Just two weeks into the NFL season, my beloved San Francisco 49ers already have more wins than my equally beloved Hamilton Tiger-Cats have-- in 11 tries. Moreover, the 49ers have shown some pretty impressive stones, winning both games by a combined four points. Alex Smith still looks fairly Alex Smith-ian, but this team is getting the job done so far, and I couldn’t be happier. Somewhat incredibly, there are nine other team in the NFL that have opened the season at 2-0. While the unbeaten starts from Indianapolis and New England, and to a lesser degree Denver and Pittsburgh are no surprise, the 2-0 starts from Houston, Green Bay, and Detroit are from as far out of left field as possible. And outside of Washington and Dallas, it’s hard to imagine many folks thought the Cowboys and Redskins would be out of the gat so hot. A tip of the hat to all of these teams.
Some picks:
In CFL action this week, Calgary visits Hamilton Friday night to start the week. Lord knows the Tiger-Cats are the worst team in organized football this year, and one player does not make a team. But with another week to absorb the playbook, and another week to get used to his receivers (and having to avoid the rush his offensive line will allow every time he drops back to pass), Casey Printers will lead the Cats to victory.
On Saturday, the Roughriders, having dropped their last two games, find themselves suddenly behind BC in the standings. No excuses for the Roughriders in this one. They win, or they concede the division (also, with a loss and a Calgary win, the Riders will fall to third in the West). After some growing pains, the defending champion Lions have regained their rightful spot atop the league’s standings, and aren’t likely to give it back any time soon.
Edmonton is in Montreal to kick off the Sunday double-header. Though Eskimos fans are ready for heads to roll, the Esks are still sitting in a playoff spot right now, and haven’t been playing all that poorly this season. Montreal is keeping mum about their starting quarterback for this week’s game, but it’s not really going to matter. Edmonton is getting close to locking up the crossover spot.
Lastly, Winnipeg is in Toronto to dismantle the Argos. Can’t really see much of any way this game goes well for Toronto.
In NFL action:
In Baltimore, a pair of 1-1 teams that dropped their opener, but won their home opener in week two, and have both scored and given up exactly 40 points will do battle. It’s an interesting and hope-filled kind of season for both Baltimore and Arizona, but hope is about all the Cards have. Ravens win.
San Diego travels to Green Bay to put an end to the Packers’ perfect start.
Tampa Bay hosts St. Louis, and remain my sleeper pick to be way better than any of the magazines thought they’d be. The Bucs won convincingly against New Orleans last week, and should be able to beat a Rams team that can’t seem to decide if they’re coming or going.
Pittsburgh hosts San Francisco, with two dominant wins in their pocket, and a stingy defense that’s only allowed 10 points through two games. This number is important because the 49ers rank last in total offense. This one could get ugly for the 49ers, but as always, blind faith says they’ll win.
Detroit is in Philadelphia, where the Eagles are not only a shocking 0-2, but also they’re coming off a week in which their quarterback said some pretty stupid things to the press. Can’t say for certain if we’ll see a galvanized and unbeatable Eagles club, or an Eagles side that’s already beaten itself. But I wouldn’t bet against the latter.
The Jets host Miami, and the Dolphins look every bit the train wreck they’ve been lately, and more. And while both teams are winless, the Jets got spanked by New England and lost by a major in Baltimore, while the Dolphins are the reason the Redskins and Cowboys are 2-0. Jets by a wide margin.
New England doesn’t need to cheat to beat Buffalo. In fact, the defending high school city champions here in Calgary might even cover the spread against Buffalo.
Kansas City hosts Minnesota in battle between chic pre-season sleepers. Both teams have been wildly disappointing so far, and while the Chiefs will probably come away with a win, both teams will remain very disappointing.
Indianapolis will beat Houston. As an aside, talking heads all over the place are pumping this game up, but I refuse to. When they meet again in week 16, if they’re both 14-0, then we can hype this matchup. As is, I see no way the Texans enter that game better than 8-6, while it’s hard to imagine the Colts worse than 12-2. But hey, if the Texans still have a shot at the division title in week 16, I will write a blog entry every single day about that game, during the five weekdays leading up to it.
Unlike the above game, Cincinnati at Seattle could actually have a big impact on these teams’ seasons. Neither team can afford to fall too far behind in their divisions, and with the leaders of their respective divisions playing each other, this is a good week to gain some ground. Also, both teams fancy themselves contenders, and contenders don’t start 1-2.
The Browns will beat Oakland.
Another big game in Denver. The Broncos are a little bit surprising at 2-0, and the Jaguars want to prove they’re the real deal. No better way to show you’re for real than to beat Denver in Denver. I see it happening.
Don’t be alarmed, but the Washington Redskins are about to open the season 3-0.
Carolina will beat Atlanta.
Chicago has to turn this thing around, don’t they? We’ll see. This is a very cautious Chicago pick.
And the Saints aren’t going to lose their home opener, on a Monday night, after an 0-2 start. Not if they’re actually anything more than paper tigers.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
One step forward, two steps back; just life in the Central
While Columbus continues to build, St. Louis and Chicago continue to rebuild, and Nashville starts to rebuild, the Detroit Red Wings will once again be the biggest fish in the small Central Division tank. If St. Louis, Chicago or Nashville gets hot and starts to pile up points within the division, they could all make a run at the post-season, but it’s not likely. The Central will probably only send the Red Wings to the playoffs this year.
DETROIT RED WINGS
New gear: No significant changes in the Motor City. The Wings will look as they always have, with two minor exceptions. They’ve moved the captain’s C to the other side. It’s a nice touch, and something they’ve done in the past. So no one can get too upset about that. They’ve also gone to straight lines in the elbow piping, where there used to be a little half-moon before. In six months, no one will miss the half-moon.
New year: The Wings head into the 2008 season facing more uncertainty than usual. Gone are Robert Lang, Mathieu Schneider and Danny Markov, with no immediate replacements lined up. Newcomer Brian Rafalski brings a winning pedigree from New Jersey, and either paired with Nicklas Lidstrom, or anchoring a second unit with Chris Chelios, should be able to help his new squad maintain a level of defensive excellence.
Up front, the Wings feel the oft-injured Lang will not be missed. Henrik Zetterberg has emerged as one of the league’s top two-way threats, and he will be asked to produce at a pace near Pavel Datsyuk’s. Datsyuk is coming off his second-consecutive season with 87 points. The truly pleasantly surprised aspect is the fact Datsyuk’s plus/minus rating has improved from minus-2 before the lockout, to plus-26 two seasons ago, to plus-36 last season. These two players are the key to any success the Wings hope to have in the near future.
In Lang’s absence, the Wings will look to Jiri Hudler to finally blossom into the offensive force he’s been at every other level. The diminutive Czech recorded 25 points and a plus-16 rating while averaging just 10 minutes of ice time last season, his first full season in the NHL.
Dan Cleary was a nice surprise for the Wings last season, and they’d like to hope he can pull another 40-point rabbit from his hat. Meanwhile, Thomas Holmstrom and Mikael Samuelsson will continue to be invaluable contributors.
Dominik Hasek appears ready to return for another run with the Wings. The importance of his ability to work with the revamped defense corps in front of him can’t be over-stated. If Hasek can’t play to the level he did last season, the Wings may be in trouble this year.
Outlook: With the fire sale in Nashville, the Red Wings no longer face a real threat in the Central Division. The Wings have long feasted on their weaker Central Division brethren and this season should be no exception. Frankly, heading into the season, the Wings’ schedule reads like that of a top-25 NCAA football team’s. 3rd in West, 102 points.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
New gear: These new jerseys have taken a lot of heat in the areas of the Internet I inhabit, but I think most of it is unfounded (aside from the mockery of the white blocks at the bottom of the sleeves on the dark jersey). The Preds have kept the silver stripe running the length of the sleeve, which looks great on both the home and road unis. And they were subtle with their use of the piping running up the chest. Full marks.
New year: New goalie, new captain, new top defenseman and a new top scorer are four things the Nashville Predators will have this season. The departures of Tomas Vokoun, Kimmo Timonen and Paul Kariya may signal the end of the Predators window to win a Stanley Cup. But it’s not the end of the world in the Music City. Not by a long shot.
Probable new captain David Legwand collected a career-high 63 points last season, with the possibility of reaching even loftier heights this season. Jason Arnott and J.P. Dumont now have a full season in coach Barry Trotz’s system under their belts, and should contribute even more this season. Martin Erat’s career-high 57 points last season came despite missing 14 games. And Alexander Radulov’s development should carry him into the 60-point range this season.
On the back end, we all knew Dan Hamhuis, Ryan Suter and Shea Weber were the future of the franchise on defense. Their time has now come, and there’s no reason to think they won’t be ready. Marek Zidlicky is still in the mix, and this group should remain among the best in the league.
The Preds have some new veterans in the fold, all of whom will be expected to contribute in different ways. Martin Gelinas will be expected to produce 50 points or so. Radek Bonk is still a very valuable shut-down centre, and he anchored a very good Montreal penalty kill during the last two seasons. And Greg de Vries will be asked to help make sure the youth isn’t over their head, or pushed around, on defense.
The biggest impact will come from Chris Mason. Though not a newcomer, Mason is new to the starting role, and doesn’t have a lot of backup (which reeks of Dumont to Montreal for Halak or Huet). Mason performed very well filling in for an injured Vokoun last season, but it remains to be seen if he can handle full-time duty over the course of a full season.
Outlook: It’s basically all going to fall on Mason’s shoulders, which is wildly unfair. Even if this team can get past the ownership distractions, they’ll have plenty to deal with on the ice. The sky in Nashville isn’t falling quite so badly as everyone wants to think it is. But clearly, this team faces a much lower ceiling of expectations this year. 9th in West, 90 points.
ST. LOUIS BLUES
New gear: They still use the nicest shade of blue known to man, and from a distance these jerseys aren’t so bad. But God forbid you ever run into someone wearing one on the street. Some teams (like Nashville) made great use of the piping, and some teams (like the Blues) did not. That said, this could have gone much, much worse.
New Year: First of all, I love the “We want you back” ticket campaign, and I love the “Whatever it takes” slogan. And you’ve gotta figure any team that brings Paul Kariya in during the off-season should see an improvement the next season. With Kariya, Keith Tkachuk and Martin Rucinsky, the Blues have a strong left side.
Doug Weight and Petr Cajanek are solid centre men, while David Backes opened some eyes during his rookie campaign last season. Assuming Backes and Lee Stempniak (quietest 52 points in league history) continue to develop, the Blues will have some offensive firepower that other teams will have to respect.
The blues even have a pretty sturdy blue line corps with Eric Brewer, Christian Backman, Barret Jackman and Jay McKee (when healthy). This group made great strides last season after Andy Murray took over as head coach, and there’s no reason to think they won’t continue to improve.
The Blues are backstopped by Manny Legace again, but the goaltending competition will be wide open in camp. Any and all of Legace, Hannu Toivonen, Jason Bacashihua, Curtis Sanford and Marek Schwarz will see time between the pipes in St. Louis this season in an effort to find a full-time puck stopper.
Outlook: The Blues are a long shot to make the post-season, and will probably give many of their interesting prospects a look throughout the season. This team wasn’t a whole lot better after Murray took over the coaching job, but they were more consistent. If the Blues continue to play consistent hockey, they could finish near the top of the bottom of the pile. 10th in West, 90 points.
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
New gear: Like the Red Wings, yet another lesson in “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The Blackhawks have always had, and probably will always have the most perfect uniforms in all of hockey. Even if the Hawks have drawn fewer fans in the last few seasons than the AHL Wolves have, the city would probably riot if they’d changed this 40-year old logo.
New Year: I see a big jump in points for Chicago this year, even though that won’t translate to a big jump in the standings. After a stunning performance at the World Junior Championship last season, Toews had a stellar finish to the NCAA season (33 points in 21 games), then put on an eye-opening performance at the World Championships in May. It was the kind of performance you simply can’t ignore. Toews is the future of the Blackhawks, and that future starts now.
Toews will likely be joined by June’s first-overall pick Patrick Kane, and perhaps the Hawks’ first-round pick from 2005 Jack Skille, as the Hawks look to fast-track the development of these promising youngsters. Doing so helped with young defensemen Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Cam Barker, all of whom were top-four defensemen last season. Keith was Chicago’s ice-time leader, logging 23:36 a night, and also finished with an even plus-minus rating. With James Wisniewski and Dustin Byfuglien filling out the top five, the Hawks are relatively set on the back end.
The key is getting offensive help for Martin Havlat. The flashy Czech had 57 points in 56 games last season. With no outside forces, a full and healthy season from Havlat is worth three or four wins. With Robert Lang in the fold, the Hawks have a veteran with lots of playoff experience in Detroit, and a valuable asset in the dressing room. With Sergei Samsonov, the Hawks have a guy that will be as good or bad as he wants to be. If he’s motivated, he could help lead a very surprising turnaround for Chicago this year.
More likely though, is the chance Samsonov teams up with goalie Nik Khabibulin to sit around enjoying all the money they have, and not paying attention to the game they’re playing to get that cash. Much like Samsonov, Khabibulin is as good as he wants to be.
Outlook: If Toews, Kane and Skille all make the team out of camp, and if they can form a solid second line, and if Samsonov and Lang have it in them, and if Khabibulin plays out of his mind, the Blackhawks could make the playoffs. This team is starting to pile up prospects just like their opponent in the 1992 Stanley Cup final recently did, and may have an equally dramatic turnaround, just not this season. 11th in West, 85 points.
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
New gear: Gone are the silly bee mascot, and the CBJ logo. The new logo, which had been used recently as the alternate logo, gives a hefty nod to Ohio’s status as the birthplace of flight, is excellent. But it just doesn’t seem to synch up with the new jersey design. These new threads are sharp, but I yearn for the Jackets’ striping of old.
New year: Considering the Jackets’ 33 wins in 2007 were something of an overachievement, and the roster is returning pretty well intact, it’s hard to imagine the Jackets getting out of the Western Conference cellar this season.
Newcomers Mike Peca, Kris Beech and Jan Hejda are normally the kinds of players a team adds when they’re close to competing. If Peca can stay healthy, he can log third-line minutes and kill penalties with some effectiveness. But to ask Peca to carry any of the offensive load is to ask too much.
Beech is another solid defensive forward, but he notched a mere 26 points in Washington last season, playing either with Alex Ovechkin, or against other team’s secondary defensive units. Beech isn’t exactly Art Ross material. And Hejda spent part of last season in the minor leagues.
The Jackets still need Ron Hainsey and Rostislav Klesla to log more than 20 minutes a night, and Adam Foote is well past his prime. That didn’t stop him from approaching 25 minutes a game last season. Columbus doesn’t have a single blue-chip blue line prospect. Until the defense gets better, this team will continue to spin its wheels.
At the draft this past June, the Jackets selected power forward Jakub Voracek, who cashed in on a tremendous rookie year in the QMJHL. Voracek could become a player in the Peter Forsberg mould, or he will regress after one year in junior hockey. He’ll get every chance to make the big club out of camp, and if he does, he’ll be asked to take on a big offensive role. Perhaps even playing alongside David Vyborny, and seeing top minutes.
If he’d been teammates with the Rocket, Rick Nash’s Rocket Richard Trophy win couldn’t seem to have been longer ago. Nash must either find a way to become a consistent 80-point producer, or become a defensive stalwart and team leader with second-line scoring ability.
Outlook: The fact Jody Shelley still has a spot on this team speaks volumes to the overall depth the Jackets have. Another 30-win season isn’t out of the question. But the bigger question is whether or not the next 30-win season will happen in the next five years. 14th in West, 73 points
DETROIT RED WINGS
New gear: No significant changes in the Motor City. The Wings will look as they always have, with two minor exceptions. They’ve moved the captain’s C to the other side. It’s a nice touch, and something they’ve done in the past. So no one can get too upset about that. They’ve also gone to straight lines in the elbow piping, where there used to be a little half-moon before. In six months, no one will miss the half-moon.
New year: The Wings head into the 2008 season facing more uncertainty than usual. Gone are Robert Lang, Mathieu Schneider and Danny Markov, with no immediate replacements lined up. Newcomer Brian Rafalski brings a winning pedigree from New Jersey, and either paired with Nicklas Lidstrom, or anchoring a second unit with Chris Chelios, should be able to help his new squad maintain a level of defensive excellence.
Up front, the Wings feel the oft-injured Lang will not be missed. Henrik Zetterberg has emerged as one of the league’s top two-way threats, and he will be asked to produce at a pace near Pavel Datsyuk’s. Datsyuk is coming off his second-consecutive season with 87 points. The truly pleasantly surprised aspect is the fact Datsyuk’s plus/minus rating has improved from minus-2 before the lockout, to plus-26 two seasons ago, to plus-36 last season. These two players are the key to any success the Wings hope to have in the near future.
In Lang’s absence, the Wings will look to Jiri Hudler to finally blossom into the offensive force he’s been at every other level. The diminutive Czech recorded 25 points and a plus-16 rating while averaging just 10 minutes of ice time last season, his first full season in the NHL.
Dan Cleary was a nice surprise for the Wings last season, and they’d like to hope he can pull another 40-point rabbit from his hat. Meanwhile, Thomas Holmstrom and Mikael Samuelsson will continue to be invaluable contributors.
Dominik Hasek appears ready to return for another run with the Wings. The importance of his ability to work with the revamped defense corps in front of him can’t be over-stated. If Hasek can’t play to the level he did last season, the Wings may be in trouble this year.
Outlook: With the fire sale in Nashville, the Red Wings no longer face a real threat in the Central Division. The Wings have long feasted on their weaker Central Division brethren and this season should be no exception. Frankly, heading into the season, the Wings’ schedule reads like that of a top-25 NCAA football team’s. 3rd in West, 102 points.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
New gear: These new jerseys have taken a lot of heat in the areas of the Internet I inhabit, but I think most of it is unfounded (aside from the mockery of the white blocks at the bottom of the sleeves on the dark jersey). The Preds have kept the silver stripe running the length of the sleeve, which looks great on both the home and road unis. And they were subtle with their use of the piping running up the chest. Full marks.
New year: New goalie, new captain, new top defenseman and a new top scorer are four things the Nashville Predators will have this season. The departures of Tomas Vokoun, Kimmo Timonen and Paul Kariya may signal the end of the Predators window to win a Stanley Cup. But it’s not the end of the world in the Music City. Not by a long shot.
Probable new captain David Legwand collected a career-high 63 points last season, with the possibility of reaching even loftier heights this season. Jason Arnott and J.P. Dumont now have a full season in coach Barry Trotz’s system under their belts, and should contribute even more this season. Martin Erat’s career-high 57 points last season came despite missing 14 games. And Alexander Radulov’s development should carry him into the 60-point range this season.
On the back end, we all knew Dan Hamhuis, Ryan Suter and Shea Weber were the future of the franchise on defense. Their time has now come, and there’s no reason to think they won’t be ready. Marek Zidlicky is still in the mix, and this group should remain among the best in the league.
The Preds have some new veterans in the fold, all of whom will be expected to contribute in different ways. Martin Gelinas will be expected to produce 50 points or so. Radek Bonk is still a very valuable shut-down centre, and he anchored a very good Montreal penalty kill during the last two seasons. And Greg de Vries will be asked to help make sure the youth isn’t over their head, or pushed around, on defense.
The biggest impact will come from Chris Mason. Though not a newcomer, Mason is new to the starting role, and doesn’t have a lot of backup (which reeks of Dumont to Montreal for Halak or Huet). Mason performed very well filling in for an injured Vokoun last season, but it remains to be seen if he can handle full-time duty over the course of a full season.
Outlook: It’s basically all going to fall on Mason’s shoulders, which is wildly unfair. Even if this team can get past the ownership distractions, they’ll have plenty to deal with on the ice. The sky in Nashville isn’t falling quite so badly as everyone wants to think it is. But clearly, this team faces a much lower ceiling of expectations this year. 9th in West, 90 points.
ST. LOUIS BLUES
New gear: They still use the nicest shade of blue known to man, and from a distance these jerseys aren’t so bad. But God forbid you ever run into someone wearing one on the street. Some teams (like Nashville) made great use of the piping, and some teams (like the Blues) did not. That said, this could have gone much, much worse.
New Year: First of all, I love the “We want you back” ticket campaign, and I love the “Whatever it takes” slogan. And you’ve gotta figure any team that brings Paul Kariya in during the off-season should see an improvement the next season. With Kariya, Keith Tkachuk and Martin Rucinsky, the Blues have a strong left side.
Doug Weight and Petr Cajanek are solid centre men, while David Backes opened some eyes during his rookie campaign last season. Assuming Backes and Lee Stempniak (quietest 52 points in league history) continue to develop, the Blues will have some offensive firepower that other teams will have to respect.
The blues even have a pretty sturdy blue line corps with Eric Brewer, Christian Backman, Barret Jackman and Jay McKee (when healthy). This group made great strides last season after Andy Murray took over as head coach, and there’s no reason to think they won’t continue to improve.
The Blues are backstopped by Manny Legace again, but the goaltending competition will be wide open in camp. Any and all of Legace, Hannu Toivonen, Jason Bacashihua, Curtis Sanford and Marek Schwarz will see time between the pipes in St. Louis this season in an effort to find a full-time puck stopper.
Outlook: The Blues are a long shot to make the post-season, and will probably give many of their interesting prospects a look throughout the season. This team wasn’t a whole lot better after Murray took over the coaching job, but they were more consistent. If the Blues continue to play consistent hockey, they could finish near the top of the bottom of the pile. 10th in West, 90 points.
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
New gear: Like the Red Wings, yet another lesson in “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The Blackhawks have always had, and probably will always have the most perfect uniforms in all of hockey. Even if the Hawks have drawn fewer fans in the last few seasons than the AHL Wolves have, the city would probably riot if they’d changed this 40-year old logo.
New Year: I see a big jump in points for Chicago this year, even though that won’t translate to a big jump in the standings. After a stunning performance at the World Junior Championship last season, Toews had a stellar finish to the NCAA season (33 points in 21 games), then put on an eye-opening performance at the World Championships in May. It was the kind of performance you simply can’t ignore. Toews is the future of the Blackhawks, and that future starts now.
Toews will likely be joined by June’s first-overall pick Patrick Kane, and perhaps the Hawks’ first-round pick from 2005 Jack Skille, as the Hawks look to fast-track the development of these promising youngsters. Doing so helped with young defensemen Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Cam Barker, all of whom were top-four defensemen last season. Keith was Chicago’s ice-time leader, logging 23:36 a night, and also finished with an even plus-minus rating. With James Wisniewski and Dustin Byfuglien filling out the top five, the Hawks are relatively set on the back end.
The key is getting offensive help for Martin Havlat. The flashy Czech had 57 points in 56 games last season. With no outside forces, a full and healthy season from Havlat is worth three or four wins. With Robert Lang in the fold, the Hawks have a veteran with lots of playoff experience in Detroit, and a valuable asset in the dressing room. With Sergei Samsonov, the Hawks have a guy that will be as good or bad as he wants to be. If he’s motivated, he could help lead a very surprising turnaround for Chicago this year.
More likely though, is the chance Samsonov teams up with goalie Nik Khabibulin to sit around enjoying all the money they have, and not paying attention to the game they’re playing to get that cash. Much like Samsonov, Khabibulin is as good as he wants to be.
Outlook: If Toews, Kane and Skille all make the team out of camp, and if they can form a solid second line, and if Samsonov and Lang have it in them, and if Khabibulin plays out of his mind, the Blackhawks could make the playoffs. This team is starting to pile up prospects just like their opponent in the 1992 Stanley Cup final recently did, and may have an equally dramatic turnaround, just not this season. 11th in West, 85 points.
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
New gear: Gone are the silly bee mascot, and the CBJ logo. The new logo, which had been used recently as the alternate logo, gives a hefty nod to Ohio’s status as the birthplace of flight, is excellent. But it just doesn’t seem to synch up with the new jersey design. These new threads are sharp, but I yearn for the Jackets’ striping of old.
New year: Considering the Jackets’ 33 wins in 2007 were something of an overachievement, and the roster is returning pretty well intact, it’s hard to imagine the Jackets getting out of the Western Conference cellar this season.
Newcomers Mike Peca, Kris Beech and Jan Hejda are normally the kinds of players a team adds when they’re close to competing. If Peca can stay healthy, he can log third-line minutes and kill penalties with some effectiveness. But to ask Peca to carry any of the offensive load is to ask too much.
Beech is another solid defensive forward, but he notched a mere 26 points in Washington last season, playing either with Alex Ovechkin, or against other team’s secondary defensive units. Beech isn’t exactly Art Ross material. And Hejda spent part of last season in the minor leagues.
The Jackets still need Ron Hainsey and Rostislav Klesla to log more than 20 minutes a night, and Adam Foote is well past his prime. That didn’t stop him from approaching 25 minutes a game last season. Columbus doesn’t have a single blue-chip blue line prospect. Until the defense gets better, this team will continue to spin its wheels.
At the draft this past June, the Jackets selected power forward Jakub Voracek, who cashed in on a tremendous rookie year in the QMJHL. Voracek could become a player in the Peter Forsberg mould, or he will regress after one year in junior hockey. He’ll get every chance to make the big club out of camp, and if he does, he’ll be asked to take on a big offensive role. Perhaps even playing alongside David Vyborny, and seeing top minutes.
If he’d been teammates with the Rocket, Rick Nash’s Rocket Richard Trophy win couldn’t seem to have been longer ago. Nash must either find a way to become a consistent 80-point producer, or become a defensive stalwart and team leader with second-line scoring ability.
Outlook: The fact Jody Shelley still has a spot on this team speaks volumes to the overall depth the Jackets have. Another 30-win season isn’t out of the question. But the bigger question is whether or not the next 30-win season will happen in the next five years. 14th in West, 73 points
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Northeast regaining momentum
After a brief run as the toughest division in hockey, the Northeast Division has come back to earth the past couple seasons. The Senators and Sabres still have the ability to blow most of their opponents away, while the Canadiens and Leafs will prove to be scrappy, hard-to-beat teams once again this season. Add the Claude Julien-led Bruins into the mix, and this group of teams may once again wear the crown of toughest division in hockey very soon.
OTTAWA SENATORS
New gear: Did they unveil the practice jerseys? There’s a fine line between a clean style, and no style. Worse, the players look fat when seen straight-on in these things. And don’t even get me started on the new number font. The logo update is nice, but the “gold semicircle with laurel leaves” doesn’t anchor the logo. It moves the whole thing off-centre and seems out of place. But that new shoulder patch kicks ass.
New Year: The Senators got creamed in the Final, and they had a rocky off-season, in which Wade Redden was nearly traded, and there was an ugly management shake-up which lead to a coaching change. New head coach John Paddock is a long-time company man, and coached many current Senators while they toiled in the American League.
One such player in Jason Spezza. Paddock is largely responsible for getting Spezza to find his way defensively, which has led to Spezza’s offensive outburst. Spezza notched 87 points in 67 games, and alongside Dany Heatley, the pair should combine for well over 200 points in their sleep. Daniel Alfredsson is still a go-to guy, and Mike Fisher is due for a monstrous season.
The key for the Senators this season will be shoring up their blue line, which seems like an odd thing to say about Ottawa. Redden had a very sub-par season, as did big-ticket free agent Joe Corvo. Christoph Schubert and Lawrence Nycholat will battle for the final defense spot. Schubert is a fairly steady defenseman, but splitting time at forward through much of last season had to hamper his development.
That said, Andrei Meszaros, Anton Volchenkov and Chris Phillips really took their games to a new level last season. Meszaros matured immensely in the post-season, while Volchenkov’s inhuman shot-blocking was perhaps the second-biggest reason the Senators played for the Cup. Chris Phillips’ evolution into an absolute stud defenseman was an equally large factor. Entering his 10th season in the NHL, Phillips is finally the defenseman the hockey world thought he could be.
The single biggest reason the Senators marched to the Final is, of course, Ray Emery. I remember seeing Emery give up nine goals in an elimination game in the 2003 Calder Cup playoffs, and thinking he’d never become the goalie we saw in the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final last spring. He was absolutely lights-out in those first two games, and was looking at becoming a potential Conn Smythe win before he and his team imploded.
Outlook: Despite some off-season losses (Peter Schaefer to Boston, Mike Comrie to the Islanders and Tom Preissing to LA), this team is still loaded, and still the class of the Eastern Conference. This team will not have put the memories of the Final behind them. The embarrassment they suffered then will drive them to finish the job this season. 1st in East, 106 points.
BUFFALO SABRES
New gear: The Sabres’ new jerseys from last season were designed with the Rbk system in mind. The translation has been essentially seamless, and now that the design has been applied to the proper cut, they look a little better.
New Year: Yes, the Sabres lost their co-captains to free agency this summer. Yes, it’s going to be hard to replace Daniel Briere’s 95 points. No, you can’t replace the heart of a champion like Chris Drury has. But…
Thomas Vanek led the team with 43 goals, and he’s still kickin’ around. Maxim Afinogenov had 61 points in just 56 games Jason Pominville erupted with a 34-goal season, and the Sabres will bring back the eight defensemen that saw the most ice time last season, including Brian Campbell. He’s a guy that personally ripped the hearts from chests of fans all over the league. For a defenseman with 48 points, he sure didn’t give much back the other way. Campbell’s plus-28 rating was second on the team to only Derek Roy (plus-37, if you need him).
Lindy Ruff is still behind the bench. Ryan Miller is still between the pipes. These guys are in good shape still. Ales Kotalik was a big contributor last season, shelling out 38 points in 66 games, and Drew Stafford made the most of a mid-season call-up, banging out 27 points in 41 games. Both of those guys represent 50-point campaigns over a full season.
Outlook: It’s hard to imagine this team simply falling out of contention. Even if all of those gaudy offensive numbers last season represented peak performances, they still represent eight or nine players in the 50 to 85-point range. This team still has big guns, and if they can move Jaroslav Spacek for a Shawn Thornton on Chris Clark type of leader, they’ll be laughing. 5th in East, 100 points.
MONTREAL CANADIENS
New gear: Another classic remains mostly untouched by the devil-spawn that call Rbk’s design team home. The slight tweak to the collar is excellent, and the only questions remain regarding the look of the numbers.
New year: I’m almost certainly over-valuing my beloved former Bulldogs, but that’s what happens when they win the Calder Cup. Until the end of training camp, it will be tough to tell exactly which direction the Canadiens are heading in this season. And even after camp, it will be interesting to see the way the lineup evolves throughout the year.
But here’s what we know: a full season from Cristobal Huet would have given the Canadiens a playoff berth last season, and he seems to be healthy heading into the new season, so optimism should be higher around this team.
Scoring may remain a problem with this team, especially with Sheldon Souray’s off-season departure. However, Tomas Plekanec and Chris Higgins made great strides last year, and the team will count on both of them for added production this time around. And anything more than 47 points out of Alex Kovalev will go a long way, too.
Mike Komisarek began to really blossom into a top-flight shut-down defenseman last season, and he will have to continue that upward trend this year, as he and Andrei Markov will be recognized as the top defensive pair. They’ll do it without Souray to draw attention away from them, too. The play of the Habs three-through-seven defensemen will determine their fate this season.
Outlook: With at least two forward positions, a defensive spot, and the backup goaltending job all up for grabs in camp, this should be an exciting September in Montreal. With management’s confidence in their prospects growing, very few roster spots are guaranteed, which should keep this team hungry and competitive every night, something they weren’t last season. A full season of Huet gets this team to the playoffs. 7th in East, 96 points.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
New gear: Just a little too simple, and a little too blue. My goodness. I saw a comparison to a baby’s sleeper, and I can’t disagree with that. But hey, even if the shirts looked great, the players would find a way to make them look bad.
New Year: What could possibly be new in Leaf land? It’s the start of a new season, which means, in Toronto, the start of another round of “let’s have a parade.” All the key players remain in place. Former coach Pat Quinn’s shadow continues to loom large, general manager John Ferguson Jr. still looks shell-shocked, Mats Sundin is still the captain, Bryan McCabe still gets all the accolades while Tomas Kaberle does all the heavy lifting, Darcy Tucker is Darcy Tucker, and everyone is sure this will be Alex Ponikarovsky or Nik Antropov’s year.
Sometimes, the old saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Newcomers in the Leaf lineup include a trio of questionable players. Much like last summer’s additions of Andrew Raycroft, Pavel Kubina and Hal Gill, this year’s trio will face a truck-load of scrutiny in Toronto (while McCabe somehow escapes the ire of fans).
Mark Bell is already well behind the 8-ball, having been hit with a jail sentence and suspension shortly after arriving in Toronto. Vesa Toskala is being groomed to force Raycroft (of a team-record 37 wins last season) out the door in a trade that will haunt the Leafs for a long, long time (this has Raycroft to Chicago for Patrick Sharp, or LA for Brian Willsie written all over it).
And Jason Blake is essentially being asked to be that missing piece. The gritty warrior with a great scoring touch (far be it for me to compliment him, but isn’t that Tucker’s game?), heart-on-his sleeve leader in the wings, waiting to take over the captaincy from one of the team’s most beloved players without missing a beat.
And my personal favourite part of the Leafs season: a whole season from Andy “Whatpositiondoyouplay?” Wozniewski.
Outlook: The Leafs fell one point shy of the post-season last year, despite shaky goaltending, shaky scoring, and a long line to the trainer’s office. The figure to be in for a battle again this season, and it will be interesting to see how Raycroft handles his second-straight season of second-guessing and goaltending controversies. There’s almost no way this goes as well as Ferguson hopes. 12th in East, 91 points.
BOSTON BRUINS
New gear: The Bruins were first out of the gates, in an apparent attempt to dissuade the fears of fans worried about the new look of classic logos and designs within the new Rbk Edge uniform system. And it worked like a charm. The new Bruins gear looks so good, I modeled my ball hockey team’s uniforms after the Bs’ template.
New year: Counting the uniforms, a new head coach, a new goalie, a solid new left winger, and a steal with the eighth pick in the draft, the Bruins had a pretty good summer.
Claude Julien made overachievers out of the Montreal Canadiens before the lockout, and kept the good ship Devils righted before his tenure was unceremoniously ended in the swamps of Jersey. All signs suggest he can get the Bruins’ ship righted in good time, too.
Manny Fernandez fell out of favour in Minnesota, but coupled with Tim Thomas, could form a formidable goaltending duo at the Garden. The play of Boston’s netminders will be the biggest factor in the Bruins’ fortunes this season. And while Fernandez has his shining moments, it’s worth noting he lost the starting job in Minnesota twice in the last three seasons.
Peter Schaefer was stolen from Ottawa during the summer, and should be an impact player. Together, Schaefer and PJ Axelsson should be one of the league’s top penalty-killing pairs, and given a bump in playing time, Schaefer’s point production should increase as well.
The Bruins drafted Zach Hamill with their first pick in the draft, he was the Western League’s top scorer last season, and will be given every chance to make the team out of camp. He and Phil Kessel form the nucleus of the Bruins’ youth movement.
The Bruins’ defense corps, led by Zdeno Chara, will have to improve if Boston is to have any chance of making the playoffs this season. This will be head coach Julien’s top priority moving forward. After he gets the defense in order, though, he’ll have to coax some offense out of the forwards. Only Marc Savard and Patrice Bergeron offered any real production last season. Marco Sturm and Glen Murray are expected to serve up more than 45 points each.
Outlook: Despite their strong off-season, it’s doubtful the Bruins have improved enough to make a serious run at the 2008 playoffs. A lottery pick at next June’s draft is much more likely. 15th in East, 78 points.
OTTAWA SENATORS
New gear: Did they unveil the practice jerseys? There’s a fine line between a clean style, and no style. Worse, the players look fat when seen straight-on in these things. And don’t even get me started on the new number font. The logo update is nice, but the “gold semicircle with laurel leaves” doesn’t anchor the logo. It moves the whole thing off-centre and seems out of place. But that new shoulder patch kicks ass.
New Year: The Senators got creamed in the Final, and they had a rocky off-season, in which Wade Redden was nearly traded, and there was an ugly management shake-up which lead to a coaching change. New head coach John Paddock is a long-time company man, and coached many current Senators while they toiled in the American League.
One such player in Jason Spezza. Paddock is largely responsible for getting Spezza to find his way defensively, which has led to Spezza’s offensive outburst. Spezza notched 87 points in 67 games, and alongside Dany Heatley, the pair should combine for well over 200 points in their sleep. Daniel Alfredsson is still a go-to guy, and Mike Fisher is due for a monstrous season.
The key for the Senators this season will be shoring up their blue line, which seems like an odd thing to say about Ottawa. Redden had a very sub-par season, as did big-ticket free agent Joe Corvo. Christoph Schubert and Lawrence Nycholat will battle for the final defense spot. Schubert is a fairly steady defenseman, but splitting time at forward through much of last season had to hamper his development.
That said, Andrei Meszaros, Anton Volchenkov and Chris Phillips really took their games to a new level last season. Meszaros matured immensely in the post-season, while Volchenkov’s inhuman shot-blocking was perhaps the second-biggest reason the Senators played for the Cup. Chris Phillips’ evolution into an absolute stud defenseman was an equally large factor. Entering his 10th season in the NHL, Phillips is finally the defenseman the hockey world thought he could be.
The single biggest reason the Senators marched to the Final is, of course, Ray Emery. I remember seeing Emery give up nine goals in an elimination game in the 2003 Calder Cup playoffs, and thinking he’d never become the goalie we saw in the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final last spring. He was absolutely lights-out in those first two games, and was looking at becoming a potential Conn Smythe win before he and his team imploded.
Outlook: Despite some off-season losses (Peter Schaefer to Boston, Mike Comrie to the Islanders and Tom Preissing to LA), this team is still loaded, and still the class of the Eastern Conference. This team will not have put the memories of the Final behind them. The embarrassment they suffered then will drive them to finish the job this season. 1st in East, 106 points.
BUFFALO SABRES
New gear: The Sabres’ new jerseys from last season were designed with the Rbk system in mind. The translation has been essentially seamless, and now that the design has been applied to the proper cut, they look a little better.
New Year: Yes, the Sabres lost their co-captains to free agency this summer. Yes, it’s going to be hard to replace Daniel Briere’s 95 points. No, you can’t replace the heart of a champion like Chris Drury has. But…
Thomas Vanek led the team with 43 goals, and he’s still kickin’ around. Maxim Afinogenov had 61 points in just 56 games Jason Pominville erupted with a 34-goal season, and the Sabres will bring back the eight defensemen that saw the most ice time last season, including Brian Campbell. He’s a guy that personally ripped the hearts from chests of fans all over the league. For a defenseman with 48 points, he sure didn’t give much back the other way. Campbell’s plus-28 rating was second on the team to only Derek Roy (plus-37, if you need him).
Lindy Ruff is still behind the bench. Ryan Miller is still between the pipes. These guys are in good shape still. Ales Kotalik was a big contributor last season, shelling out 38 points in 66 games, and Drew Stafford made the most of a mid-season call-up, banging out 27 points in 41 games. Both of those guys represent 50-point campaigns over a full season.
Outlook: It’s hard to imagine this team simply falling out of contention. Even if all of those gaudy offensive numbers last season represented peak performances, they still represent eight or nine players in the 50 to 85-point range. This team still has big guns, and if they can move Jaroslav Spacek for a Shawn Thornton on Chris Clark type of leader, they’ll be laughing. 5th in East, 100 points.
MONTREAL CANADIENS
New gear: Another classic remains mostly untouched by the devil-spawn that call Rbk’s design team home. The slight tweak to the collar is excellent, and the only questions remain regarding the look of the numbers.
New year: I’m almost certainly over-valuing my beloved former Bulldogs, but that’s what happens when they win the Calder Cup. Until the end of training camp, it will be tough to tell exactly which direction the Canadiens are heading in this season. And even after camp, it will be interesting to see the way the lineup evolves throughout the year.
But here’s what we know: a full season from Cristobal Huet would have given the Canadiens a playoff berth last season, and he seems to be healthy heading into the new season, so optimism should be higher around this team.
Scoring may remain a problem with this team, especially with Sheldon Souray’s off-season departure. However, Tomas Plekanec and Chris Higgins made great strides last year, and the team will count on both of them for added production this time around. And anything more than 47 points out of Alex Kovalev will go a long way, too.
Mike Komisarek began to really blossom into a top-flight shut-down defenseman last season, and he will have to continue that upward trend this year, as he and Andrei Markov will be recognized as the top defensive pair. They’ll do it without Souray to draw attention away from them, too. The play of the Habs three-through-seven defensemen will determine their fate this season.
Outlook: With at least two forward positions, a defensive spot, and the backup goaltending job all up for grabs in camp, this should be an exciting September in Montreal. With management’s confidence in their prospects growing, very few roster spots are guaranteed, which should keep this team hungry and competitive every night, something they weren’t last season. A full season of Huet gets this team to the playoffs. 7th in East, 96 points.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
New gear: Just a little too simple, and a little too blue. My goodness. I saw a comparison to a baby’s sleeper, and I can’t disagree with that. But hey, even if the shirts looked great, the players would find a way to make them look bad.
New Year: What could possibly be new in Leaf land? It’s the start of a new season, which means, in Toronto, the start of another round of “let’s have a parade.” All the key players remain in place. Former coach Pat Quinn’s shadow continues to loom large, general manager John Ferguson Jr. still looks shell-shocked, Mats Sundin is still the captain, Bryan McCabe still gets all the accolades while Tomas Kaberle does all the heavy lifting, Darcy Tucker is Darcy Tucker, and everyone is sure this will be Alex Ponikarovsky or Nik Antropov’s year.
Sometimes, the old saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Newcomers in the Leaf lineup include a trio of questionable players. Much like last summer’s additions of Andrew Raycroft, Pavel Kubina and Hal Gill, this year’s trio will face a truck-load of scrutiny in Toronto (while McCabe somehow escapes the ire of fans).
Mark Bell is already well behind the 8-ball, having been hit with a jail sentence and suspension shortly after arriving in Toronto. Vesa Toskala is being groomed to force Raycroft (of a team-record 37 wins last season) out the door in a trade that will haunt the Leafs for a long, long time (this has Raycroft to Chicago for Patrick Sharp, or LA for Brian Willsie written all over it).
And Jason Blake is essentially being asked to be that missing piece. The gritty warrior with a great scoring touch (far be it for me to compliment him, but isn’t that Tucker’s game?), heart-on-his sleeve leader in the wings, waiting to take over the captaincy from one of the team’s most beloved players without missing a beat.
And my personal favourite part of the Leafs season: a whole season from Andy “Whatpositiondoyouplay?” Wozniewski.
Outlook: The Leafs fell one point shy of the post-season last year, despite shaky goaltending, shaky scoring, and a long line to the trainer’s office. The figure to be in for a battle again this season, and it will be interesting to see how Raycroft handles his second-straight season of second-guessing and goaltending controversies. There’s almost no way this goes as well as Ferguson hopes. 12th in East, 91 points.
BOSTON BRUINS
New gear: The Bruins were first out of the gates, in an apparent attempt to dissuade the fears of fans worried about the new look of classic logos and designs within the new Rbk Edge uniform system. And it worked like a charm. The new Bruins gear looks so good, I modeled my ball hockey team’s uniforms after the Bs’ template.
New year: Counting the uniforms, a new head coach, a new goalie, a solid new left winger, and a steal with the eighth pick in the draft, the Bruins had a pretty good summer.
Claude Julien made overachievers out of the Montreal Canadiens before the lockout, and kept the good ship Devils righted before his tenure was unceremoniously ended in the swamps of Jersey. All signs suggest he can get the Bruins’ ship righted in good time, too.
Manny Fernandez fell out of favour in Minnesota, but coupled with Tim Thomas, could form a formidable goaltending duo at the Garden. The play of Boston’s netminders will be the biggest factor in the Bruins’ fortunes this season. And while Fernandez has his shining moments, it’s worth noting he lost the starting job in Minnesota twice in the last three seasons.
Peter Schaefer was stolen from Ottawa during the summer, and should be an impact player. Together, Schaefer and PJ Axelsson should be one of the league’s top penalty-killing pairs, and given a bump in playing time, Schaefer’s point production should increase as well.
The Bruins drafted Zach Hamill with their first pick in the draft, he was the Western League’s top scorer last season, and will be given every chance to make the team out of camp. He and Phil Kessel form the nucleus of the Bruins’ youth movement.
The Bruins’ defense corps, led by Zdeno Chara, will have to improve if Boston is to have any chance of making the playoffs this season. This will be head coach Julien’s top priority moving forward. After he gets the defense in order, though, he’ll have to coax some offense out of the forwards. Only Marc Savard and Patrice Bergeron offered any real production last season. Marco Sturm and Glen Murray are expected to serve up more than 45 points each.
Outlook: Despite their strong off-season, it’s doubtful the Bruins have improved enough to make a serious run at the 2008 playoffs. A lottery pick at next June’s draft is much more likely. 15th in East, 78 points.
Monday, September 17, 2007
We're back
Let the division previews begin. Teams are listed in predicted order of finish, and before we start, here’s a rundown of the Sports With Steve schedule. Today, Southeast. Tuesday the Central, Wednesday the Northeast. Thursday and Friday NFL and CFL like normal. Next week, the Pacific on Monday, Atlantic Tuesday and Northwest Wednesday, with the season starting Friday in England, and blowing all of this into the water, no doubt.
Here we go.
As always, I love the Southeast. It’s a fun division to watch. Five teams with heavy artillery, and paper shields. Last season, 12 of the league’s top 50 scorers called the Southeast home. With guys like Kovalchuk and Hossa, Staal and Williams, Jokinen and Horton, Lecavalier and St-Louis, and Ovechkin and Semin, it’s a loaded division. Defense and goaltending are another story though. Carolina, Tampa and Washington have serious goaltending questions, and only Florida’s Jay Bouwmeester was a top-25 plus-minus defender last season.
CAROLINA HURRICANES
New gear: These new jerseys were the league’s worst-kept secret all summer long. I think the NHL08 cover photo leaked before the end of the playoffs. The white ring (red on the away jersey) on the shoulder yoke looks great. The colouring on the sleeves seems to be a bit much, but it’s not overwhelmingly bad. All in all, the Hurricanes remain among the league’s sharpest-dressed teams.
New year: Everyone in and around this team’s world insists last season was a fluke. And to a degree, I’m on board with that (so long as we can also rule that Cup win a fluke, too). An off-season injury to Frank Kaberle hurt the Canes early last season, and history looks to repeat itself this season. Kaberle is a stud on the Carolina blue line, and it’s going to hurt this team to be without him for another long stretch.
Cam Ward, Eric Staal and Cory Stillman all stalled last season, failing to produce at the level they were expected to, while youngsters Chad LaRose and Andrew Ladd didn’t continue their development as expected. With Ward, Staal and Stillman back on track, the Canes should be fine. If LaRose and Ladd can take that step forward, the Canes will be laughing all the way home.
With Matt Cullen’s return from a year on Broadway (as poorly-kept a secret as the new jerseys were), the Canes figure to get a big power play boost. Cullen was huge for them during the Cup run two seasons ago, and the Carolina faithful will be very happy to have him back.
New to the fold is Jeff Hamilton, a slightly enigmatic winger from Chicago. Hamilton very quietly was the Blackhawks’ third-leading scorer last season after Martin Havlat and Radim Vrbata, posting a 39-point campaign playing just 13 minutes a night. That’s low second-line production from fourth-line minutes. I can think of about 30 teams that could use a guy like Hamilton.
Outlook: At the bare minimum, the Hurricanes should return to the playoffs this season. At best, they return to the league’s upper echelon, and firmly plant themselves on the list of annual contenders. They’ll probably end up in a pretty epic battle with Tampa Bay over the Southeast Division crown. 3rd in East, 96 points
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
New gear: Again with the practice jerseys. These are fairly sharp, and very clean, but again, there is nothing about the jersey itself that makes it stand out as Tampa Bay’s jersey. Without the logo, this could be just the shirt you saw some guy wearing at the bar last weekend. The bolts will use the front number on the road, but not at home, and will continue to use block numbering. The new logo is change for the sake of change and is no better than their old logo.
New Year: Not much change in Hockey Bay. The Bolts return in 2007 with Martin St-Louis back on track, Vincent Lecavalier ready to continue his breakout and Brad Richards keeping everything together with his solid play. Add the seemingly revolving door of talent, and any number of Tampa players could be primed for big seasons.
Vaclav Prospal has always fit in well with this team, and he should be good for at least the 55 points he put up last season. Michel Ouellet comes over from Pittsburgh, and should be able to easily eclipse the 48 points he had last season with a boost in ice time (or his defensive liabilities will force coach John Tortorella to glue him to the bench). Ryan Craig will be looking to take the step forward he failed to take last season, and Jason Ward will try to erase the memories of his terrible play in Tampa’s first-round exit last spring.
Andreas Karlsson can’t do any worse than the nine points he had last season, and should be able to take his game to the next level with a full and healthy season. Jan Hlavac is back in the NHL after spending the last three seasons in Europe. Hlavac should be able to chip in 30-40 points, and play a role with this team.
As much as there is to like up front, though, the goaltending situation is shaky at best. Johan Holmqvist is the de facto starter, as Tortorella lost all confidence in Marc Denis last season. But neither net minder has been overly impressive. If the Bolts are going to make a serious run at (and in) the playoffs, one of these guys will have to step up.
On defense, this group isn’t much to write home about. But Tortorella runs a tight ship, and had these guys playing pretty well. Dan Boyle had a career year at both ends of the ice. Filip Kuba re-defined himself as a valuable offensive defenseman, and Paul Ranger looked like anything but a second-year defenseman.
Outlook: Lecavalier and St-Louis are always liable to go out and win a scoring title. So it’s up to the rest of these guys to get the Lightning to the playoffs. Brad Richards and Tim Taylor are the kind of leaders that can take a team of 12th-graders to the playoffs. So this team will go as far as two big “ifs” will let them: If the defense can continue to be more than the sum of their parts, and if the goaltending holds up, Tampa Bay will make lots of noise. 8th in East, 94 points.
FLORIDA PANTHERS
New gear: Given some time to reflect, these are just as bad as I first thought. Basically the same design as Nashville’s, but with overblown piping, odd elbow stripes on the underside of the sleeves, and no room on the back for Jay Bouwmeester’s name. That said, they weren’t kidding when they told us the logo was going to be bigger.
New year: The only thing bigger in Miami than the panther, is the trade they pulled off to land Tomas Vokoun. Last season, the Panthers finished seven points shy of a playoff berth, were 2-8 in shootouts, and 3-8 in overtime. Though Vokoun’s overtime and shootout records last season were just 2-1 and 2-3, if he can coax the Panthers to a .500 record in overtime this season, it’s a five-point improvement, and it says here he can steal at least one win to put Florida back into the playoffs. Vokoun is a top-five goalie, and though the Panthers still need help up front, Vokoun is plenty good enough to carry them to the playoffs.
Whether or not they can do so is up to the rest of the roster, which returns pretty well intact from last season. The Cats’ defense made great strides last season, and Bouwmeester finally started to become the defensive force he projected as in junior. His 12 goals were a career-high, and though he was four points shy of his career-best total, the 22-point jump in his plus-minus more than made up for the four points. A full season from Noah Welch should make the Gary Roberts trade last season look like a no-brainer. Welch projects as a number three defenseman at worst, and although he’ll do a lot of learning on the fly this coming season, they’ll love him in south Florida.
But as good as the goaltending will be, and as good as the defense should be, it’s all up to the offense. Dickie Zednik is being given yet another opportunity to prove his worth, as is Radek Dvorak. Nathan Horton was given a huge contract, and Rostislav Olesz and Stephen Weiss still need to show up they way they’re expected to.
Outlook: There is still work to be done in Florida, but if the Hurricanes, Thrashers or Lightning stumble again, and the Panthers turn things around in overtime (and on the road), the Panthers could find themselves in the post-season. But don’t anybody in Miami hold your breath. Note: my roommate Adam thinks I’m crazy, and Vokoun isn’t worth six points in the standings. 9th in East, 92 points.
ATLANTA THRASHERS
New gear: I really like the way they’ve applied the dark jersey to the new system. The jersey is essentially unchanged, and actually looks a little better than before. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the white jersey. I’ve really come around to like the piping, the shoulders and collar look great, but somehow this jersey just doesn’t quite pop.
New Year: The Thrashers are hoping Ilya Kovalchuk can rebound from what’s considered an off-year last season. The gifted Russian netted 42 goals, but his 76 points were below expectations. Kovalchuk’s first season without centre Marc Savard was far less successful than Savard’s was without Kovalchuk. If the Thrashers are going to return to the post-season, Kovalchuk has to find his way back to 90-plus points.
Eric Perrin and Todd White are a pair of new faces trying to fix a long-standing problem in Atlanta. Outside of Savard, the Thrashers have never even come close to having a true number-one centre. Neither Perrin, nor White is a typical first-line centre, but both have shown flashes of productivity in the past, and the Thrashers are hoping one of these guys can gel with Kovalchuk.
The Thrashers are looking at a lot of minor-league promotions this season, as they try to fill out the roster. Before camp breaks, it’s hard to say what this team is even going to look like. There are that many openings.
But for all the uncertainty surrounding this team, one this is for certain: Kari Lehtonen gives this team a chance to win every night. Lehtonen faltered in the playoffs, but should be able to rebound. Last season, in just his second full season in the NHL, Lehtonen slashed his goals-against average by 15 points, increased his save percentage, and bagged four shutouts. The sky remains the limit for Lehtonen.
Outlook: Outside of Lehtonen and Marian Hossa, the Thrashers have too many question marks to be in the mix again this season. The loss of Andy Sutton and Greg de Vries with only Ken Klee as a replacement isn’t exactly awe-inspiring. That said, Garnet Exelby is primed for a huge year. There’s probably enough here to make in interesting, but not enough to stop this team from falling just short. 10th in East, 92 points.
WASHINGTON CAPITALS
New gear: Welcome to the new NHL! These may be the worst of the lot. Actually, that’s a little unfair. I just don’t understand the stripes running up the inside of the sleeves. The updated version of their original logo is a nice touch, but lacks the charm the old 80’s Caps logo had.
New Year: The Capitals may finally have someone to play with Alex Ovechkin. Fresh off a stint on Broadway alongside Jaromir Jagr, Michael Nylander takes on his next project: getting the Capitals back to respectability, and keeping Ovechkin in the nightly highlights. For right now, let’s just say the latter will be a much easier task.
Also new to D.C. after some time in New York are Viktor Kozlov and Tom Poti, both former Islanders. Kozlov won’t be expected to put up big numbers like Nylander will be. That said, alongside second-year winger Alexander Semin, it’s easy to believe Kozlov could have a big year. Semin had 73 points as a rookie last season, and should produce even more this season.
Tom Poti will be asked to anchor a blue line that ranked among the league’s worst last season. It says here, they’ll remain there this time around. Poti is a good offensive defenseman, but he’s hardly the guy to anchor a young defense corps like this. It’s too early in camp to say for certain, but the Caps’ first two picks in June’s draft, Karl Alzner and Josh Godfrey, will have legitimate opportunities to make this team. I’m not sold on Alzner, but Godfrey came as close as anyone did to being a stud defenseman for Canada during the recent Super Series.
Outlook: Until the Capitals get some real help on defense, they’re in trouble. First, they extra load on the aging Olaf Kolzig leads him to run the risk of injury (again), and second, Brent Johnson doesn’t exactly cause opposing forwards to cower in fear. When this team makes that turn, from also-ran to contender, it’s going to happen very quickly. This is not the year for that turn, though. 14th in East, 80 points.
Here we go.
As always, I love the Southeast. It’s a fun division to watch. Five teams with heavy artillery, and paper shields. Last season, 12 of the league’s top 50 scorers called the Southeast home. With guys like Kovalchuk and Hossa, Staal and Williams, Jokinen and Horton, Lecavalier and St-Louis, and Ovechkin and Semin, it’s a loaded division. Defense and goaltending are another story though. Carolina, Tampa and Washington have serious goaltending questions, and only Florida’s Jay Bouwmeester was a top-25 plus-minus defender last season.
CAROLINA HURRICANES
New gear: These new jerseys were the league’s worst-kept secret all summer long. I think the NHL08 cover photo leaked before the end of the playoffs. The white ring (red on the away jersey) on the shoulder yoke looks great. The colouring on the sleeves seems to be a bit much, but it’s not overwhelmingly bad. All in all, the Hurricanes remain among the league’s sharpest-dressed teams.
New year: Everyone in and around this team’s world insists last season was a fluke. And to a degree, I’m on board with that (so long as we can also rule that Cup win a fluke, too). An off-season injury to Frank Kaberle hurt the Canes early last season, and history looks to repeat itself this season. Kaberle is a stud on the Carolina blue line, and it’s going to hurt this team to be without him for another long stretch.
Cam Ward, Eric Staal and Cory Stillman all stalled last season, failing to produce at the level they were expected to, while youngsters Chad LaRose and Andrew Ladd didn’t continue their development as expected. With Ward, Staal and Stillman back on track, the Canes should be fine. If LaRose and Ladd can take that step forward, the Canes will be laughing all the way home.
With Matt Cullen’s return from a year on Broadway (as poorly-kept a secret as the new jerseys were), the Canes figure to get a big power play boost. Cullen was huge for them during the Cup run two seasons ago, and the Carolina faithful will be very happy to have him back.
New to the fold is Jeff Hamilton, a slightly enigmatic winger from Chicago. Hamilton very quietly was the Blackhawks’ third-leading scorer last season after Martin Havlat and Radim Vrbata, posting a 39-point campaign playing just 13 minutes a night. That’s low second-line production from fourth-line minutes. I can think of about 30 teams that could use a guy like Hamilton.
Outlook: At the bare minimum, the Hurricanes should return to the playoffs this season. At best, they return to the league’s upper echelon, and firmly plant themselves on the list of annual contenders. They’ll probably end up in a pretty epic battle with Tampa Bay over the Southeast Division crown. 3rd in East, 96 points
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
New gear: Again with the practice jerseys. These are fairly sharp, and very clean, but again, there is nothing about the jersey itself that makes it stand out as Tampa Bay’s jersey. Without the logo, this could be just the shirt you saw some guy wearing at the bar last weekend. The bolts will use the front number on the road, but not at home, and will continue to use block numbering. The new logo is change for the sake of change and is no better than their old logo.
New Year: Not much change in Hockey Bay. The Bolts return in 2007 with Martin St-Louis back on track, Vincent Lecavalier ready to continue his breakout and Brad Richards keeping everything together with his solid play. Add the seemingly revolving door of talent, and any number of Tampa players could be primed for big seasons.
Vaclav Prospal has always fit in well with this team, and he should be good for at least the 55 points he put up last season. Michel Ouellet comes over from Pittsburgh, and should be able to easily eclipse the 48 points he had last season with a boost in ice time (or his defensive liabilities will force coach John Tortorella to glue him to the bench). Ryan Craig will be looking to take the step forward he failed to take last season, and Jason Ward will try to erase the memories of his terrible play in Tampa’s first-round exit last spring.
Andreas Karlsson can’t do any worse than the nine points he had last season, and should be able to take his game to the next level with a full and healthy season. Jan Hlavac is back in the NHL after spending the last three seasons in Europe. Hlavac should be able to chip in 30-40 points, and play a role with this team.
As much as there is to like up front, though, the goaltending situation is shaky at best. Johan Holmqvist is the de facto starter, as Tortorella lost all confidence in Marc Denis last season. But neither net minder has been overly impressive. If the Bolts are going to make a serious run at (and in) the playoffs, one of these guys will have to step up.
On defense, this group isn’t much to write home about. But Tortorella runs a tight ship, and had these guys playing pretty well. Dan Boyle had a career year at both ends of the ice. Filip Kuba re-defined himself as a valuable offensive defenseman, and Paul Ranger looked like anything but a second-year defenseman.
Outlook: Lecavalier and St-Louis are always liable to go out and win a scoring title. So it’s up to the rest of these guys to get the Lightning to the playoffs. Brad Richards and Tim Taylor are the kind of leaders that can take a team of 12th-graders to the playoffs. So this team will go as far as two big “ifs” will let them: If the defense can continue to be more than the sum of their parts, and if the goaltending holds up, Tampa Bay will make lots of noise. 8th in East, 94 points.
FLORIDA PANTHERS
New gear: Given some time to reflect, these are just as bad as I first thought. Basically the same design as Nashville’s, but with overblown piping, odd elbow stripes on the underside of the sleeves, and no room on the back for Jay Bouwmeester’s name. That said, they weren’t kidding when they told us the logo was going to be bigger.
New year: The only thing bigger in Miami than the panther, is the trade they pulled off to land Tomas Vokoun. Last season, the Panthers finished seven points shy of a playoff berth, were 2-8 in shootouts, and 3-8 in overtime. Though Vokoun’s overtime and shootout records last season were just 2-1 and 2-3, if he can coax the Panthers to a .500 record in overtime this season, it’s a five-point improvement, and it says here he can steal at least one win to put Florida back into the playoffs. Vokoun is a top-five goalie, and though the Panthers still need help up front, Vokoun is plenty good enough to carry them to the playoffs.
Whether or not they can do so is up to the rest of the roster, which returns pretty well intact from last season. The Cats’ defense made great strides last season, and Bouwmeester finally started to become the defensive force he projected as in junior. His 12 goals were a career-high, and though he was four points shy of his career-best total, the 22-point jump in his plus-minus more than made up for the four points. A full season from Noah Welch should make the Gary Roberts trade last season look like a no-brainer. Welch projects as a number three defenseman at worst, and although he’ll do a lot of learning on the fly this coming season, they’ll love him in south Florida.
But as good as the goaltending will be, and as good as the defense should be, it’s all up to the offense. Dickie Zednik is being given yet another opportunity to prove his worth, as is Radek Dvorak. Nathan Horton was given a huge contract, and Rostislav Olesz and Stephen Weiss still need to show up they way they’re expected to.
Outlook: There is still work to be done in Florida, but if the Hurricanes, Thrashers or Lightning stumble again, and the Panthers turn things around in overtime (and on the road), the Panthers could find themselves in the post-season. But don’t anybody in Miami hold your breath. Note: my roommate Adam thinks I’m crazy, and Vokoun isn’t worth six points in the standings. 9th in East, 92 points.
ATLANTA THRASHERS
New gear: I really like the way they’ve applied the dark jersey to the new system. The jersey is essentially unchanged, and actually looks a little better than before. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the white jersey. I’ve really come around to like the piping, the shoulders and collar look great, but somehow this jersey just doesn’t quite pop.
New Year: The Thrashers are hoping Ilya Kovalchuk can rebound from what’s considered an off-year last season. The gifted Russian netted 42 goals, but his 76 points were below expectations. Kovalchuk’s first season without centre Marc Savard was far less successful than Savard’s was without Kovalchuk. If the Thrashers are going to return to the post-season, Kovalchuk has to find his way back to 90-plus points.
Eric Perrin and Todd White are a pair of new faces trying to fix a long-standing problem in Atlanta. Outside of Savard, the Thrashers have never even come close to having a true number-one centre. Neither Perrin, nor White is a typical first-line centre, but both have shown flashes of productivity in the past, and the Thrashers are hoping one of these guys can gel with Kovalchuk.
The Thrashers are looking at a lot of minor-league promotions this season, as they try to fill out the roster. Before camp breaks, it’s hard to say what this team is even going to look like. There are that many openings.
But for all the uncertainty surrounding this team, one this is for certain: Kari Lehtonen gives this team a chance to win every night. Lehtonen faltered in the playoffs, but should be able to rebound. Last season, in just his second full season in the NHL, Lehtonen slashed his goals-against average by 15 points, increased his save percentage, and bagged four shutouts. The sky remains the limit for Lehtonen.
Outlook: Outside of Lehtonen and Marian Hossa, the Thrashers have too many question marks to be in the mix again this season. The loss of Andy Sutton and Greg de Vries with only Ken Klee as a replacement isn’t exactly awe-inspiring. That said, Garnet Exelby is primed for a huge year. There’s probably enough here to make in interesting, but not enough to stop this team from falling just short. 10th in East, 92 points.
WASHINGTON CAPITALS
New gear: Welcome to the new NHL! These may be the worst of the lot. Actually, that’s a little unfair. I just don’t understand the stripes running up the inside of the sleeves. The updated version of their original logo is a nice touch, but lacks the charm the old 80’s Caps logo had.
New Year: The Capitals may finally have someone to play with Alex Ovechkin. Fresh off a stint on Broadway alongside Jaromir Jagr, Michael Nylander takes on his next project: getting the Capitals back to respectability, and keeping Ovechkin in the nightly highlights. For right now, let’s just say the latter will be a much easier task.
Also new to D.C. after some time in New York are Viktor Kozlov and Tom Poti, both former Islanders. Kozlov won’t be expected to put up big numbers like Nylander will be. That said, alongside second-year winger Alexander Semin, it’s easy to believe Kozlov could have a big year. Semin had 73 points as a rookie last season, and should produce even more this season.
Tom Poti will be asked to anchor a blue line that ranked among the league’s worst last season. It says here, they’ll remain there this time around. Poti is a good offensive defenseman, but he’s hardly the guy to anchor a young defense corps like this. It’s too early in camp to say for certain, but the Caps’ first two picks in June’s draft, Karl Alzner and Josh Godfrey, will have legitimate opportunities to make this team. I’m not sold on Alzner, but Godfrey came as close as anyone did to being a stud defenseman for Canada during the recent Super Series.
Outlook: Until the Capitals get some real help on defense, they’re in trouble. First, they extra load on the aging Olaf Kolzig leads him to run the risk of injury (again), and second, Brent Johnson doesn’t exactly cause opposing forwards to cower in fear. When this team makes that turn, from also-ran to contender, it’s going to happen very quickly. This is not the year for that turn, though. 14th in East, 80 points.
Friday, September 07, 2007
If we could clone him...
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have reportedly made Casey Printers the highest-paid player in the CFL. That’s great news.
For Casey Printers.
I want to love this deal, I really do. And it would be VERY easy to blame this lackluster 2007 season on the quarterbacking duo of Timmy Chang and Jason Maas. It would also be very unfair. Sure, of the nine games the Cats have played, Maas has only finished four of his eight starts, Chang was replaced in his only start, and third-stringer Richie Williams has even seen action. And sure, they’ve only thrown for eight touchdowns. But it’s not like they’ve been getting a whole lot of help.
The best thing that’s happened to the Ticats in the first half of the season is Jesse Lumsden. End of story. No substitutes. He’s third in the league with 627 rushing yards, his 8.5 yards per carry is tops among runners with more than five carries (and a full 2.3 yards per carry better than the next running back). Lumsden’s 309 receiving yards are not only second among Tiger-Cats, but are also 50 more than any other running back in the league has. Lumsden’s 936 total yards trails only Winnipeg’s Charles Roberts.
But he’s hurt. So it’s up to the rest of the offense, which doesn’t bode so well. This is a group that’s giving up sacks like they’re going out of style, dropping passes like a bunch of kids playing hot potato, and giving back the rare successful play with 100 yards worth of penalties every game.
Is one Casey Printers enough to overcome all of that? We’ll find out, but I’m sure not going to put any money on it. Is Printers going to get this team into the playoffs? Again, it’s no safe bet. But I’ll still be cheering as loud as ever the rest of the way.
And now, a new mid-season feature: weekly CFL picks.
The second half of the season kicks off with rematches of all four Labour Day weekend games. The Calgary Stampeders have to be feeling good heading into Edmonton Friday night. Including their preseason tilt, the Stamps are 3-0 against Edmonton this season, including a dominant second half last Monday. There is no reason the believe Calgary won’t finish the season sweep.
Hamilton is in Toronto Saturday afternoon, reeling from the beating they took at Ivor Wynne on Labour Day. The Argos need the win to keep pace with Edmonton, in trying to prevent a playoff crossover. The Ticats’ Jason Maas was apparently moment away from being dealt to Montreal Thursday night, so Saturday’s starter, much like this team’s direction, is up in the air. But they can totally still beat the Argos.
Montreal hosts B.C. in the early game Sunday. The Alouettes should be embarrassed following their performance last Friday in B.C. (and in last year’s Grey Cup for that matter), but the Lions are still the best team in the league (though they’re technically in second place), and they should walk all over Montreal. Again.
Lastly, Saskatchewan is in Winnipeg after a thrilling win over the Blue Bombers at home last week. These division leaders match up well against one another, and it’s easy to believe the home team will take this game as well. The Blue Bombers win the best game of the week.
For Casey Printers.
I want to love this deal, I really do. And it would be VERY easy to blame this lackluster 2007 season on the quarterbacking duo of Timmy Chang and Jason Maas. It would also be very unfair. Sure, of the nine games the Cats have played, Maas has only finished four of his eight starts, Chang was replaced in his only start, and third-stringer Richie Williams has even seen action. And sure, they’ve only thrown for eight touchdowns. But it’s not like they’ve been getting a whole lot of help.
The best thing that’s happened to the Ticats in the first half of the season is Jesse Lumsden. End of story. No substitutes. He’s third in the league with 627 rushing yards, his 8.5 yards per carry is tops among runners with more than five carries (and a full 2.3 yards per carry better than the next running back). Lumsden’s 309 receiving yards are not only second among Tiger-Cats, but are also 50 more than any other running back in the league has. Lumsden’s 936 total yards trails only Winnipeg’s Charles Roberts.
But he’s hurt. So it’s up to the rest of the offense, which doesn’t bode so well. This is a group that’s giving up sacks like they’re going out of style, dropping passes like a bunch of kids playing hot potato, and giving back the rare successful play with 100 yards worth of penalties every game.
Is one Casey Printers enough to overcome all of that? We’ll find out, but I’m sure not going to put any money on it. Is Printers going to get this team into the playoffs? Again, it’s no safe bet. But I’ll still be cheering as loud as ever the rest of the way.
And now, a new mid-season feature: weekly CFL picks.
The second half of the season kicks off with rematches of all four Labour Day weekend games. The Calgary Stampeders have to be feeling good heading into Edmonton Friday night. Including their preseason tilt, the Stamps are 3-0 against Edmonton this season, including a dominant second half last Monday. There is no reason the believe Calgary won’t finish the season sweep.
Hamilton is in Toronto Saturday afternoon, reeling from the beating they took at Ivor Wynne on Labour Day. The Argos need the win to keep pace with Edmonton, in trying to prevent a playoff crossover. The Ticats’ Jason Maas was apparently moment away from being dealt to Montreal Thursday night, so Saturday’s starter, much like this team’s direction, is up in the air. But they can totally still beat the Argos.
Montreal hosts B.C. in the early game Sunday. The Alouettes should be embarrassed following their performance last Friday in B.C. (and in last year’s Grey Cup for that matter), but the Lions are still the best team in the league (though they’re technically in second place), and they should walk all over Montreal. Again.
Lastly, Saskatchewan is in Winnipeg after a thrilling win over the Blue Bombers at home last week. These division leaders match up well against one another, and it’s easy to believe the home team will take this game as well. The Blue Bombers win the best game of the week.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
What the hell? Football season again?
Well, September slinked up to us like a silent and sneaking little ninja, and before I even realized it, the NFL season is about the start. So I guess I should get to some picks.
The good news, as always, is that my picks are based on roughly no preparation, and reflect knowledge of teams and players that’s five years old at best. Also, blind faith and hatred play in the decisions as well. Without even looking at the schedule, I know my beloved San Francisco 49ers play six games each year against Arizona, Seattle and St. Louis. There’s no reason the 9ers should ever have a division record worse than 4-2. And I have complete faith they’ll finish at least 10-6 overall this season, and they’ll be 5-1 at the bye.
Again, I won’t even try to justify my picks, so here they are.
The Saints are going to rain all over Indy’s parade Thursday night.
I suppose somebody has to win the KC-Houston game, and it might as well be Kansas City.
Ditto for Washington-Miami. It’s in Washington, and when in doubt, go for the home team.
Denver will beat Buffalo, Carolina will beat St. Louis, Pittsburgh will beat Cleveland, Minnesota will beat Atlanta, Jacksonville will beat Tennessee.
New England can be beaten on the road. And I think I remember the Jets really turning things around at the end of last season. So here’s the upset pick of the week. Jets over Pats.
Philadelphia will beat Green Bay, Oakland will beat Detroit.
If Chicago and San Diego are going to contenders again this season, it’s a damn shame this game is happening so early in the season. Not only are the Chargers my pick this week, I also think I’m picking San Diego every week this year.
Tampa Bay could be sneaky good this year. I think most people are overlooking them. It says here they can handle the Seahawks.
I guess the Giants will beat Dallas. Does anyone remember when this game mattered?
Double-header Monday! Let’s go Baltimore over Cincinnati and obviously the 49ers over Arizona. It’s like the schedule-makers are using week one as proof the flexible Monday night schedule is necessary. Sure, division match-ups are nice, but the Jets-Pats and Bears-Bolts games will both be much better than these two. And that Bucs-Seahawks game could be a dandy, too.
The good news, as always, is that my picks are based on roughly no preparation, and reflect knowledge of teams and players that’s five years old at best. Also, blind faith and hatred play in the decisions as well. Without even looking at the schedule, I know my beloved San Francisco 49ers play six games each year against Arizona, Seattle and St. Louis. There’s no reason the 9ers should ever have a division record worse than 4-2. And I have complete faith they’ll finish at least 10-6 overall this season, and they’ll be 5-1 at the bye.
Again, I won’t even try to justify my picks, so here they are.
The Saints are going to rain all over Indy’s parade Thursday night.
I suppose somebody has to win the KC-Houston game, and it might as well be Kansas City.
Ditto for Washington-Miami. It’s in Washington, and when in doubt, go for the home team.
Denver will beat Buffalo, Carolina will beat St. Louis, Pittsburgh will beat Cleveland, Minnesota will beat Atlanta, Jacksonville will beat Tennessee.
New England can be beaten on the road. And I think I remember the Jets really turning things around at the end of last season. So here’s the upset pick of the week. Jets over Pats.
Philadelphia will beat Green Bay, Oakland will beat Detroit.
If Chicago and San Diego are going to contenders again this season, it’s a damn shame this game is happening so early in the season. Not only are the Chargers my pick this week, I also think I’m picking San Diego every week this year.
Tampa Bay could be sneaky good this year. I think most people are overlooking them. It says here they can handle the Seahawks.
I guess the Giants will beat Dallas. Does anyone remember when this game mattered?
Double-header Monday! Let’s go Baltimore over Cincinnati and obviously the 49ers over Arizona. It’s like the schedule-makers are using week one as proof the flexible Monday night schedule is necessary. Sure, division match-ups are nice, but the Jets-Pats and Bears-Bolts games will both be much better than these two. And that Bucs-Seahawks game could be a dandy, too.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's the Super Series
Right off the top, something new. Since I’ll be very focused on the Calgary Hitmen, and Western Hockey League in general this season, from now on, the first time I mention any drafted junior player, I mention will be followed by the NHL team that owns his rights. For example, Alex Plante (Edm). Got it? Good.
I know I’m a little behind with this whole Super Series business, but it’s hard to get up early to watch glorified exhibition games before work. So I’m just getting around to watching this thing, and I have to say, after game five, I’m impressed with the Canadian squad.
In particular, the Canadian forwards were excellent. Brandon Sutter (Car) is a shot-blocking machine. He has excellent presence at the point while killing penalties. His lateral movement is great, considering the amount of space a penalty-killing forward has to cover, and his hockey sense is off the charts. This guy’s a keeper.
Sam Gagner (Edm) was Canada’s second-best forward in game five. Like Sutter, he comes from a great hockey background, and he has the hockey sense to prove it. Gagner sees the ice so well, and makes great passes. If he doesn’t get beat up in camp, there’s no way the Oilers are sending him back to London this year. With 11 points in the first five games, it’s very easy to make assumptions about Gagner’s game, but he takes care of his own end, and the fact he has 11 points is a testament to the fact he’s always involved in the play.
When all is said and done, we’ll probably look back and say Kyle Turris (Pho) should have been the top pick in the June 2007 draft. For everything we hear about Turris’ offensive exploits, it’s his defensive game that can’t be overlooked. He was killing penalties for Canada, and his great short-handed forecheck led to Logan Pyett’s (Det) 3-1 goal. And Turris added a nice exclamation point to the 8-1 victory with an absolutely gorgeous backhander into the top shelf from just outside the crease. Nevermind his size, Turris is the real deal.
Other notable performances among Canada’s forwards include Colton Gillies (Min), who looked like everything a proficient penalty killer should be Tuesday night. Stefan Legein (CBJ) also showed a lot of jump in his penalty-killing role, and the Jackets are going to love this guy. He has excellent offensive instincts, and should be able to take his game to the next level.
Brad Marchand (Bos) showed up with a big performance. He had a great third period when his ice time jumped, and he was an offensive catalyst (ditto for linemate Zach Hamill (Bos)). And Claude Giroux (Phi) showed a lot of jump, great hands, and excellent penalty-killing as well. A 48-goal scorer last season in the Q, Giroux had great chemistry with Turris, and the Flyers have to be excited about his future.
Lastly, Jonathan Bernier (LA) was excellent in goal. He wasn’t tested very often, but made everything look routine. It’s been a long time since the LA Kings had a star goaltender, but Bernier could certainly fill that void in the near future.
I hate to have anything negative to say about these guys, especially given their overall performance. But I have to comment on the lack of stud defensemen in Canada’s lineup. Both Karl Alzner (Was) and Keaton Ellerby (Fla) were drafted early in the first round three months ago, but neither stood out in game five. Alzner, noted for his strong offensive play, wasn’t even playing with the power play units. Ellbery was efficient in his own end, but nothing about his game says future-Norris-Trophy-winner. The Kings went off the board to draft Thomas Hickey, and he too, was unspectacular. Considering all three of them were top-10 picks in June, they were underwhelming as a group.
Four undrafted players are a part of this squad, and all four played very well Tuesday night. John Tavares (2009) can fight for early entry into the draft, but he’s not NHL ready. The extra year in the OHL will serve him well, if only for the extra time he’ll get more exposure to Hockey Canada’s programs as a result. Zac Boychuk (2008) played a lot of extra minutes in the third with Marchand and Hamill, and played very well. He’s like a badger around the puck, and has a big-league shot. Drew Doughty (2008) and Luke Schenn (2008) were both very good in their own end, and while they were as uninspiring as the other defensemen, they didn’t look out of place. Both guys should have very bright futures ahead of them.
This is already too long, so I’ll point out the bright spots from the Russian side very quickly. Although he surrendered all eight goals, Sergei Bobrovsky was spectacular in the Russian goal. He was not drafted in his draft year, but could become a Roman Cechmanek, Tim Thomas or Cristobal Huet-type down the road. He showed a lot of heart, and the score would have been much worse without him. Maxim Mamin, also undrafted, played a strong, physical game for the Russians. Though he didn’t dazzle with skill, he seemed like a solid, third-line kind of guy. The sort of guy your team doesn’t win many games without. Ruslan Backdrop (Ott) was a late addition to the team, but played with a lot of heart. He drove to the net hard, and played a solid game.
Game six goes Wednesday night in Saskatoon, and I will absolutely be tuning in.
I know I’m a little behind with this whole Super Series business, but it’s hard to get up early to watch glorified exhibition games before work. So I’m just getting around to watching this thing, and I have to say, after game five, I’m impressed with the Canadian squad.
In particular, the Canadian forwards were excellent. Brandon Sutter (Car) is a shot-blocking machine. He has excellent presence at the point while killing penalties. His lateral movement is great, considering the amount of space a penalty-killing forward has to cover, and his hockey sense is off the charts. This guy’s a keeper.
Sam Gagner (Edm) was Canada’s second-best forward in game five. Like Sutter, he comes from a great hockey background, and he has the hockey sense to prove it. Gagner sees the ice so well, and makes great passes. If he doesn’t get beat up in camp, there’s no way the Oilers are sending him back to London this year. With 11 points in the first five games, it’s very easy to make assumptions about Gagner’s game, but he takes care of his own end, and the fact he has 11 points is a testament to the fact he’s always involved in the play.
When all is said and done, we’ll probably look back and say Kyle Turris (Pho) should have been the top pick in the June 2007 draft. For everything we hear about Turris’ offensive exploits, it’s his defensive game that can’t be overlooked. He was killing penalties for Canada, and his great short-handed forecheck led to Logan Pyett’s (Det) 3-1 goal. And Turris added a nice exclamation point to the 8-1 victory with an absolutely gorgeous backhander into the top shelf from just outside the crease. Nevermind his size, Turris is the real deal.
Other notable performances among Canada’s forwards include Colton Gillies (Min), who looked like everything a proficient penalty killer should be Tuesday night. Stefan Legein (CBJ) also showed a lot of jump in his penalty-killing role, and the Jackets are going to love this guy. He has excellent offensive instincts, and should be able to take his game to the next level.
Brad Marchand (Bos) showed up with a big performance. He had a great third period when his ice time jumped, and he was an offensive catalyst (ditto for linemate Zach Hamill (Bos)). And Claude Giroux (Phi) showed a lot of jump, great hands, and excellent penalty-killing as well. A 48-goal scorer last season in the Q, Giroux had great chemistry with Turris, and the Flyers have to be excited about his future.
Lastly, Jonathan Bernier (LA) was excellent in goal. He wasn’t tested very often, but made everything look routine. It’s been a long time since the LA Kings had a star goaltender, but Bernier could certainly fill that void in the near future.
I hate to have anything negative to say about these guys, especially given their overall performance. But I have to comment on the lack of stud defensemen in Canada’s lineup. Both Karl Alzner (Was) and Keaton Ellerby (Fla) were drafted early in the first round three months ago, but neither stood out in game five. Alzner, noted for his strong offensive play, wasn’t even playing with the power play units. Ellbery was efficient in his own end, but nothing about his game says future-Norris-Trophy-winner. The Kings went off the board to draft Thomas Hickey, and he too, was unspectacular. Considering all three of them were top-10 picks in June, they were underwhelming as a group.
Four undrafted players are a part of this squad, and all four played very well Tuesday night. John Tavares (2009) can fight for early entry into the draft, but he’s not NHL ready. The extra year in the OHL will serve him well, if only for the extra time he’ll get more exposure to Hockey Canada’s programs as a result. Zac Boychuk (2008) played a lot of extra minutes in the third with Marchand and Hamill, and played very well. He’s like a badger around the puck, and has a big-league shot. Drew Doughty (2008) and Luke Schenn (2008) were both very good in their own end, and while they were as uninspiring as the other defensemen, they didn’t look out of place. Both guys should have very bright futures ahead of them.
This is already too long, so I’ll point out the bright spots from the Russian side very quickly. Although he surrendered all eight goals, Sergei Bobrovsky was spectacular in the Russian goal. He was not drafted in his draft year, but could become a Roman Cechmanek, Tim Thomas or Cristobal Huet-type down the road. He showed a lot of heart, and the score would have been much worse without him. Maxim Mamin, also undrafted, played a strong, physical game for the Russians. Though he didn’t dazzle with skill, he seemed like a solid, third-line kind of guy. The sort of guy your team doesn’t win many games without. Ruslan Backdrop (Ott) was a late addition to the team, but played with a lot of heart. He drove to the net hard, and played a solid game.
Game six goes Wednesday night in Saskatoon, and I will absolutely be tuning in.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Don't Mess With Texas
You just had to know The Bus was going to be the guy to break my silence.
Faking an injury to avoid getting cut at camp? Are you kidding me? The Bus is releasing a book, and in said book, he claims to have faked the timing of a knee injury to avoid being cut during training camp back in 2000. He had an operation on the knee during the off-season, and went down, writhing in agony during the first play of training camp.
Sure, it was a slimy thing to do, but here’s the real issue: how did the team docs not dig a little deeper and see scar tissue from the procedure? How did they just accept at face value, that a player whose skills were clearly on the decline, was hurt? Makes me wonder.
Another thing that makes me wonder is Stephon Marbury of the New York Knicks. The quotes “from what I hear, dog fighting is a sport,” and “we don't say anything about people who shoot deer or shoot other animals,” are probably going to be my two favourites of the calendar year.
Marbury is one seriously enlightened guy.
I certainly can’t defend game hunting, but at least it requires a license, and doesn’t require doors to be closed. It also doesn’t involve the torture and maiming (and electrocution?!?!?!) of an animal more than 50 million Americans have given names to. Nicely done, Stephon.
Lastly, let’s get to the good stuff. In honour of the 50th anniversary of Major League Baseball’s Gold Glove award, Rawlings released an all-time Gold Glove team Wednesday. Rawlings elected a panel of experts to narrow down the more than 250 Gold Glove winners to a list of 50 players. Those 50 players were put onto a ballot, and fans voted for the all-time team.
I love the whole idea of this list. First off, Cincinnati needs a mall, or a theme park, or something. Of the nine players on the all-time team, three represent the Queen City. Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan were elected to the Hall of Fame as Reds, and Ken Griffey Jr. is a current Red, on his way to Cooperstown.
Second, screw the American League, and their sissy pitchers. This is a list for real men. Of the six Hall of Fame inductees on the list, only one has a bust at Cooperstown wearing an American League cap, Baltimore’s Brooks Robinson.
The three players not elected to the Hall on this list are Greg Maddux, of 16 Gold Glove awards, and bound for the Hall; Griffey, of 10 Gold Gloves despite injuries and a perception his play has fallen off. Also, Hall-of-Fame bound. And lastly, Wes Parker of the 1960s and early 70s Los Angeles Dodgers. Parker isn’t headed to Cooperstown any time soon, and he joins Morgan as the only players on the list with single-digit Gold Glove wins. To be honest, I’ve never even heard of the guy, but the fact he’s on this list means he’s OK in my book.
The incomparable Ozzie Smith rounds out the infield, bringing his 13 Gold Glove awards to the party.
As always, save the best for last. Rounding out the list are Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays.
With four Josh Towerses pitching behind Maddux, this lineup would easily win 120 games (and with Dave Bushes instead of John Towerses, 130 isn’t out of the question).
And to give a little nod to the guys on the other side of the ball, nice work Texas. Way to stamp out any hope of Baltimore posting a 27-run comeback with that 30-3 win Wednesday night. Seriously, no team has posted 30 runs in a Major League game since 1897, that’s 110 years for those of you scoring at home. Also, if you’re scoring at home, let me know if you find a “Don’t mess with Texas” headline anywhere.
Faking an injury to avoid getting cut at camp? Are you kidding me? The Bus is releasing a book, and in said book, he claims to have faked the timing of a knee injury to avoid being cut during training camp back in 2000. He had an operation on the knee during the off-season, and went down, writhing in agony during the first play of training camp.
Sure, it was a slimy thing to do, but here’s the real issue: how did the team docs not dig a little deeper and see scar tissue from the procedure? How did they just accept at face value, that a player whose skills were clearly on the decline, was hurt? Makes me wonder.
Another thing that makes me wonder is Stephon Marbury of the New York Knicks. The quotes “from what I hear, dog fighting is a sport,” and “we don't say anything about people who shoot deer or shoot other animals,” are probably going to be my two favourites of the calendar year.
Marbury is one seriously enlightened guy.
I certainly can’t defend game hunting, but at least it requires a license, and doesn’t require doors to be closed. It also doesn’t involve the torture and maiming (and electrocution?!?!?!) of an animal more than 50 million Americans have given names to. Nicely done, Stephon.
Lastly, let’s get to the good stuff. In honour of the 50th anniversary of Major League Baseball’s Gold Glove award, Rawlings released an all-time Gold Glove team Wednesday. Rawlings elected a panel of experts to narrow down the more than 250 Gold Glove winners to a list of 50 players. Those 50 players were put onto a ballot, and fans voted for the all-time team.
I love the whole idea of this list. First off, Cincinnati needs a mall, or a theme park, or something. Of the nine players on the all-time team, three represent the Queen City. Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan were elected to the Hall of Fame as Reds, and Ken Griffey Jr. is a current Red, on his way to Cooperstown.
Second, screw the American League, and their sissy pitchers. This is a list for real men. Of the six Hall of Fame inductees on the list, only one has a bust at Cooperstown wearing an American League cap, Baltimore’s Brooks Robinson.
The three players not elected to the Hall on this list are Greg Maddux, of 16 Gold Glove awards, and bound for the Hall; Griffey, of 10 Gold Gloves despite injuries and a perception his play has fallen off. Also, Hall-of-Fame bound. And lastly, Wes Parker of the 1960s and early 70s Los Angeles Dodgers. Parker isn’t headed to Cooperstown any time soon, and he joins Morgan as the only players on the list with single-digit Gold Glove wins. To be honest, I’ve never even heard of the guy, but the fact he’s on this list means he’s OK in my book.
The incomparable Ozzie Smith rounds out the infield, bringing his 13 Gold Glove awards to the party.
As always, save the best for last. Rounding out the list are Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays.
With four Josh Towerses pitching behind Maddux, this lineup would easily win 120 games (and with Dave Bushes instead of John Towerses, 130 isn’t out of the question).
And to give a little nod to the guys on the other side of the ball, nice work Texas. Way to stamp out any hope of Baltimore posting a 27-run comeback with that 30-3 win Wednesday night. Seriously, no team has posted 30 runs in a Major League game since 1897, that’s 110 years for those of you scoring at home. Also, if you’re scoring at home, let me know if you find a “Don’t mess with Texas” headline anywhere.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Goodbye Mr. Walsh
I just knew this hiatus wouldn’t last long.
First and foremost, a fond farewell to the great Bill Walsh. Though I only saw Mr. Walsh coach one game, it made just a tiny impact on me. The date: January 28, 1990. The place: Louisiana Superdome. Super Bowl XXIV. Though I barely knew what football was, I knew the San Francisco 49ers were my dad’s favourite team. After watching my first NFL game, I knew why they were his favourite team. Turns out, a 55-10 win in the championship game is a pretty impressive feat. My favourite team was chosen for me that night. For that, I am forever indebted to Bill Walsh.
As for the rest of us, well, we can thank Mr. Walsh every time our team runs a quarterback draw on third-and-long, gaining a fresh set of downs. Love your team’s possession receiver? The three-step drop followed by a dump-pass just over the line of scrimmage? We’ll all miss Bill Walsh, but he’ll never be forgotten.
And the bad news… yet another piece of human garbage in the sports world. All I can say for this guy is, at least he didn’t commit any crime.
Dave Harrison of the Ottawa Citizen has decided women don’t belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Thanks, Dave. He suggests only feminists like women’s ice hockey. What wonderful insight. I’m not ready to cast aside the NHL for women’s professional hockey, but I’ll re-watch the 2002 Olympic gold medal game long before I’ll sit through a Minnesota Wild-Columbus Blue Jackets tilt in mid-November. It was the high-water mark for women’s international hockey, not unlike the way the 1987 Canada Cup was probably the pinnacle of men’s international hockey.
Even better, Harrison’s idea we build a women’s sports hall of fame somewhere in western Canada. While I’m all for a national women’s sports hall of fame, the idea of not including the likes of Vicky Sunohara and Geraldine Heaney (if only as apology for making them wear pink jerseys at the first World Championship), Cammi Granato, Angela Ruggiero, Cassie Campbell, Danielle Goyette and Hayley Wickenheiser and the other women to pioneer and grow the game in the Hall, while the likes of Clarence Campbell, Harold Ballard and Bill Wirtz continue to reside among the honorees, is insulting not only to women, but to all hockey fans, and anyone else that believes in equality.
Not only do these women deserve to join the likes of Wayne Gretzky (who took the play behind the net) and Bobby Orr (who taught us all how exhilarating it is to watch a defenseman carry the puck across centre ice), and Boom Boom Geoffrion (whom Sheldon Souray can thank for the $27 million Kevin Lowe recently handed over), and Jari Kurri and Esa Tikkanen (who taught us Europeans were as talented as Canadians, and as tough), but also they deserve an entire wing like the one recently created for international hockey.
To once again reach back to my youth, nothing was more instrumental in my becoming a hockey fan than seeing the Stanley Cup. More recently, the joys of the Hall were found in unexpected artifacts like Steve Begin’s Saint John Flames jersey in the Calder Cup display alongside Raffi Torres’ Hamilton Bulldogs jersey. Or Jaroslav Halak’s Slovakia jersey on display long before he nearly saved Montreal’s 2007 season. Or spotting Mike Gartner’s helmet from across the room. Or taking my kid brother to the Hall.
The virtues and joy of the Hall of Fame are clear to anyone that’s ever been. And if the Hall ever wants to escape the stigma of being the so-called NHL Hall of Fame, the pioneers of women’s hockey need to be a part of it. Some will say these women would never succeed in today’s National Hockey League, but neither would Joe Malone or Howie Morenz-- and nobody questions their importance.
First and foremost, a fond farewell to the great Bill Walsh. Though I only saw Mr. Walsh coach one game, it made just a tiny impact on me. The date: January 28, 1990. The place: Louisiana Superdome. Super Bowl XXIV. Though I barely knew what football was, I knew the San Francisco 49ers were my dad’s favourite team. After watching my first NFL game, I knew why they were his favourite team. Turns out, a 55-10 win in the championship game is a pretty impressive feat. My favourite team was chosen for me that night. For that, I am forever indebted to Bill Walsh.
As for the rest of us, well, we can thank Mr. Walsh every time our team runs a quarterback draw on third-and-long, gaining a fresh set of downs. Love your team’s possession receiver? The three-step drop followed by a dump-pass just over the line of scrimmage? We’ll all miss Bill Walsh, but he’ll never be forgotten.
And the bad news… yet another piece of human garbage in the sports world. All I can say for this guy is, at least he didn’t commit any crime.
Dave Harrison of the Ottawa Citizen has decided women don’t belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Thanks, Dave. He suggests only feminists like women’s ice hockey. What wonderful insight. I’m not ready to cast aside the NHL for women’s professional hockey, but I’ll re-watch the 2002 Olympic gold medal game long before I’ll sit through a Minnesota Wild-Columbus Blue Jackets tilt in mid-November. It was the high-water mark for women’s international hockey, not unlike the way the 1987 Canada Cup was probably the pinnacle of men’s international hockey.
Even better, Harrison’s idea we build a women’s sports hall of fame somewhere in western Canada. While I’m all for a national women’s sports hall of fame, the idea of not including the likes of Vicky Sunohara and Geraldine Heaney (if only as apology for making them wear pink jerseys at the first World Championship), Cammi Granato, Angela Ruggiero, Cassie Campbell, Danielle Goyette and Hayley Wickenheiser and the other women to pioneer and grow the game in the Hall, while the likes of Clarence Campbell, Harold Ballard and Bill Wirtz continue to reside among the honorees, is insulting not only to women, but to all hockey fans, and anyone else that believes in equality.
Not only do these women deserve to join the likes of Wayne Gretzky (who took the play behind the net) and Bobby Orr (who taught us all how exhilarating it is to watch a defenseman carry the puck across centre ice), and Boom Boom Geoffrion (whom Sheldon Souray can thank for the $27 million Kevin Lowe recently handed over), and Jari Kurri and Esa Tikkanen (who taught us Europeans were as talented as Canadians, and as tough), but also they deserve an entire wing like the one recently created for international hockey.
To once again reach back to my youth, nothing was more instrumental in my becoming a hockey fan than seeing the Stanley Cup. More recently, the joys of the Hall were found in unexpected artifacts like Steve Begin’s Saint John Flames jersey in the Calder Cup display alongside Raffi Torres’ Hamilton Bulldogs jersey. Or Jaroslav Halak’s Slovakia jersey on display long before he nearly saved Montreal’s 2007 season. Or spotting Mike Gartner’s helmet from across the room. Or taking my kid brother to the Hall.
The virtues and joy of the Hall of Fame are clear to anyone that’s ever been. And if the Hall ever wants to escape the stigma of being the so-called NHL Hall of Fame, the pioneers of women’s hockey need to be a part of it. Some will say these women would never succeed in today’s National Hockey League, but neither would Joe Malone or Howie Morenz-- and nobody questions their importance.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Absenteeism
Dear readers
Sorry for the down time. As I’m sure you’re getting used to, it happens now and then. Especially when the sports news is slow.
That said, we’re in the midst of an unprecedented basketball scandal, an NFL star is being linked to a dog-fighting ring, and the biggest cheater in sport is about to break one of the most hallowed records in all of sport. And Sports With Steve is nowhere to be found? What gives?
Well, to be completely honest, I just can’t muster the energy to be outraged. Instead, I’m wallowing in apathy brought on by a complete and utter lack of surprise.
A middle-aged man gambling on sports? No news there. The fact it’s a professional official makes it a very grave situation for the National Basketball Association, but in more than 100 years of professional sport in North America, it’s just the fourth big-time gambling incident (and that’s allowing for the Janet Gretzky, Rick Tocchet thing to be considered big time). In any given European league or international soccer match, there’s likely to be more than four crooked players, coaches and officials on the pitch at any given time. And soccer’s popularity isn’t hurting because of it.
As for Mike Vick, awful as dog fighting is, it’s not quite on the same level as driving around with a trunk full of guns like Tank Johnson, being implicated and questioned in multiple shooting incidents like Pacman Jones, serving time for drug-related offenses like Jamal Lewis, or plotting and executing the murder of your pregnant girlfriend like Rae Carruth. I love dogs, and in no way do I intend to minimize the need to eradicate dog fighting, and the people responsible for it, but I think the number of players in the National Football League that are willing to minimize the value of human life is a bigger problem. And, for what it’s worth, the fact Vick was too stupid get out of the dog-fighting business after Jones and Johnson were served hefty suspensions tells me he deserves the season-long suspension I expect NFL commissioner Roger Goddell to hand down. His mandate is very clear: you wanna make millions to play football on Sundays? You’d better get it together off the field.
And Barry. Barry, Barry, Barry. A man who miraculously gained weight, and a highly-refined home-run stroke at age 36. We’re not even talking about whispers, secrets or innuendo. Since setting the single-season home run record in 2001, it’s been widely speculated, assumed, and flatly stated that Barry Bonds is a steroids user. Anabolic steroids are a controlled substance in the United States-- their use is illegal. In Major League Baseball, though, the lines have always been a little more blurred. Through Grand Jury investigations and countless hearings, we’re all pretty sure now that Bud Selig et al turned a blind eye to the fact Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were undoubtedly using performance-enhancing drugs in the summer of 1998, when they sparked a renewed interest in baseball and saved the game from financial ruin while chasing Roger Maris’ home run record. So it’s pretty hard to be all that upset about it now. Major League Baseball made their bed…
To me, it’s a whole lot more upsetting that after all the work the Tour de France did to ensure a level playing field, the current leader was sent home from the race Wednesday for failing a drug test. It’s a whole lot more disappointing to me to see the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ GM calling for the CFL to use American-born on-field officials in an effort to improve the product. Just so we’re clear, the Tiger-Cats are still 0-4 with all the American officials they can find.
But perhaps this sort of thing is the source of my negligence. Or this, this, or even this. I guess I’m saying real life is getting in the way, and I’m sorry I’ve not given these stories the attention they’ve deserved. But there’s a little more going on right now, and the importance of hitting a baseball wanes compared to these other things.
I’ll be down for most of the rest of the summer, but as we move toward the start of hockey season, I’ll get back into the swing of things. Enjoy the weather, I'll be here for you when the frost comes.
Sorry for the down time. As I’m sure you’re getting used to, it happens now and then. Especially when the sports news is slow.
That said, we’re in the midst of an unprecedented basketball scandal, an NFL star is being linked to a dog-fighting ring, and the biggest cheater in sport is about to break one of the most hallowed records in all of sport. And Sports With Steve is nowhere to be found? What gives?
Well, to be completely honest, I just can’t muster the energy to be outraged. Instead, I’m wallowing in apathy brought on by a complete and utter lack of surprise.
A middle-aged man gambling on sports? No news there. The fact it’s a professional official makes it a very grave situation for the National Basketball Association, but in more than 100 years of professional sport in North America, it’s just the fourth big-time gambling incident (and that’s allowing for the Janet Gretzky, Rick Tocchet thing to be considered big time). In any given European league or international soccer match, there’s likely to be more than four crooked players, coaches and officials on the pitch at any given time. And soccer’s popularity isn’t hurting because of it.
As for Mike Vick, awful as dog fighting is, it’s not quite on the same level as driving around with a trunk full of guns like Tank Johnson, being implicated and questioned in multiple shooting incidents like Pacman Jones, serving time for drug-related offenses like Jamal Lewis, or plotting and executing the murder of your pregnant girlfriend like Rae Carruth. I love dogs, and in no way do I intend to minimize the need to eradicate dog fighting, and the people responsible for it, but I think the number of players in the National Football League that are willing to minimize the value of human life is a bigger problem. And, for what it’s worth, the fact Vick was too stupid get out of the dog-fighting business after Jones and Johnson were served hefty suspensions tells me he deserves the season-long suspension I expect NFL commissioner Roger Goddell to hand down. His mandate is very clear: you wanna make millions to play football on Sundays? You’d better get it together off the field.
And Barry. Barry, Barry, Barry. A man who miraculously gained weight, and a highly-refined home-run stroke at age 36. We’re not even talking about whispers, secrets or innuendo. Since setting the single-season home run record in 2001, it’s been widely speculated, assumed, and flatly stated that Barry Bonds is a steroids user. Anabolic steroids are a controlled substance in the United States-- their use is illegal. In Major League Baseball, though, the lines have always been a little more blurred. Through Grand Jury investigations and countless hearings, we’re all pretty sure now that Bud Selig et al turned a blind eye to the fact Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were undoubtedly using performance-enhancing drugs in the summer of 1998, when they sparked a renewed interest in baseball and saved the game from financial ruin while chasing Roger Maris’ home run record. So it’s pretty hard to be all that upset about it now. Major League Baseball made their bed…
To me, it’s a whole lot more upsetting that after all the work the Tour de France did to ensure a level playing field, the current leader was sent home from the race Wednesday for failing a drug test. It’s a whole lot more disappointing to me to see the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ GM calling for the CFL to use American-born on-field officials in an effort to improve the product. Just so we’re clear, the Tiger-Cats are still 0-4 with all the American officials they can find.
But perhaps this sort of thing is the source of my negligence. Or this, this, or even this. I guess I’m saying real life is getting in the way, and I’m sorry I’ve not given these stories the attention they’ve deserved. But there’s a little more going on right now, and the importance of hitting a baseball wanes compared to these other things.
I’ll be down for most of the rest of the summer, but as we move toward the start of hockey season, I’ll get back into the swing of things. Enjoy the weather, I'll be here for you when the frost comes.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Where's Steve?
Hey all, I'm around, getting kind of bored of the silly season. The dog days of summer are upon us, and it's too hot to think, let alone type. I'll be around if something big happens. For now though, you guys don't need me to tell you I'm disappointed with the Ottawa Senators trading Peter Schaefer, but it was a necessary trade if the Sens want to re-sign Ray Emery. He's a restricted free agent, and expecting a big raise. The Sens are in a bit of cap trouble, and will probably still have to dump more salary this summer to get Emery signed.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
The Crosby Cap
Memo to every NHL free agent between now and London’s summer Olympics: you’re not getting a max deal, and you’re probably not even getting anywhere near the $7 million-a-year contracts Chris Drury, Scott Gomez and Daniel Briere were given this summer.
Here’s why: Sidney Crosby’s new deal is only worth $8.5 million a year. The Pittsburgh Penguins announced the reigning MVP’s contract extension Tuesday, and with one contract, accomplished something the salary cap, and all the collusion in the world never would have. They capped NHL salaries.
If you’ve ever seen Crosby operate, you know there’s no one in the league that’s even close to him. After just two NHL seasons, Crosby is rapidly approaching Wayne Gretzky-like territory. It says here, that before his current deal expires, Crosby will have 1000 career points. He does not have a contemporary.
Two guys that rank at the top of the “everyone else” list are Joe Thornton and Jarome Iginla. They signed contract extensions this summer that will see them earn an average of $7.2 million and $7 million a season, respectively.
Had these three contracts been in place two weeks ago, it’s safe to say Drury, Gomez and Briere would not have been offered the money they signed for. Drury is a proven leader, with a winning track record (though he hasn’t won much without Joe Sakic), Gomez has enjoyed some success, and Briere is coming off a career-year. None of these guys have the kind of track record Thornton and Iginla do, both in terms of leadership and point production. None of those guys have been Hart Trophy or Lester Pearson nominees, and none of those guys have won Art Ross Trophies.
No MVP awards or scoring titles? Here’s $6 million, don’t ask for more.
TOUR TRACKER
Well, it’s not the first time I’ve been wrong, and it certainly won’t be the last, but contrary to the feeling in the cycling world, Tuesday’s third stage of the Tour de France did not yield a new overall leader. Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara won the stage, posting a time of six hours, 36 minutes, 15 seconds, retaining the yellow jersey in the process. Germany’s Andréas Kloden trails Cancellara by 33 seconds for the overall lead.
Wednesday’s stage four is 193 km from Villers-Cotterêts to Joigny, grazing the foothills of the mountains in the Brie Champenoise and Pay d’Othe regions. In 1539, the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts was signed in Villers-Cotterêts, declaring French the official language of the kingdom. Riders will travel almost entirely south-southeast, and with another 193 km of flat land, Cancellara is a good bet to retain the yellow jersey.
Here’s why: Sidney Crosby’s new deal is only worth $8.5 million a year. The Pittsburgh Penguins announced the reigning MVP’s contract extension Tuesday, and with one contract, accomplished something the salary cap, and all the collusion in the world never would have. They capped NHL salaries.
If you’ve ever seen Crosby operate, you know there’s no one in the league that’s even close to him. After just two NHL seasons, Crosby is rapidly approaching Wayne Gretzky-like territory. It says here, that before his current deal expires, Crosby will have 1000 career points. He does not have a contemporary.
Two guys that rank at the top of the “everyone else” list are Joe Thornton and Jarome Iginla. They signed contract extensions this summer that will see them earn an average of $7.2 million and $7 million a season, respectively.
Had these three contracts been in place two weeks ago, it’s safe to say Drury, Gomez and Briere would not have been offered the money they signed for. Drury is a proven leader, with a winning track record (though he hasn’t won much without Joe Sakic), Gomez has enjoyed some success, and Briere is coming off a career-year. None of these guys have the kind of track record Thornton and Iginla do, both in terms of leadership and point production. None of those guys have been Hart Trophy or Lester Pearson nominees, and none of those guys have won Art Ross Trophies.
No MVP awards or scoring titles? Here’s $6 million, don’t ask for more.
TOUR TRACKER
Well, it’s not the first time I’ve been wrong, and it certainly won’t be the last, but contrary to the feeling in the cycling world, Tuesday’s third stage of the Tour de France did not yield a new overall leader. Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara won the stage, posting a time of six hours, 36 minutes, 15 seconds, retaining the yellow jersey in the process. Germany’s Andréas Kloden trails Cancellara by 33 seconds for the overall lead.
Wednesday’s stage four is 193 km from Villers-Cotterêts to Joigny, grazing the foothills of the mountains in the Brie Champenoise and Pay d’Othe regions. In 1539, the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts was signed in Villers-Cotterêts, declaring French the official language of the kingdom. Riders will travel almost entirely south-southeast, and with another 193 km of flat land, Cancellara is a good bet to retain the yellow jersey.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Blast off
First up, a shout-out to my little brother. He’s 16 today, so if you live in the Niagara Region, it’s probably best you stay off the roads. Now, back to business.
I’m not a homerun guy. I can count the number of dingers I’ve hit in my life while wearing mittens. It’s just not something I’ve done in my life. So to play baseball, I learned to hit a lot of line drives, get on base a lot, and play pretty good defense. As a general rule, I don’t think very highly of the long ball, even if Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Heather Locklear and Mark McGwire taught us all a long time ago, chicks dig the long ball.
That said, there’s something special about the spectacle of the annual Home Run Derby the night before the All-Star Game. As we all know, baseball is a game for fathers and sons, and one of my fondest memories as a child is the pride I felt watching my father (who, like most of our fathers, never got a sniff of the big leagues) hit home runs. Seeing the young players with their young sons watching and adoring every minute of the event is a touching image. Some of my highlights from the night:
· Albert Pujols, of 266 career home runs, asking his song “think I got three more in me?” I don’t know a child under age eight that doesn’t think his dad could hit three home runs.
· Early on, when it looked like Matt Holliday of the Colorado Rockies just might run away with this one, and he put a big rubber stamp to that idea by launching a ball over the left field seats, into the parking lot.
· The interview with Willie McCovey, when he talked about the kinds of home run derbies he participated in during his playing days. His line: “Willie Mays always won.”
· Watching the relative light-weight Alex Rios hold his own against Pujols, Vladimir Guerrero, defending champ Ryan Howard, Justin Morneau and Prince Fielder. It was especially nice to see Rios’ old teammate Orlando Hudson cheering him on. Teammates are teammates for life, and that’s rarely more evident than in baseball.
· Vlad launching a ball more than 500 feet, nearly hitting the giant glove in left-centre field. Followed by a reporter asking Vlad if he’d ever hit a home run like that before, and Vlad recounting a 502-foot blast at Stade Olympique in Montreal. A home run which is still marked on the seat it landed in.
Lastly, Vlad may have won the final round, but Rios still hit more homers than anyone else in the competition.
TOUR TRACKER
Gert Steegmans claimed victory in stage two of the Tour Monday morning. The Belgian rider rode into the Belgian town Gent in three hours, 48 minutes, 22 seconds, and was followed by fellow Belgian Tom Boonen. Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara remains the overall leader and will retain the yellow jersey heading into Tuesday’s third stage.
Stage three sees the riders head south from Waregem. After passing Flanders, they’ll pass into France near Brunehaut, Belgium and continue south to Denain. They’ll head southeast from Denain to Fontaine-au-Bois, then south to Guise before heading south and southwest to Trosly-Breull. From there, it’s due-west in a 15-km sprint to Compiègne for the completion of the 236 km stage. Stage three is the longest stage of the Tour, will start around 4 a.m. EDT, and is expected to yield a new overall leader.
I’m not a homerun guy. I can count the number of dingers I’ve hit in my life while wearing mittens. It’s just not something I’ve done in my life. So to play baseball, I learned to hit a lot of line drives, get on base a lot, and play pretty good defense. As a general rule, I don’t think very highly of the long ball, even if Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Heather Locklear and Mark McGwire taught us all a long time ago, chicks dig the long ball.
That said, there’s something special about the spectacle of the annual Home Run Derby the night before the All-Star Game. As we all know, baseball is a game for fathers and sons, and one of my fondest memories as a child is the pride I felt watching my father (who, like most of our fathers, never got a sniff of the big leagues) hit home runs. Seeing the young players with their young sons watching and adoring every minute of the event is a touching image. Some of my highlights from the night:
· Albert Pujols, of 266 career home runs, asking his song “think I got three more in me?” I don’t know a child under age eight that doesn’t think his dad could hit three home runs.
· Early on, when it looked like Matt Holliday of the Colorado Rockies just might run away with this one, and he put a big rubber stamp to that idea by launching a ball over the left field seats, into the parking lot.
· The interview with Willie McCovey, when he talked about the kinds of home run derbies he participated in during his playing days. His line: “Willie Mays always won.”
· Watching the relative light-weight Alex Rios hold his own against Pujols, Vladimir Guerrero, defending champ Ryan Howard, Justin Morneau and Prince Fielder. It was especially nice to see Rios’ old teammate Orlando Hudson cheering him on. Teammates are teammates for life, and that’s rarely more evident than in baseball.
· Vlad launching a ball more than 500 feet, nearly hitting the giant glove in left-centre field. Followed by a reporter asking Vlad if he’d ever hit a home run like that before, and Vlad recounting a 502-foot blast at Stade Olympique in Montreal. A home run which is still marked on the seat it landed in.
Lastly, Vlad may have won the final round, but Rios still hit more homers than anyone else in the competition.
TOUR TRACKER
Gert Steegmans claimed victory in stage two of the Tour Monday morning. The Belgian rider rode into the Belgian town Gent in three hours, 48 minutes, 22 seconds, and was followed by fellow Belgian Tom Boonen. Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara remains the overall leader and will retain the yellow jersey heading into Tuesday’s third stage.
Stage three sees the riders head south from Waregem. After passing Flanders, they’ll pass into France near Brunehaut, Belgium and continue south to Denain. They’ll head southeast from Denain to Fontaine-au-Bois, then south to Guise before heading south and southwest to Trosly-Breull. From there, it’s due-west in a 15-km sprint to Compiègne for the completion of the 236 km stage. Stage three is the longest stage of the Tour, will start around 4 a.m. EDT, and is expected to yield a new overall leader.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Meet me in Champs-Élysées
Saturday afternoon in London, 189 men departed on a 22-day journey to Paris’ Champs-Élysées, testing their abilities, their bodies, and above all, their will.
That journey is the one and only Tour de France. The pinnacle of individual athletic achievement.
Certainly, the riders will take a round-about way from London to Paris. Stage two takes the riders into Belgium before heading south to Compiègne, France. From there, they’ll head southeast into the mountains along the France-Switzerland border. These first two mountain stages cover more than 360 km. I’m exhausted after driving a car though the hilly terrain over Northern Ontario. From the mountains, they’ll again head south toward Marseille. The riders will then spend five days making their way through more mountains along France’s southern coast, before heading north again in stage 17.
The final four stages are along flatlands, and bring the riders to the end of their 3,550 km journey-- a journey Google Maps tells me is actually only 460 km.
While most of the cycling world would rather the last decade of Tours not exist, having been rocked by doping scandals and dominated by American riders (they’ve won eight in a row now) representing a nation that largely ignores the Tour, the 2007 Tour is a time for renewal of faith, and for optimism for a brighter future.
All 189 riders signed the Union Cycliste Internationale’s anti-doping charter. Riders that did not sign the charter are not permitted to ride in the 2007 Tour, and like any athletic event, it’s a little more fun to watch without worrying about doping (unlike a particular event happening in San Francisco later Monday night).
So a hearty good luck to all of this year’s riders. Though only one man will wear the yellow jersey July 29th, all of the Tour’s riders are champions of the athletic spirit.
Elsewhere, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are still terrible. After dropping their home opener Saturday night, by a 30-5 score, against the hated Toronto Argos, the Tabbies have now been outscored 67-14 in their two games, and are yet to score a touchdown of any kind. They host the Montreal Alouettes Saturday night, in a true clash of the titans. At 0-2, the Als and Cats have combined to score just one touchdown and just 44 points in the young season. In case you’re not scoring along at home, each of the six other teams have scored 45 or more of their own points so far this season. Avoid the rush, get your tickets early.
TOUR TRACKER
Saturday’s Prologue stage was won by Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland, who also retained the yellow jersey after Sunday’s first stage.
Australian Robbie McEwen claimed Sunday’s first stage, despite falling off his bike in a crash with 20 km remaining in the stage. His time of four hours, 39 minutes, one second is more time than I’ve spent on a bike in the last year.
Monday’s stage two started around 5:30 a.m. (EDT), and is expected to take five hours for riders to complete. Riders will travel southeast from Dunkerque, crossing into Belgian territory near Oost-Cappel traveling to Poperinge. Riders will then head east to Ypres before heading north toward Oostende. They will head southeast again, toward Lichtervelde, where they’ll head almost exclusively East through Tielt to Deinze and northeast into Gent.
That journey is the one and only Tour de France. The pinnacle of individual athletic achievement.
Certainly, the riders will take a round-about way from London to Paris. Stage two takes the riders into Belgium before heading south to Compiègne, France. From there, they’ll head southeast into the mountains along the France-Switzerland border. These first two mountain stages cover more than 360 km. I’m exhausted after driving a car though the hilly terrain over Northern Ontario. From the mountains, they’ll again head south toward Marseille. The riders will then spend five days making their way through more mountains along France’s southern coast, before heading north again in stage 17.
The final four stages are along flatlands, and bring the riders to the end of their 3,550 km journey-- a journey Google Maps tells me is actually only 460 km.
While most of the cycling world would rather the last decade of Tours not exist, having been rocked by doping scandals and dominated by American riders (they’ve won eight in a row now) representing a nation that largely ignores the Tour, the 2007 Tour is a time for renewal of faith, and for optimism for a brighter future.
All 189 riders signed the Union Cycliste Internationale’s anti-doping charter. Riders that did not sign the charter are not permitted to ride in the 2007 Tour, and like any athletic event, it’s a little more fun to watch without worrying about doping (unlike a particular event happening in San Francisco later Monday night).
So a hearty good luck to all of this year’s riders. Though only one man will wear the yellow jersey July 29th, all of the Tour’s riders are champions of the athletic spirit.
Elsewhere, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are still terrible. After dropping their home opener Saturday night, by a 30-5 score, against the hated Toronto Argos, the Tabbies have now been outscored 67-14 in their two games, and are yet to score a touchdown of any kind. They host the Montreal Alouettes Saturday night, in a true clash of the titans. At 0-2, the Als and Cats have combined to score just one touchdown and just 44 points in the young season. In case you’re not scoring along at home, each of the six other teams have scored 45 or more of their own points so far this season. Avoid the rush, get your tickets early.
TOUR TRACKER
Saturday’s Prologue stage was won by Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland, who also retained the yellow jersey after Sunday’s first stage.
Australian Robbie McEwen claimed Sunday’s first stage, despite falling off his bike in a crash with 20 km remaining in the stage. His time of four hours, 39 minutes, one second is more time than I’ve spent on a bike in the last year.
Monday’s stage two started around 5:30 a.m. (EDT), and is expected to take five hours for riders to complete. Riders will travel southeast from Dunkerque, crossing into Belgian territory near Oost-Cappel traveling to Poperinge. Riders will then head east to Ypres before heading north toward Oostende. They will head southeast again, toward Lichtervelde, where they’ll head almost exclusively East through Tielt to Deinze and northeast into Gent.
Friday, July 06, 2007
JP Ricciardi has compromising photos of Ted Rogers
Building a winner 604
Advanced Techniques for Attracting Free Agents 101
-by the Gay Accountant
There is no magic formula for successfully attracting and signing big-time free agents. But here are some hints to help you and your team in your quest.
1- Quickly identify the player or players you want to acquire. By doing so, you can focus solely on that player (or those players), and court them by visiting them, giving them tours of your team’s city and building. Leak the identity to the media, so as to create a buzz among fans and media. These things will impress the player. Additionally, have your current star players sit down with the free agent(s) to offer a player’s perspective about playing and living in your town.
2- Ensure you win the bidding war for your targeted player by offering a contract that far exceeds the player’s market value, both in dollars and in years. Do not leak this information to media sources, as the media buzz will almost surely turn to backlash in regard to the unwarranted length and value of the contract offer.
3- When targeting your free agent, don’t waste time, effort, energy or resources ensuring the player is healthy. With modern medicine and training techniques, player injuries are a thing of the past, especially for pitchers. While nearly all pitchers do require ulnar collateral ligament reconstructive (Tommy John) surgery nowadays, they usually return from the surgery throwing harder than ever, and further arm injury is frankly the stuff of fairy tales. Oh, and closers with one year of closing experience should absolutely be given $47 million, while starters with a history of arm trouble (ha! Gotcha, there’s no such thing) and a career record below .500 should be given $55 million. If-- and we’re talking about an if the size of Jupiter-- they do get hurt, just lie about it. Sports writers and fans aren’t doctors-- or smart. They’ll never know the difference, and they’ll never know you’re lying.
4- Sit back, and watch your team dominate.
5- Should your team fail to qualify for the playoffs during the first five years of your five year plan, that’s OK too. Keep selling the dream. Again, sports fans aren’t smart. They’ll eat it up. If season six gets off to a rocky start, and those free agents’ health problems are actually real, well…
6- … just blast them on your radio show. Say you wish you’d never signed them for as much money as you did and question their actual skill level. Diminish their contributions and abilities, and question their commitment to play through pain. Hell, it’s not like your dumb-ass manager overworked the $55-million starter, and under-worked the $47-million closer and perpetuated the injuries.
**********************************************************************************
Look, J.P., I know I’ve been trying to tell everyone that will listen that you’re useless for most of the last three seasons. And you and I know I’ve been calling for you to be fired (John Gibbons, too) for just as long. But this, this really was something else. Publicly calling out your players is one thing, but apparently you haven’t noticed A.J. Burnett is one of the only guys that’s lived up to the contract you gave them (including IR Halladay and Vernon Wells). The guy’s been busting his ass on the bump, tossing more innings and pitches than most pitchers would ever even consider, and acting as a rare bright spot on this team that’s so badly underachieving. Without Burnett, you can kiss 2006’s second-place finish goodbye, and without Burnett, the Jays would only be dreaming of sitting 11.5 games back.
Ted Rogers, I beg of you, do the right thing, and rid your team and fans of the menace that is the Gay Accountant.
Advanced Techniques for Attracting Free Agents 101
-by the Gay Accountant
There is no magic formula for successfully attracting and signing big-time free agents. But here are some hints to help you and your team in your quest.
1- Quickly identify the player or players you want to acquire. By doing so, you can focus solely on that player (or those players), and court them by visiting them, giving them tours of your team’s city and building. Leak the identity to the media, so as to create a buzz among fans and media. These things will impress the player. Additionally, have your current star players sit down with the free agent(s) to offer a player’s perspective about playing and living in your town.
2- Ensure you win the bidding war for your targeted player by offering a contract that far exceeds the player’s market value, both in dollars and in years. Do not leak this information to media sources, as the media buzz will almost surely turn to backlash in regard to the unwarranted length and value of the contract offer.
3- When targeting your free agent, don’t waste time, effort, energy or resources ensuring the player is healthy. With modern medicine and training techniques, player injuries are a thing of the past, especially for pitchers. While nearly all pitchers do require ulnar collateral ligament reconstructive (Tommy John) surgery nowadays, they usually return from the surgery throwing harder than ever, and further arm injury is frankly the stuff of fairy tales. Oh, and closers with one year of closing experience should absolutely be given $47 million, while starters with a history of arm trouble (ha! Gotcha, there’s no such thing) and a career record below .500 should be given $55 million. If-- and we’re talking about an if the size of Jupiter-- they do get hurt, just lie about it. Sports writers and fans aren’t doctors-- or smart. They’ll never know the difference, and they’ll never know you’re lying.
4- Sit back, and watch your team dominate.
5- Should your team fail to qualify for the playoffs during the first five years of your five year plan, that’s OK too. Keep selling the dream. Again, sports fans aren’t smart. They’ll eat it up. If season six gets off to a rocky start, and those free agents’ health problems are actually real, well…
6- … just blast them on your radio show. Say you wish you’d never signed them for as much money as you did and question their actual skill level. Diminish their contributions and abilities, and question their commitment to play through pain. Hell, it’s not like your dumb-ass manager overworked the $55-million starter, and under-worked the $47-million closer and perpetuated the injuries.
**********************************************************************************
Look, J.P., I know I’ve been trying to tell everyone that will listen that you’re useless for most of the last three seasons. And you and I know I’ve been calling for you to be fired (John Gibbons, too) for just as long. But this, this really was something else. Publicly calling out your players is one thing, but apparently you haven’t noticed A.J. Burnett is one of the only guys that’s lived up to the contract you gave them (including IR Halladay and Vernon Wells). The guy’s been busting his ass on the bump, tossing more innings and pitches than most pitchers would ever even consider, and acting as a rare bright spot on this team that’s so badly underachieving. Without Burnett, you can kiss 2006’s second-place finish goodbye, and without Burnett, the Jays would only be dreaming of sitting 11.5 games back.
Ted Rogers, I beg of you, do the right thing, and rid your team and fans of the menace that is the Gay Accountant.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Where's my Pigskin Pete?
“Good morning, Also-ran Central.”
Thankfully, it seems 24 of the NHL’s 30 general managers were too busy with their barbecues and fireworks Wednesday to give the free agent market their full attention. As such, it’s going to the backburner today.
The bigger issue is something Sportsnet.ca reported Wednesday in a column by Perry Lefko. Alongside all the other JV crap the Hamilton Tiger-Cats have pulled in the last eight-- never mind, let’s call a spade a spade-- 18 months, almost all of which will be forgiven if the team starts to be competitive, they’ve crossed the line with this one thing:
THERE IS NO PIGSKIN PETE!
That’s right. After gutting the roster, fielding the worst team in recent memory (probably in team history) while players were tanking to get their coaches fired, bringing Ron Lancaster back, further gutting the roster, forcing Mike Morreale and Rob Hitchcock to retire, and countless other transgressions (including asking me to renew my season tickets), the team has the gall to open their home schedule without a Pigskin Pete? Worse still, the team appears to be indicating they’ll play the season without.
This is the last straw. TC and Stripes are fine and dandy, but mascots are important. Youppi! was such an icon that after the Expos left Montreal, the Canadiens adopted him (and the Youppi!ville museum at the Bell Centre is amazing). And who would even think of playing one game in Philadelphia without the Philly Phanatic? Pigskin Pete is the same kind of iconic mascot. In eight months, the Ti-Cats couldn’t find one jolly fat man in the whole Golden Horseshoe? This is abhorrent. I still haven’t forgiven the Blue Jays for replacing BJ Birdie with Ace (and Jay Force can lick me), and I’m not sure I’ll be able to forgive the Ti-Cats for this one.
And that’s not the only outrage from Wednesday. Kobayashi was beaten at the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Competition (I bet you didn’t know that’s what the event’s called). We have a new hot dog-eating champion of the world: American Joey Chestnut, who set a world record by eating 66 whole hot dogs in 12 minutes.
And Jeremy Roenick is retiring. Clearly, he stayed too long, and in recent years his mouth had him in the news more often than his play did. But he’s an all-time All-Francis guy (by the way, I haven’t filed an All-Francis team since before the lockout, but I promise it’ll be back next season). His overtime goal to knock Toronto out of the 2004 playoffs plays in my eternal Leafs highlights reel (sandwiched between Wayne Gretzky’s high stick on Doug Gilmour, and Zdeno Chara tossing Bryan McCabe around like a rag-doll). And his early days in Chicago were the stuff legends are made of. I don’t know anyone that won’t miss Roenick. Sadly, he spent too much of his career in the desert and didn’t win enough championships to be a lock for the Hall of Fame, but it says here his 1,170 points are more than enough, and those early days in Chicago (596 points in 524 games) leading up to the 1996 World Cup of Hockey helped put USA Hockey back on the map. Not only should Roenick be a lock for the Hall, he should be a first-ballot inductee.
Now, my life this week: the free agents.
Montreal signed Tom Kostopoulos, who should see about as much ice time as Youppi! this season. Kostopoulos signed for two years at $1.8 million and actually scored seven goals last season, along with 15 helpers. He’s a good spare part, but if Montreal thinks they’re going to win with four fourth-lines, they’re sadly mistaken.
The New York Islanders signed Ruslan Fedotenko (who has a Stanley Cup-winning goal to his credit) to a one-year, $2.9 million deal. Fedotenko is a top-line candidate with the recently dismantled Islanders.
Buffalo finally kept one of their free agents, re-signing Teppo Numminen to a one-year, $2.6 million contract. Numminen was a steadying force on the Sabres blue line last season, and may be considered to take over the team captaincy.
The Atlanta Thrashers also re-signed one of their own Wednesday, locking Slava Kozlov up for three years at $11 million. Kozlov has been very productive in Atlanta during the last four seasons, and three of his five highest-scoring seasons have come in that time, including a career-high 80 points last season. He’s a good fit in Atlanta, and playing with Ilya Kovalchuk has Kozlov playing like he’s 10 years younger than he really is.
Lastly, just because he hasn’t taken enough of a beating in the media since 2004, the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez has a sore hamstring and may skip the All-Star Game. I can’t imagine the New York Post will react negatively.
Thankfully, it seems 24 of the NHL’s 30 general managers were too busy with their barbecues and fireworks Wednesday to give the free agent market their full attention. As such, it’s going to the backburner today.
The bigger issue is something Sportsnet.ca reported Wednesday in a column by Perry Lefko. Alongside all the other JV crap the Hamilton Tiger-Cats have pulled in the last eight-- never mind, let’s call a spade a spade-- 18 months, almost all of which will be forgiven if the team starts to be competitive, they’ve crossed the line with this one thing:
THERE IS NO PIGSKIN PETE!
That’s right. After gutting the roster, fielding the worst team in recent memory (probably in team history) while players were tanking to get their coaches fired, bringing Ron Lancaster back, further gutting the roster, forcing Mike Morreale and Rob Hitchcock to retire, and countless other transgressions (including asking me to renew my season tickets), the team has the gall to open their home schedule without a Pigskin Pete? Worse still, the team appears to be indicating they’ll play the season without.
This is the last straw. TC and Stripes are fine and dandy, but mascots are important. Youppi! was such an icon that after the Expos left Montreal, the Canadiens adopted him (and the Youppi!ville museum at the Bell Centre is amazing). And who would even think of playing one game in Philadelphia without the Philly Phanatic? Pigskin Pete is the same kind of iconic mascot. In eight months, the Ti-Cats couldn’t find one jolly fat man in the whole Golden Horseshoe? This is abhorrent. I still haven’t forgiven the Blue Jays for replacing BJ Birdie with Ace (and Jay Force can lick me), and I’m not sure I’ll be able to forgive the Ti-Cats for this one.
And that’s not the only outrage from Wednesday. Kobayashi was beaten at the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Competition (I bet you didn’t know that’s what the event’s called). We have a new hot dog-eating champion of the world: American Joey Chestnut, who set a world record by eating 66 whole hot dogs in 12 minutes.
And Jeremy Roenick is retiring. Clearly, he stayed too long, and in recent years his mouth had him in the news more often than his play did. But he’s an all-time All-Francis guy (by the way, I haven’t filed an All-Francis team since before the lockout, but I promise it’ll be back next season). His overtime goal to knock Toronto out of the 2004 playoffs plays in my eternal Leafs highlights reel (sandwiched between Wayne Gretzky’s high stick on Doug Gilmour, and Zdeno Chara tossing Bryan McCabe around like a rag-doll). And his early days in Chicago were the stuff legends are made of. I don’t know anyone that won’t miss Roenick. Sadly, he spent too much of his career in the desert and didn’t win enough championships to be a lock for the Hall of Fame, but it says here his 1,170 points are more than enough, and those early days in Chicago (596 points in 524 games) leading up to the 1996 World Cup of Hockey helped put USA Hockey back on the map. Not only should Roenick be a lock for the Hall, he should be a first-ballot inductee.
Now, my life this week: the free agents.
Montreal signed Tom Kostopoulos, who should see about as much ice time as Youppi! this season. Kostopoulos signed for two years at $1.8 million and actually scored seven goals last season, along with 15 helpers. He’s a good spare part, but if Montreal thinks they’re going to win with four fourth-lines, they’re sadly mistaken.
The New York Islanders signed Ruslan Fedotenko (who has a Stanley Cup-winning goal to his credit) to a one-year, $2.9 million deal. Fedotenko is a top-line candidate with the recently dismantled Islanders.
Buffalo finally kept one of their free agents, re-signing Teppo Numminen to a one-year, $2.6 million contract. Numminen was a steadying force on the Sabres blue line last season, and may be considered to take over the team captaincy.
The Atlanta Thrashers also re-signed one of their own Wednesday, locking Slava Kozlov up for three years at $11 million. Kozlov has been very productive in Atlanta during the last four seasons, and three of his five highest-scoring seasons have come in that time, including a career-high 80 points last season. He’s a good fit in Atlanta, and playing with Ilya Kovalchuk has Kozlov playing like he’s 10 years younger than he really is.
Lastly, just because he hasn’t taken enough of a beating in the media since 2004, the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez has a sore hamstring and may skip the All-Star Game. I can’t imagine the New York Post will react negatively.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Four sticks (OK, many more)
Good God it never ends.
Day four of the free agency period brings more big money, and even more questionable signings. And though it’s only day four, it truly feels like day 7,938.
First, re-signings. Anaheim locked up Brad May for two more years (no terms), and Edmonton will have Raffi Torres for three more years at a cool $6.75 million. I’m a big fan of Torres, but I’d be hard-pressed to say I think he’s a $2.25 million a year player. He brings a lot of fire, but not so many goals. He was huge for Hamilton back in 2003, so there’s always a place for him in my heart, just maybe not at that price.
Also huge for Hamilton back in 2003: Mathieu Garon, who the Oilers signed to a two-year deal (no terms) Wednesday. Garon played in 32 games for the Kings last season, missing time because of injury and Dan Cloutier. He posted a 13-10-6 record with a decent 2.66 goals-against average and tidy .907 save percentage. He will back up Dwayne Roloson in Edmonton, and with his reputation for being streaky, may even challenge the incumbent 37-year old for playing time. It is a long-held belief that Garon is a solid goalie with the potential to start, and the Oilers could have a solid duo between the pipes this upcoming season.
Vancouver signed a motley crew of players Wednesday including forwards Byron Ritchie and Brad Isbister (no terms) for reasons no one outside of Peter Griffin (Dave Nonis)’s office can fathom; goalie Curtis Sanford (one year, $600,000) to back up Roberto Luongo; and some minor league players. Ritchie and Isbister don’t bring a whole lot to the table. Ricthie recorded a career-high 14 points last season, while Isbister, a former 20-goal scorer, recorded a career low five (in just 19 games). Sanford; however, is a very dependable back-up, who actually saw action in 31 games for the Blues last season. He will go a long way to helping the Canucks understand the following: just because you have Roberto Luongo, doesn’t mean he has to play all 82 games.
New Jersey went almost completely off the deep end, inking Dainius Zubrus to a six-year, $20.4 million deal. Maybe $3.4 million a year isn’t too much money for a guy that’s only once played more than 75 games in a season, and maybe $3.4 million a year isn’t too much money for a guy that’s only once registered 60 points in a season, but six years is absolutely too long a contract for a player with said criteria. It should also be noted Zubrus’ highest point totals came in two seasons riding shotgun with Alex Ovechkin. Before being traded to Buffalo toward the end of last season, Zubrus had 109 points in 131 games alongside Vouching (compared to 107 in 200 games with the Caps pre-Ovechkin), and just eight points in 19 games in Buffalo, while seeing similar ice time.
Another former Sabre, Jiri Novotny (traded to Washington for Zubrus) has another new home. Novotny signed a two-year deal (no terms) with Columbus. Novotny has some scoring ability, and could realistically play on any of the Blue Jackets lines. Specifically, he may be able to find strong chemistry with Sergei Fedorov.
Eric Belanger signed in Minnesota for a much more reasonable $5.25 million over three years. Belanger split last season between Carolina and Atlanta, and will be well-served by a move back to the Western Conference. Though Belanger has never amassed more than 37 points in a season, he has registered at least 33 in each of the last four. Belanger has some defensive weaknesses, but he‘s fleet of foot, and the Wild may find him to their liking.
Tampa Bay will bring Brad Lukowich back for another tour of duty. Lukowich signed a three-year deal (no terms) to return to Tampa Bay, where he enjoyed his best statistical season in 2004 (five goals, 19 points, plus-29, rock-solid playoffs en route to the Stanley Cup). Lukowich’s best days are behind him, but he’ll be comfortable in Tampa Bay, and still has plenty left in the tank.
The Los Angeles Kings went for another dive into the free agent pool, signing goaltender Jason LaBarbera to a two-year deal (no terms) and defenseman Brad Stuart to a one-year deal worth $3.5 million. LaBarbera spent last season in the American league (despite a solid 29-game stint with the Kings in 2006), and like Garon, is widely regarded as a potential starting goalie. It’s not like this has ever happened before, but if Dan Cloutier misses any time next season, LaBarbera is an excellent failsafe. And again with not questioning Kings’ GM Dean Lombardi, he drafted Stuart back in 1998, and Stuart became an excellent defenseman. He struggled in Boston under the shadow of being “the guy we (the Bruins) got for Thornton,” but should flourish in Los Angeles, where he’ll likely play on the top pairing with Lubomir Visnovsky. Meanwhile, The Kings’ blue line corps then follows with Jaroslav Modry, Rob Blake, Tom Preissing and Jack Johnson. Barring a trade, I think it’s safe to say the Kings like their defense, and won’t be pursuing Sheldon Souray.
Day four of the free agency period brings more big money, and even more questionable signings. And though it’s only day four, it truly feels like day 7,938.
First, re-signings. Anaheim locked up Brad May for two more years (no terms), and Edmonton will have Raffi Torres for three more years at a cool $6.75 million. I’m a big fan of Torres, but I’d be hard-pressed to say I think he’s a $2.25 million a year player. He brings a lot of fire, but not so many goals. He was huge for Hamilton back in 2003, so there’s always a place for him in my heart, just maybe not at that price.
Also huge for Hamilton back in 2003: Mathieu Garon, who the Oilers signed to a two-year deal (no terms) Wednesday. Garon played in 32 games for the Kings last season, missing time because of injury and Dan Cloutier. He posted a 13-10-6 record with a decent 2.66 goals-against average and tidy .907 save percentage. He will back up Dwayne Roloson in Edmonton, and with his reputation for being streaky, may even challenge the incumbent 37-year old for playing time. It is a long-held belief that Garon is a solid goalie with the potential to start, and the Oilers could have a solid duo between the pipes this upcoming season.
Vancouver signed a motley crew of players Wednesday including forwards Byron Ritchie and Brad Isbister (no terms) for reasons no one outside of Peter Griffin (Dave Nonis)’s office can fathom; goalie Curtis Sanford (one year, $600,000) to back up Roberto Luongo; and some minor league players. Ritchie and Isbister don’t bring a whole lot to the table. Ricthie recorded a career-high 14 points last season, while Isbister, a former 20-goal scorer, recorded a career low five (in just 19 games). Sanford; however, is a very dependable back-up, who actually saw action in 31 games for the Blues last season. He will go a long way to helping the Canucks understand the following: just because you have Roberto Luongo, doesn’t mean he has to play all 82 games.
New Jersey went almost completely off the deep end, inking Dainius Zubrus to a six-year, $20.4 million deal. Maybe $3.4 million a year isn’t too much money for a guy that’s only once played more than 75 games in a season, and maybe $3.4 million a year isn’t too much money for a guy that’s only once registered 60 points in a season, but six years is absolutely too long a contract for a player with said criteria. It should also be noted Zubrus’ highest point totals came in two seasons riding shotgun with Alex Ovechkin. Before being traded to Buffalo toward the end of last season, Zubrus had 109 points in 131 games alongside Vouching (compared to 107 in 200 games with the Caps pre-Ovechkin), and just eight points in 19 games in Buffalo, while seeing similar ice time.
Another former Sabre, Jiri Novotny (traded to Washington for Zubrus) has another new home. Novotny signed a two-year deal (no terms) with Columbus. Novotny has some scoring ability, and could realistically play on any of the Blue Jackets lines. Specifically, he may be able to find strong chemistry with Sergei Fedorov.
Eric Belanger signed in Minnesota for a much more reasonable $5.25 million over three years. Belanger split last season between Carolina and Atlanta, and will be well-served by a move back to the Western Conference. Though Belanger has never amassed more than 37 points in a season, he has registered at least 33 in each of the last four. Belanger has some defensive weaknesses, but he‘s fleet of foot, and the Wild may find him to their liking.
Tampa Bay will bring Brad Lukowich back for another tour of duty. Lukowich signed a three-year deal (no terms) to return to Tampa Bay, where he enjoyed his best statistical season in 2004 (five goals, 19 points, plus-29, rock-solid playoffs en route to the Stanley Cup). Lukowich’s best days are behind him, but he’ll be comfortable in Tampa Bay, and still has plenty left in the tank.
The Los Angeles Kings went for another dive into the free agent pool, signing goaltender Jason LaBarbera to a two-year deal (no terms) and defenseman Brad Stuart to a one-year deal worth $3.5 million. LaBarbera spent last season in the American league (despite a solid 29-game stint with the Kings in 2006), and like Garon, is widely regarded as a potential starting goalie. It’s not like this has ever happened before, but if Dan Cloutier misses any time next season, LaBarbera is an excellent failsafe. And again with not questioning Kings’ GM Dean Lombardi, he drafted Stuart back in 1998, and Stuart became an excellent defenseman. He struggled in Boston under the shadow of being “the guy we (the Bruins) got for Thornton,” but should flourish in Los Angeles, where he’ll likely play on the top pairing with Lubomir Visnovsky. Meanwhile, The Kings’ blue line corps then follows with Jaroslav Modry, Rob Blake, Tom Preissing and Jack Johnson. Barring a trade, I think it’s safe to say the Kings like their defense, and won’t be pursuing Sheldon Souray.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Money for nothing
Here we go again. Right off the top, Bates Battaglia (who I have an excellent photograph of) signed a two-year deal with Toronto ($1.3 million) and Lukas Krajicek signed a two-year deal with Vancouver worth $2.2 million. In retrospect, Vancouver pulled Florida’s pants down in the Roberto Luongo trade, but the proof is in the pudding. Krajicek was the other guy Vancouver got in that trade, and if the trade went down today, the Canucks would be giddy to get Krajicek alone for Bertuzzi.
The Los Angeles Kings dove into free agency headlong. It’s no secret they wanted Chris Drury, and I’m actually very surprised he didn’t sign in L.A. Now, back at the draft, I said I wouldn’t question anything Kings’ GM Dean Lombardi does, so with that in mind I’ll just mention the Kings’ signings and not comment on their various values. Defenseman Tom Preissing (four years, $11 million, when the hell did Preissing become a marquee free agent?), Michal Handzus (four years, $16 million), Kyle Calder (two years, $5.4 million) and Ladislav Nagy, who I thought was primed for a big season in 2007, got a one-year deal, I don’t have dollars yet. Again, I won’t question Dean Lombardi. Dean obviously knows something the rest of us don’t.
Washington, probably fearing they were below the minimum salary, backed up a dump truck full of money at Michael Nylander’s house. I’m not sure Nylander’s worth $19.5 million over four years (OK, screw it, I’ll say it-- he’s not), but the Caps needed to sign someone with a profile. I said it last season with Dickie Zednik, I said it earlier in the week with Viktor Kozlov, for Nylander’s sake, here’s hoping the third time’s the charm. Maybe Nylander is the guy the Caps are looking for, to play with Alex Ovechkin. Although, more likely, he’ll be asked to help Nicklas Backstrom find his way in the NHL.
Montreal signed two veterans yesterday to help out the youth movement they seem to be avoiding. Defenseman Roman Hamrlik caught Habs’ GM Bob Gainey having a senior moment and scored a four-year, $22 million deal. I’m reading good things about Hamrlik, but he’s never impressed me, and I’m thinking he’s no more worth $5.5 million a season than Sheldon Souray is. The Habs also signed Brian Smolinski for one year, $2 million. It’s an easy deal for both teams. Smolinski is a bit of an insurance policy it seems, in case highly-touted prospect Kyle Chipchura can’t make the jump next season. If that’s the case, they should have just brought Radek Bonk back.
But, seeing how Nashville signed Bonk, that’s going to be a problem. The Predators locked up Bonk and defenseman Greg de Vries to two-year deals. No terms available, but anything under $2 million a year for each of them sounds about right. Bonk was one of Montreal’s most consistent performers last season and should not have been run out of town. De Vries is past his best-before date, but he’s still serviceable.
Chicago made an astute signing, which is very odd. They inked Robert Lang to a two-year deal, again, no money terms available at this time. Why are teams still pulling the whole “it’s club policy not to discuss contract terms” routine? There’s a salary cap now, and we fans need to know the terms of contracts. Anyway. Lang is still a crafty centre, and he’s added a good defensive element to his game. He could enjoy great success playing alongside Martin Havlat.
Atlanta really went against the disclosure grain. Ken Klee, multi-year contract. Thanks guys. Like de Vries, anything under $2 million per works, otherwise he’s just giggling and rolling in money he won’t earn.
Anaheim took an expensive flier on Todd Bertuzzi. It’s a two-year deal worth $8 million. If Bertuzzi can regain his pre-Steve Moore incident form, it’s a steal. That Bertuzzi was a $10 million player. The current Bertuzzi has looked disinterested at best, and could be a liability.
And Calgary, apparently not content with their current crop of grey-beards, signed Owen Nolan for reasons no one will ever truly understand (kinda like signing their new coach).
The Los Angeles Kings dove into free agency headlong. It’s no secret they wanted Chris Drury, and I’m actually very surprised he didn’t sign in L.A. Now, back at the draft, I said I wouldn’t question anything Kings’ GM Dean Lombardi does, so with that in mind I’ll just mention the Kings’ signings and not comment on their various values. Defenseman Tom Preissing (four years, $11 million, when the hell did Preissing become a marquee free agent?), Michal Handzus (four years, $16 million), Kyle Calder (two years, $5.4 million) and Ladislav Nagy, who I thought was primed for a big season in 2007, got a one-year deal, I don’t have dollars yet. Again, I won’t question Dean Lombardi. Dean obviously knows something the rest of us don’t.
Washington, probably fearing they were below the minimum salary, backed up a dump truck full of money at Michael Nylander’s house. I’m not sure Nylander’s worth $19.5 million over four years (OK, screw it, I’ll say it-- he’s not), but the Caps needed to sign someone with a profile. I said it last season with Dickie Zednik, I said it earlier in the week with Viktor Kozlov, for Nylander’s sake, here’s hoping the third time’s the charm. Maybe Nylander is the guy the Caps are looking for, to play with Alex Ovechkin. Although, more likely, he’ll be asked to help Nicklas Backstrom find his way in the NHL.
Montreal signed two veterans yesterday to help out the youth movement they seem to be avoiding. Defenseman Roman Hamrlik caught Habs’ GM Bob Gainey having a senior moment and scored a four-year, $22 million deal. I’m reading good things about Hamrlik, but he’s never impressed me, and I’m thinking he’s no more worth $5.5 million a season than Sheldon Souray is. The Habs also signed Brian Smolinski for one year, $2 million. It’s an easy deal for both teams. Smolinski is a bit of an insurance policy it seems, in case highly-touted prospect Kyle Chipchura can’t make the jump next season. If that’s the case, they should have just brought Radek Bonk back.
But, seeing how Nashville signed Bonk, that’s going to be a problem. The Predators locked up Bonk and defenseman Greg de Vries to two-year deals. No terms available, but anything under $2 million a year for each of them sounds about right. Bonk was one of Montreal’s most consistent performers last season and should not have been run out of town. De Vries is past his best-before date, but he’s still serviceable.
Chicago made an astute signing, which is very odd. They inked Robert Lang to a two-year deal, again, no money terms available at this time. Why are teams still pulling the whole “it’s club policy not to discuss contract terms” routine? There’s a salary cap now, and we fans need to know the terms of contracts. Anyway. Lang is still a crafty centre, and he’s added a good defensive element to his game. He could enjoy great success playing alongside Martin Havlat.
Atlanta really went against the disclosure grain. Ken Klee, multi-year contract. Thanks guys. Like de Vries, anything under $2 million per works, otherwise he’s just giggling and rolling in money he won’t earn.
Anaheim took an expensive flier on Todd Bertuzzi. It’s a two-year deal worth $8 million. If Bertuzzi can regain his pre-Steve Moore incident form, it’s a steal. That Bertuzzi was a $10 million player. The current Bertuzzi has looked disinterested at best, and could be a liability.
And Calgary, apparently not content with their current crop of grey-beards, signed Owen Nolan for reasons no one will ever truly understand (kinda like signing their new coach).
Monday, July 02, 2007
No more, no more
Alright, we’re back with more free agent signings.
Shortly after I decided to enjoy Sunday’s Canada Day festivities, the Colorado Avalanche decided to offer Captain Canada a fat contract. Ryan Smyth joins the Avalanche for five years at $31.25 million. Smyth is a nice addition to Colorado’s lineup, and becomes a natural successor to Joe Sakic’s captaincy whenever Sakic retires. It’s tough to say exactly where Smyth fits into the lineup every night, but probably on a second line with Andrew Brunette.
The Smyth signing came on the heels of landing rugged defenseman Scott Hannan for four years and $18 million. Hannan is a nose-to-the-grindstone type. He plays hard every shift, and he makes it very hard for opposing forwards every shift. He’s been a key cog for the San Jose Sharks, and the Avalanche are absolutely going to love him. They haven’t had a mean defenseman like Hannan since Adam Foote bolted for Columbus. Hannan will probably play on a top unit with John-Michael Liles.
Two things I find interesting about the St. Louis Blues signing Paul Kariya. Actually, I could probably do a whole week’s worth of writing just on this signing, but I digress. You’d really think a guy the Blues just signed for $18 million over three years would be on their website’s roster page, no? Furthermore, I love the fact the press release offers no info about Kariya since before the lockout. It mentions the three years in Colorado and Nashville, but no mention of the numbers (35, 85, 76 points), which clearly illustrate the Kariya the Blues just signed isn‘t the Kariya Nashville got in 2006. We’ll see though. Where does Kariya fit in? Your guess is as good as mine. David Backes and Lee Stempniak are practically the only guys young enough to be able to skate with Kariya, which may leave Keith Tkachunk and Doug Weight on the second line.
Next, Pittsburgh decided to bring in some more veteran help. I think I like the additions of Darryl Sydor (two years, $5 million) and Petr Sykora (two years, financials not disclosed). Sydor still gets the job done, and he’s been through the wars (Western Conference circa 1996-2002). He was great in 1999 when the Stars won the Stanley Cup, and he was at his absolute best in 2004 when he won the Cup with Tampa Bay. In Pittsburgh, he’ll slide into the second pairing alongside Mark Eaton very nicely. Sykora’s where things get interesting. He’s produced at a fairly consistent level over the last few years, around 50 points a season. But no matter the money, the Pens brought him in to ply with either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, and 50 points will not be acceptable. The Pens also signed super-backup Dany Sabourin for two years, just over $1 million total. In case you weren’t awake, Sabourin came into one of Vancouver’s playoff games this year at the start of overtime because Roberto Luongo was having an equipment malfunction. Sabourin was excellent, holding the fort and leaving fans breathless, until Luongo returned. It reminded me of the time a flu-ridden Marc-Andre Fleury replaced a useless David LeNeveu, and backstopped Canada to a big win at the World Juniors.
Paul Kariya who? The Nashville Predators aren’t taking the loss of Kariya laying down. Around lunch time on Monday they inked Jed Ortmeyer to a two year deal worth $1.5 million. Ortmeyer cracked the Rangers lineup 41 times last year, scoring twice, and adding nine helpers for 11 points. Pro-rate that over a full season, and the name Kariya is already a distant memory in the Music City.
OK, one more thing about Paul Kariya signing in St. Louis. Don’t you think Blues fans are going to love mocking Kansas City fans in two years, having signed away KC’s best and most recognizable player?
Shortly after I decided to enjoy Sunday’s Canada Day festivities, the Colorado Avalanche decided to offer Captain Canada a fat contract. Ryan Smyth joins the Avalanche for five years at $31.25 million. Smyth is a nice addition to Colorado’s lineup, and becomes a natural successor to Joe Sakic’s captaincy whenever Sakic retires. It’s tough to say exactly where Smyth fits into the lineup every night, but probably on a second line with Andrew Brunette.
The Smyth signing came on the heels of landing rugged defenseman Scott Hannan for four years and $18 million. Hannan is a nose-to-the-grindstone type. He plays hard every shift, and he makes it very hard for opposing forwards every shift. He’s been a key cog for the San Jose Sharks, and the Avalanche are absolutely going to love him. They haven’t had a mean defenseman like Hannan since Adam Foote bolted for Columbus. Hannan will probably play on a top unit with John-Michael Liles.
Two things I find interesting about the St. Louis Blues signing Paul Kariya. Actually, I could probably do a whole week’s worth of writing just on this signing, but I digress. You’d really think a guy the Blues just signed for $18 million over three years would be on their website’s roster page, no? Furthermore, I love the fact the press release offers no info about Kariya since before the lockout. It mentions the three years in Colorado and Nashville, but no mention of the numbers (35, 85, 76 points), which clearly illustrate the Kariya the Blues just signed isn‘t the Kariya Nashville got in 2006. We’ll see though. Where does Kariya fit in? Your guess is as good as mine. David Backes and Lee Stempniak are practically the only guys young enough to be able to skate with Kariya, which may leave Keith Tkachunk and Doug Weight on the second line.
Next, Pittsburgh decided to bring in some more veteran help. I think I like the additions of Darryl Sydor (two years, $5 million) and Petr Sykora (two years, financials not disclosed). Sydor still gets the job done, and he’s been through the wars (Western Conference circa 1996-2002). He was great in 1999 when the Stars won the Stanley Cup, and he was at his absolute best in 2004 when he won the Cup with Tampa Bay. In Pittsburgh, he’ll slide into the second pairing alongside Mark Eaton very nicely. Sykora’s where things get interesting. He’s produced at a fairly consistent level over the last few years, around 50 points a season. But no matter the money, the Pens brought him in to ply with either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, and 50 points will not be acceptable. The Pens also signed super-backup Dany Sabourin for two years, just over $1 million total. In case you weren’t awake, Sabourin came into one of Vancouver’s playoff games this year at the start of overtime because Roberto Luongo was having an equipment malfunction. Sabourin was excellent, holding the fort and leaving fans breathless, until Luongo returned. It reminded me of the time a flu-ridden Marc-Andre Fleury replaced a useless David LeNeveu, and backstopped Canada to a big win at the World Juniors.
Paul Kariya who? The Nashville Predators aren’t taking the loss of Kariya laying down. Around lunch time on Monday they inked Jed Ortmeyer to a two year deal worth $1.5 million. Ortmeyer cracked the Rangers lineup 41 times last year, scoring twice, and adding nine helpers for 11 points. Pro-rate that over a full season, and the name Kariya is already a distant memory in the Music City.
OK, one more thing about Paul Kariya signing in St. Louis. Don’t you think Blues fans are going to love mocking Kansas City fans in two years, having signed away KC’s best and most recognizable player?
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