This Is Anything But Victory

I've never been an executive for a television or streaming company, but making one's offerings available to as many people as possible without charging exorbitant fees seems like a good place to start. Of course, those offerings would also need to be entertaining to keep people coming back, but that would be the challenge in filling a television lineup on a day-to-day basis. Sports networks seem less demanding as they seem to broadcast old games, talk shows, radio shows, highlight shows, and anything else they can before sports are played live in the evening. Apparently, though, that's not the case as Victory+ has officially closed its doors for broadcasts.

For those that aren't aware, Victory+ was an American streaming service owned by Calgary-based A Parent Media Company. It officially launched in September 2024, ahead of the 2024–25 NHL season, with the Dallas Stars as its first partner. From there, they'd add the Anaheim Ducks to their roster and select St. Louis Blues games before branching out to broadcast MLB's Texas Rangers, the NWSL, Major Arena Soccer League, and the Western Hockey League in Canada.

It seems like they had enough options to keep people watching, but their announcement today has thrown a number of teams' broadcasting schedules into disarray. The Dallas Stars announced on Monday that they were moving their broadcasts to Amazon Prime which made things look bleak for Victory+, and this comes on the heels of the Ducks telling Victory+ in June that they were dissolving their agreement after Victory+ missed payments to its partners.

Again, I fail to understand how that was possible when Victory+ was supposed to be making money off advertising. A net negative cashflow would have been evident as they added more and more teams to their roster, so why would they allow that negative revenue stream to grow and continue? I'm baffled by the lack of simple accounting knowledge shown here by people with business degrees.

These upstart streaming services are proving to suffer from the same problem that a lot of other broadcasting businesses are showing, and that problem is that the sports they're broadcasting simply don't bring in the promised return that people forecast. With Rogers Communications bleeding money and selling off national rights to anyone who shows mild interest and, now, with Victory+ disappearing as quickly as Bally Sports did, the NHL is running out of places where their product will be seen. With both cable and streaming subscriptions down in US households, justifying the cost of overpaying for hockey will be impossible. That should worry everyone.

It's hard to understand how the NHL can justify its outrageous broadcasting fees when a single rating point represents exactly 1% of the total target population in a specific geographic market. If the NHL boasts about having "the most-watched on record in the U.S." last season "with an average of 1.8 million viewers," they're not being seen by a lot of people. A network calculates its potential advertising income by using two calculations: Cost Per Point (CPP) that looks at the cost for each rating point, and Estimated Ad Rate which takes the CPP and multiplies it by the ratings scores delivered by Nielsen.

For example, if Rogers charges $2000 for a 30-second spot during hockey broadcasts, Rogers would be looking for a massive audience to help drive their advertising revenue up. Game One of last year's Stanley Cup Final drew 1.3 million viewers, that's not a huge chunk of Canada watching Vegas and Carolina. For calculations sake, though, let's say that it's 5% of Canada that watched, and that means that Rogers can charge $10,000 for a 30-second spot on its broadcast.

If Rogers shows 25 different commericals on its broadcasts, they make $250,000 per broadcast. Knowing that they broadcast "more than 500 national NHL games per season," let's grab the midpoint and say it's 550 games per year. That means that they only make $137,500,000 in advertising revenue per year, falling massively short of the nearly-billion dollars it needs to cover the NHL's broadcast fees alone. Add in all the staffing, travel, and other costs that come with having hockey on TV, and you're well over a billion dollars of revenue needed to cover Rogers' costs annually. That's a lot of red ink.

At the end of the day, Rogers will not make money on this deal despite being the sole Canadian broadcaster with NHL rights, and their new twevle-year agreement with the NHL doesn't start until October. With Victory+ having much smaller access to games, their advertising revenue stream wouldn't come close to covering their costs either. And with the NHL entering the picture for four teams, I'd expect that one will see very few advertisers signing on to have their ads on this new service outside of oline gambling sites and NHL-produced advertisements. If Victory+ couldn't get the ratings with their roster of teams, the NHL certainly won't achieve them either.

Expect your cable bills, subscription fees, and ticket prices for Toronto pro sports teams to continue to climb as Rogers looks to curb the flow of red ink, but it's too late for anyone on a Victory+ subscription. That money is likely gone with creditors now needing to be paid, and Victory+ will now just be another footnote in the NHL's broadcasting history. And until the NHL realizes that it doesn't have the pull that the NFL or NBA does on television in the US market, more and more broadcasters will lose money until they go broke.

Now you know why the NHL is expanding into Houston and Atlanta, and not Quebec City and Hartford. Those two television markets will artificially boost the NHL's numbers again so they can continue to try and force the spreadsheet arrows upward rather than moving into hockey markets where the passion for the game is real. Of course, they may already be priced out of Quebec City and Hartford with the outrageous ticket prices that fans are foced to pay, so it almost points to the NHL's financial model being broken entirely.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Winning In Kazan?

Consider me surprised when I read the news of Kevin Hayes signing in the KHL with Ak Bars Kazan. I would have never guessed that Hayes, who has represented the United States on the ice, would look to Russia for his next contract, but the 34 year-old forward will make the hump after signing a one-year deal. Of course, the image to the left isn't what you'd expect to see on a hockey blog, but that would be Kevin Hayes on July 16, 2023 when he married his wife, Katya Vasilyev, while a member of the St. Louis Blues, and she reportedly played a key role in convincing Hayes to take the contract from the Russian club after offers from NHL teams weren't forthcoming.

According to multiple websites, Hayes said in the Ak Bars Kazan announcement, "My wife is from Russia, and she has always wanted me to play here. An exciting new chapter is beginning for our whole family, and we're all very happy about it." Good for him. Nobody should sneer at a guy chasing something his family wants."

Far be it from me to call out a player's wife for helping her husband choose where he plays, but I'm not quite convinced the "my wife is from Russia" part is true considering that her Boston College athlete biography lists her hometown as Foster City, California. She was born in Moscow according to a YouTube interview, but her being from Russia seems like a bit of a stretch. However, I'm not here to throw shade on a family's decision to play in Russia, so I wish them well.

Hayes joins an Ak Bars Kazan team that lost in the Gagarin Cup Final last season to Lokomotiv, but they were the third-best team in the KHL's Eastern Conference with a 38-17-5-8 record. He joins a team that boasts noted bully Mitchell Miller, playmaking defender Nikita Lyamkin, and skilled forwards Kirill Semyonov and Alexander Barabanov. Head coach Anvar Gatiyatulin was named the KHL Coach of the Year last season, so it seems like Hayes is in a good spot.

For a guy who has had one NHL season where he scored more than 50 points and just two where he scored more than 20 goals over his twelve years in the show, there was zero chance that he would see a big day in the NHL as a 34 year-old free agent. He might have found work in the NHL this season if he accepted a PTO or took a bonus-filled contract that paid a low base salary, but Hayes chose the guaranteed money that the KHL's Ak Bars Kazan was offering.

We've seen players head over to the KHL and find a home where they can thrive. 33 year-old Josh Leivo has had two solid seasons in the KHL with Salavat Yulaev Ufa and Traktor Chelyabinsk where he scored 80 and 65 points, respectively, which was better than any total he put up as a professional hockey player in North America. Hayes obviosuly needs to find his game alongside his teammates, but he scored 27 goals and 65 points in 40 games for Boston College.

Clearly, this is an adventure that Kevin and Katya want as they move from the east coast to 850kms east of Moscow. No one is promising that anything will be easy, but he's joining a solid team that needs a replacement for Nathan Todd who moved to Metallurg Magnitogorsk. If Hayes can be that guy, Ak Bars Kazan will be in a good position to battle their way back to a second Gagarin Cup Final this year.

And if things go well, Hayes could be hoisting the trophy at the end of the campaign, proving that listening to his wife was the best decision he made when it comes to his professional hockey career.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

A Short Road Trip

I won't be doing much on the hockey front today thanks to being in a vehicle for eight hours, but that's life when it comes to work responsibilities. I have a scheduled visit with a branch I never get to see enough, so I'll be working the next few days out of town as I try to get all of their technological issues solved. That being said, I felt like I was an F-Zero racer from the classic SNES game while driving in my new vehicle with all its bells and whistles, so the drive today was pretty comfortable. Like any drive, though, there are some people who don't seem to understand the basic rules of the road, but those people were thankfully few and far between. Needless to say, I arrived at my destination as planned, and the ride was smooth-sailing for the majority of the concrete journey.

What made the second half of the journey that much more enjoyable is that I was able to tune into the local professional baseball radio broadcast as I drove thanks to the magic of cell phones and the internet. Despite being some four hours away from the ballpark, I was able to tune in and hear the call clearly thanks to the station's internet broadcast. As such, I didn't miss a pitch despite being a considerable distance from the station's broadcasting range.

This isn't any sort of new revelation, you're saying, and I completely understand that. However, it does bring to light the importance of radio broadcasts when it comes to professional sports teams as there's no way I could tune into the video broadcast while driving. Normally, I would watch the game if I wasn't working at the ballpark, but today's excursion to a far-off location made that impossible.

With the improvements in technology and advancements made to stream audio better, it doesn't matter where you in the world now when it comes to listening to your favorite team's radio broadcast. Radio has always been free outside of satellite radio, and most teams have opted to have a local station broadcast its games to its immediate market so its fanbase can listen whenever they're playing.

That's a smart decision for people who may be bustling around cities and towns where the broadcast signal reaches, but it made it hard for people to listen before streaming audio on the internet became a thing. Today, there are no limits when listening from faraway places, and my example today is an important reason why hockey teams still need radio: they can reach ANY market with that broadcast!

With Rogers deciding to scrap their sports radio stations in both Vancouver and Calgary, there was an immediate backlash towards Rogers before the Flames signed a deal with Corus-owned QR Calgary 770AM and the Canucks moved to Rogers-owned KiSS Throwbacks at 104.9 FM. Those broadcasts will still allow fans to hear their favorite teams, but the fact that Rogers continues to disrupt something that was working well over a profit statement held by shareholders is something I'll never understand. Radio is a proven and valuable asset!

Had radio died with the rise of the internet as some predicted, there would have been no way for me to have listened to the game pitch-by-pitch as I did today. There's likely no way that a lot of sports fans who have moved outside the broadcast range of their favorite team's radio signal would be able to consume that content. Yet not one person to whom I have spoken about this very topic has ever said, "Having a radio broadcast of that game is a stupid idea."

I won't lie in telling you that I listen to games from all over the place in the winter when I'm driving. I can usually be found listening to a Fort Wayne Komets game or a Pittsburgh Penguins game - two teams whose schedules rarely cross with Winnipeg - as I'm driving around on a winter's evening, and the end result is that I miss nothing from those games by tuning in via streaming audio. It's an awesome thing to be able to catch broadcasts from anywhere, and I'm grateful that I'm able to do so. As a driver, I respect the power of radio.

I need to go through and update some of the links on these, but, if you want to listen to your favorite hockey team while travelling, there are resources right here on HBIC for that. I have a whole page dedicated to NHL teams' radio broadcasts, another for AHL teams' broadcasts, and a third for ECHL teams' broadcasts. Find your team(s), save their radio links, and you're set for in-vehicle hockey broadcasts from your favorite teams! How awesome is that?

If you needed a reason as to why I love radio, it's this reason. Yes, it's an outlet for a lot of hockey chatter between Jason and I, but the fact that we can reach ears around the globe is one of the main reasons I love it. When Canada West fans crashed the server in 2018 during the Canada West Final between Saskatchewan and Manitoba by tuning in from all over the planet, that was a watershed moment for me. I knew we were reaching people with our goofy broadcasts, but people were also responding by tuning in to hear us call games.

Whether it was grandparents in Florida who could listen for free or Albertans listening while tweeting at us, we had expanded UMFM's borders from a campus radio station to something much bigger. The flip side, though, was that people were able to tune in and hear the game in its entirety for free from two guys who loved calling the game, had a passion for women's hockey and the players on the ice, and understood that many fans wanted inexpensive coverage.

Listening to the baseball game as I drove gave me a lot to think about when it came to Rogers' recent decisions, and it's renewed my passion for having radio as a vital and important medium for sports. My hope is that you feel the same about your radio broadcasts, and I'd urge you to support your local radio station that broadcasts your favorite team(s), especially if you live outside their broadcast map.

It's still free and it's still totally accessible as it should be. All you need is a radio or an internet-connected device to tune in!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Bigger, But Not Better

With the NHL already pushing a 33rd team in Houston and Wednesday's news that an NHL-sized rink will be built in Atlanta, those two locations will be the next NHL cities regardless of who likes it and who doesn't. Those two television markets are ones that the NHL has coveted for a long time, and we're already seen one Gary Bettman-led expansion in Atlanta fail under his watch. The NHL has a balanced schedule with four eight-team divisions that work well when it comes to playoffs and drafting, so adding two more teams before Bettman walks away into retirement is nothing more than a final "look what I did" moment for a league desperately seeking ways to find new revenue streams.

I wwant to be clear that I'm not against expansion if there is a demand for it and if the cost of expansion makes sense. For all the success that teams like the Vegas Golden Knights and San Jose Sharks have had both on the ice and in merchandise sales, there are teams like the Columbus Blue Jackets and Atlanta Thrashers who joined the league and struggled in their markets after a few years of play. With players now earning eight-figure salaries annually, the need to expand has never been lower despite Gary Bettman's thoughts.

With the Canadian dollar sinking against the US dollar, the seven Canadian NHL teams are entering the same kind of economic territory as they did in the 1990s when both the Quebec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets moved while all of Edmonton, Calgary, and Ottawa were rumoured to be mere hours from having new homes. While Bettman will sing about parity until cows come home, the fact that seven of his teams spend $1.40 for every $1 USD they spend doesn't allow for parity in the pocketbooks. There's no immediate nor easy fix to this problem aside from more revenue sharing from US teams to Canadian ones, so expanding while this is happening is a bad idea.

Secondly, with the product on the ice being as good as it is, expanding again before Seattle makes itself a regular playoff participant and before Detroit makes the playoffs again seems foolhardy. The NHL desperately needs some of its pillar franchises - Detroit, Chicago, New York Rangers, and Toronto - to find their way back to the postseason if they want people to remain interested. Yes, they averaged 5.2 million viewers for the 2026 Stanley Cup Final, but that's miniscule compared to the 2026 NBA Finals that saw an average of 20.6 million viewers tune in and watch. New York is a huge market!

It seems that the Friedkin Group, led by billionaire Dan Friedkin, is willing to pay the $2 billion USD expansion fee, though, so Houston looks like it's nearly ready to be announced outside of some legalities and paperwork to be completed. With a 33rd franchise all but announced at this point, the league will want to balance that out with a 34th team joining them shortly and Atlanta fits that mold.

Atlanta has proven itself to be anything but a lock when it comes to success, especially considering that both of Atlanta's franchises are now playing in Canada. Both the Atlanta Flames and the Atlanta Thrashers failed miserably in their eight- and twelve-year existences, respectfully, thanks to financial problems, abysmal marketing, poor on-ice performance, internal ownership squabbles, and arena issues.

The Thrashers averaged 17.206 fans in their inaugural season in 1999-2000, but only hit 16,000 once more in their twelve years in 2006-07 when they won the Southeast Division. They had as many seasons where they averaged just 13,000 fans as they did when they averaged 15,000 fans. Selling hockey in Atlanta is not an easy job unless they win, and expansion teams that don't win often don't fill rinks. Ask the Florida Panthers how long it took them to figure that out.

The issue that both these cities also face are immediate competition from both the NBA and the NFL. The Atlanta Hawks were the sixth-best team in the NBA's Eastern Conference this season while the Houston Rockets were the fift-best team in the NBA's Western Conference. Both teams look to be competitive this season again, so it might be tough to lure fans away from the NBA teams in Atlanta and Houston. On top of that, the Texans were 12-5 last season while the Falcons were 8-9, and both NFL teams draw huge crowds. Is the NHL actually ready to enter those markets and compete for fans?

Las Vegas was an easy sell as the first professional team of the four major leagues to move into Sin City. Seattle found out that they have to work extremely hard to get people to show up and watch a middling team. Houston and Atlanta will face similar challenges unless they can build a winner like the Golden Knights did in their inaugural year. That simply won't happen after NHL GMs learned from that Vegas expansion, so Houston and Atlanta will likely struggle.

With the two new cities being added to their roster, the NHL will officially be the largest of the four major professional sports leagues in North America. Being bigger, however, doesn't mean they're going to be any better than the other three, and there likely won't be the immediate payoff that the NHL hopes to see outside of the ludicrous expansion fees that both will pay. Why would anyone pay $2 billion for a team where a fanbase isn't guaranteed and a winner isn't likely?

It's not my money, though, so who am I to question billionaires on how they want to burn their money? Sure, they could do incredible things like feed the hungry, house the homeless, or cut medical costs for the ill with that $2 billion fee, but I guess these billionaires would rather invest in a sports team that, no matter what, seems to only increase in value. If a billionaire gets richer, it's gotta be worth it!

Isn't professional sports fun when all that matters is money?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Red-And-Gold Standard

We've known that the RSEQ women's hockey conference was growing by two teams this season for some time as both Laval and Sherbrooke were joining the fun. Just like with any expansion hockey team, there will be a lot of firsts, an even greater amount of hope, and a few bumps in the road along the way when it comes to the inuagural season, but it seems one of those Quebec universities is trying to get ahead of the curve with an outstanding setup for their locker room. If Laval puts this kind of effort into everything including their play on the ice, they might be a new U SPORTS powerhouse!

This is what the players walked into yesterday when they were invited to check out their new space on campus for the first time.

Pretty nice digs, right? That looks like a great home at the Aréna du PEPS for the new women's team, and they could likely use this dressing room as a selling feature on campus tours for potential recruits. There are lots of U SPORTS programs who have nothing like this, so kudos to Laval University for investing their women!

Circle October 16 on your calendars as they'll play the Montreal Carabins that day in their first official action in the history of the school. Montreal is, of course, one of the teams that always has big seasons in the RSEQ with an appearance at Nationals almost a perennial event, so Laval will have a big test on their hands in that first game as they begin writing chapters into their history. It's said that "for one to be the best, they have to beat the best" so why not welcome the team that established the gold standard for university women's hockey in Quebec? It seems like a good measuring stick!

Of course, the team needs to look good when they step on the ice, so the jerseys should invoke a sense of pride with the design. Will Laval find the right setup? Will they bring a traditional hockey look?

The home jerseys are nearly flawless in their design, and I commend Laval for sticking to a traditional hockey sweater design. The red and white provide excellent contrast, the gold stripe fits nicely, they avoided overusing black, and the design with the shoulder yoke feels like this team has a rich history. The CCM logo above the Laval logo can go, but these jerseys hit all the checkboxes in their design.

Will the road jerseys bring that same excellent design? Let's find out!

This red jersey isn't as good as the white jersey mainly because there's way too much black. It needs more gold since Laval is the Rouge-Et-Or, and the change in the design altogether isn't quite an impactful as they may think it is. A black yoke would work if they brought back the gold stripes on the arms and the hems outlined by black, but these will work. They're clearly not as good as the white jerseys, but they'll work for Laval. I do like the gold outline on the numbers and name on the back, though, as they helps to make the name and number more readable. That's important for broadcasters!

Overall, Laval looks like they're kicking off their women's hockey history on the right foot with an amazing locker room experience and a solid wardrobe of jerseys. Their play on the ice will obviously determine where they finish in the standings, but they're off to a good start when it comes to the aesthetics of the team. Might the RSEQ might be the best-dressed conference in women's hockey?

Best of luck to the Laval Rouge-et-Or on their inaugural season! I'll be watching their progress, but I won't be doing a lot of writing about them or any other university women's team after Canada West made the decision for me to end The Rundown. I am, however, excited to see how well former Winnipeg Ice forward Talia Jones does, so there's definitiely a reason to keep an eye on the Laval Rouge-et-Or!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 727

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, takes over the UMFM studio space once again tonight to talk all things puck. Usually, we have a main story which we want to focus on to explain the nuances that fans should know, but tonight's going to be just a smorgasbord of smaller stories that will fill the hour. There will be discussions on each, but there isn't one main topic that will eat up a half-hour of show time. If you're ready for lots of little stories that need some dissecting, make sure you're ready to roll for The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason will rock the hockey world by talking about a number of topics including the Hometown Remix jersey announcement, the Islanders making their third jersey official after the fan voting closed, the Gwinnett Gladiators going back to the future, the NHL allowing a banned jersey number again, the AIHL playoff picture for this weekend, Dublin's ambitious new project, a former NHLer returning to the ECHL, a Stanley Cup winner who will miss the start of the season, a Hall-of-Famer who may have suffered, and anything else that may bounce across our respective desks today! Settle in for some glove-dropping, shot-blocking, stick-swinging, and puck-chucking chatter 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.

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 talk bad jerseys, good colours, fun numbers, Aussie madness, Irish dreams, Russians returning, Danes hurting, saving brains, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: August 27, 2026: Episode 727

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Big Signing Goes Down

Oilers fans are hoping this isn't going to be a common occurrence, but goaltender Frederik Andersen will start the season on the shelf after being injured during an off-season training session. He'll be joined by defenceman Alec Regula and forwards Mattias Janmark and Matt Savoie as players who miss training camp with injuries, but that one-year, $2.8-million contract that Andersen signed to stabilize Edmonton's goaltending will be tested in October as the Oilers are forced to start the season with a netminding tandem that is missing their big catch in free agency.

There were no reports on what may be ailing Andersen as the start of the season nears, but one has to wonder if the heavy workload he endured through the playoffs had something to do with his current injury. At the time, it was reported as a knee injury, and that should have fans worried as goalies generally need knees that work well.

Of course, this comes on the heels of Andersen missing time in late October 2024 with a lower-body issue which, eventually, required knee surgery in November 2024, and that injury kept him out for roughly three months before returning in January 2025. He practiced for a week with the Hurricanes before the team decided to place him on injured reserve again, limiting him to just 22 games in 2024-25.

Andersen is 36 years-old so he's not getting younger, and repeated "lower-body injuries" that he's had over the course of his career don't heal as fast. I respect that the Oilers saw him as an upgrade to their goaltending situation, but there's a reason why the Hurricanes went with Brandon Bussi over re-signing Frederik Andersen, and a lot of it has to do with being younger, cheaper, and more durable. That's not to say Andersen can't recover and help Edmonton win, but Andersen played just 107 games in the last four seasons for the Hurricanes.

As it stands, the Edmonton Oilers will start the season with Tristan Jarry and Devon Levi as their goaltending tandem, and Frederik Andersen will work to get himself ready for a late-October or early-November debut assuming all goes well. If the Oilers get the Tristan Jarry who sported an .858 save percentage in 19 appearances last year, the month of October could be rough. Devon Levi has yet to prove he can be an NHL goalie, so the Oilers are going to have to hope that Andersen recovers quickly from whatever this injury is.

Even if his recovery gets him back in the lineup by the start of November, he'll need some time to be game-ready as he's scheduled to miss all of training camp and the exhibition games that the Oilers play. With fifteen games in November alone, the Oilers may need all three goalies healthy if they're going to manage each one's minutes.

The Oilers will be on the road from October 31 to November 3 where they play the Islanders and Rangers back-to-back before finishing off the trip against the Devils. They return home for a game against the Ducks on November 5 that starts a four-games-in-seven-days run, and then they hit the road for six games in nine nights between November 14 and 22. If the Oilers or Andersen wanted to be thrown into the fire after his recovery, the November schedule might be that fire.

I don't know who placed the curse on Connor McDavid and/or Leon Draisaitl, but they're going to have to hope that Jarry and Levi can hold the fort while Andersen is on the mend. If the losses start piling up before Andersen's expected return, it may be too deep of a hole to dig out of when it comes to making the playoffs this season.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Return Of Double-Zeroes!

For those that are unaware, there are specific numbers that cannot be worn in the NHL and on specific teams. Most of these are retired numbers that teams no longer keep in circulation, but specific numbers like #99 are retired league-wide so no one can wear that number again. There are two numbers that the NHL demanded be removed from circulation due to their ability to mess with the NHL's early statistical programs, and those numbers are #0, last worn by Neil Sheehy, and #00, last worn by Martin Biron as seen above. However, it seems the NHL has evolved enough that these zeroes are no longer a problem for their stats programs thanks to one team's signing announcement today!

The Minnesota Wild were going about their business today by posting on their website that they had hired Peter Thome as their new Hockey Operations Analyst. Nothing in that seems earth-moving, but they tacked on that Thome will also serve as the Wild's Emergency Backup Goalie (EBUG) this season. As you may recall, every team is required to have an official EBUG under contract this season.

The former NCAA and ECHL netminder and former 2016 Columbus Blue Jackets draft pick had a short career stopping pucks at the professional level, but he's also worked as an analyst in the USHL and as a video coach in the AHL. All of that is fine and dandy for Thome while he's wearing a suit, but there was one line that stuck out about what he'll be wearing as a goaltender for the Wild if he's needed:

"He will wear sweater No. 00 with Minnesota."

How can that be after the league banned the number in 1996 over issues with their player database and the inability to accurately record players using those numbers? Did it take thirty years for the NHL to figure out how to properly enter #00 as a valid number into that database? Will we see all EBUGs wearing #00 this season based on Thome's number? We all have questions that need answers!

I've seen a few websites indicate that all EBUGs this season will be assigned #00, and that may very well happen. However, there is no language in the NHL-NHLPA CBA Memorandum of Understanding filed last season that speaks to this number assignment and that includes Attachment 87 that speaks directly to the new EBUG rules that teams are required to follow. Logically, however, that would make sense.

Whatever the case may be for the other 31 teams, there will be one player who has #00 as his assigned jersey number next season. Congratulations to Peter Thome not only on his hiring today with the Minnesota Wild, but for becoming the answer to an NHL trivia question one day! Will #0 be the next number to be reinstated?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

MSG In Dublin?

Dubbed "The World's Most Famous Arena", there aren't many shows nor events that pass up the opportunity to work in Madison Square Garden. Located in Manhatten, "the Garden" is officially the second-busiest music arena in the world in terms of ticket sales, the oldest arena to host an NBA team, and the oldest arena to host an NHL team. There have been three other Madison Square Garden that have been demolished since the original opened in 1879, but the current building standing between Seventh and Eighth avenues in New York City is the one that has garnered the most attention as the arena that hosts around 320 events a year including sports, concerts, and other major events!

I'm not here to talk about New York's arena, however, because Dermot Rigley, founder and CEO of Prime Arena Holdings, made a bold proclamation today with the announcement of a new two-rink facility being proposed for the neighbourhood of Cherrywood inside Dublin, Ireland! According to his statement today, "Rigley has described the proposed project as one that will bring the Madison Square Garden experience" to Ireland's largest and most populous city!

I'm not here to take the wind out of Rigley's sails by any means, but Prime Arena Holdings stepped forward as the company behind this ambitious project, showing off initial renderings that included CGI images and flythrough videos by Populous, the same architects behind the Sphere in Las Vegas, Yankee Stadium in New York, and the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. It should be noted that Prime Arena Holdings has NOT formally submitted a planning application for this project yet.

The details state that the building will have two Olympic-sized ice rinks and an 8000-capacity arena, expandable to 10,500 for major events and concerts. It's hoped that this new facility will be ready to open by 2029 or 2030, but Brendan O'Brien of the Irish Examiner notes in his article, "The Olympic Federation of Ireland has backed a project which will serve as a hub for its winter sports programme and one where an ice hockey team akin to the Belfast Giants at the O2 will serve as anchor tenants and play in the British league."

Might we see an EIHL team in the heart of Dublin, Ireland?

"The design for Prime Arena will bring the ice hockey spectators close to the action and create an incredible atmosphere and fan experience," Marian Moravek, design lead at Populous, described to O'Brien, "while the warm, layered facade and public plaza will give the arena a distinct identity as a focus for Cherrywood."

As you know, this blog is against public funding of arenas that will be used by billionaires, but we know that EIHL teams are setup somewhat differently. Initial estimates for this new "Madison Square Dublin" were around €190 million ($222 million USD), but final totals could fetch upwards of €250 million ($292 million USD). Reports suggest that "several US and Canadian ice hockey stars, including former Stanley Cup winners, recently emerged as investors in the project," but it seems some public monies will go into the project.

Estimates see the new arena attracting "over 1.5 million visitors annually", and, as reported by Eoin Burke-Kennedy in The Irish Times, "Mary Rose Burke, Dublin Chamber of Commerce chief executive, said the project would 'deliver a significant and lasting boost to Dublin's economy, supporting businesses across hospitality, tourism, retail and local services' while Tourism Ireland chief Alice Mansergh said it 'would offer opportunities to attract visitors from overseas'."

Allow me to "wet blanket" this growing excitement for the arena by suggesting that Prime Arena Holdings should get its application submitted ASAP and start lining up investors for that 2029 opening date. Even if they open in 2030, a Dublin EIHL team will also need some time to get off the ground. And assuming this mixed-use complex works for everyone where public skating can happen while an EIHL team practices, perhaps we'll see Irish-born and Irish-trained hockey players find their way into leagues across the globe one day!

We're a long way from those moments, and I'll be the first to say that building a €250-million arena is the last thing an emerging hockey country should do, but Dublin, Ireland seems to have its heart set on welcoming its first EIHL team in the city's history to inspire more young Irishmen and Irishwomen to hit the ice! Maybe it will happen with a little of that Irish luck, but "an lao ite i mbolg na bó"!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Australia's Playoffs Are Set

With the regular season coming to a close in the "land down under", six teams would know who was playing whom next week in the AIHL Playoffs. They're competing for the trophy to the left - the Goodall Cup - which was most recently won in 2025 by the Melbourne Ice. There were interesting games played this weekend with playoff spots on the line, and the defending champions were one of those teams. With every team approaching its 30th game of the season, let's take a look at who qualified to play next week, which teams earned byes to the semifinal, and which teams are the likely favorite to play in the one-game, winner-takes-all final on August 30 at O'Brien Icehouse!

Newcastle Northstars

We'll start with the Northstars who have seemingly been at the top of the AIHL standings all season long. The Northstars needed a win to guarantee themselves a top-two finish, and two wins would lock up the top spot in the AIHL. They were facing the eight-place Central Coast Rhinos and the seventh-place Sydney Bears who were fighting for their playoff lives. Would they earn the top seeding?

The Rhinos weren't about to roll over and allow Newcastle to have three points for free as the teams were tied at 0-0 through 20 minutes of play. Two quick goals by the Rhinos before the second period was five minutes old put the Northstars back on their heels a bit, but they'd get one of those back 56 seconds after the Rhinos' second goal. The second period would end in that 2-1 score with Central Coast needing just 20 more minutes for a big win.

Good teams find a way to win, though, and the Northstars would draw even when Evgenii Skachkov scored his 40th goal of the season midway through the third period, and Aziz Baazzi pushed Newcastle ahead by a 3-2 score with his goal with just over five minutes remaining. The Rhinos simply couldn't find an answer to that goal as Newcastle took the 3-2 game and moved closer to securing first-overall in the standings. Big shout-out to Rhinos goaltender Anand Oberoi who made 55 stops in the loss and deserved better.

Sunday's game against the Bears was made a little easier based on other scores on Saturday, and the Northstars needed just a win in regulation or in extra time to secure top spot. Despite the Bears jumping out to a 3-0 lead through 20 minutes, the Northstars found the back of the net in the second period, but still trailed 5-3 when the horn sounded. Just as they did one before, though, they crushed dreams with a five-goal third period to capture the AIHL's top spot with an 8-5 win over the Sydney Bears for their 21st win.

Canberra Brave

The Brave had a shot at wrapping up first-place with wins and a little help, but we know the Northstars already had secured a share of first-place by Saturday evening. The Brave also needed to win to hold off the Melbourne Mustangs who had one remaining game, and that was against this Brave team. Canberra controlled their own destiny in this weekend's games, so could they capture a bye to the semifinal?

Canberra had the pleasure of dealing with the sixth-place Melbourne Ice on Saturday, and the Ice were battling for their own playoff lives as they held the final playoff spot. After a first period that saw Melbourne take a 2-1 lead followed by a scoreless second period, the Brave fell behind 3-1 before scoring twice in the final 35 seconds of the game to push this game to overtime at a 3-3 score! Dominic Canic and Justin Maylan were the heroes there, but this game wasn't done.

Overtime solved nothing, so a shootout was needed to find a winner. Ice netminder Tatsunoshin Ishida stopped both of the Brave's first two shooters while David Booth scored for the Ice. Melbourne's Kolton Shindle would end this game as the third Ice shooter when he beat Joel Hasselman, giving the Ice a 4-3 shootout win over the Brave! The shootout loss pushed the Brave ahead of the Melbourne Mustangs by one point, but Sunday's game now loomed large when it came to determining second-place in the AIHL! See below for Sunday's game!

Melbourne Mustangs

Melbourne already knew that they could not catch the Northstars following Newcastle's win on Saturday, so second-place was the goal for the Mustangs. With the Brave ahead by one point, the Mustangs were in must-win mode as a regulation or extra-time win would push them past the Brave and into second-place. The Brave, for their part, also had to win as a loss would allow Melbourne to leap past them, but an extra-time loss would see Melbourne move into second-place by virtue of total wins. There was high-stakes hockey drama on Sunday afternoon at the O'Brien Icehouse in Victoria, Australia!

The Brave found themselves reeling after another slow start as they trailed by a 3-0 score at the end of 20 minutes, but they'd score three goals of their own to put the Mustangs on their heels at the end of the second period. After Spencer Cox put the Brave up 4-3 just 53 seconds into the final frame, the two teams would battle for the next 18 minutes until Cox was sent to the sin bin for holding. On the power-play, Mustangs defender Brody Crane fired a wrist shot that got past Joel Hasselman and dented twine with 30.6 seconds remaining, and this game was tied at 4-4 and heading to extra time!


In overtime, the Brave were cursed by another penalty as Casey Kubara was sent off for tripping with 92 seconds remaining in the game. Knowing they had to win to secure second-place, the Mustangs threw caution to the wind and brought goaltender Noah Giesbrecht for a fifth attacker. Would this gamble pay off for the Mustangs?
Defender Philippe Caron send the Melbourne crowd home happy as he tees up his twelfth goal of the season to give the Mustangs the 5-4 victory over the Brave and, more importantly, moves the Mustangs into second-place in the AIHL standings! What a comeback!

Perth Thunder

The Thunder knew they would either be in fourth-, fifth-, or sixth-place as the season wound down thanks to the gap that opened up in the standings between the top-three teams and themselves. Thanks to a few key wins down the stretch, Perth only needed one win this weekend to lock up fourth-place. With a pair of games against the last-place Adelaide Adrenaline, Perth knew what it had to do.

Perth grabbed a 1-0 lead through the first period on Saturday before the teams traded goals in the second period. The Thunder would score two shorthanded goals and a power-play goal in the third period, however, to salt this game away as the 5-1 victory moved them to 48 points where none of the Sydney Ice Dogs, the Sydney Bears, nor the Melbourne Ice could catch them in the standings.

That made Sunday's game against the Adrenaline all for naught, but the youngsters who make up Adelaide's roster showed up to close out their season with a win! The Adrenaline built a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes and a 5-0 lead through 40 minutes en route to a 5-1 victory for their third win of the season and something to build on for the 2027 season! Perth, however, will be the fourth-seeded team.

Sydney Ice Dogs

The Sydney Ice Dogs controlled their own destiny going into the final weekend of play. They wanted to win both, of course, to give them the best chance of making the playoffs, but they could also use help when it came to the Sydney Bears and the Melbourne Ice. The Ice and Bears, thanks to scheduling, had just one game remaining on their calendar, so the Ice Dogs had the advantage here. All they had to do was get ahead of Melbourne, and they'd bump the defending champions out of the playoff picture! Could they actually do that? Two games against the ninth-place Brisbane Lightning certainly helps!

Rarely do I get to say that these two teams combined for 36 goals this weekend, but things went a little crazy in Brisbane between the Ice Dogs and Lightning. Saturday night saw Sydney establish a 5-2 lead in the first period, and it's a lead they would not relinquish despite Brisbane;'s best efforts in a 13-10 victory! That win put them a point back of the Ice after Melbourne's shootout win, so there was more work to do on Sunday if the Ice Dogs wanted in on the playoffs.

If you thought that the coaches may have had a chat with their players about playing defence, think again. The Lightning built a 4-1 lead through 23 minutes of play, but the Ice Dogs knew the stakes of this game. They rattled off seven goals in just over 27 minutes of play while only surrendering one more, and the Ice Dogs defeated the Brisbane Lightning by an 8-5 score to leapfrog the idle Melbourne Ice into a playoff spot! Other games still needed to be completed to know where the Ice Dogs would ultimately finish, but Sydney punched their ticket to the playoffs with this win over Brisbane!

Sydney Bears

The Sydney Bears were scoreboard watching when it came to the Ice and Ice Dogs. Their last game was on Sunday against the Northstars, so they were hoping that Brisbane could do them a favour and keep the Ice Dogs from climbing the standings. What made Sunday's game weird is that the Bears knew what their status would be after Melbourne's game on Saturday, and because they actually had a 0.5-point lead over the Ice in the standings thanks to a weird decision made by the AIHL. In short, the Bears were already in the playoffs thanks to that half-point regardless of what the Ice did on Saturday.

As we saw above, the Northstars ended the Bears' season on a losing note by an 8-5 setback, but that loss was also more costly than just a loss in the standings. The loss allowed the Ice Dogs to jump the Bears in the standings as well, leaving the Ice Dogs in fifth-place and the Bears in sixth-place. The defending champions in the Melbourne Ice were officially eliminated by the Ice Dogs' win on Sunday.

The Playoff Picture

With the six teams officially known for the playoffs, the AIHL released the following graphic for fans to follow over the next two weekends.

The Perth Thunder and the Sydney Ice Dogs will meet next Friday with the winner moving on to play the Newcastle Northstars on Saturday while the Canberra Brave and Sydney Bears will meet on Friday with the winner of that game earning the right to play the Melbourne Mustangs on Saturday. Obviously, the winners of the semifinal games will meet in the final on Sunday, August 30 at 2pm Australian time, and that game will be broadcast on ESPN!

There's no doubt that playoff hockey is the best hockey, but, when playoff lives are on the line, heroes emerge and bold teams prevail. We saw the Mustangs and the Ice Dogs win their way into better playoff seedings, and now we'll see which of the six remaining AIHL teams can win their way to championship glory on August 30! Three-straight wins is all that stands between one team and a celebration!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Back To Their Roots

The Atlanta Gladiators have an interesting history when one considers that they became Atlanta's ECHL team in 2015. Previously named for the northeast county that reaches into Atlanta, the Gwinnett Gladiators were the original Mobile Mysticks franchise that played in Alabama from 1995 until 2003. The move to Gwinett County saw them go on a solid playoff run each season with no less than 40 wins in any of their first five seasons, but it's been a long, long time since Atlanta saw any hockey success since those early days of Gladiators hockey.

Since adopting Atlanta's name, the Gladiators have made the playoffs three times in nine seasons and have never advanced pas the first round. Twice in those three seasons have the Gadiators reached the 43-win mark, but it hasn't translated to postseason success. The last time that the Gladiators won a playoff series was back in 2013 under head coach John Wroblewski when they fell in the second round.

It should be noted that the team switched their colours from garnet and black to navy blue and gold as shown above to "create a unique identity and attract fans throughout the highly diverse landscape in metro Atlanta." There was hope from Atlanta fans that an affiliation with the Nashville Predators organization would soon follow based on these changes, but that affiliation wouldn't happen until 2023. The Gladiators instead remained as the Boston Bruins' ECHL affiliate.

Of course, that brings us to Friday where the Gladiators unveiled this.

The Gladiators will return to their original garnet-and-black scheme that they used when they moved to Gwinnett County! These new jerseys will be worn in the 2026-27 season, and they look pretty good! I'm not sure about that script on the left with the stripe so low, but the colours look fine on these new Gladiators threads!

These jerseys aren't replications of the original jerseys worn in 2003 when the team arrived from Mobile, and I'm glad they didn't bring back the diagonal-name jersey worn in 2012-13. The white jersey could use a maroon shoulder yoke with a black outline as an improvement, but, overall, these jerseys and colours work nicely.

With the Fort Wayne Komets throwing back to a number of eras in their history this season and, now, with Atlanta going back to their original colour scheme, it looks like two ECHL franchises see the value in embracing their roots. That's the thing about bringing back old jerseys: perople identify with them and have memories from the eras in which they were worn while teams can tell those stories again. It never hurts to turn back the clock when doing a rebranding!

If you want to read more about the Gladiators' history, please visit the Georgia Hockey Museum's website where they have an incredible article all about the Gladiators' history among the 15 teams featured! Huge shout-out to Jay Jarvis for putting this site together!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Least Amount Of Risk

The New York Islanders have an interesting franchise history, but their fans have always been partial to the original logo which the team wore in establishing its dynasty from 1979-1983. We know they rallied hard against the Fisherman logo in the 1990s before it was replaced with the original logo, and we've seen other logos land with thuds as Islanders fans made it clear as to which logo they prefer. When the third jersey contest was announced for the 2027-28 season, every option was back in play for fans to choose, and the hope was that the Islanders would see an awesome winner.

The results of the eight-jersey, bracket-style voting ended today, and the Islanders now have themselves a winner for that third jersey.

I'm not unhappy with how the vote ended, but this was literally the best of the eight options and even it's not great. This jersey is the safest option of the eight presented when it comes to the design, and the lighthouse logo has been in demand for a third jersey for quite some time by Islanders fans. The New York Islanders took zero risks.

Am I against this jersey? Not at all. That lighthouse logo is a great logo, and it should look good on the chests of players as a fully-embroidered mark for the New York Islanders. It's infintely better than the "NY" logo, and it certainly has as much charm and fun as the Fisherman. Everyone thinks of islands when one sees a lighthouse.

As you can see on Zigmund Palffy, this lighthouse logo was the shoulder patch on the original Fisherman jerseys, and it has always stood out as one of the better secondary logos, in my opinion, in NHL history. It's colourful, it catches the eye, and it needed to be used again by the Islanders. Whether it works as a long-term primary logo will be a question answwered in 2027-28 when they don these new third jerseys, but it certainly has a shot at warming fans' hearts.

Perhaps this was the jersey that the Islanders needed, though, after taking a big swing with the Fisherman in the 1990s. As was written by Nicholas Hirshon in We Want Fish Sticks, "the logo quickly became a scapegoat for the Islanders' poor play," so the Islanders are going to want to win in the Lighthouse jersey. Otherwise, this new third jersey could establish its own legacy of poor results which the Islanders don't want. Nothing hurts sales more than having a losing team.

I look at the uniqueness of this jersey compared to others in my collection, and there simply isn't enough for me to consider it as one that needs to be added. It's certainly not the Fisherman, it doesn't have that cool factor like the Oilers' alternate jersey did, it doesn't have that eye-catching quality that the Pooh Bear did, and it's not quite as bizarre as the Stars' alternate jersey was. It's solid, but it's going to take something special for the Islanders to see this jersey celebrated as much as their traditional home and road jerseys are.

The popular saying of "no risk, no reward" means that one has to step out of one's comfort zone if one wants to be successful. The Islanders didn't do that here as they stayed safe with colour, stripes, and logos. Yes, they can still make changes to these jerseys before they debut in 2027, but the Lighthouse jerseys feel safe which fits the overall brand of the New York Islanders. Former GM and noted alternate jersey hater Lou Lamoriello would be proud of the effort here.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 726

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back in the confines of the UMFM studios for another show this evening, but we won't be joined by Montreal Victoire defender Kati Tabin as she's far too busy to make an appearance. If you're attending her camp, have a great time, but we'll focus on some bigger stories tonight as the world of hockey has some good, some not-so-good, and some absolute treachery happening in it over the last week. There's a pile of stuff to chat about this evening, so settle in for another examination of the game and all its connections on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

They won't be looking for a dolphin like the pet detective shown, but Teebz and Jason will look at the newest gambling-trend-turned-investment-tool with which the financial world is hoping to capitalize. Beyond that madness, they'll discuss Rogers canning the HNiC Punjabi broadcasts, the OHL cracking down on fighting again, Jeff Skinner's new home, Fort Wayne's incredible jerseys, a pro ball player, championships in three leagues, there's finally a name and logo for one team, and whatever else comes across the desk at our hosts. There's lots to discuss tonight on the show, so settle in for an hour of hockey opinions and thoughts 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.

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 high-stakes gambling, stupid decisions, expensive fights, Swiss chalets, historical accuracy, pro hits, winning teams, new names, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: August 20, 2026: Episode 726

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

We're Gonna Need A Discount Rack

As a guy who has a fairly robust hockey jersey collection, I can tell you that there are many jerseys I never would have in my collection simply because they don't have that certain quality that makes people love them or hate them. For example, the Justin Bieber-designed Toronto Maple Leafs jersey would not be in my collection because it's literally forgettable. Compared to jerseys like the Islanders' Fisherman and the Oilers' Todd McFarlane alternates, the Bieber jerseys simply aren't that great. Be prepared for 32 more jerseys that will likely be disappointments as the NHL and Fanatics will be introducing the Hometown Remix jerseys for each team this season.

Outside of a handful of Reverse Retro jerseys, there aren't many seen at games or being worn by fans because those were also mostly forgettable. The Minnesota Wild certainly have one of the better Reverse Retro jerseys as they tapped into the North Stars' colours, but the majority of the jerseys introduced in that league-wide effort have been mothballed. Let's be honest: they weren't that great.

The NHL and Fanatics released the following statement today.

Do you ever get the feeling that the NHL would slap its logo and its teams' logos on anything it could in order to make a buck? Imagine buying NHL-branded bottled water - "the same kind the pros drink!" - or NHL-branded condoms - "even you can score wearing these!" - just because the NHL licensed it. That's what this Hometown Remix campaign feels like: more junk thrown into the merchandise market.

Yes, people will throw $300 or $400 at these jerseys in order to have the latest and greatest because that proves how big of a fan they are, right? Except that there really isn't any purpose to buying these jerseys if they're going to wear them for one season and then mothball them like the Reverse Retro jerseys. Again, the NHL is bleeding fans of their money by tugging on the ol' civic pride, and I cannot justify throwing my hard-earned dollars at this merchandise.

Maybe we'll get another solid jersey like the Minnesota Wild's alternate jersey in this new offering, but when you consider that the NHL and Fanatics are 1-for-32 with the Reverse Retro jerseys from 2022-23 in terms of teams still using them, a 3% chance of seeing these Hometown Remix jerseys stand the test of time is unlikely.

Maybe if merchandise were cheaper and not so disposable, we'd see more jerseys and t-shirts worn by fans. That's not going to happen ever, though, so save your money when this new cash grab is unveiled. You're going to need every penny to buy network broadcasts of your favorite team's 84-game schedule, and I'm guaranteeing that no one will stop you on the way to the fridge in your kitchen to ask you where you got your Hometown Remix jersey this season.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Reading The Manual

For the last couple of weeks, I've been spending a lot of time reading about, researching, and narrowing down my options for a new HBIC mobile, and my choice of the vehicle you see to the left is a good one! Jokes aside, I didn't buy that car, but I did take possession of a new vehicle today so anyone who knew my old vehicle will likely need to get used to this new one parked in my driveway. Being that I like to know everything about expensive purchases I make, I'm going to spend the evening reading the manuals that came with the vehicle.

No, I'm not listing what I purchased here, but I assure you that this blog contributed nothing to the purchase. What I can tell you, though, is that there is more technology in this car than I've ever had in a vehicle, so I need to figure out what everything does, how it all connects through my phone, and whether or not satellite radio is necessary in this new vehicle. I'm leaning towards no, but we'll see.

I've listened to the NHL Network radio channel they have on SiriusXM and I'm often wondering why I'm listening. There isn't a show on there that is "must-hear radio", so that's one reason I may scrap the subscription. Add in the fact that Howard Stern is dropping to one show per week according to a Page Six report, the playlists for the music stations rarely change, and I have no need for Pitbull's channel, Kelly Clarkson's channel, The Beatles' channel, Alex Cooper's music, Bruce Springsteen's channel, Pearl Jam's channel, the Grateful Dead channel, and so on. No, I'm not staying for Andy Cohen either.

I might show my age here, but I would load up my iPod Nano with all my favorite music and listen to it for hours on road trips. Unless there was something specific on satellite radio that I wanted to hear, there really wasn't a need to have it. I'll admit that I've enjoyed the Howard Stern Show over the years and used it to the listen to the Blue Jays' run to the World Series last season when I was travelling for work, but more commercials on channels and less and less variation is making it hard to justify the cost of satellite radio at this point.

I'll evaluate thst decision moving forward, but, being that the hockey stories are few and far between right now, I'm going to spend this evening getting smarter about all this connected technology so I can have the full experience with my vehicle. According to the first few pages that I've read, Apple's Siri might be useful if it's integrated with the car's technology! See? I learned something already!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Doing It Right In Indiana

Imagine it's 1952 and you're heading to the local arena to catch the new professional team in action. If you're a man, you're wearing your best fedora, a snazzy suit and overcoat, and you're looking forward to the spectacle of hockey as you find your seats behind the chicken wire protecting the fans. Women would have been dressed in long dresses with perhaps a fur coat and a scarf to stay warm as the action unfolded on the ice in front of them. Hockey looked different back in 1950 when the ECHL's Fort Wayne Komets got their start in the International Hockey League, and it will look different on opening night as the team honours its storied history once again!

I had mentioned before on this blog that the Komets were going to wear three jerseys this season from different championship eras, but I never really examined each of those jerseys so I'll do that here today before we get to what the Komets will wear on opening night. After all, if they're going to honour their history in a classy way, they deserve a little credit for making that effort! Let's check them out!

As per the Komets' blurb about these 1962-63 jerseys, "Following setbacks in 1959 and 1960, the Komets secured their first Turner Cup championship in 1963" and "[t]he team defeated Minneapolis in five games to win the cup on April 23, 1963." I removed the dozen players who were named in the blurb, but, frankly, anytime a team can do horizontal stripes is a win for me. Of the names I omitted from the Turner Cup-winning team, Reggie Primeau played eight seasons with the Komets, Winnipegger Len Thornson spent 12 seasons with the Komets including five as team captain, and John Goodwin spent parts of eight seasons in Fort Wayne. The Komets went 35-30-5 in '62-63 to finish atop the six-team IHL standings, one point better than the Minneapolis Millers and two better than the Muskegon Zephyrs!

From the Komets' site, "Under head coach Marc Boileau, and with strong performances from Terry Pembroke, Terry Thomson, Cal Purinton, and goaltenders Robbie Irons and Don Atchison, the Komets allowed the fewest goals in the IHL that season. They defeated Flint in the first playoff round and swept Port Huron in the finals to win the cup on April 15, 1973." I'm not overly convinced that this jersey couldn't use a splash of white, but that orange jersey is beacon on the ice. What should be noted is that the Komets were first-overall in the nine-team IHL that season with a 48-23-3 record, finishing ten points ahead of the Flint Generals en route to a Turner Cup championship! Wayne Ego led the team with 94 points!

Again, from the Komets' site, "Few outside their locker room gave Fort Wayne a chance against San Diego in the 1993 Turner Cup Finals. After a sweep of Cleveland and Atlanta in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Komets did the unthinkable. They swept the favored Gulls, completing one of the most dominant playoff performances in pro hockey history, going 12-0." This is the jersey I associate with the Komets after seeing them play the Manitoba Moose in the IHL, but it's pretty incredible to think that the 49-27-6 Komets were only the fourth-best team in the IHL that season, and only two points better than the Kansas City Blades in the twelve-team circuit! But, as the legend states, the Komets were perfect in the playoffs as the ousted Cleveland, 52-win Atlanta, and 62-win San Diego in series sweeps!

That leads us to opening night this season where Komets history will shine. The 1952-53 season would be Fort Wayne's first season in the International Hockey League. By all accounts, fans in Fort Wayne took to their new professional team quickly, filling the Fort Wayne Memorial Coliseum for each game. They battled some good teams from Cincinnati, Grand Rapids, and Toledo, but would ultimately finish in fifth-place of the six teams with a 20-38-2 record under head coach Alex Wood. George Drysdale led the way with 59 points while goaltender Jack Siemon appeared in 56 games that year. What's even cooler is that the Komets had five Winnipeg-born players on their roster for their inaugural season as all of defenceman Len Wharton, forwards Bob Daski, George Harrison, and Jack Kernahan, and goaltender Stan Fogg all were born in the Manitoba capital!

What's even cooler is that the Toledo Walleye, who Fort Wayne faces on October 17 in those 1952-53 jerseys, will bring their own heritage and history to the game by donning jerseys representing the '52-53 Toledo Mercurys that night! The Mercurys finished in third-place in the inaugural IHL season with a 32-25-3 record under player-coach/defenceman Doug McCaig. Roger Maisonneuve, who would soon become a Komet Hall-of-Famer, led the Mercurys in scoring with 38 goals and 85 points while six more Mercurys players had 19-or-more goals! Like Fort Wayne, Toledo brought in the Winnipeggers as defenceman Lou Kazowski and forwards Don Hart and Jerry Kruk were in the Mercurys' lineup!

All of these jerseys have some incredible historical significance in the Komets' franchise history, and seeing the Komets go all-out for their 75th anniversary is pretty awesome. If more teams paid attention to their histories with as much class and dignity as the Komets, the game would look a lot better and would allow teams to explore their histories a lot more. There have been a lot of great sweaters and jerseys worn by some incredible teams, and those teams should be known and celebrated in the modern era like the Komets are doing.

Once again, the Fort Wayne Komets are the head of the class in the ECHL when it comes to honouring their history, and this fourth throwback jersey to be worn on opening night along with Toledo's Mercurys throwback jersey should have the hockey gods smiling this season. No matter how things end this season the Fort Wayne Komets are doing hockey right. Two thumbs-up for all these jerseys!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!