Oilers fans are hoping this isn't going to be a common occurrence, but goaltender Frederik Andersen will start the season on the shelf after being injured during an off-season training session. He'll be joined by defenceman Alec Regula and forwards Mattias Janmark and Matt Savoie as players who miss training camp with injuries, but that one-year, $2.8-million contract that Andersen signed to stabilize Edmonton's goaltending will be tested in October as the Oilers are forced to start the season with a netminding tandem that is missing their big catch in free agency.
There were no reports on what may be ailing Andersen as the start of the season nears, but one has to wonder if the heavy workload he endured through the playoffs had something to do with his current injury. At the time, it was reported as a knee injury, and that should have fans worried as goalies generally need knees that work well.
Of course, this comes on the heels of Andersen missing time in late October 2024 with a lower-body issue which, eventually, required knee surgery in November 2024, and that injury kept him out for roughly three months before returning in January 2025. He practiced for a week with the Hurricanes before the team decided to place him on injured reserve again, limiting him to just 22 games in 2024-25.
Andersen is 36 years-old so he's not getting younger, and repeated "lower-body injuries" that he's had over the course of his career don't heal as fast. I respect that the Oilers saw him as an upgrade to their goaltending situation, but there's a reason why the Hurricanes went with Brandon Bussi over re-signing Frederik Andersen, and a lot of it has to do with being younger, cheaper, and more durable. That's not to say Andersen can't recover and help Edmonton win, but Andersen played just 107 games in the last four seasons for the Hurricanes.
As it stands, the Edmonton Oilers will start the season with Tristan Jarry and Devon Levi as their goaltending tandem, and Frederik Andersen will work to get himself ready for a late-October or early-November debut assuming all goes well. If the Oilers get the Tristan Jarry who sported an .858 save percentage in 19 appearances last year, the month of October could be rough. Devon Levi has yet to prove he can be an NHL goalie, so the Oilers are going to have to hope that Andersen recovers quickly from whatever this injury is.
Even if his recovery gets him back in the lineup by the start of November, he'll need some time to be game-ready as he's scheduled to miss all of training camp and the exhibition games that the Oilers play. With fifteen games in November alone, the Oilers may need all three goalies healthy if they're going to manage each one's minutes.
The Oilers will be on the road from October 31 to November 3 where they play the Islanders and Rangers back-to-back before finishing off the trip against the Devils. They return home for a game against the Ducks on November 5 that starts a four-games-in-seven-days run, and then they hit the road for six games in nine nights between November 14 and 22. If the Oilers or Andersen wanted to be thrown into the fire after his recovery, the November schedule might be that fire.
I don't know who placed the curse on Connor McDavid and/or Leon Draisaitl, but they're going to have to hope that Jarry and Levi can hold the fort while Andersen is on the mend. If the losses start piling up before Andersen's expected return, it may be too deep of a hole to dig out of when it comes to making the playoffs this season.
With the regular season coming to a close in the "land down under", six teams would know who was playing whom next week in the AIHL Playoffs. They're competing for the trophy to the left - the Goodall Cup - which was most recently won in 2025 by the Melbourne Ice. There were interesting games played this weekend with playoff spots on the line, and the defending champions were one of those teams. With every team approaching its 30th game of the season, let's take a look at who qualified to play next week, which teams earned byes to the semifinal, and which teams are the likely favorite to play in the one-game, winner-takes-all final on August 30 at O'Brien Icehouse!
Newcastle Northstars
We'll start with the Northstars who have seemingly been at the top of the AIHL standings all season long. The Northstars needed a win to guarantee themselves a top-two finish, and two wins would lock up the top spot in the AIHL. They were facing the eight-place Central Coast Rhinos and the seventh-place Sydney Bears who were fighting for their playoff lives. Would they earn the top seeding?
The Rhinos weren't about to roll over and allow Newcastle to have three points for free as the teams were tied at 0-0 through 20 minutes of play. Two quick goals by the Rhinos before the second period was five minutes old put the Northstars back on their heels a bit, but they'd get one of those back 56 seconds after the Rhinos' second goal. The second period would end in that 2-1 score with Central Coast needing just 20 more minutes for a big win.
Good teams find a way to win, though, and the Northstars would draw even when Evgenii Skachkov scored his 40th goal of the season midway through the third period, and Aziz Baazzi pushed Newcastle ahead by a 3-2 score with his goal with just over five minutes remaining. The Rhinos simply couldn't find an answer to that goal as Newcastle took the 3-2 game and moved closer to securing first-overall in the standings. Big shout-out to Rhinos goaltender Anand Oberoi who made 55 stops in the loss and deserved better.
Sunday's game against the Bears was made a little easier based on other scores on Saturday, and the Northstars needed just a win in regulation or in extra time to secure top spot. Despite the Bears jumping out to a 3-0 lead through 20 minutes, the Northstars found the back of the net in the second period, but still trailed 5-3 when the horn sounded. Just as they did one before, though, they crushed dreams with a five-goal third period to capture the AIHL's top spot with an 8-5 win over the Sydney Bears for their 21st win.
Canberra Brave
The Brave had a shot at wrapping up first-place with wins and a little help, but we know the Northstars already had secured a share of first-place by Saturday evening. The Brave also needed to win to hold off the Melbourne Mustangs who had one remaining game, and that was against this Brave team. Canberra controlled their own destiny in this weekend's games, so could they capture a bye to the semifinal?
Canberra had the pleasure of dealing with the sixth-place Melbourne Ice on Saturday, and the Ice were battling for their own playoff lives as they held the final playoff spot. After a first period that saw Melbourne take a 2-1 lead followed by a scoreless second period, the Brave fell behind 3-1 before scoring twice in the final 35 seconds of the game to push this game to overtime at a 3-3 score! Dominic Canic and Justin Maylan were the heroes there, but this game wasn't done.
Overtime solved nothing, so a shootout was needed to find a winner. Ice netminder Tatsunoshin Ishida stopped both of the Brave's first two shooters while David Booth scored for the Ice. Melbourne's Kolton Shindle would end this game as the third Ice shooter when he beat
Joel Hasselman, giving the Ice a 4-3 shootout win over the Brave! The shootout loss pushed the Brave ahead of the Melbourne Mustangs by one point, but Sunday's game now loomed large when it came to determining second-place in the AIHL! See below for Sunday's game!
Melbourne Mustangs
Melbourne already knew that they could not catch the Northstars following Newcastle's win on Saturday, so second-place was the goal for the Mustangs. With the Brave ahead by one point, the Mustangs were in must-win mode as a regulation or extra-time win would push them past the Brave and into second-place. The Brave, for their part, also had to win as a loss would allow Melbourne to leap past them, but an extra-time loss would see Melbourne move into second-place by virtue of total wins. There was high-stakes hockey drama on Sunday afternoon at the O'Brien Icehouse in Victoria, Australia!
The Brave found themselves reeling after another slow start as they trailed by a 3-0 score at the end of 20 minutes, but they'd score three goals of their own to put the Mustangs on their heels at the end of the second period. After Spencer Cox put the Brave up 4-3 just 53 seconds into the final frame, the two teams would battle for the next 18 minutes until Cox was sent to the sin bin for holding. On the power-play, Mustangs defender Brody Crane fired a wrist shot that got past Joel Hasselman and dented twine with 30.6 seconds remaining, and this game was tied at 4-4 and heading to extra time!
In overtime, the Brave were cursed by another penalty as Casey Kubara was sent off for tripping with 92 seconds remaining in the game. Knowing they had to win to secure second-place, the Mustangs threw caution to the wind and brought goaltender Noah Giesbrecht for a fifth attacker. Would this gamble pay off for the Mustangs?
Defender Philippe Caron send the Melbourne crowd home happy as he tees up his twelfth goal of the season to give the Mustangs the 5-4 victory over the Brave and, more importantly, moves the Mustangs into second-place in the AIHL standings! What a comeback!
Perth Thunder
The Thunder knew they would either be in fourth-, fifth-, or sixth-place as the season wound down thanks to the gap that opened up in the standings between the top-three teams and themselves. Thanks to a few key wins down the stretch, Perth only needed one win this weekend to lock up fourth-place. With a pair of games against the last-place Adelaide Adrenaline, Perth knew what it had to do.
Perth grabbed a 1-0 lead through the first period on Saturday before the teams traded goals in the second period. The Thunder would score two shorthanded goals and a power-play goal in the third period, however, to salt this game away as the 5-1 victory moved them to 48 points where none of the Sydney Ice Dogs, the Sydney Bears, nor the Melbourne Ice could catch them in the standings.
That made Sunday's game against the Adrenaline all for naught, but the youngsters who make up Adelaide's roster showed up to close out their season with a win! The Adrenaline built a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes and a 5-0 lead through 40 minutes en route to a 5-1 victory for their third win of the season and something to build on for the 2027 season! Perth, however, will be the fourth-seeded team.
Sydney Ice Dogs
The Sydney Ice Dogs controlled their own destiny going into the final weekend of play. They wanted to win both, of course, to give them the best chance of making the playoffs, but they could also use help when it came to the Sydney Bears and the Melbourne Ice. The Ice and Bears, thanks to scheduling, had just one game remaining on their calendar, so the Ice Dogs had the advantage here. All they had to do was get ahead of Melbourne, and they'd bump the defending champions out of the playoff picture! Could they actually do that? Two games against the ninth-place Brisbane Lightning certainly helps!
Rarely do I get to say that these two teams combined for 36 goals this weekend, but things went a little crazy in Brisbane between the Ice Dogs and Lightning. Saturday night saw Sydney establish a 5-2 lead in the first period, and it's a lead they would not relinquish despite Brisbane;'s best efforts in a 13-10 victory! That win put them a point back of the Ice after Melbourne's shootout win, so there was more work to do on Sunday if the Ice Dogs wanted in on the playoffs.
If you thought that the coaches may have had a chat with their players about playing defence, think again. The Lightning built a 4-1 lead through 23 minutes of play, but the Ice Dogs knew the stakes of this game. They rattled off seven goals in just over 27 minutes of play while only surrendering one more, and the Ice Dogs defeated the Brisbane Lightning by an 8-5 score to leapfrog the idle Melbourne Ice into a playoff spot! Other games still needed to be completed to know where the Ice Dogs would ultimately finish, but Sydney punched their ticket to the playoffs with this win over Brisbane!
Sydney Bears
The Sydney Bears were scoreboard watching when it came to the Ice and Ice Dogs. Their last game was on Sunday against the Northstars, so they were hoping that Brisbane could do them a favour and keep the Ice Dogs from climbing the standings. What made Sunday's game weird is that the Bears knew what their status would be after Melbourne's game on Saturday, and because they actually had a 0.5-point lead over the Ice in the standings thanks to a weird decision made by the AIHL. In short, the Bears were already in the playoffs thanks to that half-point regardless of what the Ice did on Saturday.
As we saw above, the Northstars ended the Bears' season on a losing note by an 8-5 setback, but that loss was also more costly than just a loss in the standings. The loss allowed the Ice Dogs to jump the Bears in the standings as well, leaving the Ice Dogs in fifth-place and the Bears in sixth-place. The defending champions in the Melbourne Ice were officially eliminated by the Ice Dogs' win on Sunday.
The Playoff Picture
With the six teams officially known for the playoffs, the AIHL released the following graphic for fans to follow over the next two weekends.
The Perth Thunder and the Sydney Ice Dogs will meet next Friday with the winner moving on to play the Newcastle Northstars on Saturday while the Canberra Brave and Sydney Bears will meet on Friday with the winner of that game earning the right to play the Melbourne Mustangs on Saturday. Obviously, the winners of the semifinal games will meet in the final on Sunday, August 30 at 2pm Australian time, and that game will be broadcast on ESPN!
There's no doubt that playoff hockey is the best hockey, but, when playoff lives are on the line, heroes emerge and bold teams prevail. We saw the Mustangs and the Ice Dogs win their way into better playoff seedings, and now we'll see which of the six remaining AIHL teams can win their way to championship glory on August 30! Three-straight wins is all that stands between one team and a celebration!
Swiss hockey league fans will likely recognize the smiling face to the left as long-time Swedish star Fanny Rask who played with HC Ambrì-Piotta women's team in the PostFinance women's league in Switzerland. Fask had a solid season last year as she finished eleventh in Swiss League scoring, but the HC Ambrì-Piotta won't benefit from her presence on their roster or anyone else's presence on that roster after they decided to withdraw from the PostFinance Women's League for the 2026-27 season. As a result of that decision, the league will operate with seven teams this season after last season's fourth-place team cited a lack of prospects as the reason they would be unable to field a team.
As you may recall, SC Langenthal already shut down its program at the end of the 2025-26 season, and the SWHL-A league decided to promote Lausanne HC Féminin from the SWHL-B league to take Langenthal's spot. The eight-team schedule was released on July 3, 2026 with HC Ambrì-Piotta slotted in for the full season, but it seems things changed dramatically over the last month in Ambri.
"In recent weeks, the club has made every possible effort to complete the squad and create the necessary conditions to approach the season in a serious, sustainable manner that meets sporting expectations. Despite these efforts, it has not been possible to find a sufficient number of players to assemble a suitable squad."
I'm not saying that the growth of the PWHL is hurting European leagues, but seeing one of the better SWHL teams close the doors on this season isn't good. HC Ambrì-Piotta did note in their statement that this isn't the end for the Swiss women's club, stating,
"The club will immediately begin work to examine the sporting, organizational, and financial prerequisites necessary for a potential return to the National League B starting the following season. The goal will be to develop a solid and sustainable project that promotes the players and creates concrete prospects for the future of women's ice hockey in the blue and white."
Um, yay? The Ambrì-Piotta will voluntarily join the SWHL-B as they rebuild, but how do they attract talent to do that if they couldn't attract talent to play in Switzerland's top women's league? I'll let the powers-that-be who run HC Ambrì-Piotta answer that question, but I would guess that there are a pile of Canadian and American university graduates who would have jumped at the opportunity to join HC Ambrì-Piotta if given the chance. But we'll never know now.
As it stands, Lausanne HC's debut in the SWHL-A will be pushed back to September 13 thanks to HC Ambrì-Piotta's absence while the ZSC Lions will have their home-opener postponed until September 20 for the same reason. The full schedule can be found here, but it looks like two teams will have a bye every weekend this season with the empty slots once occupied by the HC Ambrì-Piotta squad.
Losing two teams in the span of four months doesn't make the SWHL-A stronger, and it appears that the SWHL-A will look to backfill these absences in their league by eliminating the relegation playoff between the PostFinance Women's League and the SWHL-B. It seems the top SWHL-B will only be promoted to bring the SWHL-A back to eight teams. Whether or not that relegation playoff is resumed in 2027-28 will have to be seen, but it feels like the SWHL-A is on shaky ground right now when it comes to the health of the league.
Here's hoping that HC Ambrì-Piotta can get their situation sorted out because the SWHL at all levels needs stable teams. Swiss hockey is good hockey and it shouldn't be overlooked, but eliminating teams makes finding roster spots that much harder. HC Ambrì-Piotta should have a full roster, but they'll reset and start over next season.
I'm not sure what else can be said or done for the Pederal Prospects Hockey League to save the league and its member teams from itself. The schedule was released on Friday to little fanfare despite the interest the league believes it has, and I went looking to see if the league was going to take baby steps forward with their newly-expanded map to help the financial situations of a number of teams. As stated, there are some massive distances between franchises this season that a bus ride simply won't cover based on time.
I went digging through the schedule, and one series jumped out at me almost immediately. The Danbury Hat Tricks, located in Danbury, Connecticut, host the Stockton Thunder on March 26 and 27 in a weekend series. Nothing about that should be surprising as it makes sense financially to have teams located 2930 miles apart play multiple games against one another in one trip. Crossing four time zones isn't easy, so you'd expect Stockton to get some "adjustment" time when it comes to bodies adjusting for the time difference, right?
Except you already know that's not the case with the FPHL.
Stockton inexplicably hosts the as-yet-unnamed Oceanside franchise on Wednesday, March 24 in what will be an evening-scheduled game, meaning they will likely need to charter a plane for the trip to Connecticut for the Friday contest against Danbury. There are no commercial flights that fly directly into Danbury that leave from Stockton, and the closest solution would be to Hartford. There is no direct flight from Stockton to Hartford, so the team will need to fly from San Francisco if a direct commercial flight is wanted.
Of course, it's possible that Stockton flies out to the east coast and spends a couple of weeks there playing against teams, but that's also not the case in looking at the schedule. Stockton is due back for April 2 when they host the Indiana Sentinels, and I doubt they're going to be taking a 43-hour bus trip back home after playing the Hat Tricks. The FPHL just went from a bus league to a national league that requires plane travel in one summer due to inexplicable decisions.
If you're thinking, "This is a mess," you're not alone on that.
If you're the Minnesota Northern Lights franchise, you have to hope that every game sells out with the number of California trips that the team will make. According to the schedule, Minnesota visits Oceanside on October 23 and 25. They do not visit either of Stockton or Fresno on that trip. Minnesota returns to California to play Stockton on November 25 before playing Fresno on November 27 and 28, but they don't visit Oceanside on that trip. The Northern Lights then go home to play Stockton on December 4 and 5 before going back to Fresno for games on December 11 and 12, but they don't visit Stockton or Oceanside in that visit. Who is designing this schedule?
Unless this league has a pile of new investors with deep pockets, the scheduling for the FPHL is ludicrous. Seemingly intelligent road trips are ignored and additional unnecessary travel is scheduled all over the place despite the FPHL specifically saying they'd do what they could to reduce unnecessary travel in a previous press release.
Just ignore that part of the press release because they really didn't mean it. They only published it for optics. Unnecessary travel is, apparently, necessary, especially for the Frontier Division teams.
We saw two teams leave the FPHL after the proposal of this California experiment, and I suspect there may be more teams who question the necessity of including California if it blows up their travel budgets. Minnesota makes three trips to California in three months to play seven road games, and Stockton flies across the continental US for two road games before coming home. Make it make sense.
There may be far less "unnecessary travel" next season if FPHL teams fold or abandon the league this season due to rising costs. Is that worth the cost of an expansion experiment? I guess we'll find out!
The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, is doing a little clean-up tonight as there are a pile of stories that we said we'd tackle on previous shows and never got around to discussing. With hockey news seemingly being hot off the presses each week, things change quickly when deciding what topics to cover. Add in the fun we've had meeting and chatting with some of the great contestants on Survivor: NHL Playoffs and it makes some of the stories far less important. However, they still need to be discussed at some point, so our hosts will engage in a little housekeeping tonight and get all of these random stories off the books! We're going all over the place with stories tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!
Tonight, Teebz and Jason will flip a coin over who sends Buffalo home after scheduling conflicts with Fiona prevented us from chatting with her. Tyler will drop in for an exit inverview for the Colorado Avalanche. Travis is off on an adventure, so he gets to skip Montreal's exit interview tonight, but he's clearing his schedule for next week. After those get done, our hosts will begin the housekeeping with a discussion about Hockey Canada's women's program making changes, an old ECHL team is new again, a discussion on the Hamilton Hammers, the USHL expanding, the Dallas Stars trying to bully their way to a new arena, the 2026 Spengler Cup schedule, and anything else we may have missed from our notes over the past few weeks. It's another busy show with lots to discuss, so lock in 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 with Tyler before looking at big changes, new identities, bad logos, bad expansion, ridiculous owners, fun schedules, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!
The image of the screen to the left likely isn't something that people will recongize instantaneously, but that will be what I'll be looking it for the next six days. It won't be continuous over those days, but there will be a serious chunk taken out of the time I can watch hockey as the home schedule get underway for the professional baseball season. The image to the left is from a program called Trackman that tracks every ball put in play from the moment it leaves the pitcher's hand to the moment the play is concluded in the field. For stats people, what you're looking at are the stats from a fairly generic change-up that broke down and in from a slightly-elevated three-quarters delivery for a strike.
All that aside, that's what I'll be doing tonight through Sunday as the professional ball team has its home opener tonight as part of a six-game homestand. With the Western Conference Final starting tomorrow, this is going to make watching hockey a little difficult. I guess I'm relying on hightlight shows, online coverage, and game recaps for the next week in order for me to stay informed.
I fully understand that there is always some overlap when it comes to the various professional sports seasons, but the NHL has decided to add two more games next season to its schedule. Yes, they lose the three-week break that was needed for the Olympics this season and the preseason is being reduced to just four games, but do I really need to see an extra game between the Jets and Stars next year?
Frankly, the NHL season is too long as it is when it starts mid-September with preseason games and doesn't finish until mid-June when the Stanley Cup Final is concluded. I understand that some people enjoy every second of it, but I watch other leagues because the NHL season seems to drag on forever. This has allowed me to appreciate other leagues like the ECHL, the AIHL, the EIHL, and the DEL more. They do things a little differently which is needed.
I have zero ability to change anything despite my grumbling, but the tail has been wagging the dog for a while now. I understand the NHL is a business, but I'm close to just wanting the season to end. I'd love to see the NHL carve a month of mean-nothing games out of their schedule, and have the playoff start in mid-March rather than mid-April. We'd end up awarding the Stanley Cup in May rather than June. Give me a May long weekend Stanley Cup celebration, please!
All that aside, I'm off to the ballpark tonight for my first of six-straight shifts where I track 300-or-more plays. I'll be checking the ECHL website for updates on the Fort Wayne-Toledo series, and I'll likely be keeping an eye on the NHL website for updates of both conference finals later this week. SportsCentre, Sportsnet Central, and the NHL Network will have to be my TV choices in the morning to get caught up on what's happening in and around the NHL!
Unfortunately for me due to my scheduling conflicts this week, it'll be one, two, three games I'll miss due to the ol' ballgame!
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice and PLAY BALL!
Never are there meteorologists talking about hurricane season in the middle of May, but the Carolina Hurricanes swept through Philadelphia tonight, destroying the hopes and dreams of the Flyers and their fans. It's been a long time since a team has opened the playoffs with two-straight playoff series wins by sweeps, but the Hurricanes have written their names alongside the handful of teams who have. The scary part is that this dominance may continue as the Hurricanes now have a pile of time to rest up, reload, and prepare for the Eastern Connference Final against either Buffalo or Montreal.
Whatever the process is in Carolina under head coach Rod Brind'Amour, it's hard to argue that this Hurricanes team isn't fully committed to every aspect of their game. All four lines are dangerous when they come over the boards, goaltender Freddie Andersen looks like a Conn Smythe candidate, and the Hurricanes will now have a minimum of ten days to prepare for their next game. To say they've been dominant doesn't begin to give them the credit they're due.
Take nothing away from Philadelphia who will gain invaluable experience from this run, but they should benefit from seeing how the Hurricanes play the game. As a younger team, the Flyers have lots of room to grow and get better, so learning from an experienced team like Hurricanes about preparation, commitment to the system, and execution on the ice will make the Flyers better too.
For now, though, the Hurricanes will head home to Raleigh, take a few days to lightly practice while healing and resting, and they'll begin to ramp up as they watch the Sabres and Canadiens battle for the right to meet the Eastern Conference's best team. I made mention six days ago about the NHL's dumb scheduling potentially causing Carolina to be done before Montreal and Buffalo play Game Three, and that's exactly what happened in this sweep.
The NHL doesn't even have a schedule for Round Three published yet, but the earliest that Montreal and Buffalo could be done is Thursday while Game Seven won't be played until Monday, May 18. Obviously, longer series are good for everyone's bottom line, but do either of Buffalo or Montreal stand a chance against Carolina if their series goes the distance? I'm going to go with a very strong "no way".
I suppose that's a lesson that one can learn here: if the NHL can't figure out how to set a fair and equitable schedule, those teams who have the opportunity to take advantage of the unbalanced schedule should do so. Carolina will be well-rested, nearly healed from all their bumps and bruises, and ready to pounce on their next opponent who doesn't have this same advantage. We know NHL teams love loopholes, and this scheduling issue has created the perfect storm for the Hurricanes. No one foretold two sweeps, but here we are.
For the third time in the last four years, Carolina will be an Eastern Conference Finalist. Carolina had five days off between the second and third series last season, and lost to Florida in five games. In 2023, they had seven days off between series, and the Panthers swept the Hurricanes in that Eastern Conference Final. I'm not saying that the rest-vs-rust factor has crept in to disrupt the Hurricanes in the past, but this is one trend they certainly will try to end this season.
As of tonight, it's Hurricanes season on the east coast. Carolina swept through Ottawa into Pennsylvania, continuing its path of destruction with a couple of stormy nights in Phildelphia. The "Storm Surge" will head north once again with either Buffalo or Montreal being the next city on its path, and there may not be much hope for either fanbase if the Hurricanes roll into town at unstoppable force levels.
Based on what we saw in Ottawa and Phildelphia, sound the alarms, folks. There's a powerful storm coming to ruin hopes and dreams.
The final game of the opening round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs was concluded tonight as the Montreal Canadiens held on for a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, eliminating the Lightning as the eighth and final team gone from the first round. Of course, that means we'll have exit interviews on The Hockey Show as five more people join Ethan (Ottawa), Harv (Los Angeles), and Billy (Pittsburgh) back on the mainland after spending two weeks or less on Survivor: NHL Playoffs island! The remaining eight teams push forward!
Michaela is already on her way after Carolina took a 1-0 lead over Philadelphia, so Derek's going to need the Flyers to rally after being blanked 3-0 in the opener. Minnesota and Colorado will renew hostilities tonight as Dave and Tyler look to grab a lead in that series, Anaheim and Vegas will kick off their battle tomorrow with Colin and Matt looking for and edge, and Travis and Fiona will have to wait until May 6 before the Montreal-Buffalo series gets underway.
For those worried about these weird starts to series, Carolina and Philadelphia could be done by May 9 if Carolina were to sweep while Buffalo and Montreal will have only played two games. The NHL really needs to get this scheduling under control because there's no way any team should have played their first game of the second round when the first round hasn't ended. That's just ridiculous, but that's the NHL.
For those wondering about the challenge prizes, here's the recap:
First shutout recorded in the playoffs. - Michaela
First hat trick recorded in the playoffs. - Travis
First goaltender point recorded in the playoffs.
First team eliminated from the playoffs. - Ethan
First to advance from the second round to the third round.
First team to score seven goals in one game. - Colin
First upset of the playoffs. - Derek
I'm waiting on one person to choose a prize before the final prize of the first round can be handed out, but the three challenges that remain can still be won by any of the eight teams still alive. With four of the five winners still alive, could we see someone win multiple prizes? We've seen it before, so it could very well happen!
This week's episode of The Hockey Show will see Jared (Dallas), Elliot (Edmonton), Josh (Utah), Tom (Pittsburgh), and Barry (Tampa Bay) give their thoughts on how their teams failed them in the playoffs as these five competitors will deliver their exit interviews. Those should be fun as a few of the heavyweights who were thought to have a chance will now be working on their golf games until September.
Officially, Round Two is underway. Eight teams will be reduced to four when the dust settles, and we'll have four more exit interviews. Who will still be in contention at that point on Survivor: NHL Playoffs?
It's funny how one can discover how much one likes something after not doing it for a while. I used to write weekly recaps on Wednesdays here on HBIC called "Antler Banter" about the Manitoba Moose that looked at all things happening around the team. This was before the Winnipeg Jets arrived in town, and I was one of the few people who covered the team without being affiliated or having a press pass. Watching the Moose host Milwaukee this week has rekindled that interest in the AHL squad, so it was nice to see the Manitoba Moose grit out a win in Game Three today to keep their playoff run going.
Admittedly, Jets fans should be filling Canada Life Centre to cheer on the Moose as these are the players that the Jets should be promoting. Some will argue that these players aren't entirely ready for NHL ice time, and that may be the case for some players. What we saw in this series, though, is that a pile of these players could be serviceable, effective NHL players if they are given the time and space to grow into those roster spots. No one is Macklin Celebrini, but there are a lot of guys who could bring skills and talents that the Jets need.
David Gustafsson should have been playing with the Jets all season, but he worked his tail off with the Moose. In doing so, he may have been the best 200-foot player on either team in this AHL series. Gustafsson won't wow anyone with flashy plays or thunderous hits, but he'll give you a consistent and reliable effort every time he goes over the boards. He scored the biggest goal this season for the Moose in Game Two, and he added two helpers in the Game Three 2-1 win.
In all three games, he was excellent on the defensive side of the puck which makes me wonder why he wasn't skating in Jonathan Toews' roster spot this season. He wins face-offs, he checks well, he doesn't cheat up the ice, and he's a leader on this Moose team through his play. He's not going to be the vocal leader in the room, but Gustafsson sees the game well and understands what makes him successful. Those are the players the Jets needed this season.
Of course, I could heap praise on Gustafsson and a number of his teammates throughout this article after how they played, but beating Milwaukee only opens the door to a much more difficult challenge in the Grand Rapids Griffins who the Jets will host next Saturday and Sunday in Games One and Two. The Griffins went 51-16-5 this season after starting the season 24-1-1, they tied a franchise-record 15-game winning streak, and they set a new AHL record with a 17-game road points streak. Yeah, the Grand Rapids Griffins are pretty good.
Not only are they good, but they're deep too. They had nine players with 30-or-more points. They had five players with 20-or-more goals. Goaltenders Sebastian Cossa and Michal Postava sported a combined 43-14-4 record, a 2.26 GAA, and a .923 save percentage. Their power-play was only 15th-overall at 18.7% so there is room for improvement, but they had the AHL's best penalty-killing efficiency at 86.0% while scoring ten shorthanded goals. Yeah, they're good.
For as good as Gustafsson and his cohorts were, this Griffins team is a completely different challenge for the Moose than what the Admirals were. The Griffins won three-straight games over Manitoba in October by a combined 13-4 scores. The teams split the two games played here in January before Manitoba took an overtime win in Grand Rapids in Feburary. Grand Rapids bombed Manitoba in Winnipeg in two games at the start of April by 6-3 and 7-2 scores, so Manitoba's 2-6-0 record against Grand Rapids doesn't bode well.
However, these teams are required to play the games, and that's where Manitoba has to push the pace on Grand Rapids. They can't get into a track meet with Grand Rapids as the Griffins don't have an issue scoring; rather, the Moose will want to keep a controlled tempo where they forecheck without giving up too much and are quick to backcheck when the Griffins push the puck down the ice. Both Thomas Milic and Domenic DiVincentiis have proven they can win big games, and they'll need big saves to keep the Griffins at bay.
The Moose have every right to celebrate tonight after a hard-fought win against a very good opponent in the Milwaukee Admirals, but Monday will see the Moose back at work as they begin preparing for the top team in the Western Conference. Manitoba may have finished 29 points back of Grand Rapids in the regular season, but eliminating them from the Calder Cup Playoffs takes three wins in five games.
These two former IHL foes should put on a heckuva show when the series opens in Winnipeg on Saturday. All I'll add is "Go Moose Go!"
I had a number of errands I needed to get done tonight, so my ability to watch the Stanley Cup Playoffs was interrupted by life. As much as I try to prevent this from happening, life occasionally gets in the way and needs to be dealt with accordingly. Being that I was running around tonight, I put the car stereo to good use by tuning into Game Two of the AHL Calder Cup series between the Milwaukee Admirals and the Manitoba Moose, but I also used Bluetooth to listen to Game One of the ECHL Kelly Cup series between the Indy Fuel and the Fort Wayne Komets! Manitoba was in must-win terrotory after dropping Game One by a 4-1 score in their best-of-three matchup while Fort Wayne and Indy opened their series in Fort Wayne, Indiana this evening. It almost felt like I was back in my university days, listening to the Moose on the radio with frequent visits from their IHL counterparts in Fort Wayne and Milwaukee! So how did these three former IHL teams do tonight?
We'll start in Winnipeg where the Admirals and Moose met. A win by Milwaukee would see them advance to play Grand Rapids while a Manitoba win would push this series to a third and deciding game on Sunday. Ryna Ufko beat Dominic DiVincentiis while shorthanded early in the second period to put Milwaukee ahead, but Parker Ford erased that lead 2:11 later when he beat Matthew Murray to make it 1-1.
A tight-checking game meant things didn't open up in the third period, and it seemed like we were heading for overtime. Oasiz Wiesblatt would be whistled for an elbowing penalty with 1:52 left in the frame, and I'll let Moose broadcaster Daniel Fink handle the rest.
With 43 seconds reamining in regulation time, Moose forward David Gustafsson tipped Brendan Yager's shot past Murray, pushing the Moose to the 2-1 win in Game Two. There was all sorts of rough stuff at the end of this game between the two former IHL foes, but they'll play one more time this season when they meet in Game Three on Sunday afternoon at Canada Life Centre with another former IHL foe in the Grand Rapid Griffins waiting for the winner of this series.
If that wasn't enough IHL references for one article, we'll keep going because the ECHL's Kelly Cup Playoffs began tonight, and the Central Division-winning Fort Wayne Komets, formerly of the IHL, were in action as they hosted the Indy Fuel in Game One of their series. Fort Wyane was playing in their 606th playoff game this evening over their 74-year history, hunting for their 319th win. Indy, meanwhile, wasn't an IHL team and had only two playoff wins in their entire history. Both sides would add another chapter to their histories tonight!
Komets forward Brady Stonehouse would get things started late in the first period when he beat Indy netminder Mitchell Weeks while shorthanded to put the Komets up 1-0. There were handful of chances by both sides as the game moved through the middle frame, but both Weeks and Komets goaltender Nathan Day were putting up walls at both ends of the ice. We wouldn't see the score change until early in the third period off a turnover at center ice, and I'll let legendary Komets announcer Shane Albahrani handle this one.
Matthew Brown would finish off the passing play after the turnover at center ice, and the Komets would take a 2-0 lead on his goal. Austin Magera would add a power-play goal with just over five minutes to play, and Nathan Day stopped 30 Indy shots as the Komets took Game One by a 3-0 score to go up 1-0 in the best-of-seven series!
With their 319th playoff win in the books, the Komets will look to go up 2-0 over Indy tomorrow night before the series shifts to Fishers, Indiana for three games. The ECHL plays all their series as 2-3-2 series to reduce the travel costs for teams, so the Komets will want to sweep their home games in order to go into enemy territory in good standing. The winner of this series will play the winner of the Bloomington Bison-Toledo Walleye series in the next round.
Clearly, it was a good night for two former IHL teams in Manitoba and Fort Wayne as they picked up big wins in their quests for trophies. Milwaukee is still in the hunt despite the loss tonight, and with the Grand Rapids Griffins waiting for the winner and the Chicago Wolves in the other Central Division series there are IHL fingerprints all over the Calder Cup Playoffs. Fort Wayne is the lone former IHL team in the Kelly Cup Playoffs, but they look like a contender there as well.
Listening to these two games on the radio as I drove around the city completing tasks made it feel like 1997 all over again when Manitoba, Milwaukee, and Fort Wayne were juggernauts in the IHL. Some would say those were the "good ol' days" of minor professional hockey!
If you thought this was going to be an article about the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, you're on the right track. Officially, these are the first-round matchups for the Survivor: NHL Playoffs on The Hockey Show as sixteen people were registered last night. There are returning entrants from years past, there are new entrants this year, and there's even a celebrity by The Hockey Show's standards as Fiona Quinn makes her debut in the contest! In short, this should be a fun year for everyone with the games beginning tomorrow afternoon!
Here is a quick reminder of the challenges on Survivor: NHL Playoffs.
First shutout recorded in the playoffs.
First hat trick recorded in the playoffs.
First goaltender point recorded in the playoffs.
First team eliminated from the playoffs.
First to advance from the second round to the third round.
First team to score seven goals in one game in the playoffs.
First upset of the playoffs.
These prizes will be awarded in chronological order. I cannot change what time games start or end, so if one of Carolina or Ottawa pitches a shutout in the opening game, that will take the "first shutout recorded" off the board regardless of what else happens tomorrow night. For all of the other challenges, the same timing rule applies.
There are hockey books, some UMFM gear, and other things to be won in these challenges, and we're hoping to give them all away before the end of the contest. Of course, the grand prizes for the two finalists are jerseys which represent a longtime rivalry as we're offering a 2018-21 Pittsburgh Penguins alternate jersey and a 2021-24 Washington Capitals alternate jersey for those finalists. If this is the last year of Crosby-vs-Ovechkin, these are good jerseys to have!
Sixteen teams locked down playoff sports a few days ago, and sixteen contestants locked down teams yesterday in Survivor: NHL Playoffs on The Hockey Show. The Ottawa Senators will be in Raleigh to play the Carolina Hurricanes at 3pm ET tomorrow to get the playoffs started, and that's where the fun begins! Good luck, Survivors!
The goaltender to the left likely isn't going to be recognizable unless you're following the ECHL and SPHL closely. That goalie is Surrey, BC's Noah Giesbrecht, and he was trying to crack lineups in the professional leagues here in North America after finishing a solid university career that saw him play at three different schools including a U SPORTS school! One of the toughest things for any undrafted goalie to do is break into the ECHL with so few roster spots available, but Giesbrecht looked like he may get his shot with the Savannah Ghost Pirates after playing with the SPHL's Knoxville Ice Bears! That run with the Ghost Pirates ended early as he was released yesterday, but he found a new home very quickly for this summer!
Giesbrecht's hockey career saw him play in both the MJHL for two teams and the SJHL for Melfort Mustangs along with a cup of coffee in the USHL with the Muskegon Lumberjacks. He put up very good numbers in 2019-20 with the MJHL's Portage Terriers, compiling a 12-4-0 record with a 1.86 GAA and a .925 save percentage. Those numbers attracted the attention of the OUA's University of Windsor Lancers, and Giesbrecht was off to play in southern Ontario!
After the COVID year in 2020-21, Giesbrecht was excellent with the Lancers as he went 7-1-0 with a 2.13 GAA and a .941 save percentage in the first half of the season before jumping south of the border as he enrolled at Ferris State where he joined the men's hockey team! In his time with the Bulldogs, Giesbrecht went 19-29-3 with a 3.35 GAA and an .898 save percentage. He'd play his final NCAA season with RPI where he was 11-19-0 with a 3.54 GAA and an .896 save percentage. Being undrafted, Giesbrecht looked to the ECHL as an option.
He spent more time on the bench than in a crease as two games with Tulsa and nine games with Savannah were the only opportunities he received this season. Combined with seven more games in Knoxville, Giesbrecht likely had his agent looking for other options as his 18 games of professional action didn't give him a lot to build on for next season. That's when another opportunity presented itself, and Giesbrecht took it as he'll pack his bags and head south!
Giesbrecht will suit up this summer - or, more accurately, this winter in Australia - for the AIHL's Melbourne Mustangs! The AIHL's opening games happen this weekend, and the Mustangs will be in action on Saturday as they host the Central Coast Rhinos. Giesbrecht gives them another solid goaltender along with Seb Woodlands and Tom Papas, and they may need the added experience as their opening night lineup apparently will not feature longtime star Ty Wishart! That could possibly change as there was no announcement of him retiring, so he could be back at some point. For whatever reason, though, the Mustangs will be without one of their best players to begin the 2026 AIHL season.
The AIHL will continue with their ten-team setup as the action last season proved exciting down the stretch with teams pushing for playoff spots. The Melbourne Ice enter the season as the defending champions after defeating the Canberra Brave for the Goodall Cup last season, so those teams will come into this season with targets on their backs. The Mustangs finished in sixth-place which pitted them against the Perth Thunder in a play-in game for the playoffs, but Perth took care of business by a 5-2 score. Clearly, the Mustangs want to return to glory, so improved goaltending will help that cause!
Noah Giesbrecht has played in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Michigan, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Georgia in his hockey journey thus far, and he'll add the city of Melbourne, Australia on this leg of his hockey career! Where it goes from here is anyone's guess, but the summer of 2026 will see him in Mustangs' black and orange!
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!
With the Nashville Predators and the Los Angeles Kings winning their respective games today, the Winnipeg Jets needed the same result in their game against the Philadelphia Flyers if they wanted any legitimate chance at making the playoffs. Mathematically, the Jets wouldn't be eliminated from the race, but the required wins and losses to get in are at their maximums after tonight's woeful, uninspired 7-1 hammering at the hands of the Flyers. For a team that needed to be at its best to make the last week of the season matter, the Jets turned in one of their worst performances of the season. Like the sheep in wolf's clothing, no one should be surprised that the Jets are going to miss the playoffs. This is simply another game where they didn't bother to show up.
Let's go back to April 2 where the Jets were going into Dallas to play the Stars. They had won four of five games entering that contest including a solid 4-2 win over Colorado and a demon-exorcising 4-1 win over Vegas. The Jets were on a bit of a high as they landed in the Lone Star State, and the team was looking to take that next step.
"We just said to take care of our own business and that's what we're trying to do. We got ourselves here, but we can't take our foot off the gas," head coach Scott Arniel said following the overtime win in Chicago on March 31. "It doesn't get any easier in going into Dallas and then Columbus, so a lot of heavy lifting still to go. We have got to make sure that we continue to do those things that keep us in games and that gives us a chance to win."
A 22-save shutout for Jake Oettinger combined with Adam Erne and Arttu Hyry each having a goal and an assist was all that was needed for the Stars to brush the Jets aside by a 3-0 score. For a guy who had said how the Jets had to "take care of our own business" two days earlier, Scott Arniel sung a different tune following the Dallas game.
"I didn't like our first two periods. I know the first period, they got the couple ones on the power play and then we turned the puck over and gave them the second one. We didn't have enough compete, we didn't have enough guys getting our nose over the puck and being heavy on it. Our execution wasn't great,” Arniel said about the loss.
It's funny how things can change so dramatically in two days.
Tonight's game is sort of how the stretch run has played out for the Jets. A late goal against Nashville earned them a point, but a shootout loss on March 17 gave Nashville two points. They followed that effort up by going through the motions in a 6-1 hammering by Boston two nights later, and then dropped a 5-4 shootout loss to the Penguins in a game where the Jets held a 4-3 lead with eleven minutes to play. In games where the Jets needed two points to jump into the thick of the playoff race, they were unable to secure them.
Since March 1, the Jets are 5-5-2 against teams in a playoff position while posting a 7-1-1 record against teams out of the playoffs. The Jets are beating the teams they should beat, but they've struggled against teams in the dance. If the Jets had any hope of making noise in the playoffs, they had to be better than .500 against playoff-bound teams. They aren't, though, and that might be the most important thing about the Jets falling short: they don't beat good teams when they have to win. Isn't that what playoff hockey is all about?
There will be lots of video for the coaching staff to break down for Sunday's practice as they prepare for the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday. The Jets beat Vegas 4-1 in their last meeting in Winnipeg, but Vegas will likely come into Canada Life Centre fired up as they sit one point ahead of Edmonton for the Pacific Division crown. If they show up at the rink like they did tonight, the playoff dream ends.
Beyond that, the Jets have to win all three of their remaining games while hoping that the Kraken, Canucks, and Flames take care of the Kings and the Sharks and Ducks handle the Predators. There is no tomorrow if they don't take six points in the final games and get some help because the Kings and Predators can eliminate the Jets with any win in their final games. In layman's terms, the Jets need to dig deep over the remaining three games or they're golfing next week.
Frankly, no one should be surprised that it's come to this. This Jets team has been a sheep in wolf's clothing all season long, never really proving that they had the killer instinct needed to be considered as a contender. Tonight's effort put them on the brink of elimination, and it might just be time for these sheep to be put out to pasture.
Everyone loves a good race for playoff spots in hockey. It doesn't matter what level of hockey as long as there's a compelling race that has more teams than needed in that race. That very thing is happening right now in the ECHL's Central Division as six of the seven teams in the division are battling for four playoff spots. Two teams have already clinched spots thanks to their leads over the division, leaving two spots for which those remaining four teams will compete. What should be understood is that none of the teams know where they may finish or who they may play thanks to these playoff races! Let's look at the ECHL Central Division!
Team: Toledo Walleye Record: 40-16-12 (.676) Games Remaining: 4
The Walleye currently occcupy first-place with 92 points, but they're hardly out of the woods. Yes, they have clinched a playoff spot, but they lost in overtime tonight, allowing the Fort Wayne Komets to pull into a tie for first-place. The two games against Fort Wayne coming up on April 12 and 16 will likely determine whether Toledo finishes atop the division or in second-place to start the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
Remaining Schedule: @ Cincinnati (Apr 11), @ Fort Wayne (Apr 12), @ Fort Wayne (Apr 16), vs Wheeling (Apr 17).
Team: Fort Wayne Komets Record: 41-16-10 (.687) Games Remaining: 5
The Komets helped their chances of winning the division with a big win over Kalamazoo at home before these two teams move their battle to Kalamazoo tonight. The Komets have one game in-hand on Toledo on the schedule, so they control their own destiny as they sit with 92 points after having clinched a playoff spot in the Central Division last week. As stated above, they'll play Toledo twice, but they also have that extra game on Wednesday against the Indy Fuel in betweeen the two Toledo games. If Fort Wayne wants to win the division, they'll need to beat their arch-rivals twice this week.
Remaining Schedule: @ Kalamazoo (Apr 11), vs Toledo (Apr 12), vs Indy (Apr 15), vs Toledo (Apr 16), vs Kalamazoo (Apr 19).
Team: Indy Fuel Record: 31-26-10 (.544) Games Remaining: 4
Indy's 74 points has them in third-place right now, but they're not guaranteed anything yet. They need to beat Iowa tonight and tomorrow to improve their chances at clinching a playoff spot, and that showdown with Fort Wayne on Wednesday looms large when it comes to Indy's playoff chances. Again, beating Iowa twice this weekend could very well be the difference between playing in the playoffs and watching them from home based on who else is playing whom in the division. With a little help, Indy should get in.
Remaining Schedule: @ Iowa (Apr 11), @ Iowa (Apr 12), @ Fort Wayne (Apr 15), @ Wheeling (Apr 18).
Team: Cincinnati Cylones Record: 35-29-4 (.544) Games Remaining: 4
Cincinnati did themselves a big favour with their overtime win over Toledo tonight to push them to 74 points, but they can't lose focus with a rematch tomorrow against the Walleye and two teams chasing them in standings. The Cyclones' season may hang in the balance with three-straight games against Kalamazoo to close out the season, so the playoffs for Cincinnati start on Sunday. If they win that three-game series, they're likely playing in the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
Remaining Schedule: vs Toledo (Apr 11), @ Kalamazoo (Apr 12), vs Kalamazoo (Apr 17), vs Kalamazoo (Apr 18).
Team: Kalamazoo Wings Record: 33-28-6 (.537) Games Remaining: 5
Kalamazoo enters the weekend with 72 points as they sit outside the playoff picture. Two teams stand in the way of the K-Wings making the playoffs in Fort Wayne and Cincinnati, and both of them are needing wins of their own. Unofficially, the playoffs start on Saturday for the K-Wings whether they like it or not. They have to win the three-game set against Cincinnati and, at worst, split with Fort Wayne to have a chance at postseason glory. Winning four of five games would go a long way towards locking down playoff dates.
Remaining Schedule: vs Fort Wayne (Apr 11), vs Cincinnati (Apr 12), @ Cincinnati (Apr 17), @ Cincinnati (Apr 18), @ Fort Wayne (Apr 19).
Team: Bloomington Bison Record: 33-29-5 (.530) Games Remaining: 5
Bloomington enters the weekend with 71 points, but they're the only team who doesn't play a potential playoff team in the Central Division. As such, they need to win AND get some help if they want to leap past a few teams. The good news is that they have a three-game set against already-eliminated Iowa to end the season. The bad news is that they'll likely have to win four of five games to close out the season, and then hope that the scoreboard results from oher games go in their favour. The Bison could make it, but they need help.
One of Toledo and Fort Wayne will win the Central Division, and both have home-ice advantage in the opening round locked down. The ECHL plays a 2-3-2 series to save money on travel, so both the Walleye and Komets will be looking for two wins at home before heading out on the road no matter who they play when the playoffs begin. Their opponents will be determined over this last week.
If you're asking me which two of the remaining four teams in the race will make it, there is no easy answer. Bloomington needs the most help, so they likely won't get in unless all the stars align for them. Indy seems like they can make it thanks to their games against Iowa, but the Heartlanders may relish this opportunity to ruin Indy's playoff hopes. If Iowa can rise to the occasion, Indy's chances get lower.
What can't be avoided is that one of Cincinnati and Kalamazoo will miss the playoffs thanks to that three-game series to close out the season. Cincinnati is 5-3-1 against Kalamazoo this season, so it appears that the Cyclones have the advantage. The stakes for these three games are much higher than they were in February, though, so those stats may mean nothing when the pressure's on. What's certain is that one of the Cyclones or K-Wings will not make the playoffs.
Playoff hockey always happens in April, but this year's race in the ECHL's Central Division for playoff spots means the playoffs have started early for six teams. Who finishes in what spot may come down to the final seconds of the final period of play, but that's how a race for playoff spots should end! We'll know who is in next Sunday!
The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, returns to the studio tonight with a couple of outstanding guests as we continue to shine light on Manitoba's hockey scene! As you may know, we committed to giving Sledge Hockey Manitoba and Team Manitoba parahockey more coverage than they've ever received, and we'll continue that effort tonight by welcoming two players to the studio to talk about recent events with their team and the Sledge Hockey Manitoba teams in general! We'll get the news, info, and results of the tournaments for all the Sledge Hockey Manitoba teams tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!
Tonight, Teebz and Jason are... proud, honoured, privileged, humbled, and pleased to welcome two of Team Manitoba's dynamic youth core to the show as Isaac Vint and Henry Bergen will join us! Both players took part in the recent Cross Border Classic that UMFM had the honour of calling, and both Isaac and Henry were in Montreal and Calgary for recent tournaments as Team Manitoba gears up for Nationals!... going at it alone tonight as Isaac and Henry battle colds! Our hosts have updates about and results from the Manitoba Express junior and intermediate teams in their recent tournaments, and they discuss we'll get Isaac's and Henry's thoughts on the Jets battling for their playoff lives, talk about Survivor: NHL Playoffs which starts next week, and more! It's going to be a busy show down at the UMFM studio tonight, so get settled in for some hockey chatter tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!
If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The UMFM website's streaming player works well if you want to listen online. We also recommend Radio Garden if you need an easy-to-use online stream. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store.
If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard! And because both Teebz and Jason are on the butterfly app where things are less noisy, you can find Teebz here and Jason here on Bluesky!
Tonight, Teebz and Jason chat with Isaac Vint and Henry Bergen about Team Manitoba, recent results, going to Nationals, scoring goals, throwing hits, having fun, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!
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.
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