The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, takes over the UMFM studio space once again tonight to talk all things puck. Usually, we have a main story which we want to focus on to explain the nuances that fans should know, but tonight's going to be just a smorgasbord of smaller stories that will fill the hour. There will be discussions on each, but there isn't one main topic that will eat up a half-hour of show time. If you're ready for lots of little stories that need some dissecting, make sure you're ready to roll for The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!
Tonight, Teebz and Jason will rock the hockey world by talking about a number of topics including the Hometown Remix jersey announcement, the Islanders making their third jersey official after the fan voting closed, the Gwinnett Gladiators going back to the future, the NHL allowing a banned jersey number again, the AIHL playoff picture for this weekend, Dublin's ambitious new project, a former NHLer returning to the ECHL, a Stanley Cup winner who will miss the start of the season, a Hall-of-Famer who may have suffered, and anything else that may bounce across our respective desks today! Settle in for some glove-dropping, shot-blocking, stick-swinging, and puck-chucking chatter 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 UMFM website's 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.
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 talk bad jerseys, good colours, fun numbers, Aussie madness, Irish dreams, Russians returning, Danes hurting, saving brains, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!
Oilers fans are hoping this isn't going to be a common occurrence, but goaltender Frederik Andersen will start the season on the shelf after being injured during an off-season training session. He'll be joined by defenceman Alec Regula and forwards Mattias Janmark and Matt Savoie as players who miss training camp with injuries, but that one-year, $2.8-million contract that Andersen signed to stabilize Edmonton's goaltending will be tested in October as the Oilers are forced to start the season with a netminding tandem that is missing their big catch in free agency.
There were no reports on what may be ailing Andersen as the start of the season nears, but one has to wonder if the heavy workload he endured through the playoffs had something to do with his current injury. At the time, it was reported as a knee injury, and that should have fans worried as goalies generally need knees that work well.
Of course, this comes on the heels of Andersen missing time in late October 2024 with a lower-body issue which, eventually, required knee surgery in November 2024, and that injury kept him out for roughly three months before returning in January 2025. He practiced for a week with the Hurricanes before the team decided to place him on injured reserve again, limiting him to just 22 games in 2024-25.
Andersen is 36 years-old so he's not getting younger, and repeated "lower-body injuries" that he's had over the course of his career don't heal as fast. I respect that the Oilers saw him as an upgrade to their goaltending situation, but there's a reason why the Hurricanes went with Brandon Bussi over re-signing Frederik Andersen, and a lot of it has to do with being younger, cheaper, and more durable. That's not to say Andersen can't recover and help Edmonton win, but Andersen played just 107 games in the last four seasons for the Hurricanes.
As it stands, the Edmonton Oilers will start the season with Tristan Jarry and Devon Levi as their goaltending tandem, and Frederik Andersen will work to get himself ready for a late-October or early-November debut assuming all goes well. If the Oilers get the Tristan Jarry who sported an .858 save percentage in 19 appearances last year, the month of October could be rough. Devon Levi has yet to prove he can be an NHL goalie, so the Oilers are going to have to hope that Andersen recovers quickly from whatever this injury is.
Even if his recovery gets him back in the lineup by the start of November, he'll need some time to be game-ready as he's scheduled to miss all of training camp and the exhibition games that the Oilers play. With fifteen games in November alone, the Oilers may need all three goalies healthy if they're going to manage each one's minutes.
The Oilers will be on the road from October 31 to November 3 where they play the Islanders and Rangers back-to-back before finishing off the trip against the Devils. They return home for a game against the Ducks on November 5 that starts a four-games-in-seven-days run, and then they hit the road for six games in nine nights between November 14 and 22. If the Oilers or Andersen wanted to be thrown into the fire after his recovery, the November schedule might be that fire.
I don't know who placed the curse on Connor McDavid and/or Leon Draisaitl, but they're going to have to hope that Jarry and Levi can hold the fort while Andersen is on the mend. If the losses start piling up before Andersen's expected return, it may be too deep of a hole to dig out of when it comes to making the playoffs this season.
For those that are unaware, there are specific numbers that cannot be worn in the NHL and on specific teams. Most of these are retired numbers that teams no longer keep in circulation, but specific numbers like #99 are retired league-wide so no one can wear that number again. There are two numbers that the NHL demanded be removed from circulation due to their ability to mess with the NHL's early statistical programs, and those numbers are #0, last worn by Neil Sheehy, and #00, last worn by Martin Biron as seen above. However, it seems the NHL has evolved enough that these zeroes are no longer a problem for their stats programs thanks to one team's signing announcement today!
The Minnesota Wild were going about their business today by posting on their website that they had hired Peter Thome as their new Hockey Operations Analyst. Nothing in that seems earth-moving, but they tacked on that Thome will also serve as the Wild's Emergency Backup Goalie (EBUG) this season. As you may recall, every team is required to have an official EBUG under contract this season.
The former NCAA and ECHL netminder and former 2016 Columbus Blue Jackets draft pick had a short career stopping pucks at the professional level, but he's also worked as an analyst in the USHL and as a video coach in the AHL. All of that is fine and dandy for Thome while he's wearing a suit, but there was one line that stuck out about what he'll be wearing as a goaltender for the Wild if he's needed:
"He will wear sweater No. 00 with Minnesota."
How can that be after the league banned the number in 1996 over issues with their player database and the inability to accurately record players using those numbers? Did it take thirty years for the NHL to figure out how to properly enter #00 as a valid number into that database? Will we see all EBUGs wearing #00 this season based on Thome's number? We all have questions that need answers!
I've seen a few websites indicate that all EBUGs this season will be assigned #00, and that may very well happen. However, there is no language in the NHL-NHLPA CBA Memorandum of Understanding filed last season that speaks to this number assignment and that includes Attachment 87 that speaks directly to the new EBUG rules that teams are required to follow. Logically, however, that would make sense.
Whatever the case may be for the other 31 teams, there will be one player who has #00 as his assigned jersey number next season. Congratulations to Peter Thome not only on his hiring today with the Minnesota Wild, but for becoming the answer to an NHL trivia question one day! Will #0 be the next number to be reinstated?
Dubbed "The World's Most Famous Arena", there aren't many shows nor events that pass up the opportunity to work in Madison Square Garden. Located in Manhatten, "the Garden" is officially the second-busiest music arena in the world in terms of ticket sales, the oldest arena to host an NBA team, and the oldest arena to host an NHL team. There have been three other Madison Square Garden that have been demolished since the original opened in 1879, but the current building standing between Seventh and Eighth avenues in New York City is the one that has garnered the most attention as the arena that hosts around 320 events a year including sports, concerts, and other major events!
I'm not here to talk about New York's arena, however, because Dermot Rigley, founder and CEO of Prime Arena Holdings, made a bold proclamation today with the announcement of a new two-rink facility being proposed for the neighbourhood of Cherrywood inside Dublin, Ireland! According to his statement today, "Rigley has described the proposed project as one that will bring the Madison Square Garden experience" to Ireland's largest and most populous city!
I'm not here to take the wind out of Rigley's sails by any means, but Prime Arena Holdings stepped forward as the company behind this ambitious project, showing off initial renderings that included CGI images and flythrough videos by Populous, the same architects behind the Sphere in Las Vegas, Yankee Stadium in New York, and the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. It should be noted that Prime Arena Holdings has NOT formally submitted a planning application for this project yet.
The details state that the building will have two Olympic-sized ice rinks and an 8000-capacity arena, expandable to 10,500 for major events and concerts. It's hoped that this new facility will be ready to open by 2029 or 2030, but Brendan O'Brien of the Irish Examiner notes in his article, "The Olympic Federation of Ireland has backed a project which will serve as a hub for its winter sports programme and one where an ice hockey team akin to the Belfast Giants at the O2 will serve as anchor tenants and play in the British league."
Might we see an EIHL team in the heart of Dublin, Ireland?
"The design for Prime Arena will bring the ice hockey spectators close to the action and create an incredible atmosphere and fan experience," Marian Moravek, design lead at Populous, described to O'Brien, "while the warm, layered facade and public plaza will give the arena a distinct identity as a focus for Cherrywood."
As you know, this blog is against public funding of arenas that will be used by billionaires, but we know that EIHL teams are setup somewhat differently. Initial estimates for this new "Madison Square Dublin" were around €190 million ($222 million USD), but final totals could fetch upwards of €250 million ($292 million USD). Reports suggest that "several US and Canadian ice hockey stars, including former Stanley Cup winners, recently emerged as investors in the project," but it seems some public monies will go into the project.
Estimates see the new arena attracting "over 1.5 million visitors annually", and, as reported by Eoin Burke-Kennedy in The Irish Times, "Mary Rose Burke, Dublin Chamber of Commerce chief executive, said the project would 'deliver a significant and lasting boost to Dublin's economy, supporting businesses across hospitality, tourism, retail and local services' while Tourism Ireland chief Alice Mansergh said it 'would offer opportunities to attract visitors from overseas'."
Allow me to "wet blanket" this growing excitement for the arena by suggesting that Prime Arena Holdings should get its application submitted ASAP and start lining up investors for that 2029 opening date. Even if they open in 2030, a Dublin EIHL team will also need some time to get off the ground. And assuming this mixed-use complex works for everyone where public skating can happen while an EIHL team practices, perhaps we'll see Irish-born and Irish-trained hockey players find their way into leagues across the globe one day!
We're a long way from those moments, and I'll be the first to say that building a €250-million arena is the last thing an emerging hockey country should do, but Dublin, Ireland seems to have its heart set on welcoming its first EIHL team in the city's history to inspire more young Irishmen and Irishwomen to hit the ice! Maybe it will happen with a little of that Irish luck, but "an lao ite i mbolg na bó"!
With the regular season coming to a close in the "land down under", six teams would know who was playing whom next week in the AIHL Playoffs. They're competing for the trophy to the left - the Goodall Cup - which was most recently won in 2025 by the Melbourne Ice. There were interesting games played this weekend with playoff spots on the line, and the defending champions were one of those teams. With every team approaching its 30th game of the season, let's take a look at who qualified to play next week, which teams earned byes to the semifinal, and which teams are the likely favorite to play in the one-game, winner-takes-all final on August 30 at O'Brien Icehouse!
Newcastle Northstars
We'll start with the Northstars who have seemingly been at the top of the AIHL standings all season long. The Northstars needed a win to guarantee themselves a top-two finish, and two wins would lock up the top spot in the AIHL. They were facing the eight-place Central Coast Rhinos and the seventh-place Sydney Bears who were fighting for their playoff lives. Would they earn the top seeding?
The Rhinos weren't about to roll over and allow Newcastle to have three points for free as the teams were tied at 0-0 through 20 minutes of play. Two quick goals by the Rhinos before the second period was five minutes old put the Northstars back on their heels a bit, but they'd get one of those back 56 seconds after the Rhinos' second goal. The second period would end in that 2-1 score with Central Coast needing just 20 more minutes for a big win.
Good teams find a way to win, though, and the Northstars would draw even when Evgenii Skachkov scored his 40th goal of the season midway through the third period, and Aziz Baazzi pushed Newcastle ahead by a 3-2 score with his goal with just over five minutes remaining. The Rhinos simply couldn't find an answer to that goal as Newcastle took the 3-2 game and moved closer to securing first-overall in the standings. Big shout-out to Rhinos goaltender Anand Oberoi who made 55 stops in the loss and deserved better.
Sunday's game against the Bears was made a little easier based on other scores on Saturday, and the Northstars needed just a win in regulation or in extra time to secure top spot. Despite the Bears jumping out to a 3-0 lead through 20 minutes, the Northstars found the back of the net in the second period, but still trailed 5-3 when the horn sounded. Just as they did one before, though, they crushed dreams with a five-goal third period to capture the AIHL's top spot with an 8-5 win over the Sydney Bears for their 21st win.
Canberra Brave
The Brave had a shot at wrapping up first-place with wins and a little help, but we know the Northstars already had secured a share of first-place by Saturday evening. The Brave also needed to win to hold off the Melbourne Mustangs who had one remaining game, and that was against this Brave team. Canberra controlled their own destiny in this weekend's games, so could they capture a bye to the semifinal?
Canberra had the pleasure of dealing with the sixth-place Melbourne Ice on Saturday, and the Ice were battling for their own playoff lives as they held the final playoff spot. After a first period that saw Melbourne take a 2-1 lead followed by a scoreless second period, the Brave fell behind 3-1 before scoring twice in the final 35 seconds of the game to push this game to overtime at a 3-3 score! Dominic Canic and Justin Maylan were the heroes there, but this game wasn't done.
Overtime solved nothing, so a shootout was needed to find a winner. Ice netminder Tatsunoshin Ishida stopped both of the Brave's first two shooters while David Booth scored for the Ice. Melbourne's Kolton Shindle would end this game as the third Ice shooter when he beat
Joel Hasselman, giving the Ice a 4-3 shootout win over the Brave! The shootout loss pushed the Brave ahead of the Melbourne Mustangs by one point, but Sunday's game now loomed large when it came to determining second-place in the AIHL! See below for Sunday's game!
Melbourne Mustangs
Melbourne already knew that they could not catch the Northstars following Newcastle's win on Saturday, so second-place was the goal for the Mustangs. With the Brave ahead by one point, the Mustangs were in must-win mode as a regulation or extra-time win would push them past the Brave and into second-place. The Brave, for their part, also had to win as a loss would allow Melbourne to leap past them, but an extra-time loss would see Melbourne move into second-place by virtue of total wins. There was high-stakes hockey drama on Sunday afternoon at the O'Brien Icehouse in Victoria, Australia!
The Brave found themselves reeling after another slow start as they trailed by a 3-0 score at the end of 20 minutes, but they'd score three goals of their own to put the Mustangs on their heels at the end of the second period. After Spencer Cox put the Brave up 4-3 just 53 seconds into the final frame, the two teams would battle for the next 18 minutes until Cox was sent to the sin bin for holding. On the power-play, Mustangs defender Brody Crane fired a wrist shot that got past Joel Hasselman and dented twine with 30.6 seconds remaining, and this game was tied at 4-4 and heading to extra time!
In overtime, the Brave were cursed by another penalty as Casey Kubara was sent off for tripping with 92 seconds remaining in the game. Knowing they had to win to secure second-place, the Mustangs threw caution to the wind and brought goaltender Noah Giesbrecht for a fifth attacker. Would this gamble pay off for the Mustangs?
Defender Philippe Caron send the Melbourne crowd home happy as he tees up his twelfth goal of the season to give the Mustangs the 5-4 victory over the Brave and, more importantly, moves the Mustangs into second-place in the AIHL standings! What a comeback!
Perth Thunder
The Thunder knew they would either be in fourth-, fifth-, or sixth-place as the season wound down thanks to the gap that opened up in the standings between the top-three teams and themselves. Thanks to a few key wins down the stretch, Perth only needed one win this weekend to lock up fourth-place. With a pair of games against the last-place Adelaide Adrenaline, Perth knew what it had to do.
Perth grabbed a 1-0 lead through the first period on Saturday before the teams traded goals in the second period. The Thunder would score two shorthanded goals and a power-play goal in the third period, however, to salt this game away as the 5-1 victory moved them to 48 points where none of the Sydney Ice Dogs, the Sydney Bears, nor the Melbourne Ice could catch them in the standings.
That made Sunday's game against the Adrenaline all for naught, but the youngsters who make up Adelaide's roster showed up to close out their season with a win! The Adrenaline built a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes and a 5-0 lead through 40 minutes en route to a 5-1 victory for their third win of the season and something to build on for the 2027 season! Perth, however, will be the fourth-seeded team.
Sydney Ice Dogs
The Sydney Ice Dogs controlled their own destiny going into the final weekend of play. They wanted to win both, of course, to give them the best chance of making the playoffs, but they could also use help when it came to the Sydney Bears and the Melbourne Ice. The Ice and Bears, thanks to scheduling, had just one game remaining on their calendar, so the Ice Dogs had the advantage here. All they had to do was get ahead of Melbourne, and they'd bump the defending champions out of the playoff picture! Could they actually do that? Two games against the ninth-place Brisbane Lightning certainly helps!
Rarely do I get to say that these two teams combined for 36 goals this weekend, but things went a little crazy in Brisbane between the Ice Dogs and Lightning. Saturday night saw Sydney establish a 5-2 lead in the first period, and it's a lead they would not relinquish despite Brisbane;'s best efforts in a 13-10 victory! That win put them a point back of the Ice after Melbourne's shootout win, so there was more work to do on Sunday if the Ice Dogs wanted in on the playoffs.
If you thought that the coaches may have had a chat with their players about playing defence, think again. The Lightning built a 4-1 lead through 23 minutes of play, but the Ice Dogs knew the stakes of this game. They rattled off seven goals in just over 27 minutes of play while only surrendering one more, and the Ice Dogs defeated the Brisbane Lightning by an 8-5 score to leapfrog the idle Melbourne Ice into a playoff spot! Other games still needed to be completed to know where the Ice Dogs would ultimately finish, but Sydney punched their ticket to the playoffs with this win over Brisbane!
Sydney Bears
The Sydney Bears were scoreboard watching when it came to the Ice and Ice Dogs. Their last game was on Sunday against the Northstars, so they were hoping that Brisbane could do them a favour and keep the Ice Dogs from climbing the standings. What made Sunday's game weird is that the Bears knew what their status would be after Melbourne's game on Saturday, and because they actually had a 0.5-point lead over the Ice in the standings thanks to a weird decision made by the AIHL. In short, the Bears were already in the playoffs thanks to that half-point regardless of what the Ice did on Saturday.
As we saw above, the Northstars ended the Bears' season on a losing note by an 8-5 setback, but that loss was also more costly than just a loss in the standings. The loss allowed the Ice Dogs to jump the Bears in the standings as well, leaving the Ice Dogs in fifth-place and the Bears in sixth-place. The defending champions in the Melbourne Ice were officially eliminated by the Ice Dogs' win on Sunday.
The Playoff Picture
With the six teams officially known for the playoffs, the AIHL released the following graphic for fans to follow over the next two weekends.
The Perth Thunder and the Sydney Ice Dogs will meet next Friday with the winner moving on to play the Newcastle Northstars on Saturday while the Canberra Brave and Sydney Bears will meet on Friday with the winner of that game earning the right to play the Melbourne Mustangs on Saturday. Obviously, the winners of the semifinal games will meet in the final on Sunday, August 30 at 2pm Australian time, and that game will be broadcast on ESPN!
There's no doubt that playoff hockey is the best hockey, but, when playoff lives are on the line, heroes emerge and bold teams prevail. We saw the Mustangs and the Ice Dogs win their way into better playoff seedings, and now we'll see which of the six remaining AIHL teams can win their way to championship glory on August 30! Three-straight wins is all that stands between one team and a celebration!
The Atlanta Gladiators have an interesting history when one considers that they became Atlanta's ECHL team in 2015. Previously named for the northeast county that reaches into Atlanta, the Gwinnett Gladiators were the original Mobile Mysticks franchise that played in Alabama from 1995 until 2003. The move to Gwinett County saw them go on a solid playoff run each season with no less than 40 wins in any of their first five seasons, but it's been a long, long time since Atlanta saw any hockey success since those early days of Gladiators hockey.
Since adopting Atlanta's name, the Gladiators have made the playoffs three times in nine seasons and have never advanced pas the first round. Twice in those three seasons have the Gadiators reached the 43-win mark, but it hasn't translated to postseason success. The last time that the Gladiators won a playoff series was back in 2013 under head coach John Wroblewski when they fell in the second round.
It should be noted that the team switched their colours from garnet and black to navy blue and gold as shown above to "create a unique identity and attract fans throughout the highly diverse landscape in metro Atlanta." There was hope from Atlanta fans that an affiliation with the Nashville Predators organization would soon follow based on these changes, but that affiliation wouldn't happen until 2023. The Gladiators instead remained as the Boston Bruins' ECHL affiliate.
Of course, that brings us to Friday where the Gladiators unveiled this.
The Gladiators will return to their original garnet-and-black scheme that they used when they moved to Gwinnett County! These new jerseys will be worn in the 2026-27 season, and they look pretty good! I'm not sure about that script on the left with the stripe so low, but the colours look fine on these new Gladiators threads!
These jerseys aren't replications of the original jerseys worn in 2003 when the team arrived from Mobile, and I'm glad they didn't bring back the diagonal-name jersey worn in 2012-13. The white jersey could use a maroon shoulder yoke with a black outline as an improvement, but, overall, these jerseys and colours work nicely.
With the Fort Wayne Komets throwing back to a number of eras in their history this season and, now, with Atlanta going back to their original colour scheme, it looks like two ECHL franchises see the value in embracing their roots. That's the thing about bringing back old jerseys: perople identify with them and have memories from the eras in which they were worn while teams can tell those stories again. It never hurts to turn back the clock when doing a rebranding!
If you want to read more about the Gladiators' history, please visit the Georgia Hockey Museum's website where they have an incredible article all about the Gladiators' history among the 15 teams featured! Huge shout-out to Jay Jarvis for putting this site together!
The New York Islanders have an interesting franchise history, but their fans have always been partial to the original logo which the team wore in establishing its dynasty from 1979-1983. We know they rallied hard against the Fisherman logo in the 1990s before it was replaced with the original logo, and we've seen other logos land with thuds as Islanders fans made it clear as to which logo they prefer. When the third jersey contest was announced for the 2027-28 season, every option was back in play for fans to choose, and the hope was that the Islanders would see an awesome winner.
The results of the eight-jersey, bracket-style voting ended today, and the Islanders now have themselves a winner for that third jersey.
I'm not unhappy with how the vote ended, but this was literally the best of the eight options and even it's not great. This jersey is the safest option of the eight presented when it comes to the design, and the lighthouse logo has been in demand for a third jersey for quite some time by Islanders fans. The New York Islanders took zero risks.
Am I against this jersey? Not at all. That lighthouse logo is a great logo, and it should look good on the chests of players as a fully-embroidered mark for the New York Islanders. It's infintely better than the "NY" logo, and it certainly has as much charm and fun as the Fisherman. Everyone thinks of islands when one sees a lighthouse.
As you can see on Zigmund Palffy, this lighthouse logo was the shoulder patch on the original Fisherman jerseys, and it has always stood out as one of the better secondary logos, in my opinion, in NHL history. It's colourful, it catches the eye, and it needed to be used again by the Islanders. Whether it works as a long-term primary logo will be a question answwered in 2027-28 when they don these new third jerseys, but it certainly has a shot at warming fans' hearts.
Perhaps this was the jersey that the Islanders needed, though, after taking a big swing with the Fisherman in the 1990s. As was written by Nicholas Hirshon in We Want Fish Sticks, "the logo quickly became a scapegoat for the Islanders' poor play," so the Islanders are going to want to win in the Lighthouse jersey. Otherwise, this new third jersey could establish its own legacy of poor results which the Islanders don't want. Nothing hurts sales more than having a losing team.
I look at the uniqueness of this jersey compared to others in my collection, and there simply isn't enough for me to consider it as one that needs to be added. It's certainly not the Fisherman, it doesn't have that cool factor like the Oilers' alternate jersey did, it doesn't have that eye-catching quality that the Pooh Bear did, and it's not quite as bizarre as the Stars' alternate jersey was. It's solid, but it's going to take something special for the Islanders to see this jersey celebrated as much as their traditional home and road jerseys are.
The popular saying of "no risk, no reward" means that one has to step out of one's comfort zone if one wants to be successful. The Islanders didn't do that here as they stayed safe with colour, stripes, and logos. Yes, they can still make changes to these jerseys before they debut in 2027, but the Lighthouse jerseys feel safe which fits the overall brand of the New York Islanders. Former GM and noted alternate jersey hater Lou Lamoriello would be proud of the effort here.
The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back in the confines of the UMFM studios for another show this evening, but we won't be joined by Montreal Victoire defender Kati Tabin as she's far too busy to make an appearance. If you're attending her camp, have a great time, but we'll focus on some bigger stories tonight as the world of hockey has some good, some not-so-good, and some absolute treachery happening in it over the last week. There's a pile of stuff to chat about this evening, so settle in for another examination of the game and all its connections on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!
They won't be looking for a dolphin like the pet detective shown, but Teebz and Jason will look at the newest gambling-trend-turned-investment-tool with which the financial world is hoping to capitalize. Beyond that madness, they'll discuss Rogers canning the HNiC Punjabi broadcasts, the OHL cracking down on fighting again, Jeff Skinner's new home, Fort Wayne's incredible jerseys, a pro ball player, championships in three leagues, there's finally a name and logo for one team, and whatever else comes across the desk at our hosts. There's lots to discuss tonight on the show, so settle in for an hour of hockey opinions and thoughts 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 UMFM website's 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.
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 high-stakes gambling, stupid decisions, expensive fights, Swiss chalets, historical accuracy, pro hits, winning teams, new names, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!
As a guy who has a fairly robust hockey jersey collection, I can tell you that there are many jerseys I never would have in my collection simply because they don't have that certain quality that makes people love them or hate them. For example, the Justin Bieber-designed Toronto Maple Leafs jersey would not be in my collection because it's literally forgettable. Compared to jerseys like the Islanders' Fisherman and the Oilers' Todd McFarlane alternates, the Bieber jerseys simply aren't that great. Be prepared for 32 more jerseys that will likely be disappointments as the NHL and Fanatics will be introducing the Hometown Remix jerseys for each team this season.
Outside of a handful of Reverse Retro jerseys, there aren't many seen at games or being worn by fans because those were also mostly forgettable. The Minnesota Wild certainly have one of the better Reverse Retro jerseys as they tapped into the North Stars' colours, but the majority of the jerseys introduced in that league-wide effort have been mothballed. Let's be honest: they weren't that great.
The NHL and Fanatics released the following statement today.
Do you ever get the feeling that the NHL would slap its logo and its teams' logos on anything it could in order to make a buck? Imagine buying NHL-branded bottled water - "the same kind the pros drink!" - or NHL-branded condoms - "even you can score wearing these!" - just because the NHL licensed it. That's what this Hometown Remix campaign feels like: more junk thrown into the merchandise market.
Yes, people will throw $300 or $400 at these jerseys in order to have the latest and greatest because that proves how big of a fan they are, right? Except that there really isn't any purpose to buying these jerseys if they're going to wear them for one season and then mothball them like the Reverse Retro jerseys. Again, the NHL is bleeding fans of their money by tugging on the ol' civic pride, and I cannot justify throwing my hard-earned dollars at this merchandise.
Maybe we'll get another solid jersey like the Minnesota Wild's alternate jersey in this new offering, but when you consider that the NHL and Fanatics are 1-for-32 with the Reverse Retro jerseys from 2022-23 in terms of teams still using them, a 3% chance of seeing these Hometown Remix jerseys stand the test of time is unlikely.
Maybe if merchandise were cheaper and not so disposable, we'd see more jerseys and t-shirts worn by fans. That's not going to happen ever, though, so save your money when this new cash grab is unveiled. You're going to need every penny to buy network broadcasts of your favorite team's 84-game schedule, and I'm guaranteeing that no one will stop you on the way to the fridge in your kitchen to ask you where you got your Hometown Remix jersey this season.
For the last couple of weeks, I've been spending a lot of time reading about, researching, and narrowing down my options for a new HBIC mobile, and my choice of the vehicle you see to the left is a good one! Jokes aside, I didn't buy that car, but I did take possession of a new vehicle today so anyone who knew my old vehicle will likely need to get used to this new one parked in my driveway. Being that I like to know everything about expensive purchases I make, I'm going to spend the evening reading the manuals that came with the vehicle.
No, I'm not listing what I purchased here, but I assure you that this blog contributed nothing to the purchase. What I can tell you, though, is that there is more technology in this car than I've ever had in a vehicle, so I need to figure out what everything does, how it all connects through my phone, and whether or not satellite radio is necessary in this new vehicle. I'm leaning towards no, but we'll see.
I've listened to the NHL Network radio channel they have on SiriusXM and I'm often wondering why I'm listening. There isn't a show on there that is "must-hear radio", so that's one reason I may scrap the subscription. Add in the fact that Howard Stern is dropping to one show per week according to a Page Six report, the playlists for the music stations rarely change, and I have no need for Pitbull's channel, Kelly Clarkson's channel, The Beatles' channel, Alex Cooper's music, Bruce Springsteen's channel, Pearl Jam's channel, the Grateful Dead channel, and so on. No, I'm not staying for Andy Cohen either.
I might show my age here, but I would load up my iPod Nano with all my favorite music and listen to it for hours on road trips. Unless there was something specific on satellite radio that I wanted to hear, there really wasn't a need to have it. I'll admit that I've enjoyed the Howard Stern Show over the years and used it to the listen to the Blue Jays' run to the World Series last season when I was travelling for work, but more commercials on channels and less and less variation is making it hard to justify the cost of satellite radio at this point.
I'll evaluate thst decision moving forward, but, being that the hockey stories are few and far between right now, I'm going to spend this evening getting smarter about all this connected technology so I can have the full experience with my vehicle. According to the first few pages that I've read, Apple's Siri might be useful if it's integrated with the car's technology! See? I learned something already!
Imagine it's 1952 and you're heading to the local arena to catch the new professional team in action. If you're a man, you're wearing your best fedora, a snazzy suit and overcoat, and you're looking forward to the spectacle of hockey as you find your seats behind the chicken wire protecting the fans. Women would have been dressed in long dresses with perhaps a fur coat and a scarf to stay warm as the action unfolded on the ice in front of them. Hockey looked different back in 1950 when the ECHL's Fort Wayne Komets got their start in the International Hockey League, and it will look different on opening night as the team honours its storied history once again!
I had mentioned before on this blog that the Komets were going to wear three jerseys this season from different championship eras, but I never really examined each of those jerseys so I'll do that here today before we get to what the Komets will wear on opening night. After all, if they're going to honour their history in a classy way, they deserve a little credit for making that effort! Let's check them out!
As per the Komets' blurb about these 1962-63 jerseys, "Following setbacks in 1959 and 1960, the Komets secured their first Turner Cup championship in 1963" and "[t]he team defeated Minneapolis in five games to win the cup on April 23, 1963." I removed the dozen players who were named in the blurb, but, frankly, anytime a team can do horizontal stripes is a win for me. Of the names I omitted from the Turner Cup-winning team, Reggie Primeau played eight seasons with the Komets, Winnipegger Len Thornson spent 12 seasons with the Komets including five as team captain, and John Goodwin spent parts of eight seasons in Fort Wayne. The Komets went 35-30-5 in '62-63 to finish atop the six-team IHL standings, one point better than the Minneapolis Millers and two better than the Muskegon Zephyrs!
From the Komets' site, "Under head coach Marc Boileau, and with strong performances from Terry Pembroke, Terry Thomson, Cal Purinton, and goaltenders Robbie Irons and Don Atchison, the Komets allowed the fewest goals in the IHL that season. They defeated Flint in the first playoff round and swept Port Huron in the finals to win the cup on April 15, 1973." I'm not overly convinced that this jersey couldn't use a splash of white, but that orange jersey is beacon on the ice. What should be noted is that the Komets were first-overall in the nine-team IHL that season with a 48-23-3 record, finishing ten points ahead of the Flint Generals en route to a Turner Cup championship! Wayne Ego led the team with 94 points!
Again, from the Komets' site, "Few outside their locker room gave Fort Wayne a chance against San Diego in the 1993 Turner Cup Finals. After a sweep of Cleveland and Atlanta in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Komets did the unthinkable. They swept the favored Gulls, completing one of the most dominant playoff performances in pro hockey history, going 12-0." This is the jersey I associate with the Komets after seeing them play the Manitoba Moose in the IHL, but it's pretty incredible to think that the 49-27-6 Komets were only the fourth-best team in the IHL that season, and only two points better than the Kansas City Blades in the twelve-team circuit! But, as the legend states, the Komets were perfect in the playoffs as the ousted Cleveland, 52-win Atlanta, and 62-win San Diego in series sweeps!
That leads us to opening night this season where Komets history will shine. The 1952-53 season would be Fort Wayne's first season in the International Hockey League. By all accounts, fans in Fort Wayne took to their new professional team quickly, filling the Fort Wayne Memorial Coliseum for each game. They battled some good teams from Cincinnati, Grand Rapids, and Toledo, but would ultimately finish in fifth-place of the six teams with a 20-38-2 record under head coach Alex Wood. George Drysdale led the way with 59 points while goaltender Jack Siemon appeared in 56 games that year. What's even cooler is that the Komets had five Winnipeg-born players on their roster for their inaugural season as all of defenceman Len Wharton, forwards Bob Daski, George Harrison, and Jack Kernahan, and goaltender Stan Fogg all were born in the Manitoba capital!
What's even cooler is that the Toledo Walleye, who Fort Wayne faces on October 17 in those 1952-53 jerseys, will bring their own heritage and history to the game by donning jerseys representing the '52-53 Toledo Mercurys that night! The Mercurys finished in third-place in the inaugural IHL season with a 32-25-3 record under player-coach/defenceman Doug McCaig. Roger Maisonneuve, who would soon become a Komet Hall-of-Famer, led the Mercurys in scoring with 38 goals and 85 points while six more Mercurys players had 19-or-more goals! Like Fort Wayne, Toledo brought in the Winnipeggers as defenceman Lou Kazowski and forwards Don Hart and Jerry Kruk were in the Mercurys' lineup!
All of these jerseys have some incredible historical significance in the Komets' franchise history, and seeing the Komets go all-out for their 75th anniversary is pretty awesome. If more teams paid attention to their histories with as much class and dignity as the Komets, the game would look a lot better and would allow teams to explore their histories a lot more. There have been a lot of great sweaters and jerseys worn by some incredible teams, and those teams should be known and celebrated in the modern era like the Komets are doing.
Once again, the Fort Wayne Komets are the head of the class in the ECHL when it comes to honouring their history, and this fourth throwback jersey to be worn on opening night along with Toledo's Mercurys throwback jersey should have the hockey gods smiling this season. No matter how things end this season the Fort Wayne Komets are doing hockey right. Two thumbs-up for all these jerseys!
I have spent more than enough time at a ballpark this season to know that baseball can be a funny game. Whether it be hot streaks, cold streaks, wild pitches, or diving catches, baseball, like hockey, is a game of momentum. If one has it, usually good things happen while those that don't are often looking for a momentum change. Lots of hockey players play baseball in the summer as there are several skills that cross-over between the two sports, and we've seen good hockey players like Tom Glavine, Justin Morneau, and Larry Walker opt for the summer sport over the winter one. We can add another name to the former-hockey-player-turned-pro-baseball-player list as former Alberta Pandas forward Madison Willan is a full-time infielder for the New York Heights of the brand-new Women's Pro Baseball League!
Make no mistake that it was a treat to watch Madison torch defenders and victimize goalies on a regualr basis for the Pandas, but her first sports love was clearly baseball. I first caught wind of Madison's talents on the diamond back in 2019 when she helped Team Canada earn a spot at the COPABE Women's Baseball World Cup Qualifier in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Canada earned a bronze medal there, but Madison made a name for herself with her excellent defensive play with the glove while being lethal at the plate for Team Canada!
Of course, hearing about how good she is second-hand doesn't mean anything unless there's some sort of evidence to prove that hearsay, but I got to witness how good Madison is in-person when she made her way to the 2022 Women's Invitational Baseball Tournament in Stonewall, Manitoba with Team Alberta. Unexpectedly, Madison pitched in the game I saw between Alberta and Nova Scotia, and she tossed a two-hit, complete-game 5-0 shutout where she hit a ground rule double for an RBI. It's pretty clear that Willan has the tools.
With Madison being part of Team Canada every year since 2017, it was almost certain that she'd get some looks from the upstart WPBL during their draft that happened on November 20, 2025. New York would make her pro baseball dreams come true when she was selected with the 15th selection of the second round as the 35th-overall selection! Officially, Madison was now a professional baseball player, and she'd be moving to New York to play for the Heights!
The WPBL kicked off its season on August 1, 2026 with a game between the visiting Los Angeles Queens and the host New York Heights. It didn't take long for the scoring to get started as the Queens put up two runs in the top of the first inning. New York would answer in the bottom half of the inning with Willan playing a role!
Willan would hit the 0-2 offering to left field for the sacrifice fly, allowing Kylee Lahners to tag up from third base for Madison Willan's first professional RBI! That run would push New York ahead by a 3-2 score, but they would eventually fall to Los Angeles by a 10-8 score in the first-evr game for the WPBL, but Willan 0-for-1 on the day with a walk and that RBI shown above as she played third base in the game!
We\ll jump ahead to August 8, 2026 when the Boston Hunters were visitng New York. New York came in at 1-1 while Boston was 0-2 early in the season. With fellow Canadian Raine Padgham on the mound for Boston, Willan stepped into the batter's box in the second inning with New York leading 1-0 with baserunners on first and second base.
Willan goes up the middle with a parachute single for her first professional hit in the WPBL! Unfortunately, Boston would rally for a 9-6 win over New York after being down six runs on the day, but Willan went 1-for-4 with one strikeout on the day for the Heights!
Madison would be a pinch-runner on Sunday's game against the Hunters, helping the Heights defeat the Hunters by a 7-6 score. Boston would exact some revenge on Thursday, August 13 with a 6-1 win over New York where Willan went 0-for-3 with a walk while playing second base. They'd drop a second-straight game to San Francisco by an 11-6 score on August 15 that saw Willan go 0-for-0 with a walk after taking over at shortstop when Keira Izumi went into pitch. Boston would record another win over New York on today, but Willan wasn't in the lineup. As it stands, Willan is 1-for-9 on the season with a .111 average, but she has recorded three walks compared to one strikeout to push her on-base percentage to .308!
It's actually pretty awesome to see Willan doing her thing on the diamond, and you can watch her and her teammates over on YouTube as the New York Heights battle the Boston Hunters, the San Francisco Fireballs, and the Los Angeles Queens. It's honstly pretty good ball with lots of balls in play, so it makes for entertaining baseball! I'm hoping Willan catches fire, goes on a tear, and helps the New York Heights reach chanpionship heights in this inaugural season!
I have no idea what she plans to do this winter, but maybe she could be the first two-sport professional woman in the modern era if she tries out for the New York Sirens! Ok, that probably won't happen, but it's super cool to see Madison Willan playing professional baseball after her university hockey career. Keep up the great work, Madison!
With apologies to author Michael Lewis and publisher WW Norton for using this lede photo, I think both Jason and I have been very clear that the NHL is one massive bubble in terms of its economic forecast. I'm not saying they're close to financial disaster, but everything they're doing seems to have them on that track. Of course, there are thousands of people whose lives will be affected if and when that bubble bursts, but that matters not to anyone associated with the NHL because that organization will live to play another day. Here's the next chapter of the NHL's certain doom.
There are all sorts of financial instruments one can use to make money. Whether it be the age-old guaranteed investment certificate (GIC) or something with more risk associated such as the stock market, the financial world seemingly works to dream up new ways to find money-making ideas. Banks, though, have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that they inform you of these risks associated with some of the investment products they offer, and this needs to be remembered as you read through the rest of this article.
All of those terms used by CME Group are meant to be somewhat confusing to non-finance people. A "derivative" is a financial product whose value is based on the price of another product. It's basically a bet that one makes on something else with the hopes that the initial product's value goes up. What sets that value can differentiate between products, but the understanding is that the derivative is a bet that the value of something else will improve over time. However, derivatives that bet against the success of an outcome is called "a short", and this where The Big Short joins the story.
If you watched The Big Short with Steve Carell, Christian Bale, and Ryan Gosling, you know that the main characters were shorting financial products called CDOs or collateralized debt obligations which are made up of a diverse set of assets - everything from corporate bonds to mortgage bonds to bank loans to car loans to credit card loans can be in a CDO. The banks in the movie were packaging up subprime and risky mortgages into CDOs and selling them off with false ratings as to their financial risks, and our main characters figured that out and were betting AGAINST the success of these products improving in value. That's how we got "the big short".
What CME Group is creating with these index-based hockey futures is a market where people can invest large sums of money into the a team's index of statistics and overall performance in the hopes that the value of the team will increase based on some combination of values. Rather than betting on single games where winning can net a bettor money, the CME Group is offering a product that will allow one to bet on longer-term successes for each NHL team. If the team is succcessful and its index value goes up, you make money.
This is sports gambling on a whole new level. Creating a derivative based on a professional sports team's performance is not how these financial tools were supposed to be used. Not knowing what criteria is being used to determine the value of the index, and that's a major problem for anyone who believes that this derivative market could be used for positive monetary growth. As the SEC filing states,
"The Bruins Index moves up or down based on officially reported statistics from every game, match, or event throughout the regular season and postseason. Positive statistical actions (e.g., goals scored, points earned) add value to the index, while negative actions (e.g., opponent scoring, penalties or setbacks) subtract value. Poor statistical performance by the Boston Bruins could have a significant negative impact on the level of the Bruins Index and therefore the value of the Fund. In addition, unlike instruments that are based on tradable reference assets, the Bruins Index Futures Contracts and Bruins Index-Linked Instruments are tied to an index that is not directly investable and, thus, have settlement prices based on the calculation of that index, not the price of a tradable asset."
How does one invest in something where there is seemingly no set criteria for how the index value fluctuates? Some would call this investment "gambling", and I'm definitely one of those people.
That catch here is that investment firms won't have to call this new financial option "gambling" in any sense of the word because it's just like any other derivatives market and comes with its own set of risks. As long as they advise John Q. Public sitting across from them in their offices that these risks are possible, they have done their fiduciary duty while you, as a supporter of your favorite team, now have a vested interest in how they perform this season. You're not gambling; you're investing in the team's potential performance this season!
If this initial round of "index-based hockey futures" pays off for CME Group, there will be additional derivatives added that will consider the outcome of the initial derivatives. We'll go back to The Big Short film where Behavioral Economics Pioneer Dr. Richard H. Thaler and Selena Gomez explain how these synthetic derivatives work.
In this reference, Selena Gomez's $10 million bet is the investment into the Bruins Index-Linked Futures makret, and every bet after that is a bet on how well Gomez's investment performs. As Dr. Thaler illustrates, that initial investment is now worth billions of dollars.
Remember my comment about fiduciary responsibility above? Because investment firms only have to warn you of the risks associated with an investment like this, they've fulfilled their required fiduciary responsibility with respect to their client. If you go ahead, you assume the risk. The catch here is that you're basically investing in the outcome of sports games - goals scored and points earned vs. opponent scoring and penalties or setbacks - which is what everyone recognizes as gambling. It's just being called something else.
Let me be clear that the derivative market, when properly managed and scrutinized, can be an effective way to invest. It's certainly not for everyone when it comes to the markets on which these derivatives are based, but, for those who can afford risk in their portfolios, it can work to make one money. As with any investment, there are no guarantees for a return on the initial investment, but one can explore these options with a certified financial planner.
After spending two decades in finance, I would not be recommending this "index-based hockey futures" option to any client because it's simply sports gambling masquerading as an investment option. I see why some sports fans might prefer this option, but, as we all know, only "the house" gets rich when it comes to people gambling.
If you can read the title of today's article, you likely were a fan of Hockey Night In Canada's Punjabi broadcasts. The title is written in Punjabi, and it reads "Rogers: Killing Hockey In Canada" after they made the inexplicable decision to end the Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi Edition broadcasts this season. After not renewing Kelly Hrudey's contract, selling off Wednesday nights to Amazon Prime, killing Hockey Night In Canada on CBC, and killing sports radio stations in both Vancouver and Calgary among a pile of job cuts, it's pretty clear that Rogers is only concerned about maximizing profits.
For those unaware, Harnarayan Singh, Randip Janda, and Bhupinder Hundal began planting the seeds for Punjabi hockey broadcasts back in 2008. They worked on demos they pitched to network executives for their broadcasts, but none of it took until CBC's Joel Darling invited Singh to broadcast from Hockey Day in Canada as CBC looked to add multiple language broadcasts to its programming that day. That opportunity turned into a chance to call the 2008 Stanley Cup Final, and CBC expanded the Punjabi broadcast to Saturday night doubleheaders the following season that saw Singh pay for his flights to Toronto from Calgary every weekend just to call games.
That led Janda and Hundal to push for more exposure at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver after the Rogers-owned OMNI was named as part of the Olympic consortium. They were given the chance to call one preliminary-round game for the Canadian men's team. That stretched to two, and then three, then four before "we eventually got to the point where we did all the men’s games right through to the gold medal, and we did basically all the Team Canada women’s games all the way through to the gold medal," Hockey Night Punjabi producer Nathen Sekhon told Sportsnet's Sonny Sachdeva.
In 2012, Hundal and Sekhon recruited Singh to join the broadcast team on OMNI for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, and it appeared that things were on the rise when Rogers Sportsnet acquired the Canadian broadcast rights for NHL hockey. The group pushed for more with NHL hockey being a Rogers' property, adn the stars would align shortly after when Sportsnet Pacific moved east to Toronto, leaving their studio vacant. Hundal and Sekhon convinced then-Sportnet president Scott Moore to allow them to launch Hockey Night Punjabi in that studio space, immeidately raising their profile and giving them a polished look for their broadcasts. They had a future!
For the Canadian Punjabi population that numbers just short of a million people, they make up 2.6% of the total population. The market is already small, so it's not like Rogers was looking at generating truckloads of cash with OMNI's broadcasts. Adding to the problems with getting national attention was the fact that OMNI, as a station, wasn't carried outside of specialty cable packages.
On May 15, 2017, the CRTC granted OMNI access to Canadian homes via basic cable packages, making it far more accessible. However, Shaw Communications applied to be exempt from that decision on June 29, 2017 for all households it serviced in Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia where nearly half the Punjabi population in Canada lives. With OMNI based out of Vancouver originally, this decision had a massive effect on the availability of OMNI's broadcasts in those regions, but Hockey Night Punjabi pushed forward with its unique hockey broadcasts as expected thanks to Rogers' NHL rights.
There wouldn't be a change in Shaw's TV offerings until 2023 when Rogers bought Shaw Communications. With Shaw customers now under Rogers' umbrella, OMNI was introduced back to the channel options that had been not be available for years, but the damage had been done when it came to Hockey Night Punjabi's following as many Punjabi residents in western Canada simply had no access for years. As such, viewership was always lower than what could have been.
That brings us to today where Rogers Sportsnet announced that Hockey Night Punjabiwould not be back for the 2026-27 season, citing that "the show's overall audience average was just 1,500 viewers, with more than half of all games averaging fewer than 1,000 viewers" as the reason for this decision. This is the end of years of hard work, dedication, passion, and a dream to bring hockey to the Punjabi community in their language after 18 years, snuffed out because Rogers likely saw it as red ink on their balance statement.
Forget that this was a hockey broadcast for a second and realize that this was a Rogers-created entity that had existed for nearly two decades on channels hardly available to anyone, and it still had a loyal following. Forget that it helped to promote Harnarayan Singh as a legitimate play-by-play hockey broadcaster who now finds himself calling games in English for Rogers Sportsnet. Forget that they had their own segments such as Meri Gal Sun ("Listen to me") - "basically, what your parents would say to you before they lecture you," Hundal explains - based on Punjabi culture. None of that mattered to Rogers when they looked at the books and saw that Hockey Night Punjabi simply wasn't a money-making property. Share prices matter, right?
It's amazing how Rogers can continue to be seen as a positive partner for hockey when it is doing irreparable damage to the game in Canada. There are no more over-the-air options nor streaming options on CBC with that network being removed as a broadcaster. There are no more Punjabi broadcasts to try and attract fans from that community. The quality of on-air talent is being diluted by letting accomplished analysts walk away in favour for cheaper, less talented analysts with some radio broadcasts no longer even existing in markets. When do we see Rogers actually INVEST in hockey?
The answer is likely "never" thanks to an $11 billion bill that will be amortized over the next twelve years. We've already seen them raise prices on their streaming services and sell off a day's worth of games to a competitor while raising prices on Blue Jays, Maple Leafs, and Raptors tickets, so don't expect the cuts to "extraneous expenses" to stop as Rogers tries to gets its financial house in order. Until this twelve-year anchor around their neck is gone, Rogers will simply cut, get rid of, and eliminate any property it doesn't see as profitable.
Rogers has done incredible damage to hockey since 2013, so maybe it should officially change its mission statement to "Killing Hockey In Canada". After all, that seems to be its intended goal with these cuts.
The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back in the UMFM studios with all sorts of hockey stories that need discussing and examining. There are a handful of stories that once again cast shadows onto the sport, and we're not about to shy away from these stories because they have to be made part of the normal conversations if we're going to make a difference. There will be some tough stories to hear tonight along with our normal chatter about dumb stuff, so get yourself ready for The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!
Tonight, Teebz and Jason will discuss a disturbing local hockey hazing story that saw a player lose his suspension appeal, an OHL team billet on trial for terrible crimes, Hockey Canada's acceptance of a decision made on five of its former players, the insanity surrounding the USHL franchise that is supposed to be expanding into Phoenix, an AHL team likely moving, an NHL getting radio back, the same team having its TV broadcast get worse, the horrible ending to a contest, and anything else we can squeeze into the hour! It should be a fast-paced show, so make sure you're set and ready 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 UMFM website's 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.
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 about unremorseful players, criminal billets, codes of conduct, arena problems, relocation foreshadowing, radio noise, TV noise, bad jerseys, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!
As a retirement community, Phoenix, Arizona seems ideal. It's warm, there are lots of days of sunshine, and there always seems to be something to do while not being too far from other major centers like Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Phoenix, however, has had its share of problems when it comes to being a hockey destination as the WHA's Phoenix Roadrunners lasted from 1974-77, the IHL's Phoenix Roadrunners skated from 1989-97, and the Arizona Coyotes played in Phoenix from 1996-2003. As you can see, no one had a run that lasted longer than eight seasons inside Phoenix's city limits, and now it seems like the USHL will join the list of short-live Phoenix hockey franchises that tried and, ultimately, failed in the Arizona desert.
I'll tip my cap to Craig Morgan who is still covering hockey in and around Arizona as he filed an outstanding story on his Substack about the new USHL team set to play in Phoenix beginning in 2027-28. As you may recall, the Coyotes left Arizona for greener pastures in Salt Lake City, Utah after they couldn't get an arena deal done inside Phoenix, and now it seems that this expansion USHL venture is running into the same problems that the Coyotes found in Phoenix.
"I'm talking to various people to find a permanent location that does not exist," USHL Phoenix franchise owner Ben Robert said to Morgan yesterday. "To me, to have a metropolitan area that is the (10th) largest in the country and only have one mid-sized arena is kind of mind-boggling. So I'm talking to various people to see if there would be an opportunity to build one."
If you're thinking that this story sounds familiar, welcome to Phoenix. The Coyotes exhausted almost every possibility when it came to finding land for a new arena complex before being sold, and now we have another franchise owner looking to build an arena for a significantly less-profitable team in the USHL. Yes, the arena would be smaller, but the land needed for building said arena still hasn't materialized. It's almost like Phoenix isn't a hockey market!
"It's going to take a lot of heavy lifting," Robert added. "But we're looking for a permanent solution, while all the while looking for a temporary solution to play in while it is being built."
Read that stement from Robert again where "while looking for a temporary solution to play in" should jump off the screen. The USHL Phoenix franchise is set to begin operations next season, and they still don't have an arena secured for home games? What kind of farce is this? How is the USHL, as a league, ok with this information?
Making matters worse, "Robert said he needs to have an arena solution by mid-October, with the goal of building a venue in the 4,000-seat range," meaning that he's looking at a two-month window to get the USHL Phoenix team's affairs in order. As per Morgan, "[s]ources at Mullett Arena confirmed that Robert has not contacted them and there is significant doubt that the team would be viable and be able to afford using Mullett for a year or two" while Ice Den Scottsdale "doesn't have the ice availability or capacity needed to host the USHL team" and "the new Fire 'n' Ice facility in north Phoenix" has seating for just 800 people in its largest rink.
Based on this information, it seems USHL Phoenix is dead-on-arrival.
Everyone seems to believe that Ben Robert can solve this problem after he oversaw the building of Ralston Arena in Omaha as the owner of the USHL's Omaha Lancers and the Videotron Centre in Quebec City as part of the NHL expansion team there. What people don't remember are the details of those arena builds, sepcifically the one in Omaha where the USHL has a franchise and operates successfully.
Ralston, Nebraska had an "abandoned downtown golf course" in its suburb, and it was looking for some sort of development there. It didn't take long for Ralston to put the question to voters in a special election, and, in 2011, they voted to allow the arena to be built. $32 million and 15 months later, Ralston Arena opened for the first time.
In short, land was available, the city was motivated to develop it, and the price tag was just low enough for Ralston to spend the money. The problem, though, is that there are sorts of extra costs and amenities that hockey teams need, and it seems the City of Ralston didn't budget for any of that. Or ice resurfacers. Or a scoreboard. Those things are kind of important in hockey arenas.
Based on today's economic forecasts, Ben Robert is talking about a $50 million investment into junior hockey in Phoenix - a place where the NHL couldn't thrive. He wants to build a 4000-seat arena for a team who may not draw many fans in a city where the Coyotes couldn't make hockey work successfully. Make that make sense.
I have no issue with Ben Robert's ambition for this USHL expansion nor will I fault him if he's willing to gamble $50 million into an arena project that may not have a hockey team in a few years. Those decisions are entirely on him, and he'll have to live with those decisions even if it means his bank account heads towards insolvency. But not having an arena to play in while this arena dream is being formulated is complete insanity, and it points to an inconvenient truth about the Phoenix hockey market: Phoenix is not a hockey city.
Just because there's a TV market there doesn't make Phoenix a hockey market. Based on the lack of arenas and the current state of having no arena to play in, this USHL Phoenix team seems like it will be relocated before it ever plays a second of hockey in the USHL.
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