If hockey was the national game south of the 49th parallel, you can bet U.S. Congress would be all over the concussion problem in hockey, the way it made political hay by shooting fish in a barrel with steroids.
But alas, our politicians take the lead of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. With the exception of NDP MPs Glenn Thibeault (Sudbury) and Thomas Mulcair (Outremont), who have asked for a royal commission on serious sports injuries, they would rather be dewy-eyed, romantic boosters.
Meanwhile, the NHL trade deadline Monday approaches against the backdrop of the uncertain status of concussed Dallas Stars forward Brad Richards and with the Carolina Hurricanes, another team battling for a playoff spot, wondering about a so-called upper body injury suffered by captain Eric Staal.
Staal sure looked, um, winded after a hit to the chin last Friday and his status for Carolina’s game Tuesday against the Florida Panthers is uncertain.
Meanwhile, the thugs look like they’re reclaiming the NHL. Matt Cooke ought to be the face of the game on next year’s NHL video game. And as The Globe and Mail’s Allan Maki reported on the weekend, a guy who was banned from the Ontario Hockey League in 2009 for running 16-year-old Ben Fanelli into the boards and fracturing his skull, Mike Liambas, is now at the University of British Columbia and just sent University of Alberta captain Eric Hunter to the hospital with facial cuts and a concussions after punching him in the head from behind and driving him to the ice. This is what happens when you make the Don Cherrys of the hockey world your intellectual light, or when you wait for NHL commissioner Gary Bettman – no friend of Canada – to do something.
CLEANING UP
Kyle Drabek’sstiff neck will cause him to miss his first Grapefruit League start for the Toronto Blue Jays Monday against Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halladay. Drabek was the focal point of the 2009 trade Halladay forced the Jays into making. Jo-Jo Reyes is expected to get the start… Russell Martinof Chelsea, Que., has been hampered by knee soreness and has had his work behind the plate cut back at the New York Yankees complex, but he is expected to be the designated hitter Monday against the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland, Fla. … Scott Mathieson of Vancouver is relying solely on a split-fingered fastball this spring in an attempt to elevate his status with the Phillies. “That’s all I’m going to throw this spring,” the 27-year-old survivor of two Tommy John surgeries and a nerve relocation procedure told reporters in Clearwater, Fla. “I’m going to show I can pitch with it.” The Phillies hired Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter – the father of the splitter – to teach it to Mathieson late in 2010. … Forget steroids. This will be commissioner Bud Selig’smost challenging season, with the balance of his legacy determined not only by an early conclusion of negotiations on a new collective agreement but also on straightening out ownership uncertainties in two big markets. The McCourt family divorce is having an impact on the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets’ owners, the Wilpon family, are facing a $1-billion (U.S.) lawsuit from the trustee for victims of Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Baseball’s growth has been on the backs of the big markets. And there are whispers that Lew Wolff, the owner of the Oakland Athletics, and Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg both realize they will not get new ballparks. Contraction is very much spoken behind the scenes once again. Would Selig pull off another franchise swap, as he did with Jeffrey Loria and the Montreal Expos?
IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY TO PANIC
There are 12 managers who weren’t in charge of their major-league teams at this time last season, and bless the folks at bmaker.ag for providing us with the odds on the first of them to be fired. Mike Quade of the Chicago Cubs is the favourite to be canned, according to the site, with a 20-per-cent rating and paying out $40 for every $10 bet, with the next shortest odds on Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. The list:
Terry Collins, New York Mets, +600
John Farrell, Toronto Blue Jays, +525
Kirk Gibson, Arizona Diamondbacks, +535
Fredi Gonzalez, Atlanta Braves, +565
Clint Hurdle, Pittsburgh Pirates, +475
Don Mattingly, Los Angeles Dodgers, +550
Mike Quade, Chicago Cubs, +400
Edwin Rodriguez, Florida Marlins, +600
Ron Roenicke, Milwaukee Brewers, +525
Buck Showalter, Baltimore Orioles, +540
Eric Wedge, Seattle Mariners, +600
Ned Yost, Kansas City Royals, +540
Me? I’m putting my money on Rodriguez of the Marlins.
THE MONDAY NUMBER
25
Number of the NHL’s 30 teams that were within nine points of a playoff spot entering the NHL schedule Sunday, six weeks to the end of the regular season.
QUOTE
It’s unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s always been tight, but not like this. You can’t afford to have any losing streaks.
Teemu Selanne
The veteran’s Anaheim Ducks were in 11th place in the Western Conference entering the NHL’s games Sunday, but just two points behind the eighth-place Calgary Flames.
