As we’re getting closer to the “Silent Night” of Christmas Eve, we thought we’d file a very interesting “Silent Ice” report for you after a recent trip out to the rink in Nisku where the Bears will be playing next year.
We absolutely loved what we saw out there, as you’ll read further below. But before we get to that, here are a few more gifts to unwrap in today’s final GBHA E-Newsletter of 2025:
- A mid-season report with an overview of how the NCAA eligibility rules may have played out for the Bears and other teams so far this year
- A look at how our four Bears who left for Omaha are faring so far this year as well
- Final totals on the Teddy Bear Toss that the GBHA sponsored earlier this month
- Some thoughts on philanthropy
- Some very interesting stats from Athletics about the GB Hockey program from the 2024-2025 season
- A peek at the great work the Dinos’ hockey Alumni is doing down in Calgary – and maybe a challenge for a GBHA-Dino’s Alumni game?
Here we go – let’s dive into this GBHA Christmas gift pile!
Mid-Season Report: As we head into the Christmas holidays, GBHA Advisory Council member Dale Henwood offers his views and personal analysis on what he sees the impact of the recent NCAA eligibility ruling may have had on the Bears to this midway point in the season.
Dale offers an interesting review and perspective on what’s undoubtedly been a monumental shift for student-athlete hockey players across North America. He looks at the pros and cons of that ruling across the CHL, the NCAA, U SPORTS and inside the Bears team itself, against a backdrop of the team’s record to date for the year. He dusts off his crystal ball and lays out what he sees are potential scenarios and implications for university hockey teams across the board.
Here’s the link: https://gbhky.com/golden-bears-mid-season-report. A deep thanks to Dale for the time, effort and initiative he has put into pulling this together.
If you don’t have time to read the full article, below is Dale’s own “Bottom Line” summary and an invitation to you to share your thoughts with us. Send us any feedback you’d like to share – this is a key issue that affects our program deeply.
Bottom Line:
Gone are the rules that once kept the athlete pathways separate, and players are now exploring multiple paths for development. The NCAA rule change has shocked the hockey landscape, and it continues to reverberate. It is early to draw too many conclusions, and it is likely 2-3 years before the flow of players stabilizes and the real impact is seen.
U SPORTS men’s hockey is not going anywhere — but it will look different. In the near term, there will be slightly fewer CHL stars, more Junior A and older players, increased emphasis on academics and Canadian identity. There will also be a wider performance gap between top and middle programs, (resurrecting talks about a Top 10 U SPORTS Division), and continued competitiveness internationally and in pro development. The league’s ceiling remains high, but its composition changes.
For the Bears, The University of Alberta Golden Bears will remain one of the top 1–2 destinations in Canada, even in a disrupted recruiting market. The core advantages — brand, history, Alumni engagement, winning culture, NHL/Europe connections, strong academics, and Alberta’s local hockey depth, keep them highly competitive even as the CHL to U SPORTS pipeline shrinks.
The biggest change sees the Bears developing a more diversified recruiting strategy, stronger relationships, and proactive retention strategies to avoid losing top players to NCAA poaching.
Alberta will remain a consistent national contender. There will be a slight dip in elite incoming talent from CHL, but not enough to weaken competitiveness. The Bears could become even stronger relative to most Canada West teams because of Alberta’s resources, culture, and reputation outweigh competitors while mid-tier Canada West programs suffer greater talent loss to NCAA.
For those in the GBH family that have watched the team this season, what are your impressions? What has changed if anything? Has the parity been disrupted? Share your observations and thoughts.
Update from Omaha: Given Dale’s overview above, and the loss of four of our top players last year to the University of Nebraska Omaha, we thought it might be timely to check in on how things are going down there.
At the Christmas break, Omaha is sitting in 8th place out of nine teams in the NCHC standings at 6-11-0 and .353% record. 2025-26 NCHC Standings – National Collegiate Hockey Conference. The four former Golden Bears now in Omaha – Sean Tschirgl, Marc Lajoie, Brett Hyland and Aiden de la Gorgendiere – are in the top eight scorers on the team: 2025-26 Hockey Cumulative Statistics – Omaha Athletics
Teddy Bear Toss wrap-up: The final numbers are in from the hugely successful Teddy Bear Toss on December 6th, which Golden Bear Blake Gustafson took a leading role in introducing to us and helping us get on board with a $1,000 GBHA donation.
A total of 1,002 Teddy Bears were tossed on the ice during the first period of the Bears vs. MacEwan tilt. Net proceeds of the event were $1,270 that went to the Norwood Child and Family Resource Centre | Edmonton | Child Development.
MacEwan scored just 16 seconds into the opening frame, but the Bears’ Justin Hall scored less than a minute later, at 1:02, launching Teddy Bears into the air from around the rink. “I think the fact we scored so early deterred some of our potential sales,” said Blake afterwards. “1,002 bears is up 2.5x from last year, though!”
We’re also thrilled to pass along that there were no reported food illnesses from gingerbread man cookies or banana bread after Stan Marple, Craig Styles and I went to Norwood to help out in the kitchen the following week.
Here we are below, along with Norwood’s chief cook Karla Ingram and the Panda’s Rugby team members who were the key drivers of this entire event: Mikayla Gibbon, Molly Stetsko, Audrey Sutton and Cerys Jones. Here’s a link to the full picture gallery at Norwood, courtesy of Delaney Miles, GBHA Media Relations Director:
(CLICK HERE) https://gbhky.com/norwood-child-and-family-resource-centre-dec-9-2025
“Power Play: Scoring Big with Philanthropy”: T’is the season of giving, which is why we thought we’d pass along an offer from GBHA member Barrie Stafford that may interest you on the subject of philanthropy.
“At a time where social responsibility is more than just a buzz word, the transformational power of philanthropy can be vital to both personal fulfillment and business success,” Barrie wrote to us. He’s offering to send out to any GBHA member who’s interested “an article series designed to demonstrate how thoughtful giving can cultivate a deeper sense of purpose, both personally and within organizations.”
The series is co-created by Barrie and Laura Dear, a Certified Financial Planner. Here’s an outline of the first few articles they’ve got in the pipeline, complete with hockey analogies that may resonate with any of our members.
- Game Plan: The Power of Giving – Introduces corporate philanthropy as a strategic play.
- Puck Control: Building Stronger Communities – discusses how corporate giving enhances community ties, much like maintaining puck possession leads to scoring opportunities.
- Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Employee Engagement explores the impact of philanthropy on employee morale and teamwork.
- Game-Changing Returns: Measuring Impact – Presents metrics for evaluating the success of philanthropic efforts.
If you’d like to know more, drop us a line and we’ll connect you directly with Barrie.
Update from the Dino’s Alumni: Dale Henwood sent us this report below from “The 3rd Assist”, the Alumni group of the University of Calgary Dinosaurs men’s hockey team. Dale noted that the 3rd Assist group normally sends out a brief game summary after each weekend, but that the issue below is the first ‘informative’ email they’ve sent out.
Maybe they’ve taken the lead from our GBHA E-Newsletter? No matter, great to see what they’re doing. A quick read of this shows that their Alumni “Connect” mentorship program is very strong, and they’re getting good use of hosting Alumni and friends at home games during the year. Their “Crowchild Classic” games look to be a raging success – 13,000 fans out to the Saddledome! – and their Community Giving initiatives are very impressive. Congrats to our Dinos Alumni friends and 3rd Assist Club President Terry Johnsonfor all their successes over the past year. Maybe we should challenge the Dinos Alumni to an exhibition game? If so, who’s in?
Here’s their newsletter below:
| Warm holiday wishes from all of us at 3RD ASSIST. We hope your season is filled with joy, rest, and celebration. As 2025 ends, we’re excited to share highlights from the Dinos program and our 3RD ASSIST initiatives. We would like to begin by thanking you—the Alumni and Friends of Dinos Men’s Hockey—for your continued and growing support of 3RD ASSIST initiatives over the past year. Your commitment directly strengthens Dinos Hockey and empowers the student-athletes who represent our program. The 3RD ASSIST operates with three core objectives: 1. to provide funding (a) for team initiatives that enhance on-ice success and (b) for the student-athletes themselves, enabling them to focus on both their academic and athletic pursuits. 2. to provide post-university career guidance, helping players transition confidently into life after hockey. 3. to build a vibrant, supportive network of alumni and friends—one that benefits everyone involved.We believe that achieving these objectives fosters leadership skills and contributes to the development of strong community leaders and builds a robust and healthy community. Over the past 12 months, we’ve seen impressive and sustained momentum across many of our initiatives, which I will touch on later in this message. As the 3RD ASSIST continues to grow and expand its reach, it’s clear that additional volunteer support would be invaluable. If you are interested in getting involved and joining the fun, please reach out to us at info@dinoshockeythirdassistclub.com. DINOS HOCKEY A Strong Start to the 2025–26 Season With 16 new players joining the 29 player roster this fall, the team entered the season with many unknowns. Ten weeks in, the team has received strong play from the new arrivals and great leadership from their veteran group. At the break, the Dinos find themselves in 1st place in the Eastern Division of U Sports’ Canada West Conference. Academic Excellence Seven Dinos from the 2024-25 team were recognized as Academic All-Canadians (80%+ academic average while competing varsity). Congratulations to the following student athletes: • Logan Hauer – Schulich School of Engineering• Noah King – Arts• Adam Kydd – Haskayne School of Business• Connor Martin – Haskayne School of Business• Dallon Melin – Arts• Carl Stankowski – Arts• Zach Wytinck – ArtsCommunity GivingThe players continued their tradition of giving back through their annual holiday fundraiser. Their 2025 fundraising efforts raised over $2000 for Heroes (Hockey Education Reaching Out Society). Dinos players also helped with a U of C Motion-ball event for the Special Olympics and the Kids Cancer Care PEER program. Great work, team! 3RD ASSIST INITIATIVES Connect Program Our Connect Program continues to provide graduating players with links to alumni working in various career paths of interest. Over six years, 38 players have benefited from these valuable connections. Currently, 10 individuals are taking advantage of the program. If you are interested in being a resource for the program, please reach out to us at info@dinoshockeythirdassistclub.com. Alumni Rooms The 3RD ASSIST will host a total of nine Alumni and Friends of Dinos Hockey Rooms at home games throughout the 2025-26 regular season. The rooms have been well attended – it has been great to see not just alumni, but families and friends regularly drop in. Sponsorship has been provided by alumni, friends of the program, parents of current players along with parents of players who have graduated. A heartfelt thank to those sponsors: Randy Joevenazzo, Jerry Farwell, Jerry Bancks, Rob Labelle, Jim Bertram, BPIT Coaching (Russ Hall), Damian Steiert, Loreen and Darren Schmidt, Bob Laycock, Robin Laycock, Rick Laycock, Alberta Premium Coatings (Phil Huber and Mike Kennedy), Kevin Heise, Jim Wheatcroft, Lyle Strom, Bruce Bianchini, Ross Rayment, the Poole Family, the Wytinck Family and the Gutenberg Family. Crowchild Classic Last year’s Crowchild Classic set an all-time U Sports regular-season hockey attendance record with 13,139 fans packing the Saddledome, where the Dinos defeated MRU 4–0. The atmosphere was electric. Mark your calendar – next years’ Classic will be on Thursday, January 29, 2026, at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Details regarding the Alumni & Friends Room will be coming in January. Dinos Giving Day The 3RD ASSIST again provided promotional support to U Calgary’s 2025 Giving Day Program. It continues to be a very valuable and impactful fundraising vehicle. Matched donations helped raise over $110,000 for Men’s Hockey—approximately 70% of funds were directed to Scholarships and 30% to Team Operations. Watch for Giving Day 2026 announcements in the new year. Dinos Golf Tournament — June 19, 2025 Held under beautiful skies at Springbank Links, the 2025 Dinos Golf Tournament offered a great day of golf and reconnection. A sincere thank you to our Title Sponsor Cowboys and Co-Dinner Sponsors New-Firmus and Alcon Electric, whose support made the event possible. We also extend our appreciation to Cam and Kevin Heise and the golf committee for their outstanding leadership. Next year’s tournament will be held on Thursday June 18, 2026, back at Springbank Links. We look forward to another memorable day on the course! Dinos Stampede Gathering — July 11, 2025Spearheaded by alumnus George Quinn and Hall of Fame Coach George Kingston, the gathering was held once again at the Whiskey Rose Saloon. This year’s version saw former Dinos coaches Gord Jones, Gord Cowan, Wally Kozak, Wil Desjardins, and George Kingston all make appearances. It was great to see them and all others that made it down to the saloon. DINO BITES• Dinos Hall of Fame – Congratulations to John Jenkins, captain of the Dinos first Canada West Championship team, on his induction into the Dinos Hall of Fame. The 1st Team All Canadian, 3-time Canada West All Star and 1974 Dinos Male Athlete of the Year made a tremendous impact on the program on and off the ice. The Hall of Fame Induction Gala will be held on February 5 inside the University Theatre starting at 6 pm. Full ticket information can be found here. Previous hockey inductees include Norm Minor, Bob Laycock, Paul Geddes, and George Kingston.• Toledo Hockey Hall of Fame – Congratulations to former Dinos coach Gord Cowan on his induction into the Toledo Hockey Hall of Fame. A standout player in Toledo and the Mercurys’ all-time leading scorer (412 points), Gordie coached the Dinos for 12 years, including three seasons as Head Coach. Gord will be honoured in Toledo the weekend of January 23-25. Thank you and Happy Holidays! Your support strengthens the Dinos program, the student-athlete experience, and our community.Wishing you a wonderful holiday season and an exciting year ahead. GO DINOS! 3RD ASSIST Club Terry Johnson, President |
Silent Ice is really nice: Last week GBHA Board member Brian Middleton invited GBHA Media Relations Director Delaney Miles (pictured below) and me out to visit the Silent Ice Center | Hockey & Event Venue in Nisku, which will be the home rink for the Bears next season. Here are a few pics from our tour of the facility, which seats 1,800 for hockey games:
It was my first time out to Silent Ice, and I have to say that I was very, very impressed. Silent Ice is really nice.
Brian pointed out, as we sat for lunch in the gorgeous restaurant overlooking the main rink and secondary practice sheet of ice, that Silent Ice opens up an opportunity for the Bears and for our Alumni. He’s 100% right. If we do this properly, we could help build a new base of fans and corporate supporters while, at the same time, help the Bears’ team and coaching staff in any way we can to meet some of the obvious short-term logistical challenges the move presents.
Leveraging the move to Silent Ice and turning it into a positive development for the GBH program will be item #1 on the next GBHA Board of Directors meeting in early January. We’ve already got a file full of ideas. Anything you can think of yourself? Let us know. We’ve reached out to the U of A Athletics Department to let them know we’re ready, willing and able to work with them and dive into this.
Stay tuned. Lots coming up from us here in the weeks and months ahead. And if you haven’t been out to Silent Ice yourself yet, maybe check it out at some point over the holidays. We guarantee that you’ll come away very impressed.
Last year in review: If you get some quiet time over the holidays, grab your favourite Christmas beverage and spend 10 minutes on a dive into this: Golden Bears and Pandas – Athletics Annual Report 2024-2025 that was just published on November 14th.
It’s a fascinating read. It’s very healthy to step back and look at our program in perspective of the 21 different Golden Bear and Pandas teams. And, even better, this gives us a bit of a look into some interesting numbers.
You’ll find that the Golden Bear Hockey team, with our significant GBHA support in sponsorships, led the way in these three key top-line categories:
- Number of corporate sponsorships ($ not available) – (page 16) GB Hockey 12, Athletics 10, Pandas Volleyball 5, GB Volleyball 4, Curling 3 and Pandas Hockey 1. (Note this does not include golf tournament sponsorships.)
- Ticket Revenues – (page 21) GB Hockey $244,421.02, Volleyball $210,327.91, Basketball $110,488.70, Football $73,225.00, Pandas Hockey $53,927\03, Rugby $14,598.80
- U of A Student Attendance – (page 22) GB Hockey 8,002, Volleyball 3,437, Football 2,547, Basketball $1,969, Rugby 233.
As we mentioned earlier, with the election of your new Board of Directors, we’re taking steps to help us all get a clearer picture of the Golden Bears Hockey program and where your support is best needed. We’ve already had one positive meeting with Athletics on this issue, and should have more to report to you early in the New Year.
Thank-you to our Bear Necessities Fund supporters: As we do each and every time we publish this E-Newsletter, a heartfelt thank-you to the GBHA members below who contributed to the second round of BNF funding this fall. Your support allows us to do all the things it takes to keep our E-Newsletter, social media, video and outreach support up and running all year round.
Adam Morrison, Bill Moores, Bob Steadward, Brent Cox, Bret Walter, Brian Middleton, Bruce Crawford, Bruce Millar, Bruce Rolin, Bryan Targett, Bryon Baltimore, Cam Danyluk, Clark Jantzie, Craig Hordal, Craig Styles, Dale Henwood, Dan Bouwmeester, Dan Zarowny, Darwin Bozek, Dave Carlyle, Dave Couves, David Breakwell, Dennis Zukiwsky, Dick Wintermute, Don Darling, Dwayne Bolkowy, Graeme Craig, Jean-Pierre Szaszkiewicz, Jim Ofrim, Jim Wishloff, John Krill, Kelly Brooks, Luke Tollenaar, Marty Schmidt, Mike Ballash, Mitch Topping, Murray Tait, Peter Esdale, Randy Gregg, Rick Peterson, Roger Kramers, Ron Heck, Scott McDonald, Shelby Karpman, Stacey Wakabayashi, Stan Marple, Stephen Lockwood, Steve Knowles, Steve Shrum and Wayne Page.
