A funny moment at the 2010 NHL Awards.

Generally, the NHL Awards is a fairly awkward event. Players don't know how to keep acceptance speeches short and sweet. The NHL plans strange entertainment that is difficult to understand. This clip, though, was very clever.

The one I forgot to name.

Just after I posted that last one I went outside and we could literally here Edmonton cheering for Team Canada. I couldn't actually see anyone, but our hostel is one avenue over from the main drag and people were going crazy.

One of the grad students from University of Alberta who has worked at squirrel camp in the past took us out for dinner. I met a lot of people who have worked at squirrel camp and have completed the U of A driving test and I'm feeling very intimidated tonight. This might be the last time you hear from me on the internet for awhile. Also, I'm supposed to tell the driving instructor that I'm from Ontario and I don't understand round-abouts. I'm going to have to parallel park an (automatic) truck. I probably could have prepared for this a little better than I did. Wish me luck.

Gold in downtown Edmonton!

My flight landed in Edmonton at 12:10 pm local time. I met Dylan and Lindsey at the designated spot beside the Tim Hortons in Arrivals. Our ride was supposed to pick us up at 12:30. Plenty of time to head downtown to catch the puck drop at 1:30. Unfortunately, no one showed up. When we realized that no one was coming we hopped on a shuttle and headed to the hostel. Upon arriving the Aussie girl behind the desk notified us that, "we were up 1-0" and followed that up with ".....o, you guys are Canadian, right?" Uh, yeah. We dropped off our tons of gear (I thought I had a lot of stuff, but I had actually packed the smallest amount). And ran over to O'Byrnes on Whyte Avenue. There was a perfect booth waiting for us and we had dinner at 3:00, drank some beers and watched that crazy game play out.

And it isn't even 6:00 yet. I still have to go out for dinner, meet the rest of the crew, and I'm exhausted. This must be jet lag. I've been playing that card since last December though, so I don't even know anymore.

P.S. Do you see the tiny Team Canada symbols at the centre of the new symbol?

Silver.

January 5, 2010 was a sad day in Warsaw.

We all knew Canada could come back when they were down by a couple goals to the Americans in the gold medal final of the World Juniors. We even thought they'd win it in regulation time. When they went into OT I had a bad feeling though.

I wonder if Jerome is going to apologize for breaking the mirror at the end of the Force Fate ad? He's going to be in real big trouble if things go wrong (and by 'go wrong' I mean not win the gold on Canadian soil) at the Olympics.

O, and unfortunately, I'm stuck in dial-up land for the next little while. Hopefully I'll at least have time to get things organized so I can load them up all at once.

Back at it.

Been away for awhile. Just needed a bit of a break for the holiday season. I've got a few catch-up posts to make here from my trip and a new project for 2010. Hopefully I'll have decent internet access at the place I will be housesitting for January so I'll be able to load everything up.

Right now I'm deep into the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championships. Canada won a huge game against the States on New Years Eve. I was in my beloved Guelph at the pub for that game and it was a riot. As I type, the Swedes just tied up their semi-final game with the States 1-1. They're really starting to come on. Either team will make an a good attempt to stop the Canadians from winning their 6th gold medal in a row on Tuesday evening.

During the tournament TSN has been playing a really interesting Nike ad. I'm not a huge fan of the company, but I do think they have an incredible marketing department. My only complaint is that they didn't use a Canadian band for the soundtrack because we all know there are a whole lot of really good independent Canadian artists out there. Even a few with wolves in their names or songs about wolves, I'm sure. In case you're wondering, the song is called Wolf Like Me and it's by TV on the Radio.