#sportsnet setting themselves up

[virtchandmoir]

Sportsnet: Not many more iconic trios than @SNChrisSimpson, @tessavirtue and @CassieCampbell 💁‍♀️

[blogdience]

The Last Hoorah

Welcome back to weekly blogs!!

Why do audiences consume what they do? What needs are audiences searching to satisfy based on the media they are searching to consume?

Audiences interact and engage with media for many different reasons and use media to fulfill many different needs depending on a user’s emotional well-being or a goal at a said moment in time.

For instance, many students may turn to their social media accounts to connect with friends or to keep up on the latest news every two minutes; to satisfy what needs exactly?

                       The need for escape or distraction from work.

We have all done it, student or not, media content is used as a constant distraction, although at times we may use media content to further excel our knowledge, such as digging for videos or articles to learn more on a topic.

For this particular theory of Uses and Gratifications, I want to focus on a little app I love and continuously use to satisfy my needs as a consumer of media; YouTube.

YouTube is a platform filled with videos to satisfy many needs of its users. Whether an audience member needs a good laugh, and informative learning video, or a good playlist of songs to match their mood, YouTube offers it all.

It makes me think about the particular YouTube videos I watch and reflect on why I choose to watch the videos I do and what need I am trying to fulfill.

I have always been interested in crime and the psychology and the mystery behind a criminal’s actions. I believe my fascination for it all came from my father and his career as a Peel Police detective in organized crime. 

My Dad in his full Peel Police get-up as him and my mom head to his retirement ceremony. 

First time ever seeing him wear this suit, he was always in jeans and plain t-shirts going to work!

It is something that always intrigued me, partly because the “behind the scenes” of criminal activities are only shown in movies or other fictional forms. I think the idea that humans can do such awful things, and the excitement of trying to solve something so extreme, fascinated me growing up and continues to do so. I went back and forth for years thinking of all the ways I could become a detective or deal with murder or missing people’s cases without starting as a boring ticket or traffic officer. 

Now I realize for all jobs, as drake says, you need to start from the bottom.

I have been watching true crime YouTube videos for years. When I say true crime, the videos I watch are solved and unsolved murder cases, as well as, missing people or solved abduction cases. I would think of it as a topic I am extremely interested in, however, I am not in school studying. Therefore, I turn to these videos, whose creators usually have a background in criminology, to fulfill my “needs” or interest in such topics.

Two of my favorite YouTubers who I religiously watch are Bella Fiori and Kendall Rae.

As discussed in the lecture on October 10th, Gratifications can be broken down by the MAIN acronym.

           M-modality

           A-agency

           I-interactivity

           N-navigability

I watch their videos via YouTube on both my phone and laptop; whichever is most convenient at the time that I want to watch. This is referred to as mobility. No matter where I go, I am satisfied that YouTube is available as an app via my phone or on my laptop via Safari.

As much as I love watching videos on YouTube, I also love creating videos on YouTube. I have mainly only created travel and fun vlog videos, but this is an example of agency. I consume YouTubes content but turn into a prosumer when I share my own content.

Enjoy...

When I watch YouTube videos, I do not often comment or like the video. However, there are users who do feel the need to leave their opinion, like or dislike the video or take it a step further and mimic, mock or turn it into a meme. 

Such as Rebecca Black's song “Friday”, that Professor Good showed in the lecture on November 14th, 2019. 

In the instance of the true-crime videos, as I mentioned earlier, Kendall Rae sells merch where 100% of the proceeds goes to the organization called “Thorne” where they help find victims, limit crimes, and raise awareness for sex trafficking. Audience members who purchase, design the t-shirts, leave suggestions, or share, are interacting with the creator’s content. Interacting with media content this way gives the audience members a chance to give back and feel fulfilled in doing so.

Lastly, most social media users do not just have one form of social media. I personally find myself following and interacting with the YouTubers I watch across other social media platforms. 

Different platforms of social media allow audiences to interact with media is various different ways based on what the platform offers. However, when texts get spread across different platforms it can cause a telephone effect. News or scandals can get misinterpreted or easily spread like wildfire. Not only that but with many different platforms of media allows for many different opinions.

We live in a digital day and age where “cancel culture” is huge. If one thing is misinterpreted or decoded in the wrong way, audience members can turn a person’s world upside down within hours.

In recent news, Don Cherry, a long-time Canadian Icon, shamed Canadians who do no purchase poppies during the month of remembrance for Canadian soldiers. For those who missed the live Coaches Corner episode, where Cherry “misspoke” by referring to immigrants as “you people” instead of addressing it as “everyone”, the video can be found on almost every social media platform… 

However, here is a video from City News Toronto’s YouTube channel…

The whole scandal started when Don Cherry was mentioning the poppy. A widely known symbol throughout Canada that reminds its nation of all the fallen soldiers who fought for our freedom and the ones that continue to do so.

That nights broadcast of Hockey Night in Canada was broadcasted to millions, not just in Canada, but all of America too.

How an audience interprets Don Cherry’s message is based solely on each individual audience members personal experiences and upbringing. For instance, immigrants and people of color were mainly offended by Cherry’s comments. Defending themselves, many of “those people” who immigrated to Canada, who claim that they do wear a poppy and support the Canadian vets were extremely offended by the comments made. Of course, on the contrary, those who were on Cherry’s side either kept quiet or were majority white Canadians who were born and raised here.

In this instance, those who came to Canada felt attacked by Cherry’s comments and those who were born and raised in Canada agreed with his comments. 

For instance, I am a twenty-year-old female, born and raised in Canada, and I grew up in a very hockey-oriented family which led to Don Cherry being on my television set every Saturday night. From my perspective, what Don Cherry was attempting to say was correct and everyone, whether born here or not, should be wearing a poppy in remembrance. I do not agree with how he spoke and the words he chose to use to get his message across. However, I may interpret Cherry’s comments in that way because of my background and how I was raised. 

While many people have their thoughts and opinions, I think in this case especially, the audience member’s background and demographics directly affect how you respond to the comments made by Cherry and your reaction to the news of him being let go after 38 years of Hockey Night in Canada.

However, times are changing, rights are changing, and in this social media, cancel culture day and age, comments such as Don Cherry’s do not always fly.

Fans were furious when SportsNet announced they were letting Don Cherry go. The buzz around it all hit home for many Canadians and others who grew up with Coaches Corner every Saturday night tuning in to see Don’s many crazy suits. Cherry became a Canadian icon for a reason, he became a part of the hockey audiences Saturday night viewing routine. 

Often, hockey fans become very immersed with the games they watch, especially if it is their favourite team playing. Don Cherry would give his professional hockey advice based on his evaluation of the first period. The part that made Don Cherry so popular, is his straight to the point, uncensored opinions. Cherry, aside from his hockey sense, is known to be unapologetically himself and I believe that is what fans loved about Coaches Corner. When Coaches Corner appeared after the first period, at least in my hockey household, everyone would stop and listen to Don Cherry’s thoughts on how the players, coaches, or refs were performing.

The firing of Don Cherry disrupted many Saturday night hockey rituals.

The week following Cherry’s firing, conversations throughout fans started circulating. Fans began questioning who Cherry will be replaced with or what will now fill the Coaches Corner broadcasting time after the first period.

Fandom is “associated with cultural tastes of subordinated formations of the people, particularly those disempowered by any combination of gender, age, class, and race” (Fiske cited in Sullivan, p 193).

Fandoms can hold great power when they rally together. 

For instance, Don Cherry got fired due to audience members complaining and writing into SportsNet.

On the contrary, fans of Cherry and Coach’s Corner are currently rallying together, and earlier this week protested outside of Rogers (Owner of SportsNet) headquarters in Toronto.

Whether or not Cherry gets brought back, the voices of fans are very powerful and are heard.

For instance, the city of Toronto, while awaiting Kawhi Leonard’s decision on signing with the Raptors, tried to sway the basketball star to stay with Toronto by offering “Kawhi and Dine” restaurants where Kawhi and his family would be able to eat for free. A multi-million-dollar penthouse was also offered to Kawhi for free along with many other things. Fans of Toronto and all of Canada was making an outcry for Kawhi to stay and as a result companies and real estates offered up insane deals if the athlete signed with the Raptors.

Not a bad time to be Kawhi...

Meet mini Brooke...

This is me when I was in grade four and did my very first speech on my favourite hockey player Sidney Crosby. That same year I got a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey with Crosby’s number as well as a hat.

In the lecture on November 7th, Professor Good listed on a spectrum the types of fandoms from the most passive to the most active. From passive to active the continuum went as follows; Consumer, enthusiast, fan, petty producer.

As a young fan of Sidney Crosby and always begging my parents for Penguins merchandise, I would definitely put myself in the consumer category. I would also consider mini Brooke to be an enthusiast as well as a fan because those pictures were taken moments before my dad recorded me saying my speech and later emailing it off to the Pittsburgh Penguin team.

Arguably, I could be a producer by making a fan letter and video of my speech to send to Crosby. Weeks later I got a response from the team and a signed Crosby hockey card.

Some fandoms, for instance, take their support and turn themselves into producers such as creating fan pages, blogs or YouTube accounts dedicated to the content they are fans of.

Sullivan mentions Intellectual property and discusses the challenging question of when users of digital media create content who exactly owns the content that is being generated? Should content creators, regardless of the size of their following, be given credit or payment for the refurbishment of their work?

Jack Denmo is a Canadian YouTuber from Hamilton, ON who started creating videos interviewing young adults within the bar atmosphere of Hess Village. He has a subscription of 414,000 people on YouTube and 29,500 followers on Instagram. Just recently the television station French TV aired Jack's videos on their program. One of Jacks' follower's videos recorded the feature and sent it to the YouTube Creator. 

Jack responded by posting it on his story asking French TV “Where're my cheques, boys?”.

Content creators, especially YouTubers, produce content and post it on a public platform where it has the potential to be scooped up by big companies or stations such as French TV to then be used as television entertainment for their audiences without any payment given to the original creator.

Many of us are working for these large companies for free and our audience attendance and participation are sold to advertisers. Many blog websites or social media sites would not be able to support themselves if audience members did not actively, but passively, work for them. 

Sullivan coins this term as “Crowdsourcing”. This means that companies rely on content creators and audience members to create content for them. 

For instance, many companies such as Frito-Lay did a competition with its consumers, challenging them to come up with their next chip flavour. While consumers went to work inventing and working with different flavours to create the next Lays flavour, Frito-Lay sat back and let the consumers do the work. 

On a smaller scale, I previously mentioned the YouTuber Kendall Rae and the Thorne initiative to raise awareness around sex trafficking. The t-shirt designs that are sold are to raise money for Thorne are created by Kendall Rae’s audience members. This is another example of Crowdsourcing because Kendall Rae’s fans are putting in work and effort to create a design to be sold. These fans and contributors are of course unpaid.

As you can see, audience consumption, creation, and how audiences interpret the content that they consume is extremely powerful and can sometimes raise tricky questions. 

Audience experiences and interpretations of the content that is consumed can lead to the careers of people, such as Don Cherry, to be jeopardized and “canceled”. In a generation where fans can easily make their voices heard, it ultimately has a huge impact on certain media content and what is produced to appeal to what fans want. It becomes a sticky situation also when content creators are not getting correct recognition for the work, they put into the content they create. 

At what point should an online content creator get paid and given proper ownership of their content?

As well as, who has the power in today's society? The media or the audience?

If you ask me, from the examples I have talked about within this blog, it is evident that the audiences of today's media content hold extreme power. Media companies want to satisfy the needs of consumers and will go to lengths such as changing plot lines or firing popular segment hosts, such as Don Cherry, to avoid the possibility of being canceled by overbearing audiences. 

Today, Transmedia makes news and opinions of audience members spread like wildfire. Once the headline of something breaks loose, almost every social platform is booming with the opinions of its audience members. We live in an inescapable society, where thoughts and opinions are strongly being shared. Audiences, now than ever before, have the tools and access to make their concerns known and stand for their beliefs, thus, putting power now in the audiences hands.

Thanks for reading!!!

References

Sullivan, J. (2013 or 2020). Media Audiences: Effects, users, institutions and power (1st or 2nd ed.). Sage Publications Inc., New York, NY.

[thornescratch]

Nicky/ovi

I think this is the second to last one for Nicky/Ovi for now, and then I should answer the others. Look, you know what else is great about shipping these dudes? They are married. They’ve been together like, ten years, goddamn. At this rate, they owe each other some serious anniversary swag.They clown around like a married couple. They yell at each other like a married couple, and they raise their rookies like a married couple. Their relationship has been referred to as a marriage by multiple coaches. Not only all that but they are an arranged marriage; the Caps had Backstrom on their radar for Ovechkin at the draft:

Mahoney said there was another reason the Caps choseBackstrom over Kessel – Alex Ovechkin.

“The really cool thing about that,” Mahoney said, “was wealready had Alex, who was a tremendous goal scorer, and now we were going toget him a center ice man with unbelievable hands, who would be able to get himthe puck. It was a win-win situation for us.”

As fate would have it, Backstrom and Ovechkin met for thefirst time on that draft stage in Vancouver. Ovechkin was in Vancouver toaccept his Calder Memorial Trophy as the 2005-06 NHL rookie of the year and heasked McPhee if he could sit at the Caps’ draft table.

When it came time for the Caps to make their selection,McPhee invited Ovechkin up on the stage and asked him to announce the Caps’selection.

“I thought that was really cool what George did,” Mahoneysaid.

Today, Ovechkin and Backstrom find themselves climbing theCaps’ all-time offensive charts. Backstrom ranks eighth on Washington’sall-time points list and 24th on the team’s all-time games played list.Ovechkin (820) now sits six points shy of passing Peter Bondra (825) for firstplace on the Caps’ franchise points list.

“Nick and Alex obviously have a special chemistry together,”Mahoney said. “I hope they stick around. The longer the better.”

(I am having the worst time finding the live link for that 2014 interview piece with Mahoney, since I’m not on my personal laptop. I’ll add it in later.)

In terms of a memory, how about that time Dan Steinberg recapped when Ovi and Backy and Green went to a Skins game:

-A Comcast SportsNet official telling me shortly before 3 pm that the guys would appear on-set at 3:20, “assuming they show up,” and then realizing that Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom had already showed up, had already donned those weird old-school helmet-hats Ovechkin loves, and were already signing autographs. They apparently bought the hats with money out of their pockets.

(“We have a rule, me Greenie and Ovie,” Backstrom told me. “We have to wear these [helmet-hats] and a jersey if we’re going to watch the game.”)

-Listening to Ovechkin respond to Chick Hernandez’s question about hockey like this: “I don’t want to talk about hockey. I want to have fun with my teammates and go eat nachos and drink Coke.”

-Listening to Ovechkin respond to a question about football like this: “I try to realize what’s going on, what’s the rules. It’s very interesting.” Asking Backstrom the same question, and hearing this answer: “When I come here I was like, ‘Oh my God, I don’t understand it.’ I’ve been watching a lot of football on TV. [Now] I understand a lot of things.”

I asked Backstrom if he’d appeal to Ovechkin for help.

“I think he knows the same as me,” Backstrom said. “Or less. It’s probably going to be me and him just sitting there.” But he hastened to add that he loved the stadium, and the environment, and that he hoped the home team would win.

However, this wasn’t the same game where Backstrom casually mentioned he was wearing the Taylor jersey because he had slept over at Ovechkin’s place the night before. As you do.

Eventually, though, the mics turned back on Green and Backstrom, and they were forced to answer questions. Like, here was Backstrom, on his choice of a Sean Taylor jersey.

“Actually, I got Ovie’s,” Backstrom said. “I was sleeping over at Ovie’s house [Saturday] night, so I just got his jersey. I usually wear Santana Moss.”

[torentialtribute]

Sports fans revel in Super Sunday at Wimbledon and the cricket

Sports fans revealed in perhaps the most moving hour in the history of British sport when Wimbledon and the Cricket World Cup ended both imaginable in the most dramatic way on Sunday.

England was crowned world cricket champion in one of the most extraordinary endings of a match ever – the tie-breaker that ended in a draw after the last ball-out, making England the victor over a technical character in scenes of bedlam at lord & # 39; s. Roger Federer – battled a Wimbledon epic, the first single final

And just a few miles away, two of the all-time greats of tennis – Novak Djokovic and once decided by a tiebreak of the fifth set, eventually won by Djokovic.

The two thrillers reached their climax in minutes, so delighted fans didn't know where to look on a day called & # 39; Super Sunday & # 39; including Lewis Lewis from Formula One won the British Grand Prix. Super Sunday: Cricket fans from England wrap themselves up in Trafalgar Square to watch the World Cup final on a day that ended in extraordinary cricket in both cricket and.

Super Sunday: cricket fans from England wrap themselves up in Trafalgar Square to watch the World Cup finals on a day ending in extraordinary drama in both cricket and tennis

Bedlam : England players Battle of the big ones: Novak Djokovic (19459011 )

Battle of the great: Novak Djokovic (in the foreground) returns against Roger Federer during an epic final of Wimbledon today "

<img id = "i-ab130a06bd512c4" src = "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/07/14/20/16041906-7246535-image-a-5_1563132740768.jpg" height = "423" width = "634" alt = "Battle of the greats: Novak Djokovic (in the foreground) returns against Roger Federer

Battle of the great ones: Novak Djokovic (in the foreground) returns against Roger Federer during an epic final van Wimbledon today

]

Cricket fans from England had packed Trafal. They were the first team to win the trophy for the first time.

Many fans recorded Twitter to express their surprise at the two sports dramas that were unfolding before their eyes.

Amitabh Kant said: & # 39; The best cricket and the best tennis. Incredibly sporty Sunday. Both cliffhangers. Never seen such a nail-biting finish.

& # 39; I just wanted Federer & NZ to have won. They were so close. But that's what sport is all about. They give you so much tension, tension, pain and joy!

Douglas Rogers said: “What an afternoon – the biggest cricket match in history is taking place simultaneously, ball by ball, shot by shot, a few miles from one of tennis & # 39; s biggest games in the history. Nothing better than a summer in London! & # 39;

Sid Seixero of Sportsnet said: & # 39; Djokovic and Federer played one of the best matches ever. England and New Zealand have just finished the Cricket World Cup with one of the best matches ever.

]

Surprised fans took Twitter by surprise at the two sporting

<img id = "i-a67e9aebd8902ae6 "src =" https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/07/14/20/16042344-7246535-image-m-32_1563133106375.jpg "height =" 182 "width =" 634 "alt = "Surprised fans took Twitter their voice surprise to the two sports dramas & # 39; s today"

]

Enraptured f Trapalgar Square was impressed by fans of the flag during the course of their flag. fountains.

<img id = "i-ac23dde2998d9271" src = "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/07/14/20/16041042-7246535- Underdressed_fans_in_Trafalgar_Square_looked_set_to_dive_into_th-a-26_1563133011972.jpg "height =" 422 "width =" 634 "alt =" -waving celebrations "

<img id =" i-ac23dde2998d9i1ail sps "https://support.exe.dll" sps "https://support.html" sir " .co.uk / 1s / 2019/07/14/20 / 16041042-7246535-Underdressed_fans_in_Trafalgar_Square_looked_set_to_dive_into_th-a-26_1563133011972.jpg "height =" 422 "width =" 634 "alt =" Submerged fans at Trafalgar Square looked like dive their flag-waving celebrations into the fountains "class =" blkBorder img

Oppressed fans at Trafalgar Square looked looking forward to diving into the fountains during their flag-waving celebrations. <img id = "i-a5377f5d09bd26ed" src = "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/07/14/20/ 16041062-7246535-England_s_Jos_ Buttler_knocks_the_bails_off_the_stumps_to_take_th-a-27_1563133017697.jpg "height =" 404 "width =" 634 "alt =" Jos Buttler from England hits the stumps to take over the New Zealand wicket Martin Guptill in the super to win the 2019 Cricket World Cup

to win

<img id = "i-a5377f5d09bd26ed" src = "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/07/14/20/16041062-7246535-England_s_Jos_Buttler_knocks_the_bails_off_the_stump_th_t_tumpsth a-27_1563133017697.jpg "height =" 404 "width =" 634 "alt =" Jos Buttler of England knocks the bail of the stumps to take the wicket of Martin Guptill from New Zealand in the super wreaths for the 2019 World Cup cricket to win "

Jos Buttler of England knocks the bail of the stumps to take the wicket of New Zealand Martin Guptill in the super over to win the 2019 Cricket World Cup

<img id = "i-18ec6ae1dedb5af2" src = "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1 s / 2019/07/14/20 / 16033302-7246535-England_fans_rejoicing_in_central_London_as_the_match_is_played_-a-15_1563132946757.jpg "height =" 432 "width =" 634 "alt =" Celebration: English fans rejoicing in central London, the competition being played on the big screen in Trafalgar Square "

<img id =" i-18ec6ae1dedb5af2 "src =" https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/07/14/20/16033302- 7246535-England_fans_rejoicing_in_central_London_as_the_match_is_played_-a-15_1563132946757.jpg "height =" 432 "width =" 634 "alt =" Celebration: English fans rejoicing in the center of London while the game is played on the big screen in Trafalgar Square "class = "blkBorder"

Celebration: English fans rejoicing in central London, the game being played on the big screen in Trafalgar Square] <img id = "i-6aef5a3de2c4ec7d" src = "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/07/14/20/16040254-7246535-The_f inal_twelve_balls_went_for_thirty_runs_each_one_greeted_as_-a-16_1563132954419.jpg "height =" 431 "width =" 634 "alt =" Dramatic conclusion: the last twelve balls went for thirty runs, each greeted as

<img id = "i- 6aef5a3de2c4ec7d "src =" https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/07/14/20/16040254-7246535-The_final_twelve_balls_went_for_thirty_runs_each_one_greeted_as_-a-16_1563132954419.jpg "width =" alt = 634 = "Dramatic conclusion: the last twelve balls went for thirty runs, each greeted as pain or ecstasy. by the hordes of fans on Trafalgar Square "

Dramatic conclusion: The last twelve balls went for thirty runs, each greeted as pain or ecstasy by the hordes of fans on Trafalgar Square

Divine intervention: fans watching Trafalgar Square prayed when the two parties took this Super Over tie break this afternoon

Another Twitter user named Rachel said: "I haven't done anything all day except watching cricket and tennis and I don't actually care. What a sports Sunday ! & # 39;

Yet another fan wrote: & # 39; Sunday Sport Spectacular. The longest and perhaps the best men's final in Wimbledon between two of all times. The final of the cricket world cup to live in memory for a long time. Not a bad day in general. & # 39;

Abhinav Sinha said: & # 39; This is by far the largest Super Sunday ever for sports. No one deserved to lose in both tennis and cricket.

& # 39; But that's the brutal truth – someone has to win. Congratulations Novak and England. Well done, Federer and NZ. & # 39;

Celebrity fans from the world of television, sports and politics also expressed their astonishment at the unfolding drama on television screens.

Looking at the cricket, UK presenter Piers Morgan said: "I have no idea where the f *** is going on, but this is the biggest game of cricket I have ever seen and the excitement can kill me

Former English football player Gary Lineker said: & # 39; wonder what the chances were for both tennis and cricket to go to a shootout? Really incredible things. & # 39; neral of existence. & # 39;

Made in Chelsea & # 39; s Georgia Toffolo was also watching and said: & # 39; So proud of the British today … what a day before sport! & # 39;

<img id = "i-d523c01689305912" src = "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/07/14/ 20 / 16041914-7246535-image-a-7_1563132829159.jpg "height =" 423 "width =" 634 "alt =" Triumph: Novak Djokovic collects his Wimbledon men's allowance trophy from the Duchess of Cambridge after conquering Roger Federer in the tennis classic "

] Roger Federer returns to the United States in the first round of the World Cup in the United States of America, and Federer returns to the United States.

<img id = "i-d3f78d11436d4956" src = "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/07/14/20/16036328-7246535-Switzerland_s_Roger_Federer_returns_the_ball_to_Serbia_s_Novak_63-65965_63-94-65965" = "419" width = "306" alt = "Roger Federer from Switzerland returns to the ball to Novak Djokovic, Serbia & # 39;

[194590] 13] Roger Federer from Switzerland returns the ball to Novak Djokovic from Serbia (photo left). Djokovic (photo right) between points on Wimbledon today

<img id = "i-4b960f51cedc6e04" src = "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/07/14 /20/16039638-7246535-Excitement_Kate_was_among_the_fans_who_could_hardly_bear_to_watc-a-8_1563132838338.jpg "height =" 422 "width =" 634 "alt =" Excitement: Kate was one of the fans who could hardly bother to watch the final exciting fifth was tie-break set "

<img id =" i-4b960f51cedc6e04 "src =" https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/07/14/20/16039638- 7246535-Excitement_Kate_was_among_the_fans_who_could_hardly_bear_to_watc-a-8_1563132838338.jpg "height =" 422 "width =" 634 "alt =" Excitement: Kate was one of the fans who could hardly bear to watch the final and went into an exciting fifth tie -break "

Excitement: Kate was one of the fans who could hardly bear to watch the final that went to the exciting fifth set tiebreak

Former Assistant Tony Blair Alastair Campbell said: & Christ! The cricket was so compelling that I only caught up with the tennis.

& # 39; What a day of top sport. Whatever the outcome, this final has become one of the best ever. & # 39;

The cricket ended in extraordinary drama after England and New Zealand were tied after 50 blows for 50 overs, sending the World Cup Final to an unprecedented tie-breaker.

England had equaled the total of New Zealand after a horrifying end to their innings, in which Kiwi fielders stepped on the boundary line and sent the ball away for six lashes.

After the game was equal, both teams got one over six balls – to score as many points as possible.

But the Super Over also failed to separate the games, each of which scored 15 runs.

As a result, the fate of the World Cup was reflected in which team had scored more boundaries – celebrate and six – during the final.

<img id = "i-a653a95c4ce31fb2" src = "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/07/14/20/16040684-7246535- Fans_in_central_London_cheered_shouted_and_waved_flags_beneath_N-a-22_1563133003415.jpg "height =" 501 "width =" 634 "alt ="

[1945]

Fans in central London cheered shouted and waved flags under Nelson & # 39; s Column as in St. John's & # 39; s Wood Lord & # 39; s went wild

Fans watch in cafes around the country burst of joy after the last ball – photographed fans at The George Inn "

Fans watching in cafes around the country burst into joy

That gave England their first victory in the world cup in the most dramatic

England scored 24 borders, while New Zealand scored 16.

mode possible.

The final at Lord & # 39; s was England's fourth appearance in a decision maker for the Cricket World Cup, but they had lost all three previous ones.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic collected his fifth Wimbledon ankle trophy from the Duchess of Cambridge at Wimbledon after beating Federer in one of the finals of the All England Club.

Djokovic had saved two match points when Federer played 8-7 in the decisive set for the win and then took 7-6 (5) 1-6 7-6 (4) 4-6 13

Federer had hoped to fulfill his emotional semi-final win over Rafael Nadal by completing the double over his other big rival for the first time in a grand slam

But he became his Wimbledon title denied after the tournament was first decided in a fifth set tie-break.

The result moved Djokovic to 16 Grand Slam titles, behind only Federer on 20 and Nadal on 18.

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[mikemortgage]

Who needs the Kardashians? Meet the new breed of influencers tapping into social media’s advertising ‘gold rush’

Victoria Hui is part of a new class of online influencers who are doing an end run around traditional advertising channels and turning social media into a lucrative platform for selling brands.

To scroll through her Instagram, Victoria Hui, a.k.a. @thelustlistt, is living an impossibly glamorous life.

She’s on vacation every single day, posting meticulously beautiful photos with an ever-so-slight pinkish hue that give each image a dreamlike quality, like a perfect memory. There she is laughing on the streets of Paris, lounging on a Toronto rooftop watching the sunset with a friend, or relaxing on a resort beach in Mexico.

In the captions, Hui tends to include information about what swimsuit she’s wearing, who made her purse, or where she’s visiting, along with a jumble of hashtags.

And then, nearly indistinguishable from all her other photos, there is one of Hui posing in front of the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto, with a corny joke in the caption, a few emojis and, right at the end of the caption, a hashtag: #ad.

That little hashtag is the only hint that this photo might be different. This is the one that pays the bills.

Turns out, Hui’s life isn’t a constant vacation. Instead, posting on Instagram is her full-time job as an all-in-one marketing professional, and she’s part of a new class of online influencers who are doing an end run around traditional advertising channels and turning social media into a lucrative platform for selling brands.

It’s a market the some sources have pegged as being worth more than $1 billion in Canada, but only a few influencers make more than $100,000. This is the gig economy, but for advertising, and navigating it can be tricky for both influencers and the brands that are tapping them.

“It’s still the Wild West. It’s still very new,” said Richard Wong, co-chair of the Advertising Standards Canada’s Influencer Marketing Steering Committee and vice-president of marketing and creative relations at #Paid, a Toronto-based advertising agency that specifically focuses on influencer marketing.

#Paid said it has a roster of more than 20,000 influencers, and about 31 per cent call Canada home. According to the company, just over half of those influencers describe themselves as “full-time creators,” but a defining feature of this kind of work is that most influencers pull together freelance income from several different sources, not just paid brand promotional work.

Hui used to work at #Paid, but Lust Listt actually started out as a grade 9 school project to build a website. From there it turned into a blog, then eventually an Instagram account with more than 88,000 followers.

The Lust Listt was initially a hobby, allowing Hui to post about fashion and beauty products, and it remained one through high school and a university degree in molecular and cellular biology, before she decided that science wasn’t her calling.

Instead, she moved to Toronto and started working at a marketing company as a copywriter. Before too long, Hui moved on to a public relations company and then to #Paid, which she left in January so that she could focus on Instagram and her blog full time.

It wasn’t an easy choice, but she said she was making more money from her Instagram account and blog than her salary, and she felt bad about taking so much time off from #Paid for various marketing trips to exotic locations.

A post from Victoria Hui’s Instagram account promoting Crest White Strips. The post is marked with #ad to let followers now it is promotional.

“When I left there, I was already annually making six figures,” she said. “Like, just starting to hit the six-figure mark.”

#Paid is one of the companies that have sprung up in recent years to connect brands with Insta-famous creators such as Hui, who are ready and willing to monetize their social media following.

Here’s how the influencer marketing game works: Brands approach #Paid or one of its ilk with the basics for an advertising campaign — say, a new product, a few defining features, and a target demographics.

From there, #Paid comes up with more detailed guidelines and draws from its roster of 20,000 influencers to find a few who are a good fit for the campaign.

Figuring out payment is a bit more complicated. There’s a slider tool on #Paid’s website that gives a general idea, based on how many comments and likes an influencer typically gets on an average post, but that public-facing tool is just a coarse generalization.

There are different rates based on an influencer’s following and number of interactions, as well as whether the post is a photo or a video, or an ephemeral Instagram “story” post, whether there are other products in the photo, or just the one thing a company wants to promote, whether the influencer is interacting with the product, and so on.

Brands can also negotiate for publishing rights, so they can use influencer images and videos in subsequent ad campaigns.

As a baseline, Hui said she starts at $1,000 per post, with room to negotiate down if necessary, or up if the company wants to buy more of her services.

Once a price is set and a contract is signed, the influencer makes the ads and submits them through #Paid for approval. After the customer signs off, the photo goes public on Instagram.

This process happens a little bit on other social media networks too, but Instagram is by far the hottest game in town right now, according to #Paid.

Companies want the influencers to create the ads in their own distinctive style, so it doesn’t feel like an ad.

Steve “Dangle” Glynn has become an influencer through his Toronto Maple Leafs channel on YouTube. Glynn says influencers need to be careful what, if any, commercial campaigns they sign up for as they could be a bad fit with they followers who made the influencers.

Influencers say they regularly turn down campaigns because they’re not a good fit for their audience. This need to strike a careful balance is something Steve “Dangle” Glynn is acutely aware of as a popular hockey personality with about 88,000 YouTube subscribers and 24,000 Instagram followers.

Glynn slowly built his audience over time as a YouTuber, one who has recorded a “Leaf Fan Reaction” video after every Toronto Maple Leafs game since 2007. These days, he writes articles and makes videos for Sportsnet, including some that get aired on television before hockey games.

But he also knows the audience he built up on YouTube is what opened up all sorts of other opportunities.

“I don’t want to be part of a campaign that’s going to flop, and I don’t want to hawk something that I know my followers don’t want,” Glynn said. “It’s great to make money and all, but you can’t take advantage of your fans.”

In one sense, the idea of an influencer is nothing new in advertising. Celebrities have been endorsing products for decades, even centuries. In more recent times, think Michael Jordan’s efforts in endorsing Nike shoes since the 1980s, or Hollywood studios negotiating onscreen product placement deals.

What’s new is the ability for regular people to be influencers by amassing a significant following through social media, and then using those digital services’ tools to quantify that following.

#Paid started in the summer of 2013 when co-founders Adam Rivietz and Bryan Gold watched their friend, Ronnie Friedman, amass a huge following on Instagram by posting fitness inspiration — “fitspo” — pictures.

“Back then, there were maybe five companies globally focused on monetizing Instagram. Now it’s probably 500 globally, so it’s gotten a lot more competitive. It’s basically like the gold rush in advertising,” Rivietz said.

“But similar to the gold rush, a lot of people rushed and didn’t find anything. You actually have to know what you’re doing.”

In June, #Paid secured US$9 million in Series A venture-capital funding, and this fall it’s launching a significant expansion, opening up its proprietary influencer matching system as a platform — an open marketplace to allow companies to build campaigns through an automated interface instead of using a #Paid account manager, which the company hopes will allow it to scale up in a big way.

This platform model is how #Paid operated when the company first launched, but its first really big client taught the fledgling company that advertisers simply weren’t ready to dive headlong into influencer marketing without some hand-holding.

“While we started out building this open marketplace, Pepsi asked us to just do it for them, and were willing to pay more for it,” Gold said. “Because the industry was so new at the time, the industry was so new, we had to kind of become the experts and do it on their behalf.”

#Paid started in the summer of 2013 when co-founders Adam Rivietz and Bryan Gold watched their friend, Ronnie Friedman, amass a huge following on Instagram by posting fitness inspiration — “fitspo” — pictures. In June, #Paid secured US$9 million in Series A venture-capital funding, and this fall it’s launching a significant expansion, opening up its proprietary influencer matching system as a platform

Both co-founders talk like they’re on a mission to evangelize influencer marketing and bring it into the mainstream. Making sure that creators get fairly paid in brand partnerships is core to that vision — the company is, after all, called #Paid.

“Influencers don’t know how to price themselves, and brands don’t know how to price influencers,” Rivietz said. “Professionals don’t work for free, and influencers are professional content creators who’ve been validated by all these followers.”

In addition to educating potential clients and advocating for fair pay, #Paid is also working with Advertising Standards Canada, the industry’s non-profit self-regulating body whose Influencer Marketing Steering Committee in June released a set of guidelines for best practices.

Chief among those guidelines was an emphasis on clear labelling so that consumers can distinguish paid endorsements from organic social media content — thus, Hui’s little #ad hashtag.

Under the Competition Act, influencer marketing counts as advertising, although the Competition Bureau has never brought a public enforcement action against deceptive advertising by an influencer.

“The brands themselves don’t know how to operate in the best way possible, in terms of following the rules,” said Wong at #Paid. “Purely speculating, I’d estimate that probably about 60 per cent are operating above board,” he said.

Influencers tend to be young, and a common refrain among them is that they’re really just muddling along, trying to pull together enough freelance work from different sources to make a comfortable living.

Hui focuses mostly on Instagram, but in addition to the #ad products, she accepts free trips from tourism promotional agencies to exotic locations. Those don’t pay, because her online following is not big enough yet, but they offer her lots of interesting backdrops for the photos that she posts daily. She also intermittently still writes for her blog, including some paid product reviews.

Glynn, meanwhile, juggles some paid endorsement work alongside regular content production for Sportsnet, a podcast and advertising money from his YouTube channel. On top of all that, he’s written a book that’s being published in March 2019.

Both Glynn and Hui emphasize that influencing is serious work and the job can be a grind. Hui may go to Paris for a few days, but she goes with a shot list and zips from one location to the next, stockpiling photos that she can steadily post later.

Another Instagram post by Victoria Hui, an ad promoting a brand of purse. This post is also marked with #ad.

The precariousness of the gig economy can also make monetizing an influencer’s role a tough proposition for some people, even if they have the social media following to make it happen.

Take Ronnie Friedman, who was the inspiration for #Paid when she started an Instagram account — Inspiredtobefit — as a way to post workout progress pictures and keep herself accountable as she tried to lose weight.

Friedman was surprised when her account blew up to 30,000 from 300 followers in just a few months. Rivietz and Gold offered to be her talent agent and help monetize her Instagram fame.

She did some paid posts, but she found her followers back in 2013 and 2014 were a lot more hostile to the idea of brand partnerships, and there was no road map for making a go of this.

Ultimately, Friedman didn’t dive into the influencer world, and now she has a corporate job in Ottawa.

“I did think about it a lot, to just go full time. I just didn’t think it was going to be enough money to sustain myself,” she said.

“It took a long time for brands to realize that they don’t need to go to the Kardashians or Jennifer Lopez or Jennifer Aniston to get deals. They can actually go to people with 5,000, 10,000, 100,000 followers, and get results.”

Financial Post

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[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Playoffs Ahoy!; Kovalchuk Returning?; Monahan Injuries – April 10

One report early on Monday morning had Ilya Kovalchuk signing with the New York Rangers for anywhere around two or three years. He has expressly made his desire to return to the NHL previously known so it’s a matter of where he lands, not if he leaves the KHL.

A lot of people are going to project how many points they see Kovalchuk racking up and I just don’t know how to go about it. Here is a guy who left the NHL in his age-29 season and will be turning 35 at the end of this week. Since the 2013 lockout, only one player aged 35 or older has managed at least 70 points (Joe Thornton, 2015-16 with 82). The highest-scoring winger was Martin St. Louis with 69 in 2013-14. Keep in mind that St. Louis did that playing nearly 21 minutes a night. Wherever Kovalchuk signs, there’s no chance he plays 21 minutes a night.

We have to remember that over his final two seasons, Kovalchuk was playing over 24 minutes a game in order to be a point-per-game player. No team is going to give him anywhere close to that. He won’t be over 20 minutes a game, for that matter. I love Kovalchuk as a player, and I’m getting excited to watch him again in the NHL, but we should feel fortunate if he can get 17-18 minutes a night. At that level, I’d be hard-pressed to project him for more than 60 points. We have all offseason to figure this out, but that seems about right for now.  

*

An interesting quote from Sabres forward Ryan O’Reilly at lockout clearing day:

Ryan O'Reilly just talked about losing his love for the game this season. Interesting stuff. #Sabres

— Bill Hoppe (@BillHoppeNHL) April 9, 2018

There were some more details later added by beat writer Joe Yerdon.

This is a guy pretty accustomed to winning even if it hasn’t been in the NHL. There are gold medals from the Ivan Hlinka, World Championships, and World Cup of Hockey. He also had two playoff appearances with Colorado. I’m sure when he signed with the Sabres a few years ago, he was looking at a team that may be bad for a year or two, but will have stockpiled enough young players (stars) by this point to be a perennial playoff threat. Things haven’t worked out that way.

It didn’t affect his fantasy performance, though. He set a four-year high in goals (24) and points (61). He had a career-high in shots (230) and face-off wins (1273). He cracked 20 power-play points for the third straight season, setting a career-high in PP goals along the way with 15. Statistically, it was a pretty good season for him.

If Ryan O’Reilly has the kind of season he had at a time when he lost love for the game at times, what can he do if (VERY BIG *IF*) the Sabres can right the ship next year?

*

Don’t forget to grab your copy of the Dobber playoff list. It has been updated now that we know the teams and matchups. Get the edge you need for your playoff pools!

*

Micah Blake-McCurdy (whom you should follow on Twitter and whose work in hockey is among the best) released his playoff odds per round as well as Cup odds:

🦀 Chances for 2017-2018 with the bracket finally set. Road teams are next to division names, divisional winners on the four corners. pic.twitter.com/FtGQU0JbTP

— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) April 9, 2018

I think the two some people may disagree is Minnesota as slight favourites over Winnipeg and Washington as heavy favourites over Columbus. What say you, Dobber heads?

*

This isn’t playoff-related, but hoo boy:

Sean Monahan had 4 surgeries since being taken out of the lineup: reconstructive wrist surgery, surgery on both hips and surgery on his groin… unbelievable. #Flames

— Jermain Franklin (@TSNJFranklin) April 9, 2018

This is going to be a crazy offseason for Sean Monahan. That’s, uh, a lot to rehab and come back healthy from? I’d be wary for the 2018-19 fantasy season.

*

It looks like Steven Stamkos will be ready for beginning of the postseason. He missed a few games at the end of the year but the plan is for him to be in the lineup for game one. If you’re worried about his injury with regards to playoff pools, he’s healthy enough to play as it is. How much risk you’re willing to tolerate is up to you.

Joe Thornton, however, will not be in the lineup for game one. He’s been out of the lineup since the end of January and at a minimum won’t start the postseason for the Sharks. It seems to me he’s a guy to just avoid for drafts.

*

Beyond the draft list available in the Dobber Shop, we’re going to have a lot of playoff content. Each Dobber writer, editor, and contributor will be providing their picks for each series as we have every year. We will also have some fantasy picks over on Sportsnet as well as daily updates here in Ramblings.

I wanted to give my thought on some series and players for drafts.

  Colorado/Nashville

Nashville is a massive favourite to win the series. By Vegas odds, they’re the biggest favourites, and it’s not even close; using Bodog odds, they sit at -500 to win the series. If you want to convert that to a percentage, it’s about 83 percent to win the series, or they win the series five out of every six opportunities.

I should make the disclaimer that I don’t outright bet on hockey games. If you’re looking for a professional handicapper, I am not that. But an 83 percent implied win rate seems high for any seven-game NHL playoff series. All it takes is for Jonathan Bernier to get hot for two weeks. Or the Nathan MacKinnon line to get hot for two weeks. Or any other number of ways one playoff team beats another playoff team four times out of seven.

Nashville wins this series most of the time. It just seems very pricy.

  San Jose

When I do playoff drafts, the very first question I ask is: which team has the easiest path to the Conference Final? When I look at this year’s bracket, it goes something like this:

Boston and Tampa Bay, should they win their first-round matchups, will face each other in the second round.

The winner of Columbus/Washington (a series I think is close) will probably have to go through the two-time defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

Should Nashville and Winnipeg win their series – and they both should – they’ll face off in the second round.

And then there’s the Pacific bracket.

Of the four teams in the Pacific side of the bracket – Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Jose, Vegas – only the Sharks finished in the top-15 teams league-wide in expected goals percentage at five-on-five, and San Jose was in the top-10. That holds up if we count games just since the All-Star break or, in other words, since the Joe Thornton injury.

I’m a believer in San Jose. I know we say that every year, but they’re a good team. I’m less convinced on the other teams in their bracket. Anaheim is a pretty tough first-round draw and the Sharks could very well be bounced out early. However, San Jose is not a team that will be targeted heavily in playoff drafts, which means that after you get the obligatory Bruins/Leafs/Lightning/Penguins/Predators players (or whomever is heavily targeted), you can really rack up the Sharks offensive players.

  Columbus

If I had to pick a team in the East to target that I think most people will overlook, much in the same vein as the Sharks, it’s Columbus.

The Blue Jackets’ Achilles’ heel all season was special teams. Though the common trope is that fewer penalties are called in the postseason, that has been found to not be true. At the least, Columbus did improve their power play as the season wore on, finding themselves in the middle of the pack with the man advantage after the All-Star break in expected goals. They were also mid-pack in actual goals. The PP doesn’t have to be a world-beater, but it has to be better than the ~10 percent it was over the first half of the season. And it was. If they can stay out of the box against Washington, they stand a decent shot in that series.

With all the popular teams flying off the board early, you’ll probably get your pick of the players from Columbus. The top guys like Cam Atkinson and Artemi Panarin are locks, but don’t forget Thomas Vanek, Alex Wennberg, or the returning Josh Anderson.

  Pittsburgh/Philadelphia

Can I just say, from a neutral fan’s standpoint, this is the first-round series I’m looking forward to most? I know a lot of people will say Leafs/Bruins, but I remember that 2012 Penguins/Flyers series. I was in Toronto for the Blue Jays’ home opener series watching the NHL games at a bar. I was almost in disbelief at what I was watching. Nothing but goals and fights.

Of course there’s been significant roster turnover since then but a lot of the major players like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, and Wayne Simmonds are still around. They’ll remember. We probably won’t get fireworks like that again but one can hope.  

*

There’s a lot of talk about “what went wrong” with the Oilers. There’s a laundry list: trading talented wingers, injured defencemen, and Cam Talbot having a down year are all worthy talking points. One thing we can’t overlook is special teams. On the season, if you subtract power-play goals against from power-play goals for, the Oilers were an incredible minus-26. The next-worst team was Detroit at minus-17, and only five teams in the league were minus-10 or worse (the aforementioned teams plus Montreal, Columbus, and Ottawa). Of the 10 teams with the best differential (Boston, Colorado, San Jose, Pittsburgh, Winnipeg, Toronto, Los Angeles, Vegas, New Jersey, the Rangers) only the New York Rangers failed to qualify for the playoffs. I think a healthy Oscar Klefbom will help the power play next season but that penalty kill needs cleaning up in the worst way. 

*

I know he’s not the same broadcaster he was 20 years ago but count me among the hockey fans who will miss Bob Cole this postseason. Sportsnet has not included him among their playoff broadcast teams so unless something changes, we won’t be getting a hearty Oh Baby this spring.

It’s nostalgia, for sure, but Bob Cole is one of the voices of my childhood. For me and many Canadians near my age, he’s the voice of hockey. I wish they could have had him in the booth for the Leafs/Bruins. That would have been special. 

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-playoffs-ahoy-kovalchuk-returning-monahan-injuries-april-10/

[samsonpostdelilah-blog1]

San Jose Sharks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Game Preview 13018

A couple of teams that have put themselves firmly in playoff contention, the San Jose Sharks and the Pittsburgh Penguins meet at PPG Paints Arena for a cross-country showdown. The opening face-off takes place at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, January 30, and it is being shown live on ATT SportsNet Pittsburgh. San Jose Sharks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Odds San Jose 160 is playing the role of underdog to Pittsburgh -180, and the oddsmakers have set the OverUnder OU at 6 goals. The line for betting the total stands at -115 for the over and -105 on the under. Losing -4.2 units for moneyline bettors, Pittsburgh is 27-24 straight up SU overall thus far. That winning percentage, ranked third in the Metropolitan Division so far this season, is a slide from what the team recorded during the 2016-17 season 50-32. Through 51 regular season outings, 25 of its games have gone over the total, while 24 have gone under and just two have pushed. The teams 17-8 SU at home this year. The Penguins come into the matchup with the strongest power-play unit in the NHL, as the team has found the net on 27.1 percent of their extra-man opportunities this season. On the other hand, their penalty kill is rated ninth overall, and theyve successfully killed off 82.9 percent of all penalties. As a team, the Penguins have been called for penalties 4.2 times per game overall this season, 4.2 per game over their last five contests total, and 4.2 per game over their last five at home. The teams had to kill penalties for

[junker-town]

Montreal Canadiens ‘actively shopping’ captain Max Pacioretty, per report

GM Marc Bergevin is reportedly looking to get a more efficient goal scorer for his team.

There never seems to be a time when Montreal Canadiens’ forward Max Pacioretty is not on a trade rumor list. The three-year captain for Montreal has been long-rumored to be a piece moved by general manager Marc Bergevin in tough times, but now those talks may finally have some weight behind them.

On Saturday during Hockey Night In Canada, analyst Nick Kypreos told the panel that the Canadiens are “actively shopping” their captain.

"While an eventual trade may include draft picks and prospects, it's been clear to other teams that Bergevin's top priority is moving [Pacioretty] for a top goal-scorer," Kypreos said.

Pacioretty has eight goals and 20 points total for the Canadiens this season as he has kept himself among Montreal’s top scorers all year. The 29-year-old left-winger has put up 30-plus goal seasons over his last five years of work, excluding the recent half-season lockout. However, Pacioretty has gone a bit dry this season in the goal scoring department and he’s fallen from being a standout goal-scorer to a much less effective forward.

There has been talk that Pacioretty’s responsibilities as captain have weighed too heavily on him, and his play has suffered as a result.

"[Pacioretty] feels he has the responsibility to come up with some sort of answer for the media and he's just grasping at straws to try to provide reasons for why he and the team aren't going very well,” Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman said on the panel.

The Canadiens sit at fifth place in the Atlantic Division with 26 points and a 16-19-4 record. Given how the Metropolitan Division is set to sweep the two wild card spots in the Eastern Conference, Montreal is fighting an uphill battle to get into a postseason position.

On Saturday, the Florida Panthers added a bit more distance between themselves and the Canadiens with their 2-0 shutout victory over Montreal.

Pacioretty can still produce as a 29-year-old forward, but the asking price of at least a draft pick and young prospect may hold some teams up due to his scoring slump this season. If teams don’t bite by the trade deadline, the Canadiens also have the NHL draft this summer as an option.

After this season, Pacioretty will have one year left on his six-year, $27 million contract with an AAV of $4.5 million, according to Cap Friendly.

[burningkingdomcollectorworl-blog]

Learn how to Make Olive Backyard Salad

Tips on how to Make Olive Backyard Salad

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[flauntpage]

Shark Attack – Picking Through the Rubble of Sharks 8, Flyers 2

It would be easy to sit here and tell you what how abysmal the Flyers 8-2 loss in their home opener to the San Jose Sharks was and break down all the misery that was the defensive abomination.

It would be easy to do a 5,000-word breakdown, as some are wont to do, analyzing every failing on every goal and to tell you how terrible the defensive pairs were, blah, blah, blah, blah.

But if you watched the game, you saw just how miserable it was. You were probably on Flyers Twitter making all kinds of cynical commentary about the state of the team.

And if you didn’t watch it, you were the lucky one.

But rather than rehash all of that nonsense, let’s just let the Flyers players tell you how bad it really was.

Here’s Shayne Gostisbehere, who actually played his ass off and had a good game amid the rubble of the full-team implosion:

“Yeah, we sucked. It is what it is. I mean I feel so fucking bad for Moose (Brian Elliott) right now. We left him out to dry, he was our best player tonight. It could’ve been eight nothing after the first [period]. I mean it’s a little ridiculous. Some of us really have to look in the mirror on this team, and we just gotta respond tomorrow. To leave a guy out to dry like that, it’s really not fair.”

That’s pretty damning words from a defenseman on a team that just gave up eight goals – the most the Flyers ever allowed in a home opener.

But he wasn’t alone.

Take Elliott, for example, the goalie, who was not only left out to dry by his team, but also by his coach Dave Hakstol, who made him endure the embarrassment of letting up all eight goals, never once calling time out, never once pulling him from this debacle and saving him the dubious honor of having a snowman added to his ever-growing goals against average. He had this to say:

“I don’t think we had the structure to take on their attack. They did a good job. Four guys joined in the rush, and a lot of odd-man rushes tonight. It kinda felt like wave on wave. We could’ve handled it better.”

He mentioned structure again in another question, so I just had to ask him about it further. I mean, if the goalie thinks there’s a lack of structure…

“I think they played their game, a fast game. That’s just one word that I just have been thinking about…we shouldn’t give up that many of those types of scoring chances again and again. I think a bit of our structure was off. That’s how it felt out there.”

I’d be thinking about structure too – or lack thereof – when you play a game like this.

But wait… there’s more.

Here’s the captain, Claude Giroux, who actually assisted on both Flyers goals and played O.K. What did he think?

“I just think we played like shit tonight. The score shows it. We just left our goalie to dry and Moose played a good game, he didn’t deserve that and it’s on us.”

No, he didn’t deserve it. He made 40 freaking saves and still allowed eight! Think about that for a second. He made 40 saves in a 60-minute game, and STILL allowed eight goals. Where the hell was the team around him?

Coach?

“Yeah, I think Brian got hung out to dry… [I] Should have gotten him out of there probably after the second [period]. I wanted to give him an opportunity to keep battling, thought he was battling on every puck and every shot and by the time we got to the third period, the sixth one against, it’s too late to get him out and put Pick [backup goalie Calvin Pickard] into that situation.”

Sorry, that’s not good enough. You don’t do that to your goalie. I’ll flash you back, real quick, to Patrick Roy’s last game in Montreal before being traded to the Colorado Avalanche:

Credit Brian Elliott for holding his tongue as best he could. He could have gone the full Patty and celebrated with fans after an easy save, or told Ron Hextall to trade him right after the game, as Roy did, but he didn’t. He stuck it out.

And when I asked him if he was surprised he was still in there for all eight goals, he didn’t take the bait and told me, “That’s not my decision. If I’m in there I’m gonna stay in there and battle to the end.”

But you know what his team is saying? You know what those players are saying when they are criticizing themselves for leaving the goalie out to dry and calling him the best player on the ice?

They’re being good teammates, yes, but they’re also sending a message to Hakstol that not getting Elliott the hell out of there was unacceptable.

I’m sorry, Dave, you just can’t do that. Not when this is happening:

The Sharks scored two goals in 11 seconds to grab an early lead over the Flyers. pic.twitter.com/V26Rb7gfN8

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 10, 2018

Or this:

6-1. Sharks. Oh boy. pic.twitter.com/wkhFH3M2gL

— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) October 10, 2018

Or this:

7-1. Things have gotten completely out of hand. pic.twitter.com/IF4GrlXGbG

— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) October 10, 2018

Or this:

8-1. Time to go home. pic.twitter.com/41BuinAvPS

— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) October 10, 2018

The optics on this are not good.

Here’s all you need to know:

The eight goals allowed by the Flyers are the most they’ve given up in a home opener in their history. The previous high came in the first home game of the 1971-72 season, a 7-0 loss to Los Angeles on October 21, 1971; the six-goal deficit tonight is the second largest in a home opener only to that game.

The eight goals are the most San Jose has scored against the Flyers since San Jose’s inception in 1991. Their previous high was a 7-3 win in Philadelphia on Feb. 27, 2014. The 48 shots are also the most they’ve had against the Flyers, eclipsing the 45 they’d had twice before, on Oct. 18, 2008 and Oct. 13, 1997, both in San Jose.

The 48 shots against are the most the Flyers have allowed in a game since they allowed 52 at Pittsburgh on Nov. 27, 2017. It ties the record for the most shots allowed at the Wells Fargo Center, last set on Dec. 20, 2008 vs. Washington, and is the most they’ve allowed in a home game since Montreal had 49 on Dec. 23, 1990 at the Spectrum.

The last time the Flyers allowed eight goals to any team was October 27, 2011 when they dropped a 9-8 decision to the Winnipeg Jets.

And you know what game that was? Let me share my own video that sorta went viral after that game:

This is the level of embarrassment the Flyers reached in this game. When we’re comparing it to a Ilya Bryzgalov meltdown.

Anyway, I’ve pretty much said enough. There’s another game in less than 24 hours against the woeful Ottawa Senators in Canada’s capitol.

But before I go, here’s a hit list of individual Flyers who were notably terrible in this loss:

Ivan Provorov had his worst game as a Flyer. Seriously. Worse than that minus-5 as a rookie against the Blackhawks. He was really sloppy with the puck and seems to have lost his spot on the second power play unit to Travis Sanheim.

Travis Konecny was demoted from the top line to the second line and played like he was unhappy with the demotion. He was only credited with three giveaways, but I counted five. He had chances to shoot the puck from point blank range and passed them up to either make an unnecessary pass that didn’t work, or try a wraparound that never materialized.

Robert Hagg and Andrew MacDonald were each turned inside out on what ended up being a Sharks goal.

Travis Sanheim was constantly out of position and didn’t really play a hard game.

Oh, screw it, they were mostly all bad. Here’s who gets a pass: Elliott, Gostisbehere, Raffl, Laughton, Lehtera… (yeah, I said Lehtera)… that’s it.

The post Shark Attack – Picking Through the Rubble of Sharks 8, Flyers 2 appeared first on Crossing Broad.

Shark Attack – Picking Through the Rubble of Sharks 8, Flyers 2 published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

[rickhorrow]

15 TO WATCH: RICK HORROW’S TOP SPORTS/BUSINESS/ MARKETING/ENDORSEMENT ISSUES FOR THE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 27

with Jamie Swimmer

  With the NFL Combine just around the corner, top prospects are getting ready to prove their value to executives and scouts and fans are getting ready to enjoy the NFL Combine Experience. According to InsideIndianaBusiness.com, the NFL announced last year that it would keep the Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis through 2020, and the city is getting ready to put on the show. With interactive games, access to drills, and autographs, this year’s revamped Combine could generate up to $10 million in economic impact alone for the city. This positive impact is a key reason that the NFL was so willing to hand the event to Indy for five years. The March 2-5 event will be the 31st anniversary of the Combine being held in Indianapolis. Top prospects such as UNC’s Mitch Trubisky, who could be the No. 1 overall pick, stated that he plans on throwing at evaluation. Long-term stability leads to enhanced economic impact for Indianapolis, Lucas Oil Stadium, and the Colts. While the draft, Pro Bowl, and Super Bowl continue their national rotations, look for the Combine to solidify its strong roots in Indiana.

The PGA Tour under new Commissioner Jay Monahan is pushing hard to better the fan experience, including creating a more “customizable viewing experience," according to Golfweek. Those initiatives include allowing viewers to "call up leaderboards and statistics at will, compare players' performances versus the field,” and virtually immerse themselves in situations like hitting shots at the 16th hole of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The Tour is also "transitioning to the next generation of ShotLink, which will generate more extensive data on players' performances more quickly." ShotLink+, as it has been dubbed, will "entail a complete overhaul of the system" that has been in place for the last 15 years. And PGA Tour Senior VP/Information Systems Steve Evans said that before year's end there likely will be "new statistics on various types of putts -- uphill vs. downhill, putts breaking right or left for right-handed or left-handed players." Since professional golf is mostly consumed on TV, keeping abreast of immersive technology is critical to capturing the next generation of golf fans.

Duke Men's Basketball continues to push the ball up the court by improving fan engagement via the newest release of #DukeMBBStats. The product is a database of men's basketball statistics on every student athlete who has ever played for Duke Men's Basketball…dating back to 1906! The site is powered by SAP's HANA cloud database, and was developed by Duke's analytics partner LSI Consulting.  Ryan Craig, Executive Director of Digital Strategy for Duke Athletics created a collaborative project plan which included Duke undergrads and Fuqua students to design and build the site.  Baseline box score stats and SportVU integrated shot charts are available, and much more data is planned in the near future, including Computational Journalism, Player insight analytics, Player Comparisons, ‘Create your own’ infographics, Formulaic advanced metrics, and more. The Duke stats product is yet another example of technology and creativity in the future of sports, affecting on-field performance and off-field experience.

  The Los Angeles Lakers are making big moves, but this time it is not on the court. According to the L.A. Times, the team had one of the “most drastic days in the history of the Lakers” after President Jeanie Buss fired Executive Vice President/Basketball Operations Jim Buss, who is also her brother, General Manager Mitch Kupchak, and Vice President/Public Relations John Black. Going forward, the team will be led by NBA and Lakers legend Magic Johnson, who was named President of Basketball Operations shortly after the front-office reshuffling. Speaking to his reputation as a control freak, Johnson said, “I'm going to make sure I set the strategy and set the tone. This organization is going to be about excellence on and off the court…Everybody will have a clear role.” These moves by Jeanie Buss represent drastic changes to the team’s internal organization, and also reaffirm her power. Short-term turbulence will hopefully lead to long-term gain, at least in Jeanie Buss’ mind. Forbes pegs the Lakers’ value at $8 billion, up 11% from last year, and #2 in the league. Obviously, much room to prosper.

As one of their primary investors turns his attention to the Lakers, Dodgers' game broadcasts for the fourth consecutive season "could go unseen by a majority of fans” in the L.A. TV market, according to the L.A. Times. Charter Communications confirmed that it “does not anticipate reaching agreements with DirecTV or any other cable or satellite provider to carry the Dodgers-owned SportsNet LA channel by the time the regular season starts.” The Times notes Charter “inherited the channel last year in its merger with Time Warner Cable,” which agreed to pay the Dodgers $8.35 billion over 25 years for exclusive local TV rights. In November, the Department of Justice sued AT&T, “alleging its DirecTV subsidiary had violated antitrust law by sharing information about SportsNet LA negotiations with other carriers.” If the case is thrown out -- a hearing is set for March 13 -- AT&T would “appear to have little incentive to pick up the Dodgers channel.” Wild card: whether new U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will support the DOJ in pursuing the suit.

Topgolf transformed the Seattle Mariners ballpark, Safeco Field, into exactly that, a Topgolf. The global sports and entertainment giant introduced their new “Crush” product last weekend, bringing the revolutionary driving range concept to areas that aren’t lucky enough to be in one of their 34 U.S. locations. According to the Seattle Times, with baseball season still six weeks away, 6,000 people cycled through Safeco over Presidents Day weekend to experience Topgolf — a six-target fusion of bowling and darts at the driving range. Topgolf’s Toptracer technology is used now on the PGA Tour, and has launched golf into the digital age. Safeco Field is the first stadium to introduce Topgolf Crush — essentially a pop-up version of the game. And it won’t be the last: the game will next visit Camping World Stadium in Orlando in March. A great example of a global sports entertainment community that puts a different spin on golf and breathes fresh air into the sport.

Major League Baseball might have found itself a new streaming partner: Facebook. According to Reuters, MLB and the social media site are in talks to “live stream one game per week during the upcoming season, which could be a key win as the social media platform works to offer more live sports.” Over the past few years, social media platforms have significantly increased their sports streaming involvement, including Twitter’s deal with the NFL. Facebook "pushed to sign deals with owners of sports rights to live stream their games, going after an audience" that other social media platforms are currently trying to tap into as well. The two sides are still in preliminary talks and it is unclear which games or what teams would be streamed via Facebook in 2017. If an MLB deal is struck, it would complement Facebook’s live streaming of Liga MX matches, global basketball games, and table tennis. Facebook continues to increase its product line, market reach, and global penetration. Look for more international live stream deals in the years ahead.

  Despite recently losing the Chargers, the city of San Diego is making a serious push to attract an MLS team by 2020. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, officials unveiled San Diego’s proposed $1 billion-plus “Soccer City” project. The project “would include up to 4,800 homes, more than 3 million square feet of office and retail space, 55 acres of parks and nearly as many parking spaces as currently exist” at the 166-acre Qualcomm Stadium site, where the Chargers used to play. This is all part of a plan to win an expansion team for the 2020 MLS season; San Diego is one of 12 competing cities. The proponents will now "present their plan to San Diego city voters in the form of a ballot initiative that will require about 72,000 registered voters to become valid." The City Council will need to approve all this by June if it wants to meet MLS expansion deadlines. Clearly, the key is to maximize the economic feasibility of a multipurpose stadium – using the opportunity to attract other major events and college programs. Also, it will be important to capitalize on the political and civic momentum generated by leaders who want a quick deviation and replacement from the vagabond Chargers.

  To some people, money isn’t everything. For Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, a move to the Chinese Super League would make him the “world’s best-paid player,” but he is reportedly uninterested in the potential shift. According to Sky Sports, Rooney has offers of up to $934,100 a week to play in China, but he “unlikely to leave.” The two clubs that have serious interest in Rooney are Guangzhou Evergrande, which is managed by Felipe Scolari, and Beijing Guoan, which “finished fifth in the CSL last season.” Chinese Super League clubs are only allowed to have three foreign players in their starting lineups, meaning that clubs are willing to pay hefty sums for select international players. Three clubs "still have a slot available for a foreign player" -- Tianjin Quanjian, Jiangsu Suning and Beijing Guoan.” Rooney, who became United’s all-time leading goal scorer earlier this season, is speculated to be at the tail end of his career in Manchester. China -- making an incredible economic and social push and attempting to quickly dominate the sport of soccer. Money does not always buy happiness, however.

  The race to land the 2024 Olympics just got smaller with Hungary’s decision to withdraw Budapest’s bid. According to Reuters, the Hungarian government formally announced the decision, citing a “lack of political and national unity behind the application that it blamed on the opposition.” Budapest Mayor Istvan Tarlos had suggested the city “might quit the race” after local opponents of the bid “submitted a quarter of a million signatures in a petition demanding a local referendum in Budapest on the issue.” Now only two “powerhouse” candidates remain: Paris and Los Angeles. Rome was one of the final candidates but elected to withdraw its bid months ago; Hamburg withdrew back in 2015. A formal decision on the host city is set for September. As it currently stands, “bookmakers have Paris as the favorite but rate Los Angeles as a close runner-up.” The choice now comes down to a philosophical one between a city that has proven its ability to host an Olympics with minimal disruption and maximum long-term legacy (Los Angeles), compared to a city boasting a romantic return to Europe and a celebration of economic tradition and history (Paris).

  E-sports have become increasingly popular in recent years, and now they will have their own arena. According to the Las Vegas Sun, Toronto-based Millennial Esports is “set to open a 15,000-square-foot e-sports arena” in Las Vegas. The facility will open with a three-day “Halo” tournament. The arena, which is a first of its kind, “features a 200-seat arena with stadium-style seating and a main room for up to 500 people with a stage, a green room and a VIP room.” Basketball stadiums and other indoor arenas have recently been converted into e-sports stadiums for tournaments, but this move to open a sport-specific facility signifies to increasing interest in the professional gaming world. Audio and visual components “include an LED video wall with theater lighting and sound, plus cinema projectors in the arena.” The facility also “has a concession stand and a merchandise area where fans can purchase tough-to-find video game-related items.” E-sports is now reaching tens of millions of people, and becoming the fastest growing sport on the planet. Cynics who predicted its niche demise are now attempting to hop on an ever-expanding bandwagon.

  Coming off their first World Series win in over 100 years, the Chicago Cubs are rolling out a new marketing campaign with the tagline “That’s Cub.” According to ChicagoBusiness.com, Cubs players and coaches used that mantra throughout last season in the clubhouse, but it is now being publicized. President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein and manager Joe Maddon used the phrase in Spring Training interviews the other week, and some players have been "donning the slogan on T-shirts" in Mesa, Arizona. The team’s marketing department is turning the slogan into “the theme that will adorn billboards, TV spots and CTA bus ads beginning next month.” Epstein first brought the saying to the team in 2013 and it has stuck ever since. The Cubs have capitalized on their on-field success with massive spikes in apparel sales and an increased marketing presence around the city. The Cubs seamless preseason marketing campaign attempts to capitalize on long-term stability, prior success, and future challenges. So far, the tagline seems to be working magnificently.

  Instead of extending an offer for over $200 million, the Sacramento Kings elected to trade All-Star center Demarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans. According to CSNBayArea.com, the Kings cited a desired culture change as the main reason for shipping Cousins off to the Bayou. A source said that the Kings “grew tired” of Cousins' “constant issues on the court.” The team’s entire basketball operations side, including coach Dave Joerger, was part of the decision to trade Cousins. This move marks a “complete reboot” for the Sacramento-based franchise, and is something that many say “should have occurred before the team stepped into Golden 1 Center.” “We’re going to play hard, we’re going to play with a lot of fun and improve everyday and try and compete and try to make the playoffs,” said Kings VP/Basketball Operations & General Manager Vlade Divac. “If not, we’re setting up ourselves in a good place to move forward.” Like the trade or not, the Kings end up with more long-term “assets” while the Pelicans create a clearer path to short-term relevance. It now remains to be seen whether either or both can take advantage of the opportunities.

  With House Bill 2 in place, the ACC is still reluctant to award any championship games to North Carolina. According to ESPN.com, the ACC plans on announcing future conference championship sites in May, and North Carolina remains “in limbo.” The ACC in September "pulled all its conference championship games" from North Carolina for the 2016-2017 season in the wake of HB2’s instatement, just as the NBA pulled the 2017 All-Star Game and moved it to New Orleans. “We won't be in a situation like we were last year – with September decisions, in terms of our championships going forward…” said ACC Commissioner John Swofford. The NCAA removed all championships from North Carolina as well for this year, but it is in the process of evaluating North Carolina’s fit for events between 2018-2022. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper last week said that he “needs House Bill 2 to be repealed by the end of February so the state doesn't lose out on future NCAA championship events.” After the successful New Orleans All-Star weekend, North Carolina should clearly understand the necessity of political changes to continue to attract all industries (not just sports).

  Rate of play has been a big talk in MLB lately, with significant changes finally coming to the game. According to the Tampa Bay Times, MLB and the MLBPA agreed to make intentional walks automatic and are discussing several other changes to the game. Despite Commissioner Rob Manfred publicly criticizing the player’s union, talks between both sides are “ongoing.” Among the leading topics of discussion are “putting a two-minute limit on replay reviews” and implementing a 30-second limit for managers to decide whether to challenge calls or not. Players believe that new rule changes to speed up games will “cause so much collateral damage to the sport that the game will become unrecognizable.” “If you put a clock on baseball, you take away the sanctity of the game and the character of it,” said Rangers catcher Jonathan Lucroy. “I understand trying to speed up the game to create more action, but this isn’t football.” Rob Manfred attempts to put his immediate stamp on the future of the game – armed with studies and focus groups featuring preferences for millennials.

[thrashermaxey]

Weekend wrap: On to the playoffs

The weekend’s biggest game came on Saturday night in Colorado, with the Avalanche and Blues facing off in what was essentially a single-game playoff for the West’s final wild card. The Avalanche took that one by a 5–2 final, earning a playoff spot and completing one of the most stunning season-to-season turnarounds in modern history. They’ll face the Predators in the opening round.

Saturday’s turning point came in the second period, with the Avalanche taking a 2–0 lead on a goal that the Blues challenged for offside. The play was close, with Blues fans insisting it was indeed offside, but the goal stood. That’s led to some silly conspiracy talk, which rings a little hollow when you remember that the Blues benefitted from a blown offside review to beat these same Avalanche earlier in the season. To their credit, St. Louis fought back to close the gap to 2–1, but Nathan MacKinnon‘s goal was the dagger, and Gabriel Landeskog‘s empty-netter set off an epic celebration.

The other open playoff race didn’t come with the same level of drama, as the Flyers put an early end to any suspense with a Saturday-afternoon win over the listless Rangers to eliminate the Panthers. That left Florida with a pair of meaningless games to play out, including last night’s contest against the Bruins. That one mattered to Boston, with first place in the Atlantic on the line. But the Bruins came out flat and didn’t find their legs until the third period, and by then they’d left themselves too much ground to over. The Panthers weathered the loss of goaltender James Reimer and held on for a 4–2 win.

That leaves the Lightning as the Atlantic’s top seed and sets up a first-round meeting with the Devils. The Bruins finish second and will get the Maple Leafs, a matchup that at least on paper looks a lot tougher.

The weekend’s other big NHL news was the final game for the Sedins. The twins took their final bow after Saturday’s shootout loss in Edmonton, one that saw them receive a heartfelt goodbye from Oiler fans and players alike while their children watched on from the bench.

Not a bad way to go out. For the rest of us, it’s two days off and then on to the first round.

Road to the Cup

The five teams that look like they’re headed towards Stanley Cup–favourite status.

5. Pittsburgh Penguins (47-29-6, +22 true goals differential*): With a winnable first-round matchup locked in against the Flyers, we’ll bump the defending champs back into the top five to close out the season. Don’t sleep on the Capitals, though.

4. Boston Bruins (50-20-12, +56): The team honoured anthem singer Rene Rancourt before last night’s game. He’s already announced that he’ll be retiring after their playoff run.

>> Read the full post at Sportsnet

from All About Sports http://www.downgoesbrown.com/2018/04/weekend-wrap-on-to-playoffs.html

[northernnba]

Could a Mystery Team be the Landing Location for Jahlil Okafor? - The Sixer Sense

The Sixer Sense

Could a Mystery Team be the Landing Location for Jahlil Okafor? The Sixer Sense The Philadelphia 76ers have set themselves up to be the center of attention over the opening days of this week. On Saturday, it was reported by multiple outlets that the Sixers sat Jahlil Okafor because they wanted to ensure he wouldn't get injured ... 5 Ways Jahlil Okafor Refined Philadelphia 76ers “Process”FOXSports.com 76ers sit Jahlil Okafor as trade talks heat upESPN NBA trade rumors: What can Sixers ask Bulls or Pelicans for Jahlil Okafor?NJ.com CBSSports.com -The Inquisitr -Hoops Habit -Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia all 107 news articles »

[junker-town]

NHL scores 2017: Claude Julien’s tenure in Montreal starts with a whimper

The bye week took its toll once again on the Canadiens, and others.

Well, first games with new head coaches can’t all be winners. The most anticipated game of the week came and went on Saturday without much fanfare, as Claude Julien coached his first game of the season behind the bench of the Canadiens.

Winnipeg stole Montreal’s thunder, as it were, in a 3-1 victory over the Canadiens, jolted by a two-goal third period to spoil the occasion. It was a pretty sleepy affair from Montreal, who had just 20 shots to their name in the loss.

A potential culprit for the Canadiens’ sluggish Saturday? Montreal was playing their first game off a bye week, along with two other teams — the Blackhawks and Predators. All three teams lost their first game off the bye week, bringing the bye week record to 0-8-1 in February. The addition of the week off is a new one to the NHL, and considering what it has done to teams so far, this might be the only year it exists.

Still, it’s a loss the Canadiens couldn’t afford to take. The Atlantic Division lead they created at the start of the year has dwindled to just two points, as their loss combined with the Senators’ win has Ottawa sitting within a one-game striking distance. Yes, just like we all predicted.

Montreal will have to shake off the sloppy loss and get back on the horse for their next game on Tuesday. With Julien at the helm, the Canadiens have got themselves in a pretty great position to win. Now, they just have to take it.

Scores

Sabres 3, Blues 2 Red Wings 3, Capitals 2 (SO) Jets 3, Canadiens 1 Oilers 3, Blackhawks 1 Devils 3, Islanders 2 Senators 6, Maple Leafs 3 Sharks 4, Coyotes 1 Stars 4, Lightning 3 (OT) Wild 5, Predators 2 Panthers 3, Kings 2 Canucks 2, Flames 1 (OT)

Get the biggest NHL news, rumors, and analysis in your inbox every morning!

Four Things We Learned

1. The Atlantic is really, really wonky

If you had the Senators in second, the Sabres contending just one point out of a wild card spot, and the Lightning not even in the playoff conversation, then congratulations to you. With the Senators and Sabres both winning, plus the Lightning losing in an overtime heartbreaker, the Atlantic continues to defy logic. Ottawa especially, for besting wild card contender Toronto 6-3 on Saturday and for closing the gap on the Canadiens.

No one’s really out of it right now in the Eastern Conference, but that the Sabres, Senators, and Maple Leafs are pushing big names out of contention is quite incredible.

2. Edmonton’s continuing to cruise

Speaking of surprise contenders, the Oilers are on a three-game win streak and currently are second place in the Pacific Division. The top three teams in the Pacific have an almost double-digit lead over their division contenders, making the Oilers rise even more incredible. Connor McDavid, of course, had a goal in the Oilers 3-1 win over the Blackhawks, and Edmonton benefited from the Blackhawks coming off a bye week in the victory.

3. The Wild, not the Blackhawks, are running away with the Central

With their seventh win in their last 10 games, Minnesota has extended their lead in the Central to nine points. Bruce Boudreau’s first year in the State of Hockey has gone even better than expected, as the Wild are one point behind the Capitals — who lost in a shootout on Saturday — for the league’s top team. A combination of strong play from Devan Dubnyk, who had 37 saves in the 5-2 win over the Predators, and a pair of goals from Jason Zucker helped the Wild take yet another victory.

#mnwild win its 39th game, topping last season’s total in 58 games. Now 9 points up on #Blackhawks. 37 saves for Dubnyk, NHL-best 32 wins

— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) February 19, 2017

4. Brent Burns is on track for a career year, and a Norris

With Erik Karlsson and Drew Doughty far behind the pace, Burns is without a doubt a lock for the NHL’s best defenseman award this season. Two goals on Saturday propelled Burns to 63 points with a double-digit lead over Karlsson’s 49. Burns is also on pace for a career-high 88 points, which would surpass his total of 75 set just last year.

#SJSharks Brent Bruns becomes the first defenceman with 17 road goals in a season since Kevin Hatcher in 1992-93

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) February 19, 2017

Impact Moment(s)

Antoine Roussel had a hat trick — with quite the celebration — and Jamie Benn got the finisher for the Stars in Dallas’ 4-3 overtime win against the Lightning.

Stat of the Night

It was in doubt for a bit, but #Sens Craig Anderson continued his dominance tonight vs the Leafs http://pic.twitter.com/q0S1bAu5aU

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) February 19, 2017

Post to Post

Brian Elliott was fooled by a knuckle-puck and allowed a goal from center ice. It’s as bad as it sounds.

This Senators player saved a goal, then seconds later had a goal go off his helmet and into the net. All that hard work, wasted.

Dallas paid tribute to the return of play-by-play broadcaster Dave Strader, as he has battled cancer over the past year.

[thrashermaxey]

Saturday storylines: Spoiler alert

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. It’s a special occasion, one that hockey fans typically spend drinking slightly more beer than usual, thinking, “Wait, why is my team wearing green?” and watching old YouTube clips of people punching each other.

Today, fans can also spend it with 10 matchups, including a classic Canadian rivalry.

HNIC Game of the Night: Canadiens at Maple Leafs

The Maple Leafs and Canadiens have been back in the same division for nearly two decades now, and they’ve spent most of that time engaged in a strange dance where only one team at a time can be any good. When the Leafs were contending for a Cup under Pat Quinn around the turn of the century, the Habs mostly missed the playoffs. When the Canadiens followed that up by making the post-season in eight of the first 10 post-lockout seasons, the Maple Leafs decidedly did not. And now that Toronto is finally good again, Montreal seems to be on the verge of a rebuild.

But through it all, it’s been a consistent truth that games between the teams always seemed to be good, or at least memorable. Even when one team was awful and had nothing to play for, there was something about the Toronto/Montreal matchup that could be counted on to produce at least a little magic. Whether it was a dramatic goal or some bad blood or a serenade gone wrong, something fun would happen. You can scoff at lame stories about rivalries and history and ghosts all you want, but the Leafs and Habs usually delivered.

Tonight will put that theory to the test. The Canadiens don’t have much of anything left to play for, and come in having lost six of their last seven. With Shea Weber, Carey Price and Max Pacioretty all out of the lineup with long-term injuries, the Habs are clearly in just-get-it-over-with mode down the stretch. Even the usual narrative about playing for next year’s jobs only goes so far, as we’re not even sure whether the current GM will still be around to make those roster calls. You could forgive Montreal fans if they were more interested in making little heart-eyes at John Tavares than in watching what’s left of this roster play out the string.

Meanwhile, the Leafs come into this one riding a franchise-record 11-game home winning streak. It’s been an impressive run, especially with most of it coming without Auston Matthews. But it hasn’t done much to change the standings, where Toronto remains locked into third place in the Atlantic. With 10 games left in the regular season after this one, the Leafs would probably prefer to fast-forward straight to the playoffs, if only to avoid any more injuries like the ones that have claimed Matthews, Frederik Andersen and most recently Leo Komarov.

So two teams, only one of which is any good, and neither with much of anything to play for. And yet… well, it’s still Toronto and Montreal. As eye-rolling as the premise may be, there really is something special about seeing the league’s oldest rivalry play out on a Saturday night. And with the way these things tend to go, would anyone be all that shocked to see a depleted Montreal roster arrive in town and pull off the upset, snapping the Leafs’ record-setting win streak in the process?

If you’ve followed this rivalry over the years, you know to expect the unexpected by now. At the very least, Toronto fans may want to keep the victory songs to themselves until the final buzzer.

>> Read the full post at Sportsnet

from All About Sports http://www.downgoesbrown.com/2018/03/saturday-storylines-spoiler-alert.html