Another voice is gone as the Baltimore Evening Sun has its last run . . .
Here’s hoping that you were able to watch at least some of the soccer game between the men’s national teams from the United States and Canada that was played at Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Field on Sunday afternoon.
Because that Canadian soccer team is doing far more for our country than the hooligans who took over parts of our nation’s capital on the weekend as they protested about lost freedoms or whatever it is that has them upset today.
As for lost freedoms, well, let’s see . . . they have left big rigs idling overnight on residential streets . . . they have defaced a statue of Terry Fox, a true national hero who believed in science . . . they have danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier . . . they have urinated on the National War Memorial . . . they have defecated on Ottawa sidewalks . . . they have threatened and intimidated folks, many of them volunteers, who operate a service that feeds the homeless . . . and, oh yes, there were the Confederate and Nazi flags, too. . . .
The hooligans have, in other words, acted like the boors they are.
Meanwhile, in Hamilton, our men’s soccer team continued what has become 
perhaps the biggest story in the world of international soccer with a 2-0 victory over the U.S.
The objective, of course, is to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, a tournament Canada hasn’t been in since 1986. The 2022 affair is scheduled for Qatar, from Nov. 21 through Dec. 17. After Sunday, Canada remains atop the CONCACAF qualifying standings with six wins and four draws in 10 games. It now is four points clear of the Mexico and the U.S.
Canada is to play El Salvador (2-3-5) on Wednesday, then will be off until March 24 when it is to play in Costa Rica. Then it’s back home for a March 27 date with Jamaica. The schedule concludes on March 30 in Panama.
Canada is all but certain to earn a sport in Qatar, where it will have an opportunity to make some noise and, oh, is that going to be a lot of fun.
Before then, though, you are going to want to learn about Cyle Larin, who scored Canada’s first goal yesterday. A 26-year-old from Brampton, Ont., he now has 23 goals for Canada, more than any other player in the program’s history.
You also will want to learn about Milan Borjan, 34, the starry keeper who was 
born in Croatia. His family emigrated to Winnipeg in 2002 before settling in Hamilton. You can bet Sunday’s victory meant a whole lot to him, especially a remarkable hand save off a header from a corner in the 43rd minute.
Let’s not forget, too, that Canada was without perhaps its top two players, with the blazing fast Alphonso Davies out with myocarditis after a bout with COVID-19 and mid-fielder Stephen Eustaquio having apparently tested positive in Portugal.
This Canadian team is a whole lot of fun to watch and has been spreading an immense amount of joy, something that is going to continue almost certainly until Christmas.
By then the hooligans hopefully will have returned to their homes, wherever that may be, as they continue to search for their freedom or whatever it is that they lost.
There isn’t a journalist in Canada today who is doing better and more important work than Rick Westhead of TSN. Last week, TSN aired a story involving Tess and Ian White, a former WHLer/NHLer who lost himself and his family in a world of drug abuse. It’s a painful watch, but it’s more than worth it just to watch Tess’s courage under this kind of pressure. Ian spent four seasons (2000-04) with the Swift Current Broncos.
Gord Broda, the president and governor of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders, and his wife, Barb, had the winning bid of US$1 million for a special kind of automobile at the Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Friday. The object of their affection was a custom-built 1968 Ford Shelby Mustang 427. The Mustang was part of the Pegasus Project with all proceeds from its sales going to the air ambulance organization STARS — Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service. . . . “I do have a passion for cars and it made it pretty easy,” Broda told Jason Kerr of the Prince Albert Daily Herald. “We certainly wanted to make a contribution to STARS and this was a really fun and exciting way to do it to be part of the auction and buy the car and make a donation.” . . . As Kerr explained, “the Pegasus Project began in 2019 to raise money to renew the STARS’ helicopter fleet, in response to the Humboldt Broncos’ bus crash in April 2018.” . . . Kerr’s story is right here.
JUNIOR JOTTINGS: The Kamloops Blazers are 7-2-0 in their past nine games, and have won each of their six outings. F Logan Stankoven, who had been with Canada’s national junior team, has 10 goals and 14 assists in those nine games. This weekend, which was a three-in-three assignment, he totalled five goals and six assists. . . . F Luke Toporowski, who has been playing alongside Stankoven since being acquired from the Spokane Chiefs earlier this month, has 12 points in his six games with Kamloops. He has nine goals over that stretch and, yes, he has scored at least once in each game. . . . Interestingly, Stankoven, a natural centre, moved to right wing, with Caedan Bankier slotting in at centre. He is coming off back-to-back two-point outings. . . .
Dan Courneyea, who heads up the Blazers’ off-ice officials, will miss a handful of games. He’s in Beijing for one more stint as part of the crew that will be working hockey games at the Olympic Winter Games that open on Friday. He also was in Vancouver in 2010 and PyeongChang in 2018. . . . If you’re wondering, Beijing is 16 hours ahead of Vancouver, meaning noon on Monday in Vancouver is Tuesday, 4 a.m., in Beijing. . . .
Jeremy Colliton, who played in the WHL with the Prince Albert Raiders (2001-05), has taken over as head coach of the Canadian men’s Olympic hockey team. He replaces Claude Julien, who fell and suffered fractured ribs during a team-building session in Switzerland.
Samuel Dodge of mlive.com reported on Sunday: “The University of Michigan ice hockey program is under investigation by the university for, among other allegations, attempting to hide COVID-19 cases before last year’s NCAA Tournament, according to documents obtained by MLive/The Ann Arbor News.”
From College Hockey News: “Michigan coach Mel Pearson is accused of instructing players to lie on their COVID-19 tracing forms during last year’s NCAA Tournament, among other allegations currently being investigated by the university.
“Documents obtained by The Ann Arbor News describe a set of allegations being investigated by outside law firm WilmerHale. That’s the same firm that investigated former Michigan athletic doctor Robert Anderson for decades-long sexual abuse. Anderson was an employee from 1966-2003 and passed away in 2008. Last week, Michigan settled a lawsuit with Anderson abuse survivors for $490 million.”
The CHN report is 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
——
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
——
Or, for more information, visit right here.
TAKING NOTE 