I'm not a social media guy by any means. No Facebook, Twitter, whatever. I have no followers, except for Toby and Abby — my neighbour’s dogs who follow me everywhere.
But it was nice to find out that some old friends and teammates were able to connect with me by eventually going through TimminsToday and providing them with a phone number for me to reconnect with them.
Mitchell to Nascar?
Genuine good guy and local hockey volunteer Mike Mitchell got a sports fan's fantasy with a recent trip to Texas. Mike's employer Kubota is a huge supporter of Nascar both in the U.S. and Canada. Kubota brought along a group of employees to Fort Worth and the Texas Motor Speedway, to take part in the Nascar experience. That experience put Mitchell in the passenger seat of a specially equipped Cup car for three laps around the 1.5-mile banked oval. The Cup cars generally run 200-plus mph down the straightaway. Corner entry speed is 200 mph with the cars slowing down 20 to 30 mph in the corners. The car Mitchell was in was piloted by a professional driver and detuned to have a top speed closer to 180. (That's what Mikey told me.) Mitchell could not believe the grip through the corners and had a hard time believing the car wasn't going to leave the track or spit him out the side window. The G forces were unbelievable. After putting on fresh underwear, Mike got ready for a concert where the Kubota crew was in a VIP setting in front of the stage.
Mike could not get over the sheer size of the Speedway and the modern buildings encompassing in the speedway. One of the highlights of the speedway is "Big Hoss", the 218-foot wide by 94-foot tall video screen.
I've been a Nascar fan all my life and me and thousands of other gearheads can only drool enviously about Mike's experience.
Oh, and by the way, if you think Nascar is a guy's only thing … Texas Motor Speedway has 1,186 women's bathrooms as opposed to 843 for men.
On the subject of Nascar, whether you are a fan or not, go to YouTube and watch the highlights (in particular the last lap) of Sunday's race at Martinsville. Coming out of the last turn on the last lap and needing to pass a bunch of cars to advance to this weekend's final four for the championship, Ross Chastain pulled off a move like I have never seen before in a lifetime of watching racing. It is almost video game-like and hard to believe it is not some kind of sped-up filming. It will blow your mind !
CSI: Toronto
Well, that's what it feels like. "This week on CSI: Toronto, Bob, Biff, Brad and Bill will dissect what is wrong with the Leafs" And after this past western road swing capped by a loss to Anaheim, expect the microscopic analysis to be overwhelming. Just about everybody in the east is at 10 to 12 points. They are 10 or so games in. The same things that Babcock moaned about are in full view today. The Leafs are pretty limited in what they can do right now, but they can tweak some more and work to improve. But that won't satisfy a rabid fan base and somebody’s going to get sacrificed, or so it seems. Just don't do something dumb like trade Kerfoot or Kampf. Unless you get back a top-three D, you won't be able to replace their versatility and value. I'd hate to watch Leaf fans lose it when guys like that would shine with another team. Right now there are seven teams in the east tied with Toronto at 10 points. Only Boston has separated themselves from most. Pittsburgh looked brutal on their western swing, but won't panic with three key injured players set to return, and a different philosophy geared long-term. So maybe take a deep breath and don't overanalyze. K? There are other teams in the same boat or worse. That's pro sports and good organizations will know what to do to improve.
Kwuit Krying about Kessel
Unlike some other "old-time hockey" guys, I'm happy to see Kessel set the new Ironman record in the NHL. This guy overcame a serious disease near the start of his pro career and has managed to not miss any hockey since having shoulder surgery after that. You don't score 959 points in 1,213 games hiding on the bench or playing between the blue lines. Plus another 200-plus gruelling playoff games. Whether you're a banger or a glider, playing that many games in a row is a huge deal in what can be a brutal sport. He may not hit people or muck pucks out of corners, and he wasn't drafted to do that. Avoiding injuries is not an easy thing to do when you not only take a regular shift but usually play on the number one PP unit. Guys get hurt in warm up. And don't forget that Kessel was a close second to Crosby in 2016 for the Conn Smythe and had 22 points in 24 games in the Pen's Cup victory. "Well playing with Crosby and Malkin surely inflated his numbers." On the PP, sure. And he didn't score any from the red line. And when not on the PP he played on what at that time was probably the best third line in hockey with Nick Bonino and Carl Hagelin. And a big reason for Pittsburgh's success. He put up 59 points in that first season with that line and would then add 70, 92 ,and 82 the next years. Oh and another Stanley Cup. He may not be everybody's favourite player or you don't like his style, but he's proved himself to be the current record holder for consecutive games played. No small feat. And of course, all of us Coca-Cola hot dog-eating guys salute our new King
Congrats!
Congrats to local Timmins volunteers Stephen Surcon, Lacy Rigg and Steve Vachon on being selected to serve on the staff of Team NOHA’s Under 18 program. We wish them well in their latest endeavour.
U17s getting started
This week sees the 2022 edition of the World Under 17 Hockey Challenge take place in Langley and Delta, B.C., from Nov. 3-12. Canada will be represented by Team Black, Team Red and Team White. Other participating teams include the U.S., Finland, Sweden and Czechia. Unfortunately, Northern Ontario does not have any players on either of the three Canadian clubs but that won't keep us from cheering on the Canadians. I will, however, have a story in the very near future about this year’s event that will be an exciting surprise to local fans. Timmins will be there and I can't wait to tell you how or who very soon.
How about that weather?
Pretty hard to stay inside these days when the weather is more akin to August than October/November. Normally our boat is put away but how can you stay off the water when it's 18 degrees and sunny? Global warming? My yard is still full of robins and there were still lots of ducks and loons at Red Wing lake when we were there this week.
Not to mention some of the freakish storms we had this summer. Listen, we've been rained on a lot in our outdoor experiences, but never like this year. Back in August we were down where the Forks river runs into the lower Nighthawk River and a storm came up so quickly it was frightening. Then it started to rain so hard and the raindrops were so big they had birds trapped in them. Something’s amok.
A golden highlight
I've had a bunch of people ask me what event I missed writing about between my last gig and this one. Super easy answer — the 2020 Women's Olympic soccer gold.
To me this wasn't just another Canadian team winning a gold medal, it was a Canadian team winning gold in what truly is a fully global sport. I go nuts when our women or men or juniors win gold in hockey and we beat other world powers in the sport to do so. The Raptors NBA championship was a historic moment in Canadian sport, but the 2020 Olympic gold by our women was a watershed moment that was truly, truly global.
Over 200 countries have soccer programs that are eligible to compete for women's soccer supremacy. Wowza. The only other sport I can think of that even comes remotely close would be basketball. But even that lies distant to the reaches of soccer. I have had many moments through sports that have made me a proud Canadian. But I feel like when it comes to sporting achievements, that gold may be my ultimate highlight. You may think differently. That's cool by me.
The one reason I'd like to see Houston win the World Series? Dusty Baker. It's time for the coolest guy in baseball to get that ring. I know it would be sweet for the Phillies and Canadian manager Rob Thomson to win it but I think he will have more chances. Dusty does not need a ring as a manager to cement his legacy, but he deserves one.
I absolutely love that commercial about the D.O.A.T. You know the all-time decent guy. Man, the world is a better place when we have more D.O.A.T.s. And now more than ever we need waaaaaaaaaaay more decent people.
I told you in an earlier column that I would feature more stories on local hockey products plying their trade away from home. And I will. But the season has basically just gotten underway and I'd like a little more current content for you to read, I will have a super story next week that I hope you will all enjoy.
Later, Skater
This column was originally published on TimminsToday on Nov. 1, 2022.
