Flames Fan!

Just as a preface to this note, I am NOT a hockey player. I played hockey for 3 years in my life (when I was 5 and 6 years old, and then in a spring league when I was 13). Maybe I should have been one because I would be considered a HUGE hockey player, but instead I am a relatively small basketball player... I also have not been much of a hockey fan in general for most of my life, but have become a bigger one in the last 10 years.

I am a pretty big Calgary Flames fan, however. I have been a fan for as long as I can remember. It all started when I was quite young, probably around 8 or 9 years old, when I got a Christmas present from my Grandma. It was a alarm clock with a radio built in. That was the gift that I have used the most in my life, lasting for the better part of 15 years. I set the radio to 660 AM, better known at the time as 66 CFR, which stood for Calgary Flames Radio. I would be sent to bed at a decent time every night and I would stay up for hours just listening to the voice of Peter Maher (pronounced Marr) as he called the play-by-play of the hockey games. He still announces the games today, even having the opportunity to announce the games on the radio for the last Canadian Olympic team. I listened faithfully for years and years, even when the Flames became incredibly bad in the mid to late 90's. (Note: I still listened to 66 CFR even when Flames games weren't being broadcast. They played music from the 60's and 70's. Needless to say, I wasn't "in the know" when it came to popular music at the time. As a matter of fact, I never have really been too knowledgeable when its come to current music, except for maybe from when I was 18-20 and from 22-25 years old [the two year hiatus was from when I was a missionary]. I do feel to a large extent that music from this era is much better than a lot of todays garbage.).

As some of you may know, there has been quite a buzz around the Flames recently because of a few trades that they have made. I would even say that its been one of the most exciting times in recent history for Calgary, except for when they made it to the Stanley Cup finals in 2004. They acquired a player by the name of Olli Jokinen (below), arguably one of the top centermen in the game, as well as a very good defender in Jordan Leopold, who played for the Flames when they made the above mentioned run for the Stanley Cup.



In his first game with the Flames, Jokinen scored two goals, while Leopold scored another. I feel as if these two moves have definitely cemented Calgary as one of the favourites to win it all come playoff time. All I can say is... GO FLAMES GO!!!