Pages

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Its Over

The Regina Pats saw their season come to an end on the same night that the University of Regina Cougar womens basketball team saw their dreams of a CIS championship go up in smoke.

Lets start in Brandon where the Pats finished what has to be one of the more disappointing seasons in memory with a 3-1 loss in Brandon. If there was a highlight for the visiting team, it was the fact Jordan Eberle did manage to get his 50th goal in his last game as a junior. The Wheat Kings also took a class move at the end of the game by putting Jordan's picture up on the scoreboard and saluting him for his time as a junior. That honor isn't bestowed on many players who end their junior careers in another rink. It shows you the type of respect #7 had throughout the WHL.

The Pats end the season with a 30-35-3-4 record. I don't need to tell you how disappointing that is and I don't need to tell you how disgusted the fan base is. GM Brent Parker is already facing a tremendous amount of heat and that heat will only intensify over the next little bit. Brent has his work cut out for him this summer as he tries to rebuild this team's credibility both on and off the ice. Many have said they won't be back next year. I guess we will find out if those people are true to their word when next season starts. I'm sure some won't be back, I'm sure some are just spouting off.

Getting back to Jordan for just a second, there were two interesting tweets from Elliotte Friedman on Saturday night. Elliotte was doing his Hockey Night in Canada thing from Air Canada Centre where the Leafs played the Oilers and his tweets were....

1)Tambellini: Eberle will "most likely" go to Springfield after his WHL season ends this weekend.
2)Tambellini hadn't heard rumbling of Eberle playing for Canada at Worlds -- but would love it.

Could Jordan be wearing the Hockey Canada colours again this year? Some already have him tabbed as an Olympian in 2014. It would be great if he did. You would have to think his chances are slim, but then again this is Jordan Eberle we are talking about. The "most likely" comment by Tambellini really makes me wonder if he could be at the Worlds. Where are this year's Worlds anyhow?
------
In Hamilton, there was a chance for an all-Saskatchewan CIS womens basketball title game. That all-Saskatchewan matchup will happen, but it will be for bronze and not gold. Both the Cougars and Huskies were beaten Saturday night in semi-final play. Simon Fraser finished off a pesky U of R team with a late 4th quarter rally in a 69-55 win while the Huskies lost 82-60. That 3rd place game will be on Access 7 Sunday morning. Check listings to see what time.
-----
As mentioned, the Oilers played the Leafs Saturday night and were beaten 6-4. This is good for two reasons. 1) It puts Toronto nine points ahead of the Oilers who hold down the 30th and last spot in the NHL and 2) Edmonton is now officially eliminated from the playoffs. "The Fall for Hall" is working.
----
Did anyone catch Don Cherry go off on Matt Cooke? Grapes did not hold back. Methinks Tuesday's game in Boston between the Bruins and Penguins will be a nasty one. I hope its not another Bertuzzi/Moore situation, but many members of the Bruins are still very angry over what happened and very angry over the fact Cooke did not get suspended. Hockey is on an upswing right now after the Olympics, it could take a big downward slide if something ugly happens. If it does though, blame Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell for not doing anything.
------
Glenn Howard meets Kevin Koe in yet another Alberta-Ontario final at the Brier. Koe beating both Newfoundland's Brad Gushue and Northern Ontario's Brad Jacobs to get into the final.
-----
ESPN Radio and FOX Sports Radio are all over the Ben Roethlisberger story. A couple of ESPN talk show hosts have even gone as far as saying the Steelers should get rid of Roethlisberger and perhaps try to trade him at the draft. Yes, Roethlisberger is someone who needs to grow up a lot when you look at his past record, but this latest controversy is one where we don't know the truth and may never the truth. Would Pittsburgh take a chance at getting rid of their Super Bowl winning quarterback and then see him declared innocent? Would the Rams give up their number one pick overall for Roethlisberger? Questions, questions, questions!
-----
Who do I take first in the fantasy baseball draft?
-----
Have a good Sunday!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The World Hockey Championships are in Germany this year. They begin in a little less than 2 months. Would love to see Eberle on that squad.

Anonymous said...

Rod mentioned that player meetings with management are going Sunday morning. Does this mean that we could be getting an announcement on the future of guys like Parker/Sutter/Hunt/Ripplinger very soon or not.

perry

Mitchell Blair said...

Rod would know more about than me perry. Ask him!

Anonymous said...

Congrats to Ebs. Too bad it wasn't one night earlier. It would have been had the refs not taken that one away from him against PA a week ago. Oh well!

Anonymous said...

It sounds as if the love affair in Pittsburgh between the media and Big Ben is fading. They may make it impossible for him to stay. Then again, he could be found guilty and will take Michael Vick's spot as the prison QB.

Stephen LaRose said...

One of the world championship games will be played at Schalke's home stadium, according to the IIHF website -- hoping for a crowd in excess of 60K for the match ... I think it's Canada-Germany ...

http://www.veltins-arena.de/portrait_arena.php

http://www.iihf.com/channels10/iihf-world-championship-wc10/home/venues/gelsenkirchen.html

Stephen LaRose said...

A little more here ...

http://www.veltins-arena.de/index_eishockeywm.php