HBIC Music Festival: Day One

As we hit the Labour Day weekend in September, there's a sense that summer is officially over as the weekend passes. While that day officially doesn't happen until later in September, the long weekend at the start of September was always the signpost of the summer turning to autumn as school always started in or around Labour Day. In saying that, the summer concerts that cities and towns have been holding are winding down as events move indoors again, so let's have some fun with all the musicians who got a hockey jersey this summer from the teams who call those cities and town home!

The full list of musicians holding or wearing a hockey jersey can be found here, and this list just keeps getting more and more impressive with the additions being made. If you have photos of a musician wearing or holding a jersey, send them through to me and I'll get them posted with you getting credit! I'm always open to more submissions than less, so let's make this "Musicians in Jerseys" list as comprehensive as we can! Here are the new additions!

Irvine, California is just south of Anaheim, so how approriate that Irvine rock back Thrice got themselves a set of Anaheim Ducks jerseys? If they had been official Mighty Ducks jerseys, those would have been simply awesome, but these will do.

Boston welcomed Old Dominion to their city, and the country music band received their Bruins jerseys for their appearance. Boston also added Teona Zak to their ranks when she sang before an alumni game, and the contemporary pop artist donned the Reverse Retro jersey for the occasion!

Calgary has had a number artists pass through their city, and the Flames were handing out jerseys like they were maps to the city. Among the musicians that received a jersey were country pop singer Morgan Wallen in a Reverse Retro, folksy pop singer Noah Kahan, the incomparable Snoop Dogg in a Reverse Retro, and Calgary-born Tate McRae who showed up in her Heritage Classic jersey only to be gifted a Flames' home jersey! Are the using some of that new arena money to pay for these free jerseys?

Winnipeg-born Daniel Bjornson seems to have a handful of jerseys at his disposal as you'll see throughout this post. The first instance comes up here because Daniel pieced together a collage of photos of him wearing jerseys, and the Carolina Hurricanes were one of those jerseys. Not sure what the purpose of this photo collage was in the bigger picture, but he's wearing the jersey!

Country music star Zach Bryan was on tour this summer on "The Quittin Time Tour" - the lack of an apostrophe there drives me mad - and one of the stops he made was in Chicago where the Blackhawks gave him a tour-specific jersey!

Alvin Lamar Worthy is better known as American rapper Westside Gunn, and the Buffalo-born musician seems to be a fan of Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche! The weird part is that Westside Gunn is a dedicated fan of professional wrestling, not hockey, so this might be his only appearance on this list!

Speaking of rare appearances, the Columbus Blue Jackets did not follow the practice of giving away jerseys to musicians who stopped in their arena or city, but they seem to be softening that stance. Case in point? M. Ross Perkins received a scarf and a jersey for his appearance in Columbus while rapper Ro Ransom was out on the town wearing the colours of the Blue Jackets.

This artist didn't pass through Dallas this summer, but him wearing the Stars jersey is a pretty big piece of hockey-music jersey history. We've seen Tupac Shakur in jerseys before, but here is the late rapper sporting the colours of the Stars!

The Detroit Red Wings can boast a couple of new musical fans as American rapper Jeezy was sporting the winged wheel while Daniel Bjornson makes his second appearance with a Detroit Red Wings jersey that he wore in that collage.

Roland "Rollie" Pemberton grew up in Edmonton before getting his big break as rapper Cadence Weapon, and the Canadian musician shows his devotion to his hometown team by appearing in a hype video in Oilers' blue and on another video where he's wearing the Oilers' alternate! Jake Ryan of Boyz II Men stood out in his Oilers jersey. Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 wore the #182 Oilers jersey on stage. Shockingly, Alberta-founded band Nickelback hadn't appeared in the Oilers' section yet, but they finally got their jerseys. Noah Kahan stopped in Edmonton for a night and came away with an Oilers jersey. And, like Nickelback who appears often, Snoop Dogg had yet to appear in the Oilers' musical fan group, but that has now been corrected as well!

The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers will have new fans to boast after their win last season as musical acts came out of the woodwork to support the Cats. We already knew that Ariana Grande was a Panthers fan, but she showed up to last season's playoff run in a Panthers practice jersey. Rapper Future played a show in Sunrise, and he's now a bedazzled fan of the Panthers. Speaking of rappers, Lil Baby got himself a Panthers jersey when he stopped in Sunrise! Country music artist and Floridian Joey Braxton wrote a Panthers hype song and wore their colours as they marched to the Stanley Cup as well!

Los Angeles is a bit of a cheat code when it comes to finding musicians wearing jerseys, but it's still pretty awesome to see Billy Idol wearing the Kings' colours. You may not know her music well, but Jessica Meuse was on the 13th season of American Idol where she finished fourth, and it seems she took to the LA life by adopting the Kings as her team with additional clothing!

Matthew Raymond Hauri grew up in Rochester, Minnesota before he became the musician and rapper known as Yung Gravy, but it appears he hasn't forgtten his roots as he shows off his Minnesota Wild jersey (on the right)!

Like some of the other major cities in North America, Montreal gets a lot of musical acts through their city so this will be a larger paragraph about those artists. Lasso Montreal is an annual country music festival, and the Canadiens were on-hand to greet musicians like Dean Brody, Kane Brown, and Nate Smith! Among the other artists who are showing their devotion to the Habs are Rik Emmett from Canadian rock band Triumph, EDM-pop musician Jo Hysteria, Canadian rock band Monster Truck who we'll see again, American pop singer Billie Eilish, and Snoop Dogg is back for more as he gets jerseys from two of the toughest hombres to wear the bleu-blanc-et-rouge in Chris Nilan and Georges Laraque! Just for good measure, Daniel Bjornson's collage is back too!

For our last entry on Day One of this music festival, we go to Nashville where there was one artist showing his support for the Predators as country music artist Chase Wright got his gear. I'm sure there may be more artists that have appeared in Nashville over the last couple of years, but I haven't seen many images of musicians in jerseys. I'll have to keep looking.

Tomorrow, HBIC returns with Day Two of the HBIC Music Festival as I clear out the folder of images on my desktop. There are still lots of images to go through as the last sixteen NHL teams will see if they have any musical inspiration for the coming season, and there are some cool images of artists wearing non-NHL jerseys as well. Some of these are pretty awesome!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Gone Far Too Soon

I don't have any Johnny Gaudreau stories that I can tell. Like the vast majority of hockey fans, I watched him dazzle from afar as he appeared on highlight reels on sports shows across the globe. The same goes for Matthew Gaudreau as I never crossed paths with him either. However, hearing the news that these two young, talented men had passed was shocking. Knwoing that these dedicated family men who had young children or were expecting a new addition are gone is gut-wrenching, and I cannot fathom what their families, both immediate and extended, are going through at this time.

The feelings of sadness and loss quickly changed once details started being released about what happened to Johnny and Matthew. It was revealed that they had been hit by an SUV who was driving erratically while riding bikes, and that the driver of the SUV may have been impaired. I can honestly say that I felt rage at hearing this news, and I fully hope and expect justice to be served in a meaningful way once the driver makes it to trial. He took and destroyed lives - that's more than enough for me to throw the proverbial book at him.

For anyone who gets behind a wheel while impaired, my hope is you're pulled over and arrested for your choice because there's a very good chance that the police will have saved a life by doing so. That life may be yours, but it seems that those who are impaired never suffer the same fate as the persons who are involved in an accident involving them. I'm not wishing harm on anyone, but driving impaired is a choice one makes so there should only be maximum punishments handed out for those poor choices.

"Teebz, that's a harsh stance," I hear some of you saying, but is it? How do you think the Gaudreau family feels right now? How do you think their extended family feels? I keep thinking about the grief and anger and suffering that Jordyn Reimer's family is still feeling, and this tragedy re-opens all those wounds once again. Say what you want about these senseless deaths, but I believe they should be classified as murders since the people who did the killing made a choice to get behind the wheel.

I'm not here to weigh morals, ethics, and human rights against the events that happened nor am I a lawyer to present this argument to see laws changed. I just find myself angry that lives have been lost to something as dumb as impaired driving, and the fallout is months and months of legal procedures while the grieving families try to put themselves back together in the wake of their losses.

My hope is that the Gaudreaus and their extended families will be able to find peace one day, but I don't expect that to come soon. Or maybe not at all based on the circumstances of this tragedy. For two men who gave 110% effort to their families, their teams, their friends, their communities, and their fans, this is a loss that doesn't sit well with me unless harsh punishment is given to the driver of the SUV. Even then, I'm not sure that will help to close the wounds these families have suffered with the losses of Johnny and Matthew.

The Gaudreaus, their extended family, their friends, and their teammates are in my thoughts today, and I wish for their anguish and loss to somwhow be resolved some day. I know it won't be soon, though, and I'm hopeful that the driver receives swift, brutal punishment for his poor choices. Both Johnny and Matthew are gone too soon, and there's only one person to blame for that reality.

Rest peacefully, Johnny and Matthew, as you were taken far too soon from us and long before your legacies could appreciated fully.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 623

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back on the air tonight with a pile of stories to discuss after we spoke to the incredible Logan Angers on last week's show! The hockey news never seems to stop, though, as there were player moves, potential contract problems, and some smaller stories that will find their way into the show. Our hosts will have some fun pulling apart deals, figuring out if teams got better, and more as we jump into The Hockey Show tonight at 5:30pm CT!

Teebz and Jason put the thinking caps on tonight as they look at the Patrik Laine deal that sent the Finnish sniper to Montreal, the trades made by the Oilers in order to fill holes caused by their decision not to match the offer sheets to Broberg and Holloway, and the Yaroslav Askarov deal that sent the netminder to San Jose. They chat about Ryan Johansen's drama with the Flyers, U SPORTS players signing in the ECHL and SPHL, there may be some uniform chatter, and we'll see what else comes up tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The new UMFM website's online streaming player works well if you want to listen online. We also recommend Radio Garden if you need an easy-to-use online stream. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store. It's a solid app.

If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason chat about a Montreal sniper, offer sheet madness, a San Jose stopper, the Philly flu, player signings, NHL threads, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: August 29, 2024: Episode 623

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Make This The Norm

I'm not one to drop praise on the NHL or any other hockey league unless they're doing or have done something right, but I have to hand it to all the leagues out there that use overhead goal cameras and in-net goal cameras to help determine whether goals have been scored or not. Besides being good television when officials are conferring and watching replays, the very fact that the game is committed to getting the main purpose of the game right - scoring goals - is why these leagues deserve praise. So why doesn't U SPORTS hockey have these cameras?

I understand that there is a significant technological investment that each school and arena would need to make to implement this addition, but it's pretty clear that this technology works when it comes to determining goals in the various leagues where it's used. We've often seen plays where a goal appears to be scored, but the only people who have the power to award said goal at this time are the two referees on the ice. While I appreciate hockey history, not using this technology seems archaic and outdated.

I ask this because it was announced this summer that SDHL would implement goal camera technology for the first time in its history, and this should go a long way in helping the league make correct calls when it comes to goals. According their news release in June, "(f)or many years there has been a demand and discussion about target cameras" in the SDHL, and they will proceed with the technology this season. Cameras have already been installed, and testing is happening during the preseason with all teams getting ready to use them in regular season games on September 13.

If you're like me, the ten-minute reviews of plays should be outlawed when it comes to determining goals, but getting a scoring play right could change the outcome of a season hypothetically. I've been witness to shots that have gone under the crossbar that go off the back post or the crossbar inside the net only to ricochet out and be waved off by the officials. At this point, there's no review on those players other than the officials discussing what was seen, but a lot of those plays have been ruled as "no goal" because none of the on-ice officials saw the puck enter the net.

I'm not here to disparage the officials' work - they're vitally important to the game and they are incredible at what they do already. I hold them in the highest regard after having watched many games where their knowledge and management of the game were essential for order on the ice, so why can't the schools and U SPORTS help them be even better by giving them a tool they can use when there's any doubt whether a goal was scored or not. If the answer is simply "it costs too much", it might be time to admit that U SPORTS is nothing more than glorified adult recreational hockey.

If U SPORTS is going to use Hockey Canada-certified officials for games and its National Championship tournament, it should be adhering to Hockey Canada's standards of providing the officials with the same tools they'd be offered if they were skating in an IIHF-sanctioned event. Getting calls right when it comes to goals shouldn't be a question of costs when the cost of missing one of those goals might be a team missing the playoffs or missing out on the national championship tournament.

Video review has entered every sport in an effort to get calls right. Whether it be the VAR in soccer, the video review booth with the tarp in football, or the iPads and monitors in baseball, basketball, and hockey, it seems that every sport is using video technology to ensure that the calls on the playing surface are correct. It's not there to take away the officials' abilities to make calls, but rather to enhance their vision of the game when they may have missed something.

To err is to be human, and there's nothing wrong with an official admitting that they missed something or didn't see something. U SPORTS should be looking to support the officials they employ by giving them the tools they need to make the right calls. If virtually every organized, high-level hockey league on the planet can do that, including the NCAA, U SPORTS should be doing the same.

There's no review needed on this decision. Make it happen.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

He's In Mid-Season Form

Fans of the KHL had been anticipating the debut of former Washington Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov since the moment SKA St. Petersburg announced that he signed his contract with the club. With KHL teams playing in various preseason tournaments, it was only a matter of time before Kuznetsov got into a game to knock off some rust, show off his skills, and create some chemistry with his teammates. That game happened on Friday as SKA St. Petersburg was playing in the Puchkov Tournament, and they met HC Sochi in the tournament with both clubs looking for a win as they tune up for KHL regular season action beginning on Tuesday, September 3!

Wearing #92, Kuznetsov centered SKA St. Peterburg's third line between wingers Borna Rendulic and Marat Khairullin, but this line played a bit of a Swiss army knife role as they were out for power-plays while also taking a number of defensive zone face-offs. While this trio found opportunties to score, none of them would hit the scoresheet during regulation time as KHL fans will be forced to wait for a future game where Kuznetsov may tally his first KHL goal.

However, fans would get to see Kuznetsov dent twine on this day as SKA St. Petersburg and HC Sochi battled to a 1-1 draw through 60 minutes of play plus overtime so we'd need the skills competition to settle this game, and that's where Kuznetsov looked like his old self!
Kuznetsov's classic slow approach to the net was seen twice in this shootout, and he was successful on both his attempts as Sochi netminder Alexey Krasikov had no answer for Kuznetsov's methodical attempts on the free breakaways. Down 0-2, he scored to make it 2-1 in the skills competition, and followed that up by scoring on SKA St. Petersburg's sixth attempt which would be the game winner!

It's pretty clear that Kuznetsov still has the hands and vision needed to play at a high level with his debut on Friday, and he'll certainly get better with more games under his belt. What should be noted is that SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg put the captaincy on Kuznetsov for Friday's game, and he came through when the game was on his stick as his shootout goals were a vital part of the SKA St. Petersburg victory. Moving forward, #92 will wear the captain's "C" for the season, and his coach felt he deserved the honour.

"He deserves it," Rotenburg stated. "He brought the team together through his attitude to the job. We're working to get Zhenya back to being one of the best players in the world. We have leaders and that's great. We're strengthening our team spirit, making the team more supportive, so it will strive for victory in every game."

I'm not one to declare anything with it being far too early for crazy predictions, but I suspect we'll be hearing a lot about Kuznetsov if he continues to push SKA St. Petersburg to victory. The newly-minted captain didn't find the net in the game as he and his teammates were stopped 66 of 67 times in regulation time by Sergey Ivanov, but it doesn't seem like we'll be waiting long to SKA St. Petersburg's new captain and biggest star on the scoresheet.

Based on those shootout goals scored on Friday, Evgeny Kuznetsov looks like he's already in mid-season form!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Fort Wayne Space Program

A few weeks ago, the Fort Wayne Komets used their social media channels to post their jersey set for the season. There's nothing new about these jerseys that would require major discussion or examination, so it wasn't reported here simply because it didn't make waves. The Komets look like the Komets normally do, and that's good for everyone who is a Komets fan including our favorite Komets fan and broadcaster, Fiona. So why I am posting this today, you ask?

I'm glad you did because we can talk about the fourth jersey that the Komets will be wearing this season. You might be wondering why an ECHL team needs a fourth jersey, and all I can say about that is "they can have one if they want one". I'm not making the decisions for the Komets nor am I their Chief Financial Officer, but they did take to social media to show off their newest aerospace-themed threads!

Not bad, right? These are fun jerseys that can be used for Sunday games or when there's a special theme night being held at the rink. Minor-pro teams, in my view, can be a little more fun with their uniform set because they're minor-league teams, but they still need to look professional. This jersey and logo do that nicely for Fort Wayne, so let's have a little fun with this fourth, lesser-seen jersey!

Frankly, that alternate logo on the front of the jersey should get used more often than it does. That's a fantastic logo for a shoulder patch or hats - specifically a FlexFit style of hat - that should be offered via the store. Of course, I'm no marketing major, but I believe having that logo used through the franchise's looks a little more would benefit them. Of course, you may have different thoughts.

If you do, that's cool. Leave them in the comment below. If you think I'm crazy for liking the logo or this fourth jersey, leave those comments too. We can discuss the merits of having a fourth jersey with the same logo as the other three. Either way, these get a thumbs-up from this writer, so kudos to the Fort Wayne Komets for a solid fourth jersey that's - excuse the pun - out of this world!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

San Jose's Next Stopper

With the Nashville Predators trading star prospect goaltender Yaroslav Askarov earlier this weekend, one of the best options for any team to upgrade their goaltending situation is off the market. No one is saying that Askarov will be a star in the NHL, but his body of work in the AHL seems to indicate that this is a very possible outcome. In saying that, today is less about Askarov's potential and more about San Jose's collection of players who have stood in the crease. Today, we look at the shiver of Sharks who stopped pucks in San Jose that have made a difference in the outcome of the franchise! Not every netminder will be listed here, but these are the memorable goalies who wore the teal on the west coast at some point!

We can talk about Jeff Hackett and Brian Hayward in the early days of the San Jose Sharks, but there was a Latvian kid who stole the show with his athleticism and puck-stopping skills that needs to be mentioned. Drafted 196th-overall in the tenth round of the 1989 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota North Stars, goaltender Arturs Irbe was selected in the 1991 Dispersal Draft from the North Stars as the 18th selection of the 24 players they could take from the North Stars. At the time, Irbe was playing in the Soviet Championship League with Dynamo Riga, so it wasn't expected that he'd make the jump immediately from the Soviet Union to the NHL.

In 1991, Irbe would land in San Jose where he played 13 games as he adjusted to North American hockey, going 2-6-3 with a 4.47 GAA and an .868 save percentage. 1992-93 didn't go much better after he saw action in 36 games, posting a 7-26-0 record with a 4.11 GAA and an .886 save percentage. It seemed like Irbe wasn't the goalie that San Jose hoped they were getting when they chose him in the dispersal draft, but they stuck with the "little Latvian" into the 1993 season.

The addition of some key players and a new coach in the 1993 offseason pushed San Jose to new heights in the NHL's Pacific Division, but this was Irbe's breakout season as well. He played in 74 of the 84 games that the Sharks played, posting a 30-28-16 record on the strength of a 2.89 GAA and an .899 save percentage. The defensively-minded Sharks proved that they could hang with some of the better teams in the NHL that season, shocking everyone with a first-round upset of the Detroit Red Wings in their first-ever playoff appearance! They'd fall to the Maple Leafs in Round Two in seven games, but history was written and moments like the one below were why Artus Irbe became a San Jose Sharks goaltending legend!


After Irbe left the Sharks in 1996, the Sharks tried to find a big-name replacement by bringing in guys like Chris Terreri, Ed Belfour, Kelly Hrudey, and Mike Vernon, the Sharks found another player within their ranks who was also playing for a Russian Dynamo team. Evgeni Nabokov had been selected 219th-overall in the ninth round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft by San Jose, and he was playing for Dynamo Moscow when the Sharks selected him. Again, there was no guarantee he was joining the Sharks anytime soon, but they'd get him over to North America a few years later.

A forgettable 1997-98 season with the AHL's Kentucky Thoroughblades where Nabokov went 10-21-2 in 33 games on the strength of a 3.92 GAA and an .872 save percentage was erased one season later when the Nabokov the Sharks saw in Russia arrived. 1998-99 would see him play 43 games with the Thoroughblades, posting a 26-14-1 record as he pushed his GAA down to 2.62 and raised his save percentage to .909. He helped Kentucky knock off the Hershey Bears in the opening round of the Calder Cup Playoffs before falling to the Philadelphia Phantoms in Round Two in seven games.

In 2000-01, Evgeni Nabokov would be in San Jose to stay as he logged 66 games that season, going 32-21-7 with a 2.19 GAA and a .915 save percentage. The Sharks would be upset in the opening round of the playoffs by the St. Louis Blues, but Nabokov was named as the Calder Trophy winner as the best rookie in the NHL. He'd continue to backstop the Sharks to new successes as the team relied on Nabokov for jaw-dropping moments like from the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs!


There have been a pile of other impressive netminders who have stood in the Sharks' crease since Nabokov and Irbe, but no one has had the same success as these two netminders. Yes, both Antti Niemi and Martin Jones had their moments in trying to be as good as these two iconic Sharks netminders while names like Adin Hill and Devyn Dubnyk have followed Irbe and Nabokov with lesser success, but the two Russian netminders helped to put the Sharks in the upper echelon of the NHL during their times on the west coast.

San Jose's now where Askarov can cement his legacy as well, and the Sharks could desperately use another good netminders to get them back to the heights they experienced with both Irbe and Nabokov. Again, there's no guarantee that Askarov will find the same success in San Jose that Irbe and Nabokov did, but it seems the Sharks have had success with Russian-born and Russian-trained netminders in their history. Maybe Sharks fans will be treated to saves like this?


Sharks fans will enjoy watching Askarov's athleticism on display, and he can handle the puck well which should help the Sharks in the defensive sone as well. He won't be your quiet, make-all-the-saves goalie like Irbe nor will he be as safe with the puck as Nabokov was, but that excitement will be fun to watch. I'm excited to see Askarov take the reigns in San Jose, and I suspect we'll be adding his name to the goaltending greats who wore the Sharks' teal when his time with the team is done!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Ready And Abel

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know I like to celebrate when U SPORTS players find homes at one of the many professional levels of hockey. Whether playing overseas, in the ECHL, in the AHL, or in the SPHL, there are opportunities out there for players who have worked hard and shown a commitment to excellence in Canadian university hockey. There are no guarantees of fame or fortunes, as you know, but these men are chasing their dreams and waiting for that one break they need to take the next step. One goalie will do that by joining a championship team after helping his Canada West team that make its first playoff appearance in school history!

Ashton Abel, pictured above, came to Grant MacEwan University after playing two seasons and eleven games with the NCAA's Boston University Terriers from 2019-2022. For a goalie who likes a heavy workload, playing very little after nine games in 2019-20 where he was 3-3-2 with a 35-save, double-overtime win over Boston College in Beanpot semifinals, Abel simply watched as Drew Commesso and Vincent Duplessis got the majority of starts.

"I went in halfway through the year in my first year and I played quite a bit," he told MacEwan's Jefferson Hagen. "I had a decent year and then my second and third year I didn't get a chance to get in the net at all. I only played one regular season game. Coming back home, I was trying to find somewhere I could get back playing and starting to enjoy coming to the rink a little more."

The Fort McMurray native found his spot with the MacEwan Griffins who needed a "big game" goalie to compete in Canada West, and he'd show his stuff regularly as he appeared in 40 games over the next two seasons. There will be many who look at his 16-22-1 record, 3.87 GAA, and his .895 save percentage and shrug as those numbers seem unimpressive, but Abel's play in the MacEwan net often was remarkable considering the number of shots the Griffins surrendered.

Because of his work at both Boston University and at MacEwan University, the defending SPHL champions in the Peoria Rivermen announced that they had signed Abel to a contract back on August 15! Both he and goaltending partner Troy Kobryn were signed the same day, and it seems Peoria ia very excited about their netminding duo heading into the title-defence season.

"Ashton Abel is a young netminder that we are excited to have. He shows a lot of potential to succeed at the SPHL level and we cannot wait to have him working with coach Eric Levine to take that next step in his development," Rivermen head coach Jean-Guy Trudel said.

What Trudel didn't say in that statement is that Abel has every opportunity to be the starter for the Rivermen. Kobryn has nine games of SPHL experience where he was 2-2-2 with all of Fayetteville, Pensacola, and Knoxville last season. He's had six games of action in the ECHL as well, going 2-4-0 in those games with Norfolk and Tulsa, so it's not like Abel is competing with a grizzled veteran for playing time in the coming season. In fact, Kobryn hasn't played over 600 minutes - 10 games in total - in any season since 2019-20 when he was in his freshman season with Merrimack College in the NCAA.

In short, the door is wide open for Abel to grab the starter's role.

After being named as the first repeat winner of the Griffins' Male Athlete of the Year in nine years and helping the Griffins to their first-ever Canada West playoff berth, the Rivermen may have found a goaltending gem in Ashton Abel. Along the way, he set ten program single-season and career records in his final season with the Griffins, and now he has his sights set on helping the Rivermen win back-to-back championships as he embarks on his first professional season.

I have no doubt, after watching him play with the Griffins last season, that Ashton Abel is ready for this new challenge!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

TBC: My New Hero

Anyone who knows me knows that I rarely have free time to just kick back and relax. I would like to do this more, but I always have something on the go. In saying this, I find it hard to sit down and commit to a book in the summer because of how busy I keep myself, but I finally took some time this past week to get into one book whose premise seemed interesting and whose author sent me a digital copy for review. In receiving that review honour, Teebz's Book Club is proud to review My New Hero, written by Douglas Savage and John Davidson, and published by Tellwell Talent. The story of My New Hero is a collection of Douglas Savage's memories that highlights growing up in Winnipeg, being a "Rink Rat" with his two friends, meeting and walking with Wayne Gretzky, and the promise made by The Great One to our young author back in 1983! Let's take a look at My New Hero and the stories and memories brought to life by our authors!

Douglas George Savage was born in Winnipeg on January 26, 1969, and he attended Elwood High School during his formative years. In 1987, he moved to Vancouver where he met two good friends in the late John Davidson and the late Kary Franke. Savage would find his calling out in Vancouver as he became the President of North Pole Mining, but his love of the Winnipeg Jets never waned and he'd return to his hometown when he could. Up until 1987, Savage had only missed one Jets game in his life - both WHA and NHL games - and had seen hundreds of practices! There's no doubt that he has every right to claim to be a rink rat! My New Hero is one of many books he's written, and he continues to live in Vancouver.

The late John Davidson was a high school English teacher in Vancouver during Savage's "rink rat" years, but they became friends when Savage moved to the west coast in 1987. For 25 years, Davidson taught English to students in Vancouver only to retire and continuing helping students as an English tutor. When he wasn't teaching or watching hockey, Davidson logged countless hours as a volunteer with the Vancouver Crisis Centre. Working with Savage, Davidson helped to organize and edit My New Hero. Unfortunately, Mr. Davidson passed away on November 7, 2021 after selflessly helping so many people throughout his life. Eternally rest peacefully, Mr. Davidson. You earned it.

Before we even get into the story of My New Hero, I want to say upfront that sports causes a reaction in all of us. Some of us may glance and shrug it off due to disinterest. Others have seen it or played it, and no longer care for it or maybe even dislike it for a vast number of reasons. Fans, though, love the game, and it's usually due to some experience that planted that seed in them and sowed with each new experience thereafter. Fans are vital for professional sports.

For those of us who had a chance to experience hockey in the 1980s when players were far less guarded and had zero public relations training, having an interaction with a player was unforgettable no matter whether it was good or bad. Bad ones usually left a sour taste in one's mouth - Carlisle gets a whole chapter on this in My New Hero - but good ones often changed a hated rival into, at the very least, a good guy based on the experience. My New Hero is all about one boy's experience when it came to his favorite team and their most hated rival, and how one of those interactions with a very well-known player changed everything for this young man.

My New Hero is Douglas Savage's recollections of all the professional sports adventures that he and his two friends, Carlisle and Jamie, went on as kids while at Elmwood High School. The vast majority of these adventures involved the Winnipeg Jets at the old Winnipeg Arena, but the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Winnipeg Stadium get a few mentions as well. Either way, the three "Rink Rats", as they named themselves, were all about going to practices and games, cheering on the Jets, and possible coming home with a new stick or two from one of their hockey heroes!

As a hockey fan, it's hard to imagine kids playing street hockey with a new twig that came from the hands of a Denis Potvin or a Marcel Dionne, but Savage and his friends were out there with Guy Lafleur and Mario Tremblay sticks as he recalled in My New Hero. You can imagine the value of those sticks in today's reality, but the early 1980s meant they were just hockey sticks. Sports memorabilia collectors were few and far between for kids who wanted to emulate their hockey heroes in that era!

So who was this player who changed a young Winnipeg boy's mind? I could give you 99 guesses, but you probably wouldn't need them. Wayne Gretzky was one of the first players to operate under intense security as the Oilers made sure he was protected at all times, but it would be a chance moment that led to the encounter between Gretzky and Savage. I won't tell that tale since My New Hero is based on this interaction, but reading how Savage discovered "Wayne Gretzky, the person" rather than "Wayne Gretzky, destroyer of the Jets and one boy's dreams" made me smile in its innocence and authenticity.

While I won't tell the tale of Gretzky's encounter with Savage (or is that the other way around?), I will give you an idea of how the "Rink Rats" operated with the following passage.

"After every game, our plan was to find a clandestine way into the Jets' dressing room. The hunt for brand-name tools of the trade was always paramount. But this was the hardest thing to do; it was like breaking into Fort Knox. The players' rack was at the back of the dressing room. We had to wait for the trainer to start vacuuming, our cue to get on with the heist under the protective cover of noise."

It's pretty clear that years of practice allowed Savage and his friends to acquire sticks efficiently based on the number of sticks he and his friends had from all sorts of teams, but times have changed in the last 30-40 years where these opportunities have nearly disappeared. This may be why the personal interactions with players often matter more today than the lumber or carbon-fibre they carry. But it's still really cool to get a stick from a player!

Often, the books we read about hockey are about a significant moment or event about hockey or a compendium of facts about a team or a biography about a player. Far too often, there are great stories out there that take place from a fan's perspective that we never hear, but My New Hero captures that perspective nicely.

Overall, most people who read the 132-page story of My New Hero likely won't have the same experiences that Savage did, but the experience of meeting one of hockey's biggest stars and finding out that he's a pretty likable guy is one that more sports fans may be able to share. That's what I took from My New Hero, and I certainly can relate to the experience that Savage had in encountering Wayne Gretzky where his opinion on The Great One changed significantly! In saying this, it's my feeling that My New Hero absolutely deserves the Teebz's Book Club Seal of Approval!

My New Hero was released on November 30, 2023 and should be available at book stores and libraries across the land. The material contained within the covers is pretty easy to read with no foul language in the book, and the chapters are short with each being no more than a few pages in length. As a result, I recommed this book for all readers, but I'm pretty sure that all hockey fans will enjoy the laughs and crazy stories found in My New Hero!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 622

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is beyond excited to have our guest in the studio tonight. It was pretty evident from when we got to watch her that this goaltender was going to be something special, and her work in the crease at the NCAA level has opened doors into professional hockey! Not only is she a stellar netminder, but she played a second sport in university as well while earning three degrees! Who is this brilliant, puck-stopping athlete? If you want to know, you're going to have to tune in tonight to The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Yeah, tonight's guest is kind of a big deal as Teebz and Jason welcome former Quinnipiac Bobcats goalie and newly-signed PWHL Ottawa netminder Logan Angers to the show! Logan has been an incredible athlete all her life, and we'll talk to her about growing up in Winnipeg, getting her start on the ice and in pads, playing with and against the boys, her time with the St. Mary's Academy Flames, moving to Quinnipiac, career highlights in the NCAA, getting a shot with Ottawa, playing softball, and more. It's an hour with one of the nation's best goaltenders as we introduce you to Logan Angers tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The new UMFM website's online streaming player works well if you want to listen online. We also recommend Radio Garden if you need an easy-to-use online stream. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store. It's a solid app.

If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason chat with PWHL Ottawa's Logan Angers about growing up, going to school, stopping pucks, catching balls, signing contracts, winning awards, career moments, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: August 22, 2024: Episode 622

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Ryan Johansen Saga

If you looked back at the 2017 NHL season, one of the names that may jump off the statistics page for you might have been Ryan Johansen. He was a solid player with the Columbus Blue Jackets who had been traded to the Nashville Predators for defenceman Seth Jones, and Johansen went to work in Music City with three-straight seasons of 50-or-more points. You might be thinking that the 50-point plateau isn't that great, but 2017 saw Johansen tie for the lead in scoring with 61 points on a very defence-first Predators team. Since 2019, however, Johansen has only scored 30-or-more points twice, and he's only hit 40-or-more points once. With the Philadelphia Flyers waiving Johansen in order to terminate his contract yesterday, the 32 year-old Johansen's career might effectively be over.

As a centerman, Johansen was never regarded as a bonafide goal-scorer. Just three times in his career since 2013 has he scored more than 20 goals in a season, so teams had to know they were getting more of a playmaking centerman when trading for or signing Johansen. One of the key skills that playmaking centermen need to have is skating, and Johansen may not be able to do that very well following a major hip injury that has reportedly called into question as to whether he'll ever play hockey again.

As a result, the Philadelphia Flyers went ahead and placed Johansen on unconditional waivers yesterday in order to terminate his contract due to a "material breach", but it seems that Johansen and his agent, Kurt Overhardt, will grieve this move through the NHLPA due to Johansen still being injured and requiring surgery. Overhardt released the following statement via Twitter on Tuesday stating their intentions to challenge Philadelphia's waiver termination move.

You might be wondering how the Flyers can simply discard an injured player, but it seems that they never really wanted to keep Johansen after trading Sean Walker to Colorado for him. What makes this strange, though, is that Johansen played in 63 games for Colorado prior to the trade, scoring 13 goals and adding ten assists, but apparently was injured enough to not suit up for any games for Philadelphia or its AHL affilate in Lehigh Valley after the Flyers acquired him. For the record, Johansen was placed on waivers on March 6 for the purpose of being assigned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL, cleared waivers on March 7, but reappeared on the Flyers' roster the next day. So what happened?

In an interview with Philly Hockey, Flyers GM Daniel Briere said, "He claimed to be injured when we traded for him, so we had him see the doctors. They found an injury, so now he's going to be rehabbing. You can't send down a player who’s injured, so he's going to be doing rehab until... we don’t know when. That's about all I can say at this time, or all that I have. So he's back on our roster doing rehab and trying to get better."

If that raises eyebrows, this next part won't help because Johansen played 10:58 against the Chicago Blackhawks on March 4 with no apparent discomfort, and he took the morning skate on March 6 just hours before he was traded later in the day. For a guy who requires "requires extensive surgery" as his agent suggested, one would expect him to not potentially aggravate the injury by playing and skating.

Is it just me or does it sound like Ryan Johansen never had any intention of suiting up for the Flyers after being traded?

With Johansen having $4 million owed to him by Philadelphia for one final season on his current contract (Nashville retained 50% in the trade to Colorado), he could be put on LTIR by the Flyers if they wanted the cap space, but this seems to run deeper than just worrying about salary cap money. Injured players cannot be bought out, so that option wouldn't be available for the Flyers if they were planning that scenario this summer. They already tried and couldn't send him to the AHL, so it would seem that the best way to open an NHL contract spot and not pay Johansen would be to terminate his contract as it seems doubtful that he'll ever play for the Flyers.

I'm no doctor and I have zero access to Ryan Johansen's medical records so I'm not the person to ask about his future, but Daniel Briere was very direct in April when asked if Ryan Johansen would play hockey for the Flyers.

"All I can tell you is I don't expect him to be back. I don't know, exactly, the situation. We're dealing on the medical side with him," Briere said via Jon Bailey of Philly Hockey Now. "The thing for him is getting him back to be able to play at this time. He doesn't think he can play hockey. I wish I had a better answer for you. We need to get him better to figure out if there’s even a remote chance of him dressing for the organization."

It should be noted that surgery has finally been scheduled for Johansen's injury, and one has to wonder why that too so long to happen. If Johansen was working to get back into the Flyers' lineup, scheduling surgery for September seems very peculiar when the injury was discovered in early March. Whatever happened in the last six months doesn't seem to align with whatever Johansen's contract states, and that's the "material breach" that the Flyers are citing in terminating his contract. Again, that contract termination is being challenged, but there's a lot of gray area in this situation where one could make the case that the Flyers have the upper hand.

The issue that I have is that Ryan Johansen could be a very good fit with the players that the Flyers have, and I think he could find his way back to a 50-point season if he were to play. Assuming he isn't injured, he could be a distributor and playmaker for players like Matvei Michkov, Joel Farabee, and Owen Tippett depending on where he fits into the lineup, but he'd likely be a third-line centerman who is an immediate offensive upgrade on Scott Laughton and Ryan Poehling. It seems, however, that option is no longer available.

We'll keep an eye on this situation with Johansen and the Flyers because it's likely that one side is going to be disappointed with the outcome from whoever decides on this grievance. We won't hear the details of the "material breach" that the Flyers found, but Johansen is already offtheir depth charts so it would seem that if the Flyers lose this hearing they'd be buying Johansen's final year out. If Johansen loses the grievance, he's effectively a free agent immediately with no additional pay, allowing him to sign with any of the other 31 teams.

I struggle to enjoy NHL hockey at the best of times, but it seems this league all business all the time. Fun is irrelevant.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Oilers Choose Not To Match

I don't think anyone was surprised that the Oilers opted not to match the offer sheets tendered by the Blues to former Oilers Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg. The fact that St. Louis opted to "overpay" the two young players to force Edmonton's hand played a large role in the Oilers declining to match either offer, so both Holloway and Broberg will skate for the Blues over the next two seasons. With the Oilers in salary cap trouble, though, they decided to make a few different moves to solve that, so let's look at what the Oilers did over the last few days in order to get themselves back into cap compliance while potentially finding replacements.

The Oiler started filling the roster holes left by Holloway and Broberg by acquiring winger Vasily Podkolzin from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Ottawa's 2025 fourth-round pick. Edmonton had acquired that pick on July 15 when they dealt Jake Chiasson and Xavier Bourgault to Ottawa for Roby Jarventie and the pick.

The Oilers are getting a player who likely will start the season in Bakersfield, but can play an NHL role if needed. Podkolzin has scored 18 goals and 17 assists in 135 NHL games thus far so he's not going to be asked to play on the top line, but he can play a middle-six winger role if the Oilers need someone there. Yes, this deal cost the Oilers $1 million in cap space, but Podkolzin is a less expensive option than Holloway. Will their production be the same? I lean towards Holloway being more productive, but cap space is needed by the Oilers.

The Oilers followed that trade by making another deal as they sent defenceman Cody Ceci and a 2025 third-round pick to the San Jose Sharks for defenceman Ty Emberson. This was a move that made stricly for salary cap purposes as the swap from Ceci and Emberson saves Edmonton $2.3 million this season. The sweetener on this deal for San Jose was the third-round pick, so Edmonton seems to be burning through picks pretty quickly to fill holes.

Emberson isn't going to wow anyone just yet, but he was serviceable with the Sharks as he scored one goal and nine assist in 30 NHL games with the Sharks after being claimed off waivers from the Rangers. Ceci certainly has more NHL experience than Emberson, but cap space was the purpose of this trade, and there's a good chance that Emberson is skating with the Bakersfield Condors this season.

The Oilers would recover a 2025 third-round pick from St. Louis as the Blues sent the Oilers that pick in order to sign Dylan Holloway. There's no salary cap savings here as Holloway was a restricted free agent, but the Oilers avoid adding the $2.3 million they just opened up with the Cody Ceci trade by not matching the deal that St. Louis gave to Holloway. Because Edmonton is expected to finish above St. Louis in the standings, the pick sent to Edmonton by St. Louis should be better than the pick Edmonton dealt to San Jose.

The Oilers also opted not to match the offer sheet given to Philip Broberg which mean they picked St. Louis' 2025 second-round pick while saving $4.5 million in cap space. Again, they don't gain any space overall, but that second-round pick is better than any of the picks traded by Edmonton yesterday and it puts them back into the draft in the second round after not having any 2025 pick prior to the sixth round before the two picks from St. Louis were transferred.

In one final transaction, the Oilers acquired Paul Fischer and a 2028 third-round pick from the St. Louis Blues for future considerations. Fischer is a unsigned 2023 defenceman whose rights were owned by the Blues while he skated for the University of Notre Dame. In 34 games in the Big 10 Conference with the Fighting Irish last season, he had two goals and 14 assists. Whether or not he signs with the Oilers will have to be seen, but that extra draft pick they got back can be currency down the road.

So where does that leave the Oilers? Here's what they added.

Name	Pos.	Effect
Vasily Podkolzin	RW	Potential middle-six role. May start in AHL.
Ty Emberton	RD	Currently slotted in bottom pairings.
Paul Fischer	D	Unsigned. Currently in NCAA.
2025 pick	2nd	Acquired from St. Louis for Holloway.
2025 pick	3rd	Acquired from St. Louis for Broberg.
2028 pick	3rd	Acquired from St. Louis for futures.
$1.3 million	--	Net cap space after all these moves.

The Oilers did lose Cody Ceci, Dylan Holloway, Philip Broberg, their own 2025 third-round pick, and Ottawa's fourth-round pick in these moves, but they improved their 2025 draft position and they gained cap space. They did sacrifice a pile of NHL experience in the three players they lost, but that's the cost of trying to acquire cap space.

With Leon Draisaitl's contract extension still be discussed, Connor McDavid's coming up next season, and Evander Kane's injury situation to be resolved, there's still a ton of work that GM Stan Bowman has to do. He can, however, cross the offer sheets off his to-do list as he opted for cap flexibility over keeping Holloway and Broberg. Whether that was the right move will be determined over the next couple of seasons, but these are clearly Stan Bowman's Oilers now.

Aren't offer sheets fun?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

It's Pronounced "Et Le But!"

I forgot that Columbus had worn those red jerseys during the 2021 Reverse Retro season, but it may give you an idea of what Patrik Laine will look like in Montreal Canadiens' red after the winger was traded by Columbus to Montreal along with a 2026 second-round pick in exchange for defenceman Jordan Harris. Columbus retained none of Laine's contract, so the Canadiens are on the hook for Laine's $8.7 million deal for each of the next two seasons. Yes, this was a bit of a shock considering the return that the Blue Jackets got from Les Canadiens, but it seems both sides are happy with the results. And if Patrik Laine can find the same goal-scoring, highlight-reel form he had in Winnipeg, Habs fans may have another Finnish player to eventually honour alongside Saku Koivu.

There was no repairing the fractured relationship between the Blue Jackets and Laine, and general manager Don Waddell made that abundantly clear to everyone who asked. Laine wanted out of Columbus, Waddell was going to grant his wish, and the only thing to be determined was where he would land. Montreal became the answer on Monday afternoon, and his arrival in La Belle Province could be a huge add for the Canadiens if Laine's truly ready to play the game like he has in the past.

Some people will try to cast doubt on Laine's mental state after spending time in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, but Laine quickly made it clear in his video call that this move was something he sought to better his mental health.

"When you're not enjoying whatever you do, you're probably not going to be able to perform, and that's where I've been at," Laine clarified. "I haven't been enjoying myself for a while, but now I'm happier than ever, off the ice, obviously. I've done a lot of work on myself to to get me back to this point where I'm actually super excited about playing, in a new place, with new teammates, in a new city."

We've seen players make strides in reaching their offensive potential under head coach Martin St. Louis, and he's getting a bonafide shooter with Laine who could be the cannon from the wing on the power-play for the Canadiens just like Steven Stamkos was for the Lightning when St. Louis was playing. That's not to say that St. Louis won't try to unlock the rest of Laine's talents - skating, passing, defence - but it's clear that Montreal is getting a rested, reinvigorated Laine this season.

You may be wondering about the other side of the trade as Jordan Harris heads to Columbus, and there's no doubt that Harris is a solid contributor as a middle-pairing guy. Three goals and 14 points in 56 games with Montreal should keep him in the mix in Columbus, and the word out of Montreal is that Harris is a good community guy who likes to be out in city helping out charities and organizations. No team would see that as a negative, so it sounds like Columbus acquired a stand-up guy who will be good on the ice and with fans.

The bigger acquisition, though, might be the salary cap space they generated by trading Laine's large contract for Harris' smaller-valued contract. Columbus now has an estimated $16 million in cap space to play with this season, and they may want to start planning for the future with David Jiricek, Yegor Chinahkov, and Adam Fantilli all having one year left on their deals. With the flexibility acquired thanks to moving Laine's contract, all three of these players should be wearing Blue Jackets jerseys for a long time.

I want to make things clear here that we can prognosticate and predict which side won the trade, who got the better deal, and why Laine will reclaim his form in Montreal, but the truth is that no one can predict anything more than both players seem happy with their new teams and both teams seem happy with their new players. Normally, happy players produce more than unhappy players, so everyone is saying the right thing when it comes to this trade so far.

What I'm most happy about is that Patrik Laine sounded like himself again. This is a guy who battled his own demons and darkness and emerged happier than when he went into that darkness. Maybe things didn't go well in Columbus for a number of reasons, but his solution was to remove himself from a situation that he felt didn't help him. Seeing Patrik Laine smiling, taling about the game, and enjoying hockey again is enough for me to know this trade was good for him and his mental health, and it will be fun to see one of the best goal-scorers in the NHL doing what he does best again with his focus on playing the game again, not battling the darkness.

Everyone get ready to hear "...et le but!" a lot over the next few seasons because a refocused Patrik Laine could be trouble for a lot of opposing goalies! When asked by reporters about following in countryman Koivu's footsteps in Montreal, Laine answered, "I don't know if I'll be able to do as good as he did, but I'm going to try my best to be as good as he was in Montreal."

That's good enough for me, Patty. Here's hoping he has a great season in the bleu-blanc-et-rouge!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

It's In Their Jeans?

Denim isn't really a hockey fabric unless you're like Miss Lauren Perry, shown to the left, who makes customized denim jackets with hockey patches on them. I'll admit that when I was a kid playing shinny, jeans often were worn over my sweatpants because they cut the cold, winter wind better and the frozen denim would provide better protection from errant pucks than my sweatpants did. Beyond that, you don't see a lot of denim on rinks where hockey is being played for any reason, and People magazine even published an article in 2019 highlighting the problems hockey players face when trying to find jeans that fit their physiques. In saying this, would it shock you to know that a few former New York Rangers actually promoted blue jeans during the heights of their careers? Because that happened!

We'll start with the early 1980s where the New York Rangers were the center of the fashion world. Before we get there, we need to set the stage by telling you that Sasson Jeans - pronounced "Sah-soon" - was founded by Maurice Sasson and by Paul Guez in 1976. Sasson hired world-champion boxers Larry Holmes and Eddie Mustafa Muhammad to help promote their brand early in their existence with Muhammad wearing the Sasson name on his boxing attire.

Trying capitalize on the popularity of rising sports properties, Sasson looked towards the hockey world with the New York Rangers being the hot property in the US hockey scene having lost the 1979 Stanley Cup Final to the Montreal Canadiens. The players were young, they were brash, and they were in the center of universe! So, in 1980, all of Anders Hedberg, Ron Duguay, Dave Maloney, and Tony Esposito were hired by Sasson to do a commercial. You can check out this piece of Rangers history below, and I have to say it feels very dated.
You may have noted at the bottom of the commercial before fading to black that Sasson was "The Official Jeans of the New York Rangers" which seems odd considering that we see players coming to and leaving the arena in full suits. Nevertheless, the Rangers were certainly aiming for stylish while wearing their Sasson denim despite appearing in a very cheesy commercial.

Whatever was happening on the ice didn't seem to have any effect on Sasson's sales because they actually came back for a second commercial in 1981 that featured Don Maloney, Ron Greschner, Anders Hedberg and Phil Esposito! I'm not sure why Dave Maloney and Ron Duguay were dropped from Sasson's roster, but Ron Greschner was the top-scoring defenceman for the Rangers in 1981 and Don Maloney finished five points better than Dave Maloney and 14 points bettere than Duguay. Maybe Sasson was aiming for the biggest stars?
What didn't help the Rangers was the ire shown by their fans after they were eliminated by the Philadephia Flyers in five games in Round Two in 1980, and it got worse when their archrivals in the New York Islanders swept the Rangers out of the playoffs in the Wales Conference Final in 1981. Islanders fans decided to use that "Ooh-La-La-Sasson" jingle against them by changing it to "Ooh-La-La-So-Soon" as their team crushed the Blueshirts in four games. Ouch.

While the Rangers watched the New York Islanders win Stanley Cups, their agreement with Sasson expired and wasn't renewed. To make matters worse, hair stylist Vidal Sassoon sued Sasson Jeans Inc. for $25 million in 1980 for "appropriation of its name" as the two brands were pronounced the same. Clearly, there could be some confusion over what product was being promoted based on the advertising, so it was expected that Vidal Sassoon had a good chance in winning this dispute. The lawsuit, however, would be settled once Sasson agreed change how its name was pronounced in commercials, opting be called "Sah-son". Whatever money changed hands seemed to be the lesser of the two evils, but Maurice Sasson had seen enough and left the company in 1982, leaving Paul Guez as the sole owner.

As the fashion industry moved on from jeans and denim, sales plateaued and then declined for Sasson as Guez brought his brothers into the company as additional investors. This led to fights with his brothers over the company's ownership and direction, and the floundering sales and poor business decisions put Sasson into bankruptcy in 1985. In October of 1986, Sasson Jeans Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Los Angeles, essentially closing the doors on Sasson Jeans.

In one decade, Sasson Jeans had two world-champion boxers and six NHL players promoting their jeans. I don't know of many other clothing companies that would be able to afford that kind of marketing budget nowadays, but things were clearly different back in 1980. And not to be outdone, but another former Rangers star was hawking jeans in the 1980s as well, but he did so as a member of the Edmonton Oilers just before they won a pile of Stanley Cups!
That's Wayne Gretzky wearing GWG denim - Great Western Garment denim - in that commercial that came out in Canada around the same time as the Sasson commercials were hitting the airwaves in the US. Gretzky worked with the Edmonton-based Great Western Garment Company, acquired by Levi Strauss in 1961, in the same vein as the Rangers did as Strauss looked to capitalize on the denim fashion swing happening at that time. Having the up-and-coming NHL star and the surging Edmonton Oilers promoting their brand kept them in the fashion conversation during the early-1980s.

As you can see by the 1981 Great Western Garment catalogue to the left, Gretzky was a major part of their advertising campaigns duirng that era, but Great Western Garment found the same fate as Sasson. With fashion moving off denim and into other trends, the market share held by Great Western Garment started to fall as people turned to brands with more cachet. The market share continued to steadily fall throughout the 1980s and 1990s as the GWG brand was marketed more towards men in construction, trucking, farming, and other manual labour industries. While the brand would last until 2004, Strauss closed the Edmonton GWG factory, ending a 93-year history that the Great Western Garment brand had in Edmonton.

If there is one cool fact that came out of this, it's that Great Western Garment's Donald Freeland developed the stone-washed technique during the 1950s to increase softness and flexibility of the denim found in the GWG products. This was one of the reasons that GWG became popular in Canada - they were comfortable jeans to wear!

There's a fun topic on a Sunday night as "Back to School" clothes shopping is one of those topics I heard a lot about while playing softball tonight. I know clothes shopping can be awful in the best of times for people like me because I hate doing it, so having to completely outfit kids in the latest and greatest fashion trends each year is something I'm guessing a lot of parents reluctantly do.

I don't know much, but if there's one thing about fashion I do know, it's that everyone should be like Duguay, Esposito, and Gretzky by having a good pair of jeans in their closet!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

I'm Still Not Watching

There's a long held superstition about weddings that the groom mustn't see the bride before she walks down the aisle in order to avoid bad luck. The real reason this was done was because arranged marriages were once a thing between families, and the thought was this practice would ensure the groom would commit to the marriage regardless of his bride's identity or appearance. In short, it was a terrible practice that never should have been a thing in the first place, yet here we are talking about a jersey leak some four months before the jersey will be worn. It's almost like some of these leaks are being done on purpose just to see if people like the jerseys.

The always-informative Icethetics twitter account verified today that the Chicago Blackhawks jerseys shown below are, indeed, what the team will wear at the 2025 Winter Classic game against the St. Louis Blues being played on December 31, 2024. Yes, there's a lot in that sentence, but here's the jersey in question they will be wearing.

For once, I don't immediately hate this jersey. The hem stripes have been moved to the chest, leaving just the black-and-white stripes at the bottom, but the circular logo works over top of the stripe. I'm not a huge fan of the secondary logo on the arm stripes, but they do break up those stripes better than numbers would.

The small lace-up feature must be a Fanatics thing because that's the first time I've seen one of those collars on any NHL jersey, but it doesn't really get in the way like a full lace-up collar would. I love the red colour being used as that feels very "Chicago Blackhawks" when it comes to their tradition being that they've had a red jersey every year since 1955, so kudos on making the Blackhawks look like the Blackhawks. I can do without the stupid stuff written inside the jersey, but the NHL seems to have that on every special jersey now.

Thoughts on the Winter Classic look for the Blackhawks? Leave yours in the comments, but I'm actually alright with these jerseys. They're simple enough to look traditional, but different enough to be separate from the Blackhawks' normal uniform set. Overall, they get a thumbs-up from this writer, albeit reluctantly.

Of course, it doesn't mean I'll be watching this game on New Year's Eve. That might be one of the dumbest things the NHL has done in moving this game off the January 1 schedule, but at least the Blackhawks will look respectable for New Year's Eve. We'll have to see if they play as well as they dress on that day!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Cats Against Cats

It isn't often that I watch a lot of preseason hockey in the middle of August, but I made an exception today. I was working while the game was being played so I admittedly missed parts of the action, but the Regina Cougars women's hockey team made the trek to Finland where they were playing a series of three games over five days while doing some sight-seeing and activities when they weren't on the ice. They have been posting some of those activities on their Instagram page so feel free to check those out, but the Cougars were looking to conquer Finnish hockey this weekend over their three preseason, friendly games in Suomi!

Today, though, they were on the ice to battle the Tampereen Ilves Naisten team as both teams get set for their respective seasons with a preseason tilt. The "Lynx" - Ilves in Finnish - are the oldest women's team in the Auroraliiga, so there's a lot of hockey history behind the women who took the ice tonight. The Cougars were playing their first official game under new head coach Brandy West-McMaster, so we'd get a chance to see the new-look Cougars against Finland's most historic women's team!

Before we get into this mini-recap, let's remember that this is the first game for the Regina Cougars on the 2024-25 campaign. I wasn't expecting major changes or a massive overhaul of players on the roster, and neither of those situations seems to have taken place over the summer. West-McMaster, for all intents and purposes, has the roster that was predicted, and she's rolling with what the players know for systems and plays. Until they get back to Canada, I wouldn't expect her to change much other than a few details. In saying that, temper the expectations for the recap here.

From the moment the puck was dropped, it was clear that the experience and preparation that Ilves had on its side was on display as they controlled the first period almost the entire way through the frame. They scored on the power-play early in the game, they scored down-low, they scored shorthanded, and they scored at even-strength. Regina's play mostly came from the perimeter in Tampere's zone, but they did get shots through to the net. However, after 20 minutes of play, Ilves held a 4-0 lead in what was a forgettable debut in Finland for the southern Saskatchewan team.

I will say that the shorthanded goal scored by Emma Katajamäki might be one that Natalie Williamson wants back. Again, remembering that it's preseason and the first organized game makes this mistake less egregious, but Katajamäki led the rush down the left side on a two-on-one, and never even bothered to look across the ice as she appeared to be thinking shot the entire time. Williamson was deep in her crease on this play, giving Katajamäki a clear look at the right side of the net based on her vantage point, and she'd go top-corner on that right side past the glove of Williamson for the shorthanded marker and the 3-0 lead. In watching the game, this is a very correctable mistake with the Regina defender giving Williamson the shooter, but this is why preseason games help.

The other thing I noticed in the first period was the Regina power-play formation as they appear to be using the old "Zdeno Chara" idea in this game. As the teams lined up for the face-off, I noticed six-foot defender Quinn Sutherland on the left side of the face-off dot. Quinn wasn't on the power-play for the St. Mary's Academy Flames very often because she's a far better defensive defender than she is on the offensive side of the puck, but it made me smile when I saw her go to the front of the net where her big frame was used to screen Ilves' netminder Melisa Mörönen. Regina didn't convert with Quinn playing in her new power-play role, but she did an excellent job in battling for position and being a problem for Mörönen. Might this be a new wrinkle for the Cougars this season?

The final score in this one was 5-0 for Ilves as the home side used that first-period explosion of goals to carry them to victory, but Regina looked very similar to last season when it came to Ilves finding their spots. Regina struggled down low in the defensive zone, their man-to-man coverage became chaos during drives to the net and goalmouth scrambles, special teams need a pile of work, and they need to attack the middle of the offensive zone with more frequency and more urgency. The speed and talent is there as they did manage a few high-quality chances, but Ilves often had numbers in the defensive zone to counter the attacks, and they were far more controlled at breakouts and zone entries than the Cougars were.

Before anyone jumps all over me for that assessment, I want to state, again, that's it's Game #1 for the Regina Cougars in the 2024-25 preseason and season. There's still lots to work on and figure out for the Cougars' coaching staff, and they'll have lots of material to review and improve upon after this game. That's not a negative in any way - teams should be looking for ways to improve and build as they head towards the regular season. This could prove vitally important for a second reason as Brandy West-McMaster looks to implement different strategies and tactics from what the Cougars already use. If something is broken, she could fix it by changing it altogether. Either way, the Cougars have some things to review as they continue their preseason Finnish road trip!

They'll be in Helsinki on Sunday to play the two-time defending Aurora Borealis Cup champion HIFK Naiset, and that should be a fun game to watch. I haven't seen any streaming options for it yet, but I'm hoping that HIFK has something available. We'll see if any changes are made for the Cougars as they get set for Game Two in their Finnish expedition, but Game One was a good start for a team looking to improve upon their standing next season. Onnea Cougars!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!