And game one goes to..........

It was a thrilling first game of the series versus Stonewall!! Most of our team had the flu or was just getting over it so I was not sure what to expect from everyone. Matthew, one of our best defencemen's eyes were like sheets of glass they were so glossy. When Tera one of the girls, came into the dressing room and said she was looking forward to this game for 2 days I knew things were looking up. I just kept telling them to give it everything...leave nothing behind...go hard...and I also told them that they know how to win, they did it last year, think about that and what it took to get there.

We were down 2-1 after one period, down 4-3 after 2 periods. A penalty shot was even awarded to either team during the game, no goals were scored. Every time we tied it up Stonewall came back at us and took the lead again. We were constantly fighting from behind. But everyone was playing just the way I knew they could and gave it all. Leo, one of our defencemen was laying out kids left and right who were way bigger than himself and it fired up his team! Giving them the will to come back. Tony, our most trusted goal scorer scored 3 third period goals, the 5-4 go ahead goal at 3:05 was from behind the net. Generally the team that skates and works hard gets the lucky bounces and tonight we did! But less then a minute later Stonewall squeaked one in to tie it up. It was looking like overtime for sure when Maija(my daughter) got the puck at our blue line and went around their defencemen like a flash, streaking up the middle of the ice... Tony was breaking up the middle as well and Maija gave him the puck at their blueline for the breakaway....and he put it in with 24 seconds to go!!! Stonewall called time out and pulled the goalie. The puck did end up in our end for the last few seconds but we kept them to the outside and blocked a couple shots to hold on. Game 2 is on Saturday......


Eriksdale Winter Carnival

Wearing my old number!!

The rematch of the Dads vs the local Midget team was Friday night. It was another tight one. When they are little we used to let them win, now they are older we can't let them win!! The boys went up 6 to 5 on the Dads with 37 seconds to go. It was tough to swallow. But with the score keeper asleep at the wheel we got a few extra seconds cause the clock didn't start right away and we put the pressure on. We crashed the net hard and I picked up the Garbage as I have many times in front of the net and shovelled in the tieing goal with 13 seconds left. Overtime! Guess who scored to win it??? Johnny. I picked up a pass from Virgil Johnson (a grey bearded grizzly looking dad) in our own end and had room up the boards so I went. Crossing their blueline I let her rip as hard as I could along the ice. It had just enough juice on it to get through under thew tenders pads and went in. The Dads were victorious again! This time under a small protest about the clock but still a win!!! The winning goal is on tape so I will see if I can get my hands on that video.


Rena, the girls and I did the car rally/scavenger hunt on Saturday. It was a blast, driving around finding weird things like an Eatons catalogue, handcuffs, a 1993 newspaper clipping, an 8-track, a roll of quarters and so on. It was fun.


Saturday night was hockey again, the Oldtimers night, we played with a sponge puck that had a hard center so it still had some weight to it. Way more fun to handle and pass. No contact this night, my brother and I had pretty sore bodies from the night before playing the Midgets. Those water bottles in our hands helped with the soreness though!:)

The Eriksdale Mustangs were a team my Dad coached to a few Championships. I was at those games... I was a baby sleeping under the concession booth.

Playoff Time!!!

It is that time of year again and it is always exciting! We ended up in 3rd place in our league and have to play the 1st place team in the first round of the playoffs, best of 3. Our opponents are the Stonewall Blues who we have a win a lose and a tie against this year. It is going to be a rough series. Every time we play it has gotten more intense. It will be tough but we can do it, we may not be the fastest or most skilled team but we have Heart! Our team tasted Victory last season so they know what it tastes like. Here is last years winning post.

We had 2 games remaining to play on the last day of regular season so we had no choice but to play them on the same day. We travelled to Stonewall for a 10 am game and then had to eat in the vehicle to play St Laurent at home at 1:30. We lost the first game to 2-1 against our opponents in the first round in a close game and then tied the last game 3-3 against the last place team! We were losing 2-0 after 2 periods. It was a Horrific game. I have not seen these kids play like that in a long time, I guess it is good to get that over with before playoffs.

At the intermission it looked like we were going to lose this one and I was not very happy to say the least. I remembered back to when my Dad coached me, when we played badly, what did he do to motivate us......Freak out! As soon as we got into the dressing room the garbage can got a good hard boot across the room to get everyones attention then a short "motivational" speech, and I left the room. Let me tell you, there was a different team on the ice in the 3rd period. We came out flying and went up 3-2 10 minutes into the period. St Laurent had a sniff of victory and came hard at us. They ended up getting the tieing goal with a couple minutes to go. We were all over them for the remainder of the game and hit the goal post twice and even scored once but we had a delayed penalty and it was dis-allowed. We had to settle for a tie. At least we saved some face in front of our home crowd with a good effort in the third.

My oldest daughter is playing in a AA girls league this season and has one game remaining. Hopefully they can go far in the playoffs as well.

Here is Maija before the first Sunday game.


Jerrica, on the right is the smallest player on our team, she is the hardest hitter though, she can knock the biggest of boys on their butt. She has an awesome skating stride and a mean streak that resembles yours truly on the ice. I really enjoy having a team of boys and girls playing contact hockey.


Maija and Jerrica from our team were chosen to go to a Girls Developement camp for a day. It is good for these kids to be coached by other coaches, meet other girl hockey players and most importantly get some exposure. There are more and more opportunities for girl hockey players every year.

Moose Video!

Here is a video from one of our hunts in 2008. Hope you enjoy.

How to set a Net under the Ice

People always wonder how you get a net from hole to hole. Here it is,
First you need to drill a big hole to put the Jigger down under the ice..

We sometimes get 4 feet of ice on Lake Manitoba.

After starting the Jigger it goes out about 90 yards, the length of our nets.

The Bombardier does most of the work pulling the net under the ice for us.

After we have set enough nets, you need a big hole again to get the Jigger out. It is not always easy, there is sometimes slush under the ice or pieces of ice sticking down below the surface that stop it from going forward and sometimes it gets jammed up. On windy days it is really hard to find the Jigger because you can't locate the sound of the knocker on it.

That is how you set nets under the ice!

This is three quarters of the Fishermen in our part of lake Manitoba, my Uncle Jack's Bombardier in the middle and our good friends and neighbors Craig and Carolyn on the right. It is nice to have some company once in a while.


Here is a cool picture

Beautiful weather in January!

The weather has been very warm for the past week in Manitoba. Just a few degrees below freezing. A nice break from the bitter cold we have had. Fishing is still pretty good, still catching some walleyes and there is a few perch to be had out there as well. The frost was built up on everything on a foggy morning! I recently went to the Toronto Boat Show and the only thing I really wanted to do...... Was touch the Cup!!! My skin was crawling the whole time I was in the Hockey Hall of Fame. So much history... "GUMP" The Original Cup. Has it's own vault. The Conn Smythe The Toronto Boat show was quite successful for our first time attending. A few more dates filled in the book. If you don't have one for your group yet, what are you waiting for.... give us an email and we will let you know what is available.

This was the sunset on my way home from from the show. I missed the Bush! Hockey is gretting more intense every time we step on the ice!! It is nice to see these kids get the hang of laying someone out. Lots of hockey to come!

Happy New Year!!

The sun sets on another year, I wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope 2009 is a good one for all! With the world in turmoil, we will be striving to do even better to show all of our guests the Best Canadian Experience ever!


I played with the Old Guys and Dads versus the Local Midget team(15-17 y/o) and had a blast! We won 4-3. Yours truley scored a hat-trick and hit the post, got to hit my nephew and his friends a few timestoo. The Old guys may not be too fast but they are wiley and can pass... Re-match is in Feb, the kids didn't like losing thats for sure. I better keep my head up next time.
This is Stan and the little guy is Barry. The coaches of the Midget team. They both played Senior till well into their 30's and can still play. Check out the gear.

There are some huge piles of ice out on the lake. It was 12-14 inches thick when this stuff broke up. The wind is powerful out there.

Our E-Holiday card just went out today, Here is the link Happy New Year

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas Everyone. It is cold here in Canada but it is a White Christmas from coast to coast for the first time in many years. Just the way it should be. All of us at Amik wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Awesome New Year.

Here are a few pics from around here. These are my girls playing outside.


Looks cold but Canadian Kids are Tough!!!

Another cold morning but not much wind....it is all good with no wind, no matter the temperature.