– Jeff Stoughton jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first end and cruised to an 8-3 victory over Mike McEwen in the final of the Safeway Championship Sunday. Stoughton claims his record 11th provincial men’s title while McEwen is left to ponder what might have been, again. McEwen has lost the provincial final in four of the last five years, including three times to Stoughton. CKLQ’s Bruce Luebke has more on this story here.
– Manitoba’s Chelsea Carey has a 2-and-1 record after the first two days of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Montreal. Carey rebounded from an opening game loss to defending champion Rachel Homan on Saturday to win both of her games Sunday, defeating Saskatchewan 5-4 and British Columbia 7-6. Homan is the lone undefeated team at 3-and-0, with Alberta’s Val Sweeting and Newfoundland & Labrador’s Heather Strong tied for second at 3-and-1. Carey is part of a three-way tie for fourth-place with New Brunswick and Saskatchewan at 2-and-1.
– The UCT Junior Super League concluded Sunday with Shayne MacGranachan claiming the title. MacGranachan defeated Bill Banyard’s team that was skipped by Nathan Malfait 6-2 in the final. After going 15-and-1 in the round-robin, MacGranachan cruised through the playoffs with a 6-2 win over Kylee Calvert in the quarter-finals and a 7-3 victory over Typer Grumpet in the semifinals.
– The Brandon Wheat Kings inched closer to clinching first-place in the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League with a 5-3 victory over the Central Plains Capitals Sunday. Brandon jumped out to a 5-0 first period lead with Coltyn Bates and Bradley Schoonbaert having a goal and an assist each. The Wheat Kings are three points ahead of the second-place Winnipeg Wild heading into the final week of the regular season.
– The Southwest Cougars let a 2-0, third period lead slip away in a 4-3 loss to the Interlake Lightning in MMHL action Sunday. Cole Oliver had a goal and two assists in a losing cause for Southwest, who remain in fifth-place with a 20-18-0-3 record. Interlake holds down eighth-place, two points ahead of Yellowhead for the final playoff spot.
– The Selkirk Steelers had their 20-game winning streak snapped on Saturday. On Sunday, they started a new one. Erik Pushka and Ty Kraus had two goals and an assist each as Selkirk downed the Winnipeg Blues 7-3 in one of two games in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. The other contest saw Portage blank the Winkler Flyers 2-0.
– Michael Frolik scored early in the third period to give the Winnipeg Jets a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday afternoon. Tobias Enstrom also scored for the Jets (27-25-5), while Al Montoya stopped 30 shots. The Jets have now won eight of 10 since Paul Maurice took over as head coach on January 12th.
– The blowout Super Bowl made a return as the Seattle Seahawks toppled the Denver Broncos 43-8. Russell Wilson tossed a pair of TD passes and the Seahawks capitalized on a host of Broncos mistakes in their stunningly easy upset. The Seahawks scored on a safety 12 seconds into the game, and Percy Harvin had an 87-yard kick return for a touchdown 12 second into the second half. Seahawks linebacker Malcolm Smith was named Super Bowl MVP. He returned an interception for a touchdown in the first half and finished the game with ten tackles.
– Seattle Seahawks’ punter Jon Ryan can send a thank-you to Brandon Wheat Kings’ general manager Kelly McCrimmon for getting his football career started. In the fall of 1999, Ryan was a 17-year-old goaltending prospect and was released during training camp by the Brandon Wheat Kings. He could have spent the season in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, but opted instead to become an ex-goaltender and intensify his concentration on football. That seemed to work out pretty well for the Regina product.
– The Seattle Seahawks had a blowout victory, but there was no big winner in the Super Bowl ad contest. Many advertisers went for a more serious, toned-down feel than in previous years. The ads seemed to be upstaged by Joe Namath, at least on social media. When the football hero appeared on the field for the coin toss wearing a massive fur coat, Twitter and other sites buzzed with jokes. There’s a number of websites dedicated to the ads including www.superbowl-commercials.org.
