Women in sport's wednesday- 01 September 2021

Photo credit - D. Laird Allan/Sportswave Archives

Story by Steve Erickson

Welcome to one of Sportswave’s newest features which will be posted up each Wednesday for your enjoyment.

Wednesday will be called WOMEN IN SPORT and will feature women from all walks of life who have not just achieved success in the sporting world, but also donated their time for the betterment of all sports.

Having a Daughter who grew up around sport and wanting to play hockey, I know what I was dealing with when it came time to register her to play hockey which was focused on being a “boy’s game” than opening it up.

Sad, but sport has changed over the years and being honest – the young girls of today only want to play a game they fell in love with.

If you know of anyone who you feel deserves to be mentioned on Sportswave please contact us at sportswave@dccnet.com to promote someone who you feel should be recognized.

Our first feature is on Canada’s National Women’s Hockey Team!!

Hockey fans in Canada who are not getting the last few days of summer but of late have been glued to the “tube” catching the action with Canada’s National Women’s Hockey Teamwho is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Its reported in the history books that Women’s hockey in Canada dates back to 1890 when it was played at the University level that had the first game listed as being played in 1981 in Ottawa.

The first championship trophy was donated in 1920 by Lady Meredith and awarded  to the Quebec Ladies’ Hockey Association and said to be the first women’s ice hockey trophy ever presented in Canada. 

The following year in 1921 there was a championship played with the Pacific Coast Hockey Association which lists the first professional women’s hockey team being the Vancouver Amazons.

This team was the first women’s team from Vancouver to participate in the invitational women’s hockey tournament sponsored by the Banff Winter Carnival.

In 1922 the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association which was followed in 1933 by the Dominion Women’s Amateur Hockey Association that saw the championship trophy donated by  Lady Bessborough, the wife of Canada’s Governor General Lord Bessborough.

Toronto hosted the Women’s World Championship in 1987, knowing that this level of the game was not recognized by the International Ice Hockey Federation.,

It was at this championship that representatives from all nations met to allow member countries to lobby the IIHF to allow the creation of a Women’s World Championship. 

The lobbying was a success and saw the first IIHF-sanctioned tournament to be played in 1990 in Ottawa allowing Women’s hockey to compete in the Olympics for the first time in 1998.

Canada has played the United States 20 times with Canada winning 11, counting the win this year while the US have won 9 to their credit.

While Canada punched their way to the Gold medal game against the US for the 20th time in as many years it’s no surprise that they are meeting once again in the for Women’s hockey supremacy. 

As we watch the teams from various countries we are learning how quickly the game is changing for women’s hockey, all in part to the role that both Canada and the US have played.

Such is the case in Japan for a country who have not of late been known for it’s hockey skills, but who list Golf as number five, Sumo wrestling number four, Tennis as number three, Soccer being number two and last but not least Baseball as their number one sport.

Even cricket ranks higher than hockey, but strangely enough there are 4 Japanese teams who currently compete in the Asia League Ice Hockey, which to many is a surprise.

Capitalizing twice on the power play we watched as Japan defeated the Czech Republic 3-2 in Sunday’s second place game, setting up a match with Japan facing the ROC to determine fifth place.

Win or lose against the Russians, Japan will enjoy its best ever finish after previously peaking seventh place (2008, 2015), while the Czechs will finish seventh.

Japanese coach Yuji Iizuka mentioned to the media “It’s very good this has happened and we need to continue to make this kind of progress with the national team program as everyone is looking forward to the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

The Czechs blanked Japan 4-0 in the group stage, but entered with the tournament going 5 for 22 on the PP (22.7%) and well skill is still on the horizon; they’re among the fastest-skating and hardest-working.

Japan has already qualified for the 2022 Beijing Olympics that will see the Czech Republic host an Olympic qualification tournament (November 11th to 14th) in Chomutov, facing Hungary, Norway, and a third team to be determined.

If you know of anyone who you feel deserves to be mentioned on Sportswave please contact us at sportswave@dccnet.com to promote someone who you feel should be recognized.

Photo Credit -The Hockey News

Story by Rocky Rhodes

Hired one day, gone two days later, that’s how short lived Dusty Imoo’s position was with the AHL Toronto Marles as the goaltending coach. 

Many were questioning why and in a professional manor Maple Leaf’s President Brendan Shanahan released a statement saying “Imoo would not be joining the Marlies. 

He went on to say “The organization and that they made a mistake by not thoroughly following through on our organizational protocols when considering this candidate for the position of goaltending coach for the Toronto Marlies.”

Many were left pondering what happened since his hiring that would cause the team to do a complete turnaround. 

Following the announcement of the hiring, various Twitter followers pointed out that his account had liked and retweeted several tweets that contained transphobic hate speech, anti-vaccine sentiments and support for the January 6 Capitol Hill insurrection in the United States. 

To no real surprise he (Imoo) has since deleted his Twitter and Instagram accounts completely and despite his lengthy career as a pro “tender” but never managed to make the AH, but did spend several years in the ECHL, IHL and in hockey leagues in Japan. 

Imoo has served as goaltending coach for the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds and the St. John’s Ice Caps of the American Hockey League before becoming the goaltending coach for the Kings (NHL) in 2015. In 2019, he served as goaltending coach for the KHL’s Kunlun Red Star.

Hall of Famer Tony Esposito

While some were following this move made by the Leafs, others were saddened to hear of the passing of Blackhawks legend and Hall of Famer Tony Esposito (78) after battling pancreatic cancer. 

Rocky Wirtz, Chairman of the Blackhawks released the following statement “The Blackhawks and the National Hockey League have lost a legend in Tony Esposito, who passed away after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.” 

He continued “As we mourn with his wife Marilyn, sons Mark (Kim) and Jason, and grandchildren Lauren and Kamryn, we celebrate Tony’s life and contributions to the Blackhawks and the community.”

Ironically there have been four generations of hockey fans watched him play and the Blackhawks wer ever so fortunate to draft him June 15th, 1969 from the Montreal Canadiens for $25,000. The previous season Chicago finished in last place in the East Division and to no real surprise he (Tony) became the Hawks #1 goalie. 

In doing so he helped lead them to first place in his first season and recorded 15 shutouts, which in today’s game is still a record.

Tony and his Family invited team rookies to their home and Christmas everybody associated with the Blackhawks was there ranging from veteran to rookies.

His #35 was officially retired November 20th, 1988 where you could hear the fan’s chant “TO-NEE!! TO-NEE!!”  

He later joined the Hawks as an ambassador, a role he was born for that saw him reach out to fans, sponsors, and friends of our team.

Tony Esposito’s banner will be part of the United Center forever, as will his legacy as a superstar, on and off the ice.”

The three-time Vezina Trophy winner played 15 seasons for the Blackhawks between 1969-1984 and was a 6-time NHL All-Star and also owns the Blackhawks records for both shutouts with 74 and wins with 418.

His numbers of 423-306-151 reflects that and interesting enough he still ranks 10th in league history and is listed as one of the NHL’s 100 greatest players of all-time (circa 2017). 

The Sault Ste Marie native 

Sportswave sends out deepest condolences to the Esposito family and the Blackhawks organization