Sounds like a slogan from some water company or something, doesn't it?But it means much more than that.
We had a visit from some of our best friends from New Jersey this weekend. Our kids and my wife, Tracy, spent a better part of 5 years in New Jersey, while I played for the Flyers, the St. Louis Blues and for a brief stint, Villach of Austria. Our friends, the Tocis, may as well be family. And we were lucky to have them. Throughout the school year and the hockey season, we shared houses and favors as the kids bounced from home to home as though they were interchangeable. And both families would have it no other way. To say our friends are generous is an understatement. They were always there when we needed them and I have always been indebted to them. Their visits and ours to see them , though not as frequent now, feel like we just pick up where we left off. And, as I have said before, these friendships and ultimately, the heartbrakes when you leave are part of pro sports.
Now, Philly was a great place to live near, great food , culyure and sports. A large population, with all the big city appeal, as well as all the aggravations of big cities. Even coming from a small town and feeling like Portland was big, the more you live in the city, the more you become a product of the enviornment. When we returned to Maine in the summer, it was always like "ahhh". Just sit back and relax and slow it down a couple steps.
Tracy's best buddy, Michelle, made a comment to me about her trip O'Naturals with all of us saying she loved how patient the people were taking the orders, as she inquired about the menu while looking over her shoulder thinking the whole time she was holding someone up. "Just a nervous habit of the city", she commented stating how rushed it is down there. It felt good to her to slow down on her visit. Ahhh, Maine...
The best complement for a coach comes from having a player go from your team to the next level and play well. In our position in Portland, we will see many guys leave and hopefully never come back. Some do, at least we know they are coming back to a place they enjoyed before, and feel comfortable. It is great to see our guys playing well in Anaheim, and in Portland...
As I have said before, the longer you stay in the game, the more great people you meet. One of my favorites came through yesterday. Lorne Henning, one of my former coaches in Chicago, and a longtime player and coach in the NHL came through Portland to scout last night. Not the biggest in stature, the soft spoken 4 time Stanly Cup winner was the perfect assistant type, easy to call upon for advice and a calming influence on the bench. Lorne is best known for assisting on Booby Nystroms infanous off side goal to win the Cup. However, our talk focused around some of his former trips to Portland, and what a great city it is to play and live in. Maine...
As I joined in the talk on the Saturday morning show on WJAB, we talked of the past and how I started playing hockey, on Tripp Pond on Poland. I long for hours of skates on the dark ice that seemed to span for miles when I was a kid. There is nothing like a game of pickup when your face feels the bitter cold and your hands and feet are freezing, but nothing will stop you from feeling the blades cut through the rippled ice of the pond. I hope that kind of Maine winter memory will return soon...
One of the hazards of being a coach and skating out with the guys as practice is going on is you soon realize that you don't have hardly any equipment on besides gloves and skates. I learned the hard way twice so far. One time while playing 3 vs. 3 a puck bounced up and dinged me in the forhead. Not the most flatterring place for me to have a bump. And yesterday I was skating in front of the net during our morning skate, and BAM! right in the nose. Small scrape, as Nate Saunders sheepishly skated over and apologized. No real damage. I just went home later, jumped on my mountainbike and sped through the woods and lost myself in thought while gazing at the beauty of the Maine woods...
Almost every week now, I meet or cross paths with an old aquaintance or a new one, and I can't help thinking how lucky we all are to live in this area, to have the outdoors at our fingertips, to live life at a pace all your own. What it means to be from Maine... Weino

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