January 28, 2010

Deep Thoughts




Public transportation. Where there's nothing but time to ponder ...

1. "I want to play for a contender" is all the vogue these days in professional sports. I can understand when Roy Halladay says it. Hell, that makes sense. Jamal Mayers? Not so much. I'm sure Brian Burke's phone is ringing off the hook now that word has leaked that Mayers and Garnet Exelby are officially available, with their agents exploring trade possibilities. Actually, we know that's not the case, otherwise Burke would be trying to make the trades himself. Anyway: good riddance. Whether it's now or via unrestricted free agency come the summer.

2. Can Brian Burke tell Jeff Finger and Jason Blake's agents to explore trade possibilities as well? Please? Pretty please?

3. Whose position would you rather be in: the pathetic Edmonton Oilers, first round pick in tow, and approximately $46 million in salary committed to only 13 players for next season, thanks to a ton of brutal contracts - Shawn Horcoff (20 points, -23) at a cap hit of $5.5 million through 2013/2014, Sheldon Souray at a cap hit of $5.4 million through 2011/2012, Steve Staios at $2.7 million through next season, and the injured, and old, Nik Khabibulin at $3.75 million through 2012/2013. Or the equally pathetic Toronto Maple Leafs, without their next two first round picks, but Phil Kessel, and approximately $34 million committed to 11 players for next season. You tell me.

4. I know; I can't bring up Edmonton's brutal contracts while not bringing up Blake's and Finger's. And at $2.9 million, Mikhail Grabovski might be overpaid as well. Bollocks!!1

5. And I can't ignore the fact the Oilers have Jordan Eberle in their system. Yeah, that guy who doesn't panic, even when destiny does. If Edmonton is blessed enough to draft Taylor Hall, the scales might be tipped, albeit slightly, in the Oil's favour.

6. Staying with Edmonton, they remain winless in 2010. Their best bet to change that might come on March 13th when they visit Toronto. It will be a night to remember.

7. Random thought: Seinfeld remains the greatest comedy sitcom ever written and produced. You may disagree, but you're wrong.

8. I took in the Chicago Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers game a couple of nights ago on TSN. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Those kids are alright. And back-to-back first round lottery selections. Ha.

9. As a television hockey personality, anyone compared to P.J. Stock is articulate. Even Matthew Barnaby. And "articulate" is the last word I'd ever imagined labeling Barnaby.

10. The Hawks appear to be the real deal. If Chicago loses in the Stanley Cup final, they will only have Marian Hossa to blame. Could you imagine? As for Cristobal Huet, he doesn't strike you as a stand-on-his-head, playoff-type goalie, does he? Me neither. The Hawks need some insurance. It's a good thing the Leafs have a veteran goalie in Vesa Toskala, with an expiring contract whom they can explore trade possibilities for. It's a shame Burke will be laughed on the phone as soon as he mentions Toskala's name.

11. The Blackhawks have allowed an astonishingly low 25 power play goals so far this season. The Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres are even better: 23. Ron Wilson's Toronto Maple Leafs check in at 59. I'm sure the Leafs have allowed 23 power play goals in a month this season. I refuse to check; that's a little too depressing.

12. To add salt to the gaping wound this Leafs season has already wrought, the Ottawa Senators seemed to have legitimized themselves as a playoff team. They've won seven in a row, and are dominant on home ice. It pains me to admit it, but Brian Elliott has been more impressive than Jonas Gustavsson this season, and their workload has been about the same.

13. Francois Allaire? The Leafs clearly should have hired Eli Wilson.

14. A quick nugget on the Toronto Raptors: don't those Huskies jerseys look rather dashing?

15. Due to increasing and unrelenting comment spam, which I absolutely love to read on my BlackBerry, the comments section is back to being embedded below each post. If that doesn't get the terrorists to stop, I might be left with no choice but to employ the dreaded "word verification" system. Let's hope it doesn't get to that, folks. Thanks, as always, for reading and commenting.

Image courtesy, as usual, This Isn't Happiness.

9 comments:

Hungry Leafs Fan said...

Please, terrorists, don't make him put up the word verification system!

Those Huskies jerseys are hype. I have my mind set on getting a Bargnani one after watching last night's game. PLAYOFFS!!!1

Scott said...

Dude, the Raptors could become the Huskies and ditch the dino stuff and we'd all be beter for it. The blue and white... sound familiar?

Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...

@ Hungry: The terrorists are winning. And Bargnani was fucking insane last night. In January he's averaged 19.7 ppg and 7.3 rebounds. It's no coincidence the Raps are 8-5 this month, and have beaten Dallas, Orlando, San Antonio and the Lakers. Tonight should be a win against the Knickerbockers, too.

@ Scott: I don't mind the dino stuff as much as some people do, but the blue and white really does look great. While not of late, blue and white has served this town pretty well.

Mattt said...

The Huskies jerseys are definitely the deal. Maybe the Raptors could get a Huskies mascot to fight the Raptor to see what the name of the team should be? It would make a great halftime show.

bkblades said...

I like the dinos as well, even if the relevance is left wanting. Solid move in any case to go with black and red though. Purple is a colour left for velvet suits or Crown Royal bags. As for Bargs, he puts up some of the most unique stat lines in the entire NBA. A game or two ago, Bargnani scored like 25 points with 2 rebounds, and 0-0 in free throws.

Steve G. said...

Responding to some of the poins...

1) I think most baseball players are so cocky that they think by signing with a team, obviously, they are enough to push it over the edge. I mean, you need a certain base level of confidence to make it as a major league baseball player.

3) Toronto, because Toronto has a pretty sweet zoo.

7) Do you watch It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia? I view it as Seinfeld with absolutely no conscience and vulgarity. Curb is overrated though.

9) Ugh, Barnaby sucks so much.

15) At least you don't have the persistent trolls of Tao or Drunk Jays Fan.

stucky said...

This season makes me wish I liked basketball more, then the Raptors' play would help make me feel better and would help distract me from the Leafs' abysmal year.

Anonymous said...

Big leafs trade 1130!!!!!

-kush

Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...

@ Mattt: The Raptor is a beloved mascot. I shudder to think what would happen to him if the Raps became the Huskies.

@ BK: Agreed, the move to red and black was great. And I love the three-taloned claw as a logo. And that stat-line is what makes Bargnani so special, and so frustrating.

@ Steve: I think you need a certain level of confidence to play pro sports, period. I believe that, recently, Toronto's zoo was ranked as one of the worst. But I'm glad you like it buddy. I have never watched It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. I will check it out; thanks mate. Barnaby vs. Stock, in a fight to the finish. We'd all win, regardless of the result. The trolls at DJF are the stuff of nightmares.

@ stucky: You need to start watching the Raptors. For the sake of your mental health. The Leafs alone are not good for your health.

@ Kush: Wilson's been traded.