2011 in review

Alright so tonight i have my last game of 2011 here in Toronto playing for my Ghetto Blasters team , the next time i am on the ice will be in Estonia sometime next week ( still don't have schedule ) regardless next week is 2012 :)

Last year for New Year's Eve i was in the middle of a farmers field with a bunch of old school bikers somewhere near Fordingbridge , England ... that same week i got on the ice for the first time in England and the first time in 2011 ... it was a great start to the year . Did alot of skating on some questionably small and over packed skating rinks there as well LOL , like way over packed !

The Ghetto Blasters seasons have not gone so well in 2011 losing out in our semi final at the end of last season , not qualifying for playoffs at our tournament on Easter Weekend ( which we were defending champs ) and then probably a personal worst for me during the summer losing the majority of our games . The team was revamped moving into 2011/12 winter season and things have ended off on a good note ...we are going into 2012 in 1st place .

In between all this i went out to Hawaii to play in a +35 tournament for the ECG Scanning Wings out of California ... what a great trip . I played totally crap and still didn't lose a game having the honour of playing alongside some former pros like Jay North and Martin St.Amour there made winning easy . Going undefeated and winning every game by at least 3 goals we won the championship and i kept my overseas winning streak alive ... having won the last 2 tournaments i have played in ( Cortina before this one ) .

Like i said tonight is my last game and i am personally guaranteed to have a record in 2011 over .500 , even with the awful summer season i had ( don't ask how bad it was please :)

2011 was all in all a great year with its ups and downs as all years have , here's hoping and wishing that 2012 is a great year for myself and all of you reading this .

5 more days to Scandinavia

The excitement is building , i have been watching the weather and really praying that there are no delays with my flights . Pre packed my bag now i have to wash my hockey gear ( the washable stuff ) , my buddy quit his job working at the hockey shop where i used to get my gear cleaned for free :( 

Unfortunately Santa Claus did not bring me a new goalie bag to use on this trip so i am gonna have to do some sort of tape job to keep my ragged beast together . I was almost sure she would have been retired by now , i mean i was nervous about stuff falling out of it on way to Hawaii and that was over 6 months ago so you could imagine what kind of shape it is in now LOL .... she'll make it ( i hope ) 

We are still waiting on the tournament schedule , as usual there are teams that are not quite paid up .... same shit everywhere . Those of you that run teams and read this should never dick around guys trying to organize tournaments , be honest with yourself and to the guy running these things ! If you don't think you can get a team together then just tell them , i have seen this happen way to many times . Alot of people can talk the talk but there are few of us that actually walk the walk when it comes to travelling to these hockey tourneys . Anyhow enough of my rant :) 

From what i hear we will be playing Estonian and Russian teams at the tournament .... hopefully the Russian teams like to party because usually the home teams don't go out so much . I have already been promised a great party when i am there based on the guys i will be with so it is definitely going to be worth visiting Tallinn ! 

The only problem is that i still can't book my KHL ticket in Riga AND STILL NO ICETIME IN SWEDEN!!!!

Oh Sweden

It's been awhile since i posted anything here .... guess i should get back into the routine of posting blogs again seeing how i am leaving for my next adventure in less then a week :)

Today i am waiting to hear from the tournament organizer in Estonia ( Max Amhel ) . I am excited to see what teams are in this tournament . I have a feeling it will be a bunch of teams i have never heard of , from what i hear i am probably going to be the only Canadian at this tournament which is great . Last time this kinda thing occurred was in Bolzano , Italy . It was interesting finding ways to communicate with the guys that tried to communicate in some form of seriously broken English .

Yeah i know what some of you are thinking ... how is it that there are no Canadians ? Trust me there are tourneys out there with no Canadians in which you won't hear a lick of English . Once you get drunk everyone speaks the same language anyways LOL

The other day i tried my darndest to book tickets to go watch Dinamo Riga ( KHL ) . The website would not accept my credit card so i called in to see what was wrong and apparently the website i am trying to deal with is not accepting it .... is fraud that bad out that way in the wild wild East ? Along with waiting for tourney schedule i am going to have to try figuring out how to get tickets to see this game .... there is no way i am missing this opportunity to watch a KHL game , i don't even think i know anyone that has ever been to one of these games . How epic will this be ? well i guess i am going to have to find out by booking a seat .... where is that darned credit card :)

still waiting to get some icetime booked in Sweden ...... please anyone i don't care if children are shooting pucks at me i just want to get the chance to play hockey there !

Hockey In Sweden !

So i leave in a month on my next big trek , have to call Air Canada tomorrow to let them know i will be dragging my monster for a hockey bag onto their planes . Then i have to print up their policy to have just in case i run into yet another customer service agent that does not understand their airlines policies . My gear is free :)

As of now i am booked to play in all the countries i am visiting except Sweden . I don't have the largest window of opportunity to work with as i am probably not going to be there very long . At the moment all the connections i have don't live anywhere near Stockhom which means they can't get me on the ice there . This post is basically a plea to anyone out there that can get me on ice playing hockey in Stockholm ???? If you do please comment and hopefully it works out .

I don't want Sweden to be my next Slovenia . It will bug the shit out of me forever if i don't go back to play there , it was the same with England for the longest time having been there 3 times with my gear and not playing there finally last year i broke the spell and got on the ice there :)

That Swedish flag would look really cool on my stick bag ! Someone please help ....

Euro 2012 pt 1

Flights BOOKED !!!!

Heading out to meet Kackvogel ( Rainer ) in Frankfurt leaving Toronto on Jan 3rd , arriving in Frankfurt at 7 AM and jumping onto another flight for Stockholm , Sweden .  That same day we will be getting onto an overnight ferry to Tallinn, Estonia where the true adventure begins .

Arriving in Tallinn on Jan 5th i should be pretty wiped out from all the travel , but i don't have any time for this or that as we are heading there to play in a tournament which starts on Jan. 6th  . After the tournament we are planning to jump onto a bus to Riga , Latvia where we will play some pickup games and go watch a KHL game ( which i am super excited about ) . From Riga we will be jumping onto another ferry heading back to Stockholm to spend a few days .

Not much booked for Sweden yet .... if anyone reading this has any connections for me to play hockey in Stockholm please let me know as right now i have nothing . Also looks like i won't get a chance to watch an SEL game ( Swedish Elite League ) , as far as i know Djurgarden is not playing while i will be in Stockholm . I am not sure if there are any other clubs near Stockholm ...i will have to look that up unless someone would like to enlighten me ?

The remainder of this whirlwind tour will be spent in Germany ! Probably gonna play a ton of hockey there ... and meeting up with some old friends to have some fun and hopefully catch a DEL game in Munich the day before i head back home .... yup another crazy adventure with Rainer . This one is probably gonna be crazier then the last one with Planes , trains , automobiles AND ferry's there won't be much time to sleep ...comfortably :)

Ghetto Blaster 2 year anniversary !

2 years ago today the Ghetto Blasters team took to the ice for the very first time . When i started this team i was very reluctant but at the time i had no team to play for as the 2 teams i had played for had lied to me promising me the spot which was mine .... funny point is that i had won championships for both teams while injured and when i announced my injury i was promised that my spot would be there waiting for me when i returned . Which was not the case . Back then i was very angry with both teams but today i can honestly say thank you ! I wouldn't have started this if it weren't for you .

Since starting this team we have won a tournament championship ( Summit of the Arts ) and we won our summer league last year ( 2010 Monday night DMHL ) . Apparently the teams that i had played for have not won much since i left them and i have heard that the curse of Adrian hangs over them heavily :) .... having played for 1 of the teams since then it is something i was told in their room so i am not making this up ... LOL .

I started this team on my own , as there are a few guys who will tell you that they helped me .... really there is only 1 guy that helped me ... giving the team a name , finding players, making logo and just being a great all around Ghetto Blaster ... Greg Majster i would like to thank you for all of your help . Unfortunately Stro has moved on this season and is no longer on our roster but remains a great friend to me and the team . Hopefully we will see you at the Ghetto Classic this coming summer.

Speaking of the Ghetto Classic , another amazing part of starting this team 2 years ago ! This tournament sprouted out of all this ... one night sitting with one of the guys Stro brought to the team , Chad Dobbin ! He told me it was always a dream of his to start a hockey tournament , so we did .... it started as 2 teams getting really drunk and playing a 3 game series to last year having 6 teams and hopefully this year with 12 in 2 divisions ...

Last but not least we have went through roughly 80 skaters in 120 games thus far . I would like to thank each and every one of you for contributing in some form or other . It has been tough constantly finding new skaters to fill this squad with players quitting , getting hurt , moving , leaving for other teams and last but definitely not least for fighting on our own bench with our own teammates ( those guys got the boot hard LOL ) .

The future looks bright for the team , we have a winning record in our winter league this year . Planning to go to Europe ( Tachov, Czech Rep.) for a tournament later on this year and looking into entering our squad into a weeknight league next year to add onto our weekend schedule . Hopefully this year will be as good as our last year . The Ghetto Blasters will be around for years to come .

Keep It Ghetto !

Peace

Plans...

Morning !

Mid November , the air is brisk .... had a late skate on Friday night which brought me back to some old memories when we used to go to Lambton Arena for the late skate on Friday nights .... this was before i found out what alcohol was and back in my hay day of bringing girlfriends to the rink LOL ... oh the good ol days ! Got to meet up with an old high school friend at this skate ... Pat Pope . This guy was like mr. hockey when we were kids , he was always regarded as one hell of a hockey player . ( Yes i am trying to recruit him for Ghetto Blaster team hahaha) ....

The travel circuit for me is up in the air right now . Supposed to go to Europe in January but thus far i have yet to book a flight .... and the flight i was eyeing is now $200 more then when i first started to plan this trip . Basically i am waiting to find out if we will have enough players for the Rainman Allstars team for the tournament in Tallinn , Estonia ... pretty sure that if Rainer gets enough skaters then we are on , if not then shitty ... hopefully some of my friends from Finland will join us , if you are interested let me know !

Speaking of Finland ....a friend of mine whom i met in Germany last year named Tuomo Joutsenoja wrote to me ( well chatted with me on Facebook ) and asked me if i could go to Hawaii for the big tourney in April . Initially i let him know that i might not be financially able to make that one as i am to go to Czech Rep. the week after the Hawaii tourney .... there is a slight chance that i might get literally dragged out there LOL . If Tuomo can't find a Finnish goalie then i think i might have to go to Hawaii ( boo hoo poor me eh ? ) Not sure what Tuomo's teams name is but regardless they are gonna have an awesome time in Hawaii !!!

Finally i am gonna vent about how shitty i played last night . FUUUCCCKKK !!!

ok venting done :)
have a nice day .

Oh Well ...

Been seeing all sorts of status updates on Facebook that include Bangkok Tournament ... kinda wish i went but just not in the budget . I hope all my friends overseas have a good , safe tournament out there !

The other day got an invite to go back to Hawaii and i can't do that either ... i will be on my way to the Czech Republic with my Ghetto Blasters hockey club which doesn't make me feel so bad about saying no but regardless i always wish to rejoin teams i have played with in future tournaments . To date i have only returned to play for 1 team in more then 1 tournament , the Rainman Allstars .

This trip that i am planning to Europe is still up in the air and could go sour in a minutes notice . At this time i am just hoping that we can get enough skaters to join us in Estonia . If any of you reading this are interested in coming let me know , it is in January and should be quite the trip . Pretty sure at the moment we have 5 skaters not including myself . If we don't have enough for a full roster then i am not sure if i will be going , it is all up to my good buddy Rainer . There have been a few failed attempts at trips before so hopefully this is not the case or i will have to just wait until April for a big trip .

And if any of my buddies in BKK are wondering ... yes i am jealous ! There is always next year i guess ... oh well .

The Next Trip

Wassup !

So it has been 6 months since my last trip to Hawaii and i am itching to get the heck outta dodge , not that i hate Toronto or anything ... i just love travelling :)

It has been hard passing on this trip and that trip , most of my hockey trips need a few key things to make them worth while . New countries to visit , cheap places to stay , and most of the time Rainer ! The guy is like my German brother ... we have been on 2 huge trips together and were hoping all along this year that we could get on the same team for Bangkok but that never happened so i dropped that trip regretfully as i always have wanted to play in the big BKK tournament in October .

Alas some brainstorming got me the idea to go somewhere really cold to play the good ol' game ! Last night Rainer sent me the itinerary we will try to follow .... Looks like i will be flying to Germany to meet Rainer then fly to Sweden where we will catch a ferry to Estonia . Then we will take a bus to Latvia where we will catch another ferry back to Sweden ...... now i have been to Germany before but Sweden , Latvia , and Estonia are going to be totally new to me . Boy oh boy am i excited !

The main event on this 2.5 week trip will be the big tournament in Tallinn, Estonia here is the event link from Facebook http://www.facebook.com/adrmizzi/posts/10150350551822402?ref=notif&notif_t=like#!/event.php?eid=228016347255155 if you are interested in joining our team let me or Rainer know ! This is a far cry from the tournament/beach parties ... this will be cold ...very cold ! I like the cold but i have to make sure i am prepared for this one ....thermal socks , boots and undies are going to have to be purchased . Obviously i will be packing heavy since pants and boots are heavier then shorts and sandals so i will have to figure out my packing arrangement .

Nothing is booked as of yet but i am looking at flights that i should book in the next few weeks .... looks like i will have another crazy adventure to blog about ....please stay tuned ;)

and have a great day !

Goalies Are Unstable

So i kinda received another semi invitation to go play for a team from Vancouver in Bangkok ... can't do it . This brings to my mind the thought of how it must be to run a hockey team as a player instead of my situation being a goalie .

I have it easy i always know i am going to play in our games so all i need is up to 15 skaters in front of me . Now for other teams with player reps that aren't goalies , there must be alot of stress lining up goalies . Most of us are a pretty loyal bunch but since we are the nut bags that enjoy pucks hitting us makes us kinda well , susceptible to injury ?

In my older age i have kinda begun to take it a bit easy but i remember doing some wild things in my youth . Snowboarding , cliff diving and i am sure some of you goalies do worse .... let alone the drinking and partying that have rendered me ill on many occasion ( i am never drinking again ) .

So i wonder how many team reps out there are nervous beyond belief when they arrive at the arena and their goalie is not there .... we are usually first ones at rink , or at least i am . I mean there are at least 15 emails a week asking me to fill in for another goalie ...  how reliable area most of your goalies ? i hope to think that i am , but i have been known to take off to play overseas on the drop of a dime . Unfortunately it is not gonna happen for Bangkok . I hope this Vancouver team finds themselves a good quality keeper as that open division will be a challenge .

Excitement

Alright so i am packed ... just actually finished packing :)

Now i am sitting here with my cup of tea anxiously waiting for 730 AM to come as that is when my chauffeur will show up with my limousine to the USA . Actually it is some high school friends in a big ass SUV , not so glamorous .

I woke up at 4 am ... not a surprise as i am like a kid in a candy store when it comes to travelling of any sort . This will be my first time sitting in a passenger seat to go to NYC as usually i drive ... this time we figured old betsy might not make it as it is coming to the time to buy a new car :( new transmission last year makes her a bit fragile !

Last year today i was getting on a plane to go play hockey in Europe , if i wasn't going on another trip today i would probably be sitting around reminiscing over photos and blabbing about how much i miss people , which i do miss all the friends i met but i know i will meet most of them again + i am going on a trip today so i won't really get into the babbling brook kinda mood . I do have to thank my brother from another mother Rainer the king of the Kackvogels for being such a fucking amazing dude . Last years trip was the best trip i have ever been on to date . Thanks again Rainer !

This afternoon at some point i will be arriving in New Jersey and the festivities should begin off the bat . We will have to drive as fast as we can to make the big pre game tailgate party ... first game of the season . For now i will wait another 1.5 hours for 730 AM to arrive ....

Packing For Road Trip

Good Morning World !

This morning i have to start getting ready for my trip to New York City . Really looking forward to this but today i have to get down to business .

My ride will pick me up at approximately 730 AM tomorrow and as of now i have not packed a single thing . Tomorrow we have to get to New Brunswick , New Jersey by 4 or 5 PM as we are going to an NCAA football game ... we will watch the Rutgers vs.North Carolina Central game , yes i know they are 2 power house teams we have all heard of LOL . Regardless we should try to get there to enjoy the pre game festivities ( tailgate party ) as it is the season opening game and it should be an insane atmosphere to experience .

Back to packing ... to make it there on time we will have to avoid stopping aside from gas stops . This means today i have to go shopping for some food to pack a cooler . Best bet is to make sandwiches and pack a bunch of waters in a cooler . I might up the anti and make cupcakes ... yes i fucking bake do you have a problem with that ??? HAHAHA ...actually it is the easy stuff , just mix and throw in oven so i actually really don't bake right ? whatever !

This weekend will be retarded , i hope my liver can hold out ...5 days of debauchery . I am not allowed to bring my gear so unfortunately no hockey but lots of travelling and sporting events / hip hop festival . Lots of pics to come , i will probably do a daily blog on my travel regardless of the lack of hockey :(

On a hockey note , i think i am in the worst slump of my life . Last night we lost 4-3 in a REALLY close match . 2 more minutes and we would have tied it up for sure ... alas the puck seemed to have eyes last night with 1 deflected by one of my defense man and 1 taking a funny bounce off my stick to go in . Regardless next week i am hoping for greener pastures . If we lose our summer season ends .

I should start packing :)

Working For Vacation

Good Morning ... 430 AM and i am awake on a Saturday with no reason to be awake . Now is a good time to write a blog ! Or sleep more ?

Last couple weeks there has not much to be written about ,  my team over here in Toronto is marred in a bad losing streak finding ways to lose seems to be the summer theme. But alas everyone makes the playoffs and the second season begins next week against a team that i know we can beat . That idea leaves me upbeat .

Winter season starts in a few weeks and the team is totally new . We are playing in a new winter league and i can't wait to begin . It has been alot of work adding skaters to the Ghetto Blaster roster but this is something that has to be done when guys start chickening out and dropping out to either play for far weaker teams or other lame excuses . You all know who you are ... pussies ! I don't have much to say about guys that don't respond or leave teams hanging and this year i have made sure to avoid them . Adding guys if people don't respond much to their dismay if they decided to play in the end . Last year i lost a substantial amount of money because of guys that bailed out after the season started , this year this will not happen .

Not much going on in the travelling to play hockey department aside from having some plans to go to a tournament in Estonia ( still not a for sure trip ) but there always is my trip to Czech Rep . in May ( which i will be at 100% ) . It has almost been a year now since my epic trip through Europe and obviously i am thinking about it more and more and miss all the friends i made while over there ... hopefully i will have an opportunity for a trip like that in the next year , we will have to wait and see .

Next week i am actually heading to NYC on a road trip with some friends .... NO HOCKEY EQUIPMENT ALLOWED :( i have been told to leave my gear home as we are going to have a fun filled 5 days of travelling stopping at a game in NJ ( Rutgers Football ) then the Toronto Blue Jays game vs. Yankees with a huge hip hop concert the day after ( Rock The Bells ) and the Pro Surf Tour in Long Island  on our last day of the trip ... sounds busy , probably wouldn't find the time to skate between all these events :)

Today i have shinny hockey with some of the Ghettos ... maybe i should try getting back to sleep .

1 Year Anniversary

It was a year ago that i started to write a blog . It was an idea that was put in my head on my Euro trip in 2008 ,,, i was at the Guinness Brewery in Dublin at the bar having my free pint and i met this guy and we just randomly began chatting , the place was packed . He asked me what i was doing in Dublin,Ireland and i told him i was visiting a friend and was there to play some hockey . He was blown away and immediately told me i should be writing a blog about this and it stuck in my head for quite some time .

Last year just before i left on my trip to Europe i decided i should write a blog and what better time to start it then before my trip so i could write a daily about what i am doing , who i am playing with and against and where along with some other crazy things that go on during my crazy ice hockey trips .

At first i began writing about my older stories , and i still have a bunch i never wrote about so someday if i slow down on my travels i will begin to share them ....obviously not the really crazy stories for all you guys that meet me ;) The past year has been fun writing about my trips and i will continue to write about anything related with travelling and hockey .

Travelling through Germany,Czech Rep., Finland, Austria,Italy,England,and going to Hawaii in the last year has been quite the slice of pie but i hope and wish to do more in the coming year ... i didn't win the lottery last night unfortunately so my dreams of leaving here in the next 24 hours will have to wait until the next lottery draw LOL ... hopefully i can get my gear out of country around the Christmas Holidays or else i might be waiting until April to really excite my readers ... yeah you !

Can't wait until my next trip ......have a great weekend and keep your head up :)

Am i alone ?

Just wanted to let you all know that i am not the only goalie travelling the world playing hockey .... Last night we ( Ghetto Blasters ) had a scrimmage and i invited Robert Gray out to be our other goalie .

Rob is a goalie that i met in Dubai .... i was there playing in their tournament with the Malta Pirates . We had a game vs. a team that wore yellow and unfortunately my team wore yellow , or actually they had other jerseys but they didn't have a goalie cut for me so i was stuck with yellow . Most time refs don't care but for some reason on this day they did and asked me to change my jersey . I was livid and took things harder then i shoulda ( goalies can be quite emotional ) .

I told the ref i didn't have another jersey and when i looked over to the benches i saw Rob waving his jersey around , so i skated over and he said i could borrow it but i had to make sure to keep it lucky LOL .

So at the time Rob was living in Dubai playing for the Mighty Camels and teaching , now he is back in Canada down near St. Catharines . I never had the chance to play against Rob so it was inevitable that i beg him to come out with us .... and let me tell you it was more satisfying hanging out with Rob then it was playing opposite him . He is just that good !

I know i had a great time sharing stories with Rob about travelling here and there . Rob has probably played in as many countries as i have and is not slowing down . Hopefully i can get him to come out again in the future as it is always a pleasure having these skaters/goalies out to skate with my team here .

wearing Rob's jersey in this pic

So if you are or were wondering at some point if i am the only one doing this here is your answer : NO . I just seem to be the only one writing about it . And also if you are wondering about last nights outcome ...it was a tie :) everyone was a winner !

Estonia

Had a very chill day yesterday , even though we are in the middle of a heat wave here in Toronto ( i have central air ) . It had been quite some time since i had some time to chat with my buddy Rainer ( Kackvogel ) online . We were planning on meeting up at the Bangkok tournament and it seems that it probably won't work out for either of us .

The last blog or the one before that i mentioned that Kathleen and i usually take off for the holidays ( xmas & new years ) and recently we have started to toss out ideas .... one has us going to England & Malta . I mentioned this to Rainer and asked if there were any tournaments in Europe after New Years . Rainer if anyone will know when and where every tournament you could imagine would be occurring anywhere in Europe .

Apparently there is a tournament in Tallinn , Estonia the first week of January ( possibly Jan. 6-9 ) . A flight from London is under $300 return ( Lufthansa ) ! This is very cheap .... the tournament is not so cheap at 800 Euros entry . Rainer is going to send out a facebook invite for this tourney and hopefully enough of you that read this will want to join us for another crazy tournament adventure . Rainer already begun mentioning a few other destinations around there and i know that Finland is very close so hopefully we can convince our friends from Tampere to join us !

So another tournament trip is in the works , hopefully there is enough interest to have Rainer enter a team . Then i can start convincing Kathleen that Europe is where we should go :) then i will have to convince Rainer to come with me somewhere like Riga , Latvia which he has already mentioned being close .... stay tuned as this might be the next big adventure !

Tournaments Between November-February

Still trying to figure out what i am going to do next ... do i go to Asia ? do i go to Europe ? OR do i go to South America ????

Recently i have found rinks in Costa Rica , Argentina , Brazil ... the only problem is that i have yet to get into contact with anyone down there that would be organizing hockey ice times . It would be a ridiculous trip and i am pretty sure that flights between countries would not cost me so much . Definitely would need alot of preparation to make this trip come to fruition .

Europe would be great too as i would love to stop over in Malta to visit my family , and i would not have to organize anything for that . Problem is that i am already planning to head there next April anyways so that is kinda redundant .

Asia is another long haul trip that would have to be at least 3 weeks and covering at least 2 countries LOL ! If i don't have any plans to go anywhere and get an invite from one of the teams i would like to play for then i would probably book my flight . The tournament is at the end of October , shouldn't be too much of a problem to leave earlier . I was planning on going to the tournament in Bangkok and always have wanted to .... but since i have been there already and have played there before ( not in tourney ) it kinda makes it hard for me to go back , my sense of adventure wants to go somewhere new . This way i can put a new flag on my stick bag :)

At the moment i am planning a trip to NYC ( not hockey related ) and have been in talks with my better half about a trip somewhere/anywhere possibly for the Holidays ( Xmas & New Years ) .... this NYC trip is pricey , going to see NCAA football game , Hip Hop tour, Blue Jays are playing vs. Yankees , Rock the Bells hip hop festival , and Pro Surf Tour on the last day ....... so i might have to hold off and just go away in late December , hopefully i can convince someone to carry my stick bag for me ?

If anyone has any suggestions for any tournaments anywhere in the world between Nov-Feb then post a comment ... ideas are always appreciated !

Smart Car Promo

Last night i finally got the chance to play hockey at the MasterCard Center for Hockey Excellence ... still think it is a long useless name . 4 hours on the ice shooting a promo video for Smart Car ... it was a shit ton of fun ;)

The promo has the host going country to country in his Smart Car doing things that are unique to the city visited ... check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETJF5XhTFhQ that is just one of the videos . Basically i was contacted by a colleague of mine looking for some pro hockey players so i hooked him up with one ... don't want to ruin any scenarios . I guess we are all going to have to wait for it to get released on YouTube .

You can also check out their Facebook group http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/smart.studio.tv , the videos that they have made already are all really good , i am sure we will all enjoy the next one they release . Stay tuned !

Hope you all have a great weekend , this goalie needs to rest ... 4 hours of fun equals pain and suffering today , but good pain with great memories !

Oh What A Feeling

Don't let the title throw you off . I feel like crap today ... day 3 of this stupid summer flu that i caught from parts unknown . If i knew who infected me i would offer it back :) . Another missed day of work today which really sucks . Not one of those people that is willing to go work and make everyone i know ill , just doesn't seem like a good solution does it ?

Later on in the early evening i am hoping to feel better as i finally get to go play hockey at the MasterCard Center for Hockey Excellence .... yes it is a long stupid name for an arena devoted to being a practise facility for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Marlies . I live really close to the rink but have never actually played hockey there yet i have been there for a pleasure skate . Tonight i am hoping to have some pleasure if i get over this stupid illness , if not i am gonna try to fight through it regardless as i can't pass on this opportunity .

The skate is from 5-9 PM and it is for some Smart Car promo , so there will be a film crew there shooting the whole thing . Good possibility that this goalie gets seen making a save or letting a goal in this promo ... either or it is just a bonus for me . Now i have to go pop some pills and fight this flu !

Bad Position

Stuck between a rock and a hard place , this season i tried to put 2 teams into 2 different leagues . 1 of those teams is unfortunately not going to make it . It seems that guys from the original team are just dropping out for different reasons or injuries , the rest of the team is not responding and nobody has put a down payment down which past the due date that i set .

This means that either i pay the down payment out of pocket OR i drop the team . Putting the down payment down out of pocket is a risk i am not willing to take . I did that last year and 4 jerks dropped out on me without notice letting me know 4 weeks into the season when i returned from my Euro Trip . That really sucked big time ! I ended up losing $900 last season because of them and still had 1 person claiming that i am making money .

The bottom line is that nobody is willing to pay and nobody is responding which means nobody cares ... which means we will not compete . The problem i have is that 1 person that replied and was willing to send me money is now in limbo without a team since the other squad is just about full . I feel really bad about this and honestly don't know what to do . If i do put the deposit down and no one pays then i am royally screwed so it is not worth it ... not for a bunch of guys that can't find the time to respond to an email .

The non response to emails is a serious pet peeve of mine , i will never understand how it is so much work to type a few letters to someone saying yes or no . Plain and simple i feel as though it is a lack of respect , if you can't respect me then i can't respect you either ...if you said hi to me on the street and i ignored you how would you feel ? In this day and age everyone seems to have easy access to emails and other messaging through the devices that are kept in most of your pockets . Next time you get an email from someone you know why don't you think twice about what a dick you are being by not replying and change your attitude . The person emailing you is keeping you in mind so why don't you do the same instead of being selfish ... its not hard just say yes or no .

If you are one of the guys that has not replied and you are reading this guess what ... you better start looking for a new team to play for as i probably won't respond to your emails either :) tough beans .

First Online Interview

A couple of weeks ago i was contacted by a fellow named Andre le Puck . Andre is a filmmaker that lives out in Vancouver , he found my blog online and contacted me to go on his show that he is in the process of pitching to hopefully get on air .

Andre was interested in interviewing me and we made plans to have a skype interview , first crack at it didn't work as i had to work and missed out ... but we worked on making it happen and this past week it did :) I must admit i was a bit nervous and kinda flubbed on a few questions . Don't really want to get into what we spoke about as it has not been posted online as of yet and i don't want to ruin anything for either of us ... the suspense is killing me though as i am nervous to see what the final product looks like .

At this point i am hoping to get a 2nd interview and hopefully i can correct any mistakes i made the first time , pretty sure that it will be a learning process for both myself and Andre . You all should check out the website and look at Andre's past projects ( they are pretty cool ) http://myhockeyshow.com/about.html .

Hopefully in the coming week Andre will have the interview with me posted on his site ... i am sure he is busy editing as we speak if he is not painting pucks which is his other passion .

This coming week i will also be looking forward to the video shoot for Smart Cars that i will be in , big acting debut . I will be playing the part of a goalie , yes i know far stretch for me LOL .... should be fun skating with some pros at the MasterCard Center :) , really looking forward to this . Will try to get some pics to post here next weekend . Hope you all have a great weekend and make sure you check out My Hockey Show . Cheers !

Don't Stop Looking For Players

This past week our Ghetto German friends went back home ( well The Tanzmanian Devil went to Spain ) . And we went back to reality , which is that we need skaters ARGH!

Last weekend was alot of fun with alot of guys around from past and present teams , no worrying about our bench as there were enough skaters ... then we played our league game and were down to 2 lines ... then our Germans were gone. This leaves me in my usual scramble to put a squad together . This week our 2 reliable centers happen to be out of town which really leaves me to wonder if we should put 2 teams into 2 leagues this winter ?

Today i wake up and get an email from a player i was expecting to be on both squads , he can 't play this winter . Immediately i begin sending emails out to skaters looking to fill our DMHL roster , it is not cheap but it is a very competitive league playing in some quality arenas . As of now we have 10 skaters which means it will cost way too much per player ( and for me in the long run ) . Today i will have all of my fingers crossed hoping for some good replies .

Funny thing this week a guy from the squad told me if there were too many players that he wouldn't want to play , wondering if he minds paying all the extra money for everyone so he can get ice time ? Just a simple fact : Ghetto Blasters have played 103 games now and i think maybe 5 have had 15 skaters on the bench . Maybe all the ice time in the past doesn't count ? Either way i am looking to add 5 more skaters to make 15 , which guarantees we will always have at least 10 LOL ... this means i won't have to scramble weekly to find skaters to make 10 .

The search continues....

Ghetto Classic 2011

Friday night the Ghetto Classic began ... our second annual event but really our first time running an actual tournament with more than 2 teams ! The Ghetto Blasters opened the tournament playing the Chart Attack Hack ... our only prior meeting led to a 3-3 tie and we were expecting this team to do much better as they had added a couple good skaters we know . Once the game started the result was going to look bad , we jumped all over them and ended up beating them 11-2 .

The second game of the evening was the real treat for me and my co-host Chad Dobbin ( Chip Dubois ) . It was the first game we had organized that was not a Ghetto Blaster game . It was probably the best game of the whole tournament as the Bloody Knuckles and The Animals fought hard for a 2-2 tie game . This was a 6 team tournament so on Friday there were only 2 games played , and then we went to The Midpoint to be entertained by DJ Standfast . That night the bar served up some Southern Fried Chicken and Chili Cheese Fries YUM ! Quite a few of us showed our faces at the bar and some of us got piss tank drunk .... one of us even slept behind a dumpster :)

I slept at Chips place, he lives directly across the street from the arena ( thanks bro ) . Unfortunately this was our last time holding an event and using Chips place as Ghetto central as he has to move in the next couple months :(

Day 2 started off great . Easy Company showed up and played their game and i was standing outside during their game when the Sgt. Rock guys showed up . The Juice showed up and i started to wonder how good they will be now that they are stacking their team .... then Jeff Marek shows up , he is with someone with a ginormous smile on his face . Going over to Jeff i ask him who is this ? He looks really familiar , and with that Jeff Marek smirk he answers that it is Brad May !!! First thing i said was MAYDAY ? He looks at me calmly and says yes . WOW .... unfortunately i did not hound him for a pic and he only showed up to play against my Ghetto Blasters . We were nervous , this guy had a great career in the NHL for years .

Basically what i figured was that the winner of this game wins our group and goes automatically to the semis . We wanted this game as we have never beaten Sgt. Rock , but they have Brad May .... once the game started we seemed to play off that energy , i can almost say that that was probably the best game we have ever played . We totally controlled them and went on to a convincing 6-3 win ....and we were all really happy for this . Now it is time to get smashed , thanks to our beer sponsors Mill St. & Labatt's courtesy of The Midpoint . There were about 11 cases of beer when the day started ... there was 0 when we headed to the bar at the end of the day ( around 9 pm ) . Every team one by one came by to the barbecue we held in Chips backyard and gobbled up all 120 hamburgers ... it truly was a great day ! Thanks to all the teams that showed up , but really still can't believe we had the chance to play Brad May :)

Semis were on Sunday at 10 & 11 AM . Chip woke me up at 9:15 and honestly i still have no clue how i made it back to Chips couch on Saturday night .... lets just say i was as drunk as i would have been if this was a tournament with Rainer LOL ! The match ups were Ghetto vs. Chart in rematch and Easy vs. Sgt. Rock . The Ghetto game was actually our teams 100th match which meant alot to me as an organizer . We went on to win 9-0 , i got a shutout AND an assist , i don't get many .... Easy Company manhandled Sgt. Rock and got themselves into the final against us . There was a 1 hour break between games and the rink staff gave us a double zamboni run to make the ice better , thanks goes out to them also ! Lets just say that the Final was not the fairy tale ending for the Ghetto Blasters , with the first goal being scored on by my d . We lost 5-2 but the main point was reached as everyone had a great time !

I have been hounded to do another tourney soon , but i think i should keep this to a once a year deal for now ... it is alot of work but it was totally worth it . CONGRATULATIONS goes out to Easy Company , great tourney !

Warmup

The zamboni has just finished clearing the ice . I step on go to grab the net and place it on its pegs , then i skate around to limber up and then place myself near the bench to do some stretches . After stretching i step into my domain ...The Crease

This is where most of you hockey players are lost . Do you all realize that most if not all goalies like to build their confidence during warm up ? Probably not ... seems like the majority think that at this time it is the perfect opportunity to light up your own goalie right ? Go top shelf a few times and make your goalie look shit ? Not a good idea kids ....

The warm up is for all of us , to get ready for the game to come . Now if you score like 15 goals on me picking corners then i am more than likely to be a little puck shy or to say fighting the puck . If you step up and just shoot pucks in my bread basket for 5 minutes then i am more likely to gain confidence and probably will end up having a better game :)

Don't take this as a rant , lately i have been asking guys to do this and they have been telling me that they never thought of it this way . It only makes sense that if i perceive in my mind that i can stop everything in warm up that i can do it in the game to follow whereas if i let everything in than my confidence might be a little shotty .... believe it or not if you guys all do this for your goalies it will help .

So the next time you are in a warm up try to hit the goalie instead of the water bottle .....

Ghetto Classic Merch

Today is the day ! In a couple hours i have to go pick up the Ghetto Classic tshirts that i ordered , very anxious to see how they look . The problem is that the logo looks great but sometimes does not come out so well on tshirts unless it is printed to be the right size and placed properly . Having been through a few disasters makes me anxious . Having dealt with the Merchguy before and not being disappointed makes me feel alot better , but you never know ... i seem to have the bad kind of luck :(

Also got awards for the team that wins , saw pictures but have yet to have them in hand . Pics look great and i have no doubt that the winning team will appreciate these . I never seem to understand that most tournaments don't give anything to the players when winning anymore . As someone that plays in alot of tournaments i can honestly say that there is a sense of feeling gypped when you win a championship and have nothing to show for it aside from your team getting some big trophy or getting a plaque with your team picture .... players like trophies plain and simple ! If you run a tournament and you want your players to be happy then give them trophies trust me :)

Since i am on the subject of trying to make players happy there is the stats issue . Yeah i know they don't matter in the whole scheme of life but there are some if not alot of players that want to see their names on a board with their stats . Obviously there will be stats collected for the Ghetto Classic ( wish i had a website for the tourney , project to work on for 2012 ) , with those stats we will determine the tournaments top forward, defense, and goalie . Lets be frank , without stats all you are playing is a glorified game of shinny . Some people don't get it , they probably never played hockey ......

Obviously stats will make players compete , and they will be competing for hardware . It all makes sense doesn't it ? so why don't other tourneys do this ? Not too sure but best bet is that they are being cheap .... now i am not knocking or mentioning any tourney names but maybe you should all take notice and step it up . Make the tourneys more fun !

If all of this does not work in making players/teams happy and wanting to come back then there is always the free booze and burgers :) The highlight of the weekend should be on Saturday when we invade Chips backyard for our tournament BBQ .... free beer makes everyone happier , the burgers should put this tournament on the map for next year . I can't wait until next weekend !

It Goes On ...

Yup, this week we got smoked ... i got so lit up i think i got a tan :( Sucks cause i know i could have done better . That is why i am so happy to see my German buddy Andi Tanzer coming from Germany , now i have someone to go play shinny with ALL THE TIME :)

Andi is not alone he is here with his friend Marcus Mooseder ( another good hockey player ) . Unfortunately Marcus was there playing for the Ghetto Blasters in the thumping we received this past week . Andi & Marcus are here for pretty much 1 thing only and that is to play hockey . Hopefully i will get them to have a few beers at the Ghetto Classic , but judging from the form that Marcus held at the Midpoint on Wednesday during the Stanley Cup Final i would say he is not so big on drinking . I kinda got shittered .... Rock N Roll quote from a coworker named Hunter aka Fubar .

Anyhoot tomorrow i am gonna meet up with ZE GERMANS to play some shinny out at Mississauga Iceland Arena .... usually there are a whole lotta skaters and goalies so hopefully it is not a waste of time for us , midweek shinny is a must as i have a couple days off , hoping some extra ice time will help me stop a puck or 2 more in my next game . That last one was a shit show , this weeks team is even better than the last so i better get ready . This time next week the Ghetto Classic will be in full swing ! So excited :)

Community Service?

Stupid enough to run a hockey team i have no clue why i am organizing a tournament LOL ! This past week has been getting busy work wise , in the jobs that i actually get paid for . Kinda has kept me from the organizing of hockey , but somehow i need to pay for all this stuff ...

In the last week i ordered trophies ( Paid For ) got my t-shirt order in (Paid For ) even though i am still waiting to see both and very anxious too since i have had some terrible product made for my team before . Wish i could remember that dirtballs name that sent me those piece of shit hats that i ended up giving away for free , when i remember i will make sure to post something about you ...scam artist !

Back on track :) the tournament is in 11 days , still have to collect more money , pay off the rest of the cash to arena and my refs & timekeepers and then i am done .... maybe , aww shit i have to make sure it runs smoothly too . Well that is where alcohol will come in handy !

*** Note to self : when walking into other teams dressing room make sure i have beer in hand ! ***

Did i ever mention to you that i am doing this all for free ? Some will call it charity work and for those of you that got in trouble when you were young it would be community service ... i am ghetto so community service it is ! I guess the best i can hope for now is that everyone has a good time , right ?

10 Countries I Would Love to Play In

Summer hockey is a quarter of the way into the season , work is keeping me busy and now it is time to start daydreaming about places that i really want to play in .

10) Mexico - There is an outdoor rink that is built there every New Year in the Plaza de la Constitucion !!! http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/article/mexico-wins-in-and-outdoor.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=231&cHash=6e70295b25

9) Puerto Rico  - Found out about the rink there a few years back now , and had a very interesting email exchange with one of the guys there basically asking if i liked stiff drinks and loose women LOL ...apparently you are more than welcomed there if you do ! Pretty sure there are 2 arenas there and they have hosted 1 if not more NHL exhibition games there .... i know for sure that 1 rink is right on the beach !http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/browse/3/article/will-ice-melt-on-puerto-rico.html?tx_ttnews%5BpS%5D=1220220000&tx_ttnews%5BpL%5D=2591999&tx_ttnews%5Barc%5D=1&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=187&cHash=394e90a0bd

8) South Africa & Namibia- Rainer and myself had spoken of doing this trip together someday , apparently there are a few arenas in S.A and Namibia is not too far off to travel to if i ever do have the opportunity to go down there . http://www.saicehockey.org.za/

7) Russia- Seriously how friggin crazy would that be , for me to go to Russia would definitely mean at least 1 tournament ... playing against probably some of the best hockey players in the world would be a treat !!! This one will probably happen in the next 5 years ... no need for any links i think no one is amazed that there is hockey in Russia LOL

6) Brazil- Its been a few years now that i have been trying to make contact with someone down there , just recently i was notified that there is ice down there as all i knew was speculation that there was and there is ...this and that really with no real answers , this would have to be the start of a long trip with other South Americans countries in the mix .

5) Greece- There was a moment this past year that i was actually planning to head out there after the tourney in Italy that i was hoping to go to , but i am not :( This trip is still on my mind with stops in Croatia,Serbia, Albania, Macedonia , i was planning to do it via train but the deterrent is dragging my bag around . Might be an expensive trip to do in the next couple years by car :)

4) Philippines- Damn i have been always intrigued with Philippine people , so friendly with such great food . Couple years ago i was sent an invite to bring a team there for a tournament , this year i think it was cancelled ...hopefully the opportunity will come around at some point to make my way there .

3) Slovenia- I was there ! Begged for hours to play , camped out behind the arena for a full day ... never got on the ice ... next time i will get on , next time ! Loboda you better get me on that ice before i lose my mind LOL it bothers me so much that i never got to play there as i watched others come and go there to play ...

2) Morocco- This is a trip that i would definitely do for New Years with Kathleen at some point in our lives ...

1) Malaysia- Kuala Lumpur is somewhere i have always wanted to go to ... hoping to head out there this year in October . The plan is to practise with the Malaysian National Team and to hopefully get in on some league games while i will be staying an elevator ride from the arena which is in the hotel i will hopefully be able to afford to stay at .

Don't get me wrong there are other places and trips i am still dreaming of like the one where i drive around the whole UK playing in Scotland,England and Wales , this list is of countries that i have never played in .... i would definitely give an honorable mention to playing in Australia and the Barcelona Tournament in Spain which i have always wanted to play in .....today it's raining here in Toronto , don't blame me for having the time to daydream ....

Running My Own Tournament

Last year i was sitting around with Chad ( Chip ) and we were talking about having a tourney between our friends teams ( Whales,Toros , Ghetto Blasters ) . So we ended up renting ice at McCormick Arena and began working on trying to get these teams out .... it never happened :( instead one of our teammates Bryce decided to put his own team together to play us in a 3 game series , which they swept us but we all had a ton of fun with lots of drinking and eating involved.

This year i decided to put some more work into this and get more teams . And we moved the date further into the summer June 24-26 ( fingers crossed that it won't rain ) . I was aiming to get 8 teams and i have booked enough ice to accommodate that amount of teams but unfortunately the defending champs Brockton HC aka the Brockton Bananas have pulled out along with the Juggernauts leaving us with 6 teams .

Any of you that read my blog should know that i like to drink and have a good time at tournaments and that is what i have been gearing this tournament to be ...basically a summer party tournament . BBQ across the street in Chips backyard , of course there will be beer :) , we have our sponsor bar booked ( The Midpoint ) with DJ's that are competing in our tournament performing all weekend .

This week i need to get my tshirts printed , and begin working on our tournament booklet ... the teams that will be competing and hopefully having a good time are all from our artist league here in Toronto ( GTHLA ) we are hoping to see our friends from Europe ( Rainman AllStars ) next year along with hopefully some other friends from overseas coming over here to play . I am pretty sure that we run the only summer tournament within walking distance of downtown bars !!! This could be a recipe for disaster , i know that i won't be making it home that weekend and plan on camping out at Chips across the street from the arena .

Can't forget to mention that the Ghetto Blasters will have some MORE German friends coming over to play for us in the tournament and in some of our summer league games . Andi Tanzer is coming back and bringing his friend Marcus Mooseder , we are hoping to get our name onto our trophy this year as it is always nice to win the tourney that you host .... my main goal is to make sure that the party keeps rolling at this tournament and to make sure that everyone has fun!

Apocalypse ?

So apparently the world is gonna end this weekend or some mumbo jumbo like that ... haven't posted anything here in a few days so i might as well post 1 more just in case :)

Past couple of weeks have been rough , been working alot , saving alot , and did i say working alot ? Aside from that crap i have been in a tiny rough patch on the hockey side of my life . Ghettos got knocked out of playoffs , on the bright side we went 2-1 at our last "tournament " and started summer off with a W . But as other seasons have begun there are always the pains of collecting money and having people quit or not show up , only making more work and pains for your favorite travelling goalie :(

This past week also had a team drop out of tournament due to lack of players AFTER i called them asked them to OK their schedule AND added an 8th team with the promise of paying up only to have them drop out .... so yeah i have to find a hockey team to play in our Ghetto Classic on June 24-26 or end up having to either 1) put another team together 2) drop a team 3) come up with some whack job schedule to accommodate everyone either or it looks like i will lose some money as i have learned over and over that breaking even when running a hockey team is almost impossible .... any sponsors interested in plastering your names across my jersey or buying your name before Ghetto Blasters please inquire !

At least i am starting to save up for my trip to Asia in October . Unfortunately today i found out that the team i was contemplating playing for at the Bangkok tournament is contemplating using 2 goalies . Not really my cup of tea so i opted out and am currently available to any team in need of a goalie at that tournament .... obviously i would prefer to play A division but will settle for some good times in exchange .... sorry Robert but i just can't leave this city to split hockey games with someone else , defeats the purpose .

Life goes on i guess , as long as that apocalypse thing doesn't occur ....

Ghetto Seasons

Can't get this sour taste out of my mouth .... we had yet another epic loss to arch rivals Easy Company . For some messed up reason we ended up playing these guys 9 times this season !!!! and we lost 8 of those matches , mostly by 1 goal . This past Saturday we had the chance to put that record to rest by knocking them out of the playoffs in our 3rd game of a best of 3 semifinal series ....but we didn't :(

We fought hard and went out swinging , Easy Company is one hell of a tough team to beat . Now you must be wondering how is it that we are still playing hockey . Well we play all year long with tournaments and a winter and summer season which we compete in . Unfortunately this winter season gets dragged out super long due to some odd scheduling .... so our winter season just ended last weekend ,this weekend we have a tournament to play in and the Tuesday following we begin our summer season !

Summer is in a different league and we play on Tuesdays rather than weekends . Most people that live in Toronto enjoy leaving the city on weekends to head north of the city to go to their cottages or for camping weekends . Weekend hockey in the summer is not often .... Last season we won the championship in the lowest division for summer so this year we have moved up a league , and we have strengthened the team . Hoping for some good results , as i said i have this sour taste in my mouth from losing in the semi finals for our winter league .

The only real summer event i have planned aside from leaving the city for some R&R is the Ghetto Classic which runs from June 24-26 , we are still looking for an 8th team .... if you are interested in entering a team please contact me by leaving a comment below . I should go hunt for some work now , so i can start saving for my next big trip .... and yes Andi i work ;)

Vegas Cancelled

Can't say i didn't think this would happen...

This tournament in Las Vegas is about 3 weeks away , really short notice to put a team together but we came close . It is really hard to organize travel teams ! With this amount of time it almost seemed impossible but i still have to thank Matt for giving his best effort to try to make it happen , hopefully we will find another tourney to go to at some point this summer . I was really looking forward to hanging out with Matt, Vooch , Schwanke and meeting some new friends at the same time .

My first effort to take a travel team to a tournament started about 6 months ago , the tournament i am planning to take a team to is Tachov . That is next April ! My plan is to get the guys hyped up and give them enough time to save ...at the moment i have 8 skaters + myself makes 9 which is all we can fit in the bus we are renting . The truth will come once i actually begin to see people booking flights , which i can almost guarantee will not be the 8 guys that have said they want to come .

There are people that say they want to go and there are people that go . There are not that many people that actually frequent these tournaments which makes it a huge challenge trying to convince people that say they want to go to go . Once you do end up going you probably will get hooked as i have never met a guy at a tournament that was not having fun !

Maybe i should wait to post this as i am getting some updates that we might add a couple skaters .... ahh whatever i am posting this . If anything changes it gives me reason to make another post LOL ..... hoping you are all having a great weekend ! cheers :)

Las Vegas or Bust ?

Looks like half the guys in the picture above will be going to Las Vegas for the Gambler Cup from May 27-30 , i am one of that half...

Matt Gilbertson is running this team , a resident of Hawaii ...this team will be called MGA Tsunami so expect to see a bunch of us in another picture with different jerseys . Along with myself and Matt will be superstar DJ Vooch and one of my favorite big bruising defensemen Paul Schwanke ,this is gonna be alot of fun . At the moment we have 7 skaters and we are all keeping our fingers crossed that we can get 3 more .

Right now i don't even have a flight booked , and in fact i am waiting to hear by Friday evening ( in Hawaii ) if we are in fact going or not . If the result is good then i will book my flight and begin to look for hotel rooms , kinda hoping not to lose my wallet on this little weekend warrior trip . This trip will be a solo adventure which i am sure will be better then The Hangover movie .... maybe i won't end up in a trunk :)

SO if any of you reading this are interested in coming to this tournament with us then let me know ... we are hoping to play in A or B division . Both sets of fingers crossed hoping we go , and i don't even gamble !