A Tuesday night taste of the world in which we live . . .
Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) tweeted: “There is word that Flyers’ Ivan Provorov did not participate in warmups tonight because he declined to wear the team-issued Pride Night jersey celebrating the LGTBQ+ community.”
John Tortorella, the Flyers’ coach, was asked why Provorov wasn’t scratched from the game. Tortorella replied: “With Provy, he’s being true to himself and his religion.”
Provorov, who played with the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings, is from Russia. After the game, he said he respects “everyone. I respect everybody’s choices. My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion.”
That religion, he said, is Russian Orthodox.
The Flyers didn’t allow any other non-hockey questions to be directed to Provorov.
Yes, the keyboard warriors of social media were out in full force on this one, and their reactions were all over the board if you want to check them out.
Moments earlier, Jason Jay Smart (@officejjsmart), a special correspondent for the Kiev Post, had tweeted:
“RUSSIAN DYSTOPIA
“16-year-old Nikita Uvarov of Russia was sentenced to 5 years in the penal colonies.
“Crime?
“In Minecraft, an online fictional computer game, he sought to blow up the FSB building.”
According to The Guardian, a human rights lawyer said a Siberian military court found the teenager guilty of “training for terrorist activities.”
The Guardian story is right here.
And you thought the pandemic was over . . .
The men’s basketball teams from Northwestern and Iowa were to have played 
tonight (Wednesday) in Iowa City. But . . . guess what? . . . Northwestern tweeted that the game won’t be played “due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols” within its program. . . . There were reports that Northwestern had only six players healthy enough to play. According to Big Ten rules, a school needs one coach and seven scholarship athletes in order to play.
TUESDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:
G Connor Ungar made 20 saves to help the host Moose Jaw Warriors to a 3-1 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . The Blades scored the game’s first two goals and sealed the victory with an empty-netter from F Brayden Yager (20). . . . F Egor Sidorov scored for the Blades. He has five goals over his past three games. This season, he has 23 goals and 19 assists in 28 games. Last season, he totalled 23 goals and 12 assists in 58 games. . . . The Warriors and Blades will meet again tonight in Saskatoon. . . . The Warriors (27-14-2) are fourth in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the Blades (27-9-3), who hold four games in hand. . . .
In Medicine Hat, the Tigers score three first-period goals en route to a 5-2 victory over the Prince George Cougars. . . . F Oasiz Wiesblatt had three assists for the Tigers. . . . F Chase Wheatcroft had one of the Cougars’ goals, his WHL-leading 18th PP goal of season. He now shares the franchise record for PP goals in a season with F Berkeley Buchko (2000-01). . . . The Tigers (16-21-6) pulled into a tie with the idle Brandon Wheat Kings (17-20-4) for ninth in the Eastern Conference, three points behind the Swift Current Broncos (20-17-1). . . . The Tigers are to visit Swift Current tonight. . . . The Cougars are 0-2-1 on a six-game Central Division trek that continues tonight in Calgary.
Headline at The Beaverton (@TheBeaverton) — Stabbed man who got hit by 3 cars then thrown off a bridge probably died from the vaccine.
THINKING OUT LOUD: Eight NHL games on Tuesday night. Four of them involving five Canadian teams. Not one game on national TV in Canada. Oh well, at least Sportsnet didn’t saddle us with another Boston Bruins game from NESN. . . . Closest I could come to watching an NHL game? Watching Jessica Pegula, whose parents own the Buffalo Sabres, win her match at the Aussie Open. . . . Pitchers and catchers who are to play in the World Baseball Classic in March will report to training camps on Feb. 14. The tournament’s first round opens on March 8; the championship game is scheduled for march 21 in Miami. . . . MLB teams will open camps on Feb. 15 and 16.
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.
TAKING NOTE 