I have a lot of fears in the game of hockey...

...this is certainly one of them.



I watched it live on the NHL Network last night, and every time I watched it being replayed, I had to close my eyes and turn away. You have been just warned.

No football this weekend?

For me, there was plenty of it, and it just happened to be combined with a couple of good hockey games.

Three Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Grey Cup trophy were at the Broncos vs. Kelowna game at the Credit Union iplex Friday night.

L-R: Nathan Hoffart, Marcus Crandell and Anton McKenzie.

The Grey Cup trophy.

The ceremonial face-off. Upon the players' arrival, there was a long, loud standing ovation by the close to 2500 fans. No one sat until the anthem was finished.

The players checking out one of the new luxury suites at the iplex.

On a slightly related note, the NHL All-Star Game was earlier tonight. Team East beat Team West 8-7. Kathleen Edwards, a native of Ottawa, Ontario, sung the Canadian National Anthem while wearing a Riders 2007 Grey Cup Champions t-shirt. Figure I might add that.

Who says there's no fighting in European hockey?

Russian Superleague, Traktor Chelyabinsk vs. AK Bars Kazan (you may recall, that's the team where most of the good NHL players went to during the lockout)



I don't know, nor do I care, who won that game.

Not a good weekend as a sports fan

It seems that last weekend was a bad one for the sports teams that I support.

The Riders had their regular season finale against Toronto last Saturday in Regina and dropped it by a painful 43-13 score. That phoning-in gave the Argos first in the East, and has us Rider fans on the downs heading into the west semi-final against Calgary.

The Broncos lost twice, 5-3 on the road in Brandon on Friday, and 4-3 after a shootout against Edmonton at home on Saturday

The Canucks are horrible at home with a 1-6 record at GM Place. They won against Colorado on Saturday, but that was on the road. That doesn't make me feel any better

Probably the worst was the Colts-Patriots game on Sunday. I was actually excited and pumped for the game, something I don't usually feel for a regular season NFL match, and I slept through it, the result of me being up since 3:00am on Saturday and Sunday. Adding insult to injury, the Colts lost 24-20, and I woke up just in time to see the Patriots with the ball at the 2-minute warning, with Colts with no time-outs.

Not to sound like a bandwagon jumper, if things don't get better soon, I might have to question my allegiances, or do my best to not sleep during major sporting events.

Oh, one more note, the Hamilton Ti-Cats fired their GM, Marcel Dejardins, at around 11:00pm EST last night. I kinda know the time because I got the text alert from TSN just after 10:00pm. I mean, why fire a guy so late at night? Why not wait until the next morning? It'd be one less sleepless night for him.

Another name change to get used to.

The major ice rink in Swift Current, the city-operated Centennial Civic Centre, is currently on the home stretch of major renovations. Everything's changing with it. More seating, new luxury boxes, even a new name.

Innovation Credit Union just bought the naming rights to the arena for $600,000 over ten years. Therefore, the Centennial Civic Centre will henceforth be known as...

Picture from scbroncos.com

The Credit Union iplex.

Don't ask me what I think of the name, because in the end I have nothing against it. It is an odd name, but if you had $600,000 that went entirely and directly to capital improvements to the rink, you can call it whatever you wish.

Plus, the name couldn't be Innovation Place or Credit Union Centre, and I seriously can't think of a better name. I bet you can't either.

The Plan, make four road games

Screenshot from Google Earth. Click to enlarge

This WHL Hockey Season, I am going to make an effort to attend more Broncos road games. The four cities within a day's drive of me are Moose Jaw (the Warriors), Regina (the Pats), Saskatoon (the Blades) and Medicine Hat (the Tigers), and I plan to attend at least one game in each city this season.

I got things rolling by going to Moose Jaw last Friday night, to take in the season opener.

Final: Broncos 3-Warriors 2 after overtime

Look at that get-up!: Roberto Luongo

The Vancouver Canucks have just announced their new sweaters and colour schemes for the upcoming season.

Goalie Roberto Luongo models them.


Photo from the Vancouver Canucks

Looks good. A decent combination of the past and the present. Much better than those old neon-orange "Flying V" uneys they wore in the 80s

The Funniest things I've heard, read and seen this week (August 12-18)

Heard - James Duthie's failed attempts to woo Anna Kournikova at the Rogers Cup's Tennis Legends Match on Monday. Apparrently Anna doesn't like hockey commentators as much as hockey players. (part two is here)

Read - The Best. Phishing E-mail. Ever. I wonder how many people were dumb enough to take- *ding* Hey, a dancing gorilla wants my Visa number. Well, let's take a look here...

Seen - Now I know this happened six months ago, but I first saw the video this week. CityNews' consumer reporter Peter Silverman investigated a crooked optician in Toronto, who obviously had a temper. A hissy fit involving snowballs and the ETF (Toronto's SWAT Team) ensued

Stick, Gloves, Shirt

In Regina, there is a hockey school for kids 12-18 operating right now that specialises in just one thing. Not skating, or shooting, but throwing down in fisticuffs.

In their defence, it's there to help the kids stand up for any jerk who jumps them on the ice, not to encourage the kids to start fights or induce other acts of goonery

Here's the story

Look at the new guy!: Life imitates art...

CBC just confirmed Craig Simpson will leave the Oilers and join Hockey Night in Canada, as a colour commentator for Jim Hughson.

This immediately makes me think of EA Sports' NHL07, where, in the versions of the game not playable on Xbox 360, Craig Simpson and Jim Hughson appear in the commentary


Footage from the PC version

Oh, by the way, NHL08 will be released September 11, and features include the Skill Stick, a third-person goalie mode, and all 29 AHL teams are playable. Might be time for an upgrade.

They're Lovin' It in Stewart Valley!

Travis Moen hoists the Stanley Cup. Captured from the CBC Sports broadcast

Last night, the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Ottawa Senators 6-2 at the Honda Center to win the Stanley Cup in five games. For the first time ever in the NHL's modern history, the Cup is in the west coast. For the first time ever, the cup is in California. For the 13th consecutive season, the Cup is in the United States of America.

But none of that matters. The important thing is the Cup is coming to the Southwest!

Travis Moen, a farm boy from up the road, got credit for two goals last night, including the misplay by Chris Phillips that stood up to be the Cup winner. He was also the game's number one star. All to the delight of the 120 or so residents of Stewart Valley, who were all in the community school watching it unfold on a 50" plasmatic TV, and the thousands more in the Southwest watching in their homes. Just four years ago, the village erected a huge "Home of Travis Moen: NHL" sign just next to the highway. Already they have to modify it to read "2007 Stanley Cup Champion"

Of course, this is not just an American team by any means, just because they're based in Southern California. 19 players on the squad are from Canada, including 5 players from Saskatchewan, among all the others from various parts of the world. It's proof that it doesn't matter where your team plays its home games, its how well the team plays every game. And the Ducks, throughout the playoffs and the regular season before it, played like champions.

I can't wait until Travis gets his day with the Cup. Hopefully I can be there for it. It will be the third time I have been close to hockey's greatest prize, but the first time I didn't have to travel a long ways east to see it.

Seven Minutes and Twelve Seconds of Greatness.

How awesome was Don Cherry's appearance on NBC last night?




If, for the obvious reason, the video doesn't play, it can be seen here

The Stanley Cup Final: Who to cheer for?

I was totally going to talk about something else today, but after considerable consideration, three cups of coffee, and a 45-minute drive from Kyle, I figured this topic is much more important and relevant than anything else I would talk about this particular day.

The Stanley Cup Final, the biggest series in professional ice hockey, will start tonight in Anaheim, CA, with the Ottawa Senators and the Ducks of Anaheim battling for the big prize. Fan support in both cities will be thrown behind their respective squadrons, but who to cheer for if you don't live in Canada's Capital Region, or Orange County, California, or, in my case, your favourite team coming in is not participating?

Both teams have a good case.

-Ottawa is located in Canada, and a team based in this country hasn't won a Stanley Cup since 1993. Anaheim, on the other hand, has 19 active players on their roster who are from Canada, compared to 15 on the Senators side.

-Among those Canadian players, five of the players for Anaheim are from Saskatchewan (Ryan Getzlaf, the inactive Brendan Mikkelson, and the injured Chris Kunitz are from Regina, Black Ace Tyler Wright, is from Kamsack, and Travis Moen lives up the road in Stewart Valley). Meanwhile, four Senators (Wade Redden's from Lloydminster, Peter Schaefer's from Yellow Grass, pine-rider Niel Petruic is from Regina, and no. 4 goalie Kelly Guard is from PA) hail from this fine province.

-Both teams, technically, haven't won the cup before. I say technically, because back in the olden days, Ottawa did have a team called the Senators, and they did win ten Stanley Cups between 1903 and 1927. That team moved to St. Louis in 1934 before folding a year later. The current Senators team entered the league in 1992, and have not appeared in the final before today. Anaheim, has been in the Final once, back in 2003, where they lost to the Devils in seven games.

-Some players on both teams have played for the cup before, but the most of these players suit up for Anaheim. Most players on that team appeared in the aforementioned 2003 final, including goalie Jean-Sebatian Giguire, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner of those playoffs. Some additions since then include Chris Pronger, who played for Edmonton in their cup run last season, Scott Niedermayer, who defeated the Ducks in 2003 when he played for the Devils, and Sean O'Donnel, who played for those Devils in 2001, when they lost to the Avalanche. Among those players, Niedermayer is the only one with a cup victory (he has three rings from his time with the Devils). Ottawa, not that many. The only notable cup final retunree is back-up goalie Martin Gerber, who beat Pronger's Oilers last year when he played for Carolina.

This is only just a small essay on what these two teams will bring to the table from tonight. I'm not asking, nor recommending, that you base your predictions on what you just read. I invite you to size up the teams yourself and make an informed decision. As for me, I will definitely enjoy between 4-7 nights of great hockey, and wish both teams the best.

By the way, I am aware that is an awful picture of myself, (I was 16 at the time) but it was the only relevant picture that I could use.