Darren Paterson, OP Contributor

  
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

You knovw, it’s been really difficult for me
not to get all the latest Canucks rumours
whilst down under (I’m in Australia right
now), but at the same time, it’s given me a
much different perspective whereby all I
hear about are the deals that happen. And
this recent off-season has filled me with
hope for the upcoming NHL year.

Sadly, that hope has a very low density
due to a lacklustre effort on the part of
Dave Nonis. It appears that the apathy of
Canucks’ management has remained as sta-
ble as ever, they made few moves in the
NHL's biggest free agent frenzy ever.
Neidermayer was available, Forsberg was
available, Kariya was available. But who did
the Canucks splurge for? Richard Park, an
aging third-liner. And what did they do in
the meantime? They scattered the defense
to the seven winds.

“Brent Sopel? Oh we have to trade him
for nothing. Look at his hair!” “Marek
Malik? Why bother signing that loser?” But
don’t worry folks because it’s Sven
Butenschon to the rescue. That’s right,

SPORTS

Canucks Corner

 

Sven Butenschon, along with all 41 games
and all seven of his points from his career
season two years ago.

Now it is true that the Canucks signed
Naslund and Morrison, thereby convincing
Bertuzzi to stay as well. But this was more
of an absolutely necessary thing than a
bold move. Had Nonis not kept the top
line, the whole city would’ve been in an
uproar. The way I see it, the only excep-
tional move that the Canucks made this off
season was to pick up Anson Carter, who
should complement the Sedins very well.

Overall, the Canucks look to be strong
considering that many of last season’s play-
ers are still here. However, it seems as
though the Canucks’ management is still
unwilling to make that one big acquisition
that will push the team over the hump on
their way to a Stanley Cup. Therefore, I
look forward to another successful season
of little importance. And therefore, I will
not be looking to fly back home for the
hockey anytime soon.

 

 

 

othereditor@yahoo.ca

CBE Sports is Dying a Slow, Painful Death

Kirk Zembal, The Gateway (University of Alberta)

 

EDMONTON (CUP)—This past year, we
have witnessed the beginning of the end of
one of the greatest staples of Canadiana—
CBC Sports. The days of the glorious CBC
Sports theme, with its dramatic crash of
lights being fired up, raising goose bumps
on the skin of even the most hardened
sports fan, are, perhaps, sadly gone forever.
We can try to ignore the signs, deluding
ourselves into a Maple Leafs-fan kind of
thinking—“Next year it will get better.”
But, like the Leafs, it probably won’t.

Of course, with the return of NHL
hockey next year it just might get better,
but it'll still be like Michael Jordan coming
out of retirement—a shell of its former
self. All signs have been pointing to trou-
ble, starting last spring with the network’s
Paul Martin-esque dithering on the issue of
Don Cherry. With the nation clearly divid-
ed on the appeal of Cherry after his con-
troversial remarks about the tendencies of

French players to wear visors, the CBC has
done nothing to resolve the situation,
instead giving him a short-term contract
that ensures that nobody is pleased with
the decision, most especially the one-
dimensional man in the multi-coloured suit
himself.

Add that to the NHL lockout and the
CBC already had to make up some serious
ground, but they managed to make it
worse—oh yes, much worse. They tried fill-
ing the void with amateur sports, which is
admirable, but our nation craves sports
heroes, and when the CBC had the chance
to showcase them at the Brier and the
Scott Tournament of Hearts—this being
Canada, where sports heroes include
curlers—it failed miserably. It scattered its
coverage across several channels, including
the digital channel Country Canada, which
has fewer subscribers than those events
have teams, while some draws weren’t
shown at all.

Clearly, there is a lack of leadership at
the head of CBC Sports—or perhaps, like
many Canadians, they are lost and direc-
tionless without hockey. Either way, it
physically hurts me to see the mistakes and
bad luck CBC Sports has encountered this
past year. |

I actually felt like crying when I heard
what quite possibly could be the deathblow |
to the department—the loss of broadcast |
rights for the Olympic games, including
Vancouver 2010. They just couldn’t put up
enough money, despite having a stellar
record of Olympic broadcasts. How am I
supposed to watch a biathlon race now
without Brain Williams telling me whom I
should be cheering for? If I have to put up
with some NBC-like, time-delayed crap
broadcast in 2010, I might actually be
forced to stop watching and do something
productive with my life.

And as if it couldn’t get any worse, the
geniuses in charge made an absolutely
mind-bogglingly stupid decision: They
actually fired the greatest play-by-play man
of our time, Chris Cuthbert. I realize that
everybody loves the dynamic (“dynamic”
meaning they rarely ever leave Toronto)
duo of Bob Cole and Harry Neale, but
Cuthbert was the heir apparent—versatile,
smart,and in possession of a voice that
makes men swoon. Pitting that versus the
stuttering, forgetful, and, quite frankly,
close-to-death Bob Cole is no contest.

Now, to combine a couple nonsensical
sports analogies, the fourth line-those no-
names who get sent to cover Oilers playoff
games on the rare occasions that they
occur-will get moved up in the rotation,
and we’ll have to suffer through their banal
chatter every Saturday night next year (if
the CBC settles its lockout and shows
games).