In Remembrance of What Was and What Will Continue
Stereotypically men deal with things by ignoring about it and women deal with things by talking about it. In this day and age, it seems like both genders deal by tweeting about it. That’s how I learnt today in a tweet by @JayOnrait that Brian Burke’s son Brendan had passed. It is always sad when anyone, let alone a child passes. However, when it is someone within the hockey community the pain extends through so many other people, belying the closeness that is so valued in hockey.
I grew up in a small country town who’s main interests were drinking, cows and football. My dad put in swimming pools for a living and my mother raised us and cut hair. I was lucky however, to have two of the most accepting parents you could imagine. My father once drove a bus for a drag tour and also (in his 20’s) routinely dressed up as a Japanese Geisha for reasons unknown. My mother was a hairdresser. They never judged, accepted everyone and taught me much the same.
Brendan Burke came out to his team mates, many of whom probably didn’t come from families like mine, but grew up in towns like the one I did, small, country and undeniably close minded. He had listened to years and years of chirping centered around insults to ones sexuality, the perceived ultimate in insults if locker room trash talk was any indication. It had lead to him quitting playing in his final years of high school, unable to bear the talk, the degradation of his self. Still he came out, running the risk of loosing the trust and friendship of the hockey brotherhood he had found as a student manager at Miami-Ohio.
Not only did he come out to his hockey team, he came out to a father that is widely regarded as a prototype of masculinity in an already masculine sport. He takes a risk, at loosing a family that so many of us could never consider making. He takes a risk at rejection and shame that would send so many of us cowering and preferring to hide ourselves rather than run those risks. Instead, he finds acceptance grounded in the common sense belief that someones worth goes far beyond their sexual orientation, that persons value cannot be measured by who they love but by how they live.
The media jumps on this story, of the famous father’s acceptance of his son, the overwhelming acceptance of the hockey community to something still so taboo and suddenly Brendan Burke is everywhere, and everyone? Everyone is okay.
When Brendan Burke came out everyone heard about it. Thousands of hockey players across the country, across the world suddenly had a little bit of light they may not have had before. If Brian Burke can be okay with it, if a college hockey team can, maybe my coach, my team mates, friends and family can too.
Brendan Burke wanted to end the pattern of homophobia that was endemic to hockey and other sports. He wanted it to be okay for anyone to be who they were and to not feel shame for that, to be free to live how they wished without fear of loosing the sport and friends that meant so much. It is a goal, a dream many of us share, and in his memory, many of us will continue to carry on.
Your courage in stepping forward so publicly will serve as inspiration to many and the message you came forward with of acceptance will be remembered and carried forward. You were one of the firsts, but you will not be the last.
Rest in Peace, Brendan.
Quebec v. Cormier: The Law v. The League
I have watched the Cormier video multiple times, pausing and going back just before Tam starts to go into convulsions. I have already seen twice in my life a player go into seizures before me on the ice, one an epileptic team mate, the other the result of a fight gone wrong and both never things I wish to witness again, either on tv or otherwise.
Cormier’s hit is not in question here. It was dirty. He lead with his elbow at a high speed and Tam suffered the consequences. Further, Cormier is not a first time offender, instead a young player with an already disgusting reputation for this kind of play.
So where do we go from here?
Cormier needs to be suspended. Plain and simple. If you’re suspending based on the outcome, like the OHL has been (see Lambias), suspend him for a season. If anything, Cormier is probably more deserving of such a suspension, with the likelihood of injury occurring every time a hit is delivered in that manner being substantially higher than that of Lambias, which in my opinion the resulting injury was more from freak circumstances (the loss of the helmet in the fall, so forth).
However, now, the Quebec Provincial Police are reporting that they are investigating Cormier and the incident in the light of possible laying of charges.
This is where the problem I have arises. I, like a lot of people, have a real issue with the involvement of the police when it comes to punishing unacceptable behaviour or violence in sport.
In the United States, there has been one criminal case against a professional hockey player (there has been four criminal indictments of hockey players, but only one involved an NHL player, David Forbes) and Canada has seen several. The more famous of these include Regina v Ciccarelli (Dino was found guilty of assault, fined $1000 and ordered to serve a day in jail) and Regina v McSorley (the trial mainly centered around whether an incident in a professional hockey game could constitute assault with a weapon).
Society’s criminal sentencing system is underpinned by the concepts of retribution and deterrence. We wish to punish what was done, to restore society to a state prior to the act and in turn prevent its further behaviour. A court can endeavour to do this but when (in accordance with precedent and law) the sentence may be little more than a handful of hours community service, a fine or a suspended sentence, is it going to be as effective as a substantial suspension or even a season long ban to enforce the message to not only the concerned player but the hockey community as a whole? There seems to be no worse punishment for a hockey player than to take away his right to play the game he loves.
Sporting leagues strive to maintain control over the punishment and regulation of its athletes and their actions. They argue, and I agree, that there is no need for outside judicial or legislative involvement in the majority of incidents (if you decapitated someone I’d be inclined to hand someone over to the police however). However, if the League, any league, wishes to remove these incidents from the game of hockey on its own terms, it is swift and harsh punishment that must be dealt out or more and more incidents will end up before the courts.
If Cormier does find himself in a court room in the future, it will not be just him that is on trial, but the sport of hockey and its ability to handle its own problems that will be brought into question.
Gay Hockey Kid In MN
Possible the world’s bluntest headline, but when that’s the name adopted by the blogger themself it seems appropriate.
There’s a blog I found recently,directed that way by a friend after she saw it on OutSports. Now at http://www.hockeykidmn.com/, the blog is run by Mikey, a 17 year old member of a Minneapolis High School team who wants to play D1 college hockey next year. Oh and he happens to be gay and still in the closet.
Having only started blogging a few months ago, Mikey’s already got a fair few followers. His writing style, once you get past the utter teenage boy-ness of it (something that’s almost refreshing in showing that really, he’s just a completely normal kid right down to the slang and mispellings), is humorous and captivating. He knows the stereotypes, the misconceptions people have about sexuality, being a teenager, and the whole gay athelte thing and does what he can to in most amusing fashion debunk these common myths.
It’s understandably rough that Mikey feels he needs to stay closeted, but with D1 aspirations, his homosexuality could very well damage his chances at the college scholarship that would make a huge difference to his hockey or general future. His guts in bloogging like this, in atleast finding this way where he can reach out for his own purposes, and in turn, provide some form of comfort to other kids struggling with the same issues, who atleast can know that they’re not the only one who feels like this.
My favourite part though? Mikey loves hockey. Mikey really, really loves hockey. When writing about hockey, you can feel the pride he has in his role with the team, the importance that his contribution to the team has. So many 17 year olds in the sport wouldn’t have this understanding that hockey is much more than putting the puck in the net on the ice.
I hope one day, whether he becomes a superstar, a gritty forward or just another guy who played and loved hockey, Mikey will be able to be whoever he wants to be and let it be known.
For now though, I’ll keep on reading.
Eagle has landed
Well I’ve been here in Everett for a week and a bit now and its already been a hell of a time. I spent most of the first few days in various states of unconsciousness on couches and beds as I tried to get over the most wicked jet lag I’ve ever experienced (I’d never had a problem with it flying to the States before) and adjusting to the cold.
In the first week I’ve been here, the team’s gone 4 from 5 games (I like to think I’m lucky because they’d won 3 from the last 12 before that), made some minor rights trades and a released a player. Sadly, the player released was a very good friend of mine, Dale Hunt. Unfortunately this meant the most time we spent hanging out involved packing his life into a suitcase so he could head back to Manitoba. However, with the team also releasing his rights (a classy move) he’s able to carry on his hockey career whether in the W or another league where the opportunity presents itself. He’s received a lot of interest from MJHL teams back towards home and with one more year left on his eligibility he’s looking forward to atleast another good year of hockey ahead of him.
It was rough though, to see first hand the necessary business side of hockey when it is someone you care about and know well, and particular when it is kids, teenagers who are being shipped around the country between what they know. However, as any of them will tell you, its what they agree to in order to play the game. I know if I had the option, I’d agree to the exact same thing And that’d just to be able to work for the team!
A lot of my time so far has been spent observing and I’m learning a lot about ticket sales and promotions, different marketing and merchandising initiatives and coming up with some great ideas and plans to implement when I get back home. So far I’ve already emailed my team back home with Sponsorship Proposals and merchandising plans, and I’m working on something regarding season tickets at the moment. They’re going to get sick of me soon enough!!
Anyway, the team’s off the ice from practice, JR’s got some adjectives for me to look up for the broadcasts, and I’m off to Seattle this afternoon for the night’s game. So it’s time for me to scoot. Blog to you all soon.
Sasky
Hockey Home-ward Bound
My plane leaves in a handful of hours and I’ll be heading North towards Everett on my next big adventure. Keep your eyes peeled to this space to read, not only more about hockey, but the adventures I have whilst on my travels.
See you on the other hemisphere side.
Sasky
The Love Affair with World Juniors
“Christmas” (noun) – a day of the year that falls one day before the World Junior Hockey Championship officially starts.
I fell in love with World Juniors during the lock out. I’d only been around hockey for a few years at that point and with internet game streaming practically non-existent at this point (I really only found most of it last season) I listened to a lot of OHL hockey on the internet radio. Then world juniors came along, Patrice Bergeron was playing (I had a bit of a 16 year old school girl crush on the young frenchie) and I was hooked. Ever since then, every year World Juniors has become part of my hockey life.
Here’s a look at a few of my favourite moments of the World Juniors in the last few years.
The First Year
The first year I discovered WJC was that of the lockout. That year, the team that took the ice was as close to a dream team as one could imagine. Of a team of 22, 16 are currently in the NHL, and the majority of those are dominant players. The team had two current NHL captains, numerous NHL assistant captains, team scoring leaders, league scoring leaders, all-stars, trophy nominees and winners and that’s just the Canadian side of the equation. Throw in the pairing of Ovechkin and Malkin and you’ve got a match up a lot of hockey fans would give their eye teeth to see again.
The 2005 Gold Medal Game
Whilst knowing the score and having celebrated like a wild fan (I had worked so someone had brought the score into work for me), it was a month and a half after the tournament ended and the “non-alcoholic champagne” was popped that I finally saw that game. To this date I’ve seen the game upwards of 60 times with the tape itself having actually started to loose its colour. My favourite moment of the game, forever immortalised by the screamings of Pierre McGuire was what is now known as the “Double Dion”, the moment Phanuef clears out two russians to set the line of Crosby-Perry-Bergeron off on an almost clear 3 – 0. The goal, the whole play itself is still one of my favourite moments in hockey. In fact, I’m pretty sure I can do the entire call from memory.
Stefan Legein
I have a little love affair with Stefan Legein. He’s funny as hell, cute and incredibly endearing with his chirpy, chippy and hard nosed style of play. Hell, I even have an entire blog post to him and his youtube highlights (here). It was the World Juniors that many of us not entirely obsessed with Jr Hockey first got to meet Mr Legein, and really it was probably the first time many got to see his endearing personality shine as the camera’s of a nation (or atleast TSN’s) fell on him. And I mean, anyway, who doesn’t love watching a ecstatic, shaving cream covered hockey boy half pounce a TV personality? I’m pretty sure TSN, or James Cybulski atleast has a crush on the kid.
The Battle between PK Subban and Jonathan Tavares
PK Subban was badass. PK Subban was a brash, trash talking little d-man with a hell of a lot of swagger and a style of play that reflected all of this (even if Pat Quinn wasn’t a fan of the “Subbi-do” Spinorama). Best of all PK Subban was everything that the shy, seemingly personality-less Jonathan Tavares wasn’t. Until you put them in the same room. You put PK and JT in the same interview and you ended up with some hilarious stuff from the boys. Who loves Mariah Carey? Those boys do (”She’s decent. You can’t be dissing Mariah like that”.) Such gems also include “PK. You’re the toughest guy I know with your gloves on.” and a snipping match in a group interview as Thomas Hickey and Zach Boychuk stare confusedly at the pair. The two interviews are here and here
Going to Ottawa
In my travels last year, I was fortunate enough to end up in Ottawa for Christmas / New Years and got to experience the World Juniors first hand. It may have only been Canada v Germany and a bit of a one sided game but to me it was heaven. I turned up with my sign, my Team Canada hoodie and glitter flag cheek decals and for that night, I was truly as close to being Canadian as you can get without that whole pesky citizenship thing. I helped pass the flag, got to cheer and holler and even occasionally yelled random abuse when I felt the need arose.
2009 Canada / USA – New Years Eve Game
Despite the intense love I have for the 2005 Gold Medal Game, the 2009 Canada / USA match is quite possibly my favourite WJC game. It had everything. It had the underdog attacking and the favourite making a come back. It had passion, drama and a lot of fire and bad blood between the teams. It had jr team mates, room mates pitted against each other, both fighting for supremacy and the free pass through to the semi-finals. So many times since then, I have gone back and watched that game. I even tried to tonight, only to discover that HockeyStreams.com, my savior for hockey archives has finally taken down some of its old streams. Heartbreak.
It’s Boxing Day here, which means that very shortly it’ll be Boxing Day in Canada and once again the fun will begin. Which member of the team will I end up crushing on this year after some amazing play, hilarious interview or endearing moment?
I can’t wait to find out!
See you at 6am Australian time, Team Canada. In the mix for six!
P.S. Team Finland. I no longer shall be supporting you as you cut my friend and Silvertip, Rasmus Rissanen (formally known as Finland to me). I do not like this.
Naked Shoot Out: Article 8 – A big-Ass Look at Entry Draft Regulations
Article 8 – The Entry Draft
I love the entry draft. All those fresh faced young hockey players, surrounded by their family and friends and still fill of hopes and dreams that GM’s and the real world are just waiting to crush.
My most recent favourite draft moments involve Brian Burke, whether it be watching his soul being crushed as the Kings draft Brayden Schenn and ending his Schenn and Schenn dreams, or the steely glee as he in turn crushes Bryan Murray’s dreams of drafting Nazem Kadri, with a simple “well we’re going to take him”, the draft holds a lot of excitement for those of us who love the jr leagues, and gossiping about what our team’s futures holds.
But what governs the draft?
Article 8.1 sets out that the draft shall be held in June every league year at a date determined by the commissioner. Each draft (8.2) shall consist of 7 rounds, and each of those rounds shall consist of the same number of selections as there shall be clubs in the following league year.
8.3 sets out the guidelines for compensatory draft picks obtained from a loss of a draft pick (they are different rules for loss of a Group III Free agent), requiring that the additional number of picks shall not exceed the number of clubs in the league the following year. The right to a compensatory pick arises if they lose rights to an unsigned draft choice, who was drafted in the first round. This loss of rights cannot arise if the loss is due to their own failure to tender a Bona Fide Offer.
The pick they are granted shall be of the same numerical choice as before but in the 2nd round of the entry draft which immediately follows the date a which the loss of rights occur. A recent example of this was the Phoneix Coyotes and the loss of Blake Wheeler. Whilst the Coyotes made a legitmate Bona Fide Offer to Wheeler, they failed to retain his services on contract (as he wished to run off somewhere other than Phoenix as a FA) and were awarded the 5th pick in the 2nd round as their compensation.
Heartbreak Hockey
It’s been a while since I posted, I’ve been caught up with getting ready to go overseas, organising christmas and still working and so forth. One of the things that has been keeping me busy is launching and designing products for my new venture Heartbreak Hockey.
I came up with the idea for HbH when I was getting frustrated with the large amount of slutty and sparkly that appeared in Women’s hockey clothes.
So if you’re looking for something for the hardcore Hockey Girl in your life, give our site a look and I”m sure you’ll find something she’ll love!
It’s Happening!
It’s really happening. Once again I’m off to the wide world of North America to work with a hockey time. This time it’s the Everett Silvertips of the WHL, my first choice and absolute dream team to be heading to! Doug Soetaert (who’s name gives me so much trouble with spelling) the teams General Manager has been so incredibly generous with his allowing of me to come and work with his team for two and a half months. For this I am incredibly excited, and will be eternally grateful. Everett truly is a model franchise, and the success they’ve had in a mere 6 and a bit seasons producing the likes of Peter Mueller, Zach Hamill and Taylor Ellington and consistently figuring in the WHL playoff race has been incredibly. I can’t wait to get there and learn all I can.
Naked Shootout : Article 1 – 7 – A Collection
Articles 1 – 7 of the CBA are your precursors. They set out some general guides which whilst important to the functioning of the agreement, don’t make-up the “pith and marrow” of the agreement.
Article 1 – Definitions.
Definitions! I love definitions sections of legislation and agreements. For a lack of a better description, and with points awarded for complete obviousness of the term, definitions define what certain teams. Such definition is really essentially, particularly when they get in the hands of shifty lawyers, who like to suggest certain interpretations of a term to suit their goals. The CBA definitions section enlightens with such pearls as:
“League” or “NHL” refers to the National Hockey League.
“All-Star Game” means the hockey game so designated by the NHL in which All-Star Players play.
However, as not to make light completely of the definitions system, which as I said actually serves a very useful function there are many useful definitions contained within the agreement. A useful examples of this include “European Player” which affects draft exceptions on the basis of having not played in North America and being above a certain age; or a “Free Agent” which is the umbrella term which breaks down into “Restricted Free Agent” and “Unrestricted Free Agent” all defined.