Nasty Nate

Is it confirmed Cornish's concussion was attributed to Kyries Hebert clobbering him from behind?

O'Shea is trying to protect his Baby Labatte!

O'Shea is getting smarter with every game. Now dressing two spare o-linemen instead of one. Got into trouble last game by having to re-sweater Jakey for o-line duties. Goosen and Swiston are the spares so both guys can play - maybe not at a high level but they're both familiar with the offense. Howard is the wild card - by dressing 3 import o-linemen you can actually dress 2 reserve non-imports to back up. If Howard flounders (I suspect he'll be heavily tested) I don't see Swiston or Goose being much better (otherwise they'd be starting) I really hope Howard the Duck can open some holes for our RBs - 3 import o-linemen and they all seem to be average to slightly above average o-linemen with jury still out on Cordero...

I'm relieved Chevy stayed away from the Heatley sweepstakes!

Based on his performance and discipline the last two years - I don't think Kane will fetch what we think he'll fetch. So knowing Chevy's propensity to refuse trades where he's getting 60 to 75 cents on the dollar he'll probably keep Kane in the lineup. Which could be extremely foolhardy cuz if Kane continues to fall on the ice his market value will be a pail of pucks and the proverbial 10th rd. draft pick.

I agree. Not quite NHL calibre but top dog type in AHL. Could also be a really good junior coach aka Brandon???

Thats why they call him Matt the Parrot over at 1290..... I forgot one radio guy and thats Rick Ralph - a bit annoying cuz he does most of his shows himself (even though its called Rona Round Table) and tends to be hugely repetitive. But he's a pretty slick old pro and his interviews are really solid. His post-game Jets show gives him ample opportunity to show restraint when callers are clamouring for Chevy's execution game in and game out.

Westwood is good. I'll admit that. But he's always being ambushed by that young arrogant kid TSN carries on their morning show - Matt Leibl. Leibl loves to humiliate fellow personalities at TSN. Evidently, thats his shtick. And while you talk of Westwood talking outlandish positions Leibl is absolutely off the grid!

In a way he kinda reminds me of Bud Grant. Not in everything - but in certain ways. Thats a good thing btw!

You and Wiebe, Jr. should be Kane's press agents. Actually the team that could make the most use out of Kane at a supposed bargain basement price of $5.25 million for the next 4 or 5 years is Pittsburgh. Imagine Kane on a line with Sid - Sid can make even a dud score 25 to 35 goals. Kane could be 40+ goals and 30 to 40 assists as Sid's caddy. Sid also needs a bigger guy to bugger up defenders that take liberties with him. Kane is that guy! Pittsburgh's new management would fine him silly for taking idiotic slappers all the time from everywhere and Evander would have to comply big-time with team discipline. Of course the price would be high. We'd need at least Olli Maata (d) and a high draft pick or two to consumnate the trade. Maybe even a developmental guy tossed in from Penguins farm system.

As far as Radio/TV guys are concerned the rankings are a matter of taste: No clear leader anymore since Bob Irving took a part-time emeritus spot at CJOB 1. Irving (by default) 2. Lawless (he's omnipresent on TSN1, The Reporters, Landsbergh, Hussler/Lawless, Free Press) 3. Andrew "Hussler" Patterson - quality has improved dramatically with his work ethic and mixing with the public 4. Sara Orlesky 5. The Illegal Swerve Guys on TSN - great info and passion but they parse things to the core 6. Kelly Moore - solid 7. Shane Hnidy - best pro hockey color man in years; won't be long til Sportsnet grabs him up 8. Mitch Rosset = the new king of global tv since Joe retired 9. Jonathan Mead - now curling's go-to guy for color in Manitoba and some canadian curling events 10. Jimbo Toth - cuz clowns are fun. Did I leave anyone out?

I think if we ranked the print guys in this town it would go something like this imho: 1. Garry Lawless - the gooner was initially tough to listen to and always seemed to be looking for confronations but he's obviously the top of the walk in the peg now. 2. Ed Tait - reliable non-opinionated guy who gets to the heart of the story. Not overly creative but just a quality print journalist. 3. Kirk Penton - aka Kerkules; he's the Ed Tait of the Winnipeg Sun. 4. Paul Friesen - nobody knows how to annoy sports executives or players more than this guy. Everyone wants him banished but he keeps on a writin' 5. Tim Campbell - versatile guy, who can work the curling, football and hockey beats. 6. Paul Wiecek - nice guy, works hard on his stories and is a bit more creative than most when he cobbles his copy together 7. Jim Bender - reliable member of the old guard 8. Kent Morgan - writes a weekly 'Toast & Coffee' column for the Free Press regional papers. Always some good stuff for old-timers 9. Scott Taylor - once the Gary Lawless of Wpg media he's a hard worker who writes a nifty amateur sports/memories column in the seniorscope publication. 10. Melissa Martin - best female sports journalist in Wpg and she's only part time

I drove by yesterday. Woody prolly should have been closed the day after it opened by the sound of reviews after its demise. Really dried out product and no attention to detail in the kitchen or at the tables. Obvioulsy, the folks who bought the franchise didn't have much interest in food service or serving the public. Just thought they could serve slop to folks who don't know any better and wanted to just get a sniff of the wood-fried element. Also, that location on Pembina and Grant is almost instant death for a restaurant/cafe. Nobody wants to go there during rush hours cuz of the traffic fuss plus getting out is a problem, too.

Personally, I could tolerate Kane if he somehow morphed into a consistent 2-way hockey player who averaged 25 to 28 goals a season and around 55 to 65 points. Also, cut his bad discipline/frustration penalties by half or more. And not take as many errant shots from non-scoring range that end up ringing off the boards and give opponents a head start into the Jets zone.

Jim Toth is what you call a "SUPER CLOWN" in the business. Kinda like Rosey (Mark Rosen) on Minneapolis media. Guy is all over the place with his opinions, can never keep a straight face during interviews (spends half the interview needling his prey). Ever since he came here from an Alberta tech college working at community cable access tv. But in a strange way he's a lot of fun cuz, well CLOWNS ARE FUN....and besides CJOB's old sports director Bob Irving likes the guy!

We won't get what we think we should for this mope but whatever we get might be better than keeping him in town, having a 17 goal scorer act like a 55 goal man and always the issues, always the issues!!! His poor productivity, propensity to take bad penalties and wayward shot are a liability to the Jets. Better for him to be traded to a market where he has a chance to be rehabilitated. There's little chance of that happening in Wpg. Now, if we could only package him off with other mopes like Pavelec and Enstrom? The biggest obstacle to Kane leaving is Chevy who has this strange fear of other GMs putting the proverbial boots to him.

I know one thing. If another player goes after Willy similar to what Gavins did the opposing QB may as well pack up his bag and leave town. O'Shea will fight fire with fire. Mopes like Burke and Plop feared retribution. I don't think O'Shea is in that category. You wanna meddle with my money-man - I make yours go POOF....

Kane is N.B.M. Natural Born Mope..... lots of great skills but he'll never be affiliated with the word winner! Chevy - get some value for this mope while you can!!!

He'll work Al but he's still under paid contract to the Jets. (this year only).....so his eagerness to take an assistant's job in the NHL or other job in the AHL or ECHL is tempered by his contractual situation. I'm sure the Jets wouldn't mind releasing Claude from his 'obligations' but so far no biters for his services as far as I can tell. Thats why I asked if others had specific knowledge.

Has anyone heard whether Claude has found work in the NHL? I suspect he'll never head coach again. First, he's nearly 60 and second his head coaching record is mediocre at best. Probably take this year off as he's still being paid under his old Jets contract. No point taking an assistant's job with another team and losing his Jet cheques. Perhaps he'll do a bit of media but TSN won't need too many more guys at the panel table cuz they don't have the games anymore. Don't think Noel is the kinda guy Sportsnet/Rogers would want. Perhaps TSN1290 could use him for spot segements but thats chicken feed - Jets already have top notch color guy in Shane Hnidy. Brian Munz is one of the weaker pbp men in recent history but he's a good house-boy for the team (his description of games lacks any descriptive or story-telling; its mostly a wad of stats meshed with a very basic description of the action) I do think Claude was planning a move out of Winnipeg. Does anybody know about this? I think he can still score some work as a guest coach for old buddies like Hitchcock or Trotz without affecting his Jet cheques.

I fear this game. Bombers are riding pretty high and think their stink don't smell. However, not having Greaves is a big loss. Watson is also still tub-thumping. Goose was getting himself manhandled a bit when filling for Greaves so I suspect Bombers will move Morley out to guard and let Goose snap. Doesn't bode well as Morley is mighty slow. Als are figuring out ways to win with a mediocre QB. But T. Smith is still dangerous with his legs and bombers etch-a-sketch d can be vulnerable. Blue have to do what they've done before. Stay fairly disciplined (under 10 penalties), stay tough on teams, run the ball hard (even if our o-line won't be creating many holes for our runners and don't let T Smith burn us with many big-gainers. If we do that we may be able to eek out a W. But all things being equal I suspect we'll rack up our first L - Als 27 BB 23

I think BC sinks to 6th, perhaps 7th after Benevides and Glenn soiled the bed!

Was that the one on Pembina and Grant?

They'd have to win the lottery. Even with Pavs in net and a bunch of juniors in the lineup, no real hardcore/grinder depth in the system I don't see the Jets falling to the 50-60 pt range. (like Buffalo). I can see things crashing down to as few as 72 to 75 pts but thats the absolute lowest this team will crash. Too much speed and half decent defense to be a pos team.

Hamilton has bigger problems than Austin right now. Collaros getting racked up and stadium behind schedule being the two primary ones. Austin should survive so long as he can cobble together a 9-9 record. I agree with prior posters that Benevides is immune unless the Lions go 0-4 and look more morose than they already do. 0-5 for sure. Wally will step in as Braley won't tolerate firing a head coach with 2 or 3 years of money left on his deal. Could see Wally pulling a double-switch. Relieving Benevides and also Khari Jones - bringing in Plop as OC with the promise of being head coach next season. Plop is far more competent than guys like Marshall, Burke, Berry, etc. Only problem is if Lulay's arm has really fallen off, Kevin Glenn got old overnite and the Lions don't have much in the bullpen then it really doesn't matter who's coaching or GM. They gonna lose a lot of games. If Plop is assured Lulay is ready to go, then its an easy decision for him to leave TSN to take the job. Right now, he's the best up 'n coming football broadcaster at TSN so he'd have to strike a cool deal with a CFL team to return to battle.