The Final Day

The HBIC Music Festival comes to a close today on this third day of looking at musicians wearing or holding hockey jerseys, and it's a day where every other league outside of the NHL gets to shine. Honestly, if I were a touring musician, I'd want more of these lesser-known teams in my closet because that's the sign of a true hockey fan. In saying that, though, these musicians seen today are doing their part in supporting the lesser-seen teams! Of course, if you know of a band or artist I've missed, please send the image(s) through to me via email! Don't forget to check out all the jerseys over at the HBIC Musicians in Jerseys database, but let's get into the final day of music fun at this summer's HBIC Music Festival!

We'll start on the international stage where we find two Canadian artists sporting the maple leaf! Simple Plan's Chuck Comeau looks like he's ready to take the ice in his Team Canada jersey, and Our Lady Peace's Raine Maida shows his support for Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off! Hands up for those good ol' Canadian boys!

We move to the EIHL who has a couple of acts at the festival. The Sheffield Steelers gifted Def Leppard with personalized jerseys for each band member while Rod Stewart shows his support for the Coventry Blaze! For those that are unaware, Liam Stewart, Rod's son from his marriage with model Rachel Hunter, played as a forward for the Blaze in the 2016-17 season and has represented Great Britain internationally! In that 2017 season with Coventry, Liam scored nine goals and 20 points in 49 games before moving to Guildford in 2018!

We'll move to the AHL who sent two musicians to the festival as well. Rapper Trippie Redd might be the only musician I've seen in a Bridgeport Islanders jersey while Dan Campbell of rock band The Wonder Years shows off another AHL team who no longer exists in his Philadelphia Phantoms jersey! Two former teams for one league!

We'll get to see the PWHL debut their first acts at the HBIC Music Festival as well this year! PVRIS vocalist Lynn Gunn took the stage in a Boston Fleet jersey, guitarist and keyboardist Leandra Earl of Beaches was spotted in a PWHL Toronto jersey from the Sceptres' first season, and Jonathan Cain of Journey took the stage and played the keyboard in an Emma Greco Vancouver Goldeneyes jersey!

Of course, there were some musicians sporting jerseys from CHL and USHL teams this year. Simple Plan's Chuck Comeau was on the ice in an autographed Quebec Remparts jersey while also sporting a black Quebec Remparts jersey, Shockwire wore a Peterborough Petes jersey in a video, Cape Breton's own Sunsetto took the stage in a Cape Breton Screaming Eagles jersey, Mitchell Tenpenny took the stage in a Calgary Hitmen jersey, Bailey Zimmerman was on stage in a Sioux Falls Stampede jersey, and, in one of the most awesome photos ever, Jon Bon Jovi showed his support for the Sudbury Wolves by wearing one of their jerseys! How awesome is that last image?

We have a strange jersey that was seen at the festival as guitarist Greg Leskiw of The Guess Who was on stage beside Burton Cummings in what looks like a WHA Winnipeg Jets jersey, but the WHA Jets never wore that design! Further to this, the Johnstown Jets never wore a diagonal "Jets" sweater either. I have no idea whose jersey it is, but he's wearing #25 on the back as well. If you want to take a closer look, the footage of the concert can be seen here. If you know whose jersey Leskiw is wearing, drop the info in the comments!

We have a couple of SPHL jerseys making appearances at the HBIC Music Festival this year! Journey's Jonathan Cain sported an Evansville Thunderbolts jersey on stage as he played guitar, and Bailey Zimmerman was on stage in a Huntsville Havoc "Retro Rush" jersey! That Huntsville specialty jersey is awesome!

The ECHL had one act on the HBIC Music Festival stage as Journey's Jonathan Cain was on stage wearing a Worcester Railers jersey!

The BCHL makes a rare appearance on the HBIC Music Festival stage, but Shockwire was wearing a Chilliwack Chiefs jersey in a video!

And the final act for the HBIC Music Festival takes us to the NCAA world where Jonathan Cain of Journey was on stage in a University of South Carolina Gamecocks jersey! For those unaware, the Gamecocks are the defending AAU College Hockey Division 1 Champions after being ranked fourth in the nation last season! Winning the national championship and having Journey on your side? That's a great season!

That officially clears out the folder on my desktop of all the musicians in jerseys! I'll start looking for and collecting new images once again, but that's a big job off the checklist. Again, if you want to send in a band or musician for the database, please send the image(s) through to me via email! Just be sure you check the HBIC Musicians in Jerseys database first so we're not duplicating work!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 721

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back with some new introductions, some more hockey stories, and some opinions from our two hosts about everything happening in hockey. It's been a fairly quiet week for a lot of the hockey world as schedules were released for the NHL today which flooded social media, but there were still stories to hit the wires this week that need to be discussed. Our hosts will dive into those newsworthy pieces tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason will criss-cross the globe as they look at stories from a number of places. They'll discuss failed executives becoming senior advisors, Winnipeg locking up Cole Perfetti, a pile of notable Canada West and U SPORTS men's hockey players landing in professional leagues, Victory+ losing a major client, a weird situation in Ukraine, a potential new destination in Australia, and anything else that may cross their paths. There's lots to discuss and about which our hosts will opine including a few non-hockey stories, so make sure you're ready to roll 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 unearned jobs, good deals, good opportunities, bad economics, weird conscription, new venues, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: July 16, 2026: Episode 721

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 710

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, takes over another time slot tonight as the show begins at 5pm CT rather than our usual 5:30pm! We're going right through to 6:30, so it's 90 minutes of hockey chatter and Pledge-O-Rama chatter as we attempt to help UMFM hit the goal of $34,000 raised! it's a big show for both the station and for our hosts based on the topics they'll discuss tonight, so make sure you're ready for 90 minutes of fun tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:00pm CT!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason have three exit interviews they'll conduct as Ethan (Ottawa), Billy (Pittsburgh), and Harv (Los Angeles) will head back to the mainland from Survivor: NHL Playoffs island. Along with those interviews, our hosts will discuss the need for the NHL to figure out what a good goal is, Brady Tkachuk's problems in Ottawa, the Manitoba Moose getting set for the Grand Rapids Griffins, the Fort Wayne Komets and the Indy Fuel, the PWHL's playoff series, rule changes in the NCAA, the EIHL's Manchester Storm being homeless for a few days, and we'll go over all the information you need when it comes to donating to UMFM's Pledge-O-Rama! We'll give some stuff away, guests will drop in, we'll chat some hockey, and we'll raise some money tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:00pm 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 will talk making donations, capital improvements, better reviews, running one's mouth, playoff series, rule changes, arena changes, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: April 30, 2026: Episode 710

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 706

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, returns to the UMFM radio frequency and internet streams tonight with a show that will wrap-up a number of things. If you listened last week, our hosts got part-way through one interview while not having enough time to play the second, so they'll clear those off the docket tonight. There's also leagues that are wrapping up which need some discussion and some news from other leagues that will generate chatter. There will be lots of wrapping up tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason will finish off the second-half of the interview with Ottawa Charge netminder Kendra Woodland before playing the interview with Charge insurance goalie Kaitlyn Ross to wrap up the chatter about the PWHL in Winnipeg as both were in the city for the Charge's victory over the Victoire. From there, they discuss John Tortorella replacing Bruce Cassidy in Las Vegas, the Toronto Maple Leafs dismissing GM Brad Treliving, the Montreal Canadiens being in a weird broadcasting situation, and they'll go over all the results from Europe where professional seasons are wrapping up this month. There's even announcements for the next two shows! It's going to be a busy hour on the program tonight, so get your ears perked up 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 more PWHL, coaching changes, management changes, broadcasting changes, European leagues, future shows, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: April 2, 2026: Episode 706

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 697

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back in the cozy confines of the UMFM studio tonight where it will be a normal temperature unlike our rink setting last week. Obviously, our hosts had a blast seeing some of the best women's hockey action this province has to offer at the 2026 Female World Sport School Challenge, and they'll wrap up that experience with some well-deserved thank-yous, a recap of what happened, and a discussion on where the tournament may go from here. And then they'll talk other hockey stuff too! It's a fun episode with looks at hockey from across the globe tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason show a little gratitude in thanking at all the people who made the 2026 Female World Sport School Challenge memorable, entertaining, and fun. Beyond that discussion, they'll also chat about the results and who finished where, highlights for each of the two radio voices, and where they may see the tournament going in 2027. They'll also discuss a former Bisons coach getting the bump to head coach in another league, an SDHL team that is making a hard decision on its future, the KHL being the KHL with some of the news coming out of that league, and there's an exciting development coming out of the University of Waterloo about concussion detection! It should be an interesting show based on those stories and more, so make sure you're listening tonight to 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 great people, great moments, big wins, new jobs, less teams, questionable hires, former stars, brain care, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: January 29, 2026: Episode 697

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 691

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, was all set and ready for a night of laughs and hockey action while being live at a local rink, but Mother Nature had other ideas as Winnipeg was walloped by a snowstorm last night. Since then, it feels like I've been chasing my tail in trying to ensure plans are still on, coming up with contingency plans, and figuring out whether traveling to anywhere is worth the effort. The good news is that we figured it all out by 3pm CT today - yes, we cut it close! - but we'll be talking hockey tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

We'll start with the live broadcast being cancelled due to traveling anywhere in the city or coming into the city was treacherous to say the least. With Teebz and Jason settled at their humble abodes, they discuss the 2028 World Junior Championship location that was named this week, the ridiculous saga into which the EIHL's Fife Flyers have gotten themselves, a similar situation with the EIHL's Sheffield Steelers, an interesting study was done on youth hockey helmets, and there was a massive trade in the NHL. All of these topics are examined 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 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 tournament locations, bad signings, smart releases, terrible decisions, protecting brains, saving money, trading a superstar, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: December 18, 2025: Episode 691

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

What Is Integrity Worth?

You may recognize the title of this article as a line delivered by actor Daniel von Bargen as Chief Grady in the 2001 smash comedy movie Super Troopers. That's him pictured to the left in a GIF where he delivers the line, and it seems like the most appropriate line for what's happening in the EIHL with the Fife Flyers. They are routinely one of the worst teams in the EIHL dating back to 2019-20, and they are heading towards missing the playoffs for the third-straight season. So it's incomprehensible why they went and did what they did today.

In 20 games this season, Fife has just seven points on a 1-16-2-1 record, and they sit six points back of the final playoff spot. It's very clear that they haven't found the right players or enough talent to change their fortunes to this point, so they've started looking elsewhere for help. There aren't many players who are sitting at home right now who are wanting to join a last-place team, but they found one guy who would. And it ended up costing them good people.

For days, it was rumoured that the Flyers were negotiating with former NHLer Milan Lucic about possibly joining the team. Today, they removed any doubt of it happening by signing Lucic to a contract for what appears to be the remainder of the season. After being unable to grab a roster spot in the AHL with the Springfield Thunderbirds, Lucic will now look to extend his career in the EIHL.

Lucic is hardly the player I would expect to turn Fife's season around in any meaningful way, but, as the title reads, desperation is a stinky cologne. That stink has already cost the Flyers two front-office people as Chief Operating Officer Gareth Chalmers and Media Coordinator Craig Anderson both resigned from their positions with the club prior to today's signing. While neither man says it in their statement, both of these resignations come after the rumours of Lucic joining the Flyers started. That's more than just coincidence.

If that wasn't bad enough for the Flyers, Scottish Women's Aid, Scotland's leading charity that works to prevent of domestic abuse, criticised the Fife Flyers for "sending out the wrong message" when it comes to having someone who was allegedly involved in domestic abuse on their roster. Fans have been hammering the Flyers on social media over Lucic's signing while others have been urging the EIHL to prevent Lucic from playing in the United Kingdom. In short, this has been a catastrophic signing with regards to Fife supporters.

Some will say, "What about second chances, Teebz?" and my response to that is, "We're not in Kansas anymore". The United Kingdom has a completely different view on domestic abuse and domestic violence than North America does, and it's telling that their 2020 bill to "[r]aise awareness and understanding about the devastating impact of domestic abuse" is more about protecting and helping victims than it is about ensuring that the perpetrator's rights are upheld. As the bill's summary reads, "There are some 2.3 million victims of domestic abuse a year aged 16 to 74 (two-thirds of whom are women) and more than one in ten of all offences recorded by the police are domestic abuse related", so something needed to change in the UK.

With the laws changing and the public's feelings towards domestic violence and abuse already decidedly against those alleged to have committed those crimes, Lucic's signing by Fife is baffling to say the least. Again, Lucic has put in the work and he and his wife seem to be in a better place, but the people of Kirkcaldy, Scotland who support the Flyers are already turning on the team with Lucic's presence on the roster. Are wins really that important when alienating a fanbase?

Making matters worse is that this is all happening while the Sheffield Steelers are dealing with a major problem of their own, releasing forward Cliff Pu after he "admitted two charges of assault by beating at a hearing at Sheffield Magistrates' Court on Monday" after he assaulted a woman twice between November 17 and December 11. With people shocked and appalled at that revelation, the Flyers go and sign a guy who is only playing hockey still because his wife dropped the charges. Maybe read the room, Flyers management?

If Fife management feels that Milan Lucic is a game-changer for them on the ice, so be it. I'm not one to point out how he's a 37 year-old, former NHLer whose skating was already in question when he was in the prime of his career. However, I am one to point out that, in light of what's happening in Sheffield, the public outrage shown by Flyers fans, and the front-office resignations, the Flyers would have been wise to back away from signing Lucic for very obvious reasons.

If desperate times call for desperate measures, the Flyers may have misunderstood the crux of that statement. Milan Lucic might help them move past Dundee or even catch Coventry in the standings, but there are now major questions that need to be asked about the values of this organization. And with fans and sponsors turning against them, this decision to bring Lucic to town by Fife's new ownership and management may prove costlier than they ever imagined.

Sacrificing integrity for a few wins in the standings will always show a net loss even if the team does make the EIHL playoffs, and Fife ownership and management may learn that lesson the hard way.

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, being 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!

Holy Paddle Save, Batman!

If you've listened to The Hockey Show over the last few months, you may have heard Jason and I waxing poetic about Sheffield Steelers goaltender Matt Greenfield. Greenfield has been a big reason why the Steelers have found success both in the EIHL and in the Champions Hockey League, but the former Calgary Dinos netminder did something on Friday that seems nearly unbelievable if I told you. We know how good he's been this season, but Greenfield may have redefined what an incredible save looks like after seeing what he did at Braehead Arena.

Sheffield has qualified for the EIHL playoffs already, but they're in a battle for the top of the standings board with the Belfast Giants and the Nottingham Panthers. Three points separate the three teams as of today, and both Sheffield and Belfast have four games remaining while Nottingham has three games left. Greenfield currently boasts the most wins in the EIHL with a 33-12-3 record, he is third with a 2.23 GAA for goalies who have played 20+ games, and he's second in save percentage at .929 for goalies with 20+ games played on the season. The Florida-born Greenfield has been a wall this season!

For as celebrated as he is in Sheffield, England this season, he may have ratcheted the legend up another few notches against the Glasgow Clan on Friday night. Check out this incredible save!
Matthew Greenfield absolutely robs Glasgow's Mitchell Heard on the doorstep with the paddle! You might be thinking that Heard hasn't done much, but he's lit the lamp 21 times for Glasgow so he knows how to find the back of the net. And yet Greenfield pulled off absolute highway larceny on Heard that paddle save! Wow!

I can't say whether or not Greenfield is going to backstop the Steelers to an EIHL championship, but it seems he'll give them a better-than-good chance to do that. As you heard the broadcaster say, Greenfield is the best goalie in the EIHL in his view, and that's certainly something to boast when people start talking about how defence wins championships. With Greenfield in the top-three in the three major statistical categories, the Steelers are primed for a playoff run!

I've watched that clip a dozen times, and it's still baffling how Heard didn't score. Just add that highlight to the long list of highlights that Matthew Greenfield has compiled this season. The former Dinos goalie may soon have the hardware that proves he was the top goaltender in the EIHL if the Steelers can win it all!

With Logan Thompson having a whale of a season with Washington and Greenfield stonewalling the English league, it might not be bad idea for teams needing a stopper to take a flyer on U SPORTS goalies.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 647

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back at UMFM to chat all things hockey! If you're wondering why this preview was posted so late in the day, it's because I have had just one heckuva work day that started off wrong and just kept getting worse. Luckily, I have escaped the throes of that madness and will jump into the hockey chatter as we get set to discuss all the news from the frozen surface! Get buckled in because it should be a wild ride tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight on the program, Teebz and Jason will give their take on the NHL's latest cash grab, the 4 Nations Face-Off, as they look at why people shouldn't be celebrating this tournament quite as loudly as they are. Beyond that, they discuss future NHL plans for international tournaments, the first injury from the event, the new rule tweak that should find its way into the NHL, the Olympic quaifiers for the women's event in Milano-Cortina, the wrap-up for Canada West regular season play, and our hosts will take a look at all the U SPORTS men's hockey players currently skating in Great Britain! It's an international-flavoured show as we get into all this and more 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 fake tournament, international intrigue, rule changes, Olympic fields, Canada West, Canadians in Britain, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: February 13, 2025: Episode 647

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 642

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back tonight with a show that delivers a cold does of reality. This show preview probably would have been up at 10am CT had I actually changed the scheduled time from PM to AM, but it got posted at around 8:00pm CT because I had set the show preview to publish at 10pm CT. "Nice job, Teebz," I can hear you saying, and I deserve that. It's been a busy week at work and I completely dropped the ball on this one. That being said, let's take a peek at the harsh realities being delivered tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Yes, Teebz is an idiot for messing up the timing of this post, but he and Jason will discuss Australia opting out of hosting a major tournament while bringing some light to the problems seen in Canada, the 2026 Winter Classic which sounds like a complete flop already, Phoenix making noise despite not being anywhere close to an NHL franchise, a major gaffe by a player and an agent, and they pull back the curtains on PWHL attendance and why one franchise - possibly two franchises - could be classified as a failure. There may be people disappointed with our hosts tonight as they deliver the hard truths, but you'll have to tune in to hear their thoughts 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 talk opting out, smartening up, being cryptic, being irrelevant, reading closely, understanding numbers, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: January 9, 2025: Episode 642

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

A Career Unpredictable

It isn't often that a former Canada West player is moved at the ECHL level, but the Cincinnati Cyclones were busy today as they made a number of moves including one that brought a former Canada West player into their team. The Cyclones dealt defender Matt Murphy to the Tahoe Knight Monsters in exchange for forward Chris Dodero and former Spartans defenceman Elijah Vilio! Vilio will get his gear together and head northeast as he joins his sixth ECHL club since 2021, and I'm sure he hopes that he can remain there for next few months and beyond. After spending four seasons with Trinity Western, Vilio's professional hockey career has largely been nomadic based on how long he has spent in ECHL cities, so perhaps this move will be a more permanent one that his previous stops were.

While the pandemic took a chance for Vilio to play in Canada West, he was a big part of the Spartans while they played in the BCIHL. In 66 games in that league, Vilio scored 20 goals and 56 points over three seasons while winning two BCIHL championships, so he was a solid contributor for Trinity Western while wearing their colours. It looked like Vilio was going to take a big step in his professional career in 2021 as the pandemic subsided when he signed a deal with Kazakhstan's Barys Nur-Sultan, but it appears that he never actually suited up for the KHL franchise despite the contract signing.

That led to Vilio signing with the Atlanta Gladiators on October 6, 2021 where played 50 games, scoring nine goals and 23 points. However, that run with Atlanta would come to an end on March 7, 2022 when the Gladiators traded Vilio to the Rapid City Rush to complete a November trade that sent Kam Kielly's rights to the Gladiators in exchange for future considerations. Vilio would play six games for the Rush where he had a goal and an assist, but he was on the move again on March 31 when the Norfolk Admirals acquired Vilio and forward Brett Van Os from Rapid City for defenseman Kyle Rhodes. In eight games with the Admirals to finish the 2021-22 season, Vilio had three goals and two assists.

On June 30, 2022, the Norfolk Admirals announced that they had re-signed Elijah Vilio as it seemed like the defenceman may have found himself some permanence in his hockey career. Vilio would find out that there is no such thing, though, as his one goal and three assists in 27 games was enough for the Savannah Ghost Pirates to acquire Vilio on December 29, 2022. His season would be cut short, however, when he suffered a lower-body injury in February, limiting him to 28 games where he scored twice and added three helpers.

The good news is that Savannah wanted Elijah Vilio back for the 2023-24 season as they put him on their protected list on June 11, 2023 and they announced that Vilio had re-signed with the club on August 22, 2023. At the time of the signing, Vilio said, "It was an easy decision for me. I love the team, coaching staff, and the city. I have been training hard this off-season with the goal of winning a championship. I can not wait to be back in Savannah."

Vilio had a great start to the season as he had a goal and five assists in ten games, but something wasn't working for him in Georgia as the EIHL's Dundee Stars announced on Christmas Day in 2023 that they had added Vilio to their blue line!

Stars head coach Marc LeFebvre seemed excited with the addition, stating, "He has great offensive instincts but it also creates more internal competition that we need and with injuries and suspensions, we need those extra bodies around as well He is going to improve our team overall and the biggest aspect for us is being able to transport the puck up ice quicker, so he will definitely help us with that."

Vilio's addition worked out well for the Stars as he played in 30 games with Dundee, scoring one goal and 14 points. Dundee finished as the seventh-seeded team for the EIHL playoffs, and they were quickly eliminated by the Cardiff Devils by 4-2 and 3-2 scores for an aggregate of 7-4. Vilio played in both games, but recorded no points in the playoffs. Nevertheless, his first taste of international hockey went fairly well with a solid finish to the 2023-24 season.

Vilio would be back in North America to start this season, though, as he signed with the expansion Tahoe Knight Monsters on August 27, 2024. Again, Vilio got off to a good start with his new team as he posted four helpers in 15 games with the Knight Monsters while playing solid defence, but that led to the move I spoke about off the top of this article as Vilio and Dodero were flipped to the Cincinnati Cyclones for Murphy. Vilio moves from a 15-6-1-1 Tahoe team to the ECHL basement with the 3-15-3 Cyclones.

The good news is that the 27 year-old defender has looked solid while with Tahoe this season. He was playing on the third pairing there, but he was showing some good poise and defensive zone awareness in helping Tahoe get off to their great start. His move to Cincinnati will obviously come with challenges as they haven't defended well all season, but Vilio's steady play could make the Cyclones harder to score on for opposition forwards. He won't be in the running for any ECHL awards, but Vilio has the potential to make Cincinnati better.

For a guy who was a reliable piece of Trinity Western's blue line for a number of years, his professional career has seen him bounce around the map for a few seasons. While I'm not saying that a three-win Cincinnati is the place that any player wants to be, the combination of Vilio's game and Cincinnati's need for a few good defenders could make this stay with the Cyclones longer than any of his other tours of duty in the ECHL.

Of course, Cincinnati could look to improve its team by trading good players for two or three other players. Vilio could be included in that scenario as well just like we've seen before, so he may want to keep his bags packed for now. Cincinnati is in Kalamazoo this weekend where Vilio could potentially make his debut for the Cyclones, but he'll get his first experience on Cincinnati ice on December 27 after the holiday break. My hope is that Vilio plays his best hockey with Cincinnati for the remainder of the season so that he doesn't need to file another change-of-address card unless he gets a good free agent offer in the summer.

Elijah Vilio has a home in Cincinnati, but will it be permanent? As of right now, the only thing permanent in Vilio's career is unpredictablilty.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 637

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, finally makes it back into the studio tonight as Teebz is back in snowy Winnipeg, Jason is set for another night of hockey chatter, and the sport gets ready for another set of thoughts and discussion about what happened over the last week. Honestly, with almost every league in the northern hemisphere running at maximum overdrive before the holiday break kicks in, there's a lot to discuss as we'll take a look across the oceans at some of the news there too. In short, get settled in with your radio or internet-connected device tonight for The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight on the program, Teebz and Jason will look at the Four Nations rosters briefly and discuss why this tournament likely will miss the mark when it comes to being "must-watch hockey", the World Junior Championship roster was released by Canada and there were some surprises and omissions, the PWHL is back and Sarah Fillier is living up to her hype, and there was a suspension for a teddy bear toss that needs to be mentioned. Beyond that, Teebz and Jason will update everyone on what's happening in Europe with a focus on former U SPORTS players, and we'll squeeze in anything else we can within the hour we're given! It's another busy show as we jump across the globe, so make sure you're ready to travel 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 about international rosters, women's hockey, weird suspensions, European hockey, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: December 5, 2024: Episode 637

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 631

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, hits the ground running tonight with a pile of stories from last week in and around the hockey world. There are some business stories, some records, some craziness, and some new ideas that will be discussed tonight as the news from a number of corners on the planet reach the UMFM airwaves. Our hosts will have to move quickly if they're going to squeeze all the discussions and stories into the hour, so get ready for a pile of news in a short time tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Being that I left this preview as a draft on HBIC, here's what the show preview would have looked like had I actually published it. Just roll with it, alright? I'm human and I was busy today.

Tonight, Teebz and Jason will kick off the show with a message backed by a statement from Minnesota Wild defender Jon Merrill that all teams and players need to hear. From there, they'll discuss the sale of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Sarah Fillier's contract dispute with PWHL New York, a peculiar NHL record that one of the hosts hates, another ECHL expansion team, an underdog in the CHL that has a U SPORTS twist, cleaning house in the KHL, and the IIHF looking to expand hockey options at the Olympics. The stories probably didn't hit the front page of the sports section, so we'll give you the 411 on all these stories and more tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

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

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

Tonight, Teebz and Jason chat important messages, ownership changes, getting paid, made-up records, expansion teams, upsets and goalies, hockey chaos, more Olympic hockey, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: October 24, 2024: Episode 631

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Steelers Ride Hot Goalie

I don't follow the Champions Hockey League standings very often, but Jason, co-host of The Hockey Show, certainly does and he alerted me of a team that might be playing above its head right now. Make no mistake that the Champions League (CHL) is the best-of-the-best in European hockey as teams like ZSC Lions Zurich, Red Bull Salzburg, Eisbären Berlin, Dynamo Pardubice, and Skellefteå AIK all are competing in the fall's tournament. Normally, the Swedish and German teams ascend past some of the countries whose leagues may not be as good as the SHL or DEL at this point, but it looks like one EIHL team is trying to make a statement in the competition after four games!

The EIHL's Sheffield Steelers won last season's EIHL championship, so they were invited to play in the Champions League this season. Sheffield was a beast last season as they finished atop the EIHL standings with a 39-8-6-1 record before crushing Fife, Guildford, and Belfast by a combined score of 22-9 in the four games that were needed to win the championship. Needless to say, the Steelers were a handful for whoever lined up against them last season.

Part of the reason they were so good was due to a Floridian kid who honed his skills at the University of Calgary as a member of the Dinos men's hockey team. That player is goaltender Matthew Greenfield who played with the Dinos from 2016-20 where he helped to elevate that program with his solid play. In 53 games with the Dinos, Greenfield went 32-16-2 while sporting a 2.38 GAA and a .908 save percentage in those games. Greenfield was a solid netminder at the Canada West level, and it seems he's taken that skill to Great Britain and put it on display as a member of the Steelers.

After a short stint with the ECHL's Kansas City Mavericks, Greenfield landed in Sheffield in 2022 where he's gone on a tear through British hockey. Over his two seasons with the Steelers, he's played 100 games where he posted a record of 74-26-0 in that time. Toss in a 2.09 GAA and a .930 save percentage, and you're looking at one of the best goaltenders in the EIHL. Last season, he had the most wins, the lowest GAA for goalies who played more than 20 games, and the top save percentage en route to an EIHL championship, so it seems Sheffield has their guy when it comes to goalies.

The play shown by Greenfield which carried Sheffield to the EIHL championship has returned this season as he's now backstopping the Steelers in CHL action, and he has them sitting in eighth-place out of 24 teams in the CHL after four games with a 2-1-1-0 record! He backstopped the Steelers to another big win yesterday, defeating SHL champions Skellefteå AIK on Sunday afternoon to push them to their third-straight win. With the win, a number of other teams are sitting at 2-1-1-0 as well such as Red Bull Salzburg and Oceláři Třinec, but the goal differential between the teams at that record sees Sheffield ahead of Eisbären Berlin, Fribourg-Gottéron, and Tappara Tampere.

Sheffield will play Swiss powerhouse ZSC Lions Zurich on October 8 with these two teams sitting one point apart in the CHL standings, and a win over the Lions would go a long way in helping the Steelers qualify for the CHL medal round. To date, no EIHL team has finished in the top-four teams in CHL play, but the Steelers appear that they're gonna make a run for it. It would be another exciting moment for the Steelers in their history, but it may cement their legacy as one of the best teams to have ever been assembled in the EIHL.

It's pretty cool to see a U SPORTS-trained goalie having a major impact on the success of the Steelers, but he's not the only one who has U SPORTS roots. Forward Mitchell Balmas spent a couple of seasons with St. Mary's University in the AUS where he scored at a better than a point-per-game pace, forward Patrick Watling had a two-year stint with the UNB Reds where he put up solid numbers, and defender Dominic Cormier spent a season at the University of Ottawa in the OUA. The Steelers have built a lot of their success on the strength of some good U SPORTS players, and Greenfield is part of that equation as he does his part in helping the Steelers win!

Congratulations to the Steelers on their successful entry into the CHL this fall, and here's hoping that Matthew Greenfield can continue his hot play as Sheffield finds ways to score goals. For anyone who thinks that U SPORTS hockey won't lead to bigger things, I suggest looking at the career of Matthew Greenfield as hockey has taken him all over the US, Canada, and Europe!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

HBIC Music Festival: Day Three

With it being Labour Day today in Canada, I plan on taking it easy and doing very little. There is definitely some stuff I want to get done, but I don't want to spend all day in front of a computer screen. That being said, I will also have the latest episode of The Hockey Show posted after I took this weekend for mostly myself, so check that page from last Thursday out as Jason and I had some good discussions once again. On this day, though, we take a peek at the non-NHL jerseys worn by musicians that I found over the last few months as the make-believe HBIC Music Festival wraps up for another season!

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

We'll go international first as I discovered this photo recently thanks to a user named Knipil. Gil Moore from Triumph is pictured wearing a Team Sweden jersey as Triumph played in Sweden in 2008, and Knipil used it for Gil Moore's Wikipedia page! Speaking of Canadian rock bands, I had mentioned Monster Truck in this series, and they make a return with their visit to the United Kingdom as they were given jerseys from the EIHL's Glasgow Clan and the Nottingham Panthers! Those are pretty sweet jerseys!

We move to the AHL where we get some old, some news, and four new musicians who have AHL devotion now! We'll start with Season 22's winner of American Idol in Abi Carter who was honoured at a Coachella Valley Firebirds game where she got her own jersey! Chris Stapleton toured through Winnipeg, and he got to meet Manitoba Moose defenceman Jimmy Oligny and family who presented him with his own Moose jersey! Morgan Wallen's latest tour took him to many places, and one of those places was Abbotsford, BC where the AHL Canucks gave him a jersey! Monster Truck has been touring for a while, and one of their stops took them to Hamilton, Ontario where the AHL Bulldogs outfitted them AND they met Don Cherry! Finally, we'll go back a few years for this one, but Nickelback must have played Houston, Texas at some point when the Aeros were still in town because they all got jerseys!

Canadian major junior hockey picked up some new musical fans as well. Nickelback was back on the scene in Quebec City where the QMJHL's Remparts set them up with jerseys. Heather Rankin, who is part of The Rankin Family musical group, is well-known on the east coast for her work as a musician and actress, but she donned her QMJHL Cape Breton Screaming Eagles jersey as she calls Cape Breton home!

A couple of universities had their jerseys on musicians as well. Jessica Meuse, who came in fourth-place on the 13th season of American Idol, is originally from Alabama, and she has an Alabama Crimson Tide hockey jersey! The late Toby Keith was a huge Oklahoma Sooners football fan, but he also came out to support the hockey team when he could! How cool is that?

Finally, there are a few jerseys that don't fit into the categories above, so let's take a look at who wore what team. I just mentioned that Jessica Meuse was from Alabama and likes hockey, so of course she owns an SPHL Birmingham Bulls jersey with them calling Pelham, Alabama home! We'll stay in the SPHL as country music artist Hardy toured through Huntsville, and he got himself a Havoc jersey! Joey Braxton is a country music artist who is from Florida, and he showed his devotion to the three-time ECHL champion Florida Everblades by donning their colours and writing them a hype song! Finally, you know Drake has a closet full of jerseys, but I wasn't expecting to see him in a John Purves' IHL San Francisco Spiders jersey! If I'm not mistaken, that might be a game-worn jersey too!

With the end of this weekend series of posts, that's every photo I've found, been sent, and stumbled across in the last few months where a musician is wearing or holding a hockey jersey. I'll do another one of these when I have a collection that needs to be cleared out like the one this weekend, but hoopefully that's a fun crossover of hockey and music for you to peruse.

Now, I'm taking the rest of the day off. Enjoy your Labour Day, folks!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Duke's Path

If the player to the left isn't immediately recognizable to you, you're likely in the majority. Not many North American hockey fans follow the second division of Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga, but there may be a few people that know that the player in question is Reid Duke. Duke suited up for the Rosenheim Star Bulls in the DEL2 last season where he had a solid campaign, scoring 23 goals and 43 points in 41 games for the Star Bulls, but you might be wondering why I'm writing about Reid Duke at all if he's playing in one of the lower-division German leagues. The answer is quite simple: because he made NHL history.

One of the fun things that I enjoy doing is asking "Whatever happened to..." when it comes to players who have fallen off the radar. Often, they're having a successful career in another part of the world, but some have moved on to other projects and adventures. Reid Duke is one of those players who is having a successful career in places not found in North America, and it deserves some chatter because you can watch him play this winter if you're watching a specific league!

Before we get to the "where", Reid Duke made a little history on Monday, March 6, 2017 when he became the first player to sign a contract with the new NHL expansion team known as the Vegas Golden Knights. At the time, the 21 year-old was unlikely to make the first roster for the Golden Knights, but there was hope that he could develop his game at the AHL level for an eventual NHL debut.

Duke came from a couple of solid hockey programs in the WHL as he skated with both the Lethbridge Hurricanes and the Brandon Wheat Kings, and it was his time in Brandon where Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon got to know Duke. 115 goals and 254 points in 311 WHL games is a good showing for any player, so McCrimmon took a chance on signing the former 2014 sixth-round pick of the Minnesota Wild in the hopes that he'd work his way through the system and become a Golden Knight. One development camp later, he was off to Chicago for his first crack at the AHL with the Wolves!

Duke spent the next three seasons in and out of the lineup with Chicago, scoring just 15 goals and 16 assists in his 97 games. If you know how the Wolves are run, they push to win each and every year so the development of Vegas's prospects wasn't something they enjoyed spending a lot of time doing. As a result, Vegas went out and bought the San Antonio Rampage, moved them to Henderson, and got the Silver Knights running where prospects could be developed.

Duke followed the franchise to Nevada and played 62 games over two seasons with the Silver Knights, but he never really found his groove there either. Ten goals and eight assists were all he could net in Henderson, and it seemed like his aspirations of skating in Las Vegas were falling to the wayside. Duke needed to expore options after Vegas allowed him to become a Group VI unrestricted free agent in 2022, and he found an opportunity in Slovakia to continue his career as NK Nitra signed him to a one-year deal!

The 2022-23 season saw Duke score two goals and three assists in 16 games with Nitra before he was moved to Bratislava Slovan for the remainder of the season. In the 19 games he skated with Bratislava, he only recorded four helpers as it seemed the once-prolific scorer in junior simply lost his touch when it came to scoring goals and setting up goals. It was pretty clear that Duke needed a reset when it came to finding a good fit for his skill set, and that opportunity came when DEL2 team Rosenheim Starbulls came calling.

For whatever reason, Duke found some synergy with the German club as he finished second in team scoring, first in team goal-scoring, tenth in league goal-scoring, and seventh in the league in PIMs as his brand of "power forward" hockey put him back in the European hockey conversation. In looking for another challenge, Duke accepted a contract offer from the EIHL's Cardiff Devils for this winter as he'll skate in Britain's top hockey league for the 2024-25 season!

Duke's teammates look fairly solid in Cardiff as he'll share the locker room with Hunter Shinkaruk, Brett Perlini, and Zach O'Brien while boasting a goaltending tandem of Mac Carruth and Ben Bowns in net. Cardiff has all the pieces to be a threat for the EIHL championship, and having Reid Duke as part of that makes them a little more offensively-minded while bringing an element of toughness to the game. Might we see the Devils stand atop the EIHL at the end of the 2024-25 season?

Yes, Reid Duke will always been the answer to the trivia question of who was the first official player for the Vegas Golden Knights, but his career has been pretty fruitful considering everywhere he's been and some of the experiences he's had. It's hard not to cheer for the guy after all he's been through, but HBIC will keep an eye on Reid Duke's progress in Cardiff, Wales next season to see how things work out for him in Great Britain. If you do tune into a game, watch for #27 on the Devils as Reid Duke will wear that number this season!

From being the first Golden Knight to potentially being one of the pieces for a Devils championship run, Reid Duke has had himself quite a professional hockey career so far!

Until next time, keeo your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 613

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, returns to the airwaves tonight from the comfortable confines of the UMFM studio where we'll chat a little puck for an hour. What are we talking about? Well, it's been a busy week in the hockey world that will take us all over the planet as we have stops locally, nationally, and internationally where hockey news is happening. There are still two major trophies to be awarded to teams in North America as well, and our hosts will update those situations tonight on the program! There's a lot to discuss tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Where on the map will hockey take us tonight? Teebz and Jason will provide a few updates on the Stanley Cup Final and Calder Cup Final before jumping into a day of trades, there was a coach dismissed, an assistant GM was promoted, an affiliation was renewed, three teams will meet overseas, a star was honoured, an introduction is needed, an NHL star will be appearing on TV regularly, there's expansion in the province led by a familiar face, some new threads were leaked, and anything else we can get inside the sixty minutes of hockey chatter. Despite it being the first day of summer, the hockey news doesn't seem to slow down as we'll tackle all these stories tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

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

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

Tonight, Teebz and Jason chat about the finals, the trades, the hirings and firings, the schedules, the accolades, the opportunities, the new clothes, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: June 20, 2024: Episode 613

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Friendship Series?

There are always teams who play in U SPORTS that head over to Europe to play a little hockey, do some team bonding, and see some of the sights offered by the cities in which they play. From what I understand, the Regina Cougars women's team will spend some time in Finland in August, and it seems a couple more U SPORTS teams are going to make the jump across the pond for a little hockey action. Announced today by the EIHL's Belfast Giants, they'll host and play the OUA's Carleton Ravens and Canada West's Alberta Golden Bears in preseason action in late August and early September this year as all three teams get ready for their respective leagues' action in the 2024-25 season.

According to the release put out by the "Stena Line Belfast Giants", the Giants will play the Carleton Ravens on Friday, August 30 at 7pm local time before taking Saturday off to watch Carleton and Alberta tangle at 7pm local time. On Sunday, they'll be back on the ice to play the Golden Bears at 4pm local time, and this game to finish off the three-team weekend should be a beauty based on how Alberta builds their teams.

Both teams have personnel loosely tied to the EIHL and Belfast. Ravens' Head Coach Mark Cavallin was a Belfast Giant from 2000-02 while Golden Bears' General Manager Stan Marple spent ten years skating for the Guildford Flames. As we know if you're a reader of this blog or listen to The Hockey Show, there are a pile of U SPORTS players who skate in the EIHL currently, so this might be a good primer for Belfast if they're looking for late-season additions once the university season in Canada ends for both Carleton and Alberta.

Steve Thornton, Group Head of Commercial and Hockey at The Odyssey Trust, said, "Over the last few seasons, we've had a lot of success recruiting players who have played in U Sports, including Kendall McFaull, Josh Roach, Steve Owre, and Sam Ruopp, so the quality of the league is clear to see. In addition to the Friendship Four, these games will be the ideal opportunity to showcase our great city and the fantastic setup we have here at the Giants."

Spelling and grammatical mistakes in their release aside, the Giants are a well-run club over in Northern Ireland, and the squad finished in third-place last season with a 28-15-4-7 record before falling in the EIHL championship to the Sheffield Steelers. They are one of the most successful professional hockey clubs in all of the UK, having won six EIHL regular season titles and two playoff championships. As Thornton pointed out, this may be a tryout for the Giants when it comes to some of the players looking at their future as well.

What shouldn't be overlooked is that the Golden Bears missed out on a U Cup berth last season after being a perennial attendee at the National Championship, so I'd expect a hungry, talented Bears team to land in Belfast a few days before August 30. They'll get their legs under them, get a skate or two in, and then get down to business.

They may have their hands full with Belfast who seemingly are reloading in this offseason as well. They added former Detroit Red Wings netminder Tom McCollum, UND standout and Milwaukee Admirals forward Grant Mismash, and former UMD Bulldogs forward Kyle Osterberg already. Joe Cassetti and Zak Galambos from Western Michigan University signed with the club two weeks ago, and former Saskatchewan Huskies defender Josh Roach will wear Giants colours once again. In short, the Giants could win both games with the talent they have, and they still need to fill other key spots in their lineup!

Keep your eyes peeled for social media information on how these games can be watched. I'm hopeful the Giants will broadcast all three games so we can get an early fix of U SPORTS hockey, but we'll have to see what's available come August 30. What I can be sure of, though, is that three teams who have goals of winning their league's respective championships will compete to see who owns Northern Ireland for at least one weekend!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!