TRUER WORDS WERE NEVER SPOKEN

HOCKEY APOLOGISTS TELLING A LIE !


It's the big lie. They trot it out every time there's a post-hockey riot:
"This has nothing to do with hockey. These lousy rotten rioters are all badminton fans who came straight from the ballet to smash windows and set cars on fire."
So all those tens of thousands of young people in Canucks jerseys tearing apart Vancouver on Wednesday night, that was just, um, a coincidence. Because this had nothing to do with hockey.
The Canucks insisted that "true fans" were not responsible for the riot. True fans, apparently, aren't the suckers who pay $400 for a genuine team jersey, because most of the rioters I saw were wearing pricey Canucks gear.
Apparently, hockey executives have never noticed those fans who can actually afford front-row seats when there's a scrum along the boards. There they are, faces contorted with rage, banging on the glass like deranged orangutans, behaving as though they actually want to get at the likes of Zdeno Chara and Milan Lucic.
The rage is always there. Vancouver municipal authorities provided the match to light the powder keg with the idiotic decision to allow tens of thousands of fans to watch the games on a big screens downtown. What followed was as predictable as rain.
In one of the clips of the violence, an especially empty-headed young thing looks into the camera and says: "We're really disappointed that our team lost, so we have right to express our feelings."
So they expressed their feelings by putting 150 people in the hospital and doing their level best to trash downtown Vancouver. Meanwhile, the Canucks, the NHL and their embarrassing media apologists all fell into line, repeating the mantra: "This has nothing to do with hockey."
The big lie. The truth is that the Vancouver riot had everything to do with hockey. The violent culture of the sport, combined with lots of alcohol and the stupidity of the authorities, touched off a hockey riot -pure and simple.

Meanwhile, the Stanley Cup is in Boston -where it belongs, given the play of these two teams over a seven-game series.

In hockey, heart beats art every time. The Bruins had the heart. Mark Recchi wanted it more. Brad Marchand wanted it more. Zdeno Chara wanted it more. Tim Thomas wanted it more.

No one in hockey deserves a Stanley Cup ring more than Bruins coach Claude Julien, who was as good as fired after losing the first two games of this postseason to the Montreal Canadiens. Julien is a salt-of-theearth guy, humble and hard-working. On the way to the Cup, he outcoached an outstanding list of individuals: Jacques Martin, Peter Laviolette, Guy Boucher and Alain Vigneault. He did everything a coach can do to give his team a chance. Even Bruins president Cam Neely can't ask for more than that.

Then there was that losing goalie: If that seven-game loss is on one player, it's the Canucks' Roberto Luongo. He's the one making $10 million a year. He's the one who looked great in Florida, making 46 saves in a 4-2 loss when no one cared. He is not the goalie you want between the pipes in the seventh game of a Stanley Cup final -or any road game against tough opposition. When it mattered most, Luongo broke like cheap glass.

Here's a prediction you can take to the bank: As talented as they are, the Canucks will never win a Stanley Cup with Luongo in goal.

jacktodd46yahoo.com

Boston Bruins Have It

Hard to believe a 38 year drought has ended with the Boston Bruins winning the Stanley cup, against all odds, winning in Vancouver 4 - 0 over the favoured Vancouver Canucks. I have been a Boston Bruins fan since I was about eight years old and
was eighteen when they last won the cup. That of course goes back to the days of Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and other great Bruin teams. It also is the second year in a row that an original six team has won the Cup as the Chicago Black Hawks won it last year.
Going into Game seven against Vancouver, I thought the Bruins could win if Tim Thomas remained hot and if the Bruins got the first goal. Well both happened as Thomas got the shutout and the Bruins scored four goals in a row.
Equally hard to believe is how so many Vancouver Canuck fans could be so stupid as to cause all the damage they did after the game by rioting. Over and over i have heard people say that these were not Canuck fans but I disagree with that. Through games 1 - 6 the CBC constantly took us to the square showing us over 100,000 Vancouver Canucks fans rejoicing after wins in games one and two and then not so much rejoicing after games three, four and six. Over and over we were told that there were well over
100,000 Vancouver Canucks fans in the square and how they rejoiced after Vancouver's 1 - 0 win in game five. Then comes game seven, the Canucks lose it, lose the Stanley Cup, the same people in the streets riot and now we are told well they really weren't Vancouver Canuck fans. How can they be Canuck fans through six games and suddenly not after the riot. I don't buy it.
But any rate the Bruins win the Cup and end a long drought.
This has been a busy week. On Tuesday morning I went to Regina to set up for the Western Canada Farm Progress Show and then Tuesday afternoon flew to Calgary for meetings on Wednesday. Thursday morning (today) flew back to Regina to work the show for a couple of days and then tomorrow will finish the show, tear down our display and drive home to Saskatoon in the evening.
Been a long week but it is nearly over.
With hockey over now, looking forward to the start of the Canadian Football League season and of course passionately cheering on the Saskatchewan Roughriders who have made it to the Grey Cup two years in a row only to lose both games. Hoping for better things this year.

Field Of Streams

I drove through south east Saskatchewan this week almost down to the USA border.
It is unbelievable the amount of water that is lying about in field. Doubtless some areas will be fortunate if they can seed crops at all this year. Even a little creek that I pass by quite regularly has turned into a raging torrent of water.
And in Saskatoon, the South Saskatchewan river is very high with more water to be released from Gardner Dam raising concerns about some flooding here. I took some pictures of some of the water logged areas in the South.