Prepping for Hawaii

2 more weeks to go and i am pretty sure this is the last time i will tell you that the team i am playing for has changed LOL... as of now i am playing for the ECG Scanners A team . We joined forces with the team from Los Angeles and i am guessing we are under their name now instead of our previous name . I am confusing myself right now hahaha....

Flight has been booked for ages and Kathleen is joining me but she is flying out the day before and leaving the day before me .... i am excited that she is coming on this trip as she usually avoids these trips like the plague . This one is special obviously because it is Hawaii and she could not resist when she heard there are a group of wives coming with my team ...maybe that wasn't the selling point, probably was the booze cruise that is scheduled for us . Either way she will have things to keep her busy and our schedule is really good ...1 game per day , pretty much before noon daily !!! The best news to come out of Kathleen joining me is that she is going to do a 5 K run .... i think it is run like a diva or something or other , apparently it is a women's race where they all dress up kinda fancy and run around Honolulu which will probably be a ton of fun to run in and to watch .

Our trip will be packed full of exciting things to do and see and great food ( which i found on Man vs. Food ) , of course there will be the camaraderie and HOCKEY ! We are staying at the Ohana Waikiki West thanks to Tim Dyer and his great deals it will be under $100 per room which should be great ! Only thing we are waiting on is a car rental ..... kinda waiting to hear from Tim or John to see what the plan is for transportation . More than likely we will have to rent our own vehicle , which won't be much split 4 ways ....just have to make sure there is enough room for my hockey bag and Andi's hockey bag , Toby is not bringing his equipment due to injury ...really sucks but hopefully i can get a camera in his hand to record some of the weeks action :)

This is gonna be so much fun ! and i am pretty sure i will be blogging daily there so stay tuned ......

Brad Keller

I met Brad Keller on the side of my crease about 5 or 6 years ago .... this is why i like to jokingly call him Backdoor Keller , or Killer sounds better ! He scored alot of goals on me with that dreaded backdoor goal ...about a year ago Brad approached me with interest to play for the Ghetto Blasters and we signed him up and instantly he fit in .

Brad is a guitarist in a band called the Creaking Tree String Quartet http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/The-Creaking-Tree-String-Quartet/118342918227331  check them out . In Canada they are regularly up for Juno nominations for Folk and Instrumental music , unfortunately they did not win the Juno this year .... but the fact they are one of the best in Canada can not be taken away from them . Keller is always touring or making music which keeps him away from our hockey team over periods of time during the season .That does not matter much as he is always there when we truly need him to score goals :)

This year Keller was named one of our Assistant Captains . Keller did not play the most games this season but he still was our team scoring leader this past season . As our winter season winds down we are hoping for alot of goals to come from our seasoned veteran of the GTHLA .... Keller has been a tournament MVP in the Summit tournament which is coming up and hopefully this year he can help us to a repeat of our Eh Division Championship . Kellers laid back cool as a cucumber style sits well within our dressing room as the hectic world of hockey continues to throw curve balls at our team . When all is crazy there is always a cool collected Keller there to kill it !

Watch out everybody there is a Killer on the loose ...

Losing Sucks

This weekend i got a taste of something i don't like much ....LOSING. We had 3 days to get our team together for this tournament and it started off good on Friday with a 9-2 win , but from there on it was mostly a disaster . On day 2 ( Saturday ) we had a game in the morning which we lost 5-3 and it became evident to me that we are a hurting unit without our defense core. At the moment i have 2 very key defense injured long term and 1 that was at another tournament ( where he might have been injured as well ) . Game 2 on Saturday was an absolute shit show .... yeah we can score but we can't defend or hold onto a lead with no d ! We were down 3-1 came back went up 5-3 and don't you know it we ended up tieing 6-6 .... i don't remember ever yelling so much .....

Not going to get into what kind of yelling or what actions may have occurred in the dressing room after ..... all i will say is that i was pretty fucking intense . Somehow we made it to the finals with a 1-1-1 record because of our 9-2 thrashing we had a better +/- then the other team that we ended up tying .... so we had to play the team we lost to ( Red Wings) . This was not exactly my weekend , we lost 6-2 in a league game as well .... we had 1 natural defense man at that game . I was hoping that all my yelling and spazzing struck a chord with my team and it did .... a little . We came out flat in the finals giving up an early goal on a 2 on 1 , not something i want to see when i am stressing team defense . The rest of the game went much better and we tied it up late to force the game to OT . Unfortunately in 3 on 3 OTs there is usually a winner and shot by shot going back and forth you could tell that one of these was gonna get through and the Red Wings got one by me to win the championship . Yeah it hurts like a bitch but what can you do .....

All i can think about right now is taking all this anger with me to Hawaii and taking it out on the opposition ! I really don't like losing ..... this weekend did not help with a 1-3-1 record ..... watch out Hawaii i am coming there to win !

Tournament Season

Yup it is that time of year in Canada . This morning i have 2 games in Brampton , all part of the Spencer Tournament going on right now. Brian Spencer runs it , great guy ! He refs all of my Ghetto Blaster exhibition games and is the head ref for my tournament .... you could all understand that when he asked me to get a team together 3 days ago , my first reaction was NO FRIGGIN WAY . This is Spencer though , so i got on the horn and called all the guys to see what i could muster up . There are a few guys i had to add to get us at least 8 guys :) and we have different rosters for every game but we made it .

Originally they asked us to enter B division , this is high calibre hockey and to play this we need a full bench not 7 or 8 skaters . Instead we were plopped into D division and i knew last night we would have our top team and we showed it by pounding the shit out of Local 51 8 or 9 -2 .... 2 shitty goals i gave up , can laugh at them now . So now we have to play the toughest opponent apparently and we were actually warned yesterday that if we pound these 2 teams we can't play in final ???? i know it is weird but Spencer is just doing what he has to do to keep teams coming ..... from what i saw yesterday we should have closer games today .

So this tournament is a surprise and then i have Hawaii in 3 weeks , Summit of the Arts same week as Hawaii , Hockey 4 Heart in May , and last but not least our very own Ghetto Classic in June . I had some bad news this past week unfortunately Toby Robinson whom is coming to Hawaii can't play now due to the injuries he received when being hit by that car ..... even worse Chad Dobbin another really important guy on my team , co founder of the Ghetto Classic , has some health issues and is in the hospital right now :( i am praying for you buddy get better soon . Hopefully we can win this tournament for you guys .

Let's GO GHETTO !

The Packages

Almost 3 weeks from today and i will be on my way to Hawaii . Today hopefully Kathleen will book her flight ....yes she is coming on this trip ! She usually avoids coming to a tournament with me as if it were the plague but this is Hawaii , and i don't think she can resist :) Her sister  Izzy from Ringwood ,UK is here with us today and we are probably going to go watch this South Korean slasher flick called I Saw The Devil . Not sure if i will see her again before she leaves . It is always fun to have visitors .

So there should be 3 packages with my name on them on the way here from 3 different countries . First package i assume will arrive is from Stuart Girdler from Basingstoke, England . This package contains a shirt with my name and number on it ! Army Ice Hawks .... not too sure what it will look like but i will be proud to take it with me to Hawaii !

The second package i think will arrive will more than likely be from Los Angeles from John Nasuti . He is the team rep for the LA guys that our joining forces with my team which is turning out to be from all over the place ( Minnesota, San Diego, Germany, Toronto) . This package is not so clear as it seems to be a surprise , pretty sure there is a shirt involved that i must wear when with the guys . Looks like our team is going to play A division hockey as we have signed on a couple snipers thanks to the hard work of our PLT hockey leader Tim Dyer .... yes it is confusing . Tim entered our team so he is our GM . John is helping us out alot and being very generous by involving us in their ongoings . Should be total CLASS !

And....the third package and far from the least will be a hockey jersey " trikot " as Wolfgang Klose told me . Wolfgang runs EHC Waldkraiburg !!! The German team from the city nobody knows about LOL .... i was at training camp with them in Tachov , Czech Republic and had the honour of meeting and practising with them . Waldkraiburg is a town i have yet to go to but for some reason i held them dear to me all year and followed them through their whole season through league websites, team web page , and all the amazing posts from their unbelievable fans the Woid Boyz . They won the opportunity to move up a league this year and almost went undefeated , i will be very proud to wear this jersey when it arrives !

When i get the chance i will post pictures of all these great gifts ..... i have said it many times before , i am so lucky to meet these great people all over the world that love the same game that i do .

The Week to Come

Tonight my Ghetto Blasters have a game against the Parkdale Newbies ...they are the last place team , but i take them very seriously as they have some talented players on their roster . The team is going through a bit of an upheaval and we are trying out skaters .... tonight we are bringing out a new centre . He is sure to be a hit since he is someone that Stro is bringing . Stro has a history of bringing out some quality players / people !
Last week was kinda crap ! Only worked 1 day , had a guy quit my team , had to remove another player and found out my plans for Europe in September were shot down because Cortina tournament booked their tourney 2 weeks early and i can't make it . With all bad things come the good , there seems to be a balance in my life lately like for example 3 weeks ago i vigilantly did everything not to lose a $20 bill , yeah i friggin lost it ! I was so lividly disappointed in myself for losing it and knowing it and probably knowing where and when i lost it too ... anyway fast forward to last week and i am standing in the rain in the (L)east end of Toronto waiting for my gf to pick me up and i am just pacing with no goal looking on the ground and in the murky sewer water from a melting block of ice what do i see peek out at me ? Yeah a $20 bill !!!!

Back to present day .... new players replacing old ones ( check! ) replacement trip for later this year ( check!) more work next week (hopefully ?) , things are looking up or i am just being more positive . This week i should be receiving a shirt from my friends in England ( particularly Stuart Girdler ) and the Army Air Corps "Ice Hawks" .... also my team going to Hawaii merged with a team from LA , the LA organizer seems very organized and needless to say i am waiting on a package from them in the next couple weeks to arrive as well . Looks like there is a free booze cruise and a huge party that we are now going to free of charge . SWEET !

Should probably get some coffee into me and start my day , as usual i am up way too early . I have a big announcement to make next weekend , keep all your fingers crossed as i think those of you that enjoy my stories will really really enjoy the surprise that is to come ????? Have a great weekend and stay safe on the ice !

Things Don't Always go as Planned :(

Just under 4 weeks from now and i will be on a beach in Hawaii .... not in the water , on the beach LOL . Still waiting on some team decisions to be made , it is hard for me to sit back and let someone else make all the decisions and i hope i am not pissing Tim off when i try to help ..... it has become second nature since i started running my own team .

Last night i found out that the tournament in Cortina D'Ampezzo ,Italy was scheduled early ... Sep. 9-10 . I had thought that it would be Sep . 24th or something later ..... Last year i was in Europe in early September. My Ghetto Blaster team plays summer and winter leagues.... first couple weeks of September are crucial as it is summer playoffs and beginning of winter team . We won our summer championship last year ( without me ) and when i got back to Toronto about 3 weeks into the winter season i had found out that 4 losers had quit without paying . That puts me into the hole , and yes i lost money this year ... and no i don't want to talk about it :(

Regardless i am scrapping my plans to go to Europe this winter and instead i am going to a tournament i have longed to play in for quite some time . Probably the biggest tournament in Asia . BANGKOK!!!! BKK !!! End of October i will be going with Rainer ( you should all know Kackvogel LOL ) . Rainman All-Stars , GO RED !!! There is one slight problem for me with this ... i have been to Thailand before , so now i am looking to go somewhere else to play in another country . Popular choice would be to go to Kuala Lumpur ( i know a few guys would like to see me there :) At the moment i am looking at flights and BKK - KL is not cheap .... i remember flying from Singapore to BKK for $75 ( and had to pay $100 for my f#$king bag !) ....stupid SwissAir  . That's another story which i am not sure that i ever finished .... Asia 2008 . Might have to put some stories down here before i go re acquaint myself with my friends out there .

Well i better start my day now ... as usual hunting for work and hockey players to fill rosters !

1 month until Hawaii

Holy Moly i am so pumped and excited about this trip .... unfortunately this past week has been very trying for this event to unfold with all the expectations . Last weekend after our hockey game Toby was hit by a car outside our sponsor bar . Thankfully he was not injured too badly but none the less it sucks !

After our game we usually go for a quick pint at the Midpoint , last weekend it was just Toby , Chip myself and of course Eric whom owns the establishment . We had a quick 2 or 3 pints and all headed home as the weather was getting bad . Walked over to my car with Toby and we had a smoke and chatted about our trip ( of course we are both stoked ) . Toby said bye , he was going to a house party close to the bar and said he was going to walk. I left 2 or 3 minutes after him from the parking lot , drove in same direction that he left .... when i got to the main street i looked around for Toby and did not see him . It was snowing and freezing rain mix and was low visibility so i thought either i can't see him or he moved fast .

The next day i get a call from Toby to find out that someone ran him over !!!!! Yeah apparently he was on the ground when i drove by and didn't see him ..... how crazy is that ? I am not sure if i should really go into the story which Toby told me .... if he is hurt and has to go to court i don't want to cause any problems by writing about it as i can't quote anything . I am trying to get a hold of him today to make sure he is okay , it will really suck if he comes to Hawaii and does not play :(

Also this past week there was a huge earthquake that triggered a tsunami which hit Hawaii ... at the moment i am not sure if there was much damage if any on the island . Here's to hoping that everyone is safe and that the arena is not damaged .

Sorry to write a blog today that is kinda sad , but this week the world shook and today i hope that all my friends on the Tokyo Canadians are ok .... i am counting the days down to Hawaii now that i am at 1 month , and at the same time i am keeping my fingers crossed . Peace.

Just Got An Open Invite to Mexico

A few years back i met this fellow travelling around named Edgar , we met at an after hours here in Toronto ... he was Mexican and the day we met was Cinqo de Mayo ( May 5th ) . To this day i am not sure who he knew out of the group of friends i was with . We went back to hang out at a friends house ( Adam Bentleys ) and somehow Edgar ended up there .... we actually started the night at Adams that night too as he used to ( and might still ) throw alot of theme parties and we were "celebrating" Cinqo de Mayo that evening too .

Fast forward to today .... popped onto facebook and Edgar greets me a hello and begins to tell me that i should go to Mexico . Within our conversation i mentioned to him i would like to play hockey in Mexico City as i know that they build a huge outdoor rink in the Plaza de la Constitucion check out the link below

http://www.iihf.com/channels1011/wm20/news/news-singleview-wm20/article/hockey-fiesta-in-mexico.html?tx_ttnews

Edgar told me that he knows of this and that he lives about 1 hour drive away in a town called Cholula , which is where the Piramides are ..... open invite , place to stay , HOCKEY , cool historical stuff ..... i think i am going to Mexico some time soon :)

http://www.delange.org/Cholula/Cholula.htm

The link above is to see the amazing Piramides .... definitely going to look up flight prices to go to Mexico . Hope you all have a great weekend ... .don't drink too much ;)