Articles in Hockey Related

via the NHL's You Tube page,

Watch this special Hockey Fights Cancer feature focusing on Stella, a long-time Hurricanes fan who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and her daughter Danielle, a member of Black Girl Hockey Club.

Andrew Lupton of CBC News,

WARNING: This article contains graphic content and may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone affected by it.

A brief hearing for five former players on Canada's 2018 world junior hockey team was held Monday morning in London, Ont., via video link, with their lawyers appearing on their behalf and April 30 set as their next court appearance in the sexual assault case.

None of the five players — Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the New Jersey Devils, Dillon Dubé of the Calgary Flames, Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers and former NHLer Alex Formenton — appeared on the video link in the procedural hearing.

But lawyers for all five were told to expect "substantial" disclosure of case information, including audio and video evidence, to be delivered to them on a hard drive by courier sometime Monday or Tuesday.

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via TSN's YouTube page,

Sam Goodwin was nearing the end of his journey to travel to every country in the world when he went missing in Syria. How did a message about the St. Louis Blues become his proof of life? Rick Westhead with a story that’s nearly impossible to believe, in our TSN Original – Searching for Sam.

Watch below.

from Sonny Sachdeva of Sportsnet,

Kurtis Gabriel’s voice still quickens when he recalls the hours spent in the garage. It was back in 2021 that the long-time pro first pulled up to Satoshi Takano’s house in Etobicoke, Ont., first stood among the machines and the wires, and had his mind opened.

On the cusp of a dream opportunity with his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs, Gabriel had connected with Takano over social media and, hunting for something that could take his game to a higher level before he debuted in blue and white, he decided to give Takano’s cognitive performance training a go.

The next thing he knew, he was whirling around in a blur of lights and other stimuli that pulled his attention in all directions as Takano took him through a series of complex drills designed to test the limits of his vision, reaction time, and ability to mentally map his environment.

Before long, the winger was hooked.

“First of all, it’s fun. I mean, that’s number one,” Gabriel says of what had him rapt that first day in the garage. “It’s an extremely competitive training environment, and it’s you versus yourself. … It’s so multifaceted — you have the obvious vision training, cognitive training, mental stamina. But also, you make mistakes and you get such instant feedback. And it being so competitive, you want to not mess up. But it’s inevitable, you’re going to mess up just like anything in life, and it’s just an instant reminder every single rep to forget the last rep, focus in, get present and attempt it again.”

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from Stan Fischler of The Hockey News,

It's the sixth day of the war, and for five-plus days, I've tried to write something -- and failed.

There's so much to write, and it's so hurtful. My best friend on the kibbutz (El Rom -- in the north of Israel) lost his kid brother, and my son's pal also was killed. The death toll is now 1,300; too much to even contemplate.

My editor, David Kolb, said I should take the day off. Nuts to that.

Writing hockey is the best medicine -- for me, at least. Certainly a distraction from the horror we have witnessed in this tiny country since the weekend.

Just for the record, my day in Israel begins at about 9 a.m. when I check to see how many goals McDavid has scored and how many his goalkeeper has given up. I root for Vancouver because the Canucks need all the rooting they can get -- and I study The Panthers 'cause I'm a big Paul Maurice fan.

Now that the season is underway, I keep cautioning myself that one win doesn't mean a Cup, and one loss should not inspire a coach-firing. Fischler's granddaughter's bedroom doubles as a "safe room."

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from Tiney Ricciardi of the Denver Post,

Hockey player Kyle Quincey began mentally preparing for retirement well before his career was over. The former defenseman, who spent three seasons with the Colorado Avalanche, knew it would be a tough transition since he’d seen others in the National Hockey League struggle to assimilate after dedicating their lives – and bodies – to the sport....

That’s when Daniel Carcillo, a former Chicago Blackhawks player and a known psychedelics advocate, introduced Quincey to “magic mushrooms.”

Quincey partook in a “ceremony” that not only profoundly impacted him personally, but also gave him a new purpose: To help others struggling with their mental health in hopes of saving lives. He’s now in the process of building a retreat center on Colorado’s Western Slope, called Do Good Ranch, where he aims to provide psilocybin therapy for individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI), addiction, anxiety and depression, among other ailments.

“The mission there is to create a sanctuary and safe place for veterans, first responders, athletes and all warriors that are willing to do the work to heal themselves,” Quincey said during the panel.

Research into psilocybin, a psychoactive compound found in “magic mushrooms,” as a mental health tool is still young; however, during clinical trials, high doses of the substance have exhibited anti-depressant effects in individuals with treatment-resistant depression, end-of-life anxiety and existential distress. Small trials evaluating its potential to treat addiction have also yielded promising results.

more

from USA Hockey,

Being 7-foot-2 as a center in the NBA is nothing out of the ordinary. Being a 7-foot-5 guy — with skates on — playing rec league hockey is a different story.

Greg Ostertag stands out, quite literally, while on the ice.

The former Utah Jazz big man played 11 seasons in the NBA — his last year being 2005-06 — and turned to hockey after his basketball days.

“When I got done playing ball, I was playing golf every day in Arizona,” said Ostertag. “The guy I played with, his son played [hockey], and I said, ‘We got to find something different to do.’ I already had a pair of skates made and I started skating again and got in two leagues out there.”

That was in 2009, and Ostertag was hitting the rink multiple times a week. These days, Ostertag’s passion for hockey is still as strong, but he’s only able to skate once a week since he lives three hours roundtrip from a sheet of ice.

Ostertag resides in the country in Mount Vernon, Texas, which is 100 miles northeast of Dallas.

“If I did live closer, I’d play at least two days a week,” said Ostertag, who played in a “Crazy Game of Hockey” charity event this summer through the Minnesota Wild. “I love it. I just love it. It’s really good exercise, that’s what I like about it.”

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from Adriana.Sinishtaj of OutSports,

My earliest life memory is the 1997 Stanley Cup parade.

I’m a “legacy” hockey fan. My parents came to Detroit as kids. My dad went all-in on sports, and my mom was all-in on Red Wings player Steve Yzerman. It was fate that they met and passed their passion for hockey down to their six kids.

I loved watching my brothers play street hockey, seeing Joe Kocur at my uncle’s restaurant on off days, attending Detroit Vipers IHL games, and admiring our family’s growing collection of memorabilia.

As a young girl unaware of her queerness, the draw was the action and passion, but traditional hockey culture made it hard to foster my love of the game.

Overemphasis on metrics, blunt dismissal of newer or uninformed fans, female fans almost being required to “prove” their fandom, and outright disdain for anyone deemed “other” – It all sapped my enjoyment of the great game.

Despite Detroit being firmly in dynasty territory at the time, my love and interest evaporated around age 10. It was clear that I didn’t belong and my perspective wasn’t valuable. If I didn’t know everything there was to know, I might as well kick rocks.

So I did.

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from Ken Campbell of kencampbell.substack.com,

Twenty-five years ago today, Dominik Hasek stood between Russia and an Olympic gold medal. And as the greatest goalie in NHL history – yeah, I said it – celebrates one of the crowning achievements of his Hall of Fame career on the silver anniversary of the Czech Republic’s gold in Nagano, he’s still standing up to Russia.

The man who grew up during Communist rule and Soviet occupation in the former Czechoslovakia has not hid his disdain for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He spoke out about it early and often and has been highly critical of the NHL for allowing Russian-born players to continue to play in the best league in the world. When the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators played games in Prague to open the 2022-23 regular season, Hasek made it clear that the Russian players – Alexander Barabanov of the Sharks and Yakov Trenin of the Predators – were not welcome, and he lobbied the NHL and his own government to keep them off the ice.

“What is bothering me is people are dying,” Hasek said in a telephone interview with Hockey Unfiltered. “By the hundreds every day, on both sides. I’m trying to help because I know what I’m doing is the right thing. I will try to do anything to shorten the war and help (fewer) people die. That is my goal and anything I do and anything I say is just for this one goal.”

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