The Oilers Win!!

Welcome to the new age NHL, where the Oilers could actually be serious contenders. Ok, most of the critics probably don't agree with me but with the cap, we have a chance now. After the way they played tonight, it doesn't look half bad. Conklin didn't look too bad (okay, he let in 3 goals on 17 shots but some of those saves were crucial and tough) and the powerplay went 1 for 7 which is already better than the pre-season average (as bad as it was). I for one am excited and happy that the NHL is back in action and look forward to more exciting games like the ones tonight.

Disclaimer: For those that don't know me, I like hockey if you haven't guessed it already. While this blog is supposed to be more about my life...hockey actually takes up a lot of my life (reffing and watching) and a lot of my thoughts so I guess it's all good. Never be surprised to see more hockey content (read: rants).

And so it begins

Just over 4 hours until the puck drops on the Oilers' new season. I can't wait! Starting in about 20 min I'll be watching any kind of hockey coverage I can get until it all begins and then I'll be parking myself in front of the TSN broadcast until the Oilers have finished their first game. I guess I'll have to take a few breaks to assign some hockey and get some snacks but that's what commercials and intermission is for.

GO OILERS GO!!

Recertified

Well, I have a few things to update in my life. As most of you know, I officiate hockey. This past weekend was my annual recertification clinic. We spent two days talking about hockey and situations that have or will come up when reffing a game and relearning all that stuff we forgot. I managed a 96% on the test so I'm pretty happy. Also on the reffing front, I did my first Midget 'AAA' game as a referee last week. It wasn't your typical game though. First off, not even half way through the first period one of my linesmen (who also happens to be our referee-in-chief in Spruce Grove and a good friend of mine) gets hit by a couple of players, goes down, and breaks his ankle in two places. So after getting him off the ice, the other linesmen and I finished the period two-man until another linesmen was ready to fill in. Poor Dean is out for a while and had to have 6 screws and a plate to cover the one break and a screw near the joint to fix the other.

Work is well...work. A little boring at times but I have made quite a few sales. Since we're not on comission it doesn't really matter but at least I'm selling stuff and being helpful. I also have only been chewed out a few times by upset customers (most of them not my fault at all). Not that the job is all bad but I hope to find a "real" job doing software work soon.

Other than that, life goes on. I constantly get my butt kicked by my dad at ping pong when we have the chance to play but I am improving. I haven't had much time to go out and hang out with friends because of my work schedule and reffing starting back up but if anyone does want to hit the town let me know and I'll make time. Hopefully a regular game of poker starts up again soon so I can get back to that too. And most of all (of course) I can't wait for the NHL regular season to start back up...9 days and counting...

First day of work

Well it's not glamorous that's for sure, but someone has to do it and right now I guess that has to be me since I don't have anything else to do. The morning started with a big store-wide meeting before we opened. There was a lot of new hirees and some people that have only worked for a few weeks so a bunch of information had to be passed out. My section is pretty good and I actually managed to sell quite a bit of stuff including a $2100 sale taht I stayed an extra half an hour to finish. Not bad for a first day I think. By no means am I planning on making this a career but it's not so bad so far. Anyone looking for a computer, come look me up on the south side.

Hazardous Workplace

I don't start my job at Best Buy until the morning but disaster struck at my other "job" today. That's right, we had a bit of a problem reffing hockey today. It was my first Midget 'AAA' game as the referee and so I had two of our best linesmen out helping me out, one being my good friend and our Referee-in-Chief Dean. Unfortuately, less than halfway through the first period, a couple players ran into Dean and somehow in the whole mess, broke his ankle. So after some angonizing pain for him (I do believe), we got him off the ice and some other refs took him to the hospital for X-rays. It turns out he broke it in two places and had to go get surgery done to put some pins in (I think). Hopefully that went okay and he has a fast and full recovery. Anyway, so Darcy and I were left to two man the rest of the first period before we got another guy dressed and ready to line the rest of the game. A bit of an adventure to begin my Midget 'AAA' career but oh well, it ended up going okay (except of course for Dean's broken ankle). Hopefully my first day on the job at Best Buy is a bit more calm and less news worthy.

I have job

Yesterday was a busy day. Not only did my best friend Dan get a teaching job but I also was offered a position at Best Buy after about only 15 min of interviews. It's nothing I plan on staying in long but at least it keep me from being totally broke and bored out of my skull at home all day. Plus it'll be a new experience; I've never worked any kind of retail job. Guess we'll see come Sunday when I work my first shift.

Online Article + Movies = Dave's a Geek

Why I'm a geek will become more apparent in a moment...but first, if you haven't seen Hitch yet, you should. It's not the best movie out there but it's good for a laugh. Also, Assault on Precinct 13 is a good action movie but don't expect to think much. Set brain to off...

Ok, now the reason why I'm a geek. For those that know me, you know I like video games. Ok, I don't just like them, I play them a lot...I'm just a big kid. Now I don't just play the newest systems and I only own Nintendos, all of them (and a 3DO but let's not get technical)...but I digress...the games these days just don't hold the same challenge that they used to. Yes, it's a lot more satisfying to complete a game and find out what happens in the storyline in the more movie style games now a days but what happened to the fun in achieving that result? Isn't that what playing the game is all about?

My best example is Final Fantasy...no, not the fancy cinematic pieces of crap that most of you associate with that name but the original. Yep, the masterpiece that is Final Fantasy 1 (though it really doens't have a number after it), originally for the NES. I have one of the first, still slightly buggy, American released versions of the game for my NES and have wasted hundreds, probably even thousands, of hours playing the game over and over (see, told you I'm a geek). Anyway, the rerelease of this game on GameBoy Advance (which I of course bought right away) has been retooled a bit. It has become so easy to pass that you don't have to spend anytime doing the "monotonous" fighting to level up...but that's what the game's all about. Anyway, I'm getting off the point of what I wanted to say.

I love the new games with all the fancy graphics and everything but you just can't beat the old games for gameplay and a good challenge. Well, the article that got me started on this rant is at Tom's Hardware here. If you are a fan of gaming (especially older games) you should check it out. Ok, I'm done my rant, time to go to bed.

How is it already September?

Wow the summer just flew by. It's wierd knowing that I'm not going back to school next week. I really feel like I should be. Maybe I'll just be one of those losers that goes and hangs around campus at the start of the year even though they don't go there anymore. Well, it was a relaxing and enjoyable summer for the most part. I wish all the students (and teachers) going back to school this week or next a good year.

And HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY ALBERTA!

Pub Crawl + $1.50 Highballs = Trouble

Boy was I ever a mess last night. I went out on a 80's music themed pub crawl with my best friend Dan and a bunch of other people from Devon. We started out at the Druid on the south side of Edmonton before jumping on the bus to head to Bar Wild on Whyte Ave. We were only at the Druid for just over half an hour but the $2 Brahma beer special only started the night. Bar Wild had $1.50 highballs so Dan and I partook in those quite a bit. Next we took off to the Armory for some good drunken dancing. We were having a blast and this is where my night took an interesting twist. I say this because after this point I can't really say I recall much else. This almost never happens to me (only once before and only for a brief period of time) but at least when I woke up at Ryan's apartment this morning I still had both of my kidneys and wasn't too worse for wear. Allegedly we went to the Union Hall to finish off the night and apparently I was still up and about (though a little bit of a mess) so I don't really know why I can't remember that part of the night. Oh well, it was a ton of fun. I just want to thank my sister for taking care of me while I was out of commission at the end of the night and my partner in crime, Dan, for getting me out and being the other half of the Blues Brothers (see picture below). Good times...good times.

The Blues Brothers ready for action

Hockey in August?

Yep, that's what I thought when I was asked last week to help with the local Junior A hockey team's training camp. I never thought I'd be reffing hockey in August (well with perhaps the exception of some summer league hockey) but here I am already 2 "games" into the season. The Saints' camp is this week so I've been in Spruce Grove both yesterday morning and this afternoon and back on the ice. It was a little wierd yesterday but today was much better...just like riding a bike. But boy am I out of shape. Luckily the players weren't into top gear until today (and even then it was relatively infrequent) so I could keep up pretty well. We even had a couple of good scraps and the camp seems to be going well from all accounts. Anyway, I'm going to finish setting up my second computer here and then get some sleep...I need it after all that skating.

Some Movie and Music Talk

With everything else I've been posting about, I keep forgetting to talk about the movies I've seen lately (and I've seen quite a few). First, a couple of weeks ago I went to see the Dukes of Hazzard. I haven't watched the TV show much but from what I hear and what I know, it was pretty consistent. Not only that but it was a great movie. A little on the stupid comedy side at times (but that's what I like) but it was a really fun movie...go see it if you haven't already.

Next recommendation would have to be Wedding Crashers. Here's the fair warning though...it's all about the dirty jokes and stupid comedy. If you don't like that, don't bother. However if that's your genre then definitely don't miss this one.

The next movie I saw wasn't in theatres and ventures a bit away from the kind of movies I had been watching but was still an amazing movie...Sin City. Again from what I hear it is very dedicated to the graphic novels it is based on. It's a little bit of a screwed up movie but the cinematography is phenomenal.

Finally we arrive at the best movie I've seen in a while. I definitely laughed harder and longer than I have in a long time. Of course I'm talking about another "stupid" comedy (notice a trend here)...The 40 Year Old Virgin. Dan and I laughed so hard that we both almost peed our pants. The number of one liners that come out of this movie will blow your mind. If you like sex jokes and would like to shut your brain off and laugh for a couple hours, go watch this movie.

Ok, when you've finished going to see these movies, get in the car and pop in the new Trews album, Den of Thieves. Of course you have to go buy it first (and don't just download it, help support a good Canadian band). It only costs $9.99 at HMV so just go make the best $10 music purchase you'll make this year...it's worth it.

That's all for now...I have to get back to lying outside in the hammock under the clear blue sky and reading the Da Vinci Code.

Phone interviews kind of suck

So Tuesday morning I got up and decided I would spend some quality time in the morning looking for jobs. I found and applied to a couple after a few hours of looking including one that was advertised through David Aplin Recruiting. They don't usually advertise junior level positions because it's often just not worth it but I guess this was an exception. That afternoon (about an hour and a half later) I got a call from a lady in the Edmonton office of Aplin and talked to her for about 20 min before she said she'd pass my application onto her client, a huge international firm called Accenture. The next morning I was checking my e-mail when I noticed a note from someone at Accture already (wow they were working fast). The e-mail asked me when I was free for a phone interview/introduction. I said basically anytime in the next 3 days and that afternoon I talked to a lady in Ottawa for 40 min or so about the position and who I was. She also informed me that I would be passed on for a full length "performance factor" (behavioral) interview and would receive an e-mail telling me a number and a time to call in to this "meeting area".

In the continued fast pace of this process, I received my e-mail invitation to call at 10 Central time. So 9:00 yesterday morning I was on the phone...with someone in Colorado that does these kind of phone interviews for Accenture. 1 hour and 20 minutes later I hung up with a sore elbow from holding the phone and a parched throat from running my mouth. I think the interview actually went quite well but this brings up one of my main problems with phone interviews...without seeing the person face to face, it's hard to judge what they really think. Anyway, I should be getting moved on to the next phase of interviews (hopefully) and it should be a face to face interview with someone in Edmonton. I'm actually quite excited about this oportunity and it sounds like a good company to work for. If the previous pace is to continue I think I should be hearing from them again by mid next week. They may have me hopping all over the continent on the phone but at least they move fast.

NHL is back: part 4...the rest of the frenzy

Ok, I'm going to just combine all of the rest of my thoughts on the return of the NHL into one big post. Parts of this I wrote earlier but I'm just going to put it all together and mix it in with my latest thoughts.

So not only Pronger is an Oiler, but Peca too. Now I'm a big fan of Mike York and I think he was a huge asset to Edmonton but when we can get Peca in a trade like that...I'm a happy guy. As far as all of the other signings that the Oilers have done, it's just good to start getting the whole team back in the fold. They definitely still need to sign Smyth but most of the other key pieces are already back in place.

Elsewhere in the Western Conference, it looks like both Vancover and Calgary are building scary solid teams and there will be some good battles this year. Also with Gretzky heading up the Coyotes there seems to be a lot of strength there too. And you can never really count out Detroit and Colorado even though they can't just throw money at their problems anymore.

But the scariest looking team so far in my estimation is the Pittsburg Penguins. They just keep sigining/trading for more good players. Overall their lineup looks pretty solid except in the defensive core. But as Jay said, who needs a whole lot of defense when you score 10 goals a game.

Well, that's my viewpoint so far. I had more minor comments but this is already long enough and most of you are probably tired of me talking about hockey so I'll just move on to the next topic.

A good weekend

So this was probably my busiest weekends in a while...sort of. A lot of good times were had though. Yesterday afternoon I went paintballing with some friends at Young Guns paintballing out past Stony Plain. I didn't like it quite as much as the place Dan, Norm, Ryan, and I normally go but it was still good fun and I managed to not get too shot up. Afterwards I headed over to Dan's parent's place for a party Dan and his sister were throwing while their parents were in Jasper.

It didn't start as a big party but once it got going...ah...good times were had by all. So besides having a full night of drinking and visiting, a poker game broke out. Actually more like a mini tournament. 9 guys...$10 buy ins...winner takes almost all (everything but the second place guy's buy in). Now I didn't go into the game expecting to do very well (I had consumed copious amounts of alcohol by this time) but I was looking to have some fun. Little did I know that a couple hours later I would be going heads up for the $80 1st place prize. I played quite well (especially for someone who'd been drinking and wasn't paying much attention to the game at the start) and was particularly proud of my final hand where I flopped the nuts (best hand) flush and managed to sucker the other guy into putting all his money in. So yeah...great party, good poker, and generally good times.

When I woke up this morning (on the Townes' couch) I wasn't feeling great (due to the liquid consumed the night before) but I wasn't feeling that bad either. Much better than I had felt a few mornings getting up this week anyway (I haven't been feeling good this week for those that don't know). So I watched some early morning golf coverage and chatted it up with a few of the other people that stayed the night before helping clean up the huge mess we'd left. We did a pretty good job, ok, Misha did a pretty good job, of cleaning up the inside and Dan and I even drained and cleaned the hot tub. A lot better result than the last big party at the Towne acreage where we left a bit more of a mess and didn't clean up nearly as well. Plus I was in a bit better shape this time so I could actually clean up the mess rather than contribute to it. Anyway, after a good weekend like that it's going to be a boring week but oh well. Maybe the BBQ that Julie and I are planning on having either Tuesday or Thursday night will break things up a bit.

P.S. I will actually get the last couple NHL postings up sometime soon.

NHL is back: interlude

Well I managed to finish cleaning up the first three posts...I think I might just mass post all of thoughts from the next two posts and all of my other NHL/hockey thoughts sometime tomorrow. And I realize now that I haven't said anything really about the rule changes which, as a hockey referee, actually interest me quite a bunch. So now I have a few things to write about like Gretz becoming a coach and I still have yet to finish cleaning up my post about Peca but they'll get done.

Well, I'm back to playing some guitar and finishing up my last few resumes of the day.

NHL is back: part 3...Chris Pronger's an Oiler

Originally written August 3 (at about 1 in the morning)...

I just hear the news...Chris Pronger is an Oiler! Now I would normally be estatic about this, and don't get me wrong, I am happy, but we gave up an awful lot for him. Brewer, I hate to see you go but if it's Pronger that's falling into your place, I can definitely stomach it. I really hate to see us give up two really promising young D-men though. You can be sure that in 5 years or so we'll be looking back on this and wonder why we gave up some of the newest defense stars in the NHL (well maybe not that extreme but you get the idea). On the other hand, Pronger may just be the boost we need to make it further into the playoffs. I guess only time will tell. The best part about this move though is that it proves that in the "new NHL", even the small market Canadian teams can land big players. Good for Lowe for pulling the trigger on one of the biggest moves so far. Hmmm...maybe we can get Niedermayer to play with Pronger...nah, too much money in one defense pair...still, I can dream.

NHL is back: part 2...the free agent frenzy

Originally written August 2...

Let the mayhem begin!! The first two days of free agent signings are pretty much over and look at all the action. I'm going giddy just with how many articles there are to read and how lively the forums I read are. It's kind of too bad that the Oilers traded away Isbister, I actually liked him quite a bit, but I guess he's not producing enough for his salary level so we'll just have to find another big guy to fill in his shoes. I have to admit I was a little surprised to hear that Nieuwendyk and Roberts went to Florida but I guess they just want to set up their retirement homes in the sun a little early. The team I would be most worried about right now though is Philly. They all of a sudden have a solid core of defense and if they improve they're forward situation a bit after buying out Amonte and LeClair, they will be a force to be reckoned with.

I'm a little concerned with Calgary getting Amonte and McCarty...those may be vetern players but I still think they have a few good years left in them and if Calgary resigns Iginla then there will be some good battles of Alberta to come. I'm just waiting for the Oilers to jump in and get into the action. Let's get Messier back!

NHL is back: part 1...the draft

Originally written July 31...

Well the Sydney Crosby era has begun I guess. Don't get me wrong, I know the kid is great and all and I have no doubts of his ability to play in the NHL but is he alone the savior of the NHL...no (well not alone anyway). That being said, he probably will save the Pittsburg franchise and hopefully will increase the media popularity of hockey in the US. As for the Oiler's draft picks...meh. It's too bad in a way that they were that far down in the draft order. Now I like their first pick and he does seem to fit in with the small speedy guys we seem to collect and develop but I think we're going to need some size at some point in time. I do like the selection of Danny Syvret. He was the player that captained the London Knights to the CHL championships last year (Memorial Cup) and has the potential to actually start in the NHL either this or next year. I just can't wait until tomorrow when the free agent frenzy begins!

**Hindsight Note: I guess we have addressed the size issue a bit with Pronger but I'll get into that later...and the free agent frenzy was (and is) just that

The hockey posts are coming...honestly

And since I know you're all dying to know what I think of all the trading/signing action that's been going on (especially all of the Oiler's moves last week), I'll get right on finishing those now. For now, I posted a couple of pictures from Melissa and Amber's farewell.

Really wish I could go golfing right now but it looks kind of crappy out...