Oot and aboot

 Had these pictures on my phone and finally getting around to share.

Today we visit Paris. This would be Ontario, not France. We bring you some history of Paris native Charles Joseph Sylvanus Apps. (Jan 18 1915-Dec 24 1998). He was a pretty incredible man. He captained the Toronto Maple Leafs and won Stanley Cups. He won a gold medal in the British Empire Games (now Commonwealth Games). He represented Canada at the Olympics. He was a member of the provincial parliament. He's a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Canadas Sports Hall of Fame and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. Is it any wonder the arena in Paris is named after him.

Here are some shots of the exterior and interior of the arena. Enjoy.

90/91 Score Young Superstars # 19

# 19 Trevor Linden

Young--20 years old  

Superstar--an exceptional talent, widely recognized and eagerly sought after for their services

Regular season

GP 1382    G 375  A  492   Pts 867   PIM 895

Playoffs

GP 124   G  34   A  65    Pts. 99  PIM  104


Currently president of hockey operations and alternate governor of the Vancouver Canucks.

NHL debut Oct 6 1988.

2 AllStar game appearances 1991 and 1992

NHL All Rookie team 1989 
King Clancy Memorial Trophy 1997
NHL Foundation Player Award 2008

1996 World Cup
1998 Olympic team
1998 World Champonships

Young, yes but no superstar in my opinion.

Young  13/19, superstar 5/19

Oot and aboot

Continuing with this series visiting hockey related places while day travelling through Ontario.

Today we visit Hagersville, Ontario. Hagersville was named to honour brothers Charles and David Hager in 1852. They had bought up most of the land in the area where a small village existed. It's located 94 km (58.4 miles) from Toronto. Population in 2016 was 2815. Just a little background before we get to the reason for this post.

This isn't about Neil Peart, best known as the drummer for Rush, born in Hagersville in 1952.

No, the sign is out for

3 time Olympic Gold Medalist and 4 time World Champion Becky Kellar.

She retired in 2010 and is now a motivational speaker and runs a hockey camp with former teammate Cheryl Pounder.

While there, had to stop at Timmies to get my double double. (my fellow Canadians will understand this) This particular store had the Tim Horton picture in the window by the entrance door. (notice the hockey stick shaped door handles) The colour bars in the bottom right corner is a timeline for the teams he played for. St Michaels Majors, Pittsburgh Hornets, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres.

Then it was off for a little relaxation.

Until next time, when we visit somewhere oot and aboot. Stay safe.

Oot & aboot

 It's time for another episode of Oot & aboot. As a special bonus, there will also be a history lesson of sorts.

91/92 ProSet # 339

In the early days of hockey, the ice had to be shovelled manually or scraped by a tractor with with a large blade. Some used a wheelbarrow, hoses and squeegees to flood the ice surface. Others made their own contraptions to water the ice. This was a very time consuming process. Frank Zamboni owned a skating rink and the length of time to resurface would cut into their profits.

90/91 Upper Deck # 549

 

With a background in refrigeration and cooling, he set about to build a better mouse trap. His first prototype was a tractor towing a machine which attempted to sweep the ice shavings. Unfortunately, it proved unreliable. He tinkered with this from 1942 to 1947 but could not come up with anything to suit his needs. He then started with a new blueprint, to combine the tractor and trailer into one machine. A few more years of modifying the machine ensued, and in 1949, he had built the Zamboni ice resurfacer which is pretty much what is in use today. It made its NHL debut on March 10 1955 in Montreal.

Here's a view of the Zamboni plant in Brantford. However, there are no guided tours.

 05/06 Upper Deck Toronto Maple Leaf Zamboni with Vesa Toskala card.

This is another one of those hockey related items available here in Brantford.

More SDM repacks

 I was out yesterday at Shoppers Drug Mart getting some "essentials" They also had restocked the card section with more of the assorted repacks. Price has now increased to $1.49 each. I picked up these two packs. I honestly do not remember these 2005-06 Upper Deck Rookie update is an Upper Deck product released to deal with the double rookie class. It adds to several different products ( Artifacts, Black Diamond, SP Game Used etc). It adds as many as 100 rookies to some products as well as provides its own unique set of cards, that includes rookies, memorabilia and autograph cards. It is a must for anyone wishing to finish 05/06 products.  

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This is just a small sampling. I like how the borders are coordinated with the team colours. Also, getting a dual jersey #'d 777/999 was nice. There was also a chance to get Crosby and Ovechkin autographs (slim to none for me). I would pick up more of these if I see them again.

51 weeks

 Yes, 51 weeks. That's how long ago my last post on my blog was. I have been reading all of my favourite blogs and following on social media (FB, Twitter, IG). Seems like I don't have enough hours in the day or the energy to post. The past year has been really busy in my life. The cat rescue (Hearts to Homes Feline Rescue & Sanctuary that my wife and I run has engulfed us. The past year has been our busiest, mostly due to COVID. It's been a balancing act as there were more cats in need and our fundraisers were diminished or cancelled completely. That's what I've been doing. In the hockey card vein, I've been selling a lot of 90's junk was era stuff. Last year I couldn't give it away. This year, most of it goes within a couple of days. Whatever the reason, I'm taking advantage before the bubble bursts. One more in my recurring series, Oot and Aboot.

What's that you may ask. Looks like it's just some building.

The old Mountain arena In Hamilton was renovated and renamed to honor Dave in 2005. This is where he grew up and learned to play the game. One of my former workmates grew up with Dave and Allan Bester and they played on the same hockey teams. When we played on a work league team, he was so much better than the rest of us. I can't imagine how much better the pros are.

Hope it won't be another 51 weeks.

SDM repacks

Picked up six of these repacks from Shoppers Drug Mart. They are distributed by Grosnor Distribution Inc. Took all the 15/16 UD S2 packs and left the rest. ( Score, OPC )

Here's four of the six unopened packs. These were $1.29 each.

Got a YG but not an Eichel I guess the OPC Marquee Rookie will have to suffice. A fun little break during these times. Going to check some others to see if they have any.