and a little later.............

Canadians and our American friends just south of us have had to adjust to a different type of winter this year with the NHL shutting down. (Your friendly webmaster who gave up on the NHl years ago was not affected.)
To give some of you hockey nutz some news, I went to LAObserved to give you this tidbit:
Luc Robitaille has been a favorite of Kings fans since he arrived from Quebec as a teenager they all said couldn't skate. Lucky (his nickname) is now hockey's all-time scorer at his position, left wing. Let go by the Kings a couple of times, he always ends up back in his adopted city of Los Angeles. When Luc won the Stanley Cup with Detroit a couple of years ago, he even brought the trophy home and shared it with Angelenos at Chinese Theatre, Dodger Stadium, Universal Studios and a big party at his home. The Kings were miffed, but I thought it was a pretty cool gesture. At 38 he's on his last legs as a Kings player, and he might already be done if the owners' shutdown of the National Hockey League continues all season. But he found a nice way to keep busy this winter. Tonight's KTLA News at Ten had a snippet of footage showing the kid from Montreal taking the oath downtown today with several hundred other new United States citizens.



We were at the Lang house the other night and Dave had the hockey game on. I was not about to change the channel as everybody had their eyes glued to the tv.
I have to admit that I watched some of the game and I was impressed with the quality of play. CBC had a word or two to say about the team and their quest for a gold medal Tuesday.
Go Team GO !
And while visiting the KTLA News website I came across The US Soldiers Killed in Iraq page. As of Sunday, Jan. 2, 2005, at least 1,329 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,042 died as a result of hostile action, the Defense Department said. The figures include three military civilians.
Looking through the list of casualties, I cannot help but think about the families and loved ones of these soldiers and their loss. Here we are in 2005 and man has not learned the lessons taught by our forefathers. My heart goes out to those who served and gave their all. Your service to your country shall not be forgotten.