Those Are The Mad Notes!

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… :)

This is probably one of the hardest posts I’ve written in recent times but the ones that come from the heart usually are. This year spent in the scorer’s booth has had quite the profound effect upon my life and for that and everyone in the MCHL Ironclad League, you have my undying thanks! :)

The week ending 26 May 1990 saw the Billboard singles chart dominated by the ladies occupying the five top spots for the first time since 30 Jun 1979 when Donna Summer had two singles in the top five. So tonight's theme celebrates those two legendary weeks on the charts with some serious girl power! :)

On this day in 1997, Fleetwood Mac would begin recording "The Dance" series of reunion concerts in Burbank on the 20th anniversary of the release of their album "Rumours" which turns 50 years old this year! With all of the drama backstage during the recording of this iconic album, there's no way we're not having some fun with it tonight! :)

It seems that no matter where you look for your news, it's hard to make a persuasive argument that it seems to be pretty much full of every evil released from Pandora's Box (even though it was actually a jar) with no respite in sight unless you're a billionaire. If you're feeling a bit at loose ends in this world of ours, this theme of holding on for the hope that remained in her jar is right up your alley... :)

On today's date in 1982, there was one album nearing the end of it's nine week run at the top of the Billboard album chart and it was Asia's self-titled debut album that ended up being the best selling album that year!

Bonus music time and spending the evening celebrating Billy Squier who celebrates his 76th birthday on the same day my grandmother did! That seems a hat-trick of happy memories to me... :)

Alex Van Halen (in the striped shirt holding the drumsticks) turns 73 today so we're going to drive those speakers really hard with some seriously hard rocking tunes!

¡Tienes tres intentos —y los dos primeros no cuentan— para adivinar el tema de esta noche!

My dear cousin Cindy in southern Illinois shared a lovely bit of news that her daughter Courtney has just graduated from Union College in Tennessee with her Bachelor's in Music where the original plan was to teach K-12. But a final examination led to the revelation of the love of "musicology" and that's how she's ended up in Oxford to do her Master's at Ole Miss...and that's how this theme came to pass! :)

It's not often that one of the songs in theme of the night provides the title but here's one that absolutely does do just that! :)

Tonight's theme features the King of Pop and not even a delayed start and lack of the Zamboni before the first game was going to stop us! :)

One of the quickest themes to come together but make no mistake, this is no mellow mix but you're going to be feeling just fine knowing it's 4:20 somewhere, man! :)

When it came to coming up with tonight's theme, my younger son Alex came to the rescue with the theme idea faster than a speeding bullet! :)

A new season is upon us and not just in terms of Ironclad hockey! :)