THE MONDAY MORNING GOALIE

10 ODDS ‘N ENDS

1 – OH CANADA:  We won’t know Canada’s mens hockey opponent in the playoffs at the Olympics until Tuesday afternoon.  The Red & White waltzed through the preliminary round at 3-0 and now await the winner of Latvia/Switzerland in the medal round.  These international tournaments always seem to follow the same script don’t they?  Canada goes unbeaten (generally) in the round robin and then faces peril in the playoffs.  Hopefully coach Mike Babcock’s crew is saving the best for last because so far they haven’t been that dazzling.  Sunday’s 2-1 overtime win over Finland was like walking in mud and it still baffles me why Chris Kunitz and Sidney Crosby were split up.  Either way, the best hockey is still ahead.

2 – JOSE CAN YOU SEE: Saturday’s shootout victory for the USA over Russia is still the talk of hockey and they’re buzzing about it in the USA.  In typical American fashion, they’re way too ahead of themselves.  It’s like the Miracle on Ice in 1980 in Lake Placid, where 9/10 Americans think that was the gold medal game.  Still, it’s turned sports fans in the U.S. back onto hockey.  Many were calling or texting in to ESPN Radio Saturday afternoon saying “I’ll be watching the NHL now because of that exciting finish and T.J. Oshie”.   Radio co-host Mel Kiper, a football guy, responded with “They say that, but they won’t”.  We’ll see.

3 – MASS EXODUS: You’d have to say it was a successful weekend because no one left the Roughriders!  It’s still the talk of the town; all the players the Saskatchewan Roughriders have lost from the 2013 championship team.  Still, people have their chins up and feel the team stands a great chance of repeating (what teams in the West got stronger?), and even though the situation sucks, they’re not throwing muck at the Green & White.  Stay tuned for some more moves soon.

4 – AND FURTHERMORE: Owner/manager George Yannitsos of the Four Seasons Sports Palace said it best while we were watching Canada/Austria on Friday over lunch.  “If you’d told me a year ago we’d sacrifice the short term in order to win a championship at home in 2013, I’d take it!”   I think we all would.  And did.

5 – GLENN’S OTTAWA DAYS LIKELY DONE:  Before they even got started.  I’ve loosely been following this situation where Kevin Glenn went off on Twitter when the REDBLACKS signed Henry Burris, and then claimed he was hacked?  Is that right?  Either way it sounds like the situation could be untenable and TSN 1200 broadcaster A.J. Jakubec told us Friday that he expects Kevin to be moved to either BC or Winnipeg.  He would be a nice insurance policy for the Blue Bombers but if you’re a Bomber fan, you’d have to be thinking, “What is this?  2003?”

6 – TAMPERING, SHMAMPERING: We learned over the weekend that pending free agent kicker Chris Milo received offers from two other teams before even hearing from the Saskatchewan Roughriders.  However the Green & White swooped in with the best offer the night before the free agent deadline and Milo eagerly signed.  So … do we care these times were negotiating before February 11?  I know I don’t.  You just can’t be brazen about it like the Eskimos were last year with Odell Willis.  Waiting 30 minutes would have saved Edmonton $10,000.

7 – 1,000 TRANSACTIONS:  There have been some great articles on the resurrection of the Seattle Seahawks under Pete Carroll and GM Schneider.  The pair took over the beleaguered franchise in January of 2010 and it culminated in a Super Bowl title in February of 2014.  In that time, the team made 1,000 personnel transactions to transform it into a winner.  That’s head-spinning.

8 – WHAT TIME IS IT IN NEWFOUNDLAND?:  Kudos to companies like Visa, Nyquil and Petro Canada for sponsoring Canada’s Olympic athletes in TV ads during the broadcasts.  After hearing the sad stories of amateur athletes like Canadian hero Catriona Lemay Doan, it’s nice to see these big companies putting some money in their jeans.  However it’s incredibly strange not seeing Brian Williams anchor the Olympic coverage on Canadian TV.  Still, Scott Russell is doing a great job.

9 – IN THE GENES:  Got a frantic phone call from the Old Guy, my Dad, over the weekend who was excitedly informed me that our cousin from Park City, Utah, Josh Christiansen, won the gold medal for the USA in the first-ever Olympic mens freeskiing slopestyle event in Sochi.  With that, he’s now an American sports hero.  Way to go Josh!!  What a small world.  Our friend Mark McMorris would know him for sure, from the X Games.

10 – FAMILY DAY MATINEE:  The Regina Pats are home to the Brandon Wheat Kings Monday at 2:00 pm.  If the playoffs started today, this would be a first round match-up.  Also today the Moose Jaw Warriors welcome the Victoria Royals.  I don’t even need to check WHL history to know this is the first season that the first-place team in the WHL’s East Division only had 30 wins on February 15.  It’s amazing, and it’s the Regina Pats.  Wouldn’t it be something if they won the pennant this year after being picked to finish last?

HAPPY FAMILY DAY!
RP
@sportscage