Latvia Loss Reminds That World Juniors No Longer Canadian Walkover

It’s a Xmas holiday thing. With nothing better to do over the extended break Canadians watch the World Junior Hockey Championships. Little things get big very quickly. So it’s probably a good idea to put team Canada’s 3-2 SO loss to Latvia into some perspective.

After beating plucky Latvia 10-0 in a game last year, the highly rated Canadians allowed Latvia to tie this game late in the third period. Then, after a scoreless overtime session, Latvia scored the only goal of the shootout on their eighth try at Canada’s goalie, 17-year old Jack Ivankovic.

Meanwhile, Linards Feldbergs stopped 55 shots over 65 minutes before adding eight more in the shootout. For Latvia it’s the pinnacle of their hockey year. For Canada it will be quickly forgotten if they pull things back together to make the final.

But for Canadian fans on holiday, unsettled by Donald Trump jibes about making them the 51st state, the loss portends something deeper and darker. Canada has owned the tournament for much of its being, winning five golds in the past decade. But now the U.S. is suddenly king-in-waiting, winners three times in that decade, including last year. They seem a lock to win again this year (despite losing to Finland).

Meanwhile some pundits are calling this edition of Team Canada its weakest in years. Realists point out that, were it not for playing in the NHL, Canada could still have Connor Bedard, Macklin Celebrini and Carter Yaremchuck, among others, in their lineup. And yes, the quality of all the nations in the tournament has risen. This is no longer shooting fish in the barrel.

And here there might be some traction for the argument that with all its hockey advantages, Canada is not developing its elite talent properly. Generally the U.S. (or that small portion of the country that likes hockey) has adopted a hothouse strategy, concentrating its best players in exclusive development silos.

That’s the typical European soccer model, too. Elite prospects as young as 14 are brought into development programs run by top-tier teams. Canada, meanwhile, spreads its elite players over 60-plus CHL teams, second-tier junior and the NCAA. Best-on-best occurs at tournaments, but most players are trained for the unique rigours of team play and travel at the NHL level. For all the spaghetti thrown at the wall too much doesn’t stick. Or so goes the theory.

But there’s also the new reality. As we wrote upon the death of Walter Gretzky in March of 2021, “The days of amiable Ab Howe, father of Gordie, smiling benignly as his son taught himself the game are over.” Walter taught Canada how to train seriously for the Soviets. Inadvertently, he created an expensive, elite training model favouring those with true cash to train prodigies.

“As a pioneer of more sophisticated training, Walter adapted a number of the practises used by the USSR team under Anatoli Tarasov in the 1960s, drills and strategies that stood Canadian conventional thinking on its head. As I wrote in my 1998 book “Of Ice And Men”, Gretzky was unsurprised when the 1972 Soviet team swamped Canada in the early going of their Super Series.

“People said, wow, this is incredible,” Wayne Gretzky remarked later. “Not to me it wasn’t. I’d been doing this drills since I was three years old. My dad was very smart.” Among the many innovations in his Brantford backyard rink were playing Wayne on defence as a tyke so he could learn to see the entire ice and how plays developed. It also increased Wayne’s peripheral vision.

There were many more drills and insights, as Walter’s many tributes have described. Wayne has always bridled when people attributed his success simply to instinct. He always said he trained for his craft in the same way a doctor or scientist might train. “I’ve put in almost as much time studying hockey as a medical student puts in studying medicine.” That training was often under Walter.”

Their success started a quest for the best techniques. “Power skating, off-ice training, ice rentals, new equipment, travel and coaching all became necessary to get a leg up on the competition. It was also very expensive. Having the resources to send your child to the top fitness gurus like Gary Roberts or to place them in a school like Shattuck St. Marys (as Sidney Crosby was) becomes a process costing tens— or hundreds— of thousands of dollars.

“Where the NHL was predominantly players from blue-collar backgrounds till the Euros arrived in the 1970s, today it is often constituted of young men from families of means and education. The idea of the farming father of the six Sutter brothers affording his sons’ training today is highly improbable. Today’s NHL has a number of college-educated players and products of dedicated European training.

“In that way, through no fault of Walter Gretzky, hockey has become a sport for families of means or friends with means. He taught parents that the proper training and equipment was imperative. And that doesn’t mean simply the rink in your backyard. With a new pair of skates costs $500, a stick costs $125 or a set of goalie equipment runs into a few thousand dollars you are losing a segment of the population to financial costs. And so Walter’s legacy of training development if forever tied to a big price tag.”

Players in other nations observed the same, too, and soon were applying intensive training methods from soccer and other sports. No wonder Canada is no longer gets walk-overs from the midrange nations.

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster. His new book Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed Hockey is now available on Amazon. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his previous book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org. You can see all his books at brucedowbigginbooks.ca.

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Bruce Dowbiggin

Maintenance Mania: Since When Did Pro Athletes Get So Fragile?

Published on November 12, 2025

Bruce Dowbiggin

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Game 7 win in the World Series over the Toronto Blue Jays averaged a combined 27.3 million viewers. By comparison, the 2025 NBA Finals’ Game 7 between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers averaged 16.4 million viewers on ABC.

Granted, the MLB had the L.A. market as backstop while the NBA featured two small-market teams. But there was no second U.S. home market in the numbers, because Toronto doesn’t count in U.S. ratings. BTW: Canadian ratings were spectacular with over 18.5 million viewers watching some or all of Game 7.

For those who thought baseball was dead as a TV property, 2025 was a golden throwback to another age. Likewise, the NBA Final— with its Canadian MVP—was a flashback to the days when pro basketball played second fiddle to college basketball.

What’s wrong with pro basketball? Many think tying itself so closely with the DEI network ESPN has put off many. The obsession with the L.A. Lakers is off-putting, too. Betting scandals don’t help. But more than anything the NBA is tainted by its stars taking “maintenance days” off for R&R in the middle of the season.

Fans who purchase tickets when the schedule is announced to see LeBron James or Zion Williamson have no recourse months later when the coach sits a player on those maintenance nights. TV schedulers also see their feature primetime games blown up. According to surveys, 65 percent of fans express disappointment when they attend a game without the expected stars.

The trend really caught wind when Kawhi Leonard, with the Toronto Raptors over a barrel, took frequent maintenance days on his way to the 2019 NBA title. Leonard supporters might say that the Raptors beat a battered Golden State Warriors team missing numerous starters like Kevin Durant and Draymond Green whose injuries sidelined them for the Final.

Maybe. (Leonard continues his maintenance routine with the L.A. Clippers.) But the wholesale use of maintenance days during the season has fans asking, Are today’s players more vulnerable to the stresses of a long season or were the players of the Michael Jordan era just mentally tougher?

Just look at Jordan’s record from 1985 to 2003. In an era where there were no private jets, no personal chefs, no advanced sports medicine, Air Jordan flew all 82 games/missions nine times in his career. In fact, outside the two years he played baseball or there was a labour disruption, he played 78 or fewer games just once. This with the Detroit Pistons Bad Boys hammering him.

In defence of today’s stars, the more compact schedule has resulted in an almost 25 percent increase in injuries. The bar for athletic achievement— height, speed, recovery— has gone a lot higher. And the players have to protect the phenomenal salaries they now draw versus Jordan’s day.

Still. There is caution and then there is indulgence. Coaches in danger of losing their job are subject to taking a knee when their stars tap out for a game. The NBA knows its fans were not onboard with the practice, as the TV ratings show.

What about maintenance in other sports? It was a big issue throughout the baseball season— in particular the playoffs. Managers and pitching coaches doing strategy by pitch count. In the ALCS and World Series, a cautious Blue Jays manger John Schneider yanked starters Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage and Max Scherzer with seemingly more pitches in their arm to bring in mediocre bullpen pitchers.

Schneider blew Game 5 of the Series with some wonky pitch-count decisions. But, in the end, it worked out for Schneider as he finally threw caution to the wind in the final games versus the Dodgers, using his starters from the bullpen and allowing more elevated pitch counts.

Not so much success for Detroit manager A.J. Hinch who yanked his ace Tarik Skubal, up 2-1, after 99 pitches in the final ALDS game against Seattle. His bullpen then blew the game in 15 torturous innings. Surely Hinch could get more from Skubal. In his day Nolan Ryan would throw 125-140 pitches in games. But Hinch was protecting the arm of his ace, who might just be traded or sign with another team in the next 12 months.

This protection racket has introduced a news strategy of running up pitch counts in at-bats against excellent pitchers early in a game so the hitters can get to the bullpens when the starters hit the magic pitch count. Managers are now having to bring in their stoppers in the sixth or seventh inning if the lead is getting away from them.

Fans, meanwhile, are confused why today’s pampered stars still tear up their arms, needing Tommy John elbow surgery despite the lowered innings. counts. Meanwhile everyday players never get tired?

So don’t be surprised when your fans turn off the TV because they see stars prioritizing their salaries over win/ loss.

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, his new book Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed hockey is now available on Amazon. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his previous book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via brucedowbigginbooks.ca.

Bruce Dowbiggin

A Story So Good Not Even The Elbows Up Crew Could Ruin It

Published on November 3, 2025

Bruce Dowbiggin

The tipoff came when the proud Canadian comic who couldn’t be bothered to still live here reprised Elbows Up. It was going to be Mark Carney’s dream come true, the perfect distraction from him apologizing to Orange Man Bad for Doug Ford’s commercial. A team from his political base claiming national status so he could whip up O Canada/ Hate Trump while he tries to sign a trade deal, any deal, with the U.S.

The Globe & Mail, once a serious newspaper, fell in line. “The Blue Jays aren’t just playing for themselves. Because of Trump they’re playing for all of Canada.” Corporate Canada, like Jays “proud owners” at Rogers, threw the Canadian flag into every commercial running. You’d have thought Melanie Joly was batting cleanup.

Never mind there are no Canadians playing for Toronto (Vlad Guerrero was born in Montreal but identifies as Dominican) or that the Dodgers first baseman actually plays for Team Canada. Or that Canadian anthem singers at the games whined about reconciliation while changing the lyrics of O Canada. All they needed to seal the deal was one measly win in Game 7 and a snap federal election was a shoo-in.

As blogger/ writer Jonathan Kay has observed, “I absolutely love that the Canadian media has gone from “Here’s why so-called Canada is a colonial settler genocide state” to “here is the correct way to be a proud Canadian nationalist” in like 15 minutes.”

The fans in attendance in Toronto and via television tuned it all out. In game 7, Toronto went up 3-0 on a homer by Bo Bichette, who already has one foot out the door headed to free agency. It was strictly ballroom for the Boomer Zoomers in the stands and watching on TV. Sure, Turtle Island may put in a land claim at any moment on the “ancestral home” occupied by the Roger Centre. Party on.

Till it ended sadly past midnight in lame jokes when L.A.’s catcher homered in the eleventh inning. “What did @Dodgers Will Smith say to @BlueJays pitcher Shane Bieber? SLAP!” Game. Set. Match.

The party rally over, the Dodgers— who hit just .203 in the Series— celebrated on the infield while Jays fans sat in stunned silence contemplating 12 hits, 10 men left on base and 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position. Remarkable the Jays didn’t win.

The contrast with the 1992-93 experience couldn’t be more stark. But baseball fans not dragging all the political baggage shouldn’t lose sight of the rags-to-riches season on the field. Here was our tepid assessment of the team’s chances in March. “While it’s true that the sun can’t shine on the same team every day, Jays fans believe it would be nice if the great orb would find their club as it did back in the 1992/93 World Series days. Instead of the reflected glory of past stars winning for other teams. Patience is thin. And time is ticking.”

After that was written the Jays did give Vlad Guerrero his 14-year, $500 million deal, locking up their star for his baseball life. But if that was supposed to inspire the team it was a loser. By May 8 they were 16-20. Then they hovered near .500 till the start of June. When we remarked, “Even the Jays’ paid broadcast team was having a tough time putting a happy face on ever catching the Yankees for first.

In desperation manager John Schneider began giving at-bats to prospects like Addison Barger and Jonatan Clase. Journeymen like Nathan Lukes, Ernie Clement and Davis Schneider also thrived in platoon situations.
Another journeyman Eric Lauer solidified the fourth starter spot while Max Scherzer convalesced. In the bullpen unheralded lefties Brendan Little and Mason Fluharty gave Schneider valuable late-game innings. Catcher Alejandro Kirk, handed a new contract, gave the pitching staff a reliable asset.”

Then came the hinge point. In late June/ early July the battered Blue Jays went on a wholly unexpected tear. They won 19 of 24 games, ending with taking three games from MLB’s best team, the Tigers, in Detroit. They didn’t just beat opponents, they pounded them.

Still, management was cautious at the trade deadline in July. They picked up useful bullpen arms in Seranthony Dominguez and Tommy Nance. They rolled the dice on former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber who hadn’t pitched in two seasons. And they picked up versatile Ty France.

But nothing earth-shattering. By August the Jays had earned a 91.9 percent chance of making the postseason, a five percent chance of winning the World Series. But Mr. Carney was not adopting them just yet as the Jays staggered through September. Guerrero didn’t get an extra base hit from Sept. 7- 20. They were playing without, arguably, their best player in Bichette.

Their pitching staff was in tatters with Chris Bassitt gone to the injured list, José Berrios banned to the bullpen, Max Scherzer strafed for seven runs in one start, Jeff Hoffman blowing leads like he blows his nose. All Star catcher Kirk, OFs Addison Barger and Daulton Varsho went cold at the same time.

But the Jays pieced together enough offence centered on George Springer and spare parts like Ernie Clement to keep the wheels on. Bieber, the former Cy Young winner, was a life saver. And as Detroit completed the worst choke in MLB history, Toronto was able to grab home field advantage in the playoffs.

That was when Team Toronto became Carney’s Team Canada, a rallying point for his base as he floundered on the world stage. It’s hard enough to buy into the Team Canada pitch with a Canadian NHL team where at least half the players are Canadian. The Jays don’t even have a surefire domestic prospect in their system at the moment. (They had Toronto’s Rob Butler on the 1992-93 Series winners).

The Laurentian elites were undeterred. According to the G&M, the surrogate Jays were the happy face of their federalism. And for a dizzy month they delivered for both baseball fans and the PMO. For good measure the World Series records fell like autumn leaves, culminating in the final weekend in Toronto. When the dreaded Dodgers squeezed out the wins they needed.

L.A. Times reporter Dylan Hernandez rubbed it in. “It’s amazing how the city of Toronto just keeps producing one loser after another. They’re like San Diego north. I did have to give one last parting shot to my friends up north, because they’re not coming back here anytime soon.”

But Jayson Stark of The Athletic was more sympathetic. “How can you tell when you’ve just been part of the greatest World Series game of your lifetime? Or maybe we should make that anybody’s lifetime? Do you have to wait for a panel of historians to rule on it? Or do you just look into the eyes of your teammates and recognize that you all know it when you see it, when you live it, when you play in it?”

We are with Stark and all baseball fans who resented the first nighters, red-carpet snobs and jock-sniffing politicians horning in on the fun of baseball. It was a time to remember that will linger long after the Elbows Up crew leave us. For now, go Oilers, Habs, Senators, Jets, Canucks, Flames and (gasp) Oilers.