One way by day …
Nicko is a Melbourne-based guy who co-runs the happily ironically-named company, Media Giants, and is also a published author (http://nickoplace.wordpress.com/), creative writer, extremely amateur juggler, close-up illusionist, photographer and poker player. He was a co-writer on The Bladder satirical sport website and was the founder and chairperson of Little Big Shots, Australia’s most kick-ass international children’s film festival.
Up until now, fitness has included a life-long pathetic attempt to surf better, Sunday Bang! footy sessions, running, scuba diving, gym and bike-riding.
Hockey may yet be the end of all of that.
Nicko has two sons: Will (aka Kittens, aka Big Cat), his fitter, younger partner in this hockey adventure, and Mack (aka Wookie, aka Treetops), who we thought was smart enough to stay clear of the ice, but briefly decided to play. Eventually he left the sport because he said, ‘his planet needed him.’
nick does hockey 
Hello! Just read your article on detroitnews.com and wanted to stop by and say it was entertaining and well written. Sorry to hear about the crappy play you had to endure while here in Michigan.
Cheers!
Matt.
Cheers, Matt. As I wrote, the losses didn’t bother me as much as they should have. I was simply having too good a time, just being there 🙂
Hi Nicko
Just read your article in the Sunday AGE.
Well done – did you know there are guys +65 still playing here in Melbourne – the night owls!
We make hockey pucks here as well, weebs@ozemail.com.au
You and Greg Baum should get together and write an article on hockey, the fastest game in the world!
Cheers
Mark
Nicko … Very happy to hear your kind words about Detroit, and that you and your boys had a good time. What odds could you get in Vegas that the Wings wouldn’t win one of those games?! UNREAL! Anyway it’s great to hear someone say good things about our city, and what’s not to like about those Wings! Get back here for the playoffs!
Mike Bell
Lake City, Michigan (upnorth)
Heya Mike … yeah, wish I had put 10 bucks on that sequence of events unfolding. Might have paid for the trip! The odds would have been very very very long 🙂
1/18/12
Hey Nick,
Read your article in the Detroit News today. Great (albeit sad) story!!
I am so sorry you came to the US during our 6 game losing streak.
Talk about no good deed going unpunished!
Hey, we’ll risk it: Come on back any time and the Wings will win for you and your sons. As you know, they do that a lot (just… not the first time you ventured forth to view them).
Having been a life long Red Wings fan, please allow me to say welcome to the club!
Also having never met an Aussie I didn’t like; let me say that I’m not surprised by your good taste in picking up hockey and the best of hockey- our Detroit Red Wings!! You and the boys are wearing the right sweater.
Good luck with growing the sport Down Under and congrats to you and your two sons for following the Winged Wheel.
Kit Carson,
Sterling Heights, MI
Cheers, Kit! We’re pretty happy with our choice of team 🙂
Thanks again for the welcome.
I really enjoyed reading your article in the Detroit News. It made me laugh a few times so I figured I should say thank you. I’m glad you got to experience some of the better things about Detroit. Take care and thanks for the enjoyable piece.
Erik
Very glad I gave you some laughs, Erik 🙂 Thanks for making contact. Nicko
Just read your Detroit News article. It was well written and quite funny. I am glad you enjoyed our stay here in the States and Detroit. I will say I also enjoyed my time in Oz back in 1995. Visited Townsville, Weipa, Cairns and Groote Eylandt. I found the Aussies to be a very friendly and welcoming people! Oh, and the beer ROCKED (except Fosters)!
Oh yeah … NOBODY drinks Foster’s! Glad you had a good time otherwise. Cairns is a bit different to Detroit, huh?
I would say slightly more tropical than Detroit. Really enjoyed VB. At the 1st bar I came to when I first arrived, I walked in and asked for a Foster’s! The old guys at the bar said “what do you want that piss for?? Dumb Yank!” Too bad VB can’t be imported to the States!
Lol. Classic Australia-America moment.
Btw, if you can get it, James Boag’s is a great Australian beer …
Hey Nicko,
It is always wonderful to hear about Detroit Red Wing fans from around the globe. Your story in the Detroit News was very interesting. I wish you would have seen a winner, but the experience of coming here with your boys had to be awesome. Currently our city has taken some brutal blows from the media, but the people here are tough and we will bounce back. I hope we treated your family with respect and we hope you come back and visit us again. GO WINGS!!!
Hi Don. Thanks for writing. Yes, everybody was amazing in Detroit. Such a down-to-earth, friendly, no-pretensions people. I loved them. And believe me, the scoreboard was a minor irritant. Everything else – including just walking into the Joe for the first time – totally outshone whether the Wings won or lost. cheers, Nicko
Hello Nick,
I too read your article, and these comments on your site,, i ditto all the comments!!. Thanks for the article and for being a Wings fan!!
(writing from the 8mile x 2 area 😉
Hello Nicko;
I am a Wings fan from Detroit and lived down in Melbourne back in 1999-2000. Would love to hear the details of where you play hockey down in Melbourne. Back then I had to head to the Crown Casino and get the guys in the Sports book to turn on the Wings so I could watch the playoff games at 10:30 in the morning… I still play hockey today at 46 and enjoyed the Detroit News article. Thanks Dan.
Hi Daniel. Since you lived here, they built a really schmick place, the Icehouse. Officially it’s Australia’s winter Olympictraining facility. It spoils rookies like me rotten because it’s a beautiful Olympic-sized rink.
Nick,
I know that I sound like every other person on here but I just read your article for the Detroit News and wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed reading it. Its so great to see that passionate Wings fans exist all around the world. I also have been enjoying reading your blog. You just found yourself a new fan. Thanks to you and your family for being such strong supporters of the Wings and of Detroit. I hope to come to Australia some day to enjoy the beauty. Again, thanks for your support, It means a lot around here.
Jon
Thanks Jon for such kind words. Believe me, loving/supporting Detroit as a city and the hockey team is no effort at all … I hope you can make it to Australia sometime.
Hey Nicko!
Awesome article on the Wings, so cool to hear you arnd your family are big fans of our beloved Red Wings. They are really rolling right now I will be at the Joe this Monday for the game against St. Louis should be a great one. Is the Center Ice Package avaliable where you live? I wished the boys would have been playing better so you could have seen a victory, the Joe was ROCKING this past Monday. GO WINGS!!!
Cheers,
Josh
Hi Josh. Yeah, we religiously watch games on NHL Gamecenter. (i’m typing this in an airport lounge with the Wings-Couotes live on my iPad.) Gotta love technology!
Hi Nick!
Read your News story online yesterday and in the real paper today. Love your website and looking forward to reading all of your posts and blogs. Glad you had such a good time in the D. I may have missed it, but how did you become a fan of the Wings and not, let’s say, one of the Blackhawks, Avalanche, Sharks, or any other Godforsaked, wretched team? Keep up the good work!
Hi Al. Check out a really early blog post, “How Henrik Zetterberg changed my life” 🙂
Well done Nick! I’m in Boulder CO reading your article online on my lunch hour. I’m from MI (lived in CO now for 7 years) and am of course a die-hard Wings fan. I read the Detroit News online everyday at lunch to keep up and reading your article about your visit to Detroit was awesome. I took my boss to a Wings game at theJoe a few years back; here in Denver we have the Pepsi Center with a steakhouse in it, plush carpeting on the club level, martini and suhi bars. I loved taking my boss to the Joe and explaining as we walked in that this will be different for you; this is where hockey is played, you won’t be able to find any sushi here beyond the octupi that may be tossed on the ice. Glad you enjoyed your visit, the people of metro Detroit and Wings fans are as good as it gets!
Matt, i love the image of you explaining the no-frills Joe. I loved that about it too. Glad the article brought it all back 🙂
Hi Nick,
As I was browsing detnews.com as I do everyday, I came across your article. Ironically enough, I am a lifelong Red Wings fan, hockey player, from Detroit, AND am currently living in Australia for the next few months before returning home to continue my studies. I think its great you were able to come over to the States to watch the greatest game on Earth. Too bad they couldn’t win for you though! Anyways, I hope to get on the ice while here Down Under but considering its 100 degrees here, it doesn’t seem likely!
Go Wings
Where are you living, Mike? If you’re in Melbourne I can point you to ice …
I’m in Brisbane for the moment but I think we may be heading North up the coast to find some work. It would be great to get on the ice though! 2-2 Wings vs Yotes in the 3rd period right now
Looking to get in touch with Wings fans outside the U.S. Please e-mail me at elacy@detnews.com or call me at 313-613-5010.
Nick, come clean–are you in Detroit right now, March 20, 2012?
The wings are sputtering and I am trying to explain it.
hahaha, Tom. Man, I wish. In fact, what’s going on only goes to show IT WASN’T ME. Like Hurricane Carter, it’s taken time but I have been vindicated. Maybe the Wings should fly me to the Rangers game in New York as a lucky talisman. Could they be going any worse?
Honestly, this freefall is very disturbing. We need everybody back in the line-up and fast (while hopefully keeping Nyquist. I like him a lot).
Got any thoughts, beyond cursing injuries?
Dear Nick
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Dear Blog Author
The National Library of Australia is interested in contacting the author of this blog with regard to its possible inclusion within PANDORA: Australia’s Web Archive. We were unable to locate any contact details onsite and are requesting that if you are interested in your blog being archived that you contact us at: webarchive [at] nla.gov.au.
You can see more details on the Archive at the link below. http://pandora.nla.gov.au/about.html
Regards
PANDORA team