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Monday, March 14, 2010

Scott Taylor’s CITI Sports Reports

There were 10 games in the National Hockey League yesterday… three Canadian teams in action…

NY Islanders 4 Toronto 1
The Islanders put a halt to Toronto’s season high three-game winning streak.

Vancouver 3 Calgary 1
A weird one. The Canucks had 20 shots on goal in the first period and none in the third, but are still 6-1-1 in their last eight.

Washington 4 Chicago 3 (OT)
Alex Ovechkin was kicked out in the first period, but it didn’t matter. Chicago had a 3-0 lead five minutes into the third period at home and blew it. Winnipeg’s Jonathan Toews had a pair of goals, his 21st and 22nd of the year for the Hawks, while Winkler’s Eric Fehr scored his 18th for Washington. Nicklas Backstrom’s second of the game was the winner in overtime. The Caps havewon four straight and now have 101 points.

NY Rangers 3 Philadelphia 1
Sean Avery scored twice and was the game’s first star as the Rangers moved to within a point of Boston in the race for eighth in the East.

Nashville 3 Los Angeles 2
Winnipeg’s Colin Wilson scored his sixth of the year for Barry Trotz’s Preds who remain three points ahead of Detroit in the race for seventh in the West.

In the battle of the next Winnipeg Jets…
Phoenix 3 Atlanta 2 (SO)
Adrian Aucoin scored the winner in the shootout as Phoenix won its fifth straight game.

Colorado 5 Dallas 3
Craig Anderson made 48 saves to get the win while Paul Stastny scored twice.

Minnesota 4 St. Louis 2
Winnipeg’s Cam Barker had an assist and was plus-2.

Pittsburgh 2 Tampa Bay 1
Seven players in that game were first or second overall selections in the NHL draft.

Anaheim 4 San Jose 2
Former Jet Teemu Selanne had a goal and an assist and now has 599 career goals.

After splitting a two-game series with the Rockford Ice Hogs on the weekend, the Moose have a few days off before they face the Grand Rapids Griffins this coming Friday night and Sunday afternoon at MTS Centre.

In curling, Kevin Koe of Alberta upset Glenn Howard of Ontario 6-5 in 11 ends in the final to win the Brier in his first try.

In NFL news, the Cleveland Browns signed veteran free-agent quarterback Jake Delhomme and then traded Brady Quinn to Denver. Meanwhile, it looks as if veteran runningback LaDainian Tomlinson ihas signed a two-year deal with the New York Jets.

In golf, Ernie Els finished at 18-under to win the CA Championship at the TPC Blue Monster at Doral in Miami.

And the stage has been set for March Madness 2010. The best 64 teams in U.S. College basketball. The top four seeds in the NCAA men’s basketball championship are, not surprisingly, Kansas, Syracuse, Duke and Kentucky. The tournament starts on Thursday.

7:15 NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE REPORT

Hi everybody, it’s the Coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM National Hockey League Report. Brought to you by MAACO Collision and Auto Painting at 983 Wall Street.

Perhaps no one has noticed, but Winnipeg’s Travis Zajac is having a season to remember. Zajac, the 24-year-old rightwinger out of the University of North Dakota has moved into the Top 30 in NHL scoring with 21 goals and 37 assists.

Perhaps more importantly, the 6-foot-3, 200-pounder, is a terrific plus-18. By the time the next Olympics roll around, he’ll be one of the best players in the game. If he isn’t already.

8:15 NASCAR REPORT

Hi everybody, it’s the coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM NASCAR REPORT. Brought to you by 3M Automotive and Rondex. At 177 Isabel, Rondex is celebrating 38 years of auto body supply service.

With the NASCAR Sprint Cup boys in Bristol preparing for the Food City 500 next Sunday, all the talk remains focused on Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski. Remember, they had that altercation in Atlanta two weeks ago and it’s still lingering now that Edwards has been placed on probation for the next three races.

Keselowski said at Bristol last weekend that he won’t change his style and that he’s ready t mix up with racing’s best. That should make this week’s bumper car race at Bristol even more fun.

5:15 PM COACH’S COMMENTARY

Hi everybody, it’s the coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM Afternoon Coach’s Commentary. Brought to you by 3M Automotive and Rondex. At 177 Isabel, Rondex is celebrating 38 years of auto body supply service.

By now, it has to be official. There is no better coach in the NHL than Dauphin’s Barry Trotz. Trotz, the only coach the Nashville Predators have ever had, has the no-name, star-less Predators in seventh place three points ahead up on eight-place Detroit.

That shouldn’t happen. The Preds just don’t have the personnel. But Trotz has made them a playoff contender – they beat L.A. on the road yesterday — and that says more about his brilliance than anything else.

A couple of weeks ago Winnipeg Free Press columnist Paul Wiecek took a nasty swipe at my colleague Cosmo and this radio station for allowing Winnipeggers to talk about the NHL rumours they’d heard. He suggested that all Winnipeggers who believed that Gary Bettman had been in Winnipeg, or that David Thomson was buying the Atlanta Thrashers, or that the Phoenix Coyotes might be the team or that Bettman had talked to Mark Chipman in Vancouver, etc., etc. were “idiots.”

Wow! Based on his column in Saturday’s Free Press, it appears Wiecek has now punched his ticket on board the rumour train. It’s an amazing world we live in, isn’t it?

For almost six weeks, every single day, somebody in Winnipeg would come up with a new rumour.

“David Thomson has purchased the Atlanta Thrashers and they’re on their way to Winnipeg.”

“There will be a press conference on March 4 to announce the return of the Jets.”

“The deal is done. The Thrashers are coming and the Moose are moving to Saskatoon.”

“It’s not the Thrashers. It’s the Coyotes.”

“Ice Edge Isn’t Buying the Coyotes. Bettman is moving them to Winnipeg.”

“There are engineers and architects nosing around the MTS Centre, looking to make improvements to the building.” (Actually, that one is still out there today).

“Gary Bettman was spotted having dinner at The Lobby last night.”

“Gary Bettman was at MTS Centre last night.”

A week ago last Friday, the rumours appeared to end. At least, for the time being. Although, to be frank, I received 53 e-mails from Winnipeggers that Friday afternoon, all-day Saturday and part of Sunday, still wondering if the Thrashers or Coyotes were coming to Winnipeg. No matter what the newspapers told us, no matter what the Manitoba Moose rightsholder claimed and no matter what the Moose communications department said, Winnipeggers still want an NHL team so badly that they’d rather believe the rumours than those who either are or believe they are, close to the truth.

These, I’m afraid, are the rumours that will not die and they will never die until Mark Chipman, governor of the Manitoba Moose and chairman of True North Sports & Entertainment stands up in front of everyone in the city and says, “Despite our best efforts, the NHL is never coming back to Winnipeg.”

However, as long as Chipman continues to tell people he’s quietly negotiating with commissioner Gary Bettman and the NHL’s board of governors (and that’s not wrong, by the way), people are going to believe anything that even remotely suggests the NHL might return.

In fact, during the past two months, it seemed that just about everyone wanted to believe the rumours. I got a call three weeks ago from Mayor Sam Katz who said he’d heard through his sources in Toronto that people were talking about David Thomson’s purchase of the Thrashers. Since then, Sam heard what we all heard about the rumours, and yet the rumours wouldn’t die.

“We know there are many Winnipeggers and hockey fans who would love to see the NHL come back to our great city, and maybe in time that will happen. But I can tell you that from the sources I have, these rumours have absolutely no foundation and no truth to them,” Katz told Russ Romaniuk of the Winnipeg Sun. “And it’s extremely unfortunate that the hopes of those who want to see the NHL will be raised to a phenomenal level and then could be let down again. That’s just not fair.”

Katz told the Sun that he didn’t “have a clue” where the rumours had started, but suggested that whoever was behind them should stop.

For me, that was a call to action. Where did those rumours start?

After looking into it almost every day since the newspapers first debunked the rumours more than four weeks ago, it became clear to me that every single rumour was started inside MTS Centre. Although we couldn’t determine who Rumour-Monger Zero was, it was clear that every story that was floating around town had been floated from employees of True North Sports and Entertainment. It was a simple matter of friends telling friends that their jobs were going to change because this or that was going to happen.

Because the rumours started inside MTS Centre, they had a validity they wouldn’t have had had they been started by anyone else, including the mainstream media. And it’s why nobody could make them go away.

And it’s apparent that the only way they’ll ever stop — the only way they will not re-ignite as they did this week — is if Chipman admits that the NHL is NOT coming to Winnipeg.

As I wrote at www.92citifm.ca last week, I for one just can’t get my head around the financials of operating an NHL franchise in a city of 700,000 on the Canadian prairie. But that’s just me. What is even more important to consider is this question: Why would the Chipman family want to give up a money-making machine like the Moose in favour of a team that will lose a small fortune every year that it operates? That doesn’t make any sense.

But that question won’t stop the rumours either. Fact is, until Chipman officially says yes or no, the rumours will never, ever cease.

Just check Saturday’s Free Press. The same guy who ridiculed Winnipeggers for believing the rumours, now thinks Phoenix might be coming to the ‘Peg. Who’d have thought?

By the way, I have seat for Paul on the rumour train, right beside me.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Scott Taylor’s CITI Sports Reports

There were 10 games in the National Hockey League last night… five Canadian teams were in action…

Toronto 4 Tampa 3 (OT)
The Leafs have won two straight in extra time. U.S. Olympian Phil Kessel scored the overtime winner. Steven Stamkos scored his 42nd of the year for Tampa and extended his points streak to 18 games.

Montreal 5 Edmonton 4 (SO)
Montreal has won four straight. Andrei Kostitsyn scored the shootout winner.

Calgary 2 Ottawa 0
Mikka Kiprusoff made 33 saves to record his fourth shutout of the year.

Columbus 2 Atlanta 1
Not normally an important game, but it was last night. With Atlanta’s loss, the Washington Capitals, with 99 points, clinched the Southeast Division title and became the first team in the NHL to wrap up a playoff berth. Yes, it’s only March 12.

San Jose 8 Nashville 5
San Jose trailed 4-2 heading into the third and scored six times. Canadian Olympian Patrick Marleau scored his 40th of the year.

Detroit 5 Minnesota 1
Swedish Olympians Johan Franzen scored twice and Henrik Zetterberg had a goal and two assists.

Boston 5 Philadelphia 1
Canadian Olympian Patrice Bergeron had a goal and two assists for the Bruins. Two good players, Mike Richards and Simon Gagne, were each minus-three for Philly.

Carolina 4 Pittsburgh 3 (OT)
The Hurricanes are now 9-1-1 in their last 11.

St. Louis 2 NY Islanders 1 (SO)
T.J. Oshie scored the shootout winner while Winnipeg’s Alexander Steen picked up his 17th assist of the season.

Colorado 3 Florida 0
Craig Anderson made 27 saves to record his career-high seventh shutout of the year.

The Moose return to action tonight and tomorrow night at MTS Centre against the Rockford Ice Hogs.

It’s all over for Jeff Stoughton at the Broer in Halifax. Stoughton’s Manitoba champions won twice yesterday and finished the round-robin at 7-4. But that wasn’t good enough to reach the playoffs.

In NFL news, veteran free agent runningback Ladainian Tomlinson met with the Minnesota Vikings yesterday. He’ll meet with the New York Jets today.

And finally, two sources have confirmed to me that Tiger Woods is not expected to return to the PGA Tour in two weeks at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, Fla., as was suggested yesterday, but will be back for the Masters in April.

7:15 NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE REPORT

Hi everybody, it’s the Coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM National Hockey League Report. Brought to you by MAACO Collision and Auto Painting at 983 Wall Street.

Canadian Olympian Patrick Marleau is having back-to-back career years.

One season after scoring a career-best 38 goals, Marleau has already surpassed that total. He entered the weekend with 40 goals, the first 40-goal year of his career. Now, to be fair, a 40-goal season won’t be enough to win the Rocket Richard Trophy, but it’s still pretty damn good. Only eight players reached the 40-goal mark last season, and only 10 scored 40 in 2007-08.

8:15 NASCAR REPORT

Hi everybody, it’s the coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM NASCAR REPORT. Brought to you by 3M Automotive and Rondex. At 177 Isabel, Rondex is celebrating 38 years of auto body supply service.

Here is why NASCAR insiders believe Carl Edwards should have been suspended for purposely wrecking Brad Keselowski at Atlanta two Sundays ago: The belief around the tracks is that an owner, unscrupulous or not, might decide to hire a start-and-parker to intentionally wreck the points leader at a critical point in the season.

Then again, who’s to say an owner wouldn’t do it anyway, suspension or not.

5:15 PM COACH’S COMMENTARY

Hi everybody, it’s the coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM Afternoon Coach’s Commentary. Brought to you by 3M Automotive and Rondex. At 177 Isabel, Rondex is celebrating 38 years of auto body supply service.

Has anyone noticed that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have lost both of their defensive halfbacks. Jonathan Hefney signed with the NFL while Lenny Walls was traded to Montreal. The Bombers still need a middle linebacker and the team has lost two young receivers to the NFL. The quarterback was a backup in Saskatchewan who has one career start, has thrown only 152 CFL passes and was unwanted in Edmonton.

Are the 7-11 Bombers a better team yet?

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Scott Taylor’s CITI Sports Reports

There were five games in the National Hockey League last night… only one Canadian team in action…

Phoenix 4 Vancouver 3 (SO)
Despite the loss, Vancouver finished its 14-game Olympic road trip with a record of 8-5-1. Pretty good.

Chicago 3 Los Angeles 2 (OT)
Winnipeg-born Patrick Sharp’s second goal of the game and 21st of the year won it for the Hawks in OT.

Washington 4 Carolina 3 (OT)
Tomas Fleischmann scored the overtime winner while Alexander Ovechkin had two assists and now leads the NHL in scoring with 44 goals and 50 assists.

New Jersey 6 NY Rangers 3
Brandon’s Bryce Salvador scored his fourth of the year while Winnipeg’s Travis Zajac scored his 21st and added an assist.

Buffalo 5 Dallas 3
6-foot-8, 220-pound Texan, Tyler Myers had a goal and three assists to lead Buffalo.

The Moose return to action tomorrow night and Saturday night at MTS Centre against the Rockford Ice Hogs. Yesterday was an eventful day at the downtown rink. The Moose loaned veteran centre Marty Murray to the Milwaukee Admirals and got leftwinger Peter Olvecky in return and then the AHL suspended Moose forward Sergei Shirokov for tomorrow night’s game, for kneeing Grand Rapids defenceman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen last Saturday night.

It was a bad day for Jeff Stoughton’s Manitoba champions at the Brier in Halifax yesterday. They lost twice, to Newfoundland and Ontario, have fallen into fifth place and at 5-4 are in real danger of missing the playoffs. Stoughton plays twice today, at 8:30 a.m. against Nova Scotia and at 1 p.m. against Saskatchewan.

Finally, in CFL news, the Saskatchewan Roughriders have signed quarterback Derian Durant to a contract extension and gave runningback Wes Cates a brand new deal.

7:15 NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE REPORT

Hi everybody, it’s the Coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM National Hockey League Report. Brought to you by MAACO Collision and Auto Painting at 983 Wall Street.

Vancouver Canucks hockey-playing twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin have donated $1.5 million to help build a new BC Children’s Hospital.

The two Swedes, who’ve played for the Canucks for a decade, made their gift to support the hospital’s Campaign for BC Children and specifically to the intensive care unit and diagnostics and imaging area in the new hospital. No matter how you want to regard this humanitarian support, it’s still a pretty spectacular gesture.

8:15 NASCAR REPORT

Hi everybody, it’s the coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM NASCAR REPORT. Brought to you by 3M Automotive and Rondex. At 177 Isabel, Rondex is celebrating 38 years of auto body supply service.

As the Sprint Cup boys head to Bristol for next weekend’s Food City 500, NASCAR executives have spent the week talking about Brad Keselowski’s airborne car last Sunday in Atlanta.

But unlike the hockey GMs who are trying to find ways to stop hits to the head, NASCAR executives will admit that the natural violence of the sport makes it unlikely that there will ever be a solution to cars that get bumped and then head for the sky.

5:15 PM COACH’S COMMENTARY

Hi everybody, it’s the coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM Afternoon Coach’s Commentary. Brought to you by 3M Automotive and Rondex. At 177 Isabel, Rondex is celebrating 38 years of auto body supply service.

At age 48, Chris Chelios is headed back to the National Hockey League.

Yesterday, the Atlanta Thrashers called up Chelios from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves and will play tonight in Columbus. Not bad for a guy who has already played 1,644 NHL games and won the Norris Trophy three times.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Scott Taylor’s CITI Sports Reports

There were nine games in the National Hockey League last night… all six Canadian teams were in action… five of them won.

Calgary 4 Detroit 2
The Flames scored three unanswered in the third as the Rene Bourque-Matt Stajan-Jarome Iginla line was great again. Iginla and Bourque each had a goal and an assist and the Flames moved past the Wings into eighth in the West.

Ottawa 4 Edmonton 1
The Sens went into Edmonton and put a halt to a three-game losing streak.

Montreal 5 Tampa Bay 3
Scott Gomez had a goal and two assists for the Habs.

Vancouver 6 Colorado 4
The Canucks came back from a 4-1 deficit and are now 8-5 on their franchise-record 14-game road swing.

Toronto 4 Boston 3 (OT)
Nikolai Kulemin scored the overtime winner with 50 seconds left.

Florida 3 Minnesota 2 (SO)
The Wild blew a 2-0 lead. Cory Stillman scored the shootout winner. Winnipeg’s Cam Barker had an assist for the Wild.

Nashville 2 Atlanta 1
Winnipeg’s Colin Wilson scored the winning goal as Barry Trotz’s Preds solidified their hold on seventh in the East, two points ahead of eighth-place Calgary.

Philadelphia 3 NY Islanders 2
The Islanders blew a 2-0 lead as Simon Gagne scored the winner.

Columbus 5 Anaheim 2
Nice bounce-back for the Blue Jackets who lost 6-0 in Los Angeles on Monday night.

The Moose return to action this Friday and Saturday at MTS Centre against the Rockford Ice Hogs. Saturday night, the Moose will salute the military.

Jeff Stoughton’s Manitoba champions split a pair of games at the Brier in Halifax yesterday. They beat the Territories 10-3 and then lost 7-2 to Alberta. Manitoba is now tied with Alberta and Quebec for third. Stoughton plays twice today, at 2 p.m. against 6-1 Newfoundland and at 6:30 against unbeaten Ontario. Stoughton will join Tom & Joe later this morning.

In NFL news, veteran runningback LaDainian Tom,linson will meet with the Minnesota Vikings tomorrow fueling speculation that if Tomlinson signs in Minnesota, Brett Favre will soon announce his return.

Finally, in CFL news, the Saskatchewan Roughriders traded quarterback Dalton Bell to the Toronto Argonauts for a fith-round draft pick while the B.C. Lions gave oft-injured quarterback Buck Pierce, the Lions leading passer last year, his outright release.

7:15 NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE REPORT

Hi everybody, it’s the Coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM National Hockey League Report. Brought to you by MAACO Collision and Auto Painting at 983 Wall Street.

This weekend while I was in St. Paul, a number of hockey experts watched the newly formed Jarome Iginla-Matt Stajan-Rene Bourque line and wondered aloud which line was the best in the game today.

A couple suggested Alexander Ovechkin-Alexander Semin and anyone on the right side, but the consensus seemed to be that the best line in the NHL was New Jersey’s No. 1 line of Zach Parise, Jamie Langenbrunner and Winnipeg’s own Travis Zajac. If nothing else, it’s one of the few lines in the NHL that has been together for most of the season.

8:15 NASCAR REPORT

Hi everybody, it’s the coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM NASCAR REPORT. Brought to you by 3M Automotive and Rondex. At 177 Isabel, Rondex is celebrating 38 years of auto body supply service.

Yesterday, NASCAR president Mike Helton announced that popular Sprint Cup driver Carl Edwards has been placed on probation for the next three Sprint Cup races as a result of Edwards intentionally wrecking Brad Keselowski last Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Edwards’ will be under probation for the March 21 and March 28 races at Bristol Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway, both half-mile short tracks, and the April 10 event at Phoenix International Raceway, a 1-mile oval that NASCAR still considers a short track. Edwards is lucky. The penalty could have been harsher.

FOR THURSDAY

This week, the NASCAR Sprint Cup boy head to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 500 on that nasty ½ mile bumper car track that has been a highlight of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season since 1961.

Kyle Busch is clearly the favourite. He’s won the last two races at Bristol and three times in his career. Of course, his older brother has won five times at Bristol. It’s Busch time.

5:15 PM COACH’S COMMENTARY

Hi everybody, it’s the coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM Afternoon Coach’s Commentary. Brought to you by 3M Automotive and Rondex. At 177 Isabel, Rondex is celebrating 38 years of auto body supply service.

Why would anyone want to own a National Hockey League franchise? In fact, if there was one way in which a billionaire could become a millionaire without working up a sweat, it’s simply by buying an NHL franchise.

Yesterday, we heard that the NHL has decided to sue former Phoenix Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes because, and get this, he lost too much money on that dog of a franchise and the NHL wouldn’t let him sell it. Check out my blog at 92citifm.ca. This guy lost $300 million and then got sued by the people who helped him lose the money. As a business, the NHL is a mess.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Why would anyone want to own a National Hockey League franchise? If there was one way in which a billionaire could become a millionaire without working up a sweat, it’s simply by buying an NHL franchise.

For instance, Steven Gluckstern, the extremely wealthy man (along with his partner Richard Burke) who bought the Winnipeg Jets from Barry Shenkarow, owned the Phoenix Coyotes and then, owned the New York Islanders, nearly lost his entire personal fortune just by owning two NHL franchises. Len Barrie and Oren Koules were lucky enough to escape the Tampa Bay Lightning before they both went completely broke and now we hear that the NHL has decided to sue former Phoenix Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes because, and get this, he lost too much money on that dog of a franchise and the NHL wouldn’t let him sell it.

Officially, at least according to the Arizona Republic, the NHL has filed a breach-of-contract suit against Moyes and his family, saying that Moyes “violated a number of league agreements.”

The NHL is still pissed at Moyes because he tried to sell the team to Jim Balsillie, who unlike so many of the owners Gary Bettman finds for struggling NHL teams, he is not a soon-to-be-convicted felon.

In the new suit, which of course was filed in New York City – a place that has no freaking idea what the hockey climate is in Phoenix, Ariz. — the NHL claims that Moyes had agreed not to sell the team to anyone who would move the Coyotes out of Phoenix. Which means the only people to which he could sell the team would be the NHL because they were the only people stupid enough to operate a hockey team in a desert. The league went on to claim that Moyes’ bankruptcy filing was a scheme to sell the team to Balsillie.

Really? Seriously? Really? The fact that Moyes lost $300 million on the franchise didn’t have anything to do with a bankruptcy filing? Really? Seriously?

According to the Associated Press, “The suit seeks at least US$61 million, including money the NHL spent on legal fees in association with the bankruptcy case, another $20 million it expects to lose this season while operating the Coyotes, and $8 million that the league says is owed to former team coach Wayne Gretzky.”

Moyes lawyer, Peter Sorrensen, nearly crapped a cactus. He angrily said, “this suit has no basis in law or fact.” Probably isn’t grounded in reality either.

Here’s the deal: A Phoenix businessman buys a town’s pro hockey franchise in order to save it for his home community. The people in his community tell him they don’t want it and over three short years, he loses $300 million. He tries to sell it but the NHL stops the sale. Then the NHL sues him.

The last thing I would ever want to do in my life is get involved with the bandits who run the NHL. Wonder if Mark Chipman understands what he could get himself into?

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Scott Taylor’s CITI Sports Reports

Jeff Stoughton’s Manitoba champions beat Quebec 6-3 yesterday to improve to 4-1 and hold onto second place, tied with Alberta and Newfoundland, at the Brier in Halifax. Glenn Howard’s Ontario team is first at 5-0. Stoughton plays twice today, against the Territories at 9:30 this morning and against Alberta tonight at 6:30.

There were only two games in the National Hockey League last night…

Dallas 4 Washington 3 (SO)
Marty Turco made 49 saves and Brad Richards had a goal and an assist. Alexander Ovechkin scored twice for Washington to tie Sidney Crosby for the NHL goal-scoring lead at 44.

Los Angeles 6 Columbus 0
Jonathan Quick had to make only 11 saves to get the shutout. Alexander Frolov led the Kings with a goal and three assists.

Tonight there are nine games on the schedule, including a;; six Canadian teams: Vancouver at Colorado, Ottawa at Edmonton, Tampa at Montreal, Calgary at Detroit and Boston at Toronto.

The Moose have a few days off before opening a six-game homestand with a pair of games this Friday and Saturday at MTS Centre against the Rockford Ice Hogs. Saturday night, the Moose will salute the military.

7:15 NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE REPORT

Hi everybody, it’s the Coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM National Hockey League Report. Brought to you by MAACO Collision and Auto Painting at 983 Wall Street.

There is one team that would frighten me if I were the San Jose Sharks or Chicago Blackhawks, it would be the Detroit Red Wings.

The Wings have been banged up all season long. For months, they had at least three of their best players out of the lineup. They were half a hockey team for much of the season. But now they’re healthy, the playoffs are beckoning and if Jimmy Howard gets the job done, the Wings could be the sleeper of the playoffs.

8:15 NASCAR REPORT

Hi everybody, it’s the coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM NASCAR REPORT. Brought to you by 3M Automotive and Rondex. At 177 Isabel, Rondex is celebrating 38 years of auto body supply service.

Not surprisingly, Brad Keselowski has asked NASCAR to suspend fellow driver Carl Edwards for at least one race for wrecking him in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

However, Robin Pemberton, the competition VP for the Sprint Cup, said NASCAR would take its time investigating the entire situation befor deciding on Edwards’ penalty. And make no mistake. There will be a penalty

5:15 PM COACH’S COMMENTARY

Hi everybody, it’s the coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM Afternoon Coach’s Commentary. Brought to you by 3M Automotive and Rondex. At 177 Isabel, Rondex is celebrating 38 years of auto body supply service.

It seems more likely with each passing day, that Sam Bradford, the Cherokee First Nation member who played quarterback at the University of Oklahoma will be the NFL’s No. 1 draft pick.

The 6-foot-4, 214-pound QB has all the tools the St. Louis Rams need and unless they change their mind and go after Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh, Bradford will go No. 1 on April 22.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Scott Taylor’s CITI Sports Reports

There were nine games in the National Hockey League yesterday…we were here in St. Paul for the Wild and Flames… in total, there were five Canadian teams in action and only one of them lost.

Calgary 5 Minnesota 2
The line of Rene Bourque, Matt Stajan and Jarome Iginla combined for 10 points. Iginla had the 10th hat-trick of his career. Steinbach’s Ian White played 24 minutes and had an assist.

Vancouver 4 Nashville 2
The Canucks are now 7-5 on their NHL record 14-game road trip. Churchill’s Jordin Tootoo scored one of Nashville’s goals. It was assisted by Winnipegger Colin Wilson.

Edmonton 2 New Jersey 0
Jeff Deslauriers made only 22 saves to get the shutout.

Montreal 4 Anaheim 3 (SO)
Tomas Plekanec scored the shootout winner as the Habs won back-to-back in Los Angeles and Anaheim this weekend.

Philadelphia 3 Toronto 1
The Flyers are 6-1-1 in their last eight.

Detroit 5 Chicago 4
The Wings scored five unanswered in the second period and hung on to remain in eighth place in the West.

Pittsburgh 2 Boston 1
Evgeni Malkin’s 23rd goal of the season was the winner.

Buffalo 2 NY Rangers 1 (OT)
Patrick Kaleta scored the overtime winner while Ryan Miller made 35 saves to get the win.

Carolina 4 Atlanta 0
Former Moose goalie Manny Legace made 27 saves to get Carolina’s first shutout of the season.

After splitting a weekend series in Grand Rapids, the Moose have a few days off before opening a six-game homestand with a pair of games this Friday and Saturday at MTS Centre against the Rockford Ice Hogs.

Jeff Stoughton’s Manitoba champions beat New Brunswick 8-4 last night to improve to 3-1 and move into second place at the Brier in Halifax. Ontario and Alberta are tied for the lead at 3-0. Stoughton plays one game today, that’s against Quebec at 2 p.m.

In the CFL, Casey Printers has signed a two-year contract extension with the B.C. Lions while Marc Trestman of the Alouettes was named CFL coach of the year.

Finally, in auto racing, Kurt Busch won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. His second straight spring race victory at Atlanta.

7:15 NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE REPORT

Hi everybody, it’s the Coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM National Hockey League Report. Brought to you by MAACO Collision and Auto Painting at 983 Wall Street.

On Sunday, the 92-CITI-Sports Machine was in St. Paul, Minn., to watch the suddenly strong Calgary Flames drill the Minnesota Wild 5-2. So what changed in Calgary?

Simple, head coach Brent Sutter put Jarome Iginla on a line with Rene Bourque And Matt Stajan and on Sunday, the line combined for 10 points as Iginla had a hat-trick. Not bad, for only the second game together.

8:15 NASCAR REPORT

Hi everybody, it’s the coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM NASCAR REPORT. Brought to you by 3M Automotive and Rondex. At 177 Isabel, Rondex is celebrating 38 years of auto body supply service.

Kurt Busch won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday but that wasn’t the big story.

In the end, the 500-mile race went a total of 16 laps past its scheduled 325 thanks to two huge wrecks. The first came when Carl Edwards, who was running 156 laps back of the field, clipped Brad Keselowski and sent him flying toward the grandstand upside down. Keselowski was OK, but NASCAR ordered Edwards to shut down his car and summoned him to its trailer for a driving lecture. Boys, cool down.

5:15 PM COACH’S COMMENTARY

Hi everybody, it’s the coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM Afternoon Coach’s Commentary. Brought to you by 3M Automotive and Rondex. At 177 Isabel, Rondex is celebrating 38 years of auto body supply service.

Before the start of the Hockey Canada’s Olympic Orientation camp last summer, Cosmo and I had young Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the studio to talk about the Olympic team.

In the end, Stamkos, who very much wanted to be part of the team, wasn’t selected, but it would appear he’s used that snub for a little motivation this season. Saturday night, Stamkos had two goals and an assist in a 6-2 win over Atlanta. He now has 40 goals and 36 assists and is seventh in scoring. And even Mario Lemieux has called him one of the game’s best.

The newspapers and the radio rightsholder have spoken. The rumour that swept Winnipeg (the one that started inside the MTS Centre), for better than six weeks has officially been buried. Dead. The Thrashers aren’t coming. The Coyotes aren’t coming. Nobody’s coming to Winnipeg.

And why would they? I have asked repeatedly for someone to help me (and I mean “help me”) with the financials of an NHL team and nobody will. Nobody can. Especially not now, in the midst of a recession that is just starting to smack Winnipeg.

It sure was fun while it lasted though. Some of the smartest, most influential, wealthiest and caring Winnipeggers, the people who actually make things happen in this city, were absolutely convinced this week that either (a) the Atlanta Thrashers had been purchased by True North majority shareholder David Thomson and were soon to arrive in Winnipeg and/or (b) the Phoenix Coyotes were being brought to Winnipeg by the NHL because it was “better to lose $20 million a year in Winnipeg than $70 million a year in Phoenix.”

And there’s the rub. No matter what happens in Winnipeg, with a $54.8 million salary cap and a $42 million floor, the finances just don’t add up. I know, the bloggers have done “all the numbers” and they believe Winnipeg can afford a hockey team. I’m not even going to argue with their numbers. I’m just going to say this: If you keep your payroll costs down to the floor (which means the team will never make the playoffs), you still need another $20 million to run an NHL franchise in 2010. Tickets, 15,000 per game, will have to AVERAGE $75 each and EVERY single game will have to be sold out — forever. The 47 suites will have to ALL be sold at about $100,000 each. And you’ll need at least $10 million in corporate support. There is NOT $10 million in corporate support in Winnipeg, at least not for more than one year. I know. I’m out chasing corporate support every single day. In this recession, $10 million in corporate support for a single sports franchise does NOT exist in this community.

But there are even more reasons why the NHL can’t come to Winnipeg. At least not now and maybe not ever.

1) Not enough media: There isn’t a radio station (because none are locally owned anymore) that has the budget to pay for the rights for an NHL team, let alone travel all season long. Meanwhile, neither newspaper can afford the travel costs if it wants to play the NHL game.

2) The players demand five-star hotels. Winnipeg doesn’t have one.

3) The current hockey building doesn’t have a press area big enough to handle the NHL.

4) The entire community has only 700,000 people. Teams that are failing today are in communities of 2-5 million people.

5) You can’t get here from very many U.S. cities. There are direct flights to Winnipeg from Minneapolis and Chicago. Occasionally from Florida and Vegas. Wow! Professional athletes don’t like to change airplanes.

and most importantly…

5) Why would Mark Chipman want to give up a money-making machine like the Moose in favour of a team that will lose a small fortune every year it operates?

The rumour is dead. But it will start again. Soon. And until the people who own that tiny building in downtown Winnipeg stand up and say, “it’s not ever going to happen,” rumours of the NHL returning to Winnipeg will force the mainstream media in this town to waste oodles of newsprint debunking them. People in Winnipeg want the NHL, and until they are told it will never happen, they are going to believe what they want to believe.

Sadly (or not), without an admission that the dream is dead, this isn’t the end of these rumours. It’s only the loudest they’ve been to date.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Scott Taylor’s CITI Sports Reports

There were nine games in the National Hockey League last night… three Canadian teams in action…

Boston 3 Toronto 2 (SO)
Miroslav Satan scored the shootout winner.

Carolina 4 Ottawa 1
The Hurricanes have won seven straight games. Former Moose goalie Manny Legace made 27 saves to get the win.

San Jose 3 Montreal 2
Montreal has not won in San Jose this century. The Sharks move back into first place in the West with 91 points.

Phoenix 3 Colorado 1
Phoenix immediately reaped benefits from the trade deadline deal with Colorado. Wojtek Wolski scored the winning goal.

Nashville 4 Los Angeles 2
Barry Trotz’s Preds hold on to seventh in the West.

Washington 5 Tampa Bay 4
Scott Walker and Mike Knuble each scored twice for Washington while Vinny Lecavalier had a pair for Tampa.

St. Louis 6 Dallas 1
Winnipeg’s Alexander Steen had a goal and an assist and was the game’s third star.

Pittsburgh 5 NY Rangers 4 (OT)
The Rangers blew a 4-2 lead. Jordan Staal’s second of the game was the OT winner. Pittsburgh outshot the Rangers 55-16.

Atlanta 6 NY Islanders 3
The Islanders have won just three of their last 13 games.

The Moose, coming off this week’s split with Worcester, are on the road for games tonight and tomorrow night in Grand Rapids.

The Brier begins tomorrow. Jeff Stoughton will represent Manitoba in Halifax.

The 2010 Manitoba Games begin on Sunday evening in Portage la Prairie.

And, yes it was meaningless, but one day it will be remembered as the performance the Philadelphia Phillies were after. Roy Halladay, the longtime Blue Jays ace, pitched two perfect innings, striking out three and allowing no hits in his first Grapefruit League start with his new team yesterday. If he gets the job done in Philly this year, the Phils have to be pre-season National League favourites.

7:15 NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE REPORT

Hi everybody, it’s the Coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM National Hockey League Report. Brought to you by MAACO Collision and Auto Painting at 983 Wall Street.

There was a time in the late 1990s and early 2000s when a Canadian player in the NHL’s Top 10 in scoring was a rarity. A decade ago, the stats were dominated by Europeans.

However, while Euros Alex Ovechkin and Henrik Sedin are on top of the NHL’s scoring stats today, there are now five Canadians and one American in the Top 10. Maybe that Canada-U.S. Olympic final will be a trend, not a fluke.

8:15 NASCAR REPORT

Hi everybody, it’s the coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM NASCAR REPORT. Brought to you by 3M Automotive and Rondex. At 177 Isabel, Rondex is celebrating 38 years of auto body supply service.

Week two of the Rebel Run goes next Sunday in Bristol as the best stock car racers in the world take to the ½-mile bumper car track in Tennessee for the Food City 500.

Kyle Busch won both races here last year and there is no reason to believe that at Crash Central, he won’t win again. At the prettiest little track in all of NASCAR.

5:15 PM COACH’S COMMENTARY

Hi everybody, it’s the coach Scott Taylor and it’s time now for the 92-CITI-FM Afternoon Coach’s Commentary. Brought to you by 3M Automotive and Rondex. At 177 Isabel, Rondex is celebrating 38 years of auto body supply service.

Yes it was meaningless – at the time – but one day it will be remembered as the performance the Philadelphia Phillies were after.

Roy Halladay, the longtime Blue Jays ace, pitched two perfect innings, striking out three and allowing no hits in his first Grapefruit League start with his new team. He’s the best in the game today and if he does it the job in Philly again this year, the Phils have to be pre-season National League favourites.