In A World of Sports

Holy shit. 

I haven’t written a blog in months, ages, a millenia.  I considered getting rid of this site, since I have to pay for it and in these tough economic times, I figured my benjamins could be better spent elsewhere.  Well, with the beginning of the hockey season I’m somewhat glad I didn’t.  So, I’ve decided I may as well try to get back on board of this blog and make it worth my money. If that doesn’t work I suppose it will be time to cancel my payments for this altogether and spend my hard earned money on something more worthwhile like salsa dance lessons, or toothpaste.

 So here we go.  My A Tad Bit Late NHL Season Preview….First, let’s cover the teams, and their odds at winning the Cup this year.

The Champs

The Detroit Red Wings.  Expected to repeat as champs, and be the first team to do so since they did it themselves back to back in ‘97 and ‘98.  It’s hard to argue against them.  This organisation blows my mind.  Built from a smart front office on out, Detroit has been surprisingly immune to the salary cap era.  The thing that really gets me is despite many changes they have experienced, from players to coaches since the early 90’s, things in Detroit generally stay the same. They draft and develop well, they make smart signings both in regards to free agents and their own players, and they have had among the 2 best “lead-by-example” captains of the past 30 or so years.  But, the most important factor is the system.  Detroit has had the same system and playing style since Bowman - puck possession.  They control the play so well and force teams to play how Detroit wants them to play.  There are differences of course between how Bowman coached and Mike Babcock and everyone in between, but the general style and function never changed.  This is why they are the most consistently winning team in the NHL.  They are like the New England Patriots under Bill “I cheat and don’t give a damn” Bellichick or the Spurs under Gregg Popovich.  Everyone is on the same page in this organisation and that’s why they win, and win a lot. 

They were the best team when all was said and done last year and it looks like they just got better in the offseason.  The only problem is, it is so hard to repeat in this league and I just don’t know if Osgoode can do it for them in back to back seasons.  I don’t think they will repeat, but until they are dethroned, they are the champs, they are the favourites and all signs point to yes.

1-1 Odds at winning the Lord Stanley’s Cup.

 The Contenders

San Jose - Sigh.  Every year I always give these guys the benefit of the doubt.  A few people are picking them to finally break out of their playoff slump and actually perform in the post season - I’ll believe it when I see it.  I love Jumbo Joe, but his game is too soft and perimeter oriented for the playoffs.  Last year, in the last game of the season he fought Steve Ott I believe it was, and I got a big (for me) chubby and thought “oh man, Joe’s mad, Joe’s pumped, Joe’s MEAN, this is his year!”, so I took him with my first pick in my playoff hockey pool (6th overall or something to that effect).  I’m not making that mistake again. 

This team needs Thornton and Marleau to perform to win the cup, and both have generally been disappointments in the playoffs outside of a round or two, but they just don’t elevate their game enough.  The hope may rest more with the kids on this team: Setoguchi, Pavelski, Clowe, and Michalek - if they can improve their chances are much better.  I’m not a big fan of their defense though.  I heard a commentator the other day refer to Rob Blake as their “shut down guy”…Rob Blake has never been a shut down guy and he is now 38.  Dan Boyle is a good pick up as a puck mover though he is overpayed.

It’s a good team, but until their leaders lead them in the postseason, they will only ever contend.  Joe Thornton, once among my favourites, has broken my heart too many times.

3-1 Odds at wrastling the Cup from The Champs. 

Pittsburgh - Nope.  This team lost too much in the offseason (skill, toughness, character, leadership).  Hossa, Malone, Laraque , Roberts (though he wasn’t much of a player anymore don’t discount his presence in the room with young kids) and now they are hurting way too much on the backend.  Satan and Fedotenko are bad pickups, and don’t come remotely close to replacing what left with Hossa and Malone.  And ever since Fleury let in that HORRIBLE goal in the World Juniors I have questioned him.  He is good, but I feel like he is a confidence goalie and if he lets in one bad goal in the postseason Pittsburgh’s hopes go down the shitter, which is always scary.  Fleury should actually be the goalie for the Senators, because his fickle mental state would fit right in with that team.  Moreover, they lost Conklin who is a serviceable backup who played amazing for them when Fleury went down last year and now they have Sebourin, who can’t play as well as Conklin if needed for an extended period.

Having said all that, when you have Malkin and Crosby you can compete night in, night out, and they will give them an opportunity to get back to the promised land.  But Crosby seems hard to play with for a lot of players (Hossa and him were really starting to gel though) since everything he does is at top speed, and Malkin will tire out again since he takes 12 minute shifts.  I also like Letang a lot -any kid who plays for Canada in the World Junior championships, let alone captains the team will always have a place in my heart. 

One thing though about Crosby and Malkin: I don’t like them on the penalty kill.  I know they need to become complete players, and you want to be able to put your stars out in all situations, but I don’t think you should do that with these young guys.  People will point to a couple of recent greats like Yzerman and Sakic who have done it, and guys now like Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Lecavalier…but they didn’t do these things in their 3rd and 4th years in the league as 21 year olds.  Let Crosby and Malkin develop their game in 5 on 5 situations.  Don’t tire them out killing penalties and risk their health blocking shots on the PK - not this early in their careers.  They need to become the complete package and they will, but keep them off the penalty kill for now.

5-1 Odds.  I would like to give them worse odds but they have 2 of the top 5 most dynamic players in the world on their team, that helps.

Montreal - Ovèreratee - that’s how you spell overrated in French, I looked it up.  Don’t get me wrong, I like this team, bordering on love.  But that alone raises a red flag for me.  I tell you now, any team I cheer for will ultimately fail.  That’s the real reason San Jose has never broken through - I cheer for Joe and the gang every year and every year they shit the bed and I’m the reason why.  If you go to a casino with me, I’ll take you to the roulette table, and bet the opposite of me whenever you can and you will win, I’m awesome that way.  Well this year I’m big on Montreal so I’ve doomed them before the puck has even dropped on this new season.  Montreal’s success depends on too many uncertainties: 

The Kids - Kostitsyns, Plekanec, Latendresse, need bigger seasons than last year which worries me because they are generally unproven.  But I have faith in Gainey and his staff in terms of evaluating talent and potential.

Kovalev needs to prove that my theory from last year - that he was actually taken into outerspace last summer, after scoring really high on an arcade game in a trailerpark to become the greatest starfighter and last hope of mankind, and replaced by an alien who looked a lot like Kovalev but was ultimately a better hockey player, teammate, and more aggressive with Kovalev’s girlfriend - was wrong.

Koivu and Higgins need to be more productive and consistent as members of a #2 line.  The team also generally needs to be tougher, though they have addressed that with the addition of Laraque. 

Things going in Montreal’s favour is the fact that a few key players are in contract years - Kovalev and Koivu to name two - and players in contract years almost always play above their heads. And they have Carey Price.  Too many people are doubting the kid, saying he crumpled last year under the pressure and are saying it will affect him this year.  What?  This is a kid who, almost to a man, scouts said had ice water in his veins.  People like that don’t suddenly crumple.  You want to know what happened to him?  He got tired.  He was 20, not in great shape, and he got tired playing too many games.  If you look at his games last year, when Price started playing too many consecutive games between the pipes his numbers dipped.  After a night off, he’d come in and get a shutout.  Montreal needs to cap his games this year and he’ll be fine.  He came in to camp in better shape and he is good enough to backstop them to the finals.  Except for the fact that I just said that, as a result they are doomed.

2-1 Odds (Please note that Montreal’s actual odds, after being adjusted to account for ”The Skinner Factor”, are 1,000,000-1)

Philadelphia - Behind Montreal, this is my team to come out of the East.  They are skilled, tough, fast, gritty, deep.  I think they need one more d-man (Bouwmeester at the deadline anyone?) and questions will always remain for Philly goaltenders until they get it done but Biron is their best in years.   But I like this team, go down the list and they have one of the best built teams in the league and they are only 2 years removed from finishing dead last (although they were much better than a last place team that year).  But they are good now and should be a good team for several more years if they can keep their young guys in the system.

Odds 4-1.

The Pretenders - pretenders don’t get odds like contenders do because they are just pretending not contending, that’s a FACT.

Dallas.  I should probably put these guys under the contenders category but I’m going to be honest - I don’t see them enough.  They are a very balanced team, well coached, and Turco is one of the best goalies in the league not to win a cup.  I like Morrow, Modano, and Richards, and picking up Avery, though he is a douche, is a good move because he is a powerplay waiting to happen.  I don’t like Ribeiro though.  Ever since he faked that injury while on Montreal a few years ago in the playoffs I haven’t like him.  He is a punk, and I really wish he would untuck his freakin’ jersey it drives me nuts.  If I could turn into a minotaur and headbutt anybody in the NHL it would probably be Ribeiro. I don’t care that he has turned into better than a point a game guy - so long as Dallas has Ribeiro they are pretenders in my book.

Anaheim.  2 years removed from a Stanley Cup this team remains among the league elite.  One of the best defensive cores in the NHL and they have reasonably good offensive potential and a proven keeper.  They are still among the best in the West but not in the same category as Detroit and San Jose, and I expect that Pronger, Niedermeyer and Selanne will decline.  Getzlaf will be a great power forward for years but unfortunately he is balding prematurely and they still keep sending my boyfriend down - Bobby Ryan.  I almost always waste my last pick on rookie in pools for a reason I can’t explain and I’ve done is twice with Ryan over the past 3 years including my playoff pool last year.   I still expect big things from him though, just not this year.

Calgary.  I have more contenders in the East and Pretenders in the West.  Why is that?  Well, because the East is competitive, but really only has a few teams that can come out of the conference into the final in my opinion and those are of course Pittsburgh, Philly, Montreal and one other team but I’ll get to that later.  The West has a whole slew of teams that if in the East would be bumped into Contender status, but since they are in the West, where there are more “elite” teams it is harder to come out of, they are dropped to Pretender status.  Calgary is my final victim of the tough West, and last of the Pretenders.  I think Sutter should go back behind the bench because he seems to be able to get the most out this team.  They will never be able to score enough, so what they have to do is be really tough to play against.  Forecheck relentlessly, hit hard, grind it out, and wear teams down in a series.  They will also need Kipper to be better than he was last year.  But, until they can get a second scoring line and get back to the playing style that brought them to the Cup finals a few years ago, they are nothing but a bunch of pretenders.  OH SNAP!  Phaneuf will challenge for the Norris this year though. 

So there are the Champs, Contenders and Pretenders.  So what’s next?  Well.  Last but not least are 2 teams to watch.  I don’t think they can win it, not this year, but these are the two teams I am most excited to watch this year.

Chicago and Washington.  I feel like a bit of a bandwagoneer for liking these two teams, and I kind of am when it comes to Washington, but when it comes to Chicago let me defend myself by saying this:  I have liked the Blackhawks for several years now, and I always like the Original 6 teams. 

I started to like Chicago when they had Steve Sullivan (whom I have followed since Pat Quinn literally gave him away in Toronto) and Michael Nylander playing together.  They were exciting as hell to watch.  And I really started paying attention when they drafted Tuomo Ruutu who I thought could have been the next Forsberg…which I guess he sort of was, only Ruutu’s injuries happened BEFORE he got really good and not after like Forsberg.  And a lot of players have gone through that team in recent years whom I’ve liked - Eric Daze, and Tyler Arnason, to  name a couple.  And now Chicago has a ton of young kids I’ve been keeping an eye on since before they stepped onto NHL ice.  Cam Barker, Brent Seabrook, Dave Bolland, Jack Skille, Duncan Keith,  and then of course there is Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews (I will never forget his shootout performance in the World Juniors).  How can you not like this team?  They are young, fast, exciting, talented and surprisingly deep.  The pick up Huet to hopefully finally solidify their goaltending, and landed one of the biggest free agent fish in Campbell even though they overpayed him.  They have much higher expectations put on them this year and the kids will have to prove they deserve the praise, but this team has the potential to be a beast in the West for the next 10 years.   

Now, The Caps.  Ovechkin has been a sexy player since he came into the NHL and last year he finally had a cast of solid supporting characters.  I must admit I got swept up during their magnificent run under Bruce Boudreau but I really like to watch these guys.  They will win their division again and have a shot at joining the East’s elite if Theodore doesn’t play as bad as he is capable of playing (he was pretty good last year but again, that was a contract year).  They are also pretty young and talented and should be better offensively with captain Chris Clark and Michael Nylander back in the fold and Backstrom a year older.  But let’s face it.  Most of the excitement around this team is because of Ovechkin, but it’s well deserved.  He is one of the most exciting athletes on the planet.  If I had to pick somone to build a team around for the next 1-5 years it’s probably Ovechkin, if you’re talking longer term I’m thinking Crosby.  The Caps are the not-so-dark horse in the East that can come out of the conference if they build on last year’s momentum and get a solid performance from Jose “it wasn’t steroids it was hair growth medicine” Theodore. 

So there it is.  My season preview for Teams - written last minute on an impulse.  Next time I’ll talk a bit about some players, forecast some trophy winners and maybe even project the regular season standings.  If I really feel like it, I’ll touch on the Leafs a bit.  But everytime I try to write something about the Leafs I end up sounding too angry and bitter, which I am….just thinking about the Leafs makes my veins bulge out of my head, and makes me want to push old people over and litter.  But I don’t litter…pushing over old people on the other hand… 

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to experience my first Toronto FC game.  I’m a very casual soccer fan, jumping on the World Cup bandwagon every 4 years while paying attention to a few other tournaments and games in between.  Having said that I’ve always had an appreciation for the skill of the players.  The accuracy with which they can make plays at speed and control that ball  in the air and all over the pitch is truly a marvel and soccer highlights are among the best in sports.

However where Toronto FC really impressed me was not by the pay on the field (MLS is of course nowhere near top quality football) but the noise in the stands.  What a refreshing experience that is for a guy from Toronto.  18,000+ fans waving flags, chanting and celebrating all game.  Most fans sported TFC jerseys (I was one of the few boobs that didn’t), flags, scarves, towels, hats, raincoats, you name it they make it with a TFC logo tattoed on the side of it.  And the noise. 

The noise was so glorious.

It was a stark contrast to the din of Leaf “fans”, much louder than anything the Blue Jays have offered up since the early 1990s, louder still than a Raptor game (don’t mistake blaring hip hop music for fan noise).  I would say it was on par with an Argo playoff game, and this was regular season.  I loved it.  The entire section behind the net didn’t appear to sit all game and even on a cloudy, rainy (pissed rain during halftime) day it was a sight to behold.  But I don’t want to sell the rest of the crowd short, these were the loudest fans in Toronto. 

And the thing I like the most about it, is it is a bunch of soccer fans who would normally want to kick each other in the face all on the same side.  Greeks, Brits, Scots, Italians, etc., they were all on the same side, cheering for the same side with chants that ranged from the simple but clutch *clap clap clap* “TFC!!” *clap clap clap* “TFC!!” to the more elaborate but far more catchy “You’re so shit it’s unbelievable”. 

The only blemish of the whole afternoon (forget the rain) was after the game while West-enders waited for their GO train and East-enders theirs, a group of idiot West-enders started a chant “You’re from Scarborough” trying to mock us headed in the opposite direction.  I didn’t get it.  They were wearing the same jerseys as us, the team we all cheered for all afternoon won 2-0, they are from the same city, and yet they decided to start these poor heckles after the match.  Didn’t understand it, still don’t understand.  I would like to sit down with those guys and ask them a few questions.  Questions such as “Why?”, and “Are you dumb?”, or even “Do you need a hug?”.  It was the equivalent of mocking your neighbour from across the street for living on the North side because the South side is better.  It was one of those situations where I would I could just say “go go gadget arms” and punch them in the face.

But TFC, for my money, was a great sporting experience.  A smallish venue without a bad seat in the house, loud fans, and a product that can hopefully develop and grow, but is so far in the least pretty entertaining.  I recommend it to any sports fan in the city, whether you’re a soccer fan or not.

Well I’m back…hopefully on a semi-permanent basis…I haven’t posted in so long because I feel like I haven’t had the time but really I realised that it was a lame excuse for laziness. So I’m back with my first blog in a while….

 First of all I have to get this off my chest about the NHL…What kind of Mickey Mouse operation are you people trying to run?  I am a huge hockey fan, arguably the biggest fan in either hemisphere, and I’ve frankly grown disinterested in the playoffs because well, right now there aren’t any playoffs.  Sure I’m going to get right back into it this Saturday with Game 1, but how many other people will?  Any momentum you had from the first 3 rounds with American audiences, the only audience Mr. Bettman cares about by the way, is now gone.  Few people in America care about a sport that takes place on ice come June.  What is accomplished by taking almost a full week off between series other than the loss of fan interest?  The NBA will start the next round while the previous round is still going, which is maybe a bit much but they have the right idea in keeping interest high, and keeping the excitement of the playoffs relevant and constant.  I can only read so many stories about Johan Franzen’s status before I start to grow bored.

 It is the Lost syndrome.  You take something off the air for too long of a period of time and people lose interest.  We have a ridiculously short attention span in this world of super-fast everything (food, electronics, information, women, and steroid-infused athletes just to name a few).  Take my lack of blog writing for example.  I don’t even expect this to be read by my close friends because why should they care to look at my site, they have probably lost any interest…damn, what a horrible realisation to have while I write this.  But that’s what the NHL is effectively doing by keeping the teams off the ice for almost a full week.  I know it is a tough grind, and their bodies are worn out and damaged, but for the sake of the game, cut it to a few days.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see a sloppy game 1 despite the skill level of both teams simply because being out of a game situation for so long hurts your timing.  No amount of practise and preparation compares to the speed and intensity of a game, in any sport.  The Finals should have started no later than Thursday. 

 Shame on “Hockeytown”…Detroit has had many, many empty seats throughout the playoffs and for an original six franchise with so much history and great success that is terrible.  It is a tough building to play in only because of the team, not the fans.  I daresay Detroit fans are as bad as Toronto fans.  Ouch, take that Detroit!

 The Celtics will not win a title this year.  There is just no way.  And the sad thing is this is their best chance of doing it with this current group.  First of all they lost at home to Detroit last night essentially spelling their doom (since they can’t win on the road) but I can watch this team win and I still have no confidence in them.  Why?  Because their best player refuses to take over like he used to and they will be out-coached if not by Flip and the Pistons, then they will be by The Lakers or The Spurs, whoever comes out of the West.  Boston can’t win a title based purely on hustle plays and heart, that doesn’t happen these days.  They got past Cleveland only because Pierce had the game of his career in game 7 and The Cavs have an arguably equally bad coach in Mike Brown who must thank every God known to humankind that he has Lebron James on his team each night.  This Boston team might make the finals, though I suspect Detroit has it now with a split through 2, but they are not title bound.  Unless Garnett decides to be a force like the good old days when he was alone in Minnesota.  Look at his lines on those teams, and you’ll see what I mean.  Rivers can’t coach and away from the hometown love of The Garden which fuels the team to make the hustle plays that have gotten them this far, they are over and done with.  And the worst part is The Celtics secretly know this…they don’t help each other up nearly as enthusiastically and they allow opponents to score after the play on their basket more and more frequently.

Another note on the Celtics, but I don’t think Ray Allen is having fun.  Just watch him during the pregame introductions and you can see that he either doesn’t like the team that much, or he is doing the best, most subtle and longest-running Kobe impression I have ever seen.  He is doing just enough to make it look like he is a good team-guy but he doesn’t go out of his way.  I think it’s because he knows it’s not a Big 3 anymore, it never should have been, and everyone knows it. It’s more like The Sometimes Big 2, with contributions by Rajon Rondo, Eddie House, Kendrick Perkins and special thanks to Ray Allen.

One more thing….”It is what it is” is by far the biggest phrase in sports these days.  It surpasses any of the terms-of-the-year from any recent NBA drafts (every year it’s a new one) and even John Madden’s “now here’s a guy…”.  I feel like any time I read an article with a player being interviewed and a tougher questions comes up that is his response: “It is what it is”.  I don’t know if this is a sports-wide inside joke or if I’m just noticing it more since McNamee made that phrase famous in the whole joke steroid hearing.  I can’t believe there hasn’t been more written about this.

 Well that’s all for right now…I hope I get back into writing blogs because I have had so much on my mind that it was killing me but I am way too lazy to keep up with all that is happening in sports (well outside of hockey which has nothing going on unless you count the constant buzz in Toronto surrounding The Leafs and their ridiculous search for the next GM…but that is a story for another day).

This has got to be one of the worst weeks in recent memory for Toronto sports franchises.  Sure the rest of the week hasn’t even played itself out, but if you count from Sunday afternoon to this coming Sunday, this should amount to a tragic week.  This is one of the darkest hours for Toronto sports as a whole in a long time, but with the bad also comes the good.  So here is a recap of the bad, with a look at what is good in the world of Toronto sports.

 Blue Jays 

The Bad – Reed Johnson is cut purely for financial reasons.  We gave up a solid all-round outfielder for Shannon Stewart who throws like my sister, and that’s being mean to my sister.  I don’t like this move.  I don’t know anyone who does.

Almost as a kick from karma for letting Johnson go, Scott Rolen breaks a finger and will miss anywhere from 2 weeks to a month.  I’m leaning more on the month side. This injury news coming short on the heals of Casey Janssen being shut down for the season, BJ Ryan having elbow pain (they are bringing him back way too early) and AJ Burnett having finger nail issues.  Sure that’s not all in the same week, but it’s all injury related. 

The Doc also got shelled in his last spring training outing.  If spring training is any indication of how the season is going to go, it will be an extremely long season for the Blue Jays.

The Good – The return of baseball means the return of spring.  Spring means good weather.  Good weather means summer is coming.  And summer means BBQ.

 The Raptors 

The Bad – Well it happened.  The fear of the Raptors falling far enough to avoid running into the Cavaliers was a good thing, but with a loss on Sunday coupled with a 76ers win over the Celtics, they have fallen too far which is a bad thing.  If the playoffs started today the Raps would face Detroit and I don’t know if that’s better or worse for the Raptors than facing Cleveland, but either way it is an almost foregone conclusion that they will be eliminated in the first round. 

Moreover, The Raptors continue to struggle to close out games late.  I went to the Denver game and my buddy Roncken and we were thinking that maybe the Raps could pull off an upset at the end of the first half.  With over 5 minutes remaining, The Nuggets were in the penalty, the Raps had a lead, and plenty of foul flexibility, and we were pretty happy.  I can’t remember any Raptor getting to the line in the last 5 minutes of the game.  It was bad. The turning point was when Moon’s block was called a foul and Melo sunk those free throws. 

This team is mentally weak, they are the NBA equivalent of the Ottawa Senators to me.  One bad call or bounce swings the momentum completely away from Toronto too easily.  Without mental fortitude this team can’t improve beyond the season it had last year anytime soon.

The Good – The Raptors still have 12 games left to try and fix this mess.  Bosh called out his teammates to compete harder (good move), and they are still going to the post-season.  Really there isn’t much good in world of the Raptors right now, but they can only go up right?  Right?

 The Leafs 

The Bad – The Leafs lost last night basically eliminating themselves from the playoffs.  Some would consider this a bad thing, including my buddy Sachin who I went to the game with last night.  So I put it under the bad.  So the Leafs are out, not mathematically but they really stand no chance and haven’t for weeks, AND they screwed themselves on the Stamkos sweepstakes.  They are positioned well to draft 10^th or so in the first round of this year’s draft.  Me, I think it’s good because the Leafs should not be in the playoffs.  They were exposed this year as a team that hasn’t been built well for many many years but had its short-comings covered up by free agent spending.  Under the cap system, the Leafs lack of direction and vision for this club have been revealed and it has come back to bite them 3 straight years now.  So there is silver lining even to “the bad”.  The Leafs can finally try and BUILD something.  I want them to miss the playoffs 4 or 5 more years in a row, draft (hopefully well), and give Toronto a team we can actually like and have legitimate hopes for.

The Good – The Leafs can still play spoiler.  They can beat Boston on Thursday and do their part in not only helping an exciting team, The Capitals, make it into the post-season for the first time in the Ovechkin era, but they can also help Ovechkin win his first Hart trophy.

For the record I still don’t understand the case against Ovechkin, regardless of whether or not The Caps make the playoffs.  Ovechkin has been the best player bar-none all year.  He is dragging the Caps towards the playoffs on his own.  He has set the NHL on fire with the first 60 goal season in years.  And not the most valuable to his team?  Are you kidding me?  Ovechkin puts bums in the seats in Washington.  If he weren’t on the team, not only would they be dead last in the league, the arena would be empty, the Caps would have to pay people to show up.  Ovechkin puts bums in seats of the arenas he visits too for that matter.  Sure Malkin has had a great year, but most of his attention has been since Crosby went out.  During the span without Crosby out, and including the three games he briefly returned for, Malkin has 50 points in 32 games.  That’s 1.56 points per game.  Why isn’t anyone talking about Staal stepping up with all the injuries in Carolina, particularly Rod Brind’Amour.  He is doing the same thing as Malkin, but without the glamour.  Staal has 28 points in 18 games which is…oh my goodness, 1.56 points per game.  This also comes on a team that gave up on themselves a couple months ago, making the trade with Ottawa to help build more for the future.  They wrote themselves out of the playoffs a long time ago but Staal has stepped up and he’s gotten them into the postseason, with the 3^rd seed too.

But back to Alexander the Great vs. Malkin, because Staal isn’t an MVP candidate, even though the argument that everyone is making for Malkin could be made for Staal as well.  Ok, so Malkin is putting up amazing numbers, but he hasn’t necessarily been more important to Pittsburgh’s winning ways without Sid as Ty Conklin was, who over that same stretch was arguably the best goalie in the league.  Just look at how many game winning goals Malkin has this year: 3.  Three game winners is not an MVP amount.  In fact that’s down around the bottom of the pack when it comes to the studs of the league.  Ryan Malone has 6 game winners leading the Penguins, and Sid the kid has 4, despite missing all that time with the high ankle sprain.  So what about that other Russian, number 8 on Washington?  Well he has a tidy 10 game winners leading all NHL scorers, one more than Iggy and, believe it or not, Jeremy Roenick who each have 9.  For the record, Staal, the guy putting up Malkin like numbers sans Brind’Amour, has 7 game winners.

Are you kidding me?  This isn’t even close.  Malkin deserves consideration, but he, among with any other candidate, is a distant second to Ovechkin.  As for the argument for The Caps not making the playoffs?  Yes, making the playoffs is a very important factor, the most important factor, but the precedent has been set with Lemieux when he won the Hart in his 199 point season for the last place Pens.  This is a year where no one else has stood out like Ovechkin, whether or not they are on the best team, or the worst. And in a year where the best player in the league, and most valuable player TO the league (with Crosby hurt there’s not doubt it’s Ovechkin) has his team fighting for the playoffs even this late into March is the Art Ross winner, the Rocket Richard winner, the Hart winner, and the Lester B. Pearson winner. Bar none.

That was an awesome tangent.  But this is my hope for the Leafs this year, win one more game, this Thursday against the Bruins and help Ovechkin and The Capitals.  This is the good news for the Leafs, that in a year as bad as this, they can still make me happy by beating the Bruins on Thursday night in Boston.

NHL - I’m getting tired of the big push for Evgeni Malkin to earn the Hart Trophy this year.  No doubt the man deserves some consideration, but I would not place him as the front runner.  I simply can’t hand out an important trophy like that based on 21 games of an 82 game schedule.  No doubt he has played some amazing hockey in the absence of Sidney Crosby, but I still don’t think he deserves the MVP trophy. 

Through the first 45 or so games that Crosby was in the lineup, the Penguins were still a contender in the East and Malkin was a great player, but he wasn’t even considered an all-star.  Then Crosby got hurt and the Penguins didn’t miss a beat.  A lot of that is due to Malkin, I will concede that fact.  However, this was also a case of everyone stepping up, especially Ty Conklin who has played by far the best hockey of his career since taking over for the injured Marc Andre Fleury.  Now that Crosby is back, Malkin is still playing really good hockey, but he hasn’t been the same as he was in the 21 games without Crosby.  Malkin showed great leadership and his true potential by rising to the occasion and assuming Crosby’s as the #1 guy, but that was for only a 21 game window of the regular season. 

My MVP candidate is still Ovechkin.  Sure his team might not make the playoffs but Washington is right there and they still have a shot.  He has been arguably the best player all season, not just over a 21 game stretch, and he brings so much to the table.  You can see his Capitals following his lead, hitting, blocking shots, playing hard to make the post-season.  And yes, there is the fact that they likely will not make the playoffs, but Mario Lemieux won the Hart for the Pens in 1988 and they were last in their division. 

My top 5 Hart Candidates are:

1. Alexander Ovechkin – Going to lead in goals and points this season on a team battling for its playoff life.
2. Martin Brodeur – The only goalie that gets real consideration in my mind. He is the best goalie in the league (Luongo had a couple major stretches of inconsistency).
3. Evgeni Malkin – Played the best hockey of any player over a 21 game stretch this season, just needed to see more of that play all season for me to grant the second Penguin in two years the award.
4. Jarome Iginla – Does it all for the Flames. Scores, hits, fights, blocks shots.  Whatever it takes to win, Iggy will do it.
5. Alexei Kovalev – Not talked about enough.  He doesn’t have as many points as the others on this board but Montreal is fighting for first in the East despite many pundits saying they wouldn’t make the playoffs this year and it’s in a big way because of this guy.  The line he leads has been the best in the East for most of the season and he is mentoring many of the young players on this team. 

NBA – The NBA most valuable player talks seems to be boiling itself down to a two horse race: Kobe Bryant or Lebron James.  Both of these guys are deserving of the accolade to be honest, you can’t go wrong with either pick.  The injury to Kevin Garnett (and Boston’s success in his absence) ruled him out after he was widely considered by many to be inline to notch his second trophy.  So then there were two, in the minds of many. 

I feel like it going to be Kobe Bryant.  The Lakers should have the best record in the West by season’s end (and should be the entire NBA if Boston and Detroit didn’t have the benefit of beating up on the East far more often than the Lakers and other Western powers) and Kobe is the catalyst to that fact.  Sure he has arguably the best supporting cast in the entire Association, but Kobe Bryant is still the greatest singular talent in the league, though James is closing that gap with each passing year. 

I just wanted to pipe up a bit and throw out two other names that I feel deserve to finish in the top 5 of the MVP talks:  Chris Paul and Chris Bosh.  Paul is without a doubt the best point guard in the game right now and has his team fighting for a high seed, if not the 1^st seed in the West.  And Chris Bosh, well the Raptors sans Chris don’t make the playoffs in the East.  I didn’t feel that way a couple of weeks ago, but he not only is their best scorer and rebounder, but I am really beginning to appreciate the leadership qualities and confidence that Chris brings when he’s in the lineup.  You’re seeing what he means to them right now with him out.  Bosh played only 10 minutes in the loss to the Pacers, and since then the Raps are 2-5 without him and the only wins came against the Sonics and the Heat.  I expect Kobe to win it, but these two have to get consideration.

My top 5 MVP candidates are:

1. Kobe Bryant – Still the best player in the game, and he’ll get it this year partially based on the fact that he hasn’t won an MVP yet.  Consider it a lifetime achievement MVP.
2. Chris Paul – Best PG in the game has his team playing well above their heads.  CP3 would be my first choice but this year is simply Kobe’s year.
3. Lebron James – The King is almost an unstoppable force and he alone still has a chance to get Cleveland to the finals despite Boston and Detroit sporting better records.  He is really starting to develop that mean, killer instinct too that he lacked early in his career.
4. Chris Bosh – If it weren’t for his injury the Raps would have pushed for the 3^rd seed in the East.  With him hurt I’d rather see them fall a spot to avoid Cleveland and face Orlando in the first round…maybe that’s the idea.
5. Kevin Garnett – Has Boston with the best record in the Association but they played well without him (9-2) and they would still be a playoff team if he wasn’t a Celtic.

The other day I wrote my first round predictions for the Eastern Conference, today I’m doing the West.  Of course I went East first because that is a far more predictable conference, there are really only 3 contenders in the East, Boston, Detroit and Lebron; The West is almost wide open.  All 8 teams that make it in the West, though not capable of winning a championship, can by all means pull off an upset in the 1st round.  One note before we jump in is the fact that I’m writing this on Sunday, March 2nd and some of the games are finished, some aren’t, so the seeds may very well change by the time I’m done writing this column, but I’m sticking with the seeds as of this exact moment in time: March 2nd at 9:08 p.m.  Crazy.

#1 San Antonio Spurs vs. #8 Golden State Warriors

Decidedly I’m going to pull my hair out trying to pick winners in this conference.  Golden State so far leads the regular season series 2-0 with one more game to go.  The first matchup wasn’t close in the box score but The Spurs were without Tim Duncan, and the game was a low scoring affair 96-84 Golden State, the second went to OT where Stephen Jackson took over in a 130-121 victory.  Golden State was the feel good story of last year’s playoffs with that monumental upset over the Mavericks that caused Dirk Nowitzki to lose his mind.  They have a good chance at doing it again this year, but I don’t think they will surprise anyone with an “upset” this year.  This matchup will come down to who forces the other team into playing their style, Pop’s defensive Spurs will want to slow it down and grind it out, where as Nellie’s Warriors will try and turn the tempo up and play small ball.  I think the greatest thing going against the Golden State Warriors is that this year they won’t catch San Antonio off guard like they did Dallas, and the Spurs won’t wilt away like the fragile minded Mavericks did in the first round last year.  I think at home the Warriors will be tough, and they’ll force the Spurs hand in a couple of games into fast-paced basketball.  But the Spurs can play pretty quick themselves, with Ginobili and Parker.  I prefer San Antonio’s experience and coaching to the exciting game that Golden State plays, but I think Golden State will still make this a great series to watch (much more fun than anything else San Antonio will do in this post season).  Spurs win in 7.

#2 Los Angeles Lakers vs. #7 Dallas Mavericks

These two played a game this afternoon that went to OT, the Lakers won it 108-104.  Kobe scored 52 points, 30 in the fourth quarter and overtime to help lead his team past another Western power.  This season series is split, however Dallas’ victory came back in late January, when Bynum was hurt and before the controversial Gasol trade landed Kobe in Showtime.  The biggest question facing the Lakers in the playoffs is Kobe.  This year so far he has found the right balance between playing two different kinds of Kobe, the team playing, ball distributing Bryant, and then the one we know, the Bryant that take the ball on every play and scores.  It’s in the team’s best interest of the Lakers for Kobe to play nice and involve his teammates in the early going, getting them motivated, scoring and passing, then in the later stages, if the game is tight and the Lakers need a basket on every possession, for Kobe to take over like he did today.  The Kidd trade was meant to give Dallas better toughness and leadership in the post-season which I think it will do, and Kidd still has time to learn how to best run this Mavericks team, but I don’t think Kidd will be enough against these superior Lakers.   This will be the best series of the 1st round of the playoffs if Kidd can keep Dallas from self-combusting like they did a year ago.  Both teams are well coached, have great depth and can play at very high levels.  However it will be the Lakers moving on behind great play by Kobe.  Lakers win in 6.

#3 New Orleans Hornets vs. #6 Phoenix Suns

This isn’t exactly breaking news but it is the truth: The Phoenix Suns will not win a championship, not this year, and likely not with Steve Nash.  This year, they won’t even make it out of the first round.  So sad.  Steve Nash is still very exciting to watch, and can make passes no one else in the game can make, but he just doesn’t have it in him to lead this team to a championship.  Shaq was brought into Phoenix for similar reasons that Kidd was brought to Dallas, to make the team mentally tougher in the post-season, adding experience and leadership.  Unfortunately, like the Kidd move to Dallas, bringing Shaq to the desert won’t help.  There is the off chance that Nash, Stoudemire and O’Neal play their best basketball of the year in the playoffs, but I don’t see that happening.  They would all have to elevate their game, night in night out in the playoffs at the same time for this team to make it far.  It won’t happen.  New Orleans on the other hand, is being led by the best young point guard in the game.  Chris Paul won’t win an MVP this year, it will likely be Kobe Bryant or Lebron James, with Garnett having an outside shot if he dominates the last couple months of the season.  But Chris Paul is the most deserving player in the league.  Chris Paul makes all the difference between the Hornets being the 3rd seed in the West, or being the 13th seed.  Chris Paul will also win this series.  Steve Nash can’t handle Paul and he will punish the Suns for trading away Marion’s defense.  Shaq will be the key, if he can be half of the Shaq of old then Phoenix can possibly make it out of the first round.  I don’t see that happening.  I’m taking New Orleans in 5.

#4 Utah Jazz vs. #5 Houston Rockets

I haven’t watched enough games of either of these teams to know how they play to be honest.  All I know is what I read.  From what I read I like Utah’s chances.  Yao Ming is gone but that hasn’t stopped the Rockets from winning, but the Rockets just can’t seem to win in the playoffs.  They are a much better team this year than years past, but I still think they are too soft, and losing Ming, despite the fact that he can’t play defense, is going to hurt them down the stretch.  Utah is also a solid basketball team.  They are led by Deron Williams who is one of the top 5 point guards, and play a great team game under the guidance of coach Jerry Sloan.  Sloan is normally a defense first guy, and a control freak, but he has let his team play some pretty high scoring games this year and loosened up a bit to help keep his team, and Andrei Kirilenko, happy.  However, I think in the playoffs you’ll see them playing shut down D on the Rockets and keeping the game nice and slow and boring.  At any rate, the Jazz will come out on top in 6 and McGrady’s futility in the playoffs will continue.

Well there you have it.  Not exactly the most in depth look at the playoffs, but it’s how I see things shaking down.  Surprisingly I predicted no upsets in the West if these were the matchups.  If there are to be any upsets in the Western conference I say it is going to be Phoenix over New Orleans, because of New Orleans’ inexperience but I just think Phoenix’ time has come and gone already, they needed to win last year and maybe would have were it not for those suspensions.  Having said that we’ll just have to wait and see how the last 25 or so games of the season play out. 

Well the NBA trade deadline has left us with what will likely be the rosters teams will have going into the playoffs (with the exception of teams buying up waived or bought out players).  So with that in mind, I decided to look at the current playoff matchups and predict 1st round outcomes were the NBA playoffs to start today.  Tonight I’ll look at the East, which is easier to predict, the next couple days I’ll look at the West.

So let’s have a look at what we got….

#1 Boston Celtics vs. #8 New Jersey Nets

This should be a walk in the park for Boston.  They lead the season series so far 3-0 and I know that regular season and playoffs are two completely different seasons, but Jersey just really doesn’t have a chance.  New Jersey has Keith Van Horn, I’m telling you now he’s going to make a comeback.  They did get some pretty good players in Diop for depth down the middle and Devin Harris who is a good young point guard only getting better.  However, Harris isn’t healthy right now, so he wouldn’t be good to go in this scenario (that of the playoffs starting today) and even once he does come back, he will have less time to be integrated and get a feel for his new team. Boston will just walk all over them, I don’t even know why I’m spending this much time writing about this matchup.  To make it a little more interesting, I think Boston should take 2 fans from the crowd at each home game to play alongside Garnett, Pierce and Ray Allen.  If this is the case, I can see Jersey mabye stealing a game.  Boston Wins 4-1.

#2 Detroit Pistons vs. #7 Philadelphia 76ers

I can spend even less time on this matchup.  Detroit is the strongest team in the East despite Boston having a better record.  Philly has some players I actually can cheer for, like Iguodala (though he is going to be ridiculously overpaid at the end of this year), and Sam Dalembert (who is already ridiculously overpaid) and a young gun I have liked a lot in any game I’ve seen him play, Thaddeus Young.   At any rate, I see Detroit sweeping Philly in the first round.  Detroit wins 4-0.

#3 Orlando Magic vs. #6 Washington Wizards

This matchup is a little more interesting.  Now if the playoffs started today Washington would be without a couple of key players, namely Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, in which case I would take Orlando in 5.  However, with those two guys healthy, particularly Caron who plays better in the team mentality that Washington has going, this matchup becomes much more interesting.  Without Arenas, the PG matchup is moot, neither team has a number one guy at the point, I’m sorry to any Jameer Nelson fans out there (if there are any), but he isn’t a number one, he is a good backup.  With Arenas healthy, I give the advantage to Washington.  At SG, Washington wins at the starting position, I’ll take Stevenson over Maurice Evans, but off the bench, Keyon Dooling will give you better minutes than Nick Young, so Washington gets the nod here but not by much. The small forward matchup would be great if Caron Butler is healthy.  I like both Turkoglu and Butler, although sometimes Turkoglu is a little too trigger happy.  Both these guys shoot at a pretty high percentage, rebound well at their position and can distribute the ball as well.  I think if Hedo grows a mean playoff beard he gets the advantage because Caron’s face is still waiting for puberty, but without the beard I give a slight nod to Washington. PF provides us with another interesting matchup.  The $120 million dollar man from Orlando versus Antawn Jamison.  Personally I’ll take Jamison.  Rashard got too much money for what he brings and really the success that Orlando has experienced this year has a lot less to do with his arrival than it does with the emergence of one Dwight Howard.  Lewis can score, but beyond that he doesn’t offer the Magic much.  At 6′10″ he should pull more than 5.1 boards a game.  Jamison on the other hand is having arguably his best year at 31, despite his lowest FG%.  Antawn has managed 20 games of 12 or more boards including a 24-20 game against the Raptors.  The problem with Jamison is despite his second best PPG average of his career, he is taking too many shots and his FG% is suffering.  Jamison should be a 3rd scorer on the team, but this season he has been the 2nd scorer most of the year and the #1 guy since Butler’s injury, he’s responded by shooting .416 in the month of February.  Still Jamison wins the PF matchup. It’s all about Dwight.  The centre position is owned by Howard in Orlando, his backups play a combined 15 minutes per game, so Orlando’s hopes rest on the shoulders of this manchild.  After his ridiculous start he has dropped off a little but Howard still has 9 games of 20 rebounds or better.  He will draw double and triple teams from Washington and if his passing was better he could really make them pay, but the fact of the matter is Dwight isn’t much of a ball distributor.  Howard will absolutely run the table on Haywood and Blatche if he doesn’t tire out, but that will have to be Washington’s strategy, make the big man work and the longer the series goes, the better chance Washington will have.  But Orlando’s Dwight Howard is arguably the best centre in the game and he is the key to Orlando winning this series, they will only go as far as he takes them.  If Washington is healthy, this is a good series with Orlando having the best player but Washington having the better team, if Washinton isn’t healthy than this is Orlando’s.  A healthy Washington takes it in 7.

#4 Toronto Raptors vs. #5 Cleveland Cavaliers

Aw crap.  This is a matchup I dread for my Raptors.  These teams have met 3 times in the regular season with Cleveland having a 2-1 advantage, however, both losses for the Raptors were close, 111-108, and 93-90.  The lone win came in Toronto with both teams stars out nursing injuries.  However, James was dominant in both wins, and in that 93-90 Toronto loss, James went off for 24 points in the 4th quarter alone.  James is one of those talents that most teams just can’t defend, and Toronto has the tendency to really let guys like him shine.  When playing top tier talent and showmen, the Raptors often tend to become spectators just like the fans.  Players like Lebron and Kobe just seem to have their way with Toront’s defense and it doesn’t bode well for this matchup.  Furthermore, the way Lebron elevates his game in the playoffs makes me even more nervous.  At every other position Toronto matches up fairly well.  Toronto has the better PGs with Calderon and Ford, and I like their SGs over Clevelands (Parker and Delfino over Devin Brown, Daniel Gibson, and Sasha Pavlovic).  Cleveland has been playing Ben Wallace at PF, and he’ll defend Chris Bosh but I think that because Wallace has lost a step, Chris will do well against him on offense and having an inept scorer like Wallace to guard allows Bosh to provide help D against Lebron and Zydrunas.  Joe Smith though will maybe have an easy time working Kris Humphries because of his higher basketball IQ, and Humphries knack for recently taking ill-advised long, and I  mean long 2’s.  Centre is interesting.  Andrea Bargnani is really hit or miss, if he starts hot in a game he plays well, if he starts cold he may as well sit for the rest of the game.  Nesterovic and Brezec are pretty good backups, Nesterovic being silent and simple, but he tends to play fairly mistake free ball. Brezec is more of a crowd pleaser and if he can play healthy, he can put up decent numbers.  Behind Ilgauskas, Cleveland features Anderson Varejao, who has strong, tenacious D, but like Ben Wallace doesn’t have much of an offensive game.  Toront’s team and depth gives them a good chance in this series.  However the fact that it’s Lebron scares me.  I just don’t know if the Raps can stop him and Bosh will have to try and take over the game the way Lebron will.  Bosh is capable of doing that (he scored 41 against Cleveland earlier this year), but sometimes he settles too much for outside shots instead of driving against slower defenders.  I must admit though, he has a pretty sick stroke when he’s on and his jab step is just nasty.  The intangibles will be huge in this series.  Right now Toronto has home court advantage which is indispensable.  Toronto elevates their game at home and can even manage to just crush opponents on home court.  Cleveland though has more playoff experience which also bodes well for their nerves in tight games.  Toronto takes the team game, but Cleveland has possibly the best player in the league on their side.  I hate to say it, but I’ll take Cleveland in 6.

So yesterday was one of my favourite days of the year, the NHL trade deadline.  What fun.  In Canada we have three networks with all-day coverage starting at about 8:30 a.m. going all the way up to just past the 3 p.m deadline.  Imagine that.  Last year’s deadline I missed because I was in Australia for school, so I was really looking forward to this year.  In retrospect, what I should have done is wrote down everything as it happened, would have been much better, and that was my plan, but not everything goes according to plan, especially when those plans are mine.  Regardless, I will do my best to relive the magic that was NHL trade deadline day in the next few paragraphs.

*** 

So I woke up late.  I planned on being right with all the networks right from kickoff, but sadly I was up late last night doing nothing at all because that’s my unemployed life so I woke up around 10.  Thank goodness.  There was no action early on anyway, so I tuned in just to witness the first breaking news of the day on the first trade: Bryce Salvador to New Jersery for Cam Janssen going to St. Louis.  Not exactly a blockbuster but it has the guys on TSN a buzz.  Salvador is a depth D-man and Janssen who is a tough guy who really can’t skate.  This being the first trade they are analysing it.  Now they got Janssen on the phone, that’s how big this news is.  Many non-hockey people dont’ really appreciate this enough, NHL trade deadline day is HUGE for us, it’s one of the days that we live for every year, along with our birthdays, and any day that results in a long weekend.  I’m happy to report that Cam Janssen is a pretty funny guy.  This is arguably the first interview he has EVER had and he is handling himself well and cracking jokes.  In hockey usually the biggest assholes on the ice are the most fun, good-natured fellows off the ice, even in all my years playing I never understood this.

I’m devastated, news just broke that Wade Belak has been traded to the Florida Panthers for a 5th rounder.  Why Wade?  Why?  He is the only legit tough guy they have and he wasn’t being used in games where Toronto played teams with pests like Avery which is a mistake, even if Wade doesn’t provide much in the way of skill, he polices the ice.  So this is Cliff Fletcher’s first big move as Leafs interim GM, trading Wade Belak.  After Mats said he wasn’t going anywhere I think Cliff thought to himself “fuck, now what do I do?  I better start making some phone calls”.  My buddy Sachin just called me, he heard the news too, he liked Belak a lot.  Belak isn’t really the guy we needed to move on a day like this, we needed to move Antropov, Ponikerovsky, Wellwood.  I know everyone should go really, like this team should be completely dismantled, but Belak?  Damn.  I asked Sachin if his watching the deadline at work on his computer, he just told me he’s at his house (he just bought a new one with his fiancee who is at work) so he told me to come over and watch the deadline with him….time to relocate.

I just got to Sachin’s and I brought my slippers.  Sachin is my only other true hockey friend that I hang out with on a regular basis.  He is the biggest Leaf fan I have ever met save for my late grandmother, this day could go South in a hurry.  When asked why he isn’t at work today, he reminded me that him and my other friend Donnie went to the Spice Girls concert last night and got absolutely hammered (they got the tickets for free, that’s the only reason they went though I am a bit jealous).  Sachin has a sweet new HD TV and he has TSN, Sportsnet and The Score on “favourites” on his remote control.  I got to Sachin’s just in time too, we have our first big trade to talk about, Brian Campbell to the Sharks for Stever Bernier and a 1st round pick.    I like this trade for both teams.  Campbell was going to walk in the summer because Buffalo wouldn’t give him a longer term contract than 3 years at $6 million per, so they get Bernier, a big young forward and a pick?  Not a bad return instead of getting nothing like they have done recently with the likes of Briere and Drury.  Campbell is a good puck mover on the back end that will help the Sharks particularly on the powerplay, but he isn’t worth the money and term he’s asking.  Dan Boyle just signed a big contract yesterday and Campbell’s will look similar, both guys are good, but not $6.5 million good.  The NHL is starting to hand out massive contracts again WAY too soon.  I smell a lockout coming….

The guys on the networks have barely been given enough time to wrap their heads around these trades when the next blockbuster comes in, Brad Richards is going to Dallas.  That’s huge.  The guys on TV are losing their minds.  Everybody should watch draft day, it’s too funny.  If you were to ask me whose coverage I like most to least?  I’d say TSN, followed by Sportsnet, and then The Score.  TSN has some great characters on it, like Pierre McGuire, who cracks me up sometimes when he talks about his “monsters” of the game.  Sportsnet has decent coverage too, but they have Bill Watters, who on this particular day has decided to wear really tight jeans, really tight jeans.  Bill is also sitting just high enough in his sit that said jeans are very visible.  I also put very little value into what Mr. Watters has to say, his hockey knowledge isn’t exactly top-notch.  As for The Score, we think that they just watch TSN and Sportsnet to find out what trades are being done.  The Score does have Steve Ludzik though, he is hilarious to listen to, honestly, I watch The Score’s highlights when he does them with Steve Kouleas (who somehow got a show called Hockey Talk) just to see Ludzik.  Ludzik is the saving grace of The Score’s NHL deadline day coverage.

Sachin and I are spending most of our time on TSN.  We have decided that unless TSN confirms it, no trade reported by anyone else is official.  Oh man, TSN has “The Reporters” on their deadline coverage.  They mostly sit behind the main panel but you catch glimpses of them often.  They consist of Damien Cox, Steven Simmons, Michael Farber, and Dave Hodge.  When their segment gets on Sachin changes the channel, we have decided we don’t like to listen to this group much, but it is fun to spot them in the background, barely talking or even looking at each other when they aren’t on the air.  Simmons taps the desk incessantly in the background, it’s driving me crazy.

Holy crap, Montreal made their first trade and it’s not what anyone expected.  Cristobal Huet is heading to Washington, who now has 3 goalies, for a 2nd round pick.  No one can fathom this trade.  Everyone at TSN is cursing the move, saying Price isn’t ready.  I don’t think this team is ready anyway.  Sure with a nice Marian Hossa or Olli Jokinen addition they can come out of the East (maybe even without those guys), but they will get demolished by a Western team, most East teams will in the Stanley Cup finals unless the Western team is completely warn out from playing all the other Western powers.  How come no one likes this trade?  Huet is an UFA at the end of the year, they weren’t going to sign him for the money he’s going to want so they got a pick in return for him.  Sure they could have gotten more but maybe this pick is just a piece to to a Hossa package?  I can’t believe no one has thought of this yet, I’m wathcing stunned that McGuire hasn’t said what I’m thinking.  Besides, I have no Cristobal, but I foresee Price playing well downt the stretch….get it?  Cristobal….crystal ball…

Sachin just handed me a beer.  The day is about to get a bit more interesting. 

A few more trades have happened, everyone is buzzing on TV.  NHL trade deadline day is full of so much excitement during certain periods, but when there aren’t any trades to report they just track people down and interview them.  Like Brian Campbell who is sad today.  He is almost crying and the cameraman is sporadically zooming in on his facing to try and catch a tear.  I don’t understand why some athletes get like this when they’re traded.  They get sad for being traded, and act like it’s out of their hands when it’s not.  I understand that leaving your teammates and the city can be jarring, but getting upset?  Come on, it’s the nature of the business, and you get paid millions of dollars to live with this potential dilemma.  Here’s a solution:  Accept a contract that is good for both yourself and the club, which sets you up for life but allows the team to still pay other good players so that you can maybe win a championship.  Gee Sean, that’s a novle idea.  And when the athlete is trade they say all the right things, like “I loved the fans, the city, the organisation, but sometimes things just don’t work” and they get all upset, and sometimes cry.  Hockey players are notorious for this.  At least Brian Campbell just said “sometimes you have to look out for #1″ as in, ”I’m in a contract year and I want as much money as possible, no matter where I go, even if it is to a team that doesn’t stand a chance at winning”.  Someone will overpay this guy.  He will get a very similar contract to Dan Boyle’s. 

Sachin and I have to head out on a beer run.  We don’t have many left and we have decided to make this NHL trade deadline day our personal best ever.  

We bought a 2-4 of President’s Choice Pilsener, and it’s not bad.  Maybe that’s the 4 previous beers talking but for a buck-a-beer this stuff is pretty good.

Adam Foote just went to Colorado.  This is interesting.  First of all, Columbus didn’t land Brad Richards like they wanted to now they are dismantling the team….this is sad for Columbus because the fans are pretty good there and they deserve to make the playoffs even though they’ll get blown out in the first round unless Leclaire plays out of his mind.  This trade is also interesting because now we have Foote and Forsberg returning to the mountains.  If they can get Blake too (they won’t be just imagine that) and convince Claude Lemieux to come out of retirement this team will win it all this year just on the feel-good nature of the story.  It’s almost the Avs of 2001. 

Oh ya, did I mention Ottawa got Martin Lapointe?  No?  Geez, I don’t know how I missed that one.  That’s a huge trade….now Ottawa has picked up Commodore, Stillman, and Lapointe to help them win the Cup this year.  Ottawa is not coming out of the East, I’m telling you that now.  They still only have the one line that somehow got them to the finals last year but it’s not enough this year.  Ottawa is going nowhere and lately they have been playing pretty damn poorly.  The hockey pundits on TV love this trade for Lapointe.  They are saying he’ll straighten out that dressing room and be a good leader.  I don’t see him making nearly enough of a dressing room impact over the last 20 games of the season to save this hockey team.  Sorry Ottawa, unless they get better in the next 2 hours your team is going nowhere.

This beer is tasting better and better.

Toronto made it’s second big trade right before the deadline, Hal Gill to Pittsburgh for a 2nd and 5th round picks.  This is why they brought in a really connected guy like Cliff Fletcher, to make big trade like this.  I could have made this trade.  Except I would have tried to ship him to a Detroit or someone else who needs defensive depth (because Detroit D keep getting hurt and for no other reason do they need help on the back end) in the West to prevent Hal Gill from rubbing out my small forwards on the forecheck for the next couple of years.  (Case in point, Detroit acquired Brad Stuart later in the day for a 2nd and 4th round picks).

Here we go, another big fish is on the move.  Except not to a team everyone was expecting.  Marian Hossa is going to Pittsburgh, not Montreal or Ottawa.  Shit.  I wanted Montreal to get him, but based on what Atlanta got back, Bob Gainey deemed the price too high.  Atlanta gets Angelo Esposito, Colby Armstrong, Erik Christenssen, and a 1st round pick for what will amont to be a rental.  Wow.  Kudos to Pittsburgh for making such a ballsy move but that’s a high price to pay for Hossa who they won’t be able to afford to keep around beyond this year.  But that is a strong top 2 lines for the Penguins.  Crosby and Hossa on the top line with absolutely anyone they want, and keep the Malkin-Sykora-Malone line intact.  That’s a dynamite 1-2 punch if it all works out.  If they keep getting good or great goaltending, you have to like their chances of winning the East.

Sachin and I have now finished about our 10th beer each.  We are delirious with all the deadline day action and have had a great time making fun of all the analysts on TV and picking our favourite and least personalities.  What a day.  The Leafs also made one last deal, Chad Kilger for a 3rd rounder.  So Cliff didn’t really do much on this day.  Interesting.  Now the Leafs will play well down the stretch like they always do and either just miss, or just squeak into the playoffs like they are famous for the last few years (it’s hard to believe that this team is only 4 years removed from a 103 point season, which is a team record).

It’s amazing to me that trades will be reported even hours after the deadline.  Never the really big ones, always minor trades, but I mean we’ll hear about new trades as late as 6 o’clock tonight, three hours after the deadline.

Oh. My. Gosh.  Cliff Fletcher just had a press conference and Sachin can barely lift his drunk jaw off the floor.  Cliff is not a happy man.  He was out there taking shots and everyone and their mother.  For the record, Cliff is an old man and sometimes old men have lapses in judgement and get grumpy when they are tired and snap at people.  My grandpa does this sometimes to his daughters (my mother and aunts) without really meaning to; That’s old people for you.  Cliff though, he was swinging at everybody.  He took a shot at Kubina, John Ferguson Jr., McCabe, and Sundin all in the span of 10 minutes.  There may have been more but I’m pretty fucking drunk at this point.  Wow.  More evidence to suggest Cliff isn’t all up there is that he said this franchise needs to start somewhere and guys like Toskala and Antropov will be the building blocks.  Toskala is a pretty damn good goalie, I don’t mind the Leafs keeping him but he and Mats screw up their chances at good draft position which is what they need to do starting now.  If they truly want to rebuild, even Toskala must go.  Antropov?  Without Sundin he is a 3rd line guy, maybe a 2nd.  Ofcourse in Toronto he is a #1 line winger.  And if Cliff means what he said, then you have to expect Sundin isn’t going to be back next year, “I promise you that next year’s team will have a new face”.  That probably isn’t actually a direct quote because I’m trashed.  But the “face” of the Leafs is Sundin, that’s how mad Cliff is.  This press conference was a mistake.

 ***

So that’s the best I could do.  Next year I’m going to write it as it happens.  I forgot entirely way too many good jokes we made and funny things that happened.  The alcohol will have to be included next year as well.  Sachin and I will look to made NHL Trade Dealine Day a sick day for the rest of our lives, at least until Canada makes it a national holiday which is only a few years away.

The rest of Sachin’s and my day/night consisted of us playing NHL 2008 on his PS3 as Team Canada in an international tournament which we suck at.  New sports games are beyond me.  For hockey all I do is one-time the puck and hit the hell out of people.  Sachin decided to turn penalties off because last time we played we were short-handed 80% of the time because of how I play.  I will dominate anyone in a hockey game up to NHL 2002, but the last few years it’s become too technical.  I still have fun, but my gameplan is too simple and my weaknesses are exposed.

After NHL we rocked pretty hard on Guitar Hero 3.  We did this until 2 a.m. or so when Sachin and I decided that after a long, hard day like the trade deadline and 17 or so beers each (we drank the 2-4 and the beers Sachin already had) it was time for bed. 

Until next year.

This isn’t entirely shocking news.  Peter Forsbery has signed a one-year contract to return to the NHL this season.  This annoucement comes only a couple weeks after Forsberg asked his agent to tell teams he is likely not going to return.  Interesting…

So Foppa goes back to the team he began his NHL career with and enjoyed most of his success.  If Colorado were healthy they’d have a pretty good club.  Sakic, Smyth, Stastny, Brunette, Hejduk, Svatos, Wolski and now you add Forsberg, on forward.  Unfortunately health has eluded this club for much of the season.  So the Forsberg experiment may either be boom or bust.

It’s really hard to say what Forsberg can still bring to the table.  I don’t know how many people have actually seen him skate during his rehabilitation.  What is interesting is Colorado managed to get him on board for only the rest of the season, at a large $5 million, but if he doesn’t pan out this year they have no further commitment to him.  Forsberg was looking for at least a 2 year deal, so this deal isn’t really that bad.  I hope Forsberg can still bring it, when in his prime (and healthy) he was consistently one of the top 5 players in the game.  I will do everything in my power to watch his first game back as an Av and report back what I judge to be his ability, which will be the most accurate assessment you’ll get, period.

So news just broke yesterday of Sundin’s decision on whether or not to waive his no-trade clause and much to the chagrin of many Leaf fans, and I suppose fans of the teams in the running to acquire the long-time Toronto captain at the deadline, he is going to remain a Leaf. 

Well surely this must mean Doomsday for Leaf nation.  I am really looking forward to hear what the reaction will be.  I expect there to be a small percentage who will be o.k. with the decision, saying it’s his right, and he deserves to retire a Leaf if that’s his choice.  However, the vast majority of fans will frankly be pissed.  Mats Sundin was expected to step up and truly personify what other people believe that “C” on his chest means and agree to do what was best for the organisation and waive the no-trade, he didn’t. 

A lot of the blame will be pointed directly at Sundin, and I am looking forward to a few things in the wake of his announcement including the implications this news has on other teams at the deadline, the Leafs first home game after this news (March 4th vs. the Devils), and the offseason. 

So, first off, what does this mean to the other teams at the deadline?  Well Thrashers GM Don Waddell is smiling from ear to ear right now.  The Marian Hossa market has just become much more interesting and teams will be making much more tasty offers now that Sundin is officially off the table.  Ottawa and Montreal are considered the front-runners for his services and both were also interested in Sundin.  So the pressure on both teams to increase the attractiveness of their packages has increased because Sundin was the grand prize, Hossa was the consolation, and now the grand is gone.  Sundin taking himself off the market has increased the value of Hossa, Olli Jokinen, Brad Richards, Vaclav Prospal, among the other big chips on the market.  Tomorrow will be a good day for cell phone companies.

Another interesting aspect will be Sundin’s reception at the ACC when the Leafs return home on March 4th.  In a way I think Sundin got lucky here.  There will be a lot of really angry fans blaming Mats for what will amount to their team taking longer to rebuild and Mats mercifully has a couple days before facing the fans who will likely, and unjustly turn on him.  Personally, I think Mats could have waived the no-trade clause and helped rebuild this team; it would have been an interesting scenario, seeing him playing for a competing club, maybe winning a Cup and seeing what the Leafs would get in return.  I’m a little upset that I don’t get to see what kind of fruit that scenario would bear.  But by no means do I dislike the guy for it, or respect him less.  If Mats left, the Leafs would have tanked like Edmonton did after Ryan Smyth was traded, which would have been a good thing for the draft which the Leafs traditionally do terrible in anyway. 

However, this notion that Mats OWED it to the Leafs to waive the no-trade clause, that he is selfish for not doing it, that he is disloyal for not doing it is a joke.  Come on, Mats has endured a lot from these fans and this media.  Sundin has been questioned because he wasn’t Wendel when he came here, he was questioned because he wasn’t Canadian, his heart was questioned, his leadership was questioned, and he always stayed strong, and led the team.  There was a time not long ago that Leaf fans voted and thought Darcy Tucker was the better player.  Excuse me?  They said Tucker was more valuable to The Leafs than Sundin.  MLSE never surrounded Mats with talent, they never gave him a good team to lead, there were decent players around him at times, but never a team, never anything close to good enough to really be considered a championship contender.  Yet this team has enjoyed more success than it deserves because Mats has taken the mediocre talent around him, and lifted them to some great years for this franchise. 

Fans always feel betrayed when a player wants out of town, Toronto fans know this as good as anyone (see Vince Carter).  When you hear that a player wants out, at any cost, to the point that he (or she) will actually quit on the team, you are betrayed.  That is a player you call disloyal, and can boo.  But when Mats Sundin tells everyone he will not turn his back on his team, that he wants to stay here, he is going to be painted in the same light as VC by some for absolutely no good reason.  What’s worse is the way Mats had to endure this whole scenario.  The organisation fired John Ferguson Jr. (about 2 years too late mind you) and brought in a guy, Cliff Fletcher, whose only job was to convince Mats to waive his no trade clause.  To believe that Cliff was hired to do anything else, is foolish.  Anyone could have made a bunch of trades at the deadline but Fletcher’s relationship with Sundin was expected to give him an edge in convincing Mats to leave. Sure you expect him to make other deals too, but they hired him specifically to convince Mats to leave town. Imagine that, your organisation, the one you have given 13 years to, wants you out so bad, they hire a guy to get you to leave town.  What’s worse, is when that guy gets here, he ignores the elephant in the room until 5 days before they have to have an answer.  This whole scenario really speaks to the laughing stock that is the management/ownership group of the Leafs.  

So, The Leafs now have to look at their other options at the deadline and for the rest of the season.  Sundin isn’t going anywhere and will receive criticism for that choice despite the fact that Kaberle has already made his same desire to stay known days ago to little fanfare, and even much less deserving players of no-trade clauses, like Kubina and Tucker, have said the same with no measurable reaction from fans.  McCabe has said he will make a list and consider a trade but you have to realise there isn’t much of a market for this guy and he is likely not moving.  So Mats will get the blame for all five of those guys staying put instead of helping the team rebuild which is wrong.  But the mandate should stay the same, trade anyone and everyone you can at the deadline, build for the future, and maybe if they can field a REALLY shitty team next year, Kaberle, Kubina and Tucker will all want to leave.  Get rid of Antropov, Wellwood, Stajan, White, anyone, even their lone bright spot outside of Sundin, Vesa Toskala.  This team still needs to get much much worse before it can get any better.

Then comes the offseason.  What happens then with Sundin and the Leafs?  Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing Sundin retire as a Leaf, this season, leaving the NHL and going back to Sweden where he walks on water and either enjoying his millions in retirement or playing back home.  I think it is time both Sundin and the Leafs went their separate ways.  If Sundin returns, he alone can keep this team competitive enough to keep them away from potentially getting a couple #1 picks in a row and build like the Penguins did.  So seeing Sundin walk on his terms is how I would like this soap opera to end.  Having said that, if his desire is to keep playing in the NHL and specifically for The Leafs, should the Leafs resign him?  I don’t know.  I like Sundin a lot, I told my friend Sachin today that he is the only Leaf I really like, but to really rebuild this team through the draft it’s best he doesn’t come back, I just want it to be on his terms, not the organisation’s.  And I think he should walk away.  With his head high and leave this team that over the years has given him tough love and will undoubtedly now vilify him following his decision.  Seeing Sundin in another jersey, and having the Leafs get nothing in return would be too painful.  Retire a Leaf Mats.

Now, I guess the only thing left to consider is why Mats would want to stay.  With the organisation and the majority of its fans telling him he isn’t wanted.  Why would he show loyalty to the bitter end despite being shown none himself?  Mats will say all the right things, he will say he can’t see himself in another jersey other than the blue and white.  Mats will say it’s where he wants to play, and retire.  Mats will shoulder the backlash that will come with this decision but if you ask me, Mats is doing it because his dressing room needs him.  The players he leads don’t want him to go.  For Mats to look into the eyes of those guys and say “I’m leaving” weighed more heavily on his heart than anything he felt personally.  Mats isn’t staying for the organisation, he is staying for his team.  That’s why he wears the “C” in Toronto.  And that’s what any captain should do.