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Gary Lawless
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Bogosian too important an asset to let slip away
Jets fans who own a Zach Bogosian jersey don't need to panic over the lack of a new contract. He's going to be with the Jets and likely for a long time. The spectre of an offer-sheet, a hold out or even a trade will loom until he's signed but with both sides motivated to reach a pact, the odds on it not getting done are next to none.View Full Column | 7:23 AM | 0
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Mack, Burke give each other room to do their jobs
The give and take between Joe Mack and Tim Burke is perhaps the most important thing the Blue Bombers have going, and with each day it moves toward a more productive place. GM and head coach don't have to like one another, although in this case they do, but they need to respect the other and allow him room to work.View Full Column | 06/18/2013 1:00 AM | 0
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What a knockout!
Dana White spilled an energy drink all over downtown Winnipeg last night and then stood back to watch it bubble and fizz and infect the collective bloodstream of our downtown. Call it MMA mayhem. Call it UFC ferocity. Call it Winnipeg on steroids and speed.View Full Column | 06/16/2013 1:00 AM | 0
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UFC 161 a smash success
Dana White spilled an energy drink all over downtown Winnipeg last night and then stood back to watch it bubble and fizz and infect the collective bloodstream of our downtown. Call it MMA mayhem. Call it UFC ferocity. Call it Winnipeg on steroids and speed.View Full Column | 06/16/2013 12:46 AM | 0
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Tough-talking UFC president Dana White is widely considered the MVP of his sport
Polite and cautious are not part of Dana White's act. He runs right up to reckless before easing off the verbal gas and keeping him and his sport out of trouble. "It's f ing mayhem," answered UFC president White to a question put his way regarding a programming issue he's trying to fix.View Full Column | 06/14/2013 7:21 AM | 0
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At least stadium rocks
It's a lot more fashion than function in Bomberland right now. Everything looks good, but nothing works just right. It was evident both on and off the field that the Blue Bombers are a work in progress as an organization.View Full Column | 06/13/2013 1:00 AM | 0
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Nice new digs, but Buchko has work to do
It’s a lot more fashion than function in Bomberland right now. Everything looks good, but nothing works just right. It was evident both on and off the field that the Blue Bombers are a work in progress as an organization.View Full Column | 06/12/2013 11:15 PM | 0
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Is Hefney worth the gamble?
Maybe GM Joe Mack and head coach Tim Burke are standing by a troubled player in his time of need. Or maybe they're waiting for poor play to be the reason they cut Jonathan Hefney. From poor performance, to Twitter idiocy, to putting himself before the team, Hefney has helped build a case against himself. But if Mack and Burke want to give a veteran and one-time contributor another chance to show his worth on the field, that's their right.View Full Column | 06/12/2013 6:31 AM | 0
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Bigger Byfuglien in no shape for a trade
Dustin Byfuglien is going to be mentioned in trade talks as the NHL draft draws closer and the talking point that will be raised again and again is his weight. It was evident Byfuglien grew heavier this season as the games moved on and according to accredited Jets blogger Pete Tessier, the player's weight rose to 302 pounds by season's end.View Full Column | 06/11/2013 9:31 AM | 0
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Hainsey unlikely to stay with Jets
Unrestricted free agency is the holy grail for a players' association in any sport, so to have one of its leaders spurn the opportunity just wouldn't wash with the rank and file. Ron Hainsey's role with the NHLPA almost makes it a requirement that he test the free agent market on July 5.View Full Column | 06/8/2013 1:00 AM | 0
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Freight train at fullback
The first thing you notice about Carl Fitzgerald is his colossal size. Huge hands, huge legs, huge chest. He's, well, huge. At 6-5, 240 pounds, Fitzgerald is nowhere near the biggest of the Blue Bombers but he's the largest man to play his position in these parts since Mike Sellers lined up in the backfield.View Full Column | 05/31/2013 7:53 AM | 0
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If Noel's the guy, Jets need to say so
Bringing Claude Noel back to coach the Winnipeg Jets this season without a contract extension won't work. Either give him another year or do the humane thing and fire him. Putting Noel back behind the bench in the final year of his three-year contract is an invitation to disaster -- especially with this group of players.View Full Column | 05/29/2013 1:00 AM | 0
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Fish, fans whoop it up big-time at Shaw Park
Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks manager Doug Simunic likes to kid Goldeyes play-by-play man Paul Edmonds that he often listens to Goldeyes radio broadcasts from his office down in Fargo. "Without the radio," snips Simunic. If the venerable RedHawks skip was listening Monday night he'd have done his best to tune Edmonds out. The Goldeyes kicked off their American Association banner-raising ceremony with a film of last year's highlights and the enthusiastic Edmonds had all the calls providing Winnipeg's soundtrack of a championship.View Full Column | 05/28/2013 1:00 AM | 0
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Yep, new stadium a beauty all right
Back in 2006 at the last Grey Cup this city hosted, lots of out-of-town guests were badmouthing our football stadium. It was impossible to argue with them. The old stadium had become an embarrassment. It wasn't the calling card this innovative, resilient and authentic city deserves.View Full Column | 05/25/2013 1:00 AM | 0
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Vigneault will be a man in demand
The Vancouver Canucks are a poorer team and organization today for having fired head coach Alain Vigneault. Rather than solve a problem in Vancouver, GM Mike Gillis has only added to the list of woes his team currently endures. On top of the rapidly widening cracks in the roster, the team is now down a preeminent NHL head coach. Subtracting Vigneault from the organization only made the Canucks weaker.View Full Column | 05/23/2013 1:00 AM | 0
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Burmistrov wants out of Winnipeg
Maybe it's posturing, maybe it's reality, but at this juncture it doesn't appear Alex Burmistrov is prepared to extend his time with the Winnipeg Jets. Two league sources have told the Free Press Burmistrov, due to become a restricted free agent on July 5, has no intention of re-signing with the Jets.View Full Column | 05/22/2013 8:16 PM | 0
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Ex-Jets MacLean, Carlyle on Sochi coaching list
There's going to be at least one opening on Team Canada's coaching staff for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and a pair of former Winnipeg Jets are legitimate candidates. Ottawa Senators bench boss Paul MacLean and Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle will both get attention from Team Canada GM Steve Yzerman and his head coach when they get around to putting together a staff.View Full Column | 05/18/2013 1:00 AM | 0
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King's quest is to repeat
Hangovers come in all shapes and sizes. From movies, to self-inflicted, to the Stanley Cup version. The Los Angeles Kings have been in on two of the above but are furiously attempting to avoid the third. Most hockey fans have seen members of the Kings, including Winkler's Dustin Penner, play cameo roles in TSN's version of The Hangover. And we're not going out on too much of a limb in guessing there were some sore heads after Stanley Cup parties last summer.View Full Column | 05/17/2013 1:00 AM | 0
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Burke will be back; he's just that good
Brian BURKE didn't watch. Maybe he couldn't. Maybe it would have hurt too much. Burke landed in Toronto on Wednesday after an 18-day road trip that took him first to Afghanistan, where he regularly visits the troops, and then Helsinki and Stockholm to scout for the Anaheim Ducks at the IIHF World Hockey Championship.View Full Column | 05/16/2013 1:00 AM | 0
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Goldeyes general glowing
Relaxed is not a way Rick Forney has often been described in his seven-plus years managing the Winnipeg Goldeyes. Funny what a championship will do. Smiling, gracious and at ease on the cusp of jamming 100 baseball games into 109 days, Forney had the look of a champion about him as he settled into his office last week.View Full Column | 05/15/2013 1:00 AM | 0
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When money talks, it says, 'End fighting in the NHL'
The moral argument long ago should have persuaded the NHL to ban bare-knuckle fist fighting from its game, but soon the economic reality will do the job. Gary Bettman and Bill Daly were high-priced lawyers in another life and they were good at what they did. Good enough to know that someday they'll have to remove fighting from the game of hockey. It's just going to become too expensive to defend.View Full Column | 05/14/2013 1:00 AM | 0
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Playing safe: Brendan Shanahan might have the toughest job in the NHL — protecting the players from themselves
The passion in most hockey fans will rarely allow them to look at the suspension of one of their players in a cold and clinical manner. But that's exactly how NHL vice-president of player safety Brendan Shanahan and his department must approach supplemental disciplineView Full Column | 05/11/2013 1:00 AM | 0
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Scheifele’s dominance makes Jets look wise
GOLFING, fishing, picking out china patterns — who knows what most of the Winnipeg Jets are up to these days? But one of their future teammates is getting better with each passing game. Mark Scheifele is pushing and dragging his Barrie Colts toward an Ontario Hockey League championship and a berth in Saskatoon’s Memorial Cup. He’s playing hockey deep into May and thriving in the most competitive atmosphere his level has to offer.View Full Column | 05/10/2013 7:58 AM | 0
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Chevy's choice: Stick with Noel or pursue Vigneault
NO one but GM Kevin Cheveldayoff and members of his inner circle know how the Winnipeg Jets feel about their coach Claude Noel right now. But if Alain Vigneault finds himself on the street in the coming days, the mystery may end. Cheveldayoff needs to determine whether Noel has overachieved with a subpar roster or held back his team with poor coaching. At this point, the answer is not clearly evident.View Full Column | 05/9/2013 7:48 AM | 0
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Chevy's choice
No one but GM Kevin Cheveldayoff and members of his inner circle know how the Winnipeg Jets feel about their coach Claude Noel right now. But if Alain Vigneault finds himself on the street in the coming days, the mystery may end. Cheveldayoff needs to determine whether Noel has overachieved with a subpar roster or held back his team with poor coaching. At this point, the answer is not clearly evident.View Full Column | 05/9/2013 1:00 AM | 0
About Gary Lawless
Gary Lawless is the Free Press sports columnist and co-host of the Hustler and Lawless show on TSN 1290 Winnipeg and www.winnipegfreepress.com
Lawless began covering sports as a rookie reporter at The Chronicle-Journal in Thunder Bay after graduating from journalism school at Durham College in Ontario.
After a Grey Cup winning stint with the Toronto Argonauts in the communications department, Lawless returned to Thunder Bay as sports editor.
In 1999 he joined the Free Press and after working on the night sports desk moved back into the field where he covered pro hockey, baseball and football beats prior to being named columnist.
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