This And That

-Welcome to Friday and the usual assortment of things running through my muddled mind.   As always, these come in no particular order.

--Danny Maciocia is back in the CFL,  That really isn't surprising.  What's great about Maciocia being back is we can see him thinking his team had won the Grey Cup when it hadn't back in 2005.  Bring that video back!

--John Chick and Weston Dressler were released by the Riders four years ago this week.  It is a move that cemented the disdain for Chris Jones for many in Rider Nation.  Stephen Safinuk of "The Piffles Podcast"  looked into the releases Jones made and it is a great read.   Guys like Tyron Brackenridge, Weldon Brown and Taj Smith never played again.  It was the start of a rebuild that was needed and it worked.  The Riders would not be where they are today had it not been for the blood-letting Jones had to do.  Yes, Chick and Dressler still had a lot in the tank as we found out, but for the most part, he got it right.

--I get the feeling that both the AFC and NFC Championship games will be duds this weekend.  I can't see Green Bay giving the Niners much of a battle although hopefully it is better than the 37-8 beatdown the Packers got earlier this year while KC is just too good on offence to be stopped.   As we saw last week, once they get rolling they make it look easy.   Many are saying Tennessee needs to win the time of possession.  As we saw last weekend, the Chiefs only need a few seconds to score.

--Love Pete Carroll, but why he decided to punt with 3 minutes left  in last week's loss to Green Bay is a headscratcher.  The Packers were having a tough time stopping Russell Wilson who was the best player on the field last Sunday night.  Why take it out of his hands when you could have given him a chance to convert a 4th and 10.   When its the playoffs, Pete makes some weird decisions.

--As an Oilers fan, I hate the Flames.  As a hockey fan, I want to see Zack Kassian mop the ice with Matthew Tkachuk on January 29.  Most of the hockey community feel Kassian was justified in what he did last weekend in Calgary with many noticing no one really jumped in to stop Tkachuk from getting rag-dolled.  Tkachuk gets everything he deserves.  He's a poor man's Brad Marchand and isn't even close to being at his level.

--I don't understand why the Vegas Knights fired Gerard Gallant and I really don't understand why they replaced him with Peter DeBoer.  It just doesn't make sense.

--The Pacific Division is the best division in the NHL. You can't get much tighter than it is already.  The pressure is on each and every night for the Knights, Coyotes, Canucks, Flames and Oilers,  Its almost playoff time already

--The Houston Astros sign-stealing story became more bizarre with allegations that Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman were wearing buzzers.   The videos in the moments after Altuve's homer won this past year's ALCS over the Yankees on a homer off Aroldis Chapman are very telling.  If this allegation is true, Altuve and Bregman can't play the game again.  It's as simple as that.   I asked this week on Twitter if you thought MLB should take away the titles of the Astros in 17 and Red Sox in 18 and declare them vacated or just leave it..  The response was basically 50-50.

--That's all I got.  Have a great weekend!

This Week In Cougar Athletics

 

Home Events – Friday
Women's Hockey vs. Mount Royal, 7:00 PM (The Co-operators Centre)

Home Events – SaturdayWomen's Hockey vs. Mount Royal, 3:00 PM (The Co-operators Centre)

Away Events – FridayTrack & Field - at Golden Bear Open (Edmonton, Alta.)
Men's Hockey - at Mount Royal, 7:00 PM MST (Calgary, Alta.)

Away Events – Saturday
Swimming - at University of Toronto Winter Invitational (Toronto, Ont.)
Track & Field - at Golden Bear Open (Edmonton, Alta.)
Men's Hockey - at Mount Royal, 3:00 PM MST (Calgary, Alta.)

Away Events – Sunday
Swimming - at University of Toronto Winter Invitational (Toronto, Ont.)

Women's Hockey – Jane Kish was named the Canada West First Star of the Week on Tuesday after backstopping the Cougars to 1-0 and 3-0 road wins over UBC. The fifth-year goalie stopped all 52 shots she faced in the two games, with Saturday's shutout giving her a school-record total of five for the season. Jordan Kulbida scored the only goal of Friday's game, while Chelsea Hallson's first goal of the year was the game-winning tally on Saturday. Riding a four-game winning streak, the Cougars will host Mount Royal on Friday night (7:00) and Saturday afternoon (3:00) at The Co-operators Centre.

Men's Hockey – The Cougars continued their winning streak with their third and fourth wins to start the calendar year, defeating UBC by scores of 4-2 and 2-1 at The Co-operators Centre. Scott Mickoski scored a pair of goals in Friday's win, and Landon Peel scored just 12 seconds into the second extra session in Saturday's double-overtime victory. Brandon Holtby was again stellar between the pipes for the Cougars, saving 55 of UBC's 58 shots in the two wins. The Cougars will take their four-game winning streak into Calgary this weekend with games against Mount Royal on Friday and Saturday.

Track & Field (Women's U SPORTS Ranking: No. 10) – The Cougars scored four individual titles over the weekend at the Sanderson Classic in Saskatoon, the teams' first meet of the year against U SPORTS competition. Ron MacLean had two of those wins with victories in both the 1000-metre run and 1500-metre run, while Joely Welburn placed first in the long jump and Thomas Haidl won the 60-metre hurdles. The Cougars are back to action this weekend with the Golden Bear Open in Edmonton on Friday and Saturday.

Swimming (Men's U SPORTS Ranking: No. 9) – After a month-plus of training following the Canada West Championships in late November, the Cougars return to competition this weekend at the University of Toronto Winter Invitational on Saturday and Sunday. This will be the first of two tune-up meets for the U SPORTS Championships in February, with the other being the Colleges Cup Prairies that the team will host at the Lawson Aquatic Centre on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.

Men's Basketball – The Cougars collected a home sweep over Brandon last weekend, dumping the Bobcats 94-82 on Friday before escaping with a 79-78 win on Saturday. Carter Millar had a pair of 20-point efforts for the Cougars, scoring 20 on Friday and adding 21 points and 11 rebounds on Saturday for his eight double-double of the year. The squad will have this weekend off before returning to the court on Jan. 24 and Jan. 25 at Manitoba.

Women's Basketball – Back at home for the first time in 2020, the Cougars took two convincing wins over Brandon as they defeated the Bobcats 91-48 on Friday and 84-52 on Saturday. Now 6-8 on the season, the Cougars have their bye weekend upcoming before closing out the Canada West schedule with two games at Manitoba, a pair of contests at home against UNBC, and two road games at Fraser Valley.

Women's Volleyball – The Cougars were topped twice last weekend in Brandon, losing in straight sets to the Bobcats on both Friday and Saturday. Like the basketball teams, the Cougars have a bye weekend coming up. Next up is a two-match weekend series against provincial rival Saskatchewan, which the Cougars will host at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport on Jan. 24 and Jan. 25.

(Braden Konschuh/U of R Athletics) 

Red Sox Announce Jason Grilli As This Year's Dinner Speaker

The Regina Red Sox have once again it hit out of the park with this year’s guest speaker.

 Jason Grilli, nicknamed “Grilled Cheese”, is a Major League Baseball veteran relief pitcher who spent 15 years playing for nine teams including the Florida Marlins, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, Colorado Rockies, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Angels, Atlanta Braves and the Toronto Blue Jays.

 He was drafted 4th overall in the 1997 MLB draft by the San Francisco Giants. Jason helped bring the Detroit Tigers to the World Series in 2006 and was named an All-Star as the Pittsburgh Pirates closer in 2013 where he also won 2 NL Reliever of the Month Awards.

 He competed for Team Italy in 3 World Baseball Classic Tournaments in 2006, 2009 and 2013. In 2016, the Blue Jays traded for Grilli, who helped the team return to the AL Divisional Series and AL Championship Series for the second year in a row. He quickly developed into a fan favorite and endeared himself to Blue Jays fans for his stellar on-field performance and wildly passionate celebrations.

His local charitable work during his career earned him nominations for the Roberto Clemente and Marvin Miller Man of the Year awards in 2015, and includes charity work on behalf of Feeding America, the 108 stitches campaign to “Strike Out Cancer”, and more recently No Offseason Sports in Pittsburgh where he fine-tunes his bulldozer driving skills helping build new fields for the organization.

 Jason is a big kid at heart – he is a huge Star Wars fan and Pearl Jam fan. Since his retirement in 2017, he coaches his son’s baseball team, and serves as the Special Assistant for International Relations for the Italian Baseball Players Association.

Jorgen Hus Back With Riders

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have signed Canadian long snapper Jorgen Hus to a one-year contract extension, keeping him with the Club through 2020.

Hus (6’1–230lbs) is entering his sixth CFL season and sixth with the Saskatchewan Roughriders after initially signing with the Club in 2015. The Saskatoon native has played in 81 career games for the Green and White making 15 career special teams tackles and one defensive tackle. The 30-year-old was initially selected by the Edmonton Eskimos in the 2013 CFL Draft, but the Riders acquired his rights prior to his 2015 signing. Before returning to Saskatchewan, Hus spent time in the NFL with the St. Louis Rams, Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City Chiefs.

Off the field, Hus is committed to the province he grows up in and works closely with the Red Cross and its Imagine No Bullying program.

(Riders PR)

NHL Three Stars Of Week

NEW YORK (Jan. 13, 2020) – Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, New York Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo and Calgary Flames goaltender Cam Talbot have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending Jan. 12.



FIRST STAR – ANDREI VASILEVSKIY, G, TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

Vasilevskiy won three games in as many starts, recording a 0.67 goals-against average, .972 save percentage and shutouts in back-to-back games as the Lightning (27-14-4) won three of four contests for the week and rose to second place in the Atlantic Division. Vasilevskiy made 21 saves in a 9-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks Jan. 7, stopped all 25 shots he faced in a 4-0 win over the Arizona Coyotes Jan. 9 and turned aside all 23 shots in a 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers Jan. 11. The victory over Philadelphia extended the Lightning's win streak to 10 games, matching a franchise record set from Feb. 9-27, 2019. The 25-year-old Tyumen, Russia, native recorded eight wins during Tampa Bay's 10-game streak, improving to 22-9-2 on the season with a 2.58 goals-against average and .915 save percentage.



SECOND STAR – TONY DEANGELO, D, NEW YORK RANGERS

DeAngelo topped all NHL scorers with 3-4--7 in three games, leading the Rangers (21-19-4) to a 2-1-0 record for the week. DeAngelo recorded a pair of assists in a 5-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche Jan. 7 before notching his first NHL hat trick as part of a career-high five-point performance (3-2--5) in a 6-3 win over the New Jersey Devils Jan. 9. DeAngelo registered the first five-point game by a defenseman in the 2019-20 season and tied a Rangers franchise record for points by a blueliner in a regular-season game, set on two occasions by Brian Leetch. The 24-year-old Sewell, N.J., native leads Rangers defensemen in scoring with 11-25--36 in 44 games. New York’s 125 combined points (34-91--125) by its blueliners pace all clubs in 2019-20, eight more than the next closest clubs (TBL, WSH w/ 117).



THIRD STAR – CAM TALBOT, G, CALGARY FLAMES

Talbot went 3-0-0 with a 1.67 goals-against average and .953 save percentage, helping the Flames (25-17-5) remain undefeated in 2020 (5-0-0) and take first place in the Pacific Division. Talbot began the week by making 31 saves in a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks Jan. 7. He then posted his second 40+ save effort of the season, stopping 42 shots in a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild Jan. 9. The 32-year-old Caledonia, Ont., native closed the week by making 29 saves in a 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers Jan. 11. Playing in his seventh NHL season, first with the Flames, Talbot improved his season record to 7-7-0 with a 2.54 goals-against average and .922 save percentage in 16 appearances. He is 6-2-0 with a 2.05 GAA and .940 SV% in his past nine games (eight starts) since Dec. 7.

Danny Maciocia Becomes Alouettes GM

Three years ago, Danny Maciocia spurned an offer to become the Alouettes’ president of football operations.

Instead, his desire was to become the team’s general manager — a position that went to Kavis Reed. Now, Maciocia’s dream is about to be fulfilled.

The Als on Monday morning will announce the hirings of Maciocia as GM and Montreal businessman Mario Cecchini as president. The two appointments were hinted at almost immediately after the sale of the team was announced last Monday to Ontario-based steel magnates Sid Spiegel and Gary Stern.

If the arrival of the unilingual Stern — only he and CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie attended last Monday’s hastily called news conference — wasn’t embraced, the hirings of Maciocia and Cecchini, both of whom are bilingual and popular, should be well received.

Maciocia, 52, lives in St-Léonard and has been the head coach at Université de Montréal since 2011. He guided the Carabins to the Vanier Cup in 2014 along with two other appearances in the national championship game, including last November, when they lost to Calgary.

Maciocia returns to the Als for the first time since 2001, when he left as offensive co-ordinator to join the Edmonton Eskimos in a similar capacity. He was named the Eskimos’ head coach in 2005, winning the Grey Cup that season — coincidentally against Montreal.

He was named Edmonton’s GM and director of football operations in 2008, only to be fired five games into the 2010 season. He’s the only head coach to boast victories in both the Grey and Vanier Cups.

Maciocia originally joined the Als in 1996 as a quality control coach — a volunteer position. The Als went to the Grey Cup in 2000, under head coach Charlie Taaffe, only to be upset by B.C.

Maciocia had no previous association with Stern — who last Monday said he hoped to have a new president and GM in place by the end of the week — or Spiegel for that matter.

With Stern, who will be the Als’ lead governor, new to the CFL, it’s likely he relied on both Ambrosie and Wally Buono to assist him in the identification of candidates. Buono, the Lions’ former GM and head coach, was hired by the league as an adviser to former president Patrick Boivin before the team was sold.

The Als last month announced they were suspending their GM search until new ownership was found.

Montreal made the unusual, but necessary, move of extending the contract of head coach Khari Jones in early December. Normally, the GM hires his own head coach. But now Maciocia will inherit Jones, who led the Als to a 10-8 record last season. It was Montreal’s first winning season since 2012; its first playoff appearance since 2014.

Jones, a former CFL quarterback, had two brief stints with the Eskimos — under Maciocia as head coach — near the end of his playing career. Nonetheless, the two undoubtedly are familiar with each other, Jones, when he was an Als assistant coach, likely having scouted Carabins games.

Given his position at the university — one that came with tenure — combined with the Carabins’ success, Maciocia undoubtedly must have signed both a lucrative and long-term contract with the Als.

(Montreal Gazette)

But Maciocia also had accomplished virtually everything he could at the school, a perennial powerhouse, and likely was ready for a new challenge at this point in his career. And, given his coaching pedigree, there will be whispers of him returning to the sideline should Jones and the Als falter moving forward.

One thing’s certain: With free agency a month away, Maciocia will have to roll his sleeves up and get to work immediately.

Cecchini, meanwhile, is ideally suited for his new job. He’s the former president of Corus Media Quebec and a former senior vice-president (sales and marketing) for Astral Radio. Sales and marketing are two of the Als’ most immediate challenges.

When Len Rhodes, a former Eskimos president, said he had no interest in moving to Montreal, his birthplace, Cecchini became the most obvious candidate.

NFL Divisional Round Capsules

Round 2 of the NFL playoffs go this weekend as we find out who are in the league's final four.  For a preview of the four games, click here