by Jes

Jim Kelley, as Dominik Hasek will tell you, is one of those pasty, overweight sports writers that likes to think himself as above the NHL players that provide him with the means to make a living. You know, the 'nerd' who likes to chop down the 'jock' any chance he gets.

Kelley's latest verbal diarrhea sees him chastise Mats Sundin for *gasp* actually telling NHL GM's that he's unsure about if he wants to play hockey next season, instead of signing the first big offer that came his way.

I do have a problem that he waited until after pretty much all the offers were on the table before he announced that decision.

Given the number of hints he gave out between the end of the regular season and the day before the start of the silly season, Sundin's proclamation wasn't totally unexpected, but do you really he didn't come to this conclusion until late in Day Two of the bidding for his services?

I don't think so. (snip)

Had Sundin opted out before the start of free agency, don't you think that it's at least possible that the Vancouver Canucks might have targeted another centre or a player who could play centre; a Marion Hossa might not have been a perfect fit, but a Brian Rolston might have gotten a good deal, maybe even a better one (and one he wanted to accept) that he settled for in New Jersey.

Kelley is his very finite wisdom declares that Mats should personally call each and every GM who bid on his services to tell them to go on as if he's not going to be part of their plans. Somehow, it's Mats' fault if a particular GM didn't have a Plan B.

... uhh ... OK

So, Mats should tell the GM's what they already know?

You'd have to be a complete moron, or Mike Gillis, to put all of your eggs in one basket with one potential free agent signing. If you are a smart GM, you budget $X for free agent signings, and make signings up to $X, dishing out offers to various free agents until that budget room is used up.

ANY GM worth their salt would be making offers to other free agents, and then, if Mats should come back a week later and say "OK", the GM can say, "Sorry, but you were too slow. The offer is off the table." A smart GM does not make an offer to just ONE free agent, and then sit on their hands waiting for an answer.

Mats has every right to take as damn long as he wants to sign any deal (and he'll be back, we all know that), and doesn't need to tell the GM's anything. It's not as if Mats is spouting BS out there and making false promises. He's a FREE agent, and can do as do well as he pleases.

Why should every potential free agent sign a new deal at midnight on July 1st? Why shouldn't Mats let the offers roll in? Why shouldn't Mats take time to consider the decision that will impact his entire life for the next 12-24 months?

Look, Mats Sundin knows that by taking his sweet time, he'll lose some potential offers, as well as gain new ones. It's called risk/reward. Mats has enough leverage and money in the bank not to need to make a hasty decision.

Mats owes neither the league nor any GM anything other than what he's paid to do: play hockey.

(Read the comments at the bottom of the article. It's funny to see readers take Kelley to task for his stupidity)

Labels: Jim Kelley, mainstream mediots, Mats Sundin

As most people know, the NY Daily News, a tabloid known for misinformation and sensationalism, screwed the pooch reporting Sean Avery as having Cardiac Arrest when he really just had a ruptured spleen.

In the rush to get the 'scoop', the tabloid sensationalized the story, and went with the first bit of 'knowledge' they had, rather than do some further investigating.

What is even funnier than the sloppy cover-up attempts is the fact that the 'reporter', John Dellapina, is fighting back and claiming some mass conspiracy.

Finally, for all those from other media outlets and newspapers who have sarcastically dismissed our initial web story about Sean Avery's hospitalization since the Rangers refuted it Wednesday afternoon, I wonder:

Was your initial reaction that the story couldn't have been correct or did you simply race up to the MSG Training Center to get player reaction? And, did you call the hospital and/or Avery's representatives to get the real story or did your "reporting" simply consist of taking the team's word for what happened?

Fortunately, the intrepid men an women of the press who have exposed baseball's steroid problems didn't similarly regurgitate what they were told by people who understandably want their businesses viewed as beyond reproach.

So, is there a mass cover-up by the Rangers and other media outlets? Did Avery really have a heart attack, and the team wants us to think otherwise? Not bloody likely.

Dellapina would have us believe that the rest of the media is doing sloppy reporting, and he had the real story, in a lame attempt to cover his ass. Yes, how dare other media outlets try to get the real story, after the NY Daily News made some serious claims about Avery's health.

It won't work, stupid!

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Wayne's World!!

Our Southern Correspondent shares some thoughts.

First, I heard the news about Sean Avery about I left this library...It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy; I'd like to see him on a slab on "CSI: New York"...Now on to the other stuff:

Montreal has a player named Francis Bouillon; if he played baseball, his teammates would call him "Soupy"...

What is that song that they play over the PA system in the Walk-over-ya Center whenever the Flyers score a goal? I remember it being played last year at Anaheim as well...Sure beats the hell out of Zombie Nation or Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll, Part 2" (which should be buried once in for all in the desert outside Las Vegas, never to return)...

Darren Eliot, please STFU: You are the reason I turn down Thrasher telecasts to listen to Jeff Odgers and My Favorite Kamalian on the radio, and now you're boring people to tears on Versus...On the other hand, being boring and charisma-impaired may be a job-requirement at that channel (just look who they have doing the studio show)...

I knew the San Jose-Dallas game was gonna be a low-scoring snoozefest, so I warmed-up for the game by watching the UEFA cup game between Chelsea and Liverpool...was out cold before the end of the first half...

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Some banter between us FanHouse boys, and the realization that this could be THE END for many NHL legends.

From JP of Japers Rink

Don't know if anyone wants to make mention of it, but tonight could be the last chance fans get to watch the two active all-time points leaders - Sakic and Jagr - play (at least in the NHL).

3228 points, 4 Cups, 5 Ross Trophies, 2 Harts, 22 All-Star games, 2 Olympic Golds, etc., etc.

Throw Forsberg into the mix and the combined stats are even more ridiculous.

Don't forget about Jeremy Roenick and Brendan Shanahan. If this was the end for all of them, we'd be losing the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 17th active all-time scoring leaders. Catch them while you can.

Labels: Hall of Fame, mainstream mediots, playoffs, Sean Avery

by Jes


I've been asked why I spent so much time and energy ranting about the Mainstream Mediots that pollute our airwaves, papers, and internets.

Want a prime example? How about Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun. Yes, that's him in the picture. I apologize if you should happen to vomit.

It's one thing for a blogger like me to spout out nonsense, since I not paid to post anything here, nor do I have a mass audience. I am the face of my own blog, and not the face of a publication.

Today's Mediot of the Day takes the cake as far as utter stupidity and false bravado.

First, he called on the Ottawa Senators to take out Sidney Crosby's ankles ala Bobby Clarke circa 1972. Classy.

Then, when Pens' enforcer Georges Laraques called Brennan out on his stupidity, Brennan penned this garbage...

Seem to have created quite a media uproar with my win-at-all-costs way of thinking and suggestions that the Senators test Sidney Crosby's previously injured ankle by giving it a good whack, eh. We'll spare you details and instead focus on those we are all actually here to cover. Like 6-foot-3, 245-lb. Penguins enforcer Laraque, whom last week we heard Wild tough guy Derek Boogaard refer to as "freakishly strong."

Big Georges, who was quoted as calling yours truly "stupid," had this gem yesterday when asked about Senators targeting Crosby's tender joint. "I thought Slapshot was a movie, not reality." And who didn't like that classic?

By (the way) Georges, stupid? Call me that to my face.

For guys like Brennan, they are being paid by a large newspaper chain, and expose a wide audience to their nonsense while making their employer look like idiots.

Yes, Brennan is the typical mediot who wants to make himself the story, rather than the players or the game. Why would the fans care about some balding reporter with a chip on his shoulder is beyond me, but obviously this doofus seems to think he's more important than he is.

Is it any wonder why newspaper subscriptions continue to dwindle?

Can you imagine what would happen if Georgie did walk up to Brennan and call him 'stupid'?

Yeah, Brennan would crap his pants, run away with his tail between his legs, and then write a column about how much of a thug Laraques is. *sigh*

Tell you what, Brennan, if I ever have the mispleasure of coming face-to-face with you, I'll call you 'stupid', and many other names. How about I take out your typing fingers with a hammer? Would you like that?

Bitch!

Labels: Don Brennan, mainstream mediots, senators

by Jes

Most MSM mediots are rather droll and uninspired. Years of covering the same team and beating the same drum seem to suck the life out of most writers, leaving them bitter husks that create stupid trade rumours out of thin air (*cough* Tony Gallagher *cough*), and always whine about how their team/players aren't good enough after last night's 3-2 loss in OT.

It doesn’t help that the papers practice a big load of self-censorship, and don't allow much in the way of true personality to ever be expressed. We can't risk pissing off those lucrative advertisers, or the teams themselves, can we?

Well, author Adrian "The Hater" Dater is one of the few MSM writers that allows his emotions to get the better of him, and it makes for great reading. It helps that The Denver Post allows him this avenue for expressing himself without a whole lot of interference.

Take this recent blog about a Flames/Avs tilt in which Dater rips into Phaneuf.

So here is Dion Phaneuf tonight, laying one big hit from behind after another on Peter Forsberg, and there goes Forsberg to the penalty box for a little tap on some guy’s glove a few minutes later. Same old NHL, where the retaliator is penalized.

Phaneuf is a bit of a Bill Laimbeer on skates, by the way. And some day he’s going to get his, and it’s not going to be pretty for him. He’s going to hit one backside of a player too many, and somebody is going to rip that shield off his face and hand him his teeth. (And yes, he’s an effective player, though, because he DOES get people off their games mentally. And, yes, if I was a coach and he played on my team, I’d probably love him. But not always. You can argue he cost his team a game, with a foolish interference penalty - and blatantly cross-checking Paul Stastny from behind, not long after the Avs scored on his first penalty, didn’t help the Flames’ cause, either).

We’ll see if the Avs have any hair on their chests the rest of the night or not. I said it once and I’ll say it again - you gotta smack the bully in the mouth.

See, this is the kind of stuff the fans want to read. The Laimbeer comparison is quite apt, and Dater expresses many of the same thoughts most non-Flames fans have had for some time. Dater's blog posts show a good range of emotions, and make for far more interesting reading than you usually get from the stodgy MSM.

Other MSM publications should take note of how many comments and referring links Dater's blog has generated, and get a clue.

Labels: adrian dater, mainstream mediots, MSM, Phaneuf

by Jes

We all know the Mainstream Mediots like to churn the rumour mills in order to sell more papers. Who cares if there are actual facts to back up the supposed rumours, as long as the rumour sounds plausible, people will start talking, and players will start getting nervous.

Here is an 'article' from Steve Simmons of the London Free Press, which basically says nothing, yet churns the old "JFJ is on his way out" routine.

Talk shows and frustrated fans aren't the only people conversing about the Maple Leafs these days.

NHL executives have been playing their own game of gossip -- some of it more than gossip -- wondering amongst themselves who will be the next general manager and next coach of the Leafs.

Many are saying they believe change is imminent. But in fairness, that story has been out there for awhile.

If you are stupid like me, and actually read the entire thing, you'll come to realize that

1. There is no mention of an actual name. NHL Executives is a very generic term...what is the accounting controller of the Florida Panthers is talking about John Ferguson Jr. Is that really a good source? Technically, the Marketing Manager of the St. Louis Blues is an NHL executive. Notice how Simmons doesn't actually seem to have talked to any of these individuals?

2. There is no concrete mentionof WHAT the Leafs will actually do and when. It's really just water-cooler gossip "Pssst.. do you think JFJ will be canned today"

Look, many of us believe JFJ is on thin ice, but if you are going to print something as a rumour, try to back it up with actual evidence. All this article does is fan the flames and make it harder to JFJ to do his job with confidence. All the while, fans will get a false sense of what may or may not be happening.

Some say Eklund is full of crap, and he is, but how does a guy like Simmons have any more credibility? This sounds like something from a message board, not a major newspaper.

Labels: mainstream mediots, media, Steve Simmons

by Jes

We're used to non-hockey mediots taking potshots at the great sport of hockey. (Remember THIS ESPN Cartoon?)

It's like a bee sting, really. We can handle one or two of these jabs, but after about 1,000, it really gets annoying.

So, I decided to go on a rant over at The NHL Fanhouse and rail against the idiots in the media who seems to do nothing but talk smack about our great sport.

It's pretty much a taste of their own medicine.

Really, I just don't get why many feel the need to talk down about the NHL and its fans. So what if the NHL doesn't get NFL-like TV ratings? Popularity doesn't equal quality. How else can you explain the success of dreck like American Idol and Survivor?

Anyway, head on over there and be sure to go join in the fray. I need backup against the NASCAR fans.

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The New York Islanders bit the big bullet and bought out the remainder of Alexei Yashin's bloated contract.

The damage?

Under the terms of the NHL collective-bargaining agreement, the Islanders can pay two-thirds of that amount - approximately $17.63-million - over the next eight years to buy him out. The team will still count $2.2-million of Yashin's salary under their cap over that same time period.

This is definitely the right move for the Islanders, but also one I never expected them to make quite this early.

Do you think the Isles are thrilled at paying Yashin huge bucks to NOT play for them? Imagine paying a contractor $125,000 not to build your house.

Then again, given how Yashin plays, haven't the Islanders been paying him bucks to not play for them all this time?

Of course, Yashin is now guaranteed a whole whack of money, and now he can go sign with another club and make even more.

Note to NHL teams: Don't bite! If your offer is over $3.5mil a year, then smack yourself with a bronze ruler.

Big Mac has more opinion on the matter at Ze Fanhouse..

Labels: alexei yashin, Islanders, mainstream mediots, rants

by Jes

While surfing around ESPN's Page 2 site, I came across this little cartoon at the bottom of the page.



As you may or may not know, Robert Horry committed a cheap and violent technical foul on the Phoenix Sun's (and Canadian) Steve Nash.

So, the cartoonist makes a point about his reputation before and after the incident.

Fine.

But why is Robert Horry, a basketball player, wearing hockey equipment?

What does Horry's cheap shot, or Robert Horry, have to do with hockey?

In a hockey game, you'd get your clock cleaned if you ever pulled such a stunt. In the NBA? You get a few slaps and growling, but nothing much.

To say that hockey is the realm of this sort of activity is just plain stupid. Basketball, Baseball, and Football all have their fair share of cheap shots. Is there an act more cowardly than a bean-ball?

Just another example of the idiots in the media making hockey to be the 'bad guy' sport. We're all sick of these no-nothings who only ever mention hockey as
1. A sport nobody cares about.
2. A violent bloodbath where everyone hacks and whacks people to death.

It would be the same as a hockey cartoonist drawing Ray Emery as a gangsta rapping NBAer the next time Emery goes bonkers on an opposing forward.

Labels: ESPN, mainstream mediots, Steve Nash

By Jes

Terry "My brains are" Frei of the Denver Post, who also writes for ESPN (which gives you an idea of how much he knows about the game), thinks the NHL ought to expand further.

ORLY?

Article Linkage:

Sorry, but I'm about to use a word many consider an obscenity.

Expansion. (Jes: Maybe in Utah, where alcohol is considered a deadly sin)

In the wake of the arena deal in Pittsburgh that comes after years of maneuvering and bluffing, the Penguins seem destined to remain in western Pennsylvania.

Kansas City, with a new downtown arena operated by the Anschutz Entertainment Group about to open, probably won't land the Penguins. Neither will Las Vegas, Houston, Oklahoma City, Portland, Ore., or Hamilton, Ontario.

Here's what the NHL should do: Award expansion franchises to two of those cities for 2008-09.

All things equal, my choices would be: a) Kansas City, which benefits from having a new arena and no NBA competition; and, b) Portland, which has a deep hockey tradition with the minor-league Buckaroos and major-junior Winter Hawks, and has become disenchanted with the Trail Blazers.

Having a new arena means diddly squat if the fans don't attend. Florida got a nice new area, as did the Predators, but the fans simply don't care enough about hockey to support those two franchises strongly.

Portland is a good junior hockey town, and has always been mentioned as a good NHL destination, but what makes Frei think NHL hockey would necessarily work down there? Does Portland have the corporate base to support an NHL team? If not, it would be Nashville II.

Of course, technically it would dilute the talent pool, but it's funny how the folks who whine about that possibility the most long for the days when the NHL virtually was a Canadian, or at least a North American, closed shop. The internationalization of that talent pool - the same thing has happened in baseball and basketball - has changed that picture. Plus, the expansion of NHL jobs by roughly 6 percent isn't going to make that much of a difference.

Mr. Frei obviously thinks all fans who hate expansion are Canadian blowhards like Cherry that would like to see the league free of those damn Euros.

Umm, no, but I would like a league where a guy like Alex Burrows doesn't have a regular job (Yes, Burrows works his ass off, but his talent level is non-existent at the NHL level. Just watch him try to handle the puck some time). The NHL's talent pool has already been quite diluted, and another two teams means even less stellar players to spread around.

The NHL doesn't get enough credit for this, but for all the carping from its dinosaurs, the league was ahead of the NBA in opening its doors to Europeans, and unforgettable competitions such as the Summit Series between the Soviet Union and Canada set the stage. Swedes and Finns came and then the defecting Eastern Europeans, such as the Stastny brothers and Alex Mogilny and Sergei Fedorov, before the Iron Curtain fell, the Soviet bloc crumbled and nations such as the Baltics and Slovakia were reborn.

1. Since when is 'the Baltics' a nation? Slovakia is a country, yes, but The Baltics? Umm, there are quite a few Baltic nations, such as Lithuania and Latvia, which have very little in common with each other. I guess this is what passes for geography in Colorado.

2. The NBA has only RECENTLY delved heavily into the European pool, whereas the NHL jumped in quite deep in the Early 1990s. Europe has been mined of talent for the NHL, and there isn't exactly a large pool of quality NHLers-in-waiting over in Europe.

Anyway, Frei does a horrible job of trying to connect the NBA to the NHL, without realizing that the NHL has a handful of struggling franchises and doesn't need more. A better solution would be to move some of the worst franchises into stronger markets, rather than dilute the talent pool further and create even more weaker franchises that have to be supported with revenues from the strong Canadian clubs. This would also, perhaps, prevent us with being subjected to poor sports opinions from the likes of Terry Frei.

Labels: expansion, mainstream mediots, NHL, opinion, Terry Frei

Yeah, so we all know Canucks winger/monster/moron Todd Bertuzzi has now been formally charged with assault by the Powers That Be. Excuse me while I try and express some shock at that news...nope, my face is still as wooden as Chuck Norris'.

Looking at similar cases in the past, we can see that Todd Bertuzzi won�t get more than a small fine and some community service.

"Take it from me, kids, it�s not a good idea to punch someone in the head from behind, no matter how much of a punk they are!"

Honestly, if Todd Bertuzzi suffers more punishment at the hands or the law, I�m not going to shed a single teardrop. While it doesn�t matter much to me if he gets jail time or less ice cream, it would certainly serve him right for his malicious act.

Free Bertuzzi?? - Yeah, I said my piece before, but these idiots really piss me off. These are the lemmings that hang �Free Bertuzzi� signs on their lawn, and give the ape a standing ovation. Yeah, the guy costs his team a legitimate shot at the Stanley Cup and assaulted a player from behind, unprovoked.

As we saw in the Orenthal James Simpson case, you can basically get away with murder if you are a beloved star athlete. At this rate, Trevor Linden could drop a nuclear bomb on France and come out as a folk hero.

The mediots will play this as a �black eye� for hockey, but the damage was done in the US media back when the incident took place. This court case won�t go far, and won�t have any lasting impact on the game itself. If Steve Moore had been killed or crippled, then maybe it would lead to some changes in the game. (But how would you stop an unprovoked assault?)

Todd�s real fear would be that Moore would proceed to file a civil claim for damages. Still, what could Moore claim? Moore didn�t miss any salary, he�s not permanently damaged, and couldn�t look his macho team-mates in the eye if he claimed �psychological� trauma.

Bertuzzi has already lost over $500,000 (US$) in salary, his shot at the World Cup, and his (and his team�s) chance at the Stanley Cup. If you believe the NHL can police itself, then Bertuzzi has already been punished severely.

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Not a lot of draft buzz as we prepare for tomorrow�s �Meat Lottery�. Don�t expect the Capitals to trade their pick unless they can pull off a ream job like the Bonsignore/Hamrlik deal. If Ovechkin and Malkin are head and shoulders above the rest of the pack, it makes much more sense to take the �sure-fire� picks, rather than take a chance on a lower prospect.

Labels: Bertuzzi, mainstream mediots, Todd Bertuzzi, Violence