Saturday 22 November 2014

Not Saluting the Fans: Bad Timing or a "Screw You"?


On Thursday, the Toronto Maple Leafs snapped a three-game slide by defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2. The previous two games saw the Leafs lose by a combined score of 15-4, losing 6-2 to Buffalo, and a somehow even more embarrassing 9-2 loss to the Nashville Predators. Following those losses everything came under the microscope in Leafs nation: the coach, the GM, the leadership, and the core players. The 9-2 loss was a home game, which meant more jerseys thrown on the ice. A trend this season for Leafs fans. I've already shared my opinion on jersey tossing.

Now the news following the Leafs win over the Lightning was not that they won, it was what they didn't do that made headlines: salute the fans. After every home win this season, the Leafs have been saluting the crowd. To be honest, I was at Thursday's game and it didn't even register with me that they didn't do the salute. So at first, when I realized it, I didn't take it as a snub, I just thought it was interesting that they would decide to do that after the last two embarrassments of games, but I just chalked it up to bad timing. But then I saw this Mark Masters report and I got angry.

"For us as athletes...whenever we can change something up and try to change routine, if it works for us, then that's something we're going to stick to," Captain Dion Phaneuf explains.

Then someone, who I assume is a reporter, asks Phaneuf "how does this help?" Phaneuf cannot answer and abruptly ends the interview after the reporter presses him a couple more times on the issue. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Captain of Leafs Nation!

How does saluting the crowd affect how you play in a game? You salute the crowd after the game after you've won! It sounds to me like the players are, for lack of a better word, punishing the fans for tossing jerseys. Of course, this is all speculation.

On Thursday, the Leafs played one of their best games this season. They came out strong, and they played a solid 60 minutes. The Leafs really competed, and they showed the fans what they're capable of against a strong Tampa Bay Lightning team. And you know what? That was one of the best mid-week crowds at the ACC that I've ever been a part of! The crowd backed their team 100%.

We can't say for sure whether the Leafs decided to not salute the crowd because fans tossed their jerseys, all we're doing is speculating. But common sense dictates that if you're going to make a decision like that, you probably shouldn't implement it after your first win after a 9-2 loss.

TSN's Bob McKenzie tweeted out this morning something that sums up this whole situation perfectly:




If the team really did just want to change their routine for whatever reason, fine, I don't really care about the salute that much. But if you're doing it to send a message to fans because they tossed jerseys, then all you're doing is angering an already pissed off fan base. Why should fans respect an organization where the players don't respect the fans?

Wednesday 22 October 2014

Looking at the Bigger Picture: Life is Bigger than the Game



In the totem pole of journalism, sports ranks fairly low in importance. Let me explain why I chose the route of sports journalism. I'll be honest, I find news depressing. Everyday there are murders, defecits, scandals, etc. I just couldn't find myself immersed in that world every day. Whenever I needed an escape, I would turn to sports, it's a great distraction. That's why I decided to follow this path, to give people an escape when they need it.

But then there are times like this morning where a gunman or gunmen shot in three different locations in Ottawa, including killing a soldier. It's times like these that out things into perspective.

During the Boston Marathon bombing, I was still just an intern at TSN and that was one day I will never forget. One of my fellow interns was subclipping the Boston marathon (which was on tape delay), when our producer told him to "look out for explosions." Obviously, we were both confused, why would there be explosions? So we Googled "Boston Marathon explosions" and Twitter pictures popped up showing people with legs literally blown right off. After showing the producer, maybe about 30 seconds after, the whole back of the newsroom was taken over by feeds of CNN, CTV, CBC. That day SportsCentre looked more like CTV. Death and destruction should never lead a sports newscast, because sports is an escape from those terrible things.

All the journalism degrees in the world can't prepare you for something like what happened today. It's absolutely disgusting. Ottawa is a beautiful city, I have been there many times. I extend all my condolences to everyone effected in Ottawa right now. After all this is done, after everyone is detained I urge all Canadians to NOT change what they do day to day. Don't let those who incite fear win, keep going to those games, keep walking out on the streets at night.

The Ottawa Senators next home game is this Saturday against the New Jersey Devils. Everyone in Canada should be cheering for the Senators this weekend. When that national anthem starts, sing it loud and sing it proud! You've got a whole nation behind you.

Sunday 19 October 2014

Defending the Jersey Toss


The Leafs stumbled out of the gate this season with a pair of losses, then followed that up with a pair of wins, followed by another regulation loss and an overtime loss. For those of you keeping score, the Leafs currently sit 2-3-1. That's not a great start, it's not terrible, but it's not great either.

However, already fans are growing impatient, there has been two games where fans have thrown their displeasure by tossing their jerseys on the ice. We're only 6 games in.and fans are already growing restless.
The Leafs have shown flashes of a better team, but more often they have looked like the same team from last season.

Personally, I'm okay with the jersey toss. Now before you react, hear me out. There are a lot worse ways fans can show their displeasure, throwing a jersey on the ice, is a lot better than say, throwing beer on the ice, or waffles.As long as it's thrown during a stoppage in play (and when the Leafs are actually losing badly), it's fine. Now normally I'd agree, 5 games into the season is way too early to start giving up on the team, but the greatest argument I heard for this came from Late Night Game Night on TSN 1050: some Leafs fans don't see it as game 5, but rather they see it as a continuation of the previous season and they're fed up.

It seems that way, Carlyle is still coach, Nonis is still GM, and other than a few depth players, this is the same Leafs team from last season. Fans of most other teams can show their displeasure by not showing up, but let's face it, that's never going to happen in Toronto. For every person that boycotts going to the games, there are at least 1000 people who would gladly go to the game in your place.

With all the being said, there is one thing I do worry about: that this will become too habitual. It's happened twice in 4 home games already, it doesn't need to happen EVERY game the Leafs lose, and it especially does not need to happen if the Leafs are only down 3-2 with 5 minutes to go in the 3rd. With the massive popularity of the Blue and White this is one of the few ways fans can show their displeasure, and it's very visible.

Monday 6 October 2014

Who Should Captain the NHL's Captainless Teams?




The NHL pre-season has come and gone. Fans got to see some of the talent their teams have in their feeder systems. Going into the pre-season, 7 teams were without captains but Ottawa named Erik Karlsson captain and Florida named Willie Mitchell their captain.

No team has ever won a Cup without a Captain (although the New York Rangers came close last season, which led to an interesting situation when they were awarded Prince of Wales trophy. Five teams are still without Captains this season: Buffalo, Columbus, Montreal, New York Rangers, and San Jose, let's take a look at the 2 or 3 best candidates for each team.

Buffalo Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres are undergoing a rebuild right now and there's a very small chance of them even making the playoffs. Some are even saying the Sabres are purposely tanking to have a chance at drafting Connor McDavid. However, for the purposes of this blog, let's take a look at potential Sabres Captains:

Drew Stafford



Stafford is the longest tenured member of the Sabres, he was drafted by the team 13th overall in 2004 and has only played in the Sabres organisation. Because of this, Stafford actually has some playoff experience: 20 games. Stafford was on this team when they were more successful and knows what it takes to win. With over 500 NHL games under his belt, Stafford would be a great mentor to a team that is filled with players 26 and younger.


Brian Gionta


After Montreal didn't extend Gionta's contract, he signed a three-year deal with the Sabres. Now, I know teams don't often name players they just signed captain (although Edmonton did it last year), but Gionta is coming off being captain with the Montreal Canadiens. Even though he's 35 years old, he can still be dependable to get you 40-50 points in a season, if he stays healthy.


Tyler Myers



Tyler Myers won the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year in 2010, but he hasn't been able to live up to the hype, It's tough to tell whether Myers will never live up to that hype, or if it's just because of the Sabres have been getting worse. That being said, once the Sabres are a competitive team again, look for Myers to be in the thick of things. At 24, he's a little young, but that means he hasn't reached his prime yet. If he can get back to his Calder form, he would be a solid leader for this club.


Columbus Blue Jackets


The Blue Jackets have been without a captain since they traded Rick Nash to the New York Rangers in 2012 after going 29-46-7 in 2011-2012. However, two seasons after the trade, the Jackets made the playoffs for only the 2nd time in franchise history and won their first ever playoff game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Things look bright for the Blue Jackets' future and maybe it's time they had a captain leading the way.

Jack Johnson


Jack Johnson was acquired by the Blue Jackets from the LA Kings in 2012 for Jeff Carter. That season, the Kings went on to win their first Cup. After Nash was traded, Johnson was considered to be one of the leaders on the team, he wore the 'A' that season, and continues to do so. Out of any players on the Blue Jackets, Johnson probably has the best shot at being Nash's successor.

Nick Foligno 


Nick Foligno was traded to Columbus from the Ottawa Senators for Mike Methot. Foligno was an RFA at the time of being acquired by Columbus. They signed him to a three-year extension. Foligno has previous playoff experience with the Ottawa Senators, which would make him a good leader for this club. He also scored the overtime winner in Game 4 of the 2014 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Penguins to give the Blue Jackets their 1st home playoff win. However, barring some chance Johnson doesn't get named captain, it's unlikely Foligno will be given the 'C'.


Montreal Canadiens

After Montreal didn't re-sign Brian Gionta, they found themselves without a captain. Fans had it narrowed down to 4 candidates. Evidently, so did the Habs, they just couldn't decide which one to name captain, so they named all 4 alternate captains: Andrei Markov, P.K. Subban, Max Pacioretty, and Tomas Plekanec. As much as I'm a Leafs fan, I applaud the Habs for this move. A team as historic as Montreal shouldn't just name a Captain for the sake of naming one. Go one year without one, and see who steps up as a leader. Before we see who steps up. let's take a look at these four and see who would make the best Captain.

Andrei Markov



Markov is entering his 14th season with the bleu, blanc, et rouge. He has spent his whole career in Montreal. That longevity alone makes him a great candidate for Captain. He's not the most gifted goal scorer, he's never reached the 20-goal plateau, but with 344 career assists, he definitely helps out on goals. He has been with Montreal for both of their runs to the conference finals since they last won the Cup. He has 71 career playoff games under his belt, he knows what it takes for success.

P.K. Subban




Subban is the type of defenseman you hate to play against. He can deliver big hits and he can score, he's deadly on the powerplay from the point. Subban won the Norris trophy in 2013, becoming the 1st Hab to win the award since Chris Chelios did in 1989, the same year Subban was born. Subban hasn't even reached his prime yet. Although his defensive play can sometimes be a little suspect, he can let his emotions get the better of him, he is maturing and it is clear that Subban will be a defensive force in this league for many years to come. It's not a matter of will Subban be captain, it's a matter of when.

Max Pacioretty




Pacioretty has been an offensive force for the Habs in the past couple of seasons. He was 4th in goal scoring last season with 39 and he's done it quietly. He leads by example on the team. However, goal scoring alone isn't enough to wear the 'C' in my opinion. If I had a say, I would pick Subban or Markov as Captain ahead of Pacioretty. That's not a knock on him by any means, he's a skilled player, he can lead his team in other ways, he doesn't need the 'C'.

Tomas Plekanec



Plekanec is another longtime Hab. He's only ever played for Montreal making his NHL debut during the 2003-2004 NHL season (he played 2 games). Plekanec has played over 600 games for Montreal collecting 439 points along the way. Unlike Markov, Plekanec has hit the 20-goal plateau, and has done so regularly with 7 career 20+ goal seasons. He also has 69 career playoff games where he has 42 points (14 goals, 28 assists). His longevity with the club and his experience in the post-season makes him a good candidate to be the next Habs Captain.

New York Rangers

After sending Ryan Callahan to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Martin St. Louis, the Rangers found themselves without a captain. However, that didn't stop them from surprising everyone by making it to the Stanley Cup Final. The Rangers have a lot of skilled guys on their team, and a lot of them are great candidates for captain, that might be why the team hasn't named a captain yet. Let's see who could become the Rangers' next captain.

Martin St. Louis


The story of how St. Louis ended up on the Rangers is a messy one. St. Louis demanded a trade out of Tampa, because Lightning GM Steve Yzerman, who was also GM of Canada's national team for the 2014 Olympics, left him off the roster (he was later added as an injury replacement for Steven Stamkos). St. Louis had a no trade clause and would only waive it for a trade to the Rangers. St. Louis would make a good captain because, he's a veteran, and at 39 years old, he's still putting up 60+ points and is just 19 shy of 1,000 career points. He has also won a Stanley Cup, where he was instrumental for the Lightning (potting 25 points in 24 games). Even though he hasn't been on this team for a full season yet, there's no doubt of his leadership abilities. 

Dan Girardi



 If you don't feel comfortable giving the 'C' to a guy who is new to them team, then Girardi is a good pick.He has been with the Rangers since 2006. Girardi originally signed with the Rangers AHL affiliate Hartford, as an undrafted free agent. He has played 569 games, as well as 89 career playoff games all with the Rangers. During the lockout shortened 2012-2013 season, the Rangers named Girardi one of the Alternate Captains. It's clear the team sees him as a leader already.

Henrik Lundqvist


Okay, hear me out. I know technically goalies aren't allowed to wear the 'C,' however they are allowed to be named captain in name, the Vancouver Canucks did it with Roberto Luongo. Most people don't think of goalies as a leader because...well...they can be insane. But Lundqvist is a different breed of goaltender. He's not insane, he's just go to be one of the coolest people ever. Why not add captain of an original six franchise to his resume? And his 2.26 career GAA can't hurt either. Seriously, New York, make this happen!

San Jose Sharks

After the Sharks blew a 3-0 series lead to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings, there was the feeling that something was going to happen in San Jose. They stripped Joe Thornton of his captaincy and took the 'As' off as well. The team wanted to head into training camp giving everyone a fresh slate and making anyone who wants to wear the letters earn it. So I'm going to restrict myself here: I'm going to see who would make the best captain on the team that isn't Joe Thornton (that would be too easy).

Logan Couture



Literally the first name I thought of when I think of non-Joe Thornton players on the Sharks (yes, even more so than Patrick Marleau. Spoiler alert: Marleau doesn't make this list). He's still young at 25, but he hasn't hit his prime yet, and is reliable for 50+ points a season. At only 25, he already has 56 career playoff games under his belt (18 goals, 18 assists). If the Sharks are looking to head in a different direction, Couture would be the logical choice for captain. He's the face of the next generation of talent on the Sharks.

Brent Burns



Burns is entering his 4th season with the Sharks. He plays defense and occasionally the wing. A guy who can be so versatile that he can play both defense and forward if needed would make a good leader. Not to mention his majestic beard. Last season he set a career high in points with 48 (22 goals, 26 assists). At 29, he's in his prime and the Sharks should take advantage of that, now would be a good time to hand him the 'C'. Plus, he has a majestic beard. Did I mention I like his beard?

Joe Pavelski




Pavelski has been with the Sharks for the past 8 seasons. In 561 career games with the Sharks he has 415 points. Along with his NHL experience, he has an Olympic silver medal from the 2010 Winter Games. He also had a career high 41 goals last season! He's at the tail end of his prime, but his experience would do wonders for the next wave of Sharks talent. I would not be shocked to see Pavelski wear the 'C' in the near future.

Wednesday 1 October 2014

The Blue Jays Post Mortem: Not as Bad as you Might Think



Another season has come and gone, and once again the Jays are left out of the postseason. After the Kansas City Royals clinched a berth into the wild card game, the Jays now have the longest active postseason drought. After the abysmal failure of the 2013 season, expectations were low for this club as it remained mostly unchanged this season. This season was full of ups and downs, let's take a look at the positives and negatives from this season.

The Good: The Young Guns


Throughout this season, the Blue Jays took advantage of the closeness of their Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo by calling up some young guys to fill holes in the lineup that were there due to injury (more on the injuries later).After Brandon Morrow was placed on the 60-Day DL, Stroman was called up. Stroman showed he could be a legitimate big league starter, he pitched two 9-inning games, one of which was a complete game shutout. Stroman was also used by Manager John Gibbons as a pinch-runner on multiple occasions.Not to mention, he was pretty damn good defensively too. I fully expect him to be part of the Jays starting rotation next season.



Mississauga, Ontario native Dalton Pompey also made his big league debut this season. After being a bench player for a few games, Pompey finally started games in the outfield, where he made some highlight reel catches. He also got his 1st career home run in a 10-2 drubbing of the Mariners. Pompey is a solid prospect, he'll either be with triple-A Buffalo next year or he could be taking Colby Rasmus' place, Rasmus probably won't be back next year.


Daniel Norris is another pitching prospect I'm excited about. On September 5th, Norris made his MLB debut. His first batter? David Ortiz. It didn't seem to phase him though. He made his 1st career start on September 25th, going 3.1 innings with 2 earned runs. In total he's only pitched 6.2 innings with the Jays, but I have liked what I've seen so far.

The Bad: Injuries


The Blue Jays had a multitude of injuries this year, like last year. Jose Reyes, Jose Bautista, Brett Lawrie, Melky Cabrera, Adam Lind, Edwin Encarnacion are all just a few of the players who missed time this season. Some can chalk it up to rotten luck, but I think some of it might have to do with the fact the Blue Jays are one of 2 teams that play on turf (the other being the Tampa Bay Rays). The turf is essentially running on carpet placed on concrete, it really can't be good for your legs. However, there are plans to add grass to the stadium by 2017 (look at the picture in the article, you can see turf is literally carpet on concrete). Injuries happen, that's just the way it is in sports, but it just seems to happen to the Jays more than any other team.

The Good: Melky Cabrera


Cabrera's first season in Toronto was a disaster. He had back problems that kept him out of the lineup (he only played in 88 games), and was batting a .279 with only 3 home runs. Well it turned out that Cabrera's back problems were the result of a benign tumour on his spine. He underwent surgery to have it removed. The result was a turnaround season for the "Melk Man." He batted a .301 with 16 HR and 73 RBIs, his 2nd best offensive career in both those categories. Melky showed that he is a capable player, even without steroids. Cabrera went from being hated by the fans to the fans demanding AA re-sign him (he is a free agent this offseason). Cabrera was an important part of this team's core this season, hopefully AA can re-sign him.

The Bad: No Moves at the Deadline



July 31st came and went, and the Blue Jays were the same team. No moves were made by Anthopoulos at the non-waiver trade deadline. Fans, and even Jose Bautista were not happy with the team's inactivity. Anthopoulos countered by saying teams were asking for too much. Whatever the reason, it was clear that something needed to be done because there were still some holes in this lineup. Other teams got deals done, how come the Blue Jays couldn't?


The Good: Dioner Navarro


One hole that was filled during the offseason was the role of catcher. After the Jays let J.P. Arencibia go, the Jays signed Navarro to take his place. Fans were excited when Arencibia made his debut, especially since his first career game was nothing short of absolutely amazing. However, after batting .194 and striking out 148 times, it was time for the Blue Jays to move on. Navarro on the other hand batted .274 this past season. Not an amazing batting average, but the timing of his hits is what impressed me the most, he had 69 RBIs this season. He also managed to steal 3 bases this season! Navarro has been a solid catcher for this club and has been a huge upgrade from Arencibia. He was one of my favourite players this season, and I hope to see him stay in Toronto for another few years.

The Bad: Team Was Streaky

The Blue Jays were an extremely streaky team this season. After a sub-.500 April (12-14), the Jays went 21-9 in May and found themselves 1st in the AL East. They remained in 1st until July 3rd, a total of 48 days (or 61 if you count off-days). Things looked really promising for the Blue Jays. In June and July combined they went 27-26, not great, but it kept them in a race for the wild card spot. But then August happened, the Jays went 9-17. In September they still had a chance, but the bad August made it tough for them: they had to jump too many teams and had to depend on a lot of teams to lose. In the end, it just wasn't meant to be, and the Jays finished 5 games shy of the final wild card spot. 


I've seen a lot of people write this season off as a failure after not qualifying for the postseason. However at the end of the day, this team had the same core as 2013 and yet played meaningful baseball in September. The ride was fun, the Jays are obviously not there yet, but they're heading in the right direction, it's only a matter of time.

Sunday 21 September 2014

Why I was Reluctant to Accept "Fancy Stats"



This offseason, the Toronto Maple Leafs made headlines by hiring Kyle Dubas, former GM of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, and he's only 28! This hiring made the blogosphere happy because Dubas is into the so called "Fancy Stats" and used them with the Greyhounds.

So what are Fancy Stats? For an in-depth look at Corsi and Fenwick, you should go here. The TL;DR version is that Corsi is "the plus/minus of shots directed at the net for (blocked shots, shots high and wide, shots that hit, shots that get tipped, etc.)." If you have a positive Corsi, you are on the ice for more shots for and therefore the team possesses the puck more when you're on the ice. Fenwick is the same thing, except it doesn't take into consideration blocked shots (Fenwick sees blocked shots as a skill, not a random event).

Before this season, Corsi and Fenwick were mostly used by bloggers, and since the lockout shortened 2012-2013 season, bloggers were calling for the Leafs to drop off the face of the earth because of their poor possession numbers. In 2013, we saw the Leafs monumental collapse to the Bruins (I'm not even linking to the video, too many bad memories), and in 2014 we saw the Leafs...fall off the face of the Earth. As a result, you could hear the collective "I TOLD YOU SO!!!" from the bloggers.

So why did I resist? The idea Corsi and Fenwick make sense: the more you control the puck, the better chance you have to score. But my problem was not with the stats themselves. My problem was with the keyboard hero bloggers out there who would gang up on anyone who would even dare to question them. The conversation was never "hey guys, look at these new stats, they might be useful." The conversation was "these are new stats and if you don't think they have any merit, you're an idiot and no nothing about hockey!"

Why would anyone want to agree with people who react that way? When the Leafs finally did hire an analytics team, proponent of Fancy Stats Down Goes Brown had this humble blog post.The TL;DR version: we were right, you were wrong, you're all stupid. 

Now don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of Down Goes Brown, I've been a fan of his work for about 4 or 5 years now, I was just thoroughly unimpressed with how even he acted through all of this.

Now I was never berated on Twitter for disparaging Fancy Stats, I kept quiet about it and just observed from the outside. 

So what was the point of this blog post? I just wanted to voice my opinions before the upcoming NHL season now that the "Great Stats War" is over. I'm happy the Leafs have stepped in a new direction and are looking at Corsi and Fenwick. It's a huge step for an old team reluctant to change. I'm just not happy with how we got here.

Wednesday 17 September 2014

NHL Announces New Rules for 2014-2015





Last Thursday, the NHL announced rule changes for the upcoming 2014-2015 season. Among the changes, the biggest ones are:


  • The trapezoid area will be expanded.
  • The Spin-O-Rama is no longer allowed in penalty shots or the shootout.
  • Slight expansion to video review.
  • Fines for Diving/Embellishment.
  • Overtime changes.

The Trapezoid

Since the NHL decided to put it in after the 2004-2005 lockout, I have hated it. I know the NHL thinks it's adding offence, but if anything, it slows the game down. The "new" trapezoid will be expanded by 2 feet from the posts. This might be the first step of the NHL eventually phasing it out.

No More Spin-O-Rama

I loved seeing the Spin-O-Rama in the shootout (and for penalty shots as well). I found that whenever a team complained about the move, it was because they lost. However, because of all the griping I'm glad this move has been taking out. There are a couple of reasons for the NHL removing the Spin-O-Rama. First of all, it's nearly impossible to tell if there is forward motion. Secondly, refs couldn't tell whether or not a player was interfering with a goaltender during the move, whether that meant sending a bunch of snow in their face or by physically bumping them. S

The end of the spin-o-rama also means the end of the debates about whether the spin-o-rama should be legal or not. That is a big win for everyone.

Video Review

As per the NHL:

Rule 38.4 (viii) has been modified to allow broader discretion to Hockey Operations to assist the referees in determining the legitimacy of all potential goals (e.g., to ensure they are “good hockey goals”).  The revised Rule will allow Hockey Operations to correct a broader array of situations where video review clearly establishes that a “goal” or “no
goal” call on the ice has been made in error.   The new expanded rule will
also allow Hockey Operations to provide guidance to referees on goal and potential goal plays where the referee has blown his whistle (or intended to blow his whistle) after having lost sight of the puck.

Essentially, the goal the Devils scored on the Kings last season would be reviewable. From what I understand, NHL hockey ops would call the refs from Toronto and declare the goal no good. According to Pierre LeBrun, other controversial goals, such as offsides, and goalie interferences will be made note of by the NHL. The league will then make a report to bring to the GMs in March. I'm not sure if that means if this goal would still count.

Fines for Diving

This is my favourite one. The NHL will now fine people who are penalised for diving. The fines are as followed:

        1       Warning 
        2       $2,000
        3       $3,000
        4       $4,000
        5       $5,000
        6       $5,000
        7       $5,000
        8       $5,000  

According to Darren Dreger, the NHL will release a weekly press release with all the diving fines on it. Players are also able to appeal the fines. All of the appeals will be dealt with by Gary Bettman. I have a feeling Ryan Kesler's wallet might be a little lighter this year...


Changes to Overtime

Starting this season, the teams will have to switch sides for overtime, therefore providing a longer change for the teams. The ice will also undergo a dry scrape prior to the start of overtime. Coaches will also no longer need to submit a list of their first 3 shooters in the shootout. 

To me, this sounds like the beginning of the end of the shootout. I've already talked about how to make the shootout less relevant by revamping the point system. This is a good start for the NHL, it will be interesting to see if this will actually make a difference (future blog idea?). The best part about make teams switch sides on the ice is that it doesn't really change the game, yet it still has the potential to make a big difference. 

The AHL has adopted a change to overtime that will see 3-on-3 overtime after the first whistle after 4 minutes of play. The NHL has used the AHL to experiment with rule changes in the past. Maybe next year this will be implemented in the NHL as well. 

Tuesday 9 September 2014

The Revolving Door of Coaches



Toronto FC announced last Sunday that they were relieving head coach Ryan Nelsen of his duties, and naming Greg Vanney as his replacement. Vanney will be the soccer club's 9th coach in 8 seasons. That's not a good record. but has a professional sports franchise in Toronto ever had this much instability at the position prior to TFC? I decided to look at the history of coaches for the Blue Jays, Leafs, Argos, and Raptors and see which decade had the most coaches:




Toronto St. Patricks/Toronto Maple Leafs

Decade with Most Coaches: 1920s

Number of Coaches: 9

Coaches: Frank Heffernan (1919-1920), Harvey Sproule (1920), Frank Carroll (1920-1921), George O'Donoghue (1921-1923), Charles Querrie (1923-1924, 1926-1927), and Eddie Powers (1926-1927), Mike Rodden (1927), Alex Romeril (1927), Conn Smythe (1927-1930).

What Happened?

Heffernan resigned as coach, he is credited as coaching for 12 games. 

Sproule replaced Heffernan as coach, but was co-owner of the St. Pats franchise. He resigned at the end of the season, and became a referee in the OHA.

Carroll coached the St. Pats to their first berth in the finals, but I was unable to find out why he left the team. He sadly committed suicide in 1938.

O'Donoghue coached the St. Pats to the Stanley Cup, the only Stanley Cup the St. Pats would win. He was fired after 5 games during the 1922-1923 season. 

Querrie had 2 stints as coach of the St. Pats. In his 1st stint he finished with a total record of 21-21-1. In 1926-1927 he coached for 29 games. After finishing 5th in the Canadian division, he resigned.

Powers would bring the St. pats to the finals once again. But after his 2nd season, he would leave the team to coach the Boston Tigers of the CAHL where he won a championship in 1929.

Rodden was fired after only 2 games, he went 0-2-0. 

Romeril coached for 1 season before becoming an NHL referee.

All of the above coaches only coached for the St. Pats/Maple Leafs franchise in the NHL.

Smythe coached the Leafs for 4 seasons before resigning as coach in 1930. He coached on an interim basis for 1 game in 1931. 

Toronto Argonauts

Decade with Most Coaches: 1990s

Number of Coaches: 8

Now we can give CFL teams a little bit of a break, the league isn't nearly as prosperous as any of the "Big 4" leagues and obviously the teams struggle a little more financially. 

The 90s began with "The Don" Don Matthews as head coach. That would be the first of two stints as Argos coach during the 90s (he would of a 3rd sting in the 2000s). He lead the Argonauts to a 10-8 record, and he brought them to the East final where they lost to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

In 1991 the Argos were purchased by Bruce McNallWayne Gretzky and John Candy. Adam Rita made his CFL coaching debut with the Argos that year. He won his one and only Grey Cup that year.The following season however, the Argos started 3-8 and he was fired and replaced with Dennis Meyer in 1992.


Meyer finished out the remaining 7 games with a 3-4 record. But after a 1-9 start in 1993 he was also fired. Then GM Bob O'Billovich (who previously coached the Argos from 1982-1989) took over as coach to close out the season.

The next season, O'Billovich hired Mike Faragalli. Faragalli lasted only 9 games before his contract was terminated by O'Billovich, partly due to the Argonauts struggling financially; they were on the verge of folding. O'Billovich took over coaching duties for the rest of the season.

O'Billovich re-hired Don Matthews. In his first 3 seasons he won 2 Grey Cups with the Argos. His third Grey Cup in a row he won 1 Grey Cup coaching the only American team to ever win it: the Baltimore Stallions. Matthew remained as Argos coach until 1998.

Jim Barker replaced Matthews as head coach in 1999, he became the youngest coach in CFL history. The Argos lost in the conference quarter-finals to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Following the season, Barker went on to become the Offensive Co-ordinator for the XFL's only championship team: The Los Angeles Xtreme.


Toronto Blue Jays

Decade with the Most Coaches Managers: 2000s

Number of Coaches Managers: 7

The Blue Jays have actually done alright in terms of head coaches. In their nearly 40 year history, they've only had 20 total managers, and 15 different ones. The 2000s were a decade of mediocrity. While the 80s held 2 playoff berths, and the 90s held 2 World Series victories, the 2000s contained a team hovering around the .500 mark.

The 2000s started with Jim Fregosi in his 2nd year as manager, but after a 3rd place finish in the AL East for the 2nd consecutive year, the Jays did not renew his contract.

In 2001, the Blue Jays hired former team catcher and current Blue Jays broadcaster Buck Martinez in as manager. Martinez managed for 159 games in 2001, unfortunately Martinez's mother-in-law passed away and Martinez was absent for the seasons final 3 games and replaced on an interim basis with Cookie Rojas.

Martinez returned during the 2002 season, but was fired after 53 games after the Jays went 20-33. Carlos Tosca was then hired to replace Martinez. Under Tosca, the Jays went 58-51 the rest of the way and finished 3rd in the AL East for a 5th consecutive year. The Blue Jays finished 10 games above .500 in 2003 with an 86-76 record but for the 6th consecutive year, the Blue Jays finished 3rd in the AL East. That would all change in 2004.

The Blue Jays had a horrendous start to 2004, only winning 47 of their first 111 games. As a result, Tosca was fired and replaced with John Gibbons. The Blue Jays finished 2004 with a 67-94 record (.416), they're worst winning percentage since 1981. The Jays had above .500 records under Gibby from 2006-2008. 2006 was their best year with Gibbons, after acquiring a number of stars, the Blue Jays finished 2nd in the AL East but 10 games back of the Yankees and 8 games back of the Tigers for the Wild Card spot. After a tough slump in 2008, Gibbons was fired and replaced with former manager Cito Gaston.

Gaston is the only manager in Jays history to being them to a World Series. After replacing Gibbons, the Jays closed out 2008 with a 51-37 record. Gaston retired after the 2010 season but he still remains with the team.


Toronto Raptors

Well, the Raptors haven't even been around for 20 years yet. So we won't count them. They've only had 8 head coaches in their history.


What can we Conclude?

The only Toronto teams that come close to matching that sad number of TFC's head coaches within a decade are the Leafs and Argos who were going through financial difficulties during the time. As far as I know, TFC isn't going through any financial troubles, they're just bad. If you want an example of a team that doesn't know what it's doing, look no further than TFC.




Thursday 4 September 2014

Steve Moore Settles




Former Colorado Avalanche player Steve Moore has announced that he has settled his decade-long lawsuit with then-Canucks forward Todd Bertuzzi. Back in 2004, Steve Moore was the victim of an on-ice attack from Bertuzzi. The incident ended Moore's NHL career, he was seeking damages and lost wages, Moore's lawyers said he was seeking $68 million.

This settlement ends an ugly chapter for the NHL. The case was scheduled to go to trial next Friday, if it were to go to trial, it would have brought forth a lot of the unknowns that goes on inside a team's locker room. How many times have we heard players say "it stays in the locker room." Moore argued that Bertuzzi's actions were caused in part from direction of then-Canucks coach Marc Crawford.

The whole incident stemmed from Moore injuring then-Canucks captain David Naslund in a previous meeting. Interviews with Canucks players leading up to the next game shows that they were seeking repercussions.

“There’s no way that punk will be in their lineup in March,” Bertuzzi told reporters in 2004.

Bertuzzi's teammate Brad May put it more bluntly: "There’s definitely a bounty on his head. . . . It’s going to be fun when we get him."

Following the incident, Bertuzzi was suspended for the remainder of the season and playoffs (13 regular season games, 7 playoff games). The following season was the 2004-2005 lockout season. Bertuzzi, along with most other players, elected to play in Europe. However, the IIHF extended the NHL's suspension to preclude him from playing there.

During the lockout, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman held a re-instatement hearing for Bertuzzi and announced on August 8th, 2005 that Bertuzzi had been reinstated and would be playing in the 2005-2006 season. However, during that season, Bertuzzi was heckled whenever the team was on the road. The Canucks missed the playoffs for the first time in 4 years. Then GM Dave Nonis sent Bertuzzi to Florida as part of a package deal that sent Roberto Luongo to Vancouver.

There is absolutely no room for this kind of garbage in the NHL, and it's great to see that the case has been settled. No dollar amount has been announced, and we may never find out what it is. In my opinion, the only silver lining of Todd Bertuzzi still being in the NHL is that he's banking enough money to afford paying Moore.


Moore has set up a foundation, the Steve Moore Foundation. From the website: "The Steve Moore Foundation focuses on the prevention and treatment of concussion and similar serious head and neck injuries in sport." If anyone is interested in donating they can donate here.

Sidney Crosby in Jail?: Getting it out There Before Getting it Right




On Wednesday, QMI Agency reported that Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was arrested in Ottawa on driving-related charges. From the original story:

“Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby was arrested by Ottawa Police late Tuesday while driving a rented Porsche, sources have told QMI Agency. Reasons of his arrest were unknown, but appear to be driving related."
 Unfortunately for QMI, none of this actually happened. In fact, Crosby was not even in Canada! Both the Ottawa police and the Pittsburgh Penguins released statements confirming that Sid had no dealings with the police and that he was in Vail, Colorado preparing for training camp.

Vail? Say, that rhymes with jail! Yes, it is completely possible that this person heard "Sidney Crosby is in jail" instead of "Vail." Now, if I was in a position to possibly break the biggest hockey story of the year, I would probably want to clarify what I just heard:

"Jail!? In prison?"

"No, you must have misheard me, I said Vail. He's in Colorado, training."

One of my biggest pet peeves as a journalist is not getting the story right. Now I understand that sometimes things happen, and things could be reported falsely, especially with social media. But there are ways to confirm something you hear. This story should never have made it out, and it doesn't just stop at the reporter.

All news agencies want to be the first to break a news story, it shows your viewers/readers that you can be reliable. Twitter has made breaking news almost instantaneous, but even more importantly than being first, you have got to be correct. Especially with a story like this.

There's no doubt that if this story was true, this would be the biggest hockey story of the last couple years, maybe even the last decade or couple of decades. For all you aspiring journalists out there, if you ever get a huge, potentially career changing story like this, make sure you quadruple-check your facts!



This story also caused some hilarious reactions on Twitter. You can check them out here.

Wednesday 20 August 2014

Where are they Now?- Simon Gamache

In this series, we will look at some obscure Leafs players from the past decade and find out where they ended up. 


Simon Gamache was drafted 290th overall in 2000 by the Atlanta Thrashers. He was named CHL player of the year in 2001. After spending 3 seasons with the Val d'Or Foreurs of the QMJHL, Gamache moved up to pro during the 2001-2002 season with the Chicago Wolbes. He made his NHL debut with the Thrashers during the 2002-2003 NHL season where he played 2 games and notched 2 penalty minutes.

During the 2003-2004 season, the Thrashers traded Gamache along with Kirill Safranov to the Nashville Predators for Tomas Kloucek and Ben Simon.With the Predators, he played 18 games over 3 seasons. He scored his first career NHL goal during the 2003-2004 season, that was his only point with the Predators.

The Predators placed Gamache on waivers in November of 2005 where he was claimed by the St. Louis Blues. He played 15 career games with St. Louis registering 3 Goals and 4 Assists. Then, a couple months later in January of 2006, the Blues placed Gamache on waivers where he was re-claimed by the Predators.

In 2007, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Gamache as a free agent. With the Leafs, Gamache had 2 Goals and 2 Assists in 11 games. In November 2007, the Leafs placed Gamache on waivers for the purpose of assigning him to the Marlies. After clearing waivers, he referred to it as a "sad day" as he thought he had established himself as an NHL regular. In January 2008, the Leafs released Gamache from his contract so that he could play in Europe.

Gamache went on to play with Bern in the Swiss-A league, where he won the Swiss championship in his first season there. He currently plays for the Mannheim Eagles of the DEL in Germany.

Saturday 16 August 2014

Where are They Now? - Aleksander Suglobov

In this series, we will look at some obscure Leafs players from the past decade and find out where they ended up. 




Aleksander Suglobov was drafted 56th overall by the New Jersey Devils in 2000. He got his first taste of North American professional hockey action during the 2003-2004 season with the Albany River Rats and made his NHL debut that season as well.

On March 8th, 2006, Suglobov was traded to Toronto for defenseman Ken Klee. Suglobov played 16 games for Toronto registering 4 penalty minutes and was a combined -7. After being unable to crack an NHL lineup, Suglobov went to play in the KHL.

Since the 2007-2008 season, Suglobov has played for CSKA Moscow, Moscow Spartak, Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo, Novosibirsk Sibir, and Chelyabinsk Traktor. Suglobov did not appear to play during the 2013-2014 season, but I have not been able to find anything saying he has officially retired. In total, Suglobov scored 1 goal in 18 career NHL games.

Thursday 14 August 2014

Ted Kennedy to be First Immortalized in "Legends Row"



The Toronto Maple Leafs announced on Thursday that Ted "Teeder" Kennedy will be the first of 3 Leafs legends inducted into the team's new "Legend's Row." The statue will be unveiled on September 6th as part of the Leafs' Fan Fest.

Legends row is a 30 foot granite bench outside Gate 5 of the Air Canada Centre that will feature statues of the biggest names in Leafs history. The team will unveil new inductees leading into the 2017 centennial season. Two more inductees will be named during Fan Fest in September. The next wave of inductees will be names in 2015.

Ted Kennedy spent his entire 15 year career with the Blue and White, 8 of those seasons he was captain. He won 5 Stanley Cups and the Hart Trophy in 1955.

Making the NHL's Loser Point Work



The NHL is a unique league. Of the "Big 4" sports leagues, the NHL is the only one that awards teams for losing in overtime by giving the losing team 1 point while the winner gets 2. A simple search on Google for "loser point NHL" turns up with numerous articles urging the NHL to get rid of the loser point (or the "Bettman Point"). But, I like the loser point, and I might be the only one. My rationale behind it is that if you're trailing and you manage to come back and force overtime, you deserve something for it. Likewise, if you're winning and you blow your lead, you deserve to lose a point. The system isn't perfect, but I think there's a way we can tweak it.

What is the loser point?

The loser point was introduced during the 1999-2000 NHL season. Prior to that, teams got 0 points for an overtime loss, but ties were still a thing in the NHL back then. If your team tied, you and your opponent would each get 1 point. The problem was teams didn't want to risk ending the game with 0 points, so they settled for a tie. The addition of the loser point allowed for teams to take a risk in OT by going for the win, but without risking coming away with nothing.

During the 1998-1999 season, the year before they introduced the loser point, teams averaged 12 ties. During the 1999-2000 season, after the addition of the loser point, that average dropped to just over 10 ties.

What's wrong with it?

A problem that many people have with it now is the addition of the shootout. Since the 2005-2006 season, teams would go into a 3-man shootout if there was no decision by the end of overtime, eliminating ties. However, teams started to hold back during OT to take their chances during the shootout, which is, in essence, a crapshoot. 

The NHL tried to combat this by introducing a new tiebreaking rule. If a team is tied in points, the tiebreaker will go to the team that has won the most regulation and overtime games (wins minus shootout wins). This created a new section in the standings known as "ROW" (Regulation and Overtime Wins), making the shootout less relevant.

How can we make the loser point work?

As I mentioned above, most of the criticism of the loser point is because of the addition of the shootout. I propose we make the shootout even less relevant. Here's how:

Regulation/Overtime win= 2 points
Overtime Loss/Shootout Win= 1 Point
Regulation/Shootout Loss= 0 points

If we take away the loser point for shootout losses and make a shootout win only 1 point, it eliminates teams trying to hold off until the shootout. Imagine the playoff races in April!

Now you can argue that the team that really needs the 2 points can just pull their goalie for an extra attacker in overtime and if they get scored on, they still get one point anyways. You would be wrong. As per Rule 84.2:

A team shall be 
allowed to pull its goalkeeper in favour of an additional skater in the 
overtime period. However, should that team lose the game during the 
time in which the goalkeeper has been removed, it would forfeit the 
automatic point gained in the tie at the end of regulation play, except if 
the goalkeeper has been removed at the call of a delayed penalty 
against the other team."

This is a rule already in place in the NHL so it would eliminate stupid plays like that from being commonplace.

Would the proposed changes really make that much of a difference?

Let's find out:


These were the standings of the 2013-2014 season:

Atlantic:

P-1. Boston 54-19-9 117P Shootout: 3-6
X-2. Tampa Bay 46-27-9 101P Shootout: 8-6
X-3. Montreal 46-28-8 100P Shootout: 6-3
X-4. Detroit 39-28-15 93P Shootout: 5-9
5. Ottawa 37-31-14 88P Shootout: 7-7
6. Toronto 38-36-8 88P Shootout: 9-4
7. Florida 29-45-8 Shootout: 8-6
8. Buffalo 21-51-10 52P Shootout: 7-5

Metropolitan:

Y-1. Pittsburgh 51-24-7 109P Shootout: 7-3
X-2. New York Rangers 45-31-6 96P Shootout: 4-3
X-3. Philadelphia 42-30-10 94P Shootout: 3-8
X-4. Columbus 43-32-7 93P Shootout: 5-2
5. Washington 38-30-14 90P Shootout: 10-11
6. New Jersey 35-29-18 88P Shootout: 0-13
7. Carolina 36-35-11 83P Shootout: 2-4
8. New York Islanders 34-37-11 79P Shootout: 9-6

Central:

Y-1. Colorado 52-22-8 112P Shootout: 5-4
X-2. St. Louis 52-23-7 111P Shootout: 9-3
X-3. Chicago 46-21-15 107P Shootout: 6-8
X-4. Minnesota 40-31-11 91P Shootout: 4-5
X-5. Dallas 40-31-11 91P Shootout: 4-5
6. Nashville 38-32-12 88P Shootout: 2-9
7. Winnipeg 37-35-10 84P Shootout: 8-6

Pacific:

Z-1. Anaheim 54-20-8 116P Shootout: 3-6
X-2. San Jose 51-22-9 111P Shootout: 10-7
X-3. Los Angeles 46-28-8 100P Shootout: 8-6
4. Phoenix (Arizona) 37-30-15 89P Shootout: 6-7
5. Vancouver 36-35-11 83P Shootout: 5-7
6. Calgary 35-40-7 77P Shootout: 7-3
7. Edmonton 29-44-9 67P Shootout: 4-3

So as you can see there were a lot of shootouts last season, teams averaged about 12 shootouts last season so my suggested changes will have an impact on the standings. Below are the results under my new point system. I have moved shootout wins to the OTL column and shootout losses to the regulation losses column:

Atlantic:

P-
1. Boston 51-25-6 108P
X-2. Montreal 40-31-11 91P (+1)
X-3. Tampa Bay 38-33-11 87P (-1)
X-4. Detroit 34-37-11 79P
5. Ottawa 30-38-14 74P
6. Toronto 29-40-13 71P
7. Florida 21-51-10 52P
8. Buffalo 14-56-12 40P

Metropolitan:

Y-
1. Pittsburgh 44-27-11 99P
X-2. New York Rangers 41-34-7 89P
X-3. Columbus 38-34-10 86P (+1)
X-4. Philadelphia 39-38-5 86P (-1)
5. Carolina 34-39-9 77P (+2)
6. New Jersey 35-42-5 75P
7. Washington 28-41-13 69P (-2)
8. New York Islanders 25-43-14 64P

Central:

Y-
1. Colorado 47-26-9 103P
X-2. St. Louis 43-26-13 99P
X-3. Chicago 40-29-13 93P
X-4. Dallas 36-36-10 82P (+1)
X-5. Minnesota 35-35-12 82P (-1)
6. Nashville 36-41-5 77P
7. Winnipeg 29-41-12 70P

Pacific:

Y-1. Anaheim 51-26-5 107P
X-2. San Jose 41-29-12 94P
X-3. Los Angeles 38-34-10 86P
4. Phoenix (Arizona) 31-37-14 76P
5. Vancouver 31-42-9 71P
6. Calgary 28-43-11 67P
7. Edmonton 25-47-10 60P

As you can see, the proposed new system does not punish teams that are good. No team dropped out of the playoff picture because of the system, but there were a couple of position changes. Most notably, Carolina jumping from 7th in the Metro to 5th, while the Capitals dropped from 7th to 5th.

Carolina only had 6 games decided by shootout while Washington had a league high 21! Carolina went from a team well out of the wild card picture to just missing it by 2 points.

The biggest thing I like about this system is the fact that it eliminates the false parity that the current system has. It also promotes winning the game earlier. As you can see, the top teams in the league were not affected much (other than a drop in overall points). As with the tie once the loser point was introduced, you could expect to see the overall number of shootouts drop if this system came into fruition.

The NHL should not eliminate the loser point, but instead work towards making the shootout less relevant.

RIP Robin Williams

Saturday 9 August 2014

The All Bad Contracts Team

We know that teams sign some players to some terrible contracts, but has anyone tried to make a team of them? I'm "borrowing" this idea from a Grantland post that did the same thing with NFL contracts. A couple of rules:

1.) It has to be a contract that is active during the 2014-2015 season (so don't expect to see DiPietro here)
2.) We will look at cap hit not total salary.
3.) Figures are based on Capgeek.

Let's get started:


LW- Benoit Pouliot (Edmonton Oilers)






Contract: 5 Years/$20 million

Cap hit: $4 Million

My Reasoning: 

Pouliot was part of the New York Rangers run last season. Obviously the Oilers saw something in him that they liked. He did have a career year. However that was only 36 points in 80 games, which nearly doubled his career points total. He has never cracked the 20 goal mark. Sure, he might be able to crack the 2nd line on a team, but that team probably won't be with the Oilers with Taylor Hall and David Perron ahead of him in the depth chart.

Signed Until: 2018-2019



Similar Cap Hits at the Position: James van Riemsdyk, Loui Eriksson, Nikolai Kulemin, Milan Michalek, P.A. Parenteau

C- Dave Bolland (Florida Panthers)


Contract: 5-Years/$27.5 million

Cap hit: $5.5 million

My Reasoning:

Bolland's claim to fame is he scored the Cup winning goal for the Blackhawks in 2013. From there he was traded to the Maple Leafs where he only played 23 games due to an injury suffered against the Canucks. It was long rumoured that Bolland wanted a long-term deal and Leafs fans were relieved when GM Dave Nonis was saved from himself. Bolland signed a his long-term deal with the Florida Panthers. 

Bolland has never had a 50-point season, he came close in 2008-2009 when he had 47 points, but since then he's been inconsistent. 

Signed Until: 2018-2019

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Shawn Horcoff, John Tavares, Jeff Skinner, Tyler Seguin, Nathan Horton.

RW- David Clarkson (Toronto Maple Leafs) 



Contract: 7 years/$36.75 million

Cap Hit: $5.25 million

My Reasoning:

There seems to be a pattern emerging here, a lot of 3rd liners get overpaid. Clarkson has never cracked the 50 point plateau. His career high, in 2011-2012, is 46 points. GM Dave Nonis' reasoning for signing Clarkson was that he could provide that grit and he'd bang in those ugly goals. 

His "grit" involved him jumping off the bench to join a fight in a meaningless preseason game (resulting in a 10-game suspension), and defending a water bottle. And those ugly goals he was going to bang in? He had 5 last season.

Signed Until: 2019-2020

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Joffrey Lupul, Marian Hossa, Bobby Ryan, Shane Doan, Jarome Iginla.

D- Brooks Orpik (Washington Capitals)


Contract: 5 Years/$27.5 Million

Cap Hit: $5.5 Million

My Reasoning:

Orpik has spent his whole career with the Penguins until this offseason when he signed a 5 year deal with the rival Washington Capitals. Orpik is a stay-at-home defenseman, which means you're not going to see him clap in many on the powerplay from the point (he only has 1 career PPG), or at all really. His career high in goals scored is 2, which he's done 5 times, and he only has 13 career goals, which is fine because he's a defenseman, their job is to keep the puck out of the net.

Unfortunately, Orpik has never been a finalist for the Norris. In fact, he's only been considered for it once, in the lockout shortened 2012-2013 season, where he finished 18th. Washington is a team that desperately needs better defense, and Orpik can help the team, but a $5.5 million cap hit might be a little steep.

Signed Until: 2018-2019

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Duncan Keith, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, James Wisniewski, Dan Girardi, Matt Carle

D- Tyler Myers (Buffalo Sabres)



Contract: 7 Years/$38.5 Million

Cap Hit: $5.5 Million

My Reasoning:

Myers made his NHL debut during the 2009-2010 season. He had a great season logging 48 points in 82 games. He won the Calder and was in the top 20 in Norris voting.He followed that up with another decent season. Then missed 27 games in 2011-2012 due to various injuries and a suspension.Unfortunately, before that 2011-2012 season, the Buffalo Sabres signed Myers to a 7 year contract extension, the contract came into effect in 2012-2013.

Since signing that contract, Myers' numbers have dropped and he's and his share of injury troubles. The Sabres haste in signing Myers before his entry level deal expired might be the downfall. However, if Myers can return to his rookie form, this signing will be a solid one. Hopefully, for the Sabres' sake, that happens soon.

Signed Until: 2018-2019

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Duncan Keith, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, James Wisniewski, Dan Girardi, Matt Carle (same as Orpik)

G- Cam Ward (Carolina Hurricanes)


Contract: 6 Years/$37.8 Million

Cap Hit: $6.3 Million

My Reasoning:

Cam Ward has spent his entire career with the Carolina Hurricanes. In his rookie season, he lead the Canes to the franchise's first (and so far, only) Stanley Cup. Ward went on to win playoff MVP. But the next season, he could not carry the team to the playoffs. In fact, they became the first team since the 1938-1939 Black Hawks to miss the playoffs the year before and after they won the Cup.

However, since the Cup Victory, Ward has only played in the postseason once more: in 2008-2009 where they made it to the conference finals (and did this in the conference quarter finals) but were swept by the Penguins. Ward has put up some good numbers throughout his career, but when you think about elite goaltenders, Ward doesn't come to mind, yet he's the 5th-highest paid goaltender in the league.

Signed Until: 2015-2016

Similar Cap Hits at the Position: Carey Price, Ryan Miller, Corey Crawford, Semyon Varlamov, Kari Lehtonen