Top Twelve: Pushing Away from the Table

All but done with donut(s)

I posted one entry in 2015, a clear sign that other endeavours have wooed me away from writing about hockey (and donuts).  

Oh, I have many other stories I’d like to tell here, but it’s time to say an official “see you later” with one more Top Twelve collection—this one focused on the activities, people and places that, in the last year or so, have provided relief, gratitude and even joyfulness as way to combat my often irrational fear and anxiety.

Reading

Ron Maclean’s Hockey Towns: Untold Stories from the Heart of Canada; George Henderson’s Krazy George Still Krazy After All These Cheers; and Clint Malarchuk’s A Matter of Inches, the latter of which I finished reading in Montreal.

Montreal, QC

I didn’t skate on Puckbite’s backyard rink. Way too cold. But, the Habs-loving, late-blooming hockey player and yours truly enjoyed lunch and a long philosophical discussion about hockey and the arts.

My wife and I visited several familiar places and a new donut establishment, in La Petite-Italie. Our Russian cabbie, a friendly historian who knows his way around town, delivered us to Le Trou de Beigne, where we bought these donuts, some of which we shared with the doorman at our hotel, some of which we ate, and a lot of which we had to sacrifice for art’s sake.

North Carolina

Getting Silly with "Stormy"

Another wonderful friend, much like Puckbite, lives in Charlotte. Hockey isn’t such a big deal there, so we drove north.

In Raleigh, college football outranks professional hockey, but the PNC Arena is a fantastic venue to watch a Hurricanes game. Even though the Dallas Stars beat the home team, we still enjoyed affordable seats near the player’s bench, the “Two in the Box” video segment and pulled pork.

In Durham, the hot spot is Monuts Donuts. Unique donut and coffee options contribute to the flair of this tavern that, of course, serves Sierra Nevada Tropical IPA and Irish Coffee.

Ireland

The Nutella-covered cronut at Krust Bakery was the best tasting donut in Dublin. The Boston Cream at The Natural Bakery in Donnybrook made me feel at home.

Bostonians beware: I saw lots of people sporting NY Yankees caps and not a single Dubliner wearing Red Sox merchandise.

I didn’t see a Celtics, Bruins or Sox fan in Galway either, but that’s not something I worried about while savoring the porridge at the House Hotel—in the heart of the Latin Quarter. ¡Qué bueno!

Dave Gosher and Bob Beers

Gosher calls such a great Bruins game on the radio that sometimes my wife and I turn off the TV’s sound. Three weeks ago on the Sports Hub 98.5 hockey show, Beers said it’s unrealistic to expect the Bruins to be perfect every game. Every NHL team goes through ups and downs. This kind of broadcasting is refreshing and supports my efforts to tap into gratitude, dare I say love.

Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand

I love these guys. How blessed are we here in Boston to have this duo on the same line and same penalty killing unit? Definitely an odd pairing, but what’s not to love as they demonstrate their mutual affection in this Valentine’s Day video? The only thing missing is a love song.

Nashville, TN

Some Nashville hockey fans may be tired of Tim McGraw’s “I like it, I love it” after every goal the Predators score, but my wife and I heard it five times as the hometown team defeated the St. Louis Blues. I couldn’t get enough of it.

My afternoon at the Country Music Hall of Fame rivaled the hockey game for entertainment value. The Keith Urban exhibit, which includes an autographed Quebec Nordiques T-shirt, and chatting with a visitor from Toronto in front of the cowboy music displays, made me happy.

My wife took a poolside photograph of  a “100 Layer Donut” from Five Daughters Bakery as I listened to a Garth Brooks tune streaming from our hotel’s speakers.

West Point, NY

Getting to re-connect with a relative who plays for the Black Knights was extra special.

Even if you’re not a hockey fan, West Point is a beautiful place to visit. I didn’t see a donut dispenser on campus, but you’ll find outstanding soda bread and cider donuts a few miles up the road, at Jones Farm.

Writing

Most every Friday morning at the Boston Bean House, I’m working on a historical novel. If you love hockey or Canadian-American history, this book may be for you. Someday. (By the way, my hockey and donut memoir is still on the to-complete list, but it needs a wee more bit editing and time to mature.)

The AMHL

“You still got it,” Donut Boy told me while I, in my street clothes, shot the puck into the net. He was skating after the game, as he always does, and I wasn’t— but that didn’t matter. His compliment lifted my spirits.

I’ve had so much fun playing hockey with Donut Boy and all the other men and women that make the AMHL so special. As I re-read some of the stories I’ve written (and had forgotten about), I’m so glad to have been part of the league, as a player and writer, and for friends like Donut Boy.

Exercise

I haven’t skated since last fall but planks and long walks, in the cities we’ve visited and here at home in Maynard, have become my friends.

Less Pain

My groin and hip pain has decreased in frequency, intensity and duration. I’m not cured of it and there are flare-ups. But, thanks to my wife, exercise, pelvic floor therapy, my chiropractor, playing the guitar, prayer, music, meditation, my psychologist and countless others who care about me, I remain gratefully yours.

Thank you—gracias, merci, obrigado, shokran, spaciba, Go raibh maith agaibh—to all the readers over the world and to those who also shared their hockey (and/or donut) stories. Thanks for such an enlightening and magical ten-year gig.

See you on LinkedIn, email, the golf course, the rink…maybe someday here on this site again, or wherever our paths may cross again.

Update:
21 March 2017

You can now read my new blog, stories I tell about learning Spanish--in particular about pronunciation.

AMHL Tuesday Championship: Hockey and a Hooley

Boys-a-dear, all of Ireland is worried that the AMHL Flyers trail the Leafs, 0–3. The visitors are in a wee bit of trouble, without the services they are, of Ryan “Green Machine” O’Connor and Jeremy “Lucky Charms” Doyle. (The two are on loan to the Brampton Blades. During AMHL championship week, no less.)

Right to left we go, then, across your Internet connection, as we follow the Flyers in the second period. Jeff Quinn, a lad who shoots lefty, skates across the Leafs’ blueline and to the right circle. On a two-on-one, he sells the pass across the slot and opts for the shot. Clank. The puck dings the post and then drops behind the goal line.

Less than three minutes later, his teammate, Dave Mello (ends in O but close enough to Irish for hockey fans on the Emerald Isle) threads the needle—a perfect pass through the crease—to the Quinn, who deposits the disc behind netminder Steve Scansaroli.

Back the other way, Leafs forward and Aerosmith attendant John “(With) The Great One” Bionelli, his index finger affixed with white tape to bolster a broken bone, sidesteps a would-be defender inside the blueline. He strides toward Flyer goalie Brian Monahan, who can’t stop Bionelli’s backhand shot.

“Four-two,” says referee Peter Bagley, as the teams contemplate the third period.

Scans, sans his goalie helmet, faces his own goal as he squeezes his beverage bottle and then swallows a refreshing liquid. He secures the helmet on his head and then turns to face Monahan, 185 feet (56 metres) away. And the boys are raring to go.

Monahan faces a two-on-one-attack, his eye focused on the puck. A shot from slot. The disc darts towards the goal, but the backstop makes a toe save.

Mello, the dab-handed passer, and Quinn, the post-hugging finisher, connect, and post-haste the Flyers trail, 3–4.

When the Leafs counter with a goal with a wee more than eleven minutes on the clook, Ireland sighs; the outlook for victory is grim. But might this match make it to overtime?

Bagley nods in affirmation as Doyle and O’Connor, no doubt, watch via streaming video.

The lads witness a kerfuffle in Scans’s crease… the puck is loose—and then Flyer Dev Barron scores. And then, a tad more than a minute later, Mello scores.

“Five-all,” bellows Bagley.

Seems the ref was right. He’s always right, (even when he’s wrong.), some might reckon.

With the seconds evaporating from the clock, and but five minutes remaining, Mello skates into the crease. Thwack, thwack. He bangs his stick’s blade against the ice. Pass the puck to me. A teammate obliges, and then Dave snaps a low shot inside the post to Scans’s left. The lamp is lit, and Dublin is delighted.

Or maybe Bagley was right? Plenty of time for another goal.

The Leafs, led by the AMHL’s all-time scoring leader, will not surrender. Five seconds left in the game, and Dana Salvo lurks in the slot. As all great goal-getters will tell you, they wait for the puck to find them. Two seconds…and as Salvo sets himself for the shot, Monahan falls—feet first—to the occasion. As Salvo shoots, the keeper slides, like, across the crease to save the morning.

Good man ma da Monahan. And all of Ireland is a ta-ta-ta-ra-ing, craking on, having a hooley (and a donut).

The Three Stars, as voted by the media

3. John Bionelli: Hat trick and a picture with Wayne Gretzky
2. Dave Mello: two goals, two assists, and two ould BC socks
1. Jeff Quinn: hat trick and a hug for the Koffey Cup

Honorable mention:

Ould Irish slang: from Patrick Taylor’s “An Irish Country Doctor”
Score: A Hockey Musical
Peter Bagley: Marketing maven, entrepreneur extraordinaire, and remarkable referee

Bruins, Brogues, and Bread

Main Street, Melrose, MA
March 19, 2011

Barry’s Tea, an Irish favorite, is what Tim Moynihan, wearing a Bruins cap, serves me from the counter of Breads ‘N’ Bits of Ireland. The gray-haired gentleman has already prepared two egg sandwiches, one for me and the other for the AMHL Photographer, who’s still seated at the back of this family-owned and -operated shop.

Mr. Moynihan places the teapot and then two thick slices of toasted Irish bread on my tray as we conclude our conversation—his brogue as strong as a salmon’s heart—about Irish jaunting cars, ponyback rides, and storytellers in Ireland. I thank the Killarney native and then join my wife.

I’ve already read the Boston Globe sports section (the Bruins’ power play has been unplugged, good hockey game between BC and Northeastern), and now focus on my food and surroundings: My green-eyed lass across the table; behind her, the framed poster of a traditional Irish dresser; and to the left, the real version whose shelves hold family pictures and a poem about friendship.

The couple to my left is readingb the newspaper when a contemporary joins them to discuss last night’s Hockey East action. The BC Eagles beat the NU Huskies, 5–4. “Northeastern is good,” the upright friend says. They wonder how Merrimack will fair against favored BC tonight. His seated pal predicts an upset.

My best friend and I finish brekkie and then drive home, where tonight we’ll watch Recchi and Kelly and the lads from Boston against the Leafs in Toronto. Win or lose, I reckon I’ll enjoy a slice of soda bread Mr. Moynihan sold us, sip tea, and wonder if Barry Melrose is watching the game, too.

"All I Want For Christmas" is a Belfast Giants Video

You’re not going to believe this, the AMHL Photographer said to me yesterday evening.

Close your eyes, she said as she sat me down at the dinner table and situated the laptop on the tabletop.

At Puck Daddy’s Yahoo site, I peeked at the uploading video before the music was ready and thought I saw Patrice Bergeron starting to mouth the words to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas.”

Nope, turns out it’s Tim Cook*: A Belfast Giant not a Boston Bruin. A lip-synching, dancing, prancing Giant elf that has more moves than Allied Van Lines. And his teammates, who appear to have practiced their moves for no more than it takes to serve a double-minor penalty, have more flair than Ovechkin or Crosby.

I’ve seen the video three times now (hey, I love singing that song any month) and will, I’m certain, watch, sing (prance to the music) again. Just like I did in March 2007.

*Tim Cook. This Tim Cook, the professional; not that Tim Cook, the impish amateur hockey player/professional photographer.

AMHL Tuesday: Lucky Charms

Image courtesy of PaddyMurphy at flickr.com

Tuesday May 6, 2008

“Is maith an t-anlann an t-ocras.” Translation from Gaelic: “Hunger is the best sauce.”

So who wants a Koffey Cup victory more this morning, Leafs or Flyers?

Late in the first period, the Leafs are leading 2–1 and are on the attack. Leaf Brendan Doyle is too close to the net and Flyer Mike Moore lets him know it. Irish tempers flare, and the two take to pushing and shoving.

Before a donnybrook erupts, the two are separated and then sent to their penalty boxes.

“The boys are here to play,” says referee Kenny O’Mato (He says Amato. I say O’Mato) to his colleague, Peter Bagley and this reporter. “Emotions are running high.”

Less than a minute into the second period, the Leafs—skating right to left across Dave Goucher’s streaming imagination—attack. Doyle pushes a rebound past netminder Mitch “Edel” Weiss. Mitch must shoulder the unenviable nickname of the white regal-looking flower, and Doyle has a shamrock tattoo on his right shoulder.

After Moore scores, cutting the Leafs’ lead to 3–2, Brendan watches his little brother skate to the sin bin. Jeremy, about nine years Brendan’s junior, quenches his thirst with a few swigs of Gatorade as his teammates stymie the Flyers’ power play.

Not long after the younger Doyle exits the box, teammate Mike “MmmBop” Hansen lifts a backhand shot over Weiss’s glove—and into the net? The Flyers say no, but the on-ice officials say yes.

Marshall McLean, the Flyer’s go-to guy all season long, scores his second goal this morning, slashing the Leaf’s lead in half again. 4–3 at the second intermission.

“I wanna go upstairs,” says O’Mato. But league officials hired to review controversial play-off goals are rumored to be guarding the donuts instead of monitoring the expensive video technology installed at Concord Valley Sports executive offices earlier this week.

In the third period, the Leafs and Flyers trade goals faster than Allied Irish Banks trades junk bonds.

Each team has invested so much energy this season and neither is ready to quit. They’re both hungry, and as you know, “Is maith an t-anlann an t-ocras.”

With 2:20 on the clock, Marshall McLean scores. 6–6.

Forty seconds later, Leaf fan favorite, the fleet-footed Martin O’Schedlbauer crosses the Flyer’s blue line with the puck. Moore steps up to intercept him. M.O., who has scored only four goals this season but nonetheless has endeared himself with fans with his leprechaun-like charm, eludes his lean and lanky opponent. M.O. strides to the high slot. He shoots…he hits the post!

Leafs Nation is desperate for a hero.

Jeremy Doyle, a seamróg stuck to the back of his Cooper helmet, rushes down the left wing. He crosses the blue line, the emerald talisman glinting.

Brendan Doyle, who coached his little brother back in the day in Newburyport’s Little Ireland, now watches Jeremy reach the circle to Weiss’s right.

1:05 on the clock.

The lad winds up for a slap shot. He shoots…he scores! Fans from Dublin to Dorchester are downright delirious!

In the donut room, the new hero of Leafs Nation and Little Ireland forages for a Glazed Munchkin (they’re magically delicious). Before this morning, Jeremy Doyle had scored only four goals, but now he says he’s been saving up all season for a goal like this morning’s game-winner.

"An rud is annamh is íontach.” "What is seldom is wonderful."