BOOK REVIEW:
Remember when hockey cards were the thing?It really wasn’t that long ago, like in the 1990s and for a while after the turn of the century.
But the real feeding frenzy was in the 1990s. In fact, while I was the Regina Leader-Post’s sports editor, I came to know one person who paid off his mortgage
For most collectors, though, it isn’t about paying off a mortgage. Early on in He Shoots, He Saves: The Story of Hockey’s Collectible Treasures, author Jon Waldman quotes Hersh Borenstein, president of the Toronto-based memorabilia company Frozen Pond:
“More than anything it’s the pursuit . . . it’s not about the value.”
You will be aware of that if you have ever been a collector of anything. Yes, it’s about the chase.
In this book, Waldman goes back in time to the beginning of hockey-based collectibles. He also looks at everything from autographs — what to get autographed; what not to get autographed — to game-worn jerseys to programs and tickets and everything in between.
Still, cards are at the heart of hockey collectibles. Early on, Waldman provides a timeline of the history of hockey cards that shows just how crazy the industry was as it built to a peak and then came down the other side.
In chronicling the collectible industry, Waldman also provides something of a history of professional hockey, especially at the NHL level. He offers up a team-by-team look, including expansion and defunct franchises, always pointing out unique collectibles.
Should you give this book a look, it will bring back a million memories. It may even cause you to go on the hunt in your own home. Perhaps you have an H.M. Cowan painted tile or two hanging around somewhere. It could be that you had no idea what they were, other than small paintings of former players like, say, Harry Howell and Tom Johnson. Maybe you will find them, go on the Internet and find out that they are worth more than a few dollars.
But you won’t even attempt to sell them. No. Because it isn’t about the money, is it?
(He Shoots, He Saves: The Story of Hockey’s Collectible Treasures; ECW Press, 274 pages, soft cover, $19.95)
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F Eric Johansson (Tri-City, 1997-2002) signed a one-year contract with Riessersee (Germany, DEL2). This season, with Ritten/Renon (Italy, Serie A), he had 25 goals and 19 assists in 37 games. He led the team in goals and points while it won the Italian championship. . . .
D Jace Coyle (Spokane, Medicine Hat, 2007-11) signed a one-year contract with the Sheffield Steelers (England, UK Elite). He had two goals and 17 assists in 36 games with Aalborg (Denmark, Metal Ligaen) this season. . . .
F Marcin Kolusz (Vancouver, 2003-04) signed a two-year extension with Tychy (Poland, PHL). He had 40 points, including 16 goals, in 42 games this season. His club won the Poland championship. Kolusz captained Poland at the World Championship Division 1A, where he was named to the all-star team and named best player on his team.
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TUESDAY’S GAME:
No Game Scheduled.The Kelowna Rockets get their first chance to win this season’s WHL championship when they meet the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings tonight. The Rockets hold a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup. . . . The Rockets have won their last six games, beating the Portland Winterhawks three straight to close out the Western Conference final and now having opened the league final with three victories. . . . Wondering why the teams didn’t play on back-to-back nights when the series headed to Kelowna? Diana Krall was playing Prospera Place last night.
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Bruce Vance is leaving the Prince Albert Raiders after 14 years with the WHL franchise. Vance, who has been involved in the WHL for 21 years, is leaving the Raiders to work as the City of Prince Albert’s marketing and sponsorship co-ordinator. Vance joined the Raiders as director of marketing, and has been the Raiders’ business manager for the past four years. . . . Michael Scissons will replace Vance as the Raiders’ business manager, effective June 1. Scissons has been with the Saskatoon Blades through 12 seasons, most recently as their vice-president of business operations.
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The attempt at resuscitating the men’s hockey program at Thompson River University in Kamloops is dead. Trevor Bast of Victoria, who had been attempting to revive a program that was discontinued by TRU prior to this season, tells Taking Note that “I have stopped working towards reviving TRU hockey.” . . . With the TRU athletic department having said it no longer was interested in a hockey program, Bast approached the TRU Students’ Union in an attempt to form a link there. However, the TRUSU didn’t get back to him. At the same time, a deadline imposed by the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League went by, so Bast feels he has no choice but to walk away. . . . Don Schulz, the head coach of the WolfPack when the program collapsed, is preparing for his first season as head coach of the Kamloops-based Thompson Blazers, who play in the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League.
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The junior B Kimberley Dynamiters, champions of the Kootenay International Junior League, have changed the responsibilities of assistant coach Mike Reid and general manager Dave Smith. . . . Reid will take over as GM/director of player personnel, with Smith move to assistant GM-hockey operations. . . . “We’ve just taken the workload and divided it into two,” team president Chad Koran explained to Taylor Rocca of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman. “It’s a pretty demanding and time-consuming job. We’re just trying to divide it between the two guys and lighten the load for the both of them.” . . . Head coach Jerry Bancks is set for another season, with Reid, Jeff Keiver and Todd White all back on staff, too. . . . Rocca's story is right here.
Does the NFL really concern itself more with deflated footballs and artificially inflated players? In light of Tom Brady’s suspension and Deflategate, Jere Longman of The New York Times examines the NFL and a history of deceit in sports right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The Prince Albert Raiders have re-signed associate coach Dave Manson and assistant coach Kelly Guard. Contract terms weren’t released. They will work under head coach Marc Habscheid, who signed a four-year contract earlier this spring. . . . The Raiders have yet to reveal whether they will retain general manager Bruno Campese, whose contract is soon to expire. . . . Manson, who is from Prince Albert, will be entering his 11th season on the Raiders’ coaching staff. He also is a former Raiders defenceman (1983-86). . . . Guard, who also is from Prince Albert, is preparing for his fourth season with the Raiders. He started as the team’s goaltending coach, then was promoted to assistant coach prior to this season. . . . Both men have been part of Memorial Cup championship teams, Manson with the 1984-85 Raiders and Guard with the 2003-04 Kelowna Rockets.——
Former NHLer Jeremy Roenick, who now is in the broadcast business, said Tuesday that Travis Green, the former Portland Winterhawks assistant GM/assistant coach, should be considered for the head-coaching vacancy with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers. . . . "He is a no-nonsense coach and I think a coach that's ready for the National Hockey League and that's waited for a National Hockey League job," Roenick said Tuesday on Comcast SportsNet's Breakfast on Broad. "He turned down an assistant job in Pittsburgh last year because of his craving to be a head coach. If there's a young guy out there that's ready for that jump, I think Travis Green would be that guy.” . . . Green now is the head coach of the Utica Comets, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. . . . There’s more right here on Roenick and Green. . . . The Comets hold a 2-1 lead over the Oklahoma City Barons in a second-round series with Game 4 tonight in Oklahoma City.
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D Mackenze Stewart of the Prince Albert Raiders has signed with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. Stewart, who turns 20 on Aug. 10, is from Calgary. The Canucks selected him in the seventh round of the NHL’s 2014 draft. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Stewart had 11 points, five of them goals, with the Raiders this season. . . . The Canucks apparently plan on turning Stewart into a left winger. . . .
The best baseball book you’ve never read? In a piece written for Rolling Stone, Dan Epstein makes a case for Joe, You Coulda Made Us Proud. That is the story of former Major League first baseman Joe Pepitone, and it was on bookshelves before Jim Bouton’s Ball Four. The good news is that Joe, You Could Made Us Proud is being reissued. . . . Epstein’s piece is right here.
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“The family of Steve Montador is planning to launch a lawsuit against the NHL in the wake of news the late defenceman suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, widely known as CTE,” writes Rick Westhead of TSN. “The Krembil Neuroscience Centre’s Canadian Sports Concussion Project announced results on Tuesday of autopsies conducted on Montador, former CFL player John Forzani, and an anonymous donor. CTE was detected in the brains of Montador and the anonymous donor, but not Forzani, a former lineman with the Stampeders.” . . . Montador, who was 35 when he died in February. As a hockey player, he had a long history of concussions. . . . Westhead’s piece is right here.
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Hopefully Euro hockey notices that when #TeamCanada wins there is no big goal celebrations or hand slaps down the bench. #RespectOpponents
— Jeff Ulmer (@Ulms44) May 12, 2015
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what is happening these days with the NFL franchise in Washington, D.C., and its nickname, you shouldn't be surprised to hear that someone has demanded the Portland Winterhawks should dump their logo.
sixth-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft. . . . McKechnie had been acquired by Seattle from the Lethbridge Hurricanes early last season. In 67 games with Seattle, he had seven goals and 11 assists. In 212 regular-season games, he has 92 points, including 46 goals. . . . McKechnie isn't expected to play for the Blades on Friday night in Brandon or Saturday in Moose Jaw, as he is in transit. . . . The Blades have released G Michael Herringer, 18, from their roster, so will go with Trevor Martin, 18, and Nik Amundrud, 17, at least for now. Martin is expected to start in Brandon, with Amundrud getting the call in Moose Jaw. . . . Herringer was acquired last week from the Victoria Royals for undisclosed conditional bantam draft picks, but didn't play in either of Saskatoon's first two games. . . . The Thunderbirds now have four 20-year-olds, one over the limit. The four are D Adam Henry, who turns 20 on Nov. 24, F Justin Hickman, D Evan Wardley and G Taran Kozun. . . . Saskatoon's 20s right now are McKechnie, F Chase Clayton and F Brett Stovin, who will be 20 on Oct. 31.
replacing Tim Leonard, who cited personal reasons in resigning on Wednesday. Guard has been with the Raiders for two seasons as their goaltending/strength and conditioning coach. . . . Guard played two seasons with the Kelowna Rockets (2002-04), backstopping them to the 2004 Memorial Cup title. In 2003-04, he set the WHL record for lowest regular-season GAA (1.56), a record that still stands. With Kelowna, he wore big white pads upon which, I once wrote, you would be able to ski. . . . The Raiders also released D Ryan Coghlan, who turns 19 on Oct. 31. He was acquired last season from the Saskatoon Blades. From Nanaimo, B.C., he is expected to play in the BCHL. . . . Leonard has returned to the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos, as their head coach. He replaces Ken Morrison, who resigned earlier in the week. Morrison led the Mintos to a national championship last spring. Andrew Schopp of the Prince Albert Daily Herald has that story 
Tigers with two 20-year-old goaltenders, the other being Jared Rathjen, who was acquired over the summer from the Vancouver Giants. . . . However, Rathjen continues to undergo medical testing for a heart condition that was detected at the opening of training camp. . . . The Tigers' other import is sophomore German F Markus Eisenschmid, 19. . . . Langhamer's arrival also leaves the Tigers with five 20-year-olds, the others being D Kyle Becker, D Tyler Lewington, F Miles Koules and Rathjen. . . . Ryan McCracken of the Medicine Hat News also has reported that Tigers F Anthony Ast has suffered a wrist injury and will require surgery. Ast, 19, was acquired last season from the Vancouver Giants. He had 17 points, 12 of them goals, in 27 games with the Tigers. He has battled injuries throughout his WHL career, playing 52 games last season, 38 in 2012-13 and 42 in 2011-12.
three imports, one over the limit. Also on Edmonton's roster are veteran Danish F Mads Eller, 19, and Russian rookie D Marsel Ibragimov. . . . The Oil Kings will have to trade Kulda or Eller, or release Ibragimov. CHL rules prevent the trading of an import player during his first season. . . . Furthermore, Kulda turns 20 on Nov. 13, so his arrival leaves the Oil Kings with four 20s, the others being D Blake Orban, D Ashton Sautner and G Tyler Santos. . . . Santos is one of three goaltenders on Edmonton's roster, joining starter Tristan Jarry, 19, and freshman Patrick Dea, 17.
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