Alex Shapiro 'The Fighting Eagle' - TSN Feature 2012 (HD)

Warning to teen hockey heroes

Sometimes, ethics and morality can go out the window when you are a teen and a local hockey hero living away from your parents. Read this sexually charged tale in The London Free Press.

Adults confront referee on ice

Just when you thought you'd seen it all in Canadian minor hockey comes this story and video clip from a HOUSE LEAGUE midget game in Hamilton in which adults open the ice door and confront the officials over some perceived slight during the game.
C'mon. Minor hockey refs don't get paid enough for the abuse they take and, seriously, it's a kids' game. That is all.

Stompin' Tom provided soundtrack for hockey

There's not a Canadian who doesn't know at least some lyrics to Stompin' Tom Connors' songs about this country's people and places. Born to a teen mom in Maritimes, handed over to the Children's Aid Society in Prince Edward Island, a runaway who hitchhiked from job to job before finally ending up in a bar in remote Timmins, Ont., where he was a nickle short for a beer, Connors got his musical start at age 28 when the bartender asked him to sing for his beer.
His most famous song was The Hockey Song, used in minor hockey rinks and NHL arenas across Canada. A little ironic because Connors' upbringing and childhood poverty meant he likely never could afford to play hockey, at least in a rink.
We used to play The Hockey Song on a boom box in the dressing room when the kids were atoms, way before they graduated to their choice of rap songs with dubious lyrics. Eventually, so no one was offended, boom boxes gave way to iPods and quiet personal tastes. No matter what the growing-older players listened to, my head always played The Hockey Song.
Last night during the NHL Maple Leafs-Senators game, the played a bit of the song. Some fans stood and sang while the scoreboard flashed the announcement.
Stompin' Tom died at age 77 yesterday, March 6, 2013.
I think I'll celebrate his life by heading to the rink with my son.

No hurt hockey for Canadian kids?

The debate over body checking in minor hockey is back in Canada.
For years, the norm in most areas of the country was to introduce body checking at age 11. Now, many ban it from house leagues at all age levels. Some want it banned for all skill levels until age 16.
The rationale is clear enough: No one wants kids to be hurt playing a sport.
If only kids would be coached - or would follow the instructions of coaches - to use body contact effectively as part of the game strategy and not as an intimidation technique.
When my son grew out of competitive hockey and into house league juvenile, the game seemed lacking, sometimes silly ... but safer. Definitely quieter, from the sound of the boards to the behaviour of the parents/fans.
I doubt body contact will be eliminated from elite Canadian AAA minor hockey and doubt it should be. Can you seriously imagine arriving in major junior at age 16 having never played rough-and-tumble contact hockey?
For everyone else, the game might be ready to evolve into one of skating and shooting ... and no body checking.

Ontario teen loses it after ejection

OK, so there's a lot of pressure on major junior teens in Canada. But I bet young Mr. Hutchinson of the Kingston Frontenacs would like a mulligan for how he acted in front of fans and, more importantly a camera held by a YouTube account holder.

2012 NHLPA Goals & Dreams Cup (Honouring Rick Rypien)

Teen goalie pays heavy price for his style

Is the chase of an pro hockey career worth this? A talented, athletic Toronto teen has undergone multiple surgeries with more on the horizon all from playing and practising the butterfly goaltending style, says the Toronto Star.

Coach jailed for tripping player

Remember the British Columbia hockey coach who purposely tripped a kid when they were lined up to shake hands? The kid broke his wrist when he fell.
Now the "coach" is in jail - 15 days to be served weekends.
Which is OK, 'cause he isn't spending time at the rink anymore.
Here's the link to the CBC story.

North Dakota fans in middle of KKK uproar

Definitely not what's meant when hockey fans are asked to dress for a white-out in stands. Kids in North Dakota decided dressed in Ku Klux Klan garb was cool. It was not.
It is a sensitive issue for American society - and maybe especially so for hockey which is trying to grow in appeal for young athletes and fans beyond the traditional base of white families.
In the U.S., where high school hockey is the big show and not community-based minor hockey as it is in Canada, the sport is largely white. Only a handful of non-white athletes play in the NHL, and most of these are from Canada.
This will change, but the effort isn't helped by the antics of these North Dakota kids.

Midget breaks neck in Toronto game

The most evil play in minor hockey. Here's why it is banned. http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/2013/02/19/midget_junior_player_suffers_broken_neck_after_check_from_behind.html

Young hockey teammates die in plane crash

Imagine the sadness as a Manitoba atom team vows to keep playing its season after three of its young players were killed in a plane accident.

Boy dies on outdoor rink

Tragic news out of Quebec this weekend as a nine-year-old boy was found dead on an outdoor hockey rink, trapped under a net. It appears he was alone, trying to drag the heavy net into place to play a game he loved.
Here's a link to a Sun Media story.

Game on, despite snowstorm

It's the biggest snowstorm in years in Southwestern Ontario and yet one of the provinces' biggest girls' hockey tournaments carries on at the Western Fair Sports Centre.
By contrast, all minor hockey games up the 401 in Toronto are cancelled.
The push to play through winter storms is why careful thinking hockey parents invest in winter tires and, often, AWD SUVs. Check out the parking lot on a tournament weekend around here and you'll see SUVs outnumbering soccer mom mini-vans by a wide margin.
Always thought winter tournaments should be sponsored by Michelin, Toyo or Goodyear to push their much-needed snow and ice radials.

Minor hockey Star

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.