Habs Blogger Digest : July 29 2009

Thought I’d post another look at the latest Canadiens posts/blogs around the web.

YourHabs.com asks what Bob Gainey may have left to do before the start of the season.

HFBoards has the same question in the form of a poll.

Yves On Habs does a great statistical analysis of the “Old Habs” and the “New Habs”

Eric Engels sees a tough battle this season in the Northeast division.

Lions in Winter does a great job looking at GM’s that are ahead of the curve.

The Flying Frenchmen looks at the signing of Travis Moen as well as the team’s next captain and dealing with the French media.

As always, Habs Eyes on the Prize with a couple gems. First up, Robert looks at Andrei Markov as the Canadiens’ next captain.

Robert then digs up a great read on a truly colorful Canadiens’ prospect from the 1930’s.

TSN looks back at the closing ceremony of the Montreal Forum and someplace else.

Canadiens.com has an August 2009 Calendar featuring new Hab Hal Gill available for download. Check out the Fan Artwork while you’re there too!

Which reminds me, 3-10 game pack ticket sales for the 2009-10 season go on sale September 5th at noon, as do pre-season tickets.

Regular season single-game ticket sales will go on sale September 12 at noon.

The Canadiens ticket link will have further purchasing details to come and tickets for the December 4 Centennial game will be made available for purchase later. Ticket prices are available here.

And finally….Dennis Kane looks at an…ahem…. lesser known member of the Canadiens ‘70s dynasty.

Sergei Kostitsyn/Mikhail Grabovski war over? and SK74 on the upcoming season

Mikhail Grabovski and Sergei Kostitsyn together at a recent event in Belarus

The Battle of the Belarusians, that played as an undercard last season for the Leafs/Canadiens rivalry, appears to be over, for now.

A Belarusian website caught the Sergei Kostitsyn and Mikhail Grabovski together last week, along with fellow countryman Ruslan Salei and Belarus’ National coach (and former NHL goalie and coach) Glen Hanlon, to promote the Belarusian Team’s 2010 Olympic Hockey Team.

A Google translated version of the article appears here.

The purpose of the meeting was a question and answer session to discuss a variety of topics with young players and fans alike. Topics varied from training and diet to women’s hockey.

One fan, named Anton, asked Grabovski if he would embrace Kostitsyn to show that their feud was over.

Though there is no photo of them in that manner, the pair shared the podium together, all smiles, and were snapped shaking hands.

The duo appears to have buried the hatchet from a feud that began Nov 8, 2008, when Kostitsyn flattened Grabovski, then peaked in a January 8, 2009  game between the Maple Leafs and the Canadiens.

Nov 8, 2008 Kostitsyn levels Grabovski

 

Jan 8, 2009 Grabovski tried to fight Kostitsyn

Anticipation grew in following games with an assortment of verbal quotations against each player reported by the media. But in the remaining games between the two teams, little else happened.

While the two will say they’ve put it behind them, they were at the  time, representing themselves at the national level.

Come October 1, we’ll get a better idea to see if that is truly the case when hockey’s most storied rivalry kicks in again.

Kostitsyn reflects on 2008-09 and is looking forward to the 2009-10 Season:

RDS also picked up an interview with Kostitsyn from another Belarusian newspaper.

In the article, the forward indicated that the enormous media pressure that circulated on the potential criminal investigation of him, brother Andrei and teammate Roman Hamrlik was the key to his unsuccessful 2008-09 season that led to his brief demotion to Hamilton.

Kostitsyn also acknowledged that he was the only one of the threesome that had a two-way contract with the Canadiens.

He also stated that former coach Guy Carbonneau was not responsible for his disappointing season and looks forward to a new momentum under current coach Jacques Martin.

Checking Around the Habs Universe

It’s a quiet Monday on the hockey front, so I decided to see what my fellow Habs bloggers are up to today.

HabsInsideOut.com has some interesting YouTube video compilation’s, made up by regular posters, of the new Canadiens Moen, Gionta, Cammalleri, Spacek and Gomez

Robert Lefebvre of HabsEyesOnThePrize.com has dug up some vintage magazine photos from the late ‘40s and early ‘50s.

Robert is also working on ranking the NHL’s 30 coaches, based on experience. Numbers 21-30 are already up.

The “Pocket Rocket” Henri Richard shares his music playlist on canadiens.com

A few days old, but a good read as J.T from “The H does not stand for Habs” dwells on the myths of the “veteran mentor” goaltender.

Eric Engels debates the expectations of the 2009-10 edition of the Montreal Canadiens.

Yawn….Eklund won’t let the Patrick Marleau to Montreal rumor die, citing that deal may be needed to trigger a Sens/Sharks deal for Dany Heatley.

Andy Bensch of BleacherReport questions Carey Price as a No. 1 goalie. Keep in mind he is a west coast hockey fan and admits he only sees a handful of Canadiens’ games.

YourHabs.com sees Max Pacioretty as the Canadiens' big impact player for 2009-10.

July 1989: A changing of the guard in Habs leadership

The 1988-89 NHL Season concluded with the Montreal Canadiens losing in six games in the Stanley Cup Finals at the hands of the Calgary Flames.

Much like the the 2008-09 off season departures of Saku Koivu, Alex Kovalev ands Mike Komisarek, several leadership changes were about to unfold for the Montreal Canadiens as their 1989-90 season approached.

On July 18, 1989 with five Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe trophy and four Selke trophies to his name, Canadiens’ captain Bob Gainey announced his retirement.

D’Arcy Jenish chronicled Gainey’s retirement in his recent book: The Montreal Canadiens: 100 Years of Glory

Bob Gainey’s last act as captain occurred on July 18, 1989. He sat at a table in the media room at the Forum with Serge Savard to his right, wife Cathy to his left and a large crowd of teammates, team officials and journalists before him. He spoke in English and French, switching effortlessly from one to the other, performing with customary poise and distinction, as one writer put it, and announced that after sixteen bruising and sometimes punishing seasons, he was through.

“The people of Montreal are known, and rightly so, as the strongest and most knowledgeable fans,” he said. “I tried to perform for them every night I played and I’ll carry with me many great memories.”

Savard spoke warmly of his former teammate. He cited his many accomplishments: the Stanley Cup championships, the individual awards, the all-star nominations and the appearances with Team Canada. “If I can describe Bob Gainey in one word,” Savard said, “it would be determination. He once played with two separated shoulders and no one even knew about it. In his prime he was one of the most feared players in the league. He is one of the greats in the history of the Canadiens hockey club.”

Pat Burns spoke of the future and the challenge ahead. “You don’t replace Bob Gainey,” Burns said. “You put someone else out there, but you don’t replace him.”

A week later on July 26, 1989 longtime Canadiens’ defenceman Larry Robinson, a more than suitable replacement as captain, was left without a contract and signed a three-year deal with the Los Angeles Kings.

Larry Robinson signed a three-year deal with the Kings on 07/26/89 playing all three seasons and appear in the playoffs for a record 20 consecutive seasons.

With two key leaders gone from the Canadiens’ ranks, and no clear replacement, the team would be asked to vote on the next captain.

Three rounds of voting wound up in ties between Guy Carbonneau and Chris Chelios.

Savard made the decision to name Carbonneau and Chelios as co-captains, alternating the “C” every other game.

Ultimately, the captaincy would fall to Carbonneau alone.

Despite signing a new five-year deal in February 1990, Chelios was traded in June 1990 to Chicago for Denis Savard.

It was a move that surprised Chelios, Burns and fans alike.

There was speculation that Canadiens’ president Ronald Corey was tired of Chelios’ alleged off ice antics and demanded the trade, but Savard claimed it was his decision based on team doctors’ concerns that Chelios’ knee might shorten his career.

That theory can be thrown out the window twenty years later.

Carbonneau would lead the Canadiens to their last Stanley Cup in 1993.He remained captain until he too was traded in the summer of 1994 to the St. Louis Blues. He would win another Cup five years later with the Dallas Stars and then GM Bob Gainey.

Mats Sundin: Why so quiet this summer?

Remember the summer of 2008?

All the hockey world was hearing was Mats Sundin this, Mats Sundin that.

Well after the Montreal Canadiens gained the rights to talk to Sundin before the July 1 free agent deadline (in an unofficial exchange for Mikhail Grabovski), rumors flew out of the woodwork.

First Montreal, then the New York Rangers, and then the Vancouver Canucks (who reportedly offered a two-year $20 million deal ) were front runners for the then 37-year old center.

The only Sundin signing news that arrived, over the summer, was the fact that he had signed on with PokerStars.

There was talk that Sundin would make his decision by August 1, which turned out to be a “soft deadline” according to agent J.P. Barry.

In a few weeks, later this summer, in a few weeks, later this summer as all that was heard from that point on.

Habs GM Bob Gainey clearly dropped out of any further talks and picked up Robert Lang to fill the void.

Sundin did sign with the Canucks, joining them for the second half of the season at $5.36 million.

I questioned whether or not he was worth it to the Canucks in a prior piece I wrote.

Clearly Canucks GM Mike Gillis felt he wasn’t.

After seeing Sundin battle injuries through the playoffs, he made his focus on successfully signing the Sedin twins to new contracts.

In a story on the Swedish newspaper Expressen’s website, back in June, Sundin did clarify that he would not participate in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Sundin won an Olympic Gold medal with Sweden at the 2006 Games

“There will be no Olympics in Vancouver for me next year,” Sundin said.

“I will not change my mind, I think it’s time that the next generation takes over. We have many good players.”

When asked by Expressen on the possibility of returning to the NHL:

“Absolutely,” he said 

“I will think about my future over the next couple of weeks. I will make a decision in the summer.”

Sundin reportedly has stated that he would make a decision on returning at the end of July as he will be getting married in August and would prefer not to have that distraction waning during that special moment in his life.

Many analysts and media types, clearly did not want to chase the bone that Sundin and Barry fed them all last summer.

Many of them feel that Sundin will retire.

I had the chance to catch, and interview, Rogers Sportsnet’s  Nick Kypreos earlier this month at the Gretzky Golf Classic.

Kypreos flew to Sweden last summer for an exclusive one-on-one interview with Sundin. 

I asked Kypreos if Mats Sundin would return to which he emphatically answered with one word, “No.”

In the event that Sundin does call it quits, he clearly has the offensive numbers to join the Avalanches’ Joe Sakic as a member of the 2012 class of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

That or he may opt for one last kick of the can for a shot to win the one trophy that has eluded him since joining the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques, the Stanley Cup.

Time will tell.

Different paths for the Metropolit brothers

Great job by Dennis Kane for sharing a story (originally printed in the Philadelphia Inquirer) on Habs’ centre Glen Metropolit.

It centres on the hardships that he, and his brother, Troy endured growing up in the Cabbagetown area of Toronto.

While Glen made his way to the NHL, Troy is currently serving a 14-year prison term in Bath, Ontario and, at the time of the article was awaiting trial for the murder of an inmate.

It’s truly a moving story that a peers into the life of the Canadiens forward.

CareyPrice.com is up and running

Carey Price now has his own website in association with Price 31 Authentic/Channel Sports and Ford Motor Company.

Though not acknowledged yet on the NHL’s list of official player sites, it has been up for a few weeks and Price has been involved with the site already.

He will launch his own blog on the site in September.

The site currently has a #1 Fan contest as well.

Free agency will be less of an issue in 2010

Criticized by many for not making the big off-season signing for the past several off-seasons, Bob Gainey may have silenced his critics this summer.

Going into the July 1 free agent deadline, Canadiens’ GM Bob Gainey had ten unrestricted free agents to deal with.

What did he do?

He blew up the team, essentially cleaning house of the supposed “cliques” and locker room problems that burdened the 2008-09 edition of the Canadiens.

Although he did offer contracts to notables such as Saku Koivu, Alex Kovalev and Mike Komisarek, those players elected to seek other pastures.

Gainey had been scrutinized in the past for allowing key free agents to walk away (Sheldon Souray in 2007 and Mark Streit in 2008), but this off season he made sure the gaps were filled.

And what a job he did, landing Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez with contracts that will keep them, barring trades, in  the bleu-blanc et rouge until the 2013-14 season is over.

Jaroslav Spacek, Travis Moen, Hal Gill and Paul Mara were then picked up on the cheap for three,three, two and one-year deals respectively.

He then re-signed restricted free agents Kyle Chipchura, Tomas Plekanec and Guillaume Latendresse for one-year terms.

Curtis Sanford was grabbed to be the bridge goaltender between Hamilton and Montreal.

Based on data from  nhlnumbers.com that leaves $3.2 million and change left over that will likely go to resigning Matt D’Agostini and Gregory Stewart.

Prospect P.K. Subban is signed to a 3-year entry level deal, but it has yet to reflect on the cap.

So what was a panic situation by many, on June 30 at 11:59 pm, now appears to be a well balanced group of players with a new head coach in Jacques Martin and a revamped coaching staff (with the exception of assistant coach Kirk Muller) at both the NHL and AHL level.

What’s good for Gainey is that at the end of the 2009-10 season, he will have 16 signed players in the organization, seven restricted free agents (all of whom are making less that $1 million this season) and five unrestricted free agents.

The principle free agent next season will be goaltender Carey Price.

Pending his performance, we can expect “The Franchise” to sign to a long term extension sometime this season.

In all likelihood, Jaroslav Halak could be moved at the trade deadline. The kid is too talented to remain a backup, unless he and Price go the Hayward/Roy route for another two or three seasons.

With long term signings in place, and a good crop of young players signed and in place, it’s safe to say that come June 30 2010, Canadiens fans will be chewing their nails a lot less than this year .

Not to mention that we won’t be worrying about a #1 or #2 d-man walking away next summer.

Mike Cammalleri chats with The Hockey News

The Montreal Canadiens’ Mike Cammalleri stopped by the Hockey Hall of Fame last week for a photo shoot for a story that appears in the latest issue.

He also had a chat with THN’s Ken Campbell. The full interview is available here.

Cammalleri talks on his decision to sign with the Habs saying that the opportunity to play for the most recognized of the Original Six teams di influence his decision.

He also thinks the pressure of the media scrutiny in Montreal will push him in a positive way

“You can use that to take your game to a level that’s going to be your best and the going to be the best for your team and your teammates,” he said.

“I don’t think you can be more engaged than playing for the Montreal Canadiens.”

He looks forward to the prospect of playing with the other new offensive acquisitions, Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez.

“Both guys are real exciting. It would be a great dynamic line in my eyes,” he said.

When asked on the new identity of the Canadiens, he felt that it looks like GM Bob Gainey has assembled a team that is going to compete.

“We’ll be there every night to grind it out,” he added

“Any time you have success, it’s going to be the direct result of the guys you play with.”

Carey Price in Tri-Cities for Kolzig’s Charity Golf Event

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price returned to where his junior hockey career made him the Habs #1 pick in 2005.

Price was back in town to play in ,Tri-City Americans owner, Olaf Kolzigs and former NHLer Stu Barnes’ “Olie & Stu's Desert Bash”.

The event benefits autism research by raising money for the Carson Kolzig Foundation.

The event brought in $200K through a silent auction, $69K in cash donations and $100K in sponsorship fees.

Talking to NBC affiliate KNDO, Price told the station that he enjoys returning to the area.

"For sure," he said. "I spent four years here and I got really close to a lot of good people. It's almost like a second home to me. I worked really hard for the last few years to get there and Don has really helped me through that.

“It's nice to see your work get rewarded after awhile.”

Price was asked about life in Montreal.

"It's still fun," he said.

"You kind of get starstruck. I'm still young, only 21. You are sitting beside guys and you're like 'whoa! I watched him play on TV,' and stuff. I still get a bit of that."

Retiring ??: Olaf Kolzig talked to the Northwest News-Tribune during the event.

"I went to Toronto to see doctors and was cleared to play," Kolzig said.

"July 1 came around, and I became a free agent. I'm leaning toward retirement, but I'm not going to shut that door yet. But if you ask me today, yes, I'm going to retire."

Habs ink Tomas Plekanec to a one year deal. Trade bait?

The Montreal Canadiens avoided their lone salary arbitration case today, signing center Tomas Plekanec to a one-year deal.

The Canadiens’ official release can be found here.

Terms, as per the team policy, were undisclosed, but are estimated around $2.75 million. He will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2009-10 season.

The 26-year-old came off his third straight 20+ goal season.

His 39 points, however, were his worst point total in those three years.

With the signing, many are speculating that the signing is part of a trade deal with the San Jose Sharks for center Patrick Marleau.

It’s a trade rumor that has been passed around more that a copy of Led Zeppelin IV for three off-seasons now.

With Marleau an unrestricted free agent himself next season, it’s unlikely that Habs’ GM Bob Gainey will want to overload his team with too many UFAs seeking high dollars for a second year.

Now, if Gainey sweetened the pot enough to get Joe Thornton…..hmmmmmmm

Canadiens add goaltending depth by signing Curtis Sanford

Ok, cue the music and get all the Fred Sanford jokes out.

The Montreal Canadiens picked up free-agent goaltender Curtis Sanford today, signing him to a one-year, two-way contract.

The Canadiens press release does not disclose the financial terms of the deal ,but nhlnumbers.com has him pegged at $600K.

Sanford is a career 37-37-11 with a 2.76 GAA and a .901 SvPct.

He saw more action in St. Louis before serving as a backup, in 35 games for Roberto Luongo, the last two seasons in Vancouver.

With the arrival of Andrew Raycroft in Vancouver, Sanford’s services were no longer needed by the Canucks.

The 29-year-old will find himself in Hamilton as a back-up to Cedric Desjardins and likely be called up if injuries occur to Carey Price or Jaroslav Halak.

Such was the case last season with Marc Denis last season.

The Canadiens’ website also offers an interesting “by the numbers” look at the Habs’ newest goaltender.

Other tidbit: He was a team mate of Sean Avery when they played Jr. hockey with the Owen Sound Platers.

Doing it “Family Style” on GHL

He may be on holidays, but Joe Pelletier of Greatest Hockey Legends has left readers with a great series on famous brother combinations in the NHL for the month of July.

It’s a who’s who of brothers who have played with or against each other in the NHL.

Brother goaltenders Dave (top) and Ken Dryden

Did you know there was a third Richard brother? Now you do!

On a related note, Steven Buist of the Hamilton Spectator recently wrote up a revisit to the first ever brother vs. brother encounter in goal between the Dryden brothers which includes recollections from Ken and Dave Dryden.

NHL Arbitration period begins Monday

 

Restricted free agents and their respective NHL clubs will begin salary arbitration this week in Toronto.

Arbitration meetings conclude on July 31.

A decision in the case must be made by the arbitrator within 48 hours of the meeting’s conclusion.

The arbitrator has the option to hand out one or two-year awards.

Teams will then have 48 hours (or 48 hours after the team's last hearing is concluded if they have multiple players) to accept the contract or walk away, immediately making the player an unrestricted free agent.

Note: A team that requests arbitration does not have walk-away rights.

Below is the current list of arbitration meetings:

Player	Team	Hearing Date
Clarke MacArthur	Buffalo	July 20
Daniel Winnik	Phoenix	July 21
Nigel Dawes	Calgary	July 22
Marc Methot	Columbus	July 23
Matt Hunwick	Boston	July 24
Travis Zajac	New Jersey	July 24
Nate Thompson	NY Islanders	July 27
Kyle Wellwood	Vancouver	July 28
Milan Jurcina	Washington	July 28
Matt Smaby	Tampa Bay	July 28
Denis Grebeshkov	Edmonton	July 29
Josh Harding	Minnesota	July 29
Tomas Plekanec	Montreal	July 30
Tuomo Ruutu	Carolina	July 30
Jiri Hudler	Detroit	July 30
Nikolai Zherdev	NY Rangers	July 31
Kyle Brodziak	Minnesota	July 31

Hockey Hall of Fame Part Two: Awards and history in every corner!

 

Just a few weeks back, I did a write-up on the tremendous array of Montreal Canadiens exhibits that I discovered during my visit to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

Clearly there is much more to behold.

Before you even have to pay admission, I found myself in the entrance foyer admiring the huge Wall of Pucks, Mask Columns and the New Acquisitions display that offers a sneak peak at the newest additions to the Hall.

A small sampling in the “New Aquisitions” display in the entrance foyer

You then pay your admission and immediately get drawn to the nine foot statues of Fred “Cyclone” Taylor and Ken Dryden that guard the NHL Zone and NHL Legends area.

The Canadiens Centennial Exhibit occupies the centre of the NHL Zone but the perimeter area hosts a variety of exhibits including features on, most notably, Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr.

The newest inductees are also featured, as well as some of the great moments in hockey are featured.

 The Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr exhibits

Current NHL hockey is also featured in the NHL Today area that offers a cabinet area for each of the current NHL divisions, ensuring that even recent events by current players are being chronicled.

The NHL Retro area highlights defunct NHL teams as well as the early leagues pre-NHL and defunct teams and leagues.

 

Defunct teams and leagues (including the WHA)

History buffs will enjoy perusing through the pre-NHL displays

The NHL Milestones area highlights great the greatest moments in NHL history, including Wayne Gretzky’s 802nd career goal.

 The net, puck, stick and gloves from Gretzky’s 802nd goal

The Stanley Cup Dynasty are encapsulates the greatest dynasties in NHL history. I don’t need to tell you which ones drew my attention.

I was even amazed to see that trainers in the NHL are honored for their service by the Professional Hockey Athletic Trainers Society (PHATS) with an area honoring 16 former trainers to date, including the Canadiens’ Eddy Palchuk.

I’m off into the Panasonic Hometown Hockey area, where each of the 30 NHL teams has a cabinet with a brief team history and mention of their minor league affiliates.

You also find a collection of hardware awarded to different leagues (past and present). On display are the Allan Cup, Memorial Cup, Calder Cup and Avco Cup to name a few.

Memorial Cup (top) and Calder Cup displays

Interactive display consoles are about where users could find a player by name, team or town.

In the heart of this area is the most popular of the interactive areas, the NHLPA Be A Player Zone.

Here fans of all ages can see if they can stop a Wayne Gretzky slapshot or get a goal past Ed Belfour on lifesize simulators.

I went four for five on the All-Star level between the pipes.  No flash photos were allowed as to not offset the sensors so you’ll have to take my word.

Off into the corner, the Upper Deck Collectors corner offers a tremendous display of hockey cards and memorabilia.

Cards depiciting the Conn Smythe Trophy Winners (some rookie cards) 

2K Sports even had a zone where fans could try their hand at NHL 2K9.

In back, a huge wall chronicled the history of broadcasting in hockey.

I took a video of it and it is quite impressive. It also includes an interactive Broadcast Museum where you can look back at historical broadcast clips.

Upstairs is the TSN/RDS area. Here fans can recreate a variety of momentous goals in hockey history. The ‘72 Henderson seemed to be the one of choice.

There’s also a TSN Production area, where fans can create their own highlight reel and play the role of TSN director/producer.

Back downstairs to and I made my way back across the Hall and up the stairs to the Great Hall is located.

I snapped a shot of this large shot of the Penguins Cup winning team on the way up the stairs.

This is the area where the Stanley Cup, Hart Trophy, Art Ross, Vezina, etc. are showcased as well as the numerous plaques that honor the members of the Hall.

Off to one side is Lord Stanley’s vault, which houses the original Stanley Cup, retired bands and other artifacts.

  In the center if the Great Hall is the Stanley Cup itself.

The Hart and Conn Smythe Trophies

The NHL Awards had just concluded a few days prior to my visit, so the signs next to the individual awards had yet to be updated.

The Selke and Vezina Trophies

I worked my way over to the huge walls that adorn the names of the players and builders of this great game. Spotting familiar faces as I worked my way around.

One area has blanked spaces for future members. A man and his son were looking through the names. “Who is going there?,”the boy asked. His dad was unsure and I spoke up as I pointed to four blank spaces, “Steve Yzerman, Brain Leetch, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille.”

Three days later, the Hall of Fame confirmed my predictions.

IN one corner of the Great Hall is a book signed by the members if the Hall of Fame. It’s a thick one too. Encased in glass it would be a thrill to one day get a chance to turn through the pages.

For those who need to sit and rest there feet while touring the Hall, you can relax in the wing-backed chairs of the Members Lounge.

If that doesn’t relax you, the Esso Theatre runs a rotation of archival video and film footage to sit and enjoy or you can visit the Hartland Molson Theatre, which was running The 2008 Cup Final edition of the film The Stanley Cup Odyssey on my visit.

If there’s one thing I cannot stress enough if you visit the Hockey Hall of Fame, is to look everywhere; up, down over your shoulder left and right.

There’s so much to see and you don’t want to miss a thing, like this mural of a vintage hockey game below that was tucked in a corner.

Plan for lots of time too, and enjoy it!

I’ve added the two other photo albums of pics that I took on on these two links:

Album One (Stanley Cup and trophies)

Album Two (Everything Else)

Did I miss anything on here? International Hockey maybe? That my readers is an installment on it’s own that will be up in another week or so.