Reality Begins Setting In

If the IIHF had been listening to suggestions I made back on November 20, all the countries participating in the 2021 World Junior Championship would have already arrived in Edmonton by today for three weeks of quarantining and practicing. Instead, no one has assembled in the Alberta capital, and news broke today that Sweden will be without one of their best players whenever they decide to visit Canada as COVID-19 has now impacted that team in a big way. The challenges for the IIHF regarding Sweden's case were always there, and they seemingly were playing the odds that everyone was taking precautions. It's painfully clear, though, that bringing players and staff in from other countries who are trying to isolate might be the worst decision in hockey.

William Eklund, seen above with Djurgarden, appeared to be one of the players to watch at this year's tournament, but the 18 year-old tested positive for coronavirus at the Swedish selection camp and was sent home from the camp with just 21 days before the tournament. Eklund looked like a strong candidate to play for his country prior to his positive test after scoring seven goals and five assists with Djurgarden in the SHL.

Some may be questioning why Sweden sent him home when he could just quarantine for fourteen days, but, according to Uffe Bodin, players have to have three negative tests before traveling to Edmonton for the tournament. I'm not certain if that is an IIHF rule or a Government of Canada mandate for playing in this tournament, but it's pretty clear that Eklund wouldn't have shown the three negative tests needed to be able to travel and he certainly can't practice with the other members of Team Sweden. As a result, Sweden sent him home.

You may be asking about Team Canada at this point as they're finishing up a self-imposed quarantine process, and the belief is that Canada caught their infections early enough so that players can still produce the required negative tests to participate. Because Canada is the host, the three-test requirment may not be required, but it would be reassuring to know that the players wearing the red-and-white are COVID-free when the tournament starts on December 26.

Losing a player projected to be drafted in the early part of the first-round of the NHL Entry Draft is nearly impossible to replace for any team, but Sweden will look to continue its round-robin unbeaten streak while looking for a medal without Eklund following this development. It became harder without them, but adversity can bring out the best in a team if manged well. One just has to hope there are no further positive tests at the Swedish camp that will test the team's depth even more.

We've already seen Team Canada shut down its camp for two weeks following positive tests among players and coaches, and it remains to be seen how that might affect their play once the tournament starts. The belief is that it will have no effect with these players already being among the best on the planet for their age group, but chemistry is a tough thing to foster when players are confined to their hotel rooms in Red Deer.

Of course, had the IIHF encouraged teams to finalize their rosters earlier and assemble in Edmonton by today, William Eklund may have avoided contracting the virus. And assuming that they were doing the required testing earlier, there may have been a chance for Eklund to have quarantined so he could join the team prior to the start of the tournament. As Edna Mode said in Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles, "Luck favours the prepared, darling."

Let this be a lesson for the tournaments that the IIHF is hoping to hold in 2021: early preparedness and proper planning will mean a better tournament as more of the high-profile players will be able to participate. Losing Eklund is a blow to the tournament with the loss of a potential star player, a blow to Team Sweden's ability to ice their best team possible, and a blow in his ability to showcase his talents as he looks for an NHL career. None of that is good when hockey fans are craving an opportunity to watch the best hockey during this prolonged lockdown. With no Lafreniere for Canada, Kakko for Finland, or Hughes for the Americans, it's just another blow to a tournament leaking star power.

This was not the news Team Sweden nor the IIHF wanted for the 2021 World Junior Championship. The reality of not preparing early for this tournament is now setting in for both organizations.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

A Curious Case Of McNames

There's no denying that the New York Islanders used one of the most unique fonts when they introduced their Fisherman jerseys in 1995. Having worked in a sports retail store, I know that the company who did the customization always hated doing Fisherman customizations due to the difficulty, but the Islanders decided two seasons of these jerseys were enough torture for everyone. From the weird angle of the horizontal part of the "A" not matching the other horizontals in letters to serifs on letters, it was truly a unique font.

And that brings us to today's finding thanks to Jamie McLennan retweeting a video of the Fisherman-clad Islanders congratulating McLennan after a win while he played with the Islanders. If you look closely at the screengrab from the video to the right, Bryan McCabe is standing to the right of McLennan in the celebration and it's pretty clear that the "C" in the "Mc" part of their names are different sizes! Normally, we see equipment managers making things easy on themselves by replicating the same styles for all names in the team's chosen font, but it seems as though Jamie McLennan didn't get the same treatment as Bryan McCabe! This needed a little investigation, so let's dig into this name mystery!

What makes Jamie McLennan's name special is that it seemingly was changed between the two sizes of "C" throughout his career while playing on Long Island. Jamie McLennan played 56 games for them from 1993-96, so the Fisherman jerseys, seen to the left from Game Worn Auctions, would have only been worn for one season by McLennan before he moved on to St. Louis. The good news? The names were consistent across both the home and road jerseys for that season of Fisherman madness for McLennan. The bad news? The Islanders were wholly inconsistent from their old jerseys to these new Fisherman jerseys with respect to the treatment of Jamie McLennan's name. And I struggle to understand why this would be when it was pretty clear that the old jerseys had it right.

This is the jersey that Jamie McLennan wore in 1993-94 as per Game Worn Auctions, and you can clearly see the Islanders gave him a small "C" in his last name for that campaign where he appeared in 22 games. In seeing that, it begs the question why the Fisherman jersey, worn by McLennan in 1995-96, didn't have that detail carried forward by the team. They also added that second layer of curiosity by giving Bryan McCabe the small "C" as seen above. It makes one wonder what the equipment staff were thinking in that Fisherman-crazed season.

Where things get really murky is when we consider the case of teammate Marty McInnis. McInnis played for the Islanders from 1991 until 1997, so he was a teammate of Jamie McLennan for three seasons. The top jersey on the left is what McInnis wore in 1992-93 with his name properly rendered with the small "C". Below that is a screengrab of a fight that McInnis had on November 7, 1995 against the Vancouver Canucks, and it's pretty easy to see that he too is wearing the small "C" on the Fisherman jersey just as Bryan McCabe was! For whatever reason, it appears that Jamie McLennan is the exception to how the McNames should be rendered on the back of those jerseys despite him playing the previous two seasons on Long Island with a small-"C" last name on the back of his jersey.

The only other McNames or MacNames to play with the Islanders during the Fisherman years were Mike MacWilliam who suited up for six games and David McLlwain who suited up for four games. Neither player had games of their careers in those short stints with the Islanders, so photos of their names on the back of Fisherman jerseys are likely lost to history at this point. I wanted to see if the trend for non-goalies getting the proper treatment on their names continued, but we'll likely never know at this point.

In any case, it seems very odd that the Islanders would properly apply both Bryan McCabe's and Marty McInnis' names on their jerseys with the small "C" while Jamie McLennan didn't get that same respect despite him getting that respect in previous seasons. Like the curious case of Thomas Steen wearing "T. Steen" when no other Steens played for the Jets, this might just be one of those jersey quirks seen years ago that no one noticed until now. It's little peccadillos like this that make me appreciate hockey history even more!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 428

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, kicks off December with a big name in the hockey world as our guest tonight! While he's been on the show once already, Jenna and I agreed that as we near a potential NHL season, we should probably consult with someone who is far more connected to that world than both she and I are. Will we see an NHL season in January? What were his thoughts about working from home while the NHL operated in a bubble? Is he a fan of the new Reverse Retro jerseys? We'll find out tonight!

Who is this mysterious man, you ask? Teebz and Jenna spend another hour chatting with Hockey Night in Canada analyst Kelly Hrudey about all things NHL! Kelly's far more connected, as stated above, so we get the skinny on what Kelly thought of the bubbles in Edmonton and Toronto, working from home as an analyst, the lesson that the Tampa Bay Lightning learned, what needs to happen if the NHL wants a season to start in January 2021, which Reverse Retro jerseys he likes and doesn't like, speaking up and speaking out for Black Lives Matter, and there's some surprise news tucked into the interview about a new project Kelly is working on! If you want to find out what that is, you need to tune in tonight at 5:30pm CT tonight to hear all of this on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or on UMFM.com!

Where's the best place can you hear tonight's show if you're outside Winnipeg or not near a radio, you ask? The new UMFM website's online streaming player is pretty awesome if you want to listen online. If you're using an Apple device, the player doesn't seem to like Safari yet, but we highly recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or perhaps another browser. If you do use the TuneIn app, you won't be disappointed. It's a solid app.

If you have questions, you can email all show queries and comments to hockeyshow@umfm.com! Tweet me anytime with questions you may have by hitting me up at @TeebzHBIC on Twitter! I'm here to listen to you, so make your voice heard!

Tonight, Teebz and Jenna chat with Kelly Hrudey about the playing in a bubble, working in a bubble, learning to win in a bubble, what kind of bubble will be needed for 2021, which jerseys need their bubbles popped, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: December 3, 2020: Episode 428

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Slovakian News

There was some excitement when the Winnipeg Jets announced that they had signed free agent Marko Dano this offseason as Dano has always seemed to show flashes of brilliance. The other side of that coin, though, is that he hasn't been able to string together enough consistent flashes of brilliance to bump a player from a roster spot with an NHL club despite being 26 years-old. Some of that is due to this lack of consistency, but some of it has also been due to untimely injuries that Dano has suffered. While he was excited to try to kick-start his career with the Jets for a second time, it seems those plans might be on hold once again thanks to some news out of Slovakia.

According to SlovakNHL.sk's Jozef Struhár in an article one week ago, Dano suffered what appears to be a broken wrist that required a second surgery to insert a screw to strengthen the wrist and help speed up his recovery in anticipation for a January 1 NHL start. It would seem that his season in Slovakia is over for the time being, and he may not see the ice again until NHL training camps open here in North America.

For a kid who has played 38 NHL games in one season as a career-high, he's likely looking at a start in the AHL with the Manitoba Moose for the 2020-21 season if and whenever it starts. With the AHL weighing options on how they want to run their season, there's no guarantee that the AHL will even play a season if the Canadian border is closed considering that there are just three other Canadian AHL teams - Toronto, Belleville, and Laval - and the rest of Manitoba's Central Division opponents all play south of the border. Needless to say, there are a lot of things that need to fall into place for the AHL to play a campaign as it currently stands.

That leaves Dano on the outside looking in once again when it comes to the Jets' roster. He likely won't supplant a Mason Appleton or a Jansen Harkins at this point, and he doesn't have the trust that Maurice places in veterans like Nate Thompson or Mathieu Perreault. He'll be forced to compete with Dominic Toninato and CJ Seuss for one of those pressbox spots, and it's not where a player like Marko Dano should be if the Jets truly believe he can take steps forward.

Assuming his wrist heals as it should, Marko Dano will likely resume his North American career with the last Canadian professional team he played with in the Manitoba Moose. It makes more sense for Dano to start there, get his legs and hands up to speed once again, and then try to push for a roster spot with the Jets.

Dano's a good player who can be a serviceable, if not useful, NHL player at some point, but he's been plagued by unfortunate injuries which have contributed to the inconsistency we've seen in his game. Let's hope that his second stint with the Jets results in seeing #56 in the Jets lineup playing a bigger role more often than we did before.

Get well soon, Marko!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

A Great Resource

If you've listened to The Hockey Show when we have university-level players on, one of the questions I always like to ask is how did they come to the decision to attend the school they are representing. The answers vary in terms of how players came to their decisions, and it always has me wondering why there aren't better resources out there to help players who are looking for a little guidance. While coaches, friends, teammates, and family can all have influences on where players play, the Alberta Female Hockey League has made it a little easier to make good choices thanks to a new resource they released today on their website!

The AFHL AAA league published a brand-new post-secondary guide for players who may need a little help, and I have to say that their document is pretty great! In the guide, they break down all of the post-secondary hockey leagues - U SPORTS, ACAC, NCAA, and ACHA - to help players navigate the plethora of schools out there who are seeking players. Needless to say, the amount of schools can be a little overwhelming!

What I was impressed with is the guide's focus on education before hockey. We know that hockey is an option for those players who want to pursue it, but all schools who offer hockey have academic requirements that students need to meet in order to play. The AFHL Post-Secondary Guide puts the emphasis on education and a career after graduating before even mentioning athletics. That's the correct order in terms of priorities when choosing a school, and kudos for the AFHL for making that distinction early on in this guide.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the guide is the section on connecting with coaches. Normally when we think of recruiting, we think of coaches with a notebook sitting in the stands and taking notes as he or she watches the game. Clearly, I'm out of the game when it comes to recruiting because this guide seems to indicate that players should be reaching out to the coaches of program long before the coaches even commit to watching a second of game action! It goes to show how little I know about this side of the coin being that my university athletics career would have been "waterboy" at best.

This might be one of the more crucial sections regarding recruitment that I've ever read because I always thought it was the coaches seeking the players, not the other way around in university sports. When I hear a Canadian hockey player has been recruited by a big-time NCAA program, I always thought it was word-of-mouth that got the player's name to the coach, but, again, it seems I'm completely mistaken here. The AFHL Post-Secondary Guide talks about the timeline that players should be following from Grade Nine through to graduation as well as what to include on emails and correspondences. I learned a great deal in reading this guide!

There are some excellent testimonials in the guide as well, and I know that players like Bella McKee, Alex Poznikoff, Sierra LaPlante, and Camryn Drever were highly sought-after players upon graduating high school. These players had multiple schools who wanted them on their rosters, and they each had to make choices as to where they wanted to play. They went through the same process players are going through today in investigating the schools, eliminating some from their lists, visiting campuses to get a better idea of what life at school would be like, and, ultimately, choosing their schools to attend.

While this is written from the approach of women's hockey, I wouldn't disregard this guide if your son is thinking about post-secondary education. The same processes can be used for men's hockey at the college or university level, and the same evaluations of schools should be used to make good choices for the boys who are heading off to a higher educational institution.

Bookmark the AFHL Post-Secondary Guide if you're thinking about a future in hockey. The resources contained within this guide are valuable and will certainly help when it comes time to making hard decisions about one's future. Knowing what to ask, who to ask, and how to ask take a lot of guesswork out of the equation, and the results will be a better academic and athletic experience overall if one follows this guide's advice!

Kudos to the Alberta Female Hockey League for producing this guide! You'll help hundreds, if not thousands, of players make the right choices when it comes to their post-secondary education and athletics, and that's a heckuva service to provide!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!