Masks have become such an iconic part of a goaltender’s gear that it’s strange to think only 50 years have passed since men manned the pipes without the now required head and face protection.

On November 1, 1959, Montreal Canadiens netminder Jacques Plante wore the first full-face goalie mask in a NHL game after a slapshot from hard-shooting Rangers forward Andy Bathgate pegged Plante square in his mug. While Plante’s now crude-looking mask was born out of his desire to return to the ice, today’s masks are practically works of sports art, in addition to featuring state-of-the-art protection against hockey’s hardest shooters. Masks have become a goaltender’s personal calling card, showcasing everything from a player’s home country to the names of family members to profiles of their hockey heroes or even a fun take on their nickname or team mascot.

WG Authentic is pleased to introduce a framed canvas photo featuring one of the game’s more memorable masks. Signed by Hall-of-Fame goaltender Gerry Cheevers, The Mask features the iconic face guard worn by the Boston Bruins goalie and includes a plaque with quotes from Cheevers recalling the history of how the false stitches on his mask grew out of a humorous attempt to get out of practice.

“I turned to Frosty Forristall, our trainer, and said, ‘Frosty, paint a stitch mark or two on the mask,’” Cheevers recalled. “So he painted this big gouge over the right eye and it got a laugh. We started to paint stitches every time I got hit. Frosty would calculate where it would have been and how many stitches it would have taken.”

For more information on this canvas piece, please visit the online store at Gretzky.com/shop.

Canadian baseball hero, Justin Morneau and wife, Krista made a surprise visit to Wayne’s winery located in Vineland, Ontario this week.  Justin and Krista visited for an hour enjoying No. 99 Estate whites and No. 99 Estate reds.  Both talked about their own private wine cellar and how they enjoyed drinking our wines with Wayne and Janet.  Justin especially appreciated the Wayne Gretzky Estate Shiraz Ice Wine.  A great ending to Justin and Krista’s visit was meeting winemaker Craig McDonald.  Click here to learn more about Wayne Gretzky Estate Wines.

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

All-Hit Hockey, all the time.  Give the people what they want.

Almost to a person, any hockey fan I’ve spoken with loves the rough stuff.  No, not the silly staged stuff…fighting…but the rough stuff.

The big hits, the little hits, the scrum in front of the net, digging for the puck in the corners, the constant down-low battles for position;  remove these elements from the game, and you’ll severely cripple hockey.  Even if you’re a fan who watches the game for breathtakking exhibits of skills such as tape-to-tape passes, any radical dialing down of hitting in hockey serves to curtail the beauty of other aspects of the game.

In what manner, you ask?  If by only cheapening them, for a large part of what makes a beautiful goal such a beautiful work-of-art is the stressful conditions under which it was scored.  The gifted player can somehow find room to negotiate out there, creating something out of nothing.  If every player could do that, would it be so special?

This argument in no way intends to suggest that we should have less goals scored; if anything, we need more skilled players and more scoring in the league. But don’t just hand it to them on a silver platter.  They have to earn it.  Hockey is still a combination of skill and size, brains and brawn, creation and intimidation.

Here are five hits, or examples of physical contact, in the past week that have come under the microscope:

- Willie Mitchell on Jonathan Toews

- Evgeni Artyukhin slew foot on Matt Niskenen

- Alexander Ovechkin slew foot on Rich Peverley

- Tuomo Ruutu hit on Darcy Tucker

- Mike Richards hit on David Booth

Each incident has to be viewed, and initially judged, separately.  Where the real fun begins is in the reality that no matter how clearly one spells out the definition of illegal hits in the National Hockey League, it is impossible to get everyone to agree on the legality and severity of most hits.

Take the case of Willie Mitchell of the Vancouver Canucks levelling Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks.

From my perspective, which translates to absolutely no rooting interest for either team or player, it was a clean hit.  Devastating, yes, but within the rules of the game of hockey.  Not within the rules as in one toe almost over the line, but comfortably within the rules.

From what I could see, Mitchell didn’t run at Toews, didn’t leave his feet, didn’t put his elbow or stick up, and Toews was in possession of the puck.  It was a clean open-ice hit.

It hurt Toews, to the point he had to sit out after that, but hockey is a rough, physical game.  Even Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville was quick to dismiss any talk of it being a dirty hit.

No suspension was warranted.

The hit by Mike Richards of the Philadelphia Flyers on David Booth of the Florida Panthers was also devastating, but to my eyes, it was a late hit.  Booth had dished off the puck, but even at the high speed that the game is played at, Richards had enough time to ease up on his contact.

He chose not to.

The key is to watch the replay in real-time, not slow motion.  The very act of you opening your own front door, when viewed in slow motion, would look like a criminal act.  Slow motion is good in helping determine factors involved in a questionable hit, such as leaving the feet, or position of an elbow, but since life doesn’t happen at that languid pace, to properly and fairly judge an act on-the-ice, it must be watched in real-time.

Even then, Richards still had time to ease off.  If anything, it appears, and I stress APPEARS, as if Richards elevated himself just enough to take a shot at Booth’s head.

Regardless of the validity of that last statement, Richards still delivered a late hit.  Sure, you can drag out the hoary reply that Booth should have been aware of everyone around him, but he can’t watch all five Flyer skaters.  Richards came out-of-nowhere and decked him, when he didn’t have the puck, which is against the rules.  This is not a repeat of the Mitchell hit on Toews.

A suspension is warranted.

The Tuomo Ruutu hit on Darcy Tucker of the Colorado Avalanche certainly appears to be a hit-from-behind to me, though not a seemingly devastating one.  Nonetheless, Tucker was hurt on the play.  Many are saying that there was no intention by Ruutu to injure Tucker, and from what the video replay reveals to me, I’d agree with that sentiment , but should that matter?

Someone is going to get seriously hurt in one of these scenarios in the future, and unless there is a zero tolerance to hits from behind of any magnitude, yes, even accidental ones, then prepare yourself for an onslaught of handwringing when they’re putting some stiff six feet under the day after such a hit.

Ruutu was suspended three games.

As it was a hit-from-behind, regardless of intention, the suspension was warranted.

The Evgeni Artyukhin slew foot on Matt Niskenen of the Dallas Stars is clearly that, an attempt to take the player’s feet out from under him.  Even if Artyukhin claims post-game, as he has, that that is not what he intended, the video evidence (thanks YouTube) shows otherwise.  The danger of the ages-old slew foot is having the duped player bounce his head off the ice.  In this instance, Niskenen fell onto his front, predominantly on his left arm.

The three-game suspension was warranted.

Maybe it helps being a superstar, because Alexander Ovechkin slew footed Rich Peverley of the Atlanta Thrashers, and was not suspended.

And you know what, he shouldn’t have been suspended.  The league got this one right.  Carefully watch the video, at real-time, and do you not see Peverley and Ovechkin battling for the puck, and the momentum of Ovechkin’s body carrying into Peverley, and upending him?

There was no slew foot delivered in the manner in which Artyukhin took out Niskanen.  From what I can recall, Ovechkin received a penalty, which was a good call; even an accidental trip is still a trip, but this incident was the direct result of a typical battle for the puck during a game.

Ovechkin is a supremely talented player, and he likes to engage in physical play, and every so often, the chippy side of him emerges.  One day, he’ll get under someone’s skin out there, and they will retaliate.  Fans of the Washington Capitals get all apoplectic when this is mentioned, but they are clearly thinking with their hearts, and not their heads.

Regardless…in this instance, no suspension was warranted.

The thing is, in all five instances, someone else could look at the very same video I just watched, and legitimately come up with five different conclusions.  That is what makes policing this game so difficult.

- Mick Kern

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

Wines from Wayne Gretzky Estates Winery pair well with intense on-ice competition, which is why we’re a proud sponsor of the Battle of the Blades V.I.P. Lounge.  Get your skate on, lace up with a bottle of award-winning Gretzky wine, and catch all the action Sunday and Monday nights at 8pm on CBC.  Learn More

Canadian baseball hero, Justin Morneau and wife, Krista make a surprise visit to Wayne’s winery located in Vineland, Ontario this week.  Read More

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

Back in those (mostly) innocent days when I was a kid, one sports story that worked its way through my Grade Four classroom was the sordid tale of a couple of New York Yankees pitchers that swapped their entire families.  Not just their wives, but also their kids and their dogs.  No word if the furniture was thrown in, or if there was a set-of-dishes to be named later.

Mike Kekich and Fritz Peterson were solid pitchers for the Yankees, but to a bunch of nine-year-old growing up in suburban Edmonton, these guys were as famous as Reggie Jackson or Catfish Hunter.

It was just plain weird what the southpaws did, never mind what your personal morals may be.  Sure, it was the early 70’s, and the hangover from the technicolour Sixties was upon us, but this went beyond wife swapping.  To this day, I still scratch my head at the notion.

Hockey, being a mostly conservative sport in almost every aspect of that definition, has never publicly had the same arrangement, though you hear stuff sometimes you can’t repeat, though no doubt someone is squirreling it all away for a future tell-all book.

So it comes as a complete shock to me that former Edmonton Oilers’ owner Peter Pocklington reveals in, what else, his new book, that at one point during the early 1980’s, two National Hockey League teams almost went all Kekich/Peterson, and pulled off the most outrageous trade in the history of sports.

Having obviously squirreled away a ton of inside stories over the years, along with a map of where all the bodies are buried, Peter Puck has grabbed the attention for his new book he hoped he would by revealing that he worked out a deal with Toronto Maple Leafs’ legendary owner Harold Ballard that would have seen the two men swap teams.

Swap teams.  Completely.  Which means the fine folk of Edmonton would have been saddled with the complete roster of the early 80’s Maple Leafs, just in time to watch the young guns of the Oilers emege as one of the greatest teams in NHL history.  The trouble is, those young bucks would have been hoisting all those Stanley Cups dressed in Maple Leaf blue.  Worse, the city of Edmonton would have had Ballard within their city borders.

Apparently, for whatever reason, Ballard changed his mind and the entire thing was scuttled.

The mind is boggled at the implications of such a wholesale trade, if it had been allowed to proceed.  Since such a possibility reads like science fiction, let’s put on the Spock ears and follow the changes that would have occurred to our timeline, if that deal had actually gone forward.

It should be noted that the pebble in the pond, check that, the giant boulder in the pond that the Oilers-Leafs swap would have been to the rest of the NHL would have had far-reaching implications, that would still be felt to this day.

The Edmonton Oilers would have moved years ago, if that deal had materialized.  Most likely, the Houston Oilers would have had to wait until the death of Ballard, and the battle over his diminished estate had been settled, before they could finally concentrate on the business of hockey, and during the 1995-96 season, Houston would win the Stanley Cup.

The Quebec Nordiques would still be in the league, though they never would have ended up with goaltender Patrick Roy, and thus, to this day, the Nordiques still would not have won the Stanley Cup, and there are still concerns about building a new arena.  There are whispers the team may move to Kansas City.

Roy would remain with the Montreal Canadiens, though head coach Mario Tremblay would have lost his job as a result.  The Canadiens would make the Cup Final in 1998, losing to the Detroit Red Wings.

The Nordiques would not have been in position to draft Eric Lindros first overall in 1991; that honour went to the Edmonton Oilers, who had earlier traded the rights to the New Jersey Devils for Tom Kurvers, and it was the Devils who took Lindros first that year.

Lindros would thrive in the Swamp, and he never suffered a concussion from that devastating Scott Stevens open-ice hit, as they were on the same team.  Lindros would retire as a member of the Devils, having won three Stanley Cups, in 2000, 2001 and 2003.

A young Peter Forsberg would captain the Philadelphia Flyers to the 1995 Cup.

If Pocklington had ended up with his young team in Toronto, he would have most likely made a ton of cash over what he realized in Northern Alberta.  Even with his business problems that existed in other industries he ran (Gainers Foods), Peter Puck would have not needed to cash in his depreciating asset known as Wayne Gretzky.  Even if he later broke up the Boys On The Bus, odds are Bruce McNall would have been exposed as a charlatan by then, which means the Great One doesn’t end up in L.A, after winning five Cups with Toronto.

Let’s say, instead, Gretzky is traded by the Leafs to the Rangers.  It is he, in 1994, that hoists the Stanley Cup over his head, as the Broadway Blueshirts end their 54-year drought.

As for the Kings, they continue to flounder, though the NHL props them up financially.  As a result, there isn’t a mad rush to pan fool’s gold in the U.S. south, meaning that the likes of the Anaheim Ducks and Florida Panthers never come-to-be.

The NHL still would expand to Ottawa and Tampa, though the Lightning are moved to Minnesota, and that’s where they win the Stanley Cup in 2004 over the Flyers.

The Thrashers and Predators never see the light-of-day, though Penguins’ owner Mario Lemieux threatens to move his team to Nashville if he doesn’t get a sweetheart arena deal from the city of Pittsburgh.

The league is impressed with the Nashville bid, and promises to consider expansion to Tennessee, and Kansas City, in the near future.  Canadian billionaire businessman Jim Balsillie, by now a personal friend of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, is often mentioned as the owner of a Nashville NHL franchise.

No-one ever hears about William Boots Del Biaggio.

The Islanders still need a new arena, and threaten to move to Hamilton, which Pocklington blocks.

The Winnipeg Jets still move to Phoenix, as the NHL is emboldened by the relative success of the Houston Oilers and Dallas Stars, though even in this alternative timeline, the Coyotes still lose a ton of money.

The North Stars have moved to Dallas, setting up a great rivalry with Houston, but overall, the NHL have dipped a tentative toe into the expansion waters, instead of diving in headfirst, and ending up with the fractured neck they have now.

Which only goes to prove that in every scenario, no matter how bleak, no matter how wacky, there is always a sliver of hope.

Makes me wish Ballard didn’t get cold feet.

- Mick Kern

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

Winners will attend one-day clinic with Gretzky & Wickenheiser

MISSISSAUGA, ON., October 8, 2009 —In Canada, hockey is not simply a sport; it lies at the very heart of what it means to be Canadian. As a long-time supporter of hockey and to help build excitement around Canada’s quest for gold in February, Samsung is about to give 15 youth (ages seven to 14) from across the country the opportunity to attend a one-day hockey clinic with Wayne Gretzky and Hayley Wickenheiser.

The Samsung Hockey Camp for Kids, will be held in Calgary in November and will give some of Canada’s young hockey fans the opportunity to spend a day with two of the game’s greats. The 15 hockey fanatics plus one parent chaperone will win an expense-paid trip to Calgary to enjoy a day of skills and drills run by Wickenheiser, Gretzky and Hockey Canada coaches.  While full details about the prize package are available on the contest website, it will also include a welcome gift, breakfast and a motivational speech from Wickenheiser and many additional elements.

“Samsung is thrilled to offer this once-in-a-lifetime experience for 15 deserving young hockey fans,” said Benjamin Lee, President and CEO, Samsung Electronics Canada. “Samsung has a long-standing commitment to hockey through our relationship with Hockey Canada, Wayne and Hayley and as excitement grows leading into 2010, we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate our favourite winter sport.”

Samsung today launched a website (www.samsung.com/laceup) where parents/legal guardians can go online and, in 300 words or less, explain why their child deserves one of the 15 coveted slots. A panel of judges from Samsung and Hockey Canada will review the entries to determine the players that best exemplify Samsung’s key hockey values – fair play, team work and skills improvement.

“I’m excited to be teaming with Samsung and Wayne to create this great opportunity for a group of young hockey enthusiasts,” said Hayley Wickenheiser. “My involvement in and passion for the sport have offered me so many incredible opportunities, not the least of which has been representing my country on the world stage. I hope my involvement in this camp will help spark that competitive fire and desire to lead in the next generation of Canadian hockey stars.”

Along with the contest, the Samsung Hockey Camp for Kids website will strive to make hockey more accessible to unprivileged youth. Visitors to the site are encouraged to click and donate, with funds raised going to Hockey Canada’s “Dream Come True” community initiative. Through this program, underprivileged kids across Canada will be able to discover the excitement of the game by receiving a fully-funded season of hockey, complete with new equipment from head to toe. For every dollar donated during the entry portion of the contest, Samsung will match the amount, to a maximum of $10,000.

The Samsung Hockey Camp for Kids contest website is currently accepting entries. The contest closes on November 2, 2009 at 11:59:59 ET. The winners and one parent/guardian will be flown to Calgary where the camp will take place in late November. For additional contest rules and regulations, please visit www.samsung.com/laceup.
###

About Samsung Electronics Canada Inc.

Samsung Electronics Canada, Inc. (SECA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., markets a broad range of award-winning digital consumer electronics, information systems, telecommunications and home appliance products.

SECA upholds Samsung’s mission to provide consumers with innovative digital convergence products that possess exceptional technology, quality, features, performance and value. The company oversees the Canadian operations of Samsung’s consumer electronics and home appliance division, as well as its wireless terminals and information technology division.

Samsung has been a global TOP sponsor of the Olympic Games since 1997 and has been a presenting sponsor of the Olympic Torch Relay from 2004 to 2008.  Also through Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope charity, Samsung helps athletes and celebrities raise funds for their respective charities, including the Wayne Gretzky Foundation in Canada.  Samsung is also a proud sponsor of Hockey Canada, Stars on Ice, Toronto Football Club and is the official HDTV sponsor of the NFL.

For customer service inquiries, please call 1-800-SAMSUNG (1-800-726-7864), and for more information, please visit www.samsung.com.