Okay, the dust of phase one of this year's Great Canadian Classic has settled. Attached below is a spreadsheet that shows you everyone who is playing in this year's tournament along with their position. Some are marked as "FD" which means the first preference is forward but the player can play D and vice versa for "DF". Please let us know if we have your position marked wrong. As you will see, we have a large number of players from last year, some alumni returning after a brief absence, and some fresh faces, all adding up for a great day of hockey.
Before we get to the Captains, a special shout out to an original Convenor, Downtown Matt Brown who is finally taking a break from pharmaceutical fun in Florida to claim some glory on the ice at this year's GCC after a too long hiatus. Downtown, bring your tan but leave your thong behind.
And now the Captains. Firstly, thanks again to our previous Captains - Matt Boswell, Doug Carsley, Ian Charlton, Mark dePencier, Chris Kelly, and Mahone Schieman. They did an amazing job every year at the Draft and on Tournament Day. Theirs is a hard act to follow but we know that the following Captains are going to be able to do the job in fine fashion, if not as loud as Charlton:
Mike Armstrong - Easily one of the least funny guys around, thrives on thinking all day about bad jokes and using them with any flimsy excuse. We all sincerely hope that Donger's team is not a bad joke for the sake of the players he selects in the Draft.
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Paul Blyskis - Obsessed with Pink Floyd since age 3, briefly supplanted by Jim Morrison and Led Zeppelin at ages 7 and 8 respectively, Blyskis finally brings a psychedelic edge to the GCC that the tournament had been missing. We just hope that his team will be able to shake out the cobwebs and focus during the games.
Dan Hawkins - Widely noted as never having won a Cup, Hawk is easily the wild card black sheep of the new Captains. We're hoping that the Captain role will be the motivational factor that had been missing from his quest, but only time will tell.
Bill Holy - A hockey chameleon if there ever was one, Bill returns to the GCC after being on injured reserve for the last couple years. Having previously been a goalie in the GCC and returning now as a player, he thinks he has the breadth of perspective to bring the Cup, but no one really takes this theory seriously.
Jaime Purvis - What can we say about this former Ironman award winner? Full of bluster, laughs a little too easily (although that can be reassuring for the confidence of people like Donger), and has a keen ambition to...we're not quite sure other than take the official GCC Bus to Scallywag's after the banquet.
Chuck Sinclair - A fiery redhead and on the confidence level threshold, Chuck once went four tournaments without winning a game and then he marched to the Cup. Can a leopard change his spots? Will the real Slim Sinclair show up? And who is he anyway? All we know is that Hawk is nervous...
So there you have it, the Eighth Annual GCC is shaping up with knowns and unknowns and known unknowns along with unknown knowns. The Draft will be held in early April, about two weeks before the GCC. As you know, the Draft is the key to the parity, and the fun, of the tournament. So, we ask that you advise us if your status changes for some reason before the Draft. We will be in touch again in the week leading up to the Draft. We look forward to seeing you on the ice and figuring out exactly what the new Captains bring to the table. The Convenors.
