It’s amazing to see that since the Blackhawks Convention ended, the amount of press the Blackhawks have been getting hasn’t stopped.

That’s not to say that they’re not generating the press themselves. First, the convention, they are the only team in the league to hold such a convention. I heard over the weekend there were representatives from 13 other NHL teams there. So it’s easy to think that soon some of the other 29 teams in the NHL will be holding conventions.

As I mentioned before, at the convention, the Blackhawks announced two big news items. First, the retirement of #3 for Pierre Pilote and Keith Magnuson. Secondly, they announced their new captain 20 year old Jonathan Toews.

Then there’s the Winter Classic. New Years Day 2009 will be the day that the NHL holds it’s 3rd game outside. 2003 marked the first outside NHL game. It was was Montreal versus Edmonton in the “Heritage Classic”. The Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins met last year for the first “Winter Classic”. This year it will be the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings at Wrigley Field for the 2nd annual Winter Classic.

With the announcement of the Winter Classic, this has sparked the wife and I to discuss getting season tickets. This will ensure that we have an opportunity to purchase Winter Classic tickets. However, I have a few reservations about season tickets. At our current price level, we’re probably only going to be able to afford 300 level seats. While they are good seats in themselves, it would kinda be a bummer to be locked into these seats for all 39 home games. We really like to get seats in the 200 or 100 levels.

Oh well, at least there’s talk of hockey in July!!!

OK, so most people expect hockey stuff in the fall or the dead of winter. Well, in Chicago, as they say… “Make no small plans, for they have no magic to stir men’s blood.” (Daniel Burnham)

Since they went on sale, I picked up tickets to the Blackhawk Convention. This is the first of it’s kind, definitely for the Blackhawks organization, and I believe the NHL as well. It’s a concept that, here in Chicago, has had success with the Cubs, Sox, and Bears. The best way I can describe this is that it’s a trade show for the Chicago Blackhawks. In the ballrooms there are presentations and activities. In the exhibition halls, there are vendors hawking (pardon the pun) their sports wares, interactive challenges, and autograph and photo opportunities.

So, in keeping with the “make no small plans” thing, the Blackhawks dropped a couple of bombs for the opening ceremonies. First of all one that has been close to my heart for quite some time. Pierre Pilote and Keith Magnuson (3) will join Glenn Hall (1), Bobby Hull (9), Denis Savard (18), Stan Mikita (21) and Tony Esposito (35) in Blackhawk history by having their number retired. Congratulations, it was a long time coming.

Before I got into hockey, I had heard a bit about Keith Magnuson. I had heard several stories on the Kevin Matthews show. Kevin and Keith were good friends and there were plenty of stories of debauchery during the Jim Shorts Golf Classic and other events they both attended. When I became a hockey fan, I looked into Maggie a bit more. I found out how much of a hard-nosed player he was. To me, he embodied the grit, determination, and overall toughness that drew me to Blackhawk hockey. Sadly, Maggie was killed in a car accident in 2003. http://blackhawks.nhl.tv/team/launch.htm?type=fvod&id=5966&catid=397

The second bomb they dropped on the convention was the announcement that Jonathan Toews (pronounced TAY-vs) will be the next captain of the Blackhawks.

So the first night of the Convention was a good one. As I sit here, I’m preparing to go get ready for day two.

Last night, the wife and I celebrated our anniversary by having dinner at Hugo’s. We grabbed a cab and simply went home. As the night was winding down, I was taking some garbage out. When I take the garbage out, I make sure to hold the back gate so it doesn’t slam closed and lock. Well, for some reason, I wasn’t thinking about that. Nor was I thinking about the fact that I might need my cell phone or keys when I was taking out the garbage. So in effect, I was locked out of the apartment.

I figured getting in would have been easy enough, I’d just go to the front, ring our apartment and Kristi would let me in. Well, that’s what I get for thinking… I stood at the door for several minutes, ringing the buzzer. After a while I realized, that she wasn’t coming to let me in. So I started thinking about what to do. Knowing how annoying it is when I get my apartment buzzed when someone locks themselves out (plus, I can never verify if they actually live there because I really don’t pay attention to those who do) that option was out. So, I did what I could… I flagged down a passing police officer.

I explained my perdicament and he let me use his cell phone. Apparently Kristi had gone to the bathroom in the back of our apartment which has a hard-wired exhaust fan that kicks up quite a bit of noise and couldn’t hear the buzzer. So she came to the door, the officer asked her if she knew me and then it was all over. (I took the last of the garbage out, but this time I took my keys with me)

So this morning, I got up early to go for a bike ride (working on doing this daily to lose weight) and just before I leave, the door buzzer goes off. I look out the window and I see a couple of police officers at the front door. So I go upstairs to answer the door and they have a boy with them. If I had to guess, I’d say the boy was between 10 and 14. I open the door and he starts to rush in. The officers ask me if I know him, they said that the boy says he lived there.

I didn’t know the boy, but he seemed disoriented. He appeared to have a developmental disability. Not trying to be crass, but he was over-hyper and let’s face it, it’s 5:30am and the kid is out on the streets of Chicago in his bare feet and had no idea as to his address or name.

So the police let him come inside the building and he heads downstairs towards our apartment. Knowing that Kristi might have heard the buzzer, the last thing I wanted was for him to bust into the apartment and freak her out. So I said something quickly and one of the officers chased after the boy. The other officer and I went downstairs after him. The boy then opened my neighbor’s door. He was interestingly enough awake and not too far from the door when the boy opened it. The police asked him if he knew the boy. Sadly he didn’t.

At that point the officers took the boy upstairs and thanked me for my time. I felt bad for the boy and wished I could help him, but he was in capable hands of the police. I think they went to the other apartments to see if they knew him. I wasn’t sure, I went back into my apartment and went out the back door to start my ride.

On my ride, I pondered how this story may have ended. I would imagine the boy’s parent’s woke up, noticed the boy missing, and called the police where they would be reunited with him. At least, that’s what I’m hoping.

Today is my third wedding anniversary.

It’s hard to grasp how I got along without Kristi. I’ve made some mistakes in life, I’ve got some regrets, but when it comes to her, she washes away my past transgressions. She is my second chance at true happiness and she couldn’t be more perfect.