Hockey

What’s in a name?

When it comes to the title of a sports league, is a name just a group of words that sets it apart from all other leagues? The name change of a North American hockey league suggests that a name can also indicate how a league wants to be viewed, not just who plays in it.

Earlier this month, the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) changed its name to Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) ahead of its seventh season, becoming the first North American women’s sports league to drop its gender designation. title.

In announcing the new name and logo, the league, with five teams in the United States and one in Toronto, said the rebranding recognizes its hockey players for their athletic talent, not their gender. It also aims to respect the gender identity differences of its current and future players and league stakeholders. Not all of its athletes identify as women, so the change also strengthens the league’s inclusion of transgender and non-binary players.

“We are building this federation on a platform where the athlete is to be judged on their skills and not on their gender identity,” said PHF commissioner Tyler Tumminia. “We had a lot of athletes who felt really passionate about the idea of ​​the absence of labels, of limits. No one calls the NHL the National Men’s Hockey League. Our players were a little tired of always hearing “athlete woman” or “she is a phenomenal woman”. Our players deserve a name that allows them to be equal in professional sport. “

The conversation about renaming female entities has long been going on in sports.

Many American universities that once differentiated their female teams by putting words such as “Lady” in front of the school team’s nickname have ceased to do so. The Baylor University women’s basketball team kept its Lady Bears name long after most strayed from that tradition, but earlier this month they also simply became the Baylor Bears, for correspond to other teams in their school.

While removing the W or the word Lady from a title might seem like a small thing, it does mean a lot, says Carly Jackson, a Canadian goalkeeper with the Buffalo Beauts who will travel regularly 230 kilometers from London, Ont., To play, all. by pursuing graduate studies at the University of Western Ontario.

“It’s exciting as a player, the idea of ​​being defined by your athleticism, as opposed to being male or female or non-binary,” said Jackson, who was third pick in the draft. of the NWHL in 2020. “You should be defined by your playing abilities as a professional, like a hard worker, a great person in the locker room, a good penalty killer or a goalscorer. It will be exciting as an athlete to be asked questions about things like that. “

While the crux of the NWHL’s name change to PHF is removing the genre from its title, it also comes at a time when the league is entering a new era, of sorts.

“Our league has really changed over the last 10 months,” said Tumminia, a former baseball executive and part owner of several minor league baseball clubs, who took over in October.

Despite the pandemic and its severely shortened 2020-21 season, there has been growth in the league. Tumminia emphasizes things like private ownership of all of her clubs so that she can move away from the league-owned model. The league has seen big-game streaming numbers on Twitch, record-breaking sponsorship deals, lifted the Isobel Cup on a nationwide broadcast for the first time in Season 6, and doubled the league’s salary cap for the season 7.

But in parallel with the growth, certain image problems persist since the creation of the league in 2015. Player salaries were reduced in 2016, which left a certain suspicion of the commissioner and founder at the time. , Dani Rylan. The bubbling 2020-21 playoff tournament in Lake Placid, NY was disrupted by positive COVID tests, and there was a high profile public feud with Barstool Sports. In addition, some fans criticized Toronto Six coach Digit Murphy, who had, for some time, been listed as a supporter of the Women’s Sports Policy Task Force, which was screened for allegedly transphobic ideas.

PHF’s biggest problem remains: The best women in the world are still not playing in their league. Most Canadian and US national team athletes instead choose to play for the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA), which has teams in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Minnesota and New Hampshire, and plays traveling showcases. for cash prizes, some staged in partnership with NHL clubs. Many of these stars criticized the then NWHL’s travel, compensation and training conditions based on their past experiences playing there.

“Communication between PWHPA and PHF has never been better,” Tumminia says of PWHPA. “We are talking more now than we have in the past three years. And our goals continue to align. We both want the best opportunity for athletes in sport. “

The PHF has improved the player experience, from travel to equipment, off-ice equipment, locker rooms, pre-game and post-game meals, and player relocation allowances.

“Some of these players have long memories of what they didn’t like about the past – like four or five years ago, and aren’t as willing as we would like to have them give it another try. our league, ”said Miles. Arnone, who chairs the Isobel Cup champion Boston Pride’s ownership group. “What they have said publicly that they want, we are already doing. I challenge anyone to compare the conditions, opportunities and support our players receive with players on the PWHPA Tour. “

More sponsorship and business partner deals, along with increased engagement from private property, have doubled the salary cap to US $ 300,000 per team for the 2021-22 season – the highest of the history of the league. The size of the roster remains the same (between 20 and 25), as well as the number of matches on the program. So a higher cap will mean more money for each athlete, without increasing the workload. Players are also getting shares in league-wide revenue deals and jersey sales.

Arnone says the top players could make up to US $ 30,000 a season – still not a living full-time salary, but a big raise.

Instead of a regular season last winter, the league hosted a two-week ‘bubble’ playoff tournament at the historic Herb Brooks Arena in late January, with NBCSN scheduled to televise the semi-finals and the final, the first times professional women’s hockey games would be broadcast live on a major US cable network. Before the arrival of these playoffs, two teams had to give up after outbreaks of COVID-19 and the tournament was put on hold.

The tournament resumed in Boston in March, the Cup was awarded and the league made history again with NBCSN broadcasting its semi-finals and final, with an all-female broadcast team.

The PHF opens its new season on November 6, the first look at the league’s new era and its increased emphasis on inclusiveness. All six teams will be in action.

“I was extremely proud to play in the NWHL but when asked where I played hockey by strangers it worried me to give the full name of the league and basically get out of it. myself, ”Harrison Browne, a transgender athlete who retired from the league in 2018 and identifies with he / him pronouns, wrote on Twitter. “This is a very important decision for non-binary or trans hockey players.”

Ann Pegoraro, Lang Chair in Sport Management at the University of Guelph, wonders why this rebranding was not immediately accompanied by a new policy on trans athletes, a new website and new social media addresses that include the new league name.

These things all remain the same as before the rebranding. The transgender player policy on the league’s website is dated October 29, 2020 and bases player eligibility on testosterone levels.

“With my gender equity hat on, I’m all for this removal of the gender modifier from the league title, it’s great, but they had to follow it a lot better from a marketing standpoint,” he said. said Pegoraro. “Plus, they just got a lot of momentum from last season, reached new audiences on NBC and Twitch, created a lot of notoriety with their old name and then changed it.”

COVID-19 protocols for fan participation in PHF matches have yet to be announced. The PWHPA will also be in action, with its first stopover Nov. 12-13 in Truro, Nova Scotia.

September 17 – When it comes to upgrading the University of Maine’s athletic facilities, Ken Ralph wants to get to work.

Morse Field, home of the football team, was the first beneficiary with a new artificial turf surface replacing the old obsolete and deteriorating surface.

Today, Ralph, UMaine’s sports director, said the school has reduced the number of architectural firms that will design the project to eight, and that it hopes to have “the one” selected as soon as possible.

The improvements were made possible by a $ 90 million donation from the Harold Alfond Foundation which will ultimately improve the grounds and facilities for 17 varsity sports. The university is in the process of raising an additional $ 20 million.

The chosen company will provide the university with a master plan for the entire project and hire contractors to start the project, Ralph said.

“We don’t want a plan for one field and wait until that is done before we design the plan for the next field,” Ralph said. “We don’t want a project to take 16 months when it could have been done in four. The Alfond donation will be spread over 10 years but we do not want it to take 10 years to do everything.

A field for the women’s soccer team remains at the top of the list.

The women have been playing on the Mahaney Diamond baseball field since 2015 in order to use a synthetic turf surface comparable to the surfaces of their opponents in America East. Previously, they had played on Alumni Field, a grass field with poor drainage.

“It’s not fair to them. They deserve their own domain,” Ralph said, noting that the arrangement had always irritated him.

New softball and field hockey fields will be among the next projects. Ralph said the school intended to embark on smaller projects as well.

Ralph said they intend to be progressive in their “adaptive reuse of space” by finding new ways to use old spaces that become available as a result of upgrades.

The story continues

“The University of West Virginia built a beautiful new pool and turned the old pool into a strength and conditioning center,” he said.

The original master plan has been changed, Ralph said, based on feedback the school received when it was first posted.

“We want our facilities to be as good if not better than those in Eastern America. That’s our goal,” he said.

Ralph hopes to have the new master plan in place this winter.

He said the university would announce some developments in its fundraising efforts soon.

Other planned upgrades at UMaine include a 2,500-3,000 seat basketball facility on campus so teams don’t have to play at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, a stand-alone outdoor track and a domed training ground to replace the Mahaney Dome, and the refurbishment of the 45-year-old Alfond arena.

When it comes to modernizing the University of Maine’s athletic facilities, Ken Ralph wants to go for it.

Morse Field, home of the football team, was the first beneficiary with a new artificial turf surface replacing the old obsolete and deteriorating surface.

Today, Ralph, UMaine’s sports director, said the school has reduced the number of architectural firms that will design the project to eight, and that it hopes to have “the one” selected as soon as possible.

The improvements were made possible by a $ 90 million donation from the Harold Alfond Foundation which will ultimately improve the grounds and facilities for 17 varsity sports. The university is in the process of raising an additional $ 20 million.

The chosen company will provide the university with a master plan for the entire project and hire contractors to start the project, Ralph said.

“We don’t want a plan for one field and wait until that is done before we design the plan for the next field,” Ralph said. “We don’t want a project to take 16 months when it could have been done in four. The Alfond donation will be spread over 10 years but we do not want it to take 10 years for everything to be done.

A field for the women’s soccer team remains at the top of the list.

The women have been playing on the Mahaney Diamond baseball field since 2015 in order to use a synthetic turf surface comparable to the surfaces of their opponents in America East. Previously, they had played on Alumni Field, a grass field with poor drainage.

“It’s not fair to them. They deserve their own domain, ”said Ralph, noting that the arrangement had always irritated him.

New softball and field hockey fields will be among the next projects. Ralph said the school intended to embark on smaller projects as well.

Ralph said they intend to be progressive in their “adaptive reuse of space” by finding new ways to use old spaces that become available as a result of upgrades.

“The University of West Virginia built a beautiful new pool and turned the old pool into a strength and conditioning center,” he said.

The original master plan has been changed, Ralph said, based on feedback the school received when it was first posted.

“We want our facilities to be as good if not better than those in Eastern America. This is our goal, ”he said.

Ralph hopes to have the new master plan in place this winter.

He said the university would announce some developments in its fundraising efforts soon.

Other planned upgrades at UMaine include a 2,500-3,000 seat basketball facility on campus so teams don’t have to play at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, a stand-alone outdoor track and a domed training ground to replace the Mahaney Dome, and the refurbishment of the 45-year-old Alfond arena.

More articles from the BDN

Posted on September 15, 2021 at 1:08 p.m.

When freezing a hockey rink, it takes about 8-10 layers of thin ice before the surface is playable. Each layer takes time to crystallize and develop, but when complete it serves as a beautiful, almost majestic surface for players to glide up and down on the ice.

Much like the layers it takes to build the surface of an ice hockey rink, Jim Thorpe native Nik Cinicola has built his hockey career layer by layer.

In an area where most kids pick up baseball bats, basketballs, and soccer balls, Cinicola has taken a different approach.

Instead, he picked up a hockey stick and the results were impressive.

The high school student recently tried and accepted a contract to play for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Knights – a United States Premier Hockey League junior hockey team based at the Revolution Ice Center in Pittston, and play at one of the most popular clubs. most elite junior hockey leagues in the country.

“I have to give my dad a lot of credit for getting interested in sports,” Cinicola said. “He played road hockey in the Lehigh Valley and at the Keystone Games. So, I’ve been playing this sport regularly since I was four, and I fell in love with it.

“Then I would say in sixth or seventh year, I started to realize that I had abilities and if I worked hard I could be a decent player and have traveled everywhere ever since. I’ve played on teams in Wilkes-Barre, Philadelphia, New Jersey, York, pretty much everywhere. I want to thank both of my parents for always taking me wherever I played.

Cinicola brings the tenacity and mentality of Jim Thorpe to hockey, where he played the role of defenseman.

In a squad of 16 to 20-year-olds, Cinicola is one of the youngest players on the squad and was recently named a starter while also being the youngest player in the Knights’ starting lineup.

Junior hockey, however, is a strong commitment and is not organized like traditional high school sports. It demands extreme discipline from its players, as there are two skating sessions per day where players have to be on the ice to train, as well as time in the weight room.

“It’s definitely a commitment, but I love the sport and I hope to go to college and play, and if I keep working with that same kind of approach I think it can happen,” said Cinicola. “I handled it all really well, took my online classes at school and worked hard to improve myself.

“I also kind of mix up what I want to do in school with the team. I love the graphics and do stuff for our social media page with the graphics, so it was a great learning experience as well.

The Knights have already had a great start to the season, winning two games against last season’s domestic championship finalists, the Jersey Hitmen. The defensive side of the ice was one of the main reasons for the Knights’ victories, something Cinicola is proud of.

“I’ve always enjoyed playing defense, and that’s a part of the game that came naturally to me. I like to fight for the puck and I like to try to beat the other player, ”said Cinicola. “I have always enjoyed learning and watching the game, as well as studying it. I watch as much hockey as I can, pretty much anytime, and I think it has always helped me as a player.

Nik cinicola

CHAMPAIGN – Josh Whitman has a job that hardly anyone in town can relate to.

After more than five years in his role as Illinois athletic director, Whitman, 43, deftly moved among the crowd at the downtown Esquire in Champaign once his appearance on ‘Monday Night SportsTalk’ of WDWS 1400-AM ended earlier this week.

He has seen familiar faces and longtime season ticket holders for Illini sporting events. Those who enjoyed watching Illinois long before Whitman first arrived on the IU campus to begin his college football career with the Illini in 1997.

He then visited his family, with his wife Hope and their two young children, their 5 year old daughter Tate and their 3 year old son Will. Fatherhood has changed Whitman’s take on his work, with the former Illinois tight end having to pull himself together when I asked him if he was a father two years ago during his last solo appearance at the Esquire for our weekly radio show.

No tears ensued on Monday night. But a lot has changed in the past two years since Whitman’s last stop by the Esquire in September 2019. Here’s an update on a variety of issues with the Illini and varsity athletics that Whitman has had. discussed on Monday:

About Illinois Football

Bret Bielema is still undefeated in the Big Ten game as Illini’s coach. But he won’t end his first season at Champaign with a record of non-conference wins after two straight losses to Texas San Antonio and Virginia. The chance for Illinois (1-2) to end their losing two-game skid comes at 8 p.m. Friday when Maryland (2-0) and their powerful offense make it to Memorial Stadium.

“A few have struggled here in recent weeks, but they’re still excited about this team and what we can accomplish,” said Whitman. “The term we have been using since the day we introduced Coach Bielema has been a sustained success. We are going to build this the right way. I am not erasing this season by any stretch of the imagination. We have faced two good teams in the past two weeks. I think when the season is written we’ll go back to this year and see that UTSA and Virginia have had some really good seasons.

Injuries to players like quarterback Brandon Peters, running backs Chase Brown and Mike Epstein and others haven’t helped Whitman. But he would like to see Illinois play well earlier in games, with teams overtaking Illini 21-2 in the first quarter.

“We all recognize that we have to come out of the box stronger,” Whitman said. “We need to play cleaner games than we did. I am very optimistic we will be able to do this.

“That’s the great thing about college sport. We don’t have the luxury of sitting down and saying, “Woe to me” for a very long time. We have a very good team from Maryland coming here Friday night.

On possible Memorial Stadium upgrades

In Whitman’s first full year as Illinois athletic director, he unveiled ambitious plans in the fall of 2016 to renovate the east and south sides, known as the horseshoe, of Memorial Stadium. . Those plans eventually changed and evolved into the $ 80 million standalone Smith Center that sits on the east side of the stadium.

Whitman said he did not abandon plans to upgrade the East Side and the Horseshoe at some point in the future, especially after the West Zone and the North Zone received upgrades. massive before the start of the 2008 season.

“It’s really a hot topic for us, both east and south,” Whitman said. “We are very grateful to our fans who spend their time in the east and south, and we know we need to improve this experience as well. It is, as you would imagine, a very expensive business. Nothing is cheap anymore. Start having conversations about the best way to approach this project.

Whitman envisioned a time, before the pandemic, when all of these improvements would be completed before the 2023 season to honor Memorial Stadium’s 100th anniversary.

“I still have that idea in my head, but with each passing month, the idea that comes to fruition, it gets a little smaller,” Whitman said, “but it’s a project that we really care about. mind and something that we talk about regularly at this point.

On hockey

Before the pandemic, whenever Whitman had a microphone in his hands or met a group of reporters, the subject of Illinois potentially adding hockey arose. More than four years after the completion of the first feasibility study, in conjunction with the NHL – which said yes, Illinois hockey would be a popular sport in CU – the topic is being discussed again, although Whitman does. didn’t provide many specific details when asked about it on Monday.

“We reignited some of those conversations. It was an idea that was obviously very much in our minds for a number of years. When the pandemic hit, that conversation took a back seat very quickly when we left it until very recently when we reopened some of these discussions with all the different stakeholders, ”said Whitman. “We just want to get a feel for how their worlds have changed as our world has changed, and is there still an appetite to take on this project?” It’s an ongoing conversation now.

Whitman did not offer a timeline on when decisions about the future of hockey in Illinois would take place.

“It was a pretty complex conversation before,” he said. “I would say it certainly hasn’t gotten any easier in light of the pandemic.”

On other facility improvements

The southern part of the UI campus has changed dramatically since Whitman landed the job in February 2016. Due to all the construction that has taken place, the Smith Center and Demirjian Park are two of the most popular sporting venues. recent for the Illini.

But work is underway for training facilities for four sports: the Ubben Basketball Complex, the Susan and Clint Atkins Baseball Training Center, and the Rex and Alice A. Martin Softball Training Center. . Not to mention the renovations underway at the Atkins Golf Club in southeast Urbana.

Whitman said Ubben’s scheduled end is late 2022, with the first pieces of steel for the multi-million dollar project late last week.

Even with all the facility upgrades that took place during the Whitman era, the question still stands: what’s next?

“If we don’t think about the sequel,” Whitman said, “then I’m not doing my job.”

Improvements to Memorial Stadium seem clearly on Whitman’s agenda, as does the possibility of a downtown arena that was set to host Illinois hockey games, as well as the relocation of the Illinois volleyball, wrestling and gymnastics to the new multi-purpose arena and away from Huff Hall.

“Huff Hall is a building that needs attention,” Whitman said. “What’s the future of Huff?” I think this is an important question. We have seen parking decrease over the years as the university, to his credit, has also continued to build. Parking will continue to become a bonus for volleyball and other events happening at Huff. We need to have tough conversations about what that future is. It’s all part of the discussion process right now.

Friday night football matches and crowds

The game against Maryland marks the third Friday night home game for Illinois in the past five seasons. Illinois lost the previous two, losing 63-24 to Penn State in 2018 and 28-6 to Nebraska in 2017.

“Our approach has always been, certainly for a program like ours which is trying to build its reputation both locally and nationally, any chance we have to stand out from the crowd on Saturday when we are competing with it. lots and lots of other games to get attention, we’ll take it, ”Whitman said. “It’s not something we want to do every week. We certainly recognize the tradition of Friday night (high school) football locally, and we don’t want to stray from it, but if we can do that every once in a while, once a season, where we can go out and give ourselves that shot. spotlight getting a nice win against a good team from Maryland, I think that’s something we’d be dumb if we weren’t trying to take advantage of it.

The Illinois Department of Sports is offering free student tickets to Friday night’s game, with the North Zone regularly full for the first two home games. The average attendance for the Big Ten’s last two home games on Friday night, obviously occurring before a global pandemic took hold, was 38,8,881 at the 60,670-seat Memorial Stadium. The Illini have announced an average attendance of 37,485 for their first two home games this season as people still feel comfortable attending sporting events amid the pandemic.

Whitman said he plans to have a full section of students against Maryland in the north end area and expects some to take seats on the east side of the stadium on Friday night.

“If we can get them out there like we did against Nebraska and give them a good memory,” Whitman said, “then that’s something they’ll want to see repeated and hopefully. they will start to come back. “

Hall of Fame weekend

One upcoming weekend event that is going a bit under the radar is Saturday’s Illinois Track and Field Hall of Fame ceremony. The Class of 2020, the fourth class to be inducted, will be honored at 1 p.m. on Saturday in a free ceremony at the State Farm Center. The class of 15 was announced in April 2020, but did not have a public event to recognize them last year due to the pandemic.

Among the Illini alumni expected to attend on Saturday: 1995 Butkus Prize winner Kevin Hardy, recent Olympic volleyball gold medalist Michelle Bartsch-Hackley and former Olympic pitcher and centennial graduate Gia Lewis-Smallwood.

“We’re not getting as many returns as we hoped for, for a variety of reasons, but we should be getting between six and eight,” Whitman said. “I encourage everyone to come out. It is a very beautiful event and something that we are really looking forward to.

Welcome to PHT Morning Skate, a collection of links from the NHL and the world of hockey. Got a link you’d like to submit? Email us at phtblog @ nbcsports.

• The NHL has promoted eight and hired 11 officials for the 2021-22 season. [Scouting the Refs]

• Wayne and Janet Gretzky will receive the 2021 Stan Musial Lifetime Achievement Award in November. The Lifetime Achievement Award honors those who possessed the qualities for which Baseball Hall of Fame member Stan Musial was known. [NHL.com]

• Good luck to former NBC friends Liam McHugh, Eddie Olczyk, Keith Jones, Kenny Albert, Brendan Burke and Anson Carter as they lead Turner’s broadcast team for the upcoming NHL season. [WarnerMedia]

• Dig deep into back-to-back counts, miles traveled and more with the Kraken’s inaugural program. [Sound of Hockey]

• El Paso, Texas will host the Coyotes and Stars at the annual Kraft Hockeyville USA preseason game on October 3. [NHLPA]

Bad day, eh? pic.twitter.com/j3cOGLw71W

– KHL (@khl_eng) September 15, 2021

• Which players have been overrated in their fantasy hockey draft positions? [NBC Sports Edge]

• Flame GM Brad treliving on the urge for change in Calgary: “I know everyone is calling for change, and we’ve talked about it, but we can only do the things that are available to you. [Sportsnet]

• Jimmy vesey, Mark Jankowski and Tyler Wotherspoon are heading to New Jersey for training camp trial deals. [All About the Jersey]

• James neal, Alex Galchenyuk, and Sami Vatanen are among the names that could also soon be in NHL training camps thanks to tryout deals. [The Hockey News]

————

Sean leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy

This has been a very busy date over the years in the National Hockey League. There was the addition of two teams. The Hall of Fame officially began, several captains were named, a major international match was played and exhibition competitions were held all over the world. Let’s start our daily journey through time to relive all the best moments of 9/11.

Two new teams welcomed

The NHL grew from 12 teams to 14 on September 11, 1969, announcing that Buffalo and Vancouver were granted new franchises. The Sabers and Canucks both joined the league for the 1970-71 season. They both play in the East Division when they officially enter the fold, while the Chicago Blackhawks move on to the West Division.

The two most recent NHL cities beat offers from Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland, Kansas City and Washington DC. Eventually, with the exception of Baltimore, all of these cities get an NHL franchise with varying degrees of success. A group in Vancouver has previously attempted to buy the Oakland Seals and move them, but were turned down.

An important date for the Hall of Fame

Maybe no date is more important to the Hockey Hall of Fame than this. The NHL approved the proposal to create the Hall on September 11, 1943. The first 12-member class was inducted in 1945. This group included Hobey Baker, Charlie Gardner, Howie morenz, and Georges vezina. The first physical building opened at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto in 1961.

On September 11, 1995, the Hall of Fame inducted its 43^rd class in Larry robinson, Fred “Bun” Cook, Bill Torrey and Gunther Sabetzki.

By Kathy Hanrahan, WRAL Lifestyle Editor

Raleigh, North Carolina – There is no shortage of family events this weekend. Here are some of our choices:

Blippi The Musical (Durham Performing Arts Center, 123 Vivian Street, Durham) – Blippi The Musical brings the energetic and lovable character Blippi off-screen and onto the stage with world-class production, audience engagement and incredible music. See the show on Saturday at DPAC.

Durham Bulls Ball Hockey Night (Durham Bulls Sports Park, 409 Blackwell Street, Durham) – Hockey Night returns to Durham Bulls Athletic Park on September 10. Bulls players and coaches will wear special rod-themed jerseys, which will be auctioned off to benefit the Carolina Hurricanes Foundation. Stormy and the Hurricanes’ warning siren should be at the ballpark.

40th Annual Apex PeakFest (Historic Downtown Apex, N Salem St & Center St, Apex) – This annual festival celebrates everything Apex on Saturdays on Salem Street. The event will feature vendors, music and food.

NC Sugar Rush (Durham Central Park Pavilion, 501 Foster St, Durham) – This all-dessert food truck rodeo will take place on Saturday at Durham Central Park from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

47th Annual Myrtle Crepe Celebration (Angier Depot Square, 19 West Depot Street, Angier) – This annual festival will be held in downtown Angier on Friday from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be food, vendors and live music. In addition, there will be a special Kidsville area with rides and games.

Best of North Hills: Fall Concert Series (Coastal Credit Union Midtown Park @ North Hills, 4011 Cardinal in North Hills St., Raleigh) – Enjoy some of the area’s best tribute bands at this outdoor concert at Midtown Park in North Hills on Friday nights from 6 to 9 p.m. Admission is $ 10 and children 13 and under are admitted free.

Bull City RoundUp Food Truck Rodeo & Vendor Market (Suite 4, 506 Ramseur Street, Durham) – Take advantage of this vendor market and this food truck that rolled Saturday from 2pm to 10pm at the Suite Four in Durham.

Marvel Movie Premier Weekend and a double feature film! (Shang-Chi then Free Guy) (Triangle Town Center Mall, 5959 Triangle Town Blvd, Raleigh) – Enjoy two outdoor movies in the parking lot of the Triangle Town Center shopping mall this weekend. There will be a screening of “Shang-Chi” followed by “Free Guy” on Friday and Saturday evenings.

NC International Auto Expo (Raleigh Convention Center, 500 S Salisbury St, Raleigh) – See the latest cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles this weekend at this Friday-Sunday event at the Raleigh Convention Center.

Brunch Moore Market (Moore Square Park, 200 South Blount Street, Raleigh) – The Moore Market Brunch will be held Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Moore Square. There will be farmers, artisans, food trucks and a DJ. Free entry. This event takes place entirely outdoors and masks are suggested for anyone who has not been vaccinated.

The Streetery (Van Alen, 511 South Mangum Street, Durham) – At The Streetery, the organizers close the streets to traffic and open them for alfresco dining. On Saturday, the Streetery will be held at Van Alen and 555 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Face masks should be worn in indoor public places, including restaurants and retail outlets.

The Minnesota Savage this morning unveiled the retro-flavored uniform they’ll wear when they host the St. Louis Blues at the 2022 Winter Classic.

They were “designed to celebrate the state’s rich hockey pedigree, the rivalry of the Twin Cities and its legacy as a hockey state,” the team’s official press release read.

The green jersey combines elements of the amateur and semi-professional hockey clubs of yesteryear, including the Minneapolis Millers and the St. Paul Saints. On the chest and on each arm are several horizontal red stripes edged with vintage white, these stripe patterns from the two 1930s club uniforms. The collar is vintage white and does not contain laces, the shoulders are red and many more thinner than usual, the Winter Classic 2022 patch on the right shoulder.

On the crest are two stars, a nod to the constellation Gemini (you know, the ‘twins’), another nod to the Twin Cities theme throughout this set (and originally the name of the ball club that lives in this stadium). The map of the state of Minnesota is placed between these stars in red with its abbreviation MN placed over it. Above and below this design are the names of the two cities, “MPLS” (short for Minneapolis) and “ST. PAUL “.

As was the custom of the early days of the NHL, pants and gloves were brown in color (hockey clubs did not wear team-colored pants until the 1930s, colored gloves only came in late 1950s). On the pants is a red diamond shaped logo which duplicates the jersey logo, but now with the words “STATE OF HOCKEY” surrounding it.

“With the game being played at the home of the Minnesota Twins, we certainly channeled the spirit of Minnie and Paul for our Winter Classic sweater,” Wild Sr. brand advisor John Maher said in the press release, Perhaps. with reference to the fact that both Twin-Cities were represented in the design.

As has been the case with the latest winter classics, the jersey logos, stripes, numbering and other embellishments are all sewn using vintage-looking felt to give it a slightly more authentic feel.

SHOP: Minnesota Wild jerseys, caps, t-shirts & more

The Winter Classic 2022 game logo itself was also unveiled, it shows a generic forest design in a shield and the usual Winter Classic typeface across – a frozen pond surrounded by snow in the foreground, the silhouetted navy blue trees with a clear blue sky beyond in the background.

The 2022 NHL Winter Classic will take place at Target Field in Minneapolis, home of the Minnesota Twins baseball, between the Wild and the Blues on January 1, 2022. This is one of three outdoor games we look forward to in the NHL during the 2021-2022 season. season, the others being a Stadium Series game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Nashville Predators in Tennessee and the rumored Heritage Classic between Toronto and Buffalo in Hamilton in March.

The Cavaliers didn’t have much time to mourn their overtime loss to the No.16 Penn State on Friday before having to turn around and face another ranked opponent on Sunday against the No.17 Delaware.

Virginia’s No.8 field hockey team came out strong, scoring two goals in the first quarter, and defeated Delaware 3-1 Sunday afternoon at UVA Turf Field for their first win of the season.

It took just over three minutes for the Cavaliers to strike first, as senior Peyton Tollaksen picked up a rebound and placed it in the back of the cage to score the game’s first goal and the season’s first goal. by Tollaksen.

Just seven minutes later, UVA scored again after Greer Gill crossed the ball inside the right side and it was deflected by rookie Noa Boterman for his first career goal.

At the start of the second quarter, the Blue Hens halved the Cavalier’s lead on a goal from Kiki Oudshoorn, assisted by Grace Hoepfner. At halftime, Virginia held a 2-1 lead.

Elder Taylor Henriksen started for the Hoos’ goal, making two saves and allowing one. First-year goaltender Tyler Kennedy played the entire second half and made five saves, all of which came in the fourth quarter as Delaware struggled to find an equalizer. Neither team scored in the third quarter.

Delaware outscored Virginia 19-7 and had twice as many shots on goal (8) as the Cavaliers (4), but the UVA goaltending tandem made seven saves compared to just one from Delaware.

With just over ten minutes to go, the Hoos extended their lead on a goal from Meghen Hengerer, his second of the season. Amber Ezechiels fired a powerful shot towards the net and Hengerer deflected it to make it 3-1, virtually sealing Virginia’s victory.

With the win, Virginia goes 1-1 on the season and the Cavaliers will face William & Mary in Williamsburg on Friday at 5:00 p.m. ET.