Canada Does Not Disappoint Home Crowd

Despite being dominated by team Japan in the first half of the semi-final game, Canada fought back and stole the game in an extra end to earn a spot in the 2008 Ford World Women's Curling Championship finals. China, who defeated Canada in the 1 v 2 playoff game, got a bye into the finals and were eagerly awaiting a third game against the host Canada. In addition to the playoff loss, Canada lost their round robin game against China so they were hungry to face Team China for a third time. In the final game, Canada jumped out to a 3-1 lead after two ends and never looked back.

After their loss to Canada, Team Japan played in the bronze medal game against Switzerland Saturday night. They seeemed to have trouble forgetting their earlier loss to Canada as they allowed Switzerland to take an 8-2 lead into the fifth end break. During the break, Japan regrouped and made a valiant effort to come back on Switzerland but it was to no avail. Switzerland held on for a 9-7 win for the bronze medal.

In other curling action, British Columbia repeated as TSX Canadian Wheelchair Curling Champions when they defeated Ontario 8-6. BC, Ontario and Manitoba finished the round robin with a 5-2 record and BC was declared the leader after the round robin and got the bye into the finals. Ontario and Manitoba were left to play a semi-final game to decide the other half of the championship game. Ontario squeaked out a 9-8 victory to advance to the finals. The 2008 Canadian Senior Curling Championships also came to an end today as Pat Sanders' team from BC (10-1 round robin) defeated Ann Pearson's team from Ontario (8-3 in the round robin) 7-5 and Eugene Hritzuk's Saskatchewan team (9-2 in round robin play) beat Russ Howard's New Brunswick rink (9-2 in round robin) 7-5. On the women's side, Ontario beat Sandy Turner's Alberta team (8-3 round robin) in the semi-final game to reach the final while on the men's side, Saskatchewan was forced to play the semi-final game against Nova Scotia's Brian Rafuse (9-2 round robin) before eventually winning the championship.

OHL Heads into Second Round

The last of the first round match-ups ended last night when Guelph stormed into London and shut out the Knights in game five 5-0. The four other outstanding series ended Thursday night as Oshawa and Sault Ste Marie completed the sweep and Barrie and Sarnia won their respective series in five games.

The matchups for the second round look like they will produce closer games and be a lot more exciting then the initial round. In the West, the Kitchener Rangers host the Sarnia Sting while the Sault Ste Marie take on the Guelph Storm. Here in the East, the Belleville Bulls host the surprise Barrie Colts while the Oshawa Generals face off against the Niagara IceDogs. During the regular season, the Rangers won all four games against the Sting; Guelph and the Soo split their four games; Belleville won the two contests against the Colts; and the Generals and IceDogs split their two meetings.

The Rangers scored six or more goals in each of the four games against Plymouth and are determined to earn a spot in the Memorial Cup despite already getting a spot as the host. The Sarnia Sting went through the season under the radar, probably due to injuries to key players, but now that they are healthy they have the tools to upset the OHL's top team. A key trade with the Barrie Colts prior to the trade deadline solidified the defensive end for the Sting with goaltender Andrew Perugini and defenceman Vladimir Nikiforov. For the Sting to win, Steven Stamkos and company will have to be better than the Rangers scoring trio of Matt Halischuk, Nick Spaling and the OHL scoring leader Justin Azevedo and the World Junior MVP Steve Mason. This should be a long series and it could go either way.

In the other western conference series, the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds are looking to Dustin Jeffrey to lead the offence and Kyle Gajewski to continue his solid play between the pipes. The Storm are looking for a continued team effort with top prospect Drew Doughty to hold up the defensive end, along with creating some offensive chances. If Guelph keeps the pressure on the Greyhounds, this will be a very entertaining series. The Greyhounds post season run last year gave them the experience and desire for more this year and will take this series in 5 or 6 games.

The Belleville Bulls are expecting to be in the OHL final and are likely pleased with their second round matchup. With their star forward Shawn Matthias out of the lineup, the Bulls still had no trouble producing offensively against the Petes and are looking for better things once Matthias returns. After trading their starting goalie and best defenceman before the trade deadline, the Barrie Colts were not suppose to win anything in the playoffs. I guess the players missed that memo as they made fairly quick work of the Brampton Battalion in the first round. It did take two overtime wins but they still advanced after playing only five games in the first round. As long as the Bulls don't take the Colts too lightly their dream of an OHL title will continue. Bulls in 5.

While the Oshawa Generals stumbled into the playoffs, the Niagara IceDogs won their last five regular season games and seven of their last eight including a shootout win at home against the Generals. Niagara had no trouble with Mississauga in the first round as they blanked the Majors twice and allowed only four goals total in the other two games. Scoring was not an issue for them either as they scored eighteen in the four games. Oshawa was not as productive offensively as the IceDogs, scoring only fourteen times on the '67's, but their goaltender Michal Neuvirth only allowed six goals, all of them in shorthanded situations. The goalies for both teams are big game players so this series could see a lot of extra time. I like the team chemistry of the IceDogs and think they will surprise the Generals and take the series in 6 long games.

The Fans Can't Do It All!

Last Saturday the weather was perfect so I was able to make the trip to Buffalo for the Bandits vs Toronto Rock game. Things were looking good when we got there (two hours before game time) as the crowd was already building, more so than usual, and lining up at the gates waiting to get in. All that changed as the game neared.

The pre-game introductions were delayed eliminating the few minutes the fans usually use to get the HSBC rockin' and when the game started, neither team had the high intensity expected when these two rivals meet. Despite being spotted two goals, the Bandits could not capitalize on them and the Rock came back to take a five all tie into halftime. Toronto came out in the second half with energy but the Bandits came out even flatter then they were in the first. While the Rock defense was tight, the Bandits offence remained flat-footed and did not really challenge the goal. Watson did not get the start in net for Toronto but was solid when he did enter the game at the 38 second mark of the first quarter. Buffalo finally woke up late in the fourth quarter but by then Toronto had a five goal lead. The only blemish on the game for Toronto was their captain whining about every penalty that went against Toronto. I honestly don't know how he didn't get a penalty.

With the 13-9 win, Toronto pulled ahead of Buffalo for third place in the East. New York handed Philadelphia their second loss of the season while moving into fifth place in the East and one win away from fourth place and the final playoff spot. Buffalo will need to play a lot better if they want to be in the playoffs, having just four games left. They have an off week this week before playing on four straight Saturdays, three at home.

CHL Playoff Update

The Memorial Cup got one step closer for two teams in the Ontario Hockey League last night. The Niagara IceDogs won their fourth straight game against the Mississauga St Michael's Majors to complete the sweep and advance to the second round. It took five games for the second OHL team to advance to the second round as the Belleville Bulls defeated the Peterborough Petes 7-1 last night for the series win. Three other teams are on the verge of advancing as the Kitchener Rangers (can advance with a win tonight), the Guelph Storm (can advance with a win tomorrow night) and the Oshawa Generals (can also clinch tomorrow night) hold a 3-0 series stranglehold. The Barrie Colts and the Sarnia Sting have a 3-1 series lead and can both advance tomorrow night with a road win.

In the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Saint John Sea Dogs and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies have a 3-0 series lead while the Halifax Mooseheads have a 2-0 series lead and the remaining five series are at 2-1. Both Saint John and Rouyn-Noranda can complete the sweep tonight on the road. On the West coast, there are four teams holding a 3-0 series lead: the Lethbridge Hurricanes, the Kootenay Ice, the Tri-City Americans and the defending Memorial Cup champion Vancouver Giants. All four teams can advance with wins tonight and all except Kootenay are on the road. The Spokane Chiefs have a 2-0 series lead and are playing in Everett tonight and Friday night. The Calgary Hitmen and the Regina Pats hold a 2-1 series lead while the Seattle Thunderbirds and the Kelowna Rockets series is tied at 2 wins a piece.

The last games of the first round, if any series goes to seven games, will be played on April 1 (OHL & QMJHL) or April 2 (WHL).

Golden Bears Win University Cup

After a short two game round robin, the University of Golden Bears beat the top seed University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds in the final of the 2008 CIS Men's Hockey Championship. The Bears finished on top of pool B with a 1-1 record after an opening day, 2-1 overtime loss to University of Moncton Aigles Bleus and a 7-3 victory over the OUA Champion McGill University Redmen. The Varsity Reds finished tops in pool A with a 2-0 round robin record by defeating the Brock University Badgers 6-1 in the opening game and the University of Saskatchewan Huskies 4-0.

In the final game, the Alberta Golden Bears were looking for their thirteenth hockey title and third in four years while the UNB Varsity Reds were playing for their second straight title. After exchanging goals in the first and second periods, the intensity picked up some for the last period as each team tried for the go ahead goal. Just over halfway through the third period UNB took a costly interference penalty as Alberta's Ian McDonald was quick to score on the man up advantage. Despite the late pressure by UNB, including a powerplay of their own, they were unable to score and were unable to defend the championship. Alberta won 3-2.

Another Great Sports Weekend and It Begins Today!

This weekend will be another weekend full of sports action. Besides the regular NHL, NLL and NBA schedules, the NCAA Men’s Division 1 basketball tournament begins today along with the CIS Men’s Hockey Championship, the quest for the cup, ah, that is the Memorial Cup, began yesterday and two curling events begin Saturday: the Canadian Seniors Curling Championships and the Ford World Women’s Curling Championship. If we’re lucky we may even see some spring training baseball.

The road to the final four is perhaps the most anticipated and, next to the FIFA World Cup, the most watched sporting event of the year. Action begins today when Georgia takes on Xavier at 12:20 Eastern time followed by Portland State at Kansas at 12:25 and Temple at Michigan State at 12:30. Games will be played well into the night as the last game of the day between Mississippi Valley State and UCLA tips off at 9:55 PM Eastern. When everything is said and done, twelve games will have been played and six spots in the second round on Saturday or Sunday will be claimed.

In Canadian Interuniversity Sport, the men’s hockey championship will be decided this weekend with six teams in the hunt. The top seed University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds, winners of the AUS, are heavily favoured to win the national title and open the tournament this afternoon at 2:00 PM against the Brock Badgers (OUA finalists). At 7:00 PM tonight, the host Universite de Moncton Aigles Bleus take on the Canada West Champion University of Alberta Golden Bears while the CW finalist Saskatchewan Huskies and the OUA Champion McGill University Redmen begin play tomorrow against the losing teams of today’s games. The teams are split into two pools and the winner of each pool faces of Sunday evening for the championship.

The road to the Memorial Cup also begins this weekend with four Ontario Hockey League games tonight. The OHL playoffs even started last night with the Belleville Bulls taking the first game from the Peterborough Petes by a 4-1 score. All playoff teams in both the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League will start their playoff run tomorrow night. In each league, sixteen teams made the playoffs while two from the QMJHL, four from the OHL and six from the WHL are watching from the sidelines. The winners of each league, along with the host Kitchener Rangers, will be heading to Kitchener in May to play for the Memorial Cup in what is the best Canadian tournament.

If basketball and hockey is not your sport, maybe you’d enjoy a little curling. The Ford World Women’s Curling Championship begins Saturday afternoon from Vernon, BC. TSN will be broadcasting the round robin games, at least Canada’s round robin games, and CBC will likely be showing the semis and final game next weekend. I’m sure anyone who is interested will figure out the broadcasting schedule in their area. For fans in the Prince Albert area, they can check out the Canadian Seniors Championships starting Saturday at the Prince Albert Golf & Curling Club. There will be four draw times with six sheets seeing action every day from Sunday to Thursday with three draw times Saturday and next Friday. The semis and the finals will be played next weekend.

This weekend will be a great time to sit at home and keep the batteries charged in your remotes as there are tons of sports to check out. For me, I will take a break from watching sports Saturday as I make the two hour drive to Buffalo to check out the Bandits vs Rock game. With the Leafs in Buffalo Friday night, this weekend has been touted the ultimate sports weekend by the Buffalo sports community. At least the Sabres organization that put together a great sports package with tickets to both events and a night at a hotel is touting this the ultimate sports weekend. I honestly cannot agree more with this statement. Go Bandits!

Brier Ends in Perfection

The 2008 Tim Horton's Brier concluded Sunday evening with the Kevin Martin team from Alberta finishing the tournament with a perfect 13-0 record. In a tough final against the defending world champion Glenn Howard team from Ontario, the Martin team held on to a 4-2 for three ends before the Ontario team could get two to tie the game in the ninth. The hammer went back to the Martin team for the tenth end and it took a draw to touch the button by Kevin to win the title. With the win, the Alberta team gets to represent Canada at the World Curling Championship in Grand Forks, North Dakota in April as well as a berth in the olympic pre-trials tournament next year.

OHL Playoff Match-Ups Decided

With the final day of the regular Ontario Hockey League season one meaningless game from being completed, the playoff matchups have been ironed out. The league offices would have had a tough time picking better matchups for travel had they created a committee to determine them, at least in the eastern conference. Belleville earned the top seed and will play the eighth ranked Peterborough Petes; number two Brampton Battalion travel north to face the seventh ranked Barrie Colts; third placed Oshawa Generals host the sixth place Ottawa '67's (perhaps the only team in the conference they have a good chance of beating); and the fourth ranked Niagara IceDogs face the St Michael's Majors, the team that replaced them in Mississauga.

The travel plans in the western conference are a bit uglier but then again, travel in the regular season isn't so easy either. The top seeded Kitchener Rangers goes up against the eighth seed and 2007 OHL Champion Plymouth Whalers; the second seed Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds face the seventh place Saginaw Spirit; Windsor claims third spot and plays the sixth place Sarnia Sting; and the fourth place Knights of London meet up with a storm in the fifth place Guelph Storm.

More CIS Champions Crowned

The Laurier Golden Hawks earned two more coats of gold on Sunday as both the women`s and men`s curling teams were successful in the final of the inaugural 2008 CIS/CCA Curling Championship. The men's team finished the round robin on top of Pool A with a 5-1 record before defeating the University of Guelph Gryphons 8-3 in the quarter finals and dominating the Brock University Badgers 10-2 in the semi-finals. In the final, it took Laurier nine ends to finish off the Dinos from the University of Calgary when they scored five points to put the game out of reach 10-4 (the score has since been reduced to 5-4 with the last two ends crossed out so I am not sure what happened there but Laurier is still the winner).

The women's side had a tougher time getting to the final as they finished the round robin at 3-3 tied with three other schools. With only two available playoff spots, the four teams were on to the tie breaker games. Laurier squeaked by the University of Regina Rams by a 4-3 score in their tie breaker game. They then defeated the Brock Badgers 9-6 in the quarter finals and Laurentian University Lady Vees 9-3 in the semi-finals. The University of Manitoba Bisons put up a good fight in the finals but Laurier were able to steal four points in the last three ends to take the title game 7-4.

Shortly before the curling champions were decided, the 2008 Men's Basketball Championship final began between the seventh seeded Brock Badgers and the fifth seeded Acadia Axemen. This tournament started on Friday with eight teams. The host Carleton University Ravens were the top seed and were favoured to win their sixth straight championship. That dream was shattered late Saturday night by a gutsy, double overtime performance by Acadia in the semi-finals (82-80).

Prior to that semi-final game, Acadia defeated the fourth seeded Universite de Laval Rouge et Or 85-77 in the quarterfinals. The Brock Badgers snuck into the final game by defeating the second seeded University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 83-78 in the quarterfinals and the sixth seeded University of Western Ontario Mustangs 85-75 in the semi-finals. The eighth seeded University of Alberta Golden Bears were defeated in the quarter finals by Carleton while the third seeded University of Saint Mary's Huskies lost their quarter final game to the Mustangs 75-70.

Before the men's final was played, the Rouge et Or defeated the UBC Thunderbirds 86-84 to claim fifth spot. For some reason there is no game played to determine third place. Surprisingly, Acadia did not look to suffer from their tough game against the top seed and dominated the final match early on. Brock did not let up though and they kept the score tight heading into the last six minutes of the game. In an exciting finish, Brock clung to a one point lead before sinking a long two with just 11 seconds left. After an Acadia time out, a Brock defender forced the play out of bounds, leaving two ticks on the clock and a Brock possession. With a 64-61 score, the 2008 Brock University Badgers claimed the school's second men's basketball title. Not bad for a seventh seed.

Congratulations to the Brock Badgers and also congratulations to the Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks (x2).

The last stop on the CIS winter sport season is the Universite de Moncton next weekend for the 2008 CIS Men's Ice Hockey Championship. Let's see if the Badgers can surprise all again and keep the championship party going on the St Catharines campus.

Manitoba is National Champs...and so are the Mississauga Chiefs

The 2008 ESSO Women's Nationals were hardly that. A new format to this tournament this year had two separate tournaments going on: the first for the the senior women's title and the second for the club championship. The senior women's group did consist of teams representing a province, however, there were only four teams in the group with three of the four coming from the atlantic provinces. I guess since the four teams were representing provinces it can be called a national title but with nine provinces and territories absent from the tournament, I hardly see this as a national title. Not to mention one of the clubs teams hailed from the new province of Minnesota. (Don`t worry, you didn`t miss the memo, Minnesota is still a state in the USA).

This so called national title was won earlier today by Manitoba (the only team outside of the atlantic provinces) when they defeated Prince Edward Island 5-1 on a two goal effort by Ashley Jaffray. The bronze game went to Nova Scotia 3-2 in a shootout where Jocelyn LeBlanc was the only skater to score. Nova Scotia took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission but New Brunswick quickly tied the game in the second before the scoring stopped.

As for the club championship, the bronze game was won by the Calgary Oval X-Treme 5-2 over the Minnesota Whitecaps. It took the Whitecaps until the third period before they figured out how to beat Amanda Tapp (Calgary's goaltender) while Calgary managed four goals before the third. In the championship game, the Brampton Canadette-Thunder scored first but it was the Mississauga Chiefs who got the last goal and it came in the second overtime. Cherie Piper was the hero for the Chiefs as she lead the 3 on 1 charge into the Brampton zone and made some nice moves to beat Cindy Eadie for the overtime winner.

World Curling Results

As the Tim Horton's Brier heads into its last two days, both the 2008 World Seniors Curling Championships and the 2008 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship have ended. Team Canada was knocked out of the mixed doubles tournament in their second qualifying game after a 9-8 loss to Finland. Prior to that loss, Canada beat Hungary 7-4 in a tie breaker then dominated the Czech Republic 11-3 in their first qualifying game. Finland went on to the finals but lost 5-4 to Switzerland while Sweden downed Norway 9-2 to take the bronze.

The teams from Canada had better success in the seniors tournament as both the women's and the men's teams won the championship. The women's team finished atop the ten team field during the round robin with a 7-2 record before defeating Switzerland 8-3 in the semi-final and Scotland 10-2 in the final. The Canadian men finished a perfect 8-0 to lead group Red in the round robin. In the semi-final game they defeated Scotland 7-2 and in the final game they shut out Sweden 8-0. Team USA claimed the bronze on the men's side with a 6-4 victory over Scotland while Switzerland took the women's bronze with a 7-6 win over Finland.

CIS Champions

The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds defeated the University of Regina Cougars 67-46 for the second time in five years in the CIS women's basketball finals to capture the Bronze Baby Trophy. This win marks the third national championship earned by UBC in that five year span (2004 and 2006). UBC reached the final game by defeating University of Toronto Varsity Blues 70-59 and McMaster Marauders (OUA Champions) 71-67 while Regina beat Memorial Sea-Hawks (AUS Champions) 79-66 and the Universite de Laval Rouge et Or (QSSF Champions) 73-63. McMaster defeated Laval 83-79 to capture the bronze. The host University of Saskatchewan Huskies lost in the first round to McMaster but was able to defeat the University of Toronto before losing to the Simon Fraser Clan to earn sixth place.

In CIS women's hockey, the OUA champion Laurier Golden Hawks met up with the QSSF champion McGill Martlets to decide the national champion. It took a 5-on-3 with under two minutes to go in the second period to open the scoring when McGill snuck one past Liz Knox, Laurier's goalie. McGill scored with seconds left in the third period to win the title. The University of Manitoba Bisons got some revenge over the team that beat them for the CW championship, the University of Alberta Panda's, by defeating them 4-2 in the bronze game while the host University of Ottawa Gee Gees beat the AUS champion St Francis Xavier X-Women in overtime for fifth place. During the round robin the Gee Gees and the X-Women combined for 1 goal but during the fifth place game they came together to score thirteen goals.

The men's basketball championship is being hosted by Carleton University this weekend (March 14-16) while the men's hockey is being hosted by the Universite de Moncton next weekend (March 20-23). In addition, the CIS Curling Championships are being held in the Guelph area this weekend.

One Week Before the Real Season Begins!

Playing four games in six nights will give the last week of the OHL regular season a real playoff feel for the Oshawa Generals. The first of four begins tomorrow night when they travel to Kingston to play the make up game from the February 1, 2008 postponement and will end at home on Sunday against the Mississauga Majors. Sandwiched between these two seemingly easier contests is a two game home and home with the East Division and Eastern Conference leading Belleville Bulls.

Although Kingston has been eliminated from the playoffs, they have not been playing like a team getting ready for golf. They are on a two game winning streak and have won six of their last eight. Kingston has only won three of the seven meetings with Oshawa this year but those wins have come in the last four games played between the two teams. A similar trend can be seen with the Belleville Bulls as Oshawa's record against them this year is 3-3 but all three wins came early in the season. Belleville has won the past two matches against Oshawa. As for Mississauga, Oshawa is 2-1 against the Majors so far this season but Mississauga did get their lone win against the Generals last week.

Oshawa still has only 12 wins since the trade deadline and is on a four game losing streak, all coming in either overtime or the shootout. In fact, Oshawa has not won a game in overtime or later since they beat Peterborough 5-4 in a shootout on January 19. To take these stats too far, the Generals only won 4 of 10 games played in February and 1 of their 5 so far in March giving them only 5 wins in a five week period. They have struggled defensively in recent games as they had a 6-1 lead over Mississauga early in the second period of their game last Thursday and ended up losing that match 10-9 in a shootout.

This is a huge week for the Generals if they plan on making the trip to Kitchener this May. Kingston will play Oshawa tough, Mississauga will be trying to send a message as they could meet in the first round of the playoffs and Belleville thinks the OHL title goes through them this year and will also want to make a point. Conversely, if Oshawa can be successful this week, they will get the momentum they desperately need and could possibly ride that wave to the OHL title and a spot at the Memorial Cup. They do have one of, if not the most, potent offence in the OHL and if they can figure out how to stop giving up just as many goals as they score, they will be a real force.

Curling Events Aplenty This Week

Curling fanatics cannot be any happier this week as three more curling events got started yesterday. Eight provincial teams took to the ice on the first day of the Canadian men's national championship (the Tim Horton's Brier) Saturday while over seas, the 2008 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships and the 2008 World Seniors Curling Championships began.

The two world events are taking place in Vierumäki, Finland. The World Mixed Doubles Championships consists of 24 teams divided into three groups while the Senior Championships consists of 18 men's teams divided into two groups and 10 women's teams in one group. For stats, standings and game results visit Curling.fi result service.

To close out the week of curling is the CIS Curling Championships from the Guelph area. This tournament will begin Wednesday and the final game will be played on Sunday.

World Junior Curling Final

The 2008 World Junior Curling Championships have come to end with Sweden and Scotland the winners.

The Canadian men finished first in the round robin at 7-2 while Sweden, also at 7-2, came in second followed by USA (7-2) and Norway (5-4), winner of a tie-breaker game against Switzerland. In the playoffs, Canada lost to Sweden 9-6 in the 1 v 2 game then they lost to USA 8-6 in the semi-final game. Sweden went straight to the final game after beating team Canada while USA defeated Norway 7-3 in the 3 v 4 game before defeating Canada to earn their spot in the final. Canada regained their composure to beat Norway 5-3 in the bronze medal game while USA beat Sweden 7-5 to take the gold medal.

On the women's side, team Canada finished tied for fourth at 5-4 in the round robin and defeated Denmark 10-7 in the tie-breaker game to earn a spot in the playoffs. Russia got the better of them in the 3 v 4 playoff game (7-5) however, to end Canada's gold medal bid. Sweden defeated Scotland 8-2 in the 1 v 2 game to earn a spot in the final while Scotland went on to defeat Russia (7-6) in the semi-final game to force a rematch of the 1 v 2 game. In the gold medal game, Scotland scored a big 6 points in 6th end to take an 11-2 lead en route to a 12-3 gold medal victory. Canada re-grouped and were able to defeat Russia 9-8 to take home the bronze medal.

Impossible Task

The sports networks, who commit 100% of their time to sports, have trouble covering all sports and events. I thought the lack of variety was due to a lack of interest, and in the end that is probably a big influence, but I have recently discovered there may be a different reason for this focus on the major sports. While trying to update my upcoming events listing with events from all sports, I discovered there are just too many sports and sports leagues to cover. There are sports out there that I forgot about (like badminton, squash and cricket) and even some sports I have never heard of before (like sledge hockey, what the heck is that?). Despite this minor setback I will continue my quest to be informed of all sports, from the grass roots right to the pro leagues, and will continue to update my links and events listing as I find them.

News of Note from the OHL

I was going to title this ‘Inside the “O”’ but Rogers Television uses this title for an intermission segment during televised OHL games so I thought I should use something different. You know, the whole copyright thing, even though no one really reads this blog.

The Ontario Hockey League’s regular season is quickly coming to an end with only two more weekends of hockey to play. Last night, the Peterborough Petes clinched a playoff berth by defeating the Kingston Frontenacs 6-4. That loss by Kingston also helped the struggling Ottawa ‘67’s clinch a playoff spot. The only thing left to be decided is the playoff matchups.

- The Kitchener Rangers have clinched first place in the league and is looking to tie a franchise record 52 wins tonight at home against the Soo Greyhounds.

- The Oshawa Generals retired Eric Lindros’s number prior to last night’s shootout loss to Mississauga Majors.

- The Generals have a 12-11 record (OT and SO losses are included in the 11 losses for simplicity) since the trade deadline and are still struggling to find line combinations. With only 6 games left for them this season, it could be a short playoff run for them unless they can figure something out, and fast.

- The Belleville Bulls need three points to clinch top spot in the Eastern Conference (one win and one loss by Oshawa will work too).

World Junior Curling Update

I have to admit I haven’t been following this event, could have something to do with the lack of television coverage perhaps. I did check the website this morning though and the round robin is set to conclude tomorrow. The Canadian women are just out of the playoffs right now at 4-4. The men, however, are currently sitting on top with a 6-1 record. All men’s teams are in action this morning at 9 AM Sweden time (you can tell I’m not so worldly as I can't convert the time difference but with the best hockey, lacrosse and curling teams why would I need to leave Canada). The results and standings can be found at www.curlingkanalen.se.

Champions Contiune to Emerge This Curling Season

On Sunday, the 2008 Strauss Canada Cup came to an end with Stephanie Lawton's Saskatoon rink and Kevin Koe's team from Edmonton being crowned champions. With this championship win, these two teams have secured a place in the qualification tournament for the 2010 Olympics. Lawton beat Keely Scott's team 7-4 while Koe beat Kevin Martin 6-5 to claim their wins.

One week ago Sunday saw Winnepeg's Jennifer Jones win the 2008 Scotties Tournament of Hearts by beating Alberta's Shannon Kleibrink 6-4. The Kleibrink team finished 10-1 in the round robin before winning the 1 v 2 page playoff to get the bye into the final. Jennifer Jones' team struggled to a 7-4 round robin record and had to play a tie breaker game to make it to the 3 v 4 page playoff game. They beat Newfoundland/Labrador 6-3 in the tie breaker, Quebec 6-5 in the playoff game and Ontario 9-8 in the semi-final to earn a berth in the final.

Next stop for the Season of Champions is in Winnepeg, MB on Saturday as the Tim Horton's Brier gets underway. Meanwhile, the 2008 World Junior Curling Championships are already underway in Östersund, Sweden.