A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to interview the only and only Brad Marchand on Locked on Bruins.
It was a great joy for me, seeing as he’s been one of my favorite hockey players for over a decade.
We’ve interacted on Twitter a bit (somewhat playfully – that was my interpretation anyways), but I was still a tad nervous.
Brad could not have been cooler and more gracious with his time, and here’s the end result.
Enjoy, and be a pal and subscribe to the channel if you haven’t already.
I keep track of all my reading on Goodreads, but still love to put together my end of the year book list.
As always, the best are on bold. And my favorites are starred!
I’ve kept a list of all the shows I’ve watched in 2022, both new and old.
It’s embarassingly long. But there’s a whole lot of good TV out there these days and TV seasons are short, so here’s some of the good stuff I really enjoyed.
Honorable mention: I began the year watching some late 2021 releases in Yellowjackets and Station Eleven and those were both two of the best.
2022 was the year in which I pivoted mostly to Spotify for my musical needs.
This came after I somehow managed to delete my digital music files that had been collected over a number of years.
Oops.
Spotify allows me to subscribe to my favourite musical artists from today and from days of yore (you know, like the 90s). And it notifies me when they release new albums and singles!
Why I am explaining how Spotify works?
Anyways, here are my favourite albums released this year.
To whom it may concern,
My name is Ian McLaren. I’m a lifelong Boston Bruins fan living in Ontario.
A passion for the Spoked B was passed down to me from my grandmother and my father, who’d gather together on Saturday evenings to watch Bobby Orr play on Hockey Night in Canada.
This team has been a constant presence in my life since the Cam Neely and Ray Bourque days. They were my hockey heroes, and this team has been my first sports love for the past 35 years.
It became a source of pride for me to root for a team that supposedly had been built on something different.
From the retirement of Willie O’Ree’s number to Zdeno Chara instituting his policies on how first year players are treated to Chara and Patrice Bergeron speaking out in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, these were all steps in the right direction. It gave us hope that hockey might actually be for everyone.
That all went up in smoke yesterday, though.
At around age 14, I was bullied for being small and wearing dorky glasses and not wearing cool clothes or shoes. I still think about those guys with resentment. What Mitchell Miller did to Isaiah Meyer-Crothers is so far beyond that.
A hate crime is a prejudice-motivated crime that occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demographic.
This is what Miller is guilty of, and repeatedly.
By Sweeney’s own admission, Bruins players were consulted and they asked “why do this?” That should have been enough right there to quash this.
Sweeney even said “I can’t categorically tell you this was the right decision.” He also added he’s not sure he’d be able to forgive Miller if this happened to his own kid.
This signing was such an obvious pass and flies in the face of whatever the Bruins are trying to sell about their culture. Isaiah and his family deserve better than this. Not even afforded a phone call by the Bruins to get their perspective. Hockey is so far from being for everyone and I hate that my favorite team widened that gap today.
I host a daily Bruins podcast and just yesterday I talked about how I can’t remember ever having more fun being a Bruins fan. That went down the toilet so quickly.
Disappointment doesn’t even come close to expressing how I feel right now, and I feel sick that management and ownership have put the players and fans in this spot.
What can you say to fans who relate to Isaiah in light of hockey supposedly being for everyone? Second chances are cool and pobody’s nerfect but this was a case of racism and ableism, full stop.
Nobody’s interested in a Mitchell Miller redemption arc in black and gold. He’s not the victim here, and by giving him this second chance, you’re alienating a large part of the fanbase that was duped into believing the Bruins’ culture was different.
However many points Miller may record for the organization, it will never be worth it.
Um, hi. I ate a lot of mini wheats this morning and now my stomach hurts so can you book me a doctor’s appointment to see if I have an allergy. Thank you.
I’m going to make use of this space more in the future.
To begin my blogging comeback, please enjoy this hilarious and sweet voicemail I received from our oldest son, calling from the office at school.
It’s the thank you at the end that makes it great for me.
2021 has been another crazy year and once again, one thing that’s kept me going is good new music.
Here are my favourite albums from 2020 in no particular order.
Honourable mention:
Ian Cameron McLaren 