There’s nothing like a well-run country, and Canada is nothing like a well-run country. To test the MOU on energy between Alberta and Ottawa the federal Conservatives (remember them?) put forward a motion to build the pipeline from Alberta to the B.C. coast. Even though the motion used the same language of the MOU, the Liberals and their hand maidens defeated the motion. Carney himself abstained because, hey, look at that shiny object.

Bitter Canadians could put up with Wayne Gretzky sucking up to Donald Trump, but failing geography is unforgivable. The week that started with Gretzky in a photo golfing at POTUS’s Jupiter, Florida, golf course was ending with him pummelled for his abuse of nations with different-sounding names.

A new photo has emerged of the greatest offensive star in NHL history playing golf with the president at his Jupiter, Florida, golf course— the one where Ryan Wesley Routh tried to assassinate Trump.  This led to the same predictable rending of garments and clutching of pearls that greeted Gretzky’s earlier declaration of loyalty to The Worst Human Being Ever®. Traitor is now the mildest description of 99 chez nous.

If the NHL playoffs were to begin next week (we wish) then it would be a cold breakfast for teams in Elbows Up. Just two clubs—Winnipeg and Montreal— would even qualify for the postseason. And the Jets have just found out their star goalie Connor Hellybuyck is unlikely to play much before mid-January. That will be hard to blame on Trump.

The public should know just how much of the prize money they’re donating goes to the charity. Because you won’t get it from listening to the team games on TV which marvel at the 50/50 amounts. It’s worth noting because there have been questions raised about other large sports 50/50 draws. The charity in charge of the Edmonton Oilers 50/50 raffles paid more than $81 million in lottery funds over four years to Win50, a sports betting and gaming company controlled by the Oilers Entertainment Group.

Fans who purchase tickets when the schedule is announced to see LeBron James or Zion Williamson have no recourse months later when the coach sits a player on maintenance nights. TV schedulers also see their feature primetime games blown up. According to surveys, 65 percent of fans express disappointment when they attend a game without the expected stars. 

We are with all baseball fans who resented the first nighters, red-carpet snobs and jock-sniffing politicians horning on on the fun of baseball. For true hardball savants it was a “did you see that?” to remember, one that will linger long after the Elbows Up crew disperse. For now, go Oilers, Habs, Senators, Jets, Canucks, Flames and (gasp) Oilers.

The biggest fear for those caught in the web of underworld gambling is exposure. They will do anything to avoid these problems becoming known to their families, their friends and, most of all, their employers. They think the best way to avoid exposure is to play along with mobsters, become a small pawn in crooked betting and poker rings. As if.

The 15-time Major winner has always said he’ll never be a ceremonial golfer. So unless this surgery works miracles we have seen the last of him playing at golf’s top events. Will Tiger’s disappearance spell the end for the PGA Champions, which has always counted on him joining?

Once the kicker played another position. Today they are specialists. The combination of distance training plus a few new rules has revolutionized NFL and CFL game strategy in today’s game. With the so-called Dynamic kickoff rules forcing more returns, teams are regularly starting drives at the 35- or 40-yard line. What comes next?

Almost as precious as “Our” team in promos is the concept of the Blue Jays as a national team. It seems like only yesterday they were deposing the previous national team, the Montreal Expos. The ‘Spos had aided Toronto in getting a franchise in 1977. When Toronto sputtered in the early days the Expos gave them oxygen. But as we wrote in July of 2023, the newcomer turned on their National League cousins.

The Oilers city has been there before. The trade that always gets top defection billing is the 1988 Gretzky deal to the L.A. Kings, the seismic re-organization of hockey in the late 20th century. Less talked about— but more impactful on the ice— was a trade made this week in 1992 that sent Mark Messier to the New York Rangers. Messier led the Rangers their first Stanley Cup in 1994

Nothing compares to the story the 2025 Tigers are authoring. Manager A.J. Hinch has one great pitcher, Tarek Skull, and a whole lot of five-inning pitchers and hittable bullpen arms. His young core of hitters are gagging (12 LOB Sunday), and the Cleveland Guardinos are on an insane wining streak.  Even though they control their destiny it all feels doomed. And the dream of a Blue Jays/ Tigers AL Final may never be.

His impact on the business was monumental. . CBA negotiations have never been the same. Player salaries have never been the same. Media covering hockey has never been the same. His predecessor Alan Eagleson was criminally convicted in the U.S. and Canada and disbarred for the self dealing revealed by Conway and CBC Toronto. That’s an impressive legacy.

For the generation that watched him develop he was likely the quintessential modern Canadian. Son of a charitable community figure in west-end Toronto. Educated in the Ivy League. Obtained his law degree. Served as a federal cabinet minister. Author of several definitive hockey books (The Game is perhaps the best sports non-fiction in the English language). Executive of the Toronto Maple Leafs. And more.

Marner left his hometown in free agency, signing longterm in tax-free Nevada. The team received nothing in return for an elite player. The locals needed a scapegoat for their repeated Cup frustration. So when Marner cited the unrelenting pressure of playing in contemporary Toronto, the dam broke among critics who called him a whiner, a no-show for his $8 million salary, a traitor to Toronto.

At the moment that Elbows Up embarrassment was too great for even Team Carney’s most fervent media pals, Trump summoned him like a call-up from the minors to be told how out was going to be. Suddenly the implacable Carney was declaring  how swell it was that Canada had the best treaty in the world. Elbows Up had suddenly become Pants Down.

When it comes to the exposure of the trailblazing male pom-poms on the sidelines it’s best to weigh the motivations on both sides. The NFL— which is buying up large chunks of its own media —will play the virtue card. The traditionalists will bite their tongue. And no one will do a media feature on the two women who were denied these high-profile jobs because of other agendas.

The biggest 2025 story for golf fans (and pro golfers it appears) was the release of Adam Sandler’s Happy Gilmore II on Netflix. A raucous, vulgar, silly, sweet, creative shambles of a film, it’s one of those rare feats in Hollywood. A sequel better than the original. Some might say that it wasn’t a high bar to get over Happy Gilmore punching it up with Bob Barker. True.

The Jays roster patch job is not only holding it’s made the team stronger. As of this writing the Jays have a 91.9 percent chance of making the postseason, five percent of winning the World Series. Which would create euphoria elsewhere. Not in Toronto.

Not in Toronto.