Eulogy For A Maple Leaf

Another hockey season is nearly done and The Maple Leafs have failed to make the playoffs once again. The team was valued at $413 million in 2007 making it what must be one of the most expensive failures in NHL history! The last year the Leafs won a cup was 1967 so tv viewers have never seen a Stanley Cup raised in victory by a Maple Leaf player in colour LOL! Some blame the infamous Harold Ballard for the beginning of the Leaf's downfall and continue to blame his ghost to this day. I've also noticed how Leaf fans seem to want to hold on to the past as well. Case in point, Mats Sundin is now the current record holder for most points by a Maple Leaf. When Sundin passed Darryl Sittler he was actually despised by some Leaf fans!?!?!?!

Good times come and good times go and I'm sure the Leafs will find success again EVENTUALLY!! and hey..........theres always next year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Politics Bigger Than Mountains

The Strand Robyn Holwell Photo

Political interference has effectively put progress on the Mealy Mountain Park at a standstill. The provincial government has put up roadblock after roadblock when it comes to this park to the point where it almost seems like sabotage. Like Lp said over in the Sound Board, can you imagine the Strand being torn up or The Eagle dammed??? Danny Williams looks at the area and can only see dollar signs, not the natural beauty of the area! The first proposed area for the park has been cut up so much by the government that whats left could scarcely be even called a national park. I would go completly in the other direction and say that the original plan for the park area be even expanded to include the Table Bay area which by the way has been discussed already.

White Bear River By Robyn Holwell

So if you are concerned with this issue I would ask you to please take advantage of the Mealy Mountain Park postcard campaign in The Labradorian this week.

Eagle River

The following is from http://www.naturecanada.ca/

The Mealy Mountains are a global treasure worth preserving.

1. The people of Labrador support the establishment of a national park. The Labrador Metis Nation, the Innu Nation, and the Labrador Inuit Association all recognize the material, spiritual and physical benefits of establishing a park in the Mealy Mountains.

2. Establishing a national park here will preserve the environmental, cultural and ecological integrity of several treasured natural landscapes, including five ecoregions that are not represented by any other national park in Canada.

3. A national park acts as an economic driver for local communities, in part through tourism. Adventure and discovery await the hardy nature enthusiast here. Wilderness experiences could include world-class canoeing, hiking, rock climbing, kayaking, coastal walks, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and wildlife photography.

4. Labrador has many opportunities for forestry, mining and power development outside the proposed national park. Establishing this protected space means there will always be some part of the land left for the people of Labrador.

5. The Mealy Mountains are steeped in the traditional history of the first peoples of the land. For countless generations, the Labrador Innu have been sustained off this land they call Akamiuapishku. The Labrador Inuit and Labrador Metis have strong cultural and subsistence ties to the area.

6. Mealy mountains are home to some of Labrador’s best wetlands and salmon and brook trout habitat, and provide a haven for a threatened woodland caribou herd, along with moose, black bear, osprey, bald eagle and harlequin duck populations. Marine mammals abound in the coastal waters, including six species of seals and 16 species of dolphins and whales.

You can help!

The establishment of new national parks requires strong support from local communities, Aboriginal and provincial governments, and from Canadians. Help protect the Mealy Mountains, one of the last pristine forest wilderness areas on the continent. Write to the premier of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Prime Minister and tell them you want a Mealy Mountains National Park established. Also tell them that you support full interim protection for the park study area.

Write to Office of the Prime MinisterHouse of CommonsOttawa, ON K1A 0A6(no postage required)E-mail: mailto:pm@pm.gc.ca

Office of the PremierGovernment of Newfoundland and LabradorConfederation Building, East BlockP.O. Box 8700St. John’s, NL A1B 4J6E-mail: mailto:premier@mail.gov.nl.ca

Click the link below to download an open form letter to send to the premeir indicating your support for The Mealy Mountain National Park

http://www.mediafire.com/?wrbazxxjnzi

@#%&@#$%@#%# COMPUTERS

Tip For The Day

Want to lead a less stressful and all around more healthy life?????

When your computer is first booting up in the morning.........GET UP & WALK AWAY

First place, anyone?

For all ye Habs fans...a win tonight against the first place Devils will put our Habs,I repeat, OUR HABS in first place in the Eastern Conference for the first time this late in the year since '93! We all know what happened that year*knock on wood*.

How can we not be excited about the team this year? Second in the league in goals, first on the PP, and a league leading seven 40+ point getters..all this from a team with a ripe ol' average age of 26.6.

I don't care that we traded Who-et (ok..he shutout the devils but Price has been, and will continue tobe GREAT) for a 2nd rounder or didn't get Hossa, who Pittsburgh WAY overpaid for by the way. Points since the trade deadline- Mikhail Grabovski:2, Marian Hossa:0. So suck on that Ray Shero, Pens GM! We'll keep Grabovski, Higgins, Lapierre, and our 1st rounder and you can take your gimpy-kneed Hossa, we dont need em! Plekanec (25), the Kostitsyns (23 and 20), Higgins (24), Grabovski (24), Lapierre (22), Latendresse (20), Gorges (23), O'Byrne (23), Price (20), and Halak (22) make up the best core group of youngsters in the league, even better than what they have in Pittsburgh. Not to mention our vets Kovalev, Koivu, Hamrlik, Markov(Norris!!!), and KomiSAURUS, who is among the league leaders in both hits and blocked shots. The only thing we lack is the true game-breaker to take over after Kovalev either a)retires or b)decides he doesnt care anymore (He's been PHENOMENAL this year, but lets face it...its only a matter of time). One thing is for certain, though, Ottawa has seen its last days as the "Beasts of the Northeast".

The next step for our Habs is to challenge Pittsburgh for the title of Beast of the EAST. For the next 5 years or so this will be a rivalry with the grit of the Colorado-Detroit series' of the 90's, the goal scoring of the Oilers-Flames series' of the 80's, and the goaltending of the Devils-Stars series of '00 (Brodeur vs Belfour). OK...maybe it won't have ALL of these elements, but you get the point!

Yup, sure is a good time to be a Habs fan..especially considering where those pathetic Laffs are in the standings. And to all you leafs fans...YOU WILL MISS THE PLAYOFFS!! Despite Mats Sundins heroic efforts, the leafs will miss the playoffs and somehow manage to screw themselves out of a lottery pick. No Steve Stamkos, no Drew Doughty, and most certainly no playoffs for a long, long time.

So for all you borderline Habs fans my message is clear. Hop on the bandwagon...and hop on now! This team is for real, and will only get better. In the words of http://www.habsinsideout.com/ (best fan site in the universe..check it out) blogger Mike Boone, join us in all the agony and ecstacy that comes with being a Habs fan, 'cuz good times like these don't come by too often.