New York Rangers Win Home Opener 4-2 Against Blackhawks

By Margaret DeJesus (MargaretDeJesus88@gmail.com)

NEW YORK-(Oct. 10, 2008)--The New York Rangers have gone out with the old and in with the new this season -- saying “bye” to Jaromir Jagr and Co. -- and it’s paying off big time so far. The team has won three straight games with contributions from its young rookies and newly acquired veterans to complement its solid goaltending.

Brandon Dubinsky, a rising star in his second NHL season, along with his new teammates and linemates Nikolai Zherdev and Aaron Voros led the Rangers past the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Friday night at the home opener at Madison Square Garden.

Dubinsky had a goal and two assists in the Original Six matchup against the Western Conference team while his line combined for seven points.

With red, white and blue balloons dropped from the rafters, the lights turned down low and special effects smoke pumped in, the team and its new captain were introduced to a sold out and rocking crowd of 18,200 in a pregame ceremony.

“It’s a huge honor and I’m thrilled to be doing it,” said forward Chris Drury, a 10-year veteran of the NHL, about being named the 25th captain of the Rangers. The former Buffalo Sabres co-captain signed with the team last summer.

Defenseman Wade Redden, who signed a six-year deal worth $39 million with the Rangers this summer, fired the puck past Blackhawks goalie Cristobel Huet after Drury’s weak shot rebounded toward him at 6:47 of the first period to give them a 1-0 lead.

The Blackhawks tied it up before the end of the first period when defenseman Brian Campbell banked the puck off of the side of the net to center and last season’s NHL Rookie of the Year, Patrick Kane, who zipped it past goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

“We didn’t necessarily have the best game in the world,” said Aaron Voros in the locker room after the game in which he had a goal and an assist.“We had a couple of mental lapses out there but all in all, we played pretty well.”

Dubinsky scored in the second period to make it 3-1 after nabbing a loose puck at center ice and gliding past three Blackhawks to beat Huet.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to get thrown into a role where I’m going to play some good minutes and be forced to contribute. So far so good,” said the 22-year-old standing near his locker following the game.

With some bad giveaways, momentary lags in intensity, and some weak play in the defensive zone, the Rangers almost allowed the Blackhawks to claw their way back in to the game, especially in the third period after Duncan Keith scored to make it a one goal game.

“We were good enough to win but almost bad enough to lose it,” said Coach Tom Renney in the post game press conference.

The team started the regular season with a pair of back-to-back 2-1 wins over the Tampa Bay Lightning last weekend in the Czech Republic. The teams were two of four chosen to start the NHL regular season in Europe as part of the 2008 Bridgestone NHL Premier designed to spread interest in the league globally as well as allow players the memorable chance to play in front of fans from their home countries.

The Rangers haven’t had a 3-0 start since 1989.So far, the Blueshirts seem to be doing just fine without Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan and Martin Straka, the former captain and co-captains and bulk of the first and second lines who were not resigned by the organization over the summer. Similarly the fan favorite and agitating forward Sean Avery wasn’t brought back either after two seasons.

After getting ousted in the second round of the playoffs two seasons in a row, getting swept in the first round against the rival Devils in 2006, and prior to that not even making the playoffs since 1997, General Manager Glen Sather decided it was time, once again, for the Rangers to go in a new direction with new players like Redden, Zherdev, Voros, and veterans Markus Naslund and Dmitri Kalinin.

Tomorrow, the team heads to Philadelphia to face the Flyers, where Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin will be on hand to drop the puck in honor of the Flyer’s “Hockey Mom of the Year” award presented to a fan.Coach Renney laughed when asked what he thought.

“I’m Canadian,” he said preferring to stay out of the realm of U.S. politics and stick with the hockey.

GAME NOTES:

The three stars of the game were Aaron Voros (LW), Henrik Lundqvist (G), and Brandon Dubinsky (C).Petr Prucha, Patrick Rissmiller and Dan Fritsche were healthy scratches for the Rangers.The pre-game ceremony featured a special puck drop by Ranger greats Adam Graves (No. 9), Harry Howell (No. 3) and Andy Bathgate (No. 9), who will have their jersey numbers retired this February.

NEW YORK--(10/10/08) Alternate captain Scott Gomez talks about the contributions of the Rangers younger players. Rookie center Brandon Dubinsky and his new linemate Aaron Voros talk to reporters in the locker room following the win.

Big Brothers and Big Sisters Make a Difference

BOSTON—(Oct.2,2008) Big Brothers of Massachusetts Bay along with their “little brothers” pose with Mark Stuart and Andrew Alberts of the Boston Bruins and Blades, the Bruins mascot in Prudential Center after playing a round of mini golf with hockey sticks for the Puck-Putt Challenge.

By Margaret DeJesus (MargaretDeJesus88@gmail.com)

Imagine being an 11-year-old child hopping off the school bus and entering an empty home. Parents may have to work extra long hours to put food on the table which might mean less time to go over homework problems or to kick around a soccer ball at the park.

For many children in Boston and around the country this can be a daily reality. Adults who volunteer their time to mentor a child can make a difference while getting the chance to let out their inner 10-year-old.

“Providing youth with a role model, a mentor, someone to look up to, is critical. Many people have a misperception about the time requirement needed to play a role in young lives,” said Meghan Keaney, the director of communications with United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley in an email.

“There are currently more than 5,000 youth on a waiting list to be matched with a mentor. So yes, absolutely, we need to get the word out,” she said.

Spending an afternoon playing a round of mini golf with hockey sticks and professional hockey players from the Boston Bruins is certainly one creative way to engage the city’s youth and adults and “get the word out.”

The Puck-Putt challenge held at the Prudential Center on Boylston Avenue last Thursday afternoon built on smiles, high-fives and laughter brought together children, teenagers and their mentors from various groups.

Sponsored by United Way, Boston Properties and the Boston Bruins as part of the inspire4life campaign, the event featured a mini miniature golf course set up on the marble floor of the Belvedere Arcade area of the mall. Defensemen Andrew Alberts and Mark Stuart of the Boston Bruins attended along with the team’s mascot.

Getting a hole in one was cause for celebration for many of the younger kids who threw up their hands in the air as it was pretty tough to maneuver the rather large, orange rubber ball down the small stretch of green into the hole with a plastic hockey stick.

“Hey guys. How you doing? I’m Andrew.” Andrew Alberts, the 6-foot-5-inch tall athlete while donning his Bruins jersey held out his hand to two kids gathered around hole three of the makeshift golf course and introduced himself. “Did you see our game last night?” Awkward silence and nervous smiles from the kids followed.

“ No?” he asked surprised pretending to be offended when they shook their heads and laughed. “It’s okay the season doesn’t start until next Thursday anyway,” he smiled and signed their t-shirts to their delight.

United Way is a community impact organization which invests in various other partner agencies, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, to solve issues regarding youth opportunities to success as well as employment and housing options for adults.

As of December of last year 5,311 youth were matched with supportive adult mentors because of United Way investments; 115,126 youth served in quality programs, and more than 1,700 parents reported being better able to support their children according to Ms. Keaney.

The “inspire4life” ad campaign was started to raise awareness about the benefits of mentoring a child and inspiring a child for life.

Mentors can come in all different shapes, sizes and walks of life from teachers to recent college grads to professional hockey players.

“I think it’s great for a young kid to have an idol to look up too. When I was growing up back in Minnesota, the NorthStars (former NHL hockey team) used to practice at a local rink nearby and a bunch of us kids used to go watch them play. Sometimes they’d stop and sign autographs, which was great because we looked up to those guys,” said Alberts explaining his pull to attend the event.

Bob McDermott, a fifth grade teacher at St. Mary of the Hills School in Milton, said that volunteering with Big Brothers of Massachusetts Bay provided him “a meaningful and memorable experience.” McDermott and his “little brother” Dmitri have enjoyed everything from arcades and movies to pizza and sandwiches at the beach.

“Anything we do is fun. Today is probably the best ever. It’s exciting playing with the hockey players,” said the 11-year-old.

Erin Sunderland, now a marketing manager with United Way, began volunteering as a Big Sister a year and a half ago.

“There’s something about interacting with a ten-year-old that’s just fun,” said the 26-year-old while sitting at United Way information table set up.

“If both parents work full time, it’s nice if a child has a member they can bond with outside of the family.”

United Way advertises that children who meet regularly with mentors are 33% less likely to resort to violence, 52% less likely to skip school and 46% less likely to start using illegal drugs.

Sunderland said that although she’s more of the cozy up with a book type, while her Little Sister is more active and outdoorsy, there were tons of things for them to bond on. Going for long walks, baking cupcakes, playing cards and playing Monopoly were just a few of the things the two enjoy together.

“I think I've benefitted by being able to feel like I'm giving back even if it is only in a very small way. She (her Little Sister) also reminds me not to take things too seriously and that it's okay to be silly once in awhile,” said Sunderland.

Mentors can also make a difference by just having a ready pair of ears to listen when a child wants someone outside of the home to talk to.

“She might feel more comfortable talking with me about certain things like maybe problems in schools since I’m younger,” said Sunderland. “Inspire4life is reminding people in the city that there are so many ways to get involved.”

Chris Devlin attended the Puck-Putt event with children from the South Boston Boys and Girls Club for at risk youth, where he’s volunteered for the last eight months. The 23-year-old recent graduate of Suffolk University looked youthful in his baseball cap while keeping score for his group’s golf game.

Devlin, who realized he enjoyed working with kids after various summer jobs, said the South Boston Club is good for the children because “it keeps them off the streets and out of trouble” by organizing sports and activities for them to get involved in after school.

“Getting watched over is nice,” said Paul Goslin, a 13-year-old student with the group whose shirt was covered in autographs from the Bruins and their mascot. He said he enjoyed taking field trips with the club, especially the end of the year trip to the theme park, Six Flags Great Adventure and added that the group has even volunteered at elderly homes.

Peg Sprague, the vice president of community impact at United Way, stressed in her speech at the event that there are many ways that adults in the community can help inspire a child.

From tutoring, to playing a game of monopoly, “getting involved could mean something as simple as smiling and saying ‘Hi,’ when you see a young person walking down the street,” she said.

Legal Scholar Promotes Book on the Invisible Constitution

BOSTON--(Sept.25,2008) Professor Laurence Tribe delivers his lecture on “The Invisible Constitution” as part of the Ford Hall Forum held at Suffolk University Law School.

By Margaret DeJesus (MargaretDeJesus88@gmail.com)

Renowned legal scholar Laurence Tribe made the case on Thursday night that there is an “Invisible Constitution” also at work in America at Suffolk University Law School as part of the Ford Hall Forum lecture series.

About 120 people attended the lecture which was free and open to the public, continuing with the tradition of the Ford Forums.

Tribe, who is currently a professor of constitutional law at Harvard University, stressed during his speech that “the Constitution is a living framework and not simply an artifact preserved in pristine conditions under glass.”

He also pointed out that some of the most widely held beliefs, such as the right over our own bodies or a provision forbidding states to secede from the union, are not even included in the written document.

“The text is merely a skeleton or a shadow. The reason we are not governed by the dead hand of the past is because it (the Constitution) has moved over time,” he said in his speech.

He began his talk by giving a brief history of the document explaining that the one on display in Washington D.C. is the handwritten draft and not the actual document eventually ratified by the states.

Following the talk was a question and answer session. It got heated at times as some people posed politically charged questions about Barack Obama, who was his research assistant at Harvard, and President Bush rather than staying on the topic of the Constitution.

“I strongly believe in the first amendment and am delighted that you disagree with me,” Tribe calmly countered to Susan Allen, a candidate for Congress. Ms. Allen was unsatisfied with his answer to her question regarding the constitutionality of appointing a Federal Reserve Board.

Suffolk University Law Professor Valerie Epps who moderated the lecture said in an interview after Tribe’s talk that he was “graceful in handling the lively questions” and did “a wonderful job of explaining how it (the Constitution) stood the test of time” not merely by its words but through the interpretation of what they say.

“He (Tribe) did a great job of driving home the point that the Constitution is lively and keeps changing. It’s not just a rigid old, document of historical record,” said Rich Minier, guest of the event. “I underestimated how continuous it is.”

“I thought it (his speech) was interesting in that we assume a lot of our rights our written down somewhere when in fact you have to imply a lot,” said Jane Lee, who recently took a tour of James Madison’s house in Virginia with her husband Mike to ring in the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution.

Those who attended the lecture were given free copies of the Constitution within a mini booklet containing other historical facts and documents such as the Articles of Confederation.

Tribe signed copies of his new book, The Invisible Constitution after the lecture.

Berklee Students Play More Than Just Music

BOSTON--(Sept.23,2008) Jimmy Gately, captain, coach, and center for the Berklee Ice Cats, draws up the next drill during their practice at the Simoni Ice Rink in Cambridge.

By Margaret DeJesus (MargaretDeJesus88@gmail.com)

BOSTON--(Sept. 24, 2008) Drumsticks, guitar picks and hockey sticks? It may sound like an odd combination but not to the members of the Ice Cats, Berklee College of Music’s hockey team.

Yes, Berklee has a hockey team and its players find time to balance their passion for music with their love of the game.“I’ve played it (hockey) my whole entire life. Why would I stop playing now?” said Charles (Charlie) Silva, a 22-year-old music education major at Berklee.

The prestigious music school located in the heart of Boston along Massachusetts and Boylston Avenue isn’t known for its sports and doesn’t even have an athletic department but that didn’t stop John Kingsley from posting flyers around campus and online that expressed interest in starting a hockey team in 2006. A bunch of students, including Silva, showed up for the first meeting and “the rest is history,” according to Kingsley who graduated from Berklee with a guitar performance degree.

“We start getting questions as early as just after acceptances go out about how to try out, how to get involved, and does it really exist,” said Director of Student Activities Emily Page in an email.

Come Together

The team initially had their share of hurdles to overcome from figuring out the school’s colors to paying for ice time and jerseys.

“The things that are pushed into college sports like the mascot, the school colors, the logo, no one knew that. Now we had a hockey team and we had to find out all that stuff,” said team captain Jimmy Gately in an interview with fellow teammates last Friday in a Berklee study lounge.

They learned Berklee had a mascot named Mingus the Cat and red and grey school colors, which they adapted to maroon and silver on their jerseys.The hockey hungry musicians had to front hundreds of dollars of their own cash the first season for ice time at rinks for practice, for referee fees, and for jerseys and equipment. But as time went on, Berklee found ways to help support them.

“The more and more we showed the school what we could do, the more they helped out,” said Kingsley, the brainchild of the club, in a phone interview. “For a school that had basically no athletics, they responded really well.”

Today, the Berklee bookstore sells jerseys, baseball hats and other hockey merchandise with part of the proceeds going to the hockey team according to the director of student activities.

Battle of the Art Schools

The Ice Cats played their first season in the NESHL, New England Senior Hockey League where they posted an 8-15-1 record. Their opponents were usually older men, sometimes former athletes, of varying skill levels and no checking was allowed. John “Pie” McKenzie, a two time Stanley Cup winner with the Boston Bruins in the 1970s, volunteered to coach the team for their first season after learning about them from a Boston Globe article.

According to defenseman Brian Mullen, one of the highlights of that year was “getting to practice in TD Banknorth Garden and suiting up in the away team’s locker rooms the day after my 21st birthday.”

The Garden is home to the Boston Bruins NHL hockey team.The team now plays in the more aggressive and competitive ACHA, American Collegiate Hockey Association where they were 9-3 last season. They played against club teams from schools like Tufts University, Middlesex Community College, Suffolk University and Bentley College.

The annual Boylston Cup game, initially organized by Kingsley and Gately in 2006, against Emerson College is when the students of Berklee come to cheer on their team as it’s the most advertised game of their season. Money is also raised for the Ice Cats through ticket sales at the Boylston game.

“An idea we've been tossing around is to one day make it like a mini Beanpot with a couple of other schools involved,” said Gately. “For now it’s just a Boylston street battle of the two art schools.”

Berklee won their self made trophy two years in a row after defeating Emerson.

“It’s fun to play against all the teams but the rivalry against Berklee is definitely more energetic than any other,” said Alan Gwizdowski, captain of the Emerson Lions, in a phone interview.

“We started our club teams at around the same time, played in the same leagues and we both funded it ourselves, so we were kind of in the same boat as them.”The Boylston Cup is also fun, according to Gwizdowski because it pits the “filmmakers against the music guys.”

Musicians by Day, Hockey Players by Night

After a day’s work of recording, practicing scales or hammering out drum solos, the students get together on Tuesday nights at the Simoni Ice Rink in Cambridge to take a step back from music.

“To be at a music college and to have an outlet where I don’t have to talk about music all the time is a nice release,” said Gately.“It’s always going to be about the music. This is ultimately just a fun thing on the side for Tuesday and Saturday nights,” said 22-year-old Mullen, a professional music major in drums, adding that some of the guys can’t always show because they have gigs scheduled.

During their 90 minute practices the players may work on basic passing drills, conditioning and skating exercises as well as offensive strategies. When asked how they stay in shape, Mullen, Gately and Silva burst out laughing.

“We tried doing off-ice practices but people weren’t really into it. There are some kids who do, but in the month before the season starts we run a lot of conditioning drills at practice,” said Gately.

The players who for the most part rely on their hands for their musical craft are careful but not overly concerned about getting injured.“It’s a risk we take, not because we are really competitive hockey players or anything, but because we love playing hockey and we want to have fun playing it,” said Zachary (Zac) Zinger, the team’s 19-year-old goalie.

Gately, who will also act as coach for the team again this season, warns students before trying out that it may not be the best idea to get involved if they haven’t played in a few years or aren’t comfortable on skates. Most of the now 18 player squad, which at one time had a couple of female players as well, has had some experience in high school.

Zinger, who averaged only two goals against per game, and top scoring forward Breton McNamara won the state championship together when they played for the Quaker Valley Quakers in high school in Pittsburgh, Pa.

The Ice Cats are also composed of players with different musical backgrounds, which they say is another added benefit of being on the team.

“You actually come to respect more different types of music. Since I respect Zac, I’m more likely to open myself up more to his style of music (jazz composition),” said drummer and left winger Charlie Silva.

“We may never have met had it not been for the team,” said Zinger, who said he gets a taste of heavy metal and Dave Matthews Band among other things when he hangs out with fellow players.

There’s not much music to be heard out of the Ice Cats locker room before games, although Zinger suggested “playing the Oscar Meyer Weiner song from the commercial might be funny to psych out the other team one day.”

There is always the possibility of an air guitar or air drum solo however, according to Silva.

John Kingsley said he had no idea what would happen when he posted up those flyers and never would have dreamed that the team would get so much recognition so fast, let alone a mini spot on a NESN show and a Boston Globe article during the winter of their 2006-2007 season.

“I know we won’t be the fifth Beanpot team or anything but to give Berklee even just a little outlet like this for its students to share in is great, and I feel privileged to have been part of that,” said Kingsley, who now lives in Nashville and just got off the road playing guitar with ZZ Top.The Ice Cats kick off their third season this October against Middlesex Community College.

Dinner Table Brings Community Together

BOSTON--(Sept.12,2008) Families wait to enjoy dinner at the Boston Children’s Museum on the half size “Longest Table” moved inside from the pier after it started to rain. By 7 p.m. the once empty table is full, seating about 200.

By Margaret DeJesus (MargaretDeJesus88@gmail.com)

When eight dinner bells rang out on Friday night, a diverse crowd of about 200 people dug into their food and enjoyed a meal together at the Boston Children’s Museum.

Bowls of blueberries, baskets of apples and rows of giant turkey sandwiches along with a variety of dishes brought by the guests completed the dinner party thrown by the museum to bring people together for a meal.

Boston’s Longest Dinner Table: A Giant Potluck for Boston was originally to take place along the museum’s waterfront boardwalk from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. with a range of outdoor activities for children. Once the rain started to come down, the staff remained optimistic and adapted quickly by moving the many chairs and tables inside the museum.

Although no records were broken as hoped, the goal of gathering people together from all walks of life to share a meal was achieved as families still attended and stragglers joined in on the fun from the museum.

“I like the concept of a bunch of people sitting down in the community to eat together with everyone contributing something,” said Steve Holt of East Boston who brought salad, quesadillas and brownies for dinner.

“People sitting down together at the dinner table to talk, you don’t really see that anymore,” he said. Holt and his wife Chrissy managed to convince two friends to come after forwarding an email out about the details of the event.

Megan Dickerson, manager of community programs and partnerships, came up with the idea and modeled it after a series of dinners hosted by another community outreach program she had worked with.

“Here we sit like frogs on a lily pad, frogs on a lily pad, waiting to be fed,” sang Dickerson during the event while standing atop a chair. The children and adults echoed the song in unison while clapping. She then struck the cowbells with a smile signaling the time for everyone to take a bite of food together.

Families were asked to bring their own meals to enjoy while sandwiches and fruits were donated by Boston Organics, Whole Foods and KidFresh.

Jamell Hankins, the co-event producer was pleased with the turnout even though the table was half of what it would have been had it not rained.

“Getting all these people to mingle and sit down together is amazing,” he said.

“Boston is really diverse and some neighborhoods seem to be divided up by race. This is great because it brings communities together,” said Mena Lam, one of the Teen Ambassadors who worked at the event.

The BNY Mellon CityACCESS Teen Ambassadors are fluent in various languages and work with the museum and volunteer in Boston communities like Washington Beach.

They spread the word about the dinner at six cultural festivals throughout Boston during the summer.

“This is the most successful indoor museum activity I’ve been too,” said Karl Geneus, a fourth year Teen Ambassador and freshman in Bunker Hill Community College.

“A place like this makes people more accepting of each other,” he said.

Face painting, games and a dance party in the outdoor tent were some of the activities also offered to families.

“This is the first time we’ve tried something like this. People seem pretty happy. Who knows? Maybe we’ll try it again,” said Ginny Zanger, the Vice President of the Children’s Museum.