Tuesday thoughts

I'm drinking a triple-triple as we speak. That's a step up from my usual double-double. Why the difference? Well, it's been a stressful day.

My car was broken into on the weekend, the same night as the Pharmasave crash. The rectal cavity who did it (hey, I can express my anger in a professional manner) stole the zoom lens that I use for shooting Klipper games, plus a battery charger and about 10 CDs. Now, far be it from me to criticize my own company, but it looks like I'll be on the hook for that lens.

It's the third time my car's been broken into (the first in Kindersley) but this one was easily the most expensive. It pisses me off more every time because it's a crime that you can't do a damn thing about. I'll never see that stuff again.

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On a happier note, the hits on the blog have been exploding this week. The 1,000th visitor checked it out on Sunday, and in less than 48 hours since then, the number has ballooned to almost 1,800. I hope you guys are enjoying this and getting the kind of info you want to see. Again, suggestions and feedback are always welcome. I'm looking at perhaps giving out a prize for future milestones - still something that needs to be looked into though.

I just added a photo gallery to the blog. There are only a few on it right now, from the weekend, but I'll add a lot more as the season gets going (and when I get that camera lens back).

I won't be travelling to any of the road games this week, so things will be a little more low-key over the next few days.

Of course, that will change if the Klippers manage to acquire a defenceman this week.

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The SJHL has announced that Access will show seven games live this season. That's on top of the tape-delayed Game of the Week, which returns this year. Those ones are broadcast on Access 4-5 days after the fact.

Here are the live games, all on Thursdays:

Sept. 16 - Estevan at Melville (season opener)

Sept. 23 - Kindersley at Yorkton

Oct. 21 - Yorkton at Battlefords

Nov. 18 - Estevan at Battlefords

Nov. 25 - Weyburn at Yorkton

Dec. 16 - Flin Flon at Battlefords

Jan. 20 - Estevan at Battlefords

It's really too bad the North Stars don't get more media attention, eh?

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During one of my chats with Larry Wintoneak over the weekend, we got to talking about the new Junior A Supplement that takes effect in the SJHL and several other leagues this season. The whole thing was designed to avoid being subject to Hockey Canada's new one-fight rule. I looked over the document (which you can find here) a couple of weeks ago and while most of it seems reasonable, I don't like the fact that a player can only fight five times in a season before being suspended. I also take issue with the regulation which calls for the second player on a team to be penalized for goalie interference, in the same game, to be suspended. Considering how inconsistent referees are on this penalty, in particular, it has huge potential to be unfair in a lot of the cases it gets applied to.

Long story short, Larry agreed with me on both these matters, especially the five-fight limit. It's not a big issue for the Klippers, since they tend not to carry an enforcer, but it still doesn't make a lot of sense. Of course, this got Larry talking about the line brawls that were commonplace when he played in the league...

SJHL officials director Tracy Cook was in Eston on Sunday afternoon to give a presentation to the team on how the new regulations will work. Quite a few players, at least that I talked to, share these concerns.

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A few days ago someone asked how Justin Bertow was doing after his motorcycle accident earlier this summer. At the time I knew he was out of hospital, but I talked to Taylor Wasden about it last night (they've been friends since Grade 7) and he gave me a little more info. As a result of the accident, Bertow lost a small piece of his skull (I'm not sure whether this was from the accident itself, or surgery). The plan is to re-insert it sometime in the near future, whenever he's feeling well enough to have it done, I would think. Obviously, Bertow is done with hockey - at least for this year - but Wazzy said he still wants to get back on a bike.