The Shuster's Sports Commentary

2011 NLL season turned into a test year

2011-03-30T12:28:00.006-04:00

Late last year I talked about not getting season tickets for the Buffalo Bandits this year only to reverse my decision shortly after. My biggest fear about not getting season tickets was that I would miss the excitement and entertainment Banditland offers. Well, I am learning this year that the fear may not exist any longer.

This season I bought season tickets, picked some games to go to and sold the tickets to the other games that I couldn't get to. As it turned out, I missed a game I was suppose to go to due to illness. Without going into details, both my wife and I were not well enough to spend over two hours in a car to get to Buffalo. We even had a babysitter scheduled for the game so we would have had a night out alone. Neither of us were too happy we missed a night out alone.

Anyhow, back to the point. Not having been to a Bandits game in almost two months has not been as bad as I would have thought. As it turns out, my kids are keeping me busy that not only do I enjoy doing nothing every chance I get, but I also have no energy to really follow anything too closely. Having the Rock on TSN2 has helped some I suppose; I'm still getting a lacrosse fix even though I have no invested interest in the game. I have paid attention to the standings enough to notice that Buffalo needs to win two more games (one against Rochester) and they secure at least one home game in the playoffs, regardless of the other games (among various other scenarios).

This season has turned into a test year for next year when I don't have season tickets. And this time I won't change my mind; two kids and a two hour drive with a potentially long wait at the border is more than I can take. With luck I will once again get season tickets for the Bandits but perhaps I will be content with just a couple game a season like in the years prior to being a Bandit season ticket holder. Time has a way of changing things though.

NLL All Star Game

2011-02-28T12:10:00.004-05:00

There was a time, not too long ago, that I enjoyed the National Lacrosse League's all-star game. Back then the game s more reminiscent of a regular season game instead of being a typical all star game. The game would be competitive and players would hit each other, perhaps not as hard as in a season game, but hitting was nonetheless part of the all-star game. This fact not only set it aside from other sports all-star games but also made it very enjoyable to watch. One year (perhaps in 2005 when the game was in Toronto) the game was even advertised as not your typical all-star game.

Sadly that time has passed us by.

Yesterday's NLL all-star game was exactly like the traditional all-star game. Players avoided most body contact, there were hardly any battles for loose balls, players would hover around the opposing teams end waiting for the long pass and the defense took over a quarter to finally provide a little help to the goalies. An all-star game in lacrosse is not needed if the sole purpose is to highlight the offensive talents of players. For the most part, the offensive players didn't do anything different from what they would normally do in a season game. Colin Doyle frequently scores the ridiculous over the shoulder/behind the back goals; John Grant takes a dozen or so behind the back shots a game; there are several behind the back passes each game; Dan Dawson has patented the between the legs shot; John Tavares tries to score from behind the net every couple of games, many times with successful results; and Mark Steenhuis frequently cradles one handed and tries all sorts of 'trick' shots as he drives to the net.

To see the stars shine in the NLL all one needs to do is attend a game. With so few teams in the league each team has at least a couple stars who have adopted some special move as part of their regular plays. It is almost a necessity to beat the great keepers in the game. With the increased competition in the league and more players using special moves during regular games, the all-star game is really unnecessary. The NLL should get back to the more competitive all-star game or end the silly dress rehearsal.

Set NLL salaries based on years of service?

2011-01-25T14:34:00.004-05:00

A few years ago I pondered the idea of salaries in the National Lacrosse League and wondered if a sports league could standardize base salaries. I had put this thought into the overly large nether region of my mind until this blog post brought the thought out of hiding.

My work experience is far from extensive given that I've worked at one place since graduating from college, but I am with the understanding that pay scales are used by companies in compensating employees for their work. This pay scale could be formally set out and known to those in the company or perhaps there are unspoken limits that are known only by the top management or owners of smaller companies. Perhaps some companies do not refer to their practice as pay scales but I don't doubt there is an upper limit for each position within a company, big or small.

The big question is why can't a sports league use this principle in determining base salaries. The basic premise, which is pretty much all I have, is to set a standard base salary for rookies and each additional year in the league adds a predetermined amount for each year of service. These increases would be used to create set amounts for each year of service so year one is $20,000, year 2 is $22,000, etc. This would keep all players at each year of service at the same base salary and prevent timing differences in when a player joins the league.

Without leaving the beloved player's union out of the equation, they can still cause havoc...er, help players with respect to negotiating different pay scale increases for different lengths of service instead of a constant increase each year. For example maybe year 2-5 the increase will be $2,000/year, years 6-15 base salaries increase by $3,000/year and for over 15 years of service base salaries increase by $6,000/year. Of course those figures are only relevant if the league's revenues increase but the idea is the same. In addition, the PLPA would still be able to bargain for higher annual cost of living increases, better pensions and other such items that management wants to take away or not provide to their employees.

This amount being only the base salary. Whether this is already applicable in the NLL or not, any performance bonuses will continue to be in addition to base salaries (no need to get rid of player agents now is there?...). I am not too familiar with how bonuses work but perhaps there can be a requirement for a minimum performance level to retain certain bonuses for the length of the CBA, or individual contract. Perhaps bonuses can be left out of the NLL altogether...

As I said earlier, this is only a basic thought with some areas that need some significant thought yet, like how to deal with the salary cap, how to keep the bonuses respectable and have some bonuses that are a challenge to reach. As the league revenues grow the base salaries could increase as well. This might be able to keep the league affordable as it grows as well and that is a key benefit for me and I'm sure most followers of the NLL would like the league to remain affordable. I don't see why this concept could not be applied to a sports league but it is my idea and I am often blinded to the practicality of my thoughts when I think I have a good one.

Bandits 2011 home opener

2011-01-23T09:51:00.001-05:00

An air of excitement filled the HSBC arena Saturday night, as the cross border rivals Toronto Rock were in town to help the Buffalo Bandits open their 2011 home schedule. As the 16,685 fans, mostly clad in orange or black, made their way to their seats the excitement grew and exploded on the first note from the bagpipes. As the image on the big screen of a solo bagpiper zoomed out to reveal several more bagpipers and a drummer leading the Bandits to the floor, the fans got even louder. From this point one could tell it was going to be an entertaining game.

After a slight delay waiting for the signal to start the game, it began. And what a beginning it was for the Bandits. In under two minutes the home side was up 3-0 on goals by John Tavares, Chad Culp and Brett Bucktooth. Almost a minute later the Rock got on the board with Blaine Manning’s first of two goals and before long the game was knotted at 3. The first quarter ended with Buffalo holding a 4-3 lead.

The second quarter was back and forth and by the end the Bandits held tight to their one goal lead despite Colin Doyle scoring three in the quarter for the Rock. The third quarter was all Buffalo. They held the Rock scoreless in the quarter while netting three themselves and chasing Bob Watson from Toronto’s net. Just over a minute into the third period Buffalo opened a five goal lead but, similar to Toronto the previous night, they couldn’t put the game away.

Whether it was Toronto’s defense picking up their game or Buffalo’s sudden inability to make a cross floor pass in the offensive end that was the cause, the Bandits couldn’t seem to get a quality shot on Campbell. On the other side of the floor, the Rock seemed unstoppable as Garrett Billings and Blaine Manning took over feeding passes that ended up in the back of the net. This quarter it was sophomore Stephen Leblanc as the beneficiary of the Billings-Manning passes more times than not as he scored a hat trick the saw the game tied at 14.

With ten seconds left the Bandits won their fourth face-off and immediately called a time out leaving just over 7 seconds on the clock. Tavares lead the charge down the field but his shot was deflected out of play. After some quality chances by the Rock in overtime it was Scott Self scoring on a breakaway just over four minutes into the extra frame to win the game for the home side.

The game overall was extremely entertaining, well, with the exception of the numerous and lengthy reviews, but was not necessarily a good one. Can a game be called good when both coaches were yelling at the refs throughout the game? I am not sure how coach Cordingly didn’t get tossed from the game; he was inches from stepping onto the floor at one point near the end of the fourth quarter. The refs missed many calls, and I’m talking about obvious penalties where a ref was clearly watching the play, and called some soft penalties that must have left the opposing team chuckling.

There were times when my mind flashed back to the preseason scrimmage between these two teams (I’m talking about the brawl not the actual “game” as unfortunately I wasn’t there) and was amazed that there was no fight nor any penalties called during these scrums. I’m not sure who gets credit for keeping the players in line but it definitely wasn’t the refs.

In the end it was a much needed victory for the Bandits in front of their home crowd. Not a pretty one but win nonetheless. Toronto suffered their first loss of the season but still remain atop the East division standings. The Bandits sit tied for second with their New York rival Knighthawks. Toronto hosts the Bandits next Saturday for their second of three meetings.

Patience pays off

2010-12-23T12:42:00.003-05:00

Growing up with parents raised around the Kitchener area, junior hockey, more specifically, the OHL was held in high regard, although usual from a Kitchener Ranger perspective. From what I understand from my dad, Kitchener is a great town for junior hockey and after sitting in the crowd at the Aud in 2008 for the Memorial Cup, I found out first hand how classy and knowledgeable the Kitchener fans are.

So of course when it was time to 'settle down' I picked a location that has not only an OHL team but one of the most storied franchises (if not the most) in the OHL, Oshawa. Of course, it helped to have friends living there. The Generals have such a storied past and graduated perhaps the best hockey player ever, Bobby Orr, into the NHL. Okay so I am biased towards number 4 but he ranks right up there with the likes of Gretzky, Howe and the Rocket.

Almost five years has passed since first moving to Gens Country (just made this term up if you hadn't realized...it's rather lame) and in that time I have purchased a couple jerseys for OHL teams but not one from my new hometown Generals. (The two were Brian Kilrea's Ottawa '67's and of course the Rangers). That all changed this year with the release of their alternate (a.k.a third) jersey. The retro blue sweater worn at the time Orr was in junior hockey. It was almost a given since I had been trying to decide whether I should buy the red or white Generals jersey for a while now. I saw the blues around the rink last year and was wishing those were an option to buy.

Thanks to the HST cheque that was just received I was able to make this purchase. Of course there was money left so I took a drive to Belleville and purchased their third jersey that I have wanted since the 2008 Memorial Cup. That's right the 'ugly' gold jersey with the red bull dead centre. I don't even like the Bulls but that jersey will definitely stand out wherever it is worn. Perhaps my love for that jersey stems from my sister's dislike of it, who knows. For me it is another jersey to add to my collection. 4 OHL jerseys down, 16 to go...maybe only 14. Brampton's is possibly the worst in sports and I don't know if I can bring myself to buy a Petes jersey, at least not if I want to retain my Oshawa friends.

On second thought...

2010-11-03T14:20:00.004-04:00

maybe I will get season tix this year after all. Friend of mine contacted me and convinced me to buy tix this year and he would buy some from me. I may not get to all the games but I am sure to enjoy the ones I do get to. Now I only have to wait a couple months for my first game.

Winter without season tix

2010-10-22T13:03:00.002-04:00

This winter is going to be a long one for me as I am giving up my season tickets for the Bandits. I'm hoping this is just a temporary thing and in a couple years I will be able to get them again but right now the future is uncertain. I'm thinking I'll need to do a road trip this winter at least once; I'm not sure I can go the whole winter without HSBC nachos or a beef on weck. I still have about a month before my renewal comes so maybe something can be worked out.

On to Round 2

2010-03-31T09:23:00.001-04:00

The first round of the OHL playoffs seemed to go as expected. Barrie had no trouble getting by Sudbury by winning four straight; the defending Memorial Cup champion Windsor Spitfires also won in four straight against Erie; Mississauga blanked Peterborough in their series; Ottawa, London and Plymouth had little trouble in their series as well as they all won four games to one; but Kitchener had a little more difficulty with Saginaw’s Spirit but still managed a four games to two series victory.

The only series to go the full seven games and the only series where the lower seed won was the Brampton / Kingston series where Brampton pulled out the game seven win for the series. Despite being the ‘underdog’ in the series I think most people expected Brampton to win this series with their star Cody Hodgson back in the lineup. Kingston gave all they had but in the end it was just not enough.

Round two sees Windsor play Plymouth, London play Kitchener, Barrie play Brampton, and Ottawa play Mississauga with the teams listed first having the home ice advantage. These series should be a little more competitive but I’m thinking all the favourites will win except for Ottawa so the true top teams in the league will battle for the league title. The second round action begins tomorrow night for all four series.

What a crazy season

2010-03-31T08:50:00.004-04:00

The 2010 National Lacrosse League season has been a really crazy one thus far. Toronto started 6-1 and looked almost unbeatable but have since lost five in a row and are sitting in a tie for second place in the East division. Buffalo on the other hand started 0-4 but have won four straight and have gone from last in the entire league to tied for second in the East. The Rochester Knighthawks, with John Grant Jr back, has struggled to get the offence going and are in danger of missing the playoffs. They do have a game in hand on those teams tied for second so they are not that far behind despite their inconsistent play.

Out in the West, the Washington Stealth, without the services of Colin Doyle after his trade back to Toronto, is sitting tops in the league and became the first team to clinch a playoff spot last weekend. Perhaps the craziest story of all this year is that the re-tooled Edmonton Rush are sitting in second place in the West (above the 2009 champion Calgary Roughnecks) and are one win away (or a Colorado loss) from clinching their first ever playoff spot.

This coming weekend can see two more teams enter the playoff picture in the West. If Buffalo can continue their great play and defeat Colorado Saturday night, and if Calgary can beat either Toronto or Rochester, both Edmonton and Calgary will claim a spot in the 2010 playoffs. The East as usual will likely come down to the last weekend and tiebreakers will likely be needed to decide the seedings for a third year in a row.

Can this season get any crazier? I'm thinking it can but we will have to wait and see what the last four(?) weeks has in store for us. Craziness or not, I expect we will be treated to some great lacrosse as the season winds down.

Tavares truly is the leader

2010-03-08T12:02:00.001-05:00

The crowd at the HSBC Arena on Saturday night seemed rather quiet prior to the start of the NLL game between the Titans, now of Orlando, and the hometown Buffalo Bandits. Perhaps the crowd was still in shock from the Bandits loss a week earlier to the worst place team in the East division and was expecting another horrible showing from the orange and black against the division’s best and the player of the month for February in Orlando’s goaltender Matt Vinc. As if this feeling of impending doom was felt by the players, just over two minutes into the game John Tavares laid a heavy check on Greg Peyser who crumpled to the floor (and laid there in a lifeless lump only to get to his feet showing no ill effects once the trainer came onto the floor) causing a bit of a skirmish. It all ended with Tavares and Mark Steenhuis in the box and a Titans powerplay.

Despite being down a man, Banditland came alive during that heated exchange. The Bandits killed the penalty and finally scored on a powerplay of their own on a shot from Steenhuis. The first quarter ended with the Bandits up 4-0 and Mark Steenhuis getting a natural hat trick. The second quarter saw some fights that left two Bandit players injured and the teams defence short two men. The scoring was a bit back and forth but Buffalo increased their lead by 1 leading 8-3 at half.

Orlando came out gunning in the third quarter and scored the next three goals to close the gap to two. The crowd was quiet once again as nervous tension built up. Buffalo escaped the third with a three goal lead though as Steenhuis stopped Orlando’s scoring run by netting his sixth of the game. Heading into the fourth, Buffalo looked more like they were trying not to lose but another big hit from John Tavares (this time clean) got the crowd and the team right back into the game. A short time later JT scored on the powerplay to get back a three goal cushion and the crowd began to sense victory. With over two minutes to play Matt Vinc was pulled for an extra attacker but Orlando was only able to score one goal with the extra man and Buffalo held on for the 12-10 win.

The tone was set early in that game, not that there was a big surprise after the division final last year, and the action didn’t let up until the final whistle blew. The officiating left a lot to be desired and the Titans players found the new carpet a little too comfortable but overall, that was a great hard hitting, action packed game. The kind of game Buffalo excels at. That win also gave Darris Kilgour his record tying 93rd regular season win. The only other coach with that many wins is the late great Les Bartley.

Visiting fans

2010-01-14T14:24:00.004-05:00

On a recent road trip to the Bunker, I was decked out in my barber pole jersey showing my allegiance to the visiting team from Ottawa when a lady stopped by to ask about an entrance. I guess she was meeting someone at the main entrance. Since I travel a fair bit to the Bunker I answered her question but she didn't seem to believe me. She continued asking similar questions throwing in street names that I had to think about for a bit. Thankfully someone, presumably from the area, interceded and saved me from the redundant questions. (By the look on his face after I think he was sorry he stepped in).

First off, if you are not going to believe someone when they answer you, don't waste your time asking that person your question. Second, if the person is wearing a visiting team jersey chances are they may not know the answer to any question regarding the building or area. Thirdly, if you are unsure of things before you leave the house, take some time and look up the building or area.

Perhaps she didn't realize I was cheering for the visiting team but given the fact that I was the only person around at the time wearing barber poles instead of white or puke green of the Battalion she should have figured it out. At least I got a bit of a chuckle out of the whole situation.

Coming clean

2010-01-14T10:52:00.002-05:00

Another victim in baseball's steroid era came clean about his use of the illegal drug earlier this week. On Monday, Big Mac (Mark McGwire) confessed to using steroids throughout his baseball career including during the spectacular 1998 season when he out blasted Sammy Sosa and broke Roger Maris’ long standing single season home run record. What a season that was too. Hardly a whisper of steroid use was uttered by anyone while the pair of sluggers filled stadiums all across America rekindling interest in a sport that seriously needed a shot in the arm.

As the chase flared up, Bud Selig was puffing out his chest at the excitement his little sport was creating in the media from coast to coast and beyond. For years he turned a blind eye to the signs and suggestions that some of his players were using performance enhancing drugs. Why would he say anything when his sport was finally getting over the damage caused by the recent labour disruptions? Selig saw the excitement generated in Oakland with the Bash Brothers and knew he had something he could lure the fans back with, home runs. And who better to lead the charge than the 1987 rookie of the year that hit 49 long bombs in his first full season.

Finally all this caught up to Major League Baseball and Bud had to act. Unfortunately, he isn’t standing up saying he messed up by letting his players use any method possible to gain the power to hit more home runs but instead is letting his players, those that helped resuscitate MLB and create excitement for the league again, take the fall.

Back to McGwire: Now that he has confessed many seem to think he belongs enshrined in Cooperstown and the mighty Hall of Fame. I was a fan of his while he played and even when Oakland began their spiral to mediocrity or worse (i.e. after losing to Toronto in 92?), I still followed him (and back in the day before internet and dedicated sports channels, that was hard to do). In fact I can remember my high school football coach calling me McGwire during tryouts because I would be wearing my McGwire jersey shirt. Considering I lasted only 3 tryouts before an injury forced me to quit the team that is quite something. Anyhow, even though I almost idolized him I don’t now, nor ever did, believe he belongs in the Hall of Fame. Check his stats. Batting average of .263 with 1596 strikeouts are not career numbers that belong in the Hall of Fame. He had only three seasons where he hit over .300 and only one of those seasons he played in over half the games. One season, even though it was perhaps the most exciting in recent history, is not enough for a spot in the Hall.

Do I still think he was a good player? Definitely. Deserving of a spot beside baseball’s greatest, purest players (with a couple exceptions)? No, but because his stats don’t dictate he should. He just fell victim to the times in which he played. Perhaps now that he has cleared the air Mark can go about his coaching duties and find a way into the Hall via that route. The steroid era of baseball will forever be a black mark on the sport to those that lived through it but let’s hope we can get past it quickly so we can start hearing more positive stories about the game and it’s players. Perhaps outing Bud Selig would go a long way in the cleansing of baseball…

I'm ready for the NLL season

2009-12-01T08:22:00.004-05:00

My season tickets for the 2010 NLL Champion Buffalo Bandits have been ordered; American money has been taken out of the bank; and my jerseys are in my dresser waiting patiently for the call. I even had a bit of practice cheering as I encountered some Sabres fans last night after work on the short walk to the train. They noticed my Bandits hat so I joined them in some Let's Go Buffalo! chants and such. Now I only have forty some extremely long days to get through before the season starts and I'm sitting in the comforts of HSBC arena munching on their nachos.

Narrow minds amuse me

2009-10-30T10:13:00.004-04:00

I realized today how much I enjoy wearing junior teams jerseys to work, especially those that resemble NHL teams. For those unfamiliar with Toronto, most Torontonians only care about professional teams and sports and can only assocaite with professional sports teams even though some amateur sports are more entertaining (there are those who enjoy the semi-pro and even amateur sports but from my experience these people are in the vast minority in Toronto).

Today I am wearing a Kitchener Rangers jersey and since they are (or at least were) very closely linked to the NHL Rangers, their jerseys are almost a spliting image of each other with the exception of the word Kitchener instead of New York on the shoulder emblems. But, man, am I getting a lot of looks today.

I love these narrow minded people in Toronto.

2010 NLL season

2009-10-30T08:50:00.003-04:00

Well, we are just a couple months away from the start of the NLL season and a couple weeks away from the start of training camps. Who will be the most improved? Who will fall to the bottom of the league? The end to our wait is in sight.

What's up with the Generals?

2009-10-30T08:40:00.005-04:00

Just when I think the Oshawa Generals have come together as a team and are playing to their potential, they go and lose three in a row. Not to very good teams either. Last Friday they lost 2-1 to the Guelph Storm before getting manhandled by the Sarnia Sting Sunday night (6-2 loss) and then last night they lost 6-4 in Peterborough.

It is looking like it will be a long roller coaster type season for the Gens unless they can find a way to play a full 60 minutes every game. They do have some talented kids on the team but perhaps they are too young to be much of a threat this year. I'm just hoping they continue to improve and the entertainment level also continues to increase.

Mann Cup 2009

2009-08-28T10:34:00.003-04:00

The matchup for the 2009 Mann Cup has been set and it will be a rematch of the 2008 cup final, except this year it will be played on the west coast. Is the addition of Shawn Williams enough for the Brampton Excelsiors to defend their title or will the exceptional goaltending of Matt Roik and Tyler Richards of the New Westminster Salmonbellies exact some revenge from last year? I like Brampton's odds although I haven't seen the 'bellies play this year so my opinion is totally meaningless. All games will be available for viewing for $9.95 per game so head on over to the WLA website on September 4 for game 1.

Bad luck traveller

2009-08-12T15:18:00.003-04:00

After an unwanted hiatus from the lacrosse arena's I was able to get to the Bunker in Brampton to see the MSL seim-final series game last night. Similar to the last visit to the Powerade Centre, I was rooting against the home team and for the second time in a row, the visiting team failed to show up (this time almost literally).

After a late arrival into Brampton, the St Regis Indians had less than fifteen minutes to warm up. A far cry from the usual double warmups they get. When the game began it was apparent the short warmup was not enough to shake out the bus legs. Thanks to some decent saves by the Indians netminder and some even better saves by the posts behind him, the game was kept close in the first period. In the second, the Excelsiors pounced and took an 8-2 lead into the second intermission. I had to leave before it was over since my son was rather tired (it was a couple hours past his bedtime) but it didn't get much better for the visitors. 13-3 was the final score.

The previous game I ended up at the Powerade Centre for, the Peterborough Lakers' offense failed to show up and dropped their second to last regular season game 7-6. I was hoping for a Peterborough win only because that would have put a St Regis / Brooklin first round matchup a little closer to happening. That would have meant I could have seen Tavares without the hour drive. The only other game I travelled for this year was the Green Gaels ugly 4-1 loss in Newmarket.

I am beginning to think that I bring bad luck to these teams. Good thing the season is almost over then. Maybe I should just start rooting for the Excelsiors when I go there...

NLL needs change in philosophy

2009-08-12T15:14:00.001-04:00

With the National Lacrosse League’s third attempt at the Big Apple ending in failure, it is time for the league to come to terms with their position in the world of sports, that being a minor sports league. For those not yet in the know, the NLL announced yesterday that the Titans franchise will move from New York to Orlando, Florida for the upcoming 2010 season. This is the third announcement involving NLL franchises this off season after the Portland Lumberjax announced they were ceasing operations and the San Jose Stealth announced their relocation to Everett, WA.

Until the NLL has some franchise stability, this league will never gain the long sought after major league status. Sure it is a professional league but it is constantly compared to the Arena Football League and that league recently announced it is suspending operations indefinitely. The time has come (if it hasn’t been here for a few years already) for the NLL to focus on solidifying the current franchises and showing the media and the public that the league is sustainable. Once that happens then maybe, just maybe, ESPN2 and TSN2 (or Sportsnet) will pick up some games again. After the league gets some solid nationwide exposure throughout Canada and the US, then, and only then, should the league consider expanding. The league is currently on the path to joining the AFL in the land of invalid sports leagues and lacrosse is too good for that.

None too impressed!

2009-06-17T09:13:00.004-04:00

Last Friday night I rushed home from work, skipped dinner, packed up some crackers and juice for my son, and drove an hour to Newmarket to watch the Clarington Green Gaels take on the hometown Saints.

The Gaels came out flat and scored only one goal the entire game despite getting numerous powerplays. Had it not been for the stellar goaltending of Zack Higgins, the game would have been a blowout but as it was, Newmarket had a hard time getting the ball past Higgins. Finally in the third period Newmarket pulled away with the 4-1 win. Then last night, the Gaels travelled to Markham to face the Ironheads and they scored 21 goals in a 21-5 victory. Twenty-one goals! After scoring only 1 their previous game. What the heck happened in Newmarket??? I feel cheated!

Clarington ends their regular season tomorrow night at home against Huntsville. They have already clinched first place in the Mid East Division and at 18-1, they will be the top seed in the Eastern Conference and the league for the playoffs.

Slow start leads to history books in Rimouski

2009-05-25T08:46:00.004-04:00

The Windsor Spitfires started the Memorial Cup going 0-2 with a game to play against the perfect 2-0 Kelowna Rockets last Tuesday. It has been suggested that Kelowna took it easy in that game leading to a Windsor win that forced a tiebreaker game. Obviously, this will never been proven but this game gave the Spits the confidence they were in desperate need of.

In the tie-breaker the OHL champion defeated the host Rimouski Oceanic 6-4 and then went on to defeat the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs 3-2 in overtime. That led to a rematch of Kelowna versus Windsor in the final game. Windsor did not allow for any doubt as they scored on their first three shots to take a 3-0 early first period lead. They traded singles between the next two periods and the game ended 4-1 Windsor. In winning the Cup, Windsor became the first team to ever win the Memorial Cup after losing the first two games.

Despite losing some players for next year, the Spitfires could be even better. But we will let them all enjoy the win for the next couple months.

As for the tournament awards, Taylor Hall, Windsor Spitfires, was named tournament MVP, Jamie Benn, Kelowna Rockets, was the tournaments Top Scorer, Yannick Riendeau, Drummondville Voltigeurs, was the Most Sportsmanlike and Marco Cousineau, Drummondville Voltigeurs, was the Most Outstanding Goaltender. Finally, the all-star team is as follows:

Forward – Taylor Hall, Windsor Spitfires
Forward – Jamie Benn, Kelowna Rockets
Forward – Patrice Cormier, Rimouski Oceanic
Defence – Ryan Ellis, Windsor Spitfires
Defence – Tyler Myers, Kelowna Rockets
Goaltender – Marco Cousineau, Drummondville Voltigeurs

2009 Champion's Cup final

2009-05-15T15:30:00.001-04:00

Well it is finally here, the 2009 Champion’s Cup final. The top team from the West (and the league overall) will host the top team from the East in a one game showdown. The mighty Titans from New York will make the long trek to Calgary to face off against the home town Roughnecks. Many expected to see a rematch from the 2004 Champion’s Cup but an almost flawless defensive effort by the Titans last weekend crushed the hopes of a repeat for Banditland.

Allowing just three goals against the star-studded Bandits surely has the Titans entering the game as favourite's right? They not only defeated the defending champs but embarrassed them. Lead by Casey Powell on offense and Matt Vinc on defense, with a hard working supporting cast, these Titans really live up to their team name but are still considered underdogs for tonight’s game. Do they care? Not at all. They will play a full 60 minutes and give the Roughnecks all they can handle. Will that be enough to hoist their first cup? I personally don’t think they will be able to contain all the offensive threats Calgary has.

Calgary has been the top team in the league since game one. They easily handled their two playoff opponents so far and look to do the same to the Titans. Coming in as favourites, Calgary is looking to Matt King to continue his stellar play between the pipes. Even with their many offensive threats (Sanderson, Kelusky, Toth…), the Roughnecks will also need to put in a solid 60 minutes if they plan on raising a second banner to the rafters. They will also be out to prove a point as not a single player from the Roughnecks earned any end of year hardware (except their coach) despite being the top team all year. They only had one player named to the all-pro teams and that was Josh Sanderson for the second team.

Along with Casey Powell, I think containing Brendan Mundorf and Jordan Hall will be key to Calgary’s victory. Calgary plays as a team and will come back hard if they get down early. In the end Calgary will prevail in a close game. The score at the end may not reflect how close this game will be.

Big night for sports

2009-05-15T09:55:00.000-04:00

Not only is today a Friday before a long weekend but it is also a big day for sports. The 2009 MasterCard Memorial Cup gets underway tonight in Rimouski when the Kelowna Rockets take on the host Oceanic. The 2009 season of Major League Lacrosse also begins tonight in Annapolis as the Toronto Nationals take on the Washington Bayhawks in Toronto’s first MLL game. Perhaps the biggest game of the night will be the National Lacrosse League’s Champion’s Cup final in Calgary between the Roughnecks and the visiting New York Titans. As an added bonus for those in the Durham region, Rogers TV will be broadcasting the Clarington Green Gaels at Newmarket Saints lacrosse game this evening starting at 8:00 PM.

2009 Memorial Cup teams are set

2009-05-13T08:33:00.002-04:00

The Calgary Hitmen got through the first three rounds of the Western Hockey League playoffs without losing a single game. Then they met up with the Kelowna Rockets in the Ed Chynoweth Cup final series and lost the first three games. The Rockets couldn’t complete the sweep in game four but finally won the series in overtime in game 6 in front of their home fans. Kelowna swept the first round before winning both the next two series four games to two.

The Ontario Hockey League was a showdown between the top team in the league, the Windsor Spitfires, and the second place team from the East division, the Brampton Battalion. It took Brampton until the second period of game two to wake up and play well but they were simply over matched in this series. Windsor won game five in overtime to win the J Ross Robertson Cup. Windsor defeated the Owen Sound Attack, Plymouth Whalers and London Knights to reach the final series while Brampton downed Peterborough, Mississauga Majors, and Belleville Bulls before losing to Windsor.

Over in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Drummondville Voltigeurs swept the first three series before meeting a challenge in the final series against the Shawinigan Cataractes. In game two of the finals, Drummondville suffered their first loss in the playoffs but managed to rebound and win the series and the President Cup in seven games. Drummondville will now head to the Memorial Cup just one year after finishing in last place in the league.

The 2009 MasterCard Memorial Cup begins this Friday night as the Kelowna Rockets take on the host Rimouski Oceanic. The full schedule is as follows (times in EDT):

Friday, May 15 – WHL vs HOST, 7:00 pm
Saturday, May 16 – QMJHL vs OHL, 4:30 pm
Sunday, May 17 – HOST vs OHL, 4:30 pm
Monday, May 18 – QMJHL vs WHL, 7:00 pm
Tuesday, May 19 – OHL vs WHL, 7:00 pm
Wednesday, May 20 – HOST vs QMJHL, 7:00 pm
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Thursday, May 21 – Tie-breaker (if necessary), 7:00 pm
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Friday, May 22 – SEMI-FINAL, 7:00 pm
Sunday, May 24 – CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL, 4:30 pm

Tonight is the season!

2009-05-12T11:09:00.002-04:00

For any Toronto Blue Jays fan, tonight is the season for the Jays. A win tonight and the fans will think this season was a success. Tonight the Jays not only face the Yankees for the first time this season but their ace, Roy Halladay, takes to the mound against the villified A.J. Burnett. The same Burnett who left the Jays nest in the off season in search of more money. It has the making of a great game. Let's hope the idiots stay home so the real fans can enjoy this encounter.

NLL division finals

2009-05-06T15:06:00.001-04:00

Since I got one of my first round predictions wrong, I figure I should revise my comments on the rest of the playoffs. Well, actually, all comments are still relevant except for the one series. Rochester was unable to finish the upset and in the last five minutes allowed New York (or should I say Casey Powell) to come back to tie the game and eventually lose it in overtime.

So with Rochester loss, New York Titans advance to the East division final to host the Buffalo Bandits. Buffalo lost both meetings against New York this year, which is why the Titans get to host this game and not Buffalo, all else being equal. In my opinion, Buffalo is the better team in this game although New York has played more consistently this year. I think Buffalo is going to avenge their two regular season losses in a big way. Bandits by a few, let’s say four.

I would like to see San Jose defeat Calgary so I can attend another game live but I think Calgary will pull out the win in the West final. Still backing the Bandits in the Cup final too, in overtime. With luck the Bandits will have the East final well in hand early so I can flip to the West final at the start. Otherwise, it’s split screen for me.

Battalion shelled by Spitfires

2009-04-30T08:36:00.003-04:00

The Windsor Spitfires put a licking on the Brampton Battalion in game one of the OHL Championship Series. The game started out close but then they dropped the puck. Okay so it was close for a few minutes in the first period as the game was tied 1-1 at one point. By the time the first was over, Windsor had a commanding 4-1 lead. That lead was extended to 6-1 after two and 10-1 by the end of the game.

Leading the Spitfires was Justin Shugg with a hat trick, Andrei Loktionov with two goals and an assist and both Taylor Hall and Adam Henrique with one goal and two assists. Josh Day got the lone goal for the Battalion.

Both teams head to The Bunker in Brampton on Friday night where the home tropps will look to even the series. After the shelling they took last night, I expect Friday's game to be very spirited and Brampton to come out hungry and show all they belong in this series. It should be a fun game anyhow as I will be in attendance for my first hockey game in The Bunker. You won't catch me wearing one of those ugly Battalion jerseys but I will be cheering for the home team. Bring the J Ross Robertson Cup back to the East!

Look quick!

2009-04-27T08:36:00.001-04:00

The Toronto Blue Jays are the best team in Major League Baseball.

It may not last long though because the Boston Red Sox are only a game behind them and are on fire. They have just swept a nine game homestead and have won ten straight. A couple easy series coming up for the birds so they should hold onto the division lead heading into May.

Ready for NLL playoffs

2009-04-23T12:26:00.003-04:00

Well we’re a week and a half away from the NLL playoffs and I can’t wait for the drive down the QEW on May 2. The East division finished with a three way tie for first once again but due to tiebreakers, the Bandits (10-6) finished 2nd. New York (10-6) finished on top with Boston (10-6) in third and Rochester (7-9) in a distant fourth. Out West, the Roughnecks of Calgary topped the league with a 12-4 record while Portland (9-7) finished in second, San Jose (7-9) in third and Colorado (7-9) barely made the fourth spot.

Calgary, with top seed, will look to host their second Champions Cup but will have to win two games starting with the always tough Colorado team. Portland’s quest for a return trip to the finals starts with a home game against San Jose. Buffalo will seek revenge against Boston at the HSBC while their western New York rivals travel to the big city to take on the New York Titans. All eight teams have the ability to win and no team is guaranteed the win so these four games should be awesome to watch.

Starting in the East:

New York plays a consistent game, putting in sixty hard minutes every game so they could earn the respect of the league this year with a Champions Cup final appearance. Rochester finished fourth but came on strong late in the season and are still mad they missed the playoffs last year for the first time in franchise history. If the ‘time’ is right Rochester could steal the first round game from New York but I don’t think they can get by either Boston or Buffalo. Buffalo is perhaps the best team in the East but has lacked the consistency this year. They started strong, as in unbeatable, but have gone 5-6 since then with 4 of those losses to the other top teams in the East. Boston has already surpassed most people’s expectations this season. I thought they’d do okay but tied for first in the East, not a chance. If Cosmo stands on his head and the team in front of him plays like they have been, they could easily find themselves in the finals. Any team with Dan Dawson on it can’t be ruled out come playoff time.

Over in the West:

The West is Calgary’s to lose. They are solid from front to back, including both tenders. If their record gets to their heads, Colorado will be there to pull them back out of the clouds. I am not giving Colorado much chance but I am also not writing them off. Portland is looking to give their fans one more reason to get their season tickets for next year with a home victory. Not sure if the win will help but it can’t hurt. Difference in the game will be Matt Disher for the Jax and Colin Doyle for the Stealth. San Jose has a potent offence that can steal this game and Colin Doyle has the ability to take control of this game with rookie Rhys Duch as his more than able sidekick.

This is now a god time for my picks but I am hesitant to make them, anything can happen in one game. Alright, here goes but I reserve the right to change my picks for games after the first round when I get the first round wrong.

Division Semi-finals:

Colorado at Calgary - May 3: Calgary, they are too good to lose so early in the playoffs.
San Jose at Portland - May 1: San Jose, double D’s will lead the Stealth to victory
Rochester at New York - May 1: Rochester, O’Toole and Williams will have great games
Boston at Buffalo - May 2: Buffalo, they are not going to lose three games in a row, JT will ensure that.

Division Finals:

San Jose at Calgary - Calgary, but in a close one; Sanderson and Doyle will compete for top points
Rochester at Buffalo - Buffalo, the place will be electric giving the Bandits the extra edge (I like to think Bandit fans can actually make a difference)

Champions Cup:

Buffalo at Calgary - Buffalo, in overtime. Payback for the loss in 2004, it’s that simple. If only I had more vacation time…and money…I’d be back in the saddle(dome) again.

The Second Round

2009-04-02T13:04:00.003-04:00

Well, Brian Kilrea's coaching career in the OHL is officially over. The Niagara IceDogs came back from a two goal deficit in the third period of Tuesday night's game to beat the 67's in overtime. That was the only series to make it the full seven games. Other teams to win were Brampton in four games, Belleville in six and Mississauga in five from the East and Windsor in four, London in five, Saginaw in four and Plymouth in five from the West.

With all four conference semi finals beginning tonight, it is a good time to make my predictions on them. Let's see if I can do better than the first round.

Belleville vs Niagara - Belleville's inconsistency continues to plague them as they needed six games to defeat the Sudbury Wolves. To be fair some of that could be due to the lengthy travel between the two cities. Niagara is coming off an emotional win in game seven on the road. This is an interesting match up as the teams will go from the largest ice surface in the league in Belleville to the smallest ice in Niagara. Belleville will take game one but the series will go six before the Bulls advance.

Brampton vs Mississauga - Travel is almost non existent in this series and both teams should be well rested as neither team had much trouble in the first round. Mississauga will give Brampton a good challenge but Brampton is too good and will win the series in six.

Windsor vs Plymouth - Both teams had an easy time in round one and should also be well rested. Windsor will look for another sweep but I think the Whalers will steal a game. Spitfires in five.

London vs Saginaw - This series will be a lot closer than the Knights will want it to be but will be a good test for the Conference final against Windsor. London has too many good players, several with big game experience, to lose at this point and will edge out the Spirit in a thrilling seven game series. This series will be a good lead into the remaining rounds.

Changing Gears

2009-03-30T12:43:00.002-04:00

One week today the Rogers Centre will be full for the only time this MLB season as the Toronto Blue Jays open their 2009 schedule against their one time rival Detroit Tigers. The anticipation of a horrible season should not prevent the stadium from filling on opening day as it seemingly always does. It may take until the weekend to double the yearly attendance figures though.

Titans Steal One From The Bandits

2009-03-30T11:52:00.003-04:00

The HSBC crowd was pumped, the announcer was pumped, the bag piper was pumped and even the anthem singer seemed to have a little extra enthusiasm prior to the New York Titans / Buffalo Bandits lacrosse game Saturday night. Unfortunately for the 18,550 in attendance, the Buffalo Bandits enthusiasm left quickly.

Despite getting off 59 shots on net, the Bandits were only able to score nine times as they lost 11-9 to the Titans. All game long the Titans defence caused the Bandits some off-ball struggles but the Bandits were still able to get several quality scoring chances on drives to the net. Those chances ended up missing the net, hitting iron or sucked into the mid-section of New York’s net minder Matt Vinc. During the first quarter Vinc added to the Bandits frustrations by turning aside several sure goals.

Coupled with the lack of emotion displayed by the Bandits was the inability of their defence to stop New York when the momentum shifted to the home side. Twice the Bandits had two goal runs that gave them momentum but each time the Titans responded by netting the next goal and killing all momentum. Some of this poor play rests at the feet of the Bandits goalie, Mike Thompson, as he let several long shots get past him (the type of shots that are meant to generate rebounds as the shot clock nears zero) and allowed some other goals that he should not have.

New York deserves some credit for the win as well. They did play hard the whole game and did not let the crowd and the momentum shifts affect their play. They did not look seem to control the ball as long as Buffalo did this game but they did enough to get the win. As mentioned earlier, Vinc made several spectacular saves in the opening quarter that kept the Titans in the game, including turning away some breakaway chances by the Bandits. The Titans played the full sixty minutes and that is the reason they won, it’s as simple as that.

Next game for Buffalo is the highly anticipated match up Saturday night against the Boston Blazers while the Titans have a home and home with Philadelphia next weekend. A sweep by New York would solidify a playoff spot for them and all but eliminate Philadelphia from the post season. A New York sweep would also give Buffalo a spot in the playoffs regardless of how they do in Boston.

Montour Should Be Number 1 For Bandits

2009-03-27T14:41:00.000-04:00

After a record tying performance last weekend against the Portland Lumberjax, will Ken Montour get the starting goaltender tag for the Buffalo Bandits and start this weekend’s game against the Titans?

At the beginning of the season coach Darris Kilgour stated he would use his two goalies on a rotating basis. If this is still the case after the career game, Montour will find himself watching Mike Thompson take to the field Saturday night. When given the chance, Thompson has not looked sharp and left his last two starts early in the first half. He might have been the victim of poor defence in front of him but he still hasn’t played like the Bandits need him to. Montour on the other hand has performed admirably. Montour sits atop the league in wins (tied with Anthony Cosmo of Boston), goals against average with an insane 9.04 and save percentage with .818. He has played the seventh most minutes and has allowed the fewest goals for those goalies that played over 400 minutes (8th among goalies that played more than 200 minutes).

Montour is in the running for Goalie of the Year honours and the only thing that would get in his way from achieving this honour is not getting enough minutes. Coach Kilgour needs to ensure his team is fully ready for the playoffs so that likely means giving Mikey some starts. Banditland can only hope that Thompson steps up like he can; he did backstop Buffalo to a Champion’s Cup win last year. For all I know this decision might already be made but I have not found any news of it.

My Thoughts On Buying Jerseys

2009-03-27T10:40:00.005-04:00

It's Friday and I can't really get into my work so here are my thoughts on buying team jerseys.

I have recently developed an addiction for owning team jerseys but most of the jerseys I own are blanks (i.e. have no number or name on the back). Not only are blank jerseys less expensive up front than their named counterparts, they also provide a longer wear as well. With blank jerseys, one does not have to worry if their favourite player gets traded or retires. Wearing the name of a retired player on one's back just makes them look outdated and cheap, unless that player happens to be one of the games greats or had a major impact on the game or team.

So with this in mind I thought long and hard before buying the new third jersey for the Bandits. This jersey needs a name and number on the back to make it complete; it just doesn't look right left blank. I was at odds with which player I should get stitched on the back when I realized the loophole that existed. John Tavares is one of, if not the greatest lacrosse players ever and he conveniently plays for the Bandits. Although Steenhuis is more suited to the bright orange jersey, due to longevity and his great skills, Tavares' name now adorns the back of my jersey resting above his number 11. After all, it will save me from looking cheap or buying a new jersey in a few years when/if Tavares retires.

Not To Get Ahead Of Ourselves, But…

2009-03-23T13:16:00.002-04:00

There is still a lot of lacrosse to be played in this National Lacrosse League season but the two top teams are close to earning a spot in the playoffs. Calgary is leading the West division with eight wins while Buffalo is leading the East division with eight wins as well. Both teams can clinch a playoff spot with three victories and coincidentally, each team has three games remaining at home where they each team has lost just once.

Two wins coupled with a Rochester loss will put Buffalo in the playoffs. Boston needs three wins with a Rochester loss to enter the playoffs in their first season since their return to the NLL. New York has a two game lead on the basement dwellers in the East and play Philadelphia twice down the stretch so they have a chance to greatly influence the final standings. Unfortunately for them they also play Buffalo twice. Checking out the upcoming schedule, if both Boston and Buffalo win this coming weekend (March 27-29), then Buffalo can clinch a playoff spot by defeating the Blazers on April 4th, adding more fuel to an already heavily anticipated battle.

Over in the West, Calgary can clinch a playoff spot this weekend by beating Toronto at home Friday and Minnesota on the road Saturday. The rest of the teams are jammed together, however; Portland has two games in hand on those teams so they could pull ahead of the pack by winning both games. Too bad for them one of those games in hand is against the division leading Roughnecks.

The remaining games should make for some great entertainment as teams try to reach the playoffs. Will Edmonton finally click and string enough wins together? Will Rochester or Toronto return to the playoffs after their one year hiatus from postseason? Can Philadelphia battle through their injuries to make a serious run? Will Boston continue their improbable season and take first in the East? Will Portland continue to impress and make it to the finals for a second year in a row after many dismissed them before the start of the season? The most important question for this writer, will the Buffalo Bandits repeat as champions?

UPDATE: Apparently Buffalo can clinch a playoff berth this weekend too. Check out this article on NLL.com

Another Dominant Win By The Bandits

2009-03-22T04:05:00.003-04:00

On Saturday evening the Portland Lumberjax entered HSBC Arena in Buffalo looking to avenge their 14-13 loss in last years Champion’s Cup final. Portland was coming off three weeks rest (and limited playing time in the past two months) while the host Buffalo Bandits was coming off their first two game losing streak of the season. With Portland playing better than a lot of people expected of them this season and the Bandits on top in the East, this game promised to be a great one. And it didn’t disappoint, at least for the first half anyhow.

The Bandits wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as Mark Steenhuis’ first shot of the game beat Matt Disher just 13 seconds into the first quarter causing Banditland to erupt. Portland quieted the crowd just over two minutes later as Tim Campeau’s shot found it’s way past Ken Montour. The next twenty-seven and a half minutes saw some great lacrosse on display. There were a lot of big hits, mostly thrown from the Bandits, some big saves from both ends and some excellent off ball battles. Buffalo emerged from the first half with a 5-3 lead.

Quarter three was a continuation of the first half until Portland gave into their frustration and got into penalty trouble. Three straight penalties, one a five minute major, three straight powerplay goals by the Bandits and the Lumberjax were down 8-4 with just under twenty minutes to play. Portland relieved some of their frustration after Buffalo’s ninth goal as Brodie Merrill squared off with Brandon Francis and big 6-10 David Morgan danced with Billy Dee Smith. Portland gained no energy or momentum from the skirmishes and Buffalo went on to score five goals in the last quarter for a 14-4 victory.

John Tavares (4G,3A) led all scorers with seven points while teammates Mark Steenhuis (1,5) and Cory Bomberry (3,3) had six apiece. Sean Greenhalgh (2,2) and Mike Accursi (1,3) had four points and Roger Vyse scored the other two goals. Ken Montour made 34 saves in net while earning a Bandits record for fewest goals allowed in a game. For Portland, five players had two points each: Tim Campeau (1,1), Brodie Merrill (0,2), Derek Malawsky (1,1), Ryan Powell (0,2) and Cory Conway (1,1). Peter Morgan scored a single goal.

Portland has a home and home series with San Jose next weekend while Buffalo hosts New York Saturday night.

2009 OHL Playoffs Begin Tonight

2009-03-18T08:49:00.004-04:00

The road to Rimouski begins tonight for the Ontario Hockey League as Owen Sound travels to Windsor and Sudbury enters the large confines of the Yardmen Arena in Belleville. Since I've got nothing better to do with my time, I am going to make some predictions for the OHL playoffs.

Western Conference:

8. Owen Sound Attack vs. 1. Windsor Spitfires - Windsor in four straight. Windsor is that good and the Sound is really that bad.

7. Erie Otters vs. 2. London Knights - London in five. I think overconfidence will cost the Knights a game but coach Hunter will make sure it doesn't happen a second time.

6. Guelph Storm vs. 3. Saginaw Spirit - Saginaw in five. Guelph plays hard and that hard work will result in a win but Saginaw is the team that I feel can upset London in round two and give Windsor a tough go for the West title.

5. Sarnia Sting vs. 4. Plymouth Whalers - Plymouth in six. These teams finished close in the standings and this will be a battle but the Sting just don't have it this year.

Eastern Conference:

8. Sudbury Wolves vs. 1. Belleville Bulls - Belleville in five. Belleville knows what it takes to win and should make fairly quick work of the Wovles. The lengthy travel will cost the Bulls a game.

7. Peterborough Petes vs. 2. Brampton Battalion - Brampton in six. Brampton is good but the Petes play hard and will be a good test for Brampton.

6. Niagara Ice Dogs vs. 3. Ottawa 67's - Ottawa in seven. Although Niagara all but owned Ottawa in the regular season, Kilrea will motivate his players to a series win.

5. Barrie Colts vs. 4. Mississauga Majors - Barrie in five. If the Colts can stay out of the penalty box I think this series is theirs.

Even though I predict only one upset in round 1, there will still be lots of great hockey to see. Other than the Belleville series, I can see all the Eastern series ending in upsets but Brampton is too good to lose and Ottawa is my team so I have trouble picking them to be upset in round 1. Ottawa has a team that could surprise a lot of teams and I hope they do but I see a round 2 exit for them. The Western Conference should go t the favourites, at least in the first round.

Generals Miss Playoffs

2009-03-17T13:04:00.002-04:00

The Oshawa Generals just missed taking part in the OHL playoffs this year. They had a chance to tie Peterborough for seventh place in the Eastern conference Friday night when they travelled to Kingston but the Frontenacs wouldn't allow that. Oshawa left Kingston with a 6-3 loss but still had a chance to enter a tie break game for the final playoff spot with a win Sunday against the second seeded Brampton Battalion.

Oshawa entered Brampton with a large task at hand, a win in the bunker, and they had to do it without their top scorer, Brett Parnham, who was sidelined with an injury. They came out strong and played a solid game but every time the Generals scored a goal, the Battalion countered shortly after. A two many men penalty late in the third by Oshawa gave Brampton a chance to tie the game and send it to overtime. A misplay by a Generals player led to Kang being left alone in front of the net where the puck found him and Kang easily tied the game. Brampton eventually dashed the hopes of the Generals in the shootout.

It was a tough end to the season for the Generals without doubt. Losing their two best players obviously hurt them but there were some bright spots for them. Brett Parnham excelled once he stepped out of Tavares' shadow and De Haan had a good rookie season, even if he slowed down some once Del Zotto left. With the younger players and the draft picks received from London, Oshawa Generals hockey shows some promise for the future.

NLL Trade Deadline

2009-03-17T09:50:00.003-04:00

Forget the day long coverage where one can tune into a sports station and watch people discuss trades that will never come to pass. The trade deadline for the National Lacrosse League gets next to no mention in the media at all. If it wasn’t for John Tavares crediting lacrosse for his sick stick skills on the ice, TSN (Canada’s sports leader) would not even know the sport existed. Sportsnet is too busy showing poker to focus on anything sports related and The Score is busy covering CIS championships (thanks for this Score, no one else will let us see these fine events). This is about the only time that the lack of television coverage for Canada’s national sport is a good thing.

So without all the hoopla and fanfare, the NLL trade deadline will quietly pass by today at 3:00PM. Will there be anything big to report this year anyhow? There are some solid players sitting on the sidelines this year due to Chicago’s departure from the league but will any of them be called on to help a team reach the playoffs? I for one don’t think anything major will take place today but I am far from an expert. Here is my team by team analysis, it likely won’t be very accurate, but I am bored and need something to waste some time with. Please comment on the areas I went wrong or areas that need more discussion. It will be interesting to see if I get any of my predictions right.

Boston Blazers: This is a new team that is surprising a lot of the experts. I think they will finish the season with what they have, since they are the third best in the league, and will make a solid run. The game on April 4 against the Bandits should be a good test for this young team.

Buffalo Bandits: Currently number two overall they are fading somewhat from the start of the season where they looked unbeatable. Currently dealing with some injuries on the back end and their offence is not producing to their level. They have the pieces to defend their title this year but if the injuries are going to persist much longer they may look for some help in the back end. Darris will have this team playing back up to their level by this weekend.

Calgary Roughnecks: Sitting on top of the league this team is looking really sharp. They are getting great goaltending, solid defence and an offensive punch reminiscent of the 2005 Toronto Rock. Josh Sanderson leads the team in scoring (4th in the league) followed closely by team captain, Tracey Kelusky and sophomore Dane Dobbie. Calgary won’t be shopping today.

Colorado Mammoth: This team is just plain underachieving. They are a good team but just haven’t gone on a run this year. Some injuries have hurt them this year but they seem to be able to play with the top teams as they defeated Calgary on Valentine’s Day. A more consistent effort should result in better results. They might be looking for that one player to help them succeed in the playoffs.

Edmonton Rush: Their season is pretty much a wash even though they are only two games out of fourth in the west. They rebuilt almost the entire team this year and just can’t get things to go their way. If anything they may look to deal Teat or Quinlan. Lindsay Plunkett hasn’t played all year due to work commitments but perhaps he can be dealt to a team in the east to get Edmonton an extra body to use this year.

Minnesota Swarm: This team had a bit of a let down early in the season but has come back to .500 with three solid games against eastern teams. A trade with Rochester a couple weeks ago might have been the spark that was needed and the past three wins have given them their confidence back too. I think this team will stick with what they have at this point.

New York Titans: Are hurting without the services of Casey Powell but he will likely return to the lineup before too long. Having this weekend off will help. They seem to be a player or two away from the next level so if they want to make a serious push this year they may be shopping for some help.

Philadelphia Wings: This team has been hurt by injuries and inconsistent play all season. A trade may be what is needed here to shake up the team a bit. The goaltending is good but unless they play to their potential every minute of every game, the Wings won’t last long in the playoffs if they get there.

Portland Lumberjax: Another team playing surprisingly well. Not many people gave Portland a chance this year after losing Dan Dawson but they have come together as a team and performed well. I don’t see management messing with this team at this point.

Rochester Knighthawks: They are starting to play like they can and with this effort continuing the rest of the year, they may surprise a team or two in the playoffs. They already made a trade to get Craig Point and Dean Hill and both have helped immensely since coming over. They look to have all the pieces they need to compete now so they likely won't be in the market today.

San Jose: This is a very young team with several players trying to adapt to the indoor game. This year, although disappointing, is a learning year for this team. I think they will stick with what they have now and try to get their rookies as much game experience as possible so they can make a run again next year.

Toronto Rock: This team has been sinking since they traded away their true captain (Colin Doyle) a few years ago. They have hit rock bottom it seems and have made moves already to try to correct things. This team needs more consistent play from everyone including their goalie Bob Watson. They did play well in Boston last weekend so maybe they have turned a corner. They have a lot of players that could help other teams so if they get the right offer I can see them trading some offense for younger and quicker defence.

Gracious Hosts

2009-03-10T11:11:00.001-04:00

After an opening game loss to the United States at the World Baseball Classic, Team Canada played the role of gracious hosts a little too well by handing Team Italia the win last night in game four. That loss ended Team Canada’s chances of advancing to the second round.

Before the game started the jumbotron (is this term still used?) showed video of the crowd (all 12,411 of them) before landing on the live feed of the jovial Italian dugout. The players inside were smiling and laughing, some were even out front swinging a bat to stay loose. Next the cameras found the sullen Canadian dugout. The players in this dugout looked as though they were heading out to battle not expecting to return, nary a smile was found.

The first Italian batter came up and immediately hit a one hopper to the mound (the Canadians couldn’t have scripted this any better) but the nerves of the Canadians were evident as Perkins dropped the ball allowing the batter to reach first base. Had the Canadian bats come out in the first inning perhaps the bobble would have been forgotten and Perkins would have settled down but that didn’t happen and things didn’t get much better for the Canadians. They did manage to keep the Italians to six runs though. On the offensive side, well, there was no offensive side for the Canadians aside from Justin Morneau (4 for 5) and Jason bay (2 for 2). With everyone trying for the long ball it is hard to get anything going.

The game overall was rather uninspiring. There were two highlight reel defensive plays by the Italians late in the game but otherwise the game was slow and void of life. There was more action in the stands than on the field. Two kids were removed from the game early in the night and then a few innings later another person was sent walking for inappropriate conduct towards the Italian bullpen. The real excitement of the game happened when the seventh inning stretch became the seventh inning grope. A real family affair last night it was. Gee, I wonder why Toronto hasn’t hosted a top notch international event like, say, the Olympics.

The most glaring aspect of the early exit from the tournament by Team Canada is the fact that their number one pitcher, Scott Richmond, didn’t see any action. It was decided by coaching staff to save Richmond for the game against Venezuela today once they defeated Italy. Given the fact that the next game was not guaranteed this may have been the wrong decision but when the offense, the supposed strong point of the club, only scores two runs against an Italian squad the blame for the loss lies at the feet of the hitters not the pitchers or a coaching decision. The players will be the first ones to admit that but unfortunately, the short sighted media in Toronto will lay blame on Ernie Whitt and the other coaches for their pitching decision.

Congratulations go to Team Italia for ignoring the negativity and going out and playing baseball last night. Had the Canadians done the same, I have no doubt they would be playing today instead of the Italians but as it is, the best team on the night won. Good luck seeking revenge against Venezuela tonight Italy.

Another Tavares Sets Career Goal Mark

2009-03-08T17:15:00.000-04:00

Not every day does a visiting player get a standing ovation for scoring a go ahead goal in a hockey game, especially in the third period, but that is exactly what happened Sunday afternoon in Windsor. John Tavares entered the WFCU in Windsor as a member of the London Knights needing two goals to surpass Peter Lee for career goals in the Ontario Hockey League. After some recent verification by the league, Peter Lee’s total goals during the 1971-1976 seasons was 213.

Tavares scored his record tying 213th goal of his career to open the scoring at 4:51 of the first period. With the game tied at two midway through the third period Tavares scored to take the lead in career goals and gave his London Knights the lead back. After Tavares’ feat was recognized by the public address announcer and a short standing ovation from the 6590 fans in attendance, Windsor was able to tie the game once more. Tavares struck again though completing the hat trick and giving the Knights a 4-3 lead with under two minutes to play.

Tavares not only scored a hat trick on the game winning goal and took the lead in career goals but he also dashed the hopes of the Windsor Spitfires to become the winningest team in OHL history. The London Knights earned 120 points in their Memorial Cup winning 2004/2005 season. Windsor came into this game against London with 113 points and four games to play (therefore needing to win all four remaining games to achieve that distinction).

Weekend Recap Feb 28 - Mar 1

2009-03-04T12:19:00.001-05:00

On Saturday the 2009 Winter Universiade concluded with their closing ceremonies. Over the 11 days of competition China amassed 48 medals: 18 gold, 18 silver and 12 bronze while Russia finished second with 51 medals: 18 gold, 14 silver and 19 bronze. Canada finished in 11th place with six total medals: a gold in women’s ice hockey, silvers in men’s ice hockey, men’s short track speed skating 100M and 5000m relay, and women’s curling and a bronze in women’s short track speed skating 3000m relay.

Staying at the university level several CIS championships took place over the weekend. At the 2009 CIS Women’s Volleyball Championship, the second seed University of British Columbia Thunderbirds defeated the fourth seeded University of Calgary Dinos in five sets to claim their second straight title. Top seeded Montreal Carabins, who lost to the Calgary Dinos in their semi-final, beat their Quebec rival, Laval Rouge et Or, in five sets to settle for third. Trinity Western Spartans claimed fifth spot in a come from behind, five set victory over the York Lions. The men’s Alberta Golden Bears team was not going to be outdone and also defended their title by winning the 2009 Men’s Volleyball Championship. The Bears swept Laval Rouge et Or in the final. The Brandon Bobcats held onto third for the fourth straight year by defeating the McMaster Marauders in four sets while the Dalhousie Tigers downed the Thompson Rivers Wolf Pack in five sets for fifth spot.

After a run of ten straight national team titles, the Brock University men’s wrestling team will have to settle for second place behind Simon Fraser University at the 2009 CIS Wrestling Championship. Concordia finished two points behind Brock for third spot. The University of Calgary women gave the host crowd something to cheer about by claiming the women’s team title. Simon Fraser came second while Saskatchewan finished third and Brock came in fourth. Full details of all matches can be found on the event’s website.

Besides the university events taking place this weekend, there were two curling events of note wrapping up as well. In Victoria, BC, Team Canada defended their title at the 2009 Scotties Tournament of Hearts and will travel to South Korea to defend their World title at the end of the month. BC’s team skipped by Marla Mallett played well until the seventh end when they let Jennifer Jones’ team steal two and seal the win. BC lead the round robin going 8-3 while Team Canada finished 7-4 and was forced to win a tie breaker before entering the playoffs. In other curling action, Team Canada defeated Sweden in the finals of the 2009 World Wheelchair Curling Championship. Germany claimed bronze after defeating USA 6-4.

Bandits Let One Get Away

2009-03-02T12:57:00.004-05:00

Saturday night saw the Minnesota Swarm enter the HSBC looking for a weekend sweep after a big win Friday night in Toronto. Buffalo, looking to remain unbeaten at home, jumped out to a 4-2 first quarter lead. That lead was extended to 8-3 at the 11:37 mark of the second frame forcing Minnesota to switch goalies. It must have been what the Swarm needed because six seconds later Kevin Buchanan scored his first goal of the game and within two minutes Minnesota scored three more to bring the score to 8-7 heading into the half.

The break didn’t slow Minnesota’s offense at all as Aaron Wilson scored his hat trick goal followed by Kevin Buchanan’s second of the game and Sean Pollock’s second of three. Mike Accursi stopped the bleeding by netting a powerplay goal to end the Swarm’s 7 goal run. Third quarter ended 10-9 in favour of the Swarm but it appeared the Bandits had them right where they wanted them. The crowd started to get back into the game following a fight between Travis Hill and Brandon Francis midway through the third period and some stellar play by goalie Ken Montour to keep the score close.

The fourth quarter was set to be a good one and the teams didn’t disappoint. Aaron Wilson opened the scoring 44 seconds into the period to increase the Swarm’s lead to two but then Buffalo rode the crowd to a five goal run and a three goal lead with less than five minutes to play. Minnesota countered with five of their own to reclaim a two goal lead. Cory Bom-Bom-Bomberry unleashed a cannon with 44 seconds left to make it a one goal game and with the seconds ticking away unleashed a second bomb that beat the keeper but not the crossbar. Game ended in a 16-15 victory for the Swarm, much to the delight of the group of Swarm fans in attendance.

The officiating in this game was suspect at times but thankfully didn’t seem to affect the outcome too much. The Bandits seemed to ease up some when they broke out to the 8-3 lead as Tavares seemed hesitant to shoot and Steenhuis forgot how to pass during the last part of the second quarter. Ken Montour’s performance was like a roller coaster, good for the first half then great in quarter three but couldn't keep the door shut in the final frame. The most impressive part of this game (most concerning for Buffalo) was the ease with which Aaron Wilson, Sean Pollock and Chad Culp were able to command the offensive zone. At least one of those three had a hand in 15 of Minnesota’s 16 goals. Aaron Wilson ended the game with 8 points (5,3), Sean Pollock 9 points (3,6) and Chad Culp 8 (2,6).

On The Outside Looking In?

2009-03-02T10:12:00.001-05:00

It looks as though the Oshawa Generals will be on the wrong side of the standings once the OHL playoffs begin. They have 6 games left, half of which against the top two teams in the East (2 vs Brampton and 1 vs Belleville) and only 2 games against teams with a worse record than them (Kingston and Peterborough). In the past ten games Oshawa has only two wins, including a 5-4 overtime victory in Peterborough. They are 4-16 in their last 20 and 6-17 since the trade deadline.

The team chasing them, the Peterborough Petes, only have one game against Belleville remaining and only one game against a team below them in the standings (Kingston). They do face the always dangerous Ottawa ‘67’s team twice though so their last six games are not going to be easy. Peterborough is 5-5 in their last ten games, 7-13 in their last 20 and 8-13 since the trade deadline. Peterborough is currently one point behind Oshawa for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

March 8 could be the deciding day as Peterborough travels to the GMC in Oshawa. For both teams just making the playoffs would benefit them as they would get their young kids some post season experience, even if only four games worth.

Shootouts Have To Go!

2009-02-24T11:57:00.003-05:00

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

2009-02-23T13:41:00.003-05:00

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

2009-02-23T13:28:00.003-05:00

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

2009-02-23T10:33:00.005-05:00

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

2009-02-20T13:09:00.008-05:00

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

2009-02-20T10:04:00.003-05:00

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...

2009-02-11T13:55:00.004-05:00

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

2009-02-10T08:25:00.004-05:00

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

2009-02-06T08:28:00.002-05:00

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

2009-02-03T09:15:00.005-05:00

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.

Buffalo What?

2009-01-30T08:05:00.002-05:00

Well, the NLL is into it's fifth week and the defending champion Buffalo Bandits are a perfect 5-0 after defeating the Edmonton Rush 13-8 last night at Rexall Place. After dominating two of their first three games, they are looking good to repeat as champions this year. Mark Steenhuis is having a career year offensively while Chris White and the rest of the defence is shutting down opponents offense allowing more than ten goals only once so far this season.

Of course, a lot of credit goes to the goaltending duo of Ken Montour and Mike Thompson. Between the two they have earned the defensive player of the week award for the past three weeks: two for Montour while Thompson won it last week. Montour will be in the hunt for the award again this week with some stellar saves amongst the 55 shots he faced last night. He ended the game with 47 saves and his third win of the season.

Calgary (4-0) is the only other undefeated team left this year and are also looking quite impressive. If both these teams continue to play well there could be a repeat of the 2004 Champions Cup final. Calgary won that game at home 14-11 for their only Champions Cup. There is still lots of season left so get out and enjoy the action.

Odds & Ends

2009-01-12T08:39:00.005-05:00

- Led by the tournament MVP, John Tavares, Team Canada claimed their fifth straight title at the 2009 IIHF World U20 Hockey Championship. One week ago today, Canada dominated Sweden in the gold medal game in Ottawa, ON winning 5-1 in front of 20,000 plus at ScotiaBank Place. Canada goes for an unprecedented sixth straight title in the co-host cities of Regina and Saskatoon. For ticket or other information about next years tournament click here.

- Canada's under 22 women's hockey team won silver at the 2009 MLP Nations Cup in what was only their second loss in the tournament since it's inception back in 2003. The Canadian team didn't surrender a goal in the tournament until late in the second period of the final game. Canada opened the tournament with a 3-0 victory over Finland before beating Russia 11-0 in the other round robin game and Germany 3-0 in the semi-final.

- Canada's under 18 women's hockey team also brought Canada a silver medal in their championship tournament. After scores of 16-1 against Switzerland, 6-0 against Finland and 13-0 against the Czech Republic, Canada beat Sweden 6-1 in the semis before losing 3-2 to Team USA in the gold medal game.

- The NLL season has begun and so far the defending champion Buffalo Bandits are looking good to repeat. They dominated the Philadelphia Wings in their season and home opener January 3 and found a way to beat a much improved Toronto Rock team on Saturday (Buffalo had not beat Toronto since January 2006 and hold a losing record all-time against Toronto).

- For this NLL season, all games are being broadcast live online free of charge. Just log on to www.nll.com and click the watch live link. It is nothing like experiencing the game live but it is great for those who cannot make it to the arena...or for those on the opposite coast. I hope this experiment works because I really enjoyed watching Colin Doyle and the San Jose Stealth take on the Calgary Roughnecks Friday night.

USA Spoils Canadian Sweep at U17

2009-01-05T10:30:00.001-05:00

After losing a tight game 6-5 to Team Pacific in overtime Saturday night, Team USA regrouped for Sunday afternoon and went on to defeat Team West 4-2 to claim the Bronze medal in the 2009 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Port Alberni, BC. Jacob Fallon scored a hat trick to lead the USA to their first ever bronze medal in this tournament.

Team USA jumped out to an early lead when Fallon scored the first of his three goals before the five minute mark. Fallon scored again in the last five minutes of the first to give Team USA a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Team USA's lead was doubled in the second period on goals by Stuart Higgins and Fallon. The third period started well for Team West as they broke the shutout just over a minute into to the period on Quinton Howden's (Moose Jaw Warriors, WHL) first goal. Just over two and a half minutes later Howden connected for his second goal of the game and it looked like the Canadian side was on their way to a comeback. Will Yanakeff had other thoughts and shut the door in net for the USA to give them the 4-2 win and prevent a medal sweep by Canada.

Team Ontario hosted Team Pacific in the gold medal game Sunday night. During the preliminary round Team Ontario defeated Team Pacific 6-3 for a perfect round robin record. The loss to Ontario was the lone loss for Team Pacific in preliminary round play.

Penalties prevented either team from building much momentum in the first period but Team Ontario was able to open the scoring in the last minute of the period on a goal by Tyler Seguin from the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL. Jeff Skinner from the Kitchener Rangers (OHL) increased Team Ontario's lead on his goal early in the second period on a wrap around that fooled everyone. The tempo picked up some after the second Ontario goal and both teams had their chances. With under a minute remaining in the second period and after some great saves by the Ontario keeper, JP Anderson (Mississauga Majors, OHL), Team Pacific gets their first goal of the game from Justin Feser of the Tri City Americans (WHL).

John McFarland (Sudbury Wolves, OHL) scored to open up the third period and restore the two goal lead for Team Ontario. After over sixteen minutes of uptempo, high intensity hockey, Team Ontario's Steve Shipley (Owen Sound Attack, OHL) pretty well put the game away with a partial breakaway goal to increase the lead to 4-1. John McFarland scored his second goal of the game on a late power play to give Team Ontario the 5-1 win and their second consecutive championship win.

Next year's tournament will be played in Timmins, Ontario where the host team will look for the three-peat.

Canada Fails to Repeat in Davos

2008-12-31T11:09:00.003-05:00

Canada's strong third periond in the 2008 Spengler Cup was not enough for the win against the Moscow Dynamo. After beating the Dynamo one day earlier, the Canadian squad was outplayed in the first two periods of the final giving the Russian team a 3-0 lead to work with. Canada ended the second with two goals and some momentum heading to the intermission. That momentum was quickly shattered in the third as Peter Cajanek scored the last of his three goals just 23 seconds into the last period. Maxim Pestushko put the game away with Dynamo's fifth goal shortly after Randy Robitaille brought the Canadians to within one goal.

Last year Canada defeated another Russian team, Salavat Yulaev Ufa, 2-1 to win their eleventh Spengler Cup.

Battalion Are Represented Well

2008-12-22T12:02:00.002-05:00

Although these games are meaningless in the bigger picture, the two boys from the Brampton Battalion are lighting up the world. Cody Hodgson has opened many eyes in the pre-competition games leading up to the World Junior tournament by scoring three points in both pre-comp games thus far. In Canada’s first practice game Friday night at the Air Canada Centre, Hodgson was everywhere the puck was. Skating hard and hitting even harder, Hodgson had numerous chances to inflate his stats but settled for a dominating three point night, finishing with one goal and two assists. Cody’s performance overshadowed all other offensive displays including a solid game by John Tavares.

In game two, last night at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Cody was back to work having another three point night on one goal and two assists. I cannot comment further on this game though since I was busy watching Cody’s teammate from the Battalion, Evgeny Grachev, lead the Russians to a 4-1 win over Kazakhstan at the General Motors Centre in Oshawa. Grachev earned the player of the game for Russia for his effort. I missed a couple goals as I was tending to my son so I cannot give point totals for this game but I do know that he had at least one goal and one assist in his impressive showing. One can only imagine how much Brampton wants these two players back in their line up but they will have to go without for another couple weeks.

Canada has one final pre-competition game on Tuesday night in Hamilton against Slovakia. The tournament is set to kick off boxing day as always with Latvia taking on Russia at 2:30 at the Ottawa Civic Centre and Germany facing off against the Americans at 3:30 at Scotia Bank Place. Canada takes to the SBP ice at 7:30 against the Czech Republic while Finland takes on Sweden at 6:30 at the Civic Centre.

A Fire Has Been Lit

2008-12-12T08:57:00.000-05:00

On the night of the first day of the World Junior camp, the 2007 OHL Goalie of the Year suited up to play, for his club team that is and not in Ottawa trying to earn a spot on this year’s team Canada. Mike Murphy joined his Belleville Bulls as they helped the Windsor Spitfires open up their new arena, the Windsor Family Credit Union Centre (WFCU). With the little extra fire from his missing invite, Murphy went into the barn of the second ranked team in the entire Canadian Hockey League, tops in the OHL, and stopped thirty-four shots on way to his third shut out of the season.

Just like Murphy another couple notables that are missing from the World Junior camp, Michael Del Zotto and Logan Couture, have stepped up their game since being overlooked. With some of these players not at the camp, one would have to like Canada’s chances at earning their fifth straight World Junior title. But as the team prepares for the tournament, Mike Murphy will continue to play with the little extra fire in net for Belleville and look to repeat as Goalie of the Year. Some work will be needed for that to happen but Murphy has the skill and perhaps he now has the extra desire to do it.

The Quest for 5 Starts Tomorrow

2008-12-10T13:42:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the road for the players looking to win Canada’s fifth consecutive gold medal at the World Junior Championship as the 38 hopefuls from the CHL and US colleges report to camp. This year’s camp has only four players from last year’s team so most positions are up for grabs (the organizers would like everyone to believe all spots are open but it is a safe bet that the four returnees already have spots). Without getting into too many stats, the WHL has the most representatives trying out with 18 followed by the OHL with 11, the QMJHL with 5 and the NCAA rounds it out with 4.

Pat Quinn and his boys have the fun task of picking the best out of those 38 players, all of whom would do well, to represent our country and win the gold at home. Games start on Boxing Day as usual but there will be pre-competition games scattered throughout Ontario and even parts of Quebec for a couple weeks leading up to the tournament so get out and see the best under-20 players the World has to offer. Check Hockey Canada's website for full details.

Russia Ends Series With 2-1 Loss

2008-11-28T08:55:00.003-05:00

As with the first two legs of the Canada Russia Challenge, Russia came back from a big defeat with a close game. Just like in game 4 against Team OHL, the first period of game 6 was scoreless. Team WHL opened the scoring just over five minutes into the second period on a powerplay for the lone goal of the period. It took more than twelve minutes for another goal and this one was also scored by the WHL. Russia fought hard and was able to beat Tokarski with under five minutes to play to make it a 2-1 game. That was as much as either team would score and the game ended 2-1.

Although the Russian Selects go home with a 1-5 record in this series, they will also be going home knowing they can compete with the Canadians. This series gave both sides a chance to scout for the World Juniors but it also gave Russia some hope that they can end Canada's recent reign in the World Junior tournament. The next possible meeting between these two sides will be when it really matters, in the playoff rounds of the World Juniors. We are less than a month away now too.

Team OHL Remains Perfect

2008-11-25T12:40:00.002-05:00

Game four of the Canada/Russia hockey challenge, second on Ontario soil, concluded last night in St Catharines with a 3-2 Team OHL victory. A well rested Russian team gave the red shirted OHLers all they could handle and made the entire game highly entertaining. With the small ice surface at the Gatorade Garden City Complex, the game was a tight checking affair with several big hits from both sides.

The game was without a goal in the first period and by the end of the second the game was only knotted at 1 goal apiece. Two goals in the middle part of the third by the OHL side gave them what looked to be a sure win but the Russians came back and scored their second of the night only 31 seconds after the last team OHL goal. The last five minutes of the game saw chances at both ends of the rink but Team OHL was stymied by the Russian goalie, and player of the game, Gayduchenko and the Russian Selects couldn't get the puck past Trevor Cann in the dying seconds for a 3-2 Team OHL victory. John Tavares was all over the ice and earned Team OHL's player of the game.

With this win and the 6-3 win in game 3, Team OHL continues it's perfect record against the Russian Selects in this series. They improve to 12-0 since this series began in 2003. Prior to coming to Ontario, the Russians split their two games versus the QMJHL losing 5-3 in game one and rebounding to win game two 4-3. They next play Team WHL Wednesday night in Swift Current, SK followed by their last game the next night in Prince Albert, SK. The WHL seeks to regain its dominance over the Russians after losing their first ever game to them in 2007.

Weekend of Champions - Day 2

2008-11-23T21:15:00.005-05:00

The Montreal Alouettes had the cards stacked in their favour for the 96th Grey Cup. They had home field advantage, the league's most outstanding player (Anthony Calvillo) and despite finishing the regular season with four fewer points than their opponents, they were favoured to win. Unfortunately for them, they were facing a team with something to prove in the Calgary Stampeders.

The game started as a carbon copy of the Vanier Cup one day previous as the team from Quebec ended the first quarter with a 3-0 lead. Montreal even looked dominant throughout the second quarter and seemed to be on the verge of busting the game wide open but they had trouble getting through the Stamps defence. At the end of the half, the Als were unable to expand upon their three point lead finishing the half with a 13-10 lead. Calgary made the right adjustments at halftime and came out in the second on a mission. Although they were unable to score a major, the Stamps allowed only one point against in the entire second half while converting on four field goals, including a 50-yarder for the 22-14 Grey Cup victory.

Earlier in the day another championship was battled out, this one on a soccer pitch in California. The Columbus Crew faced off against the New York Red Bulls for the 2008 Major League Soccer Cup. Columbus scored the first goal in the 31st minute but New York tied the game early in the second half. The Crew retook the lead less than 90 seconds later and never looked back, putting the game out of reach in the 82nd minute. Columbus 3, New York 1. Guillermo Barros Schelotto was named game MVP with three assists, setting a MLS Cup record. Coincidentally, Columbus was the top team at the end of the regular season. Visit MLSnet.com for a more complete story.

Weekend of Champions - Day 1

2008-11-22T18:00:00.003-05:00

The championship weekend got underway Saturday as the Universite de Laval Rouge et Or took to the field at Ivor Wynn Stadium in Hamilton against the University of Western Mustangs in the 2008 Vanier Cup. The first quarter of the game was rather uneventful, at least on the scoreboard, as it ended with a 3-0 Laval lead. The second quarter was much more lively as Laval increased their lead to 20-0 with a two yard TD run and a lengthy punt return for a TD before Western got on the board with a field goal...check that, a penalty by Laval gave Western a second chance and they turned the field gal into a TD. The scoring of the first half ended with an 82-yard pass completion by Laval to make the lead 27-7. Both teams exchanged converted TD's to start the third quarter; 37-14 Laval. They traded another 7 points before Laval put the game away with a field goal to make it a 44-14 final.

Laval earned a spot in the national final by routing the Dinos from the University of Calgary while Western had it a bit tougher in the Mitchel Bowl winning by a mere 16 points, 28-12 against the Saint Mary's Huskies.

While the CIS football championship was being fought out the final game of the 2008 World Sledge Hockey Challenge was being played in Charlottetown, PEI. Canada finished first in the round robin took on the second team in the round robin in Norway. Canada jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as Bradley Bowden scored just 23 seconds into the game. Todd Nicholson of Canada scored the second and last goal of the first almost ten hard fought minutes later. The second period was over two thirds finished before Canada took a 3-0 lead on a goal by Marc Dorion. A late goal by Greg Westlake gave Canada a 4-0 lead going into the second intermission. Norway's Rolf Pedersen laid a hard hit on Canada's Danny Verner at the end of the second that got Canada riled up some.

As a result of the hit at the end of the second, Canada started the third with a 5-minute power play (hit to the head penalty) and Norway lost the services of Pedersen as he was also given a game misconduct. The power play failed to score but Marc Dorion scored his second of the game at 7:29 of the period to extend the lead to five. Just over a minute later PEI's own Billy Bridges made it 6-0 then with just over two minutes left, Canada ended the scoring as Greg Westlake notched his second of the game. Canada's Paul Rosen earned the shutout in the 7-0 victory by stopping all eight shots by Norway. Raymond Grassi along with the rest of the defense had a great game in limiting the shots for Rosen.

Earlier in the day the USA defeated Japan 9-0 for the bronze medal lead by Brad Emerson (2G, 1A), player of the game Taylor Lipsett (2G) and Adam Page (1G, 2A).

Sad Day in Banditland

2008-11-20T11:46:00.003-05:00

The Buffalo Bandits Hall of Fame lacrosse journalist, Tom Borrelli, passed away early this morning at Erie County Medical Centre. He was paralyzed from the neck down after falling down a dangerous set of stairs heading to the press box at Robert Rich All High Stadium while covering a high school football game. Borelli was the first sportswriter to be inducted into the National Lacrosse League's Hall of Fame and, as of 2005, has an award named after him, the Tom Borrelli Award, given to the NLL's writer of the year. Tom will be missed in Banditland and throughout the Buffalo area. He will never be forgotten though as his legacy and character will live forever.

Manitoba Dominates Mixed Doubles

2008-11-20T10:14:00.000-05:00

The 2009 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship concluded last weekend with the team from Manitoba, lead by Sean Grassie, defeating Wayne Tuck’s Ontario team 6-4 in the final. Manitoba went through the round robin with only one loss and a bye into the finals. Ontario had a bit longer journey to reach the finals as they finished tied for third at 8-3 in the round robin. In the tie-break game, Ontario scored an impressive 4 points in the seventh end to end Nova Scotia’s tournament. They then squeaked out a 6-5 win in the semi-final with a single point in the tenth to defeat the Saskatchewan team.

Tie Breaker Needed at Mixed Nationals

2008-11-14T13:07:00.003-05:00

The round robin has ended for the 2009 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship earlier today but the semi-final matchup is still uncertain. The team from Manitoba, skipped by Sean Grassie, easily defeated the team from PEI (5-6) in this mornings draw to earn top spot at 10-1 and a spot in the finals. The team from Saskatchewan, skipped by Darrell McKee, had the morning off but finished in second place at 9-2. They will meet the winner of the tie-breaker.

Ontario, skipped by Wayne Tuck, and Nova Scotia, skipped by Mark Dacey, finished tied for third at 8-3 and will meet in the tie breaker at 3:00 PM eastern time. Nova Scotia needed a win this morning to keep their hopes alive. Their competition in Scott Jones' team from New Brunswick did what they could to give Ontario sole possession of third but a three point eighth end by Nova Scotia was too much for New Brunswick to overcome. Nova Scotia will now need two more wins today to reach the finals.

As previously mentioned, the tie-breaker begins at 3:00 PM eastern while the semi-final goes tonight at 7:30 PM and the final tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 PM.

Tavares Needs Out of the ‘Shwa

2008-11-10T14:29:00.000-05:00

I am not one of those people who think everything that John Tavares touches turns to gold (I don’t work for TSN after all). Tavares is by far the best offensive talent in the junior ranks right now, he knows where to be in the offensive zone for rebounds, he knows how to fly under the radar and sneak into open ice, and he can make the best of players look foolish with his sick stick skills (thanks to his uncle no doubt), but defensively he lacks quite a bit. It is even more than that though. He lacks toughness. Without the puck he is no tougher than a rag doll.

Anyhow, I have had several discussions with friends and co-workers about why I feel Tavares needs a lot more work before becoming NHL ready. In my most recent discussion, my one friend suggested that Tavares is bored; he is too good to be playing in the ‘O’ and therefore, might not give his all every shift. I have thought about this suggestion for the past couple months now, basically since the beginning of this OHL season, and my friend might be on to something. Tavares has already proven himself in the league by breaking Gretzky’s record for goals by a 16 year old so what more can he really do. Sure he hasn’t won a scoring title but he has been in the top three in points the past couple years and is right up there again this year. How can one really top taking a record away from the Great One?

This year, John Tavares is playing on an Oshawa team that was ranked to finish dead last in the regular season. The Generals have had some surprises this year and are currently five points above the bottom of their conference but some games they play down to expectations and look awful. With the lack of talent/experience on the roster, Tavares is trying to do too much on his own. He takes long shifts and tries to make highlight reel plays instead of sticking to the little things. Playing on this team that puts so much pressure, either consciously or subconsciously, on him to perform will only hurt Tavares game. He cannot improve and grow as a player if he is too focused on carrying the team.

Growth is what the junior leagues are all about and is why Tavares needs to be traded to a contender. Oshawa is not going to be playing hockey in May. At best they will get a lucky draw in the first round and advance to the conference semis but they are not Cup contenders. Tavares has the value to get the Generals some good young talent by way of first round picks or solid first year players and get them back to Cup contention sooner rather than later. As an organization, the Generals need to look at what is best for not only their organization but also for the players. It seems to me that trading Tavares is in the best interest of both. Since this will likely be Tavares’ last year in the ‘O’, the Generals only stand to win by trading Tavares.

Helping a team get to the Memorial Cup will have a bigger impact in the career of John Tavares than will leading a team to a first round playoff exit, even with a league scoring title. Tavares needs to get back the fire and his desire to play in this league and that can be given to him by playing for a team with bigger sights then just making the playoffs. Playing alongside players like Nazeem Kadri in London, Matt Duchene and Cody Hodgson in Brampton, Corey Syvret in Guelph, Eric Tangradi in Belleville or even Logan Couture in Ottawa would benefit Tavares and his growth as a player. He can learn from those that attended pro camps while teaching the younger kids as he currently does. After all, as Gilbert Highet wrote in his book Man’s Unconquerable Mind: “The best way toward greatness is to mix with the great.” Getting out of the ‘Shwa and onto a winning team is Tavares’ first, make that, second step to greatness.

Weekend of Hockey - Nov 8-9, 2008

2008-11-10T10:58:00.005-05:00

This weekend saw the beginning of the many, many hockey tournaments, both national and international, that take place every year. Here is a very brief summary of each event.

Team USA defeated Team Canada West 7-1 to capture the 2008 World Jr A Challenge. Team Canada East was able to give the host country something to cheer about as they won the bronze medal in a dominating 9-1 win over Team Belarus. Mike Cichy from the American team won the tournament MVP.

Team Ontario Red came out on top of Team Quebec for a thrilling double overtime victory to win the 2008 National Women’s U18 Championship. Just over a minute into the second overtime period, Brianne Jenner found herself all alone against the Quebec keeper after picking up the puck in the neutral zone and scored the winner in a 2-1 game. Team Manitoba came away with the bronze in the tournament after they defeated Team Ontario Blue 3-1 on the strength of two second period goals.

Team USA took their second gold of the weekend as they defeated Team Canada 3-2 in a shootout to win the 2008 4 Nations Cup. Team Sweden beat Team Finland 3-1 for the bronze.

And finally, Team Canada shutout Team Germany 3-0 to take the 2009 Deutschland Cup. The opened the tournament by defeating Team Slovakia 5-2 while they defeated Team Switzerland 3-0 in the second game. This was the third Deutschland Cup for Team Canada.

Gryphons Take Baggataway Cup

2008-11-10T10:54:00.003-05:00

The Baggataway Cup was handed out over the weekend to the 2008 Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association champions, the Guelph Gryphons. This is the third time the Gryphons have earned the CUFLA title to tie with the Western Mustangs for second most cup wins. After a disappointing football season that came to an end a couple weekends ago in the OUA quarterfinals, this championship victory on the lacrosse field must have the Gryphons athletics in full on party mode. Although they didn’t face the seventeen time Baggataway Cup champion Brock Badgers this weekend, coming out on top in a tournament featuring the historically dominant school still adds an extra bit of pleasure. In fact, this was the first year that the Badgers were knocked out in the semi-finals; all previous twenty-three Cup finals featured the team from Brock. Brock was knocked out by the McGill Redmen 13-9 on Saturday while the Gryphons defeated the Trent Excalibur 12-7.

The World Series

2008-10-30T13:07:00.001-04:00

The Philadelphia Phillies out lasted the Tampa Bay Rays in the waiting game that was Game 5 of the 2008 World Series to clinch the series. Game 5 started sometime on Monday evening and after a two day rain delay ended around 10 PM last night with a three inning marathon that had a bit of everything. Clutch hitting, good defense, good execution, good pitching, good running, bad running, bad pitching and even some bad decisions were all seen in the second part of Game 5. I think it just came down to Philadelphia wanting it more. Cole Hamels who pitched extremely well throughout the series and playoffs was crowned Most Valuable Player. Congratulations Phillies and enjoy it while it lasts because in just over five months time all this will be but a memory and the quest to crown a new champion will begin.

I love watching the first ten rounds (slight exaggeration) of the playoffs when everything is fresh and the hope abounds that every series will go seven games. When nothing is known and everything is possible. Baseball has another month to go. But the World Series is not that enjoyable. It is baseball’s yearly swan song; the end of the playing season and the end of warm weather. It is more like a slap on the face back to reality. Summer is truly gone and the hot days spent looking around Pesky’s Pole, or looking down from the ‘tiers’ of Heaven at Yankee Stadium, or looking across Waveland street from the top of the ‘Bud Tower”; the days spent eating peanuts and cracker jacks to the crack of the bat when the ball connects with the sweet spot and the smell of popcorn, hotdogs and the other concession food that adds an unique fragrance to each ballpark, are gone for another year.

The time has come for us to hunker down in our homes, perhaps sitting around the fireplace with a big mug of hot chocolate, counting down the days until the wind shifts bringing the familiar sound of baseball back to us from the sunny south. Time to hang up our gloves, jerseys and other game day swag in the back of our closets and bring forward the bulky sweaters, leg warmers (are they still in fashion this year or was that so yesterday), winter jackets and for those brave enough to go outside, the hockey stick and skates. Just don’t put the baseball stuff too far out of reach just in case a last minute trip to Florida or Arizona can be arranged.

2008 Canadian Men's National Field Lacrosse Championships

2008-10-15T08:31:00.003-04:00

Over the Thanksgiving weekend the senior men's field lacrosse championships took place in Calgary Ablerta. Led by tournament MVP Kevin Moleski, the Ladner Pioneers went undefeated to become the 2008 Senior Men's National Field Lacrosse champions. They handed Coquitlam their only loss of the tournament while earning the Ross Cup. The Victory Cup winners, Black Sheep, went 2-1 in the round robin and lost to Ladner in the semis before defeating London, the lone Ontario team, for the cup. London also went 2-1 in round robin play and lost to Coquitlam in the semis. Calgary's first team won the Victory Trophy by defeating their Alberta rivals from Edmonton.

Ladner Pioneers

Not surprisingly, the tournament All-Star team is comprised mostly of Ladner and Coquitlam players with three each. The combatants in the Victory Cup game supplied three players and the Calgary 1 team supplied one. The all-star team: from Ladner, goalie Kevin Moleski, d-man Owen McNabb, and middie Brian Safarik; from Coquitlam, d-man Shayne Bennett, middie Rob Van Beek, and attackman Peter Tellis; from Black Sheep, middie Rajinder Wasson and attackman Jeff Zywicki; from London, d-man Luke Forget; and from Calgary 1, attackman Mark Sherman.

2008 Atlantic Challenge Cup

2008-10-15T08:17:00.006-04:00

The 2008 Atlantic Challenge Cup was played out this past weekend in Moncton, New Brunswick. Team Nova Scotia sweept the Gold medals on the male side by defeating Team PEI 5-2 (U16), Team New Brunswick 5-4 (U15) and Team New Brunswick 6-4 (U14). Bronze medals went to New Brunswick (U16), Newfoundland and Labrador (U15) and PEI (U14).

On the female side, New Brunswick defeated Nova Scotia 4-3 in the gold medal game of the under 18 level while PEI shuout New Brunswick 2-0 to claim the under 15 gold medal. Nova Scotia recieved yet another medal as they defeated Newfoundland and Labrador4-1 in the under 15 bronze medal game. The under 18 bronze medal went to Newfoundland and Labrador as they defeated PEI 4-2.

Disappointment and Disgust

2008-10-07T11:40:00.001-04:00

That is how I feel after the divisional series in the MLB playoffs. I am disappointed that the ridiculously named Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were unable to overcome past ghosts and defeat the Boston Red Sox. In the past few playoff meetings against the Sox, the Angles have not faired so well and had a post season losing streak against the Sox extend into double digits before the Game 3 victory. Right from the start I was worried about this series and it seems my worries were well founded. With the team the Angels had they should have done better.

The Angels disappointment is being overshadowed by the disgusting performance of the heavily favoured Chicago Cubs. The best team in the NL in the regular season had all in baseball expecting a lengthy playoff run for the North side Cubs but once again they played the minimum three games. I guess they are hoping to get some golfing in before the wind brings the cold, white powdery stuff to town. Losing to a Dodger team that spent most of the season just trying to stay at the .500 mark is nothing short of embarrassing.

As I watch the rest of the playoffs without the Cubs in it, I will be pondering which team is worthy of my loyalty. I shall see what steps are taken in the off season before jumping ship but right now the water is looking better than being on the Cubs boat. I guess the only thing worse is being a Mets fan. For the rest of this playoff I will be rooting for the worst to first Rays. Please knock the Sox out of the playoffs.

New Look

2008-09-25T14:46:00.004-04:00

Since the end of the box lacrosse has left a void in me I thought I'd waste some time and change the look of my site. I think it is easier to read now and well, it wasted some time while at work so it is all good. Not to mention the time wasted by writing this blurb. Enjoy the new look. I should have mroe to write once the MLB playoffs start so it shouldn't be too long before there is more to read here.

Brampton Sweeps Cup Final

2008-09-09T21:22:00.004-04:00

Moments ago the Brampton Excelsiors were crowned the 2008 Mann Cup champions. They defeated the New Westminster Salmonbellies, the top team in the nation during the regular season and winners of the Western Lacrosse Association, by a score of 9-6 in game four to complete the four game sweep.

New West took a couple games to find their legs and came out in game three hungry for the win. Brampton was up to that challenge though and won that game convincingly to put them on the verge of a sweep. Game four began well again for the 'Bellies but by the end of the first period Brampton had tied the game at two. The second period was another close period but Brampton came out on top at the end with a 6-4 score. The third period started off strong for New West but Anthony Cosmo was able to shut the door. Blaine Manning scored a rare powerplay goal for Brampton 3:39 into the period to put the game out of reach.

Anthony Cosmo was named the Mike Kelly Memorial Trophy winner as the most valuable player in the Mann Cup finals.

I'd like to thank Marksy and Wamper for making these games available online and providing their commentary. For someone who is relatively new to the sport, it's fun to hear about the history of the game from an OLHOF inductee such as Wamper.

Change of Pace

2008-09-09T13:43:00.005-04:00

With all the driving I did over the weekend, mostly to the Powerade Centre, I needed a rest yesterday so I decided against making the hour long trek (through the tail end of rush hour)to Brampton for Game 3 of the Mann Cup. Thanks to Marksy at Lacrosse - Inside the Game, I was still able to catch the action live online. After a strong first period by New Westminster, Brampton fought back for the win and 3-0 series lead. Hopefully, I can make it to the Powerade Centre tonight for what might be the last game.

That Was Much Better

2008-09-06T23:00:00.004-04:00

Just got back from game 2 of the 2008 Mann Cup and it was a much better game than the first one. New Westminster came out strong just like last night's game and scored the first goal of the game. That is where the similarities end though. New West played hard the entire first period and showed some command but they couldn't beat Cosmo more than the one time.

The second was more of the same tight checking on both sides with the exception of about three minutes where Brampton was able to get in close for three scores to go up 4-1. New West was only able to solve Cosmo once more in the second period to go into the third down 5-2. Brampton was able to fend off another late surge, where they surrended three goals, to hold onto a 6-5 win.

With that win Brampton is halfway to completing the sweep that some have forecasted. Although some from the New West side likely thought the 'Bellies might sweep the Excelsiors and I wasn't going to dismiss that thought after their dominant season. I think the real Salmonbellies team showed up tonight and they did look good. The unassisted goal by Gajic late in the third was perhaps the nicest individual effort of the game. The players of the game were Jordan Hall for New West and Dan Teat for Brampton. Game three is on Monday at 7:30 PM at the Powerade Centre in Brampton.

Brampton Takes Game 1

2008-09-06T08:56:00.005-04:00

Game one of the Mann Cup went last night in Brampton and the home team did not disappoint. New Westminster got out to an early 1-0 lead but after almost nine minutes of solid defence and some missed chances by Bramton, the Excelsiors finally tied it up. That goal sparked their offence and they went on to score three more in the first to take a 4-1 lead into the first intermission.

In the second period, it was more Brampton as they got two more goals before New West netted their second to end the second period scoring. New West seemed to find some life in the third and tried to mount a comeback but they came up short against a tough Brampton defence backed by a solid performance by Cosmo (who had help with some lucky goal line bounces) and lost 8-5.

The first ten minutes of this game was by far the best. Action was going both ways and the defence on both ends allowed very little. Brampton had trouble getting their first goal after hitting the post a couple times but when they did they got a couple within a couple minutes and that seemed to take the steam out of the Salmonbellies and that lead to more quality chances for Brampton. Brampton seemed to totally dominate the second half of the first period. The Salmonbellies power play was ineffective as well. They seemed to be flat footed and didn't get Cosmo moving around enough. The Salmonbellies regained their composure late in the game, after the game got a bit ugly, and showed glimpses of why they were the best team in the country during the regular season.

I confirmed something last night, something that I was thinking on for a few games now: it is hard to keep really focus on a game when dealing with a two year old as well. Although my son was relatively behaved last night, I found that I struggled to really pay attention to the game so my analysis is not as in depth as I would have liked. We'll try again tonight.

Red Sox Win 2008 IBL Title

2008-09-02T09:29:00.001-04:00

The Intercounty Baseball League’s Brantford Red Sox won their second title in three years in their third straight final on Friday night in London. Just like last year, the Sox won game six to force a game seven but unlike last year’s disappointing loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, this year the Sox defeated the London Majors 8-2 to take the title. Brantford also won in 2006, also against the London team.

En route to their title, Brantford was able to exact some revenge on the Leafs by beating them in four straight games in the opening round of the playoffs. In round two, the Sox defeated the Guelph Royals in six games, including a 1-0 win and a 2-0 win. The final series against the Majors started off close with two extra-inning games and three of the first four games were decided by a single run (game three was a 2-0 victory for London). The final two games were a different story though. Brantford had 11 hits in each of those games and outscored London 14-4.

Can Brampton Excel Over New Westminster?

2008-09-02T08:22:00.008-04:00

The final series in the MSL is finally over and the Brampton Excelsiors have outlasted the Peterborough Lakers for the chance to host the 2008 Mann Cup. In the deciding game seven, Peterborough started the scoring early, just 27 seconds in, but Brampton lead at the end of the first and never looked back. By all accounts it was a defensive display put on by both teams with Pat O'Toole keeping the Lakers in the game as he was peppered by almost sixty shots. Unfortunately, the Lakers offense, missing two key players in John Grant Jr and Josh Gillam, had just as much trouble finding the back of the net. Brampton came out with a commanding 7-2 victory.

The Excelsiors will host the New Westminster Salmonbellies for the Mann Cup beginning Friday September 5, 2008 at the Powerade Centre. The Bellies are coming off an amazing season in which they lost only one game in the regular season. They swept their way through the WLA playoffs as well and plan to be the first western team to defeat an Ontario team in Ontario since a team from New West accomplished that feat back in 1986. The schedule is as follows:

Sept. 5th - 7:30 pm - New Westminster vs Brampton
Sept. 6th - 7:30 pm - New Westminster vs Brampton
Sept. 8th - 7:30 pm - New Westminster vs Brampton
Sept. 9th - 7:30 pm - New Westminster vs Brampton
Sept. 10th - 7:30 pm - New Westminster vs Brampton
Sept. 12th - 7:30 pm - New Westminster vs Brampton
Sept. 13th - 7:30 pm - New Westminster vs Brampton

If I am able to get to any games, I will try to write a summary the next day. I am really hoping for a sweep though as I have other obligations for the last three games and will not be able to see them.

Northmen Are Victorious!

2008-09-02T08:06:00.006-04:00

Ontario retains title as the Orangeville Northmen win the 2008 Minto Cup in Calgary, Alberta (August 30). After defeating the 2007 champion Six Nations Arrows in the Ontario final, the Northmen swept the Minto Cup round robin with relative ease en route to a 9-4 win in the cup final against the Victoria Shamrocks.

Let's Play One More

2008-08-27T09:04:00.002-04:00

With game six tied at 7 and one period to play, the anticipation at the Memorial Centre in Peterborough must have been immense last night as the crowd, excited by a big second period by Peterborough, must have sensed victory for the home team. To their dismay their team did not deliver in the third period as Anthony Cosmo shut the door and the Brampton Excelsiors took the game 11-7 to tie the MSL final series at three games.

Colin Doyle and Brodie Merrill returned to the Brampton lineup and John Grant Jr returned for Peterborough after helping the Rochester Rattlers win the MLL championship. John Grant Jr had an impact on the score sheet as he scored twice and added two assists. The two Brampton boys got in on the scoring as well with one goal and two assists for Colin Doyle and two assists for Brodie Merrill. Lakers defense had a tough time containing Blaine Manning again as he netted a hat trick to lead all scorers in goals (Manning scored six times in game 5) but the biggest surprise of the game was Phil Sanderson’s game winning goal in the third period (it was only his second goal of the season in 23 games played).

Game seven goes Thursday night in Brampton and it should be another great game. I am really impartial as to the winner as the travel distance is about the same both ways. Colin Doyle is a treat to watch though, especially when he puts the team on his back for a late push (similar to what he did against the Redmen in game three of that series), so I’m leaning towards Brampton. But then again, the Lakers offense can score some pretty goals and make some jaw-dropping plays…

Lacrosse Championships and Finals

2008-08-26T08:55:00.006-04:00

This past weekend saw a couple national champions crowned along with the MLL champions. Saturday evening the Owen Sound Woodsmen defeated the host Outlaws 11-5 in Sherwood Park to claim their first President’s Cup. They went through the tournament undefeated and clearly dominated the opposing teams. The Woodies opened the tournament with an 8-5 victory over the Airdrie Knights and went on to defeat the Outlaws 11-5 and the Tri-City Bandits 8-4 in the round robin before crushing the Bandits 11-2 in their semi-final game. The Bandits ended up losing in the Bronze game to the Quebec league representative Kahnawake Mohawks.

A few thousand miles away in Guelph, Ontario, the Canadian Junior B championship was being fought for in the 2008 Founders Cup. In the end the host Guelph Regals lost to the defending champion Six Nations Rebels by the score of 8-7. Both teams in the final game finished the round robin with a perfect 5-0 record. Six Nations defeated the Port Coquitlam Saints of the BCLA 10-3 in their semi-final game to advance while the Regals defeated the Iroquois Nation of the ILA 8-1 to earn a spot in the finals. Iroquois defeated the Saints in the third place game.

The Major League Lacrosse season also came to a close Sunday with the crowning of the 2008 champions. The action started Saturday with the semi-final games and concluded Sunday with the championship game from Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, MA (home of the Boston Cannons). The Rochester Rattlers defeated the Philadelphia Barrage 16-15 in overtime before claiming the championship by beating the Denver Outlaws 16-6. The Outlaws earned a spot in the finals by downing the Los Angeles Riptide 13-12 in their semi-final.

That leaves two other national championships to be decided, the Minto Cup and the Mann Cup. The 2008 Minto Cup (junior A national title) is currently being played for in Calgary with the OLA Orangeville Northmen leading all others at 2-0. The Victoria Shamrocks and Calgary Jr. Mountaineers are at 1-1 and the Edmonton Miners are 0-2. The final will be played on Saturday August 30 at 7:30 PM. The 2008 Mann Cup (senior A title) will be hosted by the winner of the MSL final that has yet to be decided. Game six goes tonight in Peterborough with the Lakers up three games to two against the Brampton Excelsiors. The Western Lacrosse Association champion was decided last night as the New Westminster Salmonbellies took game four of their best of seven series 11-8 against the Coquitlam Adanacs. The ‘bellies finished the regular season as the top team in the nation with a 17-1 record and went through the WLA playoffs undefeated.

MSL Final Series is Set

2008-08-12T09:57:00.003-04:00

The Major Series Lacrosse season is down to two teams, the top seeded Brampton Excelsiors and the number two Peterborough Lakers. Brampton earned their spot in the finals by sweeping the Brooklin Redmen in four games in their semi-final series while Peterborough needed five games to put away the St Regis Indians in their semi-finals. Game one will go in Brampton likely on Thursday evening. The schedule is not finalized as of yet so check the MSL website later. The winner of this series will play host to the WLA champion in the Mann Cup in early September.

While the Lakers advanced to the finals in the MSL, the New Westminster Salmonbellies earned the first berth in the WLA finals. They defeated the Victoria Shamrocks four games to none. New West were the top team in the country in the regular season as they posted an almost perfect 17-1 record. In the other semi-final series, the Coquitlam Adanacs hold a two games to one lead against the Burnaby Lakers. Game four goes tonight in Burnaby.

Redmen Season Ends With Sweep

2008-08-11T12:41:00.006-04:00

The MSL coaches of the year, Peter Vipond and Wayne Colley, led their rookie laden Brooklin Redmen team into the Iroquois Park Sports Complex Friday night looking for their first win in their semi-final series against the stacked Brampton Excelsiors squad. That was game four, potentially the last game of the season for the Redmen.

After an exciting game three where Brooklin took the action to the Excelsiors, anticipation was high for another close game. Unfortunately, for the Redmen faithful that was not to be. The devastating loss with two seconds to go in game three was too much for the rookie laden Redmen team to overcome. They came out flat for game four and fell behind early. Trailing 5-2 going into the second period the Redmen fought hard but Brampton had all the answers and kept the desperate Redmen to only three more goals in the last two periods.

The Redmen showed sparks of brilliance during the game but their overall play showed the affects of a tough loss two nights before was still in their system. The Excelsiors were also pressing as if trying to make sure there is no repeat of the previous game. Expectations could not have been high for Brooklin going into the series given the makeup of the two teams but the players showed the character of the Redmen organization. After a crushing 13-1 defeat in game one, the Redmen team didn’t lie down and give the series to Brampton. They fought hard and made the top team earn every victory.

Their return to the playoffs after a disappointing season one year ago gave their fans hope for the future. With the 2008 co-rookie of the year, Derek Hopcroft, leading the charge, this team may not be too far from greatness in the coming years. Thanks for a great season Redmen!

Owen Sound Earns Ontario Title

2008-08-08T13:21:00.006-04:00

In what was easily the most competitive and intense game of the series, the visiting Owen Sound Woodsmen defeated the Brooklin Merchants 10-7 in game three to earn the Ontario Senior B lacrosse title.

The Woodsmen came out strong to start the game, going ahead 3-0 just over ten minutes in. Brooklin's goal at 13:30 on a delayed penalty seemed to wake the team up as they picked up their play and just missed on several great chances. By the end of the first, the Merchants were down by only two goals at 4-2. The second period was a great action packed period of lacrosse that saw some back and forth play. Brooklin came out of the gates firing as they scored just four seconds into the period and looked to be hungry for the win. Owen Sound was not to be outdone as they scored three straight in about seven minutes to take a four goal lead at 8-4. Brooklin got back to within two goals by the end of the second and closed the gap to 8-7 with just over five minutes to play in the third before Owen Sound put the game away with their ninth goal. An empty netter with under two minutes left finished the scoring.

The Woodies will travel to Sherwood Park, Alberta later this month to compete with the host Outlaws, the Airdrie Knights, the winner of the BC senior B league, the winner of the Quebec senior B league, the winner of the CanAm league and the winner of the ILA league for the 2008 President's Cup. Good Luck Woodsmen. Bring the cup back to Ontario!

(Coincidentally I took the week of the President's Cup off work. Anyone want to spot me a couple plane tickets to Edmonton complete with car rental and hotel accommodations??? Anyone???)

The Finals Begin

2008-08-01T15:25:00.001-04:00

The air outside is hot and humid with the sun’s rays successfully penetrating through the haze to ensure the temperature remains hot on this first day of August. As the daylight begins its transition into darkness, the children and adults of this small Ontario town assemble in the small arena in the figurative, if not literal, heart of Brooklin. These citizens are not hunkering down together to escape from the downpour sure to be unleashed by the army of dark clouds silently marching towards them. Not on this night. Tonight this town gathers to watch the greatest game on two feet and cheer on their hometown Merchants in their quest for Ontario Senior B supremacy.

After an exciting overtime win two nights ago against a feisty club from Norwood just to advance to the final series, the Merchants will be looking to put the game away early. Their task will not be an easy one as they face the bronze medal winner and host from last years President’s Cup, the Owen Sound Woodsmen. Led by Wayne Burke, Chris Driscoll and Brady Campbell, the Woddies are a powerful offensive threat. Add a solid netminder between the pipes in Steve Dietrich and the visiting team looks almost unbeatable.

The Merchants did not lead their division by a lucky break, they earned it. Tonight they will show their determination, toughness and team strength that earned them the top spot. The team assistant captains, Barrett Church and Scott Gillingham, lead the balanced attack in these playoffs. Their defense has not backed down all season and will make it tough for the Woddies offense to get the good inside looks. They will force the low percentage shots from the perimeter that will be easily stopped by whichever goalie Brooklin uses tonight.

The stage is finally set. The time is now…or at least a few short hours from now (okay several long hours from now). The Owen Sound Woodsmen against the Brooklin Merchants for the OLA Senior B title. Go Merchants!

Lacrosse and Me

2008-08-01T10:48:00.001-04:00

As a child one is exposed to several sports; some are played for a month or maybe a summer or two or perhaps even for several years before being relegated to the annals of yesterday while others are enjoyed year after year until it seeps into the blood and becomes part of one’s soul. For me, the sports of yesteryear included soccer (although I was reacquainted with the sport in high school on those dreary days perfect for the sport), tennis, handball, squash and road hockey to name those that have not escaped my memory. Baseball and hockey were the sports that filled my days right through childhood and into my university years to become part of my being. Although I still enjoy those sports, they have been replaced in my heart by another.

During my first year of high school, in a mandatory physical education class, I was first introduced to a sport that, unknown to me at the time, would grow in my heart and soul to eventually replace the love of both sports I grew up enjoying. This sport is Canada’s official summer sport of lacrosse. It was on a list of required items, along with square dancing, that had to be covered in a minimum number of classes in that mandatory class. As with all public institutions, the minimum was met and that was that; the sticks were hung back on the rusty nails to await the next group of freshmen.

Around that time the Buffalo Bandits were selling out the “Aud” and winning MILL championships and I was able to see some action on a local Buffalo station. After a few games over a couple of years, the television coverage stopped and I forgot about the Bandits and the league (I didn’t even know it was a professional league at the time). Fast forward to a Sunday afternoon in 1999 when I stumbled on a televised Toronto Rock game followed by an encounter with a relative of the speedy Steve Toll a year or so later, and my love for the sport of lacrosse really began to grow. The tiny seed that was sitting dormant in my heart since the early days of the Bandits had finally received the attention it needed.

Now, about ten years after that first Rock game, I cannot get enough of the sport: lacrosse has relegated baseball and hockey to a small corner of my heart and threatens to eliminate them entirely. Could my late introduction to the sport be the cause of this devotion? Who knows or cares. I’m hooked now and can’t get enough.

Where is that 5-run HR when you need it???

2008-07-28T11:27:00.002-04:00

In yesterday’s Blue Jays game, the Jays were down by four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning and really needed a 5 run home run to win. Or so the batters thought. Leading off the last inning, needing five runs, the Blue Jays batters were swinging for the fences instead of trying for line drives and solid grounders. You know, getting runners on base before the ever popular home run. As I watched this unfold, I couldn’t refrain from growing irritated. There is no such thing as a five run home run so why the heck were the batters swinging for home runs? In the end they didn’t get the homerun they were looking for and ended up going down in order for the 5-1 loss. For the Jays to win their batters need to be smarter than that. But then again, the GM has already given up on them so why should they try? Hitting .300 on a shit team the entire MLB ignores doesn’t exactly draw the big contracts, especially for these over the hill players.

Other OLA Playoffs

2008-07-23T10:54:00.001-04:00

The OLA Senior B is into their second round, the semi finals. The Owen Sound Woodsmen lost their first game of the playoffs in game one against the Wellington Aces 6-4 but recovered to beat them in game two 7-4 at home. Owen Sound swept the Mohawk Stars in two games to advance to the semis against the division leading Aces. The Brooklin Merchants has a two games to none strangle hold on their semi final series with the Norwood Nitro’s. The potential series clinching game goes on Sunday in Brooklin at 7:00 PM. Norwood took three games to defeat the Ajax-Pickering Rock in their quarter final series.

The OLA Junior A playoffs began Monday July 14 with the four higher seeds winning. Since then most series have been a see-saw battle with the teams trading wins. Two of the four series have been decided while the remaining two are one game away from ending. The St Catharines Athletics were the first team to advance to the semi finals when they defeated the Kitchener-Waterloo Braves 8-4 two days ago to win the series in five games. Last night the Six Nations Arrows joined the Athletics in the semi finals as they dealt the Peterborough Lakers a 15-12 loss in game six. The Burlington Chiefs were on the brink of winning the series over the Akwesasne Indians when an appeal launched by the Indians was decided in their favour forcing the previously forfeited game to be replayed (the Indians were charged with playing two illegal players). Burlington still holds a three games to two lead in the series and can end it tonight at home. In the fourth series, the regular season leading Orangeville Northmen can advance tonight in Brampton with a win against the Excelsiors.

The Clarington Green Gaels took the Halton Hills Bulldogs to five games before losing out in the OLA Junior B quarterfinals. Halton Hills will face the Mimico Mountaineers in the semi finals while the Elora Mohawks will face the Six Nations Rebels in the other semi final match up. Mimico defeated Oakville and Six Nations defeated the Windsor AKO Fratmen three games to one to advance while Elora swept Orangeville in three games to earn a spot in the semis. The lone loss suffered by the Rebels was their first loss in a year. Six Nations won 42 straight games after a July 15, 2007 loss, including a perfect 20-0-0 regular season and a first round playoff sweep of Wallaceburg. Both semi final series get underway Friday night.

MSL Playoffs Begin

2008-07-23T09:19:00.001-04:00

The Major Series Lacrosse playoffs got underway last night as the Six Nations Chiefs traveled to Akwesasne to take on the St Regis Indians. Fighting back from a 10-6 deficit after forty minutes, the Six Nations Chiefs went on a run of five straight goals in the final period to defeat the third seed Indians. Craig Point scored the game winner with just over four minutes remaining in the third period on his second goal of the game. Cory Bomberry, Roger Vyse and Delby Powless also netted two goals for the Chiefs. Mark Steenhuis led all scorers with two goals and three assists while John Tavares (winner of the MSL scoring title) scored three goals and added one assist in the loss. The next game is tonight in Akwesasne.

The other quarter final series gets underway tonight as the Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks travel down the 401 to Whitby to face off against the Brooklin Redmen. These two teams battled each other tough in three games during the regular season and both finished with 14 points. After they split the first two games, each team winning by a five goal margin, Brooklin won the third match up 12-9 in overtime for the advantage. Game two goes tomorrow night in K-W and game three goes Saturday back in Whitby. If necessary, game 4 is in K-W Sunday and the fifth game is next Tuesday in Whitby.

The top two teams in the regular season get a bye for the first round. Brampton led the league with 29 points (14-3-1) while Peterborough came back from a 2-4 start to finish in second place with 25 points (12-5-1).

Hometown Hero an All-Star

2008-07-16T13:03:00.003-04:00

New England Revolution and MLS all-star team coach, Steve Nicol, chose Jim Brennan from the Toronto FC to be one of the reserves for the All-Star game to be played next Thursday at BMO Field in Toronto. With this selection, the first member of Toronto FC can also claim to be the first Toronto FC player to be selected for an all-star team. The all-star team coach selected five reserves for the game while the commissioner selected an additional two. One of the commissioner's picks was Scarborough, ON native Dwayne De Rosario of the Houston Dynamo. While Brennan's selection marks his first selection to an all-star team, De Rosario will suit up for his third straight. The MLS All-Stars will take on the West Ham United club on July 24 at 7:00 PM Eastern. The game will air on ESPN, Telefutura, and CBC.

It's Playoff Time!

2008-07-14T15:45:00.000-04:00

OLA Senior B

Despite scoring 7 more goals then they did in the opening game, the Mohawk Stars were unable to stop the Woodsmen attack and lost 16-11 in what turned out to be the last game of the season for the Stars. Owen Sound won game one in convincing fashion 17-4, and with the win in game two, they advance to the semi-finals. In the East quarter final, the Norwood Nitros struck first, winning game one 13-5 at home, but was unable to complete the two game sweep of the Ajax Pickering Rock by losing in Pickering 15-13 on Sunday evening. The third and deciding game goes Wednesday evening in Norwood. Game time is 8:30 PM.

OLA Junior A

The OLA Junior A regular season has now ended and the quarterfinals are set to begin tonight. The top team in the league, the Orangeville Northmen (19-3-0) faces off against the Brampton Excelsiors; the defending champion Six Nations Arrows face the Peterborough Lakers; St. Catharines Athletics host the Kitchener-Waterloo Braves; and the fourth place Akwesasne Indians look to end the Burlington Chiefs season. All four series begin tonight and, if any goes a full seven games, will end next Thursday.

OLA Junior B

The second round of the OLA Junior B playoffs is two games old with one exception; the Six Nations Rebels has a one game to none lead over the Windsor AKO Fratmen. Elora is up 2-0 on Orangeville while the other two series (Mimico vs. Oakville and Halton Hills vs. Clarington) are tied at one game a piece. The fifth and deciding games in this round is scheduled for July 20 for two series and 21 for the other two series.

Major Series Lacrosse

After a commanding 9-5 victory over the St. Regis Indians Saturday evening, the Brampton Excelsiors have clinched top seed in the MSL with a week left in the season. The defending Mann Cup champion Peterborough Lakers have taken over second spot in the standings while the Indians have fallen into third. The young Brooklin Redmen team have come together nicely winning 4 of their last five games and have jumped into sole possession of fourth place. The KW Kodiaks are in fifth followed by the Barrie Lakeshores while Six Nations is currently in last place sitting one point behind Barrie for the last playoff spot. Other than the top three teams, the playoff picture is still unclear.

Perfection Results in Gold

2008-07-14T14:49:00.003-04:00

With another perfect tournament, the team from the United States leaves Coquitlam, BC and the 2008 ILF U19 World Lacrosse Championships with their sixth consecutive championship. On Saturday afternoon, the US team downed team Canada 19-12 to extend their tournament perfect streak to 36 games. It was a well balanced attack from the US as six players recorded three points each including Nicholas Elsmo, Dean Gibbons, and Craig Dowd recording hat tricks. Adam Jones led the Canadians with five goals in the loss.

Earlier in the day, the Iroquois Nationals defeated the team from England 19-10 to earn the bronze medal. Emmett Printup led all scorers with a double hat trick with one assist while Lyle Thompson, Peter Jacobs and Miles Thompson each scored a single hat trick. Zac Guy from the English side also recorded a trick while teammates Sam Russell and Greg Rowlinson scored two goals each in a losing cause.

Three of the five player awards went to the gold medal team while the other two award winners call Canada home. The team USA winners were Peter Fallon, Top Defenseman; Craig Dowd, Top Attacker; and Adam Ghitelman, top goaltender. Adam Jones from Canada won the other two awards for the top midfielder and the tournament MVP.

OLA Sr. B Playoffs to Begin Friday

2008-07-09T09:15:00.003-04:00

At the end of the regular season the Brooklin Merchants and the Wellington Aces sit atop their respective divisions. Brooklin finished with an 8-6-0 record to lead the East while Wellington topped the West with an 11-2-1 record for the best in the league. These two teams get a bye in the first round of playoffs while they await the winners of the quarterfinal series.

The Norwood Nitros finished second behind Brooklin with a 6-6-2 record while the Ajax-Pickering Rock rounded out the East at 5-9-0. This series starts in Norwood on Friday evening, goes to Pickering Sunday evening and returns to Norwood Wednesday evening if necessary. Over in the West, the host of last year’s President’s Cup, the Owen Sound Woodsmen, finished in second spot with an 8-6-0 record while the Mohawk Stars came in last with a 2-11-1 record. This series is scheduled to take place this weekend starting with a Friday evening game in Owen Sound followed by Saturday evening at Mohawk then returning to Owen Sound Sunday if necessary. Teams are playing for the chance to hoist the Clare Levack Memorial Trophy (pictured below) as well as advancing to the national title tournament in Sherwood Park, Alberta to play for the President's Cup.

U.S. Still Dominates on the Field

2008-07-09T09:10:00.003-04:00

The under 19 men’s lacrosse team from the United States recovered from a seven goal deficit in the fourth quarter of their game against the Canadians to beat the host country 16-15 in overtime in their fourth round robin game at the 2008 U19 ILF World Lacrosse Championships. With their 24-4 victory over England in their last round robin game, the United States’ perfect record in U19 world lacrosse championships extends to an impressive 34-0.

This year’s tournament is number six and is being held in Coquitlam, British Columbia. Previous years were 1988 in Adelaide, Australia (US defeated Australia); 1992 in Long Island, New York (US defeated Australia); 1996 in Tokyo, Japan (US defeated Australia); 1999 back in Adelaide, Australia (US defeated Canada); and 2003 in Baltimore, Maryland (US defeated Canada).

Canada finished the round robin at 4-1 and will play the Iroquois Nationals in their semi-final game tomorrow after the Nationals defeated the second place team from the Red division 28-2 last night. The US will face England in their semi-final tomorrow after England downed the top seed in the Red division 16-2 yesterday afternoon. In round robin play, Canada defeated the Iroquois team 15-12 so this semi-final should be another great match between two talented teams. US destroyed England 24-4 in their round robin meeting so it looks like the US will be playing for their 36th straight tournament win and sixth consecutive championship. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday July 12 at 2:30 PM Pacific.

2008 MSL Season Update

2008-06-30T09:19:00.007-04:00

After a slow start to the 2008 Major Series Lacrosse season, the defending Mann Cup champion Peterborough Lakers are back to their winning ways. The Lakers started the season at 2-4 but since their 7-6 loss to the Brampton Excelsiors on June 12 at home, they have gone on to win five straight. With their recent win streak they have pulled to within two points of the league co-leaders Brampton Excelsiors and St. Regis Indians. Peterborough has seven games remaining, four of those against the two bottom dwellers, Barrie Lakeshores and Brooklin Redmen. They also have four games remaining at home where they are 4-1 so far this season.

The two teams above the Lakers in the standings seem to have a tougher road ahead as they each play four of their remaining games on the road and two against each other. Brampton might be seen to have the easier of the two schedules since the two games against St. Regis will be played at home and three of their remaining seven games are against the bottom two teams (Barrie and Brooklin). Other than the two road games against the co-leaders, St. Regis does not face Barrie anymore and only plays Brooklin once. Being on top at the end of the regular season is key for these teams as it should ensure they won’t face the defending champs until the final round.

The standings as of today is as follows:

Team -------- GP W L T Pts
Brampton ----- 11 8 3 0 16
St. Regis ------ 12 8 4 0 16
Peterborough - 11 7 4 0 14
KW Kodiaks ---- 9 4 4 1 9
Six Nations ---- 12 4 8 0 8
Barrie --------- 11 3 7 1 7

Brooklin ------ 10 3 7 0 6

Spokane is Chief in the CHL

2008-06-06T08:29:00.004-04:00

The 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup concluded almost two weeks ago with the Spokane Chiefs, winners of the Western Hockey League, defeating the host Kitchener Rangers, winners of the Ontario Hockey League, 4-1 at the Memorial Auditorium. After a decent first period where both teams traded goals, Kitchener came out a little flat for the second period and fell behind 3-1 after two goals minutes apart. In the third period Kitchener returned to their offensive ways, peppering the Chiefs netminder with shots but the tournament's most valuable player, Dustin Tokarski, shut the door and held off the attack. An empty net goal by Jared Cowan late in the third period iced the victory for the Chiefs and the second straight Memorial Cup for the WHL.

The tournament all-star team consisted solely of players from the Rangers and Chiefs. Justin Azevedo, the winner of the Ed Chynoweth Trophy for the leading scorer in the tournament, and defenceman Ben Shutron were selected to the team from Kitchener while goaltender Tokarski, forwards Drayson Bowman and Mitch Wahl, and defenceman Justin Falk were named from the champion Spokane team. The Rangers Matt Halischuk was awarded the George Parsons Memorial Trophy for being the most sportsmanlike of the tournament.

Next years tournament will be held in Rimouski, Quebec.