The Hockey Show - Episode 701

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is back tonight with our normal setup as the Olympics are over, the Paralympics are a week from starting, the NHL is back, and all of the craziness involved with those changes can be discussed. I'm not sure I've ever felt as less excited for hockey as I was last night with NHL players being back on the ice after what we witnessed in Milano-Cortina, but it's going to be hard for the NHL to replicate the hockey we witnessed in Italy. That being said, we have lots to go over and discuss tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

At some point, we need to address the elephant in the room so it might as well be tonight as Teebz and Jason will discuss the image to the left where the US men's hockey team made an appearance to be honoured by politicians. This may be a heated discussion as our hosts discuss the optics of appearing at the White House while playing for a Canadian team, the lack of respect shown to the US women's team, and the extra honour bestowed upon Connor Hellebuyck before looking at the NHL returning to TV and just how bad those broadcasts look, the Olympic injuries seen and why some owners may think twice about sending players, the Canada West men's and women's semifinal series, and there's a big weekend of sledge hockey coming up that needs to be highlighted! It should be a feisty show tonight with everything on the agenda, so make sure you're ready for The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

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

If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard! And because both Teebz and Jason are on the butterfly app where things are less noisy, you can find Teebz here and Jason here on Bluesky!

Tonight, Teebz and Jason will chat about being honoured, reading the room, obvious misogyny, bad broadcasts, returning hurt, semifinal series, live parahockey, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: February 26, 2026: Episode 701

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

I Can't Watch This

After having two weeks of incredible to hockey watch where television viewers weren't bombarded by sports betting commercials and digitals advertisements all over the boards, it was back to NHL hockey tonight where if it can be sold, it will be. While the action on the ice will once again make us wish for a third line that boasts Sidney Crosby and Nick Suzuki, the advertising was particularly noticeable this evening after having streamed a vast number of Olympic hockey games where advertising wasn't allowed. To be blunt, watching the NHL return to the ice and TV tonight was a chore with all the repeated commercials and uneffective advertising.

I realize that the easiest way to get around this problem is to continue to stream games where most networks have not monetized their internet streams with commercials. I know of several ways to find streams, so there's a good chance I might be able to avoid the grossly excessive sports betting commercials that seem to be the only thing the NHL allows networks to advertise. That won't solve the digital ads constantly flashing around the boards that are neither effective nor insightful, so I can't really avoid those advertisements.

Some will look at this complaint and just categorize it as "old man yells at cloud," but the difference tonight was definitely noticeable compared to this past weekend. I get that the NHL is a business and needs to generate revenue to remain in business, but the IOC operates under the same "make money" mandate to stay in business and they seemed to be able to run a two-week tournament without the myriad of garbage advertising being shown by networks. I think we can all admit, at this point, that the NHL is willing to take any money dumped at its doorstep regardless of who dropped it there without any questions.

Does it have to be this way? No, of course not, but, as stated above, there isn't any amount of money that the NHL won't take for any reason. When I did watch Olympic hockey games on television, the commercials were often more about the Olympic spirit and companies that support the Olympic teams rather than just being random advertisements. Why can't NHL broadcasts employ that idea?

In the end, it seems we were treated to some amazing hockey in Italy, and, thanks to the IOC's broadcast policies, the lack of commercials and digital ads was noticeable, making their broadcasts so much better than what the NHL gives us. Watching the Seattle-Dallas and Winnipeg-Vancouver games felt like the NHL was brainwashing me to love commercials as if I were Derek Zoolander.

The NHL could be so much better with its broadcasts and its network partners, but it has no monetary incentive to do so. That will always be the problem until someone can figure out how the NHL can be a billion-dollar industry on its own without selling off the game's integrity for some Brink's truck of money. Honestly, it's hard to judge whether or not the NHL actually cares about that integrity because it if can be monetized the NHL seems to have a plan for that. Again, it could be better, but there's zero incentive to actually be better.

I'll leave you with this: I watched all of about ten minutes of the Seattle-Dallas game and one period of the Winnipeg-Vancouver game before I turned them off. I just couldn't watch the games after having experienced the Olympic broadcasts. I guess it WILL take some reprogramming of my brain to get back into NHL hockey.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Use Your Words

As someone who has been doing radio for a number of years, I tend to listen to commercials more than I should probably admit. It's not the messaging that I'm interested in nor the product being sold, but it's how the commercial is selling the product that catches me. I say this because hockey games on the radio have a lot of time where commercials can be run, and companies need to have effective messaging for their advertisement to be catchy. In preapring commercials for sponsors of the 2026 Female World Sport School Challenge, I've found that a large number of companies are only producing video commercials that have few, if any, voiceovers.

I get that visual media often doesn't need a lot of words when imagery does the trick. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, right? But when it comes to looking for radio commercials for companies, there aren't a lot of audio databases like YouTube or iSpot where audio commercials are held. With no database like that, I've had to use visual media for some of those commercials and there are a lot of ads where the words appear on the screen with no voiceover.

For the last three days, I have spent an exhausting amount of time creating radio commercials for companies who produce excellent visual media, but terrible audio media. One company has dozens of commercials on their YouTube account with all sorts of information and products, but this company rarely uses a voiceover to help promote their products. Heck, this company doesn't even mention its own name other than posting their logo at the end of the commercial. Again, this helps for visual media, but it's awful for people who may need the audio portion for things to make sense.

As a person who has 20/20 vision, it never occurred to me how vitally important the audio was in commercials until I began encountering more and more commercials that had none. This led me down a rabbit hole of thinking about how people with visual impairments may experience these commercials, and I landed on a page for the American Council for the Blind where Yvonne B. Garris gave an account of what it's like for her when she's watching television.

She makes one statement that I completely agree with, stating,

After hearing your ad, do you know what the commercial is for? If not, please change the commercial.

Honestly, I cannot disagree with her. There were lots of times over the last 72 hours where I sat with my eyes closed as a commercial played through my headphones, and I had no idea what the company was selling nor what company it was had I not been looking for them.

I'm not here to call out any of these companies for producing the advertisements they have. They're far more successful than I so whatever they're doing seems to work. However, they can be better as Miss Garris states and I support, and I hope that her statement above serves as a reminder for companies moving forward that there is a segment of the population with great influence and buying power that is often underserved by these companies' advertisements.

If you're in marketing or advertising and you're reading this, my hope is that this resonates with you. As someone with no visual impairments, I know I often take for granted that commercials and advertisements cater to those who can see. Selfishly, I could use more chatter in visual advertising to make creating radio ads easier, but I'm the last person to whom companies should be catering. Instead, I'm advocating for Miss Gerris whose simple request would make a huge difference in her life and, in turn, assist me.

In a world where communicating is supposed to be easier, we seem to be talking less and less. Use your words, folks. They matter.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

A Historical Commercial

These two men likely need no introduction when it comes to their hockey legacies. If you're wondering who they are, though, the man on the right is former NHL superstar and current TV hockey analyst Wayne Gretzky who, if my memory serves me correct, set a few scoring records during his time in the NHL and on the international stage. The man on the left is legendary Soviet Union netminder Vladislav Tretiak, and these two came together in 1987 to make a little TV history to go along with the myriad of accolades and records they hold in their careers.

There's no doubt that Wayne Gretzky was one of the most recognizable athletes on the planet in 1987 thanks to his work with the Edmonton Oilers. Vladislav Tretiak was fairly well-known as well after his work in helping the Soviet Union win virtually every hockey competition they entered. These two were definitely two of the biggest hockey stars on the planet at the time, and they somehow ended up promoting deodorant for Gillette on North American TV!
Despite that YouTube video feeling dated, that was the commercial that was filmed and aired in 1987 with both Gretzky and Tretiak. The 30-second advertisement isn't revolutionary by any means, and the product they were promoting has been around for a while now. However, this commercial marked a significant historical moment in Canadian TV due not-Canadian player in the commercial!

The commercial debuted on November 8, 1987 on Canadian television networks after being filmed in Montreal in early September of that year. Gillette began negotiations with Tretiak and the Soviet Sports Committee in March to bring the two players together to introduce the new Right Guard deodorant product with Tretiak and the Soviet Sports Committee finally signing off on the endorsement deal on September 4, 1987. The commercial was reportedly filmed on Labour Day for airing later in the year (as we saw).

In any case, that November 8, 1987 date is historical because Tretiak's appearance in the Gillette commercial was the first time that a Soviet athlete had been hired to appear in a television commercial. Prior to that, no Soviet athlete had appeared on North American television in any way other than sports highlights, so Gillette made a little history by hiring Tretiak to sell their scent! And just to add a little more to the story, Tretiak was reportedly eager to do the commercial as well!

Ken Coates, Gillette's advertising manager at the time, said he expected some controversy over the hiring, stating to reporters, "It would not surprise me. It doesn't matter what idea you come up with, there's going to be some opposition to it."

It doesn't sound like much has changed in the television world as there are still controversies over who gets hired, but it's a pretty cool fact that Vladislav Tretiak was the first Soviet athlete hired for a commercial in North America. There's no doubt that both Gretzky and Tretiak will be in hockey record books for decades to come with how good they were, but both men were part of a historical television moment back on November 8, 1987.

Thanks to Right Guard, this is one TV moment that doesn't stink!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

It's In Their Jeans?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The McDonald's Muppets?

I have no idea from where this image was pulled, but it was found on a Pinterest page that's owned by a "Betsy". If you don't recognize the two plush Sharks fans, those are Statler and Waldorf from The Muppet Show. For a short time, there were two fans in San Jose who showed up to Sharks games dressed as two balcony commentators from The Muppet Show, and it seems that Disney and Jim Henson Productions went ahead and made some sort of promotion with the actual Statler and Waldorf - the puppets - sometime after seeing the flesh-and-blood Statler and Waldorf in the stands.

This wasn't the first time the NHL had its brush with Jim Henson's famous puppet characters, though, as a few were featured as a McDonald's promotion in 1994-95 after the shortened season began.
I'm not one to hammer away on commercials, but that ad has more cheese than a double cheeseburger from McDonald's. Nonetheless, the offer of the four Muppet characters at McDonald's happened as the NHL and Jim Henson came together to help each other promote their brands to kids and and their corresponding adult guardians.

The story of the Muppet NHL All-Stars isn't as glamourous or fun as the NHL goalie masks, but there is a story. Before we get into that story, the four Muppet NHL All-Stars included:

• Kermit the Frog - a plush skater representing the Muppet Conference in the NHL's Eastern Conference's teal. He wore his name, not "Frog", on the back.
• Miss Piggy - a plush skater with a rubber head wearing Western Conference colours. She had "Miss Piggy" on the back.
• Fozzie Bear - a plush goalie wearing Western Conference colours. Like Kermit, he just had "Fozzie" on the back.
• Animal - a plush skater with rubber head wearing an unseen red Muppet Conference jersey. He wore "Animal" on the back.

At $3.49 per character, it seems the cost might be a little high for these promotional items when compared to other offerings by McDonald's, but I assume the branding costs for The Muppets may have factored into the price point. These four characters would be the only plush dolls offered by McDonald's at any point in this set, but it wouldn't be the last time The Muppets would be at McDonald's.

The following season saw the NHL and The Muppets partner on a new promotion that appears to be a spin-off of another popular promotion run every year - the McDonald's Monopoly contest! Take a look!

It seems that McDonald's enlisted the help of TSN's Jim Van Horne to push the promotion via this commercial, but goal of this promotion was similar to the Monopoly contest as participants were required to obtain specific stickers with Muppet-themed NHL logos on them in order to win prizes like a Ford Taurus or Mercury Sable.

Game boards were available at every McDonald's location whereas game pieces were obtained off beverage and french fry containers. The stickers were assigned randomly on each container, and each container featured two stickers that could be applied to the game board in its appropriate location as shown below. The key, though, is that each sticker featured an NHL logo that had a Muppets character incorporated into the logo. Click the image to see it enlarged.

Pretty simple contest, right? Collect the six or seven logos for the necessary prize, and win said prize. But this is where we pump the breaks because those Muppet-ized logos didn't just come along for this contest. They were an actual collectible thing back in 1993!

I worked at a sports store during the late-1990s, and they had an entire room devoted to NHL collectible pins. At the time, there were only 21 NHL teams, but each team had a pin where the logo had been modified to feature one of Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, or Animal. Made by InGlasCo (yes, the same company that made hockey pucks), it seems the NHL saw these as collectible pieces that fans would want. Some of these logo pins were very well done as seen to the right, but other logos simply had one of the characters thrown into the logo in order to meet the requirements. For example, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks pin that was created in 1994 to add to the collection is nothing more than Gonzo in some crude hockey equipment riding what appears to be some sort of vehicle with the Mighty Ducks logo on it. You can see a full list of the pins here, but there was a display made for the pins as shown below!

It's pretty easy to see where the logos in the 1996 McDonald's Muppetmania contest came from once we see these pins. I'll admit that pin collecting in the 1990s wasn't something a lot of kids were doing, so I have no idea how the sales of these pins went for InGlasCo. What I do know is that the room at the store where I worked was filled with all sorts of NHL pins including the Muppets ones, so either they overproduced them or they weren't as popular during that era as the NHL and InGlasCo may have thought.

One thing that was popular in the early-1990s for kids to collect is something that seems just as popular today: hockey cards! The NHL and the The Jim Henson Company joined forces with Cardz Distribution in 1994 to release a set of hockey cards that featured all of Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, and Animal on various subsets of cards within the overall set. There were equipment cards that displayed the important equipment being used in hockey, rules cards that explained various rules and situations, NHL team facts where interesting facts about each team were published, and NHL team history cards that gave a brief hsitorical description of each of the NHL teams. It's this historical subset where the Muppet NHL logos were featured once again as the pin designs were transferred to card stock with each of the 26 teams featured. You can see a full list of all the cards here in the "Jim Henson's Muppets Take the Ice" set.

If you dig into the link for the cards above and look at the "Positions" subset, you'll notice something that ties back into the Muppets All-Star plush dolls that McDonald's offered in 1995, and that's each of the Muppets featured in that four-doll set is playing the exact same position they're shown as representing in the McDonald's Muppets All-Stars! Not only that, but you'll notice that Animal is wearing both the red jersey he wears for the McDonald's promotion and his skates are tied to his feet as opposed to wearing proper skates just as they are in the McDonald's promotion! In short, the McDonald's Muppets All-Stars were literally based off the NHL Muppets hockey cards!

So let's review quickly:

• In 1993, the NHL and Jim Henson Company partnered with InGlasCo to make Muppets-themed NHL logo collectible pins.
• In 1994, the NHL and Jim Henson Company teamed up with Cardz Distribution to make Muppets-themed NHL hockey cards.
• In 1995, the NHL and Jim Henson Company partnered with McDonald's to produce Muppets All-Star plush hockey dolls based off the characters featured in the 1994 hockey card set.
• In 1996, the NHL and Jim Henson Company teamed up with McDonald's to make the Muppetmania sticker game featuring the Muppets-themed NHL logos from the InGlasCo pin set.

It's almost like McDonald's allowed the NHL and the Jim Henson Company to run a few market tests for promotional items before they jumped in with their ideas for their own promotional items. Pin collecting in the 1990s wasn't a very popular thing, and the option for Muppets-themed hockey cards would take McDonald's out of that market since they had already partnered with Upper Deck for their own NHL hockey card sets since 1991-92. They clearly saw value, though, so McDonald's came through with two NHL promotions that intertwined with the products that had already been introduced to thw world through the NHL-Jim Henson Company partnership.

There's no denying McDonald's reach as a restaurant when it comes to their promotions, and it seems the NHL-Jim Henson Company partnership recognized McDonald's market share when it came to marketing their products. Because the NHL-Jim Henson Company partnership owned the rights to the logos, characters, and images used for the pins and hockey cards, transferring those rights to McDonald's for them to produce promotional products would be easy.

Let me asterisk the above by saying that I have zero proof that the NHL-Jim Henson Company partnership identified McDonald's as a delivery method for their brands to the public, but it makes sense logically that they'd go to a bigger distributor and far better promotor after they had some success with InGlasCo and Cardz Distribution. Based on how many Muppets All-Star plush dolls are on the market, it seemed they sold well. As for the Muppetmania game, I can't speak to how well that promotion helped to sell product, but it appears that using the McDonald's Monopoly blueprint for the Muppetmania game was an easy way to adapt a promotional idea for the public.

McDonald's doesn't do 2-for-1 deals, but HBIC is happy to offer that when talking about McDonald's promotions as we saw the Muppets All-Stars plush dolls and the Muppetmania promotions evolve from two other products the NHL and the Jim Henson Company offered. There was likely varying success of all of these products seen above, but there's no denying the effectiveness of the McDonald's marketing machine.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Keep This Joke Going

This isn't going to be a long-winded entry as I'm not really not motivated to write any thought pieces on hockey today, but I did watch the trailer for the new animated comedy, If, that's scheduled for a May release in North America. Directed by John Krasinski, the movie is a live-action/animated feature that stars Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming in live-action roles while Steve Carell Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Louis Gossett Jr. all have voice roles as animated characters. It looks like it could be pretty good as the movie deals with a young girl who gains the ability to see everyone's imaginary friend, but it seems the movie set might have been way too much fun based on a running joke that John Krasinski brought back.

For those who may be wondering about the lede photo, that's a scene from the John Krasinski-directed 2016 movie, The Hollars, where both John Krasinski and Randall Park starred in the film. These two actors have a bit of history together thanks to The Office TV show where Jim (John Kasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) prank Dwight (Rainn Wilson) by hiring Steve (Randall Park) to play the role of Jim. The episode aired on October 4, 2012, so let the hilarity ensue!

The elaborate pranks that the writers of The Office dreamed up were often larger than life, but this one was funny because of how over-the-top it was. Granted, I can't imagine anyone in real-life falling for a prank like this, but the comedy of this prank gets a solid pass here.

Back to the topic du jour, it seems the joke started in The Office is still being celebrated today as seen in the teaser for Paramount's If.

Honestly, this joke has to keep going at random points in the future now. While there are some who struggle to see the comedy in this bit, Krasinski and Park have done a great job in not overusing this bit, allowing it to re-enter the public realm in place one may not expect. As they say, timing is everything, and a bit done in 2012 certainly still has legs in 2024 with the release of If.

For those asking, watch for the Krasinski-directed If, released by Paramount Pictures, in theatres on May 17, 2024. If nothing else, If should be a fun movie for kids!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Who Does This Help?

Hockey fans are rather astute. Many know facts and figures about the game that show their dedication to players and teams while others have spent years going over history to bring forth tidbits of knowledge that are relevant today. One thing that all hockey fans likely will agree on at this point in time is that ads on jerseys aren't going away, and this is becoming more and more obvious with teams selling chunks of jerseys and equipment to interested parties. The PWHL has been using this revenue to help build their brands, but their latest partnership seems a little off in the execution.

Names on the backs of jerseys have been something seen since 1977 in the NHL despite one team's attempt to circumvent the rule implemented at that time. The NHL hasn't deviated from wearing them across the shoulders very often, and that now the traditional place one would find a player's name in almost all leagues. Women's professional hockey has seen names both above and below the numbers depending on which league was being watched, but almost every amateur and university league wears them across the shoulders just as men's and international women's hockey does.

Wearing the name below the number does have some advantages, but a significant disadvantage can clearly be seen in this game action featuring the Connecticut Whale and the Montreal Force.

Of the three players seen in this photo, only Catherine Daoust's name can be read. The other two players' names are indistinguishable thanks to how their jerseys bunch up, and the Connecticut Whale player who appears to have scored has her number partially obscured by her ponytail. Long hair in women's hockey is very real, and I always preferred, as a broadcaster, that the namebars be across the shoulders to help identify players when numbers were hidden by hair.

You may be asking why I'm talking about name placement on jerseys, and it's because the PWHL and Molson announced a multi-year partnership deal today that saw Molson purchase the area across the shoulders where names are normally found, and they'll be putting their logo there. Again, ads on jerseys aren't anything new in the PWHL as companies like Canadian Tire and Air Canada are featured prominently on jerseys, and that revenue is going into the league's coffers. In other words, business as usual.

The problem, however, is that Molson decided to use their advertising buy as a way to sell female empowerment through a new campaign called "See My Name." Beginning on Friday which, coincidentally, is International Women's Day, Molson's name will appear across the shoulders while player names will be moved below the jersey number, citing that player names are "usually covered by the players' hair" which led to Molson "covering its name so hers can be seen."

Montreal and Toronto will be the first to wear the jerseys with the names below the numbers which, I should point out, is being called a "pilot project". The release was quick to note that this move of the names is "a first step of many in Molson's mission to help elevate female hockey players."

You might be saying, "Teebz, all of that sounds good, so why are you complaining? After all, the league gets some additional advertising revenue, and Molson gets some good PR."

My question is why are they doing it now? Where was Molson back in September and October as this league was getting off the ground? Why is Molson only partnering with the PWHL despite their claims of this initiative fostering "greater inclusivity and equality in sports, sending a powerful message that disproportionately represented female athletes deserve to be seen, recognized and celebrated"? And perhaps most importantly, why is this change being made mid-season rather than making it a league-wide change in the off-season?

Hockey fans aren't dumb. Molson joining the PWHL as a jersey sponsor would have been enough of a news release for fans to accept as a good business move, and this faux empowerment garbage would already be built into that sponsorship. If you want to support women's hockey, feel free to dump as much money as you can on the sport, Molson. But don't come at us with this self-serving initiative that gets your logo on TV more. As I stated above, I prefer seeing the names on shoulders so I can figure out who did what when ponytails and longer hair is obscuring the number.

And let's talk about that number situation for a second because a player's number is unique to them while playing for a team or several teams. If one mentions #99, #88, #66, #68, #4, or #9, the names that pop into one's head are likely Gretzky, Lindros, Lemieux, Jagr, Orr, and Howe. It's the same with women's hockey when listing off numbers like #29, #24, #19, #21, and #11. For those who may be wondering, that would be Poulin, Spooner, Jenner, Knight, and Roque. We identify players by their numbers - even moreso when we don't know a player - so which matters more: name or number?

Putting the name on the bottom of the jersey where it can bunch up and be obscured is likely no better than the name being obscured by hair or a ponytail. If Molson wanted to raise the profile of a number of players, they can feature them in commercials, offer free hockey cards of players, and put their numbers in advertising (yes, Spooner's #24 has all the perfect makings for a two-four commercial). There doesn't need to be some campaign launching with two-thirds of the season already played that sees the namebars get moved. That's just dumb, and it really makes no sense when you consider that the players' names are pushed to the lower third of the jersey by a brand normally associated with men.

I'll give Molson a sliver of credit, though, as they already produced one commercial featuring a number of players. Does it actually achieve what it sets out to do? The jury's out on this one, but here's that commercial so you can judge for yourself. Have a watch.


You want to show "greater inclusivity and equality in sports," Molson? Drop some sponsor money on other levels of women's hockey without seeking some sort of reward. The PWHL is a good start if you're trying to change your own image, but this boost has to happen at all levels of women's hockey where equality and inclusiveness matter so much more. You can't do that, though, if you're busy patting yourself on the back. Y'know, where players' names are normally found.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Another Day At "The Office"

I wanted to finish off September with something fun, but I'm posting it here today on the last Friday of September because I've had a bit of a trying week. You likely know the guy to the left as "Jim Halpert" from the sitcom The Office, possibly "Jack Ryan" from Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, maybe as Lee Abbott from A Quiet Place and its sequel, potentially as Reed Richards of The Fantastic Four in upcoming Marvel movies, or less commonly as Mr. Emily Blunt. That's John Krasinski who never played a second in the NHL, but did skate with Joe Thornton, Lyndon Byers, and Rick Middleton of the Boston Bruins!

Before anyone goes back and points out that Mr. Krasinski never suited up for the Bruins, you're technically right. He never wore the jersey in an official NHL game, but he is a Bruins superfan as we saw during the 2019 Stanley Cup Final when he and St. Louis Blues superfan and co-star on The Office Jenna Fischer had a little running feud during that series.

Back to the main reason we're here, Krasinski did skate with those three hockey legends, though. Kraskinski is on the record as stating that his very first commercial that he did as an actor was for US coffee chain Dunkin' Donuts for a contest they were running called "Sports Dreams Instant Win Game". Here's that commercial!


Pretty awesome, right? There's actually a story that John tells in a WIRED Autocomplete Interview where he and Michael Kelly are discussing various roles they played, and he elaborates on acting in his first commercial and what happened during the filming. Here's that interview featuring Krasinski and fellow actor Michael Kelly!

If you rewatch the commercial above, you'll see John's skates in the air after Thornton hits him. If that's where John hurt his knee, I can understand why because that's some height he got on that hit if his skates came up that high!

In any case, I saw that interview today and thought that story was pretty cool if one went back and watched that commercial again. It doesn't sound like there were lifelong friendships made between the then-unknown John Krasinski and the three Bruins on the ice, but perhaps that friendship has now blossomed thanks to John's role on The Office and Joe Thornton's legend in the NHL.

For six years, though, John Krasinski had a memory of Joe Thornton every time he bent his knee. That's gotta be worth something, right?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

It's Ontario's Fault

I've never met Aaron Paul, but it seems like he would be a good guy. His work on Breaking Bad earned him a pile of Emmy nominations and wins, his supporting role in Central Intelligence was solid, and I'm sure he'll work in Hollywood for years to come. Paul's work will usually get me to stop if I see him appear in a program on my TV, but he's starting to be an annoyance rather than a welcome sight on TV thanks to his work with a specific sportsbook and sports betting site whose commercial appears way too often during Canadian sports broadcasts. It's not his fault, though. This problem lies entirely at the feet of province of Ontario.

On June 22, 2021, the Canadian Senate passed Bill C-218 - also called the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act - which amended the Canadian Criminal Code to allow provincial governments to oversee single-event sports betting offerings within their borders. On April 4, 2022, the Ontario government took it one step further as they put its regulated sports betting program in place, allowing sportsbooks to set up shop in Ontario for betting of all kinds on virtually all professional sports. The only one not included was horse racing.

All sportsbooks were required to register with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) prior to advertising their services, and there are 30 sportsbooks registered with AGCO at the time of writing. When it seems like there are too many commercials on TV about sports betting, just remember that those are the tip of the iceberg. It could be a lot worse. However, it's very noticeable during most sports broadcasts, and a lot of people dislike it.

"It's prostitution of what should be valuable time," longtime broadcaster Dave Hodge said of betting segments during intermissions and game setups to Sean Fitz-Gerald of The Athletic.

"It's a big problem," Karl Subban told the CBC about the nine minutes of betting advertising shown during a Leafs playoff game. "Gambling is very addictive. A lot of the marketing is focusing on grabbing the attention of the most vulnerable, the youngest of our population."

"I love to watch sports, but watching them on television today feels like I'm in a casino," former Olympian and University of Toronto professor emeritus Bruce Kidd told CTVNews.ca. "The most serious problem with betting ads is that they accentuate the propensity to bet, and as a result, the addiction to gambling."

They're not the only ones complaining. Many fans have expressed their unhappiness with the volume of betting advertisements during sports broadcasts, people in the media - Roy McGregor's piece in the The Globe and Mail is excellent - have written pieces expressing their digust over the volume of ads, and it has prompted provinces to cry foul where sportsbooks have yet to be registered. Of course, watching sports used to be an escape for some, but it's a whole new battle for recovering gambling addicts.

I get there's a financial windfall for the province of Ontario in allowing sportsbooks to operate in the province. As per the CBC, "Ontario is expected to generate $800 million in gross revenue from sports betting" in 2022 which, assuming it is spent wisely in a provincial budget, could go along way in providing many services and programs needed by Ontario residents. The only problem was that figure was completely fabricated as Geoff Zochodne in Covers.com wrote that a legislative watchdog estimated that sports betting would "generate around $75 million in revenue for the provincial government over the next three years" - "$26 million in net income for 2023-24 and $31 million for 2024-25, or a combined $75 million over three years."

With that kind of disparity between the two figures, one has to wonder where the final numbers landed. The actual figure that came in through the first three months was better than the watchdog estimated as the revenue reported for the first three months was $162 million, but it's still nowhere close to the $800-million figure that was reported in April 2022 by the CBC. If we extrapolate the first-quarter revenues, we're looking at $600-$650 million in revenue, but Ontario's idea that this was going to bring them big chunks of revenue was completely wrong.

Financially, it's not all bad, but it's only 80% of the money that the province figured it would generate. While I get that adding any money to the provincial budget's bottom line is good for programs and services in Ontario, this is a gamble they lost badly based on public opinion and it may force AGCO to ban athletes and celebrities in commercials for sportsbooks and online casinos.

There are a lot of things that can and should be changed about this problem. Just like cigarettes and smoking, maybe all advertising is banned for sportsbooks and online casinos. It's not like any of the tobacco companies have gone bankrupt, and I doubt that these gambling companies would suffer if they fell under the same rules. What's clear is that viewers of games aren't thrilled with the volume of commercials for gambling, recovering gambling addicts struggle with the volume of commercials, and AGCO is reviewing the practices of these gambling companies to ensure that they aren't marketing to or influencing minors to engage in gambling.

Like most things that Ontario Premier Doug Ford touches, the end result is sloppy in its conception, poorly-executed in practice, and generally disliked by a large chunk of the population. If you're sick of seeing Aaron Paul, Wayne Gretzky, Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, or anyone else promoting gambling companies, you're definitely not alone, but there's little that can be done to change that reality.

Thanks for ruining sports broadcasts, Ontario.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 541

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, hits the airwaves at 530pm CT with all sorts of news, notes, information, and chatter about the hockey world as Teebz and Jason take you through the stories that stuck with them this week. This episode will have an all-star game flavour as the NHL and AHL have their weekend events planned for this weekend, but we have other stuff to discuss as well! It should be another busy show tonight at 530pm CT!

Remember this goal? If you do, you're probably old like me, but that's Owen Nolan calling his shot on Dominik Hasek at the 1997 NHL All-Star Game in San Jose. Tonight, Teebz and Jason chat about the NHL All-Star Weekend and how the fun is gone, where we'd improve the game, the problem with having it in Florida, and the reason people generally tune out the game. Beyond that, they chat about the AHL All-Star Game happening this weekend, they wrap up the 2023 Female World Sport School Challenge, they shake their heads at the Vancouver-New York Islanders trade, they celebrate the debuts of Luke Philp and Matt Berlin in the NHL, there's a new ad partner debuting at the NHL All-Star Game, and they chat about TV viewership of NHL games being down in the NHL. We're gonna hustle through some stories to try to squeeze everything in 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 is pretty awesome if you want to listen online. If you're using an Apple device, the player doesn't seem to like Safari yet, so if you want to stream the show I'd recommend Radio Garden to do that as it works nicely with Safari. 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 do use the TuneIn app, you won't be disappointed. 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 talk broken all-star games, an amazing hockey weekend, a head-shaker of a trade, Danny DeVito, a couple of first games, why people aren't watching south of the border, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: February 2, 2023: Episode 541

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

An Unusual Tuesday Night

If there's one thing I hate when listening to the radio, it's advertisements. Commercial breaks on the radio often go far too long, and they break up the radio show to which one is listening in a way that doesn't make for good radio. That's why we load the start and end of The Hockey Show with ads - when we get rolling in a conversation, the last thing we need to do is break the momentum by throwing to a commercial. I brought that same belief to the hockey broadcasts I was involved with in the past, and it will be part of the broadcasts done from Thursday to Sunday at the 2023 Female World Sport School Challenge.

I'm not oblivious, though, to the importance of advertising dollars when it comes to helping out events. The 2023 Female World Sport School Challenge has sponsors, and I know they do an incredible job at providing support, monies, and products to help the tournament be more than just a few games on rinks. There are gifts with which the players go home, food and supplies for teams and volunteers, and general support given that simply escalates this tournament as an elite event, so sponsors play a vital a role in this annual tournament.

Because I recognize the importance of the sponsors for the 2023 FWSSC, I spent the night searching for commercials for the sponsors who have stepped up to sponsor the tournament this year. Being that I dislike running commercials, this effort to find ads was a foreign activity to me, but we'll be playing these during the intermissions as well before and after games in order to give the sponsors enough time on the broadcasts so they feel their investments in the tournament was worth it. Basically, we're helping the FWSSC give its sponsors some free publicity.

I didn't watch much of the Jets and Predators because I was listening to commercials, but a 2-1 setback to the Predators feels like a bit of a let-down. Whatever was plaguing the team on the 2-3-0 road trip needs to get fixed quickly as the Buffalo Sabres visit Winnipeg on Thursday. Laying a beating on the Sabres at home would be a good way to forget the loss tonight.

We're two days from action at the 2023 Female World Sport School Challenge. It feels closer thanks to still having a number of things to do, but the action starts at 12pm CT on Thursday with the Lloydminster PMW Steelers squaring off against the Winnipeg Avros! You can catch all of the action - and ads! - on UMFM's Second Stream at that time as we cover the tournament from start to finish!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

An Interesting Sauce

I was watching hockey this evening as I ate dinner, and there was a Heinz ketchup commercial that came on that stopped me dead in my tracks. I'll warn you now that this article isn't about hockey, but about something I learned about food thanks to the commercial. I'm the last person to tell anyone when to use or when not to use ketchup for their own personal tastes, but I can assure you of a few certainties: I will never put ketchup on eggs, it's a vital component to most barbecue sauces, and I do appreciate ketchup potato chips. The sauce, though, doesn't get used very often in my house unless it's summer and the barbecue is filled with hamburgers and hot dogs.

So why am I talking about ketchup tonight? Well, the Heinz commercial that aired on a US-based television station is below. Listen to the animated young lady's choice of sauce for her spaghetti.

Not gonna lie: I was mortified when I heard this young lady singing about eating Heinz ketchup on spaghetti, and I was even more concerned that her two parental figures or guardians were sitting at a table where this was allowed. Ketchup on spaghetti might be the best way to ruin perfectly good noodles, and I'm concerned that Heinz may be encouraing a form of child abuse by portraying this young lady eating ketchup on spaghetti.

All joking aside, being a bit of a foodie, I had to know if this was a real thing that people did. The sweet nature of ketchup makes it hard for me to put on most savoury items, and spaghetti, in my books, certainly deserves a more robust sauce than sugar, tomato paste, and water. And that's when my world shattered as I found out there's an entire country whose been serving this dish - ketchup on spaghetti - for decades.

According to legend, the dish originated back in 1945 and is credited to Shigetada Irie, the chef of the Hotel New Grand in Yokohama who devised it to feed US soldiers following World War II. Reportedly, Irie named the dish after Naples, Italy thanks to spaghetti's Italian roots, leading to the yoshoku dish - Western cuisine with Japanese influences - of spaghetti tossed in ketchup with bell peppers, onions, and ham or bacon. Today, other ingredients may include sausages, mushrooms, peas, and parmesan cheese.

The market for Japanese cuisine is still popular, so you might be asking if there are pre-made sauces that one can buy rather than making this whole ketchup-based sauce. That answer is "yes" as several Japanese retailers have pre-made sauces such as this one, and the dish has even made its way into mainstream pop culture in places such as the animated Powerpuff Girls, video game Final Fantasy XIV, and as an animated icon for Japanese processed food company Kagome who makes tomato-based products.

I want to be clear that this Japanese dish is far different than what Heinz showed us in the animated advertisement for its ketchup, but there is a small measure of truth regarding people who put ketchup on spaghetti. I have not attempted to make this dish and I'm not sure I want to, but all accounts online of people trying it seems to indicate that it is, indeed, a tasty dish that surprised them with its umami taste. I'd assume that the ketchup would provide a sweetness to the flavour profile with the peppers and onions, so maybe there is something to this spaghetti-in-ketchup dish.

Apparently, ketchup on pasta also happens in places we'd consider more "western" than Japan as well. Sweden will add ketchup to pasta rather than a marinara sauce. Denmark also falls into the ketchup-on-pasta countries, and these two countries rank somewhat behind both China and Indonesia for this phenomenon while being slightly ahead of places like India and United Arab Emirates. Again, I'm not here to tell the peoples of these countries that their pasta sauce choices are wrong, but I simply can't imagine ever pulling the Heinz bottle out if there's a plate of penne or fettucini in front of me.

Let me be the first to say that Heinz promoting the idea of putting ketchup on spaghetti as shown in their commercial may be one of those things I'll never understand. Running that commercial in places like Sweden, Denmark, China, and Japan may get a better reception than in Canada or the US, but Heinz is welcome try to grow their "No Sugar Added" Ketchup product however they like. After all, the Kraft Heinz brand is only worth about $52 billion, so I think they may know something about marketing their products.

I don't know how many of you use ketchup as a pasta sauce, but I'm thinking it's not many. While it can be used in a number of ways, having an animated child sing about putting it directly on top of spaghetti seems like a weird angle to try and sell ketchup with or without sugar. And while I may one day try Spaghetti Napolitan just to see what it's like, I can assure you that I won't be bringing out the Heinz squeeze bottle the next time I make pasta at home.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

A Little History On A Monday

The plaque you see above was unveiled today in Winnipeg by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, an advisory board to the federal government. Normally, this type of ceremony wouldn't be something I'd be writing about since the advistory board spends a lot of time dealing with Canadian history in general, but today they were fairly close to HBIC Headquarters so I went on a trek. The historical people they were commemorating were the Winnipeg Falcons Hockey Club, the first Canadian team to capture the very first gold medal offered in the sport of ice hockey at the Olympics!

Formally unveiled today by Colonel Dave Grebstad, author of A Confluence of Destinies: The Saga of the Winnipeg Falcons, and Cathie Eliasson, representing Winnipeg Falcons descendants, the plaque will rest at the First Lutheran Church at 580 Victor Street just west of city's downtown area. Colonel Grebstad who nominated the Falcons for this recognition by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada in 2018, and the government agency agreed with the story of Canada's first Olympic gold medalists in hockey.

Some may ask why a church is the site where the plaque is being displayed. Don Kuryk, president of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame, had a very clear answer as to why the Victor Street institution is the home to this commemoration of the Falcons, stating, "A lot of the players, in their youth, attended church here, were married here, some of them that passed away had their funeral services here, their weddings here."

The street intersects with Sargent Avenue in Winnipeg which was highlighted in Historica Canada's Heritage Minute commercial. You may recognize the man narrating and playing Falcons head coach Gordon Sigurjonsson as that's Letterkenny's Jared Keeso!


As Jared stated in the commerical, the proud Icelandic-Canadian players who made up the team valiantly enlisted to help Canada in World War I in 1916, joining the 223rd Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. As mentioned above, Frank Thorsteinson and George Cumbers never returned from battle of the six Falcons who saw action, but they were remembered every time the Falcons stepped on the ice after returning to Winnipeg in 1919.

From there, the team went on a special run of success, starting with the 1920 Allan Cup that was won over the Selkirk Fishermen by a score of 5-3. The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association chose the Falcons to represent Canada at the 1920 Antwerp Olympic Games in ice hockey as the tournament was played between April 23-29. The Falcons defeated Czechoslovakia, the United States, and Sweden by a combined 29-1 score en route to the gold medal. The Falcons, with their newest accolade hanging proudly around their necks, were welcomed home to Winnipeg in May 1920 to a grand parade and celebration, accolades from all levels of government, and a banquet in their honour where they were presented with gold watches for their achievement on the Olympic stage.

Because of their Icelandic ties, the plaque above is written in both of Canada's official langauges - English and French - as well as Icelandic to honour the Falcons. The plaque reads,

"The Winnipeg Falcons Hockey Club, founded through the merger of two Icelandic Canadian teams in 1909, rose from a community organization in the West End to become Canadian and Olympic champions. In 1920, the Falcons won the Allan Cup after beating a strong University of Toronto team in Canada’s senior amateur championship. The same year, they represented Canada in Antwerp, Belgium, where they won the first Olympic gold medal for hockey. The skill and sportsmanship of the Icelandic Canadians who dominated this club, named for Iceland’s national bird, have been a source of pride for people of Icelandic descent across the country."

So there's a quick history lesson for today compliments of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada installing a new plaque at the First Lutheran Church in Winnipeg. It's pretty cool to see the Falcons remembered this way, but we shouldn't forget that Team Canada wore a replica of the Falcons' sweaters during the 2004 World Cup of Hockey in Montreal against Team USA where Canada won 2-1. They were also worn in Winnipeg in a World Junior Championship exhibition game by Team Canada against Finland on December 20th, 2004 before the team headed south to Grand Forks for the tournament.

Perhaps in one of the best "heritage" honours, Team Iceland's national jerseys also pay homage to the Winnipeg Falcons as you can see the falcon's head in the logo and the little maple leaf at the bottom! How cool is that?

The Falcons' plaque will stand forever in Winnipeg to serve as a reminder of this team's incredible accomplishment following their bravery and sacrifice in World War I. Spending some time learning history on Monday when it comes to information like this is something I'd happily do again and again.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Beggars Can't Be NHL Teams

The calamity for the NHL that is the Arizona Coyotes continues to be roundly mocked for its arena deal with Arizona State University, but the layers of absurdity that the deal is showing as new details are revealed have to be a new low for any and all NHL teams past or present. The center ice logo will see both team represented there, and I mocked up a fun idea above for what center ice may look like once the ice is installed at the still-being-constructed rink on the ASU grounds. It's the rest of the deals whose details make the Arizona Coyotes look like the amateurs in this arrangement, and I'm going to give Arizona State full kudos right now for being the adults in the room when it comes to this shared rink agreement.

Full credit needs to be given to The Athletic's Sean Shapiro and Katie Strang as both have been amazing in their reporting on the dealings between the Coyotes and ASU. While they did have the detail incorrect on the Coyotes being prevented from putting their logo on the ice as clarified by José M. Romero of the Arizona Republic, that's not even the part that people should be keeping an eye on because the agreement legitimately paints the Coyotes into a corner when it comes to being a good roommate.

Among Shapiro's and Strang's findings, the deal includes:

• If, at any point during the agreement for the Coyotes to play at ASU, there are finding that the Coyotes or owner Alex Merulo fail to uphold "widely held principles of public morality, failing to conduct its business affairs with a high degree of integrity and honesty and/or failing to act as a good corporate citizen," ASU can walk away from the deal with no loss to them. This includes being the "subject of adverse publicity, contempt, scandal or ridicule for violating" any or all of the above clause as per Bryan Murphy of The Sporting News.
• Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo is prohibited from making any oral or written statement that disparages ASU or OVG facilities and portrays them falsely and negatively.
• In what will likely bother the NHL and its major partner, Anheuser-Busch, with Bud Light being the "Official Beer" of the NHL in the US, all alcohol and beer advertisements must be approved by Arizona State before they can be installed.
• The Coyotes are prohibited from including any of their other normal in-ice branding as was seen at Gila River Arena, their former home. On-ice advertising rights are owned by ASU.
• The Coyotes are prohibited from digitally cover any the ASU logo on their broadcasts.
• The Coyotes must include references to the arena in all television or radio advertising for each Coyotes home game and the Coyotes cannot make or allow the creation of any video or broadcast in which the arena name on the ice is changed or obscured.
• ASU can object to any advertisement that is "not in good taste or is otherwise not in compliance" with any of ASU's rules.
• Only Arizona State will receive the revenue from naming rights for the arena.
• The Coyotes will not be permitted to sell any temporary advertising that is a competitor or in the same category as any advertiser that has a deal with Arizona State.

Putting all of those restrictions together ensures that Arizona State University and its partners will benefit greatly from this deal with the Coyotes. Again, the Coyotes came into the negotiation as beggars, so no one expected them to come out with the upper hand. However, I don't think anyone saw ASU exerting this kind of power over an NHL team when it comes to advertising, and it makes you wonder why the NHL is willing to go through with this, especially if Bud Light, the NHL's partner, cannot advertise their products during an NHL game.

Having been through a team relocating, I can honestly say that it rips your heart out, but this deal that the Coyotes have made makes you wonder how successful they could be in a place like Houston. If Arizona State plays their home games on Friday and Saturday, forcing the Coyotes on the road to into other times, it's already not optimal for the Coyotes. Adding the restrictions above regarding "good behaviour" and advertising now has me asking if Alex Merulo has ever been in a contract negotiation in his life.

I'm shocked that Gary Bettman is allowing this charade to continue in the desert. I'm surprised that the NHL Board of Governors hasn't stepped in and forced Merulo's hand in finding a better place to play whether in Arizona or not. Unfathomably, the Coyotes feel they can attract free agents to their team when they can't even make a deal for sponsors without ASU's approval. Somehow, this entire circus of an NHL franchise continues to operate.

I get that the beggars can't be choosers when it comes to needing a place to play next season and beyond for the Coyotes, but the Coyotes got schooled by a school whose administration is taking full advantage of the Coyotes' desperation. It would be wise for the NHL to simply drop out of the Arizona sports scene and move elsewhere, but it seems that they're going to see this one to the end whether the Coyotes implode or eventually land in Tempe at an arena of their own.

At this point after being embarrassed by an NCAA school, begging Tempe city council might be the only tactic that the Coyotes have left at their disposal.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Business As Usual?

It occurred to me today that yesterday's article that talked of the IIHF condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Belarus' support of the invasion may have effects on those countries' current involvement in the KHL. If you hadn't heard, Finnish club Jokerit announced that they were going to skip the KHL playoffs in protest of the invasion of Ukraine, and Latvian club Dinamo Riga announced they too were done for the KHL season - and maybe longer - in protest of the invasion. With the KHL about to start its playoffs, this kind of news isn't what any league wants to hear, so let's take a peek at how the KHL is being affected by Vladimir Putin's decision.

Le Fin(n)

We'll start with the Finnish club as Jokerit saw all sorts of news surrounding the team from the past few days, some of it affecting the club directly.

Officially, Jokerit finished in second-place in the KHL's Western Conference this season, so they were definitely in the mix for the playoffs. As they prepared to host the seventh-place finisher later this week, Russia made the decision to invade Ukraine which sparked outrage across the globe. That outrage was seen in Finland, and the official fan club of Jokerit, Eteläpääty ry, demanded the club sever ties with the KHL over Russia's decision to invade Ukraine on February 22, citing "immeasurable damage" to the club if they continue to play KHL games.

Jokerit hadn't responded when they took the next hit as one of the club's major sponsors, Barona Employment Agency, pulled its sponsorship from the club with CEO Lassi Määttä stating, "We do not want to be involved in supporting the activities of the Jokers, who play in the Russian KHL League. This is our statement on the current situation in Ukraine and Russia's military operations there."

The pain continued for Jokerit as Finnish beverage giant Hartwall, who owns the naming rights to Jokerit's arena, also announced that they were considering pulling their sponsorship of the team and arena due to the team's involvement in the Russian hockey league.

With major sponsors leaving or threatening to leave and with fans demanding the team do right, Jokerit made the decision to step away from the KHL playoffs in support of Ukraine. The second-ranked team in the Western Conference will not play in the Gagarin Cup Playoffs, and we'll see what happens next season with respect to Jokerit's inclusion if Russia's aggression towards its neighbours continues. Jokerit can't afford to lose major sponsors, so this will be something to watch as time marches forward.

We're Out

Just as the KHL was absorbing the news of Jokerit calling it a season prematurely, shocking news came out of the Latvian capital as Dinamo Riga announced that they too were supporting Ukraine, but they went a step further that Jokerit in withdrawing from the KHL entirely!

"The decision to withdraw from KHL has been made, thus expressing a clear position of the club management," said Juris Savickis, chairman of Dinamo Riga's supervisory board. "In such a military and humanitarian crisis, we do not see any opportunity for cooperation with the Kontinental Hockey League."

Dinamo Riga, for what it's worth, missed the playoffs as they finished in 12th-place in the 12-team Western Conference, so this doesn't have the same effect on the KHL in the present as Jokerit's withdrawal from the playoffs. If this is a permanent withdrawal, though, it speaks volumes to Latvia's views on Russia and its invasion of an ally in Ukraine. We'll see how the story unfolds once this season ends, but Dinamo Riga may have made the biggest statement regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine to date.

The Ruble In Rubble

With Russia facing an economic crisis thanks to the international sanctions they're now under, the cost of paying players in American dollars suddenly got a lot more costly. There are foreigners who play in the KHL, so if they negotiated in rubles, the value of those contracts also took a serious hit thanks to ruble's falling value. Needless to say, there were some players who decided that it was time to move on from their KHL squads.

Kenny Agostino of Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo and Geoff Platt of Salavat Yulaev Ufa were two names that I had heard that terminated their contracts with their respective clubs. Nick Bailen of Traktor Chelyabinsk and Nick Shore of Novosibirsk Sibir confirmed that they had terminated their contracts with those two teams while Finnish-born Markus Granlund walked away from Salavat Yulaev Ufa and Shane Prince left Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg as well.

There will be some large holes left in the lineups of those clubs who are competing in the Gagarin Cup Playoffs with these players choosing to walk away from their deals, and I'm not sure how the KHL will be able to attract foreigners to play in the league with the ruble being virtually worthless at this point.

More Dollars Lost

The effect that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is having on players within Russia is being felt, and it's now being felt on players who are playing in the NHL as CCM announced on Monday that they'll no longer use any Russian NHL players in any global marketing initiatives. While contracts will be honoured for legal reasons with stars like Alexander Ovechkin, don't expect to see Ovechkin or his Russian compatriots in future commercials or ads for the company. That would include both Evgeni Malkin and Dmitry Orlov who are also under contract with CCM.

"We are very sad to witness, like the rest of the world, what is happening in Ukraine," CCM chief executive Marrouane Nabih wrote in an email to TSN. "Although Mr. Ovechkin is not responsible for the Russian government's actions, we took the decision to not use him (or any Russian player) on any global CCM communication at this point."

Alex Ovechkin is also being dropped by MassMutual, a life insurance company, from their commerical that began running in October. A spokesperson for MassMutual told ESPN that "the ad is no longer on the air" and has been removed from their YouTube videos as well.

The impact the Russian invasion of Ukraine is having on Russians is now hitting the pocketbooks and wallets of their most famous sports stars, and I can't see them supporting Putin's vision of Russia for much longer.

A Tiny Bit Of Good News?

Ak Bars Kazan appears to be maturing in a big way as they unveiled a new logo today, replacing the cartoonish logo they've used for so long. In what seems to be the trend, the Snow Leopards appear to be aiming for a more aggressive leopard on the logo while incorporating a few other elements that may not be as well-known. The tulip in the logo, for example, is one of those "why did they include that" things as we rarely see flowers on hockey jerseys. Luckily for us, they explained the new logo!

As per their statement from the KHL website, "The new emblem is an image of a white leopard on a shield in the form of a tulip, one of the main symbols of Tatarstan. The logo is made in the traditional club colors - green, white, red - with the addition of a gray tint, corresponding to the natural color of the snow leopards. Together with the main logo, the club will introduce an alternative emblem in the form of a paw, repeating the shape of a tulip, and a new lettering. A corporate font has also been adopted, which includes three alphabets: Russian, Tatar and English. The logo and corporate identity were developed by the Quberten studio."

Imagery aside, I kinda like the new logo. The snow leopard's gray is a nice addition to the cat image and it does make the snow leopard look more like its feline inspiration. The tulip/cat paw imagery doesn't really mean a whole lot outside of the team explaining and/or rationalizing it, and I'd almost prefer a round logo like they currently use with the cat's face inside a la the Florida Panthers' alternate jerseys. Either way, though, I think the new logo is an improvement on the old one, so call me a fan of the new look for Ak Bars Kazan!

If you thought the sanctions imposed on Russia by the world affected only those living in Russia, it's pretty clear that it's had an effect on a number of people and teams who aren't Russian at all. This only goes to show how interconnected we are in this world and how the effects of someone's decisions or actions affect so many other people.

While these international sanctions have certainly affected the Russian government and people, we shouldn't forget why they were imposed. The decisions made by the leadership of Russia are destroying Ukraine, but are also decimating the KHL, affecting its most popular hockey stars across the planet, and tarnishing the league's reputation for players who may have considered it an option.

Let it be known: nothing good ever comes from starting wars.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!