Yesterday was a great day . I had to drive Kathleen to work in the AM so when i got back i sat around trying to make contact with all the newspapers and sports networks in Toronto . Sent out probably 10 emails asking to see if anyone would be interested in getting the Argentine hockey players on tv or in the newspaper ...unfortunately nobody responded :( , actually i am lying . An old hockey buddy here that has some media influences showed some interest .
As i said yesterday these guys flew all the way up here to experience hockey in Toronto , with their hard earned dollars . They are here for a hockey camp with the other 16 skaters due to show up on Jan. 29 .... i am hearing stories about some of the old equipment they use and the fact they don't have a zamboni and have to go out every night and shovel the snow off their rink to keep the ice good and that they have a small old tv as their scoreboard ... and it kills me , i wish i had the money to send them a used zamboni down there .These guys have the hockey heart we always talk about and it really tears me up that they don't have this stuff that we have :(
So we went to see the Leafs practise in the morning at the MasterCard Center and they were so excited to see 4 rinks in the same building ... there is a HHOF office in the rink so we went in and i told them about their story and asked them if they could get us any media attention and they basically asked me to contact them via email and they will give the Argentine team discounted entrance to the hall when they choose to go .The big thing is that they are going to donate a jersey to the hall of fame and it will be placed in the international section :) i am sure Javier wants his #7 to be in there .
After that we went to my favorite hockey store in Toronto ! Toronto Hockey Repair /Goalie Heaven , i love this place so much .It is not a big name shop , family owned and its always had the best service and they have always given my friends great discounts on gear when i bring my overseas hockey buddies that are visiting . Javier & Anita bought brand new gear head to toe ! It was their first time ever in a hockey shop as they don't have that luxury in Argentina ... mainly they do all their shopping for gear online and repair their own equipment , they have no choice ! So think of it , they have never tried on gear and then bought it !!!! you could only imagine the looks on both of their faces when we walked in there .
After they got all geared up we went by High Park as it was snowing out and it looked really beautiful and i wanted to show them an outdoor rink . They saw a zamboni took some pics and were really excited ... we then went back to my place and ordered some Chinese food and decided to go for a skate . I called Mike Takacs and a few other buddies ( that did not show or respond) and we walked over to the rink down the road from Mike's . There were a lot of skaters out there , i think there was a good 20 or so skaters . We played for the full hour and Anita scored twice :) she was pumping her fist and all the guys at the rink were amazed to be playing with 2 people from Argentina . To be honest i was quite surprised with their skill level as it was not that bad . I skated out which for me is super duper odd ... not my cup of tea but i wasn't gonna suit up outdoors LOL .
Today i think our friends are going to try making their way to Ottawa to see the nations capital . If anyone reading this knows anyone in the media please let them know about our hockey friends from Argentina ! If we can help them in anyway i know it would be very much appreciated ... their local gov't does not do enough for the people that really love hockey ... the game that we all love !
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