It’s my Parting Shot for some Monday Musings…..

I’m just going to put this out there as a new week starts, but the Winnipeg Jets lead the overall N-H-L standings by two points over the Rangers and Boston. Unlike many Montreal and Edmonton fans, that’s as far as I’ll go!

I will add that I don’t think the Jets are the best bet to end the 31-year drought of Canadian-based N-H-L teams winning the Stanley Cup. Neither are Vancouver or Toronto, in order, who are the next-best Canadian teams in the overall standings likely to win a championship. This pains me to say, but I think the 20th place team overall at this moment, the Oilers, are the best bet to win it all – so long as they add another capable defensive defenceman and a solid second goaltender!

While I wish the Canadian sports networks would make as much noise about U Sports football as it does for the N-C-A-A game, I will say that I have more interest than normal in who wins tonight’s national championship game. That’s because it’s different teams than the usual Alabama or Georgia or Clemson of the last several years. I can get behind either one of Michigan or Washington winning…the Big 10 against the PAC 10, if they even refer to those conferences that way anymore!

Lost in the sports news shuffle of a weekend that saw the N-F-L regular-season come to an end was word that the Elks signed veteran quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson for the 2024 C-F-L season. That should make Canadian Tre Ford a hot commodity around the league, while showing that Chris Jones suffers from having “blinders” on when it comes to the abilities of homebrew players!

And, while my Minnesota Vikings flamed out down the stretch and missed the playoffs, I will still watch, with great interest, the run to the Super Bowl. I would like to see a San Francisco-Buffalo title game, actually anyone involved except Dallas and Kansas City!

That’s my Parting Shot. I’m Les Lazaruk…and it turned out nice again!…..