In recovery mode...

Ok, so I figure I should write on here again to update on the remainder of my vacation. So on Friday, I hit the highway and headed back up north to the remote tundra town of Grande Prairie. Ok, so maybe tundra is a bit of a stretch, but it sure is a long drive to the northwest. I think the most challenging part of the drive is the fact that the road was fairly wet, not snowy, but wet for the last hour. This caused quite a bit of my washer fluid to be used, as there was also a lot of traffic on this highway. It actually surprised me just how busy the highway was. Lots of trucks, especially. Anyway, when I finally got there (about 4.5 hrs later) I noticed that, especially on the side streets, they don't clear the roads very well in G.P. Instead, they just plow all the snow into the middle of the road, leaving about a 4 ft. tall barrier between lanes, and making it tough to find enough room to park safely on the side of the road while leaving enough room for cars to drive by. I survived though.

I got to spend the best part of a day in town, hanging out with my friend and his wife. We played some computer games, had a good chat, caught up on all the news from old friends, and generally had a good night staying up 'till 3am. We had a good venison roast for dinner, and then had some nachos for a midnight snack, and then in the morning he fed me so many pancakes, I thought I was going to turn into Aunt Jemima. Anyway, I got back on the road around 1pm and started the trek back to Edmonton.

Upon arriving in E-town, I caught up with my roommate who was up for a couple days on business, and we went to the Oilers vs. Flames game. The game didn't go so well. Kipper was on his game, and the Oilers, namely the defence, were having a bad night. Flames won 4-0, and that's all we'll say about the actual game. After the game, however, is a different story. We went down under the stadium seats, into the lower concourse, where the Oilers broadcast control room is. It's also right outside the Oilers locker room. After HNIC (Hockey Night In Canada) they have an interview segment called After Hours. When the late game is in Edmonton, they broadcast that segment from that control room. We stood just beside the big glass wall that divides the room from the rest of the concourse. We had a front row view. The hosts, Kelly Hrudey and Scott Oake, had on the Oilers' star forward Ryan Smyth. It was so cool to be that close to three people I've watched for years on tv. At one point, during a break, Kelly Hrudey (who was once an NHL goalie, and a pretty good one at that) looked out at us, and as he looked at me, I pointed to my HNIC T-shirt, which are apparently quite rare, and was a gift from my sister for Christmas '05, and he responded with a thumbs up while saying, "Hey, I like it!" So now I have this incredible claim to fame. While I may no longer be the biggest Oilers fan to never have been to a game, I can now say that Kelly Hrudey liked my T-shirt!!! (Hey, I'll take what I can get.)

Anyway, after heading back to Sis' place for the night, she showed me the taped footage of After Hours, and on four separate occasions you can clearly see me as they panned a camera across the crowd watching them shoot the segment. So, for a grand total of about 15 seconds, I got one sixtieth of my fifteen minutes. (And I'm going to hold out for my remaining 14:45!!!)

Finally, Sunday I drive myself and my roommate back to Lethbridge. This was a bit of an adventure in itself. We left Edmonton with almost a full tank of gas. We drove straight past Red Deer, then Calgary. As we worked our way out of Calgary, I noticed the gas tank was almost empty. I figured I'd have enough to at least get to Nanton. Well, we pull into the station at the south end of Nanton, where the price was 5 cents less than at the north end of Nanton. (And if you've ever been through Nanton, you'll know it only a few blocks away.) As a result, there was a substantial wait to get into the pumps, and it being a full-service station, the cars tend to take even longer to get through the pumps. I decide we'll have enough gas to go the added 40 kms or so to Claresholm. Well, I was right, but barely. As we came up a gradual slope, about 4 km north of Claresholm, the car started to stutter a bit. I eased off the gas a bit, though I was already going below the speed limit to conserve gas, and that seemed to help a bit. As we came over the crest of the slope, the car still stuttering a bit, the few drops of gas that were left in the tank moved back to the front of the tank, and we got our power back, at least temporarily. At this point, with about 3 km to go, we hit a gradual downhill slope. I put the car in neutral on more than one occasion to coast as far as I could. As we rolled into town, I didn't touch the brake to slow down to 50 km/h, but rather just slowly coasted down to speed. Again, if you've driven in to Claresholm from the north, you'll know how easy this is through the long 70 km/h zone before finally getting to the 50 zone. Anyway, the only light in town was green, so I cruised right on through, and right up to the 7-11/Petro-Canada station. I think if I had to go just a couple kms further, I wouldn't have made it. Anyway, a quick fill and off we went.

Overall, it was a good trip. One bad hockey game, but at least the sting was reduced by the whole After Hours incident. The roads were pretty well all clear, maybe a bit wet at the worst, at least on the highways. It's really not that bad of a drive, especially for someone who enjoys being behind the wheel, like myself. I think I may have to do this trip again sometime, though I'll have to plan for a longer stay in G.P. as that was the only thing I would want to change about it, at least that I can control (stupid Flames).

Time off is a glorious thing... And there's something else, too...

So after the craziness of the past few weeks, especially at work, I'm excited to be taking a week off for myself this coming week. I'm going to be taking quite a road trip the last half of the week, including attending 2 Edmonton Oilers games. Not to exaggerate anything, but this is going to be a life-changing, monumental experience. I've always touted myself as "the biggest Oilers fan to have never seen them play in person." This is a claim I will no longer be able to make. Though it's a small price to pay for the chance to finally see them live. My wonderful sister bought me one of the tickets as a Christmas gift. I can't tell you how great this is going to be. I'm also going to spend a day up in Grande Prairie, visiting my friend up there. I've only been there once before, and it was the middle of the summer then. I'm a little unsure how I feel about going that far north in the middle of winter, but they tell me it's supposed to be fairly mild this week. The highways should be clear, anyway.

This should be a great, and much needed, break from the daily grind. I even just love the feeling of knowing that I don't have to go to work on Monday, and yet I'll still get paid as if I were. It's a great feeling.

But with all this, there's something else that makes this a great time. I'm currently sitting on my couch watching Hockey Day in Canada!!! This is one of the best days of the year. Hockey all day long. Ottawa is currently beating up on Montreal something fierce. In a couple hours Toronto will play host to the Vancouver Canucks, and then we'll see the Oilers slide into Calgary to extinguish the Flames. If I remember I'll update this post later on with a bit of commentary. (I was told by my uncle, after emailing a review of his son's basketball game, that I should consider a career in sportswriting, so let's see how this goes.)

Montreal at Ottawa

Ottawa came out firing on all cylinders to score early and often in this bout. By the end of the first period it was 4-0 for the Senators. As the Canadiens took to the ice for the second period, I was surprised to see Huet return between the pipes after his disastrous showing in the opening inning. It wouldn't be long, however, until he took his spot on the bench due to two more quick goals, giving the Sens a 6-0 lead. So as the Habs make a goaltending change, they also find an offensive spark, as they come back with two quick goals of their own. All this, and it's only halfway through the game. The remainder if the period has some good hitting and a few good saves, but no more scoring until the final minute when the Sens score twice again, including a really strange bounce, to take a 8-2 lead into the second intermission. The third starts with Montreal coming out hard, but Emery seemed up to the task in net for the Sens. Finally, about halfway into the final period he lets one by again. Of course this was far too little, far too late, for the Habs as they go on to lose the game by a margin of 8-3.

Vancouver at Toronto

I actually didn't watch much of this game. I went out grocery shopping and running errands. But it ended up another one-sided game, due to a big third period by then 'Nucks. Even at 1's after one, Vancouver scored a go-ahead in the second, and then they followed it up with 4 in the third for a 6-1 toppling over the host TML's.

Edmonton at Calgary

Good fast pace to start off the first, with the puck going up and down the ice, and a few good chances at both ends. The first 10 minutes went by very quickly with just a couple whistles. And while there were a few more whistles to round off the opening act, none of them where due to goals. (I was disappointed in the non-call on the high-sticking with about a minute to go, though I understand how the ref could've missed seeing the stick, as it looked like he was hit with the puck.) As the second period begins, we see the first penalty of the game against Edmonton, but the excellent PK of the Oilers are easily able to kill that one off. A few minutes later, as the Flames get caught for high-sticking (and Phaneuf gets away with a cheap shot after the whistle), Horcoff nets one for the guest Oilers to put the first goal on the scoreboard. Just a few minutes later Calgary was able to answer back on a power play of their own to tie things up, and that's the was the second period ended. A little over halfway through the third, the ref made a very questionable call giving Sykora a holding penalty. The Flames were able to score on the ensuing power play. Another Calgary goal, this time on the transition, gives the Flames a two goal lead to finish the game at 3-1. While I'm sure I'm biased, I have to say that I think the officiating was quite skewed in Calgary's favour. Very disappointing indeed.