Holy Time Warp Batman

I’m backkkkkkk. Maybe. For at least this post and maybe some more, maybe beyond just hockey. Time will tell. I have thought about this blog a number of times the past two years but started taking online classes which were really time consuming and took all the writing I had in me for all the papers.  For now I’ve completed the HR Management certificate, but I have decided I have enough student loan debt to stop for now but I can complete the Masters portion later.  Maybe one day the government will help fix the student loan crisis because it truly is awful.

Anyways, since the last post (back in early 2012 at the trade deadline- poor Rick Nash) I’ve made it to Vegas, Jamaica, Canada, and San Diego for trips, been in one wedding as a bridesmaid and I’m getting ready to be the maid of honor in another (1 week!). I have also managed to get to Pittsburgh for a home game at Consol (followed by Toronto for the HHOF which was amazing. Must do if you can), a Ducks games (in Anaheim) versus the Blues the night that Ryan Miller was traded to them (for what turned out to be a loan), a few Norfolk Admirals games, a random Hersey game at the Giant Center, a Charlotte Checkers game at PNC during the NHL lockout and the Canes-Pens game at PNC the week after Crosby broke his jaw. Talk about timing but it’s been fun 2 years in retrospect.

I think that the best part about coming back to this blog is I had to look up the URL of it. Not even kidding. Then I saw the font for the headlines and was very confused since it was a script. Pretty sure I didn’t leave it that way.  So sad and yet so funny, all at once. I think maybe a list of highlights to bridge from the last post to today might be needed.

Maybe a surface over of what has happened since the 2012 trade line….

Rick Nash finally left the purgatory that was Columbus for the bright lights of Broadway and hilariously now the Blue Jackets are a competitive team (in the Eastern Metro division). Since the realignment, the Winnipeg Jets no longer play in the comfy confines of the Southeast and the Capitals are no longer kings of the Southeast. The Cap have had a few coaches, and the LA Kings (Philly West- the connections are long and deep) have won themselves 2 cups in 3 years and  added Marian Gaborik (who had a quick stop in Columbus, just like Jeff Carter). The defending champs have lost basically no one this offseason. Staying status quo for many teams in the cap era is hard, but when you have won 2 cups in 3 years and have managed the cap well, you can relax for the summer (Cup celebrations included). The Ducks lost to the LA Kings and they haven’t done much this offseason. Someone in Southern California is doing it wrong.

Roberto Luongo finally got someone to take his untradeable contract: his former team the Florida Panthers. They got a new owner who decided to spend some money so they might be the sleeper team to win some random unexpected games this year. They are a long way from cup competitors but they are making strides in the right direction. In fact, their roster is a looking a bit random- like all the leftover parts. Could be good, could be ugly. At least they get to live in the sunshine!

Eddie Lack played the rest of the season out for the Canucks after trading Lu but he was basically put back on the bench the moment they signed the silver medalist from 2010 to back stop them. The biggest potential issue here- Lack is younger and probably has more upside than Ryan Miller. Oh and he might have better numbers. Could there be a potential goalie controversy in Vancouver, again? Something to watch for I’m thinking. Or maybe they will try the infamous 1A and 1B like the Devils did last season, since that clearly worked.

If the Devils could have won a few OT games they might have challenged for a playoff spot. Also not starting Martin Broduer as much might have helped since they had lured Cory Schneider from the Canucks in the 2013 offseason (ya know, the guy that backed up Lu in goalie controversy part I and then when Cory was traded it seemed all good in Canuck land). Schneider was under the impression he was the starter and Martin wasn’t ready to stop being the starter. Mentally he might have had it but he was given more starts than he should have and in many games the Scheider might have been able to win, especially in those close ones. I mean they went to OT enough last season to make us want a new OT.

Another team that has money to spend now is the Buffalo Sabres. Terry Pegula bought them and then starting spending money on players so they stop being the worst team. He loves spending money on athletes so much that he’s buying the Buffalo Bills (approval of the sale pending but no one else really wants to buy them and keep them in Buffalo so he seems to have this locked up). Next on his shopping list- Niagara Falls, US side. 

Dan Bylsma channeled Herb Brooks’s “again” mantra that led TJ Oshie to be an American shootout hero but that would be it for the Americans. King Henrik of the Rangers lost in the gold medal game to Sidney Crosby and co and would go on to also lose in the Stanley Cup Finals to the LA Kings. Tough breaks for the King. James Neal was a Star, then a Penguin, he’s now a Predator. Not sure if he’s moving up or down the world.  Disco Dan is probably coaching his son’s hockey team for the hell of it since the Pens fired him and still have to pay since he hasn’t taken anoter NHL job, and god knows where in the world Ray Shero is currently. The Penguins have a new coach (Mike Johnston), new GM (Jim Rutherford), and maybe a new look but Geno and Sid are still probably fighting over wingers so some balance has been kept.  

Peter Laviolette is now James Neal’s coach in Smashville, Claude Girioux thinks that a team should be built around him (no, really he does), and Barry Trotz has the job coaching Ovie in whichever position he plans to play this year. The Capitals also cleaned house (well, it’s an annual job it seems for the coach) but they also fired GM George McPhee and brought in a new look, style and direction. Expect he was under GMGM and yea…lets see how that works out. They also overpaid for some former Pens, but they are that much closer to winning Bingo for having the monopoly on players with the first name of Brooks (Laich and Orpik). Are there other active NHLer’s with name of Brooks because the Capitals will need to trade for them very soon.

Way more has happened but that’s what I have for now. It kinda brings us up to being prepared for the 2014-2015 season and it ignores that pesky lockout…. Till next time

Game 7 Aftermath

The great thing about this being a blog I choose to do, as opposed to being paid to do, is that I can ignore facts I don't want to address. Such as the fact that the Bruins won the Stanley Cup. Wait, just did acknowledge it and that's about all I will say about them winning it. The Stanley Cup winners in my mind will read as follows: '08-Detroit, '09- Pittsburgh, '10-Chicago, '11-vacant in my brain, '12- TBD. Their '11 cup win is in good company though with the RedSox World Series and the Patriots Superbowls. (I know the Celtics won the big one recently also but I don't pay attention to the NBA as a rule so this doesn't register on my radar). Take it or leave it. I never thought Colin Campbell should have been able to discipline any player since every decision would indirectly affect his son and his team (aka the Bruins). I also wondered where the refs were and why Luongo forgot to stand on his head when one of the twins and Kesler were rumored to be playing with major injuries. Questions that will never be answered.

I am choosing to believe that Nathan Horton tainted the Canucks chances with his pouring of Boston water on the clean Canadian ice. Also were was Marc Savard? Horton and his "severe" concussion were able to travel across the country but Savard who was also labeled severe hasn't been seen in public to my knowledge. Did the Bruins play up Horton's status to get Rome suspended? All I know is Crosby and Savard were hidden in the bat cave for months because of lights, noise and general life bothering them, but Horton traveled on the team plane and remembered to bring the water. I've got nothing.

In the aftermath of this game 7 meltdown, the fans of Vancouver also decided to act as responsible as possible and start rioting. And I thought my filing of this in the black hole was bad. Unreal. This is the place that put on an amazing Olympics and rallied behind the Canucks for this Cup, yet they couldn't just walk out understandably upset and a cue from me and file this under the cup that never happened. Nope. Riot time. Just wow.

In other news.....

The Capitals and Arturs Irbe parted ways not long ago and today announced a tag team of coaches to deal with a 3 man goalie rotation. A tag team of coaches sounds like their second best off season idea, right after not firing F-Bomb Boudreau. 3 goalies and 1 goalie coach didn't work last season, so naturally adding in another coach to the equation will fix this mess. I can't wait to watch the Capitals continue to spiral all of this talent out of control. Wonder if anyone has pointed out to them that this was a playoff season handed to them on golden platter since they didn't have to go through Pittsburgh en route to a Cup. Talk about a wasted opportunity.

GM George McPhee is going to have his hands full with trying to figure out how to make this cap work for him. He has more talented players than most teams and they all have proven their worth, but there's just not enough money to go around. Other teams have figured out how to make the cap work to their advantage but the Capitals seem to be struggling. They need a number crunching genius, not a brooding GM in a trench coat. Ted Leonis is never going to have the Stanley Cup he thinks he deserves without making some major changes. The on ice product isn't matching up to the talent on paper and something needs to change and it needs to happen quickly.

We are a week away from seeing players not named Ovi or Crosby take home some awards from Vegas. This probably saved Sid some dough on renting to the U-Haul he was poised to need as of December to get all his would-be loot home. Don't worry though, he still set an NHL record for most points in the fewest games by a teams top point getter- even while hiding in his bat cave for half the season concussed. He had a whopping 66 points in 41 games, which was 16 better than Kris Letang who played the entire season. To think what could have been.....

We are also just under 2 weeks away from UFA's deadline date before they can flirt with other teams. Since this is a weak off season for blockbuster trades (see Kovalchuk, Ilya cira summer 2010) someone, somewhere is going to be generously over paid. This does seem to be the summer of the goalie though and Philly already made a big splash with acquiring Ilya Bryzgalov from the Coyotes, because like the Capitals they can't figure out which of the young guns is going to be "the man". Hint: none of these guys will ever gain any confidence if they don't get to start more than 2 games in a row and then ride the bench for the next week. Leonis will not be hanging with the Cup next summer of he keeps a cast of goalies. Tim Thomas was a one man show for the Bruins and he deserved the Conn Smythe but there's no way you win the Cup without being able to say who your goalie is.

Even when the Penguins went through the early season MAF drama, they never planted a seed of doubt in him that he wasn't their franchise goalie and number one on the depth chart. Johnson did get more starts than usual in this period, but he supported MAF though it by playing solid, and never once did Blysma say "I don't know who my number 1 is". Sports are just as much mental as they are physical. It's hard to hear your not the starting man but eventually a decision needs to be made before its too late.

Can't wait for #isitoctoberyet to start trending on twitter hardcore. Welcome to summer everyone. Back to baseball for the time being I suppose since there's little else. No wonder baseball lasts forever, it needs to fill the random voids of other sports till the playoffs when I actually care again (for the 3rd time in the season. Beginning, middle and end of course). And WHERE IS FOOTBALL???? I might start to actually go through withdrawal soon.

Catch up time

A few happenings have occurred in the past week so a recap is in order.

Somethings Gotta Give

Brad Richards won't be a Star or a Ranger. The Stars won't sign him and he won't sign with them without a secure owner. The Rangers won't overpay (good call by them, they can get some younger, cheaper guys that can learn their system) and I'm guessing the Coyotes are off the list because of ownership issues. Of course, the Blue Jackets aren't looking to secure anymore so they are probably a no go. Richards also was being rather picky with where he would be playing city wise so this has major potential to become the saga of this off-season. What city will make his highness happy while still paying him the $7million he feels he deserves. Can't wait to meet this team! I'm also thinking the Devils are out since last season's drama was enough for them. Plus they need to get Parise signed yesterday.

Treading the Gray Area

Brendan Shanahan has officially taken the reigns from Colin Campbell as discipline czar. I love this, FYI. I think Shanahan has the brains to be in charge of such decisions and since he's closely removed from playing, he gets the game and the changes it's taken over the past decade. I do worry this will ruin his image, life and happiness. Interrupting Rule 48 is like being a color blind person in a color coded store- it's a complete and utter free for all. Draw a straw and that's the call currently under Campbell. Even though he does remove himself from games his son plays in, something has always just seemed wrong about the whole thing. A call he makes against another team can eventually affect his sons team and it always just seemed strange if you ask me. I think Shanahan will bring a new approach and be a breathe of fresh air for the suspensions, et al. When Crosby went down with a concussion, he was one of the first players to reach out to check on him and offer some advice/support. It just goes to show his level of respect for current players. I will pray for him every night that he doesn't wake up thinking "I wish I never took this position" and maybe mail him a bottle of scotch or whiskey or whatever will keep him from jumping off the bridge.

Building for the Future

Pittsburgh announced today that they have officially signed all their coaches from the NHL through the AHL rankings to mulit-year deals. I think Ray Shero is one insanely smart business man and makes some amazing decisions to ensure that the Penguins will continue to be considered an elite team in the league. Signing all their coaches ensures that the system they have in place will be continued. Each of the guys learns one system that is used both in the AHL and NHL and this makes their call-ups so routine it's like they are an extension of each other. Now having all the coaches (that were all already on the same page having each been hired or referred by one another) together for the long term just makes their foundation that much more solid. If you ever needed a reason to want your NHL club to own it's AHL team just look up in the sporting dictionary: Penguins, Pittsburgh.

Concussion Gate: Part 1943483 (of the 2010-11 season)

Google it or find it on Puck Daddy here but here's the latest reason why we need Brendan Shanahan to swoop in and save the day. Lots of opinions on whether or not Aaron Rome should have been suspended. Based on this video, yes. If you want to compare his hit to a hit he received against the Sharks and that outcome (no suspension for the guy who leveled him) who knows what to do. This one seems much worse in general so I do believe he should be suspended. His suspenstion is for a whopping 4 games. That means if this goes 4 more games, the rest of the season. At worst, 2 more games in the beginning of next season. Matt Cooke received 10 plus first round of the playoffs for his elbow that didn't injure anyone, so up to 17 games. Nathan Horton laid on the ice like he was never going to move again and Rome got 4. I need help understanding the justice here. Just because he's not Cooke who plays on the invisible line of being a "dirty player" he seems to have had the past affect his ruling, but we are comparing apples and oranges in every way possible. It's hard to say that if a player is concussed then the player who did the concussing should be out for x number of games, but Cooke's careless late elbow cost him more than Rome's late hit that might affect Horton's career sooner than later. Mike Murphy handed out this suspension since Campbell is relieved of his duties forever and Shanahan doesn't begin his reign till next season (did he breathe a sigh of relief or what??). I hope Shanahan is given free reign to clean house start from the bottom next season and can figure out a way to make some sense of these senseless suspensions.

Headaches: Concussions vs Sinus

Sidney Crosby has reappeared on our radar again and this time he's to say he had a sinus infection, not a concussion related setback. This is nice to hear. Sinus infection headaches can be pretty brutal and even if he really did experience a setback, this is a reasoning that will probably make some fans feel better about the state of the Kid. It does seem like a probable reason, especially since he was spotted enjoying a vacation to Cannes Film Festival. I'm thinking you can't fly to Europe with a non-stop headache. That's over 6 hours and even first class can't make that feel any better. If he didn't have a sinus infection then the Penguins must have the best vault of story lines in town. (Malkin actually missed a number of games before his season ending injury because of a sinus infection). Regardless of what we chose to believe, he's alive and breathing in the Canadian air while trying to figure out how top his half-season assault on league records. A topic trending among hockey players on twitter is often #isitseptemberyet. Most people can't wait to see what he will be up to. Ovi, the puck is in your zone. What do you plan on doing after your teams epic meltdown against the Lightening?

Random Ramblings...(on anything I feel like)
NBC will hold onto Olympic broadcasting rights. I like this and enjoy Bob Costas' story time etc. I would like this even more if they somehow had written in there more games would be aired on NBC all season since I don't get versus and have to rely on Tweets and NHL Game Center for anything aired on Versus. Hopefully they won't manage to air the Olympics on Versus and will keep it on NBC.

With the NFL lockout still holding strong, I am beginning to wonder if we will have football and if we do, how will the quality be?At this point the rookies usually have play books, have begun some mini camps and have actually had a full conversation with their coach. Coaches don't even know the players middle name or nickname yet. What about Mr. Sensitive and Mr. Asshole for personality disorders? Can we foresee some serious conflicts if this season does happen? Don't envy the coaches this season one bit.

Could care less about the NBA but if they lockout and the NFL stays locked out, will NBC and the NHL capitalize on this MAJOR once in a lifetime chance to showcase hockey to it's fullest?? Doubt it, but one can hope. On facebook there's a group of people prepared to boycott week 1 if there is one to make a small statement. Even though most people won't notice, I can understand why some people would do this as they are annoyed with billionaires locking out millionaires. It just don't register on the average Joe's radar. We are football fans, but watching a game on Sunday is a luxury and enjoyable way to spend the day, but we don't get money for doing it and can somehow survive since we somehow do it the other 8 months of the year.

Till next time...
#isitseptemberyet

Redo Part Deux?

Now that Atlanta has successfully lost not one but 2 NHL franchises, the Winnipeg folks are getting their second go round at this game. Eventually some other random city will break this viscous cycle and get a stab at the NHL, but where the dice will lie no one knows. I know, it's Canada's game and they deserve another team but there are so many issues that have to be looked it, I wouldn't be shocked if at some point in the future (not the near but the far far away future) that they pack up their bags and move again (maybe Europe? Gary Bettman help me out with your crystal ball). You have been warned, sort of long post addressing the first issues that came to mind when it was first rumored and today confirmed.

The first issue with this new team is we keep calling it various concoctions of the Winnipeg Jets and Atlanta Thrashers like this is a celebrity relationship. Winnipeg Thrashers? That's out. The name Thrashers is apparently Atlanta's to keep. The Winnipeg Jets Part Deux seems the most logical (imagine the sales for nostalgia jerseys), but the one being said in a quiet whisper is the one that makes the most sense to me: Manitoba Moose, NHL style.

Since the NHL will be taking over the Moose's home arena, the AHL Moose are now in limbo. Will they shutdown for a season, who will their parent club be, where could they relocate to? All important questions and since the Newest Shiny Toy (NST) of the NHL is offering the season ticket holders of the AHL Moose, I think it's a safe bet that they will be shutdown for a season. There's already enough AHL team issues with parent clubs with the Sabres, Amerks and Pirates drama and I'm sure throwing a displaced team with no home arena now isn't going to help. Maybe they can go to ATL and be the consolation prize for the fans that actually did care about losing a team. AHL games are much cheaper and can be loads of fun. In the end the owners of Thrashers gained them through a deal and treated them like the step-child they never wanted and never tried to market them to the people.

Side note about the AHL Sabre issue: Pegula who bought the team earlier this year wants to rejoin them with their former affiliation to the Rochester Amerks in place of their current agreement with the Portland Pirates. Unfortunately it's not as easy as just the parent clubs switching their afflictions since each farm system player is stocked by the parent clubs draft picks and under contracts. Pegula would like to actually BUY the Amerks and own them as the Lemiuex Group owns the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. As I have watched first hand players be developed and come through a solid system I can say it has lots of positives. I have seen half the current NHL roster of the Pens (minus the big guns) play here and get called up. Pretty awesome and it ties you to your team and players even more. Other than player development as a major advantage to them rejoining with the Amerks is location location location. Although Portland isn't a long flight, check a map and see how much closer Rochester is to Buffalo. Same state. You can call up a guy as the Penguins do and have him hop in a car and he's there within hours. You try arranging flights that fast. This was a massive advantage to the Penguins even fielding a team half the season.

Back to the actual topic at hand- the NST. Since I've already addressed the naming issues of NST, the next is what happens to the workers who don't want to move to the never ending winter central? From sunny, south Atlanta, Winnipeg is a hard sell and I don't foresee many people other than players packing up and moving. Plus there's this other issue of a work Visa. Yes, the team will probably help take care of those pesky papers and fees, but your moving to a different country. New weather, currency, dialect, new everything. If you have a family this is not happening unless this was dream to move to Winnipeg. Of all the places in Canada, I'm guessing Winnipeg didn't even crack the top 10 for most people. Winnipeg will gain jobs which will help boost their economy, but wasn't their economy and the weak dollar why they first fled? That arena will be filled for the first few years since season ticket holders have a contract for 3-5 years depending on tickets. Wait till after that grace period and we shall see how the NST is doing.

Lets not forget new owners will infuse new talent with new money but the core of this team is still the Thrashers and their on ice product didn't exactly fare well. Time will tell, but the economy needs to hold steady and the fans need to still support the team in 10 years even if they haven't gained any hardware. That's when we will really know if Winnipeg Part Deux works. If they do ever get uprooted again, I hope the league moves on from it's habit of Sloppy Seconds and they try a new place. I think a place where the AHL has thrived would be a good place to start or within a distance of an AHL team. Fan base is already there.

The last issue of this move I will address is where do they fit in in the already wacky alignment of divisions? Currently they will stay in the Eastern Conference Southeast Division, which since next seasons schedule is close to being completed makes sense (I think they area also holding out on seeing where the Coyotes soap opera leads to) but after that where do they fall? Western Conference Northwest Division makes the most sense which means a Western team comes East. There are various options people have been figuring out for weeks. The most logical one with the least amount of shuffling league wide would be Winnipeg goes Northwest, Colorado goes Central and Nashville goes Southeast. Although Nashville is in the Central timezone, they are rather East and this causes the least amount of feathers being ruffled. The other contenders are Detroit and Columbus.

Columbus makes sense since they are in fact the most Eastern Western team, and they could possibly form a rivalry with teams closer to them (of course their ownership issues and bleeding millions a year into a black hole make me think they are staying put since who knows what will happen). Them coming East causes lots of issues though since they are in a Northern location. Detroit will cause the same issues with moving and since they are an original 6 team and the biggest draw in the West, how do they just hop on over? They are a goldmine and have fans everywhere I doubt the league, I mean NBC, will let that happen. No more Hawks-Wings games on Sundays? Might as well rip up the shiny contract right now. Bettman will personally buy Detroit a new plane before they move East in my opinion.

Either Columbus or Detroit will take a lot of work to realign the East because every rivalry people live for would be dead. I've seen people write up scenarios where Philly and Pitt are in different divisions. Is this real? They are in the same state, each game is about who is the King of the Keystone, plus fans in Philly would riot. How about breaking up Habs and Bruins? Can't even fathom that. And what about the tri-state teams. The Islanders and Rangers are 30 miles apart and what about those Devils? They are even closer to the Rangers than the Isles are. Explain how one of those teams would be chosen as Northeast or Southeast when they can throw stones at each other and all have access to the Atlantic ocean in the flash of a an eye? You can't logically do it.

There's so many aspects to this move that will have positive and negative effects to varying degrees over the course of time. Ending this now since I'm sure I could find 10 more things if I give myself a few more minutes to think about it.

The first positive to this move for our NST is the death of their amazingly hideous wardrobe. RIP Thrashers. And leave your uniform designers wherever you found them,

I need more time in a day....

I haven't completely forgotten about the blog, but I've had a busy past week. This week is looking much better so check back soon! As the hockey season is winding down to 2 teams, I will start this off by looking back at some parts of this past season. From 24/7 to a horrible TV deal (in my opinion) to concussion gate and relocation possibilities there's lots to reflect on. We could even make up our own awards show since I for one can't go to Vegas for the real one. Plus we could have more fun categories like Best Goalie Fight (step up Brent Johnson), Best Use of F-Bombs (Bruce Boudreau, it's all you all the f'ing time) and Best Use of an AHL team when your starting lineup is partying on the IR together (it's all you Penguins).

Speaking of relocation if this Thrasher to Winnipeg move happens, do you really think people, outside of the players making at least a six-figure paycheck really want to move there? We already heard from Ilya Bryzgalov and his love for parks and sunshine. I guess those rumors of Russia having brutal winters were all a lie?! If you paid me that much money, I'd move to Winnipeg. Think that the possibly to be reformed Jets or whatever they shall be named need someone to work for them in PR/Writing/Ops/Jack-of-All-Trades type person? Hiiiiii call me!

Next post will be some fun topic about the season that was. I really like the idea of venting about Versus and NBC's enormous ego to be honest, but with Winnipeg looming who knows.

Side note- I want to move to Arizona. They were selling season tickets for $10 a seat and you got to go in and look at them. Umm what? I know it's partially because the league owns the team this type of wackiness can happen, but a Baby Pens ticket can run you almost double for a game and they are AHL. That's pretty awesome and I hope the residents in the area of Glendale actually take advantage of it to show they want and truly support the team. Next step is getting them an owner.