flames v. isles: oldschool

this post will be a short one cause i don't really have time today to do a pre-game, but i'm writing it for the neighbours i grew up with; the ones i played TV tag with, had sleepovers with, drank BEEP with (at their house, my mum would never buy that stuff), and found my initial love for hockey with.

i'm not sure who invented it, but hand-hockey became the favorite passtime during the winter months when we couldn't go outside. it was played in my parents' basement and the opposing nets were the piano and the brown hide-a-bed couch. we would roll up a pair of socks, get down on our hands and knees, and use our hands as a hockey stick. it was one-on-one styles and i was the baby of the neighbourhood, so inevitably games would end when one of the bigger kids (usually mike) would pop a rolled up sock straight into my face.

because i was the youngest, i was the last to pick my team. my brother was the flames, mike (who lived across the street) was the blackhawks, and the next-door-neighbours were the sabres (grant) and the kings (monique). why i remember this, i have absolutely no idea....

i'm not sure how much i actually knew about hockey, back when i was six or seven years old, but i think i knew enough to know that i liked mike bossy, the isles had been successful in a few cup runs, and that billy smith had somehow managed to score a goal. i realize it's a travesty now that i'm a rangers fan, and that i was cheering for the blueshirts when i attended the subway series in 2005, but back in the day my hand-hockey team was always the new york islanders... and i've kindof had a soft spot for 'em ever since.

tonight the orange-and-blues roll into calgary with a far less flattering record than the one they had when i loved them oldschool hand-hockey styles. no beating around the bush, this team is abysmal. the isles have only two regulation wins in the past seventeen games, so it would be simple to say that tonight's matchup should be a fairly easy W for the flames. somehow, though, those are the toughies, and the isles are certainly due for a victory...

adding to my concern for the C's: with my GIO jersey in the shop, i'm reverting to the jrXL for tonight's game that i will be attending with my dad. he's assured me that his jersey's good fortune will take away some of my old shirt's bad juju, and that clearly the jrXL is also past due for a nice win...

duncan best be wearing the iggy model.
;P