The Opening Day

Having been to a handful of music festivals in my time, I can honestly say that one stumbles across a great opening band only once in a while. It's not that these bands can't play or don't know how to write music, but it's just that they usually haven't found that sound that makes the crowd sit up and take notice of what they're doing. The first day of the HBIC Music Festival has none of that as there are well-known artists that will appear below for nearly every team. Again, not every team will be represented, but that's ok too. If you know of a band or artist I've missed, please send the image(s) through to me via email!

I'll step aside here, though, as we kick things off with our first teams!

The Anaheim Ducks have three new entries as their musically-talented guests include The Offspring in orange and in white, Thrice with their second appearance in white and orange, and Green Day's Tre Cool was able to score himself both an orange jersey and a white jersey as the Ducks brought an all-rock lineup this year!

The Boston Bruins always seem to have big artists pass through their arena, and this year was no different. Chuck Comeau of Simple Plan makes his first appearance, Eric Church got himself a jersey in Boston, and the Guess Who's Burton Cummings wore a Bobby Orr jersey in a March 2, 1973 concert! Jackie Miclau of rock band Mt. Joy got herself a personalized Bruins jersey, new lead singer Emily Armstrong of Linkin Park sported a Bruins jersey during their concert, and Lionel Richie got himself a personalized Bruins jersey as well!

The Buffalo Sabres brought a strong group of artists with them to the HBIC Music Festival as country crooner Cody Johnson got a personalized Sabres jersey, all of Disturbed got personalized jerseys, Eric Church got a personalized black Sabres jersey, bassist Robby Takac of the Goo Goo Dolls got a personalized black Sabres jerseys, and country singer MaRynn Taylor got herself a blue Sabres jersey and a black Sabres jersey too! Rascal Flatts' Gary LeVox wore a Sabres jersey on stage, and hip hop artist West Side Gunn wore a white 1999 Buffalo Sabres jersey with scorpions embroidered on it!

The Calgary Flames have music from a number of genres on their set list. The Arkells got to share one jersey, Bailey Zimmerman wore a Flames jersey on stage, the Beach Boys got Flames jerseys for each band member, Ja Rule took the stage in a Flames alternate jersey, Mt. Joy received Calgary Flames jerseys much to the delight of Jackie Miclau, Nelly made a statement with his sleeveless Flames jersey, Our Lady Peace received personalized jerseys, and former NHL goaltender Jamie McLennan posted this image of Ozzy Osbourne receiving a personalized Flames jersey! How awesome is that photo?

The defending Stanley Cup champions have five artists on their stage as the Carolina Hurricanes gave rapper Rod Wave his own personalized jersey, NBA YoungBoy modified his Hurricanes jersey into a short-sleeved version, Journey's Jonathan Cain wore a Hurricanes jersey on stage, Rascal Flatts' Gary LeVox wore his Hurricanes jersey on stage, and Darius Rucker, formerly of Hootie and the Blowfish, fired the crowd up in Raleigh by sounding the siren last year!

The Chicago Blackhawks showed up to the festival with a handful of artists representing them as Benson Boone met the Folignos and got a jersey, K-Pop boy band P1Harmony received Blackhawks jerseys when they attended a game, Simple Plan's Chuck Comeau wore a Connor Bedard jersey on stage, Carlos Santana appears to be a Blackhawks fan, and, in one of the coolest musical moments, Italian conductor Riccardo Muti conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a Blackhawks jersey! I believe he's the first conductor on the list!

The Colorado Avalanche only have one musical act to boast at the HBIC Music Festival, and that act is none other than Chuck Comeau of Simple Plan who is wearing the Avalanche alternate jersey!

The Dallas Stars took the same approach with just one act to boast at the HBIC Music Festival, but Post Malone seems pretty pumped about his personalized Stars jersey! For those wondering, Post Malone has ties to the #77 as his 2016 debut album, Stoney, spent 77 weeks in the Top 10 of the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart!

The Detroit Red Wings have two acts at the festival with Chuck Comeau of Simple Plan wearing a Red Wings jersey on stage, and long-time rocker Gail Greenwood of L7 and Belly wore a Red Wings jersey as well! We'll see both of these artists with another team too!

The Edmonton Oilers, by sheer volume, are your headliners at the HBIC Music Festival. Creed received personalized blue Oilers jerseys, Darius Rucker got himself a personalized blue Oilers jersey, Finger Eleven received personalized blue Oilers jerseys, the Headstones received personalized blue Oilers jerseys, Dylan Marlowe got himself a personalized blue Oilers jersey, Mother Mother received personalized blue Oilers jerseys, Warren Zeiders got himself a personalized blue Oilers jersey, Sarah McLachlan got herself a personalized blue Oilers jersey, half of Nate Ratlieff and the Night Sweats received personalized blue Oilers jerseys in one photo with the other half of the band getting them in a second photo, Papa Roach received personalized blue Oilers jerseys, Dasha got herself a personalized blue Oilers jersey, Hardy got himself a personalized blue Oilers jersey, Josh Ross got himself a personalized blue Oilers jersey, and Kane Brown got himself a personalized blue Oilers jersey! But we're not even close to being done with the Oilers just yet!

Alex Howard of Jelly Roll's band wore an Oilers jersey on stage, Chuck Comeau of Simple Plan wore an Oilers alternate jersey, Todd Kerns of Triumph wore an Oilers jersey, Sum 41 got jerseys with the band name on the back, Bailey Zimmerman wore a blue Oilers jersey on stage and a white Oilers jersey on stage, Chelsea "Peaches" West of Jelly Roll's band wore an Oilers jersey on stage, Meghan Patrick wore an Oilers jersey on stage, Scott McCreery received a personalized white Oilers jersey, and Nelly received a personalized white Oilers jersey. I'm pretty sure half the music world has an Oilers jersey now!

The Florida Panthers brought their musical influences to the festival as they gave Ariana Grande a new Panthers jersey, Frankie Grande wore a Panthers jersey, Anthony Criss - better known as Treach from Naughty by Nature - performed in a Panthers jersey, Joe Jonas received a personalized Panthers jersey, and Mexican singer-songwriter Carín León received a jersey with his album's name on it!

The Hartford Whalers were well-represented by Noah Kahan who appeared on stage wearing a Whalers jersey. You can't go wrong with that jersey! And no, the Hurricanes don't get credit for it either.

The last team on the opening day of the HBIC Music Festival are the Los Angeles Kings, and they're represented by Simple Plan's Chuck Comeau and son, London! Comeau's wife, Jacquelin Napal, gets a nod for the Team Canada jersey she's wearing, but she won't appear on her own on this blog as she's not a musician. It's still awesome to see the whole Comeau family dressed up in one theme for Halloween!

There are the first sixteen NHL teams covered in terms of which bands and musicians wore those teams' colours and logos. Honestly, I love seeing these images simply because it's cool knowing all of these people are fans in some way of the same teams we like. Tomorrow, we'll finish off the NHL teams before moving into Wednesday with all the non-NHL jerseys. It should be a fun couple of days, so make sure you come back tomorrow and Wednesday for musicians in jerseys!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

HBIC Music Festival

With it being relatively slower in the hockey world at this moment, I have started to purge my laptop of things that I've simply held onto for far too long. One of those includes the idea to the left as I have, as of last count, 130 new images of musicians either holding or wearing some sort of hockey jersey in a folder on my desktop. Clearly, this is just eating up space that could be used for something else, and when is there a better time for a music festival than in the middle of summer? With a little creativity, I came up with a simple poster that will highlight the three-day event that will run on Monday through Wednesday with the intent of removing these images from my desktop. Be ready to see a number of popular bands and musicians in hockey jerseys that may surprise or thrill you, but the Musicians in Jerseys database will grow this week by 130 images!

You might be thinking, "How much time do you waste looking for these pictures, Teebz?" and I can tell you that I happen to stumble on a lot of them thanks to social media. Both teams and artists will post these pictures, and those images lead me down rabbit holes of Instagram and Facebook looking for other images of artists in jerseys. Honestly, I spend no more than ten minutes down these rabbit holes, but I usually find more images that are added to the file.

If you looked at the poster above, you'll see artists like Post Malone, 5 Seconds of Summer, and Brandy who have very few, if any, images in the database. Of course, there are returning artists like Eric Church, Chuck Comeau of Simple Plan, and Journey's Jonathan Cain who will make a handful of appearances as we work through the teams, and it's crazy to think that musicians and bands are getting these jerseys for free just for showing up and playing music. That's the life!

I don't know if every NHL team is represented in the 130 images, but I do know there are a lot. That means lots of additions to the Musicians in Jerseys database, so make sure you get over there and check out all the bands and musicians who have appeared in your team's favorite jersey. Chuck Comeau may be giving Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber a run for their money when it comes to total appearances in the image database, but that's why this is fun!

I'll kick things off tomorrow with the first sixteen teams in alphabetical order. If your team isn't on the list, it's either because I couldn't find any images or none came through any of the social media rounds I make. If you know of a band or artist I've missed, please send the image(s) through to me via email and I'll credit you with the find! Just make sure you check the database first!

Sound checks are done, the band is ready, and the curtain will rise tomorrow as the HBIC Musical Festival gets underway!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Icemen Evolved

Some may see this title and think that I've gone into human anthropology, but I assure you that I have zero training in that subject. That's not to say I wouldn't be interested in it, but I simply have no claim to being any sort of subject matter expert. It won't matter here, though, because this article is about the ECHL's Jacksonville Icemen and not ancient ancestors. The ECHL Icemen have been busy thus far this summer as they're going to look different next season with an assortment of new logos to prepare for the franchise's upcoming 10th Anniversary Season in Jacksonville, Florida! So what do these new Icemen look like?

"This rebrand is about more than a new look - it's a reflection of how much this community has embraced the Icemen over the last decade," Icemen Owner and CEO Andy Kaufmann said on Thursday. "Jacksonville has given us so much, and as we head into our 10th Anniversary Season, we wanted a brand that truly represents the city and the fans who've supported us every step of the way."

Personally, it never made much sense to have a parka-clad hockey player as a logo for a team that plays in Florida. Those two things - parkas and Florida - just don't go together normally, and it looks like this rebrand will take the Icemen in a whole new direction visually!

The Icemen are now yetis rather than being parka-clad hockey players, and one has to wonder how much effort The Barn Creative put in when coming up with this "new idea". I get that abominable snowman are known for existing in cold climates, but the legend came from the Himalayas where they lived in mountains. The last time I checked, there are no moutains in and around Jacksonville.

However, it seems that one needs to notice the details for this redesign to make sense. The Barn Creative's Nick Matarese explained that the "Yeti foot transforms into the shape of the state of Florida" while ECHL Commissioner Ryan Crelin pointed out that "the prior logo was carried forward from the membership in Evansville, Indiana before relocating to Jacksonville."

The fun part is that no one has ever complained about the Icemen being in Jacksonville with that name, and that's what makes minor-professional hockey so fun. For a state that has ECHL teams called the Solar Bears and the Everblades, having a team that regularly sees 80F days in December and January embracing the cold and ice is fun. And minor-pro hockey should be completely about having fun.

The team will likely have newly-coloured jerseys at the very least as iceberg blue, black, and snow white at the new colour palette with gray and navy blue being removed. With a newer, fiercer logo, there likely will be a mascot update at some point as well, but the Icemen can improve their marketing and visual recognition with this fun redesign. It doesn't fit Jacksonville's persona as a city, but that's why it works so well. It's fun, it's modern, and it belongs to Jacksonville.

Overall, I don't hate it, but I appreciate the Icemen putting their own spin on the logos to make it Jacksonville's own. The Barn Creative did good work updating the logo and converting the old logo into the new yeti while coming up with the state-shaped footprint. I'm curious to see what the jerseys will look like in the new colour palette, but the Icemen should look pretty good with their new logos next season!

And we didn't need an anthropology degree to explain this evolution!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Trading Hockey For Laughs

I'll be completely honest in saying that I'm not even paying attention to hockey today. Normally, I spend a little time reading news stories and scrolling through social media for something that catches my attention, but today is not one of those days as my plans this evening will see me sitting in a park under sunshine while listening to a handful of comedians tell their best jokes. It's not often I buy early for comedy shows, but the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival was one that I couldn't pass up based on tonight's comedians and marquee act!

If you're not aware, Winnipeg will play host to the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival for the next three days as comedians like Aziz Ansari, Pete Davidson, Jeff Arcuri, Matt Rife, and Adam Ray as Dr. Phil take the stage. Undoubtedly, this will be a heckuva weekend for laughs in the Manitoba capital, and it starts tonight with Ryan Hamilton, John Crist, and one my favorite comics in Jim Gaffigan!

I first really figured out who Jim Gaffigan was thanks to the 2001 Broken Lizard film Super Troopers where Jim Gaffigan plays the unsuspecting victim to Mac's and Foster's "Cat Game" in a scene.


According to an interview done with Interview Magazine's Ben Barna, Broken Lizard had given the part for which Gaffigan auditioned to someone else, but offered him the "Cat Game" role as a part to remain in the film. Jay Chandrasekhar, who plays Officer Ramathorn, said in the interview, "Jim was originally going to play one of the local cops, but we ran out of spaces. He was not a famous stand-up at the time. Thank God he did it, because he became massive."

That appearance, along with the corresponding joke, gave Gaffigan some notoriety to the point where people were saying it to him after his shows. Gaffigan told Barna, "There was a stretch when it felt like everyone who approached me after a stand up show would do the 'meow' thing to me. 'Great show, meow. How you doing meow?' Mostly guys in their twenties that were either drunk or stoned or both."

Since that time, Gaffigan's popularity has grown immensely as his comedy delves into being a parent, being married, and observations of things to which virtually everyone can relate. I've watched a number of his comedy specials and found myself in fits of laughter at a lot of his material. When it was announced that he was the headliner for the Friday night lineup of the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival, buying a ticket was a very easy decision for me.

I don't know about John Crist or Ryan Hamilton, pictured in the middle and on the right, respectively, in the lede image, but I did see a few Ryan Hamilton bits on Instagram where he was pretty funny. Crist seems a little edgier in his comedy, but he still has some funny bits as well. In short, tonight should be an entertaining and hilarious night at Assiniboine Park in beautiful weather as the Winnipeg edition of the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival gets underway!

If anything important in the hockey world happens, I'll get caught up tomorrow. Tonight, I'm going to have a great time at the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival. Enjoy your evenings, folks, because I'm expecting a great night of laughs with Jim Gaffigan and friends!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 721

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back with some new introductions, some more hockey stories, and some opinions from our two hosts about everything happening in hockey. It's been a fairly quiet week for a lot of the hockey world as schedules were released for the NHL today which flooded social media, but there were still stories to hit the wires this week that need to be discussed. Our hosts will dive into those newsworthy pieces tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason will criss-cross the globe as they look at stories from a number of places. They'll discuss failed executives becoming senior advisors, Winnipeg locking up Cole Perfetti, a pile of notable Canada West and U SPORTS men's hockey players landing in professional leagues, Victory+ losing a major client, a weird situation in Ukraine, a potential new destination in Australia, and anything else that may cross their paths. There's lots to discuss and about which our hosts will opine including a few non-hockey stories, so make sure you're ready to roll for 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 chat unearned jobs, good deals, good opportunities, bad economics, weird conscription, new venues, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!