A normal winter on pei and the roads are a little dangerous with high winds causing WHITEOUTS . I got into the meeting this morning but if the wind and snow continue i,m afraid my weekly ritual at my local pub will have to be cancelled.. Pres JIM wasn,t there thismorning.........He is attending meetings to learn how to properly take care of our veterans.......Of course we can help him with that  at our daily meetings....Cousin SHANE is out of the lineup with a mystery ailment......Roger is ok since he stopped drinking that bad shine from RUSTICO. The STINGERS lost the 1st playoff game in TROIS RIVIERES but not by much 3-2. 2nd game tonight at the ED MEAGHER ARENA home of the stingers. Mike Mcnamera was an all star defenseman with the GEORGIANS in the late 60,s. In all my years of coaching he has to have the record for MOST ICETIME in a single game.......We were playing BISHOPS IN  LENNOXVILLE. Either we had a few injuries or our defense wasn,t too deep but MIKE ended up playing 58 min . He only left the ice once when he got a penalty.......Mike had great recuperative powers and could pace himself so he was one of the few that could accomplish that feat.Other players i can recall that had that ability were, MARK SHEWCHUK, DON MORRIS,and BOB BERRY. Mike POIRIER , a defenseman for ST FX once played most of the game in the NATIONAL FINALS against TORONTO.....ST. FX were leading with less then 3 min to go by at least 2 goals . But fatique and the offensive power of TORONTO left them open for a last minute scoring spree by the BLUES and ,i think TORONTO won by 2 goals......Toronto did that to BOB BOUCHERS ST MARYS TEAM a few times too. Well must get out to shovel so the propane guy can get to my tank....

Posted by: parsenault at 14:22 | link | comments

The Stingers play tonight against Trois Riviere in the 1st playoff game.....Talked to former STINGER ALL CANADIAN DON MORRIS. He is nominating the 1975/76 stingers for this years HALL OF FAME........That team has all the credentials for this elite status.....It was the 1st ever CONCORDIA HOCKEY TEAM. The only team from the three institutions to go UNDEFEATED in league play with a record of 19-0-1. The most victories in CIAU HISTORY with a 43-3-1 record..The only CANADIAN team to win the NORTH COUNTRY TOURNEY AT CLARKSON NY.Also won the MONCTON TOURNEY, THE LAURENTIAN TOURNEY AND THE CONCORDIA TOURNEY. The league ALL STAR 1st team had 5 STINGERS, CORSI,MORRIS ,LAGARDE,SHEWCHUK AND HARRIS and the 2nd team had 3, MICK,HANSIS AND WILSON.......The team had 4 ALL CANADIANS , CORSI, SHEWCHUK, WILSON AND MORRIS. They didn,t win the NATIONAL TITLE partially because of a poorly concieved format never attempted before or since. But they did lay claim to the EASTERN CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIP with victories over MONCTON AND ST FX in the EASTERN CANADIAN SEMI FINAL. Without doubt the most talented team i ever had the priviledge to coach and the only team that went to the NATIONAL FINALS rated the #1 team in the nation. I was late for our daily meeting of the NOT QUITE OVER THE HILL GANG. Aunt val was a little slow today. She,s my over 80 aunt that i train on a regular basis on the treadmill at the YOUNG AT HEART LODGE. I was afraid i,d be late and receive another sanction from pres jim so i put the treadmill on an incline .........She could only do 8 min and was puffing when i left her.Roger was very quiet today but his rash has disappeared and he,s on an OLIVE OIL and SOYA MILK diet for another few days. I think i,ve finally gotten to cousin shane. He didn,t put any butter on his muffin this morning. Now if he stays away from the POUTINE for lunch i,ll really get excited. One question i have is HOW HARD IS BASKETBALL when you,re 7ft tall????? The sun is shining.......but the road is slippery or on pei it,s slippy.

Posted by: parsenault at 14:58 | link | comments

The STINGERS,after beating TROIS RIVIERE, lost to McGILL. I don,t know if that gives them a playoff spot or not.Meanwhile the UPEI PANTHERS dropped two to DAL in HALIFAX and are now HISTORY for this season.I,m going to have to look at the NHL for someone to cheer for the rest of the way.....Don,t tell me i have to go with the LEAFS. I used to be a MONTREAL fan having been so close to them in MONTREAL and THE FORUM during my early coaching days at SIR GEORGE. I remember the day that SAM POLLOCK called me up for a meeting in his office. It was 1965 COLLEGE hockey " loyola vs sir george" was attracting a lot of attention in montreal. Sam offered us the use of the FORUM for practices and games. At NO CHARGE........He even offered to give us 1/2 the gate for doubleheaders with the JUNIOR CANADIANS. It was a great opportunity and i recall one time we had 16000 fans and we received enough to cover our budget for the season.Those were great days for univ hockey in montreal and only ended when administrators decided to merge the two teams at CONCORDIA in 1975.I stopped cheering for the CANADIANS when they gave SCOTTY BOWMAN the shaft and appointed IRVING GRUNDMAN as the GM......Since then they,ve been going downhill ,but ,this year they are starting to look better.I,ll probably cheer for COLORADO because they have a great team and i was a friend and classmate of TK KARIYA, PAUL,S father. Cousin SHANE is having problems with his GALL BLADDER maybe????? He,s not the only one. I told him my recipe for a healthy bladder is GREEN APPLES, OLIVE OIL AND LEMON JUICE DRINK, PEARS ,PARSNIPS and RADISHES.......and MOST IMPORTANT nomore BUTTER on the TIM HORTON,S muffin in the morning.....I don,t know if he can stick to that last one.....Roger is back in action .His PROBATION OFFICER decided that his HOUSE ARREST was over.......just joking. He was helping out with the SPECIAL OLYMPICS. Great work ROG ER and he even enjoyed my attempt at poetry......CIAO for now .Just  got the info. The STINGERS are starting the playoffs against TROIS RIVERES on wed. So that win last week should give the boys a lift....... I expect a WIN in this series and onto the fareast final  against the OTTAWA SENATORS or GEE GEES .

Posted by: parsenault at 15:17 | link | comments

The storm is over ,we,ve got the roads cleared and i see out the window a little parcipitation starting. I hope it,s only a mirage.........The propane guy left me a note. He can,t get in to refill the tanks......I didn,t clear a path yet. I didn,t expect him to come on sunday....What dedication......He must have been a good hockey player.....Actually, i was able to get into ch,town on fri to the gym and for a few pops at the MERCHANTMAN.....I guess i should have stayed home and dug a path to the tanks.......The PANTHERS lost to DAL last nite in HALIFAX......Now must win today to advance.....The STINGERS won a big one against TROIS RIVERES.......GREAT STUFF........Ithink that gives them a playoff spot......The MILAN VIPERS have recently lost for the first time this year.I haven,t heard the details yet but expect injuries played a role......It,s great living on PEI but i can,t get used to the WAVE.......Whenever you meet a vehicle on the road you have to be prepared to WAVE because if the driver recognizes you he waves hello......I,m seldom ready and i feel REAL SHAME when i don,t get my hand up soon enough.....Didn,t have to worry about that in MONTREAL or MILANO..But i remember when i was riding my bike " a triumph 500cc" , around quebec and pretending i was MARLON  BRANDO in THE WILD ONES  ,we always waved at bikers when we met. I guess i,m a little out of practice.....Have to investigate a recent report that TIM HORTON,S coffee has NICOTINE in it.......or is it that they have the least NICOTINE....I,ll check with COUSIN SHANE .He knows a lot about NICOTINE......Gotta go and take my honey, egg yolk and milk facial.......Remember noone knows what evil lurkes in the heart of men......but the SHADOW KNOWS!!!!!!

Posted by: parsenault at 15:59 | link | comments

Stormstayed for the 2nd day....What a blizzard .They call it " THE WHITE JUAN"". I couldn,t get out the front door. Snow up to 4ft against the door.....I finally slid it open this morning and about two feet of snow fell in......Got that cleaned up and started a path to the parking lot.....Took about 45min and then the truck was stuck. Finally got the truck out and decided to see how far i could go......Just got to the end of the lane to BAYSHORE ROAD and that was it....almost got stuck 3 or 4 times.....Waiting for the plows to get out so i can head for the gym.....Received a call from CLARE  DRAKE out in EDMONTON.. The most successful coach in CANADIAN UNIV HOCKEY with the ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS......He was asking about our trip with the 1975-76 NATIONAL TEAM. We were coaches along with TOM WATT. The team played a series of games in the czech republic and germany.....I think we won them all and at least 1/2 the players ended up playing for the OLYMPIC TEAM in the 80 games in LAKE PLACID....Clare and tom were coaches .I wasn,t selected because i was too short.......kidding.....We had some great  college stars  including  RANDY GREG, DAN D,ALVISE,DAVE HINDMARCH,AND KEVIN PRIMEAU....Kim ELLIOTT and NICK SANZA were the CONCORDIA reps...CARY FERELLI , the leading scorer in the OHL and a TORONTO BLUE was also a member of that team...He went on to star in the ITALIAN PRO LEAGUE and ended up as my ASS,T COACH IN ASIAGO in 92.I told CLARE  he had to go see the movie  MIRACLE ....I,m sure he,ll relate to it just as i did... Now for my daily health food tip for COUSIN SHANE.....Forget the chinese food and fries with the works......Eat more apples.....skin included.....Blueberries are not only good but also grown by your hero ,our premier PAT BINNS.....or is it still BRIAN MULRONY....Take a tip from the ITALIANS and eat lots of TOMATO products.....The panthers won the first playoff game on wed nite. Supposed to play in halifax tonite at DAL. The bridge is still closed so might be postponed.....They should win this series.......The stingers have won 4 in a row and it,s nip and tuck for a playoff position......Hope they can make it......I recall the 1st year i coached in 63/64 We just barely made the last playoff spot.....But we won the playoffs and went all the way to the 2nd ever NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS.....Too bad ALBERTA was there to ruin our CINDERELLA story...

Posted by: parsenault at 14:53 | link | comments

Fernand Lachance.........do you recognize the name? Probably not, but he invented  POUTINE the national dish of QUEBEC. He died ,massive heart attack.....only 35 years old......JUST  JOKING.....It,s one of  COUSIN  SHANE,S  favorite dishes......But i saw  today he,s going to the health food diet....CHINESE......egg rolls , fried rice and pineapple chicken. He read that APPLES are very healthy and PINEAPPLES are even better??? I think i,ll start eating sushi.....It,s delicious and good for you.....so they say....The ATKINS diet .....Well i think you have to question that since the good doctor checked out pretty young and 30 lbs overweight.... Talking about EDUCATION.....Now we need more physical education in the schools......because PEI kids are the most overweight in the country....One wonders what intellects decided to reduce the PE PROGRAMS in the first place.....Didn,t i just read recently that some young man was protesting that he had to take sewing......UNBELIEVABLE......but i can relate because when i moved to MONTREAL in high school i was never able to catch up in FRENCH class....Can you imagine that the education system in QUEBEC couldn,t produce students who were completely bilingual??? All my friends who where able to speak both languages learned " on the street" SAD but true...Well i hope ROGER likes the poem ....or not.

Posted by: parsenault at 20:19 | link | comments

ODE TO ROGER

Roger came to the game that day

to see his good friend paul

when he approached the veteran coach

his mood was about to fall

ROGER said "nice tie big coach

and how are you thisnite"

He was met with a sour face

and a manner meant for fight

The big BRUSHOFF did happen then

And roger was dismayed

As the old coach did turn away

And yelled a change be made!!!

And to this day as a regular dare

Roger brings up the whole affair

Posted by: parsenault at 18:12 | link | comments

Just got back fromwatching the movie MIRACLE. I really enjoyed it,naturally, and the movie was all about the COACH HERB BROOKS. But when you think about it .The team was all COLLEGE KIDS and for them to win it was a MIRACLE. I,ll have to say it,s the best HOCKEY MOVIE ever made putting SLAP SHOT and the movie i starred in for about 2 sec THIS TIME FOREVER into 2nd and 3rd place.How they made the action and especially the RUSSIANS PLAYMAKING so realistic was GREAT. And i see my old friend RYAN WALTER was the ref in the RUSSIAN GAME. Yesterday was VALENTINES DAY and the 45th anniversary for my buddies THE WHITACRES of COLORADO SPRINGS......What great friends they have been over the past 40 years......It,s a lucky day for me that SIR GEORGE decided to hire freddy as their BASKETBALL COACH . He was too good and THE EXPOS saw that and made him an offer he couldn,t refuse. He went on to fame in pro baseball and soccer  ,should be in the  CONCORDIA HALL OF FAME.........The UPEI PANTHERS finished their season on a high note last night ,beating the top team UNB . Now they start the playoffs on a winning note on fri. The ALBERTA GOLDEN BEARS hockey dynasty keeps on rolling .They haven,t lost a game all season. THE UNIV OF ALBERTA has a programme to be proud of and believe me they get a lot of support from their ALUMNI.....It,s a shame their aren,t more schools that take it as seriously as they do. Missed DON CHERRY on sat nite so i don,t know how the 7sec thing went........

Posted by: parsenault at 17:12 | link | comments

What will DON CHERRY say about the changes proposed by the NHL GENERAL MANAGERS.They have focused on the goaltenders equipment and play behind the net as possible areas to change......Don would no doubt blame it on the FRENCH GOALIES who have adopted the butterfly style over the past years.....The GM,S are looking at the wrong solutions ,in my opinion.Why not just increase the size of the NET.??? That way you don,t penalize the goalies that are your best athletes and are able to play the puck .As PATRICK ROY said "the shooter needs to see some mesh" Now a player coming down the wing like GUY LEFLEUR has little chance of scoring from a slapper......I believe in the KISS solution.......KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID.....and increasing the size of the nets is about as simple as you can get......Today ROGER was chewing a big wad of GUM........He read that gum chewing improves your memory and he finds that many times when he drinks too much MOONSHINE he can,t remember how he got home the next day..... I asked him his advice on my lovelife and he said i should give it up for at least 20 years.....Well i better go and get some gum so i don,t forget my ITALIAN.......

Posted by: parsenault at 16:02 | link | comments (1)

Well it looks like our good government in OTTAWA is still working hard to waste our TAX MONEY. I spent two years on the FITNESS COUNCIL and in my brief exposure to the operation in OTTAWA i was amazed at the WASTE.......Just the amount of useless mail i received was unbelievable. Not to mention the frequent trips to ottawa for meetings which were just smokescreens so the politicians could say they were listening to needs of the people. Doesn,t make one feel real good about paying TAXES. The MILANO VIPERS are still undefeated in the ITALIAN 1st division......tied my old team ASIAGO in the last game.UPEI lost a tough game to ST THOMAS and now are fighting for a playoff spot......last game coming up against UNB. The hockey is great entertainment ,lots of good HITS and both teams working to win.....And now at the MACLAUCHLIN Arena you can really get into the game...Must get out to see THE MIRACLE......about the US OLYMPIC victory over THE RUSSIANS in 1980.........I was almost part of the COACHING STAFF for CANADA but when FATHER BAUER found out i wasn,t pure laine i was left off the final coaching staff which included my friends TOM WATT and CLARE DRAKE.

Posted by: parsenault at 15:58 | link | comments (1)

Now they,re  going to put a 7sec delay on the mouth of DON CHERRY. But who will decide what to blip out? It,s going to be a tough job for someone at CBC. Anyway the NOT QUITE OVER THE HILL GANG are going to do the same thing to COUSIN SHANE......Anytime he starts on one of his endless and redundent stories we,not only, put up the 7 sign but cut him off for 7sec .This will give him a chance to butter his muffin and reflect on his sometimes OUTRAGEOUS statements......Roger had to rush off today for his STANDUP MEETING....It seems there is not enough meeting space at the DVA so they must meet in the hallway......The stingers won both games on the weekend RYERSON AND TORONTO.....so that should help them secure a playoff spot.....The panthers play tonite and coming off a 6-1 loss to UNB they,ll ,no doubt ,be fired up.I HOPE. Saw a bit of the ROCKETS game yesterday....NO HIT HOCKEY........no wonder the QMJHL is considered the weakest in the country......Lots of skill and size but notREAL HOCKEY......Guess DON CHERRY would like to hear that...It,s no wonder most of these kids have a difficult time stepping up to the next level....Tonite we,ll see some good hits and if they get a decent official it,ll be a good game to watch....Beautiful day on PEI sunny and cold,like VAL GARDENA ITALY where i spent two years coaching and practicing my ITALIAN at the IRISH PUB......And i was reading today that GREG RUSEDSKI the best tennis player canada has ever produced will meet today in montreal to explain why he had tested positive for a banned steroid.......Reminds me of the greatest moment in my TENNIS career......I was a member of the CLEARPOINT TENNIS CLUB in POINTE CLAIRE QUEBEC and one day i played a set against the future star.....His father was trying to get him ready for a tournament and i guess i was the only sucker around at the time.....We played a set and i narrowly defeated him.....He was so upset that he threw his racquet and stomped off the court......I guess ,even though he was only 12 he fiqured he should have won!! AND HE WAS RIGHT......

Posted by: parsenault at 14:06 | link | comments

Well, we had quite a meeting today of the TIM HORTON,S NOT QUITE OVER THE HILL GANG.............Topics included DON CHERRY,S tirade about EUROPEANS AND FRENCHMEN using VISORS,.The average debt students have upon graduation.and our LOBSTER FISHERMEN getting cutbacks by DFO........CHERRY has once again upset the politically correct contingent by making a statement that is basically correct......It is true that most players using visors are EUROPEANS AND FRENCHMEN. I would say that this means they are the smartest members of the NHL PLAYERS ASSOCIATION......There is no question of toughness here, because anyone who has played his way to that level has to have GUTS and DETERMINATION as well as TALENT....People like CHERRY because he makes politically incorrect and sometimes  OUTLANDISH statements and isn,t always a cheerleader for the NHL and HOCKEY CANADA.....Of course COUSIN SHANE our resident REDNECK agrees with everything CHERRY says.....But if he continues to breath the DUST down at the DVA offices ,he won,t be around much longer...And how about the students now complaining about their DEBT upon GRADUATION.Whats the big deal? When i graduated  i owed 5000 bucks and i think that was normal to most of my generation.My first job i was paid 4500 a year. I paid my loan off in 2 years and i don,t think i suffered .....Now students usually can expect a salary of over 30000 with a degree? But they want the government to solve all the problems....Anyway i finally found out why ROGER AND I clash so much.......WE,RE BOTH LEOS ..........and want to rule the jungle.

Posted by: parsenault at 14:53 | link | comments

What a great SUPERBOWL and THE MERCHANTMAN PARTY was great also.I missed the ANNUAL STREET HOCKEY GAME held each year prior to the PARTY.Dave Connelly says his team won but i,m not sure .It was difficult to find the truth on sunday.......Whenever i watch football it reminds me of my short career as a football coach.My last year at UNB,i wasn,t eligible to play varsity because i had used up my 4 years. The athletic director asked me if i would coach the JV FOOTBALL TEAM......Since i had to do practice teaching for the PHYSICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM,i was able to substitute the coaching........We had a great season and WON every game and that led to employment at SIR GEORGE WILLIAMS UNIV. in montreal. At SIR GEORGE i was appointed HOCKEY COACH and asked to investigate the possibility of having a FOOTBALL team. Well we did start a football program and i was asked to be the ASS,T COACH. The first week of tryouts were a real laugh........We had about 40 guys trying out and 26 said they were QUARTERBACKS.......It,s like HOCKEY SCHOOL where all the kids want to play center.Anyway we had a team but we didn,t do very well........one of the reasons is our PLAYBOOK consisted of all the TOP PLAYS from the NFL that were featured in SPORTS ILLUSTRATED.......Our HEAD COACH did,nt have much experience and he figured these plays would work. Only problem was ,we didn,t have the GREEN BAY PACKERS LINE.......However a few years later when i returned from grad school in OREGON, we had a pretty good team and much better coaching.......My new bride was from OREGON and when i told her that the first game she would see in CANADA was our HOMECOMING....At the university of OREGON this game attracts about 50000 fans.So she was expecting to see a large crowd......Well the crowd was pretty sparce and she was shocked........I think that was the main reason we split up 15 years later.....

Posted by: parsenault at 17:39 | link | comments

Went to the PANTHER game last nite against DALHOUSIE. I invited cousin SHANE but he couldn,t go .He was trying to perfect a home recipe for CRANBERRRY MUFFINS. Last summer he got caught in the NATIONAL PARK picking BERRIES.It seems that it is now ILLEGAL even though people for generations have enjoyed this ISLAND ACTIVITY.A few years ago they outlawed DOGS on the beach. Pretty soon no one but the PIPING PLOVERS will be allowed on the beach..........Anyway the PANTHERS won .It was an important game as they had lost the previous 4.Two of the PANTHER STARS were out. WARD was tossed early for a questionable hit from behind and DARCY HARRIS was out with a sprained ankle.......I think the UNIVERSITIES have to get better control of the OFFICIALS....like the QMJHL. They seem to get the best  and  UNIVERSITY HOCKEY , which is a higher calibre doesn,t always.....The new MACLAUCHLAN.ARENA is a great facility and you can really get into the game there......Too bad they didn,t increase the size to EUROPEAN MEASUREMENTS.We seem to always follow the NHL and that organization is SLOW to make advancements. I remember going to MOSCOW IN 74 for the 1st ever RUSSIAN HOCKEY CLINIC at the MOSCOW INSTITUTE OF SPORT......What a great experience and the CANADA - RUSSIA HOCKEY SUMMET SERIES did a lot to improve the training methods of teams in NORTH AMERICA.I still say that ,if they,re not going to widen the ice surface they should look at making the NETS at least 11% bigger since the NHL PLAYERS ARE NOW 11% bigger then they were when the league started in 1917. Using that figure would also increase the size of the ice to 94 ft from the 80 ft now....My other team THE CONCORDIA STINGERS lost another to TROIS RIVIERE.......Doesn,t look good for the playoffs but we remain optimistic.....Must phone SHANE to see if he,s got those MUFFINS MADE.  I hope he brings them to TIMS IN THE MORNING.

Posted by: parsenault at 13:03 | link | comments