2011 Top Twelve

Driving from Maynard to Acton to conduct a Christmas present delivery, I took inventory (assist to Michael Buble’s Christmas CD) of last year’s highlights.

1. Learning more about Montreal’s eclectic and authentic Msr. J.P. “Puckbite” Plouffe: His favourite donut, if he had to choose, is the Maple Glaze.

2. Anne Murray’s autobiography, All of Me: You may know her as the “Snowbird” singer, among many other musical successes, but she’s a real hockey hit, too. Ask her brothers and they’ll tell you she knows her way around the rink. And her memoir is sprinkled with references to hockey heroes such as Jean Béliveau, Gordie Howe, and Bobby Orr.

3. Dynamo Donut, San Francisco: En el corazón del Distrito de la Misión, the understated edifice belies the glory and organic goodness demonstrated within—the donut books decorate the back wall; the congenial and quirky staff entertain and engage; and the Apple Maple Bacon beckons.

4. Interviewing Alberta’s King and Queen of Hockey Calendars.

5. The Stanley Cup: Where were you when the Bruins won? I was at home, standing, as the final seconds evaporated…standing again on Tremont Street as the Cup paraded past…And I was on my feet in Boston’s North End, inside Regina Pizzeria when Andrew Ference lifted Lord Stanley’s cherished chalice.

6. Michael Bublé in Manchester, NH: Two nights after his Canucks lost to the Bruins, the humbled hockey fan from Burnaby, BC acknowledged the defeat and then delivered a dynamic performance that brought the crowd to its feet.

7. Score: A Hockey Musical: Bolstered by lyrical dialogue as clever as Crosby on a breakaway, a no-name kid with can’t-miss talent (and pacifist parents) sings and scores his way to personal victory. The cast includes Olivia Newton-John, Nelly Furtado, and Dave Bidini. “Give it a shot.”

8. Ottawa, ON: Bruins on Internet radio, the patina on Parliament Hill, and a new safe house operator and his special agent.

9. The unveiling of a new superhero: Captain CanAmerica.

10. Boston Bruins vs. Winnipeg Jets: Blake Wheeler and Mark Stuart return to the Garden, where the AMHL Photographer and I met a wicked cool family from Winnipeg.

11. Cape Cod: From Hole in One Donuts in North Eastham, to a donut photo shoot at Nauset Beach, to Hyannis, where I enjoyed the donut scene in The Muppets movie.

12. The AMHL: Championship coverage, and more importantly, the everlasting covenant of hockey camaraderie on an off the ice.

Happy New Year/Bonne année et bonne santé

2008: Reflections from Donut Land

Here in Donut Land, we reflect on the Top Twelve (not the Top Ten) memories from 2008.

1. My 2008 donut calendar: the first of every month was like Christmas Day
2. Bruins vs. Canadiens, Game Six: “This building is vibrating.” (Jack Edwards)
3. AMHL Tuesday: Dual Shutout
4. High Altitude Training in Jackson Hole, WY
5. AMHL Wednesday: Sharks vs. Canadiens
6. October in Ottawa
7. Reconnecting with the Rockies: Krazy George, Wilf Paiement, and Joe Fletcher
8. AMHL Thursday: Coaching the “Red Army” Team
9. Barry Manilow moment on the New England Hockey Journal Radio Show (NEHJRS)
10. Eric “Danke” Schoen: 1000 career points and an AMHL championship
11. The Bruins’ current 9-game winning streak: longest since 1982
12. My new bookshelf: filled with three dozen or so books about hockey (and donuts)

And a half-dozen of what and who to watch, wait, and hope for in 2009:

1. Blake Wheeler: The Calder Trophy candidate (leads all rookies in goals and plus/minus)
2. Mattias Borman: the Super Swede may lead the FCAHA in scoring
3. A special guest appearance on the NEHJRS by “Jimmy from Maynard”
4. An AMHL Glory update
5. A Stanley Cup in Boston
6. Miracles for *Mike Chase: Keep the faith, buddy.

*Please contact me if you'd like to make a donation

On the Shelf, Part V: Just in Time

“…Nothing hurting. Nothing sore. No one suffers anymore. The doctor’s found a simple cure. Just in time.”

-“When I am I King”
Great Big Sea

I miss playing hockey but am trying to count my blessings. The hockey and donut gods (I bet at least fifty percent live in Canada) have followed me more closely than they usually do, perhaps because the lower body injury I incurred six weeks ago is taking its own sweet time in healing. The deities haven’t cured my torn and tender iliopsoas but have delivered other extraordinary gifts.

On October 4th, the AMHL Photographer (a.k.a. my wife) and I watched the Bruins lose to the Islanders, and then we took the Green Line to the Theater District. We went to a comedy show, and a donut fight broke out. Almost. The warm-up dude (dude because he’s from California) for TV’s Craig Ferguson mentioned Krispy Kreme. I heard myself boo. And I wasn’t the only one. We caught him off guard, but the comedian recovered, joking that the audience was coming after him with “pitchforks and torches.”

On October 16th, Fort Collins’s Mr. Hockey (a.k.a. my dad) arrived from Colorado. The next morning, with my wife behind the wheel, we drove to Ottawa. We watched, from section 106, Row D (two rows behind the B’s bench) the Bruins beat the Senators, 4–2. The $176.00 (per seat) was a splurge but well worth it if only for providing a close-up view of Aaron Ward’s mouthpiece. After conducting extensive undercover ops, we returned to Boston—to watch a hockey game on October 20th.

The Bruins, in their home opener, would lose to the Penguins in a shootout, but to watch Mark Stuart during the pre-game ceremony was priceless. In numerical order, Bruin after Bruin heard his name announced and then glided to the blue line. Stuart, (Number 45) watched Aaron Ward (Number 44) embark for the blue line as Stuart waited for his turn. “Number 46, David Krejci.” Stuart, still waiting in the tunnel, shrugged his shoulders and then walked to the back of the line…“Number 91, Marc Savard.” Before the house lights came on and the smoke machine was dissembled, though, Stuart (unannounced) stepped on to the ice and raised his stick to acknowledge the cheering crowd. Then he joined his guffawing teammates.

My own teammates were in the locker room this Thursday morning when, for the first time in six weeks, I was on the ice, a stick in my hands and a helmet on my head. After a few tentative clockwise twirls around Rink Two and then a few counter-clock wise rings around the center face-off circle, I returned to the scene of my injury. Backwards, I crossed my left foot over my right and then vice-versa. No pain. I retrieved a puck, aimed for the seam in the boards, and then wristed a shot toward the target. Right on.

On Friday night, my wife and I and two non-hockey friends were at the Orpheum Theatre for a Great Big Sea show. We listened to front man Alan Doyle segue from one song to another. Boston is a great hockey town, he said, and “Helmethead” is a great hockey song.

“Helmethead,” “When I am King”…they’re Something Beautiful, and they came just in time. “Lucky Me.” Amen.