NaBlo Wrimo

Chapter 4

There were a few other venues that I went to and obtained some autographs. Leafs held training camp at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton for two years. Hamilton was very good to me. I went to one of the neutral site games that the NHL played in the 90's. (Canadiens vs Islanders) The Vancouver Canucks came to town when they were the parent club of the Hamilton Canucks. And not to forget Canada Cup 87. Very fruitful hounding experiences.

New York Islanders held training camp at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium in Kitchener. These were in the mid to late 90's. After that, a brief hiatus. (about 12 years) I was still a fan but wasn't buying cards or doing any hounding. I'm probably going to start again soon. I've sent some e-mail requests and had some success. With all the resources to choose from on the 'net, there shouldn't be any problems getting successes.

And I love reading other blogs. The first one I ever read was by Sal http://www.puckjunk.com/index.php. Reading his stuff was fun and led to me writing my own blog. I've met great people online and have met some in person.

The big conversation in Leaf Nation before tonights game was who should be the starting goalie-Gustavsson or Scrivens. Coach Ron Wilson went with his gut and started Scrivens. One other big topic was Luke Schenn. His minutes have been pretty low and he wasn't playing well. Presto. Press box row for the game against the Bruins. And also whether Coach Ron deserved an extension. After tonights 7-0 loss, I guess there was something wrong with Ron's gut, Franson played just over nineteen minutes (Schenn was playing about half that) and I guess Wilson's gone tomorrow. That's how Leaf Nation works.

The Chicoutimi Cucumber. The Stratford Streak. The Golden Jet. Le Gros Bill. Kazi. Great hockey nicknames. (thought I'd throw mine in--Kazi-refers to my playing style Kamikaze--hence the name of my blog). But there doesn't seem to be a lot of good nicknames anymore. There seems to be a few rules that are followed to come up with a nickname. I guess originality doesn't count for much.

• Can not be more than 2 syllables
• Take first syllable of last name and add "ER" (Patrick Kane becomes Kaner)
• Add an "S" (Chris Pronger becomes Prongs)
• Simply take first syllable of last name (Dustin Byfuglien becomes Buff)
• Add a "Y" or "EY" or "IE"  to either first or last name (Daniel Alfredsson becomes Alfie)
• Put a spin on name using rules above (Brian Campbell is Soupy - like Campbell's Soup)
• If you have red hair, you become Red

Try it and see what you're nickname is. Of course, there used to be some that were politically incorrect. George Armstrong, Jim Neilsen and Johnny Bucyk were all called Chief (Bucyk because of his resemblance to a native).
Calgary Flames forward Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond has the longest surname in hockey now. I guess he would need a nickname as that is quite a mouthful. His nickname?  PL3. Thumbs up I guess.

NaBlo Wrimo Daily Count: 517 words

NaBlo Wrimo Monthly Count: 2143