The Unknown Poster

Trade him if the return makes Winnipeg better. Keep him if it doesnt and see what a full season on the top line with Scheif & Wheeler gets him. If he wants out of Winnipeg after that, trade him. Not sure if the jets would have drafted him or not. I seem to recall he was seen as the best choice at that pick to an extent that you'd be unlikely to go off the board. But there were some decent picks after him too, such as Brayden Schenn, Kadri, Paajarvi-Svensson etc

Yak might look appealing to the Jets if Maurice remains coach. He coached in Russia and has repeatedly stated he has a much better understanding of what those players go through. I'd hesitate to bring in too many Russians simply due to the fact the KHL will always be used as a threat at contract time, but I very much want Burmi back (he'd be a terrific number 3 center with PP and PK ability and able to step into a 2nd line role if need be). Burmi and Yak together might be dynamic.

OR the damage LOOKS really bad, but really isn't (because people are really poor at judging how much it will cost to fix drywall, especially since water damage in a house often comes with mold and is devastating) Now you have a bunch of people thinking the stadium is a complete shitshow when all it needs is a little repair and some drainage provisions added (all at a cost which is at worst covered by Bombers Insurance) Thats a good point and another reason for the Bombers to be protective. The Bombers need to find a middle ground between being open with the public and running a business. But too often, they focus only on one of those.

Maybe he meant he doesnt have a playBOOk. His plays are on iPad's and everyone gets one.

The only way Trouba isnt a Winnipeg Jet 5 years from now is if he does something uncharacteristic and demands a trade. There is nothing to indicate he's anything but a professional who likes True North and the Jets. I expect him to sign a max length contract and Chevy will get a decent cap hit on it by giving him big dollars in years 6-8 and getting a break in years 1-3

Absolutely. 100% agree. The Liberals knew they were screwed and saw one chance to take down the Cons and steal back power. Thank God for Harper and his courage to pro-rogue government knowing the looney left would criticise him for what was absolutely in the best interests of the country. Imagine a left wing coalition governing Canada during the recession? YIKES!

I didn't like the idea of it back then either. Here's why I find the idea of a coalition between 3 parties undesirable.... They have too many differences between them and it's just a power grab. As much as the system isn't set up that way, the simple fact of the matter is people elected a specific party to govern and they did not want some amalgamation of other parties to run the country. And that's a very sensible reason to be against it. It's the hypocrisy of people who criticize the Liberals, NDP and Bloc for trying but seem to think it was okay when the Conservatives tried. The difference (and Im not condoning it) is that Paul Martin was not elected to be Prime Minister by the voters. Lets not debate the nuances of our political system. When most Canadians vote, they are voting for the Prime Minister which is why the poll of "who do Canadian view as most Prime Ministerial" is very important. Wrong. Harper tried it after the 2004 election which the Liberals under Martin won a minority government. I stand corrected. And it would have been wrong if he had done it. I bet the liberals thought it was wrong too....until they wanted to try it.

- Anyone who compares this to the Saddledome is an idiot - It *is* a news story. - Im not sure Wade Miller is smart enough to realise he shouldn't have been perceived as deceptive on this one. If he was smart, he would have denied Friesen access and invited some friendly media. Either the damage is not as bad as Friesen states and he gets to hang it around his neck or it *is* as bad (or worse) and Miller comes across as honest and forthright.

This is either going to be really really good. Or really really bad.

Never a fan of Bob Brown. But I didn like Kerry Brown and was lucky enough to have booked him a couple of times before he died.

I didn't like the idea of it back then either. Here's why I find the idea of a coalition between 3 parties undesirable.... They have too many differences between them and it's just a power grab. As much as the system isn't set up that way, the simple fact of the matter is people elected a specific party to govern and they did not want some amalgamation of other parties to run the country. its undesirable because its not what Canadians intend when they vote. Period.

I didn't like the idea of it back then either. Here's why I find the idea of a coalition between 3 parties undesirable.... They have too many differences between them and it's just a power grab. As much as the system isn't set up that way, the simple fact of the matter is people elected a specific party to govern and they did not want some amalgamation of other parties to run the country. And that's a very sensible reason to be against it. It's the hypocrisy of people who criticize the Liberals, NDP and Bloc for trying but seem to think it was okay when the Conservatives tried. The difference (and Im not condoning it) is that Paul Martin was not elected to be Prime Minister by the voters. Lets not debate the nuances of our political system. When most Canadians vote, they are voting for the Prime Minister which is why the poll of "who do Canadian view as most Prime Ministerial" is very important. And I cringed at the idea of ANY coalition with the BQ.

Well it's not quite as simple as that, a coalition has to go to the governor general and convince him that they can govern rather than calling an election. Similarly prorouging is not some evil sin either, hell Chretien did it a ton too, Harper asked the governor general to do it, the governor general has to agree, and that's that. There's nothing scandalous about it. Both sides were using the tools at their disposal to play the game. I would never dispute any of that .. with one exception .. Chretien prorouged parliament only once, in 2002, in large part to avoid tabling a report which would have shed light on the sponsorship debacle. It was not a matter of confidence (at least not at that point in time). I tend to take exception to those who reinforce the notion that coalition governments are some diabolical political maneuver .. voting down the government on a matter of confidence and attempting to form a stable ruling majority is *not* a coup .. I certainly object to anyone who attempts to tell me that the government isn't answerable to Parliament. Parliament is an extension of the people .. and the government must ensure they have the confidence of our sitting representatives. This is wrong in practice. Its a weakness of our political system. I dare say most people vote for the party they want to run government, much like in the US (though its more the person and the party). The coalition attempts were plain disgusting in my view. Its was pure arrogance on the part of the liberals to lose the election and then claim they HAVE to form a coalition (with separatists no less) because only THEY can deliver to Canadian what they really need, even when those same Canadians voted for a Cons government. What a joke that would have been. The GG did the right thing by staying out of it. And Harper absolutely did the right thing by not allowing turncoat liberals to hand the balance of power in Canadian politics to seperatists. And then he went out and won a majority. So you tell me, what did Canadians want? I realise that lefties always think they know whats best for everyone even those people that dont want it. But it's not true. The people voted. And thats why Harper has been a LOOOOONG standing Prime Minister. Im still waiting for the soldiers in the streets, the death penalty debate, the abortion debate etc etc etc. You know, all those terrible things Stephen Harper was going to do when he won a majority. All Harper has done is been a good statesmen, keep his election promises, steer us through a global melt down (that even other countries envied Canada for). Bottom line is, NO government will ever be for ALL the people. But the vast majority of whining about Harper is personal or ridiculous. If you want to say the Cons shouldn't have lowered the GST, thats a debate I can get behind. But to hang nonsense around the neck of the PM who KEEPS GETTING ELECTED is silly. It sucked when Cretien went nuts and we suffered through. But we did suffer through. And then, we voted him out. So go vote. And if the people speak, then so be it. But dont tell me Justin will be a better PM based on his hair and last name.

Trouba *might* elicit an offer sheet but probably not for a few reasons. The Jets will let it be well known they will match any offer. And I expect the Jets to enter into contract talks long before talk of an offer sheet makes the rounds.

Except your asessment of Jokinen is not true. According to Paul Maurice, he very much likes Jokinen's defensive play.

Where is the idea that we overpaid for jokinen and Enstrom coming from? I remember when Numinnen was the best kept secret in the NHL. Enstrom is a very good d man. If he was 6'2" he'd be a Norris candidate. Jokinen was coming off a good season in Calgary and was signed to be our number 2 centre at a time when we had no centres. We still lack depth at that position. He had a bad year last year but a good hear this year. Is rather have him at $2m - $3m but I wouldn't hang it as an overpayment around Chevys neck. As for deadline deals, I'm sure he could have got a pick for gooch but the jets were still in the playoff hunt and had just lost Scheif to injury. Gooch was worth more to us in a playoff fight than a 3rd pick was.

Bogo suffered by being rushed into the NHL by Atlanta. He improved greatly the first season in Winnipeg. This year he started out on his off-side mentoring Trouba. Then he was hurt. I think that impacted him. I have no doubt he will be a top 4, if not quality top 2 D man. And yes, Trouba is untouchable. Trouba, Scheif and Wheeler are untouchable in my opinion.

Nonsense? It's the foundation of parliamentary democracy. This is what *OUR* system of government is based on. And please, don't misake my post as partisan or left leaning. My political slant has nothing to do with my post. I simply can't let unfettered ignorance of how our system .. our parliament .. is supposed to function go unchecked. You can accuse me of ignorance but you're lacking common sense. Did the Libs and Dems have the *right* under our system to try and steal government? Sure. Did the Cons have the *right* to prorogue government to avoid that? Absolutely. They did the right thing for the country. Can you imagine a coalition of Libs and Dems guiding us through the recession? Yikes. it was bad enough when they forced the Cons to spend more than they intended and then wagged their fingers "look at this deficit"... the deficit would have been much higher under the Liberals.

Dont give me that nonsense. I've voted liberal and Cons. Dont be blinded by the anti-Harper nonsense. Government answers to the people or at least thats how it SHOULD be in a democratic society. The left tried to STEAL government. Period. Dont pretend that it was legitimate lack of confidence. It wasn't. it was political BS. If it wasn't, the PEOPLE would have elected the liberals or the NDP. They didnt. Ofcourse the Cons aren't scandal free. But to point to a loser like Brazeau and hang that around the Cons is silly. The Liberals have been scandal-free? Come on. Harper acted swiftly to condemn Brazeau and boot him. He acted quickly on Duffy too. but Duffy is an arrogant loser who pulled the "no one messes with me" nonsense. I dont think that has stuck to Harper at all and I think he will win the next election too. The people will speak either way.

It would not surprise me if the Jets dont re-sign Pasquale.

Hutch's only two goals allowed in the NHL were ones Im sure he'd want back. I admit I havent watched either game in its entirety but Hutch looks very technically sound, appears to have good positioning. Good positioning and good technique will often reduce the need to be super athletic since you dont often have to make circus saves if you're always in the right place. But he also shows good athleticism, a good glove, great patience and the fact he's 6'3" doesnt hurt. I cant say the Jets have soured on Pasquale but they sure seem to value hutch more. Way too soon to say but maybe our goalie tandem looks like Hutch/Comrie in a couple of years.

I have little doubt Edmonton would want Bogo who certainly has the potential to be a top pairing D man for many years but they wont give up Hall. Gagner maybe. But not Hall.

No, that was my former partner. We started Premier Championship Wrestling together in late 2001, "debuted" in March 2002 at the IGAC (1700+ people to see Geurrero, HTM and Beefcake), ran SHAW Park in July 2002 with LOD & Buff Bagwell (the root of my distain for Sammy) and regular shows at The LID Nightclub. My former partner left PCW in 2003. We still run shows using Doubles as our home venue featuring mostly locally talent (with guys from UK, Austraila etc) and Kenny Omega (very talented and popular Indy star). My former partner did bring in a lot of former big names whereas I was always trying to bring in younger "indy" stars like Somoa Joe, AJ Styles, Amazing Red, Chris Sabin, Chris daniels etc...and ofcourse Winnipeg's own Steve Corino.

Passing blame for the stadium Players involved in construction point fingers at each other By: Gary Lawless and Bartley Kives Posted: 2:03 AM The CFL season doesn't start for another two months, but the blame game for design flaws at Investors Group Field is well underway. After sitting on the sidelines for the past few months, two major players in the stadium saga -- former BBB Stadium chairman Phil Sheegl and stadium-project founder David Asper -- are back in the trenches, trading blows about the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' new home. Sheegl, the City of Winnipeg's former chief administrator, claims Asper and his Creswin Properties handed over flawed and incomplete designs for the 33,500-seat facility that opened one year late in 2013. Sheegl also claims the Selinger government ignored deficiencies in the stadium design when it chose to forge ahead with construction in the months before the 2011 provincial election. "We had two choices: We could stop with the hole half dug and re-evaluate what we were doing, or we could keep going. And the message was 'keep going,' " Sheegl said in an interview. Asper, who started the stadium project under the aegis of Creswin Properties, called Sheegl's recollection of the events "very convenient and selective" and suggested the former CAO is "in denial" about his own role in the stadium's construction. "He's just avoiding the reality of having been in the middle of it," Asper said in an interview. Mayor Sam Katz, Premier Greg Selinger and Sport Minister Ron Lemieux have also entered a fray that began on Tuesday with the discovery of leaky luxury suites at Investors Group Field -- the latest in a series of design problems at the $208.5-million facility. First, Katz complained stadium design issues were overlooked and claimed the city had nothing to do with them. That prompted Lemieux to note former CAO Sheegl helped oversee stadium construction in his former role as BBB Stadium chairman. That in turn prompted Sheegl to assert Selinger ordered the project to proceed, even though the four stadium stakeholders -- the city, province, football club and the University of Manitoba -- were told construction should be halted until the plans were completed. "We knew the plans had problems that needed to be fixed and addressed," said Sheegl, adding provincial appointee Angela Mathieson was BBB's chairwoman in 2010, when the premier gave the order to go ahead. "I certainly didn't have the money to pay for it. The Bombers didn't have the money to pay for it," he said. "The decision came from one place. Keep going. The decision didn't come from me. There was an election coming in 16 months. A provincial election." Both Asper and Selinger say all four stakeholders were well aware stadium designs -- created by Winnipeg architect Ray Wan with input from global stadium-planning firm HOK -- were incomplete when BBB Stadium took over the project from Creswin in 2010. "More work needed to be done, more work was done, and that allowed us to get a high-quality facility," Selinger said in an interview. He also praised Asper for the "tremendous amount of spadework" involved in getting the stadium off the ground. Asper said city officials were "intimately involved" with the stadium design from the beginning and substantive changes were made after Sheegl took over the role of BBB chairman. Sheegl was BBB chairman during the period when the winter bubble was jettisoned and other design changes were made on the fly through a process called "value engineering," during which construction managers try to shave costs to meet a budget target. Asper suggested members of city council were responsible for fan amenities disappearing from the project. Asper said when he proposed removing an overhead canopy from the stadium design to combat rising costs, Katz demanded the canopy remain. Bomber fans would have preferred more legroom, more washrooms, wider concessions areas and a better game-day experience, he said. Asper also commended Selinger for moving forward with the project before the cost of steel continued to rise and chided Sheegl for suggesting the premier was in a hurry. "To try to point an accusatory finger at the province? Mine is a congratulatory view," Asper said. "It took a lot of guts to move things forward, and we should be thankful for it." Construction had to proceed because of safety concerns with Canad Inns Stadium, Selinger added. "We were all working together. We had serious reports about the safety of the old stadium," the premier said. "Everybody wanted to move forward on this." Asper developed the initial stadium plans as part of an effort to purchase the Winnipeg Football Club and finance the project through a retail development at the Canad Inns Stadium site in Polo Park. When that died on the vine, the province stepped in and loaned the football club $160 million to build the stadium, with BBB Stadium taking over the construction. As part of the transition, Asper was paid $4 million in compensation for his expenditures on the stadium plans. The Bombers, meanwhile, hired chief transition officer Jeff Thompson and construction expert Ossama AbouZeid to oversee the stadium project. They in turn hired Global Spectrum Canada, a firm specializing in public venues, to review the stadium plans. "Global Spectrum comes and says, 'OK, there are things that aren't quite right that we think need to be addressed, (like) getting vehicles in to hold concerts on the main floor, the press box, operational shortfalls," Sheegl said. "That was presented to the Bombers board and the message was to keep going." Before the stadium opened, all the handrails had to be replaced, while crews were forced to cut squares out of the lower-bowl concrete to allow fans access to the playing surface during concerts. Problems identified later included leaky luxury suites, uninsulated plumbing, crawl spaces unprotected from fire and a press box open to the elements

Given BC's signing of whatshisname, Im surprised they havent landed Glenn. Isnt Khari in BC now too?