The Raptors’ win was transformative for the league, the business of sport and for Canada in general
You don’t have to ask the impact of the Toronto Raptors winning the National Basketball Association title last week. Two million people on the streets of that city speak to the engagement created by the team’s dramatic process through the playoffs. Think of the public’s addiction to the games as Game Of Thrones – except…
Trevor Doerksen of ePlay Digital is opening doors around the world for interactive gaming
Trevor Doerksen is CEO of ePlay Digital. What is ePlay Digital and what does it do? Doerksen: ePlay is one of Calgary’s growing number of game publishers. We have created a celebrity-filled, Pokemon Go style game platform for sports, e-sports, and entertainment. We will soon launch the first location-based title from the augmented reality mobile…
Only the purity of competition assures that the resulting data has relevance and application in a sport
Some call it analytics. Some call it statistics. Some call it trivia. Others call it a waste of time. But collating and interpreting the reams of data generated by pro sports teams is now an integral part of sport. On one hand, analysis of data is how players get paid the vast sums they receive.…
Far too many odious owners haunt the world of professional sports, preying on ticket-buying fans
It takes a lot of talent to screw up a National Hockey League franchise in a Canadian city. But Senators owner Eugene Melnyk is up to the challenge. The Melnyk misery tour has reduced Ottawa to the frozen equivalent of an Albanian shoe factory. The Sens are four points clear in the Titanic Cup, my…
The tanking masses of the NHL, NBA and MLB have turned the regular season into a race to the bottom in search of top drafts
O joy. The Feb. 25 National Hockey League trade deadline slides into view just as the National Basketball Association’s version of Trader Vic’s has expired. The fact that these two arbitrary dates are considered five-star attractions of the regular season tells you a lot about what a grinding bore the regular season has become in…
And are the Leafs negotiating with Auston Matthews? Are the Calgary Flames the real deal? Where does that leave the Oilers?
Huawei did they go? That was the question on Saturday as Hockey Night In Canada hit the airwaves. The financial world has been roiling since Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested by Canadian officials in Vancouver on Dec. 1. She faces extradition to the United States, where she is accused of helping Huawei circumvent…
Tough love has long been Ken Hitchcock’s calling card in the NHL. But does it work on young men who are multimillionaires?
If Ken Hitchcock is the answer for the Edmonton Oilers, what’s the question? Probably something like: How badly have we pissed people off? The National Hockey League team that dares to be known by first-overall picks alone finds itself spinning out of control yet again. The Oilers are dropping like a stone in the ultra-competitive…
The club’s members are brainstorming recruitment strategies as they try to grow
Kenneth Brown of The Clarion Kindersley has a new Lions Club branch and the clubs current members are now serving the community and trying to grow the club to obtain its charter. There are several ways to support a community, and joining a service club or fraternal organization is one way to give back. Membership…
The Ripper Roughnecks will introduce this weekend’s NHL action on TV
Commissioner Gary Bettman never backed up or hinted the NHL might have had a problem related to head injuries to players
It used to be a staple of TV game shows. The grinning host on the stage. The dishevelled contestant looking dazed before him. “Do you want the $100 I’m holding in my hand … or would you like what’s behind the curtain up on stage?” Music, cheering, pandemonium. Maybe it was a new set of…
Bettman’s biggest legacy to hockey fans is all the seasons he’s blighted by denying fans the game they love in labour stoppages
One of these people recognized at the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday is not like the others: Martin St. Louis, Martin Brodeur, Willie O’Ree, Jayna Hefford, Alexander Yakushev, Gary Bettman. Hmm, wonder who? Most hockey fans – and this is all about the fans, right? – think the institution is about what happens on…
The Hockey Night in Canada legend has seen plenty – and always offered it to TV viewers with plenty of panache
The venerable Bob Cole is making his farewell tour of Canadian National Hockey League cities this fall. The longtime play-by-play voice of Hockey Night In Canada is leaving the broadcast booth after a half century of “Oh baby!” And “They’re going home, they’re going home!” When he’s finished his tour at the end of December,…
The NHL is ready to enter the betting ring. It’s a sign of liberalizing laws and the search for ever more revenue
“Can do, can do, this guy says the horse can do.” – Guy & Dolls How forbidden was sports betting in society? Just ask Pete Rose. Even though Major League Baseball’s all-time leader in hits never bet against his own team, Rose was given a lifetime suspension for making wagers on his sport. So there must…
The Vancouver Canucks, who may have lost the 2011 Stanley Cup to the bully Boston Bruins, have set a new standard for play
The Stanley Cup Finals series of 2011 – Vancouver versus Boston – was more than just the best chance for a Canadian National Hockey League team to win the Stanley Cup since 1993. As I explain in my book Ice Storm, it was widely seen as a showdown between the traditional NHL, in the person…
Mass cancellation of outdoor events on Saturday due to the roughly 10 centimetres of wet show
Kenneth Brown of The Clarion The 46th annual Kindersley Goose Festival had its challenges with a mass cancellation of outdoor events on Saturday. Still, it was a good weekend of events. The festival took place on Sept. 20-23, but most activities and events on Saturday and Sunday were cancelled due to the roughly…