Welcome To The ECHL

Thursday night is usually booked for The Hockey Show, but Jason and I prerecorded the show on Wednesday because I was booked for another event on Thursday with me being in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Fort Wayne Komets are one of the premiere minor-league teams on the planet, and they've crossed paths with Winnipeg a few times before I made my way to the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum last night. Having seen them win Turner Cups in the IHL when the Manitoba Moose were part of that circuit, I knew I was in for a good time at the game on American Thanksgiving. The final verdict certainly held true!

While there were more than enough black-and-orange jerseys in the crowd, the Fort Wayne Komets use their annual Thanksgiving game to honour the late Bob Chase, their longtime radio broadcaster who called Komets games for 63 years before retiring on May 15, 2016. Chase was always a fan of the Thanksgiving Day game, and the voice of the Komets passed on in the early morning hours of Thanksgiving Day back on November 24, 2016. As a result, the Komets honour Chase on each Thanksgiving Day, and they took to the ice in throwback jerseys from the early 1980s as part of the celebration for Bob's memory! I have to admit that the blue-and-orange looks good, but it's far different from the splashes of orange, black, and white that were seen throughout the crowd as fans sported the jerseys of their heroes!

Nevertheless, my first impression of Allen County War Memorial Coliseum was that it looked old from the outside, but things changed once I passed through the doors of the main entrance. While the arena was opened in 1952, there has been a significant effort to modernize the interior while keeping that historic aesthetic intact. The result is a modern arena with all the amenities placed inside a historic building with many stories contained within its walls. It's an excellent venue that deserves to mentioned with other hallowed theatres such as Maple Leaf Gardens and the Montreal Forum.

As I made my way to my seat, the scents of concourse food options filled the air while excited fans found their entrance to the section containing their chosen seats. I sat in Section 209 which allowed me to witness the Komets in the offensive zone twice, but the layout of the seats in the arena meant there were no bad seats that one could find. While it seats more than 10,000 fans for hockey, smaller crowds sound as loud as a full house thanks to the acoustics. I can only imagine what it sounds like on the ice when the fans are most vocal.

With the defending ECHL champions in town, the Florida Everblades were looking to extend their winning streak to four games while the Komets were looking to start a winning streak after dropping their last game against Wheeling. The vocal crowd would be into this one almost immediately as gloves, helmets, and sticks were on the ice just seven seconds after the puck was dropped. As shown in the lede photo above, Yanick Turcotte and Kyle Neuber got acquainted with some early fisticuffs, but neither gained enough of an advantage for a decisive win. Regardless of the outcome, it was very clear that the crowd loved every second of the scrap!

Both teams looked to use their physical skills to find an edge as speed and some thunderous checks were evident throughout the opening frame. The Komets, though, began to impose their will towards the end of the period, and their offensive zone time paid off. Brandon McManus deflected a Connor Corcoran shot past Cam Johnson at 17:11 to give the home side the 1-0 lead, and they'd double the lead when Ethan Keppen banked a shot into the net off Cam Johnson following an Odeen Tufto redirection at 19:20. The fans were rocking inside the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum with the Komets leading 2-0 over Florida. Brett Brochu stopped all seven shots he faced in the frame as Fort Wayne held a 16-7 edge in shots.

I should probably interject here that the ECHL is a developmental league not only for players, but for officials as well. I say this because there were a number of missed calls that seemed pretty obvious to me, but the officials deemed them not to be penalties. This will be a running theme throughout the evening for both teams, but it needs to be said: whatever standard of officiating that the ECHL is demanding seemed to be missing in this game.

A rather questionable holding call was assessed to the Komets just 1:59 into the middle frame, and the Everblades made them pay when Anton Malmström shot from the point beat a partially-screen Brochu at 2:30 to cut the Komets' lead to 2-1. The goal didn't slow down the physicality, though, as both teams continued to punish each other when the opportunities arose. Despite a pile of penalties in the later stages of this frame, the Komets would take the 2-1 lead to the second break with the Komets holding a 25-16 edge in shots.

Time would begin to look like the enemy of the Everblades as the first half of the period went by without any goals, but Oliver Chau would score after it appeared that Brett Brochu was the victim of interference. From the overhead review, it seemed one of the Everblades in the pile of humanity in front of the net grabbed his stick which left him unable to slide to his right to stop Chau. After conferring, the officials went to the review, but ultimately determined the goal to be a good goal despite the fans clearly disagreeing. Chau's goal tied the game at 2-2 at the 12:40 mark.

That seemed to fire up the Komets because they'd respond 45 seconds later when Connor Corcoran stepped into an Odeen Tufto feed, hammering the puck past Cam Johnson to make it 3-2 for the home side. 37 seconds after that, Justin Taylor would bank a rebound into the net off Johnson to put the Komets up by a pair of goals again, but this time saw just 5:58 remaining in the game. A few fans started down the stairs towards the concourse as they believed the Komets were in the driver's seat, but the three-time defending champs know all about how to score late in a game.

Sean Allen would notch his first goal with the Everblades when he teed up a one-timer from the point off a Kade Landry pass that hit Brochu, but ended up behind him across the goal line at 16:18 to make it a 4-3 game. If that wasn't bad enough, a defensive switch allowed Olver Chau to get open in front where he converted an Alex Kile feed from behind the net at 17:26, and we were tied at 4-4. As time ticked down, neither side could dent any more twine, and we would have some free hockey on Thanksgiving! Fort Wayne still held a 34-30 edge in shots at the end of regulation.

Despite some back-and-forth action in the three-on-three overtime which is seven minutes long in the ECHL, a power-play was awarded to Fort Wayne after Florida sent four players onto the ice. Despite both sides having chances, neither side would score on the Komets' advantage. The extra player came into play on the game-winner, though, so let's go to the highlight and see how this one ended!
Carson Gicewicz scores the overtime winner at 5:41 of the extra frame as Florida takes this one by a 5-4 score. Anton Malmström and Alex Kile, who served the bench minor, earned the assists as Brochu couldn't stop the shot from Gicewicz, and the Everblades grab the extra points and their fourth-straight win on Gicewicz's game-winner.

Despite the score, I have to say that ECHL hockey is something I would definitely support if it moved into my market. It's a fun outing, it's affordable as my ticket set me back just $28.25 USD plus $8 for parking, and there is enough talent for the ECHL to be a solid entertainment choice that doesn't break the bank. In that vein, the Fort Wayne Komets do hockey right in keeping things fun, entertaining, and affordable, and their fans repay them with unparalleled support at the box office and with merchandise sales.

I want to give the fans the proper respect they deserve because I'd estimate that 20% of the crowd on Thanksgiving showed up wearing some sort of Komets jersey while it seemed like more than half were wearing the Komets logo on whatever clothing they wore - hats, t-shirts, hoodies, and more. There a lot of teams who claim to have the best fans in the world, but seeing the devotion the Komets have from their fans was nothing short of mind-blowing. I felt out of place not wearing their colours, so I had to correct that by adding a t-shirt to my wardrobe! Consider me a Komets fan now!

Overall, I'm definitely going to another ECHL game if and when I get the chance. The price point is easy to justify, the atmosphere was so much fun in Fort Wayne, the fans were passionate and knowledgeable about their team, and the game itself was solid entertainment as the teams went back and forth before finally finding a winner in overtime. Yes, I realize that not every night at an ECHL rink will be like this, but I'm willing to bet more are like this than less and that would make me a fan in quick order!

For my first ECHL game, I feel like I picked a beauty of a night to experience the action as the Fort Wayne Komets put on a show despite the Florida Everblades coming away with the win!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 636

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, returns tonight with our hosts still not in the studio as Teebz is still criss-crossing the continent. That being said, the show tonight is happening on American Thanksgiving so there may be less US-based listeners than we normally get, but we do want to say Happy Thanksgiving! Of course, that means tomorrow is Black Friday which means the Christmas holiday season unofficially gets underway! We'll start with a new Christmas tune before getting into all the hockey news tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

Perhaps there will be some in the United States who put The Hockey Show on while enjoying some turkey this evening, but Teebz and Jason tackle why U SPORTS can't do what junior hockey does for game experience, what Teebz has been up to on his travels, Paul Bissonnette's night out in Phoenix, Jim Montgomery winning and the Bruins still floundering, the New York Rangers making their roster available for the right price, Brandon gets some bad news, Hockey Canada prepares for the Spengler Cup, Gabriel Gagne's legal problems, and Hockey Canada letting U SPORTS down once again. It's a busy show with a number of topics covered, so make sure you're ready to go tonight for The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT on one of 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via UMFM.com!

If you live outside Winnipeg and want to listen, we have options! The new UMFM website's online streaming player works well if you want to listen online. We also recommend Radio Garden if you need an easy-to-use online stream. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store. 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 Jason chat about hockey experiences, scraps in parking lots, Boston's missteps, Rangers being available, the Wheat Kings refocusing, Hockey Canada news, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: November 28, 2024: Episode 636

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Long Overdue

For years, there has been a void in the sports world in Winnipeg when it came to the Bisons being a viable source of entertainment while being a premiere destination for athletes to study and compete. Anyone who denies that the Bisons are an afterthought in the city or across the province clearly hasn't been to an event at the university where, in most cases, great seats are always available. That may begin to change in the near future, though, thanks to an email sent in late October that announced that the university was beginning a "major initiative to re-evaluate its sports and recreation brands, including the Bisons". If we're being honest, this was long overdue.

According to a report in The Manitoban by Taycie Adeoti, "the review process will assess the relevance of the sports and recreation brands to today's students and the university's community, while ensuring alignment with the institutional brand introduced in 2019". You may be wondering what this will entail, but Dr. Douglas Brown, dean of the faculty of kinesiology and recreation management, made it very clear that the Bisons logo and brand would not be going away.

"We are not changing the brand," Dr. Brown told Adeoti. "You can't simply change a brand, overnight, so we're really viewing this as a sort of an exploration of how impactful our current branding is. I don't want people to be confused that the Bison logo is the brand — the brand is about the people, the values and about what we do."

I fully agree and support this idea as I don't think the University of Manitoba needs a dramatic overhaul of its logo nor it branding, but there should be a review of how far the Bisons logo reaches within the community. This is vital for the health of the varsity athletic programs when it comes to attracting fans, donors, and sponsors as well as making connections within the community and with alumni.

Brown expressed thoughts on this, though, stating, "[I]f there are adaptations or changes to the current logo or other symbols associated with it — I'd like it to make sense within the context of what the university is doing as a whole."

Again, the image of the Bisons logo isn't the problem here. It's the efforts, or lack thereof, to be part of the community and the failure to honour alumni for their commitments to the school where this program has fallen short so many times. When was the last time an alumna was honoured prior to a game for length of service? When was the last time the Bisons honoured a distinctive alumna by honouring or retiring the number he or she wore? When's the last time the Bisons have gone out to practices in the city and spent time with some of the younger athletes?

I'm not saying the Bisons don't do good charitable work already, but there's always a question of doing more, especially when it comes to attracting more people to come to their games. The problem, though, is there is almost zero connection for most people when it comes to knowing athletes or team staff, so selling tickets is hard. There's also zero sponsors for the team when you look around Wayne Fleming Arena, and we know that sponsors often get tickets they can distribute. This is where a strong media strategy would be necessary, but it seems Dr. Brown is looking in a different direction when it comes to this "re-evaluation".

"I'd like students to go, 'I love the way the University of Manitoba is being represented,'" he stated. "'I love this, or I love that, or I feel connected to this.'"

Considering that students have free admission to games and not many of them use that benefit, I'm not certain any of them "feel connected" to the logo. Some will certainly take pride in being a student at the school, but that's not reflected in any of the athletic programs or recreation programs. There needs to be a reason to come down to the stadium or arena, and it's been very clear for a number of years that the university isn't giving its students a reason to spend a few evenings watching the Bisons.

When asked by Adeoti how this re-evaluation will measure success, Dr. Brown responded, "[I]t will be a measure that we get from the community, people who are either thumbs up, 'we like that,' or 'we don't get it,' or ambivalence. I think the worst thing would be ambivalence, that people [have] no reaction. It's hard to work with ambivalence."

The ambivalence is the entire problem with this re-evaluation because that feeling of apathy towards the Bisons has existed for years. We can talk about the 2018 National Women's Hockey Championship captured by the Bisons, but crowds only increased when the Bisons were winning in the playoffs and media outlets were talking about them. The following season saw them back to the regular crowd sizes of 250 people per game as the media completely forgot about them. Talking about the team and having them on TV and radio made a huge difference when it came to reducing the ambivalence about which Dr. Brown is speaking.

I respect this re-evaluation for trying to ensure that the Bisons brand and logo evolves alongside the university's logo and brand, but the depth to which the brand permeates the market is surface deep. That won't change until more people are talking about the Bisons, and that comes with media coverage, volunteerism, and student engagement. None of that happens currently, so the ambivalence will certainly be in the results that Dr. Brown receives.

Until the university wants to address its lack of presence in the city, I feel like this re-evaluation will reveal that people don't feel connected to the Bisons in any meaningful way. That's a shame considering all the talent that Bisons Athletics boasts, but it's never been a priority in the past, and it seems even less of a priority today.

This re-evaluation was long overdue, but it ultimately misses the larger problems when it comes to the brand and logo: people know the Bisons, but do they care about the Bisons?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

An Invalid Offer Sheet?

The image to the left is one that I mocked up, that picture shows longtime Edmonton Oilers forward Craig Simpson as a San Jose Shark. You migh be wondering why I would spend any time doing that, but I was looking up some info on Oilers of the 1980s and Simpson's Wikipedia page had a whole paragraph about the San Jose Sharks giving him an offer sheet in 1993. Of course, Simpson ended up playing in Buffalo in 1993 after the Oilers traded him there, but it was San Jose who kicked off the war for the rights to Craig Simpson only to have the NHL - specifically Gary Bettman - declare that the offer sheet was invalid due to how it was structured. With all the weirdly-structured deals we see now, how much crazy was San Jose's offer that Simpson accepted?

Simpson's Wikipedia article has incorrect information on how Simpson became a free agent. The Oilers were required to offer him a 15% raise on his previous contract's salary of $690,000 in order to keep his rights and they refused to do so. Because they didn't honour the contract's required raise, Simpson declared himself a free agent and would listen to any offer from any team. The NHL and Edmonton weren't convinced that Simpson was a legitimate free agent, but San Jose stepped in with an offer sheet for $3.09 million over three years on July 15, 1993, leaving Edmonton to match their offer.

Being the savvy GM that he was, Glen Sather demanded compensation for San Jose signing away one of the Oilers' better forwards, but San Jose basically told him to kick rocks because Simpson was being paid the league's minimum salary amount of $130,000 for each of the years he would play for the Sharks. The vast majority of the money of the $3.09 million was to be paid as a signing bonus as he'd receive $2.7 million just for wearing the jersey. As Sather dug into San Jose's contract offer to Simpson, he became incensed at losing Simpson for nothing.

Sather's next step was to file a complaint with the NHL about how this signing bonus basically made the contract worthless which went outside the spirit of the offer sheet rules. The NHL began an investigation into the contract that pitted the Sharks, Simpson, and the NHLPA on one side as they all felt the contract was valid as per the CBA rules while the NHL and the other 23 GMs and teams argued that the Sharks purposely structured the contract so that Edmonton would receive no compensation.

The Sharks even drew ire from one NHL GM who decided to call out the Sharks for their offer sheet. New York Rangers general manager Neil Smith sent an open letter that was copied to every other NHL GM about the offer sheet which only added more gasoline to the fire. As The Hockey News reported, Sharks' director of player personnel Chuck Grillo "said Smith 'needs a good kick in the ass' while kindly offering to fulfill that need personally". Clearly, the NHL needed a resolution on this matter before things got worse, and, after eleven days, the investigation finally concluded.

We go to Tuesday, July 27, 1993's edition of the Medicine Hat News.

As per NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, the Sharks' offer sheet needed to include the signing bonus as part of the total AAV when it came to compensation. Therefore, the offer sheet is invalid as per the Commissioner, and Craig Simpson still remained somewhat tied to the Edmonton Oilers despite his claims of being a free agent.

Obviously, Craig Simpson wasn't on Glen Sather's Christmas card list any longer, and there were rumours that the Buffalo Sabres were going to follow San Jose's lead by offer sheeting Simpson after Bettman's ruling. Not wanting to risk another offer sheet fiasco, Sather just pulled the trigger on a trade with Buffalo, sending Simpson to the Sabres in exchange for Slovakian forward Jozef Cierny and future considerations. Those future considerations eventually became a 1994 fourth-round pick which Edmonton used to select Finnish forward Jussi Tarvainen at 95th-overall.

Just for fun, the Sharks were busy with offer sheets in the summer of 1993 as the day after offering a contract to Simpson, the Sharks went ahead and offer-sheeted Kelly Miller of the Washington Capitals. Wisely, "San Jose would not disclose the dollar amount or the length of time of the offer, other than to confirm that it was a multi-year bid", but it The Washington Post was certain he was going to more-than-double his $450,000 contract in 1992.

There was far less drama in this battle over Miller as the Washington Capitals would match San Jose's offer sheet and re-sign Miller. From The Washington Post's reporting, "According to the Capitals, San Jose offered Miller a $1 million signing bonus, an $800,000 salary for the first season and $850,000 for the second season," so Miller got a sizable raise from his $450,000 salary. Needless to say, the Sharks missed on both players they aimed to sign in the summer of 1993.

I hadn't seen an "invalid offer sheet" before, but there's a little history on one as Craig Simpson was almost a San Jose Sharks forward before that offer sheet was killed and he was traded to Buffalo. Would that have made a difference in their season?

Well, they did add some considerable talent as Sergei Makarov, Todd Elik, Igor Larionov, Ulf Dahlen, and Jimmy Waite all donned the teal while Arturs Irbe became the starter for the Sharks. They had one of the biggest upsets in the playoffs when they knocked off the Detroit Red Wings in seven games that spring, but would Simpson and Miller have helped them get past the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Maybe in an alternate universe, they did. But not in this one.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Denied In Florida

It may be hard to believe, but Sunrise, Florida may never have had the Florida Panthers had an ownership group convinced the AHL that their community was the right place for an AHL affiliate. In the league's history, there have only been two seasons where they've had a team in Florida, so there isn't a long history of AHL hockey anywhere in the state. However, an ownership group with an affiliation possibility approached the league for a team to potentially be put in Dania, Florida, just 25 miles southeast of Sunrise, the eventual expansion home of the NHL's Florida Panthers.

Historically, the only time that the AHL has called Florida home was 1972-74 when the Jacksonville Barons played there. Nick Mileti, owner of the WHA's Cleveland Barons, decided to move the AHL team of the same name that he owned to a new city after determining that Cleveland could only support one hockey team.

Mileti originally wanted to fold the AHL team, but he was stopped by the development agreement he had with the Minnesota North Stars. After landing on Lewiston, Maine as the potential new home for the Barons, the AHL stopped in at the urging of the NHL and voted this relocation down. Mileti turned to Jacksonville, and he convinced the AHL to vote for this relocation after he promise to pay for the costs of the teams that travelled to Jacksonville.

In the summer of 1971, though, Recreation Inc. approached the AHL with the desire to own an AHL franchise after coming to some sort of agreement to be the affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres who were founded in 1970. There was no mention if the team would be based in Dania, Florida per se, but one has to imagine that the group would want its AHL team near to where its ownership lives and does business. Dania is right near Miami and Fort Lauderdale, so either of those cities could have been the landing spot for this team, but it was never clear as to where exactly this team would play.

By June 11, 1971, the AHL had reviewed the application and decided that they weren't awarding an expansion franchise to that group for the following season. It might have been for the best because there were a pile of changes coming down the pipe that the AHL needed to manage including adding three expansion teams that had already been approved and two team relocations that saw the AHL reduced to one Canadian team. Having an eleventh team so far away from the ten teams that existed would have been difficult at best.

Of the changes that the AHL went through that summer, they added the Boston Braves, the Cincinnati Swords, and the Tidewater Wings (Norfolk, Virginia) as expansion teams while the Quebec Aces moved to Richmond, Virginia to become the Richmond Robins, and the Montreal Voyageurs moved east to Halifax where they became the Halifax Voyageurs. Needless to say, five teams in new cities would be a huge task for any league to coordinate, but the AHL somehow made it happen for the 1971-72 season.

Would we have seen a "Florida Panthers" in the AHL if the expansion bid had been successful? It's hard to say considering that the WHA tried to establish the Miami Screaming Eagles in 1972, so maybe we'd be talking about the AHL Miami Screaming Eagles instead. I can't say if Herb Martin, owner of the WHA franchise, was involved in the Recreation Inc. ownership group, but I do know that there was an expansion proposal that looked to establish an AHL likely in Florida!

The Sunrise Scimitars? That could have been the AHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres in 1971 had expansion occurred!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!