Wednesday Night is “Boys Night”.

There is just not enough gratitude that I express for Wednesday nights.  During the winter months, anyway, that is Boys Night.  I mean, yeah it sucks that it’s in the middle of the week and all…I mean, Friday would certainly make a better night to run free with the fellas.  But then again, our boy’s night is not about going to the bar or whatever it is other dudes might look forward to doing with their pals.  It’s a specific night.  It’s Hockey Night.

For about 10 years now I’ve been part of a group that plays regular ice hockey.  It started as a summer league team in the Alberta Men’s Hockey League, but has morphed into today’s version.  It’s pretty much the same guys every year, with one or two inevitably moving on and being replaced by newcomers.  But generally speaking, the core has been there all along.  This year we seem to have taken advantage of some kind of seniority at the rink in which we play…there have been years where our ice time was Sunday night at 10:15pm, putting you home after 12:30am, with the start of a work week to look forward to in the morning.  This year, we got Wednesday nights from 8:45-10:15pm.  Perfect!

Julie is just about the best girlfriend a guy could ask for and here’s one of the reasons: come Wednesday night, she volunteers to look after 5 year old Ruby, ensures I get a hearty dinner after work and then sends me on my way to Boys Night.  Generally, we guys have a protocol to fill.  Being that we step onto the ice at 8:45, that means you gotta be in the locker room by 8:15 or so.  So, I leave by about 7:00, grab my evening Gatorades at the local convenience store and go to meet Lorenzo and Wiggy in the parking lot by about 7:30.  There, we talk hockey until it’s time to go in.  After the game, it’s generally more of the same; meet the boys in the parking so we can hang out, recap the glorious plays we made and goals we scored until we all decide we’d better head home to our families.  It’s a simple night, but man it means a lot!

This year one of the additions to our team is a former NHL player, Brantt Myhres (aka Doggy).  Not too shabby to have a dude like him on your line feeding you passes.  The guy was a fighter in the NHL, most notably for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers and Sane Jose Sharks.  He also had brief stints with the Calgary Flames and our Edmonton Oilers.  During the last game he played in the NHL, for Calgary at the time, he got in a fight with big Georges Laraque.  As it happens with these things, Big George caught him and crushed the orbital bone around his eye, literally breaking his face.  Ol’ Doggy never played another game.  As an enforcer in the big league, Dog wasn't exactly at the top of skill pool…let’s face it.  His talent was fighting and intimidation.  But man, when you see him out there with the rest of us, some who have played to college and Junior levels, he is so far above the rest of our skill sets.  It’s ridiculous.

But he takes it easy out there…he knows he’s not getting scouted.  From time to time, he’ll dazzle the rest of us with a power skating move that cuts to the net in the blink of an eye, cutting his edges so deep into the ice the can hear the “Whoosh!” all the way out to the lobby.  Then with a little *bing*, the puck is upstairs and bulging the twine.  But typically, he’s just there to have some fun.  He can control the puck and keep everybody honest.  Always generous in setting up his linemates and springing us free from the position of a cherry picker, he’s a lot of fun to have out there.  Even though he must think we’re terrible hockey players that’s not really the point.  On Wednesday nights, we’re all equal.  We’re not out there to keep track of our stats and get revenge on the other team’s douche for the hack he put on last week.  The one reason we’re all there that is common throughout the group:  Boys Night.