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Cornwall River Kings, fans and the Alex Penner debacle

A lot of people have been asking me why I haven’t commented on the Alex Penner fiasco that took place a couple weeks ago at the Ed Lumley Arena and commenting that I should be sticking up for my team, the Cornwall River Kings.

Sticking up for my team is one thing, agreeing with Alex Penner’s actions and not my team’s fans is another.

Look, even though this is the LNAH, a line needs to be drawn. I have no problem with what Alex Penner did. Yeah okay, his past events indicate he’s not one to back down from a fight be it how small but when somebody throws a damn can at your head (and makes you bleed no less), fan or not, you have a right to be pissed and retaliate.

These players are there for you enjoyment. They are there for your entertainment. Hell, some nights they beat each other to a bloody pulp just so you and your buddies can have something fun to do on a Saturday night. I have no problem with chirping and getting involved but when you start to get aggressive, it’s time to cut you off and say goodnight.

I don’t care what Penner did to provoke it, which I don’t even know if he did. If you watch the video (youtube it, I’m too lazy to link it), the fan comes running out of nowhere to launch the can as Penner skates off the ice. Like him or not, he’s a hockey player. He’s on the ice getting paid, you’re not and probably never will be.

Cell Block E can get rowdy and I think that’s fantastic. For the most part and the handful of games I’ve been too, I enjoy their heckling and commentary. I think some of the other teams find it amusing too. I know this guy might not have even been sitting in that section either.

Cornwall, you want to put a stop to this? Get some decent security who doesn’t just stand there. Tell them to not interfere with the chirping, only when things start to escalate. There’s no harm in a little heckling, hell this is hockey and the LNAH. If you do interfere, you’re only going to make it worse for yourselves.

Pack the house tonight. Let’s force a game 7.

Who should be the next coach for the Coventry Blaze and Why

March’s note: Once again, I have the honour of writing a piece and donating it to the fine people of Bleed and Blue, the Coventry Blaze’s fanzine. I took on a hotly debated topic with ease. Check out http://www.bleedandblue.co.uk

The topic given for this article and your reading pleasure is who should be the coach of the Coventry Blaze and why. Good question.

Tough decision.

When Matty Soderstrom took over the helm at the beginning of the season, no one knew what to expect. That being said, everyone had their expectations way too high for a first year coach. Things were going to go wrong, that was inevitable but to sink that quickly? Well, pretty sure nobody expected that.

The Blaze started off this year’s campaign with a good feeling. Somewhere along the line things changed. I wasn’t a fly in the wall in the dressing room, hell I’m far away from the damn country, but it doesn’t take the average hockey fan to realize that the players did not want to play for him. They seemed slow and sluggish. I’d even go on the edge and say that it looked like they weren’t even trying at times.

Of course, management didn’t see this (or maybe they did and turned a blind eye), until it was way too late in the season to salvage it. Canning Soderstrom and bringing in Marc Lefevbre as a rental for hire coach from Sheffield was not the answer to stop the bleeding. However, this happened and there’s no point crying about it now.

Lefebvre with the Dayton Demonz of the FHL.

Marc Lefevbre’s head coaching ability and experience come from the Federal Hockey League over here in North America. You think the LNAH runs things to the ground? Try the FHL. The FHL is as bush league as it gets. Don’t get me wrong, there are very talented players playing there (including Lefevbre), but let’s face it: Rob Ford could probably run that league better and that’s saying something.

Is he the right person to lead the Blaze in the upcoming season? If it were me, no.

BUT WAIT….

Continue reading “Who should be the next coach for the Coventry Blaze and Why”

With OHL season over, Kingston Frontenacs Sam Bennett turns his attention to the NHL Entry Draft

Although the Kingston Frontenacs surprised most and bowed out of the first round of the OHL playoffs, most would seem to call it a day on this year’s hockey season. However, for a select couple of Fronts, they now turn their attention to the National Hockey League Entry Draft taking place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

This is a monumental time in a junior, heck, every hockey player’s career. It can justify all the decisions that were made soundly or made in haste. Three players on the Frontenacs squad are looking at being taken by teams in the first round. Roland McKeown, Spencer Watson and superstar Sam Bennett who seems to be in the race to be taken first overall.

A native of Richmond Hill, Ontario, Bennett has been with the Frontenacs for two seasons. His resume for the past year is an impressive one. He won double gold last summer for Team Canada at both the World U18 Championship and the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament over in the Czech Republic. Returning in the fall on a high for the Frontenacs, Bennett managed to put together an impressive 24 game scoring streak before a minor injury put him out of commission for a few games. The NHL Central Scouting Bureau ranked Bennett as the top North American player to be drafted in their mid-season ranking. I’m sure that rank hasn’t changed much.

Bennett managed to become almost a two point a game player. His final point total for the 2013-2014 season saw him notch 91 points in 57 games. Pretty impressive for a lad who suffered a mid season injury. He was an essential asset to Kingston as well in their limited playoff run. In 7 games against the Peterborough Petes, Bennett notched 5 goals and 4 assists.

There’s no doubt the Sam Bennett will be drafted into the National Hockey League this summer. The question now turns to what rank and to what team. He would be an essential asset to a club like the Buffalo Sabres or the already youngster filled Edmonton Oilers. We won’t find out where the teams fall for a few more weeks.

Texas shooting for Calder success

I know I have quite a few Texas fans that follow the blog. Take a look at what Mark has to say about the Baby Stars.

UK Hockey Blog

The Texas Stars have been the AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars for five seasons including the one currently in progress.

In their first season of operation, they made it all the way to the Calder Cup final before losing in six games to the Hershey Bears.
The next season was a first round exit in six game to Milwaukee which was followed up by a losing season, where the team failed to make the post season.
It wasn’t just a losing season though as they finished bottom of the West and 29th in the AHL.
For the 2012/13 season, Willie Desjardins was installed as head coach, having been an assistant coach for Dallas the previous year.
Before that, Desjardins had spent the last nine seasons in the WHL with Medicine Hat Tigers.
The impact was immediate as Texas went on to win the Western Conference before losing in the…

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Sports Energy News – Pat Haramis and the Cornwall Royals

I am delighted to be apart of the Sports Energy News team here in Cornwall, Ontario! Sports Energy is a publication that promotes the best local sports stories throughout Cornwall, SD&G and Akwesasne. My first story assigned to me was a look back at the 1980 Memorial Cup championship with former Cornwall Royal, Pat Haramis.

I had a great half hour conversation with Pat as he told me tons of stories from his time with the Royals and as a Golden Knight at Clarkson University in upstate New York.

If you’re in the Cornwall area, you can pick up Sports Energy News across 250 locations including Food Basics, Tim Horton’s, and the McConnell Medical Centre. This edition also includes a profile on Cornwall Multi-Sport triathlete Dana McLean.

For those of you not in the Cornwall area, you can read the paper right here at this link: http://issuu.com/blapierre/docs/issue_no_17/11

How I became a fan of the Coventry Blaze and EIHL

March’s Note: I had contributed this article to the new Coventry Blaze fanzine, “Bleed and Blue.” It was first published on their website today but it meant too much to me to not throw it up on my blog. Enjoy.

I am Canadian.

I live thousands upon thousands of miles away from most of the fans, players and anyone attached to the Elite Ice Hockey League. With my father’s side of the family originating from Southampton, it’s no wonder why I hold the United Kingdom close to my heart.

However, I am as Canadian as they come. I enjoy my Tim Horton’s (except their coffee, disgusting), I’ve definitely taken advantage of my free health care these past couples years, I say “eh” way more often then I should, and it goes without saying that I love my hockey.

When I was in grade school, EIHL player, Sheffield Steeler and most likely Hall of Famer, Jeff Legue was suiting up for our hometown Junior A team, the Cornwall Colts. The city of Cornwall beams with pride whenever someone brings up his name. Many know he plays hockey overseas in Europe but just as many, if not more don’t realize the league he calls home is in the United Kingdom.

I started my blog last year as a way to past the time when I was recovering from surgery. With lots of time on my hands, I decided to become a voice for lesser known leagues around the world. I covered the Australian and New Zealand Ice Hockey League’s with pride and made many new friends and contacts. When the Cornwall River Kings of the LNAH secured Legue’s league rights, he popped onto my radar again after not thinking about him for all those years.

In the fall of 2013, I met through the greatness of Twitter and my blog, Paul Wheeler and Ed Kimberley. These two gentleman are the fine play by play webcasters for your Coventry Blaze. Kimberley urged me to sit back and take in a few games. When I decide to become a fan of a team and throw them into my favourites, I tend to fall back and do some research, looking for what kind of a storied tradition they might have. Upon concluding my “studies”, if you will of each team in the Elite league, I could not leave the legacy, tenacity and toughness of the Coventry Blaze behind. They were built to win from the start; their 4 regular season titles say it all. They reminded me of Canadian hockey.

It’s no secret that I have been battling some health issues over the past little while. I have been diagnosed with Liver Disease and a rare disorder called Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. Essentially my bile ducts are not big enough for bile to flow through and it’s backing up into my liver. This has left me out of work and in constant unbearable pain and in need of more surgery in a couple months time.

The friends, fans, people associated with the team and league that I’ve met as I’ve been going through this has meant everything to me. The countless messages, support and even gifts I’ve received tell me that the EIHL deserves to be known around the world. I have not met a more passionate fan base than I have of the Elite Ice Hockey League. From here in Canada, I am making it my duty to help spread awareness of both the Coventry Blaze and EIHL as a whole to hockey fans here in Canada and around the world.

From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank each and every one of you. I love my newfound UK hockey family. I will always continue to Bleed Blue.

Ashley aka @MarchHockey

Players as pawns: Nottingham Panthers and Joe Grimaldi

Last Saturday night former Nottingham Panther Joe Grimaldi took to Twitter to air out his frustrations over the way he was treated by head coach Corey Nielson. Grimaldi accused Nielson of changing up his contract and badmouthing him to other clubs therefore ruining his chances of landing on another team. These tweets have since been deleted and Grimaldi has of course cited the age old excuse of being “hacked” by keyboard warriors.

Anyway, whether or not what Grimaldi is confessing is true is another story. I don’t know enough about him, Nielson or the Nottingham Panthers to give you a firm opinion on the matter. That being said, I know that it’s not out of the ordinary for coaches, GMs and Owners to sabotage the players hopes. So I don’t doubt that there some truth to his accusations.

In many teams and leagues around the world, some owners and general managers look at their players as pawns if you will. You are nothing more than a number to them. Hell, a dollar sign even. You can easily be replaced as there are countless numbers of players just waiting to take your spot. I’ve heard similar stories to Grimaldi’s from other players in different countries first hand from the players themselves. They don’t look out for what’s best for the player. Case in point, Mike Danton.

I’ll spare you the details but Mike Danton was treated extremely horrible in the most insane conditions in Kazakhstan. Actually, you can read his blog post about it here. Even after speaking with the club’s brass about it, nothing changed. We are speaking about Kazakhstan though so this story might be on the more extreme side of things. On the other side of the coin, I’ve heard nothing but great things about the New Zealand Ice Hockey League and the Australian Ice Hockey League.

As early as junior, players are looked at as a viable income to several owners. (Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not lumping every single one in the same fashion. I can name quite a few who treat their players like royalty.) The perfect example of this is the tragic case of Terry Trafford. The Saginaw Spirit is growing a hardened reputation of not being a very reputable organization to head into.

As we get into the semi-pro ranks, the tide continues to grow. Promises are not promises; wages don’t get dealt out or they get held back. I’m not talking about clubs who can’t seem to afford to play their players (that’s a whole other topic) but one’s who outright refuse to pay their players.

Hockey as a profession is luck of the draw. It’s hit or miss. Unless you know how to weasel and sly your way around, you might want to do some research before you sign that “big pay cheque”.

One on One with Olympic official Joy Tottman

Joy Tottman is a well-known name among British hockey circles. She’s been apart of Ice Hockey UK as well as the IIHF for over 15 years. What’s even better is she is a strong woman at the top of her game. The past Olympics in Sochi, Russia was her third consecutive time officiating the Winter Games and she held the honour of being selected to run the ice for the women’s gold medal game between Canada and the United States. I caught up with her to shed a little insight into what makes a strong woman referee and to give women here in Canada a chance at stepping into another part of the best sport on Earth.

March Hockey: How did you get involved in hockey? What made you head into the disciplinary part of the game?

Joy Tottman: I first started refereeing at the age of 12. I had wanted to learn how to skate and my dad had taken me to our local rink and given me the choice of playing hockey or figure skating and I chose hockey. I was playing under 10s and when we had games no officials were turning up. My dad was one of the only parents who could skate and so he took the referee course so that we could play our games. He would then have to stay on to referee the games after my game and so he got me to take the course too so I could stay on with him. I started to enjoy the refereeing and made the switch to just refereeing at a really young age. I guess it was a way for me to be involved in the game without the physical element of playing in a boy’s team.

MH: This past Olympics was your third. How do you prepare mentally and physically for an event of that size?

( Photo: Andre Ringuette / HHOF-IIHF Images)

JT: The physical preparation was a huge part of going to the Sochi Olympics. There was a pre-Olympic selection camp in August 2013 where we were tested on and off the ice. I had a trainer for off-ice who I saw 3 times a week and then did my own programme on the other days. Because I have a day job this meant training at 6am each morning. The mental preparation for me was all about getting game experience throughout the season and of course over the years. Making sure that I focused on each game and learned from the situations within it. It was about putting myself mentally in a place where I knew I was prepared and had done everything possible to be in the best shape and best frame of mind for the games. Continue reading “One on One with Olympic official Joy Tottman”

This week in hockey: tragedy and death. They’re just like us.

They say bad things come in threes. That sentiment could not have been more true this week in the hockey world. Between the WHL’s Tim Bozon contracting meningitis and put into a coma, Matt Stajan and his wife losing their week old child, Rich Peverley collapsing mid way through the first period of a game and the tragedy of Terry Trafford, it’s times like these where you have to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. That bigger picture being these men that we look up to are just like us.

Behind the fame, notoriety, money and everything else that comes with being a professional hockey player, there’s something that we always fail to see. They are human beings with private lives and deal with problems and issues very similar to ours. We’re not much different when it comes down to the thick of things.

I remember when I was about 7 or 8, my Dad took me to see the Cornwall Aces play. The St. John’s Maple Leafs were in town and Brent Gretzky just happened to be suiting up for them that day. In the second intermission my Dad noticed that Walter Gretzky was sitting a few rows above us. He tried to coax me into going up and getting an autograph. “No, Dad! He’s a celebrity.” I replied. My father laughed and shook his head. “He’s not going to bite you. He’s just like us.”

He’s just like us.

It’s hard to differentiate between hockey player/celebrity and human being at times. My Dad ended up going over and chatting with Walter Gretzky for the whole third period, he seemed happy to oblige; maybe even shocked that somebody actually picked him out of the crowd in little old Cornwall, Ontario.

I’ve read a countless number of hockey player autobiographies over the years and I don’t know how many times I’ve related to certain issues these hard driven characters have went through. They struggle with adversity in the same kind. Some more than others. Just remember to when you’re hearing all of these unfortunate stories that come out in the hockey world that they’re dealing with the same issues we all are. We’re all just trying to be accepted in this crazy society and world. They just happen to have the spotlight shine brighter on them with some not even wanting it.

It’s a thankless job to be a role model in today’s world. The world is flying by too fast and the next person to become said role model is just waiting around the corner. Hold on to these players you idolize as they won’t be around forever.

They’re just like us.

Commentary on the death of Terry Trafford

As shocking as it was to hear of police finally finding Terry Trafford’s body; I think all of us were hoping that the outcome of this dilemma would not be on the tragic. However when reports came out of Terry’s girlfriend saying that he had threatened to commit suicide, I knew right then that this story would not have a peaceful ending.

While at the time of writing this suicide has not been confirmed but obviously rather speculated, I am drawing the conclusion that Trafford did indeed take his own life. As he was in the public eye as a hockey player with the Ontario Hockey League’s Saginaw Spirit, his story is getting a little more attention. The fact is, this happens every day.

There are two things I’d like to talk about in this article. The first being depression. The teenage and early 20 years of one’s life is an internal struggle. More so now than ever before. There is an overwhelming societal desire to be the best in one’s life. While that is great to look at on paper and to think the fact is, not everybody is going to be the best. And you know what? That’s perfectly okay.

Society in this day and age throws things at you from every corner. You’re not good enough unless you have a college or university education. You have to be married and have kids by this age. You have to know exactly what you’re doing in life. If you don’t follow these things, you’re looked at as useless. It’s a broad spectrum that most of the media puts out there and after a while, it start to become a normal way to think.

Well, it’s not normal. It’s OKAY to not have a college degree, it’s OKAY if you’re not married, it’s OKAY if you don’t know what you’re doing with your life, it’s OKAY if you’re gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, WHATEVER. Everyone has the right to feel normal without prejudice and live life at whatever pace you feel comfortable.

When it comes to hockey (and this is the second point of this article), we tend to put players on a pedestal. We tend to think “Oh wow, look at how great of a player he is, look at how much muscle he has, he’s a millionaire, he’s probably raking in all the women”, when in reality we don’t know the demons they’re going through personally. (See: Bob Probert.) And that’s more or less society’s fault. I don’t know Terry Trafford’s real story but from reports I’ve read, he seemed to have taken his life because he was afraid of never making the NHL. That’s sad.

We want our hockey players to be manmade machines. Hockey players are some of the fittest and stronger individuals on the planet. Are they mentally? Not by a long shot. They have a lot to live up to and in this day and age at a lot younger age than their predecessors. Team combines are just weeks and months of rigorous testing. That has to put a lot on the stress of a player mentally. (And maybe even physically, case in point Richard Peverley but that’s a whole other topic).

Not only on the ice but off the ice as well. Do you go to major junior? Do you go to school or turn pro? What school should I pick? What workouts should I do? 25 years ago, players didn’t have to worry about this. (Mind you it was a whole different time).

This has pretty much turned into a rant but I’m tired of watching the way we put hockey players (and athletes in general) on such a high pedestal and think everything must be peachy with them because they are living the dream and we aren’t. I’ll bet you good money that there players out there who would PAY to be the little man once again.

We need to throw more into mental health initiates. It’s getting better but it’s not over by a long shot. Not until society as a whole changes its outlook.