It's Time For A Change

Can we have a serious chat about the Edmonton Oilers and how awful they look in the jerseys on the left? Ok, that sentiment might be a little harsh, but, if the Oilers want to wear navuy blue as a primary colour, why can they not bring back the Todd McFarlane-designed jerseys as worn by Ryan Smyth on the right? Otherwise, the Oilers should be wearing their orange jerseys at home while the blue alternates are mothballed because they're simply a terrible design. Yes, I'm opining, but this is my blog so let's roll with it.

When it comes to eye-catching designs, the Oilers don't have much to boast outside of the McFarlane jersey. That jersey was different than what the Oilers had worn in previous years, and it certainly turned heads for those that wore it. Todd McFarlane spoke to KISS 91.7 FM radio in Edmonton about it, and he made it very clear that the design wasn't to be a hockey-centric jersey.

"I wanted to design something that, even if you knew nothing about sports, even if you knew nothing about hockey, you could still look at it and go, 'I don’t know what it is, but it's pretty rad. You could walk down the street with it. That's it. That's all. That's how simple I think logos should be."

I would say that McFarlane accomplished that feat thanks to the fact that the jersey was one of the top-selling alternate jerseys of the era that saw other designs like the Burger King jersey worn by the LA Kings and the Fisherman jersey worn by the New York Islanders.

"The jersey broke NHL records for third jersey sales for number of units and dollars sold," said former Oilers' president Patrick Laforge. "As we hoped, it was a hit with Todd's followers as well."

I've never understood why teams who have popular merchandise decide to stop wearing and selling said merchandise. It makes no sense from a business perspective, and the Oilers clearly had found something that fans liked. It didn't help that with Reebok entering the picture in 2008 as the league's uniform manufacturer, all alternate jerseys were shelved as Reebok worked to outfit all the NHL teams in their new skin-tight jerseys. But it would make sense that the Oilers would return to their successful alternate jersey once Reebok allowed them, right?

"To me, third jerseys can be a little gimmicky," said Kevin Lowe, who was the Oilers' general manager at the time. "Having said that, you have to stay up with the times. You have people on the business side who have a good idea what people's desires are for the hockey club."

Instead, the McFarlane-designed jerseys and logos never saw the light of day again. It's baffling to me to think of how many McDavid or Draisaitl jerseys could have been sold with the McFarlane logo on the front, but I guess we'll never know because Kevin Lowe nor anyone else from the Oilers' front office ever put the McFarlane design back onto a Reebok jersey template.

Well, someone was bold enough to put the logo onto the Adidas template as a re-imagining of the Oilers' alternate jersey. Adam Spizzirri, better known as @Spitzdesigns on Instagram, took the McFarlane design to a whole new level by making it modern with the Adidas design, and this is everything of which dreams are made!

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A post shared by Adam (@spitzdesigns)

It seems pretty elementary to me: bring back the McFarlane design if it looks as good as Adam Spizzirri made it look. I have an original McFarlane jersey, but I might be tempted to consider buying a new one if the Oilers came to their senses.

It's time for a change, Edmonton Oilers, because your navy-and-orange jerseys are tired. Bring back the McFarlane jerseys, turn up the volume to eleven, and go get yourself a Stanley Cup before Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are done in Edmonton.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

It Starts Monday

It's been a while since the IIHF held this tournament, but the IIHF U18 Women's World Championship begins on Monday in Madison, Wisconsin - home of the Badgers! - and it appears that this is going to be an outstanding tournament. Originally scheduled to take place in Linköping and Mjölby, Sweden, the tournament landed in Madison after public and player outcry over the IIHF cancelling all January 2022 championships due to the pandemic that still held the world in its grips. The Americans enter the tournament as the defending gold medallists after having won the 2020 tournament over Canada in overtime in Bratislava, Slovakia, but eight nations will meet in Madison over the next week to determine which nation will wear gold this year as best on the planet!

It's hard to imagine anyone other than Canada and the US squaring off for the gold medal at LaBahn Arena on June 13 as the two nations have met for the IIHF's top prize in twelve of thirteen competitions. 2018 was the only year where the two North American teams didn't meet in the final as the US trounced Sweden 9-3 in the final after the Canadians lost 4-3 to the Americans in a shootout in the semifinal. Both teams are aiming for that gold medal, but it doesn't mean we can write off the other six nations at the event.

The Finns have a few weapons in Sanni Vanhanen, Anna-Kaisa Antti-Roiko, and Siiri Yrjola, but they're going to have to play at or above their collective potential if they hope to challenge for a gold medal. Finland will be good as they always play within a strong system backed by solid goaltending, but they'll need some players to emerge in this tournament if they want to find themselves in the final.

Sweden should be a team that pushes everyone to be better. They may not have the star power that some of the other nations do, but Sweden will get solid performances out of Nicole Hall, Mira Jungaker, and Ebba Hedqvist. Of the four Group A teams, Sweden likely will need an all-world effort from their players, but the Swedes need to be opportunistic in capitalizing on their chances. It's not out of the realm of possibility for the Swedes to finish in the top-three, but their game against Finland likely will determine their group-play finish.

Group B's teams include Czechia, Switzerland, Slovakia, and Germany, and it seems all four teams will be building for the future, both in their senior women's programs and at the U18 level. That's not to say that there won't be players to watch, though, and with no Russia at the event it might be a good idea to keep an eye on these countries as they look to bolster their future international finishes.

Czechia might be a fun team to watch as they could surprise a team that underestimates them. The Czechs won't outskate or outscore many teams if things open up, but the Czechs always seem to play a tight defensive game that keeps them in the battle. They'll have to find some scoring outside of Adela Sapovalivova who played extremely well for the Czechs in Finland at the 2022 European Youth Olympic Festival, but if the likes of Klaudie Slavickova and Zikmunda Mazancova can light the lamp like they did during the Festival, the Czechs could give a few teams fits.

Switzerland is another interesting team in that they boast some decent scoring, but they never seem to break out in a big way at the U18 Women's World Championship. This year's squad has a few good players - notably Alina Marti and Chiara Eggli - but they'll need Rink Hockey Academy's Margaux Favre to come up big in this tournament after faltering in the European Youth Olympic Festival. If Favre can play as well as she did at the season-ending Female World Sport School Challenge, there's good reason to believe the Swiss may be dangerous as an underdog in this tournament!

Slovakia hasn't seen the same success some of the other European countries, but that doesn't mean they won't give everyone a run for their money. Tatiana Blichova was Slovakia's top goal scorer at the European Youth Olympic Festival while Emma Donovalova tied for the lead in points, but a big tournament out of goaltender Laura Medvidova would help the Slovaks avoid another eighth-place finish this year. It might be a big ask, but this Slovakian team has enough talent to remain in this top-eight group if they can find a few points in this tournament.

The Germans may have the toughest task at this tournament when it comes to earning points. Annabella Sterzik and Katharina Hackelsmiller should provide some scoring for the Germans, but Sara Brammen will have to be at her very best for the Germans in the crease. With Japan already knowing they're being promoted for the 2023 event, the Germans are looking to avoid relegation by possibly defeating Slovakia or surprising the Swiss. In both cases, the Germans will have to find some secondary scoring to bolster their chances while weathering the storms they face.

I'm not really going to drop a lot of Canadian and American names on you in this article because those names should be players you already know. If you don't, you need to start getting out to watch more games at the prep level, the AAA level, and the JWHL level. As we stated over and over again at the 2022 Female World Sport School Challenge, these are the names of the women who are the next stars with the Canadian and American Olympic teams.

That being said, it is June so seeing them play live right now is a tough ask. Instead, you should be watching the games this week as the 2022 U18 Women's World Championship gets underway! Here's the schedule for the games in Canada as TSN's Kenzie Lalonde and Cheryl Pounder bring you all the action from Madison!

I can already hear some of you saying, "Yeah, but I don't get those channels, Teebz", and I'm here to tell you that I have you covered. I use a website called OnHockey.tv where they find free streams for any and all hockey games, and the 2022 U18 Women's World Championship should have a stream on there. And we're not just talking about the Canadian or American games - there should be a stream for all games.

Just a word of warning, though, as the redirects on that site are maddening, so I usually use Chrome in Incognito mode to watch games on OnHockey.tv. I've also taken the liberty to block most of the redirects via the Chrome browser, but I can say that once you finally land on the site and are able to watch games, it's like watching them directly through your TV.

With that, you're set for watching games even if you can't get the channel you need to see the games. Keep an eye on some of these players because there's a very good chance these are the women you'll see playing and hear about playing in 2026 at the Milano Cortina Olympics. I'm excited to see Madison host an amazing event, so let's hope Canada can win gold!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Losing An Iconic Brand

Hockey idioms are pretty unique in some of their imagery, but everyone knows what you mean when a player "pops the water bottle off the top of the net". That water bottle normally has the Gatorade logo on it thanks to Gatorade's long-standing choice by athletes for their sports hydration, but it seems that the NHL won't see Gatorade bottles popped off their nets starting in 2023. According to a report on Tuesday, Gatorade walked away from the NHL after the two sides "weren't aligned on the financial commitment to renew".

The NHL has never shied away from its stance in that any deal they sign will strengthen their bottom line, but it seems that a limit has been reached for PepsiCo when it comes to how much the NHL wanted for Gatorade to remain as the visible sports drink of the league. Gatorade, for as long as I can remember has been the sports hydration beverage of choice on NHL benches, but that will cease to be once this season ends.

"The NHL has been a great partner for years, and while we weren't aligned on the financial commitment to renew, Gatorade will continue to have a presence in hockey," Jeff Kearney, Gatorade’s Global Head of Sports Marketing, told Boardroom. "We've had to be very thoughtful in where our resources, both people and funds, are going. So for us, we didn't want to over-commit in one space, instead focusing on reaching as many athletes as we can."

It's this stance that Gatorade has taken - one where they reach more athletes by committing less to professional leagues - that should make executives sit up and take notice because it isn't often that a brand like Gatorade has chosen to walk away from promotional opportunities with a sport's best players. The fact that this is happening might make a few other well-known brands look to spend less by not aligning themselves with professional leagues as well.

Kearney's post on LinkedIn explained the company's position when it comes to marketing its brand as Gatorade will shift its focus byb investing "in young and diverse athlete communities". This includes the NCAA, women's athletes and sports, and other unique competitions, so there may be some great opportunities to get a major sponsor such as Gatorade onboard for different events. Might we see Canada West Hockey presented by Gatorade? That could happen one day!

"We view ourselves as both a supplier of best-in-class equipment to help the athlete and the partner, but also a partner that when we work together can make an impact," Kearney said. "We're just trying to move sports and our partnerships forward in that fashion, taking a different lens on all the relationships that we currently have and that we're building in the future."

One shouldn't worry too much about the NHL. Someone else will step in and fill the expensive void left by Gatorade, but I commend Gatorade for looking out for their own brand by not committing a ton of money to the NHL that might have cost them opportunities elsewhere.

Gatorade's brand is big enough that they don't specifically need the NHL to continue to be popular, so this is a calculated decision that comes with very little risk. There may not be more than a handful of companies who can make a decision like this, but Gatorade did make it and they've opened a door that perhaps not many other companies would have opened.

In saying that, one has to wonder if the NHL lost an iconic brand in Gatorade because it almost seems like Gatorade lost an iconic brand in the NHL due to the NHL's demands. If there's one big positive, as Kearney stated, there will be lots of other opportunities for Gatorade to use its resources and money to continue to be a leading brand in the sports beverage industry. That can't be overlooked, and it may work to Gatorade's advantage in the end.

When Gatorade chose not to renew their deal with the NHL, that was "The Moment". And from that moment, endless possibilities may be born because Gatorade simply wasn't going to be held hostage by an expensive deal with the NHL.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 506

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back tonight with another round of exit interviews, hockey chatter, and general craziness as we break down the past week's worth of news from the hockey world. As the calendar flips to June, just four teams remain in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, four teams are still alive in the AHL's Calder Cup Playoffs, two teams will dance for the ECHL's Kelly Cup, and we've seen World Championship gold medals handed out. May was busy, but June is the Month of Champions as The Hockey Show dives into the action at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason will see if they can get Dave W., Danielle F., and Ethan M. to do exit interviews after the St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, and Carolina Hurricanes were dismissed from Survivor: NHL Playoffs island. Beyond that, one of the big topics tonight will be the City Council meeting happening in Tempe, Arizona where the Arizona Coyotes are presenting their case for a new arena in the city. As you likely know, I am firmly against the city paying for anything when it comes to a new arena for a billionaire, so we'll see how the hearing goes this afternoon. We'll also chat about the insane Edmonton-Colorado series, a more normal Rangers-Lightning series, Finland standing atop the hockey world once again, a familiar face being hired out east, the Devils promote from within, and the IIHF U18 Women's World Championship has a number of names we're familiar with thanks to the 2022 Female World Sport School Challenge! Eventually, I'll also figure out the new contest we're going to run, but it's another jam-packed show of news, laughs, and fun at 5:30pm CT so tune in so you can hear The Hockey Show on 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 new UMFM website's online streaming player is pretty awesome if you want to listen online so you cnn call in for the contest as well. If you're using an Apple device, the player doesn't seem to like Safari yet, so if you want to stream the show I'd recommend Radio Garden to do that as it works nicely with Safari. 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 do use the TuneIn app, you won't be disappointed. It's a solid app.

If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason set three teams and three Survivor contests adrift before chatting about playoff hockey, World Championship hockey, Para Hockey Championships, the U18 Women's World Championship, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: June 2, 2022: Episode 506

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Blue Jays Honour A Thunderbird

Amanda Asay is a woman that we highlighted earlier this year on a Bisons women's hockey broadcast after she proudly wore the colour of the UBC Thunderbirds on the ice. Amanda was a solid hockey player, suiting up for the Brown University Bears in both softball and hockey before transferring home to British Columbia where she continued her education. She played out her eligibility as a member of the Thunderbirds, but her passion for returning home also involved her love of baseball as she was an outstanding player at multiple positions for the Canada National Women's Baseball Team, winning several medals at international competitions while being a leader for the women's squad.

I never got to see Amanda play as a member of the Thunderbirds as her time with the program ended before I began working in and around Canada West women's hockey. I did get to watch her play baseball on a number of occasions through webstreams of games that were made available, and she was an impactful player both at the plate and in the field. She was also a fantastic pitcher, and Canadian team often benefitted from her arm on the mound. As such, she was seen as the backbone of the Canadian squad, often playing her best ball in important games.

We knew that Amanda was going to honoured by the city of Nelson, BC where she grew up and played baseball, but it's always a big thing when the lone Canadian Major League Baseball team steps into the picture to help honour one of Canada's best baseball players. The Toronto Blue Jays wanted to pay their respects for Amanda while showing support for the Canadian women's team and youth baseball by holding a skills clinic in Nelson in May.


This isn't Baseball Blog In Canada, but Amanda Asay's hockey seasons were the pause between her passion on the diamond. That's not to say she couldn't play hockey as well as anyone else, but it's pretty clear that her efforts on the baseball diamond were something special. I'm glad to see that her #19 is being retired for all she did in and around the game, and I'm hopeful that every young ball player who comes through Nelson or the Canadian system gets to know Amanda's story.

I'm a little shocked that UBC hasn't done anything to honour Asay's efforts on the ice, but that's their choice on whether to honour her or not. Personally, her #6 wouldn't be taken out of circulation, but perhaps a banner inside the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre to honour the PhD student's efforts would be nice. It just seems odd to me that the school barely mentioned her after she passed away.

I wanted to post the video above on HBIC, though, because I feel Amanda needs to be remembered not only for her countless accomplishments and achievements on the ball diamond, but for her work on the ice as well. Losing someone like Amanda isn't easy on her family, friends or teammates, but I think it's vitally important that we do everything to remember the good people in sports who were in it to grow the game and make it better without beign asked. Amanda Asay was one of the good ones, and she deserves to be remembered.

As Art LaFleur said in The Sandlot as Babe Ruth, "[T]here's heroes and there's legends. Heroes get remembered, but legends never die. Follow your heart, kid, and you'll never go wrong."

I think it's safe to say that Amanda Asay followed her heart, and won't be forgotten!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!