Happy Halloween!

Hello readers! It's Happy Candy Day here at HBIC Headquarters. I'll be off for most of the day as I will be calling the play-by-play for the Manitoba Bisons as they battle the Calgary Dinos in women's hockey, and then it's home to hand out candy. Everyone be safe today, and make sure you let your parents check your haul of candy, kids, before breaking into the snacks!

Everyone have a Happy Halloween, and I'll be back tomorrow with The Rundown. May all your candy collecting go well and you bring home a bounty, not just a Bounty bar!

Until next time, keep your masks on for the night!

Central Division Of Death

When they start counting down the season towards the playoffs this year, the one question that should be asked is how many Central Division teams will make it? As it stands right now, five of the top-ten teams call the Central Division home, and there are a number of reasons for the rest of the league to fear the Central Division. In saying that, though, are these teams able to survive each other when it comes to the playoffs? The first two rounds may take more out of the Central Division champions than we know right now.

The defending Stanley Cup champions in the Chicago Blackhawks aren't even in the equation at this point, and they're still considered to be one of the favorites to advance to another Stanley Cup Final. Sitting sixth in the Central Division, the Blackhawks need to start winning games within their division after dropping last night's contest to Winnipeg. Chicago will still be a strong team this season, but they find themselves in a division with five other teams - Colorado not included - that look every bit as legitimate as a Stanley Cup contender right now.

The Dallas Stars are looking every bit like the team everyone expected them to be last season. There were a lot of questions as to why San Jose would give up on Antti Niemi when there were rumours of him being on the trade block, and the Dallas Stars jumped on the opportunity to bring him to have an all-Finnish netminding duo. In seeing Niemi pushing Kari Lehtonen, the Stars have received better-than-good goaltending so that players like Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Jason Spezza can do their things.

What may surprise everyone is that the deal to send Trevor Daley and Ryan Garbutt to Chicago has made the Stars better. They acquired Patrick Sharp and Johnny Oduya through trade and free agency, but it has allowed John Klingberg to step up and show a knack for scoring from the blue line. Add in some better defensive responsibility from the aforementioned Oduya, and this Dallas Stars team is built to win.

Right behind the Stars in the Central Division are the Nashville Predators who are seeing world-class goalie Pekka Rinne put up strong numbers once more. Like Dallas, they are getting contributions from all over the ice. James Neal, Filip Forsberg, and Mike Ribeiro are the usual suspects, but the blue line is led by Roman Josi who has more points than perennial all-star Shea Weber thus far. Alongside those two pillars on defence, Ryan Ellis and Seth Jones are setting up goals with their contributions while youngster Colin Wilson is coming into his own up front. Nashville, like Dallas, looks like a complete team.

The St. Louis Blues can never be counted out despite the vast number of injuries with which they currently dealing. This team, when healthy, is one of the biggest, fastest teams in the NHL, and they may have the most talented top-six defencemen in the league. Add in the steady if unspectacular Brian Elliott who seems to stop everything thrown his way, and the Blues are once again set up for a solid season.

Oh, did I mention St. Louis can score? Vladimir Tarasenko, who is currently injured, is a major threat. David Backes and Alexander Steen can also score in bunches if given the opportunity. Jaden Schwartz and Paul Stastny have never been afraid to light the lamp either, and we haven't even mentioned players like Troy Brouwer, Patrick Berglund, and Jori Lehtera who always seem to be around the net. St. Louis has a ton of talent and should compete for the division crown once more.

The team that surprised everyone last year in making the playoffs is surprising no one this year as they steamroll a few contenders. The Winnipeg Jets have seen better-than-good goaltending from Ondrej Pavelec and Michael Hutchinson so far, and that can only spell good things for the Jets who often had goaltending as their Achilles heel.

The usual suspects are all back - Bryan Little, Blake Wheeler, Andrew Ladd, and Dustin Byfuglien - but they'll be joined by the re-signed Drew Stafford, newcomer Nikolaj Ehlers, and a healthy Mathieu Perreault for what most hope if the majority of the season. Throw in the always-improving Mark Scheifele and Adam Lowry, and these Jets now have three lines that can score with regularity. Jacob Trouba and Tyler Myers will contribute from the back end as well, and the steady play of Tobias Enstrom, Mark Stuart, and the young Ben Chiarot have Winnipeg setup nicely this season.

The team that most seem to forget about despite their success in recent years outside of losses in the playoffs to the Blackhawks is the Minnesota Wild. The Wild have lots of scoring to boast - Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Thomas Vanek, and Jason Pominville - but they are getting excellent returns from players like Jason Zucker, Nino Neiderreiter, Charlie Coyle, and Mikael Granlund this season to help carry the offensive load. The Wild, like the Jets, have excellent scoring options spread over three lines, and any or all of these options are usually on the scoresheet each game.

Balance is also the name of the game in Minnesota as Ryan Suter has become the Ryan Suter we used to know once more in leading the Wild in scoring from the blue line. However, Marco Scandella, Jared Spurgeon, and Matt Dumba have shown excellent offensive range this season while still being defensively responsible. Toss in the fact that Devyn Dubnyk is still making a lot of saves from the blue paint, and the Wild are a playoff threat, if not a division-winning threat, once again.

The key for every team in this division is balance. Five of the top-ten teams in the NHL this season are from the Central Division, and the Blackhawks are not one of them. There legitimately might be a team from the Central Division who cracks the 100-point barrier this year and misses the playoffs based on how the Central Division is shaking down right now.

While parity certainly is the goal of the NHL, there are some divisions where parity is a detriment to the success of the teams in that division. Four of the Central Division teams will make the playoffs to determine who advances to the Western Conference Final as the Central Division representative, but the question is how much that one team is willing to sacrifice to make it there? Nothing will be given in the Central Division, so the question is what will these teams do to one another in order to earn the right to call itself "Central Division Champion"?

As fans, we should be in awe of the Central Division. It is literally the best and worst division in hockey depending on your view. The one thing that both sides can agree upon is that the hockey being played in the Central Division is incredible.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 163

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced hockey radio show, is going to play a little catch-up tonight as we have a pile of great interviews coming up over the next few weeks. Thanks to my time off during Pledge-O-Rama, I was able to do a few extra interviews with some incredible people who Beans and I think will be of interest to you. Tonight is the first of these interviews as we introduce you to a woman whose stock is on the rise and there's a good chance she'll be representing Canada in South Korea at the 2018 Olympic Games.

She may not entirely be a household name yet, but it's about time you get to know University of North Dakota and Team Canada defenceman Halli Krzyzaniak! Halli was born here in Manitoba and grew up in Neepawa, but she's played hockey all over this great nation and is now taking her game to the international stage! I was lucky enough to speak with Halli last week, and we'll talk about all sorts of stuff in this interview. Halli is definitely a woman to watch as she prepares to join Team Canada for the upcoming Four Nations Cup in Sweden where it's expected she'll be one of the defencemen that Canada leans on heavily due to her experience and skill. The Hockey Show is proud, honoured, and privileged to speak with Halli Krzyzaniak!

The phones will be closed tonight, so make sure you tune your radio dial in the Winnipeg region to 101.5 on your FM dial or listen live between 5:30pm and 6:30pm CT on your web-enabled device at the UMFM webpage as well! Tweet me anytime with questions you may by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter. You can also post some stuff to Facebook if you use the "Like" feature, and I always have crazy stuff posted there that doesn't make it to the blog or show. We introduce you to one of Canada's rising hockey stars in Halli Krzyzaniak tonight on The Hockey Show only on 101.5 UMFM!

PODCAST: October 29, 2015: Episode 163

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Antler Banter: Season 1, Volume 26

We're a couple of weeks into the season, and the Moose are still searching for their first win. They've played a couple of teams with some good veteran players in Toronto and Ontario, so the young Moose squad would need to find a way to pick up their first win with Lake Erie coming into MTS Centre. Lake Erie, for their part, have struggled a little out of the gate as well, so the Moose could catch and overtake their division rivals with a couple of wins in Winnipeg. Lake Erie wanted to keep or increase the margin between them and the Moose, so there was definitely something to play for as we dive into the third weekend of games for the Manitoba Moose! Let's get this going!

Game 5 - Vs Lake Erie

The Moose came out and showed some excellent work early on to to put the Monsters on their heels. It would benefit the Moose when Justin Flak was whistled for hooking at 11:22, and the power-play would take over. Joel Armia provided the crowd with a reason to cheer as he scored his first goal of the season with the man-advantage at 11:57 to put the Moose up 1-0. Armia played catch with Brendan Kichton at the point before skating off the half-boards to the top of the circle where he zipped a wrist shot past Anton Forsberg for his first of the season! Connor Hellebuyck kept Lake Erie off the board in the first period despite the Moose being outshot 13-9.

The Monsters would tie this game in the second period. Lukas Sedlak skated in across the blue line and shot what appeared to be a harmless wrist shot towards Hellebuyck, but he used Chase De Leo as a screen and the shot evaded Hellebuyck for the 1-1 tie at 13:45. That seemed to energize the visitors because they took the lead just 1:28 later. Nick Moutrey picked the pocket of Jan Kostalek behind the net. Moutrey fed the puck past Ryan Olsen to a wide-open Michael Chaput who made no mistake in burying his first of the season for the Monsters for the 2-1 lead.

The two teams would trade chances through the remainder of the second period and into the third period, but both Forsberg and Hellebuyck made some good saves to keep this a 2-1 Monsters game. However, with Hellebuyck on the bench, Chaput would score his second of the night and of the season into an empty net with 47 seconds to play to seal the win for the Monsters in a 3-1 victory. The Moose fall to 0-3-1-1 on the season while the Monsters improve to 2-1-0-1 with the victory.

Game 6 - Vs Lake Erie

A Saturday night contest between these same two teams saw the Moose needing a win after dropping the opener of this two-game set while Lake Erie looked to widen the margin further on the Moose. The visitors came out firing and looked to take the lead early, but video review showed that Alex Broadhurst hit the crossbar behind Eric Comrie, so the game resumed at the 0-0 tie. It wouldn't be long after, though, when Lake Erie would take the lead. Dillon Heatherington's point shot was redirected by Ryan Craig and it found room past Comrie for the 1-0 Monsters lead at 8:38.

Joonas Korpisalo was outstanding on this night, and he thwarted a couple of excellent chances by the Moose through all three periods. He took what appeared to be a goal away from Andrew MacWilliam with an outstanding glove save and made a couple of good saves out in front on John Albert and Matt Halischuk. Not taking anything away from Eric Comrie as well who had an outstanding game in his own right, but the Moose simply could not solve Korpisalo on this night.

Sonny Milano, early in the third period, found Michael Chaput standing on the back door, and all he had to do is tap in the pass as the Monsters took the 2-0 lead at the 55-second mark. That would be more than enough for the Monsters to win on this night as Korpisalo stopped all 29 shots he faced in the 2-0 Monsters victory. The Moose would drop to 0-4-1-1 while the Monsters would improve to 3-1-0-1.

The Infirmary

Thomas Raffl and Jay Harrison were both absent from this series, so it appears as if the injuries to the Moose are starting to mount. Again, the team plays its cards close to its chest on injuries, so getting information as to what kind of injury each os suffering with is akin to pulling teeth. Just make note of the fact that these two veteran players did not play this weekend.

On The Road Again

The Moose hit the road for five divisional games as they invade Milwaukee on Thursday for a game against the Admirals before playing the Chicago Wolves twice on Friday and Sunday afternoon. Following that, they roll into Charlotte for a two-game set against the Checkers on November 7 and 8. If the Jets don't pick up a win soon, they'll be playing out the stretch before they know it.

Here's hoping the Moose can return with a winning record on this road trip so that they're back in the battle for the division lead!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Look At Me!

I struggled with how to write this article while staying somewhat objective. I could literally unleash a rant that would tell all my feelings about the treatment that Evander Kane received versus what he perceived he received, but I won't. Evander Kane doesn't deserve that kind of attention. For a guy who is sitting on the sidelines with an injury again, he seems to have a hard time letting go of the place he so desperately wanted to leave. Evander Kane spoke to Ken Campbell of The Hockey News where he said a few things about the Winnipeg Jets, the city of Winnipeg, and, in turn, the fans in Winnipeg that seems to indicate that he just can't let go.

The thing is that most of Winnipeg has let go, and there's where the rub comes in. All Evander Kane is doing is stirring the pot to ensure that he's the center of attention in Winnipeg once more. He doesn't deserve any attention from this city, his former club, or his teammates, but here we are talking about him once again.

The more I think about Evander Kane and his reluctance to distance himself from a place he reportedly "asked for a trade every off-season", the more I come to realize that he's just a petulant jerk. He continues to try to stick it to Winnipeg and blame the team and fans for his poor reception in this hockey town, but he doesn't seem to realize that the negativity he received came about because of his lackadaisical effort on the ice and his terrible attitude within the dressing room.

The following comment is probably a prime example of how Evander Kane simply lives in a fantasy world.

"There are a lot of guys I could point to that everybody knows publicly who have done a lot worse or been accused of doing a lot worse things than I have," Kane told THN, "but they don’t look like me. They don’t look like me."

Kane was a social media disaster for the most part, retweeting proposed fantasy trades to other teams and posting photographs with stacks of money that simply doesn't fit the part in terms of the expectations of star athletes in Winnipeg. We've had bigger stars than Kane play here before - Selanne, Housley, CFL's Matt Dunigan, CFL's Milt Stegall - and not one of them felt the need to show off how much money they made. To suggest that they "don't look like me" is a very convenient way to both stick it to Winnipeg and escape the responsibility that comes with demanding equal treatment among these star athletes.

While some will point and say, "Winnipeg does have a racism problem", I can certainly assure you that being a black Canadian man is rarely a problem in this city. All he needed to do was look down the bench at Dustin Byfuglien to see that Winnipeg isn't focusing on the colour of Kane's skin, so it must be something else. Byfuglien is one of the fan favorites in this city - partly because of what he did to Kane in Vancouver with the track suit incident - but we want the big fella to do well. He's an incredible player who gets more cheers based on the output of his effort. Evander Kane couldn't connect those dots, and, as a result, couldn't figure out why he was being booed when he floated a lazy wrist shot into the goalie's chest from just inside the blue line for another face-off.

The other aspect of "they don’t look like me" that can be construed from his comments is that Winnipeg is a blue-collar town, and the vast majority of the 15,000 people sitting in the stands paying Evander Kane's salary while he was here don't have stacks of money to show off with in Las Vegas. I get that Evander is a younger man with a pile of riches beyond his wildest dreams, and that this can occasionally lead to mistakes in terms of poor taste. It happens. It's a lesson and one is expected to learn from it, but he celebrated his "joke" by making another joke. We, in Winnipeg, appreciate a little humility when it comes to the amount of money star athletes are making. We want our stars to be one of us in terms of loving this city, and the guys who have bought into that mentality are loved by the fans - Ladd, Wheeler, and Byfuglien for example.

Evander Kane never got that aspect of the city. Kane would rarely be seen at events not associated with the team. There are no reports of Kane showing up at the Winnipeg Children's Hospital while he was a member of the Jets, and you have to wonder if "giving back" is even in his vocabulary. I would often see players like Zach Bogosian, Mark Stuart, Andrew Ladd, Jay Harrison, and Mark Scheifele at events around the city, but good ol' #9 was never seen at events meeting fans. It's this humility and giving back that we, as fans, appreciate. While I'm not saying that Kane needed to be at every event, just showing up to a few places and seeing the masses that wanted to like him so much could have saved a portion of his reputation. Instead, Kane came off as a petulant jerk with every half-hearted denial about his wanting to be in Winnipeg.

He should return, barring any further injuries, to Winnipeg on January 10 when his Buffalo Sabres visit MTS Centre. He should expect a chorus of boos, but I think the most appropriate thing that Jets fans could do is to ignore him altogether. Watch the game as if he's just another fourth-line plugger who is trying to extend his time in the NHL with a good shift or two. The last thing Jets fans need to do, though, is give him the attention he so desperately seeks from us.

As Andrew Ladd said today, "We've moved on, and maybe he should, too", fans should take this to heart and ignore the attention-seeking jerk altogether. He might score a goal. He may put up an assist with a spectacular seeing-eye pass. He could drop the gloves with Ladd and/or Wheeler as he seems to so desperately want.

Here's a little tease for next weeks episode of Barstool Sports "The Life" with Evander Kane pic.twitter.com/7yZC2nNlzT

— David Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) October 27, 2015

Let's be real here, though. If he came in and threw a Gordie Howe hat trick up on the scoresheet, there shouldn't be any reaction from Jets fans other than "let's go, Jets". Evander Kane is last year's news in Winnipeg, and we need to move forward even if he can't. For a guy who didn't want to be here, he continually tries to, and often succeeds, in getting Winnipeg to talk about him.

As someone once said, the worst thing about being talked about is not being talked about. It's time we bought into that thought process. Evander Kane simply isn't worth the time or effort in his desperate attempts for attention. In other words, like a tantrum-throwing toddler, if we ignore him, he'll eventually tire himself out.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Andersen Can't Do Much More

There's no question that the Anaheim Ducks are struggling. They're currently playing the Chicago Blackhawks in front of me on my TV and are looking like they might be turning the corner, but they have started in a bad way and it's hard to believe that they started they way they did with the talent on this roster. One guy who is holding his own, though, is Frederik Andersen, and I'm not sure that the goaltender can do much more to try to salvage this ship full of holes known as the Ducks. Andersen has been outstanding tonight and in the last few games, but he receives no offensive support from his team whatsoever.

Frederik Andersen is currently 0-3-2 on the season. That's not the best record by any means, but the rest of his stats tell a different story. He has a 1.71 GAA, a .940 save percentage, and he's winless on the season. Now you might be asking why, and there's a very good reason. The Ducks have only scored six goals in eight games, but have only scored one goal while Andersen has tended the nets in the six games he's played.

One singular goal. Let that sink in for a second.

The Ducks are a team with a former fifty-goal scorer in Corey Perry. He has one assist in eight games.

The Ducks are a team with a consistent 70-point man in Ryan Getzlaf. He has one assist in eight games.

The Ducks have three players with more than one point: Mike Santorelli, Rickard Rackell, and Hampus Lindholm.

The Ducks have no players who are on the plus side of the plus/minus. Not one single player.

The Ducks have a goalie with a 1-2-0 record who owns a 4.06 GAA and an .875 save percentage in Anton Khudobin.

While there's no doubt that GM Bob Murray will be lining up the cross-hairs on head coach Bruce Boudreau if things don't turn around in a hurry, this mess is entirely a Bob Murray production. There is literally no one on this roster that is performing at or near his ability at this point, and it appears that Bruce Boudreau is running out of options and reasons why the Ducks simply cannot score.

Here are a few snippets of Boudreau's post-game comments after he's watched his team work hard to redefine the NHL's examples of anemic offences to start a season.

• "There's pressure every time they touch the puck. The pressure mounts, especially when you have chances and don't score. Not a fun time."
• "Yeah, it's a different feeling but hopefully we start getting better."
• "I told the players you have to hang in there. When it gets down to the lowest time, and then you pull out of it, it's amazing how you turn things around and go the other way. As long as we keep pushing forward and feeling defiant and being mad instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, I think we'll be OK."

The problem is that things aren't ok. The Ducks failed to score again tonight, and Jonathan Toews scored in overtime to give the Ducks the 1-0 win. When Chris Stewart is skating on the top line, you know that Boudreau is pulling out all the stops to try to find some sort of spark in this Ducks team.

If nothing else, the Ducks need to go back to the basics: get to the high-traffic areas, put pucks on net, screen the goaltender, and jump on rebounds. At this point, anything that results in a goal should be duplicated because they need to find a way to dent twine.

Just don't ask Frederik Andersen to pitch shutouts every night. The man has statistics that most other goalies envy outside of that win-loss record. There's honestly not much more that Andersen can do for the Ducks.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Rundown: Week 4

This week's edition of The Rundown features streaks broken, streaks started, and streaks extended. Several teams need wins desperately if they want any hope of making the playoffs in the second-half of the season after the December break, and a few teams who started their seasons last week need to find a groove if they hope to remain a contender down the stretch. Let's break into this week's CIS Rundown!

Canada West Results

REGINA at SASKATCHEWAN - GAME ONE: The Saskatchewan Huskies came into the weekend ranked #10 in CIS women's hockey as they hosted their provincial rivals in the Regina Cougars. Both teams were looking to improve on their top-four placements in Canada West, but it was Saskatchewan who struck first. Hailey Tyndall found some room past Jane Kish just 5:48 in and it was 1-0. The Huskies would double their lead as Leah Bohlken notched a power-play marker at 12:57 for the 2-0 lead.

The second period saw an explosion of goals from both sides. Rachel Johnson made it 3-0 for the Huskies, but Regina would respond with two goals just 39 seconds apart. Meghan Shervan scored at 10:06 and Bailey Braden added another at 10:45 to cut the Saskatchewan lead to 3-2. Julia Flinton's point shot on the power-play 13:57 would put Saskatchewan up 4-2, and Marley Ervine would restore the three-goal lead at 15:18 for the 5-2 Huskies lead. Caitlin Dempsey would get one back again for the Cougars as she found some room past Cassidy Hendricks to cut the deficit to 5-3.

The third period would surprisingly feature no additional goals as the Huskies skated to the 5-3 victory over the Cougars. Hendricks would earn the win while Kish took the loss in the Friday night game.

SASKATCHEWAN at REGINA - GAME TWO: Being that the two teams are fairly close, they swapped places in this home-and-home battle. Saskatchewan would start the game the same way as the night before as they opened the scoring when Emma Waldenberger wrapped around a goal past Jerrica Waltz for the 1-0 lead. Regina would tie the game midway through the second period when Emma Nutter's point shot on the power-play beat a screened Toni Ross, and it was a 1-1 game once again.

That score would hold through the third period, so it was off to overtime for these two teams. Overtime was back and forth, but nothing was solved there, so it was off to double-overtime. A 2-on-1 in the second extra frame saw Julia Flinton find Rachel Johnson who tipped it past Ross for the 2-1 Saskatchewan double-overtime win.

LETHBRIDGE at CALGARY - GAME ONE: Three periods, three goals, one team. Lethbridge's Jenae Culp scored 2:02 into the first period, Aislinn Kooistra added another at 14:25 of the second period, and Tricia Van Vaerenbergh scored into the empty net at 18:39 of the third period for the 3-0 Pronghorns victory. Alicia Anderson stopped all 32 shots she faced for the shutout and the victory while Hayley Dowling took the loss on this night.

LETHBRIDGE at CALGARY - GAME TWO: Friday's performance by the Pronghorns was a bit of muscle flexing, so there was an expectation that the top team in Canada West would resume their dominance over the bottom team in the conference. Needless to say, it got off to that kind of start for the Pronghorns as Sarah Spence scored a power-play goal on Hayley Dowling just 1:32 into the game.

The Pronghorns would continue to dominate in the second period with three more goals before the period was ten minutes old. Kirsten Reeves made it 2-0 at 3:26 and Lauren Fredrich added another goal 1:05 later that would spell the end of Hayley Dowling's night as the Pronghorns went up 3-0. Jenae Culp would add a power-play marker at 9:17 as Carissa Fisher tried to stop the bleeding, but it was 4-0 for Lethbridge.

And then the Dinos awoke from their season-long slumber. Iya Gavrilova scored at 9:47 to make the game 4-1. Chelsea Court added a power-play marker at 12:12, and it was suddenly 4-2. The third period saw Sasha Vafina come to life as she scored at 6:11 to make it 4-3 before adding a shorthanded goal at 8:54 to tie the game up at 4-4! Could we see Calgary upset the Pronghorns?

The two teams would battle through the remainder of the third period deadlocked at 4-4, and they would carry that score through both overtime periods. Because of this, the shootout was called upon to decide the winner, and it was all abut the goaltending. Alicia Anderson and Carissa Fisher stopped al three shooters each faced in the shootout. However, Anderson would stop Vafina while Brett Campbell would find the net behind Fisher as Lethbridge takes the shootout victory by a 5-4 margin.

ALBERTA at MOUNT ROYAL - GAME ONE: Mount Royal was coming home to host Alberta after a weekend sweep of the Bisons, so they were looking to push the win streak to at least three games. The Cougars got off to a good start when Carley Bertram's deflection found the back of the net past Lindsey Post at 10:06 and Mount Royal had the 1-0 lead. Alberta would answer back 3:57 later when Autumn MacDougall's point shot pinballed its way past Jess Ross for the 1-1 equalizer.

The winner would be scored in the third period as Alberta's Lindsey Cunningham was the beneficiary of a lucky bounce at 4:26 as her initial shot on a breakaway was stopped by Ross, but the rebound bounced off Cunningham and found its way into the back of the net for the 2-1 lead. Post would hold the fort the rest of the way as Alberta skated to the 2-1 victory.

ALBERTA at MOUNT ROYAL - GAME TWO: Alberta looked to make it three wins in a row as they met Mount Royal on Saturday. While there were three goals scored on Friday, Saturday would see just one lamp lit. At 11:52 of the third period, Alex Poznikoff was alone at the side of the net and went shelf past Emma Pincott to give Alberta the 1-0 lead they would not relinquish. Lindsey Post recorded the 20-save shutout and the win while Pincott would absorb the loss in the 1-0 Alberta win.

MANITOBA at UBC - GAME ONE: UBC was looking to continue their strong play while Manitoba needed to break out of its scoring slump in a big way. For both of these teams, all they needed was the first period. Charity Price batted home rebound off a Nicole Carswell shot after a brutal giveaway in front of Samantha Langford, and Manitoba had the 1-0 lead just 1:51 into the game. UBC would fight back, though, as Rebecca Unrau's shot through a maze of players in front of Rachel Dyck dented the twine at 6:40 and it was a 1-1 game. 2:15 after that, Katie Zinn zipped a puck past Dyck with a pile of players down in front of the Manitoba crease for the 2-1 UBC lead.

From that point on, the goalies matched one another save for save, but the final horn saw UBC escape with the 2-1 win as Langford picks up the win while Dyck was assessed the loss in this game.

MANITOBA at UBC - GAME TWO: These two teams met again with both teams wanting, and, in one case, needing, a win to keep pace with the teams ahead of them. Erica Reider opened the scoring for Manitoba with a power-play goal at 6:41 to put the Bisons up 1-0. They would double their lead 3:56 later when Nicole Carswell converted a Jayden Skoleski pass past Samantha Langford for the 2-0 lead.

The second period saw Manitoba add another goal as Celine Caron found some room past Langford at 2:19. UBC would get one back at 3:33 when Kathleen Cahoon's shot beat Rachel Dyck to cut the deficit to 3-1. Manitoba would go back up by three, though, when Alanna Sharman scored a shorthanded marker at 7:03 for the 4-1 Manitoba lead.

From there on, it was all goaltending as the score would hold true to the end of the game. Rachel Dyck picked up the much-needed victory for Manitoba in helping the Bisons snap the five-game winning streak of the Thunderbirds. UBC's Samantha Langford would take the loss.

CWUAA WOMEN'S HOCKEY

School	Record	Points	GF	GA	Streak	Next
Lethbridge	5-1-2-0	19	24	15	W2	vs MRU
Saskatchewan	5-1-1-1	18	22	15	W3	@ ALB
British Columbia	4-3-1-0	14	19	14	L1	@ REG
Alberta	4-4-0-0	12	17	14	W3	vs SAS
Regina	3-3-1-1	12	24	21	L3	vs UBC
Manitoba	3-5-0-0	9	13	15	W1	vs CAL
Mount Royal	2-5-0-1	7	8	14	L2	@ LET
Calgary	1-5-0-2	5	13	32	L4	@ MAN

★★★ Three Stars ★★★

1. Rachel Johnson (SAS) - A pair of goals, including a double-overtime winner, is enough to take top spot in the individual awards this week. Rachel helped Saskatchewan keep pace with Lethbridge as these two teams are starting to run away in the Canada West Conference.

2. Sarah Spence (LET) - A goal and three assists in the two games against Calgary helped Lethbridge stay atop the Canada West standings. Spence was the best player all weekend for the Pronghorns.

3. Lindsey Post (ALB) - It's been a while since Post's name appeared here, but the fifth-year netminder backstopped the Pandas to two wins, moving them into the top-four of the conference once more. If Post is finding her game, the rest of the conference may be in trouble.

Ontario Results

Let's run through these results quickly.

NIPISSING at UOIT: UOIT opened the scoring in the first period at 15:50 when Teresa Horner's shot got by Jacqueline Rochefort for the 1-0 lead. Nipissing would respond in the second period with a shorthanded goal from Carly Marchment at 9:16 and a Kaley Tienhaara goal at 17:03 to take the lead at 2-1. With UOIT pressing late in the third period, Nipissing would ice the game when Sam Strassburger found the back of the net with 46 seconds remaining for the 3-1 Nipissing win. Rochefort was the winner on this night while UOIT's Tori Campbell suffered the loss.

LAURENTIAN at QUEEN'S: All the scoring in this one came in the second period, and only one team recorded goals. Queen's Katrina Manoukarakis scored at 2:06 and Nadia Larocca scored at 19:33 on the power-play to send Queen's to the 2-0 victory. Caitlyn Lahonen recorded the 36-save shutout and the win while Emily Toffoli was on the losing end of this game.

GUELPH at WATERLOO: Guelph was the only team on the board in this game. Jessica Pinkerton scored at 8:39 of the second period while teammate Leigh Shilton scored a power-play goal at 13:02 of the third period to pace the Gryphons to the 2-0 victory. Valerie Lamenta made 30 stops for the shutout and the win while Rebecca Bouwhuis took the loss.

LAURENTIAN at UOIT: Both teams were looking for a win after dropping their respective games on Friday evening. UOIT got off to a great start as they were up 2-0 after the opening period on the strength of Nicole Gorda's goal at 9:15 and Jenna Carter's marker at 10:31. Sarah Biesenthal would make it a 3-0 UOIT lead 16:07 into the third period, but Laurentian's Brooklyn Davis would spoil the shutout bid with just 23 seconds to play as UOIT skates to the 3-1 win. Tori Campbell gets the win while Emily Toffoli took the loss.

RYERSON at WESTERN: Western got this game going early when Stacey Scott scored just 1:01 in for the 1-0 lead. Ryerson would answer back 51 seconds later while shorthanded when Blair Malthaner's shot found the back of the net for the 1-1 draw. We'll jump ahead to the third period when Western took the lead again as Kendra Broad scored at 10:34 for the 2-1 lead. Brittany Clapham would ice the game for Western with 40 seconds to play as she found the empty net. Kelly Campbell picked up the victory in the 3-1 win while Ally Sarna dropped this game.

TORONTO at WINDSOR: I hope you like goals because there were eleven of them scored in this game. Windsor's Shawna Lesperance opened the scoring at 2:51, and Toronto tied the game 1:36 later when Taylor Day scored on the power-play. Kristi Riseley put Toronto up 2-1 while on the power-play at 4:35 of the second period, but Windsor's Larissa Borowiec tied the game at 2-2 at 7:12. Windsor then went up 3-2 at 11:59 when Erinn Noseworthy scored, but Riseley scored her second goal of the period at 17:35 to make it a 3-3 game. Windsor would escape the second period with the 4-3 lead when Krystin Lawrence scored with 13 seconds left in the frame.

Windsor jumped ahead 5-3 at 10:07 of the third period when Taylor Conte scored. Toronto, however, would rally once more. Rebecca Bourgeois scored on the power-play at 16:30 to make it a 5-4 game, and Taylor Day picked up her second goal to tie the game 5-5 at 18:26! That meant we were off to overtime, and we wouldn't have to wait long for another goal. Just 28 seconds into the extra frame, Autumn Garnham found some room past Marissa Kozovski, and Toronto completed the comeback with a 6-5 overtime victory! Katey Teekasingh picked up the win for Toronto while Windsor's Marissa Kozovski was on the losing end of this game.

LAURIER at BROCK: All it takes is one goal. Laurier's Dollee Meigs scored at 16:23 of the first period, and goaltender Lauren Webber took care of the rest as Laurier downed Brock 1-0. Webber made 16 saves in the shutout while Brock's Jensen Murphy took the loss.

NIPISSING at QUEEN'S: It would take 23 minutes, but the scoring would start in the second period. Katrina Manoukarakis put Queen's up 1-0 while on the power-play at 3:31 of the middle frame. The Lakers would tie the game when Brooklyn Irwin found the back of the net at 17:03, and would take the lead at 19:23 when Sam Strassburger beat Caitlyn Lahonen for the 2-1 Nipissing lead. It appeared that the Lakers may escape with the victory, but a late penalty led to a second power-play goal by Katrina Manoukarakis with just 27 seconds to play as the two teams were tied at 2-2.

It was off to overtime and we wouldn't have to stick around for for very long. Just 42 seconds into the extra frame, Queen's Taryn Pilon ripped a shot past Jacqueline Rochefort for the 3-2 overtime winner. Lahonen picked up the win in the victory while Rochefort accepted the loss in the overtime defeat.

BROCK at GUELPH: Things started well for the home squad as Guelph went up 1-0 on a Mackenzie Wong goal just 1:41 into the opening period. Brock would find the equalizer at 16:33 when Brenna Murphy scored on the power-play, but the tie game would last just 13 seconds as Leigh Shilton put Guelph up 2-1 with her goal at 16:46.

Guelph added an insurance goal at 3:05 of the third period when Jessica Pinkerton notched her second goal of the season for the 3-1 lead, and that was all the Gryphons needed as they skated to the 3-1 win. Valerie Lamenta earned the win while Jensen Murphy took the loss.

YORK at WATERLOO: It was all Waterloo in this game. The Warriors got goals from Michelle Tanel at 5:52 of the first period, Paula Lagamba at 12:40 of the second period, and an empty-netter from Alison Hanson at 18:29 of the third period for the 3-0 victory. Stephanie Sluys made 23 stops in the shutout win while Megan Lee took the loss.

TORONTO at WESTERN: Like the previous game, it was all one team in this tilt. Toronto saw Taylor Day score on the power-play at 13:42 of the second period before adding a Sonja Weidenfelder goal at 10:55 in the third period and a Kristi Riseley empty-netter at 18:08 to lock down this game and the 3-0 victory. Hailey Farrelly stopped 23 shots in the shutout win while Kelly Campbell suffered the loss.

OUA WOMEN'S HOCKEY

School	Record	Points	GF	GA	Streak	Next
Toronto	4-0-2-0	16	19	9	W6	@ LAU
Queen's	4-0-1-1	15	12	5	W3	@ WAT/GUE
Laurier	4-1-0-0	12	12	5	W4	@ YOR/vs TOR
Guelph	4-2-0-0	12	13	6	W2	vs UOIT/QUE
Nipissing	3-2-0-2	11	12	14	L1	vs WES/WIN
Waterloo	3-2-0-1	10	14	8	W1	vs QUE/UOIT
Western	3-2-0-0	9	11	8	L1	@ NIP/LAU
Laurentian	1-3-2-1	8	11	15	L4	vs WES/WIN
UOIT	2-3-1-0	8	13	15	W1	@ GUE/WAT
Brock	1-4-1-0	5	5	9	L2	@ RYE/vs YOR
York	1-4-0-0	3	8	14	L1	vs LAU/@ BRO
Windsor	0-3-0-1	1	10	22	L4	@ NIP/LAU
Ryerson	0-4-0-1	1	5	15	L5	vs BRO

Quebec Results

We're going to rip through these results as well. With only five teams in the RSEQ, it makes recaps really quick.

CONCORDIA at OTTAWA: Ottawa opened the scoring at 11:31 of the first period when Véronik Samson found some room behind Katherine Purchase for the 1-0 lead. Camille Pauck-Therrien made it a 2-0 lead when she converted a power-play marker at 8:23 of the second period. Melodie Bouchard added a third Ottawa goal at 15:58 before Concordia's Devon Thompson got one back on the power-play at 16:43. However, that would all that Concordia would get on this night as Ottawa skated to the 3-1 victory. Maude Levesque-Ryan picked up the victory while Katherine Purchase took the loss.

MCGILL at MONTREAL: We wouldn't see any goals until the third period. Montreal's Alexandra Labelle scored at 3:16 on the power-play to put the Carabins up 1-0. It looked like the one goal would be enough, but McGill would finally break through at 18:58 when Joanne Cagianos found the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1.

The game would see overtime, but it would take a shootout to determine a winner. Melodie Daoust would score in Round Three for McGill and Audrey Gariepy would score for Montreal in Round Five, so extra shooters would be needed. It would take one additional round as McGill sent Melodie Daoust back out for another shot. She would score, and Montreal's Ariane Barker would be stopped for the second time in the shootout as McGill picks up the 2-1 shootout victory! Taylor Hough would earn the shootout victory while Marie-Pier Chabot takes the loss in the skills competition.

CONCORDIA at CARLETON: Tracy-Ann Lavigne would get Concordia on the board in the first period at 18:05. Carleton would get the equalizer in the second period when Nicole Miners found the back of the net at 16:46. Concordia's Katherine Purchase and Carleton's Katelyn Steele would match one another save for save through the rest of regulation time, so it was off to overtime!

Neither netminder would allow a goal in the extra frame, so it was off to the shootout for a winner in this tilt. Concordia would start the shootout, but it would Carelton's second shooter who got the scoring going. Tawnya Guindon beat Purchase for the early 1-0 lead in the shootout. Three more shooters from Concordia were turned aside by Steele, and the Carleton Ravens would take this game 2-1 in the shootout! Steele picks up the victory while Purchase takes the loss.

RSEQ WOMEN'S HOCKEY

School	Record	Points	GF	GA	Streak	Next
Concordia	2-1-1	5	8	8	L2	BYE
McGill	2-0-0	4	7	1	W2	@ OTT
Ottawa	2-2-0	4	7	11	L1	vs McG
Montreal	1-1-1	3	7	4	L1	vs CAR
Carleton	1-2-0	2	3	8	W1	@ MON

Maritime Results

Again, a quick rundown of the scores. Here we go.

MONCTON at UPEI: This game was postponed. It will be replayed in the future.

DALHOUSIE at SAINT MARY'S: Huskies forward Breanna Lanceleve gave Saint Mary's the 1-0 lead just 3:55 into the first period. Lanceleve would add her second goal at 3:53 of the second period for the 2-0 Saint Mary's lead, but Dalhousie's Jessie Rietveld would get one back at 4:27. The two goalies wouldn't allow any other pucks past them, and Saint Mary's skated to the 2-1 victory. Rebecca Clark picked up the victory while Mati Barrett took the loss.

ST. THOMAS at UPEI: The Panthers got on the board first when Lindsay Johnston notched a power-play goal at 16:54 for the 1-0 lead. St. Thomas responded at 5:31 into the second period when Kelty Apperson scored at 5:31. However, UPEI would go up by a pair of goals as Rachel Colles scored a power-play goal at 9:48 and Laura Bradley scored at 12:49 to lead 3-1 after 40 minutes.

The third period, however, was a complete change from the previous two periods. Four unanswered goals from the Tommies from Kenya Marcelline at 4:21, a power-play goal from Jessica McCann at 9:45, a power-play goal Emily Oleksuk at 14:01, and an empty-netter from Becky Connor at 19:29 gave St. Thomas the 5-3 victory. Abby Clarke picked up the win while Marie-Soliel Deschenes was the goalie of note in the loss for UPEI.

ST. FRANCIS XAVIER at SAINT MARY'S: Saint Mary's struck first at 7:34 of the second period when Mary Worndl picked up a power-play marker. The Huskies would double their lead at 12:12 when Caitlyn Schell added her goal. It looked like the Huskies would maintain a clean sheet against StFX, but the X-Women would break the shutout with 1:09 to go as Sarah Bujold found the back of the net. Rebecca Clark would hold the fort the rest of the way as she picked up the win. Sojung Shin was charged with the loss.

DALHOUSIE at MOUNT ALLISON: The Mounties got on the board at 5:24 of the first period with a Kara Anthony power-play goal. It was the second period, though, where this game would be decided. Dalhousie's Sarah Robichaud scored at 4:11 and Corinne Desjardins scored at 5:40 to put the Tigers up 2-1. The Mounties would tie the game at 11:08 off Rosie Heffernan's goal, but Courtney Sheedy scored two seconds later to restore Dalhousie's one-goal lead. Heather Richards would score for Mount Allison at 13:01 to tie the game at 3-3, but Robichaud would score her second goal of the period at 17:19 to put Dalhousie up 4-3.

Robichaud would complete the hat trick 3:44 into the third period, and that would be all that netminder Mati Barrett would need as the Tigers skated to the 5-3 win. Keri Martin took the loss for the Mounties.

ST. THOMAS at MOUNT ALLISON: Sometimes, all it takes is one goal. Jennifer Bell scored at 3:19 of the second period, and that would all the scoring in this game as Mount Allison takes the 1-0 victory. Keri Martin picked up the 30-save shutout and win while Taylor Cook took the loss.

MONCTON at ST. FRANCIS XAVIER: Les Aigles Bleues scored first in this game as Marie-Pier Corriveau put Moncton on the board at 10:18. The X-Women would respond on the power-play at 18:23 when Nicole Corcoran found the back of the net. The power-play would be beneficial for the X-Women once again as Daley Oddy put StFX up 2-1 at 3:11 of the second period. Moncton would tie the game late in the second on a power-play of their own as Marie-Pier Arsenault scored with just eight seconds remaining to send the game to the final frame tied at 2-2.

The X-Women would jump ahead at 12:37 when Daley Oddy picked up her second goal of the game, and Pascale Daigle wouldn't allow anything else by her as StFX picks up the 3-2 victory. Gabrielle Forget would take the loss for the Aigles Bleues.

AUS WOMEN'S HOCKEY

School	Record	Points	GF	GA	Streak	Next
St. Thomas	3-1-0	6	11	6	L1	vs StFX/MAU
Moncton	2-1-0	4	14	9	L1	@ MAU/vs StFX
UPEI	2-1-0	4	8	6	L1	@ DAL/SMU
Saint Mary's	2-2-0	4	11	12	W2	@ DAL/vs UPEI
StFX	2-2-0	4	9	9	W1	@ StT/MON
Dalhousie	1-3-0	2	7	13	W1	vs SMU/UPEI
Mount Allison	1-3-0	2	6	11	W1	vs MON/@ StT

There's the weekly look at CIS women's hockey as we ran across the country and got caught up. I'm not surprised that McGill is undefeated in conference play in the RSEQ, but it is surprising to see Western, the reigning CIS Champions, in the middle of the pack on the OUA. There's still a ton of hockey to play, though, so everything could change by the season's end, let alone week to week.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Bruins Go Old-School

Today was an interesting day in that the Boston Bruins made a major announcement in unveiling their 2016 Winter Classic jerseys, as shown to the left, and I have to say that I'm quite impressed! The Bruins have a long history, and it appears they dipped into that history to come up with the uniform seen on Chara, Krejci, and Rask. Honestly, it's better than the flaming tire fire that Colorado unveiled, and I cannot wait to see these uniforms on the ice against the Montreal Canadiens at Gillette Stadium!

The Bruins, as you may know, are the first team to host the Winter Classic twice as they played host to the Philadelphia Flyers at Fenway Stadium in 2010. They wore brown and gold as a tribute to the original Boston Bruins that night, but it appears that this new jersey is a direct homage to 1924 Boston Bruins. The only change is that the brown colour of the original jersey is black on these Winter Classic jerseys.

The first thing that I noticed? No lace-up collar. Honestly, it's getting to be a bit much when it seems that every team has a handful of looks with lace-up collars, so kudos to the Bruins for going with a traditional collar on this jersey. The 1924 Bruins wore a sweater with a serious collar, as seen to the right, so let's give credit to the Bruins for honouring that team's sweaters and not giving into the "stylish" idea that some may have wanted to see. The closer to history they get, the better the Bruins will look.

Secondly, I love the use of the old logo! Even better is the textured logo! Check out that picture to the left a little more, and you'll see that the logo actually looks like fur on the bear! The Bruins decided to use felt and chenille materials similar to the original crest in 1924 for this year's Winter Classic jersey, and I immediately loved this decision. The logo looks fantastic, and the materials really give it some great depth and texture. Excellent work in making this choice, Bruins.

Lastly, the Bruins add an off-white number and lettering font similar to what was seen in 1924. The off-white colour is supposed to give the font a vintage look, but I think it's time we retire the vintage colouring for a while and just stick with white. Nevertheless, the font looks good and easily readable. Obviously, there were no sleeve numbers for TV purposes in 1924, but that's the reality that we live in as of 2016. While the shoulders appear to be free of clutter, the right shoulder will have the Winter Classic logo on it on these Bruins jerseys, so there will be less clutter on the chest which will allow the logo to stand tall. Personally, this is also a good decision by the Bruins to position the Winter Classic logo away from their great retro logo.

I have to say that, overall, this is a great jersey. Sure, there are always things that can be improved or changed, but the Bruins have put together a solid look for their second Winter Classic in the Massachusetts area. While we wait to see what Montreal will wear, half of these two dance partners is looking good prior to the big dance on January 1.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Welcome Back, John

It just feels right, doesn't it? The NHL needs more personalities, and none better than John Tortorella is back in the league thanks to a brutal start to the season by the Columbus Blue Jackets that cost head coach Todd Richards his job after an 0-7 start. Sure, Tortorella didn't bring a win last night against the Minnesota Wild, but having him back behind an NHL bench means there's a greater chance for a Tortorella rant at some point. Or an encounter with Larry Brooks. Or an epic moment of insanity where he loses his temper and does something hilarious. Yes, I'm happy that John Tortorella is back in the NHL.

I won't give him a free pass with the Jackets, though. This Jackets team is in a serious funk and they seem unable to shake it. Individually, there is spades of talent on this roster, but they seem to collectively be missing unity, confidence, and a willingness to do the dirty work to score goals. Tortorella will demand a better work ethic, but he can't force the unwilling and the Blue Jackets simply looking like they are unwilling to take a bruise to earn a win.

"There was 11 or 12 minutes in the second period where I thought we lost momentum, but I thought we played hard," Tortorella said to reporters following Thursday night's loss to Minnesota. "That's a team that defends well. You have to get through a number of layers just to try to get pucks to the net. But there was a lot of good things that went on with our club here. But we're 0-8. Moral victories are not going to help us right now."

You have to think that with the additions and improvements that the Jackets made over the past year that the expectations in terms of bringing Tortorella in are the playoffs, and nothing short of that will suffice for ownership. They threw big money at a number of players including Brandon Saad and Nick Foligno, and there's an expectation that comes along with that money. Adding in John Tortorella only pushes those expectations to the forefront for this squad.

You have to wonder what is going on in that locker room after the Blue Jackets became the first team since the 1943-44 New York Rangers to open a season with eight-straight losses. Sergei Bobrovsky has gone on record stating that he "zero confidence" in himself right now, and there's an old adage that if you show someone a great coach, you'll also find a great goalie. With the Blue Jackets not getting anything close to quality goaltending, especially from a player who has turned in incredible performances in his career, Tortorella will need to play therapist with his starting netminder if this sinking ship is looking to bail water.

There will also be accountability demanded by Tortorella from his forwards as the problem thus far in this season is keeping the puck out of their own net. Brandon Dubinsky, who played for Tortorella as a member of the New York Rangers, should know what his coach demands of his forwards in terms of a hard back-check and cutting off lanes, so you'd expect this style of play to spread quickly. As we saw against Minnesota, Tortorella wasn't afraid to sit Ryan Johansen for the majority of the third period when the Jackets needed a goal, so accountability will be at an all-time high in Columbus.

The other thing that Tortorella won't stand for is the undisciplined play that Columbus has shown thus far. Lazy penalties will certainly draw the ire of the 57 year-old coach, and we've seen him stare down players who have shown mental lapses in the past. Columbus needs to skate, as that's a trait of a Tortorella-coached team, and they need to be engaged at all times. If they work hard and skate hard, Tortorella's system is usually successful as long as players don't start tuning him out.

He has vowed to listen more and be more receptive, so this version of Tortorella is a work in progress much like the team he's taking over. They face the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday and will have a chance to break the oh-and-eight funk against a team who also seems to have stumbled somewhat out of the gate. You know Tortorella will have his team ready to work on Saturday, and, as the old adage reads, the only place success comes before work is in the dictionary, so expect a different Columbus Blue Jackets team on Saturday night.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 162

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced hockey radio show, is deep into PLEDGE-O-RAMA! The radio station is trying to raise $32,000 this year as part of our annual budget, and we're looking for your help! We're offering up a ton of awesome shwag for you to take home both from UMFM and The Hockey Show, so please help us by calling in this week and donating to the station!

All of this gear above? Available to you if you donate. We'll start on the left where there's a glass bottle of High Stick Vodka! I had written earlier in the week about how it won two awards at a prestigious tasting competition, so you know it's going to be pretty good. The one thing I hadn't noted was the limited-edition bottle number on the bottle we have: #99! The Hockey Show would like to thank High Stick Vodka for their generous donation, and I encourage you to read all about their fantastic product here!

Next to the great bottle of High Stick Vodka at the top are two incredible books from ECW Press! He Shoots, He Saves was written by Winnipeg author Jon Waldman, and it's an excellent look at some of the collectibles in the world of hockey from hockey cards right through to some of the more obscure things that people value from the world of hockey. You can read the review of He Shoots, He Saves right here.

The second book provided by the fabulous ECW Press is another book I've had the pleasure of reading and reviewing in Don't Call Me Goon written by Toronto's Greg Oliver and Winnipeg's Richard Kamchen. It's a look at a number of tough guys through the years of the NHL's history and they have a ton of interviews with the guys who were responsible for the intimidating play on the ice. You can read the review of Don't Call Me Goon right here. I'd like to thank ECW Press for their generous donation in helping us out!

Below the two books from ECW Press is a Winnipeg Jets ball cap and a long-sleeved t-shirt (size large) donated by Beans for the show tonight. If you want these two items, they'll be up for grabs as well!

In the top-right corner of the image are a couple of Team Canada pucks signed by the assistant coach of Team Canada's sledge hockey team, Mr. Brandon Reid! Along with those pucks are a couple of copies of The Hockey News signed by Brandon Reid and Jessica Scott-Reid, his wife, as that edition of The Hockey News features an article written by Jessica! And to sweeten the pot a little more, we're offering up a couple of limited-edition UMFM Faculty of Sound stickers as well!

In the bottom-right corner, you may notice a Moose logo. We'll be offering up a pair of tickets to the January 3 Manitoba Moose game against the Grand Rapids Griffins which just happens to be a bobblehead giveaway night! Well, afternoon. The game starts at 2pm, but this is the incentive that just keeps giving!

There may be a few more things that we have as well - a pair of SummerSkates, for example - that will be raffled off tonight, so give us a shout at the pledge line at (204) 474-6610 and we'll set you up with a ton of cool shwag. You gotta give to get, though, so call, pledge, and we'll get you something awesome! And all of these incentives are on top of all the great incentives that UMFM is giving away with your pledge as well!

Of course, we'll chat a little hockey as well. Beans and I will weigh on John Tortorella, Pascal Dupuis, the Montreal Canadiens, Jets news, Moose news, Brandon Wheat Kings news, Evander Kane, and the current NHL division leaders. You know you want some cool gear, though, so get your pledges in and we'll set you up with something awesome!

If you want to win something awesome, give us a call on the Pledge Line at (204) 474-6610, and tune your radio dial in the Winnipeg region to 101.5 FM. You can listen live between 5:30pm and 6:30pm CT on your web-enabled device at the UMFM webpage as well! Tweet me anytime with questions you may by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter. You can also post some stuff to Facebook if you use the "Like" feature, and I always have crazy stuff posted there that doesn't make it to the blog or show. It's all Pledge-O-Rama on The Hockey Show only on 101.5 UMFM!

PODCAST: October 22, 2015: Episode 162

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Antler Banter: Season 1, Volume 25

Well, the opening weekend of the AHL's schedule didn't go all that well for the Moose as they dropped both games of a set in Toronto against the Marlies. The Moose were in both games, but they found themselves on the wrong end at both the end of regulation and at the end of a shootout, taking just one point home for this past weekend's home opener. Who did they welcome to town? The reigning Calder Cup champions in the Ontario Reign, formerly the Manchester Monarchs. In other words, it isn't getting easier. On top of that, the Reign just signed two veteran NHL goalies in Peter Budaj and Ray Emery, so the deck seemed stacked against the Moose going into the weekend. How did they fare against the AHL's best? Let's find out in today's Antler Banter!

Game 3 - Vs Ontario

There was some excitement in the air as the Moose took to home ice for their very first home game in their second iteration. The fans in the crowd seemed ready to pop when their local heroes got going on this night. The only problem? The Ontario Reign were very ready for this as well so they did what they do best: took the crowd out of the game early. Make no mistake that the Reign are a veteran AHL team and they look every part of it. Honestly, the Reign simply looked much larger than the Moose in terms of physical size, and they used that physicality early on to thwart the Moose at every turn.

The Reign would strike first as defenceman Jamie McBain's shot ricocheted off of Joel Armia and found its way past Connor Hellebuyck for the 1-0 lead at 14:01. The two teams would finish off the opening period at that score, and the Moose had to be happy they got out of the period despite being out-chanced and outshot 6-3 in that period.

The early part of the second period was all about power-play chances. More specifically, the Moose not converting on them. The Reign opened the period with two penalties, giving the Moose a brief five-on-three man-advantage, but they were unable to capitalize on either power-play opportunity. As they say, momentum swung with the Reign killing off the two-man deficit, and Justin Auger - one of the penalized players - stepped out of the penalty box and took a feed from Kurtis MacDermid for the partial breakaway. From the left-hand circle, Auger ripped a shot that Hellebuyck couldn't glove, and the Reign were up 2-0 at 5:55 of the second period. Both teams would once again trade chances, but the 2-0 score held through two periods of play.

The Reign would add a third goal to their lead just 5:00 into the third period when Nic Dowd forced a turnover, made a nice pass to Mike Mersch in the slot area with no one around him, and the forward beat Hellebuyck in the one-on-one staredown. The Moose finally used the power-play to their advantage late in the game as they found themselves one another two-man advantage. Patrice Cormier's shot found its way through Peter Budaj with 3:58 to play, and it was 3-1 for the Reign. Hellebuyck went to the bench as head coach Keith McCambridge tried to use the extra attacker, but the Reign's Mike Mersch would ice the game with his second goal at 18:04 for the 4-1 lead.

Peter Budaj comes back to bite his former team in the rear with a 4-1 victory to his name. Connor Hellebuyck would take the loss as the Moose fall to 0-2-0-1 on the season.

Game 4 - Vs Ontario

The same two netminders squared off against one another on this afternoon, and it was literally a goaltending clinic put on by both goalies. It seemed the home side of the ice had a slant running against it as the shot totals favored the team in the visitors' end all night, but there was an amazing display of net tending on this night.

The first period saw no goals, but the Reign outshot Manitoba by a 14-5 margin. Connor Hellebuyck was the only reason the Reign didn't lead 2-0 or even 3-0 as he made a number of outstanding stops to keep this game knotted at a scoreless draw.

As stated above, the Moose outshot the Reign 8-6 in the second period, but both netminders were equal to the task. Peter Budaj made a couple of saves of the amazing variety as the Moose appeared to have him beat, but the veteran goalie wasn't prepared to give anything up on this night.

The third period saw Ontario pour the pressure on and Manitoba simply couldn't handle it. However, Connor Hellebuyck was willing to withstand the barrage of shots as Ontario outshot Manitoba 18-6 in the final frame! Hellebuyck simply shut the door, though, as the Moose and Reign would head to overtime deadlocked at 0-0.

Overtime was all Ontario once again as they outshot Manitoba 7-1, and it finally resulted in a goal. With Joel Armia in the penalty box for tripping, Valentin Zykov ripped a shot past Hellebuyck for his first professional goal and the Reign won 1-0 in overtime. Honestly, Connor Hellebuyck was outstanding in stopping 44 of the 45 shots he faced on the night, but he took the loss while Peter Budaj picked up the win and shutout in stopping all 20 shots he faced.

The Moose fall to 0-2-1-1 on the season with the loss.

The Infirmary

The Moose were down a key player this past weekend as Thomas Raffl seems to be suffering with an injury. There have been no official releases on what is plaguing the 27 year-old, but he was absent from the lineup in both games against Ontario. There's hope that Raffl can return sooner than later as the Moose can certainly use the scoring help.

There were also reports that veteran defenceman Jay Harrison was nursing an injury, but Harrison played in both games against the Reign. The Moose need some veteran leadership in the lineup, and it was good to see Harrison on the ice.

Shown The Door

The Moose released forward Kellan Lain from his professional tryout on Monday after having seen no action in the first four games of the AHL season. He also didn't play in the two preseason games the Moose played, so this may have simply been a player who is seeking an opportunity elsewhere. Lain is now a free agent and can sign anywhere he likes.

There's your Moose update for the week as the Moose prepare to play the Lake Erie Monsters in a two-game set at MTS Centre on Thursday and Saturday. Lake Erie and Manitoba are a mere point apart in the Central Division standings, so this weekend's games will be huge in the future of both teams as every team competes for a playoff spot. As the old saying goes, two point in October are worth just as much as two points in April, so here's hoping the Moose can pick up their first wins of the season this weekend!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

TBC: The Guy On The Left

There are a pile of people in this world who'd I like to know more about when it comes to their careers, how they got started, and how they ended up where they are today. Today's subject is no different, and it seems he has a ton of fun doing his job in so much that I'm not sure it can be classified as work. Teebz's Book Club is proud to review The Guy On The Left, written by James Duthie and published by Viking of the Penguin Group. This autobiographical look into Mr. Duthie's life takes you from his childhood through to his work on TSN and all his stops in between. It's a great look at one man's life in front of the camera with a bunch of self-deprecating humour and funny stories intertwined.

You probably already know James Duthie from his work on TSN covering the CFL, NBA, and the NHL where the title of this book comes from as he sits on the left side of the NHL panel's desk. What you may not know is that James is a three-time Gemini Award winner and a Canadian Screen Award winner for Best Sportscaster in Canada for his work on NHL on TSN. James has also been involved in four Olympic Games coverages, has produced some excellent articles for TSN's website, and has conceived and performed in a number of viral videos that can be found on YouTube that have been nominated for awards. In other words, James Duthie is a talented and creative guy if you weren't already aware!

The Guy On The Left is a very intimate look into Mr. Duthie's life. He speaks of growing up in Ottawa and moving often as his father was a member of the RCMP. Eventually, he returns to Ottawa in a suburb called Blackburn Hamlet where his love of sports begins to take over. He plays full NHL, CFL, and MLB seasons by himself - the precursor to fantasy sports for kids in the 1970s and 1980s. He has a pretty great childhood by all accounts, and he even plays a little hockey that involves one of the all-time great robberies for awards in human history. Except James may be slightly hyperbolic in describing his skills which makes it all the more humorous.

He discusses how he got into journalism, where he got his big break, how he missed on TSN the first time, and how he turned down Sportsnet twice. He talks of broadcasting during intense tragedies such as Brian Smith's tragic and unnecessary death and the events of September 11, 2001. He talks about the highs of being in Ottawa as a sports broadcaster when Ottawa was granted an NHL expansion franchise and getting to go back to Ottawa with TSN to call an Ottawa Renegades game after having grown up watching the Ottawa Rough Riders. And, of course, he details how he arrived to being the guy on the left on the NHL on TSN panel.

There are a pile of funny anecdotes from the various things that Mr. Duthie has seen in his life in The Guy On The Left. One such anecdote involves Bob McKenzie, his TSN cohort, who doesn't appreciate the drop-in on a set from imbibed fans. Mr. Duthie writes,

During the first NHL outdoor game in Edmonton in 2003, a blitzed wannabe stuntman dove onto the set as Gord Miller, Bob McKenzie, and Pierre McGuire were on live. The set collapsed. (Temporary TV desks aren't exactly built to hurricane-proof standards.) The guy rolled off and was gone before Bob could hurt him. And make no mistake, Bob would have hurt him. In Carolina at the 2006 Stanley Cup final, a fan jumped a fence and ran across our set. We weren't on air at the time, but a tape of the moment still exists, and it is pure gold. He bumps into a startled Bob, who gives him a hard elbow as he runs away, and then yells, "I'll kill you, you f&%$ing &%$#!"

Bob is one of the best men I know. He will do anything for you. Unless you run on his set while he's working. Then all bets are off. Kevin Pratt, one of our long-time NHL on TSN videotape wizards and the official collector of our many bloopers, plays the tape for us every few months for kicks while we're killing time before a game. I always watch Bob and howl, and Bob always chuckles at me. Because while he is threatening to kill the guy, I don't even bother to look up from my notes, pressing the talk-back button to our production truck to calmly say, "We might want to get some security." By now, I'm used to drunken fools who want to be on TV, and Bob's readiness to pummel them. I still expect to look at Twitter one day and see a tweet from Bob that reads something like, "Stamkos signs eight-year extension in Tampa. Oh, and I just beat a man to death with my iPad. Confirmed."

Stories such as that fill The Guy On The Left, and I found myself laughing out loud at some of them. Honestly, if you've seen Mr. Duthie on TV, you know he has an excellent sense of humour. If you haven't seen his work, this book will give you a good idea on just how funny Mr. Duthie is and how good he is as a story teller.

The Guy On The Left doesn't have any secrets in it. Mr. Duthie used hard work and a little luck to find his way into his current position, but make no mistake that success only came before work in the dictionary when it comes to James Duthie's career. He weaves wonderful, funny stories about the major moments in his life, and there have been many ups and downs. For anyone who is sitting at home and thinking that they could do what James Duthie is doing, there might be a sliver of truth to that. However, to have done what James did to get where he is is truly a story worth reading. Because of this, The Guy On The Left is a no-doubter when it comes to receiving the Teebz's Book Club Seal of Approval!

Pick up The Guy On The Left at your local book store or find a copy at your local library. Being that it's a new publication this month, there may not be many copies left when you arrive at your bookstore or library, so get down there ASAP to grab a copy of The Guy On The Left!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

**Excerpt from The Guy on the Left by James Duthie. Copyright © 2015 James Duthie.**

The Best High Stick Ever

I'm always a little hesitant to throw a product on my blog and endorse it without having seen or used it myself. After all, if I won't buy it, why would I try to convince you to do so? I'm not about catchphrases and jingoism when it comes to pitching a sale either, so I prefer a bird in the hand if you excuse the expressions.

It intrigued me, though, that the president of a company would email me with the following email in trying to convince me to help endorse his product. Mr. Illarion Shulakewych, President of High Stick Vodka, sent me this correspondence a few weeks ago.

Dear Gift Editor,

The gift that will get people talking this season: High Stick Vodka. A hand blown glass hockey stick, filled with award winning, premium Canadian Vodka.

Gifts can be tricky, especially for those Fathers, sons (of drinking age), brothers, husbands and boyfriends that seem to already have all the toys, but with High Stick Vodka, the problem is solved! For the Hockey lover in the family, High Stick Vodka will be that must have item this season. To be the envy of all the friends that have heard rumours and only seen it in pictures.

This vodka, distilled and bottled in Kelowna BC, is limited in availability and perfect not only for the hockey fan but also for the vodka connoisseur. High Stick Vodka won the 2015 double gold award at the WSWA tasting competition. One of the largest alcohol beverage trade shows in North America. The smooth, clean finish will impress the most sophisticated palate.

Your readers will be highly interested in learning more about High Stick Vodka in your publication.

Gift Editor? That's definitely not me, but this email was intriguing. Hand-blown glass hockey stick bottle? Interesting. Envy of all the friends? Interesting. Limited availability? Very interesting.

So I did what any self-respecting "Gift Editor" would do: I requested a hockey stick full of vodka. A couple of emails back and forth with Mr. Shulakewych and his colleague, Mr. Nowak, and I have High Stick Vodka in my hands a week or two later. So far? Impressed.

The problem I find is that I'm not going to drink any of the vodka because we're giving it away on The Hockey Show this week! Your pledge to our show for $120 will earn you an entry into the draw for this fantastic prize! I've seen it at my local adult beverage store, and it retails for $99.99 at the store. Needless to say, you're getting a great deal on this when you consider all of the other incentives you get for pledging to UMFM.

However, I still haven't given you a reason to actually buy into High Stick Vodka other than I have the product. The vodka is actually a Canadian wheat vodka that is filtered 18 times in an artisan distillery in Kelowna, BC before being bottled in the glass hockey stick. I'm not sure if being filtered 18 times is more impressive than 17 times, but I take it that they use charcoal and other filters to purify the product so that it's both smooth and delicious. After all, they're a double gold winner at a pretty prestigious tasting competition.

And this claim of being a double gold winner at the WSWA Tasting Competition? Entirely true. The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America is the national trade organization representing the wholesale branch of the wine and spirits industry in the United States, so I'd say they have some knowledge of great tasting wines and spirits since that's kind of their business.

Like any connoisseur, most people want to know about the taste of High Stick Vodka. Because I'm not cracking open the limited edition bottle I received, I went elsewhere to find a review. I happened to find one on YouTube through Hotmixology!

So it appears that the taste is not an issue as Hotmixology seems to like High Stick Vodka! Honestly, having a glass hockey stick to display in your house that comes with a pretty high-quality product inside of it is a nice bonus.

Once again, you can get your hands on some High Stick Vodka by pledging to The Hockey Show on 101.5 UMFM this Thursday! Any pledge of $120 or more will be entered into the draw for High Stick Vodka, so give us a call on Thursday at (204) 474-6610!

High Stick Vodka: the best kind of high-sticking you can taste!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!