The Newsroom

Picture from Jets website The Winnipeg Jets unveiled their new jerseys today and I think they look fantastic. Pictures  here on the Jets website . Needless to say, this is high on my Christmas list. Having grown up in Winnipeg, I'm thrilled to have the Jets back. And the other big sporting news today is that Brock Lesnar is returning to the octagon on Dec. 30 to battle Alistair Overeem . That's going to be great, epic battle and will get approximately a billion gajillion PPV buys. Yeah, yeah, I know... only hardcore MMA fans know who Overeem is, but that will change by December 30.

When we last left our heroes , they were firmly in the NHL basement. Now, as the accompanying screen cap shows, they've scratched and clawed their way into a tie for 28th place. Pity the New York Islanders. Of course, there's a line of thinking that suggests the Oilers may actually be worse than last year's team, which finished dead last overall. So don't go planning the Stanley Cup parade route yet.

The attached screen cap, taken earlier today, shows the Edmonton Oilers in sadly familiar territory : 30th place. Dead last in the NHL. I mention this only because after the team won their season opener, certain folks in this town were declaring a "new era" had begun for the team, while others appeared to be ready to plan the Stanley Cup parade route. Now, six games into the Oilers season, the new era appears to look a lot like the old era .

CANADA'S OLYMPIC BROADCAST MEDIA CONSORTIUM - OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES - ENGLISH | 2010 Gold Medal Game Is the Apex of TV Viewing in Canada as Legend of '72 Summit Series Finally Laid to Rest TORONTO , March 12 /CNW/ - It's official. Just released final data from BBM Canada confirms that last month's Team Canada gold medal win is, without a doubt, the most-watched television broadcast in Canadian history, with a final audience of 16.7 million viewers. It was also confirmed today by Nielsen that, contrary to popular Canadian legend, the recent game delivered far more viewers than Game 8 of the classic Summit Series between Canada and U.S.S.R. on September 28, 1972 , which had a reported television audience of 4.26 million viewers.

Edmonton Oilers fans might just want to go back to their DVR recording of Sunday's game and ignore the NHL for the rest of the season.

Olympic Hockey Finale Drew Huge Ratings - Media Decoder Blog - NYTimes.com So, half of Canada watched the hockey game yesterday, and upwards of 80% of the country viewed part of it. That's unsurprising, but still amazing.

Honestly, I didn’t intend for this to turn into a regular feature, but there’s something oddly fascinating about the team’s futility this season. But unless the team suddenly starts to win and close the gap between 30th and, well, 29th, I’m gonna put this on hold for a while. Let’s check back at the end of February.

Remember when I said it could be worse ? It's worse.

According to the Official NHL Standings , the Oilers are in 29th place in the league, ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes. Which means, it could be worse. Really.

Mystery group touts NHL expansion for Toronto, claims $1-billion in war chest - Posted Sports A mysterious group claiming to have $1-billion in private financing has scheduled a media conference for Friday morning to announce a “vision” for a National Hockey League expansion team in Toronto, touting a plan that has been in the works for five years.

If the future of the Phoenix Coyotes is up in the air (and it is, including reports of them being purchased and moving to southern Ontario ), would it not make sense for the NHL to, you know, offer the team back to a Winnipeg buyer, first? As a former Winnipegger, I'd love to see the team that was once the Winnipeg Jets before relocating to Phoenix back in the NHL as the Winnipeg Jets once again.

So ... considering the Kevin Lowe/Craig MacTavish era, how many of the players Lowe traded to other teams ended up winning the Stanley Cup after leaving the Oilers? Just wondering whether Ales Hemsky should be demanding a trade or not .

Adding a second National Hockey League franchise in the Toronto area isn't on the league's radar, according to the NHL's front office.

Montreal just fired their coach. Montreal beat the Oilers tonight. Montreal is 9th in the NHL with 79 points. Oilers are 17th in the NHL with 71 points. Montreal just fired their coach.

Gold medal game sets ratings record for TSN The gold medal game on TSN is the most-watched program ever on a Canadian specialty channel and is also the most-watched program overall across all Canadian television this broadcast season. Audience levels for the game peaked at 4.7 million viewers at 9:58pm et, as Team Canada celebrated its victory in Ottawa.

Yes, Vanouver . Site of the 2010 Winter Olympis .

No, really, that's the rumour . Why not? If any city deserved to have two terrible hockey teams that never win the Stanley Cup, it's Toronto.

I'm sure it's the cold medication I'm currently taking. Because there's no way the Oilers just scored three goals in three minutes to take a 4-3 lead over Nashville. Nope. It's the NyQuil. EDIT ONE MINUTE LATER: Nevermind. It's now 4-4. EDIT AGAIN: And, of course, the Oilers lost. Hey, remember when the big excuse was that the Oilers would be competitive if only the dollar wasn't so low and the league could put in a salary cap? Well, the dollar is at par, the NHL has a salary cap, and the Oilers still suck.

... he'll fire the current management and bring in a real coach and general manager. Seriously ... how bad do the Oilers have to be before MacT or Lowe (or both) lose their jobs?