Under Further Review – Douglas Smith with Editor Bill Morphy. Special thanks to our regular contributors including Jordan Moss, Ian MacPhee, Dave Kittle, Ted Tait, Frank Sullivan, Peter Hucul, Glen and Bill Myles, Howard Steiss and Rob Wagner.

Spanning the digital ether to bring you the constant variety of sport… the thrill of victory… and the agony of defeat… the human drama of athletic competition… This is Under Further Review.

Canucks Notebook – The natives are definitely restless. It’s been a roller-coaster season for the Canucks to date and even the most ardent fan would agree we haven’t seen the team’s best hockey as of yet. Losing four of six on home ice opened up a lot of scar tissue. NIce win in Ottawa though, eh?

It seems like it’s been one piece of bad news after another. The news of Dakota Joshua’s testicular cancer came out of nowhere. Goalie Thatcher Demko is yet to play thanks to a mysterious and lingering knee injury. Top scorer Brock Boeser remains out after a brutal head-shot. Neither of the team’s top two centres have been on their game at the same time and then this week, news that J.T. Miller, the team’s emotional leader, has taken an indefinite leave of absence for what’s termed personal reasons. Rumours of why are already flying as you would expect in a hockey wild market.

Canucks coach Rick Tocchet made it clear Miller’s absence is not related to Miller’s benching in Sunday’s game vs. Nashville. Miller’s been dealing with an undisclosed injury since training camp and really hasn’t shown the kind of physical dominance we’ve become accustomed to. If nothing else, this may give Miller time to properly recover.

The best news the Canucks could receive right now is Demko’s apparent imminent return. Demko appears to have made progress recently and is with the team on the current road trip. Whether he plays on the trip is still uncertain but it does appear as though it’s now a question of when not if. Demko’s return should help steady the team.

No doubt the front office is preoccupied with a top four upgrade on the blueline. But how aggressive should you be with viable candidates in the system who may be able to help in the next couple of years? Thomas Willander is having a fine season at Boston University. Elias Pettersson is developing nicely in Abbotsford and Sawyer Minio is a strong candidate to play for Canada in the upcoming World Juniors. The price to acquire a defenceman who can move the needle is going to be astronomically high. The Canucks retain both their first and second round picks in each of the next two drafts. Do you really want to unload more draft capital when you may soon have internal options within the organization? The Canucks front office has made it a habit to get their business done early. Perhaps this year, it may be better to remain patient until closer to the deadline and check out the retail prices then. It’s important to remember, not every acquisition turns out to be a stylistic fit.

Killer B’s No More – When things go wrong, blame the coach. Don’t look at the front office, take the easy way out. How do you explain what’s happened in Boston where the Bruins deep-sixed Jim Montgomery, less than two years after winning the Jack Adams Trophy as coach of the year. Montgomery won 120 games in Boston and had a .715 winning percentage. Just two seasons ago, he led the Bruins to a record-breaking 135-point season. How are the problems his fault? He was replaced by Joe Sacco. How’s that an improvement?

It sure went off the rails quickly. At the time of Montgomery’s firing, the Bruins were 31st in goals per game, 28th in goals allowed per game, dead last on the power-play, 25th on the penalty kill and 24th in save percentage. Nothing was going right.

The Bruins have always been quick to pull the trigger. Montgomery is the third coach-of-the-year under club president Cam Neely to be fired, following Bruce Cassidy and Claude Julien. All Cassidy did was move over to Vegas and win a Stanley Cup. One thing is for sure, Montgomery won’t be unemployed for long.

The front office has to accept blame. Big free agent tickets Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov have flopped in Boston. Patrik Allvin must privately be giving thanks. Lindholm has two goals in 20 games. Zadorov is scoreless with only five assists. Not a lot of production for $12.75 million combined.

It’s a classic case of hanging on too long. It’s been 13 seasons since the Bruins won the Cup in 2011. How long can you patch and retool? It’s a similar situation in Pittsburgh where the Penguins keep trying to relive the glory years with Sid and Malkin and Letang. The back-to-back Cups in 2016 and 2017 are a distant memory. The Pens have the worst goal differential in the NHL. Guess who’s second worst? Yes, it’s the Bruins.

Kyle Dubas, AKA Doobie Howser, who seems to come off as the smartest guy in the room, has only made things worse since arriving in Pittsburgh. Trying to stay relevant with a cast of misfits was foolhardy. The trade for Erik Karlsson only added to the mess and now the Pens are left with another unmovable contract. It was Dubas who handed Tristan Jarry an undeserved contract extension. It was Dubas who gave lumbering defenceman Ryan Graves a five-year deal in free agency for over $20 million. Thanks to Dubas, the Penguins will be on the hook for $8 million in dead space in 2025-26 and $10.2 million in 2026-27. Dig out of that!

Mike Sullivan is one of the top coaches in the NHL, yet, he will likely get fired when the team goes looking for a scapegoat. Rebuild already! What evidence do you need? It’s going to be a long and painful tear-down in Pittsburgh but it’s way past due.

NHL Notebook – Look for the NHL salary cap to take a big jump in the next couple of years. Reports suggest the cap could rise next season to as high at $97 million. That’s a big jump from this year’s $88 million dollar cap. We could see another big jump the following season to as much as $105 million. If it happens, it will have a huge impact throughout the league especially the top teams who have been struggling to eke out cap space. Just as the Leafs.

The expected hike is the result of two things. The players escrow payments have ended and league revenues are way up. Last season’s revenues were an estimated $6.2 billion. Revenues may exceed $7 billion this season. It’s time for the league to share the wealth. The salary cap was stagnant for over five seasons largely due to the pandemic. Between the 2019-20 and 2023-24 seasons, the salary cap rose only $2 million. Many teams had to walk away from players they would have loved to retain.

The Edmonton Oilers were the consensus pick to win the Stanley Cup this season. Still may be to many hockey watchers. When you have two of the top five players in the world, you are always going to be competitive. Based on the early returns, it looks like the Oilers made a huge blunder in signing Sabres ‘softie’ Jeff Skinner. He was given every opportunity to ride with Connor McDavid but flunked the test. Skinner is minus-8 in 20 games with only three goals. The Oilers took a flyer on Skinner in the off-season and signed him to a one-year, $3 million dollar deal after he was bought out by Buffalo. What a complete waste on a team where every bit of salary cap space is hugely important.

It’s hard to see the Oilers getting untracked with their current back end. Darnell Nurse may be considered one of the NHL’s most overpaid players but the Oilers missed his 20+ minutes a night. In his absence, Brett Kulak and Ty Emberson formed the second pairing while Travis Dermott and Troy Stecher were together on the third pair.

Nurse was the victim of a senseless head-shot from Leafs 37-year-old slug Ryan Reaves. Reaves was given a five-game suspension for targeting the head. It was the fourth time he’s been suspended. Someone smarter than me suggested the NHL should create a system like a driver’s profile whereby every time you get suspended you have points taken away. The more suspensions, the longer you stay out. Lose enough points and you lose the right to play. If your rap sheet was bad enough, would a team even consider signing you? Not likely if you still counted against the cap while serving a lengthy suspension.

Wasn’t this the season the Ottawa Senators were going to take off. Playoffs? What playoffs? This team has more excuses than the Prime Minister. How many different goalies are you going to pin it on? How come they start playing better as soon as they leave Ottawa? The Sens signed Linus Skidmark (sorry, Ullmark) to a rich extension and now he can’t stop a puck. Maybe the problems lie elsewhere.

Did anyone really expect Travis Green to right the ship? He has about as much charisma as Ed Sullivan. Any team with Adam Gaudette and Zack MacEwen on the roster is not going anywhere. Both played for Green in Vancouver in the 2020-21 season. Gaudette was minus-13 in 33 games. MacEwen had one goal in 34 games. His career high is five. How they have both stuck on NHL rosters this long is mystifying. One more thing. Can we stop talking about a new arena at LaBreton Flats? Put a damn shovel in the ground and then we’ll listen. Reminds us of the constant blather about the Expos returning to Montreal. Wake me when it happens.

Pity poor Connor Bedard. The Lynn Valley prodigy played his first game in Vancouver in a Blackhawks uniform and looked completely out of sorts. He has only three goals in 20 games. This is what losing does to you. You wonder if Bedard may eventually end up on the wing. He’s winning only 37% of his faceoffs so it’s hard for a coach to let him take a defensive zone draw. Bedard was minus-44 in 68 games as a rookie. He’s had a revolving door of wingers. Until the Hawks can land a couple of decent linemates it will be hard for Bedard’s career to take off. We thought he would be a lock for Team Canada in the upcoming Four Nations Face-Off. Not anymore.

Love the line from Leafs rookie Nikita Grebenkin when asked what advice he was given by teammates before his first NHL game. “Forecheck, backcheck, paycheque.”

The December 4 deadline to name rosters for the Four Nations Face-Off was a big mistake. GM’s are not happy and you can understand why. It’s too early. The date was negotiated by the NHL and the NHLPA and there’s nothing that can be done now.

One name to watch for Team Canada is goalie Logan Thompson. He’s having a breakout season in Washington and has clearly put himself on the radar. Thompson is a great story.

Le Coupe Grey – The 111th edition of the Grey Cup was a sloppy affair. Not a Rembrandt when the two teams combine for eight turnovers. It was hard to understand why Winnipeg was so heavily favoured when the Argonauts won both regular season matchups.

Bomber quarterback Zach Collaros, who was a college roommate of Jason and Travis Kelce, single-handedly cost Winnipeg the game. He threw up four interceptions and should not have come back into the game after receiving stitches on his throwing hand.

The Argos won it with a dominant defence. They had five takeaways in the Eastern final against Montreal including a pick six. Toronto had six takeaways against the Bombers including a pick six. The Argos have won eight straight trips to the Grey Cup and a league-leading 19 in franchise history. The Bombers are now 0-8 vs. the Argos in the Grey Cup.

Count it up and its three straight losses for Winnipeg in the Grey Cup. Five straight appearances are nice but you can’t call it a dynasty. The Bombers are turning into Marv Levy’s Buffalo Bills who lost four consecutive Super Bowls. Next year’s Grey Cup is in Winnipeg so it wouldn’t be a stretch to see the Bombers back in the game again with a chance at infamy.

The TV numbers this year were solid. The game drew nearly 3.4 million English-language viewers across the country on TSN and CTV. The ratings in Quebec were way down with Montreal not playing in the game. Overall, it was a 19.9 increase from last year when the game was shown only on TSN. A total of 4.25 million tuned in during the Jonas Brothers halftime show.

TSN has been the best thing that ever happened to the CFL. Their coverage of the league is first-rate. The CFL is lucky that TSN is so committed to the league. What happens when the TV deal expires in a couple of years? Will TSN be bidding against themselves? What happens if they are unwilling to match the previous contract? What then?

The next CFL Commissioner should take a hard look at the future of the league in Canada. Everything should be on the table including:

• Going to four-down football
• Negotiating a partnership to become an official feeder league to the NFL
• Improving the collection of statistics across the league so more fans can be engaged in CFL Fantasy Football
• Playing the Grey Cup on a Saturday night to avoid competing with the NFL. Make sure the Leafs and Canadiens are not scheduled to play that night
• Adding a 10th franchise in order to balance the schedule. It’s ridiculous that one team has a bye on the opening weekend of the season. It’s ridiculous that one team is idle on Labour Day rivalry weekend

CFL footnote: It looks like they are putting the old band together in Edmonton. Ed Hervey has returned as GM. Don’t be surprised if he reunites with Rick Campbell who was turfed this week as head coach in Vancouver.

Mr. Football – Special congratulations to my friend Farhan Lalji for his induction into the media wing of the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame. Farhan is Mr. Football at TSN. He’s covered 40 Grey Cups. No one in Canada is a better authority on football than Farhan. As he said in his acceptance speech, “covering the CFL comes from a place of love.”

https://www.tsn.ca/cfl/video/farhan-lalji-joins-media-wing-of-canadian-football-hall-of-fame~3031201

I’ve known Farhan for a long time. He’s been a pillar in the New Westminster community. He coached the New Westminster Hyacks and built the program into a junior football powerhouse. When I was producing the popular summer street festival in New West called TD Uptown Live, Farhan would always make the players available as volunteers. It was a great relationship. I would get the boys to do all the heavy-lifting during set-up and strike. Farhan would get a free exhibitor tent so the team could raise money and profile.

It was through the event that I met Farhan’s lovely wife, Mary Feldhaus. Mary does a fantastic job as community relations manager for Key West Ford, a longtime sponsor of the event and this blog. She was always a joy to work with. Together, Mary and Farhan and Key West Ford, have done so much for the New West community. I’m so happy they can all share this great honour.

Seahawks Notebook – It wasn’t so long ago that the NFC West was arguably the toughest division in the NFL. Not anymore. Nine wins could end up winning the division this season. The once-mighty 49’ers go into Green Bay this weekend without starting quarterback Brock Purdy. Their season is quickly heading into the toilet. The L.A. Rams are struggling at 5-5 and face the Eagles.

This is a big three-game stretch for the Seahawks. They face the Arizona Cardinals twice in three weeks with a date with the Jets in between. The Seahawks could be locked in a first-place tie with the Cards with a win on Sunday. The acquisition of linebacker Ernest Jones has had a positive effect on the defence. The return of right tackle Abe Lucas may be just what’s needed to settle the porous offensive line.

If the Cardinals sweep both games, they will take full control of the division. If the Seahawks can at least manage a split, the division title will likely come down to the final weekend. At least there’s still some fight in the dog. The Seahawks could just as easily packed-in the season after losing five of six.

Look Out for ‘Dem Lions – It’s time we gave the Detroit Lions some love. The Lions are the NFC betting favourite to reach the Super Bowl and the hype is well deserved. At 9-1, the Lions hold the top seed in the conference. They have the number one offence and the number two defence. They are coming off a 52-6 dusting of the Jacksonville Jaguars, the worst loss in Jags history. The Lions scored every time they had the ball. The only time they didn’t score was when the backups took a knee to end the ball game.

As good as the Lions are playing, they can ill afford any more injuries on defence. Linebacker Alex Anzalone broke his forearm on Sunday and is likely out for up to eight weeks. Detroit is already without star pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson who broke his leg in Week 6. It’s doubtful Hutchinson will be back even if the Lions reach the Super Bowl.

Quarterback Jared Goff works behind the best offensive line in the NFC and has all kinds of weapons. Running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs are a two-headed monster. They are only the second rushing duo with eight-plus TD’s through ten games since the Green Bay Packers’ Paul Hornung and Jim Taylor did it in 1960.

Amon-Ra St. Brown has scored a touchdown in eight straight games, justifying his new contact as the highest-paid receiver in the NFC. He’s already caught 65 balls. St. Brown’s back story is well worth noting. He was taken in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL draft out of USC. His Dad was a bodybuilder in the 1980’s and was a two-time Mr. Universe. St. Brown’s mother, Miriam Steyer, was born in Germany. His parents met during one of his dad’s frequent trips to Europe for competitions. His brother, Equanimeous St. Brown, plays for the New Orleans Saints. The unique names were given to them by their dad who had an interest in Egyptian mythology. His given name was John Brown which he viewed as too common so he wanted to give his sons names that would stand out. John added St. to Brown because he thought it would look cooler on the back of his boys’ football jerseys. Thanks to his mother’s influence, Amon speaks three languages, English, German and French.

NFL Notebook – Undisciplined teams don’t win Super Bowls. The Baltimore Ravens have taken the most penalties for the most yards in the NFL this season. No chance you win doing that.

Russell Wilson seems to be turning back the clock. Russ has the surprising Pittsburgh Steelers in first place in the AFC North. For the most part, Wilson has been playing error-free football.

The New York Giants have closed the chapter on quarterback Daniel Jones. He’s been released less than two years after signing a four-year, $160 million dollar extension. Technically, Jones had two years remaining with salaries of $30 million and $46.5 million. But none of the money was guaranteed. The Giants are only on the hook for about $22 million in dead money which is the remainder of the prorated portion of the signing bonus.

Don’t be surprised if the New York Jets close the chapter on Aaron Rodgers. Mr. Self-Absorbed says he may come back and play again next season. We can hardly wait! Can you do us all a favour and just retire? Even the Jets may be smart enough to move on. There’s talk surfacing that the Jets may be considering releasing Rodgers altogether. At the start of the season, ESPN predicted the Jets would go 12-and-5. They are 3-8. The only way for the Jets to reach 12 wins is to play about three seasons. The biggest problem with the Jets is owner Woody Johnson. Isn’t that why men take Viagra? To have a Woody Johnson?

Watching the 49’ers play the Seahawks was very revealing. The Niners are not the same team we are accustomed to. Winning comes at a cost and their roster depth is gone. It’s showing up on special teams which are atrocious. Injuries have killed them. Brandon Aiyuk is out for the season. George Kittle didn’t suit up against the Seahawks. All the Seattle points came after Nick Bosa left the game with an injury. You need game-wreckers to succeed.

Kansas City and Buffalo have a great rivalry going. Their past five regular season and playoff matchups have all been decided by one possession including 15 lead changes. Bills quarterback Josh Allen is having an MVP season but until the Bills can take down the Chiefs in the post-season, he still can’t be considered among the greats.

It sure looks like the game has passed by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Jerry is so old his son is old.

Friday Night Farce – Consider ourselves lucky. For those of us of a certain vintage, we were fortunate to witness the greatest era in boxing ever. Every weight class had great fighters. Among heavyweights, we got to see Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. George Foreman and Mike Tyson. The middleweight ranks were filled with an array of worthy champions including Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Michael Spinks, Marvin Hagler, Nino Benvenuti, Carlos Monzon and Roy Jones Jr. Was there a better boxer pound-for-pound than lightweight Roberto Duran? There were amazing amateurs like Cuba’s Teofilo Stevenson. We were very fortunate.

Which makes the made-for-television fight between the 58-year-old Tyson and huckster Jake Paul an even bigger debacle. Over 70 thousand fools actually paid to watch the fight at Jerry’s Joint (AT&T Stadium) in Arlington, Texas. An estimated 120 million poor souls reportedly watched on Netflix which would make it the most-watched fight in history. Go figure.

The fight was rigged from the get-go. Eight rounds. Two minutes each. A few punches interspersed with long stretches of clinching. Sticking to the script, it went the distance. The 27-year-old Paul won by decision. Each fighter earned $20 million. Anyone who watched this fiasco is a sucker.

Kenyan Killers – A tragic story is playing out in Kenya where Olympic calibre female runners are being victimized by their own success. It’s a system of manipulation and control that’s left at least four women dead in the past few years.

For top Kenyan runners, athletic success is the pathway out of poverty. It can provide a comfortable lifestyle never before imagined. Along with it, come vipers who promote themselves as coaches but are nothing more than opportunists.

The latest victim is 33-year-old Rebecca Cheptegei, a world-class distance runner who finished second in last year’s Florence Marathon. She died of burns after being set on fire by her estranged partner Dickson Ndiema Marangach. He threw petrol in her eyes, then soaked the rest of her body with a jerry can of fuel before setting her on fire. She died in hospital four days later. He was badly burned during the incident and died of his own burns. The Athletic chronicled three other cases:

Damaris Muthee Mutua — strangled in April 2022. Born in Kenya, she represented Bahrain internationally. The police named her boyfriend Eskinder Folie as the chief suspect but he fled across the border to his native Ethiopia and attempts to capture him have been unsuccessful.

Edith Muthoni — murdered in October 2021. The 27-year-old sprinter also worked as a wildlife protection officer. Her husband was charged in relation to her death in 2022 and the case is ongoing.

Agnes Tirop — stabbed to death in the same week as Muthoni, a month after breaking the 10k road world record in Germany. Her husband and coach, Ibrahim Rotich, confessed to beating her in a heated argument and then pleaded not guilty to her murder. This case is also ongoing.

Many female athletes in Kenya report some kind of gender-based violence including domestic abuse, sexual assault and to being subjected to pressure to take performance-enhancing drugs. The World Anti-Doping Authority reports 44 percent of positive tests for EPO come from Kenya. To date, the women have received little help from Kenyan sports authorities.

Random Leftovers – The glare of the national spotlight proved a little too much for Canadian star quarterback Kurtis Rourke. Fifth-ranked Indiana was blown out on Saturday 38-15 by Ohio State before nearly 106 thousand very loud fans at Ohio Stadium. Rourke didn’t have a chance. He was under constant pressure, finishing 8-for-18 for only 68 yards. He was sacked five times and fumbled once. The Hoosiers had all kinds of communication problems because of the crowd noise. Hopefully, Rourke can bounce back next weekend against Purdue although the Hoosiers may have missed their change for a CFP playoff spot.

Henceforth, we will be referring to Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins as the Cleveland Clowns. How can you be around baseball for close to 30 years, never win anything in Cleveland or Toronto, and still have a job? The Blue Jays were 74-88 this season and yet, these two bozos are still in charge. Go on social media and not a single Jays fans has anything but vitriol for the pair. I can’t remember a team with a greater sense of desperation surrounding them. Look for attendance to plummet next season unless the team has an absolutely transformational off-season and you know that’s not going to happen.

The bullpen is in a shambles. The Jays have non-tendered closer Jordan Romano rather than pay him a projected salary of $7.75 million. Romano had elbow surgery last season and will now become a free agent. As it stands, the Jays have only question marks left in the bullpen.

The Blue Jays have put themselves between the proverbial rock and a hard place. As ESPN baseball insider Ken Rosenthal points out, why would Vladdy Guerrero Jr. re-sign with the Jays until he knows who may be joining him in the lineup? “Find some players to put around me, and then I’ll consider staying.” On the other hand, free agents like Juan Soto and Anthony Santander are probably looking at the Jays and saying “Sign Vlad and then we’ll talk.” The entire situation is of their own making and you can thank the Cleveland Clowns.

In order to cover their asses, which they are very good at, they’ve brought former Cincinnati manager David Bell into the organization as VP, baseball operations and assistant GM. Bell was apparently the runner-up to manage the Jays when they hired Charlie Montoyo. Guess what? They now have Bell in place to take over as manager if the team starts slowly next season and they gas John Schneider. You need to prepare for failure, right? It’s something they are very good at.

Special thanks to everyone who commented on our last blog. We had a lot of feedback on our comments about the Hockey Hall of Fame. Regular contributor Peter Hucul made a great point about the fact The Guess Who, Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman are not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And Dick Duff is in the HHOF and not Paul Henderson? What a joke! Henderson is now 81 years old. Do the right thing and get the guy in the Hall while he’s still with us.

Zion Williamson is hurt again. That’s nothing new. This is Williamson’s fifth season in the NBA after being the first overall pick in 2019. The most games he’s played in any season is 70. He’s also had seasons where he played only 24 and 29 games. Zion is turning into another Greg Oden.

Talk about a close shave. We thought Raptors guard Gradey Dick would only ever be known for bad Gillette commercials. Give the kid credit. He’s made himself into a valuable piece on the rebuilding Raptors.

Top 10 Best-Selling Bands of All-Time – We love trivia so we thought we would list the bands with the highest record sales ever.

1. The Beatles – 540 million units
2. Queen – 312 million units
3. The Rolling Stones – 296 million units
4. Pink Floyd – 245 million units
5. U2 – 216 million units
6. The Bee Gees – 213 million units
7. Led Zeppelin – 210 million units
8. AC/DC – 206 million units
9. ABBA – 203 million units

• The Eagles – 188 million units

YouTube Music Videos – Back in 1964, director Steve Binder and the crew from The Steve Allen Show filmed some of the top musical artists of the day and pioneered what we now consider music videos. What made the production even more special was the format in which it was shot. Something called “Electronovision.”

Capturing more than 800 lines of resolution, the video could be converted to film via kinescope to allow big-screen enlargement. Performers include: The Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross and the Supremes and don’t miss (near the end) The Rolling Stones. You’ll be amazed at the quality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pdZJ7TkJQU&ab_channel=Channel

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