The Hockey Show - Episode 673

The Hockey Show, Canada's only campus-produced radio show that strictly talks hockey, returns tonight in a somewhat different format as our hosts are both away from the studio. Jason is off being intelligent as a panelist at the 2025 Worldcon conference in Seattle while checking out the sights and sounds of that city while Teebz has been assigned additional work at the local professional baseball team's game tonight. With both being away and having a bazillion other things to do, the show will only feature one host tonight as it's a solo look at the stories happening in hockey tonight on The Hockey Show at 5:30pm CT!

With Jason out on the left coast enjoying all that Seattle has to offer, Teebz jumped into the hockey stories this week with his views on the latest KHL updates from last week's stories, an NHL owner expanding his portfolio, the Philadelphia Flyers winning a legal battle, the Utah Mammoth embroiled in another legal battle, the expansion of hockey in Quebec, a new coach for an Ontario team, the potential opportunity for a new rink in Ontario, some NCAA rule changes, and Teebz gives his kudos to a local coach who is doing great things! Tonight's show will move as Teebz takes you through the stories from the past week, so buckle up for all the news tonight on 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 UMFM website's 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! And because both Teebz and Jason are on the butterfly app where things are less noisy, you can find Teebz here and Jason here on Bluesky!

Tonight, Teebz chats KHL updates, dumb lawsuits, better hockey, good coaches, big purchases, new rules, and much more exclusively on 101.5 UMFM and on the UMFM.com web stream!

PODCAST: August 14, 2025: Episode 673

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Throw Your Gear In My Banner

It isn't often that I find myself impressed by a professional hockey team, but Czechia's TipSport Extraliga has a team doing something this season that's pretty cool when it comes to recycling. The key in this story isn't that they're just helping the environment, but they're also offering fans a chance to own a unique piece of merchandise that may never been produced with the same design again. Frankly, if HC Sparta Prague can make this work, they deserve a pile of kudos for not adding to landfills while having their fans sport some of the coolest merchandise I've seen in a while from any team or league!

Teams all over the world use vinyl banners for advertising everything from upcoming games to significant events at an arena, but once those dates have passed the vinyl banners are rendered useless. Teams and arenas take them down and they either go into storage or are discarded, and that latter can be a significant problem for landfills since the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) used to make banners lasts forever and has the potential to release further harmful substances as the vinyl decays. In short, they're terrible for the environment.

I am impressed, however, by Sparta Prague's new merchandise!

If you caught the visuals, the banner in front which the young lady was standing became the bag she carried on her shoulder! HC Sparta Prague is now using their vinyl banner advertising to make unique and one-of-a-kind bags that will be sold by the team! How cool is that?

According to their release about the new initiative, Sparta Prague is working to ensure they do their part of the environment. According to David Dinda, Marketing Director of HC Sparta Prague, "we ensured that 32 kilograms of plastic waste did not end up in a landfill" which is a fantastic effort by the club to go greener while offering a cool, new product to their fans. And being that the vinyl banner is both waterproof and UV resistant, that would mean the bags would be too!

Sparta Prague appears to be spearheading this upcycling idea as a blueprint for other clubs to follow, stating in its release that they "support the planet and want to be an inspiration for other sports organizations" while adding, "We don't want this to be a one-off activity. On the contrary, we plan to continue this approach in the long term and expand the concept with other sustainable products."

I did a quick check of their online store, and there isn't anything to find there for these bags just yet. I am curious of the process they're using to turn the banners into bags because I think there's huge potential to do this all sorts of events, not just sporting events. Either way, though, I still think this is a fantastic idea to give those vinyl banners new life after they've filled their purpose!

Big kudos to HC Sparta Prague. They may not wear green as an official colour, but they are working to ensure the world around them stays green for years to come. And that's an initiative I fully support!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

A Pet Peeve Of Mine

Every year, dozens of teams turn to Dash online auctions to sell a pile of different items through their service. I normally have no issue with any of these auctions as teams use them to recoup some money they spent throughout the year while fans often can acquire one-of-a-kind items from the team that may not be accessible through normal retail means. The item to the left is currently available through the Dash auction site as the OHL's Kingston Frontenacs are selling game-worn jerseys from the 2024-25 season. If you're a fan or supporter of the Frontenacs, this would be a cool way to obtain a jersey worn by one's favorite player from last season, but this is where I pump the brakes because the auction is missing a key element of how I shop. And I feel like this missing information would go a long way in helping the Frontenacs sell these jerseys at higher prices in their auctions.

Every fans loves to wear a jersey sporting their favorite player's name and number on the back. The jersey pictured above is Matthew Soto's jersey, and Soto scored 18 goals and 34 points in 58 games last season for the Frontenacs. The St. Paul, Minnesota native has spent four seasons with the Frontenacs, and he's been a solid contributor in every season with career highs being earned in 2023-24.

Where I'm faulting the Frontenacs is that none of their acutions show a size for the jersey being advertised. Soto, who stands at six-feet tall and weighs at 185 pounds, has a far different body size than leading scorer Jacob Battaglia who is 6'1" tall and 202 lbs. Honestly, neither player's jersey would fit me, but I'm not sure those players' jerseys would fit most men of average height and weight today.

I know what size of jersey I wear, and the push by Reebok to go slimmer and faster has forced every manufacturer to follow which means a jersey that was sized as a 58 in the old CCM standards is now a 60+ in the new measurement standards. In short, none of the jerseys offered by the Frontenacs in their auction would likely fit me, but I couldn't say for certain since none of the jerseys are shown with the size of the jersey in question. That means no bids from me.

If I were 5'8" tall and 190lbs. soaking wet, I could likely bid on more jerseys for my collection. However, since I'm never going to bid on something that I won't wear as a personal rule, any auction that doesn't include sizes is an automatic "no" for me. You can't sell me on the idea that the Frontenacs' jersey is a "one of a kind jersey" and "a unique collectable item" when teams go through multiple jersey sets per year, so the jersey had better appeal to me as something that can be worn as a conversation piece. Because I'm unsure that I can wear it, I won't be bidding on it or talking about it. C'est la vie.

Folks, if you do use an auction site like eBay to sell clothes of any kind, make sure sizes are clearly posted. The Frontenacs clearly forgot an important piece of retail information on their auction descriptions, and that will lead me away from their offerings in this specific auction. If I can't wear it, why would I buy it?

I wasn't going to start this article with this line, but let me be the first to tell you that, when it comes to jersey auctions, sizes matter.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Last Place... Alphabetically

I was looking for some information this week when I came across the logo to the left that stopped me in my tracks. If you know what "Zydeco" is, you're a far more cultured person than I because I had no idea what this was or why this logo was slapped across a picture of a hockey game. What did occur to me, though, is that if this was a hockey team name, it would be the last name in the team directory alphabetically thanks to its unique nomenclature. So who are the Baton Rouge Zydeco and how did they get their name? Let's dig into that story today.

We'll start with the word because knowing its origins will help to explain how it got attached to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, zydeco is a "[f]orm of dance music from southwestern Louisiana, US, with roots in French, African American, and Afro-Caribbean styles". It was made popular by Creoles, and the music often has the sounds of accordions, washboards, and fiddles traditionally. Its popularity grew thanks to artists such as "Clifton Chenier, Queen Ida, Buckwheat Zydeco, and Boozoo Chavis".

Explore Louisiana goes a little deeper by explaining that zydeco is "the crossroads of Creole, Cajun, gospel and the blues, yet has since evolved to include influences from several other genres" and it can be heard in venues "in just about every town in southwest Louisiana as well as the big cities of Baton Rouge, Shreveport and New Orleans."

Clearly, the music has a significant presence in Louisiana, so how did Baton Rouge get the music's name across the front of a hockey jersey?

At one time, the Baton Rouge Kingfish called the Louisiana city home as they played in the ECHL from 1996-2003 at the Riverside Centroplex. They would miss the playoffs in four of the seven seasons they played in Baton Rouge, but the team saw players like Alex Burrows, Johan Hedberg, and Shane Hnidy make their way to NHL jobs after starting in Baton Rouge. Their demise seemed to be predictable as attendance dropped in every season for all seven seasons, and the franchise was eventually suspended, sold, and relocated to Victoria, BC for the 2004-05 season. Despite having several rivals, professional hockey in Louisiana wasn't sustainable at the turn of the millennium.

With no hockey for two decades, the Riverside Centroplex underwent a few renovations before Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers purchased a ten-year naming rights deal for the complex in 2016. The newly-named Raising Cane's River Center featured an exhibition hall, a multipurpose ballroom, a performing arts theatre that houses the Opera Louisiane, the Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre, and the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, and an arena that seats 8900 fans for sporting events. All it needed was a permanent tenant.

That announcement came on April 11, 2023 following three exhibition games featuring Federal Prospects Hockey League teams that saw 20,580 people come through the doors. On March 1, it was reported that a group known as Baton Rouge Pro Hockey was exploring the possibility of bringing professional hockey back to Baton Rouge, and that's precisely what happened one month later on a Tuesday.

"The new team will bring new entertainment options, create jobs and stimulate economic growth. We can expect to see increased tourism as fans from all over the region come to watch games and explore all Baton Rouge has to offer," Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Weston Broome said during the announcement. "The benefits of having a hockey team in Baton Rouge go beyond the economic impact. It will also help foster community pride and unity."

It seems Baton Rouge was confused by the name choice. Herman Fuselier, host of KRVS radio show Zydeco Stomp, told Jan Risher of The Advocate, "When people think of zydeco, they never think of Baton Rouge. Why not call it the Baton Rouge Blues? Baton Rouge has such a rich history of blues."

It didn't stop there. Scott Hodgin, owner of Baton Rouge-based creative studio Tilt, told Risher, "They should have called it the Red Sticks," while Tim Jensen, owner of Tim's Garage clothing boutique, told Risher, "It's a little disappointing to hear people bummed out about the new team name. These projects mean a lot. There's a lot riding on it. I was bummed they didn't call it the Red Sticks."

Despite the less-than-enthusiastic response from citizens to the team name, Zydeco owner Barry Soskin told Risher, "There's a whole story in the logo. I love the story it tells. Maybe of all the logos, I like that logo more than any of my teams. It's different and unique. I certainly hope Baton Rouge will be able to wrap their arms around the team. Someone said, 'Let's go, Zydeco!' It's our first catchphrase."

Stated in the WABF article, the new team would join the Federal Prospects Hockey League and start in the 2023-24 hockey season, so they had some work to do between April and September. On May 27, the team announced three finalists for its new team name - Zydeco, Red Sticks, and Rougarou - but the team opted for Zydeco with Soskin announcing the new name on July 13 to honour "the rich history and traditions that have shaped Louisiana's community" and to reflect "the unique culture and spirit of Baton Rouge".

It was announced that the team's first game would be played on October 26 against the Columbus River Dragons. That means they needed to build a team and hire staff. Things didn't get off to a great start when the team named Matt Hamilton as their first head coach only for him have visa issues, forcing the Zydeco to replace him.

Hamilton would be replaced by co-coaches Paul MacLean (not the NHL guy) and Matthew Fornari two weeks before the team's first game, and MacLean would be fired one month later when player-coach MJ Graham took over the coaching duties. Four months later, Graham was out as well, replaced by Everett Thompson, as the Zydeco went through five coaches in their inaugural season!

Player/coach MJ Graham led the team in their first season with 36 assists and 48 points while Noah Robinson led the team with 22 goals. If you're looking for a little history, Brandon Beard, an Orlando-born player who logged just three games with the Zydeco, scored the first goal in franchise history! Beard scored unassisted at 3:54 of the second period to make it 4-1 in an eventual 6-3 loss to the Columbus River Dragons. And just for fun, the first penalty in team history was a fighting major given to Adamo Asselin at 14:22 of the first period!

Goaltending and defence seemed to be an issue in the Zydeco first season as no goaltender who played more than ten games had a GAA under 3.40 and a save percentage higher than .916, but it should be noted that the three goalies who logged the most minutes in the blue paint were a combined 12-27-2. Expansion hockey never claimed to be pretty as the Zydeco were outscored 154-248 that season.

The team under MacLean-Fornari was 2-10-0 before MacLean was dismissed, and things didn't get all that better under Graham's direction as he went 5-13-4 as the head coach. Everett Thompson finished the season off with a 9-13-0 record, but the late season push actually saw the Zydeco finish in fifth-place out of six teams, one point better than the Blue Ridge Bobcats! How about that?

Perhaps the biggest success that the Zydeco can claim they were a success at the box office as they saw "a staggering total season attendance of 110,816" fans come through the turnstiles for their 28 home games, setting a new FPHL record in the process! They also proved Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Weston Broome's prediction correct as "an economic impact analysis performed by Visit Baton Rouge" determined that "the Baton Rouge Zydeco brought an astounding $8.1 million to the city during their inaugural season". Those are astounding totals in a non-traditional hockey market!

Last season, the Zydeco finished in fifth-place once again, but went 31-19-6 to finish one point back of the Blue Ridge Bobcats. They would fall 5-2 in a playoff qualification game to those Bobcats, but the Zydeco saw real improvement across the board with virtually an entirely new roster in 2024-25. Elijah Wilson led the team with 29 goals and 56 points, Scott Shorrock was the team's playmaker with 31 assists, and the tandem of Bailey Stevens and Breanden Colgen delivered credible goaltending, combining for a 27-15-6 record.

I'll fully admit that I don't follow the FPHL mainly because it's off my radar, but when you stumble across a team called the Zydeco there needs to be some investigation. Yes, they've been fifth-place twice and they certainly are last when it comes to the alphabetical sorting of team names, but it's pretty cool to see the Baton Rouge Zydeco lead the FPHL in attendance in their short existence!

As long as fans keep coming to games, it seems the sounds of Zydeco hockey will fill the evening air just like the sounds of zydeco music from venues as hockey finds a foothold in Baton Rouge, Louisiana!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Utah: The Land Of Hockey Lawsuits

You'd think that the Utah Mammoth would figure out how to settle lawsuits amicably after their whole conundrum with the "Yeti" name, but it seems there may be another lawsuit heading to court that involves the NHL team over their chosen name. While Mammoth is a perfectly acceptable name for a hockey team in most cases, there already was a Mammoth brand in the hockey world as Mammoth Hockey manufactures hockey bags and accessories. It seems that Mammoth Hockey isn't very happy that the Utah NHL franchise may be stampeding on their hockey brand.

According to reports, "[t]he owners of the NHL's Utah Mammoth have filed a lawsuit against" Oregon-based hockey equipment manufacturer Mammoth Hockey LLC over the name "Mammoth" as the equipment manufacturer claimed that "potential customers would confuse the two brands and fans of rival teams would not purchase its products". Mammoth equipment sent the Utah Mammoth a a cease-and-desist letter outlining that confusion "not long after the new franchise name was unveiled". Whatever discussions or negotiations between the two sides were happening have now stalled, and it seems a judge will need to figure out how to break the stalemate.

"Utah Mammoth and the NHL believe strongly that we have the right to use the name Utah Mammoth under federal and state law, and that our use will not harm the defendant or its business in any way," Smith Entertainment Group said in a statement. "We have taken this action only after careful consideration based on the defendant's position."

While I get that the Utah Mammoth believe they will not harm the equipment manufacturer's business, it was Smith Entertainment Group's Mike Maughan who said of the Yeti brand back in January, "They have a unique and strong trademark on anything published Yeti or Yetis. We did not have a coexistence agreement with Yeti and therefore have decided to move on from that name."

Wouldn't that statement also apply to Mammoth Hockey LLC who have been designing and manufacturing hockey bags and accessories for a decade? They too have a "unique and strong trademark".

I'm not here to litigate this case for one side or the other, but if the Utah Mammoth are going to let Yeti off the hook for their branding that does not include anything hockey, they likely have less of a case against a company that is entirely in the hockey world. What makes me even more shocked is that the Utah hockey club can't find some sort of financial agreement with a company that makes hockey bags. I'm pretty sure the Utah Mammoth could find a use for Mammoth hockey bags, and they could even do a little promotional work for the manufacturer as a kind gesture as a good corporate citizen.

Of course, this may not be what the manufacturing company wants with its statement about fans of rival teams not purchasing Mammoth products, but you'd think that Mammoth hockey bags would stand on their own for their quality and design more than anything else. I can respect the Mammoth equipment company not wanting to take that chance, though, so it feels like this lawsuit from the Utah Mammoth is just pressure for the Mammoth equipment company to back down from their cease-and-desist demand. After all, how much money has the NHL and the Smith Entertainment Group spent on designing, registering, and using the Mammoth logo on merchadise?

Mammoth Hockey co-founder Erik Olson sounded undeterred when he spoke to the Deseret News, saying, "Mammoth Hockey intends to vigorously defend the litigation recently commenced against it by Utah Mammoth of the National Hockey League and protect its longstanding trademark used in connection with the hockey goods it has manufactured and sold for the past 10 years."

If there's one team getting rich off all these lawsuits, it's the lawyers. I don't know what the outcome of this lawsuit will be, but I can't imagine the Utah Mammoth abandoning the name and logo they've been operating as since May, and I'm quite certain that the NHL won't want to eat all the merchandise and jerseys with the Mammoth logos on them. Whoever the judge is that presides over this case will certainly have a lot to consider before making a mammoth decision in this bone of contention involving Mammoths and Mammoth.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!