Baillie's final curtain call: His will to win was off the charts. Arguably one of the most clutch players to ever wear Kelowna Rockets colours has decided to walk away from the game. Tyson Baillie told me last night he is retiring. The 24 year-old played last season with the University of Alberta Golden Bears, but was hampered by injuries. Baillie underwent a whopping three hip surgeries and knew the writing was on a wall. A third round pick in the 2010 WHL bantam draft, the Fort Saskatchewan product would play in an astonishing 329 regular season games over five seasons. 'Bails' left his best for the playoffs, with his biggest goal coming in a game seven overtime win against Seattle in 2013. Who will forget Madison Bowey's rolling puck pass to Baillie at the left face-off circle that he would one-time between the near post and the right pad of T-Birds goaltender Brandon Glover. It marked a remarkable comeback after losing the opening three games of the series before winning four in a row. Baillie loved the big stage. That was his third goal of the game. Baillie was also on the ice in game seven against Victoria in 2016, digging a puck out as Royals d-man Joe Hicketts was trying to nail it in the corner. The puck would come loose to the blue-line where Cal Foote would send it to Justin Kirkland who would tie the score with .2 second left in regulation time. With the game on the line, Baillie was your 'go-to-guy'. All told, Baillie would play in 64 post season games with five more at the 2015 Memorial Cup. That is a mind boggling 398 games, including 14 in pre-season.
Competitive juices flow: I am not sure they make them anymore like Tyson Baillie. I always thought his love for the game was off the charts. I recall many times on the bus, overhearing his voice talking about NHL players with accuracy. He knew which player was with which team. We would have the bus satellite dish pumping in NHL highlites on the video monitors and Baillie was as intentive as anyone. Baillie told me this week about retiring, ''Not the ending I was hoping for, but looking back at the teams I was apart of, and what we were able to accomplish, it is a pretty special career." Indeed it was. Baillie, who has been playing year-round hockey since he was 8, will finish his degree at the University of Alberta and will help coach the midget team in Fort Saskatchewan. If you never watched him play, you missed one of all-time greats that was as happy when his teammates scored as when he found the back of the net himself.
Old Fart: My good buddy Marlon Martens celebrated his 46th birthday this week. The voice of the Victoria Royals is one of the good guys in the league. If you had all of the WHL broadcasters in the same room, heaven forbid as you couldn't get a word in edgewise, Martens would be one of the quieter ones. Not one to rock the boat, he is a faithful follower of the team he calls games for and frankly, from my perspective, a faithful friend. He may also have the best beard in the league. No. Wait a minute. He does.
Crappy COVID: It's been great working in the AM 1150 newsroom the last seven months. I've been reading and reporting news during my time away from hockey. To be honest, it has been fun. This is how I started, sort of in broadcasting. At CKSW in Swift Current, I was reading news for several years before eventually becoming the play-by-play voice of the Broncos in 1995. It's like riding a bike. Just don't get me to pronounce the name of the director general of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
He must have known: Lorne Frey had the uncanny ability to see into the future. Frey was the Kelowna Rockets director of player personnel until he retired in April after 30 years with the organization. Knowing 'Lorney', he probably saw COVID-19 coming from a mile away. With the season being delayed until December 4th and possibly cancelled outright in 2020-2021, Frey picked the perfect time to say goodbye. I wonder if he plays the lottery? Picking the winning numbers would be a breeze.
Overseas Action: I checked in with Tyler Spurgeon this week. The former Kelowna Rockets captain is back overseas in Germany. He landed in Munich on August 27th. He told me via text message "As Canada is not a high risk nation, I did not need to quarantine or isolate when I arrived. As all the players and coaches have negative results, we are currently just doing optional skates". Spurgeon tells me the pro league he plays in will stay firm on 52 regular season games. With a late start, they will just play later into the spring.
Questions Unanswered: Like the WHL, the American Hockey League has tentatively scheduled December 4th as its start of the 2020-2021 season. What does that mean for Kyle Topping? The 21 year-old former Kelowna Rockets forward signed an AHL deal with with the San Jose Barracuda, an affiliate of the San Jose Sharks. Like many in his shoes, will and can the AHL play without fans? The waiting game continues with so many questions left unanswered.
The Threat: The old Medicine Hat Arena. The home of the Tigers. To think, construction began on that building way back in 1968. That was 52 years ago. It's easy for me to figure that out considering I was born that year. That arena, while no longer the home of a WHL franchise after moving into the Canalta Center in 2015, brings back a long list of memories. One that stands out was my final year with the Swift Current Broncos in 2000. Still wet behind the ears as a broadcaster and calling games on the road by myself, I was high above the ice surface one night in February looking down as the action unfolded between the two arch rivals. During a stoppage in play, while killing time by giving out one of my well researched antidotes (tongue in cheek) to those listening back at home, likely on something as irrelevant as Duncan Milroy's skating style, I could hear the crowd in the Arena beginning to stir in their seats. I could faintly hear the public address announcer in the building make an announcement over the loud speaker system, but didn't think anything of it. To my surprise, people in their seats began to rise to their feet and began quickly exiting the building. I thought to myself, 'man the fans in Medicine Hat are poor sports. It's only 3-1 Broncos. There was lots of time left on the clock'! With what could only be considered a loooooooooong stoppage in play, I began feverishly looking for other things to talk about as I waited for the linesman to drop the puck for another face-off. Next thing I knew, I heard an aggressive knock on the door of the broadcast booth behind me. Leaning back, with my headset still attached to my broadcast board, I sheepishly opened it up a crack, while still attempting to talk to the radio listeners back home. On the other side of the door was Tigers long time marketing director Dave Andjelic with a concerned look on his face. He whispered, "Umm...Regan...you have to get out. There has been a bomb threat!!" Stunned at what I just heard, I looked back onto the ice to see both teams were gone. They too were rushed to their respective dressing rooms in an effort to get them out of the building as quickly as possible. The stands were empty. In a state of panic, my voice likely going up three octaves, I quickly expressed to those listening that someone has called in a bomb threat and the game had been postponed. I quickly signed off, gathered my belongings and headed towards the bus. After sitting on the Broncos bus in the parking lot for some time, it was decided the remaining time left in the game would be played at a later date. To say it was a memorable night at the Medicine Hat Arena would be an understatement.
Fight Night: I won't do it now, but will share the story of the first full out brawl I witnessed and called play-by-play for on this blog in future postings.
Old School: Minor hockey will look a whole lot different this winter. Fewer players on the ice. More 4 on 4 or 3 on 3. No one is sitting in the penalty box after taking an infraction. Not this winter. Instead, a penalty shot will be awarded. Many minor hockey players will be dressing at home, like I used to do when I first played minor hockey in Saskatchewan. You geared up with the help of mom and dad and only put on your skates at the arena. In my day, the first minor hockey I played was outdoors. A small warm-up shack was the only refuge from the bitter prairie cold. I hate to show my age, but the photo to the right is the first goalie mask I ever wore. That sucker wasn't CSA approved!! The paint job is inspired by one of Grant Fuhr's first masks that he donned at the NHL level, or at least that was the weak attempt at mimicking it. Give me a break though, I was only 10 when I attempted that creation with the paint kit from my Dukes of Hazard 'General Lee' model set.
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