The Hockey Show - Episode 418

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, returns tonight as Teebz and Jenna sort through the hockey stories from the past week, and there were a couple of massive stories that need some discussion. The Stanley Cup Final is also underway with the Tampa Bay Lightning up 2-1 on the Dallas Stars, the KHL is currently under siege, there was a pretty big anniversary this week considering the state of women's hockey, and I have a couple of birthday wishes to toss out tonight for a couple of loyal listeners!

If you missed Rick Westhead's look at painkillers and their use by NHL players, I highly recommend that you watch The Problem of Pain. Teebz and Jenna will discuss the information presented by TSN with a look at university hockey and sports where the treatment of pain is also becoming more pharmaceutical. We'll take a look at the ESPN Bubble Confidential piece by Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshynski on whether this bubble idea, for all its has produced, is worth the trouble and effort. There was a trade that was made, called off, and then killed altogether yesterday that legitimately might be one of the worst trades for one team in its history. On top of that, we have a Lanny McDonald legal update, we'll look at Stamkos' cameo and goal in Game Three, Dallas not getting their big guns rolling, the KHL's COVID-19 problem, and Manon Rheaume blazing a trail for women 28 years ago yesterday with her appearance for the Tampa Bay Lightning!

Where's the best place can you hear tonight's show if you're outside Winnipeg or not near a radio, you ask? 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.

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 Jenna go over the pain of painkiller usage, the unhappiness of being in the bubble, the headache of bad trades, the hurt seen in the courtroom, the injury keeping Stamkos off the ice, the heartbreak for Dallas, the wall Rheaume broke through for women's hockey, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: September 24, 2020: Episode 418

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

A Small Celebration

Today's a pretty special day. While it doesn't relate to me directly, indirectly there's a good reason to celebrate as my brother is turning another year older. I don't talk much about him here on HBIC, but he is a hockey fan as he appreciates the work done by Drew Doughty in Los Angeles. He plays a mean game of softball, he works hard, he enjoys his time off, and he's a good dude. For as much as the kid may have lived in my shadow growing up, he's a guy I admire and respect as his talents as many and most of them have helped me immensely!

There have been some notable NHL names who were born on September 22 and celebrate this day along with my brother. Do you know who is the highest-scoring player born on this day? Your answer is at the bottom of this article!

The player who was born on September 22 closest in proximity to my brother would be Foxwarren, Manitoba's Pat Falloon! Drafted second overall in 1991 by the San Jose Sharks, Falloon played 575 NHL games with the Sharks, Philadelphia Flyers, Ottawa Senators, Edmonton Oilers, and Pittsburgh Penguins where he scored 143 goals and 179 assists for 322 NHL points! He was the first player ever drafted by the Sharks in franchise history, and was the Memorial Cup Tournament MVP in 1991 with the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL. Falloon's career never blossomed as much as it did in his 59-point rookie campaign, but he did the 40-point plateau four times in his career. Is he the highest scorer whose birthday is today?

He's actually the third-highest scorer who was born today!

We know that goalies don't score often, but it would hard not to include former New York Rangers netminder Mike Richter on this list of exceptional players after he played in 666 games for the New York Rangers, amassing a 301-258-73 record on the strength of a 2.89 GAA and a .904 save percentage. Richter, in a weird twist, is actually 11th-highest in terms of scorers on the list of 20 players who were born on this day as his 11 assists rank just behind former Colorado Avalanche forward Steve Moore's 12 points! As we know, Richter backstopped the 1994 New York Rangers to a Stanley Cup championship, helped Team USA capture the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, and earned a silver medal in 2002 at the Salt Lake City Olympic Games with Team USA. Richter had his number retired by the Rangers and he's a member of the US Hockey Hall of Fame. So it's not Richter despite his accolades.

Derick Brassard gets a mention because he's the guy born today who played with the most teams in his NHL career thus far! To date, Bassard has suited up for seven NHL teams that include the Columbus Blue Jackets, the New York Rangers, the Ottawa Senators, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Colorado Avalanche, the Florida Panthers, and the New York Islanders. Brassard won a World Championship gold medal with Canada in 2016 and a World Junior Championship silver medal in 2005, but his scoring in the NHL hasn't been too shabby as he has 186 goals and 297 assists for 483 points. Is he the highest scorer?

He's actually second in all-time scoring for people born on this day!

The highest-scoring player born today is American Mark Johnson! Mark, seen to the left as part of the 1980 Team USA team that won the Olympic gold medal, played with five NHL teams over his ten-year NHL career that included the Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota North Stars, Hartford Whalers, St. Louis Blues, and New Jersey Devils. Johnson scored 203 goals and 305 assists - the only play born today to reach the 200-goal and 300-assist plateaus! Mark played his father, "Badger" Bob Johnson at the University of Wisconsin where he was the first Badger to win the WCHA Rookie of the Year honours. In 2002, he was named as the head coach of the University of Wisconsin–Madison women's ice hockey team, winning the NCAA championship in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2019. Johnson also coached the 2010 Team USA women's Olympic squad in Vancouver where he helped them earn a silver medal. He was awarded the 2011 Lester Patrick Trophy for outstanding service to hockey in the United States, and was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004. And his 508 NHL points make him the highest-scoring player born on September 22!

There's a little fun for today as my brother celebrates his cake day. I want to wish the men above and the other players who I didn't mention a Happy Birthday today as they all celebrate today! To my brother, have the Happiest Birthday yet, and here's to another great year next year!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

TBC: Bobby Orr's Skates

I have a collection of books that I'm working through on my bookcase shelf that will make it onto HBIC before the end of the year. The problem with having a number of great books on the go mean none have quite been finished yet, so I'll get to work on that. In saying that, Teebz's Book Club returns to the blog today with a very special book that is for the younger hockey fans as I feel I don't review enough books for the kids in the crowd! Teebz's Book Club is proud to review Bobby Orr and the Hand-Me-Down Skates, written by Bobby Orr and Kara Kootstra, illustrated by Jennifer Phelan, and published by Tundra Books! This is a great story about a boy, his skates, and his dreams that incorporates a little bit of hockey history and magic into the story!

I'm sure you know the notable name on the list of authors, and it's true that former Boston Bruins defenceman and Hall of Famer Bobby Orr was a co-author of this book! He, of course, revolutionized the defenceman position in the NHL, using his speed, vision, scoring ability, and skating to win the Art Ross Trophy twice, the Hart Trophy three times and the Norris Trophy eight consecutive times. He won the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins twice, earning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP on each occasion. Orr retired in 1978 and was enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame the following year as the Hall waived the mandatory three-year waiting period for Orr. Today, Orr runs the Orr Hockey Group, a player agency for hockey players.

Bobby Orr and the Hand-Me-Down Skates is the third book that Kara Kootstra has written with respect to Bobby Orr, following her other successful books The Boy in Number 4 and Jay Versus the Saxophone of Doom. Kara's dad is a former NHL player, a retired professor, and a longtime hockey coach, so she grew up loving the game and invested in the history of the game. She graduated from the University of Windsor, and currently resides in the Ontario city with her husband and two children. When she's not using her writing talents for children's books, Kara can be found with music as she's a classically trained singer and pianist!

Jennifer Phelan is a reknowned artist whose works have appeared in American Illustration and 3x3. Phelan's first children's book, Hey, Boy, published by Simon & Schuster, was named as one of the 2017 New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books. Her second book, The Log Driver's Waltz, brings to life a story through images surrounding the iconic Canadian vignette shown on Canadian TV based on the song by Wade Hemsworth. Jennifer currently live in Toronto with her artist husband, Gleb, where she "works as a designer/PM at Hypenotic, teaches Illustration at Dawson College, and serves on the Board of Directors for Art Starts."

I have to admit that I always want to commit myself to more book reviews for younger fans, and I'm very glad I had the opportunity to review Bobby Orr and the Hand-Me-Down Skates. The story of Bobby and his dream of buying brand-new skates only to find hand-me-down skates in their place woven by Kootstra and Orr sounds a lot like a young boy's story who grew up in Parry Sound, Ontario where he played hockey from dawn until dusk and into the cover of night.

What makes Bobby Orr and the Hand-Me-Down Skates so great is that the story is written in easy-to-understand language as younger readers will latch onto Bobby's story as the pages turn. Combined with the amazing artistry found on the pages throughout the book, Bobby Orr and the Hand-Me-Down Skates is one of those books where younger readers and listeners might gain more from looking at the pictures as the story is read than simply imagining it happening. Phelan's artist work really shines as a nice complement to Kootstra's and Orr's story.

Bobby Orr and the Hand-Me-Down Skates contains a nice message of gratitude as Bobby's wish for new skates doesn't materialize when he expects it, but he doesn't complain about his new hand-me-down skates. This subtle lesson written into the lines of the story is a nice touch, and it may lead to a second lesson of good things coming to those who wait. While Bobby didn't get what he wanted, his selflessness in accepting and being thankful for a gift might lead to better things in his future!

If there's one thing that struck me as I read Bobby Orr and the Hand-Me-Down Skates, it was the similarity to Roch Carrier's Le chandail de hockey where Carrier's protagonist received a sweater for the Maple Leafs as opposed to his beloved Canadiens. While the end of the stories are different, the reaction to the gifts that both protagonists have are entirely different, and the lessons learned in the end may reflect the decisions and reactions made at the discoveries of the lesser-wanted items in both stories. That being said, Bobby Orr and the Hand-Me-Down Skates definitely stands on its own two skates as an excellent story similar to The Hockey Sweater.

I made mention of Jennifer Phelan's artistry in the book above, but it needs its own paragraph because she has done an exceptional job in bringing the story to life through her images. For example, her hand-me-down skates diagram comparing the "features" of the old skates to the new, from-the-store skates that have nothing but shine and sparkle on them is worth the price of the book alone. I have to say that I really appreciated the work that Phelan did in Bobby Orr and the Hand-Me-Down Skates, and I suspect both you and your younger hockey fans will appreciate them too!

Overall, Bobby Orr and the Hand-Me-Down Skates is the kind of story your kids will want to have read to them over and over as they take to Bobby's desire for new skates and absorb the amazing imagery on the 40 pages of the book. That may seem like a long story, but each page has a few lines to a couple of small paragraphs, and it would entirely suitable for a bedtime story. From the great writing to the incredible illustrations to the moral lessons written in between the lines, there's no doubt that Bobby Orr and the Hand-Me-Down Skates is deserving of the Teebz's Book Club Seal of Approval!

You can find Bobby Orr and the Hand-Me-Down Skates at your local bookstores starting tomorrow as the book is released nationwide on September 22! Based on the story, Bobby Orr and the Hand-Me-Down Skates is recommended for all readers of all ages!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The First Of Many

It was always hard for me to cheer for Jaycee Magwood when she was a member of Regina Cougars women's hockey team. She was lethal on the ice for the Cougars against most teams, and she was a monster to play against with her size, her great hands, and her speed. The fact that she's a Manitoban made me want to cheer for her, but I just couldn't until it was her final year in Canada West and I began to appreciate the skills she had and why she was so special. While she unfortunately never got to win a National Championship and was denied a chance at a Canada West title, there was something about Jaycee that made you knew that she wasn't going to be done with hockey once her university career came to an end. She just had that fire that couldn't be extinguished.

Hearing that she signed this summer with MODO in the SDHL made me smile because I knew she was going to play in one of the best professional women's hockey leagues on the planet, and she belonged there with her skill set. As a goal scorer, she was going to find the net over in Sweden sooner rather than later, and we now have a record of that first professional goal scored by Jaycee Magwood!

In the third period with MODO on the power-play, this was the scene.

Jaycee Magwood's first professional goal was scored at 17:55 of the third period on a power-play on September 19, 2020 where she deflected an Erica Rieder shot past Stephanie Neatby! Olivia Carlsson, who cycled the puck down to Rieder on the point, picked up the second assist!

I am super-happy for Jaycee as she notches her first professional goal in just her third pro game! I suspect there will be more, so keep your eyes on this space as the SDHL season progresses!

Speaking of which, MODO, who dropped the game against Linkoping by a 2-1 score, was back at it today as they squared off against Djurgårdens IF as former UBC Thunderbirds forward Mathea Fischer and former U SPORTS Player of the Year and STFX Huskies forward Sarah Bujold visited MODO. Former Bisons defender Erica Rieder recorded her first point of the season on the assist on Magwood's goal yesterday, and she followed that up with her first goal of the 2020-21 SDHL season today!

In vintage Rieder fashion, she collects the puck in her own end while on the power-play, circles the net, breaks past a couple of forwards down the wing, cuts to the middle at the face-off circles, and rips a low shot past Lovisa Berndtsson to put MODO up 1-0 at 8:28 of the second period! That goal was straight out of her Bisons playbook, and it's great to see Erica notch her first goal of the season!

If you continue to watch the video, you'll see Sarah Bujold even the game at 1-1 at 12:41 of the second period while on the power-play as she pots her second of the season off a rebound from a Josefine Jakobsen one-timer, and these two teams would head to the third period tied at 1-1.

Jakobsen would score with 3:33 to play to give Djurgårdens the 2-1 victory as MODO couldn't overcome the deficit late, pushing MODO to a 1-3-0-0 and eighth-place in the SDHL. The ladies from MODO have to give their netminders a little offence, and one goal in each of this weekend's games simply wasn't enough!

It's always good to see former Canada West players scoring goals, and it's especially awesome to see Jaycee Magwood notch her first professional goal. Erica scored her first pro goal last season, but she's got one under her belt this season now and I expect we'll see many more from both Magwood and Rieder before this season is out as I'll work to bring updates on all ten former Canadan West players suiting up in the SDHL this season!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Wear The Alternate!

This jersey is affectionately known as the Mooterus jersey as worn as an alternate jersey by the Dallas Stars from 2003-06. While it was universally hated thanks to its logo looking like the reproductive tract of a woman, I happen to own one. Why, you ask? Because, as one Twitter friend said, "I hate hockey," but the bigger picture is that it fits my method of acquiring jerseys that other people hate. I have a handful: the NY Islanders' Fisherman, the Bruins' Pooh Bear, and the Gretzky-era Blues to name a few. The Mooterus, though, always brings out the hate from people who see it.

I proclaimed on Twitter once the Lightning had eliminated the Islanders that I would wear the Mooterus jersey until a winner was crowned in these playoffs. It's not that I don't like the Lightning, but I'm pulling for Rick Bowness who has waited forever to coach in a Stanley Cup Final as a head coach. It's also hard not to like a guy like Joel Hanley, who scored his first ever NHL Playoffs goal tonight, or a guy like Anton Khudobin who has been a good goalie for a while, but stuck behind other netminders in various cities.

With Dallas' win tonight over the Lightning, it was the first time in these playoffs that I had worn the Mooterus while watching a game, and that means the hideous Mooterus jersey is now 1-0 in these playoffs!

Granted, I had nothing to do with the win and me wearing a jersey in support of a team makes little difference in the world when you think rationally, but a win is a win is a win!

I will wear it on Monday for Game Two of the Stanley Cup Final, but I do expect a serious push from the Lightning who looked a little disoriented due to Dallas' speed and physicality. Let's hope the Mooterus' second appearance in these playoffs result in the same ending as its first appearance!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!