Shootouts Have To Go!

A couple years ago someone (it was likely several someones) thought shootouts were a great way to decide a National Hockey League game when the game ends in a tie. That's right, a team sport, when tied after regulation and a brief five minute overtime period, will now be decided on the performance of individual players. But what was wrong with a tie in the first place? Sometimes a game is played between two evenly matched teams who give their all but neither team can get any advantage on the other. Oh that's right, our society has become one of winners and losers; the eternal quest to be better than our neighbours; bragging rights between fans, people who have very little say in how "their team" is put together or performs.

In today's society, the entertainment value is no longer part of the 60 or so minutes of regulation time and overtime but it has been reduced solely to the final outcome. We need to have a winner at any and all cost. After all, it is hard to berate the opposing team if the game ends in a tie, except in Philadelphia of course. People these days need closure and a tie game doesn't give them that. A clear cut winner does. The NHL, on the other hand, was looking for a way to add excitement and in the process, try to stop teams from "playing for a tie" late in the third period and through overtime. Not sure the shootout idea has helped in this regard quite as expected.

Let's use Saturday night's 'Battle of Alberta' as an example of why shootouts are not a good way to break ties. Out of the six shots only one found the back of the net. All three of Edmonton's skaters not only missed the net but didn't even get a shot off while Calgary's skaters were about as fun to watch as the zamboni cleaning the ice just before the shootout. In my opinion a tie in any game would be better than the pathetic display witnessed in Edmonton Saturday night.

Canada Earns Podium Spots

Today in Harbin, China, Canada earned their first medals of the 2009 Winter Unversiade. Guillaume Bastille from the University of Quebec at Montreal won a silver medal in the Men's 1000m short track speed skating event. Canada also won a silver medal in the Men's 5000m relay (Guillaume Bastille, Alex Boisvert-Lacroix, Richard Shoebridge & Tyler Derraugh) and a bronze medal in the Women's 3000m relay Valerie Lambert, Annik Plamondon, Nita Avrith & Marie-Andree Mendes-Campeau) also on the short track.

More Records Fall In CIS Swim Finals

After several records fell on Day 1 of the 2009 CIS Swimming Championships, the next two days had a lot to live up to. And they did not disappoint. Between the last two days another 9 Canadian records fell and an insane 17 CIS championship records were surpassed for a total of 15 and 24 during the three day event. Erica Morningstar perhaps stole the show as she took part in the most record setting swims with 5 Canadian/CIS Championship records and another 2 CIS Championship only records.

New Canadian and CIS Championship Record:

• Women’s 100m Back - Katy Murdoch, Calgary, 58.67
• Women’s 200m Breast - Annamay Pierse, UBC, 2:18.59
• Women’s 4 x 200m Free Relay - Calgary, 7:55.91 (Katy Murdoch, Breanna Hendriks, Kevyn Peterson, Erica Morningstar)
• Men’s 50m Breast - Scott Dickens, UBC, 27.53
• Women’s 200m Back - Katy Murdoch, Calgary, 2:06.81
• Men’s 100m Free - Colin Russell, Toronto, 47.23
• Women’s 200m IM - Erica Morningstar, Calgary, 2:09.12
• Women’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay - Calgary, 4:04.20 (Katy Murdoch, Erica Morningstar, Orla O'Kelly, Seanna Mitchell)
• Men’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay - UBC, 3:33.04 (Callum Ng, Scott Dickens, Rory Biskupski, Tommy Gossland)

New CIS Championship Record:

• Men’s 100m Back - Callum Ng, UBC, 52.24
• Women’s 50m Fly - Jennifer Carroll, UQTR, 26.87
• Men’s 200m Breast - Mike Brown, Calgary, 2:07.58
• Women’s 50m Free - Erica Morningstar, Calgary, 25.17
• Men’s 50m Free - Colin Russell, Toronto, 22.03
• Women’s 50m Breast - Annamay Pierse, UBC, 30.71
• Women’s 100m Free - Erica Morningstar, Calgary, 54.03
• Men’s 200m IM - Keith Beavers, Waterloo, 1:55.98

For runners up and full race details, please see the championships results webpage.

Quickest Way To The Top: Buy A Champion

Hungry for a championship in Toronto, a group from Toronto (or at least basing their operations out of Toronto) bought the 2008 Major League Lacrosse champion Rochester Rattlers. During a press conference Friday, the team was renamed the Toronto Nationals to reflect the true purpose of this team: to act as a training team for the Team Canada and Team Iroquois national field lacrosse teams. The United States have dominated the field over the past several decades while the Canadians and Iroquois Nationals have found only limited success.

Not all of the members from the championship team are making the move North but will enough come to challenge for another championship? With the attendance being down for the Rock this year and all other factors considered, will this team survive in Toronto? Most importantly, will this team lead to success on the National level for Team Canada and Team Iroquois?

To find the answers to some of these questions join the team at BMO field in Toronto on the following dates:

Friday May 22 @ 7:30 PM
Friday May 29 @ 7:30 PM
Saturday June 13 @ 7:00 PM
Saturday June 27 @ 7:00 PM
Thursday July 23 @ 7:30 PM
Saturday August 8 @ 7:00 PM

For details on introductory season ticket pricing, head over to torontorock.com and click the Toronto Nationals link on the top or check the Toronto Nationals website once it has launched.

New CIS And Canadian Records In Swimming

After day one of the 2009 CIS Swimming Championships saw several CIS and Canadian record performances what can we expect for the rest of the tournament? The following records were set yesterday at the University of British Columbia in beautiful Vancouver, BC.

New Canadian and CIS Championship Record:

• Women's 200m Free - Erica Morningstar, Calgary, 1:56.11
• Men's 200m Free - Colin Russell, Toronto, 1:43.31
• Women's 100m Breast - Annamay Pierse, UBC, 1:05.16
• Men's 100m Breast - Scott Dickens, UBC, 59.34 (tied Canadian record)
• Women's 4x100m Free Relay - Calgary, 3:38.74 (Erica Morningstar, Katy Murdoch, Seanna Mitchell, Breanna Hendriks)
• Men's 4x100m Free Relay - UBC, 3:15.42 (Scott Dickens, Rory Biskupski, Callum Ng, Tommy Gossland)

New CIS Championship Record:

• Women's 50m Back - Hanna Kubas, Calgary, 27.48

For full details and results of Day 1 events check out the article here.

Note: I am really not into swimming, more of a land lover, but with these type of results one cannot help but to take notice...and perhaps be amazed.

Big Dog Drops Gloves For The Last Time

Announced yesterday, Dan Ladouceur of the Toronto Rock has retired from the National Lacrosse League. Most noted for his tough defending and occasional smack downs, Big Dog leaves the game with a league best 428 regular season penalty minutes. During 10 plus seasons in the NLL, Laddy scored 18 points, 5 goals and 11 assists during the regular season and 1 goal and 1 assist in playoffs. He also earned five championship rings while with the Rock (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 & 2005).

It has been fun watching Big Dog tower over the opposing players over the years but my most vivid memory of his playing was a fight during the 2005 season. The Calgary Roughnecks came to town and the game was a rough one right from the start. The score was out of hand late in the game so frustrations boiled over. Poor Jesse Phillips had the misfortune of squaring off against Ladouceur in the third of five fights during the last minute of play. Phillips found out what it was like to be a rag doll.

Thanks for the memories Big Dog.

What Goes Around...

Last year on March 1, the Philadelphia Wings of the NLL entered HSBC Arena in Buffalo with a perfect 6-0 record. The Wings left that night with a 6-1 record after the Bandits destroyed them 21-12. After that first loss, Philadelphia struggled and lost three of their next four games.

In 2009, Buffalo entered the not so friendly confines of the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia with a perfect 5-0 record last weekend. Heading into the fourth quarter the Bandits held a slim one goal lead but with a strong quarter from A.J. Shannon (a former Bandits player), the Philadelphia Wings handed the Bandits their first loss of the season. Also of note, Buffalo stopped the Minnesota Swarm's perfect run at 6-0 last year as well and the Swarm dropped their next two games and their next three of four just like the Wings.

Having a home and home over the next two weekends with their rival and nemesis, the Toronto Rock, the Bandits could suffer the same let down the Wings and Swarm did one year ago. To carry that further, the Bandits also face their other rival, the Rochester Knighthawks, in Rochester in their fourth game after their first loss. If what goes around really does come around, the Bandits may find themselves fighting for a playoff spot once again when they looked untouchable in their five games to start this season.

Ontario Teams Went 0-2 In Curling Finals

In the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Curling Championships, a team from Ontario made it to each final but in both cases lost to their opponent.

On the men's side, Dylan Johnston and his team from Northern Ontario got out to an early 3-0 lead in the first end but PEI's team skipped by Brett Gallant chipped away with two points in each the fourth and sixth ends to tie the game. A single by Johnston in the eighth gave N. Ont the lead but Gallant scored another deuce in the tenth for the 7-6 victory.

On the women's side, Ontario's Rachel Homan opened the scoring in the third end with a single before needing two points to tie the game in the ninth (their only multi-point end). Manitoba's Kaitlyn Lawes took a 3-2 lead in the seventh then stole a point in the eighth to force Ontario to get a big score in the ninth. Lawes then grabbed three points in the tenth to seal the 7-4 win and the second consecutive title for Manitoba.

Both winners will represent Canada at the World Junior Championships in Vancouver beginning on March 5.

History Is Repeating Itself

As bad as the Kingston Frontenacs are this year, sitting dead last in the league with a mere 29 points, they have picked up their game a lot in the past week. Last Friday they defeated a strong London Knights team (2nd in the Western Conference) 3-2 at home while last night they went into Brampton (now tied for first in the Eatern Conference) and forced overtime before suffering the 4-3 loss. Last year they were only a slightly better team but were one of the best teams in the last month or so of the season and made a real surge towards the playoffs.

If only they were a better team this year they could make the playoff situation more interesting. As it is, they will only be a thorn in the side of every team they play in the last few weeks of this season. Any team that doesn't bring their 'A' game will suffer what will be considered an embarrassing defeat.

Things of note:
1. Kingston is roughly ten games away from being eliminated from the playoffs.
2. The top three teams in the Western Conference has not lost in the 5-minute overtime period at all this year.
3. Windsor is the most penalized team so far this year (1115 mins), followed by the Soo (1004 mins) and then London (1002 mins).
4. Ottawa is the least penalized team so far this year (608 mins).
5. Brampton is on another long win streak, currently at 11 games.
6. John Tavares has opened up a 7 point lead in the league scoring race with 78 points, Taylor Hall is next with 71.
7. Brampton's Evgeni Grachev is leading rookie scoring with 53 points, three ahead of London's John Carlson.
8. John Tavares is also leading in goals scored with 41 in 42 games while Mike Murphy of the Bulls is the top goalie with a 2.00 GAA and 0.943 save percentage.

Don't Forget the Little Guys

The focus lately in the Ontario Hockey League has been on the top four teams: Windsor, London, Belleville and Brampton. The teams below them have seemed to fade into nothingness, mentioned only when they face any of the top four. Maybe that is the way they like it though. Having the attention elsewhere allows these teams like Saginaw and Guelph in the West and Ottawa and Mississauga in the East to quietly go about their business.

I am not too familiar with the West but I do know that forgetting about Ottawa in the East could be a mistake these top teams do not want to make. London came in to Ottawa on the weekend looking for an easy two points but Ottawa had a solid team effort and came out of the battle with the victory. This team will no doubt have an extra edge to them come playoff time as they look to give the legend Brian Kilrea one last championship before he deservedly gives up his coaching duties. Can they beat London or one of the other top teams in a seven game series? No one knows but they will definitely leave everything on the ice.