Let it be said that I had every intention of giving you guys a double blog tonight, however I really want to nail the FA defensemen thing, so I need some more time to do some research. What you're going to get tonight is my reaction to all the recent news, and tomorrow will be FA eharmony style.
It's really not my fault because the fact is the GM's were sluggish in responding to my questionairre, which has forced me to make up all these reasons why I haven't done the posting.
Also, I'm going to pass on Joe Sakic stuff until he officially announces his retirement. The man is 8th all time in points, I think he deserves his own post. So here we go...
Saku Koivu signs 1-year deal for to play for the Anaheim Ducks
Sign me up as someone who thinks the Ducks got better this offseason. Granted it's a stretch considering they aren't going to be able to suit up Niedermeyer AND Pronger for 30 mins a game against opponents, but the scoring depth they added may make up for that.
I think the loss of Beauchemin hurts the most right now, and they still need to replace him through FA (a point I will get to later), but with Whitney playing for them the a whole season, plus Koivu on their second line, and Lupul adding to their depth at forward, they now have threats they didn't have last year.
I'm sold on Jonas Hiller so I think they could still make a move with Giguere and really catapult themselves to the upper echelon of the Western Conference.
Gustavsson signs with Toronto Maple Leafs for 1-year $810,000
I now grade Burke's offseason as an A-. He might not make the playoffs this year, but he's certainly leaving his fingerprints, or should I say fistprints, all over the Maple Leafs. He traded Kubina and signed Komisarek to get tougher on defence. Signed Beauchemin, someone he was familiar with at Anaheim, to add some skill to the core. And he won the Gustavsson sweepstakes.
All he has to do now is trade Kaberle, hopefully for a decent forward, or at least two good prospects, and he's set. And don't give me shit for the picture because it was either that picture or this one
Chris Pronger signs 7-year $35 million extension
I think this signing is crazy because it locks Pronger up through the age of 42 at a cap hit of $5 mil a year and for a guy that size, that plays as tough as he does, I wouldn't want anything to do with him after 40. But then again what do you expect from a team that signs Danny Briere to 8 years $52 million. I'm guessing the extra years were to take the yearly cap number down, which was neccessary given all the Flyers bad contracts over the years.
Shit, who am I kidding at the end of the day how do I say anything about this other than it's bad for the Penguins because Pronger is going to be doing exactly what he is pictured here doing to Sid and Geno 8 times a season. Kudos Philadelphia, every time I think you guys couldn't possibly get meaner or dirtier, Bobby Clarke steps his game up another notch.
Which reminds me I need to clear the air a bit. The the pensblog guys are rarely wrong with their assessments, and if anything I give them a lot of credit for the intelligence behind their opinions, however since they are kind of the bar at which I measure entertaining sports blogging against I feel the need to disagree with a couple of things in a recent post about the Flyers.
First, they say Philadelphia "put a name between the pipes". If they meant this literally then yes the Flyers did, however my interpretation of the comment, given it was mixed with other claims of how the Flyers improved themselves this offseason, was that Ray Emery is an improvement over Marty Biron. At best, Emery is a slightly better goalie, but getting his best is the biggest challenge with him. Biron was a solid, stable, goaltender, and Emery has been called a lot of things in his career, but solid and stable he is not. I personally think their goaltending this year is a mess.
Second, they claim that Briare will eventually "justify his contract". Read this slowly.
Not.
Gonna.
Happen.
Briere, at the very top of his game is a Sedin twin. And that's not taking into account the age and size difference, his penchant for injuries, or his woeful plus/minus i.e. defense. Don't get me wrong, I love Briere. I loved him in Phoenix when he was an unknown, who buried 30 goals a year. And I loved him when he got paid, because he got a $50 million contract and he's smaller, and tamer, than your average house cat. But the guy looks like he'd fit in better as a member of The Monkees, or as seen here the early Beatles, than an NHL team.
and that's just not good enough for $6.5 mil a year. Which is the last reason I love him. Because every year he is on the Flyers roster he makes them worse with his albatross of a contract. I claimed earlier this year that in the salary cap era Jordan Staal was a luxury third line center at $4 mil a year, what does that make Briere?
Look the Flyers will be good next year, and they may beat the Pens in the playoffs at some point. Howver the problem with Philly is this: over the next four years they are paying Danny Briere, Mike Richards, Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen about $24 million a season. Over the same time frame the Pens will be paying Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Brooks Orpik almost the same amount. Name one GM other than Clarke or Brian Burke that would take the Flyers core over the Pens. Exactly. Factor in the fact that Philadelphia also has Hartnell signed for $4.2 mil a year while the Penguins are getting Marc-Andre Fleury for $5 mil and you see how much better off the Penguins are moving forward than the Flyers.
Philadelphia was able to improve themselves this offseason, but they're still behind Boston and Washington as the biggest threats to the Pens in the Eastern Conference.
Tomorrow's post will be epic I promise. Of course, my word isn't exactly worth much at this point. I promise anyone that takes the time to email me and complain (thelegendandthelaw@gmail.com) will get a free "The Legend and The Law" t-shirt as well as a free college special from Milano's. For those of you that listen to the radio show, you know these gifts are typically reserved for promotions and prize packages, so it's your lucky day.
Keep the Faith.
-the legend
Shit, who am I kidding at the end of the day how do I say anything about this other than it's bad for the Penguins because Pronger is going to be doing exactly what he is pictured here doing to Sid and Geno 8 times a season. Kudos Philadelphia, every time I think you guys couldn't possibly get meaner or dirtier, Bobby Clarke steps his game up another notch.
Which reminds me I need to clear the air a bit. The the pensblog guys are rarely wrong with their assessments, and if anything I give them a lot of credit for the intelligence behind their opinions, however since they are kind of the bar at which I measure entertaining sports blogging against I feel the need to disagree with a couple of things in a recent post about the Flyers.
First, they say Philadelphia "put a name between the pipes". If they meant this literally then yes the Flyers did, however my interpretation of the comment, given it was mixed with other claims of how the Flyers improved themselves this offseason, was that Ray Emery is an improvement over Marty Biron. At best, Emery is a slightly better goalie, but getting his best is the biggest challenge with him. Biron was a solid, stable, goaltender, and Emery has been called a lot of things in his career, but solid and stable he is not. I personally think their goaltending this year is a mess.
Second, they claim that Briare will eventually "justify his contract". Read this slowly.
Not.
Gonna.
Happen.
Briere, at the very top of his game is a Sedin twin. And that's not taking into account the age and size difference, his penchant for injuries, or his woeful plus/minus i.e. defense. Don't get me wrong, I love Briere. I loved him in Phoenix when he was an unknown, who buried 30 goals a year. And I loved him when he got paid, because he got a $50 million contract and he's smaller, and tamer, than your average house cat. But the guy looks like he'd fit in better as a member of The Monkees, or as seen here the early Beatles, than an NHL team.
and that's just not good enough for $6.5 mil a year. Which is the last reason I love him. Because every year he is on the Flyers roster he makes them worse with his albatross of a contract. I claimed earlier this year that in the salary cap era Jordan Staal was a luxury third line center at $4 mil a year, what does that make Briere?
Look the Flyers will be good next year, and they may beat the Pens in the playoffs at some point. Howver the problem with Philly is this: over the next four years they are paying Danny Briere, Mike Richards, Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen about $24 million a season. Over the same time frame the Pens will be paying Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Brooks Orpik almost the same amount. Name one GM other than Clarke or Brian Burke that would take the Flyers core over the Pens. Exactly. Factor in the fact that Philadelphia also has Hartnell signed for $4.2 mil a year while the Penguins are getting Marc-Andre Fleury for $5 mil and you see how much better off the Penguins are moving forward than the Flyers.
Philadelphia was able to improve themselves this offseason, but they're still behind Boston and Washington as the biggest threats to the Pens in the Eastern Conference.
Tomorrow's post will be epic I promise. Of course, my word isn't exactly worth much at this point. I promise anyone that takes the time to email me and complain (thelegendandthelaw@gmail.com) will get a free "The Legend and The Law" t-shirt as well as a free college special from Milano's. For those of you that listen to the radio show, you know these gifts are typically reserved for promotions and prize packages, so it's your lucky day.
Keep the Faith.
-the legend
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