A Home Game Away From Home

Having watched all four games of the Hockey Can't Stop Tour - three on TV and one in person - I can honestly say that each and every game played by the Ukraine U25 National Team has been better. Most of the players arrived at 4am on December 29 in Saskatoon before playing against the Saskatchewan Huskies on December 30, but tonight's game was the most complete effort I saw from the Ukraine team since they first arrived. They spoke of wanting to play for their country and trying to find places to practice as the war raged on in their homeland, but they may have felt like they were playing at home in front of nearly 8000 raucous, loud, and proud Ukrainian fans at Canada Life Center!

While people will say the score didn't matter in the exhibition contest between the University of Manitoba men's program and the Ukraine U25 National Team, the boys in blue and yellow gave the fans - many dressed in the same colours and adorned with Ukrainian flags - a lot to cheer about as they downed the Manitoba team by a 5-1 score! Yes, the five goals were certainly worthy of a cheer, but anyone watching the games prior to this one would be able to say, without a doubt, that this Ukrainian team looks ready for the FISU World University Games after tonight!

In what was their most complete game seen to date, the Ukraine squad looked solid in moving the puck and creating scoring opportunities for themselves. While there were a few hiccups they can tighten up, there had to be a sense of pride in the Ukraine locker room after a solid 60-minute performance in Winnipeg. Regardless of the competition on the other bench, the effort seen tonight in all three zones by Ukraine will take them far in Lake Placid.

Kudos has to be given to TSN's Gord Miller who lit the fire in Canada that led to the four games in western Canada thanks to his efforts in helping the Ukrainian Ice Hockey Federation find places to play and practice and teams against which they could compete. From there, I'll tip my cap to Canada West who allowed these games to be played while televising them, and to the four schools - Saskatchewan, Calgary, Alberta, and Manitoba - for not only stepping up to help the Ukrainian U25 team, but assisting in getting them ready for Lake Placid and for helping to raise a ton of cash to help Ukraine rebuild their rinks and to keep their hockey future from being something more than a fleeting dream.

Stick-taps have to go to the three NHL teams who played a large role in raising money for Ukraine and for the Canada-Ukraine Foundation who is doing amazing humanitarian work on the ground in Ukraine. The Oilers, Flames, and Jets came through in big ways by donating experiences, and, most importantly, money to the cause, and we saw the Jets donate their rink for the game tonight. There are no amount of thanks that can be said that will equal the support given by the three NHL teams, but they deserve that recognition just the same.

I'd certainly be very remiss of me not speak of the sponsors who not only supported the Ukrainian players through the entire tournament, but did so willfully and gladly to help these young men realize a dream of playing hockey for their country. Those sponsors included Tim Hortons, Sobeys, Bell, Sporting Life, Ticketmaster, Heritage Frozen Foods/Cheemo, Visaic Inc., and, specifically to Winnipeg, Old Dutch, the Delta Hotel, and a pile of additional companies who all chipped in with products, support, monies, and donations to help the Ukrainian team enjoy their time in Canada while preparing for the FISU World University Games. These companies deserve your patronage for everything they did to make the Hockey Can't Stop Tour happen through the three provinces.

One sponsor, in particular, used their products to help make a difference as Fanatics came up with some merchandise for the event while donating proceeds to the Canada-Ukraine Foundation as well. The limited edition merchandise was available at every event, but they've gone one step further in trying to help raise as much money as they can in partnering with Merch.ca for an online store! If you want to support the Ukrainian U25 National Team and the humanitarian efforts by the Canada-Ukraine Foundation, click on the link above and get yourself some merchandise! Not only does it look good, it'll keep you warm while the proceeds go to a good cause! That's a solid win-win!

Finally, to the amazing communities of Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, and Winnipeg, thank you for coming out and supporting this set of exhibition games by buying tickets, buying merchandise, buying 50/50 tickets, and making this whole Hockey Can't Stop Tour a huge success. The Ukrainian team played to capacity crowds in each of the cities with the vast majority of those fans cheering for the kids in yellow and blue. Win, lose, or draw, the Ukrainian team likely felt like they were playing at home with the cheers they got everytime they did something big on the ice. That wasn't lost on the players following tonight's game.

"I'm just really thankful to all the countries that are supporting us, especially Canadians because without them we couldn't be here," goaltender Savva Serdiuk told reporters on Monday afternoon.

Hlib Kryvoshapkin, a forward, told the reports in the scrum, "I'm on my phone with my parents every day almost. And I know what is going on there right now.... These games (are) helping them mentally... after the game (to) have a good emotions, to stay positive all next day because my father is not sleeping. He's watching the games at night. So this is really helping them mentally first. They are happy about me, about us all of the boys."

The Ukrainian team gave everyone back home a reason to smile as Mykhailo Simchuk opened the scoring 4:38 into the first period before Yaroslav Panchenko, Kryvoshapkin, and Denys Matusevych scored in the second period to give Team Ukraine a commanding 4-0 lead through 40 minutes. Devon Skoleski would tally one for Manitoba, but it was erased by a gorgeous 2-on-1 that saw Kryvoshapkin setup Simchuk for his second goal of the game. The cheers didn't stop all night as the Canada Life Center felt more like a European arena, and the very pro-Ukraine crowd went home happy with the 5-1 victory!

For those that want to see the Ukraine team in action and picking up a win, highlights of tonight's 5-1 victory are available!

It was a great night at the downtown rink in Winnipeg as the Ukrainian team scored its first victory while being cheered by thousands of proud Ukrainians both in the rink and watching via Canada West TV. They earned the win, and now they focus on the next task: competing in Lake Placid, NY at the 2023 FISU World University Games.

The competition will ramp up over the next week as Ukraine will play Canada on Thursday at the tournament. The last couple of weeks has seen Canada treat the Ukrainian men to incredible hospitality, but I doubt they'll find the Canadian hockey players in Lake Placid as welcoming as the four Canadian communities who opened their arms and their hearts to these resilient, courageous kids.

I may be cheering for Canada as they take the ice in Lake Placid, but it's clear that Canada is standing with Ukraine. слава україні!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!