This dickhead is a typical type A douchebag.  Who is he?  Martin Tremblay.  What did he do?  This.

This is the main reason why we as parents need to be concerned with the potential of assholes becoming hockey coaches.  As a result, this dickhead is going to receive 15 days in jail for tripping a 10 and a 13 year old in the handshake line.  I would hate to be the person that attempts to do that to one of my children.    Fuck...I hope this douchebag gets his ass fucked rimless in jail.

Thunder Bay is a little bit of a hockey hotbed.  We are very lucky to have an exorbitant amount of former pro players returning here after their careers have wound down.  In 2005, a group of former pro players and friends decided to put a team into the Allan Cup Tournament and called themselves the Thunder Bay Bombers,  The Thunder Bay Bombers faced the Horse Lake Thunder in the finals and ended up winning the Tournament.  Beating the Horse Lake Thunder wasn't a small feat, since former NHL players Gino Odjick, Dody Wood, Sasha Lakovic and Theoren Fleury all played for them.  I am moving on to the main point of my story here.

My 5 year old started playing hockey this year, and of course I was leery as to who his coaches would be.  When my oldest boy played, his coaches were simply parents that wanted to help out, which was great.  It was a great league, and my son loved it because it wasn't competitive.  He has since stopped playing but my youngest wanted to take up the game last year.  However, he was only 3 and turning 4 at the time.  I decided a year of power skating would help him out when he started playing hockey.  It helped me out too actually, since I started dating his power skating coach.  Cute little figure skating coach as well...but I digress...she was mental.

This year I put Grady into a league that was going to be more structured.  The coaching staff in this league is simply astounding.  All of the coaches are former NHL, OHL, NCAA, ECHL, WHL...the list goes on.  I was lucky enough to get Grady onto a team where I knew the coach.  I was good friends with his younger brother through highschool, up until he left to go play NCAA and in Europe.  Thing is, his older brother (and Grady's coach) was the better hockey player.  How good?  Grady's coach played on the Thunder Bay Bombers team that won the Allan Cup.  As well, both brothers have had their numbers retired and are in the University of North Dakota's Hall of Fame.

When it comes to putting your kids into hockey, a lot of the thought needs to be about what type of coach is my son getting?  What is this coaches background?  Does the coach have kids themselves?  There are a lot of questions that you need to consider when you are putting your children into another persons hands.  This coach should be a moral compass, teaching work ethic and sportsmanship amongst other things.

I fucking hope to hell that this prick Tremblay hasn't been fortunate enough to have kids.  If someone is willing to treat another persons children in that manner, how do you think they will treat their own children?  Chances are, not very well.  This good for nothing sumbitch deserves to have those two childrens fathers show up at his door on a daily basis, at different times of the day, and drag him out of his house and beat the living fuck out of him on his front lawn.  Hell, I would do that.  Easily.  And more than once.  This dick would have to deal with me showing up at his front door for the next 4 months of his life, every single fucking day.

Words of wisdom from The Queers..."fall back 5 yards, it's time to punt"

I know it has been awhile since I have posted an entry here, but for those that have read in the past, they are aware of my appreciation for the fisticuffs that sometimes break out in hockey.  Here is my favorite one from my favorite league, the LNAH.  Top 5 fights for the month of January.  Enjoy.

Hotchnuts.

I have spent my summer relatively offline for the most part.  I would check my twitter or facebook feed for tidbits of info, and I would check in occasionally to check on the lack of progress with the current CBA talks.

From what I can determine, the major sticking point with the PA and the NHL is the revenue sharing.  Now, I am going to go off on a tear here, and I personally don't care if you are offended or upset with my perspective.  I am putting it out there for you, and if it causes discussion, then I have done my job.

This whole debacle kind of hits close to home for me.  The Premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty, has introduced legislation to force all education workers back to work for the start of the school year.  However, my union has never stated that we will strike and have said nothing that would imply the school year would not start on schedule.  We have even cancelled our strike vote.  As a result, our contract is just going to roll over, without scheduled raises or improvements.  We are going to continue working until a new contract is in place.

And then we have the NHLPA.  They want more money.  Valid argument if they were being grossly underpaid.  However, if you cannot support yourself on $575,000 a year, which is what I believe the league minimum is, then you have some problems.  I make it work for me, and I earn much, much less.  If the NHLPA does not like the idea of employer and employee, then maybe they should go back to school, further their education and start their own business.  The owners want to make their money, and the NHLPA want theirs as well. 

I went to school.  I found a career which I truly enjoy.  I pay to play hockey a couple of times a week.  Yes, even during the summer here in Thunder Bay.  I love hockey.  However, all of this is starting to leave a shitty taste in my mouth.

We are hearing the arguments coming from the players; they want a cut of the money off of the game that was made on their backs.  Well, there came a time in life when they had to make a decision; try to make a career out of this hockey thing or get a real job.  They chose hockey.  Granted, I'm glad they did, because I truly enjoy watching it.  When is the greed going to stop.  The owners are the employers, and the NHLPA are the employees.  Get used to it. 

Another argument from the players is the fact that they beat up their bodies.  True, hockey is very rough sport and the potential for injury is there.  What would happen to someone like me if I was hurt playing the game I love?  First of all, I would not be paid for the days I miss from work.  I enjoy the game, so I take the risk.  The players take the same risk.  For those of you that know me, I am also in the Canadian military and have spent some time overseas.  I knew the risks, I chose to go.  Did I sit there and try to get more money because there is a chance I may get injured?  I'm pretty sure the risk of injury for those members of our respective forces that serve overseas are drastically different than what a hockey player may encounter.

And so now, the negotiations have stalled.  They are being recessed temporarily.  I guess meeting 3 times a week for 45 minutes at a time is a trying process.  And you have players calling the latest owners offer "a pig in lipstick."  You are not endearing yourself to the fans or to the owners at this time by resorting to insults. 

And Bettman, fuck you.  You arrogant, little wormy piece of shit.  You are a classless douche.  Coming out and stating the the NHL will be okay because you have the worlds best fans is a fucking insult.  By no means am I a fucking doormat.  You can only piss on my back so many times and tell me it's raining. 

This is one fucking fan that may not come back to your game you greedy, selfish sons of bitches.

Thanks,

Andrew

for the first time in the history of the team, the LA Kings are the Stanley Cup Champions.  This topic has been covered by many more talented writers here at the Gab than myself, so I will just take this opportunity to say that I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Kings this postseason.  Sure, I would have enjoyed watching the Bruins, but they just didn’t have it this year.  The Kings were just too big, too skilled and too solid at both ends of the ice.  All four lines were solid, and I didn’t realize that Penner could grow such solid eyebeard.  And just think…Dustin Brown was being shopped around at the trade deadline.

Where will Rick Nash land?  There are going to be many teams chasing him prior to the entry draft, but only a few will have the assets that Scott Howson will be looking for.  At the top of the list has to be the Rangers.  Since the other prized impending free agent Parise has stated he won’t go to New York, the Rangers will probably make a solid effort to land Nash.  The Rangers are currently stacked with a solid core of young forwards, as well as being very well established on their back end.  Two names that Columbus will be after are Kreider and Dubinsky.  Moving Dubinsky and Kreider will give the Rangers the cap room they need, but I don’t like the idea of moving Kreider.  The rookie had a tremendous post season, and just like Brad Marchand in last years playoffs, the Rangers need to give him a longer look.  He earned the chance to play regularly for the Rangers next season.

Another team that could possibly be interested in Nash could be San Jose.  San Jose could be persuaded to give up the likes of Niemi and Pavelski for Nash, but would Nash make a difference on a team that never makes a difference in the post season? 

And of course, up here in Canada, the majority of the media outlets are suggesting that Nash could be a member of the Leafs by the entry draft.  For Burke to land Nash, he is going to have to unload a number of mediocre players such as Komisarek, Schenn, Kadri and Grabovski.  Burke will traditionally have his players overvalued, but the bottom line is that Burke and the leafs do not have enough assets to make a trade happen.  Columbus would want prospects and players that would make their club better, but these players can’t even do it in Toronto.  Basement dwellers trying to swing a trade to get better always makes me laugh.

You betcha.  As expected, the Goldwater Institute has continued to hamper any potential progress that has been made with a possible Coyotes sale.  Even though Glendale City Council voted 4-2 in favor of the sale, the Goldwater Institute is contending that the city council did not meet the required 5 votes, since one of the council members was not in attendance.  As well, they contend that the city did not make 2 of its exhibits available to the public prior to the council meeting and the vote.  This whole situation just keeps making me laugh.  It is only a matter of time before Jamison steps away from the table, just like many others before him.  Maybe the Goldwater Institute should just buy the fucking team.

With the hockey season over for this season, and potentially the start of next season, my time here on Sundays is slowly drawing to a close.  I would like to thank everyone here for giving me a tremendous opportunity to share my love of hockey with everyone.  I will be hearing from the powers that be here at The Gab shortly, and I’m pretty sure there won’t be a lot of hockey to talk about this summer.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hotchnuts

As I was watching the Kings/Devils game on Wednesday night, I was quick to notice someone sitting behind Devils coach Peter DeBoer.  I was leaving my house shortly to watch the second and third periods at a friends house, so I shot him a message and told him to pay attention.  As we couldn’t really make out much more of her, I did some research and found that it was in fact adult film star Taylor Stevens.  Taylor has had a fairly rough year, having undergone chemo for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, the same illness that Mario Lemieux battled. 

She may seem to have potential, but alas, she is an avid leafs fan.  And as a result, she isn’t worthy. 

Last week I let you know about a recent development with my computer.  It turns out that one shop couldn’t repair it, so I have one last avenue to explore;  I am going to bring it back to the guys that built it, and hopefully they can bring it back to life.  As a result, I am working on this on Friday night over at a lady friends house.  Yes, I understand, this is a very challenging time.  I am trying to write this before a pivotal game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals. 

But please understand and be patient…I am going to a Henry Rollins show tomorrow night, and unfortunately, that takes precedence over hockey.  I never thought anything would come between me and my love for hockey.  But the fact that Henry Rollins is even coming to Thunder Bay, Ontario is remarkable and fucking amazing.  Hopefully there are some Rollins fans out there that can be empathetic.

However, in retrospect, I have managed to pull off the last couple of weeks without going into great detail about the Stanley Cup Finals.  Is the golden horseshoe ready to fall out of my ass?  Well, I’m a gambler and I’m doubling down.  However, I will bring up one thing that I watched about 10x on the PVR; yes, I am talking about the Dustin Brown missed hit on Henrik Tallinder.

I fucking laughed continually on that one.  Brown has been playing like a beast in the post season, but hasn’t really been as much of a force in this series as he was in the previous rounds.  Is it sadistic or twisted of me to see others fail?  No, probably not, considering he probably earned more playing 1 game of hockey than I earned in 2 months.

Red Fisher has covered 43 of the last 45 Stanley Cups, and has announced his retirement.  Fisher has worked for the Montreal Gazette and has covered 17 of the Montreal Canadiens 24 Stanley Cups.  Lets put that into perspective for you…the first NHL story that Red Fisher covered was the Maurice Richard suspension handed down from Clarence Campbell. 

In Canada, the Richard Riots was a HUGE milestone and boiling point in the history of French/English relations in Canada.  And for those of you keeping score at home, yes, the Habs fans rioted back then too.  Fisher has been offered multiple Stanley Cup rings from the Montreal Canadiens, but has turned the majority of them down, and has 1 Stanley Cup ring to show for the 17 that he has covered for the Habs.

Well, just when you think a sale is about to go through for the Coyotes…enter Goldwater Institute stage right…

The Goldwater Institute has again raised it’s head in the ‘Yotes saga.  Now, they are advising the city of Glendale to consider their current financial situation in adding to their potential debtload when they are currently laying off municipal employees and cutting city services.  In my opinion, and I’m sure this will garner an animated and articulated response from Harvey, I am thoroughly confused about the actions of GI.  Sure, they are looking out for the best interest of the business, but they have thrown multiple monkey wrenches into a few deals.  They have objected to many of the deals that have been made in principle.  As a result, this may potentially scare off potential buyers.  Buyers for the ‘Yotes have been few and far between thus far, and the longer this ordeal continues, the longer I grow innately frustrated.  I can only imagine how the citizens of Glendale and the fans of the ‘Yotes must feel.

A little Rollins for everyone…

Thanks for stopping by

Hotchnuts

Please excuse my absence around here the last couple of weeks.  Last week, I was in Winnipeg running another half marathon.  My computer has gotten sick as of late, and I am sitting on the fence as to whether or not I should just buy a new one.  A thousand thanks to everyone here for helping me out. 

I remember the first time I saw the Chili Peppers in concert back in 1992.  They were playing with Lush, Pearl Jam, Ice Cube, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Soundgarden and Ministry.  I had one regret at that point, and it was that I never had the chance to see them live sooner.  At a recent show in Detroit, the Red Hot Chili Peppers brought out Niklas Lidstrom and honored him.  Peppers drummer Chad Smith is a long time Red Wings fan, and according to Lidstrom, sharing the stage was one of his favorite memories of Joe Louis Arena.  Ummm…how many Cups has he hoisted there?  How many banners has he seen raised to the rafters there?  How many home openers?  Honestly, and this is coming from a big Peppers fan, but I think Lidstrom might be telling a white lie on that one.

Here is what needs to happen.  If Timmy Thomas decides to take a year off of hockey to focus on his family, I can support that decision.  Family is very important, but we all need to realize that Timmy is 38 years old and taking a year off at this stage and coming back may be very hard to do.  In the event that Timmy decides to make it official and take a year off, Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli needs to suspend Thomas for the season, thus taking his salary off of the books.  That would free up a few million bucks next season which would help the Bruins.  Granted, the Bruins are not in salary cap trouble, and with a capable Tuuka Rask waiting in the wings.  Rask will be just fine next season, and Anton Khubodin will be fine in the back up role. 

If anyone would like to suggest that Canada’s laws are not strict enough for  criminals, let me point you in another direction; Norway.  Anders Breivik, the person that was responsible for the mass murders in Norway, has been sentenced to serve up to 21 years in prison for killing 69 people.  Yup.  But here is where the story gets a little bit fucked up.  The prison in Norway where Breivik is going to be spending the next 21 years of his life, is looking to hire people to play hockey with him.  Yup.  Since the prison views Breivig as a threat to take his fellow prisoners hostage, they are farming that contract out to locals that may want to spend some free time playing ball hockey with a mass murderer.  Wow.  Talk about a good time.  Who wouldn’t want to play hockey with a mass murderer AND have the potential to be taken hostage?  Talk about building a hockey team around the wrong type of player.  No matter what happens in the NHL now, any team can shape and build their team around one player, and if anyone says anything, the GM can just say, “hey…at least he isn’t Anders Breivik.”

Is it really that big of a deal that Mark Donnelly sang “O Canada” and the grand opening of an abortion caravan?  To me…I couldn’t give a fuck.  I could really care less about how or what this guy does with his spare time.  That being said, should the Canucks be concerned?  Donnelly has been a staple at all Canucks home games, singing the Canadian National Anthem for years, and probably for years more to come.  But as we have all learned in recent years, the Canucks are NOT the most politically accepting team.  Remember these two?

If past history serves as an indicator as to how the Canucks will react to this, they will most likely abort sever cut the fucking thing out cut their ties with Donnelly.  So the guy sang the Canadian National Anthem at an event in Vancouver?  Who the fuck cares?!?  Not me.  The guy is a classically trained opera singer and probably needs to make some extra scrilla to be able to afford to drink himself to oblivion to forget that he lives in Vancouver.  Which reminds me of a joke…what does the Titanic and the Canucks have in common?  They both look good until they hit the ice.

Who is this guy?  Mothafuckin' Joel Bruss, that’s who.  Earlier this year, I mentioned Bruss who was being charge for a DWI while operating a zamboni.  Unfortunately for Bruss, this was his fourth DWI conviction, but amazingly, only his first on a zamboni.  As a result, Bruss received 2 years probation in Minnesota.  Up until now, being a rink rat was my dream job. 

What is better than putting on the skates whenever a team is short a skater?  Sure, you have to clean up the empties when they leave, but that isn’t to say you can’t have one or two while you mop the floors.  Just don’t have a dozen too many and crash your zamboni into the end boards.

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a great week!

Hotchnuts