The Moose in Manitoba potentially have a big problem.
Crestwood's own Mia Rabson, who scribbles for the Winnipeg Free Press, writes in today's fish wrap that "The Manitoba Moose are among the professional sports teams who could find themselves grounded because a recent decision to solve a cross- border charter airline dispute only applies to Air Canada and teams in the National Hockey League."
The Moose are the defending whatever-division-they-play-in-champions and Calder Cup finalists in the American Hockey League and are, next to ice fishing on Lake Winnipeg of course, the place to be seen in the Winnipeg area during the winter months, September to June inclusive.
This Air Canada only rule could also affect other Canuckistanian sports teams, specifically the Toronto Raptors and the Blue Jays.
Joe Volpe, who is the Liberal transport critic was spot on when he said the government was deceptive when it flaunted the NHL/Air Canada agreement during Harper's meeting with President Barack Obama Sept. 16 because they made it seem like they had solved the whole problem not just part of the problem.
Imagine, the current government being deceptive.
As if.
WFDS
Showing posts with label NHL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NHL. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
871...Stephen Harper's Calendar
Tomorrow evening Prime Minister Stephen Harper addresses the Canadian American Business Council and Canadian Association of New York.
The reception is at 5:30 p.m.; Mr. Harper's speech is at 6 p.m. It is at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, 109 East 42 St., Manhattan, New York City, New York. I will be the one in the Canadian Flag sombrero.
The subject is one near and dear to the heart of our beloved Prime Minister:
WFDS
The reception is at 5:30 p.m.; Mr. Harper's speech is at 6 p.m. It is at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, 109 East 42 St., Manhattan, New York City, New York. I will be the one in the Canadian Flag sombrero.
The subject is one near and dear to the heart of our beloved Prime Minister:
Winning Hockey Pool Strategies
Draft To Win
WFDS
Sunday, September 13, 2009
845...The Great One Takes A Break
Rob Longley in the Sun newspapers Sunday reports that Wayne Gretzky is taking a bit of break from coaching the Phoenix Coyotes, a team in tremendous flux, much of it coming from the pressure Jim Balsillie and the bankruptcy courts are putting on the club.
Not only is 99 the coach of the club, he is also a managing partner of the Coyotes and is paid about eight million a year. In bankruptcy court Friday the NHL admitted that they are trying to take over the team and trying to negotiate off that number.
General Manager Don Maloney is quoted as saying the true Canadian Idol "...thought it was better to sit back for a few days and evaluate the situation."
Interestingly this story is getting bigger play in Ottawa, Winnipeg, Halifax than in Phoenix. That should tell Gary Bettman something. It won't, but it should.
WFDS
Not only is 99 the coach of the club, he is also a managing partner of the Coyotes and is paid about eight million a year. In bankruptcy court Friday the NHL admitted that they are trying to take over the team and trying to negotiate off that number.
General Manager Don Maloney is quoted as saying the true Canadian Idol "...thought it was better to sit back for a few days and evaluate the situation."
Interestingly this story is getting bigger play in Ottawa, Winnipeg, Halifax than in Phoenix. That should tell Gary Bettman something. It won't, but it should.
WFDS
Friday, September 11, 2009
831...Lead On Anniversary Of 911 Montreal Gazette
Has nothing to do with 911.
Of course not.
There is a Stanley Cup to be won, er, won in the proper fashion and the headline says it all.
Ah, Montreal, gotta love it.
WFDS
Of course not.
There is a Stanley Cup to be won, er, won in the proper fashion and the headline says it all.
Do Habs have enough Quebec players?
Ah, Montreal, gotta love it.
WFDS
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
818...On A Silver Plate Here Is An Election Issue
Hamilton.
Hockey.
Think about it Mikey I.
Lotsa hockey fans in this country and lots of them live in 905.
WFDS
Hockey.
Think about it Mikey I.
Lotsa hockey fans in this country and lots of them live in 905.
WFDS
Saturday, September 5, 2009
792...Blame Obama If The Habs or Senators Lose
Ditto the Flames and the Oilers and the Canucks and the Maple Leafs.
Well, not the Maple Leafs, they are going to lose no matter what.
The problem, as explicated by Don Martin in the CanWest News Service papers this morning is the U.S. Department of Transportation banned Air Canada's charter fleet, Jetz, from flying between U.S. cities. Simply put, Jetz can get the Senators from Ottawa to Boston but not from Boston to New York City.
This anti free trade b u l l s h ' t was pushed by the U.S. Air Line Pilots Association who want to keep the jobs as flyers for their pilots.
Jetz also is the charter for a number of American teams, specifically the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Bruins and will presumably lose that business.
You know, the radical left and right are all vexed about SPP, the Security and Prosperity Partnership which will allegedly make Canada, the United States and Mexico one big happy borderless state. What is happening visa vi the NHL charters, which also affected bands on tour and the U. S. NHL teams, flys in the face of the SPP.
WFDS
Well, not the Maple Leafs, they are going to lose no matter what.
The problem, as explicated by Don Martin in the CanWest News Service papers this morning is the U.S. Department of Transportation banned Air Canada's charter fleet, Jetz, from flying between U.S. cities. Simply put, Jetz can get the Senators from Ottawa to Boston but not from Boston to New York City.
This anti free trade b u l l s h ' t was pushed by the U.S. Air Line Pilots Association who want to keep the jobs as flyers for their pilots.
Jetz also is the charter for a number of American teams, specifically the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Bruins and will presumably lose that business.
You know, the radical left and right are all vexed about SPP, the Security and Prosperity Partnership which will allegedly make Canada, the United States and Mexico one big happy borderless state. What is happening visa vi the NHL charters, which also affected bands on tour and the U. S. NHL teams, flys in the face of the SPP.
WFDS
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
773...Some Guys Have All The Luck
Take Keith Acton.
Mr. Acton had a nice little NHL career including a ring with the Edmonton Oilers in the mid eighties followed by full time employment in the game as an assistant coach.
Right now Mr. Acton is entering his seventh season working for his hometown team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
A nice life, it is.
And it just got nicer.
Sports Illustrated reports that Mr. Acton won 91,054$ in Lotto 6/49.
No word on when or where he will do his happy dance.
WFDS
Mr. Acton had a nice little NHL career including a ring with the Edmonton Oilers in the mid eighties followed by full time employment in the game as an assistant coach.
Right now Mr. Acton is entering his seventh season working for his hometown team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
A nice life, it is.
And it just got nicer.
Sports Illustrated reports that Mr. Acton won 91,054$ in Lotto 6/49.
No word on when or where he will do his happy dance.
WFDS
Thursday, August 27, 2009
745...The Very Important Persons Act Invoked
This time in Buffalo, New York where WGR 550 SportsRadio reports, and I quote:
That will teach Chicago Black Hawks star Mr. Kane a thing or two. Like don't just beat the elderly cab driver up for your .20 cents [that was what this was about; Mr. Radecki didn't have .20 cents change for Mr. Kane who apparently is not, Mr. Kane is not, disposed to tip] beat him up and scare him. The Calder Trophy winner has learned his lesson for true.
WFDS
Patrick Kane has reached a plea deal in response to his arrest after an incident with a local cab driver on Aug. 9.
Kane will plead guilty to one count of disorderly conduct and submit a written apology to driver Jan Radecki. The charge is no longer a misdemeanor, but a violation. He'll have a conditional discharge, and his record will be clean after a year of good behavior. Kane also has to pay $125 in court fees.
That will teach Chicago Black Hawks star Mr. Kane a thing or two. Like don't just beat the elderly cab driver up for your .20 cents [that was what this was about; Mr. Radecki didn't have .20 cents change for Mr. Kane who apparently is not, Mr. Kane is not, disposed to tip] beat him up and scare him. The Calder Trophy winner has learned his lesson for true.
WFDS
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
689...Emile Loranger Meet Donald Trump
Donald Trump is, of course, Donald Trump. Emile Loranger is the Mayor of the small, about 12 k, town of L'Ancienne-Lorette which is a western suburb of Quebec City and is best known as the place that NHL tough guy John Kordic died of a drug overdose in back in 1992.
The reason I am introducing Mr. Trump and Mr. Loranger is that they are of the same mind when it comes to shaking hands. They don't like it. Spreads too many germs it does. Mr. Trump doesn't shake hands; Mr. Lorette, being a mayor and all that, has taken it one step further and CanWest News Service is banning handshakes in his re election campaign this fall.
All in the name of preventing the spread of the H1N1 virus.
WFDS
The reason I am introducing Mr. Trump and Mr. Loranger is that they are of the same mind when it comes to shaking hands. They don't like it. Spreads too many germs it does. Mr. Trump doesn't shake hands; Mr. Lorette, being a mayor and all that, has taken it one step further and CanWest News Service is banning handshakes in his re election campaign this fall.
All in the name of preventing the spread of the H1N1 virus.
WFDS
Monday, August 10, 2009
652...Hockey Mad Canada Less Hockey Mad
A study Misty Harris wrote about in your Friday Canwest newspaper says that in 1990 35 per cent of Canadian adults were hockey fans; in 2005 that number was 30 per cent. And, although there is no way of proving this, I betcha the number would be in the high 20's today.
The University of Lethbridge's Reginald Bibby postulates in his new book The Emerging Millennials that immigration patterns and an explosion of entertainment options are re shaping the national dynamic.
Like all academics, especially those from second rate universities [go Pronghorns!] the obvious is way too easy for Professor Smarty Pants.
Canadian NHL teams pretty much suck the pipe, especially in the playoffs.
Last time a team from Canuckistan won a Stanley Cup was in 1993; that was eons ago. But, again with the unprovable bets, I betcha that the love of hockey hasn't abated in Windsor, Ontario. Why? Because of a shift in the monocultural dynamic? No. Because their team, the Detroit Red Wings, have won the Stanley Cup four times and made it to the finals two times in the last decade and a bit.
I bet he can spin a grad course out of this.
WFDS
The University of Lethbridge's Reginald Bibby postulates in his new book The Emerging Millennials that immigration patterns and an explosion of entertainment options are re shaping the national dynamic.
Like all academics, especially those from second rate universities [go Pronghorns!] the obvious is way too easy for Professor Smarty Pants.
Canadian NHL teams pretty much suck the pipe, especially in the playoffs.
Last time a team from Canuckistan won a Stanley Cup was in 1993; that was eons ago. But, again with the unprovable bets, I betcha that the love of hockey hasn't abated in Windsor, Ontario. Why? Because of a shift in the monocultural dynamic? No. Because their team, the Detroit Red Wings, have won the Stanley Cup four times and made it to the finals two times in the last decade and a bit.
I bet he can spin a grad course out of this.
WFDS
Thursday, July 30, 2009
601...Humidex Is 28 So Of Course Hockey Is Topic
I am in Ottawa, after all.
Reuters moved this story last week: the NHL will be playing an outdoor game in Boston on New Year's Day next year. The Philly Flyers will be in town to play the Bruins at Fenway Park.
The game will be part of a double header in the [college] hockey mad town.
Boston College Eagles will play the Boston University Terriers in the first game of two played on the first day of 2010.
WFDS
Reuters moved this story last week: the NHL will be playing an outdoor game in Boston on New Year's Day next year. The Philly Flyers will be in town to play the Bruins at Fenway Park.
The game will be part of a double header in the [college] hockey mad town.
Boston College Eagles will play the Boston University Terriers in the first game of two played on the first day of 2010.
WFDS
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
587...Michael Vick Back In The NFL
Sort of.
Every news outlet in North America is reporting that former Atlanta Falcon's QB Michael Vick who has just finished a 23 month bit for being America's worst dog owner, is being reinstated by the NFL.
Of course in keeping with the plantation mentality of the NFL, doing federal prison time is not enough for Commissioner Roger Goodell. Mr. Vick will also have to sit out the first half dozen games or so of the NFL season, costing him and his future team millions of dollars.
As I previously said in Posts 312 and 327, if Mr. Vick had of killed a person, like Donte Stallworth and Leonard Little did, that malfeasance would have been merely a bump in the road that is his football career.
He did not kill a person. He was involved in dogicide. And in North America dogs are more important than people. If you don't believe, well, review the files of Messrs. Vick, Stallworth and Little and then get back to me.
It doesn't matter what callers to sports radio say: it is not a privilege to play in the NFL, the NBA, MLB, the NHL or any other professional sports league any more than it is a privilege for you to work where you work. It is a job, a career that is not benevolently granted but one they earn by honing their talents through years of practice. Professional athletes are workers just like you are a worker. The fact that you would do what they do for free is a non sequitor.
WFDS
Every news outlet in North America is reporting that former Atlanta Falcon's QB Michael Vick who has just finished a 23 month bit for being America's worst dog owner, is being reinstated by the NFL.
Of course in keeping with the plantation mentality of the NFL, doing federal prison time is not enough for Commissioner Roger Goodell. Mr. Vick will also have to sit out the first half dozen games or so of the NFL season, costing him and his future team millions of dollars.
As I previously said in Posts 312 and 327, if Mr. Vick had of killed a person, like Donte Stallworth and Leonard Little did, that malfeasance would have been merely a bump in the road that is his football career.
He did not kill a person. He was involved in dogicide. And in North America dogs are more important than people. If you don't believe, well, review the files of Messrs. Vick, Stallworth and Little and then get back to me.
It doesn't matter what callers to sports radio say: it is not a privilege to play in the NFL, the NBA, MLB, the NHL or any other professional sports league any more than it is a privilege for you to work where you work. It is a job, a career that is not benevolently granted but one they earn by honing their talents through years of practice. Professional athletes are workers just like you are a worker. The fact that you would do what they do for free is a non sequitor.
WFDS
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
551...Hockey News, After All, It Is July In Canada
QMI Agency had a story this morning in the Ottawa Sun that Pierre Karl Peladeau, who lives with the funniest woman on the planet, Julie Snyder, wants an NHL team for Quebec City.
Mr. Peladeau, who was rebuffed in his attempt to buy the Montreal Canadiens, makes the solid point that "Quebec City is a hockey city...more than certain American cities..."
He is right there of course.
And then again, he is wrong.
Quebec City's problem is that it is Quebec City.
When attracting talent, reference Eric Lindros, it comes down to location, location, location and Quebec City is a place that star players don't want to play in.
Location is also what spiked the Vancouver Grizzlies. If you recall, the most likely first ever draft choice of the NBA team was Stephon Marbury who said he wasn't going to go to Vancouver, to close to Russia for his liking, so they had to pass on him. Ditto their last obvious draft, Steve Francis said he wouldn't go to Van. They drafted him but he invoked, among other things, God's will, and forced a trade to Houston where he was co Rookie of the Year. It just isn't a town that NBA stars want to be in.
Same with Quebec City. Attracting third line players, no problem, but the higher you get up the food chain, the less likely the player [and his wife, you cannot forget they have to live there too] will want to play in the town.
Not hating, just stating.
WFDS
Mr. Peladeau, who was rebuffed in his attempt to buy the Montreal Canadiens, makes the solid point that "Quebec City is a hockey city...more than certain American cities..."
He is right there of course.
And then again, he is wrong.
Quebec City's problem is that it is Quebec City.
When attracting talent, reference Eric Lindros, it comes down to location, location, location and Quebec City is a place that star players don't want to play in.
Location is also what spiked the Vancouver Grizzlies. If you recall, the most likely first ever draft choice of the NBA team was Stephon Marbury who said he wasn't going to go to Vancouver, to close to Russia for his liking, so they had to pass on him. Ditto their last obvious draft, Steve Francis said he wouldn't go to Van. They drafted him but he invoked, among other things, God's will, and forced a trade to Houston where he was co Rookie of the Year. It just isn't a town that NBA stars want to be in.
Same with Quebec City. Attracting third line players, no problem, but the higher you get up the food chain, the less likely the player [and his wife, you cannot forget they have to live there too] will want to play in the town.
Not hating, just stating.
WFDS
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
313...Gary Bettman Doesn't Need Viagra
Coz the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs provided him with enough to keep him going for a long, long, long time.
Not just the fact that it was a superb seven game series between Pitts and Detroit, no, it was the fact that last Friday's game seven drew 3.529 million viewers on average during the entire game on CBC and around 8 million on NBC.
That was the biggest audience since 1973; were you alive in '73?
The fact that the NHL is equal to its numbers from 36 years ago should make Commissioner Bettman very happy.
The fact that the NHL is equal to its numbers from 36 years ago should make Commissioner Bettman very concerned.
It is a sword that cuts both ways.
WFDS
Not just the fact that it was a superb seven game series between Pitts and Detroit, no, it was the fact that last Friday's game seven drew 3.529 million viewers on average during the entire game on CBC and around 8 million on NBC.
That was the biggest audience since 1973; were you alive in '73?
The fact that the NHL is equal to its numbers from 36 years ago should make Commissioner Bettman very happy.
The fact that the NHL is equal to its numbers from 36 years ago should make Commissioner Bettman very concerned.
It is a sword that cuts both ways.
WFDS
Friday, June 12, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
254...Way To Go 1/Sidney, 2/Dwight
1/Sidney: Crunch, Friday Night.
2/Dwight: Superman Needs 3 More.
WFDS
2/Dwight: Superman Needs 3 More.
WFDS
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
247...Big Opportunity For CBC/HNIC
That's a big opportunity for Hockey Night In Canada. Seems that the American rights holder to the NHL Stanley Cup Final telecasts, NBC, is none too happy with the fact that both the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings have been holding viewing parties in and around their respective arenas when their teams are on the road.
Here is a cut and paste from the Detroit News morning edition:
Here is a cut and paste from the Detroit News morning edition:
There will be no Joe Vision broadcast of Tuesday night's Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals because NBC would not rescind its exclusive rights to the telecast.The game will not be shown at Pittsburgh's outdoor plaza either. At issue is television ratings, and a large crowd at Joe Louis Arena could be hundreds -- if not thousands -- of television sets not tuned in to NBC. "It is certainly something we wanted to show but were unable to secure the rights," said Steve Violetta, Senior Vice President of Business Affairs for the Wings. NBC representative Brian Walker did not immediately return a phone message for comment, but NHL media relations vice president Frank Brown confirmed the situation while expressing sympathy to Red Wings fans. "We are very much in tune and very sensitive to the great experience that fans have by coming to a great venue and watching a great hockey game," Brown said. "That said we need to be sensitive to the business end of things and that business is ratings driven."
Shortsighted, very, on the part of NBC but this is where CBC could and should step up to the plate, probably won't, but should. The Windsor station, channel 9 CBET, comes in nicely both over the air and on cable in the [former] Motor City so, iffen they wanted to, Joe Vision [referring to the Joe Louis Arena] could still come off.
A bit tricky dicky for certain but it could happen.
WFDS
Friday, June 5, 2009
219...Good News/Bad News For Our National Game
From this morning's Globe and Mail, Toronto's National Newspaper, Bruce Dowbiggin writes:
WFDS
...NBC and the NHL are set to announce an extension to their relationship for another two years, past the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and Stanley Cup playoffs.It will likely be a continuation of the no-money-down/split-revenues-after-costs arrangement that has existed since the two sides fell into each other's arms after the NHL lockout in 2004-05... NBC got an inexpensive property to fill out its sports schedule, while the NHL got the perfume of network respectability after locking out its players and fans for a complete season.Despite the hiccup of NBC switching away from a playoff overtime to a Kentucky Derby prep show in 2008, the relationship has worked reasonably well for both sides...NBC has to get their priorities straight when it comes to the use of Versus, but they've improved their broadcast over the last few years immensely. It also doesn't hurt that the star power is finally there for advertisers... the network is also airing the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.
Good news is Gary Bettman gets to stay on American TV and continue the dream of becoming a bigger sport to mainstream USA than bowling, IndyCar, tractor pull, fishing, squash, tennis, golf, lacrosse, sumo wrestling, rodeo and the other 35 sports that get bigger ratings outside of the northern coast of the States than the NHL. Bad news is, still working for free.
WFDS
212...Sidney Comes Back
Last night, did you see the sea of Terrible Towels? Kid Sidney Crosby leads his team, Pittsburgh Penguins don't you know, to a come from behind victory over the Windsor Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals.
For those of you keeping track at home, the series is now tied at two games per.
For those of you keeping track at home, part two, Pittsburgh is one of the many NHL teams Jim Balsillie has tried to buy and move to Hamilton.
WFDS
For those of you keeping track at home, the series is now tied at two games per.
For those of you keeping track at home, part two, Pittsburgh is one of the many NHL teams Jim Balsillie has tried to buy and move to Hamilton.
WFDS
Thursday, June 4, 2009
208...Statistics and Lies
I believe, working from memory here, I believe it was Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, who later would be honoured by having Eric Clapton's band Cream name an album after him, that said something like "Statistics and lies are similar". And if he didn't, well, someone else did.
Point being.
In yesterday's Toronto Star which, of course, also serves the Hamilton, Ontario market, there was a statistic, a poll to be more accurate, that Jim "I want an NHL team" Mr. Balsillie paid for in both Hamilton and Phoenix, Arizona, the home of the hopefully future Hamilton Steelers of the NHL.
[Get to the point.]
Right.
Point being, what was polled was the preferences each community had for local professional sports leagues. What smelled of bulls't was that in Phoenix. Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix, Arizona, USA. In the Southwest corner of the United States of America allegedly 3 per cent of the Phoenixians [?] follow the Canadian Football League.
Get out of here.
WFDS
Point being.
In yesterday's Toronto Star which, of course, also serves the Hamilton, Ontario market, there was a statistic, a poll to be more accurate, that Jim "I want an NHL team" Mr. Balsillie paid for in both Hamilton and Phoenix, Arizona, the home of the hopefully future Hamilton Steelers of the NHL.
[Get to the point.]
Right.
Point being, what was polled was the preferences each community had for local professional sports leagues. What smelled of bulls't was that in Phoenix. Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix, Arizona, USA. In the Southwest corner of the United States of America allegedly 3 per cent of the Phoenixians [?] follow the Canadian Football League.
Get out of here.
WFDS
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