The Pond Hockey Portal!
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Hockey Night in Bahrain for Sharon resident
There really is no in-season for hockey where Anthony Johnson lives. That's because one must concede the fact that in a land where the thermometer regularly surpasses 40 C, no one is one likely to find a Canadian winter. Not that scorching climes are going to deter a hockey nut such as Johnson, stationed in Bahrain and far removed from the frozen ponds of Canada.
It's the situation in which Johnson finds himself these days as he tries to bring a bit of homeland security to his surroundings in the Middle East island kingdom between Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
A coach in the East Gwillimbury Minor Hockey Association for five seasons, the Sharon resident was poised to be head coach for an atom rep team last season, but the pilot for a Middle East airline found the lure for adventure too strong to ignore.
Johnson, you see, helps oversee a group of mainly Canadian, American and European children ranging in age from eight to 11 years for twice weekly hockey practices and games.
The nearby Funland Centre rink has no hockey-style markings. The scaled-down rink is attached to a bowling alley.
There's no score clock, so an egg-timer clocks shifts. Or the timer on his cellphone. The ice cleaner is a modified garden tractor. The nets are full of holes. Johnson tries to replenish the equipment supply when flying takes him to cities such as London and Paris.
But it's good, old Canadian pond hockey rules once a puck drops.
"It's the best we've got and we do what we can with it," said Johnson, who is grateful for equipment and uniform donations he has received from the East Gwillimbury and Newmarket minor hockey programs.
"We're setting a precedent. There's never been organized hockey before, other than Canadian and American ex-pats playing pickup. The biggest thing we're teaching kids, really, aside from skills, is confidence. That they should have no fear of working in any environment."
The locals don't quite know what to make of it all when a bunch of hockey-playing foreigners start whizzing around the ice.
"The owner claims he wants to support and promote the game here, but if a birthday party or something shows up, they'll get the ice," Johnson said. "Getting ice is difficult. I have to have a certain number of players and we've gone from 11 to 28 since we started in October."
Johnson also plays a Saturday night pickup game with other ex-pats at the facility.
"I just love the game of hockey and feel it is the best game in the world. And what a way to get out of the heat. We go from 45 degrees to the rink."
The season culminates with a three-on-three tournament June 15 for which one team from Saudi Arabia will join his three Bahrainian teams for the one-day event.
"I guess I've gone to another extreme with my coaching over here, teaching the origins of ice hockey from a North American perspective" said Johnson, whose 11-year-old son, Joey, also plays for the Saad Falcons, a junior team (ages eight to 11) in Saudi Arabia, where a full-sized rink houses 85 or so players on three youth teams.
"It really tugged at my heart strings to give up the rep team. I was the nutbar on the street who would build the 60-by-40 rink, string up lights and do the whole nine yards. I love the game."
The 30-kilometre trek from home in Budaiya, a suburb of Manamma, to Dharan, the Saudi Arabian city where his son plays, is time-consuming due to the presence of two Saudi and one Bahrainian security checkpoints. On the upside, skate sharpening is available in the Saudi city.
The Oasis Compound in Dharan was the site of an Al-Qaeda attack in 2004 in which 16 Aramco employees were held hostage, four later beheaded. The terrorists gained access through the arena, he pointed out.
But in the basement of the high-security recreation facility sits the Ice House, a modern, standard-sized arena differing little from a typical rink in Canada.
"You walk in and smell the snack bar with the bad coffee and french fries, and it feels like you're back home in some rink," Johnson sighs.
"You can almost smell the ice, it's hard to describe, but it does exist. It's like you've just stepped into another world. My mouth dropped -- it was a real rink and just like back home."
It's the situation in which Johnson finds himself these days as he tries to bring a bit of homeland security to his surroundings in the Middle East island kingdom between Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
A coach in the East Gwillimbury Minor Hockey Association for five seasons, the Sharon resident was poised to be head coach for an atom rep team last season, but the pilot for a Middle East airline found the lure for adventure too strong to ignore.
Johnson, you see, helps oversee a group of mainly Canadian, American and European children ranging in age from eight to 11 years for twice weekly hockey practices and games.
The nearby Funland Centre rink has no hockey-style markings. The scaled-down rink is attached to a bowling alley.
There's no score clock, so an egg-timer clocks shifts. Or the timer on his cellphone. The ice cleaner is a modified garden tractor. The nets are full of holes. Johnson tries to replenish the equipment supply when flying takes him to cities such as London and Paris.
But it's good, old Canadian pond hockey rules once a puck drops.
"It's the best we've got and we do what we can with it," said Johnson, who is grateful for equipment and uniform donations he has received from the East Gwillimbury and Newmarket minor hockey programs.
"We're setting a precedent. There's never been organized hockey before, other than Canadian and American ex-pats playing pickup. The biggest thing we're teaching kids, really, aside from skills, is confidence. That they should have no fear of working in any environment."
The locals don't quite know what to make of it all when a bunch of hockey-playing foreigners start whizzing around the ice.
"The owner claims he wants to support and promote the game here, but if a birthday party or something shows up, they'll get the ice," Johnson said. "Getting ice is difficult. I have to have a certain number of players and we've gone from 11 to 28 since we started in October."
Johnson also plays a Saturday night pickup game with other ex-pats at the facility.
"I just love the game of hockey and feel it is the best game in the world. And what a way to get out of the heat. We go from 45 degrees to the rink."
The season culminates with a three-on-three tournament June 15 for which one team from Saudi Arabia will join his three Bahrainian teams for the one-day event.
"I guess I've gone to another extreme with my coaching over here, teaching the origins of ice hockey from a North American perspective" said Johnson, whose 11-year-old son, Joey, also plays for the Saad Falcons, a junior team (ages eight to 11) in Saudi Arabia, where a full-sized rink houses 85 or so players on three youth teams.
"It really tugged at my heart strings to give up the rep team. I was the nutbar on the street who would build the 60-by-40 rink, string up lights and do the whole nine yards. I love the game."
The 30-kilometre trek from home in Budaiya, a suburb of Manamma, to Dharan, the Saudi Arabian city where his son plays, is time-consuming due to the presence of two Saudi and one Bahrainian security checkpoints. On the upside, skate sharpening is available in the Saudi city.
The Oasis Compound in Dharan was the site of an Al-Qaeda attack in 2004 in which 16 Aramco employees were held hostage, four later beheaded. The terrorists gained access through the arena, he pointed out.
But in the basement of the high-security recreation facility sits the Ice House, a modern, standard-sized arena differing little from a typical rink in Canada.
"You walk in and smell the snack bar with the bad coffee and french fries, and it feels like you're back home in some rink," Johnson sighs.
"You can almost smell the ice, it's hard to describe, but it does exist. It's like you've just stepped into another world. My mouth dropped -- it was a real rink and just like back home."
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Funland to host ice hockey
FUNLAND Centre will host the MCP Ice Hockey Tournament on June 15 with four teams -three from Bahrain and one from Saudi Arabia - in the fray.
The one-day event will be organised by Anthony Johnson, who is also coaching the Bahraini teams taking part. He will be assisted by Andre Cote and his wife Berni.
The teams are Eagles, Redman, Islanders and Sad Falcons of Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. The teams will comprise of seven players each aged between eight and 13.
The teams will compete in a round robin format with the first match starting at 8.30am and the event is expected to conclude by 3pm.
"Ice hockey is played at a very competitive level in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Qatar, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. All these teams have very experienced youth sides and we really hope they can travel to Bahrain to attend our tournament," said Johnson who is a Gulf Air pilot.
"Here in Bahrain, we have such a high interest level for ice hockey that we could form three Bahraini teams and organise a tournament in a round robin format," he said.
"Due to our limited size ice surface, the participants will play pond hockey rules which include seven players per team including the goaltender. The teams will play a three-on-three line-up with each team's strongest three players facing the oppositions strongest members."
The one-day event will be organised by Anthony Johnson, who is also coaching the Bahraini teams taking part. He will be assisted by Andre Cote and his wife Berni.
The teams are Eagles, Redman, Islanders and Sad Falcons of Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. The teams will comprise of seven players each aged between eight and 13.
The teams will compete in a round robin format with the first match starting at 8.30am and the event is expected to conclude by 3pm.
"Ice hockey is played at a very competitive level in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Qatar, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. All these teams have very experienced youth sides and we really hope they can travel to Bahrain to attend our tournament," said Johnson who is a Gulf Air pilot.
"Here in Bahrain, we have such a high interest level for ice hockey that we could form three Bahraini teams and organise a tournament in a round robin format," he said.
"Due to our limited size ice surface, the participants will play pond hockey rules which include seven players per team including the goaltender. The teams will play a three-on-three line-up with each team's strongest three players facing the oppositions strongest members."
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Tweed - Firefighters take home Hoses and Handcuffs trophy (again!)
Despite the recruitment (for the second year running) of former NHL player and Madoc resident Shawn Antoski, the Central Hastings OPP still could not beat the Tweed Fire Department during their annual Hoses & Handcuffs hockey game, held at the Tweed Arena Thursday, April 6, 2006.
The event began several years ago as pickup hockey which turned into a more organized game, eventually leading to the formal annual games, yearly raising money for community charities. The teams have been competing for the past five years, this year asking for Food Bank donations from spectators as admission, and often enjoying themselves with antics on the ice.
Of the 2006 game, Arena staff Randy Lucas, who has watched the games during the past five years, commented "usually they're doing a bunch of fooling around - shooting off fireworks or throwing pies. This year they're playing straight hockey. I can't believe it."
While the firefighters have always taken the win, this year's game started out a little rough for the department when, minutes into the first period, Firefighter Alan Bush took a puck shot just below his left eye. Later in the second period, firefighter Casey Trudeau was hit in the nose by a stick. Luckily for the boys, Sergeant Jeff Brookes' wife, Lisa, a nurse, was in the audience and offered medical assistance. Trudeau made it back to the ice for the third period and took his team home with a shoot-out goal, breaking the 5 - 5 tie.
The event began several years ago as pickup hockey which turned into a more organized game, eventually leading to the formal annual games, yearly raising money for community charities. The teams have been competing for the past five years, this year asking for Food Bank donations from spectators as admission, and often enjoying themselves with antics on the ice.
Of the 2006 game, Arena staff Randy Lucas, who has watched the games during the past five years, commented "usually they're doing a bunch of fooling around - shooting off fireworks or throwing pies. This year they're playing straight hockey. I can't believe it."
While the firefighters have always taken the win, this year's game started out a little rough for the department when, minutes into the first period, Firefighter Alan Bush took a puck shot just below his left eye. Later in the second period, firefighter Casey Trudeau was hit in the nose by a stick. Luckily for the boys, Sergeant Jeff Brookes' wife, Lisa, a nurse, was in the audience and offered medical assistance. Trudeau made it back to the ice for the third period and took his team home with a shoot-out goal, breaking the 5 - 5 tie.
