Desktop Cleanup

Being that spring cleaning happens in the spring as the phrase suggests, we're going to call this cleanup a "Summer Purge" as my desktop needs to be decluttered somewhat on my computer. I assure you that the image to the left is NOT my desktop. That would give me all sorts of murderous rage and OCD to start deleting stuff without prejudice, so, if your computer's desktop looks like, don't let me see it. There's order in knowing where things are, and that image of a desktop with a hundred icons is anything but orderly. In saying that, I have a pile of stuff saved that I should either use or purge, so I'm gonna do both.

We'll start with this image of goaltender Naomi Leasck who played in the ACHA with the McKendree University Bearcats. Naomi was a senior, as shown in the image, in 2022, but she played for the Bearcats in 2022-23 where she 1-2-0 in four games with a 2.18 GAA and a .937 save percentage. Yes, it's a small sample size, but it should be noted that she never had a GAA above 2.86 and never had a save percentage lower than .919, so it's pretty clear that she could play. In 2021, she was named to the First Team All-Conference squad in the Women's Midwest College Hockey Conference and, in 2022, she was named as an ACHA D1 First Team All-American, so she's clearly got game. Congratulations, Naomi, on those honours!

What I noticed about Naomi's image, though was the alternate captain's mark on her jersey that is shown in contrast to the gray jersey thanks to the circular purple background, and the numbers being significantly lower than they should be for TV numbers as they appear between the sleeve stripes rather than above them. Sleeve numbers aside, though, that captaincy mark needs some examination because McKendree might be the only school who did this.

Obviously, the alternate captain's mark is unique as far as anything I've seen in hockey, but the gray jerseys appear to be one of McKendree's 2022 main uniforms. Quinn Atchison, as team captain, wore the captain's "C" in a similar purple circle on the gray uniforms in 2022, and, as shown, they also had the large purple circle around the captaincy on their purple jerseys. Has there been any other team that wore a contrasting circle around the captain's mark? And more to that, has there ever been a team to wear the contrasting circle on one jersey only to wear the same circle on a jersey where the colours are the same?

I fully understand that ACHA schools aren't flush with all sorts of money to spend, but I like this aspect of McKendree's jerseys because they are very unique with this captaincy mark. In a world where there are a bazillion university teams of all sorts, making one's school unique because of the uniform is a good way to get noticed!

What's In A Name?

Ever wonder how some teams get their names? Well, according to a July 1996 edition of The Hockey News, the Wheeling Nailers were once called the Wheeling Thunderbirds. As stated, they opted to change the team name due to trademark and copyright conflicts with other franchises. I'm not certain how many teams were named "Thunderbirds" in 1996, but the UBC Thunderbirds and the Seattle Thunderbirds are the two seem most prominent. There were the Winston-Salem Thunderbirds that existed from 1989-92 that were some 400 miles away, so maybe that was the confusion?

As the clipping above notes, the Wheeling ECHL franchise chose the name "Nailers" in honour of the region's cut nail maunfacturing, and it's entirely true! The Wheeling-La Belle Nail Company called the area home until the plant was demolished in 2010, but the legacy of the region's largest export at one point in the city's history lives on.

According to Archiving Wheeling, "In 1875, the La Belle Iron Works was incorporated, and between the Jefferson works and the La Belle works employed approximately 900 workers and had a total of 167 cut nail machines in operation. It was during this time period that Wheeling began to be known as the 'Nail City,' due to its dominance of the cut nail market. Wheeling's nail production from 1871-1873 (three million kegs) comprised nearly a quarter of the national nail production (12 million kegs)."

If you're asking what a cut nail is, the linked article describes it as "[f]lat metal strips are fed into a machine, while the first lever cuts a triangular strip of metal, the second lever holds the nail in place while the third lever forms the head of the nail. The strip of metal is then turned through 180 degrees to cut the next equal and opposite nail shape off the strip, hence the phrase 'cut nails.'"

And that's how the Wheeling Nailers came to be!

Mascot Abuse

We all likely remember the moment where Craig MacTavish, as the head coach of the Oilers, turned around and yanked Calgary Flames mascot Harvey the Hound's tongue right out of his mouth. For MacTavish, that moment likely wouldn't be in his career highlights, but there are moments when a coach, occupied with what's happening on the ice, has little patience for what's happening off of it, specifically when it comes to the antics of an opposing team's mascot. For Don Jackson, pictured above on the right, he took things to an even lower place when he decided to confront one of the Atlanta Knights mascots.

During the 1994-95 season, the Cincinnati Cyclones were visiting the Atlanta Knights in a normal IHL regular season game. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary on February 5 until the Atlanta Knights started filling the net behind Frederic Chabot. That lead to Sir Slap Shot - one of two knight-themed, inflatable mascots employed by the Knights - to start banging on the glass behind the Cyclones bench. From experience, I can tell you that no one really appreciates that, and apparently one of the routines that Sir Slap Shot was performing caused him to slam into the glass that sent Cyclones' head coach Don Jackson sprawling.

Before we go any further, there's some history that one should know. I'm not a doctor and I don't claim to be one, but Jackson was in a major car accident that left him in wheelchair to start the season as shown to the right. According to the website hockeydraftcentral.com, Jackson was involved in a vehicle collision that "killed one of the other drivers" and left Jackson "hospitalized with several leg fractures, including multiple fractures in the lower left leg and right heel. He required three surgeries and had to resume coaching in a wheelchair for the first three months of the 1994-95 season". Might he have been suffering from PTSD on February 5, 1995?

Whatever the case was, as stated in the news clipping above, Jackson decided enough was enough on that night as he went over the glass between the bench and the crowd and laid a severe beating on Sir Slap Shot before fans got between Jackson and Sir Slap Shot. What makes this matter worse is that 26 year-old Mike Centanni was filling in that night for the normal person inside the mascot suit, and he took the full brunt of Jackson's violent outburst.

According to an Associated Press recap, Jackson "threw at least two punches at the 26-year-old Centanni, who was filling in for the regular mascot, portraying Sir Slapshot in an inflatable uniform," causing Centanni to have a cut lip. Centanni filled "out a police report and authorities discussed the incident with Jackson after the game". As mentioned above, Centanni was on spot duty for the mascots as he normally worked for the Knights' ECHL affiliate in Nashville.

You might be wondering what something like this would look like, and it probably doesn't help that Jackson's outburst landed this siuation on ESPN's SportsCenter. Jackson was fined $1000 and suspended ten games for his attack on Sir Slap Shot while the Atlanta Knights were fined $1 for the mascot's involvement. At the end of the day, the Knights won 7-2 over the Cyclones, but the lesson here is keep your hands to yourself!

There are a few smaller stories that I had sitting in a folder on my desktop. I felt that I couldn't do full blog pieces on them simply because they were so brief, but a little desktop cleanup allowed me to post them here today. And for the record, I deleted a pile of other stuff I had hanging around on my desktop as well, so we're back to a clean space which I can clutter once more!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!