but after defeating the Bruins in game 7 last night, some Montrealers are certainly suggesting that the parade “will take place along the usual route.”

chimes in on the Bertuzzi cheap shot: “the NHL has managed, over time, to take the world’s fastest, most exciting skill game and turn itself into a minor league ignored by all but the most avid fans, lumped in with wrestling in the popular imagination.”

the Vancouver Canucks center has been suspended for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs, and the league reserves the right to revisit the punishment at a later date. The Canucks were also fined a quarter mil of real money (i.e., not Canadian pesos).

I still don’t believe, however, that the NHL realizes how big a deal this whole thing is though. Hockey is being ruined by the fact that hockey men are running the show. No matter what soothing words were uttered today, hockey people will line up to insist that this was an “isolated event” that “doesn’t reflect on the game itself.” I call bullshit, frankly.

Hockey is becoming a joke – always has been in 50% of NHL markets – and the fundamental problems can’t be addressed on an ad-hoc basis. I would ban fighting altogether and have an eye-in-the-sky (with video backup) to give immediate one-game bans for any – even incidental – contact to the face with a stick or any fist-to-player contact outside the bounds of a hockey play in progress. Re-offenders would have their penalty progressively increased. Given current NHL practice this would seem very draconian at first, but after a month or so the game would be quicker and way more fun for fans, both experts and casual.

the Economist has published an article on the impact of the sport’s economics on the game internationally.

They oversimplify the situation, however, in suggesting that the “Big 8” (the old 5 Nations and the 3 southern hemisphere powerhouses) are all in the same boat. In fact, the top 5 nations have run away from Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (although Wales was uncharacteristically strong this year), while Argentina has unquestionably caught up with those Celtic nations. And for Japan to be included as a so-called “middle-tier” team above Samoa, Canada, and Italy is a bit strange.

In the case of Argentina, their improvement seems to be the exception that proves the rule. Italy’s rise is clearly associated with their inclusion in the 6 Nations, while conversely Canada’s (and others’) relative backsliding can be attributed to a lack of equivalent competition on a regular, meaningful basis.

The simplest solution would just be to re-work the Six Nations and have a playoff among four or five of the stronger teams to decide who will take Italy’s “new” slot in the tournament each year. In any case, Rugby is a great sport for the sheer joy of the game, but it’s also interesting in terms of its economic and geopolitics!

This morning (EST anyhow), Australia shocked New Zealand in the semi-finals. Australia go through to the finals next weekend against either France or England; the heavily-favoured All Blacks go home, losers again. Does NZ ever have trouble winning big games in the RWC.