Two notable events occurred yesterday for those who are Canadian fans and those who are Canadien fans.
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For those Canadian fans
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This year marks the first running of the ‘World Baseball Classic’ – a 2 week tournament that involves 16 nations playing American Baseball. On U.S. soil of course. The event was created by Americans in the hopes that they can show their dominance over the world in the field of baseball – their national pasttime.Canada has been able to field a team that consists mostly of major league talent so the expectation is that they won’t get blown out of the water. Unfortunately they are in a pool that consists of a couple of other power houses: The US and Mexico. Both teams are loaded to the 9’s with major league talent. Better still, Allstar major league talent. Canada has only one allstar on the team: Jason Bay.
Which leads us to the major upset that occurred last night. The Canadian team laid a pasting to the US squad. The baseball world is upside down and the Americans are speechless. The final score was 8-6 but was not really ever in question. By the 5th inning, Canada was up 8-0.  A Jason Varitek grandslam in the bottom of the 5th gave the US some hope but as far as I could see, the result was never really in question. The Canadian pitching was simply dominant going into the last innings. Even the pitcher who gave up the slam (Paul Cyr) was able to buckle down and strike out 3 of the next 4 batters.
So, a big boost for Canada, they are the only team in the pool sitting at 2-0 after narrowly beating South Africa (that was 11-8 and Canada was going into the 9th down 8-7) and this win over the US. Mexico is sitting 1-1 and the US is 1-1. But the boost may not be as important as it seems. If Canada loses to Mexico tonight, then both Mexico and Canada will be 2-1 and likely the US to join them once they trounce South Africa tomorrow. Then it comes down to some whacky mathematics to break the tie where, since it’s a 3-way tie, they can’t apply the ‘whoever won head-to-head’ rule. The rule applied will be runs against per game against the tied teams. Since we already know the US gave up 0 against Mexico and 8 against Canada, they are sitting at 4.00. Mexico is sitting at 2.00. Canada is sitting at 6.00. Therefore, Canada, if they are to lose, can only lose in a game where they give up at most 2 to Mexico. A loss of 2-0 or 2-1 ensures a total of 4.00 which would tie the US. Since Canada beat the US, they would grab the #2 spot in the pool. I’m not saying Canada is going to lose, but it would be tough to pull two big upsets in 2 days. Maybe it would be more plausible if Rich Harden and Eric Gagne would have joined the team.
Just to put things into perspective:Â yes it was a big win for Canada, but some things do need to be pointed out in the US defence:Â
- this time of year is spring training. With a 6 month offseason, the pitchers are the 1st to take the hit. A big reason why the US lost is because Dontrelle Willis was rusty.  The pitcher has the biggest influence on the game – a team can win or lose based solely on the performance of the pitcher.  So, no matter how good the US squad is, they are bound by the quality of the pitching.
- It was one game.  The quality of a team can not be determined in one baseball game. Even the Kansas City Royals can beat the New York Yankees on any given night. That’s why the World Series is 7 games. The format of this tournament does not necessarily reward the best team. It rewards the team that is hot at the right time.  Canada is HOT. Canada can therefore win this tournament without even having the best team on the field.
The tournament is pretty exciting to watch though and I am glad it is happening. There’s no better time to put this event on either so take the good with the bad.
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For those Canadien fans
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Today is the trade deadline for NHL teams. Typically, it’s moving day for those teams looking to make a charge for the playoffs and those teams who have given up and are looking to dump salaries and veterans that are no longer part of their big picture. So, it’s no big surprise that the Montreal Canadiens are making moves. They are on the bubble for making the playoffs. In addition, with some fortune, they could jump up into maybe 4 or 5 in the standings by end of season. The big news is that they traded the one-time MVP Jose Theodore to Colorado for goaltender David Aebischer. If this sounds familiar, it is. About 10 years ago, Montreal did the same move and traded Patrick Roy to Colorado for a backup goalie. That saga ended with Roy winning more Cups in Colorado and Montreal taking a big dive to the basement where they have yet to move out from.
This time, the deal is not a big surprise and has value for both teams. Montreal dumps a huge contract on an injured goalie who hasn’t showed life for a few seasons now. Yet, Colorado picks up a goalie who is proven and with the right environment can regain his status as an elite. On the other end of the deal, Aebischer is a solid goalie but cannot carry a team into the playoffs. Colorado needs to take that chance on Theodore if they want to have a go at the cup. Now that Montreal has placed their chips on Christobal Huet as their go-to goalie, Theodore was expendable. Yet, this is still a risky play too. Huet is not proven. Granted he has talent, he’s a tough horse to hitch your future on. Aebischer provides a solid co-starter that will share the burden of netminding. I don’t see this being a Huet starter and Aebischer backup. That would be a waste of talent there. Montreal has successfully used tandem goalkeeping through the 70’s and early 80’s to win several cups. With Gainey masterminding the team, it’s clear to me that he remembers the success and sees this as the right move to make here.
The exciting thing is that I don’t think Montreal is done with the big moves yet. The extra room under the cap after moving Theodore allows them to go get a big name offensive player to bolster their moderate scoring power. There’s a lot of good players available at trade deadline like Keith Tkatchuk and Todd ‘neck-breaker’ Bertuzzi that could fit well in a Habs jersey. Whatever move is made, I have to have confidence that Gainey is thinking longer term and not just willing to pick up a washed up veteran to see what can be done this season only.