The Most Canadian Possible Highway Wreck: Hockey Game Breaks Out Amid Stopped Traffic

Cars on Highway 40 northeast of Montreal were caught for hours
behind a highway wreck. This being Canada, the obvious thing
that happened was a hockey game broke out on the
icy highway while people waited for the wreck to be cleared.

A couple days ago, Highway 40  in Quebec was terribly icy. Not surprisingly, a 40 to 50 car pileup occurred on the icy road about 25 miles northeast of Montreal.

Of course, I won't make light of that. Several people were hurt, thankfully none seriously. And hundreds of cars were trapped on the highway for hours, until the wrecks were cleaned up.

However, I do have to make light of one aspect of this crash.

This being Canada, people made the best of the situation in the most Canadian way possible. The highway really did resemble a skating rink, so people trapped in their cars dragged out their hockey sticks and play began on the rink, er, Highway 40. 

They tell us to have an emergency kit in our car during the winter. You know, things like blankets, a shovel, snacks, a weather radio, that kind of thing. If this is any indication, a Canadian car winter emergency kit consists of hockey sticks and a couple of pucks.

Here's a quick recap video of the game.

Huge Teddy Bear Storm Disrupts Hockey Game In Best Possible Way

A blizzard of teddy bears rains down on a Hershey, Pennsylvania
hockey rink on Sunday for a very good reason. 

A minor league hockey game between the Hershey, Pennsylvania Bears and Binghamton Devils came to a long, grinding halt Sunday because, of all things, a blizzard of teddy bears.

There's a tradition in minor league hockey for something called the teddy bear toss, and the one Sunday at the Hershey game was one for the record books.

In the toss, when the home team scores the first goal of the season, fans toss teddy bears onto the ice.

Midway through the first period on Sunday, the Hershey Bears scored their first goal of the game. Everybody expected teddy bears to rain down on the ice, but nobody expected this. Watch the awesome video at the bottom of this post to see how this went down. It was beautifu

For nearly 10 minutes teddy bears flew from the stands in a blinding stuffed animal blizzard. When all was said and done, 34,798 stuffed animals had landed on the ice.

All the toys go to charity. Most of them go to local organizations like food banks, churches and the Lions Club. Some of them go to the Children's Miracle Network and the American Cancer Society.

All of the 34,798 stuffed animals make kids' Christmas all the better.  Sunday's teddy bear toss set a new record in minor league hockey.  The previous record was set by the Calgary Hitmen in 2015.

The teddy bear toss at the Hershey Bears game Sunday forced a long delay in the game, but nobody complained. I think it would have been especially fun being in the lower seats above the upper decks. After you throw your teddy bear onto the ice, more rain down from above, so you'd grab those and fling them onto the rink as well.

Here's the video:

O Canada! Hockey, National Anthem And Skating Hazards Don't Mix

Not the best moment in the history of people
singing "O Canada."  

You have to expect this to happen all the time in Canada: A hockey game and a rendition of "O, Canada," the national anthem at the start of a hockey game.  

Some moron decided that it would be cool to have the guy who sings "O Canada" skate around the arena before the hockey game as he sings.

Bad idea, but it wasn't totally the singer's fault. Some moron, there were a lot of morons in this incident, apparently, put out a ceremonial carpet. The singer, Mark Donnelly, didn't see the carpet and fell flat on his face as he was singing.

Decent recovery though.

Watch the disaster in this video:

Shaved Ice From Hockey Rinks? Too Bad April Fools Idea Can't Be Done

A frosty treat made from shavings stirred up
by the Zamboni machines at hockey rinks?  

Every year on April 1, the public relations department at the University of Vermont issues a press release telling the world about its latest (fake) bright idea.

This year, they tell us all the ice the Zambonis shave from the hockey arena in Gutterson Field House will be converted to shaved ice treats for fans.

From UVM's press release:

"Catamount Ice, a frozen dessert that developers liken to Hawaiian shaved ice or the ever-popular Sno Cone, will be made with repurposed ice shavings 'harvested' by the Gutterson rink Zamboni machines...."

The idea was purported thought of by Connor Daley, the president of the Student Government Association, who thought the pile of ice shavings outside the arena was wasteful and contributed to unwanted stresses on the area's stormwater drainage system.

Instead of flavoring the ice with familiar things like grape or orange, they'd get invasive species tormenting the Vermont environment, like purple loosestrife or wild chervill or sea lamprey as flavors for the ice. (That way we could pull up the invasives and put them to good use)

And maybe the sweat, blood and whatnot from the hockey players would add some flavor, too.

I wish I thought of this when I was bemoaning all the snow on the ground in March. Gather up the snow clogging my property, dump food coloring and flavoring onto it, throw it in a freezer truck and sell it as a nutritious, organic frosty treat to unsuspecting southern Californians.

Oh well, maybe next year.

New Bullying Outrage: Coach vs 13 Year Old

The news has been abuzz the past week with that 68-year old bus monitor being bullied by middle school kids on a bus.

The outrage has been understandably intense, and people have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the victim in that case.

But the bullying continues for others. Another video, sure to shock, is hitting the airwaves this afternoon. In it, a hockey game among 10 to 13-year olds had just ended on Saturday. The coach of one team intentionally trips a 13-year-old at the post game handshake. The kid got a broken wrist out of the deal.

Watch and be mad, really mad: (Then more details below)



According to The Province, a British Columbia publication, the coach was arrested but released Saturday. 

A decision on whether to charge him with a crime is pending, and depends upon whether  the parents of the victim want to press charges.

CTV/Vancouver identified the coach as Martin Tremblay, but said he could not be reached for comment. (I'll bet!)  CTV said sources close to Tremblay said he slipped on the ice. Watch the video and judge for yourself. (Didn't look like a slip to me, but what do I know?)

I'm sure Internet sleuths are working on getting more information on Tremblay just as they quickly figured out the identities of the kids who abused the bus monitor in New York State.

You can see already what effect this guy's "leadership" has on the team, by this paragraph from the Province. (The coach was with a team called the Hornets, the injured 13-year old was with the Steel)

"Later footage also shows the man (the coach) trading words with a referee while a Steel coach standing in shock is ushered off the ice. A Hornets player is also caught on camera throwing a water bottle at the bleachers while others on the team applaud and gesture with their arms open. The Hornets coach also gives a middle finger to those yelling from the bleachers."


This coach is even worse than the miserable kids who abused the bus monitor. The kids with the bus monitor are young, immature, and more prone to doing stupid things. What's the Hornets coach's excuse?

I can't wait to hear Tremblay's explanation for this. I'm sure the kid did something during the game the coach didn't like, but tripping and injuring him? And so blatantly.

If he went out of his way to hurt that 13-year old hockey player, does he hurt other kids? Does he have kids, and does he abuse them? These are questions that need to be answered.

I'm predicting the coach will offer some lame excuse and lame semi apology at some point. But still. He's the latest installment of Worst Person of the Week.

New NHL Star, Age 59, Wows 'Em in Massena, New York

Congratulations to Brenda Hewitt, 59, who, recently, in Massena, New York, showed National Hockey League players how it's done.

Frenchie's Ford up there in Massena, the frozen tip of northern New York, had a little contest. Drive a hockey puck into a tiny little hole in front of the goal in a hockey rink and you win a brand spanking new 2012 Ford F-150.

You had to do it from the far blue line on the hockey rink. Correct me if I'm wrong, dear hockey fans, but I think that's 94 feet away from the goal. I bet the good folks at Frenchie's thought they were keeping their truck

Hewitt hobbled uncertainly onto the ice, squared herself off, and did her magic. Watch the video to see it happen:  No word yet on whether the Montreal Canadiens or Boston Bruins are picking Hewitt up.