from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- This week the corporate giant, Bell, crushed sports radio stations in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Hamilton. This week, without warning, those who listen to sports radio, those who work in it, were shut down, eliminated, left without long-time listeners and first-time callers.

It is, we are told, all about economics. It doesn’t mean that people don’t feel cheated, having lost their daily conversations. It is just juggling assets for corporations but very personal for those who didn’t change channels just because they didn’t care for the song that was being played.

- Ron Hextall and his staff in Philadelphia made one giant mistake in his time as the Flyers general manager. With the second pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, Hextall took Nolan Patrick. The next two picks were Cale Makar and Miro Heiskanen, now two of the top 10 defencemen in the NHL. Had he drafted either of those stars, he’d probably still be the GM in Philly. Now the challenge for Hextall, as new GM in Pittsburgh, is trying to stay competitive with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin after previous management traded away first round picks in 2013, 2105, 2106, 2017, 2018 and 2020 while winning two Stanley Cups. The prospect cupboard is all but bare. Hextall was my choice for the job. It will be fascinating to watch how he goes about bringing the Penguins back to contender under hugely challenging circumstances.

- My ‘sure things’ on the Canadian Olympic hockey team: Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Crosby, Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Mark Scheifele, Mitch Marner, Brayden Point, and Mark Stone upfront. Makar, Shea Theodore, Alex Pietrangelo, Shea Weber, Drew Doughty on defence. Price and Hart in goal. Now the arguments can start over the final nine spots. Probably 20 candidates to choose from.

more on the first topic and a few additional hockey notes...