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1. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP HOCKEY
Did we really need two weeks of games to tell us that Canada, Sweden, Finland and Russia are the four best hockey nations in the world? Probably not. Nevertheless, the meaningless rounds at the world hockey championship are over and Canada, Sweden, Finland and Russia have emerged as the four best. Now, they are playing for all the marbles, er, medals, with Canada going up against Russia for gold. As it should have been from the beginning. TSN, 2:50 p.m. today (bronze-medal game); 1 p.m. tomorrow (gold-medal game).
2. FLYERS AND PENGUINS
On Thursday, the Pittsburgh Penguins were like Sidney Crosby's playoff mustache – a little thin and scraggly. The Penguins couldn't pull off a sweep in their Eastern Conference final series against the Philadelphia Flyers. But the Pens needn't panic. They're still the better team and are back at home for tomorrow's fifth game. Let's just hope they finish off the Flyers this time. It's mid-May people. Hockey fatigue is setting in and we're anxious to get to the final and see someone lift the Cup. Anyone. And soon. CBC/RDS/NBC, 3 p.m. tomorrow.
3. STARS AND RED WINGS
The Detroit Red Wings continue their game of keep-away today in the Western Conference final series against the Dallas Stars. Have you ever seen a team control the puck like the Wings? The Stars have been like Chester the Terrier chasing Spike the Bulldog in the Looney Tunes cartoons. Even though the Stars extended the series to five games on Wednesday, avoiding what seemed like an inevitable sweep, it's hard to see them lasting much longer. It's just too difficult to score when you don't have the puck. CBC/RDS/NBC, 1:30 p.m. today.
4 PREAKNESS STAKES
Can Big Brown deliver again? The Kentucky Derby winner, who is named in honour of shipping company UPS, tries to win the second jewel of horse racing's Triple Crown today at the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore. The oddsmakers say he can do it, and installed the colt as the 1-to-2 favourite. Big Brown would then just need to win the Belmont Stakes to become the first horse to wear the Triple Crown in 30 years. Everyone would be thrilled with that. Except perhaps FedEx. NBC, 4:30 p.m. today.
5. BLUE JAYS AND PHILLIES
The Toronto Blue Jays are a little like our stock portfolio – up for a while, then back down. They were up this week, sweeping the Minnesota Twins on the road and stretching an unbeaten streak to four games. But just when the going was good, the Jays (and every other major-league team) had to switch gears for the season's first instalment of interleague play. They're in Philadelphia this weekend to take on their spring-training neighbour and 1993 World Series rival, the Phillies, who are having a similar season. Sometimes up, sometimes down. Sportsnet, 7 p.m. today and 1:30 p.m. tomorrow.
6. MEMORIAL CUP
Just as the world championship is winding down and the Stanley Cup playoffs are on the verge of reaching the final, another significant hockey tournament is revving up. It's the Memorial Cup, junior hockey's national championship, held this year in Kitchener, Ont. The Gatineau Olympiques, Belleville Bulls, Kitchener Rangers and Spokane Chiefs are the contestants. It's usually a good, intense tournament, and its biggest selling point is its brevity. The winner is decided in a week. The worlds and the NHL could learn something. Sportsnet, 4 p.m. today (Belleville v. Spokane) and 4:30 p.m. tomorrow (Kitchener v. Spokane).
7. FA CUP
The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup, is the world's oldest soccer championship and its coolest. (You know, if you don't count the World Cup.) Any English team is eligible to enter the tournament, regardless of what league it's in. So it's all comers. (Well, within reason. Tuesday night rec league teams remain excluded.) Every match in the nine-month-long tournament is a knockout game and this year's field of 731 teams has been whittled down to two. Happily, a minnow swam through to today's final. Cardiff City, which toils in the second-tier Football League, goes up against the Premier League big boys from Portsmouth. FoxSports, 10 a.m. today.
8. YANKEES AND METS
The (big) apple doesn't fall far from the tree in the New York Yankees organization. Team co-owner Hank Steinbrenner publicly tore his underachieving Yankees a new A-Rod this week, conjuring memories of his father George's famous outbursts. But Hank had a point. The Yankees are at the bottom of the American League East Division, an unacceptable position given the team's gaudy payroll. Perhaps interleague play against their crosstown rivals, the Mets, will revive their fortunes and get Hank off their backs. Sportsnet, 8 p.m. tomorrow.
9. MASTERS SERIES-HAMBURG
This is more like it. World No. 1 Roger Federer, who's been upset a few times this year, is breezing along at the Masters Series tennis event in Hamburg, Germany, this week. Then again, knocking off little-known Fernando Verdasco, Robin Soderling, Jarko Nieminen and some guy named Bye to reach the semi-finals was hardly a monumental achievement. Federer's semi against Andreas Seppi might be just as easy, but the party would be over in the final against Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic. Either one of those guys would make Federer work for his 55th title. TSN, 11:30 a.m. today (semi-finals); 4 p.m. tomorrow (final).
10. COLUMBUS AND TORONTO FC
The Major League Soccer team from Columbus has a nickname: the Crew. The Los Angeles team has one, too: the Galaxy. So do most of the other clubs in the 14-team league. But not Toronto FC. What's up with that? Why is this poor team deprived of a nickname? (No, FC does not count.) TFC is having a decent second season (3-2-1) and surely has earned the right to be called something besides TFC, which reminds us too much of KFC. We see by TFC's website that it's informally known as the Reds, presumably because of the red home jerseys. Maybe that's good enough. Can we just go with that? CBC/CBC-Bold, 4 p.m. today.
11. LUMBERJAX AND BANDITS
The National Lacrosse League doesn't have a broad fan base and doesn't get much television coverage, presumably because the sports networks have important poker tournaments to broadcast instead. But that doesn't mean professional indoor lacrosse is dull or unworthy. Far from it. There are plenty of goals, even with the game's small triangular nets that are guarded by goalies wearing more padding than the Michelin Man. There is also plenty of raw aggression (slashing and cross-checking seem to be within the rules). The NLL season peaks tonight with the championship game between the host Buffalo Bandits and the Portland LumberJax. The winner gets the Champions Cup. The loser gets loose molars. Score, 7:30 p.m. tonight.
12. AT&T CLASSIC
What do professional golfers do when they take a week off? Do they go into the office and sit behind a computer all day? They probably don't go golfing, like the rest of us when we're on vacation. That'd be too much like work. Speaking of holidays, a lot of golf's biggest names are taking the week off. But the PGA Tour is holding a tournament anyway – the AT&T Classic in Duluth, Ga. It has one of the weakest fields of the year. Think of it as the 45th major. But no matter. Some good golf will be played at TPC Sugarloaf, and the stakes are high for the tour's lesser lights trying to make some cash while the stars rest. CBS, 3 p.m. today and tomorrow.
