New Tapestries

In 2008, Malcolm Gladwell published his bestseller entitled Outliers. It’s within this book that Gladwell frequently talks about how it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill, noting it as "the magic number of greatness" based on the research of Anders Ericsson. Yes, scientists have debunked this number of hours in several studies, but it should be noted that it took somewhere around 2400 hours of game play last season, not to mention countless hours in the gym and at practice, for the Manitoba Bisons women's hockey team to finally claim greatness in capturing the U SPORTS National Championship. Tonight, as seen in the image above, the newest banners hung in Wayne Fleming Arena were unveiled!

First off, let me say that it was amazing to see all the people out for the opening game of the season for Canada West women's hockey. While attendance on the boxscore stated there was 450 people in attendance, the rink sounded louder and looked fuller than 450 people. Regardless, it was encouraging to see a good crowd early in the season to help celebrate the first national championship banner being hung in Wayne Fleming Arena in 53 years.

Having the seniors from last season return was also a special touch and a classy move by the Bisons. Alana Serhan, Nicole Carswell, Charity Price, Rachel Dyck, Olympian Venla Hovi, and captain Caitlin Fyten were all in attendance to help commemorate the occasion, and I'd be lying if I didn't wish they were still in uniform and in the lineup for this Bisons squad. All six graduates of the program helped in unveiling the U SPORTS National Championship banner which they all had a major part in helping the team win!

Among the esteemed and distinguished guests that joined the crowd at Wayne Fleming Arena were Minister of Sport, Culture and Heritage and MLA for River East Cathy Cox, His Worship Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manitoba Dr. David T. Barnard, MLA for Fort Richmond Sara Guillemard, and UMSU President Jakob Sanderson! All five dropped pucks for the ceremonial face-off between Calgary Dinos captain Paige Michalenko and Manitoba Bisons captain Erica Rieder!

The ceremony wasn't long, but I'd be remiss in not sharing the actual moment of the banner unveiling courtesy of MLA Cathy Cox's Twitter account!

Awesome to be @umanitoba as @umbisonsWHKY unveil their 2018 championship banner 🏆 at tonight’s home opener 🏒 Congratulations! 🙌 Watch 🎥 #GoBisons #mbpoli pic.twitter.com/ppuCVFTt86

— Cathy Cox (@Min_CathyCox) October 6, 2018

The gentleman wearing Sheridan Oswald's jersey in front of the camera is Director of Athletics and Recreation Gene Muller, so it seems like everyone who is anyone regarding the University of Manitoba was in attendance! In all honesty, it was pretty surreal to see all these great people out supporting the Bisons women's hockey team, and here's hoping this won't be their last appearances this season or in any season!

Of course, there was a game to be called, and I'm proud to report that new UMFM play-by-play announcer Kyleigh Palmer did an outstanding job in calling the game! For having never called a game one month ago to today's action, Kyleigh has shown some impressive growth as a broadcaster, and I am happy to have her as a partner for this season's action! Make sure you tune in to our broadcasts all season long on UMFM or on Canada West TV!

I'll have more on this game and all the games on The Rundown on Sunday as I do every week through the Canada West hockey season, so make sure you come back for those breakdowns. You can officially view the new banners at any home game you'd like to attend at Wayne Fleming Arena, and make sure you let me know if you're in the barn! Shout-outs will happen, and maybe we'll get you doing a little more on our fun broadcasts!

Congratulations to the University of Manitoba Bisons women's hockey team on all their success last season! While it's fun to reminisce, we have new chapters to write!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!