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.

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.

Minor hockey players grow up to be stars - sometimes

Fun exercise from the Toronto Star has Maple Leafs fans guessing who the minor hockey players pictured grew up to be.

Faith in goal

Toronto Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer has three favourite Bible verses he uses when preparing for games: Matthew 14:31, Isaiah 41:1- and Colossians 3:1, the Toronto Star reports.
Tyler Bozak plays video war games and researches opposition centres. Jay Rosehill watches hockey fight videos.

Car!

Why Toronto is a silly city. Can't offer decent minor hockey rinks. Can't play road hockey. Can't build a decent NHL team.
Here's what happened on the street hockey debate, as reported by the Toronto Star.

Crowded crease

How many goaltending prospects do the Toronto Maple Leafs intend to stockpile? The latest is a 21-year-old from Sweden, who is a musician when he's not flopping around in the Swedish Elite League. Read about him by clicking here.
Any truth to the rumour the Leafs are also interested in signing Alex Weitzel of London, who is also skilled in Guitar Hero?

Sizing up minor hockey

Interesting thoughts today from Toronto Maple Leafs assistant captain Mike Komisarek on his size difference being a factor in making a hit on Colorado Avalanche Mark Olver look worse than it was intended to be.
He tells the Toronto Star, "I hit the guy, I thought the puck was there. I thought it was pretty good time. The only thing that might have hurt me was the height difference ... I go in and have my elbow to my body and try to get my shoulder to his chest. If that's not a clean hit then I don't know what is."
His comments follow the hit by Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, the biggest guy in the NHL, in Montreal.
It begs the question, should minor hockey be organized according to body size and ability, not birth dates, especially during the early years of checking?

Reimer started hockey at age 12

James Reimer, great goaltending hope for the Toronto Maple Leafs, didn't start playing hockey until age 12 in rural Manitoba, according to this SI posting.
So, what does that say about all those long drives and oodles of money spent on tournaments for 9-year-old AAA players? Is it worth the cost, time and travel to create elite teams at an early age in the name of  "developing" skills?

Captain, oh my Captain

What is it about former Toronto Maple Leafs captains who find themselves facing impaired driving charges?
Rick Vaive, the first Maple Leaf to score 50 goals in a season, is on trial now and seems to have wet his pants after being stopped by police north of Toronto, according to the Toronto Sun.
A few years ago, Rob Ramage was convicted in the impaired driving-related death of ex-NHLer Keith Magnuson.
Role models for young hockey players? None here.
For the record:

• A few drinks with pals is good. 
• Getting drunk, not so much. 
• Driving after drinking too much - always wrong.

We nose hockey is rough

Moms, don't look at this photo posted by Toronto Maple Leafs Darryl Boyce after his nose was cut in an NHL game against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Boyce took it all stride and tweeted that he didn't know why his face hurt.
This would be why minor hockey kids wear cages.

Close encounters with NHLers

The Toronto Star has published a cool story about ordinary people who once played minor hockey with guys who went on to the NHL.

Adam and Joe Thornton.

I've known no such honours, but being from southwestern Ontario means frequently bumping into NHL players or friends of NHL players.
Working in St. Thomas, I was part of the machine that followed Joe Thornton from a kid to watch in minor hockey, to a local Jr. B star, a top player in the OHL and No. 1 overall NHL draft pick. His mom asked me to help track down a Team Canada photo our company had taken of Joe and Mario Lemieux - the shot is now a treasured part of the Thornton collection. When drafted out of the OHL, Joe did a charity event for St. Thomas hockey and the newspaper I worked for. It included a meet and greet in our office and a photo session with local kids, including my own tot.
When I was working in Uxbridge, the NHLers everyone seemed to know included Keith Acton, now an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Basil McRae, now a part owner of the London Knights and a scout for the St. Louis Blues.
Around London, Brian Campbell of the Chicago Blackhawks seems to have the highest profile, next to Leafs farmhand Nazim Kadri. Strangely, the two best NHL players from London - Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings and Jeff Carter of the Philadelphia Flyers - don't seem to have the local profile they deserve.
On the rise is Logan Couture, profiled in an excellent article in The London Free Press today by splendid sportswriter Ryan Pyette.
My favourite Couture story is from a local family friend, a London fire department captain who also happens to be a trainer with my son's team.
When Logan was a boy, his dad and the family friend took him to an NHL pre-season practice happening at a nearby arena. Logan's photo was taken with Jeremy Roenick. Fast forward a few years and Logan is drafted by the San Jose Sharks while the same Jeremy Roenick is playing in the twilight of his long, productive career. Of course, he's shown the photo of Logan as a child.
Turns out I had an obscure connection to the Nashville Predators and should have made more out of it a week ago when I was in Nashville to see the Preds play the Blackhawks. No. 13 for the Preds, Nick Spaling, and I went to the same high school, albeit in dramatically different eras.
What NHLers have you met?

Mikhail Grabovski shootout beauty vs. Blues

Something new to work on during practice, kids.

Winter Classic: Toronto or Montreal?

C'mon NHL. It's time for a Winter Classic between the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Rain delay aside today in Pittsburgh, the Penguins are rockin' with the organization of this year's event featuring an invitation minor hockey tournament and alumni game between the Pens and Capitals.
I'd vote for Montreal hosting the next classic - it's colder there - and the opposition just has to be the Leafs.
The minor hockey and alumni components would be a huge draw.
Check our Scott Morrison's thoughts on the Classic here.

DJ Steve Porter - Leafs and Habs Mix

Where's Don Cherry in this great mix from DJ Steve Porter? Where's Lanny MacDonald getting leveled after skating with his head down in Montreal as a rookie Leaf? Love seeing Dave Keon and Tim Horton.

Teens like to watch

So I'm sitting in my $187 seat at the Air Canada Centre watching a battle of the titans - the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Edmonton Oilers. Of course, the Oilers smacked the Leafs 5-0, leaving fans with their Phil of futility.
To my right were two grumpy old men, apparently season ticket holders, who reminded me of Waldorf and Statler from Sesame Street. Their main heckle target was the Leafs great new hope, Nazem Kadri of London. My attempt to defend Nazem, a fellow Londoner, only met with more venom.
To my left were two teens wearing Maple Leafs jerseys cheering with reckless abandon, drinking the Maple Leafs Kool Aid. Because of their all-in enthusiasm for the game, I took them for minor hockey players. But when I joked the Leafs could use them, they told me they didn't play hockey. They play basketball.
Last night, I was with my hockey-playing son at the local major junior game at the John Labatt Centre watching the Knights play the Guelph Storm. The family next to us included a teen fan - who plays football.
It made me wonder. What's wrong with hockey that teens love to watch it, but don't want to play themselves? Is it the culture of some minor hockey organizations, the cost or the fact that other youth sports offer better value?
Just asking.

Stompin Tom Connors - The Hockey Song

Three great reasons to watch this. First, it's the greatest hockey song ever written. Second, lots of footage of Dave Keon. Third, men in the stands at Maple Leaf Gardens actually wore ties.

NHL stars taking on local legends in Hanover

Former Toronto Maple Leafs captain Rick Vaive and friends are heading up the line to Hanover to help christen that small Ontario town's spiffy new arena. The P&H Centre, which also includes an aquatic centre as so many new municipal arenas now do, just opened this season.

It follows a season of minor hockey disruption in Hanover where there was no local ice. That's because of the time it took to rip down the old Hanover arena and built the P&H Centre on the same property. Last year, Hanover minor hockey kids picked up ice time at other arenas throughout the area, including the Clifford rink. Yep, my hometown.

You know you are in a small town when the local rag's story about the NHL alumni vs. local legends game lists the local men first and adds the NHLers as an afterthought.

The NHLers should find lots to do in Hanover. There's an OLG Slots mini-casino next door to the arena. Hanover Raceway is closed for the season, but the slots carry on.

And for the local legends who think they've still got game, the Hanover hospital is just down the street. They should be well staffed and ready with ice packs, physiotherapists and, most importantly, psychologists to treat all those bruised egos.