Three things that came up during telephone conversations this past week…
1) Our good friend, Thomas Steen got a job in hockey.
That’s just not good news, it’s great news.
Thomas has gone through some tough times in the past few years, but now he’s back in the game.
The one-time Winnipeg Jets captain and all-time Winnipeg Jets legend is going back to Sweden to work in both junior hockey and the Swedish Elite League.
“I’m going to work for Modo,” Thomas told us. “I’m going to be an assistant coach with the pro club and an assistant coach and scout with the junior team.
“I’m leaving the first of July and I’ll be gone nine months. I’ll get back to Winnipeg for my golf tournament in August, at Christmas and during the Olympic break. But that’s it. I’m going back home.”
He’s not quite going home. Farjestad is home. But close enough.
2) Another good friend, Neepawa’s Shane Hnidy, can become a free-agent on July 1 but what Shane would really like to do is re-sign with the Boston Bruins.
“Yeah, I’d really like to come back here,” he said. “I thought we were good enough to win it all this year, but I know we’ll be good enough to win it next year.”
Hnidy, 34, one of the great stories of heart and perseverance in the NHL, has been a pro for 13 seasons. He’s played nine of those years in the NHL with Ottawa, Nashville, Atlanta, Anaheim and Boston after being drafted (173rd overall) by Buffalo in 1994.
“Someday, I’d like to be a hockey commentator on TV or radio,” Hnidy said. “But right now, I still want to play and I hope that next year, I’m playing in Boston.”
3) We had Darren Helm’s mom, Karine, on 92-CITI-FM’s morning show this past week, the morning after he scored the OT winner against the Blackhawks. She was very proud, and one sensed, still crying after her son’s heroics on Wednesday.
That night, Helm set an NHL record with his fifth career playoff goal. He now has five playoff goals and has yet to score a single regular-season goal. No other NHL player has ever done that.
However, besides scoring goals, the young man from St. Andrews, Man., has one other talent: He can win faceoffs.
In the opener of the Stanley Cup final, a game won 3-1 by Detroit, Helm had won 10-of-12 faceoffs in the first two periods. He finsihed with 11 wins in 15 faceoffs.
One suspects Helm will be a full-time member of the Red Wings next season. It’s unlikely he’ll ever see Grand Rapids, Mich., again.
By the way, how good was Chris Osgood on Saturday night? First star? 29 saves? The best goalie in the playoffs, two years in a row.