I Need To Rant, And It Ain't Hockey Related

• Recognize this kid? No he's not one of my twin boys. I'll tell you who he is at the bottom of this posting.
• Still lots of hockey left to be played, yet I have to hand it to the Spokane Chiefs for making us proud with two gutsy efforts at the Memorial Cup. Coach Bill Peters has a focused group who have been stingy on defense, but more impressively have shown some offensive flair at this years tournament. While teams out East believe the WHL is all about defense, the Chiefs are showing the 'Q' and the 'O' that they can beat ya with a good combination of the two. Tuesday's game against Gatineau will be interesting as the Chiefs face a team that cares little about defense and likes nothing more than trading scoring chances with you.
• Just four teams remain alive in the American Hockey League playoffs, and three former Kelowna Rockets are involved in the mix. The Chicago Wolves are involved in one league semi final, and feature former Rockets Jesse Schultz and Joel Kwiatkowski. The Portland Pirates are involved in another semi final, where Simon Ferguson attempts to lead his team into the championship final.
• If you are like me and don't want to dedicate 2 and a half hours a night watching the NHL playoffs, check out NHL.COM for a highlite package following each game. Unlike what you see on TSN or Sportsnet with video highlites, these highlite packages give you the goals, but also feature good scoring chances, hits and big saves. You can really get a good feel of how good the final four teams are by the 3 minute video package offered by NHL.COM.
• What I really like about the highlite package is listening to veteran play-by-play man Mike Emmerick. Up here in Canada we hear very little of him, but the new/old voice with unique ways of describing where the puck is for the Americanized audience is interesting to listen too.
• I ran into a Rockets season ticket holder this long weekend who is a regular reader of this blog. I was asked the question, "Why don't you post more frequently on your blog during the off season". Not to be rude, my answer was simple. "I have a life". I short change my family for 8 months during the hockey season, the least I can do is pay attention to them in the off season. In one sense I admire others who post on a regular basis on their respective blogs, but then at times I question it all. If I was getting paid for the number of posts on this blog, I'd be posting at all times of the day. But I don't get a dime. I am not about to take time away from my family by posting regularily during the off-season for the sake of making others happy. My wife and two kids come first, and as I get wiser with age, hockey is a distant second in the off-season. My wife will say the two are reversed during the winter, and she's probably right.
• If I was single again I would have spent my entire Sunday in front of the TV. With Canada going for gold, Crosby trying to move to the Stanley Cup finals and the Spokane Chiefs playing their second game at the Memorial Cup, I could have been sitting in my living room watching hockey for over 6 hours. But being a dad and spending a beautiful day indoors when it's +28 outside made no sense. I spent the day in Penticton on the beach with my wife and boys. It wasn't until I got home that evening that I hopped on the computer to get caught up on what happened. Something tells me my presence in front of the TV - yelling - wouldn't have prevented Canada from losing to the Russians.
• I was told this past week by several co-workers that Kelowna is a lame town if your single. I'm thinking...are you kidding me? Kelowna is not party central, but if you are looking for something to do outdoors, you can't get it any better. I have not lived in 15 cities across Canada trying to make it to the top, but whether it's Swift Current or Kelowna, it's the friends you meet and the activities that you get involved in that bring contentment. I have a friend in Val Marie Saskatchewan who loves the place. He golfs, plays slow pitch and is a decision maker in that small community. Funny thing is he's single. OK he bitches about the lack of available women in the area, but you get my point. If you don't get involved in the community you live in, New York can be considered dull.
• The picture at the top of this posting is Kelowna Rockets defenseman Tyler Myers. Myers is 4 years old in that picture. If you think I am embarrassing him, settle down, I'm not. That picture is viewed by thousands on NHL.COM.