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Why Stever Bernier?
If I have one question for Darcy about yesterdays trades is this...Why did you have to give up Steve Bernier? Is Max really that worthless? We could have used Bernier's toughness and goal scoring touch on the front line. He's young and has a lot of room to grow still.
So, is giving up Steve Bernier, two second round picks and a third rounder too much for Rivet? You could have given up a lot less for a 35 year old defenseman with a lot of mileage under his belt. Im not saying Rivet wasn't worth picking up, but the round about way it took to get him, you could have gotten without giving up the former first rounder in Bernier and two second rounders. Essentially, the assets gotten for the Brian Campbell trade are gone.
I think they could have tried at least to move Max to Vancouver instead of Bernier. Darcy seems to think that Max will return to form....Honestly Im sick of his form, Id rather have Bernier who adds toughness with the scoring touch.
Anything short of a 30-40 goal seaon from Max this year will be disappointing with all the talk Darcy has been doing in the paper and through interviews about Max and his return to form. Stick him with Roy and Vanek and he better perform.
Stever Bernier to me was never given half a chance, the day he came to Buffalo he played with Roy and Vanek and had a goal and two assists with some big hits, the rest of the season he was on the third or fourth line, how is a guy supposed to produce playing with Adam Mair? No knock against Mair but he can't score and nobody playing with him can either.
So, we can compare Max and Bernier this coming season because Vancouver is planning on using him as a top six forward, I am predicting a breakout year for Bernier, 30-40 goals. Go ahead, laugh it up, he had 16 in 07-08, on the 1st or 2nd line in Vancouver with his speed, size and hands, easy 30, go ahead and make him a sleeper pick in your fantasy drafts, Im staying a mile away from Max.
Craig Rivet Comes To Buffalo
We are familiar in Buffalo with Craig Rivet from his time in Montreal. Last season he was with San Jose. The guy is 35 years old and tough as nails on the blueline. Finally someone who can knocks someones head off in front of the net. He was also an assistant captain with San Jose so Darcy addressed the leadership and defense issues with one move.
This is a little of his toughness courtesy of Youtube:
OUCH!!!!!
Okay, I have worked as a physical therapist for the better part of the last 7-8 years now and I honestly can say I have never seen nor heard of this injury but DAMN it had to have hurt.
Chris Snyder was put on the 15 day DL the other day by the Arizona Diamondbacks with a "Testicular Fracture".
Now what the hell is a testicular fracture? I mean the testicle is not a bone here, so you can not technically fracture a testicle. Apparently it was caused by a foul tip that went off his testicle and caused what is known as testicular rupture or fractured testis.
Officially this is a rip or tear in the tunica albuginea which causes the testicular contents to be extruded. With this comes what anyone would expect, pain (no kidding?), scrotal swelling (of course), nausea and vomitting (hell yes).
Treatment can include surgical "exploration" (again not something I want to hear when I get hit in the nads, we are going to perform surgical exploration? YIKES) and repair of the defect.
Okay, remember kids, wear your cups and protective gear when playing sports that involve hard objects like baseballs and hockey pucks.
We have all learned something new and painful today. Luckily for Chris Snyder, he doesn't require "surgical exploration" and he should be back after the All Star Break.
Category: Sports
Back Off The Sabres
Im listening to Schopp and the Bulldog on WGR 550 and I want to turn it off because of the negativity of the fans of this team. How can anyone criticize this hockey team or its management?
Plain and simple, this team spent to the salary cap two years in a row following the lockout, so calling them cheap is a joke. Last year, they had two centers who they could have signed. They could have but then you would have lost Thomas Vanek and you would have been looking at not being to lock up Derek Roy long term because you would have had Briere or Drury eating up that money.
If anything last year I fault this team for signing guys like Numminen and Andrew Peters and not going out and finding a defenseman who was younger and ready to play. But these other squabbles over how this team has been mismanaged is a joke.
I would rather have Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy over Daniel Briere and Chris Drury any day of the week if for any other reason than the fact that Vanek and Roy have more productive years ahead of them that either of our former two co-captains.
Brian Campbell's contract even at $5 million a year like he would have taken last year would have taken them over the cap. There is no way this team was going to spend the $56 million it took for Chicago to sign him either.
So going into this season if no moves are made I feel pretty good about this team. They have a ton of depth at forward which someone like Max, Kotalik or Connelly could easily be traded off for defensive help. What other team could say they have 15 NHL caliber forwards (thats five lines worth) ready to go?
Drew Stafford and some of the youth on this team last year should be much better than last year with some playing time under their belt and their young stud defensemen Mike Weber and Andrej Sekera will be better as well.
This is not a dying team. They are a young team and a deep team. Remember, even if they don't go out and sign a defenseman in free agency they can still try Michael Funk, Nathan Paetsch or Marc-Andre Gragnani. They have had incredible success pluging young guys in and getting immediate results.
Their problem isn't management, their problem is they are young. But with the long term committment to Paul Gaustad, hopefully, they signed their new permanent captain who can lead the way. Cut out the negativity and chill out and give this team a chance.
Another Monster Contract
Brian Campbell gets over $56 million over 8 years averaging out to $7.1 million a season. Is he the best defenseman in hockey? I don't think so. He has a middle of the road season and now he joins a talented Chicago group that will probably inflate his numbers and make it look like he deserves the money.
Look, if you are going to pay $56 million to a guy, and again Im not dissing Brian Campbell but geez, his 62 points ranked him 4th in the league in points amongst defensemen and he was a plus 8. Good numbers, but the contract again speaks to how this league is going off the deepend again.
Mark my words, if the contracts keep coming like this, expect another lockout.
Category: Sports
The Doc Watch
Im just following up on my answer to the "Joba Watch" because Toronto Blue Jay fans only watch quality players.. Last night the Doc Watch was in full gear. Another complete game and a shutout. So officially for the season, Doc has 6 complete games and 1 shutout. We are not quite to the halfway point just yet are we?
We have to be talking double digit complete games this year. He looked absolutely methodical out there last night and absolutely mowed them down in Seattle.
Category: Sports
Very Rich Sundin
Im not trying to take anything away from the career that the soon to be former Leaf captain has had, but the contract that he is about to reportedly sign is just stone cold nuts.
What is Vancouver smoking and if its legal there, Im moving to Vancouver.
Close to $20 million over two years? Thats close to $10 million a year. Over the money that Sidney Crosby got who is arguably the best player in the game. Crosby makes around $9 million and is probably worth every penny.
Mats though, is he really worth that kind of dough at 37 years old? 39 years old at the end of the contract? This league is going right down the path they were going down before the lockout. Where is this kind of money coming from?
I understand the Canadian teams are making bundles now that the Canadian and US dollars are on par for the most part but come on, the league isn't making that much to justify these contracts. But hey, who am I to criticize Vancouver, I hope it works out for ya, and when it doesn't you'll be struggling for the next two years with that thing the league calls a SALARY CAP.
Category: Sports
Welcome To Buffalo Patrick Lalime
Patrick Lalime just signed on to be the back up goalie in Buffalo for the next 2 years at $1 million per season. Lalime is 35 and last year played in 32 games for the Chicago Blackhawks.
I hope hes ready to play a lot less. The only way he plays more than 20 games is if Ryan Miller is hurt. Lalime should be a major upgrade at backup over Jocelyn Thibault and should provide that capability to play more games if needed.
As last season went on the Sabres couldn't even trust to put Thibault in, they should be able to trust Lalime 100 times more than Thibault. Thibault only had three wins last year, so anything better than that would be welcome.
Gaustad Back for 4 More
Paul Gaustad is back signed for 4 years today by the Buffalo Sabres. What a difference a year makes, this is another in a line of solid moves the club this offseason and next on the list is Ryan Miller.
Gaustad isn't a first or second line center, but he is a heart and soul kind of guy, one that plays fearless and will anchor their third and fourth lines for the next four years. He has 15-25 goal potential and can drop the gloves if needed.
A brilliant move especially if they want to keep any sort of toughness in the lineup. Gaustad was one of the key guys they had to sign, the other two now are Miller and Pomenville. Keep up the good work Darcy.
Left Hander In Rotation?
John Parrish made his first start of the season. He went 6 innings allowing 1 earned run and walked only 2 in 4 hit performance. For a guy who has had control issues in the past, not half bad. He is a lefty and with Shaun Marcum out for at least one more start, Parrish will get another crack at a start before the All Star Break.
Here is my thought, if he pitches even reasonably well in his next start and of all things wins again to go 2-0, does the thought cross anyones mind to go ahead and trade AJ Burnett?
Im not by any means writing this team off on the season. the last week or so the bats have been going, the pitching has remained good and is what it has been all season, with consistency in the hitting as they have had recently, any pitcher has a chance to win a game. But Parrish may be getting a trial run here by injury. Burnett has been .500 this season and you could throw a lefty in there for a change of pace during series. If he goes .500 we expect it, AJ is getting paid $11 million a season to be a 15-20 game winner, something he has not been.
I know Parrish has had limited success at the major league level and hes a 31 year old minor league journeyman but he is 10-1 this year at Syracuse of the International League and has been begging for a call up all year. Left handers always seem to mature later in their career anyway. Why not. Just don't trade Burnett to anyone in the division like the Yankees and maybe this could be a possibility flying through JP's cavernous mind.
It would be nice to have a lefty in the rotation who would no doubt make the other four righties all the more effective. If it comes at AJ's expense so be it, he wants a trade anyway. That and trading AJ may actually get you something usable from a contender who is desparate enough for an arm. Again, Im not saying that you write off the season, Im just saying you could get out of Parrish what you are getting now out of Burnett and still do reasonably well and maybe get something for Burnett that is usable, the old addition by subtraction line of thinking.
If anything, the Jays can reinvest Burnett's and Frank the Tank's money in a high quality free agent left hander.
Category: Sports
