Let the Hockey Talk Begin!!

Seems like just yesterday I was vowing no more hockey talk for the summer.

Well, guess what, folks. Today, the Ottawa Senators Training Camp officially begins!! YAYYYYYYYYYY!!

Yesterday marked the beginning of hockey season in my world with Wade Redden's colour photo gracing the front page of the Citizen Sports section. The story below his handsome mug told of how he's focused and ready to prove his worth this season, and how he'd like to put the trade talk of the summer behind him. The article certainly didn't rule out a trade in the future - in fact, it promised constant rumours until the trade deadline in February, at which point they figure the "Redden Dilemma" will be solved. Murray will either be looking for a new home for him until that point, or he will be attempting to sign him to a contract extension, so that he doesn't have to see him slip away for nothing in Unrestricted Free Agency when next summer rolls around.

However, all of this trade-talk mumbo-jumbo was really secondary to me after reading the first few lines of the story. It was in those first few lines that I got some rather devastating, yet still uplifting news: Wade Redden got engaged.

Engaged.

My boy, all grown up now, is going to be getting married sometime in the near future!!

It was a very odd feeling - one of crushing defeat mixed with surging pride. I've been following this man's life as a hockey player quite closely for about 12 years now. When he turned 30 this past June, I did some reflecting on what it was like when he was just an 18-year-old, starting fresh in the NHL, and how far he and I have come since then. Now, he's actually going to get married. It kinda makes me tear up a little bit.

I wish Wade Redden years of happiness with his soon-to-be-bride. I wish him all the love in the world. I wish him a lifetime of laughter.

But most of all, I wish it was me...

OK, so that wasn't really hockey talk...but there's gonna be plenty of it to come, so brace yourselves!!

GO SENS GO!!

Brian Melo Crowned Canadian Idol

Hello out there...if there's anyone left out there...

Sorry I let the Blog die again. But I just decided to revive it. Because I've pretty much followed Canadian Idol here on the Blog all summer long, and last night was the finale, so I thought I'd better bring it all full circle.

It seems like so, so long ago that I first started watching the auditioning process. Funny, I barely remember seeing Jaydee Bixby back then, and I have no recollection of Brian Melo at all. And yet, last night, it was the two of them, centre stage, amongst the 2-hour hoopla that saw the Top 10 perform on several occasions, along with appearances by Avril Lavigne, Bon Jovi, and last year's champ, Eva Avila.

It was a star-studded affair, as the camera was continually flitting over celeb faces in the crowd. One that they missed, but that I spotted, sitting directly behing judge Zack Warner, was last summer's winner over on Rockstar: Supernova, Lukas Rossi. Seeing Lukas smirking through the extravaganza was one of the highlights of the night for me!

I still have a bitter taste in my mouth over Greg Neufeld's long-ago elimination, and every time Greg got to sing a snippet last night, I was reminded of what a travesty it was that he was not in the Final 2 competing for the Idol crown. That being said, Brian Melo had really stepped up his game, especially since Greg's elimination, and if there was anyone in the Top 10 that deserved it as much as Greg, it was Brian.

That's not to say Jaydee wasn't talented. I've never heard a 17-year-old sing like Elvis Presley quite like he did, and everytime he performed one of the King's hits, or when he did Conway Twitty's "Only Make Believe", he gave me chills. Jaydee's old-school rockabilly style was bang-on, and he was a real crowd-pleaser. I can tell you my mom saw him do "Only Make Believe" last week, and she fell it love with him. (To be honest, when Jaydee originally did that song at the beginning of the Top 10, that's when he won me over too.)

However, going into last night's finale, there was really only one choice in my mind as to who should walk away with the honours, and that was Brian Melo. And finally, after two hours of schmoozing and a billion performances and "looks back" at the summer that was on Canadian Idol, host Ben Mulroney crowned Brian the Idol champion. It was rewarding to see Brian standing there amidst the showering confetti and hear him sing his new single "All I Ever Wanted". It restored my faith in the circus that is Idol - because a legitimate singer with a potentially-legitimate career, someone who's not going to be a flash-in-the-pan or an Elvis impersonator, walked away from this thing as the winner, and I can't wait to see where Brian goes from here.

But Greg still shoulda been there...