The Rundown - Week 7

It's a quieter week than what we normally see as the Alberta Pandas, the Saskatachewan Huskies, and the Manitoba Bisons are all on a bye week for various university-related reasons, but we still had six teams seeking points to improve their chances at a playoff spot this season. Honestly, it's weird knowing that both Saskatchewan and Manitoba have four games in-hand on the Calgary Dinos within the same division, but I'm not in charge of the Canada West schedule. Let's check out the six teams that were on the ice competing for points this weekend on this week's edition of The Rundown!

FRIDAY: As always, the Calgary Dinos make highlight reels and post them on YouTube, so they always get pushed to the top here on The Rundown. They were hosting the Trinity Western Spartans this week who swept a weekend prior to being on the bye last weekend while the Dinos were looking to jump back into the win column after a split one week ago. The Dinos have been good at home with a 5-1-1 record while the Spartans brought their 4-2-1 record on the road to Calgary!


Spartans goals: Kyra McDonald (5), Jordyn Matthews (4)
Spartans assists: Kasey Ditner (4), Presleigh Giesbrecht (5), Kyra McDonald (5), Presleigh Giesbrecht (6)
Spartans netminders: Olivia Davidson (25/28) in 60:24 of action

Dinos goals: Brooklyn Anderson (3), Sydney Mercier (5), Sydney Mercier (6)
Dinos assists: Brooklin Fry (3), Sydney Mercier (2), Alex Spence (7)
Dinos netminder: Amelia Awad (35/37) in 60:24 of action

Result: 3-2 overtime victory for Calgary over Trinity Western.

SATURDAY: With both teams scoring two goals in quick succession on Friday - Calgary in 1:14 and Trinity Western in 1:34 - both of these teams showed they have lethal scoring when given a chance. The first periods on Friday were quiet as both played solid defence, but we saw points collected by both squads as they went to overtime. Would we see more extra time in Saturday's contest between these teams?


Spartans goals: none
Spartans assists: none
Spartans netminders: Olivia Davidson (23/24)

Dinos goals: April Klarenbach (5), Sydney Mercier (7)
Dinos assists: Alex Spence (8)
Dinos netminder: Alyssa Barrette (19/19)

Result: 2-0 victory for Calgary over Trinity Western.

FRIDAY: The MacEwan Griffins headed southwest over the mountains to meet the UBC Thunderbirds in a West Division matchup where MacEwan was looking to end the Thunderbirds' undefeated run to start the season. UBC was aiming to keep the good times rolling, and there was a chance we might see a little history this weekend if a few players turned in good performances. Could the Griffins slow down the high-flying Thunderbirds in any way this weekend?

Griffins goals: Kori Paterson (2)
Griffins assists: none
Griffins netminder: Taya Currie (44/49)

Thunderbirds goals: Mia Bierd (2), Grace Elliott (11), Jaylyn Morris (5), Mia Bierd (3), Grace Elliott (12)
Thunderbirds assists: Jacquelyn Fleming (3), Kailee Peppler (2), Presley Zinger (4), Kailee Peppler (3), Grace Elliott (4), Audrey Church (1), Mya Healey (3), Jaylyn Morris (4)
Thunderbirds netminder: Elise Hugens (16/17)

Result: 5-1 victory for UBC over MacEwan.

SATURDAY: I'll talk about the history made on Friday by two UBC players down below, but the winning streak continued. MacEwan was back to try to derail the the Thunderbirds on Saturday, but it seems they're only getting better as their secondary scoring is finding its groove as well. The Griffins were looking for a better effort on Saturday while UBC looking to push the win streak to 12 games.

Griffins goals: none
Griffins assists: none
Griffins netminder: Lindsey Johnson (34/39)

Thunderbirds goals: Olivia Buckley (1), Grace Elliott (13), Madisyn Wiebe (1), Mia Bierd (4), Karine Sandilands (4)
Thunderbirds assists: Mya Healey (4), Mia Bierd (2), Annalise Wong (11), Karine Sandilands (2), Hanna Perrier (2), Mya Healey (5), Olivia Buckley (3), Jaylyn Morris (5), Madisyn Wiebe (2)
Thunderbirds netminder: Mya Lucifora (16/16)

Result: 5-0 victory for UBC over MacEwan.

FRIDAY: It's always a good time when the Cougars meet the Cougars, and it was Mount Royal who headed east for a weekend series with Regina. Mount Royal came into the weekend with the second-longest winning streak in Canada West at seven games while Regina swept ther previous weekend's games. This East Division weekend battle could be significant in the race for playoff spots for both teams!

Cougars goals: Ava Metzger (1), Jerzey Watteyne (4), Julia Duke (4)
Cougars assists: Jerzey Watteyne (2), Julia Duke (2), Summer Fomradas (5), Ava Metzger (3), Jerzey Watteyne (3)
Cougars netminder: Scout Anderson (26/27)

Cougars goals: Kaitlyn Gilroy (3)
Cougars assists: Pippy Pritchard (3), Shaylee Scraba (1)
Cougars netminder: Amy Swayze (23/26)

Result: 3-1 victory for Mount Royal over Regina.

SATURDAY: The Alberta Cougars took the first round off the Saskatchewan Cougars, so Regina was looking for the split on Saturday as they looked to keep pace with Mount Royal. Shocking, Regina may want to petition the league to play on the road more as they're 4-0-1 away from Regina while sporting a 1-4-1 record in the Saskatchewan capital. With MRU looking for a ninth-straight win, both Cougars teams wanted to finish the weekend with a solid effort!

Cougars goals: Allee Gerrard (6), Summer Fomradas (2), Sydney Benko (6), Julia Duke (5)
Cougars assists: Sydney Benko (5), Kaia Borbandy (2), Keyana Bert (3), Kiana McNinch (5)
Cougars netminder: Katherine Holan (19/19)

Cougars goals: none
Cougars assists: none
Cougars netminder: Natalie Williamson (21/24)

Result: 4-0 victory for Mount Royal over Regina.

Don't even ask about divisions. I'm not interested in that setup. It's one conference, nine teams, and we'll see who is best in the west.

CANADA WEST WOMEN'S HOCKEY

School	Record	Points	GF	GA	Streak	Next
UBC	11-0-1-0	24	39	9	W12	@ ALB
Mount Royal	6-2-4-0	20	30	16	W9	@ TWU
Calgary	8-3-1-2	20	30	20	W2	vs MAN
Trinity Western	3-4-5-0	15	30	23	L2	vs MRU
Regina	3-5-2-2	12	17	23	L2	BYE
Saskatchewan	2-3-3-2	12	16	23	W1	vs MAC
Alberta	3-5-0-4	10	23	31	L4	vs UBC
MacEwan	1-10-1-2	6	11	36	L4	@ SAS
Manitoba	0-5-1-4	6	13	28	L9	@ CAL

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. She's been on the radar all season as she's helped her team to the top of the division, she's represented Canada at the FISU Games, and her play over the last few seasons has made her recognizable across Canada West. With three goals and four points including the overtime winner on Friday, Calgary's Sydney Mercier adds her name to the list!

Mercier had a down year with nine points last season compared to her previous two seasons where she registered 22 points in each season, winning both the Canada West and the U SPORTS Rookie of the Year honours in 2022-23. She's not quite setting up goals with the same frequency as she did in those first two seasons, but it seems she's going to smash her Canada West high of nine goals set in 2022-23 as she already has seven goals this season with 14 games to play!

Mercier likely won't break Iya Gavrilova's program record of 23 goals in one season, but her four points this weekend pushed her back into a tie for fifth-most points in Canada West. The Dinos are 4-0-1 when she lights the lamp this season, and she has goals in three-straight games as the Dinos get set for a showdown with Manitoba. For a four-point weekend that saw Calgary collect four points including two off her stick in overtime, that's how Sydney Mercier made the list!

History Made

The last few weeks have seen me talk about Grace Elliott chasing the UBC program record for goals. On Friday night, it happened.
As shown on the highlight, the officials initially waved off the goal, but further discussion between the stripes eventually saw the goal awarded. I can conclusively say that the puck went off the near post and into the net where it popped the water bottle behind MacEwan's Taya Currie at the 13:00 mark of the first period while on the power-play for Elliott's 62nd goal of her career, passing the UBC program mark of 61 set by Tatiana Rafter in 2015! How awesome is that?

A big congratulations goes out to Grace Elliott from HBIC on breaking the UBC Thunderbirds' program record for goals, and here's hoping there are many more before you move to the next chapter of life!

The Numbers And Dates

For those needing a little trivia, Elliott's first Canada West goal was scored on October 23, 2021 at home against Manitoba when she opened the scoring on Manitoba Bisons netminder Erin Fargey at 5:39 of the first period with assists going to Chanreet Bassi and Rylind MacKinnon in an eventual 5-1 victory. She tallied her 64th goal on Saturday to sit just five goals back of Calgary's Iya Gavrilova for the sixth-highest total in Canada West history. If you're wondering if her total may one day be in jeopardy, the highest career total for any current Thunderbirds player is 16 goals. Calgary's Brooklyn Anderson sits second among active players with 37 career goals.

If you were wondering how the numbers break down for Elliott, it's nearly baffling to think that she has just one hat trick in her career, and that came this season on November 1, 2025 against the Regina Cougars when she beat Amy Swayze three times in a 3-1 win. Including that hat trick, she has just eight games where she scored two or more goals. She has scored 33 of her 64 goals at home while potting 31 on the road. Might Grace's middle name be "consistency"?

The Trinity Western Spartans have been her favorite victims as she has 13 goals against them in her career, just slightly ahead of the 12 she has scored against Regina and 11 against MacEwan including this weekend. Among the rest of the teams, Elliott has scored seven times against Mount Royal, six times on Manitoba, and five times on each of Alberta, Calgary, and Saskatchewan. Of the eight Canada West teams, Calgary was the last of the teams she scored against when she finally beat Gabriella Durante at home at the 1:00 mark of the second period on November 24, 2023 in a rare 3-2 loss to the Dinos.

Haunting Their Memories

When you've scored 64 times in your career, there's a good chance you've scored on a number of goalies. That's the case here with Grace Elliott as she's scored on a total of 23 different goaltenders so far in her career. Elliott may want to send an apology to Trinity Western's former netminder Kate Fawcett after scoring eight times on Fawcett in her career, but Regina's Natalie Williamson and MacEwan's Lindsay Johnson have had the lamp lit behind them five times apiece as well.

Four other goalies to date have been beaten four times, but only two are still active: Manitoba's Emily Shippam and Calgary's Amelia Awad. The other two goalies are former Cougars - Mount Royal's Kaitlyn Ross and Regina's Arden Kliewer. I'm pretty certain there will be a lot goalies breathing a sigh of relief when Grace Elliott graduates.

The Next One To Fall

UBC's Elise Hugens tied Manitoba's Stacey Corfield with her 64th victory on Friday night after stopping 16 of 17 shots against MacEwan. She'll get two chances in Edmonton to beat the Pandas, and there's no reason to believe that she won't win her 65th Canada West regular season game next weekend in front of friends and family as the Sherwood Park native looks to become the winnigest goalie in Canada West history with one victory over the Alberta Pandas.

It took Stacey Corfield some 5590 minutes to win 64 games, and Elise Hugens was able to win the same number of games in just 4704 minutes. She also has made 1410 saves compared to Corfield's 1931 saves, she's appeared in just 79 games compared to Corfield's 106 games, and Hugens already surpassed Corfield's 17 shutouts with her 24 clean sheets which trails only Alberta's Lindsey Post who has 31 shutouts. She hasn't been as busy, but Elise Hugens has been just as good as those two Canada West goaltending legends in her career.

It should be a special scene at the end of one of two games next weekend if UBC is leading. Elise Hugens stands on the edge of Canada West history, and it appears that she'll set the new record for wins as a Canada West goaltender. Keep an eye on those games!

Moving Towards A Top-Ten Finish

UBC's Annalise Wong picked up her 55th assist on Saturday, moving her into a tie with Tatiana Rafter for second-place all-time in UBC Thunderbirds' history for assists. Wong's assist on Grace Elliott's 13th goal of the season was her 11th helper this season, and her seventh time she's set up Elliott so far in the 2025-26 campaign.

With her next assist, Annalise Wong becomes the second-best setup player in UBC history, and it will move her into a tie for 19th-best all-time in Canada West history with former Alberta Pandas Lori Shupak and Jennifer Newton at 56 asissts. It'll take a big effort to get to tenth-best all-time with 67 assists that would tie her with former Manitoba Bisons forward Alanna Sharman and former Alberta Pandas forward Autumn MacDougall, but Wong hit 22 assists last year. If she equals that total, she'll be at 66 for her career, tying her with Iya Gavrilova. One more, and she hits the Canada West top-ten!

That's How You Do It

Calgary's Alyssa Barrette let Canada West know that the Dinos have another solid netminder on their depth chart as she started her first game on Saturday night, went about stopping all 19 shots that Trinity Western threw at her, and collected the shutout in her first game! The former NWCAA Bruins U18 AA boys' team netminder showed why the Calgary Dinos wanted her on the roster for the future!

Want to see an interview with Alyssa before she became a Dinos netminder? Of course you do, and you can hear who her goalie role model is off this interview from the Bruins U18 AA Instagram page!

Following The Pros?

As you likely know, the CFL's Grey Cup will feature the Montreal Alouettes facing the Saskatchewan Roughriders for Canadian football's biggest prize. What you may not know is that the Vanier Cup this season will feature the Montreal Carabins facing the Saskatchewan Huskies for U SPORTS football's biggest prize!

In terms of women's hockey, the Saskatchewan Huskies and Montreal Carabins have met just once at the U SPORTS National Championship. Montreal beat Saskatchewan 3-0 back in 2014 when the St. Thomas Tommies hosted the event in Fredericton. For the record, another Montreal-based team won the gold medal that year as the McGill Martlets captured their fourth gold medal in Fredericton with a 4-3 win over those Carabins. That was also the last tournament to feature six teams before the tournament expanded to eight teams.

Women's hockey and football are obviously different sports, but you didn't think I'd miss an opportunity to push women's hockey, did you?

The Last Word

We're back to eight teams being in action next weekend, but it's odd seeing two teams having played only ten games and two teams already having completed half of their schedule. If you're Manitoba and Saskatchewan, this is where you need to collect as many points as possible while you have those games in-hand if there's going to be playoff talk on those campuses. Of course, if you're the Bisons, just winning in regulation might be a good first step on which to build.

By the way, UBC's magic number is five. Any combination of five UBC wins and/or MacEwan losses will clinch a playoff spot for UBC. It's not unreasonable to think that the Thunderbirds might have a playoff spot locked up before the calendar flips to December. That's downright ridiculous, but that's how good UBC has been this season!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Friday Night In A Bookstore

I'm far from being Ben Stiller in any aspect of my life, so the title of this article might be a little misleading if you were thinking I did some sort of variation on A Night at the Museum. I assure you I wasn't locked in a bookstore nor was I interacting with various displays, but I did spend a few hours at a bookstore this evening listening to the man pictured to the left as TSN's James Duthie is in town for the CFL's Grey Cup festivities! James was at the McNally Robinson location in Grant Park where he was talking about and signing copies of his new book, Certified Beauties published by Harper Collins Canada, while entertaining the dozens of folks who showed up to meet him. It was a fun night of story-telling from one of Canada's best story-tellers, and I'm glad I made Friday plans to visit a local bookstore!

The Hockey Show on UMFM was lucky enough to have James on as a guest back in 2015, and we had an incredible chat about the book he had published back then, The Guy on the Left, and everything that he covered in that book. I still feel that's one of the best interviews we've done on the show due to how honest and funny James was, and I'll always be grateful for the time and interview he gave to our show.

Tonight's chat about Certified Beauties felt a lot like that as James answered a lot of questions about how the book came about, how he got some of the stories from the players he spoke with, and some of his favorite stories. He spoke about meeting with Roberto Luongo for one of his TSN parody clips which has led to the two having a strong friendship, he was honest about loving the opportunity he gets in covering The Masters golf tournament, and he even broke some news about the media coverage at the upcoming Milano-Cortina Olympics!

After the formal talk about Certified Beauties, James spent time signing his books for everyone in line while chatting with them about everything. His interest in why people were buying the book, their connections to hockey, and the excitement they had in meeting him was felt by all, and he volunteered for every opportunity to be in a photo with someone. It was certainly an absolute pleasure to speak with him when my moment arrived, and it's very possible that something fun may come out of that discussion between us!

I've been told and certainly have heard a number of times in my life that one shouldn't meet his or her heroes. I don't think it would be fair that I use that word with James Duthie because I feel like he's more than that. He's a genuine, fun-loving, entertaining guy who works in sports media and enjoys his work on a daily basis. He speaks to you like a neighbour when you're out in the yard - friendly, good discussion with lots of smiles and laughs. Yes, he works on TSN and he'll likely be recognized no matter where he goes in Canada, but he doesn't carry himself in that manner in any way whatsoever.

James will likely be busy getting prepared for the Grey Cup game this weekend so I'm not sure if there will be other chances where people could meet him around Winnipeg, but his personality and fun-loving self is on display on the pages of The Guy on the Left while his love of heart-warming and entertaining hockey stories comes through in spades in both Beauties and Certified Beauties. With the holiday season approaching, these three books and his fourth book, The Day I (Almost) Killed Two Gretzkys, would make great gifts for the hockey fans in your life! Find them at your local bookstore today!

I never thought I'd be writing about hanging out at a bookstore on a Friday and enjoying every moment of it, but it was certainly worth it to meet James Duthie and listen to him speak about his experiences!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 686

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back tonight to venture down rabbit holes that no one really enjoys exploring despite the necessary conversations found there. Out hosts were lucky enough to chat with a big player in the world of pulling back curtains on the game of hockey, and that interview will happen tonight. They'll also talk about a few more tough-to-hear stories that deserve some more coverage as the show takes a serious turn with tough topics and discussions thanks to the topics tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason had the honour to sit down with TSN Senior Correspondent Rick Westhead earlier in the week to discuss his new book, We Breed Lions published by Random House Canada. Westhead's book opens up conversations on all the dark parts of hockey like sexual assault, rape, hazing, bullying, the "what happens in the room stays in the room" secrecy among teams, alcohol and drug abuse, exploitation of power and intimidation, how people turn a blind eye to the listed crimes, and how teams cover up any illicit activity committed by anyone associated with the team. After that 30-minute chat with Rick, our hosts will look at what happened on a high school team in the Pembina Valley earlier this year, have a discussion about a specific U SPORTS team who seemingly did nothing despite the complaints made by players, and how we all need to stop being embarrassed about discussing these difficult topics. It's a show of tough, but necessary, chatter about the culture of the game tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The UMFM website's streaming player works well if you want to listen online. We also recommend Radio Garden if you need an easy-to-use online stream. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store. 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! 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 with the incomparable Rick Westhead before having their own discussion about the dark culture of hockey and examples of this unsavory culture exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: November 13, 2025: Episode 686

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Is This Child Abuse?

You may not recognize the rather elaborate logo to the left, and that's ok because it comes from a league to which most people never pay attention. The team that wears that logo is CH Tartalo Gasteiz who play in Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain in the Liga Iberdrola de Hockey Hielo. They're a relatively new team to the league as they just began play this season, and it's painfully obvious that they may need some help as they look to build the new Spanish women's team. Today's article might be an example of the worst first season for any team in any league on the planet, and it might serve as tongue-in-cheek evidence for child abuse when you hear about the details.

The CH Tartalo website doesn't jump off your browser as a site where you're going to find a lot of in-depth information. They don't even have a roster page on their site, so I'm wondering if this placeholder page is awaiting some sort of web designer or writing staff in order to make the page a little more useful. There are a few places on the page where one can click links or send an email or message to the club, but it's significantly lacking almost everything one would expect for a hockey team's website. At the very least, it needs a roster!

Obviously, there would be opportunities for women to join this new team, but, as we know, Spain is a developing hockey country. They have a decent national team that will play in the 2026 IIHF Women's World Championship Division I, Group B tournament after being promoted last season, so they're slowly rising through the IIHF's rankings. Having more places for players to play will obviously help that growth they're experiencing, so an expansion team like CH Tartalo Gasteiz is a good thing for the growth of hockey in Spain.

CH Tartalo Gasteiz, it appears, is aiming for a youth movement on their squad as they have no player on their roster older than the age of 21. They have eight players aged 15 or younger with one being 13 years-old, so you may already see the problem developing when you consider that they're playing against adult women who, in some cases, are twice their ages. Adding to their youth-team appearance is that only one player stands taller than 5'5" on their roster as per Elite Prospects. This is a young, small team that has zero experience they need to be playing in the Liga Iberdrola, but they've decided to give it everything they have this season to change that narrative.

As with any expansion team, you expect some nerves and jitters for their first-ever game in the league, but the age of the girls and lack of high-level hockey experience on the Tartalo roster may have been bigger factors as they faced Txuri Urdin on September 20 in their very first Liga Iberdrola game. After a 7-0 first period where Tartalo was outshot 23-0 in the frame, Tartalo would drop their inaugural game by a 22-0 score while being outshot 35-2 in the contest. OUCH.

For the record, Lorea Bothwell recorded the team's first shot on net in a Liga Iberdrola game in the second period, alternate captain Maria Del Hoyo recorded the team's first penalty at 13:40 of the second period for tripping which Tartalo would kill off, and goaltender Nagore Tilva stopped 22 shots in the game. Irati Romano had the other shot on net for Tartalo in the third period as Tartalo looked forward to the next game on October 4 against Kosner Huarte.

I won't go over all the details from their next five games, but I will provide you the statistics so you can determine if this team of teenagers is getting better. Scores of 16-0, 22-0, 19-0, 23-0, and 19-0 followed the 22-0 opening game, and they were outshot 216-13 in the four games that followed. The 19-0 game that they played yesterday against CG Puigcerdà had Canada West fingerprints on it, so this was a game that I kept an eye on due to those connections.

For those that don't know, former Calgary Dinos players Courtney Kollman and Annalise Meier are both playing for CG Puigcerdà this season after Kollman had a strong run with Davos in the PostFinance Swiss League while Annalise spent last season in Germany with EC Bergkamen Baren. While both had opportunities to return to those teams, they opted for a new adventure in Spain. Personally, the level of competition in the Liga Iberdrola isn't close to anything like what both Kollman and Meier played against last season, so I was curious how they'd do in the Spanish league this season as teammates.

Kollman had two goals and four assists in the opening 18:28 of play as she either scored or assisted on every first-period goal scored by CG Puigcerdà. After establishing a comfortable lead for her team, Kollman added a fifth assist and two more goals in that 19-0 blowout of Tartalo as she scored four goals on four shots in this contest. CG Puigcerdà would outshoot Tartalo by a 70-4 count. Meier, who did not dress for the game, didn't factor in, but we know she can score based on her Canada West work so this one could have been worse!

If you're doing the math at home, Tartalo has been outscored 121-0 this season while being outshot 343-17 over six games. If there is any silver lining to be found, it's that goalie Nagore Tilva does have a .647 save percentage playing against some women who have a decade of age, physical maturity, and experience on her. I'm not sure how Tartalo's coaching staff prepares this team for games, but the challenge they face right now is to put five shots on the opposing goalie in one game. That has yet to be accomplished by this team.

Of course, scoring their first goal should be treated like winning the IIHF World Championship, but we can't put the cart ahead of the horse here. It's clear that these teenagers are overwhelmed in this league, and I strongly question whether they're improving as players when the only thing they seem to do is fish the puck out of their net.

My hope would be that the leaders at the CH Tartalo Gasteiz can find a few teams that are less imposing than those in the Liga Iberdrola so the girls on Tartalo can build some confidence and work on what they practice in a game situation. Having 17 shots in six games means there's virtually zero offensive time for this team, and the 343 shots-against indicate that their defensive game is being torn to shreds.

I was being facetious in the title of this article when I used the term "child abuse", but I have never seen a collection of teenagers get beat up so badly week after week as the players on CH Tartalo Gasteiz are. My hope is that they are improving by playing against superior opposition, but the numbers seem to say otherwise. In knowing that, the toughest adversary that CH Tartalo Gasteiz may face this season is discouragement among its players that would lead them to quitting hockey. No one who is a fan of the game wants to see any players leave the game due to poor experiences.

Something has to change here for Tartalo, though. These crushing double-digit losses aren't good for anyone in the Liga Iberdrola.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

A Kalamazoo Tradition

I have to admit that I don't partake in ice cream all that often in the winter, but it's something that I only enjoy occasionally in the summer. It's not that I don't like ice cream, but finding a flavour that one likes or wants to indulge in every once in a while might be the hardest thing about ice cream. The probably means that there are some good flavours out there that I'm missing like "Unicorn Toots" or "Moon Mist", but ice cream comes in all sorts of flavours and colours. Food dyes play an important role in giving flavours of ice cream their eye-catching colours, and this is why I'm writing this article today because the ECHL's Kalamazoo Wings are going to continue a tradition where they seem to have cornered the market when it comes to their sheet of ice at the Wings Event Center. Who's up for some odd-coloured ice?

For those that aren't aware, the white ice that we see in rinks is artificially-coloured. According to howstuffworks, the ice you see in rinks is coloured with white paint that "comes in 40-pound bags of powder that have to be mixed with water". The Wings figured out long ago that the ice can be painted with alternate colours to represent specific days and events as they were the first team to have green ice on for St. Patrick's Day on March 17, 1982! What they didn't know, as written by John Peterson for the Wings, was that the green food colouring they chose to use to dye the ice green has "a chemical in it that prevents freezing. The ice that night featured puddles of standing water and made it a sloppy game. The cardboard shamrocks underneath the ice developed air pockets and cracked. When players were knocked down, they’d get up with green dye all over their jerseys."

The Wings have since perfected their technique so that players aren't falling down and getting up in a different colour, but they're going to throw a new shade of paint on the ice this weekend as the Wings will paint the ice lavender in support of the NHL's Hockey Fights Cancer initiative. The team will skate on the lavender ice against the Fort Wayne Komets, and they'll be holding their Specialty Jersey Auction with proceeds benefiting the West Michigan Cancer Center!

Obviously, it's admirable that the Wings are doing this to help cancer research, but we're here to talk ice of different colours, right? Again, Kalamazoo, Michigan is the right place to be because Toni Will, Wings' general manager and Governor, spoke to AccuWeather's Senior On-Air Meteorologist Adam Del Rosso in 2021 about the history and process that goes into painting all their ice all the colours of a rainbow!

Pretty cool, right? The Wings might hold the answers for other teams who want to start colouring their ice surfaces after all the colours they've painted their rink, and they'll add lavender this Friday when they help support the NHL's Hockey Fights Cancer initiative.

The Kalamazoo Wings aren't known for wild colours on their jerseys, but they've skated on ice that's been painted green, pink, yellow, and, on one weekend, all the colours of the rainbow. Frankly, more teams should be willing to have a little fun with their ice surfaces!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!