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.

Editor’s Note:  We’re travelling this weekend so we’re coming to you a little early.

Canucks Notebook – The Pittsburgh blip aside, Canuck fans are breathing a sigh of relief. The team is back playing with the kind of structure that made them successful last season. The Canucks are 9-2 on the road which is the sign of a good hockey club and what you need to have playoff success.

The best news is the stars are returning. Brock Boeser returned after missing seven games with a concussion. Thatcher Demko is with the team and reportedly close to game action after a long recovery from knee problems. J.T. Miller should be back once the team returns home. At that point, the Canucks will be as close to full strength as they’ve been all season. It will be interesting to see how they perform with all-hands on deck. The injury to top pairing defenceman Filip Hronek certainly hurts but good teams withstand setbacks and keep things rolling.

Goalie Kevin Lankinen has been an absolute season-saver since being signed during training camp. He’s won 10 of 13 starts with a solid .909 save percentage. Can you imagine where the Canucks would be without him? Last year’s playoff star Arturs Silovs was expected to serve as the back-up this season but has completely fallen out of favour. The 23-year-old Latvian surrendered five goals on 23 shots in Pittsburgh and is sure to be back in Abbotsford as soon as Demko returns. He’s lost five of six starts this season and sports an ugly 4.11 GAA and an .847 save percentage. That’s sure to get you demoted.

NHL Notebook – It didn’t take Doug Armstrong long to scoop up Jim Montgomery as coach of the St. Louis Blues. That’s what good general managers do. Don’t hesitate to take action when opportunity knocks.  Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde is holding on by a string in Detroit. Why didn’t Steve Yzerman jump in and go after Montgomery? Stevie Y missed the boat! Yzerman will probably send Lalonde packing soon and won’t be finding a candidate out there with a resume as solid as Montgomery.

Two names to remember as Armstrong and company reveal the Team Canada roster for the Four Nation Face-Off. We don’t see any scenario where Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel are not on the team. Don’t care if they are on the fourth line. They have to be on the team based on their play this season. Hagel had five assists in one game the other night. Cirelli completely shut down Nathan MacKinnon in a head-to-head matchup. You can’t have a team of stars. Pick players who help you build a complete team.

Call Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon cheap. Call him whatever you want but don’t call him stupid. Dundon may be tough to work for but how can you not give him some of the credit when the team just keeps on winning? In the off-season, the Hurricanes lost Jake Guentzel, Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce in free agency, yet the team hasn’t missed a beat.

The Canes responded like they always do. Nothing fancy.  They signed Sean Walker and Shayne Gostisbehere to form a new third pairing. Dmitry Orlov and Jalen Chatfield were bumped up to form the new second pairing. Jack Roslosvic and William Carrier were added up front. The result? Carolina hasn’t missed a beat. The biggest move may have been the decision to retain Martin Necas, who spent much of last season on the trade lock. Necas has exploded this season as an offensive force and currently leads the NHL in scoring with 37 points.

One of the reasons we have bashed the Maple Leafs over the years is because of the one-sided, biased coverage of the team in Toronto. Many of the lemmings who cover the team are nothing more than cheerleaders. Hand out the pom-poms! Case in point. The website, the Hockey Writers, recently published a proposed trade between the Leafs and the Calgary Flames that would send Nazem Kadri back to Toronto. The Leafs are desperate for a centreman but Kadri isn’t going anywhere.

The deal proposed the Leafs acquiring Kadri (with 15% salary retained by Calgary) for David Kampf, Connor Dewar, Nick Robertson, a 2025 second round pick held by Florida and a 2025 fifth round pick. Apparently, the money works out so Kadri could be added to the Leafs top heavy salary cap. But please. Do you really think the Flames would consider this pile of garbage? Your junk for one of the best #2 centres in the league? This is what drives us crazy. Pie-in-the-sky trade rumours that are tipped completely in the Leafs favour. Get real!

It’s time to stop the goaltender-bashing in Ottawa. Why do goalies always seem to play better as soon as they get out of the Nation’s Capital? Perhaps the blame lies elsewhere, like a porous defence and crappy back-checking. After 20 games in 2019-2020, the Sens were 8-11-1. This season, five years later, they had the exact same record. How’s that for progress?

Since Craig Anderson moved on as the Senators #1 goalie, 13 different netminders have appeared between the Sens crease. Here’s the list: Linus Ullmark, Anton Forsberg, Joey Daccord, Mads Sogaard, Cam Talbot, Filip Gustavsson, Joonas Korpisalo, Kevin Mandolese, Leevi Merilainen, Dylan Ferguson, Magnus Hellberg, Matt Murray and Magnus Hogberg.

The New York Rangers are underachieving big time! We’ve never been a fan of Mika Zibanejad as a number one centre. There’s plenty of talk about the Rangers shopping veteran forward Chris Kreider and defenceman Jacob Trouba. Good luck! Kreider is 33 and earning $6.5 million for another two years. Trouba has another year at $8 million. Don’t be surprised if there are no takers.

Looks like Kaapo is in the crapper in New York. The Rangers are reportedly about to finally give up on Kaapo Kakko, the number two overall pick in the 2019 NHL draft. Kakko has only three goals in 21 games this season. Seems his career has never really got untracked. The Rangers would be better off with Dit Clapper.

What the heck was former NHL tough guy Paul Bissonnette thinking in getting into an altercation with six guys at a restaurant in Scottsdale, Arizona? You’re aware that Americans carry guns, right? The popular host of the podcast “Spittin’ Chiclets” is a regular at the establishment and attempted to intervene after a member of the group laid his hands on the manager. All six men were charged with disorderly conduct and five were also charged with assault. Bissonnette had to be hospitalized after the incident. He’s lucky that’s all that happened.

Rebuild vs Retool – The Montreal Canadiens are learning first-hand the pain endured during a long rebuild. Accumulating draft picks doesn’t necessarily translate into wins. High picks don’t always turn out. Defencemen and goaltenders can take forever to blossom. For Montreal fans, patience is wearing thin. They want to see progress and they’re not seeing it. The Canadiens sit in second-last place in the Eastern Conference with a minus-21 goal differential.

Canadiens GM Kent Hughes tried to move the rebuild along quicker with a couple of risky draft-day trades and it really hasn’t worked out. Hughes dealt defenceman Alex Romanov and a third-round pick to the Islanders to acquire the 13th selection in the 2022 draft. He then flipped the first-rounder to Chicago along with three other picks for Kirby Dach. It was hoped Dach would be the much-coveted centre the Habs have been seeking for what seems like decades. Dach had been the third overall choice in the 2019 draft. With the picks, the Blackhawks selected goalie Isiah George, who’s playing in Prince George and may be in goal for Canada at this year’s World Juniors. Forwards Frank Nazar and Gavin Hayes are both playing for the Hawks minor league team in Rockford. Time will tell how the deal works out. Dach played only a few periods last season before undergoing ACL and MCL surgery on his right knee. He’s now playing on the wing and is no longer a long-term answer at centre. When you give up that much draft stock, you want the player to be a key building block. Right now, Dach’s future in Montreal is clouded at best.

Meanwhile, the Canadiens made a second trade to acquire forward Alex Newhook from Colorado. He was also young enough to be part of the Habs future. Newhook hasn’t moved the needle. The Avalanche received a pair of second round picks. One was used to select defenceman Mikhail Gulyayev who’s playing in the KHL. The other was flipped to Tampa Bay for forward Ross Colton who was having a breakout year before being injured.

Any deal is fraught with risk. GM’s get the urge to speed the process. Hughes swung for the fences and may have missed. It’s not as though he hasn’t made some great moves. He traded Sean Monahan twice and netted a pair of first-round picks. He turned Brett Kulak into Lane Hutson. The Canadiens prospect pool is among the best in hockey. More draft picks are in the bank. It just illustrates of how slow and painful rebuilds can be.

Seahawks Notebook – The Seahawks sit atop the NFC at 6-5 and suddenly control their own fate with six games to go in the season. A win this weekend in New York against the Jets would set the stage for a rematch with the Cardinals next weekend in Arizona.

The Seahawks defence has come alive and is playing like a top ten unit. Over the last three weeks, the Hawks have allowed only 16.3 points per game. The run defence is much improved since the acquisition of linebacker Ernest Jones IV. He’s been outstanding. Devon Witherspoon has returned to an All-Pro level and defensive tackle Leonard Williams is a game-wrecking force up front.

Problem is, the offence hasn’t scored more than 20 points since Week 7. The running game is non-existent. Against the Cardinals last Sunday, the running back duo of Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet combined for only 63 yards on 22 carries. The pair have not combined for a 100-yard game since Week 3. It would certainly help the Seahawks playoff aspirations if the team can find a better offensive balance. They lead the NFL in passing yards but running the football is a pipe dream.

NFL Notebook – Hats off to this year’s rookie quarterback class. Six quarterbacks were selected within the first 12 picks in this year’s NFL draft. Four of the six are starting and the results have definitely been positive. Washington’s Jayden Daniels is in the running for NFC rookie-of-the-year. Denver’s Bo Nix is a candidate for AFC rookie-of-the-year. Top overall pick, Caleb Williams, has had a rocky ride but has shown progress in the Bears last two games. Drake Maye is starting on a bad team in New England but looks like the long-term answer for the Patriots. In Atlanta, Michael Penix Jr. has been sitting and watching behind Kirk Cousins. Minnesota Viking J.J. McCarthy had surgery on his knee and won’t play at all this season. Considering the number of recent quarterback busts, this year’s crop has to be considered a big success.

Next year’s NFL draft is expected to feature a mixed bag of quarterbacks and none anywhere close to last year’s top three. It’s no secret that NFL teams always scout ahead at the quarterback position which explains why six were drafted in the top 12 last April. The consensus top QB’s available are Miami’s Cam Ward, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Carson Beck of Georgia. Frankly, we’re not high on any of them. The better long-range options may be Drew Allar of Penn State, Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke, Quinn Ewers of Texas and Garrett Nussmeier of LSU although Nussmeier and Allar may choose to stay in school. All have the requisite size and arm strength to get the job done in the NFL. The Seahawks would be wise to select any one of them and bring them along slowly for a year or two.

Only one Canadian has ever rushed for 1,000 yards in the NFL. That was Rueben Mayes from North Battleford, Saskatchewan. Mayes ran for 1,353 yards for the New Orleans Saints as an NFL rookie back in 1986. 38 years later, we could have another Canadian go over the 1,000-yard mark. Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard has rushed for 876 yards this season and should be able to hurdle the mark with six games to play.

In the aftermath of the Shohei Ohtani affair in Los Angeles, it’s shocking how many athletes pay so little attention to their finances. Case in point – Tampa Bay Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield  who’s suing his father for allegedly making off with more than $12 million. The company owned by Mayfield’s father, Camwood Capital Management Group, is accused of transferring the money without authorization to cover various acquisitions and general operating expenses. Thanks Dad! Merry Christmas!

Every team makes mistakes in the draft. That’s a given. But sometimes the mistakes can be monumental. Here’s some of our all-time NFL draft blunders:

• In 2000, the 49’ers drafted quarterback Giovanni Carmazzi. They could have taken Tom Brady
• In 2002, the Houston Texans drafted David Carr. They passed on HOF pass rusher Julius Peppers
• In 1983, the New England Patriots drafted Tony Eason and the Kansas City Chiefs drafted Todd Blackledge. Both teams could have taken Dan Marino
• In 2011, the Jacksonville Jaguars drafted QB Blaine Gabbert. They could have drafted J.J. Watt
• In 1998, the San Diego Chargers selected QB Ryan Leaf. They passed on HOF cornerback Charles Woodson
• In 1980, the New York Jets drafted receiver Johnny ‘Lam’ Jones. They could have taken HOF offensive tackle Anthony Munoz
• In 2007, the Oakland Raiders picked QB Jamarcus Russell. They could have drafted HOF receiver Calvin Johnson
• In 2009, the Seattle Seahawks drafted linebacker Aaron Curry. They could have taken perennial All-Pro Clay Matthews III
• In 1987, the Arizona Cardinals drafted QB Kelly Stouffer. They passed on cornerback Rod Woodson
• In 2000, the New York Giants drafted RB Ron Dayne. They could have had RB Shaun Alexander who had a great career with the Seahawks
• In 1989, the Green Bay Packers drafted Canadian lineman Tony Mandarich. They passed on HOF running back Barry Sanders
• In 1999, the Minnesota Vikings took Dimitrius Underwood. They could have taken Randy Moss

Baseball Winter Meetings – As major league baseball prepares for the Winter Meetings in Dallas, get ready for loads of flying cash. Super agent Scott Boras once again controls the market. He got a fast start this week with deals for Yusei Kikuchi and Blake Snell. He still has several other big names in his stable including Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso so the market will move as Boras moves.

One of the top non-Boras free agents available on the market this winter is Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Willy Adames. The lineup for his services figures to be long. If you look at recent history when it comes to free agent shortstops, it’s buyer beware. Since 2021, eleven shortstops have signed free agent deals worth $140 million or more. Javier Baez signed with the Detroit Tigers (six years, $140 million) and has been a total bust. The Boston Red Sox inked Trevor Story at the exact same number and he’s rarely been in the lineup due to injuries. Carlos Correa got six years and $200 million and has missed nearly one-third of the action. The Cubs gave Dansby Swanson (seven years, $177 million) and he’s been adequate at best. Xander Bogaerts received (11 years, $260 million) from San Diego and already has been moved off short. The only deals that have really panned out are the contracts handed to Francisco Lindor and Corey Seager although both (10 years) still have a long way to go.

Don’t be surprised if Adames signs with the New York Mets. The Mets figure to be very active. They are sure to target Burnes, one of the top pitchers available. New Mets boss David Stearns is familiar with Burnes from his days in Milwaukee.

As much as the Blue Jays lack bats and need to rebuild the bullpen, they are expected to be in on the bidding for a left-handed starter. Max Fried is an obvious target to balance out the starting rotation which now features righthanders Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Bowden Francis and Jose Berrios.

The Boston Red Sox are in position for a return to prominence. Their farm system is chock full of impressive position players. The Sox lack pitching so they will be pursuing arms, both in free agent and in the trade market. Boston has several young prospects to watch including Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, Kristian Campbell, Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery and Franklin Arias. They could easily serve up someone to land pitching. Left-hander Garrett Crochet of the Chicago White Sox figures to be moved and many teams have come calling including the Red Sox.

One name to watch who may be on the move is Chicago Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner. He’s reportedly available. Boston is interested. So is Seattle.  The Mariners have the arms to make a deal happen. It would not be surprising to see the Mariners bidding on Arizona first baseman Christian Walker or Boston first baseman Triston Casas.

The San Diego Padres have not been able to shake off the Dodgers in the National League West. The Padres have a formidable lineup with Bogaerts, Jackson Merrill, Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Louis Arraez along with an electric bullpen but lack starters. Adding a couple of quality starters would make the Padres a very tough out next season.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are apparently intent on spending their way to another World Series title. How else do you explain signing Snell to a giant deal at $36 million per season? No doubt Snell is a great pitcher. He’s won the Cy Young award in both leagues. But Snell has a medical history that makes the signing very questionable, something the Dodgers should be familiar with. Almost the entire Dodgers starting rotation had arm trouble last season. Snell joins a staff that may include Shohei Ohtani, Yoshi Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin and maybe even Clayton Kershaw and Roki Sasaki, the Japanese star who many believe will end up with the Dodgers. Talk about an embarrassment of riches! But Ohtani, May and Gonsolin are coming off major elbow surgeries. Glasnow, Yamamoto and Kershaw all missed time last season as well so you can see why the Dodgers jumped on Snell early.  Just not sure it’s a safe bet.

Stats Freak – One of the reasons we love baseball is because of the stats. No sport is more consumed by stats than baseball. The numbers. The streaks. The records. Joe DiMaggio will forever be part of baseball lore. He holds one of the greatest records in baseball, a 56-game hitting streak. One of the interesting facts about that streak is, after going hitless in game 57, DiMaggio came back and hit safely in the next 17 games. In other words, he had at least one hit in 73 of 74 games. During the 56-game hitting streak, DiMaggio struck out only three times. In fact, during that entire season, he whiffed only 13 times. Today, players strike out 120+ times and it’s considered a great season if they hit a bunch of long balls.

The other amazing feat that will never be broken is Bob Gibson’s World Series record. The big St. Louis Cardinals right-hander is the only pitcher in MLB history to win seven consecutive World Series starts and each one was a complete game. Can you imagine? Nothing close to that will ever be done again.

Name Game – Our favourite new basketball player is shooting guard Dink Pate. He plays for the Mexico City Capitanes of the G League. I was once offered the dink pate in a restaurant. I passed.

Random Leftovers – Talk about selling low! Shocked to see the B.C. Lions deal quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. to the Calgary Stampeders for draft picks. Adams was an MOP candidate this season before being unceremoniously benched to make room for Nathan Rourke. Crazy to sell a quality CFL quarterback to a Western Division rival. That’s sure to come back to bite you. The Lions claim there wasn’t a whole lot of interest from Eastern clubs. Why not wait and see how the market develops?

It seems like just yesterday that Canada was boasting of all the young tennis players we had in this country. It was going to be the golden era of Canadian tennis. What’s happened? Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime was the sixth-ranked player in the world at one point. He’s now ranked 29th. Denis Shapovalov rose as high as number ten. He’s now dropped to 56th in the world. Milos Raonic is no longer in the top 100. Neither is Bianca Andreescu. Leylah Annie Fernandez was ranked as high as 13th. She’s now dropped to 31st. All the promise among Canadian players has evaporated.

A postscript to our comments in the last blog about the many great boxers we’ve witnessed in our lifetime. Ernie Shavers was a hell of a heavyweight in his day although he fought in relative anonymity. Muhammad Ali said of Shavers “Ernie hit me so hard it shook my kinfolk back in Africa!”

Dutch driver Max Verstappen wrapped up another Formula 1 Championship at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. He’s now one of only four racers to win four titles in a row. The list includes Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Juan Manuel Fangio. Schumacher won five straight championships to hold the all-time record so Verstappen will be out to match that next season. George Russell and Hamilton gave Mercedes a 1-2 finish in Vegas. The Constructors’ Championship has not been decided. McLaren has top spot with a 24-point lead over Ferrari heading into the second-to-last race of the season in Qatar.

What a year it’s been for Canada’s national soccer team! Canada started the year in 48th place in the FIBA world rankings but will finish out the year in 31st spot, the highest ranking ever. Don’t forget, ten years ago in 2014, Canada was ranked No. 122 in the world. The top five In the FIBA rankings remain unchanged.  Argentina is No. 1, followed by France, Spain, England and Brazil.

The Vancouver Whitecaps fired coach Vanni Sartini. The last time I was in Italy I had the pasta vanni sartini. It was excellent.

Special thanks to regular UFR reader and all-around good guy Darren Brown for bringing the Vancouver Island University Mariners hockey team to our attention. Darren pointed out that Gord Nowicki and his team of volunteers have created a sport juggernaut at VIU https://mariners.viu.ca/sports/cice/index. They play out of the BICHL which was founded in 2006 as a provincial conference involving university and college club hockey teams. Over the years the BCIHL has established standards consistent with other hockey conferences across North America both at the club and varsity level. Past membership has included both clubs and varsity programs from SFU, TWU, UVIC, VIU, OC, UFV, TRU and Eastern Washington University. Gord and crew have shown sport, community and competitive hockey is alive and well on Vancouver Island.

Top Ten Tracks from Spotify – Here’s a few outstanding tracks that are well worth adding to your playlists.

1. ‘Hello in There’ by Kathleen Edwards featuring Laura Morrow
2. ‘When the Levee Breaks’ and ‘Doctor My Eyes’ by Playing for Change from the new release Songs for Humanity
3. ‘Left Hook Like Frazier’ by The Delines from the album Mr. Luck and Ms. Doom
4. ‘You Can Bring Me Flowers’ by Ray Lamontagne from the release Till the Sun Turns Black
5. ‘Real, Real Love’ by Warren Haynes from his new album Million Voices Whisper
6. ‘Setting Me Up’ by Albert Lee from his release Lay It Down
7. ‘Hiss’ by Seafoam Green featuring Ronnie Wood
8. ‘Voices on the Water’ by The McCrary Sisters from Can’t Steal My Fire
9. ‘All I Ever Need is You’ by Sierra Hull from the album We Still Can’t Say Goodbye (A Musicians’ Tribute to Chet Atkins)
10. ‘Empty Trainload of Sky’ by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings from the release Woodland

YouTube Music Videos – The song ‘Hello in There’ covered by many including Canadian songstress Kathleen Edwards was written by the great John Prine. It’s about the isolation faced by many in growing old. Prine died in 2000 as a result of complications caused by Covid-19. He had twice battled cancer. He was one of the most influential songwriters of his generation, perhaps best-know for the song ‘Angel from Montgomery.’ Here’s John singing ‘Hello in There’ from Sessions on 54th Street.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVhA01J0Zsg&ab_channel=JohnPrine

Taylor Made – Just wondering but…is Taylor Sheridan the only person in Hollywood who can write a script? The guy has created a veritable assembly line of hit TV shows. Here’s got the formula down to a science. Our Top Ten TV shows and movies that Sheridan has written are:

1. Yellowstone
2. Hell or High Water
3. Sicario
4. Landman
5. Mayor of Kingstown
6. 1923
7. Wind River
8. Tulsa King
9. 1883
10. Lawmen: Bass Reeves

We hope you are enjoying Under Further Review. If you have friends or family members who enjoy sports, please take a moment and direct them to the website at https://underfurtherreview.ca/ and encourage them to subscribe at no cost.