can the maple leafs end their stanley cup drought? - 14th Ja

Story by Steve Erickson

Could the NHL be in for a surprise this season? It’s been nearly half a century since the Toronto Maple Leafs last won the Stanley Cup. 

Back in 1967, they upset favorites the Montreal Canadiens, with Jim Pappin scoring the series winner in game 6. 

Going way back to 1942, the Leafs bounced back from 3 games down to win the Cup. Last season, the Maple Leafs lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Boston Bruins. 

But this year the team has an outstanding record in the Atlantic Division. 

The Maple Leafs are on 42 points as of 19 December, with 20 wins from 32 games. Mitch Marner has posted 42 points with 32 assists, and William Nylander leads the goals tally with 20. 

Who are favorites for the Stanley Cup?

The odds suggest the favorites are Carolina Hurricanes and Edmonton Oilers, with Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, New Jersey Devils, and Colorado Avalanche not too far behind. 

The Maple Leafs are seventh favorites according to one sportsbook.

The Florida Panthers have an almost identical record to the Leafs, having played a game extra (drawing 11). Sam Reinhart leads their scoring and assist charts with 20 goals and 22 assists. 

The Caroline Hurricanes are only third in the Metropolitan division as it stands, having played 31 and winning 20. 

Their goals have been quite evenly spread, with Martin Necas (14), Jack Roslovic (13), and Andrei Svechnikov (12) leading the way.

Last season, the Hurricanes lost in the second round of the playoffs, falling 2-4 to the Ne w York Rangers (who also beat them at the same stage in 2022). 

When are the playoffs?

The regular season ends Thursday April 17, 2025. The playoffs are likely to start Saturday April 19. 

Will the Maple Leafs definitely make the playoffs?

They are certainly well positioned, sitting top of the Atlantic division. The top three teams from both divisions, plus two wildcard teams, make the playoffs. 

In November, the Leafs announced the signing of forward Alex Nylander on a one-year contract. Nylander had posted 12 points in 14 games with the Toronto Marlies.

What are some of the Leafs’ greatest moments?

The Maple Leafs had a few moments ranking among Yardbarker’s greatest NHLmoments in history. The ’42 Stanley Cup win was up there.

Another moment was Game 6 of the 1964 Stanley Cup Final, when defenseman Bob Baun broke his leg – but continued playing. He even scored a goal.

From 1983 to 2003, Doug Gilmour enjoyed an amazing run of 1,414 points in 1,474 games. He played for seven teams in the NHL, and was with the Leafs from January 1992 to 1997. Gilmour was one of the team’s most popular players.

In 1994, Mike Gartner scored an overtime goal for the Leafs in Game 6 in the Cup Final.

In 2017, on the 100th anniversary of the NHL, Maple Leafs great Dave Keon made the list of 100 greatest players in NHL history. Keon won four Stanley Cups with the club.

In 2025, the Leafs will be hoping there’s a few more names to join Keon on their list of legends.

Story by Rocky Rhodes

With the first half of the PJHL season completed the Sockeyes found themselves sitting in first place in the Tom Shaw Conference at times playing leap-frog with the Delta Ice Hawks.

The month of December saw the Sockeyes set up a food hamper which saw the fans drop off non-perishable food items each Thursday home game which was well received by not just the fans but also team personnel as well.

The holidays saw them hosting the PJHL Winter Classic where each team played a home and home series with the one exception being the Coastal Tsunami  who played a home game December 30th finishing the Classic playing the last game of the four days. 

The Sockeyes continue to bounce between first and second in the Tom Shaw Conference fending off the Delta Ice Hawks playing a fast aggressive game to the  delight of their solid fan base.

Goals for the Sockeyes for the most part are not overly hard to come by given the talent they have loaded up with that has the team playing as a unit while at times getting “tagged” with the odd penalty infraction.

The first half of the season saw the PJHL’s Top Prospects game that saw five players play as well as Head Coach Cullen Revel behind the bench as well as GM and Director of Hockey Operations Will Kump set things in motion from the organizational point of view.

Entering into the  second half of the season they are sending Conference top scorer Nicholas Noren along with PJHL 100-gamers Michael McIntyre, Teo Lin and goalie Matthias Hasselmann to the All-Star game. 

The game is hosted by the Port Coquitlam Trailblazers playing in their home rink which has the top players from each conference facing off with both sides looking to pull out the win.

With the trading dead-line looming the Sockeyes managed to acquire Max Fowle who previously played with Mission who was the 2023-24 named PJHL Goaltender of the Year.

The month started off in a battle that saw Po Coq pull off a 6-4 win in a game that went the full sixty minutes that saw stellar goaltending at each end of the rink that featured a penalty shot.

Fowle was tested early and often but getting used to a new team can take time which was the case in this game, but regardless of  his first game he played solid.

The next test will be tough as they are hosting the Chilliwack Jets who are coming off a five game winning streak while the Sockeyes are riding a 3 wins and 2 losses so looking to rebound in the win column.

The tunnel series continues  with the Sockeyes hosting the Ice Hawks January 16th that draws fans from south of the tunnel in a series that everyone welcomes. 

With the trading dead-line fast approaching in the next article I’ll keep you posted as to any movement the Sockeyes pull off.

The Sockeyes continue to put a winning team on the ice looking to repeat from playing in last year’s league championship match-up looking to advance to the Provincial Championship.

Story by Rocky Rhodes

When you reflect on the recent turmoil involving the BC Ball Hockey as well as the Canadian Ball Hockey Association they have finally reached a settlement.

This involves the direction as BC Ball Hockey moves forward that apparently involved some change for specific individuals.

While both parties have reached a settlement rather than an impasse one has to ponder if other leagues will not abide by the resolution that has been reached.

The situation with the BC Ball Hockey had been going on for far too long and the only reason it wasn’t resolved was only due to some not wanting to “let go” of what some call a power position.

Well – thankfully the CBHA announced that they have reached a decision which took a third party resolution dating back to November 18th, 2024.

Despite the announcement one has to wonder if some individuals might refuse to abide by the findings and  quite honestly if you think this is over – think again.

As we all know power struggles are seldom put to bed despite that we hear differently.

Here’s an article that was posted a while back (ball hockey turmoil) so enjoy the read.

The following is a CBHA – BCBHA JOINT STATEMENT dated December 23, 2024

Enjoy the read:

The Canada Ball Hockey Association (CBHA) and the British Columbia Ball Hockey Association (BCBHA) are proud to announce that they’ve successfully reached a settlement agreement through the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC).

The CBHA and BCBHA have engaged in constructive conversations since June and concluded a third-party resolution on November 18, 2024. 

To ensure the process was fair and followed best practices, both parties engaged in the resolution process with an experienced facilitator through the SDRCC. 

he SDRCC is a government funded organization providing third-party resolution, mediation and arbitration services for sport disputes in Canada.

As a result of the settlement agreement, CBHA’s suspension of BCBHA has been lifted, effective November 18, 2024. 

While the specifics of the agreement are bound by confidentiality, both parties have committed to improved governance structures and policies to benefit ball hockey and its stakeholders.

Players in BCBHA member associations can rest assured that they remain eligible for BCBHA and CBHA events and teams in 2025 and beyond.

The CBHA and BCBHA are excited to reach this agreement and shift their collective focus to a better tomorrow for ball hockey.

Yours in Sport,

CBHA Board of Directors/BCBHA Board of Directors

Story by Steve Erickson

Watching the World Junior Hockey Championship regardless of how Team Canada did for me personally it was the end result that made me smile.

As many know I have been active both as a player, an official as well as worked in other areas of the game for several years all of which have been for the most part rewarding.

Dating back to the 80ties I was fortunate to obtain my Level Six which was the highest level an official could reach under the program at that time.

For me personally it was sort of a pleasant achievement for what I had worked to get along with other officials at that time.

I have worked with Dave Andrews who went on to become the President of the American Hockey League as well as Bob Nicholson who became the President of Hockey Canada.

Both got their start working with the BC Amateur Hockey Association in Victoria and along with others put together a program to develop and grow officiating in the province.

Recognition by the IIHF took far too long, but they finally gave him the tribute he truly deserved on the International stage.

Enjoy the read:

Hockey Canada has announced the eight current and former athletes who have been elected by their peers to form its new National Team Athlete Committee.

The committee, which will represent the voice of Hockey Canada’s high-performance athletes across men’s, women’s and para hockey, will meet quarterly at a minimum and be empowered to make recommendations to Hockey Canada on issues that impact their fellow national team athletes.

Billy Bridges, Michael Mastrodomenico, Tyler McGregor, Bailey Mitchell (Bram), Markus Phillips, Alyssa Regalado, Kyle Turris and Kendra Woodland will each serve multi-year terms.

“Hearing from our athletes directly is critical to ensure that we are delivering the best possible experiences for our national teams, and we cannot wait to learn from the eight representatives on this new committee throughout their terms,” said Jonathan Goldbloom, chair of the Hockey Canada Board of Directors. “Gillian Apps and Amanda Fowler from our board invested a lot of time to help launch this initiative, and we are appreciative of their contributions that have led us to today’s announcement.”

To be eligible to run for election, athletes had to have competed for Canada at a world championship sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) or World Para Ice Hockey (WPIH) within the last eight years.

“The athlete voice is so important to all national sport organizations, and the creation of this committee is an exciting step to further strengthen the connection between Hockey Canada and our national teams,” said Katherine Henderson, president and chief executive officer of Hockey Canada. 

She continued “We are grateful that Gillian, Amanda and their colleagues on the board have been so supportive of this committee, which will benefit all of our national team athletes.”

The election, which was overseen by AthletesCAN and scrutineered by a third-party organization, took place in fall 2024 and included votes from athletes who represented Canada in the last five years at an IIHF or WPIH championship.

To learn more about Hockey Canada, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along through social media on Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok.

Story by Steve Erickson

Road trips can be at times more of a motivation tool for any team but for others they often bring the team closer as the season approaches the trading deadline.

Locally the Giants ventured to the Island in a contest against the Royals in one of the strangest come from behind wins managing a 7-6 victory in a game that was played in front of 3,888 on New Years eve.

Early in the game they fell behind the eight ball in this one, surrendering two goals in the first 2:02 of the contest, first off a tip from Loponen and then off a shot from the slot from Trembecky.

The Royals extended their lead to 3-0 when Cole Reschny hit the post and deflected to Trembecky who hammered in his second of the game.

At the 10:26 mark of the first, Pickford made things worse when he fired one past Hood on an odd-man rush to increase Victoria’s lead to four.

Talk about strange: the G-men found themselves trailing 6-2 after 40 minutes, but the third saw someone set the alarm that saw them manage four third period goals grabbing a 7-6 win in a shootout.

The win pushes the G-men to a season-high four games improving their record to 17-13-4 while Victoria are only two points ahead of Vancouver  that sees them fall to 17-12-3-3.

The return match was New Year’s day was all Victoria in an afternoon contest played in front of 3,711 faithful supporters who were sent home disappointed with the Giants dropping a 5-2 loss.

Maybe it was the afternoon game that saw the G-men come out short or an early morning breakfast that saw the Royals grab four first goals in the first twenty minutes while the Giants managed three minors.

The Royals added their fifth goal at the 10:12 of the second while Giants London Hoilett got them on the board at 13:10 ending the second 5-1 for the Royals.

The only goal in the third came off the stick of Brett Olson who got one while on the PP at 18:52 in a game that was all Royals from the opening face-off.

The fans went home disappointed but the guy’s played as hard as they could and are looking to pull off a win in their next upcoming game on January 3rd.

That’s hockey!!

Story by Steve Erickson

Earlier in the day while taking in a Vancouver Giants game I had the chance to reflect on the past year thinking about how various things have changed.

It’s not just about the sporting world which has and continues to not necessarily embrace change we must understand how changes are affecting the world.

It’s not just the past year but quite possibly over the past five years that has changed in part due to the Covid Pandemic as well as changes to pro sports.

Sports has changed from paper to the overall computerised technological changes for both teams which affects both commercial and business for all sports teams and leagues.

This impact has been affected given the increase with social media with athletes reacting to the way in which fans can now connect with sports.

It’s fair to say that the pro Athletes play a huge “influencer status” reaching the fan base who find themselves being engulfed in the sports betting world which clearly reaches out to all levels and ages.

Big business as we have seen are eager to “eat up”, capture and look at all games in a new light when it comes to high finance.

Locally hockey fans were wishing and more so dreaming of a Stanley Cup run for the Canucks which never happened – again!

New Year’s Resolutions were made and never kept and with hockey winding down Lacrosse was in full swing with the Vancouver Warriors entertaining their solid fan base at Rogers Arena.

Try as they might they only managed a record of 8-10 with 202 goals for and 211 against with Keegan Ball leading the team with 40 GF, 56 GA and 15 PP goals for the squad that finished 12th in the 15 team league.

The Warriors alone have a solid working relationship with the minor lacrosse community in the area all due to community involvement starting with Head Coach Curt Malawsky whose name in the area “ oozes” lacrosse.

From the Warriors the community quickly turns to the Vancouver Canadians who play at the “Nat” as it is commonly known as.

If you’ve never attended a game your quite possibly missing out on some of the best ball in the area not taking away from the minor baseball in the area who have lots to offer at your local ball diamond.

They were unable to win another championship but they were entertaining given that North Delta’s former minor ball player Brent Lavallee is their manager who in his minor days played goal for North Delta MHA.

Ball in the area continues to grow and if you were unable to catch a game you could have taken in some minor lacrosse games at your local rinks.

While the game is Canada’s National Summer Sport it has some interesting and unique rules that requires you to grasp before attending a game or better yet go to a game with someone who knows and understands the game.

If that doesn’t fancy your liking you can always catch some Delta Islanders games on Sportswave which streams all Junior games for your viewing pleasure.

Let’s not forget the BC Lions were in the hunt to finish playing in the CFL Grey Cup which they were hosting but for various reasons which we leave to the team were unable to reach the pinnacle of success being winning the League Championship.

Overall the past year for Sportswave was fun and we appreciate your support at all events we have covered.

The past year we have been fortunate to post some “first class” photos on the site thanks to Mark Steffens, Wes Shaw and last but not least Laird Allan who has been with us since the start in addition to the newest member Jagraj Lalli.

The past year was a roller coaster given the ever changing landscape in various leagues which will continue given the ever changing elected personnel who either get involved for the betterment of the game or want to put their agenda first.

The last part seldom works but it will continue with normally the root of all evil being money and wanting to promote their Son or Daughter to the next level rather than a league first policy.

Sportswave continues to be involved and if you have a sport you want to promote feel free to reach out for live streaming your games, promoting your sport as well as advertising for various  businesses in your area.

Without the support of your community and local business youth sport will no longer continue which simply put is a  sad state in  today;s world.

Sport isn’t cheap in various communities throughout the Province and we recommend that you contact “KidSport” in your area for assistance if needed.

They are a great organization and are in sport for all the right reasons.

On behalf of the Sportswave Team we wish you a Happy and a Safe 2025