Given time to reflect on ‘the punch’, Joey has a change of opinion upon a closer review of the upcoming schedule. Also, another hockey nemesis makes a cameo: the Ball Eating Bush has its eyes on Joey’s wayward tennis ball…
Tag Archives: Hockey
He Had It Coming
New character alert! Joey reveals to Herb that he crossed paths with… the Prime Minister of Canada. In the Planet Joey universe, that person is the eccentric Théodore Thibodeau. This raises a ton of questions of course, but readers should get used to the PM popping up randomly and unexpectedly.
Gotta Find That Kid
Mimi is right – the halfwitted cartoonist (that’s me!) is indeed shutting down this storyline soon – so the pressure is on our sinister searchers to find the kid in the yellow helmet who delivered that dastardly punch, as per the boss’ orders… Joey seems to have successfully evaded everyone thus far – not only Gaston and Mimi, but the kid with the glasses as well, seen here icing is face.
An Unconventional Route
After his punch sets off some post-game chaos, Joey tries to escape unnoticed back to the locker room. His unexpected journey takes him from the Zamboni, to the snack bar to the bowels of the Cold Springs Arena, putting his ninja skills to the test. Alternate title: A Good Skate Sharpening.
Safe Harbour
Joey and Herb continue discussing ‘the punch’, where we learn that glasses guy completely melted down and where exactly Joey slithered off to while chaos ensued…
A Local Recruit?
We catch up with the two sinister spectators – Gaston Malade and Mimi Dangereux – after a bit of a post-game kerfuffle has broken out, thanks to Joey. Gaston is thrilled that there is finally some violence on the ice to capture his attention while Joey seems to have made quite an impression on the mysterious Cyrus Belgrave. As for Mimi, she’s trying to figure out how exactly it is that Belgrave seems to have his own private feed from *checks notes* the Cold Springs Arena…
Slither
Joey reveals to Herb what happened immediately after ‘the punch’ at their regular kitchen table post mortem. It seems as if our protagonist was able to slink away unscathed while chaos ensued…
The Gentlemanly Tradition
The age-old hockey tradition of shaking hands at the end of a hard fought game isn’t about the winning team showboating in front of their opponent. It’s about showing respect for the losing side. Or, in Joey’s case, it’s a chance to take an uncontested cheap shot.
The Mighty Ducts
This one is one of the earliest comics I wrote. It’s been sitting patiently on one of the first pages of my sketchbook for almost two decades prior to being published today on the internets. This concept of listening to the exciting sportsball match through vents and/or ductwork in a home is something that is directly drawn from my childhood. The time I remember clearly was the 1984 Canada Cup hockey semifinal between Canada and the Soviet Union. I had a pretty strict bedtime of 9pm at the time and wasn’t able to watch the conclusion of that crucial game against those evil commies. I discovered I could *just barely* hear the game through the vent in my bedroom floor however, and I lied there for hours until Canada won the game in overtime.
The Final Horn
And there it is, the Golden Turkeys lose to the Bacon Ridge Rhinos. As the teams line up to shake hands, the game isn’t quite over for Joey, who seems to have his focus elsewhere…
My Kind of Scoundrel
We catch up with our resident ne’er-do-wells in the Cold Springs Arena, enjoying the Canadian minor hockey experience: mediocre hockey and sub-par food and beverages. As expected, Gaston has taken a shining to the kid with the glasses…
Guy with the Glasses
As the game wears on, Joey can’t escape the wrath of a certain bespectacled goon, who is absolutely relentless. What we have here is an assault in three parts: a cross check, hip check and a good old fashioned flying elbow for good measure. Now Joey has a few bumps and bruises (and maybe a missing tooth) to go along with that shattered stick.
Hack!
The game continues and Joey has a scoring chance! Unfortunately, the kid with the glasses has other ideas.
Bespectacled Dump Truck
It’s game on for Joey and the Golden Turkeys! It doesn’t take too long for Joey to lose his focus — and he suffers the consequences for it.
A Little Entertainment
We find ourselves catching up with the resident villains of our humble strip – Gaston Malade and Mimi Dangereux – and find out that they have indeed been stationed in northern Manitoba by evil mastermind Cyrus Belgrave to work on some sort of top-secret project… And not just anywhere in northern Manitoba, but good ol’ Cold Springs. In fact, they’re headed toward the arena where a red-headed kid takes to the ice, representing said town for the first time. Cue the foreboding music…
Home Opener
Fresh off of finding out he made the team and the receipt of his fresh new uniform (including bright yellow helmet), Joey suits up officially for the Cold Springs Golden Turkeys in front of family and friends in a jam-packed arena! What could possibly go wrong?
The Law of Cat Magnetism
Feline Physics returns where we learn The Law of Cat Magnetism also applies to green sweaters as well as black and blue – and on game day for Joey, no less!
Black Cats and Broken Mirrors
There are consequences to being late on uniform day. For Joey, one of them was receiving a bright yellow Jofa helmet (circa 1981) instead of a new green lid like the rest of his teammates. The second consequence was the all-important jersey number. It turns out #13 was at the bottom of the pile. It’s true that players like Mats Sundin, Teemu Selanne and Pavel Datsyuk – all Hall of Famers – donned this number, but Herb is fearing the worst…
Yellow Hat
Joey shows up at the Cold Springs Arena on a high to pick up his official Golden Turkeys uniform after making the team… And because Joey’s stories are based on my stories, of course he gets an old yellow helmet (yes, I had a yellow helmet) and of course it’s because he shows up late. As usual, Herb has a way of putting it all in perspective at the kitchen table.
There’s Always a Catch
There you have it: Joey’s hard work and perseverance has paid off – he made the Cold Springs hockey team! And Herb’s right – there is always a catch. As it turns out, there were just enough players to fill out the roster without having to make cuts, so Joey’s on the team. Now it’s time to ponder the line combinations – will Joey and “Gigantor” play together?
Strict Orders
The coaching staff has made their decision. Will Joey make the Cold Springs hockey team? Cliffhanger alert! Yup, we’re going to drag this one out for one more strip…
Face-off Drill
Next up at hockey tryouts are the face-off drills for kids hoping to play centre, ice hockey’s glamour position. Go figure, Joey is matched up against a familiar foe and we are left to assume it didn’t go well.
Breakaway Drill
Hockey tryouts continue with Joey having the opportunity to show his scoring prowess and a theme is developing: all of these comics are ending with loud, cartoony mishaps…
The Orange Menace
Joey’s struggles continue at hockey tryouts – this time with inanimate objects. Not only are the kids bigger and tougher in Cold Springs, but it looks like the pylons are too…
Puck Battle Drill
The Cold Springs hockey tryouts are under way and the first drill pits Joey against “Gigantor” in a battle for the puck along the boards. Not only did Joey not emerge victorious, but he had to go hunting for some missing equipment. His attitude remains positive, however! Also, wearing full Leafs gear to hockey tryouts in Manitoba is definitely making yourself a target.
Thin Ice
With hockey tryouts looming and the ball-eating bush cramping Joey’s ability to practice in his driveway, he and Herb are headed over to a nearby pond to get in some practice…
No Pucks
Besides having to do push-ups or dry land training, it’s the worst punishment you can receive at a hockey practice: no pucks; skating only. Well, thanks to Joey, that’s what all of the boys trying out for the Cold Springs hockey team have in store for them for the next couple of hours. I’m sure that’ll go over well…
Jock Strap
If you’ve played ice hockey before, you’ll agree that the absolute worst thing is forgetting even just one piece of equipment. What you realize is that because it’s a game played on ice with hard rubber pucks, each piece of equipment is essential. Elbow pads offer protection from falling on the ice, gloves protect your hands from sticks and skate blades and shin pads protect your legs from a slap shot. The jock (or jill for ladies) is one piece of equipment you definitely don’t want to play without for obvious reasons. Oh and you put it on first, so you don’t want to find yourself in Joey’s predicament, having to undress – that is, if Herb can help him out somehow…
A Little Help
Joey is off to try out for the Cold Springs hockey team and he’s not off to a great start. Herb is still in disbelief that everything in Joey’s hockey bag will actually fit onto his body. And that he’ll still be able to move once it’s all on.
Firing Squad
Joey takes on the ball-eating bush face-to-face. And now he has nine missing tennis balls instead of just one. And the ball-eating bush has indigestion.
The Ball-Eating Bush
The beast has a name! Similar to the kite-eating tree that haunted Charlie Brown, Joey has his own inanimate nemesis. The ball-eating bush is most definitely inspired by the dense, prickly, angry bush alongside my driveway growing up in small-town Ontario, Canada. I blasted many a tennis ball into that thing while playing ball hockey in my driveway and it never ceased to amaze how they would just disappear. Sometimes I’d find an old ball rather than the new one shot into the bush, but mostly I’d come up empty altogether. My parents did eventually remove the bush after I had moved away and kept a box full of the old, decaying tennis balls. I still think some of them now reside in the alternate universe with all of my left socks from the dryer…
Worst-case Scenario
Joey’s daydream sequence continues with Wayne and Mario as he resigns himself to the fate of his ‘lost’ slapshot… To a kid playing ball hockey in their driveway, finding your ball lodged in an angry, prickly bush is clearly the worst-case scenario. I’d argue you’d rather dent your garage door or break a window. Don’t @ me.
Ker-thatch!
Why pass the puck to one of arguably the two best hockey players of all-time when you can let loose with a big clapper? Cliffhanger alert: that didn’t sound like it went in the net or hit the goalie… Oh, and this is clearly an homage to the 1987 version of Team Canada.
Snow for Joey
Go figure, now that Joey has moved to northern Manitoba, it’s Christmas and he’s still waiting on some snow to make the festive season feel just right… Things aren’t looking good until Earl arrives on his zamboni and donates just the right amount of the white stuff to make a snow angel, a snowman or have a good ol’ fashioned snowball fight! Fun fact: This is actually a true story! The Arena Manager in my hometown of Thamesford, Ontario (also Earl!) did in fact drive the zamboni around the corner to my house to stave off a green Christmas by dropping off some arena snow on our front lawn – complete with a sign affixed to a broken hockey stick! I’ve been waiting many years to turn this into a comic – God bless you, Earl Carter.
Moon Hockey
The inspiration for this strip was an actual announcement from NASA on October 26th, 2020 that there is a large amount of ice located in the polar regions of the moon. Naturally, the first thing Joey thought of was not the scientific implications of this discovery, but yes: moon hockey. That does in fact seem like an awesome thing, but it only takes Joey a moment to realize there are more than a few complications with playing hockey in 1/6th of the gravity. Also, hat-tip to the first Tintin book I owned and cherished: Explorers on the Moon. The nifty orange spacesuits with the Iron Man-like light in the middle of the chest are my homage to the great Hergé’s art from that book.
Joey’s Top Three
Sorry Herb, but it turns out that 11-year olds have… simpler priorities. Although, to fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs, winning a Stanley Cup likely seems as improbable as solving world hunger. Fun fact: this strip was originally written in the summer of 2019, shortly after Joey’s Toronto Raptors were crowned NBA Champions. That’s why Herb thought he might be able to wiggle out of this…
Smooth Sailing
We’re very excited to release the first ever Planet Joey “Sunday format” comic strip, a regular feature we’re calling Joey Weekends. This week, we’re catching up with Joey and his family en route to his new home: the remote northern outpost of Cold Springs, Manitoba. If you recognize Joey’s hockey uniform, you’ll know what city he’s moving from and yes, he’s sporting the classic Gretzky Jofa 235 helmet.