alberta Oil Sands expansion?

No.  It is none of these.  It isn’t even the hiring of Ron Wilson as the new head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs (although this is close).

Instead, the most important news story in Canada over the past seven days or so has been the fact that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation – the venerable CBC – long-time host of Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC), has declined to renew their contract with the composer of the HNIC theme song.

This is almost beyond belief.  They didn’t learn their lesson when they almost didn’t renew the contacts of the hosts (Ron MacLean and Don Cherry).  No.  They decided to test the waters of public opinion yet again.

Most every kid in Canada remembers (stereotypically) rushing inside at 8pm on a Saturday — usually after playing road hockey — to watch HNIC.    The outcry has been significant.

Even better, a rival network – CTV – has purchased the rights to the music ‘in perpetuity’

What a country!  I love it

No, this isn’t about another Geek hockey game. Although the outcome was similar.

I had the opportunity to spend a few days in San Antonio last week, and had a quick run around the downtown area. It is a very nice and walkable area, with pleasant weather, at least in May.

Although I was in San Antonio for a work-related conference, I did have a little time to get out and walk around.

A few of the highlights:

• The Alamo – very close (a three minute walk) from the main downtown hotel cluster (shown below); and surprisingly small!
• The Riverwalk – A set of pathways following the canals of San Antonio, decorated with cafes, restaurants, pubs, and other interesting ways to spend your time; water taxis and tours can move you around quite nicely;
• Excellent restaurants – I can personally recommend “The Fig Tree”. Nice outdoor terraced patio (which was too windy when I was there), and excellent food;

And, of course, being in y’all Texas and all, we did spend one evening at Cowboy’s Roadhouse – where the festivities included a mechanical bull, line-dancing, and a real-live bull-riding competition. When in Rome, as they say….

We are heading towards the umpteenth annual Old Geek Training Camp. For those who keep score, we have lots of information about last year’s camp.

For those who want to really be prepared, have a look at the training camp roundup.

The Geeks had a good season this year (arguably the best start in many years), with a predictable collapse during the playoffs. “The more things change”, as they say.

A reminder – training camp is scheduled for May 23rd through May 25th, so you had better start your dry-land training now!! We are convening in the usual location – Collingwood, with two of the local golf courses being subjected to our dedicated practice.

It is clear that relative rookie Dave Maclachan has learned a fair bit this year, managing to collect five points in a single game during the run-up to the playoffs. Even more remarkable than this, is the fact that the scoresheet documenting the five point game is (mostly) untouched. Dave asked specifically for a framed gamesheet, and here it is.

One thing that Dave seems to have missed is that the Geeks lost 6-5. He also had a penalty – but no fight – so missed out on the proverbial Gordie Howe hat-trick.

By the way, I’m having a little trouble finding the Leafs on TV….

The twenty-first season of Geek Hockey came to a close a couple of weeks ago, with a 4-0 Win that didn’t matter in the least.

The Geeks managed to lose their first game of the playoffs, and given the bizarre nature of the three-team play-down, the Geeks found themselves in a situation where it didn’t matter what they did in this game. Since the Geeks had a bucketload of penalty minutes this year, their goose was cooked – penalty minutes were the first tie-breaker.

So, as is usually the case, the Geeks played stellar hockey when it didn’t matter a damn bit.

The game had some interesting sub-plots. Croteau decided to put on a bit of show with some Montreal Canadien-style razzle-dazzle (which, as I write, the Habs could use a bit of – down 4-3 at the end of the second in game five – UPDATE – they are toast – maybe next year).

The Geeks had the special teams working this night as well, scoring shorthanded, and on the power play. On top of this, the Geeks were relentless in their forechecking, their historical strength.  Notice I didn’t mention backchecking in that sentence.

The rookies clearly still need some seasoning – Ryan Hoy blocked a shot, with a four-nothing lead, and with under two minutes to go, when nothing mattered. Well, someday he’ll learn. Higgins even played the puck – causing some nausea among his teammates, but he managed to do it successfully nonetheless.

Steve Macleod had a bit of attitude this game, earning himself two penalties. But he was cool as a cucumber while a wild-eyed Marchand yelled at him to “Just shoot it back in!!” while Steve calmly waited for some laggard (probably Butch) to clear the zone.

As is often the case, the post-game activity was as interesting as the in-game play. Don Higgins was quick to note that he is now ahead of such veterans as Tom Finan and Scott Wilke (of ‘The Line’) in lifetime points.

There are some clear contenders for a spot on the Gut Line as well. Although gross weight (tonnage) has been the usual measure, we now have Croteau in hot pursuit based on Molson Export consumption (which can also help in the gross weight department), and Erik Parnoja trying out based on net worth.  We’ll keep you up to date on developments on the former first line.

One final concern. Woolley now seems to have a WHOLE lot of spare time on his hands due to a, uh, reorg at his former place of employment.  This could be good (Woolley spends a lot of time getting back into shape) or bad (Woolley spends a whole lot of time trying to micromanage the Geeks).  The jury remains out….

I finally packed the last of the rink away today, bringing an end to the 2007-2008 edition of the Marchand Memorial Arena.

We faced a number of challenges this year, the most significant of which was utterly flakey weather. At one point in early February, the rink consisted of a rather large collection of slush. Despite the fluctuating temperature, and significant rainfall, things finally firmed up in mid February.

Some final statistics for 2008.

• Construction Begins: January 23
• Opening Day: February 18
• Last Skate: March 24
• Maximum Ice thickness: 10 inches
• Rink Size: 55′ x 25′
• Light Standards: 4
• Different Skaters: 8
• Most Frequent Skater: Sean
• Original Pucks: 34
• Final Pucks: 34
• Puck Low-Water Mark: 1
• Puck Recovery Rate:100% (this is unbelievable)
• Last Puck Recovered: April 12th (two!)
• Time to pump the pool dry: 24 hours

Some good lessons this time around:

• Hose is great for the rough work, but a rink rake (bought or built) plus -10C or lower temperature gives a perfect surface;
• Don’t leave yard litter (leaves, branches, etc) in the ice – when the sun gets on it, you’ll have a hole in the ice;
• Use a tarp – trying to work without one takes too long;
• Shovel the worst of the snow off before flooding – otherwise, you get weak ice. Even better to shovel then sweep!

This is probably the best (longest) season we’ve ever had, but it was the toughest – we usually get a week or two of solid -10 or -15 weather, which is great for ice-making.  But this year, we had milder temperatures, and close to record snowfall.   So opening day was as late as it’s ever been.  Good thing the fans were patient!

I was in Paris for a few days this week, and managed to squeeze in one of my famous “90 Minute Tours”. These usually end with about a hundred pictures, and with me panting and with sore feet. This time around, I wandered around Boulogne-Billancourt, a region at the West end of Paris. Most of my wandering was around the Seine River, and included some time in the Ile Ste Germaine Park.

In the meantime, Toronto is expecting somewhere between 30 and 40 cm of snow. It looks like I will have a fair bit of shoveling to do when I return. And the rink will need some work!

We had a nice day out with the kids at Horseshoe Valley Resort this past weekend. If nothing else, the winter this year has been great for outdoor sports.
This was one of the first times the kids were on skis – second time ever for Sean, third time for Ally. They did pretty well. Of course, being the age they are, they are athletic, flexible, bendable, low-slung, yada yada yada. It’s kind of funny to watch a kid do a tentative snowplow shortly after they’ve learned how to stand up on skis, and then to immediately go into a Crazy Canuck tuck to try and get some speed.

Kamikaze Sean also learned to get on the ski lift by himself, while managing to drive my blood pressure *way* higher than it should be

The fourth edition of the Marchand Memorial Arena is finally open, despite the inconsistent weather. This year has been a challenge because of the wild swings in temperature (As I write this, it is +4 Celsius, and raining!).

This weekend revolved around hockey, with a schedule something like this:

• Friday 8:00pm – Atom 2 playoff game (3-3 tie);
• Saturday 9:00am – Atom 2 playoff game (4-2 loss, series over);
• Saturday 2:45pm – Atom 2 practice – but basically a Father-Son skate because the kids had played two games in fourteen hours;
• Saturday 7:00pm – Leafs/Bruins on TV (3-2 overtime win for the Leafs);
• Sunday 7:30pm – King Wild (King City Tier 2 Junior A) at Bradford (9-2 blowout loss for King City).

On Saturday, Sean managed to squeeze in 90 minutes of skating on the MMA between his early game and his afternoon practice, followed by another hour and fifteen minutes on the MMA after his afternoon practice – for a total of about five hours of hockey! Ah, to be ten again….