Hey, remember like last week when we had d-men out the wazoo and everyone was all, "Golly, how is Lindy going to decide who to play and who to sit?" Yeah, that was nice. Considering how thin things are in Portland right now with Mike Weber dealing with knee problems and Mike Funk suffering from concussions, the timing could not be worse. It's deja vu all over again. I wouldn't be surprised if Lindy Ruff is waking up in the middle of the night with flashbacks.
For the record, I'm guessing Henrik Tallinder separated his shoulder. I've seen some speculation that he re-broke his arm but I know he finally got a plate put in last time he broke it and the surgeon told me the plate in my ankle would make that bone pretty much impossible to re-break. Of course there is more than one bone in your arm and I don't know how his plate is set. And also, if I'm remembering correctly, Hank was favoring his right arm and it was his left arm/wrist he had all the previous problems with. Of course there's no law saying he can't break the other arm, I guess. Sounds like exactly the kind of thing he would do actually. Dang. He was starting to straighten himself out a bit too, I thought. (I am biased. In case you haven't caught on to that fact yet.)
I do have a few longer posts half started and I'm hoping to finish some of them off over the All-Star break. I've just been fried this week for some reason. I actually slept through half the game tonight - I woke up just in time to see Hank get hurt - and if Hank hadn't gotten hurt, I wouldn't have been able to remember a single thing about that game. I'm planning on getting back in the groove in the next few days.
But hey, how funny is it that the rumors say the Flyers are already trying to dump Daniel Briere's contract? I have no ill will toward Danny - I think it was pretty clear the Sabres had no intention of re-signing him - but come on, who really thought that contract was a good idea? I can't believe Philly gave him that much money, that many years AND a no trade clause. Between this and Rick DiPietro officially being ruled out for the season, a little caution when dealing with contracts suddenly seems pretty smart.
Showing posts with label GMs are stupid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GMs are stupid. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
More About Uncle Darcy
(Someone emailed me to ask about the title of the previous post. Occasionally I get sucked into the comment threads on Sabres Edge - you might come across a remark or two from me on the last few posts if you look really hard - and for a while every time I made some kind of pro-management comment, I was accused of being related to Darcy Regier. I think I've been his daughter, his granddaughter, and his niece. Uncle Darcy and me, we're like this. Okay, "we're like this" doesn't quite work when you can't see my fingers, but trust me, they are crossed.)
So first let me say my piece about Brooks Orpik. I will not argue that 3.75 a year seems like a perfectly fine deal considering the market. If he had signed that deal with Toronto or San Jose or Tampa, I might be a little upset. Yeah, the prices are steep these days but eventually you have to bite the bullet and spend something. But the fact that he signed that deal with the Penguins really makes me feel that it's a hometown discount. For all the talk about Orpik being a local kid, the only team he really should have any loyalty to is Pittsburgh. They drafted him, they brought him up to the NHL. He knows their management, their coaches, and their players. People can piss and moan about Darcy Regier not matching 3.75 or bumping it up to 4 but I don't think it matters. Even if Regier - or any GM not named Ray Shero - matched, Orpik doesn't take it. If he went somewhere else, it was going to be for more money. I doubt those rumors of 5 million were completely fabricated. Is this my opinion based on an assumption? Well, yeah, sure it is. Do I know at what price Regier bowed out of the Orpik sweepstakes? No. Being related to Darcy only goes so far. But the point is, neither do you. Sometimes players just don't want to go certain places. Signing a player is not as simple as handing the player the biggest offer and saying, "Training camp starts in September," and that's what I find the most annoying about all the griping about the Sabres - or any - front office. If putting together a Stanley Cup winning team was easy, everyone would be doing it.
Here's the thing. If you tell me I can have a GM who's overly deliberate and cautious OR I can have a GM who acts without thinking and makes the splashy play, well, I'm taking the cautious guy. He'll probably make mistakes too, but I think his mistakes are going to be less dramatic and more easily fixed.
I think in the past two years, the Sabres have made two large mistakes. One, they weren't able to keep Chris Drury or Daniel Briere. (Note the "or." I think keeping both of them would've meant sacrificing one of the younger kids somewhere along the way.) Two, they didn't replace Jay McKee's more physical presence in the defensive corp. But you know what? Even with those two mistakes - again, pretty big ones - the Sabres are a pretty good team. They finished the season with 90 points. They only missed the playoffs by 4 points. They missed the fourth seed by 8 points. And that was with inconsistent play from the goaltender (who was bad even before the end of the season when he was gassed) and the top defensive pairing. Better play from the three of them alone probably means a spot in the playoffs. The Sabres are young - younger than the much regaled Blackhawks and Caps - and a very large portion of their offensive output came from players under 25, most of whom are either locked up or are being talked with this off-season so that should hold for the next few years. Despite three big losses and a slowness to fix those losses, the Sabres are still a team that just needs some tweaking. In my opinion.
I'll take that over the Rangers just as an example. After free-spending last off-season, they now have $33 million wrapped up in five players (one very good goalie, two good but not great offensive defensemen, and two second line centers neither of whom make a habit of scoring a lot of goals) for four years. Outside of Henrik Lundqvist I wouldn't say that's necessarily a great group to be building around and it doesn't leave a lot of flexibility for other moves particularly in mid-season. I don't know. We'll see but I like what we have better.
And we could always be the Maple Leafs who have blown so much money and handed out so many no-trade clauses that they're buying out people left and right and begging players to agree to be traded. Not only are they re-building from the ground up, they're still looking for a plot of land to build on.
And hey, the season? It doesn't start tomorrow. There's still plenty of time to swing a trade and do some tinkering with the line-up.
But what do I know? I'm just a lazy, easy to please fan who enjoys mediocrity, is related to the GM, and probably works in the Sabres PR department.
So first let me say my piece about Brooks Orpik. I will not argue that 3.75 a year seems like a perfectly fine deal considering the market. If he had signed that deal with Toronto or San Jose or Tampa, I might be a little upset. Yeah, the prices are steep these days but eventually you have to bite the bullet and spend something. But the fact that he signed that deal with the Penguins really makes me feel that it's a hometown discount. For all the talk about Orpik being a local kid, the only team he really should have any loyalty to is Pittsburgh. They drafted him, they brought him up to the NHL. He knows their management, their coaches, and their players. People can piss and moan about Darcy Regier not matching 3.75 or bumping it up to 4 but I don't think it matters. Even if Regier - or any GM not named Ray Shero - matched, Orpik doesn't take it. If he went somewhere else, it was going to be for more money. I doubt those rumors of 5 million were completely fabricated. Is this my opinion based on an assumption? Well, yeah, sure it is. Do I know at what price Regier bowed out of the Orpik sweepstakes? No. Being related to Darcy only goes so far. But the point is, neither do you. Sometimes players just don't want to go certain places. Signing a player is not as simple as handing the player the biggest offer and saying, "Training camp starts in September," and that's what I find the most annoying about all the griping about the Sabres - or any - front office. If putting together a Stanley Cup winning team was easy, everyone would be doing it.
Here's the thing. If you tell me I can have a GM who's overly deliberate and cautious OR I can have a GM who acts without thinking and makes the splashy play, well, I'm taking the cautious guy. He'll probably make mistakes too, but I think his mistakes are going to be less dramatic and more easily fixed.
I think in the past two years, the Sabres have made two large mistakes. One, they weren't able to keep Chris Drury or Daniel Briere. (Note the "or." I think keeping both of them would've meant sacrificing one of the younger kids somewhere along the way.) Two, they didn't replace Jay McKee's more physical presence in the defensive corp. But you know what? Even with those two mistakes - again, pretty big ones - the Sabres are a pretty good team. They finished the season with 90 points. They only missed the playoffs by 4 points. They missed the fourth seed by 8 points. And that was with inconsistent play from the goaltender (who was bad even before the end of the season when he was gassed) and the top defensive pairing. Better play from the three of them alone probably means a spot in the playoffs. The Sabres are young - younger than the much regaled Blackhawks and Caps - and a very large portion of their offensive output came from players under 25, most of whom are either locked up or are being talked with this off-season so that should hold for the next few years. Despite three big losses and a slowness to fix those losses, the Sabres are still a team that just needs some tweaking. In my opinion.
I'll take that over the Rangers just as an example. After free-spending last off-season, they now have $33 million wrapped up in five players (one very good goalie, two good but not great offensive defensemen, and two second line centers neither of whom make a habit of scoring a lot of goals) for four years. Outside of Henrik Lundqvist I wouldn't say that's necessarily a great group to be building around and it doesn't leave a lot of flexibility for other moves particularly in mid-season. I don't know. We'll see but I like what we have better.
And we could always be the Maple Leafs who have blown so much money and handed out so many no-trade clauses that they're buying out people left and right and begging players to agree to be traded. Not only are they re-building from the ground up, they're still looking for a plot of land to build on.
And hey, the season? It doesn't start tomorrow. There's still plenty of time to swing a trade and do some tinkering with the line-up.
But what do I know? I'm just a lazy, easy to please fan who enjoys mediocrity, is related to the GM, and probably works in the Sabres PR department.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
I Like Darcy Regier (But No, I Am Not Related To Him)
Buffalo, I love you but you're crazy. You know that, right? Darcy Regier all but told you that most of what the Sabres did this year would probably be done via trade, he told you that they had a certain number of dollars they were willing to spend and they wouldn't go over it, he told you he thought it was a fairly weak UFA market this season, and he told you they had two very specific needs to fill. And even after all that - and even after they filled one of those needs - you still freaked out when the Sabres hadn't signed a big name by the end of the night.
Listen, I get it. Every hockey fan wants to wake up on UFA day and unwrap the shiny new toy. You know, that really cool toy that has the bright, running lights and the realistic sound effects, the one that everyone is grabbing for and only one or two lucky people get. But we all know what happens. You play with the toy for a few months and then the batteries start to run down. A speaker busts and the sound gets really tinny. The lights still run but only every other one blinks because the bulbs, on closer inspection, are really cheap. One of the plastic arms breaks off, making the toy kind of useless and ugly and you suddenly realize, "Wait a second! This toy doesn't play enough defense or kill enough penalties for the price I paid for it!" And then you're stuck. You can't sell the thing on eBay because no one wants it and you can't talk one of your buddies into making a trade, not even for the cheap action figure that doesn't bend at the knees and elbows. You have to either buy some other toys to pile around it and hope they hide it - although good luck because unfortunately you spent a huge chunk of your toy budget on that P.O.S. - or you just have to toss the friggin' thing in the garbage. And really, who wants that?
Here's what some other teams did today.
Toronto gave their fans the Finger (sorry, sorry) and signed a 28-year-old who's played in 94 NHL games to 3.5 million for 4 years.
The Rangers paid 6.5 million for a defenseman who didn't do well under pressure and was such a disappointment in the last two seasons that his team was desperate to get rid of him.
Tampa Bay signed, by my unofficial count, 18 forwards. They also signed Olaf Kolzig, which would be fine if they weren't already talking about shopping Mike Smith, their other (younger, potentially very good) goaltender. They've evidently decided their defense is in fine shape which is... not what my assessment would be.
The Capitals went from Cristobal Huet to Jose Theodore in net which seems like a serious downgrade to me especially for the money involved. Oh, sure Theodore has played well for at least one stretch in the past few years. Not sure that's really what a young, up-and-coming team needs.
The Chicago Blackhawks decided Brian Campbell should be paid almost as much as Nicklas Lidstrom. Granted, I think he actually will fit in with the players they have pretty well - okay, that's what I hear, I haven't watched Chicago recently and wouldn't know anyone who plays defense for them if Brent Seabrook hadn't been on my fantasy team last year - and I can see him being one of those rare guys who plays better once his contract is settled than while he's trying to earn said contract but seven million dollars? For EIGHT YEARS? Brian Campbell's not a baby anymore. He'll be 37 when that contract is done. The Blackhawks also have major cap issues though they do admittedly have some time to address those.
My point? Most of this is crazy. And this isn't even including the alleged 10 million per offer made to Mats Sundin, the alleged 9 million per offer made to Marion Hossa, and whatever ridiculous contract The Shift is going to earn Brooks Orpik. Seriously, what was the last huge UFA signing that really made a difference the following year? This is madness.
For all the crap, Darcy Regier takes from Buffalo, I like him and would take him over most of the yahoo GMs out there.
I like that he's too smart to get into bidding wars with other GMs or smart enough to bow out of them at the right time.
I like that he's put some thought into what he wants to spend where and then sticks to it.
I like that he's more likely to go out and find someone like Toni Lydman or Teppo Numminen or Nolan Pratt who isn't a huge, flashy name but who fills a need and does it for a much more reasonable price.
I like that he's not afraid to ignore the UFA market and focus on trades. You do remember how Chris Drury and Danny Briere got to Buffalo, right?
I like that when it comes to big money and years, he seems to be focusing more on players who are already in Buffalo and already an important part of the team. (Yeah, yeah, Drury and Briere. Moving on!)
I like that while everyone is freaking out about UFAs, he's slowly pulling together a good core of players. Right now we have Thomas Vanek, Derek Roy, Jochen Hecht, and Paul Gaustad for four years or more with Ryan Miller and Jason Pominville hopefully soon to follow. Maybe it's just me but that doesn't seem like too bad a group.
I like that he seems to realize that signing a load of expensive UFAs isn't the only way - or even a good way - to build a winning team. I like that he realizes the problems that do exist don't have to all be fixed TODAY RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND OH MY GOD PLEASE HURRY UP!
I like that when we're all watching paint dry in three years because there's another lockout, my GM won't have had anything to do with it.
Buffalo, take a chill pill, okay? Believe it or not, you're in pretty good hands.
And I like his kickin' mustache.
Listen, I get it. Every hockey fan wants to wake up on UFA day and unwrap the shiny new toy. You know, that really cool toy that has the bright, running lights and the realistic sound effects, the one that everyone is grabbing for and only one or two lucky people get. But we all know what happens. You play with the toy for a few months and then the batteries start to run down. A speaker busts and the sound gets really tinny. The lights still run but only every other one blinks because the bulbs, on closer inspection, are really cheap. One of the plastic arms breaks off, making the toy kind of useless and ugly and you suddenly realize, "Wait a second! This toy doesn't play enough defense or kill enough penalties for the price I paid for it!" And then you're stuck. You can't sell the thing on eBay because no one wants it and you can't talk one of your buddies into making a trade, not even for the cheap action figure that doesn't bend at the knees and elbows. You have to either buy some other toys to pile around it and hope they hide it - although good luck because unfortunately you spent a huge chunk of your toy budget on that P.O.S. - or you just have to toss the friggin' thing in the garbage. And really, who wants that?
Here's what some other teams did today.
Toronto gave their fans the Finger (sorry, sorry) and signed a 28-year-old who's played in 94 NHL games to 3.5 million for 4 years.
The Rangers paid 6.5 million for a defenseman who didn't do well under pressure and was such a disappointment in the last two seasons that his team was desperate to get rid of him.
Tampa Bay signed, by my unofficial count, 18 forwards. They also signed Olaf Kolzig, which would be fine if they weren't already talking about shopping Mike Smith, their other (younger, potentially very good) goaltender. They've evidently decided their defense is in fine shape which is... not what my assessment would be.
The Capitals went from Cristobal Huet to Jose Theodore in net which seems like a serious downgrade to me especially for the money involved. Oh, sure Theodore has played well for at least one stretch in the past few years. Not sure that's really what a young, up-and-coming team needs.
The Chicago Blackhawks decided Brian Campbell should be paid almost as much as Nicklas Lidstrom. Granted, I think he actually will fit in with the players they have pretty well - okay, that's what I hear, I haven't watched Chicago recently and wouldn't know anyone who plays defense for them if Brent Seabrook hadn't been on my fantasy team last year - and I can see him being one of those rare guys who plays better once his contract is settled than while he's trying to earn said contract but seven million dollars? For EIGHT YEARS? Brian Campbell's not a baby anymore. He'll be 37 when that contract is done. The Blackhawks also have major cap issues though they do admittedly have some time to address those.
My point? Most of this is crazy. And this isn't even including the alleged 10 million per offer made to Mats Sundin, the alleged 9 million per offer made to Marion Hossa, and whatever ridiculous contract The Shift is going to earn Brooks Orpik. Seriously, what was the last huge UFA signing that really made a difference the following year? This is madness.
For all the crap, Darcy Regier takes from Buffalo, I like him and would take him over most of the yahoo GMs out there.
I like that he's too smart to get into bidding wars with other GMs or smart enough to bow out of them at the right time.
I like that he's put some thought into what he wants to spend where and then sticks to it.
I like that he's more likely to go out and find someone like Toni Lydman or Teppo Numminen or Nolan Pratt who isn't a huge, flashy name but who fills a need and does it for a much more reasonable price.
I like that he's not afraid to ignore the UFA market and focus on trades. You do remember how Chris Drury and Danny Briere got to Buffalo, right?
I like that when it comes to big money and years, he seems to be focusing more on players who are already in Buffalo and already an important part of the team. (Yeah, yeah, Drury and Briere. Moving on!)
I like that while everyone is freaking out about UFAs, he's slowly pulling together a good core of players. Right now we have Thomas Vanek, Derek Roy, Jochen Hecht, and Paul Gaustad for four years or more with Ryan Miller and Jason Pominville hopefully soon to follow. Maybe it's just me but that doesn't seem like too bad a group.
I like that he seems to realize that signing a load of expensive UFAs isn't the only way - or even a good way - to build a winning team. I like that he realizes the problems that do exist don't have to all be fixed TODAY RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND OH MY GOD PLEASE HURRY UP!
I like that when we're all watching paint dry in three years because there's another lockout, my GM won't have had anything to do with it.
Buffalo, take a chill pill, okay? Believe it or not, you're in pretty good hands.
And I like his kickin' mustache. Monday, February 25, 2008
This Game Never Happened
Raise your hand if you knew the second that delay of game penalty was called on Jason Pominville that the Sabres were going to lose this game. Yep. Me too.
Even I, the eternal optimist, cannot deny that that game sucked and blew in so many ways that it's tough to quantify. Choking away a three goal lead? To a team that's missing something like 18 forwards? And on a ten game losing streak? Loose play in the defensive zone? Again? Soft goaltending when it mattered? Letting Danny Briere be the hero? Sweet moses that game was pretty much my hockey nightmare come to life.
- Versus was making my head spin. One moment they'd say something that was actually kind of insightful and right on the nose for people who probably don't watch every Sabres game (Jochen Hecht has been the team's best all-around player, Jason Pominville has developed into a mature, responsible player, Roy is becoming a good playmaker) and then they'd say stuff that was not so right (Campbell and Spacek are the top guys (at certain things yes, but "top guys" with no qualifier is not acceptable), Campbell is an amazing open ice hitter, and I know there was another one but I can't remember it. Trust me though, it was there.)
- I was very wishy-washy on the little turtleneck thing Henrik Tallinder was wearing tonight until someone mentioned it was a neck protector. It may look a little silly but by golly, if it means I'll never have to watch Hank hustle to the bench with blood gushing from his throat, I'm all for it.
- Ryan Miller was not good tonight. He didn't get a lot of help most of the night and there were some great saves mixed in but he has to be better, especially in games that are so important. Sometimes I hate how much fans put on the goalie's shoulders but it comes with the position. I know he has a little stretch every season where he seems to wear down a bit before finally snapping out of it but he needs to snap out of sooner this year.
- I was going to shoot my TV if I had to watch that Alexander Ovechkin 60 Goals commercial one. more. time. Mark pointed out to me that when the player names pop up all over the ice, HULL pops up in the crease which was very amusing... but only the first 37 times. After that I hated Alexander Ovechkin, the Washington Captials, the NHL, and Gary Bettman.
- Also, Versus was killing me with the Umberger "poetic justice" bit. Nothing they were calling "poetic justice" was actually "poetic justice." And scoring on a power play is not really scoring in an "unusual circumstance." I hate you, Versus.
- While I certainly will not blame this loss on injuries - that would be ridiculous, especially considering the Flyers were even worse off than us in that regard - I will say again that I don't think Jochen Hecht's absence can be underestimated even though it totally will be. Taking him out means losing our best defensive forward, one of our most responsible players, and one of the guys who never seems to hit panic mode and it means shuffling two lines that have been playing really well together (Roy-Connolly-Vanek, Pominville-Hecht-Player X). I think Jochen is one of the cards on the bottom of the house of cards that is the Sabres roster. Pull him out and the whole thing tumbles down or at least starts teetering an awful lot.
- Some good things: Derek Roy was a beast on the first goal, Timmy made a gorgeous pass on Pommers' goal, Pommers continues to be his steady, reliable self, ummmm... Henrik Tallinder was wearing a neck guard... Timmy was really funny yapping at the Flyers bench... let's see... Oh! Andrew Peters threw a punch! Lindy was screaming and that always amuses me... That's pretty good, right?
- This game was so bad that I can't even fully enjoy the Sens 5-0 loss to the Leafs and that is just not right. Let's forget this game happened and move on, okay?
Tomorrow is trade deadline day and all I can say is thank the Lord. I can't wait for this to be over. I don't think it'll surprise anyone to hear me say I'm firmly on the side of trading Brian Campbell. I think the Sabres are absolutely right to not budge on their most recent offer because Campbell is simply not worth a big money contract. And considering how clearly unfocused he's been for the past few weeks, I have to wonder how well he'll handle the expectations that come with a big contract. Get something for him and then let's all move on and, Darcy, don't even think about calling one of your "Everything is under control!" press conferences because you don't owe anyone an apology for trading an overrated, overpriced d-man. Oh, I know there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth from some quarters about how he's gone and how the Sabres were stupid to let him go and how they should have paid him but I feel pretty good about ignoring those quarters because they are, quite simply, wrong. (As always, feel free to disagree. But you're not changing my mind on this one.) Also I totally want to re-sign Dmitri Kalinin. I would like for Darcy to announce Kalinin's re-signing and Campbell's trade at the same time. It would send some people over the edge but I? I would be very happy.
Dan Boyle's contract? Ridiculous. One, it's awfully close to Nicklas Lidstrom money and while I know Lidstrom probably gave the Red Wings a little bit of a discount, that still ain't right. Two, he got ridiculous money AND a no-trade clause. Really? After all the guys refusing to waive NTCs, GMs are still giving those out? And they're not going to ask the guy to take a little less money if they're included? Three, did I mention that it's ridiculous? Because I don't know if you guys remember but we just had a lockout and part of the justification of the lockout was the need to institute cost control. Which is HI-larious considering that Brian Campbell is probably going to be making Brad Boyle money come July.
Tomorrow - today by the time most of you read this - I'll be strapped to the laptop. Mark has elected me to update him and his co-workers on any breaking trades. Next up: My sparkling commentary on said trades and finally - finally! - my thoughts (and yours) on the shootout.
Even I, the eternal optimist, cannot deny that that game sucked and blew in so many ways that it's tough to quantify. Choking away a three goal lead? To a team that's missing something like 18 forwards? And on a ten game losing streak? Loose play in the defensive zone? Again? Soft goaltending when it mattered? Letting Danny Briere be the hero? Sweet moses that game was pretty much my hockey nightmare come to life.
- Versus was making my head spin. One moment they'd say something that was actually kind of insightful and right on the nose for people who probably don't watch every Sabres game (Jochen Hecht has been the team's best all-around player, Jason Pominville has developed into a mature, responsible player, Roy is becoming a good playmaker) and then they'd say stuff that was not so right (Campbell and Spacek are the top guys (at certain things yes, but "top guys" with no qualifier is not acceptable), Campbell is an amazing open ice hitter, and I know there was another one but I can't remember it. Trust me though, it was there.)
- I was very wishy-washy on the little turtleneck thing Henrik Tallinder was wearing tonight until someone mentioned it was a neck protector. It may look a little silly but by golly, if it means I'll never have to watch Hank hustle to the bench with blood gushing from his throat, I'm all for it.
- Ryan Miller was not good tonight. He didn't get a lot of help most of the night and there were some great saves mixed in but he has to be better, especially in games that are so important. Sometimes I hate how much fans put on the goalie's shoulders but it comes with the position. I know he has a little stretch every season where he seems to wear down a bit before finally snapping out of it but he needs to snap out of sooner this year.
- I was going to shoot my TV if I had to watch that Alexander Ovechkin 60 Goals commercial one. more. time. Mark pointed out to me that when the player names pop up all over the ice, HULL pops up in the crease which was very amusing... but only the first 37 times. After that I hated Alexander Ovechkin, the Washington Captials, the NHL, and Gary Bettman.
- Also, Versus was killing me with the Umberger "poetic justice" bit. Nothing they were calling "poetic justice" was actually "poetic justice." And scoring on a power play is not really scoring in an "unusual circumstance." I hate you, Versus.
- While I certainly will not blame this loss on injuries - that would be ridiculous, especially considering the Flyers were even worse off than us in that regard - I will say again that I don't think Jochen Hecht's absence can be underestimated even though it totally will be. Taking him out means losing our best defensive forward, one of our most responsible players, and one of the guys who never seems to hit panic mode and it means shuffling two lines that have been playing really well together (Roy-Connolly-Vanek, Pominville-Hecht-Player X). I think Jochen is one of the cards on the bottom of the house of cards that is the Sabres roster. Pull him out and the whole thing tumbles down or at least starts teetering an awful lot.
- Some good things: Derek Roy was a beast on the first goal, Timmy made a gorgeous pass on Pommers' goal, Pommers continues to be his steady, reliable self, ummmm... Henrik Tallinder was wearing a neck guard... Timmy was really funny yapping at the Flyers bench... let's see... Oh! Andrew Peters threw a punch! Lindy was screaming and that always amuses me... That's pretty good, right?
- This game was so bad that I can't even fully enjoy the Sens 5-0 loss to the Leafs and that is just not right. Let's forget this game happened and move on, okay?
Tomorrow is trade deadline day and all I can say is thank the Lord. I can't wait for this to be over. I don't think it'll surprise anyone to hear me say I'm firmly on the side of trading Brian Campbell. I think the Sabres are absolutely right to not budge on their most recent offer because Campbell is simply not worth a big money contract. And considering how clearly unfocused he's been for the past few weeks, I have to wonder how well he'll handle the expectations that come with a big contract. Get something for him and then let's all move on and, Darcy, don't even think about calling one of your "Everything is under control!" press conferences because you don't owe anyone an apology for trading an overrated, overpriced d-man. Oh, I know there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth from some quarters about how he's gone and how the Sabres were stupid to let him go and how they should have paid him but I feel pretty good about ignoring those quarters because they are, quite simply, wrong. (As always, feel free to disagree. But you're not changing my mind on this one.) Also I totally want to re-sign Dmitri Kalinin. I would like for Darcy to announce Kalinin's re-signing and Campbell's trade at the same time. It would send some people over the edge but I? I would be very happy.
Dan Boyle's contract? Ridiculous. One, it's awfully close to Nicklas Lidstrom money and while I know Lidstrom probably gave the Red Wings a little bit of a discount, that still ain't right. Two, he got ridiculous money AND a no-trade clause. Really? After all the guys refusing to waive NTCs, GMs are still giving those out? And they're not going to ask the guy to take a little less money if they're included? Three, did I mention that it's ridiculous? Because I don't know if you guys remember but we just had a lockout and part of the justification of the lockout was the need to institute cost control. Which is HI-larious considering that Brian Campbell is probably going to be making Brad Boyle money come July.
Tomorrow - today by the time most of you read this - I'll be strapped to the laptop. Mark has elected me to update him and his co-workers on any breaking trades. Next up: My sparkling commentary on said trades and finally - finally! - my thoughts (and yours) on the shootout.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
10 Things I Think I Think
I'm not a huge football fan but I do occasionally read Peter King's "Ten Things I Think I Think" column. I have a few things bouncing around in my head that don't really seem worthy of entire posts but I wanted to throw them out there anyway. Just so you're forewarned, one of my favorite things about King's columns is that every thing he thinks ends up with at least 18 subpoints so instead of 10 things, you actually end up with 180. In case you haven't noticed, I can be long-winded so I wouldn't expect that to be any different here.
1. I THINK THE IDEA THAT ALEXANDER OVECHKIN'S DEAL WILL EVER BE A BARGAIN IS RIDICULOUS.
Yeah, I don't understand this at all. Just because there is a maximum salary in the league doesn't mean there's anyone in the league who should be making it. Ovechkin will be eating up a huge amount of his team's salary cap by himself. How do you build a team around that, especially when a lot of his current teammates are young and going to be in line for raises of their own eventually?
And that's just the money. Thirteen years is crazy. Maybe I'm cautious because I've been raised by Darcy Regier but I can't imagine signing anyone for ten years or more. There's so much that can go wrong. How many players start out great and peter out after a few years? And what about injuries? If Eric Lindros were in his first few years now he'd get a similar contract and yeah, that would've worked out really well for the Flyers. Ovechkin is an amazing talent for sure and he hasn't had injury problems yet but he plays a very tough, physical style. On top of the regular wear and tear of hockey, that can add up to be trouble. Look at Peter Forsberg. He was considered a force of nature right up until the moment he started falling apart and he's never been healthy since. If Ovechkin gets hurt in the latter part of his contract, after the insurance coverage runs out, the Caps are on the hook for his salary and they're screwed big time. Somewhere along the way one of these contracts is going to go bad and it's going to completely cripple a franchise for a very long time.
Also, on a side note, I think Alexander Ovechkin is probably not the only guy in the NHL who loves playing hockey. He's happy and exuberant, I get it. I hope Caps fans are happy that Ovechkin is getting so much attention right now because I'm officially as tired of him as I was of Sidney Crosby two years ago. Shut up and let me watch the kid play. I have two eyes that, with a little help, see perfectly well. I can see that he's really, really good. I can see that he's really, really happy. I can see that he really, really likes playing hockey. Now leave me alone.
2. I THINK IT'S STUPID TO THINK THE SALARY CAP IS GOING TO GO UP FOREVER.
Okay, maybe it's not stupid. But I really don't understand it. I know there were things built into the CBA to insure that the cap goes up the first few years, but is it really going to keep climbing? And if it does, what's that going to mean for the league? There are a handful of teams, including Buffalo, that are already spending more money on player salaries under the cap system than they were pre-lockout. It's my understanding that at least a few teams are increasing their gates, not by attracting more fans but by raising ticket prices. If that continues and teams have to keep raising ticket prices to keep up their revenues, aren't they eventually going to price themselves out of the local market? Aren't we already seeing that in places like Detroit? They have one of the best teams in the league - if not THE best team - and they're not drawing, largely because tickets are too expensive for the local economy. And if fans stop going to games are they really going to drive out to the arena to pay marked up prices for a t-shirt they can buy at the mall instead? And if revenues start dropping, what's that going to do to the financial health of the league?
I will admit that all of this stuff is totally over my head so if anyone out there can explain this to me, please do. For now however I don't believe the salary cap will ever go up enough that Ovechkin is a deal and if it does, I think the league is going to have big problems.
3. I THINK MOST GENERAL MANAGERS ARE STUPID.
Seriously. Players are getting life-time contracts. Young guys are being paid for what they might be some day instead of what they are right now. RFAs are making as much money as UFAs used to make which makes free agency fairly pointless and gives teams very little time to develop their young talent before having to decide whether they're worth a decade long commitment. When guys do get to UFA they're getting ridiculous contracts. I love Danny Briere but seven million dollars? Come on. And instead of responding by saying, "Man, that guy is an idiot," most GMs rush out and make equally stupid offers. Or even worse, they make it a mission to top the previous guy and make an even stupider offer. So then the stupid GMs stand around and pat each other on the back about how they've shown their fanbase that they're serious about winning even though all they did was throw money at the first big name they saw and the smart GMs (Darcy and Lou Lamoriello) sit around wondering what the heck is going on.
Yeah, I'm real glad we did that whole lockout thing, guys. Dion Phaneuf should totally be within a million dollars of Nicklas Lidstrom and Thomas Vanek should absolutely be making ten million in his third year in the league.
(I'd completely forgotten this until I saw I already had a "GMs are stupid" tag but I've written about this a little before.)
4. I THINK WADE REDDEN IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT TO REFUSE TO WAIVE HIS NO TRADE CLAUSE.
Well, gee, if you didn't want him to use the no trade clause, maybe you shouldn't have given it to him. The guy actually wants to stay in one place and he's willing to take less money to do it and we're gonna crucify him for it? I get that he's been a disappointment and Wade, if you suck in the playoffs everyone in Ottawa will hate you forever, but I give him a lot of credit for knowing what he wants and sticking to it. I'm curious to see if a) more players start refusing to waive the no trade and if b) GMs respond to that by refusing to hand them out. Do any Sabres have no trade clauses? I don't know but I'd be surprised if any of them did.
5. I THINK THESE NUMBERS ARE PRETTY INTERESTING.
Daniel Briere: 21 G, 33 A, 54 points, -20... 6.5 million cap hit
Jason Pominville: 16 G, 35 A, 51 points, +11... 1 million cap hit
Chris Drury: 18 G, 22 A, 40 points, -11... 7 million cap hit
Derek Roy: 21 G, 25 A, 46 points, +9... 4 million cap hit
Briere and Pommers aren't really comparable since one's a wing and one's a center. I just matched them up because of all the talk about how Pommers was going to be lost without Briere. Maybe Briere is lost without Jason and Yo-Yo? If nothing else, I think it's pretty fair to say that Jochen was doing the defensive work on that line. Ouch.
Roy-Z should probably be compared to Briere since he's moved into his place as top line center but that comparison turns out pretty well too. I'm certainly not going to pretend that we don't miss Danny and Chris in some regards but right now at least, their salaries are ridiculous.
6. I THINK GOOGLE ANALYTICS IS THE MOST ENTERTAINING THING EVER.
Google Analytics is a tool that allows a blogger to see what kind of traffic he (or she) is getting and how that traffic is being directed to his (or her) blog. My favorite thing is looking at the various internet searches that have brought people to Top Shelf. Usually there's some fluctuation - recently "Brian Campbell negotiations" has been number one but that wouldn't have been the case six months ago - but there's one search that is always, always in my top five: "Rod Brind'Amour's girlfriend." And I get two or three variations on spelling. This is... perplexing. I can only recall talking about Rod a few times and I don't think his significant other was involved in any of those discussions. But for the record, internet searchers of the world, I have no idea if Rod Brind'Amour has a girlfriend or not. There seems to be a lot of you wondering however so you might want to make your move quickly.
7. I THINK LINDY RUFF HAS DONE THE BEST COACHING OF HIS CAREER THIS SEASON.
I admit it, as much as I love Lindy there were times this season when I questioned how he was handling the team. I wanted so badly for bad-ass Lindy to rear his head and knock some sense into a struggling, seemingly uncaring team. But you know what? He was right. As fragile and shaky as they were even a month ago, he was right to gather his players up under his wing and protect them from the negative media and the increasingly desperate fans. He was right to assure them, "You're still good, you're still good, don't listen to them." And now that they're playing better and looking more confident, he has been a little more critical like when he called them out for playing stupid a few games ago. He knew when to protect, when to criticize, he knew who to call out and when to do it. Basically, Lindy Ruff rocks. He should get a lifetime contract.
8. I THINK JOHN BUCCIGROSS IS AN IDIOT.
I have a love/hate relationship with Buccigross - I think his annual "Here's how I think your team is going to do and here's a cool, hip song to go with it!" column is one of the dumbest, most pretentious things ever - and this week's column pushed me more toward hate.
Which means a highly competitive team probably would go to eight years, $50 million. This is the reality the Sabres have to deal with. This is why this should have been dealt with a year or two ago. If they aren't prepared to pay that or can't stomach that kind of contract, they will need to trade Campbell before the Feb. 26 deadline, then get out of the NHL business.
Here is what I have to say to John Buccigross:
a) Read point 3 above, John. Just because some idiot out there is willing to give Brian Campbell between six and seven million dollars doesn't make it a good deal.
b) The reality the Sabres have to deal with is re-signing a number of upcoming UFAs and RFAs while staying under the salary cap. The reality is having to prioritize players and deciding who's replaceable and who isn't. You can't give everyone six million dollars especially with Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy already making a lot of money. I think if the Sabres do refuse to re-sign Campbell it's not because they're cheap or stupid, it's because a fella named Ryan Miller is coming up for renewal next and HE'S the must-sign player. He's the heart of the team on and off the ice.
c) The Sabres couldn't deal with Campbell "a year or two ago" because the current CBA doesn't allow teams to negotiate with players until the summer before the last year of a player's contract. (Gee, shouldn't the leading hockey mind at ESPN know that?) All sides have acknowledged that negotiations have been going on all season. So... what exactly were the Sabres supposed to do differently here? I suppose talks have been mishandled because the Sabres didn't just give Campbell what he wanted, right?
d) In a league that consists of the Kings, the Oilers, the Leafs, and the Rangers, the Sabres are the ones who need to get out of the league? Really? Because that's one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. Has Sabres management made some mistakes over the past couple of years? Sure. Are they the worst run team in the league? Are you serious?
e) Hey, have you noticed which Eastern Conference team is playing the most consistent hockey at exactly the right time of the season?
f) Put your man crush on Chris Drury away and get over yourself. By the way, did you get a look at point number 5? Sure hope the Rangers are enjoying their seven million dollars worth of intangibles.
9. I THINK PATRICK KALETA HAS TO STAY IN THE STARTING LINE-UP EVEN WHEN EVERYONE IS HEALTHY.
Does that even need an explanation? Really?
10. I THINK I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE TO TALK ABOUT SO I'LL LEAVE YOU WITH SOME RANDOM FACTS
Movies I've recently watched: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (seen it before but I really like it), The Great Escape (my second all-time favorite movie), Meet John Doe (pretty good), The Apartment (good), Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries (good enough that I'm moving onto the series next)
Books I've recently read: Boy: Tales of Childhood and The Witches (read them both before but you can't go wrong re-reading Roald Dahl, How Doctors Think (a little disconcerting to read while undergoing medical care but very interesting), Born Standing Up: A Comics Life (Steven Martin's autobiography and a great read) and T is for Trespass (the latest Sue Grafton - I love this series unashamedly)
The last 15 songs that played in my iTunes: Life Ain't Always Beautiful (Gary Allan), Poor Little Fool (Ricky Nelson), Listen to the Band (The Monkees), Step by Step (New Kids on the Block), Just What I Needed (The Cars), Under Pressure (Queen), Somebody to Love (Queen), Thirteen (Big Star), Right on the Money (Alan Jackson), I Will Follow (U2), Lullaby (The Dixie Chicks), So Happy Together (The Turtles), Papa Gene's Blues (The Monkees), Don't Worry Baby (The Beach Boys), Bring it on Home to Me (Sam Cooke)
Holy smokes, this is long. Sorry.
1. I THINK THE IDEA THAT ALEXANDER OVECHKIN'S DEAL WILL EVER BE A BARGAIN IS RIDICULOUS.
Yeah, I don't understand this at all. Just because there is a maximum salary in the league doesn't mean there's anyone in the league who should be making it. Ovechkin will be eating up a huge amount of his team's salary cap by himself. How do you build a team around that, especially when a lot of his current teammates are young and going to be in line for raises of their own eventually?
And that's just the money. Thirteen years is crazy. Maybe I'm cautious because I've been raised by Darcy Regier but I can't imagine signing anyone for ten years or more. There's so much that can go wrong. How many players start out great and peter out after a few years? And what about injuries? If Eric Lindros were in his first few years now he'd get a similar contract and yeah, that would've worked out really well for the Flyers. Ovechkin is an amazing talent for sure and he hasn't had injury problems yet but he plays a very tough, physical style. On top of the regular wear and tear of hockey, that can add up to be trouble. Look at Peter Forsberg. He was considered a force of nature right up until the moment he started falling apart and he's never been healthy since. If Ovechkin gets hurt in the latter part of his contract, after the insurance coverage runs out, the Caps are on the hook for his salary and they're screwed big time. Somewhere along the way one of these contracts is going to go bad and it's going to completely cripple a franchise for a very long time.
Also, on a side note, I think Alexander Ovechkin is probably not the only guy in the NHL who loves playing hockey. He's happy and exuberant, I get it. I hope Caps fans are happy that Ovechkin is getting so much attention right now because I'm officially as tired of him as I was of Sidney Crosby two years ago. Shut up and let me watch the kid play. I have two eyes that, with a little help, see perfectly well. I can see that he's really, really good. I can see that he's really, really happy. I can see that he really, really likes playing hockey. Now leave me alone.
2. I THINK IT'S STUPID TO THINK THE SALARY CAP IS GOING TO GO UP FOREVER.
Okay, maybe it's not stupid. But I really don't understand it. I know there were things built into the CBA to insure that the cap goes up the first few years, but is it really going to keep climbing? And if it does, what's that going to mean for the league? There are a handful of teams, including Buffalo, that are already spending more money on player salaries under the cap system than they were pre-lockout. It's my understanding that at least a few teams are increasing their gates, not by attracting more fans but by raising ticket prices. If that continues and teams have to keep raising ticket prices to keep up their revenues, aren't they eventually going to price themselves out of the local market? Aren't we already seeing that in places like Detroit? They have one of the best teams in the league - if not THE best team - and they're not drawing, largely because tickets are too expensive for the local economy. And if fans stop going to games are they really going to drive out to the arena to pay marked up prices for a t-shirt they can buy at the mall instead? And if revenues start dropping, what's that going to do to the financial health of the league?
I will admit that all of this stuff is totally over my head so if anyone out there can explain this to me, please do. For now however I don't believe the salary cap will ever go up enough that Ovechkin is a deal and if it does, I think the league is going to have big problems.
3. I THINK MOST GENERAL MANAGERS ARE STUPID.
Seriously. Players are getting life-time contracts. Young guys are being paid for what they might be some day instead of what they are right now. RFAs are making as much money as UFAs used to make which makes free agency fairly pointless and gives teams very little time to develop their young talent before having to decide whether they're worth a decade long commitment. When guys do get to UFA they're getting ridiculous contracts. I love Danny Briere but seven million dollars? Come on. And instead of responding by saying, "Man, that guy is an idiot," most GMs rush out and make equally stupid offers. Or even worse, they make it a mission to top the previous guy and make an even stupider offer. So then the stupid GMs stand around and pat each other on the back about how they've shown their fanbase that they're serious about winning even though all they did was throw money at the first big name they saw and the smart GMs (Darcy and Lou Lamoriello) sit around wondering what the heck is going on.
Yeah, I'm real glad we did that whole lockout thing, guys. Dion Phaneuf should totally be within a million dollars of Nicklas Lidstrom and Thomas Vanek should absolutely be making ten million in his third year in the league.
(I'd completely forgotten this until I saw I already had a "GMs are stupid" tag but I've written about this a little before.)
4. I THINK WADE REDDEN IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT TO REFUSE TO WAIVE HIS NO TRADE CLAUSE.
Well, gee, if you didn't want him to use the no trade clause, maybe you shouldn't have given it to him. The guy actually wants to stay in one place and he's willing to take less money to do it and we're gonna crucify him for it? I get that he's been a disappointment and Wade, if you suck in the playoffs everyone in Ottawa will hate you forever, but I give him a lot of credit for knowing what he wants and sticking to it. I'm curious to see if a) more players start refusing to waive the no trade and if b) GMs respond to that by refusing to hand them out. Do any Sabres have no trade clauses? I don't know but I'd be surprised if any of them did.
5. I THINK THESE NUMBERS ARE PRETTY INTERESTING.
Daniel Briere: 21 G, 33 A, 54 points, -20... 6.5 million cap hit
Jason Pominville: 16 G, 35 A, 51 points, +11... 1 million cap hit
Chris Drury: 18 G, 22 A, 40 points, -11... 7 million cap hit
Derek Roy: 21 G, 25 A, 46 points, +9... 4 million cap hit
Briere and Pommers aren't really comparable since one's a wing and one's a center. I just matched them up because of all the talk about how Pommers was going to be lost without Briere. Maybe Briere is lost without Jason and Yo-Yo? If nothing else, I think it's pretty fair to say that Jochen was doing the defensive work on that line. Ouch.
Roy-Z should probably be compared to Briere since he's moved into his place as top line center but that comparison turns out pretty well too. I'm certainly not going to pretend that we don't miss Danny and Chris in some regards but right now at least, their salaries are ridiculous.
6. I THINK GOOGLE ANALYTICS IS THE MOST ENTERTAINING THING EVER.
Google Analytics is a tool that allows a blogger to see what kind of traffic he (or she) is getting and how that traffic is being directed to his (or her) blog. My favorite thing is looking at the various internet searches that have brought people to Top Shelf. Usually there's some fluctuation - recently "Brian Campbell negotiations" has been number one but that wouldn't have been the case six months ago - but there's one search that is always, always in my top five: "Rod Brind'Amour's girlfriend." And I get two or three variations on spelling. This is... perplexing. I can only recall talking about Rod a few times and I don't think his significant other was involved in any of those discussions. But for the record, internet searchers of the world, I have no idea if Rod Brind'Amour has a girlfriend or not. There seems to be a lot of you wondering however so you might want to make your move quickly.
7. I THINK LINDY RUFF HAS DONE THE BEST COACHING OF HIS CAREER THIS SEASON.
I admit it, as much as I love Lindy there were times this season when I questioned how he was handling the team. I wanted so badly for bad-ass Lindy to rear his head and knock some sense into a struggling, seemingly uncaring team. But you know what? He was right. As fragile and shaky as they were even a month ago, he was right to gather his players up under his wing and protect them from the negative media and the increasingly desperate fans. He was right to assure them, "You're still good, you're still good, don't listen to them." And now that they're playing better and looking more confident, he has been a little more critical like when he called them out for playing stupid a few games ago. He knew when to protect, when to criticize, he knew who to call out and when to do it. Basically, Lindy Ruff rocks. He should get a lifetime contract.
8. I THINK JOHN BUCCIGROSS IS AN IDIOT.
I have a love/hate relationship with Buccigross - I think his annual "Here's how I think your team is going to do and here's a cool, hip song to go with it!" column is one of the dumbest, most pretentious things ever - and this week's column pushed me more toward hate.
Which means a highly competitive team probably would go to eight years, $50 million. This is the reality the Sabres have to deal with. This is why this should have been dealt with a year or two ago. If they aren't prepared to pay that or can't stomach that kind of contract, they will need to trade Campbell before the Feb. 26 deadline, then get out of the NHL business.
Here is what I have to say to John Buccigross:
a) Read point 3 above, John. Just because some idiot out there is willing to give Brian Campbell between six and seven million dollars doesn't make it a good deal.
b) The reality the Sabres have to deal with is re-signing a number of upcoming UFAs and RFAs while staying under the salary cap. The reality is having to prioritize players and deciding who's replaceable and who isn't. You can't give everyone six million dollars especially with Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy already making a lot of money. I think if the Sabres do refuse to re-sign Campbell it's not because they're cheap or stupid, it's because a fella named Ryan Miller is coming up for renewal next and HE'S the must-sign player. He's the heart of the team on and off the ice.
c) The Sabres couldn't deal with Campbell "a year or two ago" because the current CBA doesn't allow teams to negotiate with players until the summer before the last year of a player's contract. (Gee, shouldn't the leading hockey mind at ESPN know that?) All sides have acknowledged that negotiations have been going on all season. So... what exactly were the Sabres supposed to do differently here? I suppose talks have been mishandled because the Sabres didn't just give Campbell what he wanted, right?
d) In a league that consists of the Kings, the Oilers, the Leafs, and the Rangers, the Sabres are the ones who need to get out of the league? Really? Because that's one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. Has Sabres management made some mistakes over the past couple of years? Sure. Are they the worst run team in the league? Are you serious?
e) Hey, have you noticed which Eastern Conference team is playing the most consistent hockey at exactly the right time of the season?
f) Put your man crush on Chris Drury away and get over yourself. By the way, did you get a look at point number 5? Sure hope the Rangers are enjoying their seven million dollars worth of intangibles.
9. I THINK PATRICK KALETA HAS TO STAY IN THE STARTING LINE-UP EVEN WHEN EVERYONE IS HEALTHY.
Does that even need an explanation? Really?
10. I THINK I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE TO TALK ABOUT SO I'LL LEAVE YOU WITH SOME RANDOM FACTS
Movies I've recently watched: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (seen it before but I really like it), The Great Escape (my second all-time favorite movie), Meet John Doe (pretty good), The Apartment (good), Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries (good enough that I'm moving onto the series next)
Books I've recently read: Boy: Tales of Childhood and The Witches (read them both before but you can't go wrong re-reading Roald Dahl, How Doctors Think (a little disconcerting to read while undergoing medical care but very interesting), Born Standing Up: A Comics Life (Steven Martin's autobiography and a great read) and T is for Trespass (the latest Sue Grafton - I love this series unashamedly)
The last 15 songs that played in my iTunes: Life Ain't Always Beautiful (Gary Allan), Poor Little Fool (Ricky Nelson), Listen to the Band (The Monkees), Step by Step (New Kids on the Block), Just What I Needed (The Cars), Under Pressure (Queen), Somebody to Love (Queen), Thirteen (Big Star), Right on the Money (Alan Jackson), I Will Follow (U2), Lullaby (The Dixie Chicks), So Happy Together (The Turtles), Papa Gene's Blues (The Monkees), Don't Worry Baby (The Beach Boys), Bring it on Home to Me (Sam Cooke)
Holy smokes, this is long. Sorry.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Home Again, Home Again Jig, Jig, Jig
Well, did you miss me? I spent my first day back in town unwinding and surfing the net to see what went on while I was gone but it seems like things were pretty quiet, especially in the hockey world. I was relieved to see that I made it back just in time for the final unveiling of Kate's Favorite Sabre. Congratulations to the big winner! (You'll have to check out the link if you want to see the victor. I'm not spoiling it!)
I spent much of my vacation in the car which means lots of sleeping and reading. One of the things I've had to adjust to in switching my primary sports allegiance from baseball to hockey is the lack of hockey literature. Granted, no sport matches up with baseball literature of which there is a freakin' ton, some overly pretentious and dramatic but some of it just plain beautiful and emotional. I've managed to dig up a few goodies though. Before break I read Money Players: The Amazing Rise and Fall of Bob Goodenow and the NHL Players Association by Bruce Dowbiggin and while on break I finished off Road Games: A Year in the Life of the NHL by Roy MacGregor. The subtitle of Money Players pretty much explains what the book is about - Bob Goodenow's take over of the NHLPA and the overall financial health of the league, up to the season long lockout a couple of years ago. Road Games is a journey through the 1992-93 season (or as Mark calls it, "the year Lemieux got cancer and stole Patty's (LaFontaine) Hart"). The book focuses on, among other things, the first season of the Ottawa Senators, the battle for last place and a chance at Alexandre Daigle, the rise of numerous European stars, the expansion of the league, and the never-ending battle between players and ownership. I recommend both very much, especially Road Games. The journey of the Senators is particularly good, alternately funny and sad, heart-breaking and inspirational. I thought Money Players was fascinating but I'm really interested in all that behind the scenes stuff that fans usually aren't privy to. (During the intermission of a Sabres game shortly after the trade deadline, we saw a video package of Darcy Regier wheeling and dealing with Lindy Ruff coming in and out. Even though the names on the master white board were blacked out and even though the footage was carefully cut so that we weren't hearing any guys being offered for extra pucks and a box of orange Dreamsicles, I could watched footage like that all night. I was completely captivated.) Anyway, Money Players was a bit dry at times and I know that stuff is not everyone's cup of tea. But! While reading these two books, I discovered what's wrong with the NHL.
GMs are stupid.
Really, that's all there is to it. The vast majority of the GMs in the NHL are stupid morons who panic at the first sign of trouble. There's always one guy who's going to throw wads of money at every free agent star he can, okay? We all know that. That doesn't mean the rest of the GMs have to follow but... they do. Every single time they do! So Eric Lindros got an insane rookie contract. I know that means the next kid is going to want one too but you know what, GMs? That doesn't mean you have to give it to him! If the rest of you would just sit on your hands and let the big spender spend, eventually people would realize, hey, maybe that's not the best way to build a team. This is especially true when working with a salary cap. Maybe players would realize if they're serious about eating cereal out of the Stanley Cup one day, they might need to take a little less money so they can actually have other talent around them. (Some players would decide they didn't really care that much about that ol' Cup anyway but I think many would get the point. Maybe.) Throughout both Money Players and Road Games there is example upon example of GMs shooting themselves in the collective foot. No one is putting a gun to their head and forcing them to overpay players but they do it anyway. Money Players is loaded with quotes from various GMs saying things like, "Yeah, that was stupid. I don't know why we all did that." But. they. keep. being. stupid.
This is so frustrating! If the players agreed to a $10 salary cap some idiot GM would offer his star player a contract for $9.75. And instead of letting that idiot GM figure out how he's going to ice a full roster with his remaining 25 cents, some other idiot GM would decide, Hey, I want that player, and offer him $9.77. And yet another idiot GM would decide he was going to be the top dog and go for broke, offering $9.92 even though no one else's offer was even close to that and the majority of local media and fans would applaud him for proving he wants to ice a winner while completely ignoring the fact that he now has 8 cents to work with which means the team mascot will have to play in the top defensive pairing. (And I'm sorry, but why is the Hurricanes mascot a pig?!)
How infuriating do you think this is for GMs who are logical, level-headed thinkers? And yes, despite what many in Buffalo might say, I'm including Regier in that group. (Sidenote: Lou Lamoriello is totally the star of Money Players. Throughout the book he makes comments like, "We really messed that one up" but he very clearly means, "Can you believe I have to co-exist with these idiots?" He's awesome.) Forget you, Buffalo! I say, good for Darcy for letting someone else overpay Daniel Briere and yes, I'm saying it, Chris Drury. Congratulations, Lou for never flinching when a player - any player - demands more than you want to pay him. Thank you, Brian Burke for patting Dustin Penner on the back and saying, "I like you kid, but I don't like you that much." It's nice to see a little sanity creep in once in a while.
Way back on July 6th, I wrote a little entry on why the sounds of the game are one of the reasons why I love hockey. In that entry I mentioned the distinctive blaring of goal horns. Well, some genius out there in the universe put together this video, pairing each horn with its team (a few teams are left out be he covers most of them). It's a really cool idea and it's neat to hear how really distinctive the horns are. Even more so than I realized. Oh, I saw this at Kukla's Korner and borrowed it. Enjoy!
Hey, anyone have any hockey books you'd recommend?
I spent much of my vacation in the car which means lots of sleeping and reading. One of the things I've had to adjust to in switching my primary sports allegiance from baseball to hockey is the lack of hockey literature. Granted, no sport matches up with baseball literature of which there is a freakin' ton, some overly pretentious and dramatic but some of it just plain beautiful and emotional. I've managed to dig up a few goodies though. Before break I read Money Players: The Amazing Rise and Fall of Bob Goodenow and the NHL Players Association by Bruce Dowbiggin and while on break I finished off Road Games: A Year in the Life of the NHL by Roy MacGregor. The subtitle of Money Players pretty much explains what the book is about - Bob Goodenow's take over of the NHLPA and the overall financial health of the league, up to the season long lockout a couple of years ago. Road Games is a journey through the 1992-93 season (or as Mark calls it, "the year Lemieux got cancer and stole Patty's (LaFontaine) Hart"). The book focuses on, among other things, the first season of the Ottawa Senators, the battle for last place and a chance at Alexandre Daigle, the rise of numerous European stars, the expansion of the league, and the never-ending battle between players and ownership. I recommend both very much, especially Road Games. The journey of the Senators is particularly good, alternately funny and sad, heart-breaking and inspirational. I thought Money Players was fascinating but I'm really interested in all that behind the scenes stuff that fans usually aren't privy to. (During the intermission of a Sabres game shortly after the trade deadline, we saw a video package of Darcy Regier wheeling and dealing with Lindy Ruff coming in and out. Even though the names on the master white board were blacked out and even though the footage was carefully cut so that we weren't hearing any guys being offered for extra pucks and a box of orange Dreamsicles, I could watched footage like that all night. I was completely captivated.) Anyway, Money Players was a bit dry at times and I know that stuff is not everyone's cup of tea. But! While reading these two books, I discovered what's wrong with the NHL.
GMs are stupid.
Really, that's all there is to it. The vast majority of the GMs in the NHL are stupid morons who panic at the first sign of trouble. There's always one guy who's going to throw wads of money at every free agent star he can, okay? We all know that. That doesn't mean the rest of the GMs have to follow but... they do. Every single time they do! So Eric Lindros got an insane rookie contract. I know that means the next kid is going to want one too but you know what, GMs? That doesn't mean you have to give it to him! If the rest of you would just sit on your hands and let the big spender spend, eventually people would realize, hey, maybe that's not the best way to build a team. This is especially true when working with a salary cap. Maybe players would realize if they're serious about eating cereal out of the Stanley Cup one day, they might need to take a little less money so they can actually have other talent around them. (Some players would decide they didn't really care that much about that ol' Cup anyway but I think many would get the point. Maybe.) Throughout both Money Players and Road Games there is example upon example of GMs shooting themselves in the collective foot. No one is putting a gun to their head and forcing them to overpay players but they do it anyway. Money Players is loaded with quotes from various GMs saying things like, "Yeah, that was stupid. I don't know why we all did that." But. they. keep. being. stupid.
This is so frustrating! If the players agreed to a $10 salary cap some idiot GM would offer his star player a contract for $9.75. And instead of letting that idiot GM figure out how he's going to ice a full roster with his remaining 25 cents, some other idiot GM would decide, Hey, I want that player, and offer him $9.77. And yet another idiot GM would decide he was going to be the top dog and go for broke, offering $9.92 even though no one else's offer was even close to that and the majority of local media and fans would applaud him for proving he wants to ice a winner while completely ignoring the fact that he now has 8 cents to work with which means the team mascot will have to play in the top defensive pairing. (And I'm sorry, but why is the Hurricanes mascot a pig?!)
How infuriating do you think this is for GMs who are logical, level-headed thinkers? And yes, despite what many in Buffalo might say, I'm including Regier in that group. (Sidenote: Lou Lamoriello is totally the star of Money Players. Throughout the book he makes comments like, "We really messed that one up" but he very clearly means, "Can you believe I have to co-exist with these idiots?" He's awesome.) Forget you, Buffalo! I say, good for Darcy for letting someone else overpay Daniel Briere and yes, I'm saying it, Chris Drury. Congratulations, Lou for never flinching when a player - any player - demands more than you want to pay him. Thank you, Brian Burke for patting Dustin Penner on the back and saying, "I like you kid, but I don't like you that much." It's nice to see a little sanity creep in once in a while.
Way back on July 6th, I wrote a little entry on why the sounds of the game are one of the reasons why I love hockey. In that entry I mentioned the distinctive blaring of goal horns. Well, some genius out there in the universe put together this video, pairing each horn with its team (a few teams are left out be he covers most of them). It's a really cool idea and it's neat to hear how really distinctive the horns are. Even more so than I realized. Oh, I saw this at Kukla's Korner and borrowed it. Enjoy!
Hey, anyone have any hockey books you'd recommend?
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