Sympathy For Humboldt.

I know me posting this is only a drop in the bucket, but if you've been effected by the Broncos tragedy I hope things get better for you in the best way possible.  There are lots of people out there willing to help, even if it's only by listening. 

For those of you that didn't hear about this late Friday afternoon a bus carrying members of the Humboldt Broncos, a team in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, was hit by a semi-trailer  truck near the town of Tisdale, Saskatchewan.  15 people were killed.  14 more were injured, at least one of whom may not walk again.  

More Than I Thought.

The death of hockey great Jean Beliveau got me thinking about hockey and this blog.  I don't watch hockey, as I'm not a fan.  Yeah, there are Canadians that don't pay attention to hockey.  I assumed I haven't mentioned it much here as a result.  But when I did a search I found that hockey has come up here more than I thought.  The number of posts that primarily deal with hockey is small, but they are there.  I even have a hockey tag.  It just shows how much of an effect the sport has on Canadian culture whether you're a fan or not.

Not Watching The Puck.

Hockey has been getting a lot of non-sportscast press the past few days in Canada.  It's a combination of the Vancouver Canucks going to the Stanley Cup and the announcement Winnipeg will be the new home for the Atlanta Thrashers, despite the NHL's disdain for the idea.  Yet it's worth remembering that despite the stereotypes a lot of Canadians don't actually watch hockey, like me.  Like soccer I find it a bunch of pointless going back and forth.  I prefer something where the use of strategy is a bit more obvious, like Canadian football or baseball, and other non-hockey watchers have their own reasons for disinterest with the game .  For example there are probably some immigrants or the kids of immigrants who don't bother with hockey, but stick with the traditional sports obsessions of the "old country," whereever that might be. 

Still, even if you don't follow hockey it's not hard to get interested in some of the business goings-on behind the game.  For example why would anyone want a pro hockey team in Atlanta, especially since the first attempt, the NHL's Atlanta Flames of the early '70s, failed and moved to Calgary, where they remain today.  Los Angeles makes sense if only because of its sheer size and the number of Canadian expats living there, especially those in the entertainment business.  There's also the already mentioned antipathy by the current NHL bosses towards any talk of a new team in Canada.  It's only because they pretty much have no choice, other than let the team fold, that they've finally agreed to the Thrashers move.  But watching the actual game itself is something I just won't be doing.

Hockey That Doesn't Matter.

Once again those creeps at Rogers Sportsnet are trying to extort money out of baseball viewers in Western Canada. Instead of playing the Yankees versus the Angels they're playing a Calgary Flames game. This early in the season it's a meaningless game. Of course you can see the Yankees game if you subscribe to the alternate Sportsnet feeds, but this of course costs money. And if you don't already do so I suspect you're not likely going to get those feeds operational in time for tonight's game. Too bad TSN didn't get the rights, as they don't seem to play these kind of silly games.