Doyle: Wrapping up the hockey road trip

There is a reason for the shortage of postings from me over the past week - it is a little difficult (and illegal) to blog while behind the wheel.

9 Days
1,827km
6 overnights away from home
4 OHL arenas

That is the kind of week it has been for me. It started Friday, January 30 when I called the Saginaw Spirit/Sarnia Sting game. Immediately after the game I hit the road to Peterborough to get into the Liftlock City in the wee hours of the morning. On Saturday, I took part in TVCOGECO's Hockey Day in Peterborough festivities. That involved calling a major midget game between Peterborough and Detroit Victory Honda. Then it was the Peterborough Stars vs. Lindsay Muskies in CCHL play (Provincial Jr. A for those more familiar with that). Then after a break, host the Peterborough Petes/Ottawa 67's game that evening. After getting a chance to visit with family on Sunday, it was onto Kingston Monday for the OHL All-Star festivities. The geography of Kingston would make that location a strong spot for a Memorial Cup eventually. But there are some issues to take of, which by hosting events like this, allows the Frontenacs to see what works and what does not and build from there. While I do not see them as one of the favourites for the 2011 Memorial Cup by any means, this year's bid could give them a chance to see what they need to work on to eventually host the CHL's marquee event.

Back behind the wheel Thursday to drive from Kingston to St. Catharines to host the Niagara IceDogs/London Knights game on TVCOGECO. It was the first time I had worked a game in the Jack Gatecliff Arena. It is certainly a throw back to former times around the Ontario Hockey League. The crowd, and everything else, is right on top of the players. The game was a sell out - with an announced crowd of 3,145. The game marked the return of Chris DeSousa to Niagara, who heard some boos from the fans in attendance, but was gracious during an intermission interview. He then visited with owners Bill and Denise Burke during the intermission before eventually heading back to the Knights dressing room. Niagara went on to win the game 2-1.

Straight home after that game, and then Friday night, call the Sting/Owen Sound Attack game back in the familiar confines of Sarnia. The Sting looked good early, but allowed three goals in 26 seconds during the second period to let the Attack off the floor and they went on to a 5-3 win. Steven Shipley scored three goals to pace the Attack. Goalie Scott Stajcer kept his club in the game early.

The final day of the busy stretch came Saturday with a return trip to St. Catharines to host Niagara/Windsor that night. The reason for the Niagara visits was because their regular host, Al Galloway, has been calling the Tankard Ontario Men's Curling Championship for TVCOGECO in Napanee. The Spitfires were coming off a loss in Erie Friday night and scored two goals in the first 21 seconds to open the game up. At this point you can't help but wonder if this will be a blowout. But the IceDogs called a timeout and settled down and it was 2-1 after the first period. Windsor went on to win the game 5-2. It was funny during those games when I would get strange looks from a few of the players and coaches thinking (or saying) "What are you doing here in Niagara?"

It was a long week, but a fun one when most of your travels involve being involved in OHL games. In Peterborough, I find Dave Gilbert and I always work well together and the entire crew there should be congratulated for putting together almost 10 hours of live hockey coverage throughout that Saturday. Then Steve Clark, Ed Burkholder and the crew in Niagara were top notch as well. If the IceDogs beat Windsor Saturday night, I think the team was going to try and find a way to keep me around for a few more games!

Now onto the home stretch of the OHL season, there are some interesting playoff races. It will also be very interesting to keep an eye on the Brampton Battalion now that Cody Hodgson is back.

tdoyle@loosepucks.com
Twitter: Loosepucks