Darcy Haugan was the head coach of the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos when he was killed in the accident involving their bus. Before coaching the Broncos, he was with the junior B North Peace Navigators. . . . On Oct. 10, the people of Peace River will gather at the Baytex Centre for the unveiling of the Darcy Haugan Memorial Statue. . . . It all starts at 2 p.m. . . . Albert Cooper, the Navigators’ president, told Gordon Anderson of Peace River Record Gazette that Darcy “was a man who was motivated be three things: his faith, his family and his friends. Included in those friends were all the kids that he coached. He wasn’t an extraordinary man, he was an ordinary man who did exceptional things and that’s what we want to honour. He touched the lives of so many kids in a very positive way, and not just in terms of hockey, but in life and how to live life. We think that’s worth honouring.” . . . Anderson complete story is right here.
You should know that there’s another Manning in football’s pipeline. Arch Manning threw five TD passes and ran for another in his sophomore season debut with Isidore Newman, a New Orleans high school, on Thursday. He would have had six TD passes but for a couple of end zone drops. Arch is Cooper Manning’s son, so is a nephew to Peyton and Eli, and Archie’s grandson. In his playing days, Cooper was an outstanding wide receiver at Newman but had his career ended by a spinal condition. . . . There’s more on this story right here.
By now, you likely have seen footage of whatever that was the Tampa Bay Lightning were doing to celebrate upon their return to Florida the other day. Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun saw it, too, and, as he points out right here, that party was “a perfect example of how not to mark the moment during a pandemic.”
Headline at TheOnion.com: Coronavirus Assumed White House Would Be Bigger in Person
Would you pay $25 to watch a junior A exhibition hockey game? The AJHL’s Olds Grizzlys will be at home on Oct. 10. Attendance will be limited to 100 spectators, each of whom will be charged $25. Parents and billets get first crack at tickets, then sponsors, and then the general public. . . . Doors will open 15 minutes before game time. No concession stands will be open. Facemasks must be worn at all times and social distancing will be enforced. . . . Welcome to the new normal.
The QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders, who are scheduled to play their first home game on Oct, 23, averaged 2,700 fans per game last season. They have the OK to allow fans in games this season, but don’t yet know how many the social-distancing configuration will allow. Team president Craig Foster told CBC that “the number’s going to less than half of” last season’s average. Foster also said that the financial cost is going to be large. . . . Kevin Yarr of CBC has more right here.
COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .
Positive tests on both teams meant the NFL had to postpone Sunday’s game that was to have featured the host Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots. QB Cam Newton of the Patriots is reported to have tested positive, as did QB Jordan Ta’amu of the Chiefs. Ta’amu spent the week’s practices playing Newton against the Chiefs’ defence. . . . The game has been rescheduled for tonight (Monday). . . .
The Tennessee Titans had two more positives tests on Saturday and two more on Sunday, meaning they have had 10 players and 10 staff members come up positive. Their scheduled Sunday game with the Pittsburgh Steelers was postponed and now there are reports that their Week 5 game against the visiting Buffalo Bills may need to be moved, too. . . .
The Greater Toronto Hockey League announced Saturday “that all sanctioned activities within its jurisdiction are postponed until at least Jan. 2, 2021, pending further advice from health authorities.” . . . The GTHL is the largest minor hockey league in the world, with more than 40,000 players in Makham, Mississauga, Toronto and Vaughan. . . .
The German DEL announced on Friday that it has postponed the start of its 2020-21 season. It had hoped to open the regular season on Nov. 13, but now is aiming for the second week in December. . . . At the moment, teams would be allowed to operate with attendance at 20 per cent of capacity, and the league says that’s not financially viable. . . .
Jay Johnstone, a former major league outfielder who won two World Series titles, died on Sept. 26 in Los Angeles. He was 74. Johnstone, who won titles with the New York Yankees (1978) and Los Angeles Dodgers (1981), died of complications from COVID-19. . . . Having lived with dementia for the past few years, he had been in a nursing home. . . . For more on one of MLB’s great pranksters, click right here.
If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:
Living Kidney Donor Program
St. Paul’s Hospital
6A Providence Building
1081 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-9027
Toll free: 1-877-922-9822
Fax: 604-806-9873
Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca
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Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney
Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre
Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street
Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9
604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182
kidneydonornurse@vch.ca
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Or, for more information, visit right here.
Let us take a moment and wish Steve Nash well as he prepares for his first NBA head-coaching gig with the Brooklyn Nets. If you missed it, here is Kyrie Irving of the Nets during an appearance on teammate Kevin Durant’s podcast: “I don’t really see us having a head coach. KD could be a head coach, I could be a head coach. . . . Steve is great, and I have a relationship with him that’s going to build over time, (but) Steve don’t know me from anything he heard. . . . We don’t need someone to come in with their coaching philosophy and change everything we’re doing.”
Scott Ostler, in the San Francisco Chronicle: “One word of advice for Steve Nash: Rent. Three-word evaluation of the situation: Tick. Tick. Tick.”
JUST NOTES: If you aren’t aware, Kelly Olynyk, the pride of Kamloops, has become a factor in the NBA final. In Games 2 and 3, he totalled 41 points and 16 rebounds in 68 minutes 20 seconds of playing time. His Miami Heat trail the Los Angeles Lakers, 2-1, in the best-of-seven series with Game 4 on Tuesday. . . . ESPN has two baseball analysts — Jessica Mendosa and Rick Sutcliffe — who talk and talk and talk and talk as they repeatedly tell the viewer what he/she just saw and constantly restate the obvious. So, yes, why not put both of them on the same playoff crew covering the first-round series between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres? . . . What does it say about where the U.S. is as a nation when the President tweets that he and his wife have tested positive for COVID-19 and people don’t know whether to believe him or any of his spokespeople?
TAKING NOTE 