Yeah, I’ve been feeling sorry for myself. Then, yesterday I got this email.

It was from Rod Churchill of Newfoundland, Canada. He wrote to tell me that he had just bought a couple t-shirts from my website and that he really enjoyed my blog. As I was typing up a thank you response, I noticed way down at the bottom of his signature information, was a link. It said, ‘Tribute Site: www.matthewchurchill.ca’. I clicked it.  Oh my God, I thought, it’s his son – he lost his only son to a hit and run driver in 2005. As I clicked through the site and read the heart-wrenching wounds of this mother and father laid bare, I cried. I cried for the Churchills, and all of the parents who have lost a child.

I can’t know what it must be like to suffer this worst of all tragedies. And God, I hope I never do. But it must be beyond any pain imaginable. Many people never climb out of the abyss. I lost a 12-year-old cousin to brain cancer recently and I’ve seen the devastation that it leaves in it’s wake.

I thought about all the times I felt frustrated because my son got a short shift or his team lost a close game. Then, I thought about how Rod would surely give anything to see his son get a short shift, to see his son’s team lose a close game . . . to see his son. It’s so hard for us to keep things in perspective all the time. However, it’s stories like this one that can quickly make things fall into their proper place.

But from tragedy, sometimes the phoenix of inspiration rises. Rod Churchill has found a way to stay connected to his son Matthew through hockey. He has spent the last 5 years coaching other young men. Obviously, I’ve never seen Rod Churchill coach. But I’ll bet you one thing. I’ll bet Rod teaches these kids more than how to win. I’ll bet they take more away from their time with him than how to make a proper hip check. I’ll bet they learn something about life, and priorities, and what’s really important. And I’ll bet you somewhere, his son Matthew is smiling about that.

If you’re a hockey fan, I think it’s safe to say you’re lovin’ you some Versus right now. But for some of us that’s just not enough to ease our hockey jones. So here, HockeyShirtShop will do our part. Check out these fascinating cup-related links while you’re between games.

Really great stuff on this page!
Records, great stories about chasing the cup, videos, commercials. And best of all – you really need to grab this – an awesome, free downloadable .pdf media guide as well as individual media guides for all playoff teams.

Believe me, you could blow a bunch of time on that page alone. But if that’s still not enough, check out these really sick ‘Top Ten’ videos.

Top 10 NHL Playoff Moments (CBC Digital Archives)
Top 10 NHL Playoff Goals (ESPN)

Apparently, the origin of the term ‘Rink Rat’ comes from Canada, circa 1940-45. It was a term used to describe a youth that spent a great deal of time at a hockey rink, helping with maintenance work, often without being paid, in exchange for free ice time. I’m sure you know some old school rink rats.

Today, the term seems to be used to describe anyone that spends an inordinate amount of time at the rink. In fact, I’ve embellished  that definition a bit to create a second Rink Rat t-shirt to go with my ‘Hockey Definitions’ line of designs.

So here they are, two new Rink Rats t-shirts for the eBrush Design collection. Hope you know someone that fits the description and would wear them with pride.

It was November 25th, 2005 – just a routine regular season game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Florida. A friend of mine works for the local cable company and managed to secure tickets in the club box for the Friday night game. I was very excited, being a Penguins fan. I was going to get to see Mario Lemieux and the new kid, a rookie named Sidney Crosby. Yes, it was that short period of time when both of these splendid hockey players were on the ice together. That alone would have made this night something very special, but the little surprise that came later took it to the level of once-in-a-lifetime.

Right before we left for the game, Kary, the guy that scored the tickets for us, got a phone call from his boss. He was told that we were going to have to share the box with a couple guests. We were already trying to squeeze three families into the box, but hey, the tickets were free. What were we going to do, complain? We got there early and went down rink-side to watch the teams warm-up. I had a crappy little camera with me and took some pictures. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get Mario and Sidney together in the same frame – something that bums me out to this day. But it was cool watching them up close. I remember Mario was the only one out there without a helmet.

When we went back up to the box to sit down, it was still just our three families. We each had sons that played hockey. They were all 13-years-old at the time. About 10 minutes before the game started, two distinguished-looking older gentlemen came in to join us. One, I recognized immediately, it was Denis Potvin. He was currently the color announcer for the Florida Panthers, and of course a Hall of Fame defenseman. The other guy, well, it was none other than Bobby Orr.

Bobby Orr couldn’t have been nicer. He patiently posed for pictures and signed pucks for all of our kids. Then he sat down and watched the game with us. He chatted with the kids throughout the night – a total gentleman. People were brought in and out of our box throughout the night. He pleasantly signed magazines and pucks and shook hands with folks that must have known somebody who owed them favors. He was gracious and patient throughout – exactly what you hope your hockey heroes to be. So for those of you that have not had the pleasure, rest assured that Mr. Orr did not disappoint.

So, there you go. That’s my sports highlight story. Sitting in a club box with Denis Potvin, Bobby Orr, watching Mario Lemieux and the rookie Sidney Crosby play together on the ice. Not bad, eh?

Thanks, Kary!

And on that note, this week I released a new eBrush Design t-shirt design for Hockey Shirt Shop. It’s called ‘Hockey Hero’ and should be vaguely familiar to those of you that rock the video game console as well as the ice. Check it out here.

I went through the playoffs routing against Detroit for the same reason. I wanted him to regret joining the Red Wings. As it became apparent that the Pens themselves might actually make it to the dance, I began to push for the Wings to make it, too. How sweet would that be? The team he bailed out on beats him and the team he thought he had a better chance with.

Well, it happened exactly like that. Funny, though, how winning makes you charitable. Overnight, my feelings about Marian Hossa have changed. I started looking at his story more objectively. I began to realize that what he did was actually  the converse of what I have disliked about so many professional athletes that have left my favorite teams for more money elsewhere. We, as fans, make emotional investments into these players. And when they tell us again and again that money is more important that their teammates, the cities they represent and winning, well, we feel betrayed. It is personal to us on some level.

Hossa did leave the Penguins. But he did it for an admirable reason. He actually took less money for what he felt was a better chance to win. How often have you actually seen a player do that? So now I feel bad for him. Now, I feel bad that he wasn’t rewarded for his winning-over-money decision. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly wouldn’t have wanted this one to end any other way. But It would be nice some day to see a player that makes a similar decision have it work out for him.

In the middle of a grueling six game road trip where a very young hockey team is away from home, the third game of the trip ends late on a cold Canadian Saturday night. This is the only break on the trip and the three days between games allow them the only break to get back home in their own beds for a couple of days before going back on the road. A scheduled commercial flight waits for them at Toronto’s International Airport for the short flight home; they could be home by midnight. This plane departs on schedule, but without a single member of the hockey team.

Back in the locker room a vote is taken after the game was complete, and a unanimous decision is made by this young team to skip this flight and stay one more day. They make arrangements to check back in the hotel and on a frozen Sunday morning charter two buses that have no heat and begin a journey two hours straight north into a sparsely inhabited Canada, but where hockey is its passion. They arrive at their destination to the surprise of the teams general manager who is there attending his fathers wake.

After a few emotional hours, this team boards the buses and head back for a two-hour trip back to Toronto. On the way they ask the drivers to stop in a tiny Canadian town because they are hungry.

To the shock of the patrons and workers at this small hockey town McDonald’s, a professional team walks out of two rickety buses and into the restaurant, which just happens to have pictures of two members of this team on its wall. The patrons know every single one of these players by sight being fanatic fans of hockey in these parts. One can only imagine their amazement of the locals seeing and entire professional hockey team sit down and have a meal in their tiny little town in the middle of a hockey season. After a while they board the buses and catch their same flight 24 hours later, giving one day to their general manager.

Have I made this up, is this an excerpt from some fictional book? No this a true story of the Blackhawks last Saturday night and they decided to attend Dale Tallon’s fathers funeral. Its amazing that such a good story can be found nowhere on the internet, and not even mentioned in the Chicago papers.

Had one of the Blackhawks got into a fight and punched some drunken loser in a Toronto bar it would be plastered all over papers and the television.

This being said, its hard to imagine any professional football, basketball or baseball team doing this, but the members of the Blackhawks claim any “hockey” team would have done this. This is one reason I continue to be a big hockey fan, and another reason I am excited about this Chicago team.

I thought I would share as this story appears to have gone unnoticed.

Hockey players are special athletes. I created this design in honor of hockey players everywhere.

IS YOUR KID’S HOCKEY TAKING OVER YOUR LIFE???

You base the next purchase of your new vehicle on whether it will hold six kids, six sticks, and six hockey bags.


You know the location of every Tim Horton’s within a 400 mile radius.

You relate directions to places by the nearest arena.

Knows every single kid on every single team your child has ever played on… But doesn’t have a clue who his school mates are.

You feel lost when you have a free weekend.

Your spouse waits until you decide where to sit and then chooses a spot on the opposite side of arena.
You become a partner in a skate sharpening business to save money.

Can justify complaining about someone who gives hundreds of hours of volunteer time to your son or daughter.
You ground your kids for a week (except for hockey practice).

Can rationalize spending $159 on a Synergy for a 9 year old but won’t spend $5 on a Birthday card for his wife.

When someone asks how old your children are you respond, “I have a ‘94 and a ‘97.”

Has had to use a grandparent to take kid #1 to a tournament because Dad was in a Different province with kid #2 at a tournament and Mom had kid #3 two provinces away in a 3rd tournament all in one weekend.

Has more miles on ‘05 minivan than a ‘66 Chevy.

Practices make up a very large part of your social life.

You buy gloves according to how loud you can clap in them.

You find yourself missing the parents of your child’s team mates during the off-season.

You refuse to make any plans with your friends until you check your kids’ hockey schedule.

Takes out a home loan to pay for all the equipment and expenses.

Plans birth of next child so he has a good hockey birthday.

New baby’s first word is Zamboni.

All computer passwords begin with “hockey” or contain child’s number.

Has been barred from more than one rink on more than one occasion.

Purchases new $135.00 stick because old one “didn’t have any goals left in it.”

Knows a few 5 year olds that are good but “lack focus”.

Has had kids ask if Christmas is “home or away”.

Asked to decide between try-out and first communion – asked church what his options were.

Received a letter from AAA Automobile Club and called for more info about tryouts.

See you at the rink!

And boy do I have a t-shirt that perfectly compliments this blog entry. Welcome to the ‘I Have No Life (my son plays hockey)’ collection!