Glenn Kubish

Facts are facts, and, so, eventually (or in six games, whichever arrives first), we all have to face the Brad Marchands in our lives.  It is anathema for me to praise Florida Panthers winger Brad Marchand.  I am an Edmonton Oilers fan, and have been since the days of the World Hockey Association. I am an old-enough Oilers fan to have seen, with my own eyes, Jacques Plante play for Edmonton at the Coliseum against New England Whalers’ star Gordie Howe. I am a crazy-enough Oilers fan to have been arrested for throwing firecrackers onto Jasper Avenue during a Stanley Cup victory parade. (I was released because officers were more urgently needed up the block at a fur store break-in. When I say released, I mean from the neck.) I am a tradition-bound-enough Oilers fan to have passed on the identity to my sons. One of my grandsons walked around during the Cup playoffs with three stuffed toys: 1. Woody 2. Buzz Lightyear 3. Ryan Nuygent-Hopkins. No one should doubt my hometown team cre...

From the vortex, here’s a weekly collection of three things that left behind marks of happiness and gratitude.  Three Things, episode 146:                               1. Open house   The Grim Reaper has been to our door. It was not unexpected. It was that time. It was Halloween. Halloween is still a thing for me. I haven’t dressed up since going as Elliot, the kid in ET, eight years ago now. I wore a red hoodie. My friend Aminah gifted me an ET doll that I rigged up at the front of my bike for the ride into work. It was fun.  Shelagh always has the better costume ideas, though. This year she went as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Shelagh considers these things, and makes rulings. Unable to sleep one night before Halloween, she started making lists in the middle of the night. In addition to Notorious RBG, she considered going as: candy corn, Maria from Sound of Music, the guy who ...

Here’s a fact beyond debate:   it’s the end of week. Next up: the weekend. Here are three things that I noticed I noticed made for some happiness and gratitude last week. Three Things from Edmonton, episode 145:                               1. Goalies   Connor Hellebuyck, the goaltender for the Winnipeg Jets, allowed two early goals against the Oilers last week and then closed the door, as they say.   The Oilers lost 3-2, underlining what has been a lacklustre start to the season for the home squad. But enough about them. In an extended interview after the game, Hellebuyck was asked about his unique style. I reached for the remote. I didn’t need to hear again some version of “the team plays well in front of me”   or “I was just seeing the puck well tonight” or some other in the long list of platitudes for the multitudes. Before I could hit the mute button, he said this of his style. “I think ...

Focus. The weekend is in sight. Here are three things that left tracks of happiness and gratitude this past week. Three Things from Edmonton, episode 144:                        1.   The universe and the fundamental attribution error   Chocolate almonds are a weakness. From way back. From the days back behind the Esso station on 66 Street in Steele Heights where we’d put our bikes down next to a telephone pole in the alley and eat the chocolate almonds instead of trying to sell them door to door to support the school fundraising campaign. I was never meant to be a salesperson. I took a no, thanks, or a door closed in my face, or a dog barking a goodbye way too personally.   Andy’s IGA   is a much better chocolate hawker. The shelf stockers there simply pile up plastic tubs of chocolate almonds and, without a word, wait for me to come apart and buy one, which, last week, I did and then did.   I walked up...