420since1974

Downriver of Calgary, between Policeman's Flats and MacKinnon Flats.

Our best day on McGregor Lake this year. 26 Walleye and 1 Northern Pike caught and released in less than 9 hours. All but two were caught on $2.50 "knock-off" crankbait lures, so fishing doesn't have to be expensive.

Another visit to McGregor Lake, Alberta, and another huge haul of Walleye. During this trip we caught and safely released 23 Walleye and 2 Northern Pike in just 7 hours. PLEASE LIKE, COMMENT & SUBSCRIBE to my channel.

Michael Stone is still a decent bottom pairing D, but he missed most of last season due to a blood clot. Andersson, Valimaki, and Kylington all showed that they could play in the NHL, so Stone became expendable.

Fishing has been my hobby since I was six years old. Lately, I've started shooting video of some of my trips. Last Sunday, two of us caught and released 26 fish. Some of the footage is quite funny.

I used to revel in every disaster that the Edmonton Oiler's franchise has endured, but now I'm starting to just feel sorry for them. I really can't see any way to improve the franchise unless/until the owner fires the entire OBC, aka The Red Wine Summit. Craig MacTavish and Duane Sutter should be just the beginning of the purge. Personally, I'd get rid of all of the pro scouts, plus Kevin Lowe, Scott Howson, Paul Coffey, and both of the Gretzkys. On a positive note; Bob Green has done a decent job with amateur scouting during the last 4 of his 6 seasons with the team.

WCD, I agree with everything that you said except for the pull-up reference. At the draft combine, Bennett was trying to hide a shoulder injury, hence his failure to complete a pull-up. Post surgery, he has had no problem being tested as one of the fittest players on the Flames during every training camp.

IMO, Bennett will never live up to his #4 OA draft ranking. Even though his FO% has been good the last two seasons, I highly doubt that he will never become a Top line center, his skill set is much better suited for the LW. That said, he can definitely contribute to the middle 6 of many teams with his speed, grit, and net-front presence. As a fighter, he's a tough middleweight that won't back down from very many heavyweights. He reminds me of Gary Roberts with less hockey IQ/vision.

I lived most my teen years in rural Nova Scotia during the 1970s. Almost always, fights (with weapons or not) were fought one on one. If someone else jumped in, another person would immediately even up the odds. Battles between groups seldom happened; but when they did, the time, place, and number of combatants were agreed on prior to the fight (sort of like in the film:"The Outsiders"). The very rare time that someone got swarmed, the victim always had lots of older brothers and "cousins" that would take retribution on the entire group of attackers sooner rather than later. You have to remember that back then, most families out east had 5 to 7 kids. No one ever "got away with it", yet the RCMP were never called. Rural Nova Scotia was quite a unique place back then, as there was absolutely no hazing at any level of schooling. Again, older brothers and relatives made hazing too dangerous a pastime for anyone to even attempt it. We seldom saw any females fighting, and never saw them strike a male, or an adult of either sex. I feel pretty positive that back then, if they had tried either of the latter two scenarios, they would have been knocked the "*" out. I was always tall for my age and an A student, so dealing with bullies was a common occurrence for me. My father taught me to attempt to talk my way out of a fight or simply just run away. However, if neither of those options worked or were not available, his advice to me was to "hit first, hit hard, hit often, and don't stop until they back off, THEN RUN". This certainly helped me in my early 20s; I worked as a bouncer for 3 years at three of the roughest bars in Calgary, and I never had to strike anyone as I was a very good talker. Verbal persuasion almost always worked; on the rare occasion it was unsuccessful, it just became a wrestling match between a drunk customer and a sober bouncer. In my opinion, the changes in Canadian criminal law since the 1970s have emboldened pre-teens and teens to do anything that they want, with very little fear of substantial consequences. It's not movies, music, social media, or even parenting (though it's certainly tougher for single parent families) that's allowing this to happen, it's the laws that are currently on the books.

Psilocybin is good, LSD is better.

Sadly, I missed an opportunity to see I Mother Earth back in the late 1990s. Finger Eleven put on a great outdoor show at the 2008 Calgary Stampede on the Coca Cola Stage.

Who was the lead singer for Arch Enemy when you saw them? Johan Liva, Angela Gossow, or Alissa White-Gluz? Angela Gossaw was my favourite, I believe that she is currently the band's business manager.

Ya, it took me parts of several weeks to go through my old ticket stubs, newspaper clippings, and the grey matter in my brain in order to compile my list. It is a game worth playing though, there are so many great memories. The only concert that I was actually unhappy with was Big Sugar at the Deerfoot Inn & Casino in Calgary. It was not advertised that they were doing an "unplugged" show, we walked out well before it ended. From my list, Pink Floyd at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton (1994) was by far the greatest rock show that I've ever seen. I'm hoping to see David Gilmour one more time while he's still alive.

IMO, it may take 4 years to know for sure. Will Fox sign with Carolina after he graduates from Harvard in two years? Can he improve his skating to the NHL level? Will Hanafin continue his steady development and be close to replacing Giordano 4 seasons down the road?

Gaudreau didn't struggle without Ferland during his first 3 seasons, there's no reason he would start now.

As Peters has pencilled Lindholm in on the right side of Monahan/Gaudreau, my guess is that Lindholm will share face-off duties with Monahan, depending on which side the draw is.

My take on the recent Calgary Flames trade: To Carolina: Dougie Hamilton (RH RD) - 25 years old, 6’6”, 210lb. Drafted in the first round (9th overall) in 2011. Hamilton is a very good offensive defense-man, who has often been prone to defensive gaffs and lazy, undisciplined penalties. He has played most of his career with Top D partners Zdeno Chara and Mark Giordano, who have covered for some of his defensive lapses. Despite being a big man, he plays quite a soft game. Beginning in Boston and continuing in Calgary; there have been persistent (though unsubstantiated) rumours that he doesn’t fit in well with his teammates. Signed to the end of 2020/2021 at $5.75M per. Michael Ferland (LH LW/RW) – 26 years old, 6’2”, 208lb. Drafted in the 5th round (133rd overall) in 2010. Ferland is a bottom 6 forward that played quite well with Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau for several months. His career has been consistently inconsistent, a world beater one night, invisible the next. The physical play that he famously displayed against Vancouver in the 2015 play-offs has all but disappeared since his last concussion. Signed to the end of next season at $1.75M per, he will then be a UFA probably looking to at least double his salary. Adam Fox (RH RD) – 20 years old, 5’11”, 181lb. Drafted in the 3rd round (66th overall) in 2016. Fox is a good offensive defense-man who doesn’t appear to care much about his own end of the ice. He is a decent skater with great vision and elite passing skills. His size prevents him from having much of a physical presence. He has played for Harvard in the NCAA for the last two seasons and had refused to talk about contract offers from the Flames. This has led some people to believe that he intends to play out all 4 seasons in Harvard. He’d then become a UFA and could sign with the highest bidder. To Calgary: Noah Hanifin (LH LD) – 21 years old, 6’3”, 206lb. Drafted in the 1st round (5th overall) in 2015. Hanifin is a talented “all-around” defense-man who has continued to improve every season. He seldom chips the puck out of the D zone; preferring to skate it out or pass it up to a forward. He is very skilled at O-zone entries; which should eliminate the need for some of the Flame’s “dump and chase” plays. Hanifin is projected to play on the 2nd pairing with veteran Travis Hamonic. This will allow Calgary to move TJ Brodie back to playing on Giordano’s right side, where Brodie had his greatest success. Hanifin is a RFA without arbitration rights coming off of an ELC ($925k Cap Hit, $1.775M AAV). Elias Lindholm (RH C/RW) – 23 years old, 6’1”, 192lb. Drafted in the 1st round (5th overall) in 2013. Lindholm is a hardworking, versatile, skilled forward. He competes well in all 3 zones and has averaged a 52.7 FO% over 5 NHL seasons. His shot could use some improvement; while it is accurate, it’s not especially hard. He is projected to play at RW with Monahan/Gaudreau and will probably share face-off duties with Monahan, depending on which side the draw is. During his draft year, the Flames were reportedly just as interested in him as they were in Monahan. Lindholm is a RFA with arbitration rights coming off of a two year, $2.7M per contract. Overall, I feel that this trade could benefit both teams, but I think that it will take 4 years before we know for sure. If Carolina pairs Hamilton with Jaccob Slavin, they should have a great Top D pairing for at least 3 seasons. Ferland could help them out for at least one year; as he can play up and down their lineup. For the Hurricanes to win this trade, they would need to sign Fox and hope that he can become their PP quarterback 4 years down the road. Among other things, Calgary apparently needed a dressing room shake-up and a Top 6 RW. I believe that it's "mission accomplished" on both of those items. They also got a little younger. Lindholm should be able to put up 50+ points playing with SM & JG, anything more will be a bonus. It will probably help that both players are very familiar with Calgary’s new coach (their old coach). For the Flames to win this trade, Hanifin will need to continue his steady development and come close to filling Giordano’s spot in 4 years. Trivia Calgary now has 20% of the first round draft picks from the 2013 Entry Draft. #5 Lindholm #6 Monahan #17 Lazar #22 Poirier #24 Shinkaruk #28 Klimchuk IMO, Lazar is on the bubble; and Poirier, Shinkaruk, and Klimchuk probably have only one more season to make it to the NHL.

I've been on a 70s "prog rock" binge for the last month, revising some of my old favourites. Check out Genesis "Live" (1973):