Back to the Grind...

Since the NFL has finally come to an agreement after over 4 months of chatting, I decided it's time to start paying more attention to the sporting world. I needed a little break myself (and it was nice to not check sites, the tv or anything and get lost in a solid book and then have some time at the beach) but as the calendar inches closer to August, all the puzzle pieces are falling into place. So away we go....

The NFL has finally reached a new CBA agreement. It still confuses me greatly some of the things that did and didn't get affected but you can read more here and here (thank you ESPN.com) for details because I'm just not up for deciphering it all right now. What I do understand is free-agency begins tomorrow, rosters need to be set ASAP and all teams will have their training camps open by Friday. Good stuff since as my grandpa said yesterday "I can't do this no football on Sunday stuff much longer". Direct quote. Man loves football then hockey, then whatever else is in season, and baseball is officially boring him senseless.

In the planet of Philadelphia, Michael Vick decided he would welcome Brett Favre as his backup. No word on if Favre is actually contemplating un-retiring but I can't take any of this seriously. The entire city of Philadelphia drinks the crazy water and its just not meant for the rest of us in the real world to understand. Favre playing backup would be hilarious. Playing backup to Vick would be a friggin made for TV movie. The Flyers signed Jaromir Jagr and a Western goalie for a top Eastern team. The league-owned Coyotes barely made the playoffs and then the Flyers threw a shit-ton of money at a goalie that one hopes won't crack under this pressure. Of course the Flyers owner is inching up on the crazy owner train, and he's now second in command to only Ted Leonsis, Ovie's owner. Ya know, the wacky one who employs a Coach that screams out like a 5 year old for ice cream in the mall and does interviews with hot sauce on his face. Remember he deserves a Cup because that nemesis of his in Pittsburgh has 3 of his own. The Flyers of course jetted a pair of 26 year olds out of town so your move Leonsis. Are DC and Philly on the same water supply? Seriously though, are they?? Favre needs to go hide somewhere. I don't want to hear or see his name until he can be elected into the HOF. He's already tarnished his luster by not just retiring the first time and I'm 300% over any Favre news.

Speaking of the 2 players jetted from the Flyers, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, there was an awesome article on a possible reason for sending these two party boys out of Philly. Shocking that at 26, single and insanely rich, they would enjoy drinking and going out. Who knew? I thought these guys were book worms and attended a book club on their off nights. Guess I was wrong. Seriously though, I can't figure out which is crazier, the fact that Laviolette thought he could get every guy to agree to a month of no drinking or the fact they couldn't just do the month. Power struggle much? Tell someone they can't and it's like daring them to do it just to spite you. I'm thinking the guys probably were thinking along the lines of we gave up all of high school and skipped college to play in the big league so why can't we enjoy our time. Coach is probably thinking grow up, be an example and keep it under control. Of course how he approached everyone probably played into it. Regardless the party hardy boys have left the City of Brotherly Love for greener pastures in LaLa Land and one of the biggest party campus' in the country. Since I'm a mere year older than them, I can't blame them for wanting to go out and enjoy their time. Maybe they needed to do it a bit more carefully, but if I had their money, maybe I wouldn't care either.

Richards landed himself in LA. "Hey there party city, how are you doing??? My name is Mike Richards, here's my black card, nothing is off limits. Round of shots for everyone on me!!!" Yes. The partying Mike Richards will live on. His partner in crime Jeff Carter will be corrupting the minds of young guys and girls in Columbus. Not sure who can get in more trouble. Columbus of course is home to The Ohio State University so realistically they are both going to the living it up. Potentially cheaper on Carter's wallet I'd guess. I'm sure this won't be the last we hear of them living it up. Hopefully there new teams have no dreams of "Dry Island" (seriously? is that a joke?) "Everybody's shufflin, shufflin, shufflin..." Party on boys, party on.......

In more sobering news, Aaron Boogaard was arrested in connection to the May death of his 28 year old brother, Derek, who died from a combination of drugs and alcohol. So sad for the family and I'm sure the last news they wanted to get.

The Winnipeg Jets unveiled their logos in part because a picture was leaked. The Jets ended up announcing their logos immediately once they realized the security breach, but I won't lie, I was happy someone basically forced them to do it because this was getting nuts. Still have to wait on their actual uniforms but this is better than nothing I suppose.Personally I'm torn since I was expecting something to sing and dance for me since this was such a big secret. I get that they are teaming with the military but personally I'd expect to the see the circular logo on the left on the arm as a patch on the pilot of a jet, rather than a skating Jet. Same thing with the top right one (did everyone get their wings for flying with us today?). I like the colors and I like the fact they didn't go with the old logos and exact colors but I'm just not blown away. I can almost imagine them using an old Thrashers jersey with these colors and logos. Ugh. I thought those were supposed to be lost on the way to the 'Peg?! I picked the word Jets as my favorite logo which when it comes down to it, it's actually a font with a maple leaf. Pathetic. At least they will fit right in with half the leagues boring-ness in designs.

After 17 seasons donning a Red Wings jersey (and 3 prior with the Jets 1.0) Kris Draper has joined the retirement party of Chris Osgood and Brian Rafalski this off season. And to think Lidstrom almost joined them also. Who are the Red Wings now? They just keep getting younger which should mean they will only get better since they were one of the oldest teams in the league. But as one of the oldest, they were still one of the best so do these changes make them stronger? Better? This could be really awesome to see play out. Can't wait for the season to see how all the changes fall into place!

Summer Slow Down

Summer has settled in as have the long days and the crazy people are coming out again. My neighbor is who nuts said the grass is going to burn (seriously?) and he waters the grass at least 3 times a day if we have no rain on the forecast. A random customer at work told me summer is over now that the 4th has passed. Then I got to thinking about all my weekend plans for the next month or so and I was scared to admit I just talked my way to almost Labor Day save for one or 2 unplanned weekends. Scary. I am now booking my afternoons and evenings with non-stop cover letter writing and researching grad schools. Ugh. I guess its a good thing there's no sports to really follow right now due to this.

Hockey is out of season, the football season is still trying to be salvaged and baseball is like a sitcom you can just join in progress whenever and still know whats up. To be honest there's tons of small stuff still happening in the sporting and hockey world, but none of it is really of much interest now, at least to me. I still check sites and recommend Puck Daddy on Yahoo for the best fix for a wide variety of topics when it comes to hockey.

Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos still isn't signed. Same for the Kings' Drew Doughtry. At this rate we might have a football season before these two have new contracts. Good God.

The Coyotes really, really need an owner. Their best suitor was ran out of town by the Goldwater Institute and he has decided he fancies the St. Louis Blues now. The man just wants a hockey team. Can't we just give him one already? I mean his dedication to this pursuit is unreal. Maybe if the Blues fall apart he can go after the Dallas Stars. I heard they in the market for an owner too since they lost their star player to the Rangers due to instability in management. No seriously. Brad Richards took less money to play for a team with an owner. The Stars had the money and still lost him. Go figure.

The NHL really is into the idea of a realignment overhaul for the 2012-2013 season. Everyone has some wild ideas on this which range from normal to a bit crazy. The best part about this is was when the Toronto Star decided to give us their idea, they not only wrote an article, they made this awesome map for our viewing pleasure. Thanks to the wide world of interwebs which never lets you forget any mistake you make. Of course fixed the Wyoming Av's to be the Colorado Av's once again in the map currently attached to the article but it's still funny. Wyoming doesn't have a hockey team and I'm sure they really don't want to lay claim to one of the bottom teams if they become sudden owners.


Climbs on top of Soap Box:
Derek Jeter hit his 3,000 in style with a home run. Then he apparently pissed off someone high up, who didn't even have the courage to name himself, by not going to the all-star game. Yea it's an honor, yada yada yada, but Jeter has done almost everything right in his career. If his whining over a contract this off season and skipping one all-star game after just coming off the DL are going to be his biggest faux pas, I can live with that. He hasn't done drugs or steriods or been arrested for a night of partying that got out of control. What more do we really want? He's an athlete that gives 110% every game and has for 15 years to MLB, USA Baseball and the New York and Yankee communities. But he is also human and needs a few days off here and there. He's 37 and still making himself valuable to a team which can't be said for all baseball players his age, let alone younger. I get the All-Star game lacked some serious shine this year, but that's sort of how it goes. The body needs rest. It needs time to heal and if him skipping the All-Star game to help his team in the long run (because he will be better rested) then I don't see the issue.
Climbs down from soap box.

Hope everyone is having a good summer and stay cool!

Linky Links

Hope everyone had a great long holiday weekend, but back to reality. I'm in a link mood so click on one or all to get caught up on all the fun times being had in the world of sports.

PyeongChang won the rights to the 2018 Winter Olympics. This is great on so many learning levels for me. I got to use my Wikipedia app to figure out where the hell this city is located (South Korea) and also how to pronounce it (apparently just as you read it). Sure, no problem. I also then had the chance to sit back and realize that 2018 is 7 years away. 7. It seems like it should be like 15 years away, but we are in 2011 (how?!). Since the host nation automatically qualifies for events, I wondered if they even had an ice hockey team. Turns out they due, thanks to this gem on PuckDaddy. Absolutely brilliant.

The Rangers took a day off from crunching numbers (they still have 4 guys to deal with who have filed for arbitration, notably among them is Ryan Callahan whom many believe will be donning the "C" next season) and announced some new jersey numbers. Brad Richards will revert back to his old 19 from when he was with the Lightening, while Ruslan Fedotenko who was number 19 will steal 26 off Erik Christensen's back. Christensen will now switch to number 40 which was vacant. Also newly acquired Mike Rupp has chosen the number 71 after not asking for his old Penguins number 27 from Ryan McDonagh, but taking a cue from ex-teammate Evgeni Maklin who dons the 71 in Black and Gold. Guess Rupp didn't know in hockey you don't have to bribe guys for a number as they do in football and other sports. Max Talbot meanwhile took his former teammate Rupp's number as his own in Philly since he was probably too scared to get beat up by fans if he asked Matt Carle for his old Pens number 25. We could play this number game all day. It's kind of fun. The real question is which country or planet would need to be gifted to acquire the number 87 from Crosby?

Winnipeg had a to-do list a mile and they keep on crossing things off of it. They wanted a hockey team- check. They needed to name the team- check. They needed to get at least one player on board about playing and living in the frozen tundra that is Winnipeg- checkmate. Not only did they get a player 200% on board, he's their Captain who just inked a 5 year $22 million dollar, and who has the best last name for writers to use in every way possible. Personally I can't take the corniness of playing on his last name, but read this article. Now if they could just get this logo thing figured out.

The AHL has made some changes to their season and post season. Even an realignment. More proof the NHL will be realigning sooner than later. Here's a list of the affiliations to the big clubs for the upcoming season and its in pretty pictures. My favorite pictures are the Jets and St. John's who currently are each boasting their league logos. It's July people. When will we have a logo!?

The Dallas Stars have cancelled an exhibition game that was to be held in the Texans' stadium versus the Coyotes in September. Apparently the cost of making the ice was too great. I guess the fact that it's still rather warm in the south in early fall was never on their radar.

Steven Stamkos still hasn't resigned with the Lightening. The Kings still haven't signed Drew Doughty. They are really 2 of the last big names left out there. I really wish I could be a fly on the wall to better understand why. Of course to me anything over a million sounds like a good deal so what do I really know.

Lastly, hate him or love him, Derek Jeter is on the cusp of 3,000 hits in midst of his 17th season. This is big. He's a future first ballot Hall of Famer who is in some great company on the lists and he's not even done. Jayson Stark of ESPN.com has a wonderful article talking more about his accomplishments and where is fits in books currently. Just as I won't root for the Bruins, I gave Tim Thomas massive props for what he did this season (he deserved both the Conn Symthe and Vezina) and everyone should realize the enormity of what Jeter is on the verge of doing.

Till next time...

More Free Agency Talk

Here is a list of all the signings that have happened since the beginning of free agency. Obviously there's tons of in-depth articles on NHL.com that are worth the read to get more details on the situations. Lots of moves have happened and many rosters are starting to truly take form. For example, Terry Pegula opened his wallet for the Buffalo Sabres and suddenly they seem like a team to watch out for. Dale Tallon had no choice but to start spending some dollars because his Florida Panthers were under the cap floor, and he's managed to add some pieces that could translate to some success for him. I hope. Lots of these guys signed for unreal numbers but that's what happens when the UFA class is weak. Less supply, same demand means someone is going to get a nice payday. Hey there Max Talbot, you got yourself a sweet payday. Its overpayment for sure but can't blame the man for cashing in. He's 27, this is probably his last chance a decent contract. Moving on....

The Capitals locked up Brooks Laich for 6 years and a cool $27 million for his services. He's a solid player and as we saw on 24/7 he is a true leader on that team. Even in an overpayment market for UFA's, he was going to get a solid deal for his leadership qualities. It was really a question of if he wanted to stay with the Capitals or leave.

The Caps traded goalie Semyon Varlamov to the Colorado Avalanche, where he is expected to be their number one guy. Colorado added Jean-Sebastien Giguere who is a former Conn Symthe winner to back up and mentor the young gun. This is a great move for them and if Varlamov can stay healthy, he should be able to have a decent career in the NHL. It seems that Washington is going to roll with the tandum of Michael Neuvirth as the starter and Braden Holtbly as the back up. For now. Anything goes in the D.C. so nothing can really be a shocker at this point. The fact that they acknowledged a rotation of 3 goalies won't win a Cup was the first step in acceptance. (Edit- The Capitals have signed Tomas Vokoun to a one year deal after I wrote this originally. I would guess that Neuvirth is the starter, Vokoun the back up and Holtby gets the start in Hershey. At least that's how I see it.)

The crown Prince of free agency 2011 was Brad Richards and he has taken his talents to Broadway. Not totally shocked to be honest. It's rumored he left some money on the table to play for John Tortorella again, but after the Rangers bought out former Captain Chris Drury's contract, this seemed like a move they would make. If they hadn't bought out Drury, I'm not sure this would have happened. For 9 years and $60 million, Richards should be set for quite some time. Good for the Rangers. Hopefully this one contract that won't bite them in the ass because they have a recent trend of some serious screw-ups in that department.

The Flyers continued to dismantle their team by sending Kris Versteeg to the Panthers for draft picks. The Panthers also picked up a former Predator, Flyer, Coyote, and Bluejacket in Scottie Upshall. He's 28 and hasn't stuck with one team for a decent amount of time which is kind of baffling. He's a good player with lots of upsides to him so hopefully the Panthers are the answer for him.

Raffi Torres came within a game of raising the Stanley Cup to heading to the desert dogs of Phoenix for a 2 year deal. Talk about a change in every possibly way. He went from the Stanley Cup to a team that could be moved to another city after this season. Guess the unknown is better in his world? At least he'll have nice weather for at least one season.

Steven Stamkos still hasn't gotten a deal done. I wonder what is it that's stopping this from getting done already. Money, years, combination of both? He's 21 and already considered a top 5 player in this league so get him signed already Tampa Bay.

Speaking of years and terms for contracts, few players are truly ever worthy of a long-term, high priced contract. The names of players you pay that type of cash to are the big boys. The ones that are expected to deliver and then go and above and beyond their expectations. Few players are ever really worth banking your entire future on and when you have them, you bow down and do it. Since the fallout of Jagr and Pittsburgh, and Jagr saying other teams had more on the table (really, who the KHL?), many people have realized Jagr's ego is still in tact and Philly fans seem to be having a hard deciding if this was a good or bad move. They seem to be expecting him to shoulder a serious work-load, but today Jagr said he has no expectations for what he can really bring. There's some confidence if I ever heard it. More and more I'm glad he isn't back in Pittsburgh.

A reporter from Pittsburgh actually pointed out some interesting money facts on twitter that I have to pass along on here about Crosby versus Jagr. The league max for a players' yearly salary is $10 million. Crosby in 2007 signed his first post entry-level contract (where he made less than a million a year) to a deal through the 2012-2013 season that pays him $8.7 million annually (not obsessed with the number 87 whatsoever). He left $1.3 million on the table to continue playing for the Penguins and to ensure that there was some room to surround him with talented players to win a Cup. The money he left on the table annually is the difference that Jagr took to sign with the Flyers. He claims there were other teams with more money offered but I doubt any where in the NHL. It's interesting to also note that the $1.3 million is about 1% of all the money Jagr has already made playing hockey in the NHL alone. He says it wasn't money but the numbers prove that money actually doesn't matter to Crosby, who wanted to be sure he had teammates to win with. I think for his next contract we can probably expect him to leave some money on the table again to stay with the Penguins. Funny how actions really do speak louder than words.

Happy Free Agency Day

....and Happy Canada Day. Rather fitting that the 2 events coincide with each other since more than half the NHL players hail from Canada. Free agency began at noon today and it has already been full of movers and shakers. Short on time right now, so I will go into more depth tomorrow on all sorts of moves for other teams but for now, a Penguins centric post.

#jagrwatch ended the most bitter way it could for a Pens fan- he took the money ($3.3 to be exact) for his 1 year NHL stint and bolted to the Penguins instate rivals, the Flyers. I have a friend who is a Flyers fan and was baffled by this. I really wonder if the Flyers are having an identity crisis or are lost in which direction to go or who they even are. All this big moves don't always mean success. In fact, sometimes too many moves can be bad. A west coast goalie that cost them two players that figured to be in the mix for the next decade after signing contracts for 10+ years last season. Going to be interesting to say the least and it's seeming like Jagr's ego is still intact so not sure the locker is ego free as they hoped after shipping out Carter and Richards. From one problem child to the next.

Did Jagr go to the Flyers to piss off the Pens or get his star turn on 24/7 since they are in the Winter Classic this year? Did he ever really want to go back to the Pens and was just feeding Mario and Co lines about his heart being there? There are rumors that the Pens are done with Jagr in general and pretty much this was the end of any relationship. I had figured once the Pens and Wings withdrew, he was going back to the KHL, but the Flyers were a curve ball. I have even more respect for Shero to pull the plug than before (is that possible?) and admire the Wings for doing the same. Two great teams that will probably be better off without the circus of Jagr and his agent Peter Svoboda, who at one point pointed admitted he had no clue where his client was. Unreal. Have fun at the Flyers circus.

Speaking of the circus, Mr. Max "SHHHHHHH"Talbot is joining the Philly gang. I swore on 24/7 he said "I hate them" (the Flyers) but Philly made him an offer he couldn't refuse to the tune of $9million for 5 years. Money and years he was never going to see in Pitt. I wish him well, and hope someone on the Penguins "shhhes" him this year during the Flyers game.

Tyler Kennedy agreed to a 2 year $4million deal to return to the Penguins which is awesome. He's only 24 so now he can prove to the team this season was legit and not just due to the plague of injuries the team had. He will only be 26 when he's due for the next contract and will still be a RFA. A detail that I'm sure Shero did not overlook. He's no fool.

Mike Rupp meanwhile has left the Steel City for the lights of Broadway.$4.5 million and 3 years is an awesome contract for him. Good luck to him. They gave him money the Penguins just don't have to commit (and at least he didn't join the Flyers). It sucks but Shero is awesome at managing the cap and he knows he has Malkin and Crosby coming up in the next few years and needs to have the money around in case the cap goes back down with the next CBA. He's simply a genius.

Next question is: Who is over 6ft tall left on the Penguins roster? Orpik, Malkin, Engelland and Lovejoy come to mind. Engelland is the biggest toughest guy we have right now. I'm sure Shero is aware of this detail and will fix it.

In Shero we trust. Till tomorrow....