Lost a keeper.

O Captain! My captain! Our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:
But O heart! Heart! Heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

Walt Whitman wrote those words in 1865 and while you can hardly compare anything to the assisantation of President Lincoln, the words hit me yesterday as appropriate.

I should explain....I love defensemen. Don't get me wrong, I love a good goalie or a slick forward, but my heart belongs deep in the defense corp. So when my partner in crime told me yesterday that Jason Smith was calling it a career, that heart of mine took a hit.

Smith played 17 years in the NHL and just over a thousand games for five teams. He was drafted by the Leafs but it was after a trade to Edmonton where he made his mark. As captain of the team, he was the sort of player who ignored the pain and just played through it as much as he could. When normal people break their arm, they go have a cast put on it. Jason iced it down and taped it up. He seriously taped up a broken arm and went out to play. Teammates knew it was serious because "he missed practice."

Watching him play, you'd wonder what would go through his mind as he blocked shot after shot, took hit after hit. I saw where some writer said, "At times it seemed like there was a Terminator under all that blood and tape, an entity that felt no pain and no mercy and wouldn’t stop battling no matter what." That describes Jason to a T.

After serving as the longest running captain in Edmonton's history, he went to the Flyers where he continues his ways (and captain role) even playing with two separated clavicles. At season's end, he moved on to Ottawa where you could see time and his body were catching up with him. His ice time diminished (but you never heard him complain about it) and his recovery time was getting longer. He was getting ready for the season to start but his aches and pains just weren't getting better. His heart was willing, but his body just couldn't go on.

John Buccigross once wrote about the 'values of hockey' and he said this:

This is the value that is needed to turn heart into a commodity. Everyone who loves skating has heart, but everyone who skates isn't a hockey player. Courage carries the heart and the dreams around the rink. There are nine other skaters, boards and glass. Courage enables the player to play as if he or she is skating on Lake Michigan, to play with freedom in narrow, cluttered spaces, ignoring the obstacles and charging on. A life can only be a life if you have the courage to go for your dreams. Watching Jason Smith play defense in Edmonton is watching courage in action.

That was Jason. Never the fastest or flashiest, he was always a favorite. He was never up for an award and unless they drastically lower their standards, will never make it into the Hall, but him and players like him will always have a special place in the game and in my heart.

Thanks, Gator. From being a monster on the ice to reportedly one of the nicest men off it, you've earned your retirement and time with your family. You will be missed.

Testing.... testing... is this thing on?

Good morning campers... It's been a while since we've updated, and it's not for lack of trying; but real life seems to get in the way. lol However, today I had some time and a few things to post, so heeeeeeeeeeeeeeere we go!

It's about 4 weeks until hockey returns to Everett with the annual Labor Day tournament that the Tips hold; and oh boy am I ready for it! It's nice to watch the playoff games on NHL Network; but it's never the same as it is in person. Two weeks after that we get a real treat when the Tampa Bay Bolts come to town with the Desert Dogs of Phoenix; and I am so so excited. I'm torn as to which bench I would like to be sitting behind; because as much as I would like to see Peter Mueller and Shaun Heshka I really really really want to see Vinny Lecavalier sitting six feet in front of me. lol

And speaking of the Tips, nepotism has hit Hooterville in the hiring of new head coach Craig Hartsburg's son Chris to take the assistant coach job that Mark LeRose gave up when he went to be an assistant with Kevin Constantine in Houston with the AHL. He coached a little in the IHL, which is a lower level pro league; and I'm sure having Dad being a coach for so long has rubbed off a little. We'll see how he does...it is also nice that he's pretty cute too. ;)



Last week as a little sad as two more players in Lisa and my generation retired. One was one of the few Winnipeg Jets left in the league, Teppo Numminen; and the other is one of the best American hockey players ever to be in the league, Jeremy Roenick.

JR is one of only four Americans to have scored at least 500 goals finishing with 513, 703 assists in 1,363 regular-season games with five teams; and his six goals in Game 7s is tied for second all time. He was also a nine-time All-Star and a two-time Olympian, helping team USA earn a silver medal in 2002. I hope that not winning a Cup doesn't keep him out of the Hall Of Fame because all that he has done not only for the NHL but the game of hockey in the States should be enough as it is a lot.

And last but not least is Sidney's day with the Cup on Friday; which was also his birthday. It just amazes me just what a star that boy is up in his native land when I see things like all of the press for his first trip west last year; then it was eclipsed tenfold on Friday for the Captain's Cup day-birthday party. National news and a bazillion people following him all over was just craziness! But luckily as captain, he gets a second day; so I would assume that he had a much more dialed down celebration on Saturday with his family and close friends.

There have been a bunch of videos chronicling Steve and Stanley's Excellent Adventure, but I love this one most of all because he gets to be himself while playing with his friends. He doesn't have to be Sidney Crosby, Captain; he can be Sid the lifelong friend of a few boys he used to play road hockey with. The look of pure joy on his face at the end of the game just makes me just love him even more than I already did...