Good morning Toronto Maple Leafs fans!
The Leafs are off today, and won't play again until 7PM tomorrow, giving us almost two full days of nothing new to talk about Leafs-wise.
However! The Calgary Flames were kind enough to give us something to chat about today, a replacement arena for the Saddledome!
Yes, the arena that was built for the Calgary Olympics in 1988, opened in 1983, may be replaced. Calgarians have been asking for a new venue for a few years so they can enjoy concerts, hockey games, and other events in more modern comforts.
Of course, as most projects like these go, it won't be paid for by the team, or the billionaires who own it. No, don't be silly. They'll pitch in enough to act like they're doing everyone a favour, but the majority will come from the city and province.
The billionaire owners of the Flames took not only the people of Calgary to the cleaners for their new arena, but the people of Alberta as well. Here's the cost breakdown. #ableg #yyccc pic.twitter.com/IzivRtCTjk
— The Progress Report (@ProgressAlberta) April 25, 2023
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An agreement has been reached, in principle, between the city of Calgary, CSEC, province of Alberta and the Calgary Stampede, for a new event center.
— Julian McKenzie (@jkamckenzie) April 25, 2023
$537.3m from City of Calgary
356.m from CSEC
330M from Alberta
Land swap with Calgary Stampede
The current Premier of Alberta was at the announcement but hold on, oh no, they aren't committing to the funding at all. A quarter of the money is being held back until after the upcoming provincial election. Essentially, this is a dangling carrot to get the people of Calgary to vote for the UCP. You don't hate hockey do you?
Here's Premier Danielle Smith confirming that provincial funding for the Calgary arena project must be approved **after** the election.
— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) April 25, 2023
Adds she hopes Calgarians give UCP government a clear mandate to proceed on May 29th aka election day. #yyc #yeg #ableg pic.twitter.com/HQwtl5LsoA
Really, it should motivate Oilers fans to vote against them, because who wouldn't want to deny their rivals an arena?
Public funds for private arenas is stupid. Unless the city has 100% control of the profits, leases, and use of the project, it's just buying toys for the ultra-rich.
Gross.
So, for the Leafs, we will discuss Michael Bunting and where he'll fit into the lineup for way too much time, so let's distract ourselves with more news.
Like how Blue Jays fans love hot dogs.
We are 20 minutes into the Jays game and over 25,000 hot dogs have already been consumed. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Sv0KCPLHw8
— Lindsay Dunn (@LindsayDunnTV) April 25, 2023
Or the Leafs fan who was screaming into his phone after the Leafs won in overtime against Tampa.
The provincial opposition spoke out about the shady practices done by Greater Toronto Hockey League owners, and want things like this looked into.
Rick Westhead
Cale Makar got one third the suspension that Bunting got for a worse hit.
Colorado’s Cale Makar has been suspended for one playoff game for Interference against Seattle’s Jared McCann. https://t.co/FOhsme51Rf
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) April 25, 2023
Here's last night's scores:
New York Islanders 3 - Carolina Hurricanes 1
Hurricanes lead series 3-2
Dallas Stars 4 - Minnesota Wild 0
Dallas leads series 3-2
Edmonton Oilers 6 - Los Angeles Kings 3
Edmonton leads series 3-2
Tonight's games:
Florida Panthers at Boston Bruins
Bruins lead series 3-1
Seattle Kraken at Colorado Avalanche
Series tied 2-2
Enjoy your Leafs-free day everyone!
Go Leafs Go!
The Saskatoon Blades were down 3-0 to the Red Deer Rebels and just rattled off 4 in a row to win the series. Impressive. https://t.co/flyryPeJTf
— Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) April 26, 2023
