This wild, wacky, amazing (pick your adjective) journey wouldn’t be possible without the unselfish support of many pro-environment citizens, not just in the U.S. but also in Canada. I experienced the truest form of hospitality last week when I refueled the green machine in Montreal, Quebec, and later, in a small town in Eastern Ontario.

The Island City, and the entire surrounding area for that matter, has only one place that can help its fellow citizens run on vegetable oil or biodiesel – Eco Auto (http://www.ecoauto.ca). These guys were totally awesome, going out and collecting about 12 gallons of veg oil on my behalf, as well as supplying me with some B100 biodiesel. I would like to thank Chris and Mark for their hospitality. If you are looking to convert your car to run on veg oil or have any questions about biodiesel, these are the guys to call.

After bolting Montreal before the afternoon drive traffic got too hideous, I slipped into eastern Ontario where a gentlemen who shall remain anonymous supplied me with even more veg oil. I found him on the Internet (thank God for the Internet), and he even let me crash at his cool estate. You know the thing I’ve noticed most about Canadians is just how damn laid back and friendly they are. Every time I interview a Canadian athlete, they just seem more at ease than the American athlete. I don’t mean to infer that American athletes are difficult, but all I know is whenever I’ve approached Matt Stairs or Jason Bay in the locker room when doing my baseball stories, they’ve been very mellow and cool and cordial. We Americans could take a tip from our neighbors and lighten up a bit and smile a lot more, that’s all I’m saying. And take more vacations. We Americans don’t give ourselves enough of a “time out” from work and the daily grind. In short, while our politics may differ, we can agree to disagree on issues, yet still be friendly neighbors that also believe in the tenants of democracy and the winds of change, including changing attitudes about energy such as running car on alternative fuels like biodiesel and vegetable oil.

After taking in a Canadian junior league game in Belleville, Ontario, I crossed the border at Port Huron, back into the states to see a pair of college hockey games, one at Notre Dame and the other at Western Michigan. Like last year’s baseball journey, I’ve crossed the border several times now, and besides a few weird looks, no one at the border questions me, even when they see jugs of veg oil in the back seat!

I am a big Notre Dame fan and totally biased, so I had a great time at the convocation center where they play hockey even though it’s not really an arena. They basically split the venue into two with a big, blue curtain. In fact, one side was a series of tables already set for a dinner before the USC-Notre Dame football game! On the other side, was a sheet of ice and some rolled in bleachers, and the Irish toppled visiting Denver, to the pleasure of a near capacity crowd.

While the east coast thermometer has turned decidedly downward the past few weeks, my enthusiasm has continued to rise, especially as the sports season pushes closer to November, the month when contenders and pretenders become distinguishable in football and the ball drops on another basketball season.

Hockey season? Well, it’s here alright, and I’ve seen plenty of it over the past plus week to attest to that, from Oshawa, Ontario to Buffalo to Montreal and Western Michigan. While the NHL seems to have put a lid on excessive fighting, the same can not necessarily be said of the Canadian junior hockey ranks. I’ve seen five games now in the Ontario Hockey League, and each game has averaged about two to three fights; if you see one in the NHL these days, consider yourself lucky, I guess.

To fight or not to fight, that is one of many questions the suits in New York at the NHL offices must decide in regards to the future of the game. With no ESPN-TV contract (currently) and only one marquee star to wrap its name around (Sid “The Kid” Crosby of the Penguins), the NHL is once again floundering. Attendance is down everywhere (except Canadian teams, of course), even in “Hockeytown,” Detroit.

The NHL might improve its marketability by lowering its ridiculously high ticket prices; letting the “original six” (Montreal, Toronto, Boston, New York Rangers, Chicago, Detroit) play more often; moving struggling franchises to Canada (like Nashville to Hamilton, Quebec City or Winnipeg); and opening up the game more, so there’s more scoring, not less of it. There’s nothing worse that the game being referred to as “Soccer on Skates.”

The possibilities of a turnaround were in evidence in Buffalo when they hosted rival Toronto, Oct. 15. From the drop of the puck, the game was fast-paced, intense and exciting, and the fans ate it up. A lot of crazy Leaf fans made the two hour roadie across the border, but the Sabres won a nail biter in overtime with seconds remaining, and although the Leafs lost, fans on both sides went home having seen an open, up-and-down, high-tempo hockey game in a great hockey town. 

The next night I made it to THE hockey town – Montreal. The most successful franchise in all of hockey, the Canadians seem to be, at least in my opinion, “Bell Cursed.” The Habs haven’t won the Stanley Cup, or even come remotely close to competing for one, since demolishing the fabled Forum in the 90’s where they won a plethora of hardware. The Bell Centre was packed, as usual, as the Habs hosted the expansion Florida Panthers. The game wouldn’t have been possible without the tremendous hospitality of Steve “The Wonder” Deroschers, a friend of mine, who is a Habs season-ticket holder and also a partner in Electric Energy Online. Steve believes in my cause of raising awareness of renewable energy, and was gracious enough to let me see the game with one of his season tickets. Visit his company’s Web site at: http://www.electricenergyonline.com.

What a great venue and great pre-game ceremony, reflecting the Canadians storied history. There is a “Hall of Fame” series of plaques and photos of former Habs greats on the main concourse, plus a junior hockey education, including teams former Habs players suited up for, on the upper concourse. And of course there are the retired numbers and slew of Stanley Cup banners in the rafters. The pre-game ceremonies were equally awesome, with the entire ice splattered with murals and photos of former Canadians greats, from the Rocket, Maurice Richard to Guy Laflleur. Speaking of No. 10, he dropped the first puck.

What a game it was – and what an ending, although not an ending Canadians fans wish to remember. The Habs had a 1-0 shutout until 11 seconds left in regulation when the Panthers tied it. Then, after a scoreless overtime, the upstart Floridians won the shootout, leaving Habs fans shaking their heads. The Canadians had nobody to blame but themselves, falling asleep in the third period with a lead on home ice, then taking a stupid slashing penalty late in the game.

The next day, on the Team 990 radio station, some the fans were calling for Guy Charbaneau’s head. Ironically, it was Charbaneau that played on the last Habs team to win the Cup. “Bell Cursed”? In the U.S., we all know about the “Billy Goat Curse” on the Chicago Cubs. In my opinion, until the Habs take home Lord Stanley again, I’ll be convinced they are “Bell Cursed.” But, I must be honest with you now, this is coming from a former Hartford Failures fan who still can’t go over the Game 7 loss to the Habs back in the 80s!

I’m sure glad I’m making my way through a lot of the sporting hot spots in the Great Lakes States before November because I’ve already felt the chill and it’s only October!

After a visit to Michigan State hockey on Oct. 9, I headed south for warmer weather and more puck. I was out of luck on the thermometer getting warmer but I did see some good hockey in Columbus as the Blue Jackets shut out “The Great One,” Wayne Gretzky and the Coyotes. No. 99 should have laced on the skates! The next day, before heading up to Cleveland, I stopped at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The highlight for a first time visitor to the hall is the “Game Day Experience” video, which takes fans from training camp through the Super Bowl, backed by the famous NFL voice of John Facenda. There was also some new material on display, including gear from LaDainian Tomlinson’s record-breaking season a year ago, and the football thrown by Brett Favre earlier this season to become the all-time touchdown passes leader.

The lime green renewable energy machine, also known as a 1984 German-manufactured Mercedes, rolled into the environs of the Motor City of Detroit a couple days later. I couldn’t help but notice a bumper sticker outside Motown that read: “Want to keep your job? Then stop buying foreign!” I almost felt like creating my own bumper sticker: “Want to keep your job? Make better cars.”

Metro Detroit and all of the State of Michigan is in an economic tailspin, and that was reflected in my sporting event visits across the Wolverine State. The big three American automakers, GM, Ford and Chrysler – all based in Detroit – continue to lose market share and revenues to Japanese and other foreign-based automakers, particularly Toyota.

How bad is it? Well, for starters, Chrysler went on strike last week; can’t make more bad cars if there’s no one on the assembly line. What’s more, there are now plenty of seats available for games in “Hockeytown” at historic Joe Louis Arena where the National Hockey League Red Wings play. Yet it gets worse. I got into Michigan’s football home game against Purdue last Saturday for $5. Yep, that’s not a misprint: $5. And the face value for the ticket I bought was $55! You want perspective? I paid $5 more for a Red Wings game than a Michigan football game.