This is it! The big day is tomorrow and I'm so pumped to be finally opening my own pro shop. I feel like Hugh Jackman in The Greatest Showman (great movie FYI, if you haven't seen it I highly recommend). Saturday, December 1st marks the official opening of Drew's Pro Shop's first ever permanent store …
Welcome back, hockey season
Hockey season is finally back, and it's an awesome feeling. Don't get me wrong, I've spent the majority of the summer working in the hockey industry. Between opening Drew's Pro Shop in July and working a few Hockey Canada camps throughout August and September, I've been keeping myself busy. Now that training camp is over …
“Upon further review…” – a look at the inaugural year of the coach’s challenge
Having completed a significant portion of this season, it seems like a good time to take a look at how the introduction of the coach's challenge has been unveiling so far in the NHL. As of March 18th, there have been 226 coach's challenges. Of those 226, 169 have been upheld while 57 have been overturned. This brings the …
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NHL taking the green lead in pro sports
Last month, the NHL released their sustainability report, the first of its kind produced by a major sports league in North America. The report showcases NHL Green, an environmental sustainability initiative made public at the 2010 Bridgestone Winter Classic by Commissioner Gary Bettman. NHL Green was established to promote green practices across the league, and …
No summer vacation for MacTavish, NHL general managers
For most hockey fans, summer is a chance to take a break from hockey and focus on other parts of life. Excluding the NHL draft and Free Agent Frenzy on July 1, the summer can seem pretty dull from a hockey fan standpoint. For Edmonton Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish, this summer has been anything but …
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Hockey (too) specific training?
The term ‘hockey specific training’ gets thrown around a lot in the hockey world, and parents are all too eager to sign their kids up for summer camps and weekly hockey lessons to help shape their budding child into the best player they can be. Is making kids play exclusively hockey, and spend hours on …
Fandalism – The destruction of sports through violence
When the Bruins visited the Canadiens on December 4th 2013, a friend of mine was attacked on the subway. He was on his way home from the game when he was confronted by two clearly inebriated Habs "fans" wearing Canadiens jerseys. They began verbally assaulting him before pushing, shoving, and eventually punching him. Thankfully, a bystander …
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The Pittsburgh-Boston debacle – Two wrongs don’t make a fight
What happened in Pittsburgh last Saturday has left yet another black mark on the great game of hockey. Both Shawn Thornton's attack on Brooks Orpik and James Neal's knee to Brad Marchand's head were dirty plays which crossed the clear lines of respect all hockey players are supposed to follow, the "unwritten code" we all …
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Game day for the Concordia Stingers – a behind-the-scenes look
A few weeks ago, I was offered a very unique and exciting opportunity. As a student at Concordia University, I write for the university’s paper, The Concordian. I went to interview the men’s hockey team and their coach, Kevin Figsby, for an upcoming article I was working on. Coach Figsby was extremely accommodating, and …
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Is showboating breaking the unwritten code? – a link
Here is a link to another article I wrote for my University's newspaper, The Concordian. Feel free to comment with your take on the question: does showboating break the unwritten code of hockey? http://theconcordian.com/2013/10/is-showboating-breaking-the-unwritten-code/