MIKE HOFFMAN:

Sitting on my computer with my right thumb and part of my hand covered in a big bandage. Got two pins put in to hold the bone in place yesterday afternoon. Still looking to be 6-8 weeks out. I have the utmost respect for anyone that has either lost there dominant hands thumb or broken it. You never realize the amount of stuff you do with your thumb until after the fact. Among the obvious there are things you don’t notice such as turning keys to get your car going, changing the channel, brushing your teeth, shaving, cooking and my biggest loss, not being able to play video games. I can still reach my finger tips out of the cast to type which is nice but no space bar.

So last week me Salcido and Carter thought we’d jump start our acting careers by staring in a Costa Vita commercial (best burritos I’ve ever had). I was all excited because I never thought I was one to be camera shy. Well I now think my acting career is in shambles because of three words: MANGO CHICKEN SALAD.

You’d think it be so easy to memorize and act, but first take I said chicken mango salad, second take I said mango chicken burrito. Then I completely just said chicken salad the third. I must say it was a lot of fun and Costa Vita was great to us, but my dreams of being the next Superman are quickly fading. So my next gig I’m going to see if there is any hope in radio, everyone keeps telling me I have a great face for radio.

Well, my thumb is starting to throb, but I will leave you with a few thoughts and my play-by-play of breaking my thumb. (Before I go I have a few questions to ponder for next time. Can major league baseball block all those Hall of Fame guys from getting inducted? Will the pats stay perfect this weekend? Will the Ducks make another big trade?)

THE BREAK
I hear the whistle blow and do slow glide back to the bench, then I see Fergie pushing and arguing with another guy on the River Rats. So I decide to skate over and give a good bump to the guy, he gets off balance a bit looks up at me and I see him shaking the gloves off. Another Tillie (name I use to say fight) here we go, I shake mine off and throw a few big rights a couple hit his helmet a couple hit his shield, as we wrestle around a bit I get his helmet off and throw an overhand bomb … as I throw he ducks and SNAP goes my right thumb on the top of his head. At that point I either thought I broke it or dislocated it, but the fight is still going on I throw about three or four more in a flurry. I get him strung out and look down at my thumb which is facing away from my hand. As I’m looking I see a fist go flying by. I couldn’t bail out of the fight strictly because of pride and he was my old teammate in Cleveland who I know is scared of me. So I throw four or five more and finally it’s broken up at this point I look down at my thumb again and notice it’s facing the other way at my index finger. I guess the only humor would be when I was skating to the bench holding my thumb in the air for Rick (our trainer) to see, everyone thought I was giving the thumbs up to the away crowd for winning the fight I still get heat from a few of the boys because of that. So back to the trainers room I go, and Rick grabs a towel grabs my thumb and pulls it as hard as he can backwards and moves it over a bit to put it back into place as I’m biting his shoulder as hard as I can. Five doctors visits later and two pins I’m sitting at home watching the scores to the AHL games.

– Hoff

GERALD COLEMAN:

With Christmas time rolling around, usually around this time teams have Christmas parties or team get together. The Pirates staff did a great job putting together a Christmas party at the Inn on Peaks Island. It was the first time Lindsay and I have been to the Inn on the island.

The more I see of Portland the nicer it gets. Everyone was dressed up and having a great time. When we got there they had really good hors d'oeuvres, fruits and drinks waiting for us. It was a nice atmoshpere with the fires going and all the guys sitting around comfortably. Its nice that everyone has the chance to get together at least once a season to just talk and enjoy each other’s company without being around hockey for the night.

After dinner we got an early present, the rookie tradition of singing Christmas carols. All the rookies, assistant coaches, and some of the front office stood up and sung some carols, putting a smile one the some faces. Everyone had a good laugh. One that stood out was Bobby Ryan with his extra commentary. As the night wore on it colder obviously and we got some freezing rain, which didn’t help with the walk back to the ferry for the ride home. It was funny watching some people and the girls in heels walk on the ice back to the ferry.

My two dogs are loving the snow. Being outside, running around and digging their faces in the snow. They’re like children – when you want them to come in its impossible. They are hilarious when they do come inside after being out since there black and they have a blanket of white on them. Great photo opportunity for Lindsay.

For me Christmas has come some what early. i treated myself to a new PS3. With all the gift cards I had it let me get in at a reasonable price, which was really exciting. I was a little nervous to get it at first. I wasn’t sure which was better – an Xbox 360 or the PS3. I bought the new game NHL 08, which had all this year’s rosters. I get to play myself as well as everyone else on the Portland Pirate roster. Its always fun to play because I always give guys a hard time in practice that they can’t score on me; I go home and score 3 goals with Them in NHL 08 and go to the rink the next day and tell them “ hey since you couldn’t score on me in practice, to make you feel better I scored three goals with you in NHL 08 and you won us the game.” Most of this is directed at Simon Ferguson. We have a competition every day to see if he can score goals on 10% of his shots. Usually he only scores 1 goal on 10-15 shots.

Besides getting myself gifts I have gotten some gifts for my family here and there. Hopefully I can find some time in the next week to get the rest of it done and get them sent out to my family. As most people know I procrastinate, and hopefully I can get my gifts out before Christmas.

Starting to feel a lot more like Christmas. As I came home last weekend, Lindsay had a decorations and a beautiful tree up with some presents already underneath. Its a good thing she did it while I was gone, because with me around it probably wouldn’t have gotten done. Besides, the tree and all the lights we have family coming in this weekend. It’s nice to have your family out to see you, because usually its hard for them to visit more the once a season.

Cheers,
Colsy

MIKE HOFFMAN

Welcome back everyone, just got back from the Maine Diner. Wow, was that some good food. I went with the lobster pie along with the lobster benedict and topped it off with a brownie sundae. I’m just praying we don’t have a weigh-in Wednesday morning. It’s always nice when you can support a great cause (Gary’s House), meet great people and get a great meal. I knew it was
at a good spot when I saw Weino willing to drive over an hour to get some seafood chowder.

Sitting on the couch watching hockey thinking about my latest gig or need I’ve been looking for. Is there anything better than getting your back scratched or head scratched? I am a believer in getting massages when needed but have you ever been to a spa or salon where there was a head or back scratch on the menu? I think it would be a gold mine. I know some people would think it’d be gross doing it to random people, but I’m currently working on a fingertip invention where they just slip on and attached are the perfect scratching nails. If anyone knows of somewhere or someone I could get what I’m looking for, please let me know.

Got some new video games lately but just can’t get away from Halo 3. I am still curious about this Nintendo Wii craze because you can’t seem to find them anywhere. I was playing cards a few weeks ago and a few 40-something dads were talking about the injuries they got from playing their kids’ Wii, so it’s probably not the best investment for the house. And it’d just cause more house drama on who is the better video gamer (Me, Carter or Salcido). That seems to be the daily house battle, all in good fun though. Although our latest house disagreement was, which movie is more realistic, “Independence Day” or “Transformers?” (I was on the “Independence Day” side. )

Been nice to have another slow week before hitting the road again. Going to be a tough weekend with a three games in three days on the road and I’m not much of a bus sleeper. One thing I look forward to is our card game that goes on in the back of the bus. Shnarples it’s called. Most people have probably never heard of it but basically it’s about suits and one suit is a trump and you try to get the most “tricks.” Somewhat luck, somewhat skill, but makes the rides go by real fast and I got two wins this year. ... I just hope I am winning with skill and not the luck.

Christmas season has officially begun – yep, I’m a last minute shopper, although this year I have most of my gifts picked out. I probably won’t get them till the 24th though. I think it’s partly because I am not the most-organized person in the world and I tend to forget things when traveling so I can be safe and get it when I’m closer to home.

Well I’m off to watch some “Family Guy” and “Man vs. Wild.” Before I leave I have to mention the Patriots and I still don’t think my heart has recovered from Monday night’s game. It won’t be easy from here on out but I still am confident having Tom Brady with the all in his hands going perfect.

Until next time
– Hoff