Blogs and Columns

Ovechkin looking for a Hart hat trick

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:11:39 -0500

Sunday’s NHL matinee matchup may not have had the hype worthy of Super Bowl Sunday, but the Washington Capitals and the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins put on a show that rivaled one of the most entertaining NFL championship games in years.

Remember the name Sergio Canales

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:40:07 -0500

He will be a major and influential figure for the Spanish national team at the World Cup - maybe not this year, but certainly in 2014 and beyond.

Remember the name Sergio Canales because you'll be hearing a lot more from him in the years to come.

Gainey planned exit strategy long ago

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:36:04 -0500

As Bob Gainey stepped into semi-retirement Monday afternoon, there was a lot of talk about his Great White Whale: Vincent Lecavalier.

Twice, Gainey closed in on Lecavalier. Twice, the deals fell apart. But there was another near-miss that could have made an even bigger impact. Marian Hossa.

5 reasons why Toronto FC will make the playoffs in 2010

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:11:26 -0500

All things come to those who wait, or so it is written. For all we know it was actually written by a crusty old hermit who won the lottery, married a surgically enhanced bimbo 60 years his junior and died of gluttony within a year of his good fortune.

Derby delight for Liverpool, Chelsea

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:46:14 -0500

There were some great match-ups this weekend in the English Premier League, with a number of local derbies taking place. Liverpool faced Merseyside rivals Everton, Birmingham battled with Midlands foe Wolverhampton, while Chelsea hosted fellow London club Arsenal.

There are always plenty of full-blooded challenges in derby games, as the players realize that those matches, more than any others, mean the most to the supporters. As a player, it is important to treat those games with the same reverence as the fans.

How Kovalchuk impacts the East's balance of power

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:06:35 -0500

There's no point in asking which team won the big Ilya Kovalchuk trade.

The answer should be obvious — New Jersey.

A night with the Shaw Meadows Thunder

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:31:51 -0500

Boy, do I ever have a lot of admiration and respect for the parents and volunteers that mentor and help our kids going through the minor hockey programs across our country.

On Friday night I was the guest coach for the Shaw Meadows Pee Wee 3 Thunder team during their game in south Calgary.

Habs' playoff hopes rest on goaltending

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:00:55 -0500

Read up on the latest tidbits and trends as Hockey Night in Canada’s play-by-play voice Jim Hughson takes you behind the scenes and into the game.

This week's work: Pittsburgh Penguins at Montreal Canadiens: Saturday, Feb. 6, 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT (CBC, CBCSports.ca) | Boston Bruins at Montreal Canadiens: Sunday, Feb. 7, 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT (CBC, CBCSports.ca)

Kovalchuk trade creates altered states

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:34:21 -0500

As big as this day is for the New Jersey Devils, it is even bigger for Ilya Kovalchuk.

Hours before he was traded, I asked a former teammate about the Thrashers captain - or ex-captain, I guess. He said, "[Kovalchuk] is a good guy. Hangs out with the rest of the team, fits in. If you can handle the fact that all he cares about is scoring goals, you'll have no problem with him."

Until the day he was traded, no one really had too much of an issue. At the end, obviously, Don Waddell and the Thrashers felt an incredible sense of betrayal.

Mayweather-Mosley no consolation prize

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:48:03 -0500

Boxing fans have been beseeching Floyd Mayweather to step up the level of competition for years, so it's a little hard to fathom that in the same calendar year he could potentially face Shane Mosley and Manny Pacquiao.

Mayweather signed on Wednesday to face Mosley on May 1, shifting gears after negotiations with the Pacquiao camp for the most lucrative fight of all time fell through after a dispute involving Olympic-style blood testing.

Do Flyers, Devils, Rangers have a real shot at Kovalchuk?

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:48:35 -0500

Some more Ilya Kovalchuk thoughts on a night’s sleep:

1. The biggest hurdle Don Waddell must overcome in trading Kovalchuk is the Atlanta GM’s own history

“Remember what happened to Donnie in 2007,” one NHL GM said Wednesday night. “He went hard for two rentals [Keith Tkachuk and Alexei Zhitnik] and it cost him Braydon Coburn and a first-rounder. I think we all learned from that.”

Five questions: Trade talk, broken sticks, and Olympic fatigue

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:40:40 -0500

Here's how it works. You submit a question and Guy will provide the answer to five of them every week. It's that simple. That means your question may not make the final list, but there is nothing stopping you from submitting more than one! You can send your questions to CBCHockeyOnline@cbc.ca or post a comment in the field below.

Here are today's questions:

Giordano the beneficiary of Phaneuf's departure

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:02:57 -0500

There is no question the Calgary Flames had to do something as their season was going nowhere. From contending for the Northwest Division title to now out of a playoff spot, one of the core four had to go. It wasn't going to be their captain, Jarome Iginla, or their best player, goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, so it was between defencemen Robyn Regehr and Dion Phaneuf.

In my opinion, Phaneuf was not an issue in the dressing room, but his trade happened because general manager Darryl Sutter could get more assets for his team than he could by trading Regehr. I am sure that Sutter didn't want to trade either player, but was left with no choice based on his team's performance.

No pain, no gain and other thoughts on Canadian soccer

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:29:30 -0500

Toronto FC gave the media its first glimpse of pre-season training on Wednesday and, for probably the first time ever in a pre-season, Danny Dichio was there with a big smile on his face.

Now part of the coaching staff after retiring as a player last season, Dichio was not required to don his running shoes and hop on one of the treadmills to do his VO2 max, a test that calculates an athlete’s ability to deliver oxygen to the muscles.

That is enough to put a smile on anyone’s face.

Cap issues forced Phaneuf out of Calgary

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:26:16 -0500

Let's call a spade a shovel with regard to the Dion Phaneuf trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Phaneuf is a cap casualty of the new system that was crafted by the NHL and NHLPA in 2004.

It is hard to believe that a stud of a defenceman who was penciled in for Team Canada, who was a finalist for the Norris Trophy as the league's top blue-liner, could have been discarded because of the difficult month of January that the Calgary Flames and their fans have endured. It's human nature to try to figure out what is wrong with Dion.