25th January 2023

This article is presented to you from  https://www.theHockeyGrandDad.ca,  https://Sportswave.ca  and https://SWHockey.ca for your enjoyment.

For over 100 years, the maple leaf has adourned Team Canada hockey jerseys in various sizes, shapes and colours.  Hundreds of our Canadian men and women have donned the jersey to represent our country on the rinks around the globe.

This slide show  is of the numerous Team Canada replica jerseys I have purchased over the years to build my collection.  I am still looking for 3 or 4 of the older jerseys.  They are hard to find and are expensive, but hopefully I will find them in my travels.

I have commented on each jersey.  The wining team is noted. 

Remember that on the ice or in life, keep your head up, stick on the ice and be safe.

Remember one of Sportswave’s Steve Erickson’s favourite sayings, “ if you can’t play a sport, at least be one”.

There are a lot more memories to come.  Whether a win or a loss, cheer Team Canada on.

The Hockey GrandDad,
D. Laird Allan

Story by Steve Erickson

The Meadow Ridge Moose collected four points from two games in Week 14, moving into second place in the South Coast Women’s Hockey League standings. 

The Moose coasted past the Burnaby Mountain Capitals 6-1 Sunday night at Planet Ice – Coquitlam, firing 60 shots at the Capitals net on their way to their seventh victory of the season. 

Sydney Kreps netted two goals for the Moose, raising her season’s total to six in 13 games played. The Surrey native also added an assist for a three-point game. 

Natalie Richardson, Alanna McMullen, Kasey Lepp and Madeleine Ericsson also scored for Meadow Ridge, now at 7-4-3 (win-loss-tied) and eight points back of the first-place Kamloops Vibe. Zoe Leas scored the lone goal for the Capitals, in the league basement at 3-12-0. 

The Moose began the weekend with a 2-1 victory over the visiting Vibe Friday night at the Langley Sportsplex. 

Darcy Henderson tallied both goals for the Moose, netting a shorthanded goal in the last minute of the second period, and the game-winner midway through the third period. Rochelle Smith notched the lone Vibe goal with eight minutes remaining. 

Kamloops blanked Burnaby Mountain 4-0 Saturday evening, also in Langley. 

Smith scored her eighth of the season just 23 seconds into the game, and Kamloops maintained the lead until the third period, when goals from Jamie Mackenzie, Katy Thorne and Gaylene Scott put the game out of reach. 

Ashley Fisher made 17 saves for her league-best fourth shutout of the season. 

The South Fraser TNT and North Shore Rebels played to a 2-2 tie Saturday evening at Planet Ice – Coquitlam, remaining tied for third place in the eight-team league. 

The TNT got first-period goals from Tracey Chang and Shea Weighill, and finished the weekend at 6-4-4. 

North Shore, now at 6-2-4 on the season, earned the tie on goals by Cassidy Bell late in the second period and Kirstin Geyer on the powerplay with eight minutes left. 

The Fraser Valley Jets won twice in Victoria, improving to 7-4-1 and pulling to within one point of the TNT and Rebels. 

The Jets topped the Island Surge 8-3 Saturday night at the Panorama Rec Centre, with Jackie Lang scoring twice for the winners. Natasha Steblin, Arianna Castillo, Shay Gronnemose, Silvia Traversa, Amanda Christie and Lindsay DiPietro also scored for Fraser Valley. 

Frequerique Gauthier tallied twice for the Surge, with Sara Charbonneau adding a single goal. Steblin scored five times and added on assist in a 13-1 win by the Jets over the Island Sunday morning in Esquimalt. Dipietro had three goals and a pair of assists, with Lang scoring twice and earning a pair of assists. 

Chelsea Wilson also had a pair of goals, with Misty Seastrom scoring once and collecting five assists. Calandis Markotic netted the lone Surge goal. 

The SCWHL, the only competitive women’s hockey league in British Columbia, is a member of – and sanctioned by – BC Hockey and Hockey Canada. 

The nine-team league is classified as Senior Female AA and has two teams on Vancouver Island, one in Kamloops and six in Metro Vancouver.

South Coast Women’s Hockey League www.southcoastwomenshockey.ca

Contact: Rick Kupchuk 

604-996-5023 

rkupchuk61@gmail.com

Story by Steve Erickson

January 10th is the one day that some Junior hockey players dread when it approaches, but when it’s over some wonder why they were moved, while others are happy not to be moved.

It’s a time of the season that some welcome while others have reservations on what their future holds as they advance their career.

Locally the lower mainland has two main leagues one being the Junior A BCHL having 18 teams in the Interior and Coastal conferences which involves travel throughout the province.

The other league operates solely out of the lower mainland is called the PJHL consisting of 13 teams playing a 48 game schedule with travel from North Vancouver to Chilliwack.

Transactions in both leagues posted below.

PJHL

The Langley Trappers have acquired the playing rights to Ryden Mathieson (F) from the Port Moody Panthers in exchange for future considerations

Mission City acquired Rowan Zapisocki (F) from Lake Cowichan of the VIJHL for future consideration.

Port Moody acquired Callum Tung (G) from North Van Wolf Pack for future considerations.

White Rock acquired Ty Fletcher (D) from Delta Ice Hawks for future considerations.

Chilliwack Jets acquired Connor Nicolay (F) from Summerland Steam of the KIJHL for future considerations.

Port Moody transferred playing rights of Derek Leroux (F) to the Ridge Meadows Flames for future considerations.

Port Moody transferred the playing rights of Daniel Dallapace (D) to the North Van Wolf Pack for future considerations.

BCHL trades January 10th

Vernon Vipers transferred Gavin Schmidt (F) to the Calgary Canuck in the AJHL for futures

Coquitlam acquired Blake Setter (F) from the Calgary Canucks in the AJHL for futures

Trail Smoke Eaters acquired Max Potvin (F) from the Powell River Kings in exchange for the playing rights to Remy Spooner (F) and future considerations.

Coquitlam transferred William Yee (D) to the Grande Prairie Storm of the AJHL for future considerations.

Prince George Spruce Kings transferred Liam Hunks (D) to the Notre Dame Hounds for future considerations.

Prince George Spruce Kings acquired Hunter Price (F) from Drayton Valley Thunder of the AJHL for future considerations.

Cowichan Valley transferred Luke Strickland (F) to the Wellington Dukes of the OJHL for future considerations.

Vernon Vipers acquired Walker Erickson (F) from the Merritt Centennials in exchange for future considerations.

Salmon Arm acquired Tristan Allen (D) from the Merritt Centennials in exchange for Aidan Lindblad (F) and future considerations.

Cowichan Valley Capitals acquired Ethan DeKay (F), Ethan O’Halloran (D) and Quinn Disher (F) from the Brooks BAndits of the AJHL in exchange for the playing rights to (F) Davide Patella.

West Kelowna Warriors acquired playing rights to Landen Hilditch (D) from the Surrey Eagles in exchange for future considerations.

Aside from the above trades the one that caught the attention of many was the one that involves the Windsor Spitfires Acquiring Shane Wright (F) plus a pick in exchange for Ethan Miedema, Gavin McCarthy and 7 draft selections which include 2 conditional picks.

Here’s hoping that all the selections work out for not only the teams, but mostly all players involved.

Story by Rocky Rhodes

The eighth-place Burnaby Mountain Capitals earned a split of a two-game series on the road against the first-place Kamloops Vibe in Week 13 of the South Coast Women’s Hockey League season.. 

The Capitals arrived in Kamloops Saturday afternoon, and a few hours later upset the league leaders 2-1 at the Memorial Arena. 

Zoe Leas assisted on a powerplay goal from McKenna Cameron early in the second period to give Burnaby an early lead, then Leas scored the eventual game-winner 90 seconds into the final frame to give the Capitals a 2-0 lead. 

Kamloops fired 16 shots at the Capitals goal in the third period, but only Majorie Boisvert was able to get a puck past Burnaby netminder Bella Heng. 

In a rematch Sunday morning, also at Memorial Arena, the Capitals again found themselves with a 2-1 lead early in the third period. Grace Hanberg and Indianna Wainman tallied for Burnaby.  

Rochelle Smith had given the Vibe an early 1-0 lead. Kamloops reeled off four goals in the final 18 minutes of play for the 5-2 win, getting two goals each from Kathleen Cahoon and Michelle Morrison. 

The Vibe scored three times on four powerplay chances, conceding one shorthanded goal. Burnaby was scoreless in four power play opportunities. 

The Fraser Valley Jets topped the Richmond Devils 4-1 at the Richmond Ice Centre on Saturday evening, allowing the Jets to take over fifth place from the Devils. 

The Jets outshot their hosts 36-24, and got two goals each from Jackie Lang and Melanie Jue. Sidney Brown had the lone goal for Richmond. 

The Meadow Ridge Moose and South Fraser TNT battled to a scoreless tie Saturday night at Planet Ice – Coquitlam. 

Melinda Choy stopped 33 shots for her third shutout of the season, while Sabrina Mathias made 18 saves for her first shutout in four games played. 

Standings 

                 GP    W     L  T    PTS 

Kamloops Vibe               16     10     3   3     23 

North Shore Rebels         11       6    2   3     15 

South Fraser TNT           13       6    4   3     15 

Meadow Ridge Moose   12        5   4    3    13 

Fraser Valley Jets           10        5   4    1    11 

Richmond Devils           13        4   6    3     11 

Island Surge                   12        3   9    0      6 

Burnaby Mtn. Capitals   13       3  10    0       6

Story by D. Laird Allan

On the 19th of November, 2022 Sportswave posted a story regarding the Vancouver Giants vs the Kamloops Blazers game commemorating the Legends of Hockey from the 1971 Summit Series Team Canada and Team CCCP.  The game was held in front of a full house at the LEC in the District of Langley, BC.  

The Official Opening Ceremony puck drop had four players from that 1971 team, as well as the Captains from the Giants and Blazers. Both these players suited up for the Team Canada on the 2023 IIHF World U20 Jr. Hockey Championship team.

So here we have six Gold Medal Team Canada players from two different eras that have proudly won championships wearing the Maple Leaf.

1971 Team Canada members from l-r.

Dale Talon

Dennis Hull

Peter Mahvolich

Yvan Courneyer, HHOF

2022 & 2023 Team Canada Jrs. l-r

Vancouver Giants "C" F Zack Ostapchuk (2003), St. Albert, Ab.

Kamloops Blazer "C" F Logan Stankoven (2003), Kamloops, BC.

Congratulations to these players and all the men and women who have donned the Maple Leaf to represent their/our country.

Side note:  The Giants' game worn jerseys were auction off for charity post game.  I was lucky enough to have the highest bid and got the Giants' Vikman's GK jersey for the Hockey Granddad collection.  The jersey was autographed by Vikman and the four NHL stars.

Story by Steve Erickson

Given the recent success not only with  the Giants, but also the IIHF the price seemed too much to turn down for the Vancouver Giants.

With the trading dead-line two short days away it’s no real surprise that the Giants were looking at making a move not just for this season, but the upcoming seasons ahead.

Some were speculating, while others might have thought he might have been sent three hours south,  but that wasn’t the case.

The move clearly indicates that the Giants are building for the future and given their current rankings in the standings in the Western Conference being 4th overall the future looks bright.

In a statement the Giants are sending 2003-born forward Zack Ostapchuk to the Winnipeg Ice for three first-round draft picks in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

Zack was selected 12th overall in the 2017 WHL Prospects Draft and has managed to notch 48 goals, 48 assists, 132 PIM’s in 153 WHL games.

In addition he has played in 14 playoff games grabbing 23 points and also  was fortunate to win back-to-back Gold Medals while playing for Canada at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships.

Fast forward to the Giants return forward Skyler Bruce (2003), forward Connor Dale(2005),, prospects Owen Brees (2022 5th Rounder) and Hudson Landmark (2022 8th Rounder), plus a 2024 5th round draft pick.

Stats this season are below:

In 33 games this season Skyler Bruce has 7 goals and 15 assists and a +9 rating. Overall he has 70 points in 136 WHL games and was first drafted by the ICE in Round 2 of the 2018 WHL Prospects Draft.

Connor Dale has 3 goals and 5 assists in 24 games as a WHL rookie and was selected in the 9th round of the 2020 WHL Prospects Draft by the ICE.

Lethbridge’s Owen Brees (Lethbridge, AB) was selected in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft by Winnipeg in the 5th round, 110th overall. 

He has 18 points in 20 games for the Northern Alberta Xtreme U17 Prep this season.

Sherwood Park’s Hudson Landmark (forward) was selected in the 8th round by the Ice in the 2022 Draft 176th overall. 

His size will clearly help the Giants standing 6’1 forward has 18 points in 24 games for the Sherwood Park Kings U18 AAA.

Trades are tough and no doubt this was one Giants GM Barclay Parneta may have pondered but regardless that’s the nature of sport as they advance.

Barclay mentioned “We would like to thank Zack for his leadership and contributions to the Giants organization. He has left his mark on the Giants that will influence it positively for years to come. We look forward to welcoming Skyler Bruce and Connor Dale to the Vancouver Giants.”

Given the move by the Ice one can only assume that they are getting set for the run to the Memorial Cup.

Story by Steve Erickson

The World Junior Hockey Championships concluded with a game that many will remember for years to come and not just for the wild finish.

North Van’s young player who I am told first tried out to play at the Burnaby Winter Club and was turned down headed home to play at the North Shore Winter Club.  For those who are old enough to remember years back the Winter Club had both a Junior A club and a Junior B  team albeit not playing at the same time.

In addition the Winter Club hosted one of the most prestigious Midget A Christmas Tournaments in the entire province with teams coming from the USA as well as Europe.

The magnitude of this tournament allowed the club to grow in stature attracting top quality players and as things happened it was put to bed for questions that still have many wondering why.

Regardless, that’s over and all the talk now remains about the stellar play of Connor Bedard (17) who pretty much carried the team on his shoulders, but the remaining cases were due for an encore.

The finale was the Gold Medal Championship which had them leading by a margin of 2-0 which many thought would be enough for the win, but sports is a game of who shows up and at what point of the game. This was clearly a game that had many on the edge of their seats at home or in the coaches room prior to a game set for a 7 pm face-off and thankfully only one O/T was needed for Canada’s win.

So why is Connor such an impressive and talented player and if you dig deep into what he had to fight through it’s fair to say his devotion comes from his parents.

He is projected to be the overall number one pick in this year’s NHL Entry Draft and managed to grab 18 points in only 4 games with only Dale McCourt (1977) and Brayden Schenn (2011) both recorded 18 points at the World Juniors Championships.

In the 1993 World Juniors Forsberg recorded 31 points in seven game which is seven more than any other play for this event, whale Markus Naslund is tied for the second-most points with 24

Along with Raimo Heiminen of Finland who set the record in 1984.

While Bedard set records, one has to admire his post-game interview with TSN analyst Kenzie Lalonde  when asked about his play and quickly turned the attention to that of his team-mates.

I was asked why anyone would ask him a question such as this and simply put depending on how he answered it could have been a game changer for the reporter as well as the station.

Living on the West Coast we not only were impressed by the overall play of the entire team, but especially those from various WHL Clubs.

The roster included Logan Stankoven (Kamloops), Zack Ostapchuk (Giants), Thomas Milic (Seattle), Nolan Allan (Seattle), Olen Zelllweger (Everett), Reid Schaefer (Seattle),  Caedan Bankier (Kamloops) and Seattle’s Kevin Korchinski.

Regardless of the team you were cheering for the IIHF, Hockey Canada and both Cities of Halifax and Moncton put on an impressive show and thanks goes out to all the volunteers who helped make this a success.

For Canada to advance to the final they had to upset the USA managing to do so by a score of 6-2 while Czechia advanced by upsetting Sweden by a narrow 2-1 score.

For the Czechia team the loss for this core group of players who all started at the U18 and felt determined to win their first Gold medal since 2001 falling one goal short but having their best finish in 22 years.

Thanks to everyone for making this a huge success  and for many Canadian hockey fans from coast to coast – 

TIME STOOD STILL!!

Story by Steve Erickson

As the 2022 sports year comes to a close Sportswave wants to thank everyone that made our year memorable and fun to cover.

We added to the Sportswave Team with the addition of Mark Steffens and Tiffany Luke who have done an exceptional job assisting Laird Allan covering events for the “team” adding that needed touch.

Thanks to Christine Blanchette for our weekly Fitness Friday features and to Bruce Nolte for his continued coverage of sport in the lower mainland.

Sportswave offers live webcasting with our “magic man” Matteo Angeles at the controls operating all sporting coverage in a first class professional manner.

We continue to cover the sports scene in the area promoting all levels from amateur to professional that will see additional sports coverage for your enjoyment.

Special thanks to the players, teams, fans, organizations, but mostly the volunteers who make sports what it is today.

It’s a stress relief, a fitness conditioner as well as a way to meet and grow lifelong friends which have no limit.

We must remember that today’s youth are tomorrow’s pro’s and without not only support, but teaching from the older generation, sport will stay and remain stagnant and not grow.

From small towns to large cities programs continue to grow and prosper all thanks to support from your local government as well as business organizations who strongly support the growth of sport in their area.

As we focus on moving forward into 2023 let’s adopt the motto that change can only be achieved if we all work as a community for a healthy society.

There is far too much unrest in today’s world and we all must all work to put our society back on the world stage helping our athletes reach goals that were once out of reach.

Special thanks to all the media members for all sports for their support and assist us to cover their sport which range from amateur to pro – your assistance is greatly appreciated and valued!!!

If you have an event you would like to have us cover or do a live webcast give us a call and we’ll set the game plan in motion.

Our live coverage offers features that others are unable to serve up taking you from the base line to the goal line to the hogline hitting a homerun – ONLY WITH SPORTSWAVE!!!!

On behalf of the Sportswave Team we wish you a very Happy New Year and all the best growing your sport for your community.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Story by Rocky Rhodes

The Christmas holiday saw many hockey associations host tournaments that managed to draw teams from various areas of the province.

Of course the games were played despite the ongoing play of the World  Junior Hockey Championships held in both Moncton and Hallifax with a solid fan base.

As one might expect, the talk of the games was the play of North Vancouver’s next NHL superstar Connor Bedard and I don’t think this is out of context.

No question his play has not just elevated, but carried Team Canada into the semi-final round after the overtime win over Slovakia.

No question that the play of both “tenders” would be the overall storyline was the exceptional goaltending. Slovakia’s Adam Gajan, whom we should mention started the tournament as the third goalie for the Slovaks.

Regardless of his stellar play, it’s fair to mention that he made 53 saves while Team Canada’s Thomas Milic stopped 24, some of which were quality and narrowly failed to cross the line

So Team Canada advances to the semi-final round to face Team USA in what many are calling the game of the tournament, which I question given the play of all the players in all games.

Moving forward some wonder if Bedard will be able to not just get shots on net, but also quality shots on their starting tender, whoever that might be.

Regardless, it’ll have many talking points while the other two games will see Austria play Latvia, while Czechia take on Sweden.

Let’s not forget that Canada lost to Czechia in a match-up December 26th that saw Czechia grab three goals in the second, managing their first win over Team Canada since 2013.

In that game Thomas Suchanek stole the show managing to stop 36 of 38 shots, while the starter for Team Canada Benjamin Gaudreau was pulled at the midway point in the second in a game that saw Connor Bedard pepper 11 of Canada’s shots and managed to score one.

Regardless of the outcome in this game Team Canada had their sights set on the match-up against Slovakia and it’s fair to say that this game did not disappoint anyone watching from their couch or in the stands.

They needed the win and while it might have been hard or somewhat difficult to select a single game star, the following were the three stars in the game.

• Adam Gajan, G (Slovakia, 2023):  making 53 saves.
• Connor Bedard, F (Canada, 2023): 2 goals – 1 Assist
• Zack Ostapchuk, F (Canada, Ottawa):scored Canada’s third goal and is a member of the Vancouver Giants