6th Night of Hanukkah / Chanukah... 2009

On the old site, I used to do something to celebrate Hanukkah (Channukah, חנוכה). Last year, I revived the tradition by presenting 8 days of Mathieu gifts for the 8 days of the holiday. This year, I thought I'd pick a key part of the holiday (a tradition, a symbol, something of historical significance) to share... and connect it in some way to Mathieu.

So, with that said... I present to you gift number 6:

One of the most recognizable traditions of Hanukkah is the dreidel. The dreidel itself is simply four sided spinning top with a Hebrew letter on each side. Nun, Gimmel, Hay, Shin are the first letters of the phrase "a great miracle happened here" (referring the to the oil lasting 8 days).

Here's how it works. You get a group of people and each take turns. You each start off with an equal pot of loot (change, candy, etc). Everyone puts one piece of their pot into the center (Eventually, more starts ending up there). If you land on נ (Nun), you do nothing on your turn. If you land on ג (Gimmel), you get all of the loot in the center pot. If you land on ה (Hay), you get half of the center pot. If you land on ש (Shin), you have to put half of your pot into the center pot. At the end of a set number of rounds, who ever has the most in his/her personal pot won the game.

You can play with real coins, fruit bits, candy... anything. But one of the best things to play with is gelt, or chocolate coins. (Here comes the stretch....) Mathieu makes a whole lot of gelt. In fact, with his salary this year, he could buy 778,894 bags of gelt (a 5 ounce bag is $1.99 at my local Trader Joe's). Last year, he could have bought three times as many, or 2,889,447 bags!

Here are some break downs:



An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =) And special thanks to Spencer for his advice and Hebrew spellings of things.

5th Night of Hanukkah / Chanukah... 2009

On the old site, I used to do something to celebrate Hanukkah (Channukah, חנוכה). Last year, I revived the tradition by presenting 8 days of Mathieu gifts for the 8 days of the holiday. This year, I thought I'd pick a key part of the holiday (a tradition, a symbol, something of historical significance) to share... and connect it in some way to Mathieu.

So, with that said... I present to you gift number 5:

Latkes may be one of the greatest culinary inventions of all time. Fried potatoes. Proof of God!

Here is my go-to recipe for latkes. They aren't bad, but I still can't make them as good an my neighbor.

• 1 pound potatoes, peeled (Yukon gold works well)
  
• 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped onion
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup oil for frying
  

Grate the potatoes. Add grated potatoes to a bowl of ice cold water. Soak potatoes for at least 2 minutes, then drain. Wring out as much water as you can (tip: spread the potatoes AND the onion on a towel, roll up the towel and t.

Put the potato/onion mixture to a bowl and add the egg and salt.Toss until well mixed

Heat 1/4 cup oil in a pan until hot (but not smoking). Add about 2 tablespoons of the to skillet and flatten out gently with the spoon (should be about a 3 inche round) . Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes each side (until lightly brown). Remove from the pan and drain the extra oil off by placing on a paper towel. Keep warm in the oven (set to low heat, about 250).

Serve with sides of sour cream and applesauce.


As for a Mathieu connection... well, ok, I'm stretching here. A lot. Did you know that Prince Edward Island is known for growing a lot of potatoes?* I didn't until Brad Richard, proud PEI native, revealed such in a radio interview. I also learned from B-Rad that people in Canada refer to PEIers as "spuds" (it is in part 2, at about the 19:45 minute mark).** So... how many times has Mathieu played the most famous hockey playing spud of today?

Four times, with Mathieu having the slight advantage of 2 wins to B-Rad's 1 (and there was a tie in there, when ties could still happen):***

3/8/2004: Tampa Bay @ Detroit, 1-1
12/17/2005: Detroit @ Tampa Bay, 6-3
3/19/2008: Dallas @ Anaheim, 1-2
1/27/2009: Dallas @ Atlanta, 2-0

But B-Rad has 4 wins to Mathieu's 3 in the 2007-2008 playoffs.

*Did you know that despite being TINY (just over 2,000 square miles), PEI produces 30% of the potatoes grown in all of Canada? I looked that up. I didn't learn that from B-Rad. But I would have been most impressed if he had busted out stats like that.

**This post is about Mathieu, but really, that interview is awesome. About 16 minutes on, when they go over his Wikipedia page, is pure gold.

***I originally looked this up last year when they played each other in Atlanta. I only had to add the score from that game, because in the 2 times their teams have played each other since, one or the other has been out of the game.

An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =) And special thanks to Spencer for his advice and Hebrew spellings of things.

4th Night of Hanukkah / Chanukah... 2009

On the old site, I used to do something to celebrate Hanukkah (Channukah, חנוכה). Last year, I revived the tradition by presenting 8 days of Mathieu gifts for the 8 days of the holiday. This year, I thought I'd pick a key part of the holiday (a tradition, a symbol, something of historical significance) to share... and connect it in some way to Mathieu.

So, with that said... I present to you gift number 4:

In 168 BCE, the Syrians/Greeks seized the temple in Jerusalem and made it into a temple for Zeus. Emperor Antiochus went a step further and outlawed the practice of Judiasm and forced all Jews to worship the Greek gods instead. Those who did not comply were killed. This didn't go over well, and a when some soliders made a high priest bow before an idol, well, he kind of flipped out and killed a bunch of folks. That priest than went into hiding, built a small army of fellow rebels, and came back to town to push the Syrian/Greeks out of the land and rededicated the temple to their God. Those rebels are best known as "the Maccabees."

The Maccabees are most known by the books in the (Apocryphal) Bible and the Olympic-like games that share their name. Every four years, Jewish athletes from around the world head to Israel for these elites games.

Again, a pretty tenuous relationship, but Mathieu does have a connection to the Maccabi Games. His brother, Jean-Alain, represented Canada (the country in which he was living as he attended college). He and the Canadian team, under the coaching of legendary Jacques Demers, won the gold medal in hockey that year.


An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =) And special thanks to Spencer for his advice and Hebrew spellings of things.

3rd Night of Hanukkah / Chanukah... 2009

On the old site, I used to do something to celebrate Hanukkah (Channukah, חנוכה). Last year, I revived the tradition by presenting 8 days of Mathieu gifts for the 8 days of the holiday. This year, I thought I'd pick a key part of the holiday (a tradition, a symbol, something of historical significance) to share... and connect it in some way to Mathieu.

So, with that said... I present to you gift number 3:

Oil is a big deal in Hanukkah. While the holiday is essentially about the survival of the culture and religion, it is represented most prominently by the story of the lamp burning for 8 days when there was really only enough oil for one night. The burning oil is represented by the 8 nights of candles, and even by the frying of the potato latkes.

Oil is kind of a big deal to use today. It runs our cars, boats and planes; it heats our homes; it makes our plastics. There are several "hot spots" of oil production around the world: the Middle East, Venezula, Texas, Alaska, Alberta. Oil is such a big deal in Alberta that they even have a team named, well, the Oilers.

Some Mathieu connections to the Oilers? Well, kind of tenuous. He's never played for the team, but he's played against the team. So far in his NHL career, he has played 25 games in Edmonton, recording 9 points (2 goals and 7 assists) and 18 penalty minutes; he has been a -5.


An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =) And special thanks to Spencer for his advice and Hebrew spellings of things.

2nd Night of Hanukkah / Chanukah... 2009

On the old site, I used to do something to celebrate Hanukkah (Channukah, חנוכה). Last year, I revived the tradition by presenting 8 days of Mathieu gifts for the 8 days of the holiday. This year, I thought I'd pick a key part of the holiday (a tradition, a symbol, something of historical significance) to share... and connect it in some way to Mathieu.

So, with that said... I present to you gift number 2:

The most well-known Hanukkah fact? It's eight days long. Why? So goes the lore, when rededicating the Temple, there was only enough oil to light to the ceremonial candelabrum for one day. And it would have taken 8 days to get more. Miraculously, the small amount of oil lasted that long. That is why candles are lite for eight days. Ta da!

Here are some significant instances of the number 8 for Mathieu:

• It was one of the many jersey numbers he's worn (with the Montreal Canadiens, 1990-1993)
• He scored 8 goals in the 1991-1992 season
• 1997-1998 was his 8th full season in the NHL
• The Atlanta Thrashers was the 8th team of his NHL career
• 2001-2002 was his 8th trip to the NHL playoffs
• His first goal of the 1990-1991 season was the 8th goal of his career
• He had an even 8 penalty minutes in the 2007-2008 playoffs
• We was with Montreal for all or part of 8 seasons
• His eldest daughter just turned 8 years old
  

An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =) And special thanks to Spencer for his advice and Hebrew spellings of things.

1st Night of Hanukkah / Chanukah... 2009

On the old site, I used to do something to celebrate Hanukkah (Channukah, חנוכה). Last year, I revived the tradition by presenting 8 days of Mathieu gifts for the 8 days of the holiday. This year, I thought I'd pick a key part of the holiday (a tradition, a symbol, something of historical significance) to share... and connect it in some way to Mathieu.

So, with that said... I present to you gift number 1:


The story of Hanukkah is long. It involves people fighting, temples being destroyed, and the Jewish people, despite being outnumbered, eventually coming away with the victory. After winning the long battle, the Jewish people rededicated their Temple (desecrated during the fight) on the 25th day of the month of Kislev. (that happens to be today, if you didn't figure that out; the Hebrew calendar being lunar based explains why it moves around on "our" calendar every year)

Here are some significant instances of the number 25 for Mathieu:

It was one of the many jersey numbers he's worn (with the NY Rangers, 1998-1999)
Mathieu was traded for the first time when he was 25
His eldest son was born when we has 25
He recorded his first goal as an Atlanta Thrasher on October 25, 2008
He played his first game as a Vancouver Canuck a year later, on October 25, 2009
He had 25 penalty minutes in the 1989-1990 season
25% of his points came from goals in 1991-1992 (he's averaged about 28%)
He scored his 25th goal the 1991-1992 season

An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =) And special thanks to Spencer for his advice and Hebrew spellings of things.

Eighth night of Hanukkah / Chanukah

Well, for giggles, I thought I'd reprise my online celebration of Hanukkah this year. It conveniently coincides with my two weeks off from work (yes!) and I'm doing one of those "stay-cations" where I take the two weeks to do absolutely nothing except sit on my butt at home (yes!).

For the 8 nights of Hanukkah, I'll try to find some kind of Mathieu-related "gift" to share. So, in honor of the eighth night of Hanukkah, here is gift number 8.

I was officially out of ideas. Short of anything more creative, I looked for cool goals Mathieu has scored and was going to post a video. I found a good one and put the embed code here, and began to type out the date of the goal. It was December. It made me think, and gave me an idea. So here, for the eighth and final night of Hanukkah, are three goals Mathieu scored during the holidays past. (At least the ones that have video available on NHL.tv)


(Buffalo at Anaheim, December 5, 2007... the 2nd night of Hanukkah)



(Anaheim at Chicago, December 7, 2007... the 4th night of Hanukkah)



(Columbus at Detroit, December 31, 2005... the 7th night of Hanukkah)


An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =)

Seventh night of Hanukkah / Chanukah

Well, for giggles, I thought I'd reprise my online celebration of Hanukkah this year. It conveniently coincides with my two weeks off from work (yes!) and I'm doing one of those "stay-cations" where I take the two weeks to do absolutely nothing except sit on my butt at home (yes!).

For the 8 nights of Hanukkah, I'll try to find some kind of Mathieu-related "gift" to share. So, in honor of the seventh night of Hanukkah, here is gift number 7.

I'm not sure there was much snow in the land of Judea in 200 B.C.E when the Maccabees kicked the crap out of the armies of King Antiochus of Syria and took back the Temple. But because that epic battle-- and the ensuing oil-that-burned-for-8-days miracle-- took place in the month of Kislev (which corresponds with "our" November - December months), Hanukkah is often lumped together with the Winter celebrations that are widely symbolized by snow (at least in the Northern Hemisphere).

Hockey is a cold weather, wintery sport. Mathieu obviously has experience with that one. But there is another popular winter activity that Mathieu has never participated in, and looks forward to doing so when he eventually retires. What is is?

"Skiing is one of the things I'd love to do. I always say that's the first thing I gotta do when I retire. It's one of those things, it's just not worth it if you blow out your knee."

Yes, I know this one was a stretch, but it's hard to come up with 8 cool holiday/religious/winter-related things. And I hope to be skiing soon, so I've got the slopes on my mind. And yeah Mathieu, it is fun and worth a try.

An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =)

Sixth night of Hanukkah / Chanukah

Well, for giggles, I thought I'd reprise my online celebration of Hanukkah this year. It conveniently coincides with my two weeks off from work (yes!) and I'm doing one of those "stay-cations" where I take the two weeks to do absolutely nothing except sit on my butt at home (yes!).

For the 8 nights of Hanukkah, I'll try to find some kind of Mathieu-related "gift" to share. So, in honor of the sixth night of Hanukkah, here is gift number 6.

On November 6, 2006, Mathieu was inducted into the Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Why? Well, why not? Also, he was a big part of the Detroit Red Wings at the time, and has some impressive credentials: he's a two time Olympian, two time NHL All-Star, and a Stanley Cup winner. He is also the all-time leading Jewish scorer in NHL history. Said Mathieu of the induction: "It's a great honor. I'm real excited. It's going to be fun. My parents are coming in, so it'll be great" (quote from Ray Slover's article in the Sporting News)

Check out the really cute picture of Mathieu and wife Shannon at the ceremony next to his plaque at the MJSHF website.


An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =)

Fifth night of Hanukkah / Chanukah

Well, for giggles, I thought I'd reprise my online celebration of Hanukkah this year. It conveniently coincides with my two weeks off from work (yes!) and I'm doing one of those "stay-cations" where I take the two weeks to do absolutely nothing except sit on my butt at home (yes!).

For the 8 nights of Hanukkah, I'll try to find some kind of Mathieu-related "gift" to share. So, in honor of the fifth night of Hanukkah, here is gift number 5.

This one caught my eye in the good ole Unofficial Mathieu Schneider Homepage archives (see September 8, 2005) because "christmas tree" was mentioned. Actually, that mention had nothing to do with Mathieu at all. The following came from a Helene St. James piece in the Detroit Free Press that, you guessed, isn't available online anymore. Anyway, it was about what the Red Wings players' did during the lockout. Apparently, Niklas Lidstrom had a huge Christmas in Sweden, thus the tree mention. What did Mathieu do? He organized:

...While Lidstrom lit up a Christmas tree, Schneider labeled. That, it turns out, was his self-realization. "I'm OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), without a doubt," he said, laughing. "I think it was hidden for a while, but just being around the house, looking for things to do all the time, brought it out." Schneider organized everything in his garage, and when that had been done three or four times, moved inside. That was when his wife intervened. "I was labeling stuff in the kitchen," he said. "My wife had to steal the labeler away from me."

Dang skippy, now I know what I should have asked for for Christmas. I'm totally feeling Mathieu on the labeling and organizing thing (I am, after all, a librarian), and I actually don't own a label maker. Oh the things I could do with one of those!

An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =)

Fourth night of Hanukkah / Chanukah

Well, for giggles, I thought I'd reprise my online celebration of Hanukkah this year. It conveniently coincides with my two weeks off from work (yes!) and I'm doing one of those "stay-cations" where I take the two weeks to do absolutely nothing except sit on my butt at home (yes!).

For the 8 nights of Hanukkah, I'll try to find some kind of Mathieu-related "gift" to share. So, in honor of the fourth night of Hanukkah, here is gift number 4.

'Tis the season for big family dinners, which I'm actually about to head off to do. A few years ago, in yet another article that isn't available online anymore (hey newspapers, great use of the infinite storage of the new electronic medium), Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press had a piece about the Red Wings players' Thanksgiving traditions. I know, Thanksgiving was last month, but roll with me on the food theme.

In the Schneider clan, at least on that big food day, Mathieu is the cook. Here is the related section I archived on the original Unofficial Mathieu Schneider Homepage (see November 24, 2005):

"I actually do cook the turkey every year. My wife's busy baby-sitting all the kids. It's never a sit-down dinner, though -- it's just kind of chaos once the turkey gets on the table." Do all of the turkeys he cooks turn out great? Well... "It's kind of hit-and-miss, to tell you the truth. I've had a couple good ones and a couple real bad ones, just very dry. It's an art, obviously. I think if I had some more time, I could really, really improve my cooking skills." Overall, though, "it's fun, I enjoy it and everything that goes along with it, the whole day."

But can he make killer latkes? It is not Christmas in my life until the Weinsteins, my neighbors and second family, make latkes. Mr. Weinstein is by far the best latke maker ever. I have his exact recipe, and I can't get them as good as him.

An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =)

Third night of Hanukkah / Chanukah

Well, for giggles, I thought I'd reprise my online celebration of Hanukkah this year. It conveniently coincides with my two weeks off from work (yes!) and I'm doing one of those "stay-cations" where I take the two weeks to do absolutely nothing except sit on my butt at home (yes!).

For the 8 nights of Hanukkah, I'll try to find some kind of Mathieu-related "gift" to share. So, in honor of the third night of Hanukkah, here is gift number 3.

This is a time of year when many young hockey players are gifted with lots of cool new equipment. So what was Mathieu's favorite equipment memory as youngster?

"There was one stick I wanted really bad, it was a Christian. I was about eight. They used to have shiny stickers down the side, and that's why I wanted it. My dad wouldn't let me have it, so I begged him for two weeks, and finally he let me have it. Then I cut it too short when I got it, and that became my street hockey stick."

This quote was from a feature in the Star Ledger (NJ) back in February 2000, but isn't available online anymore.

An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =)

Second night of Hanukkah / Chanukah

Well, for giggles, I thought I'd reprise my online celebration of Hanukkah this year. It conveniently coincides with my two weeks off from work (yes!) and I'm doing one of those "stay-cations" where I take the two weeks to do absolutely nothing except sit on my butt at home (yes!).

For the next 8 nights, I'll try to find some kind of Mathieu-related "gift" to share. So, in honor of the second night of Hanukkah, here is gift number 2.

Last year the Anaheim Ducks, in either an attempt to be inclusive or just shear cluelessness, extended the "Christmas favorites" question to Mathieu. Always a good sport, Mathieu came up with some answers for the question asker that were included with those of his teammates.

Favorite Christmas movie: "Probably Chevy Chase in 'Christmas Vacation.' That's a classic and a great movie for obvious reasons."

Favorite gift: "I always enjoy new clothes. I'm a clothes horse. I love my clothes."


An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =)

First day of Hanukkah / Chanukah

Well, for giggles, I thought I'd reprise my online celebration of Hanukkah this year. It conveniently coincides with my two weeks off from work (yes!) and I'm doing one of those "stay-cations" where I take the two weeks to do absolutely nothing except sit on my butt at home (yes!).

For the next 8 nights, I'll try to find some kind of Mathieu-related "gift" to share. So, in honor of the first night of Hanukkah, here is gift number 1.


On Christmas day in 1998, the Star-Ledger (NJ) had an article about Mathieu, the only Jew on the NY Rangers (and one of only three Jewish NHL players at the time) not feeling too left out during the Christmas season. The article is not available at the paper's archives, but I saved the text. See the article archived at the old Unofficial Mathieu Schneider Homepage. In it he talks about how he was a little more bothered as a kid with all the attention around Christmas, but admits that he and his brother would get a present on Christmas anyway.


An aside: For those who are interested, here is a neat "what you need to know about Hanukkah" story from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Spinning Tales: A Hanukkah Primer. And don't laugh at the graphic. That was the first animated gif I ever made, back in 1997 or so (using Claris Works clip art and a semi-legal copy of Photoshop). It was hot stuff at the time. =)