bchl adds three staff members - 29th August 2022

Story by Steve Erickson

Leagues continue to make changes all of which are for the better as they move forward to grow their league for the future of the game.

Locally the PJHL made changes last season with the addition of new personnel and now we are hearing that the BCHL has added to their office staff.

We just received the following notice from the league and are committed to keep you up to date in the world of all sport.

Enjoy the read and thanks to the BCHL for the press release:

The BC Hockey League has hired three new staff members for the league office.

The league has brought in Mario Galea as Coordinator of Finance, Alex Waddington as Coordinator of Events and Monique MacKinnon as the league’s first Safe Sport Officer.

Galea has been an accountant dating back to 2001 and has worked for various companies, including Chantelle Management in Langley, Specialty Care Inc. in Toronto and Pico of Canada in Burnaby. 

He received his accounting education and training at the University of British Columbia, British Columbia Institute of Technology and the Certified General Accountants of British Columbia.

Galea replaces Jake Baker who was previously the league’s Manager of Finance. 

The BCHL would like to thank Baker for his hard work over the past three-plus years and to wish him luck in his future endeavors.

As the Coordinator of Events, Waddington will oversee the planning and execution of the league’s 60th Anniversary outdoor event, as well as the BCHL Road Show in Burns Lake, B.C. She is already very familiar with the league, having worked as the Penticton Vees Director of Sponsorship and Business Development from 2018 to 2021.  She currently works for Canucks Place Children’s Hospiceas the Officer of Events and Sponsorship. Waddington previously worked for the Vancouver Canucks for over two years as an Account Executive. She received a Bachelor’s Degree from Simon Fraser University in 2014.

MacKinnon will fill the volunteer position of Safe Sport Officer as part of the league’s Abuse, Harassment and Discrimination Policy that was passed by the Board of Governors in May. 

She will be on call for all BCHL athletes who wish to report an incident and will act independently from the league and its teams.  In addition to taking medical courses related to pain management, prescription drug use and brain health, MacKinnon received training at the U.S. Center for SafeSport and will be taking Safe Sport.  MacKinnon graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Physical Education degree from the University of Ottawa.  She is currently a Leadership, Employee Management, Workplace Culture and Change Specialist that has over 30 years of experience as an international speaker, consultant and coach.

Thanks to Jesse Adamson for the info

Manager, Media & Communications

BC Hockey League

604-354-0035

Story by Steve Erickson

Regardless of who you are, officiating in any and all sports has been a concern for those who are more focused on winning than pure sportsmanship.

A sad fact to mention given all the fighting and negative reflection many show in a world where we are or should be teaching today’s youth the meaning of sportsmanship.

Since the beginning of time sports have constantly been changing or revising the rules they have in place for the betterment of the game as well as future players.

Coaches should instill sportsmanship and not just focus on winning at all cost, which shows that they are more focused on winning than anything else.

As we approach the upcoming hockey season a plan has been put in place to attract more on-ice officials back to the program, considering that they have lost vast numbers since Covid hit.

BC Hockey has made a change for the cost which is listed on their site reporting that the $5.00 Hockey University (HU) fee associated with the eLearning module has been subsidized from $25.00 as part of an officiating recruitment initiative exclusive to the 2022-2023 season.

The HU registration fee is in addition to all applicable HCOP level 1 or level 2 certification fee(s) and BC Hockey participant assessment fees (if required) that will accompany your registration for an in-person certification clinic. 

While Hockey Canada is in a turmoil at present we are fortunate to have Dan Hanoomansingh as the Managing of Officiating along with others to develop both male and female officials for the betterment of Canada’s game.

It is also important to note that when you register for a Hockey University course that it is automatically associated with the HCR Profile you are registering with. 

The sad part is that parents fail to understand that in most cases the officials are young kids and don’t think twice about shouting abuse, but if someone was to shout abuse at their son or daughter it’d be a different story.

Prior to having an adult, and I use that term loose berating any official, think twice; they are only kids doing a kids game. 

Someday your son or daughter might want to officiate so ask yourself – Would you want to hear abuse directed at your child from the stands?

The following info is from Hockey Canada’s Manager of Officiating.

Enjoy the read:

This past month, we launched a brand-new officiating curriculum. 

This type of long-term project doesn’t lend itself as nicely to a tweet (like events) but it’s absolutely the most important thing we’re doing, as a program. 

I’d like to share six highlights of the project here 

1. Why a new curriculum? 

There wasn’t an “old” curriculum to replace. Programs did their own thing, which was inefficient and led to 1000s of hours expended by volunteers doing similar work in silos. An inefficient use of our precious volunteer hours and a missed opportunity.

2) The curriculum is “outcome-based”.

It is focused on what the official is required to actually do on the ice. The goal is that the official leaves the clinic with a better understanding of officiating skills. Less focus on testing knowledge, and more focus on assessing ability

3. The curriculum is official-centered.

The learning activities are designed to actively engage the official in their own learning. While it is sometimes necessary to sit and receive information, officials should spend the majority of their clinic actually *doing* something.

4. The curriculum is adaptable.

The pandemic created new challenges and opened up new opportunities. For some, remote delivery via Zoom is the most effective option. For others, a return to in-person learning cannot come soon enough. Our resources can be deployed in

5. The curriculum is flexible. An instructor can never be sure how the session will go until they do it — sometimes a group needs more time with a concept, or is more advanced than expected. Our resources are designed to fit & be adapted to a variety of instructional challenges

6. How did this happen? 

I piloted this project over the line but it’s not my victory. So much credit goes to the volunteers who sank thousands of hours into this project and to the instructors and leaders who will now deliver the curriculum from coast to coast to coast.

And of course, none of this happens without the support of our 13 Members from conception to implementation.

Sportswave only hopes that we can get some officials to return to the program

Thanks to Dan for the info.

Story by Steve Erickson

While the Vancouver Canucks are still in discussion for the broadcast rights for the upcoming season, the Seattle Kraken wasted no time in adding Eddie Olczyk to their broadcast team.

He will be working alongside John Forslund and JT Brown in what they are hoping will be the most entertaining “team” of all NHL clubs.

While many question this let’s face reality, some broadcasts are boring to the fans and with all due respect it’s like they think the game is focused on them.

Being in the industry, I hear this and while each and every broadcast can be challenging some do have an off night in the booth.

We are hearing that the Vancouver Canucks are still (as of press time) in negotiations for a radio broadcast partner with things on the home front being quiet.Currently Sportsnet has been the Canucks home since 2017 that has the current five-year deal set to expire.

I am hearing that this was to be finalized a while back, but you have to wonder if this is due to the new group in place for the Canucks, which could conceivably be a reality.

Let’s hope this gets sorted out in the next while and we can mention that one not returning to the press box is Corey Hirscch who has stepped down for personal reasons.

In wanting to give him a free plug he has a book coming out on the topic of mental health which include various initiatives he is strongly passionate about and we wish him all the best.

The Seattle Root Sports line up is looking at scoring a hat-trick with many in the Seattle and surrounding area, which continues to grow week by week. Not only adding to their on-air broadcast they have reached out to Victoria’s Dave Lowry who played 1,185 games through 19 seasons through 5 teams.  He played his first four seasons with Florida, then the expansion team who managed to play a key role in the run to the 1996 Stanley Cup Final in only their third playing season.  When asked Dave did mention “I think we might have had dinner four times from December till the end of the season and that would be something his mom would organize, just so she could see him.

The Kraken’s AHL affiliate team is the Coachella Valley Firebirds who are playing the Abbotsford Canucks October 21 at 3 pm and also October 23rd with a 6 pm face-off.

On another hockey related note we congratulate Jeff Tambellini on being hired by the Kraken as their Director of Player Development who finished his career with the Canucks.  While we are dealing with Seattle and the area, this is more for my Sister and Nephew and family who enjoy attending games at various rinks.

Note that two World’s elite teams face-off Nov. 20 at Climate Pledge Arena when the American and Canadian national women’s teams meet in the 2022-23 Rivalry Series. This is the first U.S. date for teams who have dominated gold-medal game appearances in the IIHF World Championships and Winter Olympics. This includes Canada’s 3-2 win in Beijing last February thereby avenging Team USA’s 2018 victory. This is you chance to catch elite Women’s hockey and the first women’s game at Climate Pledge Arena which is sponsored by Kraken founding partner Symetra and tickets, starting at $25. Tickets went on sale Aug. 10th.