One of my favorite non-sports blogs "Coyote Blog" has a look at the Balsillie thing from a different angle:
One of those 88 I spent a year with was a guy named Jim Balsillie, now famous as billionaire CEO of RIM (Blackberry) and, more recently, for trying to buy an NHL franchise. Jim is not a close friend, and in fact I probably haven’t exchanged a hundred words with him since we graduated. But over the period of a year I feel like I had the measure of him, as quiet, bright, kind and fairly humble. Jim was a much, much nicer guy than I was...
I write this all because I just have to make a public statement concerning a recent statement about Jim Balsillie by the NHL. The NHL recently chose to vote against letting Balsillie buy the Phoenix Coyotes. Fine. I think they are idiots – they should be begging to have a guy of his talents and money in their fraternity – but whatever. What ticks me off, though, is that instead of dicussing the controversial business reasons for the vote and they choose to smear Jim: (via Market Power)
“We voted to deny approval to Mr. Balsillie because we concluded he lacks the good character and integrity required of a new owner” under NHL bylaws, said Boston Bruins Owner Jeremy Jacobs, chairman of the league’s board of governors.
Matt Nestor has some fun with this:
The NHL owners are obviously good judges of character. Some that have been approved:
- William “Boots” Del Biaggio (Nashville Predators), now headed to jail on fraud charges.
- Henry Samueli (Anaheim Ducks), now awaiting sentencing on SEC violations.
- John Rigas (Buffalo Sabres), currently in jail on embezzlement charges.
- Sanjay Kumar (New York Islanders), now serving time for conspiracy.
- John Spano (Islanders), who deliberately misled the NHL and the Islanders about his net worth.
- Bruce McNall (Los Angeles Kings), who pleaded guilty to conspiracy and defrauding six banks of $236 million.
Why would you want a successful businessman to taint such a group?
Tom Benjamin and James Mirtle are the two authorities worth following as the Coyotes story unfolds, but I thought it was worth sharing the perspective of a man who knew Balisillie personally.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
For New Readers
A gracious reader has added me to Stumble Upon recently, resulting in a bit more traffic than usual.
To anyone new to this page, It's been my personal NHL ranting area for the last 5 years or so. It started out as a Flames focused blog, but I have recently moved my Calgary-only thoughts to SBNation and FlamesNation. I also have work that appears on Rotowire.com/Fanball.com (Fantasy hockey advice) and Hockeysfuture.com (Predators prospects).
I recently added a link to the sidebar which links to my favorite articles that have appeared here over the years. Some of them I still refer to every so often today, so please take a few minutes to click through some of my "greatest hits". To any of my regular readers, let me know if one of your favorites is excluded and I'll added it to the list.
As always, thanks for stopping by everyone.
To anyone new to this page, It's been my personal NHL ranting area for the last 5 years or so. It started out as a Flames focused blog, but I have recently moved my Calgary-only thoughts to SBNation and FlamesNation. I also have work that appears on Rotowire.com/Fanball.com (Fantasy hockey advice) and Hockeysfuture.com (Predators prospects).
I recently added a link to the sidebar which links to my favorite articles that have appeared here over the years. Some of them I still refer to every so often today, so please take a few minutes to click through some of my "greatest hits". To any of my regular readers, let me know if one of your favorites is excluded and I'll added it to the list.
As always, thanks for stopping by everyone.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Who's getting deep sixed in Detroit?
It's been a rough off-season for the NHL's model franchise. Hossa bolts to rival Blackhawks. Samuelsson gets signed by the Canucks. Cap restrictions cause them to sign stop-gaps like Williams (okay) and Bertuzzi (yuck). Dead weight like Matlby and Draper are still on the books. And then Hudler bolts for Russia...
...excpet word is the IIHF isn't going to allow him to honor that agreement. If so, he and his 2.875M cap hit are Detroit property again. That's bad news, because the Wings have already signed replacements and are already above the cap ceiling.
Holland doesn't have a lot of options if things play out like this: even if he sends guys like Draper (1.583M) and Maltby (883k) to the minors and replaces them with the likes of Helm (600k) and Abdelkader (861k) AND if they ran with 7 defensemen rather than the 8 listed on cap geek...they're still under water by about 1.6M with Hudler added in there. Ouch.
Meaning the Wings would have to deep six a couple of the aging vets, promote a couple of kids and give someone away for minimal (read: no salary coming back) return.
The obvious candidate to my eye is Thomas Holmstrom (2.25M). Homer turns 36 in January and has had problems with injuries for years owing to his style of play. He hasn't played more than 60 games in either of the last 2 years and his production is poised to drop off now that he's entering the dreaded 35+ club. He's probably still a useful player (best crease crasher in the league I'd say), but his utility is fading.
Anyways, it's going to be a tough 5 or so weeks for Detroit whatever happens. I wonder if anyone will be able to take advantage?
...excpet word is the IIHF isn't going to allow him to honor that agreement. If so, he and his 2.875M cap hit are Detroit property again. That's bad news, because the Wings have already signed replacements and are already above the cap ceiling.
Holland doesn't have a lot of options if things play out like this: even if he sends guys like Draper (1.583M) and Maltby (883k) to the minors and replaces them with the likes of Helm (600k) and Abdelkader (861k) AND if they ran with 7 defensemen rather than the 8 listed on cap geek...they're still under water by about 1.6M with Hudler added in there. Ouch.
Meaning the Wings would have to deep six a couple of the aging vets, promote a couple of kids and give someone away for minimal (read: no salary coming back) return.
The obvious candidate to my eye is Thomas Holmstrom (2.25M). Homer turns 36 in January and has had problems with injuries for years owing to his style of play. He hasn't played more than 60 games in either of the last 2 years and his production is poised to drop off now that he's entering the dreaded 35+ club. He's probably still a useful player (best crease crasher in the league I'd say), but his utility is fading.
Anyways, it's going to be a tough 5 or so weeks for Detroit whatever happens. I wonder if anyone will be able to take advantage?
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Me About Town
With things moving along nicely at SBN, I also have some other stuff popping up here and there over the next month:
- My take on the Flames recently appeared in the Score's "Hardcore Hockey Guide", an insert in their Sports Forecaster which appeared on newsstands a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, my name isn't mentioned, just the site (FHF).
- I was also contacted by Adam Proteau of the Hockey News for a blurb on Flames coming season. I'm thinking it will appear in this months or next months issue.
- I also recently contributed a top-20 ranking of Nashville Predator prospects for Hockeys Future which should be appearing shortly. I'm sure the Forechecker will let me know if I made a mess of it or not.
- I'm also finishing up work on the Rototimes/fanball.com Fantasy draft guide, which should come out around the end of the month.
It's been a pretty busy summer, clearly.
- My take on the Flames recently appeared in the Score's "Hardcore Hockey Guide", an insert in their Sports Forecaster which appeared on newsstands a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, my name isn't mentioned, just the site (FHF).
- I was also contacted by Adam Proteau of the Hockey News for a blurb on Flames coming season. I'm thinking it will appear in this months or next months issue.
- I also recently contributed a top-20 ranking of Nashville Predator prospects for Hockeys Future which should be appearing shortly. I'm sure the Forechecker will let me know if I made a mess of it or not.
- I'm also finishing up work on the Rototimes/fanball.com Fantasy draft guide, which should come out around the end of the month.
It's been a pretty busy summer, clearly.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Summers Summation
The Hockey News has already done something similar, so let me add my snarky 2 cents to each team's off-season.
1.) ANA - luckily, this ones already been done for me by Earl:
Oompa Lupul doompadee doo,
I’ve got a hockey lesson for you,
Oompa Lupul doompadah dee,
If you are wise you’ll listen to me.
What do you with a kid who shoots hard?
Trade him for Pronger, send him northward,
When it comes time when Pronger must be moved,
Reverse the trade and hope the kid’s improved.
2.) ATL - Waddell acquires Antropov to help Kovalchuk to not play defense.
3.) BOS - Plays hard ball with Kessel but signs the thoroughly mediocre Derek Morris to a 3.3M contract. Brilliant.
4.) Buffalo - A non-playoff team looks to make an impact by signing...Mike Grier and Steve Montador. Uh...
5.) CGY - Flames have 8 NHL defensemen, picked a defenseman in the first round of the entry draft, traded for another prospect defenseman and have $20M+ tied up in their top 4 blueliners. Im starting to think Darryl would ice an entire team of defenders if he could get away with it.
6.) CAR - How do you reward Dennis Sedeinberg and Anton Babchuk for having career seasons last year? By telling them to hit the road, of course!
7.) CHI - Im starting to think it was actually Kane that buggered up Hossa's shoulder. Or maybe it was Patrick's cousin - at least, according to Kane's lawyer.
8.) COL - JM Liles makes more than every Avalanche forward except for Paul Stastny. Ouch.
9.) CBJ - In their desperate need for a PP quarterback, the Blue Jackets signed...Mathieu Roy.......*cough*.......
10.) DAL - Neiuwendyk's major contribution this summer has been firing Dave Tippett and hiring Marc Crawford. Sales of whiskey have gone up in Marty Turco's immediate neighborhood as a result.
11.) DET - Bye Hudler. Bye Hossa. Bye Conklin. Bye Kopecky. Hello...Patrick Eaves? Bah. They're still going to kick everyones ass.
12.) EDM - Tambellini's strategy had two main prongs this summer: 1.) Replace an aging goalie with an even more expensive aging goalie and 2.) hide under some coats and hope that somehow everything works out.
13.) FLA - Replaced Bouwmeester with Leopold and Anderson with Clemmensen. The playoffs will remain an elusive dream.
14.) LAK - Ryan Smyth to join Justin Williams in the Kings infirmary all year. Question is: who will become the better ping-pong player?
15.) MIN - "Know what I hated about Gaborik? The fact that he was always injured. Not like Martin Hav......god damn it!"
16.) MTL - Gainey is spending $18M+ to ice the lollipop guild as the Canadiens #1 line. Oh and he was outsmarted by Glen Sather to boot.
17.) NSH - Major signing this summer was 35 year old perpetually injured Steve Sullivan. A such, there's going to be more scoring problems in music town - perhaps someone can write a sad country song about it.
18.) NJD - What are the chances ancient buddies Lou Lamoriello and Jacques Lemaire forget what year it is half way through the season?
19.) NYI - With Guerin, Sillinger and McAmmond all leaving, Doug Weight must look around the dressing room and think "WTF am I doing here?"
20.) NYR - Points for getting rid of Gomez. Major deductions for spending the savings on Gaborik and Donald Brashear and not, you know, an NHL defenseman or two. Further deductions for spurning Zherdev but signing Kotalik.
21.) OTT - Yes, Murray, 36 year old Alex Kovalev certainly deserved a raise after a season in which he was scratched by the GM while his team struggled. And good work with that whole Heatley thing. Well handled.
22.) PHI - With the cap hits on Rathje and Hatched finally (close to) expiring, the Flyers figured they should add another salary they can never get rid of in Chris Pronger. Almost as smart a banking on Ray emery as your starter when there were oodles of other options in the UFA pool.
23.) PHX - Something about fishes and barrells comes to mind here. Poor Matthew Lombardi.
24.) PIT - Malkin scored 113 points last year. Crosby scored 103. Jordan Staal and Petr Sykora were the only other Penguins to manage more than 40 points and they let Sykora walk this summer. Even Bob MacKenzie with his pumpkin head isn't this top heavy.
25.) STL - spent the summer sacrificing small animals to the hockey gods in exchange for fewer injuries to their expensive players. Oh...and signed Barry Tallackson.
26.) SJS - Three RFA's still twisting in the wind, 11 NHL forwards signed (if you include Jody Shelly and Jed Ortmeyer) and about 900k in cap space and they're talking about acquiring Heatley? Even Tom Cruise would think that's nuts.
27.) TBL - Chose Victor Hedman in the draft. Then signed Mattias Ohlund. Then signed Matt walker. Then signed Kurtis Foster. Then traded for David Hale. on top of which, they already had Meszaros, Ranger, Krajicek, Smaby, Wyshart, Mihalik, Lashoff (RFA) and Lundin (RFA). And the owners are squabbling over money. Related - Lecavlier will make $10M in salary this season.
28.) TOR - Brian Burkes approach to team building this summer seems to mirror Mark Trail: a man whose main problem-solving algorithm consists of “Does it have a face I can punch?” and “Are there any intervening objects that would impede the trajectory of my fist?”
29.) VAN - The only reason I can think of for signing Andrew Raycroft is to convince Luongo they really, really need him.
30.) WAS - Michael Nylander and Jose Theodore stick around in order to to prove, once and for all, who was the worse mistake.
1.) ANA - luckily, this ones already been done for me by Earl:
Oompa Lupul doompadee doo,
I’ve got a hockey lesson for you,
Oompa Lupul doompadah dee,
If you are wise you’ll listen to me.
What do you with a kid who shoots hard?
Trade him for Pronger, send him northward,
When it comes time when Pronger must be moved,
Reverse the trade and hope the kid’s improved.
2.) ATL - Waddell acquires Antropov to help Kovalchuk to not play defense.
3.) BOS - Plays hard ball with Kessel but signs the thoroughly mediocre Derek Morris to a 3.3M contract. Brilliant.
4.) Buffalo - A non-playoff team looks to make an impact by signing...Mike Grier and Steve Montador. Uh...
5.) CGY - Flames have 8 NHL defensemen, picked a defenseman in the first round of the entry draft, traded for another prospect defenseman and have $20M+ tied up in their top 4 blueliners. Im starting to think Darryl would ice an entire team of defenders if he could get away with it.
6.) CAR - How do you reward Dennis Sedeinberg and Anton Babchuk for having career seasons last year? By telling them to hit the road, of course!
7.) CHI - Im starting to think it was actually Kane that buggered up Hossa's shoulder. Or maybe it was Patrick's cousin - at least, according to Kane's lawyer.
8.) COL - JM Liles makes more than every Avalanche forward except for Paul Stastny. Ouch.
9.) CBJ - In their desperate need for a PP quarterback, the Blue Jackets signed...Mathieu Roy.......*cough*.......
10.) DAL - Neiuwendyk's major contribution this summer has been firing Dave Tippett and hiring Marc Crawford. Sales of whiskey have gone up in Marty Turco's immediate neighborhood as a result.
11.) DET - Bye Hudler. Bye Hossa. Bye Conklin. Bye Kopecky. Hello...Patrick Eaves? Bah. They're still going to kick everyones ass.
12.) EDM - Tambellini's strategy had two main prongs this summer: 1.) Replace an aging goalie with an even more expensive aging goalie and 2.) hide under some coats and hope that somehow everything works out.
13.) FLA - Replaced Bouwmeester with Leopold and Anderson with Clemmensen. The playoffs will remain an elusive dream.
14.) LAK - Ryan Smyth to join Justin Williams in the Kings infirmary all year. Question is: who will become the better ping-pong player?
15.) MIN - "Know what I hated about Gaborik? The fact that he was always injured. Not like Martin Hav......god damn it!"
16.) MTL - Gainey is spending $18M+ to ice the lollipop guild as the Canadiens #1 line. Oh and he was outsmarted by Glen Sather to boot.
17.) NSH - Major signing this summer was 35 year old perpetually injured Steve Sullivan. A such, there's going to be more scoring problems in music town - perhaps someone can write a sad country song about it.
18.) NJD - What are the chances ancient buddies Lou Lamoriello and Jacques Lemaire forget what year it is half way through the season?
19.) NYI - With Guerin, Sillinger and McAmmond all leaving, Doug Weight must look around the dressing room and think "WTF am I doing here?"
20.) NYR - Points for getting rid of Gomez. Major deductions for spending the savings on Gaborik and Donald Brashear and not, you know, an NHL defenseman or two. Further deductions for spurning Zherdev but signing Kotalik.
21.) OTT - Yes, Murray, 36 year old Alex Kovalev certainly deserved a raise after a season in which he was scratched by the GM while his team struggled. And good work with that whole Heatley thing. Well handled.
22.) PHI - With the cap hits on Rathje and Hatched finally (close to) expiring, the Flyers figured they should add another salary they can never get rid of in Chris Pronger. Almost as smart a banking on Ray emery as your starter when there were oodles of other options in the UFA pool.
23.) PHX - Something about fishes and barrells comes to mind here. Poor Matthew Lombardi.
24.) PIT - Malkin scored 113 points last year. Crosby scored 103. Jordan Staal and Petr Sykora were the only other Penguins to manage more than 40 points and they let Sykora walk this summer. Even Bob MacKenzie with his pumpkin head isn't this top heavy.
25.) STL - spent the summer sacrificing small animals to the hockey gods in exchange for fewer injuries to their expensive players. Oh...and signed Barry Tallackson.
26.) SJS - Three RFA's still twisting in the wind, 11 NHL forwards signed (if you include Jody Shelly and Jed Ortmeyer) and about 900k in cap space and they're talking about acquiring Heatley? Even Tom Cruise would think that's nuts.
27.) TBL - Chose Victor Hedman in the draft. Then signed Mattias Ohlund. Then signed Matt walker. Then signed Kurtis Foster. Then traded for David Hale. on top of which, they already had Meszaros, Ranger, Krajicek, Smaby, Wyshart, Mihalik, Lashoff (RFA) and Lundin (RFA). And the owners are squabbling over money. Related - Lecavlier will make $10M in salary this season.
28.) TOR - Brian Burkes approach to team building this summer seems to mirror Mark Trail: a man whose main problem-solving algorithm consists of “Does it have a face I can punch?” and “Are there any intervening objects that would impede the trajectory of my fist?”
29.) VAN - The only reason I can think of for signing Andrew Raycroft is to convince Luongo they really, really need him.
30.) WAS - Michael Nylander and Jose Theodore stick around in order to to prove, once and for all, who was the worse mistake.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Hurricanes sue Rapper for liking the Hurricanes
The federal lawsuit accuses Tyrone Banks of misusing trademarks by referring to the tune as "the official Carolina Hurricanes song" and wearing a Hurricanes jersey in promotional material.
"We look at our name and our trademarks as our most valuable assets, and they need to be protected," said William Traurig, general counsel for the Hurricanes.
Banks produced "Carolina Hurricanes" in 2007 and provided a copy of the song to the team, asking the Hurricanes play the music during games, according to court documents. The lawsuit said the Hurricanes did use the song during games and short segments of it appeared in a television ad and online video.
Banks also received complimentary tickets to a game, when the Hurricanes played the song, highlighted Banks in the audience and displayed his name on the scoreboard.
"Carolina Hurricanes. That's our team, say the name," the song's chorus repeats.
But the Hurricanes say Banks is promoting sales of the song in a way that would incorrectly suggest an affiliation between him and the team.
Via MSN Sports
Im reading through "The Age of Engage" by Denise Shiffman right now. The book is about the emergence of "Marketing 2.0" in the age of new media (read: social networking, viral advertising, user generated content, etc). From her introduction:
There are companies that believe their brands are being hijacked. They fight their own customers, and they use the legal system to assert control over the matter...
Obviously clubs are going to want control over their own brand, and it's not something I necessarily begrudge them. But isn't it wise to, you know, pick your battles? Here's a guy voluntarily (and positively) promoting the team via a different channel and the franchise is suing him for it (after embracing him initially might I add). You know how many businesses pay agencies to concoct terrible faux hip-hop and rap songs for radio and TV spots?
The Hurricanes sent Banks a cease-and-desist notice in February and he responded by removing the term "official" or "anthem" from his website and added disclaimers, according to the suit. But the Hurricanes complained that Banks is still seen wearing a Hurricanes jersey in promotional material and said the franchise has been damaged by the unauthorized use of trademarks.
I'd like to see them explain what "damages" could possibly come from a rapper wearing the club's jersey in promotional material. Hell, the NHL basically followed Snoop Dog around with a smile and puppy dog eyes when he was found attending Ducks games. Wearing a Ducks jersey, no less.
"We look at our name and our trademarks as our most valuable assets, and they need to be protected," said William Traurig, general counsel for the Hurricanes.
Banks produced "Carolina Hurricanes" in 2007 and provided a copy of the song to the team, asking the Hurricanes play the music during games, according to court documents. The lawsuit said the Hurricanes did use the song during games and short segments of it appeared in a television ad and online video.
Banks also received complimentary tickets to a game, when the Hurricanes played the song, highlighted Banks in the audience and displayed his name on the scoreboard.
"Carolina Hurricanes. That's our team, say the name," the song's chorus repeats.
But the Hurricanes say Banks is promoting sales of the song in a way that would incorrectly suggest an affiliation between him and the team.
Via MSN Sports
Im reading through "The Age of Engage" by Denise Shiffman right now. The book is about the emergence of "Marketing 2.0" in the age of new media (read: social networking, viral advertising, user generated content, etc). From her introduction:
There are companies that believe their brands are being hijacked. They fight their own customers, and they use the legal system to assert control over the matter...
Obviously clubs are going to want control over their own brand, and it's not something I necessarily begrudge them. But isn't it wise to, you know, pick your battles? Here's a guy voluntarily (and positively) promoting the team via a different channel and the franchise is suing him for it (after embracing him initially might I add). You know how many businesses pay agencies to concoct terrible faux hip-hop and rap songs for radio and TV spots?
The Hurricanes sent Banks a cease-and-desist notice in February and he responded by removing the term "official" or "anthem" from his website and added disclaimers, according to the suit. But the Hurricanes complained that Banks is still seen wearing a Hurricanes jersey in promotional material and said the franchise has been damaged by the unauthorized use of trademarks.
I'd like to see them explain what "damages" could possibly come from a rapper wearing the club's jersey in promotional material. Hell, the NHL basically followed Snoop Dog around with a smile and puppy dog eyes when he was found attending Ducks games. Wearing a Ducks jersey, no less.
Saturday, August 08, 2009
New Media and Journalism - on innovation
Since this an issue I've tackled occassionally in the past, I figured I'd share this post I found via Tim Lee's "Bottom up" blog. The article looks at how sports writing is changing and the direction it may be taking in the near future...
Rip-off blogs rarely get much traffic, and it’s not obvious that the world needs a dozen people covering the Yankees. But the thing that caught my eye was that last sentence: “Somebody has to get on the plane, go to Toronto and ask the questions.”
Actually, no they don’t. At the risk of belaboring the obvious, there are a lot of people in Toronto. Many of them are good writers. Some of them even cover sports for a living. And the Internet makes it easy to transmit content from place to place. So there are plenty of places the information can “come from,” and plenty of ways information about the game in Toronto can get back to readers in New York.
Most obviously, Toronto presumably has sports reporters of its own. They presumably cover Yankees away games. So one obvious approach would be for New York publications to syndicate the content of Toronto publications when the Yankees are in Toronto, and for the opposite to occur when the Blue Jays are in New York.
That makes a lot of sense to me. Of course, an obvious objection would be the potential lack of in-depth coverage that comes from a dedicated team reporter traveling with the team. As we've discussed at this space previously, though, team reporters are put in an tenuous position; report enough to be relevant to the paying customer, but avoid stepping on the toes of the team for fear of losing "access". The result is pulled punches and a lot of interesting stories getting buried and thus the ostensible advantage of a dedicated team reporter is all but lost or at least severely compromised.
If in the new age of journalism the relationship between team and reporters/anaylsts can be effectively de-coupled, the resultant industry and public would likely be richer for it.
Rip-off blogs rarely get much traffic, and it’s not obvious that the world needs a dozen people covering the Yankees. But the thing that caught my eye was that last sentence: “Somebody has to get on the plane, go to Toronto and ask the questions.”
Actually, no they don’t. At the risk of belaboring the obvious, there are a lot of people in Toronto. Many of them are good writers. Some of them even cover sports for a living. And the Internet makes it easy to transmit content from place to place. So there are plenty of places the information can “come from,” and plenty of ways information about the game in Toronto can get back to readers in New York.
Most obviously, Toronto presumably has sports reporters of its own. They presumably cover Yankees away games. So one obvious approach would be for New York publications to syndicate the content of Toronto publications when the Yankees are in Toronto, and for the opposite to occur when the Blue Jays are in New York.
That makes a lot of sense to me. Of course, an obvious objection would be the potential lack of in-depth coverage that comes from a dedicated team reporter traveling with the team. As we've discussed at this space previously, though, team reporters are put in an tenuous position; report enough to be relevant to the paying customer, but avoid stepping on the toes of the team for fear of losing "access". The result is pulled punches and a lot of interesting stories getting buried and thus the ostensible advantage of a dedicated team reporter is all but lost or at least severely compromised.
If in the new age of journalism the relationship between team and reporters/anaylsts can be effectively de-coupled, the resultant industry and public would likely be richer for it.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Patience is a virtue
In light of the Zherdev decision in New York, one has to marvel at the potential bargains that are available in the free agent pool currently. Alex Tangany, Mats Sundin, Robert Lang, Mike Comrie, Petr Sykora, Jason Williams, Mike Griere, Mike Peca, Manny Malholtra, Andy Hilbert and Blair Betts are all still looking for homes.
Some lucky GM is going to come along and snag at least one of these guys up, no doubt. Obviously Tanguay and Zherdev are probably the biggest most interesting, but all of these guys could be outperformers next year given what they'll likely be offered - and paid - going forward.
Even GM"s that don't necessarily need a guy like Tanguay or Zherdev should be looking into inking these guys just from a straight up "buy low, sell high" commodity perspective. If Alex Tanguay rebounds to an 80 point player, you now have one of the shiniest baubles on the trade market.
From a Calgary perspective, it would be hilarious (read: great) to re-acquire Tanguay at a fraction of his previous contract. He was the Flames second best forward at ES while he was here and the team is in desperate need of another top 6 forward if they are to be legit contenders next season. They'd have to move a forward and probably a defenseman (Sarich) out to fit the contract, but, damn...
Some lucky GM is going to come along and snag at least one of these guys up, no doubt. Obviously Tanguay and Zherdev are probably the biggest most interesting, but all of these guys could be outperformers next year given what they'll likely be offered - and paid - going forward.
Even GM"s that don't necessarily need a guy like Tanguay or Zherdev should be looking into inking these guys just from a straight up "buy low, sell high" commodity perspective. If Alex Tanguay rebounds to an 80 point player, you now have one of the shiniest baubles on the trade market.
From a Calgary perspective, it would be hilarious (read: great) to re-acquire Tanguay at a fraction of his previous contract. He was the Flames second best forward at ES while he was here and the team is in desperate need of another top 6 forward if they are to be legit contenders next season. They'd have to move a forward and probably a defenseman (Sarich) out to fit the contract, but, damn...
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Every move the wrong one
So...let me get this straight. Years ago, Glen Sather inked checking forward Bobby Holik to an outrageously long and expensive contract. He did the same thing again with Chris Drury and Scott Gomez - lots and lots of dollars over many years for slightly better than average players. Then he did it again with Wade Redden last summer - except Redden isn't even better than average anymore. Marian Gaborik was the lottery winner this summer. At least he's a phenomenal talent I guess. Shame about the tissue paper groin though.
But suddenly, 3.9M for one year is too much for 24 year old Nikolai Zherdev? Forget about whether Zherdev is actually worth the money or not (seems like a decent bet to me) - how they hell does Sather live with that kind of cognitive dissonance? The irony itself should be causing his skull to explode like a victim in a Scanners film.
I mean, really - WTF is Sather doing this season? We're nearly a week into August and the Ranagers have just 11 NHL caliber forwards and 4 NHL defensemen signed. They have a significant RFA still twisting in the wind (Dubinsky) and all of 3.6M in cap space left. That's right...a team icing this line-up:
Avery - Drury - Gaborik
Kotalik - Higgins - Callahan
Voros - Arnason - Rissmiller
Brashear - Boyle - Lisin
??
Redden - Rozsival
Staal - Girardi
Gilroy - ??
??
is not only walking away from Zherdev, but is basically a cap team as well. When looking at the roster and cap situation, keep in mind that 37 year old Donald Brashear was signed to a 2.8M, two year contract (1.4M cap hit) this year. Seriously.
I'm starting to think that Sather doesn't really watch hockey anymore and that his impressions of players and teams are remnants from when he was actually involved in the game and not some overly tanned stuffed shirt big wig in New York. He must basically make his moves based on fuzzy name recognition. Kinda like Mr. Burns picking stocks. And his underlings are too spineless to tell him he doesn't have a clue...
Mr. Burns: Where did I go wrong? I made all the right moves, didn't I?
Burns' Underlings: Yes, sir. Absolutely.
Mr. Burns: Oh, I see it now; you're nothing but a bunch of yes-men. I was making all the wrong moves, and you were too gutless to tell me!
Burns' Underlings: Yes, sir. Absolutely. Every move the wrong one.
But suddenly, 3.9M for one year is too much for 24 year old Nikolai Zherdev? Forget about whether Zherdev is actually worth the money or not (seems like a decent bet to me) - how they hell does Sather live with that kind of cognitive dissonance? The irony itself should be causing his skull to explode like a victim in a Scanners film.
I mean, really - WTF is Sather doing this season? We're nearly a week into August and the Ranagers have just 11 NHL caliber forwards and 4 NHL defensemen signed. They have a significant RFA still twisting in the wind (Dubinsky) and all of 3.6M in cap space left. That's right...a team icing this line-up:
Avery - Drury - Gaborik
Kotalik - Higgins - Callahan
Voros - Arnason - Rissmiller
Brashear - Boyle - Lisin
??
Redden - Rozsival
Staal - Girardi
Gilroy - ??
??
is not only walking away from Zherdev, but is basically a cap team as well. When looking at the roster and cap situation, keep in mind that 37 year old Donald Brashear was signed to a 2.8M, two year contract (1.4M cap hit) this year. Seriously.
I'm starting to think that Sather doesn't really watch hockey anymore and that his impressions of players and teams are remnants from when he was actually involved in the game and not some overly tanned stuffed shirt big wig in New York. He must basically make his moves based on fuzzy name recognition. Kinda like Mr. Burns picking stocks. And his underlings are too spineless to tell him he doesn't have a clue...
Mr. Burns: Where did I go wrong? I made all the right moves, didn't I?
Burns' Underlings: Yes, sir. Absolutely.
Mr. Burns: Oh, I see it now; you're nothing but a bunch of yes-men. I was making all the wrong moves, and you were too gutless to tell me!
Burns' Underlings: Yes, sir. Absolutely. Every move the wrong one.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)