Three Medals?

It's rare that one team can medal twice in the same event. I've seen two teams from the same club or country win medals in the same event, but never the same team winning two medals. If you take a glance at the lede image, you'll see that Manitoba won a bronze medal, a silver medal, and a gold medal despite entering just one men's team and one women's team at the 2019 National Aboriginal Hockey Championship taking place in Whitehorse, Yukon. How is this possible, you ask? Read on for the surprising answer on how this was accomplished!

First, I had mentioned on Saturday on this very blog that Manitoba was one of three provinces with a chance to bring home two medals. As shown, the original schedule looked something as follows:

Everything seemed to be going as planned as the morning games were played. The Ontario women downed British Columbia to earn the bronze medal, and the Manitoba men's team followed up that effort by beating the British Columbia men's team to capture their own bronze medal. The gold-medal women's game saw Saskatchewan play extremely well in defeating Manitoba, and it seemed we were all set for an Alberta-Saskatchewan showdown.

Except the schedule changed.

Wait, a second. The Manitoba men who won bronze earlier in the day were now going to play Saskatchewan for the gold medal? How did this come about? What happened to Alberta, a team that had beaten Manitoba twice on two previous days?

The live stream of the final offered no answers as the broadcasters didn't even mention it from my skimming through the game quickly. It seems that Alberta just fell off the map and Manitoba was granted the chance to play for their second medal of the day. I posed the question today on Twitter in an effort to find answers, and Josh Schroeder (@jdschroeder) provided me the answer following his search of the NAHC Facebook page! His find was the following message posted to the social media platform (click it to read it).

According to the letter, Team Alberta's plan to leave on Sunday afternoon prior to the gold medal game at the 2019 NAHC was their own decision, and they made no attempt to resolve the problem after qualifying for the gold-medal game. In fact, from what the letter says, it sounds as though Team Alberta lobbied to have the gold-medal game time changed as opposed to them making alternate travel plans. The NAHC Working Group and the Provincial Territorial Aboriginal Sport Bodies (PTASB) decided that the tournament games would remain as they were, and Alberta was removed for the tournament.

First off, major kudos to the NAHC Working Group and the PTASB for sticking to their guns. As they stated, the tournament schedule was posted in November 2018, giving Team Alberta more than enough time to secure proper travel arrangements. The two groups also worked with tournament partners to try to help Alberta remain in Whitehorse for the gold-medal game, but it seems that Team Alberta wanted no part of that solution. Again, I want to commend the NAHC Working Group and PTASB for not giving in to Alberta's demands because, quite frankly, they caused this problem and did little to resolve it.

Second, who does Alberta think they are? They're no more important than any other team, and it's not like they were coming in as a powerhouse or defending champion. In fact, they played and lost in the relegation round at last year's tournament, so they have no more right to ask for a change than any other team. Just because you're inconvenienced due to your own travel plans and ignorance, Alberta, doesn't mean you can force the rest of the tournament to change its entire medal-round schedule. Even if you were the defending champion, that demand still wouldn't be considered. You're not that important.

Third, well done, Manitoba, for stepping up and seizing the opportunity. Having already won bronze, the Manitoba men decided to abandon that medal and play for the gold medal against Saskatchewan, hammering their neighbours to the west by a 6-1 score to claim the gold medal. I don't know how long the Manitoba men had to prepare, but they came out guns a-blazing in posting a 3-0 lead in the opening frame to carry them to the 6-1 win.

As a result, the final standings at the 2019 National Aboriginal Hockey Championship were:

WOMEN: Ontario
MEN: British Columbia

WOMEN: Manitoba
MEN: Saskatchewan

WOMEN: Saskatchewan
MEN: Manitoba

It's rare that a one team can medal twice in the same event, but Manitoba did just that yesterday. While they abandoned the bronze medals to play for the gold medal, the fact that they even got a shot at winning the gold medal is rather astounding considering what Alberta did. When opportunity knocked, though, Manitoba seized it. Because of Alberta's poor planning and lack of any reasonable thought, Saskatchewan and Manitoba now will return home with one gold medal-winning team and one silver medal-winning team when it appeared only one province has that opportunity on Saturday and into Sunday morning.

Congratulations to all the teams, except the Alberta men, who participated at the 2019 National Aboriginal Hockey Championship with special mentions going to Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba for winning medals! You did your provinces proud, and you should take an immense amount of pride in what you accomplished!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

First Game Of The Season

It's been a busy Sunday thus far with me watching the final games from the 2019 National Aboriginal Hockey Championship while trying to clean up HBIC Headquarters and do a little yard work around the compound. I have to say that the hockey action from Whitehorse, Yukon has been excellent over the last week, and I was lucky enough to catch Ontario win the women's bronze medal over Team BC while the Manitoba men captured the bronze medal over Team BC in that game. Aside from that, it's going to be a pretty quiet day on the hockey front for me as the first game of slo-pitch happens in a few hours time, and I'm excited to get back on the diamond and have some fun!

The man in the lede photo? I don't know if he ever played slo-pitch, but that's former Los Angeles Lings owner Bruce McNall who also owned the CFL's Toronto Argonauts for a short time and did a stint in prison for conspiracy and fraud. There's some debate about McNall's overall impact on the growth of the game in southern California versus his convictions of conspiracy and fraud as to whether he should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder. After all, the explosion of the sunbelt teams started with McNall's pursuit to bring Wayne Gretzky to Los Angeles, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Here is a Sportsnet video that sums up McNall's work in and around the NHL before he was convicted of crimes that sent him to prison. Judge for yourself, and feel free to leave a comment below on whether you think McNall should be Hall-of-Fame bound after watching the 14-minute piece.

I'm off to play in the first game of the season. If I don't die, I'll come back and read any and all comments that have been left.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Chance For Two Medals

The final games of the 2019 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships take place tomorrow in Whitehorse after the field had been narrowed down to the final four teams on both the men's and women's sides of the event. Manitoba, the two-time defending champions in the women's event, will return to the final for the third-straight year as they look to three-peat against Saskatchewan while the Manitoba men will compete for bronze after falling to Alberta in the semi-final. Regardless of the outcome, three provinces have a chance at two medals on the final day of the 2019 NAHC.

It's pretty remarkable to have both teams from a single province play for a gold medal, but Saskatchewan will have that opportunity tomorrow as both their men's and women's teams play in the final. The Saskatchewan women went 2-0 in the round-robin, scoring 11 goals and surrendering just one goal in downing Team North 7-0 and Team BC 4-1. Saskatchewan moved to the qualifying round where they dominated with a 2-0 win over Team BC, leading to a semi-final berth tonight where they defeated Team BC 3-0 in a rematch to advance to the gold medal final.

The Saskatchewan men went 1-1 in round-robin play, losing 6-3 to Alberta and winning 7-1 over Eastern Door & North. In the qualifying round, Saskatchewan downed Eastern Door & North by a 9-0 score to advance to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal saw Saskatchewan defeat Team Atlantic 9-2 and then rally to defeat top-seeded Team BC in the semifinal tonight by a 3-1 score to secure a berth in the gold medal game as the only province to have both teams play for gold.

The Saskatchewan women will face the Manitoba women who, as stated above, are looking for the three-peat. Manitoba went 2-0 in the round-robin, scoring 14 goals and surrendering just two goals in a 7-0 win over Alberta and a 7-2 win over New Brunswick. They beat second-seeded Ontario 6-2 to advance to the semi-final where they would face Ontario again, and they only made the score worse as they beat Ontario for a second time by a 7-0 score to advance to the gold medal final.

The Saskatchewan men will battle the Alberta men who went 2-0 in the round-robin with that aforementioned 6-3 win over Saskatchewan and a 5-3 win over Eastern Door & North. In the qualifying round, Alberta hammered third-seeded Manitoba 7-0 to advance to the semi-final where they'd meet the Manitobans again, and Alberta qualified for the gold medal final with a 6-4 over Manitoba in the rematch.

As it stands, the four games that will happen in Whitehorse on Sunday are as follows:

Women - Ontario vs British Columbia (8:30am)
Men - Manitoba vs British Columbia (11:30am)

Women - Manitoba vs Saskatchewan (2:30pm)
Men - Alberta vs Saskatchewan (5:30pm)

Depending on which teams are successful, Manitoba could return to their province with two medals, British Columbia could return to their province with two medals, but Saskatchewan is guaranteed to return to their province with two medals. All three provinces should be proud of the men and women who are representing them this week in Whitehorse, and I know I'll be watching these teams compete on Sunday.

Good luck to the remaining teams, and here's hoping Manitoba brings home two medals!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Western Expansion

The competition for the Canada West championship in both men's and women's hockey got a little more difficult to win with the announcement yesterday by Canada West that they would expand both men's and women's hockey by two teams each as they welcomed the Trinity Western Spartans and the MacEwan Griffins into Canada West play starting in 2020-21. This will be the first expansion for Canada West since 2012-13 when the Mount Royal Cougars were added into Canada West after MRU had dominated the ACAC for a number of years. With the addition of the two teams, Canada West will now feature ten teams in both the men's and women's competition.

Do what do we know about these two teams that have been invited to the big dance at the national level?

MacEwan joins Canada West from the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) level where they have won the last three conference banners in both men's and women's play. The men's squad had a solid campaign this season with seven players hitting double-digits in goals while ten players had 19 points or more. When the men's team is added to Canada West, a number of these players will have graduated, but there are names that should still be circled on the roster as players to watch.

Garan Magnes just completed his rookie season with the Griffins, finishing third in team scoring with 14 goals and 13 assists. Magnes has 72 WHL games under his belt split between Edmonton and Seattle to go along with another 80 games in the AJHL, and the six-foot winger looks to be one of the guns that MacEwan will rely upon this season and into their first Canada West campaign. He'll get some more exposure to some of the WHL graduates who have joined Canada West schools in 2020-21, but I suspect Magnes will handle the challenge well and continue to perform at a high level.

A second player that one will want to watch is Brett Smythe. Since joining the Griffins out of the AJHL, all Smythe has done is piled up the points. In 49 ACAC games, the right-winger has 27 goals and 27 assists as he's been better than a point-per-game player in his first two seasons with the Griffins. He's a smaller forward at 5'9", but has speed to burn with great hands and a nose for the net. Smythe will be one of those players whose move from ACAC to CanWest shouldn't slow him down.

The Griffins women's team captured their third-straight ACAC women's hockey championship this past season, similar to Mount Royal's successes prior to them joining Canada West after winning two championships in four-straight appearances in the championship final. They were the best defensive team by a large margin in the ACAC this season - surrendering just 29 goals in 24 games - while finishing in second-place with a 17-5-2 record. They beat NAIT in the final in a three-game sweep in the best-of-five series.

On the women's side, Chantal Ricker will be a senior in the Griffins' first season in Canada West women's hockey, and she's already doing great things on the ice. The Calgary-born Ricker led MacEwan in goals (10) and points (18) while tying for the lead in assists, being the only Griffins player to hit double-digits in goals. Four of her ten goals came on the power-play, and she added four more goals in six playoff games in helping MacEwan secure the ACAC championship banner. The former Calgary Fire sniper has hit double-digits in goals in each of the last two seasons, proving she can elevate her game at the collegiate level.

Goaltender Natalie Bender is serving as the backup to Swiss-born Sandy Heim currently, but it seems she was being groomed for the starting role next season. She had an outstanding season this year in posting a 5-1-0 record in her six appearances to go along with a 1.34 GAA and a .938 save percentage, and MacEwan will need her at her best when they join Canada West where the shooters put a little more zip on all their shots. I'll be cheering for her not only because she's a fantastic netminder, but because her Twitter handle is "@bendy_the_tendy". You better believe I'll be using that nickname when MacEwan visits Manitoba.

As good as the Griffins have been, their expansion cousins from British Columbia seem to occupy both sides of the coin when it comes to success. The Trinity Western Spartans men's team captured the BCIHL championship this past season as they played solid hockey all season long. The women's program, however, struggled this season as they finished the campaign with a 7-17-2 record. The good news is that there's time to build for both teams as they prepare to enter Canada West play in 2020-21.

If you're looking to keep an eye on players this season into next season, there may be none other than Dustin Deugau whose name should be at the top of the list. Deugau led the Spartans in assists (21) and scoring (27) this past season as a defenceman, and it's pretty clear the offence runs through him. As a 23 year-old, he has the maturity and poise that the Spartans will need in their transition to Canada West, and I expect him to captain the team in his fifth year if he stays in school. If he does, he will lead the Spartans into Canada West play as one of the better play-making defenders in the conference.

Joining him could be the most diminutive player in Canada West, but don't let his small size fool you. Jarrett Fontaine tied for the team-lead in goals this season with 12 and was second on the team in scoring while being listed at 5'5" in height. The former SJHL player has been a force since getting to TWU, scoring 37 goals and 36 assists in his three seasons this far. Like Deugau, his contributions will be needed in a big way for Trinity Western to keep up with the likes of Alberta and Saksatchewan, but along with Evan Last, Logan Casavant, and Brayden Brown, the Spartans will bring a large part of their current offensive prowess with them to Canada West while still adding more weapons.

The Spartans women's team is coming off two-straight seasons where they won just seven games in each campaign. Only once in the last five seasons have they finished a season at .500 or better, so their inclusion into Canada West play may be a steep learning curve for the first few seasons. That being said, the Spartans have some solid players to build around as they prepare for their first Canada West hockey season coming out of the SCWHL (South Coast Women's Hockey League).

The first player who fans should watch for is forward Katelin Korman. Korman just finished her rookie season with the Spartans where she led the team in goals (10), assists (8), and points (18). A graduate of the Fraser Valley hockey program, the Surrey native has been a solid scorer at the SCWHL level as she had nine goals and ten assists with the Fraser Valley Jets two seasons ago before enrolling with TWU this past year. If there is one concern, she had no points in two playoff games this past season in her rookie campaign, but I wouldn't worry too much about that stat as Korman looks to be a solid pillar around whom TWU can build.

If good teams are built from the goaltender out, it seems TWU has a good foundation in Sienna Cooke. Cooke, who only started playing goaltender at the age of 11, played with the Vancouver Fusion midget program prior to her collegiate career where she put up some solid numbers that led her to a goaltending position with the AUS' Saint Mary's Huskies in 2012-13! Cooke's time with the Huskies only lasted two seasons, but she went 24-13-0 in those two seasons, posting a 1.90 GAA, a .924 save percentage, being named Team MVP and Female Rookie of the Year at Saint Mary's in 2013, and was named as part of the 2013 CIS All-Rookie Team!

So why didn't Cooke's career last the full five years? She was accepted into the RCMP in her home province of British Columbia! If Cooke has enrolled at TWU to complete her degree, her addition stabilizes a goaltending position that saw teammates Stephanie Grant and Sherri Break win one game in 14 appearances last season. Cooke could theoretically finish her career at the U SPORTS level on the Pacific coast after playing her first two seasons on the Atlantic coast.

We'll know more about who will move to Canada West once this upcoming season is done. Perhaps some of these players will want to go elsewhere with all the travel that Canada West teams do - Cooke seems like she'd want less with her RCMP work - and I imagine rosters will change with recruiting efforts by both these squads raised to match the rest of their opponents. I'm am extremely excited to see both MacEwan and Trinity Western joining Canada West, though, and this should build some solid new rivalries with teams across the west!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 346

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, hits the air tonight with a very special guest as we get inside the mind of one of Manitoba's best officials! Beans is off tonight as he tends to a house of sick kids, so Jason Pchajek and I will welcome this young woman who gets yelled at more than she should, disagreed with more often than not, and glared at for reasons for which she shouldn't be. It should be a fun show as we break down the walls on officiating and get the insight from a woman whose name will likely be heard at bigger tournaments and games in the future!

Tonight, The Hockey Show is proud, honoured, privileged, and humbled to introduce you to Miss Amy Martin, one of Hockey Manitoba's best and brightest officials! We'll talk to Amy tonight about her officiating career, how she got started, some of the abuse she deals with, and a number of her accomplishments as we dig into her life in stripes! For those that don't know, the "brightest" portion of that comment above will also be highlighted as Amy is a rather gifted student who graduated from the Engineering department at the University of Manitoba, and her work in the classroom growing up makes her an amazing role model for young women interested in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) career! Tonight, we meet Miss Amy Martin on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

For those asking, the Survivor: NHL Playoffs contest officially had four more people voted off the island, and we'll tackle those exit interviews next week on the show. It will give some proper reflection time for Teri (NYI), Derek (CBJ), Travis (DAL), and Jared (COL) to come up with solid exit interviews for their teams, so tune in for those next week as the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs continue! As a side note, Teri's elimination means we'll have a new champion this year as she entered this year's contest as the defending champion, so one of John (CAR), Dianna (BOS), Darin (STL), or Richard (SJS) will take home the grand prize of the Chicago Blackhawks jersey this year!

Speaking of joining us on the show, the new UMFM website's online streaming player is pretty awesome if you want to listen online. If you're using an Apple device, the player doesn't seem to like Safari yet, but we highly recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or perhaps another browser. If you do use the TuneIn app, you won't be disappointed. It's a solid app.

Having lost faith in Facebook, I spend far less time on that site for good reasons. In saying that, you can still email all show questions and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! We're here to listen to you, so make your voice heard!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason chat with Amy Martin on life as an official, getting yelled way too often, tolerating players, coaches and fans, why she's so good at what she does, and much more only on The Hockey Show found exclusively on 101.5 UMFM, on the UMFM app, on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: May 9, 2019: Episode 346

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!