Interesting take on Kristo and Cichy at the Montreal Canadiens Development Camp

In case you haven't see this it's worth a look. I really hope that soon to be Fighting Sioux sophomore Mike Cichy can get his act together and play up to his potential. Last December at the Sioux Boosters Luncheon head coach Dave Hakstol said that Cichy came into camp a little behind in his conditioning. Maybe his trip to the Hab’s development camp will wake him up.

At the Montreal Canadiens 2010 development camp, the one ingredient in short supply is passion.

For the most part, it has been a quiet, polite affair. After two days, the most intense person on skates has been Habs' assistant coach, Kirk Muller.

An exception to the rule is Danny Kristo who has approached every task with enthusiasm. He also seems to be injecting some creativity in repetitive drills. While Kristo navigated the cones like everyone else, he banked the puck off the boards to give the exercise an additional challenge.

Kristo seems to be enjoying himself and is showing some leadership qualities by chatting otherwise silent teammates.

The forwards went through a number of skating drills on Wednesday morning. Kristo has good acceleration but it was Joonas Natinnen who excelled with powerful cuts and excellent body control. Gabriel Dumont and Michael Cichy were clearly the weakest of the group. [Read the rest of the article]

Captains courageous: Teams expect Toews and Richards to rise to occasion

I think the fact that both captains have been held in check during the series speaks volumes of the defensive game both teams have played. I think Jonathan Towes is going to win the Conn Smythe if the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup. Both players are sitting at minus numbers for the series Mike Richards: -6 Jonathan Toews: -4 respectively.

PHILADELPHIA — Two weeks ago, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews was hailed as one of the NHL's best two-way players and a prime candidate for the Conn Smythe trophy as the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Around the same time, Flyers captain Mike Richards was touted as a modern-day Bobby Clarke for his one-goal, two-assist performance in the team's Eastern Conference clincher against Montreal, a showcase of his grit, timely scoring and playmaking.

Surprisingly, neither center has approached that level during the Cup final. Their success at changing that Wednesday night in Game 6 will be crucial in determining whether the Blackhawks leave the Wachovia Center with the Cup or the Flyers pull another Houdini act and extend this to the proverbial anything-can-happen seventh game Friday night at the United Center.

The Chrissy Pronger story.

I have to wonder if the Chicago Tribune is going to regret putting this unflattering picture of Chris Pronger in their paper or not? Personally I think it's funny but it’s unnecessary.

The Chicago Tribune printed a photo of Flyers defenceman Chris Pronger on Tuesday, which named the veteran as "Chrissy Pronger" and used an altered photo showing him wearing a dress while playing.

Pronger was asked by the media if he had seen the story.

"I don't read what you guys write - good or bad," replied Pronger.

It definitely wasn't good, or flattering. A photo-shopped picture, and a play on his name. He was asked if such shots against him plus the negative reaction that he receives in Chicago motivate his play on the ice. For his part, Pronger wasn't biting.

"I really couldn't care to be honest with you," said Pronger.
[TSN.COM]

Bettman willing to rewrite history in Winnipeg, Quebec...

I am going to keep following this story and I will link up any news I see pertaining to this story. I believe the NHL is failing miserably in non-traditional hockey markets and I believe the NHL needs to correct these mistakes. I find it interesting that Bettman is now open to going back to markets in Canada that had teams previously.

CHICAGO — Gary Bettman seems more open than ever to bringing NHL franchises back to Winnipeg and Quebec City.

The NHL commissioner has been open about the league’s interest in the two cities recently. He says it has more to do with the economics of the sport than a change in his point of view.

“I think people tend to rewrite history,” Bettman said Sunday night in an interview with The Canadian Press. “When the Nordiques and the Jets left, there was no building and no possibility of a building. And there was no one who wanted to own a team there any more. You can’t maintain a team in those circumstances.

“Those two factors have apparently (changed). In one case it’s been reversed and in another case they’re trying to reverse it.”

Bettman is confident Winnipeg’s MTS Centre is capable of housing an NHL team and has heard from key officials in Quebec about their desire to build a new arena there.

Just as importantly, he has received serious interest from prospective owners. Mark Chipman and David Thomson of True North Sports and Entertainment made a serious pitch to buy the Phoenix Coyotes and return them to Winnipeg, and Bettman says he’s heard from more than one “substantial” group in Quebec.

Interestingly, a painful year for hockey fans could wind up being a major factor in the rebirth of big league hockey in the two cities. Bettman credits the salary cap system that came out of the 2004-05 lockout for making it possible.

“I don’t think you would have found owners interested in those markets without the current economic system,” he said.

The most likely scenario that would see the number of Canadian NHL franchises increase is through.

Reinsdorf group withdraws from Coyotes competition

You have to wonder how long before the NHL final says Phoenix you're out? Just move the team back to Winnipeg where it belongs.

(AP) — PHOENIX - A group headed Jerry Reinsdorf has withdrawn from efforts to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes, a move that leaves Ice Edge Holdings as the last potential buyer that would keep the NHL team in Arizona.

Reinsdorf, owner of the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls, issued a statement Monday night saying "it was time to move on."

The Reinsdorf group once was the front-runner to buy the team but had fallen out of favor in recent weeks while Glendale officials worked out a memorandum of understanding with Ice Edge, a group of Canadian and American investors.

The Glendale city council is to vote Tuesday night on that memorandum, which gives Ice Edge exclusive negotiating rights for 60 days.

A new lease for the Coyotes to play at Jobing.com Arena is a necessary step before Ice Edge can proceed to try to purchase the team from the NHL.

Byfuglien hit on ref, Timonen

Dustin Byfuglien was hitting everything that moved on Sunday night, here is a two for one hit the ref and Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen. Dustin Byfuglien also had a great night on the score sheet as he score a couple of goals. Here is the one that made the game 5-2.

Big Buff smokes Chris Pronger

Talk about finishing a check against your opponent that was a text book hit. Last night the Blackhawks did what they needed to do to win the game. The Blackhawks finished their checks and jumped on the Flyers mistakes.

Stayin' Alive (RW77)

Why is simply winning Game 5, when both teams are NOT facing elimination called "Stayin' Alive?"

Well, folks, the Flyers (love em or hate em) have never NOT been out of the game. Legal or otherwise, they've largely stayed out of the box and made the least number of mistakes after Game 1. Like I said before, both teams sucked in Game 1 (at least defensively and goaltending). The Flyers enter tonight having beaten Chicago in two straight games.

Chicago has looked like Vancouver in Game what.... 2 or 3 where they simply spent the whole game going after Byfuglien? It seems so long ago that the Vancouver series happened. June hockey? What the... Will the draft be preempted by Game 7? Anyways....

I say Stayin' Alive because I truly felt that (after my prediction looked unlikely to come to fruition) whoever wins Game 5 wins the Cup. Philly can't win in Chicago. Chicago can't win in Philly. So... I now have Chicago winning in 7... only because Game 7 will be played in Chicago.

Tonight Chicago chased Leighton and dropped 7 goals on the Flyers... and throughout the game I thought that the scoring wasn't going to end at 1..2..3..4.. and the Hawks outlasted the Flyers in this one. Why? The Hawks weren't really dominant for all 60 minutes. They were at times, but not the entire game and things really could have gone the other way several times.

Here's a few things I noticed:

First, Hartnell's goal. Where was the Hawk's teamwork? Niemi CLEARLY didn't know where the puck was. Hawks defenseman (Seabrook?) was trailing Hartnell in for the kill COULD have yelled to Niemi that the puck was loose and a simple right pad kick out and no goal.

Second, Pronger was nullified for the most part. He even got called for his second penalty of the series. That being said, when he was off the ice on the PP, the Hawks had their best PP effort of the series, imo. Kindof makes me think that, if the Flyers win the Cup, we'll have to swallow the pill that states Pronger as the Playoff MVP.

Third, Byfuglien finally had a good game in this series. 2 goals and 2 assists tonight. He also knocked Pronger around. Points for Byfuglien taking out a ref with one of those big hits.

Fourth, I saw a lot of cross checking players away from the puck. Flyer players (Timmonen on Hossa and Pronger on someone else I can't recall) knocked over Hawks players by cross checking them in the back as the puck flew by. The puck wasn't being played by either player being knocked down. I admit that the puck was somewhat close by but not in contact by the players. Isn't that interference or cross checking penalty? I don't know.

Chicago has 2 shots at winning the Cup. Philly now is win or go home. Feel good Hawks fans? I don't know. The last time Philly faced that was...I dunno.... against Montreal? Against Boston? The point is: Philly's not in unknown territory. Chicago is. Chicago hasn't won it all since 1961 (This still makes them more successful than the Cubs even if they don't win it all).

This has turned into a great series overall, though. Controversy, up and down hockey, tight games, blowouts, you've got it all.

The view(s) from Standing Rock

I have to admit that I am not a fan of the Grand Forks Herald newspaper, except for their sports coverage. It's not much of a mystery that the Herald is firmly in the camp of lets the change the name. At least in this article they attempt to be even handed and at least fair.

“I will be a Sioux to the end,” Fool Bear said.

And he remains a defender of the UND Fighting Sioux despite arguments by opponents — backed by the NAACP and American Psychological Association — that the name contributes to an atmosphere of bigotry harmful especially to young Indians.

“There’s a certain faction that doesn’t like the nickname,” Fool Bear said. “They have their points.” He remains skeptical, though, of Indian students’ stories about incidents of abuse.

“The name didn’t create that atmosphere,” he said. “You have negative people everywhere. If something happened to them, let’s fix it. Let’s deal with it, like how they got rid of ‘Sammy Sioux’ and the ‘Siouxperburger.’ They got sensitized about things like that. But now (the nickname opponents) are coming here and telling everybody it’s so bad up there” at UND. “They’re going around here and telling people, ‘Don’t send your kids there.’

“I’ve been there. I’ve never experienced anything like that.”

Indian students from Standing Rock and other tribes have described feeling intimidated at Fighting Sioux sporting events, including the 2001 dedication of Ralph Engelstad Arena.

“I wanted to get out of there,” Emmy Scott, 24, a Winnebago and Arikara Indian and UND student who attended as a teenager with her mother, said in a recent interview. “I thought of my family, and I cried. In a lot of ways, our lives are dominated by this.”

Fool Bear said he attended the dedication ceremony, too, and he also speaks emotionally about it — about watching a Standing Rock dancer perform and seeing his nation and its warrior tradition portrayed heroically in a video before the game.

“The video talked about pride and courage and tenacity and winning battles,” he said. “And the reaction from all those people — man, that felt good.” [Read the whole story here]

Chris Pronger owning the Hawks

There has been a lot of talk about Flyers Defenseman Chris Pronger during this season's Stanley Cup playoffs. Some of the comments I have read is that Pronger is a douche bag, thug or a major league hack or insert ______ your favorite description of Chris Pronger here.

Personally, while I think the officiating has been brutal at best in the Stanley Cup playoffs, I don’t think Chris Pronger is a hack. I also don't think Chris Pronger is a dirty player, he is a tough, hard nosed player. Like someone said in another post, however, while I don't like Pronger personally especially after the Bruins lost to his team as well, most of us would've probably love to have him on our team. Pronger is not a player from the Daniel "the Hack" Carcillo mold.

Sure! Chris Pronger has been suspended a couple of times by the NHL for questionable play. Physically, Chris Pronger is a mountain of a man, he is 6"6" tall weighing in at 220 pounds and he has been very effective in this series taking the Blackhawks off of their game. Also, I have seen Pronger using his stick on the Blackhawks players but I lay the blame at the officials for that one.

If anything Chris Pronger is in the Blackhawk player’s head and he is causing them to take stupid penalties and knock them off their game. That’s NHL hockey folks and Chris Pronger and the Flyers are exploiting the young Blackhawks players almost to perfection. I can't fault them for that. You play with what the refs give you.

Being matched with Matt Carle against the line of Jonathan Toews, Dustin Byfuglien, and Patrick Kane has been the Flyers trump card in their two wins. Pronger was +4 last night, while Patrick Kane was -4, this despite a furious third-period comeback where visions of John Stevens danced in our heads. That line has been completely shut down, while the forward line matched against them has tore them apart. Ville Leino has done nothing but score huge goals for this team, and has even prompted a “#Villedelphia” tag on Twitter. Toews has been unable to get into the middle consistently, Byfuglien started being moved about the lineup (although I don’t think his two-minute shift was part of Joel Quennville’s plan), and Patrick Kane, well, -4 speaks for itself.

The point is that the Blackhawks have been more worried about that Chris Pronger is doing to them as opposed to what they’re doing to Chris Pronger. Sure, Pronger has gotten away with some marginable, if not questionable, stick-tactics in this series. But that’s going both ways. Look at what is and is not being called. Anyone who watches hockey on a regular basis knows that as the playoffs go on, the rules usually change. I’ve been watching hockey since I was 10 years old, and this might be the first time that over the course of a series, the Flyers have made the officiating and advantage for them. They know what they can get away with, and whether it’s right or wrong, it’s going both ways. It’s not Chris Pronger’s fault that the Blackhawks allow themselves to go over the edge. Last night, the Blackhawks took three offensive zone penalties, none of them being goaltender interference. That’s something that has to absolutely drive Quennville up a tree. And now the media focus is off of Chris Pronger messing with Ben Eager, it’s Chris Pronger shutting down Chicago’s top line. Right now, they know what’s coming, and they must feel like there’s nothing they can do about it. [Read the story here]

Here is what I do if I was the Blackhawks coach, I tell the players to stop taking moronic penalties and play their game, and tell them not to get distracted or involved in stupid selfish after the whistle stuff with the Flyers. Take the body, hit their top players. See if you can catch Richards or Carter with some big hits.

Pronger's Antics Get NHL Front Office Endorsement (RW77)

As I stated earlier, I'm not convinced that Pronger is a worthless hack. However, I do feel that what he's done in this series isn't all legal either.... or is it?

Today on some East Coast ESPN radio affiliate, NHL head moron Gary Bettman basically endorsed what Pronger's done thus far in the playoffs and inferred that the officials got it right by not calling the game... you know... by the rulebook.

This isn't exactly news. It's no secret that Playoff rules are different than regular season rules. It's an unwritten rule, for sure.

Here's a few interesting quotes from NBA.. I mean NHL commissioner Gary Bettman:

"It depends on who you're rooting for, but he's been around long enough to know how to get close to the line without crossing it."

Why is Bettman talking about who people root for? The question isn't about what the FANS think. Quennville is questioning the LEGALITY of his acts in relation to THE NHL RULEBOOK. Screw the fans.

Ok ok... Maybe he said that because he's afraid of the Philly fanbase after what happened to the Montreal based journalist's car? That's gotta be it.

The article on ESPN.com stated that Bettman "didn't mind the publicity generated by the stunts." (Paragraph 6 of the article found at: http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nhl/news/story?id=5251980)

Of course he doesn't! Bettman is concerned by only one thing: Publicity. If it gets butts in the seats and people tuned in, YIPPEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

Now, I admit that viewership is a prime concern of the NHL. And I do want people to tune in to watch even if it isn't the Red Wings playing. But at the cost of the rulebook and the integrity of the game? NO FLIPPING WAY.

"It's bringing attention to the game," Bettman said. "It's showing our players have personality."

Is that so, Bettman? Is that so? That's the message we want to send to potential viewers? Watch the NHL tonight! You don't know what kind of low life behavior is going to happen tonight!

Bettman is TRULY an amazing man. And when David Stern retires, the world will find out. And the NHL will rejoice as they'll finally be rid of the most worthless excuse for a commissioner of any professional sport that hasn't been accused of breaking U.S. law.

You're pathetic Gary. You're nothing more than a different angle on the Hollywood stereotype that states that the best sleep their way to the top. I just wonder who you slept with.

I don't see why ANYONE outside of Philadelphia's fanbase would EVER want the Flyers to win the Cup.

Citation note: All quotes in this article was taken from this article written by a staff writer (unknown) out of ESPNChicago.com. The article can be found here.

Good news for the Fighting Sioux nickname

This seems like good news. Let hope the members of the Spirit Lake Tribe get a chance to have a vote on the issue.

FORT YATES, N.D. — The chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe said today that he will present a resolution to the tribal council Wednesday to arrange a referendum on UND’s continued use of the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo.

Chairman Charles Murphy told a group of nickname supporters that his resolution would be put to the council for an up or down vote, pending certification of signatures on a petition they had presented earlier this year calling for a popular vote on the issue.

Murphy also said he would direct the tribe’s election supervisor to assist tribal secretary Adele White in certifying the more than 1,000 signatures on the petition.

Results of a referendum “shall be advisory and shall not be in derogation of the authority of the tribal council,” according to the resolution.

It further states that “any prior inconsistent action by the tribal council regarding the holding of a referendum on this matter” would be repealed.

Jesse Taken Alive, a tribal council member and a leading critic of UND’s nickname and logo, said he thought continued maneuvering by supporters was “disrespectful” to UND, the tribe and other entities who believed the matter had been resolved.

“I don’t think it will pass the council,” he said of the resolution. “Everyone is so tired of it.”

Archie Fool Bear, Tom Iron and other nickname supporters had thought the resolution would be submitted to the council today, and they waited outside Murphy’s office for four-and-a-half hours to find out why no council meeting was scheduled.

Murphy told them he had been unable to arrange a quorum for today and his schedule had filled with meetings.

“It makes my day when I can see my leader,” a smiling Iron said as he shook Murphy’s hand. “But we need some action.”

Murphy also indicated that he was eager to have the controversial issue settled.

Fool Bear told Murphy that he was “hoping this would go forward today” but he was pleased that Murphy has agreed to bring the resolution forward next week.

There still is time for the people of Standing Rock to speak, Fool Bear said, and he remains confident that a significant majority of Standing Rock voters will approve retention of the nickname and logo.

Once that happens, he said, he is confident the State Board of Higher Education will reverse its directive to UND to retire the longtime symbols.

Acting on the board’s directive, UND has begun a detailed and lengthy transition that is scheduled to have the 80-year-old nickname and the Indian head logo fade into history by fall 2011.

The draft resolution, if approved by the council, would require that “a referendum election shall be held within 60 days of the election supervisor’s notifying the tribal council of the certification.”

UND’s use of the nickname and logo was challenged by the NCAA, which deems such usage as hostile and abusive to American Indians, an opinion shared by many Indian students, faculty and counselors at UND.

In a lawsuit settlement, however, the NCAA said UND could continue to use the name if it won the blessing of the state’s namesake tribes by Nov. 30. The Spirit Lake Sioux tribe gave its OK last year, tribal members voting 2-1 in favor.

Hawks vs. Hacks Post Game 3 Musings

I must chime in on this series so far because it's been surprisingly good thus far. A little excitement and controversy and up and down play abound.

Game One:

I didn't get to watch all of this game but my impressions were simply this: Gary Bettman loved this game. All offense and no defense. Bettman's flawed philosophy is that there is no such thing as an exciting 1-0 game but there's no stop to excitement if the teams score 2 touchdowns and a field goal between the two teams. Well, they provided in this one.

The Hawks prevailed but I thought barely. Hold onto that statement.

Game Two:

This game was much tighter defensively and a lot better called... if you are a Flyers fan. The Flyers got away with a lot more than the Hawks did, and yet the Hawks still prevailed.

NHL On the Fly gave the star of the game to Antti Niemi but I disagree completely. I think I'd go with Eager. Yeah, he has his hack side of things, but he scored the game winner. Why I didn't pick Niemi for this? Because though he made the saves he had to make, the Team D in front of him took away most of it. The Hawks held a clinic on blocking shots that night.

The Hawks prevailed but I thought barely. Catch the theme?

On to Game 3 and Philadelphia.

First off, the "Orange out" or whatever was a great touch. I thought the Flyer fans were really into the game. That's about as positive I can put the Flyer fanbase. After all, they are the fans that had one among them that damaged a journalist's car...FOR NO REASON AT ALL OTHER THAN HE DID NOT COVER THE FLYERS. Unfortunately, the journalist had too much FRENCH in his Canadian blood and decided not to press charges. I wonder if that yellow streak on the North bound interstate out of Philly was from that guy?

Anyways, it was an up and down game where defense took a dump on both sides of the rink.... around the time the other team scores. Philly scores, then Philly D takes a dump and the Hawks score. Then vice versa. Even Brent "Holy Crap I scored?!?" Sopel scored.

The Flyers prevailed this time. Again, though, barely. The theme continues.

Controversy

The big controversy is the play of Chris Pronger and the seemingly lack of cohones for the officials to call penalties on the Flyers.

I'm not sure. The Flyers definitely have gotten away with their share. Like the video stated earlier.... isn't when a player goes for the body check on a player who is not in the act of playing the puck called interference? Anyways...

People are calling Pronger a hack, but I'm not so sure. I don't like Pronger. I think he has a tendency to make cheap-ish hits and test the boundaries of good taste (see the puck incident as an example) but I'm not convinced he's a worthless hack. Here's a few reasons why:

1. Without the cheap stuff, he's a competent defenseman. Unlike other hacks in this category, without the physical cheap crap, Pronger actually can play and contribute otherwise. Carcillo, Cooke, etc. can't.

2. He doesn't go out there to try to injur...I mean "make his presence known." Carcillo and Cooke do that.

3. He doesn't have a rule named after him...at least not yet. Ask Matt Cooke or Sean Avery about this one.

4. He doesn't really dive.

Anyways, where does this series go?

Well, I figured the Flyers would win at least one home game and that happened tonight. The question is: Can the Hawks win in Philly?

They were never out of this game so I think they can, but will they is entirely a different story. Neither team has been all that dominant this series and I don't see that changing.

I predicted that the Hawks will win in 6 games but if Philly wins Game 4, then it could go seven. The key is obviously Philadelphia. I feel like John Madden when I say this but... if the Hawks can't win at least one in Philly, they'll be in deep trouble.

As a side note and Red Wings fan: I can't imagine Stevie Y on the podium at the NHL draft... FOR TAMPA BAY. Congrats to him for sure, but... it feels weird.

NHL Hockey a big hit this spring...

Wow, the numbers for the NHL this spring are pretty good. That is pretty good especially for the USA for the NHL on Versus and NBC. I wonder if the numbers would be better in the USA if the NHL was back on ESPN again? Just throwing it out there.

If you look at the season and the playoffs, the national television ratings for all five of our national partners, both in U.S. and Canada, have been up, have been strong, and just a sampling of some way the ratings have really been strong are as follows: NBC and Versus combined the most-watched first two rounds since 1997; Versus, the most-watched cable for the first two rounds since 1994. The CBC had ratings and viewership for the second round that were up 94 percent. TSN was up 61 percent. And these playoffs have taken off in cities and have taken over in cities where our teams play: We had a night where the Bruins were playing at the same time as the Red Sox were playing the Yankees and the Celtics were playing. Not only did the Bruins beat both of those other two events in terms of viewership, they were within about 20,000 viewers of actually beating those other two events combined. [Read the whole article]

Chris Pronger hit on Jonathan Toews

Check out this hit.

Carcillo is a moron...

I am not a fan of Flyer's hack Daniel Carcillo. I just don't have any time for the so called agitators the punks that skate all over the ice taking liberties with the opposition's skilled players. This time he took out his own team mate. Oh well!

Chicago Blackhawks Jonathan Toews talks to the media.

Check out that beard. As a UND alum I happy to say that Jonathan Toews is one of us, a former UND student, a Fighting Sioux. All I can say, make us proud, win the Stanley Cup and bring the cup back to Grand Forks, ND.

This time I am going to see the Stanley Cup if Toews brings the Stanley Cup to Grand Forks, ND. The Blackhawks are my pick to beat the Flyers, I can not stomach the Philadelphia Flyers winning the Stanley Cup.

No Words - 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Finals

Canadian fans urge NHL to 'play our anthem' at finals

No and Hell no! Why? This is a horrible idea and you can bet if the game was between two Canadian teams there wouldn't be an American anthem. That being said I am also not anti-Canadian and I appreciate the Canadian players in the NHL.
s/t Kuklas Korner

A Toronto hockey fan is hoping to bring some Canadian spirit to the Stanley Cup final.

Sandro Liburdi has started up a petition with hopes of convincing the National Hockey League to play both the Canadian and American national anthem at the games.

The finals will be a best-of-seven games showdown between two U.S. teams – the Chicago Blackhawks and the Philadelphia Flyers. The series starts Saturday at 9 p.m.

"Although there are two U.S. teams in the final, there are 38 Canadian players and only 24 U.S. and international-born players combined," he said in a telephone interview with ctvtoronto.ca. He also pointed out that the captains of both teams are Canadian.

"Those Canadian players deserve to hear their anthem."

An online petition (www.playouranthem.ca) was launched Thursday afternoon and within a few hours, more than 2,500 people signed their support.

Liburdi says he is trying to get hockey commentator Don Cherry and other sports notables on board.

Honouring Canada in an American sporting competition is nothing new. In fact, the National Basketball Association flies a Canadian flag at every game, regardless of which team is actually playing.
[CTV.CA]

MTS Centre has NHL capacity

The past week there have been a few people that said that the MTS centre is too small for the NHL, the NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman made a statement contrary to that opinion shooting holes in that theory. Translation: MTS centre is big enough for an NHL team.

Bettman runs this show and the lesson that emerged from a Phoenix courtroom this year for the backers of an NHL bid in Winnipeg was this: Whatever else you do, follow the rules as they are made and interpreted by Bettman. Want a team for Winnipeg? Maybe he's got one for you -- but it will be at the commissioner's whim, at the time of his choosing and entirely on Bettman's terms.

And there was very good news this week on one of those fronts for the folks who want the NHL back in Winnipeg. One of Bettman's inviolable terms for an NHL team -- indeed, the one that cost us the Winnipeg Jets in the first place -- is the suitability of our city's arena.

And what Bettman made clear this week is this: For all the wringing of hands by NHL backers and opponents alike that Winnipeg's MTS Centre is too small for the NHL, the only opinion that matters in the end says our arena is big enough for him.

Here's what Bettman told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday: "While we play to 93 to 94 per cent capacity, we'd like to play to 100 per cent capacity," Bettman said. "A 15,000-16,000 seat arena might work better in some markets than a 19,000-seat arena."

A 15,000- to 16,000-seat arena? Funny thing -- Winnipeg just happens to have one of those sitting on Portage Avenue, a shiny new building with loads of luxury boxes and precisely 15,002 seats for hockey.

Is it on the small end? Yes, it is. But does it disqualify us for consideration? No, not after that pronouncement. [Read the whole article]