He Was Always There

I want to pass along a big congratulations to Ville Heinola on being part of the Finnish team that captured the gold medal at the 2026 IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship today. He looked confident throughout the tournament playing alongside a number of his friends and countrymen, and seeing him as happy as he is in this image is encouraging given all the struggles he's been through in his time with the Winnipeg Jets. Whether it was injuries, being relegated to the pressbox, being exiled to the AHL, or just simply being unappreciated and undervalued by conservative coaches and management, Heinola deserves to have this golden moment.

Heinola made the Jets' lineup as an 18 year-old defender in his rookie campaign, but the Jets elected not to burn the first year of his entry-level contract. After scoring one goal and five points in eight games, he was sent back to his Finnish club while the Jets preached patience with Heinola. If he was going to reach his potential, the Jets had to make sure he was developing properly in their system.

Insert your Winnipeg Jets "draft and develop" jokes here.

Over the next three seasons, Heinola skated in just 27 games for the Jets, battling for a roster spot with the likes of Logan Stanley, Dylan Samberg, Johnny Kovacevic, Kyle Capobianco, and Declan Chisholm, but never quite getting the ice-time or the pairing that would allow him to do what he does best: skate with the puck, jump into the offensive zone, and play good positional defence. He was never going to be the bruiser in front of the net, but, like Montreal's Lane Hutson, he had incredible skating and vision from the blue line.

In what looked like a change in the philosophy for the Jets, Ville Heinola was poised to make the Winnipeg Jets' roster out of training camp ahead of the 2023-24 season. The only problem was that Heinola fractured his ankle in the final preseason game, setting him back in his NHL dreams. He would skate with the Manitoba Moose when he was able to get back on skates, but that injury plunged him back into the "battling for a roster spot" ranks for the 2024-25 season.

Early surgery in training camp in 2024 put Heinola back on the shelf after it was discovered that his surgically-repaired ankle was infected, but head coach Scott Arniel seemed to indicate that Heinola was going to get his shot with a comment about the defender on November 19, 2024 where he said, "It's been a tough two years for him. I'm probably his biggest fan here. I wanna see him."

Were we about to see the Finn playing regular minutes?

Heinola's biggest fan dressed him just 23 times in two seasons since uttering those comments to the media, so it's hard to believe that Arniel was doing anything but providing lip service. When he was in the lineup, he most often played on the third pairing with players that rarely complemented his style of play, and it constantly felt like the Jets were trying to force a square peg into a round hole.

I can give you seven million reasons why Ville Heinola should be in Winnipeg, and it starts and ends with Neal Pionk. If the Jets were truly going to make a run at key free agents this summer to improve their team overall, moving Pionk's annual $7 million salary and replacing him with Ville Heinola would be a wise move. They play identical games with the puck on their sticks, but Pionk's physical play is replaced by Heinola's better defensive play when looking at the overall package. This shouldn't be a hard sell for management, but it seems like GM Kevin Cheveldayoff is enamored with Pionk.

This isn't about the Jets and their awful asset management, though. Ville Heinola's smile in the lede image should be enough to tell you that a weight was lifted off his shoulders with this gold medal today. He already admitted to Winnipeg reporters that "[i]t's been, mentally, probably the hardest year. It's hard, and I struggle a lot, especially mentally" and that he "hired a mental (health) coach. That was a huge, huge help at the time, just to be able to talk somebody."

Why that person wasn't someone from inside the organization leaves me with more questions about what kind of front office the Jets have, but seeing him fly around the ice for Finland over the last couple of weeks should be enough proof that Ville Heinola won't be back in Winnipeg next season unless visiting with an opposing team. He proved he can be an effective player on a big stage while being effective at both ends of the ice, and that display of skill by the 25 year-old should have GMs thinking low-risk, high-reward contract.

The Jets will enter next season with 30 year-old Neal Pionk under contract for five more years at $35 million despite his obvious defensive lapses. The Jets invested a lot of money in a player who has had one season above 40 points and who scored a career-low 12 points in 51 games last season, but refused to play Ville Heinola in the same role despite him having the same skill set and talents.

For a team that needed better defensive play with a push for offence from their blue line, Ville Heinola was always there. Today's World Hockey Championship gold medal should be all the proof he needs that his mental health will be better with another franchise.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The New State Of Hockey?

When one thinks of Florida, there are some images that come to mind: sunshine, beaches, and Disney World. Of course, those aren't the only things that Florida is known for, and it seems they're making "winning professional hockey chmapionships" into a Florida thing. We know that the Florida Panthers won back-to-back Stanley Cups before missing the playoffs this season, but there's another team that has made winning into an annual event in the state. If you're unaware of the Florida Everblades and their winning ways, now would be a good time to get to know the ECHL team who will one again be the Eastern Conference representative in the 2026 Kelly Cup championship series!

The Florida Everblades have won four Kelly Cups in franchise history, but three of those four championships have been won since 2022. This year will mark the fourth time in the last five years that the Everblades will play for the Kelly Cup, and the team is 4-2 all-time in Kelly Cup championship series with a 19-11 all-time record in those games. Florida lost back-to-back championships in 2004 and 2005 to the Idaho Steelheads and Trenton Titans, respectfully, but won their next four championship series appearances by a 16-3 record.

This year's appearance saw them sweep the Savannah Ghost Pirates in the opening round of the playoffs, defeat the South Carolina Stingrays by a 4-1 series count in Round Two, and they imposed their will on the Wheeling Nailers by winning that series by 4-1 count as well. With just two losses in 14 games, they now await the winner of the ECHL Western Conference Final between the Fort Wayne Komets and the Kansas City Mavericks. Kansas City leads 3-1 in that series with Game Five scheduled for tomorrow in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

If Kansas City were to advance, it would set up the second meeting between these two teams in the Kelly Cup Championship. In 2024, Florida downed Kansas City by a 4-1 series count that saw Florida win three of the four games by three-or-more goals. Fort Wayne and Florida have never met for a Kelly Cup Championship in either side's histories, so we could be in for a new chapter of ECHL history if the Komets can rally against the Mavericks. We'll know more tomorrow.

In 2022, the Everblades qualified for the Kelly Cup Playoffs as the third-best team in the ECHL by points percentage at .653 thanks to the imbalanced schedule that was used this season. Florida then went 16-4 against Greenville, Jacksonville, Newfoundland, and Toledo that saw the Everblades go 7-0 in overtime games over those four series! That's a simply incredible overtime record by any team in any league!

2023 saw the Florida Everblades struggle through the regular season to a fourth-place finish in the ECHL's South Division, and the eleventh-best playoff team as they entered the Kelly Cup Playoffs. However, once the Kelly Cup Playoffs started, the Everblades switched into invincibility mode, going 16-6 while never holding home-ice advantage in any series. Florida went 5-2 in overtime games in this season, but they swept the ECHL's top regular season team in the Brabham Cup-winning Idaho Steelheads in the championship final! For notation purposes, Idaho finished 34 points better than Florida!

The 2024 ECHL season saw Florida finish in third-place in the South Division, four points back of Greenville and two points behind Jacksonville, as the ninth-best team that qualified for the Kelly Cup Playoffs. Florida and Jacksonville would battle through a seven-game series that saw the Everblades rally from a 3-1 deficit to win the series before they eliminated Orlando in five games and Adirondack in six games. That set up a championship series against the Kansas City Mavericks who were the Brabham Cup winners. Five games later, Florida celebrated a Kelly Cup win in beating the ECHL's best regular-season team despite finishing 25 points back of the Mavericks!

After a bit of a surprise upset last season in the Eastern Conference Final by the Trois-Rivières Lions, the Everblades are back after downing Wheeling tonight, and they look every bit as hungry as they did in winning three-straight championships. Clearly, the Everblades have created a bit of a dynasty in a league where player movement is a regular occurrence which says a lot about the team's management and culture when it comes to building a roster. In knowing that, going to the Kelly Cup Finals in four of five years is an impressive feat!

They still need to win one more series to cement their dynasty status, but the Everblades are giving fans every reason to believe that Florida is the new state of hockey. They sit just four wins from setting new ECHL records with a record fifth Kelly Cup, but they're already the most successful pro hockey team in the panhandle state!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Dangers Of Suffering Silently

It's hard to sit here tonight and have anything but compassion and empathy for the Lemieux family. The ovation that Claude Lemieux got before Game Three when he walked down the tunnel with the torch to inspire everyone who loved the Montreal Canadiens was awesome. Therein lies the problem with mental health: it's a pain that no one else sees of feels as we try to make sense of Claude Lemieux taking his own life four days after that magical appearance in Montreal. More than ever, mental health has to be discussed.

For the longest time, he was framed as a villain for how he played the game, specifically in the playoffs where his agitation skills and hockey talents combined into a force that could take over games. The man played over 21 seasons in the NHL, amassing 379 goals and 407 assists in 1215 games. Add in his penalty minute totals of 1775, and he was one of the league's top power forwards for a number of years while playing with Montreal, New Jersey, Colorado, Phoenix, Dallas, and San Jose. Five times, he would hit the 30-goal mark.

The playoffs saw him shine, and that's where Lemieux elevated his game. He went from goal-scoring power forward to an absolute menace for star players, often shadowing them for entire series while still chipping in with his brand of offence. Four Stanley Cups are proof that he was important to teams as he was often lauded for his grittiness, his ability to get under the skin of opponents, and his solid defensive play. In each of the four Stanley Cup seasons where he won, Lemieux never scored less than ten points in the playoffs.

That's what made the news of hearing that the Palm Beach County Sherriff's Office deputies responded just after 3am to the scene of an apparent suicide at the family's furniture store in Lake Park, Florida early Thursday morning. One of his sons discovered Lemieux's body in the rear of the warehouse, and it was confirmed late on Thursday that the victim was indeed the late, great Claude Lemieux.

Lemieux is survived by his wife, Deborah, and his four children, Brendan, Claudia, Michael and, Christopher. I can't imagine the pain and sorrow they're experiencing in this time of loss. My thoughts are with them and Claude's extended family and friends at this time.

I'm not here to lay blame. I'm not here to suggest that someone should have noticed. This is what makes mental health issues so hard to diagnose and treat: it's a silent problem until the person suffering talks about it. Maybe Claude wasn't that person where he shared intimate details about himself. Maybe it was a little bit of pride and old-school hockey thinking that kept Claude from talking about his personal battle. Whatever the case, we may never know now.

With Victor Hedman talking about the struggles he faced, Linus Ullmark opening up about his mental health, and Connor Ingram seeking help for his mental health battles, the stigma that surrounds mental health struggles needs to end. It's not a stretch to suggest that lives are at stake, and it's even more important that retired players are encouraged to discuss mental health openly after their eras in the NHL downplayed any and all mental health issues.

My hope is that, after the required grieving time is taken, the Lemieux family can begin putting the pieces back together. This kind of news can shatter families, and I hope they get the counseling and support they need to work through this tragedy. As I noted on the Victor Hedman article, there are a pile of great resources for anyone seeking help and wanting to talk about their mental battles.

The Canadian Mental Health Association can be reached 24/7 by dialing or texting 9-8-8, there are many provincial resources that can help, the Kids Help Phone has info and resources for younger people seeking help, HeadsUpGuys has mental health resources specifically for men, Indigenous Peoples can get 24/7 help through Hope For Wellness, and the Women's Health Clinic offers assistance to women, Two-Spirit, genderqueer, trans and non-binary people. All of these organizations are incredible at helping those who ask for help.

My heart and thoughts go out to Claude Lemieux's family and friends. Losses on the ice are hard sometimes, but the loss of a legend like Claude Lemieux leaves an unfixable hole in the hockey world.

Whatever his struggle was, it's over. Rest in eternal peace, Claude.

Until next time, raise your sticks high to honour Claude Lemieux!

The Hockey Show - Episode 714

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, returns tonight with a look at a pile of stories that have emerged in the hockey world over the last week or so. There's news from Europe, news from the southern US, new from Russia, and news from across Canada that needs to be discussed in greater depth as our hosts tackle a number of stories. There are no Survivor: NHL Playoffs exit interviews today as we're saving them for next week, so get ready for a pile of news and discussion about everything happening in hockey on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason jump into the hockey stories by discussing the results at the IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship being played in Switzerland including who is being relegated and promoted for next year's tournaments. Beyond those scores and stories, our hosts will discuss Hockey Canada's women's program making changes, an old ECHL team is new again, a more thorough discussion on the Hamilton Hammers, Jordan Tourigny trying to join the musical group Stomp, the Ottawa Charge getting close to announcing what arena they'll play in next season, Russia's return to international hockey, the KHL's winner and an interesting fact, and there was more science revealed about a player we lost last season. It's a busy show with lots to go over, so get ready to roll tonight for 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 about international results, program changes, reborn cats, disappointing logos, stepping on toes, relocating teams, a returning foe, Russia's winners, head trauma, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: May 28, 2026: Episode 714

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Cats Came Back

This might seem like a historical piece abhHL in Augusta, Georgia from 1998 until 2009 in front of rather modest crowds during that era. The Lynx's best season came in 1999-2000 when the team was eliminated in the third round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs, but that history may get a chance to be overwritten by the ECHL's 32nd franchise that will begin play in 2027-28. This new team will be called the Augusta Lynx, but the logo, colours, and branding for these cats will be completely new and wholly separate from the original Augusta Lynx franchise.

Before we get into this new Lynx identity, there's some background that's needed. This new version of the Lynx is owned by former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow and David Hodges, Chairman of 925 Partners. These two collaborated together to bring the Knight Monsters to the southern side of Lake Tahoe, and they'll join forces once again to make this iteration of the Lynx work in Augusta. The team will be managed and operated by Zawyer Sports and Entertainment who has built a massive minor-pro hockey empire in a relatively short time.

As stated, the Lynx failed once in Georgia already as people stopped showing up to games. Every year from 1998-99 until 2005-06, there was a decline in average attendance at Lynx games, and the final four seasons saw them average around 2700 fans. Obviously, that's not going to be anywhere close to being profitable, but it seems that Tebow and Hodges know better than I do. With a metro population of around 611,000 people, there should be enough fans to fill the new 10,500 seat arena currently under construction in downtown Augusta.

Whether or not fans show up for Lynx hockey will be the big question.

A good way to get fans interested in the team is having a good logo, and the logo to the right might just be enough to get casual hockey fans in and around Augusta to buy into this new team! It would appear that the Lynx will play up the "Links" name even more than the previous team by going with the green and yellow colours as the "Lynx" name honours Augusta National Golf Club which hosts The Masters golf tournament every year. The new cat's face on the logo looks more like a lynx does as well, and that playful smirk on the lynx's face should appeal to both kids and adults when it comes to merchandise. This logo is an upgrade over the old one, and that's a good start for this franchise.

The secondary logos seen above are all pretty good as well. Clearly, the lynx face on the left and the wordmark next to it are just the individual pieces of the full logo above, but cat's claw around the state of Georgia is a great secondary logo that likely will be worn on the shoulder of the jerseys. It feels a little like the AHL Bakersfield Condors' talon logo, but I'm not complaining here. The "A" logo on the right seems a little more formal, so we'll see how that gets used.

"We're so excited to bring this team to Augusta and introduce something truly special for our fans," Tebow said on Tuesday. "Our hope is to create an experience that brings families together, builds lasting memories, and reflects the heart of this community."

Co-owner David Hodges seemed to be looking at the bigger picture for Augusta, stating, "Being part of this new chapter in Augusta is incredibly meaningful to us. We're committed to investing in this community and building something that goes beyond the game."

Outside of the logo, there was nothing else shown off by the Lynx today when it came to their brand. The jerseys and mascot will be unveiled at a later date, and the team will announce affiliations and a head coach in the coming months. If you're wondering, the logos above were created by The Barn Creative who, in my humble opinion, did a pretty good job in getting the new Augusta Lynx a brand around which they can build. I may have to get some snazzy merchandise!

The Lynx are back in Augusta beginning in 2027 as the ECHL adds its third Georgia-based team to the map. It's going to take some work to fill that 10,500-seat arena every night, but the branding for the Lynx is the cat's meow! It will be up to Tebow and Hodges to find the right personnel and players to make sure the Lynx are a purr-fect fit and as popular as that big PGA golf tournament is in Augusta, Georgia!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Long Overdue

In a move that should surprise no one, Hockey Canada announced today that Canadian national women's team general manager Gina Kingsbury and head coach Troy Ryan will not return to continue their work with the national women's program. I have nothing against Kingsbury or Ryan personally, but it was hard to understand their personnel choices at the Milano-Cortina Olympics and the games leading up to the Olympics. Yes, they still brought home the second-best medal from the event, but it was hard to watch an older, slower team do everything they could to prevent losses rather than earning wins. Clearly, something had to give.

While there's no denying that Canada's veteran players have an immense amount of talent, it was hard watching the younger, faster Americans dismantle the Canadian squad in the Olympic preliminary round. Yes, Canada looked much better in the gold medal game when these two teams met a second time, but result was identical in that the Americans were celebrating and the Canadians were sobbing.

There has been a quiet chorus for years that has demanded that Hockey Canada should start looking at incorporating younger players into international competitions, but the leadership has always resisted that idea. With Canada's core players moving into the sunsets of their careers, it became more prominent with all of the young talent that Team USA was showcasing at each event. No one will deny that Marie-Philip Poulin and Hilary Knight are still big names, but the likes of Taylor Heise, Caroline Harvey, Hannah Bilka, and Laila Edwards stole the show in Italy. Canada had no answer for them.

In comments made today, Kingsbury indicated that it was time for someone else to step in and push Canada higher. She told reporters, "I'm good with the transition. I'm ready for it. It's time for someone to look at the landscape that has shifted in women's hockey and set out their own vision on what that could look like for the future."

Troy Ryan had already indicated in February that he was stepping down from his coaching position with the team, stating, "I think it's time for someone else to run with it and take it to new heights."

With both Kingsbury and Ryan moving on from their posts, this could open the door for a changing of the guard, so to speak, when it comes to Canada's roster. Players like Sarah Fillier, Emma Maltais, Daryl Watts, Jenn Gardiner, Sophie Jacques, Kati Tabin, and Julia Gosling could all play bigger roles moving forward while adding the likes of Nicole Gosling, Sarah Wozniewicz, Rebecca Leslie, Danielle Serdachny, and Raygan Kirk would all continue pushing the youth movement while challenging Canadian veterans for roster spots.

Let's not forget that all of Marie-Philip Poulin (34), Natalie Spooner (35), Brianne Jenner (34), and Jocelyne Larocque (37) are deep into Hall-of-Fame careers already while Laura Stacey (32), Renata Fast (31), Sarah Nurse (31), Erin Ambrose (32), Emerence Maschmeyer (32) and Ann-Renee Desbiens (32) likely only have one more Olympic run in them. When you consider that's nearly half the current roster, we're overdue in bringing in the next wave of players into the mix.

With four more teams being added to the PWHL next season, there will be lots of opportunity to see amazing young women show off their skills over the next few years if they choose to play professionally. Jade Iginla, Sara Manness, Kahlen Lamarche, Jocelyn Amos, Stryker Zablocki, and Chloe Primerano are just a handful of dynamic Canadians playing at the NCAA level, and Hockey Canada would be wise to keep an eye on U SPORTS when it comes to players like Grace Elliott, Courtney Kollman, Jessymaude Drapeau, and Gabrielle Santerre. There's an immense amount of Canadian talent playing across the planet. All Hockey Canada has to do is look for it.

That's the part that I never understood about Kingsbury and Ryan - they never seemed to look beyond the NCAA. Kingsbury had a handful of U SPORTS players in the lineup for the Calgary Inferno every game in the CWHL while Ryan coached the Dalhouse University Tigers women's program. Both of them are very aware that not all the best players play south of the border, but it's almost as if they forgot that some of Canada's best players learned the game here at home.

Who, you ask? Caroline Ouelette spent one year at Concordia University. Charline Labonte, Ann-Sophie Bettez, Catherine Ward, Kim St-Pierre, and Melodie Daoust all skated for McGill University. Brigette Lacquette spent a season with the University of Manitoba. Hayley Wickenheiser, Colleen Sostorics, and Danielle Goyette played with the University of Calgary. Vicky Sunohara and Jayna Hefford played for the University of Toronto. Delaney Collins played with both Concordia and Alberta. And Gina Kingsbury played with eight of these players mentioned above at the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Italy.

I want to be clear that this isn't about Hockey Canada's continued ignorance of U SPORTS, but it is about expanding the talent pool as far as one can when it comes to finding good, effective players. The preceding paragraph were examples of players that were key to Canada's dominance for so long which was a credit to Canada looking under every stone for good players. Canada needs to start doing that again by tapping into the NCAA, U SPORTS, and Europe where good, young, fast players would go through a wall to wear the maple leaf.

A new general manager and a new head coach is a fresh start for the Canadian women's program that was colloquially getting long in the tooth. We can still honour these long-serving women for their contributions, but Hockey Canada has to be forward thinking when it comes to putting the best team on the ice. Leaving younger players at home isn't the way to do that, so here's hoping that changes.

My hope is that we won't see the same dozen names in the running for these two positions as Hockey Canada begins its searches, but there's no denying that changes were long overdue for this program.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Two Down, Two Up

The four countries shown by their flags to the left will be playing IIHF hockey next season, but the reality is that two countries will be moving down to the Division-1A tournament while two countries will join the top-14 teams playing for the IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship. If you've been following the action, you may already know who is being relegated and promoted, but these four countries are the nations in question. Who's dropping down? Who's going up? Let's find out!

Great Britain came into the IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship as the 17th-ranked nation on the planet. They found themselves in a tough group that featured USA, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, and Latvia, but there was hope that they could qualify for a quarterfinal spot if they caught a few breaks against Austria and Hungary. If they could upset Latvia or Germany, Great Britain would likely not only qualify for the medal round, but they'd jump up in the IIHF rankings as well.

Things quickly changed for Great Britain after they dropped a 5-2 decision to Austria on May 16. A 5-1 loss to the USA, a 5-0 loss to Hungary, and a 4-1 loss to the Swiss put them in jeopardy of battling to stay out of relegation territory, but it didn't get any better in a 4-0 loss to Finland. Tack on a 6-0 loss to Latvia and a 6-3 loss to Germany, and the British went winless in Switzerland as they would be the Group A team who was relegated to the Division-1A tournament.

Defender Nathanael Halbert led the British in scoring with a goal and two assists from the blue line, and goaltender Mat Robson went 0-4-0 with a 4.94 GAA and an .875 save percentage. Veteran Liam Kirk led the way with 19 shots in the tournament, and Halbert had the best seat in the house most often as he served 10 penalty minutes.

Italy began the 2026 IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship as the 20th-ranked nation on the IIHF World Rankings, and they were in Group B with the likes of Canada, Sweden, Czechia, Slovakia, and Denmark. Italy likely was looking at the games against Slovenia and Norway as the ones they had to win if they hoped to avoid relegation. Without any NHL talent on their roster, this had to be a solid team effort from the Italians if they wanted to finish in a quarterfinal berth and remain as part of the top tournament. Otherwise, they'd be in a tough spot.

Canada handed them an expected loss by a 6-0 score on May 16, and Slovakia doubled the number of losses with a 4-1 decision. Italy entered the game on May 19 against Norway looking to reverse those fortunes, but the Norwegians played well in a 4-0 win. That Italian loss was followed by a 3-1 loss to Czechia and a 3-0 loss to Sweden. Needing a win desperately, the Italians gave Denmark everything they had, but fell short in the shootout by a 3-2 score. A final 5-1 loss to Slovenia resulted in Italy being the Group B team who is relegated to the Division-1A tournament next season that still needs a host.

Forward Tommy Purdeller had two goals and three points while forward Mikael Frycklund had three assists as the co-leader in points for Italy. Goaltender Davide Fadani was the only goalie to earn a point for Italy as he lost in the shootout while fellow netminder Damian Clara was 0-3-0 with a 3.35 GAA and a .921 save percentage. Defender Phil Pietroniro led the team in shots with 21 and forward Tommaso de Luca served three minor penalties to lead Italy in PIMs.

A country familiar with the teams in the top IIHF tournament will make its return as Kazakhstan earned a promotion back to the big dance. The 15th-ranked team in the IIHF rankings faced off against Lithuania, Japan, Poland, Ukraine, and France in the Division-1A tournament held from May 2-8 in Sosnowiec, Poland, and the Kazakhs emerged undefeated as they went 5-0-0 in the event. Two of those wins did come in the shootout, but Kazakhstan earned enough points for promotion to the 2027 IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship in Germany next May!

Kazakhstan's run in Sosnowiec saw them down Lithuania 4-1 on May 2, beat Japan 6-0, knock off Poland 3-2, defeat Ukraine 5-4 in the skills competition, and defeat France in the shootout as well. They scored the most goals in the tournament despite only scoring once on the power-play in eleven attempts, they tied Ukraine with the fewest shorthanded situations with eight, and they took the least amount of penalties with just 16 PIMs in the tournament on eight infractions.

Forward Artur Gatiyatov had a goal and four helpers while forward Arkadiy Shestakov had five helpers to tie for the team lead in scoring. Goaltender Andrey Shutov went 3-0-0 with a 1.30 GAA and a .933 save percentage as the top stopper, forward Vsevolod Logvin led with 17 shots, and defender Dmitri Breus was the goon with four PIMs.

Perhaps the one nation that should be celebrated for being promoted after everything the country has been through is Ukraine. It's hard not to be inspired knowing that this hockey team was able to focus on winning in Sosnowiec, Poland while friends, colleagues, and family are fighting for their lives back home. Ukraine certainly had a bumpier ride in getting to their promotion as the 27th-ranked team in the IIHF rankings went 3-1-1 in their five games, but that got them ten points and promotion from the Division-1A tournament!

Ukraine opened their tournament against the hosts on May 2, and Poland won that game by a 3-2 score. Ukraine would bounce back with a 2-1 win over Lithuania and a 3-2 win over France before dropping a 5-4 shootout decision to Kazakhstan. Ukraine capped off their tournament with a 3-1 win against Japan, and that was the victory needed to earn their promotion! Ukraine scored the second-most goals in the tournament, had a 5-for-17 power-play, and killed seven of eight shorthanded situations. They did commit twelve infractions, but were the second-least penalized team in the event.

Forward Danil Trakht led the tournament in scoring with four goals and four assists while forward Olexi Vorona had six helpers to tie for the lead in the tournament. Goaltender Bohdan Diachenko played every second for Ukraine, going 3-1-1 with a 2.17 GAA and a .923 save percentage. Olexander Peresunko led Ukraine with 15 shots, and both Yevgen Fedyeyev and Artem Hrebenyk sat for four minutes.

Both Kazakhstan and Ukraine will visit Mannheim and Dusseldorf, Germany as part of the 2027 IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship that's scheduled to run from May 14-30. Great Britain and Italy will await an announcement from the IIHF to know where they're headed for the 2027 IIHF Men's Division-1A World Hockey Championship, but it would seem they'll be joined by France, Poland, Lithuania, and the newly-promoted Estonia. Unfortunately for Japan, they'll be relegated to the Division-1B tournament, replacing promoted Estonia.

The quarterfinals for the 2026 IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship will be set after tomorrow's games, and we could see some intriguing matchups if things go as expected. Of course, that's why the games are played and upsets are a possibility, so we'll see who qualifies for the medal round at the IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Rallying Point?

It was opening night for our softball season this evening, and we ended capturing victory for a mini-celebration at the end of the game. As we descended upon the local watering hole, we were treated to another Vegas Golden Knights comeback as they went up 3-0 in their Western Conference Final series against the President's Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche. No one is saying that Vegas was incapable of this moment, but one of my teammates gave me pause when he said that the NHL's penalties assessed against Vegas following their series win over Anaheim may have led to this outcome. Hear me out on this because there may be some truth here.

For a long time, the Vegas Golden Knights have embraced this villain mentality in the NHL, resulting in an "us versus the world" attitude for the franchise and its fans. While there isn't a lot of hard evidence to back those statements up, it seems to be the adopted persona of Vegas and its fans in these Stanley Cup Playoffs as well. A lot of this is due to being loaded with hockey talent, having cutthroat business practices, and not caring what people say or think about them.

This season seemed to be the exclamation point for that "us versus the world" attitude as they signed Mitch Marner, they signed the radioactive Team Canada goalie, and they fired their former Stanley Cup-winning coach in Bruce Cassidy with eight games to play in the regular season, replacing him with the fiery John Tortorella who, in his own right, has a bit of an "I'll do it my way; everyone else be damned" mentality. The last thing that this team needed was someone giving them something to rally around, and the NHL may have done that with their fine and penalty given to Vegas.

Officially, that loss of a draft pick and large fine won't be recorded in the annals of history as the catalyst for what happened in this series between Vegas and Colorado, but it makes me wonder that, over the last nine days, Vegas programmed that "us versus the world" doctrine into each of the Golden Knights' players. It's almost as if Vegas, with their absolute resolve, said to the NHL, "Since you took our draft pick, we're taking your Stanley Cup. We dare you to try and stop us."

Of course, all of this is just speculation and conjecture. As stated above, there's zero evidence of any of this stuff being true, and it could simply be that the Vegas Golden Knights are playing better hockey than the Colorado Avalanche. Based each game's finish, the Golden Knights are playing better team hockey than the Avalanche, specifically in the third period where they've outscored the Avalanche by a 7-2 mark. That, to me, suggests they want it more.

Moreso than anything else, I've read and heard stories about teams finding something that unites the players into a singular focus as they hunt down sixteen wins in the postseason. For their 2018 run, Vegas used their "cast of misfits" identity and the "Vegas Strong" message as rallying points to push them to the Stanley Cup Final. In 2023, Vegas won the Stanley Cup using the motto "It hurts to win" as a reflection on the sacrifices players put their bodies through during playoff runs.

The Golden Knights really don't have a rivalry with Utah, so there wasn't anything to rally around as Vegas won that series in six games. The same goes for Vegas and Anaheim where there hasn't been a lot of hate between the two, and the Golden Knights sent the Ducks home in six games where, at the conclusion of the series, John Tortorella refused to speak to the media and Vegas made no players available. The NHL responded with a harsh penalty, Vegas's appeal failed, and now it seems like the Golden Knights are laser-focused.

Correlation does not mean causation, though, and these individual events could all be random occurences that look like a sequence of events. I'm not in the Golden Knights' room nor do I have access to any of the meetings the coaches, players, and management have, so we'll have to wait to see if there are any stories about motivating events for the Golden Knights that forced them to rise to the occasion in taking a 3-0 series lead against the NHL's best team.

Choose the saying you like - "let sleeping dogs lie", "don't poke the bear", or "don't kick the hornet's nest" as examples - but the Golden Knights are one win from playing for the Stanley Cup once again. And it doesn't seem like they're playing for second-place this year.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

A Hollow Award

It's human nature to want to celebrate being honoured for achievements. No one will deny an award they're given and it seems like no one ever will stop another from singing one's praises. I should point out that not all honours are made equal as we know that the Oscars and the Razzies are on opposite ends of the entertainment spectrum, so it would serve everyone well to remember that patting one's self on the back for being honoured may not be the best idea. I say this in the wake of the NHL being named as Sports Business Journal's "League of the Year" on Wednesday because as much as they deserve recognition, there are still issues underneath the business layer that need solving.

The NHL has been boasting about record revenues and increased attendance and television numbers every year for some time now, and it seems that the Sports Business Journal is finally recognizing these benchmarks. A lot of that has to do with "a long-awaited return to international competition" and a "strong working relationship with the NHL Players Association," but the "12-year extension of its Canadian media rights agreement with Rogers Communications" was also cited by the publication as a major reason for the honour.

What concerns me is that Sports Business Journal didn't even get the terms of the Rogers' deal correct. Alex Silverman wrote,

The problem is that the value of the entire deal through 2037-38 is $7.7 billion in US funds. With Sports Business Journal reporting that the deal was worth $7.7 billion "annually", they have significantly and carelessly overstated the value of the deal by billions of dollars. The actual deal works out to being approximately $642 million USD annually for the NHL, so the Sports Business Journal overvalued the deal by $7.1 billion annually by their report. Details matter.

With the Sports Business Journal already recognizing the 4 Nations Face-Off as the SBJ Event of the Year last year along with having the Florida Panthers as Sports Team of the Year, the Sports Business Journal recognized the success of the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics as the reason for the NHL seeing "its best U.S. viewership in more than a decade". If that's the case, shouldn't the Milano-Cortina Olympics be recognized for its part for these great TV numbers?

In fact, the NHL should get zero credit for any Olympic involvement and the resulting benefits from the Olympics because of how long the NHL refused to participate. It was the NHLPA who demanded Olympic participation in the latest CBA negotiations, not the NHL. Taking credit for something that they were repeatedly criticized for not doing is entirely dishonest, and the Sports Business Journal should be fully aware of these facts. Somehow, they decided to ignore them.

I'll give credit to the NHL for working with the NHLPA more closely to improve relations between the two sides, and both sides deserve equal creit for extending the CBA through to 2030 before it was even close to expiring. However, that work wasn't entirely all the NHL's doing, and the NHLPA deserves as much credit as the NHL for keeping that labour peace. Again, the Sports Business Journal should be aware of this fact, but they seem to only credit the NHL for the CBA peace.

On the surface, the "League of the Year" seemingly didn't do much, so recognizing them for not being stupid doesn't make them smart. It only makes them less stupid. And yet there are other problems facing the NHL for which the Sports Business Journal didn't account.

In celebrating "its best U.S. viewership in more than a decade," the Sports Business Journal didn't speak of all the regional broadcasters who stopped showing games due to financial issues. The FanDuel Sports Network isn't broadcasting the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs due to filing for bankruptcy, both RDS and TVA Sports will stop French broadcasts in Quebec with TVA Sports' issues going as far back as 2017, Rogers Sportsnet announced increased costs for national and regional broadcasts, and teams such as the Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights, Florida Panthers, and Utah Mammoth have all gone with cheaper over-the-air stations and their own streaming services for regional games. Talk about record TV viewers all you like, but the NHL is failing here with no way to recoup lost regional TV revenues.

Home attendance numbers will likely begin falling as well as ticket prices continue to climb. The Carolina Hurricanes are already priced out of some fans' budgets in these playoffs, the NHL's worst team is raising season ticket prices again, 2026 Stanley Cup Playoff tickets have exploded in price across the league, and some of the most expensive tickets in all of sports went up again this season.

With ticket price increases clearly outpacing the rise in income levels for fans, the NHL as a gate-driven league is on the precipice of seeing less fans come through the turnstiles due to how out of whack their ticket prices are. And I haven't even mentioned merchandise, concenssions, or parking yet. This, more than anything else they're facing, should be the most serious concern for the NHL to address.

The NHL is welcome to celebrate the Sports Business Journal's "League of the Year" award, but it should have been a little more humble in recognizing and giving credit to riding the coattails of some remarkable events and an incredible partner in the NHLPA who, I'd argue, did more to help the NHL than the NHL helped itself. There are still massive problems on the horizon when it comes to TV and ticket prices, so it's not like the NHL radically changed the sporting world in 2025 based on the Sports Business Journal's criteria.

You don't get credit for being smart when you're only less stupid.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Hammered In The Hammer

The image to the left is supposed to be of Mjölnir, the hammer carried by Norse god Thor. According to Norse legend, Thor, the god of thunder, used Mjölnir to defeat the enemies of Asgard and in ceremonies such as weddings and births. If you're a Marvel fan, you know that the hammer was only wielded by those who were deemed "worthy" as only select Avengers were able to lift the hammer from where it rested. In short, the marketing options would have been endless for a hockey team who wanted to call themselves "Hammers", but it seems these eay wins aren't even in consideration for the city of Hamilton.

With the Islanders and the city of Hamilton coming together for their press conference yesterday to introduce the world to the Hamilton Hammers while promoting this logo to the right, I was left wondering who approved this logo and name and why it needed to be rushed. It's been known for a couple of weeks that "Hammers" was one of the names that the AHL Hamilton franchise had applied to trademark, and I wasn't fond of it then. Seeing this "clipart" logo they introduced yesterday only makes me hate the name more. It's total garbage.

The explanation of the logo is nothing more than marketing rhetoric.

"Rooted in Hamilton's history as a resilient steel town, the team's logo features crossed hammers symbolizing the strength, grit and togetherness of the community, embodying both the city's steel-working heritage and the spirit of the game. The design reflects Hamilton's pride and determination, showcasing the unique character that defines the city, while bold, angular lettering evokes the spirit of Steel Town."

Nothing in that logo above shows any of Hamilton's characteristics or traits regarding the city's background. If it didn't say the word "Hamilton" in the logo, the image could be used for any other city and sport on the planet. Whoever designed this and whoever approved this should be fired immediately because this has to be one of the worst logos in the history sports. And an AHL team will wear it.

Ready for some more marketing garbage? Here's a second serving!

"Subtle hockey puck details on the hammer knobs pay homage to the iconic puck in the New York Islanders logo, linking the sport's identity with the craftsmanship of the tools and nodding to the franchise's origins, including the fisherman logo era. The orange-and-blue color palette is also drawn from the Islanders' classic team colors, reinforcing the connection to the club's history and evolution. The logo was created by the New York Islanders, while the broader brand identity was developed by Canadian creative agency Recess Creative."

If you had told me the knobs on the hammer's handles were pucks, I would have called you a "knob". Those look nothing like pucks, and this verbal diarrhea about linking identity and craftsmanship and the Fisherman logo is the biggest pile of manure I have seen. The only good thing in that entire paragraph was the information about the Islanders creating the logo because now I know exactly who to hate moving forward after unveiling and hyping this train wreck of a logo.

The only positive I see that came with the logo unveiling today is that the team won't have any issues rebranding for its new city after it relocates from Hamilton sometime over the next decade. As much as I dislike teams moving, Hamilton's track record with AHL franchises is terrible, and there's no reason to believe this time will be any better for the AHL in Hamilton as most Hamiltonians cannot name a single player who suited up for the Bridgeport Islanders last season.

Will the Hammers have time to grow on Hamiltonians? Absolutely. After all, the franchise signed a lease agreement to play in the newly-renovated TD Coliseum for a handful of years, so they'll be part of the winter sports scene in Hamilton for a while. Whether or not they succeed will be completely on the New York Islanders because they won't have many fans attending games if they're perennial underachievers. In five years in Bridgeport, the AHL Islanders made the playoffs only twice, bowing out in the first round both times.

What won't grow on me is this calamity of a logo that the Hamilton Hammers will wear. Good luck to the Hammers marketing team in selling the Hammers to The Hammer. It might be "Hammer time" in Hamilton, but selling this team as a winner will be tough as nails.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 713

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, sets everyone up for more exit interviews tonight as three of the four teams and Survivor: NHL Playoffs entrants will deliver their thoughts on what happened with those teams! It's always fun to chat with the people who participate in the contest about hockey, so our hosts will have a little fun doing that tonight. Of course, there will be some hockey chatter as well so get yourself settled in for The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason will chat with Derek (Philadelphia), Dave (Minnesota), and Colin (Anaheim) tonight as those three are available for their interviews. Fiona already had the evening booked, but we will bring her on a future show because we have Fort Wayne Komets playoff chatter to discuss with her as well! Beyond that, our hosts will talk about the WHL situation in Chilliwack, the new AHL Hamilton team name and logo, the Golden Knights fine and penalty for being dumb, and both Montreal and Niverville bringing home championships! It should be a fun show chatting with three great people and about some crazy news, so tune in tonight for 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 send Derek, Dave, and Colin back to the mainland before talking arena deals, new names, complete stupidity, winning teams, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: May 21, 2026: Episode 713

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

La Coupe Walter

It's been a long time coming, but the Montreal PWHL franchise lived up to its name tonight, claiming victoire over the Ottawa Charge in Game Four of the Walter Cup Final to capture the PWHL's most coveted prize! It's the first time that the Walter Cup will call Canada home after tonight's win by the Victoire as they become the second PWHL team to have their name on the trophy while the Ottawa Charge came up short for the second time in their history. When Marie-Philip Poulin raised the Walter Cup above her head, this was the conclusion many coaches, players, and people wanted to see for a very long time!

For nine long years, Marie-Philip Poulin had not won a league championship in either the PWHL or the CWHL. There were many sacrifices that she made over that decade of misses and falling short that saw the CWHL fold, the PWHL finally come to be, financial decisions that were difficult, and personal decisions that challenged her, but the end result of all of those sacrifices and challenges was tonight's celebration where she was finally crowned a champion after being named as the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP for her efforts.

"She's been our leader the whole year," defender Erin Ambrose told CBC's Karissa Donkin about Poulin. "She's the most unbelievable hockey player and the best hockey player to ever play this game. She deserves this more than anybody in the world."

As Donkin wrote, "[l]ast summer, Poulin, Laura Stacey and goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens renegotiated heir contracts to take less money, all so their GM could bring in the pieces they needed to complete the puzzle". They added some very good pieces with the extra salary cap room including Abby Roque, Hayley Scamurra, and Maggie Flaherty who were huge for Montreal in the playoffs. That's how much a Walter Cup meant to Poulin - she sacrificed to win. Again.

Poulin's drought without a championship wasn't the only one that was cured on this night. I've written about how Kaitlin Willoughby's long road led to her first PWHL goal this season, but what many don't realize is that she didn't play in the 2018-19 CWHL Playoffs when the Calgary Inferno captured the last Clarkson Cup. While she's could technically be considered a champion, I'm not sure she would feel the same way in knowing how much she loves playing the game.

She was unable to win a championship with the University of Saskatchewan. She wasn't dressed or on the ice for the Calgary Inferno's 2019 victory. She played through the PWHPA and eventually landed with the Toronto Sceptres. She was traded to Montreal last season, and she's been working towards a championship with her teammates this season. Kaitin Willoughby can now she she's a champion at the highest level of professional women's hockey!

I wanted to see Ottawa head coach Carla MacLeod win after all she's been through this season, but it was hard not to be emotional watching the weight of the hockey world lifted off Poulin when she was handed the Walter Cup. The tears that flowed from her eyes represented the years of sacrifices she made to reach that pinnacle. I imagine there was an emotional outburst from Willoughby as well once she was able to hoist the trophy. Again, it was well-earned.

In both cases, I am happy for Poulin and Willoughby after seeing all they've been through in their careers. For most people, no one will notice the sacrifices that they made to reach their goals, but these two women have sacrificed so much to be deservedly called "champion". They earned it, and their sacrifices should be known.

Congratulations to the Montreal Victoire on their championship tonight, and here's a nod to every member of the Victoire for earning the title of champion. Not just in hockey, but champions in life.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Next Six Days

The image of the screen to the left likely isn't something that people will recongize instantaneously, but that will be what I'll be looking it for the next six days. It won't be continuous over those days, but there will be a serious chunk taken out of the time I can watch hockey as the home schedule get underway for the professional baseball season. The image to the left is from a program called Trackman that tracks every ball put in play from the moment it leaves the pitcher's hand to the moment the play is concluded in the field. For stats people, what you're looking at are the stats from a fairly generic change-up that broke down and in from a slightly-elevated three-quarters delivery for a strike.

All that aside, that's what I'll be doing tonight through Sunday as the professional ball team has its home opener tonight as part of a six-game homestand. With the Western Conference Final starting tomorrow, this is going to make watching hockey a little difficult. I guess I'm relying on hightlight shows, online coverage, and game recaps for the next week in order for me to stay informed.

I fully understand that there is always some overlap when it comes to the various professional sports seasons, but the NHL has decided to add two more games next season to its schedule. Yes, they lose the three-week break that was needed for the Olympics this season and the preseason is being reduced to just four games, but do I really need to see an extra game between the Jets and Stars next year?

Frankly, the NHL season is too long as it is when it starts mid-September with preseason games and doesn't finish until mid-June when the Stanley Cup Final is concluded. I understand that some people enjoy every second of it, but I watch other leagues because the NHL season seems to drag on forever. This has allowed me to appreciate other leagues like the ECHL, the AIHL, the EIHL, and the DEL more. They do things a little differently which is needed.

I have zero ability to change anything despite my grumbling, but the tail has been wagging the dog for a while now. I understand the NHL is a business, but I'm close to just wanting the season to end. I'd love to see the NHL carve a month of mean-nothing games out of their schedule, and have the playoff start in mid-March rather than mid-April. We'd end up awarding the Stanley Cup in May rather than June. Give me a May long weekend Stanley Cup celebration, please!

All that aside, I'm off to the ballpark tonight for my first of six-straight shifts where I track 300-or-more plays. I'll be checking the ECHL website for updates on the Fort Wayne-Toledo series, and I'll likely be keeping an eye on the NHL website for updates of both conference finals later this week. SportsCentre, Sportsnet Central, and the NHL Network will have to be my TV choices in the morning to get caught up on what's happening in and around the NHL!

Unfortunately for me due to my scheduling conflicts this week, it'll be one, two, three games I'll miss due to the ol' ballgame!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice and PLAY BALL!

Another Roadside Attraction: The Channel Cat

Being that it's the Victoria Day long weekend, I had some extra time to get some errands done this weekend as Monday is a holiday. Normally, this would be a weekend where I would be planting vegetables in my garden, but the near-freezing temperatures that have settled over Manitoba have made that nearly impossble. Instead, I got a few things done around the yard, and I was up early enough to visit another well-known gigantic statue in the province!

Today's adventure took me north to Selkirk, Manitoba which sits about 40 minutes north of downtown Winnipeg. As per the 2021 census, Selkirk had 10,500 residents at that time, but the city feels like it has grown in the five years since those numbers were recorded. The city was incorporated in 1882 and named after Scotsman Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, who was granted the right to establish a colony in the region. Among the attractions found in the city are the vertical lift bridge that connects Selkirk and East Selkirk, the Marine Museum of Manitoba, and a Canadian Coast Guard base. But Selkirk is getting its credit today for another attraction that's hard to miss.

What About The Statue?

We'll start with the sign affixed to the statue's base that explains how this statue came to be known as "Chuck". As you can see, it honours Chuck Norquay, a local fisherman, who helped Selkirk earn the reputation of being the "Catfish Capital of the World", and it was thought that his efforts should be recognized. While the original plaque just had some generic info about "Chuck the Channel Cat", the new plaque seen to the right was added after Chuck Norquay tragically drowned in 1993. This new plaque honours Chuck Norquay nicely, and the old plaque was moved to another side.

Officially, "Chuck the Channel Cat" sits at 168 Main Street in Selkirk, directly in front of a Smitty's restaurant. The fibreglass statue was erected on May 23, 1986, but it was originally slated to be placed in Selkirk Park. A petition featuring 900 signatures along with feedback from community surveys had Selkirk city councillors reconsider the location, eventually landing on placing it downtown in the business district for all to see. Depending on which website you check, the statue is one of 25-feet, 33-feet, or 36-feet tall, but the City of Selkirk maintains that it's 11 meters (36 feet) tall from the bottom to the tip of Chuck's tail. In 2024, Chuck was restored after years of weathering as he was repaired and got a new coat of paint to make him look stately once more. Five days from today, Chuck will officially celebrate his 40th birthday by standing proudly in downtown Selkirk!

What's The Hockey Connection?

I could speak about how proud Selkirk is of the MJHL's Selkirk Steelers or the CRJHL's Selkirk Fisherman. I could point out how Selkirk was one of the locations used for games during the 2007 IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship, and how the city hosted the Telus Cup in 2009. Historically, the original Selkirk Fishermen competed for the Memorial Cup, former NHLers Andrew Murray and Neil Wilkinson both called the city home, or how Selkirk's first indoor arena, the Alexandra Rink, was built in 1907 until it was demolished in 1955.

Instead, I want to focus on one individual who made a world of difference in the NHL. Jimmy Skinner was born on January 12, 1917 in Selkirk, Manitoba where he learned to play and coach hockey. Skinner played with the Indianapolis Capitals before breaking into coaching, and a 1950 incident in Barrie, Ontario saw the fiery Windsor Spitfires coach suspended for a month and fined $50 after he was convicted of assaulting an usher! I'm not sure of the details of that event, but we'll leave the criminal assaults involving Skinner for another future article on HBIC.

In 1954, Skinner was reportedly the choice of Jack Adams to replace the departing Tommy Ivan as head coach of the Detroit Red Wings. With ownership having approved Skinner's hiring, Adams made it clear that the decision hung on Skinner who seemingly could not decided whether to take the job or not. However, he would accept the position eight days later at the age of 37, seven years after retiring as a player. His hiring saw him take over the defending Stanley Cup champions' coaching role as well as coaching against the NHL All-Stars to open the 1954-55 season. It ended as a 2-2 tie.

The end of the season would see the Red Wings qualify for the playoffs as the NHL's top team for the seventh season in a row. They knocked off the Boston Bruins in the opening round, and met the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Final. In the seventh game of the series played at the Detroit Olympia, Skinner coached the Red Wings to a 3-1 in for their second-straight Stanley Cup championship!

Midway through the 1957-58 season, Skinner surprised everyone when he resigned from his position, forcing the Red Wings to name Sid Abel as the head coach for the remainder of the season. It would be revealed that he had an illness that forced him to step away from his duties, but he would return to the Red Wings in a front office capacity where he would work as their head scout and general manager among his various titles until he retired in 1983!

For those that may not know, Jimmy Skinner also worked at his father's business which is now a Manitoba landmark in Skinner's Restaurant! Skinner's Restaurant is located in Lockport, Manitoba and is 15 minutes south of Selkirk and 25 minutes north of Winnipeg. It started out as a hot dog stand where people could purchase "[h]ot dogs for a dime" and "french fries for a nickle" in 1929, and Jimmy Jr. would return in the summer to help his father run the restaurant while bringing some of the Detroit Red Wings players with him where they made some money serving and cooking food! How cool is that?

Selkirk has a solid hockey history, but Jimmy Skinner should be the name that comes to mind when Selkirk, Manitoba is mentioned. Perhaps Skinner is only overshadowed by Chuck the Channel Cat when it comes to famous icons from the Manitoba city, but there are some cool things to see if you're interested in visiting Selkirk, Manitoba!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

TBC: Tales From The Dressing Room

If you know anything about the weather that Winnipeg seems to always get on this May long weekend, it's that the weather is usually cold with intermittent spells of rain. Not surprisingly, this weekend has followed that trend, but that has allowed me to crack the spine on another book that I've been wanting to read. In saying that, Teebz's Book Club is proud to review Pierre Gervais: Tales From The Dressing Room, written by Mathais Brunet and published by Ovation Medias. Mathias spoke with the Montreal Canadiens' former equipment manager about everything he saw and experienced while working for the Canadiens, compiling them into this book. If you're looking for a unique perspective on a hockey club's culture, front office, and players, Tales From The Dressing Room is a book you want to read!

From the cover of Tales From The Dressing Room, "After a 35-year career in the Canadiens’ dressing room, Pierre Gervais has seen first-hand many moments that punctuated the history of the Habs. From his beginnings alongside Eddy Palchak to the Stanley Cup victories of 1986 and 1993, not to mention his participation in the 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 Olympic Games, Pierre Gervais has had the pleasure of rubbing shoulders with several NHL stars and executives in the course of his career. But beyond all that, he has developed special relationships with many of them and allows us, through these pages, to get to know the inner workings of the National Hockey League by giving us unpublished and unexpected stories from behind the scenes of professional hockey." Gervais retired on on April 29, 2022.

Also from Tales From The Dressing Room, "Mathias Brunet has been a journalist at La Presse since 1994. This is his thirteenth book, ten of which are about the world of hockey. He has also written a dozen documentaries, two of which were nominated for the Gémeaux awards. He is also a collaborator at BPM 91.9 Sports since 2015." He continues to cover hockey for La Presse after covering the Montreal Canadiens for ten years, and has a podcast with Simon Boisvert called Mathias and the Serpent. He has also written hockey books about Michel Bergeron, Dave Morissette, Mario Tremblay, and a year behind the scenes with the Canadiens.

Tales From The Dressing Room isn't going to be a tell-all of things that the Montreal Canadiens never wanted published, but Pierre Gervais does have moments where he shares his opinion on certain players and people involved with the Montreal Canadiens. A lot of what was written isn't going to shock or surprise anyone, but he did provide a few facts about the team and certain players that may not be known.

I found Gervais' perspectives in Tales From The Dressing Room to be rather unique because it was almost entirely through his equipment manager lens. His interactions with other teams and players, specifically when working with Team Canada, were almost exclusively through other equipment managers rather than with the players. It was neat to see how these equipment managers trade information about players in order to ensure everything goes smoothly!

One of the things that one will discover in reading Tales From The Dressing Room is that Pierre Gervais is an educated wine connoisseur! He and a handful of Canadiens players became very interested in wine during their careers, and Gervais became the person that many players consulted when it came to wine. In one passage, he writes,

"The guys would look to me to make their choices. José (Théodore) would even call me when he was at the restaurant. He'd read the wine list and ask me which one to choose! I helped him build his cellar. When the 2000 Bordeaux - a great vintage - came out, I had found some for him as far away as Vancouver."

Who would have guessed that the guy in charge of order sticks, jerseys, and supplies for the Montreal Canadiens was also ordering wine for players like Théodore, Saku Koivu, and Mark Recchi, helping them build their wine cellars? That's one of the interesting things you'll learn about Pierre Gervais in Tales From The Dressing Room!

I will say that the release of Tales From The Dressing Room caused a bit of an uproar with the Montreal Canadiens as they tried to walk back some of the statements made by Pierre Gervais in the book after it was released. I want to be clear that not everything he stated may be true, but it is a retelling of his perceptions and interactions with various people involved with Montreal Canadiens over his years as an equipment manager. One can argue that how he framed certain people may not be accurate, but these are his experiences.

Overall, I found Tales From The Dressing Room an interesting read that gave some insight into a job that I always thought I could do. Pierre Gervais has 35 years of experience with the Canadiens and 45 years of experience in total, so he certainly is a subject matter expert. His experiences with personnel who worked and played for the Montreal Canadiens and Team Canada was interesting to read, and the short chapters curated by Mathias Brunet made Tales From The Dressing Room easy to read. Because of Gervais' stories and experiences and Brunet's writing, Pierre Gervais: Tales From The Dressing Room deserves the Teebz's Book Club Seal of Approval!

Tales From The Dressing Room was first printed in French and released on November 11, 2022 before being translated to English by the start of 2023. In saying this, copies of the book in either or both languages may be available at libraries and local bookstores. The book is easy to read without crass language for parents of younger hockey fans to consider, but there are references to alcohol. In saying that, Pierre Gervais: Tales From The Dressing Room is recommended reading for all hockey fans, especially Montreal Canadiens fans!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!