Land of the Leaf

Here we go again, the Cold War is back on as Jim Balsillie submitted an offer to buy the Phoenix Coyotes with a condition allowing him to relocate the franchise to Ontario.  There’s no way in hell that Gary Bettman wants to pull the plug in sunny Phoenix for the frozen highways of Southern Ontario.  He won’t even pull the plug in Nashville, and don’t forget that Kansas City is prepared to house a team right now.

Ian White left the World Hockey Championship yesterday.  That’s the closest thing to Maple Leaf news I’ve got.

It looks like Roberto Alomar is off the hook with that wacky AIDS lawsuit.  Never mind that his ex-girlfriend Ilya Dall doesn’t even have AIDS, or that she’s just bat-shit crazy.  I’m still puzzled by her description of Alomar’s symptoms:

“Purple skin, too sick and weak to walk … foaming at the mouth, couldn’t swallow, and a spinal tap proved (Alomar) was indeed suffering with full-blown AIDS.”

Alomar’s current girlfriend seems like a much kinder girl:

(hat tip to Mopupduty)

The Toronto Argos have brought back a familiar face to serve as the team’s new president.  Bob Nicholson was president of the club from 1994-1999, and he’ll reprise for the upcoming season. When in doubt, just bring back the old boss.

Pierre McGuire is among the front runners for the vacant general manager position with the Minnesota Wild.  McGuire’s first moves if he is to get the job:  sign some monsters and bring Robert Petrovicky back to the NHL.

Jays’ Rotation No More Clear After Clement Throws Stinker
By most accounts, Matt Clement appears to be finished competing for the last spot in the Jays’ rotation.  Before you say “give the job to Scott Richmond because he is Canadian”, it’s time to see what Ricky Romero has got.  Romero will start today against the Reds and the drunks are right: Spring Training is finally interesting for Jays’ fans.

Kick ‘Em When They’re Down!
Why play hard in November when it matters when you can play spoiler to the Montreal Canadiens? Eyebleaf takes some consolation in that, I guess we all can… it’s not much, but it’s the best we got.

You Knew It Was Coming
Don Cherry had to chime in on Ovechkin’s scoring celebrations, specifically his rad 50th goal celebration. Most literate hockey fans, for the most part, continue to not give a rat’s ass.

Argos Make Difficult Decisions
Not really, some “celebrity” judges chose the 2009 Toronto Argo Cheerleaders. Now we just need some people to put a team on the field to cheer.

Raps Could Muscle-Up Next Season
Dinoblogger is impressed with Nathan Jawai’s stint in the NBDL, and he could bring more of the aggressive physical play that we see from Pops Mensah-Bonsu.

It’s Shawn Bradley’s Birthday!
Celebrate with the Top 10 Dunks on Shawn Bradley. (With a nod to Deadspin)