Well, it's been a long time...49 days to be exact. I can't believe how much time has passed since I last posted. I was just starting to get really into it too, but due to the events at The Hockey News, I began writing for The Hockey Writers, so anything I would have written here I had to post there since I have been busy the past few weeks. Its a pretty good site, so check it out. You can see my work in my archive, along with a fellow intern with THN, Jeff Blay.
Around starting to work for THW, I finished my internship, played more hockey in one day than I ever have before and (very nearly) graduated. I drove over 1,100 miles in just over a week, including 800 miles in three days when I drove from Toronto to New Jersey on May 14 then to Massachusetts on May 16. Add another 1,200 going to a music festival in Maine and camping in Connecticut and I've been really busy.
I guess I'll start with the end of my internship. The final weeks were pretty fun. I finished my favorite story I have ever written of Zach Bennett, an 11-year-old from Albany who has had both his legs removed in surgery. The Charlotte Checkers, formerly the Albany River Rats, are now paying for his family to relocate to North Carolina so he can get better medical care and be close to his favorite team again. Look up the story, it is quite inspiring. It's a shame my internship is over, but the guys at THN were fantastic. I was rewarded with a few free lunches, a nice bag of gifts and a great evaluation (leading to an A for the semester). So once again, a huge thanks to Jason Kay and everyone else who works at THN; it really is a first class organization.
My last day of interning was one of the most exhausting of my life. I represented THN in the Business of Hockey Cup on May 13 at the Mastercard Center where the Maple Leafs practice which is a tournament between representatives of different hockey companies including TSN, The Hall of Fame and the CHL. The day featured eight 20-minute games as well as a skills competition. I tried my hand in the shooting accuracy, but that didn't go so well. I nailed the first shot, hitting the top-right corner, but then went zero for the next seven. Fortunately I wasn't the only person to hit one target, so it wasn't terrible. By far the most interesting part of the day though, was the first game we played. It was against the Buffalo Sabres and most of the THN guys had made it out to warm up while no one from the Sabres was out yet. The first guy skated out and after a few double takes, I noticed it was Rob Ray. Here's a little bit of what's on his resume.
Then I had my senior week back at Endicott which was pretty fun. I'm glad I got to see some people before leaving. While I had a great time in Toronto there were still some people I wish I could have seen. I finally got time to relax going to The Way Life Should Be music festival then camping the next weekend. I'm back in the swing of things, working 40 hours a week cleaning out old warehouses and doing some construction.
Enough about me, back to hockey.
Congratulations to the Bruins on winning the Stanley Cup. That was a tremendous group assembled by Peter Chiarelli who made a bold move building the team around Zdeno Chara and Tim Thomas. I don't think anyone has gone through a longer road to become a Cup champion than Thomas and it was great to watch him lift it (it was also funny how he had no idea what to do with the Conn Smythe Trophy). Mark Recchi went out on top and he will be in the Hall of Fame in three years. He never won any individual awards, was only a second team all-star once, in 1992 and he was an Olympian once (in 1998 when Canada finished fourth). The only downside to the celebration was Gary Bettman handing out the awards. They really need to take him out of the Stanley Cup presentation, to constant booing really puts a damper on the whole occasion.
I'll post again soon. Like I said you can read my stuff at The Hockey Writers, so check that out and follow me on Twitter.
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