Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Frustration in Canuck Nation

Well, you've got your answer to the question "Deal or No Deal?" Canucks' fans. With all due respect to the Matt exchange (Cooke for Pettinger), Vancouver basically stood pat on trade deadline day and that isn't sitting well with most in the lower mainland.

But make no mistake; this is not an isolated incident. The lack of a deal to land a significant upgrade to the Canucks' offense on deadline day is simply the culmination of nine months of waiting for such an announcement. Dave Nonis made it perfectly clear after seeing his club get downed by the Ducks' last spring that three elements were lacking: grit, speed and scoring. Byron Ritchie, Brad Isbister (to a lesser extent) and Aaron Miller upped the sandpaper quotient, while Ryan Shannon and Mason Raymond have increased the team's speed. But nothing was done to address the need for secondary scoring.

That's not to say that Nonis didn't make an effort to do so. He went so far as to knock on Peter Forsberg's door in Sweden as early as last July, and I have no doubt that he tried to acquire both Brad Richards and Olli Jokinen. Unfortunately, none of those efforts yielded the scoring that the Canucks need to give them a legitimate shot at a deep playoff run. Stranger things have happened (like Anaheim and Minnesota in the 2003 Conference Final), but the cards are stacked against the Canucks in the West right now. Should Vancouver contend for a Cup in a year, this will all look like part of the master plan. But based on what last year's team did in getting to the 2nd round, this year's squad deserved a better chance to go further.

Other stuff I don't quite get:

1) Is a 2nd round pick really the best that the Habs could get for Cristobal Huet? Considering the Leafs picked up a 2nd & a 5th rounder for Hal Gill, Bob Gainey and company appear to have been shortchanged by the Capitals. That deal makes the least sense to me out of any that were made at the deadline.

2) Why are people asking the players and the NHLPA to limit no-trade clauses in contracts? And wasn't it also the owners and GMs crying about the big $$ being handed out to players during the NHL lockout? So what do these teams do immediately after the work stoppage - they hand out long-term deals for massive amounts and throw in a few no-trade clauses for good measure. Last time I checked, GMs are also involved in the negotiation process. To quote Brian Burke, "maybe we should just say no [to a few of these conditions] instead of asking a bunch of lawyers in New York to fix things for us". I don't agree with everything you say Burkie, but amen.

3) Is Jason Jimenez suspended or not? I know that we are in the middle of the CFL's off-season, but how big of a joke is it that a ruling has not been made on a guy who committed a transgression last November? Not that there's a game any time soon, but it's this type of foot-dragging on logical issues that gives non-CFL fans another reason to dub it a "bush league". I love the product and admire the skill of the players, but the management of the league drives me insane sometimes.

Final Point: If the Richard Zednik incident made your stomach turn, don't go renting Eastern Promises anytime soon. Great movie that was worthy of the praise it received at the Oscars, but the Russian mob handles their "business" in a very similar manner to the way in which Zednik was nearly fatally wounded.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Back In the Saddle

All right... I've been downright negligent with this blog over the last two months, but that all stops now. Here's what's been happenin'. December was, well, December. Holidays, family, skiing and all the great indulging in good food and drink just like the rest of you.

January, on the other hand, was all over the map. Bmac and I took the show on the road to Mazatlan for a week. Good times were had by all and it looks like we're doing another Mexico trip next year (get your tickets NOW!). Upon my return, I had the first surgery of my life when I had arthroscopy on my right knee. No big deal, just a bit of torn meniscus, but it's pretty cool watching your own surgery. I elected to take a local anesthetic instead of a general, so that I could watch all the slicin' and dicin'. Bottom line, I'm back running again and feelin' good, so here's what's on my mind these days.

Canucks
Call me a homer if you want, but I still think this group makes the playoffs. The resolve I've seen from Markus Naslund to Alex Burrows in the past week makes me think they'll play hard enough to earn the requisite amount of points prior to getting healthy. Once they get a few bodies back, this team makes the post-season cut with Roberto Luongo being the biggest reason.

Shaq
So many people are ripping the Suns decision to trade Shawn Marion and Markus Banks for the Big Diesel. Two things: 1) Marion is extremely talented in every area of the game (despite his grade 3-looking shooting stroke), but he wasn't happy in Phoenix anymore; and 2) the Suns have tried to win in the playoffs without a true center for three straight years and it hasn't worked. Unfortunately, this year wasn't going to be any different. Shaq might not end up being the answer, but kudos to Steve Kerr and Mike D'Antoni for getting a guy that can defend the big-time big men in the West.
footnote
: Shaq apparently told Steve Nash, "I won't let you down." He's a tough man to beat when he's motivated.

Roger Clemens
Think he's more pissed at Brian McNamee or Andy Pettite for opening their respective mouths? The Rocket can deny, deny, deny all he wants, but if this "evidence" that McNamee has turned over has any credibility whatsoever, he's in trouble with way more people than the Baseball Writers of America. A spot on the doorstep to Cooperstown sounds a lot more comfortable than one in a jail cell with an angry man named Tito. But Pettite's decision to come clean after he'd been called out for using HGH hurts Clemens as much as anything. Are we to believe that McNamee was telling the truth about one former pinstriper but not the other? What could he possibly have to gain by doing that? Innocent until proven guilty, but my gut tells me that Clemens is paddling against a pretty strong current.

Hugh Hefner
He's 81. His playmate girlfriend is 28. They are trying extremely hard to have a baby and telling anyone who'll listen. God bless America. Is there anyone out there that believes Hef actually wants another kid (he's got 4 already)? I'm thinking this has a whole lot more to do with the trying than the baby itself.

That's all for now, but as always, feel free to drop me a line with your 2 cents.