let me say this about that: hockey day in canada

some things really work out for the best. i mean, what were the odds that i was going to get from san francisco to toronto this weekend for free? sometimes good things come to people who travel a lot for work.

i got in yesterday (friday) afternoon to the toronto airport after only a little bit of airline drama. after clearing customs and taking a car over to the Westin downtown, I realized there was a really good chance the Wings would be staying in the same hotel -- the ACC is right across the street and this is a nice hotel (34th floor harbor views - using Starpoints! I digress...).

friday afternoon i ran into some players (lebda, downey, homer) and coaches (mclellan, maclean). i also hung out with a group of autograph whores for 10 minutes down in front of the hotel. those guys are ridiculous, and they're the reason that players don't like to give autographs. "here, nick, please sign my pro set 1994 card, the one with you backchecking pat falloon...no? please??"...give me a break...the guys said they come wait out here no matter what team is in town.

so around 6:00 i made my way over in a cab (the one i took from homer) to exhibition place, where the alumni game was going to take place. that was great -- only about 2,000 people showed up, but that's more than are sometimes in the stands at the joe when the puck drops for a versus 7pm game. just kidding. anyway, it was an amazing time, and the boyhood memories from HNIC came rushing back almost as fast as marcel dionne skated. man, that guy is amazing. other notes:

mickey still has a lot of crispness on the shot and was trying to play kind of a puck-possession game (i guess that's what you get when you call 41 home games)
klima is still klima (kind of a ham, and still tapes the stick in stripes)
funny that woolley is on the alumni squad while chelios rests for the big game tomorrow
probert definitely does NOT still have it, whatever it was. that year in 1987-88 when he got to play LW in the all-star game on a line with the great one? wow. funny how life changes things a lot.
surprisingly, ciccarelli did not look all that nimble, and kocur and burr looked kinda tired
Tiger Williams is still messing around every chance he gets - he was sticking fans wearing Wings jerseys when he'd walk to and from the Leafs locker room
CLEARLY everyone was having a good time
Marcel Dionne scoring on a slapshot on a penalty shot was the highlight of my evening

below are some pics from the game. i ran into mickey in the hotel elevator on my way back from breakfast and he said he's calling the game with ken today. just got some great seats in the lower level down where the wings shoot twice so i can't wait. off to the hall of fame now to check things out before the game.

click on photos for full-res.

Klima warming up: