Music has always been a big part of my life and sometimes the right song can evoke such powerful memories.
These are those stories! :)
Tonight's theme comes to us courtesy of an idea from Michael Gisser of the Gargoyles in the MCHL's Bendis division (who sadly won't hear the set that he inspired). His idea was such a wonderful one that I couldn't exactly let it go with at least three major concerts in Raleigh this weekend... :)
Just when you think you've got the theme that you know the Ironclad players will absolutely love, real life has a way of throwing a spanner in the works in a big way. Fortunately, the theme survived pretty much intact with a special tribute bookending the show! :)
"Tommy" was an amazing album from The Who and one could be forgiven for wondering if they'd ever top that achievement. On this date in 1971, The Who made it very clear that they definitely had accepted that challenge with the release of "Who's Next" which is arguably their best album if not one of the best albums of all time. Midway through the third period of game 2, all three ladies playing in the game had recorded an assist and Miss Kristina had an awesome idea to celebrate that achievement... :)
When today is the day that I'm officially sans teenaged children, there's really no choice at all when it comes to the theme of the night... ;)
Tonight's theme features Madison Square Garden's longest tenured resident and proud New Yorker from the Island as we celebrate his ninth studio album "An Innocent Man" which was released on 08 Aug 2026 with a wee bit of temporal stretching to avoid opening up the Mystery Crate! :)
This album knocked an iconic LP from it's perch at the top of the Billboard Hot 200 Albums chart in 1984. Then it stayed there for the next 24 weeks...
James Taylor and Carole King collaborated on so many songs but there is one that stands above them all and that's the one she wrote and both of them recorded for their respective albums in early 1971. That tune is "You've Got a Friend" and for James, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 on this date in 1971 and would eventually go on to win Grammys for both JT and Carole in 1972. :)
45 years ago yesterday, the most successful solo album by any member of Fleetwood Mac was released. That album was "Bella Donna" by Stevie Nicks (with some help from Tom Petty and Don Henley) and to say it's a legendary one is a grand understatement!
Tonight's showcase game between the MCHL and the NC Autism Hockey League bringing attention to adaptive hockey has a very special playlist...every song played from the Zamboni to the final horn is by an artist/member of band/composer/subject of song that is neurodivergent. That six hour playlist contains some very famous and successful artists that might well surprise even the most dedicated listeners! :)
It seems truly shocking that someone whose career started in the early 1960's had to wait until this date in 1976 before he finally scored a #1 single topping the UK charts in his home country. That'd be the story behind the 50th anniversary of Sir Elton John's track "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" in a delightful duet with Kiki Dee!
Sometimes the themes can be wildly divergent from one Zamboni to the next. This one was especially so... :)
Sometimes it takes a little longer than planned to try to work through one's feelings and find the way forward. Let's just say being able to choose and play the music helps more than most people will ever know... :)
Sometimes your head and your gut instinct know when the whistle for full time should blow but it'll take your heart a whole lot longer to catch up them. This is one of those sets of songs we've shared over 12 years together...
You know when you have a task that goes amazingly well and then you have the feeling you're probably going to really pay for it the next time you're going to perform that task? Yeah, this story is one of those... :)
Having three great inspirations for the themes to kick off Season XIV in Ironclad only to end up winging it and a rookie mistake that made things really interesting in the second game just goes to show you that it's not necessarily how you start but how you weather the storm to finish strong that truly matters! :)
This is what it's all been building toward during an exciting 13th season of MCHL Ironclad as the season concludes with it all to play for with the Lunara and Solara Cups on the line!
It's a special Thursday night pick-up game and we're going to do something a little different for the music tonight. But first, we celebrate an album that dropped 42 years ago today... :)
In an era where anyone can put their music on the Internet, it's hard to remember the times when the A&R (artists and repertoire) executives were the ones who decided what you'd hear on the radio. And one of the best A&R men ever was Clive Davis who passed away yesterday...
We finish up the MCHL Race for the Cup Divisional Round tonight for the Bendis Division that will crown their divisional champion the way we started it by celebrating the Carolina Hurricanes winning the 2026 Stanley Cup. But as it turns out, they aren't the only champions worth celebrating...tonight's special theme is for a troublemaker of the very best kind who has forgotten more about courage than I could ever hope to know! :)
Only one game tonight on a rare special Thursday edition of MCHL Ironclad so it's an abbreviated set but we've got a couple of new toys to play with and a mini-theme mourning the passing of Walter Parazaider of Chicago! :)
After the Carolina Hurricanes finally reached the summit of the NHL mountain after years of falling in the Eastern Conference Final, there was no way this week's theme could be anything else but the best of the tracks in Lenovo Centre's playlist! Congratulations to the 2026 Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes! :)
It may be a shorter set than usual but what would have been Brad Delp's 75th birthday was certainly an inspiration to play his favourite tracks he loved to sing as lead vocalist for Boston! :)
Today is the 48th birthday for Matthew Bellamy (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards) of Muse who features in tonight's theme which also seemed to work very well with game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final that was in progress in Las Vegas... :)
I knew the themes would be the madness that was Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final and Miss Kristina's favourites. But the actual tracks? Literally picked them as I was starting to spin the tunes before each game! :)
There’s nothing quite like running like mad from a Chick Fil-A in Garner to a rink in Wake Forest and coming up with tonight’s playlist on the fly! This ought to be fun… :)
