Tuesday, October 29, 2013
A Belleville Kid, and His Mom, in South Florida.
A Belleville Kid and
His Mom, in South Florida
A week ago, the
Chicago Black Hawks lost in overtime to the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was the
second of two games they played in a mini-tour of Florida. They had played the
Panthers on Tuesday , a game which they won in a shootout. As a result, they
took three of four points in the Sunshine state.
Darlene Shaw is
likely moderately happy with the result. She was part of an entourage of ladies
who attended the game in Fort Lauderdale. “We want to leave Florida with four
points, ” she told me from the box set aside for the Black Hawk mothers. There
is an annual excursion that the team
provides, to the fathers and the mothers, on an annual basis. “I am thrilled to
be here. Everything is first class. We flew in here from Chicago, and we fly
out to Tampa after the game.”
Darlene is
justifiably proud of her son Andrew. He was a key ingredient in the Hawks drive
last year to win the Stanley Cup. Some pundits wrote off Shaw during his junior
hockey days. He is relatively small, in current National Hockey league
standards. But he more than made up for his size with his heart, and his
tenacity. He is a feisty player, the kind who drives opponents crazy. As is
often the case in hockey, when the opposition retaliates, they are penalized,
giving the disturber a two minute power play.
Remarkably, only two
of the players’ wives did not make the trip. Without checking off each and
every Mom, the list would include women from many countries: several provinces
in Canada, eight of the United States, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and the Czech
Republic. Many other mothers were also invited, including those of the
broadcasters, managers, and a host of others connected with the team. Stan
Bowman is the Vice President and General Manager of the Hawks, and, naturally,
his mother made the trip. She also brought along his father, Scotty, a man who
knows a thing or two about the game. Scotty is a senior advisor with the hockey
operations of the Club.
Scotty was sporting
an enormous Stanley Club ring which will likely take its place beside several
others on his dresser. He won the Stanley Cup eight times as a coach, and a few
more in a managerial capacity. He was born in Montreal, and player his Junior
hockey there, with the Montreal Jr. Canadiens. His first coaching stint was
with the Hull-Ottawa Junior Habs in 1956, and he coached there the following
year when they skated against the McFarlands at the Memorial Arena in
Belleville. He moved up to the NHL in 1967 with the St. Louis Blues.
Darlene Shaw got to
know the other moms on the team during last year’s playoff run. “We all started
going to the games on a regular basis during the last two series of the
playoffs. Nick Leddy is Andrew’s roommate in Chicago, and his mother has become
a good friend of mine.” The players ate with their mothers on this trip, and
accompanied them on a cruise out of Tampa. She indicated that there was
occasionally a language barrier with the European mothers, but nothing serious.
Winning helps in those situations.
The Hawks ended the
second period ahead 2-0 on a late goal by Bryan Bickell, assisted by Niklas
Hjalmarsson and Andrew Shaw. The Panthers climbed back into the game with goals
by Kulikov and Tomas Fleischmann, but lost in a shootout. Shaw is pictures in
the USA Today chasing Kingston’s Erik Gudbranson around the net during the
game.
Exciting times for a
small town boy and his Mom!
James Hurst
Sportslices.blogspot.com
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
There is Energy in the House!
There is Energy in the
House!
If you are a frequent
reader of this column, you may tire of my suggestion that you must get to the
house to capture the experience. By the house, of course, I mean the arena, the
ball park, the field, the place where the sports event takes place. That is the
only place where you can truly experience the magic of the game, as it unfolds
before you.
Last Tuesday, I
attended the game between the Leafs and the Minnesota Wild at the Air Canada
Centre. With a little time on my hands, I was able to drop the car off at the
GO station in Oshawa, and train into Union Station. Less than ten bucks,
return. For those of you who battle Hogtown traffic every day, and search for
decent “Event” parking for $ 20, the train is a great deal. Plenty of time for
a pre-game nap.
The game against the
Wild offered the opportunity to watch former Wellington Duke Matt Cooke with
his new team. He moved on to the Wild in the off season. I spoke briefly with
coach Mike Yeo before the game. “Matt Cooke is a big time character guy. That’s
why we brought him here. He’s playing great for us.” Cookie leads the Wild with
six points in nine games, with a game winning goal last week. I am certain that
he is justifiably proud of his selection as the Edward J. DeBartolo “Community
Service Award” for his time and effort on community and charity projects last
year, when he was with the Penguins.
Tyler Bozak put the
Leafs on the board first, converting a nifty passing play from Cody Franson and
Dave Bolland. Shots on goal were hard to come by for the Leafs, as the Wild
play a very tight defensive game. Mason Raymond, an addition to the Leafs from
the Canucks prior to the season, snuck to the front of the Wild net backwards,
wheeled around, and found the mesh. It was the seventh shot by the Leafs, at
the 12:23 mark in the second period. At that point, Coach Yeo decided to replace
his starting goalie, rookie Darcy Kuemper, with Josh Harding.
James Reimer was beaten once in the game. “I
wasn’t that happy with my game. It’s a little tougher to get into a rhythm with
ten days off. But it’s important to come to the rink and work hard, to try to
battle out there. You have to make those key saves in a game, whether or not
you face 3 shots or 30 shots. I didn’t feel as sharp as I could have. But I was
mentally focused. So it’s nothing to be alarmed about. And yes, I really felt
sorry for Kuemper. He’s a good goalie, he’ll bounce back.”
After the game, Cooke
told me he is very comfortable with the Wild. “This is a great young team. We
are learning to play sixty minutes.”
Since that game,
which the Leafs won 4-1 with an empty net goal, the Wild have picked up nine
points in nine games. The Leafs have 12 points in nine games, and will be
joined by former Belleville Bull David Clarkson for their next game. Clarkson
served a ten game suspension for an illegal hit. Joffrey Lupul leads the Leafs
with ten points. Raymond, Phil Kessel, and Nazem Kadri have eight points each.
Only seventy more
games until the playoffs!
James Hurst
Sportslices.blogspot.com
Monday, October 14, 2013
This and That in Junior Hockey
Happy Thanksgiving,
everyone. This, of course, applies to all of you who live north of the border
between Canada and the United States
I caught two fine
hockey games last weekend. The Wellington Dukes
continue to roll along, and, across the Norris
Whitney Bridge ,
the Belleville Guelph
I neglected to
mention that he faced 72 shots in the game. No overtime. No shootout. Just a
constant barrage throughout the game. Normally, goalies face an average of
thirty shots per game. Belleville took 29 shots
at the Guelph
You sometimes hear the
word “rebuilding” with reference to Junior hockey. Personally, I believe that
coaches and general managers must rebuild yearly. There are many factors that
influence the success of junior teams, none more critical than age. Simply put,
the players will move on just when they become really good, because of their
age. And the best players move on before the time limit expires!
The job facing all
personnel involved in junior hockey is to get the best players possible from
the minor ranks, and keep them as long as you can. European players can also be
an asset; however, it is difficult to get the best Europeans in the draft.
The Bulls recently
added Remi Elie to the lineup. He was impressive Saturday night, and will be an
asset this year. He is 18 years old, and has been drafted by the Dallas Jordan Subban and
Brendan Gaunce were both chosen by the Vancouver
They are both
veterans on the squad. I use that term rather loosely, as a veteran in the OHL
might even be nineteen years old! The team does rely on these older players for
leadership, because of their experience in the league. They have gone through
the homesickness, the days at school without all of the assignments completed,
all of the experiences growing up away from home. That, of course, would be
magnified for the European players.
The Bulls have won
twice in ten games. They lost once in overtime, and once in a shootout. They
now face a period of long stretches of inactivity. They do not play until next
Friday night when they travel to Erie , and move
on to play on the road against Niagara on
Saturday. The following weekend will be spent on the road as well in the annual
northern swing: Sault Saint Marie on Friday, Sudbury
on Saturday, and North Bay
Their next home game
will be Wednesday, October 30th at the Yardmen Arena. Wear a mask. A
Hallowe’en mask, not a goalie mask!
On Friday night, the
Bulls will face the latest Player of the Week for the OHL, Connor Brown, a
draft pick of the Toronto
The best way to
experience Junior Hockey action is at the rink! See you there!
James Hurst
October 14,
2013-10-14
Sportslices.blogspot.com
Tuesday, October 08, 2013
Canadian University Football 2013
One of those
occasions was last weekend at the football game between Queen’s and Laurier. It
was a crazy game, full of errors by both teams. Very catchable balls were
dropped, fumbles took place for no good reason, runners scored touchdowns at
the least expected times. Coach Pat Sheahan from Queen’s described the game as “ugly,
filled with plenty of missed opportunities.”
Here’s the situation:
Laurier was not expected to stay with Queen’s the entire game. They had given
Western a scare, and Western outscored Queen’s 50-31 last week. Nonetheless, it
was supposed to be a relatively easy win for Queen’s, and it started that way,
in the first half.
By the beginning of the
fourth quarter, the Golden Gaels were in trouble, down 27-16. They mustered
some offence, and closed the gap. With little more than a minute remaining in
the game, they went ahead 34-27. Laurier had the wind at their backs, a factor
throughout the game. Following a poor kickoff which went out of bounds, the
Laurier Golden Hawks marched down the field, and tied the game with seconds
remaining.
In overtime, each
team scrimmages the ball on the 35 yard line, and is given the opportunity to
score any way possible: touchdowns, field goals, single points (rouges). One
team takes a crack at it, then the other. Laurier started but failed to score.
Queen’s put together
a couple of first downs, and huddled inside the ten yard line. The quarterback,
Billy McFee, moved the ball in front of the uprights and took a knee. Coach
Sheahan decided to try the field goal on second down, “just in case the snap
was bobbled”. It was at that time that I exclaimed, “They could block that, you
know”.
Joanne, with her golfing pal Donna Purcell
The fans closest to me, including my wife, threatened to tar and feather me, but with more forceful language. Sure enough, the field goal attempt was blocked. From our vantage point, we could not figure out what happened next. Following serious detective work, I have pieced together the other pieces of the play.
The fans closest to me, including my wife, threatened to tar and feather me, but with more forceful language. Sure enough, the field goal attempt was blocked. From our vantage point, we could not figure out what happened next. Following serious detective work, I have pieced together the other pieces of the play.
James, Holly Molaski-our niece, and Joanne
The place holder, # 5 Aaron Gazendam, had the presence of mind to grab the blocked kick and punt it into the end zone. The Laurier players waited while the ball squirmed on the ground, hoping that the Queen’s players would encroach, inside the five yard restraining area. In the meantime, Gazendam snuck around the befuddled players, and pounced on the ball. His right. His touchdown. Game over.
The place holder, # 5 Aaron Gazendam, had the presence of mind to grab the blocked kick and punt it into the end zone. The Laurier players waited while the ball squirmed on the ground, hoping that the Queen’s players would encroach, inside the five yard restraining area. In the meantime, Gazendam snuck around the befuddled players, and pounced on the ball. His right. His touchdown. Game over.
Queen's University Defensive Coordinator Pat Tracey
Coach Sheahan told
the Gaels after the game, “It took every last play to win this game. I gave
credit to Coach Pat Tracey for the final play. So there is a Belleville Belleville as
a student at Centennial
Secondary School Vanier Cup with Guelph University ,
and coached special teams in Hamilton
Student support for the Alumni
As side note, it was the 45thReunion Year for my Arts
and Science classmates of 1968, and we were afforded the opportunity of walking
on the track around the stadium at half time. There is always a wonderful
reception from the student section. Our niece joined us for a photo
opportunity. Thumping of leather jackets. A sea of purple. Plenty of smiles and
chuckles.
As side note, it was the 45th
Ron Bannerman, in his leathers, just ahead of Peter Milliken.
Jonah Pataki hails from Wallaceburg,Ontario Ontario
Jonah Pataki hails from Wallaceburg,
Jonah Pataki #35, with his Mother. I assume.
Queen’s now has a record of 5 wins, one loss, and remains in third place behind Western. Laurier has one win this season. But this is Canadian university football, and as I have indicated, anything can and will happen!
Queen’s now has a record of 5 wins, one loss, and remains in third place behind Western. Laurier has one win this season. But this is Canadian university football, and as I have indicated, anything can and will happen!
James Hurst
October 7, 2013-10-07
Sportslices.blogspot.com
Thursday, October 03, 2013
The National Hockey Season Begins 2013-2014
They dropped the puck
last night to open the 2013-2014 season in the National Hockey League. Pipers
piped, and drummers drummed, and yes, they unfurled a banner to acknowledge
that the Chicago Black Hawks indeed won the Stanley
I got the jump on the
season by purchasing a set of the O Pee Chee 2013-2014 cards. There are 600
cards in the set, with a ton of rookies at the end of the set, including
Jonathan Huberdeau. He won the Rookie of the Year Award last year in his
inaugural season with the Panthers. He certainly is a presence on the ice, and
has a style somewhat similar to former great players from Quebec
Former Belleville
And for the Toronto Los Angeles
Last night I caught
bits of an interview with the intrepid Brian Burke, now chief honcho with the
Flames. He rarely minces words, but does not often throw players under the bus.
He was discussing the play of a young player. He explained to the media, that
there were three areas on the ice that require attention, and that the rookie
had learned about one of them. A fairly direct notion that all players must
learn how to play defensively. The rookie will begin the season in the minors.
On the Western Front,
at least from the Canadian West, there is growing optimism in Edmonton
The Winnipeg
In the most
interesting coaching change seen in years, John Tortorella and Alain Vigneault
traded places. “Torts” will work behind the Canucks bench, while Vigneault will
guide the Rangers. I am still shaking my head on that one!
We will also see an
introduction to new “Icing” rules, referred to as “hybrid”. It will cut down on
the suicide races to touch the puck, but will result in questionable calls.
Linesmen will have to wear extra sharp skates, in order to determine the proper
call. There should be a line between the circles. This imaginary stuff is fit
for soccer, not hockey.
Welcome back to “The
Greatest Game in the World”!
James Hurst
October 1, 2013
The Home Stretch-Major League Baseball 2013
It wasn’t that long
ago that the boys of summer were kicking around the dirt in the Spring,
somewhere in the south. Then began the gruelling, grinding, often painful quest
to become the best team in baseball-the winners of the World Series.
Many of those
decisions have already been made, and, within a day or two, the final
post-season participants will be dressing for games in October. The great game
of baseball traditionally holds its final games in the Hallowe’en month. Even
one of the stars of the past, who had an exceptional day in Yankee Stadium, was
dubbed “Mr. October”. He hit three home runs in one game to earn the honour,
and never let us forget it!
Max Scherzer should
be a name to remember this October. He pitches for the Detroit
The Yankees were
moving towards a shot at the finals when they ran into a stubborn Blue Jay team
a week and a half ago. The Toronto Bronx Bombers, spoiling their dreams. It is a time of the
year when those who cannot make the playoffs need to show off their younger players
who have toiled in the minors all season. If the rookies are hot, the
contenders suffer.
Yankee fans were
hoping that they would make the playoffs so that their closer, Mariano Rivera
would have a final chance to show his stuff. He will retire at the end of this
season, and he is a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame in five years. He has recorded
more saves that any other pitcher, ever, establishing a record that will last
for years. He is most gracious, and has contributed much to his native country,
Panama
It is coming down to
the wire for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati
The Red Sox, the
Tigers and the Oakland Atlanta Braves
and the Los Angeles
They will be some
exciting ninth inning heroics somewhere in the next month. “Play Ball!”
James Hurst
Sportslices.blogspot.com
