Weekly Takes - Monday, August 15 Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, August 15 Edition

1. My three stars from Canada’s win over Latvia to begin their World Junior tournament…

1. Connor Bedard

2. Ridly Greig

3. William Dufour

Canada will need a better showing from their second line moving forward, but the Bedard-Mason McTavish duo was dominant and Canada’s bottom six looks as though they will completely overpower teams.

2. My three stars from Canada’s blowout win over Slovakia on Thursday…

1. McTavish

2. Bedard

3. Joshua Roy

3. My three stars from Canada’s convincing win over Czechia on Saturday…

1. Kent Johnson

2. Tyson Forester

3. Greig

4. It is disappointing seeing the lack of crowds at all of these World Junior games, but maybe this is what is needed for things to change.

It was to be expected, largely, given it is the summer, everyone is upset at Hockey Canada, and the prices are way too expensive, but the latter two things were avoidable.

Ticket prices to a Czechia-Latvia game cannot be over $50, even at Christmas, while the leadership of Hockey Canada should all have resigned well prior to this tournament.

Some of the commitments they have made as an organization moving forward are swell, but Scott Smith and his leadership team need to go. Maybe Smith has learned from all of his wrongs, but being in the position he is in should be considered a privilege, and that privilege should be taken away from him given what he allowed to happen.

The fact that he is still in charge of things as this tournament unfolds is mind-blowing. For Hockey Canada to get their sponsors back, the faith of Canadians back, etc, he and his leadership team need to go. Full stop. Otherwise, we will see a repeat of things at Christmas. And what a shame that would be for the players, who, for many, are playing at the highest level they will ever play at in their careers.

It is not fair to them that Canadians are uncomfortable cheering for the national team because they do not want to see the leadership of Hockey Canada profit off of this.

5. The Blue Jays season has been disappointing in more ways than one, yet with over a month to go in the season, they sit in the first Wild Card spot, meaning if they remain in that position for the rest of the season, they host all three games in the first round while trotting out Kevin Gausman and Alek Manoah in the first two games of a best-of-three.

It is time for this core to stop feeling bad for themselves. They are in a situation that many teams would currently love to be in. They have to go out and start showing it.

6. The reaction to the FBI raiding the home of Donald Trump, on both the left and right, has been stunning, albeit not surprising.

The left, suddenly, is pro-FBI, one of the more corrupt agencies in the world. And the right continues their cult-like following of Trump, who in their eyes, can do no wrong, despite being the most corrupt president in U.S history.

The reality is, the FBI has ample reasons to prosecute Trump, but they have only done so because it is Trump. If the FBI actually cared about upholding the law of the land – which they do not – Trump would not be the only major politician facing the threat of prosecution.