This morning, the WNBA officially announced an expansion to Toronto. This will be the first Canadian team on a circuit that is currently booming in popularity.
The wave of new recruits to the circuit, led by Caitlin Clark, is giving the league wings.
Justin Trudeau was on hand this morning for the occasion, and took the opportunity to praise the work of the WNBA commissioner, noting that she was “bigger than Gary Bettman”.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s got jokes about Gary Bettman 😂 pic.twitter.com/aM8wcR8HGS
– TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 23, 2024
It was a joke meant to be, I daresay, harmless… but it didn’t go over well with everyone.
Of the lot, Renaud Lavoie, who simply can’t believe it, as he gossiped during his appearance on JiC tonight:
After that, you want a club in Quebec City. You want hockey in Canada to work and you want the NHL to love Canada. – Renaud Lavoie
Check out @renlavoietva and @JiCLajoie ‘s body check👇https://t.co/PWac59F24H
– TVA Sports (@TVASports) May 23, 2024
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Clearly, the tipster isn’t convinced this was the right thing to do, especially since he adds that Trudeau “gets indignant all the time when a bad word is said about someone.”
I’m going to agree with Lavoie on this one: was it really necessary to make such a comment? It seems a bit more clumsy than anything else, even if it was meant to be inoffensive.
I wonder how Bettman took it this morning. Was he really offended by it, or did he find a way to laugh it off?
And above all, will it really change anything in his relationship with Canada (and, eventually, in the case of the return of a team to Quebec City)?
Perhaps the Prime Minister feels it’s better to put his eggs in the professional basketball basket than the professional hockey one. There’s only one team in Toronto at the moment, but remember that for the WNBA franchise, games will be played in Montreal and Vancouver during the team’s first season, in 2026.
In bursts
– The talk continues.
Would you like to see Martin Necas in a Canadiens uniform next season? 🏒 pic.twitter.com/l4Oj03tbeK
– L’Antichambre (@Antichambre) May 23, 2024
– Notice to interested parties.
Great, good big debate tomorrow on my show at 12:20am with Alex and Tony! Be there!!! Topic: Is Montreal a sports city? https://t.co/b36mwcBWUS
– Georges Laraque (@GeorgesLaraque) May 23, 2024
– A rather unusual situation.
Hats off to @Sportsnet colleagues for showing the Jays while a power outage rendered the TV trucks inoperable :
– internal stadium signal (limited realization and LOTS of fan footage)
– describer+analyst on the phone 5 seconds ahead of the picture– Sébastien Goulet (@SebGouletTVAS) May 23, 2024