Darren DuPont’s 10 Things
Super Bowl, Four Nations and some other hockey notes as we welcome you back to the midweek column:
1. Hewitt Cup – Tuesday was a real treat for me. I was invited to head downtown and be on the call for the Hewitt cup.What is the Hewitt cup? It’s the trophy handed out to the winner of the annual high school hockey day game between Havergal College and Bishop Strachan School. It’s an all girls game and let me tell you it was one of the coolest experiences I’ve had in broadcasting.
2. Tradition – The Hewitt cup was created 34 years ago in 1991. Now you’re thinking, Hewitt that’s Foster Hewitt and while you’re not completely correct, you’re not completely wrong either. It’s actually called the E. K. Hewitt Memorial trophy in honour of Elizabeth Kathleen Hewitt. It was her son Bill Hewitt, a sportscaster, that created the trophy in her name. Now, Foster Hewitt was her spouse and Bill’s father. The history of this game actually goes back over 100 years to 1912. After World War II Havergal NBSS played during the intermission of the Central Canada college hockey night at old Maple leaf Gardens. Back then, they just wore old uniforms figure skates, gloves, and a stick, no other equipment! In 1963 Maple leafs legend Dave Keon was a guest coach!
3. The Game – The old Maple Leaf Gardens, now known as the Mattamy Athletic Centre, seats over 3,800 people and it was jammed. There was a live band, everyone was dressed in school colours, and there was even an electric guitar solo of the national anthem. The atmosphere rivalled any I’ve experienced in sports… including the Regina Pats run to the WHL final in 2017. A 2-2 tie through regulation needed to be solved with a shootout and after extra shooters the BSS Bobcats prevailed. Check out my social media for pics of the day. Unreal.
4. Fly Eagles Fly 🦅– Unexpected. Shocking even. The game was over at the half. It was the Mahomes interception late in the first half that sealed it for me. If they put any points on the board after a long drive to end the half it’s a different game. But that wasn’t the case. Everything the Chiefs did was snuffed out by the Eagles D. It was the most impressive beat down of KC we’ve ever seen. My good friend Richard is a die hard Eagles fan so this made me really happy. But, as we seen over the last week, there were a lot of Eagles fans on Sunday that went home happy.
5. Mahomes < Brady – The debate is over, for now. Patrick Mahomes being unable to deliver a third-straight championship seems to have squashed any talk of the Greatest Of All Time. Truth is, he still has three and he’s still seven months away from turning 30. You’d be silly to write him off this early in the game. Remember, Tom went a decade between Super Bowl wins but had his second hall of fame career with a new supporting cast. Let’s see what Mahomes does after Kelce, Jones, etc. He’s got plenty of time.
6. CFL FA – I’ll be spending my morning today getting caught up on day 1 of CFL free agency which officially opened on Tuesday. At first look I don’t think it will take long. Did anything new come down on day one or just news being confirmed from the negotiation window? Anti-climactic for sure.
7. Four Nations – Ok, the photos from Canada’s first couple of days on the ice have risen my excitement levels ahead of the best-on-beat tournament which begins tonight in Montreal. Seeing Crosby, McDavid, etc all on the ice was a beautiful sight. I think the tournament will be great and I can’t wait for the puck to drop.
8. Team Canada – Crosby with Nathan MacKinnon and Mark Stone on the second line has me really excited. We have been waiting a long time to see Sid and Nate together and perhaps success at the Four Nations will ramp up trade talks between the Pens and Avs.
9. Predictions – The game of the tournament is Saturday night at 8pm ET when Canada faces the USA. That’s what we are all waiting for. Second on my must-watch game list is Mondays USA vs Finland game. Why? It’ll be Elias Pettersson vs JT Miller in front of the entire world. Who steps up and who folds? Drama.
10. Randoms – To point five: Brady never looked that bad in any of his Super Bowl losses. Point TB12… The football season is officially over. Tennessee is now on the clock ahead of the draft … Congrats to Kris Mallette on being hired as the 11th coach in Erie Otters history. Mallette, from Kelowna, was formerly the head coach of the Rockets. More Western Canada coaches in the OHL is making this place feel more and more like home every day … Lost in Super Bowl Sunday was Canadian Denis Shapovalov winning his 3rd APT title in Dallas. Let’s hope he gets on a roll … And life feels crazier than ever right now. New opportunities are popping up and a few surprise seeds may be sprouting here in the near future. It’s throwing any sort of regular schedule I may have (and me having a routine ever is a stretch) into chaos. What I’ve learned is to just go with the flow and ride the wave. Take each thing as it comes and try to conquer it and move on to the next.
Until next week…. Go Canada!
DD
