NHL free agency opened up this week exactly two weeks after the NBA began its frenzied off-season. You’re forgiven if your shrug is obvious. Put this in perspective: the top NBA contract so far is a $264 million deal signed by MVP Nikola Jokic with his current Denver Nuggets employer, wiith hundreds of millions more … Read more
What the summer is for basketball and football in the U.S. is what it is for hockey in Canada–a time for events, hype and anticipation. For the first time since 2019, the hockey world gathered in person for the NHL draft last night, and for the first time since 2009 in Montreal, arguably ground zero … Read more
When the NHL season resumed in the twin Canadian bubbles of Toronto and Edmonton in August 2020 it began an unprecedented period for the then-103-year-old league. For the first time in its history, meaningful professional hockey would be contested in the summer. And it probably connected me with the game more than ever. I’ve always … Read more
There’s been an awful lot written about the fact that Thursday night’s much-anticipated January 6 congressional hearings aired on virtually every network and platform of consequence, save for FOX News Channel and the snarky “commentary” offered by Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. Well, that’s not entirely true. ESPN was offering an alternative of their own … Read more
On an otherwise slow night for post-season sports, the Stanley Cup Western Conference Finals got under way in Denver. With all else going on with teams I’ve been more invested in (yeh. I’m still upset about the Panthers), shame on me for not previously noting that, very quietly, the Colorado Avalanche merely were the West’s #1 … Read more
I have to admit, my passion for sports stems from the element of surprise. There is simply no scripted entertainment, no MCU movie, no Broadway play, no book that can produce the unique experience of a storyline paid off in real time. Particularly when the results exceed your expectations. Expectations are forged often by perception, … Read more
They share a common launch window, a common state and a common nose turn from the majority of those in the upper echelons of the National Hockey League, especially Canadians. They’re Florida’s two hockey teams, and for the second consecutive year they will engage in a playoff series against each other. When they were created … Read more
One of the most pleasant connections I made during the horrors of pandemic lockdown was a friendship with a spirited fellow game show geek from north of the border who regularly joined our nightly zoom calls to play board games remotely. Aside from sharing a love of formats in two languages (like most intelligent Canadians, … Read more
Game Seven. We’ve already previously offered how important it is to media rights holders for post-season basketball and hockey series to go their limits (as well as baseball) so they can actually be in the black money-wise. For fans, it goes without saying that Game 7s offer the ultimate in buildup, tension and the kind … Read more
Queen Latifah is more successful these days as the star of THE EQUALIZER than she was as a talk and variety show host. On two different occasions more than a decade apart Queen failed to last more than two seasons helming a daily series, losing tens of millions of dollars on both occasions for companies … Read more