Happy Holiday !

Last year 2010 started off in a disastrous fashion! We went to a wedding to see an old "friend" , i put friend in quotations because since then that girl has moved back to Toronto and has not had the nerve to call me to say hi . Even though i flew to Ireland 3 times to visit her , once for her wedding ! At her wedding we met these guys that we had a good time drinking with and we stayed in touch. Months passed and these guys said they wanted to come to Toronto to spend New Year's Eve all together, or at least that is what they said to get a free place to stay .

The 2 Irish jerks came over on Boxing Day , i picked them up with another friend that flew in from Atlanta. Now she was a perfect model of how to act when staying at someones place, very respectful....and i am sure she was under the impression that New Years was for us to spend all together. Well some of us thought so ..... so 1 of the losers had the breath of a goat , one of the most pathetic people i have ever met in my life. He decided at the last second that he rather spend New Years in bustling Ajax (LOL) on his own with his cousin, you are welcome for the free room asshole . The other dummy decided to come meet us apparently ....

The way i found all this out was in a total deuschy way....i took the Irish jerks to go skating at Harbourfront Centre and we met another Irish person there ( and no he was not late ) . Then i took them to Dangerous Dan's for burgers , well when we get there stink breath lets us know his intentions (LOSER) . And moron boy tells me at the last second that he is going to a party ???? "so can i come" , " not my party , don't think it is quite your thing" . Pretty sure at this moment i began to feel used ..... so at parting i get the promise to meet later at a mutual friends , which i hardly know! Here is the kicker....if you call someone at 8 PM and they say they will be there in 20 minutes and they don't show ....do you stay there until 11:30 PM waiting ? i did . and when i left and went elsewhere i got no call , no text , nothing....the next day the guy calls and say well you know i am always late ( refer to earlier he was not ) . I figure his girlfriend at the time had better plans and they all stiffed us !

If you ever go visit someone overseas , rule #1 ....DON'T BE A LYING PIECE OF SHIT ! rule # 2 TRY TO INVOLVE YOUR HOSTS , rule #3 DON'T LEAVE YOUR SHOES AT MY HOUSE AND EXPECT ME TO SEND THEM TO YOU AFTER YOU ACTED LIKE THIS !!!

So all in all today i am very happy because i can put that year behind me now . For Jenny , the girl i thought i was friends with .... your friends probably twisted the story a bit and you feel as though i am in the wrong but i am not ! As for you not calling me to say hi since you are living in the same city , all i can say for that is that you suck . I hope you enjoyed our wedding gift , assholes .

Hangover

When in Rome do as the Romans, when in England DRINK ! Seems like every time i come to England my liver cries.....wonder why? Is it from the loads of yummy Brit beer ? Is it from the lovely selection of Scotch? Nah it is a combination of everything! The drink of choice for me here is and has always been Carling , last night i drank a 12 of tall cans . The night before i drank a bundle as well , and tonight tomorrow and every other day while i am here .... yes it is a lot. But i don't come to England everyday ....so it is ok right ?

Kathleen will not agree with me , and i know she totally enjoys sleeping beside a lager lout while here....HAHAHAHA! Yesterday was not a big production for a day . Basically woke up shook off my hangover and began playing video games ( Wii) with Kathleens nephews ( Jack and Faegan ) . Don't go thinking that i am waking up and going straight to the brew breath , coffee and tea are the drink of choice during the day . We decided to go into town yesterday afternoon to do our grocery shopping and we came back to our resting place and began to work on today's hangover.... lets just say that by 4 am it was just me Snowy and some really really loud music . Well the 2 of us are probably the most hungover and i am pretty sure that somebody ( Kathleen ) really enjoyed hearing us keep her up . Not too sure how to make up for it ? Maybe i should start drinking....

Today we go to the pub ..... camera in tow , pictures tomorrow ! Pass the Panadol :(

Trip To England : Day 1

Woke up at 3:30 AM to get ready for this flight today to London Heathrow. It is only 6:30 AM and it has already  been a hectic day . Usually i would not do much complaining about Air Canada but today i can honestly say that they have dropped the ball ! This flight was booked roughly around 3 weeks ago and when Kathleen and i booked these flights we booked our seats as well since Kathleen has Aeroplan Prestige status which means she can book seats for free early .

Well we arrive at the airport and find out that my seat is not booked ????? I am sitting in the airport with standby status ????? Pretty sure i will get on the plane but i am totally vexed ! The person at the desk had no knowledge at all , i was asked to remove some of my hockey gear to put them in other bags or get charged $100 per flight ! Yeah lets just say good old Air Canada is not in the festive spirit and confusion is their tree to hang their ornaments ( cash receipts ) on ! So now i sit and i wait ..... hopefully Snowy has a couple beers in the car when he picks us up ....i am gonna need it !

Let The Whirlwind Begin

Ok i like to push my limits sometimes. My flight for England leaves tomorrow morning and i have not even considered packing yet....also going to play some shinny this morning here . Which basically means i have around 12 hours to dry my gear so they meet weight requirements for my flight . More than likely i will run home after hockey toss my gear in the garage and point a fan at them , hopefully they dry out . If not i better work on my ass kissing smile for when i get to the check in counter.

This morning we have our skate ( in Mississauga ) which really sucks because i am hard pressed to believe that any of my teammates will show up there . People in Toronto seem to think everything is too far since they have everything within walking distance. It is kinda crazy but honestly it takes me 15 min to drive there ,it is not far from where i live . For some reason anyone i know that lives "in the city" refuse to come out here ! Yeah i know it is the same 15 min for me to go there but you have to understand these people seem to believe that they are privileged LOL ..... now that was a bit off topic , just an example why i believe i won't see anyone this morning at this skate.

Last weeks skate was organized out of the city and it ended up being a DISASTER , i was the only goalie and there were 4 guys that could skate and 1 guy that couldn't ..... don't get me wrong , it was great for me ! Lots of pucks , i was actually pretty dead beat after . Kinda hoping that there is a game today though , for that we need at least 12 skaters . Leary is the word , only because i know that guys downtown will claim that Cawthra was "too far " . I had ice time downtown but the organizer ( Dave ) seems to not want to listen to me . Lets hope there are enough skaters today , and another goalie ! or else i am just soaking my gear for no reason :(

This is my last ice time for 2010 so lets see how it goes . All in all 2010 was a great year for me and i hope it was a great year for all of you . My first ice time in 2011 will be in England and i am really stoked to start the year off in such fashion. If i find some free Internet connection at Pearson Airport tomorrow then i will make my departure blog , this time i don't have Maple Leaf Lounge Passes ..... if you are reading this and have passes that are about to expire for the lounge than contact me as i would be more than glad to use them :)

Merry Christmas

Waking up early ( as usual ) today and hoping that Saint Nick brought me my Christmas gifts. Now you are probably wondering what would the Travelling Goalie want for Christmas? Well .... i asked to get on the ice in England , also asked for a tournament in Hawaii , and a big ass trip to end off 2011 . Not too sure if he is gonna come through , but i am pretty sure he is gonna get 1 of 3 for me pretty soon ;)

When i was a kid i remember running out onto the street and meeting my friends to play road hockey . It was brought to my attention the other day that road hockey is illegal in Toronto ???? Wondering how is it that all the families in my neighbourhood put up with us banging their cars and running on their lawns and beating up their garages ? Now we are the ones to stop the younger ones from doing the same thing ! No more cries of "CAR" and "NO CAR" will be heard during street hockey games , it is sad . This is a memory for me that i will always and forever cherish , it is the grass roots for hockey in Toronto ( and probably all of Canada) . So why did my generation ban this , we were allowed to do it ....why can't kids these days do it ?

Maybe i should have changed my Christmas wish to please let me go outside and play some street hockey for Christmas ? Either or i am wishing you all a Merry Christmas today . Drink and be merry , then go sweat it out on the ice LOL ! Cheers !

The Stiffs

Just getting ready to go play some shinny with Dave McCarthy out in Burlington ....yeah abit of a drive , that is not the problem . Dave organized this skate for his family and friends that were all egging him on to organize ice time . Well he did , and was not considering Toronto folk or our teammates when booking way out there . The problem is that most of the people that were bugging him to organize this are not coming now ......this means 2 goalies and 5 skaters and i begged everyone i know to come , but it is far !

Most of you don't realize that when you ask someone to organize something and they do ,and you don't go that you are a stiff ! It is kinda like going to a restaurant ordering food , leaving before it arrives and having your friend pay for the uneaten meal . That would suck wouldn't it ? yeah it would so why stiff out on someone that is organizing something for you ? See i support the people i know ( as much as i can ) so when Dave told me it was only a few people i did not say , well you know maybe it is not worth it ....i said see you in the morning lets have fun ! Dave is learning a hard lesson in organizing anything to do with hockey .

If you are someone that has said you want to play for my team and bailed out without paying 1 month into the season or even if you did give me a bit of cash ( but not paid for your full spot ) and left , guess what ? You are a STIFF ! I can't even begin to talk about how much money i have lost in the last year due to these umm errr friends(?) , not too sure how someone lives with themselves knowing they have put their word on the line to get onto a team and in the end stiffed me . This happens all over the world , i experienced it in Europe, and in Asia .

To the no shows, the no reply guys, and the guys that quit teams without paying for their spots : you all suck ! Happy Holidays goes out to all the guys i know that organize hockey teams , i feel for you all and hope that you all don't lose much money in 2011 . yes much meaning we all lose money , it's a given ! LOL!

Training Session

Over here in Toronto our rec teams are not so big on training sessions " practise" but in Europe pretty much every team has at least one practise a week . During the last couple weeks i must have sent out at least 50 emails to teams and arenas in the south of England in cities like Isle of Wight , Gosport and Basingstoke basically looking for any ice time at all .

Basically pretty much every team is on holidays and i have been really close to giving up .....and then came the email i was praying for . There is a team that has a practise session in Basingstoke on January 2nd at 2215. Now who would tell me a time like that .....2215??? 10:15 PM .....The Army Air Corps team !!!!

Finally i am going to play hockey in England , the team is called the Ice Hawks . Hopefully i can get some more info about them before i get the honour of skating with them . It is not the first time i have practised with a military team ( practised with American military in Wernau,Germany) , but i am sure it will be another great experience . Along with this training session i am going to take Kathleens 2 little nephews out to teach them how to skate , which should be alot of fun . Now i just have to keep my fingers crossed that my flight doesn't get pushed back due to the weather .....

Is it gonna happen in England? part 2

Leaving for England in 1 week , not primarily for Ice Hockey . Of course i want to incorporate it in somehow , i wonder how my girlfriend puts up with me sometimes LOL? My good friend from Sheffield ( Daz ) has done everything in his power to make sure to help me get ice time . There is this list of basically every rec hockey team in the UK which i have access to now , so basically i have emailed EVERY single team remotely in the south of England.

At the moment i have received emails from teams letting me know that they are on break ( blah , blah , blah ) except for one email i received this morning from the Basingstoke Cougars ....there might be hope ! If 1 of their 4 goalies takes a night off ( yes 4 goalies ) . Surely more emails will come through this week ( or i hope ) and if not i always have the option to go to Sheffield and practise with Daz and his team . Ultimately for me this would be the best as we have option to go watch a game in Coventry , BUT this would have to take place on a Monday night. Meaning Tuesday morning i would make 4-5 hour trek back south and then leave Wednesday morning to come back home. Not too sure if that is fair for the people i am actually planning to visit ( and surprise) . As i said earlier Daz is doing everything within his powers to help me , there is even an option to practise on the Sunday .

Daz thank you for everything ! Lets keep our fingers crossed , i wish you lived in the south LOL!

Dave McCarthy

Big Dave McCarthy ! Joined us in the second wave of players and has just been getting better and better . Dave is our driving force, when i say that i mean this guy will plow his way to the net and good luck trying to stop him . Dave is an onset carpenter on some reno show ( sorry can't remember the show ) so he is not just some ringer . Working in the film business constitutes an artistic expression , even when you are being paid for it LOL. In his previous life Dave was also a teacher whose claim to fame was coaching Dave Bolland ( Chicago Blackhawks) in high school .

Dave is also one of the guys i can count on for a ride when i want to get more involved with the after hockey activities ..... this past weekend Dave was my ride from the arena to the bar ( The Midpoint) where we had our first team Xmas party ( good showing too !) . With that said i am going through some separation anxiety ....Dave left before me and was gracious enough to take my stinky hockey bag with him , i am going to get my darling gear as soon as i can today LOL! ( i miss you ) .

Our trip to St. Catharines did not include Dave and i did not take a camera to our Xmas party , so i only have the one picture :( ...... we are planning on dragging Dave to Tachov so i am sure i will have some crazy pics of him sooner than later .... hehehehehe. Looking forward to some more highlight reel dangles from Dave in 2011 . See you soon buddy !

So....

10 days to go until i get to England . At this moment i highly doubt that i will be taking my equipment , with only 8 days to visit people it does not leave too much time to take off for 2-3 days on my own to do my thing ..... yeah i am not going alone , so i should think of my girlfriend too . And right now if i don't get lucky and find some ice time in Basingstoke or the Isle of Wight then i might just settle on taking my skates and teaching Kathleens nephews how to skate instead . There is a skating rink in Bournemouth and i am sure skating sessions will be open while i am there :)

Hawaii is still on the go ! I will be playing with my German friends for Tim Dyer's team out of San Diego , should be fun . We met Tim in Germany this year at the Fussen tournament , great player with a lot of good ideas of how to make these tournaments more manageable . Probably going to book my flight after England ( one trip at a time LOL ) . The other day i received a message from the other team ( Rejects) , i won't be playing for them as i am opting to play in higher division with people i already know . Kinda makes sense doesn't it ?

Tonight is Ghetto Blasters last game of 2010 (finally a break for me ) . We play against a new team called The Animals , should be fun we are all going to our sponsor bar after for some festive drinks ( PICS TOMORROW !) Our tournament this summer is shaping up , if anyone is interested in playing in the Ghetto Classic (www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=115256995210930) , you can contact me at ghettoblaster@hotmail.ca ...June 24-26 Toronto ( McCormick Arena ) . Hope to see some if not all of you there !

Is it gonna happen

The hunt for ice time in England is just crazy ! I mean , i just found out there is no ice time available for 1 goalie to step onto the ice and get pucks shot on me during the 8 day period i will be near the arena ???? Gosport must be bustling with some prime time hockey players that don't give up ice time LOL!

Just sent out emails to the arenas in Basingstoke and Isle of Wight ....i have approx. 10 days to get me some ice time there or i abort the idea of bringing my gear . If anything i will just take my skates to go for a skate at the ice skating rink in Bournemouth ( no hockey !) ....bullshit .  Why is this country so hard to get a game of hockey or even just a practise , i mean i have been to Jakarta and played as much as i possibly could there ....and there is only 1 rink there ! Why England Why ?

If all goes to shit and i lose my mind then i will just bring the gear and either talk Snowy into driving me 4 hours North to Sheffield ( pretty sure that Daz can get me on the ice at will LOL ) OR i will take an agonizing train ride there and back .... i might go postal if i get there with no gear , and find out that i could have played . Regardless New Years Eve in England with a pint in my hand and some good ol' friends sounds grand anyways !

The Road Trip

Pretty sure that most if not all of us stayed up late on Saturday night . We regularly have Saturday night games but this week we had our game on Sunday and in St. Catharines , not in Toronto . My head was really fuzzy when i woke up at 830 and wrote that really ultra short blog yesterday . You see with no Saturday night game it meant drink as much as you can on a Saturday night ( and watch UFC) . So just like i said in yesterdays blog , i gave a wake up call to the majority of our 8 skaters that were making the trek .

                                                                                                                                               

The weather held up for us and we all made it safe and sound with FANS !!! There were actually just as many fans as there were players ...We all gathered into room 4 and began to get into our regular dressing room banter commenting on our surroundings ( wow this room is big ) and then our local helper showed up , fellow named Andrew (thanks for the help) , he gave us 9 skaters and an extra set of legs. We all seemed pretty loose in the room and eventually made our way out to the rink where we were entertained by the band that our host team had organized.

The game was a rematch from last season. The Crystal Beach Comets came to Toronto to play us and we were outplayed and outclassed last time with a deflating 2-0 loss :( With a shorter bench we stepped onto the ice knowing this and right off the bat we pounced , Neil took the puck and blasted a shot that squeezed through Comets goalie Desjardins . 1-0 lead within the first 30 seconds . The Comets are no slouch team and they play a strong positional game which means we have to play smart too !  Without wasting any time the Comets were in our zone with vengeful intentions , passing the puck around they listlessly toss the puck towards the net and one of their forwards gets his stick out for the easy deflection , which i believe was not a planned event . Comets like to stack up in front of my goal and look for rebounds or deflections . I have to stand on top of my crease and butterfly hard and tight .

Second period starts and it is tied at 1-1 ....we begin to press more and more and the Comets continue to push back . They had a big opportunity on a power play ( only 1 that game) where one of their forwards cut to the net on their own and tried to put the puck to my far side while pulling me across net , with my blocker i stopped the shot in a juggling manner ...2 bounces off blocker and caught in glove . Mike Takacs really stepped it up after this with a big goal , which no one knows how it went in but we know Takacs scored . End of the period arrives and wow the band is playing loud !!! We can't even hear Jack's speech ...i can't even hear myself thinking . The game gets onto the 3rd period and Takacs opens the period with another big goal , 3-1 lead and i can start to breathe a sigh of relief but there is still a good 12 minutes left and 2 goals for these guys to score is still not out of reach . The Comets had put more and more pressure on us as we got gassed , 9 skaters were all dead tired and they had 3 full lines ! Pucks were coming at me from all angles , THE GOOCH even took a shot from behind the goal line on me :) The nail in the coffin came from our rookie Eric Macedo as he buried a one timer that was probably meant for Iain ( LOL ) . A 4-1 lead and the Comets still have not given up . With a last flurry at the end of the game the Comets scored 1 more goal with 1 minute remaining and the game was over Ghetto Blasters 4 Crystal Beach Comets 2

After the game the Comets organized a space for both teams to go to have some pizza and drink some beer ! We all showed up except for Neil ( who apparently went shopping for non- perishable food ) and had a great time . If you ask me the first star of yesterdays game was the Crystal Beach Comets organization !!!! Live band at the game , pizza, beer, and the GOOCH ( seen with hat on to the right of this with his teammates ) . Oh not to mention the documentary being shown at the Niagara Arts Centre ( NAC ) which was amazing , not too sure the name but it was on hockey fighting . Unfortunately one parent there was not too keen on it and made a small fuss ( which we all made fun of afterwards ) .

Slowly but surely we all made our way home , all happy after a hard fought win and a great day out ! Pretty sure that we will make this an annual game as it is worth the trip to St. Catharines . Jay , Tim , GOOCH hope to see you and your teammates in the near future ...we need a tiebreaker now that our series is tied 1-1 .

The storm held out for us and we all made it home safe and sound ! Next week we have another exhibition game to end 2010 .......

The Lineup

Kinda wishing the picture above was the team that is going to St. Catharines today....cut that in half . Already getting some of the late night/early morning text messages from a couple players, looks like everyone was out partying last night . Wake up calls going out in about half an hour , at least i am not waking up to the winter snowstorm that threatened our game. The storm system MIGHT hit later , but by then we will probably be back home safe and sound.

Here is to the 8 guys that will be joining me on this day trip ! The Crystal Beach Comets have gone all out once again and have organized a live band to rock out during the game , and have organized a gathering spot for all of us after aswell . As of now our 8 starters are : Neil , Iain, Eric, Toby, Rob, Ron , Jack and Mike Takacs . Stay tuned as tomorrow's blog will be about today's big game ! If you do plan to attend our game today please bring non-perishable food for the food bank ;)

Eric Macedo

Our newest addition to the team is Eric Macedo . Eric was introduced to me by Iain , to sponsor our team . Eric is the owner of the Midpoint ( http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Midpoint/300817815682 ) and we have been getting to know him more and more every week . He had mentioned to us in the summer that he used to play hockey and we could not convince him to play summer hockey but once the winter season came it was not so hard to talk him into finding his old gear .

It has taken Eric a few weeks to get his legs back , but he has been working hard on it . With a rekindled love of the game he finally got his first goal for us last week with his big breakthrough performance . 1 goal and 2 assists ! I really hope that Eric does not stay at the bar too late tonight as i am probably going to have to send him a 9 AM wake up call . Don't forget to pick up Iain ( LOL ) . Tomorrows game looks like it is on , weather will probably be rain filled which is not a problem . The Crystal Beach Comets have organized a live band to play music during our game and have reserved a place for both teams to go eat and be merry together .

Anyone Reading This in Gosport ?

So i am still planning to go to Hawaii , but first i needed to get something dealt with .....England ! I have been to England probably around 10 times with my equipment 3 times and played there 0 times :( . Last week i booked a flight and used my aeroplan pts , i was in some kinda booking flights frenzy and thought i was getting a good deal and was all excited and then about 10 minutes after i booked it ...it all kicked in. Oh i was down in the dumps as i just tossed away all my points that i was saving for my Hawaii trip .

This is the thing , to fly to Hawaii it is 40,000 points and around $180 in taxes . England is 60,000 and about $450 in taxes . Pretty darn sure that the Hawaii trip is a much better deal .....but last Friday we found flights to England for the same amount in tax and we thought we had a deal with it going for 54,000 points. Feeling totally stressed out we cancelled our flights . If i can find flights at cheaper price without using my points then i can go ......this past Tuesday there was a flight sale on Expedia , and somehow it even effected the price of flights on Aeroplan . Booking my flight and saving around $100 i will be heading to London,England on Dec.28th . I am taking my goalie equipment and I AM PLAYING HOCKEY THERE ! All i need is to get some ice time ? Easily i could get on the ice in Sheffield , but i am way down in the south near Bournemouth . There is a rink nearby in Gosport so hopefully i can get some ice time there , if not i will resort to desperate measures so don't be surprised if you hear of me taking a 5 hour train ride to play hockey and leave LOL. Pretty sure my friend Daz will sort me out . Keep your fingers crossed for me as i really want to put the English flag on my stick bag ;)

Toby Robinson

Toby is one of our newest skaters ! Just added to our roster at the beginning of this winter season ....Chip & Stro suggested Toby . He is a camera man that works for Muchmusic , and i wouldn't doubt other TV stations as well . Toby is a smooth sailing ( rushing) defenseman . I don't think any of our defenseman are "stay at home" which kinda drives me nuts because i have to remind some defense that they are playing defense LOL.Toby has been a great addition , with basically our best attendance record this year ! His dressing room personality really fits in with our team ( he drinks beer and likes to talk hockey ) , too bad he is a Senators fan :(

I feel bad that i don't have too many pictures of Toby as he is new to the team . At the moment the weather still looks crappy for Sunday's game , it might be a last minute decision to drive out there or not ......

Neil Larose

It took me an awful LONG time to decide who i wanted to be the first Captain of the Ghetto Blasters. But along came Rosey Larose . Neil was amongst the second wave and i was really pleased to add him to our roster as i have always known that he is a class act and a really good hockey player. Neil and myself have known each other from when we were kids growing up in the same neighbourhood , playing hockey together (not on same team ) ,going to same schools , and even working together in the past . Pretty sure i know Neil the longest out of all my teammates .

Neil has not won an big awards yet (but probably will) , but he is our leading scorer all time . Neil is also in the top 5 for every category you could imagine on our team . To date we still owe it to Neil for scoring the winning goal in the Summit ! We look forward to a ( hopefully ) long Ghetto career from Neil ....watch out Crystal Beach he is coming . The weather forecast is starting to clear out for Sunday and it looks like we will make the trek to St. Catharines :) . I am personally looking forward to this day excursion as most of us are planning to make it a family day for the team .Most of us are bringing our girlfriends , so hopefully i will get more then just these 2 random head shot pictures of some of my teammates .

Oh and by the way i would like to thank Rob Trick for all the black & white photos that i have been using of his .

Iain Grant

The Ghetto Blasters were still just playing exhibition games and we already had some casualties of war . Couple guys quit , couple guys cut and we needed more skaters so i made a facebook post ( or 20 ) and picked up 2 friends from way back in the day . Iain Grant was one of the second generation of players to join the team . Perfect fit , we play in an artist league and Iain is better known as DJ Standfast . As a DJ , Iain spins hiphop, funk , and soul . Ghetto Blaster + Hip Hop = Harmony ! Check out his facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/DJ-Standfast/171019813855

Iain and myself go way back !!! His brother and myself hung out quite a bit in high school and played hockey together , Iain was a couple years younger and when he came to Humberside we got to know him alot better LOL . Iain plays defense for us , likes to rush the puck like all my friggin defense do *** Note , as a goalie rushing defense can scare me at times : like when we are winning 1-0 late in a game . DO NOT RUSH THE PUCK , KEEP IT OUT OF OUR ZONE !!! *** ( LOL).

A very laid back guy off the ice , on the ice he is one of our Assistant Captain's and has probably made the biggest contribution to our team to date by finding us our first sponsor . Hopefully i can drag Iain out of hibernation this weekend to play in St. Catharines....at the moment i am praying that the weather outlook changes as it looks like a big snow storm is coming through on that day .

Andy Quan

Andy was suggested to me , and from day 1 he made a big impact on our team .Andy Quan is our young gun , plays defense and dekes other teams players with ridiculous ease . He is the reason all the other teams tell me we are the young team .....yeah with an average age of something like 40 ( late 30's) we are being called "young" by our opponents , because of Quan . Andy is someone i would love to bring on one of my hockey trips , he is very talented and honestly i think he should and could be playing pro in Europe . Keeping my fingers crossed for our trip to Tachov but unfortunately he will not be coming on our trip to St. Catharines ...

Andy is third overall in pts, and games played lifetime for the Ghetto Blasters. Last year Andy won tournament MVP at the Summit of the Arts tournament ( broke MVP trophy too LOL) and also was the league scoring leader in our summer league this year. This kid is not a hockey player , he's a weapon ! With a young talent like this on our squad what could go wrong ....the future looks great :) Andy is also a great dressing room presence as he is always making us laugh . Honestly i am not too sure if we have another rink rat like Andy on the team . Keep it Ghetto Andy ;)

Ron Kuipers

Once i had my core guys ( at the time i thought ) i needed more skaters and began reaching out to people around the league that might know people interested . Either way someone or other referred Ron Kuipers to me telling me they just were at a tournament and that he was a pretty good hockey player and is looking for a team . As soon as i contacted Ron i knew he was golden . Ron is a writer/ teacher and is always around to go for a beer after our games , with a big smile in tow .

Unfortunately i don't own and can not find any incriminating type pics of Ron as he seems to be as angelic as anyone i know , all around good guy . Last year he let me talk him into playing defense and is always willing to do what the team needs him to do . If i could have 15 guys with Rons attitude then i think i would have a perfect team ....

Chad Dobbin

There were a few other guys that were on the team before Chip showed up ...yeah this guy pictured above does not exactly look like a guy that you would think is called Chip . Stro had some connections with some other guys in the TV / film industry and the first person he suggested was Chip . Chip is a carpenter and one hell of a good defenseman . You can't keep this d on a leash though , he likes to rush rush rush !

Chad or Chip is known for his dressing room tirades as his hair is flowing he is known to walk out of the room in a rage with half the teams equipment in his bag somehow , but we still love him :)  All joking aside , Chip is a good ol' time hockey player , hopefully he will be on our road team to the Czech Republic. At the moment he is working on a cruise ship to earn money to play more hockey LOL.

Chip lives across the road from our home rink ( McCormick Arena ) and is always willing to have a teammate over for a beer or two ( or twelve ) . He was and is a very integral part of our Ghetto Classic tournament . We held team BBQ in his backyard and the trophy seen above was actually made by Chip ( seen sadly above the head of last years winner ) . And when it comes to stats Chip is a big fan so here are Chips lifetime stats as a Ghetto Blaster ... in 25 Games played 5 goals and 13 Assists , 18 pts .....hope to see you at the rink in the New Year Chip !

Greg Majster

Greg Majster and myself met YEARS ago when i was like 15 , we played for the Warren Park Eagles together ....only problem was Greg went by the name of Greg Parsons. So you can tell the surprise on his face when we ended up at the same high school and i found out his real name. Greg is a hockey junkie , has done some overseas hockey travelling and at that time of his life had to change his names to play for multiple organizations LOL. Greg goes by the name of Stro1 now ....

Stro was the first guy that was not really a full time league member that i called , as i knew he was a camera man and a very artistic graffiti artist aswell . When i called Stro he was all over it , and at this point i was beginning to fish for a name . Stro is the man that named our team the Ghetto Blasters. Stro is also the one to design all of our logos . Unfortunately Stro don't come out so often lately , he has recently added a wife , a new house and their first child ....Stro is just a little busy ;) If you would like  to check out some of Stro's work here is his weblink ... http://www.stro1.com/

Stro is a Center and is always counted on when tournament time comes along . Hopefully we can drag him out to St. Catharines for our road trip ? Time will tell and i will probably find out by text about 2 hours prior to game time......LOL!

Rob Trick

Rob Trick is our elder statesman and has say over anybody else on the team due to this ! Just letting you all know .... Trick Daddy as seen above doing his rendition of Run D.M.C.'s It's Tricky is a comedian and was the second person i called when i was considering putting this abomination i call a team together . Rob Trick is a very reliable defenseman that as of late seems to enjoy playing forward . He moves like a 747 but is #93 for the Ghetto Blasters. Rob Trick is better known for his Doug & Gino commercials which we all loved him in but here is a link to one of his stand up acts .... www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqZGaujHrFs

If you checked out his video above and look at his headline pic then you can probably guess that Rob likes to take his clothes off alot .  Rob has already done alot of great things for our team , he won the prestigious Neilson Tie last year at the Summit of the Arts Tournament mostly for his striptease at the Hootenanny ( most teams put a live act together on stage in front of other teams ) but mainly because of his amazing presence. Rob is always around to help and is one hell of a great MC . Rob is the one guy i can turn to when i have a problem ... he is truly a Ghetto Diplomat ! My hats off to you Trick :)

John Griffin Mazeika

 We call him Jack ! So Jack was pretty much the first guy that i called when i was left out in the cold by my former teams , the same thing recently had happened to Jack as well . When i called him we had a ton of ideas but there was alot of work to do . I had met Jack a good 7 or 8 years ago hanging out at McCormick Arena watching his brother "Shakes" skate circles around people in our league . Jack and his father would stand there and just chat everyone up on the way in , and it really made the arena and the league a friendlier place at that time . Honestly in all my years of hockey the last thing i would ever do was talk to other players from other teams , Jack kinda changed that for me ....and might have changed that even just a bit for the league i enjoy so much .

So here we are Jack at current is tied for our team lead in pts. , and has played the most games ever (aside from myself ) for the Ghetto Blasters. Jack is a center , small in stature ,BIG in heart . Always there with a smile , telling pregame jokes ( that some of us don't have a clue what he is talking about LOL ) . The only player in the league to win 3 consecutive Summit Championships in a row he is definitely an integral part of the team . #98 John Griffin Mazeika , but we call him Jack :)

GhEtTo bLaStErS

2008/09 season was amazing , playing in my favorite league in the whole world  ( www.gthla.ca ) for a team called the Burritos and another team in another league called the Octagon Capitals. I went to Europe for an amazing trip that season and won the Summit with the Burritos and won the league championship with Octagon then i got hurt ...... lost all muscle in my left arm from a pinched nerve and could not play hockey for 6 months. Asking my teams to hold my spot i let them know that surgery was something i might be looking into and that i would give them 1 months notice to let other goalie know i am coming back . Honestly the other goalie should already know he is replacing someone ???? Well i contacted both squads sometime at the beginning of October that year in 2009 for the 09/10 season and got the run around from both teams . Yeah i get hurt playing for them and this is the thanks i get in return ....quality decisions !

So there i am without a team and i know a few other guys that are without teams and looking so i begin to contact them one by one hoping one of them would want to start a team . Unfortunately i was dumb enough to want to start a team and contacted a few other artists i knew ( this is an artist league) , they were interested and one even had a name a logo and is an amazing hockey player ( Greg Majster ) . So just over a year ago now i started a team called the Ghetto Blasters . In our first year we have done alot of great things as a team even though the roster has changed drastically over our first 64 games ( over 40 skaters ) . We started off by just organizing exhibition games the same night at the same rink with the same refs/timekeeper that our league uses and eventually began entering tournaments ( making semis in our first ever , then winning the Summit of the Arts later that month !) We also entered into a charity tournament raising just under $1000 for the Heart & Stroke Foundation . We will be entering this very same tournament this year and if you wish to make a donation here is the link http://www.hockeyforheart.com/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=441982&lis=1&kntae441982=988CBD52B15045B4818DF768F19E0B41&supId=0&team=3975749&cj=

Since that first winter we have gone on to host our own tournament ( The Ghetto Classic ) which is growing yearly . This year we might have up to 8 teams . We also won our summer hockey league , entering higher level next summer . We have also in our first year added our first sponsor which will be sponsoring  our team yearly , this year using our sponsorship money to get our first set of white jerseys . The Midpoint ( www.facebook.com/pages/The-Midpoint/300817815682 ) is a bar just around the corner on trendy Queen St. W. that you will be able to find myself and some of the other guys on the team there on Saturday nights deep in the corner of the bar near the kitchen ( food is amazing !)

In 2 weeks we have our first road trip as a team , over this time i will begin to introduce you to some of these guys individually. Hope to play some of your teams in the future on our road trips unless you are brave enough to come to our Ghetto !!!!

Rainy Day

Dumpy kinda day out, yeah i know i have not really been doing much Blogging .....you can say i have had writers blo(g)ck  LOL. So i have not heard anything from that team in Hawaii and i think my time frame to book my free ticket is pretty much up , without a solid confirmation i am not going to bother flying all the way there to beg to play hockey . I have already done the begging thing (Ljubljana) to no avail .My time in Hawaii will come .

So at the moment i am planning an alternate trip to a country that has eluded my presence on the ice ..... gonna keep it a secret as the person(s) there might be reading this . If all goes well expect to see me at your door just before New Years Eve LOL!

Today my friends in Europe are heading to Kaposvar,Hungary for a tournament . Good Luck guys ! Hearing of my friends in Europe constantly having these cheap trips really makes me want to move to Europe and travel way more , i do have my Maltese citizenship . Not too sure where i would want to live though , i have kinda grown attached to most of the countries i have been to .

In other news i will be on a road trip that i will blog about . The trip is with my Ghetto Blasters Hockey Club  , we have an exhibition game vs. Crystal Beach Comets ( St. Catharines,Ontario) . They are a team mostly made up of musicians should be a fun day . Have to begin to put together a car pool . And i might as well begin introducing everyone to my Ghetto Blasters, later........

The Wait

It has probably been a while since i have wrote a blog so i might as well use some free early morning time to catch you and you and you too up on what is going on with my life as The Travelling Goalie ( big echo effects in background LOL) . Basically i have my finger on the trigger waiting to book this flight . I have the flights picked out , just waiting to get a solid confirmation from my team rep in Hawaii ( Jason Short ) . Last week i sent out an email and have yet to get a response ( hoping he is on vacay or his comp is broken or something ) and the guys that want to join me have not heard a response from him either . Finding this out in the last couple days has made me queasy about booking a flight as i have some horror stories about booked  flights ( i dodged that bullet ) .

Hopefully he emails me this weekend as this flight might disappear as i am using my Aeroplan pts to book this one , yes i just pay the taxes and it is gonna be DIRT cheap LOL! If i don't hear from Jason in the next week i might have to resort to contacting the tournament organizer again OR just forget about it ......i would say at max i have a month long time frame to get this on the go ;) i guess time will tell and patience is a virtue ....that i don't always have .

I will be making a mini road trip in the next couple weeks to St. Catharines for a hockey game with the Ghetto Blasters .....there should be a story there , maybe .

The Rejects

So at some point yesterday i finally got the email i was waiting for :) I contacted a fellow named Jason Short in Hawaii that was putting together a local team . Apparently made up of guys that no one else would take ....  Timo and Andi from Germany had asked me to see if i could get them on a team in the tournament so i asked Jason and he gladly accepted both of them and then mentioned the team was still short players , so i contacted a fellow i met at the Fussen tournament named Tim Dyer. Tim is from San Diego and has a group of guys that might be interested in playing on our team ( i put Tim and Jason in touch last night )

Jason told me the team we might be playing for might be called The Rejects due to the circumstances of how this team was started :) For me personally , playing for a team of weaker skaters in a lower division is not a problem . More than likely it will be a better chance to let loose and take it easy , no pressure...or at least not as much as when playing for a title ! This should be allot of fun , now it looks like it will happen . More than likely i will be flying out to Hawaii on April 13 and flying back the night the tournament ends :( , trying to get the latest flight out as i need to be at a tournament in Toronto with Ghetto Blasters on Friday morning .

The best part of this trip is that we get to play for a local team . The locals usually know how to have the most fun at these tournaments :)

Dissappointments Con't

Go figure....that Hawaii trip i have coveted for over a year now has hit a bump in the road AGAIN :( . The team from Augsburg can't make it , just found out the other week but this time i have a backup plan and have already put it into play as i JUST sent out an email to a team in Hawaii with hopes of landing myself and possibly get Andi Tanzer onto the team as well . As soon as i found out that the guys from Augsburg were not going to make it i contacted the tournament organizer in Hawaii and told her that i am a free agent now looking for a team , she was quite prompt in sending me a contact and hopefully i get onto this local team .... always way more fun playing for local teams !

 Tonight my team here in Toronto (Ghetto Blasters) has a big game against one of the top teams in our league , and i am chatting with one of my defense man that is travelling overseas now ( HI CHIP ) . I am planning on taking my team to the Czech Republic at the end of April in 2012 for a tournament and eventually i will introduce you all to these wacky guys as we will be causing a lot of ruckus overseas , planning is in process but for now i should stay focused on Hawaii . Need to start looking for a Hawaiian/Polynesian flag for my stick bag HEHEHE . Keep your fingers crossed for me , hoping to get onto a team ASAP so i can book my flight ....

Any Suggestions ?

Sitting around on this early morning wondering how all my friends overseas are doing ? Especially the ones that are playing in Thailand right now at the Bangkok Tournament...damn i hope i get the chance to play in that tournament someday . Lots of reminiscing lately as i am still fresh off my last trip , this always happens .

Still have not gotten any confirmation from my friends in Germany pertaining to this Hawaii trip . Like i mentioned before most of the time these trips don't come to fruition ..... i am also currently looking to make some connections with anyone that can get me on the ice in Slovenia, Croatia,Serbia,Greece and Bulgaria  as i am planning to return to Cortina D'Ampezzo next year to defend the championship that we won there . A perfect trip would have me land in Milan ( either rent car or take train ) and start heading east leaving from Sofia,Bulgaria back home . If anyone has any suggestions or ideas please feel free to comment .

Willing to go anywhere in the world that i can play ice hockey in !

Remainder of 2008 Euro Trip

Going to England with my hockey equipment in hand , hoping and praying to find a rink .....fly into London and Snowy comes to pick me up . Snowy is somehow related to me ???? Kathleen's ( my girlfriend) sister lives in Ringwood ( England ) and Snowy is Izzy's better half LOL!!! So yeah Snowy picks me up and totally dislikes driving into London but does me this huge favor and we are off to Ringwood . Now i know there is a rink somewhere but not too sure where , so i ask ....nah no clue mate .

Getting into Ringwood i basically drop my bags say my hellos and get whisked off to the PUB !!! Basically we did a mini pub crawl , it was a Sunday but the pubs are always bustling and packed with laughs . Got the chance in this one pub to play the meat draw , local butcher donates 5pound coupons for meat at his butcher shop....got to meet the butcher too ! Unfortunately for him, everyone saves their coupons to cash in on holidays hahahaha. That night Snowy took me to meet a couple of his old mates , Flimmy & JT . These guys were 2 of the most standout characters i have ever met and really showed me a good night .

Over my stay in Ringwood i was lucky to meet alot of amazing people and i go there as much as i possibly can ( i love the pubs) . But on this trip it was more of a touristy thing then a hockey thing . Nobody i met knew of ice hockey . And i don't think i am going to be playing much here .

So some of the touristy things i did while in the south of England were going to Bournemouth Pier ( went for Greek dinner mmmm!) also took a day to go to Stonehenge which totally appeased to the inner geek in me :) Stonehenge is something most people should see , really unbelievable place and if you do go then listen to the recordings they are quite interesting . That day Snowy, Isabelle and the kids ( Jack and Faegan ) also took me to Salisbury . Also visiting the New Forest to see a Canadian monument on my stay in Ringwood . I was REALLY lucky to be in England for Guy Fawkes Day , drank alot that night , blew up things and watched a movie in Snowy and Izzy's shed ( The Poxy Roxy ) ,it is set up as a theatre with a pull down screen and projector . B movies are the specialty here...

So i am not only in England to visit Ringwood and surrounding area . Rock The Bells took their Hip Hop tour to Birmingham and i bought a ticket as i have family there . The day before i was to head out to catch my train i find out that the concert has been cancelled ( to this day i have never gotten a reply from RTB about this ! , but i still go to their concerts ) . So instead of freaking out i calmly cancelled and got my full refund and then called the ASTON VILLA box office . Villa is my favorite football club in the whole wide world and as it works out they have a game that same day vs. Middlesborough , so i booked my ticket ...being a member has its privileges :)

Jumped on a train and started my 3.5 hour trek from Bournemouth to Birmingham to stay with my Aunt Carmen and Uncle Albert , they live in a small borough of Birmingham called Solihull . My aunt & uncle picked me up at the train station and took me off to their place . Cousins Paul & Steve always are willing to show me around the city when i got there , first stop is always to the local mall ...the bus station is there so we head to Villa park to get me some Villa gear . Went to the Aston House ( pub) for some drinks and hit a couple other friendly pubs , what a great time i had . Oh i forgot to mention that i left my bag in Ringwood as i booked a flight out of Birmingham to meet my girlfriend in Malta ....no hockey in Malta :(  

So on a rainy day i finally got to go to see my favorite club play on their home pitch ! ASTON VILLA . It was raining and i had an unbelievable seat in the 3rd row at centre field , unfortunately the wind was blowing and i got soaked but what better way to watch a Premier League game then in the rain ....gotta love it .

Next part of this trip takes me from Birmingham to Dublin ( spend a night there at Jen's place) and catch next flight at 6 AM to Malta where i will meet my favorite cousin in the whole wide world Adrian Bonett. This guy is a champ and is always ready and prepared to show me a good time . Apparently he has a room for Kathleen and i to stay at , not too sure what to expect .....

oh yeah and Villa lost to stupid Middlesborough ( who got relegated that year ) :(