Need I say or write more?? Great video on YouTube of the 15 minutes prior to the game. I watched the first Winnipeg Jets game in a sports bar in
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Montreal where there was a lot of cheering going on, but for the wrong reasons, but the beer was good and we had good seats. The place had a lineup and I spotted a couple of seats and asked the hostess if she could get us there as we were Winnipeggers and just had to see this game. Unfortunately, a 5-1 loss put a small damper on the festivities for me, but the fans there didn’t seem to care very much. How many teams have a full house at the end of a brutal loss giving them a standing ovation. It will get better. For posterity, Nik Antropov’s goal is here as well, it is historic after all.
A cultural icon, Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders of the NFL passed away on October 8th. A straight shooter and rebel, who coined the phrase “Just Win Baby”, lived his life, and ran his team, in the way he wanted to, damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead. His teams were always stressing the vertical passing game and usually consisted of misfits and “characters” that did not fit well on other teams. He let them be themselves as long as they won and the strategy usually paid off in victories. RIP Al Davis.
As the Real Canadian Sports Blog, I have been remiss in reporting to the world that Canada is participating in the International Rugby Union World Cup. The competition is being held in New Zealand, home of the world-famous All-Blacks. Canada has performed well to date, defeating Tonga early last week 25-20, and losing to number 5 ranked France 46-19 on Sunday. The score did not represent the true gist of the game as France pulled away late in the contest, taking late points from a visibly tiring Canadian squad. This was Canada’s 2nd game in 4 days. Canada is currently 4th in their group after 2 games, with the top 3 advancing to the next round. Their next game is September 27 against Japan.
As a result of their showing last week, Canada advanced 3 spots in the world rankings to 11th.
IRB World Rankings
1 New Zealand 90.55
2 South Africa 86.71
3 Australia 84.84
4 England 83.99
5 France 83.78
6 Ireland 82.50
7 Wales 80.73
8 Scotland 79.12
9 Argentina 77.30
10 Italy 73.88 11 Canada 73.74
12 Samoa 73.59
13 Japan 71.95
14 Fiji 71.01
15 Tonga 70.30
16 Georgia 70.00
17 USA 66.38
18 Romania 65.69
19 Namibia 61.24
20 Portugal 60.67
Greg Campbell received the Stanley Cup from Rich Peverley and took it with him to Kitchener and Tillsonburg, Ontario. He spent most of his day with the cup at a yard gathering at his home.
The Boston Bruins outstanding rookie,Tyler Seguin was next in line for his day with Stanley. Tyler made the leap from junior hockey straight to the NHL and, of course, a role in winning the Stanley Cup. He took the cup to Brampton, Ontario, where 2000 people gathered to help him celebrate. from there, he went to a friend’s home in Georgetown then to the Club Embassy in Toronto for the traditional pub crawl.
People began lining up in Peterborough at 7 in the morning to see Marc Savard and the Stanley Cup. While he didn’t play in the playoffs due to concussion issues, he is an integral part of the Bruins in the past and hopes to contribute in their defence of their title. After it’s time at Kawartha Golf & Country Club, it went to his home where 100 friends and relatives joined him for a gathering.
Next up was Chris Kelly, another lucky one. He was traded mid-season from the Ottawa Senators and instead of being out of the playoffs, he ended up on a contender and eventual winner of the Cup. The upside for Ottawa is they get to see the Cup up close, although not in the way we wanted to. Chris took the cup to a local hospital, was in a parade and ended the day with a family get together at his home, then supper at a local restaurant.
Week 11 is now done, and I as I write, Week 12 is beginning. After last week, we can make the following assumptions. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are definitely not located in Swaggerville. After 2 resounding defeats to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, one can only wonder if the Bombers were a mirage. They won a lot of close games that maybe they shouldn’t have won on their way to a 7-1 record. Getting hammered back to back by a 1-7 team can make you think about things like that. Things don’t get any easier for them as they have a first place showdown this weekend in Montreal with defending Grey Cup champs, Montreal Alouettes.
Speaking of the 1-7 team, the Riders are now not sucking the same as the Toronto Argonauts. By virtue of their 3-7 record (thanks Winnipeg), we are now ahead of the 2-8 Argos. The best part, we get to play them this weekend at home. A victory will bury the Argos and put pressure on the next team up the ladder, the BC Lions. The Lions are on the road against the Western Division leading Calgary Stampeders, If the Lions lose and the Riders win, they will both be 4-7 and next week they face each other in Regina. For the second time in my life, I find myself cheering for Calgary.
In what may be the game of the week, Edmonton Eskimos and the Hamilton Tiger Cats face off tonight in what will be a very entertaining game. Both are excellent teams, with Edmonton currently in second in the West and Hamilton hanging tough with Winnipeg and Montreal.
After this weekend, everything could be very tight in the West and the Argos all but done for the year. We will see if Winnipeg can turn it around in a tough match up and we will see if the Riders turnabout is for real. They are taking the baby steps and looking at 1 game at a time, which is about all you can do when you were in their position.
Nate Burleson          5 catches 60 yards and 20 yards rushing
Cory Greenwood     1 tackle
Israel Idonije            1 tackle
Shaun Suisham         1 convert
Jamaal Westerman  1 fumble recovery
Jon Ryan                    7 punts  48.9 yd average
The CFL is also known as a bit of a developmental league for the NFL, supplying some fine talent back to the NFL. Names that may be recognizable to a casual NFL fan who have played in the CFL include Cameron Wake on Miami, John Chick on Jacksonville, Mike Sellers on Washington, Stefan Logan on Detroit and Brandon Browner on Seattle.
I love watching an NFL game and seeing a Canadian player do well, or see a player who had spent time in the CFL on the field. Makes me appreciate the CFL that much more.
To put closure to my series of articles on the AIHL (Australian Ice Hockey League), the league held it’s Championship Series On September 3 and 4th, 2011. The Melbourne Ice won the title (Goodall Cup) for the second year in a row by defeating Newcastle North Stars (North Stars…which you can’t see from Australia) 3-2 in a winner take all format. The Ice reached the final by defeating the Adelaide Adrenaline and the North Stars defeated the Sydney Ice Dogs.
In other news, Jason Baclig of the Ice won the league MVP, edging out the Gold Coast Blue Tongues star Matt Amado. Matt set an AIHL record of 42 goals as he led the Blue Tongues to a great season, although they fell short of making the playoffs. Link is here.
Overall, I found it interesting to take a look at hockey in another country, and especially interesting to note that the stars of most teams are ex-pat Canadians, such as Amado and Baclig. I will take up the league again next season.
Shawn Thornton‘s day with the cup happened in Toronto. He hosted a supper at 360 The Restaurant in the CN Tower with the Stanley Cup. Afterwards, the cup went on a pub tour of Toronto and Oshawa before ending up back at the CN Tower for a day tour of the Edge Walk. The cup and Shawn were strapped in tightly for this.
From Shawn Thornton and Toronto/Oshawa, the cup was passed on to Daniel Paille. His day with the cup encompassed Welland, Niagara Falls and Niagara on the Lake in Ontario. More paraded, more pub crawls.
From Daniel, it was passed on to Rich (I am so happy to have been traded from Atlanta) Peverley. He spent his day in Guelph, Ontario.
Canada may be the world’s foremost hockey power, and we prove it, even when we are playing for other teams around the world. The goal below is by an Israeli-Canadian, playing for Israel in Division 3 of the IIHF championships. I love this, during Israel’s 26-2 victory over Greece, Eliezer Sherbatov schooled the world with a beautiful goal. Israel won the Division 3 championship and has been promoted to the Division 2 group for 2012 with Belgium, China, Mexico, Bulgaria, South Africa. More info and story here.
Unbelievable summer. First the Vancouver Stanley Cup riot, then Derek Boogard dies, followed by Rick Rypien then we lose Wade Belak, and now a plane crash that took the lives of almost an entire hockey team in Russia. As the plane crash was being reported, Sidney Crosby holds a press conference to communicate that he is still suffering from his concussion and will return “sometime”.
I have posted in memory of Rick Rypien and Derek Boogard in the past. I had a shallow connection with Wade Belak, having watched him play on several occasions when he was a Saskatoon Blade. A first round pick in the annual NHL draft, he earned a niche in the league as a big strong defenceman, with enforcer qualities. I feel that even though he had the build for it, and the toughness, he would have been a much more successful player being that number 3 or 4 defence guy, the one that is stable as a rock, few mistakes and a goalies best friend. Another one gone to young.
The crash in Russia was mind boggling. The team, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, was decimated in the crash, which killed 43 of the 45 people on board. The connections to the North American game included the coach, Brad McCrimmon, an ex: Brandon Wheat King, who played with the Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames and the Philadelphia Flyers during a successful and lengthy NHL career.
The Europeans who had played in the NHL were
Igor Korolev, who was assistant coach of the team. He played with the old Winnipeg Jets, following the team to Phoenix. He also played with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Pavol Demitra, a star with the St Louis Blues and several other teams.
Karel Rachunek, who played with Ottawa Senators, New York Rangers and the New Jersy Devils.
Ruslan Salei, a solid defencemen, best know for his time with the Anaheim Ducks and the Detroit Red Wings.
Karlis Skrastins, another solid defenseman that spent time with Nashville Predators and the Colorado Avalanche, enough time to set the NHL record for consecutive games played by a defenceman, 495.
Josef Vasicek, who played most of his career with the Carolina Hurricanes.
