Tag Archives: roberto luongo

It’s a Hate-Fest. And it’s not Surprising.

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

For the past 24 hours, two prominent athletes have been taken behind the barn by sports fans and beaten senseless. Talk about a hate-fest, we’re in the middle of one right now.

The two victims brought the wrath of sports fans down on themselves, but maybe I’m getting soft. Maybe, after two days of this relentless thrashing, LeBron James and Roberto Luongo deserve a break.

After all, both led their respective teams to the championship round of their respective sports and while one lost, the other one is very much alive.

LeBron has taken an incredible beating over the last 48 hours and he’s taken that beating for two reasons: 1) He told the world on a TV show last summer that he was leaving Cleveland and taking his talents to South Beach and 2) he and his new teammates celebrated winning a championship before they’d even had one practice together. Bad form on both counts.

Certainly, LeBron was not good in the championship final, but he didn’t really deserve the length and breadth of the hate that was heaped upon him. For instance:

1) John Kasich, the governor of Ohio named the Dallas Mavericks honourary “citizens’ of Ohio for avenging James’ defection and praised Mavericks’ series MVP, Dirk Nowitzki, for “keeping his talents in Dallas.” Ouch.

2) Sommee Cards, an electronic greeting card company, offered this epithet for sale on-line: ”Thanks for being less disappointing at your job than LeBron James.” My goodness. That’s a greeting? In fairness, they offered up another one that read: “I hope to someday will myself to succeed as effectively as I willed LeBron James to fail.”

3) A large group of, what we’re told were originally Cleveland-based tweeters,  proclaimed Monday to be “National LeBron James Day.” Anyone celebrating the holiday would be allowed to leave work 12 minutes early.

On Twitter it got a lot worse. At my radio station, Streetz 104.7, it was just one giant LeBron joke after another.

Granted, he brought it upon himself, but anyone who ran into him on Monday still wanted his autograph. He’s still a star and who knows, he might win next year. Maybe.

Regardless, he lost four basketball games out of six. That’s really all he lost. After awhile, all the hating, just seemed silly.

Meanwhile, poor Roberto Luongo couldn’t buy a polite comment after the Bruins beat his Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Monday night. Of course, Luongo was yanked after eight minutes and 35 seconds, trailing 3-0. Frankly, I just get the sense he can’t see very well in that rink in Boston.

It got so nasty on Monday, there was even a takeoff of “The World’ s Most Interesting Man” going around that had Luongo pictured with his Dos Equis beer bottle saying, “I don’t always play like a bag of shit, but when I do, I prefer the playoffs.” OK, so it was funny, but the fact is, Luongo just came off a shutout at home and could very well get another one on Wednesday night. That would give Vancouver the Cup, for those keeping score at home.

Meanwhile, it’s nice that American hockey fans were ripping Luongo, but those people south of the border should have been less concerned about the Bruins clubbing the Canucks 5-2 and be more concerned about the fact that Monday night’s game on NBC was down 37 per cent in the ratings from last year.

And American hockey fans think Atlanta will be the only team to vacate? Right.

 

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Lots Going On. Some Good, Some Bad and Some, well you know…

Posted on June 12, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Another week in Toyland and another week of good, bad, and very, very ugly.

THE GOOD

1) On the good side, there was Ben Dartnell. As a young kid, Ben was a Winnipeg Goldeyes bat boy who used to play catch at Shaw Park (old Canwest Park) with anyone who happened to have a glove. He was a great kid who always seemed to be better than the other youngsters  his age.

This week, Ben Dartnell was selected in the 34th round (1,042 overall) by the Boston Red Sox on Day 3, of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. A 6-foot-3, 210-pound lefthanded throwing fireballer out of Vauxhall Baseball Academy in Alberta, Dartnell has been a Red Sox fan all his life.

“This is a kid who owned Red Sox underwear,” said his dad, Goldeyes director of security, Paul Dartnell.

“I can’t complain,” young Ben said via Facebook. “I’m part of Red Sox Nation!”

It doesn’t get a lot better than that.

2) According to Forbes Magazine, this past week NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told Research in Motion founder, Jim Balsillie, he could still acquire an NHL team as long as he “didn’t create any more bad publicity for the league.”

Interesting comment considering that very few people have created more bad publicity for the NHL than Gary Bettman.

In fairness, however, that’s a big turnabout for Bettman who refused to allow Balsillie to buy the Phoenix Coyotes out of bankruptcy. Now, it’s apparent that with the instant success of the Winnipeg franchise that maybe Balsillie could bail the NHL out of that mess it has created in Phoenix.

The fact that another Canadian-based NHL team could be on the horizon makes Bettman’s reluctant kind-of-apology to Balsillie intriguing.

3) On Saturday,  the Winnipeg Blue Bombers held a day of training camp at Brandon’s Vincent Massey High School. Practice ran from 11:30 to 1:30 and autographs followed soon after the workout.

For no profound reason, that’s just good.

4) Ichiro. Watched him play against Detroit this week. Ichiro is good.

5) Nyjer Morgan. Because the guy is certifiably wonderful. Watch him here: http://ca.deadspin.com/5810810/the-week-in-deadspin?skyline=true&s=i

THE BAD

1) The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat 112-103 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

The Mavericks had another big run to the finish. This time they outscored the Heat 15-3 down the stretch. Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 29 points, but the dagger was a long three by Jason Terry, over a lazy LeBron James, with 20 seconds left. The Mavs shot 56.5 per cent from the field, 68 per-cent, 13-of-19, from three-point range. LeBron had a triple double, 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists but only two points in the fourth quarter.

The Mavs lead the Heat 3-2 heading back to Miami for Games 6 and 7. Miami can still win this championship and LeBron can win the first of all those championships he vowed to win when he decided to “take my talents to South Beach.”

But here’s what can make this still fluid situation bad: the Heat do proceed to lose the series. This was a team that celebrated its 2011 championship BEFORE it held its first shoot-around. It’s as if the Heat are supposed to win.

They aren’t. And if they don’t, the entire season was a failure and the stupid TV show last summer looks even more outrageous.

2) The reports of an “imminent (there’s that word again)” deal to end the NFL lockout was apparently premature. The Eagle-Tribune of Lowell, Mass., reported that the players and owners were close to a deal to end the work stoppage but spokesmen for both the players and owners said otherwise.

NFLPA spokesman George Atallah posted this 54-character comment on his Twitter account: “There’s a report that the lockout is over. Umm…no.”

It’s bad that the lockout isn’t over. It’s good, however, that there is at least some discussion about ending it.

3) So we’re told LeBron and Dwyane made a snotty remark about Dirk Nowitzki’s case of the flu this week and while Dirk seemed a little hurt by it, the American media blew right up.

“I just thought it was a little childish, a little ignorant,” Dirk said. “I’ve been in this league for 13 years, I’ve never faked an injury or an illness before, but it happened.”

To that, Wade’s response was as follows: “First of all, it wasn’t fake coughing. I actually did cough. And with the cameras being right there, we made a joke out of it because we knew you guys were going to blow it up. You did exactly what we knew. We never said Dirk’s name. I think he’s not the only one in the world who can get sick or have a cough. We just had fun with the cameras being right in our face about the blowup of the incident, and it held to be true. You blew it up.”

No matter who is right or wrong — the two Heatles or the U.S. media — the whole stupid little joke was just bad.

THE UGLY

1) The track at Belmont Park on Saturday.

2) LeBron’s shot … on both Tuesday and Thursday.

3) Colby Lewis’ fastball against Detroit on Monday and Minnesota on Saturday.

4) Roberto Luongo on Monday and Wednesday in Boston.

5) Shane Carwin’s face on Saturday night.

 

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It’s The Best Time of the Year. Here Are Our First Round Picks.

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

I love Christmas, but this is, without question, the greatest time of the year.

Baseball has started, the NBA post-season starts on the weekend and tomorrow night, the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs begin.

As we do every year, let’s take a look at the first-round matchups and take a long, blurry look into our crystal ball.

2011 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS OPENING ROUND

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Series A: No. 8 New York Rangers (44-33-5) at No. 1 Washington Capitals (48-23-11).

Season Series: Rangers 3-1-0

The Rangers were the best over the regular season in terms of the head-to-head matchup, but the Capitals clearly have more talent and are the better team. Rangers goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist, however, could be the wild card in this one. If Lundqvist does what he’s certainly capable of doing, the Rangers could surprise simply because Lundqvist was the reason the Rangers won the season series.

Key player: Henrik Lundqvist, Rangers

Our pick: Washington in six.

Series B: No. 7 Buffalo Sabres (43-29-10) at No. 2 Philadelphia Flyers (47-23-12).

Season Series: Flyers 2-1-1

It’s the same thing every year. If the Flyers get the goaltending they require, they will win and advance. If they don’t, well… Philly won the series, has more firepower and a better defensive unit. However, Brian Boucher is 21st in save percentage at .916 and 13th in goals against average at 2.42 while Sergei Bobrovsky was 23rd in save percentage at .915 and 25th in goals against average at 2.59. If the Flyers get decent goaltending, they’ll win.

Our pick: Flyers in six.

Key player: Ryan Miller, Sabres

Series C: No. 6 Montreal Canadiens (44-30-8) at No. 3 Boston Bruins (46-25-11).

Season Series: Canadiens 4-2-0

The Habs won the season series, but were blasted 7-0 in Boston on March 24. That was the statement game. Tim Thomas is best goalie in hockey and Boston is bigger and tougher than the Habs. If Carey Price stands on his head, the Canadiens could win a game or two, but Boston is just too deep and too tough.

Key player: Tim Thomas, Bruins

Our pick: Bruins in five

Series D: No. 5 Tampa Bay Lightning (46-25-11) at No. 4 Pittsburgh Penguins (49-25-8).

Season Series: Teams split 2-2-0

If there is to be an upset in the opening round, it’s here. The Penguins are still without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and as well as they played down the stretch, which was inspiring, they still aren’t the team that contends for the Cup every year. If the Lightning get any goaltending at all, they can win this series. Vinny Lecavalier has six points in his last four games and is starting to dominate again.

Key Player: Marty St. Louis, Lightning

Our pick: Lightning in six.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Series E: No. 8 Chicago Blackhawks (44-29-9) at No. 1 Vancouver Canucks (54-19-9)

Season Series: Canucks 2-1-1

The Blackhawks were very fortunate to make the playoffs while the Canucks are the best team in the NHL. With Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider, the Canucks have plenty of goaltending and with two Sedins, Kesler and a great supporting cast, the Canucks should have an easy time. Jonathan Toews is great but he couldn’t will a home victory over Detroit in a must-win game to finish the season, he won’t do it against Vancouver.

Key player(s): The Sedin Twins

Our pick: Vancouver in five.

Series F: No. 7 Los Angeles Kings (46-30-6) at No. 2 San Jose Sharks (48-25-9).

Season Series: Sharks 3-1-2

Without Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams, the Kings aren’t the same team that raced to fourth in the West at one point in the season and then went 6-4-0 in their last 10 and lost their last two. If Jonathan Quick stands on his head, the Kings will compete, but they simply don’t have the firepower to beat the talented Sharks.

Key player: Jonathan Quick, Kings

Our pick: Sharks in five.

Series G: No. 6 Phoenix Coyotes (43-26-13) at No. 3 Detroit Red Wings (47-25-10).

Season Series: Coyotes 2-0-2

The Coyotes had a great season against Detroit and they are very well coached. This could be an upset in the making. However, the Red Wings are a team that tends to get bored during the regular season and go on listless stretches. They won’t be listless in the playoffs. Ilya Bryzgalov is the key for Phoenix, although we all must remember, the Coyotes have never advanced past the first round.

Key player: Ilya Bryzgalov, Coyotes

Our pick: Red Wings in five.

Series H: No. 5 Nashville Predators (44-27-11) at No. 4 Anaheim Ducks (47-30-5).

Season Series: Nashville 3-1-0

This will be the best series of the bunch. Both these teams are evenly matched and while Nashville won the season series, you have to give head coach Randy Carlyle and the Ducks credit. They played very well down the stretch and look good heading into the playoffs. The Ducks have a great No. 1 line and they’ve received quite a performance from Teemu Selanne this season. Nashville, meanwhile, has a load of no-names, but is very well coached. The potential here is for a long, tight series.

Key player: Teemu Selanne, Ducks

Our pick: Ducks in seven.

(Check out more at http://www4.fantrax.com)

 

 

 

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A Battle of Unheralded Goalies Highlights Stanley Cup Final

Posted on May 25, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Yes, indeed, I plead guilty. This year, all accepted knowledge of the National Hockey League playoffs is out the window. Gone! This year, the Stanley Cup playoffs are still about The Goalie. They’re just not about the “highly-regarded” Goalie.

Let me explain. I believe that the team with the best goaltender will win the Stanley Cup. As Brian Burke once said, “We call it the Stanley Cup playoffs because we can’t call it Goalie.” The two-month tournament that we know as the Stanley Cup playoffs is usually decided by the goaltender who gets red-hot just at the right time. He doesn’t necessarily have to be considered a “great” goalie. Just a hot one.

This year, however, the goaltender issue has been strange. It’s still about the hot goalie. It’s just kind of shocking who the hot goalies are. Roberto Luongo? Bust. Marty Brodeur? Long gone. Evgeni Nabokov? Taken out in four in  the Western Final. Marc-Andre Fleury? Out in the second round.

This year, the fast, skilled Chicago Blackhawks will face the gritty, defensively responsible Philadelphia Flyers in the Stanley Cup final. The Hawks goalie is Antti Niemi, a guy who was considered the anchor around the neck of a good hockey team. He was the reason the Hawks weren’t going to win. The Flyers goalie was the journeyman American, Brian Boucher, but he got hurt and now its the Canadian journeyman Michael Leighton, a guy who was originally drafted by the Blackhawks, played most of his career in the AHL and had played only 103 games in 10 NHL seasons when the playoffs started. Huh?

Heading into the final, Leighton — Philly’s No. 2 goaltender — leads all playoff goalies with a 1.45 goals against average and a .948 save percentage (Boucher is third: 2.33, .915). But Leighton has played only eight games in the post season. There is chance he’ll double that number by the time the playoffs end.

Meanwhile, Niemi is No. 2 on the stats sheet. He has a 2.33 goals against average and a .921 save percentage in 16 games.

Yes, the final two teams in the Stanley Cup tournament have the hottest goaltenders. It’s just hard to imagine both of them  will keep up the pace.

But then again, Canada’s Olympic hero Roberto Luongo has been a career playoff bust and Martin Brodeur hasn’t played well in the post-season since 2003.

Remember, it’s not about “great” goalies. It’s about “hot” goalies. It’s just that nobody expected the hot goalies to be Leighton, Niemi and Boucher.

*           *          *

At 3 o’clock this afternoon, the Tampa Bay Lightning are expected to announce Steve Yzerman as the team’s new general manager.

Interesting choice because after the Red Wings re-signed Ken Holland and Jim Nill, Yzerman was No. 3 in Detroit.

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Parity Makes this Year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs the Most Competitive in Decades.

Posted on April 20, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

In a pretty exciting hockey game on Monday night, the Boston Bruins held on to beat the Buffalo Sabres 2-1. Not that this game had anything particularly notable about it, it was simply another indication that this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs are probably the closest we’ve witnessed in a long, long time.

Before the playoffs began, I was on the FAN 960 in Calgary asking Mike Richards, “What constitutes an upset this year?” I suppose you could say a Nashville win over Chicago in the opening round, but don’t forget one thing. At the end of the regular season, the No. 2 Blackhawks had 112 points while the No. 7 Predators had 100. To have two teams separated by only 12 points after 82 games is hardly an uncompetitive situation.

If No. 8 Montreal beats No. 1 Washington in the East, that would definitely be an upset, but if No. 8 Colorado beats No. 1 San Jose in the West, no one would be too surprised. San Jose always chokes early in the post-season.

It’s impossible to deny. The NHL has parity. It’s why the final weeks of the regular season are exciting, it’s why teams that are eight games over .500 miss the playoffs and it’s why this year’s playoffs, for the first time in history, were all tied at 1-1.

On Monday night, Washington made a statement. The Caps went into Montreal and drilled the Habs 5-1. Winkler’s Eric Fehr had a goal and an assist while Alexander Ovechkin was terrific as the Caps let people know that they’ll be around late in the post-season.

Out on the other coast, Roberto Luongo was dreadful in the Vancouver goal as Los Angeles took a 2-1 lead over the Canucks with a 5-3 win.

Nothing is certain this year: Not Ryan Miller’s brilliance, not Detroit’s experience, not Pittsburgh’s defence. Great coaching (see: Barry Trotz), great goaltending (see: Tuukka Rask) and great checking (see: the Philadelphia Flyers) will all play a role as sixth seeds will upset three seeds and seventh seeds will chase down two seeds.

If the first week is any indication, this year’s post-season could very well be the best in decades.

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It’s Run-To-The-Playoffs Time in the NHL.

Posted on March 7, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

ST. PAUL, Minn. – As the Calgary Flames whipped the Minnesota Wild 5-2 on Sunday afternoon, the NHL started its run to the playoffs.

Most NHL teams now have 16-18 games left this season. We’re solidly past the three-quarter-pole and there are just five weeks left in this rather odd season.

After a 14-day break for the Olympics, the NHL is loading up on games and there will be some tired superstars once the playoffs roll around. Until then, let’s take a quick look around The League.

1) Monday night (actually Tuesday morning at 12:10 a.m.), I’m Eric Nelson’s guest on the Eric Nelson Show on 8-3-0 WCCO radio in Minneapolis and we taped the segment on Sunday at the Xcel Energy Center.

Eric asked me to set the NHL’s final four. I told him, Chicago and San Jose in the West and Pittsburgh and Washington in the East. He then asked, “Which teams are the darkhorses?” I told him that question was more fun.

In the West, Detroit is finally healthy and they could be scary when it counts if Jimmy Howard can get the job done in goal. I like Vancouver, too, if Roberto Luongo doesn’t choke like a dog as he did last year.

In the East, I like Buffalo and New Jersey because they both have great goaltenders (Ryan Miller and Martin Brodeur). As Brian Burke always said, “We call it the Stanley Cup playoffs because we can’t call it goalie.” He may not have been right about Ian White, Alexei Ponikarovsky or Matt Stajan, but he’s right about that.

2) There was a time in the late 1990s and early 2000s when a Canadian player in the NHL’s Top 10 in scoring was a rarity. A decade ago, the stats were dominated by Europeans.

However, while Euros such as Alex Ovechkin and Henrik Sedin are at the top of the NHL’s scoring stats today, there are now five Canadians and one American in the Top 10. What is even more interesting is that Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby took over the goal-scoring lead on Saturday with his 43rd and 44th and young Steven Stamkos scored his 40th of the year on Saturday. Youth is also being served.

Maybe that Canada-U.S. Olympic final will be a trend, not a fluke.

3) Metis star Rene Bourque hadn’t scored a goal in 15 games until Calgary Flames head coach Brent Sutter put him on a line with Jarome Iginla and Matt Stajan. You’d think it was the return of the Hot Line.

Sunday night at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., the Bourque-Stajan-Iginla line combined for 10 points as the Flames drilled the Wild 5-2. Iginla had three goals and an assist, Stajan had two assists and Bourque, suddenly playing the best hockey in more than a month, had a goal and three assists.

The Flames have been struggling, but since Sutter created this line, Calgary has won two straight solidified their hold on ninth and are now only one point out of eighth and two points out of seventh.

At this stage of the season, a simple move like a line change can positively alter a team’s fortune. Sutter’s decision to create the Bourque-Stajan-Iginla line might have been the move that gets Calgary into the playoffs.

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Another Day of Olympic Glory

Posted on February 17, 2010 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Thoughts from an Olympic television junkie…

Thought about going to my local Cineplex to watch the Team Canada-Norway game on the big screen at the theatre. Sally and I even drove over to inquire about prices. $11.45 to watch daily with come-and-go privileges and $34.95 for a full Olympic pass.

Pass.

I bought this big HDTV for a reason and as fun as it might sound, watching hockey in a theatre with a bunch of other Team Canada fans, it wasn’t worth $23. Especially after it became clear that we might be the only ones in the theatre.

So back home we went, huddled down in front of the big TV, popped our own corn and got ready to yell Go, Canada, Go! (No, not that stupid corporate cheer that the “I Believers” wanted us to yell).

Two things from Tuesday…

1) If pairs and men’s figure skating is any indication, then Will Ferrell’s Blades of Glory was a documentary.

2) The men’s Olympic hockey tournament opened and to no one’s surprise, Team Canada walloped Norway 8-0.

The Canadians got off to a slow start, but once the Norwegians were spent (boy, those guys came out hard in the first period) and almost as soon as Canadian head coach Mike Babcock put Jaroma Iginla on a line with Sidney Crosby and Rick Nash, the Canadians exploded.

Iginla finished with the hat-trick, Crosby had three helpers and Roberto Luongo had to make only 15 saves to record the shutout. Canada outshot Norway 42-15 and it probably could have been a lot worse, but a number of tipped shots just whistled wide.

It was the most goals Canada has scored in an Olympic game since the NHL was permitted to participate in 1998 and yet, still, if I were a tall forehead with the Edmonton Oilers, I’d find a way to acquire Norwegian goalie Pal Grotnes.

Canada plays the Swiss on Thursday. We won’t be going to the theatre.

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Sitting In the Middle of a Full House in St. Paul is A Lot Different than Sitting in Florida, Tampa or Phoenix — Or Even Denver.

Posted on November 7, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

ST. PAUL, Minn. — It’s a gorgeous night in the Twin Towns and the “Team of 18,000″ is getting ready to sing State of Hockey here at the Xcel Energy Centre. It’s the Minnesota Wild, a day before Shane Hnidy’s 34th birthday, against the Dallas Stars, with Minnesota’s beloved Mike Modano, not only in the lineup but starting the game and playing on the No. 1 line, at age 39.

It’s been a shaky start to the 2009-2010 season for the Wild. Minnesota’s team heads into tonight’s game at 5-10-0 (1-7-0 on the road) and while the record hasn’t negatively affected the team’s attendance this season, it has been a grind on the staff.

“It’s tough,” said the Wild’s VP of communications Bill Robertson earlier tonight. “It’s a tough economy, it’s tough to sell tickets. We still sell every seat, but we’re not overflowing with standing room like we usually are and it’s tougher to sell corporate suites than it used to be.

“On the upside, merchandise sales are way up because of fans have really taken to our third jersey.”

It’s hard to listen to a guy — even a great guy like Billy Rob — worry about the fans in Minnesota after you’ve already seen games in Florida, Tampa and Nashville this season and have interviewed Doug Moss, the president of the Phoenix Coyotes (check out www.hotdoghockey.com for that interview). Those are markets with big trouble. There is no trouble at all in St. Paul.

However, no one ever would have believed that there could be trouble in Denver, the home of the Colorado Avalanche, and it appears now that there is.

Wednesday night, for a game against Phoenix, the Avalanche drew a franchise-low 11,012 (remember, that’s the announced crowd) ticket buyers. This season, the Avs have averaged just 14,759 through its first five home games and that once again means, “Who cares if MTS Centre has only 15,001 seats?” Not even the red-hot Colorado Avalanche average 15,000 per game these days.

(Oops, Cal Clutterbuck just scored a shorthanded goal from our pal Shane Hnidy.)

With an average of 14,759 per game, the Avalanche stand 25th in the NHL in per-game attendance ahead of only Florida, Tampa Bay, Nashville, the New York Islanders and Phoenix.

Meanwhile, after watching the Atlanta Thrashers play on TV this week,  in front of a crowd that appeared to include the players’ parents and no one else, it’s hard to imagine the Thrashers have the nerve to say they average more per game than the Avs or even the Winnipeg South Blues.

Meanwhile, there will soon be an ownership change in South Florida. According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Alan Cohen’s days as majority owner of the Panthers are coming to an end, as two partners in his ownership group are expected to take control of the team.

Two Boca Raton businessmen, Panthers Vice-Chairman Cliff Viner and Managing Director Stu Siegel, will buy most of Cohen’s 43 per cent of the team and become co-managing partners.

According to the Sun-Sentinel, “Panthers fans are desperate for change. The team has not made the playoffs since 2000, the longest playoff drought in the NHL, and has undergone numerous coaching and general manager changes and traded away some of its best players, including Roberto Luongo, Olli Jokinen and Jay Bouwmeester.”

But here’s the kicker, the paper added: “The ownership change is not expected to resolve the team’s financial struggles. The team’s parent company, Sunrise Sports & Entertainment, is seeking Broward County’s help to restructure its debt on the county-owned BankAtlantic Center.”

It’s a mess on Long Island, Phoenix is a disaster (only 5,585 this past Monday at jobing.com Arena), Tampa Bay and Nashville are hurting, the Columbus Chamber of Commerce has conceded that the Blue Jackets don’t have much life left and now Florida needs government help from a government that isn’t flush.

We all know Gary Bettman doesn’t want to admit it, but the NHL is in big, big trouble.

* * *

KELLY SAYS “BULL-CACA.” THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA DOESN’T RESPOND IN ANGER. WONDER WHY?

Friday morning, during an interview with Tom McGouran, Kathy Kennedy and The Coach, on 92-CITI-FM, Blue Bombers coach Mike Kelly poked the local mainstream media with a stick. Again.

Kelly, laughing all the way, said, “You guys have the only media outlet that isn’t bull-caca.”

He then added, “I don’t think I can be fined $2,000 by the league for saying ‘bull-caca.” Can I? ”

He was assured by McGouran that it was unlikely he’d be fined. In fact, McGouran agreed with him.

“Can’t be fined for telling the truth,” McGouran laughed.

That’s true to an extent. Kelly could still be fined because he told the truth the first time and was fined.

Then again, he had no bone to pick with CITI, a spot on the dial where the interviewers ask good, solid questions without being rude and obnoxious.

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Old coaches, young superstars and the best goalie in the playoffs.

Posted on May 26, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

As we get set to watch the Pittsburgh Penguins eliminate the Carolina Hurricanes in four straight games (barring a miracle), in tonight’s Eastern Conference final there was a boatload of hockey news today.

There was also just some stuff.

Onward:

1) Pat Quinn was hired as head coach by the Edmonton Oilers today. He’s 66. Personally, I like Pat Quinn, a lot. He’s a fine man, who did a wonderful job with Team Canada in Salt Lake City in 2002 and with our national junior team. I had a lot of respect for him when he was head coach of the Leafs and I must admit, he’s always been very respectful to me.

The question has to be in this case: Can a 66-year-old coach find happiness with a young team in Edmonton? Especially after the Calgary Flames just dumped 59-year-old Mike Keenan, another old coach, who gets recycled more than old truck tires. 

There is a difference, however. Keenan is a guy who likes “his guys.” He likes veteran players he knows and can trust. And that’s fine. Trouble is, “his guys” don’t win anymore. Quinn, however, during his time with the national junior team, proved to everyone he can teach young players how to play the game.

And that’s exactly what the Oilers need.

Age has nothing to do with anything. It’s attitude and approach that matters. Quinn might be 66, but he has already demonstrated that he respects young, enthusiastic hockey players and can take those types of players and show them how to win.

Full disclosure: I like Pat Quinn as a person. And I also believe he will be a great head coach in Edmonton.

2) Tonight, we get to watch the likes of Sidney Crosby, Eric Staal, Evgeni Malkin and Cam Ward play an extremely important NHL playoff game.

If the Penguins win, the young stars from Pittsburgh will zoom into the Stanley Cup final for a second straight year (frankly, no matter what the Hurricanes do, Pittsburgh’s offence should put a quick nail in Carolina’s coffin).

What is most interesting, however, is that whenever the media looks for a storyline involving the Pens, it’s always Sidney Crosby vs. (insert name here). Sidney Crosby vs. Alexander Ovechkin. Sidney Crosby vs. Jarome Iginla. Sidney Crosby vs. oh, I don’t know, Johan Franzen?

Unfortunately, the mainstream hockey media loves a story no matter how silly it is. If anyone is looking for a consistent storyline, it should be this one: Evgeni Malkin vs. the hockey world.

This spring, Ovechkin will likely be awarded the Hart Trophy as the regular season MVP and so far in the playoffs, Crosby has the inside track to the Conn Smythe Trophy. 

Meanwhile, all Malkin has done is win the league scoring championship and lead all scorers in the playoffs (12 goals and 16 assists). 

There was a day before all these mouth-breathing TV bingo callers became uber-experts, a day when scoring goals and dishing out assists was an important part of the game. And today, nobody does that better than Evgeni Malkin.

I guess he’s no Sidney Crosby (he certainly doesn’t have the same group of publicists), but he could be the Rodney Dangerfield of the NHL.

3) Of course, if Malkin isn’t hockey’s answer to Rodney D., it’s Detroit Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood.

Ozzie is close to winning his third Stanley Cup as a starter (he was also on a winner as the No. 2 to Mike Vernon). He’s also been to the finals one other time, been a Vezina Trophy runner-up and won the Jennings Trophy twice. He was the second goalie ever to score a goal (following Ron Hextall), was the No. 1 goalie (statistically) in the NHL in the 1995-96 season, is 10th in the NHL in career wins and the winningest goaltender in Red Wings history. He’s been an all-star, won Stanley Cups in two decades and is on the verge of going back-to-back.

And yet, you ask anybody in the mainstream media and he/she will tell you: “Detroit’s only problem is goaltending.”

Hogwash.

I can’t tell you how sick I am of hearing our TV experts talk of Tim Thomas this or Roberto Luongo that or Cam Ward… whatever. The best goalie in the playoffs last year was Chris Osgood and clearly the best goalie this year is Chris Osgood.

At 37, he’s never been better. Right now he leads the playoffs in wins with 11, is second in goals against average at 2.14 and fourth in save percentage at .921. He’s 11-4 in the post-season, has an assist and a shutout.

He’s often hung out to dry by his always-attacking teammates and yet he’s made some magnificent saves in this year’s post-season. He’s been tremendous.

At this stage, I don’t want to argue with the experts who believe Crosby is a shoo-in to take the Conn Smythe. But there is still a lot of hockey left.

And right now, the best goalie in the playoffs has not been Jonas Hiller, Cam Ward or Tim Thomas. It’s been Chris Osgood.

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Three things rattling around in my brain…

Posted on May 14, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

I have a few more things rattling around in my cranium other than this, but after crunchy peanut butter and last night’s Power Ball numbers, these are the only things that would likely matter to anyone else…

1) NHL commissioner Gary Bettman gets more hypocritical every day. He says he wants to do whatever he can for his owners, but when one gets in serious trouble — like Jerry Moyes in Phoenix — Bettman throws him under the bus.

Here is the latest response by Jim Balsillie to a court filing by the National Hockey League:

HAMILTON, ON, May 14 /CNW/ – Jim Balsillie today issued the following statement with regard to NHL motions filed in a Phoenix bankruptcy court: 

   … “I can tell you this. I made a generous good faith offer to buy the Coyotes from Jerry Moyes, who I understand is the owner of the Coyotes. Who owns or controls the team is a distinction without a difference. The team itself is still bankrupt, voluntarily or not. The owner of the team has a fiduciary obligation towards the creditors.

       “My offer, which goes the furthest in satisfying creditors’ claims, is still the same. It’s $212 million to buy the Coyotes and bring them to the best un-served hockey market in the world in Southern Ontario. We look forward to discussing this no matter what the outcome on May 19th.

    “At the end of the day, this is about the passion Canadians feel for the game of hockey and a chance to provide those fans with the opportunity to support a seventh NHL team. That’s what this is all about, great hockey fans in a great hockey market.”

Sadly, Gary Bettman wouldn’t know a good hockey market or a good hockey fan if one tripped and fell over his throat.

Why Bettman hates Canada and, for the most part, hates the game of hockey, is a mystery.

2) Remember Jean-Sebastien Giguere? In case you don’t, he led the Anaheim Ducks to the Stanley Cup in 2007.

Giguere is still in Anaheim, but he doesn’t play much anymore. the hero in Anaheim is now Jonas Hiller, a guy who already has three rings — for the championship of the Swiss League, in 2002, 2005 and 2007. He’s also won two Spengler Cups with Davos.

Of course, if the Ducks win Game 7 against Detroit tonight, he just could win another ring this year. Along with a Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.

Or, he could lose and join Roberto Luongo and Simeon Varlamov in 2009 post-season infamy.

It should be a great game tonight. 

3) Finally, in the CFL, the league announced four rule changes that were suggested by the fans in an online poll:

          a) The league’s board of governors approved moving the kickoff back 10 yards to the 25-yard line following a safety.

          b) Allowing coaches to use “wildcat” formations that would move the quarterback around, instead of requiring him to stand behind or under centre.

          c) Requiring a team that makes a field goal to kick off rather than give the receiving the team the option of taking the ball at its 35-yard-line.

         d) Giving a team a third instant replay challenge if its first two are successful.

I have no problem with any of those rules changes. I guess I’m just like a lot of fans. I didn’t think the quarterback was stuck behind centre anyway, didn’t care if a team kicked from the 35 or 25 after a safety and didn’t realize that taking the ball at the 35 or kicking off mattered that much.

My rule change remains the same: If a CFL team uses a Canadian (non-import) as its No. 3 quarterback, it can use an extra import in the starting line-up. At some point, we must — in our own league — make it worth the coaches’ while to develop Canadian  quarterbacks, just like they develop U.S. college rookies.

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