Kieran's Cuticles and Festinate Ways

Kieran was not one to make festinate decisions. With the thumbnail of his left hand, he'd push back the cuticles of the opposite fingers and then groom his left hand in the same fashion, all the while  furrowing his brow as he fretted when and how to explain the vicissitudes of life to Seamus.

Jack Falla and the Interrobang?!

Jack Falla, who mentored many budding sports journalists before he passed away in September 2008, was not a fan of the exclamation point. I suspect he would boo the interrobang.

 

 

 

 

"O Canada" and the Orphic Dimitri

Dimitri Kotsopoulos, the only Greek Canadian on the Beaverbrooks, would often sing "O Canada" before home games. His orphic voice, so low and commanding, offset his lack of goal-scoring prowess.

Vainglorious: A Character Defect

Kieran is not what most would call a vainglorious hockey dad, but he himself sometimes allowed his ego to swell when Seamus executed a face-off tactic he had taught his son. "I taught Sonny that move," he would sometimes whisper to the hockey patron sitting next to him—and then apologize for being so boastful.

Granda Roams and Then Follows His Nose

Stravagating Lower Sackville's streets—walking past homes on the crescents northeast of First Lake, striding west by businesses on the Evangeline Trail and then following his nose to Beaver Bank Road and Sackville Downs, Granda—his quadriceps still as sturdy as girders—smelled equines and leather and heard the thunder of hooves. "I knew I was home then, Sonny, " he told Seamus. "I knew I was home."

Jocose and Joue un tour avec Benoit

Most hockey teams have a chief prankster—a jocose teammate who cuts a rookie's tie while sleeping on the bus or saws a stick blade of someone who's in a scoring slump—and Benoit fit that bill for the St. Andrews Beaverbrooks.

Benoit, Seamus, and the Breakneck Steps

Benoit and Seamus would awake at dawn, jog to Vieux-Québec, and then conclude their pre-training camp workouts by sprinting down and then up the Breakneck Steps of Petit Champlain—before les rues would inspissate with tourists.