The Rundown - Week 8

I may be in a non-Canada West province, but the games were still worth checking out despite me being a long way away from where they were being played. UBC had the weekend off after being the only team to hit 14 games through the first seven weeks, so they may have felt they deserved a break. Nonetheless, eight other teams were back at it this week as teams looked to improve their standings while the top team sat idle. Let's get to this week's hockey action as I tuned in from afar in a different time zone here on The Rundown!

FRIDAY: We'll start in southern Saskatchewan where this weekend series featured two teams moving in different directions as the Regina Cougars were hosting the MacEwan Griffins. One win this weekend would see Regina match their total wins from last season while surpassing their point total from last year as well. MacEwan, meanwhile, was looking to score three goals for the first time in regulation play this season as they looked to double their win total. Only one of these things would happen on Friday, but there aren't any highlights of this contest because Regina doesn't believe in them. The scoring summary for this one is below.

Cougars goals: Tessa Stewart (1), Kaylee Dyer (2), Lauren Focht (2), Paige Hubbard (5), Megan Long (2)
Cougars assists: Kaitlyn Gilroy (1), Raea Gilroy (1), Megan Long (2), Pippy Pritchard (2), Cassidy Peters (2), Shaylee Scraba (4), Julianne Girardin (2), Kaitlyn Gilroy (2)
Cougars netminder: Arden Kliewer (14/16)

Griffins goals: Ali Macauley (1), Allee Isley (2)
Griffins assists: Robyn Short (2), Jennifer Andrash (4), Kori Paterson (4), Ali Macauley (3)
Griffins netminder: Lindsey Johnson (31/35)

Result: 5-2 victory for Regina over MacEwan.

SATURDAY: MacEwan recorded a 1-0 win in Regina on January 27 last season and are 2-3 in Regina all-time, so it's not like they haven't had some success in the Cougars' den. Getting more than 16 shots on net would help if they shoot like they did on Friday. Regina was looking to push their win streak to two games as they looked to remain in the hunt for top spot of Canada West's East Division. Again, no highlights of the great things happening on the ice, so here's the scoring summary once more.

Cougars goals: Tessa Stewart (2)
Cougars assists: Shaylee Scraba (5), Olivia Leggett (1)
Cougars shootout scorers: Cassidy Peters
Cougars netminder: Natalie Williamson (24/25)

Griffins goals: Kori Paterson (2)
Griffins assists: Claire Hobbs (1), Tess Collier (2)
Griffins shootout scorers: Claire Hobbs, Jennifer Andrash
Griffins netminder: Brianna Sank (20/21)

Result: 2-1 shootout victory for MacEwan over Regina.

FRIDAY: Mount Royal headed west to Langley where the Trinity Western Spartans were waiting as this weekend series had all sorts of intrigue thanks to the Spartans' win streak which put them within striking distance of the Cougars. Of course, that streak would have to continue if they were to catch the Cougars, and Mount Royal was a perfect 11-0 in regular season play against Trinity Western. One streak would fall tonight - which would it be? I'd like to show you, but Trinity Western only does their own goal highlights which isn't good enough. The scoring summary will have to suffice.

Spartans goals: Chayce Kullman (1), Charlotte Swanton (3)
Spartans assists: Kasey Ditner (6), Kara Yackel (4), Kasey Ditner (7)
Spartans netminder: Kate Fawcett (19/21)

Cougars goals: Jordyn Hutt (4), Aliya Jomha (7), Allee Gerrard (2)
Cougars assists: Abigail Borbandy (3), Lyvia Butz (2), Jori Hansen-Young (5), Sydney Benko (5)
Cougars netminder: Kaitlyn Ross (22/24)

Result: 3-2 victory for Mount Royal over Trinity Western.

SATURDAY: The gap between Mount Royal and Trinity Western was wide enough that there was no danger of the Cougars getting bumped from their spot, but the Cougars were looking to move within a point of top spot in the West Division. Trinity Western needed the split to keep Mount Royal from opening a wide gap prior to the December break, so this one was all set for intensity between these two teams. I've linked Trinity Western's personal highlights here again, but the scoring summary is the full story.

Spartans goals: Kelsey Ledoux (2)
Spartans assists: Kyra McDonald (4), Jordyn Matthews (2)
Spartans netminder: Mabel Maltais (29/31)

Cougars goals: Lyndsey Janes (4), Lyndsey Janes (5)
Cougars assists: Alexandria Spence (3), Dara Thompson (4)
Cougars netminder: Katherine Holan (23/24)

Result: 2-1 victory for Mount Royal over Trinity Western.

FRIDAY: After Manitoba rallied to split with the Mount Royal Cougars last week, one would hope the Bisons could keep the good times rolling with a home sweep of the other Calgary team this week as the Dinos visited Winnipeg. Calgary came to Winnipeg after pulling off their own magic against UBC, so they were looking to keep thr winning going as well. If there's one thing I've learned, the good teams win consistently so both were hunting for wins. Again, no highlights because Manitoba is allergic to showing the world its talent, so here's the scoring summary for this one.

Bisons goals: Rachel Gottfried (2), Brenna Nicol (1), Aimee Patrick (4)
Bisons assists: Aimee Patrick (4), Camille Enns (3)
Bisons netminder: Paige Fischer (17/18)

Dinos goals: Josie McLeod (2)
Dinos assists: Emma Tait (2), Kate Wagner (2)
Dinos netminder: Amelia Awad (23/26)

Result: 3-1 victory for Manitoba over Calgary.

SATURDAY: With everyone above them winning on Friday, Manitoba needed to find the sweep this weekend if they wanted to keep pace and/or put the pressure on Alberta and Regina since they still have two games in-hand. Calgary needed to find the split so they could leap past Trinity Western and force them to chase again. Because highlights are as rare as shooting stars in these parts, you're stuck with the scoring summary.

Bisons goals: Aimee Patrick (5), Julia Bird (3), Norah Collins (7), Norah Collins (8)
Bisons assists: Dana Goertzen (3), Louise Fergusson (3), Camille Enns (4), Evangeline Hill (1), Seanna Price (1), Ashley Keller (4), Aimee Patrick (5)
Bisons netminder: Emily Shippam (21/22)

Dinos goals: Rebecca Clarke (4)
Dinos assists: Emma Tait (3)
Dinos netminder: Amelia Awad (35/39)

Result: 4-1 victory for Manitoba over Calgary.

FRIDAY: The Huskies needed a win this season, but seem to keep coming up short despite them being in a number of games. While they've brought home four extra-time points, they were looking to get two regulation-time points on Friday as the Alberta Pandas visited Saskatoon. The Pandas rolled in on a four-game winning streak, and they had no interest in helping the Huskies get off their winless streak. I'd be happy to post highlights, but the Huskies opted for the text-only plan this season. Here's the scoring summary.

Huskies goals: none
Huskies assists: none
Huskies netminder: Emma Backman (33/35)

Pandas goals: Madison Willan (2), Brooklyn Tews (2), Maia Ehmann (5)
Pandas assists: Jadynn Morden (4), Izzy Lajoie (4), Sara Kazeil (7), Izzy Lajoie (5)
Pandas netminder: Grace Glover (14/14)

Result: 3-0 victory for Alberta over Saskatchewan.

SATURDAY: The Alberta Pandas haven't officially clinched a playoff spot yet, but it seems almost inevitable as they picked up their 20th point on Friday. Saskatchewan's young team is learning valuable lessons as they battle good teams, but they desperately need that first win to start building on the positives. Zero highlights means nothing to post here except the scoring summary.

Huskies goals: McKenna Bolger (1)
Huskies assists: Bronwyn Boucher (3), Jayde Cadieux (3)
Huskies netminder: Colby Wilson (31/33)

Pandas goals: Holly Magnus (1), Jadynn Morden (4)
Pandas assists: Chayse Melnyk (1), Abby Soyko (2), Payton Laumbach (4)
Pandas netminder: Misty Rey (11/12)

Result: 2-1 victory for Alberta over Saskatchewan.

No, I'm not doing the stupid East and West Divisions on the standings board. One conference, nine teams, let's see who is best.

CANADA WEST WOMEN'S HOCKEY

School	Record	Points	GF	GA	Streak	Next
UBC	9-2-2-1	23	43	22	L1	@ MAN
Mount Royal	9-2-1-2	22	38	20	W2	@ ALB
Alberta	8-3-3-0	22	33	16	W6	vs MRU
Regina	3-3-4-4	18	23	27	L1	BYE
Manitoba	6-3-2-1	17	29	21	W3	vs UBC
Trinity Western	6-7-1-0	14	29	25	L2	vs CAL
Calgary	5-6-1-2	14	30	34	L2	@ TWU
MacEwan	0-10-2-2	6	12	46	W1	vs SAS
Saskatchewan	0-10-0-4	4	14	40	L14	@ MAC

Honour Roll

Each week on The Rundown, I highlight the best performances from the weekend's games. It won't always be the top scorer or the best goalie, but I'll have a reason for who gets picked each week. This week's Honour Roll candidate will be a player who set the new standard for standing in the blue paint for her school as MacEwan Griffins netminder Brianna Sank adds her name to the list!

I know things haven't gone so well this season or even in the last couple of seasons when one considers how often the Griffins won in the ACAC, but consider this: since 2021-22 when the Griffins joined Canada West, Sank has 15 of the 19 wins that MacEwan has recorded in Canada West play. In her sixty games, she faces an average of 31 shots per game, yet she still has a .907 save percentage and four shutouts. There are no quiet nights in the net for Sank - she has to be on her game to give MacEwan a chance.

On Saturday at the 3:04 mark of the first period in Regina, the Ardrossan, Alberta netminder broke Sandy Heim's program record for minutes logged in the blue paint. Heim recorded 4184:11 in the crease for MacEwan, but the new program leader is Brianna Sank as she picked up her fifteenth win in Canada West with the shootout win on Saturday. Playing in over 4200 minutes as well as she has is how Brianna Sank added her name to the Honour Roll!

Shameless (Self)Promotion

We're back this week with another interview from The Hockey Show featuring a specific Canada West personality. As stated, Canada West hockey is more than just hockey; it's joining a new school, finding new friends, discovering one's passions, and playing a little puck. On The Hockey Show, we talk about all this cool stuff going on in athletes' lives, so let's introduce you to another great person!

We're going to continue the MacEwan theme this week as we introduce you to the woman who led the Griffins into Canada West in former head coach Lindsay McAlpine who is now MacEwan University's associate director of athletics. Before she got the promotion to the big office, Lindsay was at home behind the bench as she helped MacEwan find all sorts of success in the ACAC, but her own hockey career saw her play on one of the most dominant women's university teams on either side of the border as she skated with the Alberta Pandas during their incredible run at the turn of the millennium. Lindsay had an incredible hockey career that's almost unbelievable if we hadn't talked, and she was incredibly proud of the Griffins joining Canada West after the success they had in the ACAC. This interview is from April 2, 2020 so a few things may have changed, but one thing that has remained the same throughout the course of time is that Lindsay McAlpine is a fantastic person! Enjoy the chat!

Checking Out The Competition

I'll be at a hockey game today, and at least one of the two teams I'll be watching will be playing in Nationals in Kitchener, Ontario this March. The York Lions are hosting the Waterloo Warriors, and I'll be doing a little pre-Nationals scouting on Waterloo to see just how good they are. Waterloo lost in the bronze medal game to the Montreal Carabins last season in Saskatoon, so I'm curious to see how they've improved or changed since experiencing Nationals for the first time.

Of course, they're hosting the tournament this season, so they better be ready for the intensity that comes their way. Waterloo is in first-place in the OUA West Division with an 8-2 record, and they are the conference's highest-scoring team at 43 goals. That should improve today if they continue to play well as they meet York for the first time this season. Led by Carly Orth's 16 points and Leah Herrfort's 13 points, the Warriors are a solid team that should fare well at Nationals once again.

York, however, has its work cut out for it after starting the season with a 4-7 record. They are the lowest-scoring team in the conference with 19 goals, but they're also one of the conference's best defensive teams, surrendering just 28 goals. Emma Wedgewood hasn't stolen games like she did in last season's playoffs, though, and York leading scorer in Alexa Giantsopoulos is tied for 34th-overall in scoring with seven points. She's the only player with more than two goals on York's roster this season, so York needs a big effort today.

I'll have more on this game next week on The Rundown!

Major Credit Is Due

It might be time to remove the "interim" tag on Regina coach Brandy West-McMaster. For someone who had to step in quickly after Sarah Hodges left, West-McMaster is showing that she's just as good behind the bench as she was on the ice the for Cougars. I don't know if anyone would have predicted this turnaround for the Cougars, but they're in a pretty impressive position right now.

Regina's 18 points is the most for that program since 2019-20 when they had 38 points for the whole season. They equalled the 2021-22 season's total of 18 points in 20 games, but West-McMaster has them at 18 points in 14 games. While there's still a pile of games to be played, it seems almost impossible for the Cougars not to post their best season in five years this season, and Brandy West-McMaster has been a big part of that.

We can talk about the job that Graham Thomas and Scott Rivett are doing once more, and Howie Draper's return to the Alberta bench meant that the Pandas would be a machine once again. If you had asked anyone if they foresaw the Cougars being where they are at this point in the season, I think you'd get a "no" every single time. While Jordy Zacharias has done a wonderful job with Manitoba, it's hard to not look at Brandy West-McMaster as the early favorite to be named as the Canada West Coach of the Year.

There's still a lot of time in the season, but Brandy West-McMaster has earned that accolade by having the Cougars play some opportunistic hockey. And based on the Canada West standings, it seems almost certain the Cougars are heading back to the playoffs!

The Last Word

There are some big games next week when it comes to playoff opportunities. Regina is off so they get to watch, but the other eight teams are what could playoff previews for February! Who doesn't like those series for the final weekend of November?

UBC is in Winnipeg to play Manitoba, and that could be a crossover series that could happen. Mount Royal and Alberta will meet in a home-and-home series, and that could also be a crossover series that could happen. Both of those series could be considered "prove it" series when it comes to which teams are serious about making a run for the banner. It should be fun watching those four games.

The Calgary-Trinity Western battle out in Langley could very well determine the fate of one team's season based on results. Both teams are tied with 14 points, but Trinity Western holds the tie-breaker due to having one more regulation win right now. There's no second-place for these two teams as one of the two will miss the playoffs, so this series could have lasting effects on the rest of the season.

Even the MacEwan-Saskatchewan series in Edmonton will be interesting to watch. Both teams need wins, but this series might be more about pride than it is about the playoffs. Both MacEwan and Saskatchewan will need minor miracles to get back into the playoff race, but wins build confidence and positives can be found. Both teams need large helpings of confidence and positives, so their series next week could help in that regard.

We don't normally get playoff hockey in November, but the Canada West schedule seems to have delivered that this season. With two weeks left in the first half of the season, there's no better time to check out the action in Canada West women's hockey!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The First OHL Game

Friday night was the first time I have ever set foot inside an arena to watch an OHL game. No, I didn't arrive early enough to get a denim hat as there had to be about 4000 people already at the arena at 6pm when I arrived, but I was treated to a heck of a hockey game between the visiting Guelph Storm and the Sudbury Wolves! Both sides have a few NHL prospects that they can boast, but none of them seem to be on a fast-track to The Show, so I was hoping we might see some dangles from the guys who are trying to work their way up depth charts and from guys who want to be on depth charts. Let's find out what I saw!

The first thing I noticed during warmups was Guelph backup netminder Colin Ellsworth thanks to the number he was wearing. As seen to the right, Ellsworth wears #55 for the Storm which, from my research, has been worn by two NHL goalies: Ken Appleby with Devils in 2018 and Felix Potvin with the Islanders in 1999. With Ellsworth being a rookie, he still has lots of time to impress an NHL team if he's hoping to be drafted, but he could be the third goalie to wear #55 in the NHL if he continues to wear that non-goalie number by traditional hockey standards. Kind of cool, right? And just as a note, please excuse the photo as my iPhone kept focusing on the netting, not Ellsworth. Sometimes, technology works against me.

As the game got underway, it was clear that the Wolves were the more aggressive team as they peppered Guelph's Brayden Gillespie with shots. That would pay off midway through the period when Winnipeg Jets prospect Kieron Walton picked the pocket of a defender, skated in on a partial breakaway, and dented twine!
Walton looked dangerous on this night, and it wouldn't be the last time his name is announced over the public address system. For those wondering, the Jets drafted Walton 187th-overall in the sixth round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, but he looked like he should have gone much higher with his play tonight. Again, it's just one game, but colour me impressed with how he played.

We'd get a second Wolves at the 15:47 mark when undrafted Luca Blonda used some speed down the wing before throwing a quick, high shot at the net that got inside the far post to make it a 2-0 game. And just to cap off an entertaining first period, I was treated to the new OHL rule where players who fight are given the rest of the game off as Washington Capitals prospect Cam Allen dropped the mitts with Seattle Kraken prospect Nathan Villeneuve, and Villeneuve had the home crowd on its feet as he landed a big punch that wobbled Allen before the linesmen jumped into the fray. Needless to say, it was a happy crowd through one period as Sudbury led 2-0.

It was a bit of a different period in the middle frame as Guelph turned up the intensity, but Wolves netminder Nate Krawchuk stood his ground. It would take a power-play later in the frame for the Storm to finally solve Krawchuk as 6'6" Vancouver Canucks prospect Vilmer Alriksson finished off a gorgeous goalmouth pass from Philadelphia Flyers prospect Jett Luchanko at 14:12 to cut the deficit to one. That lead would evaporate three minutes later when Quinn Beauchesne threw a puck at the net that somehow found a seam through Krawchuk to get into the net, and we'd have a 2-2 game at 17:43. However, the Wolves marched back down the ice where Alex Pharand chipped a rebound off Ethan Dean's shot past Gillespie at 18:45, and the Wolves carried the 3-2 lead into the third period!

The Wolves continued to pressure the Storm in the third period as they looked for more, and it was clear that time was becoming the enemy of the Storm. About seven minutes into the frame, though, there was a prolonged stoppage as Brayden Gillespie needed his helmet fixed or adjusted which drew the ire of the referee who, after a couple of minutes, told the Guelph bench to either swap goalies or give Gillespie a mask so he could continue. Ellsworth handed Gillespie his mask so Gillespie could return to the crease, but one had to wonder if it would affect Gillespie since the cage was different and Ellsworth's mask wasn't adjusted for Gillespie's head.

From my vantage point, the Wolves got a few shots away on a rush where it looked like Gillespie was fighting to see the puck clearly, possibly due to the different cage configuration. A couple of minutes after the mask swap, Gillespie had it resting on top of his head once more as he fished the puck out of the net for a fourth time.
Kieron Walton hammers home the one-timer off the feed from Kocha Delic at 9:48 for his second goal of the game, and the Wolves went ahead by a 4-2 score. While there was still ten minutes to play and Guelph has scored two goals in 3:31 earlier, would this lead hold up?

The answer was a resounding "yes" as Guelph opted to pull Gillespie while on the power-play with five minutes to play, and it would be Quentin Musty who found the back of the vacant Storm net with a shot at 17:03 to make it 5-2. Just for good measure, Alex Pharand scored his second goal of the game as he one-timed a great centering pass from Wilton who was behind the net, and that goal with 28 seconds to play put the icing on a 6-2 victory for the Sudbury Wolves!

Take nothing away from the crowd of 4258 who showed up to cheer on the Wolves and sounded more like 8000 fans when the Wolves added to their total on the scoreboard. They were loud, they were raucous, and they made sure the Wolves knew they appreciated the effort. With a large number of fans in their denim hats and their Wolves jerseys, it was hard not to be impressed with the turnout on Friday night. Sudbury gets a solid thumbs-up!

For me, it was a fun time at my first OHL game. I would like to suggest that the Wolves introduce their fans to honey dill sauce for the chicken fingers they serve because the plum sauce they gave me just isn't the same. I know honey dill sauce is a Manitoba thing, but it could be a distinctly Sudbury thing if fans took to it. Of course, they may not embrace it like Manitobans have, but I'm just making a suggestion that likely will never come to light.

If you happen to get to a game, the Sudbury Community Arena looks and feels old from the outside, but there's some charm and history in those four walls as you start walking around the concourse. For example, there's a picture of Queen Elizabeth II on one wall like the Winnipeg Jets once had. There's a stuffed wolf that is sent out over the north part of the ice via a suspended wire when the Wolves score, and I found it more creepy than charming. There weren't any food or beverage selections that made one want to come back to the rink, but the food and drink served was certainly good enough for a hockey game. The banners hung from the ceiling show history from 1932 through to today, but there are only a handful of them.

None of the above paragraph took anything away from the action on the ice or the result, though, and the total for the night cost me less than $50 for my ticket, parking, and dinner. Frankly, that's a heckuva deal, and I hope people realize that junior hockey is still entirely affordable compared to other leagues. If you were to ask me if I'd go again, my answer would be a definite yes.

I didn't get a hat, but a win on a Friday night while watching a player who could be a future Winnipeg Jets forward have himself a night on the ice wasn't a bad way to close out the work week. I'll be working again today before hitting the road to my next destination, but my lone night in Sudbury was definitely worth it!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Sudbury: A Green And Gold City?

When shopping online for hockey jerseys through various auction sites, there's always a "caveat emptor" feeling that one should have. The number of fake jerseys that are seen online outnumber the authentics exponentially, and today's jersey to the left felt like one of those jerseys. Of course, that photo comes from a legitimate auction house in Classic Auctions, but my first thought when I saw this photo was that this was some beer league jersey using the Sudbury Wolves' logo. As I found out, this is the 1986-87 jersey worn by Paul DiPietro during his time with the OHL club!

The history of the green Sudbury Wolves begins before the OHL team was in the Ontario city as Sudbury won the Gordon Cup in 1915 while wearing white and green sweaters. The prevailing thought is that those sweaters were worn as some of the players on that championship team were on a local club with the same colour scheme according to Scott Miller, author of Leading the Pack: 50 Years of Sudbury Wolves History. With the victory of the top championship trophy in Ontario, Sudbury teams, specifically Wolves teams, began wearing green for high-level games and tournaments.

What isn't mentioned above is that the Wolves earned berths in Allan Cups, Dominion Junior Hockey Championships, winter carnival exhibitions, and world championships. That last one might be more surprising to people, but the Wolves represented Canada on the international stage in 1938 at the World Ice Hockey Championship in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Fourteen teams participated in this World Championship with rounds reducing the number of teams participating at each stage. Canada/Sudbury would win their preliminary pool over Czechoslovakia, Sweden, and Austria before beating Germany and Hungary to set up the final pool.

Canada beat Germany (again) and Great Britain defeated Czechoslovakia to set up the gold medal final, and Canada/Sudbury used three first-period goals to pace themselves to a 3-1 over the British to claim Canada's tenth World Hockey Championship gold medal. The fun part of this story, though, is that the Sudbury team went on a European tour where they played teams from a number of countries. Starting January 1938, they toured Germany, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Austria, Belgium, England, and Scotland where they compiled a 19-2-5 record! The two games they lost were to the British team after the World Championship on March 8 and 10 when their trip was ending!

That wouldn't be the only time that the Sudbury Wolves skated under the "Canada" name as the Wolves competed at the 1949 World Hockey Championship in Stockholm, Sweden as Canada's entry into the event. They'd come home after finishing in second-place, but the boys in in green certainly showed the world that Canada was there to play, beating Denmark 47-0 and Austria 7-0 in the preliminary round. The round-robin saw Canada lose to Czechoslovkia and tie Sweden before hammering the US and Austria. They'd tie Switzerland in the final game, but it wasn't enough to catch Czechoslovakia who ended the round-robin portion with a 4-1-0 record.

It should be noted that there was some concern heading into the 1949 championship as the Wolves took some losses in Great Britain where they played exhibition games, but the Wolves found their game and won a few contests as the World Championship neared!

Of course, if you think that criticism of Canadian teams who go to the World Championship is a new thing, here's a newspaper article from 1949 that says this has been happening in Canada for decades!

Jokes aside, seeing the Wolves with one World Championship gold medal while appearing at two World Championships to its name is pretty cool! That legacy, though, was something that Bud Burke wanted to create when the OHL offered membership in their league. Ralph Connor, named as Team President, helped an interested Sudbury party to purchase the Niagara Falls Flyers from Leighton "Hap" Emms and move the team to Sudbury. On May 6, 1972, the OHA approved the sale from Emms to the group fronted by Bud Burke as the OHA's Sudbury Wolves would begin play in 1972-73 wearing the green and yellow to which hockey fans in Sudbury had become accustomed! Fans would see some amazing players don the green and gold including Randy Carlyle, Ron Duguay, Mike Foligno, Don Beaupre, Pat Verbeek, and Jeff Brown, but success would elude the Wolves as they never brought home a Memorial Cup nor a J. Ross Robertson Cup.

Of course, the green-and-yellow colour scheme made these early Wolves a favorite of Uni Watch founder Paul Lukas, but the green jerseys would be retired in the 1988-89 season for the current blue-white-and-gray look that the OHL's Sudbury Wolves wear. It was Ken Burgess, who owned the OHL team in 1988, who once asked, "Who ever heard of a green wolf?" before changing the Wolves' colours to a similar scheme as his Burgess Power Train and Manufacturing company, now known as Burgess-Norton Manufacturing. Since the change, there have been some smaller modifications made to the jerseys, but the blue colour scheme has stayed intact.

It's pretty cool to know that Sudbury, Ontario has a long history with a colour scheme other than the one they currently wear, and it almost feels like the current OHL Wolves should honour that history with an alternate jersey that pays homage to its own history as well as the hockey history of the city. Of course, the green-and-gold colour scheme makes complete sense with the 1939 Sudbury Wolves winning the World Championship gold medal while wearing green, but who am I to demand any team honour the history of its city? That would almost make too much sense.

They wore green and they brought home gold - it sure sounds like Sudbury had the right colours through their history!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 635

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, returns tonight with our hosts outside of the studio. With Teebz on a cross-Canada work tour, the boys settled into a recording on Wednesday night to get the hockey chatter going. Everything is relevant from the last week of hockey news and action, but anything that happens on Thursday may be included next week. Last week's news will get the full hour of attention from our hosts, and that all goes down tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight on the program, Teebz and Jason will discuss why the firing of Jim Montgomery was the wrong move to make for the Bruins, some new broadcast partners and rules in the PWHL, the Champions Hockey League having their quarterfinalists, Utah being the best-selling team for merchandise ever, and we touch on the 16-3 Winnipeg Jets who will finish the month on the road. As always, our hosts will do their best at breaking down these stories and whatever else comes up tonight so you have the latest on what's happening in hockey! Get your audio device set up 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 new UMFM website's online streaming player works well if you want to listen online. We also recommend Radio Garden if you need an easy-to-use online stream. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store. It's a solid app.

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

Tonight, Teebz and Jason talk the mess the Bruins are in, the offence the PWHL is creating, the elite eight in Europe, the dollar signs in Salt Lake City, the Jets flying high, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: November 21, 2024: Episode 635

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Asterisked Championship?

It should be no surprise that if someone mentions Sault Ste. Marie, the first hockey team that comes to mind is the OHL's Soo Greyhounds. Based on their longevity in the city, that's completely understandable, but there is another team that plays in Sault Ste. Marie despite them being in another country. As you may know, Sault Ste. Marie straddles the Canada-US border, so half of the city resides in Michigan rather than Ontario. That's where the NCAA's Lake Superior State University Lakers call home, and the Lakers have put their name on the hockey map a few times thanks to winning the NCAA National Men's Hockey Championship!

From their website, the Lakers play in Taffy Abel Arena, a 4000-seat rink with a 200x85-foot ice surface. Taffy Abel was established in 1976, and, in 1995, the arena was renovated to its current size which happened after Laker Hockey won their fifth National Championship. It was named after American ice hockey player Clarence "Taffy" Abel who was born in Sault Ste. Marie. It is the only on-campus hockey arena in the United States which has a seating capacity greater than the enrollment of the school for which it's used, and the arena serves a number of purposes in the community including hosting youth hockey games and practices, community events, and summer camps.

You may have noticed that little detail above where it says "fifth National Championship". That is factual as the Lakers own the 1972 and 1974 NAIA championships along with the 1988, 1992, and 1994 NCAA championships. There is also an unofficial asterisk on that total, however, because the 1993 NCAA Men's Hockey Championship apparently ended prematurely thanks to some video footage that should have been reviewed long ago. Could Lake Superior State have been a three-peat champion in NCAA's men's hockey?

Apparently, the answer is yes. According to Flo Hockey's Tim Rappleye, Lake Superior State University head coach Jeff Jackson was given a plaque following the 1993 NCAA championship game that reads, "1993 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championships National Champion". The only problem with that plaque is that the Maine Black Bears are the 1993 NCAA champions based on all historical records. So how did Jackson end up with this plaque from the NCAA if Maine has the trophy?

In Rappleye's article, he frames the final moments of the game where a "point-blank scoring chance by Lake State junior Sean Tallaire with 50 seconds remaining appeared to bank off the crossbar" in a documentary called "Out of the Woods". Let's run that clip here.

I have watched this clip over and over again, and I still can't figure out if Tallaire scores on that move to the front of the net while goaltender Garth Snow scrambled in the crease. Yes, the puck goes up and looks like it hit the crossbar, but I can't tell if it pinged off the iron or went under the bar and into the net.

In 1993, the NCAA had yet to institute video review, so the option to go to the film wasn't there. The official's call on the ice would be the only call that the NCAA would accept, and the lone referee on the ice ruled that the puck had gone off the crossbar. If you watch the clip again, the referee isn't even in the picture or standing near the net to make an accurate call, so the 5-4 finish would stand and Maine would be crowned the 1993 champion.

Except we still have that plaque that makes no sense if Maine won.

What we need is another angle or a more definitive look at the goal. I went hunting for more evidence, and I discovered that a YouTube user named TJ Rogers had uploaded the highlights from this game. In that 26-minute highlight package is this moment from a number of different angles. Let's take a look at this moment again with different angles included as we try to figure out if Tallaire actually scored. Two different looks and a third replay at the same broadcast angle while slowed down doesn't give us anything definitive except that the puck appears to disappear for fractions of a second in that final replay under the bar as opposed to ricocheting off the iron. To be fair, I have never seen netting cause a bounce-back like that, so the puck may have hit the back crossbar and come back out. Again, the quality of the replay doesn't have enough definition to say that it happened like that, but it seems that it could be plausible.

Jeff Jackson recalls the moment still, telling Rappleye, "I remember Sean came back to the bench and said, 'That puck was in, Coach!'"

Perhaps this is simply a moment of wanting to believe that Tallaire scored, but Jackson claims he has other evidence. He told Rappleye, "Every time I watched the clip, I noticed something was weird, so I kept on rewinding it back on the old VHS systems and trying to determine. You couldn't see the puck go in the net. But what I did see was the skate lace tying down the water bottle on the top of the net, flying in the air. That's when I knew the puck had gone in."

This is the part that becomes hard to explain because Jackson is right in noticing the skate lace move. If you watch the angle from behind the net, you can see the skate lace on top of the net that was used to tie the water bottle down securely move as the puck appears to either hit the bar or go in the net. In the video above, it's just to the left of the water bottle, and its position clearly changes. Is that enough proof to change the outcome? I'd say no, but it seems to lend credence to the idea that Tallaire did score.

Rappleye added this nugget in his article as well.

"Unlike the low-resolution analog footage that Jackson was using to edit his piece, a clean tape, one generation removed from the original footage, was rescued from ESPN's tape truck an hour after their championship telecast went off the air. Four replay angles of Tallaire's tying goal, images that were never broadcast, were dubbed off onto a digital cassette, a relic that was last seen buried in the NHL's video archives.

"The cassette got into the hands of a college hockey producer in November of 1993 and was employed during an intermission feature during a live broadcast of a Lake Superior/Vermont clash from Burlington, Vermont. It was there that the end-zone camera angle of Tallaire's shot finally made air on the now defunct Prime Network, rolled in slo-mo, allowing the viewers to see incontrovertible evidence: the 1993 NCAA championship game—the game that would have secured Lake Superior's bid for a historic three-peat—had been tied up in the final minute."

By this measure, it seems that Tallaire did indeed score on that shot, and it should have sent the 1993 NCAA Men's Hockey Championship towards overtime with Maine and Lake Superior State tied 5-5. Of course, that video would need to be seen and verified to become the smoking gun in this dispute, so Maine remains as the rightful winner of the 1993 NCAA Men's Hockey Championship until that time.

I won't deny that Lake Superior State has a case to be made, but it makes one appreciate the high-definition reviews we get in hockey today that much more. I can't explain why the NCAA gave that championship plaque to Lake Superior State when it seems that there is no definitive evidence to change the results, but perhaps the NCAA saw the same Prime Network video that was aired in November 1993.

I'm not suggesting that anyone change history at this time, but this may be one of those moments that will be lost to time if that Prime Network video never surfaces. The Maine Black Bears will always be the 1993 NCAA Men's Hockey Champions, but it seems clear that the Lake Superior State Lakers have a valid reason to contest that result. Until the evidence is found, though, Lake Superior State will have to be content with their championship plaque that isn't an NCAA Men's Hockey Championship trophy.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!