No one covers minor hockey issues as well as the Toronto Star.
Here's a piece today about making the kids' game non-contact for reasons of safety and fun. It's true: Contact hockey is the realm of elite players on evenly matched teams with the best coaches, trainers and referees. Contact hockey in more loosely organized leagues is at best too discouraging for less gifted kids and at worst too dangerous where serious injuries can and do happen.
Yesterday, the Star published a piece about the cost of hockey and the dreams chased by families of kids on AAA teams, the highest level for tweens and teens in Canada.
The odds of having it pay off with an NHL career worth millions or even an NCAA scholarship worth thousands are long. More likely is a life-long disadvantage from missed school days, lack of sleep, or injuries from over-training or on-ice mishaps.
I've always thought the cream will rise naturally to the top, no matter how many expensive, time- consuming tournaments or personalized training a 14-year-old consumes. Fun, fitness and friends - not hotels, high-tech sticks and hockey hookey - should be the keywords for kids participating at any level.
Minor Hockey Moments
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
Family moves to avoid small town coach
What's the worst minor hockey experience you've ever heard?
This story from Northern Ontario tops my list, where ill will, anger and a refusal to "release" a teen to play hockey in a nearby town left a family with no alternative but to sell their home of 16 years and move so their son could play the game he loves for a coach who doesn't have a track record of senseless screaming at kids.
For those not from Ontario, the province has an outdated geographic system of dictating where kids can play. Only for hockey. Other youth sports are just happy to have young people play, make friends and keep fit.
This story from Northern Ontario tops my list, where ill will, anger and a refusal to "release" a teen to play hockey in a nearby town left a family with no alternative but to sell their home of 16 years and move so their son could play the game he loves for a coach who doesn't have a track record of senseless screaming at kids.
For those not from Ontario, the province has an outdated geographic system of dictating where kids can play. Only for hockey. Other youth sports are just happy to have young people play, make friends and keep fit.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Strip tease delays Alberta hockey game
Seen a lot of games in a lot of arenas. Never seen nakedness, at least not outside the changeroom.
But here we have an apparently drunk woman delaying a game in Alberta by disrobing.
Maybe she was inspired by Slap Shot.
But here we have an apparently drunk woman delaying a game in Alberta by disrobing.
Maybe she was inspired by Slap Shot.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Moment of silence for Canadian juniors
A moment of silence for this year's Canadian national junior team, who again have missed their date with destiny and will not play for the gold medal for the second year in a row at the World Juniors after being blasted by the Americans 5-1.
It was a squandered championship - not often are NHL-calibre teens such as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins available for the Canadian team.
Too bad they didn't ask London Knights coach Dale Hunter to take the helm this year. Hunter, who quit this spring as coach of the Washington Capitals, has only been guiding the Knights to a 24-game win streak in the Ontario Hockey League.
Maybe next year, Canada. Maybe next year, Dale.
It was a squandered championship - not often are NHL-calibre teens such as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins available for the Canadian team.
Too bad they didn't ask London Knights coach Dale Hunter to take the helm this year. Hunter, who quit this spring as coach of the Washington Capitals, has only been guiding the Knights to a 24-game win streak in the Ontario Hockey League.
Maybe next year, Canada. Maybe next year, Dale.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Empty feeling in Ann Arbor on NHL Winter Classic day
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| 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.
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| 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.
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.
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.
Monday, December 24, 2012
No NHL Christmas
Nothing NHL-related under our Christmas tree this year. Count me among the disgruntled fans.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Minor hockey fraud a familiar tale
This is a too common theme in minor hockey circles - happened in our home West London Minor Hockey Association a decade ago and now in Pickering, Ont.
A trusted volunteer treasurer with a gambling problem or debts helps himself to the kids' money.
In the Pickering case, a civil lawsuit resulted in an order to repay the Pickering Minor Hockey Association more than $700,000.
As the Pickering president told the Toronto Star, “I never thought I’d see the day when something like this would happen in minor hockey,” said association president Don Linthwaite. “It brings a sense of disappointment and heartache for the people that do it for the right reasons. I don’t know how somebody could do it. How do you do that?”
But it's happened here and there and everywhere so frequently that you've got to wonder how easy it is and how much has gone unnoticed, unreported or fixed by making quiet restitution.
In West London's case, it ended with a personal tragedy in addition to the financial one when the volunteer treasurer took his life.
A trusted volunteer treasurer with a gambling problem or debts helps himself to the kids' money.
In the Pickering case, a civil lawsuit resulted in an order to repay the Pickering Minor Hockey Association more than $700,000.
As the Pickering president told the Toronto Star, “I never thought I’d see the day when something like this would happen in minor hockey,” said association president Don Linthwaite. “It brings a sense of disappointment and heartache for the people that do it for the right reasons. I don’t know how somebody could do it. How do you do that?”
But it's happened here and there and everywhere so frequently that you've got to wonder how easy it is and how much has gone unnoticed, unreported or fixed by making quiet restitution.
In West London's case, it ended with a personal tragedy in addition to the financial one when the volunteer treasurer took his life.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Midget coach accused of teaching teens to fight
Having seen my share of midget minor hockey games and the coaches some teams have, I have no trouble believing it might be true that a coach in Winnipeg include a tutorial in uppercuts for his 16- and 17-year-old players.
The first report detailed how players gathered in a circle and told to fight whomever they like with one boy suffering a concussion during the practice fight.
An investigation by Manitoba Hockey concluded there was no evidence available that the fight drill took place and no evidence as to when during the practice the boy suffered his concussion.
For his part, the coach says he was just offering advice on how the teens could defend themselves after a series of fights "provoked by the other teams" in recent games. Even that is against minor hockey rules, where referees are supposed to be keeping things sporting.
Sounds to me like the coach has his heart in the right place and has the loyalty and backing of his players. But his methods are flawed. The real way to win a minor hockey fight is to skate away, hope the other kid gets a penalty or two, and score on the ensuring power play.
The first report detailed how players gathered in a circle and told to fight whomever they like with one boy suffering a concussion during the practice fight.
An investigation by Manitoba Hockey concluded there was no evidence available that the fight drill took place and no evidence as to when during the practice the boy suffered his concussion.
For his part, the coach says he was just offering advice on how the teens could defend themselves after a series of fights "provoked by the other teams" in recent games. Even that is against minor hockey rules, where referees are supposed to be keeping things sporting.
Sounds to me like the coach has his heart in the right place and has the loyalty and backing of his players. But his methods are flawed. The real way to win a minor hockey fight is to skate away, hope the other kid gets a penalty or two, and score on the ensuring power play.
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.
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.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Big House awaits NHL
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| 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.
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