Finally....a hockey blog.

A few people I know have been bugging me to start a blog about the Peterborough Petes. They seem to think that being a colour-commentator with TVCogeco somehow makes me an "expert".

I don't claim to be an expert but I can certainly offer an opinion on what I've seen so far this season.

The Petes are now 15 games in to the 2008-2009 OHL campaign, which means they're nearly a quarter of the way through of the season. Let's take a look at some of the key areas of the team and see how they've been graded so far this season.

Coaching: C-

You can never under-estimate the difference good coaching will make when you have a young team. Ken McCrae and Ryan Barnes are rookies behind the bench in the OHL. While McCrae has a decent resume, coaching men in Texas and coaching kids in Ontario are vastly different. Barnes' resume is surprisingly light and both were puzzling hires. I'm not saying they were bad choices....at least not yet. While the coaches have done a good job running the practices and have been much more vocal than their predecessors, they've been unable to get the most from their veteran players and that raises concerns. Yes, it's still quite early but it's also inevitable that when and if the finger pointing begins the coaching staff will be a target of criticism.

Goaltending: C+

The season started off with three goaltenders and no clear-cut starter. After 15 games, two goalies remain and there's still no clear-cut starter. Let's start with Trevor Cann. Cann has proven on a couple of occasions this season that he can be the type of goaltender that can steal a win when it's desperately needed. However, he's also followed brilliant games with a brutal efforts. That lack of consistency has dogged him through the last two seasons and has caused his value to fall dramatically. Meanwhile Jason Missiaen's stock has risen immensely from last season and could be ready to take over the reins as starter. Before that happens he'll need to win and steal games on a consistent basis.

Right now, both netminders have VERY similar numbers
Cann - 8 appearances (3 wins, 5 losses), 3.24 GAA, 267 saves, 0.921 SV%
Missiaen - 8 appearances (3 wins, 4 losses), 3.15 GAA, 255, 0.911 SV%

Defence: B-

I'm being generous with this grade...and for good reason. Coming in to the season, 6 of the Petes 7 blueliners had one year or less of OHL experience. This is a young group that's had to learn to adapt very quickly to life in the OHL. Losing Jake LaPlante to injury has taken a major toll on the the blueline however young kids like Adam Sedlak, Jeff Braithwaite and Chris Buonomo have done a great job to step up and try to shut down some of the OHL's bigger stars on a nightly basis. The Pete's desperately need to add some veteran players to their blueline. It's already obvious that Zach Bogosion will not be returning from Atlanta and once it becomes official I believe a deal will be made to acquire some help.

Forwards: D-

To be fair, there have been some bright lights this season. Ryan Spooner has shown he will be the future of the team. Tony Romano has surpassed expectations to lead the team in scoring. Justin Larson was picked up off waivers and provided a spark in addition to a few points. The real concern however is on the veteran players. Pat Daley, Zach Harnden, Zach Kassian and Brett Theberge are all counted on to score goals. So far the four players have combined for only 9 goals. It's clear that these players are not playing at the level they are capable and that could be for a variety of reasons. It could be a slump, it could be an injury, it could be lack of good coaching, it could be all of the above. Whatever the case, it's quite clear the Petes are not getting the production they should be from their best players.

Overall: C-

Two words best describe the effort of the Petes' so far this season. Inconsistent - because they have the ability to play as a solid, tight-checking team one night and then be mistake-prone and sloppy the next.

The other word is "Underachiever". They are clearly much more capable than they've led on to be. Underachievers sink to the bottom and stay in a rut without ever getting out. Overachievers win championships and league titles because every member of the team buys into a coach's philosophy to "play to win".

With 51 games left on the OHL schedule, the Petes' still have time to decide who they want to be.

Legal Disclaimer: The thoughts and opinions of this blog are my own and do not reflect those of TVCogeco, CTVglobemedia, Energy 99.7 or The Peterborough Petes. There...now I can't get sued!

"What the hell happened to you?"

I've titled this blog with the question I've been asked over and over and over and over again this past week.....

"What the hell happened to you?"

Last Tuesday marked the beginning of a new hockey season for me. I play 3 nights a week with 3 different groups of guys. All 3 groups were STUNNED by my appearance, thanks to Herbal One.

When the season ended back in March, I had only been on the program a couple months and was around the 250lbs mark. When I saw the guys last week for the first time since, I was around the 190lbs mark....the difference was quite substantial apparently.

I've had no shortage of questions about the program this last week. Yes, it does work...Yes, I'm keeping it off....and believe it or not, Yes, I'm STILL losing a little bit of weight here and there.

It's funny, I never used my weight as an excuse to not do something. I played hockey last season despite the fact I weighed nearly 100lbs more than I do now. Right now I can't believe how much easier it is to play being so much lighter. I'm quicker, I have more energy and I can do way more now than I ever could. Maybe if I had bothered to lose this much weight as a kid I could have made the NHL!....ok, not likely, but a kid can dream!

Time now once again for a BEFORE AND AFTER SHOT!

Here's me, during this past Holiday weekend, zip lining at Camp Fortune in Gatineau, QC.

I'm really glad I've been hitting the gym, since I needed some muscle to complete all the obstacles on the zip lining course....it wasn't easy, but it was lots of fun!

Now let's compare that recent shot with one that my good friend Allie sent me from 4 years ago.

Now I know why people ask me, "What the hell happened to you?"

People also ask me, "does it really work?"....well there's the evidence for you that yes, Herbal One DOES work.

Call them at 748-9999 to get signed up.