The image to the left is a little harrowing for those of us who have been watching this game for some time. That's either Lev or Maksim Bure, sons of former NHL star Valeri Bure and TV star and personality Candace Cameron Bure, who was featured on Candace's Facebook page because, as she wrote, "The boys are wearing yellow jerseys this month to bring awareness to childhood cancer." That's awesome to see from a team featuring 14 and 16 year-old kids, but it dawned on me once I re-read Candace's statement: that's her boy wearing that jersey. That's Valeri Bure's son wearing that jersey!
I've been watching this game long enough to see the sons of players from my dad's generation roll through the NHL. Heck, I've seen third generation players such as Blake Geoffrion get drafted and play. It's a different feeling, though, when you see a player's son approaching draft-eligible ages who you watched being drafted and play. Suddenly, the effects of aging catches up to you in a hurry!
Bure was the 33rd-overall selection in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadiens after leaving the Soviet Union in 1991 to play for the WHL's Spokane Chiefs where he became the first Russian-born player to suit up in the WHL. After being drafted, Bure returned to Spokane for the 1991-92 season where he scored 147 points and set a franchise record for goals with 68. His first pro game was against the New York Islanders on February 28, 1995, and he recorded his first professional goal against the Wendell Young and the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 15.
While all of those achievements are certainly remarkable, they also mark some incredible times that the younger folk watching the game today won't remember. The 1995 New York Islanders, for example, wore the Fisherman jerseys as seen to the right, meaning Bure's first game was played against what many feel is the worst uniform in NHL history (I vehemently disagree). I'm not sure what this generation of kids feels about the Fisherman, but I know that my generation and the generation before it pretty much hated the Fisherman in all its forms.
Wendell Young is a name that won't be known to many younger fans today, but he was a star with the IHL's Chicago Wolves after his playing days in Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay, but he's the only player in hockey history to have won the four major cups: the Memorial Cup (OHL's Kitchener Rangers in 1982), the Calder Cup (AHL's Hershey Bears in 1988), the Turner Cup (IHL's Chicago Wolves in 1998 and 2000), and the Stanley Cup (NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 and 1992). He wasn't an overly exceptional goalie at the NHL level, but he was a serviceable netminder who played minutes when called upon. He was, however, an excellent goaltender in the minor leagues, and he's proven this with his success in the blue paint at the AHL and IHL levels. Today, Young is the GM of the Chicago Wolves.
Bure, on the other hand, runs a winery in California with his wife, Candace, and their two boys obviously are playing hockey. Valeri had a solid NHL career that was cut short due to a lingering hip injury, but he managed to lead the Calgary Flames in scoring in 1999-2000, a season in which he and his brother, Pavel Bure, set the NHL record for goals scored by two brothers in a single season with 93. And now it appears that Lev and Maksim Bure could be destined for the NHL at some point to challenge their father's and uncle's record.
I appreciate hockey history, and I really hope the new generation of hockey fans finds that same appreciation as they move through their own timelines. Kudos to the team that the two Bure boys are on for getting word out about childhood cancer with their awesome yellow jerseys. In the end, though, time waits for no man, as the adage goes, and it seems that I am now the generation that used to talk about people my dad's age harrowing back to the days of Orr, Lafleur, and Hull. That's Bobby Hull, not Brett Hull, kids.
We've already seen the next wave of Sutters get drafted. Matthew Tkachuk will eventually be a Calgary Flame after his dad spent years in Winnipeg, St. Louis, Phoenix, and Atlanta. Martin Brodeur was in Columbus this week to watch his son tend nets for the Blue Jackets in their rookie camp. Even Wayne Gretzky's baby daughter now has a baby of her own and a husband.
With the NHL getting younger, expect the wave of former players' kids to continue. It's the natural evolution of the game, but sometimes I feel like I've been left in its wake when I see players I watch get drafted supporting their kids at the draft. To say it's surreal just makes me sound old.
Four years ago, I entered into talks with 101.5 UMFM in bringing HBIC to the radio. They approached me about the idea of a hockey-themed show, and I brought the idea of translating the blog to the radio medium so that the major stories from the hockey world could be discussed in an everyday-like setting. We've received a ton of phone calls from listeners, we've interviewed a bunch of amazing people, and we've tried to stay on top of all the major stories and happenings from across the globe. But there was always one complaint that we fielded with good reason.
"I don't get your station."
It's not that people didn't understand the station, but that our broadcasting range isn't very large. Sure, you can hit up the internet and listen to UMFM via the website, but that's a bit of a pain in the rear, right? Wouldn't it be easier if there was just an app for that? Wouldn't it be easier to hear The Hockey Show with just one tap on your phone or tablet? Heck yes, it would be a ton easier!
Well, ladies and gentlemen, let's make this a whole lot easier.
The iOS app was released this week, and you can download it for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod and listen to The Hockey Show with just one touch now! Just follow this link on your iDevice and get the UMFM app! It's never been easier to tune in!
For the Android crowd out there, don't think we've forgotten about you. The Android app can be found in the Google Play Store, and has been available for a couple of weeks already. If you haven't had a chance to download it, follow this link and get the Android app for your phone or tablet as well!
Sorry, Blackberry users, but your market share didn't warrant a Blackberry App, but it's not like you can't get the Android app onto your phone. If you're using a Blackberry 10, you can sideload apps from the Google Play Store. Please remember that the apps were not designed for a Blackberry, so I can't guarantee that the UMFM app will work perfectly, but give it a shot and let me know in the comments if it works for you!
There are a couple of things you should know about the UMFM app itself. This is the initial offering of the app, so there will be some things missing that you can still find on the UMFM website such as UMFM's Second Stream. UMFM is working towards including a bunch of new stuff in the next release such as a wider selection of streaming archives for all our shows and adding in a real cool feature for all of UMFM's "Friends With Benefits" partners, but the station wanted to get this new app out in September so that you can hear all of the great programming that it has to offer such as The Hockey Show and a pile of Bison Sports broadcasts including men's and women's hockey.
There's no timeline right now as to when the next update will be released with the new features, so if you want to listen to UMFM's Second Stream for any of the sports broadcasts, festival info, and live sessions done at UMFM, I suggest going to the Second Stream's webpage for that information for now. The Second Stream is occasionally offline for administrative purposes, but it will be carrying all of the above starting in October.
Starting on October 7, Bisons men's and women's hockey games can be found there for all home games not carried on the main UMFM feed which is streamed via the app. If you want UMFM hockey action, you know where to find it all season long! Make sure you check the schedule on the GoBisons.ca website as men's games and women's games are played at different times throughout the season!
Regarding the broadcasts over the airwaves, the following schedule will be broadcast on the main feed for UMFM. You can hear these live via the app during the broadcast times shown below. Please note that all times are Central!
MEN: 7pm Friday, October 28 vs. UBC Thunderbirds
WOMEN: 1pm Saturday, November 19 vs. Alberta Pandas
MEN: 7pm Friday, November 25 vs. Saskatchewan Huskies
WOMEN: 1pm Saturday, December 3 vs. Mount Royal Cougars
WOMEN: 1pm Saturday, January 14 vs. UBC Thunderbirds
MEN: 7pm Friday, January 27 vs. Calgary Dinos.
WOMEN: 4pm Saturday, February 4 vs. Saskatchewan Huskies
MEN: 7pm Friday, February 10 vs. Alberta Golden Bears
So what are you waiting for? Get out to the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store and download the app, or follow one of the convenient links above! You're missing great programming that is entirely NOT commercial radio right now, and you may even find a new band or song that you want to download through UMFM's interesting and entertaining programming! And you can follow all the latest developments on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on 101.5 UMFM, www.umfm.com, and the UMFM app!
When things are done differently, it takes time for people to adjust. If this adjustment benefits those who are doing things differently, the change is labelled as innovative. Whether or not we'll see the Florida Panthers leading the way in innovative hockey ideas is certainly up for debate after they have begun to practice with white pucks as seen above. Yes, those are the real things that the Panthers are using in their practices to help their two goalies, Roberto Luongo and James Reimer, focus while in net for the upcoming season. Will this work?
It's not as if the Panthers had any issues with how Luongo played his position last season, but the additional work on getting the netminders to focus on the puck and keep their heads in the game a little more won't hurt. Luongo posted excellent numbers in going 35-19-6 with a 2.35 GAA and a .922 save percentage while posting four blank sheets. Reimer stumbled in his time with Toronto - who didn't? - but still managed to post a 17-14-7 record, a 2.30 GAA, a .922 save percentage, and three shutouts in his time with the Sharks and Maple Leafs. Again, not too shabby, but there were certainly times where it seemed like Reimer's head was elsewhere last season.
The white pucks force the goaltender to concentrate on la rondelle when it leaves the stick. The white is supposed to be harder to see on the white ice and potentially against the white background of the boards, making it harder to pick up the puck for the goaltender who is supposed to stop it. I'm not sure if this will translate into additional saves during the regular season and/or playoffs, but the idea of getting netminders to focus on what is s somewhat-invisible puck at times is a lot like muscle memory in that Luongo and Reimer should keep their minds trained to focus on what's happening in front of them instead of stuff happening in other parts of their lives.
There was no report on whether the rest of the Panthers will be included in the focus training, but I suspect that there could be a few deflection drills that will use these pucks as well. Players often know where the puck is and off of whose stick it's coming, but keeping their eye on the puck when it disappears would be a good drill for the offensive players. I'm not sure that slapshots from the point would be a wise move, but a few wrist shots for redirections may prove beneficial for the offensive players as well!
Innovation comes in many forms. If the Panthers see a statistical increase from their goaltenders, I suspect that these white pucks will continue to be used in practices. Luongo and Reimer are already good netminders based on their numbers, but any improvement could push the Panthers to the top of the Atlantic Division.
While the evidence won't be seen until we're into the regular season and a handful of games are played for a sample size, I suspect that if the Panthers show improvement in the goaltending stats there will be other teams who follow suit in getting their netminders to focus harder and concentrate better.
The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced hockey radio show, is back with a major milestone and some fun tonight. Can you believe we're finishing off Year Four of the The Hockey Show? Yeah, we didn't think we'd get here either, but we made it and we're still going strong! Beans and I have been lucky to have had so much fun on the radio while bringing you interesting interviews, great debates, and a pile of news stories, and we'll be kicking off Year Five next week with some giveaways and fun! Tonight, however, we have some introductions to do!
The University of Manitoba Bisons women's hockey team finishes off their only week of preseason games in Manitoba this weekend as they play Friday and Saturday against the Winnipeg Avros of the Manitoba Female Midget Hockey League! To get you ready, we're bringing on all five new Bisons players to introduce you to the future of the Herd! We'll welcome Jordyn Zacharias, Sheridan Oswald, Mekaela Fisher, Jenai Buchanan, and Megan Neduzak to the show and we'll give you some background on each before we discuss the upcoming Canada West season and where the Bisons rookies feel the team will finish! We'll also discuss their recent European barnstorming tour where they went 4-0, and get the skinny on some of the highlights of the trip! We'll also be reminding everyone of the games this weekend, so get your seats down to a seat at Wayne Fleming Arena to see the 6-0 Bisons play the Avros this weekend!
It's going to be a packed house with seven people on the microphones tonight even with Beans taking the night off, so make sure you tune in because TJ and I will getting into these players' stories almost immediately! The phone lines will be wide open tonight for your calls if you have questions for the new Bisons, so call us at (204) 269-UMFM (269-8636)! Make sure your radio in the Winnipeg region is set to 101.5 on your FM dial if you can't make it or listen live between 5:30pm and 6:30pm CT on your web-enabled device at the UMFM webpage!
As new feature for your listening pleasure, if you're an Android user, download the UMFM app for easy listening! The iPhone version is coming soon, so make sure you check back here for its availability. Once it is, we'll post that link here as well!
Email all show questions and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter. You can also post some stuff to Facebook if you use the "Like" feature, and I always have crazy stuff posted there that doesn't make it to the blog or show.
Tonight, we talk about new school year, the upcoming Canada West season, the fall of Europe, and we'll learn about the new players and their accomplishments thus far in their careers on The Hockey Show only on 101.5 UMFM!
It's not often that HBIC can feel like the National Audubon Society, but today is all about the birds on this blog. Two species of birds shall be covered as we look at a California-based bird and a Massachusetts-based bird. Both of these birds have come out with a new look as the AHL teams who have adopted those names have released updated uniforms! Today, we travel to Bakersfield to look at the alternate jersey for the Condors, and we hit the road for Springfield where the Falcons have a whole new look!
Alternate Condors
We start with the Bakersfield Condors who have already adopted the colours of the Edmonton Oilers, but had yet to follow suit with an orange-and-blue alternate jersey. The Condors finally made the reveal six days ago, and I have to say that I am a fan of these alternate jerseys.
Ok, unnecessary dramatic music aside, that orange jersey looks good! While the Condors opted to use the secondary oil drop logo, they added the talons from a condor to make the logo somewhat Bakersfield-centric. To me, though, this jersey's logo feels a lot like the Oilers alternate that they wore from 2001 to 2007. I, of course, am a big fan of that oil drop logo as well.
Leaving the last decade out of this, I really like what the Condors did with the oil drop logo. It occupies much of the front of the orange alternate so that there's very little dead space, and it's very clear through both the logo and colours which team is on the ice.
Well done, Bakersfield! A solid alternate jersey is being added to the rotation, and I can't wait to see it on the ice!
Falcons' New Feathers
If you've been following the AHL moves this summer, you know that the Springfield Falcons moved to Tucson, Arizona to become the Roadrunners. With Springfield looking to keep a team, the Portland Pirates moved into Springfield and became the Springfield Thu7nderbirds. Now that you're up to speed, the new bird-based team in Springfield have a new logo and new jerseys thanks to their affiliation with the Florida Panthers. The old logo, seen above, has flown the coop or some other wisecrack about birds, but I have to say that I really like the new logo for its simplicity.
Yes, it's still an angry bird, but the Thunderbirds logo is certainly better than the Falcons logo as seen above, and there's a hope that the Thunderbirds can bring a Calder Cup back to Springfield. The colours, as you may notice, have a strong emphasis of blue in the logo, but also incorporate the red and yellow colours worn by the Panthers as another AHL team will resemble its NHL affiliate this winter, but has elements that make the jersey unique to Springfield. In other words, I like what Springfield has done.
We'll start with the red jerseys that Springfield will be wearing. I am posting the large mock-up of these jerseys with the Pantone colours in order for fans and designers to get a jump on any future designs such as an alternate jersey. In any case, here are the red jerseys.
There are some likes and dislikes in the design, so let's start with the less-than-positive stuff such as the half arm stripes. That's a no in the hockey world, and it really does nothing to improve the jersey except to add the lighter blue colour to the colour scheme. Had those stripes gone fully around the arm, I believe it would look better, but that seemingly useless navy blue underarm splash ruins the stripes. Which leads me to...
That seemingly useless navy blue underarm splash. Why is it there? Is it because the jersey needed more colour? Here's a thought: add a hem stripe! You have it on the socks and sleeves, so toss in the the same striping pattern on the hem! Instead, the Thunderbirds went for the slimming vertical side colours which, I assume, will be incorporated on the breezers for the players to make one long vertical stripe. If it doesn't or if the Thunderbirds decide to wear navy blue breezers as contrast, these side panels will look ridiculous.
Also, if you read carefully, the Thunderbirds have decided to adorn the US flag on the right shoulder. I believe in flag patches for international competitions and perhaps all-star games, but wearing it because you're based in America? No. It didn't work for the Calgary Flames, and I don't like it here. If you aren't a team made up of 100% American-born players who are traveling internationally, this is just overkill in the nationalism department. Hockey is a global game. Keep it that way.
Lace-up collars are so yesterday. Phase them out too. Especially when your team was never part of "old-time hockey".
Ok, so we've ran over the negatives, but here's the thing: the jerseys look fairly good! I'll explain why under the white jersey mock-ups.
First off, your eyes are drawn to the logo in the middle of the chest because it contrasts well with the red and white background colours. The blue really stands out, and this focuses the eyes on the logo which is the most important part of the jersey. Yes, I was critical of the striping and colour splashes, but the uniform isn't as busy as it could have been - no apron strings or chest numbers! - which really makes the background work with the contrasting logo. While the stripes do break up the background, the stripes and splashes don't pull your eyes off the logo. Again, this all goes back to the logo which is the most important part of the uniform.
As much as I ragged on the US flag patch, the Thunderbirds are wearing it as a tribute to the US military, and they're going to wear it right. From their release, "The flag patch is reversed in much the same way military members adorn the flag on their uniforms, suggesting that the flag is flying in the breeze as the wearer moves forward." That attention to detail is something the Uni Watch crowd and Paul Lukas always note, so kudos to the Thunderbirds for getting this detail right as per military rules. Do it right or don't do it at all.
Because the team was dealing on such tight deadlines, it's interesting to note that "Springfield will wear a different jersey design for a pair of preseason home games on Oct. 7-8 at the MassMutual Center" as stated in the release. You wonder if they will wear the old Falcons jerseys for those two nights or if they have some mocked-up Thunderbirds jersey that were made by local silk screening company. In any case, the real Thunderbirds jerseys, as shown above, will be ready for the opening of the AHL season on October 15 when the team travels to Lehigh Valley, and fans can purchase the new threads sometime in October as well.
Overall, the Thunderbirds get a passing grade for their new jerseys from this writer. They aren't the best jerseys out there, but the negatives certainly aren't as glaring as they seem to be. For that, Springfield should look fairly good on the ice as a team.
The AHL is really improving its look this season with these three jerseys. I'm excited for the season to start so we can see these teams wearing their new threads on the ice! Head down to an AHL arena this season, and maybe you'll be able to catch one of these new uniforms in action!
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