Scooter lessons by Adrian

Sunday morning and guys are all leaving while we are cleaning up the house since it’s an air b’n’b ...it wasn’t that bad to be honest we were pretty responsible about cleaning up after ourselves 👏 every time I turned around another one of the guys disappeared as they all were flying back home or in the case of Noble & Andy were driving back home on their 5 hour trek which left me , Cam , Quintin and Robin leftover with nothing to do so we went into the Octagon and jumped on some Lime Green Scooters 🛴 this time I’m sober and we were a bit sceptical about getting on them as this big gash on my knee is a sign of what could happen lol 😝 when we jumped on we thought our batteries were dead because they weren’t getting up to speed , we failed to notice that there is a speed restriction on them in the Octagon limiting them to 10 Km per hour while the top speed outside the zone is around 26 K ! So we found our way out of the city center and raced around like a bunch of children . We had a race and I’m not exaggerating when I say we all were laughing and having so much fun riding together as we were messing about at top speeds down the roads hahaha 😆 none of us fell off this time and nobody got hurt but we did work up a thirst for some beers so we parked the scooters and hit the bar where I also found some oysters 🦪 now my trip is complete 🤟

Eventually we had to drop Robin and Quintin off at the airport and then we headed to Drew’s place . There is a scrimmage tonight but I’m not gonna play since I have to fly in less then 12 hours and that is nowhere near enough time to dry my gear here and I’m not about to test that theory out so instead I hung my gear in Drew’s garage and had a fan pointed at the gear while we went back to the rink where I posted up in the bar while I wrote a blog post watching the guys scrimmage . The scrimmage was pretty bad to be honest and I didn’t pay much attention as I did my writing and after the skate I got to see a couple guys I met here last year when we went to Gore so that was pretty cool 😎 

After hockey Drew went to bed ??? Yeah I was a bit surprised that he didn’t hang out for a bit with us ... I’m sure it’s because he has to work tomorrow but we have to be up earlier then he has to . Oh well 😔 we decide to go grab a bite to eat and went to the local Chinese takeaway and I personally wasn’t impressed as chicken balls is not a thing here and sweet n sour spare ribs confusingly comes with noodles and I wasn’t risking ordering them and ending up with something I didn’t really want so I opted for the chicken fried rice which I ate even though I didn’t rate it . We ate our food at Drew’s and then crashed out ... Cam was gracious enough to let me have the bed and he took the couch ... I set my alarm and set off to lala land 😴 

Will it be Gold ?

Big game was on Saturday as the New Zealand Masters Games was coming to a close and so was the ice hockey tournament portion of the events . As mentioned before our last game of the tournament is against the other undefeated team called the Matt Damons and I still don’t think the jersey looks anything like Matt Damon at all , that’s just my opinion and I don’t have any pics to prove it so let’s just believe what I say ok 👌.... anyways we woke up at Goon Manor and I had a sandwich since most of the guys are still crashed and I need to eat on my schedule . I don’t want anything to go wrong today , no beer ! Eating three hours before game time and not being rushed but somehow I would love it if the team actually did what we spoke about day in and day out .... 2 men deep , forwards come back to help and nobody gets caught low in offensive zone , we have given up way too many breakaways and 2 on 1’s as if we were playing shinny and every day we talked about it and every day nobody followed through . There is a big difference between Goon squads from Adelaide to Dunedin even though 5 of us were at both but as I also mentioned earlier we just aren’t doing the basics.  Forwards racing each other to the goal line and bunching up in same corners is not gonna win too many games against equal or better teams . 

When we got to the rink Klick klack put on the tunes and we got in the zone and had the pre game chat before stepping on ice for the 5 minute warmup and the warmup went well but then the game started . First shift of the game and our forwards disappeared ! Two goals off rebounds with no help in our zone on the very first shift .... hopes of a comeback were there but my team wasn’t 😢 it was almost inevitable that we would mess up some more and we did as we went down 3-0 after one period . Second period was more of the same as we spotted the opposition two more goals with the fifth goal being a weird one where two of our players colliding at their blue line giving up a clear breakaway which I skated out to get to the puck first but I misplayed it and came in on a bad angle and gave up the goal . 5-0 after two periods and really I don’t think anyone had anything much to say aside from let’s not embarrass ourselves . When the puck dropped for the third we had finally arrived to the rink and mounted the comeback and pulled within two goals but it was too little too late . We blew it and lost the gold medal to the better team with a final score of 5-3 and all we could think about were the what if’s like what if Matt Wiffen showed up on time ? What if we played with different lines ? All this doesn’t matter now as we lost and can’t go back in time but you can’t help but think 🤔 what if ? Congratulations Matt Damon’s in winning gold ! We will have to settle for silver which is probably better then we thought we would do and honestly I was proud of my team mates for mounting the comeback instead of giving up . It was a tough loss for the five of us see in the pic above as this was two lost Finals in two weeks . Losing wears thin on me and this trip I did way more losing then winning as I leave the continent with a 3-7-1 record ... not my best trip but I’ve had a great time and can’t deny that it was a great experience . 

After our game we went upstairs and hit the bar while we watched the one of the games before heading back to the house to lament in our sorrows while we all scattered to eat or go shopping or whatever we individually wanted to do . We didn’t really stick together as a team like we did in Adelaide and this was more of a chill trip rather then a party trip which my liver is thankful for although I did drink my share on the first night in Dunedin . The last game of the event was at 6 pm so we all headed to the rink to receive our medals and all the teams gathered upstairs and everyone mingled for a bit .... too bad this tourney didn’t have any organized events for all the teams . Overall I would say the tourney in Adelaide was much better then this one as there was no camaraderie amongst teams , teams didn’t hang at the bar at the rink really and there were no events as mentioned for the teams to attend ... the level of hockey was much higher in Adelaide also if you would like me to compare the two . I don’t regret playing here as I wanted to last year and never had the chance so I’m happy I came back to get on the ice here . When we received our medals we had some photos taken and had a few beers before taking off , Butters had to leave so he was dropped at the airport by Cam who again has gone above and beyond with his organization skills . 

When we got back to Goon Manor I passed out in the living room with all the guys as we watched some NHL hockey on the tv together . Most of the team are due to depart the next morning so we are taking it easy as we lick our wounds . 5 games in 3 days is never easy but that’s tournament hockey for you . I’m being invited to go play in Perth and regretfully have to say no as my flights are already booked unless they want to pay for the change but this event is to raise money for the fires 🔥 in Australia which are still going . I fly home on Monday and tomorrow we will move into Drew McMillan’s place . Gonna miss this house and definitely will have to stay in touch with the guys I’ve grown closer to as the week has gone on ... I think most of the guys forgot about cranky Adrian 🤗 ... sorry fellas . Hope you all understand ... I still don’t think I played my best here but did gradually pick up the pace as the trip has flowed but I’m nowhere near where I should be ! Time to hit the sack 🛏 

Day 2 of 🇳🇿 Masters

Here I am sitting at the rink writing about something that happened a couple days ago . It’s always hard to regain those memories but thankfully I have enough pictures and check ins on Facebook to keep track of what the heck I’m doing this way I can do my best to maintain some reality in my stories .... they are all true and factual and never exaggerated lol 😝 

Travelling Goons have two games on deck today with our first matchup against The Wookies and we really need to win both of these games to assure ourselves a showdown for the gold medal 🥇 which we already assume will be against our competition on the last day vs. Matt Damons but we can’t look past our opposition today . Thankfully when I woke up I had already shaken off that urge to be cranky and I began to mend my relationship with my team mates who probably weren’t loving me the day before . Maybe a couple big wins will help out . Last nights 9-0 exhibition drubbing  didn’t help with the old confidence as I’m still struggling with injuries and the mental aspect of all the losses I’ve been racking up on this trip . I know I’m not the best goalie but I’d like to at least put my best effort out there . So the whole team gathered at Goon Manor and we made our way to the rink as we all chatted about our game play once we hit the room . I’m not sure where The Wookies are from but certainly they are a kiwi squad since I’m pretty sure the only foreign team are actually from Adelaide but they are in the lower pool which at first we thought we should be in but let’s see what happens today . 

The game kicked off and we got off to a good start and really never did look back in this one . If my memory is correct they never came back and we probably played one of our better games of the tourney and it seemed as though our lines were gelling quite well . The Goons cruised to a 6-3 win and really I had to hand it to my team mates for controlling the better part of the game . After our game we went back to Goon Manor and we had a nice bbq amongst ourselves . I bought a piece of pork but probably should have bought something more communal as we had not exactly had the best lines of communication as we did over in Adelaide . Not too sure what is wrong with us but there is definitely a difference between the two teams . Regardless this didn’t matter as we had a good feast and relaxed and watched some action flicks between games ! 

Our schedule was pretty good in the sense that we didn’t have games too close to each other .... sometimes it’s better but here it was better this way as our squad was more about chilling then drinking . I’m pretty cool with that as I’ve just had a hard week of enjoying the bevs and this was exactly what the doctor ordered ..... after all I was in the midst of playing 11 games in 16 days in two different countries .... maybe it’s 12 but you get the idea ? I’m tired and old and falling apart ! 

Going into our fourth game here we were undefeated in tournament play and winning this will guarantee that we get at least a silver but I’m sure The Jurrasics had plans of their own .... they came out the aggressor this game and we were tied in a deadlock for a bit before we broke the eggshell and jumped ahead and they kept coming back .... we were switching the lines as we didn’t find our perfect combinations and then the line that would push us through was lined up with Drew, Marku and klick klack ! They tore through the opposition as I kicked away shot after shot and in the end we ended up on top winning the game 5-3 with an empty netter which we didn’t score the easy way hahaha ! We are going to medal here and tomorrow we find out what color but first things first .... we are going to watch a super league rugby match between The Highlanders and Sharks from South Africa . I’ve never been to a live pro match before but have seen my buddy Gary Bock play in South Africa a few years back but they were not pros . 

So the whole Goon squad headed to the game got us some brewskis and enjoyed a good game which unfortunately the home side lost in their home opener 😕 at least Quintin our South African import was happy . We all had fun and Cam and I split the tabs for some drinks and had some snacks between half’s . Rugby was a short game with only two 40 minute half’s and seemed to end pretty quickly almost too quickly and the stadium here in Dunedin is actually quite impressive as it’s got clear plexi surrounding the stadium keeping us all dry and out of the extreme elements here . It can be sunny one second and blistering wind the next , pretty crazy shit . After the game we had a few laughs walking back to the car that we parked illegally as did everyone else around the stadium 🤪 and we decided to keep the drinks flowing so we headed into the Octagon and there was a band called Divas playing some pretty good cover music in the giant bandshell set up for the Masters Games which is more then just hockey 🏒 it’s sorta like an olympics for people over 40 . I don’t know if or why there isn’t one in Canada 🇨🇦 it would be amazing if someone started this there . Anyways this event is every two years and the Kiwi Masters is every two years also so yearly there is a masters between the two competitions except the kiwis is a younger age level . 

We met up with Benji and a couple of the teams at the bar and everyone seemed to be nice and loose . I ordered some wings which were not terrible but nothing to write home about and we hopped a few bars as the crowd moved . It was around midnight when I decided to bail and call an uber because I wanted to try to be sharp for this gold medal game . Noble joined me and we walked down the road to Nandos to meet our ride where we jumped in headed back to the house and watched some movie that the boys that left earlier were watching . 

Overall I had a great day .... hopefully tomorrow will be greater ! 

New Zealand Masters begins

We all have our bad days and today was mine as I woke up on the wrong side of bed ... I was a cranky person and I knew it but I couldn’t shake it . Everything I decided on and did or said was just not right and I am still bummed out about it but it’s in the past now and I think the guys all know I’m not always in a bad mood . Two weeks of travel with tons of partying and a few injuries had gotten the best of me . My pal Drew McMillan who i met last year when I was in Dunedin is on my team here and today is the opening games for my Travelling Goons team so he popped into our mansion to pay us a  visit before heading to the rink to play Dunedin Penguins (white) as there are two teams . I’m still confused about it all but apparently we are in the A Pool . All the guys wanted to go eat but I have my routine that I plan to stick to where I don’t eat 3 hours before puck drop and I definitely don’t eat red meat .... for those of you that know what happened to me in Transylvania a few years back , don’t want a repeat of that on ice performance 🤮 

Last year when I was over the rink was closed so I never even got to see what it looked like so this was my big tourist moment for the whole trip ! I’ve literally seen all the cities I’ve visited before and this trip will not get me a new flag on my bag which kinda sucks but here I am and winning is definitely something I want to do .... I’m on a bad streak over here as I’m rocking an 0-5-1 record on this trip which is bad by anyone’s standards so going into this first game I really needed a confidence builder . The rink is an Olympic sized ice surface and there is a curling facility next to it , the rink has an upstairs bar and food stand with a pro shop for gear and skate sharpening but from what I hear my mate Drew does a better job at sharpening on his private sharpener he owns . So you make that decision if you’re here , I personally don’t get my edges done too often as I like to dig in and have my lateral slide between the pipes . When I got to the rink I also found out about this Penguins team(s) situation ..... from what I’ve gathered the black squad has played together for years at this tournament and are a strong team that wanted to compete in the A pool but nobody was at their level so the organizer asked them to play with the weaker Penguins squad to water down the level but they refused and the organizer told them they would forfeit every game but will be able to play the games which will not be counted and the guys sticking to their tradition agreed as they really just want to play together . I can’t blame them or the organizer for the decisions made but it’s a bit strange . I’m glad I spoke to the guys from the Penguins black squad or I would have had a different perspective about it all . It’s really not their fault that no other teams can compete with them ...

So here we are playing the Penguins white squad and this game counts ! We started off a bit sloppy and the overall level is a bit low but that doesn’t take anything away from the heart and camaraderie both teams showed on the ice . The Penguins are all a bunch of nice people that play with their heart on their sleeve and their goalie put up a good fight against us as the score teetered between both teams . Playing on the big ice is something I actually prefer with wider angles but it’s hard to angle pucks for the guys so the best option is to freeze what I can to get the guys a rest ... big ice is tough on the skaters especially when they aren’t used to it but thankfully we have Drew and Matt who are both locals and have the experience to find space on this surface . The game was close all the way to the end and we came out on top with a 4-2 win and most importantly I snapped my losing skid .... damn did that ever feel good 🤗

The shitty thing is that I’m still in full on bitch mode 🤬I know I suck and I’m sorry fellas for being so out of sorts . As you all know by now I’m not always so moody ...ok maybe I am , fuck off ! Cam got us into the cornhole competition which is where you throw bean bags through a hole in a piece of wood and it started immediately after our first game and will overlap our second and I made the decision to skip it in favour of getting a good feed in and some rest ... my team mate Andrew Richmond wasn’t too keen on the cornhole either so we hung back together and went to a pub called the Rope & Twine for lunch , I had pasta and it hit the spot and instantaneously made me feel better . We got back to the house and started watching Tarzan on Netflix and yeah I couldn’t have asked for a better dude to chill out with . Andrew is a big man who hunts , like big vehicles and is into martial arts ... he’s a kind fella that I would not want to make angry so maybe that put me on my best behaviour also ... regardless , thanks for being patient ! 

And then we had to play Penguins black .... this was like feeding a goat to a lion ! We were the goat 🐐 and when I say goat I don’t mean greatest of all time . Anyways dinner was served and I was probably the only one fighting as we registered 5 shots and honestly I would say the stats are quite incorrect seeing as the whole friggin game was in our end . I tried as hard as I could but we had little to no resistance and got the spanking of spankings by losing 9-0 .... I can say that I at least robbed Benji on a sweet tip which was probably save of the game and possibly the whole tourney but it didn’t help me on the three snipes he put by me as we were out played in every aspect of the game . I hated losing like this and I wasn’t a fan of any positivity from anyone about this but in the end the game doesn’t count due to everything I explained earlier . This team will smoke everyone with absolutely no competition for them . They should be given the gold medals 🥇 in my opinion . 

After the game we had a beer and headed back to our house .... the city gets pretty quiet and it is Waitangi Day here which is a national holiday . Everything is closed except for the usual fast food joints . We went to KFC and it was absolute garbage but I ate it and I know I’m gonna pay for it ...then I went to sleep 💤 first game tomorrow is early against The Wookie’s then we play the Jurassics later on so we all need our rest . 

 

Back to Dunners

We woke up in Hamilton , had to drive an hour and a half(ish) to Paradice rink in Auckland to get our gear and then to the airport to catch our flight .... things didn’t start off so smoothly since we are both still wiped out from our all nighter in the hospital the day before . Sleep was much needed but we had to march on forward . When we left Cam said bye to his girls and we drove off to Auckland . Nothing spectacular aside from the scenery . Can’t get over how beautiful it is here in New Zealand 🇳🇿. 

We got to Paradice and realized we had more time then we had realized so things slowed down for us a bit as we checked in online to avoid any hassles . It’s always great travelling with another player because sometimes you get to the airport and they don’t want to let you go on board with any extra weight so instead of pulling out my spare carry on bag we just tossed my skates in Cams bag and I carried my mask on board .... it’s still the same amount of weight on the plane !?!? I’m not gonna get into moaning about airlines but c’mon ! 😝. We bumped into klick klack Kyle Kaliniak who was having a coffee waiting for our flight and we all boarded for the 1 flight ... plane pulled out then pulled back in as it leaked all the hydraulic fluid out , that’s not good . Air New Zealand was pretty efficient and they boarded us pretty quickly onto another plane they had hanging around and we were off . 

When we landed we had to rush a bit to get our rental car and get into the Octagon to check into the New Zealand Masters Games .... before we got the car I had to hit up the fruit stand in the airport near baggage claim ! The fruit here is to die for , so 🤤!!! Got the car , had a few laughs then Quintin landed and the four of us hopped into the suv and we were off to check in where we got our backpacks 🎒 and our lanyards . Cam and myself signed up for Pétanque which to us westerners is called lawn bowling or bocce for my Italian friends . Klick klack Kaliniak went to run a 5k and Quintin stayed with the boys back at the mansion we rented for the week . Our house is sick ! When we showed up at the pétanque club we realized we were by far the youngest competitors but we have never played competitive pétanque and agreed to make the most of it and make sure everyone we met enjoyed our presence . The first team we played was a mother daughter combo who we had a lot of fun playing but we lost in the end 7-6 in a close one but we all had fun and the next team we played was against a Colombian woman and her husband and we whooped their ass’ 13-2 ... again we had fun playing them and going to the third game we were favoured to make it to the finals but we blew our chances to a couple gals doing the Charleston 💃 they were fun too ... overall we didn’t win but we had a great time and we wish we had convinced the whole team to join us . We walked away winners even though we didn’t hit the podium . Could you imagine if I was telling you I was the masters champion of New Zealand in pétanque ? That woulda been pretty cool 😎 

Back to the house with a pit stop for some beers and when we got back we had a few bevvies with the boys as our house was filling up . This place has 4 bedrooms , two living rooms , a solarium , and three bathrooms with a laundry ... perfect place to chill with the fellas between games . Speaking of games , tomorrow we kick off the hockey tournament with two games vs. Dunedin Penguins black and Dunedin Penguins white . One of the teams has defaulted their games in order to play with each other this week and there seems to be some confusion over why but I will talk to Benji Potvin when I get a chance and he will explain it better . 

Check out the view from the patio , will try to get some more writing done later .... almost caught up with everything . Time to have a bbq 🍗 

The Hammer 🔨

Before I say anything let me just say that nobody was ready for the photo above to be taken 😕 and it’s the only photo I have of Cam and his lovely family ... so I’m sorry if it’s not the most flattering but it’s all I got . That being said after waking up at Cams in the hammer here in Hamilton , New Zealand ! After a night in the hospital and going to bed really late in the morning we crashed and woke up relatively at the same time around 1 or 2 and had just enough time for Cam to go pick up his two girls who are both shy when they first met me looking at me with this who the heck is this guy face , I don’t blame them since I’m the foreigner here . We grabbed some Chinese take away and got back to Cams where I finally got to meet his lovely and very understanding wife Kristina who is also quite the athlete ! She played baseball for McMaster university back home and still is active here playing softball (I could be wrong and it could be slo-pitch ) regardless she is on the level and Cam is just as lucky as I am with the women we have to support us. . All you ladies should loosen the leash and let your husbands enjoy life playing hockey in these tourneys 🤭 did I say something wrong ? Anyways hahaha this picture above was us enjoying that lovely Chinese take away . 

After dinner we bust out the pétanque set and play a few rounds to practise for the New Zealand Masters championships we had entered . Cams daughters soon became enamoured with joining the adults while we had a bevvie which I almost took my thumb nail off opening .... don’t ask ! Stupid shit happens to me like it’s meant to be .... just roll with it lol 😝 we had a lot of fun tossing theses silver balls around the yard nearly breaking everything in their paths and then the girls had to go to bed but were too excited and wanted to hang with their daddy , he’s a softie with his girls . I don’t blame them for loving him so dearly as he is a top notch dad ! Not that I know since I’ve kept myself clear of any children in my life , just doesn’t fit into my lifestyle to be honest but I don’t mind hanging with and trying to help spoil my friends kids once in a while . When the girls crashed so did Kristina since she has to work nights at the hospital as an RN which is not an easy job by any means . I know since Kathleen has been there and done that also . When Kristina woke up and left for work Cam I myself were still up watching hockey videos and we actually watched the documentary about the Laval Chiefs who play in the rink I always visit and play on when I’m in Montreal and as I’ve mentioned before is the very rink my hero Mario Lemieux played at during his junior days . La Colisee Laval ! I love this barn and watching this documentary put me right back in this rink .... the doc is good and you should give it a gander if you haven’t before . I still can’t believe there is apartments at the rink for players to live in lol 😝 

We have to get up early tomorrow to feed the girls then drive to Auckland to pick up our gear to fly to Dunedin . Around 1 am i called it a night and crashed HARD ! Cam had to stay up and update all things Hockey House .... if you didn’t know , organizing this stuff is all very very time consuming and if you haven’t thanked your team or league organizer then take a minute to appreciate what these fine men and women do to keep us all playing hockey 🏒 if it wasn’t for them nothing would be organized and it takes a heck of an effort to start and maintain clubs , leagues and even shinny ice times . Another travel day tomorrow 😕

Adelaide to Auckland

It is now Thursday and I’m writing about Monday ... blogging during this trip has been tough but today I have some quiet time alone here in Dunedin so I’m gonna write a couple blog posts and try to get caught up . On Monday we woke up in Adelaide , Australia 🇦🇺 our flight to Auckland , New Zealand 🇳🇿 is around 1 pm or so and the Super Bowl is on so the plan is to get to the airport a bit early to watch the game . Personally I’m not too fussed over throwball since it’s become a soap opera of sport . When we got to the airport we cleared security and that was a mistake because in this international airport there was not a single bar or tv to watch the game on 😒 felt bad for Cam because he had his heart set on this and he puts a lot of effort into keeping us all together and having fun . There is a very good reason this man was recently inducted into the Beer League Hall of Fame ! He’s the man yo ! While we were experiencing the harsh reality of not watching the game a few of the stragglers fell behind and didn’t clear security and watched the game .... and we got the ribbing from the boys lol 😝 

Flight was not bad with Air New Zealand but there was no food offered to us as you have to pay extra and we didn’t and I felt like a second class citizen due to the lack of attention due to monetary circumstances but I did finally get someone’s attention a got a glass of water . That cold refreshing drink 😆 most of you are wondering what the plan from here on out is ? Well , when we arrive in Auckland we are heading straight to the Avondale Square Gardens as it is belovedly known as amongst the members of the Hockey House which is a beer league that Cam Green runs (had to toss his full name out there ) there are franchises and each franchise has a farm team . I’ve written about it before and have always wanted to experience playing in such an amazing league ! So I got my chance to play for BHL team Top Cheese BUT most of the guys can’t play so this team consisted of call ups from their farm team called Sauce so essentially I was playing with a much lower level squad then the team we would be playing . Let me roll back to our landing where Cams good buddy Ty Ireton showed up to pick us up at airport with Cams car driven all the way from Hamilton as they both live there and these two have a good relationship helping each other along the way . Ty is like this bohemian dude with a beard and never wears shoes and rocks the jogging pants like a uniform and from the little time I had to interact with him I realized he’s a really nice fella ... we get to the rink ! Ty is one the Sauce team and Cam is on the Top Cheese ... same franchise . Ty steps on ice and we step into the room to start dressing then we hear Ty broke his arm ! Fuck me it-was gross and looked like it was close to be a dangler 🤢 he was in pain and was close to passing out from it . This was an absolute freak accident where he just bumped into someone and it wasn’t intentional body contact or anything and his bone split and curled upwards . Shit was hectic , this is Cams boy so he had to take care of him and right away his first thought was to get him back to the hospital in Hamilton which is about 90 minute drive and that meant I would have to ditch the game and go also but they need a goalie ? Cam called the official stand by goalie and no answer so plans changed and he took Ty to the local walk in and I dressed ... the walk in called an ambulance and he was taken to a hospital out of the way in Auckland . By out of the way I mean in the opposite direction to Hamilton . And yes for those of you back in Toronto there is a Hamilton in New Zealand . Funnier thing is that Hamilton back home is near St. Catharines where Cam is from so he never really left home 😳 enough of my stupidness . 

So now it’s game time and my only hope apparently is that Justin Daigle lights up the opposition . Puck drops and I am almost sure the first shot was a shitter from a sharp angle that I just didn’t angle out well and they went up and never looked back . I didn’t realize that by end of first we were down 2-1 and I was starting to get into the rhythm and Justin left with a lower body injury ....Cam arrived and got dressed and if they both played the full game it might have been a better outcome but alas giving up all those break aways was never gonna win us a game and we went on to lose my debut in the BHL 9-3 😢 the losing streak continues on my road trip and I can’t buy a win and I have found ways to tab on more losses some how then I’ve ever done before .... I am in a desperate funk right now ....

Now back to Ty ... we had to go to the hospital to pick him up because when he gets released he has no way to get to Hamilton and he’s in a lot of pain . We arrived around 11 pm and first thing we asked when we found Ty ( who to me is a dead ringer for Phil Rea ) was can we take him to Hamilton hospital instead of waiting here all night and they told us he has been prioritized which is something like being told the cheque is in the mail .... yeah right ! Cam crashes in the room as we watched people with bad back and little cuts and coughs get seen and released and by 3 am he was moved to another room . When we got to the next room we started bitching and someone came over and had absolutely no info or answers and he was dumber then wood but through the bitching we assume he was then seen immediately as we are guessing they wanted to get rid of these big bastards making a commotion . They didn’t seem to understand that Cam has kids and he has to be back home .... if we had been able to take Ty to Hamilton at 11 pm we would have had him in hospital by 1 am and we could have went to sleep at Cams but instead money made the difference in keeping him there .... that’s what I am thinking 🤔 

When they brought Ty into the next room a nurse and two doctors had to hold him down as they really worked hard on his bones as they pulled and pushed and hearing Ty in such pain was hard for me to witness . Finally they sorted him and got him into a cast and we left around 8 am and we were all zonked out .... Cam started driving and we stopped at a roadside service station and I grabbed myself a flat white with some other food from McDonald’s and we drove off and Cam started to list a bit as he was driving very tired , I had an energy boost from the coffee and offered to drive and Cam was more then thankful that I could share the load . I drove for about an hour and got us out to Ty’s and we dropped him off before 10 am . Time for us to get to bed .... it’s now Tuesday and the day is pretty much a write off since we are going to bed after pulling an all nighter (without alcohol) ....

Adelaide Challenge Cup ( the weekend edition)

Ok I’m still on this flight making my way to Auckland from Adelaide and I’m still trying to piece together what happened starting from Friday on ... my game with the Strip Polers is at 1 pm and the Goons play at 5 ... we grabbed breakfast at McDonald’s again ! We have all these coupons from the tournament so might as well take advantage of the freebies right ? The guys were planning to go out for food and dropped me off at the rink where I’m playing in my last game for the tournament . At this point we have no chance of making the final and none of us are planning to meet or organize lines or anything . We basically had quit by this point and figured let’s go try to win but we are playing the undefeated team from Auckland called the Jokers who have nothing to do with the team of Jokers I know back home in Toronto . These guys can actually play some decent hockey 🏒 we figured that out fast as we stepped on the ice and put up a bit of a fight but not quite enough to say we competed .... I finally began to feel more comfortable on the ice and started to track the puck better and had better lateral movements but then your team gives up a breakaway from a face off deep in our own zone ... yeah I know , how the fuck is that possible ? I jokingly asked the guys after and they said not to ask so I left it at that . Giveaways , breakaways and goals with little to no pressure from our end left us swallowing our pride as we were losing 5-0 again then we decided to crack the egg and get a goal but by this time it was too little too late and we finished the tournament with an 0-3-1 record and in dead last in our group . That was a tough pill to swallow for a group that came in probably as favourites but all the shut leading up to the trip probably messed up our mentality anyways .... yeah this was a first for me personally and it sucked but the tournament was still hopping with excitement as I made so many new friends along the way and we kept our cool and didn’t do anything stupid as a team . The sad part is that we more then likely will never play again as this team and I probably won’t be back any time soon . This for me happened in Singapore also at the last tournament I ever returned to . Sometimes you just have to keep the memory you had instead  of  trying to top the last one . I knew once the Americans all bailed that this would be different . Don’t get me wrong I still had fun but mostly with my team that I was backing up for and helping out on the bench .... 

The ice was foggy for our last game and thankfully it cleared up by the time The Goons had to play and they did come to watch me lose to their kiwi buddies and they were supportive enough to give me a ride back to the room to dry my gear as I had promised to actually dress for this game to help out during warmup . During this time I went and grabbed a bite , took a shower and had a nap 😴 I’m not sleeping too great and apparently I must be snoring hard as I’ve chased my room mate to the couch (sorry Gazza) so this nap was much needed and now I’m keeping myself sober in case I get the nod but hopefully I won’t be needed as I’m really not playing well and I’m really not interested in playing for two teams at the tourney but if anyone NEEDS  me then I’m there to help out . Fingers crossed 🤞 we head back to the rink for the match vs. Tatra Eagles from Slovakia 🇸🇰 which is run by my friend Robert Devecka whom I had the pleasure of sharing a house with when we set the world record for highest altitude game in India 🇮🇳. I know this will be a good game and I wasn’t disappointed aside from the fact that The Goons came up short losing the match 5-3 this game settled the standing and going into Saturday’s playoffs The Goons stood in third and would need to crossover and play ADF Strike which is made up of Australian Defence Force members (military) and these boys just lost the chance to go to the A division finals by giving up a last minute goal to the Adelaide Tigers and were obvious favourites since they don’t drink , party or do any of the crazy stuff most rec teams would do ....they even stretch and run in the mornings ! 

Friday night is the big night out at Strats which is a gentleman’s club and I headed over with the guys and met up with all my other friends ... unfortunately the guys from my Strip Polers team weren’t so good at showing up to see the gals working the strip poles 🤔 when I arrived I had a couple girls approach me at the bar and they asked if I remember them ??? Ummm 🤔 no ? Apparently on my crazy night running around with Brandon we stumbled in here to check out the talent and choose a girl to do some crazy stuff to Nonny .... but Nonny didn’t show up , didn’t answer his phone and it never came to fruition. That was the story of the whole week for these guys .... not showing up and not really caring as it seems . I could show you all the unanswered messages but hey at least he got to eat his shitty Nando’s . Disappointed to say the least with the whole crew from  last year amd everywhere I went I was asked where the rest of the gang was .... those of you that I did party with , please don’t include yourselves ! Even my roomie from last year Rob didn’t come out once ! I didn’t see him at all yet he was rooming with Nonny and the both of them had messages that they never responded to . I’m guessing they didn’t have as much fun as I did lol . We called it a night at Strats and headed back to the room because the semifinal was at 8 am the next day and I heard that Nonny showed up around midnight which was way past when all the guys had left and yes he brought his friggin crocs again .... he really will never learn 🤫

Saturday morning we all got up early and met in the lobby at disgusting o’clock and I’m gonna dress to back up Maia for The Goons . We head to the rink min the team bus with JJ at the helm (thanks for driving us around bud ) semi final on the line this morning vs. ADF Strike who are all Australian defence force ... that means they are military and they don’t go out partying all week or not that we know of and when we walk in the rink we see guys doing windsprints while we are gasping for air lol 😝 these guys were a minute away from qualifying to play in championship for A division and now have to play The Goons in the B semifinal . I think most if not all the tournament participants would have put their money on ADF but that is not how hockey rolls . I got out for the pre game skate and noticed Maia wasn’t between pipes so I stepped in and warmed up with the team and looked for Maia to get over to the crease but he never did and instead opted for some stretches . If you ask me personally ... I need to feel the puck and i definitely need to work on tracking the puck also so I didn’t understand what was going on . Regardless Maia stepped between pipes to start the game and the boys stepped up and hammered down on these tireless men that we had to face . This was a good game to watch as it was back and forth with a lot of smart neutral zone play by the Goons who I thought had the edge in offensive prowess . Then the magic shift occurred and the Goons took a 3-1 lead after a few quick goals and they started to toughen up the neutral zone squashing every effort for the Strike team to enter the zone and when they did the Goons held the box really tight and blocked shots and never gave up on the play . ADF did score another goal but the threat was over by the end of the third as The Goons stymied their opponents giving them the ticket to the championship game .... the room we were in was so small that myself and Maia changed in the lobby of the rink basically hahaha ! After our game we stayed and watched Tatra Eagles face off against the Adelaide Falcons but decided to go have a team meal down the road from our hotel where we paid $25 for all you can eat brekkie which was perfect for all of us except Dimitri who went for Banh Mi sandwich instead 🙂 this Goons team is full of characters ! 

Championship game is later in afternoon and as we are eating I got a call from my buddy Robert Devecka asking for permission to use two local skaters that apparently have paid to play on two separate teams in the same division which put up a red flag with the tournament organizer Glen Foll so the team had to make a decision whether to allow them to play or not ... in true hockey spirit the guys all decided that if they’ve paid and played all week then why not let them play . This decision gave the Slovaks at least the skaters to compete and when we played them and lost the other day they were there . I’m sure if the decision was to say no then things would have been a bit more edgy , besides ... this decision should please the hockey gods ! We had our pre game chill out and I took a nap before waking up and meeting the guys to jump on the bus again . 

Got changed with Maia in the lobby right where we are standing in the above picture and we talked about the game and then headed out for the big championship game ! Maia was spoken to by the team about warmups and played it the right way this time and stepped between the pipes and I came in to give him a rest and then we huddled and the puck was dropped . I took my spot at the end of the bench working the door for the D and the game started off with us dropping the lead before coming back to jump ahead 2-1 which was short lived in this game ... the Slovaks potted two quick ones and went up 3-2 and I was getting the look from Cam to be ready before the third period and nothing came of it . When the third started the game was pretty intense and we tied it up at 4 a piece and with around 5 minutes left in the game we took a penalty and Maia came to the bench and told me it was my time to shine !?!? Wtf ? Maia is such a great person that I’ve had so much fun with but this was something even I have never experienced and next thing you know I’m thrust into playing a championship game with minutes remaining after sitting cold on the bench all game . The Goons looked confused and as I skated to the net I looked over at the bar and saw all sorts of confused faces there also ... I probably shouldn’t have accepted the challenge as the draw was lost and they set up the PP and when the puck came screaming across the ice to the open man who took a clapper at me I was nowhere near prepared for this ... and that was the winning goal 😢 oh no 🤦‍♂️! So much shit went through my mind and I watched the guys scramble to get the equalizer and then the puck came down the ice and one of the Slovaks broke free and I hesitated and skated out to challenge for the puck and took a stab and basically missed and flopped and gave up an empty netter to really mess thing up . There is nowhere to hide at this point and all I can do is make the rest of the saves and skate to the bench for extra attacker and watch in horror as I was hung with the L and boy did I feel bad 😔 we took photos and watched the Slovaks celebrate and then we went to change in the lobby right next to all the celebrations and that was one of the worst feelings in my life even though I was happy for my friend Robert who was also confused why I was put in the net so late . It is what it is now and I can’t change it and must live with it but it will be sour in my mind for the rest of my days ... 

All things aside we went to our hotel dropped bags and showered before heading to the Czech Club where the after tourney party was held this year . The food was great and drinks were free . It was good seeing everyone one last time before heading home and I even saw Nonny and Robert who got a ride with us back to the hotel on one of the most hilarious bus rides ever but then disappeared when we arrived at hotel . That night we did it up again and headed out and tore up the town . I didn’t do anything crazy or too illegal this night and didn’t wake up with scrapes and bruises but I can say we all talked about the game and the guys did their best to make me feel better but yeah ... it is what it is ... 

Sunday was our last day and we decided to go to the beach and the wind picked up and it was too chilly to be wearing shorts and a tee shirt ... first we hit the Jetty bar which is a dive then we went across the road to a nicer establishment to eat called The Moseley and when I checked in my mate Jim Ryan came by , but unfortunately we had to leave just after he bought me a beer to take care of one of our team mates who had not slept the night before and was still going hard until he hit the proverbial wall at the bar . Just like any good team mate we left and I thanked Jim quickly as we hurried our way out .... I owe you a pint next time mate ! We got on the team bus and our team mate who remains unnamed passed out and we got some beauty photos of him as I held him upright on the bus since I sat behind him 😴 he almost knocked his head pretty hard and that would’ve sucked bad . Back at the hotel we all packed up , cleaned up and had a nice chill out session together before calling it a night . 

Our crazy week in Adelaide has now come to an end 😢 tomorrow we fly to Auckland where I have my debut in the Backyard Hockey League .... wish me luck !

Adelaide Challenge Cup 2020

Usually I try to write a daily report on what’s happening during my travels but this week has been especially busy since I’ve arrived here in Adelaide . I’m gonna give an overall coverage for the full week and will try to get back to my normal routine for the remainder of trip but it’s really tough trying to find the time to sit down peacefully to get my thoughts out and posted on my page . At the moment I’m on a flight from Adelaide to Auckland and everything is still a bit fuzzy from the last week of absolute insanity . Usually I’m in a quiet room where I have had some personal time and space but this trip I have been rooming with a couple crazy guys and our room is ground zero for parties and team meetings . My room mates are Cam Green And Gary “Garza” Goodall and they are playing for the Travelling Goons team from New Zealand 🇳🇿 their team is filled with players that compete in the Hockey House leagues mostly from the BHL with a few FHL skaters . I’m listed as their backup goalie but I doubt I will see any ice time and to start off I wasn’t really even planning to dress for their games as I have my own team to play with but it’s organized as much as throwing dice on the table and figuring out what you’ve rolled .... the North Pole Strip Polers is a team that I played for last year called the Okinawa Sniperz . Last year there were only  4 actual players from that team and we filled in the rest of the spots with my self and some Aussies .... after that tourney we had so much fun together that the organizer invited us all to go back so we all said yes then one by one the Sniperz all dropped out ! Even the team organizer bailed on us in favour of going to Bangkok next month 😢 yeah that sucked pretty bad and he knows . Too bad because I doubt we will ever play for his team again , I personally won’t make plans to travel with him again ... no offence Kevin but the excuse of not having money for a trip we planned a year ago doesn’t make sense to me or the other guys . 

So when I arrived I spent a night with Glen Foll who is the tournament organizer and had to do an interview for the local newspaper along with a photo shoot which for some reason they picked the picture where I’m not smiling ... oh well ! It’s always cool ending up in the local news overseas , the next day we set up the bar and the merch shop at the rink and then the tourney kicked off after meeting up with a few of my friends like Brandon ,Nonny , Isaac and Marty and we had a great lunch at a local bakery before moving my bags into my Glen’s room at the Breakfree hotel . Thanks for hooking  up the couple free nights there ! We had our first game that evening against local team Adelaide Tigers and a couple friends are on that team , they will be aiming to win the tourney and with Jason Nordin on their squad you have to know they are favourites but so are we since we lost in championship last year and the team that beat us is not there this year (Aussie Heat) this should be a good game ! When the time came we hit the ice and the game started with us scoring the first two goals as we went up 2-0 and then the second period started and we were like a different team as the Tigers swarmed us scoring two to tie the game up ! Third started with more of the same as we gave up the lead and then battled our way back to tie the game 3-3 . When we left the ice the mood with us was not good as we felt it like a loss and the tigers seemed more positive but apparently they felt they should have won but honestly we outplayed them for a period and a half and they had the same pressure which evens out to a tie . That night we ended up doing hotel party in our room and management came by to quiet us down as the neighbour was being a whiney bitchboy so we killed the tunes and ten minutes later the manager was back and he moved the complaining neighbour . Honestly I don’t know why they don’t just block an area for hockey teams and not let other travellers book rooms beside us . We switched rooms and received another complaint and moved again only to meet the manager again .... that was the last night I heard of or experienced any complaints so maybe the hotel sorted that out ? 

Next day I moved into my next room once The Travelling Goons arrived ! That morning I woke up grabbed some food at McDonald’s and headed to the rink where I was able to leave my bag in a small room overnight so I took the tram with Nonny who I hardly saw all week !?!?! For some reason all the usual crazies that I party with were all on their best behaviour , good thing we have crazy Juha aka Lenny to have a few laughs with .... this guys a riot from Brisbane and is hanging with my team mates Cory ,Liam and Mark who all played for other teams last year and I had high hopes for pushing us over th finish line this year but it was not meant to be as we showed up for our next game knowing we had to win but instead we did the opposite 😒 I’m not gonna blame anyone for us all playing shit all week but it doesn’t help that I’ve been injured for a while and haven’t seen much ice before heading out here and that puck bounced like a basketball out there ! You can only imagine pucks hitting my blocker and going into my own net and pucks bouncing off my pads straight up in the air only to hit my catcher and going into the net. It was frustrating and the whole team had their own frustrations along the way as it began to become more evident that we should have played in a lower division but for that we can blame our organizer who bailed on us .... I can’t remember the final score against the Van Demons from Tasmania but I’m almost sure we lost 5-0 or something. Maybe it was 5-3 but I do know we were shutout in one of the games we had played . That game was at 1 pm and the Goons should be at hotel so I head back and move my bags from room 206 to room 318 where I finally find myself in a room I don’t have to move from until I leave on Monday .... this day was Wednesday and the Goons have a late game . I passed out hard when I settled in and that’s the only Goons game I missed and unfortunately they lost that game to the Adelaide Blackhawks .... when they returned to the room I woke up and Nonny and a few others visited our room and nobody bothered us that night . 

Thursday when I awoke from my slumber Gazza was still in bed and I went out for some grub and when I returned immediately guys started knocking on the door and I quickly realized our room will become ground zero ! My game is at 4 and the Goons play two games to catch up for their late arrival ....we played the Liverpool Saints from Sydney who we knocked out in semi final last year so this could be a winnable game for us ? Well we thought so until the game started and we put our worst foot forward and went down early and never even really challenged our opposition at all .... our team is falling apart at every position and the chances of even winning a game are dwindling fast ! It’s hard to blame everyone since we have nobody here to lead the squad and we are literally just going through the motions now and just making the most of things ... it also doesn’t help that the level of this tournament has gone up from last year and we haven’t done much to keep up with the rest of the teams as we added random skaters instead of recruiting players that could actually help . Our organizer didn’t even put a deposit for us or anything , didn’t book rooms and honestly we should have changed our team name since nobody was from Alaska and that isn’t the North Pole anyways .... I guess you all realize how disappointing and weird it is to play for a team that the organizer has even ditched ! I’ve never experienced anything like this and I doubt anyone else has ? Feel free to share your stories if you’ve been in this position . Like I said earlier I know we were shutout in one of the games and I think it might have been this one .... what I know for sure is that I gave up 5 goals in every game after the first match . Yup that didn’t feel good and honestly I wouldn’t have blamed anyone if they skipped the rest of the games because we were playing some hopeless hockey but at least nobody was blaming anyone and we just accepted it all . Can’t win em all eh ? 

I worked the bench on Thursday for both Goons games as they were having issues with the low ceiling over the bench . You can’t do line changes over the boards without risking clocking your head off the concrete .... every team should have someone working the doors ! I was the guy for the Goons and I didn’t have to play so I had beers and enjoyed hanging around the rink ! This was my crazy night out and I ended up hitting up a wicked bar down the street that was called White Oaks or something .... this place became a club and honestly they were serving some kickass gin and tonics and I got blitted... the whole night after the first bar is a blank and the next morning I had to figure out what , where and why did I do things ... how did I wreck my knee and why do I have a bruise on my chest . I looked at the team chat and found out I went out for a drunken scooter 🛴 ride and that didn’t end well ... apparently I walked into a casino with blood rolling down my legs and played some blackjack (I don’t gamble) and I might have visited a few adult clubs which I found out more about the next night which is the big tournament party at Strats which is a biker type of strip joint . It’s where the dirties are lol ! 

Gonna take a break from writing and will continue the story of the weekend in Adelaide later on .... stay tuned for part two !