April 2006 - May 2006

Myrna Walks for Kids This Sunday
The annual Bell Walk for Kids Help Phone is being held this Sunday May 7th in Parc Maisonneuve and in more than 45 communities across the country, thousands of Canadians will step out to help out. My better half, Myrna is just shy of her goal (98%).
Last year, almost 20,000 walkers raised $2.1 million for
Kids Help Phone - Canada's only free, 24/7, anonymous and confidential phone and web counseling service for kids. This year? It's up to you!
If you want to sponsor her walk, click here for more info and to make your pledge.

Income Tax Time Sunday April 30, 2006
Tomorrow is May 1st. That means today is the last day to file your income forms. If you are like me and procrastinate, then you will do them today. I guess most of you have already done them but I had two busy months and I really haven't had the chance to sit down a do them. Right now it's too nice out to be doing them, so I am going outside to wash the car(s) and clean out my back seat that seems to have accumulated a nasty amount papers and various other items that seem to make their way there. I have a feeling that I will be busy most of the afternoon.

We're Back  In case you missed it, we're back from California
For those who didn't have the link to the trip updates, they are here

Golf Season Starts April 14, 2006
It's official. The golf season has started for me. Some courses in the Montreal area have been opened for 3 weeks but I finally got stated on Good Friday. Weather wise, it was a great day. Putting wise, the putting left something to be desired. My usual average putt per round is around 30. Yesterday, I had 39 putts with 7 three putts. I wasn't the only one having trouble. The green were lightning fast and bumpy. Not a good combination. As in the past, my latest game is usually posted on my website. It's the link on the top right or you can access it from my Golf page link on the left. My apologies to my playing partners on posting the game.

Two Mountains Connection in 2006 Calgary Stampede's Royal Trio April 10, 2006
2 Mo native Bobbi Stevenson is the proud mother of Teri Murray who just became one of the princesses for the 2006 The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth, the Calgary Stampede. The 2005 Stampede Queen's Court handed over their crowns to the 2006 Royal Trio on Sunday, April 9th, the final day of Rodeo Royal at Roughstock. Along with Princess Teri (left in the picture) are Stampede Queen is Cheryl Dafoe and the other Princess April Kanderka. As official representatives of the Calgary Stampede and the city of Calgary, the Stampede Queen and Princesses make over 400 appearances in an exciting year of their reign. Teri was chosen from an original 39 contestants which was whittled down to six for the finals on Sunday.

Click here for the Calgary Herald story and here for the Stampede website story.

Chapeau Wins Their Six Title April 8, 2006
The Chapeau Renegades captured their 6th championship in the 10th Annual (and maybe final) LTHC Invitational Hockey tournament. The day was a complete success topped off by the band the Fabulous Flashbacks. Click here for the results of each game and on the picture to see the winning team . More pictures will follow but today I am watching the Masters. Since there is no more hockey or darts, I will probably have a little more time to update my website before the golf season comes around in full swing.

LTHC Kicks Off Tournament with a Win April 7, 2006
The Laval Teachers opened the 10th annual tournament on Friday with a 1 - zip win against the Two Mountains team. It was a very good game with both goalies stopping many attempts by both sides. I won't mention who scored the sole goal but the same person missed an open net during the game. Then failed to put it away with 16 seconds left in the game when he hit the side of an empty net while playing a man short because of Mike Nabozniak's untimely penalty with 2 minutes remaining in the game. With 16 seconds left, the 2 mo team came back up the ice and had a clear shot but goalie Glenn Hogan kept his shutout and assured the victory. The action starts again Saturday morning at 9:30 with returning champions Chapeau taking on Boston. Click here for the revised schedule .

LTHC Ready to 10th and Final Tournament April 4, 2006
This Saturday, April 8th marks the 10th year we will be hosting the Laval Teachers' Invitational Hockey Tournament at Patinoire Deux-Montagnes. Actually the tournament gets started with a game on Friday at 4:45pm pitting the LTHC against the local Two-Mountains team. Including that game, there are 6 games to be played with visiting Boston and Chapeau teams. It will all be topped off by a supper and dance with a live band. Click here for a schedule of the games.

Spring has Sprung April 2, 2006
(Follow the links in this article to see pictures)
It looks like spring is here. As you sprung forward and lost an hour of sleep it wasn't that difficult to get up on this fantastic April 2nd. It could have been just a little warmer but the cloudless sky was energizing after month of hibernation. After splitting a Chateau Lafitte pizza, we went for a little walk through St-Eustache today across the Légaré mill bridge and beside the cemetery and then behind the church. In my 42 years in Two Mountains, I had never even walked around there before. This is probably the best time of the season to be near the Chênes river (better known as Shit Creek) since it's too cold to smell. The back of the church has had a facelift in 2004 and quite pleasant also due the the lack of smell of the river. On our way back up St-Eustache street, we bumped into a famous Quebecer coming out of the Vieux St-Eustache restaurant. After that, it was time for my annual 'get rid of my old golf ball' ritual by the lake. Enjoy the spring, however be warned that the crocuses growing in front of my house could be sticking their necks a little too early. April in Montreal averages 12 centimeters of white stuff.  

Last Place Pitbulls Take WNDL Championship April 1, 2006
It's not an April Fool's joke. The Pitbulls, who had an iron grip on last place all year, rallied in the playoff round-robin to get into the final four by winning their last game. Being in fourth position, they had to face the mammoth favourites and co-season champions, the Early Birds. They won their match 3 to 0, in what was probably the largest upset in the 20 year league history. They continued on to beat D.O.N.T in the final who had themselves put away Tuff Enuff to advance. In the consolation round, the best of the worst PBS.Org had to settle for that win, this after sharing the regular season co-championship prize. The darts are now put away for most people and will be coming out again on September 27 for the annual kick off tournament. For pictures of some winners and losers, follow the WNDL link on the left or on top.

L.T.H.C. Boston Trip Makes into  Thursday March 30, 2006
Our infamous trip to Boston had someone that tagged along on Saturday. That person was Danielle Dreilinger who happens to be a 'Globe Correspondent'  for the Boston Globe. Her editor gave her permission to cover our last game in Boston. She was a real trooper and hung around us for most of the day. The result was a great article that captures some of the essence of the last 32 years of our annual pilgrimage. Click on the picture to see Danielle in a dressing-room post-game interview with Earl. Click here to access the Globe article. If it asks you for a user id and password, you can use globe@2mopaul.com pw: 2mopaul.

One more thing about the Boston trip. It seems that many of the LTHC players suffered somewhat this week. I personally was out of commission on Tuesday with stomach knots and cramps and the opposite on Wednesday while there are still a couple of players that have not quite recovered yet and won't even be playing hockey on Friday. It is a mystery as not everyone had the same food. So far the list of casualties includes myself, Bill, Ron, Al, Bernie. Are there any more? Let me know. This is starting to look like the poisoning of the air in the arena from a few years ago. If you don't remember that story, it's here in the archives.

Local Country / Rock Band's New Website Wednesday March 29, 2006
The local country - rock band Midnight Stage are playing a free concert at the Senior Men's Club on Cedar avenue this Saturday April 1st. One of the band members is WNDL darter John Dore. They also have a new website that will keep you up to date on their whereabouts. Click here for their site. Speaking of April 1st and darts, the WNDL is having its finals and banquet on Saturday. The 'action' starts at 2:00pm with the round robin and the finals should be played around 5pm.
Another Two Mountains star who's got a new website is Eileen Wilson. She a great country singer as you will hear when you visit her website by clicking here. With each page you will hear a different song so crank up your volume unless you are at work.

Boston Boys Hold On to NA Cup Saturday March 25, 2006
Well, they did it again. The AOH All-Stars managed to keep their grasp on the North American Cup by edging the LTHC with a score of 4 to 3. In what was one of the best games in the 32 year history of the game, the Bean Town Boys came back from a 1-0 and 2-1 deficit and held on to their 4-3 lead to the end to capture what is probably the final showdown over the border. There is one more showdown on April 8th, in the 10th and final LTHC Invitational tournament. The weekend which should be dubbed the Boston Marathon was great fun as usual despite the lack of the good weather that we used to be graced with.
The final tally puts the 31 year record for Boston as 4 win, 3 ties and 24 losses. The first year (1975), our opponents were actually from Canada so they are not counted in this record. LTHC M.V.P. was Gary Brown who opened the scoring and also scored the second goal. The AOH Co-MVP's were Mark Canavan & Ben Hazel.  Here are a few pictures and I will have many more to follow, when I have time to post them.

Forgot one thing. We would like to thank everyone who purchased a ticket in the 50/50 draw. The winner of the $500 was ticket number 99 (out of 100) drawn by the U.S. border guard (we weren't allowed to take a picture of him) was J, Tedford. The ticket was sold by Dale. Click on the picture to see the ticket.  


This Is It Boys and Girls - The Last Shot in Boston
Tuesday March 21, 2006
As mentioned earlier, the Laval Teachers Hockey Club is finally putting the wraps on the Annual Boston trip. We will attempt one last time to recoup the North-American Cup that we lost last year for the first time in over 20 years. This will be the 32nd and final trip to the windy (Beantown) city. It should be quite the party for one last time. Surely, many of us will make our last group visits to the following establishments : The Tam, Jacob Wirth's, A.O.H, the Burren, The Plough, the Dockside and the Black Rose to name a few. There was even talk about trying to get Renée Zellweger to come back to join us at the Legal Seafood. One thing for sure is that we will be listening to the BagBoys on Saturday from 5 to 7 at the Burren. Check out the BagBoys website and news of our arrival. It's hard to believe that this trip has lasted 32 years with many of the players having played most of those games. Our team has traveled to Boston, Chapeau and a couple of times to Quebec city. With over 40 'road trips' literally under our belts, this one should be quite memorable. At least the parts we actually will remember. If you want to see a picture of our team in our prime, click here for a picture of us at the Collisée de Quebec in, I think, 1988.
 
Two weeks later on April 7 and 8, we will be hosting our 10th and final invitational tournament at the Patinoire Deux-Montagnes. A team from Chapeau as well as Boston will be joining us for this latest milestone. After that, the rivalries will be rekindled with the game of golf. A sport that's a little easier on the old folks. Stay tuned to the LTHC link for pictures and more detailed info.

2005 Pub Night DVD Finally Ready Saturday March 18, 2006
I finally worked out the technical difficulties with me software and the Holy Family 2005 Pub Night video is ready. I will donate $5 of every DVD to Holy Family. The next few months are fairly busy but I will try to finish a couple DVD's that I have promised. To see who was part of the Pub Night and to order a DVD please go here.

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