It's being widely reported that the Montreal Canadiens will announce this afternoon that Bob Gainey has stepped down as team GM. It's been quite a run -- since 2003 -- a long stint considering it required daily scrutiny in two official languages. Gainey's Habs compiled a 241-176-7-46 over five seasons and made it to the post-season dance four times, never getting past the second round.
Not sure which is the best/worst job in Canada -- GM of the Leafs or that of the Habs. Best when the team is winning, worst when its losing. You could say the Habs post takes the crappy cake in harsh times due to being bombarded with criticism in two official languages, but you could argue Toronto hockey execs are under a similar multilingual microscope, it's just that "moron" doesn't qualify for official language status. (Yet.)
If history, hindsight, "facts," and "analysis" are your thing, Habs Eyes On The Prize has a solid round-up of player moves during the Gainey Era. Us? We'll just be staring at the above photo and listening to the end of this.
Ovechkin gets hat trick; Capitals win 14th in row, beat Penguins 5-4 in OT -Three goals from
Alex Ovechkin. Two feet of snow on the ground. One big comeback against
a detested rival, with punches and name-calling added for good measure. It is turning into a phenomenal rivalry - every time these two play there are fireworks all game lone.
Champions Tour Gives It Another Shot in Montreal - It has been eight years since the golf circuit for old guys – then called the Senior Tour, now referred to as the Champions – has been part of the Canadian landscape. Nice to see more professional golf in Canada. Now if only they could change the date of the RBC Canadian open...
Women's hockey team among first wave of Canadians to arrive for 2010 Olympics - With the
anticipation building on their flight from Calgary, members of the
Canadian women's hockey team got their first glimpse of a 2010 Olympic
venue from the air on Sunday night.Obligatory Olympic post. I have to say I'm a bit reluctant today given CTV's bombardment of their promos last night.
We all know the real reason anyone watches the Super Bowl is to see the ads - at least that's what I've observed. There is usually just as much hype leading up to the big day for the over-priced ads as there is for the over-paid players.
I've also noticed a steady decline in the 'awesomeness' factor of the ads. They used to be so dependable, so reliably funny, smart and entertaining. Now they're mostly whacky concepts and more often than not include animals put in human roles. That said, there were some good ones this year, including a few from Doritos and Audi that I found to be pretty funny.
So without further delay, click the read more link to watch some of the best ads we could find.
In between the 891 CTV Olympic promos (DID YOU KNOW THE OLYMPICS START ON FRIDAY?), Drew Brees was able to lead his New Orleans Saints past Peyton Manning and his Colts to a 31-17 victory.
It was a close game that oddly flipped the Saints way on defense. Both teams were hailed for their stunning offense coming into the big game, but oddly enough it was Tacy Porter's fourth quarter interception that won the Saints the game and their franchise's first Super Bowl.
We'll follow-up with more coverage and hopefully the best of the Super Bowl ads that ran in the US (not Olympic promos). For now you can check out this year's banned Super Bowl ads.
Let us know in the comments below what you thought of the game.
Just as pillars of the free speech movement -- Larry Flynt, 2 Live Crew, and uh, many others -- have fought to be heard, the interweb has triggered a time when such controversy can move well beyond the court of law and into the broadband-enabled court of opinion.
The elite arena for mass advertising has long been the Super Bowl. From Coke's Mean Joe Green to Apple's 1984 to the E-Trade monkey -- brands have spent and made millions off the big game. And while the game's broadcaster has always reserved the right to refuse those it doesn't deem fit to spend millions-per-second, a more recent phenomenon has seen some brands use their rejection as a selling point in and of itself. Last year, GoDaddy.com used its rejection as a way to get potential customers to log on to its site to see just what sort of elicit behaviour got its ad banned. Sure, it ended up being a bit ZZzzz, but the ruse worked, at least enough to have them go for the same gimmick in 2010.
And let's not even get into the ongoing "controversy" that's preceded Sunday about CBS' inclusion of what many have called an anti-abortion ad from Christian group Focus on the Family, that features NCAA football star Tim Tebow.
After the jump we take a look at a fistful of ads that got stuck with the label "banned," and may still reap the publicity rewards.
Super Bowl Preview: Where Art Thou, Defense? - That the Roman numerals of Super Bowl XLIV make the National Football League's championship game look like shorthand for "Super Bowl Xbox LIVe" is fitting. I think I'm cheering for the Saints - just because it would be a great story for that city.
Ilya Kovalchuk sent to New Jersey from Atlanta for players, draft pick - Atlanta general manager Don Waddell dealt his captain to the New
Jersey Devils on Thursday night, matching one of the Eastern
Conference's top teams with one of the game's most dangerous snipers. I'm not saying he's greedy or anything, but Kovalchuk turned down $100 million dollars. Before you say this is an 'I want out of Atlanta' move - his agent said he wants the league max for his client. That's more and Ovechkin. Is Kovalchuk better than Ovie? I think not.
Sens turn it up to 11 against Canucks -
The familiar refrain of Jason Spezza scoring and Brian Elliott stopping
everything in sight continued on Thursday night as the Ottawa Senators
extended their franchise record winning streak to 11 games with a 3-1
victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Spezza heating up before the Olympics is a huge win for Canada.
And the hits just keep on comin'... - The QMJHL has indefinitely suspended Val-d'Or Foreurs defenceman Marco Scandella, also a World Jr. team member and one of the best blueliners at this year's tourney, indefinitely for this flying elbow against the jaw of a Rimouski Oceanic player on Wednesday night. I personally don't think this hit was that dirty, but with every hit being under the microscope, this will likely see some severe punishment as well.
Just when you may have thought the outcry over that Cormier hit may have died down and we could start distinguishing between constructive debate about the state of violence in hockey and rampant media fear-mongering... there's this. Yet ANOTHER example of an elbow that looks like something picked up at the Hacksaw Jim Duggan School of Contact.
The QMJHL has indefinitely suspended Val-d'Or Foreurs defenceman Marco Scandella, also a World Jr. team member and one of the best blueliners at this year's tourney, indefinitely for this flying elbow against the jaw of a Rimouski Oceanic player on Wednesday night.
So, another vicious hit, another Canadian World Jr. star suspended indefinitely. What's the message here? That some of Canada's best hockey players are dirty? And if they aren't dirty, just plain stupid? Both? There will be continued debate over the level of violence in hockey, but let's not pretend this is a recent phenomenon. Having dirty players on our national team is nothing new. Just ask Valeri Kharlamov. Maybe we're now just getting a conscience about it.
Alfredsson, Spezza scored 2 each, Sens top Sabres for 10th straight win - Daniel Alfredsson scored twice in the final minute - including an
empty-netter - and the Senators extended a franchise-best winning
streak to 10 with a 4-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday
night. I'd call this past 10 games by the Sens a rather remarkable bounce-back. Here's hoping the keep up the stellar play.
Leafs D Komisarek out for season, will miss out on Vancouver Olympics - Toronto Maple Leafs
defenceman Mike Komisarek will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery,
ending his plans to represent the United States at the Vancouver
Olympics. Team USA looses two big D-men in the same week - that's gotta hurt. Oh yeah - and it is good news for the Leafs - they'll have to kill less penalties.
Bosh, Bargnani score 20 each, lead Raptors to 108-99 win over Nets - Jarrett Jack woke up on Wednesday feeling so ill he thought he would not be able to play against the New Jersey Nets that night. It would be pretty embarrassing to lose to the 4-win-Nets now wouldn't it - but with the Raptors, you never really know...
Mickelson won't use wedge, accepts apology from McCarron -Phil Mickelson won't
be using the Ping Eye2 wedge that led a fellow player to accuse him of
"cheating," even though he hopes others will use the controversial club
to keep attention on what he calls a ridiculous rule.Phil said that he made his point and hopes other continue to make theirs (about the loophole and ridiculous rule-making process in place at the PGA / USGA).
The new issue of SI predicts Canada will finish second in the final medals tally after the big sports party in Vancouver is done. Perhaps the most surprising prediction isn't Canada in the two slot, but that Germany will top all others and the U.S. will finish third. We're not used to this sort of American humility, but we tip our hats to it in a gentlemanly fashion.
Picking Ze Germans to finish first isn't a big leap though, as they did just that at the 2006 Games in Torino. The U.S. finished second back then, with Canada coming in at third. So really, this prediction isn't all that ground-breaking, especially considering the whole "Own the Podium" deal in 2010.
What do you guys think? Is the deuce good enough for Canada or do the hosts really need to be gunnin' for that No. 1 spot?
Washington Capitals beat Boston 4-1 for club record 11th straight victory - Washington Capitals
coach Bruce Boudreau finds it hard to believe his club has won a
franchise record 11 straight games. Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien
feels the same about his team's eight-game losing streak. This Ovechkin guy MUST be on steroids... but seriously, good for the Caps. The city is loving this new-found hockey success!
4 injured in small stage collapse outside site of Super Bowl in Miami -Four people were
injured when a small stage collapsed outside Sun Life Stadium, where
the Super Bowl is being played this weekend. I guess you can say that the stage pulled a 'Favre' and collapsed... No? Too soon?
Habs' sniper Cammalleri out six weeks with knee injury, no surgery needed - Michael Cammalleri
will be out for about six weeks with a knee injury but the good news
for the Montreal Canadiens' top scorer is that he won't need surgery. A good news / bad news deal for Habs fans. I was jogging on the treadmill when I saw Cammalleri go into the boards and I almost fell off squirming from the sight of his leg twisting into the boards like that. He's lucky he doesn't need surgery.
J-S Giguere second Leafs goalie to record shutout in debut, Toronto wins 3-0 - It was a good night for the whole team, which general manager Brian
Burke had remodelled in a flurry of activity over the weekend. Some of
the greatest contributions were made by new players, led by Phaneuf,
forward Fredrik Sjostrom and goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Start engraving those names on the cup now! No but seriously, we'll see how long this fire lasts under the Leafs now that they know they are all trade-able.
