As we rapidly head toward the end of another decade I’ve seen many people on social media reminisce about their favourite hockey memories during the last ten years.

I very rarely write self indulgent articles but it’s time to do so as I reflect back on some of my favourite hockey moments and achievement during the last decade – some more obvious than others for those who follow me in the realm of social media.

Before you get into reading this article I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for supporting my work whether it’s reading my articles on https://mapleleafshotstove.com/ , here or listening to my podcast which only took flight this year.

I am humble enough to know I’m such small fry in this huge hockey world so I truly appreciate your support.

May I wish you and your loved ones a Happy New Year and all very the best for 2020.

11) AHL expansion and realignment

I love the American Hockey League but certain things about it tend to drive me a little crazy.
One of those was the alignment of the league which when you look with hindsight is utterly bonkers.
Toronto were in the Western Conference for the longest time?!

What the league has accomplished under Dave Andrews is to create almost a perfect symmetry with the NHL, going into some new markets and growing the AHL into as strong a position as it’s been in living memory.

Expanding to now 31 and eventually 32 teams, the creation of the Pacific Division was a divisive issue at the time but it had to happen at some point. It’s still not an ideal situation with those teams playing fewer games along with other sticking points but it meant the league branched out, kept the western NHL teams happy and means the league is prospering in new markets.

The AHL exits this decade on a far steadier footing than when it entered.

10) Two-time Stanley Cup Champion

Phil Kessel was one of my favourite players in Toronto during what were extremely frustrating times watching the blue and white. Much maligned in Toronto by many fans and the media for being a shy and reserved individual, I think it’s fair to say he went mostly unloved for a player who had an iron man streak and was leading from the front in terms of production.
It was with a degree of sadness that I saw him depart from Canada though with the knowledge that this is what was required for the Leafs to begin a rebuild.

It was certainly negated as I watched him win back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

 

9) The Rock – hockey returning to Newfoundland

I am fairly certain that most of us have places in the world we would like to visit given the time and money.
For me one of those was Newfoundland, the most easterly point of Canada.
I’d heard many stories about the place, it’s history and the nature and character of the people who live there.
After many years of uncertainty with many AHL franchises coming and going, St. John’s were left without a hockey team until the vision of Kyle Dubas and the Toronto organisation came to pass.
Having already revamped the Toronto Marlies, Dubas’ intent was to create a baseball tiered system and that vision ultimately led to the creation of the Newfoundland Growlers.
During their inaugural season I was fortunate to take a short excursion from Toronto out to Newfoundland with a good friend of mine on what was for the both of us a first visit to ‘the rock.’
A great time was had including covering a pair of home games for MLHS and watching the humble beginnings of what would turn into a championship ECHL season at the first attempt.

 

8) The Bettman Saga

In October of 2011 whilst in Canada I called into NHL Hour, a radio show where you could ask questions directly to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.

I was voicing my concerns over the lack of a NHL TV deal in Europe which seemed rather low on the league’s priorities at the time. This had followed a lot of work through social media where Jonathan Northall and myself had orchestrated a campaign bringing European fans together to come together as one to let the NHL know our feelings.

Little actually changed in two months despite Bettman’s feeble promises on that call so in December of the same year I once again called into the show from England (I don’t want to thinking about the costs of that call!).
He had actually asked me to call back around Thanksgiving if I were still not happy with the situation.

So I did much to the show’s producer and Bettman’s surprise, though on this occasion the NHL head honcho was rather dismissive.

Despite what has transpired since (it’s far from an ideal situation regarding NHL coverage in Europe/UK) I’m rather proud that Jonathan and myself were able to bring European NHL fans together in such a way and that I had the guts to stick my neck out and air my grievances directly to the NHL.

Certainly a few months I won’t forget in a hurry but am ultimately proud of for the most part.

7) Finally

April 9th, 2017 was the date as the Toronto Maple Leafs hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins.
A playoff berth was on the line as Toronto needed victory to reach the post-season but why was this momentous?
Excluding the 2012-13 shortened season due to a lockout, the Maple Leafs hadn’t made the playoffs in a full 82 game campaign since 2004.

With a little under three minutes remaining, a speculative shot toward net by Jake Gardiner was brilliantly tipped home by rookie Connor Brown. The latter was a prospect overlooked by the majority of Toronto fans and had worked his behind off to reach the NHL – a fantastic story in itself.
His 20th goal of the season gave the home team a 4-3 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.
It was a special moment and another great call by Joe Bowen.

 

6) July 1st, 2018.

I was celebrating Canada Day with some friends at the Maple Leaf pub in London (situated just around the corner from Covent Garden for those who have visited London).

By the time Free Agency was beginning in North America, most of us were under the influence of alcohol and it’s no exaggeration to say I was very inebriated by the time signings were beginning to filter through.

Checking Twitter furiously, I saw Anthony Petrielli (who writes for the Maple Leafs Hot Stove) say that the Toronto Maple Leafs had signed John Tavares. Being a Maple Leafs fan, pessimism is second nature but knowing Anthony isn’t a person prone to making controversial or rash statements gave me hope this was indeed true and proved the case.

John Tavares is a Toronto Maple Leaf and is now Captain. Totally unthinkable before the Brendan Shanahan era.

5) Appreciation, recognition and growth

I fell into the sport of hockey and even more so writing about the game. That initially started through a Toronto Maple Leafs website called Leafs Space and ended with my mostly writing about the American Hockey League on my own blog.
After initially Toronto Marlies articles for a Canadian website that no longer exists, I decided to take a break, head on my own path and just blog for myself again.
That was until the Maple Leafs Hot Stove asked me to become a part of their family.
To my mind they are one of the most respected non-mainstream media outlets covering the Toronto organisation so it was an honour to be approached.
It’s been a learning curve these past four years or so but I’ve a lot to thank Alec Brownscombe, Declan Kerin and the rest of the fine writers at the site as well as the excellent community of people that continue to support MLHS.
That along with seeing articles in print for the Cardiff Devils and having the courage to recently start my own podcast has definitely been a highlight this decade.

4) Dare to Dream

Great Britain’s Men’s (ice) hockey team have flattered to deceive in recent history.

After relegation in 2013, GB found themselves in Division I, Group B.
A fourth place finish in 2014 was followed by two silver medals in the following campaigns as they found ways to throw away the gold medal and promotion in exasperating fashion.
Then IT happened.

Great Britain hosted their group in 2017 and swept all before them in Belfast and even better was to follow in 2018 in Hungary (Division 1, Group A).

A remarkable set of results in a tightly contested group meant GB only had to take a point against the host nation in the final game to secure back-to-back promotions to take a spot in the top tier (a feat never achieved before by any nation).

Trailing 2-0 in the third period, GB halved the deficit but looked to be on the way out with Hungary having a penalty shot with three minutes left. Ben Bowns pulled off the required save and a goal with just 16 seconds left by Robert Farmer proved pivotal.
After hanging on for dear life in the time remaining, GB clinched the single point they required and went on to win in the proceeding shootout.

It was incredibly difficult to chose between numbers 3, 2 and 1 because each holds a special memory in a different way. Anyhow here are my top three.

3) A Championship

I’ve never been lucky with my sports teams growing up in the UK and since discovering hockey, life hasn’t been all that different covering the Marlies and to a lesser degree the Leafs.
However in 2018 I finally tasted what success was like.

The Toronto Marlies team of 2017-18 were just perfection personified. There weren’t really any superstars on the roster but a fantastic blend of promising rookies, excellent veterans including previous Calder Cup winners and players who have gone onto play in the NHL albeit some on a semi-regular basis.
Under Head Coach Sheldon Keefe, they posted a 54-18-4 record with a goal differential of +84 and the best defensive record in league allowing just 170 goals.

Having been taken to the brink by Utica in the first round of the playoffs, Toronto comprehensively swept Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Syracuse Crunch in the next two rounds to reach the Calder Cup Final.
Texas Stars were certainly a more than worthy opponent and despite being considerable underdog before the series began, forced a game seven in Toronto.

The Marlies did what they had all season though as after a slow start they just overwhelmed the Stars with offense and didn’t stop. Even with the game and championship in the bag they eventually steamrollered Texas 6-1.

It perfectly encapsulated this team.

 

2) The kid from Maltby

The 2018 NHL Entry Draft (June 22-23) held more interest for hockey fans in the UK than ever before.
A young man who had been playing professional for Sheffield Steelers, had a small chance of being drafted having been scouted by a handful of NHL organisations and had interviews in the combine which precedes the draft.
With the seventh round having begun, time was running out but Arizona Coyotes decided to take a punt on Liam Kirk, selecting him 189th overall to become the first ever English born and trained player to be drafted into the NHL.

Less than a week later, Kirk was selected 8th overall in the CHL Import Draft by the Peterborough Petes and continues to strive to take the next step in his career – being signed to an NHL contract.

 

1) We’re shit and we know we are

The team that dared to dream to reach the top tier of IIHF World Championship hockey was never going to go down without a fight.
Great Britain has battled valiantly against Germany, Canada and the USA but had also thrown in some shocking performance in defeats to Finland, Slovakia and Denmark.
What GB had done though is gain fans across the world with their never say die attitude, the heroics of Ben Bowns, goals from Mike Hammond and standout performances from Ben Davies and Liam Kirk to name but two.

Also it should not be forgotten how the fans from Britain made a positive impressive in Slovakia amongst those from across the world with a level of support that never diminished whatever the score line.

It all came down to a winner takes all game against France on May 20, 2019, with the loser being relegated for the 2020 World Championships.

The French were huge favourites and looked set to stave off relegation having built a 3-0 inside eight minutes of the middle frame after the first period had ended without score.
The writing appeared on the wall for GB but two late period goals from Robert Dowd and Mike Hammond gave hope to the players and the underdogs tied the game at three a piece five minutes into the third.

Thanks to some staunch defensive work and more brilliance from Bowns, the game headed to overtime.

To this day I’ve still no idea how France failed to deliver the knockout blow with Bowns proving an absolute rock as he turned aside shot after shot during some frantic sequences.

A set play from a face-off in the GB zone paid dividends as Jonathan Phillips raced away showing great speed and strength to see off his man and set up Ben Davies to score a memorable OT winner.

The self deprecating hockey heroes of GB memorably sang “we’re shit and we know we are” during the celebrations. Others may have written them off, the whole hockey word in fact, but the players along with the coaching staff, backroom staff and the fans believed it was possible.