Todd: As judgment day looms in Hockey Canada case, I'm thinking about right and wrong
No matter what verdict Justice Carroccia renders, that is the question that will linger for me. That — and why Hockey Canada should have thought that buying off the victim in such cases was the way to go.
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What were they thinking? Out West, the Stampeders are stampeding and the Roughriders are roughing people up.
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In the east, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a force again with quarterback Bo-Levi Mitchell passing former Alouettes QB Tracy Ham for 10th on the all-time passing yardage list — albeit far below Anthony Calvillo.
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The Alouettes? On the bright side, they're tied with the Ticats for first in the East. On the dark side, the decision to play dynamic quarterback Davis Alexander after he missed two games with a hamstring injury was doubtful at best — but the call to send him back out for a two-point convert after he reinjured the hamstring on a touchdown run was downright reckless.
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Whether Alexander aggravated the hamstring injury on the attempted convert (sure-handed Cole Spieker dropped a pass that was right in his hands) it was a terrible call. Now Alexander is on the six-game injured list, out for a third of the CFL season as the Alouettes prepare for the meat of the schedule, beginning with the Stampeders in Calgary Thursday.
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With the Toronto Argonauts and Ottawa Redblacks floundering, the Als remain pretty much a lock for the playoffs, but the road to the Grey Cup will not be an easy one. Their fate is now in the hands of that magnificent slab of statuary McLeod Bethel-Thompson, the 37-year-old who throws a beautiful ball and moves about as well as I do.
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The Als still have the vastly more mobile Caleb Evans waiting in the wings, but for now it's Bethel-Thompson. The Calgary sack squad has to be absolutely champing at the bit.
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A tip of the old Expos cap: To Terry Francona, whose injury-wrecked career with the Expos transformed into one of the great managerial careers in baseball history. Francona became one of only 13 managers to win 2,000 games last week while managing the Cleveland Guardians — and I personally will never forgive the Boston Red Sox for firing the man who finally broke the Curse of the Bambino.
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Heroes: Terry Francona, Cole Spieker, Geoffrey Cantin-Arku, Wesley Sutton, Lwal Uguak, Shawn Lemon, Aaron Judge, Iga Swiatek, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Cal Raleigh, Summer McIntosh &&&& last but not least, 15-year-old Aphrodite Deng.
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Global News
6 hours ago
- Global News
Roughriders soar past Alouettes 34-6 in CFL power clash
A dominant defensive performance and explosive plays allowed the Saskatchewan Roughriders to walk away from Montreal with a 34-6 win on Saturday. It was billed as a clash between the CFL's top two teams, but the Roughriders proved a class above the Alouettes, improving to 7-1 and moving four points up on the 5-3 Calgary Stampeders in the West Division. The Saskatchewan defence held the Alouettes (5-3) to 169 yards and did not allow them to pass their 46 yard-line. They also forced three turnovers, although it could have been even more. 'Through and through that was our best game as a defence,' said Saskatchewan head coach and defensive coordinator Corey Mace. 'I told them, that being said, we dropped so many potential interceptions and turnovers. Really, really proud of those guys.' 'It makes it pretty easy to win football games,' quarterback Trevor Harris said about his defence's performance. 'If they don't get into the red zone and they only kick two field goals, it's tough to lose games. Story continues below advertisement 'It's on us as an offence to make sure we extend our leads and they don't get close. We did that, but obviously still wish we would have done a little more offensively.' 'They're a good team,' said Montreal quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson. 'We have to give them credit, but we came out absolutely terrible tonight, myself included. You come out against a good team and play badly, it looks like that.' 2:12 Roughriders fan turns into urban historian Harris threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns against one of his former teams and Dohnte Meyers had 182 all-purpose yards in the win as well but the common refrain from the Riders coaches and players was that they were capable of even more. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'We're just going to continue to keep climbing and getting better. Just because you're 7-1 after eight games, it doesn't mean anything,' Harris said. Story continues below advertisement A crowd of 21,654 at Percival Molson Stadium in Montreal witnessed the Riders improve to 4-0 on the road. It was the Roughriders first win in Montreal since Oct. 30, 2021, snapping a two-game losing streak in Quebec and three games against the Alouettes overall. 'The environment was everything that we thought it was going to be,' said Mace. 'Their crowd showed up, the energy was crazy, but as a football team we were able to keep them quiet.' 'Anytime you get a win on the road in the CFL, it's nothing to sneeze at, especially against a team like this,' Harris said. Montreal was playing its fourth game of the season without starting quarterback Davis Alexander. They are 1-3 in those games. Bethel-Thompson, Alexander's replacement, went 15 for 26 for 126 yards and an interception and was briefly replaced in the third quarter by Caleb Evans. Maas said he tried to find a spark by going to Evans but when it wasn't there, he returned to Bethel-Thompson. The loss drops Montreal two points behind the East-leading Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Saskatchewan opened the scoring with short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens' one-yard touchdown run on an opening drive aided by a 46-yard return on the opening kickoff by Meyers and an unnecessary roughness penalty on the Alouettes. It was the only scoring in the first quarter. Story continues below advertisement The Roughriders doubled their lead on their first drive of the second quarter, a nine-play, 69-yard drive ending with a Harris touchdown pass to Tommy Nield with 8:35 remaining. Montreal finally got on the board with 5:15 remaining in the first half when Jose Maltos connected for a 56-yard field goal. Saskatchewan answered right back with a field goal of their own, set up after a long 58-yard pass and catch from Harris to Meyers. Meyers is in his second season with the Roughriders and came into the game among the league leaders with five explosive plays, which is categorized as receptions over 30 yards and kickoff returns over 40 yards. On Saturday, he added three more. 'He's a big-play guy and he's able to help us stretch the field,' said Harris. 'The reputation is that we only throw the ball short, but we've been throwing the ball deep over people's heads quite a bit this year with Dohnte and KeeSean (Johnson).' 'He's an explosive receiver,' Mace said. 'He runs routes as smooth as ever, he's got great hands, and he's got some top-level speed to be able to break away. The kid's just a ballplayer, man, and I think everybody in the country's starting to figure that out.' The game's second half was delayed close to 30 minutes due to a thunderstorm in the area, and the rain continued to start the third quarter. Story continues below advertisement Both teams were dealing with key players missing. Saskatchewan was missing receiver Samuel Emilus. In addition to Alexander, Montreal was without receivers Austin Mack and Tyler Philpot, while defensive back Kabion Ento was a late scratch and safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy left the game with an injury. Montreal head coach Jason Maas did not give an update on Dequoy's status, saying he will be re-evaluated this week. 'Injuries are part of the game,' said Maas. 'At times they're harder to overcome than others. Obviously, you don't ever want to start a game losing a guy and then lose a couple extra guys at those positions.' 'What I give more credit to than anything is them,' he said about his opponents. 'They played very well tonight, whether we were injured or not.' UP NEXT Roughriders: Host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday, Aug. 16. Alouettes: Host the Edmonton Elks on Friday.
Montreal Gazette
12 hours ago
- Montreal Gazette
Zurkowsky: Outmatched Alouettes suffer embarrassing defeat to CFL-leading Roughriders
Montreal Alouettes By The slaughter on Pins Ave. began with a 46-yard kickoff return by Dohnte Meyers — and got progressively worse from there. It would be easy to pile on the Alouettes, and criticize them extensively, following Saturday night's humbling 34-6 defeat to the Saskatchewan Roughriders before 21,654 Molson Stadium spectators, who endured an approximate 25-minute delay at halftime because of lightning in the area, not to mention the ensuing downpour. There are plenty of holes to fill on the Alouettes, and plenty of blame to mete out, following this embarrassing performance. And while Montreal clearly isn't in the same class as the Roughriders, who have a CFL-best 7-1 record as the regular season is about to reach the halfway mark, the Als' roster, which was already decimated by injuries, took a major hit on this night. Cornerback Kabion Ento, who has a team-leading three interceptions, was a last-minute scratch with a calf injury. Early in the first quarter, the Alouettes lost safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy with what appeared to be an injury to his left shoulder. And the team already was missing linebacker Najee Murray. Offensively, it appears the Als will be without centre Justin Lawrence for the conceivable future. He was injured in the second quarter and was seen on crutches post-game. Montreal already is without starting quarterback Davis Alexander (hamstring) and two starting receivers — Tyson Philpot (knee) and Austin Mack (ankle). Alexander is already on the six-game injured list and it appears the frequently injured Mack is headed there as well. He has a walking boot on his left ankle and must manoeuvre on crutches. While pro football teams will never use injuries as an excuse, and head coach Jason Maas always has adopted a next-man-up mentality, it's hard to believe the Alouettes can remain competitive with so many players sidelined. 'Injuries are part of the season, part of the game,' a remarkably calm Maas said. 'Obviously, at times, they're harder to overcome than others. I thought our guys kept fighting and dealing with them. Obviously, you never want to start a game losing a guy, then losing a couple of extra guys. That's hard. No one has that depth. At the end of the day, you've got to keep playing and find a way. We just didn't do that tonight. There's never going to be an excuse. No question it's never easy and makes it more difficult.' As Maas, a former CFL quarterback, went to bed Saturday night, he undoubtedly contemplated a dilemma his team has at that most important position without Alexander. Namely, can this team win with veteran McLeod Bethel-Thompson? It might be a moot point for now, since there doesn't appear to be a viable alternative. After finally winning his first start in three games last week at Calgary, the 37-year-old took a huge step backward against Saskatchewan. Bethel-Thompson completed 15 of 26 passes for 126 yards. He was intercepted once, should have been pilfered at least once more, and fumbled after being sacked by defensive-end Shane Ray. Looking for a change in momentum, Bethel-Thompson was temporarily benched in the third quarter following the turnover, replaced by an ineffective Caleb Evans, only to return with less than 10 minutes remaining in the fourth period. While the quarterback always will receive too much credit, or blame when necessary, he's now 1-3 with Montreal after going 3-10 with Edmonton last season. 'That was a tough one,' Bethel-Thompson said. 'I can't remember a time that we felt that out of rhythm on offence and I felt that out of rhythm. We just didn't execute and that was a really, really disappointing performance. We definitely kicked ourselves in the shin, over and over again. 'It was crazy. Unexplainable and unacceptable to come out and have that performance. That was one of the worst performances I've been a part of. Definitely got to be better.' Forget for a moment the Alouettes were held to two long Jose Maltos field goals — from 56 and 54 yards. Their deepest penetration was to the Saskatchewan 46 early in the third quarter. Montreal was held to 12 first downs and 169 yards' net offence. The Als ran only 48 offensive plays and controlled the ball barely more than 23 minutes. Bethel-Thompson was sacked twice. While Tyler Snead was the Montreal's leading receiver, catching seven passes for 88 yards, the team's longest offensive play was an 18-yard pass to him. Charleston Rambo, arguably Montreal's fastest receiver, didn't have a pass thrown his way. Alexander Hollins, replacing Mack, was targeted only once and didn't have a reception. The Alouettes failed to score an offensive touchdown for the first time since last Oct. 19, at B.C. Defensively, not even the return of suspended veteran rush-end Shawn Lemon for the first time in a year could galvanize the Als. Trevor Harris passed for 289 yards and two touchdowns. Meyers caught five passes for 136 yards, while tailbacks A.J. Ouellette and Mario Anderson combined for 122 yards. The Riders had 22 first downs and 418 yards' net offence. With a 5-3 record, Montreal is in no immediate danger and sit second in the East Division, two points behind Hamilton (6-2), who defeated Edmonton earlier Saturday. The Alouettes entertain the Elks on Friday night. The game marks the return of former Montreal starting quarterback Cody Fajardo, who was named the Grey Cup's most valuable player in 2023. Fajardo was traded last winter for Bethel-Thompson.
Ottawa Citizen
12 hours ago
- Ottawa Citizen
Zurkowsky: Outmatched Alouettes suffer embarrassing defeat to CFL-leading Roughriders
The slaughter on Pins Ave. began with a 46-yard kickoff return by Dohnte Meyers — and got progressively worse from there. Article content It would be easy to pile on the Alouettes, and criticize them extensively, following Saturday night's humbling 34-6 defeat to the Saskatchewan Roughriders before 21,654 Molson Stadium spectators, who endured an approximate 25-minute delay at halftime because of lightning in the area, not to mention the ensuing downpour. Article content Article content There are plenty of holes to fill on the Alouettes, and plenty of blame to mete out, following this embarrassing performance. And while Montreal clearly isn't in the same class as the Roughriders, who have a CFL-best 7-1 record as the regular season is about to reach the halfway mark, the Als' roster, which was already decimated by injuries, took a major hit on this night. Article content Article content Cornerback Kabion Ento, who has a team-leading three interceptions, was a last-minute scratch with a calf injury. Early in the first quarter, the Alouettes lost safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy with what appeared to be an injury to his left shoulder. And the team already was missing linebacker Najee Murray. Article content Offensively, it appears the Als will be without centre Justin Lawrence for the conceivable future. He was injured in the second quarter and was seen on crutches post-game. Article content Montreal already is without starting quarterback Davis Alexander (hamstring) and two starting receivers — Tyson Philpot (knee) and Austin Mack (ankle). Alexander is already on the six-game injured list and it appears the frequently injured Mack is headed there as well. He has a walking boot on his left ankle and must manoeuvre on crutches. Article content While pro football teams will never use injuries as an excuse, and head coach Jason Maas always has adopted a next-man-up mentality, it's hard to believe the Alouettes can remain competitive with so many players sidelined. Article content 'Injuries are part of the season, part of the game,' a remarkably calm Maas said. 'Obviously, at times, they're harder to overcome than others. I thought our guys kept fighting and dealing with them. Obviously, you never want to start a game losing a guy, then losing a couple of extra guys. That's hard. No one has that depth. At the end of the day, you've got to keep playing and find a way. We just didn't do that tonight. There's never going to be an excuse. No question it's never easy and makes it more difficult.'
