The Vancouver Canucks have gone from Roberto Luongo and Corey Schneider as their goaltending tandem to Eddie Lack and Jacob Markstrom, and you may want to think about how that happened. . . . You also may want to ponder what sank quicker, the Canucks or the Titanic. . . . Is it just me, or have the Sedin twins all but lost their games in less than a year? Did they grow old in hockey years before we knew it? Does head coach John Tortorella’s shot-blocking, grinding style disagree with them that much? . . . BTW, the Canucks owe each of the Sedin boys four more seasons at $7 million per. . . .

“Kazakhstan finished last in the medal count with one bronze at Sochi,” writes Richmond blogger TC Chong. “Richard Petty said they would have won it all if no one else showed up.” . . . Shades of O.J.: In South Africa, a 24-hour TV channel dedicated to Oscar Pistorius’ murder trial went on the air last Sunday. . . . Mike Lupica, in the New York Daily News: “My feeling on LeBron’s mask: Hey, aren’t Marvel superheroes supposed to LOOK like Marvel superheroes?” . . .

Steve Simmons, in the Toronto Sun: “Word around the Olympics was that Rogers is targeting CBC star George Stroumboulopoulos to host its NHL broadcasts next season after it couldn’t secure James Duthie. And it’s all but been confirmed that Paul Romanuk will be Rogers’ second play-by-play man, after Jim Hughson in the No. 1 chair.” . . . Romanuk, a former TSN hockey play-by-play voice, has been in London, England, for the past few years. . . . I haven’t got my hands on a copy yet, but you can bet that I’ll read His Ownself: A Semi-Memoir, from the legendary Dan Jenkins. The book hit the shelves on Tuesday. . . .

“Don't really understand the mass appeal of outdoor hockey games,” tweeted Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as the Penguins and Blackhawks played in a Chicago snowstorm last weekend, “but assume it has nothing to do with the exceptional quality of play.” . . . Mark Whicker of the Orange County Register chimed in with: “Good job, Bettman. Let's don't have Olympic hockey. Let's have fiasco hockey in a snowstorm instead.” . . . I really need someone to explain to me just how it is that Toronto’s mayor is still in office. . . . And while they’re at it, they can explain to me how Russia rattles sabres in Ukraine and the price of gas in Kamloops jumps from $1.20.9 to $1.33.9. . . .

Here’s Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post, writing about Tiger Woods before the final round of last week’s Honda Classic: “Now, however, the familiar refrain for Woods is one of a player grasping at straws, one of a player who is reluctant to accept his new reality. Woods, in bad times and in good, now sounds a lot more like the masses of weekend amateurs who are in constant search of their elusive game, never knowing what’s coming with the next swing.” . . . Former San Francisco outfielder Barry Bonds is working with the Giants as a hitting coach during spring training. “Let’s just hope all of that attention and power doesn’t give Barry a big head,” offered comedy writer Alex Kaseberg. . . .

During the recent NFL Combine, Auburn defensive end Dee Ford, speaking on Sirius XM radio, took a shot at South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. “People are just looking at the fact that he is a physical specimen,” Ford said. “Honestly, if you watch the film, he plays like a blind dog in a meat market, basically.” . . . How did Clowney react to that? “I just feel like he’s trying to build his stock up or something,” Clowney told the NFL Network. “It doesn’t bother me, but I told him, ‘I’m still better than you.’ ” . . . Hey, Capital One, it’s time to retire that commercial with Martin Short in it. Please! . . .

So . . . Larry Brooks of the New York Post wrote about 10 days ago that the Rangers had attempted to get forward Martin St. Louis from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for their captain, Ryan Callahan. . . . That prompted this response from Phil Esposito, a Lightning broadcaster, who was appearing on The Next Sports Star: "Some (bleep) in New York that writes for the New York Post, and we all know who he is, decided, 'Let me put something out there so maybe we can start some controversy.' It's a bunch of (bleep). It's been going on for as long as I've been in the game of hockey . . . Don't give me this (crap) you're going to trade Marty St. Louis, who has a no-movement clause, he doesn't want to leave, for Callahan, who's a kid, I like him, he's a heart-and-souler, but he couldn't score more than 25 or 30 goals in his (bleeping) lifetime, and he doesn't play all the time because he gets hurt, because he plays like he's 6-foot-5." . . . Of course, Brooks fired back: “If Phil Esposito feels obligated to talk about me on the radio, perhaps he would like to tell the story about the time he spent an elevator ride in the Garden kicking me in the back of the legs because he was upset with something I had written the previous day. At least that would be accurate.” . . . And then, come Wednesday’s NHL trade deadline, guess what happened? Yes, St. Louis ended up with the Rangers, with Callahan going the other way. . . . Atta boy, Espo! . . .

“Men’s curling in Saskatchewan is at an all-time low. Again,” writes Cam Hutchinson of the Saskatoon Express. “Pat Simmons, our best curler, plays in Alberta. And two Albertans have twice come to our province to cherry pick a pass to the Brier. It worked once. A handful of provinces are sending pros and we are sending the equivalent of good club teams. We’ve won seven Briers in 75 years. Not good enough. Maybe the Richardsons will consider a comeback.” . . . The Los Angeles Dodgers will have Larry King (yes, that Larry King) playing host to a show on their 24/7 TV network. The show will be called Larry King At Bat. “Presumably,” notes Janice Hough (aka the Left Coast Sports Babe), “Larry hopes to get as a regular guest that nice young man Vin Scully.” . . .

When the Canucks dealt goaltender Roberto Luongo to Florida on Wednesday, it looked for a while as though Luongo and protagonist Tim Thomas would be the Panthers’ goaltenders. Asked how the two of them would get along, Luongo responded: “I always get along with my backups.” . . . Thomas was later dealt to the Dallas Stars. . . . “Just woke up in a cold sweat from the ultimate Sochi nightmare,” writes Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times. “As in, tennis scream queen Maria Sharapova decided to take up curling.”

(Gregg Drinnan is a former sports editor of the Regina Leader-Post and the late Kamloops Daily News. He is at gdrinnan.blogspot.ca and twitter.com/gdrinnan. Keeping Score appears here on weekends, except when it doesn’t.)

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A look at the uniforms the U of New Brunswick Varsity Reds will
wear in a two-game series with a Russian team later this month.

The University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds are going to play a touring Russian side on Dec. 30 in Saint John and Dec. 31 in Fredericton.
And get a load of the uniforms the Varsity Reds will be wearing. They are commemorative 1972 Team Canada sweaters.
From a UNB news release:
“While wearing the maple leaf on their chests, the V-Reds also will wear the numbers of players from the 1972 Summit Series Canadian team on their backs, along with the name of the player they're representing.
“V-Reds Captain Chris Culligan, who normally sports No. 57 in his UNB uniform, will wear Phil Esposito's No. 7 for the two games against Team Russia, with Esposito's name on the bottom of the jersey.”
You should know, too, that Esposito is scheduled to attend both games and to be involved in ceremonial faceoffs.
"We wanted to not only honour the team from 1972, but also to honour the players who were a part of that team," said UNB head coach Gardiner MacDougall. "Having a V-Reds player wearing the number of a player from the '72 team along with that player's name will be a pretty neat part of the whole moment."
The Russians are expected to ice a team comprising mostly junior-aged players in the eighth annual Peterbilt New Brunswick Pete Kelly Challenge.
Before playing UNB, the Russians will meed two NCAA teams — the Providence College Friars and the RPI  Red Hawks.
This will be the first time in UNB’s history that the Varsity Reds will have played a Russian side.
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Forward Charles Inglis, who was released by the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers on Dec. 12, has signed to play for the AJHL’s Whitecourt Wolverines, who made the announcement Thursday.
Inglis, 20, had five assists in 11 games with the Blazers, who had acquired him from the Red Deer Rebels for a conditional draft pick. The Blazers released him following a 5-2 loss to the Oil Kings in Edmonton. The Blazers were his fourth WHL team, as he also played for the Saskatoon Blades and Prince George Cougars.
The Wolverines (19-11-8) are tied for fourth in the AJHL’s North Division, but are only eight points out of first place. Whitecourt resumes play Jan. 4 when it is at home to the Drayton Valley Thunder.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
From Tri-City Americans D Mitch Topping (@mitchtopping): “So I paid the Rick Tabbaracci and hopped in the Thomas Kaberle back to my Phil Housley!”

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Alex Leavitt (Swift Current, Everett, 2003-05) was released by Medvescak Zagreb (Croatia, Austria Erste Bank Liga). He had one goal and four assists in 13 games with Zagreb this season.
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I was remiss here yesterday in not congratulating old friend Roy MacGregor of The Globe and Mail for his having been honoured with the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award for excellence in hockey journalism. MacGregor was part of the Hockey Hall of Fame festivities on Monday.
The Last Season, a work of hockey fiction starring Felix Batterinski that was published in 1995, is being re-released. If you haven’t read it, you should.
As well, John Allemang of The Globe and Mail has a terrific profile of MacGregor right here.
And if you’re looking for a good piece of MacGregor writing, check out this one right here. It appeared late last month after he spent some time with fans of the AHL’s Hershey Bears. It’s a classic.
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Shawn Mullin, the radio voice of the Swift Current Broncos, has interviewed me about Sudden Death: The Incredible Sage of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos. . . . He also has read the book. . . . His opinion of it is right here, as is the interview.
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No less an authority than Earl Seitz, the veteran sportscaster at CFJC-TV, has given his stamp of approval to Sudden Death: The Incredible Saga of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos. . . . CFJC reporter Chad Klassen filed this report right here. . . . Yes, that is Tri-City Americans scout Terry Bangen in the background in one shot. Yes, he purchased a book. He also told me that on the evening of Dec. 30, 1986, he and play-by-play man Kelly Moore were five minutes from airtime with a Kamloops Blazers game when they were told of the bus crash. It really was one of those "where were you?" moments.
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If you’re interested in hearing some great sports radio, go on over to CKNW’s site and find the podcast of Dan Russell chatting with Phil Esposito. The conversation lasted more than an hour and was terrific.
Go right here and click on hours 1 and 2. You won't be sorry.
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The Saskatoon Blades are heading out on a five-game swing into the B.C. Division without three injured players. F Jessey Astles underwent surgery on a wrist after suffering a skate cut, while F Brett Stovin and D Dalton Thrower have undisclosed ailments. . . . The Blades have added D Nelson Nogier, 16, to their roster for the junket. . . . The Blades being their tour of B.C. in Prince George on Friday. . . . A tip of the cap to the ol' redhead, Les Lazaruk, for the injury info.
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The Swift Current Broncos’ next three games will be in the Central Division, starting Saturday night in Red Deer. The Broncos likely will be without F Brent Benson, 19, who has missed two games with an undisclosed injury and is listed as week-to-week.
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The Regina Pats are going to have to make a 20-year-old decision. They now have four of them, after adding D Alex Theriau, who was dropped last week by the Medicine Hat Tigers and had joined the BCHL’s Cowichan Valley Capitals. (Rick Valette of Octagon Sports tweeted that information last night.)
Theriau is expected to play Friday when the Pats open their B.C. Division swing in Vancouver against the Giants.
He joins G Matt Hewitt, D Colton Jobke and F Lane Scheidl as the Pats’ 20-year-olds. However, Jobke is listed as being out indefinitely with an undisclosed upper-body injury.
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Former Spokane Chiefs D Jared Cowen will undergo hip surgery on Saturday. Cowen, the ninth overall selection by the Ottawa Senators in the NHL’s 2009 draft, had been playing with the AHL’s Binghamton Senators. According to Rick Valette, Cowen’s agent: “Jared has a small tear in his labrum (hip). He will have surgery Saturday morning in New York. I expect he will be out for the season."
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The Everett Silvertips have added F Brayden Low, 18, to their roster. Low had been with the BCHL’s Powell River Kings. So far this season, he had played in the BCHL with Powell River and the Merritt Centennials, putting up 10 points in 17 games. He was a seventh-round pick by the Portland Winterhawks in the 2009 bantam draft. He played five games with Portland over the last two seasons and was in camp with the Seattle Thunderbirds prior to this season.
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You may want to check out Sam Cosentino’s latest blog entry — Coz For Thought. . . . One of Sportsnet's junior hockey voices has some interesting tidbits, including a couple involving the Subway Series. It’s right here.
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F Victor Rask has been assigned to the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen by the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes. He had five points, including a goal, in 10 games with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. He was a second-round selection in the 2011 NHL draft. . . . “We’re just trying to do what we think is best for Victor,” Charlotte head coach Jeff Daniels said in a news release. “We want him to be able to get as much ice time as possible in all situations that he might not have gotten here. He needs to be playing at the end of games, taking key faceoffs and being in more of a leadership role.” . . . As a freshman in Calgary last season, Rask had 63 points, 33 of them goals. . . . “He really opened our eyes,” said Daniels of Rask, who ranked tied for second among AHL rookies with a plus-seven rating at the time of his assignment. “We’re really happy and Carolina is really happy with the way he played. His hockey sense is really good, and he was making plays.” . . . Rask is expected to play for Sweden at the world junior tournament next month. He helped his country win the gold medal a year ago. . . . Rask is expected to be in Calgary’s lineup on Sunday when they play host to the Swift Current Broncos.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
Jim Bray (@jhabray): “Dear Miami, we tried to warn you. Your friend always, Montreal.”
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TWEET OF THE DAY II:
Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie): “On (extremely) off chance anyone (in VAN) finds a silver money clip, 2 (now cancelled) credit cards and my company ID cart, let me know. #doh)
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TWEET OF THE DAY III:
From the aforementioned Bob McKenzie: “Don't think it's post-traumatic stress from losing money clip, but in all seriousness, never felt as discouraged about state of NHL as today”

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