Local Endorsement

He'll be wearing a different jersey while playing at MTS Centre this season, but Jason Jaffray is a guy that Winnipeggers know very well. His scoring prowess with the Moose was always talked about, and he legitimately speaks about the city and the fans glowingly. It was a pleasant surprise when I received word from a company that I profiled earlier this year that Winnipeg Jet Jason Jaffray was giving his thumbs-up to the company and its products. Gettting a professional athlete's endorsement is always a huge helper for any company, and Jaffray's endorsement of Integral Hockey makes me very happy for the company.

I am still very interested in Integral Hockey's work, and I will test one of their rebuilt composite sticks during my hockey games this winter. The fact that a bonafide NHL player is now endorsing their work only proves that what they do is very good. If Jaffray can reduce the number of sticks that explode in his hands midway down the shaft this season, there should be no doubt that the Integral Hockey repair process is golden.

Jaffray is quoted on the Integral Hockey website. He says,

"I had a chance to use a stick repaired by Integral Hockey Stick Repair. At first I was very skeptical about using a recycled stick. But after using it, I found it to be no different from my other sticks on my rack. It was just as strong as my other sticks and a week later, I found myself searching the shaft of my sticks to see which stick was the one that was repaired – because honestly, I couldn’t tell the difference between the three. I definitely support Integral Hockey and would recommend them to anyone wanting to save some money and use a stick that still feels like new."

It also appears that Jaffray will be wearing #41 this season if the information on the Integral Hockey website is true:
Jaffray's endorsement is pretty indicative that the technology used by Integral Hockey works. If he couldn't tell which stick has been repaired, that's a good sign that not only is the stick repaired, but it should work as well as the new sticks.

Technology, particularly the "carbon fiber/e-glass, vacuum infused process", is doing a lot to help the player stay successful. Integral Hockey's work is keeping a chosen stick by a player in his hands. There is a short time where a new stick would have to be used during the repair process, but players, as superstitious as they can be, no longer have to discard a stick with which they have had success. That is a valuable selling point for Integral Hockey.

There are a number of repair locations popping up across the country, so make sure you check out where to ship your broken stick if you want it to be repaired. The cost is significantly lower than buying a new one-piece composite stick, so it might be in a player's (or parent's) best interest to look at repair instead of discarding the broken stick. And now that it is endorsed by an NHL player, there's some weight behind the claims made by the company.

Personally, my review will come this winter, so stay tuned for that. I'll be testing it through a game situation where, as a defenceman, I'll be hammering slapshots, stickchecking opponents, and blocking shots where I can. I'll stress the stick as much as I can to see if I can find any faults in the technology.

Thanks to Jason Jaffray's testimonial, I'm not sure there are any faults to find. Keep up the great work, Integral Hockey!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Another Stay In Chicago?

It was announced on Friday that the Vancouver Canucks added a couple of veteran players to their training camp roster in the form of tryout contracts. Forward Steve Begin and goaltender Manny Legace were brought in predominantly to give the Canucks some added competition and to push their current players a little more, but it becomes very puzzling what to do with Legace if he happens to play well enough to earn a spot with the Canucks. As seen in the picture above, it could mean that Legace is heading back to the AHL's Chicago Wolves in order for the Canucks to keep Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider on the Canucks' roster. So why bring in a guy who potentially will only fill a veteran spot on your AHL club?

There's no denying that Legace hasn't played well in his eleven seasons as an NHL netminder. He won a Stanley Cup with Detroit, was named an NHL all-star in 2007-08 with St. Louis, and has performed admirably in his career thus far. But he's 38 years old, spent last season stopping pucks in Germany, and uses up a veteran spot on the Canucks' AHL roster. Again, why go after a guy like Legace if the drawbacks outweigh the benefits, especially when his name is penciled in behind Luongo and Schneider?

I like the idea of having an NHL-ready insurance policy in case either Luongo or Schneider gets hurt next season. Eddie Lack is certainly an AHL-tested goaltender, but the jump in skill between the AHL and NHL is still large. Legace gives the Canucks a player on the farm that can step in as an NHL-ready goaltender at a moment's notice, and playing in Chicago as a member of the Wolves will keep him ready.

Of course, there's no guarantee that Legace will accept a demotion to the AHL after spending the last few weeks in Vancouver getting ready. He has earned that right, and I respect him if he decides he doesn't want to ride the buses in the AHL. After all, he's put his time in as an NHL goaltender, and he has earned the right to choose where he wants to play.

There's also a good chance that Legace won't be offered a contract if he is outplayed by one or more goaltenders in camp. Eddie Lack was outstanding as a member of the Manitoba Moose last season, and there's no reason to think the youngster will sit back and relax coming into this season. Legace will have to battle and outplay Lack in a big way if he wants to move ahead of the Swede on the depth chart.

As for Begin, he spent a lot of time in Milwaukee last season as a member of the AHL Admirals, so he's looking for a shot at making the Canucks in a third- or fourth-line role. Begin is a solid foot soldier, but it will be interesting to see if he can outplay a number of solid contributors that the Canucks and Moose showed last season. Tanner Glass is no longer with the club, but players like Aaron Volpatti and Victor Oreskovitch will be pining for that open spot on the roster. Begin, at 33 years of age, will be in tough against younger players, so he'll need to show some hunger. A lot of hunger.

As for the Canucks, these signings are really a low-risk, high-reward option for them. They essentially get two veteran players in camp for a very low cost, and there's a chance that both Begin and Legace could play their way on to the roster if they perform. At that point, the contract negotiations would begin, but the Canucks get to work out two solid NHL-calibre players without committing a year's worth of money to them.

Here's hoping it works out for both Begin and Legace, but they'll be in for a tough battle for roster spots on the reigning Western Conference Champions' roster. Both men could find themselves in Chicago at the start of the season as AHL Wolves.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Right Thing To Do

When running any sort of business, there are a lot of factors that go into what kind of reputation your business will have. The KHL's Yaroslavl Lokomotiv faced some tough decisions this week with respect to the devastating tragedy that the team faced, and one of those decisions was the choice to push forward in this season or opt out of the 2011-12 campaign. There has been a push from within to show that the people of Yaroslavl can handle this kind of tragedy by showing that the team will soldier on in light of what happened, but I'm happy to report today that the Lokomotiv team will scuttle this season out of respect to the men who lost their lives on Wednesday.

Russia Today reports that the team has decided not to push forward with the season. Having met with Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin and Yaroslavl Governor Sergey Vakhrukov, Yury Yakovlev, Lokomotiv's president, stated,

"The main priority now is to take care of the relatives and to pay last tribute to the late players and staff. The other aim is to re-build a competitive team. This will take some time as well as requiring human resources. But we are determined to resume participation in the KHL in 2012."

Despite the announcement being very business-like, this decision is one I applaud, commend, and respect simply due to the team focusing on the players' families and the difficult times they are facing. That, to me, shows that the Lokomotiv franchise is, indeed, a family more than it is a collection of players.

The healing process will now begin for the families, friends, and fans of the Lokomotiv squad. It will be a long and somewhat painful process for the grieving, but the time away from the game will help everyone surrounding the team.

Vladimir Yakunin, President of the Lokomotiv's main sponsor Russian Railways, stated,

"All words of grief can in no way be compared to what's going on inside the souls of the relatives of the deceased. Right now there is a unity of the community and I am thankful to Yaroslav residents for their love to the team. The club will definitely be rebuilt. But Lokomotiv is not just players and hockey sticks, but also the spirit. And we have to approach the rebuild of this spirit with care. We will do everything possible to do it and we will show ourselves in the 2012-2013 season."

The spirit of the game and the club probably won't be any less than what it was before this tragedy occurred. If anything, the people of Yaroslavl will have a chance to show their perseverance and strength next season by cheering on their new heroes once this difficult time has passed. Yaroslavl is one of the Russian cities where hockey is a bigger draw than soccer, so the local fans' support of the club will never be in question.

I commend the team and the KHL for making this difficult decision that will most likely cost them a lot of revenue this season. But when dealing with the human element, the most precious asset is life, and the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv franchise has shown a lot of compassion towards all those involved with the team.

That, readers, is the kind of business I would be proud to be involved with, and the Lokomotiv franchise has shown exactly what kind of morals and ethics they have. Doing the right thing is not always the most popular idea, but it is the right thing to do. And that needs to be recognized.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Eat These Headlines

Really? How many poor headlines have I generated in the 1500 articles I've written? Considering my popularity, I'm guessing that I write one good headline every 100 articles. That means I've written 15 solid headlines in my time. That's right: creative genius. After the tragedy that we witnessed earlier this week, there has been a pile of other hockey news just waiting to be exposed, so today's article is all about that. Little blurbs to introduce the story followed by a quick news article with a link, and we're rolling through the headlines quickly. Let's fly through these stories and check out all the info from across the hockey spectrum.

AHL Visits Caesar's Palace

The AHL announced on Thursday that the AHL All-Star Classic will be held on Sunday, January 29 and Monday, January 30, 2012 in Atlantic City, New Jersey at the historic Boardwalk Hall.

You might be wondering how a non-AHL city is able to host the league's midseason extravaganza, and the AHL clarified this: "The first AHL All-Star event held outside an AHL city is being made possible through the partnership of the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority, the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, Caesars Entertainment and the American Hockey League."

There is some hockey history in Atlantic City. The ECHL saw the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies play out of Boardwalk Hall from 2001-05, and the ECAC men's hockey championship is played there. The Trenton Devils and Albany Devils also played a handful of games there during the 2010-11 season. The NHL saw the Rangers and Senators meet for one game on December 28, 1929.

Add on one more event as the AHL will play their All-Star Game from Atlantic City in January.

Moving Upstairs

Cory Stillman, a two-time Stanley Cup winner, has decided to hang up the skates and move into a front office position with the Florida Panthers. After sixteen seasons in the NHL, Stillman has decided to accept the position of Player Development Assistant with the Panthers.

I always thought Stillman was underrated as an NHL player. 278 goals and 449 assists in his career is a pretty solid total for a player, and nothing to be ashamed of when you consider that he helped two teams capture the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons.

Following in the footsteps of former Panthers such as Joe Nieuwendyk and Brian Skrudland - a man that Stillman will work closely with - by taking a job in the Panthers' offices, Stillman's work ethic and commitment to the game should make him a valuable member of the player development team.

Good luck, Mr. Stillman, and enjoy your retirement!

Another Low-Risk, High-Reward Veteran

Pittsburgh took a shot with Mike Comrie last season by signing him for one year below market value. Pittsburgh is following up the Comrie experiment by signing a player who should give them more than some free Hilary Duff sightings at the Consol Energy Center.

The Penguins inked Richard Park to a two-way, $550,000 deal. Park spent last season in Switzerland playing for Geneve Servette. This will be the second time Park has suited up with Pittsburgh after beginning his career in the 'Burgh in 1997.

Park is a solid checking centerman who should give the Penguins another solid defensive presence on the penalty kill. He has decent speed and can score goals when given the opportunity, so he's already better than Comrie was at this time last year. Here's hoping he can post his best numbers of his career as a Penguin this season!

That's It! Back To Winnipeg!

The Winnipeg Jets bolstered their lineup down the middle by signing former Canuck Kyle Wellwood to a one-year, $700,000 contract. This will be Wellwood's second stint in Winnipeg after being sent down to the AHL's Manitoba Moose while with the Canucks. Wellwood didn't appear in any games due to the AHL's veteran player rules, but he did skate with the club in practices.

"I think the players already have a sense of that," Wellwood said of the attention he'll receive as a Jet. "It doesn't happen very often where a Canadian franchise starts anew. To be on that team is going to be a lot of fun and I certainly feel privileged, to get lucky again and have a great fan base."

Wellwood is reportedly in great shape, and should give the Jets a good option as the second-line centerman behind Bryan Little. He'll get a chance to work on the powerplay, and should be a solid contributor in the Jets' lineup this season.

There are your important headlines for a Friday. If you're looking for hockey action, check out one of the NHL Rookie Tournaments going on across North America. There are a pile of them happening right now, and it is your lead-in to NHL training camps that start mid-to-late September. Hockey is upon us once again!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Maybe Rethink This Plan

The man to the left is a pretty important guy. That's Sergei Vakhrukov, Governor of Yaroslavl Oblast. He seems like a decent guy who served his country as a member of the Soviet Army before getting into politics. He has a wife and two kids, and he apparently drives a Volvo. For all intents and purposes, he's a pretty normal guy. But I have a problem with his latest statement in regards to the airplane tragedy in the region he governs and the hockey team that the people of Yaroslavl lost. These men are fathers, brothers, husbands, and proud representatives of their respective countries of origin, so I was a little shocked when Mr. Vakhrukov vowed to put a team back together so quickly.

Wednesday evening saw Mr. Vakhrukov address the 3000 people mourning the loss of their idols outside Arena 2000. His commitment was to rebuild the Lokomotiv team for play in the KHL this season. This, as you might imagine, was poorly received by the crowd of mourners who are still digesting the fact that their heroes have passed. Most found it disrespectful to the men who had died in the tragic airplane crash.

I get what Mr. Vakhrukov was trying to do, but the phrase "too soon" is entirely appropriate here. The 43 people who died on Wednesday cannot be "replaced" like a parts on a car. The people of Yaroslavl had a significant investment in their heroes, and to suggest replacing them a mere 24 hours after their deaths is pretty disrespectful. The vast majority of international players have not even been identified by family yet, but Mr. Vakhrukov is apparently moving on already.

While I don't think Mr. Vakhrukov meant any disrespect whatsoever, some tact and class would be appreciated by all when it comes to a tragedy of this magnitude, especially by a man whose career rests on the votes of the people to which he was speaking. Career-limiting speech, I'd say.

I know that the KHL has determined that three players from the remaining clubs could be offered up to help Lokomotiv put a team back on the ice, and that's a pretty generous offer from the league and its clubs. However, I think it would be far more suitable, especially for those grieving family members lost, if Lokomotiv just called it a season and started building for next season.

Mr. Vakhrukov, I wish you well going forward from this faux pas, but let's start looking at building another strong team for the 2012-13 KHL season. This season is over, and the fans, teammates, and families need time to mourn and put this tragedy behind them. Give them time.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!