Sports With DUB

Pivotal Fight will make for interesting night at 97

2009-03-18T12:53:00.002-04:00

As the UFC gets set to crash land in the Canadian hot bed of MMA it brings with it some top tier talent and a perfect showcase of what the best the UFC has to offer when it comes to putting together top notch cards.

The co and main events certainly are something to salivate over but before we get to the main fight of the night fans are surely going to be entertained by Chuck Liddell and Mauricio Rua beforehand.

The Iceman is coming off a knockout loss at the hands of now champion Rashad Evans, and is surely going to be hungry to get back in the win column, while Shogun is coming off a decision victory over UFC hall of famer Mark Coleman.

In each of their last fights neither fighter looked the greatest; obviously when you get caught with a shot and go down like Liddell it’s tough to call the fight successful though he was winning the fight before that punch. In the case of Rua, he didn’t look in his top form and barely looks the shell of the fighter we seen dominate in the PRIDE promotion years back.

So what can we expect when these 2 warriors enter the Octagon on April 18th?

Well flat out, it’s going to be a war, and ultimately a battle of wits.

In my book, Chuck Liddell has the striking advantage hands down, if you are new to the sport check out his fights with Wanderlai Silva, Tito Ortiz, Vernon White, and Renato Sobral they give you a good description of the destruction Liddell can cause with his hands and feet. Simply put, the guy hits like a truck and it’s only going to take one shot to put out Rua.

The main point not to forget about Liddell is his strong wrestling skills; remember this guy didn’t come into the UFC as a striker he has a wrestling background. When it comes to Liddell though it’s not his offensive style of wrestling that he uses so well, he’s arguably the hardest guy in MMA to takedown; the use of his defensive style of wrestling makes him a hard guy to beat by submission or ground and pound because you simply can’t get him to that spot in the fight.

With that being said, we don’t know much about the ground game of Liddell. You can chalk it up as a question mark as many MMA fighters have advanced Jiu-Jitsu games, including the Brazilian native Rua. Liddell is noted as to having a Purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu so if the game does go to the ground, which I’m not expecting, it could be trouble for the former Light heavyweight Champ. Rua is a Brazilian, with a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, so no matter who Rua goes up against, chances are he’s going to be at the very least even when it comes to the submission game.

The deciding factor in this fight however is ultimately who has more in the tank. In his most recent fights, Rua looked terrible cardio-wise when it came to the later rounds, it was bad against Forrest Griffin and it got worse when he fought a 44 year old Mark Coleman, a man who on any day of the week he should have beat his elder counter-part in a cardio matchup.

In the case of Liddell, it seems as though he should be able to go the distance of 15 minutes if it comes to that. He proved it by putting in a solid 15 minutes against Wanderlai Silva, and even though he lost the fight, it was a full 15 minute fight against Keith Jardine that Liddell didn’t lose steam on when it came to conditioning. The advantage has to go to the Iceman if the fight hits the 3rd round and cardio becomes a factor.

This fight means so much in the careers of both of these fighters. For Rua, it’s not as much a make or break fight because he does in fact have a W in his last fight but he looked less then impressive and we all know that the UFC is not afraid to let boring fighters go. It’s sad knowing the promise he had coming into the UFC from PRIDE, at that time remember many people considered Rua the best that the 205 division had to offer in terms of fighters and he simply hasn’t delivered the goods yet in the UFC.

In Liddell’s case, he’s straight up been publicly called out by UFC President Dana White with White saying “…dazzle me or hang em’ up” with respect to Liddell’s career. You know Liddell is coming in motivated after that call out from his boss and close friend, Dana White.

No matter how the fight shakes down on April 18th it’s going to be entertaining for the fans in attendance and those watching around the world.

Back with a Vengeance?

2009-03-12T11:07:00.003-04:00

I haven't actually blogged in a coon’s age but have still been writing you can check it out in the Interrobang newspaper @ http://fsu.ca/interrobang/index.asp

So since I'm writing now why not a new blog post?

It's been free-agent frenzy in the NFL over the past couple of weeks with some big surprises and big money being handed out...From the likes of T.O being cut, then signing with the Bills to Ray Lewis signing a 7 year contract at the age of 33 to the Denver Broncos signing every possible running back they could, it's all been just craziness that's led each day to being a shocker in the world of the NFL leading up to the draft.

But aside from all that I want to focus on one man, with two letters that describes it all, LT.

LaDainian Tomlinson signed a three-year deal late Tuesday night and is now property of the San Diego Chargers for the next three years, barring a unforeseeable trade.

There was much debate with this signing, it seemed as though LT has hit that ever glaring running back wall at his age of 29 with his average steadily falling over the past 3 years. There was a lot of nay-Sayers who said why waste the money? Why not give Darren Sproles a shot at the starting role?

Even if LT continues to decline, why not keep him around, even if he won't get the ball as much, he's still a very big voice to have in the dressing room, and can certainly turn into a role player for the Bolts. I know that typically this is not accepted in football like it is in other sports, having those type of vocal leaders just in the dressing room, even if they are not on the field.

If someone is garnering the money that a LT does then you certainly want on-field production from him but the 3 years you got him for, even not at MVP caliber he will be worth it.

After all, could you imagine anyone else wearing the #21 powder blues of the San Diego Chargers?

The Reality for the 08/09 Habs

2008-08-27T06:14:00.004-04:00

Bring an avid Montreal Canadiens fan I am going to give them the full season preview for the upcoming season.

This team had such an amazing run last season to finish first in the East and make it to the 2nd round in the playoffs. The potential and future is skyhigh for this club and I couldn't be more happy about it.

New faces, trading places:

What a good rhyme that was eh? Going into this season there will be some new faces in the Canadiens dressing room. Most notable acqusitions Alex Tanguay and Georges Laraque, both will add a nice presence in their own way. The most notable names leaving town and Mark Strait and Michael Ryder, obviously it hurts a lot more to lose Strait then it does Ryder who was in the doghouse for pretty much the last 2 seasons.

In the end the depth the Canadiens have, the losses don't mean that much, and adding these 2, especially Laraque, it's going to help in so many ways. Let's see who runs Carey Price now.

Sundin:

Heading into this season there is still one possible huge addition to the Canadiens, and of course that would be Mats Sundin. He could come in and change everything for the Habs and turn them into a for sure contender but it appears for now that he is no longer interested in playing for the Canadiens.

FROM: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=247648&lid=headline&lpos=secStory_main

"We haven't spoken to Sundin's camp for at least a week," he told RDS.
"There's nothing new, he hasn't decided anything yet. He told me he'd decide
in August and today's the 26th. We'll know, provided he respects his own due
date, his decision should come sometime throughout the next week."

So this should come as a solid message that Sundin is interested in providing his services to another team, or to no team at all. So where to go from here? The Habs should plan to start the season minus the big Swede, and they should save the nearly $7 million in cap space. A big reason for the Habs success last reason is the fact that they stayed healthy for much of the season, injuries can never be predicted or expected with any team so that almost $7 million they have to spend can come in handy then, or even at the trade deadline. In the end, this isn't a loss for the Habs, and in fact it could be a blessing in disquise in the long run.

Critics say:

Many have already said that the Habs will not be as good as last season. That Carey Price showed his true colours in the playoffs and that the season rides on Alex Kovalev and if he will produce or not.

I hate to break it to the Hab-haters, but all is going to be fine, and even if Montreal doesn't finish 1st in the East (and I don't expect them too), it will not be a dissapointing season, and the Habs will be just fine.

First off, the depth on the Habs is incredible, so much that they pretty much gave Grabovski to the Leafs (Why?) for next to nothing, only because they felt he deserved to play in the NHL but didn't have room for him on their team.

Secondly, Kovalev will produce just fine, if not better then last season. The two main reasons for this is his new-found love for the game which has come with teaching the Kostitsyn brothers the ropes of the game. Also include in that it's Kovalevs contract year, and that there should be enough motivation for him to score goals.

Do not worry about Carey Price either, for one, if he struggles, Halak is a very solid back-up. Also with Price, I am more confident in him this season, it will be his first full pro season with the big club and he is not going to have to worry about the travel and playing time and practice like he has the past 2 years. If you think about it, the kid hasn't had the time off like a regular pro would. He went from playing Junior, competed over the winter for Team Canada at the WJC, finished the season in Junior, then went to the AHL, played in the playoffs right to the finals with the Bulldogs, then it was back to Junior training camp which starts roughly a month (depending on the team) before the NHLs, it was then off to the Habs/Bulldogs camp where he made the Bulldogs, played there until he came up to play for the Habs last season, and you know the rest. Talk about a busy 2 years of life for any person, let alone someone who is a goalie. I am not making excuses for Price's poor performance last season, he flat out sucked in the 2nd round. I am just saying to expect a better rested, and ready-to-go Carey Price backstopping the Habs to a playoff run.

Line Combos:

Barring injuries before the season, this is what I would see the starting lineup looking as:

Forwards

A.Kostitsyn-Plekanec-Kovalev

Tanguay-Koivu-S.Kostitsyn

Higgins-Chipchura-Latendresse

Laraque-Lapierre-Kostopoulos

Defence

Markov-Komisarek

Hamrlik-O'Byrne

Gorges-Bouillon

Goalies

Price/Halak

You can also throw into the mix to fight for a spot the likes of:

Dandenault, Begin, Stewart, Belle. Plus what ever young prospect could make a big impact in camp like Max Pacoretti, Matt D'Agostini, Ben Maxwell, Ryan McDonaugh, P.K. Subban, David Fischer, Yannick Weber.

I am not sure the status of all of these players in regards to Junior and the NCAA but they undoubetly are the future of the Habs.

Overall anything less then a 5th place finish this year for me will be a disapointment. In reality I would like to see Montreal finish top 4 to have home-ice advantage but there is so many wild-cards this season in the East that anything can happen. I also wouldn't be surprised at all if Montreal repeated as division or East champs. It's going to be an exciting season to watch and I can't wait!

My Fantasy Football Draft Overview

2008-08-25T06:53:00.002-04:00

With the NFL season quickly approaching, Fantasy Football drafts are starting to kick off and recently I par-took in one and here's how I did.....

Round 1 Pick 1 - RB - LaDainian Tomlinson
Lucky me, I landed the #1 overall pick so a no brainer here, I took LT. There was only one other consideration for me here, which wasn't much of one at all and that was Brian Westbrook. I didn't consider or want Adrian Peterson at all as I am not 100% sold on him, even though I think he will have an awesome season. You can't go wrong with ol' faithful in LT and I didn't reach for anyone at #1 overall.

Round 2 Pick 28 - RB - Ronnie Brown
Being in a 14 team league I didn't get my 2nd pick until the end of round 2. I went with another RB here as in my league it's 6 points for a RB touchdown and only 4 points for a QB touchdown so I was set on taking a RB. I think I might be reaching a little bit with Brown here coming off that devistating injury last season, but before that Week 7 injury, Brown lead the league in rushing yards. He was also the best RB left on the board in my mind, with Reggie Bush and Willie Parker being the only other 2 considerations, and I wasn't interested in either.

Round 3, Pick 29 - WR - TJ Houshmandzadeh
As mentioned before touchdowns by a WR are worth 6 points, thats huge. So I opted to wait on a good QB and went with the top WR left on the board. I expect Housh to have another big year, and keep his production level high as he continues to get looks in Cincy. Other WR's I could have gone with that were available: Welker, Holt, Plax,Chad Johnson, Calvin Johnson, Boldin, Roy Williams.

Round 4, Pick 56 - QB- Matt Hasselbeck
I take my QB in round 4 as the QB pool was running a little low. I was happy to grab the Hasseler here, I really wanted him, McNabb, or Cutler at this pick and with McNabb going the pick before me, it was an easy choice. I am hoping for another consistant year from Hasselbeck, and don't see why it won't happen.

Round 5, Pick 57 - WR - Chris Chambers
Had to go with another WR as their value is too high to pass them up. I get another #1 WR here in Chambers who I am expecting will have a great year in San Diego as the #1 guy after he has had a chance to learn the system all off-season. He's a solid option for Rivers, when not handing it to LT. Lee Evans, Lav. Coles also went in this round as WR...I'll take my chances on Chambers.

Round 6, Pick 84, - TE - Alge Crumpler
After a run of TE's, I decide to take mine here and go with Crumpler who I am expecting to have a great season in Tennessee. Now, before you rip on me saying that Vince Young can't throw, remember that while Young is scrambling, he's going to go to the short option a lot - enter Crumpler who is a former all-star in this league, and is finally out of a bad situation in Atlanta.

Round 7, Pick 85 - DEF - Chicago
I go with the Bears Defence here. Why not? They will be good as always, and if you read my blog on Urlacher, even though I ripped on him, he's enough reason for me to pick the Bears here. It was the 3rd D taken, behind San Diego and Minnessota.

Round 8, Pick 112 - WR - Jabar Gaffney
I go with the man in NE here to round out my 3 WR's. Gaffney could be a big sleeper this year as the focus will be on Moss and Welker all the time. Plus, with Welker in a small big of injury trouble it only helps Gaffneys value. If Welkers injury becomes anything more then minor, then he will really benefit. It might be a bit of a reach here but at 112 overall, I am not going to fuss.

Round 9, Pick 113 - RB - Chester Taylor
I grab a 3rd RB at this spot. Taylor will be behind AP for the entire year, barring injuries, but he should still get some touches and to my hoping, some goaline carries. I mainly took Taylor as a good fill on on the bye-weeks for my 2 RBs. Again at 113 overall, I'll take it.

Since this was a draft with 210 total players taken I'll just round out the rest of my picks quickly....

Round 10, Pick 140 - K - Josh Brown - Now with the Rams, and indoors.
Round 11, Pick 141 - WR - Darrell Jackson - Could see some touches, good fill in on bye-weeks.
Round 12, Pick 168 - WR - Antwaan Randle El - Stocking up on WRs here, they have big value in this league
Round 13, Pick 169 - RB - Chris Johnson - Rookie RB in Tenn. If LenDale White struggles, this guy will come in big.
Round 14, Pick 196 - QB - Matt Ryan - Rookie QB, just named starter in Atlanta this season, will be sufficient in my bye week,
Round 15, Pick 197 - WR - Arnaz Battle - Let's see what he does in that new Martz offense, could put up decent numbers for me.

Overall I feel I had a great draft and a very well rounded team here with a good mix of sleepers, rookies, and consistantly/great players. It should be a close league as it's very deep, but let's not kid ourselves, I have LT, and after the first 3 weeks go by and he's in game shape, this league is mine to lose.

Only Time Will Tell

2008-08-08T06:24:00.008-04:00

It finally happened, and the saga, the agony, the pain is all finally over.

Brett Favre is a New York Jet. After many tears were shed, and many bridges were burned the dust has finally settled in what will go down as the trade of the decade in the NFL.

But now the question needs to be asked... Does this ruin Brett Favres' legacy? Well, truly only

time will tell how this will play on Brett Favres legacy. The success he and the Jets have this season, and possibly next season will determine that. But when it comes to Brett's hall of fame induction, the trade won't be mentioned, what will be mentioned is that the man is a legend in the football world, he has all the significant records for a quarterback and he essentially is (was) the Green Bay Packers. That is what needs to be remembered about Favre.

When you compare it to other sports, football is quite different when it comes to roster moves. 90% of moves happen in the off-season whereas in hockey and other professional sports, there can be several moves all throughout the year. When someone like Wayne Gretzky can play for 4 different teams and it doesn't matter as much because he will be remembered for his greatness no matter where he was. Then take basketball for instance. When I think of Michael Jordan, I remember the glory years he had with the Bulls. The way he dominated the sport and how he will probably be the greatest basketball player I ever see play. Why should this change with Favre? All the other greats such as Gretzky and Jordan played on other teams, Jordan came back from retirement, on more then 1 occasion but I will never hold that against him.

So how does this change Favre and how people will view him? This is the first time I have ever seen this side of Favre, and though I am not old enough to remember much back into the 1990's, I always remember Favre being a class act, on and off the field. He was the good ol' boy, drives the big truck, plays on his tractor at home, and puts everyone else in front of himself. What will be remembered about this trade is not that it happened but how it happened. The circumstances in how it went down, and how the Packers turned down the greatest quarterback of all time.

A lot of people will say that this is the true Favre we are seeing. Selfish, self absorbed an overall me-first kind of guy. I tend to disagree. Sure, what Favre did was foolish, but not selfish. The man has a passion, just like all of us, and he made a mistake retiring, we all make mistakes, and most importantly he followed his heart, not his bank account and despite a not so favorable ending for Favre and Packer fans, what happened has happened and you have to deal with it from there.

As much as this is what Favre wants, I truly believe it is the wrong team. I know Ted Thompson controls who he works out a trade with but Brett said he wasn't coming back for the money, after all Green Bay offered him $25 million dollars to stay retired. He is in this to win a Super Bowl. And to be totally, and a bit brutally honest, a lab monkey could tell you it's going to take a Christmas miracle for that to happen for the Jets this season.

There are so many variables to this, and so many different ways to view what has happened over the past month since Favre said he wanted to return to the NFL but he is happy now though. Favre followed his heart, he will be back behind center and be taking snaps in the biggest football league in the world and isn't that what matters most?

It's safe to say that this move perfectly reflects Favres' style of play, aggressive and a risk taker.

Ranking the Off-Season Part 6

2008-08-07T07:31:00.004-04:00

Finally here is part 6 of ranking the NHL off-season moves. We will finish it off in the Pacific division where there were some movers and shakers in a division which could possibly see 4 teams make it into the playoffs next season.....

Pacific Division

San Jose Sharks

Unfortunately for the Sharks they lost out on the Brian Campbell sweeps. I don't know how involved they were with him, but it couldn't have been too involved as Campbells decision came down to Atlanta or Chicago. The Sharks really missed out here on getting a perennial #1 D-man.

It wasn't all bad news for the back end of San Jose's team. They signed Rob Blake to a one year deal, and I know Blake is no Campbell but he will bring a good veteran presence to the Sharks Defense core and will help out a bit offensively as well. The other big move for the Sharks was landing Dan Boyle. Boyle was essentially thrown out of Tampa and the Sharks will take him with open arms. Boyle will put up some great offensive numbers for the team and adds some much needed depth to the blue line. Boyle is vastly overpaid, but who isn't these days so I won't harp on that too much. To round out the trade involving Boyle, the Sharks also received Brad Lukowich who should be a solid depth addition. The Sharks had to give up Matt Carle, Ty Wishart, a 1st round pick and a 4th rounder. It seems like a steep price, but San Jose is a win-now type of team.

The Sharks effectively assessed their needs and made the moves accordingly. The Sharks get a B+. They missed out on keeping Campbell who would have been the ultimate prize for them on the back end, but Blake and Boyle are no slouches either. A job well done this off-season for the Sharks, now they just need a coach...Pat Burns anyone?

Anaheim Ducks

With much speculation over the future of Brian Burke this off-season and the will he or won't he saga on going to Toronto, the Ducks remained fairly the same with limited off-season moves. Cap space was a bit of an issue for the Ducks as their main issue was getting Corey Perry under contract.

While the Ducks were successfully able to lock up Perry before Kevin Lowe could sign him to a offer sheet, that was about all they did. It appears they may lose Teemu Sealane to free agency or retirement and they already waived Todd Bertuzzi (good move). The only addition the Ducks made was in the form of Brendan Morrisson. The former Canuck stays out West and will try to re-kindle the old flame he had under him in Vancouver in the glory days with Naslund and Bertuzzi. I wouldn't be surprised if Morrisson re-gained all of his past success, he needs good players around him to be good and he has that in Anaheim.

I'm going to throw a B the way of the Ducks. Not making many moves isn't necessarily ideal, but when you are limited with cap space it makes things tough. I don't particularly like the Ducks chances next season of winning it all, but they should make the playoffs.

Dallas Stars

The big buzz around the Stars comes in the form of Fabian Brunnstrum. The much sought after Swede who was believed to be the best player outside of the NHL. The other big deal for the Stars, getting Sean Avery. What a big difference this guy is going to make in Dallas, he really is a game changer, and even if it isn't in a good way, it helps. He's the ultimate pest and as much as everyone hates him, he can still put up good points.

There wasn't anyone of note that Dallas lost, Nik Hagman may be the only notable one, but that's not a huge loss. It is well over-shadowed by the Avery and Fabian signings.

There isn't much else to say about the Stars. If they get good play from Turco they very well could compete for the cup next year. With the likes of Richards, Ribiero, Modano, Brunnstrum, Avery, Morrow to name a few up front, they have a scary looking attack. For their off-season moves the Stars get an A.

Phoenix Coyotes

The 'Yotes are an interesting team. They had very little expectation last year, and managed to put together a respectable season narrowly missing the post-season. This year they should be even better as they are one year younger and have made some good improvements.

The big improvements come in the form of Olli Jokinen, Kurt Sauer, and Brian Mcgratton (I know, I'll explain). Jokinen is obvious, he's going to put up some awesome points and will complement Shane Doan very well on the top 2 lines. The Coyotes gave up a lot for Olli, in the form of Boynton, Ballard and some high picks, but this guy will be a superstar for the Coyotes and should lead them to the playoffs. Kurt Sauer is an awesome shut down defensemen. Toronto confused Jeff Finger with Kurt Sauer when they gave him that huge contract (They both played in Colorado last season). Great signing with Sauer. The next big acquisition, and before you laugh, just hear me out, came by getting Brian Mcgratton. Dan Carcillo is great for fighting for Phoenix, but he intimidates no one, Mcgratton brings that intimidation.

Other notes, Phoenix signed Francis Lessard and Todd Fedoruk. If all these guys dress this will be a very very mean and scary team to play against. They will literally just kick your ass. The 'Yoats get a B+ for their off-season efforts.

Los Angeles Kings

Last and well, kind of least comes the Kings. This team is the definition of re-building. This off-season they traded Mike Camallerri for draft picks, and basically acquired as many draft picks as possible. The Kings at this point are a hard team to judge, because you can't say they are doing bad in the off-season by trading away assets because they are trying to rebuild this team.

A good addition for the Kings was scooping up Dennis Gautier from the Flyers who moves him in need of cap space to re-sign Jeff Carter.

There isn't a lot else to say about the Kings, they are going to be horrible this year. They have a great, great future though as long as all their prospects pan out. I'll give the Kings a B for being consistent in what they are trying to accomplish. They made a plan to re-build and are executing accordingly.

Final Grades
Sharks B+
Ducks B
Stars A
Phoenix B+
Kings B

Maybe I was a little lenient today with the grading, but I think that all of these teams have done well enough to improve their teams and deserve their grades. Not all of them are going to be good but all did a great job of assessing where there team is at and the proper next steps to make.

This concludes the 6 part series that took way too long to write. I'll be continuing writing blogs regularly now, and look for my season preview and projections blogs for the NHL and NFL coming up soon.

Urlacher, those alike....SUCK IT UP

2008-07-23T17:26:00.002-04:00

I'm taking a little break between part 5 and 6 of my NHL off-season rankings to address the problem I have with players like Brian Urlacher and those like him....

If you haven't heard, Brian Urlacher said he wasn't going to report to camp, and was going to hold out until Chicago gave him a great big contract, even though he is currently under a contract. You say, "What? Why does he want a contract if he already has one?!" Well, it all comes down to what sports are about these days, and that is money. Urlacher wanted a new contract and wanted it to be worth more money.

Let me give you a bit of a history lesson on Urlacher... in 2003 he signed a 9 year, $56.65 million dollar deal. Any way you slice that, it's a lot of money... but at the time Urlacher wasn't at his "prime"...

Now that Urlacher is arguably the best LB in the league, he feels that he deserved more money. Since he got better, he should be paid accordingly.

So this is how it worked out... Brian Urlacher is unhappy....he wants more money.... when Urlacher is unhappy, the Bears D is unhappy.... when the Bears D is unhappy, they won't play well....The Bears realize this and do whatever it takes to make Urlacher happy, so their D is back to being happy again, and they play better (Because god forbid the Bears D not play well, they certainly have no Offence).

The new deal is worth reportedly, 18 million dollars. It gives a 1 year extention worth 8 million, a 6 million dollar signing bonus, and 1 extra million tacked on from 2008 until 2011.

So let me ask you this, since Brian Urlacher because a better player since 2003, and has become like I said arguably the best LB in the league, does that mean he can decide that he deserves more? What if Urlacher got worse since 2003? What if he became a mediocre to not-so-good LB in the NFL....could the Bears then go.."Hey man, you suck now, we are not going to pay you as much anymore." Urlacher certainly wouldn't like that and either would any other players around the league who would be in the same boat.

Good on you Brian Urlacher, you got the money you wanted, and everyone is happy now, it's just sad and pathetic that a player of your stature and prominence sets this kind of example.

Ranking the Off-Season Part 5

2008-07-23T14:48:00.002-04:00

After quite a lay-off here is part 5 of the NHL off-season rankings....

Northwest Division

Vancouver Canucks

A decent off season for the 'Nucks as they didn't lose anything in their roster that they couldn't gain back. The biggest name leaving town is easily Marcus Naslund, but he wasn't putting up the points that his contract would be garnering and it looks like a change of scenery will help him out.

The additions for Vancouver included the likes of Pavol Demitra, Steve Bernier, Kyle Wellwood and Jason Krog. Nothing too impressive but I don't see Demitra doing any worse then what Naslund did last year, and Wellwood isn't a bad player to take a chance on. A lot of people don't know Jason Krog but he put up over 100 points last year in the AHL and could make some noise in the NHL this year.

The Canucks still remain near the top of the list in the Mats Sundin sweepstakes, and if they can sign him, even for 10 Million a season (WAY too much) it will help them out huge. How about a Sundin, Sedin, Sedin line, I feel sorry for any play by play announcer doing the Canucks game. I'll give the Caucks a B for their off-season, I think the reason they may have not made more moves is that they are waiting on Sundins decision.

Calgary Flames

A solid off-season for Calgary, getting rid of Tanguay, and acquiring Mike Camallerri was huge for them. They basically get the same, if not an upgrade from Tanguay, and it comes at a cheaper price tag. It's going to hurt the Flames losing Huselius, but he is replaceable.

Calgary, along with Camallerri, added Todd Bertuzzi, added Rene Bourque. I'd be more excited for Bourque here, this has to be Bertuzzi's last chance, the guy just simply doesn't have it anymore and I don't know why teams keep wasting their money. He won't ever be the same player he was in Vancouver, and even if he is playing with Iginla and his stats improve, I don't think we will ever see the old "Big Bert" again.

Calgary stayed mainly idle in the free-agent market as they are hurting for cap space and are now even over the cap. I'm going to throw a B- on their report card this off-season. I don't think they adaquately replaced both Tanguay and Huselius.

Edmonton Oilers
The focus of the Oilers lately when it comes to the off-season is the often joked about "Who will Kevin Lowe sign to an offer sheet next?" Well this off season he hasn't done any of that nonsense, and the Oilers have had a decent improvement in their roster. Exit; Raffi Torres, Jonni Pitkanen, Jarret Stoll and welcome Lubomir Visnovsky, Gilbert Brule, and Eric Cole. I am going to say Edmonton wins on that front, improving in D, although over-paying, and getting some added offense with Cole.

The losses of Torres, and Stoll don't hurt too much as both were never going to be star players in Edmonton. Torres was on a big downslope, and dealing him for Brule is a good trade for both Columbus and Edmonton as both could use the change of scenery to kick-start their careers. Eric Cole, may easily be one of the most under-rated players in the NHL, when healthy, he can be a top 20 point scorer in the league, the problem is he isn't often healthy. Losing Pitkanen and gaining Visnovsky, although completely un-related trades, pretty much cancel one another out. If anything, the Oilers will get some added scoring on their blue line.

The Oilers get an B+ for their efforts. They didn't improve in leaps and bounds, but they did get better and I think could make some noise next year if they stay healthy.

Minnesota Wild
A mostly quiet off-season for the Wild, as they didn't make any moves to acquire any big names. An upgrade on the blue-line as Marek Zidlikey will join the Wild this year. He's not going to break any records any time soon but he's a decent 2nd line D-man and will help out this club. Their biggest addition up front came in the form of Owen Nolan, a risky signing, at a hefty price. If he can produce what he did last year or better, it will be worth it, but he is only getting older.

The other move that Minnesota made that helped them out was dealing the negotiating rights of Brian Rolston to Tampa for some picks. Jokes on Tampa, New Jersey signed Rolston and the Wild walk away from that mess with 2 free draft picks. Another trade for the Wild was getting some help down the middle. They acquiried Corey Locke from the Habs for Shawn Belle. I know I'm a Habs fan, but I am saying that the Habs stole this one. Locke is under-sized and not really NHL ready. Belle is a big burly D-man that could play this year potentially. But, it isn't always about getting the best player in the deal, the Wild were addressing their needs here, and they really needed a center.

The Wild will get a B-. They got worse but losing Rolston for free, and they didn't manage to make up for what they lose in their captain. Owen Nolan is no Brian Rolston, not by a long shot.

Colorado Avalanche
This team could be in some trouble. When your 2 biggest moves come in the form of 2 former Leafs who were bought out, you're in some big trouble. Andrew Raycroft and Darcy Tucker will be no better in Colorado then they were in Toronto. Colorado didn't address any needs this off-season. They really need a bit of everything and got a whole lot of nothing.

They still need to re-sign Sakic, but I don't count that as an addition as he was previously with the club. If Sakic does decide to play somewhere else though, Colorado is sinking quicker then the Titanic. Peter Forsberg is another thing they have to address, he will be out until at least December! That's crazy, Peter, please retire, you're going to injure yourself beyond belief and not have a life after hockey if you keep this up.

The Avalance will get a C-. Their moves just flat out sucked, no improvements what-so-ever and they still haven't got Sakic under contract (at this point of time).

Final Grades
Vancouver B
Calgary B-
Edmonton B+
Minnesota B-
Colorado C-

I really can't see any one team running away with this division this season. They should all be competitive, even Colorado. Once again, this should be the most competitive division in hockey.

Next I take to my final division, the Pacific. Dallas, San Jose, Los Angelas, Anaheim and Phoenix. I'll try not to take as long in between parts as I did last time. So long!

Ranking the Off-Season Part 4

2008-07-14T10:01:00.002-04:00

We head out West to the Central division. This division has been dominated by the Red Wings in recent years, but with off-season moves aplenty, will that soon change?

**Remember the grades aren't on how good or bad the team is, it's based on how the teams management did in the off-season so far through trades and free agency.

Central Division
Detroit Red Wings
What's to say bad about the Stanley Cup Champions? There really isn't anything you can say that they did bad this off-season. If anything, you can still say they are weak in net, but Osgood proved his worth in the playoffs and with the team in front of him that stacked, you don't need an amazing Vezina caliber goalie in net. My thoughts on why Detroit didn't go after a new, younger starting goalie is because Ryan Miller is a UFA at the end of this season. Miller is a Michigan boy, and played all his hockey there, even in college, what a fit he would be in Detroit.

The obvious improvement the Wings made this off-season was the signing of Marian Hossa, who many believed was the top free agent on the market. Not only did they sign him, they signed him at a discounted rate because Hossa wants to win a cup, and because it's a rule that no one will make more then Lidstrom on the team. It was a great move by the Wings to re-sign Brad Stuart after acquiring him at the trade deadline last year. He adds a lot to the back end of that team.

Compared to some teams, the Wings were quiet, while at the same time making a big splash. You can tell it's all about quality for the Wings, not quantity. I am giving them an A- for their efforts. Signing Hossa was huge, re-signing Stuart is big, but the main thing is they kept the main core of their team in tact. The only reason the Wings didn't score higher is because how well some other teams did around the league. If you are a Wings fan, you must be happy.

Columbus Blue Jackets
For me, there is a lot of question marks on the Jackes off-season moves. First of all with the trade Fritche/Zheredev for Tyutin/Backman I am going WHY?! There would have been better and cheaper ways to get some D-men on your roster. Giving up Zheredev and Fritche is a LOT for 2 shakey defencemen, at best. Now the best defencemen on your team is Mike Commodore, who you are paying 3.75 million a year for....ouch!

Enough of the bad, and more of the good. Columbus acquiring R.J. Umberger at the draft was huge for them, this guy has a tonne of skill and will be a solid player for years to come. They also signed him to a contract that is very, very reasonable. I like the trade to get Torres on their roster, they need a player like him who will shake things up. It is too bad about Brule but it was a trade of one declining player for another, and I think a change of scenery will help both teams out. Kristian Huselius signing on for 4 years is great news for the Jackets, and Rick Nash. A line of Umberger, Nash and Huselius would be great, except Umberger really isn't a #1 center. I can really see Nash and Huseius playing well, and with signing Huselius it helps fill the void for the lost Zheredev.

The Jackets made some other minor moves, but really aren't worth mentioning. Overall I'll throw a B- the Jackets way. With some boneheaded moves they make me shake my head, but they also made up for it in signings and trades. They need to get Leclaire signed to have a steady goaltender and I think they may compete for a playoff spot next year.

St. Louis Blues
I hate to say it, but because of where I live (Canada) I almost forget that the Blues even exist anymore. The big story with the Blues was playing the offer sheet game with the Canucks, while somehow remaining respectful to each other at the same time (weird, isn't it?) The 'Nucks signed David Backes to an offer sheet, the Blues matched it, then the Blues signed Steve Bernier to an offer sheet (after he was traded to Vancouver) and the Canucks matched it. I hate the offer-sheet game but it sure makes things interesting between the teams.

Back to the Blues....their big splash was trading for goalie Chris Mason. Manny Legace isn't a real #1 goalie, and despit Mason probably not being one either, he's an upgrade from Manny. Let's not forget to mention Hannu Toivonen and Marek Schwarz each waiting for their shot. I think the Blues are smart to stock up on these goalies as they could just easily unload them to teams who are struggling in net with a big pay-day in return.

The Blues are going to get a B for their moves this off-season. I can't give them a bad mark as they didn't really get any worse, but they didn't get that much better either. Strong drafting is the way this re-building franchise is going and I think it will work out just fine.

Nashville Predators
What a surprising, and good year it was last year for the Preds. Despite being ousted in the first round, they actually made the playoffs, and managed to give the Red Wings a short run for their money. I didn't see the Predators make any bad moves this off-season, so there isn't to much to harp on them about. With the cap space they had though, they could have made some runs at some UFAs but who really knows if they did and just didn't luck out?

The positives for the Preds came with 3 names: Ryan Suter, Shea Weber and Dan Ellis. These 3 re-signings are huge for the Predators as all 3 should be good for some time to come. I know you may be thinking "come on?, Dan Ellis?" But Ellis will be a much more solid goalie then many think. Plus, with getting Chris Mason out of town, there is no controversey in net now, and the fact that Ellis is Nashvilles verified #1 must do wonders for his confidence.

It may be boring but I have to give out another B here. Once again, a team that doesn't make any moves bad or good naturally stays neutral.

Chicago Blackhawks
Wow, am I ever excited to see this team in action. If they can avoid the injury bug, I am saying they will compete with the Wings for the division title. This is another team that did nothing bad this off-season except for over-pay for free-agents, but so did everyone else so I am not faulting them too much for that.

The good of the Hawks is obviously signing Brian Campbell. I didn't even think Chicago was in the running for Campbell. He is an all-star defencemen and makes this team so incredibly much better. The other huge move for the Hawks was signing Christobal Huet. A #1 goalie who will compete for the job with the Boulin Wall (Until Khabiboulin is traded or bought out).

The Hawks get an easy A from me. They are young, skillful, and will be damn exciting to watch this season. It's time to really get excited if you are a Hawks fan, they will be a great team for a some years to come.

Final Grades:
Wings A-
Blue Jackets B-
Blues B
Predators B
Blackhawks A

This whole division did good this off-season. Detroit will still be the clear favorite but the Hawks will compete and so will the Jackets and Predators. The Blues on the other hand, they are still re-building so I won't hate on them to much if they are bad this year. Next up we will head to the Northwest in what is the most competitive division in the NHL. The Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Minnesota Wild are featured here, it should be good.

Ranking the Off-season Part 3

2008-07-08T09:37:00.003-04:00

Here's part 3 of 6 of my rankings for how teams have done this off-season through free-agency and through trades as well.

**FYI, the grade I give the team is for their off ice performance this summer, it doesn't reflect how I think they will do this year.

Southeast Division
Washington Capitals
After a stellar end to last season the Caps were in a good position to make some good moves this off-season and get THAT much better. Unfortunately for the Caps, they really let some good players get by. Their biggest loss came in the form of rented goalie Christobal Huet who signed with Chicago. Huet is a #1 goalie in this league on many teams, Washington being one of them, and they opted to signed Jose Theodore instead of Huet. This boggles my mind as to why they would go the route of taking a goalie who's best days are well behind him, and at 4.5 Million a season at that. That was some poor decision making on Washington's part.

The thing that surprises me most, is that many will say Huet was asking too much money, but when you compare the contracts of Huet and Theodore, I can't see why Washington would pass that up. Huet makes 5.625 a year against the cap and Theodore makes 4.5 million a year. Not to mention the Caps still have 6.3 million left to spend this season, a million more would have got them a big goalie upgrade.

It wasn't all bad news for Capitals though, they re-signed RFA Mike Green who was the leading defensive scorer last season. This is huge for the Caps as he will help quarterback that power play with Ovechkin. Other then re-signing Mike Green, there was no other significant moves made in the US Capital this off season.

Washington gets a C+ for their efforts this off-season. Sure they re-signed Mike Green who was priority #1, but the Theodore signing and letting Huet walk was a big mistake, at least they have a goalie to put in the net each night though.

Carolina Hurricanes
The Canes made their biggest moves through trades this off-season. Acquiring Joni Pitkanen for Erik Cole. This trade can really go either way, Cole is an oft-injured forward who has great upside when healthy and Pitkanen is a solid defenseman with some holes in his game. It's not a bad move for either team though, as Edmonton got rid of the salary of Pitkanen and the 'Canes got the defenseman they desperately needed.

There isn't much else to say about the 'Canes, they had a so-so off season as they didn't get really any better, they didn't get any worse either. For this I am giving them a B for staying neutral, I don't know how much better this will make them next season, but it's good they got a solid defenseman at least.

Florida Panthers
The Panthers in my opinion made the bonehead move of the off-season by dealing away Olli Jokinen for Nick Boynton, Keith Ballard and a 2nd rounder. I really think the Panthers could have gotten more for Olli, but I guess if that is what the market offered at the time and they were that set on getting rid of Jokinen it was a good move, but I really feel they should have waited out. Boynton will help the defense out a lot, and Ballard should be a solid 3rd line guy but the Panthers are in need of some other moves in order to compete.

A good start for Florida was signing Cory Stillman who has been a solid contributer for the majority of his career. Also signing Olesz to a 5 year deal will give them another solid forward to help build around.

The big focus for Florida is getting Jay Bouwmeester signed to a long-term deal, and try to avoid arbitration, they have just over 10 million left this season to do so but I would also not be surprised to see Bouwmeester shipped away.

The Panthers come up with a B- for their off-season efforts, they let Jokinen go for too little but were able to get some young guys to help build around and getting some more experienced players to help teach them along the way.

Tampa Bay Lightning
The biggest movers and shakers of this off-season are the Lightning. They managed to re-sign Vinny Lecavalier, sign Ryan Malone to a 7 year deal, get back Vaclav Prospal and sign him, sign Gary Roberts, Mark Recchi and Olaf Kolzig. They also traded for Matt Carle on D, while getting rid of the contract of Dan Boyle. Oh yeah, they also drafted Steve Stamkos to go along with that. This team has made a huge upgrade offensively, but they still look to struggle on the back-end as Kolzig is on a down-swing, though he is still a #1 goalie.

There isn't anything negative to say about this teams off-season moves as they have improved an amazing amount and still have around 10 million left to spend if they so chose. It would be nice for them to get better on the blue line as their defense is weak as well.

The Lightning get a A+ for their off-season moves. No team improved quite as much as Tampa this off-season and they are a very legitimate threat next year in the East.

Atlanta Thrashers
Not a terrible off-season for the Thrashers, they signed Ron Hainsey to a big contact which gives them a good, young-ish defenseman. They are still very much a re-building team as they got a kings ransom from the Penguins for Marian Hossa.

Atlanta is in desperate need of a goalie and they have 25 million dollars left to spend. A big trade could be made with Atlanta getting a franchise goalie.

Like some other teams, there isn't much to say about the Thrashers and their moves this 0ff-season, they are re-building and look to be doing well so far. They get a B for their efforts.

Final Grades:
Capitals C+
Canes B
Panthers B-
Lightning A+
Thrashers B

I really think that the Lightning can run away with the division next year and make a worst to first move. It would be one hellova quick re-build. This is by-far the worst division in hockey. Next time I will shift my focus out West to the Central division which features the Blackhawks, Wings, Blue Jackets, Blues and the Predators.

Ranking the Off-season Part 2

2008-07-07T09:55:00.005-04:00

Last time I took a look at some of the ongoing changes that the Atlantic division has made, today I am shifting my focus to the Northeast division which is sure to stir up some controversy....

Northeast Division
Toronto Maple Leafs
I'll start out with the Leafs who have had a busy off-season thus far making many roster changes. The UFA additions the Leafs made were signing the likes of Nik Hagman and Jeff Finger. Hagman I don't have a problem with at 3 million a year, but we will have to see if he gets the big money syndrome and stops producing now that he's making money. The most ridiculous signing has to be Jeff Finger, sure he deserves a chance but at 3.5 million a season? That's incredibly ridiculous for a guy who has played 94 games and has proven nothing. Not to mention, he was benched most of last playoffs in Colorado. It appears with this signing that Fletcher caught a bit of the JFJ illness, it must be something in the coffee at the ACC.

It wasn't all bad news for the Leafs, they successfully got rid of Darcy Tucker and Andrew Raycroft. Dumping these 2 salaries, even if it's taking a small cap hit, is very much worth it. They both were overpaid for not producing, and Toronto is doing well at moving on by getting rid of these contracts.

Another move by Toronto this off-season is acquiring Mikhail Grabovski from the Canadiens for a prospect and a 2nd round pick. Grabovski has a tonne of potential but can be lazy at times. It's a good trade for both teams as Montreal has no room to work Grabs into their current lineup even though he is NHL ready, and Toronto is rebuilding and Grabs will be a good addition for that.

Overall this off-season I am giving Cliff Fletcher and the rest of the Leafs brass a B. It would have been a B+ or A- but the signing of Jeff Finger brought it down, everything else has been all mostly positive this off season for the Leafs with the exception of the Sundin debacle, but that's another story in itself.

Ottawa Senators
There is a lot of question marks surrounding this team. They could be a great team, or could be a complete flop. They have yet to land a big name D-man and having lost the ever fading Redden as a UFA, they are hurting on the back end. They signed Jarrko Ruutu and Shean Donovan, but come on, what are they really going to help? Ruutu is the poor mans Sean Avery, and the Senators already have a pest in Chris Neil. The addition of Alex Auld isn't bad for the Sens, he is a good backup goalie and he was impressive when he came in for Boston last season. The problem is, the guy he is backing up is probably a back-up caliber goalie as well. Martin Gerber needs to re-find his game or he will be in for another season like last.

A real positive for the Senators came in the form of a subtraction, that being the buy-out of Ray Emery. Emery was nothing but a cancer for that team and with him gone they should have a different attitude.

The Senators are getting a C+ for their efforts this off season. They didn't improve their team at all through any key additions and they still need to land a big name D-man. Despite them not having a productive off-season, they should still make the playoffs with the big 3 of Spezza, Heatley and Alfredsson.

Boston Bruins
A decent off-season for the B's as they didn't lose anyone of significance and were able to add Michael Ryder who was in the doghouse all last year in Montreal. The addition of Ryder should help an ever improving and young Boston squad, unfortunately with today's NHL market they had to pay him 4 million dollars a year. Ryder at his best is not worth 4 million a year.

There isn't a lot to say about this Boston team as they were relatively not busy this off-season, they had around 6.5 million to spend and spent 4 of it on Ryder. If they want to make another move they could try to unload Manny Fernandez and his 4.3 million dollars and give Tuuka Rask a shot.

The Bruins will fittingly get a big B this off season. They are young, and only getting better, I expect a good season from the B's because sometimes staying the same pays off.

Buffalo Sabres
Another team that has been relatively quiet this off-season as the only major player they got was Craig Rivet. That makes Rivet their highest paid, and best defenceman on this team, that is definitely an issue. Rivet will help replace the departed Dimiti Kalinin though, which is a good start for Buffalo.

What I am calling a big mistake by the Sabres this off-season is shipping out Bernier for a couple of picks. Unless this guy was being a real issue in the dressing room, or was having personal problems in the Buffalo area, I don't see the reason for trading a very good developing player.

I will give the Sabres a C this off-season. It may seem low and harsh, but Rivet is on a decline in his career and Bernier was on the up and up. These moves don't make sense for a team that needs some desperate help. I really hope they are shifting their focus to re-signing Ryan Miller before too long or it could be a very bad couple years in Buffalo.

Montreal Canadiens
Last, but certainly not least I get to my Montreal Canadiens who were some-what movers and shakers this off season. The big addition for the Habs was getting Alex Tanguay. This could really work out either way for the Habs and it truly is a gamble on a player who appears is on a downswing but may just need this change of scenery. Another big addition for the Habs, and you have to promise not to laugh, but it's Georges Laraque. Now it is crazy to pay an enforcer 1.5 Million a season, but Montreal NEEDED this guy, someone to step up and kick ass so the small-sized Canadiens are no longer pushed around. Perhaps the best move by the Canadiens was getting Andrei Kostitsyn signed on for 3 more years and at a cheap 3.25 million at that. This kid is going to be awesome and I am happy that no one threw an offer sheet at him (Kevin Lowe).

Montreal dealt away a great up and comer in Grabovski to the Leafs. As much as this sucks because he has a tonne of potential, it had to happen as Grabs was just going to be the odd man out in Montreal and he deserves to play in the N.

There was some personnel loss to the Montreal roster with the departure of Michael Ryder and Mark Streit but at the price tags they left for, it is alright. The big loss for the Canadiens, which isn't really a loss at all is still not being able to sign Mats Sundin. If the Canadiens were to go over the top and be a solidified contender, they would need a Sundin-like player to do it.

This off-season seen Montreal make some changes but the core of the team stayed the same. I am giving them a B for the efforts of Gainey and crew. The additions of Tanguay and Laraque will help the team out a lot more then Ryder and Streit would have.

Final Grades
Leafs-B
Senators-C+
Bruins-B
Sabres-C
Canadiens-B

I am expecting a 3 way fight between the Canadiens, Bruins and Senators next year to win this division. Next time I will finish off the Eastern Conference by grading the worst division in the East last year, the Southeast. We'll see how the Capitals, Hurricanes, Lightning, Thrashers and Panthers all did.

Ranking the Offseason part 1

2008-07-04T11:18:00.004-04:00

The NHL off season is well underway and many teams have made many personnel changes to bolster their rosters. I am going to go through and grade each team on the moves they made so without further ado...

Atlantic Division
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pens coming off of a Stanley Cup finals appearance didn't have a large amount of money to spend but they had a lot of players to sign. Obviously they were going to lose some in the shuffle; their biggest losses came in the form of losing Marian Hossa. Hossa signed on with the Red Wings so in turn the Penguins have nothing left from their blockbuster deadline deal for Hossa. They really risked a lot of future to win now and it didn't quite pay off. Another key loss for the Pens came from losing Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts heading to Tampa, of the best depth players they have.

The Penguins added the likes of Miro Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko, but those 2 can not replace Hossa, Malone and Roberts, not by a long shot. Another bright point for the Penguins off season was resigning Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury to a long term deals which will solidify the core of their team for the next 5-6 years.
Overall this off season the Penguins are getting a B- from me because their losses in the roster far outweigh the additions, but the resigning of Malkin and Fleury are huge. I can't believe I wrote the whole column on the Pens and didn't mention Crosby once, oh shit there goes that hope.

New York Rangers
The Rangers got a lot better in the offseason through trades and free agency. I don't think the loss of Jagr will hurt the Rangers as it seems he was just a cancer in the dressing room anyways. The addition of Wade Redden is big for this club, but they well overpaid for a player who is gradually getting worse. Redden and Rosival will be sufficient for this team on the back end as long as Henrik Lundqvist plays to his potential. Adding Marcus Naslund was a nice move my the Rangers as well, I really think he just needed a change of scenery from out West to get his game going again.

The big splash that really improved the Rangers was trading for Nikolai Zheredev and Dan Fritsche. Zheredev seemed to come into his own last season and started to separate himself from being just a regular player to a offensive threat. Fritsche is still young but will have a nice career in the NHL. It seemed the Rangers had to give up very little to Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman to get these 2 forwards, you can tell Columbus was desparate for D-men on this deal.

The Rangers will be a solid team next season, their biggest worry as always is going to be consistency and chemistry. On paper they should have no problems scoring, but when you put a bunch of individual players that play for themselves on one team it typically spells disaster. For their offseason moves I give the Rangers an A-. They look like a deadly team that's going to be a force...at least on paper.

New York Islanders
What a terrible, terrible team this is going to be. I am sorry to any Islanders fans but you can not get excited when you look at this roster. After trading down in the draft several times, the Isles really missed out on getting Luke Schenn. The Islanders only notable pick-up in the offseason has been Mark Streit, a great power play defencemen, who can be a potential liability on D. He is versatile as he plays both wing and defence, but he alone certainly can not save this team.

The one bright spot for this team is seeing players like Jeff Tambelleni and Kyle Okposo develop and become talents in the league as they both have the potential to do that.
The Isles are getting a C for their off season moves, an improvement on the blue line will help, but they need more then that......maybe they need John Tavares?

New Jersey Devils
The Devils threw some cash around this off-season, most notably signing Bobby Holik and Brian Rolston. They kept Bryce Salvador on the blue line after acquiring him at last years trade deadline and he should help out back there. Unfortunately, this team is lacking a lot of defence (but so is everyone) but I will never count out the defensive abilities of a team that has Martin Brodeur in net, no matter how old he's getting. Not to mention the traditional style of a New Jersey team is to play the "trap", and they can sure do it well.

They should make up for a lack of star power on the back end with the likes of Rolston, Elias, Gionta and Parise to name a few. New Jersey has always been a solid team over the past years, and I don't see any difference come this year.

The Devils get a B for their off season acquisitions, they lost nobody notable, and signed a great goal scorer in Brian Rolston who was one of the top forward UFAs this off-season.

Philadelphia Flyers
This off-season they didn't make any staggering moves to sign players, but they didn't have to (and didn't really have the cap space for it either). They got the most important guy to them signed in Jeff Carter. They also shed the contract of R.J. Umberger who was an RFA this season; as much as that is a loss to Philly you can't expect R.J. to play like he did last playoffs all season long. This is a team with a very bright future and has many up-and-comers who can jump into Umbergers old spot.

The Flyers will be a good team once again, and the issue as always with them is at the back end. The goaltending is nothing to brag over. Biron had an amazing playoffs but how long will that continue in this season? The other issue with the Flyers is on defence, aside from Kimmo Timonen, there isn't much to brag over. Braydon Coburn and newly acquired Steve Eminger will have to have big years.

The Flyers get a B- for this off-seasons work. They did what they had to do under the CBA and managed to get Carter signed on for 3 more seasons.

Final Grades:
Penguins B-
Rangers A-
Islanders C
Devils B
Flyers B-

Overall the Atlantic division should be a competitive one next season as each team with the exception of the Islanders could very easily make the playoffs. Next time I will have the Northeast division and we will look at the moves Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Buffalo and Boston made and see how they made out this off-season.

Big Money Turns Back the Clock on NHL

2008-07-02T13:52:00.002-04:00

Free agency is open in the NHL and already teams are throwing out huge contracts at free agents to come play for them. The thing that troubles me is that the size of these contracts are setting the NHL back to where it was pre-lockout era. Sure, now there is a limit on how much teams can spend, but all it has really done is create more parity in the league from "superstar player" contracts to everyone else.Fewer and fewer players are taking a "hometown discount" on their contracts as they are opting to go play for whoever will offer them the most money.

So let's look at this, the top free agent signings so far:
F- Marian Hossa, 7.45 million dollars (1 year deal)
D- Brian Campbell average 7.1 million per year (8 year)
D- Wade Redden average 6.5 million per year(6 year)
G- Cristobal Huet average 5.6 million per year (4 year)
F- Corey Perry average 5.3 million per year (5 year)
D- Mike Green average 5.25 per year (4 year)

and still at this point Mats Sundin is yet to be signed but was reportedly offered a 2 year contract worth 10 million dollars per year. No offense to Mats or anything, but he is not worth 10 million per season, the guy is a great hockey player, but there is no way he should be making more then Ovechkin($9.6 million), Crosby($8.7 million) or Malkin($8.7 million) by any rate.

With those numbers in mind, look at some contracts signed pre-lockout era....
(2001)F- Jaromir Jagr average 11 million per year (7 year) When the salary cap was introduced, his salary was taken down to 7.8 million a year to reflect the "new contracts" of the NHL.
(2001)F- Alexei Yashin average 8.75 million per year(10 year), again with the introduction of the salary cap his contract was cut down significantly, he was eventually bought out by the Islanders.
(2002)Bill Guerin average 9 million per year (5 year), another salary cut down when the NHL come back from lockout with new rules.

Now those are just some examples but I am sure you can think of many more ridiculous contracts being handed out pre-lockout era. We are not at the 11 million per year for any player yet but as you can see, we are certainly headed there.

With the inevitability of the contracts rising back to being ridiculous I ask, what was the point of the lockout then? The purpose of the lockout was that the owners wanted to create equality in the league, smaller contracts and an overall better game.

Well, for the first couple years we had some equality in the league, the playoff races, division and conference races are all a lot tighter then past years, but look at who won the cup again, the Detroit Red Wings, a team that is practically a modern day dynasty. With the Wings winning, it throws out all thoughts of equality in the league, they are the superior franchise in the NHL.

I don't know if I would say that the NHL is overall better product post-lockout era, it certainly has a lot of flaws with new rules introduced but that was expected. Revenue around the league has been up, and more people are watching it on TV now.

The one place that makes the NHL big losers for the lockout is the contract sizes, we are back to where we started before the lockout. So much for the owners thinking that they were the big winners of the labor dispute that took a year of hockey away from us.

Deconstructing the trades of the 2008 Draft

2008-06-23T08:54:00.002-04:00

A few days after the NHL draft has taken place and new faces are getting familiar with new places. As to no ones surprise Sarnia Sting Superstar Steven Stamkos (How's that for alliteration?) was selected first by the Tampa Bay Lightning. With the second overall pick, London native Drew Doughty went to his childhood favorite team, the L-A Kings and the Atlanta Thrashers got better on D with their 3rd overall selection of Zach Bogosain.

Despite all the great young stars selected in this draft the main story from the draft came from the big trades that were made. Calgary, Montreal, Phoenix and Columbus grabbed the spot light by bolstering their rosters with already proven NHL players.

The big winner of the day would have to be Calgary. They acquired Mike Cammalleri from the LA Kings in a 3 way trade also involving Anaheim. Meanwhile, they shipped off under-achieving forward Alex Tanguay who is coming off his worst year in the NHL to date. The Flames get an upgrade in their roster from Tanguay to Cammalleri and also save some ever important cap space by making the move. I like the Flames moves in the draft as after they traded out of the first round when they made the Cammalleri deal, they got right back into it when they dealt Tanguay to the Habs for the 25th overall pick.

I also like Montreal grabbing Tanguay out of this draft. Simply, Tanguay is a replacement for Ryder, and an upgrade from Ryder. He will come in and put up 60-70 points (at least). Even though Tanguay is coming off a terrible year in Calgary, many are saying he was unhappy playing in Calgary and he should be more at home in Montreal as he is a Quebec native. I also like this trade for Montreal as they traded their 25th overall pick, which is an unsure thing these days in the draft, for a proven NHL player in Tanguay. There is no loser here with this trade, both teams win. With the Habs in hot pursuit of Sundin and/or Marian Hossa, it should be another promising year for the Habs.

Olli Jokinen departing from Florida was only a matter of time... but who expected Phoenix?? This was another even trade for these two teams but I don't know why Florida didn't want to get a better forward out of the deal. A team stock-piled with defensemen won't win any championships, you have to score as well. Phoenix has to be going for a playoff run next year. Grabbing Jokinen was really big for them, and after a impressive season last year for the most part, this year they should be even better and I look for them to squeak into the 7th or 8th spot at seasons end.

The Blue Jackets have oodles of cap space and effectively filled some up with the acquisition of R.J. Umberger. Once R.J. gets settled in playing with Nash and Zheredev he will be just fine. I look for the Jackets to make some more moves this off-season to help them make a playoff push next season. This trade also helps the Flyers out a lot. This frees up the cap space that they need to sign Jeff Carter, a very important part of their team. The Flyers also have a very good pool of prospects ready to make the jump to the big squad next year.

Another trade of just picks will prove to be pivotal for the Toronto Maple Leafs. As much as I hate the Leafs, trading up to 5th overall was a brilliant move in order to get Luke Schenn. If you compare the type of player they would have got at #7, Schenn is already a major upgrade to this team. With that said, it will take a lot more then Luke to turn this team around, this is a good start and Leaf fans have a good reason to be excited.

An exciting draft day as many minor and major moves were made to change up rosters. Next step is the big July 1st, one of my favorite days of the year when free-agency opens and the money spending begins. I'm looking forward.

EliteXC on CBS a few days later...

2008-06-03T21:22:00.004-04:00

It's the Tuesday after the EliteXC event aired on CBS and I have taken my time to collect some thoughts about it, read some articles and opinions on the event and have finally come to my own conclusions on how I viewed the event Saturday night.

It was the first ever MMA event to air on national television, and at this point I feel that there couldn't have been a worse event to introduce MMA to the general public, in fact, calling what we seen Saturday night MMA, is a stretch.

What EliteXC did was set back MMA to pre-Zuffa era in the UFC. To where there was one brawler against another brawler, and may the toughest sunovabitch win. EliteXC successfully put together a card full of striker vs striker match ups because that is what the crowd wanted, and it is what they got. What they didn't get, was a full display of what Mixed Martial Arts has to offer.

The worst part of the event, and in my mind the point which ruined the entire night, was the main event which seen Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson fight James "The Colossus" Thompson.

If you are unfamiliar with the past of Thompson, let me fill you in. This guy has made a living being in MMA highlight reels, and for all the wrong reasons. He is very well known for having a glass jaw and has a history of being a first round knock out victim to mostly anyone he fights.

Now enter Kimbo Slice, an Internet superstar who made his fame by dominating perennial no-bodys in peoples backyards, behind Taco Bells and in parking lots. The videos of Kimbos fights were posted on YouTube and thus grew the legend of Kimbo. Kimbo has had 2 previous sanctioned MMA fights before the EliteXC on CBS Event, both fights were first round knockouts and Kimbo had spent less then 2 minutes in the cage and has an easy record of 2-0.

With this evidence at hand, it would seem as though Kimbo Slice was being fed an easy 3rd knockout win, and the "legend" of Kimbo would grow. This was not the case, as Thompson put up a great fight, and in my opinion, and the opinion of many others, Thompson won that fight in the final minutes of the 2nd round when he had Kimbo pinned and he could not properly defend himself. As if it were scripted...Kimbo wins via ref stoppage due to strikes at the beginning of the 3rd, it was a stoppage even Herb Dean wouldn't have made.

What makes this so bad, is that for most it was the first display of MMA for many of the general public, their first glimpse into what is a very talented sport full of great athletes. What they got though was a fake hero, a hack of a mixed martial artist. Kimbo Slice is not a real MMA fighter. He was completely exposed by James Thompson as having no ground game, and he gassed after the first round. Grasp that, he was exposed by one of the worst heavyweight fighters around.

New fans to MMA will think of Kimbo as a MMA star, as a real fighter, and it's too bad because this sport had worked so hard to get to where it was and in a matter of hourse, it was taken back.

A Long Time Coming....

2008-05-28T13:14:00.002-04:00

A fitting name for my blog as I haven't wrote in a long while.

I don't have one issue I want to centralize around so I'm going to dance through a bunch of them....

NHL Stanley Cup Finals
Game 3 of the series goes tonight at the Mellon, and the Penguins are still yet to score a goal in this series...I find this completely unreal. Malkin, Crosby and Hossa have a combined 0 points this series. There is only one reason for this and that's the amazing play of the Detroit defense. They have been nothing short of stellar in shutting down the Pens offensive force. I said before that experience was going to be a factor in this series, and so far, it has proved true. The Red Wings have been to the cup with a core group of their guys before, the Penguins haven't, with that said, scratching Gary Roberts was a mistake.

Does the NHL hate Tomas Holmstrom? In game 1 I has NO problem with what he did on the goal that got called back in the first period. Fleury was in the white ice, Holmstrom got in his face, it's allowed. Sure, Holmstroms stick was between the legs of Fleury, but it wasn't interfering with the shot at all, not to mention the best of NHL goalies would not have stopped the Lidstrom shot anyways.

Backwards Baseball
I read a headline today that said "The MLB-leading Rays...." HOLD ON A SECOND. The same Tampa Bay Rays that 66 games all of last year already have 31 wins!? What is going on here!? They are just holding on by a toenail above the Bo-Sox but the Sox were expected to be good. The Rays certainly were not. Sticking in the AL East, guess who is last? The New York Yankees, baseballs richest team! Even the Orioles are ahead of the Bronx Bombers. Now sure, A-Rod has been hurt much of the season and the Yanks have been in injury trouble with Posada going down for a bit, but 2 players do not make an entire baseball team, no matter how much money they make. A-Rod is a game changer, there is no doubt about that, but don't tell me that there isn't 8 other guys on the field other then him that can hit a baseball. Besides, the Yankees major problem isn't in offense, it's in pitching. Old, washed up pitchers who just don't have it anymore will not win you games. And no, A-Rod can not help that problem either.

This goes to show the turn around in the MLB and the changing of the guard. Rookies, and young stars are starting to shine as they have been developed through the system. The Rays have finished 5th every year in the AL East except for 1 (the finished 4th), and they got good draft picks, a good development system and it's starting to pay off for them already.

Soccer
Not one of my usual topics, but the EURO Cup is coming up and I just wanted to voice my displeasure on how England is not participating because they didn't 'qualify' for the tournament. I don't know a lot about soccer but I do know that England is one of the meccas of soccer, and to not have them in one of the most important international tournaments by default is truly an insult to soccer fans, and to the country itself after it has been a top country in soccer for so many years.

It's been a busy few weeks in sports, and I hope to be writing more often to express my opinions and thoughts, but no promises on that, I've been really busy. Take care.

The Dying Trend of The Ultimate Fighter

2008-05-20T15:27:00.003-04:00

The Ultimate Fighter reality show brought the UFC into the spotlight and created a buzz around ultimate fighting that has been going ever since. Being in it's 7th season now I feel that The Ultimate Fighter is almost at the bottom of a steep decline.

I still love watching the fights but the whole concept of TUF is starting to get old. It seems as though it hit it's peak in Season 3 and just has gone downhill from there. I also think the lack of fighters making a big splash in the UFC ranks has a lot to do with it. With the exception of season 1, there isn't a big group of people fighting in the UFC still that are actually worth mentioning.

To back up my point consider this....People of significance that fought in the UFC from TUF:

Season 1: Forrest Griffin, Mike Swick, Stephan Bonnar, Diego Sanchez, Josh Koscheck, Kenny Florian, Nate Quarry and Chris Leben. Out of those guys, the only one's of real significance are Forrest and Florian, after that guys like Swick, Koscheck, Quarry and others are all solid fighters still.

Season 2:Keith Jardine, Rashad Evans, Marcus Davis, Joe Stevenson, Luke Cummo, Josh Burkeman.Out of this group the only fighters with any significance are Jardine and Stevenson. Stevenson fought for the title, and Jardine is hanging around the top of the 205 ranks. Rashad is slightly behind Jardine in my books, but is still up there too. Everyone else are also still pretty solid fighters in the UFC.

Season 3: Kendall Grove, Rory Singer, Kalib Starnes, Ed Herman, Michael Bisping, Matt Hamill.This groups only fighters that are still hanging around with any lustre and Bisping and Hamill. Grove and Herman had some good runs, but they won't even be top tier guys. And Kalib is a story of his own, but he did have some fights.

Season 4: This one is a little different because it was the comeback season. But the only one who made a splash was obviously Matt Serra. Patrick Cote and Rich Clementi have been successful since the show as well. As far as mostly everyone else, it's a wash.

Season 5: Joe Lauzon and Nathan Diaz are the only names worth mentioning right now from this series. It hasn't been very long though to let these lightweights get into the system but only these 2 guys have set themselves apart and in Lauzons case it is only because of a pre-TUF knockout of Jens Pulver.

Season 6: The only person of significance is Mac Danzig who walked through TUF. Again, this season needs more time to develop but as far as potential goes, I'm not expecting much.And

Season 7 you can't judge at all really. This just goes to show the lack of talent perhaps coming from TUF.

Since it's jump to your cable television, the UFC has stuck around and has become more and more mainstream, I think that TUF is a trend, and one that will soon die.

I think that if a fighter is already good enough to make the UFC, they wouldn't need to go through the whole TUF experience. I know it's for exposure, and to feature up and comers to the sport, but the UFC does a well enough job promoting fighters and fights on their own without the TUF show. My suggestion is doing more All Access shows to get fans more "in-touch" with the fighters.

The Gold is Flipped Away

2008-05-19T22:36:00.002-04:00

Well, I've had a day to soak it in and collect my thoughts on Canada losing the Gold at the Men’s World Hockey Championships on Sunday. As much as the blame can easily be put on Rick Nash for flipping the puck over the glass in OT there was a lot more other factors that resulted in the unsatisfactory silver that Canada took home.

Inconsistent Goalies

Cam Ward simply didn't make the big saves when he needed to. The 3rd and 4th goals the Russians scored should have been routine saves. The blame doesn't all rest on Ward, because I don't think Pascal Leclair would have faired much better. He was inconsistent all tournament, giving up 4 goals the game before to Finland. With the amount of great Canadian goalies we have, why are Cam Ward and Pascal Leclair the top 2 goalies for Canada at this tournament? The 2 names that come to mind the quickest are Martin Brodeur and Roberto Louongo. They were easily the top 2 Canadian goalies available to play in this tournament.

Blowing a 2 goal lead

There should be no reason a team as skilled as Canada should be giving up a 2 goal lead heading into the 3rd period. The game was called fairly when it came to penalties, (Which is surprising considering the usual refereeing we get in these tournaments) Canada just simply wasn't able to capitalize on all of their opportunities, and they sat with the lead and got way to comfortable. Overall it was a lack of discipline that cost them in the end.......

The most ridiculous rule in Hockey

For the first time in a long time I had to agree with what Don Cherry said on Coach's Corner Sunday afternoon, which getting a penalty for flipping the puck over the glass in your own end is nothing short of ridiculous. First, let me say it was a lazy and undiciplined play be Nash and before you think I'm only saying this because it happened to Canada and ultimately cost us the Gold when Rick Nash flipped it out, I am not. I would not want to win on a power play that was from the most retarded post-lockout rule they have decide to implement in the game. There is no doubt they need to change this rule, it is costing teams games, and as we seen Sunday, it's also costing championships. I won't cry for change unless I have a suggestion, and I think that if you do flip the puck out of your own end, then it's a faceoff in your own zone, and you can't change players, much like the new icing rule. This doesn't allow a team to get a fresh set of legs on the ice, and it puts them at a disadvantage by having to take a defensive zone faceoff while tired. A 2 minute penalty is not the right way to punish this act, because most of the time, the guys don't mean to flip it out anyways.

It's too bad that the championship was decided like this, but there is no sense crying over spilt milk. I love cheering for Canada in international hockey and I can't wait for the 2010 Olympics when the cream of the crop will be playing for every country, it will be exciting.

Shut up Arlen Specter

2008-05-14T22:38:00.002-04:00

I am getting really sick and tired of congress getting involved in professional sports. It was never necessary to do and is just a colossal waste of time and money.

The latest person wanting to get involved is Pittsburgh Steeler fan, Senator Arlen Specter. Spector feels that the 'spygate' situation in the NFL wasn't handled well and that an external group should do an investigation to probe the New England Patriots and their cheating ways.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't agree what-so-ever with the Patriots cheating by stealing signals and video taping other teams. I believe that integrity is a very important part of sports and the Pats ruined that very much. With that said, the Pats have already been given their penalty, they had to pay out a lot of money, and they lost a first round draft pick. More importantly, the fans of football, and even people who don't follow football very closely will always associate the Patriots as cheaters, and that is what will haunt the Patriots from here on in. This is no different then what you associate Barry Bonds with... a steroid user or the same way Ricky Williams is going to forever associated with marijuana.

The U.S. congress has the right to get involved in sports just because they are the U.S. congress, but to me I see no reason why they actually should, and it seems as though the U.S.A. has it's priorities in a mess. We are talking about a country that is in deep financial trouble, and a country that is currently engaged in a war. Since when do sports come before war, or the well being of your countries citizens?

So, how about, shut up Arlen Spector, because you are wasting your countries money and your countries time, and it's all because you have some sour grapes. Senator Spector, before you embarrass yourself here, shut up. You are on a mission to make the NFL look bad, so just shut up because as much as the Patriots ruined the integrity of the sport, you will ruin it even more by pulling this type of crap.

There is no slack being cut for the Patriots here. I just think they have already got what they deserved and it should be left at that. Just remind me, who won Superbowl 42 again? Enough said....

Pockets BARE-ey for Bonds

2008-05-06T22:28:00.002-04:00

In response to this article found on TSN: http://tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=236954&lid=sublink08&lpos=headlines_main

To summarize that article, it basically states that the Union is investigating as to why no one has made a contract offer to Barry Bonds since he has become a free-agent. They basically want to look into why this is and if there is a problem with the current free-agent system. This is coming after Bonds stated that he wanted to play a 23rd season in the MLB.

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I can tell you exactly why no one wants to sign Bonds, and unless you have been in hiding for the last 7 years it's pretty obvious.

No team in the majors wants a guy on their team who is a 'team cancer' and that is exactly what Bonds is. Bonds does not bring anything good or new to a dressing room that any team needs. He is terrible with the media, and not to mention the guy is getting sued out his ass for lying under oath to the US government.

If any club wants to make the worst PR move ever, then sign Barry.

The Union of the MLB thinks that there is a problem with the current free-agent system because Bonds is not signed. The problem doesn't lie with the free-agent system at all. It is with the players who are free-agents. They are there for a reason, because they are no longer relevant Major League players. There is nothing Barry Bonds can bring to a team that another player can't other then a bad attitude.

If baseball really wants to do away with having a bad image one of the first things they need to do is just do away with Barry Bonds. Keep him out of the media. The man assaulted the HR record, the only thing left for him to do is win a World Series but when no teams at all wants to take a chance on you... it's a good cue to retire.

Habs ousted in the 2nd round

2008-05-04T17:16:00.003-04:00

It was an early exit for the Montreal Canadiens and their fans when they were beat out in 5 games last night by the Philadelphia Flyers.

I would have to agree with most saying that this series was lost on the glove of Carey Price. No team will win a Stanley Cup without a great goalie and Price was simply just a slightly below average goalie this series. With that said, I don't think the future is dark for this 20 year old rookie goaltender because afterall, he is just that, a 20 year old rookie goaltender. I couldn't imagine the pressure of being that young and carrying the most storied franchise in hockey history on your back. I have no doubt Price will be back to #1 form next season and he will have a great career.

The sole loss of this series can't sit on Carey Price because you win and lose as a team, not as individuals. The overall lack of aggressiveness by the Habs played a huge role in why they were not able to win. The Habs need to watch over the film because the way the Flyers executed their PP and PK were amazing. When on the PP the Flyers constantly has traffic in front of the net, and they always had their feet moving. While on the PK the Flyers constantly put pressure on the puck carrier and forced him to make a quick decision, ultimately forcing a mistake as well. There is no doubt the bigger, more physical, Flyers out worked the Habs this series.

Many say that this Canadiens team overachieved this year and really aren't as good as they look at all, but I would tend to disagree. The Canadiens are just a year or two ahead of schedule. They lucked out when Sergei Kostitsyn played so well, and when other players stepped up to the plate and played well down the stretch like Mark Streit and even Patrice Briesbois. The Habs have a ton of great prospects in the system, many which could step up and play on the big club next season.

Looking into next season, I expect to see much of the same from this club, except they will be more experienced, and more playoff ready. If there is one thing I am afraid of it's that Alex Kovalev will go back to his old ways and not care about hockey. I am hoping that the Kostitsyn brothers will help keep him young, and keep him wanting more because he is a vital part of this team.

As far as off-season transactions go, the Canadiens will most likely let Ryder walk away as a UFA but I would like to see them re-sign Streit because he is so versatile and is a great asset to have. The Habs luck out with a lot of cap room left for next year so signing a top 6 forward could happen. I know Gainey will open the bank account for a chance at a big name guy to play in Montreal, it's just a matter of getting someone to want to play there.

Overall, there is nothing to be ashamed of for this years version of the Montreal Canadiens. They won their division, finished first in the Eastern conference, and made it to the 2nd round in the playoffs. So much for all those experts picking them to finish 12th in the East.

Flyers continue to Euro the Habs

2008-05-01T23:15:00.003-04:00

As nice as it is being in the 2nd round of the NHL playoffs, and being one of the final 8 teams left battling for a Stanley Cup; it has been a little tough to watch the Montreal Canadiens lately, if you ask me, they are looking a little European.

The core of Habs players are European, and unfortunatly that spells disaster when it comes to physical play. Also for the Habs it is unfortunate that they are playing one of the most physical teams in the league in the Flyers.

Now you know how the adage goes in the NHL, you hit a European player a couple of times and they shy away from the puck. That is exactly what has happened to the Canadiens. The majority of players on the Habs that are top 6 guys and afraid to go into the corners because the bigger stronger Flyers are going to hammer them. Call be crazy but I think Ryder needs to get the nod come game 5. It is his last chance to prove something before he comes a UFA at years end. He is also a Canadian hockey player, he's a hard worker, and even though he only had 14 goals this season, he can still be a very effective player when given the opportunity.

I'll be the first to admit that the Flyers for the most part in this series have totally outplayed the Habs and the reason for them being so dominant is because they have had such a huge physical pressence.

My other key points to the series:

Flyers:
From a Habs supporters perspective I can't really say what Philly has been doing well or not well as I haven't seen enough of them this year to tell. What I can say though is whatever they are doing, it is very effective. They are neutralizing the NHLs #1 powerplay in the regular season, the Flyers as I mentioned are physically dominating the Canadiens, which goes along with them executing a flawless game plan; Let's not forget the amazing play of goaltender Marty Biron, the guy has been sensational. The Flyers have been able to do everything they can and it is working in their favor, as they have a stranglehold on the Canadiens.

Canadiens:
I have a lot more to say about my Habs....

When I look at this Montreal team play right now, they seem to be a much different team then what I seen for the majority of the regular season. Not only has their PP been completely disabeled, but they are not making any changes to shake things up. This is a call to Carbo to make some changes, try a new stragagie, everyone has you figured out right now.

The Habs need to stop playing into the Flyers gameplan and start to play the game they used to finish #1 in the East this year. The high-flying, fast paced, skillful game. Quick puckmovement and always keeping the puck moving. This Flyers team is big and strong, along with that, they are fairly slow. If the Habs would start to exploit this weakness then it would changes this series dramatically.

To shed some light on the goalie situation in Montreal, there is no doubt in my mind that Carey Price NEEDS to start game 5. He was named their number one goalie, and I know he certainly hasn't played like it but the kid is only 20, sometimes he might still play like a 20 year old, not a seasoned vet. I hope the benching brought Price back down to earth and hopefully he settles down and plays goal like he can. Playing Price in game 5 will do wonders for this kid next season. I also want to mention that I have no hard feelings towards Halak either, he by no means lost game 4 for the Canadiens, he also didn't win it either.

I have some hopes that the Canadiens will make this a closer series and not take a 5 game exit. The Habs are going home for game 5 and I think you will see Price stand on his head and take the series back to Philly.

Random NFL Musings

2008-04-24T11:35:00.003-04:00

Even though it is considered the "off-season" in the NFL, there is nothing that has been turned off in the world of the NFL.

We sit 2 days away from the draft, and with the #1 pick locked up as Jake Long all the focus shifts to the St. Louis Rams and who they will take with the #2 overall pick. This is a very interesting draft in a lot of ways. Until the Miami Dolphins tagged Long as their #1 and gave him a fat contract to boot, there was no real solidified #1 pick, no standout player. Also, after the first pick, it is just a scramble of great prospects, but no one who really steps out from the pack and says 'I'll be a game changer'. If you've made mock drafts, be prepared for them to look very different after the first round because it appears that anything can and will happen.

The Dallas Cowboys picked up strip-club addict, Adam 'Pacman' Jones. Even though Jones isn't even instated in the league right now, it is a great move for the 'Boys. Simply enough, they have practically nothing to lose here. If Pacman plays next year, they give up a 4th round pick and a 6th round pick. I will guarantee you that any CB taken in the 4th or 6th round will not be the player that Pacman is (at least not this season). Pacman can immediately step in and help out a questionable secondary in Dallas, and help the also questionable return game of the Cowboys.

I am a little scared for the Seattle Seahawks after releasing former MVP RB Shaun Alexander. This guy had one bad, actually one TERRIBLE year, and you just cut ties with him? I don't know about that because I think Seattle just gave Alexander some fuel for his fire to get back playing to his MVP form. He had an injury plagued last season and I think it's pretty obvious that someone will take a chance on him this year, the Seahawks will look foolish making this move.

More spygate talk and meetings just annoy me more and more each day. Give it up, the Patriots cheated, they had to forfeit their pick and pay a lot of money. They didn't even win the Superbowl! I don't see how this is still an issue, by putting the spygate articles on their front page, NFL.com is making an embarrassment of itself. It is nothing short of embarrassing that the Patriots cheated for so long, and got away with it, if I were the NFL, I would be dropping the issue and I would have someone keep a close eye on the Patriots for the next few years, especially while Belichick is still there.

The Experience of a Lifetime

2008-04-21T17:10:00.002-04:00

UFC 83

What an amazing event Saturday night in Montreal. It was the biggest live crowd in UFC history and the place was absolutely buzzing, you could barely talk to the person beside you for most of the night and it only got louder as each Canadian fighter stepped into the octagon to battle.

Of course the night was capped off with Georges St. Pierre taking on Matt Serra for the undisputed Welterweight Championship belt. A total one sided fight with GSP taking the TKO victory in late in the 2nd... when the ref pushed off St. Pierre to signify the victory the place exploded, high fives, fist pumps and screaming could be seen and heard all around and if you thought it was loud before, the crowd took it to a new level, it was an amazing experience.

The card as a whole was pretty good as well. Rich Franklin got back to his winning ways taking on Travis Lutter. If you ask me, Lutter did not come to fight, just to collect his pay for the fight and go home. It was a total lacklustre effort by Lutter as he gassed late first round and it just got worse in the 2nd. Despite the win for Franklin, he won't be challenging for the title anytime soon. For one, I don't think he wants to fight Anderson Silva again, and I don't think the UFC wants him to either. Don't get me wrong though, he still has a long career ahead of him.

The joke of the night was the Nate Quarry/ Kalib Starnes fight. It was pathetic on Starnes part as he just back peddled the whole fight while it appeared Quarry was trying to push the fight. It was embarrassing that it was the first ever 30-24 victory ever in the UFC, Starnes actually did that bad and it really makes the sport look bad. You won't be seeing Starnes in the UFC anytime soon, and I for one will not miss him.

Michael Bisping made his debut at 185 by dismantling Charles McCarthy. McCarthy didn't even put up a fight (well more then Starnes did at least). Bisping overpowered him, and looked quicker then he ever did before. Great win for Bisping who with 2 or 3 more wins could get a title shot at 185. I look forward to a Franklin vs Bisping match sometime in the future, that would be great.

Mac Danzigs fight was a good one with Mark Bocek. Danzig worked him pretty much the whole time though. Sooner rather than later look for Mac to be at the top of the division.

To round out the night all the other fights did not disappoint and all had some excitement in them....
-Jason Macdonald finished his fight in the 2nd with a submission.
-Jason Day had a big TKO in the first round. I was very impressed with this guy and hope to see more of him around.
-Ed Herman is probably still feeling terrible after he got punched out while getting submitted by Demian Maia, who is now 8-0. This guy could have a bright future as well.
-I was disappointed Sam Stout didn't win but it was a close battle with Rich Clementi. At least Stout continues to be impressive and exciting in the UFC and I am sure he will be back.
-The heavyweights were good, Cain Velasquez knocked out Brad Morris in the first.
and to kick off the night it was Jonathan Goulet taking on Kuniyoshi Hironaka. A 2nd round TKO win for Goulet and this was overall an exciting back and fourth fight. Now only if Goulet will get rid of that ridiculous haircut.

This was an amazing first event to go to for myself. History was made on a lot of fronts and it was the experience of a lifetime. I am just really happy GSP didn't disappoint or there may have been a riot in Montreal.

NFL Mock Draft 1.0

2008-04-16T21:56:00.003-04:00

We are just over a week away from the NFL draft and despite this not being one of the highest touted draft classes ever; it still boasts some strong franchise players. I have a feeling there will be a good amount of wheeling and dealing, I expect to see at least 3 first round picks change hands but for now the Mock draft is without trades in it. So here it is, NFL Round 1 Mock Draft version 1.0......

1. Miami Dolphins select Jake Long, OT from Michigan. He’s a safe pick, and a Parcells kind of guy.
2. St Louis Rams select Vernon Gholston, DE from Ohio State. The Rams pretty much need help in every position, this is a good start.
3. Atlanta Falcons select Glenn Dorsey, DT from LSU. Atlanta is another team that needs help in every position, Dorsey can develop into a game breaker.
4. Oakland Raiders select Darren McFadden, RB from Arkansas. Despite the growing number of guys in the backfield, the Raiders can’t pass up a potential feature back in McFadden.
5. Kansas City Chiefs select Matt Ryan, QB from Boston College. Too many QB problems in KC and they hope they can land their franchise guy here.
6. New York Jets select Chris Long, DE from Virginia. The Jets are amazed Long falls this far and just cannot pass him up.
7. New England Patriots select Leodis McKelvin, CB from Troy State. It’s an easy pick for the Pats here, they lost Asante Samuel and McKelvin is just the replacement.
8. Baltimore Ravens select Brandon Flowers, CB from Virginia Tech. They don't get their guy Ryan at QB so the Ravens seek a playmaker in the secondary and this is their guy.
9. Cincinnati Bengals select Sedrick Ellis, DT from USC. The Bengals defence is a mess selecting Ellis will give the Bengals a great push up the middle.
10. New Orleans Saints select Keith Rivers, LB from USC. Easily the best LB in the draft.
11. Buffalo Bills select Brandon Albert, OG from Virginia. The Bills are simply filling some needs here.
12. Denver Broncos select Ryan Clady, OT from Boise State. A young tackle to grow with Jay Cutler here.
13. Carolina Panthers select Derrick Harvey, DE from Florida. The O-line and D-line need help in Carolina; Harvey should be a good complement to Peppers.
14. Chicago Bears select Rashard Mendenhall, RB from Illinois. The Bears offense in general is ugly. Some young blood at RB should shake things up.
15. Detroit Lions select Jeff Otah, OT from Pittsburgh. Two words: Protect Kitna!
16. Arizona Cardinals select Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB from Tennessee State. This may be another off the cuff pick but the Cards seek a game-changing playing in the secondary and think Cromartie can be that guy for them.
17. Minnesota Vikings select Phillip Merling, DE from Clemson. The Vikings need to round out their D to be a more overall competitive football team.
18. Houston Texans select Johnathan Stewart, RB from Oregon. The Texans are happy to see Stewart still around and get the RB they need.
19. Philadelphia Eagles select Deshean Jackson, WR from California. McNabb needs someone to throw to.
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers select Aqib Talib, CB from Kansas State. Another team just looking at their needs and taking the best player available.
21. Washington Redskins select Devin Thomas, WR from Michigan State. The Skins need another WR threat and Thomas can be huge for them.
22. Dallas Cowboys select Mike Jenkins, CB from South Florida. The Boys can make a number of moves here, including picking a WR but decide to get an upgrade in the secondary.
23. Pittsburgh Steelers select Gosder Cherilus, OT from Boston College. Meet Faneca's replacement.
24. Tennessee Titans select Malcolm Kelly, WR from Oklahoma. The Titans know they have to give Young someone to throw to.
25. Seattle Seahawks select Quentin Groves, LB from Auburn. A strong LB who brings a lot to the table for this Seahawks team who needs it.
26. Jacksonville Jaguars select Lawrence Jackson, DE from USC. Off-season losses force the Jags to upgrade their D.
27. San Diego Chargers select Felix Jones, RB from Texas. If LT ever had a let down Sproles won't carry the load himself.
28. Dallas Cowboys select Limas Sweed, WR from Texas. Dallas looks at their needs, and takes a WR.
29. San Francisco 49ers select Dan Conner, LB from Penn State. A nice LB upgrade here for the 49ers.
30. Green Bay Packers select Dustin Keller, TE from Purdue. Fills the void left by Bubba Franks.
31. New England Patriots forfeit pick
32. New York Giants select Jerod Mayo, LB from Tennessee. It's something the Giants need... some depth at the LB position.

UFC 83 Preview

2008-04-16T07:04:00.002-04:00

I am just 3 days away from attending my first UFC event and it's going to be a dandy.... UFC 83 in Montreal boast a very good card, not the best the UFC has ever put on but I'm certainly not complaining.

The headliner for the event is the long awaited rematch between Matt Serra and Georges St. Pierre. What a fight this is going to be, the Bell Centre will be rocking when GSP steps into the octagon that night and I don't think he will disapoint. A lot of people are saying that Serra is in GSPs head, and he is going to get the best of him once again, I don't think so. Matt Serra was the better fighter that night at UFC 69 and he won because of it, overall though GSP has such a better well rounded game and he is going to prove to the world that he is the best 170lb fighter in the world by a late 1st round TKO win over Serra. I can see St. Pierre wearing him down, and getting him hurt as the fight goes on. For St. Pierre to be successful he will have to use his range and not let get Serra to close, using the kicks will be huge for St. Pierre here, I'm looking for a finish similar to the finish St. Pierre had over Hughes the 2nd time they fought.

The co-main event should be an interesting fight. You have the Submission expert Travis Lutter taking on freestyle fighter Rich Franklin in a bout that pits 2 former title contenders agaisnt one another. These two fighters have nothing in common style wise, the only thing in common at all is they both lost to Anderson Silva (No real shame there). Franklin has always been one of my favorite fighters but unfortunatly for him I can see him getting submitted in this one. Lutter is pretty much fighting for his life here, if he loses, he's out of the UFC. It's too bad for Franklin because he still has some years left in him, just maybe not at the UFC level, or at least not as long as Silva is the Middleweight title holder. Lutter 3rd round Submission.

Nate Quarry is taking on Kalib Starnes on the main card and to be honest not much of this fight interests me. It's good to see Quarry make a comeback to the UFC after he had possible career ending surgery but this fight really does nothing for me as I don't see either of these guys as great fighters just yet. Despite not really caring who wins, I have to make a pick and I'm going to take Quarry by decision on this one.

Michael Bisping makes his debut at 185 on this card taking on Charles McCarthy. Bisping will shake things up ever so slightly at the 185 stage but don't look for him to contend for the title any time soon. (Not that he would be Anderson Silva anyway) Bisping is known for slow starts to fights and it will take some work with McCarthy but in the end Bisping will take him out in a 2nd round TKO.

Mark Bocek Vs. Mac Danzig should be an entertaining fight. I have some high hopes for Danzig as he is already really experienced coming into the UFC. Bocek should be no challenge for Danzig. It's going to be another 2nd round TKO with Danzig getting the victory.

I'm looking for Canadian Jason Macdonald to get back on his winning ways when he battles Joe Doerksen. Macdonald coming off a loss to Yushin Okami will want to prove he belongs in the UFC and I see him getting a first round submission over Doerksen.

Londoner Sam Stout returns to the Octagon to take on TUF contestant Rich Clementi. This fight, like most of Stouts, has the makings of an all out war. I have to go with Stout on this one giving him the decision victory.

To round out the rest of the night .....

Jason Day Vs. Alan Belcher. I'm giving the Decision victory to Day.

Ed Herman Vs. Demian Maia . Look for Ed out with something to prove. Herman with the 2nd round submission.

Brad Morris Vs. Cain Velasquez. A heavyweight battle here, Morris with the decision.

Kuniyoshi Hironaka Vs. Jonathan Goulet rounds out the card here and the fight is going to be a Hironaka decision win.

What a fight night this is going to be and I could not be more excited about going.

NHL Playoff update!

2008-04-14T23:49:00.003-04:00

Here we are, well into the NHL playoffs and it's been interesting so far to say the least...

First of all, I never posted my playoff picks for round one and before it get's too late I should post them now and I did in fact make these picks before the playoffs begun....

East:
Montreal in 5
Pittsburgh in 7
Washington in 6
New Jersey in 6

West:Detroit in 5
San jose in 6
Colorado in 7
Dallas in 6

(Thanks to JVZ for running our pool... he recently opened a blog at http://jvzsblog.blogspot.com/ it's about the NFL, check it out)

The East:

Out of the East I've really enjoyed the Washington/Philadelphia series so far. It has been much closer then I anticipated and has been a hard, hard hitting series. Game 2 seen Ovechkin get 0 points and end with a minus 2, that my friends is a shocker. I had high hopes from Washington and I thought Philly was going to be a total bust, but the series is still fresh and lot's can happen.

New York/New Jersey has been great too, these two teams battle every game like it's their last. As for that Sean Avery "incident" and I find it hard to call it an "incident" because it was complete bologna. First off, Sean Avery is an idiot, we all already know this and what he did was idiotic and just plain retarded, but the NHL does not need to step in and make a rule all of a sudden. What happened to his coach, or a vet on the team (Shanny, perhaps?) sitting him down and saying "Listen dude, that was retarded, don't do it again." It's just Avery being Avery and with the NHL naming a rule because of it that rule will always be known as the "Avery rule" and I'm sure he eats that right up....

Pittsburgh has made Ottawa look like they should be an ECHL team. The absence of Alfie and Fisher sure plays a huge factor for Ottawa but come on guys, 2 people don't make or break a hockey team. What about Heatley and Spezza? Complete non-factors on the ice, you can't even tell that they exist out there and the overall lacklustre effort from Ottawa at times is just sad. This is sure signs of a team that has pretty much wiped their hands clean of this season and wants to start fresh again next year. With some good moves in the off-season, Ottawa will be good next year again and for their sake, won't colapse again. For something more positive, the play of the young Penguins forwards has been amazing. Crosby was a total nothing for game one, but game 2 and 3 he stepped up his game... and unless you've been hiding under a rock, you know Malkins play has been nothing short of remarkable.

On to the Habs and the B's.... Montreal going in had won the season series 8-0 vs. Boston and it looked like a sure fire series win for the Habs. But to me, being a Habs fan, it really looks like Montreal has taken them lightly in the last 2 games and to be honest they should be down in this series 2-1 rather then up. The call in OT that Kovy scored on was a complete garbage call and I'll be the first to admit it. The game 3 loss for Montreal was just what the Habs needed, a swift kick in the ass saying "Wake up boys, this is the playoffs." I'm looking forward to Montreal coming out and proving to everyone why they were the top seed in the East.

Things out West are quite intense and interesting to say the very least...

Detroit, who I thought would completely dominate Nashville hasn't quite done that. They are up in the series 2-1 after tonight, but they have had all the bounces go their way. I'm not going to be surprised if the Wings take a 2nd round exit this year after they meet up with a more skilled team next round. The Wings are good, but they should be dominating Nashville and just aren't.

San Jose and Calgary.... in regards to game 3.... OWEN NOLAN WOW! This guy still has it! Completing that amazing comeback by the Flames in game 3 was sensational and Calgary has all the momentum on their side going into a huge game 4. How about those Sharks though? They were so amazing down the stretch, but here comes the playoffs and here comes the fall of the Sharks. Joey T can't put the puck in the net if his life depended on it and he isn't getting a ton of support other then Nabby playing his heart out in the net.... On the Flames side of things... do we have a GOALIE CONTROVERSY? I doubt it, Kipper had one bad game and Cujo did what he was suppose to. I will be completely shocked if Kipper isn't starting game 4.

The Avs are in tough against the Wild. The Wild going into the playoffs I believed were a big underdog team that was going to make a good run. As soon as I seen they were playing Colorado, my mind changed. I think the Avs are out for revenge from their previous playoff meeting where the Wild came back from a 3-1 series deficit to win. The only thing that is going to let Colorado down is Theodore playing inconsistent, which is a HUGE possibility. For the Wild, they will be back next year, but they won't win the cup while ever having a line of Fedoruk/Simon/Boogarrd.... that's just ridiculous.

Here came’s my time to boast a little about my picks because I have been saying for a while that the Ducks are not who they used to be, they aren't the same team as last year. Even though a lot of the players are the same, their style of play has changed and they overall are just not as good a team that everyone thinks they are. This is all being proved true in this first round series. My blame for this: Brian Burke.... no matter what he says to the media, he is going to be the GM of the Leafs next year, and it's a distraction for the Ducks. Let's not take any credit away from the Stars who have been getting battered and beaten all over the ice by the Ducks and have just kept truckin'.

Overall this playoffs has been full of surprises, but what playoffs isn't right? It just wouldn't be the same if it wasn't for controversy and drama and underdog heroics in the playoffs. It's why we all love them and why I love this time of year best.

I Can't Quit You, Baby!

2008-04-01T15:10:00.004-04:00

***I haven't wrote in a while, I am currently in a Hockey Blog Contest at www.hockeybuzz.com so be sure to check it out and vote for me***

Over the past week or so there has been a lot of differing opinions on Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo leaving the team to go be with his wife, in Florida, for the birth of his child.

The two sides to the story are obviously, one, he should have stayed with the team, that's his job that he gets paid for. And two, he made the right choice, family comes first.

I have to go with the latter on this one, Luongo made the right choice by going to the birth of his child.

I actually find this issue quite frustrating and hard to put into words because we are talking about a guy playing a sport, leaving for the birth of his child. I don't see how anyone can be selfish enough to say that he did the wrong thing. Sure, his team is in a battle to make it into the playoffs, and yes he is arguably the best goalie in the NHL, but give me a break, family comes first and anyone that doesn't think so either doesn't have a family or doesn't have a heart.

I heard someone voicing their opinion on the issue, saying that he should pay the team back in salary he recieved for time missed. That's ridiculous, this man has paid his dues, worked his ass off and has done everything possible to get to where he is in the NHL today. He has earned his way to where he is today, and should not be denied the right to see the birth of his child.

It simply comes down to the fact that family trumps sports, any day of the week.

Russian Warfare with a Canadian Twist

2008-03-23T22:55:00.001-04:00

With the prolonged absence of Sid the Kid this season, we have had the two other brightest prospects in the NHL step it up and take over this year, and yeah, both are Russian.

Of course I'm talking about Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin.

I find it just amazing that these two have taken over the way they have. Both have a 10 or more point lead on 3rd place in the scoring race (at this point). And both are undoubtedly the leaders of their teams right now and truly are in a league of their own. When both of these guys step on the ice, you're guaranteed nothing short of magic, and they surely deliver.

Without a doubt in my mind, these two are the front runners for the race of MVP honours this season, I'm giving Martin Brodeur the 3rd nod for the ballot and you'll see why later.

The Hart trophy is given to the MVP of the league, the one who contributes the most to his teams success. Keeping that in mind let’s look at my nominees....

A-O, Ally-Oh, Alex the Great. No matter what way you say his name, he's going to put the puck in the net. The Capitals forward is taking down oppositions one shot at a time and what makes him so special is he has done it without a lot of help. The loss of Nylander hurts, so does playing a chunk of the season without Alexander Semin, but Ovechkin still puts up big numbers, proving that he can in fact do this by himself. He has made youngster Nicklas Backstrom into a threat and overall he makes the players around him that much better. This is what makes Ovechkin such a great player, he gets it done, even when he has little support. The knock on Ovechkin, however, comes with the fact that he is currently not playing on a team that is in the playoffs. The Capitals are fighting for their playoff lives, and when it comes to hockey, team success is what matters most, not individual accomplishment. The MVP winner, as in description, is awarded to the player who brings the most to his team. As much as Ovechkin is the odds-on favourite to finish the season with the Art Ross and the Maurice Richard trophies, it might make it tougher for Ovechkin to make a case for the Hart if he doesn't play a playoff game.

The Russian in the Igloo...Evgeni Malkin. Like Ovechkin, Malkin has something that sticks out about him that makes him so amazing. When he was given the opportunity, he was able to step out of the shadow of Sidney Crosby and keep this Penguins team as a solid playoff contender. I'm not ready to say 'Sidney Who?' yet. The rise of Evgeni Malkin is something to be marvelled at. It's hard to say that there's a knock against Malkin, but if there is one, it would be that he has a better team around him. Sykora, Gonchar, Malone and Whitney have all had solid campaigns and let's not forget Marian Hossa, even though he hasn't been there for too long. The rise of Evgeni Malkin is what puts him in contention for the Hart trophy this season, and his team is currently in the playoffs, and look like a very safe bet to make it as they currently lead their division.

Now, I mentioned before my 3rd runner on the ballot for the Hart.... Ol' faithful Martin Brodeur. What can you say about this guy that hasn't already been said? He IS the New Jersey Devils. I am not trying to knock any Devils players here but without Marty in net, there is no way this team is at the top of the East. He instantly makes any team he plays on a contender and is in any debate for "greatest goalie ever". With Brodeur you take the positives of Ovechkin, being able to get it done on a team with little help, and the best of Malkin, leading a team that is in a great playoff spot.

All three of these guys make strong cases, but you ask, who’s going to win the Hart? Easy- Alexander Ovechkin. And I know I’m going back on what I am saying but he will win it even if the Capitals don’t make the playoffs. Why? Because he is the most marketable player out of the bunch. Brodeur is a solidified vet now, and has been for some time and the NHL doesn’t have a lot to gain off of him right now. Malkin will do nothing but draw non-stop comparisons to Crosby while playing in Pittsburgh, so until he is out of that town, it’s going to be tough to market him as a Penguin.

When it comes down to it, you can’t forget the NHL is a business, and that goes all the way to who wins what award. Ovechkin will win it and good for him. A 60+ goal season and a 100+ point season is quite a feat, and if the Capitals do make it to the post-season, it will be that much more special.

Western Horse Races

2008-03-11T23:19:00.003-04:00

HOLD ON... before you close this window because you think this is a horse racing article... it's not... it's about the NHL......We are now at the point where there is about 9-11 games left for teams to play and the Western Conference is shaping up to be a close battle for the final playoff spot.

Basically in the West there is one team on the bubble right now, Nashville, who sits 2 points out of 8th. Phoenix, Chicago, and Columbus sit 10th through 12th respectively, all sitting at 73 points, 7 out of the playoffs. With that said it's justified on why I said that Nashville is the only team with a shot at the playoffs that currently isn't in right now. But for argument sake, let's take a look at these three other teams.

The Coyotes are on my short list for biggest surprise team of the year. This team had zero expectations going into the year, and many thought Wayne wouldn't last too much longer behind the bench. With help from Shane Doan, who has had an amazing year registering 65 points thus far, and the waiver pickup of Ilya Bryzgalov have been the two main positive points for the Yoats this year. The play of Peter Mueller is showing that he is an NHL star in the making and Radim Vrbata has played way above what his expectations are. Unfortunately for the Coyotes though, they will fall short of the playoffs this year, which might take Gretzky out of the race for the Jack Adams. This seems like a team on the rise, and I will not be surprised to see them in the playoffs next season.

Another young team that is just on the outside looking in is the Chicago Blackhawks. You have to look at injuries as the main reason why this team wasn't able to put up better numbers this year. The play of Pat Kane and John Toews has been nothing short of amazing this season, these two rookies have taken the NHL by storm, and if not for an injury I have no doubt Toews would have been the leading candidate for the Calder, instead, his teammate Kane looks to be in the running, and may even be the front runner. The only question with this young Hawks team is in goal. They haven't been able to get consistent play from either Khabibulin or Patty Lalime, where both have showed glimpses of brilliance, neither of them really is a solidified #1 goalie right now. Look for this Hawks team, if healthy, to make a big rumbling next year.

The Blue Jackets all but threw in the towel at trade deadline this season. It seemed Columbus was the front-runner to land Brad Richards and when they didn't, they sold the house. There is no doubt this team has a solid future, unfortunately for them the future isn't now. There is only one name that you need to describe this team, and that's Rick Nash. If Nash has a solid supporting crew like he does right now with Zherdev alone, the sky is the limit for him. The Jackets have a TON of cap room this off season, and without a doubt they should target a top 6 forward and a top line defenseman. I wouldn't be surprised to see offers sent out to Markus Naslund or Brian Campbell.

It seems that the three teams tied at 73 points right now are all teams in the waiting. Without a doubt they are some of the strongest young three teams in the NHL right now, and they are only going to get better.

Now, let's not forget about the actual playoff race itself. Nashville is just 2 points out with 11 games to play. Vancouver has 2 games in hand, which will be key when they come; they are instant must-wins for Vancouver if they want to hold onto their playoff spot. I think Vancouver will keep that final playoff spot too. There is one name I have to mention, Roberto Luongo. He hasn't had the most amazing of years, but he IS this team. Without Robby Lu, Vancouver isn't even the hunt for the playoffs. To end the year Vancouver, on paper has the easier schedule if you are comparing the records of their opponents. I don't think Vancouver will make a deep cup run by any means unless Luongo somehow steps his game to another level.

Here is how I see the West shaking down come 2nd week of April....

1. Detroit Red Wings
2. Dallas Stars
3. Colorado Avalanche
4. San Jose Sharks
5. Calgary Flames
6. Anaheim Ducks
7. Vancouver Canucks
8. Minnesota Wild

Well there are my West predictions, let's see how everything turns out. It's one of my favourite times of the year and I love checking the standings every day and seeing who's in, who's out, who's got a shot, and every single playoff scenario possible.

The Mad Dash! East style...

2008-03-08T00:09:00.005-05:00

The NHL regular season is winding down in what seems like a season that has flashed by our eyes. (The season never seems long enough does it?) And there is still much to be decided on who will make the big dance and who will be left without a date....Yeah, I'm taking about the chance to win hockey's Holy Grail... Lord Stanleys Cup.

Today I’m going to take a look at the East...

With the majority of teams having only 12-15 games left, every minute of every game now means something for those teams that are on the bubble of making it to the Playoffs. In the Eastern Conference teams that can make it span down all the way to the 13th spot, even the 14th spot if you really want to stretch it.

In 14th spot is the Atlanta Thrashers sitting at 67 points, currently 9 points out of 8th...Do the Thrashers have a shot? Sure, they do. Is it realistic? No, not for a team who dealt one of its best players in fear of him resigning elsewhere in the off-season. The Thrashers future however looks pretty good; acquiring Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, prospect Angelo Esposito and a 1st round pick all for Marian Hossa! I look for the Thrashers to make it into the post-season down the road, this year it's not going to happen.

The Florida Panthers are the 13th place team as of right now, sitting at 70 points, tied with the Leafs. The Panthers are only 6 points out but only have 12 games left, that’s a possible 24 points and the chances of the Panthers winning all of them? Not so good. If the Cats want to make it in the 4 games left with Atlanta will be vital, and you know Atlanta will want to play spoiler. I would say the Panthers luck out with only 4 road games out of those 12, but they are a .500 team at home, and a .500 team on the road so the significance isn't large at all. I don't see the Panthers making it in this year.

12th place right now is the Toronto Maple Leafs, tied in points with Florida at 70. There is 13 games left for the Leafs, and I have to admit, even as a Habs fan, the Leafs are playing some great hockey in this playoff push. I have to give them Kudos for that. The Leafs have 7 home games remaining out of the 13, and the teams the Leafs play all currently hold playoff positions except two. A Home and Home with Philadelphia next week will prove vital for the Leafs as those Flyers are currently the 8th place holders. Going towards the end of the season the Leafs meet the Habs two times in the final two weeks, and you know Montreal still has it in their minds that their playoff hopes were crushed by the Leafs last season and they could be looking for revenge. I see the Leafs jumping up a few positions in the standing to a 10th or 9th place finish, but sorry Leaf fans; I just still see them on the outside still.

In 11th place is the New York Islanders with 71 points. I am calling the Islanders to not make the playoffs, and they can look back to a March 6th game, in a 4-1 loss to the Rangers where coach Ted Nolan opted to go with Wade Dubielewicz in goal instead of franchise goalie Rick DiPietro. Sure, Dubie was undefeated against the Blue-Shirts going in, but this is your franchise goalie you're benching here, the man you locked up under contract for the rest of his NHL career! An impressive, over-achieving season for the Islanders, who which I expected very, very little from them, but not impressive enough to make the playoffs.

The 10th place team is the Washington Capitals at 72 points, but the Capitals aren't looking at 8th place right now, they are looking at taking over the division lead and finishing 3rd. Carolina currently holds down that 3rd spot with 77 points, a 5 point cushion on the Caps. I see the Capitals prevailing along the stretch and taking that division lead, but I also see Carolina making the playoffs and I will get to that later. First with the Caps, acquiring goalie Cristobol Huet from the Canadiens at the trade deadline was key. It gives them a solid go-to guy in net who will give you a chance to win as long as you give him some scoring support; this is where Alexander Ovechkin comes in, the current NHL scoring leader should provide enough scoring himself to power the Caps to a playoff spot. My 3rd place team this year in the East... the Washington Capitals.

Currently in 9th, and just on the outside looking in is the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres are 3 points out of the playoffs and are playing some good hockey right now. Unfortunately for the Sabres, it might be too little too late, they have a tough schedule coming up facing many teams that currently have a playoff spot, and a surging Leafs team. Things won't be easy for the Sabres and I see them missing the playoffs this season, but look for them next year; If goalie Ryan Miller plays to his full potential, and the Sabres are able to land a solid free-agent or two in the off-season, they could be back with vengeance.

The 8th place team right now is as I mentioned, the Philadelphia Flyers. I just don't see this Flyers team making it in, too many injuries, inconsistent goaltending and an overall just lack-lustre effort given by this team. They have been too beat up all season, and it's too bad because they had a very good team going in. If Simon Gagne was able to play the entire season things I am sure would be different for the Flyers.

If you were paying attention, you will have noticed that I said I would get to the Hurricanes... this is where they come in. My 8th place team, sneaking in the back door is the Carolina Hurricanes. I think they will lose their division lead, but not because of bad play and lot's of losses, but because they are competing with a better Capitals here. Carolina is playing some good hockey and a lot will rest on the shoulders of goalie Cam Ward.

So here is how I have the overall Eastern Conference shaking down:

1-New Jersey Devils
2-Ottawa Senators
3-Washington Capitals
4-Pittsburgh Penguins
5-Montreal Canadiens
6-New York Rangers
7-Boston Bruins
8-Carolina Hurricanes

There you have it folks, what I think the East will end up looking like after each team completes their 82 games this season....Stay tuned for my Western Conference rundown to come.

So Long Brett Farve

2008-03-04T13:34:00.002-05:00

News broke today that Brett Farve has decided to retire from the NFL, bringing the end of a career to a football legend.

Farve finished his career passing for a total of 61,655 and throwing 442 touchdowns, both NFL records. Farve is easily in the top 3 of any greatest QB of all time, and in my mind he left on top. After he had a couple, un-Brett like seasons, this year was just magical for Farve and the Packers. He led them to a NFC championship playoff birth, and despite falling short of the Super Bowl, this team had so little expectations this season.

Farve will go down as nothing less then a legend in the football world, and it sucks to see him go.

UFC 82....

2008-03-02T19:09:00.003-05:00

Who can beat Anderson Silva?? This guy is incredible, taking out Dan Henderson in the 2nd round. Silva is in a league of his own, and in my mind the top Pound for Pound fighter in all the UFC. What's next for Silva? I would have to say a move in weight divisions, there is no one left at 185 that could challenge Silva for his belt, Hendo was that last who could, why not throw Silva in the heap of fighters at 205? It would be interesting to see him fight the likes of Chuck, Rampage, Shogun, V. Silva etc.... Another option for Silva would be to drop down in weight perhaps and be in the pile of great fighters at 170. The ultimate MMA fight for me right now would be Georges St. Pierre vs Anderson Silva, the two best fighters in MMA right now.

Dan Henderson is a a situation where he has to decide what's next for him....most likely I think you will see him fight at 205 next because he has publically stated that's where he is most happiest fighting but who knows because retirement couldn't be out of the question for Hendo.

Taking a look at the other fights on the 82 card I felt it was an alright card.... I wasn't impressed with Cheick Kongo vs Heath Hearring, I felt the decision should have went Kongos way but I won't lose any sleep over it, it was a good fight.

After seeing Jon Fitch fight again, I don't think he is ready for a title shot, he didn't look good at all and I think he is in need of a few more tune up fights before he faces the winner of St. Pierre/Serra... my pick for a title shot is Karo as long as he beats Alves at the next fight night.

I was happy to see Okami and Leben both with, Leben's fight along with Kos's fight were the fights of the night. Okami could very well be the next person to fight for the 185 title, but as long as Anderson Silva has that title, it will be a lost cause.

I think the way the UFC treated Arlovski was gross, not granting him a post fight interview after he won. I have little doubt that Arlovski will be fighting in M1/Dream or EliteXC by years end.

The biggest joke of the night came when it was announced Mark Coleman is going to fight Brock Lesnar in August.... I can't help but laugh at this, Mark Coleman is toooo old for this, give it up before you become Ken Shamrock, it's embarassing. This is not at all a test for Brock, if he somehow loses this, that should be the end of his ultimate fighting career and he should go back to pro-wrestling.

Up next is an awesome UFC Fight Night card, with Joe Lauzon vs Kenny Florian as the headliner, should be interesting. After that is UFC 83, where I get to attend my first ever UFC event.

Numbero Uno...

2008-03-02T09:44:00.003-05:00

It has been 20 years but the Montreal Canadiens are finally first in the Eastern Confrence! Even though it might be short lived, and they may not be first in the East ever again this season, it still feels good knowing for the time being, you are on top.

With 16 games to go, I am just hoping that the Habs can keep up their recent trends and just keep on winning. It looks like dealing Huet and keeping Price is going to work out alright, for now at least. These last 3 wins after the trade deadline were a statement for Carey Price, showing that he is going to be able to handle the load after he out dueled both Ryan Miller and most importantly, Martin Brodeur. Way to go Carey.

Here's to hoping the winning ways continue for my Habs and they keep on rolling right into the post season.

NHL Trade Deadline Recap!

2008-02-26T13:40:00.003-05:00

Trade Deadline in the NHL has come and gone with some big names moving around in a total of 23 deals. I'll sift through the big deals:

Buffalo trades Defenseman Brian Campbell and a 7th round pick for Forward Steve Bernier and a 1st round pick. Buffalo was clearly scared here of Campbell walking away as a UFA in the off-season here and they got some good value for him. Steve Bernier is a solid forward with a lot of upside and a promising future and a first round pick. Whatever that pick turns into will be the overall tell-tale sign on who wins this trade, but as for now the winner is San Jose. The Sharks get the super-stud D-man that they really wanted and it puts them up there as favourites to come out of the West. If they can sign him before July 1st it will be huge.

The next big trade was out of Tampa. The Lightning dealt Forward Brad Richards and Goalie Johan Holmqvist to the Dallas Stars for Goalie Mike Smith, Forward Jussi Jokinen, Forward Jeff Halpern and a 4th round pick. What a deal for the Stars here. They get an amazing play in Richards and a decent back up goalie in Holmqvist. This easily makes the Stars so much more potent in the West, not to mention the Stars have been playing some amazing hockey lately. The Lightning get rid of a lot of tied up salary and get a goalie who could come very well turn into a solid #1 in Tampa. They also gain shootout superstar Jussi Jokinen and vet Jeff Halpern in the trade, two players that are going to be solid players every game. Overall the winner here is without a doubt the Dallas Stars, who in my mind stole Richards.

Then there was the trade that blew my mind. Montreal deals Goalie Christobal Huet to Washington for a 2009 2nd round draft pick. I could not be more frustrated as a Habs fan about this. Why trade your veteran goalie for a 2nd round draft pick? It makes no sense to me, especially when Montreal makes no other moves on the day. I guess Montreal were sellers while sitting in 5th in the East, my mind is baffled about this. I hope Bob Gainey has a really good explanation.

The Blue Jackets were sellers on trade deadline day. They moved Defenseman Adam Foote to Colorado for a conditional 1st rounder and a 4th rounder. Talk about a reunion in Colorado, bringing back Forsberg and now Foote. Foote should provide some veteran presence in the dressing room for Colorado, although looking into the future the moves Colorado made this deadline don't look too good. The Jackets also dealt Forward Sergei Fedorov to the Capitals for NCAA prospect Ted Ruth. Fedorov could put up some great points with Ovechkin as the Caps are going to the Russian connection here.

There was a long wait between trades, then with 2 minutes to go before the deadline we Don Waddell finally made his deal. Atlanta sends Forwards Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis to Pittsburgh for Prospect Angelo Esposito, Forward Colby Armstrong, Forward Eric Christensen and a First round draft pick. It was the trade we were all waiting for, Marian Hossa and despite all the rumours of him going to Montreal or Ottawa, the Penguins come in with a late offer that blows it out of the water. The Penguins totally overpaid here, giving up one of their best prospects, ok that is alright when you have Crosby and Malkin on your roster, but then giving up Armstrong, Christensen and a First Rounder, that's just insane. It is no wonder Hossa didn't go to Montreal or Ottawa, I certainly wouldn't want to give up that much for a player that isn't guaranteed to resign. Pittsburgh also faces a huge problem with salaries if they want to resign Hossa. Crosby, Malkin and Hossa....that's going to sound a lot like Lecavilier, St. Louis and Richards....and despite possibly working short-term, it certainly won't work long term.
And because of were I live there is a lot of talk around the Toronto Maple Leafs. Today, I give credit to Cliff Fletcher, he did the best he could with what he had. Getting a 2nd, a 3rd and two 5th rounder’s, while getting rid of the salaries of Hal Gill, Chad Kilger and Wade Belak. Those 3 don't make a ton of money but when you have the cap space of the Leafs any little bit counts.

The big winners of the day in the west are without a doubt the San Jose Sharks and the Dallas Stars, getting Brian Campbell and Brad Richards respectively. Out of the East, the Penguins are the clear short-term winners here by winning the Marian Hossa sweepstakes.

However, ponder this. The most recent of Stanley Cup winners haven't made big moves at the deadline, only small depth moves. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues of if it really will put some of these teams over the top.

The Return of Foppa

2008-02-25T17:26:00.002-05:00

Peter Forsberg is coming back to the NHL. He signed a 1 year contract to play out the rest of this year with his former club the Colorado Avalanche.

This is quite a surprising move as last week it was reported that Forsberg was not going to make a return to the NHL this season, stating that his injuries were too much to overcome. I also find it really surprising that Forsberg is going back to Colorado, I thought that if anyone it would have been with the Flyers.

This could be the move that starts the domino effect for other trades and moves to happen before Tuesday’s deadline. Usually it only takes one move of a high-profile player for everyone else to make a reactionary move to counter it. Personally, I don’t see Forsberg being that big of an impact player for the Avs. Since when has a one-legged old man been a key guy to get? I have always been a big Forsberg fan but I think he is over the hill; he hasn't played at this level of competition of a long time. The Avalanche currently sit 4 points out of a playoff spot at this point of time and getting Forsberg could help their chances, more importantly for the Avs right now though is they just got Sakic, Stastny and Smyth back, with those 3 alone I think they will make it in.

I wish Forsberg the best of luck in his return but I don't see it ending well.

Sundin says: NO...now what?

2008-02-25T15:53:00.002-05:00

Unless you have been in hiding from the sports world, you know that Mats Sundin is not going to waive his no-trade clause this season. He will follow his heart and remain a Toronto Maple Leaf. On one hand, great for Mats for following his heart and staying where he wants to. On the other hand, he could have helped re-vive this failing franchise by getting back many young assets for his services. It's been the same old song and dance with Sundin for the last month or more and I am sure many are relieved about his decision, and many are upset at it as well, who knows what backlash from the fans, if any Sundin will see.... I don't expect any.

The focus for the Leafs is still the future, they need to improve upon it and the focus shifts away from Sundin and towards other possible moves that. Unfortunately for the Leafs, JFJ is the one who backed them into this corner by allowing all of the better assets on the Leafs to have no-trade clauses, thus the players controlling their own future. At this point, Sundin, Kaberle and Tucker all declined the chance to waive their NTC's. Bryan McCabe said he would entertain the idea, but he remains adamant that he doesn't want to leave Toronto but he would at least consider it. With all these players wanting to stay in Toronto what does that leave them to do?

Well, I hate to break it to you but, there isn't a whole lot they can do now to try and improve the future of the team. They could try to deal Nik Antropov... you could get a prospect or a decent draft pick for him. He would be a big body to put in front of the net for any team. He's got decent hands but by far his biggest asset is his size which a lot of teams could use. But after Antropov there is a serious lack of interest in most Leaf players.

The reality for the Leafs is they are going to have to roll with what they have. They have some good prospects with the most promising looking to be young goalie Justin Pogge, develop these prospects and hope for the best. This year they will still have a decent team, even though they are 2nd last in the East they still have a competitive team, which means unless they purposely tank the rest of the season and finish last, they are going to win some games, and probably move up a few positions in the East and miss out on a top 7 pick in the draft. They won't get a Doughty or a Stamkos, which is what they really need. It has to be a day of mixed emotions for many Toronto fans.

(Trade Deadline is approx. 23 hours away and I'm looking forward to it still even with no Sundin bidding war. Marian Hossa, Brad Richards and Vinny Prospal all look likely to move, it should be good)

Forsberg Decides!

2008-02-18T20:38:00.002-05:00

It is reported that Peter Forsberg has decided to NOT come back to the NHL this season. This is where you say... "So what?" But this decision may have a bigger impact on teams making trades then what you might think.

It is rumoured that Philadelphia was the front runner in the Forsberg sweepstakes... others interested were said to be Chicago, Anaheim, and Vancouver just to name a few. This now puts these teams and several others that were prepared to drop a large amount of cash on Forsberg in the situation that they now have a lot of money to spend elsewhere.

This should also break the log-jam of teams who were on the verge of making trades. A lot of trades were expected to be reactionary upon where Foppa went. Now that he is not going anywhere that could possibly be the push teams need to make a big splash as they try to get a leg up on other teams going into the stretch run to the playoffs.

The big effect of Forsberg not coming to the NHL this season is that the price of a top line forward or stud defenseman just went through the roof. There will now be more teams targeting these players, thus their market values will rise.

The "big name" players being thrown around in trade rumours become much more sought after and very well could be the missing link for a team with room.

The teams that should be the biggest buyers in the West are: Detroit, a team that has been struggling of late after dominating the NHL early on. Anaheim, you know Brian Burke is going to be open to land that big name guy to bolster an already impressive roster. San Jose, Dallas, Calgary and Vancouver could all be buyers in the West as well with all of them looking to only be one big name guy away from being contenders.

Looking at the east, there is some room for teams to make a big trade including Ottawa, Montreal and New Jersey who all sit in a tie for 1st in the Eastern conference. What better way to get a leg up on everyone else than a big trade. Let's not forget teams like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and the Rangers who could all be buyers looking to become contenders in the East.

It should be interesting as to what transpires the next couple of days in the NHL as the GMs continue their meetings in Florida.

-Trent

Random Rumblings around the sports world...

2008-02-15T17:11:00.002-05:00

It's the Daytona 500 this weekend. It's going to be interesting as there is a whole new look to NASCAR this season. Dale Jr. has looked dominant, winning both the Bud Shootout and the Gatorade Duel race. The big difference for Jr? He's driving a Hendrick racecar. Toyotas look to have caught up to the racing curve, maybe they are even ahead of the Fords and Dodges. Stewart and Hamlin have both looked good in their Toyotas. (Let's not forget Ol' Michael Waltrip and his Toyota too)It will be interesting to see if fans of these guys are going to accept the fact that they drive a Toyota. My pick for the winner... Dale Earnhardt Jr. He's my favorite driver, I hate him for going to Hendrick, but he's going to be dominant which I can't complain about.

I am not a fan of U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter. This guy is wasting the United States money and time over the NFL's spygate issues. I hate when sports get involved into legal scrambles like this, I think it is sad for sports, and sad for the people in the country who's hard earned tax dollars are going towards something that is not going to change anyones lives. Tell me how affected you will be if the NFL faces harsh penalties for destroying spy gate tapes?.... Exactly. The Patriots cheated, they got punished. It looks like they cheated even more in the past, how about punish them more? Seems right to me. (See blog post a couple below for how I feel about the Clemens/McNamee issue turning legal.)

The Miami Dolphins have an empty roster. Bill Parcells has really cleaned house in Miami, chopping up all the fish and sending them packing. The latest Parcells victim is 7 time Pro-Bowl Zach Thomas, he most certainly will be picked up by any team, but I don't expect to see him in the league for too much longer. I have to say, kudos to Parcells, he said he was going to clean house and make this team his own, and he certainly has done that, let's just see if he can be successful.

It's NBA All-star weekend! And I have to be honest, I really don't care. The game is worth nothing, and as cool as it is seeing all the best players on the court at the same time, I don't get excited. I like the Slam-Dunk competition and all the creativity that comes with it, but the game itself is typically a wash. Here's to looking forward to the race for the playoffs and the blockbuster deals that seem on the verge of happening

Kelvin Sampson is under a microscope. The men's basketball coach at Indiana University is being investigated into alligations of making over 100 recruiting calls without permission. I don't if what he did really affected the outcome of any games or seasons and I don't know why the Athletic Director of Indiana is doing the investigation as the calls were apparently made during Sampson's time at Oaklahoma. If he is guilty though, I think they have to fire him, and his NCAA coaching career is over. They have to keep the integrity of the sport in tact, especially in the NCAA.

NHL Notes

The NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is going under oath in a congressional hearing about steroids on behalf of the NHL. You know I hate this...and please Gary, don't screw this up for the NHL.

The Maple Leafs HAVE hit rock bottom, no more almost rock bottom, no more maybe make the playoffs. Leaf fans, you are last in the East and 2nd last in the entire NHL (I know, just for now) but that IS rock bottom. We all know the Sundin issue in Toronto, so for the sake of Leaf fans, take the trade Mats, because the fans will turn on you.

Trade Deadline is 11 days away, i'll give you some early predictions on some rumours....
-Sundin will still be a Leaf...as will Tucker, Kaberle, Mccabe and Blake.
-Hossa will be on a team that is contending.
-Forsberg will be a ..... Flyer.
-Jeff Carter will be moved (to make room for Foppa).
-A superstar player will be moved that isn't expected and will surprise a lot of people.
(Remember these are just predictions, not rumours)

-Trent

Sens, Canes swap a pair

2008-02-11T23:16:00.000-05:00

Trent here....

The first big trade has dropped in the NHL and it was the Ottawa Senators sending Patrick Eaves and Joe Corvo to Carolina for Hurricanes forward Cory Stillman and defenseman Mike Commodore.

The Forwards
Quite a trade here as I think Ottawa has made their roster much better, especially with the addition of Stillman, this guy playing in Ottawa should excel even more then what he is in Carolina. Ottawa is giving up a good future in Eaves but who needs future when you have the big 3 of Heatley, Alfie and Spezza locked up? It is obvious the Sens are putting all of their eggs in one basket this year and are going for a cup run. Stillman will be more beneficial in the stretch run in comparison to Eaves and that's what Ottawa was looking for here.

The Defensemen
Joe Corvo is a loss for Ottawa, he is a very solid defensemen for them but it will be interesting to see if he puts up the same number on a lesser talented Hurricane team. Commodore will step in and be a great shut down defensemen for the Sens, which will be key come playoff time. I think the Canes benefit more here in the defensive aspect of this trade but Ottawa can afford to give up the offensive touch of Corvo with the forwards they have.

Stillman and Commodore are both cup winners from Carolina and both are rent-a-players for Ottawa as both guys are also UFAs after this season. That is why it is another good move for Ottawa; it clears up some cap space for Ottawa to make another move...a goalie perhaps? I still think that Goaltending is an issue in Ottawa; you can't trust Gerber or Emery at this point.

This should be a starting point for teams in the hunt like Montreal, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New Jersey to make a move to try and counter Ottawa now. This has solidified the Sens as the favourites in the East if somehow they already weren't.

Here they come down the backstretch...

2008-02-10T15:20:00.000-05:00

Saturday Night the Bud Shootout marked the beginning of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season; and for NASCAR fans a dandy of a season it should be....

There is already a re-fuelled, feud with Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch getting into it on and off the track. After some un-wanted bumping on the track between the two, they got into it on pit road and in the garage with Stewart allegedly punching Busch. The two were warned to stay away from each other during the Bud Shootout....and oh yeah, this whole altercation went down during PRACTICE!

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Bud Shootout in his new Hendrick owned #88 car. It was an exciting race with Earnhardt Jr. taking the win with a little help from Jimmie Johnson to push him past Tony Stewart for the win. The one thing that I found pretty interesting in this race was that Stewart was able to stay at the front for most of the race and be competitive with no help from his teammates, and he was driving a Toyota... just something to ponder there.

There should be a lot of answers to some popular questions this season... Will the COT (Car of Tomorrow) be successful and not change the complex of racing?... How well will the Toyotas do?(The have some better drivers in the Toyotas now like Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin as part of Joe Gibbs racing) How will 3 of the most powerful drivers (Johnson, Gordon, Earnhardt Jr.) do all under the same racing team? It could be either one of the most successful seasons ever or it could be a constant power struggle.

The big surprise of the weekend is that Michael Waltrip is going to be on the front row of the Daytona 500 as he qualified 2nd to Jimmie Johnson. Good for Michael as he always seems to do well at Daytona.... that is until they find rocket fuel in his car. It should be a good season and I'm looking forward to it.

-Trent

Time for a move in Montreal

2008-02-10T11:33:00.000-05:00

Trent here...

After a 6-1 thrashing at the hands of the Ottawa Senators the Canadiens have now lost their last 3 out of their last 4. It was this point last season when the Habs started to slip and eventually fell all the way out of the playoffs. Hopefully, given Montreal's lacklustre second half performances in the past years, and this recent slump, it will be enough encouragement for Bob Gainey to make a move to shake things up in the locker room.

What's needed in Montreal:

Scoring depth- The 2nd line of Plekanec/Kovalev/A. Kostitsyn is the only consistent line Montreal really has, any scoring after that is pretty sparse. Koivu is way too streaky, but when he's on, he's on, and typically puts up some good numbers; It's just a matter of getting him going. Once Koivu starts along, Higgins and Ryder should each heat up as well. Higgins has had a good year thus far with definite room for improvement, especially playing on the top line, he should have more then 34 points. Ryder is a story all on his own, he's shown he can be a great player but only has 18 points so far this year while even having some time in the press box as a healthy scratch. After these top 2 lines scoring is a real stretch, Latendresse, S. Kostitsyn have each had their moments, but both lack consistency as they are still each pretty young.

Moving Ryder and a draft pick/prospects for a top 6 forward would be ideal. But, I think it would be just as beneficial to go after more depth players for the stretch drive, players like Chris Gratton, Jason Chimera or a Ladislav Nagy come to mind. (These are just personal suggestions, not real rumours.)

Along with scoring depth the next thing Montreal needs help with is, Toughness.

I credit the Canadiens players as they always stick up for one another and pretty much no one is hesitant to drop the mitts and go, but with that said, it's not good having your top players fight, and miss at least 5 minutes of a game. Montreal doesn't have a solidified 'tough guy', Tom Kostopolous brings some grittiness to the table but he's not someone I put my money on when fighting the likes of Laraque, Boogarrd or Brashear. Montreal needs a guy to step up for the other players and to send a message to the other teams that you can't push us around without retribution.

It would be nice to see Montreal land the likes of Ian Laperriere, who has been known to drop the gloves with anyone, or a Jared Boll, who leads the league in Fighting Majors with 19 and is able to handle himself with the heavies in the NHL. (Again, these are not rumours, just my opinions)

As a Habs fan, I hope the recent slip up will be enough for Montreal to make a move of any kind, just to shake things up and bring in some new faces. I think they need a change and they are going to need the help to stay competitive for the rest of the year and to make a stretch run in the playoffs.

Clemens vs McNamee

2008-02-07T22:12:00.000-05:00

The United States economy is falling, their dollar is weak and they are slipping into recession.
There is also a war that the United States is currently fighting in, costing millions upon millions of dollars a day, and it's a war situation that isn't improving at all....

SO WHY THE HELL IS ALL THIS TIME AND MONEY SPENT BY THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT ON ROGER CLEMENS AND BRIAN MCNAMEE ON TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IF HE TOOK STEROIDS OR NOT?!

This is one of the most pathetic situations that I have ever seen, a country that looks to be in shambles financially, while fighting in an international war is focusing their attention on a sport where it is a "he said, she said" type of situation.

Roger Clemens is scared. He is trying to save his image and his Hall of Fame spot by going through this whole process hoping to come out on top. He may very well be telling the truth but in my own opinion, I think he took the steroids. Based on the era of Baseball he played in and the level he played at his entire career, I can very well see him being guilty. Even with that said, he is innocent until proven otherwise.

It looks like he will be proved otherwise, Brian McNamee has come forward now with needles from 2000-2001 with Clemens DNA and steroids on them.

Brian McNamee is crazy. The fact that he kept needles from 8 years ago is just weird to say the least. It could be the evidence to break this case, but it is still very strange he has them. You have to be asking yourself, why does this guy still have them? Was he waiting for a situation like this? My thoughts on this is that McNamee planned on eventually going behind Clemens back and showing this to congress, I think he had planned to give Clemens away whither or not the Mitchell Report was ever done.

I just think it's time that we all go back and start taking sports for what they are worth, a source of entertainment. Quit getting caught up in all the scandals and focus on the games themselves, not the outside politics of sports. Sure, we all care if our favourite team wins, but we all talk more about what scandal or problem is happening, and I think that's sad.

-Trent

Ramblings from around the Sports world...

2008-02-06T18:01:00.000-05:00

Dion Phaneuf...
has re-signed with the Calgary Flames. The deal is a 6 year contract that will get him about $6.5 million a year. Phaneuf was set to become a restricted free-agent this off season. What a great signing by Calgary to lock this guy up for 6 more years. He's already the franchise defenceman in Calgary and he's only going to get better. Plus, with the way Kevin Lowe poached the restricted free-agents last off season it was very important to get Phaneuf signed before he was even able to look at other offers.

Peter Forsberg...
looks poised for an NHL comeback and it looks like it will be with the Flyers or maybe a longshot would be Anaheim. Forsberg stated that he has some unfinished business in Philadelphia and today he rejected offers from several teams including the Flames, Wings, Penguins and Stars. Forsberg could be a great addition to any team but there is a lot of question marks that come with him. His nagging injuries being the biggest downfall, and will he be able to compete at a high level. He's kind of a risky pickup at this point but if i was looking for key player to put my team over the top, I'm looking at the like of Sundin, Jokinen and Hossa before Forsberg.

The Phoenix Suns...
are high. If this proposed trade to bring Shaq to the Suns goes through someone should be fired in that organization. Do they not realize that he is over the hill? He can no longer compete at a high level with the other centres in the NBA. The Suns are giving up Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks ... REALLY?! I hope for the Suns sake (because I'm a Steve Nash fan) that either Shaq somehow goes back to All-star form or that they call this trade off before they make a huge mistake.

'Rocket' Roger Clemens...
is screwed. It looks like after Clemens testified under oath that he 'never took performance-enhancing substances' he is going to be in some hot water. Brian Macname is handing over physical evidence to prove that Clemens took performance enhancing drugs. If this is true and it's proved that Clemens took them, then you can consider him along the likes Barry Bonds. I was never a Roger Clemens fan, and this just makes me disrespect him even more.

UFC 83...
is FINALLY coming to Montreal, and I am going. It's going to be amazing to see George St. Pierre get his revenge on Matt Serra. I'm predicting a 1st round knockout for George!

LOL teh suns r so dumb

2008-02-06T01:59:00.000-05:00

From ESPN.com:

"Sources told ESPN.com on Tuesday night that the Miami Heat have already agreed to send O'Neal to the Suns in exchange for All-Star forward Shawn Marion and out-of-favor guard Marcus Banks. Miami is simply waiting for Phoenix management to complete a medical examination of O'Neal and formally accept what would rank as one of most unexpected trades in league history."

Umm... ok? I don't get it.... Do they think Shaq can even still play? When he's not injured, It seems he's getting shreded by some very mediocre centers.

I won't be surprised if this all falls through last second.... won't somebody in the Suns organization realize how dumb this is, and be like"Whoawhoawhoawhoa WHHOOOAA!"?

Pro Bowl Piss Offs...

2008-02-04T23:37:00.000-05:00

Trent here, and I got a rant for you on something that kinda ticked me off today....

I know the Pro Bowl is just an after thought of the NFL and it means nothing what-so-ever but for the people that do attend it and watch it, they expect to see the best of the best that football has to offer. Now, I am ok with players pulling out because of injuries or personal reasons like a child being born or something, but the day after the Super Bowl, Tom Brady and Randy Moss both pulled out of the Pro Bowl....my question is, if the Patriots would have won, would they still be going?

Yeah, I got a real problem with this. What Tom Brady and Randy Moss did by pulling out was showing that they are pretty sore losers and they don't want to face the media at the Pro Bowl. I am a little inclined to give Brady the free pass on this because of his ankle, but it seemed that his ankle wasn't a problem so much in the few leading days to the Super Bowl.

The one's losing out here are the Fans, the fans who want to see the all-stars of the NFL all on the field at one time, and the two people who had record breaking seasons, who everyone probably wants to see play aren't even going. This is pretty sad and Randy Moss and Tom Brady should be pretty shameful....

Well, that sucked...

2008-02-04T18:17:00.000-05:00

Rough night for me (Matt) last night. Got drunk and watched the game, gleefully anticipating a night full of gloating and victory toasts. Alas,you saw the game, you know the rest of my story. I don't really want to talk about it quite yet. Needless to say, I was in a bad place, and for the most part, my friends didn't help. I recieved a lot of texts that look like this last night:

From: Barks
Feb 3, 10:04 PM
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

The best one I got all night looked more like this however:

From: Laura
Feb 3, 10:07 PM
"Matt, i know that your heart is hurting and i just want you to know that i love you and please dont do anything that you will regret"

A rough night indeed.

Anyways, I'm going to spend the rest of the day trying to figure out what happened. Look for a complete Patriots offseason preview tomorrow, including a good look at who will be available come the 5th pick of the draft

GIANTS WIN SUPERBOWL 42!

2008-02-03T22:16:00.000-05:00

WOW- is the only word to describe the victory Eli Manning and the New York Giants constructed to take down the -no longer perfect Patriots. Giants win 17-14! What a game, what a season, and what an ending!

The play of the game in my books was without a doubt in the 4th quarter when Eli Manning was surrounded by Patriots players, they had hands all over him, and he broke free....only to scramble back a few yards and launch a HUGE pass down inside the Patriot 30 yard line, to help set up two throws later, the game winning touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress.

On the side of the Patriots, well better luck next year I guess, still a great season they had but going undefeated all season means nothing if you can't win the big game at the end. It's almost too bad because we might never see a team the caliber of the Patriots dominates all season long like they did again. But enough of what could have been.....

The Superbowl run that the Giants had this season is nothing but storybook, they make movies out of this stuff. Tiki Barber is kicking himself in the ass right now for abandoning this team, and when most of the world thought it was impossible, they made it happen on the biggest stage in the world. Lot's of kudos to this deserving New York Giant football team and Eli Manning, the MVP!

Quick pre-SB post

2008-02-03T17:03:00.000-05:00

Matt Here,

Trent's off starting his budding sports broadcasting career on 106.9 FM in London, doing the SB pregame show. (Some of his great sports insight: "I'd like to have 10 million dollars." Thanks, buddy.)

Me? In a first for myself, I am drinking while still trying to piece together my booze-and-then-vomit-filled memories of the night before.

Just wanted to say a few things about How Much I Hate Super Bowl Pre-Game Shows:

Fox sucks
I have seen the following people- Ryan Seacrest, Randy Jackson, Dr. Phil, the chick that won the last American Idol, etc etc. This is not cool.
I don't think I've seen more then 10-15 minutes of football analysis. O How I Miss Thee, NFL Network.

Enjoy the game. GO PATS!

UFC 81 review, HNIC, SUPERBOWL!

2008-02-03T14:41:00.000-05:00

Trent here... gettin’ at ya before kickoff of the big game!

UFC 81

UFC 81 did not disappoint in terms of entertainment and star power. This was one of the more exciting cards I have seen this year especially for there not being a lot of big name's on it. There was however, no lack of big names in the crowd with the likes of Ken Griffey Jr, Barry Bonds, Adam Dunn, and some pro-wrestlers as well with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, The Undertaker and TNA champion Kurt Angle.

The fights like I mentioned were overall pretty good, nothing spectacular but it was what a solid UFC event should be. I didn't do too terribly well on my predictions, going 4/9 on them, getting both the main event and the debut fight of Brock Lesnar wrong. Hopefully I'll do better on my UFC 82 picks, which should be an amazing card.

Fight Recaps: Big Nog is the new interim heavyweight champ; it would be interesting to put him against Randy Couture. Personally, I think Randy would take him, no contest.

Brock Lesnar, despite losing his UFC debut to Frank Mir, did not disappoint. He came out tenacious and pounded Mir off the start. Unfortunately for Brock, he will need to work on rounding out his game some more before he can contend. I think he will be a force to be reckoned with soon enough.

HNIC

It wasn't a bad night for Hockey as well. The Leafs and Senators faced off in what Cassie Campbell labelled the "Battle of Alberta." Maybe it's time Ol' Cassie to just go back to playing hockey rather than working the games on CBC. With that said the battle of..... Ontario was pretty good considering both rosters were much depleted due to injuries and suspensions.

I have to admit, Toronto winning was not what I fully expected. I think that absence of Alfredsson and Heater obviously have a lot to do with this.

And.....

If you somehow didn't know, the Super Bowl is today! We are sitting about 30 minutes away from kickoff. The perfect Pats take on the red hot New York Giants and it should be epic. As I said before 35-16 Pats is my prediction and I'm going to stick to it!

UFC 81

2008-02-01T19:51:00.000-05:00

It's going to be a big night in Las Vegas Saturday when UFC 81 rolls into town. This is an odd fight card as the main event title fight between Antonio Nogueira and Tim Sylvia is in every way being overshadowed by the fight between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir. I am following the trend on this one and am looking more forward to the Lesnar/Mir fight, as I feel the fight between Nog and Sylvia will lack entertainment value.

A fight I think people should keep their eyes on is the one between Terry Martin and Marvin Eastman, this has the makings of being a war as both are coming off losses and are looking to keep a regular spot in the UFC.

Another gem of a fight that is getting no attention is Jeremy Horn returning to the UFC to face off with Nate Marquardt. Horn is coming off of a loss in another organization and many feel that he is over the hill. Nate recently lost his chance to win the Middleweight title and Horn should provide a decent test for Nate as he works his way back up to title contention.

Lets go to some predictions on the fights:

Main Event - Interim Heavyweight Title fight
Antonio Nogueira vs. Tim Sylvia
I'm going to take Sylvia on this one, winning on a long, boring split decision. Sylvia will use his height and reach to his advantage to avoid the take down. If big Tim is lucky, he might be able to catch Nog with a shot, but I find that very unlikely.

Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir
Brock Lesnar will prove his worth against the former champ in Mir. I see Lesnar winning by TKO ref stoppage. Lesnar is big, strong, and appears to be taking fighting in the UFC very seriously. He will be a force to be reckoned with.

Jeremy Horn vs. Nate Marquadt
Nate Marquadt will chalk one up over a MMA legend in this one. I'm taking Nate by KO.

Rob Yundt Vs. Ricardo Almeida
2 lesser known UFC fighters here. Almeida last fought in the UFC back in UFC 35 and this in Yundt's first UFC fight. I'm taking Yundt by KO.

Gleison Tibau Vs. Tyson Griffin
A lightweight battle here, and it should be a dandy. Griffin usually puts on a good show and Tibau is in on a 3 fight win streak. The winner will catapult themselves into top fight contention in the division. Griffin by a Unanimous Decision.

Chris Lytle Vs. Kyle Bradley
A decent undercard fight here with the UFC vet. Lytle taking on the new comer Bradley. Lytle will use his Octagon experience here and take the win by submission.

Marvin Eastman Vs. Terry Martin
An undercard fight I am looking forward too. It should be a war like I mentioned before and I'm taking Terry Martin by KO.

David Heath Vs. Tim Boetsch
Boetsch making his UFC debut here, against Heath who has lost his last 2 fights. Heath seems to be entertaining and I expecting him to win by decision here.

Keita Nakamura Vs. Rob Emerson
Emerson the TUF graduate is facing off against Nakamura who is yet to win in the UFC. I'll take Emerson by decision.

Overall this should be a pretty decent fight card. There isn't a ton of big names but a title is on the line and it is the big premiere of Brock Lesnar. A lot of questions should be answered with his much anticipated entrance to the UFC.

Superbowl Preview, Prediction; Other NFL notes

2008-02-01T17:03:00.000-05:00

Trent here...

Let's get excited...it's Friday!! And we are about 48 hours away from kick-off of what is expected to be one of the biggest, and most watched games in not only NFL, but in sports history. The 42nd super bowl featuring the 18-0 New England Patriots, and the underdog, storybook, New York Giants. To be honest, I dislike both of these teams a lot, but you have to love the Super Bowl. Get ready, because this should be one for the ages.

New England Patriots

The New England Patriots have the opportunity to become the 2nd ever team in NFL history to go undefeated throughout the regular season and playoffs on route to a Super Bowl win. They already have beaten the 17-0 record of the 1972 Miami Dolphins but that will not matter one bit unless they win the Super Bowl.

Tom Brady has now worked himself into any "greatest QB ever" debate, and rightfully so. 50 touchdowns this season, to break Peyton Manning’s record, over 4800 yards passing with only throwing 8 interceptions. The combination of him, and all-star receiver Randy Moss is an absolute lethal combination, that really doesn't need much explaining. Lawrence Maroney has turned it up this off-season, coming in big when he needs to.

For any football fan, there would be no reason to not pick the Patriots to win the Super Bowl, they are the clear favourites.

New York Giants

The Giants are playing unbelievable football these playoffs. Eli Manning (yes the same Eli Manning that threw 23 touchdowns this season, compared to 20 interceptions) is playing amazing this post season; he is yet to throw an interception while recording 4 touchdowns. New York has won 10 straight games on the road, including 3 upset victories in the playoffs. They are without a doubt a team with a ton of momentum and something to prove after falling to the Patriots in the last week of the Regular Season 38-35.

The Prediction

While on the subject of that 38-35 Patriot win in week 17 this season, it was one of the closest games that the Pats were in, they had to make a 4th quarter comeback, meanwhile the elements played a large role in this game. I don't think this game was a good indication on what to expect Super Bowl Sunday.

The Patriots have won each of their past 3 Super Bowls by 3 points; That changes this Sunday when the Patriots win the game 35-16 and join the 1972 Dolphins as the only 2 teams in NFL history to have undefeated seasons.

Other NFL Notes

The Buffalo Bills will be hosting 8 games (5 regular season, 3 exhibition) in Toronto each NFL season over the next 5 years as it was officially announced today by NFL commish Roger Goodell. Good for the city of Toronto and good for the Bills on making a change to help increase revenue. The big losers in this will be the die-hard Bills fans not from Ontario, and the people who will be paying ridiculous amounts of money just to see the Bills. It will be interesting to see the effect this has on the CFL if any at all.

Time is of the Essence for Leafs, Sundin.

2008-01-31T16:45:00.000-05:00

Trent here....

If you are in any way remotely connected to the hockey world, you know about the absolute circus going on in Toronto. It was a long time coming when John Ferguson Jr. was finally fired, and then being subsequently replaced by Cliff Fletcher, but there is still one great big question mark left in Leaf-land. What about the future of Mats Sundin?

The rumours continue to fly around, left, right and centre about trading Mats Sundin. Wednesday he reportedly met with Cliff Fletcher for an extended period of time, to discuss among many things, his future in Toronto. Coming out of the meeting, it appears that Sundin is still on his stand as “he doesn’t want to be traded,” although it appears that he is starting to fall from that post. Mats and Cliff did however come out of the meeting, in agreement to no longer talk about trade rumours involving the Leaf captain.

Now, I know that this Mats Sundin trade rumour situation had been beaten to death, but I feel that this meeting was most likely the deciding point on wither or not Mats will be moved by the trade deadline. Cliff Fletcher has always stated that he will do “what’s best for Mats.” Now shouldn’t Cliff Fletcher have other things he should be prioritizing? Of course I mean the restructuring of the Toronto Maple Leafs roster, and yes, of course that would start with Sundin being dealt, but if Mats is adamant on not being moved, maybe the focus should shift to moving Tucker, Blake, or Kaberle, or another high priced player on Toronto. When Toronto played St. Louis on Tuesday, it was estimated there was up to 17 scouts from other NHL teams in attendance, what a game for Blake and Tucker to have nice games, eh?

Let’s face it; you won’t see Sundin depart from Toronto unless it is the most absolute perfect deal, for both the Leafs and Sundin. He will only go to a contender, and I mean a real contender, which in my mind is 2 teams, Detroit and Anaheim.

Anaheim has been brought up a lot in trade rumours involving Sundin and rightfully so, they can afford a 6 million dollar player, and Mats would put them as clear favourites to repeat as Stanley Cup champs. I mentioned that the deal for Sundin would have to be perfect, and ideally, I think for the Leafs getting a deal from the Ducks involving a player that can play right now, maybe Brandon Bochenski or even a Chris Kunitz for a forward. For a defenseman I look towards the likes of a Francois Beauchemin or a Kent Huskins. The deal would also have to have a strong future involved; enter Bobby Ryan (a very highly touted, 20 year old in the system), some Draft picks, namely Edmonton’s first rounder that Anaheim owns, and then maybe some cash or a later 5th or 6th rounder. This may seem like a lot, but like I said the deal has to be picture perfect for the Leafs, and Sundin.

On Detroit’s side, they are a club that is off to an amazing start, and could have another record breaking season. Their locker room also boats the most Swedish players in the NHL on one team with 7, which could be a deciding factor if Sundin agrees to a trade. The Red Wings could offer up the likes of what Matt said in the previous post, Valtteri Filppula or a defenseman like Niklas Kronwall along with a first rounder, and a prospect perhaps Evan McGrath (former OHL star with the Kitchener Rangers).

Either way you slice it the asking price for Sundin is going to be high. He is without doubt, the best player on the Leafs right now, and perhaps the history of the Leafs. If the Sundin is going to depart Toronto for a cup run, the deal better get done soon because Toronto will only start getting less and less in offers for him, because everyone knows he will sign back with the buds come off-season.

Daily Dose: Sundin wants to stay, Raps own Wizards

2008-01-31T13:34:00.000-05:00

Now matter how much the talking heads at TSN bring up potential Sundin trade rumours, none of it matters unless Sundin waves his no-trade clause.... Which it looks like he won't. Seems to me like he is the only one in Southern Ontario that doesn't think it would be a great idea for him to leave. Trade him at the deadline, get some draft picks or prospects, and re-sign Mats when he becomes a free agent after this season... sounds pretty simple right? Well Mats won't do it, even with the chance to win a Stanley Cup (something he's never going to get in TO.) Detroit could offer one of their young Euro forwards (Filpulallala?) but they don't seem to be interested. Calgary sure could use him, but they don't have much to offer. Would a Sundin-for-Marian Hossa trade work? It's been suggested, but Atlanta isn't really a contender, even with Mats, and Hossa could just leave in the offseason.

Either way, it's going to take at least a few years to fix this team full of terrible contracts and no young prospects to bring up. Good luck Leafs fans, I'll enjoy watching Spezza dangle in the playoffs while you all are watching Steve Stamkos highlight reels.

Tuesday night, after the Raps lost a tight game to the Washington Wizards in OT, I exclaimed to 5 people standing outside my dorm room "If only this game had been in Toronto, the Raps would've won by 20 points." The number of questionable calls and "home advantages" was ridiculous. Little did I know it was a home-and-home series. So what do the Raps do. They blow the shorthanded Wiz out of the water at the ACC last night. Bargs scored 19, Jose had 11/11, and CB4 only had to play 20 minutes to secure the victory. The Raps are playing great lately, and have a relatively easy schedule, but I have a feeling that when the 3's stop falling, their offense is going to stall. The good thing is, they have so many 3 pt shooters that someone is bound to be "hot" on any given night.

Updating the Jason Kidd situation: ESPN reports that a 3 way trade involving Portland, New Jersey and Dallas is in the works. The rumoured trade has Dallas getting Kidd, Portland getting Devin Harris (and possibly Brandon Bass) and Jersey getting draft picks, Jerry Stackhouse and some of Portlands young players (Outlaw? J. Jack?) With Josh Howard hurt, this trade makes little sense for Dallas. Harris is up-and-coming, Bass is their best defensive big man (their Duncan/Amare killer) and giving up Stack leaves them thin on the wings.

Daily Dose: Kidd wants out (finally), Plaxico is a douche

2008-01-30T18:14:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the first ever blog post by myself, Matt. Together with my good buddy Trent (it was all his idea) we will be providing our insight and opinion on various topics throughout sports. Our focus will primarily be on Canadiana .... lots of hockey, Raptors discussion, maybe some posts about how terrible A.J. Burnett is... but we will also cover any sports topics that are relevant (19-0 anyone?)

So, to the news...

Jason Kidd wants out of New Jersey. His request is only about 6 months too late, but that seems to happen a lot these days. Back in the summer, Nets GM Rod Thorn probably could've got Lamar Odom and Kwame Browns FAT expiring contract. Now? Well, the Lakers still probably make the most sense for a trade, but the Nets will have to settle for for Jordan Farmar (the kid that's never left LA) and the aforementioned expiring contract, plus some other lesser players to make salaries match. LeBron wants Jason really bad, ever since their man-crush with each other started back in the summer. Unfortunately for him, they can give little of value to the Nets (ie. a big man/young PG) without totally decimating their front court now that Varejao is out for a month. Other possibilities? Dallas (again) Atlanta (wouldn't Kidd make them amazing?) or Pheonix (kidding!)

If we've learned anything from this season, it's that you don't piss of the Patriots. Jets catch them cheating? They got bent over in both games against Brady & co. Roger Goodell takes away their draft pick? They run roughshod through the league, running up scores and passing late in games already won. Now Giants WR Plaxico Burress (pretty innocently, mind you) predicts the Pats will score only 17 points come Sunday?!?!?! I fully expect that this quote is posted in every Patriots offensive pre-game meeting, and will have the entire side of the ball even more fired up.

My prediction? Pats 42- Giants 17

The Emery-Coaster

2008-01-30T14:24:00.000-05:00

Trent here....

Ray Emery has struck yet again in Ottawa, showing up in the media for all the wrong reasons. This time he showed up to practice late, for the second time this season. If you aren't familiar with Ray Emery and his antics, let me go over them for you as they date back well past the beginning of this season.

-After getting a 3 game suspension for a slash to Maxim Lapierre's face, in Emery's comeback he gets in not one fight, but two fights, with Buffalo Goalie Ryan Miller and enforcer Andrew Peters. You can't help but notice the smile on Emery's face during the entire debacle.

-Last season in the playoffs against New Jersey, Emery missed a flight because of getting in a car accident; this is the first time Ray Emery is really portrayed negatively in the media for his actions.

-This season, he showed up late to a practice and was subsequently, sent home and not allowed on the ice. The team tried to make up an excuse for him, saying he was sick, but he fully admitted that he was simply, late.

-In another practice, Ray Emery drops the gloves with fellow teammate, and tough guy, Brian Mcgratton. This situation again brings negative attention, and a dark shadow, to a team that is having another successful season.

-Finally, now Ray Emery goes to the wrong arena in Long Island. When he arrives at the proper arena, he is told to not bother coming on the ice. He now faces about a $15,000 fine from the Senators, as this is the maximum Ottawa is allowed to fine him under the CBA.

Now you can go ahead and fine Ray Emery all you want, but it's not going to change a thing. He makes $9.5 Million over the next three years; $15,000 is a laugh for Emery. I heard it brought up that Ottawa should just cut their ties with him, put him on waivers and then get him back on re-entry waivers. The problem with this is Emery is too valuable of a goaltender, he had a great playoff run last season and by riding on that alone, he would draw interest from any NHL team looking for a goalie. So, what is left to do with bad boy Ray?

Send him to the minors, and make him work his way back up. A stint in the AHL will show Emery that this team will be able to survive without him just fine. Martin Gerber is more than willing, and able to carry the load like he has done so far this season, and Brian Elliot will make a fine backup for Gerber as well. The other option would obviously be, to trade him.

The problem with Emery now, is that no one will want to give up much for him. Sure, any team is going to be willing to take a chance on him for free, but give up any quality player, that is doubtful. At this point, I would find it hard for teams offering up a 3rd liner and a draft pick for Ray. No one wants to take a calculated risk on a goalie that could just be a distraction.

It is starting to surface that Bryan Murray is saying that Emery asked for a trade back in December, and that there was no takers. Knowing this, Ray Emery is just toying with the Senators, he knows that his trade stock has dropped significantly, and he doesn't care because he is still bringing in the money, and he is just doing what he wants. Unless Emery turns it around, he could soon find himself out of the NHL and back to the proving grounds, and he should remember that actions, always speak louder than words.