The State of Hockey

You might think that 'hockey' around here lately is all about the N-H-L.
Not quite right.
-- The Halifax Mooseheads of the Québec Major Junior League (officially, 'la Ligue de Hockey Junior Majeur du Québec') are having an excellent season, and have been voted the Canadian Hockey League's top-rated team!

Two of their major stars, centre Nathan MacKinnon (from suburban Cole Harbour, home of superstar Sidney Crosby) and left-winger Jonathan Drouin, were both named to Team Canada at the recent world Junior hockey championships in Ufa, Russia. A third local team member, right-winger Martin Frk, played for Team Czech Republic.
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At the juniors, Team Canada played well, placing 1st in the round-robin, but came back without a medal, losing in the semi-finals and in the bronze medal game.
It's not surprising, then, that the Mooseheads are drawing big crowds at Metro Centre.
Halifax fans have always supported junior and senior teams, as well as American League teams: The Halifax Wolverines, who played in the venerable Halifax Forum, reached legendary status for generations of fans, both before and after World War II. The Nova Scotia Voyageurs of the 1970s always had excellent fan support, in large part because of Mike McPhee (from my hometown of River Bourgeois), who went on to a great career with the parent team, Montréal Canadiens.
-- Another hockey team that has been drawing attention recently is the Dalhousie University Women's team, but for vastly different reasons. Their entire A-U-S season has been forfeited by the University, as the result of alleged hazing incidents.
Details have been sketchy, but this action is in line with the recent rise of anti-bullying policies by sports bodies across the board. A number of team members' parents have formed a movement that is threatening to sue the University.
-- Now, back to the N-H-L, which has just signed an agreement with its players, ending a lockout of more than 100 days.
Earlier today, all the details were finalized, and after both owners and players last week had ratified a collective agreement, to run for the next 10 years.
The players are already in their training camps, and a 48-game season will begin next Saturday night: Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television will feature a matchup between perennial rivals, Toronto Maple Leafs and Montréal Canadiens.
Go, Habs!
All hockey fans are hoping that there will be top-level hockey games to show on the sports networks, instead of the long-winded speculations and 'will-they or won't-they' discussions which we watched over the past six months.
Fan support? May be o.k. in Canada, but rather tough for some southern U-S-A franchises. Stay tuned.
-- How solid ARE the Mooseheads, anyway?
Informed commentators had pointed before Christmas to a high level of team depth.
Guess they were right: even while their three top players were away at the Junior worlds, they won 8 of 10 games, and are a solid 2-for-2 since the players were reunited!