Parkland After Dark Rotary Casino Night

A couple of weekends ago Christina and I were invited by United Construction Company to join them at the 1st annual Casino Night hosted by the Parkland After Dark Rotary.

We were informed that it was a black tie event so as a test-run for our upcoming wedding I rented a tux to check out comfort levels and to see how it looked. And of course, Christina will take any chance she can to get all fancied up, and she fancies up well...

The lovely hair and makeup

But the wind, what to do about the wind?

Ukranian heritage showing through

Hot stuff and cool ice at the event.

Usually I am not much for gambling but with some great prizes and the tickets that can be 'purchased' with funny money winnings I was ready for some blackjack.

When our pockets got full we got creative

With a lot of help from the dealers we ended up with quite a stack of bills and a nice bunch of prize tickets.

It ended up the only prize I went home with that night was the best one. But I didn't win her in any raffle...It just turns out that valkries really like luchadores.

Big thanks to United for the great night.

Oilers Versus My Redwings

On March 15th the Detroit Redwings came into town and my buddy Dan took me to the game with his corporate tickets. As a longtime Redwings fan I try and make every game that they come to Edmonton. Even though the Oilers have sucked for a long time they always seem to play Detroit tough and I'm treated to a pretty competitive game.

Being that it was a Friday night game the crowd was in good spirits and jacked for the game.

As a loyal fan I donned my Datsyuk jersey and entered directly into enemy territory. The boo's and threats rained down but I stood my ground in front of the Oilers dressing room.

The game itself didn't start so hot. Taylor Hall broke in untouched early to slide one by Howard for a quick 1-0 lead and the Oilers added to that in the second holding a 2-0 advantage going into the 3rd. It was hard to tell if the Oilers were playing well or if the Wings were just stinking it up.

Nobody looked overly sharp, with the Wings defense looking downright awful. They had no confidence with the puck, Kindle was doing everything he could not to have it on his stick. The D showed no jump for loose pucks, choosing instead to let the Oilers forwards come at them. Other than some flourishes by Datsyuk (like making Smyth look foolish) and the chin of Tootoo there wasn't much to cheer for.

A sweet Filpulla backhand and bonehead play by the Oilers Petry allowed the Redwings to tie it up in the 3rd and you could feel the air come out of the building as the Detroit fans found their voice. From his stance in this picture this dude is a Dave Lewis fan.

With the game going into overtime the Oilers looked content with a single point (just look below how they put no pressure on Fransen) and Datsyuk once again pulled a rabbit out of his hat.

Celebratory drinks were needed so I headed to the bar next door to drown a beer or two with other Detroit fans. A cool moment was meeting a former UFC fighter Tim "The Thrashing Machine" Hague after commenting on the 'uniqueness' of his bunnyhug. We chatted for awhile and he was a really nice modest guy. In the picture below he is the big guy with the beard beside me.

With the Wings moving to the Eastern Division I am sad that I will have less chances to see them live but am excited that I will probably get more of their games on TV as they re-establish their dominance of the Maple Leafs on Hockey Night In Canada.

In closing I want to give a big thank you to Dan and to NorthShore Environmental Consultants for the tickets. I had an awesome time.

New Sarepta Charity Hockey Tournament 2013

We are just 2 days away from the 4th Annual North Shore Ice Devils/Ninjas charity hockey tournament and I am getting pretty excited. As well as reffing the odd game I will be playing for the Puckheads as we chase down the B Side trophy.

This year we have a pretty exciting addition of a "Shoot To Win" for $25,000. Three tickets will be drawn and the shooters will aim to get the puck through the open space on the net from the far blue line. Simple!

So come one down to New Sarepta this weekend.

And in the meantime take a look at our tournament website, follow our team on Twitter, and check out some pictures from past years here and here.

These pucks from our sponsor MEG Energy are going to see a lot of use.

The trophy everyone is chasing

Update: Another great tourney in the books and a new championship team: The Rusty Nuts.

CP Holiday Train in Edmonton

A week back Christina's friend (and soon to be Maid of Honor) Mary invited us to join herself and her husband (Jason) as they greeted the CP Holiday Train as it passed through Edmonton. We readily agreed and were excited to be accompanying Jason, who is a bit of a 'train nut' (He drives the Edmonton Trolley and Steam Train at Fort Edmonton).

The pictures are presented in all sizes as the combination of people, low light and cold hands didn't produce the best levels of detail and composition. If you want a better look click on the picture for an expanded size.

The lights and stage show were all pretty fantastic. Plus the crowd coming by to see the show donated large amounts to the food bank. A great event put on by Canadian Pacific.

Client Appreciation

I was lucky enough to receive an invite to a client appreciation night a few weeks back by Delnor Construction. In my new world of employment I am eager to meet and greet as many folks in the industry as I can so I made a point of marking it in my calendar. It didn't take long though and I forgot about it.  When my calendar alarm went off a few days before the event I realized I never RSVP'd and had missed the deadline by a week. Undeterred , I decided to send an email to the contact person. They were extremely gracious in re-assuring me that they could definitely accommodate me and my tardy ways.

I arrived a little past the 'beginning' of the social and was a little peeved that the parking lot of the Royal Mayfair was already full. I grumpily accepted that I would have to drive and find a spot at the neighbouring Hawrelak park. As it began to rain during my walk to the event I started having second thoughts about attending but I continued on.  When I arrived I was greeted by a friendly face, great food and free drinks at the bar. Needless to say, I was now happy.

I mingled through the room for awhile and met some great people, including quite a few project managers and a great coordinator from Delnor Construction. Eventually, one of the Partners from the firm got up to the mike and graciously thanked everyone for coming. At this point, I was engaged in a discussion with a woman regarding the durability requirements of affordable housing so I wasn't really listening to attentively to the speaker. However, my ears perked up when I heard my name announced. I had won the door prize. Stunned, I waved to the crowd and thanked the host unsure of what I had won.

Well, it turns out that I won a NEW 55 INCH 3D TELEVISION. Holy Crap.

As I drive a Civic there was no way I was going to get that puppy home so they are dropping it off at work for me this week.  Obviously, I was overjoyed to receive anything let alone a new tv, but that wasn't it. On the way out they gave all guests a customized set of headphones and i-tunes gift certificate.



So being that they gave me all of this - I feel its the least I can do but thank them and pop up their logo on my personal soapbox read by literally the most prestigious dozen or so people on-line.

Thank you Delnor Construction. Hey everybody, go build something with them!