Weekly Takes - Monday, August 22 Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, August 22 Edition

1. My three stars from Canada’s convincing win over Finland on Monday…

1. Ridly Grieg

2. Tyson Foerster

3. Mason McTavish

2. My three stars from Canada’s quarterfinal win over Switzerland on Wednesday…

1. Logan Stankoven

2. Forester

3. Brennan Othmann

3. My three stars from Canada’s semifinal win over Czechia on Friday…

1. Stankoven

2. Kent Johnson

3. Connor Bedard

4. My three stars from Canada’s thrilling, historic Gold Medal-winning victory on Saturday…

1. McTavish

2. Johnson

3. Dylan Garand

This tournament was a total bummer up until this point. Small crowds, little media coverage, no nail-bitting Canadian games, and only one exciting game throughout the entire tournament in the Czechia-USA quarterfinal game.

But, everything came together for one of the more thrilling moments in Canadian Hockey history on Saturday. A great crowd, the feeling that the entire country was watching, and two plays (the McTavish save and Johnson Golden Goal) that will live on forever in tournament lore.

This was the World Juniors at its absolute best.

And we get to do it all over again in four months.

5. You cannot ask for more from your ownership and management team if you are a Calgary Flames fan.

It would have been very easy for the team to throw their hands up and rebuild. Instead, they remain title contenders for the next three seasons at least. Brad Treliving may have already wrapped up the GM of the Year award.

6. The NFL settling for the suspension that they did for DeShaun Watson is disgusting, albeit not surprising.

The league prefers him returning against his former team and the drama that will cause more than they do about holding bad people to account.

7. It will not matter if they do not address their offensive line, but Kenny Pickett needs to be the Steelers starting quarterback in week one.

He gives them the best chance to win football games. Period.