For the game belongs... To the swift and the strong...

I'm sure few people recognize the song that leads this blog entry off, so let me start with that. It's a great little sports montage tune that was used on the video following the conclusion of last year's Stanley Cup finals after Carolina won the cup, while clips of the entire playoffs were being shown.

The lyrics, which I love very much, and will perhaps bring the song back to some of you, are:

There's a dream that lives
deep in every heart.
Heroes carve their name,
legends leave their mark.

And it's worth the sweat,
and it's worth the pain,
'cause the chance may never come again.

Give it all you got.
Take your best shot.
The fire burns deep inside.
Stand among the giants.
Yeah.

For the game belongs
to the swift and the strong.
Though the flame burns bright,
in an instant it's gone.
It's the spirit of the game,
and the legend lives on and on.
But the chance may never come again,
Oh no...
The chance may never come... again.

Good stuff. And so we begin, appropriately enough, where we left off, which just so happens to be two days before one French hockey game.

Thursday there were various school parties organized, so it was tough to decide what to do. In the end, a group of us decided to begin our night at a bar we'd never been to called Le Matisse (named after the famous painter, of course). It was kind of a small place, so after 2-3 shots each, we decided to move on to somewhere else, eventually opting to try out a club called Velvet. Velvet was nice, featuring a much larger dance floor than most other clubs here we've frequented. They were also having a special of 1 euro shots, so it was a good night of drinking and dancing.

Friday means a night at Cafet Ango, and thus a little pizza for dinner. After that, a few of us decided it was a good DVD night, so we met up in American Nick's room to watch Major League. Good movie that I hadn't seen in a heck of a long time. It was then late, and thus time for bed, but I was certainly excited for the next day, because...

Last Saturday night, 8 of us attended the Rouen Hockey Elite 76's final game of the regular season, as they played host to the Mont Blanc Avalanche. It felt good to be back at a hockey game, even if the play was far from NHL-level. The game was fast-paced thanks to the lack of TV timeouts and the larger ice surface, and overall entertaining. Thanks to three goals from #71 (who I named Ribeiro, even though his real name is Doucet), Rouen took home the win by a final score of 7 to 2. Rouen's goaltender is one of the best puck-handling goalies I've seen. Certainly an NHL-calibre puch-handler. It's unfortunate that his angles are awful, rebound control deplorable, and general goaltending ability subpar. The team's captain was out with an injury, so one of their assistant captain's, Marc-Andre Thinel, wore the C. Thinel is a Quebec native and was a Montreal Canadiens' 5th round draft pick in 1999. He spent 4 seasons in the AHL, before heading over to France in 05-06, where he is one of the league's biggest stars.

Following the game, the 8 of us went over to Highlander's Pub for a drink, and then were going to also go to BarOuf, which is, we found out, the hockey team's favourite hang-out after games, but when we got there, it was much too crowded, so we decided not to stay.

Sunday was likely the most beautiful day out we've had since getting here. You could be outside in a t-shirt and not be at all cold. It was magnificent. Unfortunately, there is not much to do here on Sundays, as pretty much everything is closed. So I managed to get some homework done during the afternoon, and for dinner, I suggested we go out for some American food to a restaurant in downtown Rouen called Rest-O-Rock. While expensive, it was a good meal, as their menu consists of such things as Potato Skins, Nachos, Hamburgers, Onion Rings, BBQ Chicken, Burritos, Fajitas, and Chicken Skewers. Following dinner, given that it was still a fairly nice night, Igor and I decided to try walking back to campus while the others hopped in a cab. It's a fairly nice walk, taking about 25 to 30 minutes. The beginning is uphill (we DO live in MONT Saint Aignan, after all), but then it's easygoing after that. We should definitely do it again some time.

Oh, also on Sunday, we worked out a preliminary itinerary for our trip to Italy (which will be re-worked on today as well). We leave this Friday night, and, as of now anyway, plan on spending 2 days in Rome, 1 day in Florrence, and 1 day in Venice. Exciting stuff, and I'll certainly have much to write about when I return.

Monday was a quiet day, as it is my busy school day, with 2 classes stretching from 1.30 to 8.15 pm. When I got home, I cooked myself an absolutely delicious meal, which involved some cooked potatoes and peppers with some slightly-hot sauce over a bed of rice. Mmm. And fortunately, I have plenty of leftovers for today (likely lunch + supper). I then talked to a couple of friends who came by for visits for various things, and then called it a night, as I was quite tired.

And so that's all for now. I won't be writing again for more than a week (AKA till I get back from Italy), so hang in there all, and don't go through any Dan withdrawal. Go Habs Go, Go Halak Go! I'll miss the trade deadline while I'm in Italy this year, so when I get back on Wednesday, I hope to have lots of exciting news to catch up on!

Peace yo.

Danny K.