Don't Expect Big Deadline Deal for Red Wings

Remember the good ol' days?  The days where the Red Wings, Avalanche and Rangers would have an arms race during the NHL trade deadline to load up for the playoffs?  Those were the days...and they are over, especially for Ken Holland and the Detroit Red Wings, at least in recent years. 

Since acquiring Brad Stuart before the 2008 Cup run, Holland has not made any moves of significance (please don't retort with Kyle Quincey) via trade at the deadline (or at any point of the season for that matter).  For fellow Wings fans, don't hold your breath thinking that this year will be any different.  I'm serious, you may pass out.

The biggest reason, which is of no control of Ken Holland, is that the market is incredibly thin.  Gary Bettman's coveted parity in the NHL is at an all-time high.  As of today, four points separate the eight and final playoff spot and the 14th team and only seven points for the last-placed team in the Eastern Conference.  In the West that gap is seven and nine points respectively.  With virtually every team having at least a slim chance of sneaking into the playoffs, it's hard to imagine that there will be many teams willing to part with high profile players as long as they think they have a shot.  Welcome to the "New NHL."  One in which the NHL trade deadline is no longer like Christmas for hockey fans, but more like the soup kitchen for the homeless.  There are scraps available and not enough to go around.  Thanks, Gary.

One big clue that Holland is not going to make a splash prior to Wednesday's deadline is he's already publicly given his "getting Helm, Bertuzzi, Samuelsson (laughable, I know) and Colaiacovo (just as funny) will be like deadline acquisitions" state of the team address.  Yep, that rhetoric has already been circulating in the media for weeks now. 

This has become somewhat of an annual speech as the Wings get ravaged by injuries each and every season it seems.  Is it because of the insistence of signing and re-signing aging/injury-prone players?  Maybe.  Regardless of the reason it's becoming a trend and not just dumb luck.  That trend has led to Holland's reluctance to make any significant trades in the hopes that the cavalry of injured players will return and magically fill the team's glaring needs.  The payout on this annual gamble has been minimal to say the least.  If I were a betting man, my money says it will be more of the same this year because Helm, Bertuzzi, Samuelsson and Colaiacovo do not fill the desperate needs of a top-pairing defenseman or a top-six goal-scorer.  Not by a long shot.

Holland has also said he will not spend a 1st round draft pick for an acquisition.  I can't say I blame him.  It appears he realizes that last year's "splash" of burning such a pick on Kyle Quincey was a bonehead move.  However, if there is a deal to be made that could fill one of the voids aforementioned then I would assume he would take moving that pick into serious consideration.  Maybe I should not assume such things anymore...

Though the deadline hasn't been as exciting in recent years, there always seems to be a team or two that manages to make some bold moves that betters their team.  The GM of the Penguins, Ray Shero, seems to make said moves each year.  This year, after already trading for Douglas Murray and Brendan Morrow, he goes out and gets Jerome Iginlia.  I can't help but to applaud that aggressiveness.  Do these moves guarantee the Pens win the Cup?  No.  But they are certainly a better squad now and I'd rather be aggressive and fail than be passive and fail.  That's just me.

Look, I'd love to see the Wings explore moving Filppula instead of possibly losing him to free agency.  I sure hope they don't pay him the $5MM per year he wants.  I'd love to see them at least see what they could get in return for Datsyuk instead of seeing him return home to Russia after next season.  I'd be thrilled if they decided to be bold and go out and deal for Yandle, Bouwmeester or Gaborik.  Maybe they will.  They probably won't.  If Holland does indeed swing a deal to acquire one or, Heaven forbid, TWO of those players I will gladly enjoy the taste of my foot in my mouth.  However, logic tells me I'll be sticking to the four major food groups.

GO WINGS!!

10 Post NHL Lockout Thoughts

 
Well, after 113 days of easily the silliest display of childish bickering, posturing, and finger-pointing, the NHL Lockout Part III is indeed over.  Hockey is back, we will see a season (presumably 48 games), and the ultimate idiocy (canceling yet another season) has been avoided.  With that said, here are ten random thoughts of mine now that the smoke has cleared:

1. It's about damn time!  It took you 113 days to come up with the parameters just about everyone knew you would ultimately settle on?  Really?  And next time, please start negotiations six months to a year in advance to avoid this lunacy.  Please and thank you.
2. The powers that be on both sides (Bettman and Fehr) are simply the stupidest smart people in the history of professional sports.  The damage that has been done to the league and its fans and its sponsors by this lockout is irreparable.  They either didn't realize it or they didn't care.  Either way it's bad business.  Which leads me to my next thought...
3. By the time this new CBA expires, both Bettman and Fehr need to be replaced.  Gary is responsible for three lockouts in his tenure and that is unacceptable.  Period.  Donald has a history of being as hard-headed as they come and already almost killed baseball.  Enough.  Both are egomaniacs who are clueless about hockey's fan base.  They need to be served their walking papers in the relatively near future.
4. In the beginning of the season the hockey is going to be, in the words of the lunch lady in Billy Madison: "exxxxtraa schhlllaaaawwwpppy!"  Those who played overseas will have to get used to the smaller ice again as well as better competition and those who didn't play...well...without preseason games and with a shortened camp it's going to take some time for players and teams to get into form.
5. With the sloppiness we will see a lot of injuries.  My guess is that a month into the season the injury list on TSN.ca will be filled with groin injuries.  Good times.
6. The 48-game season, once teams round into form, will produce some thrilling hockey.  Every game will be important.  Teams will not be able to afford extended losing streaks.  Last year's Red Wings team that was ravaged by injuries and thrown into a tailspin would maybe miss the playoffs this year.  This will be interesting.
7. With the new CBA reportedly having buyout clauses and a lower cap, we are about to see some player movement.  And soon.  It could be an interesting few weeks leading up until opening night.
8. The Leafs will still stink and miss the playoffs.
9. Sidney Crosby will still whine constantly when another player breathes on him, Patrick Kane still won't play a lick of defense, and Pavel Datsyuk will still be the best player in the world and under appreciated.  I have accepted all three as staples of the modern NHL.
10. The Red Wings will have a tough year barring a true impact trade.  They may still get into the playoffs since they still have the likes of Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, and on some nights, Johan Franzen.  That talent alone in what looks to be a mediocre Central Division should get them in.  However, us as fans have to face the reality that the team lost arguably the best defenseman in history in Nick Lidstrom and another good one in Brad Stuart without replacing them.  Mike Babcock is going to have his work cut out for him.

These are my thoughts so take them how you will.  Call me an idiot, a Crosby hater, whatever.   If you're a fellow hockey fan then we can agree on one thing:  DROP THE PUCK ALREADY!!!

NHL & NHLPA: What the Puck?!

As you may have guessed, this picture to the left is the face of the NHL's fearless leader, Gary Bettman, superimposed on the body of the Grinch since myself and fellow hockey fans view him as the NHL's Grinch.  I would go as far as to call him hockey's Grim Reaper but whatever.  You get the point. 

My opinion has not wavered in that he is the biggest reason for this lockout mess.  Three lockouts in 18 years (two in eight years) and the possibility of canceling yet another entire season tells me that he is more than the owner's errand boy.  But he and Bill Daly (his version of the Simpsons Smithers, Mr. Burns' lemming) are not completely to blame.  No sir.  Don Fehr and the NHLPA are just as stubborn, greedy, and disconnected from what is really important...the fans.  I'm not going to get into all the dollars and cents, big issues, how far apart they are, and certainly I am not going to touch the latest legal proceedings from each side or the "disinterest" fiasco.  Why?  Because it's all rhetoric and nonsense.  A urination contest if you will.  All at the expense of the fans.

For a league that was so "savvy" to walk away from ESPN to be on the Home Shopping Network, they sure don't have the ability to look beyond their pointless labor war to see the erosion of the level of give-a-crapness the league is suffering in the eyes of the media, the fans, or their sponsors.  Or, they simply don't care.  Either way, for a league struggling for recognition and growth of any significance in the U.S. markets, they sure are going about it in a rather unorthodox way.  Dare I say in a stupid way?  I'm sure cities like Raleigh, Columbus, Nashville, and Miami really miss their hockey right about now (insert fart noise).

I have always been one to defend the NHL to those who bash it.  Heck, my father is the man who introduced me to the sport and made me the fan I am today and even he has lost interest in recent years.  Now, he could care less.  This is the same man that would allow me to stay up late with him to watch the late West Coast Red Wings playoff games and endure OT thrillers into the wee hours of the morning.  I used to give him reasons to care and try to convince him why he should remain a fan.  I no longer will do such a thing nor will I defend this Mickey Mouse league to anyone who either is no longer a fan or never was.  What has transpired in the last 20 years, and more so in the last decade, is indefensible.  Will I stay a fan?  Yep.  That's just the way I am wired.  Will I question anyone who bags on the NHL or no longer supports it?  Can't do it.  They have every reason to spend their free time and especially their entertainment dollars elsewhere.


I read an alarming stat the other day.  In a poll taken in Canada, 58% of the fans don't even care if the lockout is settled.  Apathy and disgust has now found its way to the country that claims hockey as their game.  It's one thing to see that in the U.S. but CANADA?  Wow.  That's the equivalent of the majority of sports fans in America losing interest in the NFL.  Nice job fellas.  Nice job indeed. 

Maybe Mike Babcock was spot on when he said the NHL and hockey is in danger of becoming as popular as pro bowling.  Some would argue it's already there.  If growth is what you seek, Mr. Bettman, you're going in the wrong direction. 

ESPN, which is the largest sports network in the universe, doesn't even give more than a line on the bottom ticker towards covering this childish lockout.  Bettman's lovechild, NBC Sports Network, is showing MAC college basketball and rodeos in the time slots that were supposed to be hockey.  I'm sure they're real thrilled.  Unfortunately, they may be the only people that actually care.

So, NHL and NHLPA, when you have the Canadian Prime Minister and the President of the United States of America publicly calling you out for this meaningless cat fight and telling you to do the right thing for the fans (remember us?) while you continue to do nothing but spew rhetoric and show no urgency to return to the bargaining table, I have to ask you a simple question:  What the PUCK are you thinking?!  If the growth of the league, fan support, media coverage, sponsorships, and MONEY (something that may actually make sense to you) are what matters to you then I would ask you to make your case that you are thinking rationally at all.  I'm waiting...

Personally, I get the suspicion that it is no longer about any of those things mentioned.  Not even money.  It's simply about who "wins."  Who can stick their chest out when this is all over.  If that is the case then shame on you.  If that is the case, I do hope that if and when you return, half-empty arenas are the norm, sponsors pull out, and fans do to you what you have done to us.  Give you the ever-famous one-fingered salute.  I ain't talking about the pinkie.

Yes, myself and a majority of the die-hard fans will return.  But, I will be very surprised if any of the new casual fans that were gained since the last lockout do the same.  I think it will be very eye-opening.  If this is indeed the case, Mr. Bettman and Mr. Fehr, you have nobody to blame but yourselves and your petty egos.  I hope this is all worth it.

The Most Annoying/Overplayed Current Sports Stories

Well, the "BIG NEWS" dropped yesterday.  No, the economy has not been saved.  No, World War III has not began.  And of course, Al Qaeda has not turned into a fun-loving philanthropic organization.  Nope, something much more earth-shattering and extraordinary broke on Monday, December 4, 2012.  That's right, Kate Middleton and Prince William are expecting a child.  According to every media outlet on the planet, this is of utmost importance.  I am thrilled for the happy couple but the constant media coverage (that will certainly continue for the next 9-12 months) is unnecessary.  Especially for something that is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things regarding true world news.

In honor of this latest display of media drivel, I have decided to put together a list (in no particular order) of the most current annoying and largely pointless sports stories that, in most cases, are replayed ad nauseam.  Enjoy.

1.) NEW YORK JETS/REX RYAN/TIM TEBOW/MARK SANCHEZ

Ah yes, the for-letter-network's (ESPN) favorite team.  The New York Jets.  It all started when they traded, for reasons that really made zero football sense, for Tim Tebow.  It was on from there.  We got the works: Rex Ryan guaranteeing Super Bowls while charting his weight loss, constant coverage of training camp in which ESPN felt it was necessary to show a Fabio-like montage of Tebow running shirtless, and now the inevitable QB controversy in which the highly overrated Sanchez has crumbled (shocker) and Tebow has been passed over for the 3rd stringer.  It's a circus.

Here's a newsflash: Sanchez is a bad QB, Tebow is not an NFL QB in any capacity, and the New York Jets are a bad football team.  Bad football teams should not headline SportCenter every single day.  Enough.  Cover good football teams please.

2.) MANTI TE'O

Manti Te'o is a great football player who not only led the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to a #1 ranking and a chance to play for a national title, but he overcame the personal tragedies of losing both his grandmother and girlfriend.  I commend him, it's a great story, and it's touching.  I get it.  But I think by now it has been well documented and a little overplayed.  As good of a player as he is, the Irish have 10 other players on that vaunted defense and some offensive players that had a big hand in the success.  However, it has been all Te'o, all day.  It was getting stale back in October.  Time for some new material.

3.) THE NBA

I could, and have, written an entire piece as to why I think the NBA is a terrible league.  I am not going to do that here.  I am also not suggesting that there should be no coverage because that would be silly.  However, besides the highlights, ESPN has to have constant discussion, "analysis," TMZ-like coverage of the off-the-court shenanigans (Dwight Howard, Kobe firing coaches, etc.) so on and so forth. 

All of that is for not.  Why?  Because, I hate to ruin the surprise, but the Miami Heat will beat whichever of the three possible teams make it out of the Western Conference in the finals.  That's how David Stern has constructed this league.  Therefore,  the regular season (especially for our lovable junior varsity Pistons) and majority of the playoffs is meaningless.  No analysis, dissecting of the other filler teams, or heated discussions are needed.  Sorry, it's a farce.  But hey, they wear really cool glasses without lenses!! 

A little less of the NBA spoon-feeding would do a lot of good.

4.) LEBRON "KING" JAMES

This feeds off of #3 on the list.

I understand the NBA is built around its stars.  One could argue that it is built to ensure their biggest star (LeBron James) wins.  I digress.  However, the media (ESPN the main culprit once again) has made it a point to cover every single thing "King" James does.  We get the luxury of knowing whether he he had Cocoa Puffs or Fruit Loops for breakfast, how many bowel movements he had in a day, what his stance is on world hunger, etc. before we even see once of his highlights of the previous night.  Add in the infamous (and completely unnecessary) "Decision" and the little dance party he and his Miami Heat teammates had before they even had their first practice and you get OVERKILL.

Here's the truth his fans refuse to acknowledge: He flipped the bird to his hometown team to conspire with other stars to sign as free agents with the same team (Heat) to finally get a title because he was afraid to build a team of his own.  He's no Jordan.  Sorry.  Maybe when he wins "not one...not two...not three..not four..." he can earn the "King" moniker and all the air time.  Until then, can we scale back on the LeBron media gluttony?  Please and thank you.

5.) THE NHL LOCKOUT

Now, this may not be getting as much mainstream coverage as everything else (or none on ESPN since they don't acknowledge the NHL) but Twitter peeps, fellow bloggers, and, though it is their job, the hockey writers can stop writing the same exact thing day in and day out about the NHL lockout.  No progress, the season is doomed, now there's optimism, the NHL is dying, the quotes of the rhetoric and finger-pointing from the owners and NHLPA, Bettman sucks, Fehr is the problem blah blah blah.  Enough.

I am saying this as a big fan of hockey: I don't care.  Until there is something substantial to report such as the season is cancelled or a new CBA has been agreed upon go away.  We've heard all the opinions.  We know all of the pressing issues.  We know the two sides are idiots.  No need to recycle everyone else's stories.  Besides, the NHL is killing itself and doesn't deserve the attention or the satisfaction.

6.) CALLING FOR JIM SCHWARTZ AND/OR MARTIN MAYHEW TO BE FIRED

As we know, things are back to normal in Detroit and the Lions are a terrible football team again.  Yippee.  This has incited discussions on the local radio and talks amongst the media and fans that coach Jim Schwartz and/or GM Martin Mayhew should be fired.  Whether or not they should be is inconsequential because it ain't happenin' folks.  Save your breath and your ink.  As long as William Clay Ford, the same man who kept Wayne Fontes and Matt Millen around for so many years, owns the team we won't see the quick hook for either of these men.  There is a good chance we're stuck with the both of them for at least another 3-5 years so might as well get used to it as well as the "Same Ol' Lions."

I am sure there are other stories that annoy many of you that I have forgotten.  Those were just the ones that were top of mind.

With that I say enjoy the sports equivalents to the Royal Family nonsense the likes of ESPN will continue to subject us all to.  Maybe it's time we all start reading more books and watching less TV.