A Sens Fans Lament

I have been an Ottawa Senators fan since the teams modern inception. I have been through the ups and downs with this team. The Ottawa Senators have to be the most frustrating team in sports to be a fan of. For the last 10 years, with the exception of the Detroit Red Wings, the Sens have had the highest regular season winning percentage over that period of time. They have had boatloads of talent come through their dressing room. In one year, they had 7 players with 20 or more goals. Last year they had 3 players with more than 90 points. That is huge.

There are haters out there who would say that the Senators biggest problem is a lack of heart. Anyone who saw their cup run last year knows that not to be the case. What the Senators have always lacked is resiliency. There never seems to be a 4 game loosing streak for this team. It has always been the case that when they tank, they tank in the worst way. Emotionally the team come down as a group and they cannot pull out of the spin fast enough. Some might attribute this to a lack of leadership but I don’t know if this is the case. Daniel Alfredson has been the captain of this team for about 8 years now. When the effort goes down, his is always the last to go down and when the effort comes up, his is always the first to rise. Too often it looks like he is the only player on the ice.

The problem seems to be that there is no collective will to succeed. No ability to all get on the same page and say “tonight we leave it all on the ice, win or loose, at the end of this game we can all look each other in the eye and say we did our absolute best.” This feeling comes from a team effort and team accountability and this seems to be what the Sens lack. All too often I imagine Alfredson in the dressing room during one of the teams swoons and a whole bunch of guys avoiding eye contact.

The Maple Leafs (again, not a real word) suck, they lack talent and have slumps of little effort like all teams, but they seem to throw a good game together during these periods by just total effort. That is what the Sens lack. If the Sens could put this together, they would get 100 points a season easily and their fans would require a lot less Gaviscon.

Please Fix The NHL All-Star Game

As a Canadian, I have a vested interest in all things Hockey as it is the lifeblood of my country. This past weekend was the NHL All-Star Game and as usual it was horrible. The strange thing about the NHL All-Star Game is that every year it sucks for different reasons.  Usually the game sucks because all the players deemed “All Stars” are usually a bunch of slick skating dandies who avoid contact like the plague, and the best hitters, defensive players and others to contribute to other phases of the game are left to enjoy a weekend of naval gazing.This year the game itself was actually kind of entertaining with the West being down four goals after the first period and then fighting back to tie the game only to loose with mere seconds left on the clock.  It seems like a tight game got some competitive juices flowing.

One thing I would change about the All Star Game is the roster selection. First, do away with the rule that all teams should be represented. Some teams are just so gawd-awful that they do not deserve to have a representative.

Second, let the coach of each All Star Team have one selection. Since the coach of the All Star team is generally coach of the best team in the conference up to the mid point in the season, this selection would allow an under-appreciated member of that team to compete in an All Star Game.

Finally, let the players choose one roster spot on each team. This can go to another player who is under appreciated and who can be

 recognized for something other than point production.

My bigger issues this year was was with the “day before events” namely the Young Stars Game and the Skills Competition. I think that the overall problem with this day is that it tries so hard to be like the NBA Skills competition. Hockey skills do not translate well in isolation.  The exciting thing about hockey is that it all occurs so fast and when someone is forced to show skill in a game it is breathtaking because it is done under such fast pressure and with the potential to be involved in a train wreck of a hit. When there are no defenders on the ice, the skills look pretty pedestrian. No one cares if you can complete a saucer pass in isolation, they want to see you do it while skating 40 km/hour with a 220lb defenceman bearing down on you. The skills that make up the skills competition should be left to the subjects of barroom arguments, ie, the fastest skater, the hardest shot and the person with the best moves. In other words, simplify.

I liked the breakaway competition in terms of watchability but it was jammed into the schedule with not a thought to how it was going to run. Here are my suggestions on how to fix it.

1. Make scoring a priority. This years version of the event had people getting higher scores where they missed than people who actually scored on the goalie. I’m sure that any of these so called “skill guys” could string a number of awesome moves together so long as they are not concerned with having to actually hit the net. Next year you should get a raw score out of 10 for style of the move, then a bonus point for putting the puck on net and two points for actually scoring.

2. Goalies have to stay in the crease at all time. Last night goalies were coming out to meet the skaters midway down the circles and poke-checking them. C’mon, no one at head office saw this coming. Goalies are competitive guys too. They will do anything to save the puck from going in the net but it takes the fun out of the spectacle.

3. Let the shooters call out  the goalie they want to face by name. This creates best on best or personal rivalries. It also creates talking points. I want to see Ovechkin call out Luongo  by name. I want to be able to argue if Marion Gaborik would have been as successful if he had chosen Brodeur instead of  Di Pietro.

4. Do not limit the event to just the all stars, let anyone who wants to compete into the game. The Edmonton Oilers have won more games this year by shootout and Sam Gagne has been shooting an awesome percentage. I want to see him in the competition.

The final suggestion I have is for the over all NHL All Star weekend. Please, pick a format and stick with it. The NHL changes the format of the All Star Weekend every year. Nothing smell of desperation like this constant level of change. It says to the fan “we do not believe in our product an need to continuously toy with it to make it better. “

The Death of Childhood in Winter

When I looked outside today, I saw a layer of freshly fallen snow. There are a lot of winter humbugs out there who look at snow and go back to bed, covers pulled over their heads, silently weeping. Not me. I spent my formative years in Canada’s Northwest Territories where winters were 9 months long, days in winter were 4 hours long and the temperature was more often than not -20 Celsius or below. Now that is a winter to weep about.

When I moved south of the Arctic Circle when I was 13 years old winter was a revelation. It rarely got to – 10 Celsius, even at it’s coldest. You could play outside for over an hour, you only had to wear one pair of socks, icicles did not form on your nostrils and your lip could touch your metal zipper without ripping half of your face off. I always remember that my favorite part of winter was that it lent itself to high energy battle games like red rover, British bulldog and king of the hill as well as the inevitable snowball fight. The ground was covered in soft snow, you were wearing extra padding in the form of parkas and snow-pants and the projectiles were generally pretty light and soft and in any event, broke apart on impact.

 This is no more. Fear has taken over winter. It used to be that after a big snow at my public school, after the ploughs had cleared the parking lot, you could play king of the hill on the mounds of snow. Racing up the hill, trying to knock the person on top into the snow below and then holding your ground until you yourself were knocked off. Good fun, great workout, never saw anyone get hurt. Today, you can no longer play that game because on one hand, you have the people who are afraid of litigation, and on the other hand you have those that believe that such a game promotes aggressive behavior. The same thing goes for Red Rover and British Bulldog. Then of course there is snowball fights, which I learned when I was about 13 years old are a bigger scourge to society than crack and trans fats.

The point I would like to make is that I hear a lot about the lazy generation of obese kids who spend all of their time in front of video-games getting fat and not spending any time out of doors and exercising. The parents and the adults of the generation ahead must take some of the responsibility for this. It is they who have through political correctness and litigiousness, created an environment which causes kids to gravitate away from the outdoor activities and into the basement. Children played the above mentioned games because they are fun and inexpensive and competitive. These are things that children gravitate to.

The question that arises in my mind is a utilitarian one. Which is more beneficial to society, fit children who may sustain some injuries from time to time and who learn their aggressive tendencies from real life circumstances or fat, out of shape children who do not get injured and learn their aggressive tendencies from violent video games.

The Future is Now

I am an Assistant Crown Attorney in Canada and in the province I work in, in order to work on a full time permanent basis, a young crown must go from  short term contract to short term contract for as long as 4 years until they win a full time permanent position at one of the various county crown offices. I have to say that this is an awfully annoying way to obtain full time employment. First, you are required to miss all kinds of work to interview at various jobs around the province. Secondly, you are required to move frequently as you move from one contract to another. This may not be that difficult to do for a young lawyer, but for a person like myself who has a wife and a young child, this is enormously difficult. Since becoming a lawyer in 2003 I have moved 4 times. That is a lot of packing and unpacking.

On Friday, I have and interview for 2 permanent positions  in my immediate area which would mercifully mean that I would not have to move again and could put down some roots. This would be quite a change for me because in my 35 years of life I have lived in 24 different residences in 13 different cities (wow, that is the first time I have fully done that count).  I would love to put some roots down to give my boy and coming children some stability, consistency of friends and time and space. I would also like to be able to integrate myself into this area a bit in something other than my job. Perhaps coach a team or join some sort of community group. Whatever works.

I am a bit nervous about these interviews, I feel like a lot is riding on my ability to close the deal on this but it would be a giant relief to my family if I could.

On Critical Thinking

Yesterday, I watched the documentary “Jesus Camp” which I found both interesting and tragic at once. Interesting because as a Canadian, we get little opportunity to see the religious right in the U.S. at full bore. Tragic because the children in the movie, most of them being home schooled were being brought up without the capacity to think critically or analytically. Rather they are taught to denigrate and be dismissive of  the scientific method and science in general. Words like evolution, protoplasm and Darwin rolled off tongues with disdain and sarcasm.

As I have mentioned before, I am a new father. I believe that the most important lesson that I can pass onto my child is the desire to think critically. That certainly does not mean that I would prevent him from going to church or having strong religious beliefs if he so desired. I would want him to get there honestly. The problem that I had with the religious leaders and parents in the movie ”Jesus Camp” was that the children in that movie were never given the opportunity to think critically. They had deep religious beliefs  but had not had the opportunity to come by them honestly.  They were told from day one that there was only one way to think and that was to think in the way that their religion, as imparted onto them by their parents and pastors told them to.  The tone of those around them implied that it was not right to ask questions and even if  they did want to ask questions, their ability to do so was seriously compromised by their lack of knowledge of the scientific method.

I do not believe that the science or the scientific method are the be all and end all of human existence and I certainly do not believe that science holds the answer to everything. What I can say,  however, is that I took a lot of science courses while I was in university and know that they equipped me with the tools to evaluate the world around me and fueled my curiosity to continually discover why things are the way they are. This is what I want to pass on to my son.

My Thoughts on Breastfeeding

I am a new father, my son is 1 year old. My wife and I are travelling to the town in which he was born to get together with our old prenatal class to celebrate a communal birthday for the babies. I recall in the lead-up to the birth, how often breast feeding and it’s importance was drilled into us. Now, I recognize that there is no doubt that breastfeeding is the ideal way to feed your baby…no doubt. The issue that I have is the alleged drop of in the quality of baby you will have if you formula feed. This supposed drop off in quality is imparted by the powers that be, and by the powers that be, I mean public heath nurses and the Laleche society. In discussing it with a few of my recently turned father friends who have had similar experiences, we agreed that the powers that be would have you believe that if you do not breast feed your are doomed to have a short retarded criminal of a child with diabetes and osteoporosis should they live that long.

My wife is a very practical woman, but by the time our baby arrived she was hell bent on breastfeeding until he was on solid food come hell or high water. He milk did not come in as expected, one breast was almost completely dry, the other was not compensating enough to feed. My wife spent almost 2 months pumping constantly trying to get her milk to come in but to no avail. She cried a lot and and felt like a failure throughout the whole two months. It was very hard on her. She was at home while  I was working and felt like she was getting no time with the baby because she was spending all of her time pumping. One day, the baby was crying because he wanted to be held, and she was pumping and it just occurred to her that this was not worth it, we had to find another way and from that day forward he was exclusively fed formula.

Our son is now one year old, he is robust, full of energy, smart and full of smiles. He rarely gets sick and has a great appetite.  I want to be clear about my point. I believe that that women when they can should breastfeed, I also believe that that women should be allowed to breastfeed wherever they wish. What concerns me is that women should not feel so inadequate if they cannot breastfeed and should feel safe to go to formula if breastfeeding is not working out. The pressure put on women is just too much. Having a new baby is stressful enough, the stress of believing you will somehow harm your child if you do not breast feed just compounds this.

To all of the women having problems breastfeeding, I would say this; do not be afraid to switch to formula. Your child needs you love and attention and for your energy to be one of love rather than stress. Give your child  the formula, and hug and kiss him often.

First Superior Court Win

I’m not sure if I have mentioned it before on this blog but I am a prosecuting attorney. I have been doing it for about 1 year now after spending a couple of three years in civil litigation. Yesterday I got the decision on my first Superior Court case and I won. The court staff had been giving 3:1 odds on conviction but you never know until you actually hear if from the judge’s mouth.

The case was a sexual assault and the details were not pretty. Throughout the case I really wanted to win. When I got the decision, there was a short moment of feeling proud of myself involved to be sure, but since then I have been contemplating what this really means. For me, it validated that I can do this job and do it well. For society, it means that someone who seriously trespassed our laws and conventions will have to pay a debt. I want to say it gives the victim closure, but I cannot be sure. Based on her testimony in Court last week, this is obviously still very fresh in her mind and caused an almost complete breakdown when she had to relive it. To say that this will all magically go away when she finds out he was convicted is very wishful thinking.

The daughter of the accused is out a father for the foreseeable future. I don’t know what kind of father he was, and from my assessment of his character, I can’t imagine he was much of one, but he was the parent she was living with. Additionally, she will have to live with the stigma of having a rapist  for a father.

Boy Turns One

My firstborn son turned one over the weekend. We were all pretty jazzed about it. His two grandmothers came from opposite sides of the country to see him. He was sick throughout the festivities but made the best of things. He is always smiling and I am very thankful for that.

 It occurs to me that the first birthday of a child, especially the first child is more of a celebration of the parent than it is of the child and is a way of the rest of the family saying “no matter how petrified you were at being a new parent and how much you thought you would fail, look, you made it through the first year and he is still alive.”

Having this ruptured Achilles really sucks on the parenting front though. I used to give him his baths, but now I am afraid I may drop him because I can only balance on one leg. I also miss taking him for walks in the dog park in the back pack. He loves watching the dogs run. It will be a couple of months at least until I can do that again. I was looking forward to taking him tobogganing but again it looks like that will have to wait for February or March. On the plus side, since I can’t walk anyway, I do a lot of crawling around and but scooting when he is up, so I am seeing the world from his vantage point. It allows me to see all of the potential hazards down there. It also leads to a lot of wrestling which usually entails him pulling my hair, slapping my forehead and trying to ram his hand down my throat.

Something to Cheer me up

As you know if you have been reading this blog, I recently ruptured my Achilles tendon. That sucked. On the topic of sucking, my favorite hockey team, the Ottawa Senators have been stinking up the NHL for about 2 weeks now. Anyone who knows hockey knows that the Ottawa Senators and the Toronto Maple Leafs (not a real word) share the best rivalry in hockey (Sorry Alberta). Since the Toronto media seems to be celebrating 40 years of mediocrity this year, the Globe and Mail published an all-draft team for the Leafs (not a real word) over the past 20 years to show just how bad the Leafs (not a real word) are at drafting. Below is a copy of that list and my own response of the Senators draft history 1991 to present.  It fills me with an warm though misplaced sense of self satisfaction to know that we have been so much better than the Leafs (not a real word) at scouting good talent.

Toronto:  Draft 87-07 

Goalies: Felix Potvin and Damian Rhodes

Defence: Tomas Kaberle, Dmitri Mironov, Danny Markov, Ian White, Nathan Dempsey and Yannick Tremblay

Forwards: Daniel Marois, Tie Domi, Yanic Perreault, Grant Marshall, Nikolai Borschevsky, Fred Modin, Sergei Berezin, Alex Ponikarovsky, Kyle Wellwood, Mike Eastwood, Matt Stajan and Darby Hendrickson

Ottawa: Draft: 91- 07 Goalies: Ray Emery, Jani Hurme

  Defence: Bryan Berard, Chris Phillips, Anton Volchenkov, Sami Salo, Karel Rachunek, Andrej Meszaros

Forwards: Alexei Yashin, Pavol Demitra, Daniel Alfredsson, Marian Hossa, Martin Havlat, Mike Fisher, Chris Neil, Chris Kelly, Jason Spezza, Antoine Vermette, Patrick Eaves, Radek Bonk

An Interesting Perspective

I have been living without the use of my right leg for about 10 days now and through this experience I have discovered a few new truths.

• Crutches are very tiring the first few times you use them for any duration.
• Crutches are not designed for snow and ice,
• When you can’t get up off the couch to snack, loosing weight becomes a lot more easy.
• A 1 year old can will wear out a 35 year old in a crawling competition every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
• Casts get damn itchy.
• In shopping malls, elderly people in walkers have the right of way over younger people on crutches and are not afraid to enforce it.
• Showering sitting down leaves you feeling unclean.
• Hopping with hot coffee is a bad idea no matter how co-ordinated you think you are. Same thing goes for soup.
• Dogs are scared shit-less of crutches.
• Opiate painkillers make me itchy.
• It is surprising the number of people that do not know what the Achilles tendon is or what it does.
• My wife is a trooper. Just as I go down, our town gets hit with the Worst December weather in 15 years and she is out shoveling the snow and salting the driveway and clearing out the garage so we can park the vehicle.
• This injury has given me an opportunity to hang out with my boy with is the greatest thing ever.
• This injury happened at the perfect time. It takes about 6 months to rehab 100% and that should just about be when I usually emerge from hibernation.