Credit Where It's Due

I'll be the first to tell you that I rarely ever celebrate anything that the IIHF does. Yes, they've done some good things to push international hockey to a better place, but they often kowtow to bigger forces like the NHL and the IOC when it comes to important moments and events. With one of those two - specifically, the IOC - allowing Russia and Belarus back into the upcoming Olympic Games, it seemed like the IOC had once again turned the screws on the IIHF who has oversight on the Olympic hockey events. Tape screech sound effect, though, because it seems the IIHF not only has teeth, but is willing to bite the hand of the IOC with their announcment today regarding the two countries.

We'll go back to 2022 when the International Ice Hockey Federation banned both Russia and Belarus from international hockey events "until further notice" after Russia invaded Ukraine, sparking a war that has lasted longer than the six weeks that Vladimir Putin had predicted. The IIHF also pulled the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship from Novosibirsk, Russia, further backing their commitment to upholding member nations participating in events as long as they were in good standing on the world stage.

2023 saw the IIHF uphold the ban as the IIHF expressed "security concerns for players, competition staff and fans" over including Russia and Belarus at international hockey events. IIHF president Luc Tardif stated bluntly, "Too many risks" when asked if the two countries would return, and I was again was relieved that the IIHF was taking its founding principles seriously. I'll give them credit.

2024 saw more of the same from the IIHF as the ban was extended again, stating in a release that "it is not yet safe to reincorporate the Russian and Belarusian teams back into IIHF competitions". Those security concerns would extend the ban through 2025's events, and it would carry into 2026 where the IIHF saw its icy stance start to thaw.

It's hard to imagine that the IIHF was going to look at Russian and Belarus as being welcomed at any event, but the IIHF was willing to look at each situation on a case-by-case basis. The IIHF made it clear that this decision "explicitly confirmed that this does not mean that Russia has automatically been reintegrated" and that the decision to "reintegrate Belarus at the under-18 men's and women's events and the women's Division IV world championship" would move forward.

With the war between Russia and Ukraine still ongoing, on what planet did the IIHF think this was close to being a good idea?

Sometimes, a bad idea just needs some real world testing to reverse the decision made, and the IIHF did that on Thursday, stating "that Russia will not be allowed to participate in... IIHF Championships during the 2026-2027 season due to ongoing safety, security and sporting integrity concerns". As much as I dislike Belarus' inclusion, keeping Russia out is the right decision considering their ongoing war with Ukraine. This was the right move based on world events.

I've seen people on social media already criticizing the IIHF over this decision, saying that hockey is less without Russia's participation. To that end, I say you're welcome to your opinion despite it being completely ignorant of what the people of Ukraine - also an IIHF member! - are going through in this war they didn't want. People claim that Russian athletes have no say in what their military is doing, but each member of Russia's hockey player will wear the Russian Ice Hockey Federation's jersey as a national symbol.

Indirectly, that's support of Russia's war efforts because of how tightly hockey is tied to Russian culture and how the federation is funded.

If Russia wanted their athletes participating in the World Juniors or World Championships, they could easily do that by abandoning their war efforts in Ukraine and leaving the Ukrainian territory immediately. It would take some time for the world to trust that the Russians were serious about their intentions to rejoin the majority of the planet in trying to be good neighbours, but at least they could find some solace in that their athletes would be back on international stages where they could compete. But that's not going to happen.

If there's one thing that today's world lacks more than anything else, it's empathy for others. When one considers the plight of the Ukrainian people who wanted nothing to do with this war, but are forced to defend themselves, we might want to take a stand against the bully known as Russia. Hockey doesn't matter when it comes to helping a country defeat evil, but keeping them out of international hockey tournaments is a good message to send to Russia that they're not welcome at the party while being bullying a smaller country.

It doesn't take a lot to be a morally-sound person, and the IIHF deserves a little credit for making the right decision here. For as profitable as future IIHF tournaments could be with Russia involved, being a better organization will have longer-lasting effects than the short-term gain of letting warmongering Russia back into the game.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

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 720

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, returns tonight to chat about some of the latest news coming from the hockey world. With summer officially upon us, the news from the ice is slowing down, but there still are things happening that need some discussion. Of course, with Survivor now officially over, we can also get some guests on for interviews, so expect a few chats with awesome people shortly! For tonight, though, we dive into the examinations of a few stories that have hit the news, so we'll get into all that tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason will take a run at a few stories as their discussions will look at the IOC letting Russia back into Olympic competition, the Guelph Storm making changes to their arena, Rogers completing their takeover of MLSE and what that might mean, the newest Stanley Cup engravings, the Jets affiliating with a new ECHL franchise and why that's bad, and the New York Islanders holding a fun contest that has exploded in 24 hours. There should be some laughs, frustration, and opinions heard tonight as we break down these stories 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 will discuss zero courage, team expenses, corporate sports, unneeded engravings, inexplicable affiliations, artistic fun, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: July 9, 2026: Episode 720

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

He Was Always There

I want to pass along a big congratulations to Ville Heinola on being part of the Finnish team that captured the gold medal at the 2026 IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship today. He looked confident throughout the tournament playing alongside a number of his friends and countrymen, and seeing him as happy as he is in this image is encouraging given all the struggles he's been through in his time with the Winnipeg Jets. Whether it was injuries, being relegated to the pressbox, being exiled to the AHL, or just simply being unappreciated and undervalued by conservative coaches and management, Heinola deserves to have this golden moment.

Heinola made the Jets' lineup as an 18 year-old defender in his rookie campaign, but the Jets elected not to burn the first year of his entry-level contract. After scoring one goal and five points in eight games, he was sent back to his Finnish club while the Jets preached patience with Heinola. If he was going to reach his potential, the Jets had to make sure he was developing properly in their system.

Insert your Winnipeg Jets "draft and develop" jokes here.

Over the next three seasons, Heinola skated in just 27 games for the Jets, battling for a roster spot with the likes of Logan Stanley, Dylan Samberg, Johnny Kovacevic, Kyle Capobianco, and Declan Chisholm, but never quite getting the ice-time or the pairing that would allow him to do what he does best: skate with the puck, jump into the offensive zone, and play good positional defence. He was never going to be the bruiser in front of the net, but, like Montreal's Lane Hutson, he had incredible skating and vision from the blue line.

In what looked like a change in the philosophy for the Jets, Ville Heinola was poised to make the Winnipeg Jets' roster out of training camp ahead of the 2023-24 season. The only problem was that Heinola fractured his ankle in the final preseason game, setting him back in his NHL dreams. He would skate with the Manitoba Moose when he was able to get back on skates, but that injury plunged him back into the "battling for a roster spot" ranks for the 2024-25 season.

Early surgery in training camp in 2024 put Heinola back on the shelf after it was discovered that his surgically-repaired ankle was infected, but head coach Scott Arniel seemed to indicate that Heinola was going to get his shot with a comment about the defender on November 19, 2024 where he said, "It's been a tough two years for him. I'm probably his biggest fan here. I wanna see him."

Were we about to see the Finn playing regular minutes?

Heinola's biggest fan dressed him just 23 times in two seasons since uttering those comments to the media, so it's hard to believe that Arniel was doing anything but providing lip service. When he was in the lineup, he most often played on the third pairing with players that rarely complemented his style of play, and it constantly felt like the Jets were trying to force a square peg into a round hole.

I can give you seven million reasons why Ville Heinola should be in Winnipeg, and it starts and ends with Neal Pionk. If the Jets were truly going to make a run at key free agents this summer to improve their team overall, moving Pionk's annual $7 million salary and replacing him with Ville Heinola would be a wise move. They play identical games with the puck on their sticks, but Pionk's physical play is replaced by Heinola's better defensive play when looking at the overall package. This shouldn't be a hard sell for management, but it seems like GM Kevin Cheveldayoff is enamored with Pionk.

This isn't about the Jets and their awful asset management, though. Ville Heinola's smile in the lede image should be enough to tell you that a weight was lifted off his shoulders with this gold medal today. He already admitted to Winnipeg reporters that "[i]t's been, mentally, probably the hardest year. It's hard, and I struggle a lot, especially mentally" and that he "hired a mental (health) coach. That was a huge, huge help at the time, just to be able to talk somebody."

Why that person wasn't someone from inside the organization leaves me with more questions about what kind of front office the Jets have, but seeing him fly around the ice for Finland over the last couple of weeks should be enough proof that Ville Heinola won't be back in Winnipeg next season unless visiting with an opposing team. He proved he can be an effective player on a big stage while being effective at both ends of the ice, and that display of skill by the 25 year-old should have GMs thinking low-risk, high-reward contract.

The Jets will enter next season with 30 year-old Neal Pionk under contract for five more years at $35 million despite his obvious defensive lapses. The Jets invested a lot of money in a player who has had one season above 40 points and who scored a career-low 12 points in 51 games last season, but refused to play Ville Heinola in the same role despite him having the same skill set and talents.

For a team that needed better defensive play with a push for offence from their blue line, Ville Heinola was always there. Today's World Hockey Championship gold medal should be all the proof he needs that his mental health will be better with another franchise.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 714

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, returns tonight with a look at a pile of stories that have emerged in the hockey world over the last week or so. There's news from Europe, news from the southern US, new from Russia, and news from across Canada that needs to be discussed in greater depth as our hosts tackle a number of stories. There are no Survivor: NHL Playoffs exit interviews today as we're saving them for next week, so get ready for a pile of news and discussion about everything happening in hockey on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason jump into the hockey stories by discussing the results at the IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship being played in Switzerland including who is being relegated and promoted for next year's tournaments. Beyond those scores and stories, our hosts will discuss Hockey Canada's women's program making changes, an old ECHL team is new again, a more thorough discussion on the Hamilton Hammers, Jordan Tourigny trying to join the musical group Stomp, the Ottawa Charge getting close to announcing what arena they'll play in next season, Russia's return to international hockey, the KHL's winner and an interesting fact, and there was more science revealed about a player we lost last season. It's a busy show with lots to go over, so get ready to roll tonight for The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The 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 international results, program changes, reborn cats, disappointing logos, stepping on toes, relocating teams, a returning foe, Russia's winners, head trauma, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: May 28, 2026: Episode 714

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Two Down, Two Up

The four countries shown by their flags to the left will be playing IIHF hockey next season, but the reality is that two countries will be moving down to the Division-1A tournament while two countries will join the top-14 teams playing for the IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship. If you've been following the action, you may already know who is being relegated and promoted, but these four countries are the nations in question. Who's dropping down? Who's going up? Let's find out!

Great Britain came into the IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship as the 17th-ranked nation on the planet. They found themselves in a tough group that featured USA, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, and Latvia, but there was hope that they could qualify for a quarterfinal spot if they caught a few breaks against Austria and Hungary. If they could upset Latvia or Germany, Great Britain would likely not only qualify for the medal round, but they'd jump up in the IIHF rankings as well.

Things quickly changed for Great Britain after they dropped a 5-2 decision to Austria on May 16. A 5-1 loss to the USA, a 5-0 loss to Hungary, and a 4-1 loss to the Swiss put them in jeopardy of battling to stay out of relegation territory, but it didn't get any better in a 4-0 loss to Finland. Tack on a 6-0 loss to Latvia and a 6-3 loss to Germany, and the British went winless in Switzerland as they would be the Group A team who was relegated to the Division-1A tournament.

Defender Nathanael Halbert led the British in scoring with a goal and two assists from the blue line, and goaltender Mat Robson went 0-4-0 with a 4.94 GAA and an .875 save percentage. Veteran Liam Kirk led the way with 19 shots in the tournament, and Halbert had the best seat in the house most often as he served 10 penalty minutes.

Italy began the 2026 IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship as the 20th-ranked nation on the IIHF World Rankings, and they were in Group B with the likes of Canada, Sweden, Czechia, Slovakia, and Denmark. Italy likely was looking at the games against Slovenia and Norway as the ones they had to win if they hoped to avoid relegation. Without any NHL talent on their roster, this had to be a solid team effort from the Italians if they wanted to finish in a quarterfinal berth and remain as part of the top tournament. Otherwise, they'd be in a tough spot.

Canada handed them an expected loss by a 6-0 score on May 16, and Slovakia doubled the number of losses with a 4-1 decision. Italy entered the game on May 19 against Norway looking to reverse those fortunes, but the Norwegians played well in a 4-0 win. That Italian loss was followed by a 3-1 loss to Czechia and a 3-0 loss to Sweden. Needing a win desperately, the Italians gave Denmark everything they had, but fell short in the shootout by a 3-2 score. A final 5-1 loss to Slovenia resulted in Italy being the Group B team who is relegated to the Division-1A tournament next season that still needs a host.

Forward Tommy Purdeller had two goals and three points while forward Mikael Frycklund had three assists as the co-leader in points for Italy. Goaltender Davide Fadani was the only goalie to earn a point for Italy as he lost in the shootout while fellow netminder Damian Clara was 0-3-0 with a 3.35 GAA and a .921 save percentage. Defender Phil Pietroniro led the team in shots with 21 and forward Tommaso de Luca served three minor penalties to lead Italy in PIMs.

A country familiar with the teams in the top IIHF tournament will make its return as Kazakhstan earned a promotion back to the big dance. The 15th-ranked team in the IIHF rankings faced off against Lithuania, Japan, Poland, Ukraine, and France in the Division-1A tournament held from May 2-8 in Sosnowiec, Poland, and the Kazakhs emerged undefeated as they went 5-0-0 in the event. Two of those wins did come in the shootout, but Kazakhstan earned enough points for promotion to the 2027 IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship in Germany next May!

Kazakhstan's run in Sosnowiec saw them down Lithuania 4-1 on May 2, beat Japan 6-0, knock off Poland 3-2, defeat Ukraine 5-4 in the skills competition, and defeat France in the shootout as well. They scored the most goals in the tournament despite only scoring once on the power-play in eleven attempts, they tied Ukraine with the fewest shorthanded situations with eight, and they took the least amount of penalties with just 16 PIMs in the tournament on eight infractions.

Forward Artur Gatiyatov had a goal and four helpers while forward Arkadiy Shestakov had five helpers to tie for the team lead in scoring. Goaltender Andrey Shutov went 3-0-0 with a 1.30 GAA and a .933 save percentage as the top stopper, forward Vsevolod Logvin led with 17 shots, and defender Dmitri Breus was the goon with four PIMs.

Perhaps the one nation that should be celebrated for being promoted after everything the country has been through is Ukraine. It's hard not to be inspired knowing that this hockey team was able to focus on winning in Sosnowiec, Poland while friends, colleagues, and family are fighting for their lives back home. Ukraine certainly had a bumpier ride in getting to their promotion as the 27th-ranked team in the IIHF rankings went 3-1-1 in their five games, but that got them ten points and promotion from the Division-1A tournament!

Ukraine opened their tournament against the hosts on May 2, and Poland won that game by a 3-2 score. Ukraine would bounce back with a 2-1 win over Lithuania and a 3-2 win over France before dropping a 5-4 shootout decision to Kazakhstan. Ukraine capped off their tournament with a 3-1 win against Japan, and that was the victory needed to earn their promotion! Ukraine scored the second-most goals in the tournament, had a 5-for-17 power-play, and killed seven of eight shorthanded situations. They did commit twelve infractions, but were the second-least penalized team in the event.

Forward Danil Trakht led the tournament in scoring with four goals and four assists while forward Olexi Vorona had six helpers to tie for the lead in the tournament. Goaltender Bohdan Diachenko played every second for Ukraine, going 3-1-1 with a 2.17 GAA and a .923 save percentage. Olexander Peresunko led Ukraine with 15 shots, and both Yevgen Fedyeyev and Artem Hrebenyk sat for four minutes.

Both Kazakhstan and Ukraine will visit Mannheim and Dusseldorf, Germany as part of the 2027 IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship that's scheduled to run from May 14-30. Great Britain and Italy will await an announcement from the IIHF to know where they're headed for the 2027 IIHF Men's Division-1A World Hockey Championship, but it would seem they'll be joined by France, Poland, Lithuania, and the newly-promoted Estonia. Unfortunately for Japan, they'll be relegated to the Division-1B tournament, replacing promoted Estonia.

The quarterfinals for the 2026 IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship will be set after tomorrow's games, and we could see some intriguing matchups if things go as expected. Of course, that's why the games are played and upsets are a possibility, so we'll see who qualifies for the medal round at the IIHF Men's World Hockey Championship!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Another Roadside Attraction: The Fish

As stated back on April 20, HBIC will be using the summer to visit various cities and towns in Manitoba to document all the interesting, weird, and fun statues found in these communities while seeking out some local hockey stories as well. With me needing to head south down Highway 75 towards the Canada-US border, I thought I'd make a little detour and begin this fun project with a quick stop in Dominion City, Manitoba where we'll discover our first roadside attraction!

Dominion City sits on Provincial Highway 201 just east of Letellier, Manitoba. The total travel time from Winnipeg is approximately one hour as it sits 93 kilometers away from the Manitoba capital. It also sits about 20 kilometers north of the Canada-US border with the 2021 Canadian Census showing the town holding a population of 320 people. Maybe Dominion City should be classified as a village?

Jokes aside, you may be wondering how Dominion City came to be, and it's mostly due to the railway. As per the plaque to the right posted by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Dominion City is where the final spike for the first railway line built in western Canada was driven into the ground on December 3, 1878. The railway ran from St. Boniface in Winnipeg south to Emerson at the Canada-US border and connected western Canada to the eastern Canada and the United States. Rather than building a railway that ran through Canada at a much higher cost, linking western Canada to the US rail lines was a much more cost-effective option. The railway brought prosperity to the region, making Dominion City an important piece of that route.

What About The Statue?

We'll start with the sign because, as it says, the statue is called "The Fish". The description, however, is far more interesting as the statue is a recreation of a 15.5-foot, 406lbs sturgeon that was caught in the nearby Roseau River by Sandy Waddell on October 27, 1903. The female sturgeon was estimated to be 150 years-old and was full of caviar. The sturgeon was hauled by horse-and-buggy back to town. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the lake sturgeon is Manitoba's largest freshwater fish, and is currently being monitored by several groups to ensure their long-term viability in Manitoba's rivers.

As a side note, fish eggs are usually called "roe", but "caviar" specifically refers to salted, cured roe from the sturgeon family. While the eggs weren't salted or cured prior to "The Fish" being caught, I imagine they became caviar once the fishing party arrived in Dominion City with their catch. Celebrations were to be had!

So what does this stature look like, you ask? Here's "The Fish"!

If I do have one tiny complaint, it's that there was no notation anywhere around "The Fish" as to when the statue was erected. It would be interesting to know when the town decided to memorialize the sturgeon, but that info was nowhere to be found at the site.

What's The Hockey Connection?

You might be wondering how a town with 320 people would have a big hockey connection, but current Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman Denton Mateychuk hails from Dominion City! Mateychuk has played 120 games with the Blue Jackets, but he showed up in a big way this season as the Blue Jackets pushed for a playoff spot. In total, he has amassed 17 goals and 27 assists after being selected 12th-overall in 2022, but he scored 13 goals and 18 assists in 75 games this season. He's also a former Moose Jaw Warriors captain, he played with the Eastman Selects in Manitoba, and spent time with the Cleveland Monsters as he worked to earn a Blue Jackets roster spot.

Mateychuk will get a second chance to wear the maple leaf this May as he was selected to join Team Canada for the IIHF World Championship in Zurich and Fribourg. He played for Canada at the 2024 World Junior Championship where he recorded four assists in five games, and Canada will be looking for another solid performance when Mateychuk hits the ice on the blue line in Switzerland!

There's our first look at one of the roadside attractions you'll find in Manitoba if you plan on touring the province. "The Fish" isn't the most picturesque statue I'll feature here, but the history behind that sturgeon and the town of Dominion City is pretty interesting. And having an up-and-coming NHL defenceman born in the town adds another layer if you're interested in visiting Dominion City, Manitoba!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

New Kids On The Block

This is not a post about musicians in jerseys nor will I be talking about the former boy band in any way today, but it is about the team to the left as Spain made their IIHF Women's World Championship Division-1B debut today in Puigcerdà, Spain in front of 223 fans. Spain has never played at this level of women's hockey in the country's history, so this was a historic day for the nation and the national team as they took the ice against Netherlands. No one is expecting them to win against more experienced nations, but Spain is at this event because they have proven they belong by winning lower IIHF tournaments! Can they win this one as well or remain at this level?

Things didn't start off well for the home team today against a strong Dutch team as two power-play goals had Netherlands up 3-0 before the first break. That score would balloon to 5-0 by the end of the second period, and Natherlands would skate to the 6-0 win when the final horn sounded behind Kayleigh Hamers' two goals and two assists. The 28 year-old SDE defender always seems to play well when wearing the Dutch colours, and today's effort only reinforced that. Spain will look to bounce back on Monday against Great Britain who beat Korea 3-2 in a shootout in game where Korea held a 2-0 lead.

I don't think people understand how important it is to see countries like Spain and Netherlands building their hockey programs to become bigger players on the world stage. Hockey fans often lament the fact that Canada and the US end up in the gold medal final at every major tournament despite the rivalry between the two countries, so having more countries getting better is massive for the sport. We know Sweden and Japan are on the rise once again, so that will help at the top level of women's hockey, but getting countries like Spain, Netherlands, Great Britain, Latvia, Korea, and Kazakhstan more experience will push the teams at higher levels to be better as well.

Back to the action in Puigcerdà, Spain earned the promotion to Division-1B after defeating Poland in their final game of the Division-2A tournament last year, ending that tournament with a 4-1 record. Spain replaced Slovenia who were relegated after finishing at the bottom of the 2025 Division-1B standings, so they're looking for a strong performance to remain in this group or potentially move higher. Dropping their first game is a setback, but Spain can rally and still finish strong in this tournament as Kazakhstan and Latvia haven't jumped out ahead of anyone either. Just getting a goal on the scorebord for Spain would be a big moment in program history, so they have some work to do against Great Britain tomorrow.

To me, having teams showing improvement and growth from places where ice hockey isn't close to being a popular sport on the levels of football (soccer), field hockey, or handball means that these programs are making the sport stronger and better overall. It doesn't matter if Spain can't compete with Canada or the US at this point in time because they have shown they can compete with other countries who are all working towards the same goal of being able to compete at that level one day. This isn't an overnight solution, but it's one that will play out over years as long as programs are supported and funded and there is room for growth. As the tide rises, the teams will all get better in time, leaving us with more competitive hockey.

I don't know if Spain will win the tournament, but the Division-2A tournament starts tomorrow and one of Poland, Australia, Iceland, Slovenia, and Chinese Taipei will take the same step forward that Spain did last season. If that means bumping Spain back to the 2A tournament, so be it as only Spain can change that fate by winning games. What should be remembered, though, is that these five teams are looking to join the 1B tournament to prove that they belong among better teams thanks to their success in this year's tournament.

By having teams work to get better at every level, the IIHF will see countries catch the powerhouses. It might take decades for some of these teams to reach a IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship level, but the skill and talent is rising every year. Getting to see these women forge paths for the generations behind them is awesome!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Does That Need Capitalization?

I know there likely aren't a lot of people across Canada who keep up with ECHL signings, but it's always cool to see a former U SPORTS player getting his shot with a professional team. For some, they've gone to the ECHL before landing in U SPORTS, but former Golden Bears defender Aidan De La Gorgendiere went full circle with a stop in the ECHL before playing with the University of Alberta followed by a jump to the NCAA with the University of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks. He signed with the ECHL's Tahoe Knight Monsters this week which is awesome, but I have a more serious question: what will his name look like on his jersey once he gets into a game?

I ask this because there seems to be different fonts and capitalization used depending on the team for whoch De La Gorgendiere has played. Obviously, that's a heckuva last name, but it's the "De La" that seems to be changed whenever he moves to a new team. With what seems like zero consistency in the capitalization of his last name's surname particle, let's take a look at how Aidan De La Gorgendiere's name has appeared over the span of his hockey career so far.

Aidan played prep hockey at Yale Hockey Academy in his hometown of Abbotsford, BC. I didn't read every scouting report, but everything I could find online suggested he was a smart player who looked for offensive opportunities while not shying away from the defensive side of the game. What was harder to find was an image of how his name was spelled on his jersey, but the good news is that I did find a video where I grabbed a screenshot.

Team Surname Particle: DE LA

As shown, Yale Academy went with standard block lettering all of the same size across De La Gorgendiere's shoulders. There's absolutely nothing wrong with how the name is displayed, and the name looks uniform above his #22. If this was how his name is displayed moving forward, I wouldn't be writing this article so be ready for some changes to how the surname particle looks.

Aidan's work at Yale Academy got him noticed by WHL scouts, and the Saskatoon Blades wanted him as part of their team as they chose him fifth-overall in the 2017 CHL Bantam Draft. His parents are both from Saskatoon so he was excited to head to the Blades despite growing up in British Columbia.

Team Surname Particle: DE LA

Saskatoon introduced De La Gorgendiere at a press conference in their locker room, and you can see the name on the back of his jersey has the surname particle with a half-sized "E" and "A" compared to the rest of the letters. What makes this weird is that Saskatoon appears again below.

Aidan's play got him noticed by Team Canada as he was invited to Canada's U17 camp where he would eventually be placed on Team Black for the 2018 U17 World Challenge. In five games at the tournament, he had two helpers as Team Black finished in fifth-place with a 5-3 win over Team White.

Team Surname Particle: DE LA

This is standard Team Canada block font, so I didn't expect there to be any variations on how De La Gorgendiere's name would be displayed. Yes, this was the best photo I could find, and that's certainly him as there were no other "De La" players on the Team Black roster. In fact, Canada didn't have any "Dela" players either, so this made narrowing down De La Gorgendiere in photos easier.

Aidan's time with the Blades lasted five years plus one game as an underager in 2017-18, but he was a solid player in the WHL. Over those five seasons, he scored 22 goals and 133 assists in 248 games while adding three goals and 18 points in 28 playoff games. However, he would go undrafted by NHL teams.

Team Surname Particle: DE LA

I don't know if this was a team decision with respect to how names were displayed on jerseys or if De La Gorgendiere made the request himself, but you can see he was back to standard block lettering as a player. Again, there's nothing wrong with a uniform name in an easy-to-read font across the back of one's jersey, but we're not close to being done with this examination of Aidan's name.

Having not been selected by any NHL teams in the entry drafts, Aidan decided to make the jump to the professional ranks by signing with the ECHL's Atlanta Gladiators in 2023! He didn't play a lot as he dressed in ten games where he scored one goal and added four helpers, but he got a taste of pro hockey!

Team Surname Particle: DE LA

We're back to the half-sized "E" and "A" with respect to how Atlanta displayed De La Gorgendiere's name on his jersey. Being that he was only with Atlanta for ten games, the sample size is very limited, but it appears there was no change to capitalize his name like we saw with Saskatoon above.

After parting ways with Atlanta midway through the 2023-24 season, Aidan would land at the University of Alberta where he suited up for the Golden Bears! In 38 games in Canada West, he'd score eight goals and 37 assists as he was part of a solid Golden Bears team, but they fell in the Canada West playoffs in both seasons, not qualifying for Nationals in both seasons.

Team Surname Particle: DE LA

The Golden Bears went with the uniform block letters for De La Gorgendiere's name. What's funny about Alberta's uniforms is that De La Gorgendiere's name almost covers the entire shoulder yoke stripe on the back of the jersey. I often joke about long player names stretching from elbow to elbow, but this example was almost shoulder to shoulder!

With the NCAA opening its doors to former CHL players, Aidan made the jump to the University of Nebraska-Omaha where he joined the Mavericks in Division-1 hockey. In 33 games, he had three goals and ten assists as the Mavericks skated to a 12-24-0 record before falling to North Dakota.

Team Surname Particle: de la

Omaha presented the only lower-case surname particle of the bunch to date, but it's clearly noticeable on the back of De La Gorgendiere's jersey. I've looked at this image a number of times, and I almost feel like, at the very least, the "D" and "L" should be capitalized based on what we've seen with other teams. The lower-case "E" and "A" can stay if that's Omaha's preference, but having lower-case letters for a name is pretty rare.

In my research on De La Gorgendiere's various surname particles, I came across a handful of articles by reputable news outlets that also seemed to put their own spin on his name. WOWT's Clayton Collier wrote a great piece on Aidan honouring his mom, Marla, through a hockey ritual he started after she passed away from lung cancer in 2019. In his article, though, he spelled De La Gorgendiere's surname particle as "de La" which completely threw me for a loop, but then capitalized the "D" and "L" later in the article! Mass confusion!

That last capitalization could have simply been his word processing software formatting De La Gorgendiere's name with a capital "D" as the first letter in a sentence, but Collier started other sentences with Aidan's last name showing the "de La" surname particle. In short, nothing makes sense, there is no consistency to Aidan's last name on jerseys or in print, and I still don't know what Tahoe will do!

The Tahoe Knight Monsters host the Cincinnati Cyclones tonight on "Star Wars Night" at the Tahoe Blue Event Center, so this could be a pretty awesome debut for De La Gorgendiere if he's in the lineup this evening. Tahoe hosts Cincinnati tomorrow as well before visiting the Allen Americans next weekend and the Rapid City Rush to finish the season, so we'll see if De La Gorgendiere plays in any of those games and how his name looks on the back of his jersey when he does.

Might we see a new spin on his surname particle? It could happen! To date, we've had four "DE LA", two "DE LA", one "de la", and a print version of "de La" and "De La". What name chaos will Tahoe bring us?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

UPDATES!

I finally tracked down an image of Aidan wearing a Knight Monsters jersey with a clear shot of the back of his jersey. It should be noted that he scored on April 4 against Cincinnati to record his first ECHL goal at 7:17 of the second period when his shot trickled through Cincinnati goalie Kaidan Mbereko, ending up in the net! But we're here for info on his last name!

Team Surname Particle: DE LA

It appears that Tahoe doesn't change anything when it comes to the names on the backs of the jerseys, sticking with the tried-and-tested block font which is easy to read. At first, I thought the "DE" was smaller than the rest of De La Gorgendiere's name, but the way the jersey is folded gives a bit of an optical illusion. Based on this image and video image of his goal, all of the letters are the same size, making his surname particle just part of the fun with Tahoe.

¡Campeonas!

As you're likely aware if you've passed elementary school social studies, Spain is not part of Canada in any way, shape, or form, but we got to see two former U SPORTS players crowned as champions today in the Liga Iberdrola de Hockey Hielo! I have been following the progress made by Club Gel Puigcerdà as the scheduled rolled forward thanks to former Calgary Dinos forward Annaliese Meier and former Dinos and Mount Royal Cougars forward Courtney Kollman playing for them. As you can see by the image above, the season ended today with CG Puigcerdà standing at center ice with the championship trophy hoisted, so it appears that Meier and Kollman helped CG Puigcerdà conquer Spain this year!

CG Puigcerdà finished the season in second-place in the LIHH with a record of 15-3-0-0 for 45 points. They were six points back of league-leading SH Majadahonda, but they did score the most goals, have the best goal differential, and were the second-most penalized team as Puigcerdà employed a speed game that saw the team close out on defenders quickly whenever possible. As a result, they surrendered the second-fewest goals as they wrapped up the 18-game schedule on February 1 with a 2-0 win over Kosner Huarte as playoffs loomed.

For her part, Courtney Kollman dominated the league with 41 goals and 76 points in just 22 games total. She finished three goals ahead of CHH Txuri Urdin's Eva Aizpurua, and a whopping 20 points ahead of Aizpurua in the overall scoring. Kollman also led the LIHH at +70 which shouldn't be surprising considering her point total.

Annaliese Meier had a fantastic season as well after starting the campaign rather slowly. She picked it up in the second-half of the season, finishing with 15 goals and 32 points in 21 games to land in seventh-overall in scoring. Meier chipped in at both ends of the ice as well as she patrolled the blue line as a defender, but Meier became another important player for CG Puigcerdà down the stretch.

The top-four teams in the LIHH qualified for the LIHH championship meaning that CG Puigcerdà would square off against third-place CH Jaca who finished with a 10-7-0-0 record. February 21 saw Puigcerdà record a 3-1 win with Kollman scoring off a Meier pass, and the best-of-three series ended one week later with Puigcerdà downing Jaca by a 2-0 score with Meier scoring off a feed from Kollman.

Majadahonda only needed two games to eliminate Txuri Urdin by 4-0 and 3-1 scores, so the LIHH Final would feature the top-two teams in the league as they met in the best-of-five series for all the marbles!

Game One on March 7 went Puigcerdà's way as they scored a 2-0 win with neither Kollman nor Meier scoring, but Paula Gimenez had a goal and an assist for the victors. Game Two on March saw both teams ratchet up the offence as Judith Pareja capped off the hat trick at 6:15 of overtime to give Puigcerdà a 6-5 overtime win! Kollman had two goals and a helper in this one while Meier picked up two assists to help Puigcerdà take a 2-0 series lead, but the series would move to the northwest corner of Madrid for the next three games.

Coming into the game, Majadahonda was 9-0 at home including two wins over Puigcerdà on November 15 and 16, but their backs were against the walls in Game Three. Perhaps Puigcerdà smelled the blood in the water or perhaps Majadahonda didn't prepare enough, but the game today saw the ice tilted early. 1:03 into the game, Paula Gimenez gave Puigcerdà a lead and it was 2-0 at the 8:28 mark when Carla Iglesias found the back of the net with Meier getting a secondary assist. Gimenez struck again at 15:54, and the rout was on.

Gimenez would record the hat trick at 12:01 of the second period to make it a 4-0 game, and Kiera O'Hare would cap off the scoring at 2:40 of the third period as CG Puigcerdà combined that strong offence with solid defence to win Game Three and the championship with a 5-0 victory! CG Puigcerdà are your 2025-26 LIHH champions!

"The girls played a spectacular game," CG Puigcerdà head coach Jaime de Bonilla said after the game. "They have worked very hard all season and today they showed what a great team they are. They played with a sixth gear throughout the game!"

The coach was also quick to recognize the support of the Puigcerdà, thanking them by saying, "This title is also for the fans, who have always supported us. Their support has been key to getting here".

The team will be honoured tomorrow in Puigcerdà with a procession beginning at 12:30pm that will make its way through the village of Puigcerdà, ending at the City Hall where the celebration will continue. Considering that the CG Puigcerdà women's team only began playing in 2006, their rise to the top of the LIHH in capturing their first LIHH title is very impressive and the work done to improve Spanish hockey cannot be overlooked as they get set for more fun!

From April 12-18, Puigcerdà will host and the Spanish national team will take part in the IIHF Division-1B Women's World Hockey Championship! Spain will play host to Great Britain, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Latvia, and South Korea as these countries seek promotion to the Division-1A championship next season by winning this tournament. With incredible players such as Eva Aizpurua, Paula Gimenez, Maria Serna, and goaltender Ainhoa Salillas playing in the LIHH, Spain's chances of winning are as good as any country!

For now, though, Puigcerdà will celebrate its local heroes as CG Puigcerdà are the 2025-26 LIHH champions for the first time in their history! Congratulations on winning the championship, ladies, and I hope we can talk to Courtney and Annaliese this summer on The Hockey Show and hear about their Spanish adventure! ¡Buen trabajo!

Until next time, mantén tus palos sobre el hielo!

The Hockey Show - Episode 681

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back on the UMFM frequency tonight with a whole slate of hockey news to process and discuss. One involved a local team who seems to have a reputation in the league as not being able to keep key free agents, but it seems that team has no problem retaining its stars in an effort to win a Stanley Cup. While two other teams signed big players, all three retained players that should keep them in that hunt for hockey's top annual prize. Our hosts will jump into that worn-out hockey topic before getting into other hockey news from the past week tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

As teams were looking forward to some huge stars possibly being on the free agent market next season, Teebz and Jason will chat about the contracts signed by Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, and Kyle Connor when it comes to giving their current teams a shot at Stanley Cup glory and how the AAVs affect things moving forward. Beyond that, they'll also discuss the new alternate jersey for the Los Angeles Kings, the sponsorship patch placement on Utah's road jerseys, CBC making a big announcement for Canadian university hockey, the IIHF moving the Women's World Championship date and possibly setting hockey back by a decade or two, and there was already some stupidity in the early KHL season. In other words, there's a lot to discuss, the phone lines will be open, and the hockey chatter will be rolling 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. 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 new contracts, big stars, recycled jerseys, patch placement, greater exposure, stupid decisions, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: October 9, 2025: Episode 681

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 676

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back with a pile of stuff to discuss thanks to several teams and franchises jumping into the fashion world with new designs and branding. I have no idea who is green-lighting some of these rather terrible ideas when it comes to how teams want to look on the ice, but people smarter than me must know fashion a lot better despite their final designs being totally unnecessary for the overall fit of their brand. In any case, expect some discussions on Back to School looks on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason get down to business by looking at the new branding and logo introduced by the Manitoba Bisons while discussing their thoughts on the rebrand. They'll also look at the Carolina Hurricanes' new road jersey, the Seattle Kraken's new alternate jersey, the official unveiling of the Ottawa Senators' alternate jersey, Quebec City being the place for international tournaments, the new NHL Stanley Cup salary cap, and there was a winner crowned in the AIHL. There's lots to go over as we summon our Mr. Blackwell-like fashion senses for some chatter and laughter 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. 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 new jerseys, new logos, bad ideas, big tournaments, new rules, new champions, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: September 4, 2025: Episode 676

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Everyone's Got A Price?

It's hard to imagine that Soviet hockey in the 1980s was anything but dominant. They won games in bunches, brought home all sorts of hardware, and were celebrated as heroes by the Soviet people due to all their successes. As we know, though, the Iron Curtain wasn't a prison with Sergei Pryakhin joining the Calgary Flames in 1989, and we'd see defections and legal player transfers follow in the years that followed with some players receiving big contracts to play in the NHL. The "western" influence on Russia would also see the 1987 Soviet Union national team do something it had never done before.

We know international tournaments often have sponsor advertising on players' jerseys as part of the sponsorship deal they sign with those respective tournaments. The Soviets had worn these types of advertisements in games before as mandated by the tournament, but the team itself had never received sponsor money from an individual company that only had the Soviets wear its name or logo. That changed on April 5 and 6, 1987 when the Soviets played a two-game exhibition series in Stockholm against Team Sweden in preparation for the 1987 IIHF World Ice Hockey Championship.

Here's the news clipping from The Brandon Sun on April 9.

Advertising on European teams is nothing news, but the state-funded Soviet team had never been billboards for any company, let alone "a Swedish computer firm". Obviously, there are questions that need answers here in order to make the stry complete, so let's take a deep dive into Team Soviet Union's first foray into the world of advertising.

According to the Los Angeles Times on April 19, "[t]he Soviets surprised the television audience during two friendly ice hockey matches in Sweden April 5-6 when their ususally [sic] all-red outfit had a white patch on the back saying 'WM Data.'" WM Data was founded by Thord Wilkne and Hans Mellström in Stokholm, Sweden in 1969 before being acquired by Logica PLC in 2006. It seems they're more than just a "Swedish compuer firm" as they expanded into a vast number of industries by offering IT-related services to banking, telecommunications, and data centers. In 1987, WM Data may have been less, but I'd guess they were still focused on IT-related services.

That answers the "who" part of "who sponsored the Soviets".

According to the Los Angeles Times article once again, "[t]he Scandinavian data consultancy company, WM Data, paid 100,000 Swedish kronor (less than $16,000) for the two matches." That seems like a pretty low sum of money for a team that normally carried 20 players, coaches, and team staff, but Per-Olov Wester, the Swedish public relations agent who signed the sponsorship deal between WM Data and the Soviets, said the Soviets weren't in it for the money.

"The Russians don't need sponsor money," Wester told United Press International. "But the opponents wear ads on their jerseys and the Russians want to look like they do."

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, it seems the Soviets craved Europe's advertising patches more than they wanted money. With each player and staff member splitting that less-than-$16,000 among them after the Soviet government took it's cut, there wouldn't be a lot of Swedish meatballs going home with the players.

Kristian Gerner, a Swedish expert on the Soviet Union, told United Press International, "They used to fight everything Western, but it has changed totally in the last two years, coinciding with the Gorbachev years. They first learned to understand our way of living and that was new. But the big difference is that they now try to act like us."

As we know, the Soviet Union formally dissolved on December 26, 1991. However, there had been growing protests in the years leading up to the dissolution of the country as Soviet citizens looked outside their country and saw the wealth and riches that the rest of the world was accumulating. Hockey players weren't immune to this reality as they travelled to European countries for games and tournaments, and rumblings about defections began to swirl at every tournament. That western influence was certainly setting in with the Soviet hockey team, and the advertisements on their jerseys in Stockholm might have been the first metaphorical domino to fall.

"It seems like they have decided that if you can't beat them," Gerner added, "join them."

Obviously, the history that followed wasn't borne out of the Soviet hockey team wearing advertisements as the political and cultural changes within the republic eventually forced the dissolution of the Soviet Union. If Miss Gerner's assessment about the Soviets in 1987 was accurate, it sounds like the Soviet team simply was ahead of their countrymen when presented with a "western" opportunity.

As stated, it wasn't about money when it came to this sponsorship. Instead, it was about fitting into a changing world.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!