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About Mike Boone
Full Name
Mike Boone
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http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/columnists/mike_boone.html
About
I grew up in Park Extension, within walking distance of Dickie Moore's Dairy Queen on Jean Talon. Moore had a place on L'Acadie Blvd., and we used to see him driving around in his convertible with a Samoyed and a very dishy wife.
While "studying" at McGill University during the 1960s, I used to attend games at the old Montreal Forum. My fellow undergraduate reprobates and I would scramble up the stairs to get centre-ice spots in the top standing room section, where aged ushers didn't know or care what we were smoking.
I stood out in the cold for six hours to get tickets to the 1975 New Year's Eve game between the Canadiens and Central Red Army. With the exception of the birth of my daughter, the 3-3 tie was the greatest event I've ever seen in my life.
The Canada-U.S. Gold medal game comes close .... but I wasn't there.
I've been a professional journalist since 1974, when I joined the Montreal Star sports department. I've covered the 1976 Olympic Games, the 1979 Expos, pop music and MSO tours of Europe and Asia (classical musicians are WAY more fun to drink with than athletes). I wrote a TV & Radio column for 20 years and, since 2000, have written a City column for The Gazette.
The best part of being a Habs Inside/Out contributor is attending games at the Bell Centre. I think it's a great building: noisy, raucous and packed to the rafters with Montrealers and visitors who live for hockey.
And I still get goosebumps every time Michel Lacroix booms out "Accueillons nos Canadiens ..."
Having seen the Boston Red Sox win two World Series and the Pittsburgh Steelers add a couple Super Bowl titles, I suppose I can die happy ... but not before another Stanley Cup parade. And I'd really like my daughter to see a historic New Year's Eve game.
I like all the players. Covering baseball gives me a profound appreciation of pro athletes who aren't jerks.
My weltanschauung was summarized by the late great Bill Hicks when he said "all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream and we are the imagination of ourselves."
Have a nice day.
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Completely off topic but this seems like a good place to ask. Is anybody involved with/aware of either A) a casual youth (or mixed youth and adult) hockey league or B) a regular pick-up league playing in the downtown montreal area or at an arena accessible by public transit? Unfortunately I am unable to join my university's league because I work Friday and Saturday nights. Google has also not yielded many promising results. Despite this I am undetered in my search. I have 11 years hockey experience but have not played in a few years. I play defense or right wing if that is of any concern. Thank you in advance.
Grant
Grant you should have an email link activated on your profile so you can get responses like this. A friend of mine sent me this info on pickup leagues "He should check out the Pierrefonds arena website, there are many teams there and there is a place where he can submit his name as a spare…there is also 4-Glaces website but this is on the south shore.
how come we only draft shorties?
Read the article!! He was not drafted.
Shorty? Define shorty in relation to NHL averages please.
That's awesome. He ain't huge, but he's still young- I was exactly the same size at age 18, and by the time I was 22 I had hit 6'0" and 210 pounds. Of course, most of it was molson muscle, but the point is, this kid is going to fill out.
Does someone know what the rules are about signing an undrafted player?
Lefebvre mentions a hope for a contract - could the Habs sign him ANYTIME during the year, even the day before next year's draft? Or is there a cut-off, or some other kind of rule that governs undrafted players of draft age?
Sounds like he was on their radar as a late draft pick but they gambled that no-one else was as aware of him.
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`Could this team miss the playoffs? Who knows?' - Bob Gainey on the new Habs.
Good question ,checked CBA but still not 100%.
Know that the Habs signed Robert Mayer after he went thru the draft undrafted as a 19 year. He was European but had spent 1 year in the Q.
From looking at the CBA, my inclination is no but that document is so legalnez.
The Habs if they were allowed to, would have to sign him to a pro contract but pay him to play in the Q. Similar to the deal with Engqvist from Sweden.
Each team is allowed to have 50 players under contract.The Habs have 48 counting Engqvist and would suspect they would prefer not to use the last 2, in case they ran into serious injury problems (especially goal) and needed to sign another pro.
This for a kid that was only expected to go in the later rounds anyhow.
i think it's either october 1st (ie. beginning of the season) or december 1st. i vaguely remember those dates, for some reason. anyways, it would make no sense to allow players to be signed the day before the draft, so i'm sure there's a deadline.
Lol... ok it's not all that exciting since RDS is reporting that 26 of 29 players at the rookie camp where invited back... But good luck Lefebrve.
http://www.rds.ca/canadien/chroniques/282143.html
I love training camp surprises!
Anyone know when the main camp invitees will be announced? It's not on the Canadiens website yet
Talk about fantasy hockey ... good for him! What a super experience that will be for him. He sounds blown away at the opportunity, nice to hear.
"... et le buuuuut!"