Posts with the Nashville Predators tag

Barris Beat

O say, can you see…

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment

They did it in Ottawa. They did it in Calgary. Then, in Toronto. And then Monday night, in Nashville, Americans did it back. First, Canadian spectators booed the The Star-Spangled Banner north of the border. And so American fans in Tennessee booed O Canada right back when the Ottawa Senators came to Nashville this week.

Shouted one irate Predators fan, “You gotta pay!”

Then, Nashville coach Andrew Brunette (who is a Canadian) told the U.S. Daily Mail. “I don’t like it. The NHL has been around 100 years and the U.S. and Canada both share this game. I don’t think there’s a place for booing the anthem.” (more…)

Barris Beat

What giving 110 per cent really means

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
Olli Jokinen at first Leafs' press conference
Olli Jokinen at first Leafs’ presser (Toronto Maple Leafs)

I read the newspapers over the weekend. I expected to see news about a trade involving the Maple Leafs. And there it was on the front page of Monday’s Toronto Star sports section. Defenceman Cody Franson is gone. So is perhaps the hardest working forward on the team, Mike Santorelli. Then, Tuesday online, I caught a bit of the reporter scrum involving Toronto’s newest acquisition in the deal, 36-year-old Nashville Predator Olli Jokinen responding to the question: “Are you surprised?”

“Yeah, absolutely,” he told the Star. “Why wouldn’t I be?” (more…)