Fleury’s Icy Feelings Keep Him in the News

Line up for your hockey fix.

But instead of watching, you will have to read the fascinating details of the Canadian national senior men’s hockey tournament, the Allan Cup, being played in Lloydminster.

Lloydminster, by the way, is in two provinces, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

So there have been rumors about high salaries, bodies flying and from the sound of it, some fairly decent hockey. Theo Fleury, whose most recent NHL team was the Chicago Blackhawks, denied that he was getting $100,000 to play for the Horse Lake Thunder, an Alberta team on an Indian reservation.

Add Thunder: Fleury created a flurry of news before his first game in the tournament, saying he was “almost” tempted to return his Olympic gold medal because of the way the Thunder has been treated this season.

“The one thing that’s really bothered me through this whole thing is the prejudice, still, in this country when it comes to native people,” he said in an Edmonton Sun report. “I’ve seen it firsthand in every building we go into, how these people are treated, and it’s absolutely embarrassing to be a Canadian and know that stuff is still going on.”

Add 2 Thunder: The Thunder put the hurt on Lloydminster on the scoreboard, 9-2, and on the medical chart, injuring several players.

The coach of their next opponent was a little concerned.

“We joked about it for 24 hours, that we’d have an ambulance lined up outside,” Meryl Stewart, coach of the St. John Cobras, told the Sun. “We didn’t come here scared, but we saw what went on and they have some big guys.”

Trivia time: How many faceoff spots are on an NHL rink?

No way: Former Detroit Piston center Bill Laimbeer recalled his playing days, acknowledging to the Chicago Tribune that he still holds some grudges.

“There are many players that I used to play against -- [Larry] Bird -- we won’t speak to each other,” he said.

Derby day: ESPN television soccer analyst Eric Wynalda, who played in three World Cups for the United States, is very familiar with intra-city soccer wars, having played professionally in Mexico and Germany.

Wynalda will be working tonight’s Galaxy-Chivas game on ESPN2, and spoke about the potential of the rivalry.

“I hope that this is the kind of rivalry that means a lot to the fans,” he said. “But I hope it never escalates to something similar to Glasgow’s Celtic-Rangers rivalry in Scotland. Obviously, that brings religion into the equation [Catholics tend to support Celtic, Protestants the Rangers], which makes for a bit of madness.... With time, you can equate Chivas-Galaxy to some of the big rivalries in Mexico City and Guadalajara.”

Crystal ball: Wynalda put himself on the line with this prediction of the four-game season series: “The Galaxy will win two, tie one, and lose one.”

Trivia answer: Nine.

And finally: Chelsea Coach Jose Mourinho, after a long season of British soccer, told reporters: “The moral of the story is not to listen to those who tell you not to play the violin, but stick to the tambourine.”