Posts Tagged ‘shawinigan cataractes’




Bob Hartley goes to Calgary and not Montreal

Thursday, May 31st, 2012

The Calgary Flames have hired Bob Hartley as the team’s next head coach, replacing Brent Sutter.

Hartley was originally rumored to go to the Montreal Canadiens, but many media sources earlier in the week flat out were incorrect with their poor reporting.

Hartley has had tremendous success as a head coach. He has an overall record of 329-226-95 in eight seasons coaching the Colorado Avalanche and Atlanta Thrashers from 1998-2008. In 2001, he led the Avalanche to a Stanley Cup Championship over the New Jersey Devils and in 2007 led the Thrashers to their only playoff appearance in franchise history.

This past season he led the ZSC Lions to a Swiss championship and last week was an advisor to the Shawinigan Cataractes in their Memorial Cup Championship.  Hartley was also under contract to the Lions for another season, and the Lions were reportedly very disappointed that their star coach had   decided to join the NHL. But the Flames and Hartley were able to come to an agreement on a release last night and Hartley was able to sign a three year contract.

(more…)

  • Share/Bookmark

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in NHL |

Weekend Sports Preview–May 26 & 27–Indianapolis 500, Memorial Cup, French Open, NBA Playoffs & MLB

Saturday, May 26th, 2012

James Hinchcliffe (Wikimedia Commons)

The 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 runs this weekend (Sunday, ABC, 9am) with Australian Ryan Briscoe on the pole.

But the big news for Canadian sports fans is who will be driving second. James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ontario will be starting in the second position for Andretti Autosport. Meanwhile Alex Tagliani of Montreal will be riding 11th.

Not at the 2012 Indianapolis 500 are the defending  champion, Dan Wheldon, who died at a race in Las Vegas and Danica Patrick who is in NASCAR.

However there are three ladies in the race. Brazilian Ana Beatriz is driving in the 13th position, England’s Katherine Legge is 30th and Switzerland’s Simona de Silvestro is 32nd.

Australian Will Power who leads the IndyCar point standings so far this season will start fifth.

Here are the other events I’ll be watching this weekend:

(more…)

  • Share/Bookmark

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Amateur Sports, ATP World Tour, Indy Racing League, MLB, More, NBA |

Oil Kings horrible in loss at Memorial Cup

Friday, May 25th, 2012

The Edmonton Oil Kings simply did not show up to play at key times in the 2012 Memorial Cup.  You could absolutely make the argument they were beyond horrendous as an overall unit on Thursday.

I know it is not always appropriate to be overcritical of the performances of amateur athletes in this country, but heck, players in the Canadian Hockey League are given almost everything they need to perform on a regular basis, unlike the true amateur athletes who try to get to the Olympic Games.

Thursday’s performance was unacceptable. The Oil Kings did not come out to play in losing 6-1 to the Shawinigan Cataractes. It was the first time since 2005 that the Western Hockey League champion finished dead last in the tournament and failed to qualify for the semi-finals.

(more…)

  • Share/Bookmark

Tags: , ,
Posted in More, Western Hockey League |

Brossoit must be better for Oil Kings

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012

If the Edmonton Oil Kings are going to win the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League’s greatest prize, goaltender Laurent Brossoit must be better.

The draft pick of the Calgary Flames gave up four goals on 33 shots in a 5-2 loss to the Saint John Sea Dogs at the Memorial Cup Monday night in Shawinigan, Quebec.

(more…)

  • Share/Bookmark

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in More, Western Hockey League |

Controversial Memorial Cup so far

Sunday, May 20th, 2012

Memorial Cup (Wikimedia Commons)

The top Canadian Major Junior hockey tournament started this past weekend in Shawinigan, Quebec. Among the teams competing are the Edmonton Oil Kings, Saint John Sea Dogs, London Knights and the host Shawinigan Cataractes.

The tournament has been controversial to date on three fronts. First, Friday night’s anthem singer Francois Bastien has been banned by organizers for the rest of the tournament for flashing his shirt which read “Sorry Kyoto” and “Harper.”

Then in the opening game, a Shawinigan goal counted even though the referee originally called “no goal” on the ice, and the replay was not conclusive. Luckily for Oil Kings fans, Edmonton still won 4-3.

Then last night, Saint John’s Jonathan Huberdeau, possibly the face of the tournament as he was the third overall pick last season by the Florida Panthers, delivered a vicious elbow only sixteen seconds into the contest. It will now be interesting to see if the Saint John Sea Dog star will be suspended.

 

  • Share/Bookmark

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in More, Western Hockey League |