After injuries to their top two goalies, third-string Ottawa Senators’ goalie (and possible long-lost distant cousin?) Andrew Hammond was an emergency call-up for the Sens a month ago.
In that short time, Hammond has set his team on fire while tying a record for goalies at the start of their career that stretches back to 1938. In each of his first 12 games, he’s let in two goals or less, a phenomenal accomplishment, even in the lower scoring current NHL era.
His biggest challenge will be the Sens’ next game against the Boston Bruins tomorrow. Hammond’s great run has helped the Sens close the gap with Boston to four points for the last wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. If he wins tomorrow, the Sens close the gap that much more and, as a bonus, Hammond takes the record all for himself!
Iron Brew was a Celtic band in Regina in the late 1990’s-early 2000’s. The lead singer was the husband of one of my bosses at the Sask Publishers Group. He plays a monumental role in my musical education as the person who introduced me to Fred Eaglesmith’s music. (I still remember dropping my boss off after a day away at a conference or training session of some kind and being invited in where Gord was practicing a Fred song to possibly integrate in the band’s set list!)
The audio and video quality of this clip isn’t great but it has a montage of some of the main songs Iron Brew played so it’ll give a taste…
In the photo below, Sasha seems to be saying “Dad, if you raise your fist to this guy, you’re going to lose!”
That’s not too far-fetched actually since, when I stepped up for my photo, I accidentally bumped into Wendel as I moved to stand beside him.
“Hey, keep the elbows down!” he quipped and I was able to reply, “At least I’ll be able to tell people I’ve bodychecked Wendel Clark!” 😉
(Luckily he didn’t level me right there!)
At any rate, what an honour to meet a childhood hero and one of the best NHLers to ever come out of Saskatchewan, #17 – Wendel Clark, during Rogers “Hometown Hockey” tour stop in Regina today.
Here’s a great video that shows what made Wendel so special…
In a completely unrelated note (thankfully!), Shea and I went out to participate in a research project being conducted by a former colleague’s daughter who is completing her PhD. She’s researching the psychology of pain and after having a device placed on my arm that tested a person’s pain threshold, my competitive spirit forced me to ask how I fared against other men who’d done the test. She said there were only a couple participants who’d maxed out the pain metre and I was just a hair shy of that level. (I reached 49/50 on her measuring tool.)
My waterproof camera started acting up halfway through the trip – not quite dead but definitely not working well either. So once it started being tempermental, I stopped using it in the water.
Luckily, my mom brought a disposable waterproof camera so we had a few other water pics…
Shea loves my Tom Cruise circa “Top Gun” sunglasses…
The Playoff Race isn’t the only exciting part of this year’s NHL season.
The race for the bottom to see who drafts first overall and takes Connor McDavid, projected as the first generational superstar since Sidney Crosby, is heating up as well.
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