Trying to change my picture to one from Innsbruck while I was at the 2005 World Championships. Maybe a coach out there can resize it for me. I am not having luck.
I was at the world's with my asst. coach Tracey and TJ, Terry Johnson, an ex NHLer who I have coached a lot with. We watched the Can-USA game, went out with some of the Canada players and then took a train back at 2 a.m. to Vienna to listen to Scotty Bowman speak at 9 in the morning.
Addition Dec. 21.
I called Dany H. to make sure we could get into the game in Innsbruck and he thought there would be no problem. TJ, Tracey and I got there and it was sold out. The Canda coaches let us use their id's so we could get in. I have a pick of the 3 passes. We got into the game and sat by the bench then waited for Dany to ride the bike and went to a beer garden.
Guess I shouldn't have posted so much. The discussions have really dried up. I still spend two hours each morning breaking down practice videos and doing the diagrams; so every day there is something new on the drill front.
Tom,
I can only speak for myself, but I think it's just a busy time of year........a few more days of work and a few games this weekend and then I'll have more time to read & post. The videos are really useful and the work is appreciated.
Dave
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I am sure your right Dave. Thanks for the nice comments.
DMan
Tom,
Ditto... We have all been sick here for 1.5 weeks and now I am behind in my coach evaluations and contract work for Hockey Canada. Gotta try to get stuff done before Christmas break (not to mention shop, play "dad", etc.) so I will be mainly a spectator until close to the new year. If you want to take a break from posting the daily drills yourself, don't sweat it! We all appreciate the contributions you make and EVEN YOU deserve some time off, Coachy!!!! 
Merry Christmas everyone!
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Dean,
The board was totally quiet about 4 days. I will continue to do one a day when I have time. Have that camp in Jasper 27-29. With Christmas on Saturday a lot of my hockey is cancelled. Today was the last Friday noon hockey for three weeks and Sunday will be our last for a few weeks as well. I don't know about our Mon and Wed. Next week will be ok I am sure. My team has one more practice until the first week of Jan. Most players are gone so we won't have many there. Last wed. 5 skater and one goalie. Can't do much. I brought my grandson and he skated and loved it. Student vs staff game on Tues. morning with my skills class then they are done on Wed. My son came back from Toronto for Christmas and will be here about 17 days. Nice to have him home.
Merry Christmas!
It's nice and chilly here (-27C).
Happy Holidays Guys...
No hockey games for the next week or two.....off to see a San Jose Sharks game (vs the LA Kings) the day after Christmas....no loyalty to either team, just excited to have the opportunity.
Speaking of opportunities, I'll do my best to have one of these for each of you while I'm down there:
http://www.anchorbrewing.com/beers/libertyale.htm ....or maybe one of these: http://www.rogue.com/beers/northwestern-ale.php Thanks for all the insight this year, and best wishes in the new one. Tom, thanks for all the work!
Dave
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Dave enjoy yourself in San Jose. The beer sounds good. I just put a new avatar on where I am having a Steigl beer at the restaurant on top of the fortress overlooking Salzburg.
Merry Christmas.
DMan
Merry Christmas guys!
Kai - nice hat! Only -10C here this morning but supposed to creep above 0C for Christmas day. Might have to hit the outdoor rink in my neighbours yard with my boy! I bought him skates a few weeks ago. He is just learning to stand on them.
Tom - love the new avatar. Makes me thirsty... for a Steigl... and sunshine with a nice backdrop!
Dave - enjoy the game but I hope you enjoy the beer more!
All the best to you guys. I plan to go watch the Russian Midget team during the Mac's tourney. I watched them a few years ago - amazing size, skill and game sense. I might even try to video some of it...
I drove back from Jasper last night with my son, Jim. The camp went well and was sponsored by their minor hockey association.
There were 3 groups. 5 to 9 year olds, 10-12 and 13-17. The oldest group was mostly girls who play in Jasper with 3 to 5 boy's. There were zero goalies in the camp so we used 4 small nets that their association got from Arizona Sports. So I didn't have to bring my nets, though I always carry two in my van.
They were in two groups for one hour of skating in the morning with Gaston and then had hockey with Jim and I after that.
With the little guys we focused on puck handling and passing skills and doing these skills within game situations. We spent about 20 minutes the last practice on shooting skills. I wish we had light pucks so the little guys and girls were strong enough to do a wrist shot.
The middle group we did a little more advanced puck handling and played games where certain skills were required. Jim also taught them tricks like picking up the puck various ways, picking it and shooting, or picking it and playing around the body with it and various trick shots. It is surprising how many of these players learned to do some of the stick tricks. We added snap passes, backhands and saucer passes as well. The third day we did a checking practice because they want to hit but don't know how. We did lots of games that required them to get open and to see the ice. i.e. everyone must touch the puck before a goal, two pass, 2 seconds with the puck, full ice but at least one pass in each zone, escape move before passing, 3 strides before a pass or shot, etc. The first day focused on puck handling so we played some puck handling games such as 1 vs 1 vs 1 and another game where only one pass is allowed and then you must score and a full ice game where you must gain a zone before you can pass and only one pass is allowed in the offensive zone.
With the oldest group we focused on puck handling the first day and did similar games. Every group did full ice with at least one pass in each zone as well. Day 2 we did more advanced passing and some transition games that focused on playing all 4 playing roles and not just on the puck. The coach wanted me to help them with defensive zone coverage since 80% of that group was girl's from his team. We did that and on day 3 went through the Murdoch breakout sequences and played one zone and full ice trainsition games where they had to use the breakouts and do proper Dzone coverage in their end. The last two sessions with this group were more like a team practice than a clinic.
We got positive feedback from the players and parents and are invited back next July.
Gaston is from Switzerland and there is a fancy Swiss restaurant there that requires reservations and at least two hours to enjoy your meal. We had the full meal deal with wine, appetizers, main course, digestive drinks, special coffee and dessert. Very good and very expensive but well worth it. http://andysbistro.com/
Great experience in a beautiful Rocky Mountain resort town.
http://www.jasper.travel/
Just watched the Swedish U20 team beat Canada in a shootout. They deserved the win and dominated the first half of the game. The last 30 min. was about even.
Swedes have great individual puck skills and offensive team play skills. They won most of the battles on the boards as well.
Incredible stick handlers.. Canda has a great pplay and Schenn is terrific.
Happy New Year to everybody. I wish you good health and happiness. (and a goalie who can stop pucks)
I know you can't run the videos on the Ipad or other apple products. My son tells me the gom player can be uploaded and runs almost every format including the wmv files that I post the videos with http://gomplayer.com is where u get a free download. Someone with an apple let me know if it works.
Don Cherry wishes he had a goalie who could stop pucks when he was in Colorado! Hardy Astrom wasn't the ticket!
Happy New Year to everyone.
The Russians Are Coming!
Actually, they were here and now they have left...
I watched the third period of the Russians (Severstal) play Tisdale Trojans (Saskatchewan) at the Mac's Tournament.
http://www.macstournament.ab.ca/tournament_11.html
This was the only game the Russians won out of four round robin games (score was 8-4.) The other three games, the opposition teams apparently really laid the body on them to minimize their time and space. Those games were played in the Max Bell arena - it is at least NHL size (maybe slightly bigger). The game I watched was on true International size at Father David Bauer (200' L x 100' w). So maybe this helped lead to their only victory (plus their opponent ended up winless in their pool.)
Pool 2 GP W L T GF GA PTS
Leduc Chrysler Oil Kings 5 3 2 0 6 19 13
Calgary Royals 4 3 1 0 6 8 8
Greater Vancouver Canadians 5 3 2 0 6 18 21
Russia HC Severstal 4 1 3 0 2 20 21
Tisdale Trojans 4 0 4 0 0 10 19
(The teams that played more than four games had moved onto the playoff rounds.)
What I saw of the Russians:
(1) Still most players shoot left-handed. I only saw four kids who shot right.
(2) They weren't all excellent skaters - which surprised me. Most were above average.
(3) Couldn't really judge their size as I was up top. Last time they were almost all over 6' tall. They didn't look any bigger / smaller than their opponents.
(4) Their stick skills (with and without the puck - offense and defense) were excellent! Great passers (direct / to space / indirect / redirect) and receivers (stick / feet) and deflectors (when in front of the net.) Their eye-hand coordination was excellent.
(5) Excellent puck possession skills (toe drags, quick hands, puck protection, turn backs, open men supporting puck carrier multiple times and always ready to receive - lots of give and go's, use of space (width and depth)).
(6) Above average shooting ability - deceptive, heavy, accurate shots with minimal telegraphing. They were usually in the "triple threat" position (pass / shoot / deke) with the puck when they entered the offensive zone... and often whenever they had the puck.
(7) They shied away from a lot of checks (when they had the puck) and they got caught in the cross hairs several times. It's not that they seemed to have their heads down - they just didn't seem used to the amount of hits / style of physical play. They did try to make bodychecks on their opponents, but not often. Looks like they are used to more of a flowing, freewheeling type game, which makes sense based on where they are from.
(8) Both teams took liberties(stick infractions). Lots of penalties. I am guessing the Russians were frustrated by all the body checking and Tisdale was frustrated they they hadn't won a game. Even short-handed, the Russians scored and made Tisdale look disorganized on the PP. The Russians played keep away, spread out all over the ice, and only dumped it when they had no other option / got tired and needed a change. The Russian PP really moves the puck around well.
Regretfully, I couldn't shoot any video as the safety netting (to protect us dumb fans from the puck when we are knitting / talking instead of watching the play!) causes the camera to focus on it in the foreground - the action is blurred in the background.
Based on my memory of a few years ago, this Russian team was not as tall / big / heavy; not as good of skaters; not quite as skilled - as their predecessors. And the team from a few years ago coped with the physicality of play much better - giving and receiving. Their team speed was better too. (I saw them play on the International ice last time too.)
Just offered my kid's the tickets to the Flames on Wed. and Fri. as I am coaching both nights.
I looked at the symposium in Slovakia at the IIHF men's championship. the youth one is April 30 may 1 a Sat and Sunday and the speakers are almost the same as the Advanced one the next Fri - Sun. You get 4 tickets to games at the youth one and for 365 Euros which is about $500 you get hotel with a breakfast. 40 Euros for extra nights in one of the sports hotels.
Flights from Calgary at that time are about $1200 to Prague. I haven't checked Brataslava prices.
I think I am going to go to the youth conference. Whether to leave a few days early or stay a few days later is what I am deciding. I am waiting to hear from Jihlava if they want a coaching clinic still. If so it will change things.
If other coaches are considering going let me know and we can get together to discuss some hockey topics over a few pops.
Tom,
Please keep me in the loop regarding which clinic you decide on and if you are heading to the Czech Republic. I am considering going this year. Not sure for which one. Usually, we are in Spokane for Bloomsday (first Sunday in May) and if so, this would mean I would miss the youth conference. Might take the wife and kids to make this a working holiday for two weeks.
_______________________________________
Brataslava is only 46 km from Vienna and it is about $50 cheaper to fly there than Prague. Brataslava cost about $500 more to fly direct. You should try to rent an apartment or house if you are taking the fam. This morning I was thinking that you and I should offer an ABC clinic in Calgary this June. Have it Fri-Sun. in June and include on-off ice and classroom plus a night at the Ranchman's.
Theme would be how to run a practice for each of the 4 Game Playing Roles using the A-B-C-D-E drills, games and transition games.
Try I'm trying to make it to youth syposium but it's not sure yet
Renney goes on trip despite father's death
By Mario Annicchiarico, Edmonton Journal February 4, 2011
Edmonton Oilers head coach Tom Renney remained at work on Thursday and was scheduled to fly out with the team in the afternoon on its three-game road trip that begins today in St. Louis and continues through to Columbus and Nashville.
Renney's father, Joe, died late Tuesday night in Cranbrook, B.C., and the Oilers' bench boss remained at work, running the team during its 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.
On Thursday he did not participate on the ice, instead watching from the stands atop the Black Gold Arena in Leduc, prior to the team's afternoon departure.
"Tom is coming on the trip," said assistant coach Ralph Krueger.
"Everything is business as usual at the moment, his family hasn't made final plans yet for a memorial or a funeral and those will be following in the next few days, but at the moment Tom is on board and running the ship as usual."
Asked how the organization was coping with the loss, Krueger said the entire group was maintaining a professional attitude at a difficult time and supporting their head coach.
"It's a reality of life," said Krueger. "He finds out bad news in late hours and the next night you're behind the bench coaching again.
"He spoke a lot to the team about his father Joe. He was very proud of what he had done in his life, about his values and principles, and that's been part of his conversations since the fall.
"I think that's very important, that the team understands what a great man Tom's father was and what that meant to Tom. It brings back the reality of how much we should enjoy our situation here," added Krueger. "We're alive, we're all playing a game we love. It's the best game on the planet. As much pain as there is for everybody, especially for Tom above all, it's also the lessons you get in these kinds of times. To enjoy the day, work hard in the day and be very grateful for working in a profession we all want to be in. That's the main message that's coming into the group right now."
Renney did not address the media Thursday, but did speak to his players.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
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My thoughts go out to Tom and his family. I coached with him in the early 1990's with the National Team program. Truly one of the best men I have ever coached with.
All right, I'm going to Youth Symposium. I'll arrive to Vienna at morning of 29th and try to figure out some transportation to Bratislava (buss or train I guess). Going back home on 2nd of may.
Kai,
I spoke to Tom last night. He is heading over May 27 and back May 3, unless he stays longer to help out at a Czech hockey camp. Now I am trying to look at the costs, logistics. Might go over May 2 after our annual trip to Spokane WA so I can at least attend the 'regular' clinic that weekend. I will let you know once I know. Unfortunately, we might not get a chance to make a beer picture with the three of us on this trip... might have to photoshop it!
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Dean, Juuso wants me to visit him in Turku; so I will probably go to Finland for about 3 days as well. You could go Helsinki, Vienna, conference, home. He can sleep 2 in his sauna.
Drunks try to free trapped car with stolen Zamboni
By NADIA MOHARIB, Calgary Sun February 17, 2011
Their car stuck in the slush, two apparently drunk men Thursday committed the most Canadian of crimes — they tried to steal a Zamboni to extricate themselves.
Unfortunately, for the seemingly sloshed suspects, before the pair could free their car which was stuck behind East Calgary Twin Arenas — they were arrested by police.
Ross Harris, operations manager of the arena on Erin Woods Dr. S.E., said he was working in an office at the facility when he noticed the Zamboni on the move.
“I happened to see the Zamboni going outside on the camera system,” he said.
“I really wondered what was going on.”
He soon learned at least one of two men had walked into the building and broken into the garage area where the ice-grooming machine was parked.
When he got outside, the pair — with one driving the machine — was trying to push the car free of an icy stretch of pavement.
They seemed utterly unapologetic about their actions, instead asking Harris if he had a truck or tow rope to help them free their car.
While the Zamboni is four-wheel drive, it is not meant to go up hills or hit pavement.
At one point, the man driving the machine stepped to the ground and it rolled backwards with Harris forced to jump into the driver’s seat just in time to steer it clear of the building.
Telling them he was going inside to get a shovel, he told co-workers to summon police for two tipsy strangers having trouble navigating winter roads.
About five minutes later, police were there and had the pair in custody.
Sgt. Kelly Oberg said the case is certainly unique and alcohol appears to be a factor.
“This is my first stolen Zamboni,” he said.
Charges, including theft of a vehicle, break-and-enter, mischief and impaired driving, are pending against two men in their 30s.
I went to the Heritage Classic game on Feb. 20th with my son. It was about -25 C (about -12 F) which isn't toooo bad but there was a wind which makes it way colder.
The video was just before the game. They showed interviews with players on the big screen and then had a lot of fireworks and music as the players skated onto the ice.
It was chilly but a lot of fun.
http://hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20110306075807835
"it's the cursed cold and it's got right hold till I'm chilled clean through to the bone;... yet ain't being dead tis my awful dread of the icy grave that pains, so I want you to swear, that foul or fair, you'll cremate my last remains."
Sam Magee
I was part of this era... Al vs. Bob & Kelly. Some crazy stuff! Sad to see another 'old' rink with lots of history get retired, but it was bloody cold. No doubt the new one will be much nicer (and warmer for the coaching staff!)
Al is a pro scout for Florida now. Not sure what happened to Bobby Lowes. I think I heard he 'retired' from coaching and got a day job in sales?
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Thursday, March 17, 2011 Gregg Drinnan Blog
Thursday . . .
The place to be tonight is Moose Jaw where the Warriors and Brandon Wheat Kings will play the final regular-season game in the history of the Civic Centre (aka the Crushed Can).
Mark MacKay, the Warriors captain in 1984-85 when he became the only 20-year-old player in WHL history to be named rookie of the year, will drop the puck for the ceremonial opening faceoff.
Kelly McCrimmon, the owner, GM and head coach of the Wheat Kings, has more than his share of Crushed Can memories.
He shared this with Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun:
“The Bob Lowes era versus the Al Tuer era where for whatever reason we seemed to have their number over a five-, six-year period, they maybe beat us three or four times and yet we never, ever beat them easily. It was just that kind of a series that we had going.
“We’ve had good playoff rivalries with them. We had Theran Yeo get attacked by their crowd, we had Bill Aulie (the father of former Wheat Kings D Keith Aulie) in the middle of a melee. There’s lots of things that happened in Moose Jaw over the years. Bobby (Lowes) and I both got suspended there for running on the ice when we caught them cheating one night. There’s been lots of funny stories coming out of Moose Jaw.”
Rosetown Redwings on 31-0 roll
SHA senior squad can post perfect season with one more win
By Darren Zary, The StarPhoenix March 23, 2011
Win and they're in elite company. Win their next one and the Rosetown Redwings will close out a rare perfect season in Saskatchewan's senior hockey ranks.
Currently 31-0 for the season, the Redwings keep rolling along as they head to Shaunavon on Saturday for Game 2 of their best-of-three Saskatchewan Hockey Association provincial senior B championship final at 6 p.m. A third game, if necessary, would be played back in Rosetown on Sunday at 1 p.m., but, of course the Rosetown crew would prefer the dream ending.
"So far, so good," says Jason Ediger, head coach of the Sask Valley Hockey League champion Redwings.
"One more game yet."
The Wings' lineup features former Kelowna Rocket star goalie Kelly Guard, who spent three seasons in the NHL's Ottawa Senators system, including two in the American Hockey League. Up front, Rosetown has a mix of Western Hockey League, Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, Canadian Interuniversity Sport and NCCA grads, some with minor pro experience in the AHL and ECHL ranks.
Among them are Casey Lee, Kirk Pearce, Rory McMahon, Jared Jagow, Denny Johnston and Keegan McAvoy.
"It's pretty cool," said McAvoy. "It's kind of like the whole town is rallying behind the team, taking the logo of our team and stuff -it's all over town. It hasn't been like this here since back in the '70s is when Rosetown used to be seriously good. Rosetown had seen a lot of success in the '70s with its senior hockey, but it had been rather off the map since then."
Until now. "There is a huge buzz around town with the success Rosetown has been having with their hockey this year," noted McAvoy. "The midgets just won the provincial B title last weekend to a full house in the old Rosetown barn and now the whole community is rallying behind the senior team to do the same, bring back some memories of the teams from the winning '70s Wings."
McAvoy, Guard and Endicott are team imports. Among the blue-liners are Derek Endicott, Kevin Aylward, Justin Holmes and Boyd Kampen. Rounding out the squad are local veterans Heath Pearce, Wilson Johnston, Matt Speir, Carter and Tyler Gilchrist and Greg Moore along with Lee Stevens, Matt Kahovec, Kevin Clark and Craig Wagar.
The Redwings were 18-0 during the regular season in the Sask Valley league regular season before racking up eight straight wins in the playoffs to capture the league title in three straight over the Kyle Elks.
In provincial playoffs, they're 5-0. "It is rare and it is surprising," said Ediger. "We never once figured we'd be looking at a perfect season. It never crossed our minds. Our main goal, at the start of the season, was to win league and provincials. We've accomplished the league and now we have our sights set on provincials. If it does come, the perfect season would definitely be icing on the cake."
THAT '70S SHOW
All this for a town which hasn't tasted senior hockey glory for quite some time. Rosetown was once the toast of the senior hockey ranks way back in the '70s. Indeed, the Redwings were Hardy Cup finalists in 1970, 1971 and 1972 -national runner-up each year.
"Rosetown, in the late '70s, was the team in Canada," noted Ediger. "It was the era of the Moores, including Alan Moore."
Dwayne Endicott was an import for that team in the mid-'70s. Four decades later, his son, Derek, is playing for Rosetown, which defeated the Shaunavon Badgers 6-2 in Game 1 of the provincial B final before a packed house of about 1,400 fans.
Shaunavon's squad is Team Hunter. J.J. Hunter, a former Kelowna Rocket and P.A. Raider, played seven seasons of pro hockey in the AHL and ECHL. Luke Hunter, a former WHL Swift Current Bronco, played in the CHL, as did former Melville Millionaire Dustin Hunter. Brock Hunter and Ty Hunter also play for Shaunavon.
"Senior hockey is obviously very prominent here in Sask.," offered McAvoy, who played professionally in China. "There are at least (13) different leagues around the province that are well supported.
"People have been trying to dig up if any (senior) team has ever gone undefeated, but haven't found anything yet to prove it has happened. There is also a lot of buzz about the Allan Cup being played in Saskatchewan next year and Rosetown representing the province at that tournament."
No venue has been announced, although, once again, Lloydminster is a possibility.
"There has been a lot of speculation about our team taking a run at the Allan Cup (in 2012) and, at this time, it's probably the direction we'll be heading," admitted Ediger. "We've still got some things to figure out and I think we've got until September to pay that bond. Ultimately, that's the direction we're focused.
"There isn't a whole lot of coaching involved. We talked, at the beginning of the year that everybody's going to have a role. Everybody's bought into that and everybody's getting along unreal in the dressing room. We go out and do our jobs."
Balgonie and Maidstone are playing in this year's provincial senior A final.
"Everybody's talking about how the A-winner and B-winner should go at it, to see what's really going on," said McAvoy.
Davis Weisner, Calgary teen at centre of health-care controversy, dies of cancer
By Deborah Tetley, Calgary Herald March 30, 2011
CALGARY — Fifteen-year-old Davis Weisner wasn’t afraid of dying.
After battling cancer for five years — a clash punctuated by thrilling highs and excruciating lows — he was ready for anything.
But in the days leading up to his death over the weekend from neuroblastoma, Davis floored his mother when he said he was afraid of one thing, however.
“He was worried he would be forgotten,” said Janine Weisner, Davis’ mother. “He didn’t want us or anyone to forget about him.
“If only he knew how much he’ll be remembered, and has been the past few days,” she said with a sigh.
Since Davis died at the Alberta Children’s Hospital on Saturday morning, the Weisner family has been overwhelmed by support, concern, gifts and offers of help from the community, friends, family, neighbours, the hospital staff and strangers.
“He has had such an impact on so many and he never realized that,” Janine said Tuesday. “I am proud of everything about him.”
Davis was just 10 years old when he was diagnosed with cancer in 2006, which was already at Stage 4.
Although he’d been feeling sick for several months, it wasn’t until he ended up in a wheelchair during a surprise family vacation to Disneyland that his family realized the aching in his legs was more than growing pains.
Just weeks into his chemotherapy treatments, Davis and his family found themselves at the centre of a major health-care controversy when the boy was turned away from the children’s hospital due to a shortage of oncology beds.
In the ensuing days it was revealed that other children were turned away, as well, amid a sudden surge in childhood cancer cases. Beds were added to the hosital in an attempt to ease the crunch.
About a year later, after rounds of radiation, chemotherapy and two bone marrow transplants, Davis was in remission; strong, healthy and happy for about 17 months, his mother said.
Then, the cancer came back. The family was devastated.
“When you relapse with neuroblastoma there isn’t much hope,” Janine said, “but Davis never gave up; even in the last few months he showed so much courage.”
She recalled a cancer-related speaking engagement he’d committed to, but as the day approached he became self-conscious. He was quite ill, puffy from steroids and had developed a droop in his mouth that affected his speech. Organizers told him it was OK to take a pass.
“But he didn’t,” said Janine. “That was the most courage I had ever seen, He was brave, just like he was the whole time. He knew this was his fate, but he battled in so many ways.”
Last month the Grade 10 student at Lester B. Pearson High School rallied again when it was announced that he was joining 14 other teens to take part in a humanitarian project to build houses in Mexico.
No one who knew Davis was surprised, as he was often admired for his kind heart.
But as the day approached for Davis to leave, he was too sick to make the journey.
His younger sister, 13-year-old Jessie, went in his place.
He was proud of his sister, his mother said.
The family is expecting hundreds of supporters to fill the Pineridge Community Centre on Saturday, for a celebration of his life, which the teen had a hand in planning.
“He wants it to be a party, not a funeral,” said his mother, adding her son was a huge Flames fan, who counted Matt Stajan and former Flame Dion Phaneuf as among his friends.
“So, we’re wearing our Flames jerseys — maybe I will wear his — and we will have his giant Flames flag and we’re celebrating.”
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Although this is a sad story, it is also inspiring. This young man had incredible courage and touched many people. Some of the comments posted below this story were awesome:
Joe Albertan
12:50 PM on March 30, 2011
It's things like this that bring everything into perspective about what's important.
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Just My Thoughts
9:47 AM on March 30, 2011
I was not fortunate enough to know Davis, and I don't know the Weisner family. I would only hope that I would be as brave, compassionate and giving as this young man was, if I ever get sick. The Weisner's are in my thoughts, you did amazing by Davis.
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http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/Davis+
Weisner+Calgary+teen+centre+health+care+controversy
+dies+cancer/4525040/story.html
NHL Weekend - The last whistle
DAVID SHOALTS
From Saturday's Globe and Mail Published Friday, Apr. 01, 2011
On Saturday in Washington, Bill McCreary will step on an NHL ice surface for the 2,034th and final time, completing a career that began in the same city almost 27 years ago.
When the game between the Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres ends, if the self-effacing McCreary were so inclined, he could say he is going out as one of the best NHL referees ever to put on stripes. Few would argue, including Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke, who was once the NHL director of hockey operations and McCreary’s boss.
“When we had a hot spot, we had a handful of guys we could put in there and he was one of them,” Burke said. “We could put him in any situation. Threats, prior fights, suspensions, whatever was going on before that game, we could put him in there and know he would keep the lid on the pot.”
Asked if the NHL game he is leaving, with its rules designed for speed and flow, is better now than when he started, McCreary offered the same answer he gave an NHL GM recently: He’s not sure.
“I had the privilege of being on the ice with Marcel Dionne and his Three Crowns line and with Gilbert Perreault and the French Connection and the Islanders of the 1980s,” he said. “Those players to me were as skilled as any today. And they played through all the hooking, holding and interference that we were taught not to call because that was the way they wanted the game called.
“But if you want to see speed and go and flow, then you can say without a doubt today is a better game. I was fortunate to be part of all of it.”
One thing McCreary is sure of is the season-long controversy over concussions and hits to the head is overblown. He does not think the league needed to bring in rule 48, which outlawed blind-side hits to the head, because it already had rule 21.1, which allows an official to give a match penalty to a player who deliberately attempts to injure another player and subjects him to further discipline from the league.
“Had it been examined enough, I believe the match penalty would have been more than sufficient [to deal with head shots],” he said. “It goes to the same desk. It gets to [NHL director of hockey operations] Colin Campbell, who would then rule on it.
“But it’s a credit to the media. They’ve blown it out of proportion in certain ways.”
However, McCreary is not saying the NHL does not have a problem with concussions. “Is it fair to say there is a crisis in our game?” he said. “I’d say it’s fair, but it has to be studied.
What he says needs to be examined are issues like fighting, the rules, arena design (including the glass and posts around the ice surface) and player equipment.
McCreary sees equipment as one of the biggest problems because some players still wear outdated, inadequate gear from their younger days and others play with the shoulder and elbow pads covered by hard caps that can cause a lot of damage in collisions.
Most of the trouble, McCreary believes, comes from a small number of players who do not respect their peers and go head-hunting. But the small number means it should be easy to stamp out.
“I really think it is,” he said. “I don’t think it’s as big an issue as we’re letting on.
“Players used to check the puck carrier and check the puck. They never used to try and separate the head from the shoulders. That’s what they do now. That is something the players can control.”
One thing McCreary is proud of about the undying controversy around the subject is “there’s been very little said about the officiating. It’s all about players being hurt and the suspensions. I think that’s a credit to all the guys I work with.”
Those questioned about McCreary’s work all mentioned he is a communicator, something of a dying art among today’s referees.
Broadcaster Harry Neale was a head coach in the days of the old one-referee system and said: “I was happy when I read the referee was going to be McCreary. I thought he managed a game better than most.
“He would talk to you if there was a problem you didn’t understand or you needed a clarification,” Neale added.
McCreary says communication is “a tool you have in your toolbox as a referee” along with making sure you are physically fit enough to keep up with the speed of the game and mentally agile enough to make the right call on instinct instead of stopping to think about every move.
But it may be the most important tool.
“If you are able to communicate, in a lot of cases you can bring down the emotional level when it starts to rise and looks like things are going to happen,” he said. “If you can be proactive and communicate to a player or coach, I think it eliminates calling some penalties and creates a level of respect between you and the player.”
As he made his way through the NHL in his last two weeks, McCreary received tokens of respect from his peers, the players and coaches. Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Chris Pronger presented him with a team sweater autographed by the players and Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma did the same with a Sidney Crosby sweater.
Fellow referee Tim Peel gave McCreary a special bottle of wine from a California winery engraved with his important career statistics: 1,737 regular-season games, 15 Stanley Cup finals, 44 Stanley Cup final games (the most by an NHL referee) and 297 playoff games.
McCreary, 55, was supposed to retire a year ago, but was asked to stay another year by Terry Gregson, the NHL director of officiating. There will not be another request because McCreary says it is time to go.
“The way the game is played you have to work out to keep up,” he said, adding he is ready to leave the grind of the physical and mental preparation behind.
He decided to end it in Washington because that was where his NHL career began rather than go through what would surely be a media event in Toronto, which is not far from his hometown of Guelph, Ont.
The future is up in the air right now, although McCreary is talking to Gregson about a job with the NHL as a mentor, coach and perhaps a scout of younger referees. “I’m hoping to stay in the game in some way,” he said.
McCreary was involved in few officiating controversies over the years, another tribute to his excellence, although he was on the ice for the famous Brett Hull goal in the 1999 Stanley Cup final.
Hull had his toe in the crease when he scored the Cup-winning goal for the Dallas Stars against the Buffalo Sabres and, despite the zero-tolerance approach on such incidents in force at the time, Gregson, who was the referee at the net, allowed the goal.
To this day, Sabres officials and fans insist it was the biggest injustice in NHL history. McCreary begs to differ. He says Bryan Lewis, then-NHL director of officiating, called down to the ice to confirm the call on the goal was legitimate.
“In layman’s terms, it was a good hockey goal,” McCreary said. “By the letter of the law, the way the rule was written that year, I suppose it could not have been allowed but I defy anyone to say [Hull] interfered with the goalie.”
Such is the regard for McCreary that even Sabres coach Lindy Ruff, who feels to this day his team was robbed, managed a one-liner when it was mentioned McCreary admitted he was on the ice for that goal.
“Man, he’s got to let that go,” Ruff said, deadpan.
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Zebra McCreary set to go out to pasture
By LANCE HORNBY, QMI Agency, April 1 2011
Zebra to pasture
The NHL usually lets retiring officials select the site of their last game to be near friends and family. For Guelph-born Bill McCreary, hanging up his whistle Saturday night after almost 30 years and 2,000 games, that would have been Toronto, perhaps Tuesday against Washington or Saturday against the Canadiens.
But wishing to keep it low-key, McCreary chose the Capitals-Sabres game in Washington, where he first started on Nov. 3, 1984. The Leafs were probably grateful they wouldn’t be distracted from their playoff chase by a pre-game ceremony at the Air Canada Centre, but had plenty of praise for the 55-year-old’s work through the years.
“He was always pretty fair,” veteran goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere said. “You always knew that when he handled a game it would be more old-school. Maybe he would let a bit more go. But at the same time, he would be fair with both teams.
“I will always have respect for referees. It’s tough when you think how fast the game is and that a lot of criticism goes their way. That’s pretty impressive that he’s 55 and he has to stay in shape and skate up and down with the 20-year-olds. It can’t be easy.”
Added winger Clarke MacArthur: “He has been in the game a long time and he’s obviously a well-respected official. He’s put a full career in and our hats are off to him.”
Minnesota legend Glen Sonmor has combined hockey and humanity
By Brian Murphy Pioneerpress.com 04/03/2011
Glen Sonmor's hockey footprint is wide and deep in Minnesota, where he started shaping a legacy as a player, coach, manager, scout and broadcaster when Harry Truman occupied the White House.
One of the game's renowned characters is a cultural guidebook for bygone eras of the rebel World Hockey Association and a rowdier NHL when grudge matches ruled divisions named after the sport's founding fathers instead of sterile geographical regions.
For younger fans unfamiliar with Sonmor's place in the sport's history, here is an abridged version:
He played alongside John Mariucci, fought Gordie Howe, introduced the 'Hanson Brothers' to Hollywood and once wore an eye patch as coach of the North Stars to toughen his players.
Yet his greatest impact has come off the ice and is measured from his encounters in a corner booth at the Boulevard Café in Bloomington, where the recovering alcoholic has been influencing lives for three decades.
"Hey, buddy, how are you?" Sonmor says Thursday, extending a hand over his mushroom-and-Swiss burger to greet a fellow member of Alcoholics Anonymous.
"This guy saved my life. He's the greatest," said the man who identified himself as Scotty G.
Scotty had relapsed during several failed rehabilitations before he met Sonmor in 2001 during an AA meeting at the café. They talked about hockey and the demons of addiction, and shared their joys, sorrows and aspirations. Something resonated. Scotty hasn't had a drop since.
"I spent a long time before that not being able to stay sober," he said. "Glen, being the hockey guy that he is, I'm a Minnesotan and grew up playing hockey. Finally, I had a connection and he made me feel like I belonged to something and helped me figure out how to work a program of recovery.
"Because of him, it's worked for me over nine years. I don't always know how, but it worked."
CHANGE OF LIFE
Across the restaurant at the Ramada Inn, Sonmor's daily AA meeting is under way. And during an hourlong interview, Sonmor and lunch mate Whitey Westlund chat with three other recovering alcoholics who stop by their table to say hello.
He is on a first-name basis with waitresses, busboys and managers, some of whom have been working there since Sonmor began frequenting the café in the former Thunderbird Hotel when he coached the North Stars from 1978-83.
There also were too many late nights at the hotel bar where Sonmor pounded beers after games, in denial about a disease that had its hooks in him since the 1960s. He kicked the booze for good in January 1983 after an ugly meltdown. Stumbling out of a Pittsburgh bar, two muggers attacked Sonmor and left him bloodied in an alley.
The incident got him fired as North Stars coach, and Sonmor realized he had hit rock bottom.
"Pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization," is how he described it.
Then-general manager Lou Nanne arranged for him to go to treatment. Sonmor reclaimed his life and began helping others do the same.
"I didn't throw it all away because Louie Nanne wouldn't give up on me, but I really did throw it away," Sonmor said. "But there is hope. There is hope for all of us. I don't care how long you've been doing it because I'd done it a long time.
"It's the thing I'm most proud of to be an example and be able to help people who have absolutely destroyed their life."
Now, Sonmor faces another health crisis in the sunset of his life.
Sonmor, 81, abruptly retired last month as Gophers radio analyst for WCCO, ending a hockey career that started in 1949. Doctors had been advising him to curtail traveling, which had taken a toll on him physically. But dementia has invaded.
His mind remains sharp, and his ability to recall details from long-ago games and milestones are uncanny. When distracted or interrupted, however, Sonmor struggles to pick up where he left off. Some memories mash together into a disjointed story line.
Sonmor recently moved out of the Bloomington apartment where he had lived for 26 years and into an assisted-living facility in the city. Westlund, 80, who met Sonmor in AA in the 1980s, lives three doors down.
"It's been tough. Some of his memory is kind of messed up," Westlund said.
When fall rolls around, Sonmor faces the prospect of being on the outside of hockey looking in for the first time since he was a child.
"It's all right. I'll be following it closely," he said. "Yeah ..."
Sonmor's voice catches before he reassures himself that retirement is for the best.
"When you get past 80, I don't want to have to go to all those games. It does get a little heavy to do. I didn't think it would, but it did."
Sonmor will hear plenty of stories from his 62 years in the game and feel the love from dozens of friends, colleagues and former players when he is feted Monday night at Tom Reid's pub in St. Paul.
Oh, the hockey Sonmor has witnessed over the past 62 years, and most of it through only one eye.
"I have never met a man who loves the game of hockey more than Glen Sonmor," said former Wild general manager Doug Risebrough, who gave Sonmor his last NHL job when he hired him to scout for the Wild from 2000-09.
DRAWN TO MARIUCCI
Born in the fantastically named Canadian outpost of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Sonmor moved to Hamilton, Ontario, when he was 3 and became a three-sport star in high school.
The pitcher even caught the eye of a scout from the New York Yankees, but hockey was Sonmor's first love. He started his journey in Minneapolis, where he found a mentor who continues to influence him.
John Mariucci was considered the godfather of hockey in Minnesota until he died in 1987. A hard-nosed and talented playmaker with the Gophers, he was one of the earliest Americans to play in the NHL.
Mariucci was on the downslope of his career when Sonmor joined the Millers in 1949. The two shared a passion for the game and pugilism that sealed their bond.
"He found out early that I could fight, so he was training me to take over for him when he wasn't going to be there anymore," Sonmor recalled. "That was a great joy of my life. I watched him set the tempo — his love for the game, his respect and concern about his teammates."
Mariucci also drove Sonmor to the U campus in the spring of 1950 to enroll him.
"He pulled me aside and said, 'Kid, of all my teammates who have been Canadians, you're the first one that ever finished high school. You're going to college.' "
Late in the 1953-54 season, Sonmor worked his way into the New York Rangers' lineup and scored a pair of goals. He also dropped the gloves with Howe, the Detroit Red Wings icon. As the story goes, Sonmor was battering Ted Lindsay when Howe stepped in and decided to humble the rookie.
"He took charge, threw me down so hard I hit the back of my head on the ice. Just about knocked me out," Sonmor said of Howe.
"I'm laying there and the ref is down there, 'Are you OK, kid?' I said: 'Yeah, I'm OK. But I'm not getting up until I see that big son of a *censormode* in the penalty box!' "
Those two points and the tussle with a future hall of famer were the highlights of Sonmor's brief career.
On Feb. 27, 1955, Sonmor was playing for Cleveland in a minor league game in Pittsburgh. He was screening the goalie for teammate Steve Kraftcheck, his neighborhood buddy from Hamilton, when Kraftcheck's slap shot ricocheted and hit Sonmor in the left eye.
Doctors hospitalized Sonmor six weeks but couldn't save his eye. Just four days before the accident, his daughter, Katherine, was born. Suddenly, Sonmor's playing career was finished. He was just 25 and facing an uncertain future.
Then, one day in his hospital room, the telephone rang. It was Mariucci.
"He said: 'Don't worry about what you're going to do. I've got you the freshman coaching job at the university, and you can get into coaching right away,' " Sonmor said. "That's what I needed to hear. I needed something to do that I knew I would be good at."
Sonmor never spoke a bitter or self-pitying word about his fate and embarked on the career that would define him.
Sonmor succeeded Mariucci as head coach of the Gophers in 1966. He won two Western Collegiate Hockey Association championships and led Minnesota to the 1971 Frozen Four before turning pro and handing over the program to Herb Brooks.
The fun had just begun.
WILD, WILD WHA
The World Hockey Association existed only five years in the 1970s, but the upstart competitors to the NHL had an impact on the sport that endures.
Lucrative contracts, the 18-year-old draft and teams in cities with palm trees exist because the WHA explored new territory and dragged the NHL into the modern era. WHA teams also scraped the bottom of the barrel for castoffs and all-star beer leaguers.
"You might have had some characters who were orangutans," Sonmor acknowledged.
And no team was more boorish than the Fighting Saints of St. Paul, who hired Sonmor in 1972 to coach and assemble a rogue's gallery of fighters and local legends.
There was former Gophers stars Gary Gambucci and Mike Antonovich, plus ex-North Stars Ted Hampson and Wayne Connelly. Popular players included Mike "Shaky" Walton and Bill "Goldy" Goldthorpe, Dave "Killer" Hanson and the Carlson brothers — Jack, Jeff and Steve from Virginia of Minnesota's Iron Range.
The Carlsons spent the 1974-75 season playing for the Saints' affiliate in the steel town of Johnstown, Pa., where a young screenwriter named Nancy Dowd had embedded to polish a script about minor league hockey.
They were the inspiration for the colorful characters of "Slapshot," the cinematic cult classic that starred Paul Newman as the washed-up player-coach who unleashed his band of brawlers to terrorize the fictitious Federal League.
Back in St. Paul, Sonmor molded the Saints into mirror images of the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers, who fought their way to a pair of Stanley Cups in the mid-'70s.
"Glen's philosophy was he wanted to come out in the first 10 minutes of a game and pound the other team so the other players would think, 'Well, let's pack it in tonight,' " Jack Carlson said.
The WHA's shaky financial footing led to bounced paychecks and teams folding and merging season by season. Sonmor recalled racing with assistant coach Harry Neale from a bank in a taxicab to the airport with sacks of cash, crunching contract terms to determine prorated amounts to disperse to players on the plane.
NORTH STARS REVIVAL
The North Stars of the early and mid-'70s were a sad-sack bunch who missed the playoffs six straight seasons before Sonmor, hired as head coach in November 1978, led them to the Stanley Cup semifinals in 1980.
In 16 seasons in Minnesota, the North Stars were never more successful than during Sonmor's five years under Nanne. He posted a regular-season record of 174-161-81, plus a 36-21 mark in the postseason.
"He was a great coach," said former captain Steve Payne, who played six of his 10 seasons in the NHL under Sonmor. "He was smart enough to realize how to work with the personalities he had instead of against them with a my-way-or-the-highway attitude. He ran a great practice and prepared us very well."
The pinnacle was spring 1981, when the North Stars ripped through Boston, Buffalo and Calgary to reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in team history. They smacked head-on into an emerging dynasty, losing in five games to the New York Islanders, who won the second of their four straight Cups.
Months before Minnesota caught fire in the playoffs, Sonmor delivered a pregame speech at the Boston Garden that is seared into the memories of players on that team.
The North Stars were winless in 35 games in Boston. Worse, they had been pushovers against the big, bad Bruins, who taunted them mercilessly on the ice and in the media. John Wencik once skated in front of the North Stars' bench, spread his arms wide and dared anyone to fight him. No one budged.
So on Feb. 26, 1981, Sonmor stood in the cramped visitors' dressing room and challenged his team to stand up for each other.
"Not the second time, not the third time, but the first time they show any sense they're trying to intimidate us, I want you to stand up to these guys," Sonmor recalled 30 years later.
Shortly after the opening faceoff, Boston's Steve Kasper high-sticked Bobby Smith, and the North Stars' mild-mannered playmaker dropped the gloves for a rare fight. When the night was over, officials had tallied 42 penalties, seven game misconducts and a record 406 penalty minutes in a 5-1 Boston victory that nonetheless restored Minnesota's dignity.
"Glen stood up there and said: 'I don't care if we lose 1-0 or 15-0, this (stuff) ends tonight. We're going to play and fight as a team,' " Jack Carlson recalled. "Glen was one of those guys who didn't mind taking the heat. There was always a reason behind his madness. Was it right? That's the way the game was played back then."
The North Stars faced the Bruins in the first round of the playoffs and swept the best-of-five series in three games. The players discovered they had a spine while Sonmor wore a black pirate's eye patch over his empty orbit for all three victories.
"Hockey was lucky to have Glen Sonmor in the game for 60 years," Payne said.
More from the last game played in the Moose Jaw Civic Centre, courtesy of Gregg Drinnan's blog (Kamloops BC.)
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Monday, April 4, 2011
A fond farewell . . .
(The Moose Jaw Civic Centre — aka Crushed Can — was home to its final hockey game Sunday night. The Moose Jaw Warriors will move into a new downtown multiplex in time for next season. Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald wrote a feature on the old girl and has graciously allowed it to be used here. We thank him for that.)
By MATTHEW GOURLIE
Moose Jaw Times-Herald
MOOSE JAW — Architect Joseph Pettick was trying to find a cost-efficient modern solution to the problem of heating a hockey arena — he felt a low, concave roof would keep the ice cool and the fans warm by funneling the heat upwards.
The design was meant to channel heat, but it ended up creating it, too — even on nights when you could see your breath inside the building. With its quirky bounces, small ice surface, steep stands and a ceiling that trapped noise and energy, Pettick had unwittingly designed a powder keg of a hockey rink.
“The fans are so close to the action,” offers Peter Loubardias of Rogers Sportsnet, who once was the radio voice of the Regina Pats so is quite familiar with the building. “When they’re involved in Moose Jaw, it’s loud. You’re right on top of the kids and I think the kids really, really feed off it. They can feel it. Almost everybody in that whole building is so close to the ice surface no matter where you are. With the roof the way it is — being so close to the ice — the noise just stays in there.”
The Moose Jaw Civic Centre played host to its final hockey game on Sunday night. But when it is talked about — and surely the old Crushed Can will be talked about by nostalgic hockey fans for years to come — the concave roof and the noise level in the building won’t ever be forgotten.
“When people walk into the place, they say, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ But that’s part of its charm. That’s why the legend will never die. It is so outrageously different,” says Kelly Remple, who was the Moose Jaw Warriors’ marketing director for two seasons and was the chair of the Trans-Canada Clash alumni games.
Different. Often derided. More often beloved. The Crushed Can is a Picasso in a hockey arena landscape being taken over by paint-by-numbers.
Brian Costello, the senior special editions editor at the The Hockey News, has never been in a coffin, but he imagines the experience might be similar to being in the Civic Centre.
“You feel like you can reach up and touch the ceiling wherever you were sitting. It’s a weird feeling,” says Costello, who covered the Swift Current Broncos for the Swift Current Sun in the late ’80s.
It’s a building that makes a strong first impression.
Current Warriors captain Spencer Edwards recalls being a 16-year-old rookie with the Red Deer Rebels when he first set foot in the rink. After a long bus ride, the Rebels unloaded their gear through a darkened concourse and down the side stairs.
“I hadn’t really seen the rink yet,” Edwards remembers. “We went straight to the dressing room. A lot of people don’t know it, but the visiting dressing room is pretty nice here. It’s a lot nicer than some of the newer buildings in the league.
“We put away all of our gear and walked out to the rink and I was shocked. I had never seen anything like it in my life.”
There may, in fact, be nothing like it.
Pettick was inspired by the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright to become an architect.
With the angles and curves of the Civic Centre and the SaskPower building in Regina, Wright’s inspiration is evident in some of Pettick’s most iconic work. When it opened, the arena looked modern and space-aged — like a tail fin on a ’59 Cadillac.
The sloped roof is the rink’s most notorious feature, but it’s far from its only quirk. The ice surface is officially listed as 194 feet long — only six feet short of regulation — but it’s hard to find anyone who really believes the listed 85x194 dimensions.
Along with the cozy confines came the lively boards and erratic bounces. Rare is the rink that has a personality, but there were nights when it felt like the Crushed Can was trying to help the home side.
In last season’s playoffs, a Chad Suer dump-in took a hard left turn off a stanchion without losing speed. The shot had a CGI quality to it as it made a beeline for Calgary goalie Martin Jones, hit him and ended up in the net.
In the Warriors’ first home game after the 2006 car accident in which forward Garrett Robinson was so badly injured, Warriors defenceman Jesse Zetariuk watched one of his dump-ins take a friendly hop into a vacated net.
Once the playoffs started and the days grew longer, the setting sun would even peek into the building, bathing the lower seats on the east side in sunlight.
Of all of the mythical qualities of the rink, none was as pronounced as the way momentum would rapidly build.
Earlier this season, the Pats had quieted the local crowd with three early goals. The Warriors promptly scored four goals in less than five minutes to grab the lead before the end of the first period.
“It’s the momentum. With the atmosphere and the fans behind you, that momentum is easy to keep building upon,” explains Mark MacKay, the original Warriors captain. “On the other end, it’s hard for the opposing team. It pushes them down.”
Loubardias says in his five seasons calling games with the Pats, he frequently saw a superior Pats team fall victim to a seven- or eight-minute run of Warriors momentum and lose in the Civic Centre.
“When that team gets going in that building and they get on a roll, they are no fun to deal with — and they’ve never been any fun to deal with,” says Loubardias.
“I always loved the passion there. When the games were good and the people were really involved, it really was a special, special place to go to a game.
“What makes Moose Jaw special and what makes that building special is that that team is so important to that community. The people liked hard, physical, tough hockey and thrived on it. It will always be a real special place to me and I will be sad to see it go.”
The passion spills over from time to time as well. And that, too, is part of the building’s lore.
There was the night Brandon Wheat Kings defenceman Theran Yeo was jumped by a group of fans in the tunnel as he exited the ice. And the night Pats fans knocked Puckhead, the Warriors’ mascot, to the ground. Puckhead got some quick medical attention but returned to action. One night later, the Pats’ mascot, K9, was a healthy scratch for fear of retribution.
It was a bench-clearing brawl in 1984 that kick-started the Pats-Warriors rivalry. Remple recalls being a wide-eyed 12-year-old standing at the glass, taking in all of the mayhem.
“I wish all of the new generation of fans in southern Saskatchewan could have been to a Pats-Warriors game in the ’80s,” Remple says. “It’s hard to explain to people, but the level of excitement and enthusiasm — and just the decibel level — was in a different universe than it is now.”
There are those who argue that there’s a good reason why there aren’t any other rinks like the Civic Centre. Its steep stairs are treacherous. The lineups to use its washrooms can be endless. There’s little room to move on the concourse that runs under the stands. The rink is showing its age. It can be tropical or freezing inside — sometimes in the span of the same week.
It’s not the most pleasant spectating experience for the fans, but those who played there have always loved it.
“Since I’ve been involved with the alumni, every single player I’ve ever talked to says they absolutely loved the games in there,” says Remple. “The amenities may not be quite up to par. But the 2 1/2 hours of actual hockey? They loved it.”
Of course, the Civic Centre is merely a building — concrete and steel, for the most part. MacKay believes the building is special because of the people who have spent more time in it than any player — the fans who have dutifully backed the Warriors through good times and bad.
“Any hockey player loves the fact that the people are involved. The fans are right on top of the ice. They’re loud,” says MacKay, who was a 20-year-old in the Warriors’ first season in Moose Jaw.
“We didn’t win a ton of games that year, but the ones we did win, they made it special for us. They made us feel special. Their support through hard times was so important.”
They knew how to make visiting players feel special, too, though not in quite the same way. After Regina forward Frank Kovacs declined to fight Warriors tough guy Kent Staniforth, then-Warriors head coach Lorne Molleken called out the Pats’ captain and called him “yellow” in the media.
“Molleken was no dummy,’’ Kovacs says. “He clicked into that and it was a good trade for him to have me sitting in the penalty box with Kent Staniforth.
“So I was in a tough spot. Do I fight Kent Staniforth and sit in the box or do I turn away from a fight offer? Well, I can’t win, right?”
Instead he was serenaded by the Warriors fans. Constantly. For more than a season.
“The way the rink is built, the fans are right on top of you. Everywhere you went, there were fans on top of you,” Kovacs says. “So when someone says something against you like ‘yellow! yellow!’, well, you hear it. It’s not like it’s up in Section 500 in the nosebleeds. It’s all right there. And one person says it and the whole crowd gets into it because you can hear it so easily.”
If anything, Kovacs says, he enjoyed the heckling and the odd profanity from the crowd. He says the rink was a good test for a hockey team because you had to show up every night when you played in Moose Jaw.
“You had to be ready for a good game coming in there or else you were going to get crushed,” says Kovacs. “I loved playing in Moose Jaw. It’s a great character hockey rink. That’s a great place to play.”
As hard as it was for most visiting teams to play in the Civic Centre, it could be a welcoming place, but only on the most significant of occasions.
After the Dec. 30, 1986 bus crash in which Swift Current players Trent Kresse, Scott Kruger, Chris Mantyka and Brent Ruff died, the Broncos returned to the ice for the first time in Moose Jaw.
“On the way to that game it was such a sullen feeling on that bus,” recalls Costello. “When the team and the players walked in that arena, it was pretty special — especially when they came in for the pre-game warm-up and the anthem. It was quite an amazing ovation for them. You don’t see that for the visiting team — at all — anywhere.”
The Civic Centre opened in the fall of 1959 with a gala performance by legendary jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong, an event that was attended by then-Saskatchewan Premier Tommy Douglas. It later played host to the 1983 world women’s curling championship.
With the Moose Jaw Canucks (WCHL and SJHL) and then the Warriors its primary tenants, the building became synonymous with hockey. A lot of great players passed through its doors and its rich history is in evidence on every wall with framed photos of Moose Jaw’s hockey past.
“There’s so much history,” Edwards says. “Even just walking through, you can tell that not only has it been around for a long time, but a lot of important people have walked in and played in this building.
“There’s no atmosphere like it. The noise level in the building on a playoff night or a Regina night is second to none in the league, for sure.”
HOCKEY PLAYER MANDI SCHWARTZ DIES OF LEUKEMIA AT AGE 23
THE CANADIAN PRESS March 3 2011
Saskatchewan hockey player Mandi Schwartz has lost her battle with leukemia.
The 23-year-old from Wilcox, Sask., died Sunday after two years of fighting the disease, according to the St. Louis Blues.
Schwartz played forward for the Yale Bulldogs and also attended Canadian women's team camps.
Her younger brother Jaden was drafted 14th overall by the Blues last year and played for Canada at this year's world junior championship in Buffalo, N.Y.
"From the entire St. Louis Blues organization, our thoughts and prayers are with the Schwartz family during this difficult time," Blues president John Davidson said in a statement.
Both Jaden and another brother Rylan play hockey for Colorado College in the NCAA.
Schwartz and her family fought hard for her survival. Her father Rick and mother Carol took leave from their jobs with the Saskatchewan Safety Council and Saskatchewan Justice respectively to shepherd their daughter through treatment.
She was engaged to engineering student Kaylem Prefontaine of Rockglen, Sask., and they had planned a wedding for the summer of 2012.
She was first diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2008 during her junior year at Yale. AML is an aggressive cancer of the blood and bone marrow.
Chemotherapy sent her into remission and she returned to Yale, but Schwartz suffered a relapse in April, 2009. Schwartz's situation was dire and she desperately needed a stem cell transplant.
Both the Yale and North American hockey communities combined in a massive on-line campaign to find both bone marrow matches and umbilical cord blood from women about to give birth.
The Facebook page "Become Mandi's Hero" has drawn almost 6,500 followers.
A message posted on the page Sunday read: "Thank you for your support. We regret to inform you that Mandi passed this morning at 10:35 PST surrounded by her wonderful family, fiance and friends."
Donors were found, but Schwartz's transplant scheduled for Aug. 26 was delayed when it was discovered the cancer had again returned.
She had more chemotherapy in Seattle before stem cells from two umbilical-cord donors were transplanted Sept. 20 at the University of Washington Medical Center.
Schwartz and her parents remained in Seattle for weeks for follow-up treatment. They hoped the transplant would do its job. Schwartz went home to Wilcox, but in late December tests revealed the devastating news that her cancer had returned.
Schwartz greeted Jaden at the Regina airport Jan. 6 upon his return from the world junior championship in Buffalo. A fractured ankle suffered during the tournament prevented Jaden from playing for Canada in the medal round.
He greeted his sister on crutches and draped his silver medal around her neck.
Her family wrote in a CaringBridge on-line posting that day that bone marrow tests revealed leukemia had aggressively settled in her bones. The treatment they'd hoped to continue in Saskatchewan was not possible.
"We ask for your support in prayers as we treasure our time with her at home," they said.
Schwartz, who was born in Yorkton, played high school hockey at Notre Dame College in Wilcox.
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Prayers to the Schwartz family. I saw Mandi play several times when she was with Notre Dame 'back in the day...'
By ERIC FRANCIS, QMI Agency, April 4 2011
Interesting study by the Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont, who took a snapshot of every team’s 20-man roster last week to determine how many players were still with the team that drafted them or signed them out of college, junior, the minors or Europe. Of the 274 ‘originals’ in the league only four were playing for the Flames — lowest in the league. What’s worse, only two (Mikael Backlund and Mark Giordano) are regulars, as the other two were recent call-ups: Lance Bouma and Greg Nemisz, who combined for three minutes of action Friday. By comparison, seven teams had more than a dozen originals, including Buffalo and Nashville with 14. New Jersey, Detroit and the Islanders all have 13 originals, while Ottawa and Colorado have 12 apiece. While such a study re-emphasizes how horrible the Flames draft record has been, most veteran teams have few originals.
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Debating the merits of the self-contained roster
By Kevin Paul Dupont Boston Globe Sports
April 3, 2011
The deal that sent Bruins Mark Stuart and Blake Wheeler to Atlanta at the end of February pulled two “originals’’ out of Boston’s lineup. Stuart was a first-round pick (21st overall) in 2003 and Wheeler, after initially being chosen as a first-rounder (No. 5 overall) by Phoenix in 2004, turned pro with the Bruins upon signing as a free agent out of the University of Minnesota.
All of which leaves the Bruins today with only five players who entered the league as Boston draft picks. The subset consists of, by order of draft selection: Tyler Seguin (2), Patrice Bergeron (45), Milan Lucic (50), David Krejci (63), and Brad Marchand (71). (Aside: Shouldn’t Marchand surrender that No. 63 sweater to the true 63, Krejci?)
A review of all 30 NHL game rosters this past week found that the Bruins now are at the bottom of the totem pole for drafting players and retaining them on the varsity. Please note that using game rosters slightly skewed the picture in that players such as Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, not to mention Edmonton’s Taylor Hall, could not be included because they are sidelined by injury. The exercise provides an imperfect snapshot rather than a complete representation of how organizations assemble their playing assets.
Nonetheless, of the 600 players who suited up, 274 were “originals,’’ in that they either were drafted by their clubs or signed as free agents out of college, juniors, minors, or Europe. That last free agent group, by the way, accounted for only 16 players leaguewide.
The Bruins, with only those five originals, ranked above only the Calgary Flames, who had four (Lance Bouma, Mikael Backlund, Greg Nemisz, and Mark Giordano). The other clubs very short on originals included Montreal, Phoenix, and Tampa Bay, all of whom had six.
The clubs that ranked best at drafting players, promoting them to the NHL, and keeping them were Buffalo (14), Nashville (14), New Jersey (13), Detroit (13), the Islanders (13), Colorado (12), and Ottawa (12).
Draw whatever conclusions you wish from all that.
Of those five clubs short on “original’’ talent, the Bruins, Lightning, Coyotes, and Canadiens are in playoff positions. The Flames are poking around the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference, but likely will miss for a second straight season, despite an impressive resurgence after the holidays.
Among the seven clubs with game rosters rich in their own stock, the Devils, Islanders, Avalanche, and Senators will wrap up their 2010-11 season next weekend, all of them DNQs. It’s important to keep in mind here that their high number of on-the-job draft picks reflects, in part, their regular-season failure. If the Senators were prepping for the playoffs this week, some of the draft picks now in the NHL assuredly would be in the minors.
It’s clear, however, that the Bruins, in part because of the Stuart-Wheeler trade that brought Rich Peverley to Boston, lag well behind the league average (slightly more than nine) for getting their own picks in the game and keeping them in the fold.
Focusing solely on the draft as an organization’s lifeblood for talent and keeping those players around, the Bruins are on the anemic side. The trade of former top pick Joe Colborne (16/2008) to Toronto in the Tomas Kaberle deal won’t help the number. Nor, it seems, will Zach Hamill (8/2007), who is wrapping up his third pro season in Providence and looks as if he won’t progress beyond the Wanna-B’s.
There are no guarantees, in any draft or in any sport, but organizations need No. 8 picks to become impact NHLers.
Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli, reviewing the snapshot tally Friday, noted the franchise’s recent record in identifying other clubs’ draft picks and developing them as key franchise components. To wit: Tuukka Rask (Toronto/2005), Adam McQuaid (Columbus/2005), and Steve Kampfer (Anaheim/2007). None was a Boston pick, but each was identified, obtained, developed, and brought to market by the Bruins.
“In an ideal world,’’ acknowledged Chiarelli, “you’d like to have players come up through your system, and it’s what I’ve tried to do, we’ve all tried to do. At the same time, you want to win, of course. We’ve made trades to do that, and in some of those deals we’ve moved our own picks and, sure, you’re always trying to find that balance. Overall, I think we’ve drafted well.’’
As for that number of originals standing at five, he added, “It doesn’t concern me. I think you have to look at it as part of the whole exercise of team-building, and the draft is one of all the options. When we try to reinvigorate our lineup, whether that’s through draft or trade, I’m OK with either.’’
A more specific, perhaps more accurate measure, Chiarelli conjectured, might be found over a full season, totaling the days the franchise’s own draft picks remain on the roster. In that case, Boston’s number would improve this year because Stuart and Wheeler would be included.
Perhaps the most interesting number of all in last week’s review is that 14 in Buffalo. During the 2004-05 lockout, the Sabres essentially wiped out their amateur scouting department, shifting to a system that has front office employees scrutinizing game tapes of college, junior, and European hockey. Sure looks as though the tale is in the tape.
The move to wipe out amateur scouting in Buffalo was viewed around the league as penny-pinching at the time, and led to a number of longtime scouts leaving Buffalo, including Jim Benning, now one of Chiarelli’s assistant GMs. Now, with that 14 hanging there (some of whom were drafted in the Benning regime), we have to ask whether the Sabres were skinflints or savants.
In a motel room waiting for the sun to rise so I don't have to drive icy roads in the dark. I haven't been in Lacombe since I played Little League baseball here when I was 12. They had a huge tournament every year and teams from all over came.
We played last night in a town down the road called Ponoka. I played Jr. A in the AJHL there in 1967. I ended there in a round about way.
After high school I went into the seminary and studied Philosophy intending to be a priest. i was in one year and didn't go back the next year. That year I tried out for a Jr. A and a Jr. B team and made them both. Both teams played the university team that was in it's beginning seasons. The Jr. A team lost and the jr. B team won. I decided to play for the Jr. B team. I thought the players were nicer. I was in the top three in the league scoring when I broke my collar bone really badly fooling around with a little kid's stick. I deked a tall guy and when he tripped his elbow came down on the collarbone and gave a bad green stick break. It is still tender now. I missed most of the year but skated a lot taking care of 2 outdoor hockey and one pleasure rink. Scrapped and flooded them every day for about 3 months. I think this really made me a good skater because it forces you into the ideal skating position.
That summer I decided to go back to the seminary and was working cutting greens at a golf course. So 6 hours a day I was walking at a really fast pace behind a power mower. I went to the arena to play shinny with my friends but instead a Jr. A team had a training camp going on. The guy told me I could try out if I wanted.
I was using Eddie Shacks stick autographed by the 67 Maple Leafs. My sister was their stewardess for the entire Stanley Cup playoffs and got me that stick and an autographed air sickness bag. (I lost the stick when we moved but still have the bag which I have framed).
Anyway I was relaxed with no intention of playing for them; just wanting ice time. I was in incredible shape and led the camp in scoring. They wanted me to sign but I said I was returning to the seminary.
I went back to the seminary and returned to my philosophy studies but decided the unmarried life wouldn't be good for me and left in late November. Some of my friend were playing for the Calgary Centennials in the Western Canada Hockey League (now WHL) so I asked for a tryout. It went pretty well and Cec Papke the coach told me to come to the office to sign. they were playing Flin Flon that night (Bobby Clark, Reggie Leach). I filled out the card and Cec looked at it and was surprised. He said "Tom it says you just turned 20. I thought you were 18 and had two years after this. I can't sign you; we are in last place and trying to build for next year." So that was that and I called Ponoka and went there to play Jr. A.
The team payed the room and board and were supposed to give us weekly spending money. I had no money. I couldn't even buy a bottle of pop or get a hair cut. The owner would tell us before every game that if we won we would get our money. Of course it was bs and I never saw a cent. We played vs Calgary and two of their players were pummeling my linemate so I had to jump in to even the numbers. A brawl started. That was the last game before Christmas and we got a few days off.
I went home and my parents drove me the 2.5 hours in -40 weather back for an ex game on New Years Day. They hadn't seen me play since we won the midget provincials. I was getting dressed and the coach came up to me and said. "Tom I forgot to phone and tell you that you are suspended this game. They say you started the brawl vs Calgary. I was a little POed and asked for my release. I returned to Calgary and finished the season with them and went to school at MRC. I started playing for the college team as well but when they found out I was also playing Jr. A I had to chose and stayed Jr. (I am in the college team picture for that season) The next year I went to Bemidji.
To regress with a story about when I went out for the Centennials
I sat in the dressing room and all of a suddent the players jumped one of the guys who had just made the team and held him on the training table. They tied a string around the end of his manhood and held it tight while they shaved him and then put a muscle rub solution on the newly shaved area to give a big burn. When they let him go he went beserk and bodies were flying all over. It was Brian "Spinny" Spencer. He played in the NHL for a long time. The first game he played for Toronto his dad went to the CBC station who were broadcasting Vancouver instead of Toronto to get them to switch telecasts. Unfortunatley he had a rifle with him and was killed by the mounties. Brian ended up murdered as well by the mob after his career. ( it was quite a shock to go from wearing a cassock and collar one day to this situation a few days later.)
So anyway these are the hockey memories that coming back to places like this bring up. It is light out now so I will head home.
'Enjoy the Game'