Empty feeling in Ann Arbor on NHL Winter Classic day

University of Michigan stadium, (Wayne Newton)

Today was supposed to be a hockey fan's utopia with the always-contending Canadian junior team playing in the world championship in Russia and two of the NHL's most storied teams, my beloved Toronto Maple Leafs and the model franchise Detroit Red Wings, meeting in and outdoor game at the Big House of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

The NHL lockout ruined the Winter Classic game - it was cancelled weeks ago and the impasse between the league and players continues and might now threaten the entire season again.

I hope the league and players get it together for a full 2013-14 season including the Red Wings-Maple Leafs game at the football stadium Big House - a game which will set the record for largest attendance at a hockey game.

The stadium already holds the current record of more than 100,000 for a NCAA game between Michigan and Michigan State in 2010.

Meanwhile, the many great restaurants and brew pubs of Ann Arbor and area are relatively quiet compared to what was supposed to have been.

Flights of premium brews await hockey fans
at Ann Arbor's Grizzly Peak Brewing Company.
 (Wayne Newton)

Maybe the only good thing about the lockout is that teenagers playing in the NHL such as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are free to play in the world juniors, raising the bar of competition and making Canada the favourites to win.

As for Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan, maybe there's more high-profile hockey on the horizon once hosting the Winter Classic happens and raises the city's ice profile. The university's gorgeous and historic Yost arena would make an excellent co-host venue for a future world juniors in conjunction with nearby Detroit and over the border in Windsor, Ont.
We played at Yost when my son was in town for a Canada-U.S. minor hockey tournament a few years ago. It's a spectacular venue, one which the visited Canadian kids and their parents have etched in their minds.

The best attended, highest profile world juniors are those held in Canada or in the U.S. near the Canadian border. It'd be nothing but great to play the tournament at Yost, Joe Louis arena and the WFCU Centre.
For more on Ann Arbor, here's my story for the London Free Press, Toronto Sun and the rest of the Sun Media newspaper chain in Canada.
Update: Here's what the Winter Classic 2013 logos were going to look like.

NHLers bide time with minor hockey

It's nice how idle NHLers such as Corey Perry  show up a Canadian minor hockey practices to thrill the kids and provide a little bit of celebrity coaching. It's an experience everyone wants and cellphone photos will be everywhere.
But I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts that minor hockey, Hockey Canada or whomever doesn't insist these NHLers pay for and sit through Speak Out courses before interacting with the kids. Speak Out is required for all team volunteers and has been since the sexual abuse scandals of Graham James, and likely others, finally came to light.
Truth is, most of these NHLers couldn't meet the test of being minor hockey volunteers, particularly when it comes to vocabulary in front of 11-year-olds or their off-ice conduct choices.
By contrast, consider how the minor hockey organization my son has played for treated an idea involving him and his juvenile team teammates.
The coach of a younger team asked juvenile players to attend practices to share skills and mentor the younger kids. Many juveniles - young referees, honour students, youth coaches were among their ranks - were interested and willing. But minor hockey insisted the teens take and pay for the course and submit to a police check before sharing the ice or changerooms with the younger kids.
Needless to say, the teens lost interest after simple volunteerism became so complex and costly.
Did NHLers like Perry submit to a police check? Learn about the Speak Out two in a room policy? Doubt it.

Big House awaits NHL

Michigan Stadium, future home of the NHL's
Winter Classic. (Wayne Newton photo)

Can you stare at the biggest football stadium in the United States and think about hockey?
You can if you are a Canadian NHL fan and you're in the massive press box looking out over Michigan Stadium, aka the Big House, at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
The stadium already holds the record for biggest attendance for a hockey game when the Wolverines played rival Michigan State in front more than 100,000 people.
Next month the NHL's second most important event (next to the Stanley Cup playoffs) was supposed to have been played in the stadium between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs - my team. Attendance likely would have topped 114,000. Typical NHL rinks seat between 18,000 and 20,000 fans.
The labour dispute between NHL players and the league forced cancellation of the Winter Classic along with about half the season - so far.
The university and city were geared up for the event, with plans in motion for receptions and parties along with staffing and inventory planning at the plethora of local brew pubs, microbreweries and restaurants. All of it came to a halt with hopes the game will be held in 2014 when the league and players get their acts together.
Meanwhile, I've written a piece about how to spend 48 hours in the Ann Arbor area for Sun Media newspapers in Canada, along with some great photos of the stadium, beer and food - all of which are ready for hockey fans to enjoy. Expect publication this month.

Rome falls

Congratulations to the NHL for getting it right and suspending Vancouver Canucks defenceman Aaron Rome for his late, stupid, concussion-causing hit on Boston Bruins Nathan Horton.
The NHL suspended Rome for four games - the rest of the Stanley Cup final.
It is just and sends the right message to professional players and kids alike.
Here's a link to the Globe and Mail story about the suspension and the hit.

Is NHL serious about concussion prevention?

We'll soon discover just how serious the National Hockey League is about concussion prevention - and how much of a role model the professional game wants to be for the millions of minor hockey players in the world.
A nasty, stupid blindside hit by Vancouver Canucks Aaron Rome on Boston Bruins Nathan Horton is the icing on the cake in a season which saw the world's best hockey player, Sidney Crosby, sidelined by NHL concussion-causing hits.
If the NHL is serious about bringing sportsmanship back into the professional game, then Rome will be suspended for at least Game 4. Never mind that the rules get more lax during the playoffs, particularly the final. Are we playing this sport with standards or not?
The NHL judgment on Rome will have a ripple effect on kids' hockey, setting an example for what is and is not acceptable.
Meanwhile, on another issue of sportsmanship, what immaturity by the millionaire professional athletes on the Boston Bruins, giving the finger to opposing players at the end of the Game 3 routing. Not classy, not sporting, not right. It's the kind of action we'd expect from 16-year-old minor hockey players who don't have the benefit of strong coaching or good parents.

Couture in running for Calder

Congratulations to London, Ont., minor hockey product Logan Couture for being one of the three finalists for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year.
A former Junior Knight (naturally), Couture is a buddy of the greatest young defenceman in hockey, also a London product, Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings.
Couture stars for the San Jose Sharks - amusing that the Sharks and Kings are playing each other in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Toronto Star has the rookie nominees story. And The London Free Press has a great piece about this city's Stanley Cup participants.

Crosby could change hockey

Does Sidney Crosby really want to change the tone of both the NHL and minor hockey everywhere?
All the world's best player has to do is say he wants Matt Cooke off his team, even before the NHL and the lame players' association deal with a suspension over the rogue player's latest offence, a nasty elbow to the head of a fellow players' association member.
Crosby has the power, influence and respect to make a difference - assuming he's thinking clearly enough to do it as he recovers from a significant concussion himself.
Kids are watching, captain.

Psychiatrist appeals to NHL to end fighting in hockey

Dr. Peter Jaffe is a leading figure in London, but is he right about fighting in hockey?
Here's a link to The London Free Press article about Dr. Jaffe writing NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman about hockey fights and below is the text of the letter. Parents of kids in minor hockey must read points 2 and 3.

An Open Letter to Gary Bettman and the NHL Board of Governors

We are enthusiastic, lifelong hockey fans who want to lend support to Mario Lemieux and many commentators' views that the recent incidents of fighting in hockey cannot be tolerated. In particular, we endorse Mario Lemieux's words after a recent Penguin-Islander brawl: "It was painful to watch the game I love turn into a sideshow . . . . The NHL (needs) to send a clear and strong message that those kinds of actions are unacceptable and embarrassing to the sport." We agree with these sentiments.

As fans, we note the level of self-control that players at the junior and NHL level can demonstrate during international competitions such as the World Junior Championship and the Olympics. Even the NHL players reduce fighting by almost 50% during the Stanley Cup playoff without affecting attendance or TV viewers. Scandinavian countries have banned hockey fights and other leagues such as college hockey have managed to eliminate this part of the game.

We know that the NHL wants to put the best possible product on the ice and you are always looking for ways to improve the game. We would ask you to consider a number of points in your upcoming discussions:

1. There is increasing research and public awareness about the short- and long-term harm from concussions. We have gone from celebrating Sidney Crosby's gold medal goal last year to worrying about his future as a result of several blindside hits to his head. Other stars like Marc Savard are facing uncertain futures from repeated hits to the head. What is frequently missed is that there is no difference in a hit to the head by an elbow or shoulder than a punch to the head in a fight. Recent fights have sidelined a number of NHL players with concussions and other injuries. Fights are not always consensual acts between players of the same size and experience.

Hockey is an intense and physical game that requires protection of players and prevention of injuries wherever possible.

2. What message do we send junior hockey leagues and younger players when we don't send stronger messages against hockey violence? NHL players are role models and set the standards for youth playing hockey. Junior hockey players who aspire to be drafted by the NHL have to fight and risk injury in order to prove their worth and full potential. These young men are teenagers and face unnecessary risks of concussion to pursue their dreams. Junior hockey team owners have stated that their teens have to fight since they are suppliers to the NHL. Hockey should be about athletic speed, skill and determination rather than becoming a goon for a team. In a recent Bruins-Stars game, there were three fights in the first six seconds of play.

It is hard to argue that fighting is essential to the game and is part of the flow of the sport under those conditions.

3. Many parents and educators are worried about the impact of media violence on our children's development. The fights and hits to the head have become a form of entertainment such as videos which glorify these incidents and sports shows that highlight the fights of the week as part of a hockey entertainment package. The media promotes the most negative aspects of the game and signals to our youth that this unsportsmanlike conduct is to be admired.

We understand that there is tremendous resistance to change. We recognize that some fans and commentators support the violence and see it as inevitable in a high-speed contact sport like hockey. The Olympics prove the opposite. Fighting and violence sells but we would argue that the fans would not turn away. In fact in some of the U.S. markets, you might find more families interested in the game without the fighting.

We know that fighting has always been part of hockey but rules change in hockey on a regular basis from penalty calls to the size of the goal crease.

Goalies wore no masks in the NHL just 30 years ago and junior players didn't have to wear mouth guards or helmets with visors. Eliminating all intentional hits to the head including fighting should be part of that same shift and would send a strong message that violence is no longer acceptable to our hockey heroes and our national pastime.

Peter Jaffe PhD, professor, faculty of education, University of Western Ontario

Graham Pollett MD, medical officer of health, the Middlesex-London Health Unit