Uniform Distractions

I'm pretty much done with hearing about all the garbage surrounding the CBA. I just don't care anymore about who's winning which battle and what the negotiating points are. Much like the men in the movie The Shawshank Redemption, sometimes one just needs to forget about this prison that the NHL and NHLPA have trapped the fans in and find some hope. After all, the movie's tagline taught us one thing: "Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free." So let's set ourselves free from the idiocy of today's NHL-NHLPA fight by looking back on some jerseys and documents from the past as well as some interesting uniforms from today!

We'll start in Anaheim as we fondly remember these one-year three-year non-committal alternate uniforms worn from 2003-06. They are about as bland as one can get when designing a uniform, and really offer nothing that could help or enhance the Mighty Ducks' image in terms of their overall look. Not sure who designed these, but I was never a fan of them. Although I suppose that it could have been worse. That's Michael Eisner, former CEO of Disney, who at one point owned the Anaheim franchise. If you want to see some interesting logos, here are some of the logos that were proposed at the time that the Mighty Ducks came into being. I'm actually glad none of those made the cut.

I happen to love hockey history, so when I saw this New York Americans sweater worn by Art Chapman I was immediately taken with its beauty. I love the arched stars above the logo and number, and the cut of the sweater looks perfect for outdoor hockey as well! Absolutely gorgeous!

Not to beat a dead horse about this lockout, but remember when Gretzky and his pals played a pile of European teams in 1995 when the league was on strike? The Ninety-Nine squad headed overseas to play European teams for charity, and Gretzky brought along a pile of his friends - Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille, Kelly Hrudey, Mark Messier, and others - to represent his team. They wore these uniforms while playing together which have a timeless feel to them. Not a huge fan of the LA Gear patch or the Time Warner patch on the shoulders, but I didn't make that call.

Russian star Helmut Balderis was an interesting fellow in terms of his hockey career. He was a star in the Russian SuperLeague for many years with CSKA Moscow and Dynamo Riga from 1977-1985 before arriving in North America for one season with the Minnesota North Stars in 1989-90. So what happened between his time in Russia and North America? Balderis was playing in Japan! Interesting to see how the Original Six teams were a major influence in Japan in the 1980s with these uniforms!

Canada has always used the red and white colors when playing in international tournaments, but they have worked a third color in in certain years. Take Terry Clancy's Canadian Olympic road uniform from 1964. Who knew that Canada was red, white, and BLUE?

Canada didn't just wear a red uniform at the 1964 Olympics. They also brought along white sweaters, but they ran into a common laundry problem. Remember how you were told by your parents or guardians never to wash red socks with white shirts? Yeah, the '64 Canadian Olympic team ran into the bleeding problem from their red accents on their white sweaters. Canada is now known for red, white, blue and PINK colors!

Clear the track for Eddie Shack! If you notice on that Leafs uniform, the numbers are seemingly way up on the back of the jersey! Shack played before names were mandatory, and everyone seemed to wear his number between his shoulder blades rather than further down. I'm not saying that adding names was bad, but those numbers look way off being that high up on Shack's jersey.

The WHA had a number of excellent logos and color schemes, and I have always been a fan of the Michigan Stags for their excellent logo. Here is Paul Curtis' uniform from the 1974-75 season in the Stags' short history. I can see the "M" for Michigan in the three legs of the deer, but I've always wondered why the antlers were drawn as they were. Anyone have any information on why they appear as they do?

I spent some time looking at the Montreal Canadiens uniforms on the Classic Auctions website, and came across two names that I didn't recognize.

As far as I can speculate and check the web, it appears that Mr. Waldbillig is possibly Dave Waldbillig who played for Notre Dame in the NCAA. In 1985-86, he had 14 goals and eight assists in 34 games as a winger, and finished his career in the NCAA with 20 goals and ten assists in 56 games. He did wear #20 at Notre Dame, so wearing #26 for the Canadiens in a preseason game or two seems plausible. If anyone has any additional info, I'm all ears!

Looking at the other name, Mr. Takagi seems to be more of a mystery, but it appears to be Kunio Takagi, a defenceman who played at the University of British Columbia in 1985-86 where he scored three goals and added five helpers in 28 games. It appears that he may have played his entire hockey career for Kokudo in the Japan Ice Hockey League before retiring in 2000. If we judge the age of this picture based on the Starter logo on the uniform, we're looking at a period of time around the mid-1990s. That would put Mr. Takagi in his early-to-mid-30s if this is his uniform. Again, if you know more about this player, please let me know!

Not to set off a firestorm in Montreal, but there was a Lecavalier jersey made up in 1996 by the Canadiens! Unfortunately, it was not for Vincent Lecavalier, but for René Lecavalier, the long-time play-by-play radio guy for the Habs! They gave Lecavalier this jersey with his name on it at the closing of the Montreal Forum in honour of the years of service he provided the club. A classy gesture by a classy organization!

This past December, the University of New Brunswick Varsity Red men's hockey team hosted a team from Russia in the 8th annual Pete Kelly Cup Challenge! This year, in honour of the 40th anniversary of the Summit Series, UNB decided to wear the names of the men who took part in the game 40 years ago on their special jerseys for the occasion! As pictured, V-Reds captain Chris Culligan, who wears #57 in his UNB uniform, donned Phil Esposito's #7 with Esposito's name on the bottom of the jersey for the two games against Team Russia. So how did the final product look? Not bad at all, I'd say. UNB won both games against the Russian team in the Challenge Cup as well to win the Pete Kelly Cup on New Year's Eve! Well done, gentlemen, and pretty cool jerseys!

I was alerted of the next interesting jersey quirk by reader Mike E. Mike had attended a Manchester Monarchs game where he spied Vincent LoVerde with an interesting nameplate. LoVerde actually has the "L" and "V" in normal-sized Monarchs font, but the rest of his name is done in smaller capitalized letters! It immediately brought back memories of Zach FitzGerald's time with the Manitoba Moose and David Van Der Gulik's time with Abbotsford. I'm not sure what it is about the AHL, but they seem to very obsessive-compulsive about player names!

And finally, we end with a document. It's not that this document is anything outrageous, but I found the contents of the document rather funny. Art Ross had a document made up for Ron "Peaches" Lyons on November 27, 1931 that is basically a termination notice! Perhaps they didn't have pink slips at that time, but Ross' letter states, "This letter is to notify you that your services are no longer required by this organization, and you are now a free agent." Lyons had played with the Philadelphia Quakers in 1929-30 before joining the Bruins for the 1930-31 season.

The part that made me chuckle? This was dated at the start of the 1931 season, meaning he was given this letter while as a member of the Boston Bruin Cubs, Boston's "farm team" in the CAHL! Essentially, Art Ross was cutting him loose after demoting him already! After 17 games and five playoff games in the Bruins organization and one goal to show for it, Lyons was seemingly fired by Ross! Talk about interesting times back then!

Hopefully I've kept you distracted with these jerseys and interesting info so that you aren't picking at the festering wound known as the NHL. Who knows if they'll be back this season? What I do know, though, is that hockey's history is pretty amazing when given a chance to shine!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

It's Not Just The Boys

Dalhousie University is a very respected institution in Canada that is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The institution is regularly regarded as one of the top post-secondary universities in Canada, and was founded back when Canada was still under British rule. In short, things like today's news simply don't happen at a prestigious institution like Dalhousie. But it is unfortunate that the women's hockey team has forfeited the season based upon the results of investigation into hazing that went on during a party that involved the school's women's hockey team.

Honestly, I hate talking about this kind of stuff on a Friday because it ends the week on such a negative note. In any case, here's the release put out by Dalhouse University today on their website reflecting the information gathered.

Initially, I wanted to know what had been done in terms of this hazing that went on, but it occurred to me that my thinking was entirely wrong on this. Curiosity is one thing, but there is something else to consider in this case and in all hazing cases: it's not up to public opinion to determine what is acceptable in these cases and what is not.

"Early in the school year, we got word there was an incident at a party involving the women's hockey team and it appears to have been a hazing incident. So there was an investigation that was carried out and we interviewed the team," Charles Crosby, spokesperson for Dalhouse University, told CBC News on Thursday. The results that were found "showed that many of the team's players were 'put in harm's way' both physically and psychologically", and that the hazing itself involved "humiliation, intimidation and excessive drinking."

I want to be very clear when I say that hazing with the intent to humiliate, embarrass, or injure has no place in any sport whatsoever. Filling skates with shaving cream, for example, is one of those fun pranks that teammates pull on one another with nothing more than an inconvenience for the player who was pranked. Hazing in this manner is more about fun and promoting camaraderie amongst teammates. Anything that involves humiliation, embarrassment, and/or injury should result in extreme punishment much like the ladies of the Dalhousie Varsity Women's team suffered.

Dalhousie University's Department of Athletics and Recreational Services has a hazing policy that states it "does not condone the hazing or initiation of athletes and students in any form, whether such activities occur on or off the campus of Dalhousie University.

"Any student athletes, team personnel or coaches encouraging, facilitating or participating in such activities may be subject to disciplinary action including immediate suspension or dismissal from the Dalhousie University varsity program and/or the university."

In reading this policy, I'm quite certain this information would have been passed on and/or told to the players at some point during their Dalhousie time so that they were not putting themselves at risk of being kicked off a team or, worse, expelled from school.

The fallout of this incident sees the captains of the Dalhousie team relieved of their duties for the remainder of the year. There will be no academic penalties for the players' actions and involvement in this incident, and all players still eligible to play next year will be allowed to try out for the squad.

At the time of writing, Dalhousie wasn't having the best of years in the seven-team Atlantic University Sport Conference as it stood. They were last-place in the conference with a 2-8-2 record and had dropped their last six games. They were to meet fifth-place University of Prince Edward Island Panthers in Charlottetown, PEI on Saturday. UPEI had downed Dalhousie 2-1 in overtime on October 26, and again on December 1 by a 2-1 score.

Regardless of scores and standings, the fact that the women of this team were found to have committed some reprehensible acts on their own teammates is quite indefensible. To see the school come out and forfeit the season after suspending 19 of 24 players is pretty harsh if you consider that some of these women may be on the radar for future Canadian hockey teams. However, I feel that supporting the five students who stepped forward shows a massive amount of courage and incredible ethical and moral responsibility which should be commended.

If we want this culture of hazing in sports to change, we need to look at institutions like Dalhousie who have made tough choices by doing the right thing. What's right is not always popular, but it shows incredible character on Dalhousie University's part in teaching these students about the consequences of their actions and about being upstanding citizens.

Dalhousie's motto is "Inspiring Minds", and I would hope that they will inspire many other institutions and teams to do the right thing when hazing rituals are reported.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode Seventeen

The Hockey Show, airing tonight at 6:00PM CT on 101.5 UMFM, will be interesting as we open up the phone lines to allow you, the listener, to get whatever it is about hockey off your chest. If you haven't seen the Canada-USA World Junior Hockey semifinal game yet, you'll probably hear a little about that, so here's your spoiler alert for tonight's show. I'm pretty sure that we'll get a few calls about that game, but we want anything and everything tonight - stories about pond hockey, questions about the game in terms of how we view it, the state of the game, the CBA - so we're encouraging calls tonight!

If you'd like to call in with your comments, please reach us at (204) 269-8636. We really want to hear from you, the listener and hockey fan, regarding the game and how you see it. If you have Twitter, you can send questions to me directly @TeebzHBIC. And we always encourage email by having you send us your thoughts via HockeyShowUMFM@shaw.ca.

If you haven't watched the Canada-USA game nor seen the results, you might find this episode to be less to your liking. I can guarantee you, though, that you might find tonight's episode of The Hockey Show a wee bit more enjoyable than the TSN broadcast of the game.

I will say this before letting everyone get on with their day: the NHL threatened the NHLPA that if they filed their disclaimer of interest in terms of dissolving the union last night that the season would be canceled. As of this morning, no disclaimer of interest has been filed, and it appears that talks will continue. That's good news for the few us still hoping for a shortened NHL season this year.

Maybe, for all of us who are hoping and dreaming that these two sides can come to their senses, we'll actually get to see something like this image this year.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

A Dumb Swap

With all of the insanity over the NHL and NHLPA making nice before the disclaimer hits, there was a bit of excitement generated over a tweet the other night thanks to New York Post hockey writer Larry Brooks. While Brooks is definitely a pro-player writer in his analyses of the game and his run-ins with John Tortorella are legendary, I'm not sure where he's getting the idea of two teams swapping conferences in a shortened season. That's simply ludicrous.

The two tweets that were most interesting from Brooks read,

Talk within NHL of flipping Winnipeg and Columbus for this year only pending future realignment... — Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) December 28, 2012

Flip would allow Jets to play road games in own time zone @MotherofaSon — Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) December 29, 2012

From the perspective of the Jets, you'd love to be in the Central Division for one reason: travel. It's a heckuva lot nicer to get to places like Chicago, Nashville, St. Louis, and Detroit when you're heading out on the road. Flights to Miami, Tampa Bay, Raleigh, and Washington aren't that bad either, but there's less time logged in the air heading to closer cities if you're Winnipeg.

For Columbus, no trips out to Los Angeles, San Jose, Phoenix, Anaheim, or Vancouver is pretty decent as well. They would log a ton of hours in the air heading to these cities, and that's precisely the same reason Winnipeg would enjoy a swap for a shortened season.

But here's the catch: there's no season. At least not yet anyway. This kind of negotiation would only apply if there was already an agreement to play a shortened season this year, and I'm pretty sure that no deal has been agreed to, even in principle, at this point.

Even if there was a season, I would assume that the Jets would gladly play in a division like the Southeast Division where the division standings can flip with a few wins and losses. Florida won the division last season after it looked like Washington would take home another division title, and Carolina struggled mightily in its season. Heck, Winnipeg was right in the thick of the playoff race until about two weeks remained when their furious push fell short.

If Winnipeg were to move to the Central Division with their 84 points, they would have finished the season ahead of only Columbus in that division, meaning they would have been the cellar dwellers of the Central. Their 84 points would have left them a 17 points back of fourth-place Chicago, and there's a good chance that Winnipeg would have finished with a lower point total since they would have played the Central Division juggernauts more often.

While I'm quite certain the fans in Winnipeg would like seeing the Datsyuks and Zetterbergs, Toews and Kanes, and Rinnes and Halaks more often, they would no longer see the Staals, Stamkos, Ovechkin, Backstrom, Lecavalier, and Versteeg. I won't deny that the idea is enticing, but the thought of being eliminated from the playoffs some time in February during a shortened season is not.

To add a little more dirt on top of this story's grave, Columbus has repeatedly said that they were unwilling to switch conferences because of Detroit's strong draw for fans. They were adamant against Detroit swapping to the Eastern Conference because the Red Wings help to fill their building when they come to town. It's not rocket science to see that in a shortened season, when wins count for so much more, that a strong rivalry with a division foe can fill your building if a playoff spot is on the line for either team. For Columbus, a streak of wins against a few divisional foes could put them back into the playoffs and really fill the building!

I appreciate that Brooks may have a source who is feeding him this information, but I'm fairly certain that the NHL has nothing on the radar for realignment during this time whatsoever considering all of the other larger issues sitting in front of them right now. Quite frankly, whoever this "source" is, if there is one, should no longer be considered a source at all with this kind of idiotic information.

Winnipeg will remain in the Southeast Division, and I like their chances a whole lot better than moving to the Central Division for 48 games.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Happy New Year!

If you caught the Adirondack Phantoms-Bridgeport Sound Tigers game yesterday, you would have seen these incredible orange tuxedo jerseys that the Phantoms wore for their fans. As a promotion, I'm quite satisfied with these jerseys despite the Phantoms looking like they rolled out of Dumb and Dumber.

In any case, the Sound Tigers downed the Phantoms in their snazzy tuxedos by a 4-3 shootout score, so 2012 didn't end all that well for the Phantoms. I'm guessing these uniforms may be mothballed after dropping this decision, but it's a fun uniform and I give it a thumbs-up.

Canada, on the other hand, saw the Spengler Cup awarded to the team that represented this fine country after they dispatched home team HC Davos by a 7-2 score. Big kudos go out to Patrice Bergeron as he is the only man in Canadian hockey history to have an Olympic gold medal, a World Championship gold medal, a World Junior Championship gold medal, a Stanley Cup ring, and a Spengler Cup gold medal in his possession! Because it's impossible for NHL players to play in the Spengler Cup with their schedules, this makes Bergeron's accomplishment very impressive!

Captain Canada, aka Ryan Smyth, would be right there with Bergeron if it weren't for that Stanley Cup eluding him thus far in his career. But Captain Canada has also accomplished everything that a player can do while wearing the maple leaf on his chest. That's pretty special, and I'm happy that Ryan Smyth has always answered the call when Hockey Canada comes looking for players. He's a class act!

The other Canadian squad playing in the World Junior Championship is doing quite well. The Canadians knocked off the host Russians by a 4-1 score in Ufa yesterday to capture the top seeding in Pool B, and this will allow them to advance straight through to the semifinals. Canada will play the winner of the Czech Republic-USA quarterfinal game, so there's a chance that two North American teams will have a chance to tangle once more!

Finally, I want to wish everyone the best in 2013 as we start a new calendar. This will be my sixth year blogging here, and I cannot thank you enough for stopping by each and every time you've checked in with my ramblings. I've always maintained that my readership is the best, and that will not change. Thanks, readers, for making this game fun!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!