Lightning are the team to beat in the NHL

Expect Stanley Cup to reside in Tampa Bay once again

A Victor Hedman card.

All players and staffers with the Tampa Bay Lightning can do the Ric Flair strut followed by the trademark, “Woo!”

Of course, the Lightning players and staffers handle things in more of a classic humble manner traditionally expected winners in professional hockey that is without bravado and swagger. Flair does attend Lightning games, so maybe that is the team’s way of bringing in bravado and swagger.

Still when it comes to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, to be the team you have to beat the team.

As the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, the Lightning are the team. It feels like it is going to take a supernatural effort to pry the Stanley Cup away from Tampa Bay’s grasp.

On Wednesday, the best-of-seven Stanley Cup final starts in Denver, Colorado, with Game 1 (6 p.m., CBC). The host Colorado Avalanche, who finished second overall in NHL’s regular season standings with a 56-19-7 record, face the Lightning, who finished eighth overall with a solid 51-23-8 mark.

The Avalanche won the NHL’s Western Conference title, and they are the team on the rise that has seemingly arrived.

The Lightning won the NHL’s Eastern Conference crown, and they are chasing history as the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

A Steven Stamkos card.

Tampa Bay is trying to win the Stanley Cup for a third consecutive year, which is something that hasn’t happened since the New York Islanders won the Stanley Cup four straight years from 1980 to 1983. Those storied Islanders squads were going for a fifth straight title before grudgingly giving way to the revered Edmonton Oilers in 1984 and the start of their dynasty run.

The Lightning are still in their prime. They have a dependable core of players who are used to willing their club to victory in Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, Alex Killorn, Brayden Point, Ondrej Palat, Anthony Cirelli, Mikhail Sergachev, Patrick Maroon, Ryan McDouagh and Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Through three rounds of the playoffs, the Lightning made seemingly all the extra effort plays when it comes to blocking shots or winning one-on-one battles for the puck. Those extra effort plays are added in addition to the fact they play the game on a systems front seamlessly and often flawlessly.

On top of that, the Lightning have gotten Hockey Hall of Fame level goaltending from Vasilevskiy.

Teams that get all those things inevitably win Stanley Cups.

In the Lightning’s case, the fact they’ve won the last two Stanley Cup titles, and they go all out in the shot blocking department and winning one-on-one puck battles can create “shock and awe” doubt in opponents.

An Andrei Vasilevskiy card.

When opponents see the effort the Lightning still put out after having won the Stanley Cup in each of the past two years, opposing teams have to question themselves in where they are in the “how bad do you want it” department.

You begin to see why the Lightning are the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions and the other 31 teams in the NHL are not.

Veteran Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois and long time head coach Jon Cooper have built a team for sustained success and not to be a one-year wonder club.

If the Lightning knock off the Avalanche to win a third straight Stanley Cup, BriseBois and Cooper have to be locks for the Hockey Hall of Fame.

If the Lightning capture a third straight Stanley Cup title, the debate begins on which players from their team will be locks for the Hockey Hall of Fame. Stamkos, Hedman and Vasilevskiy have to be the non-debatable locks for the Hockey Hall of Fame, if the Lightning win a third straight Stanley Cup.

Had Stamkos, Hedman and Vasilevskiy played on a NHL Canadian team their entire careers, they would be talked about like hockey royalty.

Put it this way, Avalanche 23-year-old star Cale Makar has been mentioned quite a bit among Canadian mainstream media as the best all-around defenceman in the NHL. The graduate of the junior A Alberta-based powerhouse Brooks Bandits is deserving of big praise.

A Nikita Kucherov card.

The best all-around defenceman praise came after the Avalanche swept away Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Championship Series.

However, it can be argued the 31-year-old Hedman is a better all-around defenceman than Makar. To be honest, Hedman might be the best all-around defenceman in the NHL.

With Hedman playing his entire NHL career dating back to his first season in 2009-10 with the Lightning, he hasn’t received much attention from Canadian mainstream media outlets until the Lightning reach the Stanley Cup final.

When the Lightning play in the Stanley Cup Final, an acknowledgement is made of, “Wow! I didn’t realize Victor Hedman was that good.”

Actually had Hedman played his entire career for the Toronto Maple Leafs, you could almost see Toronto media outlets making the case that Hedman was the greatest defenceman to ever play in the NHL.

That leads to another intangible the Lightning have. They don’t get phased when things go south for a game or adversity rises up.

Back in the first round of the current NHL Playoffs, the Lightning lost Game 1 of their best-of-seven series to the Maple Leafs 5-0 in Toronto. There was talk that the Lightning were finished and the Maple Leafs would be Stanley Cup champions.

An Alex Killorn card.

The Lightning seemingly had the collective confidence and calm knowing that was only one game and the Stanley Cup is not won in the first game of an opening round series. The Lightning took out the Maple Leafs in seven games claiming Game 6 by a 4-3 score in overtime in Tampa Bay and prevailing 2-1 in Game 7 in Toronto.

During the Game 7 win over the Maple Leafs, the Lightning lost Point to a lower-body injury. Without their high-scoring centre, who plays a strong two-way game, the Lightning swept the Florida Panthers, who finished first overall in the NHL regular season standings with a 58-18-6 record, in a second round series and took out the New York Rangers in six games in the Eastern Conference Championship Series.

In Game 1 against the Rangers in New York, the Lightning fell 6-2. The Rangers followed up by posting a 3-2 victory in Game 2 to take a 2-0 lead in the series to once again start banter that the Lightning were dead.

Four straight wins later by Tampa Bay, and the Rangers were making plans for which golf courses they would hit in the off-season. 

After the Lightning took Game 5 in New York by a 3-1 score, numerous Rangers fans were waving white flags on social media channels.

Regarding Point, the Lightning say they expect him to return to action in the Stanley Cup final.

A Brayden Point card.

The Avalanche will provide a stiff challenge to the Lightning. With players like Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Andre Burakovsky, Gabriel Landeskog, Devon Toews, Valeri Nichushkin, Erik Johnson, Josh Manson, Darren Helm, Pavel Francouz and Darcy Kuemper, maybe the Avalanche will be the answer to the Lightning like the Oilers were to the Islanders back in 1984. If the injured Nazem Kadri makes it back, the Avalanche will be even more of a challenge to deal with.

In this round between the Lightning and Avalanche, it feels like experience is going to matter, and it will play out like the 1983 Stanley Cup final where the Islanders swept the Oilers providing a big learning experience for the Edmonton side.

If the Lightning did sweep the Avalanche, that would be a surprise. At the moment, the Lightning are the two-time defending champs, and it is hard to envision them getting knocked off. They are far from being old and done.

The Lightning will be the favourites to win the Stanley Cup until someone indeed knocks them off. Look out Avalanche, because the champs are here.

Oilers playoff run was fun entertainment, other notes

A Connor McDavid card.

For the casual hockey fan, nothing beat the Edmonton Oilers running it back to the fire wagon days of the 1980s in the NHL Playoffs.

The Oilers finished 11^th overall in the NHL’s regular season standings with a 49-27-6 record, and in the post-season, they attempted to emulate their all-time great clubs from the 1980s by piling up the goals. They went on a run that saw them make the Western Conference Championship Series for the first time since 2006, when the Oilers advanced to the Stanley Cup final and fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games.

Edmonton’s venture through the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs came to an end on June 6 with a 6-5 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche that was highly entertaining. While the Avalanche to the Western Conference Championship Series in a sweep, the Oilers legitimately could have won Games 1, 3 or 4 of the series.

The Oilers run had lots of nostalgia points too.

With the Oilers being blessed with two of hockey’s best players in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, it was easy to follow the team’s exploits. In 16 post-season games, McDavid piled up 33 points coming off 10 goals and 23 assists to go with a plus-15 rating in the plus-minus department.

Draisaitl also appeared in all of the Oilers 16 post-season outings piling up 32 points coming off seven goals and 25 assists to go with a plus-four rating.

That allowed fans to dream back to the 1980s, when Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and company were putting up insane offensive numbers for the Oilers.

The Oilers took out the Los Angeles Kings in a first round series that went the distance to seven games, where the Oilers took the deciding contest 2-0. That brought memories of the playoff encounters the two sides had in the 1980s and early 1990s.

In the second round, we had Battle of Alberta for the first time since 1991 between the Oilers and Calgary Flames. The Oilers took the series in five games with storylines jumping around all over the place as much as the offence.

The rivalry had a bit of snark in it too. The Flames took the first game in Calgary 9-6, before the Oilers rolled off four straight wins. Edmonton’s victories in Games 2 and 4 of the series came by respective 5-3 final scores.

The Oilers clinched the series with a 5-4 win in Game 5 in overtime with Draisaitl setting up McDavid for the winner.

A lot of nostalgia surfaced during that series between the Oilers and Flames as fans recalled their playoff meetings in 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988 and 1991.

A Leon Draisaitl card.

In the Western Conference Championship Series, the Oilers weren’t able to outgun an Avalanche team that also has lots of offensive talent in Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Nazem Kadri.

The series began with an 8-6 victory by the Avalanche in Game 1 in Denver before Colorado closed things out with their 6-5 overtime win in Game 4.

The post-season run seemed to take heat off Oilers standout general manager Ken Holland, who faced criticism because his Oilers teams hadn’t made a long playoff run like his old Detroit Red Wings teams used to do including four Stanley Cup title wins.

Midway through the 2021-22 campaign, the Oilers made a coaching change, which seemed to spark their run to making the playoffs. Dave Tippett was out as head coach and Jim Playfair was out as associate coach, and Jay Woodcroft was in as head coach and Dave Manson became an assistant coach.

Obviously, Woodcroft and Manson have done enough that they need to be retained.

The Oilers need to get a little bit better on defence and find a way to improve their goaltending situation. In goal, the Oilers got all they could get from 40-year-old Mike Smith, but he had way too many shaky and error prone moments.

The Oilers other goaltender in Mikko Koskinen signed a two-year contract with play with Switzerland’s Hockey Club Lugano on Monday.

Edmonton has to decide if 23-year-old local product Stuart Skinner, who was a WHL star with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Swift Current Broncos, is their goaltender of the present or do they have to acquire another puck stopper.

Unfortunately across the NHL, there aren’t many goalies to go after that would be an upgrade and are sure things. Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers aren’t going anywhere any time soon.

Sure thing upgrades are left to desperate measures like sending five first round draft selections to the Winnipeg Jets for Connor Hellebuyck.

Despite what the Oilers need to do to more forward, it was refreshing to see them make a long playoff run once again.

• On Monday, Sage Watson, who is a star 400-metre hurdler on Canada’s National Women’s Track and Field Team, announced she is taking the upcoming season off to allow her body to recover from various lingering injuries. The 27-year-old from Seven Persons, Alberta, which is just southwest of Medicine Hat, has represented Canada at the last two Summer Olympics.
• On Monday, the Saskatoon Blades announced they signed 15-year-old forward Hudson Kibblewhite to a WHL Standard Player Agreement. The Blades selected the Vernon, B.C., product in the second round and 35^th overall in the WHL Prospects Draft held this past May 19. Last season with Rink Hockey Academy Kelowna’s under-15 prep team, Kibblewhite piled up 61 points coming off 19 goals and 42 assists.
• On Monday, Softball Canada announced 19-year-old right-handed pitcher Jorde Chartrand, who is from Weyburn, Sask., was one of 20 athletes named to the Women’s National Team roster for the organization’s 2022 Celebration Tour and the Canada Cup International Softball Championship, which runs June 20-26 in Surrey, B.C. The Celebration Tour helps commemorate the bronze medal win by Canada’s women’s team at the 2020 Olympics, which were actually held last year in Tokyo, Japan. The tour includes a stop at Bob Van Impe Stadium on July 1 for a doubleheader against Czechia starting at 1 p.m. Chartrand, who has played and trained in Saskatoon, is coming off her first season playing for the University of Central Arkansas Bears women’s team in the NCAA Division I ranks.
• On Monday in Madison, Wisconsin, Canada downed the United States 3-2 in the gold medal game of the International Ice Hockey Federation’s Women’s World Championship tournament. Canada built a 3-0 lead and held on for the one-goal win at the LaBahn Arena. Ava Murphy had a goal and an assist for Canada, while Jocelyn Amos scored the winner. Mari Pietersen made 29 saves to pick up the win in goal for Canada.
• A hidden gem in Saskatchewan might be the action in the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League. The play at all levels in that league is strong. The action in the under-18 AAA division is stellar. On Wednesday in the under-18 AAA division, the Saskatoon Cubs (10-2) will face the Saskatoon Diamondbacks (8-4) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Cairns Field in what should be a really good game. If you want to check out a contest from a curiosity standpoint, that would be a great contest to check out.
• Last Thursday, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a feature story on track and field stars Michelle Harrison and Nicole Ostertag taking on busy outdoor seasons. The piece on Harrison and Ostertag can be found by clicking right here. I also created a new photo roundup that can be found by clicking right here.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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“Hockey Town North” faithful can give boost to Raiders

The fans at the Art Hauser Centre cheer on the Raiders on April 16.

The Prince Albert Raiders faithful might be able to give the Winnipeg Ice an education on what it is like to be on the road in the WHL Playoffs.

As the series between the Raiders and Ice shifts to Prince Albert for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday respectfully at 7 p.m. both nights, the Ice players might get caught off guard about what awaits them at the Art Hauser Centre. It is unlikely they will know what the post-season atmosphere is like inside the Raiders storied home until they are skating on the Hauser’s ice surface.

It is safe to say Ice head coach James Patrick remembers what the playoff atmosphere in the Hauser is like. Patrick played one season for the Raiders back when the team was still in the junior A ranks of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

As a 17-year-old, Patrick starred on defence for the Raiders in 1980-81 and helped them win their third Centennial Cup as national junior A champions. Patrick, who is still viewed as one of the best ever to play defence for the Raiders, was then selected in the first round and ninth overall by the New York Rangers in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, but he never forgot how all of “Hockey Town North” got invested in the Raiders.

Even with Patrick’s experience, it is hard to describe the playoff atmosphere inside the Art Hauser Centre until you are experiencing it in person. That intangible might be the thing that gives the Raiders a boost to get back in their series against the Ice.

This column of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click the link right here.

Dorsett will always have a home with Tigers

Former feisty forward forever a hero in Medicine Hat

Derek Dorsett at the Memorial Cup in 2007.

Derek Dorsett will forever be a hero in Medicine Hat.

For three seasons from 2004 to 2007, the product of Kindersley, Sask., was a high energy right-winger for the Medicine Hat Tigers. He was the ultimate competitor who was a heart and soul member of the team.

Dorsett played a huge role in helping the Tigers win their fifth WHL title in team history in 2006-07 along with advancing to the title game of the Memorial Cup tournament, where they fell 3-1 to the host Vancouver Giants.

In the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Dorsett was selected in the seventh round and 189^th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets. He graduated to the professional ranks playing in the AHL in 2007-08 for the Syracuse Crunch.

Dorsett became a full-time regular in the NHL in 2008-09 and appeared in 515 career regular season games over 10 seasons posting 51 goals, 76 assists and 1,314 penalty minutes with the Blue Jackets, New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks.

He was forced to retire from the NHL due to a cervical disc herniation near a previously treated neck injury. Dorsett made his retirement announcement on November 30, 2017 having started the 2017-18 campaign posting seven goals, two assists and 74 penalty minutes in 20 games with the Canucks.

Last Friday, Dorsett came home to Medicine Hat becoming an assistant coach with the Tigers. The 34-year-old was behind the bench when the Tigers downed the visiting Calgary Hitmen 4-1 in a WHL regular season clash at Co-Op Place in Medicine Hat.

He will remain with the Tigers through the end of the regular season. The Tigers (9-3-0-1) return to action Friday when they travel to Lethbridge to face the Hurricanes (3-6-2).

It just feels right that Dorsett got to rejoin the Tigers. He has the biggest heart and cared deeply about the team.

When Dorsett became a regular with the Tigers as an 18-year-old rookie in 2004-05, he never looked back.

In 180 career regular season games with the Tigers, Dorsett posted 49 goals, 79 assists and 593 penalty minutes. During his final season in “the Gas City” in 2006-07, he appeared in 61 regular season games posting 19 goals, 45 assists and 206 penalty minutes.

Standing 6-feet and weighing 192 pounds, Dorsett wasn’t the biggest player on the ice, but he didn’t back down from anyone. When he engaged in a fight, it seemed to always be against a player that was bigger than he was.

Dorsett was the agitator who knew what to say on the ice to get opponents off their game. 

The front of a Derek Dorsett Medicine Hat Tigers jersey.

You also always knew his work ethic would be at an extremely high level and unmatched by anyone else game in and game out.

Dorsett would throw hits, block shots and do all the gritty things that were needed to help the Tigers win games. He seemed to have the knack for getting points at key times too.

His biggest clutch goal for the Tigers came in their final preliminary round game at the 2007 Memorial Cup, where he had the lone tally in a 1-0 victory over the host Giants. That win gave the Tigers first place in the preliminary round and a bye straight to the Memorial Cup championship game.

If something needed said to spark the Tigers during pre-game or intermission, Dorsett was the one that would get fired up and say what needed to be said.

He was also the best teammate too. On the ice, it was always visible that Dorsett would stick up for his guys. Dorsett had a good sense of humour as well and would be able to say something that would break up the room, if levity was needed.

He would go the extra mile off the ice too.

During his 19-year-old season in 2005-06, Dorsett’s billet home was only about a couple of blocks away from the billet home of 16-year-old rookie right-winger Tyler Ennis, who is best known as an NHL regular these days.

Back in 2005-06, Ennis was a list player who was able to crack a strong Tigers roster standing 5-foot-8 and weighing 140 pounds at the time. While Ennis deserved the roster spot due to a strong training and play in pre-season, there was still a little uncertainty about him being with the Tigers due to his small size.

On top of adjusting to major junior hockey, Ennis had to worry about his Grade 11 high school studies too.

That season, Dorsett picked Ennis up every morning and drove him to Medicine Hat High School for school. After classes were done, Dorsett picked up Ennis to bring him to practice at the Tigers old long time home in The Arena. During those drives, the two had great personal visits.

Dorsett wanted to ensure Ennis was comfortable in his new junior hockey home. If Ennis needed anything, Dorsett told the rookie forward to give him a call.

The back of a Derek Dorsett Medicine Hat Tigers jersey.

In the grand scheme of things, Dorsett didn’t have to do those things for Ennis. The fact that he did helped Ennis feel like he truly was part of the Tigers family and was in the right junior hockey home.

Ennis would have a star career with the Tigers that saw him be selected in the first round and 26^th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Dorsett left a legacy in Medicine Hat that will last for decades with everything he did as a Tigers player. It is fitting he gets to add to that legacy now as an assistant coach, even if it is ultimately for a short time.

Canucks confirm 25 test COVID-19 positive

A Bo Horvat card.

Facing whirlwinds of speculation, the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks released a statement on Wednesday regarding how bad the coronavirus (COVID-19) has affected the team.

The Canucks announced 25 individuals from the team had tested positive for COVID-19 including 18 roster players, three taxi squad players and four staff members. The Vancouver club added that one additional player is considered a close contact.

The statement said the source infection is a confirmed variant and the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control will need to do a full genome sequencing to determine the specific type.

The Canucks added in the statement, “An ongoing investigation by Vancouver Coastal Health and club contact tracing staff attributes the source infection to a single individual obtained in a community setting, which has since been identified by public health as a public exposure location.”

With the world stuck in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic, it doesn’t come as a surprise the source infection came from a single individual in a community setting.

The Canucks said all players and staff currently remain in quarantine.

The statement concluded saying, “This is a stark reminder of how quickly the virus can spread and its serious impact, even among healthy, young athletes.”

The Canucks COVID-19 troubles began on March 30, when centre Adam Gaudette was pulled from practice after next day results from the previous day’s testing came back positive for COVID-19.

On March 31, defenceman Travis Hamonic found out he had tested positive for COVID-19 from testing done the previous day after he participated in a morning skate. The Canucks ultimately held two on ice sessions with infected players.

That resulted in the March 30 NHL regular season game between the Canucks and the visiting Calgary Flames at Rogers Arena being postponed 90 minutes before puck drop.

The COVID-19 outbreak with the Canucks escalated from there with stars like Bo Horvat going on the NHL’s COVID protocol list.

The Canucks last played at Rogers Arena when they fell 5-1 to the visiting Winnipeg Jets on March 24.

At the moment, the Canucks are slated to play again this coming Monday against the Oilers in Edmonton. As it stands right now, the Canucks have postponed six games.

The Canucks have played 37 of their 56 regular season games for the current campaign posting a 16-18-3 record. They sit eight points back of the Montreal Canadiens for the final playoff berth in the all-Canadian North Division.

Due to privacy issues surrounding health care in Canada, it becomes harder to get information in situations like the Canucks have encountered with COVID-19. As a result, there were reports that varied regarding the extent of the situation.

Kudos can be passed on to the Canucks for releasing the information that they did on Wednesday.

Traditionally, hockey teams and leagues can be sketchy when it comes to transparency regarding illness and injuries.

On the reporting front, TSN’s Darren Dreger nailed the Canucks positive test number spot on before the club released its statement.

Overall, it is good the Canucks themselves provided the clarity they could on Wednesday.

From what the Canucks provided, the team is still far from getting out of the woods as far as COVID-19 is concerned, but the club’s situation is being taken seriously.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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When COVID-19 restrictions are announced, social media is not the place to be

Facebook can be a really crappy place at times.

It appears it was a great week to be a rageaholic.

The rageaholics came out of the woodworks this week anytime new restrictions were announced to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

On Tuesday, rageaholics went off the rails in Alberta, when new restrictions were brought forward in that province.

On Wednesday, it was Saskatchewan’s turn to be a rageaholic stomping ground.

Of course, new restrictions are being brought in because the number of new COVID-19 cases are spiking across Canada. Just for Alberta and Saskatchewan alone the cases have been rising at an incredible rate.

As of Friday, there were 14,217 active COVID-19 cases in Alberta and 3,263 active cases in Saskatchewan.

Back on Nov. 1, there were 5,172 active COVID-19 cases in Alberta and 798 active COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan.

Back on Oct. 1, there were 1,596 active COVID-19 cases in Alberta and 144 active COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan.

When new restrictions get announced, social media is not the place to be. On Facebook and Twitter, it is quite easy to find posts full or rage, hate and piss and vinegar.

Of course you get the side that goes off that the restrictions are too tight. You also have the side that hammers down the restrictions don’t go far enough.

Looking at all the social media posts, you come away with the impression that everyone in society in general is some sort of version of former NFL diva receiver Terrell Owens.

When Owens used to play in the NFL, one of the common acts to imitate him was to go on a rant and say, “It is all about me. Me! I’m the greatest. Me! Team is spelled M, E. Me!”

In general, it is safe to say all humans are selfish to a certain extent. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it feels like the selfishness of humanity has hit new levels. We are definitely not in this all together.

I hate to say it, but some loud people in the sports world - that includes some in Alberta and Saskatchewan - seem to have abandoned preaching the importance of team and seem to be saying things that makes them symbolize all those “me” traits Owens used to show off.

The urge to play in an effort to stay relevant seems to be the most important thing in the world to those people.

Starting on Friday in Alberta, all sports in that province have been cancelled for a three-week restriction period, but exceptions may be granted.

Hockey Canada’s selection camp for its world junior team is going on at the moment in Red Deer, but the sport body announced on Wednesday that players, coaches and staff had entered a 14-day quarantine retroactive to Monday. All camp activities are paused until Dec. 6.

The Bears won’t enjoy any more wins for a bit.

The shutdown came after the confirmation that two players at the camp have tested positive for COVID-19. A staff member had tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 21.

A new batch of restrictions took effect in Saskatchewan on Friday. All team sports and group activities are suspended.

Athletes and dancers 18-years-old and under may keep practicing in groups of eight or fewer if they use masks and physical distance three metres from each other. Fitness activities of groups of eight or less are still allowed as long as masks are worn and there is three metres of physical distance between participants.

Capacity at casinos, bingo halls, arenas, live theatres, movie theatres, performing arts venues and other facilities that had a capped capacity of 150 people will be restricted to 30 people.

Indoor gatherings such as banquets, weddings, funerals, conferences will also have a limit of 30 people and food and beverage service will be prohibited.

All places of worship must reduce capacity to 30 people, and no food or drink can be served.

Restaurants and licensed establishments are limited to seat four at a single table.

Mandatory non-medical mask wearing was extended to more areas. That includes all students, employees and visitors at schools, all employees and visitors in common areas in business and workplaces and all residents, employees and visitors in all common areas in provincial and municipal correctional facilities.

These new measures and public health measures that were all ready in effect in Saskatchewan will remain in effect until December 17.

On Wednesday, the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League junior A circuit announced it won’t be playing any games from Friday through to Christmas.

As sports got going again during the pandemic, it felt like there were some in minor sports bodies and with teams that acted like sports would not be shut down again, and it seemed like that message filtered to some players and parents.

If anyone really believed that, they were delusional, because what happens with the pandemic is out of anyone’s control. Everyone in any sports organization should know that the risk on going ahead with play in these current pandemic times is that games and competitions can be scrapped and sports organizations and teams can lose substantial amounts of money by playing.

It felt like there were some out there that knew the risks, weren’t truly honest about them and got burned by them.

There are also a large number of sports organizations and teams that are honest with their players.

Actually, there have been a number of coaches that have done admirable work in being honest with their players.

Special shout outs go to Saskatoon Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant, University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team head coach Scott Flory, Prince Albert Northern Bears head coach Jeff Willoughby, Saskatoon Stars head coach Robin Ulrich, University of Regina Cougars women’s hockey team head coach Sarah Hodges and University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team head coach Steve Kook.

Those special shout outs come from interactions with the players on those teams as well as the coaches themselves.

There won’t be any Stars victory celebrations for a while.

That list could be expanded, if it wasn’t for limited interactions due to the pandemic. I know I have left a large number of good coaches out.

Still, it feels like society in general is not in this all together when it comes to dealing with the pandemic. The sports world is not immune to this.

It seems the only way out of this is to hope the mainstream media stories that there are at least three COVID-19 vaccine candidates out there that could possibly be rolled out in 2021 becomes reality. That could optimistically return everything to normal by September of that year.

Relying on humanity as a whole to get on the same page to battle the COVID-19 pandemic right now looks to be a non-starter.

The mystery of Rangers’ Maracle, other notes

So were there Indigenous hockey players in the NHL before the late Fred Sasakamoose?

It appears there was a least one for sure. It also appears that it took some painstaking work a journalist to uncover that one, which might add some historical snapshots of time.

The one Indigenous player that came before Sasakamoose was Ayr, Ont., product Henry Elmer “Buddy” Maracle.

Maracle played 11 regular season games at left wing for the New York Rangers in 1930-31 collecting one goal and three assists and was held pointless in four playoff games. He was a member of the Mohawk tribe.

Irene Schmidt-Adeney, who is a reporter at the weekly Ayr News, has spent a tonne of work uncovering Maracle’s history.

He was born in Ayr, Ont., on September 8, 1904 and passed away on June 20, 1958 in Dallas, Texas. Schmidt-Adeney said Maracle passed away due to a kidney disorder. He was a produce truck driver at the time of his death.

She added that stories about Maracle during his hockey career often had racist headlines. His final season of hockey was with the minor league San Diego Skyhawks in 1943-44.

After his hockey career finished, Schmidt-Adeney said Maracle became a United States citizen. According to her research, Maracle gave up his Mohawk status in 1955.

His Texas death certificate from 1958 said his color or race was “white.”

Historical archives and newspaper archives were able to show facts on Maracle. They help paint a snapshot in time.

At the point in time Maracle lived, it was likely more advantageous to renounce your Indigenous status. The fact he did that likely made it harder to track down his cultural background.

As a result, Sasakamoose, who is from the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation, is often recognized as the NHL’s first Indigenous player with treaty status when he played 11 regular season games for the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1953-54 campaign. Sasakamoose passed away on Tuesday after being recently hospitalized for COVID-19.

Sasakamoose will always live on as a legend, because he did a tonne of work to help better the lives for Indigenous athletes. He always identified with his culture and will always be viewed as a hero.

On Maracle’s front, you can’t fault him for choices he made with the facts that have been uncovered in his life. He was a product of his point and time in history.

• On Wednesday, Softball Saskatchewan announced it was suspending all sanctioned activities until January 15, 2021 due to the rise of COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan.
• On Wednesday, the WHL announced that the WHL Cup tournament was cancelled for the 2020-21 campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event features the under-16 teams from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
• On Wednesday, a Saskatchewan Amateur Football Mega 50/50 lottery was announced to support the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder and the WWCFL’s Saskatoon Valkyries and Regina Riot. One prize will be drawn per month, and the draw dates are December 31, 2020, January 31, 2021, February 28, 2021, March 31, 2021, April 30, 2021 and May 31, 2021. Tickets can be purchased by clicking right here, and purchasers must be in Saskatchewan in order to buy tickets.
• On Friday night, the 50/50 jackpot for the Hockey Harvest Lottery sat at $220,520. The lottery is being used to raise money for the player scholarship funds of Saskatchewan’s five WHL teams in the Moose Jaw Warriors, Prince Albert Raiders, Regina Pats, Saskatoon Blades and the Swift Current Broncos. Tickets can be purchased by clicking right here, and purchasers must be in Saskatchewan in order to buy tickets.
• On Friday, the University of Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team opened their NCAA regular season schedule falling 3-2 to the Ohio State University Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio. Sophie Shirley, who is an alumna of the Saskatoon Stars female under-18 AAA hockey team, had an assist for the Badgers. The Badgers roster contains Sophie’s younger sister, Grace, who is also an alumna of the Stars.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Banner NHL Entry Draft day for “Hockey Town North”

Raiders’ Wiesblatt and family highlight of opening round

Ozzy Wiesblatt was selected by the San Jose Sharks.

For arguably the first time ever, the most memorable moment of the first round of the NHL Entry Draft was the final pick.

On Tuesday night, the NHL Entry Draft was held via video conference call from the NHL Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey, as opposed to being live in an NHL centre due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. As the opening round was broadcast on TV, the players who were to be selected watched the proceedings at home with their families.

The TV broadcast had the use of Internet cameras to get live looks into the home of the players who were selected in the first round.

The San Jose Sharks made the final selection at the 31^st overall spot in the opening round. Doug Wilson Jr., who is the Sharks director of scouting, announced the pick using American Sign Language and his voice that his club had picked Ozzy Wiesblatt of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders.

Ozzy Wiesblatt finished second in Raiders scoring last season.

The picture cut away to a picture of the Wiesblatt household, which was a scene of a euphoric and joyous celebration.

Wilson announced the pick via sign language because Wiesblatt’s mom, Kim White, has been deaf since birth.

She had to raise Ozzy, his three brothers and one sister as a single mom since 2014. Ozzy’s brothers are all high level hockey players.

The oldest brother, Ocean, played in the junior A ranks with the Portage La Prairie Terriers last season. The second oldest brother, Orca, is a member of the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen, and the youngest brother, Oasiz, is highly touted prospect with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers.

Wilson’s special touch in announcing Ozzy Wiesblatt’s selection gave the opening round its signature moment.

Ozzy Wiesblatt with the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

Left-winger Alexis Lafreniere of the QMJHL’s Rimouski Oceanic may have gone first overall to the New York Rangers, but it felt like the night really belonged to Wiesblatt and his family.

 Adding to the story is the fact the 18-year-old Calgary, Alta., product is a really good player, who deserves to be a first round selection.

As a 16-year-old rookie in 2018-19, Wiesblatt, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 182 pounds, appeared in 64 regular season games posting 15 goals, 24 assists and a plus-30 rating. By the end of that season, Wiesblatt often found himself on a line at right wing with star overage centre Noah Gregor and star left-winger Cole Fonstad as the Raiders topped the WHL regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record.

Wiesblatt played in all of the Raiders 23 games in the WHL playoffs posting five goals, five assists and a plus-six rating helping deliver a WHL championship to “Hockey Town North” for the second time in history.

Ozzy Wiesblatt is one of the Raiders top offensive players.

This past season as a 17-year-old sophomore, Wiesblatt skating in all of the Raiders 64 regular season games finishing second in team scoring with 25 goals, 45 assists and a plus-20 rating. He helped the Raiders post a 36-18-6-4 record and finish first in the WHL’s East Division for the second straight year.

Wiesblatt’s draft selection was the topper for banner day for Prince Albert at the NHL Entry Draft.

Kaiden Guhle, who is the Raiders ultra-talented offensive-defenceman, was taken 16^th overall by the Montreal Canadiens. The 18-year-old Sherwood Park, Alta., product’s selection alone normally would give the Raiders a memorable night.

Back in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft, Guhle was selected by the Raiders in the first overall in the first round. Since that time, he has been living up to that high selection.

Kaiden Guhle was selected by the Montreal Canadiens.

As a 16-year-old rookie in 2018-19, Guhle played in 65 regular season games collecting three goals, 14 assists and a plus-17 rating in the plus-minus department. He focused more on playing a defensive role on a defensive starting six where the other five members were all 19-year-old veterans.

Last season as a 17-year-old sophomore, Guhle, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 184 pounds was thrust into a bigger role and was looked upon to provide more offence. He appeared in all of the Raiders 64 regular season games piling up 11 goals, 29 assists and a plus-23 rating.

As a blue-liner, Guhle has a special blend of talents very few have.

The selections of Wiesblatt and Guhle marked the third time in team history the Raiders have had two players picked in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft.

Wiesblatt and Guhle weren’t the only individuals with Prince Albert ties to shine in the opening round of the NHL Entry Draft.

Prince Albert product Braden Schneider, who plays for the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings, was selected 19^th overall by the Rangers.

Braden Schneider was selected by the Rangers.

The 19-year-old Schneider, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 202 pounds, had a breakout campaign posting seven goals, 35 assists and a plus-nine rating in 60 regular season games with the Wheat Kings last season.

The graduate of the Prince Albert Mintos Under-18 AAA team has established himself as one of the WHL’s elite offensive-defencemen.

Portland Winterhawks right-winger Seth Jarvis, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 172 pounds, was the first WHL player to be picked in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft going 13^th overall to the Carolina Hurricanes. Jarvis racked up 42 goals, 56 assists and a plus-53 rating in 58 games last season with Portland.

Saskatoon, Sask., product and 19-year-old centre Connor Zary, who plays for the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, went 24^th overall to the Calgary Flames. Zary, who stands 6-feet and weighs 181 pounds, recorded 38 goals, 48 assists and a plus-30 rating in 58 games with the Blazers this past season.

Ozzy Wiesblatt (#19) enjoys a WHL title win.

The NHL Entry Draft wraps up on Wednesday with rounds two to seven. Before Tuesday’s opening round started, the NHL and NHL Players’ Association announced they are targeting to begin the upcoming regular season on January 1, 2021.

The opening round of the NHL Entry Draft on Tuesday will always be a memorable night for the players who were selected.

For Wiesblatt and Prince Albert as a city, it will go down as a forever cherished feel-good night.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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May God forever bless “The Boogeyman”

            It is a book I don’t wanted to glance into, but I do anyways.

            A Christmas gift, I am nowhere near finishing it. I jump to a page or two here and a page or two there depending upon where curiousity takes me at that point in time.

            The book is written by John Branch and it is about the life of late NHL enforcer Derek Boogaard entitled, “Boy on Ice: The Life and Death of Derek Boogaard.” Anyone that follows hockey knows that the book penned by the New York Times writer will enter tough areas.

Boogaard died on May 13, 2011 at age 28 from an accidental overdose of alcohol and painkillers. The painkillers were used to treat his concussion injuries.

            Boogaard played in the WHL during the years I covered the league. He was with the Medicine Hat Tigers, when I was in Prince Albert, and I arrived in the Gas City shortly after his time with the Tigers came to an end.

            I was on shift at the Medicine Hat News the night Boogaard passed. Locally, the word arrived in the newsroom at the 9 p.m. hour.

            My first reaction was shock.

            I asked my co-worker, Scott Schmidt, if Boogaard had really died. He did some checking on various Internet lines and quickly confirmed that Boogaard, who played mostly in the NHL with the Minnesota Wild and finished with the New York Rangers, had passed.

            My next reaction was I could name 10 people in town off the top of my head that would immediately be sad about the news. As deadline was approaching and I was handling layout in sports, I quickly pieced together an obituary with quotes from old stories I had written on “The Boogeyman.”

            When my shift ended, I became sad. I was sad, because I knew how well Boogaard was loved in Medicine Hat.

Knowing this love, I have mixed emotions, when it comes to checking out Branch’s book. I am hesitant to discover the struggles Boogaard had in the later years of his life.

When I am ready and the curiosity is up, I do check the book out.

In Medicine Hat, Boogaard was seen as the life of the party comedian and everyone’s best friend. He kept in touch big time with his old billet mom, Doris Sullivan, and Tigers assistant trainer, Ken Stickel, and sent them a variety of his NHL gear.

            He was far from the 6-foot-7, 258-pound, monster type guy spectators saw engaging in brawls on the ice. Looking back to how some of his on-ice fighting incidents were covered in the WHL, I believe at the time we in the media painted a way more aggressive picture of the man, which did him a disservice. Hindsight is always 20-20.

            I only got to deal with Boogaard on a couple of occasions. I wish there would have been more.

            The highlight was writing a catch-up feature on him shortly before Christmas of 2006. I phoned his mother, Joanne, for a cell number.

There was kind of amusement and a bit of an unsure moment, because a reporter from Medicine Hat wanted to talk to Derek. I could tell mom was a bit concerned about what Derek was going to say in the interview.

She passed on the cell number and said, “Please be good.”

I left a message on Derek’s phone, and he called back within five minutes. He quickly rolled off a pile of one-liners, and I laughed so hard that it took a bit to get into the interview.

Boogaard then asked how Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins was doing and quickly went into a story about his only training camp under Desjardins back in 2002. At that time, the Tigers didn’t have a rookie camp, and the rookies skated in scrimmages with the veterans.

Boogaard said he bodychecked a 15-year-old into the boards hard, and the poor kid had to be taken to hospital by ambulance. Desjardins gave Boogaard the rest of training camp off, and enforcer said that was the easiest training camp he ever had.

I bought that quote up to Desjardins during a Tigers training camp a couple of years later, and he laughed. The bench boss said he flat out had fears players would get hurt running into Boogaard, because he was so big. That came on top of concerns about what would happened when Boogaard would initiate a hit.

Giving him the rest of camp off seemed like the logical thing to do.

            While Boogaard joked about that training camp memory, he initially took having the rest of that camp off the wrong way.

            After he passed, Sullivan recalled that time in training camp during a media interview. She said Boogaard came home all sad the night of that hit being dejected he couldn’t play. He said it was like he was back in kindergarten and the teachers wouldn’t let him play with the little kids because he was too big.

            That recollection brought to the forefront of how much Boogaard was in a lot of ways a little boy in a man’s body.

Branch did a good job in capturing that in his book, especially when it came to writing about Boogaard meeting Janella D’Amore, who was a figure skater from Portland, Oregon. The two met, while Boogaard was playing for the Tigers, and had a lengthy relationship, which eventually became a common-law marriage.

When the Tigers came through Portland during the 2001-02 campaign, another girl, who was one of D’Amore’s friends, expressed romantic interest in Boogaard. D’Amore tried to play matchmaker through instant messages on the computer, but Boogaard dismissed them.

Boogaard later got back in touch with D’Amore saying he wanted to get to know her better. Through exchanges, Boogaard said he didn’t like D’Amore’s friend that originally showed interest in him, because that friend was a “puck bunny.”

Boogaard and D’Amore met in person at the Wild’s summer in 2002, and he would often tell her she was too pretty for him. Branch did an excellent job of writing how cute and sweet the romance was especially at the start.

Much later in the book, childlike demeanour came out in another way. It came near the end of Boogaard’s only season with NHL’s New York Rangers and in what were the final months of his life.

He has been out for a lengthy time with a concussion, and the Rangers coaches were trying to get him back on the ice. In one skating session, he kept falling down and struggled with coordination. After being sent off the ice, he went through a range of emotions in front of team trainers, screamed people through he was a pill head and cried.

Without even reading further, you knew the sad ending was around the corner.

Over the years, Boogaard was a character that always intrigued me. Desjardins really liked him, like really liked him.

Had Boogaard not been an overage player in the one season both were in Medicine Hat, it is pretty safe to Desjardins would have ensured the enforcer was on the Tigers roster for the whole campaign. Major junior teams can only have three overage players, and those spots are usually held for scorers or strong veteran defencemen. Boogaard was released after playing 27 regular season games that campaign.

Desjardins, who is the current head coach of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, saw a potential for Boogaard to be more that a fighter in hockey talking about how well the big man could skate, had an ability to play defence and possessed a booming shot that could be developed.

While watching him play on TV, it was obviously Boogaard could skate extremely well, which was unreal to see from a guy his size. I remember him being able to get down to block shot and then bounce up quickly to help a play transition down ice.

Fighting alone didn’t get Boogaard into the NHL. It was his ability to do other things to go in hand with fighting that did.

Unfortunately, fighting is what helped bring a tragic end to his story.

Boogaard’s death is one thing that cemented me in believing that fighting has to be taken out of hockey, and more serious attention has to be given to concussion injuries.

Whenever someone in Medicine Hat was adamant that fighting needed to remain in hockey and that concussion injuries are not a big deal, I always brought up Boogaard.

I would ask would you rather have Boogaard live the life he did, or would you rather have him here now? The answer would always be it would have been better to have Boogaard here now.

Currently, Boogaard’s family still has a wrongful-death suit filed against the NHL. The late enforcer was always a huge fan favourite, but with the suit before the courts, you can be sure a number of people involved with the league will try to minimize memories of Boogaard’s time in “The Show.”

It will be up to Boogaard’s friends and those that knew him to ensure his memory stays alive regarding how much of a good and quality guy he was.

Rest in peace Boogey. You will forever be missed.

If you have any feedback on this blog, feel free to email comments to stankssports@gmail.com.