Maybe Down The Road?

The jersey to the left is what would have been worn by the NCAA's Tennessee State Tigers had they started their program this past year. The historically Black, public university was supposed to have skaters flying around the ice for 2025-26, but they pushed the start of their men's hockey program back to the start of 2026-27 due to a fundraising shortfall. Hockey, as we all know, is an expensive sport, so taking the extra year to raise funds and have strong backing seemed prudent. The big asterisk on statement, however, is that not only was the school's fundraising inadequate to start a team, but the school has no funds to start or support a men's hockey program until 2030 at the earliest. While the dreams of having an NCAA men's hockey program at Tennessee State were always lofty, they now appeared to be crushed beneath the harsh reality of the school's dire financial situation.

Acccording to The Athletic's Julian McKenzie on June 19, 2026, "the university needs funding to ensure the hockey program's viability for 'at least five years or more,' accounting for operational costs and scholarships" with Tennessee State University President Dwayne Tucker telling McKenzie that "a final decision could be coming in the next '30 days or so'" about the program's potential viability.

McKenzie noted that "TSU's previous interim president, Ronald A. Johnson, noted in a letter written that month that the school had a negative cash balance of $18 million and an overall deficit of $52 million for the 2025 fiscal year" while "[a] financial audit for the 2024 fiscal year stated the university's previous management, led by the now-retired Glenda Glover, 'lacked appropriate oversight,' leading to 'errors' in the school's financial statements, 'deficiencies in oversight of federal programs' and 'inadequate daily operations.'"

In summary, shoddy accounting led to a major operating revenue shortage resulting in a crippling deficit, leading to TSU to reconsider the viability of the proposed men's hockey program. Tucker also outlined that TSU has "outdated student dorms and the aging on-campus football stadium" that require major fundraising capital to maintain and improve those facilities. Basically, a men's hockey program isn't in the cards for TSU at this time due to these reasons.

Of course, that article was filed over three weeks ago, so that "30 days or so" time limit proposed by Tucker is approaching quickly.

There may not need to be any additional waiting, though, because Alex Daugherty of The Tennesseean reported yesterday that "the team has canceled its 2026-27 season, according to a source with knowledge of the situation who wished to remain anonymous because the news is not public". Tucker refused to comment when contacted by Daugherty which seems like an odd tactic considering the gloom he forecasted, but Daugherty did note in his article that "six coaches gave a vote of no confidence for Tennessee State's athletic director Mikki Allen" in May. Things seem to be unravelling quickly at TSU.

I'm not here to cast judgment on TSU's fundraising efforts, but it sounds like they need financial responsibility more than they need a men's hockey program. I get that putting a hockey team at a historically Black, public university could do amazing things for increasing the number of Black players and personnel in the game, but it shouldn't be done at the expense of other needs like safe dorms for students and a more modern football stadium.

Assuming their accounting practices are sound after the financial debacle of the last couple of years, TSU should hopefully be able to erase most of their deficits and debt and look forward to offering more programs - academic and athletic - to its incoming students. Hockey wasn't important to former students like Oprah Winfrey, Olympian Ralph Boston, and Dr. Alvin Crawford, so fixing their financial situation to get back to steady ground should be the focus.

Hockey at TSU would have been an awesome thing to see, and that dream doesn't have to die. It should, however, be shelved until the school gets its books in order. As I said above, hockey is an expensive sport no matter who is funding it, and adding those unnecessary costs to a school trying to dig its way out of a financial hole is an unreasonable ask of Tennessee State University at this point in time.

As most people find while adulting, one can have dreams of something big. Often, though, those dreams are pushed down the road due to more pressing needs that require attention. That's usually how life works, and I hope that TSU does the right thing by getting their house in order financially before chasing that dream.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 720

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, returns tonight to chat about some of the latest news coming from the hockey world. With summer officially upon us, the news from the ice is slowing down, but there still are things happening that need some discussion. Of course, with Survivor now officially over, we can also get some guests on for interviews, so expect a few chats with awesome people shortly! For tonight, though, we dive into the examinations of a few stories that have hit the news, so we'll get into all that tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason will take a run at a few stories as their discussions will look at the IOC letting Russia back into Olympic competition, the Guelph Storm making changes to their arena, Rogers completing their takeover of MLSE and what that might mean, the newest Stanley Cup engravings, the Jets affiliating with a new ECHL franchise and why that's bad, and the New York Islanders holding a fun contest that has exploded in 24 hours. There should be some laughs, frustration, and opinions heard tonight as we break down these stories 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.

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 will discuss zero courage, team expenses, corporate sports, unneeded engravings, inexplicable affiliations, artistic fun, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Screens In The Ice?

If there's one thing I know about the work that goes into getting arena ice ready for a season of hockey, it's that it takes a lot of time and planning. Arena staff have to properly measure, align, and paint lines by hand for the various lines needed in hockey, and the bigger teams may include logos or elaborate designs in their lines. The logos seen in faceoff circles are usually large, printed logos that are installed below the ice surface and they're usually a static design for the entire season. But what if they didn't have to be?

The OHL's Guelph Storm announced today that they're upgrading the Sleeman Centre, and one of the new things that fans will see at the rink this year and beyond is an ice surface that changes its logos and advertising as the Storm see fit. Thanks to a Finnish company named LedFoil! With a number of European clubs using their technology, LedFoil is looking to break into the North American market with their in-ice LED technology where they likely will make a fortune!

Guelph will see it used at centre ice in place of their traditional, faceoff-circle team logo, and Storm vice-president of business Matt Newby told Mark Pare of GuelphToday.com, “Depending on what jersey we're wearing on a given game, or if we're doing a special event – which we're going to do with the Platers – it allows us to put that logo at centre ice instead of the Storm logo," adding, "It's an LED scoreboard in the ice, the entire centre ice circle."

This sounds interesting, right? The options for teams could be limitless depending on how creative they get, but I'm a definite "try it before you buy it" guy. What does this in-ice LED display look like when being used during a game? Is it as good as Newby suggests?

Waterloo, Ontario-based Athletica Sport Systems, who owns the North American distribution and selling rights, has a video up on YouTube, and I have to say that seeing what this technology can do might change how hockey looks in North America. Check it out below!
Before we go any further, that video is also two years-old, and the company has yet to post anything newer. I'd love to see some of the ways this technology is being used by hockey teams, but Athletica Sport Systems doesn't have those details available anywhere.

That's not a setback, though, because both Athletica Sport Systems and the LedFoil companies have images on their website where they talk about the cool science that goes into the LedFoil system.

"Smart LED-unit is installed inside the ice and is supported by a cloud-based content management software. It enables live interaction with fans and changes the event experience. First and foremost the digital in-ice display enables scalability which adds the number of sponsors and gives your club more time to seek advertising partners. Ultimately LEDFOIL ICE multiplies club's commercial income so that the core business, sport, would do better."

I'm not particularly excited about adding advertising to the ice, but I get how hockey in today's age works. Money matters when it comes to running a franchise and an arena, so finding extra revneue-generating spaces in an arena matters to owners. That's obvious.

Depending how deep an owner's pockets may be, LedFoil can be added to the ice from the "centre circle to the entire ice as well as to the boards". The LedFoil installation can show things like logos, videos, and animations, so you're likely going to see this in NHL arenas sooner rather than later when it comes to owners maximizing revenue dollars. For teams like Vegas, it could upgrade their pre-game productions further, so this technology could significantly change how hockey looks from an entertainment standpoint!

If you're wondering about the costs, there is nothing posted on either website and Guelph Storm's Newby "was hesitant to say what the cost would be, as he isn’t sure what the company is charging other teams". Being that scoreboards with video screens are usually hundreds of thousands of dollars, I would expect those kinds of numbers to be on an invoice for any arena that wants to install LedFoil. It certainly isn't a necessity for hockey at this point, but LedFoil's technology may eventually be part of the standard arena equipment one day if teams begin to see and realize benefits.

We'll have to keep an eye on Guelph's ice this season to see if this investment is worth it, but this technology is already being used in Europe by Czech club HC Dukla Jihlava and Finnish club Oulun Kärpät. If Guelph's financial statements at the end of the year show a big jump in advertising revenue, expect other teams to follow suit.

For as much as I dislike seeing ads plastered everywhere in rinks, on boards, on jerseys and helmets, and on the ice, it seems we're not far from having dynamic sets of ads appear inside the ice as well. Maybe hockey is actually the distraction from two hours of advertising?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Hamilton Goes Nuts And Bolts

There was a pile of news that happened today across this great country when it came to sports radio, but I don't want to dwell on the negative brought on by Rogers Communications and their buffoonery. Instead, I want to head down the road from Toronto to one of the cities that make up the Greater Toronto Area - the GTA - in the southeast portion of Ontario. For as muc as Hamiltonians will tell anyone that they're different in all walks of life compared to Torontonians, they still occupy space in the GTA. Like Toronto, though, they're now an AHL city once again as the Hamilton Hammers will begin play this season. Today, we got to see their jerseys!

I want it on record that I still hate the team name. I'm not here to win any points with Hamilton or its fans, though, so seeing the rest of the jerseys could potentially improve the logo's overall aesthetic or it could drag them down to 1994 levels of hate like the Islanders' Fisherman jerseys got. So what do they look like, you ask?

The design isn't actually that bad if I'm being honest. Simple arm and hem striping keep the hockey sweater look alive, there's good contrast with that horrific logo, and the numbers are easily readable. I'm not a fan of the drawstring necklines anymore, but I don't see a lot of problems here with the Hammers' jersey. The absence of the shoulder yoke isn't even a problem as it allows that solid blue colour to really stand out against the white ice in arenas, so I think the Hammers and, by proxy, the Islanders did a fairly good job here by keeping it simple. There's no wave jersey template, so it's not like they're going to get Fisherman hate spewed at them.

The back of the jersey is just as clean in its design with easily-readable block letting for the name and a standard block font for the number. The two-colour sewing allows the blue to pop with a little more colour from the orange outline, so that works nicely. I'm not fan of the AHL and CCM logos in the middle of the hemstripe as that's all sorts of gaudy and self-aggrandizing, especially when you consider that CCM's logo is already on the neckline as well. If the league dropped the AHL logo back down to the bottom of the jersey and eliminated the second CCM logo, things would improve drastically for the back of the Hammers' jerseys. Because that they don't allow me to do AHL corporate deals, my opinion is simply that the logos look terrible placed where they are.

Hamilton likely won't look bad next season when they take the ice as long as no one is focused on their logo. These are clean, simple jerseys that look like traiditonal hockey sweaters, and that's a good start to the Hammers' legacy in Hamilton. They aren't going to move a lot of jerseys because they have catchy colours or an awesome design, but the Hammers will look like a hockey team anytime they wear their jerseys. That's a win despite the logo on the front.

Should Hamilton be wearing colours that aren't the same scheme as the New York Islanders? Yes, absolutely. However, the limited scope of their colours works well in this design, so here's hoping the Hammers can rise to the occasion in spite of their logo. They aren't flashy, but they're the nuts and bolts of what a hockey jersey should look like.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Welcome To Tor-Rogers

I've been avoiding phone calls from Rogers Communications for more than a week now simply due to the call being a sales pitch for some new mobile plan they've schemed. In the slight chance that it's something else, I'm sure they would have emailed me, but I have precisely less-than-zero desire to listen to someone pitch me on a phone plan that doesn't come close to the one I have. Despite me continuing to let them know that they should not be contacting me with sales pitches, we're going to go around this carousel once again because I, as a customer, clearly don't know what's best for me. What I dislike about these cales calls the most, however, is that Rogers will use any new-found money to help finance their sports and entertainment empire that solely focuses on the Toronto market after today's major announcement.

If you thought that Rogers Sportsnet already did the country a disservice by being very Toronto-centric in its broadcasting, be prepared for more because Rogers Communications agreed to buy out Kilmer Sports Incorporated today from its 25% ownership stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment for $4.35 billion, making Rogers the sole owner of the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs, the AHL's Toronto Marlies, the MLB's Toronto Blue Jays, the NBA's Toronto Raptors, and the CFL's Toronto Argonauts. Outside of the soccer, the Sceptres and the Tempo, Rogers owns every professional sports team in Toronto.

Beginning in September, Rogers will have spent nearly $23 billion on sports properties in just over one calendar year if one takes into account the new 12-year, $11-billion agreement for the national NHL rights, and you have to think that most of, if not all of, the Toronto Maple Leafs' schedule will be airing exclusively on Rogers Sportsnet where they can make all the ad revenue they can to help pay off this latest investment. Apparently, money is no object on Bloor Street.

At some point, the CRTC has to step in and start breaking up this telecommunications monopoly that Rogers is creating around their sports franchises. We already know that they forced CBC out of professional hockey with the costs to sublicense games. Rogers doesn't provide a French option for the Quebec region despite the fact that the Canadiens likely won't have French regional broadcasts next season. The costs of its subscription-only, premium service which gets viewers access to every NHL game next season sits at $325 annually while the basic package - four regional channels with blackouts outside your region - is $250 annually. Adding Sportsnet to a cable package starts at $15 per month. Is that even worth it?

I should asterisk the above worries by saying that Rogers Sportsnet hasn't announced any sort of schedule yet, so there's no guarantee that Sportsnet will have 84 Maple Leafs games on this season despite how real that seems. What should worry everyone, though, is that the costs of watching Sportsnet are real no matter what sport you want to watch, and that's where the CRTC needs to find some courage and tell Rogers that their telecommunications oligarchy that their prices are insanely too high and that Toronto professional sports cannot be monopolized on Rogers' television networks.

They already lost me as a viewer when the CBC announcement was made as I stand firmly by the public broadcaster's 74-year effort in turning hockey into Canada's sport. I still have ways of watching without paying, but the cost alone is a major barrier. What would be incredible is if Canadians simply stopped subscribing altogether, forcing Rogers in major losses where they have to take drastic measures. Of course, that would like mean Rogers shuttering radio and television stations to cut costs, but maybe that's the route we, as Canadians, have to take to make hockey affordable again.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are not just for the richest of the rich. Last season, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment raised ticket prices "by more than 20 percent in some sections". The purple section at the very top of Scotiabank where the "nosebleed" tickets are situated went from "went from $8,522... to $10,396" in 2025=26 for two season ticket packages. Season tickets in some of the gold sections in the lower bowl were raised "more than $2,000 to $28,240 for a pair of tickets, or $344 per ticket per game," while "[p]layoff tickets in those seats are priced at $36,152, with Rounds 1 through 4 going from $5,184 for four games to $6,224, $9,886, and $14,848".

I get that Toronto is the largest Canadian market and that, by population alone, they have more affluent fans who can afford these prices. Everyone will tell you that ticket prices are based on a supply-and-demand market, but there's a strong correlation between Rogers paying $23 billion to own most of Toronto's professional sports teams and the NHL rights in Canada to their ticket pricing being higher than everywhere else in Canada and still rising. Yes, there's a waiting list for season tickets in Toronto so demand is high, but how many people have $28,000 of disposable income for hockey tickets right now?

"It is sad that the game has become so corporate and no longer can real fans afford to go every game," Danny Russell, a a retired teacher and longtime season ticket holder in Scotiabank Arena's golds section, told James Mirtle of The Athletic. "No longer do you just 'give' your tickets to someone and say, 'Take your kid to a game.' Doubly sad."

That's the reality in today's NHL: it's no longer a night out for a family nor a bonding event between parents and kids. The NHL and its teams have made fan engagement into an investment that shuts out a lot of fans from which they can take part. The burden of this investment is that it always requires more and more money whether watching from a seat in the arena, watching at home on the television, or simply buying a piece of merchandise like a jersey to support the team.

With so few television options in Canada, Rogers has essentially cornered the market for hockey broadcasts. They have sublicensed Monday night games to Amazon for the Prime streaming service, and there are a handful of regional broadcasts for some teams on TSN networks. None of these are free, though, so one needs to subscribe to three different broadcasters in order to watch all 84 games.

If Rogers was to do the greediest thing and put all 84 games on Sportsnet Ontario with a handful of them being shown nationally, Maple Leafs fans from other regions would need to subscribe to Sportsnet's full package where all five Sportsnet stations are available. That doesn't mean there won't be blackouts, so it's back to the Sportsnet+ streaming service for fans outside the Toronto region.

Imagine paying $325 in Saskatchewan to watch the Leafs on TV! How many kids can plop themselves down on Saturday night and watch their favorite team if they can't find them on TV?

What Danny Russell said to James Mirtle about hockey being "so corporate" has never been truer today with Rogers' takeover of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Expect prices to continue to rise, expect the average middle-class fan to stop attending games, and expect the NHL to start asking more questions and sounding the alarms about attendances in smaller markets. The economics of the league no longer make sound financial sense to most middle-class fans, but even moreso in Toronto where season ticket prices could easily eclipse $700 per ticket per game in the lower bowl.

No one told me that I had to make an NHL salary to be a fan, but that's what it's going to take if one wants to cheer on one's favorite team from inside an NHL arena while wearing that team's jersey while eating a hot dog with a beverage after parking outside. They can deny it all they want, but Rogers Communications is a major part of why hockey is failing in this country: it's too damned expensive.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!