Oilers; Conference Champions

Well the weekend turned out to be everything it was suppose to be. As luck would have it the company sent me to E-town for a brokers convention. And as luck would have it the Oilers had a chance to win the conference on Saturday night, so I headed up north a day early, so as to be there if the Hockey Gods were Shining. And OH did they shine.

I will confess however, that I did not think the Oil were going to win, so I did missed the first two periods of the game (Angie and I went to see the new X-men movie). How could I miss the first two periods you say. (Have you seen Angie lol), and yes the new xmen movie is a double thumbs up, get out and see it before the next round of hockey starts.

So anyway, after the movie it was back to Angies house for the last period, and as can be expected it was a nail biter, especially with a 6 on 3 in the final minutes of the game. Yes I said 6 on 3. Two penalties and a pulled goalie. STRESS. STRESS. STRESS.

Now, for those of you who dont know Angie lives on the 23 floor of an apartment on Saskatchewan drive, and no sooner had the buzzer sounded than you could hear the eruption on Whyte avenue, five or six blocks away. We had not planned on going out, but realized that this was something we had to see, so off to the avenue.

When we got to the "copper mile" or "blue mile" whatevery you want to call it, traffic was still moving, if only at a crawl. There were probably 10,000 or so people lining both sides of the street, and maybe 200 cops. Things were pretty orderly. The cops were only allowing people to cross whyte at 103 st, 104st and 106st so you basically had to do a big loop. So we walked up the north side, and then back down the south, giving the odd high five, and staring at the occasional nice rack lol.

We soon found ourselves in front of the Thirsty Turtle,(home to lots of twenty something Oiler girls out on the town) so we went in to see if Brownie was still running the show. And yes Brownie was still there, along with about 5 or so of the old usual suspects. It was like walking into a 6 year time machine. Angie and I had a drink and decided it was time to head back out into the real world of 2006. So back into the avenue.

We were only in the Turtle for around a half hour, but when we got outside the crowd was visibly larger, probably having at least doubled in that time, and the police were in the process of shutting down the street to traffic. Which by the time we reached starbucks (5 more minutes)the road was open to pedestrians only for about a 2 block span.Once we crossed over the tracks and were walking East away from the avenue, the line of people coming to the avenue could be seen for almost a mile.

When I woke up and read the paper Sunday morning the official reports were targeting the crowd peaked at around FIFTY THOUSAND, just after 1am. Some fires were set, and some things broken, but luckily no major injuries. I did have my camera with me, but my photos pale in comparison to the ones that I was able to download off the Edmonton Sun web page. Heres just a few.






Last night Buffalo tied the series with Carolina. So we still have to wait to see who the Oilers will play in the Stanley Cup. However we do know the times and days. All games will be played at 6pm Edmonton time. Game 1 Mon, Game 2 Wed, Game 3 Sat. Thats right Game 3 Saturday, and games 4,5,6 will be mirrored during the second week. So I predict the Oilers in 6, winning the cup on a saturday night and giving the whole province a chance to LET ER RIP on a Saturday night. Did I mention that is a pay week as well. NICE. I think the Powers that be in Edmonton should think about bringing in the National Guard for that one.

Nooman Out. GO OILERS GO

Me and Merlin

Well Shaila brought Merlin the Parakeet into work today. Needless to say he has been on my shoulder most of the day. My parents have a cockateel and when I am at home he sits on my shoulder as well. There is some relaxing about having a bird on your shoulder, as long as they are not squawking like a "crazy bird", or pooing on you.

Not much to write about today. Work has been a bit crazy all week, and I will be glad when I get to go home in an hour or so. I Have to drop off some lists with Shane (A partner at Ceili's) so that means I will get to enjoy a pint a bit early. Then it will probably be off to crush for a little while. I am gonna try not to go too crazy tonight, cause i want to leave for edmonton by lunch time. Angie is off work around 2 or 3, and I am hoping to just chill with her tomorrow night. I will also stop in and say Hi to Jenna and Fysh, but I am hoping not to go out, other than maybe a movie and just relaxing with Ang.

Sunday I will be working the convention at the Westin, and the company is putting me up at the Westin Sunday night so that should be cool. From what I hear there will be a Peace Hills party after the trade room closes, so maybe I will get a few free drinks. Gonna try to hook up with Shauna Sunday night as well and spend some time with her, hope everything is ok in Shaunaland.

Monday will be the tradeshow in the morning and then driving back to calgary in the afternoon. The weather looks like it will be rainy all weekend, which is perfect for the kind of chilling that I am hoping to do in Edmonton. Rainy days are good for some things, and relaxing is one of them.

Now thats Playoff Hockey

Now before I even comment on the game, I want to comment on the Edmonton fans singing of the national anthem. WOW. I have never seen the person singing the national anthem stop, because the crowd was singing so loudly. Infact I think he stopped because the "delay" of the fans voices from his own singing, was throwing off his tempo. Now I am not one to get all mushy eyed, but I am a patriotic kind of guy, and, well, that was pretty touching. Especially in light of what happened with the National Anthem in San Jose. What does it mean to be Canadian, it means you cheer the American Anthem, even when they boo ours. And then you sing the Canadian Anthem like you are trying to evoke the Gods of Hockey to come down and smite your American Rivals. GOOD JOB EDMONTON.

But now on to the Game

A couple of fights early in the first period pretty much set the tone for game three between the Oilers and the Ducks. No one seemed to be ammune,and the penalties were handed out evenly between the big and little guns. It was a very physical game, and a real war inwhich the Oilers seemed to dominate till midway through the third period.

Let me just say, it is never over till its over, especially with the Oilers. I have seen them drop a two goal lead in the last two minutes of a game and come out the loser. SO what happened in the third period last night was no surprise. And luckily for me I was not watching the aneurism provoking action. For as luck would have it I needed to go to the hospital to visit Kelly. Now you could imagine I did not want to do this while the Oilers were engaged in such an awesome game. However, when Pronger scored to make the game 4-1 I pretty much thought the game was in the bag. So I headed off to the hospital.

The reception in the truck was spotty at best. 630 Ched is an edmonton station but we do get it in Calgary for the most part. Anyway it was so spotty that I turned it off for most of the drive to the Hospital, however when I did get close I wanted to know the score before heading into that "oh so sterile place that I hate so much". And low and behold it is 5-3 with minutes remaining. "What the fuck" and then no sooner had I turned into the parking lot, its 5-4 with just over a minute left. I cant believe what I am hearing. You are not going to tell me that the Oilers are going to blow a 4-1 lead in the third. I am sitting in the parking lot listening to the game. The reception is crappy, and fading in and out, when it goes into the boards you can only hear sticks hitting ice, bodies hitting each other. The tension is about as high as it can get.

For a moment I am whisked back in time, when as a thirteen year old I used to play fun games at the outdoor rink, and while doing so we usually had a radio close by. On those nights when the Oilers played we would listen to them, and pretend we were the ones the commentators were giving the play by play of. However, when a nail biter like last night erupted, all the guys would stop playing and skate over to the shack. We would sit at the edges of our seat, much like I was in my truck last night. We would sit waiting for another goal from the Oilers, or the buzzer. Tic Toc. Another goal or the buzzer. Tic Toc. Another goal or the Buzzer."Moog wont let one in, he's got the golden glove" says Scotty. Tic Toc. Another goal or the buzzer. Tic Toc. "Gretskys gonna score with one second left you watch." Says Grant. Tic Toc. Another goal or the buzzer. Tic Toc

Luckily last night the buzzer came, and the Oilers skated away with a third victory. One step closer, and one step away, from a birth in the Stanley Cup Playoff game. GO OILERS GO

Its a small world

Well the weekend did not quite go as planned. Friday was your typical debauchery, but the rest went, not according to plan.

Spent much of the day on saturday relaxing and cleaning up after friday. Yes I did say cleaning. That comment goes out especially to Tappers who seems to feel that he is the only one who cleans, and yet, never really does. He likes to say "no newman, you just straighten up." well yes this is true, i do just straighten up, almost every day, and especially the days after he has people over, far later, and making far more mess that either cory or I ever could do. I just thought I would put that in, cause i dont think he has "cleaned up" once since moving back in. But enough of pointing out the obvious.

After resting and cleaning up a little, it was off the the Davinci Code. I wont give a full review of this movie, but I did enjoy it. Would I have enjoyed it as much if I had not read the book, I doubt it. The Movie left out much of the story, it did not show all the works of Davinci, and the dialogue and "plot" that Dan had written into the book. It did do a good job of recreating the chase/escape aspect of the book. But to me, this was not what made the book so good. For me the book was good because of the "very different" perspective that Brown tried to draw of history. As we all draw our own picture of the past, it was interesting to see this point of view.

After the movie, I joined Cj and a bunch of his friends in a small game of poker. I ended up splitting the pot with one other guy, who did not feel like slugging it out into wee hours of the morning.

Then the drama continued with Kelly. She got out of rehab last week, and sometime on Friday, her crazy boyfriend, who she met in the Peter Lougheed, beat her up. I was not really prepared to see this, but I also could not just let feel isolated. I made the trip to where she is staying, only to arrive and find her beat up, and drunk. I was not prepared to see the drunk part. And had to use all my efforts to leave her in that state, knowing that no help I could render would mean anything.

Sunday morning, I called her and did my best to help her get into a shelter, but it was obvious from that point that she was just crying out, and had no intention of getting herself off the street, to help herself. It will be hard to not help her, but I know that this is something she needs to do on her own. I just hope she does not try anything desperate to get attention, and yet I know, as has happened so many times before, i will get a call in the next day or two from some hospital. I wish I knew what to say to her to end all this, but I know that she is the only one who can stop this, and nothing i can do or say, will really mean a thing until she decides that life is a better option than death.

I made it to church yesterday which was nice. It was a nice break, and I am glad I got over my own inner voice and got my ass into a seat.

The Oilers won game two in Anaheim. The game was a little sloppy, as was watching it at the Ship and Anchor. Actually it was kind of kewl, as I got a call from Mike Sadownik, a guy i hung out with in high school, but had not seen since high school. We ran into each other a few weeks ago at the Rhino, and this was the first time we have had the chance to chill out together since. It will never cease to amaze me, just how small the world is.

The Oilers now have a chance to sweep the series and win at home in Edmonton. GO OILERS GO. Game three is set for tuesday.

Oilers Hockey alive in Calgary

Well it looks like the Oilers keep getting better with every game. Last night they did it again with a 2-0 victory over the Sharks to move on to the Conference final, against the Might Ducks of Anaheim. Lets just say "Oilers in Six".

But anyway last night I watched the game at Crush and then sped off to pick Jennifer up from the airport. She looked very happy to be home, and very anxious to get home to see meowmeow, and I think, sleep in her own bed. After I dropped her off I met up with Jessica at Morgans, and found out, that Morgans is pretty much Oil Country. Practically everyone in the room was wearing an Oilers Jersey, and from what I could tell, Morgans will be following the Oilers all the way to the cup. YEEEHAAAW. I think I know where I will be watching the upcoming series.

Not much else to report. The weather has been great all week, 30 degrees yesterday breaking a record or two. The longweekend should be good. Planning to BBQ tomorrow at the house, and then walk up the avenue. Saturday, Richard will be in town so I will try to get in some trouble with Cory and Rickard. Saturday night I will be helping to strike the set for "Play it again Sam." Sunday I think I am going to drive to Canmore and visit Jenny and Linny, and see what lovely Canmore has to offer in the way of outdoor fun. Monday is wide open, but might involve golf or a poker game at my place or both.

Thats all for today. See ya on the flipside

Missing Phone???

Ok I am driving in my truck. I call for take-out from Midori Sushi. I pick up my sushi and when i get home my phone is not in the truck. I drive back to the sushi place, no phone there either. So in other words my phone went missing in my truck, and is still unaccounted for. This does not make any sense.

Other than that the weekend was full of crazy-ness. The usual friday at Crush. Saturday I woke up very early, so that i could set up for my poker tournament. I got all that done by 2pm. I also picked up my new 55gallon aquarium, so now all i need to do is get out and buy a nice stand for it, it is going to look awesome in the living room. I will keep you posted on that. Jessica and I went to M&M meats and picked up stuff for the bbq. Unfortunately hosting a poker party for 25 people and bbq-ing do not mix. I got sidetracked twice and ended up burning most of the stuff that got onto the old barbecue. Anyway the tournament ended around 1030 (no i did not win, nor do i want to talk about it). So i ended up going to listen to Jordon spin at Sals. I did not stay very long, as holly was there and being a real bitch. And well i have better things to do in my spare time than hang aroud bitches. So I came home around 1am, at about the same time that Ryan, Colin, Jenny, Trevor, and a few girls from the bar were getting back to our place for a little get together. Needless to say i stayed up most of the night yapping with Jenny, and did not get to bed till very very late. And thus I also did not make it to church, which I very much would have liked to do, as I have not been since before Easter.

Sunday was spent laying around the house, then cleaning, then picking up my computer and getting cable and internet hooked up again (Cory is working in Fort McMurray so we had to get everything switched over, so he could take his internet up with him). And finally on Sunday, I picked up Sushi, Lost my phone, and then watched the Oilers give it to the Sharks hardcore. I am not going to jinx it, but let me just say, "CAN YOU SAY STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONSHIP 2006, EDMONTON OILERS."

GO OILERS GO

Bla Bla Bla, what a rambling blog enter this turned out to be.

God loves me/you. PERIOD

I guess we do not get to choose when we have revelations. So it should come as no surprize, that this morning, after awaking to some noise in the living room, I somehow got into a conversation about religion with Colin. Needless to say, everyone in the room was intoxicated. And even though I got home from the bar hammered at 8pm and went to sleep, I am pretty sure I was still a little drunk as well.

Anyway, the conversation as I said got onto Religion. And most specifically on the topic of sin, and christianity. And the questions started coming, and coming, and coming, and then out of no-where I answered the person in question with the words. "NO, God loves you PERIOD. No disclaimers. No ifs or buts. Just PERIOD."

After saying it I realized how profound those simple words are. The conversation kept going and going, but the words stuck like glue in my head. The topic of sin came up again and some more words came out, "If I did ....(insert anything)would God love me any less?" The answer to that has to be NO. I might hate myself, or be upset with my actions, but God would still love me, the same as he/she did before. How simple is that that.

I am not sure why I am writing this in my blog, but in light of all my inner turmoil as of late, I thought I should record those simple words, and remember them when I am having doubts about things in my life.

GOD loves me/you. PERIOD

Laundry and Smallville

Well it is Thursday night, which either means one of two things, I am at Lodge or I am doing laundry and watching Smallville. This week it is Smallville, and I am glad, because tonight was the season finale. Yes I am a smallville geek. Dont ask me why, but it might have something to do with the beautiful women like chloe (pictured above), or it might have to do with the archetypical characters that I like so much.

So what do I have to say about the finale? For those who did not get a chance to see it, it was your basic finale cliff hanger. Whats the hanger this year? well Zog escapes his dimensional prison by taking over Lex's body. And, get this, Clark is sent by Zog, into the dimensional prison that he escapes. Set this against a backdrop of a virus that is shutting down all the electricity, and technology in metropolis, combined with an allusion to the final days on Krypton, and you have a pretty fun story.

One piece of dialogue that rang out to me was given by the character of Feines. He said, something along the lines of "Clark you have so much love for these humans. But watch what happens when I take away all their technology. You will watch them rip each other apart, and devolve into the animals that they are." As you can imagine, my over analytical mind had a hay day with that.

The Discover Channel has been presenting a series lately on "Super Disasters". They are dramatization of what could happen in the event of certain disasters like a "super tornado", or a "Tsu Nami" (not that we need fiction for that one), or a "Super Solar Storm". This last one was on last weekend and I watched it for awhile. Its premise was a solar storm that basically knocked out all the power, and shut down all the computers, across a very large track of land. (The eastern Seaboard.) And, as you can imagine the narrative soon devolved into a state of chaos. There seems always to be these doomsday/apocalyptic ideas floating around. And now it would seem that they have jumped off the pages of the bible, onto the discovery channel, and have now found there way to smallville.

So what would happen if one day all the lights went out? What side of humanity would rise from the ashes of such an event? Would it draw us closer together, or would it pull us farther apart? Has western civilization evolved so much on the back of technology, that it could not support us, if that technology collapsed?

There have been many people out there who have speculated that the writers of smallville have a very christian agenda. As I said before the archetypical characters and plots seem ripe with biblical allusions and possible lessons. If this is so, how does the imprisonment of Clark, and the release of Zog fit into their take on world events and the christian story. I would love to hear any comments that might be out there, from fellow smallville geeks.

When it rains, It pours

To think, when I hired 4 new staff a week ago, I was worried that I might not be able to keep them all busy until flood season started. But low and behold, a rash of fires in the Calgary area, and even with my new hires I feel understaffed. I even had to bring Kerri-Lynn down from our Edmonton office to supervise a crew because Rob is busy this week working for Rick.

Also on the work front we have a few big wigs from Aviva flying in from Toronto on Monday to meet with Blaine and Darren. Looks like we might be soon added to their preferred contractor list here in Calgary. I think this is because they work on the exactimate system, and we are getting pretty efficient at it. But we will see what happens on Monday. I think I am going to have to set up a work party for the shop on Friday afternoon to make sure that things are ship-shape for the visit.

Had a poker game at the house last night with a few of the guys who will be participatin in the big tournament at my house on the weekend. It went pretty good, although I did not win, I was the bubble boy, and feel confident with my chances for a victory on Saturday. Win or lose however, it should be a good time. We have twenty people signed up, and a few more who would like to join in if we can make room. I really dont want more than twenty, so I might just say no, and invite them over for some BBQ, as well as set up a small table in the corner, for a cash game if they want to play amoung themselves. Rumour has it that a few of the guys might want to play for cash when they get bumped out of the tournament anyway.

We have to change the start time of the tournament to 6pm, because I just found out it is tappers birthday next tuesday. Jenny is coming in on saturday and they are going out for dinner and a play. Hopefully they will be done in time for me to take them out to Sals to listen to Jordan spin some of his ultracool hiphop/house. Another good thing about Sals, is the plethora of Meow-beautiful women who go there. I think I am due for a little diversion, if you know what I mean, nudge nudge wink wink say no more say no more.

I promised Dyron I would make it to church on Sunday. We got into a little argument the other day over the whole christian thing. Again I know I am over analyzing things, and I am letting my emotions get the best of me, especially in light of the LeeAnn thing. I also know that the only way to curb my own thoughts is to focus on something else, and church is a great place for that. Soooo I am going to do my damndest to get there Sunday morning, even if, I do go to Sals on Saturday.

Not much else to say. Got some good news on my financial situation yesterday, so it looks like I will be able to by myself a nice Spring gift of an LCD tv for my room and some patio furniture for the house. So with a few noted exceptions as of late, things are pretty good today.

Back at you tomorrow, nooman out

Play it Again Sam

This weekend, as could have expected was pretty much spent hanging around. Friday, Cory was back in town and we spent the night at Crush and Morgans. Things were pretty quiet, but we did get to have a nice chat with Lindsey, who is actually a pretty cool person. Funny how some people you see everyday, but dont get the chance to sit down with, sometimes go un-noticed.


Saturday, I had to do a bit of work, but as soon as that was complete I headed to Crush for lunch. Ran into some friends and spent the afternoon watching sports, and talking poker with CJ, until soon it was night. It was a pretty good night that ended with a few people coming back to my place for 2 friendly games of poker. Participating were Myself, CJ, Bishop, Rob, and Lizz. The final outcome, I won the first round (collecting $50) and CJ won the second round. It was also decided that I am going to host a poker tournament next week at my place for around 20-25 people. This will be awesome, because it will give me a chance to show off the patio I am so proud of. Living in the Penthouse definately has its good points and its bad, but the patio is something I really, really love. Which reminds me, I should try to remember to get a hammock next weekend.

On sunday I slept in a little. I still have not made it back to church, and am still at quite a loss about the whole thing. I sent Leigh (The girl I met on New Years, who is an ordained minister in SpiritWood Sask) an email on Thursday, and she did send me one back. Everyone seems to be saying the same thing. They say, "just go back". The dont see it as hypocritical, and they do think I am over analyzing everything as usual. I am not going to dwell on this right now, I am sure it will all come out in due time. Suffice it to say, I did not go to church. I miss it. And if Dyron is reading this, you know I will be back when I am confortable with my thoughts.

Sunday was a nice relaxing day at the theatre. I spent the afternoon setting up the lights for the workshops presentation of Play it Again Sam. It is a woody allen play and sounds like it will be a great performance. I also got to spend some time chatting with Alan (artistic direct for workshop) and he really wants me to audition for a play next year. It was very encouraging. I really enjoyed performing in Sherlocks Secret Life last year. But I was not sure of how well I did. Alan assured me that i did a great job, and that he is confident that it was just not a "one-off", and that, if I embraced it, I could do very well turning "theatre acting" into another hobbie. So with that said, I think I am going to audition for a play in the fall.

I will also throw in a little advertising for them right here. If it is too small to read, please copy it to your computer and make it bigger. If you live in Calgary, try to check it out, I am sure you wont be disappointed.


Last but not least the Edmonton Oilers lost to the Might Ducks. The game was quite dry, and the boys didnt seem to have a kick in their step. They were getting hit pretty hard by the ducks, and I would expect this was at least part of it. They play again tonight at 830. So lets hope tonight is a better show. GO OILERS GO

The Family Life

Well todays blog should have been about the Calgary Flames losing game seven last night, but even that will have to take second fiddle to the comment I read in my blog yesterday. Actually, I dont always get a chance to read the comments posted in my blog, sometimes this blog serves more like a diary than anything else, and some blogs pretty much only make sense to me, and thus I dont suspect anyone to comment on them. But of course, LeeAnn is different.

Yesterday, I got a funny email from Dyron (My friend and my pastor at Campbell Stone United). It basically said, "Hey man I just read LeeAnns note in your blog. I am sure you have read it. You have not told me anything about that, we should talk." Now at first I did not know what he was talking about. At first I just thought he was referring to a blog entry I entitled LeeAnn. I thought, "of course I have read it, I wrote it stupid". And I went about my day. But then around mid-afternoon, for some strange reason, I was flipping through my old blog entries, and I felt the urge to re-read my "Easter" entry. As this was an important day that came and went, and a day that I am still having a tough time coming to terms with. And low and behold at the end of that entry, was a comment from LeeAnn.

Now mind you, it has been about thirty months since I saw LeeAnn last, but I cannot over-estimate her presence in my life and my thoughts during all that time. She was the motivation behind my first novel (which was pretty much a flop). And her presense has even found its way into the current novel I am writing (Jesus, Where art thou)in the character of Natalie. She was and still is, a driving force pushing me towards, whatever it is, I am to become.

With all that said. LeeAnn is a beautiful and caring women. And as with all beautiful and caring women, she has been blessed over the passed few years to have found a loving husband, and has recently found out, that she will be a mother in about five months. God has truly blessed her, and I know she will make a great mother, and a loving wife. If you are reading this LeeAnn, you are in my prayers daily. (However, I must concede that the content of those prayers will now need to include Brian, and your soon to be born son or daughter).

The world is a funny place when you look at it through my eyes. More times than not I am detached from what is going on, like an outsider looking in. And sometimes I become "extremely detached" so much so that I almost disappear into another world. I remember LeeAnn giving me a card once, with a quote from one of her favorite singers (It might even have been Sarah Harmer, but dont quote me)The words in quotations were "Those Deep Lagoons that you Go". I never understood that until yesterday. Reading her comment was like coming up for air, or waking from a dream. It made me painfully aware that the world in my head, no matter how beautiful, is not real. And that people cannot see into my head, or feel what I am feeling. I guess that it is something I must make a conscious effort to share. And we all know how good I am at sharing my feelings. LOL.

I guess in conclusion I will just point out that another person in my life, a very significant person has started a family. It seems to be the thing we are suppose to do, and yet something beyond my understanding. When I look into the future I never see a family. Even while I was trying to believe, that oneday LeeAnn and I would find each other under ideal circumstance, and not our usual "Bad Timing". And that I would be willing and able to be open and honest enough with her, to start a real relationship that could have the happy ending she has found with Brian. I also know that I am not yet that person.

I hope and pray that one day I will become that person. And I also hope and pray that God will send another angel like LeeAnn, if and when that day comes. I hope and pray that when he sends her, I will recongnize her. I hope and pray that I will be able to tell her how I feel, when she needs to hear it. I hope and pray for many things. But today, in a very strange way, I thank God for answering my prayer of the past few years. "Dear Father, I hope that LeeAnn is safe and well. And I hope that she is living the life she deserves. A life full of love." Yesterday, I surfaced to find that those prayers have been answered.

Oilers in Six

Well this post is a bit late, but hey i have been busy. Now I am not going to say I told you so, but I told you so. The Oilers defeated the president trophy winning Detroit Red Wings in Six games. And the Calgary Flames are heading into game seven tonight against the ducks. In my blog prior to this series, I expressed my belief that I felt Edmonton would have an easier go of the red wings than the flames would have with the ducks, and I was bang on. And for a guy with as little knowldege of hockey as I, I think i did a good job.

Anyway, the Oilers played a great series. They made Detroit play by their rules, and did not let them skate their game, and this was a great thing. It was a hard hitting series, with great moments from all the players. Roloson looks like he is finally getting into his groove, and I have even heard rumours that his stats, are even better than the mighty Kippersov for this series WOW. And what can I say about the Oilers powerplay, AWESOME. Keep it up boys and lets hope for some Alberta Only hockey in the coming week.

The flames are going into game seven tonight, knowing that they have to win. They also know that if they win they will face the Oilers. And we all know what this means, the first BATTLE OF ALBERTA in over a decade. Make no mistake about it, if this happens this series will pack more energy than any stanley cup in the past few years, at least in this province. I cannot imagine a better rivalry or two cities with more enthusiasm towards their teams, after all this is hockey and both Edmonton and Calgary are hockey towns. If Calgary wins tonight it will spark something in Alberta, that will translate around the hockey world, and show every city in the running, what it means to have TRUE FAN SUPPORT. I am an Oiler fan, but I hope Calgary wins tonight. I hope they light that spark. Calgary knows they hold the key, and that tonight is the night. I am confident they will STEP UP, after all if they cant win under this pressure, then they had no chance taking the cup anyway. GOOD LUCK CALGARY.

On a personal note, life is going pretty good. Work is good. My golf swing has got a bit better. And plenty of untangibles are falling into place. However, spring is in the air and I am feeling very single. Lets just hope, that maybe this is the year that I get the chance to hook up with someone who I actually like being with, and hanging with. And lets also hope that I meet someone like that, with the potential to go further. But first things are first. I will just keep my fingers crossed, and hope I dont miss any opportunities that might be out there. That is all for me.

Nooman Out