In the last week in Montreal, I missed the Patrick Roy jersey retirement, the Grey Cup and Ryan O'Byrne's infamous own-goal because I was assigned the hosting the Canada-Russia Challenge.
Trust me; skipping the busiest sports week of the year in Montreal wasn't easy.
I watched the Roy jersey retirement from my hotel room in Toronto and did the same for the Grey Cup the following night. You have no idea how badly I wanted to be there to cover both events.
But over the past two weeks I've been to Sydney, NS, Saint John, NB, Guelph and St. Catharines, ON, and as I write this entry I am in yet another hotel room in beautiful Swift Current, SK. If you're thinking I'm being sarcastic, believe me I'm not. The buzz at the Olympic Stadium and the Bell Center in Montreal are like nothing else. But there is something to be said about discovering our great country and going back to the grassroots.
I've had the privilege to cover professional sports for eight years now. I've been in the winning dressing room when teams have won the Stanley Cup. I've covered the two Winter Classics, the World Cup of hockey and I've been fortunate enough to attend the Super Bowl. But getting to see the future of the NHL before fame and fortune hits is quite impressive.
For the most part NHLers are great to deal with but the millions of dollars in endorsement deals and compensation inevitably creates a gap between the reporters, the public and the players.
At the junior level however, the players don't see the media as a necessary evil. They're open to share their life stories and many of them are heartwarming and inspirational.
And it's great to go back to the smaller communities where everything evolves around the team. Everybody knows what they'll be doing on the Friday night and what they'll be talking about on Saturday morning.
Sometimes we get so caught up in the NHL and pro sports. But when you really think about it there wouldn't be an NHL without the early morning skates at the local rinks and the outdoor ponds. No matter what happens in various NHL markets, there will always be grassroots hockey; and if you take some time to watch a bantam, midget or junior game, especially in the smaller localities, you would be surprised how much fun it is to watch.
