The Pond Hockey Portal!
Saturday, August 26, 2006
L-A Senior League making plans for upcoming season
AUBURN - The L-A Senior Adult Hockey League is mapping plans for its 12th season of play. Registration will take place on Sunday, Sept. 17, and Sunday, Sept. 24 from 5-8 p.m. at the Pond House near the Ingersoll Arena at Pettengill Park.
There are 2 divisions, competitive and recreational. Age limit for the Competitive Division is 25 and over (must be 25 prior to Oct. 1). This league allows slap shots but no checking.
The Recreational Division is based on players 21 years of age prior to Oct. 1, with no slap shots and no checking.
Entry fee is $340 per player based on an 11-player roster plus a goalie. Payment is due at the time of registration which is designed for both returning players and new skaters. All new players will have their names placed on a draft list and a player draft will be held at a later date.
Both divisions play a 24-game schedule, including playoffs. The league requires full uniform and full gear. A full-face shield is recommended.
The Recreational Division will begin play on Saturday, Oct. 7. Games will be played mostly on Friday nights and some Monday evenings. Action starts at 6:15 p.m.
The Competitive Division is set to start on Sunday, Oct. 8, beginning at 6:15 p.m. Most contests are waged on Sundays, with a few Wednesday night tilts.
More information on the L-A Senior Hockey League can be obtained by calling 946-7863, or e-mail Roger Binette at rogerhockey@aol.com, or Matt Bourassa at mabourassa@netzero.net .
There are 2 divisions, competitive and recreational. Age limit for the Competitive Division is 25 and over (must be 25 prior to Oct. 1). This league allows slap shots but no checking.
The Recreational Division is based on players 21 years of age prior to Oct. 1, with no slap shots and no checking.
Entry fee is $340 per player based on an 11-player roster plus a goalie. Payment is due at the time of registration which is designed for both returning players and new skaters. All new players will have their names placed on a draft list and a player draft will be held at a later date.
Both divisions play a 24-game schedule, including playoffs. The league requires full uniform and full gear. A full-face shield is recommended.
The Recreational Division will begin play on Saturday, Oct. 7. Games will be played mostly on Friday nights and some Monday evenings. Action starts at 6:15 p.m.
The Competitive Division is set to start on Sunday, Oct. 8, beginning at 6:15 p.m. Most contests are waged on Sundays, with a few Wednesday night tilts.
More information on the L-A Senior Hockey League can be obtained by calling 946-7863, or e-mail Roger Binette at rogerhockey@aol.com, or Matt Bourassa at mabourassa@netzero.net .
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Five coolest jobs on year's hottest day
Tom Jordan tries to find a leak in a pool at a home in Raymond on Wednesday. "Tough job, huh?" Jordan said after surfacing from his search.
Michael Foster gets a bag of ice for a customer Wednesday on the Portland Fish Pier. Foster, who sells mainly to fishermen and restaurants, expected to sell 75 tons of ice by day's end.
For most of us, it was the hottest day of the year.
Certainly it was for all the sweat-drenched construction workers, auto mechanics and home dwellers who suffered through Wednesday's weather without air conditioning. The suffocating August heat was the primary topic of conversation for many folks around southern Maine.
But there were a few fortunate exceptions. Believe it or not, some people actually got paid to spend the day staying cool.
In general, they weren't smug about their good luck. But when questioned about it, they all wore knowing smiles.
Here are the five best jobs that a jealous reporter could find on a sweltering day:
5. Scuba diver.
Finding the cracks in people's swimming pools is just one of Tom Jordan's many jobs. Jordan, 52, also sells real estate, drives an ambulance and works for a ferry company.
Early Wednesday afternoon, he opted to earn his living underwater.
Jordan, who lives in South Portland, drove his scuba gear and his 7-year-old Labrador retriever to the Lakes Region, where the owner of an above-ground pool had reported a leak.
While driving his Ford pickup, Jordan described the satisfaction he gets from fixing a leak in a crystal-clear swimming pool.
"It's the best hobby I could ever imagine," he said. "I say, have the kids wear golf shoes when they go swimming. I can make a living."
Jordan couldn't find a leak on Wednesday. After swimming around the blue-bottomed pool, he popped his head out and said he suspected that a leaky pump could be the problem.
"It's a shame I have to get out," Jordan said before climbing back onto dry land.
4. Meat cutter.
The walk-in refrigerator at Pat's Meat Market in Portland keeps pork, beef and lamb at 38 degrees. Sounds like a perfect place to be working on Wednesday, right?
There was only one problem: business was slow, so there wasn't much reason to be inside the refrigerator.
"A lot of people don't want to cook," explained 26-year-old employee Mike Caton. "A lot of people are taking their kids to the beach."
Unfortunately, the busiest times for a butcher shop are the winter months, when no one's itching to spend more time in the cold.
Despite a lack of customers, Caton said he still made a couple dozen trips into the Stevens Avenue market's meat refrigerator. He cleaned and reorganized - anything to spend as much time as possible in the cold air.
3. Movie theatre concession-aire.
Maia Fleming, 18, sipped from a smoothie as popcorn crackled inside the Nickelodeon Cinema on Temple Street in Portland.
The sleeves of her white shirt were rolled up, even though the theater is kept between 68 and 70 degrees. Still, she couldn't really complain.
How many other jobs allow employees to do their schoolwork while they're on the clock? Fleming found time Wednesday to read some Greek philosophy - an early assignment from Bard College, where she starts as a freshman in two weeks.
She noted that Wednesday's warm weather altered her workday routine. She packed a lunch of pasta and carrots, even though she normally goes out to eat, because she didn't want to venture outside in the sweltering heat.
And she planned to change out of her sun-absorbing black vest and skirt as soon as possible.
"I did bring a tank top and shorts to work, so I'll change into that when I leave," she said.
2. Zamboni driver.
It's a job that hockey-loving kids dream of, and on a 95-degree day, it draws envy from adults, too.
At the Family Ice Center in Falmouth, the job of steering the Zamboni fell Wednesday to Garry Zeegers.
Zeegers, a bearded 35-year-old man who grew up playing pond hockey in South Portland, had good perspective on his duties. He used to brave the summer heat as a landscaper.
"So I went from working outside to working in a nice cool environment," said Zeegers. "I definitely have no complaints being here today."
Around 3 p.m., a group of pint-sized hockey players skated off the ice, making way for the tan-and-green Zamboni. Behind the wheel, Zeegers wore just a white T-shirt and shorts.
"I usually wear a fleece," he explained. "But today it's just so warm, I don't have to."
1. Ice supplier.
Ice is cheap at Vessel Services Inc. on the Portland waterfront. Six hundred pounds cost just $21.
So it came as no surprise that business was brisk on Wednesday. Mike Foster, the ice plant's manager, expected to sell 75 tons of ice before the day ended. His regular customers include fishermen, restaurants and bars.
"All morning, we haven't stopped," Foster said.
It was so hot on Wednesday that some customers were asking to come inside the 19-degree freezers where the ice is stored.
Foster recalled another time, also on a hot summer day, when a man pulled up in a Volkswagen that had no air conditioning. The man was preparing for a road trip, so he had his back seat filled with 600 pounds of ice.
"So that was his air conditioning for the day," Foster said.
Michael Foster gets a bag of ice for a customer Wednesday on the Portland Fish Pier. Foster, who sells mainly to fishermen and restaurants, expected to sell 75 tons of ice by day's end.
For most of us, it was the hottest day of the year.
Certainly it was for all the sweat-drenched construction workers, auto mechanics and home dwellers who suffered through Wednesday's weather without air conditioning. The suffocating August heat was the primary topic of conversation for many folks around southern Maine.
But there were a few fortunate exceptions. Believe it or not, some people actually got paid to spend the day staying cool.
In general, they weren't smug about their good luck. But when questioned about it, they all wore knowing smiles.
Here are the five best jobs that a jealous reporter could find on a sweltering day:
5. Scuba diver.
Finding the cracks in people's swimming pools is just one of Tom Jordan's many jobs. Jordan, 52, also sells real estate, drives an ambulance and works for a ferry company.
Early Wednesday afternoon, he opted to earn his living underwater.
Jordan, who lives in South Portland, drove his scuba gear and his 7-year-old Labrador retriever to the Lakes Region, where the owner of an above-ground pool had reported a leak.
While driving his Ford pickup, Jordan described the satisfaction he gets from fixing a leak in a crystal-clear swimming pool.
"It's the best hobby I could ever imagine," he said. "I say, have the kids wear golf shoes when they go swimming. I can make a living."
Jordan couldn't find a leak on Wednesday. After swimming around the blue-bottomed pool, he popped his head out and said he suspected that a leaky pump could be the problem.
"It's a shame I have to get out," Jordan said before climbing back onto dry land.
4. Meat cutter.
The walk-in refrigerator at Pat's Meat Market in Portland keeps pork, beef and lamb at 38 degrees. Sounds like a perfect place to be working on Wednesday, right?
There was only one problem: business was slow, so there wasn't much reason to be inside the refrigerator.
"A lot of people don't want to cook," explained 26-year-old employee Mike Caton. "A lot of people are taking their kids to the beach."
Unfortunately, the busiest times for a butcher shop are the winter months, when no one's itching to spend more time in the cold.
Despite a lack of customers, Caton said he still made a couple dozen trips into the Stevens Avenue market's meat refrigerator. He cleaned and reorganized - anything to spend as much time as possible in the cold air.
3. Movie theatre concession-aire.
Maia Fleming, 18, sipped from a smoothie as popcorn crackled inside the Nickelodeon Cinema on Temple Street in Portland.
The sleeves of her white shirt were rolled up, even though the theater is kept between 68 and 70 degrees. Still, she couldn't really complain.
How many other jobs allow employees to do their schoolwork while they're on the clock? Fleming found time Wednesday to read some Greek philosophy - an early assignment from Bard College, where she starts as a freshman in two weeks.
She noted that Wednesday's warm weather altered her workday routine. She packed a lunch of pasta and carrots, even though she normally goes out to eat, because she didn't want to venture outside in the sweltering heat.
And she planned to change out of her sun-absorbing black vest and skirt as soon as possible.
"I did bring a tank top and shorts to work, so I'll change into that when I leave," she said.
2. Zamboni driver.
It's a job that hockey-loving kids dream of, and on a 95-degree day, it draws envy from adults, too.
At the Family Ice Center in Falmouth, the job of steering the Zamboni fell Wednesday to Garry Zeegers.
Zeegers, a bearded 35-year-old man who grew up playing pond hockey in South Portland, had good perspective on his duties. He used to brave the summer heat as a landscaper.
"So I went from working outside to working in a nice cool environment," said Zeegers. "I definitely have no complaints being here today."
Around 3 p.m., a group of pint-sized hockey players skated off the ice, making way for the tan-and-green Zamboni. Behind the wheel, Zeegers wore just a white T-shirt and shorts.
"I usually wear a fleece," he explained. "But today it's just so warm, I don't have to."
1. Ice supplier.
Ice is cheap at Vessel Services Inc. on the Portland waterfront. Six hundred pounds cost just $21.
So it came as no surprise that business was brisk on Wednesday. Mike Foster, the ice plant's manager, expected to sell 75 tons of ice before the day ended. His regular customers include fishermen, restaurants and bars.
"All morning, we haven't stopped," Foster said.
It was so hot on Wednesday that some customers were asking to come inside the 19-degree freezers where the ice is stored.
Foster recalled another time, also on a hot summer day, when a man pulled up in a Volkswagen that had no air conditioning. The man was preparing for a road trip, so he had his back seat filled with 600 pounds of ice.
"So that was his air conditioning for the day," Foster said.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Disease doesn’t stop him from skating
Cystic fibrosis affects 30,000 Americans, including Michael McCormick, a 13-year-old hockey player. Michael McCormick was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at age 6. Despite daily treatments, he still finds time to play hockey.
To Michael McCormick and his parents, it isn’t a miracle that he is playing roller hockey and ice hockey year round, even though he takes on average 20 pills a day and twice a day wears a vest that’s hooked up to a machine that vibrates against his chest.
At times, the vibrations on his chest go so fast that his friends tell him he sounds like Woody Woodpecker when he tries to talk during the treatments.
Then, of course, his friends want to try it.
“Yeah, they think it’s funny,” McCormick, 13, said. “But it’s something I have to do.”
McCormick was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was 6 years old. It’s a disease that affects the lungs and pancreas. A defective gene causes the body to produce a faulty protein that leads to abnormally thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and can result in fatal lung infections.
The mucus also obstructs the pancreas, making it difficult for a person to absorb nutrients in food. The median age of survival for a person with CF is the late 30s, which is an additional five years from the survival rate just four years ago.
The medicine and the vest help loosen the mucus.
Yet none of it stops McCormick from playing hockey. He plays roller hockey in the spring and summer for Tour Breakaway/Rink Rats. The team just got back from an elite invitation-only tournament in Canada where it finished sixth out of nine teams. Before that, the team won a 12-and-under tournament in Shelton, Conn.
McCormick also plays ice hockey for the Delaware Ducks, who are based at The Pond Ice Arena in Newark, during the winter months. The team went further in the playoffs this past season than any other team in the 12-year history of the Ducks’ organization, finishing second in the Atlantic District championship.
McCormick is a defenseman in roller hockey and a forward in ice hockey.
“He works very hard to be a great hockey player and he does not allow cystic fibrosis to interfere in any way,” said McCormick’s mother, Allison. “Actually, he doesn’t allow anything to interfere with his hockey.”
So he gladly endures the treatments and takes the pills in order to keep playing hockey. Sometimes he takes up to 30 pills in a day if he eats particularly fatty foods. The pills break down the mucus that blocks the pancreas in order to enable nutrients to get through.
McCormick shrugs it all off, saying, “I’m used to it.”
It never stops him from playing hockey practically every day. He’ll either get a friend to put on goalie equipment so he can fire pucks at the net in his driveway or, if no one is available, he’ll get his mom to wear the equipment.
McCormick and his mother and/or father have been at every tournament. When they travel, McCormick’s hockey equipment, as well as his medical equipment, goes with them.
“It doesn’t bother me,” McCormick said about having to do his treatments on the road while his teammates are lounging around. “It’s not a big deal.”
“He’s very disciplined in his hockey and in doing his treatments,” Allison McCormick said.
It’s easy to forget he has CF
Cystic fibrosis affects 30,000 people in the United States, but more than 10 million are genetic carriers. When two carriers have a child, there’s a 25 percent chance that the child will have CF. There’s a 50 percent chance that the child will be a carrier and not have CF. And there’s a 25 percent chance that the child won’t be a carrier and won’t have CF.
McCormick’s parents found out they were each carriers after Michael was diagnosed.
Most of the diagnoses are made in kids by the time they are 2 years old. McCormick found out he had it when he was 6 after his parents took him to their pediatrician because he was having severe stomach pains. He had also had cases of pneumonia as a younger child.
“We never thought at any time that it could have been CF,” Michael McCormick Sr. said.
That changed later that night when the pediatrician called back and said the symptoms sounded like CF. McCormick’s parents took Michael to the hospital to get a sweat test done. If the sweat is too salty, then CF is diagnosed.
Michael Sr. remembers kissing his son’s forehead while he was sweating, and he immediately started crying because he knew.
“That was the only time I cried,” Michael Sr. said, “because he has always been able to do what everyone else can do. We feel really blessed about that. And people can’t believe that he’s so active when they hear he has it.”
Other than the daily pills and the vest treatments, which McCormick usually does at home in the morning and at night, it’s easy to forget he has CF.
In fact, McCormick’s parents are convinced that because their son is always active, that it helps clear out his lungs.
There is no medical evidence to support that. But McCormick’s hockey coaches can certainly attest to his ability to keep up with everybody else.
In roller hockey, the team plays in several tournaments during the summer all around the region. In the ice hockey season, which runs from August through March, the Ducks play between 35 and 50 games, and practice twice each week.
“It’s a wide-open game,” said Bob Young, who coaches the roller hockey team made up primarily of kids from Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. “It’s such a demanding sport that if he couldn’t keep up, it would be pretty obvious. But from seeing him play, you would never know that he has a medical issue, ever.”
Added Mike Davis, the assistant coach for the Ducks: “In all the games and practices I’ve seen him at over the past few years, I have never seen him once come over and say he has to stop.”
McCormick doesn’t see himself as anything other than a hockey player. He talks about playing in high school and getting a college scholarship to play hockey and maybe even coaching when that is done.
But mostly, he’s playing hockey because he loves it.
That’s all his parents ever wanted.
To Michael McCormick and his parents, it isn’t a miracle that he is playing roller hockey and ice hockey year round, even though he takes on average 20 pills a day and twice a day wears a vest that’s hooked up to a machine that vibrates against his chest.
At times, the vibrations on his chest go so fast that his friends tell him he sounds like Woody Woodpecker when he tries to talk during the treatments.
Then, of course, his friends want to try it.
“Yeah, they think it’s funny,” McCormick, 13, said. “But it’s something I have to do.”
McCormick was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was 6 years old. It’s a disease that affects the lungs and pancreas. A defective gene causes the body to produce a faulty protein that leads to abnormally thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and can result in fatal lung infections.
The mucus also obstructs the pancreas, making it difficult for a person to absorb nutrients in food. The median age of survival for a person with CF is the late 30s, which is an additional five years from the survival rate just four years ago.
The medicine and the vest help loosen the mucus.
Yet none of it stops McCormick from playing hockey. He plays roller hockey in the spring and summer for Tour Breakaway/Rink Rats. The team just got back from an elite invitation-only tournament in Canada where it finished sixth out of nine teams. Before that, the team won a 12-and-under tournament in Shelton, Conn.
McCormick also plays ice hockey for the Delaware Ducks, who are based at The Pond Ice Arena in Newark, during the winter months. The team went further in the playoffs this past season than any other team in the 12-year history of the Ducks’ organization, finishing second in the Atlantic District championship.
McCormick is a defenseman in roller hockey and a forward in ice hockey.
“He works very hard to be a great hockey player and he does not allow cystic fibrosis to interfere in any way,” said McCormick’s mother, Allison. “Actually, he doesn’t allow anything to interfere with his hockey.”
So he gladly endures the treatments and takes the pills in order to keep playing hockey. Sometimes he takes up to 30 pills in a day if he eats particularly fatty foods. The pills break down the mucus that blocks the pancreas in order to enable nutrients to get through.
McCormick shrugs it all off, saying, “I’m used to it.”
It never stops him from playing hockey practically every day. He’ll either get a friend to put on goalie equipment so he can fire pucks at the net in his driveway or, if no one is available, he’ll get his mom to wear the equipment.
McCormick and his mother and/or father have been at every tournament. When they travel, McCormick’s hockey equipment, as well as his medical equipment, goes with them.
“It doesn’t bother me,” McCormick said about having to do his treatments on the road while his teammates are lounging around. “It’s not a big deal.”
“He’s very disciplined in his hockey and in doing his treatments,” Allison McCormick said.
It’s easy to forget he has CF
Cystic fibrosis affects 30,000 people in the United States, but more than 10 million are genetic carriers. When two carriers have a child, there’s a 25 percent chance that the child will have CF. There’s a 50 percent chance that the child will be a carrier and not have CF. And there’s a 25 percent chance that the child won’t be a carrier and won’t have CF.
McCormick’s parents found out they were each carriers after Michael was diagnosed.
Most of the diagnoses are made in kids by the time they are 2 years old. McCormick found out he had it when he was 6 after his parents took him to their pediatrician because he was having severe stomach pains. He had also had cases of pneumonia as a younger child.
“We never thought at any time that it could have been CF,” Michael McCormick Sr. said.
That changed later that night when the pediatrician called back and said the symptoms sounded like CF. McCormick’s parents took Michael to the hospital to get a sweat test done. If the sweat is too salty, then CF is diagnosed.
Michael Sr. remembers kissing his son’s forehead while he was sweating, and he immediately started crying because he knew.
“That was the only time I cried,” Michael Sr. said, “because he has always been able to do what everyone else can do. We feel really blessed about that. And people can’t believe that he’s so active when they hear he has it.”
Other than the daily pills and the vest treatments, which McCormick usually does at home in the morning and at night, it’s easy to forget he has CF.
In fact, McCormick’s parents are convinced that because their son is always active, that it helps clear out his lungs.
There is no medical evidence to support that. But McCormick’s hockey coaches can certainly attest to his ability to keep up with everybody else.
In roller hockey, the team plays in several tournaments during the summer all around the region. In the ice hockey season, which runs from August through March, the Ducks play between 35 and 50 games, and practice twice each week.
“It’s a wide-open game,” said Bob Young, who coaches the roller hockey team made up primarily of kids from Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. “It’s such a demanding sport that if he couldn’t keep up, it would be pretty obvious. But from seeing him play, you would never know that he has a medical issue, ever.”
Added Mike Davis, the assistant coach for the Ducks: “In all the games and practices I’ve seen him at over the past few years, I have never seen him once come over and say he has to stop.”
McCormick doesn’t see himself as anything other than a hockey player. He talks about playing in high school and getting a college scholarship to play hockey and maybe even coaching when that is done.
But mostly, he’s playing hockey because he loves it.
That’s all his parents ever wanted.
