Welcome to PHATS/SPHEM

By Grace Heidinger             It has been almost eight months since the world was hit by the coronavirus. For the sport’s world, that meant no live games, tournaments, or championships during this time. However, since then, the pause on sports has been lifted, but the industry is still facing challenges as a result of the […]

Mike Poirier, Asst. Athletic Trainer and Rob Kennedy, Asst. Equipment Manager with this year’s Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning take us into the Bubble from day one in Tampa to 91 days later hoisting the Cup in Edmonton! How long where you in the Bubble? MP: For me personally, 91 days. I entered the […]

He’s been with the Carolina Hurricanes’ franchise since 1972. Now he plans to retire. By Chip Alexander. The Carolina Hurricanes could soon be losing their longest tenured employee. Equipment manager Skip Cunningham, who has been with the hockey franchise since 1972, plans to retire, Canes president and general manager Don Waddell said in an interview […]

By Kelly Lockwood, PhD and Colin Dunne MSc, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, Brock University Traditionally, the cowling on a goaltender skate boot has served to protect the foot and hold the blade in position. Consistent with current innovations in players’ skates, the material properties of the goaltenders’ skate boot have evolved from leather to […]

By Grace Heidinger   Social distancing and self-quarantine have become the new normal for people across the world as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak. Surrounded by uncertainty, people are filled with mixed emotions about what the future holds for all aspects of life, including sports. Once COVID-19 began to rapidly spread across the country, […]

Sports are special for a variety of reasons, one such being how it seems to create bonds between people. In sports, friends become family, families become friends, and family itself comes closer together with fond memories that will last a lifetime. Click here to continue reading For these articles and much more be sure to […]

Firefighters, Paramedics, and EMT’s see and treat more out of hospital cardiac arrests than anyone else.

This article reviews an extremely productive alternative to developing on-ice speed without all of the negative side effects of excessive on-ice work.

Take a look at their behind the scenes photos!

The Anaheim Ducks celebrated some heroes Wednesday.

The Ducks gave first responders and members of their medical staff and the St. Louis Blues staff the Red Cross Lifesaver Award for their role in treating Jay Bouwmeester on Feb. 11 before restarting their game at Honda Center.

St. Louis Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, a Stanley Cup champion, son, husband and father, is alive because the right combination of people…

Earlier this season, Linesman Scott Driscoll had the opportunity to attend the Medal of Honor Society’s Gala held in Tampa, FL.  For more, click here: http://www.nhloa.com/articles/view/200 For these articles and much more be sure to Like our Facebook page, PHATS/SPHEM Offical

The Dallas Stars & Nashville Predators faced off for this year?s Winter Classic, the first NHL outdoor game for each team. ?The Stars came out victorious with a 4-2 win over the Predators in front of a record breaking crowd of ?85,630! ?The 2nd-largest in NHL history. ? ?Here they share with us a few […]

On Monday, November 18th, Ken Lowe former Athletic Trainer with the Edmonton Oilers and PHATS Alumni member was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame PHATS/SPHEM Wall of Honor in Toronto! PHATS/SPHEM sat down with Ken to hear all about the weekend! PS: Take us back to when you first got the call telling you […]

By Jason McMaster, Head Equipment Manager, Winnipeg Jets The 2019 Heritage Classic in Regina was a great experience for our whole organization.  Saskatchewan is a very passionate hockey province, and embraced the opportunity to have an NHL outdoor game there. The city of Regina was a great host.   The Saskatchewan Roughriders were generous enough […]

Caring for athletes is Chris Kingsley?s job. Cancer forced the Kings trainer to take care of himself. The Kings? video room was eerily quiet one morning last November. A man stood at the front, a lump in his throat, his voice cracking. Dozens of eyes stared back at him, somber and soggy, tears welling in […]

By Hayley Wickenheiser, Assistant Director, Player Development, Toronto Maple Leafs

By Brian Papineau, Head Equipment Manager, Toronto Maple Leafs Why did the organization choose Newfoundland for their training camp location? With our ECHL team (Newfoundland Growlers) based in St. John?s and the older AHL affiliation (St. John?s Maple Leafs from 1991-2005), the organization decided it was best to hold training camp there. Is this the […]

Blocking shots is something every player is now asked to do. It?s not like the ?old days? where rugged, skilled players wouldn?t think about it, it?s a necessity. It?s even a player statistic you can look up! With that, we as equipment managers are tasked with protecting the players so they aren?t scared of blocking shots.

I had been waiting for it.  For ten years, I had been tracking my Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) levels. As a medical professional, I knew I needed to be proactive since my father had prostate cancer. So, when I reported to the team’s physical in September 2018 and found out that my PSA level was high, […]

BUFFALO, N.Y. ? Dominik Hasek, the most acrobatic goalie of all time, was also an all-world manicurist. Before cutting down shooters, Hasek trimmed his nails. He?d sit at his stall before every game and whittle away at his fingers, working the clippers with an intense stare, click here to continue. For these articles and much […]

Congratulations to long-time PHATS member Pete Demers on his induction to the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame! Click here to read all about it! For these articles and much more be sure to Like our Facebook page, PHATS/SPHEM Official

Mercyhurst University?s longtime hockey equipment manager Mike Folga died Saturday at the age of 63 after fighting a courageous battle with cancer…more For these articles and much more be sure to Like our Facebook page, PHATS/SPHEM Official

Developing connections over a 35-year career and being in the right place at the right time helped elevate the former Oilers athletic trainer to hockey’s highest honour…more For these articles and much more be sure to Like our Facebook page, PHATS/SPHEM Official

By Ian Cox, Asst. Equipment Manager, Ottawa Senator

Things That Were and Never Will be Again By John Doolan

By Rick Garner CEP, Team Paramedic Arizona Coyotes and Arizona State University

By Toby PalmiscnoEquipment Manager, Bemidji State Bemidji State University participated in the 13th annual Hockey Day in Minnesota.  The Bemidji State men?s team outlasted Michigan Tech on Friday night with a 4-3 overtime win, and the women?s team fell to Minnesota State on Saturday afternoon by a score of 2-1.  Both games played outdoors on […]

Congratulations to all! 2500 Games 2000 Games 1500 Games 1000 Games *Achieved in 2016 500 NCAA Games

By Nate Lapoint, HEM, University of Wisconsin, Jamaal Baribeau, HEM, Clarkson University and Andrew Zagorianakos, HEM, Providence College Nate Lapoint talks with Jamaal Baribeau and Andrew Zagorianakos who joined their teams in Ireland this past November. NL: When did you start planning for your trip to Ireland? NL: How many days was the road trip? […]

By Scott LivingstonB.SC., CAT(C), CSCS, Founder ReconditioningHO As Christmas 2011 was nearing, we were slowly ramping up for the holidays in anticipation of all the wonder in our two and half year- old daughter?s eyes. Santa Clause was still real, and we had already begun the soon to be tradition of hiding the Elf on […]

by Bryan BoyesHead Equipment Manager, Oshawa Generals The Winter Olympics are held for a three-week period of time in the month of February every four years. Little do people know, the journey for Hockey Canada, staff and players, begins much sooner than you may think. The call came in June 2017 from Oshawa Generals owner […]

By Jon Geller, Asst. Athletic Trainer, Toronto Maple Leafs As Athletic Therapists/Trainers, Physiotherapists, and Strength Coaches, our goal is to keep our players on the ice, performing at optimum levels. I believe that movement assessments are valuable in order to offer insight into how each athlete moves in a specific context, and to mitigate potential […]

By Dom Nicoletta, Head Athletic Trainer, Ottawa Senators This past summer the Ottawa Senators hosted a Functional Range Conditioning (F.R.C.) continuing education course. The course was attended by some of the sports medicine staffs and strength and conditioning coaches from Ottawa, New York and Detroit. Health care professionals from Carelton University, University of Toronto and […]

By Dr. Jas RandhawaSports Medicine/Performance Therapy Lead ALTIS email: j.randhawa@altis.world Twitter: @jrsportperform Creating The Process Driven Therapist The ever-changing landscape of High-Performance sport lends itself to be volatile and complex in the best of times. To further compound the issue is the scarcity of time, which in the truest sense becomes a commodity amongst performance […]

By TD ForssHead Athletic Therapist, Edmonton Oilers and Jeff LangHead Equipment Manager, Edmonton Oilers As the 2017-18 regular season was winding down, we began to hear rumors of our team traveling to Europe for an exhibition and possibly a regular season game to start our 2018- 19 season. During the month of May 2018, the […]

By Tony Da CostaHead Equipment Manager, Minnesota Wild The beginning stages of the Minnesota Wild?s new practice facility started long before the brick and mortar were laid. Since the beginning our organization knew it was important to keep everyone that would call the facility home on a daily basis involved TRIA Rink is located in […]