Pat Burns: 1952-2010

The world of hockey mourned the loss of one of their great ambassador this weekend when Pat Burns passed away after a long fight with cancer.

Pat Burns was a man of heart and passion. While his impressive stature was intimidating, those who got to know him a little more found a respectful and fair man. Burns also had a tasteful sense of humor outside the rink.

The color in Burns comments during press conferences will also be remembered for a long time among some members of the press who had the pleasure -or in some cases displeasure- of working with him.

I was lucky enough to have personally met Pat Burns once when I have been picked in a contest to skate along with some players and coaches. I remember that this afternoon, Pat was in a good mood as he signed autographs and joined us for a group photo. He was very nice with us and even gave some tips to a couple of them during the practice. A true professionnal.

Pat Burns had an illustrious NHL coaching career with the Montreal Canadiens, the Boston Bruins, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New Jersey Devils.

When hired in 1989 by the Canadiens, his mandate was to bring back the team to a competitive level. He did just that as the Canadiens went to the Stanley Cup final that very same year!

His 1993 playoff run with the Toronto Maple Leafs is also very fresh to my memory. The Leafs eliminated the Detroit Red Wings in classic fashion during game seven of the first round of the playoffs. The Leafs went on to the Western conference final that year.

Burns won the Stanley Cup in 2003 with the New Jersey Devils. A deserved championship for him. Burns was named coach of the year three times with three different clubs during his career. An accomplishment that was never done by any other NHL coach in history.

Unfortunatly, the NHL Hall of Fame didn't open it's doors to Burns while he was still alive. I do not understand the reasons of this decision and I am a little upset with the NHL for this.

I think that Burns deserves proper recognition from the league and I think that Pat Burns has what it takes to be in the HHOF.

My sincere wishes goes to the family. Rest in peace Pat.

(Picture: Pat Burns.)

Sebastian Vettel: The Youngest F1 World Champion.

The final race of this 2010 Formula One season was disputed at Abu Dhabi this weekend as four drivers were still mathematically able to claim the championship.

The points leader, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, Red Bull's Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel were more logical avenues than McLaren's Lewis Hamilton who was trailing Alonso by 24 points.

After a difficult start, Sebastian Vettel kept his first place in front of Hamilton and cruised ahead until the end.

An important part of the race was played during the second lap when Michael Schumacher spun and caused a crash that completely changed the running order until the very end of the race. Alonso and Webber lost many vital positions and weren't able to come back, leaving the door wide open for Vettel.

Sebastian Vettel was crowned World Champion, the youngest ever at 23 years and four months old. The previous record was held by Fernando Alonso.

This exciting season is now behind us and we are looking forward to 2011. A total of 20 races will be run with some interesting new tracks like India are scheduled.

Congratulations to Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel for their respective championships.

Drivers Championship. (final)

1	S. VETTEL	256
2	F. ALONSO	252
3	M. WEBBER	242
4	L. HAMILTON	240
5	J. BUTTON	214
6	F. MASSA	144
7	N. ROSBERG	142
8	R. KUBICA	136
9	M. SCHUMACHER	72
10	R. BARRICHELLO	47
11	A. SUTIL	47
12	K. KOBAYASHI	32
13	V. PETROV	27
14	N. HULKENBERG	22
15	V. LUIZZI	21
16	S. BUEMI	8
17	P. DE LA ROSA	6
18	N. HEIDFELD	6
19	J. ALGUERSUARI	5
20	H. KOVALAINEN	0
21	J. TRULLI	0
22	K. CHANDHOK	0
23	B. SENNA	0
24	L. DI GRASSI	0
25	T. GLOCK	0
26	S. YAMAMOTO	0
27	C. KLIEN	0
28	F. FAUZY	0

Constructors Championship. (final)

Team	Points
1	Red Bull-Renault	498
2	McLaren-Mercedes	454
3	Ferrari	396
4	Mercedes GP	214
5	Renault	163
6	Williams-Cosworth	69
7	Force India-Mercedes	68
8	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	44
9	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	13
10	Lotus-Cosworth	0
11	Virgin-Cosworth	0
12	Hispania-Cosworth	0

(Picture: Sebastian Vettel, Getty Images.)

Jonathan Duhamel Wins The 2010 WSOP Main Event!

For the first time in WSOP history, a Canadian has won the main event!

To clinch the championship, Jonathan Duhamel eliminated the American John Racener, the last opponent to face him in head-to-head action. The winning hand, an Ace and a Jack beat Racener's King and Eight.

Many fans that came to support Duhamel were wearing the Montreal Canadiens' jersey. The 2010 WSOP champion promised to donate $100,000 to the Montreal Canadiens' childrens foundation.

Duhamel pockets $8,944,310 for his victory. At 22 years old, his poker career has been launched to superstar status.

Canadians all over the country are proud of Duhamel's incredible accomplishment today. The news of his victory is spreading all over from every news source in Canada. There are a lot of interviews coming up for him here in Quebec as he should go around a list of televised shows.

Once again, congratulations to Jonathan Duhamel for his great and inspiring victory.

(Picture: Jonathan Duhamel, WSOP.)

Fourth Line Halts Montreal's Losing Streak.

The Montreal Canadiens edged the Buffalo Sabres yesterday by a single goal margin, all thanks to the Habs' fourth line.

The unbelievable performance from the members of the fourth line combined with a solid performance from goaltender Carey Price avoided the club from suffering a third consecutive loss.

Buffalo opened the score during the first period when Mike Grier broke in front of the goalie and went around Price.

The Canadiens answered quickly to that first goal of the game. Jeff Halpern completed a great pass from Mathieu Darche behind the net. Halpern's shot left goaltender Patrick Lalime clueless.

The Sabres took the lead once again, this time halfway into the second period. Jordan Leopold pounced on a loose puck at the side of Price's net.

Montreal replied even quicker to that goal. Only 46 seconds later, Benoit Pouliot tied the game up at 2 when Mathieu Darche, again, fed Pouliot with a great pass in front of the net.

Then a few minutes later, Pouliot beat Lalime with a powerful slapshot from the top of the circles. With two goals including the game-winner, Benoit Pouliot -now a part of the fourth line- really shines for the first time of the season.

The welcomed output from the Pouliot-Darche-Halpern line prevents the team from sinking quickly in the standings for now. But the weak production from Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez and Michael Cammalleri will send the club in a freefall sooner or later should those players fail to find a solution.

Will the Canadiens' top players snap out of their slump in November? Or will the team sink gradually?

We will have a part of the answer when the Vancouver Canucks will be the visitors at the Bell centre next Tuesday.

San Francisco Giants Wins World Series.

After a 56-year drought, the San Francisco Giants have defeated the Texas Rangers in five games and won the 2010 World Series.

In this fifth game of the series, the Giants defeated the Rangers by the score of 3-1. The Giants starting pitcher, Tim Lincecum, offered a solid performance as he only allowed three hits in eight innings while harvesting ten strikeouts.

Closing pitcher Brian Wilson finished the Rangers in the ninth inning with two strikeouts and sealed this 2010 season for good.

This improbable victory for the Giants came after the team qualified itself to the post-season dance at the very last game of the regular season!

Edgar Renteria was named the World Series MVP. Renteria has won the World Series with the Florida Marlins a decade earlier.

Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants for this great accomplishment. The beautiful San Fran area now has another reason to celebrate.

(Picture: San Francisco Giants.)