The Rebels Were Born

The photo above was posted yesterday on Twitter by the Red Deer Rebels, and it's one of those things that needed to be expanded on a little more in my opinion. As the team described in the tweet, it was on November 19, 1991 that the expansion Red Deer Rebels of the WHL unveiled their new jerseys to the world. Let's take a quick, deeper look into the Rebels' expansion!

The Rebels were an expansion franchise granted to Terry Simpson, long-time NHL head coach, in the summer of 1991 that would begin play in the WHL's Eastern Conference at the start of the 1992-93 season. Needless to say, there was a lot of work to be done between then and September 1992, so the team got to work immediately in fostering a relationship with the city of Red Deer by holding a "Name the Team" contest that ran from October 7 to 17, 1991. Yes, that's one month prior to the unveiling of the jerseys above.

Of all the submissions, "Rebels", "Renegades", and "Centurions" made the final cut that went to Red Deer management, and they ultimately selected "Rebels" to be the team name. It's at this point where I question why there was a rush to create a uniform with only weeks between the name selection and the jersey unveiling, but I wasn't the guy in charge out in Red Deer in 1991.

The original colour scheme, as stated on the photo's caption, were black, silver, and white. Those colours are still used today, but the Rebels have also added burgundy to their scheme since that unveiling. Beyond that, there haven't been many permanent colours changed or introduced to the Rebels' scheme since that 1991 unveiling.

The skate logo is a little weird for a team named the "Rebels", and this is why I'm confused as to why they had to rush to get these jerseys out in the public's eye. Had they simply worked on this logo a little more, we could have seen something great. Instead, we get something that's more suitable for a beer league or minor-hockey team than a WHL franchise.

I know that there were some cartoonish logos in the 1990s - the Lethbridge Hurricanes and their Tasmanian Devil logo comes to mind - but did the Rebels have to start this trend of using cartoonish logos that barely made sense from a team-branding perspective? If you blurred the "Rebels" name in that logo above, I wouln't have any clue this was a "Red Deer Rebels" jersey because there's nothing that even remotely gives me that idea.

Beyond that faux pas, the striping and block font make it easy to read the numbers on the sleeves, and it feels like a hockey jersey based on stripe placement. Because of the thick stripes near the bottom hem, a shoulder yoke isn't necessary, and the contrasting numbers on the sleeve stripes keep things neat and tidy.

Overall, it's not a logo I'm certain the Rebels deserve, but it's the one they got for a number of years before they began making image upgrades. The jerseys are a classic hockey look, though, so they get the marks there for resembling a hockey team when they took the ice. We can't change history, though, and the Rebels look fine today in their burgundy gear, so the evolution of the Rebels certainly has seen them improve their brand over the last thirty years.

Ain't hockey history great?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

WWWWWWWWWWWW

There really aren't a lot of dates to circle on the AHL calendar in November when one is looking at the slate of games being played, but the Utica Comets made tonight's game one to be circled as they've opened the season on a tear. Utica opened the season with eleven-straight wins, tying their start with the 1984-85 Rochester Americans for the longest winning streak to start an AHL campaign. Tonight, the Comets welcomed the Charlotte Checkers to the Adirondack Bank Center as they looked for their twelfth win of the season in twelve games which would set the new AHL record. Could it be done on the 19th night of November, 2021?

Things looked shaky in the early-going of this game as Charlotte's Max McCormick netted his fifth goal of the campaign just 1:03 into this game to put Charlotte up early, and Utica simply couldn't find the back of the net in the opening frame as Checkers netminder Joey Daccord stopped all ten shots he faced. Through one period, the Checkers led over the Comets by a 1-0 score.

This Comets team, though, has trailed on occasion in the eleven previous games they won, so they know how to fight back and they certainly did in the second period. Nolan Foote scored the equalizer at 6:09 to make it a 1-1 game with his second of the season, and the two teams would go back to battling on even terms.

Late in the period, though, the Comets put their mark on the game as Nate Schnarr scored his third goal at 15:13 to make it 2-1, and that was followed by Schnarr's second of the period 3:06 later as he buried his fifth goal of the season to make it a 3-1 game. A two-goal outburst sent the teams into the second break with the Comets in a good spot, but there's no doubt that they were going to be tested in the third period by a feisty and determined Checkers team.

Goaltender Nico Daws was the story in the third period as he stopped all twelve shots - foreshadowing? - he saw in the third period while Utica would ice the game at 17:38 when Aarne Talvitie deposited his fifth goal of the season into a vacated net as the Utica Comets made history with their twelfth win to start the season, breaking the record set by the '84-85 Rochester Americans, in the 4-1 victory!

There are some impressive statistics in this twelve-game streak as eleven of the twelve wins have come in regulation time. Only the Providence Bruins in Utica's second game of the season were able to push the game to extra time, and they would eventually fall 2-1 in the shootout to the Comets. Needless to say, winning in regulation means that the Comets are doing a lot of things right during the 60 minutes they've given, and that speaks volumes to how head coach Kevin Dineen has his team playing.

Of those twelve wins, only three have been by one goal. They've allowed three goals just twice as they're getting the job done at the defensive end of the ice as well. The Comets are also scoring a ton of goals early in this season as they've outscored their opponents 49-21 over the win streak. If you're doing the math, that's slightly more than four goals per game, and that's an impressive total for any team at any level in a twelve-game span.

Utica's power-play is tied at fourth-best in the AHL at 23.5%, but it's not like they're dominating the special teams in these twelve games as they're just 5-of-41 with the advantage thus far. They're also fifth-overall for their penalty-killing numbers at 87.8% in having successfully killed 47 of 54 shorthanded situations. Needless to say, the Comets' five-on-five play has been incredibly dominant through these twelve games.

The teams who took part in setting this record include a distinctly Canadian flavour as the Comets have defeated Syracuse three times, Rochester twice, Laval twice, Providence, Lehigh Valley, Toronto, Belleville, and Charlotte. The three Canadian teams have been outscored 18-8 in those four games with Laval's two games being the closest as they lost both games by two goals, so there is a touch of Canada in this new record set by Utica.

There's little time to celebrate, though, as the Utica Comets will resume play tomorrow against the Rochester Americans who they've already defeated twice this season by a combined 9-4 score in those games. Each win beyond tonight only sets a new record, so it will be interesting to see who may break the streak looking at Utica's schedule. They play Rochester tomorrow, as stated, and again on Wednesday, and follow that two-game set with another pair of games against the Checkers. The Comets don't play a team they haven't seen this season until Saturday, December 4 when they visit Hartford, Connecticut for a date with the Wolf Pack.

I'm not here to curse the streak by any means, but might we see this streak extend to 15 or 16 games? It very well could as Utica is on a roll. They do deserve some kudos for the streak, though, so congratulations to the Utica Comets for their record-setting start to the AHL season!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode 478

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, returns tonight with all sorts of university and international news as there are stories breaking from all over the globe. As always, there's a definite Canadian slant with emphasis on western Canada that we'll put on these stories, but the issues we're seeing in other parts of the world may significantly alter the hockey world depending on how things play out. If that sounds overly-dramatic, it was written that way, but let's not forget that the world now seems to thrive on drama when there really needs to be none. Let's check these stories out!

Teebz and Jason Pchajek review Teebz's proclamation from one week ago as they review the games between the Bisons and Regina Cougars on the men's side of the coin. From there, they break down the Canadian men's and women's hockey teams who will head to Lucerne, Switzerland for the 30th FISU Universiade in December, they have a long discussion about the potential removal of the Chinese men's hockey team from the 2022 Beijing Olympics and what that could mean for hockey in that country moving forward, and they discuss how COVID protocols may affect athletes in China and whether or not the IIHF's decision on China could affect the Olympic Games in general. It's a show with some international intrigue, so make sure you tune in at 5:30pm CT on 101.5 FM, Channel 718 on MTS TV, or via 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, so if you want to stream the show I'd recommend Radio Garden to do that as it works nicely with Safari. If you're more of an app person, we recommend you use the TuneIn app found on the App Store or Google Play Store. 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 Jason examine the remains of two Bisons men's hockey losses from one week ago, dig into the teams heading to Switzerland and how they'll fare, pull apart the problem with China's hockey situation, wonder aloud about revenge, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: November 18, 2021: Episode 478

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

NoDak? No Thanks

There have been a number of NHL jerseys that have used shorted versions of names, nicknames, or some other variation of the team's or city's name in place of the proper names. Whether it's "Bolts", "Sens", or "Canes", it makes no sense not to use the team's trademarked name and logo in terms of branding. I get there's some fun to be had with names, but you don't see corporations like Apple or Google using nicknames when promoting themselves or their products. Why do sports franchises think this is acceptable?

I ask this because the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks introduced a new alternate home uniform as seen above, and my level of annoyance went off the charts with the "NODAK" pasted across the jersey. No, this team isn't owned nor sponsored by the Nodak Insurance Company, the Nodak Electric Cooperative, or the Nodak Speedway, but you'd be forgiven if you thought they were because of this new uniform.

In no way, shape, or form should the University of North Dakota refer to itself as "NoDak". It just went through a complete rebranding after the NCAA forced them to retire the Indigenous persons' face as their logo, so they shouldn't be using anything but the Fighting Hawks name and brand to help the visibility of the name and brand. Had they gone with "Hawks" diagonally, I'd be fine with that. But "NoDak" is a no-no when it comes to referencing the institution.

The other problem I have with this uniform is that "[t]he number appears only on the back", as reported by Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald. By having no sleeve numbers, or TV numbers as they're also called, it makes identifying players harder when they're in a scrum or simply not facing you. I have seen this on occasion, and let's just be thankful that none of the men have long hair down their backs because that would make identifying the player nearly impossible at times. This is still dumb, though, so this uniform is shaping up to be one of the worst designs in recent history.

I'm just hoping that this jersey isn't an extension of a rather stupid marketing stunt that the University of North Dakota is using on their website to promte an app. The "NoDak Nation" page asks for current UND students to buy into a membership for $25 that gives them points for attending games to use for rewards such as cheap pizza and UND merchandise. Why anyone would buy into this is beyond me, but it's not my money.

The current white uniforms worn at home by the Fighting Hawks are clean, crisp, and need no improvements outside of possibly moving the logo to the chest to improve brand awareness. Those are classic hockey uniforms that will ultimately stand the test of time because they have a good hockey sweater look to them. Having a home alternate that feels like a minor-league gimmick really does nothing to add to the brand or the legacy the Fighting Hawks have established, so I'm hoping the NoDak jerseys quietly disappear like any other gimmick.

Being that these jerseys are alternates, my hope is that North Dakota will only wear them a few times per season for as long as they may be in circulation. The last thing they should be used for are special games or promotional games, so let's leave these in the closet until St. Cloud State or Minnesota-Duluth visits in the dead of January or February. No one should be forced to stare at "NODAK" all game, and I just hope the fans know the players well enough that they don't need numbers on the sleeves to identify them.

The "NODAK" uniforms get a big "no thanks" from me.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Team Canada... Assemble!

There will be a number of exceptional athletes from across the Canadian landscape putting in a little work before they break for the holidays in December as the Canadian delegation for the 30th FISU Winter Universiade was announced today! A number of sports will be played in Lucerne, Switzerland from December 11 to 21, but this blog is only concerned with the hockey event. More specifically, it will be focusing on the Canada women who have been selected to represent this country in the ice event as the Canadians seek to return to the top of the podium after a handful of silver medals thanks to some questionable Russian entries.

It should be noted that the men's and women's hockey events run concurrently over the ten-day period starting on December 10, but at different rinks in Switzerland. The women will play out of Sursee for the preliminary round before moving to the larger rink in Zug for the medal round whereas the men will play all games in Zug for the entirety of the tournament. There are six women's teams and ten men's teams competing at the Universiade, and I do wonder when we'll see those numbers even out so more women's teams can participate.

The Canadian women will tangle with Japan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Switzerland, and the USA in their tournament, and it should be noted that the US women are largely from Division-III NCAA programs as opposed to Division-I programs. That's not to say they won't or can't compete with the likes of some of the nationally-chosen teams such as Switzerland or Russia. The Americans won a bronze medal in 2019, so they're going to be one of the stronger teams. Both Japan and Russia are always strong, so it will be a challenge for the host team in Switzerland and Kazakhstan when it comes to finding the podium.

Who is Canada sending in the hopes of returning with gold medals?

That's a pretty decent team from what I can gather, and it appears that there is a good representation from Canada West with the likes of Saskatchewan's Bailee Bourassa, Mount Royal's Anna Purschke, UBC's Shay-Lee McConnell, Alberta's Madison Willan and Kirsten Chamberlin, and Manitoba's Lauren Warkentin all being named to the roster heading to Lucerne in December.

If we're talking about conference breakdowns, the RSEQ leads the way with ten players chosen, but we shouldn't be surprised when we see that Danièle Sauvageau, who works at the University of Montreal, is the general manager of the team. Beyond that, Canada West has six players going, the OUA is sending five players, and the AUS has two players heading to Switzerland.

The staff that will head to Switzerland is pretty impressive. Manitoba's Jon Rempel will be the head coach of the team, and he'll be joined on the bench by UNB head coach Sarah Hilworth, Wilfred Laurier head coach Kelly Paton, Ottawa assistant coach Greg Bowles, and Guelph associate coach Kaitlyn Mora. Helping out the netminders with be UNB goalie coach Kyle MacDonald, and the equipment duties will be handled by Manitoba's Matt Relf. There's a ton of experience on this staff both as players and as coaches, so I expect Canada to have all sorts of options when it comes to strategies and ideas.

The schedule for the Canadian women is as follows:

• Saturday, December 11 at 12:00pm (5am CT) - vs Japan
• Sunday, December 12 at 7:00pm (12pm CT) - vs Switzerland
• Tuesday, December 14 at 7:00pm (12pm CT) - vs USA
• Wednesday, December 15 at 3:30pm (8:30am) - vs Kazakhstan
• Friday, December 17 at 7:00pm (12pm CT) - vs Russia

If we're keeping an eye on that schedule, Canada gets the Russians one day after the Russians tangle with the Americans, so it will have to be seen what the Russians have left for Canada after that battle with the USA. In any case, that December 17 game might be a gold-medal game preview, so this writer will be keeping an eye on that game for sure.

As a quick note before we get out of here, the Canadian men are the reigning bronze medallists from 2019, so they're looking to not only land back on the podium, but move up the podium as well. Among the players we know from Canada West are Saskatchewan's Gordie Ballhorn, Connor Hobbs, Donovan Heuls, and Jared Dmytriw, Calgary's Ryan Gagnon and Ryan Graham, and Manitoba's Colton Veloso. I was rather shocked that none of Alberta, UBC, nor Mount Royal were sending players to compete, but that's their call if they decided not to make players available.

The men's side of the draw should be pretty solid, and there's a big addition to the event as Estonia makes its first appearance in the men's hockey competition. Along with them and Canada, teams from the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Korea, Russia, Slovakia, Switzerland, and the USA all play for gold. The fun part is that Estonia's first game ever at the FISU Universiade men's hockey competition will be against Canada on December 10 at 5:00pm (10am CT), so keep an eye on Estonia as they get one of the better teams right off the bat in Lucerne!

It should be another great Universiade tournament for both the men and the women, and HBIC will be keep track of the happenings in Lucerne in December. I won't be there since U SPORTS doesn't know nor does it care if I exist, but I'll do my duty for you, readers, and bring you all the updates from Switzerland!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!