"Rules is Rules" in Alberta College Hockey

Mount Royal University's starting goaltender Justin Cote was injured in Game 4 of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) championship hockey series Saturday night, and was thus replaced by backup Brett Bothwell for the deciding Game 5. An emergency backup was placed on the bench.

This new backup rode the pine for 60 minutes and had the best seats in the house as his school won a 1-0 game against the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT). Mount Royal snapped SAIT's two-season long championship streak by winning the best-of-five series.

Problem was, the ACAC has ruled the backup goalie ineligible, and Game 5 will be replayed later tonight. They also apparently weren't led into an investigation by SAIT and acted all on their own.

At least we can be assured that silly decisions about collegiate sport in this country are not reserved to the CIS alone...

Mark Recchi has something to say about concussions

Check out the audio from this Boston sports radio show with Mark Recchi being brought in to comment about the Habs/Bruins game Wednesday Thursday night as well as the welcome news that Max Pacioretty may be able to return for the start of the playoffs.

Actually, fast forward to about four minutes in, when it starts to get real good. This is concussion doctor Mark Recchi:

"Well he obviously does have a fractured vertebrae, but the concussion was obviously really a non-factor."

Weekend Reset: Jon Jones, MLS, and defensemen score beauties

This will be as regular of a feature as I can possibly make it, since Sunday night is a great time to cool down with a glass of scotch and recap everything we got to see over the course of the weekend.

Jon Jones, GSP, and the pound-for-pound debate

In the last few years in the world of mixed martial arts, there have usually been three fighters who are viewed as the top 'pound-for-pound' fighters in the world. Russia's Fedor Emelianenko, Brazil's Anderson Silva, and, of course, Montreal's own Georges St.-Pierre.

And while we're debating intent...

In this messed up, topsy-turvy, screwy world of NHL suspensions and supplemental discipline, too much focus is placed on the intent of a hit rather than the result.

Polarizing opinions: It's time to ban head hits in hockey

Much buzz is being made about Sidney Crosby's return to the ice in full gear Monday, as well as the NHL's 5-step plan to finally address the concussion issue.

The NHL's plan ranges from softening the equipment to more padding around the rink, and creating a committee to do research. It's entirely a sham. Changing the equipment just means that players are going to find more ways to hurt people, and eventually the size and speed of the game is going to catch up to the changes that are made. You're just delaying the inevitable, until, one day, your five-point plan finally consists of what it should have been Monday:

Step 1: Ban all contact to the head.

Bob McCown is a horny old man

Not wanting to have anything to do with hockey for a while because we don't want to lose our Air Canada sponsorship, why don't we have fun with the FAN 950's Bob McCown? The inside sunglasses-wearing radio host isn't just an avid sports nut with the ability to take the contrarian position, it appears he is also a fan of the finer bits of women's sport:

"The sole motivation for any man to watch women’s sport is: are they half naked? Are they good looking? Other than that, it don’t matter."

Zdeno Chara nearly decapitates Max Pacioretty

Ouch.

Zdeno Chara was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for this hit on Max Pacioretty, but does that punishment fit the crime? Short answer, no. Let's look at the evidence from this season.

Taylor Hall fights, and the Oilers are doomed to fail

Last night, Taylor Hall proved how tough he was by fighting Derek Dorsett, a primitive thug with 11 career goals in 160 games and, while he stands as a 5'11" welterweight, he had 40 NHL fights to Hall's zero, never mind the dozens of scraps Dorsett had in junior.

Hall's fight showed grit, moxie, determination, character, and every single other useless attribute that should be discounted.

Sportsnet's Dan Murphy and his relationship with the Vancouver Canucks

This past Sunday at Rogers Arena, the Vancouver Canucks held their annual Superskills competition, an in-rink event that benefits the Canucks For Kids Fund and allows for fans who can't normally afford tickets to see their heroes up close.

It was a Canuck event, hosted by the Canucks, attended by Canuck fans only, with proceeds going to a Canucks charity and it was streamed online on the Canucks official website. But none of this stopped Dan Murphy, a reporter with Sportsnet Pacific, from hosting the event with in-rink announcer duties.