I went to a fight last night.....

..... AND A HOCKEY GAME BROKE OUT!
(or so goes the often quoted line here).

I think it's fair to say that the Marlies game against the Rockford Ice Hogs (daft name I know!) was fractious and physical to start, got rough in the middle, and turned downright violent at the end. The game sheet itself makes scary reading, but also pretty much tells the tale of the game all on its own.

An incredibly picky referee, who seemed to be spotting infractions from nowhere didn't help the situation, and he ended-up calling TWENTY-NINE Penalties! Yes... 29!! Only three of which came in the first period, and meant there were a total of four 5-on-3 situations. So its not surprising there was no real flow to the game, and quite impressive that the teams managed to muster eight goals between them, and ONLY TWO on the powerplay!

There were however, two real highlights of the night. The first one is the aforementioned fights. Yes hockey is a great sport anyway, but sometimes the fighting just adds to the entertainment, and works as a release for the players and a way to "police" the sport themselves. So as the end neared with the result secured, the final two minutes saw three (quite impressive by hockey standards) fights and a misconduct penalty to add to the fun. Toronto's Kris Newberry (my best mate! - see the post from this time last year!) was especially impressive in his "bout" and left the ring... sorry, I mean rink, to a standing ovation.

The really cute part of day though didn't actually involve the players we'd all paid to come and watch. No, that was fulfilled by this:




all together now ....... aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
These kids are all barely old enough to walk, yet they're playing hockey already. Yep, they start them young in Canada!

Happy Hockey Days everyone!

Time flies!

Well its hard to believe in some ways that its been one full year since I left home and ol' Wales. Sometimes it feels just like yesterday that I was heading to the airport for that Zoom Airlines 767. Until recently life has been so busy that it "can't possibly have been a year gone", but then, when I get the chance to sit down and actually think about everything that has happened, it seems like enough to fit into five years!

A couple of weeks in Canada to start, turned into a wonderful white Christmas and a couple of months of Canadian winter! From the frozen winds and blowing snow of Toronto in winter, it was then from one extreme to the other with the heat and altitude of the South American Andes. Three hectic, energetic, exhausting and very very exciting months south of the equator exploring the fascinating and beautiful scenery, history and people of Latin America.

Then just as its getting cold down there, I fly back up to Toronto to be reunited with a wonderful Canadian girl just in time for a wonderful Canadian summer! A summer which included visitors from home, baseball games, visiting family all around Ontario, a spectacular trip out East to Nova Scotia, and actually finally working sometime as well!

So if that's what the previous 365 days held for me, the possibilities for the next 365 days are endless!