Countdown to Edinburgh!

I know... many hockey posts, relax eh! :D
I'm sure they're not as interesting as they will be once I travel to different places...
But now you only have to wait just over a week!
Tonight was the final training at Deeside prior to the season.
[Bitter sweet.]
Although Deeside will remain our home ice throughout the course of the season.

Season begins the following Sunday, the 6th, in Edinburgh!
Can't wait to batter those Eagles on their home ice.
Been training hard in preparation:



Also I'd like to give a shout out to anyone who has looked at this blog, even for a second!
It means a lot to me that my parents have allowed me this great opportunity!
And I am also glad that I am able to share the experience even if thru only words and pictures!
Cheers! :D

Inline Hockey Next?

I've enjoyed my fair amount of hockey so far since arriving to England.
But could there be more hockey action on the horizon?
Assistant manager, Nick Fewin, has offered me a spot on Team Blackhawks.
The Blackhawks participate in the GBHI-Midlands region (Great Britain Hockey Inline).
The team plays out of Sheffield
Could be fun. Never really played roller hockey, but I do like to roller blade.
Your thoughts?
Could be something to think about!

http://www.team-blackhawks.co.uk/
http://www.gbhi-midlands.co.uk/

Artery Foundation European Tour 2011

Just in from seeing another fantastic show in Manchester:

Sound Control was hosting the 2011 Artery Foundation European Tour.
The tour package featured headliner Miss May I and co-headliner Chelsea Grin.
The supporting acts for the tour were Canadian band Abandon All Ships and Chunk! No Captain Chuck.

Set the stage:

Prior to going, I first had to see if they had tickets... I dropped by Sound Control prior to my 2pm lecture&seminar. Not only did I find out they still had tickets, but I also met 2 very nice individuals from Birmingham who had been waiting since 11.30am (Doors weren't until 7.30pm). That's dedication.

One of the ladies also gave me a confidence boost commenting "your accent is amazing."
Its a real treat to have this accent, whatever accent it may be. :']

Their dedication almost made me late to my lecture. :X

Right. To the show:

Chunk! No Captain Chuck (from Paris, France) were unfamiliar to me prior to the night but after the show, they proved to be a very good bunch of musicians.

I was very keen to see Abandon All Ships. Always been a fan of'em and they did enjoy my singing. My throat will be feeling it tomorrow morning...
They didn't disappoint at all and I recommend seeing them.

Chelsea Grin is always fantastic as I'd seen them previously before.
Although... I was pretty upset that PF Chang was nowhere to be found.
Chelsea Grin with 3 guitars > Chelsea Grin with 2 guitars

I'd never seen Miss May I live but they too were good.
They get a bit monotonous, but they kept the crowd going for the whole set.

I credit the following photos to my bad photography...

Abandon All Ships:


Chelsea Grin:


Miss May I:

Official Manchester Metros

The home and away fixtures for the 2011-2012 Div I season have been released by the British Universities Ice Hockey Association (BUIHA). The Manchester Metros will be again participating in the BUIHA Cup Competition. The Metros open the season on the road at Edinburgh (SCOT) on the 6th of November.

DATE	HOME/AWAY	CITY (RINK)	TIME
06/11/11	Away	Edinburgh (Murrayfield)	20:30
11/11/11	Home	Newcastle (Deeside)	22:30
27/11/11	Away	Warwick (Coventry)	23:30
09/12/11	Home	Sheffield (Deeside)	22:30
03/02/12	Home	Edinburgh (Deeside)	22:30
14/02/12	Away	Newcastle (Whitley Bay)	23:45
19/02/12	Home	Warwick (Deeside)	18:30
04/03/12	Away	Sheffield (Ice Sheffield)	20:30

For more information on team fixtures, standings, stats, and rosters visit the Official BUIHA website @ http://www.buiha.org.uk/.

Official Manchester Metros

All three division teams have been revealed by the Manchester Metros committee. The following will be playing Division I Metros hockey.

Manchester Metros Division I

#--- Kieren De'Ath
#40Max Drakeley
#10 Dan Etherington
#92 Marc Etherington
#--- Joe Greaves
#21 Allen Gunn
#--- Dan Harris
#26 Joe Holder
#13 Shayne Langlois
#30 Robyn Maby
#--- Nathan Miller
#14 Gino Poulin
#--- Alex Pugh
#69 Tom Revesz
#96 Marius Skogvang
#38 Tom Steedman
#37 Paddy Thomson
#49 Brad Valentine
#19 Tom Wilson

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

I will be centering a line with Shayne Langlois and Joe Holder on my two wings. We look forward to some speedy dump and chase play along with tons of creativity. It is shaping up to be a great year!

Friday Scrimmage; Visit to Rotherham

Friday night's scrimmage at Deeside in Wales was serious business.
Not only was it the last night to show the selection committee our skills, but also we had a guest visitor, the great Barnaby Joe, (well Shayne), deliver the pregame pep talk.
Who, once he saw me take the first picture, he played out his character to its full potential. XD



I was on the top line at center for the white team and in my first shift, I picked up the gate and a got a 2 minute slashing penalty -- Direct quote from the D2: Might Ducks: "2 minutes well worth it." The other center pushed me off the faceoff after the puck had gone and I wasn't gonna have any of it!



I played fairly well all night setting up several opportunities for both my wingers and for the D.
But if we were keeping 'real' score, it should be on the hits the little guy (myself) dished out.
7+ good ones that I can be proud of. :D

Following trials I left with Alex Frewin and his dad to head back to their place in Rotherham, about an hour east of Manchester. We would be heading to "Puck Stop" or the closest and best hockey shop. Apparently the estate the Frewin house resides is on the land once or still owned by the Duke of Yorkshire. (I think it was Yorkshire if I remember correctly...)

The Frewin residence in Rotherham:


We headed into Sheffield at 1.30ish, but only after a deliciously cooked breakfast made by Mrs. Frewin. On our trek to Puck Stop we passed by one of the locations where the movie Four Lions was filmed at.



After venturing to the where I picked up 4 rolls of tape, we headed back to the Frewin residence. But along the way we stopped in at Sheffield's most haunted pub: the Carbrook Hall. It is said that the hall dates back to the 12th century and was once home to Sir John Bright, Baronet (d. 1688)... who knows though! It is old and haunted, that is all I know.



Following our adveture thru Rotherham and Sheffield, we went back to the Frewin house for dinner. After that, it was my time to head back to Manchester via train. But before I could leave, we made a stop at the South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue station where Alex's dad drives the fire engines.

Warner Bros Studios Tour London

After only recently finding out about Warner Bros Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter thru Facebook, I was quick to find out dates that tickets would be available, costs, and when the attraction would be opening. The attraction is set to open on 31 March 2012 with the first tour groups going that day.

Tickets went on sale Thursday morning, (13 Oct) at 9am.
By 9am the site had crashed as it was overloaded with people looking to buy tickets also.
Most people had a problem opening the calendar to select a date. I too had this problem.
At one point I was able to bring up the calendar but upon changing the date, the calendar shut off giving me a site error message.
I continued refreshing the page, second after second to no avail.
But after 54 agonizing minutes, I beat the site error.
I really was not thinking outside of, "MUST. GET. TICKET."
The date the calendar popped up with was the date I went with.
As I filled out the details, all I hoped was the site lasted long enough for me to purchase.
Thankfully it did and I was able to purchase my individual ticket for Monday, April 2nd.
The 2nd will be the Studios 3rd day of tours following its opening on the 31st of March.


The Making of Harry Potter tour will include seeing first hand and having the ability to walk on many of the iconic sets Potter fans have come to know over the last 10 years (The Great Hall, Dumbledore's Study, the Gryffindor Common Room, ect). There will also be an array of props and costumes used during filming. Typing it as words, it is difficult for me to think how big it is, but I'm sure the magnitude of it will hit me once I arrive.

Warner Brothers Studios is located outside of Watford, Hertfordshire in Leavesden, which lies northwest of London. I will of course be smack dab in the middle of my Easter holiday, (which runs 23 March - 16 April), but wherever I am, I shall be arriving an hour early to Leavseden.

I'm looking forward to the magical adventure!

For more information on the tour visit the official WBS Harry Potter Tour London site:
http://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/

Within the Ruins

Within the Ruins just released their dates for the 2012 Bonecrusher Fest tour across Europe.
This will be WTR's first trek to Europe.
I talked to Cocchi probably 2 weeks before I left the United States telling him I had better see WTR in Europe while I was here. He promised me he would do his best.
Boy, do I have the best luck. :D
I will be reuniting with my hometown pals and Westfield's own @ Moho Live in Manchester, UK on February 15th.
Oh and it is a heck of a lineup they will be playing with too.
I had a feeling that today was going to be great.
Get ready Europe for the ridiculousness that is Within the Ruins.

Final night of trials:

Finished up trials for the Manchester Metros last night...
Another great showing by everyone, which was a solid 30+ skaters.
I started out a bit too strong without a proper warmup. -_-
Had to come off with cramping in my legs.
I think my lack of sleep the previous night and lack of quality food attributed to them.
None the less, Wilson had me back up and running with a Mars bar.
After a few 2v2 drills, it was a short 5v5 scrimmage.
I gave a nice good hit on a player contending for a spot on the A squad so that felt good.

The last bit of trials will take place on Friday, 14/10 at Deeside, Wales.
It is going to just be a scrimmage game to get names inked onto teams.
I'm really looking forward to it!
Stay tuned to the Metros website for official team postings.
^ Hopefully that happens soon after.

And of course the most important part:
Following practice, Shayne had the great idea to stop off at Rusholme Chippy.
Can never have enough Rusholme Chippy.


Shayne in his natural habitat @ Rusholme Chippy.

Week in review:

Good lectures&seminars all week. A lot of "Allen's brain is heavily confused by the old English language" but none the less, I survived.

Just in time for the return of the NHL season.
... which games happen to start at the unfortunate hour of 12 midnight.
Thursday night was spent in flat 41 watching the Bruins - Flyers game.
A dandy game regardless of the score since the Bruins raised up the Stanley Cup banner. :']
I spent Friday night at Liam Jacques' flat with Matthew Rohani watching the Canes - Lightning game on his magnificent projector screen. But prior to the game, we jumped down to Rusholme Chippy, the gathering place of Metros hockey for some kebabs and fizzy Vimto.



I went with the chicken tikka kebab. Delicious, might I add?



Saturday night was a spur of the moment deal.
I was sitting in my room following the OU-Texas game needing to get out.
With the help of Panayiota, we organized a trip to ODEON to see the Lion King in 3D.
The Cypriots, David, and the Russian were all on board.
I forgot how great of a movie the Lion King was.


(Russian Alex, David, Panayiota, Alex)

Also, as trials wind down for Metros hockey on Monday night, stay tuned for official Metros updates on my blog which will be signified by the Metros logo.



Other information regarding Metros hockey can be found at metroshockey.com.