Hockey Canada Loses Support, Habs’ Questionable Decisions, Top Ranked Players and More

• The situation with Hockey Canada seems to get uglier as time goes on. The worst part of it all isn’t even all the new funds and cover-ups that have surfaced, but it’s how the executives of Hockey Canada have dealt with the situation. When the interim board chair goes on to publicly defend the top members of the organization while stating that Hockey Canada has an excellent reputation, you know they just have no sense of how big the situation is. In testimony before the House of Commons, Andrea Skinner went as far as stating that the sport cannot withstand changes to its board members. These comments weren’t well-received to say the least. The aftermath of Skinner’s statements resulted in the following:/

a) Tim Hortons officially pulling out of sponsoring all men’s tournaments including the World Junior. They will continue to support the women’s, youth and para-hockey programs

b) Both the Ontario Hockey Federation and Hockey Quebec have announced that they will withhold transferring player funds to the national program until a real change takes place.

c) The remarks from Skinner drew political rebuke, with PM Justin Trudeau himself was enraged at Hockey Canada for not understanding the seriousness of their role in fostering such a toxic culture throughout the years.

d) Scotiabank severed ties with Hockey Canada and it was also reported that Jane’s Foods had informed Hockey Canada that they are no longer interested in pursuing a partnership.

If the message isn’t clear yet to Hockey Canada, then they can continue with their narrative of being misunderstood until the entire organization falls apart. The change needs to happen now and it needs to be drastic because hockey in Canada will survive, even without Hockey Canada’s cover-up funds.

• When the Montreal Canadiens decided to draft Logan Mailloux with their 1st round pick in 2021, people were both shocked and distraught. Mailloux at the time had requested that he not be drafted as he felt he didn’t deserve it, and he was right about that. The Habs continued to defend the pick and ignored all the red flags that came with the player. Instead of trying to amend the situation or at least spend more time having Mailloux earn a “second chance”; the Habs were quick to give him a 3-year entry-level contract. Has he learned a lesson? I suppose only he can answer that question but it’s not exactly clear what kind of process the Habs went through with all this.
• Cody Glass was once touted as a top prospect but his career hasn’t gone as planned. After getting traded from the Golden Knights to the Nashville Predators, Glass was hoping things would turn around for him. It took a while but at 23 years old he might be getting a chance to reach some of his potential. In a touching video, it was shared that he has officially made the team out of training camp and no player has ever been happier for that opportunity.
• Michael Bublé is as fun as they come and he’s been well known for his hockey jabs when he’s visiting hockey arenas. This time it was Johnny Gaudreau and the Calgary Flames arena! What’s always fun about these events is how offended fans get and Bublé seems to have successfully enraged both Blue Jackets and Flames fans.
• Sportsnet has released its top-10 hockey players for the 2022/2023 season. It is no surprise that Connor McDavid gets the top honors and after the season he had, Cale Makar came in second. Interesting to see Alexander Ovechkin not making the list.
• On the Women’s side, it comes as no surprise that Marie-Phillip Poulin takes the number one spot on TSN’s top-25 players in women’s hockey. Megan Keller was the highest-rated Team USA player coming in the fifth spot. One of my favourite players, Sarah Nurse was able to edge into the 24th spot./