Rolf Devinci

The winter season of the ECBHL finished yesterday with a championship win by the Blazers.We got off to a slow start this season but gelled as a squad heading into the playoffs. With solid defense and balanced scoring across the forward lines we dominated our playoff games. Most importantly we got solid goaltending from KW who limited rebounds and subsequent scoring opportunities. When it comes to gym ball hockey that is crucial to success on the smaller surface. It's been a successful winter of ball hockey for me winning both the Fall and Winter seasons. The body has held up well, specifically the neck and shoulder. I ended up 5th in league scoring for the Winter season and high in playoff scoring(yet to be tabulated). The credit goes to JD who is a talented athlete and makes his line mates better. If you find space and keep your stick on the floor he will get you the ball. The Spring season begins in two weeks with a new draft so lets see if I can keep the ball rolling.....

Unfortunately this is not a post upon medieval bastard swords but rather my possible carpel tunnel syndrome. My symptoms afflicting my dominant right hand have progressively been getting worse. Numb fingers and tingling that runs up my forearm that gets worse at night. With the numbness I feel like I have only half a hand most days and the feeling of weakness resulting in dropping things.Most annoying.Of late I have been experiencing some swelling on my fingers-especially in the knuckle of my middle finger. I need to get an actual diagnosis but my visit to the clinic last week saw me leave as the wait list was crazy long.No doubt the result of the Flu season here in Canada. I have to get back to consult a doctor but in the meantime I discovered my archery bracer does keep my wrist in a neutral position while sleeping. I have also begun a regime of alternating heat and cool along with consuming more anti inflamation foods as part of my usual intermittent fasting way of eating. A...

Traditional archery with a decided medieval flare.

Of my blogger death are greatly exaggerated but my lack of posts is due to the demise of my venerable Dell laptop. It was well used and worthy of praise but after many years of service has finally expired. I am now undecided whether I will replace it as my first foray into smart phones is a definite learning curve but I am liking my Nokia window phone.If I can find workable apps to do the stuff I require I may just stay with a handheld device.Having just uploaded this blogger app this post will be the litmus test to determine if I will become a mobile blogger. Text uploaded easy enough as did the picture from my Picasa web album. So far so good....looks like I am back in (Blogger) action.  

The Fall season wrapped up with us (Habs) taking the championship in a well played game.We played what may be the best first period of ball hockey I have ever participated in taking a 6-0 lead into the second twenty minutes. Our opponents were a solid squad and rebounded by making the game close heading into the third period but we settled down and won the championship by exchanging goals in the last period to hang on for a five goal win. I have really enjoyed my ball hockey renaissance the last couple seasons and fortunately my wonky shoulder had been annoying at worse this past season. As a role player I just try and contribute with some solid defensive play while chipping in with a few goals. I managed to have a solid playoff and supported the winning effort with four goals and a couple assists in our two playoff wins to finish seventh in playoff scoring and second highest for defensemen.With my shoulder issues managable and my fitness satisfactory I`m definitely looking forwar...

With the onset of winter here in the great white North I find myself increasing my tea consumption. I`m not sure why my enjoyment of teas seem to be linked to the Canadian winter but there seems to be a seasonal element.There is just something comforting and hearthy about tea on a cold day that coffee does not possess. That desire is not limited to the typical black teas but spans the whole range of beverages; greens, whites, Rooibos and, now, chai teas. Having spent a few days in Las Vegas I stumbled upon a Teavana kiosk while doing a walkabout upon the strip(Authors note - I know. Who goes to LV to drink tea?). They were doing a sample testing in the Venetian canal shops and invited me to try a variety of their offerings. Included was a selection of chai teas - those hearty spicy offerings that claim to have several health giving attributes. New to chai teas I have to admit that two of them were quite delicious possessing the peppery flavor inherent in such brews along ...

Age, athletics and injury have all taken a toll on my left shoulder, neck and upper back.There is not a day that passes without some kind of residual pain and stiffness. I could probably cease playing the sports I love that aggravate my condition but that would definitely be a case of the "cure being worse than the disease".So I continue to cycle, play ball hockey and practice traditional archery on a regular basis despite the discomfort. To take away my "play" would be akin to placing me in the bone yard. I believe the roots of my shoulder and neck issues date back to 2005 when I crashed hard on my left side crossing wet railway tracks during a spirited paceline on my road bike. I impacted the pavement with the hip and shoulder taking the brunt of the fall when my front wheel slid out from under me after making contact with the wet iron of the train track. The resulting hematoma on my hip pays homage to the severity of the impact. In 2011 I again crashed on...