Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week they discuss Russias mens hockey team, the ineptitude of the IOC handling the Nicklas Backstrom situation, John Tortorellas many apologies, and Canadas strong showing in curling. Bruce Arthur, National Post My thumb is down to Russias national mens hockey program, which is still making reverberations a week after Sochi. After falling in the quarter-finals for the second straight Olympics, Russias NHL stars came back angry. As Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote, Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechkin were unhappy for many reasons, but most of all resented the programs bias towards KHL players, which greatly distorted playing time, pairings, strategy, and felt like a punishment to Russian stars who dont play at home. Russia was one of the worlds great hockey powers, and a worthy rival to Canada; now its a mess, riven by petty rivalries. Its a shame, really. The Russians havent won a best-on-best tournament since the 1981 Canada Cup, and somehow they feel further away than ever. Steve Simmons, SUN Media My thumb is down to the International Olympic Committee for the mess it made of the Nicklas Backstrom gold medal game allergy pill fiasco. As a member of Swedens hockey delegation said, the IOC destroyed one of the greatest days in Olympic hockey history for the country. Backstrom, who did test positive for pseudo-ephedrine, didnt disagree with that assessment. The IOC first tested Backstrom last Wednesday. In the three days that followed, they never did do a second test. The Swedish team was not informed of Backstroms status until two hours before game time. Now dont get me wrong, the Swedes could have had Nicklas Backstrom, Ralph Backstrom, and all the Backstroms you can name available for the gold medal game and the result wouldnt have been different. What they didnt need was an unnecessary disruption, born of IOC ineptitude. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated My thumb is down to John Tortorella, not for his most recent apology but for the continual need to apologize. This time, the Canucks coach launched into a mea culpa after saying he favored Sweden in the Sochi final because he wanted his Swedish Olympians - Daniel Sedin and Alex Edler - to return with smiles on their faces. Tortorella wears blinders. Professionally, he sees the small picture, nothing beyond his team. Belatedly, of course, he grasped context - Vancouver … Canada. So four weeks after apologizing for losing his mind between periods against Calgary, he again was at a microphone wearing a hair shirt and a tight expression. Thats Tortorella, the never-ending sorry. Dave Hodge, TSN My thumb is up to the excellence shown by Canadas Gold-medalists in curling - Jennifer Jones and her rink from Winnipeg and Brad Jacobs and his rink from Sault Ste. Marie. We used to take for granted Canadas worldwide dominance in curling, and then we didnt, because as good as the Canadians continued to be, several other countries showed they were capable of winning world titles. Not that Jones and Jacobs allow Canada to rest on its laurels, but the Sochi results were very impressive, and hows this for proof of Canadas wealth of curling talent - the Brier is underway in Kamloops and the field is strong with Jeff Stoughton, Kevin Koe, John Morris, and Brad Gushue. And imagine talking about a strong field that doesnt include Jacobs, Glenn Howard and Kevin Martin. Andrew Ladd Jersey . - Veteran Kings defenceman Robyn Regehr, sidelined since Game 1 of the Anaheim series, says hes close to returning. Mike Bossy Islanders Jersey . Heck, we might just miss the BCS. Maybe? It sort of worked out this season. Top-ranked Florida State (13-0) was the only team to get through the regular season unbeaten, and the Seminoles did it in dominating fashion. http://www.islanderssale.com/authentic-clark-gillies-islanders-jersey/ . Jones, from Winnipeg, built a 3-0 advantage after three ends by scoring two in the second and one in the third. Chinas skip Bingyu Wang cut that lead to 3-1 in the fourth before Canada added another three in the fifth for a 6-1 lead. Denis Potvin Jersey . This is an exercise I have undertaken a few times, starting in 2009, and hope that Ive refined my approach a little bit in that time to help paint a better picture. Adam Pelech Jersey .The rookie goalie made 36 saves to help the Calgary Flames blank their Pacific Division rivals 1-0 on Saturday following a 48-hour ordeal that included lost baggage, a cancelled flight and a new pair of contact lenses.After coming up short in his quest for a gold medal in Sochi, Olympic silver medallist Patrick Chan isnt sure about his future in figure skating. At a press conference after the event, Chan was asked whether he was going to skate in the world championships next month in Japan, where he would be going for a fourth consecutive title. He was non-committal in his response. "I dont know if I could go to another one now. Im pretty exhausted," Chan said. It definitely does drain you and you lose perspective." Chan told CBCs Olympic Daytime that all hes focused on is enjoying the rest of the Games. "Right now I have in mind this hockey game Im going to, USA-Russia, and enjoying my time here and celebrating with my teammates," he said. "Were young, we have a lot ahead in our lives, but were going to remember this moment together." Chan was just behind 19-year-old Japanese phenom Yuzuru Hanyu after the mens short program was completed, essentially making it a two-man race for the gold medal. The door swung wide open for Chan after Hanyu stumbled through his long program. Skating immediately after Hanyuu, Chan looked to be on his way to gold after landing his first quad.dddddddddddd. But the three-time reigning world champion stumbled through the rest of his program and couldnt overtake Hanyu, finishing the long program with a score of 178.10, behind Hanyus 178.64. That left Chan with the silver for the second consecutive Olympics. Though the disappointment was palpable, Chan remained positive, and continued to speak in terms of his overall career. "For the first time I can say Im a seven-time national champion, three-time world champion, [and] two-time silver medallist at the Olympic Games and thats huge," he said. "I dont know any other skater who has done that. Its a tremendous career. "I dont want to look at the medals and successes Ive had, I want to look at how Ive changed the sport." No Canadian man has ever won a singles gold in Olympic figure skating. Brian Orser won silver in 1984 and again in 1988, the latter of which saw him edged by a tenth of a point by American Brian Boitano. Elvis Stojko, a three-time world champion as well, won Olympic silver twice, in 1994 and 1998. ' ' '