Breaking Butler

bloo bloo bloo

Stan Butler has been the coach of the Brampton/North Bay Battalion since the franchise was created in 1997. He's had a good career. He's also coached the Prince George Cougars in the WHL, the Oshawa Generals in the OHL, and the National Under 18 team. He is the 4th coach in OHL history to coach 1,000 games, and the 7th to win 500 games. 430 of those wins have been with the Battalion.

He coached top prospects Matt Duchene and Cody Hodgson. He won the Central Division in 02/03, 05/06, 07/08, and 08/09, as well as the Bobby Orr Trophy as Eastern conference champions in 08/09. (They lost the OHL final to eventual Memorial Cup champs Windsor Spitfires in 5 games).

The move from Brampton to North Bay must have been a huge culture shock. From the dusting of snow in the GTA to the "Honey, help me dig a tunnel to the car" snow of North Bay. From suburban sprawl to "damn deer got into the trash again". From a quick hop on the 401 to most opponents to a 4 hour drive just to reach the 401.

The differences in the cities are small, but noticeable

Most importantly, going from last in attendance (avg 2100 out of 5,000) to an area where the OHL is the only game in town and a big boost in attendance (avg 3200 out of 4,400). You'd think after spending a few months with a crowd in an older, non-cavernous arena he'd be used to noise and distractions. Hell, after visiting Niagara you’d think he'd be used to our rinks ability to reverberate noise and how enthusiastically the crowd gets into the game.

Apparently he misses the silence.

On Saturday December 7th something happened in The Jack that I've never seen before.

The visiting coach had security remove Bones, the Ice Dogs’ mascot.

Don't mess with my kids buddy

Now some people hate mascots, some love 'em. I like Bones. His antics always amuse me, especially when sitting next to the visitor’s bench. On Saturday, Bones was up to his usual stuff; smacking the glass by the visitors bench, rubbing his butt on there, climbing the boards and making faces.

Stan Butler, it seems, is a delicate flower.

He did not appreciate this behaviour.

He asked the Refs to stop the game.

They did.

He had security called.

It happened.

[The video has been removed from YouTube]

IceDogs GM & Head Coach Marty Williamson was on CKTB this past Tuesday (Dec 10). Give a listen at 32:28 (the clock counts down) and hear the story from him.

http://www.610cktb.com/multimedia/Episodes.aspx?PID=2616

"It's pretty silly, there is a bit of a rule that you can take action if anyone hangs over the glass...Stan was worried one of his players were going to swing at the mascot. I think my players are more focused on the game to do that...now the league has said our mascot has to stay away from their bench"

Stan Butler went crying to the OHL. About a mascot.

OUR mascot.

This means war.

IceDogs fans, I say we stand up and defend Bones. North Bay returns on Feb 22.

Let's make it our mission to #BreakButler.

Bring noisemakers, drums, a tuba, a clarinet (especially if you can't play) to the game.

If you're behind the bench yell, clang, bang, clash, whatever every time he opens his mouth.

Don't let him or his team focus.

Make a sign. Plaster the glass with them. Sit above the opposing team’s player entrance. Play that clarinet badly when he walks by.

Offer him some earplugs & horse blinders for his uncontrollable players.

Let's go full out on this.

Tweet your plans to #BreakButler.

Let's keep it clean, and remember, let's have fun with it.

Man, he should have just taken a page from Craig MacTavish's book.

New Years (Opening Night Live Blog)

4:45am

Alarm goes off.

"sonofabitch" I say to great the morning, as usual.

I climb out of bed cursing myself for not settling to live in a tiny condo near a GO station in Mississauga or Etobicoke, but that's a story for another blog.

I dress clumsily, sigh into the mirror at the state of my hair, not quite hockey hair, not manageable either.

I climb into my car and turn on 590, as usual.

Then it gets me.

Today is the day.

It's Opening Day.

"Hurrah!" I cheer as I stop at the gas station to fill up. I get back in for my drive to the train when I hear it.
"The Leafs and Kessel are on the verge of a new deal"

What?

Really?

On today?

Really?

My hopes are raised and I enjoy the hosts agreeing that 7-8x8 for Phil is reasonable. After all not even Crosby has as many points as Phil does since he joined the Leafs.

(Yes Sid has been injured, shut up, don't ruin my day)

I park and prepare to board the train.

I feel my pockets.

I forgot my phone.

On this, the holiest day of days, I am without connection to my hockey world as I ride the rails.

Balls.

7:30am

I log into my work computer and click open my browser to my usual tabs. Twitter & Pension Plan Puppets. No better way to keep up on Opening Night news and, what is now Phil Kessel Day news.

What am I greeted with?

Hello Sexy Kessel

8x8 is the rumoured deal. Oh 'tis a great day.

I switch my wallpaper to rotating Leafs images for the season.

"Sorry son, you're adorable but it's hockey season."

9:00am

Check out Stanley Cup oh Chowder, A Bruins blog, but somehow the members there are alright. They like Kessel. They like that it's 8 mil of Leafs cap space, but they still appreciate him.  I share my favourite Kessel pic with them.

10:00am

As everyone settles into work Kessel news spreads. No one disagrees with it.

No one gets fired.

Today is a good day.

1:00PM

More hockey talk. Guy who sits next to me nabbed a Grabbo shirt for 60% off.

"He's going to do great this year" says my new boss.

"Don't ruin my day, not today" I say.

2:00PM

The temp walks up. She's a Habs fan.

"You're computer is gross", she says as a picture of a happy Reimer pops up

"And you're still on probation, Habs fan" I say to her.

The first of many wins over the Habs today, I can feel it.

3:00PM

Leave work. Head to the train. I can't control myself. I have no phone but need moar hockey. 

I buy the Toronto Sun.

Shut up.

5:00PM

Pick up the boys from daycare. 

"Is today the hockey game?"

"Yep"

"Can I stay up late and watch"

"Who are you cheering for?"

"The Maple Leafs"

"Yes. Yes. You can"

6:00PM

Get home, stopped at the grocery store. Got snacks.

Popcorn, Ice Cream Sammiches, Popsicles.
You know, health food.

6:30PM

Shit.

My kids don't have Leafs sweaters.

Well shit.

The youngest is adamant about wearing hockey sweaters.

He gets a team Canada.

My oldest?

Shit.

He has a Habs sweater.

I'm a terrible father.

6:45PM
"Is the game on yet?"
"No, we'll put it on in 10 minutes"
As he becomes visibly upset at this I do what any god parent would do.
"Here, have a cupcake"
Crisis averted.

6:50PM
"Put the game on!"
"Fine"
I put the preshow on and go to sit down when:
"POPCORN! WE NEED TO MAKE POPCORN HURRY!"
I fall over at the shouting.
I go make the popcorn.

7:00PM
"This isn't the hockey game"
"I know"
"why is it on?!"
"I don't know"
"I'm bored"
"I Know, me too, game will be on soon. I hope"

7:15PM
"Why is there a torch?"
"because there always is"
"why?"
"familiarity is easier than coming up with original ideas"
"what?"
"they're lazy"
"oh, like me when i don't clean my room"
"exactly. it's easier to leave it a mess than do work every year"
"when is the game starting?"
"when they introduce every player on the team"
"I don't want to watch this part"
"me neither"
"can i play angry birds"
......hands over phone
"sure.....now I'm bored"

7:25PM
"Is the game on yet?"
"no"
"why not?"
...considers how to put the phrase "because the habs aren't done blowing themselves yet" into terms a 5 year old can understand
"because"

9:00PM

Remember i called this a live blog.

Dont care, hockey is on

'Night.

Kids These Days

I was talking with my wife about jr hockey and before i get started, you should know a couple things.

1)She's a Habs fan.

2)Like me, she got into jr hockey when the IceDogs came to town

3)She hates Nazem Kadri

Okay then. Onwards we go.

We were doing the dishes last night, and were talking about ticket prices for the new arena here in Niagara. I said a small bump in attendance could happen for two reasons: 1)people coming to looky loo the new barn and 2)people coming to games who refused to go because, well, The Jack isn't the most accessible or comfortable of places.

"Thats stupid, arenas like Niagara and Sudbury ARE jr hockey. Kitchener was nice but too professional."

I agreed on that point.  Sudbury and our barn have history resonating from every concrete block, every expose wooden beam holding the roof up, the tight concourses, old school score boards, and tight spaces.

All these new rinks are trying to be NHL Lite.

This, she says, is leading to problems with rookies.

"Look at London and Kitchener. Look at their scoreboards, their dressing rooms, its all NHL stuff. Kids aren't paying their dues these days. They're not roughing it. Shitholes like The Jack and Sudbury are where you learn your place. Thats why Kadri is the way he is. He got spoiled in London"

Interesting point. I mean, Alex Pietrangelo never tossed a stick at my wifes head (Kadri).  Maybe playing in a depression era barn kept him humble and in his place?

Now, The Jack has its flaws (cramped, smells of mold, has rats, wooden benches, one entrance) but it has charm and character. The JLC in London has none of that. It has ample legroom, clean concessions, audio equipment that works, video scoreboard.  Who wants to watch a game there?

Are Jr players spoiled these days? More than they used to, but these days an owner cant be a tightwad. You need to compete with NCAA scholarships. You need to draw kids in from Europe (for now) and the US. It costs money to get those kids to drop their College commitments. You think the Generals built a nicer change room that the Leafs (true, I've been in both) for fun? No it was to lure talent like Tyler Biggs away from the NCAA! 

Sadly the days of the rundown Jr rink that gives you a sense of community are ending. Now its all about multi-purpose entertainment centres. Year round events and selling suites.

So yeah, the kids will get custom wrapped buses, and cushioned dressing room stalls, and rat free locker rooms.  Hotels to stay at overnight and burlap sacks of cash to not play anywhere but London (Domi).

But they won't get a sense of roughing it and paying their dues.  Suffering through a game on a bench that could collapse at any moment and where you could trip over steel support beams sticking out diagonally (true story, if youre at The Jack  look at an empty IceDogs bench).  That stuff builds character. Not tantrum having stick throwing primma donnas (Kadri).

I'll go see games on padded seats, and with legroom and not fill my lungs with poisonous mold. I'll go in April and not miss the game because the glass is fogging up. I'll listen to crystal clear sound and watch HD Video.

But I'll be grumbling about Kids These Days while I do it.

(FYI I love Kadri, but my wife never forgets the sight of a stick flying towards her head and shattering in the glass between the player bench and the seats)

Fandom - My long winding road into loving hockey and the Maple Leafs

Last year  Chemmy & MF37 over at PensionPlanPuppets posted stories that told us all how they became Leafs fans under the tag "Building the Narrative"

It was a good experiment and I've meant to write one, but I am very lazy.

Finally here is my own story. It's not built on family, or schoolyard fights. It's a winding road.

As a warning, I write like Quentin Tarantino directs: editing for length is for suckers and there's no detail unnecessary.

I took the long route to my fandom. I criss-crossed the continent, and my allegiance for the first, oh 17 years, wandered like hitchhiker in the 60's, complete with regrettable acts in my past.

I grew up surrounded by hockey fans. My Mother was a Bruins fan, my dads brother was a hardcore Leafs fan, my mother had 3 brothers, 2 Leafs fans, and a Blackhawks fan, and her father was a Red Wings fan.

How I never got into hockey is beyond me.

(This picture was taken before my first - and last - hockey practice. It was not worth missing cartoons to me on Saturdays)

I went about blissfully ignorant of what I was missing. Saturdays at my mom's parents meant Hockey Night in Canada. I knew the Leafs were bad, or good, or rebuilding, depending on who you asked, never to ask about the Blackhawks, and my mom would pine for Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito.

I turned 10 in the winter of '93, and it seemed like everyone was more excited about what was going on in hockey. (My city is in a constant 3-way of Northeast teams. The Leafs and Canadiens are dominant, but there's also a loyal Sabres following since we're minutes from the border.)

More and more Habs and Leafs shirts were popping up at school and like any impressionable 10 year old I hopped on board the bandwagon of whatever shirt I liked better and what the kids I hung out with were wearing. So yes, here is my secret shame, now available for all the internet to know:

The first NHL shirt I picked out myself, I ASKED for, and wore proudly, was a Montreal Canadiens shirt.

Hooh, there, I feel better after getting that off my chest (I also wore it in my grade 2 class picture, but that photo seems to have gone missing)

Sadly, I wasn't just a bandwagoner.  I knew players names, i knew the teams weakness (not having Roy in net). I remember passionately explaining to my mom that the Habs "would be screwed" without Roy. I wanted a Roy poster for my room. I tried to argue how great they were, but I didn't really know enough about other teams to do so.  I started collecting hockey cards, I though The Hockey Sweater was true Canadian art. i would get up early to watch the cartoon of it when the CBC would start it's broadcast day (it rotated with Log Driver Waltz and The Cat Came Back).  It's a dark time in my life.

A couple years passed, I outgrew the shirt and moved on (I think it was around the time Patrick Roy moved on as well, so that may not be a coincidence).

Later, a friend of mine got NHL 90 something for the SNES and we decided to pick a team to play a full season as. We chose the Sharks because, hey, sharks are pretty cool. They played the Jaws theme on the organ and the goalie had a funny name. Artus Irbe.

This is me in my sharks fan period, my glasses are smaller now, but I'm still a dork.

So I got a sharks shirt and was a fan for maybe a season, probably until our time with the SNES ended. Then got into the Buffalo Sabres a bit because of their closeness and my first ever NHL game was Sabres VS Panthers, plus I was a teenager and had to be opposed to what everyone else liked. The Sabres were my rebellion.  I watched all of the '99 playoff run and experienced my first case of gut punching disappointment via a triple OT game won by a traitor.

I wasn't all that into hockey anyway, and it was always losing the interest war with the WWF. I then got a job at a take out pizza place in the evenings. The staff was usually me and 1 driver, and since I was using this job to escape and avoid spending anytime at home, I ended up working there full time after school. At work I got into reading the paper front to back (we offered customers the Star, the local paper and the Sun to read while waiting, so I was saturated with Leafs coverage. And this was in the early 2000's, when they made the playoffs and were an overall good team. So I read about the Leafs, we listened to every Leafs game on the radio at work and I started to watch when I was at home too. My mom wasn't much of a hockey fan by this point, but didn't complain when I put it on, and insisted on watching every Cup finals each year even if she hadn't watched a single game during the season. 2002 was probably the year it was solidified I was a hockey/Leafs fan. I watched/listened to every playoff game that year, we even brought a TV into work to pick up the CBC over the air feed.

During these playoffs my girlfriend was teasing me about all of a sudden liking hockey just because she did. I was looking forward to the conference final, since the Leafs has eliminated Ottawa (yet again) and I figured it'd be easy for the Habs to beat Carolina since Carolina was not a hockey market and the Habs had Doug Gilmour, who was a legend to the Leafs fans I grew up with. Easy as pie for Montreal I thought and I started to pre-gloat about the Leafs victory over the Habs in the ECF and the return to the Stanley Cup Finals after 35 years for the Leafs.

Then Carolina pretty much destroyed Montreal in games 5 & 6 like Dougie destroying the glass of the penalty box door, dashing my hopes of a Leafs/Habs ECF. (Which was probably a good thing since my future wife was moving away to go to McGill, and it would have been bad to say goodbye as a gloaty jackass).

Whatever, the Leafs can beat Carolina, we had Sundin, Mogilny, Roberts, McCabe, CuJo, and my favourite, Dimitry Yushkevich.

Then my old friend Arturs Irbe ruined it all.

My passion for the game and for the team didn't waiver, but increased the next winter when I lived on my own in Toronto as I went to school. I didn't know anyone in the city, hockey was there for me, it's all I had until Lady left school moved to Toronto and we shacked up.

It's not a magical tale, no awe inspiring moment, but it built up over time, wormed its way into my life, and now it's here to stay, and growing every year. I moved back to Niagara the same time the OHL's IceDogs moved from Mississauga and they've crept up to an even split with the Leafs for control of my fandom. I even put in 4-5 hours a week of work with the team two seasons ago , and I was there for what was a very successful season, and a run to the Championship.

So that's my long, rambling tale of how i became obsessed with the game of hockey, and afflicted with a love for theMaple Leafs. I'm passing the love of the game onto my kids. They have sweaters for the Leafs, Habs, Flyers, Sabres, Nordiques, Team Canada, and a sweet Mighty Ducks third (no not Wild Wing, sadly).  They're free to make their own choices, free to cheer for whatever team they want.  But so help them if it's the Senators.

Hopefully I got to him early enough.

Who really is "Canada's Team"?

Well that's it.  The Boston Bruins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 in overtime of game seven in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It's disappointing but they over achieved based on expectations and performance vs Boston the past several seasons.  With Toronto, Montreal  and Vancouver eliminated in the first round, the Ottawa Senators are the sole Canadian team in the NHL playoffs and so begins my least favourite part of the playoffs (yes that includes the Leafs rarely being there): Someone being anointed "Canada's Team".

You see, the last time a team based in Canada won the Stanley Cup was 20 years ago.  Montreal Canadiens over the Los Angeles Kings in 1993. This is important to some people who don't understand the difference between international competition and the profit based major league sports.  And the CBC, but that's based on ad revenue.

A lot of Canadian hockey fans love to thump their chests about this being "our game" and have plenty to say about any foreigner on their team, especially Americans (ignoring that the 3 Americans on their team are some of the best players on said team).  So when a team, even if it's a clear majority of Canadians on the roster, from America wins the Stanley Cup, it's offensive.  Especially if that team is from a non-traditional market, heaven forbid more people be exposed to the game we love.  Sharing is for kindergarten, THIS IS SPORTS!

So, here we are. 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs round 2. Who's playing, and who really is "Canada's Team"?

Pittsburgh Penguins:

Captain - Sidney Crosby (CANADIAN!)

Alternates: Evgeni Malkin (LAZY RUSSIAN!), Brooks Orpik (AMERICAN! /spits on ground), Chris Kunitz (CANADIAN!)

Break Down - 17 CANADIANS, 7 Americans, 1 Czech, 1 Finn, 1 Russian, 1 Swede - 61% CANADIAN!

Boston Bruins:

Captain: Zdeno Chara (Slovakian - probably communist)

Alternates: Patrice Bergeron (CANADIAN!), Andrew Ference (CANADIAN!), Chris Kelly (CANADIAN!) - Obviously Boston knows how to be winners, they just made Chara Captain to placate him so he wouldn't grind their bones into bread.

Break Down - 17 CANADIANS, 2 Americans, 1 Slovakian giant, 1 Latvian, 2 Czechs, 1 Russian, 1 Finn, 1 German, 1 Swede  - 61% CANADIAN!

New York Rangers:

Captain: Ryan Callahan (of course the most American team would have an American as captain)

Alternates: Brad Richards (CANADIAN!), Marc Staal (CANADIAN!)

Break Down - 15 CANADIANS, 8 Americans, 3 Swedes, 1 Norwegian, 1 Czech - 54% CANADIAN!

Ottawa Senators

Captain: Daniel Alfredsson (clown haired chicken Swede)

Alternates: Jason Spezza (CANADIAN!), Chris Phillips (CANADIAN!)

Break Down - 16 CANADIANS!, 4 Americans, 5 Swedes, 1 Czech, 1 Dane, 1 Russian - 61% CANADIAN!

Chicago Blackhawks

Captain: Johnathan Toews (CANADIAN!)

Alternates: Patrick Sharp (CANADIAN!), Duncan Keith (CANADIAN!)

Break Down - 14 CANADIANS!, 5 Americans, 2 Czechs, 2 Slovakians, 5 Swedes - 50% CANADIAN!

Los Angeles Kings

Captain: Dustin Brown (American! They'll never win anything with a Yank captain)

Alternates: Anze Kopitar (Slovanian - I think they spelled Slovakia wrong on the roster), Matt Greene (American / spits on ground)  NO CANADIANS!  as leaders.  This team is going nowhere.

Break Down - 17 CANADIANS!, 8 Americans, 1 Russian, 1 Slovanian Slovakian - 61% CANADIAN!

San Jose Sharks

Captain: Joe Thornton (CANADIAN!)

Alternates: Dan Boyle (CANADIAN!), Patrick Marleau (CANADIAN!) - Man with 3 CANADIANS! as leaders these guys are groomed for success.

Break Down - 15 CANADIANS!, 10 Americans, 1 German, 1 Czech, 1 Finn - 54% CANADIAN!

Detroit Red Wings

Captain: Henrik Zetterberg (chicken Swede)

Alternates: Niklas Kronwall (chicken Swede), Pavel Datsyuk (Lazy Russian)

Break Down - 11 CANADIANS!, 5 Americans, 8 Swedes, 1 Swiss, 1 Finn, 1 Czech - 41% CANADIAN!

So we have a tie between Pittsburgh, Boston, Ottawa, and Los Angeles as the most Canadian team in terms of roster breakdown.  We'll give them all 10 points. 

PIT - 10

BOS - 10

OTT - 10

LA   - 10

1 point will be deducted for not being in Canada.

PIT - 9
BOS - 9
OTT - 10
LA   - 9

1 point will be deducted for any Alternate Captain who is not Canadian.


PIT - 7
BOS - 9
OTT - 10
LA   - 7

2 points will be deducted for not having a Canadian Captain

PIT - 7
BOS - 7
OTT - 8
LA   - 5

1 point is lost for non-Canadian ownership


PIT - 6.5
BOS - 6
OTT - 7 (the Bahamas aren't Canada, Mr. Melnyk)
LA   - 4

1 point is lost for not having a Canadian coach, they truly understand the game.

PIT - 5.5
BOS - 6
OTT - 7
LA   - 4

Finally, 1 point is lost for not having a Canadian starting goaltender (determined by # of regular season games played)


PIT - 5.5
BOS - 5
OTT - 6
LA   - 3

After doing some very in depth research I have concluded that I did not get the result i want and that yes, if you must cheer for someone as "Canada's Team" it's the Ottawa Senators, by only half a point.

God dammit I was hoping it'd be LA.

NHL & OHL Playoffs

The OHL Finals are the London Knights vs the Barrie Colts.  As has been my rule in the west, I've cheered for "Not London"  each and every time.  Barrie Colts share a division with my IceDogs & they Mitchell Theoret to Barrie at the deadline.  So I'm rooting for Barrie in a "Go Mitchell, boo London, Central division is the best" kinda way.

But mostly BOO LONDON.

On to the NHL playoffs which can be summed up in large font too:
 WOOOO LEAFS!!!!1

Also my predictions:

West:

1)Chicago vs 8) Minnesota
Chicago in 4, easy sweep for the Blackhawks, plus sucks to Hockey Wilderness

2)Anaheim vs 7)Detroit
Anaheim in 6, Red Wings will give their fans the slightest bit of hope then the Ducks will destroy that.  i welcome the return of the "Dead Things" era (sorry Granpa)

3)Vancouver vs 6) San Jose
I'm going off the board here and saying San Jose in 6.  Every year they're a big deal going into the playoffs and choke, so maybe in a season i forget about them they'll do well.  This is purely emotional.  Plus I want the Canucks to start Schnieder every game of the loss just so their media & fans can freak out over the summer.

4)St. Louis vs (5)Los Angeles
I'm giving it to the cup champs in 7.  I like both these teams but I don't like St. Louis goal tending   Their pair of Pietrangelo and Shattenkirk however is dreamy.

Eastern Conference

1)Pittsburgh vs 8)Islanders
I want to say Islanders in 7 but that's coming from the fan in me who also suffered through bad management and no playoffs. Pittsburgh in 6, I see lots of fight in the Isles plus MAF is still the goalie in in igloo.

2)Montreal vs 7)Ottawa
A lot of people are picking Ottawa but I don't get it.  Montreal in 6, which isn't that great since they get all 6 games as home games.

3)Washington vs 6)Rangers
Rangers in 7.  Ovi's got the scoring touch again but Lundqvist saves the Rangers bacon. Again.  Seriously guys whats the deal?

4)Boston vs 5)Toronto

Leafs in 7. Why? THE TIME FOR DELUSIONAL OPTIMISM IS NOW. GO LEAFS GO! WOOOOO PLAYOOFS!!1

Hardware

A few weeks ago I posted about missing my teams championship game.

This past Friday was the GHL Awards Banquet and, it made up for it.  My teams not very social apparently and I think only 1 other member was there aside from my wife and I.  The anticipation of the night was high since my wife and I were both nominated for awards; Best Defenseman and the GHL Spirit Award for me, Most Improved for Lady (who, despite being in her rookie year wasn't nominated for Rookie of the Year, I say she got "most improved" because no one realized she was a rookie).

Our coach gave us our individual championship trophies early in the evening before taking over as emcee for the night.  Videos and slideshows abounded, making ours the best beginners league ever. No, your arguments are wrong.

After some points awards they announced the Team MVP's, as voted by the players, and my team was so awesome I voted for another forward but everyone else made a different choice, and I was named our teams MVP. It was great of them to do so, I really didn't know how to feel about it, awesome was one, but amazed other thought so highly of me.  We were a great team together, and never let a loss get in our way or get us down. Easily the best team I've ever been a part of.

The GHL Spirit award went to someone else, but I'm not disappointed, i know others carry the spirit of the league better than I.

Then there's the big one.  Best Defenseman. nominated 3 years in a row.  Lost the previous 2. nominees are read. and the winner?

oh, the sweet taste of SUCK IT LOSERS

Yes! I am the greatest! Woooooooooooo!  Seriously though, voted by my peers, again, an awesome feeling.  Sadly, Lady did not win Most Improved, but did get a sweet Penguins Zamoni bank as a door prize.

Armloads of trophies

It was a great night, and I left knowing I'm in the best league ever & really felt the spirit of the League that night.  If you don't believe me you can see for yourself with the Top 10 Best Things about the GHL & below with the banquet opening video.  I'm the guy in the grey Rangers sweater with giant red pants.

Musical Franchises

With reports out now that Otters owner Bassin has had zero local investors interested in the team rumours are once again out about a move out of Erie and with Bassins quotes there's more meat to the story now. Looking at the Otters franchise history there's a lot of indicators that their stay in Erie was due to end soon.

The Otters Franchise began in Windsor, ON as the original Spitfires. They were there for 7 years when they moved to Hamilton.  They spent 24 years in Steeltown with 3 different names (and 1 year briefly in St. Catharines) before moving to Brantford for 6 years.  finding no luck as the Alexanders they returned to Hamilton for 4 more years then drove down the QEW to Niagara Falls.  8 years in the Falls and it was off to Erie where the Otters have been for 17 years, but will they make it to 20?  only 1 more year on the current lease, and the current owner says he wont sign long term deals.

So what's in the Otters future? With the lack of interest in Erie two options: outside ownership keeping the team in Erie and Relocation.

Staying Put - Erie, Pennsylvania

Population: 209,000 metro area.
Arena: Tullio Arena
Capacity: 5500
Closest OHL team: Niagara IceDogs, 207km

Staying in Erie is an option for the new owners.  Attendance the past 3 season has averaged 3,148 per game (3,476 10-11, 2,855 11-12, 3,115 12-13) with 11-12 season being the disaster year that got them Connor McDavid, and that's good for 13th in the OHL.  Their arena has gone through upgrades the past off seasons and the city wants to keep the Otters in town after spending that money.

Buffalo, New York

Population: 1,135,509 Metro Area
Arena: No OHL size arena, JrA plays at Amherst Ice Center, NCAA at Buffalo State Sports Arena, NHL in First Niagara Centre
Capacity: 1,800 (JrA & NCAA arenas), 19,070 (NHL Rink)
Closest OHL team: Niagara IceDogs, 52km
Current Jr teams: Buffalo Jr Sabres, Jr A - OJHL, Buffalo Blades, Jr B - GOJHL


Buffalo is a favourite choice of mine. Its a strong hockey city, the Sabres and JrA Blades have good attendance (okay JrA attendance isn't a marker for anything since the leagues at that level and below don't carry any prestige, but they average almost 200 people per game), and we'll pretend the JrB Sabres don't exist. Moving down the Erie shore to Buffalo would keep the team in the US, and plunk it in a town with love for hockey. I have spoken to a few people who regularly come to Niagara for OHL games.  It brings them closer to the border and other OHL teams, and there is a JrA team in the city to use as a farm team (so you don't run short on goalies again).  Average family income is about $40,000 per year, not quite friendly for being a season ticket holder, but out of 1.1 million people there should be 2,000 who are interested & can afford it, the Sabres also average 18,500 in attendance for the past 7 years. A new arena would have to be built to accommodate the team, there are no OHL sized arenas (3500-9000 seats) in Buffalo and with the city still paying off debt related to the construction of the First Niagara Centre I don't think they would be interested in tacking on another $40,000,000.  Buffalo is easily connected with other OHL teams by the QEW just across the Niagara River.

Brantford, Ontario

Population: 135,501 metro area
Arena: Brantford Civic Centre
Capacity: 2,981
Closest OHL team: Kitchener Rangers, 44km.
Current Jr teams - None

Brantford, former home to the Brantford Alexanders (who, as noted above, later became the Erie Otters) for several years never held onto the OHL for a long time.  A city whose name is brought up whenever relocation is mentioned, but never taken seriously.  The Civic Centre hold almost 3,000 people and could do as a temporary arena, but is about 1,000 less that the standard and would require sell outs almost every night to stay afloat (The Niagara IceDogs call the Jack Gatecliff arena home, which holds 3,150 and average attendance is at the max capacity in Brantford - this rink is only temporary as a new 4,500 seat rink is under construction).  The local economy isn't terrible but is becoming stagnant. Brantford hosts offices for Proctor & Gamble, SC Johnson, and Ferrero SpA (Kinder Eggs) but is facing challenges of being a minor city in Canada.  The population isn't too small, and the average income is $42,601, not awful but thinking of $800 seasons tickets is still a long consideration. The Civic Centre would require upgrades in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to meet even the barest OHL standards, before considering expanding seating/adding suits to the civic centre or replacing it with a new building, which would be a challenge to a city with barely half a million dollars in surplus. Brantford would be easy travel to attract fans from Hamilton as they are just down highway 403.

Oakville, Ontario

Population: 182,250
Arena: Sixteen Mile Sports Complex
Capacity: 1,500
Closest OHL team: Mississauga Steelheads, 24km
Current Jr teams - Oakville Blades, OJHL

Oakville, Ontario is city on the edge of the Greater Toronto Area with a midsized population, and bordered on both sides by cities with equal or greater populations.  A mix of offices and commuters keeps housing development strong in the city and northern expansion. Average yearly income for the city is higher than average with $60,000, a salary that could support multiple games/season tickets to a junior team.  What could hurt Oakville, and the next two entries (Burlington & Markham) is the heavy amount of commuters that  reside in the cities.  Travel in and out of town could hurt attendance of weeknight games, as well as proximity to the City of Toronto could have the "GTA Effect" which pretty much means that since the city is so close to  Toronto there are more entertainment options available nearby for residents so the Jr. Team is lost in the options and seen as a last option, for example Mississauga has seen it's average attendance hang below 2,400 since the move from St. Michaels College and Bramptons last five seasons saw a peak of 2,400 but averages of 2,000.  Another downside for GTA teams are a lack of local media, most cities don't have their own newspapers for daily reporting so getting the word out on the teams is a large challenge
 Oakville also does not have an arena suitable for even temporary housing so shovels would need to be in the ground immediately as the Otters hang out in Erie for some lame duck seasons, or the franchise finds a temp. home in another city, like the Adirondack Phantoms.  The Oakville Blades Attendance was about 600 per game last year, very good for Jr.A.

Burlington, ON

Population: 175,779
Closest OHL team: Mississauga Steelheads,
Current Jr teams - Burlington Cougars, OJHL
(Cougars play at Wave Twin Rinks, capacity is >1,000 City website has no info on other arena capacities)

Burlington has a lot of similarities to Oakville, a mix of offices and commuting keep a lot of people employed  average income is $50,000, and there is no current arena capable of hosting a Major Junior team.  Burlington gets off a bit easier in that aspect since Hamilton is a short drive away and diehards could make the trip for games, but the weeknight games would suffer for the extra travel, especially with the QEW/403 such a mess leading up to game time.  Burlington is bordered by Oakville and Hamilton so there are large populations to try and draw fans from.

Markham, ON

Population: 301,709
Arena: Markham Centennial Centre
Capacity: 2,500
Closest OHL team: Mississauga Steelheads, 50km.
Current Jr teams - Markham Waxers, OJHL

Markham Ontario has a population that could easily support a Jr team, if it was farther away from Toronto. Markham is strong with youth hockey but has a serious case of GTA Effect going on as it shares a border with Toronto.  Investors in Markham have their sights set higher than the OHL with efforts to build an NHL arena underway.  A strong bedroom community has resident seeking entertainment within the bright lights of the big city or trying to draw such acts to their city.  Markham Centennial Centre is barely big enough for a temp home and with the focus on the big show no one will want to build an OHL rink in the meantime.  A team in Markham is setting itself up to be the next Battalion.

Chatham-Kent, ON

Image Search is not kind to Chatham

Population: 103,671 metro area
Arena: Chatham Memorial Arena
Capacity: 2,500
Closest OHL team: Sarnia Sting, 74km / Windsor Spitfires 77km (faster driving to Windsor via 401)
Current Jr teams - Chatham Maroons, JrB - GOJHL

Chatham was brought up recently in the new with an unnamed OHL team approaching them for possible relocation. City Council is pondering either a new 5,000 arena on the St. Clair College campus, or renovating the memorial to 3,500 seats, the latter would not support an OHL team.  It would be easy for Knights & Spitfires fans to attend as it's in between on the 401.  The Memorial Arena could be a very temporary home but I would assume it would need at least a dressing room upgrade for a team.  The prospects of a town barely over 100k in population could or would be willing to shell out for a new OHL rink is very low, and you would need about 5% of the population at a game each night to keep the team afloat.  I believe Chatham will forever be the city used to tease relocation to get arena upgrades, never a serious consideration.

Niagara Falls, Ontario

most images of Niagara Falls don't include the city

Population: 390,317 metro area
Arena: Gale Centre
Capacity: 2,170
Closest OHL team: Niagara IceDogs, 21 km
Current Jr teams - Niagara Falls Canucks, JrB - GOJHL

Niagara Falls is only on here because I would love to have a St.Catharines/Niagara Falls rivalry. Sharing a fair sized population in the Niagara Region with St. Catharines, would be risky for both as the local economies aren't terrible but aren't growing either. Niagara Falls was also home to the Otters right before they moved and two factors were attendance and the arena, neither of which are solved today.  Niagara Falls was first offered the chance to host the IceDogs, but they did not want to expand the design of the Gale Centre from 2,000 seats, so it doesn't seem likely they would be willing to expand it in the future to split the region with the IceDogs.  Also of note would be whether the IceDogs could protest/block a team from moving into the Falls & they would also have to change to the St. Catharines IceDogs to keep confusion low, a change they've been vocally against already.

Thunder Bay, Ontario

Population: 121,596 metro area
Arena: Fort William Gardens
Capacity: 3,630
Closest OHL team: Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, 700 km.
Current Jr teams - Thunder Bay North Stars, SIJHL

Thunder Bay comes up every few years with a story of someone building a rink for an ECHL team or a Jr one. ECHL/AHL would maybe if their owner pays for flights but TB is 10 hours from The Soo, so 19 hours from most OHL teams. Those rides may fly in the WHL but we're more civilised here. (TB is also 10 hours from the closest WHL team, Brandon MB so the W isn't realistic either). Location kills any other considerations, but I wanted 10 cities for the list and picked one that would sound nice but there's no way anyone with the talent to withhold would even want to sign with a team there.

Cornwall, Ontario

Population: 58,957 metro area
Arena: Cornwall Civic Centre
Capacity: 5,000
Closest OHL team: Ottawa 67's, 104km
Current Jr teams - Cornwall Colts, CCHL

Cornwall is the former home of Memorial Cup champions Cornwall Royals and the AHL's Cornwall Aces.  A small population that I would say can't make it work, but it is in line with North Bay, who just got an OHL team.  Average income is a low $35,000.  A stop on the 401 on the way to Montreal, it has an arena that could host an OHL team without any upgrades aside form a dressing room for the home team, which is a plus to anyone who may want to move a team here, but the economy and population may prevent that from happening ever again.

Cambridge, ON

Population: 126,748
Arena: Galt Arena Gardens
Capacity: 1,100
Closest OHL team: Kitchener Rangers, 18km.
Current Jr teams - Cambridge Winter Hawks, GOJHL

Cambridge a good sized town a stones throw from the Rangers barn, they were home to the Galt Black Hawks/Red Wings/Canadiens and have one of the most beautiful rinks in the province.  Galt Arena Gardens is 92 years old and not   capable of going above Jr A level, and currently hosts the JrB Winter Hawks.  Located just south of Kitchener it's really much to close to the territory of the diehard Rangers fans, but makes a good segue into...

Waterloo, ON

Population: 477,160 metro area
Arena: Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex
Capacity: 4,132
Closest OHL team: Kitchener Rangers, 10km.
Current Jr teams - Waterloo Siskins, GOJHL


Waterloo is one people will dismiss quickly but I do think it would work, with a fan cycle following the OHL players one. Putting a team in Waterloo would be like Brampton/Mississauga again where if the coach is mad about a loss he could make the players walk back to their home rink from away games. BUT the difference here is K-W is a strong major junior area with the Aud averaging just over 6,000 fans. These are diehard fans and getting tickets can be near impossible some nights, having been establish in the community for 50 years.

What a Waterloo based team should have is 1) proximity to the universities 2) undercut Rangers tickets by a couple bucks 3) have a section for students reserved and release a hundred as game day walk ups for discounts with student cards like the Penguins do.  Identify themselves with the students.  Let the Rangers have the locals and go hard after the students & those moving into town for work.  They would need great sales reps and marketing because they would be getting new potential fans in every year.  You would also have locals who either want easier access to games or are the usual rebels who will jump ship to the new team because they are new.  And make games vs the Rangers "double platinum" to gouge the Rangers fans who will try to invade your rink.  The K-W region has double the population of most markets and while the Waterloo Hurricanes only lasted two seasons in the 50's, much has change since then for Waterloo and I believe they would be able to host an OHL team, smaller profile than the Rangers, but stable.  The current JrB arena has the capacity to host OHL with small expansion for a couple suites and a few hundred more seats.

And finally, the most obvious choice:

Hamilton, ON

Population: 721,053 metro
Arena: Dave Andreychuk Mountain Arena & Skating Centre 2,500 / Copps Coliseum 17,383
Closest OHL team: Mississauga Steelheads, 48km.
Current Jr teams - Hamilton Jr red Wings, OJHL

Hamilton is always associated with the Otters moving.  The Bulldogs owner has said he would like an OHL team.  The biggest drawback is Copps.  Too big for anything but an NHL team.  However in a recent interview he has said he would be willing to help pay for a "6-10,000 seat arena more suited to AHL/OHL hockey.". The question he himself raised was, could both the AHL & OHL survive in the same city?  The Bulldogs are averaging 4,000 per game which is good for minor/junior leagues but with more than twice as many tickets available for the Bulldogs, the appetite doesn't really seem to be there for two teams.  The Bulldogs affiliation with the Montreal Canadiens is expiring in a few years and the always there rumours of moving their farm team closer to Montreal perhaps dumping the AHL for the OHL could actually boost attendance.  The most important thing for junior hockey is for people to identify the team with their city.  Something else missing from GTA cities is the feeling "this is my town", having the options to go somewhere else for whatever you need can hurt that.  Hamilton & the Golden Horseshoe has lots of Maple Leafs fans who won't support the Canadiens affiliate, but and a Junior Team that represents nothing but Hamilton could lose that stigma of Habs-ness and bring more people to the rink to cheer for "their" team.

So to sum up, everyone but Brantford, Waterloo, Buffalo, and Hamilton do not have arenas that could currently host an OHL team, using 3,000 seats as the minimum.  Buffalo & Hamiltons arenas are way too big for the OHL on a permanent basis (ask 67's fans how the atmosphere in ScotiaBank Place is) Waterloo has the capacity now to be comfortable without major renovations, and Brantford could do it, with grumbling for more right away.

I would prefer to see the Otters stay where they are in Erie, but if no one wants to keep them there, they are faced with the task of finding a new home city and home arena.

Of the 11 possible new markets for Erie I would rank them as below:

1)Hamilton
2)Waterloo
3)Buffalo
4)Brantford
5)Oakville
6)Burlington
7) Niagara Falls
8)Cornwall
9)Chatham-Kent
10)Markham
11)Thunder Bay

Most of these cities have already hosted an OHL team (or two) but there really isn't many more markets than them to choose from (aside from Thunder Bay, which LOLNope).   I think the OHL has maxed out at 20 teams so we'll just be shuffling the franchises around as needed.

Technically A Champion

Technically a Champion.

That's how my last post ended, with those three words.  What do they mean though?  That's the tricky part.  I missed my leagues playoff weekend, and my team won the championship game in a shootout.  I was a member of the GHL Rangers, and the GHL Rangers won the championship.

I played my best all season.  2 Goals, 6 Assists, not bad for a defensive d-man in a beginners league.  Good enough for a best defenseman nomination. My wife, 3 goals in 2 playoff games, her line on fire, she gets a "most improved" nomination because it wasn't obvious it was her first year. We knew we wouldn't be there, you can't skip holidays with family for a hockey game.  Unless you're getting paid, not the one paying. Having our priorities in order, our champsionship moment would be helping to get them in, and played our hardest to get them there. 

It's a silly thought really. Miss one game and you don't count?  Nonsense.  I know our contributions over the season and the playoffs helped. We're members of that team and our mates are great people and would never treat us as anything less.

But I missed that moment.  That feeling you get when that puck goes in the net to seal your teams fate.  The sudden rush of....."WOOOOOOOOO"....that feeling.

You play for fun, you play for exercise, but you also play for that moment.  It's something I never missed until  I watched the game winning shootout. Thats where the technically comes into play.  I didn't get my moment.  I'll see the team at the banquet, I'll get my little trophy, we'll have fun being together again, I'll know we won, I'll know what we are.

We'll just have to try and do it again, and hey, Easter's at the end of April next year.

Bro, do you even play the game?

A common question when someone disagrees with another persons opinion on hockey.  As in, if you've never strapped on skates and been concussed you're opinion doesn't matter and has no value.  Well yeah bro, I do.

I started playing hockey just before my oldest son was born, actually the day of a game our doctor said the ball was rolling for him to show up, so being the dutiful husband I am, I looked at my lady, knowing my team needed me, and said "I'll bring my cell phone to the bench in case you need anything"

Yes, we took the bus to the hospital at delivery time. Parking downtown's expensive.

My brother-in-laws mother was starting an adult beginners league and I was getting an itch to play hockey (and hey, exercise is a bonus) and invited us to join.  It was a family affair, with my sister, and brother on my team.

Me, right before my first ever hockey game.  No, I did not know  that was a road hockey stick.

It was a summer of truly awful hockey.  Then came the playoffs.  one weekend, 4 games.  Now standard fare for a tournament, but not something an out of shape beginner was prepared for.  1 game Friday night, stayed up way too late, early AM game next morning, no sleep, no breakfast led to a pretty cranky Adam.  I yelled at a little kid. Sunday: We made it to the championship game. one problem, we only had 8 players.  "How can you skip the finals!" I yelled, knowing we're doomed.  But the game must go on.  it was a close affair, and halfway through the second period there was a scuffle in front of the net and my brother went down.  We thought he had a concussion, as he had trouble getting to his feet as was pretty incoherent.  My sister took him to the change room and we were down to a 6 person bench for half the game.  Only 1 person resting at a time can spell danger, but do you believe in miracles?  I do now because we came back to win that game and become the first ever Adult Rookie League CHAMPIONS!

Oh the sweet taste of victory.  We assembled a great team for the winter season and dreamed of repeating. 

We didn't.  We were terrible.  We came in last.

But the next summer! Oh what a summer that was.  We went undefeated for 15 games including playoffs and we were CHAMPIONS! once again.

Even sweeter was beating my sister.

3 seasons, two championships, thats the way to do it.  Not wanting to drive 100km round trip for hockey anymore, I retired from the ARL a two time champion. Next league to dominate was the closer to home Genesis Hockey League.  Drafted to the Canucks we had a superstar in net and my big presence on the blue line what could go wrong?

We also had a tank.

Everything.  First place and unstoppable and post-Christmas we couldn't bribe our way to a win.  Yet another last place finish.

No problem, it's a pattern, season 2 in virgil will be the year.

Drafted to play for the Blackhawks that year we were doing well, the trade deadline came and went and no problem, we kept on going.  Then I got an e-mail.

A late trade had to be done.  Bad news for me:

I'm in the back on the far right. hiding in shame of the crest.

I was a Canadien.  WHY? WHY MUST THIS HAPPEN TO ME?

Well, I'll be fine, I was asked for specifically, so thats a boost to the ego.  Besides, this was the year to break the curse right?  Kinda.  My team won the championship.  Just...not my current team. The Blackhawks would win the championship and the Canadiens?  Last place.  Did I trade trophies for travel?

Season 3.  With my wife on my team we're playing for the Rangers and I like the look of our team.  We're all having a good time, despite sucking it up.  Seriously.  Look at this record.

That 5-0 win?  The goalie put on pads for the first time ever.

So, yup.  Same old same old. But that didn't matter, this was a great team, and there was never a sour face the entire time.  But three new additions and we were re-born after the Christmas break.

Yeah, complete 180

We were on fire, and unbeatable.  Still dead last heading into the playoffs, so we had to play the #1, #2, and #3 place teams.  We lost game 1 2-0.  But we won the next two games and won a spot in the championship game.  A chance for revenge against the team that beat us 2-0.

Awesome right?  Except one thing: We were out of town for Easter that weekend. I knew this was coming so my goal was to help get my team into the finals.  Lady scored 3 goals in the final two games and her line was on fire.  Me?  I directly led to all 3 goals against us in the playoffs. However, our mission was accomplished.  All we could do is drive away and hope.

Saturday came and went and what did we wake up to Easter Sunday?

Oh yeah.  Technically a Champion once again. 

Oshawa Generals @ Niagara IceDogs - March 26, 2013

Joel Smith Photography

The Niagara IceDogs have faced the Oshawa Generals three times in their five previous post-seasons in Niagara.  Niagara lost in six games to Oshawa their first season after relocating from Mississauga, two years later Niagara beat Oshawa in five games en route to the conference finals.  Last season Niagara beat Oshawa in six games.  Both those seasons Niagara was the favourite to win and the higher seed, this year the tables were turned, and Niagara, coming off a run to the OHL Finals (which were cancelled for some reason) has a depleted roster and is the sixth seed to Oshawa's third.  Buzzing the Net gave the IceDogs an 11% chance to win this series, and after watching the first two games, I was inclined to believe them.

Game 1 - Niagara 2 @ Oshawa 5 - Shots NIA 19 OSH 32

Game 2 - Niagara 3 @ Oshawa 4 - Shots NIA 26 OSH 38

Both games featured plenty of roughing penalties and Oshawa was doing a good job getting under Niagara's skin and throwing them off their game.

Work was busy this year and I only made it out to two regular season games, and they were both on free tickets (Thanks to my Dentist Dr. Darryl, so I'll give him a plug.  Smith Family Dentistry in downtown St. Catharines), which was the opposite of last year where I was at half the home games + playoff dates.  However, my wonderful wife surprised me with tickets to the only first round game I could attend, and off we went!

What a game it was, the IceDogs Game Day staff went all out as they do in the playoffs.  Three things stood out the most to me:

1) Giveaways.  Lots of "Go Dogs Go" signs from last year being given away, but instead of the Rally Towels of the past 2 seasons there were cardboard fans at each seat.  Hold it sideways and smack it on anything, your hand, the glass, your wife (don't worry, I convinced her to date me by drumming on her head, so it's a thing we do), made a ton of noise and you were more inclined to keep it going longer than with clapping, since there's no wear on the hands.  Great idea because noise is something that travels well around The Jack.

Oshawa Generals 2013 Playoff Shirt

2) New use of the video screen.  More & more traditions have been making their way into The Jack.  A Ric Flair "WOOOO!" after each IceDogs goal and yelling "WHO CARES?" after the announcement of the opponents goal.  A new one I saw last night was on the video screen when a visitor got a penalty "B-O-X / B-O-X / BOX BOX / BOX BOX BOX / WOO!" I'm all for chants and this one is great.  The second was very clever and only used for this series (unless we play Belleville next).  The Oshawa Generals slogan for the playoffs is "Make 'Em See Red", sine they wear red sweaters at home. Well, after each IceDogs goal the video screen would show a goal light and say "WE LOVE TO SEE RED".  Brilliant.

3) The Laura Secord Drum Band.  I liked hearing that NCAA teams have the schools marching band in the stands, and the IceDogs continuing to invite the Secord drummers is one that I hope continues each year (also having the visiting teams block of seats next to the band is a nice touch).

For the game play itself it was fantastic, from what I saw.  I keep buying them, but NEVER seat near the benches.  Damn players and coaches keep standing up blocking out the far corner of the ice.

Anyway, the game was fast, hits were hard, and the roughness from the past two games continued.  HOWEVER, the teams switched sides.  The IceDogs fed off the noise, the crowd, the taunts, and the Generals were the ones being tossed off their game.

A couple notes here:

1) Steven Shipley - Two goals, one assist, took a puck to the face, got stitched up and came back out.  That sums up the playoffs, right there.

2)IceDogs line changes - Since the home team changes last, a tactic used by Marty Williamson was to wait for the Generals to be lined up for the face off, then call his guys back for a line change.  it wasn't done every time, but after two changes in a row you could see the frustration on the players faces and the coaching staff of the Generals.

3) Game Misconducts - Mack Lemmon was giving a game misconduct and 4 min for charging when he rushed in to avenge a player who had just been checked from behind head first into the boards (by Brown, OSH).  I think the misconduct was a result of the officials getting fed up with this series and wanting to take control then (hint, they didn't calm anything down). Oshawa also had a game misconduct which brings us to...

4) Lucas Lessio - A subject for a post all in it's own, but the crowd is no fan of Lucas'.  An IceDogs draft pick who said he was going NCAA until his rights were traded to Oshawa, then he changed his mind.  Which is his right, it's a popular tactic to going where you want (see Domi, Max & Lindros, Eric), but it's also the crowds right to boo the one that spurned us.  I'm no fan of the homophobic insults used (you suck dick!) or the sexist ones (hey, where's your purse?), or outside the confines of the rink in general, but booing when he has the puck, and cheering his penalties and hits, well that's hockey.  Playing here tends to make him lose his cool and did he ever.  You could see the drive in his eyes to score a goal and show us all up.  Which he did. Except it didn't count.  As soon as the puck hit the net the refs were waving it off.  He either didn't notice or care, because he swiped the ice and fist bumped his bench anyway.  the third period is where this story picks up.  A roughing, then a slashing, then a goal tending interference in the third period, which set him off on a tantrum that including slamming his stick, holding open the penalty box doors to scream at the ref, then a game misconduct.  2 years ago when the Generals were eliminated by Niagara he got a game misconduct and flipped off the rink on his way out.  Can't wait for game 4 on Thursday.

All in all, it was the best game I've been to as a fan since the last second win over Brampton in last seasons playoff opener. The team has stepped up their game on the ice and in the front office.  Here's hoping they can continue all spring.