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Hot stove, cool lessons

There aren't many people that can say they've seen hell freeze over. But John Short has seen the Leafs win the Stanley Cup.
Sports journalist and broadcaster John Short will be leading a ‘hot stove’ discussion at the ACHC.
Sports journalist and broadcaster John Short will be leading a ‘hot stove’ discussion at the ACHC.

There aren't many people that can say they've seen hell freeze over.

But John Short has seen the Leafs win the Stanley Cup.

Covering everything from small town Bantam-level hockey to four Olympics and inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 1988, Short is considered one of this province's most respected sports writers.

He will be in Athabasca Sept. 9 at the Athabasca College Hockey Challenge's community luncheon, facilitating a “hot stove ” talk with college hockey icons about how it has changed their lives.

In an interview last week, Short said though the convenient thing to say would be that this tournament is the future of college hockey, he does think the future holds top college-level teams playing serious tournaments internationally.

“I think this tournament and others like it around the world, not just in Alberta but around the world, are the future of college hockey, ” he said. “That's the next step to elevate the public perception of both college and university hockey, and in some ways, see they've already done it, you know there are now international midget tournaments. ”

He said he believes Alberta's college and university hockey programs - with teams that take their leagues down without losing a game - are so strong because of the number of kids who play the game.

“Another fact is, there are so many teams now competing for players, that coaches at the end of one seasons start immediately to recruit almost all over the country for next season, ” he said.

Short also said he believes it is important to combine hockey skills with school, as it gives a player the advantage of interacting with the real world while working on the game.

“There's nothing wrong with being just a hockey player, except that if that boat sinks, you'd better be able to swim, ” he said.

He said once people get past their eight-year-old dreams of playing in the best leagues in the world and recognized their own abilities, they actually wind up thinking that they would like to play for the midget team in Athabasca and at the college level.

“I know kids are thrilled - young kids are thrilled to go practice with the college guys or skate with them, or talk with them and get autographs from them, ” he said. “I've seen it happen. ”

The Hot Stove talk will be held at the ACHC Community Dinner, running at the Athabasca Regional Multiplex 4:30-6:00 p.m.

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