Backstop From Behind The Bench

I've told the story of Lester Patrick's goaltending heroics for the New York Rangers on HBIC before, but it's still a story that deserves to be told a thousand times again simply for the amazing tale of a man who was the epitome of putting the team first. Thankfully, pictures are worth a thousand words, so I'm told, so I'm always grateful when great artists contact me with their works about hockey. Artist extraordinaire Rob Ullman sent me his newest comic strip about Lester Patrick's tale, and it is a fantastic representation of the hockey legend's tale when Patrick went from coach to goaltender for the New York Rangers. Here is Rob's latest work, The Backstop From Behind The Bench. Enjoy!

Part One of The Backstop From Behind The Bench. As always, you can click the image to blow it up larger for easier reading.

Part Two of The Backstop From Behind The Bench.

Part Three of The Backstop From Behind The Bench.

Rob outdid himself on this one as he really did a great job in capturing the story in both words and images. I can't say enough about how good Rob's work is, and you can find a ton of excellent stuff over on his site, Atom-Bomb Bikini. There is some excellent artwork over there, so make sure you stop by his store and score yourself something great!

If nothing else, check out Rob in the Ginger Classic wearing the old-school Quebec Nordiques jersey! He looks like a young Peter Stastny out there! Well done on your jersey choice, Rob! Congrats on your success in the tournament, and thanks for sending me over these great pieces of artwork!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Antler Banter: Volume 22

The Moose face a big test as they tackle four teams from the Western Conference that are fighting for supremacy in that division. Games against the Peoria Rivermen, Milwaukee Admirals, Chicago Wolves, and the Oklahoma City Barons on the road is no easy task, so the Moose would have to be at their best as they worked through this tough stretch of road games. Make sure you visit the Moose website for all your Manitoba Moose news and information. If you're interested in attending a Manitoba Moose game, please click here for seating information, ticket pricing, and availability. The Moose take to the road through the West Division in this week's Hardcore Hockey!

Rivermen Without A Paddle

The Moose have had pretty good success against the Rivermen thus far with three wins to their credit. Peoria is missing Ben Bishop from their nets as he's playing in St. Louis, so this was a perfect opportunity for the Moose to capitalize. Eddie Lack got the start for Manitoba while Peoria called upon Jake Allen to guard their nets.

Big night for a brand-new Moose player as Keith Seabrook, on loan from the Abbotsford Heat, notched his first goal as a member of the Herd. Seabrook's fifth goal of the season came midway through the second period, and #22 celebrated his first goal in antlers. Seabrook ended the night with a goal, three shots, and a +1 rating - pretty good for his first action on a brand-new team. He and Yann Sauvé played a pretty solid game together as a pairing. There will be more about how Seabrook got to Winnipeg below.

Special teams need to be better for the Moose as I continue to preach on this aspect of their game. The powerplay unit gave up a shorthanded marker when a turnover in their own zone resulted in a Dave Spina goal. To make matters worse, the Moose penalty kill was victimized in the second period when they gave up a goal as well. I'm not going to harp on the penalty kill units as they have been a strength all season long, but these powerplay woes the Moose are experiencing will catch up to them in the playoffs. This must be fixed sooner than later.

It wasn't a stand-out game for the Moose as they built a 3-1 lead before surrending a single point to Peoria, but the Moose responded in the shootout as Bill Sweatt put this game to bed in the breakaway content. Two points are two points, and those points are important on this road trip. With the win, the Moose improve to 33-22-6 on the season.

Admirals Find No Safe Port

The Moose haven't been welcomed very well in past games to the Bradley Center, so the game against the Admirals would be a tell-tale sign of how the Moose are evolving this season. The first-place Admirals have been playing pretty good hockey as they battled their way to the top of the West Division standings, so the Moose needed to see if they could pass this test. Veteran Tyler Weiman was given the nod for the Moose while the Admirals went with Mark Dekanich as their goaltender.

Several Moose players put up multi-point nights in this game. Cody Hodgson, Sergei Shirokov, and Guillaume Desbiens all recorded a goal and an assist each. Getting contributions from your main cogs like this will go a long way in giving the Moose a great chance to secure top spot in the North Division. It's always nice to see Hodgson picking up points after he seemed to be stuck in a mini-slump.

The addition of Keith Seabrook into the Moose line-up is looking like one of the best moves this squad has seen in a long time. Seabrook had a pair of helpers on the evening, and he earned an assist on Yann Sauvé's first goal of the season, a powerplay marker midway through the second period. Sauvé and Seabrook could be the steadying pair that the Moose blueline needed for a while, and the offence being produced by the two rearguards is very impressive.

The Moose put three pucks past Dekanich, and Cody Hodgson iced it in the final minute as the Moose downed the Admirals by a 4-2 score on Saturday night. Weiman played well in his first start in two weeks, and the addition of Seabrook is paying off in spades. With the win, the Moose improve to 34-22-6 on the season, and move into sole possession of first-place in the North Division.

Wolves Take Bite Out Of Moose

Another weekend of hockey meant another three-games-in-three-days for the Moose. This time, they rolled into Chicago to play their longtime rivals in the Chicago Wolves. And this game felt like an old IHL game as there were lots of shots in a game of wide-open hockey. Eddie Lack squared off against Edward Pasquale as the two netminders took to the ice.

Kudos to Yann Sauvé who wanted more than just his first goal one night earlier. Sauvé, paired with Travis Ramsey on this evening, turned in another great performance as he scored his second goal of the season, had a team-high four shots, and ended the night with a +2 rating. Sauvé is quietly becoming one of the Herd's most reliable defencemen, and it is extremely encouraging to see him becoming one of its most productive as well. Well done, and keep it up!

How important has Garth Murray been to the Manitoba Moose this year? Not only has the tough-as-nails winger been an important leader on this team, but his work on the penalty kill is the kind of stuff that makes men into local folk heroes. Murray poke-checked a Wolves defender, sprinted down the ice on a breakaway, and scored his fifth goal of the season - and third shorthanded goal of the season - to give the Moose some life at the end of the second after trailing 3-0. I'd take a team of Garth Murrays in terms of his efforts on the ice.

While fatigue may have been a factor, it took Manitoba over 39 minutes to finally cash in a goal, and it was too little, too late as the Wolves had already jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Manitoba fought valiantly to try and tie the game, but the final horn sounded on a 3-2 Wolves victory. With the loss, the Moose fall to 34-23-6 on the season.

Oil Well Runs Dry

The Moose and Oklahoma City Barons got to renew acquaintances on Tuesday night as the two teams met in Oklahoma City. The Herd had been playing some pretty solid hockey over their last three games despite falling to Chicago on Sunday, so there was hope that they could continue playing well as the road trip progressed. Tyler Weiman earned the start after his solid performance against Milwaukee on Saturday, and Oklahoma City responded by sending former NHL netminder Martin Gerber to the nets.

After being hard on the powerplay for their poor play over the last few weeks, the powerplay units came to play tonight. Manitoba scored two powerplay markers thanks to a couple of players who started their seasons in Vancouver. Guillaume Desbiens redirected a beautiful slap-pass from Sergei Shirokov past Gerber midway through the second period, and Alexandre Bolduc tapped in a gift from Desbiens midway through the third period. Manitoba finished the night 2-for-6 on the powerplay, and really controlled the puck well while having the extra man on the ice.

Desbiens really had himself a solid game as he a goal and two assists on the night. The veteran is expected to contribute, and tonight was a very good night on the scoresheet as Desbiens also had two shots and ended the night with a +2 rating. This kind of leadership shown by example will certainly get the rest of the line-up involved.

Kudos goes out to Alex Bolduc as well as he not only scored a powerplay goal in the third period, but he scored a shorthanded marker early in the second period and assisted on Desbiens' powerplay goal! Bolduc's offensive outburst in this game gives him four goals on the season, but the scrappy forward has been so muhc more important than just his offensive output. Bolduc eats up minutes on the penalty kill and wins a ton of key face-offs - two things the Moose will certainly be able to use as they make their way into the playoffs. Well done on a great night, Alex!

The Moose really played a sound game in this one, controlling the puck and not giving the Barons many good scoring chances on Weiman. More importantly, the Moose showed a total teal game - an even-strength goal, a shorthanded marker, and two powerplay goals for a 4-1 win. This is the kind of game that the coaching staff should send to all the players as an example of a total team game. With the win, the Moose improve to 35-23-6 on the season!

More Bodies In Camp

As stated above, the Moose got themselves some serious help on the blueline from Keith Seabrook. With the Heat having a plethora of defencemen and needing forwards, they went searching for options. Manitoba had a pile of forwards, and needed a defenceman. The two teams came to an agreement as the Heat received recently-acquired MacGregor Sharp on loan from the Moose for Seabrook. Both teams had a need, and both had that need filled.

Heat head coach Jim Playfair had made Keith Seabrook a healthy scratch a number of times this season, calling into question his play on several occasions as well. Playfair stated that he wasn't very excited to letting Seabrook leave to play for a division rival, but they needed a body up front and the Moose demanded Seabrook in return. Well done on GM Craig Heisinger's part for making the play to get Seabrook, and I doubt I'm not the only person who isn't complaining with Seabrook's excellent play so far in his Moose debut.

The Moose also got a huge shot in the arm from the Vancouver Canucks as they allowed the Moose to place fan favorite Rick Rypien on their reserve list. Rypien, who had been out of hockey for personal reasons since November, should give the Moose a huge boost if there are a number of recalls by the Canucks.

AHL rules state that Rypien and the other seven players on the reserve list may only play when three or more regular-roster players are injured, suspended or recalled. As it stands, the Moose are sitting with six players in those three categories. I'm not wishing harm on anyone as I like the make-up of the Moose roster right now, but if another player goes down or gets recalled, the Moose can replace that player with an NHL-ready player. This is not something of which most AHL teams have the luxury, especially heading into the playoffs.

More importantly, it's just great to see Rick Rypien back in hockey. Welcome back, Rick!

Finish The West, Start With The East

The Moose continue their road trip this week as they swing through the state of Texas for three games before returning home by the middle of next week. They'll see the Houston Aeros on Friday and Sunday, the San Antonio Rampage on Saturday, and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

The Aeros have three players with 40+ points on the season, but play very good defensive hockey. They don't take many risks, but have scoring threats that can make undisciplined teams pay. They have decent goaltending in Matt Hackett and Josh Tordjman, so the Aeros aren't pushovers and are challenging for first-place in the constantly-changing West Division. The Moose will have to bring their A-game to start off and finish this Texas road swing.

The San Antonio Rampage pose a different sort of problem for the Moose. They are missing a few players who have been recalled to the NHL, so they aren't as solid as they normally are, but that doesn't mean there should be any let-up for the Moose. Matt Climie is a very good goaltender who can shut down any offence, so the Moose will still need to play well to get by the Rampage. Although they sit sixth-place in the West Division, they only trail first-place by six points.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is still the toast of the league as they boast a 45-18-0 record for first overall in the AHL. Brett Sterling and Ryan Craig are having great seasons for the Penguins, and the goaltending tandem of Brad Thiessen and John Curry has been outstanding. If the Moose are looking for a test, they need look no further than Tuesday and Wednesday at MTS Centre when the Penguins visit.

With those five games on-tap, the Moose will need to be at the top of their game if they hope to take down the rest of the West before tackling the best team in the AHL. Lack and Weiman have been providing excellent goaltending over the last few weeks, so the offence just needs to continue to roll. Get on it, Moose, and DO IT!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Coyote Ugly Situation

I've had a number of people email me over these last few days as the situation surrounding the Phoenix Coyotes nears the boiling point. I've said it before and I'll say it again right here: I'm not going to comment on any team moving to any other city without seeing the moving trucks heading out of town. Could I make comments? Of course. However, it's far better to not let speculation, innuendo, and rumour whip people into a frenzy when nothing may come of it. Besides, I still have a team that I'm passionately following, and I think that the AHL's Manitoba Moose are perfect for a city of Winnipeg's size. So let's tone down the Phoenix-to-Winnipeg chatter for the next few weeks, and let's focus on some more important hockey news.

First, some great news out of Toronto where the efforts to raise funds for the Pat Burns Arena has now broken through the seven-figure mark! The Stanstead, Quebec arena should not only wear Burns' name as a tribute to the NHL coaching legend, but all that he embodied should be a part of that arena. There still is some work to be done, though, as the city of Stanstead has to raise the remaining $1.2 million to reach the goal needed to put this arena on the map. Good job in getting halfway there! You're almost there!

Next, I received an email with a very impressive link in it, and I want to give some credit to Mr. Mark Divver for his work in researching Alton White's career at Providence as a member of the AHL's Reds. As you may remember from my January 29 article last year, Alton White was the first black player to record a hat trick in professional hockey and the first black player to record a 20-goal season as part of the WHA! Mr. Divver has taken a small part of Mr. White's hockey career and expanded on it wonderfully in his article. Thank you, Mark, for sending me a link to your excellent work!

Lastly, there was a very scary hit in the NHL tonight, and one player looks like he may not return until next season. Let's go back to January 8, 2011 where Montreal's Max Pacioretty and Boston's Zdeno Chara appear to be developing quite the rivalry.

Pacioretty scores the overtime winner, appears to shove Chara, and then a fracas breaks out. Fast-forward to tonight's game, and it appears this rivalry just crossed the line.

Wow. Listen to what NESN's Andy Brickley says in his commentary on the play:

"You cannot finish your check. You gotta release him... when that puck is chipped by. Chara's gotta let him go there. And not only does he ride him into the boards, he puts him into that dangerous spot and that is a defenceless position for Pacioretty."

I fully agree with Brickley's assessment on this one. Pacioretty was trying to go wide, and Chara was trying to slow him up. That's a textbook case of interference, but the fact that he was destroyed by the stanchion only makes this look a lot worse.

The good news is that Pacioretty was awake when they finally got him off the ice on a stretcher, so that's positive. He did spend approximately five minutes on the ice, so there is certainly some concern as to his long-term health. It's a scary situation, but I'm not sure that anything can be done in this situation in regards to punishing Chara. This is the kind of hockey play that coaches teach everywhere.

Personally, I'd like to see a game or two for Chara just for the NHL to send a message to the players that this kind of play, while a normal hockey play 99 out of 100 times, needs to be controlled. Thoughts on this one, readers?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Challenging The System

It seems to be an age-old problem that we can't get past in society: boys vs. girls. There is a serious misconception that girls cannot compete with boys on the same level in sports, and, therefore, should be banned from competitions that are for men. This issue made national headlines when a girl from Iowa qualified for the Iowa state wrestling tournament and faced a young man who decided that he couldn't engage the woman in "combat" on the mat due to religious beliefs. I'm not passing judgment on this young man's decision as I feel that everyone with any religious beliefs should be able to live by those beliefs, but why are we so against girls playing against boys in any competition if they have shown the ability to qualify for the competition?

There was a report published from the Times Colonist in Victoria, British Columbia on Saturday that showed a glaring problem with how this inequality has affected one man's livelihood. Rob Shaw wrote the article that talks about how one man went to bat for a girl's hockey team, and the result of his efforts.

The president of the Victoria Minor Hockey Association has been suspended indefinitely for contravening the wishes of Vancouver Island officials in a situation involving a peewee girls team's participation in provincial championships.

Andrew Holenchuk said he was stripped of his title as president, and barred from coaching or any official duties, by the Vancouver Island Amateur Hockey Association, in what has become a bitter dispute over a team of 12- and 13- year-old girls.

Holenchuk said he was trying to give the girls a fair chance to play, after the Island association failed to create a team for the tournament.

But Island hockey president Mark Kenny said Holenchuk "worked around us in secret" to get provincial approval and must be punished for not following the rules.

The team at the centre of the dispute - Victoria peewee A, or Tier 1, girls team - won last year's provincial championships. The majority wanted to return to defend their title this month in Clearwater.

Kenny and the Island association rejected their request because it didn't fit into new rules that said female teams should only be organized by geographic "zone."

Under the new zoned format, no division A peewee girls teams were actually created. That meant none were destined for the provincial championships.

Holenchuk and his association did an end-run around the Island association, taking the request directly to the provincial organization, B.C. Hockey, which overruled the Island officials and sanctioned the girls team.

"At the end of the day you've got to do everything you can to give these kids opportunities and in my opinion they've been denied those opportunities," said Holenchuk.

Kenny briefly resigned as Island association president in protest, but ultimately rescinded his resignation.

He called a Feb. 19 executive meeting and indefinitely suspended Holenchuk.

"He acted contrary [to Island association rules] and the feeling of the executive committee was that some action had to be taken," said Kenny. "Unfortunately, Andrew was steering the ship so he had to be suspended."

Holenchuk, a Victoria area real estate agent, said the Island hockey association never publicly provided a reason for his discipline.

He is concerned that rumours and false interpretation of his indefinite suspension regarding a girls hockey team will damage his reputation in the community.

"I'm going to pursue this all the way," said Holenchuk. "It's crap what they did. It's a complete abuse of power."

It could be defamation of character if it goes the wrong way.

"I'm hoping this will open up a lot of eyes to Vancouver Island hockey executives' ... way of thinking. They've got to take politics and egos out of it and focus on what's best not only for the boys but for the girls."

B.C. Hockey, which oversees regional and district associations, said it doesn't have the jurisdiction to interfere with the suspension unless a formal appeal is filed.

"It's really a decision made at a district level," said executive director Barry Petrachenko.

"If the members of the Vancouver Island Amateur Hockey Association felt this decision was a poor one, they in fact could go to their board and deal with that within their constitution and bylaws."

Holenchuk said he's already writing his appeal to B.C. Hockey. The girls team, meanwhile, remains cleared to play in the provincial championships.

There is only one reason that I can think of when it comes to the reasons why the Vancouver Island Amateur Hockey Association would want to prevent the girls from participating: body-checking. Peewee hockey is the level that the British Columbia Amateur Hockey Association has selected to begin body-checking, according to Hockey Canada, so there might be a push to help protect the girls from the physical aspect of the game.

If this is the case, this needs to be stated up front by the VIAHA. But it wasn't, and now it appears that the VIAHA has some sort of grudge against the girls based upon their gender alone. That, readers, is what we call "discrimination", and the VIAHA knows this. The only course of action they could take without being labeled as "discriminatory" would be to suspend the advocate for the girls. That advocate was Mr. Andrew Holenchuk, Victoria area real estate agent by day, and president of the Victoria Minor Hockey Association in his spare time.

He was needed for a Victoria peewee A girls team as they had no competition to play against thanks to new rules. So the girls asked Mr. Holenchuk to see if there was anything he could do. He did exactly what anyone in his position would do - he took the girls' case to BC Hockey, the governing body of hockey in British Columbia. They approved the girls' application for the tournament, and all was ready to go. Or so it seemed.

If the VIAHA was worried about safety, that's all they had to say, and I would have been ok with them preventing the girls from participating. I'm not saying I'd fully agree, but at least there's a reasonable explanation for the decision.

However, trying to prevent these talented girls from playing because of geographical rules and their gender is not only petty, but it's absolutely pathetic. And suspending the president of the hockey association is not only asinine, it reeks of desperation for vengeance in having their "rules" overruled by hockey's governing body.

Let the kids play regardless of their genders or location. The more players you include, the better the chances of developing top-flight hockey players.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Another Brick Upside The Head

I'm not sure what it is about the stripes that hockey officials wear, but it seems to turn some minor-hockey coaches and parents into lunatics towards the men and women in stripes. While it seems that there are a few bad apples that spoil the bunch in terms of coaches, players, and parents, the few that are being completely unprofessional commit anywhere to from 80-95% of the acts of aggression towards the officials. Why is this? Why can't the officials do their jobs without the threat of verbal or, in some cases, physical abuse? Are we, as a society, really this depraved?

The majority of officials in minor-hockey are as young as some of the players they are officiating. That means that they routinely are near the same age of the players or, in most cases, slightly older than the kids on the ice. When a player yells at an official, it's normally in the throes of the game where passion, emotions, and adrenaline are all on extreme highs for the player. I don't condone yelling at an official, but sometimes it happens.

Where it seems that people lose their minds is in the stands or on the bench. Far too often, young kids who are trying to hone their officiating skills are forever put off the game by some blowhard who decides that a mistake by a 16 year-old referee or linesman has now cost his team of 13 year-old children all chances of ever winning the Stanley Cup. Never mind the fact that the 13 year-old kids are hearing all sorts of words that are normally bleeped out on television, but they are also learning that that type of behavior is acceptable.

Do officials make mistakes? Absolutely. They are just as human as you or I. Do they scream obscenities and threaten your health and safety when you screw up? I have heard, in my time spent at rinks, far too many death threats, obscenities, and other incredibly rude comments made towards the officials from the people around me in the stands or from across the rink from a coach. And that, readers, is ridiculous.

The reason this has come to light is because there is an alarming rate of official abuse being seen in Winnipeg's minor-hockey system. Russ Romaniuk of the Winnipeg Sun wrote a very good article on this topic Friday, and it really needs to be read.

Winnipeg minor hockey on-ice officials are increasingly facing physical and verbal attacks from players and coaches, as the abuse reaches what a local organizer calls an “epidemic.”

Hockey Winnipeg president Don McIntosh told league directors, co-ordinators and other organizers by e-mail this week that something must be done to stop attacks on the officials, who can be as young as 13.

"This is reaching epidemic status," he says in the e-mail, which was sent Wednesday and obtained by the Winnipeg Sun.

In the memo, he cites three Hockey Manitoba disciplinary hearings held within the past two weeks into physical abuse of referees or linesmen — two involving players and the other involving a coach of a team of seven- and eight-year-olds.

"There have been other hearings at Hockey Manitoba this year and three hearings pending from very recent incidents," McIntosh says in the e-mail, adding "the verbal and physical abuse of referees has to stop."

Glenn Asselstine, vice-president of officials with Hockey Winnipeg, told the Sun that 16 incidents of such abuse have been reported since early January — a sharp increase from what is usually seen in that period of time.

"Physical abuse of officials has jumped probably threefold in the last month and a half," he said. "It is very scary for us right now."

Incidents of physical attacks on officials generally lead to hearings held by Hockey Manitoba, the province's governing body for the sport. Suspensions can and do occur.

When contacted by the Sun, McIntosh didn't reveal specific details of the incidents.

He confirmed, however, that the increasing frequency of the problems has spurred his call to community centre directors and hockey sub-association presidents and co-ordinators to "talk to the coaches" to bring more awareness to the dilemma, which has prompted an undetermined number of refs and linesmen to leave their positions during the past few years.

"I’m told that referees are quitting because of abuse. Senior or management referees who we have in our system will tell you that," McIntosh said, adding he doesn’t know the number of such resignations.

"Referees are a very valuable and important part of our game. Our game couldn’t go without them."

McIntosh said abusive behaviour toward officials appears to be mostly in players aged 17 to 14, "who quite frankly, don’t give a damn on the ice, maybe, and don’t give a damn at school. It's a societal change that we're seeing on the ice, to some degree, I think. They’re just not as concerned about consequences as they once were."

The fact that there was an incident of physical abuse towards an official "involving a coach of a team of seven- and eight-year-olds" is downright pathetic. These are the people we are entrusting our kids to learn from both on the ice and in the dressing room, and this is what the coach is teaching our next generation of hockey stars?

Here are the stats that Romaniuk dug up in his story:

• 16 - number of on-ice incidents since January 4 involving officials.
• 10 - number of those 16 incidents that went to disciplinary hearings.
• $16 - lowest wage earned by an on-ice Hockey Winnipeg official.
• $51 - highest wage earned by a Hockey Winnipeg referees.
• $41 - highest wage earned by a Hockey Winnipeg linesman.
• 13 - lowest age for on-ice Hockey Winnipeg officials.
• 450 - number of on-ice Hockey Winnipeg officials today.
  

I'm not sure about you, but I have taken my fair share of abuse as a fan for telling parents of the teams I'm watching to give it a rest. I don't feel bad about telling them to shut their traps, and I'd rather they tell me off than to take it out on some teenager wearing an official's sweater. Personally, I can deal with that problem a lot easier than an intimidated 13 year-old teenager can. Yet here we are discussing these problems.

Readers, I encourage you to have some respect for the officials working games in minor-hockey leagues. If you see someone running his or her mouth, ask him or her politely to stop. For most kids, playing hockey is all about fun. Learning the lessons that come along with winning and losing is important, but kids will stop playing the game if it is no fun.

It reminds me of the Pink Floyd song: "Coaches leave them refs alone. Hey! Parents! Leave them refs alone! All in all, you're just another brick in the wall."

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!