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) ....