World Series opener viewers up 17.5% over last year’s low

Jets goaltender collects victory in first start for new team

He received the loudest ovation on the team before the puck had even been dropped, with chants of “Stuuuuu” ringing out inside Canada Life Centre during pre-game introductions.

And he heard the love time and time again — with each and every save, in fact — as the evening progressed.

Yes, the Stuart Skinner era is off to a strong start, as the new No. 1 man in net for the Winnipeg Jets made a great first impression on Monday in front of an announced crowd of 13,363.

Skinner stopped 31 of 32 shots he faced in a 3-1 pre-season victory for the Jets over a very young, inexperienced Colorado Avalanche squad.

World Series opener viewers up 17.5% over last year's low

HOUSTON (AP) — Atlanta’s 6-2 victory over Houston in Game 1 of the World Series drew an average of 10,811,000 viewers on Fox, up 17.5% from the record low of 9,195,000 for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ opening 8-3 win over Tampa Bay last year.

The Braves-Astros number was the second-lowest total to start a Series.

Tuesday night’s game averaged a 6.1 rating, 15 share on Fox. Fox said it averaged 11,077,000 viewers combined for Fox, Fox Deportes for Spanish-language coverage and Fox’s streaming apps. The game was the most-streamed World Series opener at 273,619, an increase of 82%.

Before last year, the low for a Game 1 had been San Francisco’s 7-1 win over Kansas City on Oct. 21, 2014, viewed by an average of 12,191,000 on a Tuesday night.

Bombers safety proof practice makes perfect

Redha Kramdi didn’t think he belonged in the CFL.

When he was a rookie in 2021, he vividly remembers watching tape of two of the best running backs in the league at the time — Ka’Deem Carey and William Stanback — and doubting whether he belonged on the same field as them.

“I told myself I’d never play in the CFL. The gap between U Sports and professional football is pretty huge,” said Kramdi, who was chosen in the second round, 16th overall, in the 2021 CFL Draft by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers out of the University of Montreal.

“I was watching them and was like, ‘This is too fast for me. People are too strong, too physically gifted. And the communication is on a level I’ll never attain in my life.’”

AC/DC leaves Winnipeg crowd thunderstruck

AC/DC proved once again that rock ‘n’ roll ain’t noise pollution.

A rowdy stadium of about 35,000 people at Princess Auto Stadium couldn’t agree more as the Australian rock legends made their first trip to the city since 2015 on their PWR/UP tour, cranking out two hours and 20 minutes of raw and raunchy high-voltage material, a mix of blues, crunchy power chords, melodic riffs and double entendres that spanned five decades.

Their wide-ranging appeal was apparent in the demographic makeup of the crowd, which ranged from young children to seniors, many clad in $30 glowing devil horns from the well-stocked merch booth that also offered posters, banners, beer koozies, lanyards, tour books and T-shirts.

There is no one in music quite like guitar god Angus Young. He is 71, but onstage he is ageless, a hyperactive teenager dressed in his signature blue schoolboy uniform and yellow and blue cap, running around, duck-walking and leaping in the air while cranking out riff after riff and extended solos on his trusty black Gibson SG.

Kinew, NDP rise to new heights in Free Press-Abacus Data poll; support for Khan, Tories falls further

Buoyed by a bump outside Winnipeg, support for Premier Wab Kinew’s NDP climbed to its highest level yet, while the Tories lost some ground.

Hellebuyck standoff caused by… Nathan MacKinnon?

Looking for someone to blame in the Connor Hellebuyck fiasco and cast as public enemy No. 1? How about long-time Winnipeg Jets nemesis Nathan MacKinnon?

Allow us to explain as we fire up the time machine and head back to February in Italy.

Oh, what could have been if MacKinnon had been able to score on what appeared to be an open net late in the third period of the men’s gold medal game with Hellebuyck down and seemingly out of position.

Instead, the star forward fired wide, keeping the score deadlocked at 1-1 as the clock ticked down on regulation.