The Refs of the Round Table

 

The Scene: Deep in an underground cavern, far beneath NHL headquarters, a circle of league referees, masked, cloaked and known only by their code names gathers in concern.

Stephen "King" Walkom: Alright, gentlemen. Take your seats. We've got a problem. We've tried the usual stuff, but the bloody Canadiens are still winning and they're starting to get suspicious. I need ideas. Who's got thoughts? Sir Lies-a-lot?

Sir Lies-a-lot: Oh, um. Yeah. I dunno. I tried the phantom call but they killed it off. 

Walkom: That was too early in the game. You're better off waiting until it's too late for them to come back.

Lies-a-lot: Right, right. Next time. The late-game broken stick call worked though! That got 'em in OT.

Walkom: They still got a point. Anyone else?

Sir Robbin': You gotta understand it's harder now Gallagher's gone. We could always pin something on him, but now there's only Xhekaj. I gave him the unsportsmanlike and pretended I didn't see the other guy get punched. Then the crowd all screamed at me and told me I suck. The coach yelled at me. (Sobs) It's just...hard, man!

Walkom: Oh, suck it up, buttercup. If you're afraid of a little scathing rebuke you're in the wrong business. When it's the Leafs on Saturday night, on Rogers, you gotta get creative.

Robbin': But it wasn't like this before. I worked juniors and the minors and I was never told to "help" anyone.

Walkom: Nobody's asking you to help anyone. Just the opposite! If you got a problem with the way we work, you can go back to the minors. Who's next?

Sir Gall-he-had: I've been waving off goals for interference every chance I get. It's not my fault they just keep scoring more. We'll be screwed if they ever figure out what interference actually is.

Sir More Dread: Yeah, and I tried to miss every call against them so they'd have no power plays all game. Turns out their power play sucks anyway, so that didn't help.

Gall-he-had: This is serious. They're starting to say we should have to answer questions about our calls. That's not gonna look good.

More Dread: Yeah, and some of them want replay reviews on the spot. That'd sink us for sure. 

Lies-a-lot: I have an idea! How about if we "accidentally" get in the way when they're trying to score! That could look totally innocent.

Robbin': Not a good idea. I tried it and that big buffalo Xhekaj hit me so hard I saw stars for a week. Then Guhle hit me too. Hey! What about if we blow the play down when they go on offence? We can always say we thought it was icing. Then the coach will challenge it so nobody will notice we blew the call to kill the chance!

More Dread: Now you're onto something! We can wave off icing instead of giving them an o-zone faceoff too.

Walkom: Look, guys, we have to be careful about this. We have a job to do, keeping these guys down, but we can't look like we're doing it. We just can't let the Cup back into Canada. American owners don't want that and neither do the networks. Plus, the minute it goes to Montreal, they'll be scraping Tom Dundon's family off it.

Gall-he-had: I don't care if we have orders or not. I was a Leafs fan as a kid and I hated those guys. I hate them more now. "Wah wah wah. We're the Habs. We have the most Cups of anyone." Every time I hear that stupid "Ole" I automatically blow the whistle. I'm like Pavlov's ref.

Robbin':  What happens if we get caught, boss?

Walkom: Funny you should ask. I've got a special guest I've invited for this evening. Come on in, Tim.

(Tim Peel enters)

Walkom: Gentlemen, I think you know Mr.Peel. Tim, what happens if we get caught?

Peel: Well, Stephen, if you get caught, they hand you your ass and a one-way ticket to doing a podcast with Roenick for a living.

Walkom: Thank you, Tim. You may go.

(Peel leaves the room. Chris Lee enters)

Walkom: Welcome back, Chris. I asked you here this evening because you're the all-time greatest Hab-crusher among us. What's your advice?

Lee: The main thing is consistency. You have to call every Montreal game the same way: give them two penalties for every opposition one. And mix it up. Sometimes throw in an instigator or unsportsmanlike if things are too quiet or going too much their way. Doesn't hurt to "miss" a few calls either.

Lies-a-Lot: (sighs) I don't know. They already have just about the most minors in the league and it's still not stopping them.

Lee: (shrugs) I don't know what else to tell you guys. They weren't any good when I was still in the league, and that one Cup final was a fluke. It was easy to keep them in line. I never had to deal with them when they didn't suck.

Walkom: That's what I was afraid you'd say. There's nothing more we can do and these goddamn Canadiens will probably win the Cup. If that happens, we're in big trouble.

Robbin': Listen, I don't think I want to do this anymore. I like my job.

More Dread: (laughs) You fool! This is your job. We have one order: no Cup to Canada, especially Montreal. We've kept up our side of the deal for over 30 years, so we can't quit now.

Walkom: It's worse than I thought. They are going to win no matter what we do. They're going to win just to spite us. I have nothing more to say. Meeting adjourned.

The refs rise as one and, heads bowed, slowly shuffle from the room. Walkom turns out the lights and shuts the door.

The Bear

 

    The NHL has a bear problem. 

    No, it's not the big, bad, division-leading Boston Bruins the Canadiens will meet tomorrow. It's the bigger, badder, more problematic Russian bear and, as the league is unlikely to ban players from a specific country just because it's involved in an illegal invasion of its neighbour, each NHL team will have to decide: What do we do about the Russians?

    It's not an easy question to answer. Naturally, not every Russian or Belarussian hockey player is going to be pro-war, homophobic, contemptuous of the West that pays his big salary or a Vladimir Putin ally. Yet, Alex Ovechkin, the greatest Russian player of all time, proudly stands with Putin in campaign ads supporting the genocidal maniac. All-Star Evgeni Malkin is on the record supporting Putin's policies and claiming Russia must defend itself because it has no friends in the West. Russian players, including the former Hab Denis Gurianov, refused to wear Pride Night jerseys, in part they said because of concern about reprisals for family members back in Russia where anti-gay laws are in force. Others have hinted about extortion and threats by Russian officials.

    The truth is, Russia is very different from other countries whose citizens make up the majority of NHL players. It's also a country that produces some of the best hockey players in the world. Thus, the problematic bear.

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    An NHL team's first priority is to win hockey games and satisfy the fans who pay good money to see those wins. So, when the draft comes around, a team obviously wants to take the best player possible. But, what if the best player available is a Russian with a KHL contract?

    That's the situation the Canadiens have found themselves in, in each of the last three drafts. And, in each of them, they decided to use their first pick on a Russian player. The talent of Ivan Demidov, Alexander Zharovsky and Gleb Pugachayov is obvious, but the Canadiens have been lucky so far. The truth is, drafting Russian players is still risky and comes with a ton of questions.

     Will he break his KHL contract early, or will his draft team have to wait three years to get him? Will he come to North America at all, if the KHL decides to woo him with big money and privileges? Will he end up drafted to fight in Russia's war? If he does come over, will he be free or will he be susceptible to threats or bribes from forces back home? What impact has a childhood of Russian state propaganda had on the formation of his character? And perhaps the most important question of all: Is it morally right to make deals with Russians while their country is committing war crimes?

    This week the Court of Arbitration for Sports ruled Russian athletes may return to international hockey competitions. The International Ice Hockey Federation went along with it, claiming it must abide by the court's decisions, then taking Norway's rightfully earned place for the upcoming World Juniors and handing it to Russia. Enter Mark Carney.

    The Canadian Prime Minister and staunch ally of Ukraine in its fight to survive as a nation stood up and said no Russians allowed. He says he's told Hockey Canada no Russian player will be granted a visa to attend the WJC in Alberta next month, including those competing under a neutral flag. It's a strong, moral stance supported by millions of Canadians.

    Pro hockey, though, has been willing to overlook all that as long as the player in question can help a team win and keep the gate turning over. The same is true of North Americans who sign contracts to play in the KHL. They're willing to work for warmongers as long as the money's good.

    The problem with that is, by ignoring the political and social reality of what's happening in Ukraine, hockey is giving its tacit approval of the country's war and corruption. That comes with consequences.

    Just look at the betting craze happening in the NHL right now. How much of a reach is it to imagine Russian interests who stand to make a bunch of money pressuring Russian players to fall in line?

    Add to that the recent trend of Russian stars like Kirill Marchenko, Nikita Kucherov and Matvei Michkov (whom Hughes & Co thankfully passed on in favour of David Reinbacher) becoming disgruntled and demanding trades and you realize the Russian risk is real.

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    The big question is, of course, whether there's room for scruples in a cut-throat pro sports environment. If one team decides there is and operates accordingly, it's easy enough for another team without the same standards to hire a problematic, but talented, player and get a leg up on the opposition.

     The Canadiens have elected to accept that not every Russian player is going to be a pro-Putin, Ukraine-hating monster...especially if he's super skilled...and put the larger world view in the background. They're trading morality for talent.

    It's understandable. They're there to win games and make money. Bringing in the best players, regardless of nationality is the common sense choice. The NHL even gives them an out, claiming that Russian hockey players are private employees of the organization, not representative of their government.

    However, the Russians who publicly support Putin disprove that excuse. Ovechkin, asked about Carney's stance on the WJC whined "We just want to play." Well, Ukrainians just want to live. Standing up against the horrific war Russia started sometimes means sacrifice. For NHL teams, that means deciding whether their bottom line is worth it.

    The Canadiens are invested in Russians now. Demidov and Zharovsky in particular are key parts of the developing team, and Demidov seems like a lovely young man. It's impossible to imagine replacing him. But making good business decisions sometimes means putting righteousness aside. It's like developing new oil projects while knowing you're destroying the planet for profit.

    It's not surprising the Habs (guided by Russian head scout Nick Bobrov) have embraced the bear. It's just disappointing.

Gimmicky Gimmicks

     

    Every season, the NHL asks its players a bunch of questions in a wide-ranging survey. Among them: who's the toughest goalie to beat, what's the league's best arena atmosphere and what team has the best uniforms. The goalie changes from year to year, but the Bell Centre and the iconic Montreal Canadiens' sweater win that straw poll just about every time. Here's what one site said about why that happens:
    "The Canadiens’ red home sweater is perhaps the purest representation of hockey tradition. Introduced in its recognizable form more than a century ago, the jersey has barely changed, proving that great design never goes out of style. Its bold royal red, clean horizontal striping, and simple “C-H” crest reflect an elegant design philosophy unmatched in sports.
    But its significance goes far beyond aesthetics. The Canadiens are the most successful franchise in NHL history, with 24 Stanley Cup wins. Every one of those championships was earned in variations of this jersey. From legends like Maurice Richard and Jean Béliveau to modern stars like Patrick Roy, this sweater has been tied to some of the greatest hockey players of all time. The Canadiens’ red jersey also resonates outside of Montreal. For collectors, it’s one of the most sought-after pieces of vintage hockey jersey styles. For designers, it’s a case study in how simplicity can achieve perfection. Few jerseys capture heritage and timelessness as effectively."
    In the years in which the Canadiens have not topped the list of best sweaters, the Chicago Blackhawks' classic red home uniforms usually take the prize, including in a 2017 fan poll with millions of respondents.
                                      

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    This week the NHL has revealed its latest money-grab in the form of new "hometown remix" sweaters for every team. For the most part, they are revolting. 
    That iconic Blackhawks sweater...the one that makes the top-two in every best-jersey poll? They've turned it green. And it's not a nice grass green or a rich emerald green. It's the green of the paint they sell at Halloween to be used as demon blood. 
    As for the beautiful CH, the bleu, blanc et rouge is now the blanc et rouge. No blue to be seen, aside from a tiny stripe on the sleeve and the (is it getting bigger or is it just me?) RBC sponsor logo emblazoned on the front. In fact, the bank logo is more visible than the team's.
    Not only are these sweaters ugly, they're also expensive. It costs between $200 and $250 to buy a new jersey with your favourite player's number on it. The cash-grab, mostly white version will set you back about $320. Back in the 2009-2010 centennial season, the team went all-in on specialty sweaters the fans eventually hated because when wearing them, the team lost a lot of games. That said, the barber pole stripes from back then are preferable to the new Casper the Canadiens Ghost remix disgrace. 

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    In a league with limited sources of revenue outside TV rights and gate receipts, merchandise sales are important to the NHL. When you watch a Canadiens game at the Bell Centre, the sea of red underlines that fact. It's also true that once a fan owns a jersey, he or she probably isn't going to plunk down a few hundred bucks for another one. So, these new sweaters reflect the hope that making them different from the traditional ones will entice more fans to dig deep. Some will, but most won't.
    The problem is, these sweaters aren't offering people a sharp new look. Some of them are so far removed from the actual team uniforms they're not just a money maker. They're a gimmick.
    That figures, in a league that'll do just about anything to attract American fans in non-hockey markets. They've fiddled with the All-Star game format, introducing street-hockey team selection and ridiculous "skills" competitions. They messed with tie games when they brought in 3-on-3 overtime and the shootout. They brought in dancing girls, in-game contests and mascots to appeal to the mildly interested. 
    For real fans, however, it's just insulting. Canadiens supporters have been behind their team for more than a hundred years, and the sweater they wear is as legendary as the team itself. They don't need a gimmick to prove their loyalty; people in Vegas or Seattle do. Habs fans pay the highest ticket prices in the league, and judging by game-night crowds, most have also laid down considerable cash for sweaters, hats and other gear. So anyone expecting them to spend even more to wear this bloodless pseudo-jersey  is delusional, greedy or both. 
    The Canadiens sweater...La Sainte-Flanelle...is classic and iconic for a reason and the NHL should keep it that way. League brass will go pretty far to promote a gimmick, but this one should have been left in the designer's imagination.
    That look on Cole Caufield's face at his first sight of the remix rag (above), even though he tried to be enthusiastic for the video cameras, says it all. It's telling us "Really? You've done what to our cool jerseys? And we have to wear them in public?"
    We couldn't agree more.

Trade Me Now

     

    The 1991 NHL entry draft was probably the most controversial in league history. The Quebec Nordiques, dead last for three seasons running, held the first overall pick. The consensus number one was "The Next One," 6'4" prototypical power forward Eric Lindros. A record-setting junior player, Lindros was expected to be a franchise saviour; the next Gretzky.

    The match should have been perfect: a team desperate for a generational player and a generational player with the potential to change the team's future and become a legend. Or, it would have been if Lindros hadn't let it be known he would never play for the Nordiques. Quebec GM Marcel Aubut went ahead and drafted him anyway and the drama began.

    Lindros went back to junior and the Olympic team instead of jumping into the NHL. A year later, his decision triggered one of the biggest and most convoluted trades in league history. It led to the Nordiques becoming the Avalanche and contending for a decade after. And it led to Lindros gaining a reputation as a disloyal malcontent. It delayed his ascent into the Hall of Fame for years, with critics arguing he shouldn't be in there at all. What he did at the beginning of his career was considered scandalous.

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    Boy, have things changed! Darnell Nurse. Brady Tkachuk. Connor Hellebuyck. Dylan Larkin. And now, the biggest name of them all, reigning league MVP Nikita Kucherov wants out. They are all players who signed long-term contracts worth multi-millions of dollars per year. And they all had no-trade clauses in those big, fat deals.

    They're leveraging the clauses that were meant to protect star players from being traded against their wills or best interests to force their current teams to move them to a preferred destination. Some players, like Brad Marchand, support their colleagues' right to control their own futures. Others, according to Elliotte Friedman, are quietly condemning those who publicly demand a move.

    Both sides are understandable. Back in 1957, NHL stars like Montreal's Doug Harvey and Detroit's Ted Lindsay tried to start a player union. They felt the guys who actually put their bodies on the line every game should have more clarity about league finances, better pay and more equitable treatment by management. The team owners retaliated by trading the union leaders away and smothering the effort to organize. 

    Eventually, the league player's union was revived and provided some protection of members' rights.

    On the other hand, when teams commit huge parts of their futures to star players, they expect the player to fulfill his part of the agreement. When they plan their cap structure and try to build around a long-term contract, that work is all wasted when the player decides he doesn't want to uphold his end of the bargain and uses his NTC to hold the team hostage.

    

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    Right now, the Montreal Canadiens have a young core of players signed long-term for good money. Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Ivan Demidov, Juraj Slavkovsky and Lane Hutson all have some form of no-trade clause that kicks in part way through their contracts. And right now, everyone seems to be happy to play in Montreal. The team is on the upswing, the players are tight and there's a culture of hard work and camaraderie they enjoy.

    But, what happens if that's no longer true? What if, in four or five years' time, if the Canadiens don't manage to win a Cup or two, the players become disillusioned and want out?

    Kent Hughes has carefully crafted his roster and its pay structure in an effort to build a perennial winner. For that to happen, not only do the players need to accept less money than they might get on the open market, they also have to honour their commitments to the long-term contracts they sign. Imagine if, in three years, Caufield, Suzuki and Hutson decide they want out and demand trades.

    Because they all have no-trade clauses, those kinds of demands would limit Hughes' options for replacing them. It would also blow up the deliberately-built team structure if he had to not only get comparable return for them, but then sign the new players who have no reason to accept less money to go to Montreal.

    If this phenomenon continues under the new collective agreement, every team, including the Habs, is at risk of losing their long-term star players for less return. The league and its player association need to negotiate a solution to what could become a serious issue. Perhaps that means if a player demands a trade, his NTC is void. That would give the player an out, but also give the team more options for a good exchange. Or maybe there needs to be a shorter contract limit of four or five years and a removal of no-trade clauses.

    It could also help if both sides set up a tribunal panel to which a player could apply if he wants to break his commitment to his team. That would give him a chance to make a case for why he wants a trade and the team a chance to rebut, sort of like an arbitration hearing. If a player has a legitimate reason to opt out...bullying, abuse, family upset, a desire to play on a contender, mental health issues...whatever his reason, if the panel sides with him, he should be traded without penalty.

    Whatever happens, the current method of benching players who demand trades isn't working.

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    In the meantime, every player who demands a trade is immediately rumoured to be headed to Montreal. This is not a new thing. For decades, players have used the Canadiens as a bargaining chip. Rumours start about what the Habs are allegedly offering and players have used that to pressure the team to which they really want to go.

    That doesn't really work with the current management. The Canadiens have a plan and it starts with player commitment. It would follow that Hughes would steer clear of disgruntled guys influencing the culture in the room.

    The salary cap explosion is also a problem. Hughes has done a masterful job in managing his money, but that would be upended by bringing in a star player who wants market value and asks for 20-million a year. 

    And the team trying to move a star player with several contract years remaining is hardly going to let the guy go for nothing. If Hughes wanted an unhappy player with a huge contract and gave up valuable assets to get him, it would be completely removed from everything else he's done in Montreal.

    Take Kucherov for example. He's a great player, no doubt about it. But he's 33 years old and will likely want term of 5-6 years and around 20-million per. Hughes would have to find that money in his cap, with no guarantee Kucherov will be the same player in two years' time. He'd also have to give up high picks, a top prospect like Michael Hage and/or a valuable roster player.

    Unless we're talking about acquiring a young Mario Lemieux, it's hard to imagine Hughes offering so much for a single player.

    Whatever the league decides to do about the current power struggle between players and managers, one thing is clear. We're no longer in 1991 and Eric Lindros is no longer the poster boy for screwing over his team.

    

Waterbug

    

    For the last two-plus NHL seasons, pundits trying to explain Lane Hutson's skating have frequently called him a "waterbug." They probably mean a water strider, an insect that can actually walk and skate directly on top of the water's surface rather than swimming underneath it. They rely on water's surface tension and their slender legs are covered in tiny, water-repellent hairs that trap microscopic air pockets and distribute their weight so they don't break through the film. The way they skim the surface without resistance certainly brings Hutson's style to mind.

    Everyone can see the results of his ability, and everyone wonders how he learned to move the way he does. He explains it started when he, his three brothers and his dad were on the ice together.

     "My dad had us at a young age go on the ice and just have the skates just like this (basically untied) on our feet. We'd skate like that for 20 or 30 minutes just like a normal practice and then tie them up and kind of be able to hit our edges a little harder."

    And today?

    "They're usually pretty loose, but with how stiff skates are and how they feel, I don't need them that tight. I feel like I wear them pretty loose compared to the standard. You know, some guys are pulling them way too tight. I don't know if I could ever do that, but that's kind of how I do it." 

    He also has his blade shaped in a particular way to suit his skating style.

    "I don't know how they do it, but I just kind of get that toe shaved a little bit. So like I'm pitched forward and it just sits easier. Can kind of explode easier forward I guess. I think being able to lean forward into turns makes it much easier."

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    Jason Yee was born in British Columbia about fifteen years before Hutson was even a glint in his father's eye. He spent his youth training and striving to make the NHL. That goal wasn't in the cards for him...he got as far as playing pro in Europe...so he enrolled at the University of BC to study kinesiology while playing for the varsity squad.

    "What was really cool at the time was the NHL lockout. And so we had the Canucks practicing with us. We had the Sedins coming on with us," he recalls. "It was a really cool opportunity to see their mechanics live while comparing and contrasting against my own and my team. So that's really where a lot of this came from." 

    "This" is an entire business he calls Training 2.0, in which he breaks down the techniques the best players use in ways others can easily understand.

    "I had done a lot of power skating growing up and I was rated by coaches as a great skater," he says. "And I was good at power skating, but I was realizing that there were things that, for example, the Sedins would do that was not in the playbook of power skating. Just unexplainable things that didn't make any sense to me."

    "For example, there was a move that I now call the shuffle, which is using the outside edge to roll over on that outside edge and create lateral movement," he describes. "And that was something that is just not part of the lexicon of power skating. And there was just no descriptor for it."

    "So what I was doing at the time at UBC was a lot of movement analysis and I was using video to break down athlete's movements. And that's how I was able to discover these are actually untaught movements that don't have a a name, but that the best players in the NHL are actually doing on a regular basis."

    Among the best...and most unique...players Yee has studied is Lane Hutson.

    "The game of hockey went from pushing and gliding to being a bit more like a basketball or like a lacrosse in the sense that the players, and Hutson is a great example of it, will use footwork to move laterally and not just push and glide forward. Hutson's also able to decelerate as well as accelerate so that he can move laterally and create more lateral space and lateral deception," he says.

    "So kind of two things. And they're they're combined together," he continues. "So I call them edge drags and hip or leg adduction. That is, pulling the legs towards the centre of the midline and then also dragging the edges. So as he's dragging the edges and adducting, that allows him to decelerate and then also to move laterally. And it's something that once people see how the best players in the NHL can move laterally, all of a sudden they're like, wow, I never saw that footwork before. And that's what allows them to kind of do those little stutter steps or to do the little fakes and jukes and then be able to explode literally the other direction."

    And Yee says Hutson's different, not just because of his footwork and ability to move forward.

    "The typical stop that is taught is a two-foot stop. And when you do that, you literally stop," he says. "But when instead of doing that, you drag the heel edge inside edge or a soft drag where you drag your inside edge of your toe. And that has you shifting your weight from one foot to the other. So it's kind of like a pendulum where your weight is always shifting foot to foot, which allows you to always be in motion. In this new style that Hutson is using, he's always able to be shifting his weight foot to foot, so he's always able to maintain his momentum."

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    So, now we can see the finished product in the player who's become arguably the Habs' most important, with some insight into how he developed that way. Yee says he's got a good foundation in mechanics, going back to those open-lace practices with his dad and brothers.

    "Yeah, that's actually brilliant coaching from my perspective," he says. "That allows them to have ankle freedom. When most people are taught to skate, they do their skates all the way up and they don't articulate their ankle joint at all. And they kind of think of their lower leg as if it's in a cast or in a ski boot."

    "But that fully takes away from a player's ability to articulate the ankle. And when the ankle articulates, that allows you to create more lateral movements on the ice because the more the blade is leaned over, the more of an arc you create on the ice, right? If it's straight up and down, then you're just skating straight. If it's leaned over, it creates an arc on the ice, which allows your body to move laterally. So by having your skates undone, that allows the ankles to articulate, which allows them to bend over more, which allows the player to be more of an arc."

    For Hutson, keeping a loose skate and a very sharp blade are important, so he changes them up fairly often.

    "Probably every three weeks I get a new pair and they feel really good. Part of it's the stiffness and part of it is how the team is doing itself. If we're winning games with a certain pair of skates I'll maybe keep them a bit longer. If we're if we have a tough stretch, I might just get rid of them," he laughs. "I change my blades anytime I feel like a little slip. So I'm pretty picky about it, but I change my skate blades every game." 

    He's so picky, he knew, even as a kid, when something wasn't right.

    "They changed the shape of the blades without telling me and I didn't know it was that and I just stuck with it," he recalls. "So you sharpen them over and over and they get so thin and you're like, what the hell is this? Why am I tripping over? But I told my dad, when I was like maybe 9 or 10, I needed new skates because it was so thin and I kept toe picking.  Then I got new blades in and I'm like, these feel terrible. They were kind of profiled differently. And I knew it right away, but I didn't know what to say about it. So that's kind of how I learned what I liked and didn't like."

    He learned what he liked and didn't like, and now Canadiens fans like everything about him.

    So, what happens to all those Hutson skates only worn for three weeks at a time?

    They go to the next generation of waterbug, of course.

    "I was lucky because (older brother) Quinn has much bigger feet than me, so I was always able to get some new ones. And Lars, my youngest brother, wears mine now because he's got a smaller foot. So he likes them broken in and he's getting some pretty good skates."

The Commish

    

     If you grew up in Atlantic Canada in the 1950s and '60s, you were either a Montreal Canadiens fan, or you cheered for the Toronto Maple Leafs. There were some outliers in Newfoundland who went for Detroit because of local boy Alex Faulkner's presence with the Wings. A few contrarians declared for the Boston Bruins, but in the main, it was Habs versus Leafs when it came to fan loyalties.

    Eighty-two year old Don Sparkes has been a hockey player for more than seven decades. That's almost as long as he's been a Montreal Canadiens' fan. And this weekend, one of the sharpest Habs followers around will be inducted into Canada's 80-plus hockey hall of fame.

    Sparkes got started in hockey when he was a boy in Glovertown, Newfoundland in the 1950s. He knew every pond and inlet where a game of shinny might be happening. 

    "We used to play, you know, around the bay and they cleared the snow off beforehand," he recalls. "And we used our boots for goal posts and and when we were done, the boots were frozen up so we had to put them on like that."

    When indoor rinks began to appear in local communities, the game moved in to warmer environs and Sparkes drove 45 minutes out and back to play in nearby Gander two or three times a week.

    Then, finally, Glovertown got its own rink in 2000 (ironically known as one of the coldest in the province) and Sparkes stepped up to form an Oldtimers' team, for players over 50. He became the driving force behind the twice-weekly game that soon was drawing a couple of dozen seniors...enough to comfortably ice at least two sides a night. The other guys dubbed him "The Commish," short for commissioner of the league, and the name has stuck.

    Goalie Kevin Noseworthy says he loves playing with The Commish. 

    "He makes all the decisions. Just like [NHL commissioner Gary] Bettman. He organizes the social, brings the cards for Pass the Ace. Everything we do. He keeps us all alive."

    "I think what amazes me about Don is even at his age now, he gets as excited about a goal, I think, as [Washington Capitals captain] Alex Ovechkin does," said Noseworthy.

    "I just loved the play from day one, right?" Sparkes chimes in. "And to play with a bunch of good guys," he explains about his motivation in starting the Oldtimer's team. "We had a real good bunch. Never had a fight or a row or anything for 25 years and good camaraderie and things like that."

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    Even though he's played the game all his life and is The Commish in his own league, Sparkes was surprised to get a phone call from the Hall of Fame back in the summer.

    "August or July maybe this guy called me and said congratulations, Donald," he reveals. "I was surprised. And then he told me I'm going to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. I don't know if it really sunk in yet. It's unbelievable, especially from a small town like Glovertown, right?"

    So now Don, his two sons and his grandson will be heading to Whitby, Ontario for the ceremony, a banquet and a couple of exhibition games. 

    "They're Montreal fans, of course," he enthuses, although he admits things have changed dramatically since he first started cheering for the Rocket, Jean Beliveau and Boom Boom Geoffrion.

    "I went to a lot of games in Montreal years ago, and I haven't been up now for three or four years. But me and my brother used to go up on Super Bowl weekend, getting the Saturday afternoon game and the Sunday afternoon game. That was good. My first ticket was $30, bought off scalpers. The ticket was $15.00 but they they made 15 on it.  We didn't care as long as we got our ticket. But then the last time we went up I paid 200 for Saturday night and 100 for Sunday night. If you bought it from the same scalper, they give you 2 for $300."

    And the price isn't the only thing that's different these days.

    "It's a *lot* faster," he chuckles, noting that his current favourites include speedster and fellow Newfoundlander Alex Newhook, and the inimitable Lane Hutson.

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    The senior inductees will play a couple of exhibition games over the weekend, but Sparkes isn't sure he can make it into the fray. He had some health issues last year and has put his game on pause for the time being. He's still bringing his gear to Whitby though, just in case he's feeling energized enough to get on the ice.

    "Well, I've got to get my equipment out now and look it all over and make sure everything's okay and I gotta bring it. I'm supposed to bring a sweater from my own team, right? And they're going to give me a new sweater when I get there." 

    "I'm just ready to go. Yeah. You just gotta get your hockey bag and go on."

    Wise words from a sage and dedicated lifelong Canadiens fan.

Brotherly Love

   

    There's something special about brothers appearing on NHL ice together. All the childhood rivalries and support, the cuts and the triumphs they shared growing up give them a deeper layer of connection you usually don't get with ordinary teammates. 
    The first pair of brothers ever to face each other in a regular-season game were Corb (Vancouver) and Cy (Ottawa) Denneny, on December 22, 1917. The first to share a forward line on the same team were the Bentley brothers...Max, Doug and Reg...who all played in Chicago in 1943.
    In Montreal, Odie and Sprague Cleghorn played together with the Canadiens, and on January 14, 1922, each scored four goals in a 10-6 win over the Hamilton Tigers. Sprague was a big, violent defenceman who took particular displeasure with opponents who took liberties with his teammates...especially his brother. He once cross-checked Newsy Lalonde in the back of the head in retaliation for hitting Odie. Sprague was hit by a car in 1956 and died of his injuries.
    Upon his death, his brother, Odie, remarked, "He was my brother, and I don't like to boast, but I never saw a tougher or better defenceman than Sprague." Two days later, Odie died in his sleep of heart failure and was found by his sister just hours before Sprague's funeral.
    Then there were the Richard brothers; one of the most prolific brother duos in NHL history, teaming up on the Canadiens' five-straight Cup dynasty in the late fifties.
    "At first I wanted to take him in hand and give him a lesson in the facts of NHL life," Maurice recalled. "Then I decided we'd both be better off if I just left him alone. As it turned out, Henri never came to me for advice. But what kind of advice could I give him? He was a better stickhandler than I was and a better skater. He was a better all-round hockey player than me. The only difference was that he couldn't score goals the way I could. But he made up for that by becoming a terrific playmaker, which was just as important."
    And one of the more special nights in NHL brother-lore was the first time two opposing goaltenders were from the same family. On March 20, 1971, Ken (Montreal) and Dave (Buffalo) Dryden faced each other in nets, but only after a bit of coaching gamesmanship.
    "A visiting team designates its starting lineup first; Sabres coach Punch Imlach wrote Dave’s name in as his goalie," Ken remembered years later. "Al MacNeil wrote in Vachon’s. After the game’s initial stoppage in play, when Imlach was first allowed to make a change, he replaced Dave with Joe Daley. Dave and I sat on opposing benches watching the game."
    "Early in the second period, there was a scramble around our net. Vachon went down and didn’t get up. A few minutes later, he was still down. MacNeil motioned for me to go in. When Imlach saw me leave the bench, he put Dave back in the game."
    "I couldn’t get comfortable in the game. Already struggling with the sense of unreality that I’d felt since joining the team — if this is me, this can’t be the real NHL — this was worse: If this is me and Dave, this really can’t be the NHL. I felt like I was outside myself."

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    Of course, not all brother combos work out the way fans would hope. Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn were both talented players, but both mental midgets when it came to decision-making. (A coincidence they were born in Belarus just after Chernobyl?)
    And many times, the Canadiens have featured "the other brother." Gilbert Dionne. Marcel Hossa. Jordie Benn. Bobby Joliat.
    This year the team has the privilege of employing the Xhekaj brothers to terrify all comers. The pair are huge, menacing and not bad at hockey either. It's early days, though, with Arber still trying to cement his place on the full-time NHL roster and Florian just breaking in. The potential for magnificent destruction is there if they can harness it consistently.
    In preseason, we got to see Nick Suzuki face off against his brother Ryan when Montreal faced Ottawa. 
    "I took the opening faceoff against him and I cleaned him up," Nick couldn't help but recalling, with a laugh. "Later in the game, we were each skating to our own benches and I took the chance to give him a little slash on the shin pads. The referee saw me do it and decided to give me a penalty. I was pretty frustrated. I told the ref, 'You know that's my brother?' and he replied 'I don't care!' and he sent me to the penalty box. I was frustrated, but it was pretty funny."

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    Now, tonight, it's Lane Hutson's turn. His younger brother Cole cracked the Washington Capitals roster last spring and is now into his first full NHL season. And this matchup promises to be special. Lane is already a Calder Trophy winner and finished fourth in Norris Trophy voting last season. He's launched this year with a point-a-game average.
    On the other side, Cole is drawing attention for his own play. While not yet piling up the points like his big brother, the pundits are comparing his skating and vision to Lane's. Both players are attempting to be low-key about their first-ever game against each other, but their dad knows what's under the surface. 

    "I’m pretty positive that whoever doesn't win is not going to be happy,” Rob Hutson said. “And when I say not happy, they're going to really not be happy. But, at the same time, some time will go by, and they’ll be fine. But there's always going to be that live-in-the-now of like, ‘Hey, I beat you last time.’

    Whatever happens tonight, fans will have the fun of watching two up-and-coming young stars who just happen to be siblings. Fifty-five years ago, when it was Dryden versus Dryden the two players did what needed to be done on the ice, then, in the end, went back to just being brothers.

    "When that first game in Montreal was over, I skated toward the boards to get off the ice," Dryden wrote about that matchup.  "But Dave knew something I didn’t. He skated past center directly into my line, and we did what hockey players don’t do at the end of a game: We shook hands. I have two pictures on my wall from my time with the Canadiens. This is one of them."

    Hopefully, the Hutsons will one day have a similar photo on their own wall. After all, brothers don't get to be NHL colleagues very often.