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| Afghanistan |
| Ex-NHLers defeat soldiers in Kandahar hockey match |
| 2007-05-06 |
| Found this nifty story on a visit to Chuck Simmins' crib. Thanks Chuck! Lord Stanley's Cup stood sentry over the proceedings from a shaded stoop nearby as Team Canada took on a badly outmatched Team Task Force in front of more than 100 Canadian and coalition soldiers at Kandahar Airfield. Down by several goals, Cpl. Mike Loder of the 2nd Royal Newfoundland Regiment in Grand Falls-Windsor, N.L., tried to rally his troops by getting into a scuffle with [Tiger] Williams, the legendary Toronto Maple Leafs tough guy who's never shied away from a fight. "I knew he was one of the harder Toronto Maple Leafs to ever play the game, and one of my definite idols," a beaming Loder said afterwards, dripping with sweat under the typically oppressive Afghanistan sun. "As we were picking at each other, I kind of figured he wanted to go for a little brawl." The fight, such as it was - and Tiger wasn't pulling his punches, Loder said - was no less one-sided than the game. "He made more contact than me, I think," Loder grinned. "This is Tiger - he'd really do it. That's good, though." For his part, a tongue-in-cheek Williams was less than apologetic. "You ever heard of a camel fly? They bite you in the face . . . I was just trying to wipe it off, but he didn't realize I was coming to his aid," he said as he signed autographs and posed for photos with fans. "It's OK. He's young, he'll learn as things go on. But he's battle-ready, I'll tell you that." Between his shifts, former Toronto Maple Leafs defender Dave Hutchinson provided a running play-by-play commentary for Terry Kelly, a blind singer-songwriter from Newfoundland who sang the national anthem. And so untested was Tugnutt, the former goaltender for the defunct Quebec Nordiques, that he placed an order for an iced cappuccino from Tim Hortons that was delivered to his net midway through the third period. Canada's top soldier, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier, had been talking about suiting up and doing battle on a line with Williams and another well-known tough guy, former Detroit Red Wings forward Bob Probert. But even though he was kitted out in a Team Task Force jersey with his name on the back, Hillier opted to settle for dropping the ball during the ceremonial opening faceoff. "We got a whole bunch of young men here - it's all men on our Task Force Afghanistan team - this is the experience of their lives to be playing the NHL players, their sports heroes, and I didn't want to take even a second away from them doing that," Hillier said. "I'm quite content to watch here - I've got my sweater on, as you can see - and they know which team I'm cheering for." Williams, who is on his second visit to Afghanistan, appeared to get a little emotional when he talked about the sacrifices Canada's soldiers are making - and about what he considers a shortage of support from the home front. "You don't have to agree with what's going on, but you do have to support them, because they're our soldiers and we all should be very proud of them," he said. "To see the conditions that they have to put up with every day, the heat and the dust, never mind all the stuff that you could come home in a bag . . . it's tough. It's a tough deal." Mark Napier, a two-time Stanley Cup winner who scored 235 goals with four different teams during his 11-year NHL career, conceded the teams weren't very evenly matched. But he said the experience of visiting Afghanistan has been one he's never likely to forget. "Back home in Canada, you hear so many negative things about the military, and now you get here and find out it's not even close to what's portrayed back home," Napier said. "I'm so proud of being a Canadian and of what this military does, and how good they are." He rejected praise that the former NHLers had sacrificed much in coming to Afghanistan to put up with the oppressive heat and difficult conditions - noting those are things the soldiers put up with on a daily basis. "I've never played in anything this hot," he said. "I've never had so much fun, either." |
| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #4 Yep, but Lord Stanley's Cup is taken where ever deemed necesary by the winning teammates. It's possible to stagger into the Moe's Grill and Drinkery and see the Stanley Cup on a fine Sunday Morn. The Cup, it travels. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-05-06 15:25 |
| #3 OK - I'm not a sports fan, but isn't the NHL the National (Ice) Hockey League? So where's they get an ice rink in Afghanistan? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-05-06 11:26 |
| #2 Lord Stanley's Cup stood sentry over the proceedings I love that tradition. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-05-06 10:47 |
| #1 I hope Don Cherry was able to do some play-by-play. He'd really enjoy it. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2007-05-06 08:14 |