Love This Tradition

The Mastercard Memorial Cup started yesterday, and there's always something to look forward to when the three best teams in Canadian Major Junior Hockey gather in a host city for the championship. The host team always plays on the opening night of the tournament to ensure that they kick off things right - hopefully with a win - for the hometown fans, but there's always a second reason I look forward to this game: the Memorial Cup jersey worn by the host team.

We've seen this in past years as Kitchener, Rimouski, Brandon, Mississauga, and Shawinigan have all participated in the past five years. It's fantastic tradition of having the host team honor a local detachment of the Canadian Armed Forces with a jersey commemorating their contributions in World War I. The best part? "Proceeds from the auction will go towards the Dominion Command Poppy Trust Fund. Poppy funds are spent to support veterans and their families, buy hospital equipment, support cadet groups, and provide student bursaries. The MasterCard Memorial Cup Theme Jersey Program was created in 2008 and have cumulatively generated over $100,000 for the fund."

Saskatoon took to the ice on Friday against the OHL Champions in the London Knights in these Mastercard Memorial Cup jerseys.

In a quick glance, they don't seem all that fantastic and could be easily mistaken for an everyday Saskatoon Blades uniform. But upon closer inspection, there are a number of uniform additions to make this uniform an excellent addition to the Mastercard Memorial Cup jersey set.

Let's start with the logo. The outer circle honors the three branches of the Canadian Armed Forces in the Air Force, the Navy, and the Army. The stylized maple leaf worn inside the circular logo isn't any maple leaf worn on a military vehicle that I can find, but it's a very appealing design nonetheless. The poppy is worn over the heart for all Memorial Cup teams, and is one of he best championship series patches in any sport.

On the right arm, you can see the Memorial Cup 13 patch on the shoulder. I do have a slight problem as there really needs to be an apostrophe on "13" because this actually the 95th Memorial Cup tournament. the "'13" would indicate the year rather than leaving some question as to what it meant. The addition of the word "loyalty" above the sleeve number is a nice touch.

On the left side, the Saskatoon Blades logo is worn on the shoulder, and the word "courage" sits above the sleeve number. Courage and loyalty are excellent traits to highlight on these uniforms as all heroes, including those men and women who put their lives on the line to defend our freedoms, possess these traits.

The backs of the jerseys did contain the names and numbers of the players in the game, and they look quite like the Blades' normal uniform fonts. Nothing out of the ordinary here as they are easily read on the white background of the uniform.

Overall, the good guys took to the ice in white as all home teams should. The Blades wore these uniforms proudly, playing a spirited game before finally falling to the London Knights by a 3-2 score. The uniforms look great on television, although the chest logo was a little hard to identify when the players were in full flight. But anytime the cameras isolated a Blades player, the uniform looked fantastic, and the Blades should be commended on designing an excellent uniform in the mold of the previous participants in this program.

What say you, readers: pass or fail with these Memorial Cup uniforms?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Disgusting

Eric Staal, seen to the left clutching his leg, was having himself a pretty nice little World Championships as the captain of the Canadian team. The team finished second in its pool behind surprising Switzerland, and Staal was looking to lead the Canadians past Sweden and into the semi-finals at the World Championships for the first time in three years. Things were going pretty well for Eric Staal and the boys until an ugly play derailed Staal, the team, and Canada's hopes for World Championship gold.

I'll be honest in saying that I'm not a Vancouver Canucks fan by any means, but I do have respect for the guys who worked their way through the Manitoba Moose in becoming Vancouver Canucks. Guys like Alex Burrows, Kevin Bieksa, Mason Raymond, and Cory Schneider will always have my respect. After yesterday's game against Canada, Alex Edler will have none nor will be receive any for as long as he shall play the game.

I'll let Rogers Sportsnet anchor Don Taylor set this one up.

I think you know what's coming after watching that hit, right? Let's start the rant.

First off, what the hell was Edler thinking? Edler has been suspended for the remainder of the tournament, but I would be pushing for him to have a longer suspension from international hockey if that's possible. Edler skated in from the blueline, didn't deviate from his line, and skated his knee directly into Staal's knee. He didn't even try to get out of the way when he saw Staal changing course. If he had changed some direction or even tried to swing his leg out of the way, I might come off more tolerant. Instead, Edler should be banned for a long time for doing something extremely dangerous and stupid.

Secondly, much like he did for the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Edler shows up for fifteen minutes with Sweden before packing it in. Thanks for coming, jerk. Why bother showing up at all if this was the contribution? He may be one of Sweden's best players not in the NHL Playoffs, but that's a horsepoop move he pulled. Personally, if I'm Eric Staal, I'm dropping the gloves and destroying Alex Edler in the first shift when Vancouver and Carolina meet up next season. There was no need for this kind of hit, and hopefully it will not derail a rather successful career being carved out by Eric Staal.

Lastly, none of these players are getting paid to be over in Europe to play these games. To see Alex Edler pull off something like this is absolute garbage when everyone is over there trying to win for country. If I'm Peter Karmanos, I'm furious with Edler and the Canucks right now as this might affect the Hurricanes in 2013-14 as the extent of Eric Staal's injury is still unknown. Regardless of how bad the injury is, there will undoubtedly be some owners who will not want their players to participate in extracurricular activities such as the Olympics and World Championships thanks to the Edler hit.

That's a disgusting hit when you consider the distance traveled and target of the hit. Alex Edler is a good player with a lot of upside who has a long career ahead of him. For now, most fans will only remember him as "that Canuck who went knee-on-knee with Staal". And rightfully so.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

The Hockey Show - Episode Thirty-Six

The Hockey Show returns tonight with a pile of Survivor: NHL Playoffs interviews! There are six people who have pre-recorded interviews for tonight's show, so we'll air those. If I am unsuccessful in getting the last two teams accounted for, Beans and I will deliver the eulogy for those teams. I've left messages for the two people who are MIA, but we can't wait forever to do this.

If you're been over to the Survivor: NHL Playoffs roster page, you'll notice a number of teams have been grayed out. Those are your eliminated teams. Those are the people who will either give their thoughts on why their team was eliminated in a Survivor-style exit interview OR we'll go to that team's opposition to have the eulogy delivered for the team that was defeated. That's how we roll on The Hockey Show. Don't hate the game. Everyone was told this was going to happen. Insert evil laugh here.

We'll also bring MJHL official Jeremie Gauvin in for another look at some of the calls or missed calls in the NHL Playoffs. We'll have a lot to talk about after Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals decided to complain about the officiating in their series against the Rangers. We'll also get his thoughts on the second round of the NHL Playoffs, and his predictions on who will be moving on to their respective conference finals.

It should be a fun night on The Hockey Show, so tune in on 101.5 UMFM at 6pm CT for all of the Survivor: NHL Playoffs fun!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Getting A Step Up

I'll be honest in saying that I've always thought a ladder was a ladder. I know there are different types of ladders as well as ones that are specifically used in certain situations, but they all kind of accomplish the same goal in the end. What makes one ladder better than another? Well, Werner Co. - maker of ladders - wanted to show Canadians what kind of ladders they make as they expand into Canada with their products. Again, I'm no ladder expert, but I think the marketing campaign used by Werner Co. might catch a few Canadians' eyes!

From their press release, here's their campaign.

Werner Co., announced the Head-to-Head challenge that pits the company's climbing equipment against the competition. To help kick off the campaign and drive product and brand awareness, Werner has launched an entertaining hockey video featuring players who drop their gloves and end up going at it with... ladders.

Recently Werner has expanded into the Canadian market and provides a comprehensive product portfolio for both DIYers and professional contractors. As part of this Head-to-Head campaign, Werner is testing its products against the competition in Canada to highlight the company's product advantages and unique distinctions in safety and overall quality. Through a series of videos that are available online at www.wernerheadtohead.ca, several products were put to the test in areas of safety, durability and reliability; issues important to today's Canadian tradesmen.

Interesting. Guys who drop the gloves and attack each other with ladders? Is this a hockey-centric ladder commercial or a WWE-on-ice commercial?

Let's check out the commercials to see if these guys are offside.

Yeah, I'm no official, but I'm pretty sure a ladder fight will get you suspended in a major way. Surprisingly, there's a second part to this commercial as Werner Co. continues with the theme!

I absolutely get that this is a satirical look at the violence in hockey while showing how Werner Co. ladders outlast the competition, but the use of ladders in hockey is actually pretty rare. Like fixing-plexiglass-during-a-stoppage rare. There are a pile of reasons that one should consider Werner ladders when working on a job site or a project, but I'm pretty sure that anyone who brings a ladder over the boards is insane.

While I get that anything hockey appeals to Canadians, this is one set of commercials that may have missed the net entirely. I get what they are trying to do, but Werner Co. is way offside on this one in my view.

What say you, readers: does this commercial hit the mark? Leave me comments!

Until next time, keep your sticks ladders on the ice!

Round One Updates

The HBIC Playoff Pool is updated through the end of Round One of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and there were some significant shifts in point totals for a number of people. There's a new leader after week two of action, and we'll highlight the best of each series as we look at who did what. Round Two's spreadsheet is posted, so get your next entries in before tomorrow night's games!

Chicago vs. Minnesota

One person showed up with a twelve-point effort in this series as Michael J. put together all five wins, a game-winner in Game Two, and called the Blackhawks to win in five games. Well done, Michael, in calling this series correctly!

Anaheim vs. Detroit

Three people put up eight-point efforts in this series: Brandee T., David F., and Rick K. I won't run through the series, but it seemed as though Anaheim was the favorite amongst most poolies due to the fact that a lot of people called Anaheim in seven. In any case, kudos to the three above who picked up eight points in this series.

Vancouver vs. San Jose

I realize that no one called San Jose in a sweep, so it was surprising to see only one person grab five points in this series. Ethan Calof called three San Jose wins in the four games played, and tacked on the Logan Couture game-winning goal in Game Three. Well done, Ethan, on grabbing five points in this series!

St. Louis vs. Los Angeles

Two men who share a name, or at least a portion of it, took the crown in this round. Frank M. and Franklin W. both picked up a solid eleven points in this series. Frank M. called every single game right, picking up the extra five points for calling Los Angeles in six games. Franklin W. called Games Two, Three, Four, and Six correctly, tacked on Dustin Penner's game-winning goal in Game Six, and called the Kings in six games. Well done, gentlemen, in picking up a solid eleven points!

Pittsburgh vs. NY Islanders

Only one poolie picked up eleven points in this series, and that was Ty F. Ty called Games One, Four, Five, and Six correctly, added the John Tavares game-winner in Game Four, and called Pittsburgh to win in six games. Total that up, and you get eleven more points added to Ty's total. Well done, Ty, on your predictions in this series!

Montreal vs. Ottawa

This may have been the one series that messed everyone up simply due to how efficiently Ottawa dispatched the Canadiens. Tony H. and Ryan H., however, were able to pick up six points each in this series! Tony H. correctly called the winner in Games Two and Four, added Kyle Turris' game-winner in Game Four, but incorrectly picked Montreal in five games to only award him an additional two points. Ryan H. called the winner in Games Two and Three, called Brendan Gallagher's game-winner in Game Two, but also called Montreal in five games for only two points instead of five points. Even in calling the wrong team to win, both Tony and Ryan come away with six more points. Well done, gents!

Washington vs. NY Rangers

There were four people who picked up an impressive twelve points off this series: Andy S., Brandee T., Corey D., and Terry C. There were a lot of people who called this series as a seven-game series, but a lot of people went with Washington over the Rangers. Not the four people above, though. Those four individuals picked up twelve points to add to their totals! Well done all!

Boston vs. Toronto

Andy S. was the winner of this series as he put up an incredible fourteen points as the highest point-earner of any series with his predictions here. Andy correctly called Games One, Two, Four, Six, and Seven, called the Nathan Horton game-winner in Game One and the Phil Kessel game-winner in Game Six, and correctly called Boston to win the series. All totaled, Andy adds an impressive fourteen points to his total from this series! Great job, Andy!

Round One Leader

Andy S. used his two Eastern Conference series to put up half of his points in the opening round of the NHL Playoffs. His twelve points in the Washington-NY Rangers series and his fourteen points in the Boston-Toronto series gave him 26 of his 56 points, and he currently has a four-point lead over second-place Thomas O. as we move into the next round. Congratulations on leading the pool thus far, Andy, and here's hoping you can continue to predict accurately!

Get your entries in by puck drop tonight, kids. If you think you're out, you're not. I saw a number of people make jumps in this opening round and in past pool by simply focusing on correctly predicting the series instead of worrying about getting every game right. Earn the big points first, and then tack on the extra points through game-winning goal scorers and winning teams. You're not out, though, until the Stanley Cup is awarded!

I should have a prize list before the end of the second round of the NHL Playoffs. I'm just waiting on a few vendors to see what can be supplied, and we'll go from there. Thanks to everyone who is playing, and good luck in the next round!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!