We’re going to need to cue the Ennio Morricone score for this one, because it’s been the spring of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
The good? We had the marvellous Marie-Philip Poulin winning a PWHL championship with her Montreal Victoire teammates, then receiving an honorary doctorate from Bishop’s University and being named to the Time magazine list of the 100 Most Influential People in Sports for 2026.
Then the back-to-back announcements: Jakub Dobes and Ivan Demidov named to the NHL’s All-Rookie Team and Cole Caufield to the NHL’s Second All-Star Team.
And finally, a tie that felt like a win when Canada’s men’s team got the tying goal from Cyle Larin to avoid an embarrassing loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina in its first World Cup match on home soil.
The bad? The Carolina Hurricanes saved the NHL from the embarrassment of having Carter Hart waltz around with Lord Stanley’s Cup — but that doesn’t make his presence on the ice a whit more palatable. Hart and the four other members of the London Five should all be under lifetime bans from hockey. That they are not is a permanent black eye for a sport that has plenty.
As if that weren’t enough, Stan Bowman showed the world that he learned nothing in Chicago by pursuing Mike Babcock to coach the Edmonton Oilers. If there was any doubt from the way he handled players at other coaching stops, Babcock put it to rest in Columbus when it became clear that his interest is in humiliating players and breaking them down, not in teaching them to win.
The Montreal Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin hoists the Walter Cup at Quartier des Spectacles on May 30. Dave Sidaway / Montreal Gazette
And finally, the ugly: Long before he allowed his federation and his sport to be shamed by the racist banning of Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan from the U.S., it was clear that FIFA boss Gianni Infantino was the biggest coward on the world stage. He proved that in Qatar four years ago.
But Infantino’s craven capitulation was a blow to everything the World Cup is supposed to represent: inclusion, fairness, equality, a way to bring the world together. “Football Unites the World.”
When he allowed Africa’s greatest referee to be banned by the orange monster in the White House and his minions, the president of FIFA showed how easily the world can be divided.
Thanks, but no thanks: I hope the NHLPA succeeds in shutting down the talk of Babcock coaching the Oilers, but even if the desperate fools who run the Oilers franchise get away with hiring Babcock, we don’t want to see Connor McDavid flee to the Bell Centre.
Yes, McDavid is a great player — but the instant the Canadiens add him to the roster, the tightest team in hockey would become “Connor McDavid and his supporting cast.”
Thanks, but that’s a hard no.
Alouettes quarterback Davis Alexander looks for an open receiver during first half at Molson Stadium on Friday. Evan Buhler / Montreal Gazette
Ted, lassoed: It was not until several minutes after Canada tied its World Cup opener against Bosnia-Herzegovina that we realized that it was not celebrity fathead Ryan Reynolds who scored the winning goal, but a chap named Larin who actually plays for Canada. Who knew?
Sports broadcasts over the past month have been divided three ways: Gambling promos, lengthy commercial breaks and gratuitous shots of celebrity fatheads.
It was a sign of the times, culminating in the pug-ugly NBA Finals, which were taken over by Ben Stiller (who is famous for making three movies in which he was upstaged by a museum) fashion victim Spike Lee and Timothée Chalamet, who has more millions in the bank than hairs in that sorry excuse for a moustache.
But Worst Celebrity Fathead honours for the week go to Jason Sudeikis, who had no problem pumping up Donald Trump’s World Cup with that “Football Unites the World” hypocrisy. Ted Lasso was a sappy character, but he had integrity. He would have left the building rather than let himself be used by the likes of Trump and Infantino.
More from Alexander the Great: I’ve been slow to believe in Alouettes quarterback Davis Alexander. I thought all the winning was simply a coincidence, more a product of a good team than the QB.
But Game after game, he finds a way. He did it again Friday, leading the Als past the revolting Chad Kelly and the Argos to a 37-30 win. Sooner or later, ya gotta believe.
Editor’s Picks
Happy birthday, Martin St. Louis: The coach who has transformed the franchise turns 51 on Thursday. The clumsy handling of the end of Brendan Gallagher’s Canadiens career aside, St. Louis has proven that you don’t have to be a Babcock, John Tortorella or Michel Therrien to succeed.
St. Louis teaches, he sets the example, he leads, he inspires. He’s the man.
Heroes: Cole Caufield, Jakub Dobes, Ivan Demidov, Omar Abdulkadir Artan, Ismaël Koné, Cyle Larin, Jesse Marsch, Lewis Hamilton, Russ Anber, Rod Brind’Amour, Davis Alexander, Micah Awe, Tyson Philpot &&&& last but not least, the great Marie-Philip Poulin.
Zeros: Gianni Infantino, FIFA, Carter Hart, Alexander Zverev, Chad Kelly, Kelly McCrimmon, John Tortorella, the Vegas Knights, Mike Babcock, Daryl Katz, Stan Bowman, Marty Walsh, Gary Bettman, WWE, Dana White, Jason Sudeikis, Bud Selig Jr., Claude Brochu &&&& last but not least, David Samson and Jeffrey Loria.
Now and forever.