Monday Morning Recap

Here are my NHL thoughts of the week...

1 a – Dailer Oiler Bashing – Sam Gagner + Shootout = Disgrace.

1 b – Edmonton dropped to 0-4 in shootouts that take place at Rexall. Good way to give the fans some excitment...

1 c – They trade Stoll and are now 24th in faceoff %, they trade Greene and are now 28th in hits. Lubo comes in and our PP is 20th and our PK is 27th. Did that deal really benefit us? Oh, and, only Washington turns the puck over more then Edmonton.

1 d – I can't think of anything new to bash the Oilers on, this team is just a broken record...

2 a – Has anyone else noticed a drop off in the 'superstar calibre' players' performances? Remember when all of those youngsters (I think we came up with nine) were on pace for 50+ goal seasons? Hmmmm... Well, it looks like Ovi is the only one on pace for 50 (42G in 57GP) now.

2 b – In fact, as of Saturday night, only nine players were on pace for 40+ goals.

2 c – Also, there are only four players on pace for over 100+ points: Malkin, Crosby, Ovechkin and Datsyuk.

3 a – Glen Sather. Arguabley the greatest coach of the 80's, but seriously, when your given upwards of 9 all-stars on a single team, even a monkey could win... You should be thanking the scouting department more then Sather. Not even to mention, those championships were over 20 years ago, 'What have you done for me lately?'...

3 b – Let's move on to him 'being a genius' during the non-cap era. Edmonton would scrape it's way into 7th or 8th on a fairly consistent basis... Florida, Vancouver, Washington and Buffalo were all small-market teams that made the cup finals during those same years, yet Sather was unable to take Edmonton anywhere near those heights.

3 c – Now, Sather in New York. An NHL exec stated that Sather was at his best when he had to 'hunt and gather' talent on a tight budget, but now in NY, those instincts are virtualy gone since he has money to solve those troubles. Let's recap what he has done in NY...

Traded for Eric Lindros
Traded for Pavel Bure
Traded for Tom Poti
Signed Holik 5yr/$45mil
Signed Kasparaitis 6yr/$25.5mil
Signed Gomez 7yr/$51.5mil
Signed Fleury 3yr/$21mil
Traded for Martin Rucinsky
Traded for Alex Kovalev
Traded for Jaromir Jagr
Signed Drury 5yr/$35.25mil
Signed de Vries 4yr/$13mil
Signed Redden 5yr/$31mil
Signed Rozsival 3yr/$13mil

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1027983/index.htm

Read that article. It's from about five years ago, but things in New York haven't gotten much better...

4 a – Dday is just around the corner, about a week away, and this year's crop of talented names floating around include: Alex Kovalev, Erik Cole, Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer, Ryan Whitney, Olli Jokinen, Jay Bouw, Nik Antropov, Tomas Kaberle, Kari Lehtonen and Ryan Smth.

4 b – Last year's Dday gave Huet, Campbell, Richards, Commodore and Hossa new homes. I really think this year will be just as exciting as teams in the West try to establish a hold on a playoff spot, while teams in the East try and distance themselves further from the 6-10 teams.

4 c – I really think that the Oilers are closer to being Sellers rather then Buyers. Cole's 4mil will surely come off the books, but Horcoff's deal goes up, Grebs gets a raise, Smid gets a raise, Brodziak gets a raise, Roli & Strudwick may need to be resigned... I just don't think this is the year Edmonton makes any 'major' moves.

4 d – Calgary will be Buyers. Aucoin's 4mil and Warriner's 2.350mil come off the books and adding a top 9 forward or top 4 Dman is legitimate goal.

5 – Everyone plays everyone. That's whast going to happen for 11 teams fighting for 4 spots. Here's how those 11 teams have faired against each other...

5th Vancouver vs. The West... 21-16-6
6th Columbus vs. The West... 20-21-5
7th Dallas vs. The West... 22-18-4
8th Edmonton vs. The West... 22-20-4
9th Anaheim vs. The West... 23-18-4
10th Minnesota vs. The West... 18-21-3
11th Nashville vs. The West... 20-22-3
12th LA vs. The West... 17-19-7
13th Phoenix vs. The West... 20-22-4
14th St. Louis vs. The West... 19-17-7
15th Colorado vs. The West... 21-25-1

After seeing those records vs. The West, I think Columbus will fall and Anaheim will sneak in.

5 b – St. Louis is hanging around without Kariya, Brewer and Erik Johnson. They would have been far above the pack if they would have been able to stay healthy all year. What a shame.

Here are my non-NHL thoughts of the week...

1 a – I watched a program about the top 10 movies, in 10 different categories. The top 10 Sports movies of all time (as judged by the American Film Institute) were...

10 – Jerry Maguire
9 – Nationel Velvet
8 – Breaking Away
7 – Caddyshack
6 – The Hustler
5 – Bull Durham
4 – Hoosiers
3 – The Pride of the Yankees
2 – Rocky I
1 – Raging Bull

1 b – Of those 10, i've only ever seen Rocky...

1 c – Personally, my favorite sports movie of all-time is Remember the Titans.

2 a – The NFL Combine is currently being held and, it turns out, that dominant college programs are actually HINDERING prospects rather then helping them. How, you may ask? It's rather simple, the spread offense. For those of you who don't know what 'the spread' is; it's a shotgun, many receivers, pass happy formation. Not many, if any, NFL teams run a spread formation on a regular basis. It's mainly a 2nd or 3rd and long formation. To improve your NFL knowledge, read this:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/don_banks/02/21/saturday.snaps/index.html?eref=T1

And for goodness sake, Sporer, re-up your SI subscription. Geez.

2 b – Marc Sanchez is from USC. So is: Carson Palmer, Matt Lienart and Matt Cassel. Follow the pattern?

3 a – Mike Vick's prison term is set to expire July 20th, in which case he will likely serve an NFL suspension, but then be eligible for return. Man, when this guy was around, he lit up the league. He was the 1st African-American QB taken 1st overall in the draft, he's already the 3rd in rushing in NFL history for a QB and 2nd all-time in wins for the Falcons. He is undoubtedly in that discussion about best NFL Qbs, franchise players and players you wish to select first-overall in your fantasy draft.

3 b – San Diego originally had the #1 pick, but traded down to #5 with Atlanta, who also sent a 3rd round pick, a 2nd rounder and WR/KR Tim Dwight to the Chargers. We all know Vick went #1, but could you tell me who went #5? How about the face of the franchise, LaDainian Tomlinson. One of those deals that works out ridiculously well for both teams.

3 c – Where do you think Vick should end up? Or, better yet, if you were a coach or GM, would you take a chance on Vick? I know he is still under contract, but if the price was right, I definitely would...

4 a – MLB Arbitration hearings wrapped up this week, with players averaging a 172% increase in salaries!!! Wow. The largest increase saw Nik Markakis rise his salary 24 times over from $450,000 to just over $11 million. Wow.

4 b – Could you imagine if any NHL RFA went to arbitration and got a 24x increase on their salary?! Even a 10x increase would be redonkulous! I guess it just proves that their is more money (much MUCH more money) in baseball then hockey...

5 – Tiger Woods has been off for, what, 9 months now? Well, he is set to make his PGA debut this week at the Accenture Match Play Championship, where he is awarded a #1 seed. The tournament uses a March Madness format, 64 teams in 4 brackets. The other #1 seeds are: Sergio Garcia, Vijay Singh and Padraig Harrinon. It seems rather odd that Woods can be out for 9 months and still warrant a #1 slot, but I guess thats because he is the most dominant golfer... ever.

5 b – Speaking of March Madness, you homos better be down to pick a bracket. Expand your sports' horizon.

Cheers.
-Smith

p.s.


http://mvn.com/thestateofhockeynews/2009/02/2009-2010-unrestricted-free-agent-list.html

There is a list of all the UFA's this off-season, aka. Rental Players for this Trade Deadline... Enjoy.

Contracts. The Good, The Bad and the Unusual.

We've debated about coaching... about Gms... about 2010... the Oilers... Brady's infidelity... but there's another topic I think we should take another look at... contracts.

I was listening to 'The Team' (Sporer, you should put down the James Blunt and take a listen one day) and it was discussing Mike Leach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders. He is their head football coach and is looking for a contract extension from his 5yr/$10mil current deal. First, here is a list of accomplishments over Mike Leach's career (since clearly, none of you know who we are talking about)...

9 consecutive winning seasons
9 consecutive bowl appearances
5 bowl wins (most by any individual coach in the history of the program)
4 seasons completed with team ranked in the Top 25
18–9 record against in-state conference rivals Baylor, Texas, and Texas A&M
47–10 record at home
2008 Big 12 Coach of the Year
Coached 1 Best Wide Receiver winner: Michael Crabtree (two-time winner)
Coached 1 Best Senior Quarterback winner: Graham Harrell
Coached 1 Best Kick Returner winner: Wes Welker
Coached 3 Outstanding Quarterback winners: Kliff Kingsbury, B.J. Symons, and Graham Harrell
More than 150 NCAA, Big 12 and school records broken as Texas Tech's head coach
Four NCAA, 42 SEC, and 116 school records broken as Kentucky's offensive coordinator

Ok, who isn't looking for more job security, but what was interesting to me were the terms of the deal, outside of the money talks. The center of the deal was around the 5yr/$12.7mil term that they offered (because, we all know money rules the world), but this contract had two main, interesting details included...

#1 – he wanted a 'percentage of revenue'; whether it be from: daily ticket sales, athletic apparel, books sales, luxury boxes etc... Basically, any way the university is able to make money, he wants a piece of the pie.

#2 – he also wanted to be able to interview for other jobs and not have the fear of being fired.

Ballsy.

It's interesting to see what kind of term a contract can contain... Major League Baseball is notorious for such unusual clauses like: interpreters for foreign players' families, hotel suites on road trips, 1st class round-trip plane tickets and movie premiere tickets. In fact, in A-Rod's $252mil deal, he was guaranteed a $150,000 bonus for being the MVP of the division series.

There is no MVP for the division series.

But those clauses are more minor and are used to entice the player and make them more comfortable, they don't give the player full-power over their future. That's more like, a no-trade-clause.

So, I guess I'm asking, if a college coach can get this much power, when is going to happen in the professional leagues? Brian Burke already has full-control-decision-making over the Maple Leafs, but what if he wanted a share of their revenue and profits? Or, what if the only way to get Pat Quinn to coach your team, would be to give him free reign to interview for another job, while still coaching your team in a playoff race? It's an interesting scenario. Personally, this is how I thought a hypothetical head coaching search would go down...

You're the GM of a sports team: any league, any level. You have a head coaching vacancy and nine candidates are available, but not all are interested. It's your job to weed out the 'perfect' head coach...

1 – You're a non-postseason team, seven years running...

You've just lost one-third of your options. I mean, not every coach wants to pick up the pieces of a broken franchise and start from scratch. Six left.

2 – With your teams non-success, you have more rookies/prospects then veterans...

How many coaches can take young potential and mold it into a finished product? Better yet, how many coaches would PREFER raw products over polished ones? Not many. Five left.

3 – You've decided to retain all of your assistants from last season...

Well, you lose two candidates at this level. One because he wants to fire everyone and hire his own staff and two because he doesn't want to work with 'losers' who couldn't produce a winning product. Four left.

4 – If it's a pro team you've chosen, let's say you have next-to-no cap room for the off-season. And if it's a college teams, let's say you have next-to-no scholarships to offer or limited recruiting resources...

It takes a talented man to work with his back against the wall, no wiggle room to breathe and knowing that no new talent is going to come in. Three left.

5 – Just for shits & giggles, let's throw in a pre-madonna star with a crappy attitude and a no-movement clause...

Any idea how may coaches are successful with one of 'those' on their team? Yashin/NYI, Jagr/Washington, TO/Phili, Marbury/NYK, A-Rod/Texas, Beckham/LA Galaxy... Get the picture? Two left.

6 – And since, family is always an important thing, let's throw those 'intangibles' in there too...

Mike Shanahan, Mike Holmgren & Bill Cowher all left their teams for family reasons, and that's just the NFL elite. One left.

One left. One coach. He fits the mold. He fits the description. He is the chosen prodigal son to lead your team from the desert back to the oasis. So, wouldn't you do whatever it took to make sure this coach was behind the bench for the up-coming season? If it takes extra money or special privileges or more power, isn't it all worth it in the end? Or, does that go over the top? Should there be a 'cap' for contract incentives?

You know, these are all incentives for a head coach, but what's to keep a once-in-a-life-time superstar (Crosby, A-Rod, Manning, LeBron) for asking for team revenue? Or, better yet, how about input to future team transactions (trading players, signing coaches)? Will we ever see a contract clause go that far in a professional league? I guess, sometimes, it isn't just about the dollars and cents...

Cheers.
-Smith

p.s. Who is the best head coach? My pick, Joe Torre.

Back in the Peg

So after a good week at home with family and friends, its back to the grind and the books back here in the Peg. A long week of no blogs too. It has been a long week of NHL thoughts as well. So here are a few things that have been burning through my skull...

1) Erik Cole....will he stay? or will he go? with just 13 goals so far through the season, for a guy who was looked to score 30, he is completely expendable. However, he brings it every night, he is a veteran presence and a character player. I do think that for the right price, he will go. I'm not Steve Tambelini, but my gut does tell me the Oilers wouldn't mind signing Cole, but he would have to take a big pay cut for it to make sense.

2) What the hell happened to the Habs?! Seriously?! They come into Edmonton and we destroy them 7-2?! Since when?! Alex Kovalev is now on the trading block?! Carey Price has been BRUTAL!!! What is going on in Montreal....someone please explain.

3) Same with the Rangers.

4) The Dallas Stars have made an enormous comeback, they have played their way through the Sean Avery debacle, and back into playoff contention. Brad Richards goes down with a broken wrist. Joining Sergei Zubov, and Brendan Morrow on the IR. To me, its the straw that finally breaks the camel's back. Unless the Stars bring in a difference maker, and fast, they will fall out of playoff contention.

5) A second Canadian Olympic team? Ya that sounds appropriate. In all truth, that second Canadian team wouldn't do too bad either. Lets just imagine for a moment what that team would look like. I'm gonna say that Marc Savard misses team Canada once again, thus he would be the first to be name to the second team. So here we go:

Cammalleri--Savard--St Louis
Ryan Smyth--Derek Roy--Devin Steoguchi
Ryan Clowe--Jonathan Toews--Jason Pominville
Ryan Whitney--Eric Staal--Scott Hartnell

So yes the Ryan's own the left side, and the yes Jon Toews is on the team, based sole on the fact I don't think he makes the "1st" team. This second team is just chalk full of hard working, blue collar type players. This would be a coaches dream as far as work ethic goes. So with the forwards done lets move on to the defense.

Dennis Wideman--Sheldon Souray
Rob Blake--Duncan Keith
Ed Jovanovski--Brent Burns

I personally think Souray makes the "1st" team, however, many people do not have him on the team, so ill put him on the "2nd" team. Again, just like the forwards, the "D" is a very hardworking bunch who bring it every night. A punishing group as well, as with every one of those players would scare me to go into the corner with. Moving on to the goaltending...

Marty Turco
Cam Ward
Marc-Andre Fleury

Its true, this team would make a serious case for itself. Starting with the goaltending. An all-star cast of goaltenders means that this team will be well equipped in net.
So with all the players named, I must say that this team would make a huge case for itself, competitive wise. They don't have the names that most of the other national teams would, but they definitely have quality players who would have that "we wanna win" attitude. Id be scared to face a team like this in international play, mostly because they are all professionals, who are all quality hard working players.

6) The Oilers will make the playoffs. You officially have MY guarantee! Ha. Seriously the way this team has been playing as of late, and with Dwayne Roloson's goaltending the Oilers are starting to look a little dangerous. If I were one of those top 4 teams, id be a little scared. A few small deadline deals (or a big one), would give the Oilers that extra little push they need. Not only that, but I feel like playoffs, is the medicine the doctor ordered for some of the Oilers youth. For guys like Gagner, Nilsson, Cogliano, and Gilbert, the playoffs could possibly push them to show their true talent. Lets Go Oilers!!!

Monday Morning Recap - The Lazy Edition

Lazy meaning, it took me so damn long to make up another post; however, there are alot of jokes in my usual columns, but I thought I would include some more serious topics as well. And no, I'm not adding pictures. The informational value of this entry is more then enough to compensate for no images, plus, I'm just in a hurry to post the damn thing.

Here are my NHL topics for the past while...

1 a – Daily Oiler Bashing – Starting on Saturday morning, Edmonton was 10th in the West, but only 1 point out of a playoff spot. I still believe Edmonton makes the playoffs.

1 b – I still believe Edmonton doesn't last more then 5 games in the playoffs.

1 c – Versus LA, and on a PP, Tom Gilbert had all kinds of time to make a decision on where to shoot the puck; however, he chose to shoot high. Is he retarded? Horcoff and O'Donnell were both infront and when you guys traffic infront of the net, the golden rule is to KEEP IT LOW! I think Don Cherry says some ridiculous things, but this is one I completely agree with.

1 d – With Lubo done for the year and LA only 4 points out of 8th spot (3 behind Edmonton), I wonder who really did win the Lubo-Stoll/Greene trade. Stoll and Greene are both under 26, combine for a little over 4.5 in salary, have a combined for 39 points and have played in all of LA's 53 games, while Lubo is 31 years old, is a 5.6 mil salary hit, had 31 points and only played 50 games.

1 e – Wow. Ethan Moreau absolutely blew up Dustin Brown. One of the biggest hits in the league this season, bar none.

1 f – Sam Gagner decided to take on Jack Johnson. Yea, not such a good choice. Sure, Gagner gets points for being 'brave', but all those points were erased when Johnson erased Gagner. Big time.

2 a – The wild West is ridiculous and it has been all year long: 10 points separate 5th from 15th. So, essentially, a 5 game win-streak could vault you from the West basement to a date with Chicago. Unbeileveable.

2 b – As of Saturday morning, Dallas was in 5th place. Sure they were some people's pre-season favorite to win the West, but after the Sean Avery debacle, the Morrow injury and Zubov injury, they have done a FANTASTIC job in turning that team around. To give a comparison, that would be as if Erik Cole had gone AWOL, and Shawn Horcoff & Sheldon Souray were done for the year, there is no way Edmonton would be even close to sniffing the playoffs.

2 c – I really do think SJ, Detroit, Calgary and Chicago are the class of the West. While teams 5-15 are all beating each other, the 1-4 teams are just beating everyone else.

2 d – Still on the West playoffs, there is only one team that allows more goals then they score – Dallas 164/166. Out East, the NYR are the only playoff team in the same position, 141/155

3 a – While we all argue and debate that Canada will have a dominant 2010 team, we all seem to argue about the 7-12 forwards and 4-5-6 Dmen, which really aren't a big deal. Sure these guys play 20+ minutes for their NHL team, but they won't be getting those minutes on the 2010 team. So, while Shane Doan, Corey Perry and Patty Marleau make huge contributions to their respective teams, how much of a real impact are they going to make on a superstar lineup as a 11th or 12th forward?

3 b – We all talk that Canada could field two 2010 teams, I would like to see what that 2nd team would look like... Sporer, I'll assume you'll get on that...

4 – There is news that Marty Brodeur may not be the autpmatic starter once he returns... and, I gotta say, I'm not totally surprised. We all know and have expereienced the 2 rules of playoff hockey... #1 – once you get in, anything can happen... and #2 – when you are riding a hot goalie, anything can happen. Clemmenson and Weekes have carried the NJD to 2nd in the East and I'm not so sure I would want to tamper with that... I understand Marty Brodeur's history speaks for himself, and personally, I think he gets the starting job, but I definitely would have a long conversation with my assistants and players. I don't think the decision is as easy as it should be...

4 b – And, am I the only one surprised that NJD are 2nd in the East?! How the crap did that happen?! Where did the NYR go?! NJD are 12-5-1 in their own divison (possibly the toughest division in hockey), while Edmonton is a mediocre 7-6-2 against the NW.

5 – Alright, I'm just going to go out and say it. Calgary's off-season moves have demolished Edmonton's. Cammalerri and Big Bert (on pace for a combined 60 goals) for roughly 5mil vs. Lubo and Cole (on pace for a combined 20 goals) for roughly 10mil.

5 b – I'll admit, I was stoked for Lubo and Cole. So, I guess, I'm eating my words again on this one. It funny how, I thought Souray would be a flop, yet he's our all-star and now I thought Cole/Lubo would put us over the top, and it's far from that... Galaxies far...

Here are my non-NHL thoughts of the past while...

1 a – I don't know if you heard, but A-Rod has done steroids. OF COURSE YOU'VE HEARD! WHO THE HECK HASN'T HEARD?! But, I read a great article on si.com that really focused on whether the 'roids actually affected his stats or not... read it, it will change your view on steroids for A-Rod.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/cliff_corcoran/02/13/corcoran.arod/index.html

1 b – Steroids. Some do them, some don't. The people that do, say it gives them an edge. The people that don't, say it's cheating. But, let me ask you, if EVERYONE did steroids then wouldn't the playing field be level? And wasn't the most exciting time in sports (Big Mac and Slammin' Sammy) during the steroid era? I understand that sertoids are unacceptable now, but so was homosexuality and integration.

1 c – I'm a huge A-Rod fan. He's (arguably) the best player in the game now and (arguably) the best player of all-time and he can play on my team any day of any week, Madonna or no Madonna.

2 – It's too bad you guys don't care about March Madness or college basketball because, it really is the one of the purest sports out there, their is: no money or endorsements, no contracts to worry about or signing bonuses. While players in the NBA, NHL and other pro leagues have 'guaranteed contracts', players in the NCAA have scholarships they have to maintain or they will lose them.

2 b – While there is the Oilers-Flames, Colts-Patriots, Lakers-Celtics and the Yankees-Red Sox, those don't even compare to the Duke-North Carolina rivalry. They have been battling twice-a-year since 1920, have combined to win 80% of the reg. season ACC titles and 60% of the ACC tournament titles. Not to mention they are #2 and #4 in all-time college victories. And, if that's not enough for you, Sports Illustrated ranked it the #2 sports rivalry of all time.

2 c – North Carolina beat Duke 101-87 on Wednesday. At Duke. With Duke up by 9 at the half. Deep.

2 d – While we touched on college logos and names, I think another thing that NCAA has done super well, is to keep the stadium names in tact. It's tough to sell a high profile match-up when it's being played at Pizza Hut Park (FC Dallas) or U.S. Cellular Field (Chicago White Sox) or Dick's Sporting Goods Park (Colorado Rapids), but the college level has names like: Freedom Hall (Louisville) and the Rose Bowl (UCLA) and Cameron Indoor Stadium (Duke).

2 e – Plus, there is nothing like having a great nickname for a stadium. A great nickname is more well-known then the actual stadium name? The best nickname: The Big House, aka. Michigan Stadium. Go to this link, brush up on your college history. You can click on the photos too. Man, I wish Rexall had a nice location like Neyland Stadium in Tennessee.

http://www.prepticket.com/album/823292:Album:75290/market/rocky_mountain/id/823292:Photo:75284

3 – Kobe or LeBron. Drew, I gotta say again, I think Kobe is the best until proven otherwise. Sure his scoring is down and the Lakers still haven't won without Shaq, but he's a regular on the all-star squad, and the MVP talks are always started with his name. Not to mention, his work on the defensive side of the ball AND, believe it or not, he's going to be making less money then LeBron after 2010.

3 b – Some other names to consider as 'franchise players', how about: Dwayne Wade, Deron Williams, Dwight Howard and yes, even Chris Bosh. You couldn't go wrong with Kobe, LeBron or any of those four.

4 – With the NFL season over and the off-season barely three weeks old, I thought I would ask for your thoughts on this coming season...

5 Obvious Questions.
#1 – Tom Brady + MAJOR surgery = ???
#2 – Is this the first year we have repeat champs, since the Broncos?
#3 – Is LT still among the elite?
#4 – Is Aaron Rogers Version 2.0 better then Version 1.0?
#5 – Is there a sophmore jinx for Joe Flacco/Matt Ryan?

5 Less Obvious Questions.
#1 – Ocho Cinco. TJ. Palmer. Would you break up the trio?
#2 – Josh McDaniels or Mike Shanahan?
#3 – The Clots. Still a dominant AFC power?
#4 – Which team has more problems: Seattle, San Fran, St. Louis, Oakland or KC?
#5 – Anyone disagree when I say that the NFC South is the best division in football?

4 b – Noone cares about Brett Favre. Neither does this blog.

5 a – I finally moved most of my crap out of my house. Hallelujah.

5 b – It turns out, when I clean my room, I find things. Like 1/3 of a bottle of tequilla from the infamous 'New Years Party'. Worm included.

Cheers.
-Smith

Building a team in the "Cap" world.

So your a good armchair athlete right? Or at least, that's what you think. You know the in's and outs of the NHL, you know each players nickname on "your" team. You know every player in the league by their number. You could talk about that one year that your team made a magical run to the Stanley Cup (yours is half the size and filled with air), but were undermined by some freak accident, debacle, or a referee who should have "had his eyes checked". Either way, you have experienced the ups, and downs following "your" team. You also probably know what kind of money most, if not all, the players on your favorite team are making. Thing is, is you always wonder how a team just hands out this contract to this guy, or that contract to that guy. You wonder why another team has so and so, and why your team cant have, so and so. Well here is your chance to play General Manager, yes, you have finally been promoted from armchair athlete to armchair General Manager. So here's how it goes:

First you need your sources. Here's the best one: nhlnumbers.com This website will give you every NHL players current and future salaries. Also it informs you on who is a pending UFA, and RFA. So based on these "cap numbers" you can begin to get an idea, of who the NHL's bargains and busts are *cough* Dustin Penner *cough*.

Next. Now you need to know what a team looks like. An NHL team roster (all those being paid, contributing against the cap) is made up of 25 players. For most teams that's: 3 goalies, 15 forwards, and 7 defensemen. Now that you have that, you may now take a look at what your up against. The Cap. The NHL cap is currently at $56.7 million (as per TSN). So all that money needs to get spread over all those positions. In any way you wish.

Finally you are ready to step behind the GM's desk. Now you can take those contracts we talked about, and gather the players you wish (according to their position e.g. 4LW, 4C, 4RW). Only thing is, you have to consider how much each player makes, and how much that leaves you to get other players. So fill your roster with your players, and their contracts, and see how they match up to some of ours. Good luck.....you'll need it.

Sporer's "All Canadian" and "World" teams.

a * denotes a rookie. All numbers are in millions of dollars. If you click the image it will come up bigger.

Smith's team:

and with that, it is now your turn...

-Smith & Sporer

Addressing Needs

So as Smith pointed out, the Oilers have some needs, and weaknesses in their lineup that need addressing. They have chips for trading. So i thought, Whats out there? So i went and checked out what exactly is out there, as far as what the Oilers are in need of. Here's a quick list.

Oilers Needs:

Scoring LW	Options	Off Season Status
Canadian	Mike Cammalleri (CGY)	UFA
Canadian	Rick Nash (CLB)	Under Contract (“C” 2010 UFA)
Canadian	Simon Gagne (PHL)	Under Contract
American	Zach Parise (NJD)	Under Contract
Russian	Ilya Kovalchuk (ATL)	Under Contract (“C” 2010 UFA)
Russian	Alex Semin (WAS)	Under Contract (2010 RFA)
Russian	Alex Frolov (LAK)	Under Contract (2010 UFA)

Gritty Faceoff/PK king	Options	Off Season Status
Canadian	Rob Niedermayer (ANA)	UFA
Canadian	Manny Malholtra (CLB)	UFA
Canadian	Dominic Moore (TOR)	UFA
Canadian	Jay Mclement (STL)	RFA
Swedish	Samuel Pahlsson (ANA)	UFA
Russian	Sergei Federov (WAS)	UFA
Russian	Radek Bonk (NAS)	UFA

3rd to 6th Gritty Defensemen	Options	Off Season Status
Canadian	Denis Gauthier (LAK)	UFA
Canadian	Sean O’Donnel (LAK)	UFA
Canadian	Greg De Vries (NAS)	UFA
Swedish	Niklas Havelid (ATL)	UFA
Swedish	Christian Backman (CLB)	UFA
Czech	Marek Malik (TBL)	UFA
Canadian	Jason Smith (OTT)	Under Contract (2010 UFA)

As far as a scoring Left Winger goes, its going to be interesting to see what kind of trade the Oilers make, as they will definitley need to come up with a good package. As far as a Checking Center, and a Defensmen go, it should be a little easier to pry these guys away. For the LW positioni feel like the two best options are Frolov in LA, and Kovalchuk in Atlanta based on the fact that those two teams should be far out of a playoff spot come March 4th.

Concerning the checking center, the best candidate for the Oilers are both Jay Mclement, and Dominic Moore, both are younger centers so prying them from their teams may be a little hard. Niedermayer and Pahlsson are good options as well, but getting them out a playoff team in Anaheim could be harder.

The Oilers need for an extra defensmen occured as soon as Lubomir Visnovsky went down with injury. The Oilers could always hope for young Theo Peckham to come up big, but a better option may be a veteren presence for a playoff puch. All of the prospects I named are great options but personally the two best would be Jason Smith and Nicklas Havelid in Atlanta. Both teams are tanking and both players should be available. (plus who wouldnt want "Gator" back in an Oilers jersey?!)