Dennis Jones

I played hockey this weekend. On display were all my typical bad passes, weak shots and accidental crashes into other players and there’s absolutely no doubt about it… I am ALREADY in mid season form! Afterwards in the locker room I noticed my skates were unlaced in a strange location. On closer observation it became clear that someone had obviously skated right over the top of me and sliced my laces in two without me knowing it. I sometimes float through life somewhat oblivious to what’s happening around me, but perhaps it would be a good idea for me to pay a little closer attention to my surroundings when I’m playing hockey.

Last year when my buddy Jeff asked me if I would play on his hockey team, I used my best Canadian accent and said, “yehsure, eh” and started digging around the garage looking for equipment I could use.

I found a rusted out CCM helmet that I think belonged to one of my kids because it was about three sizes too small for my fat head. It had no cage and the foam liner inside the helmet had dried up and turned rock hard. I scavenged a cage and other missing hardware, put it all together and this is the helmet I played in all last season. I’m sure opponents quaked in their hockey boots when they saw me show up at a faceoff circle sporting my custom wired helmet with the half inch bolts sticking out each side.

The 2011 hockey season cranks up for me in a couple of weeks and since I now seem to have a greater desire to survive than I did in 2010, I think I’m going to invest in a new helmet.