Ryan Reisert

In case you were too busy leaving the GAs, here’s what you missed this week in the world of sports … 

HOCKEY — The NHL regular season returned to its normal NHL regular season schedule following the All-Star break, but what happened seems far from normal. To start, Sam Gagner tied Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey’s record of eight points in a game, in what could be known as hockey’s best overall performance ever. He then followed up his record performance with a three-point game the following night. Speaking of performances worth noting, we ask you this: what do Hurricane’s goalie Cam Ward, Coyote’s fourth-liner Paul Bissonnette, horrible defenceman Brett Lebda, severely concussed centre Marc Savard, and ex-Canadiens “superstar” Ryan O’Byrne have in common? They all have more goals than Scott Gomez in the past year. On Feb. 5th, Montrealers celebrated Gomez’ one year anniversary without a goal. Congratulations Scott, we’re all proud of you!

FOOTBALL — If you don’t know what happened this past Sunday in football, then you must have had one heck of a weekend. Over a hundred million viewers tuned in to watch Super Bowl XLVI, which matched the favoured New England Patriots against the resilient New York Giants. The story of the week leading up to the big game was how this Super Bowl was a rematch of the 2008 final, where the Giants prevailed in possibly the biggest upset in Super Bowl history. Not much changed on Sunday, as the Pats were unable to avenge their disappointing loss from four years ago, losing again to the Giants 21-17. Giants quarterback Eli Manning was his typical clutch self, winning the Super Bowl MVP award for a second time. The Super Bowl is also known for its collection of prop bets and this year’s game was no different. Here are some of the results in case you missed them: a rare safety was the first score in the game, Kelly Clarkson’s national anthem lasted 1:34, and Madonna did not experience any wardrobe malfunctions during her halftime performance (see: Janet Jackson). Until next year, football fans. 

BASKETBALL — The NBA season continues on with few surprises. The Miami Heat, to the chagrin of most, find themselves second just behind the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference, while the Oklahoma City Thunder, led by Kevin Durant’s 27 points per game, lead the Western Conference with an 18-5 record. While there haven’t been many surprises in the league’s standings, there was one in New York this past Saturday, as little-known Harvard graduate Jeremy Lin helped resurrect the Knicks’ season, all the while helping Head Coach Mike D’Antoni keep his job for another day. Lin, a Golden State Warriors castoff, is the NBA’s only American-born player of Chinese descent. He tore up the New Jersey Nets defence, finishing with 25 points and seven assists. Undoubtedly, Lin will become a fan favourite in New York, and his play earned him a spot atop Twitter’s trending list worldwide.  We’re just waiting for him to coin the phrase, “Lin or go home!”

SOCCER — In more upsetting news, tragedy struck Egypt this past Wednesday when a riot ensued after a local soccer match between the country’s top clubs, al-Ahly and al-Masry. Reports claim that 74 people were killed outside of Port Said Stadium, and hundreds were injured. The media is calling it the biggest disaster in the country’s sporting history. The riot comes exactly a year after the Egyptian people began the revolution against former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Many Egyptians gathered for protests on Thursday, as fans and politicians accused the current ruling movement of failing to prevent the riot from occurring. In response to the event, three days of mourning were declared in the country. Unfortunately, for soccer and its supporters in Egypt, the sport looks like just another one of the casualties in the chaos inundating the country.