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      2009 NHL Preview: Minnesota Wild

      October 1, 2009 /



      We’ve partnered with On Goal Analysis to bring you a team-by-team preview of the upcoming NHL season. (Just scroll down on the OGA website and hit the calendar.) Here is the preview for the Minnesota Wild…

      Team Play: ISSUE – What? Offense!? In the blink of an eye, the oft injured and sometime heart-questioned Marian Gaborik was out the door, winging his way eastward to The Big Apple (where he promptly did not skate on Day 1 of training camp to rest his groin). Had there been any panic, it was short lived as Martin Havlat entered the scene, somewhat angry with Chicago and looking like he is ready to seek retribution for their how they dealt with him. (Game 11 on 26 October is your target as the Wild travel to The Windy City for their first meeting of the season.) The healthy and high-flying Havlat of last season, it seems, is just the kind of offensive direction this team is heading for under new coach Todd Richards and GM Chuck Fletcher.

      The early CBS Sports page for the Wild indicates a No. 1 line of Brunette-Koivu-Havlat from left to right, and Pouliot-Sheppard-Miettinen on No. 2. Take that with a grain of salt – Mike Russo’s interview with GM Chuck Fletcher indicates the team is going into camp with experimentation in mind. In fact, the camp-opening game on 13 September had the same No. 1 line as above with Havlat netting 1 G and 1 A for his team’s 2-1 scrimmage victory. The line they played against was Clutterbuck-Bouchard-Miettinen which may or may not wind up being the No. 2 unit – Pouliot and Sheppard stayed together but Owen Nolan was their third. Keep a watchful eye on training camp as the team solidifies their lines for the new system.

      Click here to read the rest of the preview (which includes the site’s unique Playoff Qualifying Curve and fantasy information) at the On Goal Analysis site.

      NHL

      Fanhouse ranks the best & worst NFL organizations

      October 1, 2009 /

      NFL Fanhouse ranked the six best and worst organizations in football.

      Top 3:

      1. New England: OK folks, start with the rants. Yes, they cheated, but so do other people. Don’t argue with three Super Bowl titles since 2001 and an unbeaten regular season in 2007. Bill Belichick has built by taking players who fit his system over one-dimensional stars. Yes, they’ve been a little less successful drafting lately, and there’s a brain drain — Scott Pioli to Kansas City, Thomas Dimitroff to Atlanta, Josh McDaniels to Denver, Eric Mangini to New York and Cleveland, and (whoops) Charlie Weis to Notre Dame.

      2. Pittsburgh: Continuity means three coaches over 40 years, with a record six Super Bowl wins. Dan Rooney, his son Art and the rest of the front office has hired superbly and drafted well. They know luck plays a part — if the Giants hadn’t been able to trade for Eli Manning, they would have drafted Ben Roethlisberger and maybe the Steelers wouldn’t have won two titles in four years. But they get premier players with low picks and develop talent — when it doesn’t gel at first, it still seems to work in the long-run, like with James Harrison, cut and re-signed a bunch of times until he developed into the league’s most dangerous pass rusher.

      3. Baltimore: One title this decade and little change at the top, other than the dismissal of Brian Billick after the 2007 season. Who replaced him? John Harbaugh, who fans didn’t know and wasn’t on anyone’s “hot list.” Record so far: 16-6. The continuity comes from Ozzie Newsome, who has been running the personnel operation since 1996 after going straight from a Hall of Fame career on the field to the front office. Twenty-five teams passed on Ray Lewis before Newsome took him and 23 passed on Ed Reed. Joe Flacco looks like the next great QB (if Matt Ryan isn’t already it).

      Bottom 3:

      30. Oakland: For nearly 40 years after becoming coach in 1963, Al Davis was an innovative thinker. Now he’s an embittered owner, repeating out-of-date slogans, wasting money on players nobody else wants and letting his staff intimidate critics. If he let his CEO, Amy Trask, hire a football guy, it could be consistently better. The Richard Seymour deal was Snyderesque, mortgaging a first-round pick for a declining star. .

      31. Cleveland: Why did Randy Lerner jump so quickly to hire Mangini, who treats his players like high school kids? The Browns are 54-110 since returning to the NFL in 1999. Enough said.

      32. Detroit: Matt Millen is a very good broadcaster.

      I feel bad for the Ford family in regards to the Lions, because they’re a very loyal group that is willing to stick by their hires even when things get rough. That said, they stuck by Millen too long and he wound up dragging the franchise into the depths of hell.

      What’s amazing about Oakland is that Al Davis does have an eye for talent. He just operates off emotion and makes decisions on a whim. The Raiders would be much better off if he allowed some else to run the day-to-day operations, but that will never happen.

      NFL

      2009 NHL Preview: Los Angeles Kings

      October 1, 2009 /

      We’ve partnered with On Goal Analysis to bring you a team-by-team preview of the upcoming NHL season. (Just scroll down on the OGA website and hit the calendar.) Here is the preview for the Los Angeles Kings…

      Team Play: ISSUE – Assembling the Puzzle. The Kings bottomed out in 2006-07, and have steadily improved since. On paper, it appears GM Dean Lombardi has collected enough pieces to assemble the puzzle – a Stanley Cup Playoff-caliber team. In July, LA made a couple of significant moves: On July 2nd, they signed free agent blueliner Rob Scuderi from the Stanley Cup Champs. The next day, they sent defensemen Tom Priessing and Kyle Quincey to Colorado for power forward Ryan Smyth. Trade rumors continue to swirl around the Kings (including the now-debunked myth of LA being part of a three-team deal with Ottawa and San Jose involving Dany Heatley), but the thinking here is that unless someone makes Lombardi an offer he can’t refuse, he’ll now put the roster in the capable hands of Head Coach Terry Murray, and see what sort of team the coach can assemble.

      One thing is certain: it will be a young team, as 33-year-old Ryan Smyth instantly becomes the oldest forward (in fact, Michal Handzus (32) and Raitis Ivanans (30) are the only other forwards over the age of 27), and four of the Kings’ top six d-men will be 26 or younger…Oh, yeah: Erik Ersberg, 27, is the only goalie on Los Angeles’ training camp roster over the age of 23.

      Look for the Kings to continue to improve in 09-10, but in a very tough Western Conference, their playoff chances will depend just as much on other teams’ failures as on their own successes.

      Click here to read the rest of the preview (which includes the site’s unique Playoff Qualifying Curve and fantasy information) at the On Goal Analysis site.

      NHL

      2009 College Football Picks & Predictions: Week 5

      October 1, 2009 /

      No. 4 LSU at No. 18 Georgia, 3:30PM ET
      Last year, Georgia rolled into Tiger Stadium and laid a 52-38 beat down on LSU as they forced three turnovers and running back Knowshon Moreno (now a Denver Bronco) racked up 163 yards on 21 carries. After an ugly 24-10 loss to Oklahoma State in the opening week of the season, the Bulldogs have rattled off three straight wins and will now face a Tiger team that struggled a bit offensively last week in a narrow 30-26 win over Mississippi State. LSU was outgained 374-263 and only rushed for 30 yards in the victory. The Tigers usually feast on pro-style offenses, so UGA quarterback Joe Cox can’t force throws in attempt to make something happen down field. That said, the Tigers haven’t been tested yet and needed a goal line stand to pull off the win last week. Georgia, on the other hand, has already faced a ranked OK State team and beaten competitive SEC foes South Carolina and Arkansas. The Bulldogs are more battle tested and will overcome a stiff Tiger defense.
      Odds: Georgia –3.
      Prediction: Georgia 24, LSU 20.

      No. 7 USC at No. 24 California, 8:00PM ET
      Don’t everyone break your legs jumping off the Cal bandwagon after Oregon smacked the Golden Bears 42-3 last week. Heisman candidate Jahvid Best rushed for only 55 yards in the loss and will face another tough challenge this week against a USC defense that held him to only 30 yards last season. The Trojans have the sixth best defense in the nation and the fifth best scoring defense. They have limited opponents to only 59.5 rushing yards per game and only 95 YPC threw the air. That said, Cal has played USC close over the years and the Trojans have kept things rather conservative offensively with freshman Matt Barkley under center. I see this game being close, although I don’t know if Kevin Riley can beat USC through the air if the Trojans’ front seven takes away Best.
      Odds: USC –4.5.
      Prediction: USC 20, Cal 17.

      Continue reading »

      College Football

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