Initial Sundin Thoughts and more

Alright, here goes alooooooooot of text for you guys to read...

Well, hockey's worst kept secret (and possibly worst case Oiler scenario) was revealed earlier today as Mats Sundin decided on the Canucks over the Rangers; and who says money doesn't run the world? The NYR could only offer $5million tops, while having to dump some players in order to accommodate that number; mean time in Vancouver, the Canucks have tabled a 2-year $20million deal since the very beginning and never took it back. That's the basic breakdown in leymonds terms, so let's tale a look at some other issues: Was money the only factor? How does this improve Vancouver? And what does this mean for the Oilers?

Money – Money always helps, but I don't think it was the determining factor here. The offer was tabled back before the season began, so Sundin could have taken it then, but he didn't. He wanted to weigh his options and get the best deal possible for him, while considering his health and team performance I'm sure. Sundin obviously gave the NYR every opportunity to make their salary cap and roster fit into Sundin's liking, but just couldn't pull it off in the end. Also, the rumors going around is that the other teams that were in the hunt (Montreal, Ottawa, Phili etc.) had offers on the table NO LESS then $7.5 million per year. In contrast, Vancouver is going to lose zero roster players from this signing and what do the Sedins, Ohlund, Edler and Sundin all have in common? Swedish roots. It should also be noted that the deal is only for ONE year and not the original two-year deal that Vancouver offered at the beginning of the year and its $10 million PRO RATED deal, which means (minus the games hes missed) it works out to about $5.6 million-ish.

The 'Nucks – Wow. They have a top-six of Sundin, D. Sedin, H. Sedin, Demitra, Wellwood and Kesler not to mention Pyatt, Burrows, Bernier and young star Mason Raymond. That's a pretty deep line-up for a team that is already tied for the division lead. Personally, how could this not make them the favorites for the Northwest title? The Canucks have always found trouble trying to find a true center to play with the Sedins and Sundin seems like a perfect fit; although, its reported Sundin will play with Wellwood and Raymond on the 2^nd line. Vancouver is already 9^th in the league in goals-per-game with 3.03 and have a total of 97. If Sundin had been with them all year long and had, let's say 10 goals, they would have been 2^nd only to San Jose's 110. Earlier on TSN, Darren Dreger stated that 'for a team to be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender they need: a #1 goalie, a Norris-trophy-type candidate dman, and a pure scorer. Well, we all know about Luongo, the 'nucks don't have a true Norris candidate, but they do have a solid core (Ohlund, Salo, Edler, Bieksa, Mitchell) and of course, now Sundin. It seems like Vancouver has quickly gone from under-the-radar to the immediate fore-front.

On a side note, there is also speculation that Vancouver has enough cap room (once the Sundin deal is complete) to add ANOTHER top-six forward before the trade deadline. Oh my.

On a down note for the club, they will have several top UFAs this off-season including: the Sedins, Mats & Ohlund with Luongo, Demitra & Kesler as UFAs the following season. This all leads me to believe that Vancouver only has a one or two year window to make a cup run.

Oilers – Yikes. It just seems like every team in the Northwest has been gearing up and bolstering their rosters, except the Oilers. Kipper, Iginla & Phaneuf all re-signed in Calgary, Sakic was brought back to play with Stastney and Wolski in Colorado, Minnesota has locked up young talent Mikko Koivu, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Brent Burns for the next three years and will surely re-up for Backstrom in goal, Vancouver has brought in Luongo, Demitra and now Sundin for a Stanley Cup run, but what has Edmonton done? We brought in Pronger, Peca and Spacek for our playoff run, but none are with the team now. Penner, Cole and Garon have all been disappointing signings and, frankly, just not the same talent-level as the other big names in the Northwest.

Honestly, I'm just finding it tough to be optimistic in Oil Country. We watch our arch-rivals lock-up franchise players Iginla and Kipper long-term while we trade ours away. Now, I know Smyth isn't in the same talent level as those two, but where is our stability? Ovechkin, 13 years. Lundqvist, 6 years. Heatley, 6 years. Spezza, 7 years. Lecavalier, 12 years. Malkin, 5 years. Gomez, 6 years. Kopitar, 8 years. Stastney, 6 years. Staal, 8 years. Horcoff is our big prize 'till 2015 at around $5million per-year average. Shawn is a good 2-way player, but clearly not in the class of the elite locked-up, so then ill ask... Why isn't our franchise/long-term player at that level? Obviously, that's a discussion for another day. But where is the light at the end of the tunnel? Where is our savior? Where is our big signing or trade? Gaborik, Gionta, Havlat, Antropov, Bouwmeester, a pair of Wings (Hossa, Zetterberg) and a quartet of Habs (Lang, Kovalev, Koivu, Tanguay) are all UFA's come July 1^st and I'd like to see at least one, if not two, of those names in copper and blue for 09/10.

Cheers.
-Smith

Oiler Thoughts

Ok, I didn't watch the entire Canucks game, actually I didn't even make it past the first period, so I have no idea how the game played out or if the Oilers actually did play well or not; however, I did catch the highlights and they showed two key plays that stood out to me as bonehead...

1 - Steve Staios pushes D. Sedin into Roli, the puck trickles into the night, 1-0 Canucks. Are you stupid? How many times have we seen this? A dman, attempting to do his job, but does it horribly and costs his team on the scoreboard. Such a silly play... Why would you push the forward into your own netminder? The forward isn't going to get the interference call, but the dman might get a roughing call! Just watching the highlight made me sick to my stomach as to what is wrong with the Oilers, a total lack in judgment. Bonehead.

2 - Sam Gagner gets just ridiculously demolished by Bieksa, Moreau comes in and picks up a 2-minute penalty. Again, lack in judgment. You're down 3-0 and giving Vancouver a PP isn't the best idea now is it? But what I thought was hilarious about this play is that, I understand Moreau is just doing his captain duties and sticking up for a teammates, but for goodness-sake don't fall flat on your ass and look like you need a wheelchair! What a goober. Seriously. Someone teach this guy how to stand up on skates! It's also not the first time Moreau has looked like an idiot during a fight (anyone remember what happened to him in Detroit)! So, to sum up that entire sequence... Gagner gets laid out, Moreau looks likes a clown and Vancouver picks up the man-advantage. Again, lack in judgment. Bonehead.

I don't mean to add onto the Oiler bashing that usually is reserved for my Monday Morning Recap, but I just thought I would point out two glaring mistakes by verteran players, who have possibly worn out their welcome.

On another side note, why did Garon start against Chicago? He didn't deserve it. Now, hindsight is 20-20, but surely Roli would have done better then a 9-2 shalacking. And, I'm not sure I buy the whole 'there's nothing he could have done on three of those goals' argument. Tips, deflections & screens are all part of the game and have been Garon's entire hockey career, and guess what, they happen even more often in the NHL then junior; maybe it's his lack of relexes, or his confidence or his in-ability to make that key save, whatever it is, Garon just isn't playing at an NHL level.

I've heard that MacT wanted to 'save Roli' for the Vancouver game, but why? He's been playing hockey his entire life, do you honestly think playing back-to-back games is really going to hinder his performance? I sure don't. If it does, then I'd say he's in the wrong business. Look at the elite goalies in the league: Brodeur, Nabokov, Lundqvist, Kipper, Luongo, heck even Backstrom, do you think they would only play one game? Of course not. That's why they are elite. If Roli can't even play (let alone win) back-to-back games, then what does that say about him? I'll let you make your own judgment.

And to top it all off, after all the other negative things we could touch on: the loses, the inconsistency, ALL bonehead plays... They sit only 2 points out of a playoff spot. Oh, us Oiler fans just gotta love the wild wild west.

Cheers.

-Smith

Monday Morning Recap

So, I think it's safe to say that three comedians have shaped all of our lives: Dane Cook, Russel Peters and Justin Timberlake impersonating Ashton Kutcher. I can't help but show the video of him mocking the tv show Punk'd, its just so damn priceless: 'I'll do anything... I'll touch your wiener', 'we switched out your birth-control pills!' and 'oh man, IT'S A DOUBLE PUNK!'. I hadn't seen the clip in at least a year, but wow, I had tears in my eyes watching it over and over again. It's a classic...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FcXsfnfh6M&feature=PlayLi
st&p=9F42BAA641BFE18B&playnext=1&index=9

On to my NHL thoughts for the week..

1 a – Daily Oiler Bashing – Well, it's the same old Oilers: impressive win on the road against San Jose, embarrassing lose at home to Florida, impressive win against division rival Vancouver. When will the real Oilers show their face, or is this what the real Oilers are?

1 b – I think the Oilers moved one step closer to a #1 goalie. Roli stood on his head in SJ, Garon took the lose to Florida, then Roli picks up another win against the Canucks. As much as we all want Roli to be traded for some immediate help, is Garon (at this time) really the man we want between the pipes to make a deep playoff run? I don't think so...

1 c – Sporer, Hemsky is a good player, but not great and definitely not a 'superstar'. Not yet anyways. Even if he hits 85+ points this year, one season does not define someone as a superstar (Cheechoo as proof). I have no problem in saying Hemsky has all the tools to make a great player, but he needs to put them to good use on a consistent basis in order to be recognized as one.

1 d – The rest of December features the Oilers playing only one team under .500, the Sens (still an explosive team). The majority of their games are at home, but they need to start beating teams ahead of them in the standings on a consistent basis if they wish to be considered a contender rather then a pretender.

2 – Let's get it out of the way, Avery will not be back with Dallas. With Dallas being my team, I'm still unbiased as to the decision. Either way, Dallas has more problems on the ice (Turco, common buddy) then just Avery.

2 b – Despite Hull being the driving force to sign Avery, it definitely should NOT cost him his job. Les Jackson still has to give his OK, and Hicks is the one signing the contracts and cheques and ultimately has the final say. Regardless, if every GM that made a bad signing and was fired for it, the NHL would be in desperate need of some GMs immediately.

3 a – The LA Kings are going to have a ridiculous defensive core in the very near future: Doughty leads all rookies in ice-time, Thomas Hickey is a virtual lock for the World Jr team and Jack Johnson (when healthy) is an absolute stud. Throw in Kyle Quincy (23 years old) and the Kings will be a force to be taken seriously for the next decade.

3 b – Also with with Kings, they are in the top 10 in both PP (10th) and PK (9th) categories. Who would'a thunk it...

4 – You wanna know a stat that separates the elite from everyone else? Detroit (5-5), Pittsburgh (7-7) and San Jose (3-3) are all .500 when TRAILING after 2 periods! Talk about determination. It's games like those that really test the team's skill and character. In comparison, the next closest team is the Colorado (4-8-1) at .308. Edmonton (1-10) is .091 at 24^th.

5 a – The NYI are actually the best in the NHL at something! And it's truly a positive stat! They lead the NHL with 525 blocked shots! It's too bad they lost Dipietro for such a long time, Weight and Guerin are having bounce back years and I really feel like they would be right in the middle of the playoff hunt had Rick been healthy.

5 b – I still think Dipietro's deal is a steal. 4.5 million bucks for a top 10 goalie, over 15 years?! The deal goes until he is 39, which is a deep age to be paying 4.5 million too; however, signing a goalie for that amount for his entire prime year is a steal. I agree he hasn't put up the numbers to set him into the elite goalie category, but he has plenty of time left to establish himself... And let's be honest, he plays on Long Island; if he were anywhere else, I think he might have a cup already.

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

1 a – Colts for life. They became the 1^st team in NFL history to have 5 consecutive years with a 7-game win streak, that ridiculous. In comparison, the Detroit Lions have only had 3 7-game winning streaks in the last 75 years!!! New England, NYJ and Miami all won again and all moved to 9-5; however, the NYJ hold all tie-breakers and Miami is next in line, which means, New England could miss the playoffs with a 10-win season. How does that sound Sporer? Sounds like music to my ears. Fuckpalface.

1 b – The Colts have only allowed 5 touchdowns through the air this season. That's a scary good defense to go with an already scary good offense. If they get the #5 seed, they will travel to Mile High and play the Broncos who are the only playoff team to allow more points then they score. Easy pickin's.

1 c – Staying with the NFL, Tennessee and the NYG have gone from the most dominant teams this season, to the most vulnerable. They have both gone 2-2 in their last 4 games and have been replaced as favorites by Pittsburgh and Carolina.

1 d – Again with the NFL, remember when we all thought that 3 out of the 4 teams from the NFC East (Washington, NYG, Dallas, Philadelphia) would make the playoffs? NYG are 11-3 and are a lock, but 9-5 Dallas, 7-5-1 Philadelphia and 7-7 Washington are all on the outside looking in. Oh, how the mighty have fallen...

2 a – Duke (8-1) is ranked #7 in the AP polls, while Notre Dame (7-2) can be found at #12. How does the humiliation feel, Drew?

2 b – Also in college sports, seriously, does the BCS committee hate everyone? Why don't they have a playoff format? The bowl championship series is just like my co-blogger Sporer... flaming. How can Notre Dame (6-6) get into a bowl game?! How can their honestly be 34 bowl games?! That's 68 out of 119 eligible teams qualifying for bowls. How ridiculous is that? They should really just give the BCS trophy to USC, it's like death and taxes... inevitable.

3 – The evil empire has struck again. The Yankees landed the two biggest starting pitching names of this year's free agent class: C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. The Yanks are also in the hunt for Ben Sheets. Could you imagine those three plus Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes, like one writer stated, 'that would be a pretty powerful statement'. It also appears like they are track to add 1B Mark Teixeira to replace steroid monkey, Jason Giambi. Looks like another lost year for the Blue Jays and the rest of the AL.

4 a – I'm in Fort Mac, and I'm craving some tacos and what do I find out??? THE TACO TIME IS F*CKING CLOSED! I hope the mayor of this God-forsaken city finds a big turd in his septic tank the next time he flushes his toilet.

4 b – I had to settle for Kokanee and a Kit-Kat, not a bad substitute.

5 a – We have a new weekly blogger. Lets assume he can keep up with the awesomeness that is 'Smith & Sporer' with his 'Potato Sack' column or I just might have to 'Crotch Sack' him.

5 b - In honor of our new blogger, and his wanting of more hot girls in hot pictures, I created a montage of current athlete's girlfriends. Enjoy responsibly.

Cheers.
-Smith

p.s. clockwise from the top left is Adriana Lima (Marko Jaric), Kim Kardashian (Reggie Bush), Jessica Simpson (Tony Romo) and Gisele Bundchen (Tom Brady).