Keeping in a theme of trying to tie up all loose ends before they tie me up and throw me in a box, I wanted to briefly recall the names of a few people who have helped make hockey a part of my life.
My father, for one, still regrets taking me to my first game, the Denver Spurs versus the Portland Buckaroos in 1969. The Western Pro Hockey League team played their home games at the Denver Coliseum, the barn near the stockyards and under the viaduct of Interstate 70.
My parents and I left early allowing apparently two hours to make a 50-mile trip to the arena. (My parents would do that for just about everything. Sunday Mass at 8 a.m.? Better allow an hour to make the 12-minute drive.)
Before the days of GPS, you needed a map or, if you were my family, you traveled with the idea that the general vicinity of the arena would become clear the closer you got to it. The exact location? Well, that's what signs are for.
Roughly two miles from the Coliseum, my father asked my mother to tell him when she saw the road sign for the arena. Two minutes later, my mother said, "There it was."
Was. Indeed. Past tense. Back there. Not where you are now. A brief dispute broke out in the front seat, not worthy of a penalty, but worth staying out of the way for a few seconds afterward.
The next hour was spent circling a few refineries, a grain mill, stockyards, the same grain mill, a power plant and a derelict warehouse before we came upon the Coliseum. Ten minutes to faceoff.
Stick night. Good crowd. One happy son. Hooked for life.
My father? Not so much, but to see his son enjoying a game -- and not asking for single snack, thank you very much -- had to be worth the trip. He made a lot of trips like that for me. Direct route or polar route, we always got to the game and shared a great conversation on the road home. No signs needed for that one.
Now, here's what happened in the Ontario Hockey League leading up to the holiday break.
Friday, Dec. 11
Oshawa 5, at Kingston 2
At Plymouth 6, Erie 3
At Guelph 8, Owen Sound 1
At London 5, Kitchener 4
Windsor 3, at Mississauga 2 SO
At Ottawa 3, Brampton 1
At Sault Ste. Marie 5, Belleville 2
Barrie at Sudbury PPD
Saturday, Dec. 12
At London 7, Guelph 3
At Niagara 4, Peterborough 3
At Sudbury 4, Belleville 1
At Plymouth 8, Saginaw 0
At Barrie 4, Ottawa 1
Kingston 7, at Owen Sound 3
Erie 3, at Sarnia 2
Sunday, Dec. 13
Oshawa 4, at Brampton 3 SO
Kingston 5, at Guelph 3
At Mississauga 8, Ottawa 0
Kitchener 5, at Windsor 2
At Sault Ste. Marie 4, Sarnia 2
Monday, Dec. 14
No games scheduled
Tuesday, Dec. 15
No games scheduled
Wednesday, Dec. 16
At Belleville 4, Brampton 1
Thursday, Dec. 17
At Peterborough 3, Plymouth 1
At Windsor 4, London 2
At Saginaw 3, Sault Ste. Marie 2
Sudbury 3, at Niagara 1
Kitchener 5, at Sarnia 2
Friday, Dec. 18
At Erie 5, Sudbury 4
Barrie 10, at Kingston 2
At Kitchener 4, Guelph 3 OT
At London 5, Sault Ste. Marie 3
At Mississauga 3, Sarnia 2
At Ottawa 8, Peterborough 0
Plymouth 2, at Oshawa 1
Saturday, Dec. 19
At Guelph 4, Plymouth 3
Mississauga 3, at Erie 1
At Peterborough 4, Ottawa 2
Windsor 6, at Saginaw 1
At Barrie 5, Sudbury 4
Oshawa 6, at Owen Sound 5
Brampton 2, at Sarnia 1
Sunday, Dec. 20
Ottawa 4, at Brampton 3
Niagara 3, at Mississauga 2
Owen Sound 8, at Oshawa 1
The standings are here.
The OHL resumes play Dec. 28.
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