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By Kevin McGran Sports Reporter Tues., Jan. 15, 2019 If the Stanley Cup playoffs were to start now, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets would all be 16 wins away from becoming the first Canadian team since 1993 to capture the chalice. Meanwhile, Vancouver and Edmonton would have just missed. And fans in Ottawa would be rooting to lose one more: the draft lottery, because the Colorado Avalanche own the Senators’ first-round pick and top prospect Jack Hughes looks like a franchise-type player. This is the week when most teams across the NHL hold mid-season meetings. Professional and amateur scouts weigh in, situations are assessed and general managers start to refine their plans heading toward the Feb. 25 trade deadline. Who will sell? Who will buy? What are the prices? For the first time in a while, there appears to be a reasonable split of buyers (who think they have a shot at the playoffs) and sellers (already … [Read more...] about Free trade advice for Canada’s Stanley Cup contenders and pretenders
Head injury advice
Tennis: Kyrgios calls time on season due to elbow injury
MOSCOW (AFP) - Australian firebrand Nick Kyrgios called time on his season on Thursday (Oct 18) after an elbow injury forced him out of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. The world number 37, who had been playing on a wild card in Russia, said he was heading home to prepare for the 2019 campaign. "It's very unfortunate dealing with an ongoing elbow injury I dealt with at the start of the season," 23-year-old Kyrgios said in a statement. "It kept me out for a month or two. It started to bother me a little bit this week so I'm going to wrap up my season, head home and start the recovery. See you all in 2019." Kyrgios' injury meant that Bosnia's Mirza Basic got a free pass into the quarter-finals where he will take on Russian third seed Karen Khachanov. Kyrgios has endured another roller-coaster season. He captured a fourth career title in Brisbane in January before missing two months of the campaign, including the French Open, in the spring. At the US Open, a perceived lack of effort led to … [Read more...] about Tennis: Kyrgios calls time on season due to elbow injury
McCain calls for rejection of Haspel’s bid to head CIA
SAN FRANCISCO: US Senator John McCain called Wednesday for lawmakers to reject Gina Haspel's nomination to head the CIA due to the role she played overseeing the torture of detainees. Senate Armed Services Committee chair McCain, who was tortured while being held a prisoner in North Vietnam, is battling brain cancer and is unlikely to vote on Haspel's nomination, but is a widely-respected elder statesman in US politics whose views carry significant weight. "Ms Haspel's role in overseeing the use of torture by Americans is disturbing. Her refusal to acknowledge torture's immorality is disqualifying. I believe the Senate should exercise its duty of advice and consent and reject this nomination," McCain said in a statement. From 2001-2004, Haspel was a deputy group chief of the Counterterrorism Center, which ran the so-called 'enhanced interrogation' program, and then chief of staff to Jose Rodriguez, who directed the program. During part of that period, she oversaw the CIA's secret … [Read more...] about McCain calls for rejection of Haspel’s bid to head CIA
You may be using your child’s car seat incorrectly
NEW YORK: When parents rate a child’s car seat, they’re usually thinking about how easy it is to carry, buckle or clean – and whether it has a well-placed cup holder. But experts look at whether it’s being used correctly to keep a child safe, and surprisingly often, it’s not.A 2016 report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that up to 59 per cent of car seats were improperly used. And Miriam Manary, senior engineering research associate at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, said misuse estimates were even higher in other studies. Some of the errors are minor, she said, “but somewhere around 35 per cent of it is gross misuse where they’re not going to get any protection from that system – things like not securing the child restraint into the vehicle or not harnessing the child in the child restraint system.”Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in children, and … [Read more...] about You may be using your child’s car seat incorrectly
Concussion researchers say time for sports to change is now
By Kerry Gillespie Sports Reporter Sat., March 24, 2018 When Dr. Thomas McAllister, one of North America’s foremost concussion researchers, stepped to the podium in front of a packed conference room, he joked about the years that he had to beg just to get five people to turn up and listen to him say: “Hey, some people don’t do well after concussions.” All the attention and fears around the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which can only be diagnosed after death, has dramatically changed that. Many hockey and football players are worried about what all the hits in the game have done or will do to their brains, with some suing professional leagues for not protecting them better. In the midst of all that, parents are increasingly wondering whether it’s even safe to let their kids play some sports. But so much focus on CTE, a single terrifying outcome, has also skewed the entire concussion debate and … [Read more...] about Concussion researchers say time for sports to change is now