Taking A Day

Technically, I should be posting this tomorrow, but it's being done tonight because I'm coding and writing the article for tomorrow which is Canada Day, and that's a pretty big day up here in the Great White North. I have 101 things I need to get done before this Monday is history, so I want to get to some of that too. In short, I'm taking a day off tomorrow by getting ahead of the never-ceasing wave today.

It's the last day of June, though, so get outside, touch some grass, and enjoy a day without hockey chatter from me. Heck, if you really feel up to it, mow the lawn like I need to do and get that chore off the list. No matter what you're doing today, though, be safe and get ready for some fun on Canada's birthday tomorrow.

I'll be posting the known recruits for the 2025-26 Canada West women's hockey teams tomorrow, so make sure you drop by for that. We'll get back to regularly-scheduled postings on July 2 as the summer swings into high gear. For today, though, I'm taking the day to ensure that everything is done so I can relax on Canada Day.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Movie Review: The Accountant 2

After spending the day outside doing yardwork so that HBIC Headquarters isn't condemned by city inspectors as a vacant building, I spent my evening needing a break from everything. Normally, this involves me escaping into a movie, and tonight's choice was one I had been wanting to see since it was released. Since I rarely have time to do yardwork, getting to the theatre was something that simply wasn't in the cards so I waited until I could find it on a streaming service. I really enjoyed the original movie that starred Ben Affleck as Christian Wolff, aka "the accountant", so I was puzzled when I read reviews that didn't find this movie entertaining. Were they right? Was The Accountant 2 another sequel "dud" that should be avoided? Let's find out!

In a year awash with sequels such as Another Simple Favor and Jurassic Park: Rebirth, getting something a little different in a sequel should set it apart. The Accountant 2's focus on Wolff's autistic mathematical savant character trying to find some sort of brotherly harmony with his overconfident, overly-lethal brother, Braxton, played by Jon Bernthal. It was obvious in the original movie that these two don't have the best relationship, so how would they interact? How would they reunite? Are they able to work together?

It was clear that The Accountant 2 attempts to work more humourous situations into the script by exploiting some of Christian's neurodivergence and idiosyncracies. Braxton elevates that more by calling out Christian's social shortcomings and forcing him to acknowledge them in key situations, but the backstory behind the female voice on the phone who works with Christian is explained entirely in The Accountant 2. I won't reveal that backstory as it closes off a few questions left unanswered from The Accountant, but it becomes very clear that Christian has never been working alone.

The story of The Accountant 2 starts with the death of Ray King, JK Simmons' treasury agent character, in an assassination attempt surrounding his mysterious contact, Anaïs, played by Daniella Pineda. Simmons, in an attempt to keep his investigation going, scrawls "find the accountant" on his forearm that director of FinCEN Marybeth Medina, played by Cynthia Addai-Robinson, sees and immediately understands. She eventually tracks down Wolff, and he begins his method of investigating King's loose ends on his seemingly cold investigation. Wolff realizes he needs some additional help, and he reaches out to Braxton. Medina, uncomfortable with a lot of the illegal methods being used by Christian and his team, opts to investigate on her own. This is where the plot thickens.

Without revealing a lot details, the investigation points back to the unknown identity of Anaïs and her involvement in a number of incidents across the globe. When Medina discovers some important information, Anaïs attempts to eliminate her and is only stopped when Anaïs comes across some of the evidence that Christian had found. This shifts the plot into overdrive as Christian and Braxton piece together who Anaïs is and what needs to be done to right the wrong that has haunted her. Can they solve this mystery?

Admittedly, I didn't reveal a lot of the plot because the few major plot points that push the story need to be seen, not told. That being said, I'll fully admit that there's chemistry on-screen between Affleck and Bernthal in their two characters as they work well together. There are moments of humour between the two that will make you laugh, but seeing those moments gave me a deeper appreciation of what it may be like for each of them to accept the other.

Bernthal's Braxton really tries to push Christian out of his safe zone by having him experience more social situations and by simply expressing his feelings while Christian's attempts to be warmer towards Braxton seem to bridge the gap between the two brothers. I can't speak to the portrayal of the non-verbal, autistic savant, Justine, played by Allison Robertson as I have mo experience with that kind of neurodivergence, but the character arc does follow the arc shown in the original film. Pineda's portrayal of Anaïs comes across as cold and emotionless until a certain point in the film, and she fits the assassin characterization almost perfectly.

Let's be honest in saying that no one is expecting The Accountant 2 to win an Academy Award for Best Picture, but writer Bill Dubuque and director Gavin O'Connor stayed true to the material as established in The Accountant. Toss in some added action scenes with more Braxton, some humorous moments thanks to the brothers, and a story that keeps the pace moving, and The Accountant 2 is a fun action movie with heart that fills an hour and a half nicely.

With a third movie in the trilogy due out in the future, fans of Christian Wolff would be wise to watch The Accountant 2. It won't wow you with any sort of profound movie magic, but the work turned in by Affleck and Bernthal are worth the 132-minute story.

Teebz's Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5 stars)

The Accountant 2 is streaming exclusively on Prime Video. The movie was produced by Ben Affleck, Lynette Howell Taylor, and Mark Williams for Amazon MGM Studios, and was released on April 25, 2025 in theatres and on June 5, 2025 on the streaming platform.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Stan's Gonna Stan

You can try to convince me that Edmonton Oilers general manager Stan Bowman is a competent hockey executive, but I'm going warn you up front that you're going to fail. Bowman's rise to the general manager position in Chicago was in 2009 after the Blackhawks fired Dale Tallon, and his work to win the Stanley Cup in 2010 was all but done for him. Yes, he added a few minor pieces, but the effort it took to "build" the Blackhawks for their five-year window where they won three Stanley Cups was also fraught with mistakes that carried on after he resigned in the 2021 season. It seems that Bowman's continuing that poor track record in Edmonton.

The eight-year, $30.8M contract that Bowman gave bottom-six forward Trent Frederic is somewhat baffling as it is inexplicable based on the details that came with the deal. While the $3.85 million average salary might seem reasonable considering the annual increases to the salary cap, Frederic won't likely exceed his 18-goal, 40-point 2023-24 season in Edmonton based on how the team is built. Add in the fact that Frederic has a no-movement clause for four years until he's 31, and you have to wonder what Bowman is thinking.

While the contract's average value does give the Oilers flexibility moving forward, it's hard to imagine many teams giving Trent Frederic just under $4 million per season for 11 minutes of ice time per game. A lot of pundits like what Frederic brought for the Oilers in 22 games in the playoffs, but one goal and four points seems like a serious drop-off when it comes to what $4 million can buy. In any case, the Oilers will give him four years at that rate before the no-movement clause changes to a modified no-trade clause.

Maybe Frederic will find the necessary scoring to make him an effective scoring threat on the Edmonton roster. If he does, they likely won't need the modified no-trade clause built into the final four years of the deal. If the salary cap continues to escalate and Frederic does find the back of the net with regularity, the deal becomes more and more afffordable, making the no-trade clause virtually meaningless. If this is the faith that the Oilers are showing in Frederic with this new contract, why include the clauses in the deal?

I'm not saying that this deal is similar to how bad the Seth Jones deal was in Chicago, but that contract was a disaster for both sides in the Windy City. I can't see Frederic's deal being anywhere close as bad, but why give Frederic four years to prove himself to be that 20-goal, 50-point guy without having the safety of possibly trading him for another asset? Frederic averages about 64 games per season through his first give seasons, so are the Oilers comfortable with a $4-million player if he continues his 2024-25 scoring rate that saw him post an extrapolated nine goals and 17 points in 64 games? Methinks not.

Again, I find myself wondering why NHL GMs simply can't help themselves when it comes to giving inflated contracts to players when there is no one else bidding against them. $3.85 million per season for a guy who hit 40 points once in five seasons seems like a very charitable deal for the player. If Trent Frederic can come back from his injury recovery and prove that 40-point season was no fluke, I'll give full credit to Stan Bowman at that time for betting on a player who had yet to reach his full potential as an NHL player.

Being that Frederic is already 27 years old and the contract will run until he's 35, I don't feel like the Oilers will struggle in paying him. Depending on how Frederic's body holds up, it may be more of a "how many games and how much production will we see" situation, and we know that power forwards break down faster than other players due to the wear-and-tear through which they put their bodies.

I can't fault Trent Frederic for signing this deal as it's very much in his benefit, but this feels like another case of Stan being Stan where his evaluation of talent and his valuation for that player is way off.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Never Do This Again

If you had plans to watch the NHL Entry Draft tonight, you needed to prepare yourself like you were going to watch the complete Lord of the Rings trilogy. The NHL's plan to decentralize the NHL Entry Draft came with all sorts of promises of speeding things up and making things better, but the exact opposite thing happened as the final network sign-off for Round One's selections happened four hours and 28 minutes after the whole mess started. It's unfathomable that it could take four-and-a-half hours to call 32 players to the Peacock Theater stage when they were sitting less than 100-feet away, but the NHL made it happen on this night. For those 32 players, dreams do come true - it just takes 4.5 hours.

For all the special moments seen tonight - how do you not like Matthew Schaefer? - the entirety of the Draft was agonizing in the length of time it took for things to happen. The "Facetime" interviews between players and management after players were selected was one of the worst parts of the entire evening despite the NHL being hopeful that it would bring some greater interest and insight as to why the players were chosen. For as much as the NHL was looking to make things better, they may have gone in the opposite direction.

Personally, I like what the New York Islanders did in Round One with the selections of Schaefer, Kashawn Aitcheson, and Viktor Eklund. For everyone who may worry that the loss of Noah Dobson may set this team back in the short-term, it's very clear that GM Mathieu Darche has a plan to rebuild the Islanders through smart management and good player evaluations. This isn't going to be an overnight fix, but Darche appears to have a plan for the Islanders moving forward.

No offence to the Anaheim Ducks, but seeing the theatre of drafting Brandon's Roger McQueen and then flying via helicopter to Disneyland is something I never want to see again. I get that there's some fun in having McQueen meet Lightning McQueen from Cars thanks to Disney's initial involvement with the team, but we've moved past the Disney tie-ins. McQueen's going to be a big-time player for the Ducks, so treat him professionally. Leave the Cars references at Disnleyland.

Big congratulations to Carter Bear, a Manitoban, on his selection by the Detroit Red Wings with the 13th-overall pick. Despite suffering a partially torn Achilles tendon on March 9, the Red Wings saw what they liked from the big, scoring winger and put him in red-and-white. Let's hope he stays healthy and can be a long-time contributor for the Red Wings and make Peguis First Nation proud of all he does!

I was a little surprised that the Winnipeg Jets went with a defender in Boston University's Sascha Boumedienne, but there's no denying the kid's talent on the blue line. If the Jets are adding another weapon on their blue line, they'll need to start clearing out veteran players who no longer fit the plan. Boumedienne looks like he could be another special player, and I suspect he'll be in the conversation for roster spots in a few years. That's something that should excite Jets fans!

Again, waiting until the ten o'clock hour to see the Jets choose their player was painful. I can't imagine what it was like for players sitting in the seats at the Peacock Theater, and we heard the Sportsnet crew crack jokes about line-ups at the bathrooms. Clearly, this style of draft won't work in the future for most teams, fans, and players, so I'm glad the NHL has already committed to going back to the old format. At least seeing the GMs mingling with one another gave hope that something might be in the works. This year, not so much.

Perhaps the biggest winner on the night was former Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds forward Brady Martin who stayed home to help work on the farm. He didn't need a suit, he wasn't forced to sit at the theatre for hours, and he was still picked fifth-overall by the Nashville Predators. Martin's draft strategy was the best plan on this night as he skipped four-and-a-half hours of "just get to the next pick"!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 666

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back on the UMFM airwaves tonight to get things wrapped up with the 2024-25 season officially in the books for all North American teams. If it felt like a long season, no one will disagree with you, but that may get worse as you'll hear tonight in one of the stories. And before anyone loses their minds over the episode number at the top of this article, it's just a number. In fact, the number is considered to be lucky in China and it's a pretty special number in mathematics. While it has a noted use in popular culture, let's put the focus on the hockey stories and news that we're going to discuss tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

As stated above, the season has finally come to an end, so Teebz and Jason will wrap up the 2025 edition of Survivor: NHL Playoffs by having Jared and Will give us their exit interviews. After that, the hosts will discuss the Abborsford Canucks' win over the Charlotte Checkers in the Calder Cup Final, some of the NHL trades leading up to tomorrow night's NHL Entry Draft, Jonathan Toews choosing the Jets, the Jets paying him like he's 25, the 2026 Hockey Hall of Fame class, news that the NHL season could get longer, the newest ECHL team has narrowed down its team name choices, the PWHL Draft underwhelmingly happened, some AIHL news, and Canada West released its hockey schedules for the men and women! As always, it's another busy show filled with news, information, analysis, some laughs, and more as we move into summer tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The UMFM website's streaming player works well if you want to listen online. We also recommend Radio Garden if you need an easy-to-use online stream. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store. It's a solid app.

If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard! And because both Teebz and Jason are on the butterfly app where things are less noisy, you can find Teebz here and Jason here on Bluesky!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason send off our final two Survivor entrants before chatting about big wins, player moves, new inductees, longer seasons, interesting names, bad television, rough months, looking forward, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: June 26, 2025: Episode 666

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Cleaning Up The Desk

I want to be clear that the image to the left isn't my desk. In fact, if my desk were to ever get to that point with things piled on top of one another where it can only be descibed as "organized chaos", I'd probably just set the thing on fire and let it burn to ash. I'm not an OCD guy by any means, but that mess drives me nuts and it's something of which I'd be ashamed. Thankfully, my desk is more just a laptop, a scanner, and an organizer for specific papers, so keeping things in order is easy. That's why we're going to look at all the little stories off the desk today by publishing a few paragraphs on each story, and those notes can be removed from the desk! Let's go!

Back To The Future

It seems the St. Louis Blues have been busy not only preparing for the draft and free agency, but they were removing all the Blues logos around the Enterprise Center last week. That, of course, led to speculation that that Blues were going to be wearing a new note on their chests this winter, and we got to see that logo on Tuesday.

As per their release, the Blues will play the 2025-26 season in "modernized versions of the team's heritage color palette and iconic Blue Note logo". The franchise also went off the board by introducing new "wordmarks, brand font, and secondary and tertiary marks highlighting the shared cultural influences of St. Louis and the Blues". The treble clef "fleur" is a cool design, the STL mark feels a little busy, and that trumpet incorporating the St. Louis Arch and the water of the Mississippi River feels forced. Overall, these work as secondary marks, but I'm hoping we don't see them on every publication.

These redesigned jerseys are clean and easy to read, so full marks for the Blues in not making this modernization overly complicated. If they can stick with this modernized heritage logo and jersey for a few decades, the Blues may have hit a high note with this redesign!

Jumping To The Pros

The PWHL Draft was held last night in Ottawa and I'll have more thoughts on this entire event below, but I wanted to congratulate Chanreet Bassi who was selected in the sixth round by the new expansion Vancouver franchise. Chanreet will have a chance to suit up professionally in Vancouver after playing her entire university career for the UBC Thunderbirds and growing up in Kelowna! If you needed a made-in-British-Columbia story, Bassi's is one of relentlessness, hard work, and talent coming together for the biggest opportunity of her career as the UBC grad joins the pro ranks! She'll need to work harder than ever, but here's hoping she makes the roster!

In 166 games with UBC over five seasons, Bassi scored 51 goals and 83 assists. More impressively, she scored 30 goals and 38 assists over her final two seasons with the Thunderbirds, and scored more than 33 points in each of her final three seasons. If you're doing the math, she got better as she matured, and her two-way game became a hallmark of her play as she was just as good on the backcheck as she was on the forecheck. She was instrumental in UBC's success!

Nothing is guaranteed when it comes to earning a roster spot with Vancouver as they have a solid roster of talent, but Bassi has proven time and again that she's willing to not only work hard, but play the role she's given to the best of her ability. It's that kind of adaptability that should give her a good shot at making Vancouver's roster!

An Electric Signing

When Norwegian defender Emma Bergesen graduated from Mount Royal University, it was hard to deny that she should have gotten a longer look when it came to the PWHL. Never one to complain about her opportunities, Bergesen went over to Sweden where she joined SDE in the SDHL, and she showed she belonged there with three goals and 16 points in her professional rookie campaign. It seems someone on this side of the pond was keeping tabs on her progress in Sweden because the PWHL's Ottawa Charge announced on Saturday that they had signed the former Canada West Defender of the Year to a one-year deal, and I could not be happier for her!

After scoring the "Golden Goal" to give Mount Royal the U SPORTS National Championship in 2023, Bergesen took the opportunity to jump to the SDHL where she found her groove with SDE where she finished in a tie for third-overall in team scoring. Bergesen also helped Norway move to the IIHF Women's World Championship in 2025 after winning the IIHF Women's Championship Division-1 tournament this season while leading the team in scoring!

Ottawa's getting a heckuva defender, an incredible person, and someone that should be part of the PWHL for a long time. Bergesen was always a step ahead in Canada West, and she'll get a chance to bring that talent to the Ottawa team who, I'm certain, will benefit from her play. Congratulations, Emma, and welcome back to Canada!

Full Circle Coaching?

It's been a long time since Mount Royal Cougars head coach Scott Rivett has been an assistant coach at the top level of university hockey, and he's seen a number of his assistant and associate coaches go on to bigger opportunities thanks to his mentorship. One of his former assistant coaches is Carla MacLeod who went on to coach at the University of Calgary and is now the head coach of the PWHL's Ottawa Charge, but she's been making a huge impact as the head coach of the Czechia National Team. On Tuesday, Carla returned the favour that Scott gave her because she added Scott Rivett to Czechia's women's Olympic team coaching staff for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy!

Rivett has certainly earned his accolades after guiding the Mount Royal Cougars to the 2023 National Championship while being named the 2024 Canada West Coach of the Year. Rivett also won four ACAC titles and was named ACAC Coach of the Year four times prior to joining the Cougars. His 107 regular-season wins remain the most in ACAC women's hockey history, and he continues to add wins to his total in U SPORTS. There's no stretch in saying he's one of the best!

Rivett was part of the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship Czechia coaching staff, so today's announcement is more of a formality for a man who appears to be a vital part of Carla MacLeod's coaching staff! Nevertheless, a big congratulations on going to the Olympics, Coach Rivett! Keep up the great work!

Letting The Kids Play

Back on June 10, the Spengler Cup released a quiet little tidbit of news that should excite some people. As we know, HC Davos and Canada always are represented at the Spengler Cup, and the other four teams are invited from other European leagues. We've seen a few AHL teams make the jump over to Switzerland for the Spengler Cup over the years, but the AHL teams seem to be rarely invited when teams from the Liiga, SHL, Czech and Slovak Extraligas, KHL, and Swiss League all have the week between Christmas and New Year's Day off. This year, though, the Spengler Cup is going off the script because they will, for the first time in the history of the tournament, invite a team of stars from the NCAA to come and play in one of the world's most famous hockey venues!

As written in their release, both "the University of Minnesota (1981) and the University of North Dakota (1982)" have played at the Spengler Cup, but this will be the first time that a team of NCAA stars from various schools will play together. The reason for this decision seems to be the diversity of players shown at the NCAA as the Spengler Cup recongizes that "representation from Canada, Sweden, and Finland as well as players from Germany, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic" all compete at the NCAA level alongside the US students who play for teams. As we know, there are lots of good players heading to the NCAA from the CHL as well, so the pool of talent from which they can build this team will be deep!

Might we see an NCAA All-Star Team win the Spengler Cup this season? It could happen as the "US Collegiate Selects" will compete with HC Davos, Team Canada, IFK Helsinki, HC Sparta Praha, and HC Fribourg-Gotteron for the trophy. If you're not a fan of this tournament because you're watching the World Junior Championship instead, the Spengler Cup organizers and the NCAA just gave you another reason why this tournament shouldn't be missed this December!

Spend Some Money On A Venue

Mark Walter just dropped $10 billion to purchase the Los Angeles Lakers from the Buss family, so it seems pretty clear that he has money to spend. I say that because the PWHL Draft held in Ottawa felt like it was an old MuchMusic "Intimate and Interactive" concert. Here's how the venue looked at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

Having the teams sit up on the stage while the players sat at the tables felt a little off, and having the TSN crew sit at the other end of the room away from the stage seemed to make interviews a little more awkward as players had to wander around the venue. I know this is Year 2 of PWHL drafts, but this needs to improve in a major way. I'm not saying that they need to do it like the NHL does, but this year's draft was a bad television event once again. That seems to be a running theme with PWHL events, so I'm not hopeful for change.

To the 48 women who were selected over six rounds, get out there and give it everything you've got. You earned this opportunity, so go seize it and make it yours. While you may be realizing a dream of playing professionally, this is where the hard work starts so that dream becomes reality! Congratulations to all the selections!

That will officially clear off the desk on a Wednesday as we get ready for the NHL Entry Draft on Friday and Free Agency Madness on Tuesday. I'm still working on making up the lists of recruits for each of the nine Canada West schools that will be posted on Tuesday as I always do on July 1, so I'm hoping schools will find a way to post their information on who they've recruited before then. I doubt that will happen, so feel free to email me if you're a player whose information has been missed and I'll make sure your info is included!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Getting Ready For Next Season

While we just finished off the final games of the 2024-25 season, it seems the preparation for next season starts now. Teams are going over their rosters, figuring out strengths and weaknesses, and identifying strategies and systems they're going to play, but the one thing that certainly helps in building for next season is a schedule. Canada West jumped all over that today by releasing their men's and women's hockey schedules for the 2025-26 season as Canadian university teams start building for next season! Let's take a look at some key games on the schedules!

The women's schedule will see things kick off in Regina as the early game on the 2025-26 schedule with the Cougars hosting the Calgary Dinos. The men's schedule sees the early game coming from Saskatoon as the Mount Royal Cougars meet the Saskatchewan Huskies in a rematch of last season's Canada West Final. Nine teams on both schedules will battle from Friday, October 3 until Saturday, February 14 to determine who will make the Canada West playoffs!

Here are some of the games that stand out on the 2025-26 schedule:

• Both UBC and Alberta start on the road for the women as the Thunderbirds will visit Edmonton with the new-look MacEwan Griffins whereas the Pandas will hit the road and visit BC for a date with the Trinity Western Spartans.
• Manitoba, who started the season with a bye, will see the women start at home as they host the Regina Cougars while the men head into Regina to battle the Cougars.
• The Canada West women's finalists meet in Vancouver on October 17 as the Pandas make their second trip to the lower BC mainland to meet the Thunderbirds.
• Jordan Colliton returns to Flames Community Arena on Friday, October 24 as the Colliton-coached Manitoba Bisons visit the Mount Royal Cougars. One province to the east, the Huskies and Cougars begin their interprovincial battle once again.
• Thursday, October 30 sees two women's games being played as the Huskies are in Winnipeg to meet the Bisons while the Dinos head north to battle the Griffins. Not sure why these games are on a Thursday, but that's the schedule.
• Eight women's teams and eight men's teams will play on Halloween. The only school who has time to be out collecting candy is Mount Royal as the Cougars have the bye this week.
• The November 7 weekend sees the rematches for the women of the Canada West semifinals. Alberta is in Calgary to play Mount Royal while the Bisons head to Vancouver to play UBC.
• We drop to six teams for the November 14 weekend as Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan take the weekend off. We'll see the first Cougars-vs-Cougars weekend of the season.
• The final weekend of the first half will be December 5 and 6. UBC and Trinity Western tangle for the first time this season while Saskatchewan and Regina battle for the second time.
• The season resumes on Friday, January 9 for everyone except the Pandas and Golden Bears as they have the bye in the opening weekend of the second half.
• It appears that the Crowchild Classic will be played on January 30 in the Saddledome with the Mount Royal Cougars hosting the Calgary Dinos. Always a big weekend in Calgary.
• The final weekend of the season is February 13 and 14, and UBC gets the weekend off with the bye. Will that affect them going into the playoffs? We'll have to find out!

Just as they did last season, each team will play a 28-game schedule over 16 weeks with the Canada West playoffs scheduled to begin on February 20 with the Canada West Final scheduled to begin on March 6. We'll see some divisional realignment again as the schools look to keep things competitive. This season will see Alberta, MacEwan, UBC, and Trinity Western in the West Division while Manitoba, Regina, Saskatchewan, Calgary, and Mount Royal make up the East Division.

If you're looking at the West Division, one of Alberta or UBC will not win the women's division this season - potentially neither could - so I'd expect those battles to be spirited this season. On the other side, all five teams could potentially take a run at the top of the division based on some of the turnover and some of the recruits, so these divisions could be a lot of fun to watch. Three months to go!

All nine teams for the men and women are looking to qualify for the National Championship this season. The women's tournament will be played in Waterloo for the second-straight season with the Warriors hosting the tournament while the men will head to Halifax, Nova Scotia as the Saint Mary's Huskies have the hosting duties. Both tournaments are scheduled to begin in their respective cities on March 19 through March 22, so clear your schedule for that action!

I'm working on the lists of recruits that teams will bring in next season, and that will be posted on July 1. As you're likely aware from years past, there are lists that will be incomplete because some teams inexplicably don't talk about the players they've scouted, spoken with, and are lucky enough to bring into their programs. This shocks me every year, but that's the reality of some of these schools.

In any case, we'll have more Canada West news next week! For now, get your schedules set for next season when it comes to figuring out which games and teams you want to see. I'm not promising anything, but I may do a road trip next season to a rink in one of the other cities. Nothing's written in stone yet, but I feel like I'm due to visit another Canada West rink. It will all come to down to scheduling, though, so I'll be watching the schedule as the season nears!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

A Canadian Checkmate

Based on the run that the Charlotte Checkers had been on before meeting the Abbotsford Canucks in the Calder Cup Final, I don't think anyone would have been surprised if they had ran roughshod over the Canucks. Having swept Hershey and Laval in back-to-back series, they hadn't lost a playoff game since May 9 to Providence on a 3-2 decision in overtime. The problem was that the Canucks had defeated some very good teams along their journey to the Calder Cup Final, and those experiences had them playing excellent hockey while being up 3-2 in the final over Charlotte. Tonight's game would either see this series pushed to a seventh game or we'd see the Calder Cup on the ice!

As you can see by the lede photo, there's no hiding the fact that the Abbotsford Canucks were in a celebratory mood at the end of this game, but it seemed like that might be a tough ask following their start to the game. Head coach Manny Malhotra alluded to the Canucks' poor starts in playoff games after the Game Five loss, stating, "It was another situation where we didn't quite establish our game early enough. And we didn't do ourselves any favours with the turnovers and they were able to transition and capitalize."

Well, that same thing happened in Game Six with John Leonard scoring 2:49 into the contest and the Checkers doubling that lead at 13:14 when Jack Devine found the back of the net. Down 2-0 early on the road is not a situation that a lot of teams want to find themselves in, but the Canucks got to work and cut the deficit in half on the power-play when Sammy Blais scored with 2:22 to play in the opening period. Perhaps there was still hope for Canucks fans after that goal?

Whatever was said in the intermission kept the momentum rolling for the Canucks as Danila Klimovich netted his fourth goal of the postseason at 3:44, and this game was squared up at 2-2! Abbotsford continued their stronger play in the middle frame as time continued, and it felt as though the Canucks were getting their chances. That would be realized with 2:41 remaining in the period when Linus Karlsson scored his playoff-leading 14th goal to put the Canucks up 3-2! Check out this sequence that led to Abbotsford taking the lead! The Canucks spent a full minute in the offensive zone and finally came away with the goal from Karlsson on a broken play and a cross-crease pass. That was a shift that had shots, rebounds, blocks, puck recoveries, point shots, missed clearings, puck cycles, and some non-calls, and the end result was a minute of entertaining hockey that saw the Canucks take the lead. That was simply incredible!

The third period was where the eventual Jack A. Butterfield Trophy winner would show his game as goaltender Artūrs Šilovs made 11 of his 28 saves in the final frame, and, more importantly, he and the Canucks kept the Checkers off the scoreboard. While the Canucks wouldn't find any additional offence, that late goal in the second period was more than enough as the seconds ticked down to zero, giving the Abbotsford Canucks a 3-2 win in Game Six, a 4-2 series win, and the right to celebrate the 2025 Calder Cup championship!

As mentioned, Šilovs was crowned as the Calder Cup MVP as he went 16-8 in the playoffs with a 2.01 GAA, a .931 save percentage, and five shutouts. His sixteen wins tied the AHL record for wins in a single postseason, and head coach Manny Malhotra became the first rookie head coach to win a championship in the AHL since 2013 when Jeff Blashill did it with the Grand Rapids Griffins. With their victory, Abbotsford became the second team in AHL history to win a Calder Cup by winning five playoff series, joining the 2002 Chicago Wolves.

Perhaps the bigger story that no one has mentioned is that Abbotsford denied two teams a share of a history. Had the Charlotte Checkers won the Calder Cup, they would have been the second NHL-AHL affiliation to win championships in their respective leagues in the same season, tying the 1975-76 and 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens and Nova Scotia Voyageurs as the only affiliation to have completed the feat. In defeating the Checkers, the Canucks keep a uniquely Canadian piece of hockey history intact! How cool is that?

Officially, that will put a cap on another hockey season as we move into the offseason for all leagues at this point. Canada brought home two of the three major professional men's hockey championships in the ECHL's Kelly Cup thanks to the Trois-Rivières Lions and in the Calder Cup thanks to the Abbotsford Canucks. There were two other major professional trophies where Canadian teams fell just short in the NHL's Edmonton Oilers and the PWHL's Ottawa Charge, so it was a pretty good season for professional Canadian hockey.

With hockey coming to a close for the 2024-25 season, take it easy, enjoy the summer, and forget about hockey for a while. Yes, there are drafts and free agency and trades and all that stuff still happening, but you can get caught up on most of that in fifteen minutes with coffee in the morning. Go have a summer, folks, because that's precisely what I'm going to do whenever possible!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Back To The Queen City

As advertised yesterday, I had a blast at the slo-pitch tournament as we had laughs and saw some great plays all day from those who participated. Rarely do I ever complain about having a good time, but I came home last night and felt a little fatigued so I watched the Calder Cup Game and then went to bed earlier than I normally do on a Saturday night. Whatever I did yesterday, though, seemed to catch up to me pretty quickly because a head cold set in overnight while I slept, and I woke up with all the typical symptoms: runny nose, a bit of a cough, nasal congestion, and aches and pains. How did I manage that?

Whining about my cold aside, last night's Calder Cup game looked like it was going to be one of the ages if the Abbotsford Canucks could find a goal in the third period. A record 7470 people were ready to celebrate in the Abbotsford Centre, the Calder Cup was in the building, but it seems that no one told Checkers goaltender Kaapo Kähkönen about that plan because he was unbeatable for thirty minutes before the game was finally decided. So did they win?

Based on the title of this article, that answer is "no". And the goal that was scored was one that both Abbotsford's Guillaume Brisebois and Ty Mueller are going think about on their way to Charlotte.
That one will sting for a few days for the two Canucks as Jesse Puljujärvi gets credit for his third goal of the playoffs after pinballing the puck into the net from behind the net off both players' skates as Charlotte escapes Abbotsford with a 4-3 overtime win, but trail 3-2 in the Calder Cup Final series. Sometimes, you gotta be lucky, right?

Charlotte head coach Geordie Kinnear praised his goaltender for standing tall in the third period and overtime.

"He's a leader for us," he said of Kähkönen in his postgame press conference. "I thought in overtime he made a couple of key composure saves and then got whistles for us at critical times. That shows his experience and you need that to be able to win."

The series will now resume on Monday in Charlotte where the Checkers have to win both to capture the Calder Cup. As we know, Abbotsford split the two games in Charlotte to start the series, and they'll be looking to do the same to capture their first Calder Cup. After last night's ending, I'd expect both teams to come out shooting for the win, so expect an exciting game Monday night.

Abbotsford head coach Manny Malhotra seemed to allude to his team looking forward to the upcoming battle in North Carolina.

"That's one of the major factors why the guys are ticked off in the room right now," he said of the Canucks missing out on winning at home. "It would have been a storybook ending, but we're not a storybook team. We grind and we work for what we get."

If the Canucks are going to win the Calder Cup championship this season, they're going to have to work hard and grind out a road win in a place where not many teams won this season. Again, they do have a win in Charlotte already in this series, but there haven't been any teams not named "Checkers" to win twice in Charlotte this postseason. We'll find out on Monday if the Canucks can do that when they take the ice against the Checkers at Bojangles Coliseum.

As for me, I'm going back to bed to continue to fight this cold.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

A Long Day On The Diamond

The image to the left will be my view for most of the day as I gather the umpire gear and head out to a fun tournament to help raise funds for a great community centre. While the diamond I'll be working on has more dirt, less lights, and less scoreboards, there's something magical about being outside on a gorgeous, sunny day, chatting with players and teams who show up year after year, and watching some fun slo-pitch ball being played. I almost wish there were more opportunities like we'll have today.

I saw "almost" because it is a long day with just two umpires working two diamonds for the entire tournament. With 13 games scheduled - 12 for each umpire plus the final - it's a very long day to be on one's feet all day. Combine that with needing to stay hydrated, moving around on the field, and re-applying sunscreen every few hours to compensate for the heat that is masked by the breeze today, and it could be a long, hot day with few breaks for the officials in blue.

You won't hear me complain, though, as the people are wonderful who run this tournament, the people who play in the tournament embrace the idea of fun, and there are usually a lot of laughs during games with and between teams. This is one of those tournaments I'll never say "no" to working because the people make it so great, and the weather is usually phenomenal during their fundraising weekend. There is a call for showers, but I'm thinking they'll stay away.

Get outside today and enjoy the weather if you're in my neck of the woods. Heck, even if you're not, get out and get some sunshine as your body is likely craving that vitamin D. I'll be getting a massive dose today, and I'm hoping that I won't be too tired to come home and watch the Abbotsford Cancuks wrap up a five-game Calder Cup championship. That would cap off the day nicely if it happens.

We'll be back tomorrow for more hockey chatter, but enjoy the day, folks. The blog is closed while I call balls, strikes, and outs, so find your way out into nature and the sun and soak it in as well!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Explain The Direction

While he cannot sign a contract until July 1, the fact that the Winnipeg Jets went bananas with as many images of Jonathan Toews as they could today means that the former Chicago Blackhawks forward is coming home to resume his career at age 37 after leaving the game in 2023. Jonathan Toews will be a Winnipeg Jets forward in 2025-26 based upon all the reports today, and I have no problem with the Jets signing a player of his calibre... with calibre having a massive asterisk next to it. I do have questions about why the Jets chose to sign Toews when they're already struggling to keep younger players due to limited roster spots and why they insisted on giving him an insane bonus ladder. Kevin Cheveldayoff needs to explain how Toews makes the Jets better.

I'll give Jonathan Toews credit in that if he believes he still has something left in the tank to give, he shouldn't be prevented from playing if a team wants to employ him. For as wrapped up in the Kyle Beach story as he was, I wouldn't have made an offer to Toews even if he came and begged to play for free. That's my view on Beach's investigation and Toews' involvement, but we've seen the likes of Joel Quenneville and Stan Bowman welcomed back by the NHL so Toews being welcomed back wasn't that far off. That's the NHL for you.

There's no denying that he was one of the best two-way forwards a decade ago, but that time has come and gone. Toews won't have the same hands or legs he did when he was 25, and we need to be aware of that fact. Expecting him to roll into Jets' camp and take the second-line centerman job from Vladislav Namestnikov seems highly unlikely, so I'm expecting Scott Arniel and his staff to have a long discussion with Toews about being an effective defensive forward and penalty-killer until he can show that he's ready to take a larger offensive role. Defence wins championships, and Toews should look to Steve Yzerman for inspiration if he's going to stick with the Jets.

There's also the medical side of the coin as Toews was dealing with both Chronic Immune Response Syndrome and long COVID symptoms, prompting him to head to India for six weeks for what he calls "a bit of a healing journey" through detoxing. As controversial as some will say this is, I believe the medical community who say there is no such thing as "detoxing" for a normal, healthy person, so Toews might have done nothing but spent six weeks in India away from civilization.

And it's not just one group saying this, but many groups saying this including the NIH and Toronto-based doctors. I'm not here to destroy any of the work that Toews has done to try and solve his medical issues, but Toews could still have symptoms that have merely subsided while he was away from the game. All of this needs to be considered when he dresses for the Jets in the coming season.

On top of all of this, what do the Jets expect from Toews and why weren't his bonuses tied to performance-based incentives if he's supposed to make the team better? In his final two seasons before stepping away, Toews totaled 27 goals and 68 points in 124 games - his worst two-year stretch of scoring in his career. He was outscored by Dylan Strome and Brandon Hagel with both playing less games in 2021-22, and his 31 points in 2022-23 was only a slightly better scoring rate. He's not who he was, so why did Winnipeg sign him?

For a locker room that was as close as it was this season, I don't think Toews will have any problem fitting into that culture. He's a leader, he clearly still has a desire to play, and he feels as though he can contribute. Time will tell if all of those traits come through, but this feels a lot like the veteran, bottom-six signings the Jets used to make every summer with Matt Hendricks, Nate Thompson, Sam Gagner, and Mark Letestu. In a Billy Beane, Moneyball-like idea, it seems like the Jets "want to milk the last ounce" out of Toews who wants to skate in the NHL again. The scene almost fits to a tee based on the script.

Chevy: "John, you're 37. How about you and I be honest about what each of us want out of this? I want to milk the last ounce of hockey you got in you, and you want to stay in The Show. Let's do that."

The only thing missing is the explanation about the money, but I'll break down those terms next. From a player's point-of-view, though, Jonathan Toews will need to be the "old man Justice" for the Jets this season as his contract is heavily-based on the number of games he plays, so we'll see if his body can stand up to the rigors of the NHL at 37 years of age and potentially-serious medical conditions.

If the Jets want to be better, they needed someone who will be productive so how did Toews get away with these terms in his deal?

• $2 million in base salary.
• $550,000 for 20 games played.
• $550,000 for 30 games played.
• $550,000 for 40 games played.
• $550,000 for 50 games played.
• $550,000 for 60 games played.
• $250,000 for a R1 win with Toews playing 50% of games.
• $250,000 for a R2 win with Toews playing 50% of games.
• $250,000 for a R3 win with Toews playing 50% of games.
• $1M for a Stanley Cup win and Toews playing 50% of games.

Forget the playoffs for a moment, but if Jonathan Toews dresses for 60-or-more games this season, he will bring home $4.75 million. There appears that there were no discussions of minimum ice-time played or points scored for the forward - only games played. Unless the Jets are hedging their bets that Toews is going to want a lot of time off or if he somehow rediscovered his 31-goal, 85-point self from 2019-20, Jonathan Toews could be the most expensive bottom-six centerman in the entire NHL. Massive yikes, Chevy.

A few people today suggested that the Jets won't have a problem paying that bonus structure with all the Toews-Jets merchandise they're going to sell, but one has to wonder, based on that idea, if the Jets are in this for money or for a championship. I have no doubt that lots of Jets fans will flock to get their Toews jerseys and shirseys, but this team should be looking for younger, more talented players on the open market if they're handing out $4.75 million contracts. Nik Ehlers and Gabe Vilardi would be good starts.

Outside of bringing home a Manitoba-born kid whose best days in the NHL were over a decade ago, the amount of money the Jets are spending on a seemingly-healthy Jonathan Toews to occupy what appears to be a bottom-six roster spot is inexplicable. I'll be the first one to eat crow if Toews comes in and plays well enough to grab the second-line center spot, but it doesn't seem plausible. For the life of me, I cannot see Toews doing much more than the other veterans over the age of 35 listed above, so I'm tempering all expectations.

For the record, Jim Peplinski left the NHL in 1989-90, and returned to play six games with one helper in 1994-95. Uwe Krupp left the Detroit Red Wings in 1999-2000 before he returned for eight games with Detroit and four with Atlanta while scoring a combined one assist. Peter Forsberg left the Colorado Avalanche in 2008 and returned in 2010 where he played two games and scored no points. The jury is still out on Gabriel Landeskog, but he's 32 years-old, and Mario Lemieux returned after three seasons and had a solid career for parts of five more seasons. Taking two or three years off of NHL hockey and returning shows a less-successful return more than a successful one, so don't get too excited for this signing just yet, Jets fans.

It's a heartwarming story when the prodigal son comes home, but NHL hockey today is business and the main business is winning. Unless Jonathan Toews can come in and provide more than Morgan Barron or David Gustafsson on that fourth-line, the dream of seeing #19 skating freely on the second line and filling nets with pucks will just be another "remember when" story in Jets' lore one day as history will wonder what direction the Jets were taking with this signing.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 665

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back tonight as we wrap up the NHL season after the Florida Panthers downed the Edmonton Oilers for the second-straight season to win their second-consecutive Stanley Cup. It's crazy to think that there's still one professional men's hockey final being played, but it will be the last one for the 2024-25 season to be completed as the AHL winds down as well. Our hosts will go over all that tonight and bring some additional news and chatter from other leagues and teams to the table as discussion points on another busy show tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Like the charging panther to the left, Teebz and Jason will charge into chatting about the Stanley Cup victory by the Panthers while touching on some of the highlights from their latest championship lap around the ice. Beyond that story, they'll also look at the AHL Calder Cup Final and who is doing what in that series, there were some new jerseys seen over the last couple of weeks that need breakdowns, they examine the two new PWHL teams that are getting close to full rosters, they discuss how Hockey Night in Canada needs improvement, there were some ECHL awards handed out and some news on the expansion front, Canada West broke some news this week, and the AIHL's Melbourne Mustangs saw history made this past week. Yes, it was busy and I'm not sure if we'll get through it all, but we're going to give it our best shot tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The UMFM website's streaming player works well if you want to listen online. We also recommend Radio Garden if you need an easy-to-use online stream. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store. It's a solid app.

If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard! And because both Teebz and Jason are on the butterfly app where things are less noisy, you can find Teebz here and Jason here on Bluesky!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason chat about championships, heroes, fashion, entertainment, expansion, history, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: June 19, 2025: Episode 665

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Tribe Has Spoken

With the NHL's Stanley Cup Plaoffs wrapping up last night, another postseason of Survivor: NHL Playoffs also came to a close as we looked to crown a winner. Sixteen people started the contest hoping that their randomly-selected team would advance to the Stanley Cup Final before winning the NHL's top trophy, but only one person would get to claim that honour. The prize vault needed emptying, so let's get to who did all the winning this year on Survivor: NHL Playoffs!

We'll start with the Challenge Prizes that were being handed out as teams achieved certain points of greatness. The challenges were:

• First shutout recorded in the playoffs.
• First hat trick recorded in the playoffs.
• First goaltender point recorded in the playoffs.
• First team eliminated from the playoffs.
• First to advance from the second round to the third round.
• First team to score seven goals in one game in the playoffs.
• First upset of the playoffs.

The first shutout went to the Florida Panthers back on April 24 when they shutout the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game Two of their first-round series, so Will earned himself a challenge prize there while also grabbing the first upset as Florida ousted Tampa Bay on April 30.

Ethan put his mark on the Survivor contest when he scored two prizes on the same night when the St. Louis Blues hung seven goals on the Winnipeg Jets on April 24 with Pavel Buchnevich scoring a hat trick.

Derek grabbed himself a prize after the New Jersey Devils were the first team eliminated from the playoffs on April 29, and GM Jared picked up a prize by having the Edmonton Oilers become the first team to advance to the third round. Prizes for all challenges will be organized and we'll be contacting winners in the coming days.

The only challenge that went unclaimed this season was the goaltender point, and that surprises me because of how most of the netminders in these playoffs don't have a problem sending an outlet pass up the ice. I can't remember the last time this prize wasn't handed out, so it's been a while. We'll figure out what to do with this prize, but rest assured we'll give it away as well.

Of course, everyone was gunning for one of the two NHL jerseys we were giving away as the grand prizes. Winning the Stanley Cup allowed the winner to choose between a blue Seattle Kraken jersey and a white Buffalo Sabres buffa-slug jersey, and we'd tack on a few other prizes as well. The finalist who fell short would win the other jersey, but receive no additional accoutrements with that jersey.

Not surprisingly, both finalists won challenges this season as GM Jared and his Edmonton Oilers squared off against Will and his Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final. I don't need to remind you who won, so congratulations to Will as he earns the 2025 Survivor: NHL Playoffs crown! We'll reach out tomorrow, Will, so we can get the grand prize to you, but the random teams worked out well for you!

Jason and I will get everything sorted out and we'll start contacting people tomorrow for prizing. No, we haven't forgotten about anyone - we simply left all the prizing until the end of the contest this year to ensure we have everyone covered. We'll work through all these prizes and make sure everyone has their prizing in-hand by July!

Thanks to everyone who entered the Survivor: NHL Playoffs this season, and we'll do this again next season... assuming The Hockey Show hasn't been cancelled by then. All jokes aside, thanks for making the playoffs fun for Jason and I with the exit interviews and the chatter, and we'll do this all again when we put sixteen more people on Survivor: NHL Playoffs island in 2026!

Until next time, keep yor sticks on the ice!

Los Gatos... De Nuevo

It seemed like it was almost an inevitable conclusion after the Florida Panthers rag-dolled their in-state rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning, in the opening round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Yes, they were tested by the Toronto Maple Leafs before steamrolling the Carolina Hurricanes, and they found themselves against another familiar foe in the Stanley Cup Final. However, just like last season, it didn't matter if it was Nikita Kucherov, Auston Matthews, Sebastian Aho, Leon Draisaitl, Andrei Vasilevskiy, or Connor McDavid standing in between the Panthers and the Stanley Cup, the Panthers simply weren't going to be denied in the championship defence.

It didn't matter who opposing teams looked to shut down in their series against the Panthers because someone else always stepped up. Whether it was Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Aleksander Barkov, Brad Marchand, or Carter Verhaeghe, the Panthers had the right mix of chemistry, grit, desire, determination, and experience to push them through to a second-straight Stanley Cup. Sergei Bobrovsky was sensational in shutting down any Oilers scoring attempts, and his defence were quick to clear pucks or wrap up sticks. The Panthers rarely made mistakes, they were quick to recover if they did, and losses were rarely followed by another loss.

Those ingredients will almost always guarantee success, and that's why the Florida Panthers hoisted the Stanley Cup for the second time in as many seasons tonight: they played like champions.

"This is as good as the first one," Game Six star Sam Reinhart said. "We learned some lessons. We stayed on the gas, foot on the pedal, and obviously the result speaks for itself."

Speaking of having his foot on the gas, Sam Reinhart was exceptional in Game Six as he became the sixth player in league history and first since Maurice Richard in 1957 to score four goals in a Stanley Cup Final game. While some eyebrows may have been raised when he was named as one of Canada's first six players for the 2026 Olympic Games, Reinhart erased any doubt with a performance that proved he belongs in that group with Crosby, McDavid, and MacKinnon.

Sam Bennett was named as the Conn Smythe Trophy winner, and it's hard to argue when a record 13 of his 15 playoff goals came on the road. For a guy who scored a career-high 28 goals in 71 games, seeing him put 15 past goalies in 23 postseason games this season was a big part of why the Panthers were so hard to defeat. No other team was even close to having a third-line player with those stats, let alone an entire third line with those numbers. Having Bennett post a career-best scoring rate certainly helped in this Stanley Cup run.

Of course, the talk turned towards the looming free agency that Bennett will face on July 1, but he didn't seem to concerned tonight.

"It's actually been pretty easy," he told Luke Fox of Sportsnet, referring to thinking about his future. "I mean, competing for a Stanley Cup has always been my goal and my passion and what I've wanted to do. That's all I want, and it's been quite easy to just not even think about what's to come."

With another Stanley Cup parade being planned and celebrations that will likely last through the night into tomorrow, the Panthers can now focus on letting the injuries heal before they begin the process again in September. Three-straight Stanley Cup Finals appearances with two ending in celebration certainly will take their toll, but the jubilation of hoisting the Stanley Cup erases the strains, sprains, bruises, and cuts for at least a few minutes for the winners.

For the Oilers, the retooling will begin again as they claimed to have been grittier, stronger, and better defensively when it came to this season, but it ended one game sooner than it did a season ago. In both seasons, Connor McDavid watched Barkov accept the Stanley Cup from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, and you know that sour taste won't sit well. The Oilers will have to address some of the glaring problems seen in this playoff run once again - goaltending, defensive deficiencies in players expecting big pay days, and depth scoring - in much the same fashion as last season. Can they buy their way into a third-straight Stanley Cup Final through free agency and trades or is it time for a larger retooling? What will it take?

Those will be questions that can be answered in a few weeks, but the Oilers deserve some kudos for making it back to the Final as well. That grind is never easy, so doing it twice in two seasons is an impressive feat. I'm not going to armchair GM and say the Oilers need to change this or that, but they do deserve a little credit for being back-to-back Western Conference champions, especially when you consider some of the teams that play in the west. The Oilers can't be bridesmaids forever, and I have a feeling Connor McDavid will win a Stanley Cup or two before his time in the NHL is done. Will it be with Edmonton might be the more pressing question, but time will tell.

Tonight, though, the victors get the spoils. Congratulations to the Florida Panthers who are back-to-back Stanley Cup champions! Enjoy the summer en route a three-peat next season! Viva los Gatos!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Awakening

If you were excited about the marketing that could be done for the ECHL's newest team, things are starting to really get started as the Greensboro Gargoyles have been busy over the last month. We still don't know who the first player will be that will wear the Gargoyles uniform, but we do have a schedule for the team for the 2025-26 ECHL season and we now know who will be coaching the Gargoyles as they take flight in their inaugural season! Let's dig into all the Gargoyles news posted so far!

The Gargoyles posted their first schedule on May 15, so this has been out there for a while. The good news is that we know who the Gargoyles will face in their inaugural game, and that would be the Jacksonville Icemen when they travel to Greensboro on October 18. The home- and season-opening game will see the teams clash at 7pm ET at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro on Friday before playing a second game on Saturday, and the Gargoyles will host the Reading Royals for two games the following weekend on Friday, October 24 and 25 before hitting the road for the first time in their history!

That first road trip takes them north of the border for a clash with the 2025 Kelly Cup champions in the Trois-Rivieres Lions on Halloween, November 1, and November 2 in a three-day, three-game affair. While I don't usually make a deal about the ECHL schedule, not having the Gargoyles play at home on Halloween in their first season seems like a crime against humanity, but that's the ECHL for you.

Two weeks after the Canadian road trip, the Gargoyles will host the Tahoe Knight Monsters for a three-game set starting on Thursday, November 13. Having the two new mythological teams battle could be a lot of fun for the Greensboro marketing team, but we'll have to see how they treat this three-game half of the six-game homestand during November. Frankly, it could be a lot of fun!

There are no games scheduled against the Fort Wayne Komets which seems like a miss, but the Gargoyles will visit the Idaho Steelheads for some reason on January 9 and 10. There's also just one singular game against the Savannah Ghost Pirates on the Gargoyles' schedule as well. Not having the Ghost Pirates and Gargoyles meet more often again seems like a miss for the ECHL, but that lone game will be played in Savannah, Georgia on Thursday, March 5, 2026. Let's hope the Ghost Pirates hype that meeting for the fun it could be!

The ECHL champs will return the favour with a visit to Greensboro as the Trois-Rivieres Lions visit for three games from March 13 to 15. Six games in one regular season against the lone Canadian ECHL team is six more games than the Toledo Walleye have played in their history against the Lions despite meeting them in the Kelly Cup Final, so the Gargoyles should be happy with that scheduling!

After having a few weeks to digest the schedule, the Gargoyles announced that they had found their first bench boss who will wrangle the Gargoyles for the 2025-26 season. On June 4, the Gargoyles announced that Scott Burt would be their inaugural head coach, and he brings a wealth of experience with him to Greensboro.

The 48 year-old Burt spent the last four seasons head coach and general manager of the ECHL's Rapid City Rush after being an assistant coach with both the ECHL's Idaho Steelheads and the Alaska Aces and the WHL's Spokane Chiefs for the previous nine seasons. As a player, Burt was a three-time Kelly Cup champion, winning with Idaho in 2004 and 2007 and with Alaska in 2011 while posting 356 points and 1067 penalty minutes in 586 ECHL games over 13 seasons.

"I am grateful for the opportunity to lead the Gargoyles into their first season," Burt said at his introduction. "There is a lot of buzz about hockey in Greensboro and across North Carolina as a whole and we are excited to make an impact in the region both on and off the ice. I am looking forward to beginning the process of building a team that will bring a competitive brand of hockey that Gargoyles Nation will be proud of."

While the Gargoyles landed themselves a solid head coach, we're still waiting on the unveiling of the team's jerseys. The good news is that the Gargoyles' online store has more shwag in it now, so I recommend checking out the various merchandise they have for sale in order to be ready for the first game. Maybe purple is your colour?

The schedule is set, the head coach is in place, and we'll soon start to see players being signed and added to the Gargoyles' roster. With their affiliation to both the Carolina Hurricanes and the AHL's Chicago Wolves, we could see some future Hurricanes assigned to the Gargoyles soon, and that should help sell a few more tickets. All of this will happen before October 18, 2025 when the Gargoyles come alive that night in their first regular season game, and here's hoping they find success both on and off the ice in Greensboro!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Late-Night Hockey In The Early Afternoon

If you needed more hockey action following the Florida Panthers' Game Five win over the Edmonton Oilers, the AIHL was kicking off its Sunday games with a contest between the Perth Thunder and the Melbourne Mustangs. Depsite this game starting at 2pm on Sunday in Australia, we were treated to an 11pm start here in the Central Time Zone. That gave me enough time to settle in and cheer for the black-and-orange as the Mustangs looked to pull even with the Thunder at third-place in the AIHL while having a game in-hand. Who doesn't enjoy a little late-night Aussie hockey to cap off a Saturday night of hockey?

The broadcast began by announcing that there would be some history equalled tonight as Melbourne starting goaltender Tom Papas as the 16 year-old who played for South Alberta Hockey Academy in 2023-24 would be starting! Papas is seven days, at the time of writing, from his 17th birthday which means he could have his first professional hockey victory before he has his full driver's license in Australia. According to the broadcast, Papas' debut tonight would tie him with Fraser Carson as the youngest goaltender to play in the AIHL!

Obviously, the Mustangs have a lot of faith in their netminder as they got set to battle the third-place Perth Thunder, and it would be Perth who opened the scoring as Yannic Lodge ruined Papas' shutout just 2:24 into the game to put the Thunder up 1-0. Melbourne, though, wasn't going to let that goal stand as the only one of the opening frame. Melbourne's Dean Klomp scored at 10:17 to make it a 1-1 game before Kieran Webster scored with six seconds remaining in the period to send Perth into the intermission with a 2-1 lead.

Papas, for the record, stopped 10 of 12 shots as Melbourne held a 17-12 edge in shots on goal after one period. He looked more confident as the period wore on, but the Mustangs trailed by a goal.

Melbourne bounced back in the second period as Dean Klomp went off while killing a penalty. He scored his second goal of the game while shorthanded at 16:37 before capping off his hat trick - still while shorthanded - 14 seconds later as Melbourne grabbed a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes! Papas was solid through the middle frame as he stopped all 15 shots sent his way as Melbourne took the lead and a 32-27 shot edge into the third period. Could he pick up the win?

Papas would be victimized by Lodge once again as Lodge found the back of the net at the 7:27 mark to make it a 3-3 game. Melbourne would respond on the power-play 52 seconds later when Mac Roy scored his ninth goal of the season to put the Mustangs back up by a goal. From there, Papas and the Mustangs defence held the fort through the remaining eleven minutes as Tom Papas backstopped the Melbourne Mustangs to the 4-3 victory and his first AIHL win!

Papas also added his name to the AIHL record books as he becomes the youngest goalie to win his debut game in the AIHL as Papas stopped 34 of 37 shots for a .919 save percentage in his first AIHL win. Not that I'm complaining about Papas' performance in any way, but this was the picture they posted on Twitter prior to the game.

Yes, Papas wore #4 as he stopped pucks tonight for the Mustangs, but I have to say that the "4" on his back needs some better centering on the jersey because that looks way off. Technically, the number is in the proper spot on the jersey based on Barrett's jersey, but that gap of black fabric between his name bar and the number is massive!

In any case, Papas looked like a seasoned professional out there tonight in his AIHL debut, and the starting netminder for Australia's U18 National Team earned a major milestone with his first professional win in his home country tonight. The young man appears to have a big future in front of him when it comes to hockey, and there's no telling where he may end up in his career. It would be pretty incredible to see Tom Papas on an NHL roster one day, and I'm hopeful that he'll get a shot like fellow countryman Nathan Walker got. Starting his 17th year on the planet with a professional win in the AIHL with the Melbourne Mustangs under his belt is a good way to continue to chase that dream!

Congratulations to Tom Papas on his successful AIHL debut and to the Melbourne Mustangs on their win tonight/tomorrow afternoon! Considering that this is being finished on Sunday morning after a few more photos were published, the sleep I got wasn't nearly enough considering when this game ended in Nort America. In saying that, I'm going to squeeze a nap in today so I'm somewhat functional.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Cincinnati Myth

For years, I have heard the story about how the WHA likely could have sent five or six teams to the NHL when it came to the 1979 absorption of the WHA into the NHL. The four teams that were incorporated into the NHL - the Edmonton Oilers, the Hartford Whalers, the Quebec Nordiques, and the Winnipeg Jets - had varying levels of success in their histories after joining the NHL, but I was always told that both the Houston Aeros and the Cincinnati Stingers could have made the jump to the NHL as well. Knowing how the NHL has never been the league to turn down free money or opportunities to make money, it has always struck me that having two more teams join the circuit in 1979 wouldn't have hurt the league in any way. So why did it not happen?

The 1978-79 Cincinnati Stingers had a collection of talent that would have put them in a good place in the NHL had they been able to retain that talent. Robbie Ftorek was the scoring leader at 116 points while Peter Marsh had 43 goals that season. The Stingers boasted five guys with more than 25 goals including an 18 year-old from Ottawa named Mike Gartner who scored 27 times that season. Add in the goaltending duo of Mike Liut and Michel Dion, and the Stingers appeared to have a roster as solid as any NHL team at the time.

Despite repeated attempts between the NHL and WHA to come to an agreement on a merger between 1977 and 1979, the NHL would finally agree to the merger in March of 1979. Terms still needed to be set when it came to which teams were going to be absorbed in the merger, but there was a framework that was proposed by NHL President John Ziegler in June of 1977 that would have seen six teams join the NHL if various conditions were met. This proposal was voted down by the NHL, and four WHA teams folded after that vote failed, leaving the WHA with eight teams for the 1977-78 season.

Negotiations resumed in 1978, but Ziegler presented a new proposal to the NHL Board of Governors where only four teams would be accepted instead of the six originally proposed. While the WHA wanted all three Canadian teams added, the American teams being considered came down to both Houston and Hartford. The Aeros tried to get Boston owner Jeremy Jacobs to support their inclusion, but Jacobs was against expansion entirely as he declined to support either team. With the NHL owners still being ice-cold to the merger, these negotiations went nowhere as the merger was voted down.

For the 1978-79 WHA season, Aeros owner Kenneth Schnitzer ceased operations for his team as he applied directly to the NHL for an expansion franchise. The NHL balked at that application with a number of teams in financial dire straits, so Schnitzer proposed that the NHL relocate a team to Houston with the Cleveland Barons being the most likely choice. Instead, the NHL sold the franchise rights to the Gund brothers who merged the franchise with the Minnesota North Stars. As a result, Schnitzer folded the Aeros on July 8, 1978.

As the WHA season began with seven teams instead of the eight that was expected, another franchise pulled the plug midway through the season as the Indianapolis Racers shut their doors after 25 games. Down to six teams, it was clear the WHA was on the shakiest of ground it had ever been in its existence, and the NHL seized upon that as they now saw expansion as a business idea to boost the NHL.

In March of 1979, the two leagues agreed that four teams would be merged into the NHL despite the owners only wanting three - the New England Whalers, Winnipeg Jets, and Edmonton Oilers. The Nordiques and the WHA insisted on all three Canadian teams being included, and the NHL finally agreed on March 22, 1979 in a second vote to bring the four teams into the NHL, leaving Birmingham and Cincinnati on the outside despite Cincinnati having a decent team.

It's seems ridiculous that the league wouldn't include Houston and one additional team as part of the agreement in 1978 considering how strong the Aeros franchise was in Houston, and Cincinnati historically had been one of the strongest teams in the WHA to that point. As stated, the story of Cincinnati being considered by the NHL has been a story told a few times, so what happened to the Stingers?

I was actually looking for something else in the newspaper archives when I came across a Febraury 5, 1979 article that literally explains why the Stingers never jumped to the NHL. Here's that article!

Despite the story being about the Stingers selling Rick Dudley to the Buffalo Sabres so they "can buy some rowboats", reporter Reyn Davis included a solid reason as to why the Stingers wouldn't be going to the NHL for the 1979-80 season as an expansion franchise.

As Davis wrote,

"The Stingers' owners have indicated to their WHA partners that they are more interested in collecting an indemnity to fold rather than acquire an expansion franchise in the National Hockey League."

In short, it sounds like the Stingers' owners wanted to recoup as much money as they could from the WHA venture rather than potentially lose more money supporting an NHL franchise in Cincinnati. If they were selling players like Dudley midway through the WHA season to bring in less expensive players, that's suggests money troubles. Getting paid to abandon the franchise would be an easy out.

I think this admission by the Stingers' owners can put the myth to rest that the Stingers were poised to join the NHL. While they certainly had a roster of future NHL stars, the ownership group clearly had no intention of spending more money to keep the franchise afloat, and their selling of star players for less expensive options is evidence that there were money troubles in Cincinnati. There was no honeypot.

The Stingers were never going to the NHL, so this myth is busted.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!