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Two more NFL Wildcard games took place tonight and with no real surprises to speak of.
Philadelphia just finished off the Giants with a game ending field goal, in a game that was fairly back and forth with hi and lows for both squadrons. The J-E-T-S Jets! Jets! Jets! L-O-S-T Lost! Lost! Lost! to the New England Patriots. Say what you will about the build up and the ‘hatred’ or ‘disgust’ that Belicheck has with Mangini, but it all comes down to the W and Belicheck again gets it done. Yea, I suppose that some of the credit could be given to Tom Brady and the Pat’s Defence that iced the game in the final 5 minutes with a pick off of Chad Pennington for a TD. Yesterday’s contest had the Colts slowly but surely beat the KC Chiefs. Then of course there was Tony Romo’s blunder that cost the Cowboys their playoffs. The funny thing is that he was the placeholder at the beginning of the year before he took Drew Bledsoe’s job. It wasn’t Romo’s first time as the placeholder but now there is a report that a different ball was used, which was a reason that the ball slipped out of his hands and resulted in the botched field goal attempt.
Now no need to analyze or think about any of this. The better teams won and move on. That and I have not been paying much attention to NFL this season and am a lil lost in some storylines and statistics. The only thing is that next week’s match ups will be ones to watch. In the AFC, the divisional games have the San Diego Chargers taking on the New England Patriots, and the Baltimore Ravens will take on the Indianapolis Colts. The NFC picture has the top seeded Chicago Bears taking on the Seattle Seahawks and the New Orleans Saints are home to the Philadelphia Eagles. Good games and if I pick em now there will be San Diego taking on the Indianapolis Colts for the AFC crown and Chicago and New Orleans will meet for the NFC crown.
So as a true Canadian there was NHL hockey on TSN featuring the New Jersey Devils and the Montreal Canadiens. Martin Brodeur facing off against the Montreal Canadiens sounds about right. The new NHL was suppose to get rid of the trap and make it harder for those teams to win games by 1 goal. It is also meant to expose weaknesses in a goalies skill set. Have you looked down Martin Brodeur’s career statistics? Lets take a quick look 1993 Calder Trophy, 1996-7,2002-3 Jennings Trophy winner for fewest GAA and 2 Vezina Trophy’s. and 3 Stanley Cups. Now for personal stats, 5 years of 40+ wins, 470 Wins 86 Shutouts 2.20 GAA. Pretty impressive.
Brodeur is 34 and has about 6 years left to earn 80 odd games to be the winningest goalie of all time. And about 20 shutouts to be the all time shutout leader. No matter what happens in his career, you cannot deny that he belongs in the Hall of Fame. The one question is that does he deserve to be called the greatest goaltender in Hockey history. Since Brodeur started his career with the New Jersey Devils in 1993 the Devils have played the trap system, think about Patrick Roy and the Canadiens, they never played the trap and were always in a run and gun offence which would either work beautifully or it would leave Roy hi and dry. Now there are many highlights of Brodeur’s career but if you think about how he won all the games is he really deserving. Or did he just play a system that allowed him such success as long as the Devils got the first goal of the game or got a lead. No matter what I still believe he is a great goalie and his only real losses in life comes from his divorce settlement. But that is life. 2 Vezina’s 3 Cups, and will soon be number 1 on the all time wins list. Mover over Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur is claiming your spotlight. Now wouldn’t it be great if he owned and coached a QMJHL team and coached head to head against Roy. Hey it could happen.
Game for this All-Star
The whole Rory Fitzpatrick situation is very one sided. You are either for the fans voting process or you are against it. Isn’t the saying, there is no such thing as bad publicity. Right now the NHL needs all the publicity they can get. A fan group of Rory Fitzpatrick creates a website with the intention of sending Rory to the All-Star game in Dallas. As of last night Rory is 2nd in all star balloting right behind Scott Neidermayer in Western Conference defensemen, the top 2 vote getters are starters for the All-Star game. This is what All-Star games are all about. Has anyone watched or cared about the game itself, or is everyone to busy talking about the skills competition. Who am I kidding no one talks about the All-Star game or the NHL. If NHL steps in and removes Rory Fitzpatrick from actually getting into the All-Star game then what is the point of letting the fans vote. 400,000+ fans want to see this man in the All-Star game. That could be 400,000+ less viewers of the NHL. Fitzpatrick when selected should say, ‘thank you everyone who voted. I appreciate it but I will not take part as a starter, but I will play if the Western Coach selects me to be apart of the All-Star game.’ That would be the politically correct thing to do. But how likely is it that he will have another chance at playing and competing in the All-Star game? Most likely never, and he should take this chance to show why he has 27 points in 231 games.
MLS Deserves respect
Being Canadian and privileged enough to play hockey. It is a given that I am not a soccer fan. I watch roughly 3-4 matches every 2 years. Particularly Ukraine or Germany in the World Cup and in Euro Cup competition. Other than that I could care less that soccer exists. Although women playing soccer is hot to watch. The great, and I do mean great city of Toronto (Swirsk needs a better tag) now has an MLS team rightfully called Toronto FC. Recently someone informed me that I was wrong and that FC stands for Football Club. I had a laugh and realized that makes more sense. The Team is owned and operated by MLSE the same people who own the Maple Leafs and Raptors. Initially how can that be, MLSE is about pinching and choking the life out of a penny, why would they invest in an MLS league team when the whole league has lost $350 million since its inception over 10 years ago. To much surprise MLSE puts up the money for a state of the art ‘soccer only’ stadium that will seat 20-25,000 people. Not to forget that it will be hosting the 2007 world junior soccer competition. Toronto FC is busy signing Canadian players to promote the sport at home, they have traded for some ‘hooligan’ type players with good work ethic and the ability to score, basically the Chad Kilger’s of soccer. If this brand of football was any good you could say like Peter Forseberg but I think you get the comparison. The team also had a recent ‘open’ tryout to find ‘diamonds in the rough’. There is no shame in doing this, it just cost a everyone $110 to participate and some kids who came for a tryout flew in from Brazil and other countries in South America. A little bit of a cash cow, but training camp is coming up soon and I am actually excited about this. I have paid attention to the likes of Freddy Adu and the DC United who are like the Montreal Canadians and the New York Yankees of their league. Having a team in Toronto is economically viable for this league that has only lost money. And the fanfare they are creating even out of the very casual soccer fan may be enough to get out and purchase a ticket or two when the Real Salt Lake comes to town and it is the Freddy Adu show. Here's to having more than one team break even this year, and how about actually turning a profit. MLS could use the break.
Blackhawk’s soaring under Savard
I actually got home last night to watch the second and the third period of the Leafs and Blackhawk’s game. I am not a Leafs fan anymore, nor am I a Blackhawk’s fan. I am a fan of Brent Seabrook, and having Martin Havlat in fantasy hockey. After learning that Michael Peca went down with what appeared to be an accidental knee on knee collision with Blackhawk defenseman Jim Vandermeer, it seemed to signal a defeat for the blue and white even though they were up 1-0 via a power play goal from John Pohl. There is something said about losing a player during the game, I swear the leafs have not won a game in 3 years when a player goes down during a game, especially a Peca, Sundin, Kaberle type of player. Of course that stat will be proven wrong I will even look it up myself. The Leafs do not have this intensity around them the makes them win one for their fallen comrade. Maybe not seeing the Blackhawk’s that often hurt them as well. The Blackhawk’s were by definition a wimpy team. This season and especially under Denis Savard have they seemed to beef up and start throwing their weight around. The Hawks hit the bottom and started running and now no one can derail their momentum. It is about the same as the Blue Jackets now under Ken Hitchcock. A boss bench that has a storied career in Chicago, who never coached a day in the NHL has taken the team on a 7-3-1 run and has a recorded a point in all but one game. 17 points out a possible 22, those are Anaheim Duck like numbers. Oh yea does anyone still want to call them a fluke with the Twin Towers on defence, a fourth line that looks and plays like a second line and a goalie who is phenomenal. Oh and an underrated coach leading the way.
After the Isle of Capri was unsuccessful in their bid to obtain the states gaming license, the Pittsburgh Penguins received another lump of coal in their stocking. Mario Lemieux majority owner of the Penguins had a press conference stating,
“…It is time to take control of our own destiny. Accordingly, starting Thursday, the team is off the market, and we will begin to explore relocation options in cities outside Pennsylvania. After seven years of trying to work out a new arena deal exclusively in Pittsburgh, we need to take into consideration the long-term viability of the team and begin discussions with other cities that may be interested in NHL teams.”
Let the tears begin to flow Pittsburgh. After hearing days of rhetoric from Bill Daley, Gary Bettman's right hand man, Former perspective buyer Jim Balsillie, and even from Super Mario himself. The ownership group is going to go the same route that Jim Balsillie wanted to go, and that even the NHL themselves were going to allow Balsillie to go.
More importantly is why did Mario Lemieux wait so long to 1) sell the team he didn’t want, 2) work with the city to get a new arena, and 3) decide when relocation becomes their best option.
Since Mario took over the team in 1999, he has not accomplished his number one objective. Get a New Arena. Yes, he did pull the team out of bankruptcy but would he have done this if the Penguins organization didn’t owe him approx $57 Million? Odds are is that Lemieux would not put up his own money just to pull the team out of bankruptcy. Mario Lemieux ended up losing far more money then actually gaining what was owed to him.
According to many sources there are 5 cities in America who will welcome an NHL franchise with open arms. Why would some of these markets want a hockey team is beyond me. Can anyone actually picture a team in Okalahoma City? Sure they are sharing a basketball team and it is doing marginally well, but a hockey team?
The 4 other cities that would take the Pittsburgh Penguins are Las Vegas, Kansas City, Houston and Seattle. If you are done laughing about the prospect of a hockey team in Okalahoma City, then is there actually seriousness about NHL doing well in Kansas City or Las Vegas. That I know of, Kansas City has a facility all set up for an NHL hockey club with seating for approximately 18,200 ‘fans’ and has been calling Gary Bettman and the NHL for serious consideration. Putting the Penguins in Las Vegas would give the bookies another sport in which they could take your money. After having one franchise fail in the desert (Phoenix Coyotes), even with a brand new facility, is there a need to have another dying franchise in the desert?
Placing the Pens in a market like Houston and Seattle are not horrible choices. Houston seems like a far-fetched place considering that the NHL and the sport of hockey is purely a regional sport, not a national one. Since the Dallas Stars moved from Minnesota they have been successful and with their string of playoff runs are favourites in the city home to the Cowboys and the Mavericks. Just based on their success gives the city of Houston a good chance of being the place the Pens should relocate to. Seattle really seems like the city of choice. The man behind the Seattle bid is former co-head of Microsoft Paul Allen. Sure he sold of 68 million shares of the company and made a boat load of money, but the guy still owes 138 million shares. Now this is a perfect alternative to Jim Balsillie for owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Seattle should be the biggest frontrunner in getting the Penguins because of their location alone. Allen can easily build a 19,000 seat multipurpose arena, he can throw in the Sonics to maximize revenues even. Seattle is no more than 4 hours from Vancouver. If the NHL owners do not want Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin to be in Canada, this is the next best thing. There are at least 6 WHL junior teams within a few hours of Seattle, including the Seattle Thunderbirds. Having Crosby much closer to a huge Canadian hockey market like Vancouver will attract all these fans that will buy the season tickets or buy ticket packages even pay top dollar for single tickets. This area of the United States is a booming hockey location just like the Maryland area. There will be financially stable owners pushing for team success, they can team with the Sonics in one arena for a faster Return on investment, they would still own the rights to Malkin and Crosby for another 5 years starting in 2007, and there is a large deposit of fans wanting professional hockey.
The only thing left to do is pick a name… how about the Seattle ColbEagles. Have some good ol' Stephen Colbert support can only help things, ie: Saginaw Spirit of the OHL
The NHL is a funny entity and a complete mess amongst the 4 major professional leagues in the North America today. Sure they took a year of to provide the owners with cost certainty in an effort to actually have some interest in owning and partaking in NHL management. The year off comes at the time when arguably the best hockey player since Wayne Gretzky is able to join the NHL elite. Sidney Crosby is thrown into a team draft to determine who will get the #1 draft choice and Crosby’s services for the next 7 years. To no ones surprise he winds up in Pittsburgh along side the former savior of the city, Mario Lemuix. Could Crosby really ask for a better teacher and mentor other than being drafted by Phoenix and sent under the tutelage of ‘The Great One’ himself?
The Pittsburgh Gaming Control Board has almost certainly sealed the fate of the Pittsburgh Penguins. To some surprise the PGCB gave the gaming license to PITG Gaming Majestic Star instead of the heavily favoured Isle of Capri who were hand in hand with the Pittsburgh Penguins to not only keep the team in the city, but were also going to take the entire bill for a new arena in Pittsburgh. The city and the team desperately need this new arena.
Is this really a surprise? Is anyone in USA surprised that it was not a given that the IoC did not receive the nod for a gaming license even though they were going to purchase a new arena. Does anyone in the USA know that Pittsburgh has a NHL team? Is there anyone in the USA who knows what the NHL is?
This is clearly sarcasm but the ratings in the U.S. of A. show that Americans do not know, nor care that the NHL is back and becoming fan friendly. Granted no one in the US gets the Versus network or knows what channel it is on even if they have the packaged channel.
Now think about this. If a gaming license in the city of Winnipeg was up for grabs, and an applicant would create a new arena in hopes of getting a NEW NHL franchise back in this hockey-starved market. Every one in Canada would be petitioning for that company to get awarded the license. Don’t think it wouldn’t happen either. Canadians need 3 things. Hockey. Beer. and Women. There is never enough of the first two and it is rare to get the girl when those are your first two passions in life.
Pittsburgh is a great sports market in America, providing that it is an American past time. The Pirates and the Steelers were all able to get brand new stadiums, almost without hesitation. They are beautiful facilities, not that I know first hand. But the depictions of the stadium and the ballpark in Madden and MVP Baseball are beautiful. One day I will make it there to watch Jason Bay hit a dinger. This just shows you where Hockey is in a great sports market like Pittsburgh. The Penguins have won 2 championships in the last 15 years. The Pirates have maybe made the playoffs once in 15 years. I am sure some one will correct me if I am wrong. Yet people will flock to a pirates game and let the Penguins rot.
Pittsburgh does not deserve the penguins. Crosby and Malkin should be in a bigger market deserving of these two stars. Even if the team was moved to Kansas City or Las Vegas, yes they are smaller markets, but with a team relocation, do you understand how much marketing will be done to promote the new team? Perfect time to market the two biggest assets in the NHL.
But alas, this is why I just write it all down, and have no real authority to even have an opinion worth listening to. But Bottom line move the franchise, if not to a starved market like Canada, then to another strange market like the desert. The hockey may not be the best, but you have 2 aces in the hole, and that is a start to a full house. (Poker Pun).
