Howdy folks . . . The Boyz will be gone for a few weeks from the airwaves due to work. After all, broadcasting is a fun hobby, not a job 🙂
Hopefully, we will be back with a new show on November 9th. Until then, enjoy all the hockey going on around the country.
GAME ON!
The old adage of “one foot in the grave” has been circulating around Vancouver for quite some time now. It really started a few years ago and, well, the other foot has finally followed. The Vancouver Vipers are finally done.
Nobody likes to hear this. The kids; parents who spent their hard earned money that would allow their child to pursue the dream. Whether it was to eventually play at a higher level of junior hockey or in college someday. . . the dream was there for a while. For some hopefully it will continue as their search for a new teams begins. God knows there are a few teams around that need more players.
I guess the question should be asked; if the team knew at the beginning of the season they didn’t have enough players to compete, why the hell would you even start the season? Wouldn’t you think, not only about the safety of the players, but the financial feasibility to actually last the entire season?
The team’s official announcement stated the lack of players and their safety as the reason for shutting down operations. Well, 8 games to late boys . . . never should have started the season to begin with. Now, the league will have to scurry around to completely rearrange the schedule which means added travel costs to an already set budget.
Let’s hope refunds are in the works for those that are owed money . . . money paid in good faith!
What is also interesting is the team went completely dark on social media? No thank you’s posted, no mention of all the hard work people put in over the years . . . nothing. Just a big . . . Black . . . Hole.
Vancouver had somewhat of a heyday when they were the River City Jaguars and played in Beaverton, Oregon. Never a standout team, but always a fun team to watch play. The move to Vancouver eventually sealed their fate . . . along with some questionable ownership along the way.
We spent the better part of 6 years being their original broadcast team. Good times were had for all during those years. Made some great friendships, many of which continue to this day.
So, now the question becomes: what happens with the NPHL? The season is underway and the schedule is locked in. The promise was made to USA Hockey the league would have 8 teams this year. Tacoma tanked before it got out of the gates and now Vancouver is gone. One team better then last year but still a 6 team league is rather slim.
We wish the players nothing but the best of luck in their pursuit of the greatest game on earth. In the end, this was just another bump in the road . . . one of many you will experience in this thing called . . . LIFE.
We will update here if we get any more (interesting) news.
Don’t forget to check out “The Hockey House” every Sunday night at 7:30pm on khky.radiostream123.com
GAME ON!!!
Howdy folks! We are in the process of moving away from this blog and shifting everything over to our new broadcast blog. Please continue to visit us over at: khky.wordpress.com
Report: Chicago assistant Kompon leaves for WHL gig
Chicago assistant coach Jamie Kompon is reportedly set to become the Winterhawks’ next bench boss and replace Mike Johnston, who left the organization to take the head job in Pittsburgh.
The report, from veteran WHL scribe Greg Drinnan, came after Vancouver Province writer Steve Ewen floated the Kompon-to-Portland hire days earlier. If the reports prove true, it’ll be a big get for the Winterhawks — Kompon, 47, has won two Stanley Cups in the last three years, the first with L.A. during the 2011-12 campaign then a second with Chicago in 2013.
Kompon had been an assistant with the Kings for six years before moving to Chicago in ’13. Joel Quenneville, who first worked with Kompon in St. Louis, praised his “work ethic and a winning resume,” adding that the two had a “great working relationship.”
If Kompon does depart, it’ll leave Chicago with just one assistant under Quenneville — Mike Kitchen, who’s been with the club since 2010.
Damn, almost forgot that we even had this blog. When summer rolls around hockey and all the related BS falls to the back burner . . . at least for us.
Yeah, it’s nice that the NPHL is up to 8 teams. Makes the league look like an actual hockey league and not some glorified rec league. Of course, time will tell if there will be 8 competing teams and not 7 with one pot hole.
We have had quiet a few emails asking us what we plan on doing next season? Well, right now we are not planning on broadcasting for anyone. We have had a few inquiries about coming back and doing play by play for different teams, but to be honest, not sure we want to be confined in that space anymore. After the fiasco in Vancouver last season, well, that really made a lasting impact of the true nature of people.
On another note: the radio station is still up and running in summer mode. meaning we roll to a music format and as the season gets closer we will begin to ramp up to talk show mode . . . maybe.
So, check it out: http://khky.radiostream123.com/
Well, time to go hit the links and embarrass ourselves once again . . . FOUR!!!
We have gotten quite a number of emails from parents (and future players) asking our opinion about playing in the NPHL. Now, we are not advisers, nor pretend to be. Just former broadcasters ceremoniously fired because Vancouver had no money to pay us . . . go figure.
Now, the NPHL isn’t a bad league to play in, IF, you play for the right team. Certain teams actually have all the proper pieces in place. But this league isn’t even close to the WSHL, the former AWHL or the NA3HL. They may get there one day, but not today.
Take Vancouver for example. This team has gone 2-78 over the past 2 seasons. Tore it up last year going 0-40. Now, when a team is in such turmoil the first thing a decent G.M. would do is fire the coach before it got to that point. Parents pay a lot of money for their kid to play at this level and this what they get from ownership and a General Manager . . . nothing!
Apparently, according to an interview recently released on the NPHL website Vancouver is about to make a big announcement soon. Just a suggestion though – please proofread before the release is posted. Using words like “SLASH” and “SLPASH” in place of “SPLASH” doesn’t help anyone’s cause trying to move away from the current reputation the team has.
The interview goes on to say Vancouver is poised to to emerge as one of the most stable, competitive, and exciting Junior A hockey teams in the NPHL this season and for years to come.
Well, that would be awesome. But when a team says they have increased and re-negotiated “some” of our partnerships and sponsors in order to further the team’s financial standing makes you really wonder how stable this team is?
The only half way decent part of the interview was when it was mentioned the team was shoring up its coaching staff, which should have been done a long time ago.
Fingers crossed they have a new coach waiting in the wings to help bring this team out of the cellar and clean up a reputation that is one of the worst in the country . . of course you need money to do that. Bottom line: hockey people need to run hockey teams . . . which Vancouver does not have. They lost all of them a long time ago.
On to another major problem that has plagued junior hockey; recruiting and camps. Holy crap does this get complicated and confusing for so many people.
The pay to play model is bad enough but when you add coaches and owners that have the scruples of a corrupt politician things can go from bad to worse in a heartbeat.
You have to check this article out: http://thejuniorhockeynews.com/?p=25416
Well, have to say we are doing pretty damn good as far as our picks go. We picked Helena (AWHL) to go all the way in the beginning of the season . . . they did not disappoint! Scott Cunningham and crew have been playing Rock ’em Sock all year long. 52 -2 is damn impressive . . . I don’t care who you are. Plus, Helena was voted 2014 Organization of the Year by team owners and coaches. Now comes the interesting part. The AWHL (all 7 teams) will turn the lights out and join the NA3HL starting next season in the new Frontier Division. Sounds like a decent move and we look forward to seeing how the whole new league will react to this dynamic and powerful team. :::ON TO NATIONALS:::
The WSHL turned out – for the most part – the way we predicted. The one major surprise was Ogden bumping off Idaho to win the Northwest Division and earn a trip to the Thorne Cup. Prior to this thumping, Idaho had never lost a playoff series at home. Idaho – post Olver – was still going to a be tough team, but many never saw this coming, except maybe those in Ogden. Idaho is still a very tough and capable team and should make some serious noise in El Paso.
As far as the other divisional winners . . . we rocked those: Fresno, Phoenix and El Paso. Many feel El Paso is the hands on favorite to take the Thorne Cup this year – possibly the first new owner in 3 years. Idaho is a 3-time Thorne Cup Champion (2011, 2012, 2013) and reining UHU National Champion.
So, the teams now kicking up their heels and heading to the Thorne Cup: Texas, Fresno, Phoenix, Ogden, Idaho, El Paso. 3 of these teams are hot as hell; El Paso, Fresno and Ogden. El Paso has some capable tenders – of course anyone could be in net for them and they would still kick some serious ass. But, how will the team respond when they face the cream of the crop? Rest assured they won’t be coasting through. In the end it could come down to; El Paso, Fresno and Ogden to win or lose. Our hearts roll with Idaho – do they have enough heart to come back from losing the Northwest title? It could do one of two things – it will either wake the sleeping giant up or allow the crack in the armor to be exploited by the other powerhouse teams.
Well, so far we are perfect on our picks. 4-0 in the WSHL, 2-0 in the AWHL and 2-0 in NORPAC. Bellingham (NORPAC) repeats as Cascade Cup Champions and will be going to Nationals. Now, the real fun begins in the remaining two leagues as the best of the best go head to head to quailify for USA Hockey Nationals (AWHL) and the Thorne Cup.
Helena will be making another appearance at Nationals.
Mike Stanaway is making some noise back in MNJHL as the Marquette Royales are close to making a trip to Hartford in their first year in the league.
Idaho will have their hands full as they take on the Ogden Mustangs in the WSHL Northwest Division finals. Post John Olver era for the Jr. Steelheads has been rather successful, but, as Missoula showed in the Semi Finals, Idaho can be beat at home, which is very very rare. Ogden is a kick ass team this year and the finals should prove to be very entertaining.
El Paso got the boot rather early from last year’s Thorne Cup so they are certainly ready to make some noise this year. They should be since the championship is being held in El Paso this year. It will be interesting to see how they do against some of the better teams in the league. Tough to gauge how good you really are when all you do the crap out of teams all year long in a weaker division. Don’t get me wrong, they are good, the question is how good? In the end though, they will be battling to raise the cup. I don’t expect any double dipping ass kickings though.
Well, sad to say, the time has come. We have been broadcasting hockey for the past 6 years in one form or another – broadcasting games or producing and hosting talk shows. We always did our best to bring entertainment, knowledge and production value to what ever we did. So, after all this time we will fade off into the preverbal sunset and pull the curtains down on The ORIGINAL Junior Hockey Radio Network.
In the end, it just came down to time and the lack off it. Jobs and family deserve more then what we gave it during our 6-year run. Not that we completely ignored those important aspects, but, they did suffer.
We want to thank all those loyal listeners and hockey fans that tuned in show after show, game after game. We enjoyed all the comments, good and bad. After all, the only way you get better is by taking bits and pieces from each and every comment and applying what makes sense, then tossing the rest in the bullshit bin.
We will miss all of our friends that made our show so popular. “The Dean of Mean” AJ Reis was always a treat and made the time we spent with him memorable. He is honest and well, let’s just say, colorful . . . f*^% this and f*^% that always made the show surprising to say the least.
John Barth in McCall, Idaho made our stay during the 2013 Thorne Cup one of the most enjoyable times we have ever had. Of course, we can’t forget about our night of drinks with Coach Salzy in McCall as well. Mass quantities of alcohol made for a memorable night . . . we think. All we know broadcasting the next day was a blur . . . ouch!
Brent Maranto of the WSHL was a blast to hang out with. We will always remember our late night interviews with him. And of course, Mike Murphy of the Seattle Totems will always remain one of our favorites.
However, there comes a time to move on, and that time has come. So, we bid you farewell and wish all those kids chasing the dream to continue the path with pride and passion. But, remember to always thank those that make that pursuit possible . . .
We will keep our email active for those of you that would like to stay in touch, or, if anyone wants some advice in regards to hockey please drop us an email – not that we can actually do anything except lend an ear and offer whatever advice we may have.
So, here we go . . . For the last time:
The Pirate – “Take care everybody and safe home!”
Special Greg – “Bye Bye.”
:::The BS Boyz are off the air:::
Story submitted by: Bumper Jones
Well, possibly the worst showing of a junior hockey team has mercifully come to an end. 0-40 this season coupled with a 30 game losing streak to end last season . . . yep, a 70 game losing streak coming into next season. How do you sell a program to parents and players when you have a record like this?
Hockey is not cheap. Teams have a responsibility to their clients (players) to do everything they can to help them become better players, better people, and above all, help them achieve their goals. But how do you do that when the team is looking at the south end of a north bound bull?
There are so many junior hockey teams now to choose from. Marketing and recruiting are at a premium; budgets are going through the roof and only the strong will survive, only the strong should survive. Back ally, penny pinching teams should be banned. If they don’t have the money to run a team properly then GET OUT! Don’t waste someone’s hard earned money on lies and deceit. Honesty is a hard thing to come by it seems.
Questions need to be asked. Answers need to be given. Do homework and check out the team, check out the management, check out the coaches credentials; DO NOT take their word on blind faith. You can always talk to former players and ask them what they think as well.
Listen, you (the parent) write the checks and they (the team) cash them. They owe you answers to every question you have, and if they baulk or offer some lame ass excuse . . . WALK AWAY. Reputation is everything; not the word of someone, but the evidence. Anyone can say anything they want about themselves or somebody else. The truth always lies in the past. Prove it or shut up.
The Boyz and myself have been asked many times about our thoughts on different teams and where their kids should try out.; we are honest as well about what teams they should avoid. But, everyone was told to do their own homework; go look at the evidence and if you decide to invest in a team that has less then stellar qualities . . . then don’t bitch and complain later on after all the promises are broken and the money is gone.
It’s all about reputation people . . . it’s all about history . . . end of story.
Junior Hockey Radio network 