A Successful First Game

With the World Junior Championship happening and the Spengler Cup wrapping up today, there was an international game that seemed so much more important than anything happening at those two tournaments. The Hockey Can't Stop Tour kicked off in Saskatchewan tonight as the Saskatchewan Huskies men's hockey team hosted the Ukraine U25 men's national team in their preparation for the 2023 FISU University Games happening in Lake Placid in a couple of weeks' time. With the ongoing Russian invasion in Ukraine potentially derailing the Ukrainian team from playing, seeing the players in uniform in Canada preparing for the FISU Games is nothing short of amazing!

Let's get this out of the way early: scores didn't matter on this night. Yes, the Huskies downed the Ukrainian team by a 2-0 score off goals from Dawson Holt and Alec Zawatsky, but you got a sense as the game wore on that the Huskies were there for goodwill more than they were for winning an exhibition hockey game. The opening ceremonies alone showed how deeply the Saskatoon community had bought into helping the Ukrainian team, and the Huskies continued the hospitality with a fun game against a team that has little to no ice time since the war in Ukraine started.

"This is our third time on the ice together and we had a tough first period but we tried our best," Ukrainian forward Mikhailo Simchuk told Ryan Flaherty of HuskieFan.ca before a smile appeared on his face. "Really good crowd. Everybody cheered for us, maybe some Canadian fans too."

After a young lady delivered impressive renditions of both the Ukrainian and Canadian national anthems, it was clear that there was a large contingent of fans in the near-capacity crowd to cheer for Team Ukraine and cheer against the Huskies!

"It's kind of weird being the away team in your own rink but that's just proof of the waves of support those guys are getting and their country is getting. It was really special to be a part of it," Huskies captain Connor Hobbs told Flaherty. “We just knew that this was a really important game, and we just wanted to come out and have a good competition and that's what it was."

A smile crept across Hobbs' face as he added, "They've got hundreds and hundreds of people singing their national anthem in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. That's pretty cool. We're lucky to be a part of it."

To me, this is the essence of this Hockey Can't Stop Tour - having the hockey community bond together to help other hockey players in need. If you heard Gord Miller on The Hockey Show yesterday, this whole four-game series came together in the summer thanks to Miller, the Ukrainian Ice Hockey Federation, Jay Woodcroft of the Edmonton Oilers, Canada West, and the coaches in Canada West. With Ukraine locked in a battle for their own survival, it seemed like it was take something along the lines of a miracle to be able to get the Ukrainian players out of Ukraine and onto the ice in North America for the FISU Games, let alone the Hockey Can't Stop Tour.

Having those players take the ice tonight was special beyond measure, but the city of Saskatoon opening their arms and doors to these kids who should be more worried about performing a toe-drag than conducting an airstrike is incredible. I've seen the warmth of the people of Saskatoon, but I'm not sure these Ukrainian kids knew what was waiting for them when they set down in Canada. Saskatoon has set the bar high when it comes to having Calgary, Edmonton, and Winnipeg match the hospitality shown by the northern Saskatchewan city, but that will benefit the Ukrainian team greatly as they find more and more people willing to throw their support behind them while supporting some great organizations helping to bring humanitarian help to Ukraine.

"We want to be ready for everything at the World University Games, so we'll work hard in these exhibition games and we’ll try to show our best," Simchuk told Flaherty. "Every player is so proud to play for their country in this very hard time."

I don't think the Ukrainian players have anything to worry about when it comes to showing their best. Their fans back home are cheering for them already and are proud of the effort they're making in playing the Canada West teams based on the YouTube chat during the broadcast of tonight's game, and it seems pretty clear that the local fans in Saskatoon - Ukrainian or not - were also proud of the effort the men gave tonight.

Would it have been nice to see the Ukrainian team win? Of course, but they'll get better as they get a few practices under their belts. Just seeing them take the ice is a huge accomplishment for everyone involved, and you can count me as one of the people who are cheering for the Ukrainian team no matter who they play in this four-game tour through Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Manitoba!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!