City of Losers?
Who would ever write such a thing?
A 24-6 win for the Edmonton Eskimos over Toronto, and on the same day as an 8-2 Oilers whitewash of the mighty Vancouver Canucks?
The last time The Big E had a day like it had on Sunday, Brian Kelly had caught touchdown passes and Jari Kurri notched the hat trick.
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Hab at Him
I’m with hockey writer emeritus Red Fisher when it comes to Carey Price.
So the crowd boos you. Tough luck, kid. Be a pro and suck it up. It comes with the $2.5 million paycheque.
For the money they’re charging people to get inside an NHL rink these days — the average ticket in Montreal last season was north of $72 — the fans can do what they want.
On Thursday Price instructed Canadiens fans to "chill out," but his solution on Wednesday after stinking the joint out in pre-season game No. 1 — not to face the press after a bad game — was bush league. Every pro should know that if you don’t give the media some words to work with, you force them to make up their own.
In Montreal, perhaps more than anywhere else, that is a dangerous practice.
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Same Old Song and Step Dance
So they sold 20,000 tickets in less than two hours for a CFL game in Moncton.
The first ever regular season game in Atlantic Canada. A one-game shot in the 2010 season, as opposed to 10 home games in every other CFL town.
The politically correct stance is to cheer on those football fanatics in Eastern Canada, furrow our brows and wonder when and where the CFL will finally land in the Maritimes.
Alas, we’ve never been very P.C.
Look: Ever since this CFL fan was a kid they’ve been fiddling the same tune about the CFL and Atlantic Canada. And the problem today is the identical problem that existed when the Atlantic Schooners were dreamed up as a "conditional" expansion team back in 1984.
They don’t have a stadium.
In 25 years of hand-wringing, the good football fans of Atlantic Canada — and the politicians who always hang around for photo ops like at Sunday’s Argos-Eskimos game — have never found a way to do what so many other communities across this country have done: build a stadium.
Pardon us for saying it, but if in a span of a quarter-century the Atlantic economy is such that a stadium is never found to be affordable, then why are we still wondering whether there is enough fan and corporate support to make a go of it with a CFL team out there?
You’ve got your answer.
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The Palomino Beckons
It was only one game, and it came after a long absence, but we’re in the observation business.
So here goes:
For all the hype the Vancouver media machine has churned out on Cody Hodgson, he is likely going to need a lot more time than this pre-eason will afford before he is NHL ready.
He was pointless with two shots on goal Sunday in 23 shifts and 17:40 of mostly invisible ice time, in an 8-2 Canucks loss at Edmonton. Given a choice between Hodgson, the 2009 CHL Player of the Year, and the 2010 version in Jordan Eberle (two goals, three points in 14:21 of ice time Sunday), we plead no contest.
"I just focused on trying to enjoy being out there at the beginning," Hodgson said afterwards. "There is no matching the speed and intensity of a game, no matter how many practices you have."
There has been an enormous amount of expectation placed on a kid who played only 13 games last season in Brampton and who is rehabbing a serious back injury at only 20 years of age.
He needs some quiet time in Winnipeg to get his health and confidence straightened out.
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Oil Gusher
Then there is this group in Edmonton, where scouts are passing through and shaking their heads at rookies Eberle, Taylor Hall and Magnus Paajarvi.
We know. It’s only pre-season. In a few years however, these guys could be the best Canadian power trio since Rush.
Paajarvi had a hat trick in his first pre-season game, and Eberle has been fantastic.
And Hall? Two games, three points, and worth the price of admission both nights.
"It’s OK to feel good about that," said head coach Tom Renney. "But recognize, it’s going to get tougher yet. We haven’t seen anybody’s ‘A’ lineup yet. They have to know: They have to bring more."
When camp opened in Edmonton, we thought the toughest decision would be to keep all three rookies in Edmonton.
Now? It’s whether they keep Linus Omark, the Swedish "Youtube sensation" who has incredible skills in person.
One more name to remember: Defenceman Jeff Petry.
His dad was former Detroit Tigers pitcher Dan, and it won’t be long before Jeff, fresh out of Michigan State University, is in the big leagues as well.
