GENE'S BLOG: Award-winning leadership

The JUNO Awards will be handed out at Rogers Place on Monday night.
The JUNOs, for those not overly inclined or informed about music, are awards presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize 'outstanding achievements in the music industry'. The first JUNOs were held in 1970, and first televised across Canada in 1975. The event was eventually made open to the public in 1995 after taking place in Hamilton.
Edmonton is the host site for the 2023 festivities. Vancouver has also hosted the awards, which were originally hosted every other year in Toronto.
On Saturday night, Toronto hosted another event -- a hockey game between themselves and Edmonton. By now, you know what happened -- the Oilers took the lead, the Maple Leafs came back, the Oilers responded, but the Maple Leafs held them off in a highly-entertaining way to spend your Hockey Night. It was a game of end-to-end action, with several highlight-reel moments in the 11-goal performance.

It was quite the weekend of hockey. Speaking of The Weeknd, the artist won the 2022 JUNO Award for his album Blinding Lights. The Oilers weren't blinded by what happened in the second and final game of their season series with Maple Leafs. Self-inflicted wounds was the theme for the team.
That's where we pick up the story. But first, an explanation of how things work after a game. We in the media are asked who we would like to speak with after a game. Once the requests are in, three to five players are normally made available, followed by the coach.
Some nights, the choices are easy ones; others, they are more difficult. Saturday was one of those more difficult nights. The Oilers lost and it was a tough one. How it happened made the post-game requests a trio of players in Zach Hyman, Ryan McLeod and Vincent Desharnais -- a veteran and two youngsters in age or experience.

McLeod, who has the best hockey smile around and whose favourite player was Ryan Smyth, was set to speak. So was Desharnais, who's been a revelation this season, going from an AHL contract to an NHL contract. Both men were prepared to discuss the evening's events and their roles.
Maybe like 1982 JUNO Award-winning band for Single of the Year Loverboy, they said Turn Me Loose, but that never happened. Instead, Evander Kane and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins stepped up.
"I didn't even know about it until I got to the plane," Woodcroft said Monday morning after Oilers practice at the Downtown Community Arena. "So for me, when I read about it and what I heard from our PR department when they told me, I thought it was a group trying to protect some people, protect some younger people, from having to answer for maybe a personal error here or there.
"In the end, I think those younger players would've been fine with going out and answering that, but what I liked is the fact that our leaders felt that was important."

It was widely reported post-game by Oilers TV's Tony Brar, Sportsnet's Mark Spector and The Athletic's Daniel Nugent-Bowman that the veterans would take their spot and speak about a tough loss. Leadership is something that can be seen and heard, but maybe most importantly, it can be felt.
"Not only did they feel it was important, but they stood in front of it," Woodcroft added.
"I think it's an awareness of things, and in the end, we've got a bunch of great people that are trying to pull together here for a common purpose and work towards a common goal. Our leaders felt that in the moment there after the game in Toronto, so good on them."
Two players who have played a combined 1,624 NHL games took the place of two teammates who have a total of 157.
"You have guys that have been around the league for a while and know that some games aren't going to go the way you want," defenceman Darnell Nurse said. "Not that everyone doesn't take it hard, but you definitely take it a little bit harder when you're a bit younger. As an older player, you want to stay even-keeled."

Speaking of numbers, Anne Murray is the most JUNO-nominated Canadian artist with 52 nominations and 25 wins. I would suggest a nomination and a win could be shared between Kane and Nugent-Hopkins for Teammate of the Year.
A team on the ice and off the ice, even during the most difficult times.
"Hockey is a game full of mistakes, and I think just the leadership group felt like it was our responsibility to go out there and talk about the game," said fellow veteran Hyman.
Athletes and musicians have a lot in common when it comes to their skill, determination, work ethic and ability to come together as a team or a band. On Monday, Rogers Place is all about music, and on Tuesday, it's back to hockey.
Edmonton is hoping their award-winning leadership is one of the reasons they'll still be playing hockey in the month of June-O.
"Everybody makes mistakes, but you know you can manage the game better I guess," Hyman said. "I think over the course of 82 games when you're a young player in the league, you're learning every game. I think it's better to make those mistakes now in Game 67 or 68 than it is in the playoffs."