The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The leaves are yellow which is a sign that fall is here. In case you needed something to smack you upside the head for a wake up call, so has the cold. Honestly, I like this kind of cold. It reminds me of when I walked to school in the morning and brings me back to my childhood. My favourite two seasons are summer and hockey. The NHL kicks off Oct. 4 and the best thing might be that the major media outlets will drop the "new NHL" name. I'm tired of that. I have ordered the NHL Center Ice package so I can watch the Canucks as much as possible. I also look forward to watching the Pittsburgh Penguins. I'm not a fan of them, but I'm curious to see how they will do. I've been a Canucks fan since about 1985 and I honestly don't know why I became one. It could have something to do with the fact my friends Victor Ponte, and Robert Case love them as much as I do. Our friend Victor Silva, who passed away in 2003, was buried wearing a Canucks jersey I believe. It's just the way he would have wanted it. I've had my moments where I've cheered so proudly that I'm a Canucks fan, and I've experienced many low moments including missing the playoffs last year. Lots of people will tell you that they sat in their living rooms to watch Hockey Night In Canada while growing up. Doing that is practically religion in Canada. While I have watched my fair share of hockey on Saturday nights, I also missed them too. And for good reason as I played street hockey with all the neighborhood guys I grew up with. That was our Hockey Night in Castlegar. Every weekend Crescent Street was our arena. While I will never have stories of playing on ice, I have great memories from the street. The battles on the ice might be different, but playing with the guys I did was no picnic. I never discovered I my scoring touch until my teen years when I played forward all the time. With the boys down the street it was always, "Smiley, throw on the pads, you're in net." I was an okay goalie. I had days when I played awesome, and some when I played terrible. Then, our goalies only wore pads made from couch cushions and then the usual, minus the mask. It was painful getting hit come winter by that frozen tennis ball. Fortunately, I was never hit in the face. Those days were a lot of fun and that's what makes this game so great and fall a time to look forward to.
