#rileyarmstrong

[mitchbeck]

KEELEY: BENTLEY’S DESBIENS SIGNS WITH MARINERS

Rookie forward looks to remain in New England to start pro career BY: Michael Keeley, Maine Mariners PORTLAND, ME – August 31, 2020 – The Maine Mariners announced the signing of rookie forward Jonathan Desbiens on Monday, adding to their 2020-21 roster. Desbiens most recently played for Bentley University (Waltham, MA), graduating this past spring. “The Mariners were one of the first teams to call me and during I was really hoping to sign somewhere,” said Desbiens. “When they talked about offering me a contract I was really excited. I really like the East Coast and I’ve had a couple of friends playing for Maine the last couple of years and they’ve said all great things about the team.” Desbiens is originally from Montreal, Quebec and took an interesting route to college hockey. He began his junior career in the United States Hockey League with the Lincoln Stars, playing in 48 games in 2013-14, with six goals and four assists. From there he headed back to Canada and the British Columbia Hockey League, joining the West Kelowna Warriors. Of his two seasons in the BCHL, 2015-16 was his breakout campaign, as he put up 83 points in 58 games (44 goals, 39 assists), leading the Warriors and finishing sixth in the league scoring race. West Kelowna went on to win the BCHL Championship, as well as the RBC Cup (Canadian Junior A National Championship). Desbiens led all BCHL players in playoff goals, with 15. Read the full article

[mitchbeck]

KEELEY: MARINERS LAUNCH NEW RADIO SHOW: ‘QUARANTIME’

Michael Keeley talks hockey from home with players and coaches BY: Michael Keeley, Maine Mariners  PORTLAND, ME – April 7, 2020 – Although there’s been a lack of sports in the world over the last month, the Mariners will be bringing some hockey talkback starting this Thursday night. Media Relations and Broadcast Manager Michael Keeley will be hosting a new show on the Mariners Radio Network called “Quarantime,” in which Mariners players and coaches will call in and join the conversation. The first show will air on Thursday from 5-6 PM ET and will stream live on the Mariners Radio Network, powered by Mixlr. Fans can tune in at MarinersOfMaine.com/listen, Mixlr.com/MaineMariners, or through the Mixlr App, available wherever apps can be downloaded. Keeley will speak with Mariners Head Coach and Assistant General Manager Riley Armstrong from 5-5:30 and forward Dillan Fox will call in from 5:30-6 PM. Listeners can submit questions for guests live through the Mixlr chat. “I think it’s important to bring the conversation back to hockey every now and then, as an escape from the stresses of our current situation,” said Keeley. “It’s been rough for all fans, athletes, and those who work in the sports industry to have virtually no ‘sports escape’ outlets in our lives for the last month. Hopefully, we can take people’s minds off of the virus for a little while.” Thursday’s show will focus on a recap of the 2019-20 season, how Armstrong and Fox are spending their time at home, and a look toward the summer. For fans that can’t tune in to the show live, the full recording will be available on the audio archive at this link. Information on future shows will be posted on Mariners' social media channels as well as MarinersOfMaine.com. The Mariners are raising funds for COVID-19 relief efforts including the United Way of Greater Portland, through sales of an exclusive t-shirt at their online store. The shirt is $20 and is being sold through the end of the business day on April 24th. It can be purchased at this link. Net proceeds benefit the United Way and other local COVID-19 relief funds. Read the full article

[mitchbeck]

KEELEY: MARINERS STIFLED BY MCCOLLUM IN A HOME LOSS TO ROYALS

Former Mariners goalie comes back to haunt  PORTLAND, ME – March 6, 2020 – Tom McCollum made 28 stops, including his biggest on Connor Bleackley in the game’s closing moments, to seal a 2-1 Reading Royals victory on Friday night at the Cross Insurance Arena. It was McCollum’s second win against his former team since being traded from Hartford to Lehigh Valley in an AHL transaction last month. Michael McNicholas scored the Mariners’ lone goal at the 11:00 mark of the third period. The Mariners outshot the Royals 29-24 in the game, creating quality scoring chances throughout the night. They were kept off the board by McCollum until Andrew Sturtz fed McNicholas down to the right of the Reading net with nine minutes remaining in regulation. Matt Nuttle made a good play below the goal line for a secondary helper. “I felt we played really well tonight,” said Mariners head coach Riley Armstrong. “We had tons of chances to score. I thought we made a couple of mistakes that ended up in the back of our net, but for the most part, we played well.” McCollum robbed Bleackley with a great glove save with under 20 seconds to go, and the Mariners net empty, when Terrence Wallin fed one from the goal line to Bleackley at the bottom of the right circle. McCollum stopped 28 to earn his third win in a row and second against the Mariners in nine days. Reading struck for a 1-0 lead halfway through the first period when Steven Swavely entered the zone on the power play and beat the stick-side of Francois Brassard. It remained a 1-0 game until Pascal Laberge broke down the left-wing at 3:23 of the third to double the Royals lead. The Mariners momentum was slowed after McNicholas’ goal when Terrence Wallin was called for a tripping penalty, one of six penalty kills throughout the game for Maine. They also lost Jake Elmer to a game misconduct at the end of the 2nd period. Despite the loss, the Mariners “magic number” for clinching a playoff spot dropped to 13 with Adirondack’s loss to Newfoundland. Throwback Weekend continues on Sunday “I Love the 90s” against Worcester at 3 PM, also featuring a postgame full-team autograph session. Groups of 10 or more can get discounted tickets by calling 833-GO-MAINE. Individual tickets can be purchased at MarinersOfMaine.com, at the Trusted Choice Box Office inside the Cross Insurance Arena, or by calling 207-775-3458. All Saturday and Sunday home games also feature the Family Four Pack – four tickets, four food and drink vouchers, and four Mariners beverage koozies, starting at $80, and must be purchased in advance. Read the full article

[sixkidslater-blog]

"Sleep" -Riley Armstrong Style

Does anyone remember the song "Sleep" by Riley Armstrong? I feel like it should be my theme song. Like anytime I get a tad cooky it can just start playing and explain everything. I remember I was a young girl when the song first came out. Back then it was just a really fun song. Now that I am much older, I understand exactly what it means. 

This past weekend was pretty killer for me. I can't believe the absolute lack of sleep that I have had. I usually would become completely cranky when I didn't have enough sleep. However, this was so bad that I actually experienced sort of a euphoric feeling. 

I work the weekends into Monday and Tuesday. I just so happen to go to school on Tuesday also. So, while Tuesday is technically what people would call my "Friday", ( I still don't understand why people say things like that...) it is also the roughest day of the week for me. I wake up at 6:30 am to get the kids ready for school, I take them to school, then I go to school, and its straight off to work until midnight. 

My teacher posted my homework late on Sunday. So late that I wouldn't have even known that it happened. I don't have time Monday to do homework because of my crazy work schedule. So when my shift ended midnight Tuesday morning I had to rush home to complete all my work. I got a total of 2 hours of sleep! I know Boo Hoo! Right?

Well Tuesday when I woke up at 6:30 I felt surprisingly OK. Like I just had the best power nap of my life. I got to class and I couldn't remember anything about my homework. Which really stunk when I found myself with the dry erase marker standing at the front of the class white board.

My class is a hybrid course so most of the teaching is done outside of the class. Then on Tuesday when we meet, the teacher gives us problems at the board and we are expected to solve them. I felt comfortable when I saw everyone's problems... then I saw mine! Why on a day that I stay up till the crack of dawn do I get hit with the only problem I don't remember? Why couldn't I do the end of my homework first so I could remember and not look like a complete idiot?!

As I stand there with the marker in hand and study the problem, anyone could hear a pin drop with the silence in the room. I couldn't figure out where to begin... In my head I gave up. I turned to the class and put out my hands. I was about to tell everyone that I have no clue how to complete the problem. Then something fired in my brain and I remembered how the problem was supposed to look. My face must have been hilarious because people were laughing. I was writing on the board so fast that I wasn't really sure if I was writing what was in my head. Once I was done I took the marker and set it down. This was usually the part where the teacher wants you to explain your processes. Good luck! All I could say was "Don't ask me how I just did that because I really don't remember". I am just really glad that it turned out right. 

After class I was off to work. At work I was really hyper. I had several caffeinated beverages throughout the day. I kept dancing and I couldn't stop shaking. I did so well at work... that is until ten pm hit. At work around ten pm it tends to get super quiet. I turned the television on to help me with background noises. It really didn't help. I had tons of paperwork to complete. Something about paperwork isn't good on only two hours of sleep. I would start writing and dreaming at the same time. I would write a sentence and it would be correct, but by the end of the sentence I would incorporate some weird things. I would have to go wash my face and then read what I wrote. I can't even tell you the crazy incoherent things that I said because I don't remember. All I remember was there were a lot of parts that I marked out. Then I thought about the people who might read them. I felt really terrible. 

I know that being that tired it was really bad that I drove home. I think that being tired is kind of like drunk driving. But what really woke me up was having the windows down and singing along with the music. There aren't a ton of people on the road between midnight and one am. So, I am not really breaking peoples ear drums. When I got home I went immediately to sleep and told myself... If I ever only get two hours of sleep again something in my day will have to be sacrificed. 

I think that it is crazy that I will get two hours of sleep for something that is so important to me. Most of the kids in my class didn't even have all of their work completed. But looking at the bigger picture does help. One day all this hard work will have paid off and I will be somewhere better because of it. Now that day needs to hurry. I will just keep on working hard for now. 

I apologize for my over abundant use of the word "I" and the rambling that this post contains. But it was written while still in anti-sleep detox.