The Tim Horton's Brier; Canada's Event

2010 Brier Champions - Team Alberta

The Brier is being played in London, Ontario this week, without a doubt the biggest event in the world of curling. Over the next week, fans will see the best teams and the best players in the world competing for the sport’s biggest prize; a championship that eclipses both the World Championship and the Olympics in terms of prestige and quality of field.


Attending the Brier in person is a lot of fun, as fans from across the country fill the arena, wave their province’s flay, yell chants, drink beer and generally have a great time. Perhaps the best part of the Brier is the Brier Patch; the beer garden synonymous with curling and the event. When in Calgary, the Brier Patch is located in the Big Four building, allowing for me and five thousand of my closest friends to partake in the age old tradition of drinking beer. It is a lot of fun, and if you haven’t been, you’re missing out.

It's Pretty Simple: Win or Go Home

Did I just jump into the Delorian and go back to the year 2006?

The Canadian Men’s Hockey team lost early in the tournament. They are having trouble scoring goals. They will now have to go through Russia to get to the Semi Finals? Turin sure is lovely this time of year.

The Canadians are in a bit of a pickle.

What is the problem you ask? Well, they must now win four games in succession rather than the three they should have had to win had they beaten the Americans. Oh yeah, and they must also go through, arguably, the scariest team in the world right now.

To start off, there is one thing people keep bringing up and that is the small amount of time this team has had together. Bollocks I say!

Optimists have said that the loss to the USA would give this team more time to come together as a team. But the question I have is this: Why is it an excuse to begin with? All the top teams including the Americans, Swedes, Fins, Russians and Czech’s all have the same amount of time to get to know each other, considering a majority of each of those teams players compete in the NHL. The Americans are not having problems gelling as a team, but Canada seems to struggle mightily and fans and others continue to use that same lame justification. It’s trite and simply should not be a logical rationalization.

However now, the Canadians are out of excuses and out of options; they must win or go home.

They must win or face four more years of every sceptic, pundit, blogger, tweeter, journalist, and hockey fan alike asking you what went wrong when the pressure was on in Vancouver.

With the loss to the Americans Coach Babcock announced that Roberto Luongo will get the start in goal. The proverbial torch has been passed as Martin Brodeur will be a cheerleader from here on out. One bad game can cost you a job, and in this case it cost Brodeur his. It’s not a slight to Brodeur skill as what he has done in his career and for this country will not go unnoticed. It is simply a way to hopefully create a spark for a team that is struggling to score goals despite one of the most stacked rosters ever assembled.

What is the first rung on this ladder that now seems so much higher?

The Canadians have to face a German team that has lost all three of their games and have only scored 3 goals all tournament. Ze Germans have only a handful of NHL regulars on their roster—Ehrhoff, Goc, Hecht, Seidenberg, Sturm, and goaltender Thomas Greiss. The Canadians should be ready to crush this team. That being said, Canada does have their problems with teams of lesser quality (See: Switzerland 06’ and 10’)


Assuming the Canadians get by the Germans, they will face Russia in the quarterfinals. The Russian’s are far and away the scariest team in the tournament. Ovechkin, Malkin, Kovalchuk, Datsyuk, and Semin; all names that would frighten a goalie. They, much like the Canadians though, lost a game they should not have. They faltered in their second quarterfinal game and lost to Team Slovakia in a shootout. A match-up between Russia and Canada that most thought, and hoped, they would see in the final on Sunday. Well, the Olympics have always been a little unpredictable and it is no different this year. One team is going to have to face years of heartache while the other will roll into the Semi Finals.

Assuming Canada takes care of the Germans tonight, tomorrow nights game will be one for the ages. Much like the Penguins-Capitals series last year lived up to all its hype, I would expect no less from a match-up between the two best players in the world.


Sid vs. Alex

Canada vs. Russia

I think the energy in the building on Wednesday night might create the 1.21 Jigowatts needed to take me back to the year 2010. Here is hoping as I am not sure I can relive four more years of hearing

“What happened to the Canadian Men’s Hockey team at the Olympics?”

This has been,

Newman on the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games

Source of Photo: http://media.photobucket.com/image/crosby%20vs%20ovechkin%20olympics/DayWalk3rz/Sid_the_Kid_vs_Alex_the_Great.jpg

Iginla Starts Canada's Engine

Canadian fans everywhere rejoiced tonight as Jarome Iginla led Team Canada past Team Norway in the opener of 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic games. Iginla, who officially scored 2 goals (most thought he tipped in another), found his way to the top line with Sidney Crosby and Rick Nash after starting the game on the third line with Morrow and Toews. Not that Morrow and Toews are bad, but playing with Sid and Nash is just a tad nicer.

Iginla capitalized on the move in the second period firing a shot right threw Norwegian goaltender Pal Grotnes. Crosby made the pass to Iginla who made no mistake.

"The first power-play goal, he put it right on a tee for me," Iginla said. "It was a great pass."(Source: NHL.com).

Flames fans everywhere must have had a giant smile on their collective faces when Iginla lit the lamp; I know I sure did. He looked like the Iginla Flames fans were used to seeing. Flames fans would know though, that he had been heating up just in time for the tourney. Iginla had 5 points in the 3 games, including 3 goals, before the break.

I am guessing Jarome was pretty mad that he had been slotted on third line and knew he possessed the talent to be put on the top line with Crosby. He made it happen tonight with his shot and his legs, which never stopped churning. He was hitting those pesky Norwegians from the moment he hit the ice, and his shot opened the scoring for the Canadian team.

Patrice Bergeron, who was the only player to make the team but not be at the orientation camp in August, did not immediately gel with Crosby and Nash and Coach Babcock took no time in making the switch. It’s been debated whether or not Bergeron even deserved to even be on this team. Yes he is a good player, but is he good enough to be one of Canada’s top 13 forwards? I can probably think of another player that might have been a better fit (St. Louis and Stamkos to name a few). Was it the chemistry from the World Juniors a half decade ago, with Crosby that really earned him a spot on this team? Did Crosby make mention to Yzerman that he might make a good pick? How much pull does Crosby really have?

It’s an interesting debate that will prove futile unless this Canadian team does not claim the Gold Medal. If that happens, much like the 2006 team, this squad will be picked apart and overanalyzed for years to come.

It was a great start for the Canadian team. Bring on the Swiss!

How does that bobsled chant go? “Eins, Zwei, Drei” – Little Cool Runnings for you all.

This has been,

Newman on the 2010 Olympics

Source of Photo: http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/hockey/story/2010/02/16/spo-hockey-canada-norway.html