Sunday Puckpourri: WHL playoffs; Arabs & Israelis find peace on ice; Biz Nasty's Call for Help & more

WHL Playoffs

The WHL first round playoff schedule is set, with the last team now in place.
The Seattle Thunderbirds lost a heartbreaker in Portland (6-2), knocking them out and paving the way for the Everett Silvertips to face the Tri City Americans.

Here's how the first round match-ups look:

Edmonton Oil Kings v. Kootenay Ice
Moose Jaw Warriors v. Regina Pats
Calgary Hitmen v. Brandon Wheat Kings
Medicine Hat Tigers v. Saskatoon Blades
Tri City Americans v. Everett Silvertips
Portland Winterhawks v. Kelowna Rockets
Vancouver Giants v. Spokane Chiefs

To follow the WHL playoffs and to print out a bracket, click here.

Middle East Peace... on ICE

I read a fascinating story about a hockey team in northern Israel made up of boys and girls, Jews and Arabs.
Yes, you read that correctly.

These pre-teens and teens practice together and play together as a team, at an Olympic-size ice arena at the Canada Centre in the town of Metulla. The sports complex was donated by a group of Canadian Jews, but once the kids take the ice, religious and cultural differences melt away. They're joined by one love: hockey.
I don't want to re-write an already awesome story. Click here to read it for yourself.
But it makes me wonder: if we can teach Arab and Jewish leaders to skate, then put them on the ice...

Biz Nasty's Call for Help

If you follow Paul Bissonnette on Twitter, you get a sense of a guy who's comfortable in his skin, who calls things as he sees them and does not apologize for his sometimes sharp opinions. So it came as a surprise to read about his recent (and apparent ongoing) struggle with depression and anxiety stemming from his decreased playing time. After reading a very thoughtful article in the Arizona Republic, my respect for Paul increased exponentially. I also wondered how many other players share his feelings but are suffering in silence. I applaud the strength it took for Paul to admit he needed some kind of help, as well as the strength it took to go public with his story. If you haven't read it, I highly suggest you do. I've even made it easy for you to find it. Just click here.

CCPT Hockey Show

Cassie & I hosted our third CCPT Hockey Show since coming back from hiatus. We didn't have any guests today, but managed to fill the hour ourselves, talking about a variety of topics, including: Norfolk Admirals' amazing winning streak; the Flyers snapping the Pens' 11 game winning streak; the Blues being the first team to 100 points; the North Dakota Fighting Sioux's incredible come-from-behind win over Minnesota and subsequent WCHA title victory + the NCAA leaders; Biz Nasty's call for help (see above); and much, much more.
If you didn't tune in, the show is available on podcast. Click here to take a listen. If you like us, we'd love it if you'd bookmark us.

Blog Roll Call of the Week

Some awesome bloggers/writers are doing some awesome blogging/writing.
Here's just a few of the sites that have great stories out this week.
If you're not already reading them, you need to. Now.

Spector's Hockey - Lyle Richardson has his finger on the pulse of all the latest rumors. And unlike others who claim to know what's going on, Lyle is the REAL DEAL.

The Hockey Guys - Dustin Leed & the guys bring unique perspective to the game, its players and issues.

Hockey Independent - Dozens of awesome writers covering all angles of every team. I'm proud to be among them, should I ever get off my lazy butt and actually start contributing stories.

7th Woman - Dee Karl is the First Lady of hockey writing and an awesome human being.

Preds On the Glass - Buddy Oakes covers the Preds with flair and a nod to other teams.
The View from 111 - I have to include Mr. Mark Willoughby here as well. He not only covers the Preds, but offers his view and insight on life in general. Well worth adding to your reading list.

LA Kings Court - Meg has a heart of gold and a great love of the LA Kings. But, she's another fan who sees other teams fairly and is worth a read.

Raw Charge - One of my favorite Lightning blogs, and not just because my CCPT Hockey Show co-host is on the staff. Love their insight.

There are other awesome hockey blogs/sites out there. These are the ones I read this week. Please feel free to add your blog/site suggestions in the comments section!

Monday Puckpourri: WHL season underway; CCPT Hockey expands to 2 HOURS LIVE; new hope for UAH and one more thing!

The WHL season started over the weekend, which means I am in hockey heaven right now! Having two teams within (relatively quick) driving distance isn't bad, either. The Everett Silvertips are starting things off with an 8-GAME HOME STAND. You can't get any better than that! Two games ar already in the books for the 'Tips - both wins (They beat the Seattle Thunderbirds 4-3 Friday night and the Vancouver Giants 5-2 Saturday night. This Friday, they welcome the Kamloops Blazers to Comcast Arena, followed by the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday. For game times and tickets, click here.

The Seattle Thunderbirds rebounded from their last-second loss to the 'Tips by handily thrashing the Portland Winterhawks Saturday night at ShoWare Center. Before dropping the puck on their home opener, the team and fans paid tribute to Glen Goodall, the most prolific scorer in T-Birds history. To take a look at his numbers, check out his profile at HockeyDB.com. I couldn't believe some of the numbers I saw! For example: during his final year in Seattle (89-90), Goodall had 76 goals and 87 assists for 163 points. Does that look like a typo or what?? Anyway, the crowd welcomed him back in high style and his 16 year old daughter thrilled everyone with her rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. Then, the T-Birds showed what they learned over the summer, beating the Winterhawks 4-1. After the game, I conducted my very first post-game interviews, with Head Coach Rob Sumner and T-Birds d-man Brenden Dillon. You can read my entire wrap up, plus interviews on the KING 5 Sports site. Or just click here.

My friend Tyler Hunnex is one of the finest T-Birds hockey minds I know - and is busy adding to his popular blog, "Let's Go Birds." You can check out his wrap-up of opening weekend, plus a player-by-player overview for the season. Just click here.

I guess this is also a good place to remind you to read my WHL stuff over at "From the Rink."

My friend Cassie McClellan and I are having a blast co-hosting the CCPT Hockey show over on BlogTalkRadio.com.  We've garnered a faithful following who tunes in at 3pm Pacific/6pm Eastern/11pm UK every Sunday to listen to us banter with each other and a myriad of guests for an hour live and even longer on the archive podcast. This past Sunday, the show expanded to TWO HOURS live, plus longer in the archive podcast. We had a lively conversation with 5 guests: Eric Naughton, a Pens fan and cancer survivor, who's chronicling his post-cancer quest to learn how to play hockey with a documentary called "Life, Cancer and the Pursuit of Hockey," Matt Wagner, Columbus Blue Jackets blogger, Anthony Curatolo, co-founder of The Hockey Guys, writers for The Fourth Period, Hockey Independent and a bunch of other sites, as well as co-host of his own BTR show called The Hockey Guys. He's also a diehard Flyers fan; Marilyn aka "Macksayev" - a good friend of ours from our NHL Connect days and very knowledgeable about the Buffalo Sabres and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League; and "Super" Dave Block, a Leafs fan who works the NHL Rookie Tournament in Traverse City, Michigan every year (and knows about the Red Wings by osmosis, as he lives in Michigan). Not only did we fill the entire LIVE two-hour block, our podcast portion ran almost an extra hour! You can check out that show and all our other shows by clicking here. We also have a show blog: http://ccpthockey.blogspot.com.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am extremely passionate about my would-be alma mater, the University of Alabama in Huntsville and its hockey program. The Chargers have withstood so much adversity, only to thrive and produce some top-notch human beings who also happen to play hockey. So far, only one Charger has cracked an NHL lineup (Jared Ross, first with the Philadelphia Flyers last year; now, with the Atlanta Thrashers), but that doesn't change the fact that the guys are first-rate. Last year, when the CHA dissolved, all of the teams found new homes within the WCHA and CCHA. EXCEPT the Chargers. UAH is playing as an independent program this year (they're no stranger to that!) but after that, the future is a little cloudy for the Chargers. I firmly believe that recent news that Penn State wants to start a Division I hockey program (men's and women's) may breathe a little life and hope into the Chargers. My friend Derek Zona (from "Copper and Blue" and "From the Rink") wrote up a very nice outline of just how the NCAA hockey landscape could change once Penn State hits the ice. As of right now, I'm saying, "Come on, Big 10 - get going so UAH can join the CCHA or WCHA and stay alive!"  To read Derek's story and comment on it, just click here.

Now, for that ONE MORE THING.

I want to make the ULTIMATE hockey playlist, but I need your help! Share your favorite songs heard at hockey games. Once I get enough submissions, I'll create a playlist to share. It can be as obvious as Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll, Part 2" - to the opening strains of AC/DC's "Thunderstruck."  But try to be obvious and give me something that might not have been played to death already (hint: think Europe. Yep, I know that keyboard intro is playing in your head right now!)

That's it for tonight. If I forgot something, I'll post another blog.
Happy Hockey, everyone!!

Monday Puckpourri: Golfing w/ TJ Oshie, Dancing w/ Radko Gudas & Thomas Hickey's rehab

Cassie and I had kind of a fun show yesterday. Well, we had fun once things got into place! Our special guest, Timothy Oshie (Coach Osh) was driving through the Badlands of North Dakota and his call kept dropping. Before he joined us, I lost my focus and completely blanked out. However, Cassie, our first guest Ola and our friend and frequent guest Meg picked up the slack while I regained control and went hunting for Coach Osh. Once he was locked in, we had a great chat about he and TJ's upcoming charity golf tournament/auction/benefit on July 28 and 29 in Grand Forks, ND. He also talked about TJ's hockey beginnings and the battle over UND's "Fighting Sioux" name. If you missed the CCPT Hockey show, click here to get to the podcast. If you're interested in taking part in TJ Oshie's golf tournament, click here for more info.

Everett Silvertips fans are lamenting the fact that defensive star Radko Gudas isn't returning to the Cable Box. He turned 20 years old in early June, then a couple of weeks later, the Tampa Bay Lightning selected him in the NHL Entry Draft. Radko and I had a great chat about the next step in his career, life in the Czech Republic, hockey fans and his special hobby: ballroom dancing. If you want to read about it, click here.

Anyone who knows me knows that I have been a huge fan of former Seattle Thunderbirds d-man Thomas Hickey for years. Since he left the T-Birds to join the Manchester Monarchs and try to crack the LA Kings lineup, he's had to battle more than other prospects vying for the same position. He's recovering from shoulder surgery and a high ankle sprain that pretty much sent last season down the drain. My friends over at Frozen Royalty caught up with Thomas at prospect camp and talked to him about rehab and what he's focusing on in his quest to make the team in the new season. Thomas was his usual honest self and I know I'm not the only one who's cheering for him to find the success he richly deserves. Click here to read more about Thomas.