Baycrest Pro Am Tournament

For the last few weeks i have been helping out a friend with promoting the tournament he organizes . I have repeatedly told you all about it and i will mention it one more time ! The Baycrest Pro Am started yesterday and a couple days ago Rob Weir sent me a message to see if i could play this weekend as a fill in ... of course i said yes . Here is the crazy part ... every team gets to draft an NHL Alumni player !!! I was needed to play for the Media Team , they drafted Todd Hlushko . 

So yesterday morning shows up and i get a message letting me know that i am not needed , yeah i was a bit upset but i understood that i was just needed to fill in and not to play the full tourney ( which i couldn't anyways ) . After i got that message i went downtown to pick up my Brazilian Visa then i went to pick up my team jerseys from Big Stick Custom Jerseys ... as soon as i got home i got another message from Rob . Apparently the team i was supposed to play for thought it would be funny to tell the organizer that they had a goalie ??? when they didn't , so Rob cancelled me thinking this team had a goalie when they didn't LOL . Yeah makes no sense to me because i could have said no if i made different plans but luckily i didn't . 

Off to York U. to play , basically i threw my bag into car and left immediately ... when i got to the rink i realized how HUGE this event was . There were a bunch of amazing volunteers there that were very helpful ,  for some reason i was named team captain so i had to pick up our team package with schedule , etc ... made my way to my room and there was a goalie in there already ... yeah i was confused , i asked the guys if they were Media Team they said yes and i plopped my bag down in front of the goalie cut jersey hanging on hook  . The other goalie was Greg Zaun former Blue Jays catcher and let me tell ya he was a HOOT ! i didn't notice Todd Hlushko but he was sitting in there chatting away with everyone and Greg was telling a couple of good stories about his playing and broadcasting career . 

Zaun has these great Blue Jays colored pads that are really nice and we started talking about that , then i asked if how he wanted to split the game .... he told me to go out there and do my thing . Greg is new to the game but is really really into it . When game started we needed to add a couple skaters as we only had 6 , so a buddy on the other team Liam and former Boston Bruin Don Sweeney joined us too ! It was a fun game so it didn't really matter what happened in the score line , yeah we lost :) But we had a great time doing it ! There were some snipers on the other team ,  the highlight of the game was when Zaun made this amazing paddle save while rolling around on the ice ... we were all amazed how well he played :) for a rookie ! 

After the game we went up to the bar and it was a who's who of NHL hockey !!! I saw Gordie Howe , Walter Gretzky  , shook hands with Doug Gilmour , talked to Darcy Tucker and had a beer with Marcel Dionne ( also going to make plans to go visit his restaurant this summer so got his contact info too ! ) There had to be at least 50 former NHL stars there inside the arena mingling around with everyone ... i was in HEAVEN .

Next year i am going to try to do some fund raising to help this great tournament out ... everyone i met on my team yesterday were totally class acts and i hope to meet with them again ! Hope you guys get a win today too , wish i could be there for day 2 but unfortunately i had plans already made for today :( i would highly suggest to anyone that loves hockey to try getting into this tournament next year , it is worth every penny ! Good luck to all the participants and thank you Rob and thank you to all the volunteers at the tourney ! 

Promoting

Lately waking up at 3 am and its getting annoying ... there is really nothing to do when you wake up this early , just start watching the shows you would be watching when you should be trying to fall asleep . Problem is that i am falling asleep so early , i think i fell asleep around 8 pm last night . It is mainly due to work as i have had some overnight gigs lately and some really early calls . Today i have to take a nap in the afternoon to break this evil cycle :)

As of late i have also been asked by quite a few individuals to promote their products on my page ... some stuff i am not too keen on but there are some things i might begin sharing with the rest of you over the coming weeks :) The one thing i have really been helping with is this Baycrest Pro Am which is a fundraising tournament to help find the cure for Alzheimer's ... unfortunately this is something we probably have all dealt with . I don't want this to be a downer so don't dwell on the subject too deeply ok :)

This past week i got another call to go out to skate with the NHL Alumni , this time on real ice ! This is another day i had to wake up ridiculously early ... the day before the skate i was asked to bring out some skaters so i reached out to some of my Ghetto Blaster team mates and brought a couple with me for this 6 am skate ... yup i had to get to the rink by 530 am and it was not around the corner , it was at St. Mike's Arena which is a hockey shrine here in Toronto ! Of course when i got to the rink i was sent to the room to find out that the jersey i had to wear was not a goalie cut ... NOTE TO ANYONE ORDERING JERSEYS *** ALWAYS order a goalie cut jersey for your goalies !!! makes our lives a bit easier :)*** so i cut mine LOL , of course with permission .

Somehow i fit into that players jersey and got onto the ice , of course my team mates lit me up and there were a whole bunch of old familiar faces that were there too which made the skate that much more awesome . All the Sgt. Rock guys , Jackie Boy , Munday  was great seeing you all ! But then the real treat showed up , Darcy Tucker . So i guess you are wondering if he lit me up ? I shit you not when i say i had his number . right off the bat i stoned him ... now don't get me wrong he probably wasn't trying at the beginning but he started to put more effort the more i began to stop him . I do have to give him props for taking my pants off on a breakaway though .  Darcy was running drills as we were doing this all to promote the fundraiser on Breakfast Television .

Mark Napier , Dave McLlwain and Curtis Joseph all showed up and there was even a segment where the weather man for Breakfast Television , Frank Ferragine aka Frankie Flowers had a breakaway on me televised .... that was after i stoned McLlwain during same segment , and yes i stopped Frankie :) . Everyone was smiling and laughing and in so much pain from skating for 3 hours with Rob Weir cracking the whip making us constantly play hockey LOL it was great because i was with a bunch of good old friends and NHL'ers .... it was like we rented the ice and got the NHL Alumni to skate with us , actually that is what happened :)

At the end of it all we were dead tired though , we stuck around to watch the other NHL Alumni members skate with the media . Guys like Marcel Dionne , Wendel Clark , Doug Gilmour and even baseball player Greg Zaun strapped on the Blue Jays inspired goalie equipment . I hung around for a good hour or so and went for beers with Derek . There were so many highlights but for me i always get this big smile when i see Marcel Dionne , the guy has this infectious smile and was asking me yet again to go visit his restaurant . He gave me his email to contact him to make sure he is there .... hopefully i can go for a skate with him some day and get some good hockey stories out of him .

That was such an awesome day .... 

NHL Alumni #2

Rise and Shine ! up wickedly early to go skate with the NHL Alumni to support the Baycrest Invitational Tournament which is a mega fundraiser to help with research to help cure Alzheimers ... i am pretty sure we all know someone that has suffered from this , it sucks so if you can send a donation that would be awesome if not no problem ... i am not much a fundraiser that way but i do try :) http://www.scotiabankproam.com/ check out the webpage regardless !

So i have 3 hours on the ice this morning starting from 6am -9am with guys like Darcy Tucker, Curtis Joseph and some familiar names from my last skate like Dave McLlwain and Mark Napier . It is gonna be awesome !!!! I had the opportunity to bring a few friends with me so i got some of my Ghetto team mates to come out to share the experience .... got a beer packed in my bag for after LOL even though i will be sitting around watching guys like Wendel Clark and Doug Gilmour after i get off the ice . Shame i can't get on with them but at least i will cross their legendary paths .

Its just about that time that i head out to pick up guys on the way to rink ... i love playing hockey in the morning !

Gotta run but i promise to get some pics and post them here this weekend ! 

This Always Happens

Of course i am awake sitting around at 6 am bored out of my skull already ... the last couple weeks my work schedule has been how would you say ummm sporadic ! Yeah it is pretty dry out there for anyone that is a freelancer ... i work in 2 different positions and both of them are dry . And of course today i have 10 more weeks to save up as much money as i can for my big trip to South America .

It always happens , i get my flights paid up and hotels booked then it comes down to spending cash and that is usually the last thing i need to save up for ... sometimes it comes down to the wire , but i am hoping this is not the case this time as i have been really prepared as my flights were not cheap to say the least . That drained my account pretty quickly ! I have been on trips before where i needed Kathleen ( my awesome girl friend ) to deposit cheques into my account to keep me afloat LOL ! With 10 weeks i am pretty sure those cheques can go into savings this time :)

Today i am going to book my last hotel in Buenos Aires and everything i needed to worry about , aside from spending cash is taken care of ... well i do have to figure out when we are going to be on the ice in Rio de Janeiro but that shouldn't be too much of a hassle . I also have to figure out this visa for Brazil and get it processed , but i might save that for tomorrow and make a trip to the consulate in person to make sure it is all good ... apparently if there are any errors i have to start the process over again and i don't really want to waste any time on that .

A couple days ago the Facebook invite for the tournament in Ushuaia, Argentina went out and i am super excited as i am quite sure it is going to be unbelievable .... here is the link for it check it out :)

https://www.facebook.com/events/441347682624556/?fref=ts

The last but probably most important thing i have to do is find out if i need my Yellow Fever shots ? I will be at Iguassu Falls and i think i might not need the shot but i probably should get it .... i don't think getting yellow fever is on my bucket list of things to do in South America :)

Working to Travel

Its always a battle trying to save to travel ... i mean i am already planning trips before i have left for the one i have booked and at the same time i am still trying to pay off this one :) i just have to book another hotel and i am set for South America ... but really now its crunch time and i have to save a bunch of spending cash , no doubt the best kind of cash LOL .

It's a good think i work in staging & in film ... it seems they take turns dying down , this month staging is dead and film is alive and kicking but the month before it was the opposite . Every year i plan my next year based on which months were dead the year before but it never seems to work out , you just can't really guess which months are gonna suck ... but let me tell you this much , i really hope this month ( April ) gets better because time is running out :( and thus far this month sucks big time . I just finished working on a commercial shoot but i don't have anything booked and i had a week off already this month . Today i will begin looking for work as i need to crunch some dollars into my pocket or South America might be a bit rough for me , i might have to drink only 10 beers a night then LOL !

I am already planning to travel next April as it is usually a pretty shitty month for work , i know May will be busy and June will be insane until my tournament , i will probably stop working on the 18th of June and i will leave on the 27th ... things will be pretty hectic in between those dates . It is always a bit of a stress once my trips get booked and i start to realize i need money to eat and drink on my travels ... i mean you work so hard to save and then you spend it all in one fell swoop on a plane ticket , then hotels and next thing you wait .... but during this wait time you have to make money to spend ! I am sure all will be fine . but this is the life of a freelance worker ....

The other day i met up with a bunch of colleagues of mine and we were joking about our work and how sporadic it can be then we all started talking about travelling ... i am pretty sure most of us enjoy this work for that simple reason that we have the freedom to leave whenever we want . Unlike those of you that work "real" jobs , us freelancers don't have 3 weeks off with vacation pay ... but we can take off whenever we want !

:) 

Easter Weekend Tournaments

Man i am beat up ... got lit up for 16 goals over 3 games , we escaped with a tie in our last game ... well actually we coughed up the puck with 30 seconds to give up the lead we had but regardless it was another crazy Easter Weekend . Pretty sure this has to be the biggest hockey weekend of the year world wide . We were at a tournament at Chesswood Arenas , bunch of friends were at a couple other tournaments here in Toronto then i had a whole gang of friends out in Bangkok playing . Basically Facebook was a giant tournament update page this weekend :)

My Ghetto Blasters had it rough though , we were in the second division and all the teams had great skaters . We had a lot of rookies on the squad and it was kinda a warm up for our summer season . The first game was pretty rough but eventually as the weekend went on we began to gel and play a bit better ... still some more things to work on but we have a few ice times over the next month to make that work as our summer seasons don't start until May ... i say seasons as we have 2 teams on 2 different nights in 2 different leagues :)

I am hoping and wishing that all my friends are out there having a great weekend and hoping that all of you are playing safely ! Last year we had a few injuries , this year 0 ... which is great as we are still in the playoffs and have a game on Tuesday ... GO GHETTO !

If your team is ever in Toronto on Easter Weekend and you are looking for some stiff competition check out the tourney we enter . Its' dirt cheap and good hockey . My body is still aching ... i better go get some ice on some of these bruises LOL . Happy Easter !

Maltese Passport

Finally i got my Canadian passport renewed , well i have just sent it in yesterday so it should be back in a few weeks and then i have to send it out to get my Brazilian Visa . My German buddies were telling me they don't need a travel visa for Brazil and i was hoping that i could save some time and just finally follow through and get my Euro passport since i have duel citizenship ... i am a Maltese citizen :) i gained my citizenship in 2006 after my attempt to move to Europe .....

This is going way way back ! In 2003 i applied for my Maltese citizenship and i think a billion other people did too ... probably much less but it swamped the officials that handled these issues there . Malta was going to become part of the European Union so everyone and their mother applied . No joke i had to get my mothers citizenship back so i could get mine LOL at that point i was planning to move to Europe and in 2004 i moved to Amsterdam with the hopes that i would get my citizenship and be able to work there ... it was my first venture away from home and really it was a huge learning process with absolutely no planning at all .... yes it was a disaster !

In Holland i could not get work and i was constantly contacting the Maltese Embassy there and they were no help at all .... in 2005 i went to Malta , to play for the Malta Pirates in Dubai and on my stop over i decided to visit the offices to see if my citizenship had gone through . I was i had a photo ! Just picture a sweaty office filled with filing cabinets with boxes on top of them and fans barely pushing the sweat filled air around the room , on top of those boxes are stacks of paper and everyone in there looked like absolute office zombies . Regardless they couldn't find my file :)

1 day out of the blue i finally got a letter from the Maltese gov't and it was really not clear at all . I took it to the consulate general and sat down with him and he said congratulations you are now a Maltese citizen .... that was in 2006 .... so when i went in yesterday the consulate had moved and it had more security , things have changed . Regardless i approached the counter and said i would like to get my Maltese passport and the nice lady told me that it would be $120 for a 10 year passport  , i had to ask if i would need a visa to enter Brazil as a Maltese citizen and unfortunately i still would need a visa :( i was there anyway with all my paperwork in hand so what the heck .... finally i am getting my Maltese passport , which i expect to use when i head over to Europe in December . Yes i am going back to Europe this year .... hahahaha !!!!

After i did all that and went out to get a new hockey bag at my favorite hockey shop Goalie Heaven :) then i came home to contact the Brazilian embassy .... they assured me that i should have no problem getting this in time so i should not be so stressed out . The funny thing is the only reason i got off my ass was because i was paranoid that i would not have time for this passport to get renewed and come back with time to send it out again to get visa  ... so i ended up getting another one LOL . Sometimes the things that get me to do things makes my life a little more interesting ... it must be the same bit of crazy that makes me stand in front of pucks .