The Hockey Show - Episode 668

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back tonight to take care of all the little notes and bits of news that have filtered in across our hosts' respective desks. As you may be aware, the offseason is when a lot of hockey business gets done that may or may not affect the product on the ice when things get rolling again, and we need to hit all of those small stories to get us ready for another summer of fun on The Hockey Show. Buckle up those seatbelts because we're going to jump from country to country as we cover all the news from a plethora of leagues tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight on the program, Teebz and Jason will get off of North American soil to bring you hockey news from other parts of the globe! They'll chat about hockey news in Germany, Finland had some hirings of people you know, Sweden has some big news for women's hockey coming this season, Switzerland is implementing a change for its women's league, Russia checks in with all sorts of signings and news, we have Australian hockey updates, and we may even slide a few North American news stories in if time allows. It's going to be a busy show with lots of discussion on players, coaches, management, strange decisions, and more 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 about Germany, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, Australia, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

More Contact In Switzerland

You can file this under "News that should have been reported months ago", but the Swiss women's league, better known as the PostFinance Women's League, crowned SC Bern as its champions back at the end of March. It was a heckuva season over in Switzerland as I kept a close eye on things with former UBC Thunderbird Joelle Fiala and former Calgary Dinos teammates Elizabeth Lang and Courtney Kollman lighting lamps for HC Davos. After they fell in the playoffs, my focus turned to other hockey matters, but I probably should have been keeping an eye on the league for offseason news because that's the topic for today!

We've seen women's hockey leagues adopt the idea of bodychecking as an effective tool in the arsenal of the players. Both the PWHL and the SDHL have it, and neither of those leagues imploded nor were there a plethora of violent hits nor significant injuries. Yes, there were some injuries caused by bodychecks - it would be ignorant not to acknowledge that - but the vast majority of the body contact seen was to separate puck-carrier from puck as those leagues' rules state.

In saying that, we can now add a third league to the roster of women's leagues that allow bodychecking as the PostFinance Women's League in Switzerland will allow such plays as defined by their rules. This rule change went into effect on May 5, 2025 and will take effect in the 2025-26 season in Switzerland for which the Swiss teams will need to prepare. And I don't mean loading up with linebackers.

Long-time Swiss National Team member and PostFinance Women's League forward Lara Stalder seemed happy with the rule change, stating, "The adjustment of the rules regarding physical play, as in Sweden, brings more clarity, better prepares players for international competitions, and represents an important step in the further development of women's ice hockey in Switzerland. It is also important for Olympic preparation and helps reduce injuries, as it leads to greater awareness and body tension during the game."

Despite her sounding more like a coach than a player in her explanation, she is correct in that players will need to be aware of not only their own bodies when it comes to giving and receiving hits, but the bodies of opponents as well. It should be noted, however, that the PostFinance Women's League added a very clear and definitive definition on what kind of bodychecking will be allowed and what will still result in a penalty. The rule on checking reads,

"... are generally permitted under the same rules as in men's hockey — with the exception of so-called "open-ice hits," in which both players are moving in opposite directions. Such hits will continue to be punished with a minor penalty or a major penalty, including an automatic suspension."

That seems pretty straightforward in that one generally has to be moving in the same direction as the player receiving the check or, at worst, possibly perpendicular to that player if they are along the boards. It goes without saying that hits from behind and hits that target the head and neck area would still be penalized no matter from what direction the check comes, so eliminating the open-ice hits should prevent serious injuries as the rule hopes to achieve.

As the release states, there was always some mystery around what can and cannot be called for a penalty when it came to body contact in the women's game as "the inconsistency in rule interpretation lies in the varying levels of play, the different speeds of play, and physical differences such as the players' height, weight, and physical strength. What is considered fair in one situation can quickly be considered dangerous under other circumstances. These factors make an objective and consistent assessment significantly more difficult," and the introduction of this new rule should hopefully clarify the legality of that contact. With all players understanding that checking will happen as per this new rule, there should be less discussion about what's legal and what is not when it comes to contact.

Will this change women's hockey in Switzerland? No, not exactly. It can potentially lead to turnovers and scoring opportunities as players can be bumped off pucks in the defensive zone, but I don't think we're going to see a "Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em" type video from the PostFinance Women's League at any point. European hockey isn't played that way as it is, but we didn't see the SDHL turn into gladiatorial wars nor do we see a ton of thunderous checks in the PWHL. There were some big hits, but they were part of the game.

We'll see if the PostFinance Women's League tracks hits next season which is something I'd like to see other women's leagues do. There are physical players who make good plays by separating players from pucks, but it's hard to see who may be most effective when it comes to physical play. Having that info can help players when it comes to free agency as that added element could be what a team is seeking.

In any case, the hits will be seen next season in the PostFinance Women's League. We'll have to see how the game evolves with this new wrinkle in the mix, but my guess is that it will continue to be as good as it was this past season. I'm already excited as a fan.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

A Curious Move

If you haven't seen anything about the KHL on this blog in a while, that wasn't entirely intended, but I don't think anyone really came here to read about Russia's version of the American Hockey League. Yes, the KHL is Russia's top hockey league that often sees players heading there due to the money, but the hockey isn't all that great outside of a handful of marquee players. Outside of a handful of teams, the majority of the KHL plays blissfully mediocre hockey while trying to stay afloat financially. For one team, that has meant playing in a city nowhere close to the one they represent, and it appears they're moving again this summer.

Kunlun Red Star was founded in 2016 in Beijing, China as a way for the Chinese National Team to improve before the 2022 Winter Olympics that was hosted in Beijing. Of the twelve countries that participated in that Olympiad, China finished in 12th-place, losing all three games in the round-robin portion of the tournament and scoring two goals against sixteen goals-against over those games. Shoutout to Shuai Fu and Taile Wang who beat German netminder Mathias Niederberger for the two Olympic goals in front of the home crowd.

Clearly, that effort didn't come close to the results that China was seeking, and Kunlun Red Star moved away from associating itself closely with the Chinese National Team in favour of a more competitive KHL team. Players like Brandon Yip, Tomas Jurco, Tyler Graovac, Jake Chelios, and Jermey Smith were brought in to help the team move up in the KHL standings, but the Dragons regularly find themselves in the lower half of the standings year after year.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the team had reached an agreement to play home games in Moscow at the Arena Mytishchi for the 2020-21 season in an effort to reduce the travel and movement of people across Asia as countries tightened their border restrictions. That agreement was kept in place for the 2021-22 season with the Olympics happening in Beijing, and, as travel began to resume in 2022-23, it was expected that the Dragons would return home to Beijing as they hoped to continue growing the game across China.

Except that never happened.

Kunlun Red Star has played at Arena Mytishchi ever since the fall of 2020, and they appeared to be set to make Moscow their home once again this year if it wasn't for a little league intervention. As the comment on that Instagram link states, "Kunlun Red Star was ranked first overall by audience gained % in KHL 2024/2025 season," so it seems like the Moscow-based Chinese team was gaining in popularity in their home away from home. The KHL may have recognized this trend, and they made an executive decision for the 2025-26 season.

With Arena Mytishchi holding just 7000 fans per game, the chance to grow that number larger with more fans in seats simply meant moving the team to a larger facility. That's where the KHL entered the discussion as it appears they decided to move the team to the largest hockey arena in the world as the 22,500-seat SKA Arena in St. Petersburg will now house Kunlun Red Star for the 2025-26 season!

Frankly, this seems like a wild gamble when it comes to filling a 22,500-seat arena when one considers that they're moving from Moscow to St. Peterburg for this season. If the Dragons were making progress at attracting Muscovites to their games, that's a credit to them for figuring out how to get Moscow-based Russian hockey fans into a building to see them play. It's not like fans from Beijing were making that trek to see the Dragons in action, so it's hard to fathom why the KHL would move them seven hours northwest from where they were finding success in attracting fans and making money.

You might be thinking, "Doesn't St. Petersburg have a KHL team?", and you'd be correct as SKA St. Petersburg plays in the city. According to eurohockey.com, "SKA St. Petersburg recorded the highest average attendance at 17,648 spectators per game" in 2023-24, so the KHL is really going to put Kunlun Red Star into the same arena where the team with the highest attendance already plays. If you're like me, the question in your heads is "How on earth does that make any sense?"

I guess that Instagram post on the KRS China site that was made in May about securing Arena Mytishchi for the upcoming season meant nothing? I would have assumed that contracts would need to be signed in order for Arena Mytishchi to ensure there was staffing and amenities available for games, but it seems that the arena will now sit empty when it should have had KHL games being played in a number of the evenings. No one will likely discuss how Kunlun Red Star is getting out of that agreement, but maybe someone should since moving to St. Petersburg appears to make zero sense.

To recap this whole saga:

• Kunlun Red Star are supposed to play in Beijing.
• For the last five years, they played in Moscow.
• In 2024-25, they had the largest audience gains by percentage.
• They agreed to play at Arena Mytishchi for a sixth season.
• The KHL inexplicably moved the team to St. Petersburg.

I often ask why the business of hockey ruins so many good things in hockey like seeing a fanbase grow and having people support a "home" team that is technically from another country, and it dawns on me that not many people involved in the game are in it to make the game better. Everyone wants their share of the pie when it comes to entertainment dollars, and the opportunities to take a few more dollars in always outranks that option to do better in all cases.

In this case, a growing fanbase in Moscow was coming out to Arena Mytishchi to cheer on the Chinese KHL team, so the "logical move" would be to have the team play 700kms away in an entirely new city where none of the fans have cheered for Kunlun Red Star in any of the previous five seasons. Yes, there will be people who go to watch the Dragons play in St. Petersburg, but they'll always be second fiddle to SKA St. Petersburg in that city no matter what Kunlun does on or off the ice to rally fan support. That's just how it is.

I know things aren't great in Russia overall, but it seems like Kunlun Red Star is getting the raw end of this deal if all the facts are true.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Fly Like An Eagle

Colour me surprised that another former Winnipeg Jets forward was making news in July, but it seems that the mustard-eating Mark Letestu, pictured to the left, has himself a new role in the AHL! No, he's not making a comeback for his playing career, but Letestu is moving from the Cleveland Monsters where he spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach to the Colorado Eagles where he'll assume the head coaching role after Aaron Schneekloth left for a position with the Seattle Kraken.

Letestu was hired by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2021-22 as their development coach and as the Cleveland Monsters' assistant coach, and he's overseen the development of players such as Liam Foudy, Trey Fix-Wolansky, Jet Greaves, Owen Sillinger, and Daniil Tarasov to name a few. While the cupboards have mostly been bare for the Blue Jackets over the last few seasons, players like Jake Christiansen and David Jiříček saw big improvements to their games come in the Cleveland system. That's not all Letestu, but he had a hand in it.

Rather than working with the new additions to the Blue Jackets' depth chart, Letestu joins the Colorado Eagles who finished atop the AHL's Pacific Division with a 43-21-8 record before falling in five games in the best-of-five Pacific Division Final to the eventual Calder Cup champion Abbotsford Canucks. Needless to say, Letestu's coming into an organization that's hungry for more success.

"We're excited to welcome Mark to the Avalanche and Eagles family," Avalanche Assistant General Manager Kevin McDonald stated in the release today. "Mark has quickly established himself as up-and-coming coach in the American Hockey League and we feel he’s the perfect fit to lead the Eagles moving forward."

You might be wondering who Letestu will lean on when it comes to star players, and I don't think he'll have to worry about defender Jacob MacDonald filling that role after he scored 31 goals and 55 points this season. If he somehow isn't skating for the Avalanche next season, MacDonald will be a nightmare for goalies once again.


Letestu's development role will see him work with 77th-overall selection in defender Francesco Dell'Elce if he opts to leave UMass-Amherst this season. Adding another dynamic defender to complement the work of MacDonald would certainly be a boost for the Eagles as Dell'Elce was named a Hockey East All-Rookie Team member while finishing tied for second in the NCAA in scoring among freshmen defensemen. Colorado always seems to find good scoring threats from the blue line, and Dell'Elce continues that trend.

He may also get a shot to work with the 118th-overall selection in Swedish defender Linus Funck and the 214th-overall selection in forward Nolan Roed. Both look like capable skaters in the AHL with some solid upside to get them to the next level, but it will come down to hard work and dedication along with some quality coaching and development from Letestu if and when they get to the AHL level.

"I am very grateful to both the Avalanche and Eagles for this opportunity," Letestu said in the release. "I am excited and ready for this challenge to lead their AHL franchise. Thank you to the Kroenke family, Joe Sakic, Chris MacFarland and Kevin McDonald for their trust in me, as well as a big thank you to Martin Lind, Ryan Bach and the entire Eagles organization. Most importantly thanks to my family for all of their support throughout my playing career and now my coaching career. I can’t wait to get the season going."

He may have only played seven games in a Winnipeg Jets uniform, but it's always nice to see a former player come full circle by becoming a coach and imparting his experiences and wisdom on the next generation of players. I can't say that he'll demand to have mustard packets on the bench for the Colorado Eagles next season, but Mark Letestu has shown that he has the drive to make players better. In turn, that should make the Eagles better and, ultimately, the Avalanche better as both teams seek more championships.

This season, Mark Letestu will spread his coaching wings as he looks to push his team to new heights in making the Eagles soar!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

He'll Raleigh The Hurricanes

I'll be completely honest in saying that I'm extremely disappointed that Nikolaj Ehlers will wear the colours of the Carolina Hurricanes for potentially the next six years. He was must-see hockey for the Jets most nights as he often found creative ways to score and setup his teammates with the Jets. Having that talent move to Carolina hurts because that's a hole in the lineup that simply can't be fixed via free agency for the Jets. And for as much as hockey is a business where players have a short window to get paid well for playing the game, Nikolaj Ehlers is now another former Winnipeg Jets player who loved playing in Winnipeg, but will now play somewhere else. Why can the Jets not retain these players?

According to Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, he was told on Wednesday evening by Ehlers' camp that the Danish sniper would not be returning to Winnipeg. As noted in a TSN article, Cheveldayoff stated that "the club would put it's 'best foot forward' in trying to make Ehlers a Jet for life," but that clearly did not happen after he told Cheveldayoff on Wednesday in "an emotional conversation" that he was leaving for greener pastures elsewhere.

This was a team that knew that Ehlers was going to be a free agent, and they appeared to sit on their hands while doing nothing to prevent it all season long. It makes you wonder what they'll do to re-sign Kyle Connor with his pending free agency on the books for next summer. And you have to think that Ehlers leaving might affect the statuses of players like Gabe Vilardi, Dylan Samberg, and Morgan Barron who remain unsigned as we hit the first weekend of July.

None of that matters now, though, because Ehlers' statement to head coach Scott Arniel likely said a lot more than just how the words read. Arniel, after speaking to Ehlers, stated on Thursday, "He just felt the biggest thing for him was he needed a change of scenery. It wasn't based on the city or the hockey team. He felt like he had been here a long time and this was his one chance to make a change."

Again, "a change of scenery" and "one chance to make a change" speak louder than anything else because it sounds like Ehlers wanted more opportunities to be a difference-maker, and it seems Carolina is willing to give him that opportunity. For a guy that was eighth-overall in even-strength ice time for forwards on the Jets despite being third in points-per-sixty-minutes, you can understand why Ehlers might be looking for that change of scenery. When Mason Appleton had more average even-strength ice time than Ehlers by over half a minute, you cna start to see why Ehlers may not have been excited to return.

The other part of the statement - "It wasn't based on the city or the hockey team" - seems to indicate that he liked the city and he liked his teammates. Like his good friend Patrik Laine, Ehlers seemed to take to Winnipeg like he was back home in Denmark. Fans adored him, he was allowed to live his life without a lot of fanfare, and everything pointed to Ehlers seemingly being a Winnipegger for his entire career, if not for life. However, like Laine, he's now playing in a city not named Winnipeg, and it seems that the people running the Jets are most responsible for that. In that respect, why do the Jets seemingly push out players who like living and playing in Winnipeg?

You can't tell me that the Jets didn't have the cap space to not only outbid Carolina, but they also could have offered more term to keep Ehlers in Winnipeg colours. You can't tell me that the fanbase who were refreshing social media every few minutes since free agency opened on July 1 weren't dying to see a re-signing announcement. And yet the Jets knew on Wednesday night that Ehlers had moved on when it came to their chances to re-sign him, citing that "change of scenery" that he needed despite liking the city and team.

I should note that he never came out and publicly said, "I love Winnipeg," but it also doesn't matter at this point because he's a Carolina Hurricanes winger. Perhaps I'm reading far too much into what wasn't said in his statement to both Cheveldayoff and Arniel, but I still am baffled they didn't lock the winger up long before he hit free agency with a deal that would have made sense for both Ehlers and the team. Frankly, if I were an NHL general manager, core pieces that are vital to the success of my team wouldn't ever become available on the open market. This might be why I'm not a GM.

In any case, the Jets are now in their post-Ehlers era, and that second line that the Jets once thought could work with Ehlers, Namestnikov, and Perfetti will now need to be overhauled entirely with the best player of the trio skating for another team. The Jets' power-play will likely take a step back after losing one of their most consistent playmakers on the top unit, and zone entries and exits will be a concern without a confident skater like Ehlers moving the puck.

The Carolina Hurricanes are getting a good player in Nikolaj Ehlers, and congratulations to him for signing his six-year, $51 million deal. I hope he plays alongside Seth Jarvis next season where those two can become a dynamic duo of speed, skill, tenacity, and scoring for the Hurricanes as they try to get over the Eastern Conference Final bump that keeps tripping them up. Ehlers can help in that regard, and I'm hopeful the former Jets winger finds a ton of success in Rod Brind'Amour's systems. All the best, Nikolaj! Give 'em hell in Carolina!

For the Jets, they lose a creative, unpredicatable-at-times scoring threat who made everyone he played with on the ice better. You don't find players like that everyday, so losing Ehlers will have an impact on the team next season and will likely move them out of the Stanley Cup contender discussion entirely as the Jets need to make up 30 goals and 70 points from somewhere. Good luck with that.

But at least they signed a 37 year-old centerman who has been out of hockey since April 13, 2023. That should solve their scoring problems.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!