Today's News: Habs Rule (almost)! Plus a round-up of comments on the Alberta separatist referendum, and a smattering of Trump/China

Habs Rule (almost)!

Montreal wins 6-3 over Buffalo, and will be going home with hopes to take it all on Saturday night's game 6
 

Montreal will be rocking!
They stick together don't they

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Some additional detail about that crucial decision to leave Dobeš in after the Sabres scored three on him, and about the goal coach who made it, is in this NHL article here.

Some good Venn diagrams, plus some good news updates

Starting with a few Venn diagrams:

Today's News: We just need the next 2 out of 3. Plus Trump leaves for China, and some "Strait of Hormuz Blues"

Next two out of three
A crazy game and unfortunate loss, Sabres 3 to Canadiens 2:

At Sportsnet, Eric Engels writes:

In a game the Montreal Canadiens lost by one goal, it would be easy to suggest the puck bouncing off the stanchion by the Bell Centre’s Zamboni door before caroming off Jakub Dobes’ pad was the difference.
But there was more to why the Canadiens finished Tuesday night down 3-2 in the game and tied 2-2 in their series with the Buffalo Sabres, and they’ll have to properly evaluate that before the action resumes at KeyBank Center on Thursday.
For a team that prides itself on honest self-assessment, a reality check awaits in the video room.
The Canadiens had seven power plays but scored on only one. And even if Cole Caufield, who scored that goal and said afterward that he and his teammates broke down the Sabres “a bunch” and were only thwarted by great saves Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, they mismanaged the puck enough to squander those other six opportunities....

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times - from Habs Rule to America Chaos

For some reason I am seeing a lot of just two kinds of posts. 

Positive ones about the Habs victory on Sunday, and negative ones about Trump's America causing chaos in the world. 

So they seem to fall into a sort of oddball "two cities" theme, really. Here they are

Habs Rule!
The playoff standings as of Monday night are here
Canadiens-Sabres Game 3 recap

Some good posts about this game:
Classic sports photo here

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Sunday Funday: Funny posts about Canada, ETTD, sports, academics, and more, plus Carney hat-trick TrumpWatch, Animal Crackers

First, good items about Canada 

Todd Maffin does a "heritage minute" about Heritage Minutes


All of the Minutes are saved here: https://www.historicacanada.ca/productions/minutes 

This is my favourite:

Good for the Habs! Plus today's Canada news - from Obama to a pink Barbie Jeep

Habs win!

So the series is tied as they head to Montreal for the next two games.


When it got to 4-1, that was really the end for Buffalo

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Today's News: Poilievre Put-downs, Responding to Wexit, China gives Trump the finger, and a Hantavirus Cruise Ship Update

Poilievre Put-downs

I think I need to start a regular feature about the comments and cartoons I see on our opposition leader Pierre Poilievre. I must admit, I seldom actually follow much of what he talks about, so I rely on these social media zingers to keep up with what he is doing. Enjoy!

From MP Peter Schiefke:

@globalnews.ca

Liberal MP turns to poetry to poke at Pierre Poilievre in House of Commons

♬ original sound - Globalnews.ca

Today's News: Some comments worth sharing on Iran, Alberta, ICE and rich bros, plus some updates on Canada good news, that hantavirus cruise ship and Epstein-gate. Finally, DAMN!

Some comments worth sharing

Black Cloud Six on the Iran War
A great piece here from Black Cloud Six, on how the American way of war is failing again. This is how he begins:

....Generally speaking, American employment of military power is characterized by a number of traits that can trace themselves back to the Second World War: unparalleled industrial capability, incredible logistics, the use of airpower as a panacea, allies as a tool rather than a partner, cultural isolation, technological solutionism, firepower as the first solution to tactical problems, and not a little amount of hubris and exceptionalism. We see all these being applied now during Trump’s war against Iran, but their threads run through most US military actions since 1945, including during “my” war in Afghanistan. In many ways, the United States is still attempting to apply the lessons learned during World War II to conflicts that are dramatically different in nature or scale....

The whole piece is well worth reading, but I particularly appreciated this part:

...We see all of this in full display right now, with Trump’s war with Iran. The United States launched extensive airstrikes against Iranian infrastructure and decapitation strikes against its leadership. Conventional Iranian military capabilities were wiped out and Trump himself was quick to claim a resounding victory. Yet the enemy has a vote and the American way of war was ill-suited to bring Iran to heel without an extensive, risky, and potentially expensive ground operation. Hubris and exceptionalism, personified by a strutting Pete Hegseth, waded in and failed to account for the Iranian regime’s resilience and ability to conduct unconventional warfare. Consequences and second- and third-order effects were obviously disregarded as Trump watched video of airstrike after airstrike. Today, though, “victory” seems far off.
This is because US strategy cannot work. Bombing alone has rarely, if ever, produced the clean political surrender American planners seem to expect from it, and the United States seems to have developed few other options. Iran has become the master at creating unintended consequences, both with its drone and missile strikes and with small-scale operations in the Strait of Hormuz. The United States has alienated its usual allies — allies that possess minesweeping capabilities beyond those possessed by the US Navy — and is left virtually alone confronting Iran....

Today's News: Go Habs Go! Welcoming our new Governor General. And marking Red Dress Day

Go Habs Go!

We're all getting set for Wednesday night!

The Montreal Canadiens are set to start their series against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday. To win this series, the Habs will need Cole Caufield to step up and be an X-factor. thesickpodcast.com/habs-round-2...

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— Nick (@nicklariviere25.bsky.social) May 5, 2026 at 6:27 PM

"May the Force be with you" and all the other stuff happening around Star Wars Day: Carney in Armenia, the PBO assessment, ICE on Canadians, Iran War, Met Gala, Star Wars, Kent State, Gordon Lightfoot, Habs Rule!

I hadn't realized so much was happening in the first few days of May: 

Carney is in Armenia

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Carney's speech:


TL,DW: DRM News reports "Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney addresses the European Political Community Summit in Armenia, highlighting Canada-Europe strategic ties, support for Ukraine, and a shifting global order. He emphasizes “strategic autonomy,” critical minerals, and defense cooperation, while warning that the international system is being reshaped by geopolitical and economic disruptions."

 

Sunday Funday: Sports Update, Wrapping up the Royal Visit, a bunch of good and funny posts. Plus NSFW, Getting Old(er), Carney Hat-Trick, TrumpWatch and Animal Crackers

Go Habs!  Go Raptors!

But win or lose, you both do Canada proud.

Sports Update

Outstanding!

RJ BARRETT "CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?"

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— CJ Fogler (@cjzero.bsky.social) May 1, 2026 at 8:29 PM

Canadians were really touched on Tuesday night when the Buffalo crowd sang our national anthem.

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Good reads: Dale Smith, John Ivison, Maggie Helwig, Tod Maffin, Paul Krugman, IFLOZ, James, Katharine Wilkinson, Sherman Alexie, Cole Haddon

Norman Rockwell's tribute to Carl Spitzweg's The Bookworm

Good reads about politics

Now that Carney has a majority, the Liberals were able to take control of Parliamentary Committees for the first time in seven years. And they immediately took away a platform for opposition grandstanding by moving the Ethics committee and the Health committee to closed-door sessions. From the reaction of opposition parties, you would think the sky had fallen:

Chantal Hébert on Liberals moving to go in camera in four committees: "Of all of the things you can think that were smart to do this week, getting a majority and using it to do this is probably one of the dumbest moves that one has seen in a long long time."

- Scott Robertson

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In Routine Proceedings, journalist Dale Smith writes:

....the two committees in question have been in the throes of attempted witch hunt studies that the Conservatives have been trying to orchestrate (with the gleeful assistance of the Bloc, who are happy to embarrass the government any day of the week)...
...Suffice to say, I’m not convinced that moving procedural wrangling in camera is a sign that democracy is under threat, and there was a whole lot of this very same thing when the Conservatives had a majority on committees (and they turned those committees into branch plants of ministers’ offices). They may try to cast themselves as heroes for inventing scandals, but I remain unconvinced that this is a danger to parliamentary democracy just yet.

Just a series of events - both unfortunate and fortunate: Alberta separatism, Jamel Jivani, Avi Lewis, Trump, Charles and Camilla, the DSRB, and Mr. Rogers

Today I found news all from all over.

To begin, here are some pretty unfortunate events.

First, Alberta separatists have just shown us all that their basic nature is deceit and underhandedness.

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The response from the Alberta Separatists was...well, unfortunate.

Zingers - from Carney, from Jeremy Hansen, from Calgarians, from Charlotte Clymer, from King Charles, from Gavin Newsom, and the 8647 meme

The news today was pretty grim - Iran War blockages until summer so the world economy is toast. But there were some pretty good "zingers" today too!

Carney in the House
"a premier who picks up my phone call" Ouch!

Pierre Poilievre: This Liberal PM has been wrong about every major economic issue of the last decade Mark Carney: Wrong on crypto, wrong on Brexit ... You know what this government is right on? Cooperative federalism. It's about working with Ontario -- a Premier that picks up my phone call

- Scott Robertson

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Today's News: King Charles' US Visit, Carney's Spring Economic Update. And hooray for the Buffalo Sabres!

King Charles' US Visit

Irony dies as King Charles speaks to Congress:

TL,DW: It was a good speech, apparently written at least partly by Charles himself. And both Democrats and Republicans enthusiastically applauded its themes of democracy, rule of law, diversity, integration, respect for all religions, service to the world, the importance of peace over war, and concern for the environment. In other words, everything Trump and all the Congressional Republicans have denied, trivialized, downgraded or trashed.

🔴 God Save the King. 👑 EPIC. 👌🏼 After spending an entire speech throwing subtle jabs at them, in that suave, diplomatic British style ... they cluelessly gave him multiple standing ovations. 😄

- Fun Tom

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