Hockey is getting more Gritty, less gritty

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A key Ottawa player might be suspended for the Grey Cup

Jonathan Rose was hit with a one-game ban today by the CFL for shoving an official during the East final. The star defensive back immediately appealed the ruling and it's not 100 per cent certain the process will play out before Sunday's game. So there's still a chance he could play.

It's a harsh penalty, but also a pretty easy call for the CFL. The league said it's tough to keep a player out of the championship game but it wanted to "send a strong signal" that refs can't be disrespected or abused. This was a clear case of both. The trouble started for Rose when he whipped Hamilton receiver Bralon Addison to the ground well after he'd stepped out of bounds. Rose was flagged for the hit, a scrum ensued, and Rose pushed the official onto a pile of players. He was then tossed from the game.

Ottawa is going to miss Rose. He's one of the best at creating turnovers. Rose tied for the CFL lead this year in both interceptions (5) and forced fumbles (4). Without the all-star in their lineup, it just got harder for the Redblacks to contain a Calgary offence that topped the league in passing TDs.

The Broad Street Bullies are now… the Broad Street Nice, Respectful Young Men?

OK, that has zero ring to it, but get this: Twenty games into its season, Philadelphia is one of two NHL teams that has yet to receive a major penalty for fighting (Arizona is the other). Pretty different from those infamous Flyers teams who bare-knuckled their way to two consecutive Stanley Cups in the mid-'70s. The face of the Flyers used to be fierce enforcers like Dave "The Hammer" Schultz. Now it's this guy:

Philly's lack of scraps is another sign of a broader trend in hockey: fighting is disappearing. According to the website hockeyfights.com, 16.56 per cent of games this season have had at least one fight. Ten years ago, it was 41.38 per cent.

Don't forget, though: fans of other sports still think it's absolutely insane that two guys are allowed to punch each other in the face for a couple minutes while everybody watches and then the game just goes on like pretty much nothing happened.

The Oilers got Hitched

Apparently determined not to waste another season of the best player in hockey, Edmonton fired coach Todd McLellan today. The Oilers, who missed the playoffs last year even though Connor McDavid won his second scoring title in a row, have lost six of their last seven to fall to sixth in the Pacific Division. GM Peter Chiarelli ought to shoulder some blame too: he traded future MVP Taylor Hall to New Jersey and signed Milan Lucic (one goal in 20 games this season) for seven years and $42 million US.

To replace McLellan, Edmonton brought Ken Hitchcock out of retirement. The hockey lifer said he was done last April after a 22-year NHL head coaching career that included a 1999 Stanley Cup title in Dallas. He ranks third all-time in regular-season wins. At 66, he becomes the oldest coach in the league.

McLellan was the second NHL coach fired in a span of about 12 hours. Mike Yeo got the axe in St. Louis last night. The Blues didn't name a permanent replacement, but there's an obvious one out there. Joel Quenneville, who started with St. Louis and went on to become the second-winningest NHL coach ever, was fired by Chicago two weeks ago. Quenneville, though, seems to be living unemployed life to the fullest. He took a shot with some fellow Bears fans at the tailgate before Sunday night's game in Chicago:

Quickly...

That Chiefs-Rams game broke fantasy football. After L.A.'s wild 54-51 Monday night win, Yahoo was flooded with complaints about players' stats not being counted on its popular fantasy site (the problem was eventually fixed in the morning). It's almost like the scoring system couldn't keep up, and can you blame it? The third-highest scoring game in NFL history also put a dent in bookies' bankrolls. The strong majority of bettors took the "over" despite it being set way up at 64 — believed to be an all-time high. The Chiefs and Rams blew past it by 41.

Can we stop with the disgusting leg injuries? A day after Washington quarterback Alex Smith suffered a brutal, Theismann-esque compound leg fracture, it was the NHL's turn to turn our stomachs. The right leg of Florida's Vincent Trocheck bent under him at an awful angle as he went into the boards with an Ottawa player. Trocheck was taken off on a stretcher, but as of this afternoon there was still no word on exactly what, and how bad, his injury is.

Big Maple is off to the Bronx. James Paxton, the best active Canadian pitcher in baseball, was traded from Seattle to the New York Yankees for three prospects. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound lefty struck out 208 batters in a career-high 160 innings last year. He fanned 16 against Oakland on May 2 before pitching a no-hitter in Toronto six days later.

Major League Baseball's non-American hit king retired. Adrian Beltre leaves with 3,166 hits — more than any other player born outside the United States. The Dominican third baseman also slugged 477 home runs (30th all time) and won five Gold Gloves for his defensive ability. He'll also be remembered for a weird quirk — he hated anyone touching his head. Teammates and opponents would sometimes tease him over it, and Beltre wasn't always amused.

Cleveland is done with J.R. Smith. The maddening forward "will no longer be with the team as the organization works with JR and his representation regarding his future," the Cavaliers said today. Smith helped the Cavs win their first title in 2016, but he's also famous for big-time brain cramps like the time he seemed to forget the score near the end of Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals.

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