The Rundown - World Championship Notes

I had no intention of adding another edition of The Rundown today, but there are a few people who once called U SPORTS home as they walked their respective hockey paths. The Women's World Championship is happening in Czechia right now, but there's another version of the tournament running in Great Britain as the Division 1, Group B World Championship is also being played while the Division 1, Group A tournament started today. Because I'm proud of the alumnae who have skated for Canadian university teams, let take a look at how they and their teams are doing at their respective tournaments!

Nordic Highlights

Norway entered today's game against Hungary needing a win after dropping games against Japan and Germany. Hungary, meanwhile, had yet to score so they were looking to break that two-game drought against the Norwegians. We'll get to the results in a second, but we have two Canada West alumnae who are doing amazing things for Norway as they look to hold their spot in the top IIHF women's hockey division. Oh, and we have highlights of their work!

Former UBC Thunderbirds forward Mathea Fischer had a game against the Germans as she was in on both goals that the Norwegians put on the scoreboard. The first point she recorded was one that Canada West fans will recognize as she scores off the long stretch pass to cut the German lead to 2-1. All rights belong to TSN and the IIHF.


In the second period, Fischer won a puck battle along the boards before sliding it to Andrea Dalen. Dalen goes to the high slot area while Fischer went to the net, and Dalen's shot found the back of the net after a deflection to give Fischer the assist on the 3-2 goal!
Frankly, in watching the replay in slow motion, it seems like Fischer may have tipped the puck upward past Sandra Abstreiter, but the officials rules that Dalen was the goal-scorer. Nonetheless, Fischer and former Mount Royal Cougars defender Emma Bergesen drew assists on Dalen's goal in what would eventually be a 5-2 loss to the Germans. Norway fell to 0-2 in the tournament at that point.

Move forward to today where the Norwway met Hungary with both teams needing wins, and former Cougars rearguard Emma Bergesen added her name to the scoring midway through the second period!

Bergesen's goal put Norway up 2-0 in what would be a 3-0 win over Hungary, and that win moves them a little further away from relegation. As it stands, Fischer and Bergesen are tied with Andrea Dalen for second in team scoring, one point back of Millie Sirum. Norway will wrap up their tournament with a game against Sweden on Tuesday in what should be a spirited showdown as Sweden is aiming to move up to the "Group A" teams. A win by Norway would ruin that Swedish dream, so we'll see how that games goes this week!

Swiss Drought

Things are significantly less fun for Switzerland right now as the Swiss squad has yet to win a game. In fact, their tournament has yet to see a goal celebration as they have a 3-0 loss to Czechia and a 4-0 loss to Canada thus far. They'll play Finland on Monday and the US on Tuesday, and I'm hoping to see one of their U SPORTS players hit the scoresheet. There's some significant talent on this team!

UBC Thunderbirds forward Vanessa Schaefer and former Montreal Carabins forward Kaleigh Quennec are the two players you'll want to keep an eye on if you're watching the games on Monday and Tuesday. Quennec, it should be noted, just won an SWHL championship with SC Bern Frauen where she scored 11 goals and 25 points in 28 games. Schaefer, meanwhile, was on the UBC team that finished as runner-ups to the Pandas in Canada West before finishing in fifth-place at the U SPORTS National Championship. She had four goals and six points in 28 games in Canada West this season.

Switzerland needs some scoring before this tournament ends, and here's hoping the U SPORTS players can make a difference!

Strong French Start

The 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship Division 1, Group A tournament started in Shenzhen, China today, and France got a big start with an 8-3 win over Netherlands. Former Concordia Stingers netminder Alice Philbert picked up the win, former Toronto Varsity Blues defender Gabrielle de Serres picked up a helper, former Montreal Carabins forward Lore Baudrit had two assists while former Carabins forward Estelle Duvin had three goals and a helper.

France's schedule will see them play 1-0 Slovakia tomorrow, 0-1 Denmark on Wednesday, 0-1 China on Thursday, and 1-0 Austria on Saturday. Whoeevr wins this tournament will replace the relegated team from the top-level IIHF Women's World Championship in 2027. As of right now, it could be Hungary, but we'll see how both tournaments play out. Anything could happen, but France is admittedly off to a good start with their win over the Dutch!

The Italian Job

The Italian team is rolling at the 2025 Women's World Championship Division 1, Group B tournament. I spoke about how I was watching the Division 1, Group B tournament earlier this week, and it's been going very well for Italy. After being Slovenia 12-0 and Kazakhstan 2-0, Italy faced off against Latvia yesterday in a showdown between two 2-0 teams. The winner would have a very good chance at being promoted to the Division 1, Group A tournament in 2027.

Italy did what they've done all tournament long in this game - score early and often. Two goals in the first period, two more in the second, and a couple more in the third period paced the Italian squad to a 6-0 win over Latvia as Guelph Gryphons netminder Martina Fedel continued to stonewall all shooters in the tournament. Former McGill Martlets forward Kayla Tutino had an assist in this game for her first point in the tournament, but the big story is how Italy moved to 3-0 with games against Korea and Great Britain still to be played. You can watch this game below with all rights belonging to the IIHF.


That led to today's game where Italy met Korea, and the Italians just kept steamrolling the competition. Three goals in the first period, three goals in the second period, and a final goal in the third period pushed the Italians to a 7-0 trouncing of the Koreans as they move to 4-0 in the tournament. Martina Fedel pitched her fourth-straight shutout with a 16-save effort, and Kayla Tutino added a pair of helpers to push her scoring to three assists in the event while Fedel has stopped all 60 shots she has faced in the tournament thus far.

That leaves one game on Tuesday against Great Britain to see if Italy can shutout the tournament. Assuming Italy beats the 1-1-0-1 British squad (W-L-OTW-OTL), they get promoted. Even if Latvia wins its next two games, the head-to-head game against Latvia would push Italy ahead of them while goal differential is clearly in Italy's favour as well. In short, it seems like the Italians will be moving up to a new level of women's hockey in 2027! Andiamo, Azzurre!

The British Stopper

Former Calgary Dinos netminder Ella Howard is part of the Great Britain team skating in the 2025 Women's World Championship Division 1, Group B tournament. Howard's time with the Dinos was short, but she's become a fixture in the crease alongside Nicole Jackson for the British team at various tournament. Howard got the start against Korea on Thursday as she was looking to help Great Britain find points in their quest for promotion as well!

Great Britain grabbed a 2-0 lead through the opening frame, but the Koreans kept coming. A second period goal for Korea made it 2-1 in a frame where they out-shot the Britons by a 10-3 count, and a third period goal pushed the game into overtime tied at 2-2. 84 seconds into the extra frame, the third Korean shot found twine as Eunji Lee beat Howard for the 3-2 overtime win. Howard stopped 30 of 33 shots in the setback for Great Britain, but it was a solid showing for the British netminder against a good Korean team!

Great Britain plays 0-3 Slovenia later today, and they finish the tournament with that big game against Italy. Great Britain cannot be promoted this season after the results of their first three games, but they'll also avoid relegation with their efforts in Dumfries. They'll be back for 2027 Women's World Championship Division 1, Group B tournament whose location has yet to be announced!

The Kiwi Tourney

While she didn't go to a Canadian university, it should be noted that Team Australia, playing in the 2025 Women's World Championship Division 2, Group B tournament, has a player who spent some time in Canada learning the game! Winnipeg-born Lindsey Kiliwnik spent two seasons with the former CSSHL's St. Mary's Academy Flames from 2018-20, and she'll be skating for the Australians at the Division 2, Group B tournament beginning on Monday in Dunedin, New Zealand!

Kiliwnik has been playing for the AWIHL's Brisbane Lightning for the past two seasons where she scored ten goals and 20 points in 14 games in 2023-24 and eleven goals and 13 points in 16 games in 2024-25. The 5'2" sparkplug has a nose for the net as proven by her AWIHL stats, and Australia will be counting on her to score some goals. They open the tournament against Turkey on Monday, meet Hong Kong on Tuesday, play Ukraine on Thursday, grapple with the host and their rivals in New Zealand on Saturday, and and finish the tournament against Belgium on Sunday. We'll see if Australia can be promoted!

Good luck to Lindsey and her teammates as Australia looks to win the tournament and move up the women's hockey ranks!

A Born Leader

This has nothing to with the IIHF World Championships happening in various places right now, but this might some of the cooler news I've ever had the opportunity to post here on The Rundown. There was an election that closed on Friday night for Birdtail Sioux Dakota Nation, and the winner of that election was former Calgary Dinos and Manitoba Bisons defender Tréchelle Bunn! Bunn now becomes the chief of Birdtail Sioux Dakota Nation for trhe next four years!

On Thursday night, Bunn was in Vancouver where the current University of Manitoba law student was one of the youth recipients for the 2025 Indspire Awards that celebrates and honours "the outstanding achievements and contributions of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis leaders". With Bunn previously serving as the youth chief of the Southern Chiefs' Organization, she was honoured for her work in that role and as founder and race director of the Reconciliation Run in her community. I'm glad she was honoured for her efforts!

They say one has to walk the walk, though, and now Bunn can say she's done that as well as she rushed back from Vancouver to Birdtail Sioux Dakota Nation to be sworn in as Chief Tréchelle Bunn after winning the election on Friday against Gloria Chalmers-Rach by a 191-85 count! A huge congratulations to Tréchelle Bunn on her new role with Birdtail Sioux Dakota Nation as she'll help plan the future for the residents of that Indigenous community moving forward!

When I talk about how these women are going to do amazing things in the world, Chief Tréchelle Bunn is a perfect example of what I mean. They're incredible athletes, but they're better people. They're smart, successful, and have unlimited potential. That's why I'm a fan of U SPORTS women's hockey. It's the people who make the game so good!

The Last Word

I had zero intention of having The Rundown come out of hibernation this week, but it's clear that there are a lot of women making an impact for their nations who play at or have played at Canadian universities. There could be more as we move forward as well with former Dinos netminder Gabriella Durante working to get her Italian Hockey Federation clearance, and we know that the Huskies will have Finnish forward Peppi Virtanen skating for them next season. With Italy hosting the Olympics, we'll be talking about Olympians soon!

What I am sure of, if nothing else, is that these women are making their nations, communities, teammates, and schools proud with their accomplishments. Congratulations to each of the mentioned women above, and expect to see more incredible women doing amazing things here on The Rundown in the future!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

For The First Time

It certainly wasn't easy on this night, but a 5-4 victory in the shootout over the Chicago Blackhawks has put the Winnipeg Jets in a position that's not familiar to them or their fans. With the victory, the Jets move to 114 points with two games to play, and that total guarantees them that they'll win the the Central Division and be the top-seeded team in the Western Conference, guaranteeing home-ice advantage for the first three rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. For a team whose name is "Jets", it's hard to imagine that this is the first time in that rarified air of first place, but tonight's win marks the first time in Winnipeg Jets history that they'll sit atop the division to finish a season. Of course, that also places a target on their backs that can only be erased with a deep playoff run, and they'll get a chance to make that run when the playoffs start on Saturday, April 19.

Some will point back to the 2006-07 season where the Atlanta Thrashers finished atop the Southeast Division which led to their only playoff appearance that lasted just four games, but we'll leave that history in Atlanta. That 43-win season landed them at 97 points with a 43-28-11 season, four points better than the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the 42-win, 94-point New York Rangers made short work of the Thrashers in the opening round of the playoffs, outscoring them 17-6 in the four games including a combined 11-2 drubbing in New York.

For Jets fans, the comparisons between that team and this year's Jets squad are few, but the one that stands out is more coincidental than anything. While Marian Hossa led the Thrashers with 43 goals and 100 points in 2006-07 as a 27 year-old, Kyle Connor is leading the Jets with 41 goals and 96 points as a 27 year-old. There are no real other comparables, so we'll leave it there as both teams got big production out of a 27 year-old winger. Instead, let's focus on why the Jets won't replicate that four-game playoff appearance.

For the bumps that the Jets showed tonight against Chicago, the previous games against the Blues and Stars were statements. Add in the game against the Washington Capitals, and the Jets have beaten some very good teams in the last few weeks. If there's one thing that seems to afflict the Jets more than anything this season, it's their annoying ability to play to the level of their opponents as they did tonight in Chicago. In the playoffs, I suspect that they'll find that next gear whether they face St. Louis or Minnesota.

Let me be as transparent as glass: nothing is guaranteed for the Jets. They'll need to be the first team to win sixteen games if they want a Stanley Cup parade down Portage Avenue, and that starts with being ready to go next Saturday when the playoffs begin. There are no "we'll get them next time" games that can be played - every game needs to be treated as a must-win beginning next weekend. The Jets can't play down to their opponents' intensity or skill level; rather, they have to control the pace and play unlike how they played against Colorado last season in that opening-round debacle. That was a nightmare, and no one wants that again.

For the next week, the Jets have one last task to accomplish: one point or one win to secure the President's Trophy for the first time in franchise history as well. Washington has 109 points with three games to play, so Winnipeg could wrap up the top spot in the NHL with a win over the Edmonton Oilers tomorrow. That would allow enough time for Bill Daly to fly into Winnipeg for Wednesday's game against Anaheim where he can present the trophy to the team. Personally, I'm hoping the Jets raise their game for Edmonton because they could potentially meet if things go well for both Canadian teams.

It's been a big season, Jets fans, and there's still a long postseason that both the team and fans want. One win over Edmonton or Anaheim will give the Jets a major team trophy for the first time in franchise history. I will admit that it's not the trophy that the team wants, but it's one that shows just how good this team has consistently been this season. That's gotta count for something.

Starting next weekend, it's the first to sixteen wins. Consistent excellence will be needed in every game played.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Back Again!

It's that magical time of year once again. It's when the grass starts to turn green, the leaves start budding on trees, the ice and snow recede to places no one needs to think about until October, and the NHL begins its annual 16-team battle to determine which team will be crowned as the Stanley Cup champion. With the latter event about to settle into life for the next two months, The Hockey Show is preparing for another postseason of fun where 16 listeners get a shot at claiming the title of "champion"!

We've been teasing and promoting Survivor: NHL Playoffs on The Hockey Show, so we'll re-plant the flag on the beach that says Survivor's NHL Island is open for business once again this year! As we've been talking about on the radio show over the last couple of weeks, our take on a Survivor contest is returning to the airwaves again as we look to crown a winner, award prizes to worthy competitors, and bestow fame and glory on the final entrant standing as The Hockey Show's 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs survivor!

Let's be honest: UMFM owns no island in a tropical climate nor a boat that will get you there, and our annual show budget of $0.00 says Jason and I will never broadcast from an island in the south Pacific. However, if you're aware of the Survivor pools that are run, ours is based on the same idea where you pick a random name of one of the contestants, and that person on Survivor is your person for the run of the show. If he or she is voted off the island, the game for you is over. In our contest, though, we put our own twist on the game so it becomes much more hockey-centric.

Jason and I are seeking sixteen people to call The Hockey Show on April 17, 2025 where each of those callers will choose a number from 1 to 16. Each of those sixteen numbers will have a corresponding playoff team assigned to it randomly. Whatever number you've chosen will reveal your team for the playoffs, and that team becomes YOUR team in a similar random fashion to Survivor pools. All you have to do is be near your phone that evening between 5:30pm and 6:30pm Central Time, call us, and choose one of the numbers on the board to find out what playoff team you'll be rooting for this year!

If you need a real-world example of how this works, let's say that Jason were to call in and choose #6. We flip that card over to reveal that #6 has the Dallas Stars under it. Officially, Jason's team is the Stars until they're eliminated or they win, and card #6 is no longer available as a choice for the next callers. Jason will be cheering as a Stars fan this spring until they're done playing.

Following Jason's call, let's say that I call in next and select #13 as my number, revealing the Carolina Hurricanes. Carolina would become my team until they're eliminated or they win, and card #13 is no longer available as a choice for the next callers. Wash, rinse, repeat until there are no numbers and teams remaining.

If you think you're up for this, you'll need to have your radio tuned to The Hockey Show on April 17 and have your phone close to you. Before you commit, though, what we haven't told you yet is that there's a twist in all of this radio fun. And this twist is where things get crazy fun for everyone involved because you participate!

Just when you think you're out, you're still in the contest until "Tribal Council". You may be wondering how a radio show does "Tribal Council", but we already know your team was eliminated so you've technically been voted off Survivor's NHL Island. However, every episode of Survivor ends with the contestant voted off doing their exit interview, and that's precisely what you will do: you'll deliver an exit interview for your team! We'll call you, set up the quick two- or three-minute chat about your team, and then you're officially done with the contest. Easy-peasy, right?

Some of you may worry about talking on the radio, but I assure you it's just like talking on the phone. In other words, don't think we're going to make it sound weird or anything. But knowing that this is going to happen, what might you say? You're free to talk about how you're disappointed that a specific player didn't show up in the playoffs or how you never thought there would be an upset this early or how you're just lucky that your chosen team made the playoffs. Or you can be like Jacob and talk about your team embarrassed you.


While the CBS version of Survivor promises a big cash prize and whole bunch of prizes from sponsors - both of which The Hockey Show doesn't have - we will be offering up some prizing that aligns with our lack of budget. There will be some smaller prizes handed out as "challenge prizes" much like the network reality show does, and those challenges are as follows:

• First shutout recorded in the playoffs.
• First hat trick recorded in the playoffs.
• First goaltender point recorded in the playoffs.
• First team eliminated from the playoffs.
• First to advance from the second round to the third round.
• First team to score seven goals in one game in the playoffs.
• First upset of the playoffs.

The first team that accomplishes any of these challenge goals will earn their Survivor player a corresponding prize! The prizes have yet to be collected, but we've done hockey books, gift cards, and other assorted smaller prizes in the past, so expect much of the same this year. Any prizes earned through challenges will be handed out chronologically while supplies and challenges last in the order they were completed! Needless to say, teams can earn more than one prize in this challenge part of the contest, so choose wisely when it comes to the randomly-distributed teams! Or just choose your favorite number. Either strategy works in this contest!

Just like the TV show, we do offer prizes for the finalists! The grand prize winner who captures the Survivor crown will take home their choice of an NHL jersey plus a few additional prizes! The finalist will get jersey not chosen by the winner as a runner-up prize, so you're going home with a prize as long as your team makes it through three rounds which is pretty awesome when all you had to do is call us! This year's two jerseys are a Seattle Kraken home jersey and a Buffalo Sabres buffa-slug road jersey, so the winner will have a tough choice when it comes to which jersey he/she takes home!

As a new wrinkle to this year's contest, The Hockey Show will also be asking if you plan on supporting UMFM's Pledge-O-Rama event that runs between April 25 at 6:30pm until 8:00pm on May 2. For anyone who enters the Survivor: NHL Playoffs contest AND donates to Pledge-O-Rama, we'll put you into an additional draw for even more prizes! You help us, we'll reward you - it's that simple.

I should also be upfront and inform you that we have some requirements that need to be met before you can participate. The good news is we won't need a medical team available like CBS does for their version of Survivor, but we do have a few must-have REQUIREMENTS for anyone to participate. They include:

1. You must call into the show on Thursday, April 18 between 5:30pm and whenever we fill all the spots in the contest. If all 16 spots aren't filled within the hour, Jason and I will get creative to fill the empty spots. Don't complain - you had an hour to make one phone call!
2. You must have a phone number and an email address. If you're calling us, I'm pretty sure you have at least one of these already. If you have neither, are you even alive?
3. A desire to watch your chosen team's progress in the NHL Playoffs. You don't need to follow them religiously, but it's better to know something if/when your team is eliminated.

Beyond that, this is a fun contest meant for laughter with a few rewards for those who get lucky. It's not to be taken seriously in any way, and it's a nice way for us to reward our loyal listeners with some free gear. If this has enticed you to listen for the first time or come back to the show after not listening, welcome to the show and here's hoping you get into the contest! Just remember, though, that if your team gets bounced, we're calling you for that exit interview. If that scares you in any way, work through that fear!

Be ready, folks, because this contest always is fun for everyone involved. Like CBS' Survivor, only one person can be crowned as "survivor" in this contest, and we're ready to kick things off on April 17! Here's hoping you'll call in for the best radio contest in hockey!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 655

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back with reminders, champions, and tournaments to discuss as the hockey world is looking to crown winners before the summer starts! Whether it be teams clinching playoff spots in their respective leagues, women's teams battling to find out which nation stands atop the podium, contests you can enter to win some prizes, or leagues wrapping up by crowning their best teams as champions, there is a lot happening across the globe on ice surfaces! Our hosts will take you through all the news from many corners of the globe on another news-filled, busy edition of the program tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Teebz and Jason will remind of you that Survivor: NHL Playoffs kicks off next week and how that ties into Pledge-O-Rama that starts on April 18! After they get through that jumble of info, they will chat about the IIHF Women's World Championship happening in Czechia, the IIHF Women's World Championship Division 1, Group B championship happening in Great Britain, a number of European leagues who crowned champions, some playoff scheduling for the ECHL, the Melbourne Mustangs getting off to a big start in the AIHL, the awful ending to Chaz Lucius's career, and there will be a shoutout to the Esso Cup representative from Manitoba and Saskatchewan! If there's enough time to squeeze all this news in, we'll get it done 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! And because both Teebz and Jason are on the butterfly app where things are less noisy, you can find Teebz here and Jason here on Bluesky!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason chat contests and radio telethons, world championships, league championships, playoff schedules, AIHL results, beign forced to retire, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: April 10, 2025: Episode 655

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Watching The Other Tournament

The 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship got underway today with Sweden, USA, and Czechia all recording wins on the opening day of the tournament. Canada will play tomorrow against Finland at noon CT, so check your local listings for that game if you want to watch. I didn't spend a lot of time watching the other countries play today, but I did keep an eye on one game that had some U SPORTS flavour. The 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship Division I, Group B tournament is being played at the same time as the top level of the women's game, and there were two players skating for Italy against Slovenia today who once played for U SPORTS teams!

The goaltender shown above is Martina Fedel who stopped pucks for the OUA's Guelph Gryphons this season, and she could potentially return for one more season if she chooses. I'm not sure if that's in the cards as she will likely be one of the goaltenders chosen to represent Italy at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Games, and today was a reminder of why she's important to an improving Italian team that ran roughshod over Slovenia in the opening game for those teams.

The game in Dumfries, Great Britain saw Italy jump out to a 3-0 lead through the opening period before adding five more goals in the second period and four additional goals in the third period for a one-sided 12-0 victory over Slovenia. The final shot total was a ridiculous 70-12 in favour of the Azzurre as the Italians had no trouble in this one. Fedel's shutout wasn't one of big saves, but she had to be sharp for the few times that the Slovenians put pucks on net.

Italy will square off against the recently-promoted Kazakhstan women tomorrow, and both teams come into the game with 1-0 records after the Kazakhs shocked the Koreans with a 4-2 win today. They'll meet the 1-0 Latvians on Wednesday after Latvia plays Slovenia tomorrow, so we could see two 2-0 teams meeting for control of the tournament in that Latvia-Italy game!

Fedel will be an important player for the Italians as the pressure rises, but she's been one of the best in U SPORTS for a while now. She can win games on her own, and she likely will be in the running for the tournament's top netminder award. Italy looked very good against an improving Slovenian team today as they were buzzing for the entire sixty minutes, and their goal is to win the Division I, Group B tournament to add their name as one of the top-twelve women's hockey nations entering the Olympics in front of their country.

Joining her on the Italian team is former McGill Martlets forward Kayla Tutino. Tutino had reportedly retired from professional hockey in 2018, but she found her way back to the rinks in Italy where she's been playing. The Canadian-born Tutino opted to join the Italian national team, and she'll likely be skating for Italy in next year's Olympics as well. Tutino had no points today, but she was in on a number of scoring chances that the Italians created.

Two other Canadians to keep an eye on with the Italians are Kristin Della Rovere, formerly of the Ottawa Charge, and Kristen Guerreiro, formerly of St. Lawrence University. Both players were all over the ice today, and they appear to be solid additions to the Italian team. Guerreiro had an assist in the win today while Della Rovere was held off the scoresheet, but both players had their opportunities as well.

One U SPORTS player who is skating with the Italians this week in Dumfries is former Calgary Dinos netminder Gabriella Durante. Durante, as you may recall, left the University of Calgary at the start of the 2024-25 season to play professionally in Italy with the goal of gaining entry into the Italian Ice Hockey Federation where she can play for their national team. She has completed one of the two required seasons of play in Italy, and she'll likely have the opportunity to join the national squad in time for the Olympics in 2026, giving Italy another solid goaltender for their Olympic debut.

I'm going to be watching a lot of this Division I, Group B tournament in order to keep track of Fedel and Tutino as they aim to push the Italians into the Division I, Group A tournament in 2027. If you missed today's game and want to watch the Italians lay a beating on Slovenia, the game is on YouTube in its entirety. I have posted the video here for convenience. All rights belong to the IIHF.

I'm hopeful that Martina Fedel can backstop the Italians to a gold medal at the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship Division I, Group B tournament. She's off to a great start with a 12-save shutout, but the real tests will come over the next couple of days. If Italy can get the same effort from their players as seen today, they may be the class of the tournament which should lead to some excitement for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympiad! Andiamo, Azzurre!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

TBC: When The Rangers Were Young

I'd hardly consider myself a historian, but I like a good story from generations that have passed. Hockey has a lot of those stories that one likely never hears as they are swallowed by the passage of time, but that's where I'm hopeful that more and more people involved with the game will put their thoughts and stories on paper between covers. Today's addition to Teebz's Book Club has a somewhat-deceiving title as I was expecting more stories about the team, but it's a book through one man's eyes about the founding and early days of the New York Rangers from his perspective. Teebz's Book Club is proud to review When the Rangers Were Young, written by Frank Boucher and Trent Frayne and published by Dodd, Mead, & Company. Frank Boucher was one of the original players when the New York Rangers broke into the NHL in 1926, and he details his life and experiences - both good and bad - before, during, and after his playing days with the New York Rangers in the book!

François Xavier Boucher was born on October 7, 1901 in Ottawa, Ontario where he learned the game of hockey. The former Vancouver Maroons, Ottawa Senators, and New York Rangers forward played in the PCHL with Vancouver from 1922-26, played with the Senators in 1921-22, and was one of the first players on the team when the New York Rangers took the ice in the NHL in 1926. He played 13 seasons with the Rangers, retiring in 1944 only to become the Rangers' head coach from 1939-49 and in 1953-54, and acting as the general manager from 1947-54. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958 as a player where he was a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Rangers while winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy seven times in eight years. Boucher passed away from cancer on December 12, 1977 at the age of 76 in Kemptville, Ontario.

Trent Gardiner Frayne was born on September 13, 1918 in Brandon, Manitoba where he started his sportswriting career with the Brandon Sun at the age of 15. His career would take him to Winnipeg for jobs with The Canadian Press and the Winnipeg Tribune, and Toronto where he worked for The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Telegram, MacLean's Magazine, the Toronto Star, and the Toronto Sun before returning to the The Globe and Mail in 1983. Frayne wrote a number of books over his career including It's Easy: All You Have to Do Is Win, Famous Hockey Players, and The Tales of an Athletic Supporter. Frayne was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984, won the the National Newspaper Award for sports writing in 1975, and was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1988. He and his wife, June Callwood, were married in 1944 with four children rounding out the Frayne family. Trent Frayne passed away on February 11, 2012 at the age of 93 in Toronto, Ontario.

As I stated above, I was expecting more of a factual examination of the early days of the New York Rangers when I started reading When the Rangers Were Young, but the book is actually an autobiographical look at the Rangers and his life from Frank Boucher's perspective. That's not to say that there isn't a pile of history that Boucher documented because the book is loaded with his observations, but there are chapters where Boucher talks about growing up in Ottawa and life at home with his family. He documents how he went from Ottawa to Vancouver before landing in New York, and he talks about teammates and opponents in bringing those characters to life.

When the Rangers Were Young does a good job at the history component as well as there are passages that talk about the battles the Rangers had with the Montreal Maroons in their first NHL game, chapters that deal with the Stanley Cups that the Rangers won, the seven Lady Byng trophies in eight seasons that Boucher won, and some of the changes seen in the game with which Boucher seemed to be involved. For example, did you know that Frank Boucher was the person who suggested installing the red center ice line? The reasons for it are explained in When the Rangers Were Young, but I found Boucher's involvement in a number of rule changes to be fascinating!

There are some chapters where the book lulls as Boucher goes into detail about minutiae about players or people who had impacts on the Rangers, but those sections were surrounded by chapters about the games, the history, and the moments that Boucher illustrates so well. One of those moments that changed the game was when Frank Boucher decided to pull the goalie while the play was still happening. Prior to his innovative idea, NHL coaches would only pull the goalie for an extra attacker during a stoppage in play. Boucher changed all that in 1939 with an idea he had, though, as he wrote,

"In one stretch that year we'd gone nineteen games without a loss and then we went into Chicago looking for No. 20. Until this period in hockey's development, it was the custom in the dying moments of a close game to wait for a stoppage in play to remove the goaltender and replace him with a sixth attacker when a team was trailing by one goal. What had occurred to me during a train trip early that season was that there was no rule to prevent the removal of the goaltender while play was in motion, and I had made up my mind that I'd try it. I discussed the tactic with Dave Kerr, alerting him that one night we might give it a try."

Coincidentally, it was in that game against Chicago where Boucher tried it as the Rangers trailed 2-1 late in the game, and his experiment caused all sorts of chaos as the officials both on and off the ice initially thought the Rangers were playing with too many players. They would eventually figure out what Boucher did and apologize for their confusion, but it didn't help the Rangers on that night as they fell 2-1 to the Black Hawks. Nonetheless, that little tidbit of information is amazing to know, and the When the Rangers Were Young has a number of instances where Boucher talks about ideas or rules he implemented that changed the game!

Overall, When the Rangers Were Young is a good read from start to finish despite the book not being exactly as the title describes. There are times where Boucher's chapters are overly wordy - that may be due to Frayne's writing style - but the book reads fairly easily as Boucher goes over his entire 29-year career with the New York Rangers. Because he often drops in interesting pieces of hockey history and because Boucher talks about players whose careers are legendary with humour and intimate knowledge, When the Rangers Were Young is certainly deserving of the Teebz's Book Club Seal of Approval!

Because When the Rangers Were Young has been out of print for a while, you'll have to locate this book at a library, a secondhand book store, or thrift shop. The 244-page book contains lots of fun stories and cool history, but the reading is slightly more advanced due to the writing style used during the original publication date of 1973. As such, I recommend When the Rangers Were Young for teens and older readers, especially hockey history fans and New York Rangers fans!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Fantastic Marketing

I'll be honest and admit that I've never been one to enjoy a "zero" adult beverage. I know there are several brands that produce a "zero" adult beverage, but it's never really been something to which I gave a lot of thought. Budweiser has joined the "zero" beverage options with their latest endeavour, claiming that their product "is an alcohol-free brew with only 50 calories and zero grams of sugar and is made for those who want to cut back on alcohol without missing out on the full flavor and refreshment of Budweiser". For those who want to be more responsible with their adult beverage consumption or want to avoid any excess carbohydrates and sugars, Budweiser Zero would be a good choice, it seems. However, I can tell you that the Capital One Arena in Washington likely won't be stocking cans of this beverage anytime soon after Budweiser kicked off a fun marketing campaign in a unique way for their Zero brand!

Starting today, Budweiser Zero began sending cans of their product in boxes to nineteen NHL goaltenders who faced Alexander Ovechkin in his quest to score 895 goals, but who surrendered no goals to the Washington Capitals forward. Among the names you'll recognize are Manny Legace, Manny Fernandez, Jocelyn Thibault, Braden Holtby, and the man to the right, Curtis Joseph! Each of the nineteen goalies recognized stopped at least one shot from Ovechkin without surrendering a goal, really putting the "zero" in the Budweiser Zero they received! Each can states "Zero of 895" above "The greatest goal scorer of all time couldn't score on you" with the number of shots each goalie stopped on the left and "0 goals" at the bottom of his individualized can of Budweiser Zero.

What may be even cooler is that the can's ribbon at the top reads, "This world-famous Budweiser Zero was brewed for you, the brick wall between the pipes. The greatest goal scorer has scored a record-breaking 895 goals. You faced (x) shots against, but zero got behind you. This Bud's for you, #XX, the King of Zero" where (x) is the number of saves they made against Ovechkin and #XX is the jersey number they wore. Just below that is a triangle with that same jersey number in it, and a goalie mask that has the words "Nothing got past you" around it. On the outside of the border surrounding the mask are "Zero Percent" on the left and "Zero Against" on the right. Clearly, Budweiser Zero put some effort into making these cans!

The nineteen NHL goalies shown on the image below kept Ovechkin off the scoresheet in their games against him. Perhaps the most notable are the guys who faced the most shots while still being active in Florida's Vítek Vaněček, Vancouver's Kevin Lankinen, and Seattle's Joey Daccord as those three men still play in the NHL and could eventually break twenty shots against without surrendering a goal. While Mike Condon and Mathieu Garon stand between Vaněček's 19 saves and Lankinen's and Daccord's 14 saves apiece, it's pretty amazing that Ovechkin was stopped by nineteen men in his quest to break Gretzky's record. Click the image below to see a larger version.

Again, all of this is just some tongue-in-cheek marketing for a product associated with zero, but kudos to the marketing team at Budweiser for jumping all over this opportunity to have some fun with their Zero brand. Nineteen NHL goalies have stood in front of Ovechkin's blasts and refused to flinch, and they certainly deserve a cold beverage after showing the world that they have ice running through their veins. That alone is worth a postgame beverage!

From Trent Miner and Jakub Dobeš who have stopped one Ovechkin shot to Vítek Vaněček who has withstood 19 blasts off an Ovechkin blade, nineteen men have put the zero in Budweiser Zero. I love the fun marketing campaign that Anheuser-Busch rolled out in honour of Alex Ovechkin breaking the goal-scoring record, so I tip my cap to them. After all, they deserve a cold Bud Zero for this great idea!

Until next time, keep your Budweiser Zeroes on ice!

It Happened

It was undoubtedly going to happen before this season ended. We all knew the likelihood of Alexander Ovechkin breaking Wayne Gretzky's career goals mark was within reach and certainly attainable for Ovechkin as long as he stayed healthy, and he has done that for most of the season despite him reportedly having a broken leg earlier in the campaign. Regardless of the handful of games he missed, Ovechkin was still finding the back of the net more often than any 39 year-old player should, and the speed in which he approached Gretzky's mark was impressive. Today, Ovechkin scored the 895th goal of his career, breaking Gretzky's mark, and it should allow the hockey world to resume its normal build-up towards the playoffs moving forward.

I've already given my reasons why I wasn't interested in Ovechkin's quest for 895, so I won't rewrite what was already written. Instead, let's go to the video of the moment where history was made.
Ovechkin scored the historic 895th goal of his career at 7:26 of the second period while on the power-play against New York Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin to cut the Islanders' lead to 2-1, kicking off a long pause as dignitaries, teammates, and Wayne Gretzky himself made their way onto the ice to congratulate Ovechkin. For the record, Tom Wilson and Dylan Strome assisted on the record-breaking goal while John Carlson and Jeff Chychrun were the Washington defenders and Charlie Lindgren was between the pipes. The four Islanders who were killing the penalty were Ryan Pulock, Adam Pelech, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and Simon Holmstrom.

Lots of sports icons from across the sports world gave Ovechkin their congratulations, and these were plastered all over social and shared about a bazillion times. I'm not certain why people like Tom Brady, Michael Phelps, and LeBron James were offering their congratulations, but to each their own. Seeing the other sports recognize Ovechkin's achievement is nice, but it felt a little forced. Regardless of that aspect, I do offer him my congratulations for reaching the milestone, and I'm sure he'll put new ones in place before this season and his career is over. 895 and counting!

The Islanders would prevail on this historic day by a 4-1 score, and that loss prevented the Capitals from surpassing the Winnipeg Jets for top spot in the NHL standings. With five games to go for each of those two teams, Winnipeg has 108 points while Washington remains at 107 points. Dallas is three points back of Winnipeg and two behind Washington, and the Vegas Golden Knights are six points back of Winnipeg and five back of Washington. If you're wondering about schedules, here are the remaining five teams for each of the four teams who have broken 100 points this season:

• Winnipeg: vs STL, at DAL, at CHI, vs EDM, vs ANA.
• Washington: vs CAR, at CBJ, vs CBJ, at NYI, at PIT.
• Dallas: vs VAN, vs WPG, vs UTA, at DET, at NAS.
• Vegas: at COL, vs SEA, vs NAS, at CAL, at VAN.

With the quest for 985 behind us, the quest for home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs and the President's Trophy can continue. Four teams have a shot with two of those teams - Winnipeg and Washington - heading towards the finish line neck-and-neck. Arguably, the Jets have the tougher schedule and could potentially fall back to third-overall depending on how the next two games go against St. Louis and Dallas, but Washington has tough games against a fighting-for-their-playoff-lives Columbus squad and an Islanders team that just shut them down today. Who will win this race?

We'll know over the next eleven days as these four teams are in the final stretch. One of the four will have home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs and a shiny trophy to display at the office. It's not quite 895 goals and a spot in the NHL record books, but Ovechkin could legitimately do both this season. The harder one of the two feats? He's already accomplished that.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Tariffs Are Real

The sun was shining on this glorious Saturday as I awoke far earlier than I normally would have in an effort to get one major task crossed off my list. As you may have heard on The Hockey Show this past week, we're gearing up for another edition of Survivor: NHL Playoffs that will start on April 17. Prizes are being collected and organized as you read this, but one was shipped to the border due to the sender not willing to send it into Canada via one of the delivery services. In saying that, it became road trip day for me!

I've made this trip countless times with little trouble as I passed by the towns of Altona and Gretna to approach the Canada-US border crossing. The port of entry just north of Neche, North Dakota usually isn't very busy, and today was no different as I appeared to be the only vehicle heading to the US side of the border. I wasn't expecting any sort of major delays as we pulled up to the window to speak to the border crossing guard, but the rules have changed, it seems.

For the first time ever in my entire life, I was asked to turn the car off and unlock the doors as the border agent took a look inside both the back seat and the hatch of my SUV. His questions weren't any different as I was expecting those, but I guess the new tariffs are forcing the border agents to be far more vigilant in ensuring things aren't brought across the border without having the applicable checks and balances completed. I had nothing that was being left in the US, but I would imagine that some people try to bring things like food, clothing, and other goods into the United States.

After being let through to the US side of the coin, I proceeded to the parcel service that was holding the package that had been sent. $3 later, I had the package in my hands and was heading back to the border to head into Canada. My total time in the US was about 20 minutes with 15 of those minutes being used to wait in the car for the parcel service to open. In any case, my quest was successful.

Arriving at the Canadian side of the border, though, was a little more costly. Thanks to the reciprocal tariffs placed on goods coming into Canada, the Canadian border agents determined that I needed to cough up a little cash to bring the package into Canada. Thanks to its place of manufacturing, the tariff cost was 17% rather than being the 25% an item would have cost had it been made in the US, so I guess I got a bit of a discount? In any case, with taxes and duty, the package cost me an additional $43. So much for free trade, right?

The good news is that the two grand prizes have now been secured for the Survivor: NHL Playoffs contest. I also got a nice three-hour road trip into my day, and I still had lots of time to get some work done around the house. With summer quickly approaching, driving in the warm sunlight was a nice change from having to blast the heat in car like I did when making that run to the border in the winter.

Let this drive in the sun to the border be a quick reminder that all deliveries coming from the US may required additional cash for them to be released as the tariffs are certainly being applied. This is just another reminder to buy Canadian, folks, whenever you can. Or, if you're American and reading this, buy American so you're not hit with these idiotic costs either. The extra costs aren't worth it.

Remember, the Survivor: NHL Playoffs contest starts on April 17!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Congrats... And Stuff?

While it may be a historic moment tonight and will certainly be historic upon Alex Ovechkin's next goal, it might be time for a disclaimer: I really don't care if Ovechkin breaks Wayne Gretzky's career goal-scoring record. While it's certainly interesting to see Gretzky's record fall, it's hard to be enthusiastic for Ovechkin when I spent a lot of my life disliking both men. As a Penguins fan, the Ovechkin dislike is probably understandable for anyone who knows me, but I lived as Mario Lemieux fan in my formative years when the "Gretzky-vs-Lemieux" rivalry was at its height. As such, this chase that Ovechkin was on to break history was a non-starter for me.

Some of this is complicated by the fact that I grew up watching the Winnipeg Jets get decimated by the Gretzky-led Edmonton Oilers through the 1980s. As they Oilers won Stanley Cups by the handful during that era, they often seemed to meet the Jets at some point in the playoffs where Gretzky and his high-scoring pals would ultimately prevail over the Jets. Having your heart broken as a kid by the same cast of villains over and over again meant that I recognized Gretzky's records with disdain. In some ways, I still do.

In saying that, it was easy to cheer for a guy who was a natural rival when it came to setting scoring records. While he didn't have the cast of characters similar to that which Gretzky had at his disposal, the Pittsburgh Penguins had the one guy who could outdo #99 on any given night. It didn't hurt that he played for a team with an actual logo, but watching Lemieux drag three guys to the net and score a goal was, in my impressionable mind, far more diffcult than hiding behind the net and centering a pass to an already-good teammate.

We jump to 1991 where the Penguins had become a contender, Lemieux had a cast of stars around him, and the threat of Gretzky being an impact in the postseason was close to nil thanks to the trade that sent him to the Los Angeles Kings from the Edmonton Oilers. Of course, the Penguins dismissed the Minnesota North Stars in the Stanley Cup Final in 1991 for their first Stanley Cup parade, and I, as a young, impressionable fan, felt vindicated. Gretzky's era was over, and Mario Lemieux's era of dominance was beginning!

1992 brought more celebration as the Blackhawks were the final victim to Lemieux-and-cast's dominance that season, and the city of Pittsburgh celebrated a second-straight Stanley Cup parade that summer. It seemed like a three-peat was almost a guarantee as the 1992-93 season progressed until Mario Lemieux stapped away from the team and game after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. He'd return and win the scoring title, but David Volek's bullet-to-my-adolescent-head in overtime of Game Seven in the second round ignited my hatred for the New York Islanders.

Of course, Gretzky got traded, never won another Stanley Cup, and the Jets left Winnipeg for sandier climates in Phoenix. The Penguins wouldn't win another Stanley Cup with Lemieux in the lineup, and that was when I realized that health issues can derail what seems like a record-smashing career for players. I wasn't around for the Bobby Orr days about which my dad would tell us, but it all started making sense as Lemieux's health began keeping him out of the lineup.

Jump forward to Lemieux buying the Penguins out of bankruptcy in 1999 which led to some rather lean years before 2005's NHL Entry Draft took place. That was when the Penguins selected Sidney Crosby first-overall, and it was one year after the Washington Capitals had drafted Alexander Ovechkin in 2004. This kicked off the Crosby-Ovechkin rivalry between Pittsburgh and Washington which revived my dislike for the Capitals once again after watching Peter Bondra, Michal Pivonka, Sergei Gonchar, Dino Ciccarelli, and Dale Hunter be thorns in the side of the Penguins during the early-1990s.

I don't really need to go over the Penguins-Capitals rivalry that featured Crosby and Ovechkin, but the 2009, 2016, and 2017 Stanley Cup victories all featured a Pittsburgh-Washington second-round battle while Washington's lone Stanley Cup parade came at the expense of a second-round Pittsburgh loss. Of course, it wasn't just Pittsburgh-vs-Washington, but it was also Crosby-vs-Ovechkin in a quiet Canada-vs-Russia battle that was recreated from the ashes of the 2005 World Junior Championship. It had layers.

There's a chance that the fans on Long Island could be witness to the historic moment when Ovechkin surpasses Gretzky on Sunday. The irony of that moment is how the New York Islanders seem to find their way into each instance: Gretzky learning what sacrifice looks like after the Islanders beat his Oilers, the Oilers defeating the Islanders to win their first Stanley Cup, the 1993 David Volek goal, and now, potentially, the Ovechkin history. And Ovechkin will likely victimize one of his countrymen in the name of history when Ilya Sorokin is in net on Sunday. It could be Marcus Hogberg, but we'll see.

In any event, I feel nothing about Ovechkin breaking Gretzky's record. It doesn't stir any emotions, it doesn't excite me to see him do it, and I'm tired of hearing about it. It is a huge moment, and I do appreciate the sheer difficulty in scoring the number of goals that Ovechkin has - 894 total to date - but it's hard to get excited for someone you've wanted to see lose in every manner possible stand on the precipice of legendary status. It makes me hope that the Islanders shut out Washington on Sunday, but I'd rather he surpass Gretzky's total ASAP so he doesn't do it against Pittsburgh on April 17.

It is a moment that will live in NHL history until the next legendary goal scorer comes along and challenges that total, and I cannot deny that I respect Alexander Ovechkin for staying healthy, getting a chance to chase down this record, and writing his name into the NHL history books. I raise my stick to Ovechkin reaching immortality alongside one of the greatest scorers and certainly the highest scorer in NHL history. At the very least, Ovechkin deserves some respect and recognition for his accomplishment. I can give that.

And now I'll be cheering for an Islanders shutout on Sunday.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 654

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, returns to the airwaves of 101.5 megahertz on the FM dial tonight as our hosts get you ready for a major contest that will happen in two weeks! Every year, The Hockey Show has run a playoff contest for sixteen contestants, and we're nearly ready to kick off another exciting edition of Survivor: NHL Playoffs for this year's postseason! Out hosts will chat about the contest tonight as they get you ready for April 17 when the contest opens! Beyond that, the gents have some hockey news to discuss, so get ready for another busy show tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

He won't physically be in the studio tonight, but Jeff Probst makes a return as Teebz and Jason get you set up with the initial information for Survivor: NHL Playoffs that begins on April 17. From there, the hosts have some business to go over as they look at the new deal hammered out by Rogers Communications and the NHL, why that deal might not be so good, a former U SPORTS player is making waves at the pro level, a number of leagues have champions as seasons wind down, we'll have a new WHL team next season, and there's a Melbourne moment about an encouraging tool when it comes to athletes' health! Assuming we can squeeze all this news in, you'll want to have your radio or internet-enabled device tuned to UMFM's signals to UMFM tonight for The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The 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! And because both Teebz and Jason are on the butterfly app where things are less noisy, you can find Teebz here and Jason here on Bluesky!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason chat Survivor, new deals, crazy money, winning big, winning seasons, old teams in new leagues, new technology, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: April 3, 2025: Episode 654

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Expensive Hockey Broadcasts

While news broke on Monday of the deal that was announced today between Rogers Communications and the National Hockey League, it's hard to imagine Sportsnet's owners spending more money on a product that didn't return profits on their investment until very recently and didn't make a significant impact on the bottom line over a ten-year period. Yet the deal announced today not only say Rogers Sportsnet commit to another twelve-year deal with the NHL, but they actually spent considerably more money to secure the national broadcast rights in Canada over that period.

Let's jump into the time machine and head back to 2013 when Rogers and the NHL signed a blockbuster 12-year, $5.2-billion deal that put the NHL on Rogers' networks. The two sides have always spoken about that deal in positive terms, but it isn't hard to see through the smokescreen that both sides were building. Rogers sold French TV rights to TVA Sports in a deal to help curb the losses that were mounting, and they sold off rights to Monday Night Hockey to Amazon in 2024. Finding games was suddenly harder than before.

Despite trying to shore up this deal to help their bottom line, Rogers Communications saw very little return on their investment. According to the Globe & Mail's Simon Houpt, "The pretax profit for its three Sportsnet services has stayed flat in that period, inching up to $88-million in 2023 from $87-million on 2013" despite earning $92.55 in subscription revenue from customers who subscribed to all three services of Sportsnet, Sportsnet One and Sportsnet 360. That figure was up from $34.10 in 2013, and yet they earned just $1 million more in pretax profit despite subscription costs nearly tripling.

Upon signing the deal today, Rogers' shares "fell 5.9 per cent on Tuesday to close at $36.17 in Toronto, reaching their lowest intraday level since 2012" as reported by Bloomberg News. Part of that drop was due to the failing Rogers Bank business, but it was also sparked by investors who "are already wary of Rogers' balance sheet and funding headwinds". TD Cowen's Vince Valentini told Bloomberg News today, "[W]e do not expect this rights renewal to be either a negative for Rogers, nor an overly material event."

None of that paints a particularly good picture of the investment that Rogers made with the NHL, so why did they renew the twelve-year deal for $11 billion ($7.7 billion USD), more than double the value of the original deal they signed with the NHL?

Rogers chief executive officer Tony Staffieri explained the new investment at the press conference today, stating,

"The value of live sports content just continues to appreciate, and it's really rooted in viewership continuing to grow. If you look at our NHL deal over the last decade, viewership grew by 50 per cent.

"And with that kind of growth, what you see is revenue growing at a very steady and healthy pace in terms of advertising revenue, subscription revenue, and in the deal we have now, sub-licensing revenue. And so as we look to the next 12 years, we were very thoughtful in how we thought about the economics."

Aside from the fact that revenue isn't growing exclusively from hockey, Mr. Staffieri's own pretax profit reporting shows that the hockey deal isn't helping Rogers find increased profits nor is there any guarantee for future profits with more and more people cutting the cord. Streaming services may generate more money for Rogers, but the Globe & Mail's Irene Galea and Simon Houpt noted that "Mr. Staffieri sidestepped a question about whether the company would pass on the added costs to consumers".

One place where Rogers can make up some of the difference is through their licensing deals as they established with TVA Sports and Amazon. The Canadian Press reported that "Staffieri said Rogers will 'look to opportunities to continue to sub-license where it makes sense'" which means that Rogers' streaming services may carry less games despite promises of fewer blackouts and games from both sides of the border including "up to 10 more games on certain teams".

The only problem is that if they sell off those rights to another streaming service or network, there's an increased chance that people will stop paying for Sportsnet's services. After all, if you have to subscribe to six different services to watch your favorite team, how does that help hockey fans? Hint: it doesn't.

Complicating the process further is that the relationship between Sportsnet and CBC ends with the current rights deal, and there's no extension between the two networks yet. Rogers Sports & Media President Colette Watson said today, "We like our partnership and we value our partnership with the CBC and over the next 18 months we'll look to see if there's a continued partnership there."

That's an odd statement - "look to see if there's a continued partnership" - when CBC is literally one of a handful of stations that is available on all cable packages from coast to coast to coast. Regardless of Sportsnet's feelings towards CBC, removing hockey from the nation's public broadcaster would be like carving the heart out of the nation's chest. Hockey Night in Canada is an institution, and Rogers should be working to keep that institution intact. After all, without Hockey Night in Canada's enduring legacy on CBC, there's no guarantee that Sportsnet owns the broadcast rights for the NHL.

In the end, aside from owning the rights for NHL games, I am baffled why Rogers Communications would sign a new deal for $11 billion that sees Rogers pay the NHL in escalating annual payments. The NHL has continued to profess that it is a valuable asset for anyone to own, but Rogers' balance sheet says otherwise as their adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) show a margin of just 3.4 per cent from media at $84 million. Rogers isn't making money off this deal, and now they doubled their commitment to maintain it? Make that make sense because it financially does not.

I'm not saying that Rogers Communications won't turn a profit on their newest NHL deal that will expire after the 2037-38 season. They can look at innovating and introducing new technology to help make the game better on television, they can have a better presence with quality content, and they can show intriguing matchups, but none of that will matter if the network is losing bags of money.

An $11-billion total bill with escalating annual payments means that the media wing of Rogers Communications will only see margins shrink annually if they can't sell enough ads or sponsored segments. And if margins go to zero or into the negative, expect Rogers to try to erase their losses by selling off more broadcasting rights.

The business of hockey should be its own specialized university degree because it's hard to make sense how hockey fans benefit with this new deal. Especially if it ends up costing fans more money.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

A New Month Begins

With the calendar turning to April today, I am taking a day off. March was a busy month of hockey with everything that happened in the last few weeks, and I just need a night to unwind and not think about the game. Aside from updating some spreadsheets and cleaning up the desktop of the laptop where I do some of the graphic and video work you see here, tonight will be a night where I can purge whatever leftover thoughts I had from March and press on into April where the temperatures will rise, the game will intensify, and teams will begin preparing for a playoff run or an off-season of changes. While it may be April Fool's Day, this is not a joke: I am taking today off.

I can tell you that work has been far busier and far more challenging in the last month than anything I've seen in my career with my current employer. I'm not complaining about being busy nor do I feel overwhelmed, but it's that sort of constant stream of work where you look at the clock at 9am before checking it again only to see that it's 2pm. I like being busy at work, but that kind of constant flow of work starts to wear one down as there never seemed to be a break where one could have caught one's breath. And everyone needs that break.

On that note, it was one year ago where I proclaimed that I would likely be posting less stuff on this site. That proclamation never came close to being true as I continue to add something daily over the last year, even if it's not hockey-related in any way. I was thinking about the promise I made to have the site undergo serious renovations - something I am going to complete in the summer - but it occurred to me that I need to start adding more to one part of the blog.

I was looking at the bookcase that holds a number of the books I've reviewed here, and I have two piles of books that aren't organized on the shelves because they have yet to be read and reviewed. How did I get two piles of unread books? They were bought or given to me as gifts with the intention of cracking their spines, but my time was directed elsewhere and those books were forgotten.

Having admitted this, I am making it my goal to read two of the books I have set aside with the intention of reviewing them on here and on my GoodReads account. According to the total on that site, I have 38 hockey-related books I have yet to read, and that number is far too large for my liking. The only way to reduce is to start flipping pages and absorbing the information from those pages. That will start this weekend. If all goes well, there should be a review of the book I chose to read next week. After that, it becomes habit.

Not every weekend will see my face in a book, but I do want to whittle down that list of 38 publications to something in the single-digit values. There are some titles that are interesting to me, and I fully admit that I should have read them before embarking on this new habit-forming venture I'm undertaking. For a guy who laments those at work who either don't read directions or skip the mandatory parts of directions, I should be following my own advice.

March may have been National Reading Month in Canada, but I'm kicking it up a notch or three in April. Better late than never, right?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Ripples Felt

If you're a hockey jersey collector, you know that gamework jerseys simply feel different than the replica jerseys sold for less money. On-ice jerseys have the fight strap and the reinforced stitching that allows them to stand up to the abuse the jersey could take while worn on the ice, so they feel much heavier than a similar replica jersey. I'm not here to tell you one is better than the other - that's a personal choice based on what one likes and, in most cases, what one can afford - but I am here to tell you that the outrageous prices being charged for these on-ice jerseys is likely going to increase yet again thanks to the American political situation. It seems hockey cannot escape politics.

As you'll see in the video below, all on-ice NHL jerseys are fabricated in Ste-Hyacinthe, Quebec at the SP Apparel factory there. This has been the case since 1975 as the wool comes from the US before the employees in Ste-Hyacinthe turn that into fabric. There are pieces that come from other places - logos come from China, for example - but the factory in Quebec puts together the 100-or-so pieces of the jersey, applies the logo, and adheres the NHL logo to the jersey before shipping. In short, it's made in Canada.

CBC's Douglas Gelevan went to SP Apparel in Ste-Hyacinthe, Quebec to speak with staff there about the potential upcoming tariffs that could be imposed this week by the US government. If costs are forced to go up, there's a chance that the US-based Fanatics company, who holds the licensing for all NHL jerseys, could look at moving the operation elsewhere to avoid the additional costs that could be incurred. Clearly, these tariffs could have a significant impact on NHL business on both sides of the border.

Here is Mr. Gelevan's story from CBC News tonight. Have a watch.
I'll be the first to admit that Fanatics' prices for authentic NHL jerseys is nearly criminal considering that the secondary market rarely sees jerseys rise above $300 on average. That point aside, if Fanatics is forced to look at other manufacturers within the lower 48 states, there's no guarantee that the quality, the workmanship, and the price will remain the same. After all, SP Apparel does the vast majority of the work in their factory without outsourcing to anyone else.

As Mr. Gelevan stated, the NHL has no say in where the jerseys are produced, so they'd be no help if Fanatics were to pull the production rights from SP Apparel. At the end of the day, moving the production to a US-based manufacturer likely would save Fanatics some money if tariffs are applied, but Dr. Moshe Lander, Concordia University Economics Professor, is correct: is the NHL willing to alienate Canadian fans if they allow Fanatics to move the production of jerseys south of the border? Methinks there would be conversations.

Of course, all of this may never occur if the American government simply came to its senses. I'm not here to discuss that topic, though. That's another ball of wax entirely, and I know how much people want to keep politics out of sports based on what we see on social media and comments on webpages and in forums. Just remember this example if you own hockey jerseys and want to scream about politics in sports because the sport has nothing to do with these politics.

I spend more time on this blog explaining that the NHL is a business, but rarely do I discuss how many people that business employs on both sides of the border. By having the politics of one country affect that business, the ripples are certainly felt on the other side of the border as well. My hope is that the people at SP Apparel aren't affected by Fanatics' coming decisions with respect to the tariff announcements, but I'd be naive to think they won't be.

Keep politics out of hockey, you say? For once, I agree with that sentiment when I think of the good people in Ste-Hyacinthe, Quebec. They did nothing to potentially be victims of a vengeful government, yet they may pay the ultimate price with their jobs which affects their livelihoods which affects their families. None of that is the goal of a trade war, but those are the ripples that will be felt.

If I can make a plea to anyone, I'd ask Fanatics to resist the urge to move the production of on-ice NHL jerseys to a US manufacturer in the event that tariffs are imposed. The NHL should be looking at finding ways to gain an exemption from these new tariffs if they are imposed, and my hope if that these two corporations can find a way to keep everything in place as it is today. It's better for all three corportations - SP Apparel as well - if everything remains as it is.

I often say on this blog that sports are a microcosm of society. Politics are definitely a part of society, and now we're seeing it bleed into the hockey world in a big way. Those are the ripples that will be felt if the US government imposes its will on society this week.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Just As Good In Kansas

While he was still wearing the familiar green-and-white of the Saskatchewan Huskies on his mask and pads, former Huskies men's hockey netminder Roddy Ross was in a different crease one week after winning a bronze medal in Ottawa at the U Cup National Men's Hockey Championship. AHL and ECHL teams will be looking across the university and college ranks on both sides of the border to help their quests in bringing home a championship, and the Wichita Thunder decided to shore up their goaltending situation by signing Ross to a deal yesterday. The former sixth-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2019 made his way to Coralville, Iowa where the Thunder were playing against the Iowa Heartlanders, and he got the start today for the Thunder as they wasted no time in seeing what he could do between the pipes!

There wasn't a lot of time for comments as my internet search turned up very little to reflect both the team's and Ross's thoughts on coming together, but Wichita head coach Bruce Ramsay likely knew that Ross would be ready for the challenge today. Ramsay is a veteran head coach with seasons in the AHL and ECHL including 2020-21 when he was named as the ECHL Coach of the Year, so having a netminder at his disposal like Ross is an advantage a lot of coaches would like. He gave the nod to Ross today who wore #1 in his professional debut.

The Thunder built a 2-0 lead through 40 minutes before the Heartlanders pressed hard in the third period. Officially, Ryan Miotto is the answer to the trivia question of "who scored the first professional goal on Roddy Ross" as he potted a rebound early in the third period to cut the lead to 2-1. The second professional goal that Ross surrendered went to Ryan McGuire who scored with just under eight minutes to play on the power-play on a deflection, and we'd hear the horn end regulation time with the teams tied at 2-2.

Iowa's Luke Mobley had the only shot on net that Iowa recorded in overtime because Sean Bates scored at 2:57 to give the Wichita Thunder the 3-2 overtime victory! That goal marked the first professional win for Ross in his career, and his 42-save performance will likely stand as one of the highest for the remainder of this season. Ross stopped 16 of 18 shots in the third period alone as Iowa outshot Wichita by an 18-3 count in the frame!

Ross will get a few days to practice with his new teammates after today's victory as Wichita will visit the Tulsa Oilers on Friday before returning home on Sunday to face the Allen Americans. With Tulsa blowing out Rapid City today, the Thunder still hold a one-point lead over the Oilers heading into Friday's game, so that's a big one for both teams. Wichita needs the win as Tulsa has a game in-hand on the Thunder, so expect a battle on Friday in the Oklahoma city.

With the win today, Wichita remains in third-place in the ECHL's Mountain Division, but they sit just four points back of the Tahoe Knight Monsters after they dropped a decision today to Idaho. With five games remaining on Wichita's schedule, they could close that gap and pass the Knight Monsters as the Thunder finish the season on the road in Tahoe for a three-game set with the Knight Monsters. Those games will be played on April 9, 11, and 12, and we could see the Thunder move into second-place. Can they catch Tahoe?

They'll certainly try, but they'll be a little harder to beat with Roddy Ross backstopping them. I'm happy to see Ross get a shot with the San Jose Sharks' ECHL affiliate, and there could be more opportunities for him as the San Jose Barracuda sit one point back of the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the AHL's Pacific Division. Ross certainly earned an opportunity at the ECHL level after the incredible season he had, and it's awesome to see him pick up his first professional win in his first professional start! Keep the winning ways going!

Congratulations to Roddy Ross, former Saskatchewan Huskies netminder, on landing with the Wichita Thunder, picking up his first professional win, and showing everyone why he was deserving of the 2025 Canada West Goaltender of the Year award!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!