NHL
Now that the Seattle franchise has been officially accepted into the league to become the 32nd team, the next big question that has to be answered is, when will they actually field a team. The team's billionaire owner, who paid a record $650 million (a whopping 30 per cent more then what Las Vegas had to kick in only two years ago) wants to begin play in 2020 but with his arena (KeyArena) undergoing major renovations (to the tune of $700 mil), 2021 may be more realistic.
Either way, look for the Totems? (If they go back to their roots.) They will more than likely join the Pacific Division which will allow the Arizona Coyotes to move into the Central Division. Fan support certainly won't be an issue as 34,000 people have pledged to buy season tickets. The problem is, the new arena only seats 17,000. Hmmm!
After months of neither side wanting to blink, the Maple Leafs have finally signed future star William Nylander to a long term contract - $41 mil over six years, top loaded. Both sides wasted a lot of time and effort, not to mention the endless boring high stakes drama that played out daily on TSN, to achieve an end that was predictable and certainly not worthy of all the hype that it generated. Both got what they wanted money-wise and length of deal and both saved face, so now they'll kiss and make up and make plans for that long awaited parade.
WHSHL
The VCI Golden Bears' hockey team (6-4) is currently tied for first place in the West Division with their next home game this Tuesday, Dec.11 against a very tough Hamiota Huskies squad. Their latest win was a 2-1 overtime win over the winless Vincent Massey Vikings (0-8). Oh how the mighty have fallen as the four-time defending champions have been literally decimated by defections with their best six players joining the new AA Midget team in a Winnipeg league.
FIBA
For the first time in a decade, Canada has qualified to play in the World Cup of Basketball when they beat Brazil in the Americas Qualifier earlier this week. The FIBA championships will be hosted by China this summer where the top seven teams from this tournament will automatically qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. That's a big deal!
NBA
How about the Toronto Raptors owning the best record in the NBA (19-5)? The "We The North" movement is going strong and with their new superstar Kawhi Leonard literally scoring at will, not to mention no King James in Cleveland, could this be the year they make it to the final?
NFL
The biggest story out of the NFL this week was an incident that occurred not on the field, but off it as one of the best players in the league, Kansas City Chiefs star RB Kareem Hunt, was kicked off the team. Reminiscent of the Ray Rice incident, he did the inexcusable, assaulting his girlfriend, pushing her to the floor and then kicking her - all of it caught on tape. As usual, the league tried to cover it up and slow play the whole affair. It was not until the TV show (TMZ) got hold of the tape and showed it nationally that the league took their head out of their a** and suspended Hunt. Will this type of behaviour ever end? Until next time....
